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WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS BY JOSEPH W. LaBINE
Sharper World Power Lineup
Results From Russ-Finn Clash;
Japan, Italy Maintain Silence
(EDITOR’S NOTE—When opinions are expressed in these columns, they
are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
> Released by Western Newspaper Union.
INTERNATIONAL:
Finlandia
Russia’s invasion of Finland pro
vided the first authentic touch of
fierce conflict which observers have
seen in the European cat-and-dog
fight which started September 1.
Carnage was spreading but so was
peace talk, because most of the civ
ilized world (except Germany and
Japan) was outspoken in its denun
ciation of Soviet aggression.
Plucky, even though pathetically
outnumbered, the Finns surprised
most military experts by stalemat
ing the enemy along a 750-mile
front. Off Hango, one Russian de-
r-' : n
t. * ■»$&&&
* • -
L e. J
RUSSIAN WEAPON
Top photo shows how Soviet troops are
bedded down in wing compartments. Over
site of attack they are parachuted (below)
to die ground.
stroyer was sunk and two others
badly damaged by coastal batteries.
While civilians fled bomb-wrecked
Helsingfors, hardy soldiers fought
off the Soviet advance in the north.
They even drove the invader from
snow-bound Petsamo after the Rus
sians had taken that city with a
new weapon—soldiers dropped by
parachute. 1 i ,
There was no hope for negotiation,
nor did Finland expect to hold out
very long. Foreign Minister Vaino
Tanner appealed to the world for
“effective help” as well as sym
pathy. Later he tried to reopen
negotiations with Moscow through
the Swedish minister there, but only
a few hours earlier the Soviet had
made its own peace—with a puppet
“democratic republic of Finland.”
Finally, in desperation, Finland ap
pealed to the League of Nations.
Embarrassment
For three years the frightened
league has “played dead” whenever
a political question was broached.
Last spring Secretary-General Jos
eph A. C. Avenol ignored Albania’s
protest during the Italian invasion,
and a recently scheduled meeting
to hear Poland’s protest over her
Russian-German invasion was po
litely called off for fear of embar
rassing the Kremlin. Reason: Rus
sia’s Ivan Maisky is league presi
dent.
This time the league had its last
chance to retain international re
spect. Secretary Avenol dispatched
the Finnish protest under pressure
from France and Britain, who saw
a chance of forcing Russia to sliow
her hand. This hope was dashed
when Russia announced she would
not attend the meeting. Nor did any
observer expect the lesser neutral
nations to support either side in this
controversy.
Instead the peace seekers looked
to Italy, a non-leaguer, and Japan,
whose foreign policy since Septem-
NAMES
...in the news
* y--. • V w• v ■.«*
Jan Sibelius, Finland’s idol and
world-famed composer, denied by
telephone from his home in Hel
singfors’ outskirts that he was
dead, a bomb victim.
Harold D. Jacobs, ex-Washing
ton newsman, was made “stooge”
wage-hour administrator until
congress will okay an army man
for the job (Col. Philip Fleming
of St. Paul).
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt
showed up for the third day at
un-Americanism committee hear
ings, watching Texas’ Rep. Mar
tin Dies hunt Communists in the
American Youth congress.
Attorney General Frank Mur
phy refused A. F. of L.’s request
that unions be exempted from
anti-trust laws, thereby avoiding
implication in the current inquiry
of building industry irregularities.
King George VI of Britain
braved a rough channel crossing
to join his army on the Western
front.
ber 1 has been as coherent as the
gibberish of a Mongolian idiot. Of
ficially the Italian government was
sphynx-like, but there was no doubt
about the feelings of a mob of uni
formed Fascists who cheered before
Rome’s Finnish legation and hooted
before the Soviet embassy. Though
moving softly, the fine Italian hand
was seen encouraging formation of
an anti-Communist bloc in the Bal
kan states, where the Soviet bear
will positively strike next.
Germany was silent, and with
good reason. To denounce the Reds
after Adolf Hitler's great show of
friendship with Moscow would mean
either (1) the repudiation of Der
Fuehrer and a subsequent admis
sion that the allies are right, or (2)
a simultaneous war on two fronts
against two hostile enemies (Russia
on the east and the allies on the
west). But a good sign of the aver
age Nazi’s sentiments was the pro-
Finnish demonstration in Hungary’s
parliament.
