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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1944)
OTP TO Our . triple alliance isn't work ing at smoothly as Ashland's bas ketball team did last week. Rus sia, Britain and the United States claim to be shooting for the same basket, but they do not engage in much . teamwork. Lend-lease is working, with the United States on the giving and Russia on the receiving end. But when it comes to coordinating the politics of the war there are obvious gaps. Hence the -word not yet confirmed that the big three, Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt may have another meeting Is regarded as a hopeful sign that better cooperation may be obtained. :;.'. Secretary Hull seems to have prevailed at Moscow with rather enlightened ideas of the war's po litical strategy. What really hap pened at Teheran is still cloaked in mystery. But after the banquets and the mutual praise and the of f i c 1 a 1 announcements Russia . seemed to go off on its own tack snapping at Willkie in -warning that Russia alone should settle questions regarding its eastern border; and last week extending recognition to Badoglio's govern ment without consultation with the western allies, and to the great discomfiture - of the liberal:, ele ments in Italy whom we should "look to as the real hope of that unhappy country. 1 Journalists are s c o 1 d i n g at Roosevelt and Hull asserting that ; our country j lacks a foreign poli- cyj It -is true we have made many f zigzags in policy -which are hard to understand; but perhaps part of the obscurity is that Washington is trying to appease both" Russia and Britain. And may that policy itself not be a mistake? We should assert our owf prin ciples and press for their accep tance. We should insist on estab lishment of democratic regimes in liberated countries, i We should hold to the principles of the At lantic charter that this is not a war of territorial (Continued on Editorial page) Burma Battle To Be Biggest "I By PRESTON GROVER - 1 NEW DELHI; India, March 20. - -jflVA Japanese . off ensive from remote bases of the upper Chind win aimed at an invasion of India and disruption of the allied sup ply line over the Burma hump to China apparently was developing today into the biggest battle in ' this theater since 1942. . Admiral Lord Louis Mountbat ten's southeast Asia headquarters announced yesterday that the Jap anese had crossed the Chindwm ' in force at several places, and to day it was disclosed ! that a hard battle lasting two days had been fought in the Tiddim area on the southern Hank of the Japanese thrust : '. Although the communique said the JaDanese were forced to with draw after severe casualties in the i Tiddim action, it reported Jhe - ceneral situation unchanged. The Japanese objective obvious- , lv was to break through the iun gle wall along the Assam frontier of India and strike into the rail, air and river line which feeds al lied suDDlies not only to Lt Gen Joseph W. Stilwell's Chinese and Americans in northern Burma but also to Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chen- nault's US air force in China. Striking northward along the west bank of the Chind win, one ' Japanese column evidently was aimed at ImDhal. British base in India. Another column, striking from betwene Homalin and Tim anthi farther . north, was headed westward. ' ' Allied commanders appeared to feet as much enthusiasm as an- ) prehension at the" new Japanese offensive, however. Vernon Barnard Listed TTounded in Action WASHINGTON, DC, Mar. 20 The name of Pfc. Vernon B. Bar nard of Silver ton. Ore., was am ong the list of 451 men wounded in action in the Mediterranean area. He was one of three whose homes are in Oregon. Others were from Portland or southern Ore gon. Barnard's mother; Mrs. Grace Bunch, 908 South Water street, Silverton, was listed as his near est relative. . " Nsri -Shipping Attacked By British Coast Guns LONDON, March 20-flVBrit- lsh heavy artillery on the soutn coast fired HO rounds at German chmninff in the Dover strait be tween 9:57 and 11:13 pi m. tonight, it was officially, announced,' and German gun quickly replied, bringing on one of the sharpest rmcs-channel duels In months. The British announcement said results of the bombardment were rot yet available. , V NINETY-THIRD YEAH rsn AM v. Uk rames Nazi Bases Fall To Reds on Bug, Dniester Rivers By TOKf YARBROUGH LONDON, Tuesday, March 21 J Russian troops have captured the east bank oerman base and rail junction of Mog ilev - Podolski on1-the Dniester river and hurled aside two Ru manian divisions trying to bar the Soviet .surge into pre - war Rumania; a Moscow communi que announced early today. - Premier-Marshal Stalin in an order of the day also announced the fall; of Vinnitsa, the German Bug river stronghold . 