4 CapltalJournnl, Salem, Oregon, Thursday, Sept. 21, 1944
CapitaljJournal
SALEM, OREGON
IRTABMflllKD MARCH 1. IHI
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The Associated Press U excluatvely entitled to the uae for publication ot all newa
aispstehei credited to tl or otherwise credited in thu paper, and also local news
published herein.
Line Against Inflation Crumbling
Election is nearing. For the second time in a week the
War Labor Board panel has declared that the "Little Steel"
wage ceiling freezing wages at 15 percent above January
1941 can be broken to keep earnings abreast of the cost of
living, and that the president has the power to modify wage
controls. The latter ruling was in the case of the United
Electrical Radio and Machine Workers, CIO, demanding a
17-cent hourly wage boost. A week ago another WLB panel,
reviewing a wage increased asked by CIO steel workers
made similar findings.
These rulings are preparatory for the president to per
sonally make a political decision before election day grant
ing some appeasement from the "Little Steel" formula and
grease the skids for inflation in the interest of the fourth
term. If such action is taken it will amount to a repudia
tion of the policies and promises that the administration
has hitherto made. In his executive order of April 8, 1943,
Mr. Roosevelt said:
"To hold the line we cannot tolerate further Increases In prices
affecting the cost of living or further increases in general wage
or salary rates except whore clearly necessary to correct sub
standard living conditions. The only way to hold the line is to
stop trying to find justifications for not holding it here or not
holding it there. No one straw may break a camel's back, but
there is always a last straw. We cannot afford to take further
chances In relaxing the line. We already have taken too many."
On the first anniversary of the "hold the line against in
flation" order this year a joint statement signed by Fred
M. Vinson, director of economic stabilization, Chester
Bowles, OPA administrator, Marvin Jones, war food ad
ministrator, and William H. Davis, chairman of the WLB,
declared:
"The general level of the cost of living has not been permitted
to rise. Indeed, the cost of living as a whole is slightly lower
than it was a year ago today. . . . Only by decisive action to halt
the rise of wages could the pressure of costs on prices be kept
within manageable limits."
Last April Mr. Vinson stated that if labor unions were
successful in their effort to smash the Little Steel formula
it would be a "short time winner at the economic roulette
table" as everyone would be the loser in the price rise and
inflationary period certain to follow. And testifying before
a senate committee he said: "As far as I am concerned I
have no intention or purpose to break the Little Steel
formula."
It will be interesting to watch whether the president, for
political reasons, will precipitate a dangerous inflationary
situation, thus adding another to his long list of broken
promises.
Philippines Next
It is no violation of censorship for military security to
point out that the Philippine Islands are the next likely
target for American forces in the Pacific. The current air,
naval and land attack on the Palau Islands and on the other
direct approaches to the Philippines indicate that Gen. Mac
Arthur is preparing to take the last step on his "way back."
That is so obvious that even the Japs cannot be but fully
aware of our intentions.
The coming battle for the Philippines is not dictated
solely by sentimental reasons. For strategically this group
of islands represent an important goal. Already the open
ing punches from the air are being delivered by land based
as well as carrier based planes. D-day wilh its landings may
come any day now and its results may well be decisive in the
final outcome of the war.
Nothing, with the exception of Russia's entry into the war
against Japan, could be a more overwhelming blow at the
Japs than the capture of the Philippines. The enemy knows
this and can be expected to put .up a desperate all-out de
fense. Their stakes are the vital resources of the occupied
sections of the Dutch East Indies, French Indo-China and
Burma. A glance at your map will reveal the importance
to the Japanese of the Philippines, which dominate the sea
routes between the Japanese home islands and all of her
possessions south of Formosa. Through the South China
sea now flows all of the enemy's supplies of rubber, rice,
iron, hemp, tin, cotton, tungsten and other vital war mate
rials. It is also the highway of supplies for the Japanese
armies in the occupied lands to the south. American occu
pation of the Philippines would close all of these lines of
supply to the Japs.
Besides its fleet which is presumed to be hiding somewhere
in that vicinity, the Japs are reported to have around 200,000
ground troops in the Philippines and are said to be con
stantly reinforcing their defenses there. The looming bat
tle for control of these strategic islands may well be the
greatest and most decisive of the entire Pacific war.
Legal But Revealing
Disclosure that democratic organizations are campaigning
for soldier votes by direct letter is illuminating but not
illegal, nor even unethical. Any candidate for public office
or his partisans has as much right to appeal to servicemen
as civilians through the mails. We have not yet pretended
to dictate what our citizens may 'read in the way of political
literature simply because they are wearing the uniform of
their country.
Hut the origin of the letters being circulated is revealing
in its expose of the interests seeking President Roosevelt's
reelection. The first of the letters reported were circulated
among the servicemen by Boss Hague's henchmen of Jersey
City. Now it appears that Boss Kelly of Chicago is up to the
same tricks.
The letters being addressed to the soldiers are accompa
nied by an application blank for a soldier ballot. The letter
wastes no time in preliminaries but gets right to the point
in this language: "Franklin D. Roosevelt has been nomi
nated for reelection as president of the United Slates. Feel
ing that you wotdd like to vote for him in the forthcoming
election of Nov. 7, 1911, we deem it not only our privilege
but our duly to aid you in doing so. We enclose herewith
an application for a ballot."
To make sure that the party gets full advantage of every
soldier's vote cast, the letter outlines the procedure of casting
a ballot in this manner: "The simplest and quickest way to
indicate your loyal support is to make a cross (X) in front
of the word democrats at the top of the first column on the
ballot. One single cross in that circle means a vote for
every one of our candidates."
Thus the big city machines are applying their proven
tactics of getting out the vole to the absent servicemen who
might not otherwise go to the trouble of securing and casting
an absentee ballot. All this to assure the retention of the
"indispensable man."
'OtTe roam ?,";.l'g''!!I"y J J' I'ppiudi
BELGIUM j&Knct 2i - JEm. J
HieWar Today
By DeWitt Mackenzie
An Interpretative analysis ot
war developments by a fam
ous Associated Press war correspondent.
German Flank Menace Grows uh Arrows locate allied drives,
including a union of British Second army and allied airborne
troops reported near Nijmegen in Holland to increase the threat
(broken arrow) to the German right flank. American First
army guns shelled German towns of Duren (A), and Prum (B).
ror
By Don Upjohn
Supper
David Eyre, vice-president of
Ladd & Bush branch of the Uni
ted States National bank, came
into possession of a $20 bill
yesterday which caused his eyes
to pop .out a little. He took a
glance at the bill and saw his
own signature looking up at
him and on the other side of the
bill the signature of Linn C.
Smith. The bill was issued by
the old United States National
bank of which Dave was presi
dent and Linn was cashier and
has been passing around for
Novelties
In the News
(By the Associated Press)
No Ideas?
Hartford, Conn. Whether
or not the pace was too swift,
they didn't say, but the Idea-a-Month
club of Norwich acted
on their latest idea and have
filed papers of final dissolution
with the secretary of state's of
fice here.
Firewater
Grand Coulee, Wash. Water
dripped from a truck up on a
grease rack just a drop or two.
It struck an extension cord
lamp bulb, which shattered,
igniting nearby gasoline. The
entire garage went up in flames.
Soured
Boise, Idaho Letter from
Harold J. Liicke of Gooding to
state republican headquarters:
"Enclosed find sight draft
in my favor in amount of $9.10,
being a'mount of my milk sub
sidy from the democratic ad
ministration. I have never be
fore drawn on the milk subsidy
or any of the money to which
I was entitled under the triple
A program, but from now on,
I intend to endorse them over
to the republican party, to be
used as a boomerang on the
democrats. Make good use of
it."
Hep! -
Kmgsburg, Calif. Young
Donald Danielsen noticed the
cadets at St. Mary's preflight
school drilling with wooden
guns just what he and his
gang needed. Yes, said the
school commander, the school
had some old ones w h i c h
weren't being used any more,
but he didn't have authority to
dispose of them.
So Donald wrote to President
Roosevelt. Now the gang is hard
at drill.
well over 10 years, anyway, as
it had to be issued before 1933.
Dave opines he'll hang onto this
one, and carry it around for
identification purposes as to his
signature. It must have been
nice in the good old days to be
able to sign a few twenties after
breakfast. It'd be fun, even if
they did belong to somebody
else.
It seems that the S. B. Mills
umbrella marathon which we
started off so blithely last eve
ning to run at least 30 days,
blew up In our face this a.m.,
when a good old time Oregon
soaker deluged the streets and
caught people with their rain
coals hanging on the pegs at
home. Incidentally today's rain
is a rather stern and timely re
buke to the guys who have come
up again with the one that the
climate around here is changing.
We received from an anony
mous correspondent this a.m.
a cucumber over a foot long
and about six inches around the
tummy. But he didn't remain
anonymous long, as we set our
staff of special operatives at
work aod in no time found same
came from that busy, and versa
tile barber, Len Gibbons, who
gets his wife out at 1:30 a.m.,
to can peaches. At any rate,
the cucumber is a masterpiece,
even worthy of a place in Dom
inie Swift's watermelon patch to
deceive the night callers.
And as to said melon patch
of said dominie. He confided
to us yesterday he estimates ful
ly 500 people have approached
him in one way or another the
past few weeks with inquiries
as to how his melon patch is
coming on and he opines he has
the best advertised melon patch
in this fertile and well watered
vale. Gosh, if there are 500
people worrying about the prog
ress of the dominie's melons it
looks like we're going to have
some tough competition when
the moon gets right.
The good old downpour to
day should have things Dewey
enough for even Cliff Lewis,
grand imperial potentate of the
republicans hereabouts.
Carl Beatty, who operates the
delivery run for our favorite
paper between here and Inde
pendence and way points, has
taken on a full membership in
the FT & BA and holds a unique
place among novitiates as he's
let himself grow a full beard,
the clapboards and sidings cm
his face being too tender to
monkey around with a razor.
From where I sit ... & Joe MarsK
Keeping American
Homes Intact
Deserted
Moscow, Idaho Robert Eu
gene Jordan, 22, couldn't get
Into the nnvy any other way,
so he told authorities at the
naval radio training station at
the University of Idaho that he
was a deserter. Jumped the
cruiser U. S. S. Lipton in Aus
tralia two years ago, he sniri,
now he wanted to "face it." The
navy said, well, we'll look at
the record ...
He still isn't in the navy.
We're great home lovers In our
town. Family folk like most
Americans. So when war came,
and the boys left In uniform, and
the girls went into war plants,
folks began to shake their heads.
Take lien Ryder's family, for
Instance all doing something
different. Young Ren's In tha
Navy, and his sister's in the air
plane plant. Ren's foreman at
the tool shop, nnct Mn spends her
days al the Canteen.
A broken home? Pont yon be
lieve It ! When Ben relaxes with
his evening glass of beer, and
Mom and Sis sit down to write
their daily letter to Ben Jr.,
they're closer together than ever
. . . bound by a strong and com
mon purpose to keep their fam
ily, their America, Intact.
From where I sit, the strength
of America lies In that family
spirit In the tolerance and ma
tnal respect and understanding
that haTe made the American
family a strong and vital force
for Good!
By J. M. Roberts, Jr.
rsnbstilutlnv lor DeWitt MrKenile)
The battle for Germany,
which for a time appeared
likely .to take place at the
Rhine, has actually begun in
the Siegfried line and watery
Holland and will be decided
there.
That the Germans can take
another terrible beating and
yet retire once more in suffi
cient strength for any real fur
ther stand appears unlikely.
Reports from Arnhem sound
grim. Our troops are reported
surrounded by a bitterly deter
mined enemy. But they were
trained for Just such fighting.
The allied commanders have yet
to blunder in western Europe.
This morning's news that all
airborne units south of Arnhem
have linked up with the British
is a strong indication that the
battle to turn the northern end
of the Siegfried line is still go
ing, as the generals love to put
it, "according to plan."
Crucial Battle Raging
The Germans are fighting to
save themselves in the very ter
ritory where they began the to
tal war in May, 1940.
Two plans of action, which
may merge, seem to be open to
the allies. Holding tremendous
German forces by strong at
tacks south of Holland, every
thing else can be thrown into
an invasion of southwestern
Germany, across the coastal
plains to envelop the great Ger
man ports as those of France
and the low countries have been
enveloped. That would be the
Russian system, with truly de
cisive blows farther south held
in reserve.
On the other hand, the allied
campaign has developed to
oversimplify, almost like three
separate wars. They may have
the strength to continue that
way.
7th Before Belfort
The seventh army on the ex
treme right flank has conducted
its own private ipvasion, has
cleaned up southern France and
stands before Belfort, ready to
invade southwestern Germany,
probably the weakest nazi area
of the reich and where there
has been talk of forming pro
vincial governments for seper
ate truces.
The American first and third
armies have operated all along
seperately from, although in
most c o.m p 1 e t e co-ordination
with, Montgomery's mulli-allied
forces nearer the coast, and are
pointed toward the Cologne
Coblenz area.
Arnhem is the first job. It is
the key to the border and the
grat north Germany highway
system. A gap there would per
mit the allies to flow both east
and south behind the Siegfried
and Rhine defenses, providing
an anvil on which Patton, Hod
ges and Patch could pound the
life out of Germany's entire
western defenses.
Truman's Mother, 92,
Helps in Campaign
Kansas City, Sept. 21 Wi
Mrs. Martha E. Trumap, 92-year-old
mother of the demo
cratic vice-presidential nomi
nee, isn't too old to do a little
campaigning.
Mrs. Truman served as chair
man yesterday of a county group
meeting for women party work
ers and was the first to pledge
that she would assist in the reg
istration campaign by telephon
ing her neighbors and war work
ers who have moved into the
community.
Pericles was born about 490
B C.
Crash Victims
Formerly Hera
Three of the five officers Kin
ed near the Redmond army a:
base Wednesday when their C
45 transport plane crashed, wen
stationed at the Salem air base
early this year, it is recalled b
Brazier C. Small local attorney
who introduced the headquar
ters group at one of the closing
luncheons of the Chamber
Commerce last spring.
Killed in the accident werel
Lt. Col. Ernest C. Young, Still
water, Okla.; Lt. Col. William T.I
Moodv, Glenville, N. C, and
Chief Warrant Officer Clair K
Bensr, San Bernardino, Calif.l
The other two were not known
here nor was the sergeant who
was injured. All the dead offic
ers were members of the staff
of Col. Earl L. Naiden, Monroe,
La., commanding officer of the
317th wing, 4th air force, who
was also killed.
The officers, Small said tatlay,
were highly pleased with' the
Salem air base and did not rel
ish the transfer to the base just
east of the mountains.
Ancient people imprisoned
fireflies in coconut shells tCj
furnish light.
Aa. 95 of StUt
us & I : ,
Kuppenheimer JwiS !
W', s- ' 5FJ:yt mmk
! AN INVESTMENT IN GOOD' APPEARANCE ... AS NATIONALLY ADVERTISED THIS MONTH
Oome men have the personality to go to the top
in a barrel. But most of us would welcome the lift given the man spotlighted
here when he made a Kuppenheimer appearance.
It's a combination of qualities that does it. Qualities'you can see and feel
designing, tailoring, style, fabrics. (And they're all finer than ever today.)
Topped off by a human quality Kuppenheimer's pride in maintaining
a reputation for smart craftsmanship older than many a grand-dad.
Kuppenheimer Suits $50.00 to $60.00
Kuppenheimer Topcoats $42.50 to $60.00
The Man's Shop
MOXLEY & HUNTINGTON
The Store of Style, Quality & Value
4 16 STATE STREET
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24. PAPER DAY IX SALEM
City-wide house-to-house pickup of bundled newspapers, magazines and
old'books by Boy Scouts. Place your bundles on curb in front of residence
or business house before noon Sunday, September 24th. Sponsored by
Marion County Salvage Committee and Boy Scouts.