How about Japan? Britain be
lieved the recent Jap-Russian truce
had paved the way for Finland’s in
vasion, but Shanghai and Tokyo ob
servers thought otherwise. Said an
anonymous Jap army major: “It
is a good lesson. It proves what
we have always suspected, that
Russia cannot be trusted.”
Japan, Italy and Russia were ob
viously the nations to be watched,
but no one could accurately predict
their moves.
The Other War
Thousands of older French sol
diers were released from the west
ern front as the allies settled on
their new strategy: Fighting Ger
many with seapower and economics
instead of land offensives. There
was no great show of seapower, al
though the disastrous allied shipping
losses from Germany’s magnetic
mines had apparently been stopped.
British aviators bombed Heligoland,
the Reich’s North sea naval base,
claiming they had scored direct hits
on several warships. But the big
gest news was the new allied block
ade on all German exports, designed
to strangle the Reich’s sources of
foreign exchange. In the middle of
this strange warfare the Vatican
dropped an even stranger—though
promising—note. Pope Pius XII
suggested the warring nations de
clare a Christmas truce.
American Reaction
Thoroughly startled when Russia
ignored his plea that civilian bomb
ings be avoided in the Soviet-Fin
nish invasion, President Roosevelt
issued an unprecedented statement:
“Despite efforts made to solve the
dispute by peaceful methods . . .
one power has chosen to resort to
arms.”
This silenced spiteful critics who
hoped to capitalize by pointing out
how the President had erred in rec
ognizing Russia back in 1933. But
it didn’t silence New York’s Com
munist Daily Worker, whose front
page editorial accused the U. S. of
provoking war against Russia “by
using Finland as a pawn.”
Next the President asked manu
facturers and exporters of planes to
remember “the unprovoked bombing
w lip
LEAGUE’S AVENOL
Last chance?
and machine-gunning of civilian pop
ulations from the air” before nego
tiating any more contracts with the
Soviet. Not content with this “moral
embargo,” many a congressional
leader began yelling for severance
of diplomatic relations with Russia.
First among them was Texas’ red
baiting Rep. Martin Dies. Idaho’s
Sen. William Borah, on the other
hand, felt the U. S. “can best serve
the cause of peace ... by making
every reasonable effort to maintain
normal relations with all warring
nations.”
Comment from Britain’s publicity
wise George Bernard Shaw: “Fin
land would probably not have re
fused the Russian offer . . . had
she been acting ... in her own
interests, but Russia believes that
Finland thinks she has the backing
of America and other western pow
ers.”
Meanwhile, the Finnish legation in
Washington announced calmly that
its ever-prompt war debt payment
of $234,693 will be made as due this
month.
BAKER COUNT! NEWS
(Know your news? One hundred is
perfect score, and deduct 20 for each
question you miss. Any score below 60
isn’t to be bragged about.)
J
’— Al
„—:■ —-Hill, rp- y _
1. This man is eating breakfast.
Who is he, and what important po
litical step did he recently take?
2. In New York, George (“Ro
meo”) Lowther 111, whose woo
ing of Eileen (“Juliet”) Herrick
was opposed by her parents, ob
tained a court order and a 10-day
truce after which he was sup
posed to be free to marry the girl.
Did he?
3. Princess Louise of England,
daughter of the late Queen Vic
toria, made news in what way?
4. What swept across the Philip
pines: (A) a diphtheria epidem
ic; (B) a typhoon; (C) a spirit
of independence.
5. Petsamo, in northern Fin
land, site of a fierce Finnish-Rus
sian battle, has a temperate cli
mate even though it’s inside the
Arctic circle. Why?
Answers at bottom of column.
POLITICS:
Norris Advice
Not until the Jackson day dinners
January B—if not later—is President
Roosevelt expected to say yes or no
on the third-term issue. Early this
Br
Hr : ^4,
NORRIS
“No other leader . .
month,while
Washington
correspond
ents did their
best to trip
up the Pres
ident on a
commit
ment. Ne
braska’s
sage old Sen.
George Nor
ris gave the
White House
some ad
vice: Say
nothing until a commitment is un
avoidable. His reasoning:
“The President is the ideal leader
of the common man, and if he
should be eliminated from the scene
now, no other leader could unite the
progressive people . ~ . in a fight
against a united, reactionary enemy
. . . The progressive element would
be divided into groups which would
go down to defeat in a convention
where the united opposition might
succeed in nominating a reaction
ary . . .”
COURTS:
Labor Defeat
Painful to 57 corporations, individ
uals and organizations was the Su
preme court’s decision upholding a
justice department anti-trust suit.
