America at war! (1941--) -- Part 2

2432

Editorial: United States of Europe

When Prime Minister Churchill last Sunday suggested the grouping or confederation of European states, he was not grabbing a fancy idea out of the blue. It has been advocated by leading European statesmen for 30 years, and was proposed to the League of Nations by Briand in 1929. Mr. Churchill as early as 1930 wrote in favor of a “United States of Europe.”

By happy coincidence, or perhaps by design, Mr. Churchill now publicizes this idea on the eve of the fifth Pan-European Conference, which opens tomorrow in New York. The conference is led by Count R. N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, former Briand associate, head of New York University’s Seminar for Postwar European Federation.

Others connected with this conference include: Former Premier van Zeeland of Belgium, former Premier Hodža of Czechoslovakia, former Foreign Ministers of Norway, Finland, Spain; distinguished British, French, Polish, Danish, Greek, Romanian and Yugoslav representatives; the German Thomas Mann, and the American diplomat, William C. Bullitt.

The movement is not without opposition from some factions of the governments-in-exile, which still stress extreme nationalism. By a strange paradox of war, however, this old dream may be easier to realize now than ever before, for several practical reasons:

Europe learned the hard way that the pre-war division into small states, trade barriers, political balances of power, and competing armaments, did not work; they produced neither prosperity nor security, but the weakness which made each and all easy prey for Nazi conquest.

Hitler, by attempting to impose a conqueror’s unity on Europe and destroying many economic lines and some political frontiers, has unwillingly driven the separate nationalities into a common defensive alliance.

But much of the most powerful argument for European federation is the historic fact that nothing less can give the smaller peoples a better chance for security on a continent which Germany – by sheer population, natural resources, industrial organization, and geographic position – can otherwise dominate. Germany or Russia, or Germany-Russia, are too powerful for a divided Europe.

A United States of Europe, including a chastened German population, might provide the prosperous and peaceful Europe, with which Britain, Russia, China and the United States of America could cooperate for international order and security.

But the European people themselves must be allowed to make a free choice. It is not for us, or other large powers, to impose any system on them.

2433

Editorial: Send more V-mail!

The government is urging more widespread and frequent use of V-mail for communicating with men overseas in the Armed Forces, and the campaign should serve as a reminder to all of us that nothing is more important to a soldier or sailor far from home than letters.

Mail for the men still in this country is vital enough, but distance and hazardous passage make it doubly valuable to the men overseas. Life in Africa, as Ernie Pyle has testified, and in the Solomons, and Iceland, and a hundred other outposts, is down to barest essentials. Just being alive is itself a luxury.

We can’t, individually, send missing comforts to relatives and friends abroad, but we can write to them, with a guarantee of swift delivery of our letters by V-mail.

V-mail has a priority over all other types of mail. Most of it goes by plane. V-mail has gone to Australia in as short a time as seven days, to Hawaii in three days.

If a roll of V-mail film is lost, the letter is not lost, because another roll can be reproduced and forwarded.

V-mail weighs 1/65th as much as ordinary mail – 1,600 letters can be converted into a roll of V-mail film which takes up only a little more space than a pack of cigarettes. That’s why delivery is faster and surer.

And V-mail is private. The photographing machines operate at tremendous speed and only the censor reads the letter. And he reads all mail.

Use V-mail for soldiers and sailors abroad. And use it often. Those men need letters!

2434

Edson: Germans pose problems for post-war era

By Peter Edson

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2435

Ferguson: A duty to criticize

By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

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2436

Fateful Ides of March sends filmland reeling

Drain on pocketbooks leaves many favorites flatter than Academy dinner – some had to go to the moneylenders!
By Erskine Johnson

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2437

Ernie Pyle V Norman

Roving Reporter

By Ernie Pyle

On the North African desert –
While the rest of the men were working on the planes, I spent the day wandering around the desert talking to nomadic Arab shepherds. I’d walk up to one, say “Bonjour,” and shake hands. The French and the Arabs are great handshakers. The first one I hit was a young fellow, handsome in a way but badly pockmarked.

