Show weekly news analysis auto industry faces tie up i in n CIO dem demand and for pay increase EDITORS NOTE when opinions ire are expressed in these columns they ate are those thase of western newspaper union news analysts a and n d not necessarily of this newspaper STRIKE showdown the CIOs demands for a 30 per cent postwar wage increase to maintain high wartime take home pay came to a showdown when members of the united automobile workers struck against general motors corporation no I 1 producer in the industry with labors biggest union locked against the nations greatest operating company observers looked tor for a long drawn battle between the two participants with federal co conciliator john W gibson expecting a settlement by january 15 or proba probably bly before against GM s huge resources the reported possession of a strike fund with rumors that the union was preparing for a winter long siege though original plans called tor for a walkout only at GM plants under a new strategy which would hit at one company at a time and permit free operation of their competitors peti tors the reliance of all other manufacturers except ford upon GM for parts threatened to cripple the whole industry when supplies ran out or new sources could not be found meantime held negotiations with chrysler and ford over the pay issue decision to strike at GM followed the collapse of bargaining between the two parties during which the union turned down the companas comp anys offer for a 10 per cent raise predicated upon the possibility of rice increases for new cars under new OPA regulations costs of new GM vehicles will be about 2 per cent below prewar figures Cou countering nering the demand for a 30 per cent wage increase GM declared that production workers are earning from to per hour with the overall over all plant average at per hour if demands were met the union asserts the production wage would be boosted to per hour with an overall over all average of per hour As the strike began GM continued to pay its office and administrative personnel AIR ACCIDENTS dangerous trendy trend 14 in offering civilian aviation interests the full operation cooperation co of the army air forces for promoting safer operations col george C price chief of the office of flying safety for the predicted a heavy future accident toll unless current trends were reversed declaring that civil air accidents since VJ V J day to october 31 were 70 per cent greater than in the same period last year price said that with planes in the air IS the next five years there might be serious crashes and fatalities annually in the early though flying mishaps in the army took lives and destroyed destroy planes during the war the accident rate was lower than it had been during peacetime price averred army safety experience would be gladly offered to civilian agencies to minimize flying hazards he said I 1 agn 2 t lean and sober hermann tt ermann goering left rudolph hess center and joachim von go on trial for war crimes at germany AMERICAN LEGION take stand ending its annual convention in chicago ill with all of the characteristic act hi jinks the american america n legion took its stand on the leading controversial national questions of the day demanding one year of compulsory military training for all youths with adequate basic training and either advanced technical or scientific instruction st when qualified or further schooling in ROTC units retention of the secret of the atom bomb and the establishment of a civilian board for scientific research in military material 9 financial assistance to friendly foreign countries riot pot imps imposing ing trade restrictions and then tor for constructive purposes only unification of the army navy and air forces into a single coni command following election of former gov john stelle of illinois as national commander the legion honored two world war il II vets as vice command ers fred laboon of chickasha Chic kasha okla and dudley swim of twin falls idaho other vice commanders named included jeremiah of lawrence mass R graham huntington of maplewood Map lewood N J and sam latimer of columbia S C WAR CRIMES trace nazi rise declaring that high nazis own written records would furnish sufficient evidence to condemn them U S prosecutor robert H jackson developed the first count in the allied case against the 20 surviving members of hillers Hit lers hierarchy charging that the bartys par tys seizure of control in germany constituted the first step in its plan of world conquest addressing the four power U S british russian and french court jackson declared we will not ask you to convict these men on the testimony of their foes there Is no count in the indictment that cannot be proved by books and records these defendants had their share of the teutonic passion for thoroughness in putting things on paper in tracing the evolution of the nazi rise in germany the U S prosecution recounted the notorious blood purge of 1934 reportedly instigated by reich marshal goering to crush opposition within the party the elimination of all political groups and confinement of opponents jn in concentration camps the gradual suppression of labor unions with the industrialists connivance and finally the control of business itself the trial got underway as the allied court turned down the defense attorneys protest against the validity of the proceedings asking that an impartial opinion concerning the legality of the court be solicited from authorities on international law the nazi counsel asserted that the U S had always insisted that in cases of international arbitration or jurisdiction the bench be filled by neutrals or representatives of the interested countries most aggressive of the defendants goering was gavelled gavel led down as the trial opened and he attempted to deny the authority of the court asserting that he was responsible only to the german people Jod cu new fabrics from chemistry even even to a cloth from grass and possibly a rayon from seaweed strongly suggest that we are witnessing a large scale revolution in textiles the american chemical society journal declared the host of new synthetic