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VOL. LII, No. 4-S ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1943

PRICE FIVE CENTS

Roosevelt

Saves

Stephan

from

Death


Navy

Takes

Over

West

Quad as

Training

Begins

Traitor Gets
Life Term

<t>-


1,300 Men
Are 'On Deck'
For Duration
Bluejackets, NROTC,
Marines Say Goodbye
To Civilian Leisure
Approximately 1,300 men left civ-
ilian life yesterday at the command
"Chuck your gear and show your or-
ders" as the fleet came in at West
Quad for four to eight semesters of
land training.
A muster of bluejackets or "raw
boots," the Navy's term for new re-
cruits, NROTC members, and ap-
proximately 300 Marines turned the
eight houses of staid West Quad-
rangle into a "ship," full-dubbed
with a quarterdeck, main deck, half-
deck, hold, and gangway.
The first mass training of naval
men on the University campus will
be "squared away" or shipshape as
reveille sounds at 0600 (6 a.m.) to-
day and a routine of calisthenics,
muster, mess, sick call, and inspec-
tion gets under way for the duration.
All members of the Naval Training
Unit's V-12 program, the bluejackets
Turn to Page 4, Col. 1
Allies Smash
At Palermo
Raid Is Prelude to
Future Aerial Battles
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
NORTH AFRICA, July 1.- (P)-
American Flying Fortresses, encoun-
tering little opposition, smashed the
main Sicilian port of Palermo yes-
terday in an unrelenting aerial prel-
ude to trans-Mediterranean amphib-
ious operations that must be the
greatest in history.
Escorted by P-38 Lightnings, the
American heavy bombers spread new
debris amid the island capital's stor-
age depots and barracks, and raked
four airfields, a communique said
today.
Prime Minister Churchill's fore-
cast of heavy fighting in this area
before fall did not surprise anyone
here-soldier or civilian. Both Al-
lied and Axis leaders know that in-
vasion thrusts across the Mediter-
ranean-when they come-will be
and must be the greatest ever under-
taken.
The Axis leaders also must know
that the Allies hold these advan-
tages-the initiative to choose the
points for invasion, domination of
the air, and complete rule of the sea.
Gas Shortage Seen Here
WASHINGTON, July L.-()-The
wartime gasoline famine probably
will spread from Eastern states to
the midwest shortly and to the Pa-
cific Coast before the year is out,
Secretary Ickes indicated today,
forcing tighter curbs on motorists
throughout the nation.

'Ru w-boot'
Gets Taste
Of Navy
Al Perlberg, of Standish, a new
Navy "raw boot," stepped. up to the
Madison Street entrance of the West
Quadrangle at 4 p.m. yesterday to
get his first taste of military life.
At the command. of "Chuck your
gear and show your orders," he
dropped his bag and proceeded
through the entrance way, now
"gangway" and presented his orders
to a NROTC member stationed on
the quarterdeck (main office level of
Michigan House).
On a signal to "main deck," (Com-
mons) Perlberg proceeded to a mus-
ter where yeomen at half deck level
detached a portion of his orders for
his permanent service record and
collected his "TR" (transportation
request).
Advancing down the passageway,
Perlberg received a slip for equip-
ment-pillows, sheets, and blankets
-and assignment to Room 418 Ad-
ams equipped with bunk, mattress,
mattress pad, desk,,lamp, wastebas-
ket, mirror, and chair.
At the next glimpse of Perlberg,
preliminaries were nearly over. "Yes,
I'm in Battalion 2, Company 2, Pla-
toon 1, Squad 3,tMess Hall 3, Table
No. 13; this is the real thing!" he
shouted going down to the "hold"
(basement) for a physical examina-
tion.
Workers Strike
At Ford Plant
Produetion of Jeep
Parts Is Curtailed
DETROIT, July 7.-(AP)-Produc-
tion of jeep parts and tank engines
at the Lincoln plant of the Ford Mo-
tor Company was halted tonight as
1,600 employes walked out in a dis-
pute over a change of working hours,
William H. Rooks of the State Labor
Mediation Board said. I
A Ford spokesman said 1,100 em-
ployes on the night shift walked out
in a group and were joined later by
the remaining workers.
"The employes walked out because
the Company wanted to change their
shift from 3:30 to 11:30 p. in. to 4
to midnight," Rooks said.
"The president of Local 900 of the
UAW-CIO tried in vain to get them
to return to work and Union commit-
teemen told me that they would do
everything they could to have the
smaller midnight shift on the job."
The Company spokesman ex-
plained that the change in working
hours was decided upon because em-
ployes of the night shift sometimes
got to the plant early and interferred
with the last half hour of the shift
that ends at 3:30 p.m. to eliminate
this, the 30-minute "dead" period
was created, he said. The change was
scheduled to go into effect next Mon-
day.

Senate, House
Agree To Slash
Agencies Funds
01A, OWI Allowances
Are Reduced After
Congress Compromises
WASHINGTON, July 1. - (IP) -
Senate and House conferees agreed
tonight to slash Senate-approved al-
lowances for the Office of Price Ad-
ministration (OPA) from $177,335,-
000 to $155,000,000 and for the Office
of War Information (OWD from
$35,037,593 to $33,155,993. The funds
are included in the $2,900,000,000 war
agencies appropriations bill.
Senator McKellar (Dem.-Tenn.)
said agreement had been reached on
all differences between the two
branches of Congress except the Sen-
ate's proposal to require confirma-
tion of all war agency employes mak-
ing $4,500 or more a year. He said
the House conferees decided to take
that provision to the floor for a
vote.
The compromise on OPA funds
compared with House-approved al-
lowances of $130,000,000.
OWI Allowances Reduced
The conference report reduces
allowances from OWI's domestic
branch operations from the $3,561,-
499 fixed by the Senate to $2,750,000.
The House voted against any funds
for OW's domestic operations.
A House prohibition against em-
ployment by OPA of men without
five years of business experience was
rewritten to require the employment
of men with "some practical" experi-
ence in the field business with which
they would deal as OPA employes.
The conferees' decisions must be
ratified by both House and Senate
to become final.
Regional Offices Closed
Because of the prospective reduc-
tion in OWI's funds, that agency's
58 regional and field offices in 45
states were closed today on orders
from Director Elmer Davis.
However, their estimated 330 em-
ployes were granted two weeks more
on the government payroll to liqui-
date their operations.
House insistence on abolition of
the National Youth Administration
(NYA) and Senate insistence on con-
tinuation of federal crop insurance
maintained the Congressional log-
jam of appropriations bills.
House Refuses Compromise
By a vote of 197 to 176, the House
refused to accept a proposed com-
promise on the $1,200,000,000 labor-
federal security appropriations bill
because it contained a $47,800,000
fund to finance NYA. The House
had voted to abolish the agency and
the fund was put into the bill by
Senate amendment.
By 53 to 21 the Senate declined,
for a third time, to go along with
the House and agree to liquidation
of the Federal Crop Insurance Cor-
poration (FCIC). The Senate had
approved $7,818,748 for its continued
operation. The vote kept the $875,-
000,000 agriculture department bill
tied up.

Rendova Island
Is Captured
By U.S. Forces
MacArthur's Army
Shells Vital Jap
Position at Munda
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
AUSTRALIA, Friday, July 2.- ()-
Complete occupation of Rendova Is-
land in the Central Solomons was
indicated today from headquarters
of Gen. Douglas MacArthur and ar-
tillery has begun to shell the vital
Japanese air base at Munda five
miles away.
The United States forces which
landed on Rendova June 30 "comi-
pleted the operation shortly after
midday, destroying the enemy garri-
son," said today's communique,
While the air arm provided cover-
ing protection all over the sectors of
the growing Pacific offensive against
the Japanese, the forces which
struck in the Solomons and on New
Guinea consolidated their newly won
positions, the high command an-
nounced.
Bombers struck at Rabaul, New
Britain, from which theJapanese
might parry the Allied thrusts and
other planes rained death on enemy
forces opposing the landings near
Salamaua, New Guinea.
Complete occupation of Rendova
would constitute a speedy action.
Landings were made only Wednes-
day on that island which not only
puts Allied forces within easy range
of Munda but also within fighter
range of Rabaul itself.
Australians who landed at Nassau
Bay, less than 15 miles below Sala-
maua were reported attacking the
Japanese in that sector which is just
across Dampier Strait from New Bri-
tain.
In the ground fighting, Allied pa-
trols killed at least 26 Japanese and
wounded many others at Malolo and
Orodubi in the Salamaua sector.
Over Rabaul, which felt the im-
pact of nearly 23 tons of bombs
Wednesday, nearly 25 tons were
dropped yesterday on its three air-
dromes, Lakunai, Vunakanau and
Rapopo.
Professor Looks
For Mystery Maxi
Prof. Lewis G. Vander Velde is
looking for a mystery man who
has been plaguing him "for years.'
"Every morning somebody comes
along and softly closes the door of
my lecture room," he said yester-
day.
"I've never seen him, but I al-
ways ask my students to watch.
It may be poor pedagogy, asking
students to keep one eye on their
notes and another on the door.
But I want to find him."
"It's not that I'm interested so
much in the door-closer. I want
to know who I'm disturbing so
much," Prof. Vander Velde re-
marked.

Convicted Traitor Is Thankful Today

Pictured above on the right is Max Stephan, accompanied bly a
guard, as he was entering Judge Tuttle's court during his trial. It was
at this time that he made his momentous statement: "An Axis victory
will save me from death."

Post-War Group
Plans Summer
Programs, Polls
Elizabeth Hawley To
Head Council; New
Officers Appointed
Plans for the Post-War Council
summer activities got under way last
night in a meeting in the Union un-
der the direction of the new chair-
man, Elizabeth Hawley, '44.
Appointments made at the meet-
ing were: executive secretary and
treasurer, Herb Heavenrich, '44E;
corresponding secretary, Dorothy
Zabin, '44; conference chairman, Kit
Kammeraad, '44; personnel chair-
man, Kathy Garrity, '44; publicity
chairman, Cecil Sink, '45E; librarian
and bibliography chairman, Barbara
Greenberg, '45 and polls chairman,
Lucille Christmas, '44.
In conjunction with The Daily, the
Post - War Council is completing
plans for campus polls on current
and post-war problems. "We shall
have faculty members interpret each
of the polls, as was done last semes-
ter," Miss Hawley said.
"Our plans for the summer include
a meeting of the council study group
each week," she said, "at which we
shall make a detailed and careful
analysis of post-war problems so
that we may formulate definite poli-
cies on each of them.
"In addition to this," she added,
"we are arranging for several speak-
ers to lecture during the summer.
Also, the Student Speakers Bureau,
in conjunction with the council, is
planning a series of discussions on
post-war problems to be held in the
Turn to Page 4, Col. 1

Stephan Kisses
Warden's Hand,
Laughs, Cries
Traitor Collapses in
Chair at News of
FDR's Commutation
By The Associated Press
MILAN, Mich., July 1.-Saved
from the hangman's noose by a
Presidential commutation of sen-
tence, Max Stephan, convicted trait-
or, today kissed the hands of Warden
Cecil J. Shuttleworth of the Feder-
al Correctional Institution when the
warden told him of the order.
Stephan "collapsed on a chair
and burst into tears" said a De-
partment of Justice representative
when he learned of the commuta-
tion.
A specially- constructed gallows,
built in sections in Detroit arrived
at the prison to be set up at about
the time the warden broke the news
to Stephan. The Department of
Justice ordered that it be stored at
the prison "for possible use at some
future time."
Nicholas Salowich, one of Steph-
an's attorneys, who was with him
in the death cell when the news
was broken, said Stephan shrieked
with joy . There were tears in
Stephan's eyes as he kissed the
lawyer's hands, too, Salowich said,
and cried: "Oh, thank God'!"
"If you can imagine a man excited
beyond excitement, that was Max,"
Salowich said.
At Detroit, Salowich's associate in
the defense, James E. McCabe, said
an effort would be made "after the
war" to have the life sentence re-
duced, but that until then he ex-
pected no further clemency would
be sought.
All Faculty Dailies
Will Be Delivered
In answer to inquiries concerning
the delivery of The Daily to faculty
homes, members of the business staff
have announced that any faculty
member who subscribes for the pa-
per will have it delivered to his home
if he so desires.
No free Dailies will be distributed
this summer to either students or
faculty members contrary to an ear-
lier announcement in the summer
bulletin.
Student salesmen on campus and
at The Daily office, Maynard Street,
will continue to accept subscriptions
during the next week.
Wavell Is Viscount
LONDON, Thursday, July 1.-()-
No. 10 Downing Street announced
today that King George VI had con-
ferred a viscountcy on Field Mar-
shall Sir Archibald P. 'Wavell in-

At Zero Hour
Roosevelt Claims His
Treason Not Part of
Preconceived Plan
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, July 1.- On the
very eve of his scheduled execution,
the death sentence of Max Stephan,
Detroit traitor, was commuted today
by President Roosevelt to life im-
prisonment.
The Chief Executive took this
step, a White House announce-
ment said, because he believed
"that the sentence imposed by the
court was too severe in that it did
not sufficiently take into account
the statute which provides for the
consideration of different qualities
of treason."
Stephan would have died by hang-
ing before dawn tomorrow if the
Chief Executive had not commuted
the death sentence.
Arrangements for his execution,
which would have marked the first
time the Federal Government has
exacted a life as the penalty for
treason, were completed; the can-
vas-surrounded gallows set up on the
grounds of the federal correctional
institution at Milan, Mich.
Strong Pleas for Commutation
Strong pleas for a commutation of
sentence were presented to the Pres-
ident. Largely they were based on a
convention that capital punishment
was too severe a penalty for the
crime-harboring and assisting a
German prisoner of war who escaped
from a Canadian detention camp
and who turned to espionage as he
subsequently made his way from
Stephan's home to San Antonio, Tex.
The White House statement as-
serted that the Chief Executive
hoped-none of his successors would
commute the life prison term,
since he said Stephan was "prop-
erly convicted of treason" and
that "he was guilty."
But the President decided that the
law under which Stephan was con-
victed contemplates "treason of dif-
ferent qualities" in fixing a sentence.
He pointed out that when six Nazis
were executed last year and two oth-
ers given long sentences after land-
ing from submarines in this country,
they were members of the German
armed forces wearing civilian clothes
and acting in accordance with "a
mature plan" concocted in Germany.
He compared their offenses with a
"carefully planned murder in the
first degree."
'Stephan Did Not Plan Treason'
Mr. Roosevelt took the position
that Stephan's treason did not come
from a plan "maturely initiated by
him." The White House statement
noted that the escaped German pris-
oner from Canada was put in touch
with Stephan after reaching Detroit
and that the prisoner said he- was
trying to escape to rejoin the Ger-
man armed forces and was assisted
by Stephan in proceeding to another
place.
The statement said there was no
question in Mr. Roosevelt's mind
that Stephan was, and probably is,
pro-German or pro-Nazi.
"His treason, however," it said,
"was not part of a pre-conceived
plan. His treason bore something
of a parallel to murder in the second
degree or manslaughter in the first
degree.
"Therefore, his case was less of an
offense than the case of the sabo-
teurs last year."
W alterhotise To.
Leave for Duty

At West Point
Dick Walterhouse, one of Michi-
gan's most promising all-around
athletes since Tom Harmon, said
yesterday that he had received an
appointment to the Military Acad-
emy at West Point and that he
would report there Saturday for his
physical examination.
Walterhouse won his varsity letter
as a first baseman on the baseball
team last spring, and was considered

EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF SURPRISE ATTA CK ON JAP STRONGHOLD:

London]
WIT
of aI
Rendov
Ji

U.S. Forces Land on ew Georgia Island
By HENRY KEYS the late afternoon and a most ex- boats which frequently were hidden Scene Of "Yank Assault
Daily Express War Correspondent traordinary incident occurred. One in showers of spray as they plowed Scn Oanss On Jap tronghoL
H THE U. S. FLAGSHIP torpedo crashed into the bow of through the choppy sea.S
destroyer division between the destroyer on which I was ob- By lunchtime, when I returned
ve Island and Munda Point, serving the operation and which in to the beach to board the de- Kit&ISLANDS
n _P) (D l d) This future I shall call "the can." stroyer which I was accompany-

une .u -H 1 'jelayeui-11
eyewitness story is a world beat
and should remain so for a couple
of days. It was hitch-hiked a
thousand miles by sea, land and
air to reach the nearest radio.
An all-out American assault on
the Japanese stronghold of New
Georgia Island got away to a
flying start at dawn this morning.
The brilliantly conceived and
caringly executed plan caught the
Japs flat-footed; the landing of
men and materials had actually

The torpedo failed to explode or
damage the destroyer in any way,
although the small vessel shud-
dered and reeled at the moment
of impact and as the torpedo
bumped alongside before falling
harmlessly away.
Now that it is over ,and we
have gotten away with one of the
most brazen attacks against the
Japanese it is almost impossible
to believe we have accomplished
the objective. It was conceded
- _ ___ - - - . .__ t - - _ 1 _ V

ing on the operation, the beach
was more or less deserted, how-
ever.
I was nearly out of the war be-
fore I got into it. I was crouch-
ing in the shelter of a machinegun
mounting on a landing boat to es-,
cape the drenching seas breaking
over me when suddenly the ma-
chinegun broke loose and hurtled
down.
A quick - witted Army boy
grabbed and pulled at it as it fell,
dragging it to one side. It only

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