North Carolina Newspapers

THE BURNSVILLE EAGLE BURNSVILLE, N. C., FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 1933 News Review of Curi^nt Events the Wor i Over General Sales Tax Killed by Roosevelt' Other Ways of Balancing the Budget Samuel Insull Freed by Greek C irt. By EDWARD W. PICKARD P RESIDENT-ELECT ROOSEVELT has killed the general sales tax, for this session of congress at least, and Representative James VV. Collier, chairman of the house ways and means com mittee, Is trying to devise some other method of balancing the budget 'In this ef fort he is being earn- : estly aided by Speak- : er Garner and the oth er Democratic leaders I in congress. They I placed emphasis on economy in appropri- Rep. Collier ating g o v e r n m e n t funds, examining closely the flsed expenditures, that amount to more than one billion dol lars. Also they renewed their fight to bring about the legalization and taxation of beer. When Mr. Roosevelt was told in Al bany that Washington reports said he was In favor of the sales tax he ex pressed, through a spoke.sman, his “horror” at the story, so Mr. Garner and the house Democratic ieadeVs, who had said they would approve such a levy if it were necessary to balance the budget, abandoned the plan. The dispatches from Albany indicated that 'Mr. Roosevelt might exert pressure on congress to defeat the scheme if It were not dropped. He considers sales tax plans as belonging to two cate gories. the general manufacturers’ sales tax. which he opposes, and the tax on special commodities such as the federal taxes now being collected -•n gaiwiline -andh*; tKirtks should be continued for the pre.seot. The house ways and means commit tee planned to begin on January 3 an exhaustive study of federal financing with Secretary Mills of the treasury appearing before It to give his views. Both Mr. Mills and President Hoover have recommended a sales tax to bal ance the budget. Senate Democratic leaders, however, have expressed doubt that such a levy could 'be passed in that branch, and they have decided to make no efforts to’ at.tac^i financial legislation to the Collier beer bill as a rider. R eports have been frequent that _President Hoover would veto the .■'Democratic beer and farm relief leg islation and in this connection Senator Kobinfon. Democratic leader of the upper chamber, said In a statement that the Republican administration was engaging “in a policy of partisan political obstruction to prevent the en actment of legislation, apparently with the idea of forcing the incoming Pres ident to call a special session.’’ As a matter of fact, observers in Washington were of the opinion that a special session cannot now be avoided. S ENATOR PAT HARRISON of Mis sissippi, ranking Democrat on the senate finance committee, announced that after the holidays he wouid intro duce a resolution providing that a sen ate committee should hold a confer ence with the nation’s best economists, financiers and statesmen, to find the way to restore economic order. Harrison’s idea would Include a study “of the whole economic situa tion, with a view primarily of obtain ing constructive suggestions from lead ing .economists, financiers and states men as to methods and policies to re store economic stability.” Such subjects as currency stabiliza tion, inflation and silver would be in cluded in the Investigation by the MIs- sissippian, who has discussed his pro posal informally with members of the finance committee. He believes the senate would favor prompt action. F H. la GUARDIA, the Insurgent • Republican representative from New York, Introduced in the house a . resolution to provide for the placing of capital on a five- day week basis by re ducing the legal In terest rate In the Dis trict of Columbia and the territories to 3 per cent, to reduce the interest rate on government s e c u r i- ties by 29 per cent, and to cut the dis count Date of govern ment agencies to a maximum of 2’% per cent. The New York rep- fesautattve maintains interest rates Rep. F. H. La Guardia today are a'Etei pared with the people and that He said he purp * oliition In sirapl used the five-daypeek that even our stand it” ^ ary committe* by Chairman N Black five-day Opposition— lougbt— high when com- rnlng power of the ^y must come down, iely drafted his res language and had tliustration “so kers could under- I'VE members at the senate judici- have been appointed rris to consider the ork week bill, and hearings were a nounced to begin' on •Tanuary 5. The measure, which was Introduced by Senator Black of Ala bama, would limit the hours of labor on goods produced for- interstate ship ment to 30 a week; with six hours a day for five days. Norris, Robinson. Borah, Walsh and Black are the sub committee, and they will take exten sive testimony as to both tlie desira bility of the legislation and its consti tutionality. Q uick work on the,major appro priation bills went on in the house of representatives. The Interior de partment bill carrying 5:43,652,904 for the fiscal year 1904 was passed after $460,000 had been added for a heat ing plant at Howard university, the federally supported iqstitution for ne groes in Washington. In doing this 26 northern Democrats overrode the Dem- cratic leadership and voted with the Republicans for the amendment. The house then went on to consider the Agriculture department supply bill. The senate was in recess until Fri day, but atteiWpta were made to begin beer bill by the judiciary c^ifimittee headed by Senator Norris. W HILE the congressmen were struggling with their problems, President Hoover and his party were sailing down the Florida coast, trying to find good fishing, but with small success. They made various stops but did not go ashore, receiving local dignitaries at the docks. At St. Au gustine Mayor Mickler and a lot of other officials greeted the Chief Exec utive at the boat’s rail and Mrs. Hoo ver received lovely bouquets, one sent by Governor Carlton and the other pre sented by Girl Scouts. Mall and tele grams that came aboard from time to time, some of them relating to the war debts, gave the President occa sional work and took his mind off the poor angling until fhe vicinity of Miami was reached, where the big fish were biting better. S AMUEL INSULL, the fallen utilities magnate, was set free by the Greek Court of Appeals that considered the request of the American government that he be extradited, and he is at liberty to remain in Greece or go to any other coun try he may prefer. After deliberating two hours the court in 1 Athens held that no evidence had been presented that Insull was guilty of the offenses of grand lar ceny and embezzle- Sam Insull ' taent of $172,000, for which he was indict ed by the grand .jury In Chicago. It ruled that the mijney he was alleged to have taken might be considered a loan contracted for the benefit of the corporations involved, and that Insull obtained from it no personal profit, but acted in good faith. Greek lawyers and ofiiclals of the American legation said the decision was absolutely bind ing, and the latter indicated that the United States government would make no further efforts to extradite Insull on the evidence at hand. A r.AUMED by the flight of money from the Union of South Africa, which has Incrt-ased greatly of late, the government at Pretoria took emer gency steps to remain on the gold standard. The cabinet, headed by Premier J. B. M. Hertzog. issued a •decree forbidding all export of gold. It also withdrew sovereigns from cir culation to prevent hoarding. P ROMINENT among those taken by death during the week was Brig. Gen. John J. Carty. retired, vice pres ident and chief engineer of the Amer ican Telephone and Telegraph com pany. He died In Baltimore at the age of seventy-one years. General Carty was credited with many Important de velopments in the fields of telephonic, telegraphic and radio communication. jects of diairmai’ngiy.J^^^n in Athens w’ould not affect the -Wav M'cwcj u.io wttlU 3;|^i-nniefiCS iiivfestiga' During the war he was director of telephone and telegraph communica tions for the American army in France. Norman B. Mack, New York mem ber of the Democratic national com mittee for 32 years and former pub lisher of the Buffalo Times, died in Buffalo, aged seventy-four. He was one of the best loved of all Demo cratic leaders. Col. Richard S. Hooker, commander of the American marines stationed In Shanghai, died suddenly at his home in that city while playing with his children. T hough japan, like all other na tions, is hard up, its budget is the largest in its history, and in a state ment to the diet the army ollice sought to explain why the military expendi tures must be increased. The mili tary, system is to be readjusted and improved in four ways. The forces in Manchuria will be augmented, while those in .Japan will be reduced as much as possible. Supplementary mil itary education will be extended and improved. Army organizations are to be bettered in various ways. Sup plies, such as munitions and uniforms, must be replenished. Probably the only Important busi ness the diet will transact is the adop tion of the budget. The dlsgi-untled Seiyukai party hesitates to oust Pre mier Saito, though it could do so, and that gentleman is careful to propose a miniraum of legislation. Korekiyo Takahashl, finance minister, has an nounced his intention to ask power to control the exchanges, but has not Indicated the method of control he pro poses to adopt. The flight of capital takes the form of export of goods, the value of which is left abrdad .to cover purchases of raw materials. How this can be checked unless export trade Is controlled is not clear. N orman H. DAVIS, chief Amerl can delegate to the disarmament conference ' and himself a Democrat, was one of Mr. Roosevelt’s most Im portant callers during days the two men^dis- j cussed privately and !xhaustively the;sub- : J economics, in all of *" I which Mr. Davis la an ^ I expert. In the course I of the conversations Mr. Davis told the President-Elect that he N. H. Davis believed disarmament Is necessary to a restoration of world confidence and credit and said he thought Important steps had been taken toward reduction of armament. This, in turn, he pre dicted, would have a favorable effect on efforts for a successful world eco nomic conference. The first step, he said, would be to persuade France and Italy to Indorse the terms of the London naval agree ment of 1930, particularly regarding submarine construction. Disarmament advocates, he stated, believed they could ban submarines In spite of the objections of France and Japan, or at least limit them to coastal defense. Then, by outlawing offensive weap ons, poison gas, mobile heavy artillery and bombing airplanes and banning the manufacture of aerial bombs, the world would be ready to work toward restoration of confidence. Mr. Roosevelt expressed the view that world security would return as the deadly Instruments of war were reduced and mentioned that the late Premier Clemenceau of France had once told him that “the one essential for France out of the World war was security.” “I asked him for his definition of security,” Mr. Roosevelt said. "He re plied that for a thousand years no French babies had been born and gone through life to three score and ten without knowing some kind of trouble with Germany. Since that was true, he said, the guaranty of no war with Germany would constitute security for the French. I think that belief is still there.” O NE of the major mining disasters of the year occurred at Moweaqua, Ill., when an explosion imprisoned 54 coal miners beyond all hope of rescue. For a week their fellow workers dug frantically to get to the doomed men, but all they found were lifeless bodies. At the time of writing the corpses of all but seven of the men had been brought to the surface. The little town was stricken by the tragedy, which left there 33 widows with a total of 75 children. P AUL REDFERN, an American avi ator who in August, 1927, left Fort Brunswick, Ga., on a nonstop flight to Rio de Janeiro and disappeared, is now said to have been discovered in the upper Amazon region. Charles Has- fer, an American engineer who recent ly arrived from the hinterlands at a locality on the Tapajoz river near the Ford concession, said Redfern is now in the Rio Maier zone near Humayta village on the right shore of the Ma- deria river and Is enjoying perfect health among the Parantin Indians. & 19$3, Western Newspaper Unlozu INSULL SET FREE BY ATHENS COURT CKarges Civil, Not Criminal, Ruling Holds. Athens.—Samuel Insull, former mas ter of a great system of utliitles cen tering in Chicago, was freed at an ex tradition hearing in the Court of Ap peals, the highest court in Gree.ce. Mr. Insull took refuge here, coming from Paris, after a county grand jury at'-Chicago had indicted him on charges of larceny and embezzlement in 1‘onnection with the alleged borrow ing of funds of the Middle West Util ities company for payment to a broker through whom his brother, Martin, was alleged to have operated in the stock market. Aliddle West went into re ceivership soon after Mr. Insull re signed his numerous corporation posts and went to France. Martin Insull now Is in Canada awaiting extradition hearing on the same charges, having been named with his brother in the indictments. Samuel Insull now is free, by the court’s decision, to remain in Greece or to travel Into some other country which has no extradition treaty with the United States. The court held that Mr. Insull had committed no criminal act under Greek law and that the facts showed no of fense for which he should be lield un der the extradition treaty between Greece and the United States. Mr. In sull had not personally benefited through the acts alleged in the Amer ican extradition papers, the court ruled, and the entire affair was a civil matter, not criminal. ‘'’Chicago.—State’s Attorney Thomas J. Courtney, after learning of the re lease of Samuel Insull, cabled to As sistant State’s Attorneys Bellows and VTachos in Athens as to whether an appeal is possible. He said every pos sible effort would be made to carry the extradition case further. M. H. Purvis, chief of'the local bu reau of investigation of the Federal Department of Justice, said the de- nectioD with the receivership cases. The federal inquiry is expected soon to be coDipleted. It was pointed out that should federal charges be made, a new extradition action could be in stituted. Pope Proclaims a Holy Year Starting April 2 ■Yatican City.—Pope Pius XI in a Christmas message to the universe pro claimed a holy year, during which he hoped the world would benefit by ces sation of talk about reparations, debts, armament, disarmament, war, and oth er troubles and turn its thoughts to “expiation” and “reform." The jubilee year, beginning April 2, 1933, will be in observance of the nine teenth centenary of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. The pope spoke to 22 cardinals, who brought him greetings from the whole church. In his message the pontiff expressed best Christmas wishes for “peace, tranquillity, mutual confidence, friend ly relations, greater assistance wher ever the need Is greater, suflicient and remunerative work, and less unfavor able and uncertain general conditions of life.” He spoke of the "many divisions and conflicts among peoples and states, not excluding the horrors of war and civil war, and the consequent contin uance and worsening of a universal financial and economic crisis without precedent in history.” ^MUEL INSULL Samuel Insull, former utilities mag nate, was set free by the Greek Court of Appeals, which rules that the acts charged against him in the Chicago indictment were not crimes and re jected the request for his extradition. LOW BID ON CRUISER HEARTENS NAVY MEN They Hope It Will Result In More Destroyers. ?rof. W. A. Laheld of Yale Takes Own Life New Haven, Conn.—Dr. William A. Lafleld, professor of radiology at Yale university, committed suicide by turning on the gas in the kitchen of his apartment, sitting down, and awaiting the end. His negro housekeeper found the body when she entered the apartment to prepare dinner. Medical Examiner Scarborough gave a verdict of suicide, based both on his examination and on a note found In Ihe apartment, which clearly defined Doctor Lafield’s determination to end his life. Several years ago Doctor La fleld became separated from his wife. Edith, and some of his friends believe that the separation had preyed upon his mind. Rainey Claims Votes to Elect Him as Speaker Washington.—With numerical con trol of the Democratic party in the next house resting with the northern and western Democrats. Representa tive Henry T. Rainey of Illinois. Dem ocratic floor leader, claimed that he would be elected speaker of that body in the next congress. He said he had been assured of 160 votes, which is three more than the 157 necessary to make him his party’s caucus nominee. Washington. — Bargain construction bids for the latest warship have aroused navy officers’ hopes for some action soon designed to increase the destroyer strengtli of the United States. The lowest bid for a 10,000-ton cruiser, offered by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding corporation of Quincy, Mass., was $2,260,000 less than a con tract for the same type ship, the Tus caloosa, awarded a year ago. In naval circles the Bethlehem offer to build the CA-39 for $8,196,000 caused pleasant surprise. This esti mate was $1,329,000 under the next lowest bid made by the United Dry Owrltg,- r*»tr., «f- Stateu N. Y., and acted as a stimulant to naval of ficers who have been worried over what they regard neglect of the gov ernment’s building program. Admiral William V. Pratt, chief of naval operations, contends that the most serious condition with which the navy is confronted today Is that con cerning destroyers. The new heavy cruiser to be laid down after March 1 will keep the United States up to her treaty strength In ships of this kind. But, naval offi cers stress, this country lags far be hind in the matter of light cruisers, having a total tonnage of 70,000, while entitled to 140,000 under the London treaty. In battleships the United States Is pretty well “up to snuff,” as the sail ors say. The comparative naval strength today of the three powers signatory to the Washington and Lon don treaties gives the United States 394 warships of 1,151,470 tonnage; Great Britain, 325 ships of 1,256,674 tons, and Japan, 247 ships of 846,128 tons. House Votes Big Sum for Howard University Washington.—Political self-interest conquered concern over the taxpayer in the house, as northern Democrats, with an eye on the negro vote, joined with Republicans in appropriating $460,000 for a heating plant at How ard university, federally supported in stitution for negroes in the capital. By a vote of 138 to 105 the coalition overrode the Democratic house leader ship and approved the amendment to the Interior department appropriation bill offered last Friday by Represent ative Oscar De Priest (Rep., Ill.), lone negro member of congress. Having swelled the total by nearly half a million, the house then passed the bill, carrying $43,652,904 for the Interior department 1934 fiscal year. U. S. Dept, of Agriculture Develops New Fertilizer Washington.—Am'moniated peat, a new fertilizer material, has been de veloped in the laboratories of United States Department of Agriculture. The product has not been developed commercially yet, but chemists of the department say that the manufactur ing process Is simple and relatively in expensive. Small scale experiments with plants have given promising re sults. World Power Meet to Be Held in Sweden Washington. — The International Power congress to disctiss the supply of energy in relationship to large-scale industrial establishments and transpor tation services will be held in Stock holm, Sweden, from June 28 to July 7, the Commerce department has been no tified. SALES TAX HOPE GOES GLIMMERING Roosevelt Opposed; Special Session Certain. Albany.— President-Elect Franklin D. Roosevelt let it be known that he is flatly opposed to a general federal manufacturers’ sales tax. He was man ifestly annoyed over dispatches from Washington stating that Speaker John N. Gamer. ’Vice President-Elect, had acted under his direct instructions in reviving the general sales tax as a means of balancing the budget “Friends of Mr. Roosevelt would be horrified at the very thought that he in any way favored a general manu facturers’ sales tdx,” said one of the close associates of the President- Elect When asked if Speaker Garner was acting on his instructions, Mr. Roose velt replied that he had not recently communicated with Mr. Garner, except to request him to come and see him. In making known his determined op position to the general sales tax, the President-Elect indicated a disposition not to adhere to a strict hands-off pol icy if an attempt is made to pass such a levy at the present short session of • congress. “It should not be assumed that he wouid preserve a hands-off policy in that case,” said one of Mr. Roosevelt’s close associates. He displayed a favorable attitude toward special sales imposts, however, such as the existing taxes on tobacco and gasoline. It is believed he would welcome additional levies of that na ture during the short session. Mr. Roosevelt has been a consistent foe of the general sales tax throughout his two terms as governor. He re jected it a year ago in his conferences with Senator Seabury, C. Mastick and other members of the state tax division commission. Several general sales tax bills were introduced in the legislature, but lacking encouragement from Mr. Roosevelt and also failing to have "the support of the legislative leaders, they died in committee. Washington.—Senate auu house lead ers admitted '"hat all hoi)e for passing a sales tax at this session of congress had gone a-g!immerlng. On the house side Speaker John N. Garner read a report from Albany stat ing that President-Elect l^ranklln D. Roosevelt had expressed “horror” when advised that he had been repre sented in the newspapers as indorsing a sales tax. “That,” remarked the Texan, and Vice President-Elect, “means the end of the sales tax, I guess, for this ses sion.” Leaders of both houses admitted their helplessness to push a general sales tax past the radical alliance in the house. With no sales tax in prospect and with President Hoover’s attitude on the beer bill and the promised Demo cratic version of farm relief legisla tion still uncertain, a special session of congress became a virtual certainty. Democratic leaders said that they saw no chance to avoid a special session shortly after President-Elect Roose velt takes office. The Reconstruction corporation agreed to lend Corpus Christi, Texas, $500,000 to repair the Lafruta dam on the Nueces river, which was partly destroyed in 1930. Levi Cooke, prominent Washington attorney and legislative representative of the United States Brewers’ asso ciation, died of a heart attack. He was fifty years old. Improvement In the business situ ation in some parts of the world was pictured by the Department of Com merce in Its weekly summary of con ditions abroad, but trade was at a standstill in a number of countries, re flecting uncertainty in world markets. A demand for a thorough inquiry into the country’s air mail lines is pending before the senate as the re sult of the introduction by Senator Gerald P. Nye, North Dakota, of a resolution asking the federal trade commission for a lengthy list of facts. Minneapolis Publisher Acquitted of Extortion Minneapolis.—Owen Remington, pub lisher of Brevities, Minneapolis tabloid weekly, was acquitted of attempted ex tortion in Hennepin county District court. He was tried on a charge of attempting to extort $50' from Miss Vern Nalezny, Minneapolis, to stop publication of a story concerning her. Save* Girls From Drowning Clarion, Pa.—Three girls were saved from the ice-caked waters of an aban doned limestone quarry by George My ers, forty, a pumper in a mine, J