Baruch donates $1,100,000 for medical research
…
Coal tonnage cut 40 million due to strikes
Solid fuels agency revises losses
By Robert Taylor, Press Washington correspondent
…
Völkischer Beobachter (April 28, 1944)
‚…sonst keine Nachkriegslieferungen‘ –
Freche Drohungen der US-Ramschjuden
…
Address by New York Governor Dewey on Foreign Policy
April 27, 1944
Delivered at dinner of the Bureau of Advertising, American Newspaper Publishers Association, New York City
I am very happy to speak before this wartime gathering of American newspaper publishers. Yours is an essential industry because, in America, the press is a vital part of our war effort, it is a vital part of our whole free system. It is an indispensable element of everything for which we fight.
The tragic history of recent years has shown us vividly that freedom of the press cannot exist where there is no political freedom; but the corollary to this basic truth is perhaps even more important: Political freedom cannot exist without a free press.
An electorate, fully informed on issues, is as fundamental to representative government as the election itself. And full information through the press is the bulwark of the people’s power to check up on their representatives between elections.
We saw it demonstrated in Germany that tyranny can rise to power by the elective process. But in order to stay in power the Nazis immediately set about destroying the freedom of the German press. In all countries men have been elected to office who prove unworthy of the trust. The strength of a free system is that such mistakes need never be fatal. They can be corrected at the polls. But these corrections can be made only if the people are informed.
The precious guarantee in our Constitution of freedom of the press is not a mere guarantee to the press. It is a guarantee to the people that their press shall be free. It imposes an obligation on government to permit free dissemination of news and a duty on the press to print honest news. The right resides in the people because it is basic to their liberties.
Freedom of the press today means more than freedom to print what information can be obtained. It means access to the news. It involves the right of information and a corresponding duty to print it.
All of us recognize the need for military censorship. But there is a dividing line between military news and political news, or, if you will, diplomatic news. It is a dividing line which can never be left without scrutiny – which, throughout the war calls for vigilance. Once the fighting has ceased, we must insist that all censorship of every description cease with it. We shall need then the uncorrupted word of truth.
I am confident of our future because we have, in fact, a great, free press. I believe our publishers generally are today more conscious of their tremendous responsibility than ever before. They will have much to do with the steadfastness with which we fight through this war. They will have much to do with the intelligence and determination with which we face the even more complicated problems of the peace.
The power of the written word lies in shaping the mind and spirit of man toward high achievement. There is, of course, a wide gulf between a statement of fact or of principles, on the one hand, and epithets or empty promises on the other. In recent years, we have had good reason to learn that difference in our domestic affairs. It is not enough to talk about economic security and then pursue policies which promote insecurity. It is not enough to talk about the enterprise system and then pursue a course of action that stifles enterprise.
These experiences with domestic policies cannot be forgotten when we think of foreign policies. All of us are aware that there is great concern and uncertainty among our people over our nation’s foreign policy. Yet I think it is no more than fair to say that we have had some excellent expressions on that subject lately from the Secretary of State, Mr. Hull. In his address of April 9, Mr. Hull certainly offered a statement of basic principles which deserves respect. His pledge to seek the advice and help of members of Congress from both parties is especially welcome.
Nevertheless, these statements have done little to relieve the concern and uncertainty our people feel. That is not primarily because of dissatisfaction with the words Mr. Hull used. It is because we see reported daily in your papers developments from abroad and other statements from high government officials at home which do not seem to fit in altogether with the words Mr. Hull has used. It is because we cannot be sure to what extent our foreign policy is actually being handled by the Secretary of State and to what extent it is being handled privately by the President.
What troubles us is not the main objectives of our foreign policy, but whether that policy will be effectively carried out in accordance with constitutional methods. One way it will succeed. The other way it will surely fail. Foreign policy is not a mere matter of negotiations, of diplomatic maneuvering, or even of treaties and alliances. Foreign policy is the expression of the ideals, traditions and aspirations of a people in their relations with the people of other countries.
