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Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Allied Bombers Range Into Germany, Blasting Major Production Centers; Nazis Concentrate Armored Strength To Hammer at U. S. Beachhead Lines (EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed In these columns, lhy Are those ef Western Newspaper Union's news analysts And not necessarily ef this newspaper.) Released by Western Newspaper Union. - TE1EF ACT WHAT THE GOVERNMENT OWNS (PERCENTAGE OF PRODUCTION FACItlTlESI n I Fpl-T F4 H F-Uti jgjfej lj3 ilga Kgi 13 Sp C? ALUMINUM MAGNESIUM STEB. MACHINE flANE SYNTHETIC UND TOOLS riODUCTIOH lUBBOt RECONVERSION: . First Steps No sooner had Bernard Baruch submitted his report on postwar planning that President Pres-ident Roosevelt act- fyTSi ed on two of the seven suggestions, . - u establishing offices . fVv' for the disposal of (Ly surplus war materi- ; ip- C JM-' als and the training i :s : and employment of f yfjfc veterans. s' , ji However, one of fjJlM-y the most important mil recommendations Baruch dealing with quick settlement of canceled war contracts to give manufacturers, etc., working capital with which to switch back to civilian production, waited on congress, con-gress, where Senators George (Ga.) and Murray (Mont.) introduced legislation leg-islation on the matter. Although reaction to Baruch's report re-port generally was favorable, congress con-gress hit the President's speedy action ac-tion on several of the recommendations, recommenda-tions, declaring he sought to place authority on disposal of surplus war goods and vets' readjustment in his own executive hands instead of agencies agen-cies established by the house and senate. CONGRESS: Tax Veto Having labored for months on the new $2,300,000,000 tax bill only to be spanked by President Roosevelt for their efforts because he claimed it failed to provide increased revenues In keeping with huge government war expenditures and offered certain Industries unwarranted concessions, congress angrily considered repas-sage repas-sage of the measure over FDR's veto. In declaring that the bill failed to raise sufficient money, the President said that many quarters considered his request for even lO1 billion dollars dol-lars as too low. The President also objected to provisions of the measure meas-ure favoring mineral producers, the lumber industry, natural gas pipe lines and commercial air lines, whose tax subsidy on air mail would be extended. The President also stood for a doubling of present social so-cial security rates. Said Georgia's Sen. Walter George, chairman of the senate finance committee: "... I do not think it is right or just to increase Individual rates. The greater part of the increase must of necessity tall on the so-called white collar class ..." Subsidies Stick With the President's veto of congress con-gress anti-subsidy provision upheld by the house, the way appeared clear for final passage of a bill extending ex-tending the life of the Commodity Credit corporation until June, 1945, and continuing the CCC's subsidy program estimated to cost from 750 to 900 million dollars in 1944. Although opposed to consumer subsidies during a period of record national income, congress favors the CCC's price-support of farm commodities, com-modities, and so is expected to extend ex-tend the agency's life to preserve this brace for agriculture. However, congress did turn down WarFood Administrator Marvin Jones' bid for an additional 500 million dollars, to be used as an emergency price-support price-support fund in case of a sudden end of hostilities. In addition to CCC subsidies, the Reconstruction Finance corporation is expected to spend about 500 million mil-lion dollars this year on "rollbacks" reducing retail prices for meat, butter but-ter and flour. SECOND FRONT: Bombing Prelude Seeking to reduce maximum German opposition to U. S. and British Brit-ish invasion armies which will swarm into Europe, the Allied air forces threw the full weight of their growing strength at Axis industry. Ranging far into Germany. RAF heavies blasted historic Leipzig's single-engine fighter plane factories and Bernburg's twin-engine aircraft air-craft plants, while swarms of U. S. Fortresses and Liberators pounded air frame and Focke-Wulf parts factories fac-tories at Brunswick and Posen. Third Round With two heavy armored enemy assaults on the Allies' Anzio beachhead beach-head beaten off, U. S. and British troops girded themselves for a third amid showers of whining, exploding shells which pock-marked their 100-square-mile holding. To the southeast, bitter mountain to mountain fighting in the Cassino sector slowed, as both forces built up strength for resumption of the bloodiest phase of the whole Italian war, with Allied troops crawling forward over rugged terrain under heavy artillery barrage to root out stubborn enemy forces. Back at the beachhead, the Germans Ger-mans concentrated armored strength for successive stabs into the Allies' lines, .which gave way under the shock of the enemy's first charges, but recoiled in subsequent fierce counterattacks by U. S. and British tanks and infantry. PACIFIC: To jo Sees Trouble With Japan's outer ring of defenses de-fenses crumbling and its own northern north-ern islands under bombs and shell-fire, shell-fire, beady-eyed, bespectacled Premier Pre-mier I-Iideki Tojo took over the job of chief of staff of the army and gave the position of navy chief to his cabinet member, Adm. Shige-taro Shige-taro Shimada. In explaining the move, Tojo said: "At present, the empire is literally standing at the crossroads of a rise or fall. At this time the key to certain cer-tain victory is to establish still closer clos-er relations between the high command com-mand and state affairs." Even as Tojo spoke, U. S. air, naval na-val and ground forces were cleaning clean-ing up Jap opposition on the far western Marshall islands, within easy bombing range of the great Jap sea base of Truk, where Tokyo admitted Yankee Adm. Chester Nimitz' fleet and air wing sank 18 ships and destroyed 125 aircraft in a sensational raid. SPAIN: U. S. Puts on Squeeze In an effort to limit Gen. Francisco Fran-cisco Franco's aid to Germany, the U. S., picking up where Britain left 1 off, has been put- 'ttp'&'A ting the squeeze on J Spain by restricting lf j trade between the f'f 1 two countries. Although Franco 0fj has met the U. S. Sj'VVj and Britain halfway t')fy&sh by releasing all but 'fi'fcAXy two Italian vessels frffi.afrni which had been tied Franco up in Spanish ports and offering to limit shipments of war-vital wolfram to Germany, the U. S. announced that it will extend its ban against exports of oil. to Spain through March, and will also disfranchise any American citizen belonging to Franco's Falangist party, which is charged with advocating advo-cating restoration of the old Spanish empire. RUSSIA: ...... Ease Threat With the vanguard of Gen. Nikolai. Vatutln's First Ukrainian army deep inside of prewar Poland and German Ger-man troops strung out far along his two flanks, the Russians sought to ease the threat to their own rear, by whittling down the Nazis on the, southern flank. First major objective in the Reds', drive was the iron ore, copper and coal center of Krivoi Rog. meaning "Curved Horn," which the Germans overran in August, 1941, and wrecked before surrendering it to the Russ. With the German lines holding in northern Estonia, the Russ shifted the weight of their attacks farther to the south, driving for Pskov, from which railway lines radiate throughout through-out the Baltic states, offering the Nazis important arteries for reinforcements rein-forcements and supplies. LIVING COSTS: Attack Estimates Pressing its argument against wage stabilization limiting wages to a 15 per' cent increase over January, Janu-ary, 1941, AFL-CIO officials Joined to declare that actual living costs have risen 43 per cent since then and not 24 per cent, as claimed by the government's bureau of labor statistics. Members of a special presidential committee investigating methods for estimating living costs, the labor la-bor officials said the bureau's figures fig-ures are not accurate because they do not include the prices of many foods in their averages, and ignore upgrading, deterioration and the elimination of low-cost goods. Although declining to comment until receiving the committee's full report, the President revealed that a previous impartial investigation showed that the bureau's figures were considered accurate for large cities, but failed to reflect varying costs in different parts of the country. |
