Show weekly We eBBy news analysis congress moves to defer farm labor african campaign climax near EDITORS NOTE when opinions ar lira e expressed in these columns they are those of western newspaper union sews new s analysts analysis sad and not necessarily of this newspaper FARM LABOR deferment act passed congress demonstrated demonstrate ct unmistakably that it meant business in dealing with the farm labor sh shortage ortale evidence of this determination was found in the senates action in passing legislation to defer all essential farm workers from military service the measure which had required house approval would direct draft boards to defer men employed substantially full time in production of essential foods and 11 fibers although secretary of war henry L stimson had strenuously oppose opposed d blanket farm deferments sponsors sponsor s of the legislation contended such action was necessary the house meanwhile had moved to combat the farm labor shortage in another direction by passing a bill appropriating to recruit and train men and women as a land army SHOWDOWN looms in iii tunisia evidence had continued to mount that the allies were preparing a concerted drive that would bring the north african campaign to a climax As the ring around the axis defenders of coastal tunisia was tightened by the allied command two cevelo developments p ments spelled progress toward the final showdown one was the upsurge of offensive action by american forces under gen george S blood and guts patton which continued on after the recapture of gabsa and el guetter in central tunisia and apparently had as its ultimate goal the coastal city of gabes replacing maj gen lloyd R fredendall on this front general patton brought with him the reputation of being one of the most offensive minded generals of the army another development of high significance ance was the drive by general british eighth army against marshal brommels Rom mels mareth line positions in southeastern T tunisia uni characteristically characteristic ally tight lipped montgomery had issued no concerning his early moves first reports of the offensive had come from german sources together these two developments indicated that an allied squeeze play was under way against rom mels army LESS GASOLINE for east coast while the gasoline ration for A book holders in eastern states was cut from 3 to lah 1 gallons per week these motorists were given the opportunity port unity of using the gasoline as they pleased for the ban on pleasure driving was removed in making public the reduction the office of price administration price administrator prentiss M brown announced that A book holding industrial workers who motor to their jobs would be allowed supplemental gasoline halving of the basic ration was made necessary according to a statement by petroleum administrator harold L ickes because only barrels of gasoline daily could be made available for east coast civilian and industrial use during april SOUTH PACIFIC japs show concern even as premier hideki tojo was warning the japs that the war situation is becoming more serious secretary of navy frank knox declared that japan has lost tons of shipping or one third of her tonnage at the beginning of the war the journey to victory is just beginning knox however cautioned S I 1 ta N eh s I 1 k i j lining the deck of a V U S submarine as it docks at pearl harbor after a successful raid on the jap base on makin island these marine raiders are ready for the comforts of shore for a while the raiders transported to the island and back aboard american submarines wiped out the garrison and all enemy installations there the journey to victory is just begun knox cautioned we have reached the point where the conduct of the struggle will be from now on of our own choosing the initiative is ours while japan was thus exhibiting signs of concern over the wars trend american warplanes war planes continued to blast at the westward movement of enemy troops and supplies to the islands above australia attacking jap coastal vessels oft off western dutch new guinea further to the south and east gen douglas macarthurs Mac Arthurs air forces kept up a steady pound pounding ing on the big japanese base at in new britain other united nations airmen attacked enemy outposts in the kai islands between australia and new guinea AIRCRAFT CARRIERS dozens by years end henry J kaiser shipbuilding miracle man was at it again this time it was on the large scale production of foot aircraft carriers some details of kaisers keisers Kai sers new activities tivi ties were disclosed following a recent visit to the white house twelve ship ways at vancouver wash he said are being used for the construction of medium size airplane carriers the rate of production is expected to reach six a month by the end of bf 1943 the kaiser carriers will be feet long at the water line with flight decks of feet they can be used either as carriers carrier s or as aircraft transports standard carriers are feet long FREEZE vehicles As the nations transportation situation grew more critical because of heavier loads and lack of new equipment director joseph B eastman moved to prevent the migration of vehicles from one area to another by freezing nearly buses and street cars in their present service mr eastmann East mans order applied to every vehicle carrying nine or more persons in passenger transportation in the united states its territories and possessions included in new regulations were school buses intercity inter city buses city buses rapid transit elevated and subway cars suburban rail cars and trackless trolley vehicles at the same time in line with the governments plans to keep the nations automobiles rolling OPA officials announced that additional pre pearl harbor and victory tires would be available to certain lower mileage ration passenger car owners RUSSIA see saiu offensives the s seesaw see ee saw character of the warfare on the russian