BARUCH PREDICTS INFLATION
WASHINGTON. Elder States
man Bemie Baruch revealed some
interesting figures on inflation re
cently in an off-the-record session
with 14 younger congressmen at his
Shoreham hotel apartment. Baruch’s
prediction was that the nation was
hell-bent for inflation —and soon.
Piecemeal increases in wages,
profits and the cost of living have
been uneven, Baruch said, with
wages lagging behind. For that rea
son he no longer favored his prewar
idea of a freeze on both prices and I
wages. Our only hope, said the el- |
der statesman, is that we can weath
er the next six to nine months with
out running into serious inflation. If
we do that, our chances of a strong
recovery from the war boom are
good.
“The huge pent-up demand for
products which we will see dur
ing the next nine months is a
very serious threat,” said Ba
ruch, stressing the importance
of holding prices down.
He amazed his listeners by say
ing that he is completely opposed to
tax reduction of any nature at this j
time. “Not only does the govern- |
ment lose needed revenue, but it is
an unhealthy thing for our general I
economy,” argued Baruch.
Rep. Andy Biemiller of Milwaukee (
asked what Baruch thought of the
statement by General Motors’ pres- ]
Sdent C. E. Wilson that if wages are (
raised 30 per cent, prices must go up
30 per cent. Baruch talked at some
length on the general question of ris
ing prices, but gave no direct an
swer. Finally, Biemiller repeated ;
his question.
“I’m afraid I can’t agree with Mr.
Wilson,” Baruch said.
WAGE NOT PRICE INCREASE
“Isn’t it true that industry can
give a 30 per cent wage increase i
without having to raise prices more
than about 7per cent?” Biemiller
persisted.
"You are approximately right,”
Baruch agreed. “I believe the fig
ure you may have heard is actually
BMt per cent.”
Baruch also told his guests
that he felt we were making a
mistake in speeding manpower
demobilization. “With the world
in its present situation,” he said,
“it seems to me it would be
wiser to proceed slowly with de
mobilization, in order that we
not weaken ourselves at a time
when power is apparently still
an important thing.”
He agreed also with an idea pro
posed by one of his guests, Estes Ke- i
fauver of Chattanooga, to have cab- '
inet members and other high of
ficials appear on the floor of con
gress where they can be questioned
by congressmen. Such a practice
would make for much greater co
operation between the executive and
legislative departments, Baruch
said.
Present in addition to Biemillei
and Kefauver were Representa
tives Albert Gore and Percy Priest
of Tennessee, John Sparkman of Al
abama, Mike Mansfield of Montana,
Henry Jackson of Washington, Jer
ry Voorhis and Chet Holifleld of Cal
ifornia, Bob Sikes of Florida, Mike
Monroney of Oklahoma, Bob Ram
speck of Georgia, and Jamie Whit
ten and Arthur Winstead of Missis
sippi.
• • •
CHURCHILL IN DEFEAT
Winston Churchill recently told
friends how he felt after his defeat '
in the British elections. The first
few days after his defeat were ter
rible, Churchill confessed. The very
next morning he arose and fretted
because there were no diplomatic ca
bles to read. Through the war, his
first morning chore was to read the
top-secret military and diplomatic
cables from all over the empire; and
he paced up and down intermittent
ly for days, fretting because there
were no cables coming in and be
cause, though he felt things were
going wrong, there was no one to
whom he could send cables to
straighten things out.
"Finally I went down to the south
•of France,” Churchill confessed.
"They treated me well there. I
painted several pictures and they
fed me some wonderful food. But
still I couldn’t get over this idea of
no cables coming in and no cables
going out. Each morning I fretted
when 1 read the papers. But finally
one morning I felt better. It sud
denly dawned on me that I wasn’t
prime minister any more and it |
wasn’t my worry, and I’ve felt bet
ter ever since.”
Note Churchill’s health is
touch and go. His doctor has
ordered him to cut down on his
food and drinking.
