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Show ' THE PROGRESSIVE OPINION . v Nazi Submarine Menace Is Allies' Chief Problem Said to Boost Ger-man Output; 'Vanishing Luftwaffe' Puzzles United Nations' Military Observers. By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. think that this, at least to a large degree, is true. But that explana-tion does not seem reasonable. German Advances In Synthetic Gas We know that Germany has made remarkable advances in the manu-facture of synthetic gasoline and oils. We know that some oil has been retrieved from the Maikop oil fields in Russia, new ones developed in Austria. If Germany is not yet starved of gasoline and lubricants, if the Luft-waffe has not really disappeared from the earth, its absence from the air may have another meaning. We know that in spite of the heavy Ger-man losses in men and material in Russia, Germany still has a large and powerful army. Possibly over 300 fully equipped divisions trained men. It is estimated that aside from soldiers engaged in Russia and North Africa, the garrisons in the occupied countries, there must be a striking mobile army of a million men and more. Of course, these are estimates but they are not over-estimates. And besides this army there is the "vanished Luftwaffe." The assumption is that this great army like the airforce is resting, conserving and building up its strength for one of two things: ei-ther a long, last stand defense of the borders of the Reich or one more powerful offensive. WNU Service, 1343 H Street, N.W. Washington, D. C. "It will be a long and bitter war." That was the remark of the Aus-tralian minister of defense in a re-cent interview. Two days later, I heard a general, who had visited many fronts, make a similar state-ment. You have heard the same prediction made from dozens of off-icials. And the strange thing is, it is usually preceded with an account of Allied successes. Nothing but a "but" stands between the enumera-tion of victories achieved and the prediction of the long, hard road ahead. Since this perplexed me, I tried to get a concrete answer from vari-ous persons as to just what lies on the long, hard road. Out of the an-swers, two obstacles stand out, the submarine and the story of the "van-ishing Luftwaffe." Only recently has it been definitely revealed that the enemy's greatest and most effective weapon is the submarine. For a long time, the British permitted only the most general statements regard-ing the sinking of Allied or even neutral ships by Lately, because it was realized that the peo-ple were in ignorance of the extent of this menace, more detailed state-ments have been made, although still no figures are given out. We know that America Is building ships faster than American ships are being sunk. We know that the margin between launchings and sinkings is very narrow. And we know that launchings alone do not really balance sinkings hull for hull because the enemy sinks loaded ships valuable cargoes are de-stroyed trained men not easily or immediately replaceable are killed or at least taken out of action for long periods gaps are left in the war effort with each lost cargo. Meanwhile, we know that every day that Japan is allowed to occupy the rich possessions of her stolen empire, she is nearer to the ex-ploitation of their resources, the de-velopment of which will make her stronger. And every day she is left undisturbed by a major attack, she is able to increase her fortifications, wear down the Chinese and spread her "silver bullets" among the less loyal war-lor- d followers on the fringe of Chiang central army. There are two factors which make the road ahead a hard one the pres-ent successful operation and the rapid replacement of the German submarine flotilla and the probabili-ty that Germany is holding back a powerful army and air force either for another telling blow or to de-fend its strongly fortified terrain. Ideologies Put Them on Ice? As I go wandering round the town taking a look in every quarter with apologies to Wan - Eyed Reilly I have acquired data in the last few days that have convinced me that we will have to expunge the word ideology from the bright lexicon of war, if we are going to win. I have observed three places where the ideologies have gotten in and done more damage than a buf-falo moth in an overstuffed sofa. Of course in North Africa it may be the climate or the rainy season ideologies have done some of their most devastating work. I have con-versed with an army officer, an off-icial, who knows that terrain and also what it produces, a newspaper philosopher and a radical all of them look at the situation on the shores of the Mediterranean a lit-tle differently. The official explains that the politics are very impo-rtantthe radical, happy over the success against all Fascists, but in-furiated over using them even to help defeat themselves, shouts "We should have shot Darlan the day after he served his purpose." "Well," remarks the official, "some-body did, didn't they?" The army officer calls the whole controversy a backyard row that