Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 2 October 1942 — Page 21

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LONDON, Oct. 2. Friends in America ‘write that I'made a mistake in one of the columns from Northern Ireland, in which I said the army chaplains Were trained to ‘double in brass” in various religions, and that a Protestant chaplain could, in emergency, give

the last rites to a.dying Catholic :

soldier on the battlefield.

One sends a quotation from a

Catholic paper, which says:

“The last rites of the church |

- What the Soldier Repeuts

ordinarily mean the administra- : . tion of the sacrament of Penance, Holy Eucharist and Extreme Unction, together with the prayers and blessing included in the ritual, “None but an ordained priest "can administer Penance and Extreme Unction, and only in the rarest cases could one not in valid orders administer Viaticum. . . . Even in an emergency that might arise on a battlefield, at most a Protestant chaplain could do ‘no more for a Cath-

+ ,.Olic soldier than to assist him in some kind of prayer.”

So, to clear up any misunderstanding I might haye caused, I checked in with the U. S. Army Chaplains’ headquarters here in England.

The Chaplains’ Instructions—

THERE IS A BOOKLET instructing chaplains what to do for dying soldiers of different religions—

* Protestant, Catholic and Jewish. It is titled “Chap-

lain’s Spiritual Ministry for All Faiths in War Emergency.” The booklet was Written by one of the army's senior chaplains, and although it has not been made official by the war department, it is carried and studied by chaplains over here.

Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

SOME MONTHS AGO, employees - of the Merz. Engineering :Co,. included personal notes: in ‘a ship-

ment of precision gauges and fixtures to an. English

industrial plant. One of the employees, John Shockley, Signed the name of his daughter, Dollie Shockley, to one of the notes. Miss Shockley, employed by the NYA office, -has just received a letter from an English defense worker who received the note in the shipment. His eight-page letter asks for information about American customs, explaining that all his impressions of the U. S. A. come ; from the cinema. “When some- * one says U. S. A,” he wrote, “I think of expensive streamlined touring ' cars, driven by pretty : + American girls, flashing along magnificent highways, chased by a speed cop complete with 5, on a queer looking motorcycle with . sirens screaming.” He added that when the British see the usual American ‘movie with cycle cops chasing people, “we're never sure whether the siren’s wailing comes from the screen, or whether an air raid is taking place.”

Such Nice Insults

FRED. BATES JOHNSON, the lawyer, reportedly was insulted recently and how he loved it. Seems that Fred, who has a slender figure but is around 60

: ¢nd worked his way up from. private to major in the ‘other war, was getting out of his car the other night ‘and some fellow saw him and called him a war

slacker. It was sort of dark that night, Fred admits, but he's pretty puffed up, just.the same, . , . County

- Clerk Charley Ettinger has received a letter from a

lawyer at Seattle saying he, has clients who are escendants of Joseph LeFavour who ‘owned the foe. on which our local court house stands. The letter states that the lawyer understands the county

‘ has been paying $600 a month for use of the land,

but his clients haven't gotten anything. The clerk is writing back: that, the lawyer's information is erroneous. Aside from the fact that a search of the

‘Washington

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 2—The government is having John L. Lewis trouble again. | He is reacting coolly to the government’s request that the coal miners break up their 35-hour week and go to 48 hours during the war. When Secretary Ickes, as co-ordinator of solid fuels, put the ‘proposition up to Lewis, the answer was that there was no ‘shortage of coal and none in prospect. Lewis said the miners, who ““ have their annual meeting next week, would accept the. longer work week only if the government proved conclusively that it was .. necessary and essential to the war effort. While that discussion was going on Gen. Hershey, director of selective service, was telling industry’ management that it probably will be left with only half of the number of men it thinks it needs. He said we may see the day when boys and girls will be spending four or five hours a day at essential work. Facts from every source indicate a drastic shortage of manpower. is coming up—and it already has hit ‘the farms and some of the metals mines. Hours in most industries have been stretched out already.

I ckes Is Looking Ahead THAT 18 THE setting in which John L. Lewis

; and his miners are to decide whether to try and hang

loosier Vagabond

By Ernie Pyle

I thought you might be interested in just what it instructs chaplains to do in such a case as we were| speaking of, so I copied it down verbatim. 1t says: “Procedure by a non-Catholic chaplain when finding a Catholic man (wounded on the battlefield). Learn the man’s first name if possible and say: | “John, Iam not a priest, but I have ed with Father Kelly and he asked me to. say that since he cannot possibly be here I should read ‘for you this prayer called ‘The Act of Contrition’.”

