Evening Star Newspaper, March 24, 1942, Page 2

Two Extra Pages In This Edition Readers Prefer The Star The Star's afternoon and evening circulation is more than double that of any other Washington newspaper: Its- total circulation in Washington Aar exceeds that of any of its contem= poraries in the morning or on Sunday. Late news and sports are covered on Pages 1-X and 2-X of this edition of The Star, supplementing the news of the regular dome delivered edition. A Closing N. Y. Markets—Sales, Page 16. 90th YEAR. No. 35,756. ’) @h 4 Jap Planes Raid Corregidor; ¢ Foening Star WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION WASHINGTON, D. C., TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 1942 Fighting Is Resumed in Bataan; Foe Bombs * Fort in Manila Bay Shoots Down Three Of New-Type Craft By the Associatec Press. A heavy bombing attack on the fortress of Corregidor and Amer- fcan positions in Bataan by 54 Japanese heavy bombers was re- ported today by the War De- | partment, which said only slight damage was inflicted. Several sharp encounters occurred in Bataan as fighting was resumed there, the department said. Three of the enemy bombers were shot down by anti-aircraft fire American artillery also laid down 2 heavy fire on enemy positions in Bataan, and the department said Japanese losses were believed to be considerable. Text of Communique. The text of the communique. 158. based on reports received to 10:30 am., said: “1. Philippine theater: “The fortified island of Corregi- flor and our positions in Bataan were heavily bombed this morning by 54 Japanese heavy bombers of a new type. Damage inflicted on our mili- tary installations was of slight con- sequence. At least three enemy airplanes were shot down by our anti-aircraft artillery. “Several sharp encounters oc- curred in Bataan between hostile ground forces. Our artillery laid down a concentrated fire on enemy positions. Japanese losses are be- lieved to have been considerable, while our own casualties were slight. “2. There'is nothing to report from other areas.” Last Raid January 15. The bombing of Corregidor was the first large-scale aerial attack reported on that fortress since early January. Intermittent air raids of minor character have been made by the Japanese against the island forts at the entrance of Manila Bay and on the American-Philippine ground forces in Bataan during the last two months, but the last raid directed specifically against Cor- regidor was by nine heavy bombers on January 15, two of the attacking planes being shot down s The last attack comparable in size to the one reported today occurred January 7. when the department said at least 45 bombers participated in an attack which lasted several hours. Buka Island in Soio—mons Captured, Japs Claim By the Associated Press. TOKIO (From Japanese Broad- casts), March 24—The Japanese naval ensign was hoisted on Buka Island, in the Solomon group, March 10, Domei said today in a dispatch dated aboard a Japanese warship. It said the flag was raised after the landing that morning of units of Japanese bluejackets at Carola Harbor. (Buka., at the northwestern end of the Solomon chain, lies east of New Britain, where the Japa- nese some time ago established a bese at Rabaul, and northeast of Australia. (The Nazi-controlled Paris radio broadcast a report that the Japa- nese on March 10 also occupied the island of Bougainville, just south of Buka. Australian offi- cials ennounced a Japanese land- ing at Kieta, chief port of Bou- gainville and administrative center of the Solomons, on Jan- uary 23, and it later was disclosed the civillan-deserted town was taken by the crew of a single Japanese seaplane.) Imperial headquarters announced that important military facilities had been destroyed in a series of Japanese air attacks on points in the South Pacific and the Bay of Bengal since March 17. The announcement said Japanese | repeatedly | naval aircraft _ had bombed Darwin, Broome and Wynd- Ham, Australia; Moresby, New Guinea: Tulagi, Solo- mon Islands, and Port Blair, South Andaman Island in the Bay of Bengal. Matsuoka Reported Named Jap Envoy fo Holy See By the Assoctated Press. LONDON, March 24—The Paris radio broadcast a report today that Yosuke Matsuoka, former Foreign Minister, had been appointed Jap- anase Ambassador to the Holy See while Cardinal Morelli would be apostolic delegate to Japan. The broadcast was