Newspaper Page Text
KJU drew pearson
.„i., Jfft.n
LEWIS IN REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON.—Just how vigor
ously John L. Lewis plans to enter
his battle to recapture the CIO
came out at the AF'L executive
board meeting in Miami, where the
bushy-browed labor thespian joined
his former enemies in a holy war
against his former friends, Phil
Murray and the CIO.
One of Lewis’ first moves was
to persuade the AFL to move
out of its shabby 30-year-old
headquarters to a modern
streamlined building near the
White House.
Lewis was named chairman of an
AFL committee to acquire the new
building. Some years ago John paid
a quarter of a million for the Uni
versity club, once the home of Wash
ington elite, and made it his United
Mine Workers headquarters.
‘VOTED AGAINST VETERANS’
Veterans are considering a new
symbol which may become as fa
mous as the label "Made by Union
Labor.” It will probably take the
form of the initials "VAV.”
When these initials are used
immediately following a con
gressman’s name, it will indi
cate that he “voted against vet
erans.”
Congressmen, already sensitive
about this year’s elections, are wor
ried sick about the recent vote on
housing for veterans, especially the
vote on subsidies which would have
permitted low-cost homes at a price
range which veterans could afford.
This worry was why congress
ducked a roll-call vote. If each
congressman had been forced to
stand up and be counted, it
would have been political sui
cide for some.
The Democrats, despite a plea
from President Truman himself,
plus telegrams from Bob Hannegan,
split ranks. Here are the Demo
crats who in the future will be
labeled “VAVH” (voted against vet
erans’ housing) in this important
test vote: Barden, N. C.; Brown,
Ga.; Camp, Ga.; Colmer, Miss.;
Cox, Ga.; Cravens, Ark.; Dough
ton, N. C.; Durham, N. C.; Earth
man, Tenn.; Ervin, N. C.; Gath
ings, Ark.; Gibson, Ga.; Hare, S.
C.; Lanham, Texas; McMillan, S.
C. ; Manasco, Ala.; May, Ky,; Mills,
Ark.; Murdock, Ariz.; Murray,
Tenn.; Pacen, Ga.; Page, Texas;
Hiley, S. C.; Roe, Md.; Russell,
Texas; Slaughter, Mo.; Smith, Va.;
Sumners, Texas; Tarver, Ga.; Vin
son, Ga.; Whitten, Miss.; Whitting
ton, Miss.
♦ • •
NYE’S RESIDENCE
Ex-Senator Gerald Nye took a set
back in his first attempt to return
to his old senate seat. People in
North Dakota didn’t like the fact
that Nye continued his residence in
Maryland, though running in North
Dakota, and he didn’t get far in the
first Republican primaries.
• * *
BTEEL HEADACHE
One of the biggest reconversion
headaches is lack of steel. Hun
dreds of smaller firms, including
Henry Kaiser’s new auto company,
can’t get steel, while strike-struck
General Motors was gorged with it.
Recently General Motors officials
traveled to Washington, wangled a
promise from OP Administrator Jack
Small that he would not confiscate
the thousands of tons of strategic
materials which General Motors is
hoarding. Small has cracked down
on smaller companies hoarding ny
lons, but General Motors appears
too big to touch.
• • •
CAPITAL CHAFF
Democrats were wrangling last
week about the right of Chicago’s
Repreaentative Sabath to be heard
as much as Mississippi’s Represen
tative John Rankin. Meanwhile,
GOP Leader Joe Martin went over
to Democrat Mike Monroney of Ok
lahoma and said: “Mike, the next
time you Democrats get into a scrap
like this and it comes to a vote,
we re just going to vote ‘present’
and let you Democrats fight it out
yourselves.” . . . Atlanta’s new con
gresswoman, Mrs. Helen Douglas
Mankin, has been assiduously cul
tivated by the Georgia delegation—
with long visits on the floor of the
house even from the two Georgia
senators—George and Russel. But
the first chance she got she voted
against Rankin. . . . North Caro
lina's Chairman Bob Doughton of
the house ways and means commit
tee not only believes that people
should continue paying the wartime
excess-tax rates on luxuries such as
furs, but also that children should
continue paying the wartime tax on
movie tickets. “After all,” says
Doughton, “kids don’t have to go to
the movies—they’re a luxury.”
