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Show I WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS . Nazi Armies Fall Back in France; Hitler's Hold on Balkans Shaken; Lend-Lease Totals 28 Billion Released by Western Newspaper Union. . 11 , (EDITOR'S js'OTE: When opinions are expressed In these columns, they are those of Western Newspaper Union's newt analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) . t r; A k ij T" " ' .. J L.- V. ' ,. f-; v. I ?. . ;;r ! -i ill- i -f - ""-?- Carried on ox-carts, wounded Allied soldiers arrive at Myitkyina air-strip, air-strip, Burma, for transfer to hospital plane. AGRICULTURE: Seek to Avoid Glut Looking forward into the postwai world with all of its economic problems, prob-lems, the War Food administration has sought to develop a procedure designed to avoid the accumulation of vast stores of surplus foods which might constitute market threai when hostilities cease. Under WFA plans, the agency now buys food only for foreseeable demands, de-mands, and declares that any commodities com-modities required for relief in liberated liber-ated countries will first be withdrawn with-drawn from surplus army and lend-lease lend-lease stocks before purchases are made in the domestic market. In establishing a surplus sales division, which is to sell current food stocks when demand is high to make room for fresh supplies, the WFA has set up machinery for future fu-ture disposals. World Plans Drawn up with the avowed ambition ambi-tion of improving the efficiency ol farm production and distribution, and bettering the economic conditions condi-tions of rural populations, plans for a permanent international agricultural agricul-tural organization have been submitted sub-mitted for approval to the 44 United Nations by their food conference committee. To act in an advisory capacity only, the proposed organization would consist of a governing body in which each nation would be represented, rep-resented, with efforts directed toward to-ward promoting research, spreading information and offering recommendations. recom-mendations. Other objectives of the plan include in-clude the elevation of nutritional standards throughout the world, and the development of agriculture as a contribution to an overall economic expansion. PACIFIC: Bombers Active With thousands of Japanese troops stranded on the enemy's string of outer defense islands from the Solomons down to New Guinea, Gen. Douglas MacArthur's air command concentrated on the bombardment of shipping lanes through which supplies sup-plies might seep to bolster the sagging sag-ging garrisons. At the same time, Adm. Chester Nimitz revealed that navy planes continued their attack upon the strategic stra-tegic Bonin islands, which lie approximately ap-proximately 600 miles from the Japanese mainland and just above the U. S. occupied Marianas, in an effort to soften up these stepping stones to Tokyo. In pressing their bombardments, General MacArthur's airmen ranged over Mindanao, important basing point for enemy shipping In the southern Philippines. POSTWAR PEACE: Poivers Confer Meeting in the quaint, old Dumbarton Dum-barton Oaks estate in Washington, D. C, representatives of the U. S., Britain and Russia began momentous momen-tous conferences on preserving postwar post-war peace, with emphasis on the need of force as an ultimate resource. re-source. China was to join the conference con-ference after the Reds had finished their talks, since Russia is not at war with the Japanese and is unwilling to discuss repressive measures against them. Accepting the invitation in-vitation of Secretary Secre-tary of State Cor-dell Cor-dell Hull to discuss Dostwar neace Fatherly Marines EUROPE: Nazis Pull Back As fast - moving Allied forces pushed the Nazis back throughout all of France, German spokesmen hinted hint-ed that Hitler's high command planned a withdrawal to the Reich frontier so as to concentrate the greatest number of men on a short line. But even as the Nazis fell back, swift armored thrusts by the U. S., British and French continued to slash at the harassed enemy's flanks and threaten his encirclement from the rear, and clouds of Allied planes roared over the battle-lines to dip low and gun the retreating German columns. With the bulk of their forces crowded in the area immediately north and south of Paris, the Germans put up their stiffest rearguard resistance in this region. re-gion. In southern France, Lieut. Gen. Alexander M. Patch's Seventh Sev-enth army fanned out quickly in all directions, with only scattered scat-tered bands of enemy troops standing up briefly to slow the Allied drive. After capture of the great French Mediterranean port of Marseille, American engineers went to work quickly to restore facilities damaged by the Germans and enable the Allies Al-lies to funnel supplies quickly to their armies in the south. Use of Marseille's installations would relieve re-lieve the troublesome practice of landing supplies on the sandy beaches in shallow-draft craft Armistice arrangements for the German evacuation of Paris having fallen through, Free French armored columns were compelled to figh) through a screen of Nazi defenders to liberate the city, with heavy U. S. howitzers backing up Gen. Charles de Gaulle's troops, and helping to break enemy resistance. Occupation of Paris with its 3,000,000 people in need of food and fuel for utilities, posed a supply problem for the Allies. Turbulent Balkans With formation of a peace government govern-ment in Rumania, Adolf Hitler's unsteady un-steady grip on the turbulent Balkans grew unsteadier, with Rumania's defection de-fection threatening to topple Germany's Ger-many's whole