recorded by Exchange Telegraph. The American-educated Mat- suoka, largely responsible for Japan's alliance with Germany and Italy, has been out of office since last July. No Cardinal Morelli is included in lists of the College of Cardinals. Matsuoka received instruction in the Christlan Bible as a youth studying in California and Oregon and in his English speeches quotes {reely from the Bible. He had a long talk with Pope Pius XII last April 2 when he visited Rome in the course of a tour of Germany, Italy and Russia. Aussie Pilots Learning Types of U. S. Aircraft By the Associated Press. CANBERRA, Australia, March 24 —Australian pilots have been at- tached to American air squadrons to familiarize themselves with the faster ypes of American aircraft, Air Minister A. S. Drakeford said today. He said they would be transferred back to Australian units after s short period. Horn Island, Port| 24 New Airdromes Reported Built by Nazis in Bulgaria | | By the Associated Press.’ | MOSCOW, March 24—Ger- . | man engineers have supervised | | the construction of 24 new air- | | dromes and 50 landing flelds in | | Bulgaria near the Turkish | | trontier, Tass reported today in a dispatch from Istanbul. Further German and Bul- garian troops were said to have been moved to the border, and strategic highways were being pointed toward Turkey. Tass charged that Bulgarian “ruling circles cast avid eyes at ertain Turkish territory and vould willingly become tools of German military provocation in the Near East.” w Considerable Advance By Japanese in Burm Admitted by Chinese Vigorous Fighting Said To Have Taken Place South of Toungoo By the Astociated Press. LONDON, March 24—A con- siderable Japanese advance against the Chinese-held left flank of the Allied lines in Burma was acknowledged today in a Chinese communique reporting “vigorous fighting” only 7 miles south of Toungoo, one of the two key points in the British- Chinese position. In the last official report on this sector, action was located along the Pyu River, which flows into the Sittang some 30 miles below Toungoo. Today's communique acknowledged six Japanese air attacks on Toungoo yesterday, three of them against the | Chinese troops which were said to be without air support. However, American volunteer squadrons were reported to have carried out “two powerful and simul- taneous attacks” on Japanese-held air fields in Thailand. In the land fighting, munique said. the Chinese were holding their “original outpost lines” after being driven back by a re- inforced enemy assault and then re- | gaining their positions in a counter- attack. Both the Chinese and the enemy forces—identified as the 121st and 143d Japanese regiments, with Thai and Burmese detachments in sup<| port—suffered heavy casualties in | | fighting that frequently broke out into hand-to-hand, bayonet-wield- ing encounters. Japanesé artillery also subjected | the Chinese outposts to heavy bom- bardment, but casualties were said to be few and the communique re- ported that “the Chinese forces have | the situation well in hand.” ently were counter-thrusts against the mounting strength of a Jap- anese air force which has been re- inforced in the last few days. Reuters reported from New Delhi that Royal Indian Navy Sloop Jumna had just returned from Netherlands Indies waters, where, on convoy duty in Sunda Strait, her guns brought down at least four Japanese dive-bombers in a day- long battle. | naval vessels had been recalled to home.waters, and that new ships in- cluding Corvettes, armed trawlers and other small vessels constantly were being added to the force. (Jane's “Fighting Ships” lists the strength of the Royal Indian Navy at five sloops—the Jumna is not mentioned—and a number of auxiliaries, with four more sloops and a number, of Corvettes | under construction.j | A British military commentator | said heavy Japanese air attacks | were continuing in Burma. The commentator also said some | Italian equipment captured in | Africa was being used by the British | in the fight in that sector. 