The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, March 10, 1943, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE - “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LX., NO. 9287. JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1943 e _ MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTY —— Bl CRIPPLING BLOWS STRUCK AT ROMMEL I Russians Are Forced to Fall Back 100 Miles A. P. Walker on Stand As Labor Depariment RED ARMY 1§ TOUGH FIGHT tet ! Eight Key Cities Surrend-| ered-Enemy Attack- ing Violently i | MOSCOW, March 10—Forced to|___ Rickenbacker Rafts fall back about 100 miles over new- ly won ground south of Kharkov and in the Donets Basin, the Red Army is fighting the bitterest de-| fensive battle since the beginning of its series of winter offensives in November. | Soviet dispatches claim however | that the heavy German rush is be- ing held after the surrender of eight key towns despite the fact; the enemy has superior numbers in the area, and are attacking vio-| lently. In one sector south of Kharkov, it | is said the Germans have been forced to retreat. On the central front the Red (Continued on Page Two) The Washington Merry - Go-Round By DREW PEARSON H (Major Robert S. Allen on active duty) | WASHINGTON. — There was a lot more than meets the eye be- hind the Army’s move to pick cot- ton in Arizona, followed by the sudden rescinding of the order by Manpower Commissioner Paul Mc- Nutt. It looked very much as if the Army were trying to play poli- epyergency organizations established | junder military rule and now being | tics. Last summer, hard-hitting Sena- tor McNary of Oregon deluged Sec- | retary of War Stimson with letters urging that men be furloughed to harvest crops in the Northwest. But Stimson flatly refused. This time, however, the Army—though Stimson didn’t know about it—was just itching to pick cotton. Here are the inside facts: When the question of the Ari- zona cotton crop arose, Deputy Farm Security Administrator John ). Walker submitted a report that only 7,500 bales of long staple cot- ton were left unpicked as of Feb- | ruary 1; that only the tag end of | the crop remained, widely scat- tered; that 1,700 cotton pickers al- ready had been moved in from Mis- souri and Texas; and that enough of ‘them remained to handle the harvest. Also about 13,000 bales of short | staple cotton were unharvested,but with two years’ supply on hand| for the nation, the governmem“ wasn't worried about such a small| amount. NOTE: Last year when Rommel | menaced Egypt there was consid-; erable worry about long staple cot- ton, mos: of which comes from Igypt. But since then Egyptian cotton has been moving regularly io the USA. ARMY LOVES FIELDS ‘Walker's recommendation was so | negative that no one in the Agri- culture Department thought any- thing more about the question of using the Army. Fresident Roose- | velt had said that he would order out the Army ouly if the Secre-| tary of Agriculture certified that an emcrgency existed, and Walker reported there was nc emergency. Then an unusuai thing hap- pened. Brig. Gea. Idwal H. Ed- wards, on Gen. Marshall's General, Staff, telephoned Farra Security’s John Walker and sugedsted that he revise his repori. He wanted to give the Army an excuse for pick- ing cotton. This was done. Walker his report, and on the basis this se~cid report, pimapted by | Gen. Eawards, the Arpyy was order- | ed to pick cotton. Later when Man- power Ccmmission Faul McNutt B AL R D Ry (Continued on Page Four) COTTON i rewrote | of America’s Strength in ENGAGED IN = PacificGrows; Japs Have Trouble Getting Supplies NEW GUINEA WASHINGTON, March 10—Am- erica’s strength in the Pacific is growing and the Japs are having difficulty in supplying their bases, Secretary of Navy Knox said, but he warned there may be more fire- |works any time and we are now | cess of in a “state of suspended anima- tion.” Now Being CIVIL GOVT. " RETURNS FOR HAWAI TODAY HONOLULU, March 10 — The Military government ovér the Ter- ritory of Hawaii gives way in part teday to civil government after 15 months and three days in command, or ever since the Jap sneak aerial attack on Pearl Harbor. The restoration becomes effective formally at the Tolani Palace at 12:30 PW time, in the presence of a joint session of the legislature, the Territorial Governor I. M. Stainback, Admiral Chester Nimitz, Lieut. Gen. Delos Emmons and 18 agencies of the government, mostly restored to civilian control. Martial law, however, remains in effect while the civil writs of habeas corpus are still suspended. D e Other Bills Brought Out Wednesday