PAGE TOUR
Tlu OREGON STATESMAN. Salem, Oregon. Friday Morning, February 1. 1148
"No Favor Swayi U$; jNo fear Shall Awmm
From rirst Stitfimia, March 28, 1S31
TIIE STATESMAN PUBLISHING COMPANY
i :
CHARLES A. SPRAGUE, Editor and Publisher
i
Member of the Associated Press
, i
The Associated Press ta exclusively entitled to tha uaa for publication of all
newt dispatches ci edited to it or not otherwise credited in this newspaper.
Briti
n'st Whole Show
Thejjr are at least two parts of the now-famous
Crijurthill spfch of April. 1942, which in
dicate th . British prime minister either was
not aa4 fully informed of American war pro
gress as one might suppose or was still unwill
ing tof take the house of commons fully into
hi coiffidence.
. The speech, in secret session, was the one
in whirh he disclosed that Singapore had sur
rendered to far inferior Japanese forces, nu
merically, but asked that no formal investiga
tion bt instigated because of its possible effect
on lb' war effort.
m, His Variance from the truth lay in two com-
menuj ( 1 ) that remnants of the Pacific fleet
(American) had been withdrawn from Pearl
Harbof- to banes 2000 miles eastward on the'
Unitedj Stales coastline, and (2) that in. large
roeasute the losses of capital ships in that holo
caust of Dec 7, 1941, had been made up.
The truth was that, the remnants of' our
fleet had not been withdrawn from the mid-,
Pacific but even then were carrying the war,
via sujpply lines and hit-run offensives, further
to the westward, and that capital ship losses
hadn'tleven begun to be replaced there wasn't
a battle-ready battleship in the Pacific from
the day of Pearl Harbor until several months
after. the following April when Churchill gave
his state-of-af fairs talk before the house.
In an over-all comment on the Pacific, how
ever. Churchill wasjright he said the United
States had temporarily lost control of the sea.
The prime minister also made known a good
many military secrets in that talk, and didn't
gloss over several extremely unpleasant truths.
He cannot be charged with trying to mislead
the commons in regard to the war picture as
a urhole.
The only logical conclusion which preerrta it
sel '. then, is that liaison information between
the allies was not all that could have been
desired in thoe initial months of American
participation. It would be .interesting to learn
from Churchill himself whether that was true,
or whether for reasons of morale he did not
wisn to go quite as far with the information
at land as would seem to have been warranted
In View of his other disclosures.
Weapon Research
The signal .corps of the army had barely
finished its announcement of making radar
contact with the moon last week when this
week the Ordnance branch reports that V-2
type rockets capable of rising '50 miles from
the surface of the earth have been perfected.
The ordnance department goes on to suggest
that tying the two achievements together may
not be far distant, or may even have already
been accomplished. It states that guided rockets
capable of striking any portion of the earth's
surface " are not beyond the range of possibil
ity." J
Thus the essential element of atom warfare
teems almost withii grasp: The atom-armed
rocket, capable of striking accurately any target
In the earth's surfade within a few minutes of
the making of the firing contact.
It seem likely that the principles of the long
i distance rocket are ' known to the major allied
, countries. German technicians are said to be
working on the American version already per
fected, and the British and Russians are prob
ably as well informed and as far advanced as
our own services. The atom bomb secret itself
is. so. far as we know, still ours, but for how
long it less clear. It is possible to envisage war
fare with atom-charged rockets, but hardly
likely that such warfare can be one-sided.
. These technical announcements should be, of
course, the best possible spur to the delegates
of the United Nations Organization now meeting
In London to perfect the organization of the
world for peace. They are a reminder that
. while debate and political calculating goes for
ward, it goes hand in hand with the silent but
ever more implacable advance of research in
the fields which produce ever more efficient
and deadly weapons.