• ♦ *
SENATE ELDER STATESMEN
Here are the ages of the elder
statesmen of the senate: Bankhead
of Alabama, 73; George of Georgia,
67; Thomas of Idaho, 71; Willis of
Indiana, 70; Capper of Kansas, 80;
Reed of Kansas, 74; Barkley of Ken
tucky, 68; White of Maine, 68; Walsh
of Massachusetts, 73; Bilbo of Mis- ;
sissippi, 68; Murray of Montana, 69;
McCarran of Nevada. 69; Bailey of
North Carolina, 72; Moore of Okla
homa, 74; Green of Rhode Island,
78; Austin of Vermont, 68 and Mc-
Kellar of Tennessee, 76.
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Plan to Remove Food Subsidies ;
Atom Bomb Figures in Allies'
Postwar Diplomatic Movements
Released by Western Newspaper Union. .., ,
(EDITOR’S NOTE: When opinions are expressed In three columns, (hey are those of
Western Newspaper Union's newt analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
Wi I
Hh!v"
No longer capable of doing heavy labor, and sick, diseased and dis
pirited, German prisoners of war released by Russians trek through Ber
lin on their return to homes in the west.
SUBSIDIES:
Time Removals
j Designed to hold down living costs
during wartime, government subsi
dies to food producers and proces
j sors will be gradually removed to
| lessen the impact on the civilian
price structure, Stabilization Direc
tor John C. Collet revealed.
Tentative plans call for the aboli
• tion of subsidies on vegetable short
ening by December 1, 1945; cheese,
not later than February 28, 1946,
and the $1.30 rollback per 100 pounds
on pork not later than March 31,
1946, with the remaining pork pay
ment scheduled to go not later than
June 30, 1946. In addition, subsi
dies on canned and frozen vegeta
bles, dry edible beans, prunes and
raisins will be terminated at the
close of the 1945 crop year, with
dairy production, fluid milk, feeder
cattle, beef, sheep and lambs and
flour payments expected to be ended
not later than June 30, 1946.
j With the department of agricul
ture estimating the cost of food sub
sidies for the fiscal year ending next
June 30 at $1,798,000,000, payments
on slaughter of livestock are ex
pected to total $535,400,000; dairy
production, $534,000,000; flour, $190,-
000,000, and beef cattle, $40,000,000.
LABOR-INDUSTRY:
Discuss Bargaining
j Backed by AFL Chieftain William
Green and representatives of man
agement, burly John L. Lewis of the
’ United Mine Workers ripped the CIO
proposal to tie wages into the pres
ent labor-industry conference in
Washington, D. C., and demanded
that talks be confined to establish
ing machinery for settlement of dis
putes.
In spearheading the opposition to
the CIO proposal based upon Presi
dent Truman’s wage policy, Lewis
asserted that the problem of pay
should be left to collective bargain
ing and not strait-jacketed by any
formula based on cost of living. In
granting employees increases and
adjusting their price structure, em
ployers will be governed by compe
tition to assure reasonable costs,
Lewis said.
Even as the 36 labor and manage
ment representatives pitched into
their task, trouble brewed in the
automobile and steel industries, with
the CIO asking the government to
intervene following collapse of nego
tiations with General Motors and
U. S. Steel corporation over wage in
creases to maintain wartime take
home pay.
ARMY:
Step Up Discharges
Mostly European vets originally
marked for redeployment to the Pa
cific, 50-point enlisted men present
ly home on furlough or on temporary
duty in the U. S. have become
eligible for discharge, the army re
ported.
At the same time, the army an
nounced that no enlisted man with
21 or more months of service since
September 16, 1940, will be sent
overseas for permanent duty except
for language specialists, regular
army personnel and volunteers.
