PE EDITOR'S NOTE-—When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are those of the news analyst, and not necessarily of the newspaper. Business Most of America’s 4,000,000 small business men nowadays make little profit, can raise little capital, can- not widen their markets nor im- prove their competitive positions. Whatever the cause, the problem is so serious that an even half-dozen credit-loosening measures are now pending in congress. Realizing that unscientific action would be blind staggering, Harry Hopkins’ revital- ized commerce department recent- ly asked amendment of one such measure to direct it ‘particularly to the vital needs of small busi- ness enterprises” and provide re- search facilities. The earliest step in this direction started last fall when Wyoming's Sen. Joseph C. O'Mahoney began surveying U. S. business develop- ment with a $500,000 appropriation and his so-called ‘‘monopoly’’ com- mittee. Thus far successful in find- ing business’ pulse, the O'Mahoney committee has been given another $600,000 to find what's wrong with the pulse. Announced simultaneously by Se- curities and Exchange Commission- SEC'S JEROME FRANK O'Mahoney funds, Jaycee probers. er Jerome M. Frank is an SEC- sponsored survey to be conducted with O'Mahoney funds by 561 chap- ters of the U. S. junior chamber of commerce. various financial channels through which small business may obtain small business from obtaining cap- ital. While “Jaycees’ underway, SEC was already work- ing on a dozen special surveys. lems of local industry fected by droughts; England region where business has been lost via depression and in- creased competition from other sec- tions; Denver, a typical mountain- state section; Detroit-Toledo, a typ- ness activity. Quickly dismissed by Mr. Frank was the possibility that his SEC might be to blame, since registra- tion requirements for small securi- ties issues were liberalized "a year ago with no resultant increase in securities borrowing by small busi- ness. Starting out without any “preconceived ideas,”” investigators will not try to pin responsibility on banks or anyone else until the eight- week probe is completed and find- ings tabulated. Relief Growing with other anti-adminis- tration congressional sentiment has been resentment against relief ex- penditures. President Roosevelt was warned last December that he might expect an investigation this session. Though economizing legis- lators agreed to vote deficiency funds (to last until July 1) before tearing WPA apart, they lopped $150,000,000 off the original $875,000,- 000 deficiency request. When the White House asked that the cut be restored, rebellion had reached such heights that Mr. Roosevelt was lucky to get $100,000,080 of it. Thus freed to tackle WFA itself, a 12-man relief sub-committee went to work under Virginia's economiz- ing Rep. Clifton A. Woodrum. Fa- vorite among suggested remedies offered the eight Democrats and four Republicans is a measure pro- posed by Mr. Woodrum himself, to turn relief administration over to states and municipalities, the U. S. to concern itself chiefly with allo- cating funds. Aimed partly to wipe out WPA’s huge field organization, the bill would also knock $500,000,000 from President Roosevelt's budget estimate of $1,734,000,000 for relief during the 1939-40 fiscal year. If reported favorably and ap- proved by the house, Mr. Wood- rum'’s measure will get a warm wel- come from the senate appropria- tions committee which is headed by Virginia's Carter Glass and has a conservative majority, Chief non- partisan question mark is whether state and municipal relief setups may not handle relief funds so amateurishly as to force an even- tual return to closer federal super- vision. Another question mark: If congress supervises relief alloca- tions by states, will pork-barrelling result? Europe Since Memel fell to Germany, Europe's four great powers have en- gaged in unprecedented diplomatic warfare. The French-British drive is to encircle Italy and Germany with arms, thus preventing further aggression. Italo-German counter- move is to thwart encirclement. So highly perfected is this warfare that France and England have marked off their sectors of activity, London working with Poland and Russia in the north, Paris with Rumania, the Balkans and Turkey in the south. North Europe. Poland is the key nation in Britain’s campaign, though Russian adherence to a Stop Hitler bloc is far more vital to the British cause. But Poland will not allow Soviet troops to cross her soil, which means that Russia cannot aid the anti-aggression bloc until Hitler swallows more territory and reaches Russia’s frontier. Traditionally a fence-straddler, Poland has signed a mutual defense Spain Though recognition by the United States again placed Gen. Francisco Franco's Spain in the good graces of international society (all other ma- jor powers had previously “recog- nized the Nationalist government) the war-torn Iberian peninsula still faces a tremendous task, Franco's sole ineffectual international gesture as a European