Evening star. [volume], August 17, 1942, Image 2

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

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Churchill, Stalin and Harriman
Reach Decisions in Moscow Talks;
Nazis Peril More Red Oil Fields
.- A-- .4. __
Prime Minister
Flown to Russia
By U. S. Pilots
By ifce Associated Press.
MOSCOW, Aug. 17.—Prime
Minister Churchill of Britain has
concluded a four-day trip to
Moscow in which he and Joseph
Stalin reached secret decisions
in conjunction with United
States generals and statesmen
on stopping and defeating the
Germans, it was disclosed offi
cially today.
American pilots flew the Prime
Minister and his Anglo-American
party to Moscow in three big Con
solidated Liberator (B-24i bombers.
They arrived on the afternoon of
August 12 and departed yesterday
morning.
Harriman Attends Parleys.
W. Averell Harriman attended the I
conferences as President Roosevelt’s j
personal representative.
Communiques issued here and in '
London this afternoon, following Mr.
Churchill’s departure from Soviet ■
Boil, said the conferences had result- ]
ed in a number of decisions on the
conduct of the war and that the j
existing understandings between
Russia, Great Britain and the United
States had been reaffirmed in an !
atmosphere of “cordiality and com
plete sincerity.”
A source close to the British Prime
Minister, when asked what the con
ferences were about, replied:
"Any child in the street should
know the answer to that.”
The fact that the United States,
Britain and Russia were in agree
ment on the urgency of establishing
a second front in Europe this year
was announced this spring following
Soviet Commissar Molotov's trips to
both London and Washington.
Twenty persons—including six
Americans—were in the Churchill 1
party on this first journey by a
British Prime Minister to the Soviet i
Union.
They included Gen. Sir Archibald
P. Wavell. the British commander
in-chief in India, and Maj. Gen.
Russell P. Maxwell, United States
commander in the Near East.
The text of the communique fol
lows:
“For reasons of safety no an
nouncement of the visit could be
announced until today.
“Negotiations have taken place in
Moscow between the President of
the Council of Peoples Commissars
of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics. J. V. Stalin, and the
Prime Minister of United Kingdom,
Mr. Winston Churchill, in which Mr. '
Harriman, representing the Presi- j
dent of the United States, parti
cipated.
Participants of Talks.
“There took part in the discus
cions:
"Peoples Commissar for Foreign
Affairs V. M. Molotov, and the pro
cureur general, Marshal K. E. Vo
roshilov, from the Soviet side; the
British Ambassador, Sir A. Clark
Kerr, the chief of the imperial gen
eral staff. Sir A. Brooke, and other
responsible representatives of Brit
ish armed forces and the permanent
undersecretary of state for foreign
cffairs, Sir A. Cadogan, from the
British side.
"A numebr of decisions were
reached covering the field of the war
Egainst Hitlerite Germany and her
associates in Europe. This just war
cf liberation both governments are
determined to carry on with all
their power and energy until com
plete destruction of Hitlerism and
any similar tyranny has been
achieved.
"The discussions, which were car
ried on in atmosphere of cordiality 1
and complete sincerity, provided an 1
opportunity of reaffirming the exist
ence of close friendship and under
standing between the Soviet Union,
the United Kingdom and the United
States of America in entire accord
ance W'ith the Allied relationship
existing between them.’’
Earlier Visits by Statesmen.
These conferences followed earlier
Visits between United Nations s' ates
men. Foreign Secretary Anthony
Eden of Britain last winter paid a
visit to the Soviet Union, and For
eign Commisar Molotov repaid the
visit when he signed the British
Soviet alliance May 26.
Subsequently Molotov journeyed to
Washington, where he saw President
i\oosevelt, and after he had returned
to his homeland simultaneous an
nquncements in London and Wash
ington disclosed that the alliance
had been signed and that the lead
ers of Britain, Russia and the
United States were in agreement on
the urgency of establishing a second
front against Adolf Hitler In 1942.
Steelman and Beyer
To Talk in Forum
John R. Steelman, director
of conciliation. Labor Depart
ment, and Otto S. Beyer,
member of the National Medi
ation Board, will discuss "Ac
complishments of Mediation”
during the National Radio
Forum, sponsored by The
Star, over Station WMAL and
the Blue Network at 9:30
o’clock tonight.
