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Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Ickes Cites Small Business Peril; Congressional Pay - as - You - Go Tax Program Gets Treasury's Approval; Fifth Russ Offensive Batters Nazis (EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are those of Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) i , Released by Western Newspaper Union. - SULLIVAN BROTHERS: A Tale of Heroism The five Sullivan brothers of World War II promised to become as celebrated cele-brated in American annals as the five Bixby brothers of the Civil war, immortalized by Abraham Lincoln's letter to their mother. Not yet was it known whether the Sullivan boys were dead or alive, but a navy communication to their parents in Waterloo, Iowa, ominously ominous-ly reported them "missing in action." ac-tion." The brothers joined the navy to avenge a friend slain at Pearl Harbor. They were shipmates at their own request and were believed casualties of the cruiser Juneau sunk in the November battle for the Solomons. Solo-mons. The Sullivan brothers are George T., 29, gunner's mate second class; Francis H., 26, coxswain; Joseph E., 23, seaman, second class; Madison A., 22, seaman second class; and Albert L., 30, seaman, second class. ROAD TO TOKYO: Mired by Rains The road to Tokyo was bogged down by tropical rains that turned fighting Allied sectors in New Guinea into swampy mires, but in the air American and Australian commanders command-ers broadened their air offensive against the Japanese with raids on four main bases. On the Allied air calling list were Madang and Finschaven on the northern New Guinea coast. Flying Fortresses supported by medium bombers and fighter planes -struck likewise at Lae and Salamau. In the Lae area 160 miles up the eastern east-ern New Guinea coast from Allied-held Allied-held Buna, large fires were started among barges, stores and harbor installnirmc Somewhere in China this soldier of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's armies stands guard before a line of American P40 planes at an inland air base. His shift is 24 hours at a stretch in guarding these precious craft that hold off Jap advances in China. PAY-AS-YOU-GO: Tax Gets Go-Ahead It had been clear that official Washington from Capitol Hill to the White House had agreed that a pay-as-you-go income tax was the most effective means of raising the multi-billion multi-billion revenue needed to help defray de-fray war costs. How to apply the levy to the nation's na-tion's 35,000,000 taxpayers and what yardstick to use had been the subject sub-ject of numerous recommendations. The treasury department gave its support to a bill by Sen. Bennett Clark for a new 19 per cent withholding with-holding tax. Added to the prevailing prevail-ing 5 per cent Victory tax this would mean a total of 24 per cent withheld with-held from payrolls. Under the Clark program the pay-as-you-go plan would be inaugurated March 15. The taxpayer would file his income tax return on that date and pay his first quarterly 1943 taxes on the basis of his 1942 income. The withholding tax would then be effective effec-tive on weekly or monthly paychecks, pay-checks, as well as on income from interest and dividends. Persons not on payrolls such as farmers, independent business men, professional people and others could pay their taxes on a monthly or quarterly basis. FOOD PRICES: Index Up 43 Per Cent Skyrocketing retail prices of fresh fruits and vegetables, whose cost is not controlled by the OPA, were largely responsible for an increase of 43 per cent in the food cost index since August, 1939, the month before be-fore World War II began, according to a summary released by Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins. Even since the price control law began to operate last spring, Mrs. Perkins said, retail food prices have gone up because of the increases in the cost of items still uncontrolled. The index in December was 9 per cent above last May and 17 per cent above December, 1941, the month the United States entered the war. NORTH AFRICA: War vs. Politics As French forces broke the lull in North Africa's stalemated war by capturing a number of passes on the road to the Tunisian seaport of Sousse, so, too, it appeared that the French had moved effectively to end the political strife that had hampered ham-pered all-out action against the Axis. The importance of the French drive ''toward Sousse was that it threatened the Axis land supply routes for operations in central and southern Tunisia. On the political front, Harold Mac-Millan, Mac-Millan, British minister for North Africa, predicted an agreement between be-tween Gen. Henri Giraud and Gen. Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Fighting French, would remove most of the objectionable features in the present administration of North Africa. A three-way conflict of interests had raged since the American invasion. in-vasion. On one side stood the Liberals Lib-erals and Republican., who had welcomed wel-comed the Americans. On the other stood the Vichyites and Fascists. In between were the Royalists, attempting at-tempting to capitalize on the battle. SMALL BUSINESS: Total War Casualty? Economists had long been aware of the war's menacing impact on American small business, but their statistical discourses attracted little lit-tle public notice. It remained for vocal Secretary of Interior Harold L. Ickes to dramatize the little business busi-ness man's plight when he declared that the country now faces "the brutal bru-tal fact that the war can be the final, crushing blow to small business." Pointing out that "the major portion por-tion of war production contracts are going to a few large corporations," Mr. Ickes told the senate small business busi-ness committee that "should the small business man go, we all will go." . Mr. Ickes warned that "we must guard against the loss of our traditional tradi-tional freedom of enterprise, a loss that would result in creating a dictatorship dic-tatorship by a few corporations and cartels over our jobs." FIFTH OFFENSIVE: Launched by Reds To the four Russian offensives Ujiat had jarred the Nazis loose from thousands of square miles of dearly won territory was added a fifth that appeared to be the supreme Red winter effort. Voronezh strong point on the 1,000-mile Soviet line from Moscow to the Black Sea was the springboard of this drive and it was the German high command com-mand itself which made the first announcement to the world. Significance of the Voronezh offensive of-fensive was that it faced the already al-ready hardpressed Nazis with a double dou-ble threat. Red forces from Voronezh Voro-nezh could turn due south to join the other offensives aimed at Rostov, Ros-tov, or could drive westward toward to-ward Kursk and Karkhov in the Upper Up-per Ukraine and menace the Nazi hold on this world-famous granary. Significant, too, was the fact that the Russians held the initiative. It was the Germans who were on the defensive, who must conjecture where the Reds would strike next and had costly alternatives thrust on them. In all other theaters the Russians were pressing their newly gained advantages, reoccupying areas in the Caucasus, whittling down German Ger-man resistance near Stalingrad and engaging vast Nazi forces in the lower Don river reaches. AIR TEMPO: Allied Poiver Rises Prophetic of what was yet to come Allied airplanes continued to ride the skies and shower destruction on Axis-held European and Mediterranean Mediterra-nean areas. ' Hitler's armory in the Ruhr valley val-ley was the target of repeated bombings. bomb-ings. Lille, locomotive manufacturing manufactur-ing center of northern France, experienced ex-perienced gutting raids. On the route, also were Abbeville and St. Omar near the British channel coast of France. In the Mediterranean, Allied bombers were active both on the island is-land bases serving Axis troops and on the African mainland itself. Mediterranean Med-iterranean attacks were made on Crete, Sicily and Lampedus. African Afri-can raids were made on Horns, near Tripoli and between Sousse and Sfax. In the Solomons, the plight of the Jap garrisons had grown more serious se-rious as efforts to land extensive supplies had been balked by American Ameri-can air power. The navy department depart-ment reported that a three-day offensive of-fensive on Guadalcanal island had progressed satisfactorily, with several sev-eral Jap positions isolated and awaiting destruction. Air raids were continued against Munda island. is-land. NAZI HOME MORALE: Signs of Strain Volumes had been written by Allied Al-lied commentators about the state of the German home front since the Huss offensives, but two brief statements state-ments by high Nazi officials revealed the enormously heartening fact that Reich morale had at least begun to creak. The Nazi officials were Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels, propaganda minister, min-ister, and Gen. Kurt Dietmar, a leading German military critic. Writing in the magazine Das Reich, Goebbels denounced civilian "sluggards" for impeding Nazi war If- WW ' ' 1 - . - V j U K'' 1 I .. - J PAUL JOSEPH GOEBBELS . . . Propaganda in reverse. activities, called for more belt-tightening and announced that "burdens on the home front can and will be increased." General Dietmar said that whether wheth-er they like it or not, Germans would have to put up with new restrictions re-strictions to provide more troops. He admitted that the Russians had broken through German lines on the southern front, and that the situation situa-tion was becoming serious. "The need has come for still greater hardships hard-ships at home," he said, "to increase in-crease the flow of recruits to the front." NAVY MAIL: To Be Speeded Because the problem of mail deliveries de-liveries to men in the navy, marine corps and coast guard has been complicated by the vast increase in personnel, the navy department announced an-nounced that two rules would be placed in effect immediately to insure in-sure prompt service: Parcel post packages must weigh not more than five pounds and measure meas-ure not more than 15 inches in length and 36 inches in length and girth combined. Inappropriate second sec-ond and third class matter such as advertising circulars would not be forwarded to men overseas. WAR PRODUCTION: No 'Self-Congratulation War production and manpower management have alternately been subjects for national praise and blame. The latter was the theme of a report laid before congress by the Tolan committee, which charged "general maladministration," "hap. hazard handling" and failure to use small industry in the war elTort. The committee had been at work for n number of months studying war output. |