Seoul on the .March :
An "E" flag of some kind has been well
earned by leaders of the Cascade council. Boy
Scouts of America, and it is fitting that the
council's recent fine report for 1943 should be
closely followed by national observance of Boy
Scout wek, February 8 to 14.
This year's theme Scouts of the World
-,,' Building Together is particularly adapted to
the times, since there are sctmts in 70 nations
which from here on out have a choice of "build
ing together" or being torn completely apart.
Boy Scouts and their younger Cub brothers
performed fine service in many ways during
the years of war. Their work on the home
front wa in direct proportion to the valor which
so many thousand scouts and former scouts ex
hibited in all branches of the armed forces.
The Cascade council's goal of 1800 scouts
and 1200 tubs by the end of 1948 is well Worth
while. -
It costs $375 for a one-way trip by air across
the Atlantic. Prediction is that the fare will
go down to $300 or even to $200 within the
next few years. At that price and with Ameri
can wages what they are, the hired girl can
revisit Ireland or Sweden during her vacation.
Were it not for bombs and bullets this news
paper would rather report fighting the Germans
and Japs than the present fighting between
labor and capital.
Statesman headline: Aquatic Show Set Wed
i nevday at Willamette. But not in the Willamette
. at this season.
. 7
The Fire Ioms Grows
The need for better fire protection generally
in Oregon is pointed up sharply by iummary
figures for 1945 which show that this state,
with hardly 1 per cent of the nation's popula
tion, had more than 4 per cent of the large
loss conflagrations ($250,000 loss or more) last
year. Total damage in this state also approxi
mated 4 per cent of the national toll.
Statistics provided by the National Fire Pro
tection association indicate there were; i63
large-loss fires in 1945 (seven of them in Ore
gon), and that total loss approximated $122,
000.000 ($5,650,000 in Oregon). And more
tragic yet is the fact that this huge latter figure,
a new record, constituted only .25 per cent, of
the damage from all fires, large; and small.
The nation's total fire loss was given as $455,
000,000. Oregon's seven large-loss fires were listed
as those of the Oregon Shipbuilding yard in
Portland, $3,000,000; the Tillamook burn, $1,
000,000; Timber Structures, Inc., Portland,
$500,000; Oregon Pulp milt, Salem, $350,000;
Iron Fireman. Portland, $300,000; Kerr-Gifford
Flour mill, Pendleton, $250,000; Hudson-Duncan
Packing plant, Portland, $250,000.
Contributing factors to such fires; were given
thusly: "Lack of adequate private fire protec
tion such as automatic sprinklers or fire alarm
systems featured in 116 of these- large-loss
fires, closely followed by such factors as in
ferior construction, excessive areas, congested
stocks, high-valued material, lack of fire doors
or vertical fire cut-offs, and the presence of
.flammable liquids and gases."
Warehouse fires were ,the most frequent, but
mercantile stores, airplane hangars and metal
working plants were close runners-up. But
what is still more pertinent is the fact that
the west coast states were linked with the cen
tral and mid-Atlantic states as an area of high
est incidence. And even more pertinent 22 of
the greater fires occurred at plants outside city
limits, "beyond normal fire protected areas."
The tragedy of death more than 10.000 fa
talities were recorded in fires of 1945 came
more frequently in conflagrations at private
homes which averaged an estimated 1000 a day.
So it is not only greater fire protection of
major plants, but greater care at home, that
is vitally essential to reduce a menace which
threatens to cost the nation a half-billion dol
lars this year.
Behind the Nevs
By PAUL MALLON
(Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc. Re
production in whole or in part strictly prohibited.)
WASHINGTON. Jan. 30 The Pearl Harbor In
v estimation has cleared the air over the greatest
naval -disaster of all history, only by dividing the
fog into two parts. If you look carefully through
the accumulated mass of testified details, you will
find there is not much remaining confusion about
the facts. But there is such a divergence of Interpre
tation over what the facts mean that an -agreed
repon is impossible, ine aemo-
crats will write one version, the
republicans another. Any objective
historian will have to seek to as
sign the blame; in future, calmer,
non-political years.
