Monday, January 31, 2011

Current Events January 31, 1943; NAZI'S 10th ANIVERSARY CELEBRATION DISRUPTED BY R.A.F. BOMBS / RUSSIANS CAPTURE MAJOR RAIL JUNCTION /JAPANESE SHIPPING TAKES TOLL FROM U. S. SUBMARINES / CELABRATION OF PRESIDENT'S BIRTHDAY BENEFITS FIGHT ON INFANTILE PARALYSIS:

         The Salt Lake City Tribune
        Salt Lake City, Utah, Sunday Morning, January 31, 1943

R A F Bombers Rout Berlin Celebrants
Daring Daylight Assaults Delay
Talks by Goering and Goebbels
Reich Must Stem Red Tide or Die,
Say Gloomy German Orators;
Hitler Sends Message Assailing Jews
By Joe Alex Morris
United Press Foreign Editor
LONDON, Jan. 30—British planes sent bombs hurtling
down on Berlin Saturday, interrupting the nazi party's celebration
of its tenth anniversary and overshadowing Adolf Hitler's
pledge to continue his war "to save Europe from bolshevism."
Royal air force Mosquito planes, the world's fastest bombers, raided
Berlin twice. They struck precisely at 11 a. m., when Marshal Herman
Wilhelm Goering had been scheduled to open the celebration
of Hitler's first decade til power with an address at the ban of
honor of the German air force.
Return to Attack

Russians Tighten Nutcracker
On Rostov, Capture Maikop
Southern Drive on Caucasus Gate
City Sweeps Nazis From Big
Rail Center; Oil Fields Fall to Reds
Russian — (Official) By United Press
MOSCOW, Jan. 31 (Sunday)— Russian forces, tightening the
southern clamp of their pincer aimed at Rostov, have captured
Tikhoretsk, major rail junction less than 100 miles southeast of
the Caucasus gateway city, a special soviet communique disclosed
Sunday.
Another red army unit, sweeping
across the Caucasus, captured Maikop, center of the rich
oil fields which were the only source of fuel gained by Adolf
Hitler's armies in their Caucasus drive. Maikop is. 62 miles southwest
of Armavir, which had been taken previously by the soviets.

U. S. Subs Sink
Six More
Japanese Ships
Destroyer, Five
Other Vessels
Lost by Nipponese
U.. S.—(Official)
By United Press
WASHINGTON, Jan. so (UP)—
A m e r i c a n submarines have punched another hole in Japan's
diminishing shipping strength, by sinking a destroyer and five other
ships, the navy revealed Saturday night. .
In addition, the far-ranging undersea craft damaged a medium sized
cargo vessel. Thus far U. S. submarines have sunk 123 Japanese
ships, probably sunk 22 others and damaged 32.
The same communique reported that American airmen struck at
Kahili, Japanese air base on the south coast of Bougainville island
in the Solomons. Results of the bombing were not reported. Kahili
is believed to be the base for Japanese bomber squadrons that have
sought unsuccessfully to attack Guadalcanal during the last week
Nation's Chief
Thanks U. S.
For Polio Aid
Word Comes That
President Has
Visited Trinidad
WASHINGTON, Jan.30 (UP)—
President Roosevelt, 61 Saturday was unable to observe the occasion
at home but, he told the nation at night, the tens of thousands of persons
attending parties in his honor "are giving me once again a truly
happy birthday."
In a broadcast message read by Mrs. Roosevelt, the president said
his trips to north Africa and Brazil prevented his return to the capital
in time for the parties In behalf of his favorite cause—the
fight against infantile paralysis.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Current Events January 30, 1943; R. A. F. MAKES FIRST DAYLIGHT RAID ON BERLIN / ATLANTIC MUST BE SAFE F.D.R AND VARGAS OF BRAZIL AGREE / PRESIDENT TURNS 61:



            The Portsmouth Herald
           PORTSMOUTH, N. H., SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 30, 1943

