In Washington –
House likely to oppose TWA restrictions
Executive-created agencies are hit
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GOP attacks foreign policy
House ‘freshmen’ confer with Hull
Washington (UP) –
Republican freshmen of the House, unimpressed by Secretary of State Cordell Hull’s outline of U.S. foreign policy, today appeared ready to project into the 1944 political campaign what they described as the administration’s “do-nothing” attitude on international affairs.
They generally agreed that “more action” was necessary and that it would be well to press for a clearer definition of this nation’s relationships with other world powers.
Mr. Hull met with the 24 first-term GOP members yesterday, but later announced that he was not authorized to reveal what had been discussed.
Not convinced
The House members, however, emphasized they were not convinced that U.S. policy is all that it should be and few had comments favorable to Mr. Hull.
One Congressman described Mr. Hull as concerned about many phases of world affairs and relations among the Allies. He quoted the secretary as saying that Great Britain and Russia are no longer on speaking terms because of the Polish border dispute.
There was no confirmation of his observations at the State Department.
Policy called ‘silence’
Rep. Clare Boothe Luce (R-CT) observed that:
Silence is still the settled policy of our State Department.
The Congressman who gave his version of Mr. Hull’s talk said the Secretary told in detail how he had taken to Moscow a blueprint of a plan for post-war treatment of Germany even though he had been advised by the Soviet Ambassador here that the Moscow conference must be confined to ways of defeating the Germans.
He quoted Mr. Hull as saying that he did not try to bring up the plan at the formal discussions, but finally gave a mimeographed copy to British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and Soviet Foreign Vice Commissar Maxim Litvinov with a request that they look it over.
On ‘right track’
Mr. Hull reportedly said that Eden and Litvinov, when asked four days later how they liked it, both thought it was on the “right track” but that neither has said another word about it since.
The same Congressional source said Mr. Hull told the conference that the Polish border dispute was holding up many important international negotiations. It was then that he allegedly said Britain and Russia are no longer on speaking terms.
Farm story told
Asked about the United States’ policy on the Polish border dispute, Mr. Hull was quoted as saying that Britain and Russia were like two farmers arguing over the dividing line between their respective farms, and that the U.S. would play the role of the clear-headed third farmer and keep out of the argument, although try to bring about a peaceful settlement.
The Congressman quoted Mr. Hull as describing the Polish border dispute as “microscopic” and that in truth border controversies would be settled after, not during, the war.
Parliamentary tangle in Senate –
‘Peacemaker’ Wallace deals himself knockout punch
Vice President gets caught in red tape of his making and serves self mickey Finn
By Daniel M. Kidney, Scripps-Howard staff writer
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Which figures don’t lie, is steel crux
Murray sets forth contradictory reports
By Fred W. Perkins, Pittsburgh Press staff writer
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Bars permitted to boost prices
Increases allowed because of taxes
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G.I. Bill of Rights sent to House
Senate approves measure unanimously
Washington (UP) –
The so-called “G.I. Bill of Rights” – a veterans’ omnibus bill setting up a $3-billion education and unemployment compensation program for veterans of World War II – will go to the House of Representatives today under unanimous Senate approval.
The measure, sponsored by the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, was approved in the Senate yesterday after less than an hour of discussion and without a dissenting vote.
A similar bill has been under consideration in the House Veterans Committee for several weeks and Legion legislative representatives said they would urge speedy action in that chamber.
The major provisions of the bill include:
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Authorization for $500 million worth of new hospital facilities.
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Educational allowances of up to $300 a year tuition fees, plus $50 a month subsistence allowance for a single veteran and $75 a month for a married veteran.
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Unemployment compensation for as long as 52 weeks ranging from $15 a week for a single veteran up to $25 a week for a married veteran who has two children.
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Loans up to $1,000, interest-free for the first year and at 3% thereafter, to aid veterans in buying homes, farms or business enterprises.
Dewey blasts curbs placed on war news
Several cases cited by New Yorker
New York (UP) –
Governor Thomas E. Dewey, a possible candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, charged last night that apparently “newspapers are being denied the right to print all the news” and laid part of the blame to “administration policy.”
Mr. Dewey told the annual meeting of the New York Press Photographers Association:
Unfortunately there have been increasing signs of late that our newspapers are being denied the right to print all the news.
Vital news withheld
Important matters have repeatedly been withheld for months until they leaked out and became the subject of such widespread gossip that they could no longer be suppressed.
He mentioned several alleged instances of news suppression.
He asserted:
Only now do we learn, because it leaked out, of the shooting down of 23 transport planes and the killing of 410 American paratroopers in Sicily, eight months ago. Even after a presidential broadcast, we still know precisely nothing of what really happened at the much-heralded conference in Tehran.