Also exempt from overseas as
signment are officers who have 33
or more months of service, or med
ical officers with 30 months, except
for those who have chosen to remain
on active duty, are regular army
men or are classed as scarce spe
cialists. Nurses who are 30 years of
age or have 12 points will not be sent
overseas.
GRAIN SUPPLIES:
The bulk of the supplies of wheat
available for export in 1945-46 is in
North America, the department of
agriculture reports. With exports
from the United States currently
1 estimated at 300 to 325 million bush
els, shipments from Canada may be
about as large.
Under favorable transportation,
’ marketing and handling conditions,
; somewhat larger exports would be
possible from the United States
though shipments from Argentina
may fall short.
THE HOME JOURNAL. PERRY. GEORGIA
FOREIGN AFFAIRS:
Atomic Talk
The red-hot question of sharing the
atomic bomb featured the recent
diplomatic news as
the U. S., Britain 11 '
and Russia contin- A
ued their polite tug- p: ; |
of-war for favorable K
positions in the con- nft' j
struction of the f
postwar world. fjpifr''' (k
Russia’s tough lit- <n
tie F’oreign Minis- He JL jM
ter Vyacheslav Mo- J||
lotov started the
ball rolling in an Vyacheslav
address on the eve Molotov
of the 28th anniver
sary of the Red revolution, declar
ing that in this scientific age no such
discovery as the atomic bomb could
long remain a secret, and that
eventually the Soviet would have it.
Telling the world that possession
of the atomic bomb should not be
used as a diplomatic weapon in ob
taining advantages, Molotov also
said that its real effectiveness for
preserving peace has yet to be
tested.
Indirectly answering Molotov in
Britain’s house of commons, the
equally tough Foreign Minister Er
nest Bevin declared
that it was entirely
f proper for Britain,
Canada and the U.
S. to proceed slow-
I ly on the question of
sharing the atomic
4* 1 bomb in view of its
tremendous poten
j tialities. In finally
HHHHHI determining the
bomb’s disposition,
Ernest Bevin he asserted, states
men and not scien
tists should make the final decision
because of their closer acquaintance
with political conditions.
In addressing commons, Bevin
rapped Russia hard, stating that
Britain had met every territorial de
mand of the Reds only to find them
increasing their claims, particularly
for control of North Africa and Eri
trea on the British lifeline to the east.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State
Byrnes projected the U. S. into the
international pic
ture with the reve
lation of this coun- Mmt''
try’s support of an ..-.'Jp
Allied commission ll*
to guarantee free j
access to the Black
or Mediterranean
seas through the vi
tal Dardanelles and
Bosporus straits. « JHI
and the release of
Italy’s territorial Sec . Byrnes
views.
By calling for an Allied commis
sion, Byrnes favored revision of the
present Montreux agreement en
trusting Turkey with control of the
strategic straits, but countering the
Russian demand for military bases
along the vital waterways to assure
free passage.
In submitting its territorial views,
Italy agreed to readjustment of its
French and Yugoslavian boundaries
and establishment of Allied bases in
its former North African colonies,
but asked for retention of certain
Near Eastern possessions of econom
ic value.
All these diplomatic problems,
plus consideration of the question of
Jewish immigration in British con
trolled Palestine were reportedly
part of British Prime Minister Att
lee’s scheduled discussions with
President Truman.
AID POLIO VICTIMS
More than $1,000,000 in epi
demic aid has been disbursed by
the National Foundation for In
fantile Paralysis so far this
year, with more than three
fourths going to Illinois, No. Car
olina, New York and Virginia.
Principal expenses of National
Foundation chapters include
hospitalization and transporta
tion of patients, purchases of
special equipment and salaries
of doctors, nurses and other pro
fessional personnel.
CHINA:
Battle On
Full-scale civil war loomed In
China as negotiations between com
munists and nationalists bogged and |
the Reds took to the offense in an
effort to prevent Chiang Kai-shek’s
forces from infiltrating into their
northern strongholds.
| As a result of the outbreak of hos
tilities, the U. S. decided to with
draw American troops from the
scenes of combat, the Yanks having
been used to aid nationalists in tak
ing over former Jap-held territory.
