America at war! (1941–) – Part 3

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State’s Democratic feud reopened over Wallace

Guffey backs Vice President’s renomination while Lawrence leads fight for Truman
By Kermit McFarland

Chicago, Illinois –
The opening of the Democratic “Fourth Term” Convention here today marked the reopening of the cataclysmic feud between the two New Deal factions of Pennsylvania which cost the Democrats the state election and a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1938.

The split in 1938 stemmed from rival ambitions for Governor, but it broke out again today over the two principal candidacies for the vice-presidential nomination before this convention.

The opposing lineups in the renewal of this feud are almost identical to those of 1938.

Democratic State Chairman David L. Lawrence, who is also national committeeman, is backing Senator Harry S. Truman (D-MO) for second place on the fourth term ticket.

Heading the rival faction, supporting Vice President Henry A. Wallace for renomination, is U.S. Senator Joseph F. Guffey.

Siding with Senator Guffey are the CIO unions, headed by CIO President Philip Murray. Missing, so far, from his lineup are the United Mine Workers and John L. Lewis, who egged on the 1938 split and forced Thomas Kennedy, secretary-treasurer of the Mine Workers’ Union, on the CIO-Guffey ticket as a candidate for governor.

Kane for Truman

Mr. Lawrence, as in 1938, is backed by most of the prominent county leaders of the party and his own Allegheny County organization.

In the forefront of the Truman drive, so far as the Pennsylvania delegation is concerned, is County Commissioner John J. Kane, the original Truman proponent.

The Philadelphia delegation, as in 1938, is wavering between the two factions.

As the shifting vice-presidential situation now stands, the Pennsylvania delegation, with 72 votes, appears to be about evenly split between Mr. Wallace and Senator Truman, although both the Lawrence and Guffey factions are claiming lopsided majorities.

Leaders confident

Senator Guffey today predicted 58 to 60 of the Pennsylvania delegates will back Mr. Wallace, but Mr. Lawrence, while offering no figures, said he thought a clear majority would line up for Senator Truman.

In the state caucus yesterday, 41 votes were revealed for Mr. Wallace, but some of these delegates supported the motion to endorse the Vice President only after it was made clear the motion would not be binding on any delegate.

For instance, Mayor Cornelius D. Scully of Pittsburgh, Mayor Frank Buchanan of McKeesport and Clerk of Courts John J. McLean voted yesterday for Mr. Wallace but on a showdown between Mr. Guffey and Mr. Lawrence they would be expected to side with Mr. Lawrence.

Some decline to vote

Senator Truman’s name was not presented to the caucus and of the 21 who did not vote for the Wallace endorsement motion, presented by Mr. Murray, about half voted “no” and the others simply declined to vote at all.

Opposition of both the Lawrence and Guffey factions in Pennsylvania to the candidacy of War Mobilization Director James F. Byrnes was instrumental in causing abandonment of the Byrnes movement by some of the White House guards. Fear of the Negro vote in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia is back of the Pennsylvania opposition to Mr. Byrnes.

The present of Mr. Guffey and the CIO leaders at the spearhead of the Wallace drive is giving little comfort to some of Mr. Wallace’s other supporters. Both the Pennsylvania Senator and the CIO are unpopular with the “unreconstructed” anti-New Dealers from the South who have been at the forefront of thee campaign to unseat the Vice President.

On second ballot, Guffey predicts

By Robert Taylor

Chicago, Illinois –
U.S. Senator Joseph F. Guffey today was quarterbacking the campaign of Henry A. Wallace for renomination for Vice President.

Mr. Guffey’s suite at the Stevens Hotel was virtually the headquarters of the Wallace campaign until the arrival this morning of the Vice President, who was to open his own headquarters. Delegations declaring for the Vice President reported their action to Mr. Guffey.

Mr. Guffey denied emphatically that Mr. Wallace would withdraw from the race, as had been reported in some convention circles, and maintained his prediction of victory on the second ballot.

West Virginian offers 30-hour workweek

Chicago, Illinois (UP) –
Alfred F. Chapman of Wheeling, West Virginia, who polled the largest vote of the past 20 years in his district to become a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, today advocated a post-war 30-hour workweek with 40-hour pay to bridge the readjustment era.

