[Victory : Official Weekly Bulletin of the Office of War Information. V. 4, No. 5]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
OFFICIAL WEEKLY BULLETIN OF THE OFFICE OF WAR INFORMATION
WASHINGTON, D. G FEBRUARY 3, 1943 VOLUME 4, NUMBER 5
New System of Alarms Reduces^, Interruption of War Production
Single System of Blue and Red Warning Signals for All. States Except Pacific Coast Allows Traffic to Move
Air raid protection regulations adopted last week for the Eastern Military Area have been recommended by the Office of Civilian Defense for voluntary adoption by all States except those of the Western Defense Command. In addition to uniformity, the new warning signal and blackout system has the advantage of permitting earlier black-, out and mobilization of Civilian Defense personnel, with greater protection to the public, while reducing disruption of war production to a minimum.
The regulations, effective February 17, were issued by Service Commands of the U. S. Army under authority of Public Proclamation No. 4, issued by Lieutenant General Hugh A. Drum, Commanding General of the Eastern Defense Command and First Army. They apply to the 16 Atlantic Seaboard States and the District of Columbia and will eliminate in that area the various conflicting and sometimes dangerous signals which had been adopted by States and localities in their search for an adequate warning system. It became apparent that the problem had to be treated on a wide target zone basis rather than following customary governmental lines.
Two Basic Signals
The result of studies by the War Department and the OCD during the last year, the regulations recognize that
under the old system too short a period elapsed from the time of the public air raid warning until enemy planes would have been overhead. Now, throughout the entire Eastern Defense Command there will be two basic audible signals. As described by James M. Landis, Director of Civilian Defense, one will provide a state of preparedness—almost total blackout, mobilization of protective forces, alertness for enemy attack, yet a continuance of pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The other will effect a complete readiness for attack—total blackout, cessation of traffic, the public in shelters.
The Army and the Office of Civilian Defense thus become partners in assuring adequate passive defense against air raids in the States of the eastern target area—the Army lending its wartime authority to obtain uniform compliance with the new system and the Citizens Defense Corps, together with the regular State and local governmental agencies, carrying out its operation.
OCD Operations Letter No. 107, which is now being circulated through the entire country, urges the States and localities everywhere except in the Western Defense Command to adopt the regulations worked out by the War Department, OCD and Eastern Defense Command for the East Coast. A uniform system adapted to the needs of the Pacific Coast was worked out months ago with War
Department approval and prescribed by the Western Defense Command.
New Regulations
The principal features of the new warning signals and blackout regulations are:
1. A preliminary audible public “Blue” warning signal is prescribed, consisting of a steady blast lasting approximately 2 minutes on air raid horns, sirens, or whistles. This signal, which ordinarily will be the first public audible warning, means “Probability of enemy air raid—Enemy planes appear to be headed in your direction—Get ready.” Civilian Defense forces mobilize. Lights in homes, business houses, certain industrial firms, and all but certain street lights and traffic signals will be blacked out. Pedestrians may proceed. Automobiles may move with lights on low beam. War production and transportation may continue provided certain precautionary steps have been taken.
2. An audible public “Red” air raid signal is prescribed, consisting of a series of short blasts on air raid horns or whistles or the warbling notes of the siren. This signal, which corresponds in general to the present air raid alarm, means “Enemy planes are practically overhead.” All remaining lights are blacked out except a few authorized emergency lights. Persons take shelter. Traffic except for emergency vehicles stops. The public is warned, that in some cases the “Red” signal will be the first audible public signal whenever there has been insufficient time for sounding the preliminary “Blue” signal.
3. A “Blue” signal will always follow each “Red” signal after immediate danger has passed. It returns the community to the conditions prescribed for the “Blue” signal. The Community is thus prepared to return to the “Red” without delay if the enemy raiders return.
4. No audible “All-Clear” signal is prescribed. The “All-Clear” will be indicated by turning on those street lights which have been off during the “Blue,” by public radio announcements and telephone, or other communication with warden posts and by local police. A community may adopt an audible “All-Clear” signal provided that it is not the same as the “Blue” or “Red” signals and does not resemble those signals so as to result in confusion.
508858°—43
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February 3, 1943
In This Issue Pₐgₑ
New Air-raid Signals----------------—— 129
Rio Conference Implemented----------— 130
Lend-Lease Aid Tops 8 Billion--------------131
On the Home Front
Manpower for War Jobs--------------------— 132
Detroit Afflicted with Growing Pains-------133
Axis Goods for United Nations..—— 134
OWI Broadcasts Casablanca Conference..------- 134
The President Last Week--------------------135
Congress Last Week—.-----------------------— 135
Last Week in the War_---------------■—-----136
War Production
Nelson Plans Greater Labor Role----------137
Aid Small War Plants—-------------4------137
Industry Advisory Committees-------------138
War Rationing
Rationing Problems Solved---------—---------- 139
Rationing Reminders----------------------140
Ration Banking---------------------------140
War Transportation
Fight Rail Rate Increase—----------------141
Queer Vehicles___________________________141
Rail Manpower Recommendations--------------142
Government May Direct Motor Trucking—_ 142
Lend-Lease to Britain------------------------143
Priorities_________________________________144
War Facts____________________________________146
War Prices
Slight Rise in Food Prices-----------------147
Tariff Commission Studies Oil Costs--------- 148
War and Business_____________________________149
War Agriculture
Land Army Recruiting_______________________150
Obtain More Food___________________________151
War Manpower
More Jobs Made Essential______...-------- 152
Registrants Must Carry Cards---------------152
Motion Pictures____________________________• 152
War Wages and Labor
Pay Adjustments Decentralized____________■ 153
War Jobs and Civil Service------------------154
Health and Welfare
Hospitals Rehabilitate Women________________155
Publications and Posters_____________________156
Appointments________________________________.156
Releases____-_______________________________ 157
EDITOR’S NOTE
The material in VICTORY is made up of releases from OWI and other Federal agencies and statements by Government officials. This material has been supplied to the press. Articles in VICTORY may be reprinted or used by speakers without special permission, and the editor asks only that when excerpts are used their original meaning be preserved.
OFFICIAL BULLETIN of the Office of War Information. Published weekly by the Office of War Information. Printed at the United States Government Printing Office.
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Implementing the Rio Conference: Program by Americas Benefits People of Both Continents
Practically All Exportable Surpluses of Tropical Countries Are Committed for Sale to the United States
By
Joseph C. Rovensky
Assistant Coordinator of Inter- American Affairs
The Americas in the past year have made far-reaching economic readjustments. These grow partly out of wartime losses of markets and sources of supply and the conversion of United States industry to war work. But, more significant, is the change-over in production to the inter-American pattern proposed at the Rio de Janeiro conference of American Foreign Ministers in January, 1942.
The fall of Singapore put an emphatic stamp of urgency upon the Rio development program. It made compelling necessity out of what had been mostly a matter of discussion among those interested in the expansion of inter-American trade.
The resolutions passed in the Rio conference provided framework for cooperative action among the Americas. It was fortunate this framework existed when the inflow of tropical products from the Far East ceased and the expansion of United States armament industry demanded unprecedented quantities of raw materials. Under the Rio program, the Americas in the past year have carried out extensive work in the readjustment of production to wartime change and in the expansion of materials for United Nations war needs.
U. S. Buys Surplus
Practically all the exportable surpluses of minerals, rubber and other strategic materials from our neighboring republics of the south have been committed for sale to the United States. Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and other countries to the south have entered into arrangements for expansion of vital production. These cover minerals, rubber, quinine, and fibers.
Some specific projects announced under this hemispheric development program include the establishment of 100,-000 acres of the rubber-vine crypto-
stegia in Haiti by the Haitian-American Agricultural Development Corporation, a joint venture of Haiti and the United States,
In Central America, a great new fiber-growing industry is rising. Projects in this area call for the planting of at least 40,000 acres of abaca, source of manila hemp. Normally, virtually all our manila hemp came from the Philippines.
U. S. Extends Credits
In Cuba, RFC funds are back of a $20,000,000 development of nickel deposits. RFC and Export-Import Bank credits are helping expand production of iron ores in Brazil, copper in Chile. Mexico is in the midst of one of the greatest mining booms in her history which will be facilitated by rehabilitation of Mexican rail lines.
The many-sided hemisphere development program includes vegetable oils, balsa wood, mahogany from the immense forests of Central and South America. This work attains constantly increasing scope as the war is prolonged and United Nations’ demand for strategic materials increases. The prospects this program offers for inter-American trade are impressive.
Also of far-reaching consequence for inter-American relations is the further growth of trade among the countries of South America, among Caribbean countries, between Mexico and her neighbors to the south. This trade has been stimulated by the shortage of shipping, and the closing of supply sources in Europe.
What all this sums up to is that the Americas are learning more forcefully than ever before how they are natural partners in production and trade. The 'temperate zone market and producers of North America, the greatest single market in the world, are the logical partners of the tropical and subtropical markets and producers to the south.
"February 3, 1943
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Lend-Lease Aid Tops Eight Billion Dollars
Every Third Tank and Plane Goes To Our Allies
Congress was informed last week that the cumulative value of Lend-Lease aid given by the United States to her allies from March 11, 1941, to last December 31 was $8,253,000,000.
The periodic report was presented for the first time by Lend-Lease Administrator Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., instead of by the President, who was absent at. his historic conference in Casablanca.
Emphasizing that the purpose of the program for which $55,000,000,000 has been authorized and appropriated is “to promote the defense of the United States,” Mr. Stettinius said, “Lend-Lease is not a loan of money. Nor has it ever been an act of charity. We have aided other peoples under Lend-Lease because their interests coincided with our interests.”
Lend-Lease Expands
Mr. Stettinius said that 79 percent, of the total or $6,548,000,000, was for goods transferred and 21 percent, or $1,705,-000,000, was for services rendered.
Growth of Lend-Lease is indicated by comparison with previous years. At the end of 1941 the dollar value of goods transferred was $919,000,000, and of services $334,000,000, making a grand total of $1,244,000,000. The value of Lend-Lease aid in 1942 was $7,009,000,000, Including $5,637,000,000 of goods transferred and $1,373,000,000 in services. This was more than five times the amount expended in 1941. In the last 3 months of 1942 alone, the value was $2,482,000,000, which was twice that for all of 1941.
The lion’s share—$3,959,950,000—went to' the United Kingdom, and $2,393,-193,000 went to British territories. The Soviet Union received $1,532,230,000 and aid to China amounted to $156,738,000.
90 Percent Already Exported
About 90 percent of the goods transferred to other governments has been exported. Lend-Lease exports during the 21-month period were valued at $5,959,-000,000. Military items constituted more than one-half the total, or $3,300,-000,000, and 22 percent consisted of industrial materials and equipment. One out of every three tanks and combat planes produced last year went to our
allies, who also paid in cash for more supplies than they received under Lend-Lease.
Regarding food, Mr. Stettinius said that rtLend-Lease requirements last year had little to do with food shortages in this country.” He warned, however, that the program this year will take a larger share of our food than last year.
FUEL FOR A COMMON CAUSE !
GIVE BOOKS TO OUR BOYS
BUSES, CABS ASKED TO PLAN MILEAGE CUTS
Bus and taxicab operators of fleets of 10 or more vehicles were requested last week by ODT Director Eastman to prepare immediately three plans Tor curtailment of mileage in case of an emergency.
The first plan would eliminate 10. percent of present mileage, the second 20 percent, and the third 30 percent.
Operators in the 17 gas-rationed Eastern States were asked to submit their plans no later than February 8.
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February 3, 1943
On The Home Front . . •
Manpower Needed for Wartime Jobs Recruited by Democratic Process Demand for Skills Far Exceeds Available Supply;
Training Program and Use of Retired Workers Get Results
Under the conditions of “total” war, when all the human and material resources of a nation are mobilized for a single gigantic effort, the problems of civilian manpower may be every bit as complex as those facing armies in the field.
It has been urged by some that labor in wartime can be left to the so-called law of supply and demand—as workers are needed, this theory holds, they will be attracted to war jobs by some natural process of selection. Unfortunately the needs of war production, combined with the requirements of the armed services, are so great that a labor surplus is unthinkable, except locally and temporarily. Therefore, it is necessary to do more than trust to the uncontrolled operations of a national labor market such as we have in times of peace.
The opposite point of view is that all manpower should be conscripted, and everyone in the country should be told precisely what to do, and compelled to do it. For a democracy such a policy would be the last resort of desperation. The fighting power and productive capacity of free nations gather strength from the energy and initiative of the individual, multiplied by the million.
Path None Too Easy
Between the two extremes of universal forced service and a purely voluntary system, we pursue the none-too-easy path of democratic processes which as far as possible safeguard personal liberty and yet, by suitable controls, guarantee the labor which will defeat the enemies of that liberty.
The stupendous production goals we have set for 1943 call for an assemblage of industrial skills far beyond our present skilled labor force, large as it is. Yet already there is scarcely an industry or a service in the country without a pronounced general shortage of labor, or a shortage of certain skills.
The shortage of skilled labor for war work is not the same as the bulk shortage that shows up in boom towns—so
many thousand jobs to be filled in this or that plant—but in many cases it is a serious qualitative shortage. That is, a limited number of highly specialized craftsmen or operators are essential, to keeping hundreds or thousands of other workmen on the job.
Key Men Lacking
For example, the lack of 11 skilled men, with particular experience, held up employment of 3,000 war workers in one plant, and the company discovered that Unless these key men could be brought in from outside the community—none of the skills were to be found there— only 65 new persons could be hired instead of the number originally planned. Modern industrial processes are often an endless chain, and if a single link is missing, the chain can’t move.
An ordnance plant tried for months to get 146 skilled workers, including 40 machinists. A community survey showed there were men with the proper skills in the area, but they were in non-tssential industry and refused to transfer to war work. There are many reasons for such refusals—fear of the loss of seniority in present occupations, unwillingness to work in a new and strange place, and the like. But as the supply of civilian goods and services is drastically cut this year, thousands of these workers will have to transfer to the essential trades and jobs—the sooner the better, for they are needed not only for what they can produce themselves but also as trainers of the less skilled— women, youths, and handicapped persons.
Use Handicapped Persons
That handicapped persons can be used to a far greater extent than has been previously accepted is shown by the amount and quality of war work achieved by blind people, deaf and dumb persons and others. It was recently reported that in a certain middle west war plant the majority of workers were deaf and dumb, and the plant had an enviable production record.
Young workers are entering wartime industries in great numbers. Besides helping to train these 16- and 17-year-olds in skills that may be of future use to them, the Government has issued ad-, visory standards to protect them from injury on the job. The hazards of different skilled and unskilled tasks in shipbuilding, lead-using, and the chemical and other war industries have been studied by safety engineers of the Children’s Bureau of the Department of Labor, in cooperation with war plant managers who handle young workers.
The drive to add some 2 million women war workers to approximately 4 million women now in war plants involves a vast training program and the willingness of a multitude of women, young and old, to enter an environment wholly strange to them. Many of them will take the places of male bus drivers and streetcar operators—as they have begun to do already—and thousands of others will join their sisters on the war assembly lines, handling high-speed machines and precision instruments, loading ammunition, driving new tanks to proving grounds. While women have been entering ground transportation industries in increasing numbers, they will also comprise almost half of the airlines personnel this year.
Learning New Skills
Everywhere throughout the country hundreds of thousands of workers are being trained to the exacting requirements of war jobs, they are learning new skills, or they are becoming all-around skilled mechanics by handling a variety of machines and operations. Last December some 30,000 firms had short-term “advancing-worker” and apprenticeship programs in operation, promoted through the help of the Apprentice and Training Service of the War Manpower Commission. The “advancing-worker” program is designed to train or retrain workers, already at work in war production plants to the end that they will reach higher levels of skill in their trades.
A smaller but extremely valuable source of skilled workers may be tapped by inducing experienced men, who have given up their former trades or have retired because of age or financial independence, to reenter war industry chiefly for the purpose of training younger workers. A great many of the older generation are now contributing their special knowledge and experience to winning the war, but more of them are needed.
lebruary 3, 1943
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133
Detroit Afflicted
By Growing Pains
Leads All Other Industrial Areas in Munitions Output
Detroit is the hottest field in the arsenal of Democracy. No other industrial area in the world is turning out so vast a volume of combat munitions.
Every day Detroit’s converted automobile industry produces planes, tanks, guns, and even ships worth well over $10,000,000. Last year Detroit delivered weapons valued at more than $2,000,-000,000. The Government has placed morex than $5,000,000,000 of war orders in the Detroit area and has spent there another $700,000,000 on new war plants.
In this production “capital” are magnified prodigiously the conditions and problems brought on by war to other, smaller war production centers throughout the Nation. Detroit’s. population is bursting its seams. Since the middle of 1940 when we began to arm, about 336,-000 workers have flocked to the sprawling city, and 20,000 more come every month.
Has Many Worries
Detroit today is “Boomtown”—lots of activity, lots of money, lots of fun, lots of grief. Contracts, materials, labor shortage, wages, and costs are its worries. Money flows lavishly for entertainment, and the cost of living is rising. The inhabitants do not take easily to restraints on work or pleasure. Some feefthe city’s fuel oil ration is unfair, and many complain that meat quotas were fixed on the basis of last year’s smaller population. The growth of Negro population has created racial tension.
Here in this polyglot city are centered the huge automobile empires—Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Packard, and many others. Ford’s Willow Run Bomber Plant is the largest producing plant under one roof, the longest assembly lines, the greatest production capacity, and the most completely tooled aircraft factory in the world.
River Rouge Plant
At the Ford River Rouge Plant is one of the greatest concentrations of production power, and diversification of products in the world today. Here are
manufactured iron and steel, chemicals, plastics, glass, and many machines of war that are made from those materials. Today not a mold is poured, a lathe turned, or a press dropped that is not producing implements of war.
General Motors is the largest producer of war materials in the country. Radiating from its central offices on Grand Boulevard are 104 plants in 46 cities and 13 States. In the Detroit area alone 50,000 General Motors war workers turn out $8,000,000 worth of weapons a day on 1,700 war orders.
Manpower Problem
Detroit has its manpower problem. It wants all the skilled men it can find, but not the unskilled. Right workers in the right places at 'the right time is the aim of an employment stabilization agreement adopted by the local labor-man
agement manpower committee. Labor organizations in Detroit have grown enormously, and it was from their ranks that the Reuther plan came for the conversion of the automobile industry.
Around the clock Detroit lives with its labor-management problems, its materials problems, its tussles with the Federal Government. Night clubs are open until the early hours, and taxi drivers harvest fares by driving long distances within the city.
Detroit’s rapid growth, its racial mixtures generating misunderstandings, its giant corporations, its strongly organized labor unions, its groups who advance various social and political ideas— all mingle into a fantastic picture of wartime prosperity and social tensions.
Whether Detroit is doing all it should in the war production effort is a matter of debate. But the fact remains that, above all, Detroit is performing engineering prodigies, turning out more combat munitions than any other industrial area in the world.
Downtown Detroit
Drawn by Frederick Palley
BUY WAR BONDS
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February 3, 1943
Corrals Axis Goods and Diverts Them to United Nations
BEW Finds Basic War Material Purchased for Axis Account Stranded in U. S. Warehouses and Terminals
Basic war materials and articles valued at more than $34,000,000, mostly purchased originally by interests in Axis or Axis-dominated countries, and later stranded in warehouses or at terminal points throughout the United States, were located and diverted to United Na-' tions war use by the Board of Economic Warfare from September 15, 1941, to January 1, 1943, under its requisitioning authority.
