The Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, March 21, 1941 Page: 2 of 8
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THE MATHIS NEWS
GENERAL
HUGH S.
JOHNSON
Jays':
United Feature* WNU Senict
Washington, D. C.
REVOLT UNDER HITLER
Napoleon conquered a large part
of Europe. Because he had some
I idea of a sort of United States of
jthat continent, semi-sovereign states
: united in a loose league, he allowed
the conquered countries a good deal
of leeway. Perhaps his further idea to Mexico, as vice president-elect,
f - ... .. i r 11 n i l i i rbl OTTl P) PV
Washington, D. C.
WALLACE FINDS NAZI
PROPAGANDA IN MEXICO
Behind the scenes, Henry Wallace
played quite a part in the Mexican-
U. S. agreement to work out joint
plans for national defense.
It was Henry’s job, during his trip
I of putting his own people, family
or fellow soldiers, on the thrones of
several of these states had some-
thing to do with his liberality.
Whatever the reason, he didn’t ex-
ercise a close enough control to
keep some of them conquered. In
Prussia, Scharnhorst and Stein ef-
fectually evaded his disarmament
decrees by using the permitted
small Prussian army in a new con-
icept, not as a fixed regular estab-
lishment but as a military training
I school through which they rushed
iyearly classes of recruits as rapid-
ly as possible. In this way, they
'forged the forces which finally sent
[Napoleon first to Elba and later,
[after Waterloo, to St. Helena.
Napoleon just wasn’t tough enough.
We do a good deal of talking about
our great liberal free union of semi-
sovereign states, the United States
of America. But we frequently for-
get that, so far as the States of the
old Southern Confederacy are con-
cerned, there was nothing free or
liberal about it. We forced them
to remain in the Union at the points
of bayonets.'
It is worth remembering because,
after the Treaty of Versailles, the
Allies, especially England and
France, made exactly the same
mistake that Napoleon had made
and made it with exactly the same
warlike people, the Germans.
to put across some quiet diplomacy
with new President Avila Camacho
aimed to smooth out all U. S.-
Mexican problems. This he did,
and became completely “simpatico”
with high Mexican officials.
However, Henry also brought
back a very worrisome picture of
Nazi activity in Mexico.
Being a farm boy from Iowa, and
skeptical about the Zimmerman af-
fair during World War I when the
German foreign office invited Mex-
ico into an alliance against the
United States, Henry went down to
Mexico as an unbeliever as far as
Nazi propaganda was concerned.
But he came back, his skepticism
gone.
The great mass of the Mexican
people and the Mexican government
are sincere believers in friendship
with the United States, Henry found.
But a small minority, plentifully
supplied with Nazi-Fascist cash, has
been doing its best to poison friend-
ly relations.
In fact, there were some indica-
tions that the Nazis might even go
to such lengths as outright sabotage
or damage to the United States in
such a way that Mexico would get
the blame, thereby stirring up ani- j
mosity between the countries.
Note—Last year $2,000,000 in U. S. [
greenbacks was taken to Mexico
from New Orleans by Count Roberti
There was never a time, up to 1936 | 0f the Italian legation, presumably
at least, when with the controls at for propaganda purposes. Count
their command, they couldn’t have Roberti is the son-in-law of Ogden
stopped Hitler, as Winston Churchill Hammond, ex-ambassador to Spain
continuously urged that they should an(j a leader of the move to co-
do. They didn’t. As Napoleon had
done earlier, and as the North did
not do after the Civil war, they per-
mitted the conquered country to
build up an overwhelming military
superiority, under their very noses.
Now the situation is reversed.
Hitler sits astride most of Europe.
He has disarmed it and made its
vast military booty part of his own
forces. He, like Napoleon, also con-
templates some kind of compul-
sory United States of Europe. Some
observers, reverting to the Napole-
onic failure, say that it can’t be
done—-that his conquest will collapse
through counter-revolution caused
by a combination of interior strains
and stresses with outside pressure..
