The Alamance Gleaner
VoL LXIV GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1938
No. 32
Weekly News Keview
Britain Feared Capitulating
In Czech-German Argument
By Joseph W. La Bine
Foreign
At his office in Fleet street, Pub
lisher Geoffrey Dawson decided that
wisdom was the better part of val
or. Next morning his London Times
put in black and white what Eng
land's conservative Clivedfen set has
thought all along: That Britain had
best let Adolf Hitler cede Czecho
slovakia's Sudeten territory if no
other settlement would satisfy him.
Nor did Der Fuehrer appear con
tent with anything less. While nerv
ous France protested such an idea
and rushed troops into her amazing
Maginot line like gophers rush to
their holes, all eyes converged not
on London or Prague, but on Nur
emberg where the Nazi party was
holding its annual congress and
clam bake.
There, Chancellor Hitler found the
spotlight's rays pleasantly warm. In
the first of his eight speeches he
made clear Germany's determina
tion to be supreme in southeast Eu
rope. To Czechoslovakia these were
frightening words. Immediately Su
deten Leader Konrad Henlein was
handed the "fourth and final" list of
concessions which he rushed un
AMBASSADOR HENDERSON
He wouldn't go home.
opened to Nuremberg. Same eve
ning Fuehrers Hitler and Henlein
opened them, found satisfaction for
every demand except (1) establish
ment of a one-unit government for
Sudetens and (2) freedom for prac
tice of Nazi ideology.
Prague's concessions might have
been sufficient a week earlier, but
shrewd Adolf Hitler now saw a
chance to take the whole hog. Brit
ain, anxious to avoid war at all cost,
had capitulated, unofficially admit
ting she was willing to sell Czecho
slovakia down the river. And by
midnight another unexpected joy
had developed, so important that
Konrad Henlein was sent scurrying
back home with orders to hold out
for complete surrender.
At Maehrisch-Ostrau, in Sudeten
territory, Czech mounted policemen
had horsewhipped a noisy crowd,
striking a Sudeten legislator on the
shoulders. While apologetic Prague
hastened its investigation, the in
cident offered Konrad Henlein a new
chance to play the role of martyr.
Next day, with all odds in his fa
vor, Der Fuehrer could afford to
assure the world of his peaceful in
tentions. While Nuremberg's show
continued, he received Germany's
foreign diplomatic corps, including
France's Andre Francois-Poncet
who suggested: "Democracies are
not exactly lauded at the Nurem
berg congress, but their emissaries
usually feel welcome." Answered
expansive Adolf Hitler: "I hope to
continue to make the ambassadors
feel welcome, and I also hope that
during my regime no mother will
have cause for wet eyes on account
of any action of mine."
Most foreign envoys left after the
reception, but not Britain's Sir
Nevile Henderson. He stuck around
like a guest who won't go home,
trying to corner either Der Fuehrer
or Foreign Minister Joachim von
Ribbentrop. If he succeeded, Ger
many would learn that Geoffrey
Dawson was only fooling, that Bri
tain still meant business.
Aviation
U. S. commercial airlines could
not operate without government
mail subsidy, but since 1934 even
that assistance has been insufficient
to prevent huge deficits. Part of the
infant industry's trouble has been of
its own making, as when monopolis
tic practices caused the U. S. army's
painful experience with air mail five
years ago. Throughout its brief his
tory, aviation has contended with
improper and vacillating govern
ment supervision. Not until last win
ter did congress create a civil aero
nautics authority, which was organ
ized last month under Edward J.
Noble.
Last week, CAA gave a party. To
Chicago they invited representatives
of 23 commercial lines lor a "get
acquainted" meeting that ended in
a lecture. Led by Air Transport
association's Col. Edgar S. Gorrell,
aviation plumped for immediate
stop-gap relief in the form of in
creased air mail subsidies. Also
outlined was a five-point industrial
program which requires CAA's mor
al and financial aid during the com
ing year.
All this was well enough, but if
airlines expected CAA to be a finan
cial angel, they had another guess
coming. Up stepped Member Harl
lee Branch to dispel, once and for
all, any mistaken ideas. Said he:
"It seems proper to remind . . .
carriers that while the authority de
sires that they shall receive fair
compensation, no line should as
sume that the authority is going to
dish out public moneys in any reck
less or ill considered fashion. No
one should be deluded with the idea
that all an air line has to do ... is
convince the authority it has suc
ceeded in operating at a deficit.
There will be no premiums on bad
management."
War
North of the Yangtze river, two
Japanese armies captured three
Chinese positions in their drive on
Hankow. South of the Yangtze there
was a different story, for defenders
pierced Jap -Lines six miles south
east of Juichang and forced the in
vaders to retreat, leaving 300 dead.
Fresh from Tokyo came 100,000
troops, determined to intensify the
campaign on all fronts until Gener
alissimo Chiang Kai-shek's govern
ment is crushed.
? On the Ebro front, Generalissimo
Francisco Franco's African Moors
swept through a gap in the loyalist
Cobera line, next day capturing
mountain heights dominating the
river valley.
Domestic
In Ohio, 110,000 aged people re
ceive federal-state assistance, which
costs the U. S. social security board
approximately $1,275,000 per month.
In August when he ran for Demo
cratic renomination, Ohio's Gov.
Martin L. Davey pointed with pride
at his record. One accomplishment:
Establishment of old age assistance,
which has also been established in
47 other states.
Three days before the primary,
Social Security's Director Frank
Bane charged Governor Davey with
using old age assistance to get
votes. Though the governor was de
feated, that did not stop Social Se
curity from sending out investiga
tors who last week reported to
Chairman Arthur J. Altmeyer.
At a hearing from which Martin
Davey pointedly absented himself,
Social Security claimed that (1) re
quests for old-age aid addressed di
rectly to Governor Davey received
preferential treatment; (2) some
OHIO'S MARTIN DAVEY
"T hit it surprisingly dirty politics."
pensioneers were told it would be
"a good idea" to vote for Governor
Davey; (3) political and personal
influence replaced the merit system
in appointment of Ohio's old age
personnel.
Next day, Chairman Altmeyer's
threat to cut off federal pension
grants brought a sharp retort as
Martin Davey answered a "dirty
politics" charge with a dash of the
same medicine: "Frankly, I do not
believe you dare deprive these
(Ohio's) aged citizens of one-half
their scant living to support your
political maneuver . . . This was
surprisingly dirty politics for one
who pretends to be as righteous as
yourself."
Business *
Not ?ince June, 1937, has the U. S.
treasury asked the capital market
for "new money," though last De
cember it borrowed $450,000,000 to
pay maturing bills. But when con
gress voted billions for relief this
past spring, when Recession kept
government payrolls swollen above
normal, it was obvious that money
must come from somewhere. Fort
night ago, Secretary of the Treas
ury Henry Morgenthau Jr., returned
from Europe, busying himself im
mediately with Budget Director
Daniel W. Bell. Then came the in
evitable announcement.
This month, said Secretary Mor
genthau, the treasury will go into
the market for $700,000,000 in "new
SECRETARY MORGENTHAV
Uncle Sam needed more money.
money" to help finance Recovery.
Still ahead are requests for $1,400,
000,000 more in "new money,"
though these will not come before
next calendar year.
Nor was this all. In the next
few weeks, notes totaling $433,460,
900, due December 15, will be re
financed. Short term treasury bills,
totaling $1,300,000,000, will be re
financed at a rate of $100,000,000 per
week. Bolstered by its new borrow
ing, the U. S. cash box will operate
on a larger working balance be
tween now and December. On hand
last week was $1,620,000,000.
How much it cost Secretary Mor
genthau to raise his national debt
to $38,300,000,000, was evidenced by
loan rates. The $1,300,000,000 in ma
turing bills cost the treasury an
average debt service of 0.05 per
cent, possibly the lowest rate in U.
S. history. Net result of new bor
rowing will be to decrease bank re
serves, now nearing an all-time
high, and to increase deposits.
Agriculture
Last spring, the new U. S. crop
control measure placed domestic
and export corn requirements at
2,470,000,000 bushels, promised to
make loans if 1938 production ex
ceeded that figure. Though much
corn has suffered from disease,
America's crop this year has still
turned out above expectations. By
last week it became apparent that
corn loans will be necessary. At
Washington, AAA's H. R. Tolley re
ported the August estimate of 1938
corn was 2,566,000,000 bushels,
which is 94,000,000 bushels in excess
of the original estimate. Though
loan figures will not be determined
until next November's crop board
estimates, loans were virtually as
sured, probably at 57 cents a bushel.
Politics
Nevada's Pat McCarran backed
Franklin Roosevelt for re-election
in 1936, opposed his Supreme court
and government reorganization
measures. But while the President
sought to "purge" other half-heart
ed New Dealers in this year's pri
maries, he made no intervention in
Nevada's primary. Opposing Pat j
McCarran for renomination were
Reno's Albert Hilliard and Carson
City's Dr. John Worden, both "100
per cent New Dealers." The out
come: Pat McCarran won easy re
nomination.
