0 .
HE President's farm relief bill
passed the house with both Demo-
crats and Republicans voting for and
against it. During the hours of ora-
tory, confined almost
exclusively to expla-
nation on the part of
members as to why
they would vote for or
against the bill, many
interesting statements
were made,
“In ordinary times
I wouldn't support a
measure of this kind,”
was the statement of
Chairman Jones of
the agriculture com-
mittee after a ballot had prohibited
amendments, “But we are at war.
And while this war is on I'm going to
follow the man at the other end of
the avenue who has the flag in his
hand. I don’t think this bill can make
things any worse. God knows we all
hope it will make things better.”
“This is a child of the jig-saw puzzle
age,” said Representative Clarke of
New York, the agriculture committee's
ranking Republican. “But filled with
horrors and hellishness as it is I'm
going to follow the President.”
Representative Hope (Rep. Kan.)
said he could not support it. “You are
putting into the hands of one man con
trol of the lives of 30,000,000 people
who live on farms,” he said. “If yon
vote for this bill, you're simply voting
for a higger and better farm board.”
In the senate the bill have
such clear sailing as it had in the
house, and it is expected it will pass
only after being amended to take out
of It provisions many members of both
the senate and house object It Is
not safe to predict what the bill will
provide for by the time It gets back
to the White House for the President's
signature,
Marvin Jones
will not
tn,
ONGRESS now
final two,
before it the
three, in the
President's unemployment relief pro-
gram. The first of these provides for
the immediate enrollment of workers
to the extent of approximately 250,000
for concentration in government es
tablished camps, the men to be em
ployed In flood control, prevention of
goll erosion, building of roads in gov-
ernment forest reserves, in forestry
and in any other work which the Pres.
ident may direct.
The men congregated in these camps
are to be provided with housing, food,
clothing, medical attendance, and to be
paid a cash wage of not more than $1
per day. In the case of men with fam-
flies a portion of the cash wage is to be
allotted for the support of the families,
The recruiting of this “civilian con-
servation force” is to be on the basis
of the number of unemployed in the
different states in so far as that Is
possible,
The expense, for the present at least,
ifs to be met, by diverting from the
treasury unexpended balances of ap-
propriations made by previous sessions
of congress for other purposes, It is
said that about $40000000 is avail
able through such a source, and it Is
expected this sum will maintain this
plan for about ten weeks.
There is much opposition to this
proposed law on the part of labor
unions because of the low wage of $1
per day. Representative Connery,
Democratic chairman of the house la
bor committee, refused to introduce
the bill because of the labor union
opposition,
The second step is an appropria-
tion through which further grants for
unemployment rellef may be made to
the states,
The third step, which the President
will submit later, “extends to a broad
public works labor creating program.”
Including the operation of Muscle
Shoals, the development of other pow.
er projects, vast reforestation plans,
and a public building program in
volving the expenditure of £250,000.
000. The cost of carrying out the
“three steps” will be about two bil
Hon dollars. and it is expected the
President will propose to cover half
of that amount with a bond Issue,
has
of steps
HARLES E. MITCHELL. former
chairman of the National City
bank of New York, was arrested at
his home charged with willfully evad.
ing payment of an in
come tax of $657,152
for the year 1020. He
was released on bond,
The warrant was
based on an affidavit
and complaint by
Thomas E. Dewey.
chief assistant Unit.
ed States attorney,
which charged that
the financier attempt:
ed to evade the tax
due on an income of Homer 8.
$2823,400.85 In 1020, Cummings
The return filed by Mr. Mitchell for
1019 showed a purported loss of $48.
000, which, of course, resulted in his
paying no tax for that year,
In Washington, it wus reported, At
torney General Homer Cunnuings had
conferred with President Hoosevelt,
and that Mr, Roogevelt “fully ap
proved of the netion”
The Washington suthorities have di
rected Mr. Medulle to present the case
to the federal grand jury at once with
a view to an early trial.
XIE passage of the economy bill
puts the question of government
economies squarely up to the Presi
dent. That law and the one passed by
the last congress putting into the
hands of the President the reorganiza.
tion of government departments and
bureaus, give to the President dicta.
torial powers over government ex-
penditures for salaries up to the point
of a 15 per cent reduction, the num-
ber of departments and bureaus and
the employees needed to operate them,
and the amounts to be paid vet
erans, and to what veterans.
