Friday, December 7, 1945

The Charlotte News

Friday, December 7, 1945

THREE EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that Secretary of State James Byrnes told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that General Patrick Hurley had presented no evidence to back up his claims that members of the diplomatic service had sought to sabotage his efforts to unify China during his tenure as Ambassador. Specifically, Secretary Byrnes registered his confidence in John Service and George Atcheson, each of whom Ambassador Hurley had charged with seeking to undermine his efforts to unify China and generally to undermine the Chiang Government in favor of the Red Chinese. Secretary Byrnes stated that the message sent to the State Department by Mr. Atcheson in February, 1945, as detailed this date by Drew Pearson, and the memorandum prepared by Mr. Service in October, 1944, were completely appropriate, that they merely expressed their views regarding changing conditions in China.

On the fourth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, a U.S. Military Commission in Manila pronounced a death sentence against General Yamashita, the "Tiger of Malaya", for his permitting atrocities against Allied prisoners while in command of the Philippines, most notoriously the Bataan Death March in April, 1942.

War crimes trials in Japan were scheduled to begin in January, with former War Minister and Premier Hideki Tojo heading the list of defendants.

General Marshall told the joint Congressional committee investigating Pearl Harbor that Admiral Harold Stark, chief of Naval operations in 1941, had indicated his belief that warning to Pacific commanders on December 7, 1941 would only confuse them. But General Marshall had persisted and convinced Admiral Stark that sending the messages would be the best path to follow. General Marshall also provided an account of his activities on the morning of December 7, including his following his normal routine of an early morning horseback ride, some five hours before the attack.

In Nuremberg, the British continued their opening statement, alleging that Hitler had his armies at the ready for invasion of the Low Countries and France as early as November 7, 1939, during the so-called "phony war" period between October, 1939 and April, 1940, awaiting only good weather to accommodate the attack on the West. The prosecution also presented German Naval orders which showed that the ships which had invaded Denmark and Norway were ordered to fly British flags to camouflage their offensive motive. Hitler had not been in favor of the long period of waiting until the springtime, but the generals had insisted on good weather for their invasion. The prosecutors also revealed that German parachute plans for the attack on the Lowlands had fallen into the hands of the Allies on January 10, 1940, four months before the actual invasion.

In London, Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin was expected soon to make a statement announcing another foreign ministers conference of the Big Five, probably to be held in Moscow. It was reported in London that the proposal for the conference had come from the Soviets. The prior meeting in London in September had concluded in failure.

Some optimism prevailed that the UAW strike at G.M. might soon be settled, as G.M. withdrew its objections to claimed illegal picketing, that is blocking access of office workers to the plants. The two sides were still deadlocked, however, regarding the wage hike sought by the UAW and especially the refusal of G.M. to open its books to determine its profits and ability to pay the demanded 30 percent wage increase.

Representative Henry Latham of New York charged in the House that millions of dollars worth of surplus military equipment was being destroyed in the Southwest Pacific. He based his assertions on an Australian newspaper report.

Governor Dwight Green of Illinois told the Republican National Committee that the Truman Administration had suffered the most humiliating defeat in history on the international scene, including allowing the British and Dutch to run roughshod over Java, and Russia to betray Poland, the Baltic States, and the Balkans.

A woman in Paterson, N.J., jealous over her husband's fraternizing with another woman, was accused of murdering her husband by chasing him with her automobile through an alley and pinning him against a cellar door.

Cigars, especially medium-priced cigars, were becoming plentiful again, October distribution being elevated nearly 25 percent over October, 1944.

Freck Sproles continues the story of needy families in Charlotte and the necessity of contribution to the Empty Stocking Fund, to insure Christmas for the children of these families. The Fund was now up to $1,332.15.

Somebody, please contribute 85 cents to provide a round dollar figure.

In New Orleans, spot cotton closed steady and unchanged.

On the editorial page, "Benefits Bring Problems" gives praise to the V.A. for the selection of Charlotte as the location of a new 500-bed veterans hospital. It had resulted from the dedicated efforts of Congressman Joe Ervin and other local citizens.

It was all the more reason why the housing shortage in Charlotte had to be addressed promptly, as the new hospital, though 18 months away from completion, would bring with it large numbers of support staff moving into the community as well as transient veterans seeking treatment.

"The Bowl Runneth Over" comments on the ninth annual Shrine Bowl high school all-star football game between the stars of South Carolina and North Carolina, in benefit of handicapped children, to be played in Charlotte the following day. The eight previous games had netted $37,500 for the cause. The Shrine Hospital in Greenville, S.C., recipient of the donative proceeds, had an annual operating budget of $78,000, and so the contribution was substantial. A full stadium would mean that about a hundred children could be provided the means to leave the hospital.

