Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS egypt defenders turn on axis armies in struggle for middle east control nazi spy ring smashed in canal zone allies wheat pool aids famine areas EDITORS NOT EWhen when opinions opinion are expressed in these columns column they are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of 0 this newspaper newa paper released by western newspaper union EGYPT defenders hit I lard ilard even as parliament by a to 25 majority voted its confidence in prime minister winston churchill after a prolonged debate over the libyan d defeat feat reports from egypt revealed that british imperials imperiali impe rials heavily reinforced from the middle east had struck fiercely at the flank and rear of marshal brommels Rom mels axis army to counter its assault on the m main in british pos positions t I 1 0 ns at the same time tinie it was disclosed that united states army air force and royal air force planes had unleashed a terrific air offensive throughout the ea eastern mediterranean area in one assault on marshal brommels Rom mels supply port of ben gasi hundreds of bombers rained destruction down on dumps and equipment concentrations reinforcements of both men and material had strengthened the british egyptian position in the battles on which rested the late fate of allied power in the mediterranean and middle east crucial battle area was the 40 mile wide strip of desert lying between the impassable quat tera salt marshes and the M mediterranean e shore few observers had doubted that prime minister Chur chills position 4 A 4 1 P A t 7 i PRIME MINISTER CHURCHILL would be ba sustained facing his critics in the most critical period since the fall ofF of france rahce churchill had admitted that marshal rom mels victorious drive from libya into egypt had placed britain in mortal peril meanwhile on the russian front the nazis had opened a new drive north of kharlov Khar kov while hand to hand fighting in the ruins of sevastopol dussias Rus sias last stronghold in the crimea had highlighted what the reds termed an extremely grave situation shipbuilding yanks break records hope that american shipyards would soon equal and then exceed the total sunk by axis submarines was seen in a report issued by vice chairman howard L vickery of the maritime maritim 6 commission which disclosed that 66 vessels totaling tons deadweight had been delivered in june and that production was speeding ahead toward a level of deadweight tons a month admiral vickery reported that s ships h aps of a approximately 2544 deadweight tons had been delivered by american shipyards in the first si six x M months months of f 1942 SECRET SPENDING F pi D R accounts Ic counts how president roosevelt spent in secret emergency funds since the war crisis became acute in june 1940 was revealed in an accounting which the chief executive presented to congress eighty seven per cent odthe total was allocated to the army the navy maritime commission and federal loan agency the president said large sums were spent to suppress subversive radio activities in connection with the german submarine campaign important among expenditures was for secret naval bases in the western hemisphere for purchase of australian wool tor for uniforms tor for development of air rail and highway transportation in latin america and for con st ruction of merchant ships NEW NAVAL BASE mystery explained why hundreds of american work ers embarked for northern ireland last summer to toll toil on a mysterious construction construct ioA project long before the united states entry antry into the world war was explained when the navy department announced formal completion of a giant operating base at londonderry guarding the western approaches of britain capt wil ilam ham J larson was waa placed in command oi of the strategic new post NAZI SPIES rival fiction in a series series of dramatic moves matching the thrills of a mystery best bestseller seller the united states caribbean defense command arrested arrest pd 20 alleged axis agents and broke up what was believed to be a nazi spy ring refueling S submarines a and nd supplying them with vital information on united states shipping nineteen of the enemy i agents were rounded up in a trap in B belize elize british honduras the twentieth a ti ustad trusted employee of a labor recruiting cr office for the panama canal had been seized a few days earlier in in the canal zone the army disclosed that the leader of the ring was george gough a british citizen who was a shipping executive in in belize details of the seizure of the spies were disclosed by gen frank M andrews chief of the caribbean defense command WHEAT POOL to balk famine with famine stalking many nations and wheat surpluses taxing the storage capacities of others an agreement of historic importance to the future of the worlds bread supply became effective when five nations signed a pact creating d vast international wheat pool signers of the agreement were the united states great britain canada australia and argentina the agreement initiated at a washington meeting last april created a wheat pool of not less than bushels for the relief of famine in n war stricken areas it forecast international action toward control of prices production and export of bread grains after the th ewar war the united states is to provide bushels of wheat or flour to the relief pool and canada and the united kingdom these nations with argentina would furnish additional supplies as needed on a basis to be worked out by their respective governments agriculture department officials pointed out that benefits to american wheat farmers would world be of a rather than immediate n nature the agreement will have no effect on the 1943 farm program calling for foi a implanted area of not more than 5 acres of wheat and assur assuring ing farmers of parity returns PRICE CEILINGS first hole first hole in the universal price ceiling instituted by the OPA was made when price administrator leon henderson announced that he was compelled to take measures that will raise retail prices of the 1942 pack of canned and dried fruits by as much as 15 per cent and possibly more henderson indicated that congress was to blame for this because of Z 40 4 11 V 1 31 LEON HENDERSON special price concessions it granted to farm products and its failure to vote government subsidies to maintain price ceilings throwing down the battle gage to con congress ress the fie fiery ry price official issued u ed a statement in which he said that the appropriation contemplated for the OPA in a bill assed by the house or any amount E cassed elow the he originally requested would cripple his agency andrean and ind mean in short that price rent and rationing controls are oil all placed in j jeopardy eo pardy mr li henderson enderson termed the canned fruit price situation inflationary 0 and said it constituted a serious threat in the battle being fought to maintain stability in the cost of living this Is not a satisfactory solution his statement continued 11 it Is inflationary it translates into retail price increases a burden government might properly assume as ag a charge connected with the war this burden ww will fall fah heaviest on large laige families especially in the low income groups who can least afford the added expense 18 COMMANDOS strike at laps japs serving notice on tokyo that the australians the yanks and the dutch were ready for hit and run thrusts preparatory to the general land offensive which gen douglas macarthur has promised eventually allied commandos swept down on the big japanese base at sala maua new guinea using the elements of surprise and terror which have made commando raids on europe so spectacular ta cular the united nations raiders slashed through the defense screen and carried away prisoners booty and information about the layout of one of the most important nipponese bases in the southwest pacific Sala maua on the huon gulf lies miles north across new guinea from port moresby last allied outpost north of Ati australia it was captured by the japs early in march and ever since the enemy has been attempting to use it as a base fo for r widening their occupation of new guinea it has served as one of the principal air bases for attacks against port moresby SCRAP I 1 U S wants more alore A new and greatly intensified program that will reach into every american home and industrial plant and increase the flow of vital scrap materials to the nation war plants was announced by war production chief donald M nelson and lessing J rosenwald chief of the bureau of industrial conservation of the new program has a threefold objective 1 to collect metals and rubber and other waste materials which will flow through regular channels of trade 2 to gather up waste kitchen fats such as bacon droppings drippings drip pings from households via meat dealers 3 to collect tin cans in specified areas the immensity of our task said mr nelson makes it absolutely necessary to step up the tempo of our national salvage program repatriation nazis nazi s break pact termination of the exchange agreement by which more than 1400 american nationals were brought home f from rom axis territory in europe resulted when germany withdrew the safe conduct granted the swedish liner drottningholm which had docked at new york with re patria ted americans and alien refugees the agreement for exchange of nationals held by tha the respective belligerent li governments had brov provided ded for continued voyages of the drott ning holm under sate safe conduct until all americans held in europe and germans held here were abed no reason was assigned for ger banys withdrawal of the safe conduct but it was u understood the nazis cancelled the agreement to emphasize its paper blockade of america I 1 suspicion that the axis powers might be attempting to get sabo deurs beur s or spies into this country in the guise of friendly aliens caused the government to institute the most rigid scrutiny of passenger credentials ever conducted in any eastern castern harbor |