power has been to join Germany, Italy and Japan in the anti-Communist pact. Having his heels, could turn to more pressing internal problems. Among them: Order. Though Spain needs man- power to rebuild, many moons will pass before unemployment will be ond wind after 32 months of war, discharged Spanish soldiers will not readily bow to anything less than military law. Franco's answer is expected to be a 1,000,000-man army until early 1940, Health, Substantiated reports from Madrid tell of a scurvy-like disease sweeping former Loyalist ing important reservations. Esthonia) More- (Lithuania, Latvia and a Stop Hitler drive. Rumania, the tary pact operative against Ger- many as well as Russia, but Ru- mania is too far away and too com- pletely under Germany's economic thumb to offer much help. Thus especially since the mild defensive gestures she has made thus far have been enough to make Germany threaten to de- nounce the 1934 Nazi-Polish friend- ship pact. South Europe. Of the Balkan states, only Rumania has received attention from both France and Britain. The latter nation has of- fered help in event of German ag- gression, while France chimed with an important trade treaty. Main French efforts have been aimed at solidification of Jugoslavia, into an anti- Bargaining Turkey to keep Italian Balkan bloc. WN 2 Wy | Fifty-mile Strait of Vv-—"4 Otranto where Italy could A oa bottle up Jugoslavia's outlet to Mediterranean if she controlled Albania. § ITALY'S COUNTER MOVE Who bosses the Mediterranean? Bosphorus so that French-British warships could protect Rumania in the Black sea. In exchange, France was reported willing to give Tur- key a 10,000-square-mile district in Alexandretta, Syria. But Italy replied quickly by threatening seizure of King Zog's tiny Albania, which would give him a key foothold on the Balkan penin- sula. Controiling the narrow Strait of Otranto (see map), Italy could block Yugoslavia’s outlet to the Mediterranean, a threat which bid fair to explode France's plans. At the same time Italian and German troops moved steadily into African Libya in anticipation of a drive against Tunisia. When all was said and done, it was questionable wheth- er France still controlled the Medi- terranean. Recapitulation. After three weeks of “‘encirclement’” diplomacy, France and Britain have still to catch their biggest and most vital fish, Russia, and have gained half- hearted military agreements with only three nations, Turkey, Poland and Rumania. In a pinch any of them might collapse. Miscellany Total U. 8S. expenditures for the fiscal year’s first nine months ($6,- 764,353,436) exceeded income ($4, 390,177,312) by $2,374,176,124. @ Ninety-five per cent of the voters in Europe's tiny Liechtenstein (pop- ulation, 12,000) have signed a pri- vately circulated declaration re- jecting union with Germany. JULIAN BESTEIRO A humanitarian was court-martialed. territory, caused by lack of fresh fruits, vegetables and milk. Its med- icine chest emptied, short of band- ages, iodine, salves and medicines, Spain has sent hurry-up orders to cope with the sorriest physical pfight an enlightened nation has suffered in modern times. Housing. Though intent on restor- ing shell-pocked Catholic churches in Madrid and other former frontier points, Franco faces a far greater carpentry job in placing roofs over several hundred thousand ex-Madri- lenos who fled the capitol in war, returning in peace to find their me- tropolis a shambles, Revenge. Most Loyalist leaders like Gen. Jose Miaja fled Spain after hoisting the white flag of surrender. Twa notable exceptions were Gen. Segismundo Casado, war minis of the defense council, and Julian | Besteiro, a moderate Republican who took no active part in the war except to supervise feeding women | and children during Madrid's tw | year siege. Humanitarian or not, | Senor Besteiro was arrested and | court martialed along with General | Casado. Finance. Before the war Spain's gold reserve of $740,000,000 was ex- ceeded only by the U. S., Britain and France. Also on hand were vast hoards of silver. By April, 1938, the U. S. federal reserve bulletin re- ported Spanish gold had dropped to £525.000,000, and by this month as General Franco entered Madrid, no- body apparently knew where any Spanish gold might be. One vague hint was that Marino Gamboa, a rich Loyalist-sympathizing Filipino, had moved most of it to Mexico and thereby insured the solvency of Loy- alist refugees. Meanwhile National- ist Spain held an empty bag. People Killed, in an automobile accident, 27-year-cld King Ghazi I of Iraq, succeeded same day by his three- year-old son, Crown Prince Feisal. @® Introduced, by the duchess of Windsor to Parisian society, the “peeping petticoat,” whereby sev- eral inches of white flounce show at the bottom of dresses. @® Released, on $35,000 bail pending an appeal, New York's Racket Fixer James J. Hines, recently convicted of conspiracy in the late Dutch Schultz's policy ring. Politics Since Mrs. Harry Hopkins died two years ago, motherless Diana, aged seven, has been cared for by her