Sicily to get U.S. supplies
Island first enemy territory to receive aid
Washington (UP) –
An innovation in Lend-Lease procedure which would make Sicily the first enemy territory to receive American supplies and equipment may be announced soon, official sources said today.
President Roosevelt discussed the steps being taken by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to help the Italian people yesterday while other government officials went forward with plans to put the whole undertaking on a business basis.
Meanwhile, Washington was outwardly calm, in contrast to the apparent tension caused in London by the urgent early morning cabinet meeting there yesterday.
Many rumors heard
Rumors raced through this capital and there was a feeling that momentous events were in the making, but there was no exceptional activity by any of the high-ranking government officials.
The more or less customary Friday Cabinet meeting at the White House was not held and department heads appeared to be concerned only with their usual wartime duties.
The Lend-Lease arrangements with Sicily would presumably be through AMGOT, the Allied military government there. The first movies would be through the military commanders.
But after military operations have ceased in Sicily, the Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation would probably take over. Eventually, some stable Italian government may be developed for the handling of supplies.
Supplies to be sold
Lend-Lease supplies in Sicily, except for those used for urgent relief needs, will not be given away but will be sold or bartered. The Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation has reported that the great bulk of its operations in Tunisia has been conducted on a commercial basis rather than on a direct contribution basis.
Mr. Roosevelt, discussing a cable he had just received from Gen. Eisenhower, told his press and radio conference yesterday that supplies for the civilian population in Sicily are being furnished from a stockpile in North Africa. They included pasta, sugar, flour, milk, olive oil, meat, soup, matches and medicines. Public heath officers are going into Sicily and agriculture experts are helping to organize the island’s food resources.