RAF POUNDS BERLIN
IN 1st DAYLIGHT ATTACK
British Bombs Fall
As Nazis Observe
Hitler's 10th Year
Hints Speech Doubtful
BULLETIN
London, Jan. 30 (AP)-The RAF made the
first daylight raid of the war on Berlin today, the
10th anniversary of Hitler's assumption of power.
Mosquitoes of the bomber command dropped
bombs on Berlin at 11 am. this morning and returned
safely," it was announced..
London, Jan. 30 (AP)—A Berlin radio announcer toldTLL0nd0nondon, Jan. 30 (AP)—A Berlin  
the German people at noon today that "Hitler is with his
soldiers," indicating that the Fuehrer would not make an
expected speech on this 10th anniversary of his assumption
of power.
The announcement came just before Marshal Herman
Goering started an anniversary address after an
hour's unexplained delay. Goering had been scheduled to
speak at 11 am. (6 am. Eastern War Time).
Not since Hitler was appointed reichschancellor in 1933 had the
Germans observed the anniversary in such a somber and foreboding
atmosphere.
During the hour's delay, the Reuters listening post reported, peculiar
noises which sounded like confused shouting broken by. an
explosion-like bang came from the Berlin broadcasting station.
The announcer kept saying at intervals:
"There will be a few more minutes delay in Marshal Goering's
speech."P)—A Berlin radio announcer told
ORTSMOUTH, N. H., SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 30, 1943., PORTSMOUTH, N. H., SATURDAY
President, 61, Today Still Setting
Records; Directs 'Biggest' War,
Washington, Jan. 30 (AP) —
President Roosevelt is 61 years old today and, as a sideline to
directing America in its most titanic war, he still is setting
precedents at a rapid pace. That the passing of another
year has not dimmed his eye for the dramatic and spectacular
or made heavy inroads on his vigor was demonstrated by 
his epochal flight to Casablanca to chart 1943 war plans 
designed to force "unconditional surrender" on 
Germany, Italy and Japan.
NUAR
Atlantic Must Be Safe,
Agree U. S. Brazil Leaders
FDR Vargas Decide
Invasion Threats
Must Not Reappear
Washington, Jan. 30 (AP)—The presidents of the
United States and Brazil, reaching an accord in a personal
conference, are agreed that the Atlantic must be made
"safe for all" and that West Africa and Dakar must never
again offer threats of blockade., or invasion against the
Americas.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Current Events January 29, 1943; BIG AFRICA OFFENSIVE NEAR / U. S. AIRFORCE HAD BIG ROLE IN IN ROMMEL'S DEFEAT / JAPANESE NEW GUINEA BASES BOMBED :





THE LOWELL SUN
' Lowell Mass. Friday January 29 1943
ZERO HOUR FOR AFRICA OFFENSIVE
Big Allied Drive Due to Bounce
German Forces From Tunisia
Dispatches Indicate Americans
May Have Struck First Blow
By William K. Dickinson
LONDON, Jan. 29. (UP)—Dispatches from North
Africa said today that the zero hour was near for a great
offensive to throw the Germans and Italians remaining on
the African continent into the sea, and one report indicated
that Americans were already delivering the first blow.
Radio Algiers said advancing American troops had
reached Maknassy, 75 miles north of the Mareth line, near
the Tunisian-Tripolitanian frontier.
Axis Jittery
Axis radios sounded other alarms of a big Allied drive. Radio Paris
said Allied forces below Maknassy Were testing defenses the Axis was
preparing between Chott Djerid and Gabes. Swampy Chott Djerid
is just above Gabes, and there In only 14 miles of passable land between
it and the coast.
INSERT PHOTO




U. S. Air Force Played Big
Part in Routing Rommel
Brig.-Gen. Elmer E. Adler Reveals
Roles of Yank Fliers in Libya
WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (INS) —
Brig. Gen. Elmer E. Adler, who as just returned to Washington
after more than a year of. Duty n India and the Middle East,
disposed today that the U. S. 9th Air
force played a large part in the rout of German Field Marshal Ervin
Rommel's army.
Adler, who served as second in command of the 9th Air Force, in-
informed the War Department that the U. S Airforce “probably
contributed more to the defeat of Rommel than we can yet realize."
Two Task Forces
For the Libyan campaign opened by Lieut. Gen. Bernard Montgomery's
British Eighth army, the American 9th Air Force was organized
as two task forces and attached to the R. A. F., he explained.
These forces—a desert task force and a heavy bombardment
task force—struck "many and effective blows" in the battle which
has driven the Fascist armies in headlong flight across Libya ant
Tripolitania, Adler said.

