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Show Social Security Program, Labor Laws Face Congress Proposed Legislation to Bring Unions Under Definite Restrictions; New Insurance Plan To 'Out-Beveridge' England's Program. By DAUKIIAGE New Aiuilyst and Commentator. YVNU Service, 1343 H Street, N.W Washington, D. C. As the ship of state pulls out of the holiday doldrums, skipper and crew are setting their jaws for rough weather. There are cross currents ahead in the new congress which are going to set the old ship rocking. Symbolic of conflicting move ments, the debate of which will soon be filling the Congressional Record, are these two: A proposed bill to bring labor unions into the restrict ing pale of legislation such as bus I ness has to contend with under the anti-trust laws, and a social security program which some say will out- Beveridge England's new Beveridge plan. That program, its author, Sir William Beveridge says, is "in some ways a revolution." The "holiday doldrums" 1 men tioned were not entirely a seasonal affair this year. There was the usu al letdown while congress went home and the nation turned to festal thoughts. There was also a pre meditated lull which was necessitated necessi-tated by the turnover in the last election. The administration knew that no matter what was done in the Interim between November and January, It would, In some measure, be undone when anti-administration Democrats and the increased Republican Re-publican minority got together in the new congress. , Stop-Cap Arranged Since manpower is the prime consideration con-sideration of the moment, a stop-gap was arranged. With much fanfare Manpower Commissioner McNutt was given new powers and a far-flung far-flung program was ballyhooed. But It was mostly ballyhoo and just before be-fore Christmas wide publicity was given to a document which was obviously ob-viously the forewarning that much stricter regimentation of labor was in the wind. The long-postponed, but inevitable, national service act raised its head again. The document was a draft of a bill made by Grenville Clark, an attorney at-torney who suddenly emerged as a presidential advisor. ' It was announced an-nounced that he made a special trip to England to study the British manpower man-power setup. Clark remained silent until just before Christmas and after congress had gone home, but every congressman received a copy of the proposed legislation. About two weeks earlier, shortly after the Beveridge report was made public, a cabinet officer was heard te remark: 'We've got to get busy and draw up a program that fits America's needs a little better than the Beveridge plan would." But the lull was still hilling then and when the President was asked at a press and radio conference if he were preparing a message for congress en the subject that was about the time of the remark of the cabinet member he said "no." The Beveridge plan was the natural nat-ural result of the Battle of Britain. Then a common danger brought the British people closer together. The housed had to be taken care of. . Class lines don't exist in the shambles. sham-bles. A bombed-out duchess can be as cold and hungry as a waif. The poor suddenly realized that if they could be taken care of as well or better in an emergency, they ought te have a little better distribution distribu-tion of the ordinary decencies of life In prosperous peace times. Wise leaders didn't wait until the war was over to face angry demands which might turn into real revolution. Sir William Beveridge's committee drew up the blueprint for what they called "a British revolution" in the country's coun-try's economic setup under which, as one spokesman described it, "the people wwild contribute by their own preference, to a national insurance insur-ance fund rather than take a handout hand-out from the state." 'Assurance' The goal of the Beveridge plan Is to lay the ghost of Insecurity by .means of "assurance." Assurance is the British word for what we call "insurance" and which really defines the commodity better than our word assurance that men and women would have a subsistence through sickness and unemployment and old age; would have money to take the baby through its difficult early stages: enough for a decent burial without burdening friends or BRIEFS The use of aerial bombs as airraid air-raid warning devices are frowned upon by the war department in a statement to CCD officials. Not only is the sound of aerial bombs easily Confused with that of antiaircraft fire, but "they have doubtful value for warning purposes." Communities Communi-ties new using aerial bombs should discontinue the practice. Rn War Rnnric -" ' -V , i B ff ff f I WW 111 f 'fTa-a I J J1 - relatives; would provide a working woman with a bonus when she man ried so she wouldn't be penalized for enjoying connubial bliss. All this would be done on the principle of ordinary commercial insurance except that the government would run the machinery, both labor and capita! would contribute as such and the people as a whole, in accordance with their income, would pay a share through taxes. The plan is not new. But it Is a considerable extension of the present security laws such as Britain has had for a long time and such as the New Deal brought to America. No sane American politician, no matter how far he leaned to the conservative side, would suggest repealing re-pealing America's social security laws. It couldn't be done. But the controversy will arise in congress when attempts are made, , as they will be, to extend the benefits, both as to amounts paid and to new categories of workers. Such extensions exten-sions are contemplated in the plan now cooking In Washington. Labor Regulation That is one trend we can look for. Running counter to it on the surface, but really also shooting at the greatest good for the greatest num ber" is the trend toward regulation of organized labor. Probably a dozen bills have been drawn up, all of which tend to put the screws on labor unions. Many liberals feel that the unions have it coming. The growing number of strikes in wartime.'when maximum production is a matter of patriotism as well as necessity, the existing union rules which tend to interfere with maximum produc tion, the various "restraints" considered con-sidered as evil as the "restraint of trade" resulting from monopolies, all have been highlighted by war conditions. Bills will be presented to root out these ills. Much of the restriction of onions could be avoid ed If the unions cleaned their own house. i In America, as in England, when a nation Js called upon to make the sacrifices demanded by this war, it can be expected that the people will insist on a democratic distribution distribu-tion of opportunity and reward of effort when peace comes. The war will also have taught that maximum production means maximum prosperity. pros-perity. There are plenty of people to consume peacetime products; there are plenty of natural resources whose development can furnish the jobs for the consumers and provide the pay which makes it possible for them to buy what is produced. A,ny group or institution farm, labor, la-bor, management which stands in the way of this maximum production is bound to have its wings clipped. Meanwhile, the people will demand and get greater "assurance" against rainy days, which come even when prosperity is with us. And In providing pro-viding it, if Britain comes along, America cannot be far behind. Sightless Worker a Lockheed officials report that 13 blind workers who are helping build fighting and bombing planes in the California plant are in some respects re-spects better than average and turn out more work than their fellows because of higher concentration. Including In-cluding two women, these sightless workers passed a month's placement test in the Lockheed factory and are now working as tubing assemblers, assem-blers, burring-roll operators and assemblers as-semblers of switch boxes. One is a parts handler on a conveyor In the paint shop. Guide dogs bring the blind employees em-ployees to the plant each morning and doze all day beneath their masters' mas-ters' benches. Miss Hazel Hurst, sightless president of a foundation for training blind persons, worked at every job before selecting the blind worker to be placed in it However, the number of jobs they can perform with safety will always be limited, she said. Lockheed hopes to find jobs for more sightless workers. work-ers. It's Uniforms Now! The importance of Harry Hopkins' bathrobe conferences with the President Pres-ident are on the wane as far as their importance goes. The President is paying more attention to advisors in uniform. by Baukhage A houseboat on the Nile has been opened as a club for warrant and noncommissioned officers serving with American army forces in Egypt At Camp Livingston, La., Sergt Robert Sullivan, grandson of John I Sullivan, gives rifle instruction to Pvt. John W. York, cousin of "rct Alvin C. York. WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Jap Armada Repulsed in New Guinea; Russians' Rostov -Caucasus Offensive Wins Back Vital Areas From Germans; FDR Cites 'Miracle' of War Production (EDITOR'S NOTE! Wbe eplnlena are expressed la these '"5jJV,Smr!' Westers) Newspaper Union's nawa analyst and aot necessarily el twsppr Released by Western Newspaper Union. - H 'Z Li L j V II r ifo -J.v.,ii.ov, .JiBtAMMMiAtoifci III III III 1 I'ltff Mill it-- . 4 J First picture of an American officer questioning German prisoners is 6hown above, as Maj. William Yarborough (bareheaded) of Seattle, Wash., interrogates two German prisoners taken in Tunisia. Fighting French troopers look on. Major Yarborough Is liaison officer between the advanced ad-vanced U. S. forces and the French In Tunisia. ROOSEVELT: Better World Ahead .'.' Bad news for the Axis, good news for the United Nations and the as surance of victory followed by post war economic security were the three most significant elements in President Roosevelt's annual message mes-sage to the 78th congress. In delivering his bad news to the Axis on , all fronts, the President bluntly . announced: "Now our aim is to force the Japanese to fight. Last year we stopped them. This year we intend to advance." In the African area he promised that the last vestige of Axis power would be driven from the south shores of the Mediterranean. Concerning Europe, Eu-rope, he said, "We are going to strike and strike hard." The good news for the United Na tions was contained in Mr. Roosevelt's Roose-velt's enumeration of the "miracle of production" at home, as well as the evidence of close co-operations between all Allied Jsaders. In his summary of accomplishments dur ing the last year, the President listed list-ed the production of 48,000 .airplanes, 56,000 tanks and self-propelled artillery ar-tillery weapons, and 10,431,000,000 rounds of ammunition and the transporting trans-porting of 1,500,000 men of our 7,000,-000 7,000,-000 armed forces overseas. Significantly, Signif-icantly, he revealed that more supplies sup-plies are now being flown by American Ameri-can planes to China than were ever transported over the Burma road. In his approaches to postwar planning plan-ning and domestic policy, the President Presi-dent succeeded in promoting good will for the administration in a congress con-gress now closely balanced in political po-litical faith. He suggested principles princi-ples rather than specific recommendations recommen-dations for legislation that might stir up factional disputes. NORTH AFRICA: Allies Coil Give and take operations continued contin-ued on the Tunisian front, with the Allied forces steadily recruiting their strength until superior air and land power aided by more favorable weather would enable them to smash ahead in the all-out assault for Bi-zerte Bi-zerte and Tunis. As American troop concentrations were speeded in the new U. S. fifth under Lieut Gen. Mark Clark, Brit ish infantry units wrested important heights from the Germans west of Bizerte. The British, however, were dislodged dis-lodged from these positions by fierce German counter-attacks indicating the enemy's determination to contest every remaining foot of African soil British and American bombers were active in the air, while Allied submarines harassed Axis shipping in the mediterranean, sinking two enemy ships believed to be carrying troops to Africa. In the east, General Sir Bernard Montgomery's British eighth army had been sparring for an opening for a new pusn on Tripoli. On the diplomatic front it was re ported that Gen. Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Fighting French, and Gen. Henri Giraud had agreed to a discussion of North African problems designed to speed French action against the Axis in collaboration with their Allies. LOCAL TRANSPORT: ODT Takes Over In a far-reaching executive order designed to speed up the movement of war workers, President Roosevelt placed Defense Transportation Director Di-rector Joseph B. Eastman in charge of local bus lines and street cars. The effect was to give ODT complete com-plete supervision over all local trans-porta trans-porta tion equipment and to authorize Mr. Eastman to revise present service serv-ice and schedules wherever necessary neces-sary to step up the movement of passengers pas-sengers to and from war plants. THE LKIII l.hm ' SOUTH PACIFIC: Japs Are Stubborn Although General MacArthur's forces had cleared the enemy out of the Papuan peninsula, the Japs still held an area in New Guinea as large as Texas and Oklahoma combined. That the Nipponese intended to stubbornly stub-bornly hold this area was evident from their naval operations to reinforce, re-inforce, it. , ' j . . First Jap efforts in this direction were frustrated when United Nations bombers attacked a convoy of 10 enemy ships off Lae, 160 miles up the eastern New Guinea coast from Buna. The "Allied airmen sank two ships, one a 15,000-ton vessel loaded with troops, scored hits on a third and shot down 18 Jap planes, according accord-ing to a communique from General MacArthur's headquarters. Meanwhile other Allied airmen roved as far as Gasmata and Ra-baul Ra-baul in neighboring New Britain, where i, unusuaUy heavy concentra tions of Jap troop and supply ships and war craft had assembled. In the Solomons, American fliers continued to assert Allied air su premacy by attacking Jap airfields at Munda and Kahili on Bougainville island. Meanwhile in Burma, Brit ish planes strafed the area northwest of Akyab and damaged enemy ship ping off Burma's west coast, RUSS 'STEAMROLLER: Gains Momentum " Best news for the United Nations' cause continued to come from the far-flung expanses of south and cen tral Russia, ; The Reds' two-pronged threat aimed at Rostov, vital city at the mouth of the Don, grew more menacing men-acing t the Nazi defenders, as both the northern and southern arms of the pincers continued to make new gains, capturing 61 villages in the Middle Don and rolling up impres sive advances in the Caucasus. The Caucasus offensive was espe cially significant, for after expelling the Nazis from Mozdok, gateway to the Grozny oil fields, and from stra tegic Nalchik, the Russ pressed the retreating Germans hard, advanc ing toward Mineralne Vody, center of a network of Caucasus railroads. The capture of more than a dozen Caucasus towns indicated that the Nazi front in the area was breaking up faster than in any previous bat tles. The seriousness of the