BRISBANE
THIS WEEK
I Bfp War or Little?
I LaGuardia's G-Men
I She Took It Seriously
I Pretty Bluebirds
War Is nut coming; it is here. It
may or may not be a war "setting the
?uriu uu nnr. iiuij
had an unpleasant
experience in Abys
sinia in the last
century and wishes
to repair that. It
also wishes to keep
Japan from gather
ing In Abyssinia s
trade and control
1 i n g Abyssinia.
Britain can under
stand how Italy
feels, since Britain
found it really nec
essary to gather in
the Transvaal and
other vast areas
throughout the world.
Italy used to send 500,000 Immi
grants a year to the United States.
Now they are shut out They must go
somewhere. They would considerably
Improve Abyssinia If they went there.
Mayors of others cities will watch
New York's Mayor LaGuardla fighting
racketeering and crime In general. Be
sides training his own police force to
shoot straight and "to kill," Mayor La
Guardla will get some government
"G-men," If possible, from Washing
ton. to come and set the example.
If Mayor LaGuardla, who has an
honest and energetic police commis
sioner, cleans up crime In New York,
he will deserve a statue next to that
of Hercules, who cleaned the Augean
stables, and a bigger statue.
Women, before and since nelolse,
have taken heart affairs more seriously
than men. Margaret Jordan, an Irish
girl, lonely, fell In love with a Mount
Vernon, N. Y., policeman, because he
came from her home town. He was
married, with eight children, and after
he had seen the girl for two years he
decided that he must reform and see
her no more. He told her about this
pious resolution as he sat In his police
car, and did not notice that she took
his service revolver from tbe pocket of
the car. Q
He learned what had happened next
day when told that the girl had killed
herself with his revolver. It was em
barrassing for a married policeman
w\th eight children.
At Fort George Wright, tiny blue
birds built their nest In the mouth of
a big cannon, nnd mother bluebird laid
four pretty blue eggs. Our kind
hearted heroes at the fort are protect
ing the nest. Sentries do not come too
near, cats are discouraged, and to the
orders of the day MaJ. George S. Clark
added these kind words, "and keep an
eye on those birds."
In American churches Sunday, Au
gust 18, will be a day of prayer for
peace In Africa and safety for little
Ethiopia, which confronts war with
powerful Italy.
That Is the right United States In
terference In foreign affairs. The
prayers will reach their destination,
and the Supreme Being to whom they
are addressed knows what l? best and
has power to arrange matters In Ethio
pia as be chooses.
To pray: "I-ord. possessor of om
Clscence and omnipotence, we leave all
In your hands," la right.
To send a million young American
men, and several thousand million
American dollars, to meddle In hot Af
rica would be wrong.
The country will welcome President
Boosevelt's statement that the "four
thousand million dollar works relief
fund" will actually be Invested In such
a way as to Increase the nation's cap
ital assets. Many times four thou
sand million dollars could be spent
advantageously. If It were really In
Tested In wise, permanent Improve
menta
A financial letter from London re
marks, casually, "Credit was plentiful
at one-half of one per cent Interest."
Americans that cannot borrow any
thing, on securities once considered
good, wonder how the British man
age. The American government bor
rows at three and a half per cent, sev
en times the current English Interest
rate, money manufacture! by Itself,
and thus adds one hundred per cent
to taxes for Interest that need not
be paid at all. Queer finance, dearly
beloved.
St Louis reformers say women
Aould not sit on high stools with
their feet on a rail and drink at the
bar. And, refrjfmers rejoice to hear,
the saloonkeepers say: "Amen."
Reformers and saloonkeepers are
right The saloon was bad enough
before women moved In to make It
worae, hitching up their dresses, climb
ing high stools, readjusting their
dresses, or not readjusting them, call
I log for foolish drinks to show bow
I, foolish they could be.
The Methodist Federation (or Social
Service, surveying the cotton area,
oaya the AAA cutting down the cot
ton crop, hat added to the sorrows
I of the little worker that raises cot
ton on shares, while enriching the
owner of the land. Ton cannot please
everybody.
A Kin* Features Syndicate, loo.
VTOU asrvlc*.
I, ?
Arthur Brlabaae
National Topics Interpreted $A\
by William Bruckart
National Press Building Washington, D. C.
