HOW AMERICA and her allies won
the-war and thai which may be ex
pected to follow after the war are set
forth in this section of t h e Evening
Observer's Victory Day Edition.
EASTEKN OREGON -looks confi
dently to the future as the contents of
this, the Victory Day edition. of the
Evening Observer, show. "After the
war, what?" is partly answered here.
Union and Wallowa Couof'ti
ESTABLISHED 1896
LA GRANDE, OREGON WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 15, 1945
VICTORY SPECIAL SECTION TWO
Bus
V
in honor of
this victory
that brings
V
Peace
Payless Or
or
H. C. STEVENS CO.
iness Expects Bid Volume Following War!
SB
a B H P W
UIUI1I.
Raise the Colors
HI I l-C
9
Now is the time for jubilation, tempered with a sober
contemplation of the cost of victory -and of the prob
1 ems of peace. These problems we can handle in our
stride, if we attack them in the hard American way.
Let us rejoice momentarily and then get down to the
business of building a greater America.
PEACE, TOO, REQUIRES EFFORT
yg Store
We Have Won!
Some nations contributed food, some helped to supply am
munition for the allied fighting men, others permitted' the
use of their land and channels to speed transportation, and
the majority mobilized their fighting men. Yes, the parts
played by the United Nations varied each one did what
it was best able, but all strove toward one end . . . Victory!
Now, let's work for the return of lasting peace.
- i
Government Hesitates to Predict How
Peace Will Affect West Coast Areas
West coast government officials today hesitated to predict
the effects of the end of the war with Japan on the west's
new industries but business jubilantly prepared to pour out
an unprecedented torrent of civilian goods and services.
World War 2 Cost
U.S. 260,000 Men
Billions in Money
Six Times as Great
In Cost as First
World War
By CHILES C. COLEMAN
WASHINGTON (UP) The
United States paid with the lives
of more than 260,000 of her men
and $350,000,000,000 of her wealth
to win history's greatest conflict.
For every life lost and every dol
lar spent by this country in world
war I, more than five lives were
lost and more than six dollars
spent this time.
Selective service inducted 16,
000,000 men into the armed serv
ices out of nearly 23,000,000 who
were processed. Additional hun
dreds of thousands served under
enlistments while still under age,
direct commissions from civilian
life, in the women's army corps
and in the merchant marine.
Peak 11 Million
Peak strength of the armed
services at any given time, how
ever, was about 11,500,000 men
and women. Roughly a third of
our casualties were incurred and
a third of our money spent to
defeat Japan. The rest went to
ward subduing Germany.
Tile money cost of the war will
mount for countless years. There
will be interest on government
borrowings, benefits to veteraW
and spending to keep the peace.
The killing will stop now but
the cost in broken lives will last
a generation. More than 650,000
men were wounded. Some will
never know health again.
Gave Support
America began pouring her
treasure into the global war long
before she herself was attacked.
Through lend-lease shipments
and other aid we supported the
democracies who were fighting
aggression while we began to
remedy our almost complete un
preparedness for war.
From July 1, 1940, the begin
ning of the fiscal year in which
war spending started, through
Aug. 8, 1945, the flood of dolars
reached $299,408,000,000. At least
another $50,000,000,000 must be
spent before the nation can con
sider itself back on a peace-time
budget.
The money went, too, for aid to
our allies, particularly Russia.
Can't Figure
Two billions of it was spent by
the little group of American sci
entists who worked for years to
develop the most fearsome weap
on of all time, the atomic bomb,
first dropped on Japan Aug. 5.
No exact computation can be
made of the amount spent to de
feat Germany and the amount
spent against Japan. But most
government experts in fiscal and
other fields believe about two
thirds of the $300,000,000,000
I spent so far may be charged
against the war in Europe,
j The cost of world war I is plac
! ed at $55,345,000,000 and this
! includes continuing expenses for
many years after the war as well
as the unpaid war debts.
Divided
The army devoted rougly 80
percent of its strength to the war
in Europe, in line with the grand
strategy of beating Germany
first, while the navy sent ap
proximately 80 percent of its men
to Pacific assignments.
