Evening Star Newspaper, February 7, 1940, Page 1

Weather Forecast Partly cloudy tonight and tomorrow; colder ton'ght, lowest about 30 degrees; moderate northwest winds. Tempera- tures today—Highest, 46, at 5 a.m.; low- Established in 1852 Most people in Washington have The est, 41, at 2 am.; 42 at 2 pm. From the United States Weather Bureau report. e A-2. Full details on P: Closing New York Markets, Page 18. 34,980. 88th YEAR: No. 1,500 Russians Slain in North, Finns Report Red Ski Battalion Reported Repelled, With 300 Dead OBLIGATION TO AID Russia is denied by Nazi sources; no mili- tary agreement exists, Berlin au- thorities declare. Page A-2 FRANCE EXECUTES DR. KARL ROOS, Alsatian autonomist leader, as Nazi spy; faces firing squad after clemency plea to Lebrun fails. Page A-4| JRAN AND AFGHANISTAN re-| ported mobilizing partially; allies in strong position to repulse any | Russian advance. Page A-4| LEAGUE PREPARING to widen | sphere of non-political activity; | U. S. expected to get bid to join economic and humanitarian pro- | gram. Page A-4 By the Associated Press. HELSINKI, Feb. 7.—Today's Fin- nish Army communique stated that | the Russians have lost 1500 dead | in the last few days in fighting at\‘ Kuhmo in North Finland, where the invaders have been making re-} peated efforts to advance. | Northeast of Lake Ladoga, the| Finns said, the defenders dispersed | an entire Ryssian ski battalion, kill- ing 300 men. It was estimated unofficially in Helsinki that the Red Army has suffered well over 20,000 casualties on all fronts during the past week, with at least 5000 killed and| wounded in the Summa sector of the Karelian Isthmus alone, where the Russians launched a new offen- sive a week ago. On the Karelian Isthmus, said the communique, the Russians failed yesterday in attempts to carry in- fantry troops into battle on sleds drawn by tanks. The Finns said they destroyed or put out of action 20 tanks during the day. The Russians were reported to have attacked between Hatjalahti and Summa, with all attempts un- successful. “The enemy launced four attacks during the day, supported by tanks, but was beaten back each time with heavy losses.” the communique said. In air fighting the Finns said they shot down six Red planes and one | barrage balloon. | Parachute Attacks Feared. ‘The nightmare possibility of at- tacks by parachuting machine-gun- ners, loosed far behind the lines, was | advanced today as the Finns noted | mysterious scouting activities by | Boviet Russian planes over territory | suitable to such a maneuver. The Finns have reported the | scotching of previous attempts on a smell scale by marksmen who killed | the parachutists in the air. If great numbers should be drop- ped, however, it was said they might prove troublesome to the rear lines of the Karelian Isthmus defenses | and divert Finnish troops from the | southeastern fronts, where they | have been holding the Russians at | bay since the invasion began No- vember 30. The Soviet aerial scoute were sighted yesterday over the vast Saimaa Lake system, a sparsely set- | | ch WASHINGTON, D. Move Grows to Sweep France Into ‘Complete’ Aid for Finns Drive Is Assuming Proportions of a Steamroller By the Associated Press. PARIS, Feb. 7.—A popular move- ment in France to sweep the gov- ernment into “complete” aid for Finland in her war against Russia assumed steamroller proportions today. The authoritative newspaper Le Temps devoted both its editorials to aid for Finland, asserting this must be “effective, complete and total.” The newspaper said flatly it was no longer possible to separate the “Russian-Finnish war from the Eu- ropean war properly speaking.” The newspaper’s demand for quick aid to the Finns came on the heels of insistence by Premier Dala- dier's own Radical-Socialist party that France go to the aid of Lhe’ little Baltic state. | “It is under different names one | and the same conflict which had its origin in the Russian-German collusion,” Le Temps declared. Germany is leaning on Russia for effective military and economic aid, the newspaper continued, “the two | forces of oppression now are only one, it is already impossible to sep- | arate them; their destinies are| linked.” “Any blow against the aggressor (See PARIS, Page A-5. Warplanes Already Sent by Britain, Commons Told By the Associated Press. LONDON, Feb. 7—R. A. Butler, undersecretary for foreign affairs, asked in the House of Commons to- day if the government would con- sider sending bombers and crews to Finland, replied that Britain already was sending planes and that he understood flyers were available in Finland. The House cheered Maj. Gen. Sir Alfred Knox, Conservative, when he asked if every possible step was being taken to send aid quickly to Finland, who, he said, was fight- ing for the whole of civilization. Mr. Butler recalled that Prime Minister Chamberlain said yester- day that the government realized the urgency of the question. The first lord of the admiralty, Winston Churchill, announced spe- cial measures would be taken to protect lightships as the result of German air attacks in which some members of lightship crews have been Killed. Lightships, Mr. Churchill said, were never specially protected in wartime before and had always been regarded by civilized nations as out- side the scope of bombing, and con- sequently immune from attack. He declared light floats would re- place ships in certain cases. Senate Body Backs $20,000,000 Credit For Finland Harrison’s Proposal For Private Loan Also Approved BACKGROUND— Ezport-Import bank policy has been to loan money to foreign countries only for non-military purposes. This plan was jollcwed in original $10,000,000 Finnish loan, and President Roosevelt favors similar restrictions on pro- posed new United States aid. Meanwhile, suggestions for pri- vately financed and unrestricted assistance to embattled Baltic na- tion being discussed. By J. A. O'LEARY. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today approved the bill | making possible a $20,000,000 credit to Finland, after amending it to| enable the Export-Import Bank to| advance a similar amount to China. The measure was reported out by the substahtial majority of lfl‘ to 6, following a week of careful | deliberation, in which the commit- | tee heard State Department offi- cials, Federal Loan Administra- tor Jesse Jones and others. At the same time the 18 members | present went on record unanimously in favor of the proposal of Senator Harrison, Democrat, of Mississippi, to have the Securlities and Exchange Commission expedite the flotation of any private bond issue in this country if Finland should see fit to tled island-dotted area north of Viipuri. | May Drop Forces on Ice. | Some military observers believed the Russians might try to drop siz- | able detachments on the stretches | of ice in this wild countryside, where | the chances of landing alive would | be enhanced. | The Finnish Army communique | Yyesterday reported: | “In North Finland the enemy dropped a few parachute jumpers. ‘Their landing places are known.” It reported also that the Finns themselves were bombarding Red Army infantry encampments at night by the light of the Russian camp fires. Couriers from the Karelian Isthmus front said Russian infantry was massed heavily in the Summa sector, 20 miles southeast of Viipuri, and that, due to inadequate shelter, the troops were forced to build open fires which served as beacons for the night-flying Finns. Russian bombardment of Finnish cities eased off yesterday as fog made flying difficult. However, the 701-ton Swedish steamer Wirgo was sunk by bombs in the Gulf of Bothnia and power lines at the northern city of Rovaniemi were +broken by Russian flyers last night. Alarms in Southern Finland were principally in the Lake Saimaa region. A Finnish officer from the Summa front said the 11-mile line between Muolaajarvi and Hatjanlahti had undergone the heaviest artillery fire of the war during six days of at- tacks still in progress. Vatican Paper Urges Speedy Aid for Finns VATICAN CITY, Feb. 7 (®).— ‘L'Osservatore Romano, Vatican City newspaper, yesterday urged Fin- land’s friends to hasten aid against what it called “the most cynical aggression of our time.” ‘While the Finns fight, I'Osserva- tore said, “the allies’ aid amounts only to too facile praise of Finnish Lively Scout Activity On Front, Say Germans By the Associated Press, BERLIN, Feb, 1. : . T—Lively scoutini :;tévity developed betwe:lli' Memflcg the Palatinate Forest on the :'esum front, th, WS agency DNB re, REL ported today in ! Cflxflaumtm the brief military rtillery fire wag weak, ut one recnnnaissance’sgglzl:i:, gaged in an energetic scuffie east of the Moselle River Iman soldier w};:s'ffi?:g el