He also said in an interview that he favors revision of the Social Security Act to provide sliding scale benefits, collectable by persons reaching 50 years of age. He suggested a $60 monthly payment even for those qualified but employed on a part-time basis, with the amount increasing to $75 at the age of 65.

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14 more Jap ships sunk by U.S. subs

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Death toll hits 377 in ship blasts

From 500 to 1,000 persons injured
By Edwin Emery, United Press staff writer

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Governor Dewey confers with Wadsworth

Albany, New York (UP) –
Governor Thomas E. Dewey, Republican candidate for President, conferred with Rep. James J. Wadsworth, New York’s veteran Congressman, again today.

Mr. Dewey and Mr. Wadsworth began their talks last night at the Executive Mansion and continued them at the breakfast table.

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South Germany hammered by 2,000 heavies

U.S. bombers attack from Italy, Britain
By Walter Cronkite, United Press staff writer

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British breach Nazi lines at ‘extremely light’ cost

The following dispatch was transmitted by United Press staff writer Richard D. McMillan by radio telephone from the Caen area to his London bureau and is the first telephonic news transmission from France to England since the three days before the fall of Paris in 1940. Mr. McMillan spoke on a one-war circuit.

British 2nd Army HQ, France –
Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery, wiry, black-bereted Allied assault commander, announced today that “strong armored and mobile forces” have been thrust into the breach in the German defense lines south and southeast of Caen and the first gains were made at “extremely light” cost in personnel and equipment.

Monty of El Alamein was in high spirits as he rattled off a staccato appraisal of the past 24 hours’ fighting.

‘Very good day’

He snapped:

We had a very good day yesterday. An excellent day! We gained tactical surprise. The present situation down there is that we are in strong force south and southeast of Caen. We also have a strong force due east of Caen.

We made a bound forward a few days ago which we wanted badly to make. The Germans didn’t want us to make it.

Gen. Montgomery evidently referred to the capture of Caen, where the Germans had held out from D-Day, June 6, until July 9.

It is quite obvious that our position was improved. Well, yesterday we did it. We went forward again. It was a very good day.

We now have a nice little area on the other side of the Orne with Caen as a center.

Praises Yanks

He praised the “magnificent American soldiers” under Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, who took Saint-Lô yesterday in peace with the advancing British on the left. He also spoke warmly of the valor of U.S. forces who had made great territorial gains in their dash up the Cotentin Peninsula to seize the port of Cherbourg.

The British airborne division which captured and held for six rugged weeks valuable positions on the east bank of the Orne through which the latest armored blow was launched received a “Monty accolade.”

He said:

Without doing this, it would have been impossible to do with such little casualties what we did yesterday. The men of the airborne division who thus far have died did not die in vain.

Three great teams

The general asserted that “Europe is now one great and vast battlefield with Germany in the middle, ringed by the Allies.” The Allies, he said, are three great teams.

Monty said:

The Allied team in Normandy was welded together under Gen. Eisenhower. Our motto here is “One for all and all for one.”

He spoke with admiration of the gigantic air force which Air Chf. Mshl. Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory threw at the Germans as a prelude to yesterday’s thrust.

Called flexibility

Gen. Montgomery said:

That is flexibility – when you’re able to bomb Berlin one day and hit the Germans on the ground in the battle zone the next. The air bombardment was a most inspiring sight.

Monty said magnificent Allied equipment, including tanks mounting 17-pound guns “in every way superior to the anti-tank guns the Germans have,” had helped inflict many casualties on the enemy while Allied casualties on the first day of the push into central France were “almost negligible.”

“We will have no trouble beating the Germans in battle,” he concluded confidently.

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Kirkpatrick: Cherbourg begins return to semblance of Normandy

Shops reopen, increasing number of civilians return to liberated port
By Helen Kirkpatrick

Cherbourg, France –
Cherbourg has been liberated for three weeks and two days now and the city is beginning to return to a semblance of normalcy, with more and more shops opening and an increasing number of evacuees returning.

In most respects, the people say, they are far better off than they were under the Germans. In one or two ways, there are little differences but they are ones the French don’t mind since the Germans are gone.

The curfew remains but it is now enforced by the French police and detained citizens do not risk being shot out of hand because they have been found on the streets after 10:00 p.m. CET.