Removal of U. S. units did not sig
nify any reversal of policy in sup
porting Chiang, however, with re
ports that the administration would
continue to offer him material aid.
j Thus did the threat of civil war,
following close upon V-J Day, damp
en long-suffering China’s hopes for
a period of peace and tranquility in
| which to unify the nation politically
jand lay the foundation for economic
development and modernization.
FINLAND:
Try Leaders
Charged with refusal to mediate
differences with Russia and prose
cuting war on the side of the Axis
instead, eight prominent Finnish
leaders were arrested by the new |
government and scheduled for early
trial in the people’s court.
In the unprecedented movement of j
a country to punish former leaders
for their official acts, Vaino Tanner,
dominant Finnish politico of 1941,
was accused of failing to take ad
vantage of a U. S.-British offer to
mediate with Russia that year.
Tanner again was named for fail
ure to accept a U. S. proposition to
conciliate Finnish-Russian differ
ences in 1943 along with former
President Risto Ryti, Foreign Min
ister Henrik Ramsay, Prime Min
ister Edwin Linkomies, Gen. Rudolf
Walden, and Finance Minister Tyo
ko Reinikka.
POLITICS:
No Trend
Continued Democratic domination
of the big cities and Republican in
roads in small municipalities
marked the recent election results
and offered little clue to a political
trend prior to the all-important con
gressional elections in 1946.
Most significant feature of the bal
loting was the ClO’s failure again
to capture the mayoralty in Detroit,
Mich., motor car center of the U. S.
and United Automobile Workers
stronghold. Calling upon the unor
ganized residents of the city to rally
for an impartial rather than a labor
dominated administration, Mayor
Jeffries won re-election over CIO
Candidate Frankensteen by a com
fortable margin.
Maintaining their dominance over
the big municipalities, the Demo
crats handily won the mayoralties
of New York, Boston, Pittsburgh
and Cleveland, while Republicans
won back Buffalo, N. Y., and New
Haven, Conn., after more than a doz
en years.
Sets Air Speed Record
Exciting possibilities for speedy post
war air travel were opened with the record
breaking performance of Britain’s jet-pow
ered Gloster Meteor piloted by Capt. H. J.
Wilson.
Smashing the former official mark of
481.84 miles per hour set by Capt. Fritz
Wendel of the German air force in 1939,
Wilson averaged 606 miles per hour in four
runs over a 1.86-mile course at Herne Day,
England.
At Wilson’s rate of speed, excited statis
ticians figured that a plane couU travel non
stop around the world in 41 hours ; from
Los Angeles, Calif., to New York City in
3 hours and 59 minutes; from Chicago, 111.,
to Panama in 3 hours and 49 minutes, and
from Chicago to Mexico City in 2 hours
and 46 minutes.
NAZI SPY:
Tipped Off FBI
Asserting that his only intention in
accompanying saboteurs to the U. S.
in 1942 was to get out of Germany,
a Nazi spy disclosed the whole en
emy plot for damaging U. S. plants
and facilities and terrorizing civil
ians to the FBI, leading to the early
roundup of the entire clique landed
t by submarine.
Let off with 30 years imprisonment
for his disclosure and testimony at j
the trial resulting in the execution :
of six of the saboteurs and a life
sentence for another, the spy, George
Dasch, named the other conspira
tors and furnished information s
which enabled the G-men to cover 1
their movements and track them
down in New York and Chicago, 111.
! In detailing the saboteurs’ mis
sion, Dasch told the FBI that the
TV A was marked for destruction
j along with important industrial j
plants, the Hell Gate bridge in New
York City, Ohio river locks, and im
portant railroad trackage. In addi
tion, the saboteurs planned to ter
rorize civilians by planting time
bombs in depot lockers and crowded
stores.