will be forgot-ten as ground dries up and the Al-lies get a few victories. But the correspondent philosopher paused to analyze. He said: "You have heard that one thing that greatly improved the morale in the Russian army was making the officers supreme and re-moving the authority of the com-missars which were originally placed at their elbows. You know the Russian officers could make no move without the okay of the com-missar and yet the officer was re-sponsible if anything went wrong. Now, the officer has the final word-m- any of the former commissars who had military training have become officers. When I was in Berlin covering the outbreak of the European war in 1939, I heard a great deal of talk about Germany's counter-blockad-how the Nazis could fill seas with their There was much talk of the great numbers which could be produced by the American meth-od of the .assembly line. I had no idea how much truth there was in those statements. Then in the months that followed, not much was said about the For a pe-riod when they were operating on our coasts, America was conscious of their presence but when they were driven out of sight of our shores, they were driven out of mind as well. Nazi Boasts Largely Confirmed Now we learn how great their dep-redations are on the shipping lanes where they converge in the eastern Atlantic, confirming to some degree the German boasts which are sound-ing again. It is stated by British naval observers that the Germans are the subs, mak-ing the parts in factories scattered all over ,the Reich and assembling them in great underground caverns hewn out of the rock or covered with concrete on the shores of the Bay of Biscay in France. Therein lies a clear and simple explanation of the Allies' greatest problem, the chief obstacle on the "long, hard road." The second obstacle may be a fancied one but it is real in the minds of many. The unknown is usually more terrible than the known and perhaps this one is at least partly a myth but no hard-heade- d realist can afford to under-estimate the enemy's potentialities. Those who believe this "obstacle" exists, say it is hidden behind the mystery of "the vanishing Luft-waffe." According to military men, there are at present very few German planes on the Russian front. I heard a recent estimate of as many as a year ago. There are not many German planes over Africa the Allies have at least achieved parity in air pow-er. Where is the German Luftwaffe? Its presence darkened the skies of Europe once has it really van-ished? Been used up? Worn out? The factories which turn out re-placements all destroyed by Allied bombers? Is Its necessary fuel and lubrication exhausted? Some people B R I E F S . by Baukhage The Swedish Labor federation re-ports that the number of strikes, and workers involved, during 1942, was the lowest ever recorded. Only 34 strikes, with some 1,922 workers in-volved, were reported. The number of lost working days totaled 94,000. Only three times before in the his-tory of Sweden's labor, have there been a less number of working days lost through strikes. The German press stated that food supplies required by the Nazi forces in Denmark would henceforth be supplied by the Danes alone. Up to this time, the occupying forces have been supplied partly by food ship-ments from Germany. A report from Norway stated that it is now forbidden to sell herring for home use. This makes the food situation still worse since home-salte- d herring have always constituted an important item in the Norwegian diet Feed grain supplies are 12 per cent larger, hay supplies are 9 cent per larger, and supplies of grain and hay per animal on farms are somewhat larger than they were this time last year. This year, civilians will probably eat more peanut butter than ever before, because peanut butter is high in both protein and fat. An official Lithuanian radio an-nouncement early in December stat-ed that vegetable seeds for spring planting would be distributed only to persons who agreed to deliver their harvest to official purchasing cen-ters. A goal of $125,000,000 for the 1943 Red Cross War Fund was fixed to-day by the central committee of the American Red Cross. The campaign will be held in March which Presi-dent Roosevelt has designated as Red Cross month. Metal Doors, Frames, Shutters VPB's order halting production of metal doors, door frames and sutters is saving the U. S. about 120,000 tons of steel for war, on the basis of 1941 output. That's enough metal to provide all the steel need-ed for the steel parts of 6,315 big U. S. bombers. WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Allied Command Moves to Clear Africa And Secure Control of Mediterranean; Hitler Decrees Added Nazi Sacrifices In Effort to Bolster Failing Manpower (EDITOR'S NOTE : When opinion. are I" '"'""'i h'"P" Western Newspaper Union s new. analyst, and not Released by Western Newspaper Union. l iA If SOUTH PACIFIC: Jap Casualties Heavy From New Guinea came Gen. Douglas MacArthur's consoling an-nouncement that American casual-ties in the victorious Papuan cam-paign were less than half the Japa-nese losses. Previous statements had said that a Japanese Papuan army of 15,000 had been wiped out This indicated American casualties might have totaled 7,000, including those in-capacitated by sickness. As General MacArthur consolidat-ed his forces for the drive to clear the enemy out of the rest of New Guinea, military activity was limit-ed to continuous bombing of enemy bases. The raids included a heavy concentration on Lae, which is ex-pected to be the next target of 's offensive operations. The navy department disclosed that a new Jap air base established within easy raiding distance of Guadalcanal in the Solomons had been strongly attacked by American bombers. The new Jap airfield is on Ballale island, about 300 miles north-west of Henderson airfield on Guad-alcanal. The navy likewise announced that in air action over Wake island, a number of Jap Zero planes had been shot down, while all United States aircraft had returned safely to their fields. CORN GROWERS: Reap Big Benefits Corn belt farmers and western wheat growers will get the lion's share of the $595,500,000 in benefit payments to be distributed among growers for complying with last year's federal crop control pro-grams, it was indicated in a prelim-inary report of the department of agriculture on 1942 farm subsidies. Southern cotton farmers will get the smallest amount since 1936, largely because of the improved price position of this crop. The department's figures disclosed that payments to wheat farmers will total $133,477,000, compared with $107,353 for the 1941 crop. Corn payments will amount to $188,219,-00- which is the record for that crop. Payments on the 1941 crop totaled $130,186,000. Cotton payments for 1942 will amount to about $78,833,000, com-pared with $184,957,000 in 1941 and a peak of $265,595,000 for the 1938 crop. Until the 1942 crop year, cotton pay-ments exceeded those for any other commodity. YANKEE FOOD: Aids Russ Offensive That American lend-leas- e food shipments have helped the Russian armies deal their deadly blows to Hitler's Nazi legions was revealed by Claude R. Wickard, secretary of agriculture. Food shipments to Russia which rose sharply as the winter offensive progressed went directly to'the Red How the U. S. task forces apply what the high command describes as "Swift Massive Strokes" against the enemy is illustrated by the above photo showing troops going aboard an air transport In New Guinea, equipped for marching or fighting or both when the plane reaches a destination In front of the Japs. TUNISIA: Activity Stepped Up Indications that the long awaited offensive to drive the Axis out of North Africa might be near, were seen in reports of the recapture of several central Tunisian positions with which the enemy had sought to form a line of protection for the flanks of Marshal Rommel's army retreating into Tunisia from Libya. Conferences of top American and British military chiefs in Casablanca even after the departure of Presi-dent Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill had emphasized the impor-tance of the next Allied moves. Lieut. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's American forces had driven the Ger-mans back from six to nine miles in the Ousseltia Valley and had pressed steadily toward a pass through which Rommel's troops must pass jn their effort to join Ger-man Gen. Von Arnim's army. Rommel's widely strung out rear guard had been constantly under at-tack by General Montgomery's Brit-ish Eighth army. One of the heartening features of the American activity was that this drive had recaptured several posi-- . tions of tactical importance previ-ously lost by the French when Ger-man armored units had smashed through their lines. AIR BLOWS: By n' Team Ominously prophetic of more and deadlier blows at the heart of Ger-man industries and naval bases were the first day-light bombing attacks in which swarms of unescorted Flying For-tresses and Liberators smashed at the naval base of Wilhelmshaven and industrial installations at Em-de- While three of the unescorted American bombers were lost on the Wilhelmshaven-Emde- n raids, United States headquarters said that a "number" of enemy planes were de-stroyed. Hitler's northern flank was given a pounding when the shipyards in CoDenhaeen. Denmark, hitherto nn. HITLER: Produce or Die Significant of even sterner meas-ures ahead on the Nazi home front was Adolf Hitler's decree imposing compulsory labor service on all Ger-man men from 16 to 65 and all women from 17 to 45 and hinting the death penalty awaited slackers. Observers who had been puzzled for weeks over Nazi radio propa-ganda stressing the seriousness of the military situation in Russia now readily saw that this device had been employed to prepare the Ger-man people for new sacrifices of a most bitter and stringent nature. Clearly Hitler was trying desper-ately to solve his manpower prob-lem. Allied military experts esti-mated Germany must recruit at least 1,000,000 new men to fill the gaps in her army. DRAFT CALL: Faces Fathers in '43 Evidence mounted that the draft-ing of married men with children would be under way before the end of 1943, following the U. S. high command's announcement that the nation's armed forces would total 10,420,000 this year. Observers recalled a statement some time ago by Maj. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, selective service chief, indicating that the supply of child-less married men would last only about 10 months. The statement in-ferred that drafting of men with children would begin around next October if 10,000,000 or more were to be called without drafting 18 and 19 year olds. Since General Hershey spoke, the minimum draft age has been low-ered to include those age brackets, but the gain thus made in the num-ber of draft eligibles has been off-set by deferment of all men 38 years or older, apparently reinstat-ing his forecast. NAZI PEACE: Offensive Is Nipped As political observers viewed in perspective President Roosevelt's historic North Africa conference LhZJ FOOD ADMINISTRATOR WICKARD army, Wickard disclosed. "In De-cember, for the first time," he de-clared in a report to the war council of the National-America- n Wholesale Grocers association in Chicago, "shipments to Russia were larger than the combined shipments to the United Kingdom and other British destinations." Discussing the 1943 outlook Mr Wickard said that "our armed forces and those of our Allies will require almost a quarter of all the food we produce." scathed, were bombed by the RAF. The principal targets of this raid were engine factories which are working for Germany. RUSSIA: Cause for Rejoicing With President Roosevelt and Prime Ministef Churchill's joint note in his hands promising decisive blows in the West, "Uncle Joe" Stalin could look with considerable satisfaction on affairs in the East. How well the Russian offensives were going was indicated by a steady parade of Soviet communi-ques reporting successes all along the line. The Red army had driven forward to within 60 miles of Rostov, with the recapture of the railroad towns of Ataman and Yegorlyk. To the north, the Ukrainian offensive westward from captured Voronezh had pressed on to within 80 miles of the big Nazi base of Kursk, with the reoccupation of Gorsehechnoye. The Russian Stalingrad trap had closed its jaws on all but a few scattered remnants of the 200 Axis divisions of 200,000 men who had besieged that industrial stronghold. with Prime Minister Churchill, the conviction grew that one of the most significant but unheralded results of that meeting was the forestalling of a prospectivenew German peace of-fensive. For several months it had been evident in world chancellories that Hitler would offer a compromise peace as part of his 1943 plans. Re-ports had indicated that his pro-posals would be made through non-belligerent Spain and would include an offer to withdraw from Western Europe while still retaining territo-ries occupied in Poland, Russia and the Balkans. In the light of these disclosures the Casablanca declaration that the Allied nations would be satisfied with nothing short of the unconditional surrender of Germany, Italy and Japan, definitely destroyed this spu- rious peace offensive. President Roosevelt's visit with President Vargas of Brazil at Natal en route home, was significant of the solidity of South America's adhesion to the Allies. Observers believed Axis peace moves would make no dent in Latin America, even if made through Argentine I HIGHLIGHTS . . . i. thm week., news RUBBER PROGRAM: Green Light on 55 While a house of representatives naval committee ordered an investi-gation of charges made by Rubber Administrator William M. Jeffers that army and navy loafers" were mterfering with war production, WPB Chairman Donald M. Nelson disclosed that he had directed 55 per cent of the synthetic rubber program for which Mr. Jeffers has been battling vigorously be carried through "as rapidly as possible" In testimony before rubber investigating committee! Mr Nelson defended his curtailment of fte rubber administration's and declared he Jeffers as much as possible wiuXI serious interference with other r gent war production. The 55 per cent struction program means' that n synthetic rubber 25 Pteted as plants wUl be com early as possible, the WPB chan-ma-been indicated. Mr. Jeffers had 65 to demanding right of way for 70 per cent of , Baruch program "ginal FEMALE MARINES: New Commander Chosen Heading the new Marine Wmnen's corps commandant ' manne Relieving leathernecks fnr be'sfiX in purpose to of the army, the WAAT, navy and Coast GuarlRf e feminine marines will The cial nickname haVe no CANBERRA: Prime Minister John Curtin told parliament that from the outbreak of the war to the beginning of 1943, totnl Australian battle casu-alties in all combat theaters were 52,148. The number comprised 6,826 killed, 23,892 missing, 9,059 known prisoners and 12,371 wounded. Aus-tralian casualties date back to early 1941 operations in North Africa un-der General WavelL LONDON: Chancellor of the Ex-chequer Kingsley Wood, announced that Great Britain was now spending $56,000,000 a