• • •
VIGOROUS LOBBYING
Capitol Hill today is more be
sieged by lobbyists than at any
time in years. Big utility lobby
ists are working against any in
crease of federal power, even
passing out nylons to congress
men’s wives to win votes. The
American Legion is buttonholing
senators in favor of military
conscription, and the railroad
lobbyists are pulling wires in
favor of the Bulwinkle bill which
exempt the railroads from anti
trust suits.
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Conservative Bloc Fights OP A:
G. M. Strike Settlement Spur to
All-Out Automobile Production
i L by Western Newspaper Union
(EDITOR’S NOTE: When opinion* are expre**rd In these column*, they are those of
Western Newspaper Union’s news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
CONGRESS:
Conservative Coalition
Having first shown its strength in
passage of the Case anti-strike bill,
a coalition of southern Democrats
and Republicans is being organized
in congress to loosen government
regulation over the nation’s econ
omy.
Led by Representative Hartley
(Rep., N. J.), 100 congressmen al
ready have joined the coalition, with
a strategy committee composed of
Hartley himself, Crawford (Rep.,
Mich.), Smith (Dem., Vn.), Barden
(Dem., N. C.), Camp (Dom., Ga.),
Roe (Dem., Md.), Jenkins (Rep.,
Ohio), Buffet (Rep., Nob.), Pace
(Dem., Ga.) and Sundstrom (Rep.,
N. J.).
Though the coalition strategy calls
for an attack on OPA pricing regu
lations such as requiring sellers to
absorb part of increased costs of
production and distribution, the
group will seek modification rather
than outright abolition of the
agency. Support would be given to
a one year extension of OPA.
Senator Wherry (Rep., Neb.) was
to head the coalition in the senate,
where support may be slower in de
veloping because of the need for
members to canvass their positions
more accurately in view of their
wider constituencies. Reflecting
this more cautious approach, the
senate greatly watered the strin
gent Case bill which restricted la
bor activities.
WAR CRIMES:
Hermann limps
Attired in a baggy uniform with
a red scarf tied around his neck,
Hermann Goering showed all of his
old cockiness in being the first of
the Nazi war criminals to testify in
his behalf in the historic Nuernberg
trials.
With a noose staring him in the
face, the rumpled former Reich air
marshall proudly boasted that he
had been Hitler’s right-hand man
and striven mightily to strengthen
the national Socialist party rule “to
wX
Hermann Goering on stand.
make Germany free.” Though the
Nazis had come into power through
free elections, he said, every effort
was mads to retain their leadership
even to the elimination of all politi
cal opposition.
In recounting the notorious blood
purge of 1933, Goering claimed that
Gen. Kurt von Schleicher and Gen.
Curt von Hammerstein-Equord had
sought to overthrow Hitler shortly
before the installation of his first
cabinet. In a quick Nazi counter
move, the putsch was crushed and
von Schleicher murdered.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS:
Russ on Spot
Russia was put on her honor by
high American and British officials
in the midst of reports that re
inforced Red armies were fanning
over northern and western Iran and
threatening Turkey and Iraq.
In Washington, D. C., President
Truman openly expressed confi
dence that the U. S. and Russia
could resolve their difficulties aris
ing over Iran and the Reds strip
ping of Manchurian industry through
diplomatic procedure. At the time
Mr. Truman spoke, Russia’s only
answer to the state department’s
protest over continued Red occupa
tion of Iran in violation of a tripar
tite agreement was an unofficial
Moscow radio broadcast that reports
•f Russian troop movements in Iran
were inaccurate.
