Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-10-12


across the ice.
If the Germans can break
through and capture the city.
they can join lines with the
Firms. The city. therefore, has
great strategic value. =.
Its loss also would put an end
to the operations OF few small
naval units which the Reds
have been able TO maintain in
the Baltic. and would close that
sea to Stain.
HITLER'S suggestion that he
IL will switch to artillery and
dive bombing at Stalingrad is
merely an admission that he
went after the city the wrong
way in the first place. he
thought he could take it in a
hurry by direct assault, but his
losses have been too heavy, prob
ably not as great as the fantas-
tic Russian claims, but too heavy
TO warrant continuance OF that
method.
Dive bombing and artillery fire
are slower, but there are few
authorities who expect Stain
grad will stand.
TimoShenko has been hitting
the Nazi left flank, north of the
city, where the Reds have been
trying to get an offensive started
for some weeks. This might pos
sibly cause Hitler to relax his
grip on the city.
But there is every reason to
expect the NaZis will swarm on
southwark and establish Volga
River defense line for the
Winter.
The government is none too
sure of its case against James
Petrillo, the musicians labor
car. who tells the nation what
music it can hear. The courts
have not been encouraging
Prosecutor Thurman Arnold
much in his efforts TO use the
antitrust laws to break up
union cZarism.
Petrillo is really only a small
potato in Arnold'S fight. The
powerful AFL building trades
union group is much more inn
portant, and it practices the
same controls Petrillo uses, re-
stricting new devices for maxi
ing building cheaper, etc. 1t is
swinging its publicity and legal
power behind Petrillo.
There is no question about
Arnold's ability to prove these
charges, but the Supreme Court
has handed down rulings which
put the unions beyond the pale
of many laws, and these are
binding the lower courts.
Latest such was the Justice
Byrnes opinion. absolving a New
York local teamsters union from
racketeering charges, on the
ground that Congress did not
intend to bring unions within
the scope of the racketeering
statutes.
COME of the New Dealers
~ have been mildly grumbling
at Donald Nelson and limiting
that he may have TO be re-
placed, but their talk has died
down since the President took
an optimistic view of the pro-
duction deficiencies and Nelson
announced he would hold his
job until kicked out.
Most authorities around WPB
expect the year-end figures to
show displeasing deficits, and
are already beginning to calcu-
late the shortage of tanks,
planes. etc, in terms of days, so
they can be announced in that
blind way.
Instead of saying we are short
so many planes, they will say we
were short a certain number Of
plane production days.
1t is wholly a job now of COR
recting maldistribution of raw
materials and labor. No one in
WPB, including Nelson. appears
pleased with the way things are
going.
If there is another blow-up
and reorganization, it will prob
ably come around the first of
the year.
JUSTICE JIMMY BYRNES'
- friends say he was not very
reluctant to leave the Supreme
Court, as he found il the unhap-
piest of all government agencies.
There are others who would like
to get off the lofty bench.
Justices Black and Douglas
are constantly clashing over
shades of New Deal meanings.
Some of the justices have
frowned on Justice Frankfurth-
er'S extra-curricular activities
in administering the New Deal
on the side. Justice Murphy is
openly dissatisfied.
Unless Mr.. Roosevelt promptly
appoints a successor TO Byrnes.
there are going to be many
4 TO 4 decisions from the re-
manning bickerers.
GEN ERAL MacARTHUR'S
" Aussies have pushed up TO
now 10 the pass in the Owen
Stanley Mountain range Of New
Guinea, but probably will not go
farther. The problem of sup
niles becomes difficult beyond