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Show I WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Europeans Swinging to Right; Demobilize 4,000,000 G..s; Foresaw Jap Break, Says Hull Released by Western Newspaper TTnlrt" (EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed in these colomns, they are those'of Western Newspaper Union' new analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) ' , , J f A ' ' ' ' f. 1 "V J r ' ' ? ' ;) -" I EUROPE: Swing to Right Running counter to historical experience, ex-perience, European nations given freedom of political action " are swinging to the right with slight modifications instead of far to the left as would be expected in the wake of suffering and privation. Following Hungary's decisive turn to the right, Austria was next to follow, fol-low, with the Volkspartei (People's party) carrying off election honors and being closely followed by the moderate Socialists. The Communists Commu-nists ran a poor third. Peculiarity of the first free balloting bal-loting in Austria after the anschluss of 1938 was that the political sentiment senti-ment of the country changed but little lit-tle during the annexation, the recent voting reflecting the same alignment as existed prior to the Nazis' entry. In winning the election, the rightists sought to maintain their grip upon the country, with their leaders planning plan-ning to seek Allied economic support to relieve the hunger and cold which "drive people to extremes." Meanwhile, the rightists continued to gain strength In Italy following JAPAN: ! fit Profiteers ! With hundreds of thousands 01 their men dead, their country heav Ily battered by bombs, and American Ameri-can forces occupying their homeland, home-land, Japanese were further impressed im-pressed with the dictum that wax does not pay by U. S. plans to confiscate con-fiscate wartime profits. At the same Time, General Mac-Arthur Mac-Arthur called for the suspension oi all discharge allowances or service pensions to demobilized Nip vets, except ex-cept the- disabled, in another move toward "... lightening the deadweight dead-weight burden which Japanese militarism mili-tarism forced the rest of the country coun-try to bear. ..." Under the sweeping tax orders issued is-sued by MacArthur to the Japanese government, all firms directly engaged en-gaged in war work would face a 100 per cent levy on their profits, while other businesses would be assessed up to 100 per cent. In addition to confiscating wartime profits, the U. S. sought to achieve a more equitable distribution ol wealth by ordering the imposition ol. a supplementary tax up to 70 perj cent on all capital. Effect of this regulation would be the expropriation expropri-ation of the tremendous wealth of the ruling families, known as the zai-batsu, zai-batsu, and the loosening of their monopolistic grip upon the nation. Besides some six and one-half billion dollars of war profits that would be involved in the confiscation, confisca-tion, another three billion dollars of war risk insurance and indemnity to damaged Japanese firms would be affected by the new order. Meanwhile, MacArthur agreed lo permit Japanese importation oi food, cotton, petroleum and salt to help feed the hungry populace. OVERSEAS RELIEF: 'Ike's' Plea Government requests for an additional addi-tional 1.9 billion dollars for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Rehabili-tation administration were given a decided boost with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's declaration before a congressional committee that political politi-cal instability may well follow failure fail-ure to assist liberated countries' transition to a peace economy. Asserting the need was great, "Ike" said that the necessarily long time that will be required to re-establish European industry following Nazi centralization during the war will result in widespread unemploy- ' 1 of leftism based upon partisan activity activ-ity after the armistice. armis-tice. In this strongly Catholic country, vith Rightist Prince Humbert figuratively figura-tively heading the state as lieutenant for King Victor. I" V v The two-millionth G.I. to be redeployed rede-ployed from Europe, Cpl. Charles W. Hudgins of Norfolk, Va. (right), is congratulated by Sgt. Albert Pro-copio Pro-copio of Revere, Mass. ARMY: Speed Discharges With the additional lowering of point scores, making another 783,000 men and women eligible for discharge, dis-charge, the army will have released half of its wartime force of 8,300,-000, 8,300,-000, with about three-fourths of the total coming since May 12. Meantime, the army expedited the return of all high point men from the European theater of operations, oper-ations, with the redeployment schedule sched-ule for November and December bringing the number of troops in the area below the fixed total. In speeding up the rate of demobilization, de-mobilization, the army reduced point requirements to 55 for enlisted men, while also freeing G.I.s with four years of honorable service or with three or more dependent children. At the same time, enlisted men 35 years of age with two years of duty; soldiers 38 or over, and overseas vets with 50 points, if declared surplus, sur-plus, remain eligible for discharge. The rate of officer demobilization also will pick up with the cut in their point requirements from 75 to 73 and their eligibility for discharge upon completing four years and three months of honorable service. WACs also benefitted from the reduction re-duction of their point score from 34 to 32 and discharge eligibility of both married officers and enlisted personnel. WAR CRIMES: Nazi Plans Having regained some of their aplomb after earlier humility imposed im-posed by surrender, the 20 top Nazis on trial for war crimes at Nuernberg Nuern-berg heard Assistant U. S. Prosecutor Prosecu-tor Sidney S. Alderman outline the party plan for military aggression, with one phase dealing with preparations prepa-rations for fighting "two-thirds of the whole world." ' Taken from a naval document, the ambitious plan for global warfare declared that Hitler's aims to make Germany an outstanding power probably could not be achieved by peaceful means, and that the reich was forced to prepare for conflict with England, France, Russia and "in fact, one-half to two-thirds of the whole world." Despite the grandiose blueprinting of the militarists, however, other documents showed that the Nazis abandonedplans for invading England, Eng-land, capturing Gibraltar and seizing seiz-ing Iceland and the Azores the project against Britain being discarded dis-carded because of the lack of transport trans-port and the strength of the RAF. Other papers showed that Germany Ger-many launched a program of secret rearmament even before the rise of Hitler, contracting for construction construc-tion of submarines in Holland, Spain and Finland, while also building build-ing up a military air force by the training of air lines pilots for combat. com-bat. To cover up their naval development, devel-opment, the Germans consistently falsified reports as to the true tonnage ton-nage of their fleet. Previously, the U. S. prosecution drew from 'the piles of captured German Ger-man documents to reveal that Hitler Hit-ler had egged the Japanese on to war against the U. S., though the Nipponese Foreign Minister Matsu-oka Matsu-oka expressed the belief that America Amer-ica would not fight over China but would move if Singapore were attacked. Vittorio there has been an Orlando Increasing agitation for moderation to respect the interests of all classes of the population. Favored by Allied Al-lied policy, the rightists have become increasingly aggressive in speech and action, taking the play from the once powerful partisans. Because of the non-development of democratic statesmanship during the long fascistic regime, concrete , political leadership in Italy has thus far failed to coalesce, with the result re-sult that Prince Humbert has considered con-sidered appointment of famed World War I premier, Vittorio Orlando, as head of a new government to furnish it with both prestige and direction. PEARL HARBOR: Diplomatists Testify Led by former Secretary of State Cordell Hull, ace U. S. diplomatists, diplomat-ists, testifying at the congressional inquiry into Pearl Harbor, told of the government's efforts to forewarn Japan of the consequences of continued con-tinued aggression in the Far East and revealed the strategy to gain time to speed American preparedness. prepared-ness. Pale and appearing tired, with overcoat draped over his shoulders, the ailing Hull declared the chances of reaching a settlement with the Japs were never more than 100 to 1 Inasmuch as this country refused to sacrifice its principles in any agreement. agree-ment. Consequently negotiations were extended to delay an untoward Nipponese move, with eyes focused on possible action in the far east rather than at Pearl Harbor. While Hull told of the government's govern-ment's delaying tactics, swank former for-mer Undersecretary of State Sumner Sum-ner Welles told of the late President Roosevelt's warning to the Japanese that continued far eastern aggressions aggres-sions would compel the U. S. to safeguard safe-guard its vital interests. In addressing ad-dressing the Nipponese ambassador, however, FDR watered down a declaration dec-laration originally drawn up at the Roosevelt-Churchill Atlantic conference confer-ence openly threatening a recourse to arms if the Japs overstepped their bounds. Denying that he knew of Gen. George C. Marshall's reported statement state-ment that the U. S., British and Dutch military forces had agreed on joint action in the event of an attack on their territory or strategic far eastern points, Welles said that he made no policy while acting as secretary sec-retary of state but merely spoke for Hull or Mr. Roosevelt. ' U. S. ambassador to Japan from 1932, bushy-browed Joseph C. Grew revealed that while the militarists exerted strong influence in Japan following the conquest of Manchuria, Manchu-ria, responsible Nipponese elements strived to reach an agreement with the U. S. until late in 1941 when Tojo took over. Though he had heard rumors of a mass attack on Pearl Harbor in the event of war, Grew said. U. S. naval intelligence discounted dis-counted the probabilities of such a move. Ragged young Italian eats meal of bread, pointing up UNRRA plea for relief funds for impoverished European Eu-ropean nations. ment, with dire poverty ensuing unless un-less food and clothing are furnished. Declaring that the army was not equipped to handle relief while UNRRA was especially set up fori the job, Eisenhower urged the' continuance of its work. Readjust- ing operations after early mistakes growing from inexperience, UNRRA now was performing a creditable task, the general said. RUBBER: U. S. Key With its 52 government-owned synthetic syn-thetic plants, the U. S. holds the key to the postwar rubber situation, involving in-volving the future of the huge British, Brit-ish, Dutch and French plantation industries in-dustries of the far east. Precisely because the U. S. is able to supply 85 per cent of its rubber needs through the synthetic product, and such a policy would result in the plantation industry's loss of about half its prewar market, the whole question has entered the diplomatic diplo-matic realm. Strong sentiment exists ex-ists in this country to retain at least part of the tremendous new synthet-! ic plant for future development and possible emergency. Because of the strategic position it enjoys, the U. S. may well be ablei to hammer down the price of natural rubber, pegged at about 18 cents a pound before the war by an international interna-tional cartel after former fluctuations. fluctua-tions. While synthetic costs approximated approxi-mated 25 cents during the first five months of 1945, improved technique has since shaved the figure to about 18 cents. MVA: Meets Opposition The proposed Missouri Valley authority au-thority suffered a second setback In the form of an adverse report by the irrigation and reclamation committee. com-mittee. The bill, reputed to be the only piece of legislation ever to be referred by congress to three different differ-ent committees, had already been reported re-ported adversely by the commerce committee. ' It still faces action by the agriculture and forestry commit- |
