The Syracuse Journal, Volume 28, Number 12, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 18 July 1935 — Page 2

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BRISBANE THIS WEEK Big War or Little? LaGuardia'* G-Men She Took It Seriously Pretty Bluebirds War la pot coming; It Is here. It nay or may not be a war “setting the

world on fire.” Italy had an unpleasant ' experience in Abysslnla in the last century and wishes to repair that. It also wishes to keep Japan from gathering In Abyssinia's trade and controlling Abyssinia. Britain can understand how Italy feels, since Britain found it really necessary to gather In the Transvaal and other vast areas

Art bar Briabaae

throngbout the world. Italy used to send 500,000 Immigrant* a year to the United State*. Now they are shut out. They must go somewhere. They would considerably Improve Abyssinia if they went there. Mayor* of others cities will watch New York's Mayor LaGuardia fighting racketeering and crime in general Besides training bis own police force to shoot straight and “to kill,** Mayor LaGuardia will get some government "G-men,* if possible, from Washington, to come and set the example. If Mayor LaGuardia, who has an honest and energetic police commissioner. cleans up crime in New York, he will deserve a statue next to that of Hercules, who cleaned the Augean stables, and a bigger statue. Women, before and since Helolse. have taken heart affairs more seriously than men. Margaret Jordan, an Irish girl, lonely, fell in love with a Mount Vernon, N. Y M policeman, because he came from her home town. He was . married, with eight children; and after he had seen the girl for two yean he decided that he must reform and see her no more. He told her about this, pious resolution as he sat in his police car. and did not notice that she took his service revolver from the pocket of the car. He learned what had happened next day when told that the girl had killed herself with his revolver. It was embarrassing for a married policeman with eight children. At Fort George Wright, tiny bluebirds built their nest In the mouth of a big cannon, and mother bluebird laid four pretty blue eggs. Our kindhearted heroes at the fort are protecting thelnest Sentries do not come too near, cats are discouraged and to the orders of the day Maj. George 8. Clark added these kind words, "and keep an eye on those birds.” In American churches Sunday. August 18, will be a day of prayer for peace tn Africa and safety for little Ethiopia, which confronts war with powerful Italy. » That Is the right United States Interference in foreign affairs. The prayers will reach their destination, and the Supreme Being to whom they are addressed knows what Is beat, and has power to arrange matters in Ethiopia as he choose*. To pray: “Lord, possessor of oninisceuce and omnipotence, we leave all in your hands,” is right. To send. a million young American men. and several thousand million American dollars, to meddle in hot Africa would be wrong. The country will welcome President Roosevelt* statement that the "four thousand million dollar works relief fund” will actually be invested In such away as to increase the nation's capital asset*. Many times four thousand million dollars could be spent advantageously, if it were res Uy invested In wise, permanent improvement*. A financial letter from London remarks, casually, "Credit was plentiful at one-half of one per cent interest'’ American* ’’’that cannot borrow anything, on securities once considered good, wonder bow the British manage. The American government borrows at three and a half per cent, •even times the current English Interest - rate, money manufactured by itseif. •nd thus adds one hundred per cent to taxes for interest that need not be paid at all. Queer finance, dearly beloved. St Louis reformer* say . women should not sit on high stools with their feet on a rail and drink at the bar. And, reformer* rejoice to hear, the saloonkeepers say: "Amen." Reformers and saloonkeepers are right The saloon was bad enough before women moved In to make It worse, hitching up their dresses, climbing high stools, readjusting their dresses, or not readjusting them, calling for foolish drink* to show how foolish they could be. The Methodist Federation for Social Service, surveying the cotton area, •aya the AAA, cutting down the cotton crop, has added to the sorrows of the little worker that raises cotton es share*, while enriching the T« every oooy. T ~~- FUw— to A. the Lena Delta torches thrive m far north as latitude 72 degree* Oatenfeld in 1923 IB yetas «* s. “*? , J'S .yirTy iruncto of the

News Review of Current Events the World Over Lobbying and Virgin Islands Investigations Develop Lively Scraps—House “Rebels” Are Tame Concerning TVA Amendments. By EDWARD W. PICKARD • © Western Newspaper Union.