In a free republic, there can be no such thing as an administration having an effective foreign policy, unless that policy reflects the will of the people. Here we are, fighting, hoping, praying for a world in which we can have a lasting peace, but in almost every discussion, one simple fact is forgotten: No foreign policy that fails to represent the will of the people will ever last as long as two years. It will not last beyond the next Congressional election.
Among our people, there are differences of opinion with respect to details and methods; but, I insist, there is overwhelming agreement upon the main objectives. Those major objectives are:
To carry on the war to total crushing victory, and in so doing to drive home to the aggressor nations a lesson that will never be forgotten;
To organize in cooperation with other nations a structure of peace backed by adequate force to prevent future wars;
To establish and maintain in our relations with other nations conditions calculated to promote worldwide economic stability not only for the sake of the world, but also to the end that our own people may enjoy a high level of employment in an increasingly prosperous world.
There is, I am confident, no real dissent from those major objectives on the part of any substantial portion of our people. They have been proclaimed by men of all parties and subscribed to by men of all walks of life in all parts of our country. They constitute the fundamental principles of our foreign policy because they represent the will of our people. But once again, let it be said that these objectives cannot be attained by mere words.
As to the winning of the war, the point needs no argument. We shall win the war only by the work and sacrifice of all our people. We shall win it by the courage, strength and suffering of our fighting men and by the unremitting effort of our war production forces at home. To win the peace will require equally great determination, and over a longer period of time. It will not be sufficient when the fighting ceases merely to draw up a treaty and then forget about it. We must not repeat the tragic error of twenty-five years ago.
The central error of our course in 1919 was the false assumption that words could create a peace. Then, as now, there was much wishful thinking. Men everywhere wanted to feel that a treaty which proclaimed peace would suffice to assure it and that from there on they could relax. The war leaders of the world wanted to feel that by signing their names to a treaty, they had brought their task to an end. The very idea that fine words made a peace bore within it the seeds of its own failure.
Within a few years, the reality of Germany bore no relation whatever to the word picture of Versailles. This was because those who drafted the treaty were tired war leaders. They could not find within themselves the physical and mental strength to make the peace a living reality.
We have learned much since 1919. The experience of two world wars has taught us that we cannot remain unaffected by what happens elsewhere in the world. It has shown us also that unprovoked aggression against a freedom-loving people anywhere is an attack upon the peace of the whole world. We may again be tempted to feel that with the defeat of our enemies and a proclamation of peace, we can afford to rest on our oars. But the truth is those years that follow will be decisive. The maintenance of peace will require continuing labor and forbearance. When we have ceased to wage war, we shall have to wage peace.
Germany and Japan must not only be utterly defeated and completely disarmed – they must not be left in a post-war environment which might enable them to maneuver as a balance of power. After 1919, lethargy, jealousy and power politics resumed sway among the Allies. In that environment, Germany quickly eluded the controls of the Treaty of Versailles.
If after this war we reproduce the same political climate, we will get the same results. No initial measures against Germany and Japan, however drastic, will have permanent value unless they fall within the setting of a durable cohesion between Great Britain and ourselves, together, I hope, with Russia and China. To deal effectively with our enemies and also to solve many other post-war problems will, as I have said, require solid relations among the United States, Great Britain, Soviet Russia and China.
We have a long background of friendly working relations with Great Britain and China, which will make easy their continuation. As regards Russia, it would be stupid to ignore the fact that during the twenty-four years between the Soviet revolution and the German attack on Russia, our relations were not of the best. There were faults on both sides. If after this war we relapse into the old suspicions, the future is indeed dark. But there has been genuine improvement growing out of our partnership in this war. The American people have sympathy and admiration for the peoples of the Soviet Union.
There are and still will be fundamental internal differences between our countries. Our economic and social systems will not be the same. But our political dissimilarities from Russia need not be the sources of friction if we seek and find the many practical ways in which we can work to a common end.
