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Show I j WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Congress Debates Labor Draft Issue; Red Army Forges Deeper Into Poland; FDR Asks 100 Billion Wartime Budget; House Group Studies Prohibition Bill (EDITOR'S NOTE ; When opinion! r xpreid In theue colnmni, thty r Western Newipopei Union'! newt analysts and not neceeearlly ol tela newioapor.; Released by Western Newspaper Union. , CIVILIAN GOODS: Hold Back Steel Although curtailment of orders has resulted in a reduction of steel operations, the War Production board refused to lift its ban on use of the metal in 646 civilian items, except in special instances to Improve Im-prove substitutes. WPB's decision, it was said, was based on: . . 1. The army and navy's position that limitations on the use of materials ma-terials should not be removed until war needs are clear; 2. WPB's conclusion that expanded expand-ed civilian production would result in shortages of coal, petroleum, lumber lum-ber for crating, packaging paper and transportation, all of which are not sufficient to even meet war requirement. re-quirement. Because of a typographical error er-ror by the OPA, Monnett, Mo. population 4,099 became the corn capital of the U. S. A. While the corn top was set at $1.16 for Chicago, It stood at $1.19M In Monnett, so the latter town had no difficulty getting 25 carloads of the grain, or 2,000,000 bushels. U ' ' '-. ' 1 Italy Torrential rains haT turned Italian battlefront into goo, lowing Allied drive. (See: Europe.) RUSSIA: Advance in Poland Gen. Nikolai Vatutin's First Ukrainian army bit deeper into pre- war Poland in hard fighting as other Red units maintained main-tained heavy pressure pres-sure on the embattled embat-tled Nazis in other sectors' of the Russian Rus-sian front. The Reds continued contin-ued bearing down on the Nazis in the great Dnieper bend, where their persistent persist-ent attacks gradual- Gen. Vatutin I ; HIGHWAYS: Urges U. S. Network Construction and improvement of 34,000 miles of roads which would provide employment for 2,000,000 workers, was recommended to congress con-gress by President Roosevelt after more than two years of study by a national interregional highway committee. com-mittee. " To cost about $750,000,000 annually over a period of years, the plan embraces em-braces creation of a system of country coun-try and urban roads that would connect con-nect every part of the nation. In general, the new system would follow routes of existing federal aid highways, with costs shared equally by local, state and U. S. government agencies. Quick congressional action ac-tion was asked to help acquire land, draft detailed plans and accomplish other preliminary work. FATS AND OILS: Output Larger Keeping up with increased demands, de-mands, fats and oils output in the U. S. for 1943-'44 will approximate 11,200,000 pounds to top last year's production of 10,600,000 pounds. Despite an easing of the supply situation for the current year, it was pointed out that stocks might be severely se-verely drained to fill needs abroad in case of an Allied victory in Europe Eu-rope in 1944. Soybean production for the 1943 season was set at 187,000,000 bushels, bush-els, for peanuts 2,500,000 pounds, and for cottonseed 5,500,000 tons. Because of decreases in lard and grease output, overall fat and oils production for the 1944-'45 season should drop below this year's figures. fig-ures. STRANGE LETTER: Hopkins Involved . While Harry Hopkins was recuperating recuper-ating in the Bethseda naval hospital, C. Nelson Sparks appeared before a Washington, D. C, grand jury and turned over a letter which he alleged al-leged proved that the President's WAR BUDGET: 100 Billion Asked Assuming that fighting will continue con-tinue throughout the fiscal year ending end-ing in June, 1945, President Roosevelt Roose-velt asked congress for an appropri- i ation of $100,000,000,000 to cover the j period. I At the same time, the President asked congress to prepare for demobilization de-mobilization by (1) planning public works; (2) providing mustering-out pay to servicemen; (3) expansion of the social security program to tide over the labor force during the reconversion period, and (4) study ways of boosting foreign trade. Declaring that war spending since 1940 will have swelled to $397,000,-000,000 $397,000,-000,000 by 1945, the President forecast fore-cast a national debt of $258,000,000,-000 $258,000,000,-000 by next year. Such a debt, the President said, would require annual an-nual interest charges of $5,000,000,-000, $5,000,000,-000, which could best be paid with a national income of $125,000,000,000 annually, far over the pre-war level. To help whittle the debt, the President Pres-ident urged a minimum of $10,000,-000,000 $10,000,-000,000 in new taxes this year, coupled cou-pled with present collections of $40,-000,000,000. $40,-000,000,000. Ask Labor Draft ' v No sooner had President Roosevelt's Roose-velt's message to congress calling for a labor draft been read, than Sen. Warren Austin (Vt.) and Rep. James Wadsworth (N. Y.) introduced intro-duced legislation making all men between 18 and 65 and all women between 18 to 50 subject to compulsory com-pulsory service. As congress moved toward consideration con-sideration of the controversial labor draft Issue, the senate went toward approval of most of its new $2,000,-000,000 $2,000,-000,000 tax bill, far below the administration's ad-ministration's demand for $10,000,-000,000 $10,000,-000,000 of new revenue. The senate also voted to keep he present social security tax rate at 1 per cent each for employer and employee, instead of doubling the .rates as automatically automati-cally provided by the original law. In introducing his labor draft bill which would enable the government to place people in employment, Senator Sen-ator Austin said approximately 6,000,000 4-F's, all men over 38, and an estimated 21,000,000 women would form a huge workers pool which could be channeled where needed into industry. EUROPE: Biggest Loss Fighting through swarms