The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, March 15, 1945, Page 1

DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” ‘VOL. LXIV., NO. 9910 JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1945 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS — == ] MERICANS EXTEND RHINE BRIDGEHEAD ermans Claim Reds GOVERNOR URGES TRAP TAX PASSAGE 10 TAKE HEAT OFF OPPOSITION| Turned Down SOVIETS IN ATTACKS ON LONG FRONT Thukov Imfir;/es Spring- board for Offensive on Berlin | MOSCOW, March 15. — Sporadic Russian attacks from the mouth of the Oder River to the vicinity of PFrankfurt has improved Marshal Zhukov's Army springboard for a new offensive as operational silence prevailed along the Berlin front. There are persistent German re- ( | | FIVE CITIES OF JAPAN ARE T0 BE EVACUATED Much - Populations, Supplies Be Moved LONDON, March 15—In a swift |aftermath of the powerful raids 'made by American Superforts, the |Tokyo radio today said, the Japa- Inese government has decided to |evacuate the five major cities, among them the fire-blitzed Capi- Bombs of U. S. Forts Tooj | | | | By the narrowest of mar- gins, the status quo on opera- tion of fish traps in Alaskan waters was maintained for an- other two years, when the Ter- ritorial Senate this morning split, 8 to 8, on passage of House Bill No. 35. The roll call showed: Voting yea Brownell, Butrovich, Gordon, Green, Gundersen, Lyng, McCutcheon and Nerland. Opposed Cochran, Collins, Coffey, Rogge, Scott, Shattuck, tal, of all persons except war work-| waiker and Whaley. : | T ports the Russians have thrust €rs. across the Oder in force between captured Kuestrin and Frankfurt but they are not confirmed by Mos- cow. Other Russian troops have scored additional gains in sectors as far removed as southwestern Slovakia. The Slovak campaign is revived with a flourish by Marshal Malinov- sky's army with the capture of Zvo- len, heavily fortified German base on the upper Hron River. The army has carried the fight almost to the outskirts of Banska-Bystrica, driv- ing through the wooded Carpath-| ians. The White Russian Army is clos- ing in on Koenigsberg and set the | German coastal corridor southeast | of the Prussian Capital blazing again under heavy ground assaults supported by swarming Red bomb- ers. Soviet troops have struck at Koen- jgsberg and Braunsberg at both ends of the enemy shallow positions along the lagoon. Troops of the Second White Rus- sian Army, meanwhile, have tight- ened the siege rings around Danzig and Gyynia. Enemy resistance has ! stiffened in the area, however. -, ——— The Washington Merry - Go-Round By DREW PEARSON . Col. Robert S. Allen now on active 9¢ service with the Army.’ WASHINGTON — Those whose business it is to study the intricate, problem of German politics have: now come to the conclusion that if it hadn't been for the July 20 putsch against Hitler, we might have been saved six months or so of fighting. The attempt on Hitler's him the excuse to clean out every military man not in sympathy with the war, and his military leaders since then have lacked the courage to suggest an armistice — even though they knew the war was hopeless. Here is the inside story of what happened : The Hitler plot had been cleverly life gave arranged by the British. They had‘ been working for months with a small secret segment of anti-Hitler officers inside the German Army. Actually, their pipe-lines into Ger- many had been laid even before the war started. Weeks and weeks of the most minute planning had gone into the plot. However, as in anything as dan- gerous as an attempt to assassinate the world’s chief madman, some- thing went wrong at the last min- ute. A high-up German officer on the general staff had agreed to place a briefcase containing a time-bomb alongside Hitler’s chair 'durlng a meeting of the general staff. He did so. But either Hitler moved away or else did not sit where expected. At any rate when the bomb went off, it killed several officers, but Hitler was only wound- ed in the hand by a bomb frag- ment. That incident, however, touched off the bloodiest blood purge in history. Neutral sources estimate trawler, an anti-submarine trawler, charged with | The decision was reached at a | cabinet meeting this morning. Sup- |plies will be transferred from the |affected areas at the same time as |the population is moved, Tokyo | said. The Trans-Ocean dispatch, broad- |cast from Berlin, named the cities jof Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, |Osaka and Kobe as the cities af- |fected by this decision. U.S. FLAG RAISED ON IWO JIMA Event, However, Does Not Signify Tacical Con- quest of Island | | By VERNE HAUGLAND U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEAD- QUARTERS, GUAM, March 15 — The American flag was raised over Iwo Jima Island, which is 750 miles from Tokyb, on Wednesday, signi- |fying tactical conquest of its bloody leight square miles, although the Japs are still resisting to the death. More than 20,000 Nipponese have already died on Iwo Jima. The Navy communique reports !that a gain of from 200 to 00 iyards has further compressed the !Japs toward the sea at the north- ernmost end of the island. { The flag-raising was on the |twenty-fourth day of the invasion, but no claim is mace that the lisland has . been entirely secured because of Japs still fighting from caves. 