Congress Opens
Second Session
In Routine Way
Lull Before Storm
Atmosphere Awaits
Presidential Message
Washington, Jan. 6 (P Con
gress convened at noon today in
a liill-oeiore-ine-siorm aimos
olicre. There was no fanfare and
only routine formalities in the
senate and house. But off the
floor the talk was of battles
ahead in an election year over
weighty domestic and foreign
issues.
Traditionally, congress under
takes no business until it receives
the president's annual slale-of-the-union
message. Mr. Truman
will deliver that in person at
1:30 p.m. (EST) tomorrow
It is expected to draw clearly
the lines between the White
House and the republican-con-olled
national legislature on
many matters. Mr. Truman may
give his views say what he
I- fnV MJiin,nH
I aid, military training, powers to
use against high prices.
Most Members Attend
Congress' answer will come
bit by bit in the debates and the
voles of the months ahead while
the November elections draw
closer.
While almost all congress
members were in town for the
session, not all attended the
opening meeting. There were
many vacant seats in both cham
bers, but the galleries drew their
normal crowd of visitors.
Since congress adjourned De
cember 18, Rep, Patrick Drewry,
Virginia democrat, has died.
Drewry's death and the resig
nation of Earle Clements, demo
crat elected governor of Kentuc
ky, left the political lineup in the
house at 245 republicans, 186
democrats, one American-labor-ile
and three vacancies. The oth
er vacancy was caused by the
resignation of Rep. Evan Howell,
Illinois republican.
Lineup in Senate
The senate started off with no
vacancies and a lineup of 51 re
publicans and 45 democrats.
White House aides reported
President Truman has his mes
sage "almost completed." He
called an unusual session of his
cabinet for this afternoon to go
over the message with the mem
bers. The senate was in session on
ly 15 minutes. Sixty-four of tne
96 senators answered its roll
call.
The house met longer. It
takes nearly half an hour just
to call its roll. There were 313
of the 431 members present.
Rep. Ross (R-NY) made a
speech asking an investigation
of the fuel oil situation.
A number of members deliv
ered eulogies of Drewry.
The gulf which divides the
president and the republican
controlled legislative branch was
pointed up perfectly by a new
report that Mr. Truman might
propose higher taxes on corpora
tion profits in order to leave a
margin for low bracket personal
income tax relief without cutting
total government revenues.
Marshall Plan
Washington, Jan. 6 (P) The
administration look some but
not all of the opposition heat
off the Marshall plan today by
funking the $17,000,000,000 cost
estimate for long range economic
aid to Europe.
Suggested by Chairman Van
denberg (R., Mich.) of the senate
foreign relations committee, the
.,,: hqiM ill
congress as removing one major
stumbling block toward approv
al of a four-year recovery pro
gram. However, Senator Millikin of
Colorado, who heads the confer
ence of all republican senators,
made it plain that many in his
party want still other changes
made.
Speaking on a radio program
sponsored by the republican na
tional committee last night, Mil
likin predicted eventual approv
al of the "sane" foreign assist
ance project. But he told his
listeners:
"A decent regard for what is
in the hearts of the American
people requires that the aid shall
not imperil our own economy
and shall be of a nature that will
help our friends abroad help
themselves."
In announcing the administra
tion s decision to drop the
quest for authority to spend up
to $17,000,000,000 toward the re
covery of 18 western European
nations outside the communist
orbit, Vandenberg said there
no change in the $6,800,000,000
estimate for the first 15 months
of the Marshall plan's operation.
And he told a news conference
this figure may lead to "a hell of
a lot of trouble" in congress.
ot of 1
apital
59th Year, No. 5
Entered
matter
Arab Plan io
Hall Partition
Of Holy Land
Jerusalem, Jan. 6 iPi The su
preme command of the Arab al
lied forces (SCAAF) has a three
phase operations plan to pre
vent the partition of Palestine
and right now is about halfway
through phase one, it was learn
ed today from reliable sources.
A military scheme designed
to "make it impossible for the
United Nations to turn Palestine
into Jewish and Arab states" has
been devised in these three
stages, these sources said:
Program Planned
1. Eviction of the Jews from
quarters where the Jews and
Arabs have lived as neighbors.
