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Show THE TIMES-INDEPENDENT, MOAB, UTAH $< _- Admiral Taussig Who Predicted War National Preparedness Drive With Japan Has Long Feud With F. D. Encounters Political Bickering Bruckart's Washington Digest By Washington Correspondent Sees Defense Program Being Turned ‘Into a Vehicle for Selfish Use'; Racketeering Labor Leaders Climb on Bandwagon. By WNU WILLIAM BRUCKART Service, National Press Bldg., Washington, D. C. ee cetera erate ee WASHINGTON.-It is exceedingly difficult to maintain a balanced viewpoint in the national capital these days. War hysteria is flowing at higher tide than in any other city of the land. Washington is the nerve center of the plans for a great and proper national defense scheme. That is bad. Yet, a calm perhaps would settle down and the serious job confronting the nation probably would be accomplished more effectively and efficiently if some other and more dangerous factors were not horning in on the situation. It may not yet be so clear to the folks outside of Washington, but I must report that the urgently needed national defense program is being turned into a vehicle for selfish use. There is no longer room for doubt. The tragedy is that many otherwise sincere and honest individuals in places of responsibility are lending aid to this chicanery and boring-from-within. The cold fact is that while patriotic and far-seeing folks are giving the best efforts available to the development and execution of the national defense program, fumes and stench are beginning to arise from He chose to disagree. St tina eames cine So ieiemrentaas! ey: ateore, S6- at A nae alg RT Me nae tar * ores hea Omi +e a en ee libata Opponents of Democracy Are Boring From Within La a ne wren re ene ne ea the midst of this very serious business. The condition is upon us and thus far there is no apparent effort on the part of anybody in authority to check it. One hears and sees how the defense program is being speeded. One naturally offers commendation. But hardly is that applause given when through the cracks and the crevices comes the information that politics is preying upon the whole scheme. Some of it already smells to high heaven. The length to which some men will go to further their selfish political aims at the expense of all of us is beyond comprehension. And in the midst of these serious endeavors, also, comes the shouts and the threats of some racketeering labor leaders. As usual, that type is simply getting on the bandwagon for the sake of publicity that they can get for their mouthings. It makes them appear important to benighted followers. Behind and beneath all of these things that are to be deplored is the creeping and gnawing of the termites who would be most happy to destroy our form of government. They are seizing upon the hysteria and the patriotism of the day to worm themselves into the spots where their concealed efforts will attract the least attention until the floor falls in. I have complained about these fellows many times before, and I shall continue to write about the dangers from them. They are in our government to the tune of several thousands. Again, little is being done about those, or the thousands that are at large. Let us begin with some details of the politics of the situation as it has existed now for several weeks. We should begin at the top. President Roosevelt is not less guilty than many of his supporters in the matter of playing politics. The President's speech to congress was a good speech, a speech that should have aroused a sleepy nation. It did. But there were Some parts of it about which there could be, and was, disagreement. Of those who disagreed, the President immediately said, in effect, that they were playing politics. He wantDefense and Politics With the national drive for U. S. defense gathering steam, the unnecessary element of politics is rearing its ugly head, according to William Bruckart. He feels that if this trend of political bickering continues it wil] seriously affect the entire military program. He urges that the nation's leaders forget their Silly, selfish interests and get down to the grim business of making America a secure place in which to live. ed a united people behind the program. The President hinted broadly in various utterances that anyone disagreeing with him was pretty much of sourpuss. Former President Herbert Hoover disagreed, as did a considerable number of representatives and senators, with some phases of the defense program. The President sought to quiet them all by making another speech-a fireside chat. There were holes in that speech, and scores of newspapers pointed at them, editorially. Mr. Hoover took issue with some of the President's plans in a radio speech. Two days after Mr. Hoover's radio speech, Assistant Secretary Johnson, of the war department, went on the air with a ‘‘reply'' to Mr. Hoover. Notwithstanding the President's contention that there was no politics in the defense program, Mr. Johnson's speech was released by the Democratic national committee. President and His Friends Have Right to Back Plan At least, the copy which came to me was on the stationery of the committee. I do not mean to say that either the President or Mr. Johnson should not defend the program which is their responsibility. I do insist, however, that