LaBINE MEDICINE: 40,000,000? Basis for the Wagner bill now be- fore congress is the claim that 40,- 000,000 U. S. citizens are without medical care. If passed, the meas- ure would provide federal subsidies for care of the indigent sick, amounting to $100,000,000 the first year. Such socialization is strenu- ously opposed by the American Medical association, which surveyed local physicians of 747 counties in 37 states to disprove the govern- ment. Forty million people constitute roughly one-fourth the population. Of 20,000 physicians surveyed, 17,000 (or one-fourth the physicians in ter- ritories canvassed) reported free medical service to 2,611,451 persons each year, plus 1,909,713 hours of free hospital service each year. If all physicians furnish free service on this basis, A. M. A. figured that 10,000,000 of the 43,000,000 people covered in its survey are getting free service. On a nation-wide ba. sis, multiplied by four, this would mean U. S. physicians are already taking care of the 40,000,000 needy citizens Uncle Sam would help. Possible, though unsubstantiated, A. M. A. fallacies: (1) “Free” serv- ices may include those to solvent patients guilty of the good old Amer- ican custom of not paying doctor bills; (2) not asking free services (nor would they ask help under a | U. S. program) are thousands of medicine's “forgotten men,” low- salaried white collar workers who can neither get relief nor pay doctor and hospital bills. Socialized medicine is one side of | the problem, but A. M. A.’s Presi- | dent-elect Dr. Rock Sleyster of Wau- | watosa, Wis., thought he knew a | Electric and U. S. Steel, whose Chairman Edward R. Stettinius pre- ceded Mr. Young to the stand. G. E.'s chairman believes the excess profits tax should be modified to stop penalizing business. With $2,000,000,000 in ‘nuisance’ taxes and corporate levies expiring OWEN D. YOUNG Why neutralize a stimulant? this year, congress is scurrying around to replace them, remember- ing—but possibly revolting against— the President's admonishment that (1) total revenues must not be de- creased, and (2) low income levies shall not be boosted. Already circu- lating are plans to tap new tax sources for $3,160,000,000 by looking to liquor and tobacco; personal in- come, corporation income and man- ufacturers sales taxes; tariffs, and taxes on state employees and se- curities. RACES: Settlement? During the World war anxious Great Britain enlisted Arab aid with a hasty, ill-reasoned promise of in- dependence in Palestine. Britain also enlisted Jewish funds by prom- ising to make Palestine a homeland for Jews. sailles the bloody “*holy war’ which has kept British troops busy in Pal- estine shows no sign of abating. Last winter an Arab-Jewish conference in London failed because delegates refused to sit at the same table. Confronted with more pressing cri- ses in Europe, Britain finally decid- ed to dictate a settlement. Released in London was a white paper decision providing gradual re- A. M. A’S DR. SLEYSTER Is it all worth while? more basic side. Nationally known as a brain authority, President Sley- ster pointed out that 10,000,000 of the nation’s 130,000,000 people bear in their bodies seeds which may re- sult occasionally in a feeble-minded child. Holding that mental troubles are the ‘greatest unsolved medical problem,” he gloomily commented that medicine's strides in prolonging life have cost “far more than the goods are worth” if such protection from sickness brings unwillingness to battle against economic troubles. CONGRESS: Taxes : Most U. 8. business men have an opinion on why the nation is glutted with idle capital. Their explana- tion: Too much federal spending and excessive business taxes dis- courage new enterprise. By coinci- dence, Sen. Joseph C. O'Mahoney’s temporary national economics coms mittee began investigating this prob- lem just after the senate passed its huge farm bill, inciting a new cone gressional argument over economy and tax revision versus early ad- journment. Though the senate junked Presi- dent Roosevelt's Florida ship canal, its farm bill spending spree gave the house courage to pass the rec- ord $773,420,000 naval appropria- tions bill, Tax revision apparently has a green light from the White Houge, but last January's anti. spending talk has been forgotten un- der pressure of 1940 elections. Net gain: Nothing. If this is a neutralizing factor, General Electric Chairman Owen D, Young discussed a greater neutraliz- er before Senator O'Mahoney's com- mittee. His argument: Government should remove threats and re- straints to business, thereby mak- ing the administration's spending policies effective in putting idle cap- ital to work. Said he: “I do not be- lieve in . . . giving a stimulant and then neutralizing it,”” meaning that spending should only be used to boost lagging purchasing power. Crux of Mr. Young's ar ent against the undistributed profits levy is that most industries must expand with earnings retained