Evening Star Newspaper, May 20, 1940, Page 1

Weather Forecast Partly cloudy tonight slightly cooler tonight. today—Highest, 81, at 12:20 p.m.; lowest, 66, at 4:45 am.; 79 at From the United States Weather Full details on Page A-2. Closing N. Y. Markets—Sales, Page 16. and tomorrow; . Temperatures 2 pm. au report. '88th YEAR. No. 35,083, ch ¢ Foeni WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION ng Star WASHINGION, D. C, MONDAY, MAY 20, 1940—THIRTY-SIX PAGES. ##% ‘From Press to Home Within the Hour’ Most people in Washington have The Star delivered to their homes every evening and Sunday morning. () Means Associated Press. THREE CENTS. NAZIS SMASHING WEST TO CHANNEL PORTS Ld .Aim Now to Destroy British Army; Germans Claim 20-30 Mile Gains; " AlliesPrepareCounter-Offensives Enemy’s Attacks Beaten Back, Berlin Says Br the Associated Press. BERLIN, May 20—The Ger- man drive across France veered today toward the English Chan- nel, apparently with the aim of destroying the British Army. Although the high command did not definitely state its ob- Jjectives, the German commu- nique pointed out that Nazi forces had struck westward— off the road to Paris—and had gained 20 to 30 miles on a line northward from St. Quentin be- | tween Peronne and Cambrai. Germans estimated that successful drive to the coast might isolate 300,000 British soldiers on the allies’ northern flank. Counter-Attacks Beaten Back. They said allied counter-attacks in the St. Quentin-Peronne-Cam- brai salient—the Somme Battlefield of 1916—and near the Belgian bor- der between Maubeuge and Valen- ciennes had been beaten back. The high command declared the pounding German onslaughts were splitting the allies—the British fall- ing back toward the channel and the Belgians and French seeking a southern outlet toward Valenciennes and Maubeuge. Capture of the inner fort system at Liege as well as all but one fort at Namur, was claimed by the high command. (A British military | spokesman said the Belgians still were holding Liege and Namur.) | Germans, it said, are pursuing the allies in Belgium, have crossed the Dendre River west of Brussels and | reached the upper Scheldt River | west of Antwerp. Allies “Severely Shattered.” ‘The retreat between Valenciennes and Maubeuge, the communique de- clared, cost the allies their “heaviest | losses * * especially armored troops " | “The enemy, after a vain attempt to break through., is retreating west- ward severely shattered,” it said “Southwest of there our motorized and armored troops reached the Somme battlefield of 1916 on the line of Cambrai-Peronne. “Stukas (dive-bombers), fighting and destroyer plane squadrons de- stroyed an armored column moving | north from Laon and forced them to turn back.” i The whole German maneuver of | plunging deeply into France—al- | most half way to Paris in 10 days— | regardless of the masses of French, | Belgian and British forces on both- flanks, is testimony to the Nazis’ amazing confidence in their air force and armored divisions. To protect their exposed flanks, which are as far west and south | as St. Quentin and Le Cateau, and as far east as Rethel, the high| command has stressed for three days | running how the air force has been | hammering allied efforts to bring up reinforcements. Weygand Naming Derided. ‘That the allies realize the gravity of their situation, Germans said, | was disclosed in their replacement of Gen. Maurice Gustave Gamelin | by Gen. Maxime Weygand as allied | commander in chief. | The switch brought only derision | from German commentators, who | declared Gen. Weygand was an old- style fighter, who cannot meet the modern German attack. | One authorized source, remarking | that the French cling to “the magic | of the past to rejuvenate the pres- ent,” declared it is beyond German | understanding that the general staff | could be changed at the present, critical hour unless it means mili- tary confusion in France. In their thrust into France to the vicinity of St. Quentin, the Ger- | mans advanced on an extremely narrow line, which easily might have been pinched off with heavy losses except for the evident over- whelming Nazi air and armored superiority. Since that three-day-old drive,} the Germans have broadened their narrow hold to a salient fully as wide as it is deep, an irregular block 40 or 50 miles long. Anglo-French Rift Seen. The Germans express confidence | that there is a serious rift between the British and French. They insist the British are demanding pro- tection for the channel ports—op- posite England—and are withdraw- ing their army in that direction while the French want to protect Paris and as much of northern France as possible. It seems likely that the heavy drive toward the channel has been launched on the heels of the first (See BERLIN, Page A-4.) Cooler Weather Due In District Tomorrow Slightly cooler temperatures to- night and tomorrow were predicted by the Weather Bureau. A high of 85 degrees was expected for this afternoon with cloudy skies today and tomojrow. Yesterday the thermometer went up to 89, the second highest tem- perature so far in 1940. Highest was 92 degrees May 14. k4 v |a iPowen‘uI Forces Being Massed For Weygand's Pincers Move | New Army Chief's Strategy Believed To Sew Up Pocket With Motor Units By the Associated Press. BASEL, Switzerland, May 20.—Gen. Maxime Weygand, the new | | allied generalissimo, apparently is shaping a powerful pincers counter-offensive from the Valenciennes and Rethel areas, it was i reported here today. | Reports reaching Switzerland indicated a powerful British- | Belgian force, supported by French motorized units, was massing in the Valenciennes region and still more powerful French con- centrations were assembling at Reims and Rethel. behind the Aisne River. Valenciennes is just across the fBelgian frontier in France along western front. Rethel is on the south side of the German “bulge” into Northern Erance. Gen. Weygand, who succeeded Gen. Maurice Gamelin yesterday as the allied commander in chief, is said to envisage a counter thrust from these two sides aimed at sew- ing up the German pocket, which has reached- a point about 80 miles northeast of Paris Such a maneuver. if suceessful, could re-establish the Freneh line along the Ardennes through Mons to Ghent. Heavy French concentrations | south of Rethel were reported to in- | clude large tank and armofed car *— idlvisions and to be ready to move | despite constant Nazi bombing raids a the northern flank of the allies’ | from airports behind the Rhine. Foreign military observers here reported the ’polnt between St. Quentin and Le | east, as almost to invite an allied counter offensive from the south, east and northeast. | Pressue on Switzerland was re- | lieved, meanwhile, as both Germar and the allies pulled more and more | divisions and equipment from fron- | tier zones into the western front. | Nevertheless, the Swiss remained lon a wartime basis of full mobili- | zation, with no troops relieved or | dismissed. Plight 'Pretty Grim, But Morale Is Betfer, British Declare Bombers'Confinuefl:i“as Of Communications in Belgium and Reich (Text of Prime Minister Churchill's Radio Address on Page B-10.) BY the Associated Press. LONDON, May 20.—An authori- tative British spokesman today de- seribed conditions on the front as “pretty grim.” saying that geograph- ically the situation is no better and there is no use pretending it is. He said that as far as morale is concerned the situation was im- proved. Pointing out that the advantage at the beginning must be with the aggressor, the spokesman said it must be so especially with “an ag- gressor as efficient and ruthless as the Germans.” He said the base of the “bulge” driven into Northern France by the Nazis had been widened slightly but was not much deeper, and that the general direction of movements at present was northwest. Give-and-Take Air Fighting, Give-and-take air fighting roared on the edges of the warfronts. Loss of the escort ship Whitley, 1,090-ton converted destroyer, bombed and subsequently beached, was disclosed by the British. The Admiralty . said there were four casualties. British bombers, the Air Ministry announced, continued their raids on the Nazi rear last night “against enemy lines of communication in the south of Belgium and selected military objectives in Western Ger- many.” The Air Ministry said bombers over the week end raided German communication lines and supply bases from Hamburg in the north to Sedan in the south. The R. A. F. centered its attacks on oil stores, feeding tanks nad concentrations of the dive bombers, which form the spearhead of the Nazi offensive. At least 20 German planes were reported shot down. On land, headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force an- nounced, “The British front was held successfully in the face of enemy pressure” after four succes- sive days of falling back before the German iron drive pivoting west- ward through Northern France toward the Channel ports and Eng- land. German progress has been slow, (See LONDON, Page A-3. A Useful Map Suggestions have been re- ceived by The Star that the large relief map of France— showing the battle lines— printed in yesterday’s Star, be made available on heavy paper for Star readers who may find it useful in follow- ing day-to-day progress of the war. The map, enlarged, and printed on stiff paper, is now being reproduced. Copies will be available Tuesday after- noon and will be on sale at The Star business counter for 5 cents each. The number of these maj is limited. Wheat Prices Rise '8 Cents After Two Moves Aid Market Mifiimum Prices Set; New U.S. Loan on 1940 Crop Announced By the Associated Press. | CHICAGO, May 20.—Two moves | to bolster wheat prices—establish- | ment of minimum quotations on the | Nation’s grain exchanges and a new | Government loan for the 1940 crop | | —helped to bring about a strong | rally of almost 8 cents a bushel in | Chicago quotations today. |~ Selling hysteria which caused last | week’s sensational price collapse of 32 to 34 cents a bushel in Chicago wheat was supplanted by heavy buying throughout most of the ses- sion. Saturday’s closing figures were established as minimums below ‘which no trading in any grain fu- | tures would be permitted. Further- more, Secretary of Agriculture Wal- lace announced that the 1940 wheat loan rate would average $4 cents a bushel, about 1 cent higher than last year’s average. Hedvy expansion of flour business throughout the country, due to trade encouragement resulting from fixing of the minimum prices, also was reported, helped to bolster the wheat market. After shooting up to 86% and 85!, for May and July contracts, compared with the “minimums” of 79 and 781, respectively, wheat later reacted, but closed 4%-6: cents higher than Saturday, May, 85%, and July, 83%-84. Corn closed 3%-4 higher, oats, 133 up, and rye, 4%-4% higher. 64 Cents Average. Secretary Wallace announced that the wheat loan rate would average 64 cents a bushel, as against an average rate of 63 cents last year. Agriculture Department officials said the average loan rate, together with parity payments of 19 cents, assured wheat farmers co-operating (See GRAIN, Page A-3.) German westward | drive was confined to such a narrow| Cateau, about 30 miles to the north- | Five Mechanized Divisions Used; Paris Is Safer By the Associated Press. PARIS, May 20.—Five German ‘mechanized divisions, with 60,000 | men inside their armor. battered west across the Northern French threat of a smash at Paris. { Their apparent objective was to drive a wedge between the French forces defending Paris |and the allied armies—British, | Belgian and French—in Belgium. | Whether this meant the Nazis a matter of conjecture. Germans in St. Quentin. ‘The northern allied forces dropped back to meet the new threat. An Information Ministry spokes- man disclosed this afternoon that the French had “evacuated St. | Quentin” yesterday in the face of the German advance. plains today in a drive toward | | the English Channel, easing the; definitely had abandoned the | idea of striking at Paris remained | T Al - 7 Tty [eer” ) a7 e 811 Paper Bombs Army Bill Sped To Senate Floor By Committee $50,000,000 Added To Bring Force to Peace Strength By J. A. O'LEARY. The Senate Appropriations Com- mittee today reported cut a $1,487,- 711,368 Army supply bill for the next { |12 months, including the military | | part of the new defense program President Roosevelt submitted less than a week ago. A minority move to strike out $132,000,000 “blank check” emer= | gency fund, to be used by the President to expedite defense pre- | parations during the congressional recess, was beaten in the commit~ tee. While the Senate group was ap- ‘provmg this presidential emergency ’ fund, made up of $66,000,000 in cash and an equal amount in contract | authorization, Gen. George C. Mar- | shall, Army chief of staff, was de- | fending the President’s request for | such a fund, before the House Mili- | tary Affairs Committee. { _The President asked for a total of $200,000,000 un-earmarked. Some of it was intended for naval needs, Previously a War Ministry spokes- man had asserted that in see-saw | fighting at St. Quentin—bloody bat- | tleground of the World War 80 miles northeast of Paris—the Germans | had entered the city, but that its Push North of St. Quentin. The French also faced an enemy “push” north of St. Quentin. Military advices said an extreme advance Peronne—15 miles northwest of St. Quentin—yesterday, but withdrew at | nightfall to avoid being cut off. Peronne was the westernmost point | réached by & Nazi force in the drive {toward the Channel ports. i The spokesman reported other German étolumns attaeking heavily | north of 8t. Quentin. Pive German bombers attacked | the region of Dieppe, French port on the English Channel, Saturday night, killing one person and wound- ing another, according to press re- ports published in Paris today. (Here four lines were censored.) Casemate Crew Captured. ‘The War Ministry spokesman said the Germans had captured the crew of & small casemate near Montmedy, in the “Little Maginot” line south- east of Sedan. The communique said further German attacks in this area were repulsed. ‘The spokesman also reported the capture of German troops who crossed the River Aisne near Rethel, 100 miles from Paris and southeast of St. Quentin, and remained on the southern side after the main Nazi force was thrown back. As military experts judged the situation, the Germans are attempt- ing to continue west from the Cam- brai sector to reach the sea—Dun- querque, on the channel, is only 70 miles north. enemy columns, having reached Saint Quentin on the River Oise, may try to roll southwest down the valley of the Oise toward Paris. See-saw Battle. The French fought throughout yesterday in the Cambrai region and the surging, swirling struggle began again at dawn today. Military authorities said the greatest melee existed in the re- (See PARIS, Page A-4) Floods Hit Puerto Rico PONCE, Puerto Rico, May 20 (®). —Floods after a heavy four-day rainstorm have halted rail traffic and interrupted communications in. all parts of Puerto Rico. By the Associated Press. The Nazi ‘“blitzkrieg” drive toward Paris—apparently stalled by staggering losses—veered to- day toward the English Channel. For the moment, it seemed, the Germans had abandoned their onslaught against the French capital. The German high command sald the Nazi drive to the west had gained 20 to 30 miles on & line northward from St. Quentin, which is 80 miles northeast of Paris. If successful, it was estimated the thrust to the English Chan- nel might isolate 300,000 British soldiers on the allies’ north flank —and also attain channel bases Tor a quick, short attack on Eng- land. The channel port of Calais, presumably one of the main German objectives, is only 20 miles from Dover, England. Gen. Maxime Weygand, the The War at a Glance has penetrated to a point about 80 miles from Paris. The French War Ministry, meanwhile, disputed & Nazi high command report that German mechanized legions—plunging a massive two-headed flanking movement , toward the French ports—had captured St. Quentin. The French insisted that the city, 80 miles northeast of Paris, was the scene of see-saw fighting which left its fate still in doubt. The German, high command said flatly St. Quentin had been captured. French military authorities ad- from the channel port of Dun- querque—just across the chan- nel from Dover, England. The Nazl high command, in claiming these successes, said the British were beéing driven back under forced March toward the Channel. fate was in doubt. | e : | | personal invitation of Adolf Hitler in the first trip to the front | offered to foreign correspondents, | German motorcycle squad reached | At the same time, they said, the| Ready-Made Equipment Rolls Forward Nazi Substitute Bridges Ready Plane Makers Hear [For Every Span Bombs May Hit |0Officials Plead for With Vanguard as Air Force Blasts Way (Louis P. Lochner, chief of the Berlin Bureau of the Associated Press, has gone to the western front with the German forces by Here is his first story.) I‘ By LOUIS P. LOCHNER, Associated Press War Correspondent. | force is Germany’s super-ace in WITH THE GERMAN WESTERN ARMIES, May 20.—The air | this war. The first line, therefore, usually is where the dive bombers *‘hlve done their deyastating work, but only now, with the Ger- } in war. { man forces at last, gmJiable to see what the air arm really means. | It has been the dream of every newspaperman in Berlin, ever armed forces in action. Not until yesterday, however, did the Fuehrer’s invitation give der- mission for three Americans to join the active forces. After crossing over from the last German border town in the dust and morning mist mingled with clouds of smoke from roaring planes, it took us but a short time to realize edst of Cambrai, which is 25 miles | since May 10 when the Reich's gigantic offensive by way of Hol- land and Belgium began, to see Hitler's amazing and awe-inspiring T i SRR T how war has been revolutionized by the air force, This is how Germany operates in this decisive area: First, an air squadron determines just how enemy troops are moving. The fiyers learn exactly the strength of the enemy's 1ores, their equip- (See LOCHNER, Page A-10) High Court Denies D. C. Plea for Review 0f Domicile Case Appeals Tribunal Ruling In Tax Exemption Dispute to Stand The Supreme Court today denied the petition of the District govern- ment for a review of the decision of the United States Court of Ap- peals, which ruled in March that a Federal employe on duty here might claim domicile elsewhere and by that fact be exempt from the old intangible personal property tax. That levy has been repealed, but the principle laid down by the ap- pellate court was seen by District officials as stahding as a possible barrier to collection of the new income tax and the estate tax and as complicating also the adminis- tration of estates and granting of divorces where the question of domi- cile was at issue. For that reason the review was sought. In denying the petition the court sald: “The petition for writ of certiorari is denied in view of the fact that the tax is laid under a statute which has been repealed and the question is therefore not of public importance.” Test Brought by Sweeney. The tax test was brought by James J. Sweeney a Justice Department attorney, who had paid under pro- test assessments of 86 cents and 93 "(See SWEENEY CASE, Page A-3) May to Speak on National Defense Representative Andrew J. May, Democrat, of Kentucky, chairman of the House Military Affsirs Committee, will be the guest speaker on the National Radio Forum over WMAL to- night at 10:30 o’clock. Representative May, who has been a conmsistent campaigner for better national defense since entering Congress, will speak on “Preparedness and This Country’s National Defense Needs.” : The program is arranged by The Star and is heard over & coast-to-voast network of the Nationel Broadeasting Co. '8-to-1 Supreme Court Decision Upholds Bituminous Coal Act Unhampered Operation Of Law Made Possible; McReynolds Dissents BULLETIN. The First Circuit Court of Ap- peals was rebuked today by the Supreme Court for refusing to enforce an order of the National Labor Relations Board. The high court in a decision by Justice Black declared the appellate tri- bunal had “exceeded the power given it” and directed that the board's order be enforced “with- out conditions or qualification.” Sam Beard, one-time District gambling king, was blocked in another attempt to gain his free- dom from Atlanta Penitentiary when the court refused to review the action of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denying him a writ of habeas corpus. The court reversed the con- viction of three members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a religious sect, who had been found guilty of disseminating anti-Catholic literature in violation of a Con- necticut law, which prohibits so- liciting without a license for re- ligious causes. By J. A. FOX. By an 8-to-1 vote the Supreme Court today upheld the constitu- tionality of the National Bituminous Coal Act of 1837. Enacted to replace the old Guffey Act, which was stricken down by a Supreme Court decision, the legis- lation had been challenged by the Sunshine Anthracite Coal Co., an Arkansas concern. The 1937 act was designed "to stabilize the bituminous industry by fixing minimum prices and regulating marketing. It provides for a tax of 1 per cent on the sale or of bituminous coal produced within the United States, and an additional tax of 19% per cent as a penalty on the sales price of coal sold by pro- ducers who do not subscribe to the regulations of the Bituminous Coal Code. Sunshine, a non-code mem- ber, contends that its products are semi-anthracite and said that, in any event, the act is unconstitu- tional. It lost in the lower court (See COAL ACT, Page A-3) 3 however, and was left for consider- ation later in the week, when exist= ing naval appropriations are step- ped up. Includes Added $50,000,000. The Senate committee not only approved all of the Army portion of | . the President's recent message, 50 mcra“ OIIleI | amounting to $545.770.364 but in- | 1 Y cluded another $50,000.000 to bring the Army up to full authorized peacetime strength of 280,000 men. | To reach that figure, 53,000 enlist- ments will be needed. | | Industry’s Leaders Flock [ To Capital to Learn U. S. Air Program By JOSEPH S. EDGERTON. | Pledging the fullest possible sup- port of all agencies of the Federal | Government, Secretary of the Treas- ury Morgenthau and Secretary of | ‘War Woodring today asked repre- | sentatives of the Nation's aviation | industry, attending a hurriedly called defense conference at the | ‘Tréasury Department, to achieve | President Roosevelt's goal of 50,000 military aircraft “as quickly, as ef- ficiently and as cheaply as possible.” The cabinet officers appeared with other Federal and military leaders | before more than 100 representatives of the airplane, aircraft engine, ac- cessory and machine-tool industries, who jammed a stuffy Treasury De- partment office to capacity in a dra- matic effort to launch the greatest | warplane program a war-torn world has seen. At the same time on Capitol Hill | Gen. George C. Marshall, Army chief of staff, told the House Military Afe | fairs Committee that the War De- | partment wants to expand the Army Air Corps to 10,000 airplanes. He | remarked that, although the Presi- dent had spoken of attaining a total of 50,000 airplanes, backed by an in- dustry keyed up to produce as many more warplanes annually, the War Department today is “thinking of a | force of 10,000 planes.” The