Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 175, Decatur, Adams County, 26 July 1945 — Page 1

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111. No. 175.

HURCHILL GOVERNMENT ROUTED AT POLLS

U)4 Japanese Ships Wrecked

9H Fleet |9fcted To i Ane Attack ■ '■ —— « JgKn's Inland Sea k Kported Strewn WBi Ship Wreckage BULLETIN Friday, July 27.—(UP) | JMbsk forces of superforttotaling more than 350 ■ attacked three Japanetet|es early today, dropping of incendiary bombs. hit Omuta, on Ky•sß3®Matsuyama, on ShikokW’Std Tokyuama on Honshu. July 26. — (UP)—Tokyo said 18® an Allied fleet was wiita 48-hour attack th.it a «;Stt-d or damaged no fewer , (haa.iOJapanese and that t P ,anes struck by I <lariS®at the Kobe and Osaka planes of Admiral WilgMlalrtey's third fleet damag- : hi «rXrer than 20 Japanese war- ! sHWeWtlie first day of the two- , d&ult. Japan’s inland sea •iStißirn witii the wieckage of it appeared that the immay have been virl'.loft'. i broadcasts reported that - ‘fSsß' l st ’" Wtts oft ~,e ■?CSkB Japan and apparently iwMa break in the weather to gaBBB e crippling attack. ; T^® sai( l about 200 planes nit | the » and Osaka areas between ;■ ■' a ’ n a resumption of t bombardment soils tiiHlßhe homeland for invasion. | !, 0 or so planes flew t province of Rokai, Hie reported. \ announcements disclosed s !a “ of a score of Japanr esg in the Tuesday attack j cnKijEand neighboring waters of '■ sea. Solß if not all, of the crippled a >' illl ve been sent to the : hottow in yesterday’s follow-up I Hew W more than 1,200 American -a carrier planes. naval spokesmen said i' wflhnprobable that any Japan - -■ ° wa *’ would ever put to "-•'I n. * Ft« San Diego to Japan and MF 111 coast the vast reaches s of tho Pacific had finally beet) i ear of tile enemy and only j ih6 Blatical Japanese suicide i the way to invasion. I '' ,nass * Ve fleet of 150-odd E" 8 carriers, cruisers and ( warships blacked out EtjßMghl when swirling storm flown over the burnuaval anchorage. • ..£*h-ri> was no sign that the J. w ’AWhad been broken oft comr ■'•viSjl Aiarmeu Japanese broadf °' J Wßr!ied that Halsey’s armada lurking off the coast. a break in the weather - ‘ ; BfUe the bombardment. | 4 the navy drew off, the fc a, "uy air forces picked up £/ rS! A medium task force E a ' 'W' 1 foo B-29 superfortresses Marianas roared in over i?• area before midnight | to unload hundreds of I file anti demolition bombs | !i|! Se big oil plants in the subI To Page 5, Column 4) tm B 0 ! Cw|Air Patrol To j Starr New Classes i of the Decatur civil I i t°' W ’" be lleltl at McComlj § S: '-B up sday evening at 7:30 o’- | New Classes will be start--8 ■ ,'B thg next basic training perIi • BJ? e ar| d a 'l persons inI in enrolling in the classes f <’;‘” J B llPßfeti t 0 be Present for the | ‘ ’■eeting. ! 0 I S !B> CR AT thermometer ? ,B PE RATURE reading f a ‘ m - 68 1 a,m ' 74 I B 1 P-m. 90 WEATHER « *lll tOn ' Bht and Friday, i vB e ch ange in temperature.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Petain Denounced At Treason Trial Failed France In Her Darkest Hour Paris, July 26 —(UP) —Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, a worn and white-faced old man showing the strain of his treason trial and a bad night, heard himself denounced today as a one-time national idol who failed France in her darkest hour. Petain slumped wearily in his chair as Jules Jeanneney, the state’s fourth witness, described the collapse of the third republic and worked up to a climactic indictment of Petain: "He showed deplorable weakness. His name always would I have been sufficient to achieve union and. accord in France. But he failed us." Jeanneney, president of th’ French senate when the armistice with Germany was signed, was a figure of immense dignity in cutaway coat and white beard flowing over a natty red now tie. A revered elder statesman of France, Jeanneney testified after a denial by Petain that he sent a message congratulating Adolf Hitler on the repulse of the Allied raid in Dieppe in 1942 was read into the record. Judge Pierre Mongibeaux read the denial, made by Petain during his hearing preliminary to the treason trial. Yesterday Petain refused to answer questions regarding the message. Because of his age—72—Jeanneney was allowed to sit while testifying. He told of the flight of the government before the gray-green hordes of Nazis overrunning France, and of the cabinet wrangles which ended in the establishment of the Vichy regime. Reaching a description of the maneuvering at Vichy which ended in the’senate and chamber of deputies voting themselves out of existence and thus ending the life of the third republic, Jeanneney cried: • “The vote was truly taken by extortion." o Drastic Shakeup In Michigan Prison Suspend Officials Following Charges Lansing, July 26.—(UP)—State corrections director Garrett Heyns today took over administration of Jackson state prison in the wake of one of the greatest prison shakeups in Michigan history. Suspension of seven officials, including Warden Harry Jackson, was announced early today following charges by Attorney General John R. Dethmers that inmates were allowed to leave the prison at will for visits to barrooms, parties and brothete, and that they were permitted to operate gambling syndicates, meet their wives and sweethearts in screened prison hospital beds, and buy and sell “soft” prison jobs. Others suspended following a four-hour closed meeting of the state corrections commission in its Lansing offices were deputy warden George I. Francis, assistant deputy warden D. C. Pettit, chief inspector Walter L. Wilson, R., Charles Watson, director of classification; Richard Riley, director of athletics, and Joseph Poirer, inmate accountant. The action coincided with recommendations submitted today by Dethmers in his third report on conditions at the world’s largest walled prison. In his latest report, Dethmers declared he “did not hesitate to express my opinion that the correction of the malodorous conditions now existing at the prison, and the proper administration of the institution, require the removal of these seven officials.” The commission said that the seven suspended officials would be given an early hearing to reply to ' FFwrT To P»g» ®. Colman 3).

