Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1943-04-29

nOTrOT over the ~
entire land, and
doubtless over the Ssa
w ole civilized
world Under the .ggg|| ~
Geneva agreement ~
the A m r a n fszs 8 ~
held by Japan are prisoners of war
and as such entitled to humane and
decent treatment. We shall not reply
in kind because we are a Christian,
civilized nation. We hold a consider
able number of Japanese prisoners
who will continue to receive the
treatment guaranteed them by the
articles of War but l wouldn't want
to be in the place of the Japanese
officials who are responsible for these
murders once the war is over We
will exact an eye for an eye, and a
tooth for tooth, but our vengeance
will not fall upon the innocent. This
also goes for those in Germany and
Italy who are primarily responsible
for this war.
Mail Service to Military.
Members of Congress have received
and continue to receive many letters
from parents demanding improved
mail service for members of the
armed forces stationed overseas.
There are many reasons for these
delays. First the letters must be
censored which takes time as it is
estimated that an average of Is mil
lion pieces of mail are sent by rela-
tives and friends each week. Then,
too, very considerable volume of
mail has been lost through torpedo
ings. 1 am satisfied that the military
postal service is doing the very best
job that is possible under the cir
cumstances.
Embargo Lifted.
Quite a commotion was raised
when the Administration announced
that the press would not be per-
mitted to participate in the forth
coming United Nations food confer
ference, which convenes on May ID,
! and as a result of much adverse
criticism both in the press and in
Congress, the Administration has de-
cided to lift the ban. That is well
because the conference promises to
be a most important one and the
people are entitled to know day by
day what is being done. There has
been altogether too much secrecy
in connection with governmental &C
| tivities and that is not conducive to
good government.
More Boondoggling.
Taxpayers are becoming thor
oughly aroused over some of the
haphazard and questionable loans
that are being made by the regional
Agricultural Credit Corporation out
in our part of the country. Here
are a few examples of loans made
within the past few weeks.
l. A loan of $4,000 covering COWS,
2 heifers, 4 horses and IA pieces of
machinery and equipment. All told
the collateral amounts to about
$500. Yet in the terms Of the loan
there is a provision that an addi-
tional $1,000 may be borrowed later
on the same security making total
of $500.
2. A loan of $500 covering 400
turkey poults, 2 brooder houses, AZ
eve sheep, one SOW and IA tons of
turkey feed.
3. A loan of $3.50 covering cows
and 500 baby chicks one day old.
Why should the government be
loaning out money at time when
our banks are bursting with de-
posts and anyone with fairly good
credit rating can get loan? Here
we are fighting a war that is calling
| for the expenditure of unheard of
sums. AS this is being written we
are in the midst of drive to raise
Is thousand million dollars, which
is only a fraction of our current war
needs. Hasn't the time arrived to
close up these governmental leaks
that are costing the taxpayers hun
dreds of millions of dollars annually?
Also, hasn't the time come to stop
further impairment of our credit
structure? If the trend toward So
cialiZation is not checked now all
private business will be obliterated
within the next decade. Already the
government is engaged in operating
railroads, ships, insurance, hotels,
apartment houses, farming and other
activities. The only way to stop it
is for Congress to cut off all future
appropriations for this sort of thing.
Here we are being taxed to make up
loses sustained by activities that
compete with and seek to put us out
of business. From whatever angle
viewed it is not right.
South in Reversal.
Could John G. Calhoun have heard
the proceedings at the southern re-
gional conference of governors and
state officials which concluded their
session at Atlanta last week, he prob
! ABLY would have turned over in his