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Show ( THE PROGRESSIVE OPINION Wallace Visit Improves Sino-Americ- an Relations Chinese Officials Build Hopes on Vice Presi-dent's Trip; True Economic Plight of Country Known Only Recently. By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. I sassd WNU Service, Union Trust Building Washington, D. C. Ever since the day when America as a nation was just a little over eight years old, and the first Yankee merchantman, flying the brand new stars and stripes, was welcomed in Canton harbor, the story of Chinese-America- n relations has been the story of a long and beautiful friend-ship. Recently, however, there has been considerable concern among the friends of China in Washington over the growing strain in those rela-tions which seemed gradually to be reaching a dangerous tension after seven years of war in which China has looked vainly to America for the aid that was not forthcoming. ' Now, two things have happened which have considerably eased the strain, and these two nations who need each other so much and whom such a reservoir of good will, as Willkie called it, has been built up, are both breathing easier. One thing is the turn of the tide of battle in Burma for which much of the credit may be given to "Uncle Joe" Stilwell as leader of the Chinese-America- forces. The other is the visit of Vice President Wal-lace to Generalissimo Chiang KaU shek. Today, Chinese officials are build-ing high hopes on that visit. They believe that when the vice president returns, he will be able to stimu-late an'understanding in America of what they consider China's great-es- t affliction economic chaos. Nobody claims that China's troubles are limited to her economic situation. Some observers would put even the war, which is bad enough, ' second to political dissention which has only been prevented from out-break by an iron hand. But the thing that the Chinese government thinks would do the most good right now is consumer goods: medical supplies and essential chemicals first; then probably clothing next and on down the line, including all the things one needs to carry on civilized existence in its simplest way. circulating stories no matter how true they might be. Finally, however, the truth came to be more and more widely dis-seminated, and the papers and magazines were filled with stories from writers returning to America and freed from the bond of censor-shi- To some degree, the Chinese now realize that too much censor-ship has hurt them. Threatened With Collapse Personally I think this publicity has served to help rather than hurt. In any case, the time came when something had to be done. China was threatened with collapse right at the moment when bases within her territory were becoming vital in the final assault on Japan. A courtesy visit from a high off-icial became not only a wise move but a necessity, and there are reasons, not immediately evident on the surface, why Vice President Wallace's trip may do much to alle-viate China's difficulties. In the first place, whatever you may think of the views expressed by Vice President Wallace or how well you think you understand them, the Chinese believe first, that he symbolizes the traditional friendship of America for China; and second, that he understands their problems. Then there is another vital factor, important from the standpoint of the morale of the Chinese people and their support of the present govern-ment, Mr. Wallace is the second highest officer of our government. Face counts high in the Far East. This official visit will give face to the Chungking government. It is cleathat these factors are psychological and the intelligent Chinese, who are exceedingly wise in such matters, realize that fact, and count upon it highly. They feel, too, (from a more practical standpoint) that the Wal-lace visit will tend to increase American public interest in China and her troubles and will facilitate the efforts on the part of their diplo-mats to receive the goods they want. The Chinese don't quite agree with Hopeful Tinge the way we use inflation to describe their internal situation although printing press money has been put into circulation to the tune of mil-lions of dollars and that Chinese financial resources have been scraped to the bone. The True Story One Chinese official said to me: "If only we could get a bare 3,000 tons of goods a month from the out-side, to be sold at prices controlled by the government, it would make all the difference in the world. Twenty big cargo planes making regular trips would be enough to carry it. "You can buy a bottle of aspirin for 50 cents in this country," he went on. "When we can get any aspirin in China, a single tablet costs that much. But the price is ; not so important. If we could get aspirin, (that is just an example) even if we had to set a price of, say five cents a tablet, it would serve our purpose. We are willing to stabilize prices, even if they must be at a high level, but we cannot stop inflation unless we have the consumer goods to sell." For a long time, the seriousness of China's financial situation has been known; the hardships the white collar class, the professional people's suffering; the lack of food and shoes and cartridges (to say nothing of artillery) for the army; ; but it is only recently that detailed stories have been widely printed and open discussion has taken place here. That is the reason that almost overnight, the atmosphere surround- - ing contacts in Wash-ington has taken on a more hopeful tinge. And the optimism of the Chinese has been greatly helped by the success of the Chinese troops fighting under General Stilwell and the Chinese offensive moving out of China toward a contact with Stil-well' s army. This military operation too, will be more than a mere military vic-tory, if it is successful. Again, the psychological element is important. Success in Burma means the junc-ture of the Ledo and Burma roads. There are many miles of road con-struction to be completed before the two highways are actually carrying heavy traffic over them but, never-theless, when they are joined, a severed artery will be mended, a wound will be healed. The moment the first allied work trucks begin to thread their way along this highway over an unobstructed route from and to the outside world, it will be as if fresh air were once more reach-ing lungs strangling for breath. .When the two highways are actually joined, they will soon be in operation, for much American tech-nical engineering skill has been spent on the Burma road within China and its carrying capacity will be greatly increased. The arrival of the first truck-born- e piece of freight and the handclasp of the Generalissimo and Vice Presi-dent Wallace will be more than a political gesture, it will be a renewal of the friendship wjiich has meant so much to China for more than a century and a half. There were two reasons for the brake on revealing to America in-ternal conditions in China. In the first place, the Chinese did not wish their situation to be any more widely known than necessary, and for that reason, Chungking clamped down a wall of censorship on all news originating. there. In the second place, Americans familiar with the facts and this ap-plies to many writers as well as America's government officials friendly in China did not wish to be in the position of perhaps damaging the morale of a loyal ally and cer tainly offending her government by- - BRIEFS: A large number of Dutchmen are living and training with American marines in camps throughout the ' United States. These men are under-going the same training given the American marines and wear the American uniform but with the Royal Netherlands insignia on collar and cap. India has the largest volunteer army in the world 2,000,000 men. BRIEFS . . &y Baukhage Viscount Nagakage Okabe, Japa- - nese education minister, has an- - , nounced government plans to extend its thought control program by step-ping up the activities of local Thought Measure Research Soci- - eties and by giving thought training to the heads of industrial organiza tions as well as to the many students of the societies. Buy War Bonds There has been considerable rival-ry between the Burmese and the immigrant Indians. The Burmese have found themselves at a dis-advantage in competition with the more experienced Indian profes-sional and business men and with Indian labor, with its habitual thrift and its customary lower standard of living. Buy War Bonds t f Shoulder Ruffles '"pHE vogue for pinafore "nil. fles" has inspired this smart, ruffled two-pie-dress. Perfect for the young and slender figure, it will look lovely done in smart rayon silk taffeta -- w . stripes, in brisk cottons, in su-344g mmer percales. Pattern No. 8619 is in sizes 11, 13, IS, 17 and 19. Size 13. ruffled version, re. quires 4 yards of material: with, out ruffles, 37B yards; 3,a yard contrast for collar. Due to an unusually large demand ani current war conditions, slightly more time is required in filling orders for a few ol the most popular pattern numbers. Send your order to: For Town Wear A GRACEFUL, dignified frock o be done in soft sheer rayon crepes and cottons. The lap-ov-side closing makes it an easy frock to slip into. Barbara Bell Pattern No. 1964 is de-signed for sizes 34, 36 , 38, 40. 42, 44, 46 and 48. Size 36, short sleeves, requires 4V4 yards of material. SEWING CIRCLE PATTERN DEPT. 149 New Montgomery Street San Francisco Calif. Enclose 20 cents In coins for each pattern desired. Pattern No Size Name Address Buy War Savings Bonds SNAPPY FACTS ABOUT fg) RUBBER Maintenance of our fynthetie rubber plants after the wor as "a rubber inuronce policy is advocates by leading rub-b-authorities. They hold thot the U. S. cannot be adequately prepared at all times to de-fend Its national interest un-less it is free from the threat of a rubber shortage, a feel-in- s subscribed to by moit thinking Americans. World capacities for producinS natural and synthetic rubber after the war will aggregate nearly 2,800,000 tons yearly, predict John L. Collyer, president of B. f. Goodrich. This Is more than twice as much as the world has ever used In any one year. REGoodriclif Nral-UI::H- - r--, f23" So Crisp-Solli- siy ($ "Th. Grains ,r. Great Foods-"-TJ J- - 51 he"?g's Ric.e equal the Itgaffc PPe grain in nearly all the D fl I Prtectrve food elements declared ftIPt$8 Y essential to human nutrition. (jrM I WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Allies Continue Advance in Italy; U. S. Airmen Rain Blows on Japs; Political Break Looms in South Released by Western Newspaper Union. (EDITOR'S NOTE : When opinions are expressed In "J"" newspaper") Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not 01 mis ' Walkout Striker, mill outside of Parke, Davis & Company plant at Detroit, Mich. (See: Labor.) AGRICULTURE: Farm Machinery With manufacture of harvesting and haying equipment fittest be-hind schedule, the War board's $671,000,000 farm machinery and spare parts program for the year ending June 30 was 13 per cent off on May 1. Because of accelerated production in the final few months, however, the WPB expects the program to finish up only 10 per cent behind schedule, although manufacturers ot combines wiU have up to September to meet their quotas. As of May 1, production of har-vesting machinery was 33.4 per cent off schedule; tractor attachments off 28 2 per cent; barn and barnyard equipment off 25.8 per cent; farm pumps and windmills off 16.4 per cent; farm wagons, gears and trucks off 16.5 per cent; harrows and rollers off 14.5 per cent; cultivators and weeders off 13.9 per cent; dairy farm machinery off 13 per cent; planting, seeding and fertilizing equipment off 11.8 per cent, and farm poultry equipment off 11.3 per cent. Land Values With farm land values showing a 15 per cent increase for the year ending March 15, they stood at 114 per cent of the 1912-'1- 4 level, according to statistics of the U. S. department of agriculture. One-thir- d of the sales financed by credit last year involved mortgages of 75 per cent of the sales price, the USDA reported. With the average debt per acre on newly acquired farms about higher than two years ago, large turnover was reported in 1943, with some operators selling holdings after a few months. Many city buyers reputedly were purchas-ing farm property as an inflation hedge. ' CONGRESS: Investigate Ward's Investigating the government's seizure of Montgomery Ward and company's Chicago mail order plants, a congressional subcommit-tee heard Attorney Gen. Francis Biddle declare that inasmuch as the concern was indirectly involved in the war program through sale of productive equipment to farmers, the President could use his judg-ment in taking it over during a labor dispute to restore operation. Thus, the Attorney General con-cluded, if the seizure was not war-ranted under congressional statutes, it was legal under the President's wartime emergency powers. Because his interpretation of the law is his own opinion, the Attor-ney General said, he stands correc-tion by a court, or congress itself can intervene to make any changes in legislation which might eliminate abuses. EUROPE: Back Nazis to Wall With Fifth army troops on the southern front joined with their comrades on the r " AnziQ beachhead, , and with the British $ ' slugging through the i Liri valley t0 tne yjl east, Allied forces i ? in Italy locked ".Cvl hands for a knock-- ' ' " ' I ou' Punc1 against a j the Germans below I I J Rome. As the fighting in Gen. Clark Italy came close to a showdown, inva-sion preparations continued, with thousands of Allied bombers ripping j up German defenses and airfields in western Europe, and the Allied com-mand issuing detailed instructions to the underground to report enemy troop movements to U. S. and Brit-ish soldiers when they land. Tottering under the combined pressure of Lieut.-Ge- Mark Clark's Fifth army and the British Eighth, the Germans fell slowly back to the southeast of Rome for a bitter defensive fight, while Allied aircraft hampered their movements by a steady bombardment of supply lines and motorized concentrations. PACIFIC: Buck Air Power Nibbling further at Jap air power based 'in the eastern New Guinea area as a defensive bulwark of the Indies and the Philippines, U. S. aviators continued - their strikes against enemy airdromes in the re-gion and U. S. ground forces fought over rough country to set up air-fields for them. As General MacArthur's air and ground forces struck out at eastern New Guinea, navy bombers from a strong task force of aircraft car-riers hit at enemy island holdings farther to the north, dotting the roadway to the enemy homeland. U. S. casualties in the eastern New Guinea area remained light as Doughboys expanded their holdings with support of heavy artillery, tanks and warplanes. POSTWAR: Churchill Speaks Organization of the great powers emerging victorious from the war into a single force to preserve future world peace was outlined by Prime Minister Winston Churchill in "a discussion of foreign policy in Britain's house of commons. To prevent either the planning or conduct of future wars by "rest-less and ambitious nations," Church-ill said the Allied 'powers intend to set up a world organization equipped with all necessary means for main-taining order. Touching on the delicate Russian-Polis- h situation, Churchill declared that Poland's surrender of territory in the east might be countered by acquisition of German land. SOLID SOUTH: Threaten Break LABOR: Local Punished While the CIO Unitod Automobile workers suspended officials of a local union for a strike in the Chrys-ler plant at Detroit, Mich., the CIO Gas, Coke and Chemical workers sanctioned the walkout of 1,900 members of a local at the Parke, Davis and company drug factory in the same city. In suspending the local officers for Strange Tail ft " V I j i 1 hM C 'i J, . ''vrv-.- . j the walkout which resulted from their support of a CIO chauffeurs' union fight with a rival AFL or-ganization, the United Automobile workers said they had violated their contract with the company, the UAW constitution, and their pledge. Accusing Parke, Davis and company of a "vicious union bust-ing campaign," the Gas, Coke and Chemical workers supported its local's strike, which halted produc-tion of blood plasma, penicillin and smallpox vaccination for military and civilian use. Protesting that the position of the company jeopardized the standing of the union, the local's president defied a War Labor board directive to return to work before resuming negotiations. Long rumored, southern rebellion against the New Deal's social re-form, especially in regard to the advocacy of Negro equality, took tangible shape in Texas, where the regular Democratic organization in-structed its presidential electors to cast their vote for the party's nomi-nee in the electoral college only if the national convention: 1. Votes disapproval of efforts to nullify state laws for segregation of white and colored school children; 2. Backs up Texas' opposition to the Supreme court ruling opening Democratic primaries to Negroes; 3. Seats the delegates selected by the regular Texas Democratic party instead of delegates chosen by a rival rump organization, ri of mpmhers who broke with ' There's no end to the versatility of the American Seabee, as shown In this picture from distant Midway island, where navy construction ex-perts secured a length of --iach maniia rope to Bossy's severed tail to provide the milk cow with a switch. Carpenter's Mate J. A. Pierson, Sheffield, Pa., is the milker. RAILROADS: Government Rates In exchange for the grant of land for right-of-wa- to the railroads during the expansion period of 1850-187- the government received re-ductions of 50 per cent on passenger and freight rates. Amended in 1940 to apply only to military goods and personnel follow-ing railroads' complaints against the heavy burden of relief shipments especially during the depression pe-riod, total abolition of the reduced rates came before congress, with the house approving by a 236 to 16 vote. Although termination of the re-duced rates would increase railroad revenues by more than 250 million dollars annually in wartime and 20 million dollars yearly in peacetime, the house bill calls for scaling down private shipping rates to reflect the higher income from government. FOOD: Supply Good A factor in the government's pos-sible restoration of rationing on point-fre- e