Evening star. [volume], February 07, 1940, Image 1

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Weather Forecast f
Partly oloudy tonight and tomorrow; e . *
colder tonight, lowest about 30 degrees; CSTODIISnCa In I8j4 >
moderate northwest winds. Tempera- _
tures today—Highest, 46, at 6 a.m.; low- Most people in Washington have The
est, 41, at 2 a.m.; 42 at 2 p.m. Star delivered to their homes every
From the cniteastatM^weathM^Bureau report. evening and Sunday morning.
Closing New York Markets, Page 18.___ (/P) Meant Associated Press.
88th YEAR. No. 34,980._WASHINGTON, D. C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1940—THIRTY-SIX PAGES, *** ' THREE CENTS.
1,500 Russians
Slain in Norfh,
Finns Report
Red Ski Battalion
Reported Repelled,
With 300 Dead
OBLIGATION TO AID Russia is
denied by Nazi sources: no mili
tary agreement exists, Berlin au
thorities declare. Page A-2
FRANCE EXECUTES DR. KARL
ROOS, Alsatian autonomist leader,
as Nazi spy; faces firing squad
after clemency plea to Lebrun
fails. Page A-4
IRAN AND AFGHANISTAN re
ported mobilizing partially; allies
in strong position to repulse any
Russian advance. Page A-4
LEAGUE PREPARING to widen
sphere of non-political activity;
U. S. expected to get bid to join
economic and humanitarian pro
gram. Page A-4
By the Associated Press.
HELSINKI, Feb. 7.—Today's Fin
nish Army communique stated that
the Russians have lost 1.500 dead
in tlie last few days in fighting at
Kuhmo in North Finland, where the
invaders have been making re
peated efforts to advance.
Northeast of Lake Ladoga, the
Finns said, the defenders dispersed
an entire Russian ski battalion, kill
ing 300 men.
It was estimated unofficially in
Helsinki that the Red Army has
suffered well over 20,000 casualties
on all fronts during the past week,
with at least 5.000 killed and
wounded in the Summa sector of
the Karelian Isthmus alone, where
the Russians launched a new offen
sive a week ago.
On the Karelian Isthmus, said
the communique, the Russians failed
yesterday in attempts to carry in
fantry troops into battle on sleds
drawn by tanks. The Finns said
they destroyed or put out of action
20 tanks during the day.
The Russians were reported to
have attacked between Hatjalahti
and Summa, with all attempts un
successful.
me enemy launcea iour auacxs
during the day, supported by tanks,
but was beaten back each time with
heavy losses." the communique said.
In air fighting the Finns said they
ehot down six Red planes and one
barrage balloon.
Parachute Attacks Feared.
The nightmare possibility of at
* tacks by parachuting machine-gun
ners, loosed far behind the lines, was
advanced today as the Finns noted
mysterious scouting activities by
Soviet Russian planes over territory
suitable to such a maneuver.
The Finns have reported the
* scotching of previous attempts on a
smell scale by marksmen who killed
the parachutists in the air.
If great numbers should be drop
ped. however, it was said they might
prove troublesome to the rear lines
of the Karelian Isthmus defenses
and divert Finnish troops from the
southeastern fronts, where they
have been holding the Russians at
bay since the invasion began No
vember 30.
The Soviet aerial scouts were
sighted yesterday over the vast
Saimaa Lake system, a sparsely set
tled island-dotted area north of
Viipuri.
May Drop Forces on Ice.
Some military observers believed
the Russians might try to drop siz
able detachments on the stretches
of ice in this wild countryside, where
the chances of landing alive would
be enhanced.
The Finnish Army communique
yesterday reported:
“In North Finland the enemy
dropped a few parachute jumpers.
Their landing places are known.”
It reported also that the Finns
* themselves were bombarding Red
Army infantry encampments at
night by the light of the Russian
camp fires.
Couriers from the Karelian Isthmus
front said Russian infantry was
massed heavily in the Summa sector.
20 miles southeast of Viipuri, and
that, due to inadequate shelter, the
troops were forced to build open
fires which served as beacons for
the night-flying Finns.