father and by President and Mrs. Roosevelt. Father Hopkins has bounced about the U. 8S. for years, coming from New York to become what Republicans call “crown prince” of the administra- tion, first as WPA director and later as secretary of commerce. With- out home roots, Mr. Hopkins began rummaging for some in February when he went speechmaking in his native Iowa, a gesture critics thought might be a bid for the 1940 presidential nomination. Hence the press was skeptical when he announced his home ad- dress would henceforth be Grinnell, Jowa, where he had just been named a director of Grinnell col- establish a home for Diana. If a political significance can in- deed be attached to the move, it is that Mr. Hopkins would stand a con- siderably better chance of winning the 1940 nomination as an Jowan than as a resident of New York, where his political following is nil. WASHINGTON.—Unsound and un- cealing their weaknesses for vary- ing lengths of time. It seems to be true, however, that those weak- nesses, like one’s sins, will be found out. This is especially true of writ- ten laws that are predicated upon a formula of how things ought to be known acts and customs and living conditions of the people who make up our nation. Take the old NRA, for example. Its glaring weaknesses and impossi- ble prescriptions were discovered rather soon by the persons and busi- nesses who had to abide by the terms of that law. It was not so long, however, before most of us discovered that the artist who had sketched the original design of the blue eagle had made a mistake. You will recall, of course, that the de- sign had 13 feathers in one wing and 12 in the other. That was bound to make the bird fly in a circle, and how true it was of the law, itself! Even, then, there were many per- sons who believed the law was not given a sufficient trial before the Su- preme court mowed it down. Among those who held a convic- tion that NRA would work was Senator Guffey, the Pennsylvania New Dealer. It is the same Sena- tor Guffey who attempted to de- stroy, politically, all Democrats who disagreed with President Roose- velt—tried to ‘‘read them out of the party" in a radio address. Senator Guffey, with the aid of hn L. Lewis and the C. 1. O., hrough congress the so- called Guffey-little NRA coal law. The coal industry was divided in sentiment about the bill, as I re- member the legislative battle, but Senator Guffey won. There came about a national bituminous coal commission, with power to fix prices, with power to compel a lot of other things, including the right of punishment under other laws if a coal mine owner should commit the horrible crime of selling below cost in order to get rid of his coal Guffey Law Cost the Coal Industry Many Millions The first law so enacted was mowed down by the Supreme court big brother NRA. Senator Guffey tried again. And so for two years, in force that applied the same prin- ciples of regimentation as NRA to the coal industry, and during that time, according to official reports, the soft coal industry has lost mon- ey. It lost $37,000,000 in 1937, and it lost about $60,000,000 last year, the coal commission has reported. Naturally, the coal mine owners are not taking this loss without a squawk. It is not a great deal more than a chirp, however, because the production of coal dropped from tons in 1938. That is pretty rapid really fat. In consequence of this, and other conditions affecting labor and prop- erty, Representative Allen, a Penn- sylvania Democrat, has introduced in the house a bili to reconstruct the Guffey law. His proposal would eliminate the price fixing; it would eliminate the special tax on the coal industry for upkeep of the high pow- commission, and it would place the industry again on a basis where its individual mines would be compet- ing for public patronage instead of I mentioned above that the indus- try had lost money. Well, you and 1, as buyers and consumers of coal, to mention the thousands of We would accomplished the almost insur- mountable job of establishing a set of federally fixed prices. It would have cost us money because we would pay the price that was fixed, and that price would have to be high enough to allow a profit for the lowest grade and most ineffi- cient mine operator. Another Tug of War Between Coal Miners and Operators One of the reasons the mine own- crs lost money was because many who supported the law were con- vinced it would mean increased duction costs, and the public would not feel it. The contract then negotiated ex- pired recently and a new one is now being considered in the regular tug of war that occurs between miners and operators every two years. In the meantime, however, things hap- pened to labor in the soft coal mines. As 1 mentioned above, there was a decline in production of coal. It fig- ures out at 22 per cent. That ob- viously means that, while labor ob- tained an increase of one-tenth in the rate of pay, it worked only four- fifths as much time according to the records available to me. 1 fail to see where labor gained from the law. Moreover, from the federal re- lief authorities I learn that living conditions and buying power among the persons living in coal mining areas have declined almost in direct ratio to decline in production of coal. With respect to the added taxation placed upon the owners of the mines, the surface indications and the original declarations of support- ers of the law have proven to be quite misleading. The law required the industry to pay a tax of one cent a ton and to meet assessments to cover the expenses of boards that were set up in the various regional areas. It is easy to calculate the one cent tax raised $3,420,000 on 342,000,000 tons, produced last year. But that figure does not the extra assessments th thn that show at were paid to nor does it re- every » owner had to extra clerks I to take care of all of various and ry reports that the national commission and the region- al boards saw fit to require, the com the Expense Borne by Industry Again, it was expected that these costs and taxes would be at a nice word for concealing the facts from the consumers—in the selling price that was to be fixed. But, as I reported earlier, the commission never quite got around to fixing the prices under the current law. Hence, the hundreds of thousands of dollars which the law's sponsors said would be passed on simply be- came an added expense borne by the industry. The law has another featur you and I, as individuals, do not feel directly. It is another one of those concealed things. The law specifies sorbed — which and consumer to last for more than 30 days. That is to say, no price can be quoted for more than 30 days in advance. That may not appear important, but it is highly important. The practice of large users of coal is to enter into a contract for a sup- ply of coal to last, for example, for Having tween operator ufacturing establishment, for in- stance, will be able to know what his price of the goods he manufactures and sells. Fuel costs are important, and it therefore becomes plain that large users of fuel have an unknown factor in their expense item for a year's plans. What do they do? They have to estimate that item, and they take the maximum that they can expect to pay for coal— and users of their product have to pay that added amount whether in breakfast food or harvesting ma- chinery or railroad freight rates. That one feature of the law alone has completely disorganized the coal industry. Coal Operators Are Left With Supply in Sizes Not Needed The 30-day limit also has had an- other effect. When a mine owner could make a year's contract or a number of such contracts, he knew coal or slack that his customers needed. Without a contract, the big month and the next month, some TIPS to Gardeners Fertilizer Usage, (GARDENS can't go on produc- ing excellent flowers and vegetables year after year without an application of fertilizer now and then, Because stable manure is difficult to obtain, a complete commercial fertilizer recommend- ed by your dealer will prove most satisfactory. Before applying fer- tilizer, however, give considera- tio" to a few simple, practical hints, First, be cautious! Nev fertilizer recklessly or over-al dantly. Don’t be like the who saw a neighbor get good re- sults from a sparing use of ferti- lizer. He proceeded to apply 10 times as much, but expecting 10 times as good results den proved worthless, 3roadcast the complete fertiliz- er over the 10 days planting, using about thr per square weeks afte seems side lightly alongside BX gs, U cultivate. Apply from to two pounds per square rod garden. er appl but his gar- soil before rod. dressing inches from the pl only Hail Those Depressed, Yet Optimistic Souls! O YOU ever think as you pass folks th much as the same } defeats about the about. ihere they are thinking r They have nn at you are. same hopes struggle food, cle stead of a whir } we * - wan Grow Full Rows instead of stragglers! a Sand. te St Te £ ad a ills &.v ile Be PLANT FERRY'S TIEN LEY bast von 3 1! It" Be sure about your garden seeds! It's easy to buy seeds in their pri pable of producing firstclass yields. for me — Ca Ferry's Seeds must pass rigid tests § lit Only seeds in their prime are packaged, and each packet is pate, Grow a better garden this year by planting Ferry's Dated Seeds. Select them from the convenient Ferry's Seeds display at your dealer's, Exciting novel ties 10 make your garden different, and popular flower and vegetable favorites. Look for this date mark on each packet: “Packep yor Szasox 1939.7 v each year. FERRY-MORSESEEDCO, Seed Crowers, De trolt and Sen Fran. cises, Use Ferry's Carden Spray—eee- nomieal, non.peol. sopous,nonsisining. FERRY’S SEEDS General Knowledge It is easier to know mankind in general than man individually .— La Rochefoucauld. DRINK = OT WATER x ut loosen the CLINGING wastes Sire” of the 10 herbs in Garfield Tea and you not only “wash out” internally-—but of to the lining, undi- Garfield Tea hot water as ties to drink. Mild, THOROUGH, prompt 10c & 25¢ of druggists.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers