The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980, April 28, 1944, Page 1, Image 1

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Maifaiwni tempera tare 77
ecrees Tharsday; mialniBm
41; river 1. feet. Fair, Frl
5 day; ; Batarday ; tncreasing
cleadiaeaa witk light rala
coast; v Ceeler west r pertloa -Satarday.
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- ' ;
t The current guessing game
(side from dating the second
- front) is whether Roosevelt will
run fort fourth term. It Is hard
to see at this date how he ' caa
decline to run, any more than
Gov. Dewey could now say, "Boys,
I'm. not a candidate for president
and will not run if nominated.''
If the president's .physician
should veto Roosevelt's running,
that might make him decline to
be a candidate. Otherwise he is
virtually forced into running by
' his obligations to his own political
associates who would be left quite
drift if he were to refuse on the
eve of the convention."
f So while guesses are a dime a
dozen in politics, it' does look as
though the contenders would be
Dewey and Roosevelt; and don't
think such a contest would not be
a horserace. .
There have been many who re-
' gretted the necessity of holding
a national election in a critical
. war year. They say It affects de
cisions relating to the wary both
military and political decisions,
which ought to be settled without
- i any reference to domestic politics.
I Great Britain, they say, has held
no election and does not expect
' to while the war is -on. c-v-
i Our constitution, however, calls
for a presidential election every
four years, and there hasn't been
even a suggestion that the (Con
tinued on Editorial Page)
Longer Jumps
Toward Japs
Due, Stimson
WASHINGTON, April 27 - (P)
Longer Jumps by American forces
toward the heart of Japan's de
fense may be expected in the fu
ture. Secretary of War Stimson
said today, as a result of the pat
tern set by the 500-mile hop by
General Douglas MacArthur's
troops, up the New Guinea coast
to Hollandia.
In a press conference review,
the war secretary also pointed to
history to suggest that defeat for
Germany may not be far off. lie
said the allied air operations out
of Italy against Balkan centers
in effect complete a junction with
Russia's -southern armies.
; . Then, ' drawing a . parallel, he
noted that Union armies of the
north and south battled to effect
a meeting in the American Civil
war, and once they did "not long
after, the war came to an end."
Other major points of Stimson's
review:
. 1. Allied plane losses in the air
assault on Germany are declining
although more planes than ever
- before are being thrown against
the enemy. But the nazis are still
putting : enough planes into the
air to make each allied mission a
battle and they probably are
hoarding reserves.
2. While the allies have gone
over to the offensive In the Burma-India
theatre, one "last, des
perate Japanese thrust on the 1m
phal plain is possible.
3 Army casualties for the war
through April 15 total 148,425
25,582 killed, 60,166 wounded, 32,
727 missing and 29,950 official re
ported prisoners of war. Of the
wounded, 33,077 have returned to
duty. Reported deaths among pris
oners total 1679. (Unofficially
many more deaths of those in
' Japanese hands have been report
ed.) '-.
The office of war information
reported later the casualties in all
' branches of the armed forces since
' the outbreak of war now total
. 192,836 including 44,497 dead, 72,
030 wounded, 41,923 missing and
34,386 prisoners of war: Navy
casualties are 18,915 dead, 11,864
wounded, 9196 missing and 4436
- prisoners.
Nazis Displeased
With Turk Move
By the Associated Press .
' The Berlin radio bluntly told
the Turks last night that a Ger
man foreign office spokesman
considered Turkey's suspension
of chrome shipments to the relch
a breach of contract and that Nazi
Ambassador Franz von Papen,
called home to report, would not
return to Ankara "for the time
being." ' - .
"This should remove the slight
est doubt about the degree of Ger
- man-Turkish tension," said the
German .- Transkontinent news
agency dispatch beamed to the
Turkish press.
Von Papen was reported to
have left Istanbul for Berlin by
plane yesterday noon.
678,214 Cases of Food
7ill Go to Civilians
WASHINGTON, April n-iJP)
The war, food administration an
nounced today that it is releasing
678,214 cases of canned vegetables
and fruit Juices to the trade for
tale to civilians.
