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Show W-00-ROUND m M t. """" -" Washington, D. C. THE GENERAL'S TWO WIVES There was much more than meets the eye behind the departure of Gen. Hsiung Shih-fei, head of the Chinese military mission to Washington. Wash-ington. It had its intriguing personal per-sonal side, but also it went deep into the vitals of our most difficult war problem. On the personal side, it happened that General Hsiung had two wives, which in China is a criterion of power and prestige. But it also happened that Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Kai-shek, educated in the United States, does not approve of two wives. When in China, Madame Chiang does not interfere with the military appointments of her husband. But in the United States, General Hsiung is reported to believe that the situation situa-tion might have been otherwise, and that the U. S. A., big as it is. might have been too small for both of them. FARM FIGHT A group of presidents of land grant colleges, headed by President H. C. "Curley" Byrd of the University Uni-versity of Maryland, called on Secretary Sec-retary of Agriculture Wickard the other day. Behind that call was one of the most important fights which will come before the present congress. con-gress. Actually the land grant college presidents came to propose an agricultural agri-cultural program which they think will overcome the food shortages. But behind this is a plan to put control of the farm economy back into the hands of the farm bureau and the powerful farm lobbies. It is a fight which probably will keep up a running fire all during congress. con-gress. Background of the fight goes back to early in the Roosevelt administration adminis-tration when Henry Wallace, then secretary of agriculture, delivered a speech in which he criticized his own agriculture department for helping only the one-third upper-crust upper-crust farmers. The great mass of the farmers, he said, the tenants, the little farmers, and farm labor, got no help from the government. Wallace was referring to the fact that the American Farm Bureau federation, the Grange, the National Co-operative Milk Producers, and other organizations with powerful lobbies in Washington, had always influenced farm policies and dominated domi-nated the agriculture department. Working hand in glove with them have been the land grant colleges, tne state commissioners oi agriculture, agricul-ture, the county agents, and the farm extension services. These groups controlled agriculture agricul-ture locally, even when Washington was supplying a majority of the funds. HITLER OR JAPAN? Another factor, however, goes much deeper and is one reason behind be-hind reports that Gen. Joseph Stil-well Stil-well may return as head of the U. S. military mission to China. This factor is the Chinese argument argu-ment that Japan is a greater enemy ene-my than Hitler, coupled with the fear that after we have defeated Hitler, we will make peace with Japan at the expense of China. This fear is one which cannot be laughed off easily. In fact, it will take a lot of persuading to dispel Chinese worries. They know that a lot of the career gentlemen, powerful pow-erful in the state department, have contended that Japan should have her place in the sun. They know that some of the state department clique tacitly favored Japanese occupation oc-cupation of Manchuria, while the British almost openly supported it. The realistic Chinese, therefore, argue that after Hitler is defeated Japan is more than likely to propose pro-pose a compromise (as she got Teddy Ted-dy Roosevelt to do to end the Russo-Japanese Russo-Japanese war) whereby Japan gets a slice of China and the world gets a rest from war. The realistic Chinese also know that they could make peace with Japan tomorrow by giving her several sev-eral treaty ports and a slice of the North. In fact, the Japs probably would like nothing better than a peace which would permit them to withdraw half a million men from China and use them against us in the Pacific. Finally Chiang Kai-shek has his own troubles with his generals, many of them pliable to Jap wiles, especially "silver bullets," which the Japs claim is the easiest way to win wars. So Chiang needs something to show to keep his generals in line either more arms, which he is not getting; or a treaty from the United States pledging we will fight to the end until China is absolutely free. Instead of such a pledge, Chiang has a military mission headed by a man whom the Chinese don't like General Stilwell. Joe Stilwell comes from the old school which didn't particularly par-ticularly like the Chinese, and the Chinese make no bones about the fact that they den't like him. He insists on doing ail his business busi-ness direct with the generalissimo, talking to him only. As a result. Wilikie was given a message to take back to Roosevelt to get General Stilwell out of the picture. |