The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980, April 06, 1945, Page 1, Image 1

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14 PACES
Salem. Oregon, Fridar Mondng. April 8. 1345
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No. 9
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POUNDHO J65I
The anticipated denunciation of
.the. Russo-Japanese treaty of neu
trality occurred Thursday, coming
well in advance of the final date,
April 25, on which it could have
made in accordance with the pro
visions of that instrument. For
once the Russians are refreshing
ly frank in the explanation they
offer for their action. It" is that,
since the signing f the pact four
years ago : Germany has declared
war on Russia and Japan remains
an! ally of the Germans. Foreign
Commissar Molotov accurately ap-
praises, the situation when he says:
; fin "such a situation the pact of
neutrality between Japan and the
-USSR has lost its meaning."
It is pertinent to remark that it
lost its meaning much " earlier,
when Germany attacked Russia, or
at least when; Japan attacked the
United States and Great Britain;
but we have j understood. Russia's
situation, its danger if involved in
a war on two fronts. Hence the
.United States has not plagued Rus-
. cia ; with urgings to get into the
fight against Japan. It has been
anticipated that, once Germany
was laid hors de combat, Russia
would break with Japan. The dip
lomatic break has now come; mil
itary action may be expected to
follow.
If Russia does participate active
ly and soon in the war on Japan,
then the timetable in the Pacific
may be moved up freely. Such a
development will permit a great
pincers movement on Japan.
American forces can follow the
" great circle arc to the north, skirt
ing the Aleutians and striking first
at. the Kuriles. Our air force may
be permitted to use bases in Si
beria to bomb Japan and Man-
chukuo. Russian armies and air
force can operate from Soviet Asia.
Thus a giant vise would close in
. on Japan, from the north and from
the south, .where present opera
tions -are in progress. The end
'then would not be .far off.
There is no surprise in news
that Premier Koiso and his cabinet
have quit. They admit that Ja
pan's position has become "grave."
That is polite language for admit
ting it has become unendurable for
any political ministry."
' It is quite within range of pos
sibility for the Japanese war to
V be concluded before the year-end
or earlier if the Japs acknowl
edge their hopeless situation by
surrendering.
Black Market,
'
Drought Bring
Meat Shortage
WASHINGTON, April 5 -(JP)
Senators heard testimony today
that black markets in the United
States and a drought, in Aus
tralia were hampering efforts to
stock up meat for the army.
So far,- however, there has been
an ample flow of supplies, Maj.
Gen. Carl A. Hardigg of the quar
termaster corps told. the agricul
ture committee.
" Hardigg said dry weather 'in
both Australia and New Zealand
had made it much more difficult
to get meat there. He told Chair
man Thomas (D-Okla) that this
would mean the army would need
more meat from the United States,
i . He agreed with Senator Wheel
er (D-Mont) ' that black market
operations in this country had
contributed to quartermaster corps
troubles in stocking up as much
meat as It desired. "
Lewis Warned
Government
Read v to Act
WASHINGTON, AprU 5-V
The war-, labor board tonight
warned John L. Lewis that unless
work stoppages in approximately
200 bituminous coal mines end
promptly "the government . will
have nd alternative1 but to seize
and operate the mines oh strike.
WLB Chairman George W. Tay
lor addressed a telegram to Lewis
as president of the United Mine
Workers and John J. OfLeary,
UMWA vice president, saying
mine strikes are interfering with
production of steel nd other war
materials.
The board calls upon the
United Mine Workers of America
at this critical stage of the war
to take every step necessary to
bring about the immediate ter
mination of these work stoppages
and the resumption of the pro
duction of coal," Dr. Taylor's
telegram to Lewis said.
Noted Composer Dies .
LONDON, . AprU 5.--Jihan
Wright, composer of such popular
.nnr. "T Rlftnff to You" and
"All By Yourself in the Moon
light," died today. He was 52.
U.S. 9th
Britain's
2nd Gains
30 Miles
Pattern's Forces
63 Miles From
Severing Reich
By Austin Bealmear
PARIS, Friday, April 6.-(fl-The
U. S. Ninth army broke across
the Weser river vl 51 miles west of
Berlin yesterday and the British
Second army in a 30-mile lunge
swept up 39 miles south of the
great shipbuilding city of Bremen
as the enemy fled east along the
north ' German plain.
Without losing a man, the Ninth
army crossed the Weser with
troops and tanks south of Hame
lin, 23 miles southwest of Hann
over. -
Simultaneously, the U. S. Third
army struck across Thuringia's
hills ISO miles southwest of Ber
lin in a fanning push that lacked
(S3 miles of cutting the reich in
half, and the enemy was reported
falling back south for the expect
ed last stand in Bavaria's moun
tain fastnesses. ... v
The -Canadian First army shook
loose an armored ciolumq on a
12-mile tear that ripped back into
the German peninsula and into
Uelsen, on the highway to Bremen
and within 53 miles of an arm of
the North sea.
Increases Threat
This drive, sweeping northward
parallel to the British armored
push, increased the threat to two
German armies, now in retreat
toward the Elbe river.
Field Marshal Sir Bernard L.
Montgomery's Canadian and Brit
ish forces were battling north on
a 100-mile front, and by capturing
Stolzenau on the Weser river 39
miles from Bremen the British
vanguards had traveled 120 miles
from the Rhine. Minden also was
seized.
One column on the west was
also 40 miles from Bremen after
fighting up within less than three
miles of Diepholtz.
The battle of annihilation in
the Ruhr rose in fury as both
the U. S. First and Ninth armies
pressed the assault on possibly
150,000 German troops, reported
trapped there with Field Marshal
Albert Kesselring, commander of
all enemy armies on the western
front.
Knocking in Roof
The ninth army was knocking
in the roof of the trap, advancing
up to nine miles both east and
west of pivotal Hamm, and was
five miles from the Ruhr city of
Dortmund. One robot bomb fac
tory had been overrun.
Pilots said the enemy was mass
ing tanks and self-propelled guns
on ; the east side of the pocket,
apparently to attempt a breakout
' On the southern end of the
front, the U. S. Seventh army
scored gains of 14 miles, battled
into Kitzingen beyond the river
Main, and severed the - highway
between toppling Wuerzburg and
the Nazi shrine city of Nuernberg,
only 34 miles ahead of advanced
American forces.
Yank Colonel Has More Nazis
Under Him Than Kesselring
PARIS, April 5.VThere is
an American lieutenant colonel
who has more German soldiers
under his command now than
Field Marshal Albert Kesselring,
Nazi commander on the western
front
He is Frederick A. Moulton, dep
uty chief of the prisoners of. war
division, European theater of op
erations, provost marshal's office,
United States army.
-Under his control the latest
tally shows, are some. 725,000
prisoners on the " continent and
in England. The number Is gain
ing steadily-190,000 came In from
frontline pens in the last 10 days.
And the trouble is nobody wants
them that is. nobody but Kes
selring.
Mi
i !
Army Emiges
Across WeseriRiver
Cqmmander I ,
Marine Corps Gen. Roy S. Geiger
is pictured here. General Gei
ger commands the Third mar
tine amphibious corps invading
the , Okinawa Island chain bc
tweea ': the Rynkyiis and the
China eoast (International) ?
Bombers Blast
VitaliPort Area
Of Hong Kong
MANILA,' Friday, April 6.-
-Philippines-based heavy! bomb
ers attacked the vital waterfront
area of Hong Kong acioss the
China sea oh Wednesday, dropping
168 tons of bombs which set huge
fires and; sank nine merchant
ships. Two. other merchantmen
and a destroyer were damaged.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, an
nouncing! this second successive
strike at j Hong Kong in his com
munique ;today, reported that the
1000-pound: bombs ' raked ship
yards and waterfront installations
as well s shipping in the vast
harbor.'' f;
Oil storage tanks were left
burning, with smoke raising 7000
feet If r' "'!''; '
Japanese ; fighters sought to in
tercept the American formation
but were, driven off after a run
ning aerial battle. All the attack
ing planes returned. ! !.
Other American bombers block
ading the China sea wrecked Six
small freighters from French
Indo-China; to Formosa and also
bombed Indo-China coastal: tar
gets at the cost of one plane.
Berlin; Denies Greiserl
Captured by Russians )
NEW YORK, April 5 -P)-:A
Berlin broadcast tonight quoted
"competent German quarters' as
denying I feports ., that Arthur
Greiser, former Gualeiter of Pol
and, had -:been captured by soviet
troops ahd, also "the many re
ports concerning , Reichsmarshal
Goering. The broadcast was re
corded by CBS. : 1 1 :
S. f
i - t
There are 350,000 in enclosures.
Two hundred and twenty five
thousand have been put to labor.
Twenty five thousand are in hos
pitals. And there are some 125,000
In transit ,i It
Tnat doesn t count prisoners
taken by the British, French i or
others. It doesn't count about
1500 who have died, or those who
have been? shipped out of this
theater. . " :
A hundred thousand have been
sent to camps in England or 1 to
labor thfri. Negotiations are in
progress for delivering more, but
a problem-; has arisen. Although
England needs the labor, her space
and facilities already are strained.
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i
Reds at
City Limit
Of Vienna
Russian Forces
Drive to Circle
Austrian Capital
By Romney Wheeler j
LONDON, Friday. April &HJP-
Tank-led Rusftan shock troops
battered: to the southern cityj lim
its of Vienna yesterday while? oth
er Red army veterans launched a
drive to encircle the Austrian! cap
ital after slashing across two of
its vital supply links with th war
arsenals of Germany and Czecho
slovakia, f ':
Assault forces broke across two
rivers, a canal and a network of
suburban railroads and highways
constituting a highly-fortified de
fense belt and captured the sub
urban towns of Ober-Laa and Un-ter-Laa,
four and a half miles
southeast of famed St Stephen's
church in mid-city, Moscow re
vealed. : T - 1 "
Simultaneously, other Soviet
troops were 'rolling up as German
bulge in Czechoslovakia's CarpaUr-
an mountains, captured industrial
Zywiec In southwest Poland and
battled closed to the Croatian
puppet capital of Zagreb in north
ern Yugoslavia. j -
While s three Russian armies
surged forward along a blazing
350-mile front - stretching across
Yugoslavia, Austria, Slovakia and
Poland, Berlin said that a giant
Red army offensive on the Oder
river before the reich capital! was
expected "in the next few days."
Two mighty armies were involv
ed in the battle for Vienna. South
east of the city, they were believed
to have linked after the capture of
the Bratislava Gap fortress of
Bruck, and together they extended
a siege arc around the city to 83
miles. The arms of a developing
pincer southwest and northeast of
the city were 46 miles apart j
LCI 474 Lost
At Iwo Jima 1
WASHINGTON, April 5 -(JP)
The landing craft gunboat 474 has
been lost at Iwo Jima as a result
of enemy action, the navy , an
nounced today.
The announcement raised to
279 the total naval craft of all
types lost from all causes since
the start- of the war. It was! the
second vessel announced lost in
the Iwo I Jima area. Loss of the
escort carrier Bismarck Sea was
announced last week. j
The navy said the landing craft
received j a number of direct hits
from shore-based batteries i and
was sunk by our own forces af
ter she was determined to be a
total loss and after all personnel
surviving the gunfire had been
removed. ;
Marion 4th in
Paper Salvage
Marion county was in fourth
place In the state In the inter-
county paper salvage campaign.
while Benton stood first at the
begyuiing of April, reports issued
zrom state neaaquarxers 1 nurs
day indicate. ! ' '.r ; .
Marion paper collection, outside
that from industrial and commer
cial sources, totaled 1900 tons or
54.3 pounds per capita. - Benton
had 797 tons or 67.9 pounds per
person. Wasco county was second
with 57.5 pounds per person. Only
Multnomah county, where 9992
tons had been collected by volun
teers, exceeded Marion county in
gross salvage,
First Lt. Leon Benlley
Dies in European War
The name of First Lt Leon R.
Bentley, son of Leon W. Bentley,
157 South Winter st; was Wed
nesday listed among the army
dead in the European theatre of
war. .
WW
Casualties
1400 Ships Aided
Great Invasion;
Resistance Met
By Morrie Landsberg
GUAM, Friday, April 6-Jpy-Ia-
credibly low American casualties J
lor the first four days of tne Okin-r
awa Invasion were reported by the
navy today in announcing a sweep
ing advance on the north end of
the Tenth army line and increas
ing resistance in the south near
the capital city of Naha.
Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz
said 175 U.S. soldiers and marines
had been killed and 798 wounded
up to midnight Wednesday. v This
reflected the lightness of the op
position. He gave no figures for
naval casualties. A fleet of 1400
ships aided the momentous inva
sion of the Ryukyu island only 325
miles south of Japan proper.
No Japanese casualty figures
were announced, although they are
considerably higher. -'
Marines at the north scored
gains up to four and one-half
miles along the narrow Ishikawa
isthmus, still finding "ineffective"
opposition, but 24th corps infan
trymen moving on Naha, a city of
66,000 population, ran into increas
ingly stiff resistance among fixed
defensive positions. :
Their advance, previously meas
ured in miles, was only, about 3000
yards. :' It appeared possible that
the first big action of the cam
paign was building up.-
Associated Press Correspondent
Bobbin Coons UM how the Amer
icans on the south end of the line
could look - ahead to rolling hills
with sharp ' gullies and caves
ideal terrain for the Japanese type
of defense.
Sixty-five planes were destroy
ed out of Japanese air fleets raid
ing American positions and ship
ping in the first five days, Nimitz
reported.
Okinawa
Very
Low
Eisenhower Foresees Bitter
End Fight Witt; GuerriUas,
No 'Clean Cut' Surrender
WASHINGTON, April 5.-4TVGen. Dwight D. Eisenhower,
convinced that "a clean cut military surrender" of Germany is
not in the cards,' foresees a bitter-end fight to wipe out bands
of nazi guerrillas. f
MA very large number of troops" Jwill be needed to run down
and destroy them, he wrote President Roosevelt in a letter re-
leased by the White House today.
"We should be prepared," he
said, mentioning moves already
planned to prevent bands of nazis
from slipping away to the moun
tains of southern Germany in a
desperate determination to string
out the agony of war.
Thus, to the supreme allied com
mander, there is no prospect of
massed legions of the foe laying
down their arms, nor of sudden
quiet along the western front like
that of the armistice in 1918.
His letter, dated March 31, said:
"The further this campaign pro
gresses, the more probable it ap
pears that there will never be a
clean cut military surrender of the
forces on the western front ' '
"Our experience to date is that
when formations as small as a di
vision are disrupted, their frag
ments continue to fight until sur
rounded." Force or the threat of force, he
said, will have to be applied par
ticularly 'to nazi paratroopers,
panzer men and the swaggering
storm troopers whom Adolf Hit
ler'' has fondly called his elite
guard.
What the cost in American and
allied lives will be in cleaning
them all out, or how long it will
take, Eisenhower did not attempt
to estimate.
Nation's War Casualties
Reach 892,909 Total ;
20,047 Added in Week
, WASHINGTON, April
Three years and four months of
war has cost the nation close to
900,000 casualties.
