America at war! (1941– ) (Part 1)

[NormanStewart]

Midway Island still believed American-held

Silence indicates absence of further attacks by Japanese

Washington (UP) –
The United States today appeared to have won at least the initial round of the battle to keep Midway Island out of the hands of the Japanese.

Three weeks ago today was the last time the tiny island was mentioned in official U.S. communiqués. The last actual fighting was reported in a Navy communiqué four weeks ago tomorrow.

The silence indicated an absence of further Japanese attacks.

Midway, 1,500 miles west of Honolulu and considered by geographers as the easternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, is probably garrisoned by the twin of the Marine detachment which wrote a new chapter of American gallantry at Wake.

Japs seen blasted

But unlike the Wake garrison, which was forced to fight a heroic but losing 14-day battle without reinforcements, the Midway Island forces appear to have defeated the first Japanese efforts to blast them from their sandy stronghold.

On Dec. 22, three days before Christmas – at the peak of the battle of Wake – the Navy issued its last word on Midway:

There has been no enemy activity in the vicinity of Midway Island recently.

On Dec. 16, the Navy reported the last actual fighting in a communiqué that said Midway was “countering the blows of the enemy.”

There have been no official revelations of how the Japanese attack was beaten off. But because of Midway’s comparative closeness to U.S. air and naval support at Hawaii, it seemed possible that the reinforcements which time and distance denied to Wake were possible in the case of Midway.

Comprises 2 islands

Midway comprises two small islands and several sand bars surrounded by a coral reef. Administratively, they are part of the city of Honolulu. The largest of the islands is only 850 acres large. It is only 43 feet above sea level at his highest point. Its name, Sand Island, aptly describes it. Eastern Island, the second of the group, is less than half the size of Sand Island.

Midway’s defenses are presumably about the same as those at Wake. Midway has a naval air station, a cable station and little else.

Strength not given

There has never been any official statement of what forces are defending Midway. But it is likely that they are comparable to the Wake garrison which numbered 13 Marine officers and 365 men plus a medical detachment of seven men. Wake also had 1,000 civilians engaged in construction projects.

The Wake defense included 12 fighter planes, eight of which were destroyed by the Japanese in the opening days of the battle, six five-inch guns, 12 three-inch anti-aircraft guns and a few machine guns and smaller weapons.

[NormanStewart]

Ferguson: Women in uniforms

By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

The feminine world is stirred by the uniform question. Some folks want ‘em, some don’t. The soldier boys, being polled, seem confused on the issue, but at this writing, it looks like we’ll be wearing brass buttons before spring.

And in my opinion – which, by the way, is none too good on military matters – the thing will be a flop and a waste. Let’s consider, first, the peculiar nature of women in their attitude toward clothes. Did you ever meet one who was happy in the same style she wore six months before? Certainly not in the USA for our women are conditioned to quick fashion changes. They dote on variety. Their very morale would be imperiled by orders to stick to one model for the duration.

Next, take the soldiers. No matter what they may say now, in their burst of patriotic fervor, they want their women to look like women, especially during a war.

There’s still another factor to be considered before the matter can be settled – public sensibilities. And, folks, I leave it to you: What good will come of regimenting feminine fashions so that women of every age and every architectural mold will have to wear the same cut of dress?

Let your imagination loose. Uniforms are becoming to girls with a Betty Grable figure, but if we make this thing general, it will mean that women of grand-piano proportions, as well as the beanpole types, must appear in snug-fitting, straight-up-and-down garments.

The result would be awful. Besides, we’ve done pretty good work in other lines without such regimentation. I think we can help win a war without going into uniforms.

[NormanStewart]

Public jitters may put sugar on ration basis

Huge supply available, but hoarding makes pinch for some buyers
By John W. Love, Scripps-Howard staff writer

Washington –
Growing nervousness among consumers, and the trouble dealers are having in their own informal rationing of sugar, may lead to unexpectedly broad government measures for conserving essential commodities.

Although enough sugar is in sight to supply the country almost indefinitely, grocers are putting their customers on two-pound and five-pound allowances. Some retailers of soft drinks in Washington, Pittsburgh and elsewhere find themselves unable to buy all they can sell.

One business forecasting service has told its clients that rationing of sugar is on the way. Officials of the Agriculture Department say the possibility of a shortage is remote.

Different from 1918

No authority here believes a scarcity of sugar could possibly approach in severity the squeeze of 1918-20. At that time, France and Italy were big buyers, the American sugar industry was far smaller, and we began war without a surplus.

Consumer overbuying of sugar is more than a year old and has been increasing since Pearl Harbor, evidently due to the public’s knowledge that about 30% of it ordinarily comes from the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands.

The “scare” buying is like that which spread through many commodities spectacularly in silk stockings and for a few days in tires, but now continuously in a wide range of products. The general movement is being watched carefully here but no definite plans seem to be afoot to check it.

Shopper raids noted

Sporadic raids by shoppers have been noted in pineapple juice. The hoarding of canned goods in general is almost as old as that of sugar.

Within a week, Leon Henderson of OPA has had to allay fears for storage battery supplies and spark plugs and to issue a statement that private autos would not be sequestered for their tires.

[NormanStewart]

Greene: U.S. wives thought blitz at Hawaii was ‘air show’

Evacuee and son hid under mattress two hours in Jap attack
By June Greene, special to the Pittsburgh Press

Newport News, Virginia –
For two hours, Mrs. Wilson F. Moul and six-year-old Gail had been lying under the mattress.

Window glass was still flying about as Japanese planes zoomed over Hickam Field, Honolulu, and raked the place with machine guns. The thud of explosions echoed and re-echoed.

Finally, an eerie quiet settled over the field and the officers’ quarters.

Little Gail fidgeted beneath the mattress which had been laid across two chairs as a canopy and glanced at his mother.

Watched ‘air show’

He asked seriously, “Will there be Sunday school today?” His mother replied, “I don’t know, dear. I don’t know.”

It was just about 8:00 a.m. HT on Dec. 7 when the Japs struck at Pearl Harbor and surrounding airfields, Mrs. Moul explained here today.

She said:

Like many of the Army wives, I was washing Sunday breakfast dishes. My husband asked if I had ever seen the Navy on maneuvers drop bombs. I joined several women to watch the show. I could see clouds of smoke and heard someone say he thought there was an earthquake.

Saw ‘Rising Sun’

But a moment later, Mrs. Moul said, all conjecture about whether it was an earthquake or the Navy on maneuvers ended. For on the side of one of the planes, someone had spotted the Rising Sun insignia of Japan.

Mrs. Moul’s husband reported to his station immediately, while she and her son lay under the improvised mattress shelter. She said, “I had started to pray, but then I got so angry I felt like swearing at them.”

Evacuation order

When the lull in bombing came, all women and children were evacuated to the hills, Mrs. Moul said.

We had been told to take only a few possessions. All I could think of was Gail and of course, worry about my husband at the field. Jewelry, money, house furnishings meant nothing.

For a week, they stayed in the hills or in civilian homes, always on the alert and ready to flee.

For three days, Mrs. Moul was unable to get word to or from her husband. Meanwhile, he was searching for her.

Husband promoted

She said:

He visited churches, schools and public buildings where people were being housed and finally, we found each other. I had been numb with worry and fear for him.

Today, Mrs. Moul and her son are at her parents’ home, Newport News, Virginia. Her husband remained at Hickam Field, where they had lived for two years. She has learned that he has been promoted in rank from master sergeant to a second lieutenant.

[NormanStewart]

U.S. War Department (January 13, 1942)

Communiqué No. 56

Alaska.
The War Department was advised today of the destruction by fire in Alaskan waters of the U.S. transport CLIVEDEN. The ship and cargo were a total loss. All of the personnel are safe.

The CLIVEDEN was a combination passenger and freighter vessel of 7,314 tons. The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Hawaii.
The Commanding General, Hawaiian Department, has advised that of the 397 American soldiers wounded in the Japanese attack, 55 have fully recovered and have returned to duty. The condition of most of the others is very satisfactory and their early recovery is expected.

There is nothing to report from other areas.

Communiqué No. 57

Philippine Theater.
In 24 hours of continuous artillery fighting, U.S. and Philippine batteries proved definitely superior to those of the Japanese. Columns of enemy tanks and other armored units, as well as infantry concentrations, were shattered and dispersed by our fire, with heavy Japanese losses. One counterbattery fire was particularly effective. Eleven hostile batteries were silenced. Enemy artillery elements have now been withdrawn well to the rear of the positions formerly occupied. Losses to U.S. and Philippine troops were relatively slight.

Enemy air activity was confined at attacks by dive bombers in support of artillery fire. No enemy bombing attacks were made on fixed fortifications.

There is nothing to report from other areas.

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (January 13, 1942)

WAR BULLETINS!

British battleship reported sunk

Berlin, Germany (UP) – (official broadcast recorded in London)
A German submarine was reported by the official news agency today to have torpedoed and sunk the 31,100-ton British battleship HMS Barham off Sollum on the Egyptian coast, last Nov. 26. The Barham in peacetime had a complement of 1,184 men, but this presumably was increased for war.

Freighter torpedoed off Nova Scotia

Ottawa, Canada –
The torpedoing of a freighter 160 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia was revealed today with the arrival here of 79 survivors. They said 91 persons aboard the vessel lost their lives.

U.S. planes get 2 Jap cruisers

Melbourne, Australia –
Air Minister Arthur S. Drakeford said today that in three days of action, American-built bombers of the Royal Australian Air Force had scored two hits on Japanese cruisers, shot down two fighter planes, and attacked numerous enemy warships engaged in landing operations.

Reinforcements asked for Borneo

London, England –
Allied reinforcements are needed urgently in the East Indies if the Dutch islands of Borneo and Celebes are to be saved, a Dutch spokesman said today. He said the situation resulting from Japanese attacks was most critical and that the loss of Borneo and Celebes was probable.

Australia given recognition

Melbourne, Australia –
Australia will conduct direct negotiations with the United States, in a radical departure from Empire policy, as part of the Allied discussion of grand strategy in the Pacific, authoritative sources said today.

Japs lose 45,000 at Changsha

Chungking, China –
Total Japanese casualties in their unsuccessful campaign to take Changsha, capital of Hunan Province, are now 45,000-50,000, a Chinese military spokesman said today. In addition, he said, thousands of prisoners have been taken.

[NormanStewart]

‘Umpires’ planned –
Hughes is seen as labor aide

Roosevelt may also name Willkie, Farley, Smith

Washington (UP) –
President Roosevelt was reported today to be considering the selection of Charles Evans Hughes, Wendell L. Willkie, James A. Farley and possibly Alfred E. Smith as members of a supplemental board of umpires to assist the new National War Labor Board.

The White House announced that Mr. Willkie, the 1940 Republican presidential candidate, was under consideration for such an appointment.

The report regarding the others could not immediately be confirmed.

Mr. Hughes retired last year as Chief Justice of the United States. Mr. Farley resigned the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee and the Postmaster Generalship in Mr. Roosevelt’s Cabinet after the latter’s nomination in July 1940 for a third term. Mr. Smith was the Democratic presidential candidate in 1928 and opposed Mr. Roosevelt’s nomination in 1932 and his renomination in 1936, bolting the party in the latter year in protest.

Mr. Willkie arranged to confer with Mr. Roosevelt today, but White House Secretary Stephen Early said he did not think the possibility of Mr. Willkie’s appointment to the supplemental body was the primary purpose of the conference.

Issues order

Mr. Roosevelt created the War Labor Board by executive order yesterday.

In most important cases that come before the War Labor Board, Mr. Early said, the board members will sit as a panel with selected umpires from the supplemental list.

There have been reports for some time that Mr. Roosevelt is planning to utilize Mr. Willkie’s services in a war post. Mr. Early’s emphasis that the Roosevelt-Willkie meeting today was not necessarily to discuss Mr. Willkie’s role as an umpire or arbitrator renewed speculation that the President may still have a more important post in mind for his 1940 rival.

Faces closed shop issue

One of the first tasks of the new War Labor Board may be a determination of the explosive closed shop issue. The test may come in the case involving labor demands for a union or closed shop at the Kearny, New Jersey, plant of the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Company.

Labor officials said the plan for appointment of umpires to assist the War Labor Board provides for selection of 12 or more impartial men who would be “on call” to arbitrate labor disputes when the board is unable to settle a controversy.

The Navy, at the direction of Mr. Roosevelt, took over the Kearny plant last fall after the National Defense Mediation Board failed to settle the dispute between the company and the Industrial Union of Shipbuilders (CIO). It returned the management to the company last week.

Direct negotiations fail

Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox was said to have told the union and the company that if they could not settle their dispute by direct negotiation, it would be sent to the new War Labor Board. John Green, the union president, has informed Mr. Knox, President Roosevelt and Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins that direct negotiations have collapsed.

The War Labor Board was established on the request of industry and labor representatives to carry out their pledge of uninterrupted war production and peaceful settlement of all disputes by negotiation, conciliation, mediation and arbitration.

Davis heads board

Six of the members of the new board were on the old Mediation Board, which it replaces. William H. Davis, chairman of the new board, was also chairman of the NDMB which collapsed after ruling against United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis’ demand for a union shop for his “captive” coal miners. The union shop was granted later by an arbitration board.

One of the most difficult problems facing the new board is whether to take jurisdiction or closed shop demands. The industry-labor conference called last month by Mr. Roosevelt to draft a program for full war production argued for four days about including closed shop demands among “proper” disputes for consideration, but never came to any agreement.

Unions insist

Both the AFL and the CIO have insisted that it do so.

Industry representatives have been equally insistent that closed shop demands be settled by direct negotiations and some said they would never agree to arbitration. Mr. Roosevelt’s acceptance of the industry-labor conference report and his executive order creating the board last night made no mention of the closed shop.

The order outlined this procedure for settling disputes:

• The parties shall first resort to direct negotiations or to the procedures provided in a collective bargaining agreement.

• If not settled in this manner, the Commissioners of Conciliation of the Department of Labor shall be notified if they have not already intervened in the dispute.

• If not promptly settled by conciliation, the Secretary of Labor shall certify the dispute to the board, provided, however, that the board in its discretion after consultation with the Secretary may take jurisdiction, the board shall finally determine the dispute, and for this purpose may use mediation, voluntary arbitration, or arbitration under rules established by the board.

Lacks enforcement power

The board has no power to enforce its decisions, other than the agreement of labor and industry not to strike or lockout during the war. Neither side is required to accept an arbitration decision unless an agreement to do so is reached before arbitration begins.

Along with the six members of the Mediation Board named to the War Board, Mr. Roosevelt transferred all employees, funds and records.

The board named companies four public members, four labor representatives and four representing employers. In addition, Mr. Roosevelt named four alternate labor members and four alternate employer representatives.

Public members

The public representatives, in addition to Mr. Davis, are George W. Taylor, professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania, vice chairman; Frank P. Graham, president of the University of North Carolina and NDMB member, and Wayne L. Morse, dean of the Law School of the University of Oregon and chairman of the recent special Railroad Mediation Commission.

Labor representatives are Thomas Kennedy, secretary treasurer of the United Mine Workers and former NDMB member who resigned when the board ruled against UMW union shop demands; George Meany, secretary of the AFL and NDMB member; R. J. Thomas, president of the United Auto Workers (CIO), and Matthew Woll, AFL vice president.

Employer members are A. W. Hawkes, U.S. Chamber of Commerce president; Roger D. Lapham, chairman of the board of American-Hawaiian Steamship Company, and NDMB member; E. J. McMillan, president of Standard Knitting Mills, Inc., and Walter C. Teagle, chairman of the board of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and NDMB member.

Alternate members

Labor alternates are Martin F. Durkin, secretary treasurer of the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters (AFL); C. S. Golden, Steel Workers Organizing Committee (CIO) regional director; Emil Rieve, president of the Textile Workers Union (CIO) and Robert J. Watt, AFL international representative. Mr. Golden and Mr. Rieve were NDMF alternates.

Employer alternates are L. N. Bent, vice president of Hercules Powder Company; R. R. Deupree, president of Proctor & Gamble Company; James W. Hook, president of Geometric Tool Company, and H. B. Horton of the Chicago Bridge & Iron Corporation.

Mr. Davis said the board would start work as soon as the members can convene and that it would consider all disputes “promptly, fearlessly, and fairly.”

[NormanStewart]

Gets $191,007 more –
War fund tops halfway mark

Red Cross contributions total $631,710

The Red Cross’ war fund drive in the Pittsburgh District crossed the halfway mark today as volunteer workers in the $1,250,000 county campaign met for a second report meeting.

A total of $191,007 in new gifts was turned in today at a meeting of workers in the William Penn Chatterbox. This, added to the previously-reported $440,703, brought the total contributions to date to $631,710.

The next report meeting will be held at the Chatterbox in Thursday.

Meanwhile, the drive extended its circle of activities as county volunteers pushed solicitation in out-of-the-city districts.

This phase of the campaign was delayed because of the necessary size of the personnel which had to be recruited, Artemas C. Leslie, county chairman, said.

H. S. Wherrett, campaign chairman, said heads of the special gifts, commercial and industrial divisions had appealed to volunteers and contributors to hurry returns so the goal can be reached as quickly as possible to meet growing demands for services of the Red Cross of soldiers and civilians.

A contribution of $1,000 by the Serb National Federation was announced by Mr. Wherrett. Other nationality groups, he said, were not only “swinging behind the Red Cross drive daily,” but were urging members to participate in obtaining additional gifts.

[NormanStewart]

U.S. wins smashing victory over Japs in Luzon battle

MacArthur’s guns knock out 11 batteries as enemy falls back
By Harrison Salisbury, United Press staff writer

Action on battlefronts in the Far East

1. U.S. forces win artillery battle; Japs claim Olongapo.
2. Japs use Davao, 400 miles from Celebes, as base for Dutch Indies attack.
3. Jap fleet in Carolines ready to strike at U.S. supplies to Far East.
4. Dutch admit Tarakan’s fall, blast at Jap warships there.
5. Nipponese planes pound at Celebes coast.
6. Fires rage after Jap raid on Ternate in Spice Islands.
7. British quit Port Swettenham; new lines are 150 miles from Singapore.
8. U.S. planes destroy 33 Jap planes in two days in Burma.

Where U.S. wins Luzon victory

Washington –
The War Department reported today that Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s big guns won the opening round of the Battle of Bataan, shattering Jap tank and infantry concentrations, knocking out 11 Jap batteries and forcing the enemy to fall back.

The silencing of 11 Jap batteries probably means that between 40 and 50 Jap guns were knocked out. The usual artillery battery comprises about four guns.

The official U.S. communiqué claimed a major success for Gen. MacArthur’s men in the vital artillery battle in which the Japanese had hoped to soften up U.S. positions in preparation for a grand assault.

Battle rages 24 hours

For 24 hours, the War Department said on the basis of reports from Gen. MacArthur, the battle raged without cessation with the boom of heavy gunfire rolling like thunder over twisted jungles and mountainous peaks of Bataan Province.

The communiqué said:

Columns of enemy tanks and other armored units as well as infantry concentrations were shattered and dispersed by our fire with heavy Jap losses.

Eleven Jap batteries were smashed out of action by the accurate fire of the American guns. The Japs were forced to withdraw their batteries “well to the rear of the positions formerly occupied.”

Shows MacArthur’s knowledge

Gen. MacArthur’s feat was regarded as spectacular evidence of his intimate knowledge of Philippine terrain and tactics.

Despite the numerical inferiority of U.S. and Philippine forces and the fact that the Japanese rule the air over the U.S. positions, Gen. MacArthur was able to emplace his guns and direct their fire so successfully that the Japs’ superior weight of men and metal was more than compensated for.

Even with the aid of dive bombers, the communiqué said the Japanese were able to inflict relatively little damage on the U.S. positions – further proof that these previously-prepared positions were well-selected and well-camouflaged.

U.S. losses were slight

The communiqué said:

Losses to U.S. and Philippine troops were relatively slight.

Despite the American success, military observers here cautioned against overoptimism.

They pointed out that the Japanese have great reserves of men and equipment to throw into the battle while Gen. MacArthur must fight with constantly dwindling forces. When Gen. MacArthur’s ammunition and supplies are depicted, they cannot be replaced.

However, there was no doubt that as the communiqué asserted:

In 24 hours of continuous artillery fighting, U.S. and Philippine batteries proved definitely superior to those of the Japanese.

Japs shift to Indies

The communiqué produced further evidence that the Japanese may have transferred the bulk of their air forces southward to back up the spreading attack on the Dutch East Indies.

It reported that:

Enemy air activity was confined at attacks by dive bombers in support of artillery fire. No enemy bombing attacks were made on fixed fortifications.

That indicated that the Japanese have not renewed their heavy air assaults on Corregidor Island.

Added to the reports of sweeping air action against the northern fringe of the Dutch islands and in Malaya, it appeared that the Japanese have sent the bulk of their air strength to such points at Davao, 500 miles south of Manila.

Claim Philippine collapse due

The Jap air and sea attack on the Dutch islands was being met by a growing force of United Nations aircraft, including many U.S. planes and pilots, and it appeared that the first major test of Japanese versus Allied airpower may come in the Dutch East Indies.

Jap propaganda accounts of the Bataan fighting sharply differed from U.S. reports. The Japanese claimed that Gen. MacArthur’s forces are “on the verge of collapse” as the result of the loss of Olongapo Naval Base, not yet conceded by the United States.

The Japanese said Gen. MacArthur had the choice of fleeing to the Mariveles Mountains in the center of Bataan or of heading for Corregidor Fortress in Manila Bay.

Say evacuation is planned

Another Jap propaganda claim was that a fleet of U.S. transports is being concentrated off Bataan coast to attempt the evacuation of Gen. MacArthur’s troops.

Since the waters around the Philippines are infested with Jap naval ships and patrolled closely by Jap aircraft such a maneuver seemed most unlikely, particularly since Gen. MacArthur has made clear that he is fighting a last-ditch battle on his chosen ground in the Philippines.

Already U.S. warplanes are striking forcefully against the Japanese on two Far Pacific fronts – that of the Dutch East Indies and Burma.

On the Singapore front, there was a hint in a British statement that air control over Malaya will be wrested from the Japanese within three days and that U.S. warplanes may be about to go into action.

There was no hint of the route by which U.S. planes are reaching the Far Pacific front. However, it was reported that the main Jap battle fleet has taken up positions in the Jap-mandated Caroline and Marshall Islands ready to strike at any effort by American sea power to reinforce the Southwest Pacific or to make a foray toward Japan.

This makes it likely that any U.S. reinforcements for the Dutch Indies, Malaya and Burma must travel the long route around the world across the Atlantic, around Africa and through the Indian Ocean. An Alternative would be a very southerly Pacific route which would add thousands of miles to normal communications distances and would still be vulnerable to far-reaching Jap raiders.

On the Burma front, U.S. planes were credited with destroying 33 Jap planes in two days, including 24 in one day.

U.S. planes were fighting side by side with Dutch and Australian planes in the East Indies. The U.S. aircraft were utilizing the well-organized series of Dutch base which have been revealed to include about 50 secret dispersal fields in Dutch Borneo.

It was presumed that air operations are under the general control of Lt. Gen. George H. Brett, second to Gen. Sir Archibald Wavell in command of the Southwest Pacific. Gen. Brett is a U.S. Air Force officer. For tactical purposes, however, the Americans are probably brigaded with Dutch squadrons.

The chief theater of operations was the Celebes Sea where the Japs are trying to gain control of Dutch Borneo and the northern arm of Celebes, making use of their excellent base 400 miles north at Davao.

The Dutch admitted that the Japanese have captured Tarakan, a rich oil center off northeast Borneo. Small garrisons there and on the Celebes arm have been fighting brave but hopeless fights. The Japanese also claim the fall of Manado.

In the Philippines, a Jap claim to the occupation of Olongapo on Subic Bay just northwest of the Bataan Province line appeared to threaten Gen. MacArthur’s position should the report be continued. Thus far, the War Department has had no confirmation.

The Jap claim that Olongapo was occupied three days ago and that the attack came from the vicinity of Santa Rita Peak, the 400-foot elevation two miles inside Bataan.

This would indicate a successful Jap operation over some of the roughest terrain in Bataan Province. The peaks in central Bataan, about 15 miles south of Santa Rita, are two or three times as high but the country is much the same.

Jap forces at Olongapo would be in a position to threaten Gen MacArthur by a drive along the bad roads of the western coast. The Japs would be able to send small sea forces around in an effort to attack Mariveles, Gen. MacArthur’s communications port with Corregidor Island, four miles across the north channel of Manila Bay.

[NormanStewart]

Long-range strategy shows –
Stowe: Burma must be held

Tide of Pacific War will turn with arrival of more planes; Allied position already improved
By Leland Stowe

Rangoon, Burma –
The first five weeks of the Pacific War have already established several cardinal principles about the Allies’ job of defeating Japan. Although newly established, the principles are long-term in essence.

They may go far toward charting the ultimate elimination of Nipponese totalitarianism throughout Eastern Asia. Among them, the following seem unchallengeable:

• The Pacific War must be won first and foremost in the air, with the striking power of both the naval and land forces of the Allies determined by the degree of Allied aerial predominance.

• Because this is true, the most vital points in the Far East for British, Americans, Dutch and Chinese alike are those from which Allied air squadrons can provide offensive opportunities for land or sea forces. In other words, Singapore’s great naval base will remain virtually useless until the Japanese air bases on the Malayan Peninsula and Thailand can be cleaned out by our aviation.

• It is already an established fact that American and British pilots are superior to Japanese and that even our older models can outfight and severely punish both Japanese fighters and bombers. Therefore, the tide of the Pacific War will begin to turn just as soon as units of first-class British and American aircraft are thrown into the battle in any considerable numbers anywhere in the Orient.

• The entire course and length of the Pacific War will be governed by the amount of time the Allies are able to gain through bitter resistance during the next month or two. In this respect, the gallant struggles of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s little Philippine Army and of the British and Indian forces in Malaya may well spell the eventual doom of the Japanese. Every day and every week gained in these two sectors hastens the time when the invaders will begin to pay heavily for their conquests. Thus, the loss of the entire Philippines would be infinitely of less importance than the length of time they are able to hold out, and the same principle applies to Malaya.

• Whereas at the war’s outbreak Singapore and Manila might have seemed most essential to the Allies, it is now abundantly clear that Burma and the Dutch Indies have a greater key and long-term significance. In regard to Burma, Washington, London and Chungking alike are compelled to give its defense and fortification the foremost attention in its role of a combined aerial and land spearhead against the Japanese aggressors. The severe aerial setbacks inflicted on the Nipponese in the Burma sector thus constitute an immeasurable gain for the Allied cause.

Position improving

Taking into consideration all these factors, it is possible to say that the Allies’ position in the Far Eastern war theater, even though still on the defensive, is considerably better than might have been expected a month ago.

More reserves and perhaps some stinging losses may still occur, but on the long-term basis, the Allies’ military situation has improved and is still improving, however slowly. If the U.S. fleet should be able to strike a telling blow in the near future, the constructive effect upon all our Allied activities throughout the Far East might be very great.

Nevertheless, the ABCD powers must continue the fight for time – time to build up their air, land and naval forces and armaments – and also to gain time as a seasonal weapon and ally. This is especially important in Burma and Malaya, and perhaps most of all in Burma.

Rainy season in May

For the rainy season begins in mid-May at the latest and will bring two things, mist and fog, rendering Japanese air activity in these sectors almost negligible, coincident with mud-soaked terrain and flooded rice paddies, which will be a formidable barrier to the Japanese land forces. Unless the Japanese can conquer Malaya and most of Burma before the rainy season, it would appear virtually certain that they will never be able to do so.

Here, as with every vital factor of the Pacific War, the decisive magnetic needle swings back to aviation’s role in the anti-Japanese conflict. So long as the Allies can fight the Nipponese squadrons on anything approaching even terms, our land and sea initiatives will be assured.

That day is bound to come and will determine everything the Allies can achieve here in future. But, meanwhile, certain Allied spearheads in the Far East must be held at all costs and one of the foremost of these is Burma.

In the battle to hold Burma, it would be less than catastrophic if the invaluable American Lend-Lease war materials already stored here in large quantities were not placed immediately at the disposal of Burma’s defenders. This has been done to some degree already, but a great deal more should and could be done in this respect providing Washington, London and Chungking act with much-needed speed. Battles are usually won by those who act the fastest.

[NormanStewart]

Senate approves bill to vindicate Mitchell

Washington (UP) –
The Senate yesterday passed and sent to the House a bill designed to vindicate the late William Mitchell, a pioneer advocate of airpower, by awarding him posthumously the rank of major general.

Senator Bennett C. Clark (D-MO) paid tribute to Mr. Mitchell’s work and the bill was amended on Mr. Clark’s motion to give Mr. Mitchell the rank of major general. As introduced by Senator Alexander Wiley (R-WI), it merely would have restored Mr. Mitchell’s rank of brigadier general.

Mr. Mitchell was reduced in rank and relieved of command as a result of a court-martial which developed from his criticisms of Army policies and his demands for heavier airpower.

[NormanStewart]

Draft status outlined –
Fathers to serve last

Hershey asserts Army may not require such men until eight million are in uniform

Washington (UP) –
Fathers will probably not be drafted for military service until the Army has seven or eight million men, Brig. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, Selective Service Director, told the Conference of U.S. Mayors yesterday.

Hershey said the United States was probably not capable of producing more than 10 million men fit for military service. To do that, he said:

Obviously we’re going to have to reduce many of our physical requirements.

He did not refer specially to married men without children, but the policy in these cases has been to decide them in favor of deferment where the wives do not support themselves.

Students, even though they might graduate in one year or less, will not be deferred more than 60 days hereafter, provided they meet other requirements for service, Hershey said.

He said:

The college man owes not what the average man owes but a little more. I do not believe we can justify deferring a student for no other reason than that it interferes with his plan of life.

[NormanStewart]

The Deseret News (January 13, 1942)

Carole is quitting film to sell bonds

By Gladys Hobbs

Carole Lombard, shivering in mink, a halo of yellow veil around her bright hair, got off the Union Pacific Streamliner in Salt Lake today to begin a new role – that of “barker” for Uncle Sam.

“Barker” is Carole’s own description of what she’ll be doing for the next year, when she virtually gives up her screen career to promote defense bond sales. She said:

I’m going to make one picture and then I’m going to spend the rest of the time selling bonds.

A good-sized crowd was reluctant to let the winsome screen actress, who is Mrs. Clark Gable, get back on the train after the insistent bellowing of “all aboard.” The train stopped for only five minutes, just long enough for the celebrity to get in her “plugs” and discuss her plans.

Her Salt Lake appearance was arranged largely through the efforts of Charles R. Mabey, state defense savings administrator.

Miss Lombard will go to Indianapolis, her hometown, for her first major campaign for defense bonds and from there she will go to Cleveland and eastward to major cities on the Atlantic Coast.

Explaining the reason behind her mission, the actress said:

This is a year we should all devote to our country. I’m going to become a “barker,” just an old-fashioned “barker” and go out and say, “Ladies and gentlemen, come on out and buy a bond.”

When she isn’t “barking,” Carole plans to make personal appearances at military camps. With hoydenish enthusiasm filling with familiar throaty voice, she said:

You know how it is. You’ve got to go around and pep up the boys when they get bored with standing around.

Her parting shot was:

I don’t have to tell you what to do. Go out and buy a bond.

[NormanStewart]

U.S. War Department (January 14, 1942)

Communiqué No. 58

Philippine Theater.
The enemy yesterday made two determined attacks which were in the nature of reconnaissance in force. These attacks were well supported by artillery and aircraft. Both were repulsed by our troops, with the Japanese suffering heavy losses. U.S. and Philippine casualties were comparatively small.

Hostile air operations were confined to support of ground troops. No attacks were made on our fortifications.

Reports received from Mindanao and Jolo indicate that the Japanese are establishing advance bases in these islands from which to support attacks on Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.

Dutch East Indies.
Three U.S. bombing planes, cooperating with the forces of the Dutch East Indies, attacked a Japanese naval force engaged in landing operations in the Tarakan area of Borneo. Unfavorable weather conditions made it difficult to determine the results of the attack. However, it is known that two enemy fighters were destroyed. Our planes returned to their base undamaged.

There is nothing to report from other areas.

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (January 14, 1942)

LUZON BEATS OFF NEW ASSAULTS
MacArthur’s men set up ‘new Tobruk’

Philippine defenders still pack wallop, Jap radio indicates
By Harrison Salisbury, United Press staff writer

The battlefronts in the Far East

1. Japs raid north of Rangoon; Allies blow up train in Thailand.
2. Chinese besiege town near Changsha; Japs open drive from Canton.
3. Singapore heavily raided; battle due at border 90 miles from city.
4. U.S. forces making Luzon area an “American Tobruk.”
5. Dutch blast Jap base, believed to be Davao in Philippines.
6. U.S. and Dutch bombers raid Tarakan; Dutch troops fight in Sarawak.
7. Japs claim their troops land on both sides of Celebes Island.

Washington –
Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s men have beaten off two more “determined” Jap attacks in Bataan, the War Department reported today, and U.S. warplanes have sunk two Jap fighters in operations for defense of the Dutch East Indies.

Earlier, Jap reports said that Gen. MacArthur’s counterattacks were beaten off yesterday after an artillery battle.

It was the first time the War Department had officially confirmed that U.S. airpower has joined the Dutch in combined efforts to beat off the Jap offensive against the oil and rubber-rich Indies.

U.S. planes – the communiqué said three participated in the operation – attacked Jap landing forces at Tarakan, the rich oil island adjacent to the northeast Borneo coast, and sank two lighters which were engaged in putting Jap troops ashore on the island.

Japs seek weak spots

On Luzon, where Gen. MacArthur is fighting to turn his Bataan-Corregidor positions into an American “Tobruk,” the Japanese launched two more heavy assaults against his lines.

Both these attacks were beaten off. The Americans were said to have inflicted “heavy losses” on the Jap forces which attempted to assault the U.S. lines despite the failure of their artillery preparations the previous day.

The War Department characterized the Jap operations in Bataan as “reconnaissance in force” indicating that the Japanese pressed forward in an attempt to find weak spots in the U.S. lines against which the main assault could be delivered.

Attack Corregidor again

The communiqué said:

These attacks were well supported by artillery and aircraft. Both were repulsed by our troops, with the Japanese suffering heavy losses. U.S. and Philippine casualties were comparatively small.

Again, the Jap Air Force was employed entirely in support of ground operations and new attacks were made on U.S. fortifications, including the rugged rock island of Corregidor.

The War Department reported that information from Mindanao and Jolo Islands in the Philippines indicated the Japanese are rapidly establishing advance bases there for the support of their operations against the Dutch Indies and Malaya.

Raid Tarakan in bad weather

Mindanao is the southernmost large Philippine island where the Japanese have set up an important base at Davao. Jolo is a small island southwest of Mindanao in the Sulu Archipelago close to the northeast Borneo coast. It is about 100 miles southwest of Zamboanga.

The U.S. air attack on the Jap landing operations at Tarakan was carried out in unfavorable weather, the communiqué said, which made it difficult to determine the effectiveness of the attack. U.S. planes returned to their base undamaged.

For nearly 40 days, Gen. MacArthur has held out against devastating Jap assaults and today there were hints in Tokyo propaganda reports and the official U.S. communiqués that his forces still pack a potent punch.

The Japanese, in fact, went further than Washington’s official advices and frankly admitted that Gen. MacArthur has launched counterattacks against the troops which are pressing his Bataan Province lines. Tokyo insisted, however, that the counterattacks were not effective.

However, it was emphasized by all informed military sources that Gen. MacArthur’s battle is strictly defensive and against odds which mount in direct ratio to his losses of men and consumption of ammunition, food and material.

Like British at Tobruk

Gen. MacArthur’s position was likened to that of the British at Tobruk on the Libyan shore with the difference that there is only the scantiest possibility of reinforcing and supplying him by sea as the Tobruk garrison was during its long siege.

In contrast, Gen. MacArthur’s forces and supplies are presumed to be considerably more amply than those which the British had when they were hemmed in at Tobruk.

A Jap report of a “hospital ship” torpedoing in the South China Sea, indicated that Jap sea power in those narrow waters is not unchallenged by U.S. submarines.

Gen. MacArthur’s success in beating back the Jap artillery attack yesterday on his northern Bataan lines was estimated to have cost the enemy between 40 and 50 field guns.

It seems likely that the American success was achieved, at least in part, by Gen. MacArthur’s careful advance preparation of gun positions and thorough knowledge of the terrain. The U.S. guns probably fired from emplacements from which ranges had been carefully plotted and calculated in advance.

There was no official statement on the type of artillery involved by the U.S. guns probably included a considerable number of 75s backed up by 105s and 155mm howitzers.

Inability of the Japanese to spot the American gun positions probably resulted from careful use of heavy jungle vegetation to mask and camouflage the battery sites. The gun sites, experts believed, were carefully picked to lay down a crossfire on any advancing lines of Jap tanks – a task simplified by the rugged terrain and the relatively few routes which the Jap advance might follow.

[NormanStewart]

Nelson appointed generalissimo of U.S. war output

Authority centralized in key production board as move to spur drive on Axis

Washington (UP) –
Donald M. Nelson, America’s new war production and procurement chief, declared today his aim is to produce enough war weapons to whip Germany and Japan “in the shortest possible time.”

In letters to Office of Production Management Director General William S. Knudsen, Under Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson and Under Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal, Mr. Nelson said that any organizational changes needed to “lick Hitler and the Japs” will be made.

The present defense production setup, he said, “must and will evolve into the most effective possible instrument to do it.”

Given free reign

White House Secretary Stephen T. Early had previously disclosed that Mr. Nelson would be permitted to write his own ticket in establishing the sort of organization he desires. The actual drafting of the presidential order creating the new agency is being delayed until Mr. Nelson works out the details.

Nelson’s letter to his colleagues in the government concerned with production was short and to the point:

We have just one job to do – to make enough war material to lick Hitler and the Japs, and to do it in the shortest possible time.

Any organizational changes that have to be made in order to do this job will be made. The present organization must and will evolve into the most effective possible instrument to do it.

Everyone connected with production and procurement, in all agencies of the government, must carry on with the utmost devotion and energy.

May abandon OPM

Mr. Nelson’s assertion was believed to foretell abandonment of the OPM as a distinct entity.

Mr. Patterson and Mr. Forrestal have been representing Secretary of War Stimson and Secretary of the Navy Knox at the OPM’s regular weekly meetings.

Mr. Roosevelt said yesterday that Mr. Nelson, as board chairman, would have “final” say on all questions of procurement and production.

Mr. Early said he had no knowledge of reports that Mr. Nelson might head a supreme Allied Supply Council. There has been considerable speculation that such an organization is in the making.

Senator praises Nelson

Senator Tom Connally (D-TX) praised Mr. Nelson as the “strongest man” in the defense organization. He said that if Mr. Nelson is given administrative authority:, “I’m sure he will see that production gets going.” Mr. Connally interrupted a Senate speech by Senator Alexander Wiley (R-WI), who called for national unity and asked that there be “no buck-passing spree” in the war effort.

Mr. Nelson, former Chicago mail-order house executive, and Lord Beaverbrook, Great Britain’s Minister of Supply, would presumably be the most important members of that council.

President Roosevelt announced last night that Mr. Nelson will be named chairman and responsible director of a new War Production Board which will set up soon to replace the present Supply Priorities and Allocations Board which took the top defense production spot from the Office of Production Management last August.

The War Production Board parallels creation of the World War Industries Board which was headed by Bernard M. Baruch.

Mr. Nelson’s new job will place him in a position comparable to the one held by Lord Beaverbrook. Some sources said the grant of power contemplated for the new production czar would make him a virtual Minister of Supply and place him “head and shoulders” above any other official in the government except Mr. Roosevelt.

Appointment hailed

Many observers believed that Mr. Nelson might be made the head of the new Allied Supply Council – even over Lord Beaverbrook. That speculation was based on belief that an American would be chosen to head such an organization because of the United States’ dominant place in the war production picture.

The choice of Mr. Nelson ends many months of criticism of Mr. Roosevelt’s production setup.

Congressmen hailed his appointment as a “long step forward” in our production effort. Vice President Henry A. Wallace, who will serve on the new board, thought it was “a perfectly grand setup – one we have been parrying for all the time.”

Blanket authority

Even Lord Beaverbrook, who came to this country with British Prime Minister Churchill and is still conferring with war production leaders, had criticized the American program, complaining that there was no central production and procurement agency in this country where joint Anglo-American supply problems could be discussed.

Others have been denouncing the pattern and accomplishments of the Office for Emergency Management, top “holding company” in the administration’s production and procurement pyramid, under which SPAB, OPM and the Army and Navy procurement branches functioned without clear definition.

Mr. Nelson’s appointment appears to answer those critics.

We will have full and binding authority over granting of contracts, the production of raw materials and finished munitions, and the methods and procedure of all war procurement.

Can cut red tape

The new board is believed to follow lines that Mr. Nelson, as Executive Director of SPAB, has been urging for weeks. It was understood that the present system of procurement, production and awarding contracts would continue, but that Mr. Nelson would now be able to step in to cut red tape and speed up work in situations inimical to the production program.

The President’s announcement was unexpected. In fact, the dead cats were still flying and at least one was caught in the air. Wendell L. Willkie, the 1940 Republican presidential candidate who conferred with the President at the White House yesterday, had prepared a speech for delivery last night to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He modified it after Mr. Nelson’s appointment, indicating that he had not been informed of the move during his White House visit.

Knudsen cancels talk

OPM Director William S. Knudsen, who will now answer to Mr. Nelson, had planned a radio address last night, but called it off. Mr. Knudsen and Mr. Nelson, however, are good friends and it was rumored that the OPM leader may be given a new production job.

The President’s assertion that Mr. Nelson’s “decision as to questions of procurement and production will be final,” places control in civilian hands of the Army and Navy’s procurement programs. As OPM Purchasing Director, Mr. Nelson revised quartermaster procurement policies to avert collision with civilian markets through application of “mail-order house technique” – which he acquired in his former duties with Sears, Roebuck & Co.

No new faces

As armament procurement and production chief, Mr. Nelson will assume command of President Roosevelt’s new all-out war program which calls for delivery this year of 60,000 airplanes, 45,000 tanks and 20,000 anti-aircraft guns. Much of the contemplated $56-billlion expenditure for the war effort for fiscal year 1943 will come under his direction.

There are no new faces in the President’s fourth organization to run war production. Other members of the new board will be the present members of SPAB – Mr. Wallace, Mr. Knudsen, OPM Codirector Sidney Hillman, Secretary of War Stimson, Secretary of the Navy Knox, Price Administrator Leon Henderson, special assistant to the President Harry Hopkins and Federal Loan Administrator Jesse Jones.

Roosevelt announcement

It was believed that Mr. Nelson would call principally upon OPM personnel to direct the new board’s work. However, the organizational status of OPM remains uncertain pending issuance of the new executive order.

The President’s announcement said:

By executive order, I will establish a War Production Board which will be granted the powers now exercised by the Supply Priorities and Allocations Board.

I will appoint Donald Nelson as chairman… in addition… he will be charged with the direction of the production program and have general supervision over all production agencies. His decisions as to questions of procurement and production will be final.

Mr. Nelson will report to the President as to the progress of the program. He will no longer serve as director of the Priorities Division but will devote his entire time to directing the production program.

Vice President Wallace, as chairman of the Economic Defense Board, will serve as a member of the War Production Board as will the other members of SPAB.

[NormanStewart]

Civilian radio output ban due

New curbs put on private home construction

Washington –
The Office of Production Management is planning to stop all civilian radio production “in a couple of months” and to place new controls over private home construction, it was learned today.

OPM officials said radio production would be cut approximately 30% soon and that output would cease entirely shortly thereafter. The drastic curtailment order will be issued by OPM’s Civilian Supply Division.

Restrictions and ultimate elimination of civilian radio production, officials said, will not result in hardships because an estimated 57,000,000 sets are already in private homes, large stocks are held by dealers and an adequate supply of repair and maintenance parts will be made available.

An order is also under discussion by the OPM’s Priorities Division, it was disclosed, which will limit the amount of metal available for construction in private homes. Priority assistance is now given to those homes costing less than $6,000 or renting for less than $50 a month, but there are no restrictions on use of metals.

While private homebuilding will not be prohibited under the order, defense officials said it would result in “new restrictions and small homes.” All supplies in the hands of contractors would also be regulated by the proposed order. No new restriction would be placed on defense housing construction.

Regarding curtailment of radio production for private citizens, OPM officials stressed the importance of keeping existing sets in good order to inform the public and as a civilian defense measure. But production of new sets will not be allowed to interfere with output for the Army, Navy and Allied nations.

To use whole output

Armament orders for radios were said to be so large that the industry’s present capacity will be used entirely. The auto industry will produce some large equipment and many small machine shops and plants will be enlisted for increased production.

Orders may top $1 billion, it was said, compared with the $500 million worth of new equipment and repair parts produced by the industry last year.

The radio that a civilian cannot buy will provide material for another set to be used in an airplane tank, ship, or vehicle, or by a parachute trooper, or the Signal Corps. Radio was said to be replacing telegraphy and signaling in the armed services.

[NormanStewart]

‘National suicide’ –
U.S. faces loss of $67 billion

Henderson sees inflation in ‘farm relief’

Washington (UP) –
Price Administrator Henderson charged today that the amended price control bill passed by the Senate would lead to “national suicide” through inflation.

Mr. Henderson told the Conference of U.S. Mayors:

As far as inflation is concerned, we would be worse off under the bill that passed the Senate Saturday than we are today.

His statement followed a declaration by President Roosevelt yesterday that the Senate bill was in effect a measure to compel inflation.

Both centered their fire on an amendment by Senator Joseph C. O’Mahoney (D-WY), which would permit prices of farm products to rise to about 120% of parity before any ceilings could be put into effect. The amendment would also make industrial wages a factor in determining parity, so that increases in wages would lead to further increases in farm prices. The administration is working to have this amendment eliminated by the House.

Mr. Henderson described the O’Mahoney Amendment as “an automatic escalator.”

He said it would permit present milk prices to jump 40%, beef 20% and lambs 28% before action could be taken.

He said the country has already lost $13 billion as a result of price increases since the defense program got underway, and predicted price increases accompanying the U.S. war production program would reach $67 billion at the present rate.

At the suggestion of Boston Mayor Maurice J. Tobin, the conference passed a resolution empowering its president, New York Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia, to make representations to prevent final passage of the price control bill in its present form.

He’s ‘really scared’

Mr. Henderson told the conference that the bill was “workable” in the form in which it was submitted to the Senate, but that he was “really scared” by the O’Mahoney Amendment.

He said general wage increases of approximately 10% last spring have been “entirely eaten up” by the higher costs of living.

President Roosevelt, continuing his active participation in shaping the legislation that has been before Congress since last summer, also reminded two of his top officials who have been arguing about joint authority over farm prices, “I can fire either one of them.”

Mr. Roosevelt allowed direct quotation of his press conference statement involving Mr. Henderson and Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard. Mr. Wickard, opposing the President’s views on pending price control legislation, wants veto power over any ceilings Mr. Henderson might set over farm product prices.

Conferees will meet

Senate-House conferees have scheduled a meeting tomorrow to begin work on a compromise between the differing versions passed by the Senate and House.

The Senate bill would require Mr. Henderson to get Mr. Wickard’s consent before fixing price ceilings on farm products and, in addition, would prevent the fixing of any ceilings below a level equivalent to about 120% of present parity.

Mr. Roosevelt described the former provision as thoroughly unsound and the latter as more likely to contribute to inflation than anything he knew of. He contended that it would lead to a rise in the price of farm products that would bring demands for wage increases in industry, thus starting an upward price spiral which in the long run would be expensive to farmers as well as to the rest of the country.

Size of vote cited

Senator O’Mahoney said of his controversial amendment:

The members of the Senate are actually not children and 55 of them – a clear majority – voted that the economic status of one-fourth of the entire population [farmers] need not and should not be jeopardized by the price control bill.

Asked whether he would veto the bill if it retained the farm bloc provisions, Mr. Roosevelt replied that he does not think of things like that until Congress has completed action.

But House conferees, with whom the President discussed the bill earlier in the day, indicated that Mr. Roosevelt had sounded them out on the likelihood of Congress sustaining him on a veto. He was quoted by House members as predicting widespread labor unrest based on the demand of employees for wage increases if the 120% of parity provision remained in the bill.

Price fixing danger seen by Arnold

Washington (UP) –
Assistant Attorney General Thurman Arnold said today that price control legislation is essential but that it will undoubtedly “encourage” monopolistic price-fixing practices by industry.

Mr. Arnold, head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, warned a House defense investigating committee that the government must be on guard against the possibility that price ceilings may lead to industrial conspiracies that would permit enormous profits.

He said a price control law would constitute a strong temptation to industries to “get together” on what they will tell price-fixing officials about costs, to seek means of evading ceilings and to “boycott” the most efficient distribution systems. Any of these courses, he said, might result in promulgation of higher-than-justified ceilings.

[NormanStewart]

Henderson announces –
Auto rationing to begin Feb. 2

Local tire boards will also parcel cars

Washington (UP) –
Price Administrator Leon Henderson said today that the passenger auto rationing program will go into effect Feb. 2 and will be administered by the local boards which are handling tire and tube rationing.

As in the rationing of tires and tubes, eligible buyers will include doctors, visiting nurses, farm veterinarians, and persons engaged in firefighting, crime prevention or detection, protection of public health and safety, and the transportation of mail.

Preliminary details of the auto rationing plan were announced by Mr. Henderson after he testified before a House committee investigating small business problems on government plans to afford relief for car dealers who face hard times because of auto production curtailment.

Purchases through dealers

Under the rationing plan, eligible persons will make their purchases through dealers, once they have been granted priority certificates.

Mr. Henderson said that between 614,000 and 674,000 new cars would be released for rationed sales.

Persons who before Jan. 3 purchased new cars then in their dealer’s possession will be able to obtain delivery on Feb. 2 without getting approval from the rationing boards.

Used cars status undecided

Mr. Henderson asked the committee to be excused from answering questions whether the government plans to ration used cars.

He said:

If I say no, and we later have to, it looks like a breach of faith. If I say yes, it precipitates all kinds of speculation.

He said later, however, that he did not think “even Germany is rationing used cars.” England, he said, is down to about 3.5% of its former use of passenger cars and:

I understand from Lord Beaverbrook [British Supply Minister] that they plan to pull their belts in even further on matters of rubber.

What of defense workers?

Asked by Rep. William J. Fitzgerald (D-CT) what plans were in the making for the transportation of defense workers who live many miles from their jobs, Mr. Henderson said efforts were being made to furnish tire treading facilities “as fast as we can.”

The problem, Mr. Henderson said, will be “acute in three or four months” and may require revision of bus schedules, doubling up on private transportation” or resurrection of a form of railroad “jitney service” such as that which carried workers to explosives plants during World War I.

Asked if ceilings would be placed on the prices of used cars, Mr. Henderson replied, “If necessary – and the schedules for that are in the icebox.”

Maximum price likely

Mr. Henderson said he expected a maximum price to be placed on rationed cars, to be determined by what he called “Formula A.” This, he said, would be the manufacturers’ list price, plus the federal excise tax, plus a transportation allowance, plus an additional 5% of the total list price or $75, whichever is the lower.

As the 130,000-140,000 cars to be frozen from January output come off the assembly lines, they will be offered to dealers for storage, Mr. Henderson said.

When they are sold, the dealer will be entitled to add to the sales price a further amount of 1% of the list price or $15 (whichever is lower) for each month “that he has acted as a government storehouse.”

Will mean higher price

Mr. Henderson said that this 1% increase would be added to the consumer’s price, thereby providing for an upward sliding scale of prices on the new cars sold later from the frozen stockpile.

Mr. Henderson said:

No dealer will be compelled to take these autos. This will be an offer available to them.

Final plans have not been completed, he said, but he assured the committee that when they are, they will contain such terms as to permit the dealer to maintain some status in commercial life.

He said:

It is our intention to go as far as we can to keep this very necessary service going.

Committee members planned to ask Mr. Henderson to explain an earlier statement that there was a “possibility” of commandeering private autos. Witnesses before the committee yesterday said the remark resulted in “tens of thousands” of cars being offered for sale.

Arthur Center, a Springfield (Massachusetts) dealer, suggested that the government repossess all available scrap now in junkyards, and attempt the manufacture of a standard small car in limited quantities. Other dealers were enthusiastic about the proposal.

Joseph W. Frazer, president of Willys-Overland Motors, proposed a nationwide survey to determine how the dealers’ facilities can be light, medium and heavy trucks and utilized in the war effort, and at the same time keep the dealers in business.

He said:

Auto dealers might become key distributors of civilian defense items such as gas masks, stirrup pumps, air-raid shelters and other similar products.

[NormanStewart]

WAR BULLETINS!

Axis ship losses set at 5 million tons

London, England –
The Press Association’s naval expert said today that the Axis had lost five million tons of shipping since the war began, figuring on the basis of observers’ reports and Admiralty and Royal Air Force communiqués.

Capture of Australian general denied

Sydney, Australia –
War Minister F. M. Forde said today that he believed that reports that Maj. Gen. H. Gordon Bennett, commanding Australian troops in Malaya, had been captured were untrue. He said he was sure he would have been advised at once if Gen. Gordon Bennett had been made prisoner by the Japanese.

British may send food to Greeks

London, England –
The Ministry of Economic Warfare said today it was considering sending supplies to Greece to relieve distress among thousands of starving civilians, many of whom were reported dying in the streets. A spokesman said this departure from the principles of economic warfare would necessitate lifting the British blockade.

Gas masks for all in Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii –
Every resident of Hawaii is to be given a gas mask because of the chance the Japanese will use gas in air attacks, the Army announced today.

Norse paralyze communications

Stockholm, Sweden –
Travelers arriving in Sweden from northern Norway reported today that Norwegian saboteurs have paralyzed land communications between Norway and Finland by blowing up two bridges in the province of Finnmark.

Quisling reported wounded

London, England –
The Moscow Radio asserted today that Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian pro-Nazi puppet leader, had been wounded in an attempt on his life and was not merely ill, as had been asserted.

Japs claim 62-mile gain in Malaya

Tokyo, Japan (UP) – (broadcast recorded in U.S.)
Jap forces driving toward Singapore were reported by the Dōmei News Agency today to have pushed 62 miles southward from Kuala Lumpur in two days and to be battering at a new British defense line between Port Dickson and Seremban.

Port Dickson is about 185 miles north of Singapore.