The decision held them liable to pros
ecution, charged with fixing milk
prices, controlling supply and sup
pressing competition in the Chicago
area. Most pained, however, was
labor. Reason: One defendant is
the milk wagon drivers union.
Thus is Assistant Attorney Gen
eral Thurman Arnold freed to pros
ecute organized labor in his inves
tigation of building trades, a probe
which was opposed by A. F. of L.’s
President William Green on the
ground that unions are exempted
from such anti-trust prosecution by
the Clayton act.
But labor’s fear goes deeper than
that. If the justice department is
upheld against labor unions in its
building trades conspiracy case, the
unions can be prosecuted in re
straint of trade every time they call
a strike.
MISCELLANY:
Ouster
Dragged from his office and fireg
because Gov. E. D. Rivers said he
was using the “prestige” of his of
fice to further his political ambi
tions, Georgia’s Highway Commis
sioner W. Linton Miller began fight
ing for reinstatement.
Terminal
<L At Kansas City, four railway com
panies (Santa Fe, Burlington, Rock
Island and Missouri Pacific) planned
to spend $1,000,000 on a new produce
terminal, making the city a mid
western market center.
Subsoil
C. In Mexico’s supreme court, where
is being argued that nation’s right
to expropriate oil holdings of for
eign countries, Justice Jose Maria
Truchuelo argued that subsoil be
longs to the nation; therefore for
eign oil companies never really
owned the oil.
j Hews Quiz Answers
1. Tom Dewey, New York district at
torney who announced his 1940 G. O. P.
presidential candidacy.
2. No. Though legally free, "Juliet"
claimed she was still held captive.
3. She died.
4. (B.) is correct. It was the worst
hur.icane there since 1908.
5. The Gulf Stream, which originates
in the Caribbean sea some 8,000 miles
away.
ADVENTURERS 1 CLUB
HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES
OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELFI
“ Temple of Death”
STRIKE up the band, here comes a sailor—and let that band
play soft, mysterious music to fit the scene, for that sailor
is going to tell us a tale about India, the land where strange
things hdfcpen.
William Mutch is the sailor’s name and he lives in New York
City. It was in July, 1925, that Bill stepped off his ship, the
S. S. Steel Trader, at Bombay and started out to see the sights
of the town. And Bill says he saw the town from all angles
the funny side and the deadly, serious, too.
Right off the bat he had a brush with a native corn doctor
and Bill says the joke was on him. Early that morning when
the ship docked dozens of native peddlers swarmed aboard.
Among them was a corn doctor, who wanted six rupees to take
a corn off Bill’s foot. Bill offered him three, but the corn doctor
shook his head. Finally they compromised. Bill paid him three
rupees and promised to pay him three more that afternoon.
When Bill stepped off the boat there was the corn doctor.
He wanted his three rupees, but Bill told him he’d pay him
the next day, and he and his buddy got into a gharry to drive
away. But he wasn’t fooling the corn doctor any. That little
Hindu trotted right along behind the carriage yelling, “The
Sahib owes me three rupees,” until finally Bill stopped him and paid
him the dough.
Bill Manages to Square Accounts.
“He smiled and said, ‘Thank you, Sahib,’ ” says Bill. “But
I didn’t smile because quite a crowd had gathered to see me
hand over those coins.”
So Mother India had her joke on Bill—but she also had another
surprise waiting for him.
The gharry moved on, with a crowd behind it all laughing at Bill’s
expense, and it didn’t stop until Bill saw a curious building and asked
his driver what it was. The driver said it was the Pydhoni temple— at
Oral ] n
mb®®
Those white clad Hindus fell on Bill and his pal, hitting, kicking,
biting and even spitting.
least that’s what the name sounded like to Bill. Bill had a camera
along and he wanted to take some pictures of that temple, so he paid
off the driver and he and his buddy alighted and went up to the building.
Bill’s eye fell on the curious carvings on the pillars of that
temple, but his pal was impatient. “I don’t like the looks of this
place,” he said. “Let’s go to some place that’s lively and where,
we can get a drink.”
But Bill wanted to get some photographs first. He noticed an
open door and sauntered over near it to take a look through it.
“No one was about,” he says, “so I decided to go inside—against
the advice of my friend, who refused to go with me.”
So Bill went in alone. He took off his hat -and passed through that
door and up at the far end he saw a large image with a few smaller
ones grouped around it. With his hat in one hand and his camera in
the other, he moved toward that idol. Then, just as he had reached it,
he heard a scream of rage on the other side of the big room.
