THE WAR IN REVIEW
THE WAR IN REVIEW THE tragic and untimely death of President Roosevelt this week raised many questions over the future conduct of the war. There was deep concern that the passing of the...
...Early in the week Lt...
...La Follette said: "A few days ago I happened to glance at the gallery and I saw there 25 or 30 Army privates in uniform...
...Some observers, like The Progressive's commentator, Commander Seely (see below), believed that it was too late for the tragedy to affect the course of the European war...
...Reminding the Senate that "this Chamber is, after all, the show window of the Senate of the United States in action," Sen...
...This port, along with several other prize French ports, is still in the hands of the Germans...
...At any rate there were signs of stiffening resistance in both great theaters...
...Roosevelt's vital personality the whole American scene may change, and it may not change for the better...
...The 3rd Army was knifing its way toward the Czechoslovakian border, having already cut the main arteries of Germany's north-south communications...
...Further to the north, U. S. Marines were finding comparatively light opposition as they moved toward the northern tip of the island...
...C. S. Seely THE death of our great President probably will not affect military operations in Europe, but it may in the Orient...
...A Vigilant Watch Our foreign policies may possibly remain essentially the same, but our domestic policies seem to be in for a drastic change...
...Reports told of the complete desolation of an 11 square mile area in the city's industrial heart...
...Such action, the Soviet press asserted, would sabotage the peace by weakening the victor nations...
...German soldiers, he said in an order of the day, must lay down their lives to stop the Russian offensive...
...In the Pacific the fighting on Okinawa reached its highest pitch of ferocity...
...Air formations were over German cities in unprecedented numbers...
...The opinions and assertions expressed above are the private ones of the writer and are not to he construed as official or reflecting the Hews of the Navy Department or the naval service at large...
...The discussion of the Senatorial weakness for playing "hookey" was initiated by Barkley after some difficulty in getting a quorum on the floor to listen to debate on vital Lend-Lease legislation...
...In the south the American 7th was laying seige to the Nazi shrine city of Nuernberg...
...Elsewhere in Germany Allied forces continued to slash enemy armies to pieces...
...Although La Follette readily acknowledged that absence from the floor did not necessarily mean that Senators were neglecting official duties, he left no doubt that he considered the problem required the Senate's most serious consideration...
...Stalin is always closely surrounded by (i or 8 exceedingly able advisors who can if necessary take his place without anyone being able to detect a change in either foreign or domestic policy...
...Chinese, and French, know full well—better than most Americans—the power and influence of a President of the United States...
...We must hope for the best, but beyond that, there must be a vigilant watch maintained until w'e know what course the new Administration will take...
...La Follette expressed his concern over what impression these veterans "might have of this - branch of the National Legislature...
...One could gauge it by imagining the effect the announcement of Hitler's demise would have in the Allied countries...
...Charging that the Senate has reached "an all-time peak in irresponsibility of attendance" Barkley said, "We can get but few Senators to come here" even when legislation is pending "involving billions upon billions of dollars worth of property...
...Roosevelt had no such advisors, and those he did have are even now moving out of the policy-ma' ing picture...
...Taking the floor soon thereafter, Sen...
...Although Berlin spoke of a new giant Russian offensive on the Oder River line aimed at Berlin, Moscow remained silent as far as that sector of the front was concerned...
...Reds Oppose Disarmament An interesting sidelight on the unique nature of this war and some idea of what Allied troops may face for many weeks to come was provided this week in the announcement that American-British air forces were attacking the French port of Bordeaux...
...I believe that unless the progressives, liberals, and others who believe in a progressive, growing democracy, redouble their efforts a wave of reaction could set in which will end in another great depression...
...He declared that their purpose was the destruction of Germany and the annihilation of its people...
...Even as early as 1937 iwhen I was in Europe) practically everybody there conceded that Mr...
...These advisors are only a shade—if any—less able than Stalin, and certainly would carry on precisely as Stalin carried on...
...Roosevelt had more personal power than Mr...
...They -ertainly will move with caution un-' il they learn more fully what the 'oreign policies of President Truman and his advisors are to be...
...There followed a series of unconfirmed reports that these spearheads had driven to the outskirts of Berlin...
...In Yugoslavia the Communist leader Marshal Josip Broz-Tito announced that his country would build a powerful army and expressed his desire that the Italian Adriatic holdings of Istria and the port of Trieste be turned over to Yugoslavia...
...This is because all the hard fighting in Europe is over, while it has hardly begun in Asia...
...Stalin did announce the fall of Vienna and the advance of Russian troops across Austria toward Hitler's hideout at Berchtesgaden...
...These men, he explained, could not know that the absent Senators were attending to other duties, such as office work, committee hearings, and consultation with executive departments...
...In Germany the American 9th was setting the pace Will F.D.R.'s Death Affect The War...
...The deliberations of this body are important," he exclaimed, "not only insofar as the actual formulation of legislative policy is concerned, but likewise because the debates furnish information to the constitutents of Senators as to the reasons which have ultimately determined their position upon the vital questions which affect, for good or ill, the welfare of every man, woman, and child in the United States...
...William Simpson's forces flung 2 armored columns across the Elbe River, last formidable water barrier to the Nazi capital...
...The enemy death toll in the Philippine campaign reached 323,000 this week, 10 times the anounced U. S. casualties...
...On the political front there were several developments that might well have a disturbing effect on future peace...
...Confession Is Good For The Senate THE United States Senate, whose rafters have rung frequently in late months with denunciation of absenteeism among war workers, last week began a process of examining its own conscience concerning the mounting absenteeism on the Senate floor...
...Generally, however, most experts were agreed that the forces and plans already in motion under the military would continue uninterrupted...
...British and Canadian forces had driven north to the North Sea on the coast of The Netherlands, cutting off the escape route for Nazi garrisons in that country...
...I could from my seat see that on the left breast of each and every one of them were service ribbons indicating they had been in active combat somewhere in this global war...
...Scene May Change The point here is that Mr...
...In the Philippines Mac Arthur's troops were cleaning out the last enemy garrisons in northern Luzon...
...The whole front was ablaze as the American 5th and the British 8th struck in an effort to break the German hold on northern Italy...
...Mark Clark said was the beginning of the "Spring offensive in the Mediterranean theater...
...Units of the 9th and 1st Armies seemed on the verge of pinching out the Ruhr pocket with its rich industrial booty and almost a half million German troops...
...Robert M. La Follette, Jr., Wisconsin Progressive...
...There was widespread feeling that juncture of the Russian and American armies would soon be effected...
...Berlin especially was subjected to intense hammering...
...That the enemy would gain- a tremendous psychological lift from the news, there could be little doubt...
...Hitler himself announced that the Russians were making their final bid for Berlin...
...He reminded them that under the rules Senators absent without official leave could be docked in their salaries...
...The frank discussion met with surprisingly little objection from other members of the body, most of whom have privately expressed concern over the increased "hookey playing...
...La Follette asked the Senate to consider strict enforcement of its rules against absence without leave of the Senate...
...The Russian press, controlled by a government which in the old League of Nations' days won the respect of peace forces everywhere for its fight for world disarmament, was bitterly critical of any suggestion that disarmament follow this war...
...The quiet of the Italian front erupted, meanwhile, in what Lt...
...He asked for strict application of these rules especially in those cases where Senators have left the Senate "precincts" and are beyond the call of the Senate...
...Without Mr...
...Japanese defenders were hitting Yank lines with one counterattack after another in an effort to break through and seize the initiative...
...By Lt...
...Stalin, for a good example...
...La Follette discussed the serious implications involved in the continued "chronic absenteeism" to which Barkley referred...
...Europeans are now watching Washington as never before, and we Americans must also do so...
...Rut they were not at all certain about future events in the Pacific...
...Reinforcements were being rushed up in a supreme bid to hold the remaining foothold...
...Comdr...
...There was deep concern that the passing of the commander-in-chief might cause such disorganization and confusion that the war effort would be impeded...
...Yanks Lose A Bridgehead But at mid-week official reports declared that the Germans had thrown veteran troops from the Russian front against the Elbe bridgeheads and had wiped one of them out, inflicting heavy losses on the Yank forces...
...The probing followed prods by Majority Leader Alben Barkley of Kentucky and Sen...
...Activity on the Eastern Front was shrouriea in mystery...
...Tokyo was ripped and seared again this week as B-29s were over the city in record making force...
...in the Berlin sweepstakes...
...To curb growing absenteeism, Sen...
...Our great Allies, the Russians, British...
...Many Europeans consider the President of the United States the most powerful man in the world, and this was especially true in the case of Mr...
...Pointing out that at the time there were only 6 members of the Senate present on the floor, Sen...
Vol. 9 • April 1945 • No. 17