there is no excuse for accusations of politics when they, themselves, are playing politics. In addition to the RooseveltHoover interlude, any observer must have seen the deluge of propaganda coming from various places in the government. The press agents have been working overtime in thinking up ideas that link their department's job with the development of a national defense program. Some of the efforts are pretty ridiculous, as silly as trying to make the love life of a bull frog appear important in the training of a soldier. That sort of thing is going on-the promotion of President Roosevelt's candidacy for a third term. On top of this situation, comes another request from President Roosevelt for congress to appropriate additional money. He started out by asking something over a billion dollars. One hundred million of this was to be turned over to him, personally. But now, he has asked for one billion more. He told congressional leaders that the terrific debacle among the allies, the surrender of the Belgians by their king, Leopold, and some other successes of the Hitler murder drive necessitated faster spending. Those needs may be genuine. Army and navy people tell me-and they ought to know-that we have no army that is "ready to go," ready to carry on if we are attacked. But those same army and navy experts said this was not a new condition. They insisted that rebuilding of the army and the navy should have been undertaken a dozen years ago. Cost of 50,000 Planes Is Ten Billion Dollars Strangely, the request for additional money did not reach congress until newspapers throughout the country began calling attention to the total cost involved in the President's call for 50,000 new planes. Mr. Roosevelt subsequently had said that the planes ranged in cost from $133,000 to $350,000 each. Well, if one takes an average that must be below the minimum and figures the cost at $200,000 per plane, 50,000 planes would cost $10,000,000,000. Ten billion dollars is a lot of money in anybody's language. So, a tax bill is proposed. A decision is made to issue ‘‘defense bonds'"" which would be paid off by the ‘‘defense'' taxes that have been proposed, and the job will have been done in five years. It all sounds reasonable and logical, but the taxes proposed would amount to around $650,000,000 a year and it is planned to issue three billions in defense bonds. Which leaves the question still unanswered as to how we are to pay for 50,000 planes that must cost around $10,000,000,000. It is all so confusing to a country boy,_like me. It remains only to be said that there is no great reason to be confident about the success of our defense program. The program is needed in view of world conditions which cannot be ignored. For the most part, it is a good program. But I still am asking why there is a call for national unity when responsible authorities are breeding dissatisfaction or are permitting confidence to wane. There has been one agency of the government that has become Americanized. The civil service commission has shown its colors. Notwithstanding that the commission has been shorn of much of its authority during the past few years, it has taken a definite stand on the matter of communists and fascists and others who do not believe in Americanism. It has announced none of these will be certified for jobs in the government. Which is all to the good, except that patronage jobs outnumber civil-service jobs under the New Deal. DREW PEARSON and ROBERT S. ALLEN (Released by Western : ‘OH, SAY, Newspaper Union.) WASHINGTON. - At Annapolis, where midshipmen put plebes through a constant cross-fire of hazing, one of the stock questions fired at a youngster is: "Mr. Jones, what did Admiral Taussig say?'' And the first-year man clicks his heels and snaps back the traditional Annapolis answer: ‘‘Sir, we are now ready!"' This refers not to Rear Admiral Joseph K. Taussig's recent and startling prediction that war between the United States and Japan was inevitable, but to a statement he made to the British during the World war which has become a naval classic. This gives one sidelight on the man who astounded the American public with his frankness in predicting war with Japan. That prediction has now been discussed and editorialized from coast to coast and from beer-hall to parlor. But there are several backstage factors which have not been discussed except ~in hush-hush groups of naval officers when they get together. One item is that no love has been lost between the President and Admiral Taussig. Roosevelt-Taussig Row. Admiral Taussig's row with the President goes back to 1915, when several naval officers, particularly the late Admiral Sims, were critical of Josephus Daniels and of Assistant Secretary Roosevelt in their preparation for war. Taussig was then chief of enlisted personnel in the bureau of navigation and joined in this criticism. Aft- Do By ADMIRAL et TAUSSIG er the war he even testified before a congressional investigation committee that the navy department heads had failed ‘‘to take adequate steps to provide personnel necessary for the proper conduct of the navy during the war.'' This was in 1920, just as the Republicans were trying to dig up political dirt to be used in the Harding campaign, in which Roosevelt ran as Democratic candidate for vice president. Naturally