Allied Planes
Rake Japan's
Guinea Bases
Nips Retaliate
With Weak Raid
on Merauke
UNITED NATIONS HEAD
QUARTERS IN AUSTRALIA, Jan 29 (INS)—Allied bombers smashed
at Japanese bases on a 1200 mile front from Amboina to New Britain
island, an Allied communique reported today as the Japanese retaliated
with a weak raid on Merauke on the south shore of
New Guinea. Enemy float planes dropped two bombs in a swamp
area.
Five Areas Bombed Allied bombers blasted enemy
bases in five areas. Attacks were made on Wewak, Flnschhafen and
Mubo In New Guinea, on three points on New Britain island, on
the Fulloro airdrome on Timor, on the Binnen bay district of
Amboinn, nnd on the Aroe islands south of New Guinea.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Current Events January 28, 1943; GERMANS GIVING UP IN LARGE FORCE / U. S. BOMBERS ATTACK WAKE ISLAND / WEST GERMANY POUNDED BY BOMBS / RAILWAYS & HARBORS ABLAZE IN SFAX:



                                             San Mateo Times
              SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1943

RUSS REPORT NAZI MUTINY
War Council Meeting in Africa;
Quick Invasion Thought Topic

Men Giving Up In Large Force, Says Moscow
Demoralization Found in German Ranks, Russ Claim
MOSCOW, Jan, 28.—(U.P)—
German troops, refusing to continue a hopeless fight, are mutinying
and surrendering in groups to the Russian assault
units storming their crumbling strong holds: at Stalingrad, dis-
patches from the front said today. Today's noon communique
reported the surrender of a general, three colonels, four lieutenant colonels,
and other high officers among crowds of other German and satellite troops
who had had enough.

U. S. BOMBERS AGAIN ATTACK
WAKE ISLAND
HEADQUARTERS OF .THE
HAWA1IAN FORCE, Jan 27— (UP)
(Delayed) — A force of B-24 liberators, raiding Japanese-held
Wake Island for the second time in six weeks, dropped 90 per cent
of their .bombs on the target area Monday and shot down at least one,
and perhaps five, of eight intercepting fighter planes.
Second Raid
Col. William Matheny, who led the raid on,the,night of Dec, 23-24,
when 75,000 pounds of bombs were dropped on Japanese installations;
also led the second one. He said the scars of the first raid, .which
marked the first anniversary, of the Marine's .gallant stand "there,
were still visible.

Japs Raid U. S. Ships in Alaska
WASHINGTON, Jan. 28—(UP)—
Two Japanese float-type planes attacked American ships operating
west of U. S. positions in the Aleutian Islands, the Navy announced
today.
A Navy communique said the Japanese failed to inflict any damage.
The action apparently occurred early today. The Navy would
not say whether the ships involved were naval vessels.

West Germany Again Pounded By Bombers
Rhineland Attacked; All West Coast Given Blasting
LONDON, Jan. 28.—(U.P)—
British heavy bombers attacked Western Germany during the
night in a new allied offensive, first fruit of the Casablanca deision
to hammer the axis into unconditional surrender, which
had sent the American and British air forces within 24 hours
over a 1000-mile European front from Southwest France to
Northern Denmark.


                        The Charleston Daily Mail
CHARLESTON, WEST V I R G I N I A FRIDAY E V E N I N G , J A N U A R Y 28, 1943

Sfax Blazes After Record Raid;
Rommel Escape Path Narrowed
Railways, Harbors
Ripped by Yanks
Italians Admit Damage Heavy;
Axis' Sees 'Plan to Sandwich Army
LONDON", Jan. 29 (AP),—The harbor and. railway yards of
Sfax, a supply port vital for regrouping of Axis forces in Tunic-
ia were officially declared today to have been hard hit by
the 12th U, S. air force's greatest .raid of the war while. British
eighth army artillerymen with Marshal Rommel's rear
guard in the. Zuara area 35 miles east::of .the Tunisian frontier.
The Axis betrayed jitters by radio suggestions that the Briti-
sh first army already had started a big move in the Tunisian, .
Theater. These following unconfirmed reports that the American
ground forces there had launched, or were preparing an of-.
fensive.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Current Events January 27, 1943, ROOSEVELT, CHURCHILL IN AFRICA / AMERICAN AND FRENCH ESTABLISH CONTACT WITH GERMANS RETREATING TO TUNISIA / RICKENBACKER STATE ALLIES CAN WIN WITH AIR POWER IN 44:


STARS AND STRIPES
Daily Newspaper of U.S. Armed Forces, In the European Theater of Operations
London, England Wednesday, Jan. 27, 1943

