Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 22 September 1941 — Page 9

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 194

Washington

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22.—In the last year prices of foodstuffs rose 24%: of farm products, 32%; of textiles, 23%: of all basic commodities, 17%. Obviously another year of such rises would have . most serious effects. Either wages and salaries would : pe sharply increased or most of the population would suffer the equivalent of a drastic wage cut because of doubled prices.

When this Government and the various governments fighting Hitler are in the market with ravenous demands for supplies of all kinds, we cannot trust prices to be fixed by the normal law of supply and demand. Demand already is swollen’ far out of its normal size. Every member of the House and Senate knows these obvious and elementary facts. Yet they act as if they were completely unaware of them. : After much preliminary discussion, a price-control bill was introduced Aug. 1. The spirit in which this task was undertaken is illustrated by the fact that on the night before the bill went in, farm-bloc mem‘bers made a midnight raid and shoved in a gouge for farm loans at 110% of parity. The bill gathered dust for nearly a month and a half. Now hearings have finally begun. But they have been dawdling. Committee members seemed preoccupied with sniping at Leon Henderson, the price administrator. Some of them, following the lead of Rep. Martin Dies, have been trying to prove Mr. Henderson is a Communist. That pretense looks a little silly in view of the fact that Bernard M. Baruch, dean of the old-line capitalist stock-market operators, told the House committee that Mr. Henderson was the best man for the price-control job.

Maybe They'll Wake Up

IT MAY BE THAT Mr. Baruch’s testimony will wake up Congress. Committee members turned. out to hear him and they began to ask pertinent questions which indicated that they realize the need of action. ~ Among numerous reasons, Mr. Baruch singled out Dues especially to support his plea for price legisation. :

By Raymond Clapper

First, price control is a means of taking the profit out of war. The inflation resulting from uncontrolled prices enables some to reap large rewards while requiring the average person to tighten his belt. Why should the families of soldiers have their budgets slashed by high prices while others wax rich? No tax program can entirely recapture excessive profits. Profits must also be controlled at their source, which is rising, runaway prices. Second, price control is a means of protecting fixed incomes. - If prices run wild, what will happen to teachers, war veterans, social security beneficiaries, policemen, firemen, the hundreds of thousands of Federal, State and local Government employees? Appropriations for defense articles will have to be greatly enlarged if prices continue to go up. No action could effect greater savings in the cost of government, which is now the heaviest buyer of all commodities, than to prevent inflation. Billions can be saved. There is no better form of economy than price control. ‘

Prices Also Key to Peace

THIRD, PRICE CONTROL will help us to win the peace. Unless America has a low price structure at the end of the war, the lean and gaunt nations, which have learned to do without, will be able, even if defeated, to undersell us in the markets of the world. ; . With a low price structure, America can hold her own and demand as a price for economic collaboration just terms of peace. = With a high price structure, we would lose our foreign markets and would have to take refuge'in high trade barriers. We would be unable to provide full employment for all of our workers. Disparities’ between farmers producing for export and industries producing for home markets would be aggravated and our own lack of foresight might well wreck us. ;. = If Germany should win, the higher our price strugs ture the weaker we would be in economic war. ° Those are only some of the reasons advanced: by] Mr. Baruch. They gain force from the fact that. he was head of the War Industries Board in the last war, that he participated in drafting the Treaty .of Versailles, and that for 20 years since he has been studying economic and industrial war problems and Warning the country to profit by the lessons of the ast war. :

to start his travels again.

Because of' Mrs. Pyle’s serious illness, Ernie Pyle is not yet able to resume his daily column. As soon as Mrs. Pyle is safely on the way to recovery, Ernie hopes

Inside Indianapolis (And “Our Town”)

WANT A NEW HOME? If you do, the chances are youll have the very dickens of a time finding a tontractor willing to build one for you on contract. Most contractors have begun confining themselves to building on speculation. That way they can set the price on a house after it's built, or at least after they know what it’s costing them. Right now, a contractor hasn't any more than a mere guess as to what hell have to pay for lumber, or roofing, or nails, etc. two weeks after he signs a contract. He knows that unexpected price increases may cause him: to lose his shirt. 5 Building them “on spec” eliminates all that. Contractors tell us that there hasn’t been any really serious trouble yet in obtaining building materials. Of course, a lot of the lumber is pretty green; sonie materials such as electrical and plumbing supplies require more and more time to get, and it almost takes political pull to get any quantity of- nails. One large wholesaler said his firm is requiring a priority rating for a customer to get more than 50 pounds of nails at a time.

Salesmen in Reverse

THE RCA PLANT, we hear, has called in all its salesmen because, like a lot of other firms, it no longer has anything to sell—everything’s national defense. But its salesmen aren’t sitting around twiddling their thumbs. They've all been sent to act as sort _ of liaison agents between RCA and the firms supplying its raw materials. : Thus the salesmen-turned-buyers take key officials of supply firms out to lunch or for golf and when

Supply & Demand

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22.—The survey now starting here to obtain a complete picture of military and civilian requirements for materials may have two important results not suspected in the announcements last week. Manufacturers of consumers’ goods, including thousands of small concerns, have been hoping that this survey might disclose when, and in what quantities, they would be able to get deliveries of the supplies that are now growing scarce. One result of the inquiry may be to lead President Roosevelt to be more definite in disclosures of purposes to the military authorities. The other result may be informal military conversations with the British in hington. Hints have been regefved that the Brit- : ish -are now ‘equipped here with the proper personnél for beginning\ the talks on an informal and “if, when and as” basis. It is understood the surveys of munodiiy. needs cannot go very far until these meetings are well under way. E Such discussions were started on the Atlantic during the 'Roosevelt-Churchill meeting but did not last long enough to go into detail.

How Far Can Strains Go

LACKING THE INFORMATION the conversations would furnish, the Army and Navy offices cannot, produce an inventory, or forecast, of what it will take to beat Hitler, and in the absence of a forecast, the defense organization cannot have much idea of what will be left in the way of materials for the civilian population and its Industries. ~The forthcoming civilian dislocations are expected to apply further pressure for such information,

My Day

WASHINGTON, Sunday—We had an interesting evening on Friday. First we saw some short documentary films, and then two gentlemen, Charles L. Todd and Mr. Sonkin, who have been making recordings of interesting folk songs and dance music in - the migratory camps. on the west coast for the Library of Congress, played some of their records. One, a song by a boy of four-

teen, was a gem, though he was:

covered with confusion and ran away when he heard it played! Many of the records, like the song written by a woman about her trip from Texas to the West, were heart-rending, in spite of the fact that one could not help laughing at certain little twists of ; language and expression. : These recordings are going to be historically .interesting, but the inspirifig thing to me is that people can live through such hardships and still have music in thelr souls and the ability to express themselves hopefully. ae Mr. Todd told me that when they have a dance, “or are happy, over the prospect of work or some small event in their daily lives, these people appar-

ently seem fo be able to enjoy themselves with com-

the moment is propitious suggest a way to get this or that needed material a week or two ealier.

Pete Daggett Coming Home

OUR SUPREME COURT JUDGES are busy sprucing up their chambers in preparation for the coming of the national Bar Association convention. The twostory court room is getting a cleaning such as it hasn’t seen in years. .. . Robert Frost (Pete) Daggett Jr., who's been working for months as a civilian architect designer for the War Department in naval base construction on the island of Antigua, near Puerto Rico, is expected home within a ‘few days. He was scheduled to reach New York over the weekend. .. . Jerry Gates, one of the deputy registration clerks, is in the U. S. Veterans’ Hospital for observation. , . . William Guitteau, 3510 N. Pennsylvania St., here, writes us from Kokomo anent the removal of Patrolman Forrest Allison from his duties at Meridian and Washington Sts. “Referring to your article of today,” writes Mr. Guitteau, “I had heard that Forrest Allison had established a very good record at- Washington and Meridian. If so, can anything be done to help?”

Just Ask the Janitor

A NEIGHBORHOOD THEATER reports that while it was showing the film, “The Bride Came C. O. D.,” someone called one morning and asked the janitor— the .only person -there at that hour—what picture would be shown that night. The janitor didn’t know but stepped out front and took a glance at the lettering on the marquee, then informed the caller: “The Bride Became Co0-Co00.” . . . From a friend at 1. U. we learn there are four—count ’em—Bette Davieses enrolled in the freshman class, and not a single plain Betty Davis. . . . The City Directory lists a Mr. T. D.

‘Dial as working for the phone company. That's

nothing. At one time they even had a Mr. Bell, we understand.

By John W. Love

That these questions are all only separate aspects: on one grand problem is made clear by a comparison of the American program with that of the Germans in the-years just before the war. : For six years the Nazis kept their economy under continuous strain and often close to the breaking

point. The American aim is understood to be to accomplish in" two years what the Germans did in six or seven, and accordingly some nice calculations are necessary as to how far the strains can go.

Some Nervousness Apparent

THERE IS EVIDENCE here of some interest in that point, not'to say nervousness. Donald M. Nelson, executive director of the Supply Priorities and ‘Allocations Board, announced the project last week for the survey of material requirements on “two levels,” military and civilian. On Monday or Tuesday ther service departments, Maritime Commission and other offices received his letters asking for tabulations of what they will need for the next two years. The problem of computing the civilian require-

“ments alongside the military, and in part contingently

upon them apparently is to be handled within the supply board and affiliated divisions, with the ‘assistance of such agencies as the Census Bureau. More questionnaires may be distributed, but the vast collection of statistics in Washington, much of them conndential, are expected to provide the bulk of the ata. : ; People in the Office of Production Management believe the returns will go part of the way toward disclosing large stocks of raw materials held by the Navy, the Army and the Maritime Commission. These departments have -hoards of steel and copper. There is some discussion in Washington of the idea of making conspicuous seizures of stocks of materials in the hands of prominent companies, as warnings to the entire industrial group.

By Eleanor - Roosevelt

plete forgetfulness of the past and the future. They have learned what so many of us do not learn— that the present is the only thing we really possess. Last night I was reading a little volume, arranged for publication by Stanwood Cobb. It is called, “The Wisdom of Wu Ming Fu,” and is a collection of his translated poems and sayings. oo The Chinese philosophy over the centuries, has come to the same conclusion as our migrants, and they would agree with Mr. Fu that “it should be eur concern to make each present moment perfect.” Yesterday was a most beautiful day and, after a morning visit to my brother in ‘the hospital, four of ys went by car to Sugar Loaf Mountain and basked in the sun, with a beautiful view spread out below us. After lunch, in the shade of some trees, with the rocks as our seats, we read aloud the preface to a short anthology called, “We Hold ‘These Truths,” compiled by Stuart Gerry Brown of Grinnell, Iowa. This address impressed me, for I know two pretty good representatives of what American . citizenship means, who are.now in Washington and who have had close association with Grinnell in the past. The anthology is a collection of documents, written by our great men over the period of our whole history. Documents which all of us frequently want and should turn to, to clarify our own beliefs and convictions. It is good to have them in such compact form and I am grateful to Mr. Brown for his labors.

shabbiness.:

~all"about.

~spectfully. Within 10 min‘utes a dozen officers had gone by and each had saluted ‘the old doorman. He returned their salutes “carelessly, almost patronizingly. Then I noticed some-

thing I hadn’t seen before. On ‘the left breast of his uniform ‘there was a small deep purple ribbon and on it lay a tiny bronze cross—the Victoria Cross. Since 1856 only 1102 V. C.’s have been awarded. The last two were awarded this month. So highly do the English think of a V. C. wearer that the ranking officers salute him even though he is a shabby doorman in a shabby uniform working in front of a shabby office building. Maybe there is a moral in this. I don’t know. But it is the kind of thing that could only happen in London. There is not a man or woman in England who isn’t confident that the country will win the war. I have seen recent New York newspapers and the answer to this confidence is expressed by them in the thought, “The English are either very brave or very stupid.” I think they are very brave. ” ”

‘Fighting Fools’ Is Right

GOD WAS very good to the English—He made each one of them half a fool. An Englishman is fool enpugh to believe that one Englishman can lick a dozen Germans. The R. A. F. kids aren’t boastful, but each one is foolish enough to believe that he and his Spitfire can lick a dozen Messerschmitts. Women and old men in the villages have built street barricades and they are foolish enough to think that they can defend their villages in case of invasion. The fact that each Englishman is half a fool gives him a tremendous psychological advantage over any German who is no fool at all, but instead is a reasoning methodical being who knows the rules and abides by them. The Englishman is also foolish in this respect: He thinks that his personal liberty is the most importa.., thing in the world. In New York if a cop orders us gruffly to move on, sheeplike we obey him. Here the Englishman will want to know why. If the cop has a good reason, well and good. This is reflected in the English newspapers which now I guess, are the only comparatively free newspapers in the world. Of course we have never had freedom of the press in America so we don’t know much about it. Always our newspapers have

No publisher will deny that. Here

something. He actually writes almost as he pleases.

2 2 =n ‘Cooper’s Snoopers’

Last September the papers were full of vitriolic criticism of Duff Cooper. Duff had formed a sort .of private Gestapo which went around questioning private citizens. : The papers really went to work on it. Percy Cudlipp, editor of the Daily Herald, blasted Duff's undercover men out of existence with a phrase. He called them Cooper’s Snoopers. The others took up the cry. : Duff Cooper took and paid for big advertisements in the London papers defending his stand. The papers in which his advertisements appeared attacked him the hardest. Frank Owen, editor of the Evening Standard, told his political writer, Michael Foot, to go to work on Duff. Michael Foot is to England what Heywood Broun was to America. Every time I read anything that Michael writes 1 get sick with envy and jealousy. Duff made a speech in the House attac®ing the “yellow press” for its criticism of his ministry, Michael Foot wrote in the Standard: “Mr. Duff Cooper has no luck. He will discover this morning that his most vigorous opponent is The Times, whose vulgar and intrusive. methods of inquiring into the more sordid aspects of human behavior and whose strident methods of presenting news are so much deplored in Fleet Street and else-

where.” y ” ” ”

People Speak—And How

itor of the Daily Express, coined two phrases which swept the country. He demanded that this be a People’s War and that there be a People’s army; that is, that all workers and ordinary civilians be armed and trained. " Each day he screams against the brass hats inthe Cabinet, the Army and the Navy. There won't be any Petainism in this Cabinet

on things. You see, in France the papers never criticized, never told the truth. No paper in France

Paris until five days after the city fell. Things like ‘that can’t hap-

pen in England. Here's another thing the Eng-

CHAPTER SEVEN By QUENTIN REYNOLDS THERE IS AN OFFICE building on Bond St. just off Piccadilly. The.doorman wears a upiform but it isn’t a very resplendent uniform. The doorman at the Radio City Music Hall would shudder at its drabness and its

The doorman too, looked very shopworn. He was about 60;and had: a scraggly. moustache. The only reason I noticed him at all was because of a rather peculiar incident. _ . <There was a general going in just ahead of me and when ‘he saw the doorman he stopped, saluted briskly and * then went into the building. I stopped to see what it was

- ‘Soon a couple of those glamour boys in their R. A. F. uniforms passed the building and they saluted very re-

. use an ax for a weapon.

“court-martialed.

been dominated by advertisers. :

the editor of a paper means * him 10 days nail,

lish have on the Germans and on us. They have a great sense of humor. If we want to criticize someone in public office we work up a terrific hate against him a e Englishman laughs him off. The Home Guard offers many examples of the English sense of humor. There are one million seven hundred thousand men in the Home Guard now, most of them middle-aged or older. They are paid one and six (thirty cents) for standing watch. I was with a bunch of them. The paymaster came around to give them their money. The first man in line was a rather dignified gentleman, about 60. The paymaster handed him his one and six and said: “Now, sign here and then sign this paper and here’s the third one.” “We have to sign in triplicate?” the man inquired politely. ' “Well now, that is interesting. I happen to be president of a bank. Every day I sign receipts for 10, 20 and sometimes 50,000 pounds. And .I never sign more than once. But then I suppose you know your business better than I do.” (P. S. A week later the Home Guard only had to sign one, receipt.) . ® 8.8

Incident at Dunkirk

THE SOLDIERS have the greatest sense of humor of them all. Right after the Lell of Dunkirk, two old buddies who hadn’t seen each other since the war began met in a pub. Youll remember that Wednesday was the worst day of all at Dunkirk. One of the lads said to the oth-

> er: “’Ow was that Wednesday at

Dunkirk?” “Ow was it?” the other exploded. “Bloody awful. Rained the whole bloody day.” Sense of humor? I spent a week-end in the country and on Saturday night went to the local village pub. There is a regiment of soldiers stationed near and several of them were in the pub. They were celebrating the return of one ‘of them. He had been in the military jail for 10 days. It seemed that he had al-

. ways longed to go to sea and

here he was, as he said, “in the blarsted army in. the country.”

So one day without even a leave :

of absence, he walked to the near-: est port and signed on a mer-.. chant ship as a sailor. : Just told them he’d been dis- - charged from the army. He took

‘a five-day cruise with the ship

and found that he didn’t like the sea after all, so he returned to his regiment. He was promptly

“The Colonel, he asks me, ‘And ‘ow did ye like the sea?’ ” he explained. “So I says, ‘Colonel, forgive the expression but the sea is no bloody good. I was seasick all the time.” - The Colonel laughed and gave: In the German or Italian army the man would have heen shot for desertion. PU

on ” z War Hath No Fury THE PUB IS the real birthplace of wit/in England. I walked into a small pub in London where I'd been several times before and noticed there was a new barmaid in charge. I got - talking to the proprietor and asked him why it was he changed barmaids so frequently. : “It’s like this,” he said earnestly, Lif the barmaids don’t like me, then I fire ’em, see? And if the barmaids do like me, why, my old lady fires ‘em.” I've spent a lot of time with the young fighting pilots at an airport near the Channel. They all wear life preservers when they fight over the Channel. Actually they are lifejackets. They are : u NN

on

Oa

Whoever started that myth about the English having no sense of humor? Here a member of England's Pioneer Corps takes a “bath” while on leave. ;

‘taking off.

rather plump in front and the boys call them their “Mae Wests.” This started off as R. A. F. slang. But the higher-ups heard the expression land began using it. While I was at this airdrome an official notice from the Air Ministry was put on the bulletin ‘board. It began: “It has come to my attention that some! pilots forget to put on their Mae Wests:before In future remember never to [take off without wearing your Mae West.” It was signed by an Air Marshal. 2 ” s

That'll Teach Em

ONE OF THE PILOTS of a Spitfire was reprimanded while I was there. The day before his plane had been hit in a fight over the Channel. He bailed out and floated in the Channel for three hours. Not a single ship spied him. Finally as darkness was falling an English destroyer passed close to him. He shouted franticaly ‘but no ‘one on the destroyer heard him. .

nally in desperation he took

out his‘revelver (modern cartridges don’t get water-soaked) and fired six shots at the bridge of the destroyer, The ship swung round, thinking a submarine was firing at it and saw the kid in the water. They lowered a boat and hauled ‘him ~ aboard. spluttering with rage. “Those ‘shots -missed- me by a foot,” he roared. “I'm going to complain about this.” . He did so. The kid’s commanding officer reprimanded him officially in these well-chosen words: “Young man,” he said: sharply, “the Admiralty complains - that you shot at a captain of a destroyer. In future do not waste your ammunition on captains in His Majesty’s Service. That is all.” HREM 2. 5 2 Duce Takes It on Chin ONE NIGHT German bombers came over the west coast dropping

pamphlets giving the text of Hitler's last speech;:a speech, in-

cidentally,. which was printed in.

every newspaper in England. In .one enterprising village the pamphlets were collected and then auctioned off. The proceeds went to buy tobacco for the soldiers. How can you beat a people who

_ use laughter as a weapon as the

English do? ; Whoever started that myth about the English having no sense of humor? The newspaper boys here: display placards. The day the Italian ship Colleoni was sunk by the Sydney the newsboys out-

' side my apartment had .a placard

reading “Wops Lose Boat Race.” There are no holidays in England any more, no one wants a holiday. Even the Cabinet Ministers work. . : ‘I wanted to see Lord. Beaverbrook. He asked me if I. could

meet him at 1:30 at his home. . That is 1:30 a. m. When I arrived -

The captain was:

ARTHUR CHRISTIANSEN, ed-

with these editors keeping an eye |

published the news of the fall of

HOLD EVERYTHING

Beaverbrook was eating a steak. “Have you had dinner?” he. asked. “I nearly always have dinner before 1:30 in the morning,” I told him, with what I hoped was fine sarcasm. “That must be nice,” he said thoughtfully. “I seldom get around to it until about this time.” He's a very tough little man. We sat and talked for a couple of hours. What about? Damon Runyon. The Beaver is a great admirer and pal of Damon’s. Beaverbrook is a combination of

' Knudsen and La Guardia.

It’s a Dog’s Life

I'VE BEEN DOWN in hhe Channel villages when they've been bombed. In France people used to freeze ‘with terror or apathetically wait for the worst. The English either get mad as hell or annoyed. : I was caught on the outskirts of a little place when they came over. There was a woman with a dog’ close ‘by. "She had her shopping’ bag with her, She asked me to hold the dog. r “I can’t. understand Jackie,” she said apologetically. “He trem=bles so when the bombs fall. And he tries'ito run away.” : The bombs fell. There was no shelter so: we stood there. Final1y ‘she said with great annoyance, “I had so much marketing to do today. Now I'shall never get it done” . . They went away and the little old ‘lady éand her dog went on into the village to do the marketing. G0 7. [IE SR