Roosevelt resented Taussig's playing into the hands of the opposition, and wrote a sharp letter to the senate naval affairs committee denying the charges. Thirteen years later, when Roosevelt became President, Taussig had just been appointed assistant chief of naval operations, a most imporfant post. And he went to the new President and suggested that Roosevelt might want to transfer him in view of their previous difficulties. The President, however, told him to forget it and continue in his new job. Brilliant BYRON One good reason for an early start is the ‘‘Star-Spangled Banner.'' With Good Reasons. There are other reasons for thinking about the Fourth of July early. For one thing, there is no discipline, no efficient preparation. Our children aren't certain if the Fourth of July is in commemoration of the Whiskey Rebellion or of the charge up San Juan hill; and we elders, on the other hand, are utterly helpless when one of the youngsters asks why James Buchanan was chosen to deliver the message to Garcia, or who helped the Green Mountain Boys take the Louisiana Purchase from the Indians. A touch of American history, therefore, would not be amiss between now and Independence day. Then there is the picnic. Typical SEEF Anthem? of American fiddle-braininess, we find that in our hurry we packed our basket with one small bottle of ketchup, one jar of dry mustard, one diaper, a tangerine, 300 paper napkins, 414 pounds of potato chips, and a box of paper Ky clips. As for the beverage we discover that the babbling brook which looked so inviting from the road is little more than a drainage system of a nearby farmyard, and since we neglected to bring a supply of typhoid antitoxin we face an afternoon of steaming coffee although the heat is driving the mercury through the rivets of the thermometer and the humidity is causing the cuffs of our trousers to roll up like rugs. Beware the Firecracker. There is still another phase of an American picnic that is especially exasperating. That is the matter of athletic equipment. Whenever we select a fir-shaded spot along the rocky shore of a mountain lake we find we have packed our tennis racket, catcher's mask and hockey stick. On the other hand when our choice is a small grove beside a thistledappled field we lift the lid of the rumble seat to discover that a lastminute impulse caused us to pack our outboard motor and a take-apart billiard cue we bought one time for no accountable reason in a boardwalk auction house in Atlantic City. America, someone has said, is the home of the free and the land of the brave. This is a good point. But too often many young Ameri- BYRD the world in the shape it's in it behooves us to approach our national anthem with at least a modicum of familiarity. Most often we attack Mr. Key's poem as though it possessed but five words. We begin resolutely with ‘‘Oh say can you see?'' and then never complete the question. See what? Our only reply is a mumble. And as for the melody we are downright anarchistic. We mouth along in our own independent fashion, throwing in a note here, tossing in another there, until finally the anthem begins to takeon the appearance of Fort McHenry after the British fleet finished its bombardment. The ‘Star-Spangled Banner'' is a good song if you can sing it. By beginning our practicenow we should be able to sing it by Independence day. And while we're about it, it wouldn't do any harm to brush up on ‘‘My Country 'Tis of Thee.'' So many Americans now go to Canada for winter sports and fishing that a disturbing minority of our good citizens end up ‘‘My Country 'Tis of Thee'' with ‘‘God Save the King.'' Now as friendly as are the relations existing between England and America and as much as the American people wish Mr. and Mrs. George VI a long, happy and distinguished career, the fact remains that terminating ‘‘My Country 'Tis of Thee'' with ‘‘'God Save the King'' is anachronismatical. A case could be made for it being metachromatinic also, but being anachronismatical is bad enough and should be sufficient to bring about a speedy end to the whole business. YOU National the , cans take BEFORE YOU SAY CORN FLAKES! Switch to something Self-Knowledge A man can know nothing of mankind without knowing some-| thing of himself.-Disraeli. ORIGINAL ROGERS SILVERPLATE IAN SPOON ONLY 25¢ advan- tage of their free™sdom to exploit their bravery. This Uis distressingly true during the m™ firecracker season when our children : celebrate the Fourth of July-that is, from May 1 until October 31. The least our public officials could do is pass a law prohibiting children under nine months of age from purchasing and setting off fireworks unless accompanied bya Saint Bernard dog equipped with a fire extinguisher. Aside from the fact that generation after generation is growing up with only three fingers to a hand and only one ear to a head, the setting off of fireworks by children too young to walk constitutes a fire hazard. It is easier than one imagines for a baby's burning dress to ignite the curtains. The foregoing are examples of what occurs when we perm® a holiday to catch us unawares like an overdrawn checking account. Let's CT Mem another moment. Just the thing for serving salads, desserts, vegetables, gravies, etc. Imagine it! Getting this lovely serving spoon in the new and romantic Orange Blossom