makessuch an application. It was emphasized that this ac- tion was in addition to approval of the Export-Import Bank loan meas- ure, and not a substitute for it. The Harrison resolution was not officially before the committee, but the Mis- sissippi Senator wanted an expres- sion of the sentiment of the group. Quick Action Sought. Chairman Pittman of the Foreign Relations up will seek to bring the loan bill before the Senate as soon as the pending independent of- fices appropriation measure is out of the way. The foreign relations group made | only one change in the bill from | the form in which it already had | been approved by the Banking Com- mittee two weeks ago. That change was for the purpose of making it possible for Mr. Jones to lend China $20,000,000 more. Before the amend- | ment was adopted China could only have obtained about $7,000,000 of ad- ditional credit. The bill does not mention either | Finland or China, but increases.the general lending fund of the Export- Import Bank by $100,000,000, with discretion left to Administrator Jones to pass on the proposed loans. There was a restriction in the bill, (See FINNISH AID, Page A-3) Quake Shakes Salvador SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, Feb. T (®.—An earthquake shook San Salvador this morning but no damage was reported. It followed earth shocks in Northern Salvador 200 Persons Saved As Explosion Sinks British Steamer 20 Injured by Blast; Estonian Vessel Hits Mine, Killing 3 BULLETIN. LONDON, Feb. 7 (#).—The British freighter Armanistan, 6,805 tons, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Portugal last Satur- day, Reuters (British news agency) reported from Las Palmas, Canary Islands, today. The crew of 53 was landed at Las Palmas by the Spanish motorship Abril. By the Associated Press. LONDON, Feb. 7.—The crack Irish mail steamer Munster, 4305 tons, sank after an explosion presumably due to a mine early today on her run between Liverpool and Ireland. ‘The ship’s 200 passengers and crew reached land safely although 20 were injured. The Evening News said a mine struck the forward part of the fast | motorship and that the radio aerial | was blown away, making it impos- sible to send distress signals. The captain was knocked off the bridge, but was uninjured. Most of the survivors from the | Munster, a British vessel, were brought ashore by a tramp steamer. An official said that “no one from the Munster has been lost.” Ane survivor, Able Seaman Allan Clure of Liverpool, said the explo- sion occurred this morning, accom- panied by “a blue flash and a ter- rific blast.” Clure said another vessel about eight miles away answered the ship's distress - signal and took many aboard. The 1,421-ton Estonian freighter Anu struck a mine last night off the east coast of England and 3 of the crew of 19, including the cap- tain and his wife, were killed. Three others were reported missing. Among the survivors, who reached shore on a raft, were two women. The ministry of economic warfare announced that the cargoes of 114 vessels, including eight of the United States, were considered last week by the British contraband control. Publisher Fawcett Dies HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 7 (#).—Wil- fred Hamilton Fawcett, 55, wealthy publisher of motion picture and humor magazines, died today in a hospital of a heart attack. Bulletin The House refused today to withhold money intended to pay the salary of an Ambassador to Moscow. It turned down, 108 to 105 on a teller vote, a proposal to eliminate that item from an ap- propriation bill—the first of sev- eral proposals planned by a group seeking to shut off this country’s yesterday. diplomatic relations with Russia. By J. A. FOX. In an unusual rebuke to the Department of Justice, the House Appropriations Committee has re- fused to make an $11,000 appropria- tion in the 1941 bill for the salaries of two officers who for the past year have been paid from funds the com- mittee said were intended for an- other purpose. The officials affected are William Brownrigg, director of personnel, at $6,500, and a $4,500 assistant, who were appointed by Attorney General Murphy last spring when an expan- sion of the personnel administration staff of the department was under- taken in conformity with President Roosevelt’s plan to improve civil service generally. The committee, ifil tl;‘e‘ :‘epon fi- companying the bill, which was be- ing studied at the department today, said their salaries had been paid out of an appropriation for employ- ment of other personnel, and added ¢ hieh command communique . The hig #d “no special events,” 'nod faith for particular tartly that “appropriations made in yu_rpo.a‘ propriation bills. Do Funds Refused for Salaries Of 2 Justice Personnel Chiefs must be used in good faith for such purposes.” Mr. Brownrigg, who developed the Michigan civil service machinery while former Attorney General Mur- phy was Governor of that State, was appointed to the Justice Department post last March after topping the register in an examination held by the Civil Service Commission for personnel officers. Hearings on the bill disclosed that Representative Caldwell, Democrat, of Florida vig- orously criticized the fact that the Brownrigg appointment had not been brought to the committee’s at- tention when hearings on the 1940 appropriations bill were in progress in April. In doing away with these two positions, the committee strikes an- other blow at the personnel improve- ment pi contemplated by the President.” Almost all of the new money proposed to be used for this purpose is being stricken out of ap- 1 » WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION C, Japan Weighs Abrogation of 9-Power Pact Also Prepares for Difficulties With United States By the Associated Press. TOKIO, Feb. 7—Foreign Minister Hachiro Arita told Parliament to- day that the government is “weigh- ing the advantages and disadvan- tages of abrogation” of the Nine- Power Treaty of 1922 concerning China “Some of its provisions obviously are incongruous,” Arita said of the pact which pledged Japan, the United States and six other pow- ers to respect the integrity of China and the policy of the “open door” in trade with that country. Difficulties With U. S. Seen. Other government spokesmen said Japan is preparing for “anticipated difficulties” in economic relations with the United States now that their 28-year-old trade treaty has been ended by the United States’ denunciation. One official speaker | referred to “preparations for the ! worst.” | Premier Admiral Mitsumasa | Yonai, responding to a member's suggestion that he “issue a state- ment of warning to the United | States” in connection with the two powers' frictions in China, replied: “I do not want to regard the American attitude with ill feeling, but I will reconsider if the United States continues its oppression and interference with Japan.” Treaty Abrogation Held Insult. Yoshimichi Kuboi, member of the Seiyukai, major political party, de- clared the United States’ abrogation of the trade treaty “should be re- garded as an insult.” | Arita replied that the American | action was irreproachable legally, but the manner caused dissatisfac- tion to the Japanese. | clude a new trade treaty and will| redouble her efforts,” Arita con- tinued. “However, judging from the present situation it will be difficult.” | Another member of the lower| house, Tadao Matsumoto of the| Minseito party, asked: “Has the government any inten- | tion of advising the American Gov- ernment to withdraw its nationals | from China?” “It is a grave question and I nm’ ’not in a position to answer that | here,” Arita replied. Not Strengthening Pact. Arita declared that “at present the | | government is not considering | strengthening the anti-Comintern | pact,” which linked Tokio with Ber- | lin and Rome against Communism. | Spain, Hungary and Manchukuo | also were signatories of the anti- | Comintern agreement, which went into eclipse after Russian and Ger- many staged a rapprochement last August. Parliament was told there are no negotiations under way for a| modus vivendi—working ngreement‘f —to govern trade relations with the | United States in the absence of a | treaty and “judging by the pres- | ent situation, it will be difficult to | conclude a trade agreement.” Commerce Minister Ginjiro Fuji- | wara said the Diet would be in- | formed at a private session con- cerning plans for even closer co- | operation with Manchukuo and China in an effort to.offset the ef- | fects of the United States treaty abrogation. Though the nine-power treaty technically still is in force, the Japa- nese invasion of China in fact has closed much of the country to the trade of other nations. This has ben a