People
Former Queen Victoria of Spain is
a Battenberg, and for generations
all men of the Battenberg line have
inherited hemophilia (tendency to
bleed), though Battenberg women
are free of it. Among victims was
the count of Cavadonga, eldest son
of Queen Victoria and King Alfonso.
As a child he nearly bled 1 6 death
from a tooth extraction. Two years
ago, he had 20 transfusions over a
malignant tumor which could not
be relieved by surgery for fear of
bleeding. Last week, at Miami, the
count of Cavadonga sped down Bis
cayne boulevard with Mildred Gay
don, night club cigarette girl. Their
car swerved to miss a truck, slid,
smashed into a telephone pole. Nine
hours later the count bled to death.
0 Son James Roosevelt, at Roches
ter's Mayo clinic, prepared to have
f stomach ulcer removed. Franklin
Roosevelt intended to be present
Brurkarfa Washington IHgext
Old-Age Pension Schemes Figure
In Primaries in Several States
Lead to Success of Senator Pepper in Florida and Defeat
Of McAdoo in California; Delude Aged and
Infirm Voters; Fallacy of Plans Shown.
By WILLIAM BRUCKART
WNU Service, National Press Bld?? Washington, D. C.
WASHINGTON. ? A good many
Easterners had nearly forgotten
about Dr. Francis Townsend and his
$200-a-month pension plan until
lately they were suddenly awak
ened by the far South and the far
West. Sen. Claude Pepper won a
Democratic nomination to the sen
ate in Florida largely because of
espousal of the Townsend plan and
just recently Sen. William G. Mc
Adoo had his public career abruptly
terminated because Sheridan Down
ey, his opponent for the Democratic
senatorial nomination in California,
proposed and promised some fan
tastic scheme of paying $30 every
Thursday to persons over 50 years
of age.
In addition to these results, there
have been 12 or 15 candidates for
the nomination to the house of rep
resentatives who have won in pri
maries by saying the Townsend
plan or the $30-e very-Thursday or
some other impossible and illogical
and unsound pension plan would be
put through congress. I cannot de
scribe them all; they are obviously
variations of the Townsend plan,
and none of them will work any
more than the Townsend bubble will
work, and each has been used to
delude aged and infirm voters
whose ballots were needed to swing
an election.
It is tragic that such things have
happened, and are happening to
day. The fact cannot be ignored,
however, because the condition is
with as. The one thing to do, then,
I believe, is to attempt to disillusion
those folks who have swallowed the
slick words of those campaigners or
those racketeers who are preying
upon the faith of folks who, through
no fault of their own, do not have
access to information that shows
these schemes to be rainbows. And,
as far as history records, nobody on
earth ever has found the end of the
rainbow where the pot of gold is
reputed to be.
I am not concerned about the pub
lic career of Mr. McAdoo who has
been in public service off and on
since 1913. He never impressed me
as being any great shakes of a
statesman. As secretary of the
treasury, he did the job probably
about as well as the average politi
cal appointee. I never have had the
pleasure of meeting Mr. Downey.
So I can't comment. Senator Pep
per's senate record is a great deal
like many another senator's record,
and probably will continue to be just
so-so. In other words, here were
two average senators ? one winning
with the aid of the promises about
the Townsend plan and the other
losing because he stayed away
from such promises, although he
was thrice blessed by the President
of the United States. That situation,
along with some letters accusing me
of giving the Townsend plan a "si
lent treatment" in these columns,
seems to warrant a new analysis of
the conditions that now confront the
! country.
1 it Appear 9 T owntenditm
I $ Not Dead After All
As I said there is evidence that
Townsendism is not dead at all. It
has formed the basis of a dozen new
panaceas, of which the $30-every
Thursday is but an example. It
happened that this scheme was pro
posed in California which, particu
larly in its southern sections, has
vast population of aged people who
have gone there to enjoy the famous
climate and have the health that it
gives them. Old people are mili
tantly behind these schemes. That
is one of the reasons why Mr. Down
ey was able to boast more than a
million signatures to the petition
that made the question an issue in
California. And Florida, too, with
a fine winter climate, is a fertile
field for the racketeers who pro
mote such ridiculous programs. It
is a harsh thing to blame the
strength of these movements, all of
which crop up during depression
times, upon elderly people. It is
nevertheless the cold fact that they
are the type among whom such
schemes are promoted, and because
they have votes, the candidate for
office stoops to the level of adding
further to hopes that never can be
fulfilled in that manner.
To show how silly the scheme of
$30-every-Thursday is as a cam
paign issue for Mr. Downey? Just
as an example ? he is ? candidate
for the United States senate. The
pension dream he has advocated is
planned as part of the welfare pro
gram of the state of California. How
Mr. Downey can do anything about
it as a member of the United States
senate, I can not understand, and I
seriously doubt that Mr. Downey
can explain it.
Nor will the plan work if made
into law without bankrupting the
state of California. I doubt that it
will work anyway, but assuming
that it may work, the state will be
assuming a burden that will cost
it so much money that the Cali
fornia books will be so far in the
red as to cause them to appear
splotched with blood. This idea of
placing "stamps" on each warrant
each week so that an actual $1.04
has been affixed by cash payment in
a year will stop the transfer of them
very shortly. Few storekeepers,
for example, will accept them be
yond the necessities of their tax
payments to the state of California ;
it is certain also that those who con
tinue to accept them would not pay
the face value, and the possessor
would be forced into paying higher
prices for the things that he buys.
That is, the possessor would be buy
ing 50 cents worth of sugar and prob
ably would be handing over a dollar
warrant for it. All of this is the
result of a lack of confidence among
the people in any form of exchange
except the currency that is backed
and guaranteed by the United
States, as has been shown so many
times before.
Downey Plan Would Mak ?
T rouble for New Dealer a
Then, I believe X foresee tome
other trouble respecting such war
rants as Mr. Downey's scheme pro
poses; not that I think his plan is
worse than any others but it serves
as an illustration. It is proposed
that the possessor put a two-cent
state stamp on the warrant for each
week in his possession, or 52 such
stamps in a year. Well, I imagine
that the warrants would be in the
hands of many persons who had no
cash at all ? not a cent. Immediate
ly, there would be a cry go up to
have the state supply the stamps
free, and it is quit* certain that
there would be some politicians dis
honorable enough to campaign for
office on that issue.
Now, assume that Mr. Downey
comes to the senate; assume that
he is elected over his Republican
opponent in November. I seem to
scent some added trouble for Pres
ident Roosevelt and his New Deal
friends who have been promising
too many things and too much of
them. Of course, many persons be
lieve that Mr. Roosevelt's methods
to date have encouraged all kinds of
quackeries because he has talked
at length of humanitarianism. He
has aroused the minds of elderly
persons who are suffering under
conditions not of their own making.
The number and type of these
panaceas ebbs and flows with the
economic tide. When business is
good and there is plenty of work,
when storekeepers are able to sell
and people are able to buy, we hear
little or nothing of the dream-world
children of the Townsends and the
Downeys and the others. When
there are "hard times" and there
are thousands upon thousands with
out work and food and clothes, those
suffering minds become easy prey
to the silver tongue.
Pursuing the thought a bit further,
it then becomes possible for a move
ment which demands not $30 every
Thursday for persons over 50, but
one demanding $40 or $50 every Fri
day or $80 every Saturday. The
amounts can be pushed up and up
and the fervor of the suffering un
der this illusion grows greater and
greater.
President Cannot Dodg e
Some of Responsibility
Mr. Roosevelt ha* said with em
phasis several time* that none of
these things will work. He believes
they should not be propagated and
spread, because he recognize* how
easily miserable humanity can be
lead off at a tangent. It is a type
of hysteria, an emotion. The Presi
dent, however, must not dodge re
sponsibility for a part of it. Aa I
said above, his methods have been
conducive to hysteria of several
kinds. These panaceas that threat-,
en again to cause grief for his ad
ministration are but an outgrowth of
the numerous plans that have been
given birth by various persons in
official position. True, they have
been fed by the dregs of hard times,
but they had their encouragement
first from illogical phases of the
New Deal.
? wmuib s?mm lTpA? .
NORTH STAR
? Sioux Indians were driven from Minne
sota but their glory still lives in the world
famous " land of lOfiOO lakes."
Prepared by National Geographic Society.
Washington, D. C.-WNU Service.
Sioux, are now almost
as rare within the state bor
ders as the caribou. This is
not wholly the white man's
fault. Before the white man
came as a settler, the Chippe
was from the east had driven
the Sioux out of the northern
part of the state, anciently
their winter home, to the
south.
Thus, when the white man
came, he found the Chippe
was established in the north,
living in hemispherical birch
bark huts, traveling in ca
noes; and, in the south, the
Sioux, living in conical buffa
lo-hide tepees, and riding on
ponies? the woods Indian and the
prairie Indian. While the lumber
man's ax advanced into the domain
of the one, the farmer's plow ad
vanced into that of the other.
The plow proved to be the dead
lier weapon. The Sioux resented
this extremely. Besides, they were
treated by the white man with little
tact and less frankness ? or so they
certainly felt. This complex resent
ment boiled up into the Sioux out
break, bloodiest Indian rebellion in
the history of the republic.
The panic which spread among
the scattered settlers can be imag
ined. The plows that had begun
to cut into the grove-dotted edges of
! the South were abandoned. But, for
tunately the Sioux got licked at last,
and as a reward for what they had
done they were expelled forever.
:NNESOTA'S primitive
human inhabitants, the
Chippewas Diplomatic
Meanwhile, the Chippewas tried
the opposite tactics, an attempt to
| reason with the Great White Father
as he manifested himself to them in
the guise of congressional commit
tees, land agents, and so on.
The results of this patient policy,
though not so prompt and decisive
as that brought about by the bold
play of the Sipux, have been almost
equally disappointing. The scandals
of the land grab at White Earth, for
example, which was to have been
an Indian Utopia, make any sensi
tive Minnesotan blush.
However, the Chippewas survive.
A day of more intelligent policy
seems to be dawning. Their Pigeon
River home is enviable for its nat
ural beauty.
In the north Chippewa names
abound. Even the mighty Mississip
pi, "Great River," was given its
name by these canoe paddlers at
its source. Indian practicality is ex
pressed in such names as Mahno
men, "Wild Rice," Menahga,
"Blueberry," or Watab, "Tamarack
Root Fibers," used in sewing birch
bark together for hut or canoe.
Now for the white man, that ro
mantic adventurer, trader, builder,
or whatever you choose to call him.
He came first as a trader in furs
and was a Frenchman. He got on
well with the Indians, in fact, mar
ried among them. Like them, he in
terfered little with natural geogra
phy, merely leaving behind a few
names such as Mille Lacs, St. Croix,
or Lac qui Parle.
His were the early days indeed, in
terms of the state's brief history?
the Seventeenth and first half of the
Eighteenth century.
During the latter half of the Eight
eenth century the British traders of
the Hudson's Bay and Northwest
companies were dominant. It was
? period of colorful enterprise.
Headquarters for gathering in pelts
ABOVE? At Minnesota's lame*
Itasca park a Chippewa chief dis
plays his tribal wares U t stilts.
Here, in a combined primitive msd
era state, dwell the remnants af %
once treat race.
from trading stations extending aa
far west as the Yellowstone and Sas
katchewan were established at
Grand Portage, at the extreme out
er corner of Minnesota's north.
Bygone Glory
The first cattle in all the North
west grazed around that bay; 70 ca
noes, of 40-foot length, formed tha
yearly quota of the boat builders.
'And up the portage itself, to tit*
calm upper waters of the Pigeon
river, which in turn gave access to
the whole interior of a continent,
went supplies and trinkets.
Over that path, now grown up is
violets and the wistful pale clinto
nia, came furs destined for the nsek
of Madame du Barry or Beau Brum
mell's bajyer hat.
The oldurand Portage is of geo
graphical importance for another
reason.
At the close of the Revolution, tha
Treaty of Paris established tha
northwest boundary of the new Unit
la Minnesota's M,M* lakes which
once echoed the redman's wa*
sport themselves.
ed States as passing "through Lake
Superior to the Long lake; thenc*
through the said Long lake to the
Lake of the Woods.'' Now this "Long
lake" proved in later years to be a
joker. Which "Long lake"?
Bulging Boundary
Hazy knowledge of geography aa
incorporated in early treaties also
accounts for that odd bulge in the
northern boundary of the state, the
Northwest Angle, a promontory at
tached ta Canada and divided from
MinnesofShr the Lake of the Woods.
This is the northernmost part at
the United States (exclusive of Alas
ka). The stamp collector who has
a stamp postmarked "Penasse,
Minn.," can boast an item from the
northernmost post office of the 4g
states.
The British fur trade was in turn
supplanted by the American. Grand
Portage was abandoned, and fun
found their way out to the world
of commerce by a southern routa,
through Mendota and St. Paul. This
latter city retains its importance as
? fur mart to the peasant dar.
dance, modern resorters now be