60 miles northeast of Mogilev - Podolski, and the communique said other Soviet troops driving on Lwow in old Poland seized 50 villages, in cluding! Korsov, only 56 miles northeast of that big axis com munications hub. Moscow dispatches said the red army was within sight of the Carpathian mountains, roll ing thronth shattered German lines i with such astounding speed that the liberation of the entire southern Ukraine now was almost a foregone conclo-' sioa V: - Atacking on a 500-Hmffe front from old Poland to the Black sea near the encircled port of Niko laev, the Russians said their troops had swept through 115 more towns (Turji to Page 2 Story A) Soviets Deny Helsinki Raid MOSCOW, March 20-()-The soviet information bureau denied tonight t a German radio report that soviet planes bombed Hel sinki Again yesterday and this perhaps indicated that Russian Finnish! peace negotiations might be continuing. The fact that the Russians are not bombing Finland and are careful jto make it clear that they are not doing so may mean that they still hope for peace. Nazisj 'Evacuate' Pigeons to Brussels LONDON, March MVAbout 45,000 pigeons have been 'evacu ated from Belgian coastal towns and brought to Brussels," Berlin radio said tonight, while "about the same number of pigeons were brought to other parts of the country.?. Berlin did not explain whether this was ; a measure against espionage or against hunger.'- v'i. ' N'J- Freedom ' it- ; . - . - - 1 : ' ' Assured Postwar Sewer Tal Lev ."Mfvt'j.; : :v. i ..,-1 , ... , ,.A - Comes Before Council The city postwar planning com mittee's three-mill, three-year levy for the new sewer disposal system ; which came out of the hopper in ordinance form provid ing for city park and playground improvement and expansion in addition to the less-aesthetic though I generally accepted waste evacuation project was merely one stream from the eruption which kept Salem city council in slight ly seething session three hours Monday night - City f fathers emphatically sat upon any plan to merge the build ing inspector's and city engineer's offices f with a saving of $36 a year, offered . to pay up to - $ 175 for an assistant for Engineer Har old Davis but voted down a salary ordinance which would have paid Davis (now engineer and street commissioner as well as emerg ency building inspector) $250 and an assistant $200 a month. Though representatives of the committee which drew the char ter amendment and of labor, which has to date opposed It, ap peared ready to defend and decry the manager-council form of gov- Finns Reject Soviets Terms For Armistice BULLETIN . I i STOCKHOLM,; March tl-(JP) The Flanlsh fovernment an. noonced today that it had re jected Soviet Russia's conditions for an armistice; bat declared that lt still was trjin to estab lish peace between the two na tion. I : BULLETIN 1 f LONDON, Taesday, March 21 (JPy-A Renters dispatch f r o m Stockholm today) said the Hel sinki radio broadcast - today a Finnish communique saying the government had found Itself un able to accept Soviet! Russia's armistice terms. It was not Immediately jjclear from 'the dispatch whether the Finnish; communique closed the. door to further negotiations or whether the Helsinki - govern ment : was attempting to obtain more favorable terms. j I The announcement wai the first official statement issued by the Finnish government jjwith respect to Its' attitude toward the Soviet demands. olo. ges Oil Line; Action By JOHN M. HlGHTOWER WASHINGTON,! March tO-UP) Military advocateslof the pj-opos ed multi-million ; dollar jtrans Arabian oil line ate preparing to tell congress, it wa learned Jtoday, that the project should be Under taken immediately J. 1 , These representatives of : the war and navy department and the joint chiefs of; staff wil base their contentions, Jit was tinder stood, on these twip points: j fl. Delay might cost American companies their ! present coniplete domination of oil bights id the Rich and Saudi Arabian fields. 