By LEMUEL F. PARTON EW YORK.—When Sir Walter Runciman was here in 1937, it was reported that he was trying to persuade Washington to lend money to Germany, to soothe Hitler and make him stop frightening Eng- land. That may or may not have been his mission, but, as a master of the old credit- and-raw-materials squeeze play, he works that way, and, now, as Vis- count Runciman, he is deep in the Downing Street strategy which swings these two cudgels of empire. Prime Minister Chamberlain ap- pointed him as mediator in the Czechoslovak-Sudeten German nego- tiations, but the Czechs toned that down to adviser. Viscount Runciman has been a silent ally of Viscount Halifax in the quiet, glacial-pressure ad- vance of the four-power bloe scheme for a European coalition and the final and complete iso- lation of Russia. It was reported from London, un- verified so far as this writer knows, Makes Moves In World's Chess Game the Daladier government came in, and he has been tagged as the man who deploys the empire's financial resources in the diplomatic chess game. His father was a ruddy old sea dog who sang chanteys, a cabin boy who became a shipping czar and a baronet. Viscount Runciman is a pallid, tight-lipped little man, a total abstainer, a former Sunday School teacher, and a faithful chapel- goer. As president of the British board of trade, he made concessions in empire free trade, but he is a pro- tectionist of the Chamberlain tradi- tion. Like many men of small stature, he has the Napoleonic psy- Runciman Master of Squeeze Play put over a fast credit double-play with France and leon and hoarding memorabilia. » » * HIS writer has heard from sev- sources that Tullio succeed Edward Johnson as man- ager of the Metro- To Boss politan Opera. The Met? Signor Serafin has been highly es- teemed here for his musicianship, but all was not well between him and .the Metropolitan manage- ment when he returned to Rome in 1935, after a number of years as Italian conductor here. “The Metropolitan has not kept pace with the artistic progress of the modern stage,” he said, on his arrival in Rome. “The way opera is put on at the Metropolitan is ri- diculous . . . The great fault with the Metropolitan is the little encourage- ment it is giving to its latent tal- ent.” The Metropolitan reply hinted that Signor Serafin was really thinking about money rather than art. In the seasom "32-733, he had a fair subsistence wage of $58,200 for the season. This had been worked down to $34,000 the year he left, authoritative Serafin would Serafin that was pretty shabby pay for an cismn was directed solely at artistic shortcomings. Several years ago, the Metropoli- tan was intent on national self-suf- ficiency in music, Home Talent Ii was going to For Opera : ture native talent, No Bargain That hasn’t quite who is its sharpest critic. Among music lovers of this writ- er's acquaintance, there seems to be great indifference about where the singers come from as long as they are good. They insist that mu- sic, above all, must be free from the sharply nationalistic trends of the day. As a lad, Tullio Serafin laid down a shepherd's crook for a baton. Tending the sheep near Cavarzere on the Venetian mainland, he used to walk sev- eral miles to town on Saturday night, at the age of ten, to con- duct the village band. He at- tended the conservatory at Mi- lan and was a full-fledged con- ductor in his early youth. At La Scala, in Milan, he was assistant conductor under Gatti- Casazza. He became one of the most widely known and popular con- ductors in Europe. A stanch supporter of the Fascist regime from its outset, he has been conductor of the Royal Opera at Rome since his departure from New York. He was replaced here by Ettore Panizza. Consolidated News Features, e WNU Service International Last week as neurotic Europe jit- tered and shivered, Adolf Hitler led 1,500,000 troops through unprece- dented maneuvers, In England, there were signs that Neville Cham- berlain's “kid glove’ policy toward Germany and England was break- ing down. In Shanghai, Japan made bold advances on the International Settlement. (See below). Into such a troubled world stepped U. S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull to deplore once again the ‘‘tide of lawlessness.” A good maker-of- points, Statesman Hull listed a sev- en-point international program to CORDELL HULL «+ « @ “narrow mental horizon." accomplish this aim: (1) economic reconstruction; (2) adherence to in- ternational law; (3) observance of treaties