America at war! (1941–) – Part 4

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Ickes to open fourth term drive in city

Address scheduled Sunday afternoon
By Kermit McFarland

Harold L. Ickes, the New Deal’s favorite exponent of the well-turned phrase, will open the Democratic campaign in these parts with a speech Sunday in Schenley Park, the American Slav Congress announced today.

Mr. Ickes, the highest-ranking spokesman for the Democrats – aside from National Chairman Robert E. Hannegan – who has yet taken on Governor Thomas E. Dewey in debate, will speak to the closing session of the Congress, meeting here in convention Saturday and Sunday.

Flagstaff Hill to be scene

The meeting has been moved to Flagstaff Hill in the park to accommodate the expected large attendance. Other sessions of the convention, chief purpose of which is to endorse a fourth term, will be held in Carnegie Music Hall, Oakland.

Mr. Ickes, who is also Secretary of the Interior and Solid Fuels administrator, petroleum administrator for war, mine operator and other things, will speak at 4:00 p.m. ET. The address, according to Slav Congress officials, will be broadcast over a nationwide network.

The Slav Congress’ convention is one of two major Democratic rallies being held here soon under auspices other than those of the regular Democratic organization.

Wallace to speak, too

Vice President Henry A. Wallace will speak in Carnegie Music Hall on Sept. 30 at a rally to be sponsored by a committee of independent Roosevelt backers. The names of committee members have not been announced, although the present chairman is J. S. Crutchfield, president of the United Fruit Auction Company.

John Sobczak, arrangements chairman for the convention, said the American Slav Congress is a “nonpartisan organization” but added that “Slavic Americans in vast majority are convinced that President Roosevelt is the only choice for President.”

Two prominent leaders of the organization, County Court Judge Blair F. Gunther (former chairman of the board) and Gregory Zatkovich (former member of the Board of Directors), recently resigned in protest against political activities of the group. Both are Republicans. Mr. Zatkovich is a candidate for the U.S. Congress.

PAC active

Leaders of the CIO Political Action Committee have been active in organizing the convention here.

The regular Democratic organization will open its campaign here next Monday with a mass meeting in North Side Carnegie Hall. No “big name” speakers have been listed.

Congressman Francis J. Myers, nominee for the U.S. Senate, will head he program and other statewide candidates will appear.

GOP rally tomorrow

Republicans hold their first public rally tomorrow night when Ohio Governor John W. Bricker, candidate for Vice President, comes here to deliver a major speech.

Mr. Bricker will arrive late in the day and speak at 9:30 p.m. The meeting will open at 8:30 with Judge Gunther, U.S. Senator James J. Davis (candidate for reelection), and the Rev. Cornell E. Talley of the Central Baptist Church, 5th Ward, as other speakers. Governor Edward Martin will introduce Mr. Bricker.

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Perkins: Lewis expected to widen his fight on Roosevelt

Drive to filter down through UMW union to wives and families of his mine workers
By Fred W. Perkins, Press Washington correspondent

Cincinnati, Ohio –
The concluding days of the United Mine Workers Convention are expected to develop more of the reasons why John L. Lewis is so dead set against the reelection of President Roosevelt.

These arguments will be filtered down through the mine workers organization to the half a million members and their families in states that may decide the presidential election, including Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky, and to a lesser extent, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

Mr. Lewis epitomized some of his reasons in a speech before the Ohio United Construction Workers, a division of the UMW’s District 50, in which he declared that policies of the Roosevelt administration are directed toward making labor in general “a political company union.”

Sarcastic comment

He added the sarcastic comment:

What a record for one who likes to call himself the savior of mankind and the defender of the poor. He would strike down the unions that are not subservient to his wishes.

Mr. Roosevelt, Mr. Lewis charged, “joined in intrigue with his man Friday, Hillman, the cringing officers of the American Federation of Labor and the present officials of the CIO” to hinder the organization of the United Construction Workers. He shot an oratorical blast at what he called “cowardly leadership” that would permit labor to become “indentured servants.”

He asserted that under such leadership, “the officers of unions would become a police patrol to hold labor in subjugation to the will of its economic and political masters.”

‘Sympathy’ for management

In a press conference, Mr. Lewis showed a sympathy with the problems of management in the coal industry – in direct opposition to the Communist school of thought.

He argued against proposed further government development of hydroelectric power as “a vicious and destructive victory” that would “create widespread unemployment and harass invested capital in the coal industry.”

Having disposed of the controversial political and autonomy issues in a manner satisfactory to the leadership, the convention will take up a subject about which there will be no argument – the United Mine Workers want a big pay raise and they want it badly.