I
»
Allied Flyers Scour Sea to Bar
Japs From Bolstering Solomons
'Greatest Victory Is Achieved' Over Foe
By American Forces, London Paper Says
By the Associated Press.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s airmen maintained ceaseless vigil
over the waters northeast of Australia today to prevent Japanese
reinforcements from reaching the Solomon Islands as the battle
for control of vital bases there entered its 11th day.
WViiIp TTnifpri Rtnt.pc TVAnrinpc urprei*-———
believed to be extending bridgeheads
already won in hard fighting in the
Solomans, actual development in
that theater were hidden by official
silence both here and in Australia.
New Bombing of Timor.
No reference to the situation was
contained in the daily communique
from Gen. MacArthur’s headquar
ters. which was devoted to a brief
report of a new Allied bombing at
tack on Japanese-occupied Timor
and to continued patrol skirmishes
in the Kokoda area of Southeastern
New Guinea. 60 miles from the Al
lied base at Post Moresby.
There was evidence, however, of
quiet confidence in Australian cir
cles, whose attitude was reflected
by William H. Hughes, a member of
the Pacific War Council, in a speech
at Sydney yesterday in which he
acclaimed the Solomons Islands
offensive as “a revelation of the
strength of our ally, America.”
‘‘It has been shown,” he said,
“that man for man the Japanese
are not equal to the United States
Marines.”
“Greatest Victory Against Japs.”
Selwyn Speight, the London Star’s
correspondent in Sydney, said today
that despite the cautious tone of
United Nations’ communiques “it
seems clear that the Allies have
already won in land, sea and air
operations in the Solomc.ns the
greatest victory yet achieved against
the Japanese.”
Attributing Washington reluctance
to give details on the Solomons ac
tion to security reasons, Mr. Speight
said it was “reasonable to assume”
that the United States Marines have
(Continued on Page”A-12. Column 27)
Nazi Patrol Ship Sunk
In Spirited Clash in
Straits of Dover
Three Others Damaged;
All British Craft Back;
Some Casualties Aboard
P' tbe Associated Press.
LONDON, Aug. 17.—A light
Herman patrol boat was sunk
ind three others were severely
damaged in a spirited clash with
3ritish light coastal craft in the
Straits of Dover last night, the
Admiralty announced today. i
All the British craft engaged in
the clash returned to their base, but I
there were a few casualties aboard,!
the Admiralty said.
The German force consisted of1
‘five or six enemy R-boats,” the
lommunique said.
The British set one afire and saw j
;t sink. The German commanding !
officer was killed and 15 German
sailors were picked up by the Brit
10*1.
Another Boat Rammed.
Another enemy boat was rammed
and so seriously damaged it was be
lieved to have failed to reach base.
Two more “R-boats” were severely
damaged by gunfire, the Admiralty
added.
Coastal batteries engaged in the
action, the Admiralty said, explain
ing the mystery of gunfire heard in
the Channel and the cross-Channel
duels of German and British heavy
artillery last night.
The “R-boat,” the British ex
plained, is a German motor mine
sweeper, which usually is larger
than the motor torpedo boat used
by the Germans in the Channel.
The designation was adopted from
the German "Raeumen,” meaning
to clear away.
Janes lists two types of R-boats,
one displacing 45 tons and another
50 tons
The German high command said
its heaviest type coastal artillery
shelled "military targets in the area
nf TVivpr ”
Air Front Fairly Calm.
Exceot for a few Inconsequential
scattered German blows, the Chan
nel air front was quiet in the hours
before dawn today.
Some of the enemy raiders stabbed
inland as far as the North Midlands
and bombs fell at one point on the
East Coast, but the British said
damage was slight and there were
no casualties reported.
RAF fighters and bombers, flying
at such altitudes they could not be
seen tnrough the haze, roared out
over tne Channel today, presumably
to make another foray over the
occupied coast. On the south coast
a lone German raider dropped a few
bombs which caused some property
damage and a few casualties.
A moderate-sized RAF bomber
force struck at Western Germany
Saturday night and despite thick
clouds, the Air Ministry said, some
of the crews found their targets. ,
The British listed five bombers as
missing.
United States Army fighters flew
with a Canadian squadron in one
long sweep over France during the
week end, but the operation appar
ently was routine and a terse
United States headquarters commu
nique gave no details. Spitfires con
tinued the aerial assault on Occu
pied France yesterday with a tree
top run over a railroad with Belgian
pilots participating. A freight train
was damaged.