and their orderly modifica- tion when necessary; (4) abstention from use of force; (5) non-interven- tion with other nations’ internal af- fairs; (6) disarmament; (7) collab- oration for culture. To America, Mr. Hull's speech was a warning that U. S. isolation is no longer possible. To European chancellories it was intended to be a pep talk for internationalism. But as comment drifted back home next day from London, Berlin, Paris, Rome and Tokyo, it appeared Mr. Hull had only made his friends dear- er, made his enemies stronger. Berlin spoke of his “narrow men- tal horizon,” Rome called him “idealistic and impracticable,” To- kyo said his speech was a ‘‘repeti- tion of his idealistic diplomacy which contains nothing not included in recent pronouncements.” But from ally-hungry Paris and London came only praise. Two days later Franklin Roose- velt found occasion to make another official U. 8S. utterance on Democ- racy vs. Dictatorship. At Ontario's Queens university, where he got an honorary degree, the President (1) extended the Monroe doctrine to Canada by promising that ‘‘the peo- ple of the U. S. will not stand idly y if domination of Canadian soil is threatened by another empire.” and (2) took a slap at Hitler, Mus- solini, et al, by remarking: ‘We cannot prevent our people from hav- ing an opinion in regard to wanton brutality undemocratic regi- mentation misery inflicted on helpless peoples.” To France this was proof that ‘‘the democracies of the world are standing together.” Foreign Last February 20, dapper Anthony Eden resigned as Britain's foreign secretary because he didn’t believe in consorting with dictators. But Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain set out to make friends with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Ap- pointed as Eden's successor was Viscount Halifax. Next came conversations at Ber- lin and Rome, a British-Italian last fortnight Neville Chamberlain was a success at winning friends But a few days later his house of cards collapsed. Italy began anti- British propaganda despite her “friendship’’ agreement. Hitler 1,500,000 men for war maneuvers despite his peace avow- al. Generalissimo Francisco Fran- co, Spain's rebel commander, balked at eliminating foreign fight- ers, presumably on advice from Berlin and Rome. What was still more disheartening, Viscount Halifax met secretly with opinionated Anthony Eden and was reported ready to resign. Some thought Neville Chamberlain might also resign, placing weather-beaten Sir Samuel Hoare in line for the premiership. @® At Cologne an anti-aircraft gun was planted in front of the U. S. consulate, barking every 20 minutes at an imaginary enemy in the sky. Throughout Germany, troop trains pulled reserves to the borders of France, Poland and Czechoslovakia for Adolf Hitler's 15-day war maneuvers. From many paints, foreign observers sent word of wholesale rebellion among workers drafted for ‘‘state tasks.” Nowhere was this Nazi show of power more keenly felt than in little Czechoslovakia, where 400,000 troops were secretly mobilized to forestall a sudden invasion move ~~ by Germany. Meanwhile, England's Lord Runciman made little prog- ress in his mission to settle the scrap between loyal Czechs and pro- Nazi Sudeten Germans. As nego- tiations reached an impasse, Su- deten Ernst Kundt warned the gov- ernment that the ‘‘gap is unbridge- able.” @® Fortnight ago, Chinese national- ists in Shanghai celebrated the first anniversary of Japan's invasion by raising flags and waging guerrilla warfare. Result was an invasion of Shanghai's International Settle- ment by Jap secret service agents who were promptly spanked and sent home. Last week two French soldiers were seized and taken to the Japanese embassy where they were held despite protests. Though Shanghai itself now lives peacefully under Tokyo rule, the foreign-owned International Settle- ment houses 1,000,000 Chinese still loyal to Generalissimo Chiang Kai- shek. Shanghai diplomats feared that Japan might attempt to seize the settlement, a move that would send U. S., Great Britain and France into an outraged uproar. Meanwhile, Tokyo tightened its belt once more, taking more econ- omy measures to speed up the war in China. Hankow, long-sought ob- jective, still remained 100 miles away from war weary Nipponese. . Business Last week Secretary of State Cor- | dell Hull reported satisfactory prog- | ress with his reciprocal trade treaty | program whereby the U. S. be- | comes ‘“‘most favored nation’ with | a