Indianapolis Times, Volume 47, Number 256, Indianapolis, Marion County, 3 January 1936 — Page 15

/ (in’er the hoi Id WMMIUP SIMMS fßatling for Heywood Broun) VASHINGTON, Jan 3—This year is expected to be one of the most decisive In modern history —for Europe, Asia and America. Seldom has the New Year found Washington's diplomatic circle prey to graver anxiety over what the next few months may bring—not even in war time. Every one admits the Ttalo-Ethiopian conflict may spread to Furope and from Europe to Asia and perhaps even farther.

The sensational collapse of the Hoare-Laval peace project, far from settling anything, has aggravated. the tension. Premier Stanley Baldwin may yet resign, or his cabinet fall, as a result of the recent abortive peace proposals. and Premier Laval’s government may collapse at any time. Mussolini is expected soon to make a desperate effort to obtain a. decision on the battlefields of Ethiopia. If he succeeds, Britain, France, and the League of Nations will either have to accept whatever peace terms the victor-

Wm. Philip Simms

ious Duce chooses to offer, or go to war to force him to disgorge. If II Duce fails in Ethiopia, as a result either of League measure or of defeat at the hands of Haile Selassie, yie climate and geography, he will lose his political, if not his actual, head and Italy will revert to chaos or worse. nun Adolph Hitler'* Pari ADOLF HITLER is known to be counting on the weakening of Britain, France and Italy as a result of the present imbroglio to give him the chance for which he has been hoping for years. He is furiously creating the most powerful army and the most deadly air force in Europe. When the time comej he plans to strike for more territory. Austria, now supported by Italy, France and Great Britain, sooner or later almost certainly will come under German domination. Hungary, bitterly resentful since her dismemberment, for the benefit of Rumania and other nelghbers, will join the German enterprise the moment Pranco-British pressure is removed. Turkey and Greece will act to take back their islands in the Aegean and refortify the Dardanelles and the Besphorus. n tt n 11. S. Want* to Stay Clear r T~'HESE are the chief factors behind the FrancoA British efforts to make peace. Anthony Eden has taken Sir Samuel’s place. Former Premier Herriot, or someone else may soon supplant Laval. But every responsible envoy here admits the original, tremendously grave problem remains and even looms larger than ever before. Then there is the London naval conference, deadlocked over Nippon’s demand for a navy second to none. At midnight next Dec. 31 the Washington limitation treaty expires and a naval race seems inevitable. As for land vid air armaments, the race is already on. It will wax more dangerous this year. Hitler has torn to ribbons what was left of the Versailles Treaty and served notice on Britain and France that not until Germany is supreme in the air will he discuss armaments again with his neighbors. Out of all this the United States would like to stay, if it can. Very early, therefore, Congress will take up new neutrality legislation. The chances are that while the President’s powers will be broadened, he will be required to treat all belligerents alike, whether aggressor or victim. Tugwell Muzzled, Ray Clapper Finds WASHINGTON. Jan. 3.—After reading Republican National Chairman Fletcher’s protest against President Roosevelt's plan to make a night national broadcast out of his annual message to Congress, J. F. T. O'Connor, controller of the currency, remarked: “Fletcher generously explains that he isn't going to deprive the President of his constitutional right

to deliver an annual message, but objects to anybody hearing it." It took a long time, hut the Administration finally has put the halter on Dr. Tugwell, friskiest of all New Dealers, whose numerous speeches have caused frequent embarrassment to the Administration. He has promised hereafter to submit his manuscripts for advance approval. Tills la the result of the explosion caused by Dr. Tugwell’s recent speech to California Democrats in which he proposed