The food situation is not too bad and will improve as the battlefront moves forward and transportation to the rich Norman countryside is gradually restored. Food prices are lower than they were under the Germans and vast quantities of food are available which, for four years, found their way into Germany instead of here.

Rations vary

Some items of food have disappeared that were to be found formerly; others have turned up. Here and there, rations have been decreased, but now the people can obtain their full rations whereas during the German regime, they were seldom able to secure them. The greatest shortages are sugar, tea, flour, shoes and clothes.

Shops are selling some inferior coffee as during the past four years – 10 percent coffee and 90 percent ersatz – acorns and oats – a brew that is unrecognizable. Rations for three persons amount to 140 grams (50 ounces) a month – a package which would last three Americans two days if they were careful. Under the Germans, there was a pound of sugar a month per person. Today, only children receive sugar. The Germans rationed meat at 90 grams (over 3 ounces) daily per person but there was seldom any to be found in their rich cattle country as it was all shipped to Germany. Now there is an unlimited amount available and its price is controlled. Formerly, meat could be obtained at 300 francs a pound - $6.

Milk supply rises

Although this is France’s greatest dairy province, the French had no milk under the German regime, even for children. Now it is plentiful. The Germans forced the farmers to sell to creameries, which made butter and cheese for shipment to Germany.

Butter was rationed at 200 grams (about 7 ounces) a month but never could be found except in the black market. Now there is ample. The Germans ration of bread was 150 grams (5½ ounces) daily, which has now decreased to 100 grams (3½ ounces) but will improve as the city becomes better organized and flour can be brought in from the outside. Flour is not obtainable.

Traffic light

The only traffic on the streets is military, with an occasional car belonging to a French official. All city utilities are operating except streetcars and buses, and outside of the port and arsenal areas, there is little damage.

All organization and feeding of civilian life is being run by the French administration, and local officials are under Provincial Commissioner François Coulet. American and British civil affairs officials are here to help and they say that the French organization is good.

The time will come when imports of clothing, soap and some food – flour and sugar notably – will be required. How this will be accomplished depends on what agreements are reached in Washington and London.

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Guam attacked second day by battleships

Island most heavily battered in Pacific

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Tokyo explains removal of Tōjō

By the United Press

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Taylor: ‘Referee’ Roosevelt ‘takes it on lam’ not one day too soon

President avoids making decision in factional fight over Vice President
By Henry J. Taylor, Scripps-Howard staff writer

Chicago, Illinois –
When President Roosevelt went “away from Washington for the next few days” he left in the nick of time.

Men to whom Mr. Roosevelt is politically beholden are demanding that he settle the fights here, and there is no way he could do it.

For after 11 years the party now operates only on the presidential nod and without it, deliberations wallow in guesswork and confusion. Yet Mr. Roosevelt’s nod to one leader is a black eye to another. And Mr. Roosevelt now has to keep from distributing black eyes.

For example, Vice President Wallace is crunched in a crusher between four party stalwarts. Senator Joseph F. Guffey (D-PA) and Sidney Hillman of the CIO Political Action Committee prop him up while Mayor Frank Hague of Jersey City and Mayor Ed Kelly of Chicago knock him down.

Mr. Roosevelt does not owe much to Mr. Wallace, but he owes a great deal to all four of these men. And none of them is bashful in requiring Mr. Roosevelt’s support in exchange for 11-year favors they have done.

Truman slips off path

Guffey and Hillman say that dropping Wallace would cost Mr. Roosevelt Pennsylvania and “liberal votes throughout the country.” Mayors Hague and Kelly contend that keeping Mr. Wallace would lose New Jersey, New York and Illinois.

Mr. Wallace as a personality disappears in all this and Mr. Roosevelt’s problem becomes how to meet his own political debts to either two of the four without defaulting on the others.

Meanwhile, National Chairman Robert E. Hannegan, committed to Senator Truman, his political godfather in their home state of Missouri, is entitled to his own demands.

In theory, the national chairman is neutral in any race within the party, but Hannegan’s foot slipped off the beaten path in Chicago. By going overboard for Senator Truman, he now needs Mr. Roosevelt’s blessing for Truman or he bogs himself down as manager of Mr. Roosevelt’s campaign through the early liquidation of his party prestige.

