WEEKLY NEWS BY JOSEPH W. LaBINE POLITICS: Rebuttal Home in Hyde Park, Franklin Roosevelt probably reviewed edito- rial opinion on his recent seven- month debate with congress. The public thought congress had won, for it killed his lend-spend and hous- ing bills, defeated his neutrality pro- gram and passed the Hatch ‘‘clean politics’’ bill. Not so evident were his victorious defense and relief pro- grams and his retention of the $2, 000,000 currency stabilization fund. On three successive days, therefore, he went before the people, first to boast, next to scold, last to warn. Signing the Ashurst bill (creating an administrative officer to super- vise federal court budgets) he an- nounced that all goals of his 1937 UTAH'S SEN. KING “I don't see how . ..” court reorganization proposal had been realized, six of them by laws and the seventh (change in attitude) “through opinions of the Supreme Court itself. Next day observers thought he let a cat from the bag. Discussing his neutrality and lend-spend defeats, he borrowed an analogy suggested by his wife—a precipice—to which he said congress is leading business, and over which it may plunge “next spring.” Placing it on a gambling basis, the President said a G. O. P.-Demo- cratic coalition had made ‘‘two bets with the nation”: (1) On continued peace, and (2) business’ ability to absorb wage earners who lose WPA and PWA jobs “next spring.” Some thought it possible the Presi- dent was gambling too, staking his 1840 candidacy on next spring's prospects. If there is a war and/or heavy unemployment, congress will be wrong and Mr. Roosevelt right, thus justifying a third term attempt. Certain it was that no politician without interest in 1940 would have delivered the message President Roosevelt sent next day to young Democrats convening in Pittsburgh. Smoothly laying the groundwork for some action, perhaps a retirement from politics, possibly a coup to keep the Democratic party “liber- al,” or possibly for a new third party, he sent this warning: “If we nominate conservative candidates, or lip-service candidates, on a strad- dlebug platform, I personally for my own self-respect and because of my long service to, and belief in liberal democracy, will find it im- possible to have an active part in such an unfortunate suicide of the old Democratic party.” Meanwhile, members of congress took exception to the precipice anal- ogy and wondered if Mr. Roosevelt had the right man leading the right horse to doom. Said Michigan's Rep. Earl Michener: “The coalition . . . has stopped the American people just before they went over the finan- cial precipice.” Said Utah's Sen. William H. King: “I don’t see how anyone can contend consistently that when we appropriated nearly $13,- 000,000,000 for next year, congress was not doing everything within its power, provided spending is the an- swer."” CONGRESS: How Much? How much a so-called ‘$13,000, 000,000 congress” actually appropri- ated and spent became the compu- NEWS BITS TAXES — In Washington, the National Association of Manufac- turers brought out figures alleg- ing that U. 8. taxes have climbed 640 per cent since 1913, much more than Britain (430 per cent), whose exorbitant levies are often used as a basis of comparison with U. S. taxes. DICTATOR—In Spain, Gen. Francisco Franco made himself supreme dictator, set prisoners to work digging trenches 20 feet from the frontiers of Britain's Gi- bralter. WED, at Chicago in his iron lung, the self-styled “boiler kid” of infantile paralysis fame, Fred Snite, and Miss Teresa Larkin, 25, tation job of Budget Director Harold D. Smith, His decision: Congress appropriated more than $13,000,000,- 000 but included some funds spent before July 1 and some to be spent in future fiscal years. For the 1939- 40 year he figured the total was $10,472,354,914, or $260,937,376 more than President Roosevelt's budget estimate. Previous year’s record: ury receipts by $3,600,514,404, Meanwhile the matter of priations became a political football. Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Barkley said it was less than $10.- 000,000,000 because several re-appro- Rep. John Taber placed it at $14,- 061,586,619, with about $1,000,000,000 each being spent before and after the current fiscal year. Publicly de- nouncing a public debt he said had reached $53,805,100,000 (including $13,000,000,000 government corpora- tion debts) and pointing to an al- leged 60 per cent payroll increase since 1933, Mr. Taber probably helped speed President Roosevelt's appeal next day that departments and agencies slash their next year’s budget requests. Also in Washington: € Social security stopped receiving claims for lump-sum old age insur- ance benefits, and prepared to in- augurate new monthly benefit pay- ments to workers over 65 who have paid taxes on their incomes the past 18 months. ¢ California’s Rep. Frank Buck, after conferring with the President, predicted serious consideration of a plan to broaden the personal income tax base and increase the basic rate. € House Minority Leader Martin announced Republicans will have definite programs on at least three major topics—housing, agri- culture and reciprocal trade agree- ments—to present at the next con- gress as alternatives to administra- tion measures, EUROPE: Tension Up *Hostilities began at 8 p. m. The dec laration of war between Eastland and Westland was quickly followed by a series of bombing raids by Eastland along the east coast of Westland from Wash to points north of the Thames estuary, Eleven sudden raids were made on this territory during the first forty minutes . . . Two raids have been made on South Lon. don and anti-aircraft batteries have been heavily engaged ...” In London early-to-bedders were irked because Sir John Anderson, was “blackout” cilities with which England hopes to foil an invader from the continent. When morning came, Londoners ALBERT FORSTER ‘Pluil’ read the above account of proceed- ings, also reading that nine army air pilots had been killed. What made the ‘“‘war’’ news seem the more realistic was word from the continent that Albert Forster, the Nazi ““fuehrer’”’ of Danzig, had flown to Berchtesgaden for conferences with Adolf Hitler. German-Polish tension had previ- ously been heightened when (1) a German airliner was fired upon while passing over Gydnia; (2) a Warsaw paper had warned Poland would bombard Danzig if political union with the Reich were pro- claimed, and (3) Danzig's semi-offi- cial newspaper Vorposten, asserted the city was ‘‘prepared for defense against Poland's war threats.” All Europe watched Fuehrer For- ster’'s return from Berchtesgaden. Interest heightened when he pro- claimed a Danzig mass meeting. That night, while his mob cried “Pfuil’’ at every mention of Poland, shrewd Fuehrer Forster resorted to time-tested dictator tactics, On Po- land’s shoulders he heaped a charge of plotting to seize not only Danzig but East Prussia as well. No sooner had this untruth raised German Danziger resentment to a fever pitch than Herr Forster made the simple announcement that his brown shirted followers have made full preparations to reunite the ancient free city with Germany, AGRICULTURE: More Stamps In Washington, Secretary of Agri- culture Wallace at last took out of the experimentation stage his lat- est—and one of his most successful --plans to get rid of food surpluses. plan was tested in Rochester, Day- ton and Seattle, expanded to Bir- mingham and Des Moines, and final- latter place, relief families were fed by sale of orange stamps (for buy- ing regular foods) and free distribu- plus foods), At Shawnee, low-in- come families tried the plan. Not until early August did Mr. Wallace uncross his fingers. Then, SECRETARY WALLACE Uncrossed his fingers. pronouncing the stamp plan success- ful, he announced it will be expand- ed on a national basis very soon. If it works nationally like it has at Rochester, farmers will be happy. In the three-month trial there, food sales were upped 8 per cent. Forecast Not until August 1 can any vear's agricultural yield be accurately gauged. Simultaneously this August the U. S. department of agriculture and European sources released their predictions, the first on cotion, the latter on grains alone. Both looked bad: Wheat. If big crops bode war, Europe must have war this autumn. Germany stored her surplus wheat in dance halls and gymnasiums. In the hot Danube basin, the Ukraine and the Vistula's valleys peasants brought in a crop that sold at the lowest price since 1582. In Rome, the International Institute of Agri- culture forecast the largest wheat crop since the World war, except- ing last year. With Soviet and Ca- nadian production up, with devalua- tion of far eastern silver destroying purchasing power, the institute gloomily predicted a glutted mar- ket through 1940 and 1941. Meanwhile U. S. farmers consid- ered themselves lucky. Although Chicago wheat prices would normal- on the farm, 30 cents (customary differential under Liverpool prices), they are actually about 10 cents above Liverpool. Reasons: (1) U. S. loans to farmers on stored wheat (2) production this year was of wheat, amounting to $28 000,000 on 118,000,000 bushels last season. Cotton. Biggest cotton news was the Export-Import bank's credit sale a gesture to woo General Franco away from the Rome-Berlin axis. Meanwhile the International Cotton federation closed its Zurich meeting by cabling Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace in protest against U. 8. export subsidies. In Washing- ton the August 1 forecast was re- leased, painting a somewhat bright- er picture: Placed at 11,412,000 bales, the yield would be 531,000 bales under last year, and 2.388.000 bales less than the 10-year (1028-37) average. But there will still be a carryover of about 13,000,000 bales. MEDICINE: Mary Heart Into a little maternity hospital in the center of Manila's slums walked Mrs. Manuel Quezon, wife of the Philippine commonwealth’'s presi dent, Like scores of others, she came to see a phenomenon record ed only once before in medical his- tory. Sound asleep after feeding from an eye-dropper was a seven pound baby, normal in every way except that her heart was complete. ly outside her body. While physi cians watched fascinated through s stemless cocktail glass placed ove: the heart, they wondered whethe: to operate. Having baptized he: child Mary Heart, the devout moth er said she believed her infant's con. dition was caused by her worship o! a picture which showed Jesus Christ with his heart exposed. ASIA: Hush Settlement One month ago Russia and Japan were ready to wage war over oil and coal resources in Russia's half of Sakhalin island. Reason: Jap concessionaires refused to hike wages of Russian workers. Both na- tions reinforced border garrisons and Jap warships rushed to the scene, At both Moscow and Tokyo, there was no sign of surrender, Al- most unnoticed in the press a few weeks later was the humiliating out- come for Japan: Concessionaires granted a 15 per cent wage increase. WASHINGTON.—The Constitution says in Article 1 that house of representatives.” It further says with an emphasis that, ‘‘no moneys shall be drawn from the ap- propriations made by law.” There is, of course, nothing at all new in the above paragraph. It is important, however, to remember those provisions of the basic law of our nation for in them again we see wisdom a rather standing of what happened just be and sion. the It is as though the authors of Constitution were laying a cent revolt of the house of sentatives against President Roose- velt's spending-lending (And, by the way, during the de- bates on this program it became known as the "splending"” program among those terrible people who op- posed it.) I assume that throughout the land there was much talk about the re- for current spending as being pure- ly politics. I have heard from many sections of the country, and ry was the same; politics. only partly true. Obviously, house members had their weather eye on the political what they were doing when they re- Mr. Roosevelt's spending-lending plan that originally than $3,000,000,000. politics, too, when they refused to debate th housing bill, although 1 believe they should have debated that thing in order that the country could know fore it is finally wound up 60 years hence. Not Politics Alone Moved House to Oppose President The refusal of the house members to do the bidding of the Chief Execu- tive must be examined in something nore than just a political light, how- ever, because of the two provisions of the Constitution It must be recalled that the authors dual purpose: 1. to represent the Union of states which plished through the senate, and, 2. house of representatives. The house, therefore, is held to be the body more responsive to individual think- more quickly to changes in public sentiment. That matter of having taxation originate in the house, therefore, is seen to be an attempt to reflect in the legislative acts the people to stand for taxes, since the house members must stand for elec- tion each two years. Again, when the Constitution said that appropriations had to be en- acted as law before money is paid out of the treasury, there was a patent curb on wild and profligate spending. The house, being closer to the people, first felt the call of the people for government spending and responded. Since the senators, too, are elected by direct vote of the people, they also heard the siren call and voted out money with the greatest of ease. But thé house led the way. Lately, however, there has been a change in that individual think- ing. The majority of the people have begun to wonder where all of fresh taxes. The senate heard, but Sena- It was the house that And, as I said bill and the housing bill Will of People on Spending It is made to appear, therefore, that the concept of the Constitution's authors was correct. They felt that the house would hear from home, as we say these days. And the house has heard. Politics, alone, was not responsible except insofar as politics represents the shifts in position that statesmen must take to meet the changes in public sentiment. The bulk of the people, it seems, have suddenly awakened to the fact that something must be done about the continued spree upon which the federal government has been en- gaged in the last five or six years. not be catalogued otherwise than as reflecting the will of the people, for the politician who knows his onions seldom is seen going in the wrong direction if the votes of his pgonstitu- ents are concerned. Whether the economy wave that few weeks of a session that is des- tined to be y important will be maintained in the next ses- sion of the Seventy-sixth congress, of course, is a matter of conjecture. It is to be noted that pr aries for nominations come along early next spring and summer. Following those natural are ns. If the meme. senate historically sequence * electic house and who running the federal further debt take position in the session t January, then I am in- into out of hedge the ways Congress, will be on its trou- statements however, because way about principle. They might necessary to buy a few votes with taxpayers’ money in ad- vance of the primaries next year. Whether the representatives and vt m g to know whether they are ther into debt. The debt now is so large that each of us is going to pay and after Money Was Properly Spent I always have opposed congres- stitution. In these columns, there that conviction. Since 1833, there in the wrong direction. New powers have been given the President time after time. Particularly, has this been true in the matter of handling mon- Congress obeyed the dictates of the Constitution by appropriating the money, but it did not do that which there certainly is a duty to spent properly. In an examination of the latest spending-lending scheme put for- shattered by the house, therefore, it strikes me that another device to from con- gress was being proposed. In the first place, there was little, if any, of the program. We have seen only slightly different schemes flop annu. ally for several years. Further, these plans that are temporarily out of the window appeared to me to be a trick to evade the law in that the financing was to be done without consideration of the national budget and finances. None of these new debts would show in the budget. The program resembled a road that is cut around the edge of a town to avoid the business section, a by- pass. ing-lending bill, itself, there is little in my opinion to warrant its adop- tion. In plain language, the proposal would have socialized credit in the Inited States—and I can not believe that the United States is ready to take up state socialism after the manner of Mussolini or Hitler, President’s Hints Sound Like Admission of Failure The smashing of the administra- its political repercussions and Mr. case to ‘the people’ soon. He said in a press conference one day that " who was responsible, congress. He also suggested that the people ought to know in advance why there would be more unemploy- taxes to pay for relief. All of which sounds rather like an admission of failure. That is to say, these schemes of spending, of pump prim- ing, of creating new and greater debt, all have failed in returning the country to anything like a nor- mal condition. We have nothing to show for something like $25,000,000,- 000 so expended excepting the bonds of the United States govern- ment that are cutstanding. New Dealers, however, are still battling. 1 noted one of them said the other day that an extra session of congress in November of this yeur was surely a necessity. That proposal will bear watching. I have talked with Hany many jeaders a congress—men KE expe and understanding — and none of them believes an extra session to be necessary. (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) CLASSIFIED BOWE AND ARROWS © QUALITY. Bend for price Bi MAJOR ARTHUR BLACK. BURN . Towson, Md, } HOTELS Come to Baltimore, Maryland Stop at THE MOUNT ROYAL HOTEL Mt Royal Ave. and Calvert Sts. 9 stories « Fire-proof Rates begin at $1.50 per day Coffee Shop — Music and Dancing in the FAMOUS ALCERIAN ROOM STOVE & FURNACE REPAIRS wo ronnace REPAIRS 2555: AND FURNACE Ask Your Dealer or Write Us FRIES, BEALL & SHARP CO, T34-10th 1. MN. W. Washington, BD. C. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers