PAGE TWO
Taxes Constitute Major
Problem With Utilities
Power Levy U Politicians’ Tool; Rising Price. No Boon
to Utilities; Rates Have Been Slashed; But Shift
In Wind Points to Good Future
i BV ROGER VV. BARSON.
Copyrisht 1934, Publisher#
Financial Bureau. In*’-
Bftbson Park. Mass.. Sept. 1.
TMehteen months have passed since
business turned the recovery corner
in March. 1933. Industrial activity is
»pp“ , 1 ma„.y 3, cent -t»v« that
le P vel. Profits of industrial concerns
have shown even a larger
train Factory employment is 34 p
rent above the depression low and
payrolls 63 per cent higher. Put a
gainst this favorable background
hangs a sad utility picture. At first
glance one is puzzled by * hat seems
to be veidence of improvement. Con
fcumption of electric power so far this
year compares favorably even with
good years, but meanwhile net in
come dwindles away month after
month. . _ ,
Power Tax Politicians’ Tool.
What are the causes? First and
foremost L the tax problem. The po
liticians Q.ave learned that electric
power, like gasoline and tobacco, is
a wonderful revenue producer. Begun
in 1932 as a federal sales tax to he
paid by the consumer, the tariff was
shifted in 1933 from the customer to
the company. No compensating chan
ge in rates has been allowed, however.
How can this be considered other
than discriminatory taxation 0 The
federal amusement tax is paid by the
consumer, the tax on phone calls is
added to the consumer’s bill, even the
gasoline and tobacco taxes are paid
by the man who gets the goods. The
three per cent utility tariff, however,
is being paid by the policy-holder.
The example set by tne federal gov
ernment was followed by many state
governments and in some cases even
by city and town authorities. The
growing load of taxation is becoming
very serious. Year by year the govern
ment Is biting off a larger and larger
wedge from every utility dollar. In
creases in the tax on electric power
ehould be fought tooth and nail by
consumer as well as security-holder
for sooner or later these taxes will be
transferred to the public.
Rising Prices No Boom To Utilities.
The second major utility problem
today is the sharply rising cost of op
eration. Coal and copper, for instance
have moved forward unde rthe im
petus of the NRA. All other materials
used by electric power companies
cost far more today than in March,
1933. Labor rates have kept the up
ward pace with material prices. Os
fcourse, this is only natural in a per
iod of advancing business activity
and rising commodity trends. If we
«>t>a f .in to. trol> , ini l HhY'fi
possible sharp spurt in business and
consequently an increase in use of
electric power.
. Thus, the combination of higher
taxes and higher costs has cut into
utility profits in spite of the sharp
gains in power sales. Rate reductions
. of course, have played a big part in
the situation, but over the long term
direction. I,ow rates stimulate con
rate reductions are a step in the right
sumption. Since 1882, when the ln-
was horn, rates have dropped
steadily year after year. Tt is inter
♦blt ng , tO . not< * in the followin K table
ter TSu rSteS &re about quar
ter a* high as a half century ago
While commodity prices are slightly
above the 1882 level.*
Rates Slashed 75 Per Cent.
Electricity Go mm ©dl ties
3902.. 179 JJ
1920 M
lAOQ 226
9 c
1934 59 110
,n th « period from 1915
T mmod,t,eH than
n PriCe Wh,lG the cost Os
Per ci C nt y^ CtUaHy dr ° pped «ver six
per cent. Also note that the drop in
lectric rates since 1929 now corres-
r dR Jf ry close, y to the Change in
£TI2, Pr,CM at reading
„ * mllH™ d , lhal ■PPW’rtm.tSy
«*• r*nw.T ““"‘t
. companies The nsi,ran ce
2*2* T ,n ‘° "MwSSiea ISI
* Tufel , y ha ” been regulated by state
*"“• utlllyt bonds ■ and° a tU| r »r
prescribed by p „b,,c authorftl, " S T
nan e S V “d ent V° r com
panies and savings banks. Yet htisTs
°"* which has been s,n-
INSURE NOW
, P '“ C< ’ ,hat * nsu *"ance for
Curing r CC<> ln P,lek Barn » «nd
»hn ? R „ n8 ' L4-
Soni y ’ M r ° P ! r J y Dama ««. Colli
, ; than 25 of eat
“Cn r L.“ rVk ’ B W " h S ' rnn '' *-*
AL. B. WESTER
Insurance—Rentals,
Pbone 189-J
ALFORD'S PRINT SHOP
Telephone 62
QUALITY WITH SERVICE
gled out by the federal government
and local politicians for ’chiseling
through unfair public competiion and
discriminating taxation.
•Power Trust” Politicians Bogleman.
