Congress Speeds EDITOR'S NOTE-—When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are those of the news analyst, and not necessarily of the newspaper. Defense On January 1, 1936, Japan scrapped her 5-5-3 naval treaty with the U. S. and Britain. Subsequently an arms race started on both land and sea, precipitated each time Der Fuehrer or Il Duce made an ag- gressive step. In the U. S.,, even loud-mouthed congressmen were loathe to think of defense in terms of actual invasion until self-right- eous Germany swiped Czecho-Slo- vakia and Memel. Two weeks later congress got down to talking cases, passing an unprecedented $513,188,- 000 army appropriations bill in jig time after war talk like this in the senate: Oklahoma's Thomas: “Every na- tion must be ready every moment . . . to defend itself.” Utah's King: “The only possible danger is from Japan, and Japan is beating her head against a stone wall in China. Even if Ger- SENATOR LUNDEEN He favored Hitler technique, many should defeat England, 1 haven't the slightest idea that would endanger us." Indiana’s Minton: “Germany might obtain Bermuda or part of Canada.” Minnesota's Lundeen: “Then let the United States seize Bermuda and Britain's West Indian posses- sions to force payment of her war debts. Andrew Jackson set a prece- dent in collecting a debt from France by threatening to seize French territory in his sphere.” Indiana’s Minton: “That would be adopting the technique of Hit- Jer.” Having boosted army funds $52.- 987,000 over the current year's ap- propriation, congress had next House. naval program was President Roosevelt one approved cost $95,000,000 each, bigger One good reason: the U. S. is able to out-arm back into a limitation treaty. Present U. S. strength 33,000 tons. ized. Six more underway. Last Japanese report none over 33,000 tons, and three un- der construction. Vague rumors nage. world’s third largest sea power sets the pace. Agriculture Though the house approved an $816,513,000 agriculture appropria- tions bill ($499,500,000 of which is for soil conservation benefit payments) the measure was far more signifi- cant for two exclusions: (1) Parity. Not included in the Trend How the wind is blowing . . . WEALTH WESTWARD-—Fleeing European war scares, $56,204,000 in gold--largest consignment on record—arrived in New York on the S. S. Manhattan. MATURING UNIONISM — In 1938, U. 8. labor strikes dropped 50 per cent and union member- ship hit a record high of 8,000,000. Reason given by the labor depart- ment: Transition in management- employee relationship. FARM HEADACHE--More than 40 per cent of the $7,632,000,000 U. 8S. farm income for 1938 went for debts and taxes, agriculture department figures show. EARNINGS DOWN — Standard Statistics company reports the net 1938 income of 1,898 corpora- tions was 42 per cent under 1937's figure, U. S. Defense: President's original budget, but tossed in anyway, was a $250,000,000 grant for parity payments. But no financing was provided, and the house seemed economy bent. Rath- er than resort to unpopular process- ing taxes the house voted against parity, winning disfavor of the po- tent farm bloc and a victory for the President, who insists extra- budgetary needs must be met with definite taxation. Agriculture lead- ers hoped the senate would restore parity; even so, an embarrassing situation apparently lay ahead. With no money, glum dirt farmers saw only one way to pay off the govern- ment loans on which they have pledged 81,000,000 bushels of wheat. The way: To default, making the U. S. the world's largest wheat owner, (2) Cotton, Another rejected amendment called for $60,000,000 ‘‘to develop domestic markets and sub- sidize foreign exports.” This obvi- ously referred to the plan President Roosevelt broached a few hours ear- lier: To spend $15,000,000 between now and August 1 by paying pro- ducers $1.25 a bale (on 8,000,000 bales) for releasing their govern- ment-held loan cotton for sale on the world market. Though the 1939 crop will otherwise swell govern- ment-held surpluses to 13,000,000 bales, congressional economy appar- ently won. Said Virginia's Rep. Clif- ton Woodrum: “We might as well repeal the budget and the account- ing act, and let pandemonium and chaos reign.” Meanwhile, far in the future, southern cotton farmers saw relief the ttonless" revolutionary ‘‘co lege, Said an over-large, without detracting from the wonder if the cotton farmers whose price is fairly constant, Among other things, U. 8S. rail- roads blame high taxes, bad busi- ness and unfair competition from Labor blames the railroads them- selves. Most people blame a mix- ture of geographical, economic and political factors, in which every- body's hands are partially soiled. When railroading reached a crisis last autumn and congressional aid became imperative, a flock of pana- ceas arose ranging from the Hast- ings ‘‘postalizing’’ plan to the sub- stantial bills of Montana's Burton K. Wheeler and California's Clarence F. Lea. Both management and la- bor pressed their particular cases lution. B. Eastman, ICC'S COMMISSIONER EASTMAN A guiding hand? commissioner, who told the house interstate commerce committee that leadership and apply some form of compulsion.” Whether Mr. Eastman’'s will be the guiding hand remains to be seen, but his com- ments were at least clarifying. After attacking the apparent reluctance to consolidate or co-ordinate as “waste- ful practices,” and after refusing to recognize any benefits from greater freedom to increase rates, the ICC member outlined a few high points for rail recovery: (1) The government should give concessions in taxation and relief in connection with grade crossing elimination and reconstruction of bridges over navigable waters. (2) Elimination of rate conces- sions to the government would save about $7,000,000 a year, (3) All important forms of trans- portation should receive “equal and impartial regulation,” preferably under ICC direction. While the house sped passage of a bill to facilitate voluntary rail re- organizations, Mr. Eastman pointed out that creation of a new reorgani- zation court would delay rather than facilitate matters. His alternative: Give ICC charge of reorganization duties. * People Douglas Fairbanks, ex-movie star, has been ordered to return $72,186 refunded by the U. S. on income tax payments in 1927-28-29, Europe Few observers doubt that Adolf restoration of the pre-war Hapsburg and Hohen- zollern empires. Most agree, also, that his next step will be capture of the Free City of Danzig (now under League control) and the adjacent corridor which is Poland’s only out- let to the Baltic sea. That Ger- many will get these concessions without a fight is further evident because Danzig is already 90 per cent Nazi; Poland, moreover, ap- parently recognizes her futile posi- tion and is ready to move into the German orbit rather than join a French-British-Russ alliance permit- ting Soviet troops to cross her soil. Though German Ambassador Hans von Moltke has assured Po- Anza) (// f] / UTHUANIA Y/ PRUSSIA CORRIDOR DANZIG AND POLISH CORRIDOR Next on Hitler's list? land of Germany's good intentions, Nazi press notes like these sound suspiciously like the start of another campaign: Field Marshal Goering’s Essener National Zeitung: ‘Polish attacks on Germans (in Pole territory) are an intolerable strain on the German- Polish treaty of friendship—democ- racies pull the strings!” (Similar allegations regarding German mi- norities preceded recent Nazi inva sions in Austria, Sudetenland and Czecho-Slovakia.) Deutsche Diplomatisech-Politische Korrespondenz: The paper advis Poles to continue collaborating with Germany and not to listen to ‘‘for- lest the results not be “advantageous.” The ‘foreign si- rens'’ are obviously France and Britain, whose failure to back up protection promises the past year will undoubtedly force Poland to seek German mercy. ed w "s The unhappy plight of U. S employer-employee relations may be due either to (1) the Wagner labor relations act, or (2) American Fed- eration of Labor's battle with Con- gress of Industrial organizations. Like an impatient school teacher, both congress and the White House have resolved to end this squabble, the White House by sponsoring A. F. of L-C. 1. O. peace talks, congress by amending the Wagner act. When April 11 h ing date for senate c« ings on Wagner amendments, labor peace talks were in full bloom. But 80 strong are the workingman’s feel- ings about the proposed changes that peace advocate thought hearings might have been delayed until labor's warring factions either was To amend the act, con- gress can pick from four sets of pro- all opposed by C. 1. O., three (1) By Massachusetts’ Sen. David I. Walsh, obviously favored by A. F. Curtail the national labor require NLRB elec. by in- dustrial units; permit employer pe- titions for elections; permit appeals in representation cases. (2) By Nebraska's Sen. Edward R. Burke, and supported by the po- tent, strike-weary National Associa tion of Manufacturers: Require that NLRB have representative from la- bor, management and the public; outlaw deduction of union dues from outlaw ‘‘coercion” by either employers or unions; es- tablish code of *‘unfair labor prac- tices’' for unions as well as em- ployers; forbid strikes unless a ma- jority of employees approve; require all union officials to be U. 8. citi- zens; permit transfer of "unfair la- bor practice’ charges from NLRB to federal district court. (3) By Oregon's Sen. Rufus Hol- man: To split NLRB's duties. Ad- ministrative and investigatory pow- er would be vested in a labor rela- tions commissioner. Final decisions would be made by a nine-member labor appeals board. (4) By Kentucky's Sen. M. M. Lo- gan, supported by the National Grange and other farm groups: To extend exemption of agricultural workers under the Wagner act to processors and packers of farm produce. Miscellany Figured, by New York's Rep. Bruce Barton, that the stock market usually gains when President Roose- velt goes fishing or vacationing, usu- ing tour. @® Willed, by the late Chicago Jew, Harris Goldman, that his 32.year- old Congregational daughter will re- ceive one-seventh of his estate (val- ued at from $300,000 to $500,000) if she marries in the Jewish faith with- in a year, that otherwise she will receive only $5. @® Scheduled for congressional ap- proval, the highly controversial gov. ernmental reorganization bill, com. promised to remove most of las year's objection, | WASHINGTON.—It was not so long ago—six or eight years, per- haps—that the annual cost of the department of agriculture to the taxpayers of the country amounted to something like $40,000,000. There was some talk even in those days about the drain upon the federal treasury resulting from department of agriculture operations. The to- tals were questioned; many persons wondered whether the politicians were justified in voting that much money to the department because there was little to show in the way of results. That is, congressmen packages of seeds sent out to their districts. It was in those days, however, that the department of agriculture was seeking to operate effectively. Farming was not regarded by the folks who used to run the depart- ment as a subject for politics. The departmental officials were going about their business, rendering as- gistance in the form of advice and promoting better farming-—when the farmers asked for it. 1 was reminded of those days re- cently when the house appropria- tions committee brought out for consideration the appropriations bill for the department of agriculture for the fiscal year that begins next July 1. A Rip Van Winkle who could have slept through the last 10 years would have believed, truly, that he was in another The ne money bill for the department con- tains a total of more than $1.000.- 000,000. The measure, indeed, ranks as the third largest appropriations bill of this year when altogether there is likely to be almost $10,000,- 000,000 appropriated. What Is Planned to Do With a Billion Dollars It is extremely difficult to realize what a billion doll That is, it is difficult for me to understand what it is. I can write the figures glibly enough. But to comprehend that sum of money, or a billion of anything, is something almost out- side the pale of human knowledge Yet that is what the department of wr i world. is how that money is supposed to be divided: 8,560,000 for soil conservation payments. $250,000,000 for parity payments. $191,000,000 for road building. $21,462,000 for soil and moisture conservation and operations. $24,984,000 for the farm tenancy progre $7,175,000 for eradicating tubercu- losis and Bang's disease. and its services. $4,978,000 for retiring lands. vestigation. $1,500,000 for wild life restoration. estry. 250,000 program. There were some other odds and ends embracing items of 20 or 40 or 90.thousand dollars, amounts so small that men almost cause they have forgotten how speak in such limited numbers. Then, and here is the joker which is hidden away. I really should not say “hidden’ because no reference is made in the agriculture bill lan- guage. The joker is that there are almost countless millions of other dollars with which the department can play around, including approxi- mately $100,000,000 of money for use in getting rid of farm surpluses. That is the money from which Sec- retary Wallace and his advanced thinkers will draw funds for the soon-to-be-famous food stamps. for the water to blue eagles before the NRA was plowed under. But the undis- tinguished, yet befitting, end that came to the NRA blue eagle has not deterred the advanced thinkers from attempting something else that is blue—a blue stamp for relief food. Yes, relief workers will have the same wages as before, but they will receive free blue stamps with which to buy surplus products for foods. How Wallace’s Men Think I must write a little bit about that blue food stamp, about how the ad- vanced thinkers think it will work, before 1 report on the main depart- ment of agriculture appropriation It seems to be Secretary Wallace's ignate certain farm products each week as being “surplus” and to help get them off of the glutted market by making them available for relief workers’ kitchens. The first trial of the scheme will be limited to six cities. In those areas, the relief supervisors will be supplied with books of blue stamps. They are rather pretty stamps, too. Each WPA worker will get a book of stamps of a specified value. He can take those stamps to his gro- cery store and use them just like they were quarters, or half dollars or dollars. The groceryman will take them and he will be paid hon- est-to-goodness United States mon- ey for them. Thus will the surplus stocks of food products be reduced and the remainder will bring better prices. Or so say the advanced thinkers. When I read the explanation of the program that was sent me by one of Mr. Wallace's publicity staff, the first thing that struck me was the extreme discrimination that will result. It is easy to see. Take any man who is trying to hold down a private job. It may be paying him only $50 a month, or about the same as the relief worker gets. Natural- ly, he would like to be making more money. Who wouldn't? But he sticks on his job and stays off of relief. Then, when he gets paid he goes to the grocery store to buy some food. He pays cash, and gets his food. About the same moment a relief orders the same list of groceries, perhaps, and pays for them out of a stamp book. It ap- pears to me that the hard bitten private worker is going to find little solace in remaining on his job. It strikes me he—and millions of oth- ers—are going to be resentful of such tactics. There is another phase of the pic- ture which was mentioned to me by tepresentative Hope of Kansas, one of the ranking members of the house committee on agriculture. He sug- gested that the blue stamps are go- ing to create a lot of bootleggers. For example: the relief workers are not permitted to buy liquor with the stamps. They won't be redeemed if they are used to buy anything but food. However, Mr. Hope could see no reason why a relief worker uor store owner might possibly be a crook. It is possible, you know. He might own a food store, too. or he might have understanding with a food store owner who would an unt. What is cedure? It's your The whole thing strikes me as be- ing so silly as to defy one's powers of imagination. It is dealt with here at such length only because I re- to stop such guess, ro~ 1 within the agriculture for which $1,000,000,000 is soon to be appropriated for a year’s opera- The blue stamp scheme is ing of 6,000,000 pigs was doomed and as the limitation of Now, lest I be misunderstood, let me restate with emphasis that there rk that the department Road appropriations, for in- stance. Where would this country be had there been no attempt to build usable roads? Who can say that eradication of tuberculosis and Bang's disease among live stock is not a valuable aid to farmers? nas been doin building I am not prepared to say that th wild life restoration program is wholly bad. It seems probable that the country ought to rebuild the wild life stocks that have been wan- tonly destroyed in the days when people could go out and shoot ducks thought of the morrow. It is a pro- gram for which considerable justi- fication can be advanced. But it is to be noted that most of these items are small. Neither the department of agriculture adminis- tratign nor the members of the house and the senate have seen fit to do more than maintain them. I have seen the inmates of the capi- tol squirm and fuss and scowl about some of them, while swallowing the items reaching into hundreds of mil- lions with the greatest of glee. As I said, it was not so long ago that department of agriculture ap- propriations were regarded as huge if they totalled 40 millions. As far as I can see, agriculture is no bet- ter off today than it was in those years. Of course, a very great number of farmers have learned that the beautiful phrases like ‘the more abundant life” and such, are meaningless. But I venture the as- rather expensive, surely made to appear that there are some large Ethiopian gentlemen in the wood pile. 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