Show weekly news analysis nazis put homeland to torch as russ sweep in yanks sight bataan EDITORS NOTE when opinions ar n 0 expressed la in these columns tier they u 1 thase of western newspaper union news cows analysts tad and not cot necessarily ol of this newspaper EUROPE reach reich having severed the rich agricultural province of east prussia from germany the red tidal wave ol of upwards of men rolled clear up to the eastern border of the reich itself with the nazis desperately pera tely trying to check the drive biggest threat to the reich lay in the russian advance on silesia the little ruhr of southeastern germany ras irly where red columns closed ka on the rich coal zinc and iron resources and the industrial centers built around them once able tn ita produce about tons of mal coal annually during the height of her conquests defeats in both the wast and east coupled with severe artial bombardment are said to have reduced germanys germanas Germ anys output to around tons from silesia northward the germans fell behind the flat forested banks of the oder river in an effort to check the russian tide relying on defenses reportedly in the making as far back as two years ago when the nazis foresaw the probability of being forced to fight alone reaching the river the russians boldly exploited their M initiative 1 1 tia tive throwing armor across its frozen expanse and bitter fighting raged as the germans attempted to contain their bridgeheads fanatical resistance having given no quarter during their invasion ot of russia the germans asked none as the red tidal wave swept onto their own soil with the army putting their own villages and factories to the torch to deny the reds the use of any facilities meanwhile thousands of german himmler refugees streamed back toward the retch from east prussia and war province which hitler took from poland after the batters lat fall fail in 1939 further straining the already burdened transport system rushing to the eastern sector home front commander heinrich himmler was given sweeping powers to complete the organization of the peoples army the sturm for military as well as labor service evacuate civilians and industrial du facilities and confiscate or dispose of personal property hold in west despite the seriousness of the russian attack the germans continued to resist allied pressure in the west in strength as they unco one again found their backs to the important industrial rhineland As the enemy pulled back into the siegfried line reconnaissance showed extensive nazi troop movements inland with conjecture that the high command was sending reinforcements to the east but even as the shifts were being made the germans theine themselves elves expressed concern over a new allied drive in the west with claims that general el ei isenhower sen hower was massing troops above aachen meanwhile the british maintained their pressure against german lines above aachen while the U S 1st ast and 3rd ard armies having ironed out the belgium bulge proceeded to punch to the reich border in alsace to the sou southeast the germans continued to harass general patcha ath army extended by the original withdrawal of elti ments of the 3rd ard from this sector to relieve the threat of the belgium break less cholm than 1 n I 1 za I 1 in 77 z 0 d ald id up by ails and add rde netherlands arza BERLIN MIN a bail s 0 A BEING REFITTED 0 POLAND 21 BELGIUM GERMANY alf astern NT 1 ad divisions all EASTER FRONT N 1 FRANCE 0 HUNGARY IT FRONT guam N ou 1 ik A 0 o As huge allied pincer squeezes germany from three directions map indicates disposition of nazi troops with majority concentrated in east PACIFIC sight bataan with mountainous bataan hovering ahead in the distant haze U S motorized elements followed by the division swarmed onto dark clark fields airdrome 40 miles above manila as general macar thurs triumphant march through luzon remained largely unchecked eager to avenge the gallant yanks who stood their ground so steadfastly on bataan in the early weeks of the war the advancing U S troops encountered but little stiff opposition but farther to the north on their left flank their comrades faced strenuous enemy resistance it was here that the japs continued to put up their stiffest fight from entrenched mountain positions in an effort to check the yanks drive to cut off their forces on the northeastern neck of luzon As the americans creeper forward against the embattled japs U S warships were called upon to train their big guns on the enemy fortifications also being heavily pounded by field artillery CLOTHING shape controls in an effort to increase the output of more essential apparel like work clothes childrens wear and underwear the war production board revealed that it would grant priority assistance to manufacturers producing such goods from cotton wool and rayon at the same time the office of price administration announced plans for reducing present clothing prices from 6 to 7 per cent by fixing costs at the average level of the first half of 1943 in reporting its plans OPA said that better than per cent rise in the nations clothing bill from 1939 to 1943 threatened the whole anti inflation program although the effect of the program will eliminate luxury clothing medium priced apparel along with essential grades will continue to be made it was said quality of cheaper garments will be controlled to provide maximum serviceability and trimmings will be limited BIG THREE confab impends with the russian advance in the east heightening the possibilities of an early end to the european war the long awaited conference of the big three was expected to chiefly revolve around the postwar political setup As the big three were to come together for their second conference an american official in london discussed the problems facing the allied officials saying that many of the decisions may disillusion the american people because cf the ne cassity of abandoning some of our principles to attain a realistic compromise with the big three considering frances participation in any postwar settlement necessary for its durability rabi lity general de was expected to be consulted on general measures in this respect the french might figure in plans tor for international ter control of germanys germanas Germ anys vital industrial rhineland ON THE FARM not all profit although U S net farm income for 1944 is officially estimated at about billion dollars figures nearly double that amount have appeared labeled as farm income according to L R breithaupt extension economist at oregon state college A farmers real farm income is not the total value of his sales of crop and animal products plus the value of things used from the farm but only what is left after business expenses economize point out thus net farm income as reported by the USDA consists of net cash returns from sales of farm produce plus the value of food fuel housing etc used on the farm study of data indicates net farm income rarely reaches one half of the gross farm receipts except in war time from 1921 to 1940 U S farm production expenses averaged 59 per cent of the gross receipts receipt ss from farm production thus 41 per cent was left in cash and the value of food fuel and housing etc as the average net farm income owing to an expected reduction in the volume of farm products for sale in 1945 and a probable increase in some farm costs the U S net farm income in 1945 is expected to be less than in 1944 and 1943 dairy outlook because of the absence of seasonal adjustments in ceiling prices prices received by dairy farmers for the next few months probably will decline less than usual but dairy production payments will continue at record levels at least during the first quarter of 1945 for which period payments have been announced milk production during the first part of 1945 is expected to continue at the record rate of billion pounds in october and november indications are that the amount of grain concentrates available for all livestock win will be tons per grain consuming animal unit on farms january 1 this quantity is about 9 per cent greater than during the 1943 44 feeding year and almost equal to the previous record of output of whole milk products especially evaporated milk and dried whole milk will remain at high levels however this may be ac companied companies compa nied by further reduction in creamery butter output compared I 1 with the previous year evaporated milk and american cheddar cheese production exceeded that of any previous s november except tor for november 1941 while creamery butter output was the lowest in 21 years the quantities of dried milks produced during november were at record levels JOB PLAN full employment goal in the first legislative proposal to provide full employment in the postwar period four democratic senators introduced a bill under which the president would be empowered to furnish full employment if private industry tailed failed in the goal sponsored by senators murray mont wagner N Y thomas utah and wyo the bill would require the president to estimate possible employment b by y government and industry each year and then institute measures for taking up any slack according to provisions of the bill these measures could include proposals for encouraging private investment or a federal spending program primarily consisting of the construction of public works ROCKET BOMBS developed in V U S examination of a german rocket bomb V 2 which fell into the hands of the allies in belgium discloses that this supposedly mysterious vengeance weapon which is believed to have been fired more than 60 miles above the earth to fall in england is similar to rockets developed in the united states before the war by robert H goddard in experiments begun in 1910 discarding gunpowder as the driving force dr goddard adopted liquid fuels selecting liquid oxygen and gasoline he designed a scientifically shaped combustion chamber which squeezed the escaping gases and extracted from them greatly increased pushing power he introduced jet driven centrifugal pumps to feed the fuels under great pressure and evolved a pilot gyro connected with vanes near the tali tail of the rocket which stabilized and controlled its flight the captured V 2 contained elements of dr God dards rocket RATION COUPONS find fakes james polito and gaetano polito breaking into a west side apartment in chicago in early in the morning government agents found fake red meat coupons worth points distribution of which would have thrown the whole rationing program out of kilter and necessitated the issuance of new books valued at at the prices at which they were being sold to meat markets and restaurants in chicago and elsewhere the coupons were but a part of a total with an estimated worth of points in the possession of a na tion lion wide ring of counterfeiters counterfeit ers OPA officials said held on bail apiece were alien gaetano polito and his wife in whose apartment the fake coupons were found and sons james 22 and gaetano jr 19 both medically discharged war veterans twice convicted for operating a still the elder polito who said he was a cook at a north side cafe has a minor police record CABINET CHANGE wallace bucked when president roosevelt Hoo sevelt asked jesse jones for his res resignations ignati 8 secretary of commerce to nl e way for the appointment of aenry wallace he precipitated a political turmoil which saw the senate first take up consideration of a proposal to divorce all of the multi billion dollar lending operations from the department before considering the confirmation of the ex vice pres dent long at the head of the reconstruction st finance corporation and its many subsidiaries before its incorporation po ration into the commerce department in 1942 bluff big businessman mr jones made no bones about the fact that he thought only an experienced businessman with traditional american ideals of free enterprise should be entrusted with the handling of billions of dollars of government funds available tor for credit and its huge investments in factora TA cili ties etc am upon being apprized of his nomination lank mr wallace long the bellwether of new deal liberalism and favorite of the CIO declared the department of commerce and federal loan agency provide an opportunity for intelligent work in behalf of the producing and consuming public roughly the job is to promote a maximum of national employment by private business government must accept the duty of seeing that all men in health have jobs MANPOWER channel workers even as congress considered 1 work or fight legislation for men in the 18 to 44 year age group the war manpower commission tested a new voluntary plan for channeling employees from unessential to essential industries in pennsylvania new jersey and delaware under the new plan the number of workers unessential plants can retain is reduced with men released then offered suitable jobs in essential industry if they refuse to accept the united states employment service will not give them a referral card necessary for obtaining work elsewhere under the work or fight legislation shaped by congress workers in less essential jobs would be asked to shift to more critical employment by their local draft boards with the latter then ordering them to tt tle fer if they tailed failed to act dolunt vo lunt physically fit men violating the order would be inducted into the army while the physically unfit would be liable to fine and imprisonment WAR FREIGHT emergency control with severe winter weather continuing in the northeast with temperatures pera tures in many parts of new york and adjacent states down to 32 degrees below zero and blizzards piling up snowdrifts snow drifts temporary stringent regulations were maintained on rail traffic in 10 states both east and south of the great lakes in an effort to move war freight although originally permitted to move into the congested area live stock and poultry fresh and feitl meat coal and coke were later pora rily barred from ship shipment along with less essential civilian freight passenger service also was curtailed in the original regulation requested by the office of defense transportation and voluntarily complied with by the railroads the restrictions were expected to serve as a model for future reg regulation of rail traffic in emergencies to provide for the movement of goods for overseas shipment and necessary material to vital industrial plants ne released leased by western newspaper union |