Much of the trouble, however, lies
with the industry itself its manageis
consumers, and owners. For such a
tremendous industry the lack of pub
lic knowledge concerning its pro
blems is amazing Far from being a
•• Power Trust’” the facts show there
is lack of co-operation among those
who manage the companies. The se
curity-holders lack the leaders to
form a militant organization to pro
tect their interests.
Everything is not dark , however,
There have been some incidents re
cently which indicate that utility in
vestors may now he a.s over-timid as
they were bullish in 1929. The tre
mendous sale of electric appliances,
.he conservative ruling of certain
state regulatory commissions; en
lightened rate-making innovations;
constructive purchase agreement ol
the government with a private utility
in the Tennessee Valley are a mom
the barometers which forecast a shift
in the wind. It passed through a very
similar period in 1920-1922. In fact, I
fell very strongly that piany years
of ordered growth lie before the pov\
er industry, especially if it can find
leaders v ith vision, courage, and
initiative.
‘ORSTER DEFENDS
CONTROL OF CROPS
N. C. State Professor Writes
Os Benefits of Tobacco,
Cotton Acts
College Station, Raleigh, Sept. I.
It is a well known fact, and one
which is generally accepted, that he
will not pay the individual producer
nor indeed society to harvest a crop
already produced which does not sell
for enough to pay marketing costs,
declares Dr. G. W. Forster, head of
the department of agricultural eco
nomics at State College, in an article.
“In Defense of the Bankhead Act,”
appearing in the Journal of Law and
Contemporary Problems publisher by
the Duke University School of Law.
1 Dr. Forster calls attention to the
control acts, specifically. His article
defends these measures because of
the emergency condition facing far
mers and the low incomes which they
have had for ten years.
He declares that to abandon or to
destroy a crop which will not pay
even the marketing costs is not a
waste but an economic gain to the
individual as well as to society as i
preserves the human and other r<
sources. A second principle, he lays
down, is that the production of a
crop should not be undertaken or per
mitted when the anticipated return
wil not cover current operating
costs such as the cost of seed, fer
“ f, er ’ labor a " d ‘he depreciation of
equipment which may he char K ed to
'“th e , n t „T’ ratl °'!; H ‘“ thlrd Principle
! . that cop should be produced or
willToT’ 4 ? 1 be Produced whi
will not return an Income sufficient
1
state fair will
SHOW AGRICULTURE
"‘~^' r,h Carolinians
-an b“ r ? 'V rUly represent whut
state P oducwl P" furms within the
sjbSr- from thi * st,u w,,; »-
With only a Mttle more than a
month remaining before the 1934 edi
tion of the Fair, plans are taking « i.
svent the outstanding Fair in East
ern America.
Inquiries from farmers, 4-H club
leaders and producers of livestock al
ready Indicate far more interest in
exhibition space than ever before.
U. S Senator apt Harrison of Mis
sissippi, born at Crystal Springs, Miss
53 years ago.
Wije Preservers
If you are Btringing beads and
the hole Ib too small to allow a
needle to pass through, dip the
thread end In mucilage for ohe
and one-half Incites, and taper to
shahe of needle. This will go
through the hole in the bead.
HENDERSON, (N. C.) DAILY DISPATCH, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1934
At The Stevenson Mon. and Tues.
GKAND ROMANCE—Warner Baxter and Madge Eva”*
as they appear in the Fox picture, "Grand Canary."
jimmy Durante and Lupe Valez in “Strictly Dynamite” at the
Stevenson Friday.
At the Stevenson Wed nesday and Thursday
Early Posture Exercises
Strongly Recommended
By LOGAN CLENDENING, M. D.
IN MOST COLLEGES and many
high schools this fall as the students
enroll they will be referred to the
hospital or gym
mm
Dr Clendening spent on these.
Tt Is an aston
tahlng statement which I heard the
other day from one or the physical
directors at Yale, that In four years
they had found only about thirty
freshmen who Were considered passa
ble in posture and balance. Only
thirty who did not need treatment.
The large majority had some minor
postural defect, such as round shoul
ders or sway back or slight curvature
of the spine.. A good proportion had
very serious defects of bony and
muscle structure.
At Yale they have a very good
method or correcting these faults.
It Is called the Menscndleck system
of functional exercises.
The ntudet.. Is taught by a chart
what muscle masses should be de
veloped to correct Ills fault. Is
taught exactly what motions to make
In order to develop them. Then. In
front of a large mirror with another
movable mirror behind him. he goes
through the exercises day after day.
The results of a year’s work are
gulte astonishing.
The main features of the exercises
are that they are done slowly bo aa
to cause maximum contraction of
the mueclea and they art not donß^
As medieval outcasts who crash
royal society Bert WHEELER
and Robert WOOLSEY impress
Thelma Todd in “COCKEYED
CAVALIERS,” hilarious RKO-
Radio feature comedy.
rhythmically to the count of a voice
or gong or anything of that sort.