South on protest limb

The result: Samuel Rosenman of the White House inner-circle, on arrival here is reported by Hannegan’s friends as stating that Truman would be acceptable to Mr. Roosevelt, which means Mr. Roosevelt would have to appease the CIO.

Next, Mississippi, Virginia and other Southern leaders went out on the end of a protest limb by caucusing for Senator Harry F. Byrd for President, hoping lightning might strike Mr. Byrd for second place.

Byrd is approximately the last Democrat that Mr. Roosevelt might wish to endorse, and yet he is committed to appeasing these conservative Southern elements.

Accordingly, Senator Alben W. Barkley and Speaker Sam Rayburn step in to fill the vacuum. Senator Barkley is to nominate Mr. Roosevelt, but beyond that there is not a cheer in the House.

Associate Justice William O. Douglas, second choice of the Guffey-Hillman-CIO group, is a prime favorite of Roosevelt. He really speaks the President’s language. His top sergeant here is Thomas G. “Tommy the Cork” Corcoran, who is still bobbing around in White House waters and serves as advance agent for both Mr. Roosevelt and Justice Felix Frankfurter. Nobody here owes Douglas, Corcoran or Frankfurter anything, but Douglas’ tie-in with the President puts him in the swim.

Easiest to slip in

Similarly, along comes James F. Byrnes, reportedly the President’s choice from the beginning. His present place as “assistant president” makes him, next to Wallace, the easiest to rationalized into the “don’t change horses” theme.

Yet age, the unhappy impact of Byrnes poll-tax record on the sentiments of Negroes in the North and some impressions here in Chicago that Byrnes is short-circuiting other leaders’ candidates are backfiring on Mr. Roosevelt for making Byrnes his “secret” choice – if that is what he did before he went “away from Washington for the next few days.”

The South Carolinian has begun actively campaigning for the Vice Presidency, working down from the top levels. He has a choice layout on the 17th floor of the Stevens, unlisted and well-guarded. He uses the freight elevator to escape the lobby, and then duplicates this performance to reach a similar setup which he maintains as sleeping quarters at the Blackstone across the street. He calls in leaders, chiefly the big four – Guffey, Hillman, Hague and Kelly, along with Hannegan and Ed Flynn. But Byrnes is reported losing ground.

This whole meeting is not sitting well with many of the ballot-box chieftains who have to get out the vote, especially not well with Guffey, Hillman, Hague and Kelly, who are the real sparkplugs of the show and the true pillars of power in the party.

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Anti-Roosevelt forces back Byrd

By Brooks Smith, United Press staff writer

Chicago, Illinois –
Nearly 100 votes were pledged today to Senator Harry F. Byrd for the Democratic presidential nomination by angry Southern delegates who knew that their protest against President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s renomination was futile but who made it anyway, shouting “This is liberty!”

Meeting last night on the eve of the convention, some 300 Southerners jammed a hotel ballroom here and noisily approved a resolution opposing any platform plank which called for social equality between the races and demanding restoration of the two-thirds rule.

Guffey in picture

The resolution, offered by Wright Morrow, a Houston, Texas, delegate, called for “a return to the principles of constitutional government as held by Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Woodrow Wilson,” denounced attempts to enact anti-poll tax legislation and demanded that the federal government leave the states free to fix voting regulations.

Meanwhile, Southern sentiment remained divided on the Vice Presidency.

Georgia Governor Ellis Arnall conferred with Senator Joseph Guffey (D-PA) soon after arriving and announced that Georgia would cast her 26 votes for Henry Wallace as planned. He said “things look brought for the Vice President.”

Tennessee backs Cooper

Tennessee pledged her 26 votes to Governor Prentice Cooper as a favorite son and South Carolina planned to support War Mobilization Director James F. Byrnes.

Monroe Redden, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Executive committee, said he was more optimistic than ever before over the chances of Governor J. M. Broughton for second place on the ticket. Numerous delegates, including those from Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Pennsylvania, had expressed interest in Mr. Broughton and several had said they would vote for him, Mr. Redden said.

Several states, such as Texas, postponed action on whom to support for Vice President, waiting to see “how the situation jells.”

The Texas delegation’s action was hailed by John U. Barr, national chairman of the Draft-Byrd-for-President campaign, as “overwhelming proof to the New York communists that the Democratic Party of the South is determined to have no further truck with any alien minority.”

Mr. Barr said:

We Democrats can’t win with Roosevelt and the only hope we have lies in Harry Flood Byrd of Virginia – young, courageous and without the taint of all the sour connections that have put our party in the woeful disrepute it now suffers.

Louisiana’s 22 votes and Mississippi’s 20 were pledged to Mr. Byrd under the unit rule. Mr. Byrd will also get scattered support from Florida and possible South Carolina and Virginia.

The Southern revolt does not threaten the renomination of Mr. Roosevelt but the danger of a bolt in the Electoral College remained. The Texas group has warned that its electors will be free to vote as they please if the National Convention fails to meet its demands. Similar sentiment was found in the Louisiana delegation where Louis Riecke of New Orleans, a Democratic elector, said he would bolt the President if the South fails to get adequate consideration by this convention.

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Stokes: Breach among Democrats manifest in platform fight

Two philosophies are clashing in feud between North, South; something must give
By Thomas L. Stokes, Scripps-Howard staff writer

Chicago, Illinois –
As wide as the Mississippi in flood time in the lowlands of Arkansas is the breach in the Democratic Party between the Northern branch and what are coming to be called again “the Confederates” of the south, so noisily do they raise their rebel yells here in Chicago.

The cleavage stood out stark and clear, like the cloudy profile of a coming storm, in the Democratic Convention which opened here today. Two philosophies are clashing, and something must give.

It is manifest in the fight over the platform. The Northern wing, backed by labor and by Negroes in the big cities – at last released for effective political action by the New Deal – is demanding clear-cut pronouncements against racial discriminations, for the right of franchise for Southern Negroes promulgated by the Supreme Court, for abolition of poll taxes which disfranchise poor whites as well as Negroes in eight Southern states.

South wants Byrnes

The South, particularly the bourbon element entrenched in the tight little political machines represented in delegations here, is resisting bitterly, drawing within itself jealously, its temper up.

The cleavage is plainly revealed in the hot contest over the vice-presidential nomination. The New Deal wing which draws its strength from the masses in the big cities of the East and Midwest, white and black, is demanding the renomination of Henry Wallace.

The Southern leaders, and conservatives elsewhere, will have nothing of him. The South wants James F. Byrnes of South Carolina, former Senator, former Supreme Court Justice, now War Mobilization Director. The North is fearful of his selection, saying it might lose the Negro vote in key urban centers of the East and Midwest.

Byrd given support

The cleavage appears even over the presidential nomination itself, which is assured for Roosevelt, in a protest from sections of the South. In rapid succession, delegations of three states voted to support Senator Harry F. Byrd of Virginia – Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. He may muster as many as a hundred protest votes, for he has scattering support elsewhere in the South, and his Virginia delegation is expected to plump solidly for him.

By political magic which is the envy of other politicians, high and low, President Roosevelt has been able to hold the diverse and conflicting elements of the Democratic Party together through three elections, and, on account of the war, may hold it together again. But it is coming unsewed at the seams. This is plain enough in what is going on here.

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At platform hearings –
World setup to keep peace is endorsed

Witnesses testify on foreign plank

Chicago, Illinois (UP) –
Mrs. J. Borden Harriman told the Democratic National Convention Platform Committee today that it is time to establish the international organization of nations to prevent future wars as promised in the Moscow Declaration and the Connally Resolution approved by Congress.

Mrs. Harriman, former Minister to Norway, was among witnesses appearing before the committee as it turned to the vital foreign policy issue, with the broad outlines of the party’s foreign plank apparently already agreed upon.

She added a warning that a national movement has been started by citizens who are willing to “slug it out with all and sundry who are sowing the dragon seed of World War III.”

Isolationists assailed

She said:

I refer to the isolationists, the so-called nationalists… to the cynics and defeatists, to the business-as-usual bunch, and to any little group of willful men that may crop up.

Mrs. Harriman recommended that the international organization:

  • Guarantee relief from war to all nations with the “peace-loving nations” pledged to advance together against an aggressor.

  • Establish means for peaceful settlement of disputes and for advancement of human rights.