'Rumania’s War Losses {Put at 115,000 Men By the Associated Press. | BERN, Switzerland, March 24— Rumania already has lost 115,000 the people are complaining bitterly over the losses both of man power Balkan correspondent of the Basle National Zeitung said last night. This is only one aspect of the complicated Balkan squabbles which may wreck Germany’s attempt to gain more reinforcements in the struggle, sources with close Balkan connections said. They pointed out that King Boris of Bulgaria still was resisting at- tempts to pit his country against the Soviet, but_conceded there was a possibility of Bulgaria being talked into a campaign against Turkey. “The friction of the already estab- lished new order in Southeastern Europe,” the National Zeitung's cor- respondent said, “cannot be main- tained much longer. Padgett in Army Soon DAYTONA BEACH, Fla, March 24 (.—Don Padgett, outfielder purchased by the Brooklyn Dodgers from the St. Louis Cardinals last December, has been called by his draft board and will be inducted by the Army April 1, it was an- nounced today. Padgett left today for his home in Bostic, N. C. A Port Morgsb the com- | The A. V. G. operations appar- { The All-India Radia said all Indian | men in the fight against Russia, and | and territory ceded to Hungary, the | y Again 2 Waves of Flyers Blast Australia’s ‘New Guinea Base By the Associated Press. MELBOURNE, Australia, March 24 —Japanese airmen made their second big attack in two days on Port Moresby, outer island out- post of Australia’s northeastern defenses, sending over two waves of bombers protected by fighter ‘ planes today. | The pombers nrst centered their attack on the New Guinea port's airdrome in a persistent effort to | American air forces which have made Japanese positions in this area 50 costly to maintain, | Then they attacked targets near the town while Navy Zero fighters sought to drive off defending planes. No Casualties in Raid. | Prime Minister John Curtin, who announced this, the only military action on the whole Australian front today, said no damage or cas- | ualties so far had been reported from | the raid and added that one of the raiders was damaged by anti-air- craft shells and probably was un- able to get back to its base. Following yesterday's strong at- tack in which 19 heavy bombers | dropped 67 bombs about the Port | Moresby airdrome, it appeared the | Japanese were concentrating their | remaining air strength in the north- | eastern 1sland area to knocking out this objective (German broadcasts of Jap- anese reports declared Port Moresby harbor had been made useless for embarkation purposes by yesterday's bombing. Three transports leaving the harbor were declared to have been sunk, two capsizing immediately and | the third turning over soon afterward.) Port Moresby, on the south coast of New Guinea, is about 300 miles across dangerous Torres Strait from the bleak Cape York peninsula‘of the Australian mainland. Reef Extends 1,200 Miles. It is a sort of northern anchor of the Great Barrier Reef defenses of Northeastern Australia. These coral reefs, which skirt the Aus- tralian coast at a distance varying from a few miles to about 125 miles, reach for more than 1200 miles| obtaining loans from the Recon- | eral hundred prisoners. from north of Sydney almost to the | Fly River mouth in New Guinea. | The narrow, dangerous passages “hmugh the reefs have been re- lpm'tetl mined, and as long as the | Australasians and Americans hold | Port Moresby with strong air | forces passage around the northern | end for an attack on the northern | Australian coast from the east by sea is barred. ‘The Japanese, from their landing places at Lae, Salamau and Finsch- haven on the northeastern New Guinea coast, have been reported moving inland up the Markham River, possibly for an attempted land attack on Port Moresby from the north, but there still was no | further word of this expedition to- ' day. Brifons Are Warned Again| ‘0f Nazi Invasion Atfempt By the Associated Press. | LONDON, March 24—Sir John Anderson, Lord President of the Council and member of the war cabinet, speaking in the House of | Commons today, warned again that Germany may attempt to overrun the British Isles in the spring and told Britons they must do everything possible “to drive out and destroy the enemy.” Citizens were told to “do every- thing they usefully can under re- sponsible direction to defend their hearths and homes and their native land” if the enemy comes to these shores. “The first essential is that, except under definite orders, every one should stand firm so as to avoid those refugee movements which proved so disastrous in the fall of Prance,” he said. “The government has always ex- pected that the people of these islands will offer united opposition to the invader and that every citizen will regard it as his duty te hinder and frustrate the enemy by every ingenuity that common sense can devise.” Subs Sink 13 More Ships 0ff America, Nazis Claim | By the Associatea Press. BERLIN (From German Broad- casts), March 24.