Army | now is limited to a maximum of €,- 000 aircraft, but has on hand at present only about half this num- ber. Planes Destroyed on Ground. On the first day of the outbreak of hostilities on the western front, Gen, Marshall testified. one govern- ment lost six times as many planes as Congress originally allowed the Air Corps for replacements in the appropriation bill now pending in the Senate. “They were lost on the ground,” he said. “They were not even in the air to operate.” Gen. Marshall said the need for training additional pilots was one of the reasons for proposed expan- sion of the Air Corps to an early figure of 10,000 planes. Following Gen. Marshall before the committee, Maj. Gen. Henry H. Arnold, chief of the Army Air Corps, testified it was planned to estab- lish four new pilot training centers, but explained that did not mean du- (See PLANES, Page A-5.) Goering Calls Hitler Another Frederick By the Associated Press. BERLIN, May 20 (Via. Radio).— Pield Marshal Hermann Goering compared Adolf Hitler to Frederick the Great today. He pictured the Nazi Fuehrer as a master military strategist who personally maps even minor action “down to the very last detail.” Back in Berlin for a 12-hour visit from the front, Goering disclosed that \the Belglan fortress of Eben Emael, in the Liege area, had been considered by German militarists as the strongest fort in the world and that it had been tured in con- formity with plans #made by the Fuehrer himself.” Like Frederick the Great, Mar- shal Goering said, Hitler possesses an “almost incrédible amount of In addition to its cash total, the enlarged Army bill carries contract authorizations amounting to $323,- 229,000. Senator Thomas, Democrat, of Oklahoma, announced he would seek Senate action on the big Army measure tomorrow, at which time a floor fight may be renewed over the President’s emergency fund, which Gen. Marshall today, told the House group “is a trivial afount” for dis- cretionary use in the present-day situation. The President indicated in his message last Thursday that a large part of the lump-sum emergency fund would be used to build up the air service, for additional anti-air- | craft guns and the training of per- sornel for air defense. Slashed Fund for Land. The only point on which the Sen- ate appropriations group reversed the subcommittee that drafted the bill was on purchase of more land for military posts. Under this head=~ ing they cut out $1.551.720 in cash, of which $1,000,000 would have been used at Fort Knox, Ky., and $940,000 of additional contract authority for land. With funds carried in this supply bill the War Department will be able to buy 309 combat planes, 20 miscel- laneous types and 2237 training planes. Added to the present ex- pansion program, these new funds would bring the Army Air Corps up to 8.066. Testimony given the House com- mittee earlier in the day by Army officials was that 10,000 was the max- imum number of planes they could hope to procure between now and | the convening of the new Congress next year. Maximum delivery of planes would be reached about De- | cember, the committee was told. | Stark Outlines Plans. Simultaneously. Admiral Harold R. Stark, chief of naval operations, outlined behind the clesed doors of a House Appropriations Subcome mittee details of the Navy's $250,- 000,000 share of the President’s program. Other naval officers were before the House Naval Committee to explain emergency legislation de- signed to put warship construction machinery in high gear. In its present form, the Army supply bill contains $712,712,274 more than when it passed the House six weeks ago, but at that time the turn of events in Europe had not aroused America to the need for stronger defenses. The Army meas- ure is now $647,000,000 above last year’s appropriation act. Although the Senate Committee gave the President discretion in spending the $132,000,000 emergency (See DEFENSE, Page A-11) Lindbergh Is Rebuked Indirectly by Hull Secretary of State Hull today indi- rectly rebuked Col. Charles A. Lind- bergh for his radio speech criticizing & “meddling” foreign policy last night by declaring that world events during the last few years had fully justified the program urged by the administration. . Mr. Hull declined to comment di~ rectly on Col. Lindbergh’s remarks, saying that he could not attempt to engage in debates with every one of the 130,000,000 individuals in this country. In a general way, however, the Secretary said he would like to point out that, particularly since the Japanese invasion of China’in 1937, he had attempted to analyze the conditions facing the United any one to pass on the question of er events have justified the views and proposals he had put fore (Earlier story on page A-4)