for that pur. pose, an experience of both General Then, with pop- would try to get delegates together independent state. Observers thought Britain's haste to reachr a settlement had precipi- tated chaos. Since 20 years’ expe- rience have demonstrated that Jews and Arabs will not live under the same flag, it was quite obvious Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain peace by following the original plan: Creation of independent Jewish and Arab states separated by a British neutral strip. SPAIN: Manna From France What happened to Loyalist Spain's huge gold reserve is a perplexing mystery, especially to money-hun- gry Gen. Francisco Franco, who needs it to rebuild his war-torn na- tion. Part of Spain's gold rests in U. 8. banks, another—and larger part in France. Rumor has it that still more was shipped secretly to Mexico to support fleeing Loyalists. Several months ago France and Britain hoped to woo Dictator Fran- co away from the Rome-Berlin axis with reconstruction loans which nei- ther Italy nor Germany could fur- nish. Rejecting direct Anglo-French help, Senor Franco joined the Axis and turned to international bankers. Seen recently in Paris was Paul Van Zeeland, former Belgian pre- mier, internationally known econo- mist and banker, sounding out pri- vate French banking sentiment on a $100,000,000 loan to Franco Spain. Planned by French, Dutch and Swiss firms, one-fourth of the loan would be underwritten in France, where bankers have overridden gov- ernment objections. Premier Ed- ouard Daladier wants no truck with Franco Spain unless a permanent neutrality agreement is extracted in return. Little does General Franco care about Premier Daladier's attitude, however, Thoroughly angry over Spanish gold held in French banks, equally angry over the 40,000 Basques who are drawing 15 francs a day out of funds brought with them from Spain, Franco would gladly borrow from private French bankers. He might even find it ex- pedient not to repay the loan until these bankers talk their government into returning Spain's gold. Looking Ahead Last year's agriculture act re- quires quota elections on the quan- tity of wheat each grower may sell when the supply reaches 1,021,600,- 000 bushels. At the same time, ex- cess surpluses would justify lower- ing of acreage allotments. Only a few weeks ago the bureau of agri- cultural economics predicted wheat supplies would reach 1,018,900,000 bushels by July 1, only 2,100,000 bushels short of the level at which marketing quotas could be enforced for 1940, A good crop this season might have driven surpluses over that mark, giving the administration an embarrassing job of clamping down on wheat farmers during election year. But unexpected dry weather in the spring wheat belt helped Sec- retary of Agriculture Henry A. Wal- lace justify radical changes in the department's original estimates: Original July 1 carryover figure was 275,000,000 bushels; Mr. Wallace dropped it to 270,000,000. Spring wheat was first placed at 200,000,000 bushels; Mr. Wallace made it 160,- 000,000. Total current year's crop was first placed at 743,000,000; Mr. Wallace made it 704,000,000. In: of 1,018,900,000 bushels, Mr. Wa e therefore got a July 1 total of 974.- 000,000, well under the mandatory quota figure. To further pl bellious farmers during election year, he decided to let them plant 62,000,000 acres next year, 7,000,000 more than in 1039. Justification: The 974.,000,000-n el estimate for this July 1 is 47,000,000 bushels un- der last year. WHITE HOUSE: Menu President and Mrs. Roosevelt like simple food. When White House- keeper Mrs. Henrietta Nesbitt trans- lated into Engli several menus served Britain's King George and Queen Elizabeth during last year's Paris visit she discovered they liked sin » food. Washing e \ ican” menu scheduled June 8 whe Britain's No. 1 citizens visit the } 1 U. 8S. citizens: ¥ Clam cocktail Calve’s head soup Broiled filet of flounder Mushroom and wine sauce Sliced tomatoes Boned capon Peas Cranberry scuce Buttered beets Sweet potato pufis Frozen cheese and cress salad Maple and almond ice cream Coffee Meanwhile the lady of British Ambassador Sir Ronald Lindsay for- warded 1,300 invitations for th garden party her husband will give for the visiting sovereigns, leaving 13,000 other would-be guests sulk- ing out in the cold. ASIA: Rebuff Thus far self-righ met little resistance democracies from in such bold lan and Can informed ahial island In 1) British and American ambassadors that she greater voice In Shanghai's international set- tiement. A few days later she land- ed marines in the international set- tlement (Kulangsu) of Amoy after naval commander life had been endan- witnl vial his If Britain thought and bowin of following to Jap de- Within 24 hours American, British and French marines were Amoy, a gentle AMBASSADOR GREW He answered Japan in kind. own warships. At the same time, views on Shanghai: constrained to point out . . . that conditions in the Shanghai area are « «+ +» Bo far from normal . . . that there is totally lacking a basis for discussion looking toward an orderly settlement of the complicated prob- lems involved.” Placing the shoe on another foot, the U. 8. ignored Japan's demands for a greater measure of control in the settlement’s political and eco- nomic life, demanding instead that Japan return to the settlement land ying sort of Shanghai's Soochow cree ASHINGTON.—It has come to be quite a habit for mayors of cities and governors of states to come rushing to Washington for ap- pearances before congressional com- mittees. They appear as out of the blue sky; rush to the capitol; testify before a committee; repair to a ho- tel suite and hold a press conference and gain a lot of publicity, and go back home. They usually come for just one thing-—-money. Visitations to Washington, there- fore, have become fashionable as a political game. And if, as a result of the words of alleged wisdom dropped from the lips of the self-annointed purveyors of people's thoughts, new checks should be forthcoming from the United States treasury-—'‘ah,” they say, “we got it for you." The traffic in mayors and gover- nors, especially mayors, bas grown so heavy that it is seldom news, ex- cept for the mayor's home town; and, frankly, the news writers de- scribe them as being worth about a dime a dozen from a strictly news I don’t mean to neglect the governors when 1 stress the number of mayors. there are more mayors who come, later, than there are It is just like the are freshme there are gra themselves governors. that there high school thar from college, them drop by more Hoan Flays Relief Spending the appearance here the plain why of Milwaukee, Wis., failed to anything like the attention it de- served from the press. Now, Mayor Hoan is a socialist. an adrrinict aaminiss cal mine run cerned only with political promotion. The mayor came to testify, but the wasn't in the { capital city beg for money for Milwaukee. along many lines, thus differing from nayvors who are con- re-election or a practi just to policy, and he talked about them, Said the Milwaukee mayor, in sub- stance: you fellows are spending a lot of money for re tute; you are wasting a lot of that money, It ought to be stopped because you are letting the get into it of coming to Wash- ington for money and more money. They are, therefore, getting out of the stifying to the people the hat habit of jt of their co money their poor are using. er words, you ought to make the those on relief, and force them again to recognize that taxes must be paid for wasted, as well as proper use of, funds. And, more important than anything else, you ought to put this relief business on a pay-as-you-go basis and stop getting further into debt. Those were not Mayor Hoan's words, of course. Yet I have pre- sented them as substantially what his testimony meant, and seldom, in recent years, have 1 heard bet- ter sense spoken to a committee of congress. To me, it was almost startling testimony, the more so be- cause it was offered while another commitiee was looking into Presi- dent Roosevelt's request for $1,750,- 000,000 for relief in the next year. It should be said just here that Mr. Roosevelt's appeal for the annual relief appropriation was, or appears to be, modest. That is, the amount There are those who expect that he will ask congress next winter for a deficiency appropriation when the projected sum runs out. Charges States Shirk Relief Responsibilities Mayor Hoan appeared tn believe that some of the states were, and are, shirking their responsibilities. It is so easy to come to Washington and tell a congressional committee that "our people are destitute and we have no money to care for them.” Aside from the mayor's be- lief, it ought to be observed that the mayors and the governors are prone to think only of how much money they can pay out without hav. ing to assess their own taxpayers for it. They are not to be concerned with federal policy in relief mat- ters, and they are all too willing to avoid references to their own re- sponsibility. They apparently have a new slogan: “Pull Uncle Sam's leg.” Another mayor was around town at the same time that Mayor Hoan was here. He was Mayor LaGuardia of New York. Nobody seems to know exactly where ‘‘the Little Flower” should be catalogued, politically, He once was a member of congress as a Republican. That is, he was a Republican when he came in, but he wandered around into three or four different political parties and seems now to be among the bell wethers of the American labor party. Any- way, the New York mayor is a great little testifyer in favor getting all of the money for New York city that is possible—so long as it comes from the federal treasury. Mayor LaGuardia is a gréat fa- vorite many news corre- spondents in Was gion. He is what is called “good copy.” That is to say, he always is ready with com- ment on about any ject, Picture it for vourself; if you were a writer and had to have sto- ries for your next edition and you found the mayor of a great city will ing to talk, Mayor LaGuardia will talk, a-plenty! Let there be no mis- understanding about that, among “ ses 11 on—well, sub- LaGuardia’s Statement Politically Expedient Surely, then, a casual reader can inderstand why the comparative statements of mayors of two great cities had the me that 1 have attempted to report. One of effect on ture of the nation as a whole, a statesmanlike examination of a par- amount policy; the other apparently ] only of protecting the po- ical hide of Mayor LaGuardia was singing the in yr of “"gima elieve thoroughly he Milwaukee m wits and se men and women in are seeking an honest the relief problem that $e BY wate J 1 od A is now scarcely less repulsive than stir congress who solution fo a festering sore. It was quite by coincidence of course that Mayor Hoan's observa. have come house earthed some evi- uses of WPA mon- ey that actually stinks. 1 do not know truth of the evi- dence, but it is a matter of official record now, A subcommittee investi dence conc Furst avout gator pre- in Tennessee ‘‘without reference to the need for recreational facilities any statewide or com- 44 ity basis.” The statements were attributed to a member of the Ten- nessee fish and game comi and the investigator's conclusi been di- verted in this manner in order to increase the value of real estate held by several politicians, The investigator and his sources named ex-Senator Cooper, of Tennessee, as holders of This is the same Sena- tor Berry who sued the Tennessee Valley Authority for a million dol- lars or so on account of damage struction of one or more of the TVA dams. The then member of the United States senate charged that some of his marble quarries were under 50 feet of water as a result of TVA dams. Move Started to Publish WPA Salaries As a part of this general WPA use and misuse of millions of dollars, Rep. Joe Martin of Massachusetts, has started a move to find out how much money is being paid to these who run WPA. He has introduced a resolution to have the WPA head- quarters here supply the house with a complete list of salaries paid un- der WPA. You know, there have been many charges tossed about concerning the salaries paid out of WPA funds—and the lack of work done for them. In other words, Mr. Martin wants to know some facts why only about 60 cents out of each WPA dollar ever gets down the line with a wife and children to feed. This action on the part of Mr. tions long made that numerous poli- ticians have placed their pets in WPA top jobs where, if need be, Charming Patterns For Cotton Materials NO 1747: For junior sizes. A 4 N precious play frock, with snug, wide sleeves, basque bgdice, high at the neck, and a very wide skirt in the swirling skating sil houette. Inciuded are lore shorts, with a fitted yoke that slimly. A perfect thi door sports and summer daytimes. Make it of calico, gingham or per- cale, and trim it rac, T No. with rows of rice ideal design 1527: An woman's street cotton. The tailored skirt is topped s ita For ti dotted Spring and Summer Pattern Book. snd 15 9 cents for the Barbars and Summer Pattern ch is now ready. practi 10 selecti » Barbara Bel y-lo-make patterns. Dept., 247 street, New Price of patterns, {in coins) each. 15 cen MANY INSECTS ON FLOWERS « FRUITS VEGETABLES & SHRUBS Demand original led Dorian from pour dealer 1i-Placed Reward The world more often rewards the appearance of merit than merit itself. —La Rochefoucauld. cups Lo show you the cosy woy to KEEP CLEAN INSIDE! You" Hea the wry i snaps you back, ovemight, to the feeling of “rrin’ to go” Bnew and inside clean. ous Helps olissinshe the leftover wastes that hold couse headaches, ete. Garbeld Fain nota mivacle worker, but f CONSTIS bothen you, it will certainly “do wondensi ” 10¢und Sb Eo! drugstores —on WRITE FOR FREE SAMPLES of Tes and Garfield Headache Powders tox GARFIELD TEA CO, Dept. 43, Brockiva, N.Y, Narrow View He who never leaves his coun- try is full of prejudices.—Goldoni. A wonderful aid for boils where » drawing agent Is indicated. Secolhing and comforting. Fine for hil dren and grown-ups. Prac. tical. Economiral, ically. Mr, Martin tried to obtain the information about Massachuy- setts, but Col. F. C. Harrington, WPA administrator, refused to make the facts public. He contended that disclosure of the salaries would be “embarrassing to those who receive them.” Mr. Martin told the house, however, that federal salaries should always be a matter open to the public and he believed there is no more right to secrecy about WPA salaries than about the salary of the President or a member of con gress, It will be interesting to see if the house votes the order to make the list public, but it will be more inter. esting to see the amounts of those pay checks. ¢ by Western Newspaper Union.) Give a Thought ic MAIN STREET
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers