The Wilmington morning star. [volume], December 18, 1942, Page 6, Image 6

About The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990

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©1.A
Jiilmittgtott
iHonting £iar
Published Daily Except Sunday
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ef March 3, 1879.
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FRIDAY DECEMBER~187 1942
With confidence in our armed
forces — with the unbounding de
termination of our people—we will
gain the inevitable triumph — so
help us God.
—Rooseveltv War Message
Our Chief Aim
To aid in every way the prosecu
tion of the war to complete vic
tory.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY
“A certain Samaritan,” name unknown,
lives still because of a kindness shown.
Grace Noll Crowell.
-V
Darlan Still On Spot
Instead of clearing up a perplexing situ
ation Admiral Darlan's declarations of amity
with the United Nations seem only to have
imposed new strains upon it.
He told correspondents at a press confer
ence that he has no personal ambitions, save
only to aid in the overthrow of the Axis,
and that when peace has been restored the
French people can determine the kind of
government they wish to have, that the Ger
mans had him by the throat, so to speak,
and forced him to collaborate with them until
he could break their hold and negotiate with
General Eisenhower for the bloodless delivery
of north and west Africa to the Allies.
To this, which appears on the surface to
reasonable explanation of his actions, the Free
French reply that other Frenchmen in a sim
ilar position fled the land rather than bow
to the will rtf the Nazis, and that he shaped
his course wholly in accordance with his self
interest. Thus., instead of clearing the atmos
phere with his declaration of intentions, Ad
miral Darlan has but made it smokier than
ever.
It is always difficult to believe a turncoat.
And it must be admitted that there was
nothing in Darlan’s conduct while a member
of the Vichy puppet government to inspire
confidence in him now. But it is equally in
disputable that he has rendered the United
Nations invaluable service since reversing his
jerkin, that by his efforts a vast territory
has come under Allied occupation, that much
time has been saved' probably many lives
preserved, and the ultimate defeat of the
Axis advanced by his new and voluntary col
laboration. .
Emanuel Shinwell, who previously seemed
to have the soundest view among British par
liament members, again sums up in what
appears the clearest understanding of the situ
ation. Darlan, he says, "must be considered
only in terms of the services he can render.
When we succeed in north Africa, we can
do with Darlan a4 we please.”
It will be quite safe, we are sure, to leave
the matter in General Eisenhower’s hands.
British and French critics could well afford
to cease their grumbling, accept Darlan’s gifts
gratefully and consider that Eisenhower, who
brought him over to our side, will be alert
for any signs of treachery in his conduct.
-V
Shuttle Service
Louis T. Moore’s appeal to the City Council
for help in securing shuttle-train service be
tween Camp Davis and Wilmington during
week-ends brings again to public attention a
project that has long been in the minds of
groups concerned with the welfare and com
fort of soldiers stationed at the Camp.
Even as» long ago as when the first cadre
arrived transportation has been a problem.
It has grown more difficult of solution as
time has passed and the uniformed popula
tion has increased. OSU executives and the
War Transportation Committee have devoted
much time and earnest effort seeking im
provement in travel accommodations. Nor has
the Atlantic Coast Line been less interested.
The obstacle has been a lack of rolling
stock, and with the increasing demand for
rail transportation by the armed forces, it
is not easily seen how this obstacle can be
- ■ ..s
remove. The railroads are under the heavi
est strain in their history for all manner oi
cars and locomotives. They are doing so
much better than anyone could have expected
of them, however, that they may yet accom
I plish the impossible. The Coast Line may
find a way to provide week-end shuttle serv
ice, if only with a switch engine and flat
cars.
But those who urge the line to stretch a
point with whatever equipment might be avail
able most not overlook the fact that faulty
rolling stock could be responsible for a wreck
in which many lives would be endangered.
Rather than that, it would be better for sol
diers intending to spend the week-end in Wil
mington to continue to devote what seems like
wasted hours, thumbing rides.
-V-*
Air Superiority
Air superiority, which has generally been
misunderstood by the public, is at last defined
in terms that laymen may understand. It
does not mean that any nation need have
more warplanes than another. It does, mean
tha' one nation must have superior air strength
in any battle or area under attack. It further
means that one power must possess a suf
ficiently mobile air force to throw into any
action before an enemy air force can gain
marked advantage in the new battle.
This makes it plain enough to understand
that when dispatches declare the Axis holds
: oeriority in the air on any battle front,
Hitler has massed a greater and more ma
neuverable force of warplanes than his foes,
and, conversely, when they say the Allies
have gained that superiority, they refer ex
clusively to the battle then under way.
By this explanation, which commentators
have been at some pains to make, a clearer
I picture of the Tunisian battle is presented.
! From the course of the land battle with Tunis
and Bizerte as the prizes, it is obvious that
General Eisenhower’s purpose is to fight a
| holding action, preventing a break through
by Hitler's forces, until he has gained air
! superiority in the area and can blast harbor
| facilities and defenses at both Bizerte and
i Tunis out of existence. Having accomplished
j this and made it impossible for Hitler to land
reinforcements, supplies ana equipment at ei
ther port, and with enough warplanes to stop
enemy air transport, he may turn the battle
from a holding to an offensive action and
throw into it the land strength necessary to
drive the remaining Axis forces in Tunisia
into the Mediterranean.
In the meantime, General Montgomery and
his 8th. British Army have split Rommel’s
retreating force and trapped one segment,
! so that the wily German’s, chances of reaching
Tripoli for a junction with Hitler’s forces
there is growing slimmer daily.
If it appears to impatent souls that the
African campaign is dragging they should
consider that Hitler will not give up in Africa
easily and that the reduction of his strongholds
in Tunisia cannot be accomplished until the
! Allies have achieved undisputed superiority
in the air in that arena of war.
*7
Drive Loan Sharks Out
Many matters of grave importance will be
before the coming session of the legislature.
War-time legislatures are as hard on the
members as war-time sessions of the Con
gress.t As usual, there will probably be of
fered a great many unnecessary bills which,
worthless as they are, will still consume much
time and so place a handicap upon worthwhile
measures. The rush to get essential legisla
tion through as the session nears its close
probably will be as great this time as ever
in the past. ^
There is one matter which should not be
allowed to go without corrective legislation,
however. It involves stern regulation of the
so called small loan offices, which investiga
tions since the legislature’s last adjournment
have brought to light, are charging from 200
to 400 per cent interest on petty borrowings.
Whatever the legislature fails to accomplish,
it should not again adjourn until it hag made
it impossible for a single Shylock to operate
within North Carolina. ♦
The public welfare demands that the whole
breed be driven out. The poor fellow who
lacks the wherewithal to meet a domestic
emergency should be protected when he goes
aborrowing. some way must be found to hold
all lending companies to the legal rate of
interest, which is 6 per cent in North Carolina,
and it will be the duty of the legislature to
find that way.
Sidewalk Visiting
_it
With Christmas shoppers abroad in throngs,
the time has again rolled around to remind
persons conversationally inclined that the mid
dle of the sidewalks is not well adapted for
prolonged visiting. Nor are the doorways of
stores and office buildings.
There is no better reason to obstruct pedes
trian traffic than motor traffic needlessly.
Common courtesy and fair consideration of
the rights of others require that sidewalk and
doorway visiting be abandoned.
It is objectionable at any season, but par
ticularly as the Yuletide nears, wher/ the
number of persons afoot in the shopping dis
trict is, perhaps ten times as large as in
mid-summer.
FAIR ENOUGH
(Editor'* Note.—The Star and the News accept no
i-esponsibility for the personal views of Mr. Pegler,
and often disagree with ihem as much as many of
nis readers. His articles serve the good purpose of
making people think).