Among the seven bills introduced in the House this morning are the following: House Bill No. 73 by Rep. Wil- liam A. Egan adding a new section to the law relating to aid to public libraries, providing that if libraries fail to comply with provisions of the law all property of the library association in violation will revert to the Territory. House Bill No. 74, by Rep. R. E. Hardcaslte, amending the la pertaining to management of public and municipally-owned utilities, providing that after the Board of \Management has been selected by the City Council, or elected, the Board shall have complete and ab- strings attached by city officials. House Bill No. 76, by Rep. Leo Rogge, amending the law relating to the calling for bids by the var- ious Territorial officers on purchas- es and contracts exceeding $50 to except for the next biennium the contracts entered into for secur- ing bus transportation for school pupils. House Bill No. 78 by Rogge, am- ending the law relating to entrance age for school children to provide, that when a child is six years old on the opening day of school at place of residence, the child may enter school. The present law pro- vides the child may enter if six on the first day of February next, following the beginning of the school year. — -, BOCA GRANDE, Florida, March 10—There is a slight but definite improvement in the condition of !J. P. Morgan, noted banker, suf- fering from a recurrence of his old heart ailment. Men Who Fly Bombers‘ Secretary Knox gave his apprais- | |al of the Pacific situation at a| conference with the newsmen. He said the losses inflicted on the Japs in the Bismarck Sea by land based airplanes was all part of the pro-! attrition and he called it| “to Japan's/ “most serious factor” future. a military Madefor By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, March too bad the full report of Capt. Ed- die Rickenbacker's recommenda- tions to military air experts can't be made public. His inspection tour and the brutal experience with | which it ended apparently gave the | captain plenty to think about. | It's said here that "Rick” was talking plenty before he was out of his hospital bed and that the cxperts were listening hard. As a result of reports from Rick- enbacker and Capt. Bill Cherry, pilot, the army already is turning out improved sevenman rafts to re- place the inflated cockle-shells Fly- | ing Fortress crews now use. In the future the men who go down to the sea in bombers, won't take ,surln‘ a beating when the storms roll in. |The names of the new rafts: Rick-| enbackers. | Not all the stories brought back| !by the marines from Guadalcanal are tragic. There is one, for ex-| ‘ample, about the time Admiral Wil- {liam F. Halsey made an inspection| jtrip to the muggy, battered island. | Forewarner of the admiral’s visit, Maj. Gen A. A. Vandergrift called in his chef, a towering Brooklyn- ite. When the admiral spt down to dinner, it was to wild duck, wild rice, and all that could possibly go with it, even down to a spot of good red wine. Admiral Halsey expressed am- azement. General Vandergrift, equally surprised, explained it was the chef’s doing. The admiral said he wished to congratulate the chef personally and the party rose and |trooped into the cook shack. | The big chef, clad only in a lap- |lap (Solomon Island version of a G-string), a pair*of shoes and a chef's cap, snapped to attention. “Young man,” said the admiral, “I wish to congratulate you per- sonally on that meal. It was one {of the best I have ever eaten.” | In his confusion, the chef slump- jed out of attention, blushed to his cap-line, gave a couple of hitches to his lap-lap, and said: “Aw, horsefeathers, admiral.” i | | Washington’s wartime “transpor- |solute control over the management | tation problems have given rise to} lof the utility in question with no a three-way “ferry” that runs from | Bolling Field to Hains Point to 'the National Airport at Gravelly Point. The ‘“ferry” is actually a fleet of snappy cabin cruisers manned by “sailors” of the Army Air Force. The cruisers carry 4,500 passengers a week. By making it possible for air force workers to shoot straight across the river in speedy cruisers rather than take the long way around by land bridge routes, the ferry service is claimed to save 5000 eight-hour working day: 10,000 gallons of gasoline; and 2,250,000 tire miles a year. D e WASHINGTON, March 10—By a vote of 407 to 6, the House has passed the measure extending the lend-lease act another year. The bill now goes to the Senate. The House rejected the move to give Congress the veto power over any final settlement between Na-|in Juneau recently and discussed | | tions on mutual aid pacts, HEAVY JAP ATTACK ON 47 Enemy Planes Raid Wau Airdrome- Casualties Light ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN AUSTRALIA, March 10. The |High Command announces that 47 last Jap planes have raided Wau, New mau w defeats. The heavy raid added to the warning given out spokesman for Gen. Arthur that Jap aerial strength in the Southwesj Pacific is growing. Casualties were reported light from the 26 bombers and 21 fight- ors taking part in the raid A communique also reported that emphasi by a 10— I's|an Allied heavy bomber on a rec- | onnaissance flight near Gasmata, New Britain, was attacked by nine Jap fighters and four were shot down, a fifth probably destroyed The Allied bomber returned to its base. It was reported March 6 that 41 Jap bombers and fighters were shot dowii attempting to raid Wau airdrome. S ee— —— WALLACE'S SPEECH IS DISCUSSED LONDON, March 10.—Vice-Presi- dent Henry Wallace’s speech on postwar understanding between th Western Democracies and Rus: was praised in the London Daily Mail ‘as the “‘most useful speech of his career.” The Mail, in an editorial, added “we would go a step farther if Mr. Wallace would say that the United Mations are not really united now We may not only lose the peace, but fail to win the war.” The newspaper referred to Standley Moscow statement “somewhat unwisely made, said every such utterance a “gift to Goebbels.” William H. Standley, U. S. bassador to Russia, ‘had said the as and simply Am- he did not believe the Russian people were being told all of the facts about U. S. aid to Russia. DIMONDSAYS ALCAN MUCH LIKE ASHCAN Delega'Ie S@sls Chang- ing Name of High- way fo Alaska WASHINGTON, March 10.—Al- {can, the name of the new Alaska- | Canadian highway, is altogether too much like ashcan, lacks dignity and has no redeeming features, Alaska Delegate Anthony J. Dimond told Congress in asking for a change of name. He proposed either the Alaska- Canadian or Canadian-Alaska as a name, but observed that such | a {by the public. Rep. Warren G.Magnuson, Chalr- man of the International Highway |Commission, suggested simply call- ing the road the Alaskan Highway i The issue came up upon a letter being received from the Territorial Chamber of Commerce which met | the question. MUNICH 15 RAIDED BY BRITISHERS (Cradle of Nazi Party, In- dustrial Center, Heav- ily Hit by Bombers LONDON, March 10—Great Brit- |ain’s biggest bombers took the air night to blast Munich, the cradle of the Nazi Party and seat | Guinea, 35 miles southwest of Sala- |of important war industries, scene of one of the Japs'| The attack was the 12th the RAF |'bas made in 14 nights The British communique said: | “Last night aircraft of the Bomber Douglas Mac- |Command made a heavy attack on|leaving each individual the option industrial objectives at Munich, and (other aircraft bombed targets in Western Germany. Mines were al- !so laid in enemy waters. Eleven |of our aircraft are missing.” TW0 MORE REVENUE MEASURES Two revenue measures made their in the House this morning, one submitted- by the s and Means Committee, the other by Rep. Leo Rogge, Chairman the Committee. House Bill No. provides that for two s, all persons, corporations engaged in the can- g of salmon the Territory, ddition te all other taxes levied payable under existing law, hall pay the Territory five cents per case on each case of 48 one- pound g¢ans of salmon packed, re- gardiess of species. Sponsors of sthe bill estimated the tax would bring in an additional $500,000. It is understood that in the course of backstage discussion be- fore the bill came to light, repre- sentative of the salmon canning industry agreed to endorse the bill The other revenue measure, House appearance of Com- next firms and the the 75 by mittee n in in nd Bill No. 77, by Rogge, would amend | relati 7 to ta of gold, platinum, dium, and other metals of this roup, wiping out the $10,000 ex- mpticn clause. At present the first 10,000 worth is exempt. The new bill would levy the three percent on the cash value of all gross Jduction with no exceptions ¢ - D PASSES HOUSE law duction e es on pro palla- Hearings Are Resumed | Walker was the main witness for the defense as hearings continued in the legisla- an.- investization of the Depart- 'ment of Labor last night and emphatically denied charges that he had made any trips or spoke = {at any meetings for political pur- WASHINGTON, March 10— The 'peses while in the employ of the House of Representatives Ways and | Department of Labor | Means Committee today approved —Senator Walker readily admitted !the compromise income tax collec- campaign cards for him- |tion plan imposing a 20 percent self and for former Commissioner | withholding levy on the taxable Michael J. H at various vil- portions of all wages and salaries, |lages in Southeast Alaska and also admitted using , the mimeograph machine in the Department office for running off pojitical letters. Senator A. P NEW INCOME TAX PLAN APPROVED: GOESHOUSEFLOOR leaving of remaining a year behind in tax | payments or “doubling up” taxes E lin one year, going on a pay-as-you- | Hg stated that he did not distribute [go basis with no tax abatement, | the, cards while making talks in |[providing a withholding |9v3-§(~unn(-rlmn with official buqhms.?', |against pay envelapes and salary however, and that the mimeograpn checks effective July 1. | machine was used only on Satur- | The Committee thus abandoned |day afternoon and Sundays or at all of the long debated current t times when it did not hm‘rrex‘e\ collection proposals and trans-| With the office business. {ferred to the floor of the House| He Bought Supplies I{he issue of whether the tax for| He said that the paper, envelopes |one year should be cancelled and and stamps he used were paid for all taxpayers put on & pay-as-yous | by himself. He said thut he made go basis as was proposed py |it a point to avoid discussions of Beardsley Rtunl, New York banker.|# Dolitical mature while on official 3 jtrips when making talks at meet- lings to explain the workings of ithe Department of Labor. | At one point, Attgrney General | !Henry Roden asked Walker if he | wasn't playing politics when he left cards on these trips. Walker .smd.‘ “Certainly it was politics. All my | life is politics. T'm playing politics | right now!” { There wel | | e e Wanis Puerto Rico To Eled Governor; Is FDR's Request WASHINGTON, March 10—The President asked Cong consider “ as soon as possible Puerto Rico to elect thelr own o cqioned about trips to Kluk- Governor. | Thé iPresident sald 1t Has longptis . And. Ssimsban Cove, Whlke peen the policy of the United States 2dmitted SRl melxsnn'-x 'tm;h: Government to “progressively rein-' V¢ ’('l' (":’“"l g, l": ‘l‘) 2 v e force machinery of self-government | Made the four, in February, that] of its territories and island posses- Ub€re were no strikes, no threat- sions.” |ened strikes. But he said he made o | [the trip for the. purpose of ac-| quainting these people with the | pe WARDS, ALASKA * 4 | jview labor conditions, to acquaint | women with the minimum wage' Rep. William A a bill in the Houst law for women by distributing mphlets for the Wage-Hour Dj- jon of the Federal Government mith Questions Rep for the purpose of establishing Ter- ritorfally supported tubercularipe gig not know. Attorney General wards in hospitals throughout the!poden asked if he couldn’t have Territory and appropriating $240.- sent the pamphlets by mail and Harvey J. Smith, member 1 introduced | or (he Committee, asked Walker this morning |y a4 000 to operate the wards for the |yalker said yes, Irext two. years. | | the minimum wage law for several explosive out- | n Joseph W. Kehoe was forced | that (women was. Walker replied that Y | Senator O. D. Cochran, member The bill would establish suchof the Committee, asked Walker wards in hospitals in Ketchikan, |who directed him to make the trip L}’vu-r.xburg. Wrangell, Juneau, Cor-lang he replied that Haas had. .‘E"W" _Vuldez‘ Seward, Anchorage, parlier, Walker was questioned | Seldovia, Kodiak, Fairbanks and ypon whether or not trollers and | Nome. halibut men whom he contacted he | jemy is during this testimony. Chair- | The House this morning passed| .The Territorial Department of House Bill No. 50, a bill by Rep.|yealth would be authorized to put John J. O'Shea, amending the 1aw | he bill into effect after making !long one would be shortened down | ) [ relating to examination of banks to provide for regular yearly ex-. aminations and assessing banks on |the basis of assets for the examina- tion as follows: Aggregate assets of $100,000 or less, a fee of $150; of more than $100,000 and -less than $500,000, a fee of $300; of more than $500,000 and less than $1,000,000, a fee of $350; more than $1,000,000 and not more than $2,000,000, a fee of $400; rore than $2000,000, a fee of $500. The bill passed 15 to 0, Rep. Joseph W. Kelmoe being absent. STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, March 10.