It is expected that such reductions
as are made In the salaries of govern.
ment departments will be effective
April 1, but the savings made In the
payments to veterans cannot, under
the law, be effective until July 1. For
the next fiscal year, beginning July
1. it Is predicted the economies effect.
ed by the President will amount to a
total of 2JH08.652.000, divided as fol
lows :
to
1. Elimination of nonservice
connected disability al-
lowances to World war
veterans “nwa
2. Reduction in pay of gov-
ernment employees
Reduction of 8 panish-
American war pensions
. Establishment of uniform
schedules for disal
Payments to veteran
The plan for the reorganization and
consolidation of government
ments and bureaus has not
announced, but there will
iy be an additional saving
£300.000,000 to half a billion
effected in that way,
The entire matter economies In
the administrative end of the govern
ment is now in the hands of the Pres
ident.
depart
yer heen
undoubted
of from
dollars
’
Of
F RESPONSE to complaints by
American Jews of the persecution
and excesses committed against their
co-religionists by the Hitlerites in Ger-
many Secretary of
State Cordell Hull
asked the embassy in
Berlin to make a com-
plete report on the
situation,
This action was tak
en as a result of the
representations made
to the State depart-
ment by a delegation
from the American
Cordell Hull Jewish congress, head
ed by Rabbl Stephen
8. Wise of New York.
The department issued
ing statement:
“Following the visit of Rabbi Wise
the department has Informed the
American embassy in Berlin of the
press reports of mistreatment of Jews
in Germany.
“The department also informed the
embassy of the deep concern these re
ports are causing in this country.
“The department has instructed the
embassy to make, in collaboration with
the consuls, a complete report on the
situation.”
the follow
EER of 3.2 per cent by weight and
4 per cent by volume alcoholle
content will be on sale legally In 14
states on April 7. The house of rep
resentatives refused to accept the
senate amendment providing for 3.05
per cent, and the conference commit.
tee decided to accept the house per.
centage ; the committee also killed the
Borah amendment providing that the
beverage could not be sold to children
under sixteen years of age.
AS soon as the new law becomes op.
erative and beer Is actually on sale
the “drys” plan to bring a test case
to be rushed through to the Supreme
court for the purpose of determining
the constitutionality of the law, and
they believe the court will find that
8.2 beer is intoxicating and that the
law is unconstitutional,
It was to minimize this possibility
that the senate reduced the alecoholie
content to conform with a finding of
a British commission which had de
cided the highest alcoholic content pos.
sible in a non-intoxicating beverage
would be 3.05,
Under the new law the sale of the
beverage will be regulated by states,
counties or municipalities as was true
before the days of prohibition. There
is nothing In the law to prohibit the
sale in saloons In states or counties or
municipalities where saloons may he
wanted, and where such method of
sale may be authorized,
The sale of beer has been legalized
in only 14 states effective on April 7.
‘The prohibition Inws have been re
pesied in five other states, but the
repeal In these stules does not become
effective until after April 7. and In
one state not until July 1. The other
20 states are dry either because of
legislation enacted after the udoption
of the Eighteenth amendment, or were
dry previous to that enactment. Some
of these states will possibly repent
thelr dry lnws before the sos
slon of state legislatures adjourn,
(GOVERNMENT by the people is
dead In Germany. The relchstag
has abdicated in favor of a dictator-
ship by the Hitler government, which
means that Adolph
Hitler, former Aus-
trian painter, is In su-
preme power, The
session of the reich-
stag at which this mo-
mentous decision was
ratified, was attended
by all the pomp and
cireumetanes of “mens
archial days, The
former crown prince
and other members of
the Hohenzollern fam-
fly were saluted with all the formality
of the pre-war court, :
Von Hindenburg in his address
opening the session of the reichstag
sounded an appeal to the people “for a
national rebirth of the for the
weal of a unified, free and proud Ger-
many.”
Hitler, standing before a
reading desk, responded, He appealed
for foreign amity. He rejected the
charge of German war guilt as a le,
and asserted that neither the former
kKalser nor the government desired the
conflict, He promised to restore “true
unity to all all states, all
professions and
“We want to
the world at large,” the chancellor
sald, "and to possess a real peace
which will help heal the wounds from
which we are suffering. For years
heavy burdens have pressed upon onr
people. After a period of proud re
vival, poverty and distress have visited
Us once more,
“Milllons of Germans seek thelr
dally bread in vain. Our economy is
desolated, our finances shattered. For
2.000 years this faith has clung te our
people ; ever agninst our ascent comes
our fall. The German—victim of in.
ner disintegration, disunited in spirit,
and divided In will and thus helpless
in action—hecomes powerless to main.
’
Adolph Hitler
soul
golden
Germany,
cinsses,
friends to
he sincere
tain his own existence.
The new order of things awoke Ger
pany to a f
of enthusiasm not
witnessed In
re, Jonfires
flared and torchiight processions were
held In every city and village, Eighty
thousand cheering persons paraded in
Berlin,
pitch
many ye
Te ASSURE an era of world peace
the general of a solid Eu
ropean front form of a pact
by the four chief powers were evolved
at na y \
Rome hetswween
Minister
of Great
lines
in the
in
Prime
MacDonald
Britain, and
his foreign secretary
Sir John Simon, and
Premier Mussolini of
Italy. The project,
which calls for the
collaboration of Great
Britain, France,
many and Italy, is de-
scribed as founded on
the spirit of the Kel
logg pact and as an
agreement to outiaw war,
The plan was put forth by Mus
according to the following of-
ficial communique :
“After a full and exhaustive ex-
change of ideas of the general situa
tion the ministers examined in these
conversations a plan put forward by
the head of the Italian government
for an understanding on larger polit-
ical questions, with the object of se-
curing collaboration of the four west.
ern powers in an effort to promote, In
the spirit of the Kellogg pact and a
‘no force' declaration, a long period
of peace for Europe and the world”
The solid front of the four powers,
conference
Ger.
Mussolind
international
solini,
tion In European affairs, but such an
understanding would also promote a
more unified action In dealing with
other international problems confront-
ing Europe.
The collaborative agreement, it
inferred, is to be
MacDonald's plan for disarmament.
Premier Daladier of France declared
that before France can accept the
scheme important modifications must
be made, He sald France would ae-
cept the plan In principle. Among the
modifications the premier had In mind
|
|
Washington—~Although the Roose
velt emergency banking program was
put forward purely
as a solution for
the crisis then upon
the nation, it has
since become apparent that it had a
permanent phase that surely is going
to carry on far inte the future in the
shape of a bitter controversy. There
is no longer any doubt that the emer-
gency program was based on a plan
for a uniiled banking system for the
and that, of course, means
ultimate death for the state banking
structure,
We have long had a national bank.
ing system, made up of financial inst
tutions that were chartered by and un-
der the control of the comptroller of
the curréncy in the treasury. We also
have had the state institutions that
were chartered by and under the con-
trol of state authorities and existing
by virtue of state laws. There has
Would End
State Banks
futile because for the most part the
It is interesting, therefore, to note
how the creation of the federal reserve
system back in 1014 made some in
providing means whereby those banks
could join the national banks In the
reserve system. There re
however, and one of the means used
tente (Rumania, Czechoslovakia, and
ment as equals,
United States in the plan to keep
peace on the continent were revealed
by Premier MacDonald, He said that
the “moral support” of America
“ardently desired.”
he sald, “but we feel that there are
many open ears in Washington and
throughout the United States listening
to what Is being said In Europe about
disarmament and peace,
“I am sure that many of these
people would gladly spring to our as
sistance in what we are trying to do
in a peaceful spirit, consistent with
American policies.”
HE flood in the Ohio river valley
has taken at least ten lives and
caused millions of doliar®®’ worth of
property damage. The Red Cross is
caring for thousands of refugees
forced from thelr homes by the flood
waters. Their suffering was intensi.
fled by a return of winter, New
Richmond, Ohlo, is one of the hardest
hit of the flooded towns, There were
only five buildings in the town of
1.000 left dry and every road leading
from the town but one was lmpassa.
ble,
On the Kentucky shore across from
Cincinnati water crept across the
river flats to leave some 3.000 home
less and isolate their towns of New.
port, Bellevue, Dayton, Fort Thomas,
and Southgate from Covington,
© 1983, Westerns Newspaper Union
the passage of the so-called McFadden
in 1027. This allowed national
banks to have branches within the city
where their parent bank was located
Various efforts have been made
since that time to enlarge the branch
banking privileges the national
banks, but to no avall, There was an
enlargement of those privileges in the
bill by Senator Glass of Virginia that
was passed by the senate in the last
congress, although it died the death of
a rag doll in the house of represent
natives,
Now comes the emergency banking
aw, however, with provisions designed
to solve the crisis In our country’s
financial structure but with some oth
er sections furthering the interests of
the natidnal banks. The Intter sec
tions were completely overshadowed.
Most people paid little attention to
them. The main object of the legisla
tion was to get the banks open, The
bill was put through congress in the
record speed of one day and the state
banking Interests, hitherto on guard
Against new were in
a position where they could do noth
ing.
Actually,
from the passage of the
law, aside from the provisions
making currency available, is a tre
mendously long step on the part of
the federal government toward squeez
ing out the state banks, It does so by
making available many more advan
tages for the national banks and state
banks that are members of the fed
eral reserve system than they ever
have had before. In other words,
state banks which were able to meet
federal reserve requirements could
hardly remain outside of the system.
Several hundreds of the 18000 of them
have been admitted to the system in
a short space of time.
- * -
There are few officials or members
of congress who will admit that there
is a big drive on to
For Unified accomplish a great
Banking System unified banking sys
tem. Their silence,
however, does not conceal the fact
State banking representatives who
flocked to Washington during the
banking holiday in order to protect
themselves recognized it. They be
gan fighting, but it was too late. The
inw was passed.
Their claim was, and still is, that
the emergency banking act and the
of
encroachments,
resulting
emergency
for
the situation
opening of the banks beginning March
It looks like they will
So it's the sur.
vival of the fittest for them.
This does not mean that the state
bank In your community is going to
die. The scheme which Washington
observers believe they see and which
the state bank representatives claim
has been worked out operates slowly,
It is intended to develop a far flung
system whereby the small country
banks will be absorbed slowly, per
haps becoming branches of larger
banks. Banking facilities will be con
tinued wherever there is need for
them, because If the need exists profit
can be made out of a bank. Where
fore, there will be an eventful purchase
of hundreds of the smaller banks and
conversion of them into branches.
. & =
Thus, the basis of the controversy
comes Into view, There is one school
of thought In the
Favor a Few country which holds
Great Systems that
consideration,
the solution to
dur banking prob
lems is establishment of a few great
systems, or at least fewer but stronger
banks, ‘There is much support for
that idea because of the thousands of
bank fallures that have occurred In
the pgriod of the depression, Benator
Glass, the author of the bill mentioned
above and one of the ablest banking
students of the time, says there are
actually thousands of banks in oper-
ation that ought never have been or-
ganized. There was no need for them.
He referred to some of the real small
institutions as pawn shops, adding
that they were of no service to their
communities and that they toppled
over at the first sign of a storm,
jut another school
thought, this side of the
question against extension of
the branch system and the limitation
on the number of banks as placing
dangerous power over currency and
credit in the hands of a small number
of individuals instead of
of that power among the communities
where Jhe banks are located. From
this viewpoint, too, it is said local com-
there is of
Those
argue
on
business, | have heard it argued at
length that a branch of a bank In a
distant city will have its hard and fast
rules, and either the local citizens
meet those requirements or fall
get a loan. If that be true, of course,
it means destruction of one of the
basic rules of credit, namely, the char-
acter and record of the borrower,
up on each side of the question. Un-
gument,
to have demonstrated that
ties. Yet, whatever may be the view
one holds, It cannot be denied that the
emergency banking act is an enor
mous stride in the direction of a uni
fled banking system. If it produces
stronger banks everywhere, It surely
will hare
many
a result of
terms,
us the
* » *
President
specting the banking situation resuited
in many
overlooking
inclined
Move Required
Courage to
am
required more courage when consid
ered from the political standpoint,
unanimous action on
banking legislation because of
perilous situation. He had po
united support when he asked congress
to give him dictatorial powers to cut
government expenses
this true concerning the right he
sought to trim down the payments be
and almost
service In the fighting lines.
bow much money is being paid for dis
it is known, however, that
country.
There seems to be no equivocation
about the willingness to pay compen
sation to veterans who
undoubtedly their due. It is the least
a government can do. But where the
compensation Is being paid for things
that have happened since the war,
there surely is room for doubt. That
is the type of payment which the Pres
ident says he is going to eliminate,
. - -
Now that congress has put through
the legislation permitting the manu-
facture and sale of
Drys Keep Up beer with an alco
Fight on Beer holic content, some
thing near what
beer had before the days of prohibi-
tion, much speculation has arisen as
to how the matter will be viewed by
the Supreme Court of the United
States. “he question surely will get to
the Supreme court in rather short or
der. Prohibitionists are not going to
be licked without that final test.
In view of these circumstances, It
may be interesting to recall an argu-
ment made privately by former Sen.
ator John J. Blaine of Wisconsin,
when he sought to get action on’a beer
bill in the last session of congress be
fore his term expired. Senator Blaine
took the position that it would be un-
constitutional for congress to pass
beer legislation that would “authorize”
the manufacture and sale of beer
where it contained an alcoholic con-
tent ip excess of one-half of 1 per cent.
But he contended that If congress en-
acted legislation declaring there was
no penalty to be used where the alco
holic content was below a stated fig
ure, there was nothing which the Su.
preme court could hold to be uncon
stitutional.
In other words, the way he proposed
to make beer legitimate was by a neg.
ative sction, Since the Eighteenth
amendment sald congress had power
to pass enforcement statutes, congress
bad acted in accordance with the
amendment, but it had placed the limit
on the punishment.
There seems every reason to believe
that the law as enacted in the extra
session will stand the constitutional
© 1938, Western Newspaper Union,
Howe Abou
Majority Rule Best
Clash Over Windows
Patriotism and Politics
By ED HOWE
NYONE who reads a good deal
must have noted that the world’s
progress seems to have been a succes
sion of great outrages, not one of
which need have occurred had the peo-
ple exercised thelr just right to ma-
jority rule. A handful of men were
responsible for every great outrage in
history ; the prompt hanging of a few
would have prevented the rivers of
blood, the great famines and suffering,
of which we hear so much.
I sincerely believe In majority rule.
If a President orders us to take part
us do
our fists under his nose and tell him
we will not do It.
Once when traveling I visited a place
Inquiry revealed that the
bones were of children who had en-
foolish man recommended the
crusade, and foolish parents responded,
instead of hanging the man who made
It was one of the
great horrors of history, and rervollec-
of it has remained in my mind
of it
a recommendation
1 was reminded recently by
of radicals
this
suffer on the that
something may be kept going on to ad
and way,
hus-
over
that
clash
My favorite “notion” is
bands and
keeping windows up or down, and that
it is the mand more
fresh air than the men war 1 heard
wives always
women who
, -
fussing abot
and the
art
pari
lately,
moved to another
where
to suit him
about the cor
but
been said about it In priva
ing out I met another old fellow, and
which 1
arrange the windows
They didn't
itroversy in my
he could
say much
presence
had
acted dea)
t On go
as though & good
the incident,
had trouble about the same thing forty
he said. The natural habits of
men and women do not suit each oth
er, and no one is to blame.
remedy is for them to.be as patient as
they can. And If one does more than
Is fair and reasonable In exercising
patience, there will trouble: both
men and women are “touchy”
about their rights,
* * %*
he only
be
very
There Is lately in print
appearing
the Civil war. At first the
Grand Army of the Republic had only
membership of twenty-seven
displayed by greedy agents, the num-
ber increased to 458000. A man named
George BE. Lemon established the Na-
tional Tribune to glorify the old sol
dier, and he once admitted to a house
investigating committee that he then
had in his office 125,000 claims for pen-
sions on which he hoped to collect a
commission of £25 each. Thousands
of these clients were bounty jumpers;
there were many thousands of these in
the war, and many of them were paid
$700 each for enlisting when more
timid men were drafted. Many of
them were deserters—there were 126.
000 deserters during the Civil war—
who mold their services over and over.
The politicians entered greedily Into
the movement as a means of securing
Grand Army votes and soon it was a
common saying the pension scandal
was 80 rotten no editor or public man
dared expose it,
The subject is of special interest
now that veterans of the World war
are beginning the same thing. And
the fact that there are millions more
of them renders the subject vastly
more serious. Thousands of the more
intelligent World war veterans them.
selves recognize this, and are openly
opposing the scandal 1 hope their
prevail; “the people
themselves are helpless in the presence
of patriotism and politics.
. . a
There never was universal Jove;
there never will be; it Is doubtful if
such a state would be desirable.
Men hustling to do better than
competitors they hate have done
much more for the world than the
great souls who dream of universal
Jove,
« * 0»
It is possible to reduce one's phi
losophy of life to three words: Be a
gentleman. Provocation is so fre
quently offered by the rude that a
gentleman is occasionally required to
fight ; he must strike no foul blows.
. 0»
Stephen Leacock, a noted man,
writes: “Mark Twain had little school
and no college. He thus acquired that
peculiar sharpness of mind which
comes from not going to school, and
the power of independent thought ob-
tained by not entering college.” This
treason has appeared before: H. GQ
Wells says that Genghis Kahn, who
could not read, and who always lived
half wild, was the greatest statesman
and general who ever lived,
. * »
It is sald quite generally the pres
ent depression is economic. It is real
iy intellectual; the men have all gone
crazy. We should turn control of af.
fairs over to the women and children;
the men have falled,
© 1933, Bell Eyndleate.—WNU Serviea