Russian affairs are in the hands of hardheaded, realistic leaders. That is nothing we should be afraid of provided we are equally realistic and devoted to our country. If we are, the United States and Russia can deal with each other with candor while building firm and mutual respect and friendship.
Inevitably a major responsibility to work together will fall upon the United States, Britain, Russia and China in the first few years following the war. They will be the strongest nations. They will be the nations with the greatest power to preserve peace or to undermine it.
In some countries, we may for a time face confusion. We must wisely and without intrusion into their domestic affairs seek to make that period as brief as possible. We shall need the participation of these nations. The peace of the world will require the support of all peoples. We are all agreed that there must be prompt measures to establish a system of general international cooperation.
First came the Republican Mackinac Charter, then the Moscow Declaration and the Fulbright and Connolly resolutions. All agree in proposing an arrangement which will regularly bring together the representatives of the nations to discuss, to plan and to seek agreement about matters of common concern. This will not be accomplished to perfection overnight or in a few months. It must be a matter of growth and experience and everlasting hard work.
It will not be possible to solve immediately the economic problems of the world. It will take time and patience to restore currency stability and trade relationships and to promote the general economic wellbeing.
Here it cannot be too greatly emphasized that the role of the United States will be decisive. We will be truly effective in helping with the economic rehabilitation of the world only if we first restore at home a healthy, a vigorous and a growing economy.
There are false prophets who for years have been telling us that America has ceased to grow; that its period of vigor is over. They would have us believe that our economy has become mature. They say it is static, that it can continue to function only by constantly taking ever more expensive patent medicines. Yet these same people now talk glibly of a WPA for all the rest of the world.
To hear them talk, Uncle Sam must play the role of a benevolent but slightly senile gentleman, who seeks to purchase the goodwill of his poor relations by distributing among them the dwindling remains of his youthful earnings.
I utterly reject that proposition. America is still young, still vigorous, still capable of growth. Certainly we shall play the part of a good citizen in the community of nations. We shall deal fairly and generously with our neighbor nations throughout the world. This we shall do because it represents the practical idealism for which America has always stood and because it is good hard common sense. Goodwill cannot be bought with gold. Goodwill flows irresistibly to the man who successfully manages his own affairs, who is self-reliant and independent, yet who is considerate always of the rights and needs of others.
Traditionally, America has occupied this role for 150 years. This country won the admiration of the world because we had here something to which the people of all nations aspired. We had a society of free men who believed in themselves and in the future of their country. We were in sober truth the land of opportunity. Here beyond everywhere else in the world there was a field for economic enterprise and human progress.
For the sake of the men and women who are working and fighting and dying to win this war, for the sake of their children and for the sake of the world, we must work to make America once more the land of opportunity.
It is particularly incumbent on us solemnly to view our obligations tonight. As we meet here, hundreds of thousands of the youth of America stand poised on the shores of Great Britain for the mightiest invasion of a defended coastline in history. Every one of those young men knows that the future of his country and of freedom itself may hang on the success of this terrible venture. Every man knows the price he may have to pay.
Nothing any of us has said here tonight will be of import unless the invasion is crowned by ultimate success. The infinite patience, preparation and training behind this gigantic effort may well serve us as a standard for our own acceptance of our future responsibilities. Surely it is a minimum standard for the infinite patience, preparation and toil we should be willing to give for peace. No sacrifice for peace will ever equal the ultimate sacrifice we expect of our young men in war.
The very least we can do, therefore, as we look ahead tonight to hopes of a peaceful world, is to pledge to ourselves and to those who die for our country that we shall accept the challenge they lay before us. We can resolve to accept the responsibility which our own greatness and importance as a nation place upon us – a responsibility which two world wars have shown is utterly inescapable.
Let us recognize that this peace we pray for and our young men die for will have to be worked for over many years. Let us be flexible, earnest and devoted enough to make it a reality.
If the newspapers of America will accept the challenge of peace as they have of war, we shall have made a great beginning. The years of labor ahead will be successful only if an informed people support the effort – only if they know the size of the task. We shall need in these years, as never before, a courageous and a free press in the United States of America.
U.S. Navy Department (April 28, 1944)
Press Release
For Immediate Release
April 28, 1944
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox dies
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox died at his home, 4704 Linnean Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, today at 1:08 p.m. (EWT), following a continuation of a heart attack first suffered at Manchester, New Hampshire, Sunday April 23, 1944.
The death of Col. Knox was announced to all naval personnel and establishments, ashore and afloat, throughout the world, in a dispatch from Acting Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal. The dispatch said:
It is with profound regret that I announce to the Naval Service the death of the Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable William Franklin Knox, which occurred in Washington, DC, at 1308 on April 28, 1944. The Navy has suffered a great loss. Frank Knox was born in Boston, Massachusetts, tended public schools in Grand Rapids and was graduated from Alma College with the degree of AB. On June 4, 1898, he enrolled in the First Regiment, U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, known in history as the Rough Riders. With that distinguished organization he participated in the actions of the Spanish-American War. After that war he entered the field of journalism and in 1903 became publisher of the SAULT STE. MARIE EVENING NEWS. In 1912 he established the MANCHESTER LEADER and later became publisher of the MANCHESTER UNION LEADER. During World War I he served in France as Major in the 303rd Ammunition Train of the 78th Division participating in the Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offenses. After being transferred to the Field, Artillery Reserve he was promoted on October 15, 1923 to Lieutenant Colonel, Officers Reserve Staff Corps, and in July, 1937, to the rank of Colonel. Col. Knox’s outstanding career in journalism included successively the office of general manager of the Hearst newspapers, publisher of the Hearst Boston newspapers and since 1931 publisher of THE CHICAGO DAILY NEWS.
On July 11, 1940, Col. Knox took the oath of office as Secretary of the Navy. Throughout his entire career in public life, in journalism, in the armed services, and as Secretary of the Navy he has devoted himself unremittingly and without reserve to the best interests of his country and of the Naval Service. His active leadership during the current struggle has been an inspiration which will be sorely missed.
It is directed that Colors be displayed at half-mast on all ships and at all Navy Yards and stations until sunset on the date of interment and to the extent permitted by war operations special memorial services shall be conducted on an appropriate day as prescribed by the senior officer present. Because the nation is at war the firing of salutes and the wearing of mourning badges shall be dispensed with.
Information as to date of interment will be transmitted later.
Press Release
For Immediate Release
April 28, 1944
A Statement by Acting Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal
In the death of Secretary Knox, the nation has lost one of its great leaders, the Navy a devoted servant and all of us who worked with him a loyal friend. His career of public service is a finer tribute to his memory than any that words could express. It can be truly said that he expended himself in the service of his country.
1 Like
The Pittsburgh Press (April 28, 1944)
NAVY SECRETARY KNOX DIES
Former ‘Rough Rider’ succumbs suddenly to heart ailment
Republican named to Cabinet in 1940
Frank Knox
Washington (UP) –
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, a former soldier who helped build the U.S. Fleet into the greatest floating force the world has ever known, died today as the time of his country’s greatest battles approached. He was 70.
Mr. Knox, Boston-born Republican publisher serving in a Democratic administration, died of a heart malady which struck him Sunday in Manchester, New Hampshire, where he had gone to attend the funeral of a former business partner, J. A. Muehling.
On his return to Washington, his physician ordered him to bed at his home here. On Tuesday, he suffered another and worse heart attack.
Announced by Forrestal
The Secretary’s death occurred at 1:08 p.m. EWT. The announcement was made by Acting Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal.
In solemn tones, Mr. Forrestal made the announcement over the department’s loudspeaker system so that all employees might know. He said that “with regret” he had to tell them the news.
