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Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS French Unity Speeds Victory Plans; Mediterranean Under Heavy Attack by Allied Naval and Air Concentrations; Chinese Crush Jap Yangtze Offensive (FDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed !n these columns, they are those of Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) Released by Western Newspaper Union. , ' s ! : ; ; i ' ' t - ' ' v - ' vf . , ' ll i ; v.;' " ''' Jxv i: . t i Gen. Henry H. Arnold, chief of the U. S. army air force, delivers a diploma to his son, Cadet William Bruce Arnold, a member of the 1943 graduating class at the United States Military academy at West Point. CHINA: Zaps Lose 30,000 As Chinese forces had continued to press back the Jap invaders in the middle Yangtze valley, a report from Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Kai-shek's headquarters disclosed that the drive in Central China toward Chungking had cost the enemy more than 30,000 casualties in a two-week period. The Tokyo radio admitted the reverses re-verses in a report announcing that the Jap invasion forces had retired to previously prepared positions. Principal theater of Chinese gains was the Yangtze river in southern Hupeh province and northern Hunan. Hu-nan. Here General Chiang's forces wiped out encircled enemy units and seized huge stocks of supplies and equipment, a communique said. As a first step in the recapture oi strategic stra-tegic Ichang, the Chinese had regained re-gained possession of all points around Changyang, strongly held "doorway" to Ichang. FRENCH UNITY: Worth Waiting for Although General Giraud and General DeGaulle at first could not agree any better at close range in Algiers than they had at long range between Africa and London, Allied leaders were confident that factional gulfs would be hurdled and long-hoped-for French unity would be consummated. This optimistic view was justified when a "French committee of national na-tional liberation," headed jointly by Generals De Gaulle and Giraud, was formally established to "pursue the war at the side of the Allies until total victory over the enemy powers." pow-ers." Comprising a seven-man group which eventually will be expanded to nine, the new liberation committee will direct the French war effort until un-til France is freed and able to elect its own government. In addition to the co-presidents, Giraud and De-Gaulle, De-Gaulle, the committee includes Gen. Alphonse George and Jean Monnet, named by Giraud; Rene Massigli and Andre Philip, appointed by De-Gaulle; De-Gaulle; and Geri. Georges Catroux, designated by both presidents. That the new committee meant business was immediately apparent by personnel replacements that eliminated French-African officials with former Vichy ties. MEDITERRANEAN: Mussolini at Bay Mussolini's defenses at sea had been no more impressive than in the air when Allied forces struck at the island approaches to the "soft underbelly" un-derbelly" of Italy. Target of the first assaults was the island of Pantelleria, closest of Italy's Mediterranean outposts to Africa. Af-rica. Here Allied warships made heavy bombardments that were unopposed. un-opposed. The Italian fleet that had been reported on the alert had made no effort to come out and fight for Pantelleria which already had been shaken by Allied bombers. In none of the attacks did the Allied fleet units suffer casualties. The only resistance re-sistance offered was from the ineffective in-effective Italian shore batteries. Only 45 miles from the tip of Tunisia's Cap Bon peninsula, Pantelleria Pan-telleria was an easily reached target tar-get for Allied air forces. As wave after wave of bombers swept over the island blowing up port facilities, other Allied planes kept up a damaging dam-aging series of forays against Sicily , and Sardinia. The extent to which the Mediterranean Mediter-ranean was becoming an Allied lake was indicated by a report announcing announc-ing that the Allied destroyers had sunk two merchant vessels and an escorting torpedo boat and driven a burning Italian destroyer ashore. COAL: WLB Sustained When President Roosevelt, acting as commander-in-chief, tersely ordered or-dered the 500,000 striking mine workers work-ers back to work after a 30-day truce had been ended by another walkout, he had left the next move squarely up to mine union chief John L. Lewis. In his brief statement the President Presi-dent did not consider the possibility that his order might be ignored. But measures of a stern and effective nature were open to him and the force of public opinion was marshaled mar-shaled overwhelmingly behind him in the event of continued mine work stoppage. The President's order had completely com-pletely supported the War Labor board which Mr. Lewis and his United Unit-ed Mine Workers had defied, setting forth plainly that "Just as soon as the miners return to work, the disposition dis-position of the dispute . . . will forthwith proceed under the jurisdiction juris-diction of the War Labor board." TRADE PACTS: Tivo Years More Final approval by the senate of President Roosevelt's reciprocal trade agreements program came after administration supporters, aided aid-ed by some Republicans, defeated five amendments that would have restricted the President's authority. The house had previously voted favorably. fa-vorably. The President had originally asked for a three-year extension. But because this would throw the policy into the next presidential administration for more than a year, both house and senate measures cut it to two years. The senate's action, however, meant that members of the United Nations could be assured that this government's present trade policy pol-icy would be continued until June 12, 1945, or nearly five months after the next presidential inauguration. ARGENTINA: Neutrality at Stake? While close censorship had veiled early reports of the "military movement" move-ment" in Argentina, observers were confident that it concerned the course of the nation's future international policy whether the government would pursue its trend of benevolent neutrality toward the Axis, or would follow the rest of South America in breaking with the Axis. The military reaction gained added significance, coming as it did on the eve of the Conservative party's national na-tional convention preceding the Presidential elections. For this convention con-vention had been scheduled to proclaim pro-claim Senate President Robustiano Patron Costas as its candidate. Costas had been endorsed by "neutrality-minded" President Ramon Castillo. |
