Capital journal., May 21, 1943, Image 4

i Capital Journal,' Salem, Oregon, Friday, May 21, 1943
Capital Journal
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published herein.
; ' The Cause of High Food Prices
Two news stories in yesterday's press report disclosed the
it rapid upward trend of food prices duriiiK recent weeks and
. 1 ; reveal some of the causes behind the advances.
4 ;! A Washington dispatch quotes the bureau of labor sta-
i t, tistics as authority for the announcement of an advance of
. ', 13.2 per cent in one month in the price ot Iresh vegetables
i '!' and fruits. Sharpest advances were credited to cabbage,
i '-ii green beans and sweet potatoes, all of which jumped 40
per cent during the month ending March 15. White potatoes
i "j advanced 18 per cent and apples 13 per cent. These figures
! constitute the national average and were exceeded in some
i J,' sections of the country, including the northwest.
j The other dispatch, from Seattle, quoting statistics com-
j piled by the U. S. department ot agriculture there, sheds
;i some light on the causes of these price advances. It reveals
'' ''' that Washington state farm workers are now being paid
an average of $103 a month, plus board, as compared with
$60.50 for the same work last year. In Oregon the monthly
j average wage, with board, has risen from $61 in 1942 to
I $97.50 this year. Proportionate advances in wages for farm
hands without board are noted.
At the same time wage scales paid by produce firms and
i retail merchants have advanced in about the same proportion,
I thereby increasing the cost of producing and marketing
vegetables and fruits all along the line from the farm to
I ; the grocer's counter.
I .i And the cause of it all runs right back to the administration
which is now advocating a "hold-the-line" policy of economic
' controls. It was this same administration which encouraged,
i . approved and allowed to get out of hand the wage scales
' which are being paid in the shipyards and other war plants
and that are robbing the farms and food handling agencies
. of their help. Wages of farm hands, produce handlers and
grocery clerks have risen out of sight because employers in
these lines are forced to compete for their help with war
., industries paying exorbitant wages with government sanc-
' tion and connivance. The mounting cost of living, against
which organized labor is protesting so loudly, is, in the last
analysis, the product of its own greed. j
Allies of Our Enemies ,
1 ,i , Some 28,000 CIO workers in vital Detroit war industries
are striking because their local leaders told them to, for
,;. trivial and obscure reasons, in violation of the union's agree
ment. The strikers allege their walkout is because of the
WLB delay in approving increase proposals. It is therefore
another strike against the government itself.
Leo La Motto, director of the Chrysler division of the Uni
ted Automobile Workers (CIO), charges that the current
strikes in Detroit are being "fomented by high officials
of the UAW because of political reasons" and ordered the
men to return to work immediately "in the interest of our
union and the nation at war." His remarks are directed
at Walter P. Rcuther, UAW vice-president and director of
the union's General Motors' department, whom be charges
with assuming jurisdiction over the struck Chrysler plants.
La, Motte continues:
"If these strikes were just up (o the rank and file of workers
.they would never happen. I know that the overwhelming ma
jority of workers are patriotic and are willing to produce the
.implements ot war lor victory. But unfortunately there are
certain individuals within our own union that are ready to sacri
fice the interests of the workers In the shop and endanger the
nation at war to advance their own political aggrandizement."
In his return-to-work appeal, La Motte promised the strik
ers their "just grievances will be taken up through the
proper channel. Sure, workers have grievances and the
WLB has been slow," he said, "but these things can be set
tled without calling strikes."
Within a few days the Chrysler massive tank arsenal will
be closed down and 85,000 persons employed be idle unless
the strikers return to work. How much longer is our com
plaisant administration and congress going to stand for
such organized sabotage ot the nation's war effort by selfish
and irresponsible labor loaders for I heir "own political ag
grandizement?" They see Lewis gels away with it so they
also try it.
A Jap Braggart Passes
AdmirnI Isnruko Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the
combined Japanese fleet, who planned the sneak-attack on
Pearl Harbor and boasted that he would not be content with
capturing Guam, the Philippines and occupying Hawaii and
San Francisco but would dictate peace terms from the White
House, is reported by the Tokyo radio to have been killed
in air combat "on the foremost front" in the South Pacific a
month ago.
Yamamoto was, according to the official Japanese report,
"personally directing the operations in an airplane which
engaged the enemy and died a hero's death in battle aboard
an aircraft carrier in April while directing operations."
Admiral Minoichi Kogn was appointed his successor, and
Yaniamoto's funeral will be observed as a day of national
mourning.
Yaniamolo was a veteran of the Russo-Japanese war in
which he lost three fingers in 1905. He was an expert flier
and formerly headed the Japanese navy's aviation division.
He was a tore-most advocate ot combined sea and air power
and an able naval strategist. As spokesman for the Tokyo
naval command he torpedoed the London naval conference
in 1934 smashing the structure of naval limitations and
ending the warship building truce engineered at the Wash
ington disarmament congress in the early 1920's. He served
king as vice-minister of naval affairs and as naval chief of
staff before being appointed naval commander-in-chief in
1939.
Yaniamolo will be chiefly remembered, not for his long
and distinguished service, but, by Americans at least, for his
typically Japanese blattering braggadocio of dictating peace
in the White House. He was in the same class of Axis
blusterers as Hitler and Mussolini and his boasts about as
futile.
Parental Problems
msaa, By Beck
PUSH
WHILE WAITING FOR THE BIO PARADE VOU
SUDDENLY RECOGNIZE YOUR SON AMONG
THE ClOWNS WHO COULDN'T RESIST A
READY- MADE AUDIENCE.
In Hot Water
Washington The boys who
run the city street washer have
Iheir troubles keeping the capi
tal clean. When the drunk hi
jacked their machine and ca
reened down (lie avenue squirt
ing pedestrians merrily, they
.jot razzed plenty. Ditto the
Jimc a newspaperman noted
jhem busily rinsing off the
lavement during a terrific
downpour.
But they're having the hard
est time living down this one:
They had to call the firemen to
put out a fire on the water wagon.
for Supper
By Don Upjohn
We wish to extend the com
pliments of this column to Miss
Marie Wilkes, a young lady who
resides in the Four Corners dis
trict. She is in her early twen
ties, a graduate of Turner .high
school and attended Northwest
ern Christian college at Eugene
last year. This year, however,
she is at home and doing a top
job of helping to win the war.
Eight hours a day she is doing
heavy work at the ordnance de
partment in the highway shops,
repairing tires or such similar
jobs as are handed over to her.
After that stint she hurries
home, does the chores, has her
evening meal and then trots out
the family Itractor. From then
until dark she has been plowing,
harrowing and seeding various
acreages around in the vicinity
for the neighbors. Her father
is employed in the shipyards,
her mother is ill and her brother
is in the army, so Miss Marie
takes on a from dawn to dark
job in defense of her country
and in defense of her home. The
next time the congressional
medals of honor are being pass
ed around we place our humble
recommendation that Miss
Marie Wilkes be not overlook
ed. In Justice to her let it be
remarked that anything we
have said here will come as
very much of a surprise lo her
the information came from
her friends and by no means
from her. We imagine she may
be equally surprised to learn
that she is a heroine, but such
are our sentiments and the senti
ments of all and sundry who
know her.
One of the last reminders of
the 1940 centennial celebration
in Salem has evaporated, passed
out and gone, another landmark
destroyed. Same is the Van
Dyke beard which flourished
on the chin of Paul Sims, typo
graphical expert and connoiseur
of old books. Paul had quite a
time of it nursing this Van Dyke
along in the pre-cenlennial
days, so when the flurry of
beards was gone with the wind
after the centennial, his remain
ed. But finally he gave up and
the same old Paul has emerged
from behind the shrubbery. "No
more of that for another 100
years," he remarked.
A little birdie tells us that no
one but our old friend Frank
Spears is figuring on getting
into the FT & BA via removal
of the uppers. Don't let the
downey mildew get you, Frank.
We note a proclamation in the
Gervais Sar by Mayor Gus Moi
san for cleanup day in that town
May 24. A very laudable cn-
ternrise. But we suggest to Gus
that where he says in his proc
lamation, "the city of Gervais
will, as usual, have a truck to
haul, tin cans and other refuse
from homes in Gervais," that he
delete the reference to tin cans.
Novelties
In the News
'By th A5.ock1M Press)
Tips From An Expert
Memphis Alonzo Locke, ne
gro waiter at Pcabody hotel for
40 years, will deliver the com
mencement address at Manassas
(negro) high school.
"Alonzo isn't a man of letters
or a college graduate." explain
ed Principal J. A. Hays, "but he
is a graduate of the great school
of experience."
Senator's Wife Dies
Gooding. Idaho. May 21 W
Funeral services for Mrs. Flor
ence Johnson Thomas, wife of
Idaho's Sen. John W. Thomas,
were conducted yesterday by
the Rev. H, G. McCallister, pas
tor of the First Methodist church
of Twin Falls.
Reason to Blush
Great Falls, Mont. The po
lice blame war priorities for
their red faces and un-red auto
mobile. When they drive by In Iheir
newest radio car, they get whis
tles and "yoo-hoos" from the
sidewalk.
The car is painted pink, J
Tin cans no longer are "other
refuse," or "refuse" of any other
kind. They are more essential
in these days than all the gold
buried in the vaults at Fort
Knox, Ky., and should be saved
carefully against the next tin
can cleanup day. But we bet
the Gervais girls pay no atten
tion to the little slip of Gus in
his proclamation and will keep
right on saving the tin cans.
When the foreign war lords
are convicted of war guilt and
punishment mctcd out, we sug
gest for a time, at least, that
they be locked up in cells and
be given a lot of cigarettes but
no matches.
Straw hat came today on
schedule and .Sheriff Andy
Burk appeared in one. Outside
of him their appearance was
pretty skimpy around our
streets.
1 Howell Prairie
Pioneers
Bv
E. B. Fletcher
There was another early day
farm in Hazel Green vicinity, ft
is located just east of where the
Walter Rutherfords now live. It
was noted for its good fence's
and buildings, which were kept
in neat repair by Ames Wood
and his sons, Preston and Lewis.
For many years, Wood's ser
vices as school clerk and his ad
vice on legal papers and legal
proceedings were deemed inval
uable by the neighborhod. I can
remember his large, brown sad
dle horse, how he and the boys
went about on their rounds over
the farm and how he collected
school "rate bills" over the dis
trict, keeping the school provid
ed with teachers, fuel and neces
sary equipment.
Mrs. Wood's maiden name was
Rhoda Sholl. The Ames Wood
family were related lo Matthias
and to "Charley" Swegle, of the
Salem school district, which is
named for him. When Mrs. Mat
thias Swegle died, Mrs. Wood
adopted the youngest child, Ella
Swegle, who was raised in the
Omcr Wood family, later mar
rying Joe Woodworth.
What was then called rheuma
tism, kept Mrs. Wood an in
valid many of the last years of
her life. Preston and Ella Wood
excelled in vocal and instru
mental music. Pear Wood, who
married a daughter of Eugene
Manning, is a grandson of Ames
and Rhoda Wood.
Dunham
Says
Thumbs Down Certain
On Forgiveness Plan
Cake Declines Willkie
Managership Offer
Holding Up of Funds
Peeves Dr. Raver
Hy Paul Dunhamzzn
Washington, May 21 S o m e
sort of a pay-as-you-go tax bill
will be passed before long, but
it's almost a certainty that it
will be thumbs down on any
attempt by the Ruml plan advo
cates to put over their idea of
a year's tax forgiveness. The
house in defeating such a sen
ate bill last Tuesday by a slight
margin put the whole question
back in the lap of the gods. La
bor is dead set against any
Ruml plan, because they say it
would help -the war-made rich
and wealthy class much to the
detriment of the working man
and woman. . The president's
statement a few days, ago along
the same lines put the finislv
ing touch to any Ruml plan idea,
the interpretation being that he
would veto any such bill. Even
the most ardent congressional
supporters of the Ruml plan
doubt their ability lo muster
enough votes to pass such a bill
over a presidential veto. The
northwest delegations were
about evenly divided on the
subject of forgiving all of last
year's tax, but practically all of
them favor a pay-as-you-go
plan. Thousands of income tax
payers, thinking that some sort
of a forgiveness plan would be
adopted this year, only paid one
fourth of their 1942 tax last
March 15. Some cloakroom gos
sip has it that, at this late dale,
it will be impossible to pass any
remedial tax legislation before
the next quarterly tax payment
is due, come June 15.
GOP Scouts Due in July
Advance scouts for the several
republican presidential white
hopes are scheduled to hit Ore
gon and. Washington the latter
part of July. If everything goes
as per program, congress, un
der a gentleman's agreement,
will be running under slow bell
during July and August, a re
cess so to speak. Such a move
will give the lawmakers an op
portunity -to get back home for
a well earned rest and a chance
to visit the home folks, who
do the voting. The freshmen
members from the northwest are
especially anxious to do a lit
tle checking up and fence build
ing with their constituency. The
presidential scouts will be look
ing the field over for conven
tion delegates who can be pledg
ed in advance for their white
hopes. The Willkie scouts will
be the most active in the far
west. It is understood that
Ralph Cake, republican nation
al committee for Oregon, has
been offered the western man
agership for Willkie, but has de
clined, The military high command is
somewhat concerned over the
amount of publicity, celebra
tions and holiday spirit which
is still going on because of the
overwhelming allied victory in
the Tunisian campaign. The
military expected everyone to be
more than jubilant over such a
victory, just as they were, but
they are fearful that too much
celebrating will cause those on
the home front to think the war
is about over, which is far from
the truth. Such thoughts har
bored by the American peo
ple, they fear, will cause a
marked slow-down in the many
necessary war activities, such as
war bond sales, shipbuilding and
voluntary enlistments in the
army and navy. The governor
of Oregon asked for a day of
special celebration, but many
towns in both Washington and
Oregon thought that such a plan
would lead to mistaken ideas,
and hence no celebrations were
held.
Raver Plenty Sore
Here in Washington, D. C,
last Monday (the D. C. means
darn crowded), Dr. Paul Raver,
top hand of the Bonneville pro
ject, appeared before the house
appropriations sub - committee.
The Dr. told the gathering that
he was mighty sore at the WPB
(war production board) be
cause they held up funds that
had been appropriated last year
for the purchase of additional
generators. WPB had put a
stop order on all such construc
tion. Dr. Raver did not ask
the sub-committee for any addi
tional funds for the coming year,
but urged that the appropria
tion granted Bonneville last year
for. installation of additional
generators be made available to
increase Bonneville transmis
sion facilities. The Dr. sidd
Bonneville and Grand Coulee
were now selling better th aln
$1,000,000 worth of power eadh
month and he expected to in
crease this amount to at leafet
$1,750,000 in less than a year
from now. By the end of th)s
'year, predicted Dr. Raver, the
two projects would be prtKc
ing at least 1,300,000 kilowa'tts
of power, compared with 86,400
in 1939. Members of the sub
committee quizzed the Dr. at
some length on the numerous
communications which had been '
received criticizing the build
ing of both dams. The Bonne
ville administrator has had a
long conference with his chief,
Honest Harold Ickes, concern
ing the stalemated negotiations
with the Portland General Elec
tric Co. for the sale of Bonne
ville power. Raver insisted that
part of the PGE system be sold
to different PUDs which are
operating in PGE territory as a
condition for renewal of the
wholesale power contract with
Bonneville, but the power com
pany said no to this proposal
to cut up its property by piece
meal.
I Hg-
"Our men in the service in this war have
pretty definite ideas about what they're
lighting for and the way they want to find
our country when they come back. ..don't
you think so, Judge?"
" I certainly do, George. Just a week or so
ago I was reading in a national magazine the
results of a poll taken among our soldiers.
Each man was given a questionnaire con
taining twenty-five 'assignments' for the
folks at home. He was asked to check the
first five in order of importance to him.
"Out of thousands of replies the first
'assignment' to the folks back home was
"Make sure I'll have a job in my chosen
field of work when I get back'. Number 5 was
"Make sure that Prohibition isn't put over
on us again.'
" When the men in the last war cams
home and found prohibition had been put
over on them behind their backs they were
sore as boils. You can see from what I
just told you how they feel about it this
time, too."
Confttitttl f AlcoMit Amf.f t Jniutiritt, h
The Two That
Make You One
Twinkling side by side in
the finest, largest collec
tion of matched engage
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bands in town . . , you will
find this perfectly mated
pair. The three-diamond
band is engraved by us at
no extra cost.
Solitaire alone $55.00
For the Band alone $9.95
The Matched Pair $57.50
Convenient Terms at
No Extra Cost
STEVENS
SON
&
Manufacturing1 .Jewelers
33! COITRT
Just off Com me trial
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