E'IFTY thousand dollars was approprl- " ated b’y the house for investigation by the rules committee of lobbying for and against bills affecting utilities inter-

eats. Representative Rankin of Mississippi declared that Representative O’Connor of New York, chairman of the committee, was unfit to conduct the Inquiry because he was antagonistic to the administration. O’Connor, rising to reply, was given an ovation by the bouse, and promised the ln-

T. G. Corcoran

vestlgatlon would be thorough and impartial. ( Already the committee had begun Its work, the first witness being Representative Brewster of Maine, who declared Thomas O. Corcoran, New Deal lawyer, bad tried to force him to vote for the "death sentence" prevision in the utilities bill by threats of stopping work on the Passamaquoddy project Corcoran was then put on the stand and denied the main features of Brewster’s story, whereupon the Maine congressman shouted. "You’re a liar." Corcoran explained with facility his activities In behalf of the utilities measure. He said he was assigned to help with the original drafting of the bill "through a direct request from the President” Senators Wheeler and Rayburn. he said, asked him to help bring about passage of the bill. The senate committee on audit and controls reported favorably on a resolution calling for a **50,000 appropriation to Investigate lobbying in connection with all legislation at this session, and the resolution was adopted by the senate. pERHAPS it was the summer heat * in Washington; perhaps there was a lot of pressure from the direction of the White House. Anyhow, the backbones of the house Democrats, recently so stiff against “dictation” by the administration, weakened most noticeably when the house took up the redrafting of the Tennessee Valley authority act Nearly all the recent “rebels" among the Democrats fell Into line and the bill was shorp of every major provision that was objectionable to the President These amendments were approved: To delete a clause saying the TVA »uist sell power or chemicals at not toss than cost after July 1, 1937. To let the TVA operate without abSOlute control by the comptroller general over its expenditures. To delete a section preventing the agency from constructing power lines paralleling existing private ones. To let the authority decide whether private interests may build dams or appurtenant works on the Tennessee river or tributaries. This victory greatly heartened the administration forces, and they pressed forward to try for another in the conference on the utilities bill Also In the senate they carried on a determined fight for the amendments broadening the powers of the AAA. Senators Borab and Byrd were the chief opponents of the New Dealers in this | totter battle. FANE of the hottest scraps of the year developed between Secretary of the Interior Ickes and Senator TydIngs of Maryland over the inquiry Into

the administration of Gov. Paul M. Pearson In the Virgin island* The secretary accused | the senator of “white- j washing" a witness I before the Tydings i committee; and the senator retorted by advising the secretary ! to “confine yourself to the duties for which you have been appointed." Bofb of

them were thoroughly angry and TydIngs in a letter accused Ickes of seeking “cheap publicity." Federal Judge T. Webber Witeon of the Virgin islands had given testimony that exasperated Ickea and the secretary demanded that the judge be removed from office for “official misconduct" Then Ickea wrote to Tydings a letter carrying bls charge of "whitewashing” and saying of the judge’s testimony: "There was no cross-ex-amination to test his truthfulness, and If any statement ever needed such a test, it was his." Judge Wilson had told the committee that there had been "admlnlatmtlve Interference" with hla court and that Morris Ernst, counsel for the Civil Liberties union, while a guest of Governor Pearson, had threatened to put him "on the spot" tn the press unless he granted a rehearing to a government employee accused of theft Tydings accused Secretary Ickes of "gross deceit upon the American people” by stating in an Interior department press release that Panl C Tates, administrative assistant oT Pearson, had been discharged, when "yon know and I know that Mr. Tate* had resigned five days before your pram rb- ' lease was tamed.” I |TH> PROVIDE quick employment and end the dote.tbe entire four-hilllon-doUar works-relief fund must be exwithin the next twelve months, was the flat statement of Presitooeevelt to the state PWA directors, who were gathered in Washington for a two day conference. After dieCussing the old PWA program, the President said: "Too am Zw an important part of an even greeter effortone to be unde during the next year which win preside quick raghymn l.

- so that we can attain. If possible, the » goal we have set within this year 1935. ■ Before the year Is ended we will end - the dole we have been paying to em- » ployable persons during the tost two I years. In other words, we must give • useful work to three and one-half mll- ‘ Hon people and I believe we are going i to do IL i “In order to do IL of course, we • are faced by a problem of arithmetic > which Is comparatively simple. We > have four billion dollar* and three and . one-half million people to put to work > with IL That means we have to avi erage things up. It means that we , have on the average about *1,140 per • man year. "That has to Include the cost of the material, so that the four billion doli tors Includes not only the amount we ■ pay the men but also the cost of the material. It is a perfectly simple I arithmetical problem—we have to work > out an average that will come within i the sum of money divided by the num- • ber of people we have to put to work. "You know, of course, that we have i spent a great deal of money during the • tost two years, but we find now not > only that there are additional funds at our disposal but also that the need i of permanent work all over the United i States Is not yet ended. We find that 1 the deeper we go into it the more opi portunities we have to do constructive i work In almost every community In the country." STANDING atop a cannon, Benito Mussolini told 16,000 Black Shirt ’ volunteers and the world as well that In lhe matter of Ethiopia “We have de-

W. P. George

expects the “king of kings” to submit i tamely, so other nations are advising i their nationals in Ethiopia to get out of » the country. William Perry George, i the American charge d'affaires at Addis Ababa, was authorized by the State , department to advise American citizens ; to leave, or take whatever other steps he deemed necessary to protect their safety. Mr. George transmitted to the emperor the rather curt reply of the American government to bls majesty’s , appeal for aid in stopping Italy. Secretary of State Hull, writing by au- , tborlty of the President, told the em- I peror the United States was “loath to believe” the two countries actually will engage In warfare as they are both . signatories of the Kellogg pact The ’ note also pointed out that the arbitration proceedings might arrive at a satisfactory decision. The chances that war might be averted by the arbitrators seemed slight. Those gentlemen met again at Scbevenlngen and their session was disrupted by the Italian representa--1 tives when a spokesman for Ethiopia set forth the fact that Ualual. scene of the bloody clash last December, is , well within the Ethiopian border. Apparently the British have given up trying to cheek Mussolini and are , now devoting their efforts to plans for getting British and British Indian subjects out of Addis Ababa on short notice. Troop-carrying planes at Cairo and cruisers, stoops and troop ships at various near ehst ports were being made ready for this service. France evidently intends to let Italy go ahead with the Ethiopian adventure, and, like the United States, is not Inclined to participate In an economic blockade of Italy such as was unofficially suggested by England. Emperor Haile Selassie made another attempt to get international action by calling for a meeting of the League of Nations council to thresh out the dispute with Italy. At the • same time the emperor appealed to the ■ world for fair play and protested to five European powers against their refusal to permit the shipment of arms and. munitions to Ethiopia. It was t said In Geneva the league council probably would be called into session witht in a few weeks. The protest about arms shipments was not likely to do . Ethiopia any good. Indeed, It was said Great Britain bad provisionally joined the nations banning such t naactions. OIJ) JACOB S. COXEY of Massilon, Ohio, is again oh his way toward i the White House, having been nomi- : mated for President by acclamation by I a national Farmer-Labor convention in i Omaha. To be sure, there were only t a few delegates and some of them bolt- , ed; and the convention, which was to • have lasted five days, had only one see- . slon. But it was a regular affair. Leo- . fie Erickson of Minneapolis was chosen to be “General” Coxey’s running , mate. The platform includes a tot of , things, among them being planks for . sharing the wealth, inflation and tech- . nocracy. ~ - XTIKOL.K TESLA, famed scientist, I an celebrated his seventy-ninth birth- . day In New York city by giving out . the news of three astonishing develop- . ments in the sciawcea They are: X* new method and apparatus for . transmitting mechanical energy over i 1 any terrestial distance. Passage at an Induction cunent with I a varying flux one way only through • a circuit without use of a. commutator. Promt, after observation of cosmic >■ rays, that many of the pWFMfttiiMW of , relativity are false

Sec’y Ickes

elded upon a struggle to which we as a government and a people will not turn bach. The decision Is Irretrievable." Unless Emperor Halle Selassie gets right down on his knees to II Duce, the war in his dominion will begin to September when • the rainy season end* No one

SYRACUSE JOURNAL

COMPTROLLER GENERAL M’CARIP doesn’t care where the chips fall when he starts hewing. He has just given an opinion that ruins the President’s plan to require bidders on government contracts to bind themselves to abide by any future legislation providing for minimum wages and maximum hours of labor In employment on such contracts. A proviso to this effect was being exacted of bidders. Mr. McCarl hold® that the proviso may be viewed as a "request" only and a bld could not be rejected because the person making it refused to subscribe to this principle. The plan was advanced from the procurement division of the treasury, which proposed that the government replace the requirement for code compliance on all government bidders, knocked out when the recovery act was voided by the Supreme court THOUGH the naval treaties of Washington and London have been abrogated by Japan, the American government still keeps Its eye on the maximum permitted for our navy by 1942 and Is making a determined effort to reach IL much to the delight of the “big navy” men and to citizens generally who believe in adequate preparedness. Secretary of the Navy Claude Swanson has announced that a ship construction program has been decided upon which calls for the construction of 12 destroyers and six submarines. These are tn addition to the 15 destroyers and six submarines for which blds have been advertised and will be opened next month. The airplane building program calls for 555 new planes during the current fiscal year. Os these, 282 will be replacement planes for those now in service and 273 will be new craft. Two airplane carriers and six cruisers now under construction and scheduled for completion in 1937 are to house some of the new planes. FLOODS In several eastern states, following torrential rains, took about three score lives and did vast property damage. The Finger lakes and Catskill mountain regions in New York suffered most severely. The deaths there numbered forty, and thousands were rendered homeless. Gov. Herbert H. Lehman announced an Immediate allocation of *300,000 for use in rehabilitation. who knew Ray Long Bell " was surprised to hear that formerly famous magazine editor had committed suicide at his California home. In late years he had not been very successful in business, his most recent ventures being in the field of scenario writing. He was not one to put up with adversity very long, and it was characteristic of him to take the easy way out, of suicide. CRITICS of the President’s program have made up their minds that he is deliberately building up a "crisis" which will provide excuse for a demand for constitutional amendments in the campaign of 1936. Their conviction was strengthened by Mr. Roosevelt’d letter to Congressman Samuel B. Hill, chairman of the Interstate commerce subcommittee, urging th* passage of the Guffey coal bill regard- : less of doubts as to its constitutlon- , allty. ! President Roosevelt followed the suggestion of Attorney General Cummings that the legislation should be put through congress because "the situation is so urgent," and that the question of constitutionality should be left up to the courts. The PresidenL admitting that coal mining is in itself an Intrastate transaction, nevertheless wrote that the final test of the validity of the Guffey bill would depend upon whether production conditions directly affect, promote, or obstruct interstate commerce. The Supreme court, in the Schechter NRA case, quoted a previous opinion that mining, manufacturing, and other forms of production were as local in their character as the production of crops, and hence beyond the reach of congress. THE secretary' of the treasury appeared before the house ways and means committee which was trying to formulate the new tax bill wanted by the administration, and declared thaL depending on the rates of taxation adopted, the measure might bring Id as much as *1,000.006.000 a year or as little as *118,000,000 annually. As the representative of the administration, the young secretary declined to advise as to the rates, though the Republican members of the committee tried to pin him down to details. The legislation outlined by the President includes taxation of Inheritances and gifts, higher surtaxes on million dollar incomes and graduated Income taxes on corporation* Senator Charles L. McNary of Oregon. Republican leader, predicted that congress either would recess and reconvene In the fail or would put off enactment of the tax bill until the session beginning January 3 next /CLEVELAND. OHIO, was the acene <3 of a second "grass roots" convention of Republican* the six states participating being Michigan. Ohio, Pennsylvania. West Virginia. Kentucky •nd Tennessee. “To revitalise interest In the party" was declared the purpose of the meeting by George H. Bender of Ohio, permanent chairman. The attendance was large and enthusiastic and the resolutions adopted, like those of the Springfield . conference, denounced the New Deal and called the voters to the defense of the country’s Constitution and free institution* OUR army lost an able and distinguished officer in the death of Maj. Gen. Stuart Helntselman at the •nay and navy hospital in Hot Springs, Ark. The grandson and son of army officers. General Helntselman w graduated from West Point tn 1899. After service in the Philippines and China he was sent to France as an observer. and when America entered the war he held high staff assignment* He wen the D. 3. M. and was decorated by France and Italy. From the inception of the OCC General Heintxeiman was in charge of federal reclamation projects in Missouri until last Feb raary. when he was given command of the Seventh corp* ere*

Little Lights on LIVING 8B By MARIA LEONARD Dean of Women, University of Illinois © Western Newspaper Union. WITHOUT WAX WE WERE talking of antiques, when the Florentine gentleman of high birth said: “Cone, let me show you my marble table tn the garden.” 1 followed him through the dark hall, stone paved, out into a beautiful sunlit Florentine Inner court garden with great dark cypresses waving their tips in the breeze. Around the roots of these dignified old trees, centuries old. were little flower beds of bright posies confined by stone edges between which. In formal fashion, were Inviting little path* It was a surprise garden In the rear of an uninviting looking stone residence set uncompromisingly on a none too wide side street in the city of Florence. Florence, Italy, Is a surprise city anyhow, with Its wealth of history, its tragedies, Its bloody climb to HghL Its sacrifices in the name of power and religion. Its wealth, its art and literature. What a panorama of human achievements and failures, Florence presents to a sympathetic heart, as one recalls the de Medici* Savonarola, Fra Angelico, the Browning* •nd the host of others too numerous to name, frhen I am in Florence I never really know tn what century I am living, for these old memories press persistently Into my heart. We have wandered far from our sunlit garden Into which I had followed my host to see his marble table. "Is it an antique?" I inquired as I noticed great cracks across the beautiful marble slab. “No, it is noL” my friend responded. "Listen to this story! "The marble cutters of Florence are wily old fellows," he continued, “often when their chisels slipped too far they cracked the marble slab* Into these cracks they poured soft wax. After the wax had hardened the slabs were polished and the tables sold for solid marble.” The Florentines soon realized the deception and began asking when buying tables for those “sine cera”—(without wax). Interesting it is to note that our word sincerity comes from the little phrase "sine cera,” without wax, which is precisely what it means—for to be sincere is to be genuine, whether it be a table or an individual. “To be without pretext or show Exactly what men think I am." If this be a good working rule for Florentine tables, to be genuinely sincere tables of solid marble, isn’t it also a silver rule for you and me to follow in daily life, to be found Always “sine cera”? • • THE ABILITY FAMILY THE best neighbors I ever had were the Ability family. There were eight in the'present family, one child died young. The father’s name was Reliability, the mother’s Responsibility. They were each well named. The father had the respect and confidence of all he met in business —people, even strangers, felt him to be trustworthy. The mother played her part, too; after visiting her household, one could be assured that she carried her part of the home making for her husband and their six children, adding nrore duties each day to her already full program. Her name was Responsibility and she lived up to iL One would naturally expect a strong family of children from such parents, and such was the case. Their first child, who grew to be strong and stalwart, they named Respectability. He was an upright chap. He thought well of himself and justly so, for he lived persistently at bis best The second child was named Stability, for at an early age he evidenced decided firmness of character. He was sure footed and steady as a rock. His opinions were always real convictions to him. After a few yean passed another child was born to this interesting family, not as strong in health aa the first two children, but patient unto long endurance, with never a word of comptotoL This child was calm and often silent with an Inner reserve and strength that won from his friends great admiration and love. His parents called him Durability. The fourth child was a joy to Its mother. Nothing ever seemed to go wrong when this little fellow was abouL Everyone loved him as he grew up, because be was thinking constantly of other* He would change bls piano to accommodate others if need toto Unselfishness was his watchword. His name was Adaptability. One child died young. Peevish and ill-tempered, he grew quite apart from the family trait* His name was Irritability. He was too unhappy to live long. After the death of Irritability the Ability family was again augmented by twOi when the twins came. Happy, good natured. lovable pair of youngsters they were, They brought sunshine and joy wherever they went Everybody agreed that they should be called Affability and Compatablilty I So this is the Ability family. How many of them have you met in your circle of friends? Do you wonder the name of this family was ABILITY? A Fence*!t Pendulum The ball suspended from the root of the National Academy of Sciences to a Faucauit pendulum. The action of this pendulum depends upon the fact that according to the law* of motion a. freely swinging pendulum tends constantly to move in the same plane. The experiment prove* that the earth rotate* eastward and the rate of devto tlon of the pendulum prove* that the relative motion of the earth, with respect to the stat* is due entirely to Its rotation and not to the motion of the stars an end IL

National Topic* Interpreted by William Bruckart Preaa _Washington, D. C.

Washington.—Back in 1916 before the United States became Involved In the World war Pabhc Debt our government had Mountt * national debt which was regarded ds large at that time. It was only *l,800,000,000, but that was sufficient In those days to cause concern. On the first of July, 1935, the treasury started a new set of book* This represented the beginning of a new financial year for the governmenL One of the items it had to enter on those books was a public debt of about $28,800,000,006. We of today think that is a huge debt and when it Is compared with the outstanding obligations of the federal government a score of years ago Its magnitude appears to be titanic. When the treasury closed the fiscal year books on June 30 and counted the cost of the preceding 12 months of government It was found that there had been expended roughly $7,300,000,000. In the same period it had collected through Income and other forms of taxes, Including duties laid at the customs houses, a total of approximately $3,800,000,000. This means that In the last 12 months the government operated with a deficit of something over *3,500,000,000. In other word* its operating costs were virtually double the amount of revenue It received. This deficit together with the deficit that was created during the earlier months of the Roosevelt administration added something like $8,000,000,000 to the national debL President Hoover while In office added about $4,000,000,000 to the national debt through deficits In the last two years of his administration. So there are two outstanding phases in the financial affairs of the federal government as it starts the fiscal year of 1936, which began July 1. There Is bred these questions: How long can the federal government continue to spend money like water and thus increase its public debt, and how long will the American people continue to permit expenditures by their government in excess of the revenues It collects? They are related question* Neither can happen without the other. But It seems to me that the time has come for taxpayers and voters generally to ■ take note of the condition of the government's finances. Mr. Roosevelt justifies these heavy outlays under the necessities of an emergency. He contends that when prosperity returns and business is normal, citizens will pay their taxes without complaint and that these taxes will be sufficiently large in their total! production to whittle down the gigantic outstanding debL Hence there Is at this moment an urgent need for examination of the whole tax structure. This is necessary to maintain the credit of the United State* If people doubt or lose faith in government bonds, the credit of the government can be said to be impaired. No nation of self-respecting people desires that thing to happen. It has long been a recognized truism that If a United States government bond was not worth its face value, the money we have and the rights we exercise as citizens likewise become impaired in value and benefit. • • • Careful analysis of government finances in the last 12 months shows that federal revenues Finances were sufficient to Analyzed cover what Mr. Roosevelt char acterizes as ordinary government costs. He means by that the expenses of the regular establishments of governments and excludes all of the so-called emergency agencies, of which there are now some sixty-odd. This condition reveals that federal taxes are about the only Item in governmental affairs or in private business that have completely recovered from depression effect* Recovery has been sufficient to make the total revenues virtually the same as those received under the Hoover administration in the fiscal year of 19291930. It shows also that Mr. Roosevelt has not reduced the cost of ordinary running expenses of the government as he had planned when be became PresidenL I mentioned earlier a comparison of the public debt now and in 1916. Let us take another date, namely, 1919. At that time the outstanding debt was *26,594,000,000. The annual interest charge on that debt was just short of one billion dollar* Today with a much larger outstanding debL the annual interest charge amounts to only *820,000,000 per year. This seems almost paradoxical but the answer lies In the interest rate the government is paying. In 1921 the average rate of interest calculated on all different types of government securities outstanding was 434 per cent. At the present time it is less than 3 per cent So credit must be accorded the treasury for its gradual reduction in interest rates. Ten years ago an effort was made to market securities at gradually lower Interest rate* It did not succeed fully because private business was demanding capital and private business was paying higher interest rate* In the tost five or six year* private business has called for very little money. Government securities and the tow of supply and demand operated to allow the treasury to sell its bonds and notes at much reduced interesL r On the one hand, therefore, the Roosevelt administration has run up , the public debt by about $8,000,000,000 irat has succeeded to actually reducing the carrying charge of this great debt Structure by more than $100,000,000 per year. That is the situation as of today. Bestoration of business activity and tha,resultant demand for capital may change the market for treasury bonds almost overnight but the prospects for such business activity are not inunedlat*

THURSDAY. JULY 18.

One of the Interesting things that often occurs to government affairs is the explosive effect Starts of a single incident Something °r a single remark by an important officiaL It is a characteristic of changing conditions and it is a circumstance which causes Washington observers to be on their toes continuously because they never can tell when such an incident will occur. Thus it was the other day that Representative Brewster, Republican, of Maine, a former governor of that state, arose in his place in the house of representatives and charged that the Roosevelt administration was threatening individual members of the house who declined to support the administration view on a particular piece of legislation. Mr. Brewster named ode Thomas Corcoran as the administration emissary and bearer of the threat* He told of details of the circumstance and informed the house that the legislation which the administration demanded he should support was the so-called “death sentence" provision in the bill to eliminate utility holding companies. Suffice It to say that Mr. Brewster did not yield. The point of this Incident, however, Is that Immediately there came from many quarters In the house a demand for an Investigation of lobbying actlvltie* There had been many charges theretofore that the public ptillty corporations were over-running the house with lobbyists in their effort to defeat the "death sentence” section. The real reason back of this sudden outbursL however, lies in dissatisfaction among many member* of congress with tactics employed by the Roosevelt administration. They have taken orders constantly since March 4. 1933, but apparently they are no longer going to obey—at least in such numbers as has been the case. So the investigation of lobbying is to be started by a house committee and it will be broader than just the public utility lobbyist. If the undercurrent of information proves to be correct, administration representatives who have frequented the house chambers during consideration of the holding company bill will be placed on the witness stand to tell their story. * • * In the meantime and maybe as a result of the excitement over the Brewster charge. Senator Look Into Black, an Alabama Lobbying Democrat, started fireworks in the senate. He is prepared to create investigating machinery in that end of the Capitol to determine what influence the utility lobbj'ists have exerted. That investigation also will go beyond the utility lobbyist phase. It is scheduled to dig up dirt on lobbyists for other legislation. Thus far there has been little mention of administration activities around the senate. BuL as in the case of the house investigation, It appears now that the senate Investigation has a double purpose. It will be recalled that Senator Black fostered a bill requiring all lobbyists in Washington to register at the Capitol, to show their connection, to show what salaries or other com* pensatlon they receive and to make public certain types of correspondence passing between them and the people whom they represenL The gossip is that the senator’s bill, although it passed the senate without difficulty, will have hard sledding in the house. Senator Black appears to be proceeding on the theory that the investigation will create additional atmosphere and public demand for passage of the lobbyist registration measure. Actually, I believe that the investigation will do no more than ruin reputations of some few people. Such an inquiry will not stop lobbying. It will not even curb or reduce lobbying. As long as individuals have property the value of which may be affected one way or the other by federal legislation, just so long will individuals seek to influence their representatives and senators to congres* It seems to me to be a perfectly natural and normal thing, and without defending the slimy type of lobbying and the raw or crooked deals that may come from lobbying, the voters have a right to express their view* to their representative* The irony of the present situation to that undoubtedly there will be no reference to either investigation to the tremendous activity carried on by the American Federation of Labor lobbyists or the lobbyists for the American Legion or the lobbyists for certain groups such as the pacifists or the radical supporters of Russian types off governmenL Nor is it likely that the correct picture of administration pressure upon the last two sessions of congress will be disclosed. Apparently any foreign Invader is going to have a tough time stealing any of the governCuardmg ment*s stock of gold. Our Gold Extraordinary precautions are being taken, it has been revealed, to see that this stock of $9,108,500,000 is well protected. . Orders have been given for the construction of a subterranean and impregnable vault at Fort Knox, Kentucky, 31 miles from Louisville. The vault eventually will hold a considerable portion of the billions now stored in New York and Philadelphia. The site is isolated from both railways and highways. An invading army coming from the East would have to cross the Appalachian* Airplanes piloted by men not familiar with the terrain would have a bad time of it; even flier* . who regularly cross the mountains consider the route dangerou* The policy of keeping our gold at potiits less vulnerable than cokst cities was started several months ago. when $3,000,000,000 worth of the metal was moved from San Francisco to Denver. • WMtera Newspaper Union.