2. Unless it is started asl soon as possible it will hot be reidy to delivers oil when the postwar Eu ropean! market opjens up. j Con struction is estimated to reqv ire at least 18 months, jj Their views wil be presented to the senate's special : oil mittee this week. f- com- iWithbut going into the merits of, the project Vfc'hich hasj been condemned by oil I industry lead ers as a "possible breeder of fu ture wars," its backers, are de scribed i as considering ;thef time element this way: 1 f I Xing Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia has been hard pressed ' fori cash since the war began. His prewar economy was supported mainly by Moslem pilgrimages! ? Mecca. The war all but stopped the pilgrim ages. .. .-: - ; f :;. ; j The British government, with the aim of aiding ' pro-allied and strategically-located neutral, has (Turn to Page, Story fa) IV eminent, no one spoke or was given an opportunity to speak on the subject. The Ordinance) pro viding that the matter ' bet sub mitted to a special election: May 19 was sent, without even council comment, to the ordinance com mittee. , - j s v A resolution outlining a policy of' sick leave ' for city employes, assertedly based on the policy now hv use by the water commission, was taken apart and discarded as "too complicated." ; I The ward 2-ward 6 affair, in volving a new, precinct which in cludes portions of both wards, was s o n t - directly to ;the ordinance corrmiittee. likewise, a resolution to .turn all air raid protection monies Into the city's emergency fund and "discontinue the crea tion of further expenditures' for civilian defense met no opposition. Nft gala to the emergency fund: Approxlm ately f $4000, which means that the city. will cease to pay a portion of the civilian de fense office rent and salary The firemen's retirement' and pension bill aroused no argument i (Turn to Page 2 Story D) nary Trans AraDian PCUNDDD Satan. Orecon, Tuesday Cassirio Struggle Continues Allies Advance : House to H6use In Bitter Fight ; By JOSEPH MORTON r ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Naples, March 20--tightirig with everything rom bayonets to roaring 155s, British troops pressed forward in a furious house-to-house battle on the, western, fringe of Cassino to day after blasting the Germans1 out of the ruins of the hotel Continental' The fifth army men also re tained the initiative in a death struggle on the lower slopes of Monastery hill, where thf enemy had ; the advantage of high ground. f ; An allied officer painted a harsh picture of the situation, say ing the Germans not only . had been able to reinforce their fierce ly - resisting troops in the ruins' of Cassino itself, but had in vi cious counter-attacks again , re- captured hill 165 just west of the town. This important height has changed hands several tinies since the allies launched their! big as sault last Wednesday.) ' German troops who; had defend ed the Continental jaotelifortrejjjs; fanatically for several daysftn- ally raised a white flag and sur rendered late yesterday after New Zealand tanks had closed, in vir tually to shotgun ranje. They had eaten little for two d4ys, but they still were surly and confident, and wheri they were removed to the rearf last night carrying their own wounded on litte "s they still kept in step. J j The troops defenc ing Cassino are members of the Virst German parachute division,! commanded by Lt. Gen. Richard P eidrick, who once! rejected a group of i-eplace-ments on the Adriatic front be (Turn to Page 2Story F) South Santiam Gets Big Snow 1 Eight inches of snow f fell on Seven Mile hill on the South San tiam, Sunday according to infor mation from the state- highway junction relayed through Detroit on the North Santiam, last night. ! The highway crews worked all Sunday night -but almost all . of the cars got through, the junction crews reported. It was considered a peculiar storm in that hiost of the snow fell below ;the