Russian bombardment of Finnish
eities eased off yesterday as fog
made flying difficult. However, the
701-ton Swedish steamer Wirgo was
sunk by bombs in the Gulf of
Bothnia and power lines at the
northern city of Rovaniemi were
■ broken by Russian flyers last night.
Alarms in Southern Finland were
principally in the Lake Saimaa
region.
A Finnish officer from the Summa
front said the 11-mile line between
Muolaajarvi and Hatjanlahti had
undergone the heaviest artillery fire
of the war during six days of at
tacks still in progress.
mm m ^ a a
Vatican raper urges
Speedy Aid for Finns
VATICAN CITY, Feb. 7 (/P).—
L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican City
' newspaper, yesterday urged Fin
land’s friends to hasten aid against
what it called “the most cynical
aggression of our time.”
While the Finns fight, l’Osserva
tore said, “the allies’ aid amounts
only to too facile praise of Finnish
heroism.”
Lively Scout Activity
On Front, Say Germans
■» th« Associated Press.
acUv’rtv'Hm Teb' 7—Lively scouting
and thpdp^i0Bed between Mettlach
westeri frnnf -Porest °n the
news agenc^njiR6 offlcial 0611111111
elaborating DNB reP°rted today in
• commurdtjue °n he bri6f mllitary
butroneeiTeconnWa1S Weak’ DNB said’
"»o
Move Grows to Sweep France
Into'Complete' Aid for Finns
Drive Is Assuming
Proportions of a
Steamroller
By the Associated Press.
PARIS, Feb. 7.—A popular move
ment in France to sweep the gov
ernment into “complete” aid for
Finland in her war against Russia
assumed steamroller proportions
today.
The authoritative newspaper Le
Temps devoted both its editorials
to aid for Finland, asserting this
must be “effective, complete and
total.”
The newspaper said flatly it was
no longer possible to separate the
“Russian-Finnish war from the Eu
ropean war properly speaking.”
The newspaper's demand for
quick aid to the Finns came on the
heels of insistence by Premier Dala
dier's own Radical-Socialist party
that France go to the aid of the
1 little Baltic state.
“It is under different names one
, and the same conflict which had
; its origin in the Russian-German
collusion,” Le Temps declared.
I Germany is leaning on Russia for
effective military and economic aid,
the newspaper continued, "the two
forces of oppression now are only
one, it is already impossible to sep
arate them; their destinies are
linked.”
“Any blow against the aggressor
(See PARIs7Page A-5.)
Warplanes Already
Sent by Britain,
Commons Told
By the Associated Press.
LONDON, Feb. 7.—R. A. Butler,
undersecretary for foreign affairs,
asked In the House of Commons to
day If the government would con
sider sending bombers and crews to
Finland, replied that Britain already
was sending planes and that he
understood flyers were available in
Finland.
The House cheered Maj. Gen. Sir
Alfred Knox, Conservative, when he
asked if every possible step was
being taken to send aid quickly to
Finland, who, he said, was fight
ing for the whole of civilization.
Mr. Butler recalled that Prime
Minister Chamberlain said yester
day that the government realized
the urgency of the question.
The first lord of the admiralty,
Winston Churchill, announced spe
cial measures would be taken to
protect lightships as the result of
German air attacks in which some
members of lightship crews have
been killed.
Lightships, Mr. Churchill said,
were never specially protected in
wartime before and had always been
regarded by civilized nations as out
side the scope of bombing, and con
sequently immune from attack.
He declared light floats would re
place ships in certain cases.
Senate Body Backs
$20,000,000 Credit
For Finland
Harrison's Proposal
For Private Loan
Also Approved
BACKGROUND—
Export-Import bank policy has
been to loan money to foreign
countries only for non-military
purposes. This plan was followed
in original $10,000,000 Finnish
loan, and President Roosevelt
favors similar restrictions on pro
posed new United States aid.
Meanwhile, suggestions for pri
vately financed and unrestricted
assistance to embattled Baltic na
tion being discussed.
By J. aToLEARY.
The Senate Foreign Relations
Committee today approved the bill
making possible a $20,000,000 credit
to Finland, after amending it to
enable the Export-Import Bank to
advance a similar amount to China.
The measure was reported out,
by the substantial majority of 12
to 6. following a week of careful
deliberation, in which the commit
tee heard State Department offi
cials. Federal Loan Administra
tor Jesse Jones and others.
