North Carolina Newspapers

The Alamance Gleaner ? . --ymk ; 1 <? " * .I... ???. i 1 VoL LXV GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1939 No. 28 WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS BY JOSEPH W. LoBINE President's Political Activity Since Congress' Adjournment Shows Heavy Interest in 1940 (EDITOR'S NOTE?When opinions ore expressed In these colnmns, they mre those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.) Released by Western Newspaper Union. POLITICS: Rebutted? - Home in Hyde Park, Franklin Roosevelt probably reviewed edito rial opinion on his recent seven month debate with congress. The public thought congress had won, (or it killed his lend-spend and hous ing bills, de(eated his neutrality pro gram and passed the Hatch "clean politics" bill. Not so evident were his victorious defense and relief pro grams and his retention of the $2, 000,000 currency stabilization fund. On three successive days, therefore, he went before the people, first to boast, next to scold, last to warn. Signing the Ashurst bill (creating an administrative officer to super vise federal court budgets) he an nounced that aB goals of his 1937 UTAH'S SEN. KING *7 don't too koto . . court reorganization proposal had been realized, six ot them by laws and the seventh (change in attitude) "through opinions of the Supreme Court itself. Next day observers thought he let a cat from the bag. Discussing his neutrality and lend-spend defeats, he borrowed an analogy suggested by his wife?a precipice?to which he said congress is leading business, and over which it may plunge "next spring." Placing it on a gambling basis, the President said a G. O. P.-Demo cratic coalition had made "two bets with the nation": (1) On continued peace, and (2) business' ability to absorb wage earners who lose WPA and PWA jobs "next spring." Some thought it possible the Presi dent was gambling too, staking his 1940 candidacy on next spring's prospects. If there is a war and/or heavy unemployment, congress will be wrong and Mr. Roosevelt right, thus justifying a third term attempt. Certain it was that no politician without interest in 1*40 would have delivered the message President Roosevelt sent next day to young Democrats convening in Pittsburgh. Smoothly laying the groundwork Mr some action, perhaps a retirement from politics, possibly a coup to heap the Democratic party "liber al," or possibly for a new third party, he sent this warning: "If are nominate conservative candidates, air lip-service candidates, on a strad dlebug platform, I personally for my own self-respect and because of my long service to, and belief in liberal democracy, will find it im possible to have an active part in such an unfortunate suicide of the old Democratic party." Meanwhile, members of congress took exception to the precipice anal ogy and wondered if Mr. Roosevelt had the right man leading the right horse to doom. Said Michigan's Rep. Earl Michener: "The coalition . . . has stopped the American people just before they went over the finan cial precipice." Said Utah's Sen. William H. King: "I don't see how anyone can contend consistently that when we appropriated nearly $13, 000,000,000 for next year, congress was not doing everything within its power, provided spending is the an swer." CONGRESS: How Much? How much a so-called "$13,000, 000,000 congress" actually appropri ated and spent became the compu tation job of Budget Director Harold D. Smith. His decision: Congress appropriated more than $13,000,000, 000 but included some funds spent before July 1 and some to be spent in future fiscal years. For the 1939 40 year he figured the total was $10,472,354,914, or $260,937,376 more than President Roosevelt's budget estimate. Previous year's record: $9,268,338,030, which exceeded treas ury receipts by $3,600,514,404. Meanwhile the matter of appro priations became a political football. Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Berkley said it was less than $10, 000,000,000 because several re-appro priations were included. Hew York's Rep. John Taber placed it at $14, 061,596,619, with about $1,000,000,000 each being spent before and after the current fiscal year. Publicly de nouncing a public debt he said had reached $53,895,100,000 (including $13,000,000,000 government corpora tion debts) and pointing to an al leged 60 per cent payroll increase since 1933, Mr. Taber probably helped speed President Roosevelt's appeal next day that departments and agencies slash their next year's budget requests. EUROPE: Tension Up In London early-to-bedders were irked because Sir John Anderson, chief of air-raid precautions, made them stay up late to test effective ness of their new dark shades. It was "blackout" night, the most comprehensive trial yet made of fa cilities with which England hopes to foil an invader from the continent. When morning came, Londoners ALBERT FORSTER ?Pfmr read descriptive tale* of the event, also