The stocks include canned corn,
r range juice, pumpkin and sauer
kraut, not needed for government
fsr uses.
U; Force Close
TTTT till 71
MoMaiiclliyJFive
. - " y
Allies Take Third Airfield
To Complete Fast Invasion;
In Short Time of 6 Days
By FRED HAMPSON
ADVANCED ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, New Guinea, Fri
day, April 28-JP-United States invasion forces closed the Hol
landia campaign Thursday in six days, capturing the third Jap-
Americans Take Hollandia
j
, .f,; ' h f..1
siaiuti msi
L:'.i:J . Tonahmer ah -JS
- m t : z .wak mm mm m- - w m
V V i. 5HOLLANDIA s Humboldt
r . - aix rva - - - m w s - i
US forees closed the Hollandia eampaiga Thursday by capturing the
main HeUaadU air base (plane symbol). The allies had already
Maken air fields at Taml and Cyclops.
anese airfield and putting all three into immediate use-within
bombing range of the Philippines.
End of Japanese resistance to an undertaking, which entailed
leapfrogging 500 miles up the New
Guinea coast under the guns of
a powerful naval armada and
sending thousands . of soldiers
sloshing over muddy Jungle ter
rainVwas announced today byXSen.
Douglas MacArthwv
The main Hollandia- airfield
was the last to fall to pineer
forees which last Satarday op
ened drives from Tanahmerah
and Humboldt bays, verran
alng more than 350 sqoare miles
ef Dateh New Guinea and
crashing the feeble opposition.
The light Japanese opposition
at Hollandia was attributed by a
headquarters spokesman to feints
which prompted the enemy to send
3000 of the sixth Nipponese south
seas aetaenmeni oi comoai ma
rines southeast to Wewak. Many
other Japanese service troops were
removed to mountain bivouac ar
eas before the invasion.
More than 460 miles to the
southeast, the Australian forees
(Turn to Page 2 Story A)
German Defeat
Will Hasten
Civilian Goods
WASHINGTON, AprU 27
A 35 per cent drop in war pro
duction will follow the defeat of
Germany, freeing that much man
ufacturing capacity for civilian
goods, Charles E. Wilson of the
war production board, told the
automobile labor advisory com
mittee today.
Until Germany collapses, the
executive vice chairman of WPB
said, "only very limited civilian
production will be possible."
When Japan is the only major
enemy in the fighting, however,
H35 per cent of the productive
capacity now tied up with war
work will.be available for peace
time production," Wilson informed
the newly-named group of seven
CIO and AFL leaders in the au
tomobile industry.
Earlier, the labor spokesmen
were notified by Chairman Don
ald M. Nelson, that he "saw no
chance" of making passenger au
tomobiles this year. The labor men
were summoned by Nelson to help
lay plans for ultimate reconver
sion of the industry, following a
meeting of nine automobile com
pany presidents and government
officials here last week.
OCE Selects Bennett
As Graduation Speaker
MONMOUTH, April 27-(Spe
cial) -The speaker for the 65th
annual commencement at Oregon
College of Education, on May 26,
will be Frank B-Bennett, super
intendent of the Salem city
schools. He has held that position
since 1939.
Mr. Bennett received his BA
degree at Willamette university
and his master's degree from- the
University of Oregon. He also
acts as director of the Oregon
State Teachers' association.
o
P a (i I i
Ocean
Totor "
Bar
Officials Lay
Staub Sinking
OSlOIl
WASHINGTON, AprU 27 -yP)
The war shipping administration
announced today the navy had in
formed it that the Liberty ship
John Straub, previously reported
to have broken its back at sea
with a loss of 65, had actually
been destroyed "as a result of a
violent explosion of undetermined
origin."
, "Her cargo was highly inflam
mable, consisting of high octane
gasoline and oil," the WSA state
ment said. The fuel cargo was
bound for the Alaska theatre of
war.
