Evening Star Newspaper, January 23, 1942, Page 6

A—4 ¢ Price Bill Agreement Reached; Final Vote Expected Today - Senator Sees Compromise Measure ‘Less Popular Than New Taxes’ - By the Associated Press. An amendment-patched war- time price-control measure which some sponsors said “may prove more unpopular than new taxes” was ready for final con- gressional action today. Weary Senate - House conferees agreed on its terms last night after nearly two weeks of legislative blanket pulling which ended in ad- justment of wide differences be- tween the two chambers of Congress and the White House. Representative Steagall, Democrat, of Alabama, who teamed with two Democratic colleagues to break the conference deadlock, predicted the House would accept the bill as amended in conference because “there were compromises on both sides.” Senate approval likewise was foreseen by Senators Brown, Demo- erat, of Michigan, and Bankhead, Democrat, of Alabama. Food Cost Rise Predicted. Senator Brown, who said the meas- nre might prove even less popular than taxes, estimated that food costs might rise as much as 11 to 15 per eent under the compromise measure because of restrictions placed on farm price ceilings. “Even so, I think this is a good workable bill,” he said. “It has the mechanics for halting inflaticr. and uncontrolled price rises.” Senator Bankhead, who sponsored the amendment to give the Secre- tary of Agriculture a virtual veto over price ceilings of farm products, was jubilant over conference accept- ance of this provision. President Roosevelt openly opposed the re- striction. Officials noted that the Chief Executive had an ace in the hole because both the Price Admin- istration and the Secretary of Agri- eulture serve only at his pleasure. Asked Law Last July. Mr. Roosevelt asked for a price control law last July in a special message warning against the dan- gers of inflation and added costs to the armament program. The House | passed a price control bill in No- vember, before war broke out, and the Senate passed its widely differ- ent version three weeks ago. The compromise set prices during the perfod October 1 to 15, 1941, as standards for the price ceilings with the exception of farm prices. In this field the price administrator could not fix ceilings or order reductions below the highest of these: Average farm prices on October 1 or Decem- ber 15 of last vear; average farm prices for the period 1919-29; or 110 per cent of parity prices determined by the Agriculture Department. Senator Brown predicted the last restriction would soon be the only one because parity price levels—in- tended to give a fair exchange value to farm products—rise as the costs of things the farmer buys increases. Parity prices in most cases are based on the ratio prevailing between | prices of farm, products and other goods in the year 1909-14. O'Mahoney Plan Eliminated. Eliminated from the compromise version was Senator O'Mahoney’s, Democrat, of Wyoming amendment which would have tied farm parity prices to industrial wage levels. President Roosevelt protested that such a move would compel inflation. Also eliminated was a house pro- | vision for a separate appeals board of five members with powers to re- view and supersede orders of the ad- ministrator. This left these broad powers in the hands of a single ad- ministrator, expected to be Leon Henderson, the present acting ad- mistrator. The revised bill included a Senate provision for licensing business af- fected by price maximums—a stim- ulation previously rejected by the House—and broad powers for the Government to buy and sell com- modities in order to stabilize price levels. ‘The compromise also included au- thority to fix rent maximums in * fense housing areas” defined as places where the war and defense efforts threaten to increase rents ;:vs; the levels of or about April, 1, 941, 343 Chest Campaigns Average 99.7% of Goals ‘The 343 Community Chests in the United States which held campaigns this fall averaged 99.7 per cent of their combined goals, it was reported in the January issue of Community, the magazine of Community Chests and Councils, Inc. ‘Washington was one of 214 cities which exceeded 100 per cent of goal. Final audited figures as of December 31, 1941, reveal that 248,- 905 givers here pledged a total sum | of $2,005864.58, or 100.29 per cent | of the $2,000,000 goal. Missing Persons Those having information concerning persons reported missing should communicate with the Public Relations Squad of the Police Department, Na- tional 4000. Frederick E. Garner,- 14, 5 feet 9 Inches, 140 pounds, blue eyes, blond hair, wearing green trousers, tan sweater, tan oxfords and brown overcoat. Missing from 1520 New- ton street N.W. since Wednesday. Katherine Tucker, 27, 5 feet 2 Inches, 115 pounds, blue eyes, bjpnd hair, wearing maroon suit, gray tweed sport coat and driving a 1939 Dodge sedan bearing Virginia tags. Missing from 1258 Pleasant street B.E. since Monday. Katherine Sconyers, 21, 5 feet 8 tnches, 160 pounds, blue eyes and brown hair, wearing brown coat with light fur collar and brown shoes. Missing from 1215 Fifth street N.E. since Wednesday. James Riley, 15, 5 feet 1 inch, 100 pounds, blue eyes, brown hair, wear- ing overall pants, brown leather jacket and helmet. Missing from 702 Sixth street 8.W. since Monday. Edward Brown, 12, colored, 4 feet 8 inches, 95 pounds, dark eyes and skin, wearing white shirt, gray cor- duroy knickers, black shoes and brown overcoat. Missing from 1419 Tenth street N.W. since Wednesday. Elizsabeth Mary Johnson, 17, col- ored, 5 feet 4 inches, 125 pounds, dark brown skin, wearing yellow dress, tan coat and shoes. Missing from 704 Second street N.W, since Monday. | served to stimulate the entire school | | The best previous day at Murch re- | \ | paper. Murch School Is First | To Report 100% Class| In Salvage Campaign Day’s Collections There Exceed Ton; Several Big Gains Are Made | To the Ben W. Murch School at | Thirty-sixth and Ellicott streets | goes the honor of being the first | school to report a 100 per cent class | in The Evening Star- . Salvage for Victory paper collection cam- paign. The kindergarten class ar- | rived yesterday with every member carrying a bundle of paper. The example set by this class | and by the time the Student Com- mittee had finished piling the paper | there was well over a ton on hand. sulted in collections of little more than 500 pounds. However, inspired in part by a statement earlier in the week by | Supt. of Schools Ballou and in part | by the example of the youngest class in the school, the entire student body turned to with a will. Having found that the acquiring of a large amount of paper involved little in- dividual effort, the Murch students intend to stay up among the leaders from now on. Collector Under a Strain. The very rapidly increasing flow | of paper is puting somewhat of a strain on the collector and'it is | probable that by next week he may be forced to put three trucks in operation. Some indication of how | by the figures for Wednesday, De- cember 3, when the first collections | were made, a total of 1,878 pounds | was recovered. Wednesday of this week showed a total of 27,149 pounds. One school, Bancroft, collected more than a ton and a half Wed- nesday, the actual figure being 3,238 pounds. Other large yields came from Banneker with 2,182, Powell Junior, 1,960; Garrison, 1950; Bar- nard, 1,874; Truesdell, 1, Patterson Junior High, 1, idge High, 1,578; Central, Harrison, 1,383; Thomson, Rudolph, 1,249, and West, 1,189. Bancroft for the moment holds the city lead with 7,937 pounds, all of which but 460 pounds was collected in two weeks. Bancroft will be a tough customer for any other school in this great defense effort. Many Gains Made. Many calls still come in from in- azines which they would like to place in the program but have no chil- dren. When such is the case, & card or telephone call to the near- tee member out to pick up the of- ferings. schools, most notable of which was that at Coolidge. Jumping from only 61 pounds the week before,+ by the principal, T. J. Holmes, made more than three-fourths of a ton. West's 1,189 was nearly a half 237, Garrison’s 1,950 nearly three- fourths of a ton up from 555 pounds. The same holds true of | Powell Junior’s 1960, which fol- lowed the previous 575 pounds. Australia (Continued From First Page.) seas and land of the Japanese menace.” “We are ready. We shall give battle to the best of our ability wherever we fight. “At this moment,” added, “Japan’s attacking bases are within bombing reach of Australia. ‘“She has achieved air strength powerful enough to devastate our cities and industrial centers unless opposed in the battle areas with adequate weapons, machines and tools.” U. S. Routes Imperilled. Thus the war was brought to ter- ritory lying at its nearest point only 100 miles from the Australian main- NETHERLAND PLAZA Cincinnati's Finest Hotel Announces business as usval in all restaurants, all departments BAX ICOHRHAN, Gomerel Bsacper ¢ great has been the increase is shown | - which aspires to lead all the schools || dividuals who have paper and mag- | est school will bring a commit- |, Wednesday's collections disclosed | remarkable gains for some of the |° Coolidge students after a pep talk |. ton up from the previous week’s|: Mr. Forde |: THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 1942, CLASS GOES “ALL OUT” FOR DEFENSE—This is the first 100 per cent class in The Star’s “Salvage for Victory” paper-saving campaign. The children, the kindergarten class of the Ben W. Murch School, Thirty-sixth and Ellicott streets N.W., are shown as they arrived with arms laden with Py Committee of the sixth grade of the Ben W. Murch School piling up one day’s haul of papers and magazines. Front row: Allen Jones, Richard Scott, chairman; Estelle Dubose, Sally Ickes and Joan Sanborn. Center: Kim Bassett and Diana Ginzburg. Back row: Evelyn Dar- gusch, Malcolm Clark and Herbert Mittleman. —Star Staff Photos. land, and a new link was forged in the chain of Japanese Pacific bases stretching south and east from Tokio to the Solomon Island group. Outlined as sharply as the threat to Australia qerself, however, was the new danger to the United States’ supply lines for the Netherlands Indies, Singapore and Burma. From bases on New Guinea and in the 750-mile-long Solomon chain to the east the Japanese could com- mand the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea and force | Allied shipping into a costly 3,000~ mile detour south of the Australian mainland. Japs Follow Previous Pattern. The landings followed the pattern | of other Japanese invasions, for | | they were preceded by days of con- centrated air raids which culminated yesterday in attacks ranging from Rabaul east to Tulagi on Florida | Island in the Solomons. First, warning of the threatened landings came in a radio message from Rabaul yesterday reporting 11 Japanese ships only 45 miles off- shore. Half an hour later radio communication with Rabaul was broken. Communique Reveals Landings. The Australian communique an- nouncing the landings said: “During today Japanese landings have been reported in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands area. “This morning active Japanese air reconnaissance was made over wide- ly dispersed points in these areas. ‘There are no reports of any dam- age. | At almost the same time Mr. Forde said it was reasonable to assume that the Japanese had landed at Rabaul after a withdrawing garrison had fired and dynamited dock installa- tions when the fleet of Japanese vessels was sighted. | London Discounts Peril To Australia Now LONDON, Jan. 23 (#.—Japanese landings on the Solomon Islands and New Guinea give them bases much nearer Australia, but likely will not mean a direct thrast land “down under” at this stage of alg campaign, a British source said ay. the Australians have built a naval base, and other points in Australia, |but commitments elsewhere are likely to preclude that at present, he said This source added that the move would give the Japanese more out- posts in their efforts to achieve sea and air control of the South Pacifi and a possible peg for an alternate route in & broad plan of southward expansion. Japan’s immediate objective, how- | ever, is the ofl and other resources | of Malaya and the Netherlands In- | dies, he said. Not until these are obtained is she likely to attempt a costly invasion of Australia, where the object would be the coloniza- tion of her excess population, it was stated. Japan's grand plan fiow seems | source said. against the | The Japanese could launch nui- | sance raids against Darwin, where | to be two thrusts southward—an eastern arm down the Philippines, Borneo, Celebes to Java; a western arm through FPrench Indo-China, Theiland, Malaya to Sumatra, this Australia to Hear Roar Of Cannon, Air Minister Says NEW YORK, Jan. 23 (#).—Army Minister Francis Forde, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, de- clared today in a speech broadcast from Canberrs that ‘“‘there can be no doubt that we ‘shall hear the roar of cannon along the coast of | this country.” In the broadcast, heard by N. B. C., Mr. Forde said: “For the first time in history Australian territory (New Britain, New Guinea and the Solomon Is-| lands) has been attacked, and foreign invaders are trying to gain a footing on our shores. “The Australian militia is proba- | bly being in battle for the first time. “The enemy intends to get bomb- ing bases within reach of the Aus- tralian mainiand. | “We can be certain that just as| the day for the treacherous attack on Hawail was marked down on Japanese plans, so is the planned attack on the Australian cities and towns. “There can be no doubt that we shall hear the roar of cannon along | the coast of this country.” | action on the anti-Axis resolution | Pan American (Continued From Pirst