Coincident with President Tru
man's expression of belief in Rus
sia, Foreign Minister Bevin of Great
Britain, stressed premier Stalin had
World Hog Numbers Show Big Drop
Showing a sharp decrease of
5,000,000 head, world hog numbers
dropped to 244,000,000 at the start
of 1946 in comparison with the year
previous. Reductions in central Eu
rope, Canada and Argentina were
offset only partially by moderate in
creases in the U. S., France and the
Soviet Union, and small increases
in other countries.
Because of the critical world
shortage of grains, further decline
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL. PERRY. GEORGIA
unequivocally assured his major war
allies that the Reds would respect
Iranian territorial integrity in ac
cordance with tri-partite agree
ments. Foreign Commissar Molotov
reiterated Russia’s intention to pull
out of Iran during the London con
ference of foreign ministers, Bevin !
added.
Behind the political tension, re
ports persisted that the Reds were
exerting the strongest pressure on
Iran for oil concessions in the north.
The British have extensive petro
leum holdings in the south as well
as in neighboring Iraq, where a na
tive movement for self-rule backed j
by the Reds is feared.
LABOR:
Auto Waff ps
Emerging haggard and bewhisk
ered from the conference room after
17 hours of continuous negotiation
between CIO - United Automobile
Workers and General Motors offi
cials, UAW Pres. R. J. Thomas
muttered: “Considering everything,
I think we’ve got a pretty good
contract.”
Settled after a bitter 113-day
strike, the pact did provide substan
tial wage and other concessions to
the union, though falling short of
UAW goals. Despite the long-drawn
bickering, the company granted
only ISVfe cents an hour instead of
the 19l£ cents demanded, and the
average G. M. wage was set at from
$1.12 to sl.3ocents an hour, still
below the Ford and Chrysler pay
rates.
By obtaining important conces
sions from the company, however,
UAW officials claimed that the total
financial gain would exceed the 19*£
cents an hour sought. Gains in
cluded adjustment of inequalities in
wage rates in certain plants, im
proved vacation pay up to 4Vz per
cent of gross income of employees
of five years or more, double time
for the seventh consecutive day on
tlrp job, and equal compensation for
women.
In winning substantial pay con
cessions for the future, the strikers
paid a heavy price in lost wages
of between 138 million and 150 mil
lion dollars. The company was
estimated to have dropped 600 mil
lion dollars in unfilled orders while
distributors lost 150 million dollars
in sales commissions.
Production Prospects
With the settlement of the G. M.
strike, the auto industry hoped to
clear the decks for all-out produc
tion to meet the tremendous pent
up demand for new cars. Because
many parts suppliers still have to
negotiate wage demands, however,
the threat to full-scale output re
mained.
In any event, the auto industry
will be unable to meet the goal
of six million cars set for 1946. With
reasonably clear sailing, it is ex
pected that three million passenger
vehicles will be turned out during
the remainder of the year.
Indicative of the high gear into
which the industry must be thrown
to meet production goals, Ford has
assembled only 76,000 cars thus far:
Chrysler, 53,000; General Motors,
under 100,000; Willys-Overland, 62,-
000; Studebaker, 38,000; Nash, 11,.
000, and Hudson, 4,000.
Other Strikes
Despite settlement of the Gener
al Motors strike and the agree
ment between General Electric and
the CIO - United Electrical Work
ers, strikes continued to cloud the
postwar economic picture, with the
dispute between International Har
vester and the CIO-Farm Equip
ment Workers the most serious.
With International Harvester and
the union deadlocked over the com
pany’s proposal that an 18 cent
wage raise be conditioned upon gov
ernment grant of an offsetting price
increase, Secretary of Agriculture
Anderson called upon management
and labor to co-operate in the pro
duction of vitally needed equipment
to meet the big crop goals. Unless
farmers are able to step up the out
put, he said, this country will be un
able to furnish sufficient food to
avert mass starvation abroad.