Business Comes First

GOSSIP is: very important in our lives here. There is no the-

ater; ‘the moving picture houses all close at 7. There is no night life:as we knew it two months ago or as: New York knows it today. Anecdotes . about Winston Churchill continue to be our pet diversion. I met Christiansen in Fleet Street today and he told me a lovely story about Winston. (We all refer to- him as Winston just as Washington -correspondents refer to Roosevelt as F. D. R. In the cioakreom of the House a member of Parliament buttonholed €hurchill. : “Winston,” he said, “it. is time we struck back. Every night they come over killing women -and - children. All our bombers do is to attack military objectives. It would be a great pleasure to a lot of us if you would order the R. A. F. really to lay Berlin low.” Churchill nodded sympathetically. “I-know how you feel,” he said. “It would indeed be gratifying to. know. that the people of Berlin had to live as our people live. -It would be nice to stop bombing only military targets to give the-people of Germany who follow the leadership of that inhuman monster a taste of what we are getting. Yes, it would be a great pleasure, but—" he added . sadly, *business before pleasure.”

Tomorrow: “I wished the kid luck.” '

WILLKIE TO ATTEND ARTILLERY REUNION

Wendell I. Willkie, who was a lieutenant in Battery F of the 325th Field Artillery in the World War, will be one of those to celebrate the organization’s 24th anniversary

reunion at Kokomo Oct. 4.

The regiment was organized at

| {camp Taylor in Louisville, Ky., in

1917, and served overseas as part

i |of the 84th Division.

The only formal meeting will be in honor of members now dead. Gen, Charles M. Bundell, who as

‘la colonel commanded the regiment, ,jwill review the veterans.

. Co-operating with the regiment will be a citizens committee of Kokomo and American Legion Post 6. Officers of the regiment, besides Mr. Willkie, who is honorary president, are: J. F. Cantwell, Indiana , president; John S. Gingrick, Indianapolis, vice president; James Duke, Kokomo, vice president; Percy Ruch, Mulberry, vice president; J. Reid McCain, Kokomo,

NAVY ‘HANDOUT’ BRINGS CENSURE

Superiors - Disavow Effort Of Its Publicity Man To Plant Editorial.

By CHARLES T. LUCEY ‘fimes Special Writer \

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22. — Th

an attempt by one of its public-re= lations officers to get newspapers to print a “canned” editorial opposing an independent air force. Rear Admiral Arthur J. Hepburn, in charge of Navy public relations, said the press-relations office of the . Eighth Naval District, New Orleans, had used “bad judgment” in sende ing out material opposing an inde

use as an editorial. Other press officers concurred in saying the Navy believes that “no attempt should be made to tell an’ editor what to print.” It was disclosed, however, that the Navy had recently called all its press-relations officers to Washing ton, and that the Department’s op= position to an independent air force was a topic of the conference. Reasons Detailed The press-relations men were furnished with written material de< tailing the reasons for this opposie tion. They were given no .nstruce tions, however, officials said, to send out articles or editorials to the newspapers. One officer, denying any organized effort to propagandize the country in opposition to an independent air force, said the miateriai had been assembled only to supply editors and writers who had sought infor= mation on the Navy's position on this issue. * > Admiral Hepburn said the reten= tion of naval aviation in the Navy Department, rather than its shift to an independent air force, is “of the most importance to us.” 2 Lack of Facts Charged

The Navy, he said, felt that some people had gone off “half-cocked” on the subject of an independent air force, and that there had been a great deal of “lack of information and misinterpretation” concerning the use of airpower in the European war. But any correction of this situae tion, it was emphasized, was not sought by the Navy through ate tempts to get the newspapers to print material favorable to its posie tion. : The War Department has a regue lation forbidding officers to attempt to influence legislation affecting the Army except by specific War Dee partment authorization, but no exe act parallel was found in Navy regulations. : Legislation providing for estabe lishment of an independent air force is now before Congress.

_ TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

1—Can swans fly? ; 2—Rifle bullets will not penetrate & crocodile’s hide; true or false? | 3—The capital of Maine is Augusta, Bangor or Orono? wii 4—Who wrote “The Gold-Bug?” 5—Naming the points of a compass in order is called “— the come

6—What kind of beer is symbolized by a goat? 8 T7—What is the Latin phrase meane ing “a reason for war?” Answers

1—Yes. 2-—-False.

4_Edgar Allan Poe. 5-—Boxing the compass. 6—Bock beer. 7—Casus belli. i . 8» ASK THE TIMES ‘Inclose a 3-cent stamp for ree ply when addressing any qu ; of fact or information to The

Navy Department today disavowed -

pendent air force and suggesting its