Pravda’s attacks cited
We only know of the disquieting evidence of disunity which have since occurred in the Pravda attacks on the British and the Vatican, followed by the startling repercussions, brought out by the President’s announcement of the three-way division of the Italian fleet.
He said that it was understood that certain news of a military nature should be withheld but that:
The events of which I speak have not been suppressed to keep information from the enemy so much as to keep them from our own people.
Mr. Dewey praised the U.S. press in cooperating with voluntary censorship, but added that:
The stakes in this war are too high for it to be fought in the dark. The issues are too momentous. It is time we had light as we fight for freedom.
Editorial: The Republicans miss a bet
In some Republican circles, the idea got around, earlier in the year, that it would be a smart thing to divide up the ballot for the November election.
No definite plan was made public, but it was indicated the proposal would be submitted to the special legislative session which Governor Martin plans to call to enact soldier vote legislation.
There were varying notions of how the ballot ought to be divided. Some favored putting only candidates for President and Vice President on a separate ballot; others preferring to include the offices of U.S. Senator and Congressman on the presidential ballot. The other ballot would be for state and local offices.
The idea is not new. Governor Bricker induced the Ohio Legislature to enact such a law before the 1940 election and he, a Republican, was safely reelected although President Roosevelt carried the state by a substantial majority.
The plan has been proposed at several sessions of the Pennsylvania Legislature but always rejected by leaders of both parties.
Now the Republican Executive Committee, under the chairmanship of Senator M. Harvey Taylor of Harrisburg, one of the leaders who has helped scuttle the plan in previous sessions, has decided to oppose a split ballot.
This action is not based on any idealistic reason. Senator Taylor explained it himself when he said:
We are confident that Pennsylvania will go overwhelmingly Republican.
Political leaders, both Republican and Democratic, are against this plan because straight ballot voting enables them to load up an election ticket with run-of-mine candidates, easily bossed, who can ride into office on the coattails of the head of the ticket.
But such politicians are short-sighted, especially the Republicans. If the ballot had been split in the 1936 and 1940 elections, Republicans might have fared better. And if it had been split in the 1938 election, when the electorate voted against Governor Earle, the Democrats might not have lost so many Congressmen.
But aside from the practical political issue, which is relatively insignificant, the split ballot is in the public interest. Election laws would be even more in the public interest if straight-ticket voting were eliminated altogether.
By encouraging votes for candidates, each on his individual merit, instead of parties, voter discretion would be greatly enhanced, a better class of candidates would be developed and public officials would become more responsive to the wishes of the electorate.
The Republicans, in scotching this idea, have missed a practical political bet and have rejected a plan which ultimately would lead to more satisfactory political organizations.
Airmen attend church often
Civilians take back seat
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Poll: Public to fall short of war garden goal
Million fewer plots to be planted in 1944
By George Gallup, Director, American Institute of Public Opinion
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Federal probe urged by Bricker
Birmingham, Alabama (UP) –
Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio, making a bid for the support of Alabama Republicans in his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, last night proposed an investigation of the “entire governmental structure” of this country and the immediate liquidation of all agencies not performing “an essential function.”
Mr. Bricker charged that the “New Deal’s ineptitude in administering even the ordinary affairs of government” had resulted in a “labyrinth” of agencies and bureaus, making coordination:
…hopeless and impossible to attain in the face of duplication, confusion, inefficiency and the totally unwarranted waste of manpower and money.
Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
With the Allied beachhead forces in Italy – (by wireless)
The sailors aboard an LST (landing ship tank) have the same outlook on life that the average soldier overseas has. That is, they devote a good part of their conversation to home, and to when they may get there.
They are pretty veteran by now, and have been under fire a lot. They’ve served the hot beaches of Sicily, Salerno and Anzio. They know a gun fired in anger when they hear one.
On the whole, although the boys who man these beachhead supply ships are frequently in great danger, they do live fairly comfortably. Their food is good, their quarters are fair, and they have such facilities as hot baths, new magazines, candy, hot meals and warmth.
The sailors sleep in folding, bunks with springs and mattresses. The officers sleep in cabins, two or so to a cabin, the same as on bigger ships.
An LST isn’t such a glorious ship to look at – it is neither sleek nor fast not impressively big – and yet it is a good ship and the crews aboard LSTs are proud of them.
LSTs roll and twist
The LSTs are great rollers – the sailors say “They’ll even roll in drydock.” They have flat bottoms and consequently they roll when there is no sea at all. They roll fast, too. Their usual tempo is a roundtrip roll every six seconds. The boys say that in a really heavy sea you can stand on the bridge and actually see the bow of the ship twist, like a monster turning its head. It isn’t an optical illusion either, but a result of the “give” in these ships.
The sailors say that when they run across a sandbar, the ship seems to work its way across like an inchworm, proceeding forward section by section.