summit. : Half x an inch of snow f fell at Silver Creek Falls 'Sunday, ac cording to members of the state police who made a trip there. This was said to have been metre than fell there all winter; ' -f -. j SCIO. March 20,-Snow j imped ed traffic on the South Santiam highway Sunday, according to Mr. and Mrs. John Merrit who made a trip to Bend Saturday,! one of the balmiest days since Septem ber. They returned Sunday In the snow! storm, twice as long was re quired to make the return trip and many stalled cars were passed. - , j. - - Dri X T. Hosch, Bend physician and former member of the state legislature, returned: home Sun day after a visit to his farm here and encountered many stalled cars, according to word received here.!- V :wf -; Snell Receives Copies Of Soldier Vote Bill Governor Earl Snell Monday re ceived copies of the soldiers'- vot ing bill as finally approved by congress. j I The governor said he s would confer with Attorney General George Neuner and ask ior an opinion as to the legality of the proposed federal ballot jf , President Roosevelt recently telegraphed Governor SneH, along with all other governors, - asking whether the ballot would be ac ceptable to their states. Most of the governors already have replied.-. s r ; i , i . i TOUNDDD J651 . . I. ' - ' Morning. March 21, .1944 Hit Jap Ships Lt. .Henry Kortemeyer ef Salens, j wha led a formation at Mitchells In the attack an Japanese ships I If j la the four-day battle tke4.Eed otners to break tin an t. wmm. - I US Bombers am At Frankfurt t a i. :'. . ' . I By W. W. HERCHER LONDON, March 20 -() Fighter - escorted US Flying Fortresses and Liberators, thun dering through pea soup clouds, bombed military targets in the frankfurf area today in the maU eration of a dav which saw between 1 600 and "' 21 00 British-based allied planes1 of all types in the air against the Germans. - j "The formation which made the 400-mile trip i to Frankfurt was described in a US army communi que as "medium sized." It con sisted of between 250 to 500 bomb ers escorted by even stronger forj- mations of Thunderbolts, Light nings and Mustangs of - the US eighth and ninth air forces. j ; Six American bembers and; eight fighters failed to return,! the war bulletin said, while the escorting fighters brought down! four . of the German planes of) - the few encountered In 1 the dense clouds. j The formation flew in weather so bad that the crews of the bomb ers sometimes could not see the ships flying beside them. Driving unerringly to the targets the bombf ers again used instruments to drop their loads through the clouds: The Frankfurt radio " network (Turn to Page 2 Story B) Navy Reports 2 Ships Lost WASHINGTON, March 20 The navy 1 today reported loss of a 2000-ton submarine rescue ship, the Macaw, and a 1300-ton dej strbyer escort vessel, the Leopold, first of its type to be sunk. The; Macaw went down after striking a coral reef in the Pacific February 13, while the Leopold, one of a huge fleet of escort ships built to combat U-boats in the At lantic and Mediterranean, sank in the Atlantic March 10 as the rer suit of an "underwater explosion," the) navy said,.- ' - Lt Cmdr. Paul W. Burton, of Asbury Park, NJ, skipper of the Macaw, was listed as missing; as was Cmdr. - Kenneth Coy Phil lips of Glenbrook, Conn skipper of the Leopold. j The navy didn't say how many casualties resulted. - ; Bank Avarded Airport Bonds j City of Salem airport refund ing refunding bonds,' series 1944, totaling $39,000 principle will go to the First National bank of Port land, which offered $100.01 for each $100 worth, maturing reguf larly semi-annually, those matur ing from '45 to '43 draw IV pef cent interest, .those from ; '50 to 5t, one per cent. The dty is to provide records in evidence suffi cient to meet requirements of le gal counsel. There were three bidders for the bonds,' which will be Issued to recall two 1833 re funding series drawing hiaher interest' US Fliers Sink Five Jap Ships Enemy Attempt To Reinforce j ; We wak Broken By OLEN CLEMENTS AN ADVANCED -NEW UI NEA AIR BASE, Tues, Mar. 21 (P-" In one of the hottest sea air fights since the battle of the Bismarck sea a year ago, fast American bombers sank at least five Japanese ships and dam- a. a. I ,1.. . ! . tciui uy me enemy xo rein force battered Wewak and grow ing Hollandi farther up the New Guinea north coast. 1 , ' Fliers who participated la the fevr-day rnnalng battle estimat ed that seme 1500 Japanese were killed er drewned. j The battle began last Wednes day night 00 miles northwest of Hollandi and ended late Sunday afternoon 40 miles off the! coast of Wewak, which is 250 statute miles southeast of Hollandi, as the last battered Japanese, ship went down before the hard jtlows of 35 low-flying medium and light bombers. , j Fifth airforce fliers told of see ing many Japanese swimming in the water after the last ship sank. The Japanese, some floating on debris and others supported - by cork life jackets. Tired at the swooping Americans, with j their pistols in one last desperate; ef fort to avenge their losses. ;j i V -; .The official version of the bat tle claims that the following Ja panese shipping was sunk: I j one 6000-ton freighter, one 4000-ton (Turn to Page 2 Story C) "v'.t"':; '. Tito Forces SlnyUOO LONDON, March 0-;P)-Yugo-slav partisans of Marshal! Tito (Josip Broze) have slain more' than 1,700 Germans and Chetniks and taken more than 700 prisoners in recent heavy fighting, the fierc est of which has raged for six days in northwest Bosnia, a communi que, announced tonight The communique from the free Yugoslav ! radio said the Germans had launched a new offensive in northwest Bosnia, but that an en emy - drive in Srem had jbeen "completely defeated and"! that the J6th partisan division! had been battling for nearly a week against another attack in jSem berija, Bosnia. The enemy seized three towns in this area, the bulletin said,; but the partisans recaptured one of these - Koraj and killed 250 enemy soldiers. US World Proposed By JAMES I J. STRZBIG Associated Preta AviaUoa Kditor) WASHINGTON, March 20 Senator McCarran (D-Nev) j-pro- posed today -that the United States enter the international air trans port field with a billion dollar corporation open to participation by all existing airlines. - i : - McCarran embodied that Idea in - legislation which would: ! re write completely aviation law, es tablish a civil aeronautics "author ity to replace two present agen cies, assure state control of intra state flying and provide a so-called-bill of rights" for private fliers. -The proposal Jor a single Amer ican flying company to carry! the American flag abroad attracted most attention, since Jt resembles a ' plan ' which . Pan Ametican Airways, Inc, Is understood to fa vor and which is opposed by all but one (United Air Lines) of the present 'air carriers. The other seventeen airlines haVe united in an 'airlines committee for United States air policy to oppose i Pan American's views. ' i ; Briefly, McCarran's plan for a cccpany ta t taowa M All Price) 5c u y Ea V JFormeF Resists Invasion . t. . i , ' . . . , J l In j S harp Germans Prepare Last Ditch Stand Against OnrRushing Red Army ; By Richard R. Kasischke LONDON, Tuesday, March 21 (AP) Sharp fighting between Hungarian and German troop was reported f today as dispatches from neutral European capitals declared that naxi armed forces had occupied Hungary j in preparation for a last ditch stand against the on-rushing red army, j Advices from Stockholm declared that Hungarian leaders were attempting to rally nationwide resistance agaist the Germans and the London Daily Mail said Hungarian military authorities had broadcast this mes sage via an unidentified radio station early this morn ing: . - : . ; ; -: "We have suffered our, first dead in the fight against the invader, our former ally. The fight must and will continue." .! ' O, WLB Settles Labor Dispute At Starr Fruit SEATTLE, March 20JP)Set tlement of a dispute between Starr' Fruit Products, inc, of Sa lem, and the AFL Cannery Work ers Federal Union local was an nounced by the 12th regional war labor board today. The union's request for a closed shop was denied, George B. No ble, board Chairman, said, but a wage adjustment was made retro active to September 24, 1943. Modified wage increases were granted to j Reinholdt & Lewis company employes of Salem, re troactive to February 22," 1943. Rates approved: bookkeeper and stenographer $28 . ,to $31.50 per week; shade manufacturer and in