reading that nine army air pilots had been killed. What made the "war" news seem the more realistic was word from the con tinent that Albert Forster, the Nazi "fuehrer" of Danzig, had flown to Berchtesgaden for conferences with Adolf Hitler. German-Polish tension had previ ously been heightened when (1) a German airliner was fired upon while passing over Gydnia; (3) a Warsaw paper had warned Poland would bombard Danzig if political union with the Reich were pro claimed, and (3) Danzig's semi-offi cial newspaper Vorposten, asserted the city was "prepared for defense against Poland's war threats." All Europe watched Fuehrer For ster's return from Berchtesgaden. Interest heightened when he pro claimed a Danzig mass meeting. That night, while his mob cried "Pfuil" at every mention of Poland, shrewd Fuehrer Forster resorted to time-tested dictator tactics. On Po land's shoulders he heaped a charge of plotting to seize not only Danzig but East Prussia as welL No sooner had this untruth raised German Danziger resentment to a fever pitch than Herr Forster made the simple announcement that his brown shirted followers have made full preparations for anschluss. AGRICULTURE: More Stamps In Washington, Secretary of Agri culture Wallace at last took out of the experimentation stage his lat est?and one of his most successful ?plans to get rid of food surpluses. For three months the food stamp plan was tested in Rochester, Day ton and Seattle, expanded to Bir mingham and Des Moines, and final ly to Shawnee, Okla. At all but the latter place, relief families were fed by sale of orange stamps (for buy ing regular foods) and free distribu tion of blue stamps (for buying sur plus foods). At Shawnee, low-in come families tried the plan. .Not until early August did Mr. Wallace uncross his fingers, ^hen, SECRETARY WALLACE lincmsed his fingers. pronouncing the stamp plan success ful, he announced it will be expand ed on a national basis very soon. If it works nationally like it has at Rochester, farmers will be happy. In the three-month trial there, food sales were upped 8 per cent, of which 3 per cent was surplus foods. Forecast Not until August 1 can any year's agricultural yield be accurately gauged. Simultaneously this August the U. S. department of agriculture and European sources released their predictions, the first on cotton, the latter on grains alone. Both looked bad: Wheat. If big crops bode war, Europe must have war this autumn. Germany stored her surplus wheat in dance halls and gymnasiums. In the hot Danube basin, the Ukraine and the Vistula's valleys peasants brought in a crop that sold at the lowest price since 1592. In Rome, the International Institute of Agri culture forecast the largest wheat crop since the World war, except ing last year. With Soviet and Ca nadian production up. with devalua tion of far eastern silver destroying purchasing power, the institute* gloomily predicted a glutted mar ket through 1940 and 1941. Meanwhile U. S. farmers consid ered themselves lucky. Although Chicago wheat prices would normal ly be between 35 and 40 cents, and on the farm, 30 cents (customary differential under Liverpool prices), they are actually about 10 cents above Liverpool. Reasons: (1) U. S. loans to farmers on stored wheat keeps the supply down and the price up; (2) production this year was down 20 per cent, producing a crop about equal to the nation's need; (3) the U. S. pays a bounty to exporters at wheat, amounting to $28,000,000 on 118,000,000 bushels last season. Cotton. Biggest cotton newt was the Export-Import bank's credit sale of 290,000 bales to Spain, taken as a gesture to woo General Franco away from the Rome-Berlin axis. Meanwhile the International Cotton federation closed its Zurich meeting by cabling Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace in proteot against U. S. export subsidies. Ia Washing ton the August 1 forecast was re leased, painting a somewhat bright er picture: Placed at 11,412,000 bales, the yield would be 531,000 bales under last year, and 2,388,000 bales less than the 10-year (1928-37) average. But there will still be a carryover of about 13,000,000 bales. MEDICINE: Mary Heart Into a little maternity hoepital in the center of Manila's slums walked Mrs. Manuel Quezon, wife of the Philippine commonwealth's presi dent. Like scores of others, she came to see a phenomenon record ed only once before in medical his tory. Sound asleep after feedinf from an eye-dropper was a seven pound baby, normal in every way except that her heart was complete ly outside her body. While physi cians watched fascinated through a stem less cocktail glass placed over the heart, they wondered whether to operate. Having baptized her child Mary Heart, the devout moth er said she believed her infant's con dition was caused by her worship of a picture which showed Jesus Christ with his heart exposed. Brackarf? Washington Digest Wisdom of Constitution Is Seen In Revolt of House on Spending Not Politics Alone Involved in Congress* Opposition to President's Spending Policy; Response to Will of People at Last Reflected in Members' Action. By WILLIAM BRUCKART WNU Service, National Press Bldf., Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON.?The Constitution of the United States?that document that has served us so well notwith standing the razzing given it by en lightened thinkers of recent years? says in Article 1 that "all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the house of representatives." It further says with an emphasis that, "no moneys shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of ap propriations made by law." There is, of course, nothing at all new in the above paragraph. It is important, however, to Remember those provisions of the basic law of our nation for in them again we see wisdom and a rather clear under standing of what happened just be fore congress adjourned its first ses sion. It is as though the authors of the Constitution were laying a prophecy when one considers the re cent revolt of the house of repre sentatives against President Roose velt's spending-lending program. (And, by the way, during the de bates on this program it became known as the "splending" program among those terrible people who op posed it.) I assume that throughout the land there was much talk about the re volt against the President's policies for current spending as-being pure ly politics. I have heard from many sections of the country, and the sto ry was the same; politics. That is only partly true. Obviously, the house members had their weather eye on the political aftermath of what they were doing when they re fused even to give consideration to Mr. Roosevelt's spending-lending plan that originally involved more than $3,000,000,000. They considered politics, too, when they refused to debate the merits of the $800,000,000 housing bill, although I believe they should have debated that thing in order that the country could know that it would have cost several bil lion dollars of taxpayers' money be fore it is finally wound up 60 years hence. Not Politic* Alone Moved House to Oppose President The refusal of the house members to do the bidding of the Chief Execu tive must be examined in something more than just a political light, how ever, because ot the two provisions of the Constitution that I quoted. It must be recalled that the authors of the Constitution contrived to build a national legislative body with a dual purpose: 1. to represent the Union of states which is accom plished through the senate, and, 2. to represent the individual citizens which is accomplished through the house of representatives. The house, therefore, is held to be the body more responsive to individual think ing among the people and to react more quickly to changes in public sentiment That matter of having taxation originate in the house, therefore, in asen ta be aw attempt to reflect in the legislative acta the willingness or unwillingness of the people to stand for taxes, since the house members must stand for elec tion each two years. Again, when the Constitution said that appropriations had to be en acted as law before money is paid out of the treasury, there was a patent curb on wild and profligate spending. The house, being closer to the people, first felt the call of the people for government spending and responded. Since the senators, too, are elected by direct vote of the people, they also heard the siren call and voted out money with the greatest of ease. But the house led the way. Lately, however, there has been a change in that individual think ing. The majority of the people have begun to wooder where all of this spending was going to end; they began to wonder how the national debt?now well above $45,000,000,000 ?would ever be paid. They smelled fresh taxes. The senate heard, but failed to heed, this new call. Sena tors chiseled and nibbled at curtail ment, but they did not put their mind to the business of cutting ex penditures. Action of House Reflects Will of People on Spending It is made to appear, therefore, that the coocept of the Constitution's authors was correct. They felt that the house would hear from home, as we say these days. And the house has heard. Politics, alone, was not responsible except insofar as politics represents the shifts in position that statesmen must take to meet the changes in public sentiment. The bulk of the people, it seems, have suddenly awakened to the fact that something must be done about the continued spree upon which the federal government has been en gaged in the last five or six years. The refusal of the house to act can not be catalogued otherwise than as reflecting the will of the people, for the politician who knows his onions seldom is seen going in the wrong direction if the votes of his constitu ents are concerned. Whether the economy wave that swept through the house in the last few weeks of a session that is des tined to be historically important will be maintained in the next ses sion of the Seventy-sixth congress, of course, is a matter of conjecture. It is to be noted that primaries for nominations come along early next spring and summer. Following those primaries in natural sequence are the November elections. If the mem bers of the bouse and acute who have balked at running the federal government further into debt take the same position in the session Starting next January, then I em in clined to the opinion that our nation will be on the way out of its trou bles. Congre? Failed to Sm riot Money Was Properly Spent I always have opposed congres sional action that delegates power settled on the congress by the Con stitution. In these columns, there has never been any deviation from that conviction. Since 1S33, there has been a constant trend in the wrong direction. New powers have been given the President time after time. Particularly, has this been true in the matter of handling mon ey. Congress obeyed the dictates of the Constitution by appropriating the money, but it did not do that which there certainly is a duty to do, namely, see that the money is spent properly. In an examination of the latest spending-lending scheme put for ward by the President and rudely shattered by the house, therefore, it strikes me that another device to get mere power away from con gress was being proposed. In the first place, there was little, if any, hope that recovery could come out of the program. We have seen only slightly different schemes flop annu ally for several years. Further, these plana that are temporarily out of the window appeared to me to be a trick to evade the law in that the financing was to be dooe without consideration of the national budget and finances. None at these new debts would show in the budget. The program nesaonbled a road that is cut around the edge of a town te avoid the business section, a by P 9MM. frwUMt*! Hint* Sound Likm Admiaaion of F mil mi? The smashing of the administra tion's echeme, d count, did have its political repercussions and Mr. Roosevelt, feeling the toe ad a (tiff boot as he obviously did feel such a political blow, will be carrying his caaa to "the people" soon. He said in a press conference one day that "the people were entitled to know Who was responsible," meaning the congress. He also suggested that the people ought to know In advance why there would be more unemploy ment and why there would be new tans to pay for relief. All of which aomk rather like an admission of failure. That is to say, these schemes of spending, of pump prim ing, of creating new and greater debt, all have failed in returning the country to anything like a nor mal condition. We have nothing to show for something Hke $25,000,000. 000 so expended excepting the bonds of the United States govern ment that are outstanding. New Dedlers, however, are still battling. I noted one of them said the other day that an extra session of congress in November of this year was surely a necessity. That proposal will bear watching. I have talked with many, many leaders hi congress?men of long experience and understanding ? and none of them believes an extra session to be necessary. (Belsassd tor Western Snew UaWaJ Speaking of Sports Bicycle Bob to Race Champ in 20 Round Meet By ROBERT McSHANE (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) THE present breathing spell in heavyweight circles sill end any day now when the publicity tom toms start thundering out their bal lyhoo for the Pastor-Louis heavy weight championship fight in Detroit September 20. Bicycle Bob b going to get one more chance with the Brown Bomb er. His first opportunity came en January 27, 1927, In New York, when Louis won the decision after It rounds in which Pastor's sole strate gy was well-planned retreat. It was an awesome spectacle, to say the least. Bob managed to keep well out of striking distance, leaving both dignity and his opponent as tar back of him as the ring ropes would allow. The Detroit bout is scheduled to go 20 rounds. Jimmy Johnston, Pas tor's canny manager, insisted on it for reasons best known to himself. His insistence indicates that he plans another footrace, and wants as much time as possible in which his fighter will have a chance to wear Joe down and tire him out. Other fighters have tried to keep out of Joe's range, but have been singularly unsuccessful. The brown boy from down Alabama way has overtaken and tagged each one of them. Joe is popularly supposed to have picked up a few pointers from Henry Armstrong. Pointers which will help him overtake the fleetest. Pastor's Alibi Of course, Pastor has an alibi for the 1937 shambles. Or at least the voluble Johastso has one for him. At the time of the fight Pastor was more or less a stooge because of the rivalry that existed between John ston and Mike Jacobs, both of whom were seeking to control boxing in BOB PASTOR New York. Jacobs' tatan plans were beltt around Louie, end John ?ton knew that if Leeds looked bed la the tght it weald be s direct Mew st Jaeebe. The plan, if sub there was, worked eet la pretty fab fash Louis muffed every opportunity to catch Pastor and knock him out.The fight demonstrated that he didn't know bow to carry the attack to an opponent. Though Pastor was a laughingstock, Louis dropped a few points in the public's estimation. Reverse Strategy ? Too, there is the chance of a re verse strategy. In view of the pre vious fight, and taking the 90 rounds into consideration as merely a bluff, Johnston might send Pastor out lunging at the sound of the opening bett. In that case the spectators would be sure of getting borne early. Louis win merely refuse to co-op erate with the Johnston-Pastor cam paign. It wasn't long ago that Gene Tun ney sang Bob's praises. Albeit with reservations. The former champion gave Pastor credit for being able to BnH called him the only one of today's heavyweights with even an outside chance of beating Louis. Other experts Mew bat sad eeU over the yeemf New leek k abler meetly eeld. Be is fast, shifty sad ring-wise. Bat he hasat a danger aas poach. And to step Me the ring against Lotos minus a lethal wild bell with a dalay chata. Manager Jimmy was as bappy as a diplomat with a new umbrella when his man went the route with Louis. That's one reason why the next fight is likely to pursue the seme lines. Bob hasn't the punch ing power to trade with the champ, and unless he back-pedals away from Joe he seems doomed to end up on the canvas in an early round. Do You Know?! ' - Tmt your knomdostpa oj tpm 11. Alien* 20 poinu for oock correct uuuar. A koto of U it fmr; 90, inA M It$. 1?This California fighter, a die. eiple of Ton, ancient scle^ef rf exercises, wfi meet Tata# Gdlen to in a 15-reaad heavyweight boot in Philadelphia September 7. Who is he? 2?What was the score of the 1939 Rose Bowl football fame? 1?The National leagne record InLnn'is^U HTmiTtwUs 'ft?""" U? What American tennis doe bles team ranked No, 1 last sea son? 5?What heavyweight cham pionship fight drew gate iLsStpts of more than St,tM,SW? Answers at bottom of pihso Sport Shorts 'THE highest number of stolen 1 bases in any world series was It in 1007 . . . Mickey Cochrane, con sidered by many the greatest catch er of all time, was fired for losing his first game by poor catching , . . Max bchmeling is no longer so enthusi astic about his come- I back. He must de feat Galento, Pastor and Nova before be gets another chance at Champion Joe Louis . . . Last fan, more than 1,000 high schools, too small to support 11-man foot ball teams, played six-man football . . . ? "I will not permit 30 SehmeHac men to travel 400 ? mile* merely to agitate a bag at wind." said President White at Cor nell university in 1873, when fits University of Michigan rhallmged Cornell to a football game to be played at Cleveland with 10 men en a side . . . The three men who have driven cars faster than 300 miles per hour are Britiah subjects. Bier are Sir Malcolm Campbell. Capt George Eystoo and John Cobb . . . The oldest sports contest at the pres ent time is the Cambridge-Oxford boat race which started in 1829. Joe Is Vindicated E AD LINES ware made recently when Trie Speaker wan quoted as saying be could name 13 better outfielders then the New York Yen keen' Joe DiMaggio. Peace waa partially restored throughout the nation stun the ohl eren considered OIMai* one of aJpjSl -mmmmmm w i m ?? wttwIH Trmw him Jo* DiMaggle _ mnon n nr* row of the Yankees. when told at the supposed remark, said: "That's a fooBsh statement lor old Spoke to make. I've beaa sakb tag them come and go longer than he has, and as a matter Of (tat he can name lost ana better dShttng outfielder than DiMaggin is today. That was Speaker, himself.*' Hot TITS recoverpd promptly, say ing he thought Joe the best of today's outfielders, seen though he hasat had much rttawsa to see the National leaguers in action Speaker's chief complaint was supposed to hare been that DiMag gio doesn't play hr clous enough. With a couple at men iika Nronlda Crosetti and Joe Gordon in front of him, Joe tnight well take things emv l At. a I MS fuel M*-S- ? ? ? a i_ etom witn a eomxortaDM mt m toa, bleachers. ? NEWS BITS I TAXES ? In Washington, the National Association of Manufac turers brought out figures alleg ing that U. S taxes have climbed MO per cent since 1913, much more than Britain (430 per cent), whose exorbitant levies are often used as a basis of comparison with U. S. taxes. DICTATOR?In Spain, Gen. Francisco Franco made himself supreme dictator, set prisoners to work digging trenches 20 feet from the frontiers of Britain's Gi br alter. WED, at Chicago in his iron lung, the self-styled "boiler kid" of infantile paralysis fame, Fred Suite, and Miss Teresa Larkin, 25. THE ANSWERS * 1?Loo Not*. * > - SMtben CaMonria ?, Date J. 3?Johnny Vaater Meer.