Termination of the General Elec
tric strike, with an 18t<! cent an
hour wage raise bringing average
weekly earnings to approximately
$42, opened the way toward large
scale production of home appli
ances. Previously, General Motors’
electrical division had made peace
with the CIO union on the same
terms.
in hog numbers outside the U. S.
is forecast in 1946 despite a de
mand for meat well above the sup
ply.
Canadian hog numbers continue
to decline and at the beginning of
1946 showed a drop of 1.8 million
head below the year before, or 38 per
cent below 1944, while in the U. S.
they rose 4 per cent, thus recuperat
ing part of the loss shown on Janu
ary 1, 1945, compared with 1944.
In Argentina a reduction in ths
POLITICS;
Bad Mixture
Though stubbornly fighting to the
last, Big Ed Pauley finally conceded
that oil and politics don’t mix, ask
ing for withdrawal of his nomina
tion as undersecretary of the navy
despite President Truman’s deter
mined support in the face of strong
congressional opposition.
A millionaire California oil-man
and former treasurer of the Demo
cratic party, Pauley faced rough go
ing from the start, with astute politi
cal observers terming the nomina
tion of any petroleum operator for
a navy job a blunder in view of
past scandals over navy oil.
Edwin W. Pauley (seated) reads
missive from President as broth
er Harold looks on.
Whatever hopes Pauley nourished
for confirmation were rudely
shaken with former Interior Secre
tary Ickes’ testimony that he had
told him that $300,000 could be raised
from oil men for the 1944 Demo
cratic campaign if the government
would withdraw its suit for title over
underwater petroleum deposits in
California.
In asking the President to with
draw his nomination, which was
done, Pauley declared that he had
been cleared of all charges against
him. Commending him for retiring
from the fight, Democratic mem
bers of the senate naval affairs com
mittee upheld his personal integ
rity.
CONSCRIPTION;
Prospects Brighten
Because of the precarious inter
national situation aggravated by
Russian moves in the east, congres
sional support grew for extension of
the selective service act beyond
May 15.
With war department officials
calling for maintenance of military
strength in the face of unsettled
world conditions, it was revealed
that plans called for an army of
1,500,000 officers and men by July,
1946, and 1,000,000 by July, 1947.
Pending determination of the aims,
policies and programs of other na
tions, and the efficiency of the UNO
in resolving disputes, no decision
can be made about the permanent
size of the armed forces, it was
said.
General Eisenhower declared that
one of the principal arguments for
the retention of selective service
was that it acts as a spur for volun
tary enlistments. With volunteers
permitted to specify what branch
of service they prefer, many young
men act to pick their spots before
being drafted and made subject to
compulsory placement. In five
months, 600,017 volunteers enlist
ed, with 67.07 per cent being World
War II vets, 18.7 per cent recruits
and 14.23 per cent pre-Pearl Harbor
enrollees.
WORLD RELIEF:
Sharing Burden
Assuming the honorary chairman
ship of the government’s emergency
famine committee, former Pres.
Herbert Hoover called upon South
American nations to join with their
Big Brother of the north in con
serving cereals for feeding of the
hungry in war stricken Europe and
Asia.
Prior to leaving for a first-hand
survey of overseas conditions,
Hoover told a news conference that
he believed both North and South
America could save upwards 6f 7
million tons of cereals during the
next 120 days to help fill a need for
about 9 million tons. The year’s re
quirements will total 21 million tons,
he said, but only 12 million tons
; will be available without the under
taking of broad conservation meas
ures.
1 Of the total of 7 million tons that
the western hemisphere could fur
nish within the next four months,
South America could contribute 5
1 million tons, Hoover said. This
amount could be made available by
• cutting down purchases of foreign
• goods requiring payment in grain;
reducing consumption, and turning 1
1 over all surpluses to famine threat
■ ened areas.