constant source of friction with the United States and Britain. Preparing for Worst. The Government is devising meth- ods of industrial expansion and other rearrangements in order to prepare for difficulties with the United States, especially in impor- tation of needed supplies, Kakichi Takeuchi, president of the cabinet planning board, replied to a ques- tioner. Kuboi said Japan's announced de- cision to open the lower Yangtze River in China to international trade—not yet carried into effect— had failed to improve American sentiment toward Japan, and added: “It is a serious matter if Japan relies on the United States for the majority of her imports.” In recent years about one-third of Japan’s imports have been from the United States. She has relied heavily on American sources for oil, scrap iron and other military neces- sities. Japan will demand formally the return of all the German seamen seized by the British from a Jap- anese liner, a foreign office spokes- man said today. He indicated a note to this ef- fect would be handed British Am- bassador Sir Robert Leslie Craigie within a few days. Columbus Crewmen Left in Quandary SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 7 (A).— Diplomatic action in Tokio left 512 Nazi seamen, former crewmen of the scuttled liner Columbus, in a quandary today. The Germans were puzzled over their future in the light of Japanese Foreign Minister Hachiro Arita’s announcement that Japanese ship- ping firms had been instructed to refuse passage to belligerent na- tionals subject to military service. A spokesman at the German con- sul general’s office said Arita’s an- nouncement “changed the whole situation” for the Columbus’ crew. ‘The spokesman Indicated the Ger- man Embassy at Washington might ask the immigration department to reconsider restrictions placed on the sailors last week. The department sald the Nazis’ status had changed from “distressed seamen” too “ex- cludable aliens” and ordered them deprived of shore leaves they had enjoyed in San Francisco. n ) ¢ Foening Star “, /;|lL Two I R. A. Members Are Hanged Amid British Tension Police Keep Vigilant Watch Against Fresh Terror Outbreaks By the Associated Press. BIRMINGHAM, England. Feb. 7 —Two members of the outlawed Irish Republican Army died on the | gallows today in bleak, fog-shrouded Winton Green Gaol. and Great “Japan sincerely desires to con- | Britain Whited vigilantly for the re- | action of Irish Nationalists. As a clock chimed 9, the hour of doom, those in a throng outside the prison bared their heads in the chill mist. There was no sign of a demonstration. Silently the crowd watched when, seven minutes later, a prison offi- cial tacked up notices of the execu- tion on a small door in the center of the prison gate. The notices dis- closed that the men, James Rich- ards. 29, and Peter Barnes, 32, went to death at the same moment. ‘The watchers then were permitted to form a line which filed slowly past the gate and its slips of paper. They read the formal statement that “the judgment of death has been executed.” Thousands of Police Ready. Thousands of police reinforce- ments were held on overtime duty in London and other large cities on the possibility that the execution might signal a new outburst of ter- rorism—if not civil conflict in Ire- land. Extra guards had patrolled the prison grounds and Birmingham | police the nearby streets to block any attempt at delivery of the con- demned men, or any other attempt | lto interfere with the process of the aw. All vehicles were stopped some dis- | tance from the prison, and officers | forced the waiting throng of several hundred persons back into side streets, A priest who had administered last rites for Barnes and Richards left the prisan a half hour before the ex- ecution. The rites were adginistered last night, and the priest told the pair all hope for reprieve or clemency had vanished. They were reported to have spent their last hour quietly. First Civil Execution Since 1867. Theirs was the first civil trial and execution of Irish Republican ex- | tremists since the 1867 hanging of three men for the killing of a Man- chester police sergeant. As the “Manchester martyrs,” their mem- ory is hallowed by Irish patriots. Theirs also were the first death sentences handed down since the I. R. A—outlawed in Great Britain and Ireland—began its violent cam- paign a little