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Wilmington Wonting &tar North Carolina's Oldest Dally Newspaper Published Daily Except Sunday By The Wilmington Star-News At The Murchison Building R. B. Page, Owner end Publisher Telephone AD Departments ^ DIAL 2-3311 _ Entered as Second Class Matter at Wilming ton. N. C.. Postotfice Under Act el Congress el March A 1WA SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY CARRIER Payable Weekly Or in Advance Combine Time Star »••• *** 1 Weak ...t M » •» • I Months . A» AW AW • Months . AM A* J®'J® 1 Year .. 1AW 10-40 20M Naw rates entitle subscriber to Sunday lasue el Sur-Nawa_ ’ BY MAIL Payable Strictly In Advance Combine yima Star Nawa tlon 1 Month .I -W » SO I M 3 Months . AW 1-M A73 • Month* . AW 3.00 A50 1 Year .. AW AW 10.W New rate* entitle aubacriber to Sunday issue ol Star-Newa Card ol Thank# charged lor at the rat* of 33 cent* par Una. Count fiv> word* to Una THE ASSOCIATED PRESS la entitled to the exclusive ua# of all news atones appearing in The Wilmington Star TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23. 1943 With confidence In our armed forces — with the unbounding de termination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God. _—a—win1* w» Mwu> Our Chief Aim To aid in every way the prosecu tion of the war to complete Vie tory._ THOUGHT FOR TODAV Every time we nourish reverence in our souls, we help the ;rowtn of all our vir tures. McClure -V A Fallen Hero It must be with a severe shock to their sense of decency and fitness that the Ameri can people learn General Patton did actually strike a soldier in a military hospital tent in Sicily. George Patton was a tempersome boy, giv ing way to ungovernable rage when crossed. But that was years ago. Since then he has spent the necessary years at West Point to earn a commission in the Army and other years in actual warfare and in training soldiers, during which strict dis cipline was essential. A capable disciplinarian, it now appears he has not acquired the finest of all military at tributes, self-discipline. It is reported that he continues to com mand the American Seventh army. Severely castigated by General Eisenhower and hum bled before the Mediterranean forces, he re mains at the head of the soldiers he led to victory in Tunisia after their reverse in Kass arine Pass. Perhaps it is all right to leave him in this post. He is a fine tactician. But it is questionable if he can ever again have the worshipful respect and unquestioning obedience of his men that he once enjoyed. It is always difficult, and generally impos sible, to put a fallen hero back on his pedes tal -V— Thanksgiving If there ie any predisposition today to anti Pate a gloomy Thanksgiving tomorrow, the prospect may be cleared by comparing the situation in this country with that in Greece and Poland and Italy and all other lands where the bloody hand of the Hitlerites has descended upon the people; in Russia where tens of thousands of noncombatants have been murdered and more thousands of soldiers have died in battle; in China, the Philippines and Pacific islands overrun by barbarous Japanese; on a hundred main and minor bat tjefronts where our forces and Great Britain’s are fighting the forces of evil unleashed by Hitler and Hirohito for the destruction of civilization. We at home at least have roofs over our heads, food upon our tables, safe at last from probable attack. We may go about our neces sary tasks unmolested. We may attend Divine worship without interruption or censure. We ipay speak our minds without feeling the ipailed fist of the gestapo upon our shoulders. And we have not been visited by a devastat ing epidemic. We may not have turkey for dinner, but we may eat. We may not like the artificial alhd coersive restraints of government, but are not in concentration camps. We may have lost a lot since Pearl Harbor, but we still may go and come as we please. For us at home, God is still in His heaven, sind if all is not well with the world, we may be confident that our just cause will be triumphant. i There is no proper reason why tomorrow should be gloomy • syp -Jj Berlin Raided Again How much of Berlin is in ruins after Mon* day night’s bombing cannot be known until the smoke clears and a photographic record of the destruction may be made. But if the damage exceeds that at Hamburg, sb report* ed it is obvious that the Reich capital is now more rubble than city. One thousand planes, discharging blockbusters with the deadly ac* curacy acquired by RAF fliers through long months of practice, cannot have failed to leave widespread havoc in the city which the German people were assured would never be imperiled by enemy air power, A remarkable aspect of this raid is that the RAF could repeat on an even larger and more destructive scale its exploit of last Thursday, only four days later. It shows, as nothing else could do, the tremendous in crease in striking power achieved by the Allies. Not so long ago it required weeks of preparation to launch a major raid, and the lapse of other weeks before a second could be undertaken. Clearly, the obstacles that formerly blocked the way for major raids in quick succession have been removed. There can be no comfort for the German people or the German Army in this knowledge. It may even convince both people and Army that there can be no escape. For what has happened to Berlin—and to Hamburg and Cologne and other centers of German war production and scheming—can happen to all cities within the Reich and Nazi-occupied lands. Hitler may have built the greatest of land defenses the world has ever known In his Fortress Europe. But he has lost control of the air and is incapable of countering the attack from the skies. The supremacy once enjoyed by the Luftwaffe has been lost, its power broken. If, as now appears probable, the Russians open airfields for Allied fliers, the air at tack may be placed on a shuttle schedule, with bombs falling upon enemy targets per petually. Under such heavy fire as this, Ger man production must soon be eradicated, German communications quickly disrupted. How, then, could the defenses Hitler has set up on the rim of Europe be long manned or supplied? It is not to be claimed that air power alone can win the victory, but a succession of raids such as those of Thursday and Monday nights can come very close to it. -V Chiang May Be There Notwithstanding that China is not at war Germany, nor Russia with Japan, the rumors in London that Chiang Kai-shek may be the fourth at the anticipated meeting of President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Premier Stalin are not so lacking in prob ability as might be supposed. Even though two of these powers are not fighting at the side of Britain and the United States in the full sweep of this* global war, they are as deeply involved in overthrowing the Axis and cannot perform their full part in that endeavor without sharing the respon sibilities and assisting in the planning of the two powers which have gone all-out for that purpose. Furthermore, both Russia and China have deep obligations for the preservation of the peace and the restoration of normal world activities after the war, and cannot take their proper place beside their allies in post-war programs unless they are counted in when post-war planning is under consideration. There is no reason to assume that winning the war will be the only subject to be thresh ed out. The fact is, there appears to be thoroughgoing understanding of Allied war strategy, with all campaigns drafted, among the four powers signing the Moscow Peelara tion. That phase of the conflict has been at* tended to, and we may be sure the outcome is no longer in doubt. Otherwise, for example, the former persistent demand from Moscow for a second front immediately in western Europe would not have been suddenly dis continued. what this new conference will devote much time to, obviously, is the winning of the peace on mutually beneficial terms. It is vital that the United States, Great Britain, Russia and China know in advance what each proposes for the future and how each can help the other to attain its just objectives without sur rendering its own. This, together with a care fully calculated program for enforcing the peace and maintaining world order, when hostilities shall have ceased, will be a major item on the agenda when the new Big Four meet. As the Chinese, with adequate aid and en couragement, can become the leading people of Asia, albeit they have been so long among the most backward, and as the other three powers have great actual and potential in terests in Asia, it would be both appropriate and advantageous for Chiang Kai-shek to grace the conference, when great issues are to be settled, by his presence, not only for what he may learn but for the advice he may be able to give. --V Not A Death Blow It is only gossip that Paul V. McNutt may resign as manpower commissioner if Presi dent Roosevelt does not veto the draft bill which places pre-war fathers at the bottom of the list and deprives him of authority over the selective service, but it is quite possible that if the bill is not vetoed and Mr. McNutt does actually resign, the nation will survive the blow. -V Sometimes we think w# have the marines surrounded, but find instead they have sur rounded us.-—Jap Writer. Canadian Oil Secretary Ickes condemns the Army project for developing petroleum in Canada for Alaskan forces, saying that the proposal would have died aborning if he had been consulted in advance. Probably his explanation accounts for his opposition. Mr. Ickes is constitutionally averse to favoring projects on which he has not been previously consulted. There can be no sound objection to the Army plan if proper provision has been made to safeguard the investment of American dollars In Canadian oil wells, pipeline and re finery when the war is over. With petroleum in United States fields perilously near exhaustion, as the oil men insist it is, there is every reason to develop new sources of supply. Only by so doing can we expect to keep our military machine in operation, especially as the chance of being supplied from Middle Eastern fields in the necessary quantities seems to be lessening daily. If there is oil in Canada, the United States will do well to develop it. The only objection can come when and if 'we surrender all right and interest in the development after the present war emergency. Fair Enough (■Blur's Nate—Tk* Bur sai Mu Naws aesepts a* raasaatlbllHy far lb* ptrsoaml views «f Mr. easier. Ml «ft SB IlMfna with theaa aa aaaeh aa many *f bis raslera. Bis artists* aerv* th* (sad parpaas *f ■abias paapl* thiak. « By WESTBROOK FEGLER NEW YORK—All of a sudden, we in the U. S. A., are supposed to turn against Gen eral Mihailovitch, the commander of the Yugo slav guerrillas, on the word of the commun ists that he has secretly been fighting on Hit ler’s side in the Balkans and is a dirty fascist. vcxjr icw Auicuvnua uavc even a juap-ivuuw ledge of the country, and its politics, of course, are a complete mystery to us so. we are not equipped to form firm opinions, but we cer tainly do know that no Communist will ever tell the truth about anything if a lie will serve his purpose as well and that fact must count in Mihailovitch’s favor. Somehow, Miss Ruth Mitchell, the sister of our own late Gen. Bihy Mitchell got mixed up in the war over there and served with Mihailovitch and she is now hack in this coun try and apparently hopping mad at the pro gress the communis; propaganda has made in favor of Josep Broz, better known as Comrade Tito, a roughneck who has been leading a rival army and fighting Mihailovitch. On the other hand, Louis Adamic, an American writer who was born there, and whose opinion car ries a lot of weight because he i3 rated as an authority, has approved Tito. The turn of the war in Yugoslavia thus puts Miss Mitchell on a spot for if we believe the propaganda then we have to suspect ihat this American woman who certainly showed courage in the war;**Ti either deliberately or innocently helping a frac tion which is allied with Hitler, which would be pretty bad business and very unlikely. In view of the propaganda that has been spread by the communists and considering the fact that American soldiers may have to fight in the Balkans, I believe Miss Mitchell’s story should be presented as she wired it to me a few days ago from Reno. She says if it is true that small units of Serbian Chetniks, which is the name of Mihailnvitch’s people, apparent ly have collaborated with the Germans, she can understand that oecause our Office of War Information has convinced tne Serbs that we intend to betray the whole Balkans to communism. The Serbs she says, are sincere ly democratic and have been our faithful allies, in this war as they were in the last one and points out that they openly joined our side while the communists were still friendly with Hitler. She might have added but. didn’t so I will, that during the same time the communists in France were doing sabotage in the war factories, that communist units in the French army committed treason and quit to the Ger mans and that in this country, too, they exert ed themselves in every possible way to help Hitler and harm Britain and us. "The communist partisans in cold fact, are hardly fighting the Germans,’’ Miss Mitchell’s telegram says, "but are using their world propaganda machine to credit themselves with Serbian victories. The greatest terror of the Croat partisans is a just punishment for the murder of over 600,000 defenseless Serbs, old men, women and children. The partisan army consisting mainly of tiie identical men who performed these mass murders are calling uiemseives communists to gain me protection of Russia who supports and arms them against Mihailovitch whom we are betraying.” It is very complex, as you see, and Miss Mitchell goes on to say that the Croats eagerly joined the Axis but are now going over to the partisans of Comrade Tito because they see Russia winning. “The reported Cnetnik Axis collaborators probably are partisans disguised to throw odium on the Serbs,” she says. "Our disloyal ty to the Serbs and the publicity given to the brazen falsifications of the communist parti sans by the Tiflis radio is a black disgrace to democracy and is costing us dear as it has unquestionably long prevented » revolt by the Bulgarians and Roumanians who, with the whole Balkans, hate communism.” That is about the gist of Miss Mitchell’s statement and I am not sure it clarifies mat ters but I pass it along because, whatever the rights and wrings of the dispute, she is dead right about the communist propaganda as to both its quality and its methods. And we do have to remember that back there when Hitler overran Jugoslavia, the communists were not in the field resisting because Rus sia was at peace with Cermany and Mihailo vitch was a hero to us. QUOTATIONS Never-ending squadrons of storks have bombed us with 17 1-2 tons of babies. Forty two were block-busters weighing more than 10 pounds. There were some incendiaries, with some spark of life, weighing as little as one pound, 13 ounces. There was no dam age and casualties were extremely light. No storks were shot down, so we may expect continued assaults.—Hartford (Conn.) Hospital Director Dr. Wilmar M. Allen s report. * » * The great advances that have been made can be measured by the ttat iiow the important events of the war -re being im pelled by the United Nations and not by our enemies.—President Roosevelt. Jtk ANOTHER HITLER “ROCKIT” WEAPON Raymond Clapper Says: War Plants Converting To Civilian Products By RAYMOND CLAPPER WASHINGTON, Nov. 23. — Con verson back to civilian work can begin gradually, and some signs appeared. "tirriited manufacture of washing machines, refrigerators and elec tric irons is being authorized. Only a small portion of the demand can be met, but some conversion is possible. For instance there is an abundance of secondary aluminum, oi scrap material not acceptable for airplanes. It normally goes into pots and pans. Some alumi num utensil facjpries can be re opened without inconvenience to war production. Even the manpower problem be gins to seem less forbidding. Charles E. Wilson, of WPB. has done a neat piece of work here to break up hoarding of manpower. He is doing this by forcing con tractors off a cost-plus-fee basis. By now most of them know what their unit cost is and Wilson is forcing more and more of the con tractors to sell to the government .v a stated price per unit article. Under cost-plus-fee basis, the man ufacturer rounded up as much la bor as he could lay hands on. al ways trying to protect himself against future turnover. If he held more men than he really needed it was charged to government cost. But when he is selling his prod ucts at a fixed price per unit, he wants to cut his labor costs be cause they come out of his hide instead of the government's That change or the threat of it, is causing some of the big man power centers to scale down their future requirements heavily. d or instance, m ouuuieiu Cali fornia war manufacturers now fix their fture manpower require ments at 42,000 fewer than for merly. Boeing Aircraft recently was offered several hundred men more than it could employ. On the whole. WPB people believe that requirements for manpower by February 1 will be cut by at least 500,000 men. Even though we have a bottle neck in trucks, because of short ages of some parts, the prospect of resuming automobile manufac ture may brighten uo more quick ly than had been expected. The industry, or some of its leaders are crowding Washington hard to get going. But thus far the brakes are held on. One im portant reason is that enginering skill would be diverted from wait work, even though old models were resumed from existing dies. But it may corne along. For a year or two production, when resumed, will be basically ox old model's' for which no new machines_nged^be made The sec probably would se^ sora<fwpa|dm|>roved models. In the thjrdl year the big changes would appear . using radically different designs taking advantage of cheap aluminum and the alloys which will be plentiful If Germany collapses, we can go quickly into automobile produc tion. There will be no real trou ble with tires because passenger car tires use little crude rubber in contrast to truck and airplane }!re.s- Gasoline may continue a limiting factor in some sections due to transportation difficulty, but “„°tI'er areas new cars could be ?J° ™.e’ New cars are soon used " dCd t0 replace those now n necessary transportation i which are going off the road rap idly now because of age. Fundamentally we have produc ed already the average 20 tons per man of so-called capital goods for 11 million men. From now on the production job will rapidly become one of replacement of equipment and manufacture of new or chang ed weapons. That is not literally true of everything—such as air planes—but it is as respects the broad picture. The task of reconversion is a much more sensitive and explo sive job than the original conver sion to war production. Enormous political issues may become in volved in it. One manufacturer will be selected to continue with war production and another allow ed to get back to his civilian cus tomers. The basis on which such choices are made are bound to be the subject ot intense contro versy and bitternessi particularly as much of this will come during a political campaign year. --V As Others Say It QUESTIONS THAT BOUNCE BACK It becomes evident on the basis of Washington statements that mis management has occurred some where along the line of tire pro duction following the retirement of Rubbert Director Jeffers and his farewell assurance to the Ameri can people that the situation was well in hand and that the hump of the rubber shortage had been cleared. The public recalls all too well how it was. After the rubber sit uation had become so confused, so hopelessly entangled, that few persons, if anybody, could under stand it, Mr. Baruch was brought in to survey the entire field. This he did promptly and vigorously with computation of a report and recommendations which sent us on cur way. Mr. Jeffers took over just there to carry out the pro gram and to see that synthetic rubber production was inaugurated to care for the nation's needs. Months ago he retired, going back to his regular railroad job with assurance to the President and the people that his assignment had been completed or carried forward to the point where relief was as sured and others could take over. Now, however, there is official warning, in the face of previous promise that large quantities of synthetic rubber would be avail able to ease the tire shortage by the first of the year, that the situ ation is more acute than ever be fore and that the worst is yet to ccme before conditions improve. Conceivably heavier demands by tne armed forces play an impor tant part in this continuing short age. But still another contributing factor seems to be failure of re sponsible officials to anticipate that synthetic rubber does not make itself ii’to tires. Rubber Director Bradlej^ Dewey is authority for the current statement that synthetic plants have turned out vast quan ities of rubber but that there was -* late start on rayon cord pro action and that "the ineffective general manpower situation” has made it difficult to man even the existing tire-building machines. Now how does that admitted de ficiency fit in with the effective ness and efficiency of Washing ton’s over-all planning and direc tion? Or is the default another failure to be placed squarely on Manpowerful McNutt's doorstep?— Greensboro News. -V BEEFING AND GASSING Someone remarks that Ameri cans who were beefing about the gas situation a few months ago are now gassing about the beef. — Winston-Salem Journal. -V EXPLODING STAR A report from Cambridge is that a German scientist has discovered a new exploding star. First since L.upe Velez. — St. Louis Post-Dis patch. The Literary Guidepost By JOHN SELBi ••TAPS FOR PRIVATE TTJS SIE," by Jesse Stuart Dutton; ($2.50). Jesse Stuart will never be more real as a writer than he was in his first book, that famous col lection of 703 sonnets published years ago as 'Man With a Bull Tongue Plow.” But “Taps For Pri vate Tussie” will introduce him to a far larger audience. It is a novel, it is important, and the Book-of-the-Month club has tem porarily put aside its preoccupa tion with the war and non-fiction in order to sponsor it. '“Taps For Private Tussie” is real enough. The novel is the kind of book that appears to gush out 6f some natural crevce: it could have beer, tricked up with many of the dodges known to novelists and made into a performance of such great skill that it might have pleased even such a man as T. S. Eliot. Instead Mr. Stuart has made it simple in the extreme; he has not even bothered to keep an eye on Hollywood, for the nar rator is a little “woods colt,*' and Mr. Hays is notoriously prejudiced against, chief characters without authenticated birth certificates. Sid is the woods colt. He lives with Grandpa and Grandma Tus sie in the Kentucky mountains, and does not even know that they aie not his parents. He does not know his age, for that matter—he is somewhere around fourteen or fifteen. And when he begins his story the Tussies have gathered to plant Uncle Kim on the mountain top, since Uncle Kim has been killed in the war. The Tussies are living in a schoolhouse, and the sheriff is trying to force them out. He fails, but Kim’s insurance money does the job Kim’s wife (with Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Mott) collects her $10,000 and the riot begins. The Tussies rent a great 16-room house with inside privy, hard by the town. They buy and buy. The c.'an gathers to eat up the money their jaws working incessantly like the mandibles of locusts. The Tus sies are great cnes to foul their own nest: they are hard, too, and lazy. But Grandpa is hurt when he is taken off relief and loses his old age pension. He is less dis turbed when they are thrown out of their house, although Grandma hates to lose the only new furni ture she ever has had. The book’s temper inevitably ‘urns from comedy to tragedy, and in the last pages there is a surprise—but perhaps it is not a surprise, really. “Taps ’for Pri vate Tussie” is honest, exciting, and it reminds you of a mountain ballad. You had better read it.1 Inside Washington WASHINGTON. - Anecdotes Gen. George C. Marshall arc ga. ing the rounds in increasing num. bers of late, spurred by his prom* inence in the global war. Here i, one that comes well vouched for It seems that during the eariv days of collaboration between rh. American and British high com mands, there was much reserve" much standing on ceremonv that all disliked but didn’t seem , know how to obliterate for an ea*v exchange of views. Marshall Lhat P^gr6SS was being impeded by diffidence of the medal-covert generate. So he gave a dinner party. The joint chiefs of start committee was seated at one bi° table, which bore no table cloth” One of the courses was oysters baked on the half shell, and each diner was given a cotton glove the better to handle the steaming bi-valves. Marshall was seated at one end of the shining table. When he was served he pretended to fumble in applying his fork to the oyster, and flipped a half.shell across the table into the lap of 3 top-flight British general. That dirt the trick. There was g-eherji laughter, and from that moment on, so the story goes, the Ice was broken and the Yanks and; Litnevs tossed aside protocol and got aloV beautifully together. New flare-ups in Washington about British influence on the United States rationing system in eludes this one-that Robert Small. \yood, a top executive of Ehr land’s Lipton Tea company is • "power behind ’ the OPA tfirone" as far as price p'olicing' goes. High OPA officials assert, how ever, that Smallwood is merely acting in an “advisory”'capacity’’ as a . consultant; working two or three days a week at OPA at the request of James Brownlee, busi ness chief of the organization’s price department. ixeverineuess, tne ease calif ft mind the experience of fa&fftef Englishman who was called before the Boren committee of the House to tell Congress about his part in forming OPA policies. He was Israel Moses Seiff, executive of a large British chain store system, also employed as an OPA con sultant. After bitter criticism from mem bers of the congressional commit toe, Seiff severed his connections with OPA and returned to Eng land. Some Washington medicos art | criticizing the practice of a few cf their colleagues who Write milk ‘'prescriptions” authorizing dairies to give preference* to certan cus tomers if faced with ‘ inadequate supplies for all. • ! Cohdemhing the station as un ethical and apt to provoke a milk panic, these physicians- ■ contend moreover that it' is- unnecessary even from the standpoint of sick people and infants. All nutritional elements supplied by' milk, they argue,'can be obtained from other sources. "As far as dairy" priduels are concerned, they are nOn-dSsentiai,” ere eminent pediatrician, who ask ed his name be withheld, explain ed. “The familiar soy bean, with the addition of some easily obtain able vitamins, produces a perfect food easier and cheaper than it can be obtained from the cow. The above-mentioned gentleman predicted in short, a world with out cows. Already there are rumblings m Congress, .Harold JL.' Roach, vice .president, of the American Soy Bean association, hitting at, dis criminatory tax measures which, he said, insure -the popularity ot dairy products, urged the House agriclture committee .to ‘.-let the cow stand on ts own la®4 against the shy bean.” Jim Watson spent 40 years an House and Senate representing In diana., Jim .was and'id known a? >> greeter, never failing to call a man—or woman—6y f'Ts.t name. But he slipped once. While Phil LaFollette i}f the wir- I eonsin LaFoUettes wa,s governor , of the Badger state he went to Indianapolis to address the jun. ■ Chamber of Commerce. While be ing taken through the swank iumbia club. Hoosier GOP strong hold, bv his host. Jack Hucke. siiaus, they encountered Jim. With his usual effusiveness Jp threw his'arms around botn tn boys, with a hearty greeting t Ruckeishaus, who broke m ''i. “Senator, you know Gov. rn LaFollette of‘Wisconsin- . “Know him! Know him. ‘ son interrupted. “Of course ’ . him. Where is he? I want do g hands with him!” Daily Prayer j FOR THOSE WHO WRITE In the outreach of our - prayers to Thee. 0 Father m sen; we would include those bring us tidings of .the '■ ar, sir and by the printed Pa/*-1 a art the eyes "and ears *>f • ® ds tion; upon their wisdorp and votion and" discrimination t8 hearts of the people lean. jt| them all, we beseech Thee, an impelling and con£>- ’ sense of the sacredness o mission. Give them ■ clar-ty „ thought and courage in utterg, In their own lives may they peace. Impart unto them t | consciousness that they a ,. „ 1 ders of the eternal ligh-s- . i M laborers with Thee, m bo ■ I I mind, that they may fuddl w |j mission - as faithful ■ serva ‘ > I their Country of their general I . and of Eternal Truth and ot ■ . Good News. Amen.—W» j