Breathing is emphasized, the mus
cle movement being made only on
the exhalation. No dumbbells, pul
leys or weights are used.
Athletic directors frequently Bay
that athletics (without corrective ex
ercise) will correct these faults, but
1. K •
Shoulder* Curvature
such Is not the case. Id fact, they
usually make them worse because
any single athletic sport is likely to
create a one-sided development.
While J do not believe that these
postural faults are as detrimental to
health as some of the more enthusi
astic physical directors or orthopedic
surgeons say they are. yet they ara
sufficiently important to need atten
tion. It Is a pity that we should
■have to wait until college years to
begin adjustment. In high school the
body Is so much more supple and
adaptable that here the correction*
could be made to so much better ad
vantage.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Six pamphlet*
by Dr. Clendening can now be ob
tained by sending 10 cents in coin, for
each, and a .self-addressed envelope
stamped with a three-eent stamp,
to Dr. Logan Clendening. In car*
of this paper. The pamphlets are:
"Indigestion and Constipation,” ‘‘Re
ducing and Gaining,” “Infant Feed
ing," “Instructions for the Treatment
of Diabetes," "Feminine Hygiene”
and "The Care of the Hair and Shin.’
nasi ii m for a
physical e x a in
itiation.
A number of
Important things
will be Investi
gated, but per
haps most time
will be spent on
postui.tl and oth
er orthopedic de
fects. Certainly
most of the time
devoted to cor
recting or treat
ing physical de
fects will be
ft KaßCommomtem®,
RINA li 111 in /■ iHK'f:
Donald Reeves, young instrucim,
if found shot to death in his office
on the campus ot Center City uni
versity Inspector Lee arrives at the
scene nt the traffedy with his fre
quent en-worker, Timothy Blade,
newspaper reporter, and discovers
the gun that was beside the body,
found by the janitor, has disappeared.
Inspector Lee meets Rrofessor Wil
son, head ol the English department,
and his secretary, Ruth Turner, as
well as Miss Eduards, another mem
ber ol the department, and Jamieson,
an instructor who shared the dead
man’s office. On the third floor of
the English building the police find
an attic room that shows signs of
tuhahitance Miss Edwards tells L<r
of a recent quarrel between the dean ,
man and Jamieson. Blade, the re- \
porter, announces to Lee that he has
iust called on Mrs. Reeves. Roth no
to see the widow who is convinced
her husband committed suicide be
■it use he told her the evenir.o before
that he was "going away". Return
ing to the campus, Lee and IRadt
meei. the other two members of the
English staff, young Walker one.
sldrrly Dr. Henderson. Lee exe. nlnCs
several members of the staff abovi
their whereabouts on the precious
evening and knowledge of Reeves and
bis past. Jamieson tells Lee his
quarrel with Reeves occurred when
the dead man learned that Jamieson
had been seeing Mrs. Reeves —to ar
range a surprise birthday party for
her husband. Insanely jealous,
Reeces threatened to kill Jamieson
it the tatter saw his wife again.
At a nearby restaurant Lee, having
lunch with Blade, goes over the re
porter's account ot the murder in the
Sun.
(NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY J
CHAPTER 12
MOLLY CAME back with their or
ders and Tim silently moved the
paper back from the table and went
on with his reading. Lee dipped into
the sugar bowl she drew near his
cup and murmured vague thanks.
Molly flounced away resentfully.
The story in the Sun went on:
As far as police could discover
Reeves left his home at 2486 Han
ning road last night after a strange
and incoherent conversation with
his wife, in which he Intimated,
Mrs. Reeves said, that he intended
to commit syicide.
Mrs. Reeves, tall, quiet and dis
tinguished, received the news of
her husband’s death with apparent
unconcern. The couple had been
married about two years.
“He said something like, ‘You’ll
never see me again,’" Mrs. Reeves
told Inspector Lee.
Mrs. Reeves said that her hus
band had said on leaving the house
at about seven-thirty that he was
going to his office to work.
“He must have been trying to
tell me he was going to commit
suicide.” Mrs. Reeves said. She
said she was at home all evening.
Mrs. Reeves scouted the theory
of murder and intimated that the
like a murder mystery.
Inspector Lee said that he would
question Mrs. Reeves in detail later
in the day. The inspector also
said that he was sure that Reeves
had been murdered.
Reeves had been an instructor at
the university for only a year.
Professor Malcom Wilson, English
department head, said. He was
quiet, did not associate a great deal
with fellow teachers.and was con
sidered by the student body to be
unduly sarcastic. He was famous
on the campus for his sharp
tongue.
Professor 4 Wilson said that
Reeves had been invited to come
from Texas to the university be
cause of the Bierce thesis.
”T feel that I speak for the presi
dent as well as for the English
department when I say that we are
stunned by the untimely death of
this brilliant young man.” Profes
sor Wilson said. “We are more
than anxious to help police in r>
solution of this dreadful crime al
though. of course, we are all at a
terrible loss to account for it..
