Omafc, (Da/tluiq !
Small Business Surveys W A A Sales
Democratic Leaders Fear
Surplus Property Scandals
(D D L S TO W ARD I ’ RESH
W ASHINGTON —Newsmen prob
a b ly won’ t w rite about it, but P re si
dent
T ru m a n ’ s
B e rm u d a
tr ip
c lim a xe d a sig n ifica n t change In
his relations w ith the press. I lie
old days o f in tim a te , chum m y ta lks
now have vanished! T ru m a n was
cool, aloof, even c h illy .
And fo r good reason. Some o f his
supposedly
m ost
tru ste d
news
frie n d s let h im down. O ff-the-record
ta lks w hich the P resident thought
w ere going only to h a lf a dozen
people leaked out and became the
p ro p e rty o f m illio n s.
M ost d is illu s io n in g o f these was a
reunion o f the "H a rd Rock C lu b ." a
group o f a dozen newsmen who cov
ered T ru m a n 's vice p re sid e n tia l
cam paign when he was ignored by
the rest o f the country.
S everal weeks ago the P resident
in vite d the boys to un evening on
the
yacht
W iM iam sburg.
They
played poker, d ra n k bourbon and
generally le t th e ir h a ir dow n—
especially the President. He was
in d iscre e t enought to te ll a ll about
the Russian situ a tio n and w hat he
thought o f C hester Bowles — then
OPA a d m in is tra to r.
By BAVKHAGE
Y e n s 4nal\<l and 4'ommcntator.
W NU S erv ice . 1616 E y e S treet,N .W .,
W ashington, D. C.
W ASHINGTON. D. C —T here is
an old p o litic a l axiom a ttrib u te d to
"<5 various n a tional
I f i g u r e s o f th e
S past w hich runs
s o m e t h in g lik e
th is: N ever ar-
g u e
a b o u t
c h a rg e s o f th e
opposition p a rty ;
e ith e r
a d m it
them fra n k ly and
fu lly , o r deny
them w ith every
t is s u e o f y o u r
o ra to ry .
M istakes of the
“ i n s ” a re th e
chief grist-of-the-
Baukhage
m i l l f o r th e
“ o u ts" in an election year.
There is a s m a ll but v e ry earnest
oody of D em ocrats in W ashington
today w hich believes that unless
ce rta in m istakes of the a d m in is tra
tio n are fre e ly and fra n k ly a d m it
ted and given a thorough a irin g , they
w ill come back to haunt the Demo
cra ts even unto the th ird and fo u rth
generation.
These m istakes, they say. are
the ones w hich have been made by
the W ar Assets a d m in istra tio n .
There is a segment o f the a d m in
istra tio n , on the other hand, in c lu d
in g some of the W hite House ch ie f
counsellors, who d o n 't approve of
th is theory. They th in k th a t the
best th in g to do is to get rid o f the
surplus p ro p e rty as q u ic k ly as pos
sible and fo rg e t a ll about the whole
mess.
B u t the whole mess is not going
to be forgotten. In fact, it is quite
safe to p re d ic t some riotous head
lines sh o rtly a fte r election, w hich
w ill m ake the ra th e r lim ite d re v e la
tions o f the M ead co m m itte e on w ar
co n tra cts look lik e v e ry pale and
lim p id prose.
The headlines are lik e ly to con
cern th a t m a tte r w hich a lre a d y has
e m itte d some ra th e r noxious odors
b u t w hich when exhumed, w ill cause
a s till stronger stench in the public
n o strils. This is the disposal of su r
plus steel equipm ent and fa c ilitie s
connected w ith the Geneva pla n t in
U ta h —a la yo u t th a t cost the gov
e rnm ent some 200 m illio n dollars.
I t was sold to the U nited States
Steel corp o ra tion fo r $47,500,000 in
M a y o f th is ye a r, over the bid of
the Colorado F uel and Iro n corpora
tion, the dom in a n t figure in m anu
fa c tu rin g and d is trib u tio n o f steel
products west of the Rockies. Con
gressm an Chenoweth o f Colorado
questioned th is WAA d isp o sal
The S m a ll Business com m ittee,
under the c h a irm a n sh ip o f Senator
M u rra y , has made a long and care
fu l study of the d is trib u tio n o f some
500 plants and fa c ilitie s to date. I t
intends to have a re p o rt on th is sub
je c t e a rly in N ovem ber. The com
m itte e like w ise intends to a ir the
assembled m a te ria l and other te s ti
m o n y in hearings th e re a fte r w ith
em phasis on ce rta in in d u strie s;
steel, fo r instance, because o f its
m a n y ra m ifica tio n s, the chem ical
in d u s try fo r s im ila r reasons, and
the m akers of fa rm tools and other
im plem ents because of the c ry in g
need fo r such com m odities and the
m a n y veteran users interested.
M em bers o f the S m all Business
c o m m itte e believe that the pattern
of the d is trib u tio n so fa r has been
haphazard and not in accordance
w ith that p ro visio n o f the law w hich
p la in ly states th a t w ar m a te ria l
m a y not be sold to buyers in a m an
ner th a t w ill encourage m onopoly,
but th a t instead w ill stim u la te free
com petition. M em bers believe that
the faults o f the past m ust be stud
ied c a re fu lly in order, n e g a tive ly,
to prevent fu rth e r encouragem ent of
m onopoly and, po sitive ly, to estab
lis h a p a tte rn w hich w ill stand as
a standard of operations fo r the fu
ture.
D isp o sa l of A lu m in u m
P la n ts S ets P a tte rn
They point out the d is trib u tio n
o f fa c ilitie s fo r the m a n u fa ctu re of
the lig h t m etals, especially a lu m i
num. It was feared th a t the A lu m i
num C om pany o f A m e ric a m ig h t
benefit to the exclusion o f co m p e ti
tion o r p o te n tia l com petition. B u t
as a re su lt o f the co-operation of
S tu a rt Sym ington, when he was S ur
plus P ro p e rty a d m in is tra to r, there
are now three lu sty co m p e tito rs in
the field, a ll a p p a re n tly having
benefited fro m a fa ir d is trib u tio n
of the w a r enterprises made a v a il
able to them on equal term s.
However, o ther Pharaohs came
to E g yp t. Haste and o th e r incen
tive s are said to have destroyed the
p attern. Present W AA o fficia ls deny
RETURN FROM EXILE . . . Some of the K00 Poles who returned to
Poland after seven years of exile In Siberia are shown arriving at
Lublin, where they received clothing from the American Red Cross.
They were among two million Poles taken to Siberia when Russia
divided Poland with the N ails in 1939.
NEWS REVIEW
Strike Front Spreads;
Meat Crisis Sharpens
M EAT:
to recognize the “ fu tility of OPA
and chuck it out the w in d o w .”
L e a th e r and p h a rm a ce u tica l in
dustries also fe lt repercussions of
the live sto ck situ a tio n , w ith s h o rt
ages o f Hides and a n im a l organs
a ffe ctin g th e ir production.
/Veic Crisis
As
housewives
scoured
th e ir
neighborhoods fo r scarce m eat and
exercised th e ir c u lin a ry a rts fo r p u t
tin g up m ore m eatless m eals, men
fo lk w ere le ft to tussle w ith the d if
fic u lt task o f o ve rco m in g the d is
tressing shortage.
Senator Murray
It was hard to tell which job
was harder, the women’s or the
men’s, for the heavy shipments
of livestock to market during
the recent suspension of OPA
and reluctance of feeders to fat
ten up the small supply of range
cattle under OPA ceilings com
plicated the policy - makers’
problems.
As the c ris is sharpened, d e p a rt
this, but the S m a ll Business com
m e n t of a g ric u ltu re had the only
m itteem en expect to prove th e ir
w o rd of encouragem ent, sta tin g th a t
charges in open court.
la te fa ll runs of grass-feds would
The firs t step w hich the S m all
p a rtia lly re lie v e the s trin g e n t sh o rt
Business boys w ould lik e to see ta k
age.
B u t th e ir p re d ictio n s were
en is the a p pointm ent of an a d m in
tem pered som ew hat by live sto ck
is tra to r on whom they agree. They
e xp e rts’ statem ents th a t the high
feel the o ffic ia l should be a c iv ilia n
p rice s fo r range ca ttle w ould m ake
ra th e r than an a rm y m an. The in
feeders’ purchases less p ro fita b le
cum bent, a t this w ritin g , M a j. Gen.
and fu rth e r cut the supply o f fin
R obert L ittle jo h n , is said to have
ished a n im a ls in la te w in te r and
expressed the desire to be re lie ve d
spring.
of W AA responsibilities, b u t no suc
With packers laying off thou
cessor has been indicated.
sands of workers in the face of
The next step desired, a fte r the
diminished receipts of livestock,
hearings, is a thorough re o rg a niza
AFL Amalgamated Meat Cut
tion of methods and, i f necessary, an
ters
and Butcher Workmen
o ve rh a u lin g o f the w hole set-up of
the agency. This, proponents o f the ■ called for restoration of free
markets to stimulate shipments.
idea cla im , w ill not only be in the
President Truman was asked
good of the veteran, the business
m an and the n a tio n a l econom y but |
in the good of the p a rty , as w ell.
★ ★ ★ ★
LABOR:
Teamsters Revolt
W ith union o fficia ls branding the
s trik e of 25,000 m em bers o f the
In te rn a tio n a l B rotherhood of T e a m
sters in New Y o rk C ity "th e w orst
ra n k and file re v b lt in h is to ry ,”
IB T Pres. Dan Tobin stepped into
the p ictu re at the request of M a yo r
O’ D w ye r to help settle the w a lk
out.
T obin acted a fte r O’ D w ye r had
cite d the union’ s refusal to p e rm it
the tra n s p o rt of essential food and
m edicines and warned h im th a t the
IB T w ould have to accept responsi
b ility fo r "bloodshed and in ju r y .”
T o b in
ordered
10,000 sym p a th y
s trik e rs o f 23 locals in New Y o rk
and New Jersey to re tu rn to w ork
and suggested th a t em p lo ye r ap
p ro v a l o f an 18t4 cent an hour raise
fo r 15,000 s trik e rs w ould serve as
a basis fo r negotiation.
CANADA:
Farmers Strike
Smart Politicos Outsmart Themselves
Y o rk (provided, o f course, th e y are
When Senator La F o lle tte raised
a m e m o ria l to his senatorial career re-elected and the D em ocrats hold
in the fo rm o f one of the m ost p ro th e ir place as m a jo rity p a rty ).
The rest of the ch a irm a n sh ip s go
gressive pieces o f leg isla tio n a ffe ct
in g the iiite rn a l a ffa irs of the con to the South and since some south
vo tin g
gress, the reo rg a niza tio n act, some ern senators pe rsist in
th in g o ccurred w hich the lib e ra l against the m ore lib e ra l m easures
w in g o f the D e m o cra tic p a rty d id n ’ t o f the a d m in is tra tio n and jo in in g
Realize was being done, and w hich w ith the R epublicans on others ju s t
has caused them no little concern to show th e ir independence, i t
e ver since its p ra c tic a l application leaves the lib e ra l D em ocrats in a
som ew hat precarious position.
dawned upon them .
There is another fa c to r w hich
W hat happened was not Senator
L a F o lle tte ’ s fa u lt, but the re su lt of doesn’t s it too w e ll w ith a n u m b e r of
th a t ancient e vil, se n io rity, w hich | n o rth e rn D em ocrats, e ith e r. U nder
the o rig in a l reorganization m easure the new set-up, the c h a irm a n o f a
w ould have e lim in a te d .
Congress i co m m itte e w ill be m ore in flu e n tia l
couldn’ t accept th a t ra d ic a l depar- j than ever fo r he now is p rovided
tu re and se n io rity s till operates. Un- i w ith a la rg e and e ffic ie n t staff. The
d e r th is procedure a senator auto- ( .work of his c o m m itte e w ill be m ore
m a tic a lly becomes ch a irm a n of any | im p o rta n t than fo rm e rly because
co m m itte e w o rk w on’ t be spread as
co m m itte e to w hich he is appointed
i f he has been a m em ber o f the th in as i t was.
senate lo n g er than any other m e m
b e r of the m a jo rity p a rty on the
com m ittee. T his system has long
been recognized as an evil.
Ju st h a vin g been around longer
th a n anybody else is fre q u e n tly less
than a recom m endation. U n fo rtu
n a te ly there are too m a n y cases
W ASHINGTO N. — Since le aving
w here a stuffed s h irt and an em pty the arm ed forces, W orld W a r I I
head, although they can w in votes veterans have allow ed 90 b illio n
fro m a constituency, provide a con d o lla rs in governm ent life in s u r
trib u tio n
w h ich contributes less ance to lapse through non-paym ent
th a n n o th in g to the h ig h ly im p o r o f p re m iu m s, records of V e te ra n s’
ta n t fu n c tio n of ru n n in g a co m m it- a d m in is tra tio n disclose. M ore than
'te e . And c h a irm e n have become 10 m illio n veterans have fa ile d to
even m o re im p o rta n t now that keep th e ir policies in force, and VA
there are fe w e r of them .
o ffic ia ls estim ate th a t these policies
A d m in is tra tio n D em ocrats m ig h t had a face value of $9,000 o r m ore.
have acted otherw ise had they re a l
A bout
2,700,000
fo rm e r
s e rv
ized w h a t they w ere doing.
Be
icem en of W orld W a r I I have kept
cause of the s e n io rity rule, only tw o
th e ir policies in force, the agency
.n o rth e rn D em ocrats w ill re ta in
estim ates.
th e ir ch a irm a n sh ip s when the new
O fficia ls offered no explanation
and m odernized congress organizes
n e x t Ja n u a ry. They are W alsh of fo r the la rg e n u m b e r o f policies
M assachusetts and W agner of New allow ed to lapse.
I
With supplies of hides approx
imating only 35 per cent of
needs, tanneries have been
forced to lay off numerous
workers, it was reported. And
with supplies for October and
November estimated at even
less, more employees will have
to be laid off.
READY FOR BLACKOUT . . .
Getting set for a scheduled light
company strike, these Pittsburgh,
Pa„ youngsters do a little work
on some lanterns and flashlights.
F o llo w in g the technique of " d i
re c t a ctio n ,” 20,000 m em bers o f the
A lb e rta F a rm e rs ’ union in the
w estern C anadian p rovince w ith
held a ll produce except m ilk fro m
m a rk e t in th e ir d riv e fo r a read
ju s tm e n t o f p a rity prices.
P icke ts appeared a t m a n y points
but concentrated th e ir strength at
g ra in elevators. Some o perators
were w arned th a t th e y w ould lose
s trik in g fa rm e rs business i f they ac
cepted
d e live rie s
fro m
non
strike rs.
W ith the s trik e in fu ll swing ana
union m em bers o f neighboring Sas
katchew an jo in in g the m ovem ent,
governm ent
o fficia ls
prom ised
thorough consideration o f the p a rity
question. F a rm e rs demanded an in
crease in the p a rity level to com
pensate fo r the h ig h e r cost o f com
m odities they m ust purchase.
WORRY NO LONGER
Vets Allow Insurance To Lapse
V A is not
Veterans m a y re in sta te th e ir pol- ' e rn m e n t insurance,
icies by the paym ent o f two m onth- < encouraging those w ith policies in
ly p re m iu m s, one paym e n t co ve rin g 1 force to be in any h u rry to convert
the 30-day grace period, the other th e ir present policies in to hig h er-
cost coverage.
the c u rre n t m onth.
V eterans who obtained p olicies
U n til F e b ru a ry 1, 1947, no p h ysi
cal e xa m in a tio n w ill be re q u ire d to p rio r to Ja n u a ry 1, 1946, have eig h t
re in sta te a policy. A veteran, how years fro m th a t date to convert
ever, m ust sign a statem ent th a t th e ir policies; those issued policies
his p h ysica l condition is as good a fte r Ja n u a ry 1, 1946, have five
as when he allow ed his p o lic y to
years.
lapse.
So fa r 430,000 veterans have con
T e m p o ra ry w a iv in g o f a p hysical
ve rte d th e ir policies into o rd in a ry
e xa m in a tio n has caused no sta m
pede to reinstate policies, o fficia ls s tra ig h t life , 20-payment and 30-pay-
m e n t policies. The 20-payment plan
said.
W hile doing its best to induce v e t is by fa r the m ost popular, w ith
erans to reinstate th e ir low -cost gov- 302,500 ta k in g th is option.
Ills remarks were not com
plimentary. Truman minced
no words about either Bowles
or the Russians and It was hard
to say which he liked.least. Al
though he favored OPA, he
thought the fight to win Its ap
proval from congress would not
have been so hard If Bowlea
had not Issued so much prop
aganda and talked so much.
S h o rtly a fte rw a rd . T im e m a g a
zine published a b rie f account of
th is
v e ry
co n fid e n tia l
evening.
B lam e fo r the leak fe ll upon E d
w a rd L o cke tt. T im e sta ffe r who is
a m e m b e r of the H a rd R ock club.
T ru m a n was so in d ig n a n t th a t fo r
a long tim e he w ould not speak to
L o cke tt. O th e r club m em bers v ir
tu a lly ostracized h im .
L a te r, the C hicago Sun’ s Tom
R eynolds, no m e m b e r o f the club,
w ro te another account o f the P re si
d e n t’ s off-the-record re m a rks on
th a t m em orable evening. N a tu ra l
ly , T ru m a n ’ s vie w s got back to the
Russians. T h is made h im even m ore
vexed—and w o rrie d .
So fro m now on the ch ie f execu
tiv e has decided not to be the naive
and tru s tin g gentlem an he once was
w ith his supposed close frie n d s of
the press. D u rin g the B erm uda trip ,
fo r instance, he gave press secre
ta ry C h a rlie Ross in stru ctio n s th a t
newsmen were to ask no questions
w hich d id not p e rta in d ire c tly to
the trip . And when one m an vio la te d
th is ru le to ask w hy Rhode Isla n d 's
Sen. Theodore Green was not in
v ite d aboard the W illia m s b u rg , the
P resident n e a rly snapped his head
off.
• • •
LEARN OF SPEECH
F in a l decision fo r the J im m y
B yrnes speech on G e rm a n y was
im p a rte d to high o fficia ls in Wash
ington about 12 days before he
m ade it. The suspicion is th a t the
Russians learned about i t at the
same tim e .
B yrnes phoned P resident T ru
m an about 12 days in advance, to ld
h im the Russians were on the ra m
page, th a t n othing could be done to
sa tis fy them . He th e re fo re proposed
th a t the U nited States and G re a t
B rita in tr y to set up a G e rm a n gov
e rn m e n t w hich could be won over
to de m o cra cy and w hich could
serve as a b u lw a rk against Rus
sia.
P re sid e nt T ru m a n , who has come
to p u t com plete tru s t in B yrn e s’
ju d g m e n t, agreed.
Whether or not the Russians
tapped the trans>-Atlantic phone,
or whether they had other ways
of knowing what was going on
Is anyone’s guess. Maybe It was
just coincidence.
A n yw a y, i t was s h o rtly a fte r this
th a t
F o re ig n
M in is te r
M olotov
m ade his sudden, m y s te ry flig h t to
Moscow. S im ultaneously, in sp ire d
stories began to leak out o f Poland
th a t Russia w ould take Silesia away
fro m P oland and g ive i t to G er
m any. O bviously this was G erm an
b a it to co u n te ra ct the o ffe r Byrnes
was going to m a ke to G erm any.
I f R ussia goes ahead w ith this
p o lic y o f “ The S oviet g ive th and
the S oviet ta ke th a w a y ," i t w ill
cause the toughest showdown so fa r
experienced between Moscow and
W ashington.
The ca te g o rica l B yrn e s-T ru m a n I
position is th a t the Soviet can |
n e ith e r "g iv e th nor ta k e th ” w ith
out the consent o f its allies, th a t
G e rm a n y’ s boundaries are to be de
cided o nly at the fin a l peace tre a ty
—w hich R ussia so fa r has refused
to call.
• • •
CAPITAL CHAFF
D onald M cG re g o r
of Houston,
Tex., w ill step up to replace able
J im M c G rc n e ry as assistant to the
a tto rn e y general when the la tte r be
comes a fe d e ra l judge in P h ila d e l- '
phia. . . . One hundred and tw e n ty- ¡
six G .I.s w ill be ousted fro m the
H ollyw ood canteen i f the Los A n
geles zoning com m ission has its
w ay. T hey say the canteen is a
room ing-house. So w h a tl . . . C h ie f
Ju stice Vinson has spent the sum
m e r re a d in g la s t te rm ’ s Supreme
co u rt opinions.
The honeymoon couple sat on
the sands together.
"G raceful birds, gulls, a re n 't
they?” the bridegroom suid. .
"Looking for food, I expect,” an
swered the bride.
" Is n 't the sun gorgeous?" the
bridegroom suid, ufter u pause.
" l i e m i n d s me of a pouched
egg,” answered the bride
" I t’s g r u n d to tuke in deep
breaths of ozon«“-luden uir, he
suid, breathing deeply.
"D on't find it very lilting m y
self." answered the bride; and
then there was a short silence.
"And what is my rom antic little
wife thinking about?” the bride
groom asked fondly.
"F ood!” she answered.
¡W
•6at O'Sullivan SOUS as wall
as
Haels next time you hava your
shots repaired,
y o u CAN WALK
FARTHER
WITHOUT TIRING.
A M E R IC A S
N o .l H E E L
....a n d
s o le
Yodora checks
perspiration odor
H/ay
Made on a J ace cream bate. Yodor* is
actually toothing to normal skint.
Entirely free from irritating salts.
Can be lined right after uader-arm
(having.
Stayi soft and rreamy, indefinitely.
Never gel« stiff or grainy.
N o harsh chemical« to spoil clothing.
Tbbes or jar«, lOtf, SOd, 60d.
Ye«, Yodora is a gentle deodorant.
T>y it—Jeel the wonderful difference!
B lack W f ô
Leaf 4 0 * ^
Tew-fcvs»«'
im
LUZ M
L ■-«LACK
- iu
JUST A
. ao UUCM PAATHSa
DASH IH R A T M IR S .
OR S P R E A D O N
RO O STS
A M YOU PAU
WEAK.TIMD
due to MONTHLY LOSSES?
Tou girls and women who lose ao
much during monthly periods that
you're pale, weak, “dragged out”—
thia may be due to lack of blood-iron.
Bo try Lydia E. Plnkham’a TABLETS
— one of the best home ways to
build up red blood—In such cases
Plnkham'e Tablets are one of the
best blood-iron tonics you can buy1
WNU—13
39-46
Kidneys Must
Work W ell-
For You To Fed Well
24 hours every day. 7 deye every
week, never etopping, the kidneye filter
waste matter from the blood.
If more people were aware of how the
kidneye muat const nntly remove eur-
plua fluid, exceea Bride and other waate
metter that cannot etny In the blood
without Injury to health, there would
be better undemanding of why the
whole system la upset when kidney« fell
to function properly.
Burning, ecanty or too frequent urina
tion aometlmea warns that enmethlng
la wrong. You may Butter nagging back
ache, heedachea, dizziness, rheumaUe
peine, getting up at nlghte, swelling.
Why not try Doan't P illtl You will
ba using a medicine recommended the
country over. Doan't etimulete the func
tion of the kidneye end help them to
flueh out poleonnue waste from the
blood. They contain nothing harmful.
Oet Doan't today. Use with confidence.
At all drug atorea.
D oan s Pi us