of Nazi fighter planes which pressed home their attacks in close ranks, and running into new rocket antiaircraft fire that threw up shells "as big as a house," 700 U. S. Liberators and Flying Fortresses protected by almost al-most 500 light combat escorts smashed hard at German airplane factories in southwestern Germany. As the big U. S. aerial fleet fired the machine shops and assembly plants with a record loss of 64 planes, other Allied bombers struck at the big Greek port of Piraeus outside out-side of Athens, supply center for German strongpoints in the Aegean sea, guarding the near eastern water route to the Balkans. Although heavy weather turned the ground into goo, U. S. doughboys dough-boys beat down Nazi mountain posts in southern Italy in their advance on Cassino, key to the 70-mile road to Rome. In bearing down on Cassino, doughboys were overrunning hill positions po-sitions to the north, west and south, giving them a commanding view of the town which lies in a plain astride the prized highway. No. 1 advisor was in close contact with Wendell Willkie, G. O. P. leader. Former mayor of Akron, Ohio, when Willkie was a utility lawyer there, and manager of Frank Gannett's campaign for the Republican in 1940, Sparks first published the ly whittled down a long stretch of country which the Germans held to prevent the Russ from cutting through it and trapping 650,000 of their troops to the south. As General Vatutin's forces pushed forward in prewar Poland, the Polish Po-lish government-in-exile considered Russia's proposal for a postwar adjustment ad-justment of the old eastern border between the two states. Under the proposal, Russia would keep the former for-mer Polish provinces of White Russia Rus-sia and the Ukraine, while Poland would be compensated by taking over Eastern Prussia. PROHIBITION: ; ; Open Hearings "Use Your Bible to Battle the Bottle." "Two Resolutions: I Will Keep Sweet and I Will Not Drink Alcohol." Al-cohol." As leaflets containing these slogans slo-gans were passed out by ardent prohibitionists, pro-hibitionists, a house judiciary subcommittee sub-committee opened hearings on a bill by Rep. Joseph Bryson (S. C.), for limiting alcoholic content of beverages bever-ages to 1 per cent for the duration. Heading the Dry delegation was Mrs. Ida B. Wise Smith, president of the Women's Christian Temperance Temper-ance Union. Mrs. Smith asserted that hangovers from week - end drinking sprees result in war plant absenteeism, and she further said that liquor manufacture channels grains, sugar and other products from food uses. Opposing the prohibitionists, Representative Rep-resentative Forand (R. I.) described himself as a teetotaler. But, said he, that "does not give me license to tell my neighbors what they should eat and drink." SOUTHWEST PACIFIC: Batter Forward As U. S. doughboys battered their way slowly through Jap jungle defenses de-fenses in New Britain, other Yankee units pushed southward for a junction junc-tion with Australian troops fighting up the eastern coast of New Guinea. While Yank and Aussie alike ploughed through the Japs' strong brush and mountain cover, U. S. bombers continued their raids on the enemy's central Pacific Marshall islands, is-lands, guarding the ocean highway to the orient. Airdromes and shipping ship-ping in the cluster of coral islets were battgred by roaring Liberators. Following strengthening of their beachhead at Arawe in southwestern New Guinea, doughboys moved inland in-land against the Japs after heavy artillery bombardment, while to the north, other U. S. elements gradually gradu-ally were pushing the enemy back from around the captured airdrome at Cape Gloucester. In eastern New Guinea, Jap bases behind U. S. positions posi-tions were bombed heavily to slow movements against doughboys fighting fight-ing to join hands with the advancing Aussies to the south. C. Nelson Sparks letter in a book, in which he assailed Willkie's methods in the G. O. P. national convention. In the alleged letter, Hopkins was to have written to a prospective Democratic senatorial candidate in Texas, promising that he could get Willkie to swing Republican support over to him in the primary election. Claiming the letter was a forgery, Hopkins asked the FBI to investigate investi-gate the matter. NAZI PRISONERS: Suicides Reported In the Nazi war prison compound at Concordia, Kan., four stern-faced German officers escorted one Capt. Felix Tropschuh to a room with a bed, a chair, a table and a rope. While two of them stood outside for 30 minutes, Tropschuh hanged himself. Investigation revealed that the prisoners had set up their own court to try Tropschuh for anti-Hitler talk and exposing a plot for escape, and, having found him guilty of disgraceful disgrace-ful conduct for a German officer, left him with the traditional Prussian Prus-sian alternative of killing himself. Another Nazi suicide at the camp was 39-year-old Franz Kettner, who took his own life when he feared violence because of the discovery of his belief in a free Austria. READY FOR VETS The veterans' administration is expanding its facilities to take care of the soldiers of this war. Hospital capacity is being increased to 300,000 beds. Six months ago it was around 80,000. The financial departments are also being reorganized to handle han-dle the immense volume of disbursements disburse-ments of all sorts that will be necessary. nec-essary. The department is still paying pensions pen-sions to the widow of a War of 1812 militiaman, and to 81 widows of Mexican war veterans. NEW AUTOS Predictions that new automobiles will be in production and on sale to the civilian population by early fall are being confidently made in trade circles. Basis for the optimism is the tapering off of war orders, re-leasing re-leasing plant capacity, and the expectation ex-pectation that the WPB will release large quantities of steel and other materials soon, possibly by March 1 Government officials are said to be concerned about the need for replacements. re-placements. They say that 4,600 cars are being scrapped daily. |