—A German high command communique declared to- day that U-boats off the coast of | North America had sunk 13 more | merchant ships totaling 80,300 tons. The Germans only last Saturday claimed -that two United States coastal patrol warships and 11 freighters totaling 76,000 tons had been sunk off the United States At- lantic Coast in the previous week. ‘The report declared a total of 14 Allied merchant ships totaling 92,- 000 tons were sunk during that period. i The high command’s report today said the 13 ships included seven tankers. It added that another tanker of 11,000 tons had been hit by a torpedo and damaged so se- verely that its sinking was prob- able. : In the last roundup of shipping losses inflicted in American waters, issued March 12, the Germans said their submarines had accounted for had sunk 80,700 tons, making a com- bined total on that date of 833,200 tons. | rub out combined Australian and‘ Rubber Plan Rejection Laid To President Batt Testifies on Production Program Offered in 1940 By the Associated Press. 8enate investigators heard testimony today that the De- fense Advisory Committee urged on President Roosevelt on Sep- tember 12, 1940, that facilities for | production of 100,000 .tons of | synthetic rubber annually be | constructed at once, but that the recommendation was rejected. The testimony was given to the Senate Defense Investigating Com- mittee by Willlam L. Batt, director of materials for the War Production Board, who headed a committee which made a survey of the rubber | situation in 1940. Mr. Batt said the committee’s rec- ommendation was based on a com- pilation of offers by various com- | panies to engage in synthetic rub- | ber production. i Difference of Opinion. There developed, nowever, a “dif- ference of opinion,” Mr. Batt sfld.‘ between the committee on the one hand and Jesse Jones, Federal loan administrator, on the other, as to “the necessity for that large a pro-! | gram at the time.” He added thatf he believed Mr. Jones was supported | by the President in his view. | | “Mr. Jones has testified, I believe at” least Mr. Batt | before this committee, has e it clear publicly, said, “that in the discussions be- tween him and the President that | program was considered larger than | was necessary.” Excerpts From Recommendation, Excerpts from the Defense Com- mission’s recommendations, signed by E. R. Stettinius, jr., were read into the record by counsel for the Senate committee. Writing to the President, Mr. | Stettintus said that if the Govern- ment believed there was any pos- sibility of the Nation's rubber supply |being shut off, synthetic rubber | plants “should be built now.” The proposed expansion program, | the letter said, would meet the then | | existing defense needs. but would | | require 12 to 15 months to carry out. Mr. Batt told the committee that the Defense Commission had only | | advisory powers, and it at first at- | | tempted to aid private companies in | struction Finance Corp. individually | | in order to finance synthetic rubber | plant construction. Turned Over to Jones. Asserting that this resulted in a| “cross-purpose approach,” Mr. Batt testified that Mr. Jones “suggested it would be better to turn the whole thing over to him,” and this was done. Secretary Jones, Mr. Batt said, be- lieved that “some synthetic rubber should be developed, but he thought | we were too pessimistic.” The loan administrator believed, Mr. Batt added, that to enter an “untried fleld” on so large a scale at once was “unduly wasteful.” Mr. Batt acknowledged that it | was “a very large gambling step we were proposing.” The witness estimated that the 1940 proposal would have cost $100,- | 000,000 to carry out. 2 Knudsen Memorandum Read. Chairman Truman of the commit- tee read a memorandum written on May 9, 1941, and signed by William 8. Knudsen, former director of the Office of Production Management, | expressing the view that facilities | for production of 40,000 tons of syn- thetic rubber annually be ordered and that the remainder of the 100,- 000-ton program be held in abey- ance for a few months until certain engineering problems had been | worked out. Mr. Batt said that before the | emergency became apparent, the Goodrich Co. made substantial pro- gress in the development of the syn- thetic product. In answer to questions concerning any possible blame for failure to push the program with greater in- tensity, Mr. Batt asserted: “There was a wide difference of opinion throughout the country in June, 1940, as to how fast the de- fense program should go ahead. I dor't want to be put into the posi- tion of criticizing any one, for peo- ple who live in glass houses should not throw stones. There were nu- merous decisions to which I was a party that I now bitterly regret, be- cause those decisions showed dis- tinctly a short-sighted point of view. Over a period of a few years we ex- ported 20,000,000 tons of prime melt- ing scrap which we now need. I didn’'t oppose that.” Mr. Batt said the current syn- thetic program could not be accom- plished unless priorities over every- thing else were given. He said a W. P. B. order of March 3 meant that all needed materials for'the plants would get priority over everything with the possible exception of the ! “repair of battleships. Japs at Peak of Glory, Chinese Spokesman Says By the Associated Press. CHUNGKING, March 24.—A gov- ernment spokesman declared today that Japan has “reached the peak of her military glory and the for- tunes of war now will gradually turn in favor of the Allies.” “Chinese optimism has grown ap- preciably as & result of developments in the’Pacific last week,” the spokes- man said. Among the favorable factors cited were Gen. Douglas MacArthur's transfer to Australia, the successful voyage of United States convoys to Australia, the liaison of Chinese and British troops in Burma and the ar- rival of Sir Stafford Cripps in India in an attempt to smooth political differences. | tor—presumably | air-borne German | .to regain the initiative. | eral communities elsewhere, but its YES. BUT LOOK WHOSE HAND YOUVE GOT IT IN. HOW LONG D0 | HAVE T0 HOLD ON? Nazis Launch Drives To Liberate Isolated Points in Winter Line | Germans Are Reinforced By Hastily-Trained [ Reserves and Levies By the Associatec Press. | LONDON, March 24 —Rein- forced by hastily trained reserves and fresh levies from the Balkan states, the German Armies were reported on the move today in | massive thrusts aimed at liber- | ating nearly isolated key points | in their winter line which have borne the brunt of the Russian offensive. The Berlin radio stressed the Nazi counterattacks on the central sec- to gain spring- boards for a fresh drive against Mos- | cow—and reported that in 48 hours’ | fighting Soviet forces, encircled de- spite tank support and heavy artil- | lery fire, lost 3.000 killed and sev- Moscow reports described this ac- | tion as “futile attempts, to break | through our lines” But the Rus- | sian news agency Tass acknowledged that “companies and battalions” of reinforcements | still were being brought in to rein- force the 16th German Army trapped in Staraya Russa. Tass reported, however, that de- spite these efforts the Germans were suffering heavy loses and that the 290th Infantry Division had been all but wiped out. Nazis Sent to Russia From Norway, Yugoslavia MOSCOW, March 24 (#.—Ger- mans piled reserves into Russian front positions from areas as far away as Yugoslavia and Norway to- day for Adolf Hitler's coming effort | The Soviet Information Bureau | told of scattered actions in which Soviet troops killed 2,500 invaders on the neighboring Leningrad and Kalinin fronts and recaptured sev- continued report that there had been no material changes gave a feeling of calm before the storm. From prisoners, Red Army men | said they had learned many of the | Nazi replacements were German factory workers only recently called | into military service. Prisoners Tell Their Stories. Edward Brunsfeldt of the 312th | Division said he had been sent from France to Serbia last July, to Smo- lensk March 2 and to Vyazma March 4, and that he began fighting March 14. A captured survivor of a German ski regiment reported defeated on the central front, Karl Hauper told the Russians he had been trained | in Norway. Among Germans captured on the | Staraya Russia front was Herman | Reidenbach, who said he was & Bremen aviation factory worker un- til he was transferred to the mili- tary service in January. He said he was rushed to the 16th Army’s position March 5 during the