OCR Text |
Show WASHINGTON NgWS pS FROM OUR CONGRESSMAN W. K. GRANGER stamped matter when they receive the official notice. The privilege applies to material mailed by service ser-vice men from- domestic points and from abroad and addressed anywhere any-where in the U. S., its territories and possessions. BILL TO INCREASE PAY OF ENLISTED MEN AND OFFICERS The Senate passed and sent to the House a bill increasing pay of enlisted men and the lowest grade of officers in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, TJ. S. Health Service. Ser-vice. Coast Guard. Coast and U. S. PROGRAM FOR TOTAL WAR AS IT STANDS TODAY Official 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 is barely $12,000,000,000, so that the business of making an American Army, including its air force, still centers in the future. Appropriations to the Navy total nearly $43,000,000,000 out of which to construct a two-ocean navy and its air force, yet only $6,000,000,-000 $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 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 Geodetic Survey. Under the bill, proposed pay increases of enlisid men are: private or apprentice seamen, from $30 to $42; private first class, or seaman, second class, from $36 to $48; corporal or seaman, sea-man, first class, from $54 to $66; sergeant, or petty officer, third class, from $60 to $78; staff sergeant ser-geant or petty officer, second class, from $72 to $96; first or technical sergeant or petty officer, offi-cer, first class, from $84 to $114; acting chief petty officer, Navy and Coast Guard only, from $99 to $126, and caster sergeant or chief petty officer, from $126 to $138. Lowest grades of officers second lieutenants in the Army and Marines, ensigns in the Navy and Coast Guard would have their pay increased from $1,500 to $1,800 under the bill. Secretary Stimson advised Congress that the Selective Selec-tive Service Act had been Interpreted Inter-preted by Comptroller General Lindsay Warren as requiring all troops to serve four months in the Army before their pay could be raised above $21 a month. PRODUCTION AND CONVERSION CONVER-SION The President by Executive Order authorized the Army and Navy Departments and the Maritime Mari-time Commission to guarantee or make direct loans to small businesses bus-inesses seeking to engage in war production, to speed all-out production pro-duction by small business. Under the Order Credit will be authorized author-ized by production men, and any Finance Corporation to finance the new plants and to buy the materials mater-ials that must be imported to feed the war effort, this agency has only used $1,584,000,000 as reported report-ed February first, the last date of reporting. LEND-LEASE has on hand $18,500,000,000 and less than $2,-000.000,000 $2,-000.000,000 of this amount has been spent. And so it goes. Facts and figures fig-ures reveal that the people of this country have seen the barest Federal Reserve Bank may serve as agent for the departments concerned. con-cerned. Loans, discounts, advances and commitments may be arranged with private banks: The RFC- announced an-nounced mine operators now may secure a maximum RFC loan of $20,000 repayable out of production proceeds rather than a mortgage on the mining property. SELECTTVE SERVICE Selective Service local boards will send about April 1 copies for a four-page four-page questionnaire 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 returned re-turned within ten days. It asks for information about the registrant's regis-trant's present job, his education, the kind of work for which he considers himself best fitted, whether or not he is presently employed at such work, and asks uegimung oi me eiiorc mat is going go-ing to be required to provide the Army and Navy and air forces 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 war. FOREIGN RELATIONS Mexico paid the U. S. $3,000,000, its first annual payment under the General Gen-eral Claims Convention signed with this country November 19. The money eventually will be paid to U. S. citizens who suffered losses los-ses due to revolution or to expropriation expro-priation of their farm properties since March, 1938, the State De-partmer. De-partmer. said. MATERIALS The Forest Service said guayule rubber plant sowing has begun in the 500-acre nursery at Salinas, California, and 875 acres of filde planting from seedlings seed-lings will be complete by April 4. mm to check those of 228 occupations occu-pations important to war industries indus-tries for which he thinks he is best fitted. The data will also be forwarded to the National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel Per-sonnel for use in locating persons with certain professional and scientific scien-tific qualifications. RATIONING Announcing April quotas for tires, OPA said there would be 101,636 new tires and 470,317 recapped tires for passenger passen-ger cars and motorcycles; 275 523 new tires and 246,442 recapped 'for trucks; a limited number of recapped re-capped tires for war workers, taxi-cabs, taxi-cabs, fanners, salesmen and Government Gov-ernment agencies. Gasoline will be rationed by coupon books but OPA has not yet determined the effective date. The Office set up machinery by which local rationing ration-ing boards may clear the way in occu uuuuuig at tne nursery has been completed and is in operation, op-eration, the Service said, and deliveries de-liveries have begun on 3,000,000 feet of lumber for construction of 911 miles of tracks on which equipment equip-ment will be operated over the nursery's 48-inch seed beds. About 500 men are already at w-ork on the plantings, with camp faculties for 200 completed and others under un-der construction, the Service said. A contract has been awarded for food and clothing for guayule workers and arrangements have been completed for transfer of CCC equipment to the project, the field will proceed as rapidly Plantings at the nursery and in as weather and installation of irrigation ir-rigation systems permit, the Service Ser-vice said. ARMY AND NAVY The Post Office Department will issue instructions in-structions to postmasters in the Postal Bulletin April 3, to grant free first-class letter mailing privileges priv-ileges to all ranks of the armed forces, including commissioned officers. of-ficers. Postmasters may accept un- cerunn cases, lor registration with local or State registrars of new passenger cars acquired in a manner man-ner not restricted by OPA regulations. regula-tions. Office of Defense Transportation Trans-portation will allocate ambulances hearses, and station wagons CIVILIAN DEFENSE The President Pre-sident signed a bill providing Federal Fed-eral insurance for homes, factories factor-ies and farms damaged by enemy action. i |