Carloads of these goods, which had been manufactured for export or were in transit for export, had been immobilized in railroad yards, on docks, in foreign trade zones, and other storage points by Government “freeze” orders and denial of applications for export licenses.. The material was released by the Board’s office of exports, and turned directly or indirectly to war uses.
Among idle goods which have been put to work were more than 12,000,000 pounds of raw rubber; nearly 32,000 tons of iron and steel (including tinplate); 18,920 automotive units, including trucks, passenger cars, station wagons and snow plows; quantities of scarce chemicals, drugs, foodstuffs, machinery, electrical equipment, railroad locomotives, and many others.
Value $34,000,000
Two methods of recovery were used under the requisitioning authority—negotiation of voluntary sales and direct requisitioning. By bringing buyer and seller together, the requisition division of the office of exports was able to effect an immediate flow of $31,510,506.91 worth of materials to war uses. The remainder, $2,855,225.05 worth, was acquired by direct requisitioning. Nearly all of it was released without objection from owners who were relieved of paying storage charges and having money tied up in stranded goods. Requisitioned property is paid for at prices determined by a BEW compensation board. In cases where the owner is in occupied Europe and cannot be paid directly, the money for his property is placed in the Treasury Department to await such time as he can claim it.
The raw rubber, consisting of various types, requisitioned by the Board and turned into war production throughout
the country by Rubber Reserve Co., had an estimated value of $2,092,731.50. Much of the rubber was found in foreign trade zones at various United States ports of entry, where it was stranded when the zones were closed. It was enroute from the Far East to consignees in countries other than the United Stages, and was awaiting transshipment when this country entered the war. Negotiations are continuing for acquisition of additional quantities of rubber.
Iron, Steel and Autos
Iron and steel products requisitioned by or purchased through the Board up to January, 1943, were valued at $5,221,-010.47; automotive units and equipment at $21,418,294.58; and chemicals at $892,-676.67. The iron and steel products included such materials as steel sheets, steel plates, reinforcing bars, barrel heads and bottoms, galvanized sheets, gas tubes, baling strips, rails, wire, and many others.
The automotive equipment was acquired in five months ending December 31,1942. The trucks, passenger cars, station wagons, tractors, war workers’ coaches, and other equipment were turned over to the Army and Navy after being assembled. Many of these vehicles were built with right-hand drives, having been intended for export to countries in which traffic flows on the left side of the road. Some were shipped to the United Kingdom, where this kind of driving is the rule. Others were converted to left-hand drives for the American armed forces. Removal of the motor vehicles from the warehouses of manufacturers cleared away considerable space needed in the production of tanks, engines, and aircraft.
One of the effects of the requisitioning system has been to relieve, to some extent at least, the demands of war industries and others for materials under control of WPB. In some cases requisitioned articles were manufactured for export qr for other purposes before establishment of the WPB priorities and allocations system. For this reason, the drain on new materials allocated from stockpiles has been plùgged to the extent that needs could be satisfied through the requisitioning process.
Casablanca Meeting Story Broadcast
In 21 Languages
OWI Tells the World Within 24 Hours After Communique
Within 24 hours after the communique had been issued, telling of the momentous war council in Casablanca, between President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and their military and naval staffs, the story was broadcast around the globe 721 times, in 21 languages by the Office of War Information. This fact was revealed last week by Elmer Davis, director of OWI. Two hundred and seventy-one of the broadcasts were in the French language, 150 in English, 74 in German, 61 in Italian.
“The Germans made unusual efforts to jam our broadcasts’,” Mr. Davis said, “but the FCC monitors report that they don’t seem to have had much success.”
Effect on Europe
Mr. Davis called attention to the broadcasts from Berlin, Rome, and Tokyo, concertedly insisting that the conference “amounted to nothing.” “Which would indicate,” he said, “their appreciation that it will have a very considerable psychological effect in Europe.
“Remember the old meetings between Mussolini and Hitler which they used and built up very vigorously as part of their war of nerves? That was not very much in the way of travel. Hitler took a train down to the Brenner Pass and Mussolini took a train up to the Brenner Pass.
“Now, «when the President and Mr. Churchill travel several thousand miles and spend ten days in conference, the opposition says ‘Well, of course, all that means nothing.’ ”
Stab in the Eront
Mr. Davis recalled that in the past Hitler and the German militarists have explained that Germany lost the last war because of a “stab in the back” when the civilians rose against the Kaiser and had a change of heart about the war. “They need only to read General Ludendorff’s memoirs to realize that this civilian dissension inside of Germany was the result of a defeat of the German Army and not the cause of it,” he said. “The defeat came first, but still they played pretty well that stab-in-the-back story.. Well, this time they are going to know they were stabbed in the front, and they will never be able to forget it.”
February % 1943
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133
The President Last Week , . .
President Is Back in Washington From Casablanca Conference
Conferred With President Vargas of Brazil and Paid
Visits to Liberia and Trinidad on Return Journey
President Roosevelt returned to Washington Sunday from his journey which included the momentous 10-day conference with Prime Minister Churchill at Casablanca, a visit to Liberia, a conference with President Vargas at Natal in Brazil, and a stop-over in Trinidad. At Miami the President transferred to a special train which brought him to Washington.
The announcement was made at 10 p. m. EWT, January 26: “The President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Great Britain have been in conference near Casablanca (French Morocco) since January 14. They were accompanied by the combined Chiefs of Staff of the two countries . . . For ten days the combined staffs have been in constant session, meeting two or three times a day. and recording progress at intervals to the President and Prime Minister. The entire field of the war was surveyed theatre by theatre throughout the world, and ^11 resources were marshalled for a more intense prosecution of the war by sea, land, and air.”
Unconditional Surrender
In a press conference held at Casablanca on January 24 (Sunday), the President and the Prime Minister reviewed the work of the meeting, announced that the war would not end until the “unconditional surrender” of the Axis, and stated the objectives of the United Nations in 1943: maintenance of the Allies’ newly won initiative, pooling of all United Nations resources and synchronization of their use for the quickest possible end of the war, dispatch of all possible aid to Russia and China.
Interviewed at the White House the day after the story was officially released, Presidential Secretary Early said the story of the Casablanca conferences is complete, “so far as it can be told at the present time,” although undoubtedly subsequent chapters will be written as events unfold. The belief that more of the momentous decisions of that conference will be revealed as the circumstances of war allow is held by press and public alike. Secretary of State Hull
said that even the State Department has not yet learned all the details on what was said about the political situation in North Africa.
Confers With Vargas
Thursday night, January 28, the White House issued a statement in the form of a dispatch from Monrovia, Liberia, telling of the President’s stopover in Liberia on his way home from the Casablanca conferences. Shortly after this announcement, an official communique from Rio de Janeiro disclosed that the President had also stopped in Natal for a conference with President Vargas of Brazil. The visit to Liberia was made to pay respects to President Edwin Barclay, to review a large detachment of American Negro troops, and to inspect the large Firestone rubber plantation. The conference at Natal brought together the presidents of the two largest American republics, the United States and Brazil.
Flying back to the United States from Brazil, the President stopped over in Trinidad to see Admiral William D. Leahy, who was stricken with influenza on the way to Casablanca and was obliged to leave the plane at that point.
NISEIS IN U. S. ARMY
TO FORM COMBAT TEAM
Arrangements, made at the request of many Americans of Japanese ancestry, have been completed for admission of a “substantial number” of additional American citizens of Japanese ancestry into the U. S. Army on a volunteer basis, War Secretary Stimson said last week. Facilities for the induction of these men—and no individual will be inducted if any doubt exists as to his loyalty— will be opened throughout the country, including the war relocation centers, and in Hawaii. Upon induction, the “Nisei” (American-born citizens of Japanese descent) will begin training as a combat team to include infantry, artillery, engineers and medical personnel. An efficient, well-rounded, hard-hitting unit will be developed, Mr. Stimson said.
The Congress Last Week . . . FLYNN RECALLS NOMINATION
January 25, the Senate
Received the annual report of the National Labor Relations Board. Approved continuance of the Truman committee investigating the war effort, the special wool committee, the small business committee, and the campaign expenditure investigating committee. Passed the bill authorizing consolidation or merger of domestic telegraph companies.
January 25, the House
The House Democratic steering committee, in its initial meeting, named Rep. Robert Grosser as its new chairman. Rep. William M. Whittington was elected vice chairman, and Rep. J. W. Robinson was elected secretary.
Received report on Lend-Lease operations from the passage of the act, March 11, 1941, to December 31, 1942.
January 26, the Senate
The Commerce committee approved the nomination of Josh Lee to the Civil Aeronautics Board.
January 27, the Senate
Although the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the nomination of Edward J. Hynn as Minister to Australia the nominee has asked the President to withdraw the nomination on the ground that he is unwilling to permit his candidacy “to be made the excuse for a partisan political debate in the Senate.”
Approved a resolution providing $15,000~for the continuation of the investigation into social and economic conditions in Puerto Rico.
Unanimously, elected former Senator Wall Doxey as Sergeant at Arms, to succeed Chesley W. Jurney on February 1.
January 28, the House
The Judiciary committee approved the Hobbs bill making labor unions subject to antiracketeering "penalties.
January 29, the Senate
The Finance committee approved the bill raising the national debt from $125,000,000,000 limit to $210,000,000,000.
January 29, the House
The Agriculture committee formally approved a bill to require inclusion of all farm-labor costs in computing parity prices of agricultural commodities. The Interstate Commerce committee approved the bill authorizing the merger of domestic telegraph companies.
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February 3, 1943
The War Last Week . . .
ALLIES EXPECTED TO DRIVE
AGAINST NAZIS IN AFRICA
Eisenhower’s Military Conference May Have Resulted In Unified Allied Command on That Front
Ever since the announcement of the historic meetings at Casablanca and at General Eisenhower’s North African headquarters, the spotlight of the world’s attention has been on the coming battle for North Africa. That the Allies are planning that battle is evident by the Eisenhower conference itself, in which the highest military authorities of the United States and Britain met to outline strategy for the Mediterranean theater and reportedly to set up a unified Allied command for Tunisia. That the Axis expects a final Allied offensive is evident from the alarms sounded by the Axis-controlled radios.
Last week, while the conferences were taking place, the British Eighth Army steadily advanced, pursuing Rommel’s army in its retreat into Tunisia. It has not been made clear whether the entire Afrika Korps has crossed the Tunisia-Tripolitania border, but presumably, some of Rommel’s rear guards are still a trifle short of the border on the southern and northern (coastal) sectors. On Friday, January 29, the Middle Eastern Command reported artillery exchanges between the British Eighth Army and the German rear guard near Zuara, 64 miles west of Tripoli and 32 miles from Tunisia on the coastal road that leads north to Gabes and Sfax.
Drive to East Coast
But while the British push Rommel north and west, and the combined Giraud and De Gaulle French column pushes north against his southern flank, American forces in central and northern Tunisia have started a drive eastward to the coast, in an effort to prevent Rommel from effecting a junction with the Axis forces of Col. Gen. Jurgen von Arnim, in the Tunis-Bizerte area to the north. If an Allied wedge can be driven from the central Tunisian sector to the coast at Sousse and Sfax, these two forces can be separated and the final conquest of Tunisia made just that much easier. The importance of the Ousseltia Valley positions regained by American shock
troops last week is that this region is part of the Allied drive toward Sousse.
The raids on Sfax and Sousse and Gabes are also part of this strategy. Evidently the objective is to devastate the Axis-held east coast ports, so that when the zero hour of the supreme Allied offensive strikes, the Germans and Italians will be cut off from all sea-borne aid.
Weather Slows Operations
Bad weather has seriously hampered ground operations, even slowing down air activity. But on Friday, January 29, American bombers, again striking against the east coast ports, hit the port of Sfax in four smashing assaults within a half hour.
Sfax is a communications and supply point vital to the Axis scheme of consolidating the two German armies, and the raid delivered against this city was the most powerful American bombing attack yet delivered in the war in North Africa, carried out by the largest number of planes ever sent by the Twelfth United States Air Force against a single target. It was so effective that even the Italian high command acknowledged “heavy damage.”
U. S. Tunisian Casualties
Figures have been released on American casualties in Tunisia. Thus far, the War Department announced, our casualties number 1,258, including 211 killed, 532 wounded, and 515 missing. Of those missing, 226 have been reported prisoners of the Axis.
Since the War Department has released the 1942 box score on American and enemy plane losses in the war, it is revealed that in plane-versus-plane combat in all theaters of operation the enemy lost 1,349 planes, destroyed or probably destroyed, and the USAAF lost 309—a ratio of approximately 4 to 1! Even figuring only enemy “positives”—planes known to have been destroyed—the ratio is 3 Axis planes to 1 American plane.
New Guinea Campaign
Now that Papua, the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea, has been recaptured from the Japanese, the Allied campaign is moving on northward. This is a larger task—the task of pushing the Japanese out of all New Guinea—and it means that, with Papua as a base, General MacArthur’s forces must attack the enemy in northeastern New Guinea, in New Britain, in New Ireland; Bougainville, and the rest of the islands that form the Bismarck Archipelago trailing out eastward toward the Solomons.
Five days in succession Flying Fortresses have attacked Rabaul, the principal port in this area. In this harbor on New Britain Island, Japan continues to concentrate ships. Reports indicate that as many as 60 naval vessels and auxiliaries are now in the vicinity of Rabaul, widely dispersed to avoid damage from air attack but ready for another major drive in the Australian area. Other reports say the Japanese have landed troop reinforcements in New Guinea.
The immediate objective in General MacArthur’s drive oh' Northeast New Guinea is the Huon Gulf, directly up the coast from the Buna-Gona area taken as part of the Papuan campaign. In the Huon Gulf area are the two big enemy bases of Salamaua and Lae, bases that the Allied air forces have repeatedly attacked and will undoubtedly attack over and over again in the “continuous, calculated application of air power” which General MacArthur held so important in the success of the Papuan campaign.
In the first battle in the Huon Gulf area, U. S. and Australian troops were attacked by strong Japanese patrols. Against superior forces the Allied outposts held fast to their positions throughout the night, wirelessing for reinforcements. The reinforcements arrived Thursday morning, and by afternoon the Japanese were withdrawing in stinging defeat..
Jap Shipping Attacked
In the Solomons, too, American fliers are hitting hard at Japanese shipping, and many of these attacks have been seriously damaging. On January 29, in various areas in the Solomons, U. S. aircraft caused an explosion, on a destroyer, left another destroyer burning, scored 2 direct hits on a cargo ship, scored several near hits on another cargo ship, shot down 10 enemy planes and probably destroyed 6 others.
February 3, 1943
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137
War Production . *
Nelson Plans Greater
Labor Role in WPB
Says Labor’s Advice Can Improve Methods and Morale
WPB Chairman Nelson announced this week that measures to “assure, more complete representation of labor within WPB” are now under study.
His statement was contained in an article he wrote for the latest issue of the American Federationist, official monthly magazine of the AFL. Mr. Nelson’s article was entitled “Labor and Production.”
After describing in detail what WPB has done to give labor a part in the WPB set-up, Mr. Nelson wrote:
“We are studying other measures to assure more complete representation of labor within WPB. Personally, I hope we can put into practice a real labormanagement cooperation throughout, because I believe WPB and the Nation, will benefit thereby.
Advice Is Wanted
“The pattern is one shaped by our belief that the participation of practical labor men will help us do our job better. Representation of labor within WPB must be measured by its success in increasing labor’s participation in war pro-duction. We want the advice of working people to help us find the best ways of doing the job, and we want the help of labor leaders to assure the enthusiastic accomplishment by the people of every effort which we undertake.
“In other words labor representation is not an end in itself—but a means of helping our country build enough to smash the Axis as completely and quickly as possible!
Labor Can Do More
“What labor has already done to help accomplish that is only a small measure of what we know labor can and will do to make democracy conquer the brutal enemies of human civilization.”
Mr. Nelson’s article was followed in the Federationist by a.brief statement by Robert J. Watt, AFL international representative and an associate member of the War Labor Board, who said in part:
“I believe that Nelson should have a cabinet to work out top policy with him, a top labor-management committee with a man like Charley Wilson as chairman and with Presidents Green and Murray
and the presidents of the ü. S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers or the secretaries of these great labor and management organizations.
“Under such a committee,” Mr. Watt said, “there could then be operated a real labor-management collaboration with adequate labor participation and representation to harness the terrific power of a working democracy.”
Start Building 2nd Pipeline in March
Will Carry Oil From Texas To Midwest Points
Work is scheduled to start in March on a second big oil pipeline to the East Coast. The 836-mile, 20-inch conduit is designed to deliver daily 235,000 barrels of petroleum products from Texas to tank car loading points in Illinois and Indiana.
If work starts and proceeds on schedule without interruptions to the flow of construction materials, the line can be completed on or about September 1.
Defense Plant Corp., RFC subsidiary, will be requested to finance the project. It will be built for the Government by War Emergency Pipelines, Inc. The estimated cost is $44,000,000.
A V-Home buys War Bonds and Stamps regularly. Victory is expensive. It costs a lot more than money. But regular purchase of War Bonds and Stamps is what the Government is asking now, and every cent invested is just that much freedom insurance for your children. OCD has established five qualifications for a V-Home. Make yours a V-Home!
Antifreeze Ruins
Thousands of Cars
WPB Prohibits Solutions
Made With Salts
Thousands of cars and trucks have been destroyed through use of antifreeze solutions compounded with inorganic salts or petroleum distillates, according to a study by four Federal agencies.
WPB, OPA, ODT, and the National Bureau of Standards found that solutions containing calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, or sodium chloride, as well as petroleum distillates such as kerosene, cause irreparable damage to radiators, ignition systems, and rubber connections.
Following the study, WPB last week prohibited the manufacture of such harmful solutions. Concurring with the action, ODT Director Eastman warned all motorists against the solutions, which he said “are known to have corrosive action on engine jackets, on the solder in radiators, and on aluminum.”
Eastman Warns Car Owners
“It is the interest of every passenger car owner and every commercial motor vehicle owner to make sure that none of the solutions found to be detrimental are used in their motors.”
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February 3, 1943
Industry Advisory Committees Appointed
WPB Announces Appointments For Week Ending January 30
The Director of Industry Advisory Committees, War Production Board, announced formation of the following industry advisory committees during the past week:
Light Power-Driven Machinery
Government presiding officer—Harlow I. Snippen.
Members:
E. Ballman, Baldor Electric Co., St. Louis, Mo.; M. H. Buehrer, Boice-Crane Co., Toledo, Ohio; J. A. Carey, Walker-Turner Co., Inc., Plainfield, N. J.; L. H. Hamilton, The Dumore Co., Racine, Wis.; J. D. Wallace, J. D. Wallace & Co., Chicago, Ill.; Roy Hedgepath, Duro Metal Products Co., Chicago, Ill.; J. E. Penniman, Atlas. Press Co., New York, N. Y.; D. J. Ridings, Porter-Cable Machine Co., Syracuse, N. Y.; James Tate, The Delta Manufacturing Co., Milwaukee, Wis.
Pyrethrum Processors
Government presiding officer—Warren H. Moyer.
Members:
W. E. Dermody, Gulf Oil Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.; C. B. Gnadinger, McLaughlin Cormley King Co., Minneapolis, Minn.; L. P. Jones, McCormack & Cö., Baltimore, Md.; Harold King, R. J. Prentiss & Co., New York, N. Y.; R. P. Neptune, Allaire-Woodward & Co., Peoria, Ill.; Harold Noble, S. B. Penick & Co., New York, N. Y.; J. B. Rosefield, Anfo Mfg. Co., Oakland,. Calif.; H. F. Seeland, Stanco, Inc., Elizabeth, N. J.; J. C. Stirton, Standard Oil Co. of Calif., San Francisco, Calif.; R. B. Stoddard, Dodge & Olcott, New York, N. Y.; Dr. Alfred Wood, John Powell & Co., New York, N. Y.
