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The Alamance Gleaner - ? . ? ? > ? Vol LXIV GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1938 / NO. 44 Weekly News Analysis Wage Earners May Carry Load In New U. S. Taxation Program By Joseph W. La Bine ? EDITOR'S NOTE ? When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are those of the news analyst, and not necessarily of the newspaper. ? ? r1 Taxation Recent federal taxation policies have been based on the theory that business should bear the brunt. For this or some other reason, business has operated at a loss, laid off work ers and precipitated economic de pression. This year, as the U. S. treasury charts its course for the 1939-40 fiscal year, there are signs that business will breathe easier, EDSEL FORD He offered an incentive. that government will look instead to the small wage earner for its new monetary requirements. Even as Auto Manufacturer Edsel Ford was telling a senate sub-com mittee that a general tax reduction would be "as good a business in centive as any," three outstanding forecasts could be sifted from the financial gymnastics of budget-mak ing treasury experts: Economy. Although Federal Re serve Chairman Marriner S. Eccles has plumped publicly against pre mature reduction in federal expendi tures, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau is essentially economy minded. In this policy he has the support of his new tax adviser, Un dersecretary John W. Hanes, a re cent recruit from Wall street who believes ^udget balancing would stimulate the confidence of business. While not expecting a balance be tween income and outgo next year because of the proposed national de fense program, Mr. Morgenthau can take heart from President Roose velt's latest pronouncement: ray-As-xon-uo. The biliion-doLIar rearmament plan, which is due for strenuous congressional opposition, will not be allowed to increase the federal deficit. Though the Presi dent has not indicated what new taxation method he will use to finance the project, there is guarded admission that a 10 per cent tax will be placed on present income taxes. (If you now pay $25 a year, you'd pay $2.50 extra). But this special revenue measure would only pay for armaments, and would not elimi nate increased deficits caused by relief expenses. To fill this need, many congressmen favor: Lower Bracket Income Taxes. Married men are now allowed $2,500 exemption, which might be de creased to $2,000 or even $1,800. Ex emptions for single persons, now $1,000, would be dropped to $800 or $750. While this would boost reve nue by only $60,400,000, it would place bigger wage earners in higher surtax brackets and bring the treas ury an additional $250,000,000. Since large incomes are already subjected to huge taxes, the proposal can ex pect justified opposition. Outside of relief costs, the biggest need for new tax money will be to finance the proposed federal-state health program for insurance, hospitaliza tion and clinics. Europe "Europe it drifting into war, l war which no notion wantt but againu which every notion it preparing. Unlet there it e complete change in the outlook within the next month or two, imem ? t ionel tension will reoch the breaking point next spring." This summation is the detached viewpoint of Oswald Pirow, defense minister of the Union of South Af rica, after a two-month European tour in which he sought means of appeasing Adolf Hitler's colonial ap petite. It came the same day Ger man Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop visited Paris to sign a pathetically insincere pact with France; as Reichsfuehrer Hitler consequently prepared to delete French attacks from the next edi tion ol "Mein Kampf"; as Italy, Germany's closest ally, continued clamoring for the French territories ol Tunisia, Corsica and Nice. With Great Britain shoved tempo rarily into the European back ground, France finds herself holding a gilded bombshell in the German treaty. Her government is now forced to accept Fascist activity on two European fronts or risk com plete overthrow: Germany. France must give Hit ler a free hand in eastern Europe, refusing to intervene even if Ger many threatens France's ally, Rus sia. Within 48 hours after the Fran co-German pact was signed, Berlin opened a noisy propaganda cam paign against Rumania's King Carol, who has been actively purging Nazi partisans from his government. At the same time, in Memel (under Lithuanian sovereignty), German residents began an autonomy cam paign that undoubtedly had inspira tion in Berlin. Satisfied so long as Hitler keeps himself busy in eastern Europe, France will not protest these activities. Italy. France must permit ful fillment of Italy's "vital aspirations" in the Mediterranean or incur the wrath of Adolf Hitler, Italy's friend. Though Foreign Minister von Rib bentrop declined to answer imme diately the French question of what Germany would do in a Mediter ranean crisis provoked by Italian demands, Germany's course hardly needs clarification. Labor Both the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Indus trial Organizations insist the nation al labor relations act must not be changed, but A. F. of L. hurls con stant criticism at the board