German plight in the Caucasus was emphasized empha-sized by the fact that for the first time the Berlin radio conceded that Axis troops were retreating in the east Caucasus, explaining that their troops had carried out "a shortening shorten-ing of the front, according to plan by giving up advanced strong points." PETROLEUM RATION: East Curbed Again The OPA cut deeper into the use of rationed petroleum products in 17 eastern states, when an order banned pleasure driving and slashed the amount of fuel oil that schools, stores, theaters and non-residentiai establishments may consume to 25 per cent below present rations, giving giv-ing them about 45 per cent of normal requirements. Future operation of many amusement amuse-ment places was left in rinnht - OIUIC the OPA order specifically banned motoring to theaters as well as race tracks, and the fuel restrictions tnreatened to make thpator. j night Clubs COol bevond rnmfnr ts vi, A lie OPA warned, too, that future cuts in non-resraential fuel oil rations might be necessary. Stern measures facpri mni;r.. violating the new orders. Anw .,. owner driving to amusement Tit. or to "purely social engagements" as name to the cancellation of all or part of his gasoline ration. j " - mi CONGRESS: Farm Bloc Program Increasing strength of the farm bloc's influence, In the 78th congress was evident as leaders mobilized their forces In both houses to modiiy administration farm policies and to seek release from the armed forces of drafted farm youth as a means of relieving the agricultural man-power man-power shortage.- That the farm bloc had support for its efforts In rural America was indicated by the action of five major farm organizations in uniting behind be-hind the program. These groups include in-clude the National Association of Commissioners, Secretaries and Directors Di-rectors of Agriculture; the American Farm Bureau Federation; the National Na-tional Grange; the Milk Producers Federation and the National Cooperative Co-operative Council. Speaking for the farm bloc, Senator Sena-tor John'Bankhead of Alabama said that preservation of the farm labor supply should figure in a complete redistribution of manpower. Indicating Indicat-ing the farm bloc's support of the farm organizations' appeal for release re-lease of drafted farm youth, he asserted as-serted that the estimated 3,000,000 to 3,500,000 men scheduled to be drafted in 1943 might well be diverted to production of both weapons and food. CONSUMER GOODS: Fewer Purchases Ahead Purchases of consumer goods and services by American civilians will register declines of 10, to 15 per cent in 1943, while production of goods will show a. 15 to 20 per cent dip, according to a prediction by the Office of Civilian Supply of the War Production board. The OCS estimated that the lag in production would be offset by the absorption ab-sorption of 25 per cent of the inventories inven-tories on hand at the beginning of the year. Largest drop in buying is expected expect-ed in durable goods, continuing a trend started in 1942 when purchases-by purchases-by civilians declined 45 per cent below be-low 1941. This year's decline is estimated es-timated at 35 per cent below 1942. The OCS said that production of consumer con-sumer goods from steel would virtually virtual-ly stop. VICTORYPREDICTIONS Premature, Says Davis White-haired OWI Chief Elmer Davis, who prides himself on being realistic, exercised that trait when he took exception to Admiral William Wil-liam F. Halsey's prediction ' of a United Nations' victory this year. Commenting on the naval officer's forecast Davis said: "I have no information to support such a prediction, pre-diction, although I have been trying to get some." Davis pointed out that, the Ger mans are still building submarines faster than the Allies are sinking them and the U-boats' toll is creat- ELMER DAYIS ing "heavy losses in ships and the cargoes that go with them and sometimes some-times trained men in them." , The director of war information tempered his pessimistic views, however, how-ever, by stating that the Allied nations, na-tions, particularly the United States, for some months past have been building more ships than Axis submarines sub-marines have been sinking. POSTWAR CARS: To Cost $400 Radically new light-weight passenger passen-ger cars that may sell for as little as $400 were envisioned hv F r Crawford, nresident nf tho Wati,! w tlHWVUOl Association of Manufacturers, as a postwar development resulting from amazing strides in metallurgy. Mr. Crawford said that motorists in the coming peace era will have better gasoline than th. innto- fuel now used for combat aircraft ine superior gasoline, plus greater use of light metals dpvplnnori - MUlUIg the war, will give the American people peo-ple far greater mileage on their cars and the cheapest all-a bile transportation in history. ine aam president said automobile automo-bile companies exDeet tn start re duction on some cars immediately me war, Dut mat the new postwar post-war models Drohahiv 11711? tint nnnnn - -rf acai lor 15 to 18 months afterward. MISCELLANY: NEW YORK: Th A rr, -wAuaii pev pie contributed more than $9,000,000 to United China relief during 1942, Wendell L. Wilifeio uvuivcu 11 Cl c. Speakine over a national Trli - iouw nuuft. up, Willkie, honorary national chair- rviiv Af it. J . . . . . vt me arive, saia mat last year's donations amouted to $7,083,357 in cash and pledges totaling $2,209,676. Gifts, he said. ranm tVnm 9 . ' e- "uui KCUIS to Bernard Baruch's $100,000. ' -Tilnmtfiiii' a I West Point at War By Maj. Gen. Francis B. Wilby (Supt. ot West Point Academy) Being: a newspaper columnist and reporter is a new experience for me, However, I feel that I can give you a "Reporter's Report to the Nation' from West Point, which should be of interest to every red-blooded American. I wish that everyone could visit West Point for just one day, and see what I see. You would get an inspiration that you cannot help but feel when you see the men of the Corps and what they are doing. They are not only fitting themselves for winning this war, but also for winning win-ning the peace, and preventing, if possible, the recurrence of such an other world conflagration as we are passing through today. - As you know, a cross-section of American youth is selected from all parts of the country to come to West Point. They are selected by the most democratic of methods, many of them by winning competitive ex aminations. ' Starting with these young men, we aim to develop a rigorously trained soldier-officer, a job which is greatly great-ly facilitated by the fact that the Cadets themselves sincerely desire to make the most of the opportunity they have here. With the rapidly changing weapons and new methods developed in modern warfare, we are constantly working to keep op to date and give the latest, most accurate information and training to the Cadets. WALTER WINCHELL ;s oa . tour of duty outside Continental U. S. During his absence, contributors will substitute. The Cadets learned and were do ing everything a thoroughly trained enlisted man ought to be able to do, and before the Summer was over, they looked like veterans. Summer maneuvers don't end the story of tough training at West Point Summer maneuvers are just a phase of the year-round program which is built to train fighting leaders. Every minute of the 16-hour day (6 a. m. to 10 p. m.), is filled by a tight schedule of instruction, study, and athletics plus tactical training in the arms and branches of the Service. The program is designed to turn out officers schooled in all types of army operation, and each Cadet is familiarized with the use of every weapon from the pistol, to the airplane. So one can see the West Pointer is TOUGH physically and mentally. He has to be. At the close of the Summer, the Cadets came back into the classrooms class-rooms for what we call academics. During the Winter months emphasis is placed upon academic instruction while the schedule in tactical training train-ing is somewhat reduced. A reporter probably would say that we have a highly mathematical and stiff engineering course. Perhaps Per-haps that is right, but the West Point curriculum aims at teaching a man to think, to reason, and to draw sound conclusions expressed clearly and concisely. Mathematics and the sciences provide this training of the mind which we believe is so essential essen-tial in order to produce the finest military leaders. -, I am happy to announce that this week the West Point instruction is being given a first-hand inspection by some of the leading educators in our country. I have invited Doctor Compton, President of the Massachusetts Massa-chusetts Institute of Technology, and Doctor Hopkins, President of Dartmouth, Dart-mouth, along with the principal military mili-tary experts on training in our Army today. Major General Bull of the Re placement Training Center of the Ground Forces, Brigadier Huebner of the Training Division of the Services Serv-ices of Supply, Brigadier General Edwards of the Training Division of the War Department General Staff, and Colonel Schlatter of the Flying Training Command of the Army Air Forces, to meet, confer and review our plans for the new 3-year course at the Military Academy. With this course we propose to produce a graduate of West Point who will have the finest education and training it is possible to afford in the time available. By constantly keeping abreast of the latest developments, we aim to do the job which America and Americans have asked us to do. In the days of Robert E. Lee and U. S. Grant, West Point produced men to meet the challenge of that era. John J. Pershing fulfilled his task in the days of the Kaiser. Dnrins the Dast Summer over 2,000 West Pointers went through the most rigorous field maneuvers that have hen held in the history of the Acaa- emy. Every phase of combat training train-ing was given the Cadets. They worked, they sweated, they maneuvered maneu-vered over the hills and through the rivers of northwest New York State, as well as here at West Point They had a good taste of how modern campaigns are fought. During these maneuvers some oi the toughest combat problems were carried out by the Cadets. I it; CLOGS UP tfntiiftiiM. 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