ImFOIiTL t-'J. - $****+-£6- QI m ^ j U u ^ j J t . 'ZJ, IW. T^ere^ word from London that Great Britain has suggested to the United Spates a plan to put an economic curb on Japan/ This plan is said to have been outlined to President Roosevelt’s emissary, harry Hopkins, when he was in London. And HApkins, presumably, has since presented it to President ^oy>sje*elt - fir who is considering the idea. The British contention is that Japan is now building up huge reserve materials necessary for war, and is buying such war stocks in the United States 4 £t^±*-~frue, ths* this nation has restricted merchandise going to the Far Eastern Empire, X but,London points out that the regulations apply to only a small I a J -e_ list of products, stopped the shipment /\ to Japan of high octane gasoline, such as is used in speedy warplanes. But, on the other hand, it did nothing about other A products of petroleum and a variety of raw' materials li^e cotton. and various metals. So Britain proposes the following: First, the United States and the British Empire should cut down all , . ___ exports to Japan .to ^orfftal—1 ewels-w**fc A Don’t let the ...ikado’s people pile up wartime purchases JAPANESE IMPORTS 2 Second, -- the Jni ted States should put a check on the number of American ships that are used in trade with Japan_cut down tne amount of American tonnage that carries ?roods to Japanese ports. Oil tankers, especially. Third, curtail Japanese purchases in Latin-America. The British are said to have told Harry Hopkins the Tokyo government is buying in South America large quantities of such key materials as mercury, copper, scrap iron, lead, wool, cotton, leather, and so on. But how can we stop that? The British suggest what they call- "preciusive buying.” V>e should go into the South American market and purchase a huge lot of the things that Japan wants — which would keep them from getting the stuff. Our buying wou}.d preclude their buying. HARSHALL ■ ■ The army is transferring warplanes to the Navy — because of the Par Eastern situation. This* it is understood, is what the Chief of Staff, General Marshall, told the Military Affairs Committee of the Senate today. It was a secret hearing, and there 1 s no official account of what the General had to say. The word is, that he told the Committee that the Army Air Corps is transferring a lot of sky fighters, including dive bombers, to the aircraft carriers of the Navy. They, it would seem, are short of combat planes. And the purpose of the transfer is to bring the United States Pacific Fleet to war strength at once. This because of the Far Eastern War crisis. That grew still more grave today. There is also an aid-to Britain angle. The Chief of Staff is said to have told the Senate Committee that, of the billion dollars of war equipment sbn order, not much will be available soon — no great quantity will come off the production line within three or four months. General Marshall is said to have expressed himwelf with optimism concerning Britain1s chance of winning the war The debate in the Spnate today was dramatized by the fact r e ^en- ^ did most of the debating had previously been in the doubtful column. Senator Reynolds of North Carolina is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, which okayed the fcxgutxisBUCxiaillx Lend-Lease Bill. He voted for that okay - but with reservations, and it was not known whether he would be for or against the measure for all-out aid to Britain when it came to the Senate floor. Senator Reynolds made a four-hour speech today, and came out - against. He said the Lend-^ease Bill may A ^ lead us directly to a declaration of war. He described the measure in these words - f?A bill for the defense of the British Empire at the expense of the Fight $ of American men and at the expense of the American taxpayer .’1 Re said a lot more than that in four hours, ail of which boils down to the fact that he’s going to vote - nNo.” So the Lend-Lease Bill h&s lost one vote, but has also gained one. Senator Burton of Rhode Island has been listed in the doubtful column. Today he issued a statement saying that hem vote - Yes. He indicated that he didn’t like all the provisions Of the Lend-Lease Bill, but added that it's the ne effective way to aid Britain. LABOR The question of labor and national defense is being elucidated by the two chiefs of armament production, William F. Knudsen and Sidney Hillman. Defense Director Knudsen told the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives that no laws were needed to curb strikes in defense industries. £» |A*» this he is followed by Defense Director Sidney Hillman, who A today told the Committee that Congress n‘eednTt bother about the question of labor legislation for national defense,because, said he, "strikes are the rare exception in defense industry." for many years, declared that right now for the first time in our industrial history, employment is increasing swiftly without any corresponding increase in the number of strikes. He pointed back to the period of World War emergency, from Nineteen Sixteen on, and stated that right now less than half'as many workers w«re on strike than during a similar period in those days. This, he described A as - a remarkable record. Inevitably, Hillman was asked about the Hemy Ford affair - in which the Number 0ne motor magnate failed to get a LABOR - 2 defense order for trucks because he refused to abide by labor regulations. The Associate Defense Director related that vrhen the production effort began, he suggested that defense contracts contain a clause requiring companies to abide by the labor laws. This was approved by the President. The contract on which Ford was bidding contained this clause' automaticaHy, and Henry Ford did not approve of that. Concerning the question of defense contracts and violations of the labor regulations, Hillman said today he did not approve of - a blacklist. He said he didn’t think that defense work should be refused to companies that do not square with the labor code j they shoulda^^-be blacklisted. A A /v The latest important item of war news, tells of a trip V.AR to Cairo. British Foreign Secretary Anthony Bden and the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir John Dill, have gone to the headquarters of the British Awny of the Near East. London says itTs of the greatest importance. The story is that the Foreign Secretary and the Chief of Imperial staff are confabulating with the British wear Eastern command in preparation for some important move. In what direction^ The answer is - the Balkans. Britain may take major action to bolster up Greece, which is now threatened with the German demsrtf that Athens make peace with Rome. One version from London is that as soon as General Vi'aveli succeeds in knocking out the last bit of Italian resistance in Tripoli, his victorious army will be transferred to Greece, as a counter-poise to the situation that has develped. That situation has been advertised to all the world - the Turkish-Eulganan Treaty apparently clearing the way for a Nazi push into Bulgaria to the border of Greece, the rear of the Greek army. The nevvs today tells of Germans throwing a pontoon bridge across the Danube, leading from Rumania into Bulgaria, though they say this was merely a practice maneuvre preparing for real bridging operations soon to come. Beyond the Greek angle, lies the vastly more important possibility of a Nazi movethrough Turkey toward the Suez Canal. This by the British would have to guard agalnst^every means. Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and Chief of Imperial Staff t ir John Dill, are said to be conferring witn tne Near Eastern command on the subject of backing up Turkey. Presumably the Turks would fight, if Hitler tried to drive through tneir country. And Britain might throw to their aid the army that defeated the Italians in North Africa. V'-a.xdr The picture is one of expanding strategies, of-a»c^ move and counter-move in a possible theatre af that extends from the Suez Csnal to the frontier of Rumania. In all this theorizing, xxx. there's one definite fact The British today swiftly occupied the island of Lemnos., This is one of the ancient isles of Greece, a highly strategic bit of --/ * » .$£ q _ iand in the northern part of the Aegean Sea.-^not so far from the area where the Greek army is fighting the Italians and might also have to face the armored cohorts of Nazi Germany, it's also in the region of the Dardantelles, which Hitler would have to force to begin any threat against the Suez Canal^ Hltherto, Great Britain has occupied only one greek it*' island - highly strategic Crete, from which air operations^were*- launched against the Italian peninsula. Jow_Lemnos,^whicn has a pertinent relation to possible moves by the Nazi armies in the fci Balkans. ____e> — Britain again tonight, as two There1s air-raiding over tin recovering from their injuries of British cities are still recoie a , ..v, the tragedy of a hospital hit last night. London -wit WAR - squarely by a bomb, more than two scores of patients killed in an episode of horror. The other British city is Swansea, in the Welsh industrial area. Swansea was raked with bombs last night - heavy damage, loss of life. They say though, it was not another Coventry, ± - or anything like it. France reports food riots in Paris - the first jtffsrip _ A to of its kind, the much debated peril of starvation in the ak occupied countries. Shortage of milk and cereals for children, and the story tells of a stormy mob. Women holding their babies high, and shrieking for food. They say the food riot was instigated by Communists. SOLDIhRS Therp has been an outbreak at Camp Dix, New Jersey - mutiny. Fifteen non-commissioned officers ripped the chevrons off their uniforms, ano today were placed in confinement. And that does sound like an outbreak of — mutiny, or worse. The story of the revolt of the sergeants and corporals is as follows: Company K of the Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Infantry has a captain who believes in being kind to the recruits. He wants the top sergeants to be gentle and understanding with the rookies of the gawky squad. According to the old ways of the army, the to-kick has commonly been a formidable individual, whose blistering language and raucous tones have frequently sear the sou of the greenhorn soldier who has just joined up. That all wrong, declared the captain of Company K, A Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Infantry. Because rookies have souls like anybody else, and the top-kick should have a heart. The non-commissioned officers didnft like it. They complained that the enlisted men were getting all the breaks the sergeants and corporals no breaks at all. A£4~Fhe kindness and consideration was for the rookie, and none for the top kick. SOLDIERS - 2 The non-com discontent was brewing for days, and then came to a climax when the captain issued another order. This described the proper relation between the non-commissioned officers and the privates. The captain explained what a sergeant or a corporal should be to a rookie, expressed it in these words:- ’’Mother, father, and brother.” Well, lt!s kind of hard for anybody to be a mother, father and brother to anybody 1 else — especially a top sergeant to a soldier. In that case it would be more natural to be two-mother-in-laws, and step-father. The non-commissioned officers proceeded to explode. They ripped the chevrons off their uniforms. They didnft want to be any rookie’s mother. Well, for that fifteen sergeants and corporals of Company K, Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Infantry, were ordered confined to quhrterd. They won’t be set at liberty - or a week or so, and then probably will be reduced to the rank of private motherly sergeants over them. This may sound like a Republican trick, but it isn’t. Imagine, talking about - the Roosevelt octopus! Or, in Latin - w v\ "Octopus Roosevelti." Latia is the right language, because it’s A all scientific. The long outreaching tenacles are zoological - nothing but. In the present state of world affairs and national politics, the Smithsonian Institution today baptized a critter taken out of the tropical ocean during President Roosevelt’s cruise to the Galapagos Islands in Nineteen Thirty-Eight. The presidential expedition,fltBi±KXt*^ in the interest of science, fished out a collection of tropical marine life. One of these was an octopus of a new type, a species hitherto unknown. Ever since, the zoologists, ichthyologists and invertebrate, anatomists have been studying the peculiar octapod, and now ha\ e given it a scientific monicker. A new species is commonly named after its discoverer. Hence today’s new addition to the zoological family, flasia?)® "Octopus Roosevelti.” x r > If your *indoT is facing south, and the sky is clear tonight, you'll see tv.o bright stars close to each other. Tney’re Jupiter and Saturn in conjunction, ^nd this, happening right no%, is an astronomical phenomenon of the greatest rarity. True, Jupiter and Saturn dra?. near each otner, pass each other + at intervals.not so A Tfmy long apart. They'll be seen together in the night sky again \/ in I.ineteenZighty. The extraordinary thing about the tv.o planets at the present^ time is that they've been in conjunction three tiii.es within a period of six months. They came together last August j then they passed each other for a second time on October kxxriRx * Eleventh. Their third conjunction occurred this afternoon, when both were invisble. But when evening came, they were still close together, and now slowly drawing apart. A The last time Jupiter and Saturn had three conjunctions within six months was nearly two hundred and sixty ye^r^ ?goj and astronomers have not figured when the triple prodigy wi^~ be A