  • Create agencies for international cooperation in such fields as trade, labor, currency stabilization, agriculture and aviation, to promote an expanding world economy.

Ely Culbertson, bridge expert, representing a group called Fight for Total Peace, Inc., told the committee a federal alliance between the United States, Great Britain and “a collection of small nations” would not cost this nation its sovereignty because the only sovereign right any of the countries would give up is the right to wage war of aggression.

Police force urged

Mr. Culbertson also called for an international police force.

Frederick J. Libby, executive secretary of the National Council for Prevention of War, urged the party to support a “peace offensive,” a statement of peace aims based on the Atlantic Charter.

Other proposed planks calling for U.S. participation in an international organization with power to prevent aggression were submitted by the National Peace Conference, representing 16 organizations; the League of Women Voters and the Women’s Action Committee for Victory and a Lasting Peace.

Connally will testify

But the man whose recommendation is expected to carry the greatest weight will not be heard until the committee adjourns its open hearings late today and meets in executive session to begin drafting the platform. He is Senator Tom Connally (D-TX), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, author of the Senate-approved Connally Resolution and a special adviser to the Platform Committee.

Mr. Connally has drafted a proposed plank of less than 300 words which was reported to beat the approval of President Roosevelt. It is expected to call for a post-war association of sovereign nations to maintain peace. It was understood that Senator Connally favored language advocating specific authorization of military force to prevent aggression, to contrast with the Republican platform pledge to support “peace forces” against aggression.

Platform Committee Chairman John W. McCormack (D-MA), House Majority Leader, said the committee expected to begin whipping the platform into shape for submission to the convention tomorrow.

Domestic issues

The committee completed hearings on domestic issues yesterday, receiving lengthy statements from AFL President William Green and CIO President Philip Murray. They submitted recommendations for labor, reconversion, foreign policy and other planks.

Both urged U.S. participation in a post-war association of nations, reconversion programs to assure full employment after the war and immediate repeal of the Smith-Connally anti-strike law. Mr. Murray read the text of the program adopted at a CIO Political Action Conference at Washington last month.

Racial issue paramount

Mr. Murray also added to the flood of testimony on the racial issue – an explosive one for the Democrats – by urging the committee to draft a strong plank condemning racial discrimination.

The party’s declaration on the race issue promised to rival the foreign plank in importance.

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Nominees picked in three states

By the United Press

A “decisive victory” for Governor Sidney P. Osborn, who won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Arizona by a 2-to-1 margin, and a substantial lead piled up by Senator Carl Hayden (D-AZ), running for renomination, highlighted light primary election returns from three states – Arizona, Montana and Wyoming – today.

In Montana, where a three-way battle for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination was the principal feature of an otherwise dull primary, Lief Erickson, 38-year-old justice of the State Supreme Court, was leading Austin B. Middleton and former Governor Roy E. Ayers.

In the race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, Governor Sam C. Ford was far out in front of his only opponent, former Congressman Dr. J. Thorkelson of Butte.

Governor Osborn was conceded the Democratic nomination in Arizona by William Coxon, who extended congratulations for winning “a decisive victory.”

Senator Hayden, and Reps. John Murdock was Richard Harless were leading their opponents for renomination on the Democratic ticket.

In Wyoming, where the only contest was for the Democratic nomination for Congress, Charles E. Norris of Laramie was leading Clyde C. Winters.

8875

Allies advance near Burma base

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Introducing Skipper Homeier, ‘nice little nasty brat’

12-year-old youngster plays Nazi juvenile in new movie

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Editorial: ‘I do not wish to appear…’

Two things stand out at the Democratic National Convention. It is dominated by the indispensable man who isn’t there. And he is operating as usual through party machines headed primarily by the notorious Mayor Kelly of Chicago, Boss Flynn of New York and Mayor Hague of Jersey City.

There is a great show of fighting over the Vice Presidency. But when the final gavel falls on the perspiring delegates who sit in the convention hall while the managers elsewhere rig the plays, it will be clear that Mr. Roosevelt got what he wanted. Not only the fourth term candidacy for himself, which he in effect has already accepted in advance, and the platform he has already outlined, but also the running mate.

