The Cari >una Watchman |~e
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE UPBUILDING OF ROWAN COUNTY 1
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FOUNDED 1332—I05TH YEAR_SALISBURY, N. C„ FRIDAY MORNING JANUARY 1, 1937 VOL. 104 NO. ’CF PRICE 5 CENTS
Nothing is giving the Adminis
tration more concern than the pro
blem of what to do about unem
ployment and the relief of the un
employed. With business in mosi
lines almost back to the pre-depres
sion level there are still according
to Government estimates, aboui
8,600,000 persons without jobs.
Of these, the W. P. A. is taking
care of about 2,400,000.
There are also nearly 9 millior
persons, counting all of the families
of the unemployed, who are receiv
ing direct relief from state and lo
cal sources. Much of this money
comes out of the Federal treasury
The federal government is spend
ing above 165 million dollars s
month on W. P. A. wages alone
The problem is, how can This bur
den of relief expenditures be con
tinued if at the same time Federal
expenditures in general are to tx
reduced?
TWO RELIEF VIEWS
There is a decided conflict ol
opinion as to what ought to tx
done. On the one hand is the group
of relief workers, headed by Harry
L. Hopkins, W.P.A. Administrator
which holds that relief should b<
ic -3 T3Prm3n<>nf HrtllCV ol
O X * '
the Federal government. These foil?
believe that there is no likelihooc
that business and industry will evei
absorb all the nation’s employabh
citizens, especially since about 600
000 young persons r< ach the work
ing age every ye tr, adding to th<
available labor supply.
On the other hand there is ;
large group which believes the tiiru
has come to turn the problem bad
to the states and their local govern
ments. This view has important
support. Mr. Roosevelt is, therefor<
under pressure from two sides, each
urging upon him a policy diametri
cally opposed to that of the other.
There are complications, political
and otherwise, in the way of either
course. A strong lobby has devel
oped, composed of Governors of
states and mayors of municipalities,
who are united in opposing any
withdrawal of the Federal govern
ment from the relief situation.
They do not want the responsibility
of putting the burden upon their
local taxpayers.
Another complication is the atti
tude of many members of Congress
who have found the political pat
ronage of the Federal relief ofgani
zation useful to themselves. Indeed,
there is a feeling in Washington
that Congress may block any at
tempt on the part of the Adminis
tration to curtail relief expendi
tures, and insist upon appropriating
more money than the President asks
for.
The situation holds the possibili
ty of a row between President and
Congress, if the President does, as
many believe he will, accept the
view of those who think it is time
to call a halt on Federal relief.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
THOUGHT
There is no doubt whatever that
official Washington is "jittery” on
the subject of war. Although there
does not appear to be a war cloud
on our national horizon one hears
men in high places emphasizing the
necessity of strengthening our de
fenses on land and sea and in the
air. ..
What gives officials here the jit
ters, seemingly, is the belief that a
general European war is impending
and that this time the victor will
be a nation or combination of na
tions which have no love for the
United States and who will look
with covetous eyes upon the oppor
tunity for territorial accessions and
colonization of surplus populations
which the as yet unoccupied parts
of North and South America offer
There may have been more than
a goodwill gesture in President
Roosevelt’s trip to South America.
Back of it might have been the feel
ing that the two Americas needed
to stand together against possible
aggression from Europe or Asia. If
such a situation should ever develop
it is likely the United States would
have to bear the larger share of the
burden when it came to resisting
attacks from overseas.
Something of that thought may
lie behind the request of Harry
Woodring, Secretary of War for
authority to recruit the U. S. Reg
ular Army at once up to its full
legal strength of 165,000 enlisted
men by Jan. 30, 1937
Secretary Woodring also proposes
to increase the National Guard
from 189,000 to 210,000, to call
(Please turn to page two)
Business Is Best Since 4929
Bank Checks,
Post Office
Income Up
Indices Show Trade In
Many Lines Here Close
To Record
Prosperity has "snuck up” on
us while everybody was worrying
about how to get out of the de
pression.
