AUSTRALIA The focus of war shifts across vast of oceans and islands -- to Australia. This is the immediate result of news from the remote bit of Pacific land called New Britain. Today the v/ireless on that island reported the appearance of Japanese warships and war planes, and shortly thereafter all t V ( communication with New Britain stopped suddenly* This leads to the supposition that British forces have evacuated their base at Rabaul in the face of enemy bombardment and invasion. I New Britain is the largest and most important island in the Bismarck archipelago. That I. gTnr-->Ttri»TjrTjg^’rlTTjr~TO5a name "Bismarck" indicates 4 once a German possessi'n. It was, in fact, taken by the Australians in the previous World \Uvj ^ A n * __.A 1 0 I ^ islands are just west of New Guinea, the huge mass of | L<vW<VlO^-®- savage land that lies nortn of Australia. New AUSTFALIA - 2 1 cSti. New Britain has an ar a of ten thousand miles, long A and narrow^ only twenty miles across, and yet it was only in Nineteen Twenty-eight that a white man made his way from one side to the other/ The island j A ! is that rugged and forbidding -- an(^ still 4 inhabited by cannibals -- Anthropophagous Melanesians. VVN-^Uv\ — Yet the base at Rabaul is well developed, and is regarded as a key to the northerns^ approaches to H Australia -- commanding narrow straits through which shipping must pass. A glance at your Sunoco ^ map will'show this vividly. New Britain is the first Aus tr a lian-A hesbsx possession to be invaded by the Japaneses It is in report the area of Australian defense, and th e^^^Epsri^of its by the enemy has caused immediate tension in the land Dov/n Unner. Dispatches from Melbourne indicate the belief that a Japanese attempt to invade AUSTRALIA - 3 Australia^may be the next move.^Full military A emergency has been invoked. Complete blackouts in Austra}.ian cities have been ordered ,th?Pt |i^itherto •1 have been partial. Full battle equipment has been these issued to the home guard, and .tfesK soldiers for local ^ A 4 I defense are now considered as -- ^troops in the .Tf fie d.*' Australian newspapers are making bitter remarks -- saying that the great Commonwealth of the Southern Hemisphere has sent its troops to fight in distant areas -- like kykiH Libya. And This w€r» done on the official assurance from London that the Pacific defens© areas were well defended, Singapore impregnable. And now, while Singanore has not fallen, I things are in a cr'isis of war and attack, dnid the Japs iij moreover are striking down the Australia way -- making their first invasion of Australia-held tRrriraty territory today.------M zm J 7 MALAYA In Malaya the m'litary situation appears to be static!--,» ./ ,iSf Japanese have made a further advanceijj / i-'; ^ V . i X ^ down the Sast coast -- the less important sector. pj The battle\line at the western side of the peninsula g, i is about si:\ty miles from Singapore, with the British holding strrok^ly. P-uiith6Tmor8, in Burma, fierce fighting is A going on, with the Japanese trying to force th^ei^xy way to the important British^ba^of Mou^ein, jtrha-t —Ragoda, Apparently the^^ne^-i» not making much progress, because Fangoon reports that the British today stopped the enemy -- "wherever they met him," as the bulletin reads. -^Howeverr Rangoon continues,*-"While this is most heartening, there is no ground for complacency." -------- o --------- - ■^If the Japanese were to smash across to Moulmein they . would cut off what is called the Tanassariri^£anhandle, ^ I % m % §■ W A' - 2 although most of us Americans associate panhandle with Texas. The Tanassarin^ panhandle is that narrow handle of Burmese landthsrt extend# down into the A IB do ■ifialay Peninsula. Moreover, getting to Moulmein Pafrodji would put the Japs in a position to strike at Rangoon and cut that all-important Burma Road -- w’hich gets its supplies via Rangoon. ■p Is INDIES In the Dutch East Indies devastation reigns at the most important qt 'I p^r'^ -9- iv - the Coast of V Borneo. \^he destroying has been done by the Dutch authorities. Thbyhave just wrecked all the equipment at Balik Papan^xW^ich apparently is about to fall to the Japanese. Sol the Dutch haveapplied the scorched earth policy to their biggest Borneo oil port. 1^1 PHILIPPINi::S Ihere is grave and solemn nev;s from General Macart/hur — as he holds his del ense 1 ines *sTRS-UrTr-i The General reports that the Japanese have landed another entirely new army — in addition to troops they already aion^ the B a ■fa an Peninsula battle field. This new army was landed at Lingayen an^f Subic Bay and now brings the enemy force up Vo betv'een two and three hundred thou$and/men. That*s the ‘^1 ^ estimate in Washington.he new Japanese army f{-tr>Wv>VA is commanded by General and military A ^ circles in Washington describe him as an able j xta strategist. \ They know him well. He has had a long series of assignments in many parts of the world, and has come mucn into contact with western military men — including Americans. PHILIPPINES - 2 'TT, rne ponderous weight of Japanese forces are now being hurled against Gpnerai McArthur*s line across the Bataan Penins^uJ^. ^ McArthur reports that the pres sure,-is greatest at his left and center.