front had continued with soviet offensives pushing on without interruption toward the goals of sk and russa while german counter offen were striking with increasing power in the kharlov sector the main force of the russian drive toward sk had been concentrated cent rated on a stretch of the ayaz ma railroad the reds were reported as having captured scores of settlements south of bely much of the fighting was reported west of the river headwaters the german offensive further south had ranged from kharlov to bursk with epic tank battles and a struggle for supremacy in the air A german had reported that enemy forces encircled southeast of kharlov have been annihilated with the exception of small re remnants ants far northwest of khar kov and ozi on a battle line extending down into the donets river basin the bermans germans were reported concentrating their reserves and tanks on narrow sectors still held by the russians far away on the no northwestern rth western front marshal forces continued an offensive directed at russa UNITY UNITY for french factions three months of un publicized preparation had been necessary for the action that was to culminate in a meeting between gen henri giraud and gen charles De and bridge once and for all the chasm that had separated the french north african regime and the fighting french when gen giraud had announced that everything reminiscent of vichy rule was to be thrown overboard and then had followed with decisive decrees translating words into action the day of french unity dawned happily received by the decaul lists were girards Gira decrees decree anuw nullifying all vichy laws discriminating against jews restricting the activities of labor unions and banning freemasonry even before the giraud decrees and the resignation from his government of ex Vichy officials fighting french leaders meeting in london rejoiced that events in north africa had taken a more favorable turn and that girards Gira invitation to de for a conference would meet a friendly reception further evidence of the increasing unity of french interests was the action of french guianan Gui anas govern ment in breaking away from vichy control and joining forces with general giraud this south american possession had previously been under control of axis minded adm georges robert high commissioner at martinique MANPOWER supply and demand the problem of manpower for war industries grew more acute as the war manpower commission placed the steel producing districts of south chicago northern indiana on a 48 hour week basis and designated 36 areas in the united states as sections in which a critical labor shortage is soon expected with the supply of labor for essential war work lagging the estimated that at least essential jobs in munitions transportation agriculture and other industries must be filled this year from the less essential work classes included in this latter category were bartenders porters bellhops night club and music hall attendants persons engaged in the liquor trade candy tobacco and florists labor experts indicated that in order to fill the increasing demand for workers employers must hire more older people train and employ more women use boys under 18 wherever possible and use the physically handicapped for light tasks meanwhile robert P patterson assistant secretary of war urged congress to adopt legislation to draft men and women when feces necessary sary to fill war factory jobs and work on farms SEA SAGA one but a lion A coast guard rutter cutter which rammed and sank one axis submarine and drove off five others in a wolf pack menacing an allied north atlantic convoy was the hero of a sea saga recounted in an official navy report the cutter was the 2000 ton campbell which once escorted king george and queen elizabeth of england on their visit to america captained by comar james A hirschfield san antonio texas the cutter got into its epic 12 hour battle with the german flotilla when it had gone 25 miles away from a convoy to investigate the suspected presence of the enemy submarines ramming operations on the surface and depth bombs dropped into the sea were the campbells weapons in the encounter in which it sank one sub the cutter was itself disabled with a 12 foot rip in its side and its engine rooms partially flooded the ship remained afloat until other escort vessels came to its aid and towed it to an eastern shipyard for repairs BEEF shortage complicated the united states would be beached faced with a beet beef shortage even it if lend lease and the armed forces took no beef roy F henderson food distribution trib ution administrator disclosed rilla the beet beef shortage he said in a af statement released in washington is not due to a drop in cattle production or slaughtering or to government purchases but to the abnormal food demand thus if government buying we were re to be stopped there would still be a beef situation As national income goes up he added the demand for food goes up and the national income continues to rise housewives generally he said want to co operate cooperate with the government black market opera eions have continued because housewives did not know when the meat they purchased was black market and when it was not POLITICS banned for owl accused by administration critics t i N 1 1 of propaganda boosting president roosevelt for a fourth term personnel of the office of war information were cautioned by director el ra s ELMER DAVIS mer davis to refrain from partisan political activity conceding that the had indulged in propaganda on behalf of the administration in an article in the bureaus overseas magazine victory davis denied that there was any other evidence to support the charges our sole function is to contribute to winning the war davis pointed out ina memorandum to OWIs employees we must take care that the utility of this office is not impaired by any action of ours whatever injury to it may be attempted by others |