Show weekly Week fly news analysis congress Co reacts to labor unrest seeks to ease housing shot ahoi laup lage EDITORS NOTE when opinions are expressed in these columns they ar are re t those hose of 01 western newspaper union news new s analysts and not necessarily ol of this newspaper LABOR congress reacts inflamed by labor unrest retarding congress moved for passage of an anti violence act providing a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment for forcible interference ter ference or threats against interstate commerce labeled as an anti racketeering measure the bill grew out of protest against the international I 1 teamster unions collection of funds from independent truckers entering large cities where the ITU is strongly organized while congress vented its wrath against the strike wave with the anti violence act it cooled to move more slowly on president Tr recommendation tor for antistrike legi legislation calling for creation of fact finding boards empowered to look into both company and union books to determine merits of wage disputes hotly opposed by labor leaders the presidents proposal propios al has been halfheartedly half heartedly received by industry with both parties continuing to favor the least possible restraint upon their full barja bargaining ining advantages in adjusting their differences backs down meanwhile negotiations proceeded space apace in the automobile industry where the powerful united automobile workers sought maintenance of high wartime wages A break in the CAWs demands for a 30 per cent pay boost came in its dickering wiep with Ford with the union announcing a willingness to compromise on its position it if the company proposed an annual wage and other concessions like pensions retirement ti rement compensation and vacations cat ions in an effort to meet ford in the negotiations the also drew up an unprecedented security clause against wildcat strikes agreeing on the imposition of a 3 a day fine against workers found guilty of an unauthorized walkout for a first offense and 5 a day for a second while the ford discussions progressed the unions parley with general motors lagged a step behind with president truman seeking to actively adt ively intervene in the dispute with the appointment of a fact finding board to help speed settlement of the wage issue unlike the machinery that ahat mr truman would have set up in his antistrike anti strike legislation however the GM fact finding board lacks power to force either party to turn over its books tor for study production off crippled by strikes parts shortages and labor scarcities scar cities automobile production has fallen far below previous expectations with only about cars having been manufactured up to mid december out of a year end goal of of the big three in the industry only ford has achieved any und kind of volume of output having turned out over vehicles or about half of the overall over all total GM production has been retarded by the big auto strike while chrysler activity has suffered from supply and labor shortages after a late start caused by a cleanup of government orders packard nash hudson and studebaker have all fallen far behind schedule while willys production of jeeps has been stymied during the last two months with prospects of manufacturing only about 25 per cent of the goal for 1945 s A I 1 K 0 PIP va 1 M 4 searching for wood or food scraps residents of scour allied food dump despite plans for food shipments to reich U S reports present ration of 1500 calories will not be increased HOME BUILDING seek speedup speedup moving to ease the nations stringent housing shortage president truman mapped a broad overall over all program calling for the channelling ol of building materials into lower cost construction imposition of price control on new and old dwellings and emergency use of wartime government shelters for home seekers the president took action as director snyder de dared that a million families already are doubling up in existing homes and the number may continue to grow as service discharges mount with several years of peak construction necessary to relieve the situation the industry will do well if it puts up dwellings next year snyder added in its emergency power to route building materials into lower cost housing to accommodate average pocketbooks the government will favor homes under with preference given to vets essential industrial and commercial construction also will be granted priority under the plan with housing expected to remain short for several years despite increasing production the presidents proposal for legislation for ceilings on new and old structures aimed at keeping prices within reasonable bounds to head off an inflationary spiral in previously testifying for such regulation Administrator OP chester bowles said ceilings should be determined by figuring local wage and material costs plus an adequate selling profit in providing emergency facilities including army and navy barracks and dormitories for temporary shelter in crowded areas the government will move the structures wherever necessary at the same time surplus government building materials also will be disposed of with 70 per cent earmarked for low cost housing to speed the program president truman named former mayor wilson wyatt of louisville ky housing expediter to work under snyder pet proves a champion mcginty mccinty wonder sheep of aus tr alias yass riter area has produced more than pounds of wool in the past 10 years despite his 11 years Alc mcginly Ginty this yew year shore wk 1212 pounds in it his first 4 years his clip totaled pounds scaling a record of pounds in 1938 mccinty was almost deft dead d when picked up tip as a 11 lamb being first reared as a pet by his owner ALLIED faces test first great undertaking of its kind to provide a precedent for the pun is aliment of war makers the allied tribunal trying top nazis in germany will receive its stiffest test if defendants press their efforts to get prominent personages in the U S and britain to testify as witnesses under regulations drawn up by the U S britain russia and france the tribunal is empowered to subpoena witnesses in other countries in which case the latter could then appeal to their own national courts against being forced to appear upon the verdict of these judicial bodies then the authority of the tribunal would be legally defined under the tribunals charter the defendants themselves cannot challenge its validity their early protests having been denied and their proposals for a mixed court of allied neutral and german judges rejected As the case proceeded U S prosecutors outlined the conscription of hundreds of thousands of foreign workers for slave labor in germany PEARL HARBOR testimony clashes divergence of testimony over the war departments receipt of the fateful winds message disclosing japans decision to wage war against the U S on december 3 1941 marked the congressional inquiry into the pearl harbor disaster whereas a top secret report of the ardys pearl harbor inquiry y board stated that the navy had intercepted and decoded the mes sage four days before the surprise attack and then transmitted it to the white house and war and state departments affidavits later obtained through a special investigation asserted that the army had never received the information copies of the message have disappeared from navy files the army board reported undertaken by the war department after the army board had filed its it report the special investigation was conducted by lt col henry C clausen and disputed other facts originally presented besides those pertaining to the winds message in completing one week of testimony before the congressional committee gen george C marshall ex army chief of staff and president Tr special envoy to china backed up the revised finding denying that he had seen the december 3 message TROOP TRAVEL claims rail cars with 35 per cent of all coach seats and 75 per cent of all sleeping space on railroads diverted to troop use civilians faced difficult transportation conditions over the holiday season charged with the task of moving a million men during december alone with de barking on the west coast the railroads anticipate an equally heavy load during january noless no less than 40 to 50 trains a day are needed to keep pacific ports clear with 90 per cent of all the beds and seats for eastward travel occupied by the military of the men inland from the west each day 85 per cent travel to destinations east of the mississippi river profits down railroad profits during the first nine months of this year declined to million from million dollars in the corresponding period last year figures show in view of this showing the prospect is that annual profits in 1945 will be smaller than in 1944 operating revenues during the first nine months and especially in september tell fell below the record high rate in 1944 while operating expenses on the other hand were at the highest rate in history with railroad labor seeking a further increase in wages and with the railroads now experiencing the loss of war traffic the outlook for an expansion of profits in 1946 is not encouraging unless the railroads are permitted to increase freight rates freight rates are now slightly lower than they were before the war while wage rates average 25 per cent above the prewar level in view of the large amount of inflation which is likely to prevail next year the country should be able to support a higher freight rate level without affecting traffic some say FARM PRICES FOLLOW WORLD WAR I 1 TREND after declining from the world war il II peak of in july to in september the price index of farm products as compiled by the department of agriculture on the basis of august 1909 july 1914 recovered to in november this indicates a continuation of the world war I 1 price pattern which has been closely duplicated since the outbreak of world war 11 II according to the alexander hamilton institute the trend of farm prices after world war I 1 points to a further sharp rise in the erly early postwar period before prices slump back to a more normal level after a temporary weakness at the end of world war I 1 the price index rose from in february 1919 to in may 1920 the prospect is therefore that business will not have to con tend with a period ol of deflation before 1947 the price level at the present aime time Is only per cent below the record high peak in 1920 consequently there is a good possibility that prices will reach that peak next year and may even go beyond it this will mean a highly inflated state which must eventually collapse as it did in 1920 when the prices ot of farm products decline the prices of manufactured goods will have to be reduced in order to stimulate the demand which is necessary hec essary to keep manufacturers rs busy the institute says this will be a difficult readjustment because of the high cost of manufacturing fac turing which will result from the prospective increase in wage rates in the near future SALARIES report rt highest Ilig hest in earning movie magnate louis B mayer enjoyed the top income in the U S tor for th the e calendar year 1943 or fiscal S ending in 1944 the treasury re sv ed par far behind mayor mayer charles E wilson president of general motors drew to rank no 2 with thomas J watson president of the international business machines corporation no 3 with fred MacMur rays topped movie star salaries with other peak hollywood incomes including deanna durbin barbara bing crosby and william powell general motors officials were among the highest paid of the nations executives other GM big wigs besides wilson in the top brackets including ormond E hunt albert bradley john thomas smith donaldson brown and cha F kettering chaa BIG THREE foreign chiefs meet simultaneous with sec of state james F byrnes departure for the meeting of foreign ministers in moscow the U S state department released its plans for the economic reorganization of germany limiting the industry to necessities at the outset and pegging its living standard to the european average pressing european and asiatic diplomatic problems as well as the control of atomic energy were high I 1 TOR general eisenhower Elsen hower left sees secretary byrnes off to moscow on the big threes agenda as the moscow parley took shape immediate cause of concern lay in the troubled iranian situation where russia has resisted proposals for a withdrawal of its troops from the north in the midst of a red backed autonomy movement tn in azerbaijan province aiding the extension of communist influence in the oil r rich middle east f in advancing its plan for the ere revamping of germany the U S said food shipments to the reich will be necessary during the reorganization period of two years after that the reich should be able to supply its minimum needs and also produce enough to export goods to balance import requirements NEW BOMBER speed record holder of the transcontinental speed record of 5 hours and 17 minutes the douglas 42 experimental bomber represents a new turn in design for military planes completely streamlined with no engine nacelles na celles or protruding div turrets to interrupt air flow 42 has its propellers set in tail with lone drive shafts transmitting power from two 12 cylinder engines in the fuselage weighing over pounds when empty the plane has a wing spread of 70 feet and a length ltv feet because of its design the 42 is equipped with an emergency procedure for bail outs to prevent the crewmen from becoming tangled up with the rear propellers A special detonation switch blows OR off the blade apparatus released by western newspaper union |