At the same time the 18 members
present went on record unanimously
in favor of the proposal of Senator
Harrison, Democrat, of Mississippi,
to have the Securities and Exchange
Commission expedite the flotation
of any private bond issue in this
country if Finland should see fit to
make-such an application.
It was emphasized that this ac
tion was in addition to approval of
the Export-Import Bank loan meas
ure, and not a substitute for it. The
Harrison resolution was not officially
before the committee, but the Mis
sissippi Senator wanted an expres
sion of the sentiment of the group.
— V.—..
Chairman Pittman of the Foreign
Relations group will seek to bring
the loan bill before the Senate as
soon as the pending independent of
fices appropriation measure is out of
the way.
The foreign relations group made
only one change in the bill from
the form in which it already had
been approved by the Banking Com
mittee two weeks ago. That change
was for the purpose of making it
possible for Mr. Jones to lend China
$20,000,000 more. Before the amend
ment was adopted China could only
have obtained about $7,000,000 of ad
ditional credit.
The bill does not mention either
Finland or China, but increases , the
general lending fund of the Export
Import Bank by $100,000,000, with
discretion left to Administrator
Jones to pass on the proposed loans.
_There was a restriction in the bill,
(See FINNISH AID. Page_A-3~.)—
Quake Shakes Salvador
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador,
Feb. 7 UP).—An earthquake shook
San Salvador this morning but no
damage was reported. It followed
earth shocks in Northern Salvador
yesterday.
200 Persons Javed
As Explosion Sinks
British Steamer
20 Injured by Blast;
Estonian Vessel
Hits Mine, Killing 3
BULLETIN.
LONDON, Feb. 7 OP}.—The
British freighter Armanistan,
6.805 tons, was torpedoed and
sunk by a German submarine off
the coast of Portugal last Satur
day, Reuters (British news
agency) reported from Las
Palmas, Canary Islands, today.
The crew of 53 was landed at Las
Palmas by the Spanish motorship
Abril.
By the Associated Presa.
LONDON, Feb. 7.—The crack Irish
mail steamer Munster, 4,305 tons,
sank after an explosion presumably
due to a mine early today on her run
between Liverpool and Ireland.
The ship's 200 passengers and crew
reached land safely although 20
were injured.
The Evening News said a mine
struck the forward part of the fast
motorship and that the radio aerial
was blown away, making it impos
sible to send distress signals.
The captain was knocked off the
bridge, but was uninjured.
Most of the survivors from the
Munster, a British vessel, were
brought ashore by a tramp steamer.
An official said that "no one from
the Munster has been lost.”
Ane survivor, Able Seaman Allan
dure of Liverpool, said the explo
sion occurred this morning, accom
panied by “a blue flash and a ter
rific blast.”
Clure said another vessel about
eight miles away answered the ship’s
distress signal and took many
aboard.
The 1,421-ton Estonian freighter
Anu struck a mine last night off
the east coast of England and 3 of
the crew of 19, including the cap
tain and his wife, were killed. Three
others were reported missing.
Among the survivors, who reached
shore on a raft, were two women.
The ministry of economic warfare
announced that the cargoes of 114
vessels, including eight of the United
States, were considered last week
by the British contraband control.
Publisher rawcert Dies
HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 7 M>).—Wil
fred Hamilton Fawcett, 55, wealthy
publisher of motion picture and
humor magazines, died today in a
hospital of a heart attack.
Bulletin
The House refused today to
withhold money intended to pay
the salary of an Ambassador to
Moscow. It turned down, 108 to
105 on a teller vote, a proposal to
eliminate that item from an ap
propriation bill—the first of sev
eral proposals planned by a group
seeking to shut off this country’s
diplomatic relations with Russia.
Funds Refused for Salaries
Of 2 Justice Personnel Chiefs
By J. A. FOX.
In an unusual rebuke to the
Department of Justice, the House
Appropriations Committee has re
fused to make an $11,000 appropria
tion in the 1941 bill for the salaries
of two officers who for the past year
have been paid from funds the com
mittee said were intended for an
other purpose.