Mr. Knox’s death was also announced to all naval personnel establishments ashore and afloat all over the world in a dispatch signed by Mr. Forrestal.
Mr. Forrestal directed that the colors be displayed at half-mast on all ships and at all shore establishments of the Navy until sunset on the day of burial, which will be announced later.
Memorial services ordered
He also directed that, to the extent permitted by war operations, special memorial services be conducted on “an appropriate day.”
The dispatch said:
Because the nation is at war, the firing of salutes and the wearing of mourning badges shall be dispensed with.
The loudspeaker announcement carried the news to thousands of Navy employees in their offices and at lunch in Navy cafeterias over town.
At Mr. Knox’s bedside when he died were Mrs. Knox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy and Mrs. Ralph A. Bard, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury John L. Sullivan, Dr. Fred Bushmeyer (pastor of the Mount Pleasant Congregational Church), John F. O’Keefe (vice president of The Chicago Daily News) and Capt. Lyman S. Perry (aide to the Secretary).
At the time of Mr. Knox’s death, the Navy – already capable of assembling 1,000-plane assault forces against the Japanese – was steadily building up toward the climactic battles of the Pacific and the invasion of Western Europe.
Forrestal Acting Secretary
It was believed that the man Mr. Knox selected as his Under Secretary, Mr. Forrestal, would continue as Acting Secretary, at least until after the political conventions this summer.
President Roosevelt nominated Mr. Knox as Secretary of the Navy June 20, 1940, just before the Republican National Convention. At the same time that he named another Republican, Henry L. Stimson, as Secretary of War, Mr. Knox took office July 11, 1940.
The administration called the appointments a bid for national unity. Reaction was mixed, however, and some Republicans demanded that Mr. Knox – who had been defeated as GOP vice-presidential candidate in 1936 – be read out of the party. Nothing was ever done, however, toward that end.
Fleet expanded
Mr. Knox, who was president and publisher of The Chicago Daily News, entered the administration at a time when this country was preparing to become “the arsenal of democracy.” Under his direction, the Fleet was expanded as never before.
Then came the Pearl Harbor debacle, and it was Mr. Knox’s job to nurse the stricken Navy along until repairs and new construction could make it once again superior to the Japanese fleet.
This task was accomplished in an amazingly short time – as witness the battles of the Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal, and the gigantic carrier force attacks of Truk and Palau.
Until a few weeks before his death, Mr. Knox was a man of robust health, large of frame, friendly and dynamic. Then he suffered an attack of influenza from which he was recuperating when the final illness struck.
In his younger days, Mr. Knox was almost a swashbuckling figure. He rode with “Teddy” Roosevelt’s “Rough Riders” and when the United States entered World War I, he went overseas as a captain of cavalry, a commission he received in 1917.
In France, he commanded a section of the 78th Division’s Ammunition Train. His outfit fought through some of the bloodiest battles of that war, including Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne.
Widow survives
Surviving Mr. Knox are his widow (the former Annie Reid) and his three sisters, Mrs. Herbert L. Fairfield of Dayton, Ohio, and Miami, Florida; Mrs. Fred Reed of Chicago, and Miss Elizabeth Knox of Grand Rapid, Michigan.
Mr. Forrestal’s dispatch to all Navy stations said that “the Navy has suffered a great loss.”
Mr. Forrestal said:
Throughout his entire career in public life, in journalism, in the armed services, and as Secretary of the Navy, he devoted himself unremittingly and without reserve to the best interests of his country and of the naval service. His active leadership during the current struggle was an inspiration which will be sorely missed.
First attack Sunday
The Navy said the first heart attack last Sunday was diagnosed as coronary occlusion. Nevertheless, Mr. Knox left Manchester for New York that evening.
That night, while in New York, he had what he thought was an attack of indigestion. He went on to Washington by train Monday, telling acquaintances he felt better.
But on Tuesday morning, about two hours after he arrived at his office in the Navy Department, he showed evidences of further illness. He returned to his home and suffered a more severe heart attack while going to bed Tuesday afternoon.