host of governments. Then came | a stumbling block, thrown in his | path not by a foreign power but | by Mr. Hull's next door neighbor, | Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wal- lace. In all the world there wheat surpluses of 975 million bushels. Of this the U. S. has 325 million, Can- ada 250 million. Easily the biggest competitors in wheat export busi- ness, North America's ‘good neigh- bors'’ have made price-cuttin moves against each other to sell a major part of the 400 million bush- els the world export market needs | this year. What Secretary Wallace suggest- ed last week was an “‘understand- ing’ on wheat export policy with the Canadian government which has pegged No. 1 wheat at a minimum of 81 cents a bushel and agreed to absorb losses connected with export business. After he reaches an agreement, Secretary Wallace hopes to make a similar provision for U. S. exports, subsidy money to come from customs receipts. Determined to dispose of at least 100 million bushels on the export market this year, Secretary Wallace might easily disrupt the reciprocal trade treaty by underbidding na- under agree- Hull. are ons now t operating ments w Secretary Politics This year, more than ever, state primary campaigns have brought complaints of ‘dirty poker.” In Kentucky, both Sen. Alben Barkley and Gov. A. B. “Happy” Chandler were accused of misusing federal and state funds to influence voters. Investigating such charges last week, Sen. Morris Sheppard's com- mittee on campaign expenditures found a particularly juicy morsel. Uncovered in Pennsylvania were letters carrying Sen. Joseph F. Guf- fey's signature, urging WPA work- PENNSYLVANIA'S GUFFEY He wrote too many letters. ers to contribute to campaign chests of Gov. George A. Earle, running for the senate, and C. Alvin Jones, running for governor. Section 208 of the U. 8. criminal code forbids solicitation by a fed- eral officeholder of political funds from any person receiving federal compensation. Vehemently denying the charge, Senator Guffey’'s secre- tary nevertheless sped word across the Atlantic to his boss, who is tour- ing Europe. ® In Wyoming, a quiet primary re- nominated Gov. Leslie A. Miller, naming Nels H. Smith as his Re- publican opponent next November. Also renominated was Wyoming's only representative, Paul R. Greev- er, who will face Frank O. Horton, personal friend of Herbert Hoover. Crime | In September, 1934, the body of a | headless woman was washed ashore | on Cleveland's Lake Erie front door. The next three and one-half years produced nine more headless bod- ies, seven of them men, two of them | women. In each case, clues were | maddeningly absent; always the same mutilation and cleavage of | bodies, always the papers and boxes into which the pieces were packed, | always the hopelessness of identi- | fication. Last week, rummaging around a lake front dump, police stumbled | on an eleventh victim, headless like the rest. Four hours of patient ex- amination brought no clues. A few | hours later crowds swarmed over | the dump, uncovered a twelfth tor-| so. Both were women; one may | have been a Negro. As police continued to seek the “mad butcher of Kingsbury Run’ | they knew only that he was a sur- | gically skilled maniac who appar- ently has no other motive except | a fiendish desire to dissect human | bodies. | i | Sports In New York's Madison Square Garden, 20,000 fight fans saw dusky Henry Armstrong enter a boxing ring wearing two crowns, world featherweight, world welterweight. In another corner sat Lou Ambers wearing one crown, world light- weight. For 15 rounds they fought at terrific pace as Henry Armstrong clearly held the edge. In the fifth, Ambers dropped under a crushing right. In the sixth he dropped again under a fusillade of rights. But in the thirteenth he fought Armstrong to a standstill. At fight's end, Henry Armstrong instead of two, the first man in box- three titles at one time. But from the audience came jeers, catcalls, straw and pop bottles. DOOS, Domestic *l am quite confident that he is su perior in learning and ability to anyone his charocter is He has been a dear confident that the judgment | express is not the child but the parent of my affec- tion.” Thus, wrote the late beloved Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes regarding Harvard's Felix Frankfurter, whom he wanted ap- pointed to the Massachusetts Su- preme court. But famed Jurist Frankfurter declined the offer and a9 in 1932, FELIX FRANKFURTER “He is superior in learning . . ." Justice Holmes died. So did an- other great liberal, Justice Benja- min Cardozo. To fill Justice Cardozo’s post was a job confronting Franklin Roose- velt last week. Since the court al ready has a liberal majority he would not find it necessary to con- sider that factor. Some thought a westerner should have the job for reasons of geographical distribution. Others thought it should go to a Jew or Catholic for religious rea- sons. Though no appointment was ex- pected before congress reconvenes, pro-Frankfurter sentiment was growing rapidly in Washington. First to climb the bandwagon was Nebraska's Sen. George Norris. Most observers thought Felix Frankfurter would make a good ad- dition to the high court. Army Last week, as Adolf Hitler pa-| raded his manpower before the! world and England's Leslie Hore-| Belisha began “streamlining’’ Great | Britain's army, many an American | wondered about his own national defense. To their surprise, inves tigators learned that U. 8. army of- | ficials are placing an accent on] youth, are moreover tightening ef-| ficiency strings. New regulations require periodic! reports on major generals and 12,500 officers below that grade. And, because a score of majors and! brigadier generals reach retirement age this year, a wholesale reshuf- fling of upper ranks is in progress. But to Maj. Gen. George Van Horn Moseley, attending Third Le TAR lel TF) Ki WASHINGTON.—Something like a year ago, quite a furor was raised here by the revela- Roar Over tion that the Home HOLC Owners Loan cor- poration had loaned $40,000 out of its own treas- ury to its employees who wanted to organize a group which could hire its own doctors on an annual basis. This was public money, because the HOLC is wholly owned by the fed- eral treasury and its function is to home ownership. The named, guaranteed medical treat- ment to its members for a fixed annual fee and hired doctors to do the job. There was a roar from many quarters at the time because of the use of government money in this manner, but the loudest roar came from the doctors who are members of the District of Columbia Medi- cal society. Few of us realized then, I think, where this controversy was going to lead. 1 doubt that there were very many persons expected to see the tiny spark fanned into a flame so large. Now, however, that spark has become a national flame, national issue of serious import. For what could be more serious, indeed, than a chance to live when the cold fingers of death creep closer? The issue as it is now defined, suc- cinctly, is whether the long and hon- orable history of the medical pro- fession, and all of the scientific as- shall be whethe - wheiner, In thi immnlies LIE implies, sets that thrown to the winds; the place of that history and gain and the services of those individual doctors, there shall be created a new basic method, a procedure where the doctors are hired by corporation subsisting fees paid by its members who wil telephone the corporation offices anc say: send me one of your best doc- tors. In short, as I see it, the issue ized, conscientious service or serv- ice as lacking in personal interest as a “fill my tank, please,” at the gaso- line service station. That is the preface to the recent legal proceedings by our own gov- ernment against the American Med- ical association and the District of Columbia Medical society, which are threatened with prosecution as a “trust.” The government's action, of course, makes the controversy a national issue, one which interests all of us. The trust busting assist- ant attorney general, Thurman Ar- nold, former Yale professor, vows he will break up the “trust’ which is the national organization of doc- cannot help linking the corporation method of medical with Professor Arnold's blast and threats against the doctors who believe in individual practice. yractice The whole department of justice position strikes me as rather fuzzy, rather asinine and, in some re- spects, reprehensible. However, if there is to be a complete analysis of the situation obtained, it is nec- essary to know that ‘President Roosevelt wants it done,” and Mr. Arnold is proceeding. It does not seem to matter that there are only a few medical crooks, only a few un- ethical and unscrupulous medical practitioners; the whole profession must be attacked and defamed. Nor does it seem of great concern to the prosecuting officials that some of those doctors who are promoting corporation medicine throughout the United States have been denied ad- mission