"A Strange Little Proposal" finds problematic the suggestion by former Congressman Matthew Merrit of New York, that Congress raise salaries of Representatives from $10,000 to $25,000 per year and provide for a single six-year term. He viewed it as the only means to save representative government.

The piece finds it a strange salve, that extending terms of Congressmen would only make them less accountable to the people, as would a one-term limit. Congressmen, once elected under such a plan, could do as they pleased without needing to respond to the desires of the electorate. There would be less influence exerted on Congressional decision-making by lobbying groups, but also by the people.

A piece from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, titled "The Blossoming 'Sahara'", suggests a growing readership of books in the South Atlantic states, compared to New England, as indicated by figures released by the Doubleday Book Shops of New York, showing that 19.4 percent of the mail order traffic at Doubleday came from the South Atlantic region while only 14.7 percent from New England.

While the disparity was likely explained by the fact that New England probably had better book shops than the South, the statistic nevertheless belied the stereotype of the "Sahara of the Bozart", as H. L. Mencken had labeled the South, even then unfairly, twenty years earlier. But there had been a time in those days when publishers did not bother to send out new books to Southern newspapers for review, as they regarded their Southern market as only negligble. It was obviously no more the case.

Drew Pearson discusses the Republican National Committee's efforts to place on the spot the Federal jobholders and beneficiaries of New Deal programs, urging them to lead rather than follow as sheep. The Congressional liaison officer for the Committee, former Congressman John Danaher, urged Republicans to cease stressing the word "democracy", as it tied into the Democrats in the minds of many, instead to stress that, under Article IV of the Constitution, the country was established under a "republican" form of government. So, henceforth Republican candidates for Congress ought stress the "r" word, not the "d" word.

Mr. Pearson next relates of the possibility that President Truman was going to bring former War Food Administrator Chester Davis back into the Government. A native of St. Louis, Mr. Davis had resigned his post under FDR and received a stinging public rebuke from the President for not being a team player.

He next relates of the Women's Action Committee for Lasting Peace, favoring the passage of the bill appropriating the remainder of the U.S. commitment to the UNRRA fund for relief of Europe during the winter, having visited the House Rules Committee to urge its passage. One of the members cornered Congressman Eugene Cox of Georgia, a member of the committee, and sought to impress him with the need for immediate appropriation of the money to avoid the prospect of foreign nations being able to suggest that the U.S. had reneged on its obligations. Mr. Cox replied that he was suspicious of the Soviet Union and how it might misuse the funds in its sectors of occupation in Eastern Europe. The member of the WACLP responded that not following through with the commitment would give an opening to the Soviets justly to criticize the U.S. She added that Mr. Cox's toughness reminded her of Josef Stalin. Mr. Cox appeared to enjoy the comparison but was not moved to action on the issue.

Lastly, the column tells of the telegram from George Atcheson to the State Department during August, causing General Patrick Hurley to become so angry that he resigned his post and bitterly denounced Mr. Atcheson and John Service as diplomats seeking to undermine his efforts to unify China during his two years as Ambassador.

Mr. Atcheson, who had been in the Far East as a diplomat since right after World War I, had been acting officer in charge of the Embassy in China in the absence of Ambassador Hurley at the time the message was sent. He had stated that he wanted to disclaim any reports sent to the State Department regarding the size and strength of the armies of Red China and the "detrimental effects" of the policies of the United States in China during the tenure of Ambassador Hurley. Many diplomats had observed that Mr. Atcheson was doing his duty in his capacity as acting head of the Embassy. Regardless, General Hurley had become so agitated by the message that Washington was afraid that he might physically assault, perhaps even batter, Mr. Atcheson upon his return to China and so transferred Mr. Atcheson to Japan to become an aide to General MacArthur.

Marquis Childs remarks that President Truman's request for legislation to limit the right to strike, by affording a 30-day cooling off period from the time of announcement of a strike, suggested a political break between the Democrats and labor which could have far-reaching impact on the 1946 and 1948 elections, especially with respect to the CIO PAC, strong for the Democrats in 1944, but gradually becoming less supportive since the death of FDR.

The G.M. workers were almost assuredly going to reject the President's entreaty to return to work. And G.M. itself could afford to wait because of the excess profits carryback which assured the corporation 1946 profits regardless of whether its plants were operating. Furthermore, the excess profits tax during the remainder of 1945 would have eaten away any corporate profits anyway. So the theory of the strike by CIO, that G.M., forced to compete with the other automobile manufacturers not being struck, would capitulate readily to terms to insure their place in post-war competition, was founded on dubious logic. Furthermore, G.M. plants which supplied fuel pumps and other critical components to the other automakers were also shut down, though G.M. had sought their reopening and Walter Reuther had agreed, based on the UAW theory of competition.

Much of industry believed that the immediate post-war period would be the time to break the power of the unions, as the manufacturing sector had more reserve capital than ever before. The charge by Mr. Reuther that industry was engaging in anti-trust violations was not attracting attention from Washington as in days past.

John L. Lewis, with an abiding dislike for Philip Murray of CIO, had come out of the Washington Labor-Management Conference with high marks, even if the conference itself had failed. AFL and CIO were quite split in their notions of demands for higher wages, only CIO demanding the 30 percent increase to keep pace with wartime overtime wages based on 48 hours.

The G.M. strike did not appear to have in store any real fruits for CIO, but even so, CIO might have considerable influence on the 1948 election, especially if it were to swing its support to a third party—no one yet factoring in the prospect of a third party being formed by Secretary of Commerce and former Vice-President Henry Wallace.

Mr. Childs concludes that the meeting of the Republican National Committee taking place in Chicago during the week would undoubtedly look with whetted appetite on the problems facing the Democrats in wooing again a solid labor vote.

Samuel Grafton discusses the many enormous tasks being heaped on the fledgling United Nations Organization, handling of atomic energy and the questions of Poland and the Baltic States, for instance. But the U.N. was never designed to resolve territorial and border issues as in the latter case. It was envisioned to maintain the peace after such other issues had been resolved independently. Its intended task was thus subtly being shifted by some to that of writing the peace, rather than simply maintaining it.

Moreover, there appeared in British and American circles an attempt to take power from the Security Council with the unilateral veto held by each of the Big Five nations and transfer it to the General Assembly, without any real power other than to bring disputes before the Security Council. The trend appeared to be signal of a breakdown in the hope for world stability.

As to atomic power, Dr. Vannevar Bush believed that the issue ought be resolved first among the nations before thrusting it onto the infant U.N.

A letter to the editor provides the third installment in the saga of the Dixie-Dame Pickle Co., this one from the pair of owners, apparently sisters, responding to the editors' note at the end of the first letter regarding the Dixie-Dame contention that OPA had discriminated against them in denying them an advance on 1946 sugar allotment, that they might continue packing their fancy hors d'oeuvre pickles, having run out of sugar for the holiday season. They did not appreciate The News saying that they had ignored the local OPA representative's basic contention: that they had used their sugar allotment for the year in ten months and that it would be unfair to other producers in need of sugar to provide the Dixie Dames with an advance on their 1946 share.

They respond that the OPA representative showed surprising ignorance of OPA records, suggesting the Dixie Dame allotment was based on 1941 usage of sugar, when, in fact, the 1941 quota had been premised on pickles and relishes, whereas 1944 sugar was shelled out on jams and jellies. They received respectively in each quarter of 1944 pro rata sugar, equal to 70 percent, 65 percent, 50 percent, and 50 percent of the base amount from the 1941 quota.

Further, the OPA dissimulated when it contended that the Dixie Dames received more sugar while under Army contract to produce pickles, jams, jellies, and preserves, enabling them to expand their plant and production. It was true that their production had more than doubled during the winter of 1941-42 when the country was in double-toil and trouble. But expansion of pickle production was being considered prior to Pearl Harbor, before sugar rationing, and their first Government contract had only come in summer, 1942, regarding tomatoes, requiring no sugar, presumably only puckering, and the Dixie Dames had not been party to any Government contracts, sugar or no, since fall 1942. Nor did they seek sugar on the basis of their war contract allotment.

The Dames then jump to the somewhat dubious conclusion, skipping in the process at least a few premises—perhaps sacrificed in the editors' self-confessed effort to redact into compact, "just the facts, ma'ams"— in concluding that therefore OPA was wrong in its assessment, that there would be no unfair competition with other producers in need of sugar, in provision to the Dixie-Dame Co. an advance with which to make more pickles, preserves, jams and jellies during the holiday period.

The editors again drop a note, saying, first, that they had been impelled to edit much of the letter to afford space for Samuel Grafton, the part put out being only glowing prose designed to show the lack of patriotic passion demonstrated by OPA toward pickle packers. They then proceed to explain that the Dames had received 39,840 pounds of sugar in 1945 versus 40,009 pounds in 1941, on which the 1944 quota was based. The quota, the Dames claimed, should not apply to them. The editors, in attempt to placate in pearls of praise the Dames' pattern of peculiar pecuniary preferment on their portion of Portia's fortune in all the quarters that they know, to avoid penury, state that they had found the whole argument elucidatory but that enough expense of print, in all likelihood, had been pressed upon the topic, that no more should anyone need prate and palaver upon it.

The Dixie Dame pickle packers would have to suffer henceforth in silence, while some wealthy hors d'oeuvres pickle enthusiasts would have to contend instead with ordinary garden variety pickles come Christmas, or be content with sugar plums.

And, as to the Dorman Smith of the day...

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