Page.) rumors that Argentina might abandon the Rio negotiations and said such an attitude would be contrary to the country’s | clear-cut position as outlined by Acting President Castillo. He explained that the very impor- tance of the Rio negotiations | prompted the present differences among the delegates, but re- affirmed his hope a satisfactory solution might be found.) | Dr. Ruiz Guinazu first talked with Oswaldo Aranha, Brazil's Foreign Minister. They were joined by United States Undersecretary of | State Sumner Welles. The confer- ence leaders were expected to meet immediately to consider the Argen- | tine proposal, the provisions of which were not disclosed. Move For Showdown Indicated. Irked over repeated delays, a group of small nations—Honduras, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and | Uruguay—hqd talked of drafting a “quit stalling” ultimatum to force | which has tied up the conference of Pan-American foreign ministers. The little fellows of the confer- ence were openly critical of yester- day’'s proceedings which left them | cooling their heels in committee rooms while the delegates of Argen- tina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and the United States wrangled behind closed doors over the exact wording Change f But DON’T Change Your Shoe Brand! 4 JELBY SHOF Sizes to 10, AAAA 10 C of the resolutjon calling for a diplo- matic break with the Axis. “We've had enough of hotel-room tactics,” one delegate said, pointing out that conferees took it on them- selves to redraft the resolution be- fore it was ever discussed by the subcommittee of the Political Com- | mittee. Different Wording Sought. ‘The wording which the Argentines first accepted then was the state- |ment in the resolution that the American republics “cannot . con- tinue” relations with the Axis. Now | the Argentines are reported to be insisting that the resolution should be changed to read “may not be able to continue.” (In Buenos Aires, Acting Presi- dent Castillo declared last night that Argentina was “in solidarity with American nations, but we do not agree that an attack on one of the nations of the Ameri- cas signifies that all the others should take a position pf belli- gerency. (“From outside it is easy to say ‘let’'s go to war’ but it is the responsibility of a government to view things in another manner, ° at least with greater responsi- bility.”) The delay in a vote on the anti- Axis resolution, originally scheduled for yesterday, held up final action on economic resolutions before the conference. Six American towns are named Mexico. British in Burma - - - Withdraw East 0f Moulmein Japanese Are Within 26 Miles of Port gn Gulf of Martaban BY the Associated Press. RANGOON, Burms, Jan. $8.— British troops faced with su- perior Japanese forces are being withdrawn from the mounfain areas east of Moulmein, Burma, it was announced today as the Japanese moved to within 26 miles of the Gulf of Martaban port. Fighting with the Japaness are ‘Thai troops. The British were said to be mov- ing their forces back to points where transport and communications were better. Moulmein Ralded. Moulmein, the latest objective of troops driving westward from Thai- land, was raided by Nipponese fiyers yesterday. Seven civilians were killed. The port of Burma panhandle is about 60 miles from the nearest point of the Thai border and is 170 miles north of Tavoy, which the Japanese captured early this week. Although advancing on Moulmein, the Japanese and Thais were said | not to be exerting pressure, Rangoon, capital of Burma, had | two air raid warnings this morning, | while an even larger than usual | number of British and American | volunteer corps fighters patrolied the | skies. xdap‘:’xz‘ue-'n;ni;nvlden were using n-toting elephants as w; | tanks, & s Hangar and Hut Wrecked. A sharp raid by 10 Japanese | bombers and 16 fighters lelpt‘ one | hangar and a store hut wrecked on | the airport at Moulmein. One R. A. F. plane was damaged on the ground but there were no military casuaities. The R. A. F. struck in force at the Thai airport of Mesarieng, some 100 miles northeast of Moulmein. Bombers and fighters returned to base without casualties. The newest stab across the Bure mese-Thailand border was in the |ares of Payataung, sougpieast of Moulmein and below ll!ylwlddi. | where the first joint expedition poured through a pass in the | Dawna Mountains. British* patrols | had contacted the new force. The army said in an official com- mentary that with the aid of “most effective” R. A. F. support, “our troops have given a good account of | themselves in the Kawkawreik posi- tions east of Moulmein.”