The officials affected are William
Brownrigg, director of personnel,
at $6,500, and a $4,500 assistant, who
were appointed by Attorney General
Murphy last spring when an expan
sion of the personnel administration
staff of the department was under
taken in conformity with President
Roosevelt’s plan to improve civil
service generally.
The committee, in the report ac
companying the bill, which was be
ing studied at the department today,
said their salaries had been paid
out of an appropriation for employ
ment of other personnel, and added
tartly that “appropriations made in
faith for particular purpose^
V
must be used in good faith for such
purposes.”
Mr. Brownrigg, who developed the
Michigan civil service machinery
while former Attorney General Mur
phy was Governor of that State, was
appointed to the Justice Department
post last March after topping the
register in an examination held by
the Civil Service Commission for
personnel officers. Hearings on the
bill disclosed that Representative
Caldwell, Democrat, of Florida vig
orously criticized the fact that tjie
Brownrigg appointment had not
been brought to the committee’s at
tention when hearings on the 1940
appropriations bill were in progress
in April.
In doing away with these two
positions, the committee strikes an
other blow at the personnel improve
ment program contemplated by the
President. Almost all of the new
money proposed to be used for this
purpose is being stricken out of ap
propriation bills.
V ' 3
Japan Weighs
Abrogation of
9-Power Pact
Also Prepares for
Difficulties With
United States
By the Associated Press.
TOKIO, Feb. 7.—Foreign Minister
Hachiro Arita told Parliament to
day that the government is “weigh
ing the advantages and disadvan
tages of abrogation” of the Nine
Power Treaty of 1922 concerning
China
"Some of its provisions obviously
are incongruous." Arita said of the
pact which pledged Japan, the
United States and six other pow
ers to respect the integrity of China
and the policy of the “open door”
in trade with that country.
Difficulties With U. S. Seen.
Other government spokesmen said
Japan is preparing for "anticipated
difficulties" in economic relations
with the United States now that
their 28-year-old trade treaty has
been ended by the United States’
denunciation. One official speaker
referred to "preparations for the
worst.”
premier Admiral Mitsumasa
Yonai, responding to a member's
suggestion that he "issue a state
ment of warning" to the United
States” in connection with the two
powers’ frictions in China, replied:
“I do not want to regard the
American attitude with ill feeling,
but I will reconsider if the United
States continues its oppression and
interference with Japan.”
Treaty Abrogation Held Insult.
Yoshimichi Kuboi, member of the
Seiyukai, major political party, de
clared the United States' abrogation
of the trade treaty "should be re
garded as an insult.”
Arita replied that the American
action was irreproachable legally,
but the manner caused dissatisfac
tion to the Japanese.
“Japan sincerely desires to con
clude a new trade treaty and will
redouble her efforts,'’ Arita con
tinued. "However, judging from the
present situation it will be difficult.’
Another member of the lower
house. Tadao Matsumoto of the
Minseito party, asked:
"Has the government any inten
tion of advising the American Gov
ernment to withdraw its nationals
from China?”
"It is a grave question and I am
not in a position to answer that
here,' Arita replied.
Not Strengthening Pact.
Arita declared that "at present the
government is not considering
strengthening the anti-Comintern
pact,” which linked Tokio with Ber
lin and Rome against Communism.
Spain, Hungary and Manchukuo
also were signatories of the anti
Comintern agreement, which went
into eclipse after Russian and Ger
many staged a rapprochement last
August.
Parliament. tnlH ther® or®
! no negotiations under way for a
modus vivendi—working agreement
—to govern trade relations with the
United States in the absence of a
treaty and “judging by the pres
ent situation, it will be difficult to
conclude a trade agreement.”
Commerce Minister Ginjiro Fuji
wara said the Diet would be in
formed at a private session con
cerning plans for even closer co
operation with Manchukuo and
China in an effort to offset the ef
fects of the United States treaty
abrogation.
Though the nine-power treaty
technically still is in force, the Japa
nese invasion of China in fact has
closed much of the country to the
trade of other nations. This has
ben a constant source of friction
with the United States and Britain.
Preparing for Worst.
The Government is devising meth
ods of industrial expansion and
other rearrangements in order to
prepare for difficulties with the
United States, especially in impor
tation of needed supplies, Kakichi
Takeuchi, president of the cabinet
planning board, replied to a ques
tioner.