Preferred nickname
Mr. Knox was christened William Franklin, but he preferred his nickname, Frank, and used it for his official signatures.
As a disciple of Theodore Roosevelt, Mr. Knox was a firm advocate of a big Navy. When he became Secretary, the Fleet numbered only 344 combat ships.
Although various programs of expansion were underway at the time, Mr. Knox felt they were not enough and he fought vigorously for more and more fighting ships. This year, the fleet is scheduled to attain a strength of about 1,000 combat ships.
Mr. Knox’s friendliness was one of his outstanding characteristics. He was an inveterate joke-trader, but was not much of a partygoer.
Impatient with quibblers
He spoke frankly and was impatient with quibblers. He was the first to disclose the heavy U.S. losses at Tarawa and the first to reveal that our forces were not fully on the alert at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. He was one of the few Cabinet officers in Washington who met with the press as often as twice a week.
Mr. Knox was probably the most-traveled War Cabinet member of all time. He went to Pearl Harbor for a personal inspection immediately after the Japanese attack. He flew to South America, to North Africa and Italy, and to the South Pacific. He underwent bombing raids at Guadalcanal and Espiritu Santo and watched the German retreat from Naples from a small naval craft within sight of the shores.
Born in Boston
A proponent of national preparedness, Mr. Knox was one of the most active supporters of the proposed trans-Arabian pipeline. He favored compulsory military training in peacetime and a National Service Act in wartime.
Born in Boston, on Jan. 1, 1874, the son of William Edwin Knox and Sarah Barnard Knox, he moved during his boyhood to Grand Rapids. He graduated from Alma College.
Mr. Knox was formerly city editor of The Grand Rapids Herald, and owner of The Sault Ste. Marie Journal and News-Record. Subsequently he became publisher of The Manchester Leader and Union.
Became Chicago publisher
In 1927, Mr. Knox was appointed general manager of the Hearst Newspapers and publisher of the Hearst Boston papers, the American and Daily Advertiser.
He resigned in December 1930, and in August 1931, became publisher of The Chicago Daily News.
After serving in the Spanish-American War, Mr. Knox became chairman of the Michigan Republican Committee and was vice chairman of Theodore Roosevelt’s Campaign Committee in 1912. He followed “TR” into the Progressive Party and was head of the Michigan delegation to the party’s Chicago convention in August 1912.
After “TR’s” defeat by the late Woodrow Wilson, Mr. Knox returned to the Republican Party and in 1936 sought the Vice Presidency as running mate to former Kansas Governor Alf M. Landon, the Republican candidate for President. He campaigned vigorously but, with Mr. Landon, was overwhelmingly defeated.
1 Like
CHERBOURG INVASION PORT BLITZED
Allied smash at Europe approaches rate of eight tons a minute
Daylight blows against France follow RAF attack on Friedrichshafen plane plant
By Phil Ault, United Press staff writer
…
Yanks finish swift conquest of Hollandia
MacArthur, Nimitz confer on new moves
By William B. Dickinson, United Press staff writer
…
Dewey urges adequate force to keep peace
Alliance advocated with major powers
New York (UP) –
Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York, calling for creation of a peace structure “backed by adequate force to prevent future wars,” proposed today that the United States, Great Britain, Russia and China continue collaboration after the war.
He said:
No initial measures against Germany and Japan, however drastic, will have permanent value unless they fall within the setting of a durable cohesion between Great Britain and ourselves, together, I hope, with Russia and China.
Germany and Japan must not only be utterly defeated and completely disarmed – they must not be left in a post-war environment which might enable them to maneuver as a balance of power.
Governor Dewey’s statements, made at the annual dinner of the Bureau of Advertising of the American Newspaper Publishers Association last night, were his first expression on foreign policy since the Republican conference at Mackinac Island last year, when he advocated a British-U.S. alliance.