The WSA statement was based
on navy interviews with 15 sur
vivors of the ship.
The survivors reported the
first blast was apparently follow
ed by others, accompanied by bril
liant flashes of whitish flame and
rolling colors of smoke.
"The" survivors report unani
mously that faulty construction
was not a factor in the sinking,
and that, as a matter of fact, the
sea was smooth, -the night clear
with a light breeze.
"The official investigation thus
far is not conclusive as of whether
the . explosions were internal or
external."
Loss of the John Straub was an
nounced Sunday by the Alaska
Steamship company. The number
of victims-was not definitely es
tablished at that time because of
disagreement between WSA - and
company figures on tne number
of men aboard. I
The sinking occurred off Sanak
.... I
island, south of the pass" between
the Alaska peninsula and Unimak
island.--
1000-Airplane
Pacific Raids
Not Uncommon
HUTCHINSON, Kant, April
27.-i'P-Artems L. Gates, as
sistant secretary of the navy for
sir, disclosed today that "We
have ; been having 1,000-plane
raids la the raclflc," :,f
Here for the graduation at the
first air crew from the navy's
big stew peratleaal baaeGatea
said: : .
I dent think the pablie real
ises that we've been having L-tOt-plaae
raids fat the Paeifie.
The new ; coordinated ; training
here Is part ef the navy's ex
panding; offensive." 4' i
Gates said "We have been
building vp all the time, antU
new raids la which l,6aa pitaca
are used are not uncommon.'
He would not elaborate ea
that point..
ExtjI
Salem, Oregon, Friday
R AF Over
14th Day
US Force Makes
Record Smash ;
In Doubleheader
By W. W. HERCHER
LONDON, Friday, April 28
(JP)- The allies' merciless pound
ing of nazi military installations
winged into its 14th straight
day today with' an RAF attack
"in strength on Friedrichsha
f en. I
This smash by Britain's big
night bombers followed a. re
cord doubleheader daylight blow
at nazi targets in France by the
US eighth air force, which sent
out more than 1500 heavy bomb
ers during the day.
In the It hours preceding the
RAFs penetration deep Into
southern Germany more than
400 allied planes hammered the
continent with ". approximately
10,000 tons ef explosives, a new
hich for such a period.. ;f.
' Friedrichshafen, site of an air
craft components factory and al
so a large plant' manufacturing
radio location instruments, is lo
cated on Lake Constance just
across from the Swiss frontier.
It was the sixth major attack
on the manufacturing center,
coming after a heavy daylight at
tack by Flying Fortresses last
Monday, when the Americans
also hit airdromes near Munich.
Previously It had' received a
ene-twe punch from US heavy
bombers March 16 and 18. It
generally has been fiercely de
fended and one ef the most
savage aerial fights ef the war
occurred en the mission , ef
liberators there March It.
That day the Americans tost 43
big bombers and It was tndl-
eated most' of them fell ; in- the?
Friedrichshafen raid.
An off i e 1 a 1 announcement of
the operation early this morning
said, "the aircraft bomber com
mand of the RAF was over Ger
many in strength last night,' with
Friedrichshafen as the main ob
jective.' ,
The daylight forays into France
were made against what a com
munique described as weak oppo
sition. Nine American heavy
bombers, three Marauders and six
fighters were lost by the US and
allied air forces while three ene
my aircraft were shot down.
The night was clearly lighted
by the moon, keeping nasi
squadrons squatting on their
bases ' and giving England a
(Turn to Page 2 Story B)
Mercury Hits
77 Yesterday
Temperature mounted to 77
degrees at the official Salem
weather station Tharsday and
the mercury hang in the 7i's
through much of the day. Sec
end In maximum heat only to
Sunday, April 2, when a peak
of 7t degrees was reached,
Thursday was by other stand
ards the "warmest" day of 1944
to date to the working popula
tion. The Sunday record was
based en a brief period ef early
afternoon heat, which came at
a time of leisure for many cap
ital city residents.
