Madison, Wisconsin (UP) –
Norman Thomas, four-time Socialist Party presidential candidate, said today that he preferred to sidestep the party’s nomination this year in favor of Prof. Maynard Kreuger of Chicago.
Dr. Krueger was the Socialist Party vice-presidential nominee in 1940. However, despite his “strong desire” not to run this year, Mr. Thomas declined to say positively that he would not be a candidate again.
By Ernie Pyle
In Italy – (by wireless)
Our company was alerted for its night march just before suppertime. We got the word about 4 in the afternoon, and we ate at 4:30. Word was passed around to collect 24 hours’ field rations at suppertime and a full supply of ammunition.
At chow time, the soldiers all held their tin hats crooked in their left arms while holding their mess kits in their right. At the end of the mess line, the soldiers out five “C” ration cans into each man’s hat and one bar of “D” ration.
After supper, the men rolled their one blanket inside their one shelter half while there was still light. It was chilly. A misty rain began to fall. The men just lay or sat in their foxholes under the doubtful shelter of the olive trees.
Darkness came over the olive grove, the artillery raged and flashed around half the horizon, and the concussion crashed and ran across the sky along the sounding board of the low clouds. We of our little company were swallowed in a great blackness.
We were connected to the war by one field telephone which ran to the battalion command post a quarter mile away. nobody knew when the marching order would come. We just had to sit there and wait.
There were only two places to get out of the rain. Both were pig sheds dug into the side of a bank by an Italian farmer and stacked over with straw.
Lt. Jack Sheehy, the company commander, and four enlisted men and I crawled into one and dragged the phone in after us. A few sergeants went into the other.
Huddle in pig shed
We lay down on the ground there in the pig shed. We had on our heavy coats but the chill came through. The lieutenant had an extra blanket which he carried unrolled when not actually in battle, so he spread it out and he and I both sat under it. We huddled against each other and became a little warmer.
The lieutenant said:
I used to read your column back home, and I never supposed we’d ever meet. Imagine us lying together here on the ground in Italy.
Then we talked a little while in low tones, but pretty soon somebody started to snore and before long all of us were asleep although it was still only 7 o’clock.
Every now and then, the lieutenant would phone battalion to see if any orders had come yet. Finally, he was told the line to regimental headquarters was out.
Linemen were out in the darkness feeling with their hands, tracing the entire length of the line trying to find the break. Around 9 o’clock, it was open again. Still no marching orders came.
A dark form appeared fairly silhouetted in the open end of the shed and asked if Lt. Sheehy was there. The lieutenant answered yes.
The form asked:
Can the men unroll their blankets? They’re wet and cold.
The lieutenant thought a moment and then he said, “No, better not. We should get the word to go any minute now, certainly within half an hour. They better keep them rolled.” The form said, “Yes, sir,” and merged back into the darkness.
Grove is deathly still
By 10, everybody in the shed had awakened from their nap. Our grove was deathly still, as though no one existed in it, for the night was full of distant warfare.
Now and then, we’d get clear under the blanket and light a cigarette and hide it under the blanker when we puffed it. Over on the far hillside where the Germans were, we could see a distant light. We finally decided it was probably a lamp in some unwitting Italian farmhouse.
For a little while, there was a sudden splurge of flares in the distance. The first was orange and then came some in green, and then a white and then some more orange ones. Our soldiers couldn’t tell whether they were German or ours.
Between flashes of artillery, we could hear quite loud blasts of machine guns. Even I can distinguish between a German machine gun and ours for theirs is much faster.
Machine guns are rarely fired except in flashes, so the barrel won’t get too hot, but once some jerry just held the trigger down and let her roll for about 15 seconds. A soldier said:
Boy, he’ll have to put on a new barrel after that one.
The time dragged on and we grew colder and stiffer. At last, nearly at midnight, the phone rang in the stillness of our pig shed. It was the order to go.
One of the boys said:
It’s going to be a hell of a thing to move. The ground is slick and you can’t see your hand in front of you.
One sergeant went out to start the word for the company to assemble. Another disconnected the field telephone and carried it under his arm. Everybody wrestled into the harness of his heavy packs.
The lieutenant told the first sergeant:
Assemble down by the kitchen tent. Platoons will form in this order – headquarters, third, first, second, and heavy weapons. Let’s go.
The first sergeant moved off. I moved after him. The first two steps were fine. On the third step, I went down into a ditch and said a bad word. That’s the way it was with everybody all the rest of the night.
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 23, 1944
WHEREAS after investigation I find that as the result of labor disturbances there is an interruption of the operation of the power plants, water work9 and distribution system of the Department of Water and Power of the City of Los Angeles, California, and that the war effort is being and will be unduly impeded or delayed by this interruption.
NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, including the War Labor Disputes Act of June 25, 1943, (Public Law 89, 78th Cong.) as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, It is hereby ordered as follows:
The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to take possession of the water works, water production and water distribution facilities, power generating stations, distribution, transmission and communications systems, and other plants, facilities, installations and properties in the States of California and Nevada, of the said Department of Water and Power of the City of Los Angeles, California, in which strikes or labor disturbances have occurred or are threatened, together with any real or personal property, tangible or intangible, franchises, rights and other assets used in connection with the operation thereof; and to operate or arrange for the operation of such plants, facilities, installations and properties in such manner as he deems necessary for the successful prosecution of the war, and to do all things necessary for or incidental to the operation thereof.
In carrying out this order, the Secretary of War may act through or with the aid of such public or private instrumentalities or persons as he may designate. All federal agencies, including but not limited to the War Manpower Commission, the National Selective Service System, and the Department of Justice, are directed to cooperate with the Secretary of War to the fullest extent possible in carrying out the purposes of this order.
3 The Secretary of War shall permit the managements of the said plants, facilities, installations and properties taken under the provisions of this order to continue with their managerial functions to the maximum degree possible consistent with the aims of this order.
The Secretary of War shall operate the plants, facilities, installations and properties under the terms and conditions of employment which are in effect at the time possession thereof is taken. subject to the applicable provisions of any existing law.
The Secretary of War is authorized to take such action, if any, as he may deem necessary or desirable to provide protection for the said plants, facilities, installations and properties, and for all persons employed or seeking employment therein, and their families and homes.
Possession, control and operation of any plants, facilities, installations and properties, or parts thereof, taken under this order, shall be terminated by the Secretary of War within sixty days after he determines that the efficiency of the plants, facilities, installations and properties has been restored to the level prevailing prior to the interruption referred to in the recital of this order.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
THE WHITE HOUSE,
February 23, 1944
Völkischer Beobachter (February 24, 1944)
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U.S. Navy Department (February 24, 1944)
For Immediate Release
February 24, 1944
Carrier-based planes of the Pacific Fleet twice attacked an enemy‑held atoll in the Marshall Islands on February 20 (West Longitude Date).
More than thirty tons of bombs were dropped on three islands of the atoll. On the first island, fires were started in two hangars, a radio station was demolished, barracks and ammunition storage areas were hit. On the second, ground installations were bombed and strafed. On the third, dock areas, radio facilities and a power station were hit.
Although several of our planes were damaged by anti-aircraft fire, none was shot down. There was no fighter interception.
The Pittsburgh Press (February 24, 1944)
Barkley ignores President’s plea
…
By Fred Mullen, United Press staff writer
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Resignation of Barkley viewed as a major party rift
By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer
Washington –
The political compact between President Roosevelt and his handpicked Senate Democratic Leader has blown up with a boom that will echo right through this year’s fourth term debate.
Senator Alben W. Barkley’s break with the President is no minor fracture. It could start Congress on a rampaging rebellion which would make recent uprisings seem feeble. It might carry that rebellion right onto the floor of the Democratic National Convention.
In defense of Congress
But while Republicans and plenty of Democratic political hats are still in the air in celebration of a major breach in the administration breastworks, it remains a fact that Senator Barkley did not bolt the New Deal nor disavow its record.
Senator Barkley balked and bolted because President Roosevelt has been dealing roughly with Congress. The division between the Senate Democratic Leader and Mr. Roosevelt so far has not reached the question of a fourth term.
What Senator Barkley said yesterday in protest against Mr. Roosevelt’s veto of the 1944 tax bill is what Congress has been telling itself for some months – that the President has become harsh and abrupt in dealing with Congress when it failed to carry out his proposals.
Nor does it impugn Senator Barkley’s motives in any way to recall that Kentucky last November swung sharply from its Democratic moorings and, further, that this swing was interpreted as unfriendly to the Roosevelt administration.
May win votes
Senator Barkley was last elected to the Senate in 1938 with the active assistance of Mr. Roosevelt, who went into Kentucky to support his candidacy against that of A. B. “Happy” Chandler in the Democratic primary. Mr. Chandler subsequently got a Senate seat.
Now Senator Barkley is up again. If he seeks reelection, yesterday’s challenge to Mr. Roosevelt scarcely could lose him any votes and might attract more than a few to the Barkley standard.
Whether Senator Barkley dropped a blockbuster in resigning from the Senate Democratic Leadership or merely a canister of political events develop, he could become the rallying point for a Congressional Democratic effort to organize against the Draft-Roosevelt movement, which is now far advanced.
Smoldering fire
This Congress has been moving rapidly toward a political explosion of protests against what some legislators regard as Mr. Roosevelt’s effort to impose his will on the legislative branch.
Last month, the President indicted Congress on charges of “fraud” in devising a soldier vote bill. This week, he accused the House and Senate of enacting tax legislation which would impoverish the needy and enrich the greedy.
Congress was fighting mad.
But few expected the explosion to come on the leadership quarterdeck.
Even fewer believed that Barkley will follow other notable bolters, into political opposition to the President’s renomination. The list is long – John N. Garner, James A. Farley, Harry H. Woodring, John L. Lewis, to name some who were once White House intimates.
But there is a whirlwind of speculation on the effect Senator Barkley’s defection may have within the New Deal-Democratic Party where he has been a notable figure.
Senator John H. Overton (D-LA) said:
Senator Barkley’s speech places in jeopardy Mr. Roosevelt’s renomination for President. It should have a salutary influence upon arresting the alarming increase of authority in the Executive branch which is rapidly tending toward a dictatorship in the United States.
Rep. Wesley E. Disney (D-OK) said:
This is an anti-Congress fight. This was an anti-Congress [veto] message designed for the 1944 campaign.
Senator Harry S. Truman said he was “backing Barkley to the limit.”
Former Secretary of War Woodring, a Kansan, is attempting to organize anti-New Deal Democrats against a fourth term. He said Senator Barkley was moved by resentment against Mr. Roosevelt’s “contemptuous” attitude toward Congress.
Senator Ellison D. “Cotton Ed” Smith (D-SC) found Senator Barkley’s rebellion the occasion to propose a third-party coalition of “real” Democrats with Republicans. But Senator Smith warned, too, that Southerners could not vote for anyone with a Republican label. Yet he was hopeful and remarked:
If we can get “Dear Alben” away from Roosevelt, we can get anybody away.
There was on Capitol Hill some disposition to agree with that latter sentiment.
These may be merely partisan, anti-Roosevelt statements. But there appeared to be something deeper than that when Senator Barkley spoke yesterday. The chamber was full, with a standee line of House members against the walls. Republicans sat relaxed and smiling. The Democrats were grim.
Speaks for Senate
But it soon became evident that Senator Barkley was no longer talking for the Democrats or as their leader. He was speaking for the Senate as a whole. As he proceeded, the grimness spread from Democrats on the left to Republicans on the right. Legs uncrossed and Senators straightened in their chairs.
Senator Barkley wept. He had dictated his speech in 45 minutes and his delivery was halting. It was being typed and hurried to him a page at a time as he spoke. Often, he outran the manuscript and had to pause.
Great friendships were being broken and others were being cemented again. There was Senator Kenneth McKellar (D-TN), 75 years old and a hater of no small attainments.
Last year, Barkley had ordered his old friend, Senator McKellar arrested by the Senate sergeant-at-arms and their friendship had not cooled – it had frozen. The arrest was ordered when Senators refused to come to the chamber to vote on an anti-poll tax bill.
But it was Senator McKellar from an adjacent seat who first saw Senator Barkley’s plight, and understood. Thereafter it was the senior Senator from Tennessee and not a knee pants page boy who brought the speech page by page from the typist to Senator Barkley’s desk. The Senate and the press galleries saw that and knew that a broken friendship was being resumed.
Even the visitors’ galleries sensed that something was up. Then Barkley was through. He has told them of his 31 years in Congress and that now he might be stepping down. Certainly, he might resign the Senate leadership. Whether he would run for the Senate again he did not say.
He finished:
The record will speak for itself. I would not change it. But there is something more precious to me than any honor from the Senate, from the State of Kentucky or from the President of the Republic. That is the approval of my conscience; my own self-respect.
What happened then has not been seen in the memory of the oldest Senate attaché.
Mark Sullivan said he had never seen the like.
The Senate cheered.
The Senate gave Senator Barkley a rising vote of confidence.
The Senate applauded long and loud.
That is, almost all of the Senate did. There were three dissenters.
Isles 1,300 miles from Tokyo attacked
By William F. Tyree, United Press staff writer
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Guadalcanal Marine veterans and Army troops join to eliminate Nippon’s Bataan victors
By Don Caswell, United Press staff writer
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Concentration of Nazi tanks and infantry smashed; thrusts hurled back
By Robert Vermillion, United Press staff writer
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Washington (UP) –
U.S. Army casualties for the war up to Feb. 7 totaled 118,128, Under Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson disclosed today.
These include 19,499 killed, 45,545 wounded, 26,339 missing and 26,745 prisoners of war. Of the wounded, 24,289 (or over half) have returned to duty. Of the prisoners of war, 1,664 have been reported by the enemy to have died in prison camps.
The Navy Department’s casualty figure as of today for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard was 39,737. That makes the grand total of War and Navy Department casualties 157,865.
The breakdown of Navy casualties showed 16,506 dead, 9,322 wounded, 9,491 missing and 4,418 prisoners.