2 | In a proclamation read today by {Marine Col. D. A. Stafford, of ]of the Japanese Empire Govern- jment vested in Iwo Jima are sus- "pended." His words were almost drowned out by the continuous roar of ar- |tillery as he read the official proc- lamation issued by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. The air base won on Iwo Jima is already in use and Navy, Marine and Army planes have begun to fly from the isle. Fighters will also be able to fly from the base as escorts Ito the Supers. British Subs Sink | T4 Enemy Vessels, Damage 24 Others | Galleryites were treated to an add- ed attraction yesterday afternoon when the Governor of Alaska, Ernest Gruening, appeared before the Al- laska Senate in support of House Bill No. 35, the Fisheries Commis- sion and graduated trap tax mea- sure which was the subject of a Senate Committee of the ™ Whole hearing. Gov. Gruening led off his re- marks by declaring that even before |he had assumed his duties as Gov- cluded to prevent holders of large numbers of traps from setting up a number of dummy owners in order to take advantage of lower tax brackets. The Commission would be in a position, he pointed out, to use its investigating and regulatory powers to thwart such maneuvers. However, he asserted, the Commis- sion feature is not essential to ac- | complish the main purpose of the act and, if needed, could be added by future Legislatures. Gov, Gruening was the last wit- {ness to appear before the Senators yesterday during the almost day- long Committee of the Whole hear- ing. Preceding him on the stand were: W. C. Arnold, canned salmon industry representative; Reps. War- ren A. Taylor and Frank Pertrovich, Marshall, representing the Territor- ial Federation of Labor. “Playing Horse” Mr. Arnold, who was heard during |the morning session, resumed his place on the stand at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when the Senators returned from lunch. He concluded Armisticels [VICTORY IN | Sought;Coldly Germans Re—p&ted foHave Infends fo Guide Britain Made Undercover Ap- Through lfs Trials proaches-No Soap and Peace STOCKHOLM, March 15.—An un- LONDON, March 15—Prime Min- official British statement confirmed ister Winston Churchill today held reports of a German approach to out hope of victory over Germany Allied representatives in an attempt in the spring and pledged the a few days ago to obtain their view dominant Conservative party to on ble armistice, but said the promotion of free enterprise in it was immediately rejected. the postwar period. The British statement said the; both supporting the bill, and Frank approach was attempted a few days guide Britain through its trials and ago through a third party to junior the peace. “Victory lies before us members of the Legation Staft,” but it is certain, perhaps near,” he told went on to say the “third party was a Conservative Party conference at once told the British Legation and said the war in Europe might was not the least interested in any conclude “before the summer ends such approach.” |or even sooner.” The third party mentioned was| Two thousand delegates gave the who, other informants said, had concluded a 45-minute address. He been approathed by minor Nazi of-|cautioned the Conservative Party ficials in the hope of using him as against “humbug blandishments”; the medium for talking to the Allies. against bidding for votes for party Respensible Allied officials gener- | popularity, “by promising what we ally regarded the incident as a care- cannot perform.” apparently a Swedish business man, leader a tumultous ovation as hes ABANDONING OF HIGHWAY Thrust Across Oder Mrs. Wilkins SPRINGSAYS Defendantin IN ACTION, ~ CHURCHILL 520,000(ase\,_ EASTRHINE NEW ARMY SEATTLE, March 15—Mrs. Cleo Patricia Wilkins, star witness for the Government at the trial of Lynn J. Gemmill, is made defend- ant in a $20,000 civil case filed in the King County Superior Court. Ruby Hazlewood, of Sitka, Al- aska, charges in the suit that Mrs. Wilkins took $12,000 in cash and negotiable securities worth $8,000 from her. Mrs. Wilkins, another woman and two military policemen are under Federal indictment in Alaska for He served notice he intended to the theft of a trunk containing the cash and securities. Mrs. Wilkins will be arraigned in Juneau next week. Germans Claim 100,000 Yanks Are on Front- Superhighway(ul PARIS, March 15—The German radio said today the new U. S. Fifteenth Army had gone into action on the east Rhine bridge- head at Remagen to swell the assault force to 100,000 men, and that American troops have virtual- ly cut the Ruhr-Frankfurt Super- highway, placing it under machine- gun fire from half a mile away. The