materials includes new satins gatins and silk like fabrics for evening gowns and lingerie soft nylon threads for socks and sweaters with per cent recovery after stretching and finer softer goffer stain re distant materials for automobile upholstery hols tery new exploratory work has been resumed in textile materials with some significant results the journal said british research conducted in rayon from acid a product of dry seaweed may provide us with another fiber of long chain molecules three mills in china are manufacturing a cloth from grass with greater tensile strength and resiliency than cotton but what may prove the greatest textile development since the power loom is taking place in a plant in milltown Mill town N J the journal reported there textile technicians have succeeded in turning raw cotton into fabric cotton without spinning or weaving it is not done with mirrors but with a resin binder the resin holds the fibers in place instead of friction increase production agriculture manufacturing and public utilities reduced manpower by 50 per cent per unit of product during the 40 year period en ending na in 1939 the national bureau of economic research revealed after a comprehensive study during the same time total output of all industry was increased by per cent with only 75 pr per cent more workers employed in declaring that the figures did not indicate the real decline e the bure bureau au said that they failed to reflect the improvement in the quality of the product PEACE PATTERN bishops report following closely upon their qualified of compulsory peacetime training the catholic hierarchy of the U S called for the realistic adjustment of fundamental differences between the democracies and russia through recognition of fair play so that an atomic world war III might be avoided demanding a realization of the ideals for which americans fought in world war II 11 the bishops deplored the trend of european affairs following the moscow conference of 1943 claiming russia since had adopted an independent course on many matters and sought to impose its domination over helpless neighboring states besides calling upon the U S to provide full support for overseas relief the bishops also assailed mass vengeance upon the defeated nations large scale transfer of populations systematized use of slave labor and I 1 cruel treatment of prisoners of war instead we should join with the allies in every effort to restore the vanquished to a rightful place in the family of nations they declared unemployment hit loafers indicative of the quest for high postwar wages thousands of jobs have gone begging as discharged war workers continue to draw unemployment compensation in preference to accepting other lower paid positions in attempting to fill jobs and at the same time decrease the expense of supporting many remaining idle and receiving aid thi the U S employment service has served notice that only a limited time would be permitted for postwar readjustment after which payments might be stopped it if positions are turned down types of workers idle and the kinds of businesses asking for help indicate the gradual return of the U S economy to a normal pattern while industry generally has reduced its payrolls and put in the fewest calls for help trade and service activities like hotels and stores which lost many employees to the higher paying wartime factories have requested the largest number of workers PEARL HARBOR star witness one of the star witnesses at the early congressional hearings in the pearl harbor catastrophe big bluff adm james 0 richardson who commanded the U S na 1 to february 1941 revealed th 1 late president roosevelt favored the anchorage of the pacific fleet at hawaii over his objections in the hope of restraining further jap aggression 1 I stated that in my opinion the presence of the fleet in hawaii might influence a civi civilian iian political government richardson said but that japan had a military government which knew that the fleet was undermanned unprepared tor for war and had no supply force without which it could not undertake active operations listing his objections to stationing the fleet at pearl harbor richardson said there would be difficulty transporting supplies to the base the site lacked security operations were handicapped by problems of entry berthing and departure i n senator barkley left greets admiral richardson at pearl harbor prole probe large ships surface and air space was congested and restricted and full demobilization could only be accomplished complis hed on the west coast relating a conversation with mr roosevelt richardson said that the president told him that though he be doubted that the U S would enter the war it the japanese attacked thailand the dutch east indies malaya or even the philippines he expected that sooner or later they would make a fatal mistake opening hostilities in october 1941 richardson said secretary of the navy knox summoned him to an important conference at which he outlined president Roosevel ts plan for a shipping blockade of the japanese in aj they reacted to the leoper reopening of burma road supply line to chahe chills according to richardson the operation called for posting a cordon rf of U S warships from hawaii to the philippines and thence from samoa to the dutch east indies since the japs took no belligerent action however the plan was dropped MASS TRANSFER move germans because of agitation within the countries governing their areas of residence millions of germans will be shifted to the amputated reich this winter despite a lack of fuel and rolling stock needed to transport them in all some germans are to be moved from poland slovakia austria and hungary 11 next summer with the U S oc J pation zone receiving the russian the british and the french allied determination to resettle millions of germans in midwinter followed previous denunciations of forced mass migration from many quarters winston churchill tor for one rising arf commons to protest against such action because of the tremendous dispossession of property privation and suffering involved released by western newspaper union |