Kuboi said Japan's announced de
cision to open the lower Yangtze
River in China to international
trade—not yet carried into effect
had failed to improve American
sentiment toward Japan, and added:
“It is a serious matter if Japan
relies on the United States for the
majority of her imports.”
In recent years about one-third
of Japan’s imports have been from
the United States. She has relied
heavily on American sources for oil,
scrap iron and other military neces
sities.
Japan will demand formally the
return of all the German seamen
seized by the British from a Jap
anese liner, a foreign office spokes
man said today.
He indicated a note to this ef
fect wbuld be handed British Am
bassador Sir Robert Leslie Craigie
within a few days.
\~QiumDus crewmen
Left in Quandary
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 7 (JP).—
Diplomatic action in Tokio left 512
Nazi seamen, former crewmen of
the scuttled liner Columbus, in a
quandary today.
The Germans were puzzled over
their future in the light of Japanese
Foreign Minister Hachiro Arita’s
announcement that Japanese ship
ping firms had been instructed to
refuse passage to belligerent na
tionals subject to military service.
A spokesman at the German con
sul general’s office said Arita’s an
nouncement "changed the whole
situation” for the Columbus’ crew.
The spokesman indicated the Ger
man Embassy at Washington might
ask the immigration department to
reconsider restrictions placed on the
sailors last week. The department
said the Nazis’ status had changed
from “distressed seamen” too "ex
cludable aliens” and ordered them
deprived of shore leaves they had
enjoyed in San Francisco. ^
j
v_
f LOMG, \ /
' FELLFUS. \*
SORRY YOU I
^cwfrawcESjJI
Two I. R. A. Members
Are Hanged Amid
British Tension
Police Keep Vigilant
Watch Against Fresh
Terror Outbreaks
By the Associated Press.
BIRMINGHAM. England. Feb. 7.
—Two members of the outlawed
Irish Republican Army died on the
gallows today in bleak, fog-shrouded
Winton Green Gaol, and Great
Britain w&ited vigilantly for the re
action of Irish Nationalists.
As a clock chimed 9. the hour of
doom, those in a throng outside the
prison bared their heads in the
chill mist. There was no sign of a
demonstration.
Silently the crowd watched when,
seven minutes later, a prison offi
cial tacked up notices of the execu
tion on a small door in the center
of the prison gate. The notices dis
closed that the men, James Rich
ards. 29, and Peter Barnes. 32, went
to death at the same moment.
The watchers then were permitted
to form a line which filed slowly
past the gate and its slips of paper.
They read the formal statement
that “the judgment of death has
been executed."
inouunas oi roller ivraay.
Thousands of police reinforce
ments were held on overtime duty
in London and other large cities on
the possibility that the execution
might signal a new outburst of ter
rorism—if not civil conflict in Ire
land.
Extra guards had patrolled the
prison grounds and Birmingham
police the nearby streets to block any
attempt at delivery of the con
demned men. or any other attempt
to interfere with the process of the
law.
All vehicles were stopped some dis
tance from the prison, and officers
forced the waiting throng of several
hundred persons back into side
streets.
A priest who had administered last
rites for Barnes and Richards left
the prison a half hour before the ex
ecution.
The rites were administered last
night, and the priest told the pair all
hope for reprieve or clemency had
vanished. They were reported to
have spent their last hour quietly.
First Civil Execution Since 1867.
Theirs was the first civil trial and
execution of Irish Republican ex
tremists since the 1867 hanging of
three men for the killing of a Man
chester police sergeant. As the
“Manchester martyrs," their mem
ory is hallowed by Irish patriots.
Theirs also were the first death
sentences handed down since the I.
R. A.—outlawed in Great Britain
and Ireland—began its violent cam
paign a little more than a year ago
for the avowed purpose of “driving
the British out of Ireland.”
The I. R. A. wants a union be
tween Ireland (Eire) and Northern
Ireland (Ulster), which as a part of
the British United Kingdom pays
fealty to the British crown. Irish
Nationalists all share this desire,
and while many disavow the meth
ods of the I. R. A„ its members
claim the tacit sympathy of many
non-member Irishmen.
Union between the six counties
of Northern Ireland and Ireland
proper is an aim of the Dublin gov
ernment—in fact, it is envisaged in
the Irish constitution—but Prime
Minister Eamon de Valera has adopt
ed stern measures to keep the I. R.
A. in check.
Barnes and Richards went to
' (See EXECUTIONS, Page A-4.)
State Senator's Jobless
Pay Claim Rejected
By the Associated Press.
HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 7.—
State Senator William J. Eroe’a
claim for unemployment compen
sation was rejected today.
Eroe, a Lawrence County Dem
ocrat, contended he has been
“totally unemployed” since he lost a
job as a salesman last December.
His $2,500 salary as State Senator,
he said, was paid solely for at
tending legislative sessions.
The State Board of Review, up
holding decisions by its New Castle
office, ruled unanimously that pay
ment of unemployment benefits to
Eroe would be “entirely contrary
to sound public policy.”
The State Senator may appeal
to the courts from the board's de
cision that he is “not totally un
employed" and therefore is “in
eligible for compensatioj^jeneflta.”
Alaska Farmers
Making Hay in
February
B; the Associated Press.
PALMER, Alaska, Feb. 7.—Alaska’s j
unpredictable weather brought pre- i
dictions today that one of the mild
est winters in many years would put
additional dollars in the Jeans of
Matanuska Valley farmers.
Settlers in this Federally-founded
colony witnessed the rare sight of
farmers making hay in February. A
major thaw left the ground nearly
bare of snow and ice. Farmers have
cut down on their livestock food bill
by turning their cattle out for early
grazing.
Winter's mild manner, weather
authorities explain, has been due to
a struggle of high and low pressure j
areas over surrounding mountain
ranges.
Taft Announces
Decision to Stay Out
Of Illinois Primary
Senator Declares He Lacks
Time to Conduct
Personal Campaign
KEY REPUBLICANS favor Chicago
convention, differ on meeting date.
Page A-5
By G. GOULD LINCOLN.
Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio
announced today he would not en
ter the Illinois presidential pref
erence primary to be held April 9.
Senator Taft’s decision virtually
leaves the Illinois primary, on the
Republican side, to District Attorney
Thomas E. Dewey of New York.
Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg of
Michigan has already indicated his
name will not be entered in that
primary.
Said Senator Taft:
••I shall not enter the Illinois
presidential preferential primary,
first, because it is merely advisory
under the Illinois law; second, be
cause I cannot possibly be away
from the Senate for the time neces
sary, in a large State like Illinois,
to make the kind of campaign I
should wish to make if my name
were entered.
“The only decisive popular verdict
on candidates results from a per
sonal campaign in which the voters
get a chance to see. hear and meet
the candidates. This is the kind of
campaign I conducted in Ohio, and
the kind I would conduct in the
Nation if nominated, but I can’t do
it between now and April 9 in
Illinois.”
May Enter Wisconsin Primary.
Senator Taft, one of the three
foremost candidates for the Repub
lican presidential nomination, still
has under consideration entering
<See TAFT, Page A-L)
Secret Conferences
To Alter Labor Act
Charged by Lewis
C.I.O. Head Offers Letters
To Show Industry Helped
A. F. L. Attack Law
$50 000 ADDITIONAL SOUGHT for
Labor Board probe by House unit.
Page A-5
BULLETIN.
Legislation to subject orders
and regulations of all Federal bu
reaus to court review was cleared
to the House today by its Rules
Committee. The bill must await
a decision of House leaders as to
when it will reach the floor. A re
view of the bill by the Judiciary
Committee also was received.
John L. Lewis offered “docu
mentary proof” to the Senate Labor
Committee today that American
Federation of Labor proposals to
amend the Wagner Act were pre
pared with the aid of attorneys for
“reactionary and anti-labor” cor- {
porations. |
The C. I. O. leader s exhibit ap-,
peered in a long statement present
ed by Philip Murray. Congress of
Industrial Organizations vice presi
dent.
It charged that Joseph A. Pad
way, A. F. L. general counsel, pre
pared the Federation’s amendments j
after a "series of secret conferences” I
with Gilbert H. Montague of New
York, Earl Reed of Pittsburgh and '
Ernest S. Ballard of Chicago.
The three attorneys were de
scribed by Mr. Lewis as represen
tatives of "many corporations which
have been the most flagrant and
notorious violators of the National
Labor Relations Act.”
Cites La Follette Inquiry.
Mr. Lewis listed 14 companies
which he said were represented by
Mr. Montague. Mr. Reed and Mr.
Ballard, and added:
“The anti-labor activities of many
of these corporations have been re
vealed through the La Follette Civil j
Liberties Committee, which diclosed
their widespread industrial espionage
and purchase and use of guns and
ammunition in industrial disputes, i
"These same corporations and
their executive heads have also
been active members of the Na- j
tional Association of Manufac-1
turers and actively participated in I
the determination of the policy of
the N. A. M. to advise industry
generally to deliberately violate the
National Labor Relations Act.”
Mr. Lewis declared in his state
ment that one of the “secret con
ferences” was held July 19, 1938,
at a luncheon in the Union League
Club in New York City and another
in Chicago November 1, 1938.
In its October, 1938, convention
the A. F. L. voted to ask Congress
for a series of amendments to the
Wagner Act.
Mr. Lewis’ charges that the A.
F. L. and business interests had co
operated in the preparation of
(See LEWIS, Page A-5.)
Summary of Today's Star
Page. Page.
Amuse- Obituary ...A-1Z
ments_B-16 Radio.B-10
Comics . B-14-15 Society -B-3
Editorials ..A-10 Sports.. A-14-16
Finance ...A-17 Woman's
Lost, Found B-16 Page.A-13
Foreign
1,500 Russians slain In north, Finns
report. Page A-l
Japan weighing abrogation of nine
power treaty. Page A-l
Irishmen hanged amid tension in
Britain. Page A-l
200 saved as blast sinks British
steamer. Page A-l
No obligation to aid Russia, Germans
declare. Page A-2
France executes Dr. Karl Roos as
German spy. Page A-4
Iran and Afghanistan reported mo
bilizing. Page A-4
League spurs nations’ non-political
co-operation. Page A-4
French move to arm neutrals drawn
into war. Page A-4
Notional
Senator Taft not to enter Illinois
primary. Page A-l
Dies committee to question Pelley
this afternoon. Page A-l
Byron B. Ashbrook and Mrs. Bolton
win in Ohio primaries. Page A-3
Dewey says Roosevelt made 99,000,
000,000 error. Page A-3
Committee to ask 950,000 more for
Labor Board prf^. Page A-5
Two groups seek presidential pri-1
mary in Georgia. Page A-81
Washington and Vicinity
Milk price cut in nearby Virginia
forecast. Page A-2
Removal of 130 Blue Plains inmates
to Gallinger proposed. Page B-l
Clarence M. Roberts, prominent law
yer and banker, dies. Page B-6
Citizens protest renewal of Rossiter
liquor license. Page B-l
Sports
Hoyas and Cardinals hosts tonight in
Dasket battles. Page A-14
Galento fears some one will “take”
Louis before he can. Page A-14
Princeton’s entry in Poughkeepsie
regatta looms. Page A-16
Editorial and Comment
This and That. Page A-10
Answers to Questions. Page A-10
Letters to The Star. Page A-10
David Lawrence. Page A-ll
Alsop and Kintner. Page A-ll
Frederic William Wile. Page A-ll
Charles G. Ross. Page A-ll
Jay Franklin. Page A-ll
Miscellany
Service Orders. Page A-7
Vital Statistics. Page B-8
Nature’s Children. Page B-9
Bedtime Story. PageB-14
Cross-Word Puzzle. PageB-14
Letter-Out. Page B-14
Winning Contract. Page B-1S
Uncle Ray’s PageB-lS
Dies Committee
Fo Quiz Pelley
Fhis Afternoon
Silver Shirt Leader's
Testimony Is Sought
On 'Fascist' Legion
BACKGROUND—
Storm center since its creation,
the Dies Committee probing un
American activities got back in
the headlines when charges were
made that members of Congress
were attempting to sabotage it
by linking the chairman, Repre
sentative Dies, with the Silver
Shirts, a “Fascist” group. Let
ters purporting to involve Mr.
Dies were introduced into the
Record, and promptly branded
forgeries—a contention that was
proved yesterday.
By the Associated Press.
The Dies Committee ordered a
public hearing today at 2:30 p.m. to
question William Dudley Pelley
ibout his activities as leader of the
Silver Shirt Legion.
Acting Chairman Starnes, Demo
:rat, of Alabama made the an
nouncement after he and Repre
sentative Mason, Republican, of
Illinois, another committee member,
had talked to Pelley privately for
almost two hours. Neither Mr.
Starnes or Mr. Mason would say
what was discussed.
The soft-spoken, goateed Pelley,
fvho had been sought for months by
the committee and its agents, pop
ped up yesterday and was reported
ready to testify on committee
charges that his organization is
probably the largest Fascist group
in the United States.
First, however, he helped bring
about a quick denouncement of the
furor over the letters used by Rep
resentative Hook, Democrat, of
Michigan in a recent House state
ment desigend to show a connec
tion between Chairman Dies, Dem
ocrat, of Texas and Pelley.
The latter told a House Rules
Subcommittee yesterday that the
documents appearing over his sig
natures were forgeries and that he
gave Mr. Dies "a clean bill of
health.”
David Mayne of Washington, a
one-time aide of Pelley who had
produced the letters, followed him
on the stand and calmly said that
he had manufactured them "right
out of the clear air.”
Hook Withdraws Letters.
It wasn't long before Mr. Hook
arose in the house, said the letters
were the “figment of somebody's
imagination,” and withdrew them
from the Congressional Record.
Pelley, meanwhile, dropped from
sight after being given a sub
poena by the Dies Committee. Mem
bers, plainly baffled by his sudden
appearance, said they were consid
ering placing him under surveillance
to assure his presence whenever
they were ready to take his testi
mony.
“I think that Pelley knew sooner
or later he would be caught and
would have to testify,” said Repre
sentative Voorhis. Democrat, of Cali
fornia. a committeeman.
Members were uncertain what
would happen if Sheriff Laurence
E. Brown of Asheville, N. C.. should
succeed in locating Pelley. A Caro
lina judge has declared that he vio
lated the conditions on which a jail
sentence for State “blue sky” law
violations was suspended.
They said they understood that
the statute of limitations on those
accusations would exDire February
18. Representative Starnes added
that neither State nor Federal offi
cers could interfere while Pelley was
under a committee subpoena.
Called Racketeer in Report.
In discussing Pelley, a distributor
of anti-Semitic literature, the Dies
Committee said in a report to Con
gress last month: ,
“From the documentary evidence
and testimony before the committee
concerning the activities of Pelley,
the conclusion that he is a racketeer
engaged in mulcting thousands of
dollars annually from his fanatical
and misled followers and credulous
people all over the United States,
Canada and certain foreign coun
tries, is inescapable.”
Mr. Hooks request to the House
to withdraw the “Pelley letters” was
coupled with an apology and the
statement that he had presented
them innocently.
"After all,” he added, “this con
troversy brought up by me forced
Pelley before the Dies Committee.”
Mr. Starnes also told the House
yesterday that his attention had
been called to the fact that in exon
erating four members of Congress
from complicity in an alleged plot
(See UN-AMERICAN7”Page A-3.)
President Names carie
Minister to Bulgaria
By the Associated Press.
President Roosevelt sent to the
Senate today the nomination of
George H. Earle, former Governor
of Pennsylvania, to be Minister to
Bulgaria.
He also nominated David Gray of
Florida to be Minister to Ireland
and Louis G. Dreyfus, jr„ of Cali
fornia, now Minister to Iran, to be
Minister also to Afghanistan.
Mr. Earle at one time was Min
ister to Austria. During his gov
ernorship he was an ardent sup
porter of the New Deal. Senator
Guffey, Democrat, of Pennsylvania
had been urging diplomatic ap
pointment for him for some time.
Severe Quake Reported
Near Salonika, Greece
By the Associated Press.
LONDON, Feb. 7.—The Exchange
Telegraph Agency reported today a
severe earthquake at Edessa, near
Salonika, Greece.
Reuters, another British news
agency, reported Saturday 18 earth
tremors along the shores of the Gull
of Salonika damaged or destroyed at
least 120 b