day compared with ex-penditures last October of $51,000,-00- He estimated expenditures for the year would be $19,600,000,000. "Expenditures in North . Africa Libya and other parts of the world have now probably taken the place of rising production at home as the main factor in determining the rate of increase in our vote of credit ex-penditures," he said. Parliament voted favorably on two credit ex-penditure requests. NEW YORK: Pearl Buck, author expressed the fear that "through Political domination an international Fascist government may follow this war and seize the peace in the of world order." Tn-d- Speaking at an .a independence celebration here Miss Buck said: "There are men of many nations who are thinking of world organization in terms of world military power." .haImW! e myStery of Timoshenko's where about, in the Russian offensive, wa cleared up when it was announced officially that he had been appointed frorThTs f" covers the area between Kalinin, 100 miles north northwest of Moscow and a south of the Leningrad front. XtaS shenko was supplanted on the south. had brnnVaSt tf 3fter the Ge"nan. Imes to through the Russian Stalingrad. It had been por ed that he had since gone to Se northern part of the Russian front 0 Metal-Cappe- d Flues Fireplaces in unusual rooms should have flues metal-cappe- d to prevent seepage of moisture. CLASSIFY DEPART BARBERSwI BARBERS WANTEDr7"-- ; near Marysvllle. Calif d?' Afrr, hair cut. Make $60 on . c I ' 70 comm. Dormitory , for single men. k Rout. 1. MaryUeSf sort of gift tosendafri! tive in one of "''-- branches of the worries are over If v s' ' pipe or rolls-hisiw- n tn"1 is a pound of tobacco v surveys made sailors, marines, among show that C ranks first on his gift , Jh tobacco dealers are f 1 Prince Albert in for service men. PrilT,1-th-world's largest. mg tobacco, is a bi ng s among many men in the si How To Re!;:,;1 Bronchitis Creomulsion relieves prommm cause It goes right to the ,r trouble to help loosTnan germ laden phlegm, and !'" to soothe and heal raw teni flamed bronchial mucou' branes. 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SUMMER HAYS MUSIC COMPANY JJJWestFirstSmitl WANTED rffSSfSS fV-- y Relieve fiery itching H aly further irritation active, specially mediciw BARBERS ARE IN DEMAND. EARN white you learn bartering in a few months. MOLER-SAL- T LAKE BARBER COLLEGE FOR SALE TRACTORS Completely Rebuilt Tractors for Plowing. Cultivating-- and General Farming;. Power-ful, practical machines rebuilt by tha makers of the Powerhorse Tractors. Bonham Bros. Mfg. Company 22! W. 17th South St., Salt Lake City USED CARS TRAILERS USED CARS TRAILER COACHES Liberal Credit Terms JESSE M. CHASE Buy Sell Trade STORES IN OGDEN. PROVO. SALT LAKE CITY. CATEJLOOISE BLACKFOOT White Fawn Flour Leads Them All Ask your Friendly Grocer Floating Hotel For relief of Wash-ington, a floating has been towed to Hie capital from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Each room aboard the 264-fo-houseboat, which originally cost $365,000, is about square and has running water and a lava-tory. Some rooms have baths. Human Nature Sometimes human nature is grand; more often, not. Log Stacks in England Stacks of logs are to be built up throughout. England for use in event of an acute fuel shortage. The ministry of fuel and power will provide the funds for the project and control the selling price. Secret Holland Newspaper A secret newspaper, Netherlands Awake, is being circulated in Hol-land. It appeals to coal miners, railway workers and employees of power companies to sabotage the German occupation program. Good Intentions You like a man to have sharp wits if his intentions toward you are good. Saves Fuel Insulating saves fuel, which is patriotic. Freight by Air The cost of transporting i freight that can be carried b; Liberty ship on a round trip California to Australia is 250 t:r greater by air than it is by n. Lost His Shoes Men at the Officers Candidate school at Miami Beach, Fla., were quartered temporarily in a hotel where dimout regulations were ob-served. At reveille they lined ud in the dimmed out area. The men were- told to report immediately to their own squadrons for breakfast. One man hesitated would he be permitted to return to his room for a moment? In the darkened room he couldn't find his shoes. That's why he reported in bare feet. Republic of Texas Texas is the only state vh:: entered the Union by treaty r..;:: as an independent republic. Oil Shortage of imported fats and oils has led scientists of the depart-ment of agriculture to seek sub-stitutes in materials formerly wasted. Most promising among the pit or kernel oils are apricot, prune, peach, and cherry oils. All are similar and somewhat resemble sweet almond oil used in cosmetics anl in baking. The Trouble A public servant seldom senses the immediate presence of his boss; and that's the trouble. Do They? Do those who are "satisfied with what they have" build up the natio-n- wide businesses? Bold River The Rio Grande was named i! the Spaniards "Rio Bravo Norte," "Bold River of the North. |