Will it? Napoleon, himself, fre-
quently said that all empires of con-
quest die of indigestion from over-
eating and referred to the crackups
of the empires of Alexander, the
Romans, Ghengis Khan, Charle-
magne and the Caliphates of Bagh-
dad and Cordova.
On all the evidence to date, Hitler
is not likely to repeat the blunders
of Napoleon and the Allies through
any lack of toughness, efficiency or
cold-blooded cruelty. Let’s not kid
ourselves too far from realism.
* * *
COLUMN AND NOSTALGIA
This column has been accused by
some of its best customers of nos-
talgia or too much yearning toward
[World war precedents and exped-
iences in mobilizing American in-
dustry and man-power for defense.
ISometimes from the hostiles this
criticism takes the angle that the
“nostalgia” is for a government job
‘on the defense front. More fre-
quently it is from sincere and un-
derstanding personal friends, and is
that too much emphasis is put on
mobilization principles and experi-
ences 23 years old and that, like “a
quail a day for 30 days,” it gets too
monotonous for the readers’ relish.
No, this column is not in rebuttal
of any of these criticisms about nos-
talgia. It is just tp talk some of
them over.
As to nostalgia for a job. That
isn’t good sense. Any man would
like again to have some active part
in a great national effort in a crisis,
but that natural wish was aban-
doned long ago. Quite understand-
ably, this administration would not
seek out a critic for any more im-
portant job than janitor in its dog-
house. It is not to be blamed for
[that. Any other course would be
bad. It wouldn’t make for harmony.
On the other hand, the adminis-
tration has shown great considera-
tion and restraint. This column
could have been silenced any day,
without justifiable criticism from
any source, by simply calling its
conductor to active service as a re-
serve officer—a course which would
also have put him in a considerable
financial crimp and could have re-
sulted in no more interesting em-
ployment than counting coconuts
at San Juan de Bac Bac.
• • •
As to nostalgia for World war
methods of mobilization, they were
adopted for manpower. For indus-
trial mobilization, the President is
reported to have said of the war
department’s plan (which followed
our World war model) that we need
a 1940 mobilization and not a 1918
blue print. That isn't what the Ger-
operate
Franco.
with Spanish Dictator
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
By Edward C. Wayne
Seven Billion Dollars to Aid Britain
Is First Step Under Lease-Lend Act;
England Admits: ‘Spring Blitz Is Here’
Following Terrific Raids on London
(EDITOR'S NOTE—When opinions are expressed in these columns, they
are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
(•Released by Western Newspaper Union.i——————
VICHY, FRANCE.—Frenchmen of a few years ago would never have
dreamed that this scene might take place in their homeland. But here
it is. Gen. Neubronn von Eisenburg, who, as Nazi inspector, keeps a
sharp eye on what’s left of the French army, salutes as he reviews a
French honor guard on his arrival at Vichy
GUARDING THE CAPITOL
If you visit the United States Capi-
tol in the near future don’t carry
an isolationist banner or anything
more explosive than a cigarette
lighter, or you may wind up in the
brig. Tightest police restrictions
since World war days are being put
into effect at the Capitol building.
Under a pian devised by Speaker
Satp Rayburn, Sen. Harry F. Byrd,
chairman of the senate rules com-
mittee, and Arthur E. Cook of the
Capitol police board, all visitors
will be required to check packages
before entering the building.
BRITISH DACHSHUND
Most unusual household pet in
Washington is owned by the British
arpbassador, Lord Halifax. Believe
it or not, he has a German dachs-
hund.
The envoy bought the dog from a
kennel in Virginia shortly after his
arrival in the United States.
Note—The dachshund was widely
used by American cartoonists dur-
ing the last war as a sinister sym-
bol of Germany, and some animals
were mistreated by misguided
zealots.
* * *
BOTTLE BOSSIES
The department of agriculture is
completing plans to breed 2,500
cattle this spring by artificial in-
semination.