It’s in the figures and the faces.
Once again there’s a bull market
on black ink and smiles mean
something other than hope for a
"touch.”
You hear it on every side:
"Times are better . . . depression?
—what depression? ... So I bought
me another 100 shares, and they’re
up 10 points already.”
It there remains any doubt in
your mind that business is on the
upswing, just listen to these:
1. Postoffice receipts, the best
business barometer, indicate the
best year in the history of the
city.
2. Bank clearings, another ex
cellent index, are within "speaking
distance” of the 1929 "boom year”
total.
3. Electric consumption, phone
service, gas meters, water meters
and other utility indices are con
siderably higher than in 193 3.
4. Buying more quality merchan
dise and eating more and better
food.
3. The biennial industrial census
shows an increase in the city’s
manufactured products value from
1933 to 1933.
6. Bonus and dividends of firms
and branches exceed all previous
years.
7. Retail trade is showing a 19
per cent increase over 1933.
8. Responses to Christmas char
ity drives have been the greatest in
many years.
lail Four In
Baby Fraud
St. Louis—Mrs. Nellie Tipton
Muench and three co-defendants,
convicted of using the mails to de
fraud Dr. Marsh Pitzman in the
“gift of God” baby case, were sen
tenced to long prison terms.
Mrs. Muench was given a 10-year
term as was Wilfred Jones. Dr. Lud
wig O. Muench, husband of Mrs.
Muench, was sentenced to eight
years and Mrs. Helen Berroyer to
five years.
Mrs. Muench and her husband
were fined $5,000 each, but no fine®
were assessed on the others. The
judge acted immediately after over
ruling a motion for a new trial.
The government charged that the
four carried out a plot to obtain
noney from Pitzman, wealthy, mid
lled-aged bachelor, by falsely rep
•esenting to him he was the father
>f a baby son Mrs. Muencji claimed
:o have borne.
Mon-Partisan
League Plans
Salisbury Meet
Washirgton—The Non-Partisan
.abor League, of which Major Geo.
.. Berry is chairman, announced
hat J. H. Fullerton, of Charlotte,
Itate chairman for North Carolina
iad called a state wide meeting of
he North Carolina section of tha
eague to meet at Salisbury. The
neeting will be held in Salisbury
fanuary 7, at 2:30 p. m.
London—For centuries pepper
/as the staple article of commerce
>etween Europe and Asia. It was
.nee valued on a par with precious
netal.
Labor To Ask Legislative Reforms
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Labor Seeks
Legislative
Reforms
Federal Standards in Re
gard To Hours, Mini
mum Wages And Child
Labor in Program
Washington.—Organized labor
in a roundtable conference with
Secretary of Labor Perkins, out
lined a broad program of legisla
tive reforms it hopes to achieve
for the benefit of workers at the
forthcoming session of Congress.
Attended by 68 International
Union officials, including Frank
Morrison, secretary of the Ameri
can Federation of Labor, and lohn
iL. Lewis, chairman of the Com
mittee on Industrial Organization,
the conference reached these con
clusions:
1— That there should be Fed
; eral standards with regard to hours,
minimum wages and child labor.
2— That child labor should be
abolished.
3— That so far as hours are con
cerned, there should be some de
vice, either the Black 30-hour
week bill, the O’Mahoney Federal
licensing bill, a modified National
Recovery Administration, or a
combination of all three, which
would serve to bring about the
short work-dpy and the short work
week.
There was no general agreement
or consensus of opinion in the
conference as to the method to at
tain these ends.
Indians Lazy
CatholicBishop
Wrote In 1675
Washington—The Smithsonian
Institution described as a valuable
addition to the scanty material on
the aboriginals of Florida and South
ern Georgia a letter written in 1675
by a Spanish bishop to Queen Ma
riana of Spain.
The institution has issued a trans
lation of the letter, a copy of which
was discovered by Dr. Lucy L. Wen
hold of Salem college, Winston-Sa
lem, N. C., in the archives of the;
North Carolina Historical commis
sion.
It tells of an inspection of the
Florida 'provinces by Bishop Cald
eron of Cuba. He wrote that the
Indians possessed some degree of
culture that many of them were
christianized and had constructed
churches, and that in each village
there was a council house, constru
cted of wood and covered with
straw, accomodating from 2,000 to
3,000 persons.
"Their only drink is water and
they do not touch wine or rum,”
the bishop wrote. "Their greatest
luxury is a drink which they make
from a weed that grows on the sea-1
coast, which they cook and drink
hot. . .
"It becomes very bitter, and is
worse than beer, although it does
not intoxicate them and is benefi
cial.”
Bishop Calderon wrote that the
Indians were "fleshy and rarely is
there a small one, but they are
weak and phlegmatic as regards
work, though clever and quick to
learn any art they see done, and
great carpenters as is evidenced in
the construction of their wooden
churches yhich are large and pains
takingly wrought.”
LAND POSTERS for sale at The
Watchman Office.
.
Editors Pick 10 Best News Stc
Tin TA« WEEK'S NEWS
SENTENCED FOR PATRICIDE-1|
22-year-old Edith Maxwell, who at all
retrial for the murder of her father, '
won a five year reduction from the
original court edict of 25 years. She
is at liberty under $15,000 bail.
HOMEMAKER HONORED —
| Mrs. Charles Hillicker, of Den
ver, Colo., who has been ap
pointed a "Reader-Editor” by
::i the Woman's Home Companion,
as a representative homemaker
I from the Mountain States. She
| will collaborate with staff ex
^ perts on various home problems.
.% , X*®S3SSRk I
SUDDEN DEATH FOIL
ED—Careening wildly on a
highway near Creedmore,
N. Y., this heavy truck land
ed on the roof of a passing
Buick, threatening death to
its occupants. The car’s
unisteel turret top held
sturdily, however, and the
passengers escaped with-,
out a scratch.
STAR IN ACTION—Carlo Mo
relli, baritone of the Metropoli
tan Opera Company, shown dur
ing a rehearsal for the opera
season which opened recently
in New York.
I
85TH MILESTONE FOR TWINS —Mrs.
Martha Loucks (left) and Mrs. Elizabeth
Howell recently celebrated their 85th birth
day in Yonkers, N. Y. They remember when
soldiers were stationed at their western home
— to protect them from the Indians.
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MARSHA HUNT — Para
mount Pictures player, fea
tured in a two piece silk
crepe dress with pleats giv
ing front fullness, trimmed
with white and having a
cluster of flowers at the
high neckline. The wide
sleeves are gracefully
gathered below the elbow.
Await The President’s Plans
!
Begins 1937 At
Peak Of Power
Observers See Danger
Democratic Majority
Will Split Into Elocs.
Washington.—About to enter
1937 at the pinnacle of his power,
President Roosevelt stands in the
position of a man on whose will
may depend a fundamental politi
cal realignment in elections to
come. 1
With top heavy majorities in!
Congress, it is all but taken for
granted that his preferences in
major legislation in the coming
session will prevail. But in decid
ing those preferences he must
choose between asking the dis
pleasures of extreme liberals who
backed him for re-election, on one
hand, and conservative Democrats
on the other.
Although administration confer
ences on policy continued through
the holiday festivities this week,
President’s intentions on major
questions at issue remained his
own secret.
The beginning of a party-split
ting wrangle at the capitol over
relief appropriations were discern
(Continued on page two)
Strong Neutrality
Bill Is Sought
Washington.—Buoyed by the Su
preme Court’s sweeping validation
of the Chaco arms embargo, Ad
ministration legislative pilots plan
ned to give Congress a permanent
neutrality bill empowering the
President to embargo the sale of
raw materials as well as arms to
warring nations.
The President, at his press con
ference, said neutrality legislation J
would certainly be presented, but
indicated it was a month too early
to determine its exact form.
The commodities embargo is ex
pected to be its principal feature,
however, applying only to sales
above “normal volume”. The arms
embargo will be absolute, responsi
ble sources said.
While asserting the Court’s 7
to-1 decision permits the constitu
tional exercise of almost unlimited
Executive discretion in the' conduct
of foreign affairs, State Depart
ment officials anticipate no easy
passage for the proposed measure.
Responsible sources indicated
the present plan was to ask auth
ority for the President to:
1. Declare an arms embargo
"upon the outbreak' or during pro
gress of” a war and forbid passage
of American citizens or transport
American goods on belligerent
ships, except at the traveler’s or
shipper’s own risk.
2. Determine the actual volume
to which commodity shipments
would be limited and enumerate
the items becoming contraband be
yond those limits. Such lists would
include steel, scrap iron, copper,
petroleum, motor vehicles, cotton
linters and possibly raw cotton.
Brooks Bias Named
Mgr. Sterchi’s Store
Mr. Brooks Bias has been named
manager of Sterchi’s Furniture
Store here, according to an announ
cement
succeeds Mr. Ed H. Hillis, who-has |
resigned to accept the management
af the Kimball Furniture Company
n Charlotte.
Mr. Bias will assume his new du
ties today. Sterchi’s store was
ripened here October 14.
Mr. Bias has been in the furni
ture business in Salisbury for a num
ber of years, and was formerly
sales manager of the local store
before being named manager.
>ries of ’36
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Royal Romance
At Top Of List
U. S. Political Campaign
And Spanish War Are
Other Headliners.
New York.—At the cross-roads
of the world’s news on the Asso
ciated Press general desk, the 10
biggest news stories of 1936 ap
peared to be:
1. The British empire crisis over
the King Edward-Mrs. Simpson ro
mance.
2. U. S. political campaign,
1936.
3. The Spanish civil war.
4. Italy’s conquest of Ethiopia.
5. Civil war in labor’s ranks.
6. U. S. business recovery.
7. Remilitarization of Rhine
land.
8. U. S. drought-floods.
9. Hauptmann’s execution.
10. Development of Dr. Charles
Greeley Abbot’s solar steam en
gine.
Admits Killing
Wife's Brother
Curtis Hubbard, 30 year old un
employed textile dyer of Griffin,
Ga., was shot to death Monday at
the home of his brother-in-law,
William T. McCord, who later gave
himself up to officers.
Police Chief R. Lee Rankin,
quoted McCord, 36-year old feed
store employe, as saying, "Hubbard
ruined my home and tried to kill
me; I shot him in self defense,
Hubbard, Chief Rankin quoted Me- j
Cord as saying, had threatened him
in the past.
Hubbard was shot five times
with a pistol in the garage at the
McCord home. The brothers-in-law
had returned here Sundey night
with the McCord family, which had
spent the holidays with relatives at
Griffin. Chief Rankin quoted Mrs.
Hubbard as denying her husband’s
statement and asserting the killing
was the result of an old grudge be
tween her husband and members of
her family accentuated by her hus
band’s drinking.
Have Largest
Yule Mail
North Wilkesboro—The North
Wilkesboro post office handled the
biggest volume of mail in its his
tory in the four days before Christ
mas, canceling 50,378 pieces, an
increase of 15,245 over 1935.
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Two Santas
Got Rough 1
Philadelphia—Two Santa Claus- ^
is” for a relief agency were char- *
jed by David Antonoff, 18, with
laving beaten him over the head
*vith a pistol and robbed him of
>22.5 0 and his overcoat. The two 1
svere booked as Lewis Wilder, 23, 1
if Washington, D. C., and Paul 1
VI. Patrick, Jr., 21, also known as !
Pat Mulligan, of Jacksonville, Fla. 1
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New Orleans—Investment of 1
:apital in new chemical industry J
plants in the south, according to .
:he All-South Development Coun
:il, has totaled $8 5,000,000 in the
last three years. 1
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New York—Aaron Burr was the <
first leader of Tammany Hall. i