more than a year ago for the avowed purpose of “driving the British out of Ireland.” The I. R. A. wants a union be- tween Ireland (Eire) and Northern Ireland (Ulster), which as a part of the British United Kingdom pays fealty to the British crown. Irish Nationalists all share this desire, and while many disavow the meth- ods of the I. R. A, its members claim the tacit sympathy of many non-member Irishmen. Union between the six counties of Northern Ireland and Ireland proper is an aim of the Dublin gov- ernment—in fact, it is envisaged in the Irish constitution—but Prime Minister Eamon de Valera has adopt- ed stern measures to keep the I. R. A. in check. Barnes and Richards went to (See EXECUTIONS, Page A-4) State Senator’s Jobless Pay Claim Rejected By the Associated Press. HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 7T— State Senator William J. Eroe’s claim for unemployment compen- sation was rejected today. Eroe, a Lawrence County Dem- ocrat, contended he has been “totally unemployed” since he lost a job as a salesman last December. His $2,500 salary as State Senator, he said, was paid solely for at- tending legislative sessions. The State Board of Review, up- holding decisions by its New Castle office, ruled unanimously that pay- ment of unemployment benefits to Eroe would be “entirely contrary to sound public poligy.” The State Senator may appeal to the courts from the board's de- cision that he is “not totally un- employed” and therefore is “in- eligible for compensati ts.” . | Alaska Farmers Making Hay. in February | By the Associated Press. PALMER, Alaska, Feb. 7.—Alaska’s | unpredictable weather brought pre- | dictions today that one of the mild- | est winters in many years would put additional dollars in the jeans of Matanuska Valley farmers. Settlers in this Federally-founded colony witnessed the rare sight of farmers making hay in February. A major thaw left the ground nearly bare of snow and ice. Farmers have Star delivered fo their homes every Secret Conferences To Alfer Labor Act ‘Charged by Lewis WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1940—THIRTY-SIX PAGES. *%** evening and Sunday morning. THREE CENTS. C.1.0. Head Offers Letters To Show Industry Helped A. F. L. Attack Law $50,000 ADDITIONAL SOUGHT for Labor Board probe by House unit. Page A-5 cut down on their livestock food bill by turning their cattle out for early | grazing. | | Winter's mild manner, weather authorities explain, has been due to| a struggle of high and low pressure | areas over surrounding mountain | ranges. Taft Announces 'Decision fo Stay Out |0f linois Primary Senator Declares He Lacks Time to Conduct Personal Campaign KEY REPUBLICANS favor Chicago convention, differ on meeting date. Page A-5 By G. GOULD LINCOLN. Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio | announced today he would not en- ter the Illinois presidential pref- | erence primary to be held April §. Senator Taft's decision virtually | leaves the Tllinois primary, on the Republican side, to District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey of New York. Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan has already indicated his name will not be entered in that primary. Said Senator Taft: “I shall not enter the Illinois presidential preferential primary, first, because it is merely advisory under the Illinois law; second, be- cause I cannot possibly be away from the Senate for the time neces- sary, in a large State like Illinois, to make the kind of campaign I should wish to make if my name were entered. “The only decisive popular verdict on candidates results from a per- sonal campaign in which the voters get a chance to see, hear and meet the candidates. This is the kind of campaign I conducted in Ohio, and the kind I would conduct in the Nation if nominated, but I can't do it between now and April 9 in Illinois.” May Enter Wisconsin Primary. Senator Taft, one of the three foremost candidates for the Repub- lican presidential nomination, still has under consideration entering BULLETIN. Legislation to subject orders and regulations of all Federal bu- reaus to court review was cleared to the House today by its Rules Committee. The bill must await a decision of House leaders as to when it will reach the floor. A re- view of the bill by the Judiciary | Committee also was received. John L. Lewis offered “docu- | mentary proof” to the Senate Labor Committee today that American Federation of Labor proposals to ;mmd the Wagner Act were pre- | pared with the aid of attorneys for and anti-labor” cor- porations. The C. I. O. leader’s exhibit ap-; peared in a long statement present- ed by Philip Murray, Congress of | Industrial Organizations vice presi- | dent. It charged that Joseph A. Pad-| way, A. F. L. general counsel, pre: pared the Federation's amendment: after a “series of secret conferences” with Gilbert H. Montague of New York, Earl Reed of Pittsburgh and | Ernest 8. Ballard of Chicago. The three attorneys were de-| scribed by Mr. Lewis as represen- | tatives of “many corporations which | have been the most flagrant and| notorious violators of the National Labor Relations Act.” Cites La Follette Inquiry. Mr. Lewis listed 14 companies | which he said were represented by Mr. Montague, Mr. Reed and Mr.| Ballard, and added: | “The anti-labor activities of many of these corporations have been re- vealed through the La Follette Civil Liberties Committee, which diclosed | their widespread industrial espionage | and purchase and use of guns and ammunition in industrial disputes. | “These same corporations and their executive heads have also tional Association of Manufac- turers and actively participated in the determination of the policy of | National Labor Relations Act.” ment that one of the “secret con- ferences” was held July 19, 1938, at a luncheon in the Union League Club in New York City and another in Chicago November 1, 1938. In its October, 1938, convention the A. F. L. voted to ask Congress for a series of amendments to the Wagner Act. Mr. Lewis’ charges that the A. F. L. and business interests had co- operated in the preparation of (See TAFT, Page A-4) Summary of Page. _.-A-12 Obituary B-16 | Radi 4-15 | Society - Editorials __A-10 | Sports. Finance _. Woman's Lost, Found B-10' Page Foreign 1,500 Russians slain in north, Finns report. Page A-1 Japan weighing abrogation of nine- power treaty. Page A-1 Irishmen hanged amid tension .in Britain. Page A-1 200 saved as blast sinks British steamer, Page A-1 No obligation to aid Russia, Germans declare, Page A-2 Prance executes Dr. Karl Roos as German spy. Page A-4 Iran and Afghanistan bilizing. Page A-4 League spurs nations’ non-political co-operation. A4 Page Prench move to arm neutrals drawn Anto war. Page A-4 National Senator Taft not to enter Iilinois primary. Page A-1 Dies committee to question Pelley this afternoon. Page A-1 Byron B. Ashbrook and Mrs. Bolton win in Ohio es. Page A-3 Dewey says Roosevelt made $9,000,- 000,000 error. Page A-3 Committee to ask $50,000 more for Labor Board - reported mo- This and Page -A-8 | Uncle Rly'ccormfl (8ee LEWIS, Page A-5.) Today’s Star Two groups seek presidential pri- mary in Georgia. Page A-8 Washington and Vicinity Milk price cut in nearby Virginia forecast. Page A-2 Removal of 130 Blue Plains inmates to Gallinger proposed. Page B-1 Clarence M. Roberts, prominent law- yer and banker, dies. Page B-6 Citizens protest renewal of Rossiter liquor license. Page B-1 Sports Hoyas and Cardinals hosts tonight in pasket battles. Page A-14 Galento fears some one will “take” Louis before he can. Page A-14 Princeton’s entry in Poughkeepsie regatta looms. Page A-16 Editorial and Comment That. Answers to Questions. Letters to The Star. David Lawrence. Alsop and Kintner. Prederic William Wile. Charles G. Ross. Jay Franklin, Miscellany Service Orders. Vital Statistics. Nature’s Children. Bedtime Story. Cross-Word Puzzle. Letter-Out. Contract. Page A-10 PageA-10 Page A-10 Page A-11 Page A-11 Page A-11 Page A-11 Page A-11 Page A-7 Page B-8 Page B-9 Page B-14 Page B-14 Page B-14 Page B-15 PageB-15 * the N. A. M. to advise industry generally to deliberately violate the | Mr. Lewis declared in his state- | Dies Committee To Quiz Pelley This Afternoon Silver Shirt Leader’s Testimony Is Sought On ‘Fascist’ Legion BACKGROUND— Storm center since its creation, the Dies Committee probing un- American activities got back in the headlines when charges were made that members of Congress were attempting to sabotage it by linking the chairman, Repre- sentative Dies, with the Silver Shirts, a “Fascist” group. Let- ters purporting to involve Mr. Dies were introduced into the Record, and promptly branded forgeries—a contention that was proved yesterday. By the Associated Press. The Dies Committee ordered a public hearing today at 2:30 p.m. to question Willlam Dudley Pelley about his activities as leader of the Silver Shirt Legion. Acting Chairman Starnes, Demo- crat, of Alabama made the an- nouncement after he and Repre- sentative Mason, Republican, of Illinois, another committee member, had talked to Pelley privately for almost two hours. Neither Mr. Starnes or Mr. Mason would say what was discussed. The soft-spoken, goateed Pelley, | who had been sought for months by | the committee and its agents, pop- ped up yesterday and was reported ready to testify on committee | charges that his organization is | probably the largest Fascist group in the United States. First, however. he helped bring about a quick denouncement of the furor over the letters used by Rep- resentative Hook, Democrat, of Michigan in a recent House state- ment desigend to show a connec- | tion between Chairman Dies, Dem= ocrat, of Texas and Pelley. | The latter told a House Rules | Subcommittee yesterday that the | documents appearing over his sig- natures were forgeries and that he gave Mr. Dies “a clean bill of | health.” David Mayne of Washington, a one-time aide of Pelley who had produced the letters, followed him on the stand and calmly said that he had manufactured them “right out of the clear air.” Hook Withdraws Letters. It wasn't long before Mr. Hook | arose in the house, said the letters | were the “figment of somebody's imagination,” and withdrew them from the Congressional Record. Pelley, meanwhile, dropped from sight after being given a sub- poena by the Dies Committee. Mem- bers, plainly baffled by his sudden appearance, said they were consid- ering placing him under surveillance o assure his presence whenever they were ready to take his testi- mony. “I think that Pelley knew sooner or later he would be caught and would have to testify,” said Repre- sentative Voorhis, Democrat, of Cali- fornia, a committeeman. Members were uncertain what would happen if Sheriff Laurence E. Brown of Asheville, N. C., should succeed in locating Pelley. A Caro- lina judge has declared that he vio- lated the conditions on which a jail | sentence for State “blue sky” law violations was suspended. They said they understood that the statute of limitations on those accusations would expire February 18. Representative Starnes added that neither State nor Federal offi- cers could interfere while Pelley was under a committee subpoena. Called Racketeer in Report. In discussing Pelley, a distributor of anti-Semitic literature, the Dies been active members of the Na-| Committee said in a report to Con- | gress last month: “From the documentary evidence and testimony before the committee concerning the activities of Pelley, the conclusion that he is a racketeer | engaged in mulcting thousands of dollars annually from his fanatical and misled followers and credulous people all over the United States, Canada and certain foreign coun- tries, is inescapable.” Mr. Hook's request to the House to withdraw the “Pelley letters” was coupled with an apology and the statement that he had presented them innocently. “After all,” he added, “this con- troversy brought up by me forced Pelley before the Dies Committee.” Mr. Starnes also told the House yesterday that his attention had been called to the fact that in exon- erating four members of Congress from complicity in an alleged plcc (See UN-AMERICAN, Page A-3) | President Names Earle Minister fo Bulgaria By the Associated Press. President Roosevelt sent to the Senate today the nomination of George H. Earle, former Governor of Pennsylvania, to be Minister to Bulgaria. He also nominated David Gray of Florida to be Minister to Ireland &and Louis G. Dreyfus, jr., of Cali- fornia, now Minister to Iran, to be Minister also to Afghanistan. Mr. Earle at one time was Min- ister to Austria. During his gov- ernorship he was an ardent sup- porter of the New Deal. Senator Guffey, Democrat, of Pennsylvania had been urging diplomatic ap- pointment for him for some time. Severe Quake Reported Near Salonika, Greece By the Associated Press. LONDON, Feb. 7.—The Exchange Telegraph Agency reported today a severe earthquake at Edessa, near Salonika, Greece. Reuters, another British news agency, reported Saturday 18 earth tremors along the shores of the Gulf of Salonika damaged or destroyed at least 120