Germany
Bricker Answers Nine Questions That
Willkie Declined to Comment On ;
COLUMBUS, C April 27 -ffl
Gov. John W. Bricker, candidate
for the republican presidential
nomination tonight answered in a
nation-wide radio interview sev
en of the nine question on na
tional and : international affairs
which were put to Wendell L
Willkie by Missouri ; republican
leaders several months ago. 7.
Fulton Lewis, Jr4 Mutaal
Broadcasting System radio com
mentator, who conducted the in
terview, said the auestiens were
these Willkie declined U an
swer, terming them m ambig
uous as to defy understanding.
;Two of tap oriaiaal amo e
ptens were ; not asked. Lewis
said ene was a personal ques
tion Involving WHikies book,
"One World." The other- waa
"Do, yea believe that It's de
sirable for America ta permit
flooding oar eeaatry with alien
IndiTidaaJa and allea ideasT", -
Asked if he believed' the United
States should become ' a member
of a super-national state, Bricker
replied there should be no "cen
tral world authority dominating
Morning, April S3. 1144
Mc Arthur Inspects Landing
4r
1 -
t:
L
Gen. Douglas MacArthnr, supreme allied commander In the south
west Pacific (second from right) is In animated discussion with
aa unidentified officer (right) at the beach at Tadjf, ltOO yards
from the airdrome where American and Australian forces landed
on New Guinea Island la their
the beach in the background. (AF
SlillwelVs Forces Break
Jap Resistance in Burma
By THOBURN WIANT
SOUTHEAST ASIA HEADQUARTERS, Kandy, Ceylon, April
J7-(P)-With the monsoon, rains less than threr weeks away;Xt.
""nJJpieph W,?rStil well's Cines ind"Ameri appear
to have broken the back; of
Burma.' ; -"; .'r'"'"'' '
In a spectacular six-mile advance yesterday, "Uncle Joe's"
- O
Britain Puts
Severe Rules
Into Effect
LONDON, April 27-iT)-Brit-ala
became literally a moated
fortress at midnight tonight as
severe regulations went Into ef
fect forbidding any civilian to
leave this island for any reason
short of urgent national bust-
As the United Kingdom now
a vast and frowning military
base became Isolated as It had
not been Isolated for hundreds
of years, the Germans . across
the channel engaged la a aeem
lngly frenaied game ef guessing
on the prospects of invasion. . .
A Paris military commenta
tor, Jean Faauh, threw out
somewhat hopefully the sug
gestion that simultaneous allied
offensives fat the west, east and
south would be - Impracticable
because of "rapidly changing
weather,' aad at the same time
specifically declared . thai Ber
lin donbted the allies weald In
vade -the Balkans from eastern
Italy although fresh landings oa
Italy Itself were expected.
our destiny," adding that "appar
ently no other nation wants it,
either."- . , , .
' The question ef whether J or.
not the TJS army, navy and air
force should be placed under
control of a world state brought
a vigorous denial from Bricker,
who asserted the United' States
"most keep her military fore
adequate to ear own security
la the air, ea the land and oa
the sea, subject to our ewa eoa
troL" Replying to the question as to
whether there should be absolute
freedom of international .trade, the
governor said he did not believe
in it for the reason thai living
standards 'vary in different parts
of the world, and that opening up
our markets to trade based on
suppressed labor and impoverished
living conditions would lower the
living standards of Americans. -A
s k e d if ta believed a
"world meaet ary system"
should be established, Bricker
said there waa no possibility of
world currency .being estab
ewes- Ward9' lejeinicllioiii
r
1
. .
. :;.::..?:::..
i I
- : - y - ' ?- or
assault on Hollandia. Aa JJ5T Is on
Wlrephoto via signal corps radio)
Japanese resistance in northern
infantry and tanks swept through
the Mogaung valley jungle into
the village of Manpin, only 10
miles from Kama ing and no more
than 45 miles from Myitkyina,
the enemy's main base of opera
tions north of Mandalay.
I The campaign to open , a land
supply route from India to Chi
na Stilwell's pet project al
ready had carried his mixed
force some 120 miles Into Bur
ma, nearly halfway to a junc
ture with the old Burma road
at a point Inside China.
The enemy's counter - invasion
of India, meantime, appeared to
be rushing toward a bloody cli
max in the 6000-foot hills ringing
the allied base of Kohima. Report
that a major battle had begun
there was expected almost hourly.
Dispatches today said allied
reinforcements of men, : tanks
and guns continued to stream
Into Kohima along the 35-mile
highway from Dimapur en the
Bengal-Assam railway, and that
an assault to break the Japa
nese and send them reeling back
along the trails toward Banna'
was Imminent.
The Japanese hold the highest
points around Kohima,' and Just
outside the town allied reinforce
ments were confronted with a
large white sign that said: "From
this point you are In view of the
enemy.' ' -r, .: - - v----British
and American staff
(Turn to Page 2 Story C)
lished. He added that such a
system would , violate the eoa
stiiational provision "giving the
congress of the United States
sole power to fix the' value of
money aad cola currency."
' On the question of unrestricted
Immigration after the war, Brick
er said he opposed such proposals
on the ground that it would "de
stroy our standards of living;
smother our philosophy and
change the United States into
something different"
: In explaining, toe "liberalism"
of the- republican platform which
Lewis said some contended the.
party would seed to win in No
vember Bricker said liberalism
meant a return to individual lib
erties and "more of home rights,
not less; mora of opportunity, not
less .'
. To . the final question: "If, ; by
any chance, you are not toe presi
dential nominee of the republican
party,, will you actively, support
toe convention's choice?" he re
plied: "I most assuredly will!"
Prica 5c
Army Ejects Avery
From Office; Firm
Does Not Give Upl
' CHICAGO, April 27-(iT)-Federal Judge William H. Holly to
night issued a temporary injunction restraining Montgomery
Ward and company and Sewell Avery, chairman of the board of
the huge mail order house, from interfering with government
operation of the Chicago stores.! '
Judge Holly's rapid action climaxed a day of dramatic de-
O veloomenta which had n AuV
Red Front
Still Quiet
Sevastopol Gets
Russian Shelling
But City Holds
LONDON, Friday, April 28
Moscow said last night the lull on
the eastern front continued
through its sixth day yesterday
but .the Germans declared the
Russians still were attacking in
northern Romania and in the
Carpathian foothills.
The night soviet communique
said again there were "no 1 im
portant changes at the front
A supplement to the commun
ique said the. Germans lost 400
men killed and 15 tanks and four
armored transports destroyed in a
futile attempt to find weak spots
in the soviet defenses southeast
of Stanislawow in the Carpathian
foothills.
A dispatch from Moscow during
the day described continued heavy
shelling of the German-Romanian
positions Jn , besieged Sevastopol,
a Red Star correspondent declar
ing, fthe enemy still holds the
dead streets and squares but sov
let guns have reached the Ger
mans and Romanians in their last
shelters." The date of the story
was not given.
i The German communique said
there was only local attacks in the
Sevastopol area today, and a Ger
man ' "international information
bureau' broadcast said cryptic
ally, "the three-day defensive bat
tle in the area of Sevastopol can
be regarded as completed."
'Mac'-Nimitz
Plot Trouble
For Tokyo
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS,
Southwest Pacific, April 21-P)
The joint announcements at
southwest Pacific and central Pa
cific headquarters today that Gen.
Douglas MacArthur and Adm.
Chester WV Nimitiz have integrat
ed war plans in the Pacific fore
shadows more powerful ' blows
against Japanese armies in New
Guinea, New Britain and the
northern Solomons.
One result of the conference,
which was held at MacArthur's
headquarters late in March,, may
well mean the virtual wiping out
of lines of latitude and longitude
which for two years had defined
the respective spheres of operation
of toe two higher commands and
the - intermediate south Pacific
command of Adm. William F.
Halsey.