southeastern front. As young King Michael announced an-nounced his country's willingness willing-ness to accept Allied peace terms, Russia called for Rumania's Ru-mania's expulsion of German troops from her homeland, or a war against Hungary to clear the latter from Transylvania, as the price of armistice terms. Even as Rumania acted to quit Germany, Bulgarian peace proposals pro-posals reportedly were forwarded to the Allies, who were said to have insisted upon the Bulgars' withdrawal withdraw-al from all occupied Grecian and Yugoslav territory as one of the armistice terms. To prevent any peace factions from obtaining a grip in Hungary, the Nazi-inspired regime dissolved all political parties, including the conservative elements. Russ Pressure Figuring in the Balkan countries' swing toward the Allied camp was the Russians' power-house drive bearing down from northern Rumania. Ru-mania. As the Reds hurled their might at the enemy lines, they bored down on the Galati Gap between the Tran-sylvanian Tran-sylvanian Alps and Black sea, barring bar-ring the way to the heart of Rumania Ru-mania and the Ploesti oil fields. From this region, there was short going before the Reds would reach the Bulgarian frontier. John F. Dulles plans, Gov. Thomas E. Dewey sent John Foster Dulles, his advisor on foreign for-eign affairs, to the capital to consult con-sult on the conferences. Hull issued his invitation after Dewey expressed concern that the major powers might overlook the interests of the smaller nations. Although the conferees were said to agree on the principle of employing employ-ing force to suppress future aggression, aggres-sion, plans under discussion called for the use of force only after measures meas-ures for peaceful settlement had failed. ANTI-TRUST: Railroads Named Charging maintenance of noncompetitive non-competitive rates, prevention of improvements im-provements and facilities of western west-ern lines, and suppressing development develop-ment of other forms of transportation, transporta-tion, the government filed an antitrust anti-trust suit against the Association of American railroads; the Western Association of Railway Executives; 47 railroads; and the investment houses of J. P. Morgan and Company Com-pany and Kuhn, Loeb and Company. Focusing its attention on western rail operations, the government declared de-clared that establishment of higher rates in that territory than in the east placed it at a competitive disadvantage, dis-advantage, retarding its economic growth. The government also claimed that movement of perishable perish-able commodities has been delayed by unwillingness to speed up schedules, sched-ules, and efforts have been made to stunt the development of truck and water transport. In naming J. P. Morgan and Company Com-pany and Kuhn, Loeb and Company in the suit, the government charged that they controlled major railroad financing and possessed substantial industrial interests in the East. LEND-LEASE: Aid Mounts Declaring that continuation of lend-lease was essential for speedy victory until both Germany and Japan Ja-pan were brought to their knees. President Roosevelt revealed that the U. S. share of such assistance approximated 28 billion dollars up to July 1, while other countries contributed con-tributed in excess of 3 billion. Of the 28 billion dollars, Britain received over 9 billion; Australia and New Zealand, 1 billion; Africa, the Middle East and Mediterranean, 3 billion; Russia, almost 6 billion; China and India, 1 billion, and Latin America, 172 million. As an indication of the gigantic contribution U. S. industry has made to the war, figures showed that this country lend-leased ll'.OOO planes and 300,000 trucks and other vehicles vehi-cles to Russia; 6,000 planes and 9,900 tanks to Great Britain, and 4.800 planes, 51,100 tanks and 73,000 trucks and other vehicles to the Mediterranean area. Having been removed from hillside dugout on Tinian island in the Pacific, these native children were scrubbed clean by battle-hardened but fatherly U. S. marines, then outfitted with new clothes and sent to rear areas. WAGES: AFL Wants Boost Declaring that the President possessed pos-sessed the power to raise wages, and that the stabilization act calling call-ing for a balance in the nation's economy afforded him the grounds for such a move, the executive council of the American Federation of Labor asked for abandonment of the "Little Steel" formula, limiting limit-ing pay increases to 15 per cent of the January, 1941, level. At the same time, the council chartered char-tered the International Office Workers Work-ers union, which would embrace a vast number of white-collar employees, em-ployees, who, as a class, have felt the squeeze of rising living costs more than any other group, since most wage increases have been enjoyed en-joyed in the heavier war-boomed industries. In appealing for higher wages, AFL President William Green declared: de-clared: "The working men and women of this nation have been made to suffer from a maladjustment maladjust-ment that exists between wages and cost of living. This maladjustment has broken and depressed their peacetime standards of living. . . ." U. S. LAND More than 34 million acres have been acquired by the federal government gov-ernment for war purposes, exclusive of land taken over by the Defense plant corporation, according to Senator Sen-ator O'Mahoney of Wyoming. The war and navy departments have stated that 6,750.000 acres of their holdings are surplus for postwar post-war purposes. Of this, 1,576,000 acres are tentatively classified as good agricultural ag-ricultural land, 2,197,000 acres as grazing land, and 2,107,000 as foreat tracts. |