By WESTBROOK PEGLER
NEW YORK.—One scenario which I certainly j
would not fail to do, if I were in that line t
of work and the movie industry were not an
agency of propaganda, would take shape under
the working title of “The Ingrate” and would
develop about as follows:
A poor and obscure English music-hall com-;
edian comes to the United States along about j
1908 and stumbles around a strange land,
doing the best he can until the moving pictures
emerge from the nickelodeons into Little The- j
atres and he suddenly clicks with a low
comedy makeup of baggy pants, big shoes,
a derby hat, a bamboo stick and a little,
dirty-lip mustache. The Americans, those
suckers, go crazy over him but he doesn’t
care an awful lot about the United States and
has a certain opinion of the people who are
throwing riches and adulation at him in their
land of opportunity. If he had stayed in Eng
land, he undoubtedly would have been sent
to France between 1914 and 1918? for he was
well within their age brackets and they were
taking them, big and little, and this one’s
health was very good. If he had stayed in
England the odds are that, if he wasn’t killed
or disabled in the first big war, he never
would have scored in the movies because
the British movie industry never did amount
to much.
Well, our comedian soon finds himself roll
ing in American money, but he is no spend
thrift and when he presently branches out as
a producer there is plenty of frugality to be
seen in his own master movies, but it is
called artistic simplicity and glamoured over
with reputation.
While he is still a ham, throwing custard
pies in crude productions and introducing new
and daring notes of vulgarity to the popula
tion of the Land of Promise, he finds himself
taken up as a very artistic fellow, indeed.
When he degrades the public taste by pucker
ing his nose and looking at the sole of his
shoe as someone lifts the lid off the lim
burger at table, that isn’t filth but art and
our subject is a suhtle pantomimist and one
of the great men of the age, if not of the
ages. He gets so rich that he finds that if
he makes more than one picture in two or
three years he competes with himself, so he
gets very mysterious and aloof; the brooding,
introspective artist type, you know.
During these years in the United States
he marries successively a couple of American
girls who are scarcely more than children
and is divorced from both, one of whom has.
a couple of children. Then, very mysteriously,
he marries a third wife and after a few
years there is another divorce. He doesn’t
get along well in the standard American re
lationship of marriage, family and home but
that isn’t strange because, after all, he is not
an American and is using the United States
only as a gold mine and a safe place of
abode.
He doesn’t care for Europe as a place of
abode. The British income taxes are terrific
and they are always having wars over there.
And. if he should go to Russia, which he
fancies as a very fine country with a nice
system of government for others, he would
have to throw all his millions into the dic
tator’s pot and live in a fleabag with a lot
of laborers, men, women and kids all jumbled
together.
There are whispers in Hollywood that he
ip slightly pink but the American people are
very fair and they ignore all this, so he
doesn’t have to declare himself.
After a career of more than 30 years in
the U. S. A., however, he finds himself a
has-been. Those who called him immortal
were mistaken. His stuff wap just tricks and
his vogue a fad but he hates to believe this
so he makes a stab with a propaganda film,
done with the usual frugality, which turns out
to be a terrible turkey. Another guy, just
a regular Amercan comedian, stealp his own
show from him but even so it is just a
skush, nol a smash, notwithstanding great
ballyhoo.
Well, now he has nothing to lose and no
reason to deceive the Pucker Americans any
longer, so he joins out with the Russians, not
as a soldier, of course, but to demand that
American sons of those who made him rich
te sent to make a Pecond front.
“Let us elminate anti-Communist propagan
da to win the war,” says he. And, "After
the war they say Communism may spread
over the world. So what?” But talk in favor
of Communism is the limit of his personal
effort to win the war.
Well, finally the war ends with the Allies
victorious and the Amercan people re-estab
lish their American form of government and
our hero, who has never cared enough about
the United States to become a citizen, is pick
ed up and thrown back to his native England
where his fortune is promptly grabbed by
taxation. The story fades out with our hero
wearing his low-comedy ragp and funny shoes
on the level and living in one room on a
socalistic dole.
•XT
Quotations
America, our own country, is the world’s last
citadel of liberty. What we do here at home,
and what our boys do on the battlefields at this
crucial time will decide the future of the
■' world, possibly for a thousand years.—Gov.
Dwight H. Green of Illinois.
When this world struggle is ended, racial
persecution will be ended.—Winston Churchill.
If I don’t get back, you will have to be moth
er’s protector. You must take my place as well
as your own in her heart. Play fair always.
Strive to win, but if you must lose, lose like
a gentleman. Don’t be a quitter. — Lieut.
Comdr. John J. Shea, lost on Wasp, in letter
to his 5-year-old son.
Turkey will remain a friend of democracy
and will block the pathway or aggression to
the Middle East with a million bayonets.—Sen
ate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman
fom Connally.
Nothing can be said against Alexander’s
(British first lord of admiralty) claim because
it is pretty near the truth.—Berlin news agen
cy commenting on reported loss of 530 U-boats
in war.
: ' “SEE NAPLES AND DIE”_
|i£A Service, fcic.
Raymond Clapper Says:
U. S. Military Equipment
Showing Up Well In War
By RAYMOND CLAPPER
WASHINGTON.—American mili.
tary equipment is showing up very
well on the whole, and superbly
so in some instances. There is
plenty of invention and new design
and rapid improvement. We have
always been proud of our mechan
ical ingenuity but a little apolo
getic about our military ingenuity.
Nobody can take anything away
from the Hurricane and the Spit
fire or the heavy truck-horse bomb
ers that Britain has made in num
bers that would be astounding to
our publci. In fact, considering
the industrial capacity with which
Britain began the war, what she
has done has been an industrial
miracle.
So when we brag it is not to
minimize what Britain and Russia
have done industrially. It is to
try to set straight our own achieve
ment, which is still so much un
derrated in this country because
of a defeatist psychology after
Pearl Harbor.
Our General Sherman tank has
shown itself to be such a good
mousetrap that our allied soldiers
want nothing else—and the Sher
man is going to pack an even
stiffer wallop before long. General
Arnold says we are going to bring
new weapns into the air war.
Factories are producing new weap
ons, new models, new gadgets,
tricky stuff like that belly turret
for the Flying Fortress that some
of us curled up in at the Briggs
facory in Detroit a few days ago.
Ingenuity in eapons seems pos
sibly to be even greater than
ingenuity in commerical products,
for brains both in industry and
in the services have gone in heav
ily behind the theory that if our
men are just as good as the Nazis,
then the ones with the best weap
ons will win.
Army Ordnance and other,, pro
ducing brancnes in the services
are working very closely with in
dustry. Primarily the weapons are
those asked for by the using arms.
Ordnance goes out to get what
the Armored Force, the Artillery
and other branches want. Changes
are being made constantly—there
are several hundred minor changes
pending on one airplane model
now. Battle sometimes reveals
need for a quick change, and a
heavier gun has to be improvised
out of a weapon already, in pro
duction. You almost have to tele
graph changes back from the bat
tlefield to the factory to keep really
up to date.
The Ordnance branch is a kind
of whippingg boy for the Army,
although its task is only to get
out the weapons that the using
arms want. For instance a big
inside row is going on over the so
called trackless tank. Gen. K. H.
Campbell, Chief of Army Ordnance
is being accused of killing off the
trackless tank because it was not
invented inside the Army. Actu
ally, General Campbell revived in
terest in the eight-wheeled track
less tank after it was scorned by
Armored Force officers a year
ago, and he got it tested by a
board of field officers from the
Armred, Tank Destroyer and
Cavalry forces. They recommend
ed it be dropped. The machinery
was too complicated, they thought,
for rougn field service.
When someone accused the Ord
nance chief of suppressing the in
vention, his retort was that he
would get anything the Armored
Force wanted “If the Armored
Force wants an 18-wheeled vehicle
that will run sidewise, we’ll try
to get it for them,’’ General Camp
bell said.
There must be close participa
tion of the military in production
for the reason that changes in
equipmenT come almost on order
now from the front. For instance,
if four fliers work out a new bomb
ing trick, it may require immedi
ate change in the bombs, by tele
graph orders back to the factory.*
The way war is now, it leaves
no place except for open and quick
minds. It’s only in politics that
you can still get by with talking
in your sleep.
T T
Governor Dudley’s Garden
(Wilmington, N. C.)
Autumn comes gently here
along the banks of the Cape Fear—
A cool wind shakes
the rustling palmettos overhead,
magnolias glisten with golden light
and red seeds flare
among the leaves.
The heavy pomegranates hang,
sagging upon their branches,
—strange fruit which held Perse
phone—and yellow quince.
A mockingbird feeds quietly
upon the camphor-berry bush
and fragrance of sweet olive
fills the dusk.
All time moves softly here
upon the banks of the Cape Fear.
ULRICH TROUBETZKOY
ULRICH TROUBETZKOY in Chris
tian Science Monitor.
LETTER BOX
The editor does not necessarily
endorse any article appearing in
this department. They represent tht
views of the individual readers.
Correspondents are warned that
all communications must contain
the correct name and address for
our records, though the latter may
be signed as the writer sees fit.
The Star-News reserves the right
to alter any text that for any rea
son is objectionable. Letters on
controversial subjects will not je
published.
GIFT LIGHTS NOT NEEDED
To the Editor:
It is with sincere appreciation
the staff of the Woodrow Wilson
Hut thank you for your coopera
tion in writing an editorial at my
request, in Thursday’s paper, ask
ing our good people of Wilming
ton to again lend their colored
lights as they did last year to dec
orate the Hut for Christmas.
The first of the Yuletide festivi
ties will be the Army children’s
party, for which provisions have
already been made by the Army,
and the folks at the Hut are co
operating by decorating the build
ing and packing the little gifts.
All of these plans have been
completed and it will not be neces
sary for the people of Wilmington
to relinquish their own lights,
since ample decorations have al
ready been provided for by the
Army.
Ethel Spence Powers, hostess,
Woodrow Wilson Hut
Wilmington. N. C.,
December 17, 1942.
THE FORGOTTEN ONES
To the Editor:
There are those who have num
bers of relatives and friends to
remember them at Christmas and
other seasons. Usually the ones
who are better able to provide for
themselves get the most remem
brances. Circumstances often pre
vent others from providing suffi
cient food and clothing for those j
in their care, much less giving j
the gifts which they so long to ,
give.
The way to double happiness is
to share it. If we know of needy
ones and brighten their lives, es
pecially during the Christmas sea- j
The Literary Guidepost
By JOHN SELBY
“Warning To the West,” by
Shridharani; (Duell, Sloan and
Pearce, $2.50).
Although it was probably intend,
ed well, Shridnarani’s “Warning to :
the West” will be considered by
many readers an inopportune and
rather arrogant statement of the
East-West position as he sees it
today. Ana inconsistent as well—
Shridharani says, in effect, that
either the “Saxons” do what India
wants, or else. But it is not quite
as simple as that sounds, for I
have been unable to determine
what India wants from Shridha
rani’s book. It appears not even to
be united on the matter of inde
pendence, although a majority of
the career-patriots of India do
want independence on the face of
their demands. He feels that it is
hopeless at the moment to expect
much from Britain, and believes
that the United States must force
whatever action is taken. He has
no ideas of value as to how one
ally can force another to do what
a third party bids, and little con
ception, to judge by w h a t he
writes, of the disastrous possibili
ty®s. attempt might entail.
Shridharani’* ideas are sue
cinctly expressed when taken in
dividually. but are often conflict
ing. He bases a large share of his
argument on what he calls the ar
rogance of rhe Saxons (meaning, j
of all things. Britain and the Unit
ed States the latter of which is
about as Saxon as Indial. But it
would be difficult to find more
arrogant writing than Shridhara
ni’s even in England 50 years ago.
This western attitude has pro-1
duced an East-West complex based i
on race, he says, the colored races j
of the Orient against the ‘‘dom->
inant” white races of the West. j
Yet on another page, he makes
the point that Indians are of the
Caucasian race. Nor does he con
ceal more than superficially his
contempt for some colored races,
Japan, for example.
His statement of Japan's prop
aganda aims is the best part of his
book, and there is one specific
warning of importance. It is
against the collaborative activities
in India of Subhash Chandra Bose.
The next most important thing in
the book is the oblique, unintended
warning against Indian politics: it
is difficult to see what can be
done now to reconcile conflicting
viewpoints, and one gathers it
might be dangerous to try. j
Interpreting
The War
By WILLIAM T. l-l U (3, K
Elmer Davis’ view
is in “sort of a lull ’ ,
the submarine menace, ::
to remind that the m<
present phase of the c 5,1
Africa is the battle r
By all signs, wer a e
it despite the long, submarine!!?
fested sea lanes and
highways over w hit
must move from Amt !
to the Britsh and Ameriu XX'
beseiging the Tunisian pr mcX??
Indeed, there are indie :0nsX
the Axis, on its part,
considerable diffculty . ,0
lied sea and air attach,.,
ing vital necessities ;.j thi
tively small forces it h , ?
nisia.*
London report:
by captured Axis it.
had not enough gaso.,: i
muniton and suggest that the Gw
man and Italian pi
Sicily are not more a>
fuel is lacking.
From London come- also a
port that the Germans,
with delays in move
plies intended for then- r,
troops, have assumed enrol ou
all Italian railroad: .
out troubling to ask Alussolia s
leave.
Satisfaction over tie in-!-edia>
situation and the put, f, • ._e
British Eighth Arm;
to Rommel’s fleeing
must be tempered, h .every ;
the reflection that 1 he battle n
supply is just beginning.
As men and weapons move -
larger volume from thi, count-:
to Africa, the strain on ■ Bn:
and American navies,
protect them, will become .:
ingly greater.
It may be recalled it: i • •
Minister Wins-lon Chur, ■
can troops in Africa that tht ;.
[boat menace likely would bec„:-,e
worse before it got i ; ter
Mr. Churchill doubtless had in
mind the advantages to U-bor ,
erations arising from the r.ects
sity for Allied transport: nr, ■ .
ply ships to enter
bers the limited waters about »
West African ports. Gti -
Mediterranean ports. Ins ■
ranging the seas in
game, the Axis subr. : :;
are enabled to concern,
small area.
Furthermore, that area h t
to operating bases. I ■<■ ■ ■
lost when a U-boat in;:-:
to ilis base for torpedoes
stores. The number of -
can actually engage i .
shipping is increased.
winter, too. is :
U-boat. The rough v.
time of year m.
for a sliip’s lookout o
crew to spot a subrr . . ■
near the surface.
The full fury of the
campaign against the
to Africa probably 1
The German U-boat floe i
was scattered over tin
south Atlantic when tin
American landings in Ai
made. Some may have r
two or three weeks >
their bases and additioi ' :
refitting. Soon they wi 1
again.
The American nav . ro
of needed numbers of e
sels, but there is ample
ance that it can dec!
with the U-boat men: re
gets them. Not a slop '
in the first great exp' cl 1
Africa, thouvh five t
torpedoed after an i
official commendat
to Capt. Lawrence T l1
S. N., disclosed he 1 -ri
2,000 ships in the A
the loss of only eigl '
It may be pres
escort vessels are o
the shipyards. But i:nt Jj
rive in the quant.'
U-boat will be a n •
Civilian Defense
Timetable
_t
SPECIAL
All OC'IJ classes will I
pended December l!)th
sumed on January L>;
If you hear or obscr
suspicious in characu r
promptly to:
Wilmington Police, -
Wrightsville Beech I
Carolina Beach Police
Captain of the Port. 2
County Deforce Counc
Sheriff. 4252.
son, our hearts will
far greater happii. ~
take of our own bless ir
It is also well to r
material needs are nt t
ones. Among both rich 1
there are seme who
lonely, and whom no
to remember. Perhaps
visit, accompanied by ■
remembrance, may men
them than words can e
There is no ration
friendliness and good
who endeavor to be : r
blessing to others will
own lives greatly enric'
one has left on record
nificant words:
“That I kept. I lost:
That I gave away. 1
F. H. WILLARD.
Bolivia. N. C..
Dec. 16, 1942.