Roosevelt, Churchill in Africa
Map All-Out Drives
With Military Staffs;
President Flew Over
Gens. Marshall, Eisenhower, Montgomery,
Arnold Among Leaders at Conference;
Giraud, de Gaulle Meet and Agree
By Wes Gallagher
Associated Press War Correspondent
CASABLANCA, Jan. 26 — President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill,
in an unprecedented and momentous meeting, reached " complete agreement
" on war plans for 1943 designed to bring about " unconditional
surrender" of Germany, Italy and Japan.
Defying every tradition, the jaunty but grim United States President flew
across 5,000 miles of Atlantic for a 10-day meeting with Churchill which
saw the two nations .bring Gen. Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Fighting
French, and Gen. Henri Giraud, commander-in-chief of French forces in
Africa, together for the first time in a little villa just outside this city.
Virtually the entire war staffs participated in day and night discussions
which ended this afternoon with a press conference before a group ot war
correspondents flown secretly from Allied Force Headquarters half way
across Africa.

Allies Seek
New Battle
In Tunisia
Advance in Mud to Meet
Nazis at Ousseltia;
Rommel Digging In
American and French patrols, slogging through deep mud left by
recent rains, pushed north and northeast of Ousseltia yesterday to establish
contact with German forces withdrawing into Tunisia.
To the east, Nazi Gen. Rommel's hard-pressed Afrika Korps was
digging in behind the Mareth Line—with Gen. Montgomery's Eighth
Army jabbing into position for an encirclement.
The battle tempo of the previous dayhad slowed because of the weather, but
there seemed to be little doubt the two Nazi forces, Rommel's and that of Gen.
von Arnim, were now almost back-toback in the narrowing Tunisian area still
under Axis control.
Counter-Attacks Cease

Rendezvous Location Defied Gestapo
Roosevelt, Churchill Met, Inspected Troops, Under
Noses of Germans
ALLIED HQ, North Africa, Jan. 26
(AP)—The sensational meeting of Mr. Churchill and President Roosevelt was
carried out almost under the nose of the Germans.
The President, who broke all the ordinary security rules imposed on those
charged with his protection by flying to North Africa, further challenged the
efficiency of German intelligence by visiting Port Lyautey, almost on the
Spanish Morocco border.
So good was the secrecy and closemouthedness of both the French and
Americans who knew of his visit that not a word leaked out in 10 days.
Casablanca ' White House
In going' to Casablanca President Roosevelt left one White House for
another. Casablanca means " white house " in Spanish.



Air Power Can Win in '44
Says Eddie Riekenbacker
" WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (AP)--Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, famous American
air ace of the last war, who was recently, missing for 11 days in the South Pacific,
declared today that he could see no final victory for the United Nations before the
Autumn of 1944, and perhaps not even then, if America failed to hurl her great
air-power against the Japanese mainland. He said the victories at Guadalcanal,
Buna and Gona were tremendous, but added, " We cannot defeat Japan by an
island to island campaign. We must strike at the heart of Japan through air
power."
_________

Current Events January 26, 1943; BATTLE LINES PUSHED AHEAD IN UKRANE & CAUCASUS / FRENCH FIGHT GERMANS MARSEILLES / NAZIS FIGHT BACK IN TUNISIA:



  THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE
        North Dakota's Oldest Newspaper—Established 1873
          BISMARCK. N. D.. TUESDAY, JANUARY 26,1943

Russ Army Pushes Battle Lines
Ahead in Ukraine and Caucasus
Stalin Rallies
Russians on to Greater Gains
Moscow---(AP)---urged
on by an order of the day in
which Premier Stalin for the first time signed himself in as
supreme commander of the Red army, Russia's fighting forces
pushed their battle lines ahead in the Ukraine and the Caucasus
F r i d a y and battled against growing German resistance
in the lower Don approaches to Rostov.
The premier's praise was contained in an order of the day broadcast
by the Moscow radio and reported here by the Soviet Monitor.
Praises Red Army
In it he cited the Red army In it he cited the Red army for
driving 245 miles in two months of the Russian winter offensive and
capturing more than 200,000 prisoners while rolling the Germans
back from the Volga and down from the Don.