to rally the proletariat against the Tories by urging them to summon their wrath and “draw together, nursing the sources of that anger which has driven us forward." The White House hasn’t heard the end of that speech yet. Letters f.re still being received asking whether Tugwell is speaking for the President. Hereafter Dr. Tugwell's speeches won’t make such good reading. Which is exactly what the White House wants. * * POLITICAL parade: Broadcasting companies wouldn’t object 10 giving Republican Chairman Fletcher an equal break with Roosevelt on the air if he would promise to draw' as large an audience. ...Senator Gore, blind Oklahoma Democrat, who has foußht Roosevelt spending, is now facing a renomination fight against a Townsendite. Gomer Smith. Oklahoma City lawyer who scared Senator Elmer Thomas in IC<32 by running up 200,000 votes in the primary. . . Reports have come into Washington that Gov. Floyd Olson of Minnesota is more seriously ill than had been supposed. It Is even suggested that he may not be able to run next fall for the Senate seat of the late Senator Schall now filled temporarily by young Elmer Benson. . . . The Administration faces trouble in the early New Hampshire presidental primaries where talk of sending an uninstructed delegation to the next Democratic national convention is heard. A1 Smith forces there never have made peace. Now tb<* pro-Roosevelt Robert Jackson faction is sulking. . . . Roosevelt is getting ready to show what good.New- Dealers the founding fathers were, if we only knew them better. He’s planning to do that job in Philadelphia, in the shadow of Independence Hall on George Washington's birthday. That's why he accepted an invitation to receive an honorary degree from Temple University in Philadelphia on Feb. 2. * * * REPORTERS in the Washington newspaper guild have protested officially to the White House because President Roosevelt makes them work on Sunday. He recently announced that a special press conference would be held Sunday when the budget will be explained. A few weeks ago he invited the reporters into the state doling room on Sunday" afternoon to explain the Canadian trade agreement. The White House answer to the reports is that if they don t want to work on Sunday they don’t have to come around. Why is the American Liberty League complaining? During a year of Roosevelt it took in almost as much cash as the Democratic National Committee -and without having a single political iob to hand Out. Sad to relate, it appears from the League's report jiut filed with the clerk of the House that the average man isn’t as appreciative of its efforts in behalf of liberty as he should be. Os its receipts totalling $483,175, only $43,701 was in contributions of less than SIOO. But the du Ponts put in $153,250. This shows that they really appreciate the finer things of life.

Conrfm (i Into session today, with no definite Administration program, hot facing a number of highly confrere rsial problems that may have a vital bearing on the economic and aocial lifa of the eopntry for a decade or more. Rodnev l>atrher, In * series of two stories, of which this is the first, tells of these nrohlems. gives the background of the fights which have raged about them, and detai t .Administration plans for their solution at the session. BY RODNEY DUTCHER iCopyright, 1936, by NEA Servicel , Jan. 3.—The seventy-fourth Congress begins its second session today and you would be approximately correct in saying that the 1936 election campaigns will begin simultaneously. You will detect a strong political flavor in practically everything that is done by Congress or the Administration, because President Roosevelt, the entire House, and a third of the Senate are up for re-election in November and all think it very important that they be returned to office.

In contrast with previous sessions, the Administration has almost no legislative program and Congress will be left to its own devices more than at any other time since Roosevelt became its master in March 1933. As far as the White House is concerned, the promise of a “breathing spell" is about to be fulfilled. The most, spectacular part of the show will be an effort by the Administration and its leaders o.i Capitol Hill to make drastic cuts in the national budget in the face of probable passage of a veterans’ cash bonus bill which will cost more than $2,000,000,000. Neutrality legislation and social security are to provide two other fields of combat. A neutrality law must be devised to replace the makeshift compromise law which expires in February. n n n THE issue here will be fought out by:. 1. Those who would keep us out of war at any cost, short of armed invasion. 2. Those who say it's worth taking a chance in return for the profits of trade r 'ith belligerents. 3. Those who don’t care about the profits but feel the President should have discretion to choose sides among belligerents for either moral or strategic reasons. The battle will begin almost at once. The Senate munitions committee has scheduled prompt hearings on the banking phase of its investigation and will draw information from that to demonstrate again how this country drifted into the World War. Because the New Deal’s loss of popularity has been largely due to reaction against the spending of billions for relief and recovery, Roosevelt is grimly determined to

2 New Scientific Discoveries Held Great Aid to Civilization

BY DAVID DIETZ Scripps-Howard Science Editor ST. LOUIS, Jan. 3.—The world was in possession today of two scientific, advances whose influence upon the future development of civilization may be great. The accomplishments, announced here before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, were: Dr. G. A. Merton of the Radio Corporation of America announced perfection of an electronic eye which turns invisible heat rays or infra-red rays into visible light. Discovery by Dr. W. M. Stanley of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research that the invisible virus which causes the plant disease known as tobacco mosaic is not a living organism but a protein, a life-like chemical compound. The electronic eye is essentially a tube with a silvered disc at one end and a phosphorescent one at ihe other. Rays of infra-red or “black” light, striking the silvered disc, release electrons from it. These are so focused by an electrical field within the tube that they re-create a visible picture when they strike the phosphorescent disc. The immediate use of the electronic eye is in the biological laboratory for studying bacteria and other minute organisms which can not always be studied satisfactorily with visible light. M M M May Influence Television THE war-time searchlights of invisible infra-red might be trained on trenches or bridges which could then be watched with the electronic eye. Infra-red will penetrate haze and so the new device may become of help to aviation and to ships at sea. The tube succeeds in focusing beams of electrons with all the ease that a lens focuses light rays. This is a remarkable advance which may influence profoundly

Clapper

Foil Logged Wire Service of the United Press Association

PROBLEMS OF THE NEW CONGRESS

President to Let Legislators Take “Heat” on Money Matters

BENNY

(7)

The Indianapolis Times

take a long step toward balancing the budget. He will try to appear as an economical executive and let the pressure for money come from Congress, especially as to the bonus and relief funds. U tt tt IN pre-congressional huddles with party leaders, the President has expressed interest in little else than appropriation bills and the neutrality issiie. As in the last session, 322 of the 435 members of the House and 69 of the 96 Senators are Democrats. Many of those Democrats are more conservative or more radical than the Administration, but, you can usually figure that the Democratic leadership in the House will exert firm control over that body as long as it requires 218 signatures to force a bill from a committee where the Administration wants it bottled up. Action on the bonus will come almost immediately, owing to the legislative position in which it was left by the last session. The third deficiency bill carrying social security and other appropriations, will also be handled early. The amount of money Congress will appropriate can not be foretold until a better picture of relief needs and pressures is available and until it’s known whether the Supreme Court is going to kill the AAA processing taxes. u n n YOU can be sure that the “ordinary” budget will be balanced in one way or another and that Congress will be allowed to take the lead in providing for relief in the fiscal year beginning in July. Congress is expected to hear a lot about that from home. Roosevelt has estimated this year’s deficit at $3,281,000,000 and the best guess now is that he should be -ible to cut at least a couple of billions off that—not allowing for bonus or AAA upsets—by avoiding another four-billion-dollar workrelief measure such as that of the present vear.

the development of television and all sorts of devices which now use electron tubes. Dr. Stanley’s discovery not only ends an argument which has been going on for nearly 40 years as to whether tobacco mosaic virus is alive or not, but it demonstrates that lifeless chemical compounds can exhibit certain characteristics formerly thought to belong only to living organisms. As Dr. Stanley points out we now only know those viruses which cause disease, as for example, the viruses of measles, yellow fever, etc. He says it is likely many others exist, and that it may be that a complete series of intermediate forms between lifeless matter and living matter exists. The discovery of such a series would lead to a new understanding of the origin of life, many problems of evolution, and many problems of the behavior of living organisms. MRS. W. P. SNETHEN NAMED ON NYA STAFF Local Woman Made Supervisor of Public Service Projects. Mrs. William P. Snethen has been appointed supervisor of public service projects for the National Youth Administration in Indiana, according to Edward E. Edwards, state NYA director. Mrs. Snethen for several years has been a member of the department of government and operations of the Indiana League of Women Voters and also is chairman of the department of government and legal status of women in the same organization. She is active in Tri Kappa Sorority and is a member of the executive board of the Indiana Committee for the Prevention of Crime. Young people between 16 and 25, members of relief families, are eligible for part-time jobs under the NYA.

INDIANAPOLIS, FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 1936

Congress would be sure to stand pat on the Social Security Act passed last session were it not for the rapid spread of the Townsend Old-Age Revolving Pensions idea. Townsend pressure for pensions of S2OO a month to persons over 60, however, is likely to result in liberalizing of the act. The provisions in the security act to encourage old-age pensions is that the Federal government will match state pensions up to a total of S3O, meaning a maximum Federal contribution of sls a month a person. But there is some strong sentiment to make the Federal government match larger sums and to cut the age limit to 60 instead of the present stipulated 65. with temporary exemption to 70 if states desire. Such a compromise might tend to take the Townsend heat off Washington and transfer it to state Legislatures.

Washington Merry-Go-Round BY DREW PEARSON and ROBERT S. ALLEN

TT7ASHINGTON, Jan. 3.—The * * hour is 12 o'clock, noon, today. Here’s what happens. The wide plaza in front of the Capitol is crowded with cars, many bearing diplomatic tags. Inside, the historic corridors of the Capitol, empty the last four months except for sight-seers, are crowded with gaping, milling throngs vainly trying to reach the gallery floors. Admittance to them today is by card only. Police, behind ropedoff barricades, are courteous but firm. Every seat in the galleries of the two chambers is filled. Many sit on the carpeted aisle steps or stand two deep against the rear walls. The usually vacant diplomatic gallery of the Senate, directly opposite the Vice President’s dias, is filled to overflowing. In the reserved front row of the members’ private gallery of the Senate. Mrs. Roosevelt sits surrounded by Cabinet wives, knitting and chatting. The press gallery, directly above the Vice President, is packed. On the floor of the chamber, Senators exchange greetings. Postmaster General Jim Farley smiles blandly; Secretary of the Navy Swanson throws away his thin, black stogie. On the brightred leather covered lounges against the walls, sit the secretaries of Senators. MM* Senators THE Senate’s two newlyweds, tall Tydings of Maryland, and taller McAdoo of*California, shake hands and clap each other on the back. Virginia’s 77-year-old Carter Glass and Florida's aged Duncan Fletcher hobble to their desks. A page boy in short trousers moves slowly up the aisle, leading blind Senator Gore of Oklahoma, with head raised high and hands feeling for the chair in front" of him.

WPA officials say they need about $2,000,000,000 but they don’t expect to get it. Congress may, however, be rather generous about relief. It surely will give Roosevelt the $500,000,000 he wants for a continuing public works program next year—although this will be earmarked—and at least the $300.000,000 he wants for a reduced CCC. General expectations that a bonus bill will be passed over the Presidential veto seems to be justified. The measure passed by both houses, however, is expected to resemble the Vinson bill, passed by the Senate before the Patman bill was substituted for it, which simply appropriates $2,263,545,684 for prompt cash payment. There is little chance that the bonus will be paid by issuance of new paper currency and hardly any that the money will be raised

The Senate’s tobacco chewers, Bulow of South Dakota, and Brown of New Hampshire, discard their quids for the auspicious occasion. Around the desk of Illinois’ J. Ham Lewis, a group gathers to congratulate the pink-whiskered Senator on coming out of Russia alive. The freshman class in the back row are sophisticated sophomores now, and resolved to do some talking. Burke, Schwellenbach, Moore, Guffey, Holt and Minton have their old seats, but anew expression on their faces. MM* House Bedlam THE Senate, by tradition, is the big attraction, although its ceremonies are no different nor more colorful than those of the House. Because of the larger galleries in the House, the crowd is much, greater. Also, the atmosphere is more informal. In the front row of the Speaker’s gallery, Mrs. Joseph Byrns wears a large corsage, proudly watches her husband. Nearby, Alice Longworth, cynosure of all eyes, stares at the scene through a lorgnette. Unlike the decorous animation of the Senate, the floor, of the House is a bedlam of noise and movement. Members dash to and fro, shout, laugh, exchange greetings at the tops of their voices. The arena looks like a huge classroom just before the arrival of the teacher. The stroke of 12 o’clock sounds. M M M Call to Order FROM his swivel chair on the green carpet covered dais of the Senate rises Vice President Gamer, stocky, ruddy-faced, attired in his usual dark-hued, hand-me-down business suit. At the same moment, gangling Speaker Joseph Byrns, in wing collar, frock coat and pin-stripe trousers, rises from his high-

by special taxes. Sentiment now is largely for a special bond issue, with veterans to be paid off in either cash or bonds. ft ft ft ALTHOUGH Roosevelt is expected to veto any bonus legislation, it is believed that he is resigned to its victory at this session. Recovery is still the big thing in the White House mind and it is widely believed that government expenditures have been the chief factor in such recovery as already has been achieved. In connection with budget reduction, some real stabs may be made at government reorganization. NRA will be liquidated of course, and Roosevelt has before him a plan cooked up by certain experts which calls for drastic rejiggering. NEXT: Government, business, labor and farm measures in the present Congress.

backed seat on the rostrum of the House. A hush descends on the crowded, chattering galleries. Members scurry hurriedly to their seats. Garner and Byrns rap sharply with their gavels. Garner uses a handless knob of ivory, Byrns a sturdy wooden mallet which will be replaced many times, through vigorous use, in the months to come. lt H Prayer 'T'HE Rev. Zeßarney T. Phillips, -*■ chaplain of the Senate, and the Rev. James Shera Montgomery, chaplain of the House, offer prayer in their respective chambers. The presiding officers order their reading clerks to call the roll. In the Senate, with only 96 names, this takes only a. few minutes. In the House, with 435. names, it requires 30 to 45 minutes. In both chambers the colleagues of deceased members rise to present resolutions of condolence. In the Senate, Louisiana’s bulky John H. Overton and Minnesota’s pompadoured FarmerLaborite Henrik Shipstead offer resolutions for Huey Long and Thomas Schall, one struck down by an assassin's bullet and the other by an automobile—both bitter enemies of the President. In the House the dean of the Michigan delegation offers a similar motion for Rep. Henry M. Kimball, who died since the last session. Swearing in of new members is next in order. With these preliminaries out of the way, Democratic floor leaders offer a previously prepared resolution to hear the President of the United States. The second session of the sev-enty-fourth Congress is now formally in session. (Copyright, 1936. by United Feature Syndicate. Inc. i.

By J. Carver Pusey

Second Section

ilnferrd ss Seoend Clss* Vector at Pnstoffioe. Indianapolis. Jnd.

Fair Enough HMKGH T>ARIS. Jan. 3.—One rainy afternoon in Rome I A went out in a taxi to circle the huge park, surrounded by a high wall, where Mussolini's house stands alone amid trees. The house was hidden from view, and the trip would not have paid except for the presence along the sidewalk of a detail of cutthroats the like of which has not been assembled under one command since the days of his majesty's Black and Tans. Mussolini's household hoodlums were stationed at intervals of 50 yards around

the park, each under his umbrella, all keeping up the nominal pretense of waiting for a street car, of which there was none in that vicinity, or for a friend, of which there can be none on earth. There were other secret policemen on the far side, one carrying a suitcase which could have contained the conventional Tommy gun. This one was strolling up the block the first time I passed. When I came around again he was strolling the other way with his suitcase. At a distance, and in print, the

caster oil treatment in which the Black Shiri? overcame political doubt seems not very brutal. But I must admit that at close quarters it was not so easy to see the joke. The customary procedure of these missionaries is to call at night in a body on the victim of a political error, twist his arms and legs until the bones crack, then pour down his neck a quart of castor oil which may be mixed with kerosene. nun Mice. Pleasant Fellows A FEW days later, on a trip to Pontinia. the tailormade village which Mussolini built on a. reclaimed swamp, somewhat resembling the Florida glades, the strong-arm detail was out again, this time in greater numbers. They mingled with the crowd and climbed steps to overlook the press of people. They sidled up and looked earnestly in your eyes and gazed at your camera and studied your overcoat for bulges. I felt nervous, for we had left the room in the dark at 7 a. m. without breakfast, and I had in my pocket an eating apple whose contour might have suggested a pineapple. Mussolini has special preference for the foieign press on such occasions, for he has the natural desire that his achievements in this great reclamation work shall be known in other lands. He has salvaged the swamps, built several towns and lifted whole communities out of their old surroundings, to set them flown in anew country where everything is ready for life. It is the of work that we in America are always going to do. Consequently, petty Mussolinis of the foreign press bureau round up all the foreign representation they can find. nun Duce Given Once Over SO there are about 50 of us on this trip, and we all had a long look at the Duce putting on his number three routine. This is the one in which he is a kindly man of the people and the living spirit of a proud and mighty but friendly race demanding only justice for Italy. After the act Mussolini received us in the council room of the new town hall. He is not as tall as I had expected, being about 5 feet 10 and thick in the barrel, but not fat. His face surprised me, for I had expected a popeyed glare, an undershot jaw and the generally bloodthirsty mien, whereas there was a soft expression in Mussolini’s eyes. He spoke in a quiet, civil tone and his lips parted in a smile three of four times. A French woman journalist stepped out and dropped her wedding ring into his hand for his gold collection. Mussolini said he was touched, and went away in a pleasant mood. It was strange to feel drawn to this man, knowing that a word from him might cause another world war any minute, and all over the place were those plain-clothes missionaries who might rub against that apple any minute and take impulsive steps. A Contrast in Life, Death Implements BY ERNIE PYLE FLORENCE, Ala., Jan. 3.—Muscle Shoals, so prominent in the press for a decade, has come to be one of those abstract things, like “gold standard" and “theory of relativity,” which everybody knows about and few understand. But Muscle Shoals is something real. You can see it, and walk around it, and even understand it without much trouble. Originally, Muscle Shoals was merely the bunch of rocks out in the Tennessee River above Florence

Ernie Pyle

of town and look up the river and see the dam. The government owns land at both ends of the dam—about 2300 acres altogether. It is posted "Reservation,” like an Army camp. There are three government-built villages along the river, where government workers live. But most of them live in the Tri-Cities. Down the river two or three miles, and inland half a mile is the famous Nitrate Plant No. 2. This was the wartime munitions factory; it is now the place where TV A is making its phosphate fertilizer. I always had pictured Nitrate Plant No. 2 as one big building, maybe looking something like ~ grain elevator, with three or four smokestacks sticu .ig out of it. Nitrate Plant No. 2 actually covers a couple of hundred acres, has at least 20 buildings, each one as big as an elevator or auto factory—and it has warehouses and office buildings and laboratory buildings, and a railroad yards, and a high steel fence running around the whole thing. n n n ' I 'VA uses only a tiny part of this vast assemblage for its fertilizer manufacture; just three buildings down at one end. All the rest stands idle; the murikions-making machinery still in there, just as it was left in 1919. TV A men keep it painted and greased, and all turning machinery is turned over now and then. It gives you a creepy feeling to go through these great lonesome buildings, and see this weird-looking machinery, put there to kill people, lying there now like a sleeping cat, but ready on a minute's notice to wake up and pour out the stuff to kill young men. You feel especially creepy when you step into the live part of the great factory and see the contrast of this same machinery grinding out stuff to restore our wasted soil—to restore life, instead of extinguish it.

Westbrook Pegler

which formed a shoal. Today Muscle Shoals is the name applied loosely to all the government work going on around Florence. It consists of Wilson Dam and its powerhouse, the war-time munitions factory which now makes fertilizer for TVA, the fertilizer experiment laboratories, the clerical offices of TVA, three little government villages, and Florence itself. The Tennessee River flows alongside Florence, and Wilson Dam is just about three miles up the river. You can go to the edge