Of the navy's nearly 2,500.000
: men, only 124,000 were engaged
directly or indirectly in the inva
sion of Normandy, last big water
operation of the war in Kuropc.
The army sent about 3.500,000
men to Europe. Other millions
were retained in supply and sup
port jobs. '
U. S. TECHNICIANS TOPS
Technical experts who follow
ed our armies into Germany
found to their amazement that
the vaunted technicians of Ger
many aren't so hot. Only in one
instance, in the case of rubber,
were the German technicians
able to keep up with or even
abreast of us and that was on the
production, of Koroscal. Hitler
defeated himself in the battle of
technicians when he caused the
nation's best to be killed or imprisoned.
The end of the war was ex
pected to touch off a struggle be
tween government and industry
mostly large industry over
relaxing manpower and materials
controls.
Fear Behind
California is optimistic. Offi
cials said the state contemplates
nearly $500,000,000 in construc
tion. The San Francisco cham
ber of commerce said private in
dustry is ready to begin (instruc
tion of $163,000,000 in plant ex
pansion programs the minute
Japan surrenders.
But behind all the thinking and
planning for expansion was the
fear of unemployment. Shipyard
workers in the Portland - Van
couver areas were reported stead
ily quitting, leaving no doubt
they will quit wholesale when
peace comes. Workers in Calif
ornia who came from the middle
west to "easy money" war plants
have been returning to their
homes. Many of the west's new
residents will stay.
Can Ask Relief
The California unemployment
insurance fund passed the $700,
000,000 mark this month, estim
ated to be 'more than enough to
weather two years of poor em
ployment conditions. State bene
fits are distributed at the rate of
$20 a week for 23 weeks. Those
vho may remain unemployed af
ter receiving maximum benefits
may apply for relief through
county agencies provided the
money is appropriated.
It is expected the war man
power commitiion will remove
controls which during the war
have channeled manpower into
viUl planH. WMC official! de
cided it was "too early" to
make any predictions.
It was pointed out, however,
sailors, soldiers and marines in
the Pacific still have to be sup
plied and equipped, war or no
The Land of
war. If the war ends today, to
morro wor next week, freight still
will be on its way to and through
west coast ports. Materials for
the Pacific will have to be hand
led somehow.
To Continue
The war production board was
instructed by President Truman
to continue a program of mate
rial and inventory controls. The
program is designed to allow the
small and low-priced manufac
turer access to materials on the
Let's
PAUL
Cove Avenue
AWAITS THE RETURNING VETERAN!
His military training has given him a fine background with
which he hopes to build a new civilian life. He will not be
the boy that he was before the war; he will be expecting a
lot more from his country. lie's carried his share of the
load; the least we can do is to keep America full of oppol'-
tunity for him. The power lies with every citizen here iit ,
home.
Let's Concentrate on Giving Our '
Soldiers an Even Break!
Eastern Oregon Light & Power Co.
same basis as the large manufac
turer. It will prevent hoarding
of as yet scarce materials, and
give priority assistance to break
bottlenecks.
Don M'."her, acting WPB re
gional di'ector in San Francisco,
said civilian production "will
show a very fine development by
the first of the year if the
war ends now."
Promise of post-war job oppor
tunities for war workers has been
held out on a large scale by
They Will Soon
Be Home . . .
Now comes the payoff. They have
been in the far corners of the earth
fighting your battle and ours. We must
see that they come home to good jobs,
the opportunity to make their way and
to establish themselves, with all the
things they have been fighting for.
Prepare a Welcome!
BUNYAN CO.
Opportunity
Henry Kaiser, who proposes to
operate the Geneva, Utah, and,
Fontuna, ' Calif, steel mills and'
build motor cars and houses.!
planes, and parts manufacturer.!
AUTOMOTIVE HINT . I
If the cables leading to spark'
plugs loosen in the sockets of the,
distributor head, a few drops of
mercury to each socket will as-!
sure a good contact, mercury be-
ing a good conductor of electric-!
ity. .
Phone 345