FIBER SOURCE:
Never grown in the western hemi- j
sphere before Pearl Harbor except |
experimentally, abaca—from which
Manila rope is made—is now being
produced in quantity on five planta- '
tions of 27,500 acres in four Central
American republics and Panama,
the state department disclosed.
Western hemisphere production of
abaca, which was obtained largely
from the. Philippines before the
war. may aggregate 25 million I
pounds this year and from 45 to 50
million pounds in 1946.
See Internal Crisis |K| 1
Affecting Russ Policies
Report Army Looms as New Power as Factions
Clash Over Broad Participation in
Postwar World Affairs.
By BAUKHAGE
News Analyst and Commentator,
WNU Service, 1616 Eye Street, N.W.,
Washington, D. C.
What’s happening inside Russia?
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Vehement denials of the death of
Marshal Stalin were followed final
ly by admission that the man who
had more power than any czar could
I boast of was weary. That he was
well, but that he was shedding some
of his responsibilities.
It is interesting to note the reac
tion in this country. The wishful
thinking of those who first an
j nounced the death rumor over the
j air and in print was not reflected in
official Washington.
The very day before the first story
appeared a high government ( official
expressed the opinion in my hearing
that the hope for understanding be
tween the United States and Russia
depended largely on Stalin. This was
after the long series of disagree
ments beginning with the breakup
of the Foreign Ministers’ meeting in
London, the refusal of Russia to take
active part in the United Nations
Food organization meeting in Que
bec, the objections to various moves
made by the members of the United
Nations Executive Council. Every
where “Russia objects” seemed to
be the one answer which Russia’s
representatives had to offer to the
suggestions made by the American
and other governments.
When the real history of the in
ternational conferences, beginning
with the Moscow conference which
Secretary of State Hull attended,
through Yalta and Potsdam, is writ
ten, I think it can be shown that
Stalin, frequently against the advice
of his councillors, was the one who
broke the deadlocks and proposed or
accepted compromises which were
made necessary by his own col
leagues’ stubbornness.
It will be recalled that when the
invitations to the meeting at San
Francisco went out it was announced
that Russia would not send her for
eign minister as head of the delega
tion, but would leave that post to
Ambassador Gromyko in Washing
ton. This made a bad impression,
for it looked as if Stalin were damn
ing the affair with faint support.
However, after the American news
papers sounded off gn the subject,
Stalin had a change of heart—Or per
haps the death of Roosevelt, which
occurred in the interim, affected his
course. Molotov was duly assigned
to the job.
Molotov proved no simple prim
rose and more than once, it is re
ported, Stalin’s intervention had to
be sought to grease the wheels.
There was another occasion—just
which one is not revealed—when the
work was completely stymied and
finally the President made a direct
appeal to Stalin to accept the sug
gestions of the majority on a point
that appeared to have hopelessly
deadlocked the meeting. This time,
against the counsel of his advisors,
who were holding out, Stalin put his
O.K. on the request.
Isolationists
Bloc Grows
There is reason to believe that
this “no vote” attitude of a number
of the Soviet leaders who opposed
what many have considered too
deep entanglement in international
affairs, which has been in evidence
for a long time, finally wrecked the
Foreign Ministers’ conference.
As early as the time of the San
Francisco meeting there were hints
of a growing “isolationist” opposi
: tion inside Russia. Word reached
certain members of the conference
! by a roundabout way, but from a
| thoroughly reliable source, concern
ing the status of former Foreign
Minister Litvinov, Russia’s crack
| diplomat, who negotiated the re
sumption of relations with the Unit
ed States after the long hiatus fol
, lowing World War I. At one time it
was reported that Litvinov had been
purged. This was not so. But what
had happened was that the “Russia
objects” element had managed to
shelve him because of his more lib
eral views.
This apparently was the beginning
of what many called a “palace revo
lution,” and which some people be
lieve is now flaring up into full
flame.