Most of Men Rescued
From Manchester
B’ the Associated Press.
LONDON, Aug. 17.—The Admir
alty announced tonight that most
of the officers and crew of the cruis
er Manchester, sunk in Axis attacks
on a Malta-bound convoy last week,
had survived and "are in French
hands.”
Three officers and 142 men were
saved by British ships. The Man
chester had a compliment of 700
men. French ships apparently saved
most of the others. i
I
India Moslems Meet
In Secret to Decide
On Partition Drive
Committee Also Plans
To Discuss Attitude
Toward Present Unrest
Bt thf Associated Press.
BOMBAY India, Aug. 17.—The
Moslem League Working Com
mittee met in secret today to de
cide whether it should open a
campaign to obtain recognition
by the British government and
the Hindus of its demand for
partition of India into separate
Hindu and Moslem states.
The committee also was to dis
cuss its attitude toward the present
unrest arising from the All-India
Congress party's civil disobedience
campaign.
An appeal to the British to make
peace with the party—and a warn
ing against such a step—left the
issue over Indian independence ap- !
parently as far as ever from solu
t inn
Country Generally Peaceful.
Although nine persons were in- 1
jured by police fire yesterday at
Calcutta, India’s biggest city, the
country generally was peaceful after
the week of violence touched off by
the Congress’ mass civil disobedi
ence movement under Mohandas K.
Gandhi and the swift arrest of the
leader and his lieutenants.
The spokesman for reconciliation
was Sir Tej Bahadar Sapru, one of
India's most prominent lawyers,
who urged at Allahabad that Brit
ain send a parliamentary delegation
to India to discuss a settlement.
Sapru, who has served before as
an intermediary between the British
and Gandhi, was understood to be
planning to visit the British viceroy,
Lord Linlithgow.
On the other side was Mohammed
Ali Jinnah. who threatened that any
peace-seeking with the Hindu-dom
inated Congress would be regarded
by 80.000.000 Moslems as a sacri
fice of their interests.
“If the British now seek peace
with the Congress,'' declared Jinnah,
president of the All-India Moslem
League, “we would consider that a
betrayal of the Moslems, who have
been holding out a helping hand
to Britain.”
(In London, Arthur Greenwood,
former Minister without port
folio in the Churchill cabinet,
lent the voice of the British
(See INDIA, Page A-12.)
Chinese Raids on Hanoi
And Haiphong Reported
P> thf Associated Press.
NEW YORK. Aug. 17—The Jap
anese-controlled radio at Saigon,
French Indo-China, reported today i
in a broadcast heard by CBS that !
' Chinese aircraft have raided Hanoi '
and Haiphong,” the Indo-China j
capital and big Gulf of Tonkin port.
r
Strong Axis Push
On Stalingrad
Gets UnderWay
%
Bv EDDY GILMORE,
Associated Press War Correspondent.
MOSCOW, Aug. 17.—The Ger
man offensive in the Don bend
flared to full force today in a
powerful new drive toward Stal
ingrad, while in the Caucasus
the Russians fell back from the
ruins of the Maikop oil fields to
ward their next petroleum pro
ducing area at Grozny.
A Russian communique reported
a terrific toll of new Nazi man
power and material thrown into the
assault southeast of Kletskaya and
northeast of Kotelnikovski against
the flanks ,of the fortified line
guarding Stalingrad.
Battle-front dispatches said the
Germans rolled forward at tre
mendous cost in the Kletskaya
salient, 75 miles northwest of Stalin
grad, but were held firmly at the
Kotelnikovski flank, 95 miles south
west of Stalingrad.
Nazis Checked in Caucasus.
In the Caucasus, extending Axis
lines appeared checked on the
Krasnodar flank, where the Ger
mans are thrusting toward the port
of Novorossisk, but they stretched
ever farther to the southeast along
the rail and oil pipe line toward
Grozny and the Caspian.
The Russians reported fighting
southeast of Mineralnve Vody, 140
miles from Grozny.
(Tne Vichy radio, heard in
London, reported that fast Ger
man motorized units have en
circled the Grozny fields. The
Vichy report, entirely uncon
firmed by Russian reports, puts
the Germans far in advance of
even their own claims in the
Caucasian drive.)
In acknowledging the loss of
Maikop, the Russians said the val
uable oil installations of that area,
which produced 7 per cent of Rus
sian petroleum, had been blasted
to worthlessness.
‘’The German Fascists, who ex
pected with the capture of Maikop
to enrich themselves at the expense
of Soviet, oil, have miscalculated,”
the communique said.
“They did not get Soviet oil and
will not get It.”
Reds Take New Positions.
The Russians had plenty of time
to destroy the oil installations at
Maikop and an official announce
ment that oil supplies had been re
moved and "oil establishments
themselves made completely un
usable" was taken here to mean
that a typically thorough job of
destruction had been performed.
'The Germans claimed the capture
of Maikop August 9.)
The great weight of numerical
superiority, especially in mechan
ized equipment, was giving the Ger
man drive toward Grozny its im
petus as the Red Army continued
to fall back to new lines south
east of Mineralnve Vody. There was
no indication of a stiffening of re
sistance, although the midnight
(See “RUSSIA, Page A-12.)
Seaboard Flyer Hits
Train on Siding; Two Hurt
B? the Associated Press.
CLEARWATER, Fla.. Aug. 17.—
The Seaboard's Silver Meteor, fast
streamliner headed for New York,
and a southbound passenger train
collided here today. Two persons
were hurt slightly.
Witnesses said the southbound
train was on a siding waiting for
the Silver Meteor to pass, and that
the streamliner apparently hit an
open switch, and collided head-on
with the other train. First reports
said both locomotives were derailed.
ADRIAN. Mich. Aug. 17 (/T).—Two
trainmen were killed and another
critically injured today when a
westbound Wabash Railroad passen
ger train struck a northbound New
York Central freight train at a
crossing near Raisin Center, eight
miles northeast of Adrian.
The passenger, en route from De
troit to St. Louis, struck about the
middle of the 15-car freight rain,
en route to Jackson.
Engineer J. A. Henrick of Peru,
Ind., piloting the Wabash train, was
killed instantly, and the fireman,
Herbert Altman, also of Peru, suf
fered fatal burns.
Summary of Today's Star
Foreign
Churchill talks with Stalin in Mos
cow revealed. Page A-l
India is no nearer peace after appeal
for fresh parleys. Page A-l
Nazi patrol boat sunk in clash in
Straits of Dover. Page A-l
National
WPB finds no evidence of steel
"black market.” Page A-l
Three in Army plane crash expected
to recover; 17 dead. Page A-4
Steel workers’ group signs Bethle
hem agreement. Page A-2
Detroit story in Life attacked by
city’s leaders. Page A-2
Fiancee faces murder charge in of
ficer's slaying. Page A-5
Ickes. Henderson urge oil conserva
tion. Page A-8
Servicemen apply for 18 billions in
Federal life insurance. Page A-14
I
43 Catholic leaders urge aid for
Russians. Page A-14
U. S. Navy most air-minded. Hep
burn declares. Page B-7
Eleven ships, including three de
stroyers, launched. Page B-10
Washington and Vicinity. .
Mrs. Baker named nurses’ recruiting
secretary. Page A-5
Gasoline bootlegging cases before
Commissioners today. Page B-l
Two burned to death in fires in this
area. Page A-5
Monastery tax ruling challenged at
Senate hearing. Page B-l
Refresher courses for former teach
ers planned. Page B-l
National OCD now studying Dis
trict's new regulations. Page B-l
FWA completes survey of hospital
space. Page B-l
\
-/TvegotitA
If MR. PRESIDENT! \
\ LETS APPOINT A /
][ SUPER-SUPER
|^iy
/by george/
f JUDGE, WHY \
( DIDN'T I THINK J
OF THAT! /
Qx ^
British Again Pound
Enemy Shipping OH
North African Coast
RAF Also Hits Rommel's
Lines of Communication
In Western Desert
Bj the Associated Pres*.
CAIRO, Aug. 17.—British light
bombers, battering away at Axis
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s
vital supply lines, attacked
enemy shipping off the North
African coast again yesterday
and scored direct hits on lighters,
a British communique an
nounced today.
RAF bombers also attacked Mar
shal Rommel's lines of communica
tion in the desert, successfully
bombing motor convoys despite at
tempts of Axis fighters to drive
them off, the bulletin said.
Land activity was said to have
been limited to night patrol
clashes, during which British troops
attacked enemy positions and ha
rassed working parties in the north
ern and central sectors west of El
Alamein.
The aerial forays carried out yes
terday by the British swelled the
record of successes credited to the
RAF in the last week, both in
battering the Axis ashore and
afloat and in sending out waves of
land-based fighters to drive oft
enemy planes attacking a big Brit
ish Mediterranean convoy.
RAF spokesman said 13 enemy
bombers were shot down by Biitish
fighters winging into the battle
from island bases and that the
RAF Spitfires’ air superiority over
Malta gave the convoy comparative
freedom for the last leg of the
voyage to that island base with
vital new supplies.
In week-end forays, the British
hammered at the Axis’ supply
bridge across the Mediterranean.
Besides pounding at the ports of
Tobruk, Matruh and Salum, the
British said, their planes hit an
Axis ship and some lighters. The
Australians, who attacked the
lighters in light bombers, now claim
17 as sunk in recent operations in
addition to two more probably de
stroyed yesterday.
14 British Planes Shot Down
In Dogfights, Italians Say
ROME (From Italian Broadcasts),
Aug. 17 (A1).—The Italian high com
mand reported today that German
fighter planes had shot down 14
British aircraft in fierce dogfights
over the Egyptian front and de
clared Axis land forces had captured
a number of British prisoners in an
intensification of patrol activity.
The Italians acknowledged British
air attacks on their North African
supply bases of Matruh and Tobruk,
but said damage was slight. One
of the raiders was shot down and
still another British plane was de
stroyed off the coast while attempt
ing to attack an Axis convoy, the
bulletin said.
Gen. Doolittle in Britain,
Makes Tour of Air Bases
Et the Associated Press.
LONDON, Aug. 17.—The presence
here of Brig. Gen. James H. Doo
little, who led the United States
Army Air Force bombers in the at
tack on Japan last April 18, was dis
closed for publication today.
He has been here 10 days, and is
expected to return to the United
States soon.
Gen. Doolittle, it was indicated
authoritatively, will not be attached
permanently to the American air
command in the European theater.
This was his second special war
time mission to Britain. He came
here in 1941, before the United
States entered the war, as a mem
ber of a mission headed by Lt. Gen.
George Brett, now Gen. Douglas
MacArthur’s air chief in the South
west Pacific.
Gen. Doolittle’s arrival was a
tightly-guarded secret until after he
had conferred wdth Maj. Gen. Carl
Spaatz, commander in chief of the
United States Air Forces in the
European theater, and his second in
command, Brig. Gen. Ira C. Eaker.
He also made a three-day tour of
American air bases in Britain.
WPB Probe of Higgins Charges
Discloses No'Black Market'
Some Quota Violations Revealed, However,
With.Above-Ceiling Prices in Certain Cases
By the Associated Press.
Investigation into the charges of Higgins Industries, Inc., New
Orleans shipbuilder, of a “black market’’ in steel has developed
no evidence of black market operations “as the term is commonly
understood in this country and England,” the Compliance Branch
of the War Production Board reported today.
Aiic ui tuiui, auiiiiiiai iiuiig
of a hastily-ordered investigation,
said Andrew J. Higgins, head of the
firm, “presented no evidence that
scarce material has been diverted
from the war program, and all of
the deliveries cited by Higgins were
made pursuant to high-rated de
fense orders.”
The inquiry did indicate, however,
that some steel warehouses may
have violated WPB quota regula
tions, “in addition to the 22 penal
ized last spring in other cases,” the
branch declared.
In addition, some deliveries of
steel to the Higgins company ap
peared to have been made at prices
higher than the Office of Price j
Administration ceiling for ware
house sales, and others appeared to
have been evasions of OPA regula
tions in order to obtain the premium
price on less-than-carload deliveries,
the WPB branch reported. These
possible violations are now under
investigation by OPA.
Besides the possible quota vio
(See BLACK MARKET, PageX42.)
Two Blimp Officers
Sought After Craft
Lands Without Crew
'Chutes and Rubber Boats
Found in Gondola, but
Life Belts Are Missing
(Picture on Page A-3.)
F> tic Associated Pres*.
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 17
Two naval officers, missing when
their crewless and broken blimp
floated in from the ocean and
descended on a street in sub
urban Daly City, were hunted at
sea off the Golden Gate today.
The blimp had been on a routine
anti-submarine patrol flight.
Two life belts were rpissing from
the craft when it landed, but all of
the parachutes and the rubber life
raft were found in the gondola
where the two officer-crewmen rode.
The blimp, sagging in the middle,
with big tears visible in its fabric
and with its two motors idle, drifted
in from the Pacific yesterday morn
ing, five hours after it had taken off
on a flight.
Crowd of Hundreds Gather.
The craft wandered along at tree
top height, left one of its depth
charges on the Lakeside golf
course when a bomb rack scraped
the ground, and drew a crowd of
hundreds who followed it by auto
mobile and street car before it set
tled to earth.
Daly City firemen, who were
(See BLIMP, Page A-I2.)
1
Army Is Reported Seeking
Greenbrier for Hospital
Bj tbi Aasociated Press.
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS. W.
Va„ Aug. 17.—An announcement by
the management of the historic
Greenbrier Hotel disclosed that the
Government had selected the resort
for “use as an Army base hospital.”
Guests now at the spa, which un
til early last month was an intern
ment center for Axis diplomats,
will be “cared for until August 31,”
the announcement said.
L. R. Johnston, manager of the
resort, said the “owners of the hotel
are prepared to turn over to the
Army the hotel and all appurte
nances to be used as a base hos
pital.”
(In Washington, the War De
partment said it had no informa
tion on the matter.)
It was indicated that negotia
tions had not yet been completed,
but a final conference may be held
this week.
Mr. Johnston reported the sur
geon general's office of the Army
had been seeking the property,
which includes 6,750 acres of
ground, the hotel and cottages with
750 guest rooms and additional
quarters for 500 staff members,
three golf courses, a casino, swim
ming pool and stables.
)
Trial of Accused Spy
Arrested on Exchange
Ship Opens in Newark
Death Penalty Faced
By Bahr, Who Posed
As Refugee From Reich
Pv the Associated Press.
NEWARK, N. J., Aug. 17.—The
trial of Herbert Karl Friedrich
Bahr on a charge of conspiracy
to commit espionage opened to
day in Federal District Court be
fore Judge William F. Smith.
The 29-year-old former Buffalo
tN. Y.), resident, who is accused by
the Government of trying to return
to this country as a Gestapo
trained spy, appeared serious as he
was led into a crowded courtroom by
turn criiorHc
Bahr Appears Nervous.
As selection began of the jury
which may return a verdict carrying
the death penalty, Bahr fingered a
pencil and paper, but took no notes.
He sat with counsel and appeared
nervous. The jaunty manner and
ready smile he displayed on arraign
ment last month were absent.
Bahr, a citizen through his fath
er's naturalization, went to his na
tive Germany as an exchange
student.
Arrested Aboard Ship.
Bahr was arrested aboard the
diplomatic exchange liner Drott
ningholm, in the pose of a refugee,
at Jersey City July 9. The indict
ment charges that he conspired with
eight men in Germany, Switzer- '■
land. Spain, Sweden, Turkey and
Brazil to forward to Germany in
formation vital to the American !
war effort.
He pleaded not guilty July 22.
J. Edgar Hoover, FBI chief, an- i
nounced at the time of the arrest
that Bahr carried $7,000 in Ameri- [
can currency for “loosening tongues"
and for transportation and obtain
ing of military information.
The defendant also is accused of
entering this country on an altered !
passport and having chemicals used
in the manufacture of invisible ink.
The trial was twice postponed.
Nazi Troop Train Crqsh
in Netherlands Reported
1JJ *te Ajsociited Pres*.
LONDON, Aug. 17.—Aneta, Neth
erlands News Agency, quoted a
Soviet Information Bureau report
from Moscow today that a heavily
laden German troop train collided
with another train at a station near
Groningen in the Northern Nether- j
lands, causing serious damage and
suspending traffic.
Five prominent Netherlanders
were executed by a Nazi firing squad
Saturday as hostages after sabo
teurs whom the Germans blamed
for a similar troop train wreck
August 7 were not captured.
The Germans previously had said
the lives of 1,600 hostages would be
taken if the saboteurs were not
given up by their countrymen, and
there was a possibility that other
executions might follow the first i
five.
4
Labor Hoarding
May Be Halted
By New Agency
Inspectors Sought
For Cost-Plus Plants
To Prevent Padding
B» '!•« Associated Pres*.
Congress may be called on to
create an agency with extensive
control over the Nation's man
power, it was reported in an in
formed quarter today as a high
Government official said the War
Manpower Commission would
ask the War and Navy Depart
ments and Maritime Commission
to place inspectors in “cost
plus” war production plants to
break up what he called a grow
ing practice of "labor hoarding.”
Establishment by law of a com
mission to direct the flow of workers
into essential war tasks was re
ported under consideration as an
attempted solution of the skilled
help shortage. The present com
mission, headed by Paul V. McNutt,
was created by presidential order.
It has no authority to enforce
any of its suggestions or rulings, de
pending on co-operation and public
opinion to get results. The proposed
new Manpower Authority would
have statutory creation and statu
tory authority to enforce orders and
rules.
In disclosing the plan to break
up "labor hoarding” the official, who
declined the use of his name, said
he had received an informal re
port, not yet checked by a detailed
study, that 35,000 workmen could be
taken out of West Coast airplane
and shipbuilding plants without af
fecting the volume and quality of
production.
Plants Reported Padded.
"Cost-plus” plants were reported
to be putting on their pay rolls
thousands of workmen for whom
they have no immediate essential
jobs, he said. He explained the
plants were doing this to make
certain they would have adequate
workmen in the event an increase
in their operations created addi
tional labor needs.
This "hoarding" was described as
a serious interference to the rhythm
of war production, with valuable
workers held in virtual unpro
ductivity in some plants while others
were handicapped by actual short
ages.
The “cost-plus” plants turning out
war materials are able to corral
workers they do not need immedi
ately, the official explained, because
the wages could be figured into the
overall costs, with the contractors
receiving fees from the Government
over and above their operating ex
penses.
Hoarding could be stopped, the
spokesman said, by putting inspec
tors in the plants to determine the
number of unneeded workmen,
whereupon the War and Navy De
partments and the Maritime Com
mission could refuse to certify the
wages for such persons as accept
able charges in plant operations.
n_1_i_a
vvuinwvra
The war materials contracting
agencies now maintain checks on
contract conformance.
The Manpower Commission is con
sidering placing inspectors only in
plants where there is reason to be
lieve all the labor on hand is not
being used efficiently.
Congress will be concerned pri
marily in September with Senate
changes in the tax bill, which
passed the House in July, but there
have been indications it might be
asked at the same time to consider
the man power proposal.
There has been much discussion
both in and out of Congress of the
necessity of Government direction
over rhe work done by civilians as
well as those in the armed forces,
but Senate Majority Leader Barkley
said he had received no word as to
whether legislation would be re
quested.
Other problems generally regarded
as likely to be unsolved when Con
gress gets down to work again in
clude proposals for greater control
over wages and prices, expansion of
synthetic rubber production, possible
Nation-wide rationing of gasoline
and fuel oils and reorientation of
war production to bring about the
manufacture of equipment such as
cargo-carrying planes.
May Send Message.
President Roosevelt said some
time ago that he might have some
thing to say to Congress on the
question of stabilizing wages and
prices, and studies erf this question
were reported to be going ahead.
Expressing the opinion that in
flationary controls had proved fairly
effective thus far, Mr. Barkley told
reporters he saw no present reason
for seeking legislation along this
line. He emphasized, however, that
he was not foreclosing the possibil
ity of future action.
Deciaring that prices were being
controlled much better than in the
last war, with more effectiveness
than was generally supposed. Sena
tor Barkley expressed the opinion
that present machinery was op
erating to hold wages in line.
Strikes still occurring in war in
iustries. Senator Barkley called iso
lated incidents which did not reflect
the true temper of the great ma
lority of workers. It was better, he
>aid, to deal with these incidents
separately than to attempt to put
10,000,000 workers in a wage “strait
lacket.”
The gasoline rationing question
was brought into the open Saturday
ay a demand from Senator Byrd,
Democrat, of Virginia for a Nation
wide ciub, on the ground that it
was unfair to 17 rationed States to
let 31 others have unlimited sup
plies.
The rubber problem is being
studied by a board headed by Ber
lard M. Baruch, and Senators In
crested in production from grain
ire keeping silent until that board's
eport Is made.