There is nothing we know in the
life or the associations of this
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e want to make loans on improved 'residential prop
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W. A. HUNT, President. JOEL T cheathaM. Sec’y-Treas.
k > |p?
If 1 u
“You are scenting a triangle.’’
young man which would account
for the tragedy.”
The light on Reeves’ desk was
burning when the body was found
and it presumably had burned
since the murder. McManus said
he probably did not notice the light
when he passed the window be
cause of the bright sun.
McManus said he arrived at the
university to begin his usual rou
tine at seven-fifteen. Shortly be
fore eight he opened the door of
the office which Reeves shai-ed
with Ralph Jamieson, a fellow in
structor, and saw the body between
the desk and the door.
McManus said he ran out of the
office to summon authorities and
met Callaghan walking across the
street in front of the English
House.
Accompanied by McManus. Cal
laghan went to the office, examined
the body and told McManus that
nothing in the room must be
touched until the arrival of detec
tives. Callaghan said he particu
larly noted the revolver.
Callaghan said that with Mc-
Manus he closed the two windows,
locked the door, and went across
the hall to telephone police, return
ing to stand guard until the ar
rival of Inspector Lee.
When police arrived the revolver
was gone.
Late this morning the murder
office was guarded by a police de
tcuJ.ivJbin_sboofidL..awav hundreds of
Reeves’ body was taken to
county morgue and was undergo
ing autopsy by County Coroner D.
A. Holmes this afternoon.
Tim was chuckling loudly when
Lee finished. The detective laid
down his paper questioning^,,
“Flackner must have been some
where near when you made that
crack to Brown.” said the reporter.
“Listen to this:
” ‘Detective Inspector Thomas Lee.
in charge of the investigation, re
fused this morning to see a reporter
from the World or to give him any
statement regarding the case. When
told by a policeman that reporters
wished to see him or to have him
issue a statement. Inspector Lee re
torted loudly, “Tell them we’re hav
ing a garden party in here and that
the Duchess of York is pouring tea.”
and entered the room where police
were examining witnesses, slamming
the door behind him.
“ ‘With him at the rime was a re
porter for the Sun. who had arrived
at the English House with the in
spector in a police car and had been
permitted to listen in on all ques
tioning of witnesses.’ ”
Lee banged his first on the table
and exploded, ‘That cub! I’ll make
him damned sorry for that !’’
“Sh.” murmured Tim. "Moliy ll get
sore at us if we get noisy ” Then
seriously , “Never mind, inspector
Flackner isn’t a cub and natural!}
he’s sore—you can’t blame him \s*’
the World will probably take you ru*
a ride tomorrow in an editorial Let
it go I’ve got an idea that will taka
your mind off all that.”
“You mean this business about the
gun?” queried Lee. hopefully tap
ping a paragraph of Tim’s story.
“Yeah, but first we’ve got to talk
over the witnesses’ statements.”
“O. K. Better be skimming through
them while you eat,” replied the de
tective handing Tim the sheaf ot
papers which Ruth Turner had
typed.
They were silent for a while ex.
cept for the crisp paper rustling in
Tim’s hands. Once Lee called,
“Molly, another cup of coffee.”
Finally Tim pushed back his plate
and leaned forward earnestly. “You
know, inspector, there isn’t a one of
them that has an alibi that will hold
water. Wilson was driving around
with a headache. Henderson was
home alone and so was Miss Ed
wards. Walker was with his wife
and she’ll say whatever he tells her
to. Ruth Turner was with Jamieson
till nine and then she was homr®
alone too.” «
“Jamieson was with Mrs. Reeves
from nine to nine-thirty, you’ll no
tice, but it took him an hour to get
home after th*i and a cripple could
' - uistanee in half an hour,"
pointed out
it’l] Ire difficult to prove that anv of
them weren’t where they say they
were. No witnesses that they were
at home means none that thpy
weren't, too. Don’t forget that.”
Tim was tracing patterns on the
tile with his pencjl. circles with inter
locking triangles. He always drew
them when he was puzzled. “But if
Jamieson spent any time at all with
Mrs. Reeves and they were as friend
ly as he says they were, why didn’t
she tell you this morning that he
was there, instead of saying she was
alone all evening?”
Lee shrugged. “Don’t ask me why
she said or did anything. She’s a
question mark. Either she’s a
darned good actress or she really
believes it was suicide. As for
Jamieson, he’s worried about some
thing—something that happened last
night. I’d lay a bet that he didn't
leave her at her apartment at nine
thii’ty. Either he went earlier or
later or she went with him when lie
did go. He was top anxious to find
out what she had'said ahout it be
fore he answered my question."
“You’re scenting a triangle.**
Lee noddefi heavily,
(TO BE CONTINUED)