“ ‘WILL YOU EITHER say with me,” continue the instructions, “ ‘or repeat after me, the following: “‘Oh my God I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they have offended Thee, my God, who art all good, and worthy of all ‘my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy Grace to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen!’ “Father Kelly said for me to assure you that if you really and truly mean this prayer that you have just prayed, that you are assured Absolution from all your sins and of Eternal and Everlasting Life, He asked me to-give you this Rosary which he has blessed, for you to keep, and to assure you Pia) -he grants you this blessing.” Thoge are the instructions I referred to in Northern Ireland! There are similar onés for treating Protestant and Jewish soldiers by chaplains not of their own faith. Not being versed in church ritual, I mistook the chaplain’s assurance of Absolutien and Eternal Life to be the same as the last rites.

AEs ST

10 OFFENSIVE

Jareness, Feeling Loss - of

Naval Craft; Air Bases Bombed Constantly.

. (Harold Guard retreated with the British down the Malaya peninsula and evacuated Singapore under fire. He covered the war in Java, He is known in New Guinea. The following dispatch is made up largely of his opinions but, in view of his close ‘association with the war in the Southwest Pacific, they have a particular validity.)

By HAROLD GUARD United Press Staff Correspondent

AT AN ADVANCED UNITED NA-

TIONS BASE IN NEW GUINEA, Oct. 2.—The strength of this allied base has multiplied in every way

during the last four months and a defense complex which existed then has- disappeared.

The offensive is now the order of he day among all allied units and hey have the power with which to

carry the war to the enemy.

Since I returned to New Guinea

this week after-a four-month ab-

sence I have seen sufficient fo convincé me that any Japanase invasion threat to ' Australia will not come from this area and that. an]

Wanted: A: Home

records clear back to 1870 lists no such estate, the court house land was dedicated to the public ‘use in the original plat of Indianapolis clear back in 1821. So there. Maybe it was Minneapolis.

THE NICEST GIFT you could give the Indianapolis. Red Cross for Christmas this year would be a home of its own. Chairman W. I. Longsworth has his eyes open for someone who owns an old. resi- |g dential property, not too far out, and who might be induced to donate it to the Red Cross. Chapters in a number of other cities own their own homes, as do many local organizations of considerably less merit. How about it? . . , There's quité a shortage of typewriters in the army, we hear. Just.the other day,” Myron Scarbrough, who worked at the Star before he joined the army and went to Camp Ritchie, Md., sent home and had his portable typewriter shipped to him. ‘Said his commanding officer asked him to get it because of the shortage at the camp. 5 They ought to make him a corporal now.

More Name Trouble

DEWEY MYERS, the Democratic candidate for mayor, still is having name trouble. Several days ago the county committee received a shipment of 10,000 “Myers for Mayor” lapel buttons. They were just

abgut to order. another. 10,000 when they discovered the buttons read: “Meyers for Mayor.” So tliey had to make the order read 20,000 more. . . . Charles Collins, custodian at the school board offices, has been teaching ; of the executives tricks. He explains he wants td’ find out if “you know “your money.” Producing a shiny penny, he asks for another, puts them both on his palm and asks: “Now do you know which penny you GAVE me?” When they say yes, and point it out; he says “Thanks,” f and puts it in his pocket. He's caught quite a few suckers, too. .:.. Luke Walton of WISH has been commissioned a naval:lieutenant (jg). Comm. Mathews is to swear him in ‘on his 6:45 broadcast, this evening.

By Raymond Clapper

wait until the trouble was on us—as we did in rubber, and in steel and aluminum capacity. Secretary Ickes is still looking ahead. That's why he 'wants to get more coal mined right now. Because while the stockpile is big ‘at the moment, his fuel experts forecast’ a shortage next year. Ickes is trying to prepare for the future, and he has been foresighted enpugh about affairs of this war so that he doesn’t have to spend all of his time, as some do, explaining away negligence of the past.

It Can’t Be Justified

THE MINES ALREADY have lost 50,000 miners out of a working total of 400,000. These have volunteered, or been inducted, or have shifted into other industries such as ordnance plants and shipyards. Most of these were young men, trained in mechanized mining, and not easily replaced by the older pick-and-shovel miners. Ickes anticipates interference with production from loss of these highly skilled machine miners. . There will be trouble from the wearing out of machines

Transportation will “be more uncertain because of expected shortages in rolling stock. At the same time consumption will increase, partly through accelerated industrial production and partly through conversion to coal from other fuel§. Those are the main reasons why the government is’ ‘trying to take {ime by the forelock and get out as much coal as possible now through the longer work week.

Nenneman said. tracks they beat, and apparently they are moving at night.”

whiff of the jungle smells,” said. undergrowth, but I couldn't see any Japs anywhere. worth seeing was three magnificent waterfalls, about 1000 foot drops.”

stantly, Japanese bases of Buna, Salamaua and Lae on the north New. Guinea coast.

Australia-based- offensive is rapidly taking shape. I believe that this year-end will bring an even better story.

The biggest question in this area

is still Japan's unpredictable naval strength. Japanese naval defeats in the Coral sea and the Battle of Midway there seems no doubt that Japan would

But remembering the

uffer proportionate losses if any

attempts at a sea-borne attack—| the only one which would have a

hance of success, to my mind—was

made against Port Moresby.

Allies Master Air Without doubt the allies have

achieved complete air superiority over New Guinea and are pressing it home at every opportunity, bombing and machine-gunning enemy

trongholds and communications

and blasting a path for the Austra- : lians who are advancing in the Owen Stanley mountains.

These forces are using Japan's

own tactics to push back the troops which last month looked as if they were on ground which would become a battlefield for possession of Port Moresby.

I watched three attack bombers,

Douglas A-20s, take off from this base for a bombing and machine gunning mission. The pilots, Lieut. Donald Good, Eugene, Ore.; Lieut. Ernest . and Lieut. william J. Beck, Pecos, Tex., returned jubilant, after attacking their specified targets and,

enneman, Hamburg, Iowa,

or good measure, doing a little

extra strafing on the way home.

They remarked the absence of

ground activity.

“Obviously the Japs are spending

most of the -daylight hours under cover of the jungle right now,”

“We can see the

Sees Water Falls Good tried to make the Japanese

break from cover.

“I flew low enough to catch a he “It smelled like rank, rotting

. The only thing

Good saw several Japanese en-

campments, mostly grass huts, and evidence that they had been occupied recently.

Allied pilots return to base to re-

mark on the almost total absence of anti-aircraft fire and attempts by enemy fighters at interception.

Opinion here is that the Japanese

are not only pre-occupied with the marine invasion of the Solomons

which will be more and more difficult to replace. a Bre also feeling their plane

The allied planes are hitting conday and night, at the Gona,

, Pace Is Increasing Rabual, on New Britain island

| The c

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INSTALLMENT XVII—UNITY OF COMMAND “IF A COMMANDER,” warns Napoleon, “seeks wis-

dom in debate and conferences, he must expect the result

which in all ages has followed such course; he will end in

- coming to the worst possible decision, which, always in

war, is the most pusillanimous, or, if you wish, the most

prudent. energetic decision.”

True wisdom lies in absolute command and

We have come a long way down the road of military competence, but we have not as yet learned that wars cannot be won by committees, by conferences, and by

debatable areas of jurisdiction.

They cannot be won by

politicians directing the course of military affairs, not even by the: greatest and most inspired. At this moment we are in much the same situation as was the North during: the early days of the American Civil war, when politicians drove out in carriages to watch

‘the Battle of Bull Run from

the nearby hills. It was only when President Lincoln gave tough, dour Ulysses ‘S. Grant complete and undivided authority over the conduct of the war that the North began to

win battles. The late President Wilson was alleged to have givel Black Jack Pershing’ a private code known only to the two of them, so that

field was com- : plete. Wilson E never interfered EF with him. : Mitchell, Douhet and de Gaulle, the great prophets of

streamlined war, William B. Ziff |}; ved without

reservation in a complete coordination of all. the armed forces, directed under one mind. You must, claimed Mitchell, have a single commanding officer and “a. sphere of command specified inte which the entire air force, the sea force and all the others togethér go and have their work laid out.” Unity of action and planning, .with the authority to command their enforcement, are the only things which are effective in war. Conferences produce nothing, and the word “co-ordination” used in reference to independent units operating loosély at the discretion of their commanders, is a mere figure of speech. Such an effort at unified action as is exemplified by the joint board of the army and navy cannot produce the absolute definitions required. The board has no real authcrity: and attempts no complex organization involving the respective bodies its members represent. ” ” »

Conflict of Services

IN VARIOUS of the theaters of action, energetic and self-willed officers have, against all opposi- - tion, set themselves up with a

chain of unified command. One

of the first things Douglas MacArthur did when he became supreme allied commander in the southwest Pacific was to create a joint Australian-American mili-

tary staff with absolute powers of jurisdiction, and possessing three divisions—air, army and navy. Thus the rather ridiculous situation exists of separation and independence at home, where all vital matters of procurement, organization and action are decided, with a complete abandonment of these principles by task forces in certain vital theaters. The great confusion and basic contradictions this involves are visible at a glance. The supreme commander in Hawaii, an army air forces general, may issue orders to the heads of his ground and naval forces, each of whom may be receiving contradictory instructions from their service chiefs in Washington or even from some inconspicuous officer in one of the bureaus through channels. Back through channels must the whole business go again, to be straightened out by negotiation and discussion, wasting precious time, and forcing an unhealthy sense of frustration and annoygnee on the station commanders. ” ” ”

Strong Hand Needed

IN THE GREAT sea-coast bases on the American continent, the delegation of authority as between army and navy, and even certain non-military agencies, is vague and conflicting. The army, navy, and air forces are in continual dispute over' zones of authority. The army complain for in-. stance, that the navy ha$ sét up all the existing anti-aircraft guns around its own installation on the west coast; the air force is resent~ ful because the navy has secured jurisdiction over an area of island and sea which it claims limits its plans to protect the approaches to Panama. The competition for prerogative and authority is quite open. At headquarters, in Washington, the centripetal force of their own activities tends unavoidably to throw all’ of these agencies into water-tight . compartments burdened with jurisdictional problems and a strong spirit of mutual exclusion, There is no strong and galvanizing hand, recognized and respected by all, with authority to shear away’ this overgrowth . of obsolescent inheritance: to get down to the dynamics which lie beneath. The framework shown here

does not lend itself to swift, pre-

: cise, aggressive action. It is cum-

bersome and needs streamlining

; badly,

Must ‘Get Tough’

THIS WAR can only be won by © some great military leader who is willing to act tough and who has absolute power and authority of direction. He should have unquestioned jurisdiction over every element of the fighting forces and be responsible only to the president of the United States and to the congress. He should be removable, if necessary, but his work should never be directed by outside or political influence. He should be general-issimo-in-chief, director of army, navy and air force, of all procurement, and of the department of psychological warfare. The chain of command, starting at the top, should run through the entire structure of the American war-making machine, so that the delegation of authority wo be always unequivocal and complete. By virtue of his office the president of the United States is com-mander-in-chief of all. the armed forces. In practice this highly specialized and complex performance has been left in the past to the management of professional soldiers who have made the business of war a lifelong study. The assumption of direct management authority and of the function of day-to-day decision on strategic matters by the political head of this republic would be a serious operational mistake. Under the present system the .military, naval and air officers merely advise the president on war strategy. The president, or the little circle of civilians around him, then decides what is to be done. \ This amounts not to a delega-

. tion of authority, but to the giving

of - individual orders which the ranking generals and admirals must then execute. Their own recommendations may be completely ignored. 8 » » What About Unity?

IT MUST BE pointed out in

..this tespect, that the war depart-

ment itself, though largely regu-

“lated by military officers, is es-

sentially a civilian agency, with a civilian representative in the president’s cabinet. The right to exercise military command on the part of a civil officer subordinate to the president is a mistake and has a harmful and enervating ef+ fect on our war mechanism. With all due respect to his person, it is not given to the president of the United States, although he. is actually the com-mander-in-chief, to direct the detailp of strategy and organization of the armed services. As yet no such thing exists as a compact, hard-driving, synchronized leadership for the so-called united ‘nations. The whole question of unity is still in the academic stage. Russia keeps itself aloof. China is willing but inaccessible, Holland, . Poland, Norway and the others are not much more than names on the morning roll call.

PIII

Canada does not even have conscription for fear of offende ing her intransigeant Fupnch population. Britain and Australia, like Barkus, seem to be willing to make a try at the business, but not much has as yet come of it, Economic unity for the pur poses of prosecuting the conflict should be established as an intee gral part of this operation. This super-staff would decide who makes what, where it is to be shipped, and how. It would determine the plans for utilizing such bottoms as we may possess’

William B. 2iff

between us, or which may be

later acquired. There should be one master blueprint for everything, for mili-

« tary - strategy, for psychological

war, for industrial oonstruction, for tactics and planning.

An auxiliafy planning commite .

tee, handled by a small group of able and imaginative men, would form a special geo-physical bus reau, which would view strategie’ action on a global scale, and ate tempt to both anticipate and force events. It would co-ordinate the plane ning staffs of all the united nae tions, and its initiative of action would breathe vitality into the war-making schemes of the en tire anti-axis coalition. In Washington there now sits a combined chiefs of staff group composed of American and Brite ish army, navy, and air officers. Its powers are limited to those of discussion and recommendation, If the joint Anglo-American staff is to have power and use fulness and be anything else than a high-flown debating ety, it must. possess a directing head capable of mafiing any decision he deems necessary relative to the conduct of this war; and it must be invested with absolute powers to determine strategy and to act in the name of the governments involved. » » »

.Name De Gualle?

IF THIS AGENCY were set up seriously, with the required al=: thority, it could become the nue cleus for a great war-making ape paratus involving all of the 28 united nations. It should be cone stituted as a super-staff with aue

thority to tap all resources ot mane »

power, industry or wealth of the nations concerned, with only one end in view—to win the war. At the head of this gargantuan .combat mechanism, we could do worse than to place the giant Frenchman, de Gaulle. If clairvoyance and a close apprehension of problems to be met in the future constitute military genius, de Gaulle is the greatest soldier alive, but a leader without an army. To place him in command of the united nations’ war forces would be a political master stroke, in addition to an act of military consequence.

The effect it would have on the Latin nations of Europe, of Spain, Italy, and France, now told with some effect that the war has settled into an Anglo-Saxon effort to control the world, would be incalculable, srs

(Copyright, 1043. by William B. zi; published. by Dull E ates; Sisitiouted y Tnitea feature vo Syndicate;

NEXT: Psychological Warfare,

on to their 35-hour week or go to 48. The difference Phtween those hours is that three men would do the .work of four. It would mean a-25 per cent Increa'e in the use of mining manpower. ‘We do have a lot of coal on hand. In fact that ‘1s one place where we are not caught short. , sight we haye managed to-get up now the b "| stockpile of scoal

By fore- , again, in history. For ‘once we

This is just one part of this whole manpower question, which may easily be the most difficult one of the war. With the armed services, was industries and farms gasping for men it is not likely that there will be any place in the picture for a 3i-hour, week, for coal miners or anybody else. There was ‘a time when shorter hours were desirable. When the war is over they will be desirable

They can't be justified now on any basis.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

period n order to Yogalt their strength before leavs “They have delightful grounds and porches, the

east of New Guinea, remains the largest \nd potentially most dangerous enemy base in the northeastern Australia zone. But the pace of the allied aerial offensive is increasing at such a rate that Rabaul may before long become a headache for the Japanese. The enemy might find it necessary to give up both the Solomons and New Guinea in order to hold it. If they lost it, they would be faced with a threat to their entire pro-

gram in the south seas..

HOLD EVERYTHING

BUTLER FORUM

BEGINS TUESDAY,

‘Problem of the Negro! to Be Topic as Group Enters Third Year.

The Butler Forum—the adult fortnightly round table discussion group at the university—will begin its third year next Tuesday night in Jordan hall. The first topi¢ of the winter season will be: “The Problem of the Negro” and: four well-known Negro leaders will take part in the discussion. They are: Cleo Blackburn, head of Flanner House; Lionel Artis, manager of Lockfield Gardens; Robert Lee Brokenburr, attorney, and Chester A. Hibbitt, managing editor of The Indianapolis Recorder. The regular panel will include

~ AEN “BROTHERS

‘THIS CURIOUS WORLD

by Wiliam Ferguson

SSSENN ew tan :

23: STRAT

JAWS. . . YET, ONCE CLOSED, ‘HOLD THEM Shy WH ONE

PE MAGC, U. 5. PAT, OFF.

ATIU (S(AND,

IN THE ALEUTIANS, HAS MM

RANFALT, 200 DAYS IN THE Tomas |,

:' HEAD SENIOR GLASS

Walter and Waller O’Brien, co-|:

GETS HONOR TITLE i Times Special t ‘BLOOMINGTON, Ind, Oct. 3— Margaret Mann of Speedway City

| has been - elected honorary captain |zeves of Pershing Rifles at “Indiana uni- me

PROBE TO BACK YANKEE PLANES

{House Group to Cite 4-to-1

Victory Ration in

Pacific War.

tee investigating the air phases of the war effort will report in a few days that American planes. have

shot down Japanese planes at a&

ratio of four to one in the battle

of the Pacific, it was learned today,

The subcommittee will state in a comprehensive report: covering

and bombers have proved on every

the axis on an equal footing. Sticks to Combat Record The report will assert that even

WASHINGTON, Qct. 2 (U. PJ | A house military affairs subcommite

performance record of Americane built planes that American fighters