staller, box? inspectors, stencilers and packers, painter's helpers, 95 cents per hour; jig operators, riv eters and" common laborers, 80 cents; sawyers and nailers, $1.12 painters, $1.15; .foreman, $1.25. ; .: Curtin, Prime Minister . Of Australia to Visit US WASHINGTON, March 20 -P) Diplomatic sources announced to night that Prime Minister John Curtin of ' Australia - would visit the United States shortly at the invitation ot President Roosevelt, Air Transport by Senator American' Flag Lines is this: . - A federally chartered corpora tion with a working .capital of more than $1,000,000,000; partici pation to be open to all com panies' presently certified by the civil; aeronautics board except those' in Alaska. "SiJ-' "-.-.y .- Class A capital stock,; the vot ing stock, would be issued in an amount totaling $200,000,000 and could be purchased only by air lines, with a minimum purchase Of $5,000,000 and a maximnrn 0f $50,000,000. f, . ; Class B stock, non-voting, would be issued only in exchange for the assets - of - class --A stockholders which art Used in foreign ? air transportation and which would be useful to the all American flag line. This provision would make possible acquisition of equipment from United States companies now flying across the borders, such as Pan American, American Export Airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines. The corporation would operate only outside of the continental United States. Transfer of voting (Turn to Ttz 2 Story C) Weather Monday maximum tem perature 54, minimum IS. Precipitation, a trace. River J ft :l Fair Taesday with heavy ' " frost or freezing tempera- ' tares early Taesday mora-. lag; " Wednesday fair east ; portion; Increasing eloodl-. aeos west portion; alowlag -rising daytime temperature. No. 303 'Partner The Brev-clad divisions jur reported to have marched in late Sunday night desptte Hungarian opposition. . i va-i ! An Associated ' Press-'dispatch from Ankarffaaid , a diplomat there, who declined to be' named, positively confirmed the German occupation. ; A Stockholm dispatch said Hun garian Regent Nicholas Horthy, Foreign Minister Jeno Von Ghyczy, and the chief of the army general staff, Gen. Granz Szom bathelyi, apparently were Hitler's prisoners in the reich. The nazi troops were reported to be meeting resistance from Hungarian troops as they marched in ;from old Austria on the north and from Rumania on the south, and a secret Hungarian radio sta-" lion, presumably backed by Pre mier Nicholas Kallay, was said to have-begun urging people actively to oppose the Germans. i A Hungarian in Stockholm said the three Hungarian leaders were j (Turn to Page 2 Story E) Pucheu.Gives Own Execution Fixing Order By JOSEPH DYNAN ALGIERS, March 20.-P)-De- clining to be blindfolded and him Fight self shouting the command to fire, . Pierre Pucheu, former Vichy in terior minister, died .at dawn to day, sentenced by a special French military tribunal that found him . guilty of treason. f 1 - i A few hours later, a special tri bunal condemned a young Tunis Ian native to death for treason and imposed, prison terms - on three Other defendants All were former members of the African phalange, which recruited and . sent troops jto the Russian front during Vichy rule as members of an anti-bolshevik legion. ; Pucheu, a prominent industrial ist who was convicted for alleged collaboration with the Germans, had vehemently : told - the . court -that condemning him would "plant the first -stake in a civil war" in France, and had shouted that "this is not a ccfurt of justice; It is a political COU0."; -;. -:;:-:-.Xr''f:'rr Pucheu died on a barracks pa rade ground soon after 4 a jn. His v execution was witnessed, by a representative of the court, two attorneys and a chaplain whom Pucheu thanked for their .aid, and the special prosecutor, Gen, Pierr Weiss, whom Pucheu cursed, oth er : witnesses - said...-' -. J - . ; He was granted his request to command the firing squad him self. .He also asked that his body be returned" to France after the. nation's liberation. His widow and four children are said to be un der house arrest in Paris. : Newspapermen were not noti fied of the scheduled execution, and no public notice of the exe-' cuUon was published. 4i
