The Wateree messenger. (Camden, S.C.) 1884-1942, February 06, 1935, Image 6
BRISBANE \
THIS WEEK
Old Age Pensions
' Docs Lushing Do Good?
Those Cosmic Hays
6,000- Year-0 Id Graves
Financial conservatism Is agitated
because old-age pensions as planned,
moderately. I>y the {'resident, would
cost one billion dollars a year. Con
servatism might better worry about
Doctor Townsend's plan to give two
hundred dollars a month to everybody
past sixty years of age, and cost at j
least twenty-four thousand millions a ?
year.
Conservatism mi'jht also worry about j
billions spent uselessly In state, na
tional or local government costs, and
taxes that run above thirteen thou
sand million dollars a year.
At Wilmington, Del., three young i
men, eighteen, twenty and twenty-three
years old, were lashed In public, a
crowd of one hundred looking on.
After the lashing, on the bare back,
the youths began ten-year prison sen- j
tences foi burglary. The lash fright- i
ens criminals more than imprisonment, ;
ns was proved In London, where un '?
epidemic of "garrotting" ended as soon
ns the lasli was used. But what will )
be the mental state of those young men '
when they leave prison after long as- '
ftociation with experienced criminals. 1
and constant brooding on the humili
ation and pain of the lashing?
Can it he hoped that they will be re
formed, or he nnvthlng except con
firmed criminals, and eneiMes of so
ciety?
A learned Herman says he has dis
covered the source of "cosmic rays"
that bombard all space, constantly
passing through your body, although
you don't know it. driven by the ter
rific energy of billions of volts. The
professor suggests that the bombard
ment may occasionally break down a j
few of the atoms In the human body, J
thus slowly changing heredity.
That sounds like a great deal of trou
ble. to change heredity, which depends, j
really, on the rignt girl choosing the '
right kind of father for her children. 1
Doctor Sukenik, professor of arche
ology In the Hebrew University of Jeru
salem, has discovered graves six thou- j
sand years old, that go far back of
Moses and Job and others well known.
These graves were dug, and filled,
long before the Jewish nation had
made Jerusalem their principal city,
when other, earlier races Inhabited the
site of "old Jerusalem."
Talking Into a telephone In the White |
House, with amplifiers at the other end,
the President greeted sK hundred
members of the Holland society, at din
ner In New York. He felt prfcle in
contributions made to this country by
the men of Holland through three hun
dred years. The Koosevelts are of
Dutch origin, but unlike his distant
cousin. Theodore Roosevelt, the Pres
ident did not recite any childish Dutch
poems about cows In "the kopjes." To
know what the old Hollanders really
were, as fighters and "st-iyers," read
Motley.
Names that sound strnnge to West
ern ears figure in the case of Tony
Fou Lew, "Chinese doll bride." Site
and her alleged father, Mr. din Lom,
are accused of arranging marriages,
taking money, and then not marrying.
Mr. Kack Lew (}ee, angry Chinese
merchant, says he paid $1,800 to mar
ry the toy bride, but got no bride.
Other Interesting names figure In a
discussion that almost caused war be
tween the Los Angeles Hop Sing Tong
nnd the Four Kamlllns Association.
Chinese names sound strange to our
ears, but Jones or Robinson would
sound ridiculous to the Chinese. Fon
Lew nnd her pretended father ran
sway to China, but will be brought
back nnd Gin Lem will be tried for
violating the Mann net. An accusa
tion that will always puzzle him.
The Saar plebiscite, ns was certain
In advance, proves to be superficially
a victory for Hitler. In renllty. It
proves the devotion of tier mans to
Germany under any conditions.
With the population of the Saar
more than OPi per cent German, voters
wore asked whether they wished once
more to resume Oermnn citizenship,
throw in their lot with France, or re
main suspended In the air as wards
of the League of Nations it was
certain that Germans would vote for
Germany.
Our national defense authorities are
delighted because a great American
nnvy plane labeled XP2I11 flew non
Stop to the Canal /one from Norfolk.
2,000 miles. In 2r> hours. Amelia
Hnrhart recently flew 2,400 miles In
10 hours, alone, without sleep.
And a Russian plane has flown 7,r>(K)
miles nonstop.
IJncie Ham, to equal Russia, need
only multiply that 2, (MM) mile honstop
(light by three, nnd ndd i.MM) miles to
the total.
California has horse racing with
gambling. Great crowds attend the
track, nnd the total betting In the pari
mutnel system Is heavy. The state
will get part of the money, not ft great
deal, citizens will lose their money
?nd the gentloinen of the race track
will walk away after ench season with
large sumt supplied by citizens of
California.
A KIrr P?Atur?* Ayndloau, (no
WNtJ R?rvlc?.
Scenes and Persons in the Current News
1 Mrs. Dull, President Roosevelt's daughter, who married Johu Boetilger. 2? Central executive committee of the
Soviet government. 3 ? President nnd Mrs. Roosevelt dinner guests of the Garners.
"King Winter" Visits Boston Fishing Fleet
With the New England states well In the grip of winter weather, with high winds and temperatures around zero, the
fishing fleet conies Into Boston well decorated and cased In ice. This photograph shows the trawler Penguin as she
unloaded her fish at the Boston fish pier after battling the high seas to make port.
TENNIS SENSATION
Frank (iuernsey of Orlando. Fla., is
only seventeen years old and weighs
but 128 pounds, yet ho enme within
one point of beating Sidney B. Wood
of New York, formor Wimbledon
champ, and veteran of many Davis cup
matches.
TARGET OF PLOT
Btnrtllng details of nil extortion plot
n lined at Hurt on Howell, young Hover
ly 1 1 1 II n (t'nllf ) millionaire, were dls
closed as Investigators for the district
attorney's otllce pressed nn Intensive
Investigation which they admitted they
have heen carrying on for several
weeks. The disclosures followed close
on the heels of the llllng of a sensn
tlonnl gronft of marital suits In which
Howell also Is Involved. The young
man received threats that lie and his
mother would come to grief unless
$25,000 was pnld.
Artificial Throat to Save Baby
PlMMtt
J
Dr. f\ Ii sley of Baltimore is shown with little Miss X, three-day old hnhy,
who was horn without n throat. X-ray pictures disclosed an abbreviated esopha
gus, which Instead of leading Into the stomach only led as far as the collar
Itohc. Undaunted, Doctor Insley, and his assistant, Doctor Bay, Inserted n rubber
lube down the child's throat through which she is now being fed, while they
?eek to extend the esophagus by the grafting of living tissue.
Sir Malcolm Campbell in "Blue Bird"
Sir Malcolm Cnmpboll, Hprod dnmon of ICntflnnd, In the Bout of hid "lilno
llird" apced nutomoMIe, lioforo hi* dopnrturo for tho United Htnto* to miiko
nnothor attempt on tho world'* upeed record which he hold*.
SEEN--' HEARD
around the
National Capital
*? By CARTER FIELDSSSaa
Washington. ? Probability that con
ffress will enact legislation forcing
every state bank (except nnitunl Rav
ings banks) to take out u federal charter
Increased considerably with endorse
mint of the plan by Representative
John \V. McCormack of Massachu
setts. Met oniiack is n metnher of the
ioiim? ways and means committee,
which does n,,i ?|,.a| wlt|, banking leg
islation. but the importance of Ms
view on this subject is due not to his
committee connection, but to his own
Influence in the houses, plus the fact
that he Is very obviously carrying the
flag for the Treasury department
No mie In the treasury, from Secre
tary Morgenthau down, and including
Comptroller of the Currency I F T
O'Connor, is talking on this ' subject at
nil. It Is not a subject which lends
Itself to much open talking, for to ad
vocate such a change Is to antagonize
not only the stockholders, ollicers and
directors of all the state banking In
stltutlons. but the 48 state banking
ofhces. The latter see In any move to
end state banks a threat at their Jobs.
And some of them are quite important
politically.
Hut down underneath the administra
tion Is strong for a unified banking
system, for much the same reasons as
voiced by McCormack. And If treasury
ofilclnls see a chance to get the de
sired legislation enacted they will
come out for It strongly. They have
several Influential members of the
house and senate talking their argu
ments?without official authority? and
trying to find out what the chances
are.
For In the nature of things the ad
ministration would much rather this
particular move originate In congress
than to demand It. And It Is not vital
enough to President Roosevelt's pro
gram for hi in to turn the heat on mem
bers whose connections back home
would make it politic for then, to on
pose the change.
"The present depression has shown
the weakness of the present hanking
structure." Mr. McCormack told the
writer. "The conflict of laws and of
supervision Is responsible for much
of our banking troubles. The Idea of
having 40 authorities granting char
ters to banks is absurd. The Idea of
-10 agencies examining banks to pee If
they are solvent, and are complying
with 41) sets of banking laws. Is ridic
ulous.
Require Federal Charter
"1 would .force every bank doing a
commercial business to take out a fed
em, charter. In fact. I would permit
no bank save mutual savings banks
to do what Is normally regarded as n
banking business. Then all the banks
hat loan money commercial) v would
have similar charters, granted under
the same laws and by the same agen
cy of the government, and all would
be examined by the same agency, it
Is not Just a question of economy.
I hat is Important enough, but the
benefits of the change far transcend '
chat.
"I am not discussing the central
bank Idea, nor the authority of the
Federal Reserve board over the 12
regional banks. I am considering sim
ply the question of granting charters I
and of examining the hanks which
loan money to our citizens.
"I am strongly In favor of our dual
system of government, national and
slate, ami 1 would resist strongly the
encroachment of the federal govern
ment on the rights, functions and pre
rogatives of the states. Rut times and
conditions change. It Is no longer the
case that what happens to our banks
In Roston Is confined. In Its effects,
within the state lines of Massnchu
setts.
"Any len-year-ohl child knows that
If n group of banks, or perhaps only
one big bank, should dose in Chicago,
the reverberations would affect busl
ness harmfully from Maine to Call
fornla. The people of Oregon have a
right to have their national govern
ment protect them from harm, which
may come to them through reckless
banking In Florida.
"I meet men who oppose this change.
In defending state rights they ask mo
If I would have the federal govern
ment take over conduct of the schools
also. If seems to me that the line
of demarkntlon Is very clear. or
course I would not want to have the
federal government fake over the con
duct of the schools.
Would Affect All
"Suppose anything Imaginable that 1
might happen In the schools of my city
of Roston? b strike of the pupils or
t*he Inclusion of some debatable sub
Ject In the curriculum, or whatnot
How could that possibly affect the
people of Kentucky? Or Texas?
"Rut If two or three big hanks In
Raaton failed, every hank In those
states, and every other state, would
lie affected, seriously, and et once.
And those failures might be due en
I I rely to perfunctory, careless, or even
crooked examination of those banks
by the state banking examiners, o <
perhaps by some oversight In drafting
the state banking laws, or any one rtf
a dozen filings about the set-up with
wh'ch no one outside Massachusetts
had anything to do whatever.
"Many of us remember the so called
panic of 15K>7 It was started by the
colls ise of the Knickerbocker Trust
company In New York city. There
was no excuse for a depression at that
time. It was simply a money panic
produced by a very local situation
We learm d our lesson from that. As
? re nit, we had first the Aldrlch
V ret-In lid emergency currency bin, and
Inter the federal reserve system.
"Now the time has come to take th?
next step, and make Impossible for
the future nation wide troubles due to
preventable local disturbances. Bank
ing is not a local function any mora.
It Is national, if not International. So
it must be controlled, In toto and not
Just in part, by the strong arm of the
federal Government."
Extend Authority
Not only dues tin* administration
want to force ail commercial banks
to become national banks, as told In
n recent dispatch, tun It desires to
have the authority of t]u. Federal Re
serve board over the rj regional banks
made a great deal stronger
1 lie fact is the aim ? ? i .he admin
Istralion js n? >t very di;:'e;ent froiu
tlie purpose of the late Senator Nel
son \\ , Ahlrirh of Rhode I s 1 ; i n * 1 . whose
central hank studies were actually the
basis of the federal reserve system.
When the Democrats came Into pow
er In l<n;{ they rewrote the Ahlrich
bill, giving him as little credit as pos
sible. They did not change the funda
mental features very much, but in
several spectacular details they varied^fe
It. One of the most Important details^
In the minds of the Democratic fram
ers, including Senator Carter (Jiass,
then chairman of the house banking
and currency committee, and Senator
Robert I,. Owen of Oklahoma, then
chairman of the senate committee of
the same name, was that Instead of
one central reserve bank they made 12.
< arrying their lde:i of decentraliza
tion ns far as possible, they gave a
degree of independence to these 12 re
gional reserve hanks, which has often
Irked the federal board since, and,
for that matter, various Presidents,
who found themselves unable to con
trol the policies of the Individual re
serve banks as much ns they would
have liked.
Rearing in mind that one of the ob
jects of the new system was to got the
financial control of the country away
from New- York, and down to Wash
ington. If is rattier curious that the
reserve bank which has given Wash
ington the most trouble ever since
has been the New York bank. Headed
by strong-minded gentlemen who
knew what they wanted, and had firm
ly fixed notions of what was best, the
New ^ ork bank again and again dis
regarded the pleadings, even, of the
federal reserve authorities.
Irks Reserve Board
Reserve board members still remem
ber with anger the stubbornness of
the New York bank in the early days
of 1020. when the reserve board was
doing Its utmost to stop the sensation- <
nl rise In prices on the stock ex
change. This effort, backed by Presi
dent Hoover, proved futile. What
would have happened. If the New
York bank had been under the control
of the reserve board, no one is sure.
Rut ns good nn Illustration ns any oth
er Is that the federal hoard began try
ing to hold down speculation when
American Telephone was around 22-\
Whereas the boom gayly continued
until this stock touched ."HO.
Many contend that anything done nt
that time would have been futile so
far as (leading off the crash Is con
cerned, but the present administration
wants to bo able to control the reserve
banks ? to he able to give them orders.
'Ibis is not the same as the central
bank idea about which so much has
been heard, and which Secretary Mor
genthnu has advocated. So far there
is no Indication that President Roose
velt has been convinced of the neces
sity of this. On the contrary, nil In
dications are that lie is not for It.
Rut there Is no doubt that tie does
want more control of the reserve
banks vested In the Federal Reserve
board. Various plans are being advo
cated. one of them being to give the
reserve board the right to appoint the
governors of the 12 reserve banks.
For the most part the governors have
been the "strong men" of the reserve
bank boards, generally overshadowing
the federal agents who generally act
ed ns chairmen of tne boards.
This Is Just another step In the
march of the administration to com
plete domination by the federal gov
ernment of the hanking structure of
the United States, federal control of
credit In the interest of recovery,
maintenance of prosperity, retarding
of speculation, or whatever mav tie nt
the moment the policy of the federal
government.
Soldier Bonus
The very top figure on which the
administration Is willing to compro
mise on the soldier bonus Is $1.2(Ki.
000.000. So that the fight Is to save
something like Si .000,1 mo.ooo more^jfc
Friends of President Roosevelt sn.^f
the sky Is pretty nearly the limit to
which lie Is willing to go In fighting
to hold the bonus figure n I SI '_*< I OOf>
(XX)
if t ho bill which should pass con
gress exceeds that amount, the Presi
dent will veto It. beyond an.\ doubt.
The next step Is not much in dls
pute among those who hnve canvassed
the situation The house will pass the
bonus bill. In whatever l'?r*r lf *%ay
he l?y that time, by more than tlie nec
essary two thirds majority to enact ?*
measure over the veto
The only doubt Im as to the senate.
Friends of the White House are con
fident that they will be able to pre
vent n two thirds majority for a bonus
bill larger than S 1 ,2on non.ooo Bonus
advocates think ihey are fnlrlv sure
they can muster the accessary vote.
Any opinion based on the canvasses
Is only an opinion It cannot he any
thing else for the simple reason that
there is a small number of senators
who do not themselves know nt the
moment what they will do In such nn
emergency.
^opyrlglil WNU f ' r