^ ^V^'asn ington wonders how long he'll be able' to hold out against such terrific odds. Ten to one is a moderate estimate. Meanwhile we hear a defense of the Philippine Mayor of Manilla who is holding office under Japanese control. The supposition has been expressed that he must be some sort of fifth columnist. This is denied today bh by the Philippine Commissioner^ in Washington, v;ho quotes a message he has received from President Manuel Quezon. Quezon is described as ’’being somewhere on Philippine soil”. And nov; he sends the information that the present Mayor of Manilla was appointed PHILIPPINES - 3 before the withdrawal of American troops, was put in office according to the wishes of (.Quezon himself and General McArthur. The Mayor is named Vargas. And he was formerly confidential secretary to Quezon. ( ”I fee>^ertain” states^^rfie Philippine Pre s id ent^-^^ha t he will no^r'^o anything coj^irfary ><5^his oath of aljr^iance to the-Hnited S + ates”. LIBYA The Nazis are striking back in Libya. British headquarters at Cairo report that General -Xw , _ _ Roinniel*s panzer forces^made a reconnaisance—*■*» an advance of about ten miles.j They came forward from the line which the Axis troops are holding, and light British forces retired -- maintaining contact with the enemy. Cairo is still complaining about the weather saying that conditions are the worst in ten years. It*s either torrential rain or sandstormsThat paradox weather condition is badly handicapping the British Air Force. .■si RUSSIA In Aoscovi -- the Coinmunist Party today CO u memorated the ii^ighteenth Anniversary of the death of Lenin. Part of the commemoration took the form of new announcements of victory over the Nazis.\ The Red Army is reported to be closing a tr^g^^ on the Germans retreating from their important stronghold at jJoshaiak. The Nazis are retrIring slowly, and the Soviets are trying to gl^rcle them with a pincer / movement. The Red Army states that in the past four days it has recaptured one hundred and forty-four towns. V. London says that Hitler is facing a supreme crisis -- in trjuing to avert a break between the German General staff and the Nazi party. Meanwhile in London today, there was something new in the way of newspapers. The first Soviet Journal ever to be published in Britain made N its debut. It*s a Vieekly calleo SOVIEi li»AR NLV.S, i sells for three pence and is issued by Stalin’s Embassy.' It’s a tablpid picture affair giving Moscow accounts of the war in Russia. CANADA The Governor^General of Canada, the iCarl of Athlone formally confirmed the fact that the Canadian government is going to hold a plebescite on the subject of conscription. In an address from the throne he told the Otto^ra Parliament that a vote will be held asking the people to release Prime armies by voluntary enlistment, blit they are making ready for a draft. 1 Minister Mackenzie King from his election pledges not to invoke conscription. Canada hitherto has raised 8 CONFERENCE The late word from Rio tells of a last minute hitch in the Hemisphere Agreement to break diplomatic relations with the Axis cowers. Tiia) h it c n . ara* iniect by Argentina -- the one South American Republic that has held out the most against an^Axiff action. Argentina wants a change of wording -- one phrase to be altered. The phrase in question reads:- "cannot continue relations.? Buenos Aires now wants to make lir»j 11 -! it read:- "Ce.n discontinue relations." That obviously cal! m 7 /**" * is a phraseological horse of a very different grammat:^ ^ you cannot do color -- the difference between the thin^HKKXKXRxda and the thing you can s'top doing. The chagge, of course would fundamentally weaken the pledge on the b re ak part of the Latin-American Republics twith I the Axis. The explanation of the Argentine attitude is that the statesmen from.Buenos Aires were annoyed by some remarks made by United States Senator Tom Conally of Texas, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He crit ic izej^’the Argentine attitude -- so CONFERENCE - 2 Argentina in resentment is changing its attitude, not JL for the better but for the worsj^. Another source of disagreement is seen in^t^rw- t Mexican proposal to gran^ non-belligerent status to A Soviet Russia. That gesture of favor toward the Soviets is said not to appeal to the countries of South America -- which strongly anti-Communist. A South Americaa is so anti-Bolshevik that not onfe of it now maintains diplomatic relations with Soviet Moscow. They say a compromise may be reached whereby non-belligerent status will be granted to all the anti-Axis nations that have possessions in the Western Hemisphere. That would include Great Britain and Holland, for example -- but would exclude the Soviets. ¥ % ( TROOP MOVEMENTS Huge military moves by the United States -- were revealed in Washington today. A high government official told how the defenses of ^u ■ axt;:gfeS:ta tu*. West Coast and the fortress of Hawaii have been strengthened immensely-. And this paves the way for American reinforcements to be sent to the battlefield of ocean and islands off Southern Asia. Th^ great Army activity began immediately A after the Pearl Harbor attack. The spokesman in Washington today stated that the first news from Pearl Harbor seemed to indicate that our Hawaii fohad been terr ib ly crippled^ that the United Sts-te^" had lost control of the seas, and that our entire Pacific Coast had been left without defense. All this, fortunately, was exaggerated. But the alarming supposition put the Army into swift action, and a vast operation was begun'to strengthen our West Coast and Hawaii. Six hundred thousand troops were moved that ^as only part of the burst of aiilitary activity TROOP. MOVEIJENTS - 2 lAl>hich was carried out with a minimum of confusion and delay. As a result, the defense operation is now complete -- necessary^ preparation for hurling the power of the United States into the Battle of the Pacific mmUmmi DIES Congressman Dies of the Dies Committee atated today that his investigating group was going to look into the nationalist organizations in this country, all of them, one after another. The Congressman defined the meaning of -- "nationalist organizations." He said they were, in his words -- "nearly all aimed at the Jews." The Dies Committee is making an inquiry into enemy propaganda in this country -- and most of this is anti-Semitic, said the Congressman. Congressman Dies was asked about reports > u % DIES - 2 that his committee has questioned Joseph P. Lash, a New York youth leaderBEi±?t?r 7 M«yiimy "trcr~tr4ui»v , but has been accused^ o£. hr.T.-i7i^ Commun is t^ always denied that he was a member of the Communist party. Lash has been a guest at the White House at one time or another, and the Washington rumor is that the Dies Committee questioned him at the request of Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt -- the idea being for the youth leader to clear himself of the Communist charge, so that he can bR get a commission 3.3 a Naval Intelligence offic'er. Y/hen Congressman Dies was asked about this he said that hearings of his committee during the past few days have been secret, and th at he would not disclose anything that may have transpired. In other words — no comment. profited Proceedings in the Senate today witnessed a bitter attack on wartime profiteering. Senator Vi'alsh of wlassachusetts referred to the instances of gain revealed by recent Senate and House Committee investigations, the Truman and Vinson reports. Senator Walsh pointed out that on several occasions the Haval Affairs Committee has recommended that margins of gain be limited to between seven and twelve percent, and added that every time the profit limitation was under consideration, the committee was bombarded by big business interests, airplane manufacturers and the Office of Production Management --j the agency that was abolished yesterday. Walsh ot Massachusetts stated that present profits are what he called Huncheeked." Then he went on tu excoriate the attitude of some war industry workers,, who are making large I wages. He told of an instance on Long Island -- | paydat at n airplane factory. A lot of soldiers were passing the plant, as the workers came out of the PROFITS - 2 buildings. The workers waved their pay checks in the soldiers* faces and jeered — ”you poor suckers. The Senator didn*t say what the soldiers replied, but it would be easy to suggest a few apt remarks. ki!: ill i It labor There’s word from Washington that President Roosevelt and Philip Murray, head of the C.I.O. have agreed to oppose the plan for Labor unity propounded by John L. Lewis. This move by Lewis was launched without the knowledge of Philip Murray, President of the C.I.O. and Murray is understood to be annoyed aboutt the sudden and thoroughly unexpected project. And now the word from Washington is that Murray was in secret conference with the President at the White House yesterday. They are reported to have agreed that the Lewis peace proposal was not a good thing right now. They think that peace between the two Labor organizations might hinder the war production drive - because the merger would lead to internal competition among the Union heads, each of these fighting for hifh post in the new combined organizat ioju Vfe hear further that the President and Philip Murray believe that the recent Lewis Labor lartfe oart a one-man campaign mxity movG is in -i- fe P ji — 1 labor - 2 inspired by opposition to the President and to iiurray. John-L. Lewis resigned the Presidency of the after coming out strongly against the President in the Nineteen Forty campaign. And the supposition has been expressed that he*s now maneuvering to get command of the C.I.O. again -- possibly the combination of both labor factions. I I" SHIP Another ship was sunk today -- hut not by Nazi submarines. The i'raighter b. b. Brazos was in a collision off Cape Hatteras. It had a smash up with another vessel, which hbh is unidentified, and the Brazos sank. No lives were lost. DRAFT Today’s news tells of a selective service inquiry received at the Viihite House. It’s from a fellow down in Tennessee who has been deferred because of having a dependent wife. Here is the selective service problem that he presents. He writes, "Dear wlr. President Confidentially, I am married and in Class Tt}ree-A. iJly wife is some twelve years older than me," he explains, and then goes on to propound the thrilling question. "What I want to know from you is -- if I divorce my wife and marry iViiss So - and - bo, who is several years younger, and loves me very much, will you still keep me in Class Three-A?" The White House has sent the letter to the local Nashville Draft Board where the ambitious husband is registered. Let them figure out the puzzle of the wife, the girl and Class Three-A. Or maybe the wife could figure it out for them. And now Hugh how do you figure things? j