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The DallasPost
- ESTABLISHED 1889 TELEPHONE DALLAS 300
: A LIBERAL, INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER Eh
PuBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY MORNING
i Y AT. THE DaLLAs PosT PLANT
¥ LEHMAN AVENUE, DALLAS, PA.
By THE DaLLAs Post, INC.
* Howard RisLEY
HoweLs Regs
TRUMAN STEWART
a General Manager
rerio: Managing Editor
‘Mechanical Sup orimsendent:
pis i
“
GA The Dallas’ Post is on sale at the ‘lecal news: stands. : iptiom
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; . THE DALLAS POST is a yeuthful weekly rural-euburban news:
_ paper, owned, edited and operated by young rcn interested im the de-
velopment of the great rural-suburban region of Luzerne Ceuaty and im .
the attainment of: the highest ideals of jeurnalism. THE POST is truly
“more than a newspaper, itis a community institutiem.” | fi
\ Congress shall make no law ¥ ¢ abridging the freedom 'of<speech, oc
CE Lh the first amendment to the Constitutien of the United
©“ Subscription, $2.00 Per Year (Payable in Advance),
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| A THOUGHT FOR THIS WEEK
"Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours;
eos "And ask them what report they bore to heaven;
J 7a And how they might have borne more welcome news.
ot YouNc—Night Thoughts
The State Department Comes A Cropper
#
~ As far as we have been able to learn no school board
in the vicinity of Dallas has chosen to gamble on the vague
promises of additional funds for teachers’ salaries from the
State this year. That may develop into a tragic and expen-
sive mistake, but the fault will lie, not with the local school
‘boards but with the State.
Last year the Legislature passed an act which provides
for an increase in appropriations to local school boards pro-
viding they reduce their millage. The money for those ap-
propriations was to be provided by the Income Tax Law.
~ Subsequently, the Income Tax Law was declared unconsti-
~ tutional.
In the opinion of outstanding lawyers, the unconstitu-
tionality of the Tax Law in no way destroyed the legality of
~ the act offering additional funds to school districts. But in
‘the eyes of school directors, it did create a very definite
problem concerning where the mopey was to be raised to
alfill the increased appropriation act.
: When Dallas School Board and the other boards in this
section prepared to make up their budgets last month they
attempted to secure accurate information about the new
law. So great was the confusion at Harrisburg that only the
most conflicting reports could be secured.
The Department of Public Instruction, for example, in-
sisted that it would be unable to pay the new appropriation.
In a letter to one local school board E. A. Quackenbush,
chief of school business, wrote: “It would seem to us unwise
~ for your board to take into account revenue that there is no
probability of your receiving.”
i» Had the boards been able to follow that advice without
question there would have been no great problem. But at the
~ same time the Department of Public Instruction was warn-
ing the school districts against gambling on the funds from
the State, the Pennsylvania State School Directors Associa-
tion at Harrisburg was intimating that the funds would be
demanded by the larger school districts and warning the
small districts that if they failed to take advantage of the
offer this year they would be debarred from future partici-
pation in the fund, when and if it becomes available.
As a result some districts, notably those in the large
~ cities, lowered their millage and gambled on the funds from
the State. Most local rural districts ignored the new law on
~ the advice of the Department of Public Instruction and pre-
pared to collect their teachers’ salaries by local taxation as
‘usual. :
Now it appears that the Department of Instruction is
~ feeling more kindly toward the appropriation act. There is
a possibility that funds to carry out the provisions may yet
be raised by the State. If such is the case and local school
districts are exposed to criticism the fault will belong di-
rectly upon the shoulders of the State Departiaent.
wv * *
The Chain Store Tax
The completely prejudiced and entirely old-fashioned
idea that chain stores are always a safe target for discrim-
inatory taxation is again having its brief day at Harrisburg.
Because the people of the Dallas section do a good share of
their buying at chain stores they must be interested in the
new Stores Tax Act aimed especially at the big food chains.
It is a matter of common knowledge that such chains
operate on a small margin of profit. Consequently, exorbi-
tant taxes would present only one choice to the chains, to
pass the cost of taxation along to the consumer in the form
of higher prices.
Chain stores have found a very real place in community
life. They are as important to John Consumer today as his
own friendly independent merchant. There is room for both.
A discriminatory tax against the chain store would place it
at an unfair disadvantage and only pass the tax on to the
consumer who would have to foot the bill.
WASHINGTON
LETTER
The American automobile industry
must hold all world records when it
comes to emerging from depression. it
was the first industry to show signs of
recovery; and it is still the leader.
.Motor’s first spurt forward occurred
near the end of 1934. During the
depths of. depression, ‘car: and truck:
sales had ‘dropped close to the vanish- -
~.ing point. Retail outlets for all makes
» i of cars were in difficulties, ‘and many
- “of them found the going too tough-and
soo had to-fold up: In 1935, the picture - . §
_ underwent drastic ‘change. Car and = © |
trucks sales zoomed forwdrd; and ‘the’ :
assembly lines in Detroit and Flint and
: A elsewhere hummed. There'was an ob-
"vious reason for the « amazingly -fagt
improvement—a large part of Amen-
ca’s gasoline-powered “rolling stock”
was completely out of date, and much
of it was utterly unusable and unsafe.
But no one expected motors” boom to
go on indefinitely. Supposition’: was
that a certain number of new cars
would be sold, and that the industry
would slow down again.
_~ That supposition proved to be prac-
tically 100 per cent wrong.. Apparent-
ly the average American would rather
have a new car than anything else, and
the first place he goes when his bank
account swells is to the automobile
agencies. He is buying relatively few
homes, few new furnaces or air-con-
ditioning machines. He is buying
cars—and how!
—0—
Nineteen-thirty-five was the motor
industry’s best year since 1929. Now
the figures for production and earn-
ings in the first quarter of 1936 are
out—and they indicate that this year is
going to put "35 in the shade.
Giant of the industry, as everyone
knows, is General Motors. This corpor-
ation recently reported its best first-
quarter since 1929—and the fourth
best quarter in its entire history. In
April alone, the concern sold 200,000
cars—an all-time record for a month.
It’s net income for the quarter was al-
most 70 per cent better than in the
same period last year, and came to
more than $52,000,000. GMC directors
declared the usual 50c quarterly divi-
dend, then made stockholders happy
with a 75¢ extra dividend.
——
Chrysler, another member of the big
three of motordoni, had the sec#¥d
biggest quarter in its history (biggest
was last three months of 1935) when
it earned over $11,000,000 net. Its di-
rectors jubilantly jumped the quarter-
ly dividend 50c, to $1.50 a share.
Third member of the big three,
Ford, is not a corporation, and profit
figures are not given out. However,
Ford sales were almost a quarter low-
er than they were in the same period
last year. This is the only important
automobile manufacturer to show a
drop.
—Q—
Smaller, so-called independent mak-
ers are also going ahead in company
with their big brothers. Nash has been
losing money ever since 1932—in the
first quarter of this year it made a pro-
fit of $72,000. In the first quarter last
year, Packard lost around a million
and a quarter dollars—this year it
earned that much while Hudson had
a net of almost $600,000, and reor-
ganized Studebaker Corporation net-
ted over $100,000.
Interesting fact, is that the buying
trend is toward cars in the medium and
high-priced groups, away from the
cheaper cars. In the quarter, the low-
priced makes increased output by 16
percent, as compared with 51 percent
for all other cars. ’
Over 90 percent of all cars sold
come from the factories of Fore,
Chrysler and General Motors. In the
first quarter independents managed to
make only an infinitesimal dent in this
percentage.
Present forecast for the industry is
that sales, following past seasonal ex-
_ perience, will slowly decline until late
summer, when new models will appear
on the market.
4 —
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THE MAIL
In this department The Post presents letters from its read-
ers on current problems—suggestions, criticisms, bouquets. The
Post need not indorse any sentiment or criticism expressed here,
nor can it vouch for the accuracy of any sentiment. It recognizes
only that in this country people have, within reason, the right
to express themselves.
Dear Editor:
We have had enough of experimen-
talism. Let us resolve to drop the anti-
quated notion of low and free tariffs,
if we desire to maintain a decent liv-
ing standard. Enough of this silver
stabilization that has wrecked hun-
dreds of millions of good taxpayers’
money. Enough of crop-suicide that
puts thousands of farmers out of em-
ployment and raises the price of the
fruits of the earth. Enough of this in-
sane taxation that penalizes the minori-
ty, that pauperizes the nation and that
constantly fattens a bloated bureau-
cracy, with its inevitable unbearable
burden on future generations. And we
have had enoughof incompetent poli-
tical meddling with the business ma-
chine of the nation.
M,C.
—0—
Dear Editor:
No alleged murderer should be al-
lowed to plead insanity unless he is
completely and permanently insane;
his insanity to be adjudged by a com-
mittee of responsible doctors. Such a
process would simplify the trial so that
the defendant could be judged—as is
only proper—on his definite guilt or
innocence.
—R:W. 'B.
aly uie
Dear Editor:
Is it perfectly okay, legal and so-so
to shoot down a fleeing suspect run-
ning away to avoid arrest? A few days
ago some Negroes were caught operat-
ing an illicit still; one of them lost his
head and ran away from the arresting
officer; whereupon said officer shot
him dead. Are these men allowed by
law to do these things? Can they take
the law into their own hands on the
spur of the moment and set aside pro-
secutor, judge, jury and executioner?
These acts are called “accidents.” Are
they accidents or are they man slaugh-
ter?
—Inquirer.
i) en:
Dear Editor:
“President Decries Plight of Peoples
Oppressed Abroad” —It occurs that if
the President would also « décry * the
plight of the “white-collar” old men
of the United States who have spent
a lifetime skimping and saving in pre-
paration for the’ time when they are
no longer wage-earners, it might be of
interest to the country at large in
these days of the Townsend Plan and
other panaceas for the benefit of the
aged.
—An Old Man.
—0—
Dear Editor:
I wonder why the country does not
give earnest and calm consideration to
the peace plan of Colonel Arthur W.
Little, former heroic commander of
the famous Fifteenth “Hell Fighters.”
His simple formula is: “Before this
country engages in any war, except to
repel invasion, let the question of our
entering upon such an engagement be
the subject of a nation-wide referen-
dum. Let the vote be by signed ballot.
Have each affirmative vote so worded
as to constitute a pledge of enlistment,
or if by examination the affirmative
vote should prove to be unavailable
for military service, then to constitute
a pledge of half his or her fortune for
the uses of the war for which he or
she votes.”
—L. B.
Dear Editor:
People in general like to get in a
rut and enjoy the feeling of security
which reflects merely the undisturbed
repetition of habits of thought and ex~
istence. It is inevitable that they be
disturbed from time to time, and the
period of disturbance always produces
irritation and complaint in the effort
to blame some one or some class or
system for the disturbance. Economic
"security is a phrase which implies that
all the people should be confined to
one rut and stay in it permanently.
That is the negation of life and healthy
activity, except for the few who may
enjoy the privilege of leadership and
the struggle for the right to rule the
rut. The importance of government is
exaggerated in all countries because
of the dramatic appeals of those who
wish to rule and the mental laziness
of those who are indifferent.
—W. F. F.
The
Kaleidoscope
The 155 elevators in Rockefeller
Center comprise the largest and most
modern vertical transportation system
in the world. Here are some almost in-
credible facts just made public about
it for the first time:
The elevator cars traveled a total of
720,000 miles in 1935. If this mileage
had been covered by one car, it could
have circled the earth at the equator
once every twelve days throughout the
year. Or it could have reached the
moon in four months.
If the elevator shafts were stacked
one on top of the other their height
would about equal the world’s altitude
record for airplanes, a little over eight
miles.
Two hundred thousand people were
carried in the elevators every day last
year. That is, every man, woman and
child in a city the size of Richmond,
Virginia, could have been hoisted up
and brought down again every day in
the year.
An elevator made a stop and opened
its doors for a passenger on the aver-
age of once every second, day and
night, during 1935.
Every time a loaded elevator travels
up to the 65th floor in the RCA build-
ing, it costs six cents.
Every tenant in Rockefeller Center
consumes as much electric current for
his elevator riding as he uses, for all
purposes, in his home.
There is enough iron and steel wire
in the cables to girdle the globe.
The cars were in operation 386,000
hours during the year. If that opera-
tion were performed by one car, start-
ing this week, it would be running
continuously for the next forty-four
years.
The cars in the RCA Building tower
travel at the rate of 1,200 to 1,400
feet a minute. That is the fastest way
a person can go straight up in the air,
much faster than an autogyro can take
him.
The cost of installing the equipment
was $3,600,000.
SEO
A quarter of a century from now,
says Henry Ford in an interview with
S. J. Woolf in the June Rotarian Mag-
azine, people will look back at these
times in much the same way as we now
do at the stagecoach era of the world’s
development.
However, he explains that while im-
provements are taking place and new
things are being created, it does not
follow that old things must be aban-
doned, if there is any good in them.
“Aviation,” says Mr. Ford, “will not
come into its own until the automobile
has been absolutely perfected. But
there is much still to be done in auto-
mobiles. Give us a few years more, and
the automobile will be improved and
refined beyond all present imagination.
Motor-car manufacturing is still a new
industry. There will be changes for the
better in almost every part of the car.
“All our machinery will be light
er and better. This is true not only
of automobile machinery but of ma-
chinery in general. Almost every mec-
hanism today is unnecessarily over-
burdened with weight—due to a sys-
tem of interlocking directorates; man-
ufacturers have been only selling ma-
terials instead of also studying their
best use.
“No one can speak of the future,”
he continues, “‘without taking into
thoughtful consideration just what the
last few years have seen in the in-
creased employment of agricultural
products in manufacturing. We grow
much of an automobile now; it is not
beyond possibility that eventually we
shall grow most or all of it.
“Shorter hours and higher wages
are inevitable,” Mr. Ford predicts,
“We cannot escape them. If we go on
making things, we must have money .
to buy them and leisure to use them.
These will result from economies, im-~
provements, and refinements of manu-
facturing methods which in turn re-
sult from the incessant labor and
creative experience of management.
“We shall find out that no social ad-
vance can be introduced into industry
by law; it will come because it is
right, and what is right will support it-
self. We shall have shorter hours be-
cause work will be plentiful and pro-
duction ample, not in order to spread
work but to enable men to enjoy and
use the things they make.
“As far as competition is concerned,
that must continue. But we must learn
what competition really is. It is a
striving to attain the best. To throttle
it would mean to stop all progress.”