The story of the events which led
up to the Litvinov affair has never
i been confirmed, but it is reasonable
BARBS . . , 6y BouHoge
The Salvation army gave service
to 225,000,000 servicemen during the
war in their clubs, hostels and mo
bile units. But I’ll bet they didn’t
surpass those doughnuts they served
us in World War I.
* * «
Two hundred and seventy million
dollars worth of highway projects,
frozen during the war, are now start
ing
to assume that it is true. In brief,
there was a split in the all-powerful
“Polit-Bureau” of the Soviets. The
Political Bureau is a small body
chosen from the central committee
of the Communist party, which is the
government’s policy-forming entity.
This body is composed of powerful
Soviet leaders and it exerts a great
deal of influence.
According to the reports touching
on Litvinov’s position, the Polit-Bu
reau was sharply divided into “isola
tionists” and those who looked upon
the of the world with a less
jaundiced view. At that time Stalin
was said to be walking a tight-rope
between the two and choosing care
fully toward which side he would
lean. Litvinov, who believed that
Russia could not live by herself and
who had always encouraged a sym
pathetic attitude toward the outside
world, had been completely shelved
for his ideas.
Little more was heard of these
rumblings until after the end of the
war, when the Red army became
the symbol of Russian salvation.
Then it appeared that the isolation
ist Russia, the big-army Russia, the
Russia which wouldn’t take anything
off anybody, had a new and power
ful backer—the officers (and per
haps some of the rank and file as
well) of the Red army.
In any case, we know that the high
officers of the army received all
sorts of perquisites, rewards and
privileges, which only the highest of
the high receive.
Red Army
Strong Factor
The assumption on the part of
some observers is that with the as
cendancy of the Red army element,
not only the isolationists, but the
Communist party as a whole, lost
influence. There has always been
jealousy between the two, though, of
course, their membership overlaps
in many cases. You will recall that
at the beginning of the war civilian
commissars were attached to army
units and they censored all orders
issued by the officers. This proved
to be not only highly unpopular
with the military, but also impracti
cal. The civilian commissars were
then withdrawn and only those with
military training were appointed.
Their authority, in effect at least,
became merged with that of the
military. j-
Now the high army officers are
recognized as occupying virtually
the same plane as the high party
officials.
Just where Stalin stands as a re
sult of this change in the fabric of
Russian national policy it is impos
sible to say. It has been rumored
that he has relinquished his function
as commander-in-chief. It has also
been rumored that he is ready to
drop out of the picture completely
and choose a successor. In that con
nection it was hinted that General
Zhukov, Russia’s Eisenhower, was
afflicted with a “diplomatic illness’*,
when he suddenly gave up u widely
advertised trip to the United States*
which it was said he had looked for
ward to with considerable zest.
This might have been a signal that
Russia was drawing further within
herself.
Some believe that it indicated that
Zhukov was the chosen successor of
Stalin and that, until a new regime
was firmly established, the Soviets
would maintain a negative policy in
foreign relations.
ln any case, it is clear that^the
Russia objects” policy was inaugu
rated for some reason and naturally,
since in the past Stalin had always
been the one who was able to play
ball with the Allies, at least to the
point where progress seemed to be
made toward working agreements,
Washington is by no means anxious
to see him fade from the picture.
Meanwhile, the one hopeful view
which is being taken of the Russian
situation is that it may be that there
is some kind of a change taking
place within Russia and that the
present policy of stalling means
nothing worse than a necessary
marking time on the part of the So
viet leaders until the outcome is
settled.
And then there is always anotnet
reason which pops up as an explana
tion of almost anything these days—
the atomic bomb.
The air transport command re
cently took 24 queen bees from
America to France. This is a record
for transporting royalty.
• ♦ *
Is the sun burning up your crops?
There are plenty of surplus bomb
ers no good for anything else which
could fly in formations and squirt
out enough water to make clouds—
we’re told.