Speculation On Russian Entry In War Boils Lord Mountbatten's Confab With Stalin Stirs Speculation London, July 26. —(UP)—Speculation over Russia's possible role in the final phase of the Pacific war boiled up anew in London today with the disclosure that Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten had conferred with Premier Stalin in Potsdam after a hurried flight from the Far East. Fresh from a full-dress council of war with Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines, Mountbatten turned up unexpectedly at the Big Three meeting in Potsdam. Hie presence there became known on his return to London last night, lifting the lid on discussion of the most volatile current issue of the war—Russia’s position in the conflict with Japan. Mountbatten, Allied commander-in-chief in southeast Asia, was revealed to have conferred in Potsdam with Stalin, President Truman and Prime Minister Churchill, as well as with the combined chiefs of staff assembled there. His meeting with Stalin, who before Potsdam had remained aloof from all discussions of Pacific strategy, fanned the persistent speculation that the Red army might soon be an active factor in the Pacific struggle. This speciflation was not lessened by a photograph prominently displayed yesterday in the Soviet army newspaper Red Star, showing powerful Red arjny units on maneuvers in the Far East. Mountbatten’s arrival in London opened up one of the few news leaks from the Potsdam compound where the Big Three leaders and their staffs have been conferring behind a tight guard of secret police, Scotland Yard agents and American secret service men, plus regular troops of all three countries. The fact that Mountbatten rushed from MacArthur’s headquarters to the three-power chiefs of staff and their Big Three superiors was taken as a clear indication that Japan was close to the top of the (Turn To Page 6. Column 5) o Senate In 4th Day Os Charter Debate Favors Authority For U.S. Delegate _ Washington, July 26 — (UP) — : Sen. Warren R. Austin. R., Vt„ proposed today that the American delegate to the United Nations se- ( curity council have authority, un- . der direction of the President, to order armed forces into action to preserve the peace. Austin, a leading senate Republican on international affairs, expressed his Views as the senate began its fourth day of debate on the United Nations charter. He tackled directly the most controversial issue— the question of authority to be accorded the American delegate. “I have no doubt of the authority of the President in the future to enforce the peace,” Austin said. “He is the officer under our constitution who is vested with responsibility for keeping the peace. “We will have to conform to that in advfein*g how our delegate must act. “I advocate investing our delegate with authority to mobilize our forces to protect against war, under the direction of the President or his cabinet.” The charter, already assured of overwhelming senate ratification, became certain of another vote today when former Gov. E. P. Carvllle, D., Nev., was sworn in to succeed the late Sen. James G. Sciug(Turn To Page 6, Column 5).

