THE WEEK IN REVIEW
THE WEEK IN REVIEW THE Senate's decisive rejection of the appointment of Aubrey Williams as head of the Rural Electrification Administration last week marked a severe setback for the nation's...
...But, he added, "the pitch of fury" reached by his opponents was because "I openly espouse the idea of getting power into the hands of the common people—not whether I am or am not a good Presbyterian or things like that...
...Names And Notes In The News Revision...
...Henderson reported that the plan for cutting Germany up into 3 different sections under the British, American, and Russian armies simply would not work economically...
...The effect of having a multiplicity of agencies," they pointed out, "is to make it easier for 'insiders' and others with special privileges to operate...
...Louis P. Lochner, famed AP correspondent, reported from Cologne, Germany, last week that Reich Marshal Hermann Wilhelm Goering is regarded by his own physician as physically arid mentally finished...
...Henderson told F.D.R...
...Burton K. Wheeler, Montana Democrat, who took a leading, part in the losing fight for Williams, said that the latter was "a victim of the intolerance which may some day cause an upheaval in this country...
...On the contrary, the evidence proves him to be a man of integrity, zeal, and administrative ability...
...La Follette Denounces Methods Sen...
...Thanks to the extraordinary-efforts of our farmers, and in spite of the tremendous food needs of our nation, we remain the best fed nation in the world, wartime or peacetime...
...Meanwhile, anxious to provide prompt relief for the low-paid American workers who have, especially in the white-collar jobs, felt the impact of the war more harshly than any other group on the home front, three U. S. Senators introduced a measure establishing a 65-cent per hour minimum wage...
...Former President Herbert Hoover, who has been a supporter of the Dumbarton Oaks security scheme, urged basic revisions this week in a series of articles for the North American Newspaper Alliance...
...Equally significant was the behavior of a group of Senators who have been posing as liberals because of their internationalist convictions in the field of foreign policy...
...Robert M. La Follette, Jr., Wisconsin Progressive, who said that "convicting individuals for their economic or political beliefs by the process of association is a very dangerous practice to be indulged in by the members of this body...
...that neither the U. S. military or State Department had done anything except the sloppiest sort of planning about running the difficult German civilian economy after the armistice...
...President Roosevelt, who sent the nomination to the Senate two months ago, took no part in the fight, although last December, when his appointment of hard-boiled reactionaries to the State Department was in danger, the President rallied to their defense and demanded that the Senate speedily confirm them...
...If passed, the proposal would have the effect of permitting regional War Labor Boards to authorize wage increases up to 65 cents an hour without referral of the cases to the National War Labor Board for a decision...
...Last week, Thomas W. Lamont, chairman of J. P. Morgan & Co., Inc...
...Acting in response to a request from the War Labor Board, President Roosevelt asked the advisory board of the Office of War Mobilization to study plans for a guaranteed annual wage— "one of the main aspirations of American workers...
...Casualties...
...Drew Pearson, Washington gossip columnist with an ear that hears a surprising amount at the White House keyhole, revealed last week that Leon Henderson, back from an economic survey of occupied Germany, did some tough talking to President Roosevelt...
...Hoover declared that some of the specific principles which must guide the nations of the world are "no aggrandizement or annexations, territorial or other...
...A sign of how effectively Nazi doctrine has permeated American thinking appeared recently when Rep...
...THE WEEK IN REVIEW THE Senate's decisive rejection of the appointment of Aubrey Williams as head of the Rural Electrification Administration last week marked a severe setback for the nation's progressive forces—a defeat far more important than one might suspect from the meager coverage of the case in the daily press...
...I do not believe that any evidence worthy of consideration by the Senate has been produced which reflects upon Mr...
...the right of all peoples to choose their form of government by free and unfettered elections and secret ballot...
...no territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the people concerned...
...The Soviets won out by the simple strategy of refusing to grant a visa to the American, wearing out his patience, and forcing his resignation...
...Confusion In Property Disposal A sharp report on the Administration's failures in the field of surplus property disposal was issued to the nation last week by the Senate's War (Mead) Investigating Committee...
...Jed Johnson, Oklahoma Democrat, advocated on the floor of the House the sterilization of all Japanese aliens in the United States...
...The American crossing of the Rhine River last week sent stocks on the New York Stock exchange into a sharp decline...
...We also learned that these low wages have been responsible for excessive labor turnover and reduced production in many essential war industries...
...James Patton, president of the National Farmers Union which took an active role in the fight for Williams, declared that "we'll be seeing some of those Senators out where the people live...
...American Communists have denounced attacks on Wall Street as injurious to an all-out war effort...
...The Farmers Union people will become much more intense in their feelings because of Mr...
...Report...
...The Committee urged establishment of a single, centralized agency empowered to act promptly and decisively...
...U. S. Ambassador John Winant in London, Henderson indicated, has been sitting on his haunches as a member of the tripartite commission supposed to look into this, but doing nothing...
...Speaking for himself and his co-sponsors, Pepper said: "We learned that there are from 10 to 12 million non-agricultural workers in this country who are now receiving wages of less than 65 cents an hour...
...Sponsors of the measure are Sens...
...Patton Promises A Fight Commenting on the Senate's rejection of his appointment, Williams said that the opposition was led by Senators who did not "really believe in democracy and who fear the common people...
...Russian authorities wanted a Russian to head a United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation mission to Poland even though UNRRA had decided on an American...
...Sales of surplus war property are proceeding too slowly and with too much confusion, the Committee charged, citing examples of racketeering activities as evidence that the present system does not work...
...La Follette in conclusion: "I hope that when Aubrey Williams' 4 sons come back from the war that their faith in the fairness of this body will not be shaken when they read the record of this debate...
...UNRRA promptly appointed a Russian in his place...
...Goering now spends most of the time in bed worrying over the possibility that he may be deprived of the jewels and paintings" he has acquired in his 12 castles, Lochner was told...
...Shortages In Food The prospect of critical food shortages in the months ahead was the subject of bitter debate in Congress last week as both houses prepared to launch far-ranging investigations of the causes...
...Sterilization...
...Of this number 185,652 were killed in action...
...This bi-partisan alliance of old dealers mustered 52 votes against the 36 cast in behalf of the appointment of Williams...
...Williams early lost the support of Southern Democrats when he refused to back down in his views that the Negroes are entitled to the protection of the constitutional prohibitions against race discrimination...
...Williams' character...
...Senators like Fulbright of Arkansas, Ball of Minnesota, Burton of Ohio, Austin of Vermont, Con-ally of Texas, and Saltonstall of Massachusetts, all of whom are given to making speeches on the need for liberalism everywhere else in the world, voted against confirmation of Williams...
...Strategy...
...Meanwhile" Chester Bowles, head of the Office of Price Administration, charged that the big meat packers were attempting to capitalize on a war scarcity to attack price control...
...He proposed that German civilian economy be run by a civilian commission representing the Allies which would have charge of the entire country...
...The Hoover proposals called for positive standards of the political rights of men and nations, "absolute disarmament of the enemy powers" and "immediate relative disarmament of the United Nations and the establishment of maximum limit of armies, navies, and air power among them...
...Williams' rejection...
...I submit that the evidence is sufficient to prove that he discharged the heavy responsibilities which were placed upon him in a very difficult situation in a manner which should receive the commendation rather than the condemnation of this body...
...He asserted that his competence had been "hardly an issue" in the debate, and that considerations of "race, creed, and color" had been a "part of the piece" of opposition...
...Williams, formerly head of the National Youth Administration, was defeated by an unholy alliance of Senate Tories — Northern Republicans who hate and fear his economic liberalism and Southern Democrats who cannot abide his concern for the rights of Negroes...
...Relief For Low-Paid Urged Two major proposals on American wages were submitted to the nation last week...
...The House of Representatives voted unanimously last week to extend the Selective Service Act for the duration of the war...
...Washington correspondents hoped the subject would be brought up this week...
...He also proposed that the military take orders from the civilian high commission...
...The facts do not justify the scare stories," Bowles said...
...Both showed, to no avail, that much of the attack on Williams was based on falsehood, distortion, and prejudice...
...Wreck...
...He described the fight over Williams as "the first battle in a total war of issues in this country to decide whether the country is to be conducted for the people or for the vested interests...
...Total American casualties reached 859,587 last week...
...Scott Lucas, Illinois Democrat, led the bitter fight for Williams...
...Allies...
...We are going to take whatever steps are necessary to begin to implement our feeling more drastically...
...President Roosevelt told newsmen last week that he would discuss the food situation and reply, to critics of the Administration's food policies at his next press conference, but that conference was cancelled...
...Religion was brought into the debate when foes accused him of atheistic ingratitude because he accepted $480 from the Presbyterians many years ago and then did not become a minister...
...Draft...
...The Government has billions of dollars worth of surplus goods, factories, and land, but the disposal of this enormous wealth was hampered by the presence of a multiplicity of agencies, the Senate investigators declared...
...Said Sen...
...Hoover contended that the authority to use force should not be vested with the American delegate to the world security council, "but that power should be delegated to the President, with the provision that he be bound by a majority of the joint Foreign Relations Committees of the Senate and House as to whether a vote to employ American force shall be submitted to the Congress as a whole...
...The attempt to picture Williams as a Communist by associating his name with persons of Communist convictions was denounced by Sen...
...reciprocated with a lengthy statement defending Soviet aims in Europe...
...A. J. Ellender, Mississippi Democrat, one of the few Southerners to support Williams, and Sen...
...Claude Pepper, Florida, and Olin D. Johnston, South Carolina, both Democrats, and Robert M. La Follette, Jr., Wisconsin Progres sive...
...Peace Scare...
Vol. 9 • April 1945 • No. 14