The details probably will not be decided definitely until a few weeks before the mine workers meet the bituminous coal operators in the regular wage conferences next March. A demand for a pay raise is sure on the basis of the volume of more-pay resolutions from local unions that are now before the convention’s “Scale Committee,” and also from the fact that Mr. Lewis has not yet won the $2-a-day raise which he spent most of 1943 trying to get.

Little Steel formula

It has been emphasized here that the apparent victory won by the miners’ union in 1943 did not raise the basic pay scale. The miners were making considerably more money, but much of it comes from premium pay for overtime, which is likely to disappear after the war. The rest of it comes from portal-to-portal pay arrangements.

Forecasts, now backed by War Labor Board panel reports in the CIO steelworkers wage case and the general case of the American Federation of Labir, are that President Roosevelt will soon authorize an upping of the Little Steel pay formula.

The WLB timetable indicates this action may be expected no later than two or three weeks before the November election.

The mine workers, like all other unions whose basic pay scales have been held to this formula, undoubtedly will line up for their share.

Best information is that the March demands will include a boost in basic pay of at least a dollar a day, and more probably the still-unsatisfied two-dollar prescription. Also, the miners are expected to demand full pay for the time spent in traveling between mine entrances and actual working places underground (portal to portal). According to the hard-to-understand settlement finally worked our by the War Labor Board, the miners get pay for only about two-thirds of this travel time.

americavotes1944

Vigil keynotes Martin’s address

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (UP) –
Governor Edward Martin said yesterday that the freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution were not self-perpetuating, and required the constant vigil of liberty-loving Americans because they were under the continuous attack by “both foreign foes and by enemies within our gates.”

In an address commemorating the 157th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, Governor Martin said the framers of the Constitution set up a system of checks and balances designed to insure us against the encroachments of tyranny at home. The two-party system in our national political life was a further safeguard, Governor Martin said.

The governor said that under the Constitution, our country grew to greatness, and that our national government depends upon the indestructibility of the states for its existence. Failure of state and local governments to function properly would destroy the whole structure of national constitutional government, he said.

Governor Martin said that the first three words of the historic document – “We, the people” – proved the birth of a new concept of government, the people have chosen an orderly form of government – “the kind we want to keep and hand down to the generations that come after us,” he said. Any weakening of the Constitution would weaken the structure and spirit of America, Governor Martin said.

The ceremonies at Independence Hall were marked by an hour-long parade and a review of 800 of the state guardsmen.

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Nazis stiffen resistance on Gothic Line

Allies seize edge of Rimini Airfield

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Allied raiders over Germany

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Fleet ranges at will in Philippine area

Japs disorganized in southern sector
By George Jones, United Press staff writer

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Frey: Flak whips against plane flying troops to Holland

Reporter on board sights burning craft on ground, large flooded areas
By Robert L. Frey, United Press staff writer

With 1st Allied Airborne Army over Holland – (Sept. 17, delayed)
This newest of Allied armies aimed a knockout blow at German armies in Holland today as the first of thousands of airborne troops landed behind enemy lines.

I am writing this aboard one of the Dakota transport planes carrying 13 paratroopers and equipment. Ten minutes ago, as we approached the drop zone, flak whipped against the ship, sounding like steel cords thrashed against the aluminum body.

We were going down for the drop. Paratroops stood ready to go with chute cords attached to the line overhead. Each man carried 150 pounds of equipment. They were relaxed and appeared almost casual.

Wished good luck

The two next to me, William Harvey of Rowlesburg, West Virginia, and Doyle Boothe of Winnsboro, South Carolina, medical-aid men, shook hands and wished us luck. The next moment all were gone, their red, yellow and green chutes floating down over the rectangular fields of green and brown.

We were the second group in and the going was not easy for the first, as evidenced by burning planes on the ground. Others, apparently brought down by flak, had crash-landed.

“This is the closest you’ll ever come to being shot down and still get by,” Maj. Robert Gates of Aberdeen, South Dakota, pilot and leader of the squadron, told me.

There was much kidding and good-natured griping among the paratroopers as they settled with their heavy packs aboard the plane. At the takeoff, one shouted: “Look out you foul Germans. Here we come.”

Circled by fighters

The course of the flight took us over enemy territory and great patches of sunlit water surrounded by green fields indicated large areas were flooded.

Allied fighters circled around our comparatively slow-moving caravan. At first sight of them, a Texas paratrooper let out a wild and wooly “yippee” which awoke most of the others who had been dozing.