to the American Medical association for reasons of character and ethics deemed sufficient to war- rant non-recognition. * * » And while I am about it, I want to pay tribute to that greatest of all American charac- Lauds Country ters, the country Doctor doctor. I have per- sonal reasons for ica there can be found no greater asset. He is a friend and confidant and adviser, minister to the body and the mind. There are some among his numbers that will not have, even do not warrant, respect. But that obtains in every walk of life and my belief is that there are fewer country doctors lacking in honesty and good conscience than in any regular profession or avocation of life. The country doctor is different from his brother practitioner of the trained, more up to date on all de- velopments of science, profession that has done as much or more for mankind as the ministers of the gospel. I take it for granted that there are skeletons in the clos- ets of many doctors. There is, and can be, no justification, for example, of some of the high fees charged in cases where people without worldly goods are concerned. Their lives are as valuable as the lives of the rich- est multimillionaires. There can be no defense, as a further proposition, for laxness and disinterest which are matters of record. But I main- tain and shall always believe that there are comparatively few mem- bers of the medical profession who fail to give the best that is in them. And when I mention disinterest, I cannot help wondering whether doe- tors hired by group health associa- tions are going to be much concerned about hurrying to the bedside of an association few years of such practice. The month- ly check is going to come in whether the corporation doctor is sympathet~ 1 ic and skillful or member after a apathetic, *. so» 1 ut let us ut i get on to another pl two of them, in fact According to the | that wnat ase; ai opin- Ap of the ent of jus- 18 like- is available Other 00 arts 4) - Wie scien a surgery The seems to be the very sim that New a caiueaq business here among sional men.) The medical men want to destroy the type that feeds upon the hopeless individual's desire to regain health, to live; they want rid society of the abortionist, the quacks and the men and women who traffic in blood. And the question I propound, therefore, is: can such a profession be catalogued in law or in morals as dealers in commodi- ties like steel or oil or calico? If it can be so held under our laws, then there surely is no point in young men and women slaving through six for the profession. They had bet- ter go out and start practicing med- icine as the unskilled laborer digs ditches. In nr this connection, 00, It seems er to mention an implication of 1e- abov e, iCal §0C onh ties to be trusts a decis As set down If the medical society > va izations, your civic so- who elect or fail order, the Odd Fellows, Woodmen of the World? And, what of Knights of Columbus? That great organization for good also could be broken down if a crook, for selfish reasons, would want membership. And now to the politics of the sit- uation. It appears to me to be a great tactical blunder on the part of the so-called board of strategy which has President Roosevelt's ear. Those men, most of them un- trained in political campaigning, have failed to recognize the human element that is involved. They have listened to the generalities of those who have their own nests to feather and have so far forgotten common sense in politics as to propose a move that can be offset by direct, personal contact. Let us think of the picture here presented in a hypothetical case. Suppose you are a great supporter of President Roosevelt, believe him to be sincere in his announced in- terest in the masses, praise his cour- age and his forward-looking pro- gram for government. Along comes old man sickness and lays you down flat on your back. Your doctor comes. You know him, have confi- dence in him, or you would not call him. Then, after the manner that usu- ally happens, the doctor talks about a number of things with you. Of course, you know something about the government attacks on the doc- tors and you want to hear the story from the other angle. I would, and s0 would you. What is all of this about, Doctor? Is there such a thing as a medical trust? Well, unless I miss my guess, un- less my understanding of human re- lations is as wet as swamp log— you are going to feel that the whole proceeding i
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers