SEEN«~ HEARD around the National Capital smses By CARTER FIELD «SS Washington. ~—Old human nature Is working for an early adjournment of congress. It is not so much the heat, although despite the local boosters, Washington Is no summer resort. But the senate and house chambers are both air-cooled, and so, for that mat- ter, is the White House, As a matter of fact, the national lawmakers are probably more comfortable here than they would be at home. Not all of them, of course, but most of them. The answer to the desire for early adjournment has nothing to do with temperature. It Is the overpowering sense of futility, developed sharply since the Supreme court decision on NRA. Laws are belng passed, which half the members believe will be held unconstitutional by the high court later on. Everything that is being done Is frankly and openly admitted by the administration leaders to be of the stop-gap variety. Hence there is no feeling that what they are doing is really constructive— that it Is the kind of thing to which they can point with pride later on— telling their admiring constituents that they helped frame this or that. Senators have told the writer in the last few days that they feel they are on Ickes’ “work relief.” Just going through motions on more or less fruit. less errands. In short—time serving. But—senators and members of the house are not pald by the day. They are paid by the year, Staying In Washington a month or two longer than is absolutely necessary does not put a penny into their pockets, Like Home Publicity All of which might not be Important if there was really Important work to be done Oftimes senators and members of the house figure that it is much better politics for them to stay on the job In Washington than to go home. The publicity In their home. town papers is better, The folks back home think of the congressman as sweating in the sultry heat of Wash- ington, working for their Interests Especially If his secretary is a good letter writer. But there for that here, is very little percentage sort of thing in the present situation. The country isn't much in- terested in this stop-gap legislation. Huey Long managed to get headlines by talking all night to stop a bill, which passed early next morning any- how. But the average senator doesn't want to do that, and the average rep- resentative would be prevented by the rules, So there has developed a real yen on the part of the legislators to go home, Which may bring about adjournment earlier than observers had ured—especially after the NRA decision. fig- most right Prior to that the prospect never was for an early adjournment. These dis. patches consistently held to the idea of an August adjournment, not on any detailed calculations as to how long the White House “must” list would take, but on the theory that something al- ways turns up to consume time In the senate. And it is the senate, not the house, which determines time. Joint Selling A wave of “joint selling companies” i in the offing as a result of the ex- piration of the codes, and the deter- mination of the administration to prosecute anti-trust suits The original bargain of NRA, It will be recalled, was that industry was to agree to pay better wages, work its labor shorter hours, eliminate child labar, and stop chiseling, and in re turn the government would go lightly on anti-trust prosecutions, permit. ting all sorts of agreements as to prices, distributions of territory, ete. Naturally industry liked the latter, whatever it thought about the price it had to pay, and right now it wants to continue the benefits, If any, from what have been regarded as combina. tions in restraint of trade. Whereupon many eyes have been turned on the famous Appalachian Coals, Inc, case. This is a case in which a large number of coal produc. ers joined in having one corporation sell thelr product. The avowed object wis to cut selling costs—to abandon the ruinous cost of each coal operator maintaining an office and selling force in every important market. The government did not like this setup at the time, The Department of Justice pointed out forcefully that ac tually the selling company In question maintained, in many cases, separate offices and selling organizations for every coal producer it répresented. But the Supreme court, after lengthy arguments and due consideration, held that this practice did not violate the anti-trust laws, Now there are some who think that the high court took due cognizance of the fact that coal Is a more or less distressed industry; that If the same case were presented to the high court affecting a prosperous Industry the decision might be different, Astute lawyers here, looking Into the situation for a number of Indus tries, do not think se. They think the language of the court in deciding the NRA case shows conclusively that the court is not willing to temper the Con. stitution to the shorn lamb, Here's the Point The whole point now Is whether some Industry which, if it attempted to get together and frame price scales for Ms products or divide up terrd Coals example, * tion, consent, thus getting around the law, All the government agencies, incl of Public Works Administrator Ickes, then attacking agreements by produe- ers of this or that commodity sold to the government, Just what Ickes would say if the agency Is not hard to imagine. One lawyer, studying the problem for an industry having nothing to do with different bids submitted by the various units whenever the government wants ed any of its products. Thus, thought, It coun avold running afoul of Ickes and all the departments ex- cept that presided over by Homer 8. Cummings. Meanwhile Industry generally takes no satisfaction whatever out of the Harrison amendment to NRA exten- sion. As some of the business men here observed, It gives business the right to do everything it could do al. ready without congressional approval, and denies it the right to violate any law, Question of Power Not even In the hottest days of dis. sension between Gen, Hugh 8. Johnson and Donald R., Richberg were the friends of the two men further apart than they are right now over the solu. tion to the problem presented by the Supreme court's invalidating the Blue Eagle, Richberg's followers are all demand ing an amendment to the Constitution, That, they contend, is the only way to meet the situation. Johnson's friends are insisting that there is a perfectly constitutional method of solving the whole problem, The real difference between the two, which would appear to be a patter for constitutional lawyers to determine, Is actually not that at all, but a differ. ence in powers desired for the federal government, with the Richberg crowd being for absolute federal powers And with the President, very vigorous. ly, siding with the Richberg crowd, but giving the Johnson crowd a chance to show what it can do, Hence the Shanley bill, This little publicized — so far — document, ia threatening to attract a good deal of attention before congress adjourns, It under the taxing power of the Constitution, an excise tax of %1 Af year on every person, firm, corpora- tion, or other form of business enter. engaged In or whose business directly affects commerce among the states or with foreign nations It fixes a 40-hour week, for general practice, noting exceptions. It fixes a minimum wage of 60 cents an hour, saying that plece workers’ pay shall be graduated so that the lowest will not fall below the &0-cent-an-hour minimum. It fixes an eight-hour day. It provides for time and a half for overtime In emergency work. It pro vides for collective bargaining, Richberg Idea What is In the minds of the Rich berg group is clearly shown by some quotations from the language of the bill. For example: “Interstate commerce as hereinabove defined is hereby declared to be In the nature of a public utility: and every such enterprise engaged therein shall In respect thereto, and in con. nection with the payment of the ex- cise tax heréinabove provided and ap purtenant thereto, be subject to regu- lation and control In the manner and with respect to the matters herein. after provided.” Also: “The congress hereby finds as a fact and declares that the employment of children In the trades and industries within the jurisdiction of this act, and underpayment of employees and the working of employees for excessive hours and under conditions which are hazardous in nature or dangerous to imposes, prise lectively with respect to thelr wages, hours and other working conditions, and unfair practices or methods of competition affect directly the flow of interstate commerce ; and that, to facil itate and promote the full utilization of the nation's productive eapacity is necessary and vital that basie standards be Iald down with respect thereto.” And: “Commerce among the states has become so interwoven in the fabric of economic life that our congressional experience and knowledge dictates that finding that those agencies of indus. try which are directly and Immediate ly linked to Intérstate commerce must be deemed objects of Interstate com merce In the Interests of national de. fense and otherwise for the publie welfare.” Senator Borah was not consulted, it might be stated, perhaps unnecessa- rily. Best judgment is that the stitutional lawyers In senate will relieve the By WILLIAM C. UTLEY AVING the old Fourth of July is great stuff, It feels mighty good to patriotic pep and enthusiasm, sturdy ancestors of ours who, on an- other Fourth of July, had nerve enough and sense enough to the world that they were free men, de termined and able to by their own rule, shooting off firecrackers, Unless , . . Take that flag In your hands and examine it carefully. Do you find a stamped label on It that says “Made in Japan”? If you do, go back to the firecrackers. They'll do far less dam- age in the long run, For that flag, with Its millions of counterparts at large in this country, is putting American workers out of work, adding them to the relief rolis and throwing them and their families into virtual destitution. It Is the most ironic symbol of an oriental Industrial- ization and export trade, based mass production, slave wages and a rice-and-tea standard of living, that Is using the bait of lower prices to trick us into believing that we are money” by buying its Inferior ucts, One particular adaptation American flag--a little silk that is fastened together with a pin--has definitely been the cause of a plant in Washington, DD. C., which was mak- ing the same article, and whose prod. uct the Japanese ingeniously copied, shutting down and throwing its em- ployees out of work. The Japanese article could be made to retail In American stores at 4 or 5 cents apiece. To make a profit, the capital firmn had to sell its product for 10 cents, In the fleld of novelties, the ever. alert Japanese manufacturer has learned to cash In on the patriotism of his neighbor half way around the world. He has even learned to play upon the patriotic hero-worship of the child In school. One of the most pop niar erasers in the American school supply stores, for Instance, is decorat- ed with a pleture of the White House and the heads of three of our great. est Presidents, It is “Made in Japan.” declare to ive “saving of the bow Wrecks Textile Industry, 80 accustomed are we to seeing the label of Japanese manufacture on many kinds of novelties, we lose sight of the fact that Japanese price cutting | has opened the way for vast inroads of its products upon more than =a score of American industries. Most important of these Is the textile in- dustry (chiefly cotton) and the hard. est hit area Is New England, where plant after plant has been forced by | the combination of Japanese competi tion and the processing tax to cease operations. Cotton growers have been heartened | from time to time by the fact that | Japanese Importation of American cotton has held up better than that of other countries. On the other hand, this is what has happened after the | Asiatie Islanders have manufactured the raw goods: | American Imports of Japanese ' gloves are up 600 per cent over 10382; hosiery, 400 per cent; cotton handker- chiefs and mufflers, 1.200 per cent; | bedspreads and quilts, 100 per cent, | and other manufactured articles In like | proportion. In January, 1085, we | bought 8341,000 square yards of Jap- anese cloth; In February, 05,744,000 mquare yards, and in March, 6,217,000. This was more In each month than the vombined total for three preceding Nears, 1081, 7982 and 1033. The March ymport was more than one-fourth the total Amercan output for the eutire year 1004, Meanwhile our own exports have been in a steady decline, In 1082 they were 375,000,000 square yards; in 1033, 802,000,000, and in 1084, 206,000,000, The chief reason for this slump Is that Japan has won from us our Im- port markets in the Philippines and Hawasll, and a good share of them In South America. the relief rolls. And as Maine $0 goes New England, ROES8, mills been severely crippled Manchester, N, H., since the Japanese hold, the company, Amoskeag one of the largest te loss of $1,000,000, Idie Plants Our Cost. Figured In dollars and Japanese Imports from States are twice our imports Japan. But Japanese ris conte, the United from Covit singe back to lions In sold that cost us many mi fean bodies and souls together, ucts. In appearance, the Japanese ar > - Yu invariably the leave much to be desired. American flashlight, 50 cents, has to compe on the same shelves, with a Japanese flashlight Identical In which costs 20 cents An , often appearance, less, American produced In Japan to sell here for 94 cents a gross: a device sharpen them, made here to sell for £1. has a Japanese counterpart of inferior metal which sells for 37 cents Rubber manufacturing in the United States dropped from 100,000,000 pounds to 30000000 In three years. An American-made tennis shoe sells for 08 cents a pair, its Japanese counter part for 30 cents. An American hot- water bottle costs 50 cents: one just like it but “Made In Japan” costs ex- actly half that. And so it goes, all the way from microscopes (American, $1250-—-Japa- nese, $1.95) to hinges (American, £3.50 ~Japanese, $1.25). Here is a partial list of articles, made In America, that have been reproduced for American gale by the Japanese, giving the re tall price as it is in the United States today. In each case the Jap- anese article has exactly followed the American In appearance: to Article Baseball Alr Pistol Comb .... American Japanese srasssnvsne JOOS $00.10 5.90 1.85 20 Je Toothbrush £0 J Light Bulbs 20 JO6 (The Japanese article ie fdentleal In appearance, but consumes far more cure rent, does not burn as long and gives much less {llumination. Handled chiefly in stores which are notoriously “cut. rate”) Article American Japanese Perfume Bottle ......$00.75 §00.20 Candlestick Holder .. 1.50 20 Silver Mint Dish .... ¢.90 £9 Dishes (18-.plece set) 80.00 18.50 Balt Shaker Set ..... 12.62 1.69 Candy Dish .....vevs 5.00 59 Cigarette Holder 2.75 1.25 Wholesale Invasion, In the United States the fishnet business Is a comparatively obscure one, If not In point of size at least in point of familiarity. Yet it did not take the thorough orientals very long to discover It. As an example, an American fish netting which once en- Joyed a good sale at 70 cents is now giving way to the identical article of a Japanese competitor which sells for 32 cents, Where were the beginnings and what is the eanse of this wholesale Invasion of American business by the Japa nese? Most authorities attribute It to the lower standards of living and the cheap labor In Japan, and partly to the cotton processing tax (the New Hampshire mill which lost $1,000,000 last year pald $1,274,173 In process ing tax). That is only the situation as it ex. Fras Rs anne fess ERE ann Keshav ann Crs nnne saan American admiral’s nose! In that year Admiral Perry landed on the island empl and gave the sons of Nippon their first introduction to American practices and habits. The which was as now the Japanese family which represents to their business Morgan, Rockefeller and Ford all rolled into one, sent artist, who might be compared to the photographer of today, to sketch a portrait of Admiral Perry. The por- is still on exhibition at the Mitsul museum In Tokyo. an re then an An Admiral's Nose, The artist accentuated the admiral’s sharp features an him an ex- tremely long and ulous nose. It looked much like overs exaggerated caricatures of the present The artist was simply so amazed at an or- d gave ridic one of our Admiral immediately the an Perry's sensation of Japan, It insatiable curiosity re- nose became that, The artist was hurried down to the ship to make a sketch of and of the tools and other be- The imi- { Japanese imme ability of the islanders began making things like those of the admiral and his com- panions for themselves, These few American ideas became so popular that It was not long before wealthy Japanese were sending the young hopefuls of their families to the United States, clad at first In kimonos, to study at American univer sities. They brought home with them the American banking system and scores of revolutionary ideas from American Industrial institutions. To- day Japanese industry is a model of the “endless chain™ system developed to so high a degree bere by Henry Ford. Employed In the now great Japa- nese industrial plants are workers, both men and women, who have learned to practice an economy that would put the Scots to shame. They live in flimsy houses to a standard that seems unbelievable, Workers Are Skilled, It must not be supposed that be cause the average worker's Income is about 80 to £50 a month he Is a poor worker. He Is more likely to be high- ly Intelligent, very fast and well skilled, with a hunger for education seldom matched on this earth. And his money has a vastly greater pur chasing power than it would appear to have, His production Is always up to the utmost because the entire Jap- anese Industrial system works on a bonus basis that allows extra pay for high efficiency, economy, safety and production, The food the Japanese worker's family eats would look sorry, indeed, to the red-blooded American appetite, Appeals to Those of Mature Figdke FATTERN $342 Lr Capes? they've descend April showers, In this charming dress the caps fluence is minimi to advantage. J raglan sleeve, the yoke In ba give grace and p to the n adroitly placed, 2 at the bodice, Y | find the cut of the skirt excellent, . It's a grand dress to make up In a flower print or a solid sheer, in volle or for the heat waves to Capes may contrast Pattern 8342 may in sizes 16, 18, 20, 34, 38, 38, and 44. 2 29 Inch fabric. SEND FIFTEEN CENTS in coins or stamps (coins preferred) for this p Be sure to write plainly your NAME, ADDRESS, STYLE NUMBER and SIZE. Comzy g imed sew iawn The or come. be ordered Size 38 requires 37 pattern. lete, dia chart eenth Street, New York. & SMILES 5 BETTER BE SURE Percy — Miss Hopskip! Will you be my wife? lessle—Why, you asked me that last week and 1 said yes. Percy—But 1 thought it possible you might have changed your mind Bessie! Those Party Platforms *A party platform is a mighty Im portant consideration,” said one statesman, “Yes,” replied the other, “a party platform in politics is a good deal like a bunker in golf. The rules re quire it, but you show your skili in avoiding It.” ————————— Oh, Oh *Was this picture of your husband taken before you knew him? “Yes, It was taken during the honeymoon." —Detroit News, Worse Than That Son—Dad, is “politics” plural? Dad—No; there isn't anything in the world more singular than poll tics, tented, for his more well-to-do broth- same menu as he does, ing-class family of five for only about 65 cents a day. table soup, pork and cabbage, and oth- does not like, rice and tea, For what you and I would pay for a hat, the Japanese man or woman ean buy a complete outfit of summer cloth ing; for what we might pay for a pair overcoat; his monthly rent costs him about as much as our monthly bill for gas and electricity. That one-time American Institution, the nickel movie, has become a Japanese institution with the children admitted for half exports climb. And so do our relief rolls, © Western Newspaper Uslon. a : iy.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers