OCR Text |
Show v WASHINGTON-1 NEtWS RrT1 - .:,! , " j:; FROM OUR CONGRESSMAN W. K. GRANGER U. S. PROGRAM FOR TOTAL WAR AS IT STANDS TODAY - Official Of-ficial figures show that this great Nation is barely starting its war effort, since funds already available by appropriation total $90,000,000,- 000 yet actual spending to date la barely $12,000,000,000. so that the business of making an American Arm', Including Its air force, still centers In the future. Appropriations to the Navy total nearly $43,000,000,000 opt of which to construct a two-ocean Navy and its air force, yet only $6,000,000,000 of this amount has been spent. The Maritime Commission which builds the ships that are to carry the Army and Its equipment to the fighting fronts, and to supply the Navy with its trains of vessels, has available $6,500,000,000 out of which only $303,000,000 has been spent for actual production. Then while $11,500,000,000 has been alloted to the Reconstruction Finance Fin-ance Corporation to finance the new plants and to buy the materials that must be Imported to feed the war effort, this agency has only used $1,584,000,000 as reported February 1, the last date of reporting. Lend -Lease has on hand $18,500,-000,000 $18,500,-000,000 and less than $2,000,000,000 1 of this amount has been spent. And so It goes. Facts and figures reveal that the people of this country coun-try have seen the barest beginning 1 of the effort that is going to be required to provide the Army and Navy and air force that will be needed to win the present war. It Is only when the war effort really begins to roll that the people will understand the size and scope of the problems Involved In this two-ocean two-ocean war. FOREIGN RELATIONS - Mexico Mexi-co paid the U. S. $3,000,000, its first annual payment under the General Claims Convention signed with this country November 19. The money eventually will be paid to U. S. citizens who suffered losses due to revolution or to expropriation of their farm properties since March, 1938, the State Department said. MATERIALS - The Forest Service Ser-vice said guayule rubber plant sowing sow-ing has begun In the 500 -acre nursery nur-sery at Salinas, California, and 875 acres of field planting from seedlings seed-lings was completed April 4. A seed building at the nursery has been completed and Is In operation1, I the Service said, tnd deliveries 'have begun on 3.000,000 feet ol lumber for construction of 911 mil's of track on which equipment will bo (operated over the nursery's 48-uvh seed beds. About 500 men are already al-ready at work planting. A contract has been awarded for food and clothing for guyaule workers and . arrangements have been completed for transfere of CCC equ.pment to the project. Plantings at the nursery nur-sery and In the field will proceed rapidly as weather and installation of Irrigation systems permit, the Forest Service said. ARMY AND NAVY - The Po.-,t Office Department will issue instructions in-structions to postmasters in the Postal Bulletin of April 3. to gra it free first-class letter mailing privileges privil-eges to all ranks of the armed forces, for-ces, including commissioned officers. offic-ers. Postmasters may accept unstamped un-stamped mail now that Uiey have received the official notice. The privilege applies to material maile l by service men from domestic points and from abroad and addressed anywhere in the U. S.. its territories territor-ies and possessions. BILL TO INCREASE PAY OF ENLISTED MEN AND OFFICERS -The Senate passed and sent to the House a bill Increasing the pay of enlisted men and the lowest grade of officers in the Army, Navy, Marine Mar-ine Corps, U. S. Health Service. Coast Guard and Geodetic Survey. Under the bill, proposed pay increases in-creases of enlisted men are: private or apprentice seaman, from $30 to $42; private, fftU class, or seaman second class, from $36 to $48; corporal corp-oral first class, from $54 to $66; sergeant, ser-geant, or petty officer, third class, from $60 to $78; staff sergeant or petty officer, second class, from $72 to $96; first or technical sergeant or petty officer, first class, from $81 to $114; acting chief petty officer, Navy and Coast Guard only, from $99 to $126, and master sergeant or chief petty officer, from $128 to $138 Secretary Stlmson advised congress that the SelecUve Service Act had been lnterperated by Comptroller General Lindsay Warren as requiring requir-ing troops to serve four montlis in the Army before their pay could be raised above $21 a month. SELECTIVE SERVICE - Selective Select-ive Service local boards will soon send copies of a four-page questionnaire question-naire to 9,000,000 men 20 to 44 who registered on February 16. Each questionnaire in two identical parts one for the SS System and one for the U. S, Employment .Service must be returnel in 10 days. It asks for Information about the registrant's present Job, his education, the kind of work for which he considers himself him-self best fitted, whether or not he Is presently employed at such work, and asks him to check those of 228 occupations important to war industries in-dustries for which he thinks he Is best fitted. The data will also be forwarded to the National Roster of Scientific and Special.zed Personnel for use in locating persons with certain cer-tain professional and scientific qual-ireations. qual-ireations. RATIONING - Announcing April quotas for tires, OPA said there would be 101,636 new tires and 470,-317 470,-317 recapped tires for passings cars and motorcycles; 275,523 now tires and 246,442 recapped tires for trucks; a limited number of recapped recap-ped tires for war workers, taxicabs, farmers, salesmen, and Government agencies. Gasoline will be rationed by coupon book, but OPA has not yet determined the effective date. The Office set up machinery by which local rationing boards may clear the way, in certain cases, for registration with local or state registrars reg-istrars of new passanger cars acquired ac-quired In a manner not restricted by OPA regulations. Office of Defense Transportation will allocate ambulances, ambu-lances, hearses and station wagons. CIVILIAN DEFENSE - The President Pres-ident signed a bill providing Federal Feder-al insurance for homes, factories and farms damaged by enemy action. |