Daily Post - 23.12.1943, Blaðsíða 2

DAILY POST
á
ROUND THE PRESS
DAILY POSI
I ia published bj
Blaöahringurinn-
Editor: S. Benediktsson.
1 Otfœe: 12, Austuratræti. Tel.
S71fi Reykjavtk. Printed by
AlþýfSuprentsmiSjan Ltd.
Thursday, Dec. 23, 1943.
Kaiser on American
War Production
SETTLE: American war pro-
ducion has now passed its goal
in nearly every category, Henry
Kaiser, the world’s largest ship-
builder, told the United Press
yesterday in an exclusive in-
terview. The time has come to
begin the gigantic task of shift-
ing back to a peacetime basis
o efferiency in roduction. Kais-
er said. He suggested that
every soilder be canvassed for
his specific desires when he
returns to civilian life and re-
commended the creation of a
vast credit pool with contri-
butions by industry, the gov-
ernment, and labor unions to
finance the conversion of ind-
ustri to peace. “So great is our
productive capacity,” said Kais-
er, “that the peak of our war
materials producion was pass-
ed almost before we had begun
to fight. While there is still a
necessity for sustained produc-
ion, the urgent problem is to
privide for the future right
now. I heve suggested to Und-
er Secretaré of War Patterson
and Secretary of Navy Knox
that immediate consideration
be given to canvissing every
man at every fighting front
about his specific desires for
he evertual return to civilian
life, v.'j’ e he wants to go and
what v,ork he wants to do.
Kaiser’s plan would be for the
questionnaires, ^fter the sold-
iers had filled them in, to be
sorted and assigned to local
committees in each community
so that man’s case could be
considered individually when
he returns home. The ship-
builder envisioned these comm-
ittees as draft boards function-
ing in reverse. Kaiser stated,
“such questionaires certaihly
would not distract our fight-
ing men’s mind from wartime
responsibilities. They would in-
stead let them konw that some-
one was interested in them. If I
MORBIT
Death has seldom been more
commonplace than ít is today,
but the Church of Engiand’s
clergy are worried by a mor-
bid attitude toward it. Last
week the Convocation of Cant-
erbury (a routine meeting) de.
plored the “unfortunate tend-
ency to sentimentalize death.”
And, in so doing, they pointed
up the growing popularity of
cremation.
Said the Rev. Wilfrid R.
Johnson of Trorur: “People in
these days ‘pass away’ or ‘reach
port.’ They to not die. Senti-
mentality is spreading and it is
encouraged by the action of
scattering ashes.... People
will give extraordinary directi-
ons about the taking of their
ashes to o particular spot or out
to take a firm stand.... We
are not cálled upon to bless pop-
ular practices.”
Derby’s Canon Francis J.
Edmond agreed that burial re-
quests are sometimes blasphe-
mous: “One man left instruct-
ions that his body should be
burned and his ashes scattered
over his potato patch. That man
was really trying to show his
contempt for his own body.”
The Rev. Francis L. Hilditch
of Rickmansworth asked that
each case be judgéd on its own
marits. He knew a woman who
carried her daughter’s ashes
everywhere. Said he: “This kind
of morbid sentimental and neu-
rotic reaction might be avoided
if the-Church insisted upon the
ubrial of the ashes as her establ-
ished and normal practice.”
The Convocation then author-
ized hree types of services: 1)
a burial service held in the
church followed 'by cremation;
2) cremation followed by the
full burial service in the church;
3) a service at the crematory
followed by disposal of ashes.
CURTIN-RAISER BY
FEMINISTS
The breezy, impudent larrik-
inism of the best in early Austr-
alian literature and journalism
they knew that definite plans
are underway to return them
to peactime jobs and place
them in the places they most
desire and for which they are
the best fitted, thev will have
added incentive to bring vict-
ory sooner.
burst through modern veneer
last week.
Handed out to feminists at a
women’s conference opened in
Sydney by the homely, for-hair-
ed wife of External Affairs Min-
ister Herbert Evatt, was a wo-
men’s praver to Premier John
Curtin:
“Our Prime Minister which
art in Canberra, democracy be
thy aim. May liberty come and
be won for women as wellas for
men.
“Give us this day equal stat-
us, and forgive us our accident
of sex as we forgive those con-
ventions which discriminate
against us. Lead us not back to
inferiority and deliver us from
exploitation, for thine is the
party, the power and policy.
“Give us equality, for ever
and ever. — A WOMAN”
BATTLE OF THE GILBERT
ISLANDS
Two rigged merchantmen, the
Charlotte (Capt. Thomas Gil-
bert) and the Scarborougli
(Capt. Marshall), docked at Bot-
any Bay, Australia, with a car-
go of convicts the Marines iii
1788. Ordered by the East India
ompany to proceed to Canton to
pick up a cargo of .tea, Gilbert
and Marshall took a new course
to the Far East. Sailing close to-
gether, they discovered two
groubs of low-lying coral islands
near Equator which ere iatcr
named after each captain.
Admiral Chester Nimitz. C.-
in-C. U.S. Pacific Forces, show-
ed last month that he agreed
with Gilbert and Marshall that
their route to the Far East was
a good one. American Marines
landed on Makin, Tarawa,
Betio and Apamama, four cf the
16 Gilbert Islands. They took
Makin in a day, subdued Taw-
ara “after a bloody hundrod
hours, and made good progress
on Apamama, where the Japs
had their strongest force. On
Betio, the enemy made a des-
perate rush which ceased when
4,000 yellow fighters ere dead.
“Few Japanese are left alive
in the Gilbert Islands.” repprt-
ed Washington.
To hammer the Japs, the A-m-
ericcans aptly relied on threc
Generals each named Smith.
Major-General Holland Smith
was in charge of the entire oper-
ation, Major-General Julien
Cmith led the troops on Tawara,
Major Gieneral Ralp Smith land-
ed on Makm
No great prize in themseives
are the Gilbert Ilands, little
more than reet's studded with a
few coconut trees, peopied by
28,000 dark-brown, slant eyed
who used to fight their battles
clad in armour of coconut fibre.
wielding swords with shark-
tooth pcints But the islands
were stepping-stones leading
first to the 24 Marshali Isiands,
then to the 519 Carolines and
14 Marianas, and finaliy to the
Philippines and Japan.
The Carolines, Marianas and
Marshalls, German up fo the
last war, were mandated to
Japan by an over-induglent
League of Nations. In this is-
land world which geographers
know as Micronesia (“Land of
Small Islands”), the Japs 'hold
one powerful naval base: Truk
Island in the Carolines.
The attack on the Gilberts
was a threat to outflank Ja-
panese bastions near New
Guinea, and an open challenge
to the JaDanese fleet. Washing-
ton spokesmen stressed the ■
“come out and fight if you
dare” angle. Said Navy Secre-
tary Colonel Frank Knox: “The
fact that we arer undirtaking
tliis campaign is a very clear
demonstration of our over-
v/helming sea power.” “This,”
he added, “was the beginning
of a new campaign to open a
more direct route to Japan.”
Not inclined to take these
events lightly, Tokyo-Radio an-
swered back: “The landing
presages the real, decisive
battle of the fleets.”
SMACKS. IN . THE .SOUTH-
WEST
First blood in the coming
naval knockout fell to the Al-
lies. Between Rabaul and
Bougainvelle, in the Solomons,
Allied warships caught up with
six Japanese destroyers. Tor-
pedoes bagged two. Haring
after the four which raced
back to Rabaul, U. S. gunners
got two more, and crippled a
third. Only one got back un-
scathed.
West, in New Guinea, Austra-
lian troops kept up the pres-
sure. Drowninig the noise with
heavy artillery fire, they drag-
ged Matilda tanks over the
pungle-matted 2,000-fl. Sattel- -
berg Range, turned the fire on
thc surprised Sons of Heaven.