French Fight Germans in Marseilles
Battle Bitterly Against Leaving Old Port City
LONDON— (AP) —Vichy authorities have proclaimed
a state of siege in Marseille, the Vichy radio reported Tuesday,
after, dispatches from Switzerland told of angry
Frenchmen fortifying their homes in the old port district
of the city and firing on German soldiers ordered to evacuate
the district.
The German News Agency DNB said in dispatches to Madrid and
Lisbon that 40,000 persons had been arrested in the city The Vichy radio,
which placed the number of arrested at 6,000, was making an
obvious effort to minimize difficulties in the old and historical city
of Marseille, second largest in France.

Nazis Fight Back as Allies
Develop Squeeze on Tunisia
LONDON — (AP) — Field Marshal
Erwin Rommel's Libyan army and the Axis Tunisian forces under
Col. Gen. Jurgen von Arnim fought back to back to retain a foothold in
Africa Tuesday as the British Eighth army pressed relentlessly after the
retreating Rommel in the south and American, British and French
forces held firmly a bristling line on the west.

Yank Bombers Hit
Jap Munition Ship
By VERN HAUGLAND
NEW GUINEA -(AP)— A small
Japanese ship probably carrying munitions exploded with towering
flames that lighted the entire Rabaul Harbor area Monday night as
Flying Fortresses unloaded more than 15 tons of bombs on airdromes
and shipping in the harbor.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Current Events January 25, 1943; UNION JACK FLYS OVER TRIPOLI / RUSSIANS ADVANCE TOWARD CRIMEA / JAPANES DESTROYED ON PAUPA / FRENCH WARNED AGAINST GERMAN REVERSES / GERMANS ADVANCING NEAR TUNIS:



       THE STARS AND STRIPES
Daily Newspaper of U.S. Armed Forces in the European Theater of Operations
                                   London, England Monday, Jan. 25, 1943

Tripoli Taken, British Pursue
Rommel Toward Mareth Line;
City's Fall Severe Blow to Italy
Fleeing Axis Columns
Pounded Heavily by
Allied Planes
The conquering Eighth Army which wrested Tripoli, Mussolini's
last and greatest African colonial city, from the Axis on Saturday, swept
on along the coastal area well to the west yesterday and engaged the withdrawing
enemy in new combats. Marching into Tripoli at 5 o'clock
Saturday morning, Lt. Gen. Bernard Montgomery's troops hoisted the
Union Jack over the richest tactical prize of the campaign. It followed a 1,400-mile
desert trek unequaled in military history for speed and organization.
While some Eighth Army units occupied the city, others shot through the city in
hot pursuit of Rommel's forces retiring toward Tunisia.
The remnants of Rommel's Afrika Korps, fleeing westward be3rond Tripoli, are expected to make a stand at the Mareth Line on the Tunisia-Tripolitania frontier, where the French years ago built an " African Maginot Line."- While some units of the Eighth Army occupied Tripoli, others raced westward on the coastal road, and still another column plunged on south of the fallen capital in an effort to strike at Rommel before he can effect a junction with Axis Tunisia forces.
Soviet Drive May Isolate Foe in South
Reds Advance Down Vital
Railroad Leading To Crimea
MOSCOW, Jan. 24 (UP)—The Red Armies on the Voronezh front are now
smashing southwestwards in an effort to isolate the whole German position in
Southern Russia, which obviously is the meaning of the vast turning movement
now being executed by Gen. Golikov's forces there.
His men have already reached a point 45 miles from Belgorod junction on the
great north-south railway line from Moscow, through Kharkov to the Crimea.
The cutting of this line would complete the destruction of the communications
between the German forces in the south and their formations in Central Russia.
French Warned Against
Cheering Nazi Reverses
Paris radio before yesterday's news bulletin warned those Frenchmen who
" today rejoice at the news of the Russian successes in the east."
Rumors have spread through France of German withdrawals and
of the possibility of an early German defeat, the radio admitted, adding:
The German High Command acknowledges the Soviet offensive, but
the German defense has not collapsed." People should remember that last
year the Russians gamed initial successes but-were overrun by the
sweeping German offensive."

Japs on Papua Destroyed After 6 Month Fight
Liquidation at Sanananda Completes Allied Rout
Of Enemy Forces
ALLIED HQ, AUSTRALIA, Jan. 24
(UP)—All organized ground fighting in Papua has now ended, with Allies tracking
down Japanese remnants and snipers, thus marking the end of a six-month campaign
in which Australian and U.S. troops turned an immediate Jap threat
to Australia into a Jap disaster, involving the destruction of an army estimated
to number 15,000 men.
The campaign, starting with the Jap landing at Buna on July 22 of last year,
brought the invaders within striking distance of Port Moresby on the south coast
in September, only to be chased back across the Owen Stanley mountains by
the Australians and mopped up by them and the Americans in the fierce battles
in the jungles and swamps around Buna, Gona and Sanananda.

Enemy Takes Hill in Tunisia,
Is Halted by French Americans
ALLIED HQ, Tunisia, Jan. 24 (UP)—A battle for a vital valley was in
progress tonight in Tunisia. The Germans have managed to advance halfway
down the Ousseltia valley and now hold the eastern end and the heights
on each side. French and American troops have stopped their advance
and are maintaining their hold on the western end of the valley.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Current Events January 24, 1943; BRITISH 8th ARMY VICTORIOUS IN TUNIS / GUADALCANAL MOP- UP CONTINUES / EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN PROPOSED

                The Charleston Gazette
                         Charleston, West Virginia, Sunday January 24, 1943

Fugitive Rommel Units Halt
Behind Little Magnot Line;
Soviet Armies Rout 255,000

Union Jack Flies At Seized Tripoli
Victorious British Army
Begins to Restore
Vital Harbor
Allies Now Dominate
Key Sicilian Narrows
Naval Forces Harry Axis
On Coast—Montgomery
Van at Zuara
CAIRO, Jan. 23.—(INS)—Britain's victorious ' 8th army,
adopting the slogan "On to Tunis!", neared the Tunisian
frontier tonight in a westward pursuit of fleeing Axis forces
after planting the Union Jack atop the white government
building of Tripoli at the break of dawn today. :
Already British engineers were hard at work repairing the bomb battered,
smouldering docks and waterfront installations of the Libyan
capital, the fall of which burst the bubble of Benito Mussolini's
African empire.
Navy Shells Fugitives

Army Closing Trap on Japs
Guadalcanal Mopping Up Pressed as Enemy Falls
Back in All Areas
WASHINGTON. Jan. 23.—(INS)
The battle of Guadalcanal today entered its final stages as Japan's
lost battalions, now numbering less than 4.000 men. struggled westward
toward Cape Esperance with hard-striking forces of the U. S. army
close on their trail.
As the main American action against the enemy continued along
the northern coast of Guadalcanal's narrow western peninsula, other U.
S. troops patrolled areas east and south of Henderson airfield to clean
out Japanese stragglers who have been hiding out in the mountains.

Sub Bags 4 Ships Bound For Tunisia
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
NORTH AFRICA. Jan. 23.—(AP)—
A British submarine operating in the Tyrrhenian sea destroyed two
enemy merchant ships and a schooner and drove an armed
trawler ashore in a sinkiner condition in attacks on a convoy southbound
to Tunisia, a naval communique said today.
The destroyed merchant ships were of 6.000 tons and 2,000 tons.
The schooner, equipped for anti-submarine warfare, was of 200 tons
and the grounded trawler was of 400 tons.
The submarine first attacked the southbound convoy of two 6.000
ton ships under escort of three destroyers.

Hubbies See Possible Boon
In Equal Rights for Women
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23.—AP—
Keep it just among us boys, but that proposed constitutional amendment
for "equal rights for women" may get strong backing from the men.
Introduced by Rep. Ludlow (D., lnd.), and Senator Gillette (D.. la.)
the legislation was sure lo get lip service, at least, from the congressmen
because it has enough feminine sponsors to make even a
bachelor tremble. But the men found some angles, too.
It reads: "Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the
United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.
Now, any henpecked husband can see that such a law gives him
equal rights with his spouse. According to officials of the National
Woman's Party, women get a bad deal all over the country,
being classed with idiots and lunatics in many states."
The ladies cited state laws which bar women from jury service, give
husbands preferred rights over children and property, refuse women
legal business status and makes it easy for a man to divorce his
wife for the same acts he can indulge in without danger of anything
more drastic than a disrupted home life.
These inequalities, they said, would be eliminated by the amendment.
But some male congressmen, amid some protests that the plan
was a blow at state's rights, discovered that what's sauce for the
gander can also sass the goose. For instance, in some states
where n man can be prosecuted for family desertion. but errant women
can't, wives and mothers have been trotting off to the Waacs, the Waves
and high-salaried defense jobs. Fathers forced to quit work to keep
house for the kiddies have found they have no legal recourse.
In other states, alimony is always a one-way proposition. Ditto
salary splits.
These inequalities, said the grinning men, also would be eliminated
by the amendment.