The LST has handled every conceivable type of wartime cargo. It has carried a whole shipload of fused shells, the most dangerous kind. Among the soldiers of many nationalities that my LST has carried, the crew found the Indian troops of Jahore the most interesting. The Indians were friendly, and as curious as children. The Americans liked them. In fact, I’ve found that Americans like practically anybody who is halfway friendly.
Toilet-seat tragedy
The Indian soldiers base practically every action on their religion. They brought their own food, and it had to be cooked by certain of their own people.
They made a sort of pancake out of flour that was full of weevils and worms. But it was sacred, and if an American cook tried to help out and touched the pan, the whole panful had to be thrown away.
Even going to the toilet was a religious ritual with them. They carried special toilet-seat covers previously cleansed by some proper person, and would no more think of using an unflushed toilet then you would think of committing murder.
Capt. Joseph Kahrs told me of one touching incident that happened when the Indian troops were put ashore. One of them had fallen ill and had to be taken back to Africa.
He was the only Indian left on the ship. The tragedy of his pitiful case was that the poor unfortunate was caught without a sacred toilet seat, and he had dysentery.
“What did he do?” I inquired.
Capt. Kahrs said:
I never did ask. I couldn’t bear to know. To me, it is the most frightful incident of the war.
Stokes: MacArthur
By Thomas L. Stokes
Milwaukee, Wisconsin –
The word here is that Gen. Douglas MacArthur is a receptive candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.
“It has been indicated to prominent Republicans that he won’t do anything to get the nomination, but if he gets it, he will accept it,” was the way it was put by Lansing Hoyt, manager of the MacArthur campaign for convention delegates in the April 4 primary in which the general has three rivals – Wendell L. Willkie, Governor Dewey and LtCdr. Harold Stassen, ex-Governor of Minnesota.
Mr. Hoyt added mysteriously:
I can’t tell you how I found that out.
He is hopeful that Gen. MacArthur will roll up such an impressive vote in this state, where he spent his youthful years, that it will set off a national movement that will sweep into the Chicago convention next June. He has so contrived it that the general will have every opportunity for a popular demonstration.
Gen. MacArthur is the only candidate of either party in the primary who is entered also for the presidential preference vote as distinct from the vote for delegates. The popular preferential vote has no relation to the selection of delegates, but a heavy popular vote might make an impression.
Mr. Hoyt was chairman of the America First Committee of Wisconsin and the whole tenor of the MacArthur campaign is to appeal to the isolationist sentiment once so predominant in this state. There still seems to be some latent isolationism.
MacArthur an ‘all-American’
Why are the isolationists supporting Gen. MacArthur?
Mr. Hoyt replied:
Because they think he is all-American. Anybody who’s been out all over the world realizes that the other nations are trying to put it over America. Gen. MacArthur feels the same way, we think. We feel that the United States has to assert its own rights.
Mr. Hoyt, a tall, slender, amiable gentleman with thinning gray hair, a dabbler in Wisconsin politics for years and an engineer by profession, has traveled widely, particularly in the Orient. He has developed a strong anti-British attitude.
With a twinkle in his eye, he related that he was in charge of Wendell Willkie’s 1940 campaign meeting in Milwaukee.
He is directing the MacArthur campaign from three small, sparely furnished rooms in an old office building here. He has no paid staff. The movement is entirely voluntary, he said.
The “native son” angle is being stressed in the campaign. Gen. MacArthur went to grade school and high school here. From here he was appointed to West Point. His grandfather moved to Wisconsin in 1837 and was fifth governor of the state. His father was raised here.
The general is hailed in a campaign dodger widely distributed as a representative of “American interests,” for “his ability to make friends of labor” and as a military man and an administrator. A studied effort is made to meet the argument that the general should remain in command in the Pacific, which Mr. Hoyt labels as “that old New Deal propaganda,” by the counterargument that he should sit in Washington where, as President, he could direct the whole war.
Points to 1940 primary
Mr. Hoyt claims victory for Gen. MacArthur on the basis of the 1940 presidential primary here in which Governor Dewey got 60% of the votes – and all the delegates – and Senator Vandenberg of Michigan got 40%. He expects Gen. MacArthur, he said, to get the Vandenberg 40%, with the other 60% divided among the governor, Wendell Willkie and LtCdr. Stassen.
The former Dewey support, he contends, will be split with Messrs. Willkie and Stassen because Governor Dewey is classed as an “internationalist” on account of his advocacy of a British-American alliance at the Mackinac Conference last September.
With some pride, Mr. Hoyt related how President Roosevelt’s name was withdrawn from the popular preference vote – though a full slate of Roosevelt delegates are entered in the Democratic primary – just an hour after he had filed Gen. MacArthur’s name for the preference vote on the Republican ticket.
“They didn’t want a contrast,” he said.
Democrats are the third party in this state.