bridgehead has been extended |to an area 11 miles by six. To the south, Gen. Patton’s Third Army crossed the lower Moselle on a nine-milé front, within eight miles of besieged Coblenz, and had won domination of another 10-mile strip on the west bank of the Rhine from positions less than three miles from the ancient walled Rhine town of Boppard. Bombers Rip Barrier Still farther to the south, Ameri- ernor of the Territory, he had been| fully planned German propaganda | His temper was obviously taught made aware of a mounting pressure against the fish tvap situation in |Alaska fishing waters—a feeling Imaen., Inasmucn as the graduated tax may tend to diminish absentee ownership and make trap sites available to those groups now most outspcken against them, it may |“take some of the heat off” the con- tinued use of traps the Governor argued. If some modifying measure, such as the bill under consideration, is not enacted now, Gov. Gruening !concluded, an alternative might be that some day the Territory may be |forced to take over all fish traps and |go into the business — deriving not just tax revenues, but the returns from a $25,000,000 annual business. “Would not that the socialism?” Gov. Gruening was asked by Senator Allen Shattuck; to which he re- plied: “Yes, but it is a possibility.” In outlining his stand on the fish trap question, the Governor declar- ed that he is not, at present, in fa- vor of abolition of traps, but he fears that unless some temporizing step is taken, their abolition will re- sult. He explained that, being in sym- !pathy with the feelings of the fisher- men, yet not able to overlook the arguments on the other side of the question, he had turned to the Fish and Wildlife Service and its direct- or, Dr, Ira Gabrielson, as an impar- |tial source of information. The | Fish and Wildlife Service, the Gov- iernor continued, hold fish traps to 'also expressed the thought that the | Territory has for many years ne- virtually unanimous among fisher-| remarks with the declaration that it is time for the salmon industry and the Territorial Legislature to quit “playing horse” with each other, If {it is the intent of the Legislature to {put the cahngd salmon industry out {of business, it is time that we knew {it, he continued. “We can't con- {tinue to operate indefinitely with \ever new threats hanging over our jheads.” He pointed out that mil- |lions of dollars of added investment |will be required to rehabilitate the jequipment of the industry to the |scale it had attained before the war. |Now is a good time for the industry |to find out its future prospects, “Let us know now,” he said, “I am will- ing that the die be cast.” Representative Taylor, who follow- {ed Mr. Arnold, stated that he does (not advocate a sudden total elimina- |tion of traps, though he does think Ithat all can gradually be done away with without destroying the indus- {try and that House Bill No. {would tend toward that end. Curb Misuse Of Traps The problem now is to curb the |misuse of traps, he opined, with | their attendant adverse effect on a large section of the resident of the Territory. The location of traps now, with their surrounding closed areas, augmented by “dummy” traps, makes it very difficult for purse seine fish- ermen to earn a livelihood. The . higher license charges levied by the bill would likely eliminate many of the “dummy” traps and open up a larger area to seiners, he averred. Big holders, such as the Pacific American Fisheries, with 60 traps, might be forced to relinquish some Spokane, Washington, “all powers be an essential type of gear—but, of their sites — which could be ac- |Quired by residents. That is a main {purpose of the bill, he contended— 35 maneuver in an cffort to split the after recent sharp exchanges with Allies by causing misunderstanding|the Left Wing, and criticism in and suspicions of double-dealing. |Commons. Churchill struck out at The Stockholm paper, Svenska|‘our Socialist friends for their Dagidadst, which reported the af- program for nationalizing all.means tempted comtact earlier, Said the of production and distribution.” Germans urged the Allies to begin| R negotiations for an armistice while/ Germany was still strong enough} H to act as a bulwark against the “Bol- | I : ane shevik menace.” ‘ The Swedish paper said the at-| tempt*failed because the German | (rashes' 1 7 representative perdicated his bid on the condition the Nazi govern- ment be continued in office. { ————-— JURISDICTIONAL DISPUTE CAUSES STUDIO STRIKE Fight Over Bargaining Rights May End in Theatres Closing SAN CARLOS, Calif., March 15— {The crash of a big transport plane jon a storm-lashed hillside Kkilled [seven men and injured 16 others, |the Navy said, in an accident which loccurred 1last southwest of here. Twelfth District Naval Head- quarters said all the injured lived through the night. All aboard the plane were Navy and Marine per- | sonnel. | The plane, flying from Olathe, i Kansas, via San Pedro to Oakland, HOLLYWOOD, Calif,, March 15— ., 041ed