~brisbane\ THIS WEEK j Protection Impossible The Railroad Crossings ^ Things Are Better When Russia Is Rich Europe seeks some network of ?treaties" to prevent n war, or bind armies and air fleets of each of those signing such trea ties to protect the others In case of attack. Unfortunately, In the new war of j the air, as in secret gangster war, no protection Is pos sible. Where one crim inal has an "auto matic" or "subma chine gun." agree . ^ . merits among law Artkur Brisbane . . .. , abiding citizens can not protect them. And while one na tion can secretly build and suddenly -launch airships with poison gas and ex plosive bombs, no city can consider It self safe. France and England, after elaborate experiments, announce that there Is no possible way of protecting a modern city against air attacks, even though the city knew In advance when to ex pect them. The only safeguard Is fear of re taliation. Deeply grieved by the killing of many school children at a public cross ing, the President plans extensive elimination of railroad grade crossings. Complete elimination of such crossings would involve spending hundreds of millions or billions. The work would be undertaken with careful concentra tion on the fact that railroading itself Is bound to change or disappear so far ! as transportation of passengers is con cerned. i Itailroads In the future must carry passengers more than one hundred miles an hour, on light railroad equip ment, able to climb steep grades as easily as automobiles do now. Elimi nation of grade crossings will take that into consideration and include elimina tion of existing sharp curves at cross ings, that tiie work may not be done twice. I Dun & Brndsfreet. well informed ' usually, say that a bis business rise 1 Is coming. Tla-ir weekly survey In- ' forms you that before the end of this quarter business progress will have de veloped to a decree beyond the most sanguine estimates offered at the be ginning of the year. 1 How rich will the Russians become. , with their energetic development of na- | tional resources, ail over Russia and far Into Arctic regions? And what will be the effect on Com munism, bolshevism and the proletariat ?when Russia becomes, as she may do, the richest nation on earth, and those that rule her become the world's rich est men, perhaps the first multiple bil lionaires In history? Expeditions sent Into the Arctic have ? discovered coal, nickel, zinc, tin, cop- 1 per, gold and oil, all Inside the Arctic circle. A regular line of freight ships has been established through rhe north west passage, gigantic Icebreakers go ing ahead of the freighters. Already llussla produces three times as much 1 gold as the United States. What will be the psychological effect on Commu nism when Russia produces more gold than any other natiou on earth? 1 Gambling in silver, made inevitable this country pushing up the price, i goes on all over the world; poor old China Is buying back at double prices silver sold too cheap, and Britain must wish she had heeu in less of a hurry to unload below 30 cents an ounce the hundreds of millions of ounces taken from India, when India, In a foolish moment, was put on the 1 gold basis, only to fall off again. I An old true saying tells you; "There Is some good in all evil." and this ap plies even to the deadly venom of the 1 cobra, or "hooded snake of India." A full discharge of the cobra's poison Into the human body means death, while the scientific use of that poison supplies a superior substitute for morphine In diminishing pain. If you love your British cousins, re joice. Neville Chamberlain, chancel lor of the exchequer, says British In- 1 come taxes will be cut because British finances show a substantial surplus. That surplus appears In spite of the fact that Britain is adding more than $52,000,090 to the cost of armaments. Your satisfaction In this good news may be increased by your knowledge that the United States had the pleas ure of financing the surplus and the additionr.l armaments to the tune of $5,000,000,000 In war debts not paid. Senator Wheeler of Montana has In troduced a bill ordering the national government to take over, own and op erate the railroads of the nation be ginning January 1, 1936. There la no j doubt that railroad stock and bond holders would say, "Amen," If they could be sure of getting a fair price for their property. Railroad manage ment, naturally, would grieve. Te five up power Is always unpleasant fe KIbc F?*tar?a Syndicate. lac. WNU Service. I National Topics Interpreted /?_) by William Bruckart V,; " National Press Building: Washington, D, C. UfWIT Washington.?The true purpose of the Investigation by the senate muni tions committee ap Light on pears to have come Nye Inquiry lltfht. It is seek ing the honor of drafting legislation which will give It a historical standing as the group of men who first moved to remove the Incentive of profit as provocative of war. In presenting Its proposal to this end, however, the committee is regard ed as having "started something" which It Is unlikely can be finished by the group of individual senators making up that committee. When the investigating resolution was adopted by the senate, its spon sors made much fuss about conditions In the munitions industry. There were many speeches made by Senator Nye (Rep., N. D.) concerning the wicked ness of munitions manufacturers, and in the course of those speeches, which | were made In a score of different com munities, Senator Nye announced con clusions which apparently have not been supported by evidence adduced by the committee Investigators. Fur ther, the senator announced plans to disclose alleged corruption among the munitions manufacturers and stated definitely that the purpose of the In quiry was to provide the basis for laws n men womu comroi uiuui. Now, after seven months, we look back on the committee's record and find that it has played a game of hop-sklp-and-Jump from one subject to another and, I believe, the consensus Is that little of real value either to the senate or as public information has been, developed. Since there was the minimum of pub licity resulting from the Inquiry Into munitions plants, shipbuilding yards and the aircraft industry, the commit tee has taken another tack. Seizing upon President Itoosevelt's phrase that profits must be taken out of war, Sen ator Nye and his colleagues turned their so-called "experts" loose on the track of those Illusive profits. The re sult Is a piece of proposed legislation that goes beyond anything ever offered before in the way of tax legislation. f)f course, it Is entirely likely that nothing at all will come of the Nye bill insofar as Improvement of our tax ation methods is concerned. Hut its radical and altogether unworkable character Is looked upon as necessi tating a frank examination of its pro visions. Because the committee started out to Investigate the munitions industry and notwithstanding the fact that since It has wandered all over the surface of the earth with its inquiry there is a widespread belief that its tax bill will apply only to the munitions industry [luring war time. Such is not the case. It goes far beyond the munitions In dustry and. Indeed. It affects every corporation and every individual with an income of $1,000 or more. ? ? ? Probably the Flynn-Nye tar proposal won't get anywhere at all. Certainly It will not be enacted Flynn-Nye in this session of con Tax Bill gress. Nevertheless, when a senate com mittee seriously introduces a bill that would limit Income of a corporation to 3 per cent of Its peace-time capi talization?the government would take the rest by taxation?it is regarded by many as time to call a halt. It ought to be added here that obviously the country is faced with the highest taxes It has ever known in consequence of the tremendous spending that has been going on during the last two years and which Is to be continued. Those taxes are due to come along within another year or two. I referred above to the 3 per cent limit on Incomes of corporations. This Is brought about through a tax of 50 per cent on the first C per cent of earnings of every corporation. Above the 0 per cent earnings. It is proposed In the Flynn-Nye bill to take 100 per cent of the total. Tucked away in one section of the hill Is language that Is ordinarily re ferred to as a "Joker." It represents the first attempt by congress, rather by the sponsors of this legislation, to circumvent exemption of government securities from taxation. The federnl, state, municipal, county and other gov prnmental Jurisdictions have the power to Issue bonds and other securities free from taxation. This makes such securities attractive. For quite a while there has been agitation to do away with this tax exemption privi lege. Nobody has found a way, how ever, to get legislative bodies to enact the necessary provisions Into law. So, we have something like fifty billions of dollars In securities of this type out standing. If this Income were taxable, of course, It would represent a con siderable increase In revenue to the federal government through Income levies. Thua It Is stated the Flynn-Nye proposal is attempting to reach that In come without actually violating the . contract which the Issuing government j made with the buyers of those securi ties. ... Tb? eltort to tu Income from these securities has been worked out In * fashion that Is better How It Illustrated than de Woald Work fined. Assume that a corporation had ln ? sited a large portion of Its surplus or reserves In tar-exempt bonds. The bill proposes first to limit the amount of income which that corporation may receive and to tax half of the re mainder. The result is that Income from tax-exempt securities would be I mingled with other forms of income and the government would dip its hand Into the total and take whatever amount the law prescribed. Another provision of the bill would result in government confiscation in wartime of every dollar of Income that any official of any corporation, com pany or partnership received in excess of $10,000 per year. It is to be re membered here that the above-men tioned $10,000 would not be tax-ex empt. Those drawing such salaries still would have to pay the government $2,800 in taxes on the $10,000 Income. In other words, since nearly every one receiving salaries of this size serves In an official capacity with some com mercial unit, the tax provision actually reaches nearly all of the individual In come tax payers. Certainly, the drastic rates affect all persons receiving any Income of con sequence because there is a sharp re duction in the personal exemption pre scribed and the tax rates themselves are boosted higher than a kite. For Instance, a married man with an in come of $3,000 a year would have to pay a minimum of $300 to the govern I ment immediately war was declared. ? ? ? The lethargy that continues among national Republican leaders h* begin ning to grow irksome Criticize upon minor wheel Leaders horses and individual Republicans of lesser | consequence In national affairs. Word Is coming through to Washington from various sections of the country indi cating considerable dissatisfaction with the management of Republican party anairs ?y rne present regime, neaaeu i by Ilenry P. Fletcher, national chair man. There is likewise a growing vol ume of criticism of the work of Sena tor Hastings of Delaware, and Repre sentative Bolton of Ohio, joint chair men of the Republican-senatorial-con gressional committee. Superficially, at least, it appears that the Republican pot Is about to boil over. I don't believe anybody can forecast at this time what the result is going to be. It should be said in favor of Mr. Fletcher and Co-Chairmen Hast ings and Bolton that they are in a tough spot. They are criticized if they do and criticized if they don't. Yet the fact remains and I think it is recog nized everywhere that none of these three has taken a positive position nor has he initiated any constructive effort in behalf of his party's political fu ture. ? From among Republicans who yet remain in congress, I have picked up much private discussion indicating fear on their part that the Republican party management is faced with an upheaval equivalent to the Roosevelt New Deal among the Democrats unless the party leaders awaken from their unperturbed sleep. The point made most frequently is that President Roosevelt actually has Inaugurated his campaign for re-election, and the Re publicans are doing absolutely noth ing about It. It is well to recall that Postmaster General Farley is planning to retire?Just when nobody knows? to devote his attention to his other Job which is chairman of the Demo cratic national committee. This infor mation can be construed in only one way now that Mr. Fletcher is getting ready to take his seat again at the helm of the campaign machine. Some of the smarter Republicans insist that this should be notice to the guiding lights of their own party to begin con struction of political trenches. Something may come of the Repub lican sectional meetings now being planned. It is Just possible that out of these group discussions may be evolved some national program, or the makings of a national policy. It is likewise possible that from these group discussions some individual may arise who would be a worthwhile leader for tho nartv niralnst Mr RnnoAvoIt nort year. To date, according to all of the Information I can obtain, that leader la not in sight. Senator Arthur Van denberg of Michigan, who was re elected to the senate last year in the midst of a Democratic landslide, has I been suggested. On the other hand. I wise politicians tell me that because Senator Vandenberg has been men tloned thus early, he Is likely to bo j out of the running when the conven tion time comes because in politics it Is the early bird who catches the curse instead of the worm. But to forget the weaknesses of the I Republicans in leadership does not cause one to forget the palpable fail ure made by those In charge at pres ent So far as the public record shows they have taken no advantage what soever of vulnerable spots In the New Deal armor. No administration has been or can be perfect President Roosevelt does not claim that his New Deal is perfect He has gone so far as to admit failures in certain of his countless experiments. It is possible that the Republican organisation has made note of these failures but It can be stated as a fact that they have made very little use of them by way I of political attack. 1 NiviotMr Union. wail ROGERS BEVERLY HILLS ?Well all I know Is just what 1 read In the papers, or what I see here and there. California nas just oeen nav- , Ing >ome irore big ( rains. Its the finest j season there hai | been out here in t 'ears. Cattle are aiJ , bog tat. and a high i , price. Som^ parts j , are still avtng It ] tough, but I think tt kinder equals up in t he long run. It ( seems like the Mid- t die West has bad a particular run of bad luck the last few years. They Just went and plowed up so much of that coun try that should have been left to Buf falo Grass. But you cant blame em. for at that time things were high, and when you first plow it up it did turn out some fine prairie grass. And a funny thing, of all these seed companys. they just cant seem to get the native seed that originally come from that place. It takes years to get an old plowed-over field back from anything but weeds. I just got a kind of a hunch that things are going to pick up all around. Every body hollers about all this big new batch of money that is to be spent, but (in spite of what the Republicans and part of the Democrats say) he mist know certain things by this time that will bring results. You cant possibly spend that much money without giving a lot of people work, and you cant give a lot of people work, without them spend ing it. They cant hold it. they cant bury it. they have to spend it. The man they spend it with, the storekeeper and butcher, he has to spend it Its bound to have a benefitial effect all around, and the big ones that are hollering so. its bound to reach them, and fix them so they can pay higher income taxes. I am like everybody else. 1 could sit down by the hour and tell of plans that has been tried in the last couple of years that havent worked, that have maby not only looked foolish, but were foolish, but ct.rr it all that criticism wouldent do any good. It would just add to the yell of the pack. It would be just another bowl in the wilderness. 1 cou.d sit down from now till morning and tell you what he should not hava done, but If you give me five minutes continious time. 1 couldent tell you what he should havn rtnnp and npithpr ran anv of thft rest of em. They can view vith alarm by the hour, but they cant point with pride to something else for a min e. All they can say is "Let Business Alone." < Well that all sounds fine, and it loo? s like a good thing to do, and it would be i a good thing to do, but it was done. It c was already done. Mr. Hoover cer- i s tainly let it alone, right during this j same depression. There was not one ? sign of a handicap put on it. There was no hollering about usurping the rights c of the Constitution. The Constitution \ was agoing wide open, and business j had the same leeway. Then what was *\ the holler? All you have to do is reme~i- t ber back. t "Why dont the Government do some- 1 thing?" "Why dont they put out five t billion dollars?" Dont you remember the r first five billion that we were hollering t for the Government to spend? This is e not the first time this sum of money has been asked for. Its howevei the first f time they ever got it. ? But its no good going over old scores, c; The breaks have Just been agninst us, c the same as 1 said earlier the breaks ^ have been against those poor ranchers t that lived in the drouth and sand storm t districts. We are in a hole and we are t Just running around in there looking r for somebody to lay it on. Big business e wasent entirely responsible for getting ], us in therj, and they are not going to ? be entirely responsible for getting us c out as lots seem to think. They can help naturally, for they are a tremendous Influence. I think this fellow Roosevelt saw that c there was ? lot of ills connected with the way businesses were run, and he * ? In ..Uk V oiai icu i u w i lur Idealistic plans as to Low they should be remedied, and he has found that any business wonttf work with you when its not paying. He has persuaded, he has coaied. he has tried, but you cant make you or 1 In - veat our money if we are afraid, and ^ he has kept em^ afraid. But maby the minute tliat this 1 glagantic expenditure starts showing c some results business will join in with him. and that will assure the whole r plan's success. I We can talk all the politics we want, * but business rises above politics in 1 this Country. The South has gene Re- ? publican, and the North has gone Democratic. Why. both have done It s because it looked like there was money I in It. Let Roosevelt start showing some a results with this new money, and It will hare a lot of outside f'Lgh Join r It. There Is not a Country in the World a that can change our outlook as quick ,, as we can. Just a dollar In our pocket 4 makes a different man ont of us. So p lets dont thumbs down on this thing ' r till we see. and the minute any of that t, dough commences reaching ns. we are j going to think Its a pretty f tons of equipment, acre after rare of rain proof canvas, herds and more herds of ele phants, camels, zebras and zebus, scores upon scores of funny clowns, company upon company )f the most remarkable exponents of physical culture, avenue after avenue of cages, corrals ind enclosures?a stupendous spectacle of fairy and gorgeousness!" Everybody is familiar with the fanfare of the )lg show, and nearly everybody has seen a cir rus at some time In his life, but few are really icquainted with the extent of the circus Industry Top, Estralla Nelson, Elephant Trainer, With One of Her Pachyderms. Center, Clyde Beatty Returns to Conquer Samson, Lion Who Laid Him Up for Sixteen Weeks. Below, the Circus Moves Into Town. n America today or are fully aware >f the job of producing one, a job that s far more "stupendous" and "colos sal" than the show itself. Yet the American circus is more than a century ind a half old. The first circus fan on record In this country is none other than George Washington, who is something of a stu lendous figure himself as history goes. Che Father of His Country attended he first performance of a circus in he United States, in Philadelphia In 792. It was a small show compared o the modern circus. It had no me lagerie; the principal attraction adver ised by Its owner, one John Bill Rick ?tts, were "Seven Beautiful Women." Ricketts* circus was born amid ilenty of opposition. The circus in gen ral Is a hangover from the palmiest lays of the Roman empire. It began ileanly enough, with chariot races (no loubt considerably more spirited than hose which still remain as an impor ant part of the circus), athletic con ests, and gladiatorial combat, but Ro nan capacity for thrills was not well nough satisfied and eventually help ess Christians were thrown into the irena to do battle against hopeless >dds with lions and warriors. Mighty Barnum Appears. This preserved through the ages an insavory name indeed for all circuses, md when John Bill Ricketts captured iic luiiiKiuauuu ox me young repuonc rith the first announcements of his how, righteous Indignation flared ridely forth from pulpit and press, luman nature then must have been omething like it is now, however, for his opposition served only to whet the lubllc interest, and there have always ieen circuses in America from that ime. And every President since Wash ngton has attended the circus. The Big Top, the huge show of sev ral trainloads of equipment and par icipants, as we know it today, did not nake its start until the immortal hand ?f Phineas T. Barnum took hold in 8S0; even Barnum did not enter the Ircus business until he was past sixty. At that time he was running a freak nuseum in New York and a man named 1 alley was operating a menagerie rhlch seriously competed for the dol ar of the "sucker" that was "born ev ry minute." Bailey announced a blessed event" In 1880 that would have tartled even Walter Winchell?a baby iachyderm born to his female elephant, nd the first to be bom in captivity. Barnum openly declared the tiny (?) iewcomer a humbug and sent Bailey i telegram offering him $100,000 for troof. Bailey had the telegram repro luced and used it for an advertising ?oster with such financially successful esults that Barnum gave up and ought into partnership with his rival or a large sum, and the Barnum and lailey combine became the first great cirrus. Ringling Brothers opened in 1884 and eventually absorbed the older circus In 1907. There were other names which grad ually grew to importance: John Rob inson, oldest of them all; Sells-Floto, nagenbeck-Wallace, A1 G. Barnes, Sparks and others. Just before the crash of 1929, John Ringling formed the American Circus corporation and bought them all. Within the next three years he retired all but Ringling broth ers-Barnum and Bailey, Hagenbeck Wallace and A1 G. Barnes. Ringling. however, was doomed. He borrowed heavily in order to gain a monopoly of the circus industry; when the depression came he could not meet the payments. His New York credi tors, beaded by S. W. Gumpertz, a Coney island concessionaire, took over the American Circus corporation and Ringling was only a name under the Big Top. Few spectators realize the magni tude of the activity in the winter quar ters of a circus. Here are the railroad shops which must keep all the rolling equipment in shape. There must be a great harness shop, painting shops (for fresh, glittering paint must go on ev ery square inch of equipment every year) and costume factories, as well as barns and stalls for the animals and stages and arenas 'for the rehearsing of 200 or more acts. The place is seething with activity. Only three localities in the United States are used for winter quarters: Hagenbeck-Wallace and Cole Brothers winter In Peru, and Rochester, Ind., re spectively, which are only a few miles apart Ringling winters in Sarasota, ttl. J TV - .? w-. ?? r??., nuu narDra, on me i'iicinc coast, ?where the show is best known. The Indiana location is considered best, be cause of proximity to centers of hay and food supply. Food bills for ani mals of any one of these circnses may run from $30,000 a year up. Looks Like "Circus War." With the coming of an independent circus for the first time in years, the American Circus corporation is appar ently trying'to get ahead of it in book ings. Both Hagenbeck-Wallace and Cole Brothers opened in Chicago on the same day for the same run, and con current bookings are in evidence else where in the schedules. Showmen say it may be another of the old-time "cir cus wars." Circuses open In the manufacturing centers first, usually about the middle of ApriL They wait till the farmers have cashed In on crops before swing ing out into the less-populated areas; when they do, they follow the route of cash-crop harvest. Drouth and dust storms will, accordingly, cut down their schedules in the west central states. Dayton, Columbus, Detroit, Baltimore, Norfolk, Houston and Dal las are considered great circus towns. for the Big Top Is always jammed there, whether the people seem to have money or not. In an average season of 30 weeks with 170 stands, the aver age circus plays to 800,000 people who create a gross revenue estimated at well over $1,000,000. Large circuses carry from 600 to 1,600 people, about one-third of whom are performers. The travel job is enormous. Usually, the first railroad section leaves a town before the show Is over. Meats for the giant cats are shipped from the stockyards towns a week In advance to keep the show sup plied. Hay for animals and food for humans are bought by advance agents who enter a town about two weeks be fore the circus. The shows carry their own staffs of detectives, dentists, doc tors, nurses and teachers for the chil dren. Tastes Change Little. Tears have made little difference in the tastes of the public In Its circus fare. Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West show were great drawing cards, while the old man lived, and there are ? still wild west acts in the circuses of today. Lillian Leitzel, whose beaute ous form caused many a palpitation of the heart, as It dangled from a fly ing ring In mid-air, is dead now, but the Flying Nelsons, Conchita and oth ers, have taken her place and still form a large part of the bilk Our fathers and some of us can re member when little boys innocently took jobs watering the elephants In re turn for passes?and found themselves with a job more backbreaking and more endless than that of Slndbad car rying the Old Man of the Sea. It Is /lAtvKtfnl I# 1IHU A~ V. uvuuuui il IllUC UUJO UVI 111(11 BU UlUtH any more, for the newer generation is hard to fool, but certainly some of it mnst still go on. At any rate, the me nagerie is still one of the supreme thrills of the show. And most spec tacular of all is the pretty lady or handsome hero who walks Into the lion's cage and calms the savage beast by the fearless steel that gleams in the eye. King of the menagerie today is Clyde Beatty, who makes his animal training doubly dangerous by putting three doz en or more lions and tigers, who are born with a natural hatred for each other, through their paces at the same time. A smiling, enthusiastic, vibrant little man of scarcely more than thirty, Beatty ran away from his home In Chll llcothe, Ohio, 13 years ago to Join the circus. He worked as a cage boy for a polar bear act, and one night when the trainer was called away by a sud den death in the family, Clyde worked the act He was an Instant success and has been snapping the whip and brandishing the chair, which Is the trainer's most useful weapon, ever since. ?X Weetera N?wsc*c?r t'nlon.