Bill Is Frightened by Scream of Rage.
Bill dropped his hat and camera. Wheeling around he saw a door
open. A short Hindu dressed in white stood in the doorway waving his
arms at him. That was enough for Bill. He started running for the
doorway. “My friend at the door shouted to me to hurry,” says he.
“But there was no need for him to yell. I was running as fast as I
could then. I had just remembered my hat and my camera on the floor
behind me when I saw four more Hindus coming out of the side door.
They were trying to head me off by reaching the front door before I
did. They didn’t mean to let me get out as easily as I had gone in.
“Just by the door one Hindu tried to get me by the throat.
But my friend, like a good shipmate, stepped in and started to
help me out. He hit the Hindu on the side of the head, knock
ing him down. But by that time the others were on us and the
fight was on in real earnest.”
Those white-clad Hindus fell on Bill and his pal, hitting, kicking,
biting and even spitting, Bill says. “It didn’t take us long,” he writes,
“to find out they meant business. And we were sure of it when we saw
a knife in the hand of one of them. He tried to stab me in the chest,
and the on(y reason he didn’t is that he couldn’t reach me. Two of
his friends were busy right then trying to kick me to pieces and they
got in his way.”
The Temple Warriors Fight Their Way to Safety.
The man with the knife turned, then, and made a vicious slash
at Bill’s face. Bill’s pal threw up his arm and the knife ripped
through the sleeve of his jacket. “The Hindu lost his balance,”
says Bill, “and fell to the floor, giving us a much needed break.
The others gave way a little when he fell—not much, but enough
to give us a chance. We smashed our way through them, dashed
through the door and out into the street.”
Bill left half of his coat behind him in the hands of two of those
Hindus. A small crowd, attracted by the noise, had gathered in the
street outside, but for some reason they didn’t try to stop Bill and his
pal as they ran past them and down the street. They had only gone
about half a block, though, when the whole mob was after them, yelling
and shouting.
“But luck was with us,” says Bill, “for just then a vacant
taxi came along. We told the driver to take us to the docks as
fast as he could. He looked at us curiously—and, no wonder, for
we were a sight and a great crowd was after us—but he nodded
and got going.”
The driver was a Mohammedan, or he wouldn’t have been so willing
to help them out. He took them to the docks and Bill and his pal went
aboard their ship. The ship didn’t leave Bombay for four days, but
neither one of those lads went ashore again. “We stayed on ship,” Bill
says, “expecting a visit from the English police or a Hindu knife be
tween our ribs while we slept. But neither one of those things happened
and we were glad when the ship sailed for Karachi.”
(Released by Western Newspaper Union.)
21-Gun Salute Has Origin in Mystical Significance
Originally warships fired a salute
of seven guns, the number seven
being selected because of its mys
tical significance from antiquity. Al
though the salute at sea was seven
guns, shore batteries were allowed
to fire three guns to the ship’s one.
The reason for this was that sodium
nitrate was largely used in the man
ufacture of powder. This was eas
ily spoiled at sea, but could be very
readily kept on land. The multi
plier three was selected probably
because of its symbolism. With the
development of the manufacture of
powder, the number of guns for the
international naval salute was made
to correspond with that of the land
forces. On August 18, 1875, a reso
lution adopted by the United States
provided that salutes be returned
gun for gun. At this time the Brit
ish salute was already 21 guns,
therefore, this number was accept
ed by the United States.
CLASSIFIED
DEPARTMENT
BABY CHICKS
BRED FOR PRODUCTION: Dneka
RAISED FOB PROFIT: Chicks
SOLD BY QUALITY: Turkeys
STARTED CHICKS: Pullets
MILFORD HATCHERY p »«^
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* "sM
[el r hh y ■
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it excellent pick-up work. Pattern
2051 contains directions and charts
for making rug; illustration of it
and of stitches; materials re
quired.
Send 15 cents in coins, for this
pattern to The Sewing Circle
Needlecraft Dept., 82 Eighth Ave.,
New York, N. Y.
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Weak Consciences
It is not because men’s desires
are strong that they act ill; it is
because their consciences are
weak.—J. S. Mill.
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Evil Habits
Where evil habits are once set
tled, they are more easily broken,
than mended.—Quintilian.
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Culture’s Effect
The value of culture is its effect
on character.—Maugham.
WNU-7 50—39
Wordless Poem
A picture is a poem without
words.—Cornificus.
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