The army and navy today re
ported an additional 20,047, rais
ing the total since Pearl Harbor to
692,909. -H '- :
.Army losses, on the basis of in
dividual names reported here
through March 27. amounted to
798,383, and the navy's to 94,525.
f i'
Pacific Boss
I Gen. Doorlas MacArthur '
a. is ,
Nimitz to Boss
lavy Part of
Last Campaign
WASHINGTON, April 5
Gen Douglas MacArthur drew the
assignment today to command all
American army forces in the final
cleanup of Japan.
The joint chiefs of staff set
tled! the much-discussed point by
reassuring commands in the whole
Pacific area, with MacArthur, in
charge on land and Admiral Ches
ter Nimitz directing the United
States drive at sea. -
The new assignments were dis
closed even as Japan reeled .under
under the double blows of 'Bus-sia's-
denunciation of a neutrality
pact; and the fall of the Japanese
cabinet : ' ' " '"'
; It I was ' the close approach of
American forces that toppled the
Japanese politicos from power, and
it was this same factor that made
the realignment of American army-navy
leadership necessary.
Heretofore the commands had
b e en geographically separated,
with: sea forces in MacArthur's
southwest Pacific area coming un
der his command and land forces
in Nimitz' Pacific ocean areas tak
ing orders from the admiral.
Clarion Wins
High Award
Salem high school's Clarion has
been awarded the Eugene Regis
ter-Guard cup as the best-printed
papef In a school of more than
500 Students, Robert C. Halt as
sociate professor of journalism at
University of Oregon, announced
Thursday. '
The Franklin High Post of Port
land won the Arnold Bennett Hall
cup as the best all-around high
school paper in the state.
The Clarion Is printed by the
commercial printing " department
of The Statesman Publishing com
panr;
Roosevelt Calls
eligion in
NEW YORK, April 5HP)-Pres- j
ident Roosevelt called for a reviv
al of the spirit of religion to solve
the nation's problems in a message
made public tonight at the centen
ary dinner of congregation Em-anu-eL
' : C S- : ...''.';''v '
The president's message read: .
vTThe gravity of the times which
mark the 100th anniversary of the
establishment of congr e gation
Emanu-el quickens in the hearts
and J souls of thinking men and
women an appreciation of their
dependence on the strength that
can be found only in the everlast
ing Reality of religion:
- It jseems, therefore, fitting that
X -should "again declare that no
greater thing could come to our
landJ today than a revival of the
s p i H t of religion - - a revival
that would stir the hearts of men
and Women of all faiths to a' re-
Koiso Government
Falls; Adm. Suzuki
Heads New Cabinet
i i ; . . . i- r '
Move Possibly Clears Way for
Russian Entry Into Pacific War;
Moscow Says Nips Aid Germany
By James F. King '!
LONDON, April 5-(AP)-Russia denounced
her neutrality pact with Tokyo today, bluntly ac
cusing Japan of helping Germany and possibly
clearing the way for eventual soviet entry into the
Pacific war.
i '"''
In a strongly-worded note Moscow linked the
European and Pacific wars for the first time by
declaring Japan had; aided Germany and, "in ad
dition, Japan is fighting against the USA and Great
Britain, which are allies of the soviet union." Mos
cow broadcast the announcement of its action, to
the world. ' 1
The question whether Russia will go to 4ar
against Japan was j left unanswered, The de
nounced five-year neutrality pact does not expire
until April 25, 1946 more thar a year front ncjw.
But the note; which Foreign Minister iVyascheslav
Molotov harjded Japanese Ambassador Naotake
Sato;4hij afternoon . in; Moscow 'placed Japan
squarely in the enemy's camp and stated soviet
JISIphiipn thai Japan had violated the pact.
; Shortly Before Moscow acted, the government
of Premier Gen. Kuniaki
tne midst or a
poimcai and mui-
tary crisis, and Emperor Hirohito
summoned Adm. Baron Kantaro
Suzuki, - 77-year-old president of
the privy council, to form a; new
government Suzuki has been re
garded at a moderate aloof from
previous military cliques ruling
Japan and his selection raised
the possibility a Japanese "peace
cabinet" might be installed, f
The Japanese crisis was precip
itated by the American invasion
of Okinawa and perhaps also by
strong prior Indications of the
ominous soviet diplomatic blow.
Pact Loses Meaning
Moscow's announcement said
that Molotov told the Japanese
ambassador that the neutrality
agreement had "lost its meaning
and continuance of this pact; has
become impossible." P
Russia ratified the pact April
25, 1941, and it was to have been
continued for another five years
unless denounced a year before
its expiration. y
The note given Sato was remi
niscent of the same line taken
by Russia last September when
Russia went to war against Bul
garia. Accusing that axis satellite
of aiding Germany against Russia
and declaring "Bulgaria actually
has been in a state of war with
the soviet union for a long time."
Animosity Prevails ;
Animosity has marked soviet
Japanese relations for 50 years,
and both countries have strong
armies massed on the soviet-Man-churian
frontier where border
"skirmishes' amounting to large
scale battles were fought and
largely overlooked by the rest of
the world during the opening days
of World war two in Europe.
for Revival
United States
assertion of their belief in God.
doubt if there Is any problem that
would not melt away before the
fore of such a spiritual awaken
ing. " " -
r "The great majority of Amer
icans find religious unity in a
common biblical heritage - the
heritage of the old testament.
Whether our allegiance Is to the
the ancient teaching of Israel, we
tenets of Chrisitan revelation or to
all hold to the inspiration of the
old testament and accept" the; ten
commandments as the fundamen
tal law of "God. H-..' i F" v . i
"It is well for us, therefore, in
the face of global war and world
upheaval, to emphasize the. many
essential things in which we, ;as a
nation, can find unity as we seek
solution of the momentous prop
lenis before us."- f " - -j ; ''
mm
Koiso in Tokyo fell in
Pound
Targets Along
Allied Routes
LONDON, April 5-(P)-U.S. fly
ing fortresses and Liberators spill
ed 3500 tons of explosives today
on German targets along the like
ly routes of the U.S. Third and
Seventh armies' drive eastward,
rounding out a day in which near
ly 5000 Allied planes from Britain
battered the crumbling ; reich.
An American force of 1800
planes 1200 heavies and , 600
fighters struck at the Nazi fzero
zone," the area of central Ger
many now being compressed by
the Russians from the east and the
Americans from the west The
attacks served the double purpose
of supporting both fronts.
Five Allied planes were missing
after a day in which American
planes destroyed 75 enemy air
craft and damaged more than 60
others. Fifty-seven of the enemy
planes were smashed on the
ground by fighterbombers.
Bigamist Gets
30-: Year Term
SAN FRANCISCO, April
Francis van Wier a strange, moon
faced little man who practically
made a career out of getting mar-,
ried, was ; sentenced today to 30
years In prison for bigamy. His'
wives numbered ' no less than
twelve. ; - , , -i ;-. -i '
Van Wie, 58-years old, 5 feet 2,
chunky and bald,', was convicted
on'-three counts' of bigamy. The
Jury ruled not only that he was
guilty, but that he was sane. !
s During his trial he protested, as
he blinked through tearshat "all
I sought was happiness; all I want
ed was a pal." - - - ' . i
16 Bulgars Face Death
For Being Collaborators
LONDON, April 5.-WH5iteen
persons were sentenced to death
as fascist collaborators last night
after trials by a Bulgarian peo
ple's court, ; the ! Sofia j radio re
ported. Seventy others were sen
tenced to : prison : terms ranging
from one "year, to life. ; ;
Rocket Factory Taken
- WITH THE US NINTH ARMY,
April 5HA rocket bomb fac
tory in the woods near! Bielefeld
was captured today by Ninth army
doughboys, - L , v :-
Planes
: ...v. .