But he can start with the follow-
Iing conclusions which represent
the studied impression of impar
tial observers who have heard it
all and were canvassed by me
LJikJUimmmmmmJtoT their personal conclusions:
paBi sisiioa Adra. Kimmel and Gen. Short
cleared themselves of lone responsibility and re
quired Washington to share the blame. They showed
they had not been advised sufficiently of informa
tion in the possession of Washington official! to
take the precautions necessary ; or otherwise pre
pare themselves for such a-disaster. They did not
escape responsibility, but" the evidence, showed
clearly why Washington never dared court-martial '
them.
FDR Escapes Lightly
Everyone here, in the White: House, army and
navy, failed to escape. Mr. Roosev el tt escaped lighter
than the others. His name was brought into the
inquiry only in connection with his efforts, a year
or more earlier, to keep the fleet based in Hawaii
Instead of on the west coast. He was proved re
sponsible for the over-all policy which kept the
fleet there.) By inference he shares some degree of
the responsibility of Gen. Marshall and navy for
failing to make their Hawaiian agents aware of
an attack they knew was coming somewhere. Their
testified excuse is that they got their information
from' secret code and did not want to use the
normal avenue of communication, including the
telephone, for fear the Japs would find out their
code had been broken by us
Ne Secret Agreement
Mr. Roosevelt also was shown to have been re
sponsible for moving three batleships, an aircraft
carrier and several destroyers into the Atlantic,
earlier, thereby weakening the fleet, but it was
not shown definitely, as suspected, that he and
Churchill had an agreement for aggressive parallel
diplomatic action against Japan (some contended
this provoked the Japs to attack).
Washington did know the Japs had established
a "wind code" to notify their outlying forces ("east
wind rain" meant a break with the United States).
But the committee never found that a message
executing this code had, been received here.
The Roberta commission is supposed to have seen
one and a naval commander said he saw one, but
no one could find it. Many facts of the Roberts
investigation were confused when War Secretary
Stimson and Navy Secretary Forrest a 1 both sent
Investigators out checking, but these confusions
do not alter the fact that it is practically impos
sible to point to one or two men and say he or
they were wholly or chiefly '. to blame.
As one democratic committeeman finally put it,
everyone from "the highest in Washington to the
lieutenant in Hawaii who misinterpreted the radar
report muffed the situation." j r-v t - v
Paging Hairbreadth Harry!
Tho Literary
Giiidopost
Dy W. G. Rogers
THK LONG NOVttVISKK, br Jtnn
Hnsa Mat-la (Daltea; Z.M-
Joe Mack, nipped by a sniper
in the shoulder, hides in an
Italian house for the three hours
until dark when he plans to slip
by 'the Germans who fill the
street outside the windows,
j This was not his first tight fix.
Born in Canada but spending
some years in this country, he
was a child in World War I, a
young fellow trying desperately
to earn a living during the de
pression, a rich man when Hitler
Cut 'loose. He smuggled liquor
across the border, dug meals out
of refuse dumped in Chicago al
leyways, bunked at the Salva
tion J Army, worked as truck
driver's helper, labored danger
ously in a mine. The one thing
he seems not to have lacked was
women.
Waiting in some pain for the
moment when he can flee to his
own lines he recalls all the long
Novembers since 1029. Though
thoughts of Steffie, the girl he
loved, come oftenest to his mind,
he reviews with some bitterness
and sarcasm the services ren
dered him by the countries which
now expect their1 money back,
which put him in uniform and
send' him out to fight. He was
starved, cheated, deprived of hi
girl; he saw labor repressed and
the' rich prosper.
It isn't his war, he decides, any
more than it was his kind of a
society which recruited him.
Bearing a neat little wound, he
can go back home to safety. At
least that's his intention during
most of his three hours' wait.
This is a tough, young, eager
book, told in clipped, masculine
language by Joe Mack himself. It
may! be QI M?ck, or thousands
of the boys instead of just one.
And: where it is a little too loud
voiced; to be literature, it's apt
to be that worthy substitute, life.
CAN TOW TOP TSHS? jr
GRIN AND BEAR
l1' 4 l
"New, Otis, when yea meet father try U make a food ImpresaJon-
, i f try ( ,let blsn think he knows aa much aa yea del"
LI U U I a Y U
n j n n I i ri l
(Continued From Page 1)
manufacturer "fills the pipeline"
to all his outlets and furnishes a
few pieces to each dealer his
production is pretty well ab
sorbed. There is a pent-up de
mand from nearly five years of
self-denial which cannot be met
In the spare of a few months.
A present threat is the ateel
strike. Enormous quantities of
steel sheets are consumed in the
manufacture of refrigerators,
washers, ranges. The equipment
manufacturers probably did not
have large inventories when the
strike broke and halted da
liveries. Whet, the stocks on
hand are used up, the produc
tion line will have to stop un
til -steel manfacturing is re
sumed. Why not sefl the present
samples now on' dealers' floors?
Because they have been shipped
by the manuacturer solely for
display purposes; and franchose
agreements often require such
exhibition. First automobiles are
in the same category. They are
held for display of glories to
come, but are not being sold at
present.
The lady's plaint carries a
warning to businessman and
manufacturer. The public is go
ing to get tired of excuses be
fore long. The war is over; pro
duction should start and deliv-
4 fort, Barry ersfcfUUI an
In I .a aria, Jr. (DMtor; StJS).
Here in black and white are
gags of the professional funny
men heard over NBC. Sometimes
they're good for a laugh, but
sometimes they work pretty hard
for their money, or for yours.
IT
By Lichty
eries should follow in increas
ing volume. If they do not the
public which has waited with
great patience thus far will be
come not just irritated, but irate.
Manufacturers, workers, merch
ants all have a responsibility to
the consumers whom they have
undertaken to supply with es
sential goods. They should all
"get in line" to furnish the sup
plies the people greatly need and
are able to pay for.
Oregon Navy
Man Praises
Hlsey, Stassen
Commodore Roger Simpson,
who commanded a destroyer flo
tilla in Adm. William Halsey's
famed task force 38, visited Wed
nesday with his cousin, Mrs. Bill
Dolf, 495 N. Summer st. Simpson
grew up in Oregon, graduating
from Newport high school. After
two years at the University of
Oregon he was appointed to An
napolis in 1917 and made the
navy his career.
In the early days of the war
Simpson was in command of a
destroyer in the south Pacific and
later of a group of destroyers. He
took part in the long running
fight with the Jap fleet in the
Solomons when American naval
forces were slight. Later, after a
tour of duty in the states. Simp
son rejoined Admiral Halsey to
command a flotilla in the closing
days of the war. His ships were
the first to enter Tokyo bay, ar
riving there August 29.
His assignment at Tokyo was
to rescue U. S. prisoners of war.
He had as his chief of staff Com
mander (now Captain) Harold E.
Stassen, loaned from Halsey's
staff. In three weeks they got
out the prisoners from the Tokyo
area, some of whom they found
in most deplorable conditions.
Simpson has high praise for
CapUin Stassen, finding him an
executive of excellent judgment.
He is aim highly eulogistic of
Admiral Halsey, under whom he
served through much of his navy
career. Halsey's remark at the
beginning of 1942 that Hirohito
would regret that he started the
war before the end of that year
was sheer bluff, but it worked,
says Simpson, to hold back the
Jap fleet at Truk and give Amer
icans time; to build up their fleet.
"All America got into the war,"
was Simpson' comment. "Our
great production of ships and
planes and supplies was what
enabled us to win."
Simpson's home is in Iong
Beach. He will soon go out to
Okinawa on his next tour of duty.
Mammoth Tourist
Trade Expected
GRANTS PASS, Jan. 31 -UP)
Oregon will have mere tourists
than can be handled by present
tourist courts and similar accom
modations, Harold Say, state
highway commission travel bu
reau director, told auto court ope
rators here last night.
n Bancroft Wells of the Port
land Chamber of Commerce aald
his organization was spending
$80,000 to sell Oregon to Ore
gomans, to attract tourists, and
to school those who meet tourists
in the best methods of treating
them to assure repeat visits. .
Battered Body
Identified in
California Case
SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF.,
Jan. 31 -(P)-Sheriff Emmet Shay
announced tonight that the body
of a woman found Wednesday
night near Fontana, had been
identified by Ernest Mieglitz of
Los Angeles as that of his wife.
Alice, 33.
Shay said Mieglitz told him
that his wife left Los Angeles
last Tucaday by bus to visit a
friend; Mrs. Anita Allele, in San
Bernardino, but she never reach
ed there. The husband saw a
picture of the woman's dress
and jewelry in a newspaper, came
here and, after viewing the body,
positively identified her, Shay re
ported. The body was found in a lone
ly wasteland section, the head
badly battered and the right hand
nearly severed. Dr. Albert Hirst,
autopsy surgeon! said he discover
ed more than SO separate frac
tures of the skiill.
When she left home, Mieglitz
said, his wife had about 150 in
her purse. The purse and money
have not been found, but some
jewelry remained on her fingers.
Mieglitz is an employe of a Los
Angeles streetcar company.
25,970 Troops
Expected at
Ports Today
By th A woe U ted Prms
More than 25.970 veterans are
due to return to this country on
31 vessels at four west and two
east coa.st ports today.
West coast arrivals: San Fran
cisco, 8068 personnel, 12 vessels.
Los Angeles, 3527. three ships.
San Diego, at least 6674, five.
Seattle. Wash., one vessel. 1280.
At I os Anaeles
Miscellaneous on following:
Westmoreland, Oahu, 137; Sea
Rudder. Yokohama, 2187; Morri
son R. Waite. Noume A, 13.
At Seattle
USS General Pmkney from
Sasebo, 1280 miscellaneous.
At San Diege
Assault transport Wakefield
finm Tsingtao, China, 6653 per
sonnel including units of.. First
and Sixth marine divisions, navy
and coast guard.
Miscellaneous on following ves
sels: Destroyers Orleck and Craig,
Canal Zone, 21 navy; auxiliary
ships YF 889 and YF 890 from
Pearl Harbor. ' no passenger in
formation. At San Francisco
Miscellaneous personnel on fol
lowing: General Mitchell, 119
navy, 5169 army; Montour from
Okinawa, 1424 navy; Santa Crui
from Kwajalein, 351 navy," 743
army; Valencia, 151 navy; C.
Brannon from Pearl Harbor, 54
navy; Harris from Pearl Harbor,
57 navy; Unicoi, Wakeforest Vic
tory, Dufhilo, Haas and Davis
Shanks, few each.
Club Carnival
Royalty Meet
Student Body
The Civics Club Carnival prin
cesses were introduced at a for
mal introduction ceremony in the
Salem high school auditorium
Thursday morning. The nineteen
candidates for queen and .their
escorts are: Mariann Croisan, Jim
Barlow; Beverly Kenney, George
Adams; Pat Larson, Dick Close;
Jean Hatfield, Del Kleen; Jean
DooUtUe, Frank BrowneU; Nellie
King, Jerry Hayes; Carolyn Da
vis, -Johnny Bull; Madeleine
Keene, Don BeiU; Lea-sa Vandi
ver, Wayne Hauser; Del ores
Clenat, Pete Hoar; Joyce Even
son, Don Johnson; Barbara Sun
dett, Al Bellinger; Pat Agee, Don
Pickett; Mary Reimann, Bud
Creir; Avis Steimer, Webby Ross;
Joan Randall, Vem Each; Lorn a
Arnold, Doug Carter; Miriam
Shellenberger, Bunny Mason, and
Dorothy Bergsvik, Dalton Hobbs.
The student body election of
queen will take place Monday,
but the winner will not be pre
sented until the night of Febr
uary 8. The two girls next high
est in votes will be crown prin
cesses at the carnival.
Yakima (iherry
Men Invite Ixral
Growers to Meeting
The Cherry Institute of Yaki
ma, Wash., has extended an in
vitation to Marion county cherry
growers to attend a cherry in
stitute meeting in Yakima Sat
urday. The program is arranged to
permit cherry growers to discuss
their problems with each other
and with agricultural leaders of
Washington. President George L.
Oliver of Yakima has advised.
Subjects listed for presentation
by Washington cherry leaders in
clude the cherry virus situation,
orchard fertilization, fruit fly con
trol, cherry poll nation and air
plane spraying. f'
Opening session jln called for
9:45 am The discussions will
continue through the day.
Board Shortens
nterview Hours
To speed handling of sugar ap
plication, Marjoiie Leo, OPA
rationing reprenentative, announc
ed this week in Portland that no
"petsonal, interviews" will be
given to applicants after 3 pm.
each day, in order that her small
staff may have a few hours to
act on applications by mail which
rnmpunf the bulk of the work
load.
The .tad in the Bedell building
now handles sugar rationing for
the entire Oregon district includ
ing southwestern Washington
counties. Sugar applications, ex
cept thott for industrial and in
stitutional users, are available at
local boards, she said.
Labor Request
Rejected by
Chile Leader
SANTIAGO. Chile. Friday. Feo
1 -Acting president Arfredo
Duhalde announced today that, the
government had decided it could
not grant radical party demands
for reorganization of the cabinet
alng leftijd lines one of the con
ditions lail down by the Chilean
labor confederation in return for
railing off a .general strike.
Duhalde said that reorganization
of the cabinet at the present time
would only add to general unrest
and might precipitate a new do
mestic crisis.
Only a short time before Du
halde made his announcement
leaders of the confederation of
j labor had issued a communique
i protesting the government's delay
I in living up to promises which
J the confederation said it had re
I reived before calling off the gen
j era I strike.
It was expected that the power
ful radical party, member of the
leftist popular front which put the
present regime in power, would
reply to Duhalde's announcement
with a manifesto withdrawing its
support of the government.
Mountains Still
Offer Hazards
To Motorists
Oregon highway c o n d i 1 1 ons
were improved today,, with roads
almost normal except in the
mountains and a few eastern Ore
gon points.
The highway commission's daily
road report included:
Government Camp Snowing,
11 inches new snow, total snow
84 inches. Temperature 38 de
grees, packed snow throughout
district.
l Santiam J u n c t i o n Snowing
lightly. 30 degrees, half Inch new
II17T . 1 Wl 1 9WW m SUII1IIIII I I I
inches, at. Junction 68 Inches.
i'hains advised.
Odell Lake Snowing lightly. 21
egrees. Total snow at summit 136
inches. Packed snow on Willam
ette highway east of Milepost 46,
which partly sanded but chains
advised. One-way traffic above
oakridge.
Siskiyou Summits-Packed snow
very slick. Chains necessary.
; Klamath Falls All mads in
district sanded. j
Movie on Optometry
Shown to VeU at YMCA
The Tuture of Sight." a film
depicting the need for optome
frists and explaining the profes
sion, was shown at the YMCA
Thursday night to a group of war
Veterans.
i It waa the first meeting of a
Vocational series being planned
by the YMCA veterans' commit
tee. The YMCA movie "Men of
Tomorrow" also was shown.
Dlaaaonds
Watches - Jewelry
Just one mt the many fine
diamond eng agesBeat rings
yea will And at Stevens.
Alee tMtehed acts and dla
snend wedding rings.
329 Court
O
Budget Payments