forma- tion of a new 290th Division to re- place the original, assertedly wiped out, that he fought nine days and then surrendered. Two settlements in the Southwest- ern combat zone were reported re- captured in two days of fighting which cost the Germans heavily, and several inhabited localities were lib- erated in another area. “Units operating on one of the sectors of the Kalinin front annihi- lated in fighting about 700 enemy officers and men,” a communique said. “Seventeen enemy tanks were put out of action.” ‘The 16th German Army, fighting against encirclement in the Staraya Russa sector of the Kalinin front, was officially alleged to be burning both the bodies of its dead and its imobilized wounded to conceal losses before withdrawals. ““While retreating from the village of 'K’ the Germans burned 60 of their wounded soldiers,” the com- munique said. (It was not explained how the Russians would know that such pyres were used for living men. Soviet agencies have quoted pris- oners a} length as to losses suf- fered by the 16th Army.) The Russians reported that 1,800 Ge! had been killed and 30 blockhouses and machine-gun nests destroyed in 48 hours of fighting on | Federal Securities Agency. | one agency. the front, although bat- tle m generally were essen- tially unchanged. A Commando Army Reported Plan Of MacArthur By the Associated Press, | LONDON, March 24—Gen. Doug- las MacArthur's immediate task is the formation of an American-Aus- | tralian “commando grmy” for a| land, sea and air offensive against | the Japanese, dispatches from Syd- ney said yesterday. 2 ‘The Daily Mail's correspondent said Gen. MacArthur would be aided by “subordinates picked either from his own proved officers who came with him from the Philippines or from Australian commando leaders.” Both the Daily Mail and the Herald listed the following steps as Gen. | MacArthur's likely procedure: Formation of a small battle coun- cil consisting of Gen. MacArthur, Lt. Gen. George H. Brett, United States air chief, and Allied army, navy and air chiefs; preparation | for mass war exercises to.form one offensive force; rapid expansion of commando training: speedup and expansion of army and air co-oper- ational training: ruthless elimina- tion of red tape, and a series of important staff changes in three services, with a rigid policy of abllity as the basis for promotion, Morgenthau Ask—ed End of C.C.C..N.Y.A,, Byrd Reveals Recommended Abolition | To Economy Committee | In December, He Says By J. A. O'LEARY. | Secretary of the Treasury Mor- i | | genthau was the first to suggest the abolition of the non-defense | | activities of N. Y. A. and C.C. C. | to the Joint Congressional Econ- omy Committee, it was revealed today by Chairman Byrd. Appearing before the Senate Ed- ucation and Labor Committee in support of the McKellar Bill to accomplish that purpose, Senator Byrd read a motion he said Mr. | Morgenthau offered at an executive session of the -joint committee December 16. | Senator Byrd testified that at a meeting of the Joint Economy Committee November 14, the Treas- ury head gave figures separating the amounts N. Y. A, and C. C. C.| and the Office of Education are | spending for defense training. All three of these activities are in the The report filed by the joint com- mittee December 24, Senator Byrd said, embodied, with slight changes, Secretary Morgenthau's suggestion that N. Y. A. and C. C. C. be eliminated and that the defense training functions of these two | agencies and of the Office of Ed- ucation be carried forward under Not Signed by Smith. Secretary Morgenthau and Budget | Director Smith were both made members of the Joint Congressional Committee. Senator Byrd said the budget director “very properly” re- fused to sign the report because he represents the President. The President’s budget had not yet been (See ECONOMY, Page A-4.) 1240 bel tions. Inferior Department Funds Cut 31 Pct. By House Committee Total of $162,634,845 Urged; Co-operation Of Agency Commended By the Associaten Press The House Appropriations Committee today recommended a 31 per cent reduction in the Interior Department’s funds for the year starting July 1 as com- pared with this fiscal year. It reported for House action a $162,634,345 supply bill, representing a reduction of $75466.435 from cur- rent year appropriations and a cut of $17,682,421 from budget estimates. The Budget Bureau orginially trimmed the department’s estimates | ! approximately $48,000,000, and after Pearl Harbor the department itself suggested a $10,000,000 reduction. The committee then cut off another $17.000,000 Most of the committee’s reduction was in funds for the Bureau of Reclamation. which were cut $13.- 702,290 below budget estimates, mak- ing the total recommended $22.462 - ow current year appropria- . Tt placed emphasis on its action of continuance of power projects for national defense. Other Substantial Cuts. Other substantial reductions from current appropriations and budget estimates included: Bonneville Power Administration, construction and operation, $31,151,- 500 below current appropriations and $1.043.00 below budget estimates. Bureau of Indian Affairs, $5.631.- 857 below current appropriations and | $718,095 under budget estimates. National Park Service, $9.287410 below current appropriations and $140,890 under budget estimates. The committee pointed out that its reductions from last year's ap- propriations represented “a drastic | cut” in funds of practically every bureau in the department. Department Commended. It commended the department for “its voluntary co-operation” in ef- fecting reductions after the declara- tion of war. “It is significant,” said the com- mittee in its written report, “that this is the first department of the Federal Government that his volun- tarily requested such a decrease.” The committee made a general cut of 19.6 per cent in budget esti- mates for travel expenses, the cuts ranging from 5 per cent in defense items to complete elimination in | several cases. ‘While the committee’s reductions were the sharpest made in some time |in any regular supply bill, House economy bloc members said the 140- page bill contained many items that | could be trimmed further by House | action. 'Score of Italian Aliens Rounded Up on Coast By the Associated Press. YREKA, Calif, March 24—Flying squadrons of F. B. I. agents and local officers rounded up a score of Italian aliens and seized quan- tities of contraband in Weed, Calif., yesterday. several veterans of the Italian Army. Summary of Foreign. Cripps meets leaders of three In- dian provinces. Page A-2 New contingent of Canadians ar- rives in Britain. Page A-3 British to send man here to preside over production pool. Page A-5 19 British ships air-sea battle toll, Italy says. Page A-S Mission going home because U. S. can't send arms. Page A-10 Marcelo de Alvear, former President of Argentina, dies. Page A-10 Nazi dive bombers hit British coast in moonlight raids. Page B-5 National. Rejection of rubber plan by Roose- velt is charged. Page A-1 Today's Star Investigation of Guthrie resignation may be dropped. Page A-2 Congress amazed by stories of lucra- tive war orders. Page A-4 Selective service system already al- locating man power. Page A-4 American technicians busy turning Eritrea into arsenal. Page A-4 | Reduction of 31% in Interior funds asked by House group. Page A-5 Army places strict curfew on enemy aliens. Page A-6 Price ceilings placed on refrigerators and typewriters. Page B-2 Washington and Vicinity. House votes pay raise for firemen and policemen. Page B-1 institutions. Page B-1 Enemy aliens picked up included | Blackout funds awaited by D. C. Union representative urges speed on THREE CENTS. Nelson fo Seek Voluntary End 0f Double Time Production Chief Asks Congress to Halt Action 30 Days | By the Associated Press. War Production Chief Donald Nelson asked Congress today to give him a 30-day time-limit to obtain voluntary suspension of double pay for overtime through agreement with leaders of or- ganized labor before enacting legislation on the matter. He promised the House Naval Af- fairs Committee that he would ask for legislation himself then if he was unable to obtain that agree- ment, but simultaneously entered opposition to suspension of Federai meximum hour legisiation gnd ‘s ban against closed shops in indus- tries handling Army and Navy con- tracts. “The men at the bench are just as patriotic as you or I” he told Chairman Vinson of the committee, who with Representative Smith, Democrat, of Virginia drafted the far-reaching measure. Doesn’t Limit Hours. “The present law,” he said, “does not prevent men from working more than 40 hours a week. It has not set the pattern for the length of our work week in our war industries. It governs wages rather than the hours in which a man may work.” He made it clear that he was not in favor of eliminating overtime pay, set now by law at the equiva- lent of timé and a half, for the seventh day of consecutive labor. He told the committee that men in the “highly strategic” machine tool industry now were working an average of 55 hours, that those in | the shipbuilding industry averaged 48 hours and those in aircraft plants 49. “If we abolish the 40-hour week by law,” he said, “we do not gain one hour of additional work in our war industries; but naturally we create a widespread demand for in- creases in wage rates, throw the entire wage structure out of ad- justment and remove an important | incentive for labor to shift from non-essential industries into war production jobs.” Fears “Unwise” Legislation. Senator George, Democrat, of Georgia earlier had predicted that public demand would force drastie and perhaps “unwise” legislative curbs on labor unless the adminis- tration -acted promptly to seek a modification of the 40-hour week law. Discussing proposals to abolish the 40-hour week by law, Mr. Nelson expressed the opinion such action would “make labor relations in gen= eral worse, rather than better.” But he bluntly asserted that the question of paying double time for Saturday, Sunday and holiday work “is a different matter, which has no relation to the 40-hour week as such, “I believe that this practice of de- manding premium pay for week-end | and holiday work has in many in- | stances slowed up war production. “Yet,” he added, “I do not believe that we should try to correct this situation by act of Congress. I bee lieve that we can gain a general sus- pension of this provision through | voluntary action on the part of our responsible labor leaders.” Warns of Bad Effect. Discussing the clause which would ban the closed shop, Mr. Nelson | contended that it would “very likely | have a bad effect on labor morale |and on labor relations—and ultie | mately, on war production itself.” He entered opposition, too, to the provision to limit war profits to s maximum of 6 per cent, although expressing his conviction that ex- cessive profits should be curbed and his belief that 6 per cent “is plenty in_the average case.” But the war production chief | argued that the mandatory barriers j-g-msz profits higher than 6 per cent would impede the conversion | of small business to war work. | . He said also that the clause faifed to take into consideration return on capital investment. turnover, tHs | time required to fill the contract, | and the financial structure of the contracting firm, and probably would, if written into the law, force many contractors to insist upon cost-plus-fixed-fee contracts. “What we need to do,” said Mr, Nelson at one point, “is to get every one in the courtry conscious of his responsibility.” Must Keep Civilian Services. He said, too, that the Nation must see to it that essential civilian serve ices are maintained, illustrating hjs point by saying that “if transporta. tion bogs down, then production bogs.” “The job of production,” he said, “depends upon the will of the peo- ple, upon the man with the shovel, upon the man with the tools, upon management, upon the public, upon Government.” Loss of Control Feared. Chairman Vinson observed that He was “afraid the labor leadership has lost control of some of the unions” and asked Mr. Nelson if he thought Philip Murray, C. I. O. presilent, could control the actions of a par- ticular union dealing with a war in« dustry. “I wouldn't like to venture an opinion on what Mr. Murray can do,” Mr. Nelson replied. The war production chief agreed with Representative Vinson that enforcement of the closed would have some effect on a plant’s production “if there weren's enough skilled men available in the union* He emphasized, however, that his objection to tampering with labor = legislation at this time was based on “,‘.ffr'ufi':?” S ':'.’; housing bill. Page B-1| his belief that it would have an ad- Willkie to run in if war effort| .. verse effect on production. Iags. 5 A-2| Miscellany wm; veldneec.lm 18 mmm, Rel leaders back bill on post~| Births and Deaths. Page B-18 | now.” he said. “The 1 vlvlu‘ia:"id Page A-2 xm“chfldnn. Page B13 | the next year are going to be won 40-hour-week is smokescreen of | After, 3 Page B-8 | ¥ith the tools we produce now, this labor’s foes, Tobin says Page A-3 nm’fifl Licenses. Page B-§ (See LABOR, Page A- R A