in high winds and heavy International and local union of- © . oag ., rain on a steep, grassy hillside at ficlals: ape complete accord” g.40 ioiock Jast night, breaking in in concerning the conduct of the mo- 5 oo half. One of its two engines was picture strike representatives g, oef in the crash, in which the (tion | They are not defying any | pilot was killed and the co-pilot orders of the higher executives, a sustained a broken leg. | here. | e |conference of studio workers de- | | | | | clared. . Meanwhile, the steadily spread- ing walkout threatened to close thousands of theatres in the nation. | UNCERTAIN (can medium bombers ripped up ‘barriers and pillboxes on the Sieg- night a few miles ; jglected its opportunities to regulate|io, decrease absentee ownershif ithe character of the ownership of| Rep. Taylor disagreed W“hp,Mr. |the traps in its waters. Arnold that the taxes imposed by Absentee Ownership the bill would put canneries out of The Governor declared himself|pysiness and pointed to several can- against attempting to cripple anyiperies now meeting competition 'industry, but he fails to see hoW!yithout making use of traps. He _HOI;lse Bill No. 35 can possible ser- gave his opinion that the license iously injure the canned salmon m-;fee now charged on traps is far too dustry. The bill will not, he said, |abolish fish traps but will enable the Territory to derive added rev- enue from them and at the same time diminish that feature of their | use which is most objectionable — absentee ownership. Remarking that the $1,600 license fee the bill would apply to traps cwned by a single operator above fifty, Gov. Gruening pointed.out that only 10 of the 434 traps in the Alas; kan waters would be subject to that For its own protection, | tax bracket. LONDON, March 15—British sub- the Governor urged, the canned sal- marines sunk 74 enemy vessels and mon industry should be willing to damaged 25 others in Far Eastern meet the Territory half-way and go waters recently, said today. |ease the growing public sentiment Vessels destroyed included a small | against the present trap set up. The the Admiralty a step in a direction that would| tanker, a minelayer, an armed Fish and Wildlife Service (which is regulating Alaska’s that 100,000 German officers andiand a navy auxiliary ship, as well Fisheries in the irterest of conser- other high-up officials suspected of anti-Hitler bias were killed. Any German leader who had grown cool | regarding the war or was slightly critical of Hitler was included. In the last war, was the | (Continued on Page Four) |as junks, landing craft, coastal vessels and motor lighters. —— e — FROM SKAGWAY Mrs. Malcolm Mae, of Skagway, is visiting in Juneau, and a guest at the Baranof Hotel, ! vation, has no opposition to the bill |proposed, the Governor continued, |and added his own opinion, that the measure is very important, but not drastic nor confiscatory. Dummy Owners The Fisheries Commission provis- ions of the bill, he stated, were in- |smgll and cited that fees have al- \ready been increased by the Terri- tory on other industries, Tegal Aspect The proposed ‘“excess fish tax” of $2 on each 1,000 fish caught in traps, over 100,000, when considered |in the light that the salmon indus- ltry is “utilizing” a natural resource, iis “erring on the side of generos- ity,” he contended. He added furth- er that there is no doubt in his mind |as to the legality of the proposed 'law and backed his belief with ex- cerpts from an opinion by the Soli- citor General of the Department of Interior. In answer to questions put by Senator O. D. Cochran, Rep. Taylor jargued that property values would Inot be destroyed by forcing large | holders to relinquish traps. The ele- \ments already take care of the de- |struction of the actual property, he said. Many traps have to be re- driven each year. All that would be taken away would be trap sites. Rebuttal Statements With regard to the point that hand l (Continued on Page Six) |Richard Walsh of the International | Alliance of Theatrical and Stage| Employees, sounded a warning mes- | sage to the unions, which include | motion picture projectionists, lo} |“stand by for an order to Sstop| 'handling or exhibiting any motion ' pictures made by any West Coast | producer.” The Conference of Studio Unions, |an affiliate of the local Painter's |Union, touched off the fireworks | lin its dispute with IATSE for bar- lgaining control.of 70 or more $130- | |a-week set decorators. STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, March 15—Closing | quotation of Alaska Juneau Mine | | AMERICAN - BUILT | FIELD, 47 PLANES Russians and Americans Stimson Says—Hg Knows o No Plans of Djscontinu-’ ance by. Army WAS.IINGTON, March 15-Secre- tary of War Henry L. Stimson to- day said he knew of no plans to abandon the Alaska Highway. This was his reply to a question asked at a conference with newsmen re- ferring to a statement made by Senator Warren G. Magnuson that the highway was to be abandoned by the Army. Likewise, Stimson