Show weekly news analysis yanks strike back at germans move to step up war effort at home EDITORS MOTE when opinions jr expressed in a these columns they are r those of 0 western newspaper union me BW rs analysts us and not aft necessarily of ft tb is newspaper EUROPE patton to rescue on the western front it was big blustery gen george S patton to the rescue as U S forces smashed into the flanks of the germans g great r e a t drive into belgium and luxembourg and compelled von R d dirve to divert strength toward meeting the threat to his whole position gen patton called upon to thwart the german drive shortly after it got underway general patton then attacking in the basin pulled up his offensive in that area and shot major fo forces aces to the north to rip into the lower wing of von offensive charging over the snow capped ardennes ardennis Ar dennes hills bills on a 35 mile front general pattons Pat tons third army soon bit deep wedges into the lines forcing diversion of his strength from advanced spearheads spear heads within tour four miles of the mouse meuse while general patton attacked from the south gen courtney hodges first army smashed at the northern flank of the german bulge reducing the enemy threat to important supply lines around liege faced with these strong twin U S thrusts von concentrated cent rated the bulk of his strength in the center of his bulge meanwhile probing allied lines behind the first and third armies for a blow at their rears intelligence slips knocked out of complacency by the great nazi winter drive allied quarters cast about tor for the reason of the setback with opinion general that the fault lay in an underestimation of german military strength and failure to detect substantial nazi troop movements although allied chieftains expected a german attack they felt that the enemy needed more time to reassemble is his shattered forces and they also overlooked the ardennes ardennis Ar dennes forest as ai a possible ground for nazi operations because of the rough character of the terrain biggest slip however occurred in the allied intelligence departments failure to observe von i massing of men in the ar dennes sector an operation which ex U S chief of staff of world war I 1 gen peyton C march likened to the movement of the population of richmond va toward washington D C without our knowing anything about it lucky winnie win i nie having come to greece to untangle the knotty political problem in that embattled country standing athwart britaina Brit ains mediterranean life line prime minister winston churchill twice cheated death in athens within a week first caches of explosives were found in a sewer below britaina Brit ains headquarters where churchill was expected to visit and then a snipers bullet whistled past the prime minister and struck a woman yards away as he was wag entering the british embassy that lucky winnies presence in athens served to force a settlement of the greek political crisis was seen in the report that the radical and conservative elements had agreed upon the formation of a mixed council to rule the country in behalf of the king montgomery WARD U S in again the governments second seizure of montgomery ward unlike the first headed for settlement in court as the U S again took over the huge corporation on charges that its disrespect of war labor board orders threatened vital war production with the legality of the second seizure scheduled for judicial review the government contended that montgomery wards importance in the war effort was attested by its sale of farm machinery and supplies and manufacture of military products while the company replied its major operations did not directly affect the war and it would be unconstitutional to accept the war labor boards order for a closed shop denying individual workers the right to decide on joining a union in filing suit in court for affirmation of its right to take over montgomery ward the government declared that the companas comp anys persistent refusals to abide by war labor board settlements led other parties to defy directives and threatened a wave of strikes and lockouts NATIONAL INCOME record level with wartime economic activity reaching its peak early in the year the total of goods and services produced and income received in 1944 set all time records the U S department part ment of commerce reported at the same time the department stated that activity in 1945 can be expected to level off value of goods and services of 1844 1944 approximated billion dollars compared with billion dollars in 1939 the department said while income received by individuals for crops wages salaries dividends interest social security and military dependency reached billion dollars against billion in 1939 farm income alone totaled over 20 billion dollars of billion dollars in goods and services produced in 1944 85 JAW billion dollars were for war billion dollars for consumer spending 13 billion dollars for governmental spending and 26 billion dollars for industrial investments postwar projects project with wartime income remaining substantial and projects postponed because of manpower and material shortages many states are accumulating huge balances to be used in the postwar period when their expenditure should help bolster the economy although far from possessing the biggest surplus oregon with available already has completed of postwar construction plans far more than any other state although possessing the largest of all balances at oklahoma has only of projects in the ready to go stage other states with big surpluses and the dollar value of completed postwar construction plans include california with balance and projects new york with and with and and illinois with and at the bottom of the list are new hampshire with surplus and in finished projects georgia with and and ne vada with and 1571 K J r W Z taken from roll of captured german film picture shows american prisoners being taken to rear as german drive roared through belgium PACIFIC philippine battleground though leyte and samar island have been lost and U S troops speeded conquest of mindoro the japanese indicated their determination to fight to the last ditch in the philippines and make the gangling archipelago the battleground of decision in the pacific even as war minister sugiyama urged that the issue be decided in the philippines B 29 super fort roared over tokyo smashing aircraft factories refineries and docks and continuing their sustained drive to seriously impair the delivery of war material to enemy forces in the field in addressing the japanese diet sugiyama called upon the nation to imitate the sacrificial spirit of the kamikaze fliers filers who he said would yet win the war with their suicidal dives into opposing ships and installations lai ions no less than japanese were killed in the 67 day U S conquest of leyte featured by a climactic north south and east pincer squeeze on the enemy after he was cornered on the northwestern tip of the island LABOR stay in unions apparently sold on the strength of organization in the achievement of better working conditions the great majority of union people have retained their membership when given the chance to quit the U S bureau of labor statistics reported covering 21 plants and union members the discovered that only of these workers or less than I 1 per cent withdrew from labor organizations during the 15 day period allowed tor for such action before maintenance of membership contracts went into effect industries covered by the study included shipbuilding and ship repair textile radio auto parts chemical electrical machinery steel products transportation equipment and tobacco 6 MEAT production record output despite the tact fact that both producer and packer had to overcome many wartime obstacles the industry turned out a record output of 25 23 billion pounds la in 1944 chairman T henry foster of the american meat institute dec declared lured in a year end report citing U S department of agriculture estimates foster said the total number of dressed animals tor for the year included hogs sheep and lambs cattle and calves of the 25 billion pounds of meat produced foster said about 7 bil lion pounds were allocated to the services and lend lease in achieving record production foster said the meat packing industry overcame serious manpower supply and equipment shortages imposition of new and rigid manufacturing specifications development of new items demanded by various government food agencies and numerous changes in processing and distribution trib ution AU all together he said packers have been operating under 75 separate government regulations with more than 1200 amendments WAR RELIEF buy clothes in the te largest purchase so far undertaken for the united nations relief and rehabilitation administration tr tra tion atlon the U S treasury will buy worth of outmoded but warm and durable clothing in making the purchase a treasury official said the government hopes to obtain the major share of the clothing from manufacturers and dealers old stocks and to speed up the procurement it appealed to these businessmen to take a rapid inventory of such supplies with people looking to for relief a treasury spokesman said the present purchase program Is but a drop in the bucket GI PLANS in business or farming one enlisted man out of every eight plans on being discharged from the army to operate a business or farm of his own according to a survey seven per cent of the men now in the army have definite plans tor for operating a business 5 per cent plan to operate farms for the most part they are interested primarily in relatively small enterprises with half of those having definite plans saying they will invest or less among those who have definite plans tor for business or farming 42 per cent had previously been independent operators an additional 45 per cent had worked as employees in the same line of work they plan to enter only 13 per cent had had no previous experience in addition to the 12 per cent of soldiers who have definite plans businesses or farms of their own another 6 per cent are definitely interested te in such prospects but are not as certain still another 25 per cent have vague plans or hopes tor for enterprises enter prines of their own but also are considering other possibilities after discharge including working tor for some employer in business or industry working for the government working on a farrr farm or going to school HOME FRONT pull in belt with the war bringing new demands upon the nation the government moved for fullest util 0 tion of both manpower andal and sources 1 war mobilization director james F byrnes appealed to the count rys 80 race tracks to suspend operations in 1945 thus making their employees available in the labor pool and also answering complaints that 1 absenteeism was being caused by bf workers from nearby plants patronizing the sport at the same time byrnes bymes may have sounded the knell for commercial sport by calling upon selective service to reexamine examine re all professional athletes previously classified 4 F who with old timers have been holding many of these enterprises together in a move designed to make most efficient use of labor the W war r P PF boa board rd announced kAu mudie M j would withhold priorities or allo allot J eions of material from plants found guilty of violating war manpower commission regulations governing employment ceilings or hiring of help with civilian supplies of many food items reported at the lowest point since the war began OPA reestablished rationing on utility beef better cuts of veal bacon pork shoulders spare ribs beef and veal liver and meats in tin and glass and also on such canned vegetables as peas corn green and wax beans asparagus and spinach in addition individual sugar allowances of five pounds were extended to three months and point value of butter was raised from 20 to 24 per pound STEEL peak output hitting its peak in march before gradually leveling off U S steel production for 1944 reached a record tons of ingots ingols and castings 80 per cent over maximum output in world war I 1 and 1 times over axis Eu ropes probable turnout turn out last year because of the indu heavy output during the first part of the year it was able to top 1943 production by tons output in the last part of the year dropped more than tons over the same period in 1943 despite higher production eap ings after taxes for 1944 proba ead will approximate million dollar 1 compared with million in 1943 a spokesman for the industry said miscellany with a heavy demand for new tubes and sets and television and frequency modulation receivers expected in the postwar period the radio industry looks j to the employment of at least persons compared with the prewar total of of this about 60 per cent of the workers would be women it was estimated 0 0 0 in an effort to make employs employ mt it more attractive in foundries T forges the war labor board cordew quick settlement of wage cases in those industries with raises up to 10 cents permitted above approved I 1 rates 0 0 0 during the 1943 44 school year approximately four million children in schools through h out the country took part in the school lunch program according to the war food administration released by western newspaper union |