The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-09-25
WAR OUTMODES INTERNATIONAL LAW


 ternational law has become can be gained by Q check on the laws of war as they affect the operation of military and naval aircraft.
 The Hague conference of i922-3 made some broad generalizations that the laws affecting surface craft should also apply to aircraft. But international law as 1t applies to the sinking of merchant ships speci- fies that war vessels can determine the character of merchant ships only by visit and search, and that the true character of a merchant ship must be determined and pro- vision made for the safety of crew and passengers before sinking. De- termining the true character usually means an examination of the crew list, passenger list, clear ance papers, log and cargo mani- fest.
 Of course it's impossible for nn airplane to do any of those things. For a plane to radio merchant captain to abandon his ship would bc dead giveaway of the planes position, and make 1t an easy tar- get for anti-aircraft guns.
 All those points can be kept in mind the next time your bridge table debating society meets to complain about the way the axis plane sank the U. S. freighter Steel Seafarer on the Red Sea.
 The labor division in the Office of Production Management has re- ceiVed reports from a few towns In which there are & number Of defense industries to the effect tha. employees arc shopping around from one plant to another to get better jobs at higher wages.
 To prevent this inflationary ia. Dor turnover, OPM reports indicate that in some cities the, employers have banded into junior manufac. turing associations and agreed among themselves not to accept new workers unless previous on- ployers have signed release. From the employers viewpoint, this en- ables the whole group to freeze its labor supply and hold wages at present levels. From the govern lnent's viewpoint, this is an illegal combination, and all such evidence is turned over to the Department of Justice for investigation.
 MIR. SMYTHE STILL HERE
 Tn case you have missed him, J. Henry Smythe, IT,, Is still under- foot. Tn case you don't remember the face, though the name Is fain- liar, Smythe-Slogan Smythe, they calls him-is the fellow who has been dropping into newspaper of. fices since 1882, asking for pho- tographers and then beaming Into their lenses, Notice how much I look like FDRl" The cameramen do their stuff and millions of news- paper readers look at his phiz, an- ually, under headline such as No, You're Wrong Again"
 Besides being a professional look CT . like Roosevelt, Smythe writes slogans for a living. but his con- tributions to the defense efforts haven't been clicking very well, and II the country loses the war, may0e this'll be why. Save to Defend Defend to save America!" and stop the Rattle of the Rattle snake!" and "Swatastick on Hit Ter" are the best he has been able to do since Roosevelt's last fireside chat.
 What really worries Smythe is the Fascist emblem on the tails side of the dime. "Americanize the Dime" is his slogan for that re- form. After it's in effect, he thinks the likeness of Lincoln should be promoted from the penny to the half dollar, and the likeness of Ben Franklin put on the penny. So far, he hasn't suggested putting FDR's face on the dime. It might look too much like Smythe, and Snnvfne'S A Renfhiicar.