The Charlotte News

Thursday, April 16, 1942

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: General Wainwright on Corregidor reported, according to the front page, 65 raids by Japanese aircraft in the previous week since the fall of Bataan, fully one-third of the total raids on "The Rock" since the beginning of the war in December. Yet, despite the heavy bombing, little damage had been done because of the anti-aircraft fire forcing the bombers to high altitudes. Nevertheless, because of the cutting off of supply lines, time was running short for the stalwart defenders at the entrance to Manila Bay; in three weeks the island would fall.

The editorial column, while again echoing the false report that General Homma had committed suicide, took solace in the fact that the previous day’s reported bombing raid by Flying Fortresses from Australian bases on Japanese positions in and around Manila Bay had been successful.

It follows with a piece on the previous day’s death of Hugh Johnson, characterizing him as both cantankerous and sentimental, with reason poking through when the two competing tendencies warred with one another to a standoff.

"Long Run?" tells of the President’s estimate to the Pan-American Union gathering that the war would last another two to three years. It was an accurate estimate, of course, not only for the war, but for the remainder of the President’s own life which would end April 12, 1945, V-E Day coming less than four weeks later, on May 8. The offensive action contemplated by the piece, any more than further raids conducted by Flying Fortresses, was yet, however, seven months away, that being the invasion of North Africa.

As had occurred a few weeks prior, The News identifies the Mecklenburg Bigshot Bootlegger, Carl Lippard by name, announcing his sentence to the roads for a year and a day, suspended. As we remarked before, perhaps the reason he was finally caught after several years of evading arrest was the recent reduction in availability of fuel and tires with which to run the Thunder Road underlings’ fast car future NASCAR bundering sunder rings.

And the queues were already beginning to form around the block of the ration card dispensary in Charlotte, no doubt, as the front page announced the first rationing of sugar per the plan proposed tentatively the previous month: half pound per person per week. Times were tough. Today, by contrast, it is likely the case that most people would prefer fascism to being reduced to a mere half pound of raw sugar per person per week. We understand that one group of citizens protested the rationing, refused to abide the government’s will, and insisted on continuing to consume their usual quota of a pound per person per week. But, the rationing program in this instance had built in its own automatic governor, sparing the overly taxed and taxing government bureaucracy excessive exertion, as witness the group we reference, which spontaneously combusted as soon as its members were exposed to open flame, having turned virtually to pure carbon by their consumption.

Framed Edition
[Return to Links-Page by Subject] [Return to Links-Page by Date] [Return to News<i>--</i>Framed Edition]
Links-Date -- Links-Subj.