The paratroops, virtually all of whom were D-Day veterans, included Nicholas Vignovich of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.

Aliquippa paratrooper was wounded on D-Day

Aliquippa, Pennsylvania – (special)
Pvt. Nicholas Vignovich, 32, of 209 Baker St., Aliquippa, who was listed as one of the first parachutists to land in Holland yesterday, is a son of Mrs. Sarah Vignovich of the same address.

He enlisted April 15, 1942, and was wounded on D-Day in the assault on Normandy, spending three weeks in a hospital in England.

His brother, Sam, was killed Sept. 25, 1942, in the Solomon Islands.

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AMG established to govern Reich

Nazism to be wiped out, people told

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Kirkpatrick: Special courts to try traitors

High tribunal planned for Laval, Pétain
By Helen Kirkpatrick

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U.S. to auction depression farm

Cooperative to be sold in 30 days

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Editorial: Ford, wages and the future

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Editorial: How to win a war, and things like that

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Editorial: Fair words from Québec

No starting news came out of the Québec Conference. The President and the Prime Minister said Britain would help America lick Japan – a promise made 13 months ago at the First Québec Conference.

The fact that the official statements were on the thin side does not mean nothing was accomplished. Probably some secret agreements were made regarding German armistice terms after unconditional surrender, and the Polish-Russian dispute; and doubtless preparations were made for a fall meeting with Stalin. All this is surmise, however, because the Big Two operate more and more in the dark – not only in military matters, where secrecy is essential, but also in international policy which should not be kept from the public in a democracy.

The combined publicity efforts of the President and the Prime Minister to put the Pacific War into the spotlight is good politics in this country, and is in line with the recent Roosevelt visit to Pearl Harbor. There is the obvious implication that only the Roosevelt-Churchill team can beat the Japs.

Actually, Britain will not get into the Pacific War fully much before “the kill,” to use the Churchill phrase. Apart from China, the United States will have to do most of the job. The Québec propaganda will be harmful if it lulls Americans into believing otherwise.

Of course, Britain intends to get in at the end, and Russia probably does also. Both have large interests in the Far East. Neither can afford to be out of the settlement following Jap defeat.

But, regardless of intent, there are two effective barriers to large British participation in the Pacific War during the decisive period ahead. At least six months will be required after European peace for Britain to shift strength from west to east; and, assuming this is done by next spring, the monsoon season from May to October will prevent major campaigns in the Southeast Asia area where Britain operates.

Help is needed now in the Far East. China is desperate – her base, which American bombers have been using to such good advantage, are being lost to the enemy. Adm. Nimitz and Gen. MacArthur are sweeping across the Pacific faster than anyone could have expected. But the failure of London and New Delhi to support Lord Louis Mountbatten’s command in Southeast Asia is prolonging the war, despite Mr. Churchill’s high promises at the First Québec Conference. One big blow struck by Lord Mountbatten this fall would be worth 10 blows a year later.

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Edson: Tax problems in post-war era will be difficult

By Peter Edson

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Ferguson: Easing grief

By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

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Nation’s job of finding work for veterans stressed by Truman

Legion can aid country’s welfare by assuming that responsibility, candidate says

SenatorTruman43
Truman

Chicago, Illinois (UP) –
Harry S. Truman of Missouri, Democratic candidate for Vice President, told the American Legion today that the organization faces one of its greatest responsibilities in seeing that discharged veterans are promptly placed in jobs.

Truman said:

Our responsibility is to help see that discharged soldiers who have done our fighting are placed properly in industry, in farming and in small business.

I want to emphasize the small business angle. Small business is the bulwark of free enterprise in this country, about which we hear so much talk.

The American Legion can make one of the greatest contributions to the welfare of this great republic if it assumes that responsibility. And I am sure it will do just that.

Outlines G.I. Bill of Rights

Mr. Truman outlined the G.I. Bill of Rights, which he described as “the most comprehensive servicemen’s relief legislation ever passed in the history of this country.”

He said the bill “will prevent a repetition of the tragic mistakes under which World War I veterans suffered and will guarantee just treatment to our veterans.”

He told of visiting hospitals at Mare Island and Bingham, Utah, where he saw “marvelous demonstrations of what is being done along the line of rehabilitation,” one of the important rights stressed by the G.I. Bill.

Demobilization described

Mr. Truman also described the War Department’s demobilization plan. He said that first, of course, the war must be won, “and thoroughly and completely this time.”

“But when the war ends in Germany, men will be available immediately for discharge from the armed services,” he added.