—Closing quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 4, American Can 76, Anaconda 28, Bethlehem Steel Commonwealth and South- Curtiss Wright 8'c, Gen- eral Motors 48%, International Harvester Kennecott 32, Ne York Central 14's, Northern Pa- lcifie' 11, United States Steel 53! Pound $4.04. Dow, Jones averages |as follows: industrials 31.88, utilities 17.31. today 129.16, are rails fa survey of the hospit S — [ENEMY BASES - INSOLOMONS, BURMA RAIDED (By Associated Press) Two more heavy bombing raids that started large fires on the Jap air base at Munda are reported |in a naval communique this after- {noon. The communique also told of raids on -enemy bases at Kahili and Ballale and also elsewhere in the Solomons, American-built Liberator bombers and the RAF attacked enemy posi- tions in Jap-oceupied Burma, bla: ing the rail yards at Prome. The id lasted 90 minutes and large |fires were started. Bomb-equipped U. S. fighter planes also attacked the Japs in widespread raids on northern Bur- ma, showering the enemy-occupied town of Mogaung with explosives als. were the business of the Depart- ment of Labor since they are not employees. This question did not appear to be settled Harry G. McCain, representing Haas and Walker, asked if there had not been cases of strikes by trollers and Walker answered yes. Walker also said some of the: men worked on other jobs in the lumbering industry when not fishing. Telegrams Read * Telegrams sent by Ha presentative in Seattle w, ka campa Secretary of Al- aska E. L. Bartlett relating to po- litical scenes, and another of the same nature sent by Haas to Don Carlos Brownell were read. Two of the telegrams, all of which were charged to the Depart- ment and were not in the records referred to a Joe and Don can- didates for the Legislature arpe said he believed the “Joe” was Kehoe but this was not established as factual in the records. The telegrams were obtained from the Signal Corps und subpoena. The latter to Brownell read | (Continued on Page Two) i | | BRITISH 8TH HITTING ON MARETH LINE Enemy Is Répfilsed Along ' Wide Front-Weather Stops Air Action ALLIED HEADQUARTERS TN NORTH AFRICA, March 10—~Thé | British Eighth Army, atter dealng “x-npphm{ blows to Rommel's arm- ored units, have begun harassing and probing activities all along the Mareth line in Southern Tunisia, the Allied announcement says. Decisively repulsed last Saturday, when Rommel's units abandoned 50 tanks in six attempted thrusts at the Eighth Army positions, Rom- mel lost many more tanks yester- day and today. The Allied statement says: “We know we won round 1 and the en- showing no signs of coming up for round 2. We also know he lost more armored craft than he can afford.” Elsewhere on the 350 mile Tuni- sian front, actlvity is light, even most of the airmen forced by bad weather, are taking today off. | "Allied patrols are active however |in northern Tunisia where the British First Army is stationed, es- pecially in-the Sedjenane area. >ee GREATER ARMED FORCES LOOMING BY END OF YEAR Services May Comprise 15,000,000 Men-New Draft Statement WASHINGTON, March 10—One Senate committee today heard tes- timony that the Nation's armed ser- vices will comprise 15,000,000 men instead of 11,000000 men by the end of the year, while another re- leased testimony that says all 3-A draft registrants may be inducted by mid-summer. The 15,000,000 figure came from Senator Sheridan Downey of Cal- ifornia during testimony on the Austin-Wadsworth bill to mobilize men and women civilians for in- dustrial and agricultural produc- tions. Senator Downey asserted that junless some such legislation is en- acted, the American armament goals could not be attained. He told ;(hP committee “while there is talk jabout 11,000,000 men in the armed forces by next January, the figure is closer to 15,000,000.” He said he was authorized to make the state- men but did not say by whom. Meanwhile the Appropriations subcommittee made vublic testi- mony that Gharles Taft, Assistant | Director of the Office of Detense, |Health and Welfare Services, that “I am convinced from what Selec- tive Service people have told me they are going to get all 3-As by the middle of this summer.” | 8-A classification is one given |to men with dependents. | Taft made the statement March 4 testifying in favor 182,973,000.000 fund, later by the full committee, to make grants to take care of children of ! employed mothers, - | on of a approved WEATHER REPORT S. Bureau Temp. Tuesday, March 9: Maximum 36, minimum 32. i Precipitation .17. * ° o 0 0 0 DIMOUT TIMES Dimout begins tonight sunset at 6:48 o'clock. Dimout ends tomorrow at sunrise at 7:27 am Dimout begins Thursday at sunset at 6:50 o'clock S e e s 00 at sceces0 0 e 000000