MILK:
Per capita consumption of milk
and cream jumped to 442 pounds in
1945, the highest total ever reached,
■ and 102 pounds more than the per
• capita consumption in the five year
■ period from 1935-39, government fig
ures show.
: Translated into housewife’s terms,
f these figures meant that an aver
-1 age of about 206 quarts of milk in
: 1945, almost four quarts a week,
• was consumed for each man, worn
• an and child in the nation, in the
• form of milk and cream.
)
Fossils Intrigue Bright [l®
Young Scientist-Farmer J&Sk
One of 40 Talented Youth Honored With Trip
To Washington; Many Ponder Careers
As Atomic Researchists.
By BAUKHAGE
News Analyst and Commentator.
WNU Service, 1616 Eye Street, N.W.,
Washington, D. C. '
He knew what a sphygmomanom
eter was used for; that a decigram
equals 1.5432 grains; and that
septicemia and anaphylaxis are dif
ferent. Besides that, he collects fos
sils enough to fill the farm
kitchen at his home near Ellens
burg, Wash. That’s why 18-year-old
Jim Gibson got a free trip to Wash
ington, D. C., where he ate buffalo
steak at the zoo; drank tea at the
White House; gave congress a criti
cal once-over; and listened to Lise
Neitner, physics wizard, talk
on atomic theory.
Jim is one of 40 bright young high
school seniors selected as finalists
in the fifth annual science talent
search, sponsored by Science Serv
ice of Washington, with scholarships
offered by Westinghouse Electric
company. Sixteen thousand scien
tific-minded boys and girls, from
every section of the country, took
competitive examinations on such
things as sphygmomanometers and
decigrams; wrote essays on “My
Scientific Project”; were inter
viewed by leading scientists. Three
hundred of them won special recog
nition ; 260 were given honorable
mention; and 40 "finalists,” includ
■'m
James Gibson
Ing Jim Gibson, came to Washing
ton, D. C., to attend the Science Tal
ent institute.
I met Jim at the banquet which
wound up the hectic weekend of
interviews and sightseeing tours,
and asked him how he’d hap
pened to start collecting fossils in
stead of stamps, birds’ eggs, or
matchbox covers. Jim, a ruddy,
rumpled, serge-suited farm boy,
scoffed at stamps as “dull.” Fos
sils aren’t.
One Fossil
20,000 Years Old
Why, just this year, he was nos
ing around some cliffs in his part
of the state of Washington, and he
came upon an interesting rock. That
is, it would look like a rock to you
and me. Jim saw something em
bedded in it. Maybe a bone. He and
his fossil-minded companion hacked
out the rock, and with considerable
effort, lugged it into their car. It
weighed 120 pounds. At home, Jim
“liberated” what he had seen em
bedded in the rock. A small piece
of wood. He took it to a scientific
professor friend of his, and learned
that what he had found was a
20,000-year-old fossil. Jim was as
excited as if somebody had present
i ed him with a brand-new 1946 model
automobile,
i The serious, brown-eyed young
‘ ster tosses decades and centuries
around with great ease. Over the
, mushroom soup, he dug around in
i his crowded pockets and produced
an odd-looking object.
“See this?” he asked.
“Um,” I said. Another piece of
t rock.
“It’s a shark’s tooth,” Jim ex
, plained. “It’s eight million years
i old. Dr. Foshag of the Smithsonian
i Institution gave it to me.”
r I hurriedly rolled the conversa
i tional ball back to 1946.
; “What does your family think of
r your fossils.” I wanted to know.
Well, it turns out that Jim, and
his father, a dairy farmer, “batch
it. Mr. Gibson has no objections to
i BARBS. ~ by Baukhage
» L—————— - .
P
r What use is a ceiling on butter
when cream can rise as high as it
wants to? Naturally it will seek
reversing gravity—the highest lev
els, including ice cream.