Heavy units of the Pacific fleet
which Nimitz commands, provided
support for the invasion of Hol
landia, Dutch New Guinea, which
was unaer wacArtnurs supreme
control. Z.::r -yS'? Z. V. -:
w The next step in the exertion of
the "maximum of cooperative ef
fort against the enemy' might
place equally strong units of Mac-
Arthur's army and air forces un
der Nimitz command.
Chinese Admit
Key Qty Fall
CHUNGKING, April 23 -iffy-Chinese
military authorities, an
nounced today -that Japanese
troops had occupied the strategic
railway junction of Chenghsien in
a new offensive they have been
pressing in northern Honan pro
vince to dear the north south
Peiping-Hankow line.
The announcement said that en
emy, troops had entered the city
the morning of April 22. ;
1- Previous dispatches a from the
front had indicated the' possibility
that Chenghsien might no longer
be in Chinese hands but there had
been no confirmation of its falL
No. 331;'
lorcibly ejected by soldiers from
the north side plant
Attorney General .Francis
Blddle filed a petition for the
res trainer late this afternoon,
asking the court to enjoin the
company from interfering with
government operation and to or
der the officers to make avail- "
able corporate records to the
government director, Wayne
Chatfield Taylor, assistant sec
retaiv of commerce.
Earlier in the day Silas H.
Strawn, a Wards director and
member of the. law firm repre
senting the company, said the firm
would file injunction proceedings
within a few days in an effort
to halt government, operation. This
step and the government! petition
generally were expected to be the
first of many legal j maneuvers
that may eventually lead to the
United States supreme court for
a determination of the powers of
the government to seize a private
business during war time.
The temporary injunction waa
made effective for 10, days.
Judge Holly waa summoned
from a meeting- at the Hamilton
club, exclusive dewatewa busi
nessmen's association, ' for the
hearing, which waa held la the
court chambers. Tea deputy
(Turn to Page 2r-tory G) ,
"JO ;;;; V'iv "
Livilians race'
WASHINGTON, April 27.--Swift
concerted action has been
urged on price arid production au
thorities to head off a serious
shortage of cotton textiles for civ
ilians this year.
Stabilization Director Fred M.
Vinson, Chairman Donald M. Nel
son of the war production board, -
ana mce Administrator Chester
Bowles are scheduled to confer
tomorrow on means of eooinf
Serious( Cotton
Goods Shortage
without clothes rationing. -
WPBs commitment to avoid
rationing can . be kept an inter
agency "task committee' reported
unanimously, if machinery is
quickly set up to permit govern
ment scheduling of production
from cotton mill to finished gar
ments, t
The report said the disappear
ance of low-priced goods from
dealers' shelves threatens the en
tire economic stabilization pro
gram. ' ' :
A '50 percent deficiency in" the
supply of fabrics for low priced
clothing such as house dresses, in- .
fants clothing, men's shirts,1 un
derwear, and children's s c h o o 1 '
clothes was predicted by the com
mittee which is composed of two
members each from WPB, OPA
and the office of civilian require
ments. ' I
The committee's recommenda
tions called for "firm allocations"
of - unfinished cotton goods for
civilian use, in the same way that
(Turn to Page 2 Story H) ' j
China Situation
Still Critical
CHUNGKING, China, April 27.
-iPf-The Chinese said tonight the
battle area in northern Honan
province is constantly expanding
and that the Japanese have cap- .
tured toe town of Mihsien, but
they declared a Chinese counter- "
offensive had won back six to
eight miles and eased toe enemy,
threat to the railway city of Loy
ang, a major Japanese objective.
In nine days of the Honan pro
vince offensive, in central China
below the Yellow river, the Jap
anese have overrun about 1,800
square miles in toe heart of a re
gion ' where famine-ravaged mil .
lions have been hopeful of gath
ering a bumper wheat crop. .:
Whether toe Japanese offensive
is intended merely to take this f
crop from the Chinese or has a j
broader objective remains ob
scure, but Chinese field dispatch-
es said the Japanese bad thrown .
another 10,000 troops . into the
fight making a total of about 70,- -000..