Quartz Crystal
Government presiding officer—R. J. Lund.
Members:
Herbert E. Blazier, Monitor Piezo Products Co., South Pasadena, Calif.; Henry M. Bach, Premier Crystal Laboratories, Inc., 63 Park Row, New York, N. Y.; V. D. Barker, Western Electric Co., Kearny, N. J.; L. A. Gagne, Standard Piezo Products Co., Carlisle, Pa.; W. R. Mong, Bliley Electric Co., Erie, Pa.; K. B. Ross, Ross Manufacturing Co., 2241 South Indiana Avenue, Chicago, Ill.; M. K. Smith, Melvin K. Smith Laboratories, Kane, Pa.; John M. Ziegler, Crystal Products Co., Kansas City, Mo.
Gin and Delinting Machinery
Government presiding officer—W. K.
Dana.
Members:
H. Earl Altman, Hardwick Etter Co., Sherman, Tex.; A. S. Cartwright, secretary, Gullett
REGIONAL OFFICES AID SMALLER WAR PLANTS
Twelve regional offices, headed by deputy regional directors, and 131 district offices, empowered to take action on the spot, have been established under the new decentralization plan of the WPB smaller war plants division.
This plan now in effect enables S. W. P. D. representatives to work directly with distressed plants and district procurement officers of the Army and Navy and other procurement agencies. The problems of small business will be met at the source; contracts will be handled directly; and distribution of war work among such distressed plants speeded up.
Operators of distressed plants were asked to furnish immediately simple information regarding their organizations and urged to mail the answers to the following ten questions to their nearest -WPB office:
Firm name and full address.
Kind of business and products normally produced.
Kind of war work you are equipped to handle.
Average number of employees a year ago and now.
Dollar value of factory sales in 1941.
Dollar value of factory sales, by months, for the past six months.
Dollar value of business of all kinds on hand now.
A general description of equipment.
Kind of war work on hand, if any, and how much.
If your labor force has been depleted, to what extent can it be replenished.
Gin Co., Amite, La.; S. Kelly Dimon, Centennial Cotton Gin Co., Columbus, Ga.; F. Edward Lummus, president, Lummus Cotton Gin Co., Columbus, Ga.; J. E. McDonald, vice president, The Murray Co., Dallas, Tex.; John E. Mitchell, president John E. Mitchell Co., Dallas, Tex.; Merrill E. Pratt, president, Continental Gin Co., Birmingham, Ala.
Jute Spinners
Government presiding officer—Arthur R. Howe.
Members:
F. K. Barbour, president, The Linen Thread Co., Inc., New York, N. Y.; R. C. J. Emmert, president, Hanover Cordage Co., Hanover, Pa.; Walter Guthrie, Lehigh Spinning Co., Allentown, Pa.; J. S. Jenkins, Dixie Jute Bagging Co., Norfolk, Va.; J. F. Malcolm, Revonah Spinning Mills, Hanover, Pa.; E. D. Martin Hooven & Allison Co., Xenia, Ohio; E. C. Woodcock, manager, The Ensign Bickford Co., Simsbury, Conn.; S. W. Metcalf, president, Columbian Rope Co., Auburn, N. Y.; C. A. Nelson, vice president, Dolphin Jute Mills, Paterson, N. J.; D. D. Stewart, Kentucky River Mills, Frankfort, Ky.; Malcolm B. Stone, Ludlow Mfg. & Sales Co., Boston, Mass.; R. C. Utess, American Mfg. Co., Brooklyn, N. Y.; Frank E. Willsher, Schric-ter Jute Cordage Co., Philadelphia, Pa.
WPB ORDERS AFFECT
WOMEN AND FARMERS
Fewer rayon stockings will be available to women this year, but they may have more hand wringers. Farmers will have more repair parts for their machines. These changes were effected by WPB orders issued last week.
Rayon is needed in the program for production of 50,000,000 pounds of high-tenacity rayon yarns for tires, and also for “flarachutes” and cargo parachutes. After March 1 the yarns of 250 or coarser denier will be allocated primarily to plants operating on war contracts.
The amount of rayon to replace former civilian consumption of silk and nylon will be cut to 85 percent of the amount previously made available, although producers will continue to set aside 17 percent of their viscose and Cuprammonium spindles and 6 percent of their acetate spindles over and above their rated orders for this purpose.
Rayon for civilian use will be further curtailed because producers in many instances will have to convert their facilities to the production of the high-tenacity yarns.
Help to Parmers
Clothes wringers weighing 18 pounds or less and containing 50 percent or less of metal by weight will be produced in limited quantity.
Quotas for the production of repair parts for farm machinery were raised from 130 percent of the average annual net sales during 1940 and 1941 to 160 percent. The increase is equivalent to that requested by the Department of Agriculture, though made on a different basis.
NEW FIVE-CENT PIECE CONTAINS NO NICKEL
With nickel no longer used in the minting of the coin as a result of a request by WPB, the new 5-cent piece consists of 56 percent copper, 35 percent silver, and 9 percent manganese, according to the National Bureau of Standards.
The elimination of nickel is expected to result in a saving of 300 tons of the scarce and critical metal for use in essential war production.
The change to the new alloy was not easy. Experts of the Philadelphia Mint spent months testing various alloys and combinations. Many requirements had to be met. The new 5-cent coin had to resemble closely the old one in color and appearance and in freedom from serious tarnish.
'February 3, 1943
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139
Rationing Problems Solved by OPA
Provides Autos, Gas, Fuel Oil And Stoves for Emergencies
Making both ends meet kept OPA busy last week. How to keep people moving with less gasoline and fewer cars? How to warm homes in spite of shortage of fuel oil and heating equipment? How to put that cup of coffee on America’s breakfast table? These were the questions, and OPA had to answer.
To keep people moving, OPA made it easier for dealers to get cars from the Government pool, and allowed bulk users of gasoline temporary coupon credit.. To keep people warm, OPA doubled the amount of heating oil allowed war workers who live in trailers; permitted persons who live outside rationing areas to file an appeal if they need a coal or oilheating stove, and made rationed coal stoves available to families whose oil ration is not enough for health and comfort.
Coffee Dealers Stamp 27
To provide coffee, OPA made it possible for wholesalers and retailers who could not get by means of purchase warrants the total inventories of coffee to which they were entitled, to obtaih certificates from rationing boards authorizing them to buy coffee, and reminded them that they can use ration stamp 27 for replenishing inventories up to and including February 15.
Dealers may now get new passenger cars from the Government pool to sell to police departments, eligible governmental agencies, and the Red Cross without having to replace in the pool another acceptable car. This was done to meet needs ^promptly in areas where there are not enough suitable cars in nonpool stocks. The Government pool is composed of cars set aside when rationing began to meet future military and important civilian requirements.
Bulk Gas Users
Bulk users of gasoline—operators of trucks, buses, taxis, fleet cars, and nonhighway equipment—may buy gasoline on a coupon-credit basis until February 5, because some rationing boards have not yet received the new bulk coupons bearing the word “gasoline” to replace the old ones recently invalidated.
"food for Thought
HOMES WITHOUT Oil
MAY GET RELIEF
An emergency procedure enables oil-rationed householders to acquire up to 50 gallons of fuel oil in a minimum of time.
Any consumer who is without oil and who faces a serious threat to health or property may buy a limited amount even though he is without currently valid coupons. Available only to consumers who have obtained, or applied for, a fuel oil ration, the emergency allotments are intended to meet a sudden critical need for oil.
A consumer may make only one emer
gency purchase during the heating year. The present year ends September 30, 1943.
When the emergency delivery is for heating, the consumer must turn over to the dealer coupons redeemable in a future heating period if he has these coupons.
The dealer will present an “emergency receipt” which the consumer must sign. In cases where the consumer is unable to turn over any coupons, he must state why he lacks these as well as the address and number of the board where he applied for a ration. In addition, he is required to indicate the emergency purpose.
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February 3, 1943
Rationing Reminders
Sugar
March 15—Coupon No. 11, good for 3 pounds, expires on this date.
Coffee
February 8—Stamp No. 25 becomes good for one pound of coffee, for persons over 15 years of age.
February 15—Institutional users may apply for their February-March allotments through this date, but pro rata deductions will be made, depending on how late the applications are received by the local boards.
Retailers and wholesalers may deposit coupon No. 27 in rationing banking accounts through February 15. Those not having accounts but intending to transfer their coupons to their wholesalers should do so in time to allow the wholesalers to make their deposits by February 15. Wholesalers may refuse to accept coupons turned in to them too late.
Fuel Oil
Class 3 coupons issued on 3-months basis may be used 15 days after expiration date provided application for renewal has been filed, or for next quarter 15 days before quarter begins.
Householders whose ration is 200 gallons or less a year will in the future receive coupons redeemable any time during the year, instead of coupons divided into heating periods.
Value of Period 3 coupon^, also valid during early February, has been increased 10 percent in the 13 middle western States and decreased 10 percent, for all noncommercial users, in the 17 eastern States and the District of Columbia.
Period 4 coupons became valid 1 week earlier than originally scheduled in each zone. Value of these coupons was cut from 9 to 8 gallons for householders in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York (except the Adirondack Region), New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Mileage: Gasoline and Tires
March 31—Tire inspection deadline for “A” book drivers extended to this date; for “B” and “C” books holders to February 28.
March 21—No. 4 “A¹’ coupons are valid for three gallons of.gasoline through this date. “B” and “C” coupons expire according to the dates indicated on the individual books and are good for three gallons each.
“T” rations are issued only by the Office of Defense Transportation on the basis of Certificates of Necessity. Local boards may still issue temporary “T” rations only to owners of commercial vehicles who have filed applications with the ODT which have not yet been acted on.
Stoves
All coal-fired and oil-burning stoves are subject to rationing. Certificates for the purchase of these two items are available for eligible persons at the local rationing boards.
Typewriters
Rentals of nonffortables are banned on machines manufactured after 1934. Beginning February 1, nonportables made between 1927 and 1934 may be rented to civilians who obtain certificates from their local rationing boards.
Rentals of portables made between 1927 and 1935 may still be made on a 6-month basis. Most portables made since 1935 also may be rented on the same basis.
Bicycles
Anyone gainfully employed or doing volunteer war work can qualify for a certificate to buy a bicycle. Bicycles are also available to pupils who need them to get to and from school.
Men’s Rubber Boots and Rubber Work Shoes
Certificates for the purchase of these items must be obtained from rationing boards.
Ration Banking Mastered Quickly
N. Y. Area Makes Mistakes, But Soon Learns
Reports received by OPA from a New York State area where ration banking has been under the test of actual operation since last October 28 indicate that merchants, wholesalers, and banks quickly master the mechanics of banking ration stamps, coupons, and certificates much as they handle cash and currency in ordinary checking accounts.
Operating results in the test area— comprised of Albany, Schenectady, Troy, and other communities ranging in population from 900 to over 145,000—show that bank tellers handle ration currency as efficiently as they handle cash and commercial paper, and that ration banking puts the entire process of rationing on a more businesslike basis, saving time and labor for merchants and other users.
In the Albany area, more than 1,500 distributors opened sugar ration bank accounts. In each of these a weekly average of five sugar stamp checks were deposited and against each account an average of three sugar ration checks were drawn a month.
Wholesale gasoline distributors opened 38 gasoline accounts. In each of these 38 accounts a weekly average of 225 sheets of coupons were deposited and against each account one check was drawn each month.
Large Sugar, Gas Deposits
The ration currency deposited in the area’s 33 participating banking offices represented averages of 900,000 pounds of sugar and 3,900,000 gallons of gasoline a week. Total withdrawals by check against such deposits averaged 500,000 pounds of sugar and 2,000,000 gallons of gasoline per week.
Bank tellers proved singularly adept at detecting minor irregularities, such as wrong signatures on ration checks. A common mistake concerns signatures on ration certificates issued by local war price and rationing boards. Frequently, they are not signed by the persons to whom they are made out. Tellers won’t accept such certificates and the depositors correspondingly suffer loss of ration credits.
At the beginning of ration banking, many grocers pasted stamps of different series and different denominations on the same gummed sheet, used in making deposits.
February 3, 1943
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141
War Transportation . , .
Queer Vehicles Being Designed
To Keep Americans on Wheels
Auto Lorries, Bus Trailers, Passenger Cars, House Trailers
Are Being Converted Into Public Conveyances
Unconventional as the horseless carriage that used to frighten old “dobbin,” vehicles have been developed by the same American ingenuity to carry the workers who keep the wheels of war industry turning. Seven such contraptions sponsored by ODT have graduated from the experimental stage, and have been pronounced practical.
One of these is the haulaway truck, which has been converted into a bus. Haulaway trucks are long, tire-equipped, steel-framed semitrailers that were used to transport passenger cars when there were cars to haul. Now, roofed and walled with noncritical materials and equipped with seats and doors, they are hauling people. A large pool of them are undergoing transformation for use by the Army. Practically all of such trucks are being converted, and already they are operating in many States.
Bus Trailers Used
Trailers that used to transport two cars have also been transformed. Several months ago citizens of Cleveland, Ohio, were startled to see a regular bus dragging one of these through the streets, crammed with 31 people. The experiment was so successful that 60 more are going into service there. Altogether there are about 600 in the country.
Then there’s the elongated passenger sedan. This is just a regular car which has been sliced in half and had a section sandwiched in the middle. The section contains only 300 pounds of critical materials and consists primarily of a wooden chassis frame and masonite panels. Doctored up, the car can carry 15 persons.
'Remodel House Trailer
Disembowelled of its,usual vitals and equipped with longitudinal seats, the house trailer can transport 20 passengers. ODT officials are still pondering whether an ordinary car is up to pulling such a load. Maybe a truck is necessary. But a regular car can haul a two-wheel trailer, which can seat 9 passengers.
The express trailer was designed by ODT. Of the tractor semitrailer type, it looks like a furniture van. It is 55 feet long and 8 feet wide. Eighty-seven of its 125 seats are permanent and arranged crosswise, back to back. An additional 38 pasesngers sit on retractable seats, Sides are made of plywood, roof of masonite, and seats of wood. A pilot model is now in actual operation on a run of 80 miles in Virginia. • It carries as many workers to a construction project as three buses.
Transportation Gain Is Aim of ODT
Manpower Serious Problem for Rails and Trucks; Bus Schedules Are Increased
Shortages continued last week to threaten the Nation’s vital transportation. On the railroads and in the for-hire trucking industry it was shortage of manpower, and with the bus systems it was rubber and gasoline shortages that brought new developments.
The Rail Manpower Committee representing class I railroads considered favorably the replacement schedule prepared by the Selective Service System which will give employers a voice in the order in which men of the same draft status will be called to the colors. Training new personnel remains the most serious problem of the for-hire trucking industry, ODT Transport Personnel Director Beyer stated on the basis of the November ODT report on current and anticipated employment in the industry.
More Bus Mileage
Two moves were made to provide essential mileage for the Nation’s buses despite lack of tires and gasoline. To insure the continued movement of war workers, ODT increased from 2,000 to 3,000 miles a month the mileage limitation of city buses, and that of intercity buses from 4,000 to 6,000 miles.
Brown, Byrnes Fight Rail Rate Rise
Appoint Max Swiren Counsel To Appeal 1942 Increase
Phenomenal profits made by railroads do not justify continuance of last year’s rate increase, Price Administrator Brown and Stabilization Director Byrnes stated last week. The statement accompanied a joint announcement of the appointment of Max Swiren, Chicago lawyer, to argue the appeal for discontinuance of the 1942 rate increase before the ICC on February 2.
Citing the fact that 1942 railroad earnings were above those for the previous peak year of 1929, OPA gave as one of its two principal reasons for seeking discontinuance the opinion that wartime increase in freight and passenger rates runs counter to the national economic stabilization policy. Costs of production and distribution rise with larger transportation costs, adding to the already great pressure upon price ceilings and increasing the difficulties of economic stabilization. Passenger fares, particularly to commuters, add directly to cost of living, and no wartime price increases of any kind are believed justified in the face of the phenomenal profits of the railroads OPA stated.
Higher Rates Unnecessary
Increases were granted last year to enable the railroads to meet increased operating costs, due in part to advanced labor costs. The intensified war production and operating economies due to war measures have so tremendously increased railroad revenues as to make higher rates wholly unnecessary to meet these cost items, according to OPA. Net railway operating revenues, apart from the rate increase, rose 800 million dollars in 1942 and this should be more than ample to cover cost increases of less than 400 million dollars, OPA said.
The increase became effective in March 1942 and is estimated by the railroads to have resulted in $300,000,000 additional income last year. OPA said that net railway operating income before Federal income taxes amounted to $742,000,000 in 1940, $1,172,000,000 in 1941, and $2,236,000,000 in 1942.
Net Income Up in 1942
Deducting the $300,000,000 from the — 1942 figure would still leave a $1,936,-000,000 net operating income before Federal income taxes, as opposed to $1,172,000,000 in 1941, OPA pointed out.
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"February 3, 1943
Rail Manpower Plan Is Recommended
Management-Labor Parley Adopts a 13-Point Program
Representatives of railroad management and labor, in joint conference last week under the auspices of the Office of Defense Transportation, agreed unanimously to recommend to railroad officers and system representatives of railway labor organizations a 13-point program for alleviation of manpower problems in the railroad industry.
The program was developed by the labor and management committees and has been approved by the railway labor organizations and the regional railroad executives’ associations, which the committees represent. Drawn up in the form of a statement of principles, the program will be submitted to individual carriers and their employees for their joint consideration and action.
ODT Director Eastman heartily commended the action taken. “The railroad presidents and railway labor executives comprising the labor and management committees,” he said, “have approached the difficult problems of railroad manpower in a spirit of genuine cooperation. If the principles agreed upon are applied in the same spirit, as I am confident they will be, the program should be of real assistance in meeting the manpower needs of the railroads.”
The program recommended, to be applied for the duration of the war, included the following points:
' 1. Relaxation of yard operating rules to permit crews delivering cars to the yards or tracks of another road to haul back cars to their own road, so as to give the engine a load in both directions.
2. Continued employment, as long as physically able, of men eligible for retirement under the Railroad Retirement Act.
3. Cooperation of management and workers to reduce absenteeism to a minimum.
4. Relaxation of road mileage limitations and of hourly limitations in yard service.
5. Efforts by labor and management to work present forces full straight time and to distribute uniformly such overtime as may be required.
6. Upgrading and promotion within or without any group, seniority being retained in the original group, so as to bring about fullest possible utilization of training and skills of present employees and minimize problems of obtaining and inducting new employees.
7. Transfer of shop work from one railroad to another to meet critical labor shortages. Transfer of employees from one railroad to another, with preservation of seniority rights on original job.
• 8. More intensive on- and off-job training, and provision for some preemployment training. Consideration of payment of compensation during preemployment training periods.
9. Cooperative effort to encourage return of retired employees.
10. Relaxation, so far as practicable, of age and physical examination requirements.
11. Induction of new employees, so far as practicable, into lower skilled brackets so as to minimize the need for preemployment training and to expedite on-the-job training.
12. Consideration of employment of women of railroad eniployees’ families.
13. Relaxation of the present 16- to 21-year age limits for employment of shop craft apprentices, so as to permit training of men who will be able to remain in service.