Presentation of the Legion’s Distinguished Service Medal to Gen. Henry H. Arnold, commander of the Army Air Forces, was another highlight to the 26th annual convention.

National Commander of the Legion Warren Atherton presented the award.

Tribute to Gen. Roosevelt

Also on today’s agenda was a memorial service for the late Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, son of the former President who died in Normandy shortly after the invasion of France.

In addition to Gen. Arnold, the Legion’s Distinguished Service Medal will be presented to two other persons during the three-day conclave.

Former National Commander John R. Quinn of California will present the award to Henry Ford tomorrow, and Wednesday the medal will be awarded posthumously to the late Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox.

To elect new commander

The principal business of the convention will be the selection of a new national commander and the consideration of more than 700 resolutions which have been formulated in the last year.

John Stelle of McLeansboro, Illinois, who served as chairman of Mr. Atherton’s special committee on the G.I. Bill of Rights for veterans of World War II, and Edward N. Scheiberling of Albany, New York, were the leading members being considered for Mr. Atherton’s post, according to unofficial surveys.

Candidates for the presidency of the Legion Auxiliary are Mrs. Charles B. Gilbert of Norwich, Connecticut, and Mrs. Pleasant I. Dixon of Americus, Georgia.

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Must unshackle business, Bricker tells Legion

Chicago, Illinois (UP) –
American business and industry must be “unshackled” in the post-war era to guarantee and provide jobs for returning war veterans to prevent a repetition of the manner in which the job was done after the last war, Ohio Governor John W. Bricker today told veterans of 1918.

Speaking before the American Legion convention, the Republican vice-presidential nominee said failure now to plan for the reabsorption of about 12 million veterans in the nation’s economic life will mean that they fought only for a “battlefield illusion.”

Job guarantee cited

Mr. Bricker said:

But we shall not succeed if we rely only upon good intentions, government doles and public works. Government must help. Government will help. The G.I. Bill of Rights is a good beginning. We must make it work. But that will not solve the problem; and that, I know, is not all our men and women in the armed services want.

Mr. Bricker, an Army chaplain in the last war, pointed out that when soldiers were drafted or enlisted, they were guaranteed, under the Selective Service Act, their old jobs upon their return.

Now, he said, “certain sources” are saying that it will be a mistake to get jobs for veterans by taking them away from someone else – “that seniority rights are property rights and are more sacred than job priorities for our soldiers.”

He declared:

I do not share that view. To accept it is to break our covenant with those who now fight and die for us. All veterans are entitled to have their jobs back and no individual, group or organization dare deny that right.

Bids for support

In a strong bid for Legion support, Mr. Bricker said veterans of World War I felt the “real blow of ingratitude” when under the “guise of economy – when there was no economy in government” – their pensions were cut and benefits vetoed, and the President told them that the simple fact of a man wearing a uniform did not place him “in a special class.”

Reiterating a program outlined in his Parkersburg, West Virginia, speech Friday, Mr. Bricker said a “climate of opportunity” must be created through full production after the war, rationing and price-fixing must be terminated as quickly as possible, taxes reduced and small business encouraged.

Mr. Bricker said:

Our economic society is not tottering in old age. It is simply paralyzed by the restraints and shackles that are fastened on it. Unshackle it, and we shall find it strong and full of promise for the future.

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Bricker to speak in 20 states

Columbus, Ohio (UP) –
Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio, Republican vice-presidential nominee, will begin a 9,250-mile campaign swing Oct. 1 which will carry him into 20 Northwestern, Pacific, Mountain and Southwestern states.

Mr. Bricker will speak in 20 states and confer with Republican leaders in states contiguous to those in which he speaks during the four-week tour.

Dewey will speak in Charleston, West Virginia

Charleston, West Virginia (UP) –
Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York, the Republican presidential nominee, will deliver “one of the important speeches of his campaign” in Charleston’s municipal auditorium Friday, Oct. 6.

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Monahan: Wilson rates high among year’s films

Zanuck production a colorful panorama of an exciting era
By Kaspar Monahan

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Six nuns leave to aid leper colony in Pacific

Sisters will work on lonely island

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Treasury balks Dies inquiry

Committee’s probe of incomes curbed

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Freedom of press backed by Hull

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German planes raid outskirts of Rome

Rome, Italy (UP) –
German planes made their first real raid on Rome yesterday, dropping bombs in the outskirts of the city shortly before 10:00 a.m. CET.

The raiders could be seen from the center of Rome. After dropping their bombs, they streaked for the sea to the west, pursued by U.S. fighter planes and harried by bursts of anti-aircraft fire.