pattern at such a saving! And adding the rest of the complete service the same way! Knives,forks,spoons, everything! Do not confuse this with similar offers. For this is Original Rogers plate, carryin the written guarantee of Invernasioaal ACTUAL SiZE! Silver Co., world's largest silversmiths! Why Offer Is Made We make this offer as a special inducement for you to try Sunkist Oranges, California's finest. They are wonderfully juicy --. Vitamin rich...easy to peel, slice and section... Best for Juice and Every use! Buysometodayandsend atonce for your serving spoon. With it, we'll send full instructions for completing your set of this exquisite, enduring silverplate. OTHER * PIECES AT SIMILAR SAVINGS ! Agricultural Areas Scouting Taussig Fleet. was cli 6 Sunkist Oranges! not put off thinking about the Fourth of July Rather Why Not I had rather it should be as why I had not a statue, than y 3 I had one.-Cato. Lag Send Now! Today! Just shave the trademarks from 6 Sunkist Oranges with a paring knife and send with 25c and your name and address to Sunkist, Dept. 406 Meriden,Conn. This offer good Only in U.S.A. Copyright, 1940, California Fruit Growers Exchange Rear Admiral Joseph Knefler Taussig was born in Dresden, Germany, in 1877 while his father was on duty. Since then he has become the star scholar and strategist of the navy. Twice he has won the Institute of Naval Affairs gold medal. Eleven times he has been decorated for bravery in action. His specialty has been studying the Far East. Taussig came up for assignment to new duties in 1936; therefore it was expected that he would be made commander of the United States fleet. However, in a conference between the President and his highest naval advisers, doubt was cast on the wisdom of having a man of German Jewish descent no matter how brilliant his record, head the United States fleet at a time when religious and racial prejudice had been made such an international issue. So Admiral CAN Know Career. It is no exaggeration to say that Taussig's career is one of the most brilliant in the navy. His father, Edward David Taussig of the distinguished Jewish St. Louis family, was a rear admiral before him. Heads You It isn't a moment too soon to begin thinking about the Fourth of July. In fact it wouldn't hurt to think a little bit about Labor day. Other Ra For that marvelous ¢an't-be-copied FLAVOR Whether Admiral Taussig resented this shelving is his secret. Being human, probably he did. Whether he let it get the better of him when he blasted at Japan before the senate committee never maj be known. SALLE EXTENSION Correspondence UNIVERSITY uti ‘i ° The map, accompanying the June Bulletin of American business conditions issued by La Salle Extension, showing the high spots of activity in the U. S. in the past month indicates the industrial regions continue ahead of the agricultural, Volume of Trade Six Per Cent Higher Than One Year Ago By L. G. ELLIOTT President, LaSalle Extension University CHICAGO.-Even the added uncertainties created by the intensification of the war have not interrupted the slowly rising trend in many lines. The major disturbances have been most striking in the financial and commodity markets rather than in trade and industry. The lead in an upward trend has been taken by the steel industry. The rate of operations rose from 60 per cent of capacity to over 70 per appoint- ed commander of the scouting fleet. And after three years in this position, suddenly he was given the relatively unimportant job of commanding the fifth naval district at Norfolk, Va. This was a definite comedown. AY JERR, Business Bulletin LA y War Costs @ Cost in human life in the present war is less so far than in a comparable period in the last World war. @ German figures are not availab le, The London Economist estima tes it at $14,000,000,000 to $16,000,000,00 0. @ Sweden, neutral more than 100 years, spent $200,000,000 last year for war preparedness as against $45,000,000 in 1936. cent. A year ago the rate was 45 per cent. Activity in other basic lines, such as the machine-tool industry, have reached a new peak at 93 per cent of Capacity. Automobile production so far this year has been the second highest on record, and not far below the peak in 1929, New orders for Many types of industrial goods have been increas ing and inventories are lower than they were a month ago. Consumer buy- ing has 6 per time, been cent maintained above last year at of a year ago. The drop was most marked in agricultural products and has thus reduced farm purchasing Changes were much = ae Best for Juice mT Ae k As Their Character Secret No nation can rise higher than] the character of its people.-Anon. |! to The only way to have a friend i be one.-Emerson. z bound if this year? & ba)2) st, THEN you must see OAKLAND! & | To complete your enjoyment stop at Oakland's favorite less in of industrial commodities, In estimating the future trend of business, allowances must be made for unexpected or sharp changes in the European war which might greatly modify the Current trend. of Friendship "1 ° the price level back to the low point power, Sa this Securities Decline. The decline in prices of securities and of many commodities was sharp and in a short time Carried prices CALIFORNIA about at ORANGES RATES Special rates for TT FROM $2.50 an rE ZY titd-ldsst batt \ |