Presi dent Roosevelt has appointed to in terpret that act. One bit of criticism centered around the labor board's order to New York's Consolidated 'Edison company, forcing abrogation of a bargaining contract with A. F. of L. The board's reasoning: that the contract resulted from unfair la bor practices and was intended to discourage membership in a rival C. I. O. organization. When A. F. of L. President Wil liam Green heard the U. S. Supreme court had voided this NLRB order, his joy was unbounded: "This knocks the props out from under the board's arbitrary, prejudicial and grossly unfair position." But keen observers who read further into the court's decision found cause for speculation about something more impwtant. Although Consolidated Edison op erates chiefly in New York, the court ruled its labor relations were still subject to NLRB regulation. Thus was the scope of federal regu lation under the interstate com merce clause given broad extension, paving the way for legislation which could make the potent Wagner act seem mere child's play. Predicted as a subject for con gressional debate is extension of the highly satisfactory railway labor act to include all industry. If such leg A. F. OF L.'S WILLIAM GKEEN Hit victory brought t prediction . i<lati?i could be 10 successful as the railway act, neither labor nor capi tal would have much cause for com plaint. The record: since 1926 there has been only one minor four-day railroad strike. The reason: either carrier or labor can carry its griev ances to the national mediation board, and if this (roup fails to bring peace the President appoints a fact-finding commission. No strike may take place until 30 days after this group reports. Pan-America Before they left to attend the eighth Pan-American conference at Lima, U. S. delegates spoke opti mistically of efforts to unite the Western hemisphere into a solid bloc opposing European aggressors. But the picture looked vastly dif ferent from below the equator. At Lima they found representatives of 20 other American nations who ex hibited justified coolness toward the "colossus of the north" whose Presi dent. has taken the lead in what might be another attempt at "Yan kee imperialism." They discovered that South American nations have their cultural centers in Rome, Par is and Madrid; that despite any U. S. ambitions to the contrary, Pan America will insist on maintaining its trade relations with Europe. With the cpnference still expected to run several weeks, it becomes clear that what support Secretary of State Cordell Hull gains for Presi dent Roosevelt's hemispheric de fense plan will be in principle only, merely a resolution of endorsement. Counting noses, Mr. Hull found his strongest friend in Brazil. His most powerful enemy was Argentina, dis gruntled over U. S. attempts to in vade her export wheat market. Not invited, but nevertheless present, were envoys from Nazi Germany who sought to smash Mr. Hull's hopes for concrete measures against political and cultural invasion from Europe. Jobs Wanted MAYOR ? Secretary of the In terior Harold L. Ickes, may re tire from office to run for Demo cratic nomination as Chicago's mayor. PRESIDENT ? John Nance Garner, vice president of the U. S., is being boomed for the presi dency by his boyhood friends at Detroit^ Texas. One claim to fame: the mud-chinked log cabin where Garner was born. SECRETARY ? Anthony. 'Eden, who retired as British foreign secretary in opposition to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, may return to the cabinet next month as dominions secretary. LEADER ? Massachusetts' Rep. Joseph Martin will be elected house Republican leader on the first ballot next month, since 109 of the 169 G. O. P. partisans have assured him their support. Business Last spring the New York legis lature passed a bill which potential ly effects every citizen in the U. S. Reducing from 6 to 5 per cent the interest which life insurance com panies may charge on policy lo&ns, the Piper-O'Brien bill has necessi tated nation-wide revision of inter est rates because insurance com panies cannot tharge different rates in different states. Upshot is that most companies are boosting their premium charges from 10 to 20 per cent on policies written after January 1, although many firms made the change De cember 1. Policies, in effect be fore the readjustment will not be af fected, but in addition to lower in terest rate and higher premiums, the following additional revisions will be made on most new policies: (1) reduction of guaranteed interest rates to beneficiaries; (2) lower in terest rates on dividends left with companies; (3) increased pre miums on endowment annuity poli cies; (4) withdrawal or substantial change in certain types of con tracts. By reducing policy loan interest charges from 6 to 5 per cent, in surance firms will lose annual rev enue totaling $50,000,000. Other fac tors necessitating higher premiums include the difficulty of finding sat isfactory capital markets, and the small amount of new financing now being done. Politics It is plausible that November elec tion gains by the liberalized Re publican party should give strength to old-line Republicans who have taken a back seat in party affairs since the disastrous defeat of 1930. This very thing happened at the re cent national committee conference in Washington, where confident lib erals found themselves confronted with act unexpectedly strong faction of Hoover, duPont and Liberty league Republicans. A still more im portant shift is that liberal G. O. P. strength, which originated in the rural areas, has moved to metro politan cities and has been supplant ed in the small towns by a stronger conservative element. Having ap pointed a conservative (ex-Sen. Dan iel O. Hastings of Delaware) and a liberal (Harvey Jewett of South Da kota) to fill two executive commit tee vacancies, the party now finds itself deadlocked on a future course. Though much talk is heard at po- I tential 1940 candidates, it is believed the party must first decide which way its course shall be set ? to liberalism or conservatism. Bruckart's Washington Digest Official Title Does Strange Things to Mentalities of Men Government by Men Instead of by Law Seems to Be the Rule; Undue Power Is Givn Into Hands of Bureau crats; Congress Should Take Heed. By WILLIAM BRUCKART WNU Service, National Prea* Bldf., Washington, D. 0. wAomiNUiUN.? it is a strange thing what an official title will cause many men and women to do. It is equally strange what many of them will attempt to do under the guise of the official sanction which they usurp at every opportunity. I do not intend to include all public offi cials but I dare say that everyone who reads these lines can look about him and discover in his midst or recall others who, as soon as they began wearing a title, developed a "big head," got "puffed up" and otherwise assumed a high-and mighty attitude. The characteris tics may show in a thousand-and one different ways, and we all are more or less familiar with them. Few persons probably would need to be concerned if the circumstance involved only this outward appear ance. I am sure I wouldn't care whether some official believed him self to be a son of the sun-god and, therefore, counted himself great. But when the mental attitude of that official begins manifesting it self as it so often does by usurpa tion of improper and illegal power; when he regards himself as judge and jury, as well as prosecutor, then it seems to me that a halt ought to be called. All of the above observations are made just as a prelude to discussion of a recent action by the department of justice. More accurately, it should be said the action was by Professor Thurmond Arnold who has great pride in his ability as a trust buster. He also frequently has let it be known ? with due modesty, of course ? that he possesses knowl edge in many fields. His career as a university professor obviously fit ted him with great understanding of problems and practices of business men. Mr. Arnold has not yet under taken to solve the difficulties of ag riculture, but I reckon that is only a question of time. Indictment Used at Club Over Auto Corporations But, again, I am not so much con cerned with Mr. Arnold's own esti mate of Mr. Arnold, but with the results flowing from that official's acts. The act that brings on this dis cussion was involved in what is known as a consent decree. The ? department of justice obtained a grand jury indictment of some of the larger automobile manufactur ing corporations and their officials under anti-trust statutes. The charges involved the use, by the companies, of what were described as monopolistic practices in the financing of new 'cars sold to in stallment buyers. Each of the larg I er companies, as I understand it, owns a subsidiary corporation to which a retail dealer can sell the notes he takes when the buyer of a car wants to pay for the vehicle over a period of a year or longer. I do not know the intricate na ture of the scheme, and there may have been many grounds for the in dictment. Indeed, I think a grand jury would not have returned an in dictment unless its members saw something that was not proper. But when the department of justice had the indictment, it used it as a club. Its officials, under Mr. Arnold's guidance, are reported to have said to the motor magnates, in effect: now, if you admit certain of these charges and agree to stop the prac tices, and if you will agree to com ply with certain other conditions vtfhich tfe lay down, we will not prosecute, criminally. So, the mo tor companies apparently elected to agiee?nd avoid further prosecution. Thus, there came about a decree by the consent of the accused. In the first place, I can not be lieve there is any legal right in our laws for the consent decree. It has been used a long time, but it seems to me that it contains very danger ous elements. It ought to be stopped and there ought be no indictments brought unless there is an inten tion to carry the battle clear through. There ought to be either a conviction or an acquittal. Arnold Assumes Dictation Over Auto Advertising In the case at the motor manufac turers, however, Mr. Arnold's deter mination to make things over has come to the surface to an even greater extent than heretofore, even with Mr. Arnold. For Mr. Arnold hai decided that the motor compa nies have been spending too much money for advertising their prod ucts. In spending so much money for advertising, Mr. Arnold opines that they are thereby creating a monopoly. In other words, as a trust buster, Mr. Arnold figures that he can become boss of the normal practice of business advertising. It can be construed no other way. I have looked into the question from a number of angles and have consulted with numerous individuals who know their law better than I know mine. Nowhere have I found any power vested in the department of justice for control of advertising. I should regret it very much if congress ever had passed a law giv ing authority for any agency of gov ernment to do more than prosecute advertisers who use dishonest state ments. That is to say, if the ad vertising statements are. crooked, punishment ought to follow. If the advertising is honest, what business has government horning into it? The reason I feel so keenly about this sort of thing is that it is a trend in government, from the na tional government on down the line, to do things indirectly ? to do many things without genuine authority of law. We as a nation always have supported the theory of rule by the majority. We have legislative bod ies?the congress, the state assem blies, the city councils and so on ? to enact the will of the majority into law. But in the motor case and in dozens of others which could be mentioned, the public official with the "boss" complex takes things into his own hands and usually gets away with his perfidy. Undue Power It Given Into Handt of Bureaucrat ? Congress, itself, is to blame many times for putting undue power into the hands of bureaucrats. There Is seldom any law passed bf congress that does not include a provision which authorizes an executive agen cy, administering the statute, to promulgate regulations for carrying out the law's intent. Those regula tions, needless to say, have the fore* and effect of law, and thus con gress has delegated power about which the individual representatives and senators know nothing. On the other hand, except for the trait that I have been discussing? one so boldly evident in Mr. Arnold ? those regulations could be drawn in nearly every instance to give individuals alt of the freedom need ed to transact business, instead of piling one restriction upon another. I doubt very much that any one per son in the whole United States knows all of the restrictions ? the do's and the don'ts ? that comprise the law of the nation today. No one knows them because it would re- i quire an entire lifetime of an indi- 1 vidual to obtain them and read them. We have heard much in late year* ! about government by men rather than government by law. Well, we have it in this country in a big way. It is not as bad, of course, as in the case of Hitler or Mussolini or Stalin. I When those brothers want to change a law, they change it by decree. Everyone has read of the Jewish atrocities in Germany, but the mon strosity, itself, overshadowed the fact that during all of the purge, , there was one decree-law after an other being issued from Hitler's headquarters. Each time somebody found a loophole or the officials dis covered a previous decree did not accomplish all that was desired, out would pop a new decree. Congrew Might Well Take Notice of The**' Conditions Having seen what can happen when men, instead of laws, consti tute the authority for government, it seems to me that congress might well take notice. It has given birth to children in the form at countless regulations that are running around the land like so many thousand legged monsters. Why, I wonder, does not congress take a look at what has sprung from its own fam ily of laws. To grow facetious for a moment: congress probably would find trouble with its own "in-laws," as well as privst* persona whose mothers-in-law have been charac terized in story. ? ou m??na truss. V Speaking of Sports Flashing Speed Makes Hockey Sports Thriller By ROBERT McSHANE IN A world gone wildly enthusias tic over sporta in all its forms, hockey stands alone as the speedi est, most exciting game of them alL Take the word of thousands of fans who pack arenas in large and small cities throughout the north. The cold, drying, fierce speed of hockey makes it unlike any other game. This speed and smash are the reasons for hockey's popularity. Whether a dozen schoolboys are playing on a frozen Minnesota pond or a topnotch professional team is playing under the lights of a huge arena, the game is fast and furious. It's a simple game to watch and understand. There are six men, including the goalie, on each -team, and a black disk of hard rubber, all oat in front of the spectator. Flay VETERAN CH1NG JOHNSON ers on one team try to poke the pock into the net of the other team to score winning goals. Roughly, the teams are di Tided Into three for wards, two defense players, and the padded goalie who is the last line ?f defense. Theoretically forwards are the fastest skaters, best stick handlers and the best shot makers. Defense players are usually bigger men, brawny enough to withstand terrific mauling. Goalies are a race unto themselves. They learn to move with mechanical precision, using their built up equipment to the best ' advantage. Penalties Severe Boles are concerned chiefly with offside play. Lines are drawn across the rink, and players mast not cross ahead of teammates who carry the pack on the attack. Forward pass ing is not allowed onefe a player crosses the last line between him and the opponent's goal. Ice hockey is little more than an infant, albeit a tough one. A Cana dian, seeing field hockey in England, returned home in the seventies with the idea of putting the game on ice. R. F. Smith, McGill university stu dent, whose college teams are usu ally the world's best, wrote a set of rules, using rules of field hockey, Rugby football and his imagination. Introduced as Pro Sport Before the torn of the century at tempt* were made to introduce hockey as a professional sport. But the attempts were not successful until the advent of artificial indoor rinks in 19W and 1906. Blf league professionals are a strange group. They're more inter ested in winning games than they are in pay checks. Few are the big timers who don't bear many bat tle scars as evidence of fiercely con tested encoonters. Hockey, to them as well as the dyed-in-the-wool fan, is more than a game, it's almost a religion. / Typical of nockey players Is Ching Johnson of the New York Rangers. Johnson? in 12 years of big league competition, has had 27 accident* in which broken bones resulted or a surgeon's stitches were required. It'* not a gentle sport. Turf Rejuvenation nTHE American trotting turf, now that it has decided to merge all five parent association* into one central governing body, predict* a modem version of harness racing that will easily surpass that of the "good old days" of SO year* ago. Lopping off many hidebound re strictions self-imposed la ether years, the harness sport has decided to experiment folly this winter with handicapping horses by weight In a saddle, In somewhat similar fnhlsw to running horses. The driver will still be in the sulky, as usual, but extra weight will be used in a saddle. Best Pinch Hitter \ | OST successful pinch hitter in I the American league last sea son was Taft Wright, freshman out fielder of the Washington Senators, whose 35 times at bat netted him II hits for an average of .314. ? From a standpoint of average*, however, Loo Finney of tlie Athletics led the field of pinch hitters. Finney made 5 hits in 13 tries for a average. 'With the heat on Wright pounded out a triple, four doubles and six singles to account for six runs. Washington was indebted to tym alone for two games, and he drove in the tying runs in two others that the Senators won in extra innings. Only two other players in the league, Roy Cullenbine of Detroit and Pitcher Red Ruffing at the Yanks, won as many as two game* in a pinch batsman's role. Only 11 pinch home Has wen Mt In the leagae in 1938. aa agates* 14 in 1937. The composite batting aver age fell from Jtt to JOS. Sports Attendance ""THE fact that women are paying 1 more and more attention to sports each year is by no means a new or startling discovery. But that the fair sex accounts for almost SO per cent of the attendance at live major sports is, to say the least, surprising. According to a recent statistical survey, woman patraaage at teaais has gone from 12 per cent h 1919 to SI per ceat ia 1935. Their pat roaage at football games rose fraaa 4 per eeat la IMS to 47 per ceat la 1934; at golf from 7 per eeat ia 1922 to 57 per eeat ia 1934; baseball, from 2 per eeat ia 1919 to 31 par cent in 193C, aad raciag fraaa (per * cent ia 1914 to 49 per eeat to 1935. These figures give a clear cot pic ture of the importance of women to the sports world. Far sighted pro moters have offered many an in ducement to increase feminine at tendance at various sporting events, and are beginning to realize profits which were almost non-existent bat a few years ago. Sport Shorts \XT n.I.TAM SMITH, Penn State * * cross country runner, ?|I? has been beaten since he took up the sport as a Philadelphia school boy . . . Lou Little,. Columbia's football coach, always has an ace in the hole ? he is an expert land scape gardener . . . The University of Michigan's mark at 3:31.4 for the 400 yard swim relay was accepted by the International feder ation as the world's record . . . That same school will be Lot Littla host to the 1939 western junior gotf tournament . . . Walter Schang, former major league catcher and (or the past two seasons coach of the Cleveland Indians has been re leased . . . Guy Hecker, Old time Pittsburgh Pirate manager, died recently in Ohio. ? Western Ntv^gptr Pocket Billiards By CHARLES C. PETERSON President. National Billiard Associates of America and World's Trick Shot Champion. Lesion No. ? This dii(rio shows a shot cosa monly played. Frequently in shots u shown above, the novice will miss the shot because at his overanxiety to break the balls. When playing any shot, always concentrate on the ball you are to pocket ? add you will have better success. This applies to any game on the billiard or pocket ta ble. Again, in the above shot hold your cue as level aa possible by resting it on the rail of the table. w.: .v i
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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Dec. 15, 1938, edition 1
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