• • •
i
The black market in America ap
! pears about as easy to handle as
. the bootlegger of prohibition days
. . and the bootlegger is waiting
in the wings too.
• • •
fossils under the bed so long as they
don’t interfere with Jim’s cooking.
Yes, Jim does most of the cooking,
but he’s deprecatory on this score,
saying his culinary exploits depend
largely on a can-opener.
Likes Collector
Of Brains
Girls? Well, to appeal to Jim,
they’d have to be as smart as Lise
Neitner. The little gray-haired femi
nine scientist whose research led di
rectly to the development of the
atomic bomb, impressed him most
of anything or anybody he saw in
Washington, with the exception of
the cyclotron at the bureau of stand
ards. However, there was one girl
he met at the Science Talent insti
tute who he admitted was “interest
ing.” She collected brains.
He knows all about running a
farm and he keeps bees as part of
his 4-H club work, but Jim Gibson
isn’t keen about farming as a Jiv
ing. He prefers fossils. And he’s
casting a speculative eye on the
field of nuclaar physics . .as are
well over half of the scientific
minded youngsters who came to
Washington this year.
Incidentally, at the same banquet,
Science Service Director Watson
Davis mentioned a few “firsts” this
fifth group of young scientist* had
chalked up. They ate broiled buf
falo steak without a qualm after
viewing the live variety at the
Washington zoo; they prepared a
“talk back” report of their opinions
on the atomic energy and Kilgore
bills to be submitted to congression
al committees . . . and among the
group was one Missourian, said Mr.
Davis . . . the first Missourian, he
added, who had ever gone into the
White House and had not come out
with a federal appointment.
* * *
There is a strange paradox in con
gress and it may cost the Demo
crats the pro-tern presidency of the
senate. It’s the exact reverse of the
“unholy alliance” of today—the
coalition between the southern
Democrats and the northern Repub
licans—and this is the way some of
the crystal-gazers on Capitol Hill ex
pound it:
There have been no real issues be
fore the country over which the
voters could tear their hearts asun
der. But there have been some bit
ter ones within congress and among
the Democrats in the senate espe
cially, which have caused incendi
ary intramural political friction.
Senator McKellar, Democrat of
Tennessee, has been, in the eyes of
some of his more progressive col
leagues, a brake on the wheels of
what they consider their progress.
Senator McKellar has sturdily and
steadily bucked administration
legislation, not merely the Fair
Employment Practices bill, but
other measures which the “lib
eral” element on both sides of the
aisle have supported. Nobody denies
that after the next election the Re
publicans are going to get some of
those 17 seats in northern and west
ern constituencies away from their
Democratic opponents. They may
get enough of them so the parties
will be at least more evenly bal
anced even in the opinion of the
more conservative prognosticators.
That is half of the proposition. The
other half is the growing wrath of
some of the liberals on the Demo
cratic side who are very sore at
McKellar for deserting the party
line.
It is not out of the picture that
enough of these liberals will be will
ing to kick over the traces and vote
for a Republican president pro-tem
or at least vote against McKellar
and thus produce the strange but
possible phenomenon of a represent
ative of the minority party presid
ing over the senate.
This is not a prediction, but it
is the presentation of a paradoxi
cal possibility, granted the trend of
the times becomes the course of to
morrow.
• v •
The FCC must decide whether the
new telephone recorder destroys
the telephone’s privacy. It might
keep people from wasting telephone
time, and think of all the things you
wouldn’t say if you knew they were
going to be on the record! For one
thing, it might make people more
sympathetic toward radio commen
tators.
USO Pres. Lindsay Kimball says
Americans move from vast enthusi
asm to complete indifference.
That’s certainly true. Remember
monopoly, Coue, mah-jong, minia
ture golf?
• • •
Practically every woman ui
America is pursuing polyamide
products, th«se days. Polyamide ia
what nylon stockings are made of
• • •
