-=£___about: The New NRA Bill. SANTA MONICA, CALIF. - They do say the new NRA bill, as drawn by the Gallagher and Shean of the administra tion, Messrs. Corcoran and Cohen, is more sweeping than jwas the original NRA. '"’Even Gen. Hugh Johnson, once as conversational as Mrs. Astor’s par rot, but lately exiled amid the uncongen >ial silences, crawls out from under a log PS&'SIH in the woods with lichens in his hair, life 48 but the lower jaw Kop»f||H| {still working KgHigfl ismoothlyin the 'socket, to tell how drastic a thing it is. Critics assert this [legislation will cov er business like a irrin S. Cobb wet blanket over a sick pup, and point out that the number of sick pups benefited byj being tucked under wet blankets is quite small. However, these fussy persons belong to the opposition andi don’t count. Anyhow, they didn’t; count much at the last election ex cept in Maine, Vermont and one backward precinct in the Ozark mountains. • • • Friendly French Visitors. f T SEEMS we were cruelly wrong * in ascribing mercenary motives to those French financiers who’ve! been dropping in on us lately. They came only to establish more cordial relations. Os course, there’s a new French bond issue to be floated, but, these visits were purely friendly) and altruistic. Still and all, I can’t help thinking, of Mr. Pincus, who invaded the east) side to invite his old neighbor, Mr.j Ginsburg, whom he hadn’t seen in years, to be a guest at Mrs. Pincus’’ birthday party. He gave full directions for travel ing uptown, then added: “Vere we lif now it’s von of dosej swell valk-up flats. So mis your| right elbow you gif a little poosh on’ ithe thoid button in the doorjam {downstairs und the lock goes glick [glick und in you come. You go upj kwo floors und den, mit your other (elbow, you gif one more little poosh| on the foist door to the left und valk in—und vill mommer be surprised I” “Vait,” exclaimed Mr. Ginsburg. “I could get to that Bronnlx I got brains, ain’t it? gut ulso 1 got flo f;ers und thumbs. Vot is de poosh uit-elbows stuff?” Murmured Mr. Pincus gently: ‘‘Surely you vouldn’t come empty handed!” • • • Visiting Ancient Ranchos. T T NDER the guidance of Leo ; j'-'Carillo, that most native of alii native sons, I’ve been visiting such, iof the ancient ranchos as remain.’ practically what they were before 1 [the Gringos came to southern Cali-t jfomia. You almost expect to find (Ramona weaving in a crumbly pa itio. What’s more, every one of these (lovely places is lived on by one of tLeo’s cousins. He has more kin-' [folks than a microbe. They say the' (early Carillos were pure Spanish,' [but I insist there must have been a' {strong strain of Belgian hare in the 1 jptock. When it came to progeny,. She strain was to the Pacific coast, 'what the Potomac shad has been Jto the eastern seaboard. It’s more [than a family—it’s a species. [ And a mighty noble breed it is— [producing even yet the fragrant es sence of a time that elsewhere has vanished and a day when hospitality ptill ruled and a naturally kindly people had time to be mannerly and (the instinct to be both simple and 1 Igrandly courteous at once. • • • Privileges of Nazidom. THE German commoner may be, shy on the food rations and havd some' awkward moments unless he] "conforms to the new Nazi religion., {But he enjoys complete freedom of/ the press—or rather, complete free dom from the press. And lately an-i [other precious privilege has been/ accorded him. He may fight duels. Heretofore, .this inestimable boon was exclusive-, ly reserved for the highborn. But; now he may go forth and carve and' be carved until the field of honoi( looks like somebody had been clean ing fish. This increase in his blessings, makes me recall a tale that Charley Russell, the cowboy artist, used to! tell: | ‘‘The boys were fixing to hang •( horse thief,” Charley said. ‘.‘He onl}[ weighed about ninety pounds, bu'i (for his heft he was the champii,-:;! [horse thief of Montana. The rop/-| [was swung from the roof of a barn.. “Then they balanced a long board, ’out of the loft window, and the con demned was out ».t the far end of it/ 'ready for the drop, when a stranger busted in. ‘‘Everybody thought he craved to ,pray, but that unknown humanita rian had a better notion than that/ In less’n a minute he came inching out on that plank and there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd as he edged up behind the poor trembling wretcH [and slipped an anvil in the seat ol his pants.” ram s. cobb. IN WASHINGTON WHAT is oihBKS TAKING ■Hi PLACE AH by . •? • 6>p^y- UNITED STATES*SENATOR ****** 'There is widespread agreement among members of Congress that the situation in Washington today, whether it be called uncertainty or by some other name, is primarily jdue to the fact that we have reach led another period of national read justment when the future depends, in large measure, on the course that i will be taken. How far shall the Federal Government go in changing I present institutions? What shall be done in the direction of Federal con trol of hours and wages, now so vi tally affected by activities that are clearly interstate commerce in character? ' These questions press Ifcr ans wers and there are many ideas as to how they are to be found. In ether words, what is to be the con cepts of Government in the future? Those who look for guidance in i the events of the past are, of course, studying the trends of the bygone days. For exampld, Congressional Record of 100 years ago shows that some of the Congressional leaders of the past, many of whom we re gard as outstanding statesmen, were I just as fearful of the future in 1837, las some of our people are about what lies ahead beyond 1937. But | the developments of the last 100 ! years have amply proven that the fears expressed in 1837 were un founded. There is every reason to hope that the fears of today are equally as unfounded. True, problems of today are per haps greater that ever before. No community or state is self-sufficient. | The price which the Virginia and North Carolina farmers will get for their products is affected by indus trial employment in Ohio and Penn sylvania. The ability of the manu facturers of automobiles and re frigerators in Indianh and Michi gan to sell their products is affect ed by conditions in Georgia and Tennessee. Emergencies in Calif ornia, lowa and Florida may cur tail the supply of food in New York. In other words, whether we wish to admit it or not, we have come to the point where the Federal Gov ernment must help to find the solu tion to problems the states cannot solve alone. How? Finding the an swer is what causes legislative un certainty and slow movement of legislative machinery. Too much im portance depends on taking the right course. Nevertheless, there is growing realization that something must be done about regulating the forces that have widened the gap between wealth and numbers. There is also realization that some of the pro grams and policies already tried must be reshaped in the light of the experience developed. Th subject of highways, one of importance to every citizen, offers a splendid example of changing con cepts- of Government responsibility over a long period of years. At the cutset, roads were built by town ships and communities. Later, fi nancial aid was given to counties by states— New Jersey being the first in 1891. By 1903, eleven states were giving aid to counties and ten years later, forty-two states w.ere aiding counties. But even then highways were be ing built around centers of popu lation and not so much to connect those centers