Government May Direct Motortruck Routing, Dispatching
Failure of Joint Action Plan Said to Cause Excess Mileage
Jack Garrett Scott, ODT General Counsel, told the trucking industry last week that routing and dispatching of motortruck traffic may have to be taken over by the Government unless there is greater voluntary cooperation with the ODT’s present program for the interchange of information among carriers as a means of reducing empty mileage.
Mr. Scott put squarely up to the carriers the responsibility for accomplishing the mileage savings necessary to pull motortruck transportation through the war emergency and warned that unless many competitive practices within the industry are discontinued, further mandatory action may be necessary.
“As I see it, the field which now holds out the greatest hope for additional mileage savings is that of joint action between carriers,” he said. “I have been greatly disappointed at the very small number of such plans which the property carriers of the country have submitted. I suppose the reasons are varied.
“Another point concerns the establishment and use of Joint Information Offices. But not enough of these offices have been established, and those that have, have been noticeably bypassed and ignored. There has not been anywhere near complete registration of empty equipment and surplus traffic. There has been too much haggling about divisions of revenues. There has been too great a use of the corner filling station, and individual solicitation and shopping around. When vehicles have been leased, they have not been promptly loaded and unloaded and returned to the owner. These things cannot and must not continue.”
New Baseball Assures
Games Next Season
Golf Ball Core Substituted For Critical Cork Center
Baseball was assured another inning, when spring rolls around in a doubleplay made last week by an ingenious manufacturer and the WPB sporting goods division. The great American sport was all but struck out by wartime demands for the critical materials with which the balls are normally made. But Joe DiMaggio may slam a new ball of equal quality next season that has been developed by a manufacturer from materials authorized by WPB.
In the baseballs used professionally for more than a decade is a center of cork cushioned with rubber. When critical cork and rubber were banned in the making of baseballs and rubber thread for golf balls, a baseball manufacturer experimented with the rubber cores that were used in golf balls as a substitute for the cork center. The golf ball industry had been left stranded with 720,000 on their hands.
These cores were cushioned with a layer of reclaimed scrap rubber, and built up to official baseball center size. Convinced that his new ball compared favorably with the best, the manufacturer petitioned WPB for authorization to use thè reclaimed scrap rubber.
WPB Gives Green Light
WPB gave him the green light provided the new centers shall be distributed throughout the industry in fair allotments. Baseball is important, WPB said, to the physical fitness of fighting men and war workers, and is of great interest to millions of fans. Besides, only 20 tons of scrap rubber would be used. The golf ball pills weighed 11 tons, and 9 tons of scrap rubber were allocated.
The new ball has the unqualified blessing of the War Department. After mechanical and field tests, the Special Service Branch changed its specifications to make buying the new ball optional. And they buy a lot of them—-80 percent of all the top-grade baseballs. Schools, colleges, industries, and perhaps the major leagues, who use up 180,000 of them a year, are expected to absorb the 120,000 left-over balls. But, kids, there will be none for you to play with on the corner lot.
February 3, 1943
★ VICTORY ★
143
LEND-LEASE HELPED MAKE BRITAIN SAFE BASE FOR AFRICAN OFFENSIVE
Stettinius Tells Congress That Russia Will Get
More Food This Year Than All Other Nations Combined
Lend-Lease Administrator Stettinius gave to Congress last week a record of Lend-Lease activities, and said if there is any question to be debated in connection with the Lend-Lease Act, “it is, to my mind, the question of why we have not sent more to our Allies, not whether we should continue to send supplies to them.”
The arms, food and other materials we have sent to Britain have helped to sustain first a defensive operation and now an increasingly powerful series of offensive thrusts. “One of the greatest achievements of Lend-Lease has been the help we have given in making the British Isles an impregnable base for offensive operations and one of the great arsenals of democracy,” he said.
A large part of the North African campaign was launched from Britain, and so were the campaigns in the Middle East, Italian Africa, Syria, Madagascar, while the forces for India, Iran, Iraq and many other places started and were largely equipped from that country. Australia is receiving U. S. arms, machine tools and raw materials for her rapidly-growing arsenal. New Zealand, also receiving U. S. aid, has given our troops such great quantities of food (without cost to us) that eggs, milk and fruit are in short supply, and the civilian population is feeling the pinch.
Our Aid to China is Pitifully Small
This Nation has not been able, under Lend-Lease, to supply all the aid that is needed in China or that we would have liked to have supplied, he stated. Supplies, being flown across the highest mountains in the world under conditions that might seem impossible, are getting through to that great country— in “pitifully” small amounts in terms of what China .needs, but at an accelerating rate. The U. S., since inception of the Soviet aid program in October 1941, has transferred to the U. S. S. R. supplies which cost more than $1,250,000,000. From now on, Lend-Lease food shipments to the Soviet Union are expected to exceed by a considerable margin Lend-Lease food shipments to all other
parts of the world combined, including shipments to the United Kingdom.
British Give Spitfires
The U. S., from February to November 1942, exported to Egypt under Lend-Lease and under cash purchase over 1,000 planes, hundreds of tanks, 20,000 trucks and hundreds of pieces of artillery. Turning to North Africa, Mr. Stettinius told the Congressmen that 168 of the planes, flown by American pilots in the invasion were Spitfires given to us by the British as reciprocal Lend-Lease. Also, one of our divisions was completely equipped with British 25-pounder guns instead of the U. S. 75’s, and among the other equipment provided were airfield runways, bombs, ammunition, 600 ambulances, reconnaissance boats and four 1,000-bed field hospitals. Both the British and the Americans have sent vitally needed civilian supplies to North Africa, normally a surplus producer of foodstuffs but ruthlessly looted by the Nazis.
SPECIAL BABY FEEDING
NIPPLES PRICED HIGHER
Three types of baby feeding nipples may be priced at retail higher than the limit established in its recent regulation, the OPA has announced. They are the breast type, semibreast type and valve type.
Civilians Could Do
With 23% Less Goods
Bedrock Quantity Goods and Services Estimated $156 Billion
Civilians could get along with 23 percent less goods and services this year, Civilian Supply Director Weiner informed Stabilization Director Byrnes last week in a report in which he stated that $56,000,000,000 worth is the bedrock minimum required to maintain civilian economy.
Mr. Weiner explained that the study, made at Mr. Byrnes’ request, is preliminary and will be revised from time to time. However, he said, figures at hand give a rough estimate of the extent to which our civilian economy can be cut. He added that the 56 billion dollar figure assumes an equitable distribution of the bedrock quantity of goods and services. The figure is some 32 percent less than the value of the goods and services used for these same purposes in 1941.
1943 Volume Not to Reach Bedrock
“We do not expect the volume of civilian consumption as a whole to fall to bedrock levels this year,” Mr. Weiner said, “although in a number of important consumer fields, such as metals and rubber, it is already at or near bedrock levels. In a number of other fields these levels will undoubtedly be reached by the end of 1943.
“On the basis of present programs, we estimate that the bedrock requirements of civilians are 23 percent less than the volume of goods and services they will actually receive in 194-3. In other words, civilians could get along with 23 percent less.”
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NEW WPB REGULATIONS
[Issued January 20 to February 2 inclusive. Compiled especially for Victory by FIELD CONTACT BRANCH of the WAR PRODUCTION BOARD]
Order No. Modification Addition Title Abstract of priorities action; PD forms Issued Effective Expires Division • Administrator---Ext.
Federal Register citation*
E-l-b Arn find fid Machine tools ... Reinstates 60-day “frozen” period in schedule of 1-26-43 1-26-43 Tools___________ L. R. Hawkins, 2732.
machine tool producers. ■ 8 F. R. 1190
Extends date to which unrestricted production of
L-23-d.. Amended___ coal or wood heating is permitted from 1-31-43 to 1-29-43 1-29-43 3-31-43 Plumbing ‘and G. W. Baldwin,
3-31-43.
Domestic cooking appli- Amends production restrictions on hand clothes
ance. wringers, frying pans, roasting pans, cooking Heating. 71979.‘
L-30-d Am find fid____ Kitchen, household arti- utensils, and other miscellaneous articles. 1-26-43 1-26-43 Consumers’ Dur- A. F. Bisgood, 5875.
cles, etc. 8 F. R. 1193 able Goods.
L-78....... Amended___ Fluorescent lighting fix- Restricts manufacture to orders rated A-l-j or better 499, 556 1-26-43 1-26-43 Building Mate- M. N. Waterman,
tures. and to certain processing provisions; restricts rials. • 3407.
L-89....... Amended___ Elevators................ manufacture of reflectors for industrial fixtures; 411,562 1-27-43 1-27-43 General Indus- L. T. Cramer, 3077.
restricts sale and delivery. 8 F. R. 1195
Section 1171.1 (a) (2) “amended to read including
hydraulic hydro-electric and hand power elevators,
dumbwaiters, homelifts, elevettes; but excluding
mine material hoists and portable elevators.)” trial Equip-
8 F. R. 1222 ment.
L-159 .. Amended___ Provides allocation for plastics molding machinery... 741 Ì-29-43 1-29-43 Chemicals_______ J. A. Lawson, 78168.
Increases repair parts quota from 130% to 160%.
8 F. R. 1222
H70 Amendment No. 1. 1. Stops production of boilers and parts subject to 1-27-43 1-27-43 Farm Machin- G. L. Gillette, 72843.
Plastics Molding Ma- specified exceptions. 2. Stops shipment by manu-
Amended___ chinery. facturers of boilers built to use solid fuel subject
L-187_______ Amended___ Farm machinery and to specified exceptions. 3. Permits use of iron 704 1-26-43 1-26-43 L. A. Howley, 4777.
equipment, etc. and steel in manufacture of parts intended for con- ery.
Low pressure cast-iron version of oil and gas burning boilers to solid fuel Plumbing and
0 boilers. burners. 8 F. R. 1197 Heating.
L-197 .... Amended___ Steel shipning drums_____ Eliminates number of items from order; exempts 717 1-29-43 1-29-43 Containers______ O. Dailey, 2226.
used drums having capacity, of more than 30 gallons
» and gauge of 23 or lighter. Transfers certain oils
lL-228....... Amended___ , and greases from List A to List B- 1-26-43 1-26-43 Building Mate- A. R. Craven, 71327.
1. Corrects typographical errors in order and in ex;
Asphalt and tarred roof- hibit A. 2. Revises' footnote No. 8 to Exhibit A
ing products and as- to permit manufacture of specified accessories for
phalt shingles. completing application. 8 F. R. 1198 rials.
M-37-b.... Revocation Ra von yarn______________ Revokes M-37-a_____________________________________ 1-29-43 1-31-43 Textile, Cloth-
H. L. Dalton, 71371.
Leather.
M-37-b_____ Revocation Rayon yarn ............. Revokes M-37-b ...... ... . ................ 1-29-43 1-31-43 Textile, Cloth- H. L. Dalton, 71371.
ing and
Leather.
M-37-C..... Révocation .....- Ravon varn______________ Revokes M-37-c.........___.............___________ 1-29-43 1-31-43 Textile, Cloth- H. L. Dalton, 71371.
i n g a n d
Leather.
M-37-d.... Ravon varn_____________ Brings under allocation as of 3-1-43 all viscose 102,103,104,112, 1-27-43 1-27-43 Textile, Cloth- H. L. Dalton, 71371.
rayon yarn of 250 or coarser denier and having 113,739 ing and
relatively high tenacity. 8 F. R. 1220 Leather.
M-38-c..... Amended___ Lead. Deletes A-l-j exemption . ... _ . ___________ 2-2-43 2-2-43 Tin and Lead.. R. F. Segur, 71257.
M-80-g..___ Sole leather.... Increases percentage of manufacturers bends, for 2-2-43 2-2-43 Textile, Cloth- M. Pierce, 72516.
repair to be set aside during February 1943, from
20% to 25%. ing and
Dyestuffs and organic Changes definition of Class D dyestuffs to include Leather.
M-103...... Amended___ pigments. those synthesized or produced from benzine, etc. 1-30-43 1-30-43 Textile, Cloth- A. L. Lippert, 7188L
Quinine and other drugs Applicability of restriction revised to include trans- ing and
extracted from Cin- action or use of any anti-malarial agent manufac- Leather.
M-131______ Amended___ chona Bark. tured on or before 1-9-43. 8 F. R. 1224 1-27-43 1-27-43 Chemicals...... T. F. Currens, 73425.
M-133...... Amended___ Rotenone________________ Establishes allocation control. 8 F. R. 1102 785,801 1-23-43 1-23-43 Chemicals....... M. Goldberg, 72813.
M-231...... Revocation Chemical fertilizers.... Revokes the order_________________...___8F. R. 1224 1-27-43 1-27-43 .Chemicals.......
M-257_____ Amended___ Sulfuric acid___ Redefines “ sulfuric acid”; revises PD-601 instructions 1-30-43 1-30-43 Chemicals______ P. Blakemore, 73106.
M-269...... Amended___ Ascorbic acid.___:_________ Inserts new exception to requirement for authoriza- 2-2-43 2-2-43 Chemicals_______ J. T. Batson, 5092.
tion by person who received ascorbic pursuant to
specific authorization.
M-285...... Corrected Uranium.........___ ... Prohibits sale, delivery, purchase, or receipt for use 1-26-43 1-26-43 Miscellaneous R. J. Lund, 3595.
copy. in manufacture of glass decoration,- glassware, Minerals.
pottery, tile, or other ceramic products, 8 F. R. 1199
•Denotes Federal Register volume and page
'n
'S
g »<
*
P-98-b..... Production, transporta- 1. Authorizes assignment of AA-1 for emergency 1-29-43 1-29-43 Petroleum Ad- R. E. Allen, REpub*
P-98-c...... tion, refining, market-' repair if less than $500. 2. Clarifies method of 1-29-43 1-29-43 ministrator for lie 1820, 4401.
P-138........ ing of petroleum. application of preference ratings. 1-30-43 1-30-43 War. R. E. Allen, REpub-
Trl-....... Production, transporta- Redefines operator to mean any person engaged in 1-30-43 1-30-43 Petroleum Ad- lic 1820, 4401.
tion, refining, and mar- the petroleum industry. ministrator for E. S. Downing, 72584.
Amended_______________________ keting of petroleum. Definition of producer changed to include custom War. G. W. Burgess, 3870.
Amended____..............______¿ Maintenance, repair, and mills that perform sawing, planing operations Lumber and
operating supplies; log- without taking title to lumber. Lumber Prod-
gers, producers. Controls shipments of certain materials.............. ucts.
Controlled shipments----- Stockpiling and
Transporta-
782 tion.
Order No. Addition Violator Cited under Violation Penalty Issued Expires
Amendment 1---. Part 1010.155 (d) amended to read as follows: “This
order shall take effect on 11-25-42 and shall termi-
nate on 1-25-43 after which latter date it shall have
no further force and effect.” 8 F. Ri 1218
1. Extended ratings in excess of amounts authorized.
2. Used copper wire.
S-155______ Fargo Foundry Co., Fargo, N. Dak”“^31___ From 7-23-42 to 9-17-42 used substantial quantities of 1-26-43
S-205._____ United Electric Co., Oakland, Calif-___l....___ steel in manufacture of Venetian blinds; 8 F.R. 1447 1-30-43
S-220______ Venetian Products Co., Syracuse, N. Y________ During May, June, and July 1942 made excess deliveries Priority and allocation assistance withdrawn ------- 1-27-43
S-221...... Friedman Bag Co., Los Angeles, Calif._________ of 237,000 burlap bags. 8 F. R. 1448 Prohibited to sell, transfer, deliver, process, assemble 1-27-43
S-222______ Paramount Flag Co., San Francisco, Calif_____ P-65_______ Misapplied A-l-a ratings for excessive quantities of mate- or produce metal household furniture; priority and 1-27-43
S-223______ Columbus Bed Spring Co., Columbus, Ohio... L-62_______ rials for production of flags. 8 F. R. 1449 allocation assistance withdrawn. 1-28-43
S-224______ Berg Manufacturing and Sales Co., Chicago, M-47..... Processed 25,000 lbs. of steel and assembled 1,162 beds Forbidden to manufacture, sell, deliver, rent, accept 1-27-43
S-226...... Ill. Pri. Regs. effective 1-30-43. delivery, puichase or otherwise deal in textile bags. 1-28-43
S-227...... Keidel Plumbing Co., Cincinnati, Ohio________ No. 1 & 3. From 2-6-42 to 6-30-42 sold copper wire and copper tubing Priority and allocation assistance withdrawn........ 1-20-43i
S-228.___ Sterling Brass Co., Cleveland, Ohio____________ M-126____ on order which did not bear required preference ratings. Priority and allocation assistance withdrawn......... 1-30-43 11-2-43
Oriental Teaand Coffee Co., Boston, Mass.... M-9-a_____ 8 F. R.1450 Prohibited to accept delivery of, sell, transfer, deliver, 3-31-43
L-79, P-84 Sold new plumbing equipment without preference rat- or otherwise deal in any copper or copper-base 4-30-43
Rri. Reg. ings, effective 1-31-43. alloy wire or tubing. 4-30-43
N o. 1, Omitted brass ingots from inventory. Used copper-base Priority and allocation assistance withdrawn......... 4-30-43
M-9-c. alloy in excess of permitted amount. Priority and allocation assistance withdrawn......... 4-30-43
M- 1 11, Delivered coffee, tea in excess of quotas authorized under Deliveries of coffee by company shall not exceed 8-2-34
M-135. M-lll and M-135. 23,000 lbs., no delivery of tea. • 1
PRIORITIES VICTORY FEDERAL REGISTER
All unexpired priorities orders, regulations and reporting forms of War Pro- Each week all new War Production Board orders and regulations Complete texts of War Production Board orders and regulations appear in
duction Board are indexed in “PRIORITIES” published monthly. Those are listed in “VICTORY.” Hence this page may be used effectively “FEDERAL REGISTER,” published daily except Sundays, Mondays and
above will be included in the February issue. Subscription: $2.00 per year. to keep “PRIORITIES” up to date. Rate: 76 cents per year. days following legal holidays. Subscription: $1.25 per month; $12.50 per year.
SUBSCRIPTIONS TO ABOVE PUBLICATIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS, GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. WASHINGTON, D. C.
146
★ VICTORY ★
February 3f 1943
Indices of the American Industrial Effort and its Impact on the life of the Nation • • «
PRICES AND INCOME
COST OF LIVING
Cost of Goods Purchased in Large Cities
$ u Percentage of increase
iw Nov. ’42 May ’42 - Dec. ’41 Dec. ’40
' to Dec. ’42 to Dec. ’42 to Dec. ’42 to Dec. ’42
Combin ed Index_____________________________ 0.5 3.8 9.0 19.6
Compor tents:
Foo d______ 1.2 9.1 17.3 36.4
Cid thing________________________________ None ---0.2 9.7 23.9
Rer it____________________________________None ---1.7 ---0.2 3 0
Fue ¡1, electricity, and ice__________._______ 0.1 1.3 2.1 5.6
Hoi ise furnishings_______________________ 0.2 1.6 6.3 23.6
Mis cellaneous1____________________________ 0.1 1.7 4.7 10.8
1 Indi ides transportation, recreation, personal care, household operation, and medical care,
---Dec rease. Source: BLS.
Cost of Goods Used by Farm Families
Percentage of increase
Nov. ’42 May ’42 Dec. ’41 Dec. ’40
to Dec. ’42 to Dec. ’42 to Dec. ’42 to Dec. ’42
Combined Index________ _________________________1.3 5. 9 13.3 32. 8
Components---Quarterly Percentage of increase
Sept. ’42 June ’42 Dec. ’41 Dec. ’40
to Dec. ’42 to Dec. ’42 to Dec. ’42 to Dec. ’42
Combined Index_________ _________________________3.2 5.2 13.3 32.8
Components: 1
Food________________ --------------------------4.1 4.9 17.1 39.8
Clothing_____________ -------------------------3.4 7.1 17.5 42.5
House furnishings____ -------------------------3.5 8.0 12.1 29.4
Building materials___ ----------------------... 0.5 1.6 4.4 14.6
Operating expenses2. ________.2_______________None 1. 7 3.5 12.4
1 Automobiles (share for living) not shown separately but included in combined index.
’Includes household operation, gasoline, tires, oil for automobiles, and kerosene. Source:
Bureau of Agricultural Economics.
A WHOLESALE PRICES
Percentage of increase
nmi Nov. ’42 May ’42 Dec. ’41 Dec. ’40
tuaaasr to Dec. ’42 to Dec. ’42 to Dec. ’42 to Dec. ’42
All commodities1______________ __________________0.7 2.2 7.9 26.3
Commodities excluding farm products and.foods__0.1 0.2 2.3 14.0
Farm products_______________ __________________3.0 9.0 20.2 63.3
Foods________________________ ------------------0.8 5.5 15.2 41.9
1 Prices in primary markets. Source: BLS.
gL INCOME PAYMENTS
JgygQR Annual Rate in Billions of Dollars
Nov. ’42 Nov. ’41 Nov. ’40
Total income payments 1________________________________$124. 9 $98.3 $79.1
Nonagricultural income________________________________ 110.1 88. 8 72. 7
Agricultural income 2___________________________________ 14. 8 9.5 6.4
1 Total income payments include salaries and wages, dividends and Interest, entrepreneurial
income, net rents and royalties, and relief and insurance payments. The rate is adjusted for
seasonal variation. The series has been revised back to January 1941. The annual rate for
October 1942 has been revised to $121.2 billion. ’Includes net income of farm operators,
wages of farm labor and interest and net rents on agricultural property.
Source: Department of Commerce.
War Facts data are assembled by Program Progress Branch, Division of Information, WPB
.... ÄÄ
MUNITIONS PRODUCTION INDEX
1942 November 1941=100
January_________ 163
November_______ ________ » 435
December.._____ _______ p 497
WAR CONSTRUCTION
June 1940-Nov. 30, 1942 (Millions of
Government-financed: dollars)
Commitments for nonindustrial
construction.__.______________ $14,857
Commitments for industrial facil-
ities expansion________________ 13, 819
PROGRAM- -EXPENDITURES
Cumulative from June 1940
Dec. 31, Nov.- 30,
1942 1942
(Billions of dollars)
War program_______ . p $238. 0 p $237. 7
Commitments______ (’) p 177. 9
Expenditures_______ 68. 2 62.1
WAR EXPENDITURES
Dec. Nov.
1942~ 1942
(Millions of dollars)
Expenditures______$6,12- $6,112
Number of days.___ 26 25
Daily rate-----,---- 235.6 244. 5
p Preliminary. * Revised. 1 Not available.
For additional information on Munitions
Production Index and War Construction see
Victory, Jan. 13, 1943, p. 47; for Program and
Expenditures see issue of Jan. 20, 1943, p. 91.
lebruary 3, 1943★ VICTORY ★ 147
War Prices ♦ . .
Slight Rise in Food Prices Reported
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Held Mainly Responsible
While Secretary of Labor Perkins reported last week that food costs for city wage earners and clerical workers rose 1.2 percent in the month from November 15 to December 15, OPA issued two regulations that raised the price of nine groups of foods and the price of maple syrup at the packer level, and pointed out that housewives will pay about the same this year as last for the four major canning crops.
Madame Perkins attributed the rise in food costs chiefly to the higher prices for fresh fruits and vegetables not controlled by OPA. Prices of OPA-con-trolled foods advanced only 0.5 percent, she said. Total living costs, according to the report, rose one-half of 1 percent during the month, bringing the total rise for America’s first year of war to 9 perceht.
The increase has been 22.1 percent since the outbreak of war in Europe. The success of OPA in keeping prices down was indicated, however, by the fact that the cost of goods and services under OPA control rose only 0.3 percent from mid-November to mid-December, while uncontrolled goods and services advanced 2 percent.
Consumers Pay More
The prices of the nine food groups were raised by permitting wholesalers and retailers to pass on to the consumer increases already allowed the processor because of higher production costs. The nine groups include canned chili con carne; shoestring potatoes; julienne potatoes; pretzels; nut topping; canned prune juice, canned dried prunes, canned prune concentrate, and all other canned dried prune-products; canned chicken and noodle dinner; canned chicken a la king; and canned homestyle chicken.
Because crop costs were 30 percent higher last year than the year before, specific dollars and cents maximums for packer sales of maple syrup were established at levels that reflect these higher replacement costs. At the same time OPA set maximum prices for sales by producers to packers. Consumers who buy directly from packers will find the price about 6 cents a pound higher
than formerly, the maximum price for direct packer sales to consumers being 38 cents, f. o. b. packer’s plant, on Grade A or better maple syrup.
Ceiling Prices Remain
Tomatoes, peas, snap beans, and sweet corn will cost about the same even though the Department of Agriculture last week announced a program to support prices for growers substantially above those for last season. The program provides, however, that these prices shall not be passed on to the consumer. The Commodity Credit Corporation will purchase the entire pack from certified canners at the higher prices, and then resell a portion for civilian consumption in accordance with OPA ceilings.
BUY WAR BONDS
NEW PRICES SET FOR INDUSTRIAL FUEL OIL
Industrial fuel oil refined in parts of certain States were subjected last week to a new price structure and a new schedule of dollar and cents ceilings devised by OPA and PAW.
The areas affected are the western part of District 2 and the upper part of District 3, including the States of Kansas, exclusive of the Kansas City area; the whole of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and New Mexico; and Louisiana and Texas, exclusive of the Gulf Coast ports and Mississippi River ports up to and including Baton Rouge.
OPA said the new schedule was devised to accomplish four purposes. It will make more industrial fuel oil available in the areas by encouraging the blending of low gravity and the cheaper residual oils with the higher gravity more costly distillate fuels. It will equalize prices by establishing specific prices f. o. b. refineries on a gravity basis according to the American Petroleum Institute scale rather than on a basis of standard commercial specifications for Nos. 5 and 6, fuel oils, as in the past.
The new schedule will meet increasing wartime demands of railroads and industries by augmenting local supplies and eliminating uneconomic transportation of fuel oils from the Gulf Coast ports. It will release oil tanks for hauling fuel to eastern consumers. Prices for domestic fuel oil will not be affected.
Nearly All Foods Put Under Marginal Prices
Exceptions Are Bread, Soft Drinks, Confectionery, Meat
Almost all foods sold over the Nation’s counters will soon be priced according to new fixed margins. These margins over net costs will be announced soon in a simplified, over-all regulation covering both wholesalers and retailers.
Exceptions to the new method will be bread, soft drinks, confectioneries, and meats. The “freeze” technique will continue to govern the first three items. Fixed dollars and cents prices will be set for meats sold at retail. There will be two sets of specified retail prices in each area, a lower maximum for chain stores and supermarkets and another for small retailers who normally sell above the price charged by mass distributors.
For foods under margin control, price differentials between different types and sizes of distributors will be continued, but the number of classes has been reduced. Stores now will be grouped into supermarkets and chain units with sales of more than $250,000 a year, other chains, and two classes of independents.
Price Changes Predicted •
Under margin control distributors will recalculate maximum selling prices from time to time in accordance with changes in cost. This will not be done for every new shipment, but periodically on the basis of a “key invoice.” For perishables and produce, the recalculation period will be weekly; for dry groceries, probably monthly. This method in effect enables distributors to price in accordance with the last or largest shipment during the period.
On some foods and gradually on more, price controls will be carried one step beyond fixed margins in accordance with a recent OPA announcement. As rapidly as possible OFA’s regional, district, and eventually local offices will name specific prices above which no sales at retail in the area shall be made. These fixed prices will be based on the margins of the independent grocer, and the chain stores and supermarkets will be held to prices below the overriding maximums by margin control.
148
★ VICTORY ★
February 3, 1943
Tariff Commission Studies Oil Costs
Factual Information Aids Crude Oil Price Regulation
The United States Tariff Commission, at the request of the Office of Price Administration, recently conducted an investigation of the cost of producing crude petroleum in the United States. The purpose of the investigation was to obtain factual information to aid the Office of Price Administration in regulating crude oil prices. Data were obtained from more than 2,500 producers who account for about 70 percent of the domestic output of crude petroleum.
The investigation covered the calendar years 1939 and 1940 and the first-, second-, and third-quarters of 1941, and Included all the principal pools and fields as well as many of lesser importance. The report includes in addition to costs, information on the number of wells operating, proved acreage, and estimates of economically recover
able reserves.
Later Costs Studied
The report also summarizes the re-
suits of a later investigation of the cost of producing crude petroleum covering the period from October 1941 through July 1942. The investigation in this later period covered a much smaller sample and was for the purpose of studying the trend of costs since September 1941.
The report will be available for distribution within the next few days. Copies may be obtained by applying to the United States Tariff Commission, Washington, D. C.
EXCESS CANNED GOODS
DEDUCTED FROM BOOK 2
An eight-point stamp for each can held in the family unit in excess of five cans per person will be deducted equally from all War Ration Books Two in the family group. Thus each book will retain at least one-half of its original points for each ration period, enabling the holder to provide food variety to meet dietary requirements.
In declaring excess stocks of canned goods at the time of distribution of the new ration book, the person registering for the family unit must state the excess number of cans of rationed foods of 8-ounce size and larger owned in the family.
IDLE TALK IS DANGEROUS—The Government’s campaign to bring this message home to Americans went forward last week. In the press, on the radio, in motion pictures, the Government is making the Nation realize that loose talk may cost a life.
CEILING ON RE-USABLE STRUCTURAL STEEL
A uniform Nation-wide ceiling price of 2.75 cents per pound at shipping point on sales to consumers of re-usable structural steel shapes and plates and shafting was fixed by the OPA last week. Included are crop ends of new shapes, plates and bars which accumulate in shipbuilding and other fabrication plants
The regulation permits an extra charge up to one-fourth cent per pound to be added to the price for pieces delivered, only when the dealer cuts pieces to length or drills holes at the request of the purchaser.
Material which does not meet the specifications when sold to consumers must be sold at scrap prices.
Specifications which second-hand structural steel shapes and plates and shafting must meet in order to be “reusable” and command the ceiling price include, in general, provision that such pieces must be commercially straight or true to line, free of excessive rust and pits and undamaged by fire.
PRICE CUT ON COPPER CASTINGS ANNOUNCED
More than $25,000,000 will be saved the Government and heavy industry this year through reductions in foundry prices of 3 cents per pound for aluminum, 3 cents per pound for magnesium, and IV2 cents per pound for copper base castings.
The reductions were ordered last week by OPA in a revision of the price regulation for nonferrous castings.
The action requires foundries to pass on to their customers reductions in metal costs. These reductions were the result of price reductions made by primary, secondary and scrap metal producers.
The reduction in prices affects the price of castings used for tanks, airplanes, munitions, ship’s propellers and other vitally important products made or used by heavy industry, manufacturers of war equipment, the Government, and transportation companies. Savings passed on to the Government would be chiefly in reduced cost of war equipment. Savings passed on to the consumer are made possible by lowered costs to private industry.
February 3, 1943
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149
The War and Business . . .
Price support helps growers, PREVENTS SQUEEZE ON PROCESSORS
Canners and Flour Millers Assured Profits, Consumers Unaffected by Possible Government Subsidies
Two more important steps toward assuring economic stabilization were taken last week when the Department of Agriculture announced that price supports will be extended to growers of the four major canning crops—tomatoes, peas, sweet corn, and snap beans; and the Commodity Credit Corporation announced an offer to sell its free wheat stocks at parity prices.
The price support program helps to accomplish two important ends: It assures minimum prices to growers, thus encouraging sufficient production of these war foods to keep canning and dehydrating plants operating at capacity; it offers certified processors prices sufficient to assure profitable operations.
The Department of Agriculture thus, in effect, guarantees subsidies where necessary to secure agricultural production and to prevent price “squeezes” on processors. Growers and processors are benefited, consumers will not be affected.
The second stabilization move places an effective ceiling on wheat prices at parity as huge Government stocks will be released if prices go beyond that level. So far only soft red and soft white wheat have actually been sold by the CCC as other varieties are below parity prices. But the offer stands as a warning, and millers and processors of wheat products are thus protected from the threat of spiraling costs.
Two other developments of the week were designed to assist in the task of* stabilizing the food industry:
Quotas for production of repair parts for farm machinery were raised, helping to ease one of the agricultural production problems.
A simplified over-all regulation for retailers and wholesalers, containing fixed margin controls, is in process of formation. This will ease some of the distributor problems.
Emergency Fuel Oil
Cold weather and the fuel shortage on the East Coast last week combined to prompt amendment of two regulations-:
OPA established an emergency procedure to enable oil-rationed householders
to acquire up to 50 gallons of fuel oil in a minimum of time.
As a safeguard to health, the OPA doubled the maximum amount of heating oil allowed to war workers who live in trailers and heat by oil-burning stoves.
To save critical war materials, the WPB last week reported that projects having a total cost of $56,344,612 were stopped during the week ended January 22. This brought to $1,271,195,509 the total cost of nonessential projects which have been stopped since October 23.
Likewise, War housing construction standards were relaxed somewhat by WPB and NHA action last week, permitting increased use of some lumber, particularly side-cuts. In supplying softwood timber for the Armed Forces side-cuts are produced. Without a ready market it is feared they may glut yards and hamper essential timber production. Builders thus gain some relief.
To aid distressed plants in getting aid, the WPB’s Smaller War Plants Division has empowered its 12 regional offices and 131 district offices to take action on the spot, thus expediting the handling of contracts with Army and Navy procurement agencies at the source.
With public transit systems carrying the greatest load in history, the WPB last week announced that critical materials required in the construction of various types of equipment will be made available under a high priority rating.
Afore Conservation
Total war economy brought new changes to more industries last week. The trend to conserve prompted these changes in the business picture:
Valves.—The number of types of gate, globe, angle, cross and check valves produced was ordered reduced from 4079 to 2504.
Tin.—Use of tin in repairing certain gas meters was prohibited, saving more than 250,000 pounds of tin a year.
Rayon.—High tenacity viscose rayon yarns were placed under direct allocation, effective March 1, thus implementing the program for production of 50 million pounds for use in tires and further limiting rayon yarn for civilan use.
Alloy Steel.—Use of alloy steel in angledozers or trailbuilders, in bulldozers and in repair parts for these equipment items was prohibited.
Uranium.—Delivery of uranium and its compounds for use in ceramics was forbidden.
Metal Strapping.—To eliminate use of metal strapping in light weight shipments and conserve metals, metal strapping on containers or bundles was limited to certain kinds of commercial use.
Elevators.—Closer control over manufacture of elevators and parts was established.
Price Adjustments
During total war a constant alert is necessary to keep price pressures equalized so that business costs, essential production and distribution maintain a balance. Inevitable “squeezes” compel frequent adjustments. Here are some price actions taken this week:
Food.—Nine groups of food products were added to the regulations under which wholesalers and retailers are allowed to pass on “permitted increases” which have already been allowed at the processor level to cover higher production costs.
Syrup.—Dollars and cents maximum prices for packer sales of maple syrup were set which reflect higher replacement costs. At the same time, maximum prices for sales by producers to packers were set.
Hampers.—Manufacturers of hampers acting to meet requirements of Florida bean growers were permitted to add actual overtime costs to their ceiling prices.
Platinum.—Maximum prices for the six platinum metals, essential to the war program, were set in dollars and cents at levels existing during the first quarter of 1942.
Greases.—Uniform Nation-wide dollars and cents maximum prices for tallows and greases were established in a move designed to simplify price control in the field. .
Coal.—OPA Regional Offices were authorized to establish ceiling prices on all types of coal in an area, bringing local solid fuel prices under more direct supervision.
Clothes.—Maximum margins from 27 to 36 percent over costs were established for newly set up manufacturers of women’s, girls’ and children’s coats and outer garments, setting standard controls.
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February 3, 1943
War Agriculture . • •
City Folk and School Children To Be Recruited for Land Army 3^2 Million Volunteers Will Be Asked to Take Jobs On Farms as Their Contribution to War Effort
Emphasizing their determination to recruit a volunteer land army of 3,500,-000 to work on farms next summer, Secretary of Agriculture Wickard and Chairman McNutt of the WMC told a press conference last week that they hope to get' many persons who live in cities and want to work on farms. Another source, they said, would be school children who can do farm work during the summer vacation period.
“We are planning to use all the agencies of the Department of Agriculture with particular stress upon the Extension Service to do the. local mobilization work,” Mr. Wickard said. “One of the most important phases is getting an enrollment of all the people in the communities and towns in the agricultural areas to volunteer to help out when there Is a shortage of labor which threatens the saving of a crop or the planting of a crop.
Volunteer Workers Will Be Paid
“The extension people are being invited to send in their wartime advisory committees for consultation with the Department and the Chairman of the executive committee of the Land Grant Colleges so that we can carry out this program, not volunteer on the basis of pay, but volunteer work on the basis of leaving some job which may be more lucrative, to save a crop and thus make a contribution to the war effort.”
Mr. Wickard said that he was thinking about getting people who work in stores or who have other civilian pursuits not directly connected with the war effort. “I think too we are going to have some arrangement with the schools in each area to see if they might not close the schools for two or three weeks, perhaps keeping them open during the holiday season to make up for lost time,” he said. “I don’t want to give anybody the idea that we wish to interfere with school work, but agriculture is a seasonal pursuit and we may
have to make our school season conform with the season of agriculture.”
Only Pull Time Workers Will Be Deferred
Mr. McNutt called attention to the order previously issued granting draft deferments to certain classes of farm workers, and he pointed out that these classifications in thé Selective Service would only apply to those who are doing it as full time work. “It is like moving from nonessential activity to essential activity,” he said. “Farming is essen^ tial.”
Secretary Wickard said that he has not observed any back-to-the-farm movement yet, “although I am very much in favor of it.” He said that when factories turn out their workers they go back to the farms, and likewise when factories recruit labor they get it from the farm areas.
“I want to emphasize,” he said, “that though there might not be or appear to be so many people on farms today compared with a year ago, we have got to realize that the people we have left, are not as as efficient per person as the people who have been ordinarily on farms. This means that our deficiency in labor is not directly in relation to the number of people lost. There are old people and children and others having to carry on, and one thing that happened and is happening is that they have much longer working hours because we are stepping up production.”
Inexperienced Help Necessary
Mr. McNutt said that the total farm labor is about .8,900,000, and Secretary Wickard added that the seasonal peak figure is closer to 12,000,000.
Asked whether the farmers disliked having “city folks” to help them pick their crops, Secretay Wickard.replied: “I suspect that there is some resentment in some places, because the only type of labor that is offered the farmers to replace what he calls the dependable type, is inexperienced. But after all, Ulis is a matter of necessity.
MERCHANTS TO SUPPLY SCHOOL LUNCH FOOD •
Changes in the Community School Lunch Program whereby sponsoring organizations will purchase food supplies from local merchants and farmers and be reimbursed by the Food Distribution Administration were announced last week by Secretary of Agriculture Wickard.
Previously foods for the program have been purchased by the Agricultural Marketing Administration (now absorbed by the Food Distribution Administration) and distributed to State welfare agencies, who in turn distributed them to school lunch sponsors. Since its inception the program has shown a steady growth. Last year a peak of over 6,000,000 children benefited from the school lunch program using foods made available by the Food Distribution Administration.
The new procurement program will be installed on a Nation-wide basis, but some outlets for commodities distributed directly by the FDA will be retained, principally in the large metropolitan areas.
PROTEIN CUT IN FOOD FOR HOUSEHOLD PETS
War Food Administrator Wickard issued an order, effective January 29, requiring pet food manufacturers to limit the animal protein content to 8 percent, and the total protein content to 24 percent, by dry weight, of such foods processed prior to July 1,1943. Pet foods supplied to the armed forces are exempt from this restriction. For the 6-month period ending June 39, each manufac-*turer must restrict his pet food production to 50 percent of the amount by dry weight which he produced during the calendar year 1941 or 50 percent of four times the amount by dry weight he produced during the last quarter of 1942, whichever is greater. Food Production Director Townsend will administer the order, which will make available thousands of tons of both animal and vegetable protein for increased production of ' processed feeds for livestock and poultry. The limitation on quantity, Mr. Townsend said, will permit as large a volume of pet food to be produced as formerly, but will prevent production from expanding.
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February 3, 1943
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151
Wickard Takes Steps To Obtain More Food
Plans Expected to Produce More Truck and Vegetables
The four major canning crops—truck and vegetable crops, food and fiber crops, foods for pet animals, milk, garden fertilizer—all were involved in efforts by the Agriculture Department last week to produce food for victory.
The Department acted to support prices for growers for the canning crops. It determined the acreage on which production payments will be made for designated truck and vegetable crops for fresh consumption. Payments totaling approximately $100,000,000 were begun on food and fiber crops vital to the war effort. The protein content of commercially prepared food for pet animals was curtailed.
The milk industry was ordered to simplify operations and reduce marketing costs. The Department explained that Food Production Order No. 5 does not restrict the chemical nitrogen content of victory garden fertilizer.
Government Will Buy and Sell
The Commodity Credit Corporation will buy canned tomatoes, peas, sweet corn,,and snap beans from certified processors at prices later to be announced. The Government will then resell them to such canners at a discount, provided the canners have paid specified minimum prices to growers.
.Although minimum prices are specified by States, for the country as a whole, minimum prices to be paid to growers of the four canning crops, contrasted to 'the actual prices paid in 1942, are: Tomatoes, $24.25 per ton compared with $19.37; green peas, $81.50 per ton compared with $63.93; sweet corn, $18 a ton compared with $13.50; snap beans, $91 a ton compared with $75.38.
For planted acreage between 90 and 110 percent of the goal, the Government will pay $50 an acre for carrots, snap beans, lima beans, beets, tomatoes, cabbage, onions, and green peas, when grown for fresh consumption.
To compensate farmers for the added costs of increased production, payment of $15 an acre will be made for sweetpotatoes, soybeans, grain sorghums, peanuts, flax, and dried peas planted over 90 percent and up to 110 percent of the goal.
Protein in Pet Poods Cut
Manufacturers must limit the animal protein content of pet foods to 8 percent, and the total protein content to 24 percent, by dry weight, of such foods processed prior to July 1, 1943. During this 6-month period, each manufacturer must restrict his production to 50 percent of the amount by dry weight of his 1941 production, or 50 percent of four times the amount produced during the last quarter of last year, whichever is greater.
Milk in Quarts Only
All handlersLand distributors of milk are required to take these five steps:
(1) Eliminate all package sizes for milk below one quart except where the milk is to be resold for consumption on the premises;
(2) Confine their purchases to not more than two handlers unless the delivery from each handler is in excess of 300 quarts;
(3 ) Load milk only on advance orders or standing orders;
(4) Eliminate milk returns from stores; hotels, restaurants, or other establishments;
(5) Charge minimum rates of deposit on all glass bottles, milk cans, and milk cases.
CARGO INSURANCE RULES EASED FOR SHIPPERS
The War Shipping Administration has modified its rules relating to maintenance of a collateral deposit fund or surety bond applying to open cargo war risk insurance policies issued by the Administration. This amendment was made necessary by reason of the difficulties faced by importers as a result of restrictions on cable communications and the irregularity of vessel sailings.
Up to now WSA rules have required open policyholders to maintain a collateral deposit fund or surety bond sufficient in amount to cover at all times any accrued premiums on shipments under the policy. A number of instances have arisen where policyholders who in good faith had maintained what they felt to be sufficient collateral deposit or bond may have had their policy voided by reason of shipments from foreign ports which they had not anticipated and of which they could not receive cable advices.
Changes in WSA regulations to meet this problem are two. First, all policies are being amended to provide that in the future a policyholder who inadvertently fails to maintain sufficient collateral or surety bond may correct the deficiency within 7 days after learning of it, upon payment of a special continuation fee. This privilege will not be available in any case where it appears
FATS ARE NEEDED
AS WAR MATERIALS
Fats are one of our most important war materials. From fats we make glycerine and from glycerine we make gunpowder. Glycerine also is in gun recoil mechanisms, ships’ steering gears, and depth charge releases; and in medicine for fighting men.
We are using up glycerine faster than we are making it. We are using up our reserve. If this continues, the time will come when we do not have enough to fight the war—when some gun will not fire because there is no glycerine. That is a way to lose the war.
There is a way to make up what we lack. If every household would collect half a pound of kitchen fat a month, that would be enough. A survey indicated the average home can do much better than that. But a campaign last fall was bringing in waste fat at less than a fourth of the necessary rate.
Failure was partly due to the fact that the system for collecting the fats from housewives was not thoroughly organized. Irf places where a campaign has been going all the time since last spring, results are good enough to indicate the job can be done. Now collecting has been organized better, and the Government is ready for every household to begin saving waste fats in earnest.
Here is how it works:
After the housewife has used all the kitchen fat she can in preparing food, she strains the rest through an ordinary strainer into a can. Solid fats she melts down. When she has a convenient amount she takes it to the butcher, who pays her 4 cents a pound. The butcher sells to a renderer for just enough to cover the cost of handling The renderer makes tallow, sells either to a soap manufacturer or a fat splitter. The soap maker gets glycerine as a by-product. The fat splitter gets glycerine by a chemical process. Both sell the glycerine for war use.
In four weeks after the housewife sells waste fat to the butcher, it may be firing an aircraft cannon. But she must keep on saving and selling it, for the cannon has to keep firing until the war is won, and it keeps on using up glycerine.
to WSA that the failure to maintain sufficient collateral or surety bond was willful rather than inadvertent.
Second, a policyholder who may have had his policy already voided through deficiency in collateral deposit or surety bond and who may in consequence have shipments now at sea uninsured, may purchase insurance covering those shipments subject to the warranty that at the time the insurance is purchased there is no known or reported loss and subject to the payment of an additional rate of premium.
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February 3, 1943
Motion Pictures ...
BRITISH FILM
“DOVER” RELEASED
The spirit of England is dramatically shown in the one-reel motion picture, “Dover,” produced by the British Ministry of Information and released non-theatrically throughout, the United States by the Office of War Information.
Edward R. Murrow, CBS correspondent in London whose voice is familiar to millions of American radio listeners, takes the audience with him to Dover, England’s front line facing the Germans across the Channel. Here men are learning to operate assault landing boats, they are rehearsing tank tactics. Here the R. A. F. sends Spitfires and Hurricanes across the Channel by day, giant Stirlings and Lancasters over German industrial cities by night. Mr. Murrow talks to Able .Seaman Fletcher and Lieutenant Lewis of the British Navy, to Flight Lieutenant Johnston of the R. A. F.—and learns from each that “our time is coming.”
In Dover the civilians, too, are offensive-minded as the squadrons of Hurricanes and Wellingtons roar over the city bound for Nazi targets. Mr. Murrow talks to the mayor of Dover, to a girl in an antiaircraft battery, to a housewife, and to an elderly woman who summarizes the spirit of England: “We’ve been bombed, dive bombed, and high-level bombed. We’ve been machine gunned. We’ve been through two invasion scares, and we’ve had the house down around our ears. But we’re sticking it and we’re going to stick it.”
Other OWI films showing the people of our Allies and their fight against fascism include “Western Front,” China’s heroic fight against the warlords of Japan; “Listen to Britain,” a remarkable picture of the common people of wartime England; and “Target For Tonight," a thrilling true story of a bombing raid over Germany by the Royal Air Force.
In addition to these pictures, there are OWI films showing our armed forces, our war production in factories and on farms, our responsibilities as civilians, the nature of our enemies, and the issues at stake in this war we all are fighting:
THE ARM BEHIND THE ARMY (10 minutes). The stakes of American labor and industry in winning this war. An official War Department film.
BOMBER (10 minutes). Manufac
ture, speed, and power of the B-26 Army bomber. Commentary written by Carl Sandburg.
CAMPUS ON THE MARCH (19 minutes). Wartime activities in American colleges and universities.
DEMOCRACY IN ACTION (11 minutes). Food and the farmer’s role in the war.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER (14 minutes). Hard-hitting presentation of Nazi methods in spreading hate and fear, distrust and confusion.
HENRY BROWNE, FARMER (11 minutes). Simple, down-to-earth story of a Negro family in wartime.
HOME ON THE RANGE (11 minutes). The western range country and the men producing beef and mutton for our soldiers, civilians, and Allies.
LAKE CARRIER (9 minutes). Transporting iron ore over the Great Lakes to Midwest steel mills. Narrated by Fredric March.
MANPOWER (8 minutes). Methods now being used to recruit and train workers for war industries.
MEN AND THE SEA (10 minutes). Training the men who man our cargo ships carrying munitions, food, and supplies throughout the world.
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRING LINE (3 minutes). Disney’s famous characters—Pluto and Minnie—show why and how to save fats.
THE PRICE OF VICTORY (13 minutes). Vice President Henry Wallace’s stirring challenge to the freedom-loving people of the world.
RING OF STEEL (10 minutes). Tribute to the American soldier from 1776 to 1942. Narrated by Spencer Tracy.
SAFEGUARDING MILITARY INFORMATION (10 minutes).' Dramatic exposition of the results of careless talk and the need for secrecy.
SALVAGE (7 minutes). Need for salvaging metals, rubber, and greases. Narrated by Donald Nelson.
TANKS (10 minutes). Manufacture and performance of the M3 Army tank. Narrated by Orson Welles.✓
U. S.-NEWS REVIEW: ISSUE NO. 1 (21 minutes). Seven subjects—women at war, fuel saving, President’s wartime flag, Malta, coal production, war in Pacific, and wartime harvest.
WINNING YOUR WINGS (18 minutes). Work of the U. S. Army Air Forces. Narrated by Lt. James Stewart.
ANCHORS AWEIGH (3 minutes).
For complete information on Government war films, their availability and use, write the Bureau of Motion Pictures, Office of War Information, Washington, D. C.
War Manpower . , .
More Jobs Listed as Essential to News
Include Magazines and Movies As Essential Occupations
Occupational bulletin No. 27 on essential communications services, issued to guide local boards on occupational classification of employees of newspapers and other periodicals, radio broadcasting, telephone and telegraph companies, and pther communications activities, has been amended by the Selective Service Bureau to include a number of additional activities. It also increases the lists of essential occupations.
Added to the list of essential communications activities are magazines of general circulation which are devoted primarily to the dissemination of publicinformation; newspapers and news syndicates; production of motion pictures, including technical and vocational training films for the Army, Navy and war production industries; protective signal systems which supplement fire and police protection to military, public and private industrial and commercial establishments; radio broadcasting; radio communications (radiotelephone and radiotelegraph) ; submarine cable; telegraph; telephone; and television.
Registrants 18 to 45 Must Carry Cards
Joint Army-Navy Induction Centers Have Been Set Up
Selective Service Bureau last week served notice on all registrants except the 45 to 65 age group to carry both their classification cards and their registration certificates, and announced that henceforth through its local boards it will furnish all men between 18 and 38 to the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.
The registration certificate is Form 2, and was issued at the time of registration. The classification card, Form 57, indicates definitely that a man has been in communication with his local board and that he has been classified. Selective Service explained that the purpose of the order is to check on men who through ignorance or negligence have failed to keep in touch with their local boards.
February 3, 1943 ★ VICTORY ★ 133
War Wages and Labor . . .
Pay Adjustments Decentralized; Victory Tax Not Deductible on Retroactive Wage Increases WLB Gives Hospitals Pay-Raise Power, and Lumber
Commission Authority Over Wage Increases on Pacific Coast
The National War Labor Board last week took several steps to further decentralize and simplify administration of its wage and salary stabilization powers.
Nonprofit hospitals were authorized to make wage and salary adjustments without WLB approval. The WLB West Coast Lumber Commission and the Administrator of the National Housing Agency were both given authority to rule on pay adjustments within their jurisdiction. The Board also ruled, in conjunction with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, that the 5 percent Victory Tax need not be withheld on those portions of retroactive wage or salary awards by the two agencies which cover work done in 1942.
Hospitals Adjust Wages
To meet an emergency employment situation among hospitals which threatened the health of many communities, the Board authorized nonprofit hospitals throughout the Nation to make wage or salary adjustments for their employees without Board approval.
The action was taken because of appeals from hospitals in some sections of the country, which reported they were losing their employees due to comparatively low wage schedules.
This is the fir^t blanket exemption of this type, although the Board previously had exempted companies with fewer than eight employees. The Board also has left Uie question of salary and wage adjustments of State, county, and municipal employees for determination of the officials of those governmental units.
Rule on Victory Tax
An employer who pays the 5-percent Victory Tax on behalf of his employees, without deducting it from their pay envelopes, must obtain prior approval of the WLB or the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, it was announced last week in a joint statement issued by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the Board. The payment of the tax by the employer constitutes a wage or salary increase and thus requires approval, the agency ruled.
They also ruled that where the WLB or the Commissioner “awards or approves” an increase in wages or salaries retroactive to 1942, the tax need not be withheld on that portion of the increase which is applicable to work performed in 1942. “Whether the 5-percent tax will ultimately be collected on such retroactive pay is a matter to which the Congress may give its attention during the current session,” the statement concludes.
Authority Decentralized
The National War Labor Board West Coast Lumber Commission has been authorized to rule on applications for voluntary wage increases in the lumber industry in five western States under its jurisdiction. The WLB delegated to the Commission this authority over wage rates, subject to rules and regulations of the Board. The present action of the Board extends to the lumber commission wage authority granted to other special commissions established in other industries since October 3, the date on which Executive Order 9250 was issued giving the WLB authority over all adjustments in wages and in most salaries under $5,000.
Also last week the Board authorized the Administrator of the National Housing Agency to rule on wage and salary adjustments of employees of the Federal Public Housing Authority, the Defense Homes Corporation and property managers of Defense Homes Corporation projects.
This action in decentralizing the wage and salary functions assigned to the Board by the wage stabilization order is in line with previous Board orders granting the Army, Navy, Federal Reserve System, U. S. Employment Service, and the Secretary of Interior similar authority.
The Board’s order applies to employees whose salaries are not fixed by statute and who come within the jurisdiction of the NWLB under the Wage Stabilization Act. The National War Labor Board retains the right of final review over the decisions of the Housing Wage Agency, which will exercise the authority granted to the Administrator of the National Housing Agency.
USES Places Right Worker in Right Job
Long Experience Available to Job Seekers and Employers
Filling more than 10,000,000 jobs last year was a colossal task for the United States Employment Service. It had to be an expert achievement. To meet the exacting demands of war production for the right workers at the right work, USES drew on a fund of knowledge and analysis of many thousand occupations. - In ten years of existence, USES has analyzed 60,000 types of jobs in industry alone. Working out labor programs for some of America’s biggest companies, it has learned the relationship of one job to another and the place of each in the complicated pattern of industry. USES has studied 10,000 military jobs to help the Army use its men at the work most like their civilian occupations.
Armed with this knowledge, USES has added a special assignment to its day-to-day work of registering and placing workers on all levels—combing the Nation for 25 types of skilled workers urgently needed in war production.
From employers, USES has learned the details of men needed in every job. In the case of the 25 skills, WMC has made arrangements for each local USES office to have a complete list of vacancies all over the country.
When a worker comes to the USES office to offer one of the 25 skills or a related skill, he gets a personal interview with an experienced employment officer. The interviewer finds out his training and former jobs. Then, from the national list the interviewer shows the worker the places where his talents can best serve the war.
ACCIDENT PREVENTION SAVES MAN-HOURS
Over a million man-days were saved for war production last year through the accident prevention program of the Department of Labor, according to Secretary Perkins.
She reported that about 66 percent of the 10,755 war plants serviced by a Labor Department committee reduced accident frequency rates greatly. She cited as an example a California plant that increased its working force 2,500 percent and reduced accidents from 35 per million man-hours worked to 10, saving over 8,000 man-days.
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February 3, 1943
War Jobs and Civil Service . . .
STATISTICIANS, METALLURGISTS, ENGINEERS NEEDED FOR WAR WORK
Many Positions Requiring Special Skills Open Without Maximum Age Limits or Written Tests
Listed positions are newly announced by the United States Civil Service Commission or urgently needed to be filled. For a list of over 100 positions, see-Opportunities in Federal Service, posted in first- or second-class post offices.
Information and forms for applying may be obtained from the Commission’s local secretaries at first- or second-class post offices, from regional offices, or from the United States Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C. Applications must be filed with the Commission’s Washington office.
There are no written tests, and no maximum age limits for positions listed unless otherwise stated. Salaries are annual and basic and do not include added compensation for overtime. The present standard 48-hour Federal workweek includes 8 hours of overtime, and present overtime compensation increases the ** basic salary by about 21 percent of that part of the basic salary not in excess of $2,900, provided the increment does not make the total compensation more than $5,000 a year.
Applications are not desired from persons engaged in war work unless they may use higher skills in the positions sought. War Manpower Commission restrictions on Federal appointments are posted in first- or second-class post offices.
Urgently Needed
Economists, economic analysts, $2,600 to $6,500.—Men, women to compile, analyze, interpret economic information; to make studies; to develop and direct economic programs; to advise and assist operating officials dealing with economic problems arising from prosecution of the war. A minimum of 5 years’ experience, college training, or combination of the two, is required.
Staff dietitians, $1,800.—Persons to have charge of preparation and service of food from a main hospital kitchen, or in a ward; to cooperate with physicians in dietetic treatment of patients; to instruct patients with nutritional disorders. Appropriate college study in dietetics plus completion of an approved graduate training course as student diet-₇
itian (or its equivalent in experience) is required.
Training specialists, $2,600 to $5,600.— Persons qualified to plan training programs for a variety of technical and professional personnel in a Government department; also to act as consultants on training policies; to assemble data on training programs. Specialized fields: General (Diversified techniques; also Motion picture techniques), Trade and industrial.
Freight and passenger rate clerks, $2,300 to $2,600.—Persons qualified to compute freight rates, or passenger fares; or to audit for payment freight or passenger transportaiton accounts of rail, steamship, highway, or air-line carriers.
Statisticians, $2,600 to $6,500.—Men, women to collect, edit, analyze statistical information; to plan, supervise statistical projects; to prepare reports; to serve as consultants; to indicate significance of information collected and its bearing on problems that arise from prosecution of the war. A minimum of 5 years of appropriate experience, college study, or a combination of the two, is required.
Departmental guards, $1,500. — For service in Washington, D. C. (Written test. No previous experience required).
Metallurgists, $2,600 to $5,600.—Persons to attack specific metallurgical problems connected with some phase of the war program. Appropriate college study is required, plus a minimum of 2 years’ appropriate experience, college teaching, or graduate study in metallurgy.
Junior metallurgists, $2,000.—Persons with appropriate college study.
Engineers, $2,600 to $8,000.—Persons with at least 5 years of appropriate training and/or experience in engineering.
Marine Engineers, $2,600 to $5,600.— Men qualified to prepare designs and specifications foi* marine machinery (boilers, engines, turbines, Diesel engines, etc.); to make studies relative to the design or selection of such machinery; to analyze designs of contractors; to conduct trials and tests of marine machinery.
Investigators (.Materiel Division, Air Corps):, $3,200 to $4,600.—Persons with 4 to 6 years or more of appropriate in
vestigational work (or appropriate college study in law, accounting, or industrial engineering plus 2 to 4 years of such experience) to perform responsible investigational work safeguarding military information, protecting Air Corps projects and materials against theft or sabotage.
Library assistants, $1,260 to $1,620.— Persons with from 6 to 18 semester hours of recognized library school training; or 3 months to 1 year of library apprenticeship; or 6 to 18 months of library experience—to fill library positions in Government bureaus, army camps, naval centers. Written test required.
Accounting and auditing assistants, $2,000.—(For service in Washington, D. C., only.) Women, men to audit expense, time, pay roll, cost accounts; to keep cost, fund, time, and other records and accounts; to prepare pay rolls, accounting schedules, statements. A minimum of 2 years of appropriate education or experience is required. Written test required.
Traffic and transportation specialists, $2,600 to $6.500.—Men to make and direct programs to prevent traffic bottlenecks; to expedite freight and passenger traffic; to conserve equipment and facilities in the field of railroad, bus, water, and air transportation. At least 3 years of appropriate experience is required, especially in traffic and operating management; rate construction or analysis; traffic or transportation cost study; maintenance of equipment or way; purchasing; appraisal; terminal or port management; inspectional or investigational work; warehousing; ship stowage; packaging, crating; stevedoring; freight forwarding; exporting, importing; executive or administrative work. •
Engineering draftsmen, $1,440 to $2,600.—Men, women with drafting experience ot with drafting training gained from a high school, technical school, college, or war-training course.
Control specialists, $2,000 to $6,500.— Men whose industrial production or engineering experience demonstrates their ability to determine material needs of manufacturers, schedule production, follow-up production to insure flow of critical materials according to plan. Specialized fields: (1). Materials Control—nonferrous metals, alloy steel, carbon steel, plastics, rubber, construction materials, etc.; (2) Production Control— (a) metal fabrication and machinery production; (b) electrical and communications equipment; (c) transportation equipment, such as aircraft, floating equipment, and railroad motive power and rolling stock.
February 3, 1943
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133
Health and Welfare , . .
Women Workers
Warned to Cover Their Hair
Failure to Take Precautions Results in Many Accidents
The feminine hairdo and machinery are a bad combination. Stray curls or wisps of hair may be caught in moving parts. Machine operators should cover their heads, but not with the popular bandana and turban because their loose ends may catch in the machine. A hairnet alone is not safe, but may help if worn under a good cap. ,
This advice to women in war plants is given by Mary Anderson, director of The Women’s Bureau, Department of Labor, in a recent bulletin, the ninth in a series of pamphlets on standards for employment of women in war industries.
The formula for a safe cap calls for height, stiffness, and generous head size. • Height warns the girl when her head gets dangerously near machinery. Stiffness prevents the material from catching in the machine. The cap with a generous head size will be thrown oft if it strikes a machine part.
Serious Accidents
Vigilance must not be relaxed, the bulletin warns. Due to negligence, the following typical accidents occurred to women in war plants:
An operator of a spinning frame in bending over the machine had her hair caught. She was totally disabled for 16 weeks, and partially disabled for 45 weeks longer. The injury cost was $570 in compensation.
In an ordnance plant a woman operating a barrel-turning machine leaned too close and her hair was pulled around the barrel. A large clump of hair was torn from her head. She spent days in the hospital recovering from the wound and shock.
The bulletin can be obtained by writing to the Women’s Bureau, United States Department of Labor, and giving reasons for its need, or can be purchased for five cents from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.
Thirteen Hospitals Rehabilitate Women
Rapid Treatment Provided For Carriers of Disease
Thirteen hospitals for rapid treatment and rehabilitation of women who have become carriers of venereal diseases to the armed forces are now operating, and 21 others have been approved or are pending approval.
The program has been developed by the U. S. Public Health Service in cooperation with three other Federal agencies—FWA, WMC, and the Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services—and State and local health departments. Funds are largely provided under the Lanham Act, and only existing facilities such as established hospitals and vacant CCC camps are being used.
Several of the hospitals now in operation are housed in abandoned CCC camps. All of them are under the control of State or local health departments. Those now operating are in Phoenix, Ariz.; Denver, Colo.; Chicago, Ill.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Leesville, Pa.; Monnet, Mo.; Rush Springs, Okla.; Goldville and Pontiac, S. C.; and Knoxville, Tenn. Two are at Aguidjlla and
Caguas, Puerto Rico, and one in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
New Projects Widespread
Of the 21 projected centers, one is in Alabama, one in the Canal Zone, three in Florida, one in Georgia, two in Louisiana, three in Mississippi, one in Missouri, three in Tennessee, four in Texas, one in Utah, and one in Virginia.
Stating that the U. S. Public Health Service will supply physicians, nurses, and technical personnel, Surgeon General Thomas Parran said, “Our great objective now is to reduce the spread of syphilis and gonorrhea among our soldiers, sailors, and war workers. Our best chance of success is to treat the people who are spreading infection and render them noninfectious as quickly as possible.”
Vocational Training Given
The typical patient may be a young professional prostitute, misguided ‘teenage girl, unmarried or deserted mother with no means of support and no skill, a “call girl,” “B-girl,” or a moronic or psychotic “good-time girl.” After conviction, she may choose treatment in jail or at one of the hospitals. In the latter case, sentence is usually suspended. The girl comes to the hospital, not as one sentenced to a penal institution, but because she is ill. There she is likely to remain 2 months, during which she receives exhaustive medical and psychiatric treatment as well as vocational guidance in an effort to reduce “revolving door” failures.
Total bed capacity of the centers is estimated at 4,200. Few hospitals will have less than 100 beds; some as many as 400. At the 13 hospitals now in operation, it is estimated that 11,000 patients will be treated this year.
NEW HOUSES FOR WAR WORKERS {
Construction of 8,222 new dwelling units for war workers was started during December by private builders operating under the FHA war housing insurance program. Federal Housing Commissioner Abner H. Ferguson announced.
Of these units, 7,188 were contained in 6,412 one- to four-family structures being financed by FHA-insured mortgages.
The remaining 1,034 units begun in the month under FHA inspection were in large-scale rental projects for war workers, financed under the terms of the National Housing Act.
156
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February 3, 1943
Appointments and Resignations . . •
WICKARD NAMES PRODUCTION AIDS
Secretary of Agriculture Wickard has approved the administrative set-up of the Food Production Administration which was submitted by Director Townsend. J. B. Hutson, associate director, will be executive officer and will be in general charge of the Administration’s activities under Mr. Townsend. A. G. Black, associate director, in addition to his post as Governor of the Farm Credit Association, will serve as head of the Production Loan Branch, directing and supervising all activities of the Administration relating primarily to loans (except Farm Security Administration loans). D. A. Fitzgerald, deputy director, will be in charge of programs and planning.
Mr. Fred K. Hoehler, a veteran welfare worker, has arrived in Algeria to act as Director of Relief ill North Africa under Herbert Lehman, Director of the Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation. The State Department announcement said Mr. Hoehler is taking over the post of William Hudson, who, with 34 others, was killed in a plane crash in Dutch Guiana en route to Africa. Mr. Hoehler will work under the direction of President Roosevelt’s special representative, Robert D. Murphy.
DR. JOHN M. CASSELS, formerly chief of the Requirements and Allocations Branch of the Office of Agricultural War Relations, has been appointed chief of the Requirements and Allocations Control, a unit of Agriculture’s Food Distribution Administration. The unit will receive and analyze the allocation of food supplies for civilians, the armed forces, Lend-Lease, and other uses.
NATHANIEL G. SYMONDS, chief of the Orders and Regulations Branch in WPB’s Distribution Bureau, 'was appointed chief of the Industrial and Hardware Supplies Branch in the recently created Wholesale and Retail Trade Division. The Industrial and Hardware Supplies Branch replaced the former Distributors Division, abolished at the time the Wholesale and Retail Division of the Consumer Goods Bureau was set up with John A. Hurley as director.
CARL W. MAYERS, formerly with the Republic Steel Corp., Massillon, Ohio, and JAMES A. ROWAN, formerly News
and Markets Editor of the magazine “Iron Age,” were appointed special assistants to the director of the WPB Steel Division.
WILLIAM POWER MALONEY, special assistant to the Attorney General, was named chief of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. He succeeds M. Neil Andrews, who last month was made U. S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
B. C. HEACOCK, Peoria, Hl., formerly director of the WPB Priorities Control Division, was appointed deputy director general for Distribution. Mr. Heacock succeeds J. A. Krug who has been named WPB power director.
H. H. KELLY, assistant director and chief of the Allocation Section of the ODT Division of Motor Transport, was appointed director of the Division of Material and Equipment Requirements. WARREN W. KELLY, formerly director of the Division, resigned on account of his health but will remain on the staff as a consultant.
GLENN E. TAYLOR, formerly deputy assistant to the assistant ODT Director in charge of Waterways Transport, was appointed director of the ODT Division of Inland Waterways, succeeding Edward Clemens, resigned.
HERBERT R. GALLAGHER, a director of the American Petroleum Institute since its inception in 1919, was appointed to the new position of director in Charge of PAW’s District Five (Pacific Coast) office.
F. HIGGINSON CABOT, director of the WPB Commodities Bureau, was appointed assistant deputy director general for Industry Divisions. HUGH HUGHES, who has been deputy director of the Commodities Bureau, will succeed Mr. Cabot as director.
ARCHIBALD MacLEISH resigned as assistant director of the OWI to devote his time in full to his duties as Librarian of Congress.
C. E. JOHNSTON, associate director of the ODT Division of Railway Transport, in charge of the Western Region, has resigned in order to devote full time to his duties as chairman gf the Western Association of Railway Executives. W. F. KIRK, assistant general manager of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, has been named to succeed Mr. Johnston.
PUBLICATIONS—POSTERS
The following publications and posters are available free upon request to the Division of Public Inquiries, OWI, Washington, D. C.
Posters
Americans! Share the Meat. A Message To Our Tenants. Avenge December 7th. The Enemy Is Listening. Free Labor Will Win.
Give ’Em The Stuff To Fight With.
Give It Your Best.
Remember December 7th.
Somebody Blabbed (Sailor). Somebody Blabbed (Soldier) . Someone Talked.
United Nations Fight For Freedom. .
United We Stand (Streamer) .
United We Win.
We French Workers Warn You.
Pamphlets
Your War and Your Wages: 2 by 3 inches. A vest-pocket size publication addressed to labor, containing a concise explanation of wage stabilization and its part in the over-all victory program. 36 pages.
Toward New Horizons: The World Beyond the War. First of a series of pamphlets containing statements and speeches illuminating the developing policies of the United Nations. Speeches by Vice President Wallace, Under Secretary of State Welles, Ambassador Winant, and Milo Perkins throw light upon the development of American thinking on the subject of the postwar world. 16 pages.
The Four Freedoms: The Rights of All Men—Everywhere. An elaboration of the freedoms we are fighting for.' Illustrated by Edward Shenton. 16 pages.
Divide and Conquer. A documented analysis of the techniques employed by Hitler to create dissension and distrust among his foes. 16 pages, illustrated.
The Unconquered People. Story of the brave struggle waged against Hitler in Occupied Europe. 12 pages, illustrated.
The Price of Free World Victory. Vice President Wallace’s speech. 4 pages.
The War and Human Freedom. Secretary Hull’s speech. 20 pages.
The Thousand Million.- Concise descriptions of the countries and people that make up the United Nations. 64 pages, illustrated.
February 3, 1943
★ VICTORY ★
157
Official War Releases .
This is a complete list of press releases issued by the Office of War Information from Sunday, January 24, through Saturday, January 30. Copies of these releases may be obtained at the U. S. Information Center, 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
Office of War Information
Ickes Reports Western Power Output in 1942. OWI-1140.
Million Man-Days Saved by Accident Prevention last year. OWI—1146.
Stettinius on Reciprocal Lend-Lease. Covers the reciprocal phases of the Lend-lease policy. OWI-1147.
Important Rationing Dates Explained. Sugar and fuel oil during the week of January 24-31. OWI-1148.
The War and Business (No. 56). Office of War Information. A summary of the week. OWI-1143.
Wickard Gets Farm Labor Supply Authority. Unified responsibility for supplying labor for war production on farms. OWI-1149.
Women War Workers Warned to Wear Safety Caps when the job requires it. OWI— 1150.
Women Workers on Increase in Latin America. Have progressed politically and socially. OWI—1151.
Eastern Fuel Situation Still Acute and emergency distribution measures instituted. OWI-1152.
Lend-Lease Report to Congress Released. Highlights and quotations from the report. OWI-1153.
70 Marine Engineers Found in Capital. OWI-1154.
Contracts Let for 35 Wooden Tugs to seven companies located on the Great Lakes, East, West, and Gulf Coasts. OWI-1155.
Seek to Avoid Anthracite Stampede. Urge anthracite consumers to refrain from stampeding their dealers for more coal than is actually needed. QWI-1157.
Ickes Food Supplied to Puerto Rico in amounts greater than normal monthly consumption of five basic foods. OWI-1156.
New England Fuel Cut by strike in hard coal mines. OWI-1158.
Ship Building Plan Approved. Arrangement between , the Brunswick Marine Construction Corp, of Brunswick, Georgia, and J. A. Jones Construction Co., Inc., of Panama City, Florida. OWI-1161.
To Ration Fuel Oil in Northwest in a move designed to reduce domestic consumption in the States of Washington and Oregon. OWI—1160.
USMC Sends Ships Co. Audit to Biddle. Grave irregularities appeared in connection with audit of repair operations of Marine Maintenance Corp. OWI-1163.
Ickes Announces Second Pipeline. Work starts in Match on construction of second pipeline to boost moveinent to East Coast. OWI-1165.
Salts Antifreezes Called Corrosives. Motor vehicle owners cautioned that costly damage to engines and supporting parts may result from use of anti-freezing solutions containing calcium chloride and other salts. OWI-1166.
Draft Cards Must Be Carried. All men between ages of 18 and 45 subject to classification under Selective Service Act required to carry classification as well as registration cards at all times. OWI-1167.
Marineships to Get “M” Pennant. Marineship Corporation, of Sausalito, California. OWI-H68.
New 5-Cent Piece Has No Nickel. Consists of 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese. OWI-1169.
800 Marine Officers Graduating from Maritime Service Officers School at Fort Trumbull, New London, Conn. OWI-1170.
British Oil Mission Visits U. S. British Mission visiting Washington fop consultation with American agencies and British Mls-sons concerned with oil and tanker questions. OWI-1187.
Archibald MacLeish Leaves OWI. Resigned as Assistant Director to devote his time to his duties as Librarian of Congress. OWI-1190.
13 Venereal Hospitals Operating for treatment and rehabilitation of women who have become carriers of venereal disease to the armed forces now in operation. OWI-1159.
Your War and Your Wages. Democracy’s technique for meeting its war problems is explained by pamphlet, OWI-1162.
Price Supports Set for Canning Crops. Four major cannings crops—tomatoes, peas, sweet corn and snap beans. OWI-1173.
Quezon Grateful for Casablanca. OWI-1174.
Short Pipe Line Completed. 82-mile eight-inch pipe line, to carry gasoline, from point near Fostoria, Ohio to a point near Akron, Ohio. OWI-1175.
~ Living Costs Rise %%• Nov. 15-Dec. 15, bringing total rise for America’s first war year to 9%. OWI-1172.
Three States Get Child Grants. Florida,. New Hampshire and Georgia. OWI-1176.
Shipyard Management Failed. South Portland Shipbuilding Corp., South Portland, Maine, failed to exercise due diligence in carrying out ship construction contracts. OWI-1177.
East Coast Petroleum Bulletin No. 8. Developments in East Coast oil supply situation during week ending Jan. 23. OWI-1178.
Gallagher Heads District 5. Herbert R. Gallagher, Director in Charge in District Five (Pacific Coast) office, Petroleum Administrator for War. OWI—1179.
300,000 Steel Drums Ordered. Defense Plant Corporation has issued purchase orders covering 300,000 55-gallon, 18-gage, steel drums, to be Used for transportation of fuel oil. OWI-1181.
War Production Board
“Batj.” Games Materials Restrictions Reviewed. Second of a series of three articles describing supply of various kinds of sports equipment. WPB-2355.
Nelson Asks Cut in Gas Use by residential users in western, southern New York, northern Pennsylvania, for natural and mixed natural gas. WPB-2401.
News Reels Deemed Vital Information Medium. Must suffer as little curtailment as possible. WPB-2403.
Labor-Management Work on Absenteeism Praised by Chairman Nelson. WPB-2404.
Appeal Made For Surplus Quinine Supplies to a National Quinine Pool from pharmacists throughout the United States. WPB-2406-
Oxygen, Calcium Chloride Shortages Foreseen during the early part'of this year. WPB-T-1641.
January Nitrocellulose Allocations Discussed by members of the Pyroxylin and Vinyl Resin Coated Paper and Fabric Industry Advisory Committee. WPB-T-1642.
Tanners’ Restrictions Are Eased. Permitted to continue to put into process, during February, March, and April, 220 percent of their monthly average of raw goatskins, raw kid ski ns, and raw cabretta skins put into process during 1941. WPB—T—1643.
Marine Paint Industry Discusses Problems. Application for additional machinery and building equipment should be decided by the Chemicals Division. WPB-T-1644.
Print Paper Limitations Clarified. Provisions of Limitation Order L-241 governing the use of commercial print paper are clarified. WPB-T-1645.
Metal Strapping on Containers Limited to certain kinds of commercial uses. WPB-T-1646.
Plumbing Fixture Restrictions Eased for war housing jobs and new construction projects of the Army, Navy, and shipping services. WPB-T-1647.
Army, Navy Chinaware Needs Heavy but civilian supply is narrow. WPB-2405.
1,471 Vehicles Released Week Ending Jan. 25. WPB-2407.
Orders Issued for New Building. Defines new preference rating orders. WPB-2408.
Auto Parts Delivery Protected. Replacement parts for civilian use are given further protection. WPB-2409.
Hand Clothes Wringers Limited. Limited production is permitted under Supplementary Limitation Order L-30-d. WPB-2412.
Soap-Makers Release Freight Cars. About 50% of the tank cars and from 35 to 40% of box cars used for shipping of their products. WPB-T-1648.
Drugs Makers Plan Paper Saving. Recommendations made by Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Industry Advisory Committee. WPB—T—1649.
Army Wear Requirements Discussed for 18 million underwear garments and 48 million pairs of socks during second and third quarters, 1943. WPB-T-1650.
Hosiery Simplification Considered. Men’s, children’s and women’s full-fashioned and circular knit hosiery. WPB-T-1651.
Soybean Processors Study Problems. Soybean Processors Industry Advisory Subcommittees. WPB-T-1652.
Two Flood-Control Projects Halted in Tennessee, Dale Hollow project, on the Obey River, and Center Hill project, on the Caney Fork River. WPB-T-1653.
Uranium Sale for Ceramics Banned. WPB—T-1654.
Ban Saves 250,000 Lbs. of Tin in repairing certain gas meters. WPB—T-1655.
Paper Quota Not Purchasable Right. Purchase of magazine does not automatically carry with it right to its tonnage quota. WPB-T-1656.
Materials Set for Transit Program. Materials required in construction of equipment in transit industry program for 1943 will be made available. WPB-T-1657.
Light Pleasure Aircraft “Frozen.” Light pleasure aircraft and “Link Trainers” frozen in hands of their owners. WPB-T-1658.
Rotenone Placed Under Allocation because available supply for 1943 will be less than 50% of demand. WPB-T-1659.
Mayors Meet with WPB Officials to discuss problems of maintaining essential facilities and services. WPB-2402.
* Wire Services Copper Needs 12,000 Tons, will return to Nation’s stock pile an equal amount in form of scrap. WPB-2411.
$56,344,612 in Construction Stopped during week ended Jan. 22. WPB-2413.
Certain Rayons Under Allocation. Yarns of 250 or coarser denier placed under direct allocation. WPB-2415.
Farm Machinery Parts Quota Raised under terms of Limitation Order L-170 as amended. WPB-2416.
Water Coolers Savings Studied to conserve steel, copper, and other critical materials. WPB-T-1660.
Cast Iron Boiler Rule Relaxed to permit manufacture of low-pressure cast iron boilers for war housing and civilian replacement needs. WPB-T-1661.
' Lighting Fixtures Metal Restricted for fluorescent lighting fixtures if manufactured after May 4, 1943. WPB-T-1662.
Rubber Authority Defined; provide that further action under orders may be taken on amendments to orders issued by Rubber Director as well as by Director General for Operations. WPB-T-1663.
138
A
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"February 3, 1943
Official War Releases . . .
Used Conveying Machinery Freed from restrictions on purchase. WPB-T-1664.
N. G. Symonds Heads WPB Branch as chief of Industrial and Hardware Supplies Branch. WPB-T—1665.
Meyers and Rowan Join WPB. Carl W. Meyers, Canton, Ohio, and James' A. Rowan, New Rochelle, New York, named special assistants to Director of Steel Division. WPB-T—1666.
Talbot Chief of Salvage Branch. W. P. Talbot. WPB—T—1667.
Machine Toots Schedules “Frozen”. 60-day “frozen” period to apply. WPB-T-1668.
Certain Metals Tanks Permitted. Installation of underfired storage water heaters containing tanks made of copper, copper base alloy, nonferrous metal, stainless steel or monel metal, is not prohibited if heaters were assembled prior to Dec. 19, 1942. WPB-T-1669.
M-131 Exempts Certain Quinine. Order M-131, as amended, does not prohibit transactions if product involved was manufactured prior to Jan. 9. WPB-T-1670.
WPB Revokes Order M-231 governing distribution of chemical fertilizer. WPB— T-1671.
Fargo Foundry Co. Penalty Revoked. WPB—T-1672.
Anheuser Busch Saves Mileage through discontinuance of Pacific Coast deliveries. WPB-2418.
Deputy Director General Named. B. C. Heacock, Deputy Director General for Distribution. WPB—2420.
Heavier Car Loadings Planned on number of commodities at meeting between members of Containers Division Transportation Industry Advisory Committee and WPB officials. WPB-T—1673.
Cork, Asbestos Division Renamed Cork, Asbestos and Fibrous Glass Division. WPB— T-1674.
Q. and A. on Softwood Lumber. Conservation Order M-208 as amended Jan. 12, clarified and explained. WPB-2414.
District Men to Aid Small Plants. 12 ra-gional offices and 131 district offices, empowered to take action on spot. WPB-2417.
Bedrock U. S. Needs Estimated. Approximately 56 billion dollars’ worth of goods and services (in 1941 dollars) required.^annually to maintain this country’s civilian economy on minimum basis. WPB-2419.
Transfer of Air-Cooling Plants Studied. Means of transferring air conditioning equipment from less to more essential uses. WPB-2421.
“Duration” Baseballs Found Efficient with rubber-cushioned centers. WPB-2397.
PRP to CMP Procedures Set to govern PRP units during period of industry’s transition from PR to Controlled Materials Plan. WPB-2427.
CMP Inventory Forms Mailed to 30,000 PRP units. WPB-2428.
Minerals Coordinating Body Set Up to be aided by Minerals Resources Operating Committee and Minerals and Metals Advisory Committee. WPB-2429.
Custom Sawmills Repairs Rate AA-2X. Without taking title to logs or cut lumber will be permitted to apply AA-2X preference rating for operating supplies. WPB-T-1679.
Paramount Flag Company Penalized under S-222. WPB—T-1684.
Leather and Shoe Loadings Thrifty. Substantial increases in weight per car-loading. WPB—T-1685.
WPB Announces 3 Penalties. Sara D. Cohen, operating Venetian Products Co. in Syracuse, New York, Berg Manufacturing and Sales Co., Chicago, and Columbus Ben Springs Co., Columbus, O. WPB-T-1686.
Oil Inventory Transfers Allowed from one branch of an oil company to another branch of same company. WPB-T-1687.
WPB to Aid Certain Stove Buyers. Persons outside areas of fuel oil rationing who require new coal or oil-heating stoves are permitted to file an appeal by letter addressed to WPB Plumbing and Heating Division. WPB—2423.
232,158 Lbs. of Stockings Salvaged during second month of hosiery collection program. WPB-2424.
WPB Advances F. H. Cabot. F. Higginson Cabot appointed Assistant Deputy Director General for Industry Divisions. WPB-2425.
Wood, Coal Stove Output FEeed. Unrestricted use of iron and steel in manufacture of coal and wood burning heating stoves will be permitted during February and March. WPB—2426.
Elevators Under Closer Control. Closer control over manufacture of elevators and elevator parts, equipment or accessories. WPB-T-1675.
Radio Division Takes Over 3 Orders. Will administer three “L” orders previously under General Industrial Equipment Division, L-203 covering combat instruments, L-234 covering industrial type instruments and L-134 which limits use of chromium in controlled valves and regulators. WPB-T-1676.
Steel Bar Production Concentrated. Extension to three Pacific Coast States of the program for concentration of reinforcing bar production. WPB-T-1677.
Machine Tool Output Higher during December. WPB—T—1680.
Plastic Machinery Allocated. WPB-T-1682.
Radio Men Offered Assistance. Producers of industrial instruments used in ràdio manufacture will receive assistance of Radio Division in scheduling of deliveries. WPB-T—1683.
High Priorities for Oil Industry for materials required for certain operations. WPB—T-1688.
Chemical Industry Priorities Raised for purchase of maintenance, repair and operating supplies. WPB-T—1689.
Sulfuric Acid Table II Cancelled. WPB-T—1690.
Portable Crusher Lines Simplified. Drastic reductions in number of sizes and types. WPB-T—1691.
Horsehide Quotas Extended for February of wettings of horsehide. WPB-T-1694.
Office of Defense Transportation
ODT Developing Substitute Transportation. Preparing for the time when present urban transportation facilities may be unable to carry the increasing passenger load. OPT—43.
Bus Drivers Hold Fate of Rural Schools. Whether many rural children attend school next fall may depend largely on how well school bus drivers observe ODT conservation policies. ODT-46.
Eastman Asks Emergency Plans. ODT Director Eastman asked bus and taxicab operators throughout Nation to prepare plans for curtailment of mileage. ODT-47.
Transportation Turning to Women to augment dwindling manpower. ODT-48.
ODT Announces 6 Field Offices. ODT-49.
Bus Mileage Increased. Monthly mileage new buses may operate increased for city buses, from 2,000 to 3,000 miles; inter-city buses, from 4,000 to 6,000 miles monthly. ODT—50.
Rail Committee Studies Replacement. Schedule prepared by Selective Service System to provide orderly control of withdrawal of Selective Service eligibles from industry. ODT-51.
Kelley Made Equipment Director. H. H. Kelley appointed Director of ODT’s Division of Material and Equipment Requirements. ODT—52.
Trucking Trainees Big Problem of forbire trucking industry. ODT-53.
ODT Warns • Against Empty Mileage. Trucking industry told routing and dispatching of trucks may have to be taken over by Government. ODT-54.
Critical Transit Labor Shortage of almost 2,000 bus drivers, motormen, and conductors. ODT-55.
Taylor Heads Inland Waterways. Glenn E. Taylor, Director of Division of Inland Waterways. ODT-56.
Rail Manpower Aids Planned. Management-labor meeting, agreed unanimously to recommend to railroad officers and system representatives of railway labor organizations a 13-point program for alleviation of manpower problems. ODT-57.
W. F. Kirk Succeeds C. E. Johnston as Associate Director of Division of Railway Transport, in charge of Western Region. ODT-58.
Short Line Manpower Plans Made at meeting of Shore Line Railroad Manpower Committee. ODT-59.
Office of Price Administration
Appointment of Max Swiren by OPA as special counsel before I. C. C. in appeal case for discontinuance of 1942 railroad rate increase. OPA-1545.
OPA Gives Farmers Temporary Gas Ration and commercial vehicle operators for adequate mileage. OPA-1547,
Tallow, Grease, Maximum- Prices Established. OPA-1526.
Sellers Warned on Price Increases. Cannot charge in excess of.their existing maximum. OPA-1629.
Regions Get Storage Service Authority. Contract carriers and operators of storage and terminal services supplying services entirely within one State may file applications for adjustment of their maximum prices. OPA-1530.
February Passenger Car Quota Is 29,650. OPA-1535.
Hospital Meat Rulings Explained. OPA-1546.
Ration Banking “Test” Is Success. Reports received from a New, York State area of actual operation since last Oct. 28. OPA-1551.
New Southwest Oil Ceilings Set for industrial fuel oils refined in parts of Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. OPA-1553.
Region Offices May Set Coal Ceilings on all types of coal sold by retail or wholesale dealers. OPA-1557.
Fourth Period Oil Coupon Value Set in the 17 Eastern States and the District of Columbia. OPA-1562.
Eastern Car-Driving Restricted. Non-essential use of gasoline in 17 east coast States and District of Columbia restricted. OPA-1537.
Fuel Oil Rationing Order Amended. Emergency procedure which will enable oil-rationed householders to acquire up to 50 gallons of fuel oil in a minimum of time. OPA-1538.
Rent Control Extension Feb. 1 in States of Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas. OPA-1539.
Control to Cover Most Foods. Simplified overall regulation for retailers and wholesalers, ultimately will embrace nearly every food product sold over Nation’s counters. OPA-1541.
"Natural Flowers Control Exempt from price control, pending study. OPA-1548.
Certain Antifreeze Prices Cut. Substitutes sold as antifreeze, production of which was banned last week by WPB, were sharply reduced by OPA; ordered those products plainly labeled. OPA-1549.
Certain Price Deadlines Extended. Flour mixes, canned vegetables, dried fruit, dry edible beans and lard. OPA-1563.
Garment Makers to Confer on Prices. OPA-1570.
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February 3, 1943
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February 3, 1943
Official War Releases ...
{Continued from page 158)
Points Deducted for Cans Over 5 possessed for each person in family. OPA-1576.
Pig Iron Base Price Set for Provo, Utah. Basing point base price $21.50 per gross ton. OPA-T-522.
Specific Pacific Oil Ceilings. Generally prevailing 1941 prices of Pacific Standard No. 300 and No. 400 (heavy) fuel oils. OPA-T-525.
Specific Prices for Gulf Shrimp. Canned shrimps from Gulf of Mexico and southeastern Atlantic coast placed under specific dollars and cents regulation at canner’s level. OPA—1554.
Ruling on Overtime Garage Work. When a garage offers to repair job in overtime hours, customer requests such service, and work is actually done during overtime hours by mechanics paid time and a half, the garage may iii most cases charge one and one-half times its regular customers’ hourly rate. OPA-1568.
Ration Banking Opened Jan. 27 for food and gasoline distributors. OPA-1569.
February Tire Quotas Announced. OPA-1571.
Ceilings Set for Platinum Metals at levels existing during first quarter of 1942. OPA-T-523. -
Food Control Extended to 9 Groups; include canned chili con carne; shoestring potatoes; julienne potatoes; pretzels; nut topping; canned prune juice, canned dried prunes; canned prune concentrate, and all other canned dried prune products; canned chicken and noodle dinner; canned chicken a la king; and canned homestyle chicken. OPA-T-526.
Grease Collectors Price Modified., Independent collectors selling grease to renderers may secure maximum price of seven cents a pound only in areas in which there was no collection service before introduction of the WPB’s drive. OPA-T-527.
Regional Rulings Allowed for Ice to make price adjustments. OPA-T-528.
Certain Charges Require OPA Approval. All operating and maintenance service charges made by persons renting “construction equipment must be submitted to OPA for approval. OPA-T-529.
Meat for Institutions Exempt. Gpvern-ment-operated asylums, orphanages, prisons, and hospitals. OPA-T-530.
Price Ruling Saves $25,000,000 through reductions in foundry prices of 3 cents per pound for aluminum, 3 cents per pound for magnesium, and 1% cents per pound for copper base castings. OPA-1542.
Price Control Saves $6,000,000,000 through ceiling prices of food, clothing, rents in critical war areas, and other cost-of-living items. OPA-1573.
Pine Lumber Prices Equalized. To adjust differentials between “Boards” “Dimension” in Southern Pine Lumber. OPA-1575.
Supplementary Regulation 14 Amended by OPA. Vintners and sellers of fruit wine, berry wine and certain types of grape wine are allowed to increase prices. OPA-1580.
Certain Nipple Prices Relaxed. Three types of .baby feeding nipples ihay be priced at retail higher than limit established in recent regulation. OPA-1593.
Garment Cost Problems Discussed for women’s and children’s dresses, suits, coats, skirts, and blouses. OPA-1601.
Outer Garment Prices Extended for dresses, suits, coats, blouses, and skirts until Feb. 20. OPA-1603.
District 2 Bituminous Higher. Reflecting higher production costs of six-day week. OPA-1605.
Virgin Magnesium Price Cut two cents a pound. OPA-T-547.
Maple Syrup Prices Set. Specific dollars and cents maximums for packer sales of maple syrup and set maximum prices for sales by producers to packers. OPA-1552.
Consumers F^y Transportation Tax on by-product foundry, by-product blast furnace and beehive furnace coke, of 4 cents per net ton. OPA-1556.
Certain Used Tin Cans Under MPR. Sales of size No. 10 and larger to bottlers and others authorized to revive them, are subject to price control. OFA-1558.
Fuel Doubled for War Trailers. To safeguard health of war workers who live in-trailers and heat by oil-burning stoves, OPA doubled maximum amount of heating oil allowed. OPA-1559.
Some Higher Crude Oil Ceilings Set. Higher ceiling prices for crude oil at receiving tanks in several Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky and Arkansas pools. OPA-1561.
Bean Hampers Control Eased. To meet requirements of Florida bean growers, manufacturers may add actual overtime costs to their ceiling prices. OPA-1564.
Roasted Coffee Quotas Postponed for an additional month and will not be imposed until March 1, 1943. OPA-1565.
Rent Freeze Method Sustained by Price Administrator Brown in denying protests by three Chicago landlords against maximum rent regulations. OPA-1578.
Bituminous Increases Soon to make possible operation of 6-day week and* to cover other production cost increases. OPA-1582.
Ration Stamp 27 Good to Feb. 15 for coffee retailers and wholesalers. OPA-1583.
Stable Vegetable. Prices Forecast. Retail prices for four major canning crops—tomatoes, peas, snap beans, and sweet corn—next year will approximate those charged for the year’s pack. OPA-1585.
Price Control Saves Billions. Nation’s . expenditures for munitions and war construction will total around $157,000,000,000 from June 1940 through 1943, if prices are held at current levels. OPA-1555.
OPA Deducts Rubber Tax. Deduction required from maximum prices. OPA-1560.
Landlord’s Net Income Gains. Estimated saving of one billion dollars for 1943. OPA-1566.
Coffee Inventories May Be Filled. Wholesalers and retailers unable to obtain total inventories of roasted coffee to which entitled at start of rationing are enabled to obtain certificates from local War Price and Rationing Boards. OPA-1567.
Certain Clothing Ceilings Set. Maximum margins authorized for newly established manufacturers of women’s, girls’ and children’s coats, dresses and other outerwear garments. OPA-1572.
Order Provides Police Cars under which dealers may get new passenger cars released from Government "pool” for sale to police departments and other eligible governmental agencies or American Red Cross. OPA-1574.
Coal Stoves Made Available to provide supplementary heat for families who use central oil-heating system but whose oil ration is insufficient for health or comfort. OPA-1586.
Regional Men Rule Oil Priorities in East Coast shortage area in emergency "which endangers public health or, welfare or war effort.” OPA—1588.
Driving to Birthday Balls Permitted. OPA-1592.
Pleasure-driving Ban Upheld by Price Administrator Brown. OPA-1594.
Hide Glue Reports Dropped. Monthly reports previously required from jobbers of hide glue have been eliminated. OPA-1534.
Certain Gasoline Coupon Credit Set. Bulk users of gasoline who have been unable to get new type bulk coupons may buy gasoline on coupon credit basis for next few days. OPA-1587. >
Reusable Structural Steel Priced at 2.75 cents per pound at shipping point on sales to consumers. OPA-T-524.
Grapefruit Juice Ceiling Raised by 15 cents per dozen canner ceiling prices for all Varieties of California and Arizona grapefruit juice in No. 10 cans. OPA-T-531.
Wide Pipe Delivery Aided. Vitrified clay sewer pipe delivered to Government projects in areas beyond manufacturers normal territory where shortages have developed; ceilings set at 95 percent of the f. o. b. plant price. OPA—T-533.
Uniformity of Crude Oil Prices Sought. Maximum prices of crude oil purchased at point other than receiving tanks shall be at no greater differential than prevailed at same point October 1941. OPA-T-535.
War Manpower Commission
Need For Skilled Workers Stressed to get everybody into the right war job PM-4289.
Uses Placed 10,000,000 in 1942. PM-4293.
Louisville, Ky., Sets Example for outstanding results achieved under voluntary plans for employment stabilization. PM-4291.
Selectees for Four Services February 1. Beginning February 1, Selective Service, through its local boards, will furnish all men between their eighteenth and thirty-eighth birthdays who are required to fill combined calls of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. PM-4295.
Essential Occupations Broadened on communications services, in bulletin issued to guide local boards on classification of employees of newspapers, other periodicals, radio broadcasting, telephone and telegraph companies. PM-4296.
Office of Civilian Defense
Medical Services on “Ration” Basis for the duration and several years thereafter, OCD-37.
EMERGENCY FUEL OIL PRIORITIES SET UP
Broad authority to establish priorities among fuel oil consumers in the East Coast shortage area in an emergency “which endangers the public health or welfare or the-war effort” has been extended to OPA regional administrators.
This delegation gives a regional administrator authority to restrict deliveries of fuel oil in any manner he finds necessary to meet the emergency, regardless of other provisions of OPA fuel oil rationing regulations.
- The action was taken, O^A said, “in view of the gravity of the fuel-oil shortage in the eastern area. Since the regional administrators will have close knowledge of the circumstances creating an emergency in any particular community, it is desirable to permit them to issue limited period emergency orders declaring the existence of the emergency and directing transfers of fuel oil to consumers in the order of priority or under such limitations as they may designate.”
The authority is specifically limited to the 17 Eastern States and the District of Columbia. Regional Administrators whose jurisdiction extends to these States are located at Boston, New York, Atlanta, and Cleveland.
U. >. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1*43