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Decatur, Indiana, Thursday, July 26, 1945.

His Government Defeated K. B I ■'Ki--B" ■-m - * If-’•Bi I BL.. -A.. I ~ 9 .... - . .. v Winston Churchill

Allied Landing On Malay Is Reported Surprise Move On Malay Peninsula Manila, July 26— (UP) —Japanese radio reports said today Allied units were fighting bitterly along the shoreline of “Puket island” after a surprise landing which put the Allies back on the Malay peninsula for the first time since Singapore’s fall. Th» Japanese Dome! agency reported Wednesday night that some 500 Allied troops landed on the island, off the west coast of the Malay peninsula and just below the narrow Kra isthmus, at 8 a. m. Wednesday, Japanese time. (The broadcast apparently refers to Junkceylon island, also known as Salang and Tongkah. Puket is the capital city and largest port on Junkceylon. The island has a population of 30,000, largely Chinese, and there is an airfield on the northern end. Puket is less than two miles from the mainland of Theiland.) The Domei dispatch said the “enemy invaders came ashore in nine landing barges under cover of a ship bombardment by two American cruisers." It also made the usual assertion that the Japanese garrison had driven the invaders “back to' the sea” and that the landing attempt had “ended in complete failure.” The broadcast said, “the Japanese garrison unit on the island, which is in that territory, immediately counterattacked and pushed the invaders back to their shoreline where fighting is now in progress.” Japanese reports said the two American cruisers were accompanied by “only six transports” and declared that “this is taken to indicate that the enemy’s ill-fated invasion attempt had been for the purpose of conducting reconnaissance in force, rather than any major landing operations.” i (Turn To Page 5, Column 6) Q_ Pres. Truman May Cruise To Alaska Olymphia, Wash., July 26 —(UP) —President Truman hopes to cruise to Alaska later this year, Gov. Mon G. Wallgren of Washington revealed today. Truman wrote his former senate colleague from the Big Three conference that “I hope we can work out that Alaska trip.”

Woman Kills Self And Three Children Dubuque, la., July 26 —(UP)— Mrs. Alfred Baumhover, 2<6, herded her three young children into the. kitchen of their home, turned on thff'gas jets and sat down to await death. Police said today. The bodies of Mrs. Baumhover, Anthony, '5, Jerome, 4, and Walter, 2, were found last night, victims of what police described as triple homicide and a suicide. 0 Reduce Point Values On Beef, Lamb, Veal Some Improvement In Meat Supplies Washington, July 26 — (UP) — Reductions of one to two red points a pound for nearly all cuts of beef, lamb and veal were announced today by the office of price administration for the ration period beginning Sunday. The biggest cut will be on boneless beet' rump roasts, which go down throe point,?, a pound. HamNew Points Washington, July 26 —(UP) Five more red and five more blue stamps in ration book four will become valid Aug. 1, the OPA anonunced today. The stamps, worth 10 points each, are red —Fl through KI; blue —PI through Tl. Red stamps K 2 through P 2 and blue stamps T 2 through X 2 will not be good after July burger, nearly all steaks, lamb loin and rib chops and veal leg and and shoulder roaste were reduced two points for the August period. The present point values of all cuts of pork, canned firfh, fats and oil and dairy products will remain unchanged in August. Creamery butter continued at 16 points, a pound. 'Point values for many Kosher beef, veal and lamb cuts also will be reduced from one to two points a pound during the new rationing period. “The department of’ agriculture reports some improvement in meat supplies for civilians, chiefly as the result of lower military purchases. This, along with better distribution, permitted OPA to make the reductions,” Price administrator Chester Bowlea said. He estimated that the civilian meat supply would be 11 per cent greater in August than in July. (Turn To Page 2, Column 6)

Overwhelming Defeat Is Handed Conservatives; New Labor Government

Clement Attlee To Succeed Churchill As Prime Minister Os Great Britain TxMidon, July 26. —(UPJ —Maj. Clement Attlee who will succeed Winston Churchill as prime minister of Britain said today the Labor party’s foreign policy could be summarized as "the nqed for a new world order for the prevention of war and a world economic policy based on an endeavor to raise standards of life.” He made his statement to correspondents after appearing before a tumultuous victory celebration at Transport house, the Labor party and trade union headquarters.” Attlee, a retiring, almost demure man, seemed awed by the magnitude of Labor's electoral victory. He told his followers that the sweep had demonstrated that the British public would “respond to a clear and definite policy based on principles and upon the application of those principles to the needs of the day.” v Attlee served in the coalition Churchill govtejnment as deputy prime minister and as deputy government leader in the House of Commons. He went to San Francisco as one of the British delegates to the security conference and accompanied Churchill to Potsdam, participating in the Big Three discussions because of the possibility of Churchill’s repudiation. Having been in intimate association with Churchill throughout the war, there will be little chance that the new government will suffer from any lack of continuity in knowledge and information of British commitments and policy throughout the world. Attlee is 62 years old. He was educated at Oxford and entered the practice of law in 1906. He served in Gallipoli, Mesopotamia an d France during the world war. He first came to parliament 23 years a&o and for a time was parliamentary private secretary to

(Turn To Page G. Column 3) Combat Casualties Total 1,058,842 (Washington, July 26 — (UP) — U. S. combat casualties reached 1,058,842 today, an increase of 5,741 over last week’s compilation. The total included 920,220 army and 138,622 navy, marine corps, and coast guard casualties. The week’s increase was about evenly divided between the two major services. The new total included 24.8,137 killed. o Court Martial Frees Officer Os Charges Captain Acquitted Os Mistreatment Lincoln army airfield. Neb., July 26.—(UP)— Capt. Stanley Jones, 47, Utica, N. Y., today was absolved of charges that he failed to prevent or investigate the mistreatment of military prisoners at the Lincoln army air field guardhouse. A seven man court martial voted unanimously for acquittal. The calm Jones maintained throughout the four and one-half days of testimony cracked last night for the first time. His eyes filled with tears when he heard the verdict. Prosecution attorneys had charged that in the period from November, 1943, to August, 1944, when Jones was police and prison officer at LAAF, “club-happy” guards were permitted to abuse prisoners. More than 20 witnesses were introduced to substantiate the prosecution claim. The defense introduced no witnesses during the trial, and Jones did not testify. Maj. Edward Bynum, Oklahoma City, military prosecutor, had tried to prove that brutality of guards (Turn To Pagie 6, Column 7>,

Japan In Frank Bid For Lenient Terms Os Peace Tokyo Broadcasts Startlingly Frank New Peace Feeler Washington, July 26. —(UP)-— Japan acknowledged her critical military plight today with a frank hint that she might sue for peace if American demands for unconditional surrender were modified. The bid for more lenient terms was broadcast by the Tokyo radio amid demands in this country for an immediate Russian declaration of war against the Japanese. And it coincided with a report that Soviet Premier Josef Stalin had carried to the Big Three conference Japan’s official formula for halting hostilities. The state department offered no comment on these developments —a tacit re-affirmation of its policy that Japan, can escape destruction only through total and unconditional surrender. Japan’s startlingly frank new peace feeler was sent out by Tokyo in an English-language broadcast beamed to the United Stares and recorded by the Federal Communications Commission. It said: “Should America show any sincerity of putting into practice what she preaches, as for instance in the Atlantic charter, excepting its punitive clause, the Japanese nation, in fact the Japanese military, would automatically, if not willingly, (several words missing) follow in the stopping of the conflict and then, and only then, will sabers cease to rattle both in the East and in the West." While official American quarters maintain “relative silence” about the exact meaning of unconditional surrender. Tokyo said, “Official publicists declare that Japan should be stripped of this or that.” “In short,” it said, “they intend to mete out such a hard retribution that the Japanese people are more determined that ever to unite and resist as a united mass of 100,000,(Turn To Page 6, Column 6) o — Van Werl Resident Killed This Morning Richard E. Wilson Is Traffic Victim Richard E. Wilson, 24, owner and operator of a service station and garage at Van Wert, Ohio, was instantly killed at 5:30 o’clock this morning in a traffic accident a short distance east of the IndianaOhio state line on federal highway 224. Wilson’s auto, enroute east, struck a semi-trailer truck, loaded with straw, hitting the truck just at the rear of the cab. The truck was traveling west. The Van Wert man’s body wa<s badly mangled, his head crushed, one arm torn off, the other arm and leg broken. His auto was practically demolished. Van Wert county authorities withheld a verdict in the death pending further investigation. Wilson apparently fell asleep or the steering mechanism on his car failed. Robert Zwick, Adams county coroner, was first called to the scene, but finding the accident occurred in Ohio, called Van Wert officials. Wilson is survived by the wife, Ethel, two children, Paul and Barbara Kay; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Orville A. Wilson, and a sister. Miss Joan Wilson, all bf Van Wert. Funeral services will be held at 10 a. m. Saturday at the GambleAkpach funeral home in Van Wert, with burial in Woodland cemetery.

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Price Four Cents.

Clear Majority Os Labor Party Named To Parliament In General Election London, July 26.—(UP) — Prime Minister Winston Churchill submitted his resignation to King George VI at 7 p.m. tonight. London, July 26—(UP)—Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his conservative party went down to defeat today in the British election and the labor party was expected to form a new government. Turning their backs on the man who led their nation through the darkest perils of the war, British voters overwhelmingly repudiated his conservative party and elected to the house of commons a clear and absolute majority of labor party members. Under British custom, Churchill's resignation and the formation of a new cabinet headed by labor party leader Maj. Clement Attlee was merely a formality. An official tabulation of votes at 2 p. m. (8 a. m. CWT.) wrote the end of Churchill’s leadership of Britain. It disclosed that opposition parties had elected 331 members against 166 for government supporters. Os the opposition total 311 were labor party members and it was plain that the laborites had elected more than the 321 members necessary to give them an absolute majority in the 640metnber house of commons. A tabulation at 4:30 p. m. • (10:30 a. m. CWT.) gave opposition parties 401 seats, including 375 labor party seats. The government had 203 seats, including 188 conservatives. Thirty-six seats remained to be reported. It was the first time the labot party had ever won a clear majority of the house of commons although it formed a coalition under Ramsay MacDonald in the ’2os. The defeat of Churchill and the conservatives was crushing. Churchill himself was returned to parliament as was foreign secretary Anthony Eden. But they were almost the only holdovers among the conservatives who have held office through the 10 years since the last general election in 1935. The mood of the electorate was clearly shown when the unknown farmer, Alexander Hancock, who ran against Churchill in London up a total of more than 10,000 suburban district managed to roll votes, only 17,000 fewer than were cast for Churchill. Alone among the prominent conservatives to come through the election with his support little damaged was Eden who polled 60 percent of his electorate. Churchill’s associates and colleagues toppled around him like tenpins while the labor leaders rode through with impressive majorities. Among those who went out of parliament in the sweep was Brendan Bracken, Churchill's closest government associate, and information minister until recent weeks when he became first lord of the admiralty. Others who fell were: M. H. MacMillan, secretary of state for air; Brig. Gen. Sir Edward Spears, British minister in the Levant states; Leslie Hore-Belisha, onetime war minister; Leopold S. (Turn To Page 5. Column 5) o President Truman Visits Eisenhower Potsdam. July 26.—(UP)—President Truman returned to Potsdam late today for the resumption of tho Big Three conference after spending the day with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and American battle veterans at Frankfurt. There was no immediate word when the Big Three conference would reopen. It depended on when the topflight British conferee returned from London, where they went for the announcement of the election returns.