We don’t know Mr. Roosevelt’s choice for second place. Even some who think they are close to him, including Henry Wallace, apparently cannot be sure – yet. That is not surprising. It happened in 1940. Remember? Several vice-presidential aspirants, who had talked with Mr. Roosevelt, had been told it was an open race and that any one of them was acceptable of not his favorite. But, when he finally showed his fist, Mr. Wallace was in it – along with an ultimatum to nominate Mr. Wallace or else. Kelly, Flynn, Hague and Company delivered.

We can’t guess the meaning of the President’s letter to the convention chairman regarding Mr. Wallace, because it is deliberate double-talk. Its purpose may be to damn Mr. Wallace with faint praise, as his friends fear and his opponents hope, and to clear the way for the real FDR selection. Or it may be canny encouragement for several other aspirants to kill each other off, so that Mr. Wallace can be named in the end without the appearance of White House dictation.

On one point, however, the President’s letter is clear. He has grown sensitive about his party dictatorship and is terribly anxious to remove the “appearances” of it before they become a worse campaign liability. To quote: “At the same time, I do not wish to appear in any way as dictating to the convention.”

Well, that is Mr. Roosevelt’s only important wish in connection with the convention which cannot come true. Because it is not within the power of the convention – not even of Kelly, Flynn, Hague and Company – to give him that on top of everything else. The “appearances” in the end will be unable to cover up the fact that the absent indispensable man made all the final decisions. With all of his skill as a political manipulator in absentia, not even Mr. Roosevelt can control a national convention and keep that a secret.

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Editorial: Montgomery’s offensive

Allied forces in Normandy have scored successes on both ends of the line in the fiercest fighting since D-Day. In the west, the Americans have taken Saint-Lô, and in the east, the British have broken through the Caen line.

Whether the victory around Caen is assuming the “gigantic proportion” claimed by initial dispatches probably cannot be determined for several days. The British were in Caen on June 9 only to be pushed back, and several offensives there in recent weeks have been abortive. It is not enough to break through, the gap must be widened and exploited and the new positions rendered safe from counterattack. That cannot be done in the first day of the battle.

The chief factor during the coming week, as during the first day, probably will be the weather. The breakthrough followed an 8,000-ton air bombardment. If Gen. Montgomery can continue to use his great air superiority, which bad weather denied him so often during the past six weeks, obviously the chance of pushing along the Paris road will be much better.

If the enemy’s communications for an estimated 250,000 troops can be cut, as hoped, then he can no longer keep us bottled up in the Normandy tip with his tactical forces alone. He will be forced into a general retreat, or to commit his strategic reserves which have hitherto been held against a possible Allied landing elsewhere. In either event, Gen. Eisenhower would have ended the dangerous temporary stalemate that has consumed more than a month of the precious summer season.

An enemy retreat would allow Gen. Montgomery’s larger armored forces to spill over into open country beyond Caen, and to do the job they have been prevented from doing in their tight pocket. That should soon thereafter draw in more of the Nazi strategic reserves, which seems to be Gen. Eisenhower’s purpose.

But all that depends, of course, on keeping the Montgomery offensive rolling.

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Editorial: Jap crises

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Edson: Some letters from Jefferson on retirement

By Peter Edson

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Ferguson: Basic right

By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

CIO leaders overlooked a bet with formulating their recent Bill of Rights. They left out the right of every woman to a good husband. Their list includes:

  • The right of every person to a job.
  • The right of every farm to a decent living.
  • The right to earn enough to provide food, clothing and recreation.
  • The right of every businessman to protection against unfair competition and monopolies.
  • The right to medical care and good health.
  • The right to protection against economic fears of old age, sickness and unemployment.

One is surprised to find the feminine voter forgotten. Plans to provide her with a form of security which transcends all others were evidently an oversight.

For women there is no such thing as a husbandless utopia. May we remind the gentlemen who are politically active this year that a fear is now growing in feminine minds that their world, beautifully planned though it may be will lack this essential ingredient. The women just won’t be satisfied with jobs, or even a release from old-age fears. They’ll go on wanting what they wanted long before the CIO decided to give everybody everything – the married woman’s status in a monogamous society.

This campaign year calls for something extra in the way of political promises, so why not add another to the CIO’s list – the right of every woman to a husband.