The New York executive, considered by many as the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for President this year, proposed three fundamental principles for U.S. foreign policy, which he said would command the support of the American public. He listed them as:
To carry on the war to total crushing victory, and in so doing to drive home to the aggressor nations a lesson that will never be forgotten.
To organize in cooperation with other nations a structure of peace backed by adequate force to prevent future wars;
To establish and maintain in our relations with other nations conditions calculated to promote worldwide economic stability not only for the sake of the world, but also to the end that our own people may enjoy a high level of employment in an increasingly prosperous world.
He said Secretary of State Cordell Hull’s outline of post-war collaboration on April 9 deserved respect, but failed to “relieve the concern and uncertainty our people feel.”
This was due, he added, to the fact that:
We cannot be sure to what extent our foreign policy is actually being handled by the Secretary of State and to what extent it is being handled privately by the President.
He said:
What troubles us is not the main objectives of our foreign policy, but whether that policy will be effectively carried out in accordance with constitutional methods.
Facts and epithets
The New York executive touched briefly on domestic affairs with the assertion that:
It is not enough to talk about a more abundant life if the actions that follow the words leave millions unemployed and dependent upon government for a bare existence.
He said:
In recent years we have had good reason to learn of the wide gulf between a statement of fact or principles, on the one hand, and epithets or empty promises on the other. It is not enough to talk about economic security and then pursue a course of action that stifles enterprise.
He said:
Our political dissimilarities with Russia need not be the source of friction if we seek and find the many practical ways in which we can work to a common end. Russian affairs are in the hands of hardheaded, realistic leaders. That is nothing we should be afraid of, provided we are equally realistic and devoted to our country.
Governor Dewey concluded with praise for American newspapers, which he called a vital part of the war program and a vital part of the nation’s free system.
Eric Johnston, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said urgent necessities of war have made expansion of government controls inevitable, but that only action by the people will check an increasing spread of government when the war has been won.
He called on the nation’s press to take the lead in making the coming presidential campaign one of “calm reason rather than blind prejudice.”
Navy opposed to merger of Armed Forces
Insists proposal needs further study
…
Japs claim two hits on U.S. carrier
By the United Press
…
British launch attack on Japs at India base
Battalion sallies out of Kohima
By Walter Logan, United Press staff writer
…
Patrols battle on Adriatic, Anzio fronts
Bad weather curbs air raids in Italy
By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer
…
Owlett hurls charges of dictatorship
GOP leader renews attack on New Deal
Atlantic City, New Jersey – (special)
In another of a series of speeches he has been delivering against the Roosevelt administration, G. Mason Owlett, Pennsylvania member of the Republican National Committee, charged here today that “the war we are fighting against dictatorship in other lands is being used to advance dictatorship through bureaucracy in America.”
Mr. Owlett, also president of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, addressed a convention of the Pennsylvania Self-Insurers’ Association.
‘Menace to enterprise’
He said:
Certainly, Mr. Churchill’s intensive drive for victory has not been diverted by political considerations, as is the case with our leadership in Washington. In this country, with an election approaching, it becomes more and more evident that the active duties of our government are evenly divided between prosecuting the war and spendings untold millions in public money to perpetuate the New Deal in power.
Men of business and industry recognize the New Deal as a menace to all enterprise for the reason that it has sought to establish a policy of iron-fisted regimentation for individual initiative and freedom. Whenever any administration can silence criticism, crush opposition and refuse to be accountable to the people for its acts, whether we are at peace or war, free government in the United States is dead and the American way is gone…
Voters to be tested
The socialistic policies of the New Deal have given us a complete political anarchy in Washington.
The intelligence of American voters will be tested this year by their capacity to discern that the war itself is not a political issue and that our liberties depend upon the restoration of constitutional government as well as the defeat of our enemies abroad.
The virility of American voters will be tested by their capacity to resist class agitation, paternalistic buncombe and the implication that free political expression is analogous to treason.