meats may be the neces-sity for assuring a more equal of such meats, three fed-eral agencies reporting on the gen-eral food situation declared. Mean-time, some cuts or better grades, of meat may become more difficult to obtain. Although supplies of canned fruits and juices will coniinue at low lev-els for the rest of the year, fresh apples, peaches, pears and cherries will be more plentiful. The situation in canned vegetables can be expect-ed to grow tight. Increases in stocks of margarine, shortening and other edible oils will probably offset de-clines in butter and lard. Because of record spring production of eggs, need for greater consumption per-sists. "Civilian diet is sufficient in calo-ries, proteins, iron and vitamin A, but with little margin ... in the B vitamin and C vitamin," the agen-cies reported. BIG' GUNS: The army' has sharply increased its demand for large caliber can-non and ammunition it is announced, giving rise to speculation that mili-tary leaders anticipate long and severe fighting after invasion beach-heads have been secured. New plant construction has been approved and factories now on a standby basis will return to full op-erations, official sources disclose. Ammunition schedules have been stepped up to four or five times pre-vious levels. the regular party over its instruc- - tions to the electors. Electoral Vote While calmer minds sweated over working out a compromise between the two factions in Texas, specula-tion arose as to what might happen if the 23 Texas electors should join eight similarly dissatisfied North Carolina electors in voting against the Democratic candidate in the electoral college, whose vote deter-mines the presidential winner. Since the 31 Texas and North Carolina representatives in the elec-toral college, made up of electors chosen by the states, could form a majority for either side, they could swing the election to either a Repub-lican or Democrat, being free to vote as they wished. Or then, again, they might vote for an inde-pendent person, in which case neither of the two regular candi-dates would receive a majority and the presidential election then would be referred to the house of rep-resentatives. In the house, the party in the majority would decide the election. MISCELLANY CITRUS RECORD: The Texas crop of grapefruit and oranges this year was the largest in history, and sold for the highest price, the gen-eral manager of the Rio Grande Valley citrus exchange said. Grape-fruit yield was estimated at 17,539,-08- 1 boxes and oranges at 3,354,350 boxes. Total value of both crops was set at $53,469,000 by the ex-change official. lUOUSEHOLD A small pillow or pad between the knees of a sick patient as he lies on his side can give great relief. To remove the mark made from striking a match on painted sur-face, rub a cut lemon over the mark and wash as usual. Those who wealr glasses or gog-gles know how distressing it is to have the lenses become cloudy and blurred. If they are cleaned every morning with soap and hot water they will seldom need clean-ing during the day. Rinse them well and dry with tissue paper or a soft clean absorbent cloth. The best way to wash walls or woodwork is to begin at the bot-tom and work to the top. This avoids streaking where the dirty water would run down and pre-vents a difficult job of removing such streaks. Since dishes must be done three times a day, why not do it the most efficient way? Stacking the .dishes on the right, so the work goes from right to left, means greater efficiency for the right-hande- d housewife. Of course a d worker would reverse this procedure for quicker work. Inebriate Soon Sized Up Situation and Lent Hand A grave digger wis hard at work. As he shoveled each spade- ful of earth he became more and more absorbed in his thoughts, and before he knew it the grave was so deep he couldn't get out. Came nightfall and the evening chill, his predicament became more and more uncomfortable. He shouted for help and at last at- tracted the attention of a drunk. "Get me out of here," he shouted, "I'm cold." The drunk looked into the grave and finally distinguished the form of the uncomfortable grave digger "No wonder," he said, kicking a little dirt into the grave "ya haven't got any dirt on ya'" I Popular Novelist Dies Harold Bell Wright, the minister who became a successful fiction writer, died at the age of 72 in La Jolla, Calif. Mr. Wright's most famous novels are "The Shepherd of the Hills," "The Calling of Dan Matthew!" "The Winning of Barbara Worth," "When a Man's a Man," "The Re-creation of Bryan Kent," "Helen of the Old House," and "The Eyes of the World." |