said he had no information regarding another re- port made by Chairman James W. Mead, of the Senate War Investi- gating Committee, that the date for the closing of the Canol develop- ment had beén moved from pre- viously announced June 30 to April | | Told of ator Magnuson said: Department doesn't know about abandonment of the Highway it ought to for it has virtually béen abandoned, as there wasn't over 1,000 tons moved over it last year. Practically everything going to Al- aska is going by barge, which is cheaper in the first place. , “Of course, some parts of the highway between airports are get- ting considerable use, but other parts have been out of mainten- ance much of the time.” In Edmonton, Brig. Gen. Strong said there is no truth in the re- port the highway is to be aban- doned. Stimson’s comment, Sen- “If the War INCOME TAX FOR LAST YEAR COMES | i 10 $100,000,000 ince War Starfed More Taxes Paid than from Blame Each Other, [ Says Reporter i S | PHILADELPHIA, March 15—Un-| 1863 fo 1941 opposed German bombers destroyed ! —_— an American-built Russian airfield| WASHINGTON, March 15—Am- and 47 grounded Fortresses, an erica’s 50,000,000 taxpayers tossed entire wing, last June 21, in a’in‘st least $100,000,000 for their two-hour night attack which the 1944 taxes, boosting the wartime Americans and Russians blamed on revenue past the 100 billion dollar | | | \ stock today is 7, American Can‘,ea:h other, Alexander Kendrick, 93%, Anaconda 3. Beech Air- returned Moscow correspondent for craft 117% Bethlehem Steel 74%, the Philadelphia Inquirer said. Curtiss Wright 6%, International| The Fortresses, Kendrick wrote, Harvester 79%, Kennecott 38%, were “desperately needed for the |North American Aviation 10%, New 'support of our beachhead opera- figure and surpassing «ll prior col- {lections in American history. | Tax experts estimated the gov-| ernment collections in 1944 at 43 billion dollars, the highest on| record, compared (0 prewar reve- nues of five billion a year or less. |York Central 24%, Northern Pacific | |21%, U. 8. Steel 637%, Pound $4.04.! Dow, Jones$ averages today are as follows: Industrials, 158.53; rails, |52.54: utilities, 28.05. LA CAA MEN HERE |reconnaissance planes come in on ‘{their tail to see where they landed. 1941, tax payments were almost 98 dent Franklin D. Roosevelt has set tions in Normandy.” Two American airmen were killed in the attack. Kendrick said the “Russians blamed the Americans for letting German A check of figures, compiled by the Congressional tax staff, showed from 1863, as far back as the fig-! ures go, through the fiscal year, Some Americans grumbled over billion dollars. {ried Line on the' Saar Front where ‘the U. 8. Seventh Army advance {carried . almost to the edges of ;de]knngen and Saarbrucken. | The Third Army, moving south (down the middle of the Moselle [Valley, 12 miles southeast of Saar- burg and within 24 miles of Saar- bfucken, is threatening to roll up the Siegfried Line along the Saar River from the rear. A Brussels report said the six- lune Super-highway Hitler had built for his armies through the Rhine-Saar district had been cut northeast of Honnef, on the nor- thern end of the slowly-expanding Rhine footing. New Force In Battle German reports said “some 10 divisions,” between 100,000 and 140,- 000 Americans, have been thrown into the bridgehead, and added, “Gen. Eisenhower had thrown the new American Fifteenth Army into this battle.” The American Fifteenth Army, under Lt. Gen. Leonard Gerow, was announced only last week by Allied Headquarters, The troops of this army are mostly new, with some divisions of seasoned veterans, wearing the Purple Heart. Actions Shrouded The bridgehead battle at Rema- gin, in its eighth day, is still shrouded for the most part for security reasons. The blackout of news lays emphasis on the building up of overpowering assault forces making sure no German counter- attacks could dislodge the con- querors from their positions near the Super-highway. . It was reported at 9:30 o'clock, |battle front time, this morning, there were clear skies, and prelimi- nary reports of sorties indicated the whole Western Reich was ‘in \for one of its worst days of aerial attacks. . Dufie Windsor Resigned LONDON, March 15—The Duke of Windsor has resigned as Gover- nor and Commander-In-Chief of the Bahamas, the Colonial Office announced in a brief bulletin to- night, with no explanation. AR | Am An American Day” Designated WASHINGTON, March 15—Presi- aside Sunday, May 20, as “I Am An Burleigh Putnam, Jr., and N. J.|what they called the lack of ade- O'Bryan, of the Anchorage CAA |quate protection at the field, plac- office, are in town and staying at'ing ground security responsibility the Baranof Hotel, on the -Russians.” Bl SRR R T American Day,” in honor of those Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Huff, regis-|who became citizens in the past tering from Renton, Washington, vear, through naturalization and by ‘u)‘e guests at the Gastineau, reaching majority.