2. Isolation of Jews of the
north coastal plain and the
southern desert by driving Arab
wedges between them.
3. Final drives to extermi
nate or subjugate Jewish com
munities such as Tel Aviv, Jeru
salem's Rehavia, Haifa's Hadar
Macarmel and hundreds of Jew
ish villages and settlements.
For two weeks volunteer
forces under the unified com
mand, directed from Cairo, have
been engaged in phase one,
which is about half done, the
informants said.
Constant Gunfire
Gunfire sounded almost con
stantly in Jerusalem today as
1,500 beleaguered Jews in the
old city kept up a sniper's duel
with numerically superior Arab
riflemen.
Arab sources meanwhile re
ported that Hagana machinegun
ners had made dawn attacks on
two Arab villages on the out
skirts of Jerusalem but had been
beaten off by the villagers.
(Concluded on Page 11, Column 7)
Greece to Gel
Lend-LeaseArms
Washington, Jan. 6 (U.B The
stale department has given Great
Britain "blanket authority to
transfer any or all of the mili
tary lend-lease equipment it has
in Greece to the Greek govern
ment.
There was no estimate of what
the British still have in Greece
in lend-lease equipment. But
ironically there were vigorous
American complaints two years
ago when the British were using
lend-lease tanks against rebels
in the Greek civil war.
Granting of this unusual au
thority to the British under the
lend-lease settlement agreement
was disclosed in a routine state
department report. It covered
sales of surplus military equip
ment and new authorizations to
Britain to transfer lend - lease
equipment to third countries.
Heretofore, the British have
had to obtain specific authoriza
lions for each transfer. The An
glo-American agreement provid
es that transfer authorizations
will be granted only in cases
where the purposes are conv
patible with the principles of in
ternational security and wel
fare set forth in the charter of
the United Nations."
This blanket transfer author
ity plus the specific authoriza
tion for Britain to transfer near
ly 1,500,000 rounds of various
sized ammunition and the sale of
minesweepers to Greece by the
United States is in addition to
the military aid Greece is re
ceiving under the Greek aid
bill.
13 Castaways
From Bleak Alaska Point
Kodiak, Alaska, Jan. 6 m Thirteen persons, including a
mother and her six children, sped toward Kodiak aboard a coast
guard cutter and navy tug today for hospitalization after being
rescued from an ice-sheathedf " " T . .. .
t ,u. ai i,- .(,i. I pleted yesterday during a lull in
where they had been stranded
for up to five days.
Ten of the frost-bitten survi
vors were aboard the wrecked
cannery tender Spencer, which
smashed into the rocks opposite
Kodiak island New Year's eve
and broke up in the pounding
swells.
All are reported suffering
from frost bite and exposure but
are not believed to be in serious
condition.
The other three were volun
teer rescuers from th .- navy tug
Mataco who struggled to shore
after their small boat overturned
Saturday night in a daring at
tempt to reach the stranded
party.
The Mataco and the cutter
Clover are expected to reach
here around noon (5 p.m. EST)
today.
The rescue, balked for three;
days by 60-mile an hour winds
and gale-tossed seas, was com -
11 eeeond clau
ftt Salem, Oregon
iGreekArmyto
Be Increased
,By 12,000 Men
Athens, Jan. 6 IPi With the
consent of the United States, the
strength of the Greek army is
to be increased by 12,000 men
and the manpower of the na
tional guard is to be boosted to
50,000 men, Premier Themis
tokles Sophoulis announced last
night.
The decision, he said, consti
tutes a reply to the help given
communist rebels by Greece's
neighbors and is intended to en
courage those who defended
and liberated Konitsa in the last
week of the old year. The an
nouncement was issued after So
phoulis conferred for two hours
with Dwight P. Griswold, head
of the American aid mission to
Greece.
132,000 in Army
The size of the army thus will
be swelled from 120,000 men to
132,000. The present strength
of the national guard is 20,000
men, making a total increase for
the two branches of 42,000 men.
At the same time, the U. S.
state department announced in
Washington that as part of the
program to aid Greece in its
fight against communism Britain
had been given blanket author
ity to transfer lend-lease mili
tary equipment to the Greek
government.
The equipment, surplus to
British needs, already is in
Greece, the department said, but
no inventory is available.
Second Raise Authorized
The manpower increase for
the Greek armed forces was the
second authorized by the United
States since the $300,000,000 aid
program went into effect. Last
September a temporary increase
of 20,000 men and an additional
permanent increase of 10,000
men for the army was author
ized. The Greeks had asked an
increase of 70,000 men.
Griswold said at the time that
it could be inferred from the
increase that "reconstruction ap
propriations will be decreased
to allow for, military require
merits."
Press dispatches today said
the guerrillas who attacked Ko
nitsa had been driven from
heights around Bourozani bridge,
west of the city, and that Greek
troops were moving across the
Aoos river in an effort to cut
off rebels trying to withdraw
toward the Grammos mountains
to the northeast.
Trial Opens of
21 High Nazis
Nuernberg, Jan. 6 (UP.) Twenty-one
high - ranking German
diplomats and officials were
brought to trial today before an
American tribunal, charged as
war criminals for helping Hit
ler.
The case against the adminis
trators was opened by Brig. Gen
Telford Taylor, chief American
prosecutor. Presentation of evi
dence will begin tomorrow.
"These men could do much to
obstruct or further Hitler's gen
eral plans," Taylor said in his
opening address.
"They were confronted with
an historic decision whether to
support the evil designs of the
adventurous Austrian paper-
hanger or to endeavor to devel
op and enforce lawful, sane and
peaceful state policies. They
chose the former course.
Rescued
miles from the village of Kana
tak, the scene was unreachable
by land because of high cliffs and
impassable terrain.
Six of the cannery tender's
personel are aboard the Clover,
including two women and a
young boy. They are Miss Alva
Skonbcrg, Mrs. Gus Skonberg,
Calvin Skonberg, 14, Bert Lar
sen, Andrew Skonberg and Jacob
Osbekoff, all of Chignik, Alaska.
The other four members of the
Spencers' crew, also from Chig
nik, are aboard the Mataco. They
are Capt. Axel Carlson, William
Skonberg, Dan Skonberg and
Arthur Skonberg.
The three navy men were sav
ed by a party from the Clover
and transferred to the Mataco.
Lt. (j.g.) E. J. Kratochvil of
Washington, D. C. and two en
listed men, E. W. Kelley and S.
J. Komolo (home towns unavail-
able) comprised the volunteer
1 trio.
Salem, Oregon, Tuesday, January
l4SlP te few
m Bvfe a .... , j jpj 1 1 in w tm i in
Bridge Builders and Stork Race Above, folk isolated on the other side of the collapsed Lumlcer
bridge, including Mrs. Jean Roberts (fourth from left), one of three marooned expectant mothers,
watch hurried construction of temporary Bailey span across the Little North Fork of the Sanliam,
trusting it will reach them before privation and suffering begin. Ccnlcr. left, Otis Binegar, county
employe, swings across a 65-foot depth in the surging Sanliam to expedite project. Center, right,
builders hastily fasten sections to assure safety of expectant mothers. Below, section of Bailey
bridge is rushed across stream as segments are assembled in job involving delicate counter balance.
Co u nty Book Kee p i n g
Criticized by Auditors
The audit report of Bowers, Davis and Hoffman, certified pub
lic accountants, covering financial business of Marion county for
the fiscal year ending July 31, 1947, just filed with the county
court offers a number of general comments on corrections the
auditors suggest.
Included in these following
an' examination of the county
budget were criticisms that the
estimated delinquency for the
current year's levy was not de
termined for all funds; that cer
tain of the estimated ependitures
were not itemized to the extent
that the budget laws seem to re
quire, and that the expendable
surplus used to reduce the prop
erty tax levies on the various
funds appeared to be consider
ably less in some funds than
the actual amount which could
have been used in reducing the
tax levies as provided by law.
(Concluded on Page 11, Column 8)
Export Orders
For Oregon
Washington, Jan. 6 P N. E.
Dodd, undersecretary of agricul
ture, advised Senator Cordon
(R-Ore), today that the agri
culture department has received
no reports that any flour mills
in the Pacific northwest have
been forced to close because of
inability to get wheat.
"We heard, however, that some
millers in the Pacific northwest
are apprehensive that they may
not receive export orders for
enough flour to keep their mills
running at near capacity
throughout the year,'' Dodd add
ed in a letter made public by
Cordon.
"We discussed this matter
with the officials of the Millers'
National Federation and the j
Flour Millers' Export associa- J
tion, who report that although !
there appears to be sufficient -supplies
of wheat available to
the mills in the Pacific north-1
west, the mills are concerned
'about export orders for flour,
because their milling has always
been largely for export, com-,
pared with mills in other sec-:
lions of the country." J
Dodd said that since Decern-1
ber 9 the commodity credit cor
poration has placed orders with j
far western mills for 39 million j
pounds of flour for shipment!
through Pacific coast ports, of'
which 24 million pounds was or
dered from mills in Oregon,
Washington and Idaho.
6, 1948
tf5, M
Trucker Tells
Of TNT Loads
Belleville, N. J.. Jan. 6 Pi A
New Jersey truck driver went
back on the road today for the
Hoffman Motor Trucking com
pany after telling of a Pennsyl
vania rendezvous to pick up
"machinery" that turned out to
be part of a shipment of 65,000
pounds of TNT marked for Pal
estine. Charles Loguidice, 39, of East
Orange, was bound with another
consigned in Wilmington, Del.,
today. Before he departed he
told of his adventure in Penn
sylvania. This was his story:
On Dec. 29 he received orders
to go to Pipersville, Pa., near
Easton, with three trucks and
meet a "Mr. Wilson" from the
Machinery Processing & Con
verting company. He recruited
crews and set off for Pipers
ville. There he met a man who in
troduced himself as "Moe" and
who was driving a jeep. He
recognized the man as one whom
he had seen around a Bronx. N
Y., warehouse where he had
made previous shipments.
The caravan, led by "Moe,"
moved two miles toward Easton
and then off on a country road
through heavy woods, finally
slopping at an isolated farm
house with a huge barn.
If
WAR COMES
DURING 1948!
Where Would the Explo
sion Occur?
raL-- ' J Drew
xCfl earson
Ik V For the
IXf' I Answer
Drew Pearson's timely articles
appear daily in the Capital
Journal.
Price Five Cents
Now in Place
County Commissioners Roy
Rice and Ed Rogers and County
Engineer Hedda Swart returned
Monday night from the work
where a Bailey bridge is being
installed on the little north fork
of the Santiam to replace the
old Lumkcr bridge, said that the
new structure would be in place
by Tuesday evening at he latest
to allow foot traffic, at least.
They said some more work is
necessary before truck travel
can go over such as building up
the bridge with timbers over the
concrete piers at the ends on
which the old bridge rested and
getting the approaches in shape.
but it was expected vehicular
traffic could go through very
soon.
Commissioner Rice said (hat a
15-ton load limit will be placed
on the new bridge. Inasmuch as
most log trucks weigh about
eight tons this will allow about
a log at a time to be carried
It was estimated the load on
the truck which smashed
through the bridge weighed
something over 33 tons and the
truck itself eight tons which is
Indicative of how much loads
must be sealed down on the tem
porary structure
The temporary bridge, the
type used by the army in the
late war, will replace the wood
en structure which collapsed a
week ago under the weight of a
logging truck
Abolish Eggless Thursdays
But Meatless Tuesdays Stay
Washington, Jan. 6 P' Proposals to set up meat rationing ma-
rhinnrv nn a slanri-hv h.isic wnn Ihp nrinrsement loriav of Srna-
Itors Ives (R., N.Y.) and Murray
I While the meal issue simmer
ed. President Truman's cabinet
food committee decided to elim-
inatc ggless Thursdays after
this week but to continue its ap
peal for meatless Tuesdays.
James A. Stillwcll, food con
servation director, announced
that this step is being taken be
cause of a seasonal increase in
the supply of eggs.
Stillwcll noted on behalf of
the cabinet food committee that
the supply of livestock, on the
other hand, is diminishing. The
committee took the stand that
for this reason it is imperative
that meatless Tuesdays be con
tinued even though meat "may
be offered in non-co-operating
restaurants and hotels."
The meatless and eggless days,
along with poultryless days,
Board Balks on
Architects' Fee
For Building
Board of Control
Lets Contract for
Wrecking Houses
Payment of a six percent arch
itcct's fee for the proposed $2,
000,000 state office building in
Salem was vigorously protested
today by State Treasurer Leslie
Scott at a meeting of the board;
of control, on the grounds that) additional water to already swot
no contract had been entered in- ien streams.
to between the state and White- Warnings have gone out from
house. Church, Newberry and i the U. S. weather bureau to all
Rochr, Portland architects, and!scctions staling there will be
a lower fee is in order. I considerable damage and calling
It was pointed out that the old
board had sent a letter to the
architects authorizing drawing
of plans for an office building at
the time when only $1,000,000
had been appropriated by the
legislature. When the legisla
ture increased this appropriation
to $2,000,000 the old board ask
ed for revision of plans by the
architects but no formal contract
was entered into.
Scott's Contention
Treasurer Scott contended
that the state now has a legal
right to make any changes in its
specifications for the architects,
including fees which he plainly
held should be lower than six
percent on the second $1,000,000.
Representatives of the archi
tectural firm will be invited to
attend the board next week to
discuss a formal contract.
Consideration of a resolution
authorizing the borrowing of
$2,000,000 from the state land
board to finance the cost of con
structing the office building was
also delayed for one week in or
der to allow members of the
board an opportunity tostudy the
resolution which was drafted by
the attorney general's office.
To Wreck .Mansions
An offer by Charles Madsen,
Salem home wrecker of $911.14
for the E. C. Miles home, 993
Court street and $711.12 for the
Charles K. Spaulding home, 965
Court street, was accepted by
the board with a stipulation that
the bidder furnish a jjipnd of
$1000 to insure proper cleanup
of debris after the wrecking of
the two houses. Under the agree
ment the wrecking work must
be completed within 90 days.
The board abandoned a plan
of moving the Thayer home, lo
icated on the site o( the proposed
'office building when it was
i found the costs were excessive.
U was first proposed that the
home might be moved and used
for state departments. How
ever, Roy Mills, secretary.' of the
board, reported that the moving
costs would aggregate $14,000,
a suitable site would cost ap
proximately $16,000 and repairs
to the building after moving and
landscaping the grounds would
add another $6,000 to the cost of
the project, bringing the total
cost to $35,000.
Io Sell Thayer Home
The board decided that after
the state has acquired the homes
of A. N. Bush and Mrs. C. H
Robertson, both of Capitol street
and the only property on the
new office building site not now
owned by the slate. The Thayer
home will be offered for sale
and bids along with the Bush
and Robertson homes.
A ruling of the old board lim
iting solicitation for funds from
state employes during working
hours lo (he Red Cross and Com
munity Chest was reaffirmed.
Members of the board made it
plain that they did not oppose
other financial drives but fell
that constant solicitation of state
employes would interfere with
their work.
Boys' School Changes
Three changes in the contract
of W. C. Smith Co, contractors
on the new buildings at the Boys
school were adopted by the
board and two recommendations
were turned down. Approved
were changes calling for instal
lation of a three-foot gate at a
cost of $95.70, a change in hard
ware at an additional cost of
$87.45, and a change in the fac
ing on the gymnasium building
IConrlmled on Pag 13, Cfllumn 7)
(D., Mont.).
- f
were inaugurated last Uctober to
save grain for relief shipments
abroad. Poultryless Thursdays
were abandoned in November.
The agriculture department
has predicted a meal shortage!
will develop in the spring. With!
this in mind. Senator Flanders!
(R., Vt.) plans to introduce leg-j
islation which would authorize j
the department to make plans
for meat rationing.
Under Flanders' proposal, still
another act of congress would be
required to put rationing into
effect.
The bill being drafted by
Flanders contemplates no price
controls on meat. Ives said he
was glad of that because price
ceiling "would curtail produc
tion" of meat.
Flood Looms
In Willamette
And Tributaries
Heavy Rains Raising
Streams 22 Ft. Crest
In Salem Friday
Flooding rivers at points
throughout the Willamette val
ley are due, starting Wednesday
morning at Eugene, following
heavy downpours of rain during
the night and Tuesday to add
on farm owners to protect live
stock and property as best they
can.
Many secondary highways ar
expected to be inundated and
the old route of highway 99. Al
bany to Corvallis, also will b
flooded but the new part of the
route over lowlands may be
above water, the weather bur
eau stales.
Crest 22 Feet Friday
While the Willamette and its
tributaries all will be flooding
the conditions generally is not
expected to be as bad as the
devastating flood of December
29, 1945.
Salem's high water mark is
due to be reached Friday mottl
ing, 22 feet, or two above flood
stage here. On Dec. 16, 1946,
the river here zoomed up to
26.7 feet.
At Eugene, starling place of
Ihc Willamette river's flooding
waters, the river is due to reach
15 feet Wednesday forenoon,
Ihree feet above flood stage. In
1945 Ihc river there reached
18.5 feet.
Santiam on Rampage
The rampaging Santiam at
Jefferson is forecast to reach
20 feet Wednesday forenoon.
seven feet above that area's
flood stage.
Other points along the Wil
lamette are listed by the weather
bureau as follows: Harrisburg,
flood stage of 12 feet, 17 feet
due Wednesday night; Corvallis,
25 feet to be reached Thursday
morning, or one above flood
stage; Albany, 24 feet Thursday
afternoon, four above flood
stage; Oregon City, 14 ',4 feet
Friday night, 2 '.4 feet above
flood stage.
(Concluded on Prr 11, Column 4)
Fur Seal Pact
With Canada
Washington, Jan. 6 U. The
slate department announced to
day that the United Stales and
Canada have extended their
agreement for Ihc protection of
the $100,000,000 fur seal herd
of the north Pacific.
By an exchange of notes, the
I department &aiu, wie iwu coun
tries have provided for the con
tinuance of the present provi
sional fur seal agreement . . .
until a permanent convention
can be arranged."
The U. S. and Canada entered
into a provisional agreement
during World War II after Ja
pan had annulled a 30-year Pa
cific sealing convention.
The fur seal conservation pro
gram is designed to rehabilitate
the stock of seals which was
drastically depleted by ruthless
pelagic scaling. The original
convention prohibited pelagic
sealing, that is sealing conducted
on the open seas.
In 1912 when the conservation
program got under way, the Pri
bilof islands herd numbered
about 216,000. The present seal
population is more than 3,600,
000. Oregon Senators
Out of Capital
Washington. Jan. 6 itf' Sen
ator Cain (R-Wash), was the
only Pacific northwest senator
to answer the roll call today as
congress opened its new session.
Senalor Magnuson (D-Wash),
is in Los Angeles making an in
vestigation for the senate judici
iary commitlce.
j Senator Cordon (R-Ore). is
cn route from Portland to San
Francisco from where he will
Isail tomorrow for Honolulu to
hold a hearing on the Hawaiian
istatchood bill.
Senator Morse (R-Ore). flew
to Portland last night. He will
address the Junior Chamber of
Commerce there later this week
!and speak at Oregon State col
lege and (he University of Ore
Igon Wednesday.
The Weather
(Released by United States
Weather Bureau)
Forecast for Salem and Vicin
ity : Cloudv with rain tonight
and Wednesday. Lowest expect
ed temperature Tuesday night,
40 degrees; highest Wednesday.
47. Maximum yesterday 49. Min
imum today 41. Mean tempera
ture yesterday 42 which was 3
above normal. Total 24-hour pre
cipitation to 11:30 a.m. today,
1.45. Total precipitation for the
month 3 65 which is 2.50 Inches
above normal. Willamette river
height at Salem Tuesday morn
ing. 13 5 feet.