I was looking for a long-bladed Arabian knife for one of the officers back at our airdrome. So, after shaking hands and giving my new friend a cigarette, I started asking him if he had a knife with a long blade, sharp on both edges, and with a wire-wrapped handle. I may as well have saved the description, for he never even got it through his head I was asking for a knife.

He didn’t speak French, which left us no common ground, particularly since I don’t speak it either. But I got out my own pocketknife, and then went through all the motions which, in almost any other country, would have conveyed to him that I was engaged in some sort of general discussion about a cutting implement. But not this baby.

‘No comprez’ Ernie’s signs

Arabs aren’t dumb, but somehow, they just don’t seem to understand our brand of sign language. That Arab boy and I would talk our heads off, and not understand a word, and then he’s giggle and shake his head as if to say:

This is silly but it’s fun, isn’t it?

The Arabs are all very friendly and they smile easily. It makes you feel nice and kindly toward them, even if you can’t talk with them.

This fellow was herding about 50 camels, grazing, just like cattle, on little clumps of sagebrush. I made signs that I wanted to see his camels close up, so we walked over. On the way over, I did find that the Arab word for camel is something like “zu-mel.”

He had his eye on a certain one he wanted to show me. It was old and shaggy, and was hobbled by having its right legs tied together with rags. I asked why, and the best I could make out was that it was a bad camel. As we came near, the camel rolled its tongue out one side of its mouth and gave forth a series of the most repulsive belching noises I’ve ever heard. At this, the Arab looked at me and laughed and then started imitating the camel.

Arab boy and his dog

This went on and on. Every time the camel would belch, the Arab would mimic him and laugh derisively at the silly old camel. Finally, he had to go round up some of the herd that was getting too far away, so we shook hands and off he went across the desert.

Late that afternoon, I was sitting near one of the planes when an Arab boy and his little sister, on a donkey, came past. Their white dog was running ahead of them, and we called to the dog. One of the soldiers had the dog coaxed up almost to him when the Arab boy got there and started throwing rocks at the dog to drive it away. We all frowned and said, '‘No, no, no,’’ and indicated to the boy that we wanted him to call the dog back so we could pet it. He nodded his understanding, then picked up another rock and threw it at the dog. I tell you, they just don’t understand sign language.

The boy himself was perfectly friendly. He sat down beside me and I gave him a cigarette. From the way he choked I guess he wasn’t a smoker, and was smoking just to be polite. He sat around about 15 minutes watching us and smiling. After a while, I tried the dog business again, pointing at the dog and making motions for him to call it over. He smiled and nodded, then got up and threw another rock at the dog.

The Arabs, incidentally, have beautiful dogs, as well as horses. Some of them look like small collies, but most of them, strangely, seem to have a strain of the Arctic husky in them. Usually, they are white with just a touch of cream.

Lots of Missouri mules

The goat and sheep flocks are large. Once we saw a flock of sheep that were all black. Of course, we made wisecracks about there being enough black sheep to furnish one for every family back home. It isn’t unusual to see a sheep spotted black and white like a dog.

The desert is literally alive with shepherds. You can see their tents in the distance – dark brown with wide dark stripes. The average Arab had camels, goats, sheep, horses, burros and dogs. And it seems a little incongruous somehow, but we saw lots of plain old Missouri mules on the desert.

2438

U.S. Navy Department (March 26, 1943)

Communiqué No. 324

North Pacific.
On March 24:

  1. During the afternoon and evening, Army Liberator (Consolidated B‑24) and Mitchell (North American B‑25) bombers, escorted by fighters, carried out four attacks against Japanese positions at Kiska. Hits were scored in the target area.

  2. All U.S. planes returned.

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2439

The Pittsburgh Press (March 26, 1943)

BRITISH GAIN IN FIERCE BATTLE
Yanks beat back new Nazi thrust; air battles rage

Eighth Army makes headway in frontal attack on Mareth Line as fighting lags elsewhere in Tunisia
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

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2440

FOOD BOSS GIVEN FULL FARM PRICE CONTROL
Davis subject only to order of Roosevelt

Forming of ‘Land Army’ to be one of his first tanks

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2441

Grand jury case –
Naval action in fake steel case expected

Silence may end with loud boom; investigations underway

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2442

Tax plan juggled in party’s effort to save its face

Bill called a bid to loan shark

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2443

Reduction in point values of some canned food due

Larger-size fruits and juices most likely to be cut effective April 1

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2444

National test –
Governor firm in draft clash

Colorado executive orders farmers deferred

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2445

parry2

I DARE SAY —
Mail, mania and movies

By Florence Fisher Parry

We are beginning to sag under the weight of war. I do not mean droop – there is no resignation of lack of spirit in our attitude. But the crushing load is being felt, and the need to shift the weight and ease it wherever possible is really quite acute.

The story of the U.S. Post Office cannot be told; its service has expanded beyond the power of our imagination. I marvel at its performance; and I see no indication of the civilian public’s making any serious attempt whatever to ease its burden.

Too much “literature” is still being sent through the mails. It overburdens the mails, and serves a dubious end/ especially that which is sent us from Washington. First of all, we haven’t time to read it, there is too much else to do. second, it shakes our confidence in the economy of our government when we see it issue its costly and redundant brochures. Third – and of course this is the main thing – it simply makes it harder for our mail to and from our boys in the Armed Forces to move.

Surely this is the experience of millions of mothers all over our land: We are busy, we have jobs to get to, maybe just around the time the postman is due. We hang upon his coming; we look down the street; we see him in the distance, burdened with mail. We can’t wait for him, he has too much to deliver; so we leave, reluctant and often late, and our whole day is out of joint, wondering whether or not we got that letter which means the world and all to us.

And ours to them are delayed for the same reason.

Women, women!

Now there is going on a practice which should shame all women. In a panic, lest there be clothes rationing or a shortage in clothes, women are rushing to the stores and pulling merchandise off the racks in a frantic spree of buying. This same mania precipitated food rationing.

I walked through a department store the other day, and passed so many young men who, on leave or furlough, were enduring that ordeal of ordeals – going shopping with the family!

And I found myself ashamed that they should be witness to such greed and lack of dignity. How like a crazy dream must be the “home front” (so-called!) to them, when it evinces such apparent callousness to what they have just returned from! As a matter of fact, we are doing well in most things; we are buying war bonds, we are giving our blood, we are gladly serving in countless ways. But we do not seem to be able to sustain a noble performance. We break out into disgraceful orgies of buying and hoarding and even cheating, and present an exterior which belies our genuine sacrifice.

Plug the newsreels!

I dread quarreling with the movies because they’re so nice. Besides. They’re doing such a grand work in this war. But something happened last week that disappointed me – not exactly with them, but with the public whom they must, as good merchants, gear their advertising to.

There was a wonderful news picture showing a Technicolor film edited from the work of our cameramen on the African front.

Nothing even seen in the movies has touched it, for beauty, power and sheer factual impact! It is a film one may call epic. It so transcends, its importance, ANYTHING else shown, that it seems to me that it demands a special kind of publicity which would REQUIRE the public to know that it is showing!

It was announced – but only that. It was not any more featured than a number of previous undistinguished shorts and newsreels. In consequence, thousands of Pittsburghers who would have made great effort to see it were in complete ignorance of its presence in our city.

Now it seems to me that this would be an excellent time for the exhibitors of motion pictures to institute an outstanding campaign of information about this special kind of NEWSREELS. Routine advertising, coming as it does in small indistinguishable type below the blurbs about the feature pictures, sim0ly does not register.

The newsreels are beginning to deserve real sales campaigns, just as the feature pictures get.

LET THE PUBLIC KNOW ABOUT THEM. FEATURE THEM. They can create as nothing else, a new, highly intelligent, devoted and valuable audience!

2446

Senate passes one farm bill, delays second

Administration breaks even; Bankhead measure sent to President

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2447

Nation facing meat famine

Hope rationing next week will end shortage
By the United Press

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2448

Post-war advisors urged by Senator

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House lawyer threatened her, broker charges

But committee’s counsel, praised for work, denies charges

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2449

General, officers sued on Army command ban

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2450

14,000 women in Navy

Washington –
Approximately 14,000 women are on active duty with the Navy. About 5,000 are at shore stations and 9,000 are in training schools.

2451

Miss Perkins sees 2-purpose security plan

Curb on deflation, easing of demobilization task intended
By Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor

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