Washington.?Back in 1916 before
the United States became involved
in the World war
Public Debt our government had
Mount* a national debt which
was regarded a s
large at that time. It was only $1,
200,000,000, but that was sufficient In
those days to cause concern.
On the first of July, 1935, the trea
sury started a new set of books. This
represented the beginning of a new
financial year for the government. One
of the items it had to enter on those
books was a [fublic debt of about $28,
800,000,000. We of today think that
is a huge debt and when It is com
pared with the outstanding obligations
of the federal government a score of
years ago its magnitude seems titanic.
When the treasury closed the fiscal
year books on June 30 and counted the
cost of the preceding 12 months of
government it was found that there
had been expended roughly $7,300,000,
000. In the same period It had col
lected through Income and other forms
of taxes, including duties laid at the
customs houses, a total of approxi
mately $3,SOO.OOO,000. This means that
In the last 12 months the government
operated with a deficit of something
over $3,500,000,000. In other words,
its operating costs were virtually dou
ble the amount of revenue It received.
This deficit together with the deficit
that was created during the earlier
months of the Roosevelt administra
tion added something like $8,000,000,
000 to the national debt Bresident
Hoover while in office added about $4,
000.000,000 to the national debt through
deficits in the last two years of his
administration. So there are two out
standing phases in the financial affairs
of the federal government as.lt starts
the fiscal year of 1936, which began
July 1.
There Is bred these questions: How
long can the federal government con
tinue to spend money like water and
thus increase its public debt, and how
long will the American people continue
to permit expenditures by their gov
ernment in excess of the revenues it
collects?
They are related questions. Neither
can happen without the other. But It
seems to me that the time has come
for taxpayers and voters generally to
take note of the condition of the gov
ernment's finances.
Mr. Roosevelt Justifies these heavy
outlays under the necessities of an
emergency, lie contends that when
prosperity returns and business is nor
mal, citizens will pay their taxes with
out complaint and that these taxes
| will be sufficiently large In their total
production to whittle down the gigantic
outstanding debt Hence there Is at
this moment an urgent need for ex
amination of the whole tax structure.
This is necessary to maintain the
credit of the United States. If people
doubt or lose faith in government
bonds, the credit of the government
can be said to be Impaired. No nation
of self-respecting people desires that
thing to happen. It has long been a
recognized truism that If a United
States government bond was not worth
Its face value, the money we have and
the rights we exercise as citizens like
wise become Impaired In value and
benefit
? ? ?
Careful analysis of srovernment
finances In the last 12 months shows
that federal revenues
Finances were sufficient to
Analyzed C0Ter whst Mr
Roosevelt c h a r a c
terlzes as ordinary government costs.
He means by that the expenses of the
regular establishments of government
and excludes all of the so-called emer
gency agencies, of which there are now
some sixty-odd. This condition reveals
that federal taxes are about the only
Item In governmental affairs or In
private business that have completely
recovered from depression effects. Re
covery has been sufficient to make the
total revenues virtually the same as
those received under the Hoover ad
ministration In the fiscal year of 1929
1930. It shows also tfiat Mr. Roose
velt has not reduced the cost of ordi
nary running expenses of the govern
ment as he had planned when be be
came President.
I mentioned earlier a comparison of
the public debt now and In 1916. Let
us take another date, namely, 1919.
At that lime the outstanding debt was
$26,.'>94,090,000. The annual Interest
charge on that debt was just short of
one billion dollars. Today with a
much larger outstanding debt, the an
nual Interest charge amounts to only
$820,000,000 per year.
This seems almost paradoxical but
the answer lies In the Interest rate the
government Is paying. In 1921 the
average rate of Interest calculated on
all different types of government se
curities outstanding was 4.34 per cent
At the present time it Is less than 8
per cent So credit must be accorded
the treasury for Its gradual reduction
In Interest rates. Ten years ago an
| effort was made to market securities
at gradually lower Interest rates. It
did not succeed fully because private
: business was demanding capital and
private business was paying higher
interest rates. In the last five or six
years private business has called for
'ery little money. Government securi
ties and the law of supply and demand
?perated to allow the treasury to sell
?
Its bonds and notes at mnch reduced
Interest.
On the one hand, therefore, the [
Roosevelt administration has run up
the public debt by about $8,000,000,000
but has succeeded in actually reducing
the carrying charge of this great debt
structure by more than $100,000,000 per
year. That is the situation as of
today. Restoration of business activity
and the resultant demand for capital
may change the market for treasury
bonds almost overnight but the pros
pects for such business activity are not
immediate.
? ? ?
One of the Interesting things that
often occurs in government affairs is
the explosive effect |
Startw of a single Incident j
Something or a 6ln8le remark
by an Important of
ficial. It Is a characteristic of chang
ing conditions and It Is a circumstance
which causes Washington observers to
be on their toes continuously be
cause they never can tell when such j
an Incident will occur. Thus It was !
the other day that Representative
Brewster" Republican, of Maine, a for
mer governor of that state, arose In
his place In the house of represents- j
lives and charged that the Roosevelt
administration was threatening lndl- j
vidual members of the house who de- |
clined to support the administration
view on a particular piece of legisla
tion. Mr. Brewster named one Thomas
Corcoran as the administration em's- 1
sary and bearer of the threats. He told
of details of the circumstance and in- ]
formed the house that the legislation
which the administration demanded he
should support was the so-called "deafh
sentence" provision in the bill to elimi
nate utility holding companies. Suf
fice it to say that Mr. Brewster did not
yield.
The point of this Incident, however,
Is that Immediately there came from
many quarters In the house a demand
for an Investigation of lobbying activi
ties. There had been many charges
theretofore that the public utility cor
porations were over-running the house
with lobbyists In their effort to defeat
the "dentil sentence" section. The real
reason back of this sudden outburst,
however, lies In dissatisfaction among
many members of congress with tactics
employed by the Roosevelt administra
tion. They have taken ? orders con
stantly since March 4, 1933, but ap
parently they are no longer going to
obey.
So the Investigation of lobbying Is to
be started by a house committee and
It will be broader than just tlie public
utility lobbyist If the undercurrent '
of Information proves to be correct,
administration representatives who
have frequented the house chambers
during consideration of the holding
company bill will be placed on the
witness stand to tell their story.
? ? ?
Tn the meantime and maybe as a re
sult of the excitement over the Brew
ster charge. Senator
Look Into Black, an Alabama
Lobbying Democrat, started
fireworks in the sen
ate. lie is prepared to create investi
gating machinery in that end of the
Capitol to determine what influence
the utility lobbyists have exerted.
That investigation also will go beyond
the ntillty lobbyist phase. It is sched
uled to dig up dirt on lobbyists for
other legislation. Thus far there has
been little mention of admlnistrat'on
activities around the senate.
But, as In the case of the house in
vestigation, It appears now that the
senate investigation has a double pur
pose. It will be recalled that Senator
Black fostered a bill requiring all
lobbyists in Washington to register at
the Capitol, to show their connection,
to Bhow what salaries or other com
pensation they receive and to make
public certain types of correspondence
passing between them and the people
whom they represent. The gossip is
that the senator's bill, although It
passed the senate without difficulty,
will have hard sledding in the house.
Senator Black appears to be proceed
ing on the theory that the investiga
tion win create additional atmosphere
and public demand for passage of the
lobbyist registration measure.
Actually, I believe that the investi
gation will do no more than ruin repu- j
tatlons of some few people. Such an
inquiry will not stop lobbying. It will }
not even curb or reduce lobbying. As '
long as individuals have property the
value of which may be affected one
way or the other by federal legislation.
Just so long will Individuals seek to )
Influence their representatives and sen
ators in congress. It seems to me to
be a perfectly natural and normal
thing, and without defending the slimy i
type of lobbying and the raw or crook
ed deals that may come from lobbying,
the voters have a right to express their
views to their representatives.
The irony of the present situation
is that undoubtedly there will be no
reference In either Investigation to the
tremendous activity carried on by the j
American Federation of tabor lobby
ists or the lobbyists for the American
Legion or the lobbyists for certain
groups such as the pacifists or the rad
ical supporters of Itusslan types of
government. Nor Is It Ukely that the
correct picture of administration pres
sure upon the last two sessions of con
gress will be disclosed.
? Wevttro Newspaper Cnloa. i
? ' ?! I
Is the Vast British Empire Breaking Up?
By WILLIAM C. UTLEY
KING GEORGE T'g silver Jubi
lee, now at Its height In
England, has formed an in
nocent, If world-wide, Insti
tution for propagandizing the unit;
and extent of the British Empire. No
one, certainly, questions Its extent
But there are those among the politi
cal economists of the day who at least
suggest that the far-flung realm shows
signs of breaking apart and when the
real test comes, If It ever does, they
may be right
"Recent developments In South Af
rica have again made people ask
whether the British Empire Is break
ing up," writes Fred Clarke, English
educator and former representative of
the Union of South Africa at Genev^
In Current History Magazine. "With
out attempting to answer that question,
one can have no doubt as to the im
portance of the status of the Union
act, which received royal assent on
June 22, 1934. This new law has a
bearing on the whole future of Brit
ish Imperial unity."
The status act contains the first defi
nite oflielal reference of the crown to
the union as "a sovereign Independent
state." Its accompanying seal act gives
the exclusive right of use of the Great
Seal and Little Seal, heretofore held
by the king, to the South African min
isters.
For more than a quarter of a cen
tury South Africa, politically, has been
torn bitterly between two political fac
tions as directly opposed as our New
Dealers and rugged individualists.
They were led by General Smuts, right
hand man of General Botha in the
Union government which arose a few
years after the South African war,
and General Hertzog, a minister in
the Botha cabinet who was removed
in 1912, two years after the cabinet
was formed.
General Smuts and his faction open
ly considered the Union a definite
part of the Empire, with British civi
lization and culture dominant. Hert
zog sympathizers held out against the
complete social, cultural and political
domination of the Boer population by
the British, and have always striven to
make the Union a separate and inde
pendent nation.
The present status of the Union has
been effected as a sort of political
compromise between the two generals
and their respective parties. The
Union is undeniably independent now.
with merely "allegiance to the crown,"
the string politically tying it to Great
Britain. And the two parties have
fused into one.
They Get Together.
It is interesting to note that the
coalition of the parties came about
because their differences became so
bitter after England went off the gold
standard in 1931 that party leaders
decided that unity and compromise
would be the only means of averting
hopeless Internal political strife. Im
agine Mr. Roosevelt and, say, Mr. Hoo
ver, getting together before a political
campaign and straightening out their
differences!
General Hertzog's nationalist party,
which was in power in 1931, preferred
to keep South Africa on the gold stand
ard, believing that England had
stepped off only temporarily, and that
maintaining the standard would help
to stabilize a leading industry of South
Africa, gold mining. Other interests
suffered badly, and General Smuts'
South African party accused the in
cumbents of pampering the political
Interests always prone to take the op
posite line from the empire, jeopardiz
ing the Interests of the Union in gen
eral thereby.
It was conceded that If General
Smuts could force an election at that
time, he would have more than an
even chance of winning, but that he
could not do so without stirring up
the smoldering embers of racial con
flict between Boers (or, rather, the
present-day Afrikaanders) and Britons,
an animosity that had been admirably
subdued In the preceding decades by
wise government
To youth of South Africa really goes
the credit for coalition. Young men
of both parties know the sentimental
and romantic racial dissentlons mere
ly as historical traditions, not as real
loyalties and convictions. It was
they whose Insistence that these dif
ferences be wiped out once and for
all Impressed the nation with the ne
cessity for taking up the real business
at hand?that of administering good
government As a result of the coal
ition, the status act, satisfactory In
the main to both parties, was effected.
Boers in Opposition.
The Boer in South Africa has long
opposed the out-and-out political domi
nance of the Union by London, as pro
posed by the Briton, for fear of los
ing his Identity. South AfrUm If m
region of two separate and powerful
cultures, and Its people speak two
languages. There Is, of course, the
English with which we are more or
less familiar. And there Is the Dutch
offspring, Afrikaans.
The New Deal for South Africa paci
fies both factions by fostering both
cultures. Education Is administered In
both. Newspapers and magazines are
published In both languages.
That the status act, with its admis
sion of South Africa's virtually abso
lute Independence, applies as well to
all of the British Dominions, is Im
plied in the fact that it includes In its
preamble the Balfour declaration ob
tained by General Hertzog when he
headed the nationalist government of
1024. This calls the Dominions "au
tonomous communities within the
British Empire, equal in status, in no
way subordinate one to another in
any respect of their domestic or exter
nal affairs, though united by a com
mon allegiance to the crown, and free
ly associated as members of the Brit
ish Commonwealth of Nations."
Further removing British political
dominance from the Dominions was
the Statute of Westminster, which
was passed by the British parliament
in 1931. It closely allied the consti
tutional development of the other Do
minions of the empire with that of
the Union of Soqth Africa. The Bal
four declaration and the Statute of
Westminster are masterpieces of
phraseology which carried soothing
balm to both South African factions.
The status act is the application of
them to the South African constitution.
Two important concessions are made
to the Dominions in the Statute of
Westminster. It gives the Dominion
government power to amend, repeal
or modify any British act which has
been incorporated in the law of the
Dominion. It further states that no
British law may be applied to any Do
minion unless that Dominion has re
quested the application and consented
to It
Really Independent.
The status act Itself declares that
no British legislation shall be consid
ered In effect in the Union of South
Africa until it is re-enacted by the
South African parliament. The "chief
executive" Is defined as the king, who
shall act upon the advice of his South
African ministers.
In South Africa the king's represent
ative Is the governor-general. Neither
he nor the king have any powers of
veto or reservation of a bill. The gov
ernor-general may, however, simply re
turn a bill with his opinion for further
consideration If he thinks It wise.
The king does not retain the power
to name the prime minister and to dis
solve parliament.
The case of war would be the real
test For, with the clearly worded
status act, the Union of South Africa
can now decide for itself whether or
not to remain neutral If the empire
enters a war. Says Clarke:
"It might even secede altogether,
though not apparently, by legal proc
ess. Some commentators In England
as well as In South Africa feel dis
turbed by these possibilities. But
'equal status' necessarily Implies them,
and legal barriers would be flimsy de
fenses against the strong political pres
sures when the time of crisis comes."
It will be remembered that when
England entered the World war there
wag widespread dissension In South
Africa, and even serious uprisings In
some cases. Clarke goes on:
"Neutrality and secession are po
litical Issues, to be determined In the
light of all the facts when the ques
tion arises. They are not to be de
termined In advance, as some of the
die-hard lawyers seemed to demand, by
any constitutional legislation, espe
cially legislation under such docu
ments as the Balfour declaration and
the Statute of Westminster."
The Ties That Bind.
The abolition of the prerogative pow
er of the king aroused the anguish of
the pro-British faction In South Africa.
This faction claimed that In the time
of crisis the king was the executive
head of the entire British Empire, and
that he could act as he saw fit In case
of a crisis. In order to keep the realm
from falling apart General Smuts
was able to convince his followers
that for centuries no Buch prerogative,
If there was one, had been exercised,
and that the question was not one of
law, but of politics.
Of course, what the economists who
cite the status act as evidence that the
PHtjfh VrTnpira || fn^) fn
show Is that political power or legal
power are not the real bands which
hold the Empire together. Experience
has taught us that in time of war
nations do not act on the literal in
terpretation of the law. The ties that
bind are more substantial. In the case
of the British Imperial Dominions they
are the advantages of free trade with
in the Empire and the protection of
the British fleet The Union of South
Africa would be an easy mark Indeed
for an Invading force were it not for
the protection of the greatest fleet in
the world. It is extremely doubtful
that the Union would ever want to for
sake such a protection.
With its constitutional status now
more clearly defined than ever before,
the Union of South Africa Is ready It
self to begin expanding. It would like
to annex the adjacent protectorates of
Bechuanaland, Swaziland and Basuto- j
land, which are now governed under
the Dominions office in London. When
the Union was formed in 1909, the con- j
stitution provided for the eventual in
clusion of these territories.
Their population, however, is 99 per
cent black, and they were left out of I
the original Union and kept under di
rect London protection because of the
treatment they had received at the
hands of the Boers who made up a j
large share of the Union population.
When, last year, Prime Minister !
Hertzog announced to Great Britain j
that the Union of South Africa was ,
ready to act immediately to Include j
the protectorates, his act drew an In
stant appeal from Chief Tshekedi
Khama of Bechuanaland. British ad- !
ministration to the protectorates has ,
not been all that it might be, but na- |
tives and native sympathizers believe |
that it is better than the discriml- |
nation which might harm them at the j
hands of the Boers.
Native Chiefs Balk.
Unionists claim that there are no
selfish reasons for annexation, for the
Union has plenty of land and plenty of j
economic difficulty without taking on
that of the native areas. Basutoland j
is tremendously overcrowded and con- I
ditions among the blacks are deplor
able. The Union would move the sur
plus population over to the vast ex
panses of Bechuanaland, where the
population is scarce, and would give
the blacks land and Irrigate it.
The natives and their chief are j
afraid of this. The reason is that the
Tatit Company, Ltd., owns about 1,325,
000 acres in Bechuanaland. They fear
that the blacks might be exploited in
dustrially here, that the grazing land
which has been held out to them as a
home land for the surplus Union blacks
might be seized by the surplus whites ;
of the Union.
Neither do they like the present na- \
tive policy of the Union. The native
under the protectorate of the Union, 1
according to the Manchester Guardian,
has found that "his freedom of move
ment is limited by restrictive 'pass'
laws; his status as a worker is degrad
ed by the color bar act to one of per
manent economic inferiority. He sees
his fellows through the Union com
pelled by the native service contract |
act to relinquish settlement and to
wander in search of work. He sees
them barred by the native land act
from acquiring land even If, despite
all obstacles, they acquire means to
do so."
With the constitutional differences
straightened out between black andj
white in the Union, and with the ris
ing of a new generation which does
not feel so bitterly the Inequality of
the whites and the blacks, it is held
that the government under Smuts and I
Hertzog means well by the natives. |
? \'?vs[?gpsr Union. |
I
General Smuta.
General Hertzog.
WOMAN LEADS NAVAJOS
Mrs. Laura McCabe, at .the age ot
forty-three, Is the only woman lead
er among the 45,000 Navajos in
northwestern New Mexico. In addi
tion, the squaw has privileges denied
white women In some states.
She owns property. Her children
belong to her clan and upon her
death her daughters Inherit her prop
erty. She does the work, tends the
sheep, shears the wool and weaves
It Into blankets. She handles nearly
all of the barter with Indian traders
and controls the family's meager
supply of cash.
BOYS! GIRLS!
Read the Grape Nuts ad in another
column of this paper and learn how
to join the Dizzy Dean Winners and >
win valuable free prizes.?Adv.
French Take to Baseball
American baseball Is enjoying *
boom in France to the extent that
a nation-wide organization has been
formed known as the "Federation
Francaise de Baseball et de Theque."
Four hundred teams are playing in
carious parts of the French nation.
MOSQUITOES
inject Poison
Mosquitoes live on human blood.
Before she can draw your blood,
however, the mosquito must first
thin it by injecting a poison. Thus
mosquitoes annoy ?are dangerous,
spread tarious disease epidemics. Don't
take chances. Kill mosquitoes, flies,
spiders with FLY-TOX ? proved best
by 10,000 tests. 111
Accept no substitute*... demand
And, Alai! So Rare
Kindness?the greatest thing In the
world.?Exchange.
Man's Inhumanity
Chief menace to man on earth is
still man.?Exchange.
(alotabs
If you have a \
pimply, blotchy^B^
complexion Wttjtm
fry Resin ol
to,help nature heal
such surface defects/
1-^-KV DpiUl&IO rclOUlAU ? All* ?
Food along window sills, doors and I
openings through which ants come I
and go. Guaranteed to rid quickly. H
Used in a million homes. Inexpen- I
sire. Get it at your druggist's. I
SICK HEADACHES
Indicate Acid Condition
Chew one or more Milnesia
Wafers and obtain relief
You can obtain a full size 20c package
of Milnesia Wafers containing twelve
full adult doses by furnishing us with
the name of your local druggist if he
does not happen to carry Milnesia
Wafers in stock, by enclosing 10c in
coin or postage stamps. Address
SELECT PRODUCTS. INC. ?
4402 23rd St. Long Island City. N. Y.
My Name is
Street Address
Town & State
My Druggist's Name is...... ?
Street Address ....
Town & State
VVND?4 29?33
W/HEN kidneys function badly and
you suffer backache, dirtiness,
burning, scanty or too frequent urina
tion, getting up at night, swollen feet
and ankles; feel upset and miserable
... use Doan's Pills.
Doan's are especially for poorly
working kidneys. Millions of boxes
?re used every year. They are recom
mended by users the country over.
Ask your neighbor!
mmss