The cattle are the property of In-
dians, on reservations in Arizona
and New Mexico. Able Indian Com-
missioner John Collier asked agricul-
ture to help build up the quality of
the stock, and the problem was how
to service the cows with a limited
number of bulls. Through arti-
ficial insemination, one bull can be
bred with any number of cows.
Most spectacular experiment of
this kind was conducted recently by
experts in the experimental farm at
Beltsville, Md. They sent artificial
insemination by air express one
morning for a mare in Miles City,
Mont. In vacuum bottles, it was de-
livered the same day, and the proc-
ess was completed that evening.
Result was a healthy colt, from
a mare in Montana, sired by a Bel-
gian stallion in Maryland.
* * *
MERRY-GO-ROUND
Swankiest newsman at the White
House press conference is Robert
Horton, press officer for the defense
commission, who, while most of the
others are hoofing to their offices aft-
er the conference, drives away in a
limousine with a chauffeur.
Some of the electric light bulbs
used in the White House are marked
“Save,” and can be redeemed for
two cents after they burn out. But
the White House, which buys at re-
duced government price, destroys
the old bulbs regardless, without re-
demption.
The immigration bureau of the
justice department soon will set up
its own intelligence unit to watch
fifth columnists in the U. S. A.
Allied Chemical is buying one of
the swanky apartment houses along
Sixteenth street, not far from the
Soviet embassy. It should be all
set to lobby in a big way.
Harmodio Arias, former president
German naval and undersea
strength, not to mention loss of
planes.
More than 6,000 Italian and Nazi
aircraft have been downed, with a
loss of about 2,200 British airplanes,
the air ministry said, since the be-
ginning of the war.
This, it was claimed, is a sig-
nificant and important inroad into
the first-line strength of both air
armadas, but a more severe blow
to the Italians, with about 1,500
planes downed, than to Germany,
with about 4,500 put out of action.
The naval chiefs in London empha-
sized the British need of ships, par-
ticularly naval vessels, paid a glow-
ing tribute to the work of the 50
former U. S. destroyers obtained in
swaps for bases, and one authority
said:
“We have enough trained men to
man the entire U. S. navy, if it could
be turned over to us.”
Not that he meant, he said, that
the navy should be turned over, but
„ • , , . • * he pointed the manpower that Brit-
He received what is known as ainPhas trained, as compared with
BRITISH:
Aid Into Law
Under the eyes of watchful pho-
tographers, President Roosevelt
wielded six pens, made the British
aid bill, called by its opponents the
lend-spend-give bill, and then turned
in his chair and told newsmen he
would ask for $7,000,000,000 as the
initial appropriation under the
measure.
While this announcement struck
with bomb-shell force as the great-
est American peace-time appropria-
tion request in history, the congress
apparently was willing to go ahead
and match the President’s desire for
speed with some action of its own.
This was evident when the bill re-
turned from senate to house with an
even dozen amendments attached.
Representative Martin of Massachu-
setts, minority leader, jumped to his
feet, pleaded for unity and for ac-
tion, and received a most unusual
tribute from his colleagues.
standing ovation from the entil‘d
house. The lower branch of the
congress responded to this brief talk
by voting 317 to 71 to accept the
changes put in by the Crpper house.
Then Vice President Wallace and
Speaker Sam Rayburn put their
penned signatures to the printed
measure and off it went to the Pres-
ident.
Hardly had it become law and
within an hour after the President
had asked for the seven billions,
statisticians were busy trying to tell
the public what this amount meant
in purchased goods and services.
One of these put it this way—it
would equal a strip of $10 bills
reaching 2 ¥2 times around the
world; it would buy 120 Empire
State buildings at 50 million each;
or it would build 115 Triborough
bridges at $60,000,000; or 120 dread-
naughts at $50,000,000; or 2,350 sub-
marines, 2,090,000 light tanks; 28,-
000 four-motor bombers; also would
pay the entire cost of public educa-
tion in the U. S. for three years, or
provide a $50 U. S. bond for every
man, woman and child.
Thus given a visual picture of
what the sum meant, it was figured
that the first job would be for the
President to provide for England
as much as possible under the law of
the existing military and naval
equipment, up to the $1,300,000,000
limit set in the bill.
It was pointed out that this
amount would come out of the seven
billion total, for as soon as $500,000,-
000, say, of aid had been sent from
existing equipment, the army or
navy would be reimbursed that
amount, and would then be able to
purchase replacements.
The rest of the $7,000,000,000 will
go into purchase contracts for even-
tual aid to Britain, Greece or other
nations which are opposing Nazi ag-
gression. These contractual obliga-
tions must be on the dotted line by
1943, but can be carried out through
1946.
LONDON:
Hit Hard
Terrific series of air attacks on
England, especially on London, plus
tremendous losses at sea brought
forth the frank statement in com-
mons that the spring blitz promised
by Hitler was now fully under way.
Government leaders expressed
confidence in the outcome, balanc-
ing against ship losses unannounced
and untotaled damage inflicted on
WHO’S
NEWS
THIS
WEEK
the available ships.
As to the effects of air raids on
London and other British cities, the
loss of life again was becoming
heavy. Guardedly it was disclosed
that Buckingham palace again had
been struck. Portsmouth was a
special attack object, and there was
heavy loss of life there.
STRIKES:
Grow Apace
As labor troubles multiplied in the
United States, in defense and non-
defense projects, including the huge
bus drivers’ walkout in New York,
it was reported that William S.
Knudsen finally has been driven to
considering the “draft industry”
provision in the powers of his of-
fice as production manager to end
the Allis-Chalmers affair, among
others.
Increasing concern was shown by
production chiefs in the national de-
fense when figures showed a 27 per
cent increase in strikes during the
past 30 days. This gave a disquiet-
ing tone to the situation over and be-
yond any single disturbance or group
of troubles.
Some of the danger spots, were
in the Midwest, some in the East.
The Allis-Chalmers strike was past
a month and a half and still dead-
locked when Miss Perkins sent John
R. Steelman, head of the concilia-
tion service, personally to direct a
last-minute effort to end the trouble
before invoking the “draft” of indus-
try, which would take over the plant,
thus instantly outlawing the strike.
Several plants of the International
Harvester company were down be-
cause of strikes, the vital coal and
steel industries were in the midst
of threatening conferences between
worker and employer, the Brill plant
in Philadelphia was down, holding
up a big ammnition order for shell
casings; there was an auto strike
in Oakland.
Statistical review of the situation
was headache enough for produc-
tion chiefs, the number of strikes in
Janary as compared with Decem-
ber being 220 as against 160, and
the 220 became more ominous
when it was shown that the five-year
average for January was only 170
and for December only 126.
Total man-days lost in January to-
taled 625,000 as against 400,000 lost
in December, and here the figures
on past years was more favorable,
as the five-year average of man-
days lost in January was 1,012,665.
H I G H L I G H T S . . . in the news
, , of Panama, has four sons in school
mans said. They are on record as | ancj couege jn the United States:
having modeled their whole indus-
trial effort on the war industries
board plan so far as it was applica-
ble.
Harmodio Jr. and Roberto at Co-
lumbia, Gilberto at Harvard, and
Antonio at Peddie institute in New
Jersey.
PHILADELPHIA — Alarm clock
sales are booming. Observers in the
industry blame it on the draft. Most
soldiers are taking alarm-clocks to
camp—trying to beat the bugler to
the “reveille” call.
LOS ANGELES—Fred B. Cody
wanted a divorce. His complaints
were that his wife put black widow
spiders in his bed and tried to run
over him with the family car.
PHILADELPHIA — Leopold Sto-
kowski, for 29 years leader of the
Philadelphia Symphony orchestra,
has resigned. The reason? He said
he wanted to be free to serve his
government and his country.
LONDON—Erland Echlin, Canadi-
an citizen and former representative
of two American magazines, News-
week and Time, has been jailed un-
der a defense regulation.
By LEMUEL F. PARTON
(Consolidated Features—WNU Service.)
XT EW YORK.—As Japan stakes
out Oceania for her own, Gen.
George Grunert, commanding the
Philippine department of the Amer-
Gen. Grunert at
Philippines Calmly usual proce-
c.. .j dure of reso-
Sits on the Lid luteIy sitting
on the lid. He tells the American
community there, organizing for de-
fense, not to get steamed up and
warns against “spreading excite-
ment or stirring up alarm.”
The general knows island soldier-
ing, from whacking his way through
the jungle with a machete, which he
did as a private, to running the army
there, which he does as a general.
He is known as a soldier’s soldier,
never involved in politics or army
controversy, a skilled specialist in
military techniques, of which he has
been both a diligent student and
teacher in the army schools.
His home town is White Ha-
ven, Pa., and he works hard to
make Manila seem like home,
in spite of threats, challenge and
tension in the Far East. He was
one of those small-town boys
who fell in step with the village
band music in 1898 and marched
off to the Spanish-American war
to the tune of “There’ll Be a Hot
Time in the Old Town Tonight,”
and kept right on marching, in
the Philippine campaign and
every other major and minor
excitement in which we were in-
volved. He was on the Mexican
border in 1914, with the A.E.F.
in France and with the army of
occupation in Germany, gather-
ing chevrons and medals on the
way up.
In between these exercises, he
was teaching military science at the
Shattuck school in Fairbanks, Minn.,
serving as instructor and later com-
mander of the Army War college
and commanding the general staff
school at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
Whatever we may think of our his-
toric little crow-hops in the direc-
tion of manifest destiny, they have
trained some good men if we ever
have manifest destiny thrust upon
us.
O EPORTS about many of the Nazi
leaders, including Herr Hitler,
consulting seers and astrologers,
carrying talismans and reading
It Seems a Dual dreara books
came over
here back in
the days when
many of our
citizens thought they were nice peo-
ple, and were amused by their little
human failings. Hence the dossier
on Gen. Friedrich Christiansen,
when he flew the Do-X to this coun-
try nearly a decade ago, was not
inspired by ill-will or propaganda
when it recorded his various devices
to exorcise the demons of ill-luck.
After the blitzkrieg, the general be-
came runner-up for Dr. Seyss-
inquart, in the ball-and-chain depart-
ment in Holland, and just now, as
military commander for that area,
is dealing plenty of bad luck to the
natives. He says he is “taking
steps.” That meant executions a
few days ago.
When the Do-X landed here in
1931, one young woman report-
er was quite lyrical about the
“handsome and gallant com-
mander, with his mischievous
blue eyes, bushy brows, and
warm, ingratiating smile.” He
told about his good-luck horse-
shoe nailed in the cabin of the
huge flying boat, and as neces-
sary to its operation as a com-
pass. It was an English horse-
shoe which he had picked up on
the battlefield of Mons, in the
World war. Many times, it had
saved him from disaster, he
said, and he could expect trou-
ble if he ever let it lose its shine,
and it doesn’t work well unless
he does the polishing.
His adventures with the horseshoe
led him to a great discovery. When
he was the squadron leader at Zee-
brugge, Germany’s first naval act,
he was shot down by an English
plane. That day, he had received
a four-leaf clover, in a letter from a
friend. When he was downed, he
knew what had happened. The pos-
session of more than one talisman
by the same person spells trouble.
He put the four-leaf clover in a cigar
box weighted with iron and sank it.
There’s no copyright on the
idea if the Hollanders want to
slip a rabbit’s foot or a four-leaf
clover in his pocket when he
isn’t looking.
Ernst Udet, famous World war
ace and contriver of their parachute
attack, is as full of superstitions
as Frazer’s golden bough. Flying a
plane for the first time, he carves
the initials of his best girl on the
back seat. He, and many other Ger-
man fliers will not wear a pair of
gloves on a flight unless they have
been flown in another plane. It all
sounds a bit jittery for super-men.
T alisman M ight
Defeat the Nazis
\/I I AMI BEACH.—-The keen com-
■*-VA bination of two Dodger man-
darins, Larry MacPhail and Leo
Durocher, nominates two stars for
an exceptional season. They are
Ducky Medwick and Peewee Reese.
MacPhail believes that young
Reese will be the star infielder of
the National circuit and that Med-
wick will be the star outfielder for
1941. This may be peering into the
future with rose-rimmed glasses, but
that happens to be the way Mac-
Phail and Durocher feel about it
as the training season gets well un-
der way.
“I’ve never seen a fellow train
harder than Medwick has trained
this spring,” MacPhail said. “He is
not only in great physical shape, but
he will show you more spirit than
you’ve seen in a long time. There’ll
be no tightening up as there was
last summer. He is still in his
prime, ready to move at top speed.”
The Right Way to Train
“I’ve discovered,” Medwick told
me, “that the best way to get in
shape is to keep in shape. That’s
what I’ve done all winter. I was in
shape before the bunch arrived. I
DUCKY MEDWICK
can honestly say I’ve never faced a
season with the keenness I feel now.”
“I’d like to bet somebody,” Mac-
Phail said, “that Brooklyn will show
you the finest spirit in either league.
Every man on the club knows we
are all shooting for a pennant, and
that we have a first-class chance to
win.”
“What about those Red pitchers?”
I asked MacPhaiL “Meaning Wal-
ters, Derringer and Thompson, to
mention only a few?”
“They may not be as tough this
season as they were the last two
years,” MacPhail said. “Paul Der-
ringer is still a great pitcher,. but
he isn’t any rookie.
“For that matter you are going
to see much better pitching this sea-
son on the Brooklyn side of the
fence. Much better. Higbe alone
will make a big difference. I think
he’ll do better than 20 wins. He
may even reach 25 with his share
of the breaks. Hamlin will be more
than useful. So will Wyatt. Out of
the lot we’ll get at least four good
starting pitchers, with others who
can help a lot.
“And don’t forget what 1 told you
about Reese. He means a lot to a
ball club.”
Brooklyn is still the “people’s
choice.” No other club in baseball
has so many far-flung hamlets work-
ing along Rooters’ Row, pulling for
Brooklyn to win.
The answer is that Brooklyn is
baseball’s daffiest baseball town,
with the lone exception of Detroit.
Baseball to Brooklyn is something
more than a pleasant way to kill off
a summer afternoon. It is a big
part of the soul of the old city,
where the average fanatic begins
practicing quick starts for the bug-
house early in March.
And now Brooklyn has a showman
and a ball club that carry an even
deeper appeal than usual. Both Reds
and Cardinals will have to be strong-
er than they were last summer to
keep these Dodgers from boiling
over.
Their Main Problem
According to most of the master
minds connected with the Dodgers,
their main problem is center field.
“If we get this spot fixed up in
the right way I don’t think any club
can beat us,” one of them told me.
“If we don’t, the job will be a lot
tougher. You know how important
center field play is to any champion-
ship club. The line of winning
strength runs through the middle—
catcher - pitcher - second base and
center. Both shortstop and second
baseman are concerned with second-
base play. I think we’ll get this
fixed up. But it is the only spot
now that is giving us any worry.”
Larry MacPhail has worked out a
Dodger spring schedule that will
keep his earnest athletes hard at
work until opening day.
“It’s not as tough, however, as it
looks,” he said. “We’ve split the
work up among two or three teams
to give everyone a chance to show
what he has under fire. No one
will be overworked and b don’t be-
lieve there is any chance that we’ll
hit the old home yard tired or stale.
This part of our training will be
closely watched. We have enough
reserve strength this time to send in
relief when it is jreeded.”
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Coltrin, George W. The Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, March 21, 1941, newspaper, March 21, 1941; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1039142/m1/2/?q=+date%3A1941-1945: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Mathis Public Library.