Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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WWi' ' ■ :w- .V': *,;'!* t ' : ®i* >r W Jannarv U. IMt [; .S1 . .- J News Review of Current Events the World Over President—l Silver Remonetized by Order of the President—Recovery Program Developments—Huey Long's Income * ^ v - Tax Under Investigation. \ By EDWARD W. PICKARD # ki Senator Pittman CILVER has come back. By execu- ^ tire order of President Roosevelt It la remonetised In the United State* and will be coined on a large scale. Forma 11 j ratifying tba London confer ence agreement and exercising the powers given blm by the in flation amendment to the farm adjustment act, the President dl- ~r#cte<r air the federal mints to accept for coinage all silver mined hereafter In the United States or its possessions, op to 24,000,000 ounces a year, at a price of 44V6 cents an ounce. This la to be la force for four years. The government spilt the present legal price of $1.20 an ounce for sil ver in half la reaching a purchase figure which is 10 ceuts an ounce over the preeent open market. ‘This proelamation, M the President wrote, “in accordance with the act of congress, opens our mints to the coinage of standerd silver dollars from silver hereafter produced in the United States, or its possessions, sub ject to the depositors of such silver surrendering to the government one- half of -R as seigniorage and to cover all usual charges and expensea The dollar coined from half of such newly mined silver will be returned to the depositor. The half surrendered to . the. gerarnmeat wUl be . retained by the treasury.” Mr. Roosevelt, la ratifying the agreement, pointed out that such ac tion already has been taken by the government of India and that other nation* concerned were ready also to net Most Jubilant of all public men over the President's action was Sena tor Key Pittman of Nevada, who, as 1 delegifo fb tEe London Conference, took a leading part in drawing- the silver agreement He foresees greatly increased export business as a result of the move because the buy ing power of the silver-using coun tries of the Far Eait, especially China and India, is lifted by about 50 per cent Senator Pittman laid the effect of the new order would be to take into the treasury about 24,000,000 ounces of silver, to coin one-balf of it and deliver It to the owner or depositor of the silver. The other 00 per cent will be retained as bullion In the treasury. It la his expectation that the new order of the White House will give great encouragement to the silver mining regions of the West B OTH the federal .Surplus Relief corporation and the agricultural "Accordingly, H he contlnned, "clean ers who wish to maintain higher prices and higher standarda, may Join with the President to continue the minimum prices* originally approved end such cleanen will be given the right to dis play the blue eagle with appropriate insignia yet to be decided on. Indicat ing they are maintaining higher qual ity and higher price*." pHAIRMAN FLETCHER and his ^ senate banking lubcdmautb* r*- f ffed,^p^^ * p rkednuia“ndIHnJ~» celved a report In which were listed several million dollars In Insull se curities and German bonds among 7,000 Items of collateral held by the Reconstruction Finance corporation on the famous $90,000,000 loan to Charles G, Dawes' Central Republic Bank and Trust company of Chicago. Members of the committee refused to make the report public, but said showed the outstanding balance of thw loan ($62,000,000) waa covered by the collateral under the corporation’s es timate of present value. They said the value of all lasull securities held as collateral waa not totaled, but one member estimated it at from $8,000#)0 to $9,000,000. In addition, committee members said, the collateral included several million dollars of foreign securities, among them many German federal and stats bonds. The loan was made In 1032 shortly after General Dawes retired as head of the R. F. C. to take the chairman- ■hip of the bank. It waa sharply crltl- clxed by rncmbers of congreas and was made an Issue of the Presidential cam paign. gENATOR HUEY P. LONG, the Lou isiana “kingflab,” may be nearing the end of his rope. The latest news shout him Is that the administration \has decided upon his prosecution on tbs often heard charges adjustment administration bar* been purchasing commodities for the relief of the Idle, and thereby economy and eflldancy have suffered. Such pur chasing operations have now been con solidated In the Surplus Relief corpora* Uon. 'If; The administration also waa com pleting plana for utilising the Surplus Relief corporation as a device for re tiring million* of acres of aubmarglnal lands from cultivation. The work la being directed by Rexford G. Tug- well, aeelstant secretary of agricul ture, sad It la planoed to use funds of the public works administration to purchase the economically unproduc- tive areas. /^FFICTAIaS of 21 railroad unions met In Chicago and adopted a pro gram of desired legislation that In cludes a six-hour working day for the mllllon or more railway workers in the country as a means of Increasing em ployment A. F. Whitney, president of tbs Brotherhood of RaUway Trainmen, who acted as chairman at the meet ing, estlmated that a six-hour day would cost the railroads of the coun try $800,000,000 annually. The rail roads themselves have estimated the prohibit dost at IwTce that amount he admitted. A FTER receiving a report from an Investigating committee beaded by Robert S. Lynd. the consumera' ad visory board of the NRA recommend ed the establishment of a consumers' atandards board that would be charged with the development of means of en forcing accurate labeling. Among the articles hsmed as needing quality grad ing are gasoline, rasor blades and chil dren’s shoes. Legitimate Industry, in the opinion of the board, la encounter ing destructive competition from un ethical producer* who are reducing the quality of their products to fill the gap In their profits caused by enforcement of NRA wage and employment stand- . ards. . „ ■ —L_— - rri ' r? ■ •h Administrator Hugh S. Johnson wns busy trying to dear np the situation concerning the cleaners and dyers. Many in this Industry had been cited for prosecution for refusing to com ply with prescribed minimum prices. The cash-and-carry cleaners contend ed these prices were so high that their boslBesn would bo ruhsed. Johnson defended the prices pre scribed ns “reasonshie and fair for the quality of cleaning which the public has the right to expect," but conceded that "there la some demand for lower quality or so-called scamped work.' IP taxes. When Mr. Hoo ver was President an, investigation of his re ceipts, aa well aa those of his political associ ates In Louisiana, waa started, and dropped probably because tbe - . , Presidential election S.natOf Lon, WM ne , r No . , h|< Inquiry haa been resumed, the agents of the Internal revenue department seeking to find out whether Long re ported In hla Income tax schedules nil -the sums he received both aa governor of Louisiana and aa United States sanator. In Washington It Is held vir tually certain that this action haa the approval of President Roosevelt Huey himself professes net to be worried. “That matter was scheduled to come np now," he aald to an Inter viewer. “It has been up 750 times be fore, and always cornea Jast before congress meets. I am not Interested." Long's power In hla home state la fast waning. In the first place, be has been unable to obtain any recognition In the matter of federal patronage. And the senate committee’s Investiga tion of the election of Long's col league, Senator Overton, uncovered a most unsavory mess, the odor of which offends Louisiana folfc/ Only a few days ago Mayor T. S. Walmaley of New Orleans announced that he had definitely broken with the “klngflah,’’ and others of hla prominent adherents have followed suit. • -fe has by W. G % U. la Chicago OEPEAL of ^means silenced From. Its' comes, this "The flrit fortnight of liquor’s.legal return Jh the 24 wet states Includes some unnoted! but nevertheless alf- niflesnt developments that thoughtful dtlsehs cah'scnrc^ly afford to ignore. "The results may be epitomized ns follows: Men Can Do It Retires ToofYonng Takes Funerals Seriously Aa Eventful Year \ What men can Imagine they can do. Julea Verne Imagined n trip around and nearly 15,000,000 young people, th* world In eighty days. Now It can have been mads the legal target •( *>• ®*<1« by air In one-toutb of eighty "L For tbs first time la 14 years 66,000,1 approximately 66,000,000 American cit izens, Including fathers and mothers, legal target high pressure liquor salesmnpship. - "2. /In consequence thousands of American homes ars suffering today from tbs direct results of the, return of legalized liquor. . "3. Thousands of young people In these opening days of ratified repeal have taken the first serious step toward dissipation amid th* flashing lure of the modernized barroom ap peal. ' “4. Thousands of men and women hav* returned to their business with Judgment Impaired, efficiency dimin ished, liability to accident# Intonat- show for It except n bad taste In th* mouth and a memory of seared Ideals. “5 Millions of dollars have already •Inca repeal been ' diverted from legitimate business and from tbe im mediate tragic needs of charity and re lief, to the till of the liquor teller and the cash drawer of the brewer and dis tiller." . - For the present, however, this Is as a voice crying in tbs wilderness. P RESIDENT DE VALERA’S govern- n ment In the Irish Free State sus-- talned a severe reverse when Justice Byrne of the Dublin High court re leased on a writ of habeas corpus Gen. Owen O’Duffy and GIpL John Sullivafi, leaders of the and tbs Blue Shirt movement They had been arrested at Westport under the public safety act -—Justice Byrne, in' announcing bin decision, said *T can only come to the conclusion that O’Duffy waa arrested because he was speaking to some persona while the facta. I do not accept the police superintendent’s story of the arrest on suspicion as the true explanation of the case. “So far ns -Sullivan If concerned there Is no evidence why. he wns ar rested and his detention Is Illegal far aa O’Duffy la concerned, I am satisfied his detention Is unit “We are teaching tbe gov to—respect—the- lawr—said / Qcacral O’Duffy, ns he left th* prison. The Bloc Shirt movement Is/perfectly law ful and constltutlonal and will go on to victory. I don’^ antldpats there will be any more interference with Blue Shirts a^4r the high court vin dication." This h Arthur.,] r eek National Topics Interpreted by William Bruckaft days. The same Frenchman invented a trip to the moon by rocket In Cleveland, Ohio, Ernest Loebell, Ger man engineer, la \ building a rocket that will travel, hot to the moon as yet bat fifteen miles up Into tbs stratosphere. . k Power will be ptodueed by the ex- Wgshlngtoo.—Congress convenes on n January date, for the first time In our modern' history. > Congress It meets at that UnAmr Way tlm ® Purauant to the 'U . * -provisions of a con- plosions of gasoline and oxygen. No man will go up with the rocket It will carry scientific Instruments that will make records automatically. -provisions stltutlona) amendment that waa added to our Constitution chiefly through th* effort* of Senator George Norris of Nebraska. Senator Norris popnlar- tzsd the Idea by calling it a Tam* Ed Howe has discontinued publlcn- tlon of his monthly magazfna. called his personal Journal of “Indignation and Information." Mr. Howe, now elghty-one years old, started the mag azine twenty-two years ego, when he stopped editing the Atchison (Kan.) Dally Globe, organized by him In 1877. He believes that at slghty-one a man should “enjoy leisure" and winter sunshine. Mr. Howe’s theory Is that "every one Is bop* a radical and has to.be spanked, whipped and yelled «t until he learns the necessity of con servatism. If he never learns It he Is locked np or hanged." dock” amendment He argued early and late that a member of congress had no right to sit In representation of his state or district after he had been defeated at th* polls. Which may or may not be the cor- Ed Howe has never learned or prac- fleed conservatism. In the nsnal sense of the word. Neither has anybody that ever amounted to anything. Also elghty-one Is too young to re- tire. At that age I^eo iwaa a great pop#. Von Moltke was a gre^t gen- TfiSTT ^Hn. "Pnr it eignty-ieven ir fammir Frenchman, writing the life of St Louis, established a ne^v standard of French prose. Perhaps Ed Howe will reel theory. At any rate it has hap pened, and a new congress Is under way. Where it 1* headed as a.-part of the current phase of the new deal, time alone can tell There are cer tain things, however, that are per fectly plain. One of them la that President Roosevelt la following a course designed to forestall aa much controversy in congress a* be la able to do. In other words, the President appears to have planned a program that will prevent any snowballs from getting started down hill. • • • As the session get* going, one hears plenty of rumbUng. Reasons for dls- sattsrfaetlon are numerous and varied. But they can txi concentrated sudden ly. At least that la the record of dis gruntled congresses of other years. Mr. Roosevelt and hla advisers end his leaders la congress know It and, hence. waa speaawr w some t weekl now and gradually go wearing * hlue-thM-That IsJbs jo>nly .„ fn ., — - reasonable Inference to be drawn from everything haa been done and la being done to keep the firing scattered. If there should be an Issue devised or arise on which tbe bulk of senators And reprcaftatailves. . agree.'la opposl- Frenchmen take funerals sertonsly. | When a hearse passes all Frenchmen j stop and remove) their hats. They were amazed, visiting' here, to see horse* pulling an American Yearse at trot There are no words to express what they think abont an automobile hearse going thirty miles an honr. At the fnneral in a railroad station C HINESE National air forces bombed Foochow, Fukien province. of more than 200 victims of a French railroad accident the President, prime minister end entire cabinet of Francs, with leaders from all parties In par liament, Joined the bereaved families. The minister of public works delivered the funeral oration. Istrator, says the year Just closed has re Commnhlsta were concentrated, { been the most eventful In the nation’s tlon to th* Chief Executive, there will be plenty of trouble for the administra tion. Republicans, you know, ar* not going to pour oil on troubled waters. They play politics, too. Looking over aoine of ths possibili ties of trouble, one observes such questions as taxes, permaneht liquor control laws, extension of the life of the Reconstruction. Finance corpora tion, banking legislation or revision of laws we now have, reconrideratlon of the law which requires that every corporation that sells Its shares of stock shall register them and comply with laws about Its financial status, re lief and recovery legislation In Its vari ous phases and others of no less con sequence. Washington observers are Gen. Hugh S. Johnson. NRA admin- that each one of theas contains In the process damaged th* chnrqh and other property of the American board mission. Fifty-eight Chinese were killed bnt no Americans or other foreigners were Injured. Na tionalist gunboats then took posses sion of the Foochow forts. J ESSE H. JONES, chairman of the Reconstruction corporation, i be- R 1 EALTY and personal property taxes, for state purposes, have been abolished by the state govern ment of Illinois. The step was taken after State officials decided s 2 per cent tax on retail sales, with perhaps some help from liquor taxation, would be adequate to replace the $35,000,- 000 levied annually In recent years on general property. ■ lleves the railroads will need farther financial assistance from the govern ment daring 1934. He ■aid that the govern ment either throngb the corporation or some other agency would have to help re finance the security Is sues that become due during* the year. Sev eral railroads already Ha ▼ e discussed the matter with the cor poration, among them , the New York Central, which has a maturity of $48,000,000 due May 1. ►- Wall Street statisticians have esti mated that the larger maturities total about $372,000,000, but smaller matur ities probably will add another $100,- 000,000, and buying of rails and rolling stock might put the railroads’ expen ditures for tbe year far higher. Jones mentioned a figure of $2.900.000,000. history, and he may be right It la the first year In which th* government haa Interested Itself In millions Idle, worried and hnngry. Such conditions previously have been left to “supply and demand.”^ British scientists believe they have devised a “life-death" ray, “capable of projecting bacteria emanations which will destroy humans, animals and crops." •.. 7 It Is believed that the ray .can also be used beneficially "for neutralising plague conditions and fostering health ier animals and plant life.” After ^civilized man’’ gets tired of nslng R to kill his neighbors, the ray will be devoted to useful work. When “Machine Gun” Kelly went to Leavenworth prison for life for kid naping, he said proudly to a guard, *TU be out of. here before Christmas." Christmas Is past and “Machine Gun" Kelly Is atm In bis Isolation cell, and will probably stay there, as wfll Bailey and Bates, the two sentenced with him to life imprisonment This action is notable aa ths first complete substitution of s sales tax for property toxes any slat* , ha* made. It win result in a saving rang ing from 7 to 19 per cent to property owner* Gov. Henry Horner, State Treasurer J. G Martin and State Audi tor Edward J. Barrett comprise the board that aboil abed the tax. Mott of the roads are asking ths corporation to advance half of the ma- InriUeg, plaaolpg to pay i_jyrilpJLgf the bond Issues in cash and ths r*> malnder with new bond*. PECULIARLY atrodons waa ths T HE Pan-American conference In Montevideo came to « close, and Secretary of State Cordell Hull, as he departed for home by way of Buenos Aires, said: “My moat endur ing remembrance of the conference will be the beautiful, patriotism, tbe patience, and the statesmanship of ths Bolivian and Paraguayan delegates to ths midst of delicate and anxious prob lems. Tbs tasks were unspeakably diffi cult, but tire good will toward peace which both have shown haa been su perimposed upon differences, and* they offered the world an example of how powerfully a will for peace can con quer apparently Insuperable obstacles." M AJ. Gen. Edward L. King, U. S. A^ commander of ths Fourth corps area, died suddenly to Atlanta. Ge He was a graduate of West Point end served In Francs during th* World war, earning many decoratfona Ha also fought to Cuba to ths war with Spain. murder of Archbishop Leon Ton- rain, head of tbe Armenian church to America, aa he waa attending sanies la a New *’lqrk church. - He waa stabbed to death presumably by mem bers of a group opposed to the Soviet regime In Armenia. The assassins es caped from the church, but a n of suspects have been arrested., number E D HOWE, known as “the sage of Potato Hill," la eighty-one years old, so he ^retiring to enjoy ths leis ure he always fias desired. It waa an nounced at Atchison, Kan., that Howe’s Monthly, for 22 years his per sonal organ of "Indignation nnd Infor mation," has discontinued publication. The veteran Journalist and philosopher Is spending the winter In Miami, Fla. F RANCE’S worst railroad disaster i mads Christmas a time of mourning instead of Joy there. Two hundred end one men, women and children per ished when th* Paris-Strasbourg flyer crashed Into the Nancy expressaat fun speed at Pomponne, about 15 miles from Peris. The accident happened during a dens* fog. la ths number of dead this disaster was second only to one at Gretna Green, Scotland, to 1915. to which 227 persons were killed 1114. WmUtb N*wsn*p«r UalM. After our four-year depression there ars still, running In the United States, according to Motor, leading maga- sine of the automobile Industry, 23,- 123,399 automobiles. The number- has diminished since 1929, bnt this country aor* still has. by many millions, more am tornnhllM la uae than all , the rest of the world every man. put together, so many that tors that the present session of con- , woman and child In the gross would''not enact straight-out 'to- "Have you ever complained about ror celvlng “so many letters that yon can hardly attend to them”T Consider President Roosevelt Sine# his Insnguratlon he has received 1,620,- 000 letters and parcels and 20,000 tele grams. During this month alone he his received 540.000 letters, an aver age of 18,000 a day. Apparently the people are taking an Interest In their government and their President ^ Business news, heaven be praised, is becoming good news. Antomobll* sales in November Were 74 per cent above 1932. In 87 states east of the Rocky moun tains contract* for new buildings dur ing the first two weeks of December were 50 per cent above the bnlldtog for the entire month of last December. Somebody stole $380 from Pollcemaa Barber of Portland, Ore., and he an- _ | nonneed that the robber had left fin-.4 electricity for power and light gerprinta which would be compared with those of various suspects. Th* mopey came back hidden In a potted plant Intelligence ts the beqt det#*- tlve. . - O, ms. by Kin* Fefttara Syndic**, Silver Buying gains both in elements that may lead to a break be tween congress and the President Bat they also are saying that Mr. Roose velt holds the whip hand and that there are not many members Of the senate or house who will take the bit in their teeth. • • • I aald a moment ago that Mr. Roose velt’s course was aimed to prevent the molding of a snow ball, for It la a physi cal fact that once a snowball starts, it momentum and size. Thla largely explains the action of the President in proclaiming the London conference treaty on silver buying to effect Just when be did. The plan for the American government to consume all of the silver produced to this coun try will stop some of tbe Inflationists, perhaps fifty, of them, right in their track* Their states and districts will get th* benefit of the silver purchases, by the government It means a profit for them that they hav* not had In half a dozen year* It is “quite obvloua that they won’t .become rabid support- era of a program for Inflating tbe cur rency, now. None of tbe observers here seem to be In a position to say that the ailver purchasing and coinage order Is out side of the President’s recovery pro gram. They are agreed, however, that it constitutes a smart brand of poll- tics and that It will go a long way toward sustaining the Presidential pro gram to congress. And, If R need b* WllL. there .waa n* assurance hereto standing a year ago and less when “public works" were,being promoted that th* construction to be undertaken by the government should not be of ths sort th*t»would eompete with, or ham- per the operation of, prlvate burines* No one suggested that, for the aak# of relief, there should be paralleling of railroad tracks, ono of them govern ment owned. While that waa not don# It la an exaggerated illustration—th# government has promoted construc tion that has taken traffic away from th# railroads by expanding every known > artery of highway* At th# rats ths Tennessee Valley authority la moving,, private enterprises of va rious kinda wifi be driven out of ex istence by s government agency. Then, the Public Works adminlatra- tion turned down a loan that was sought the other day by the city of Fort Worth, Text* with which to build a municipal power plant What has happened alhce, I do not know, but the reason for the first refusal was that the Fort Worth folks had not made rate schedules lower for their projected plant than ^ere charged by private Interest* There are numerous examples avail able, but the . Import of each Ik th# same. And they all give rlsa to the question: ought th* government of thsf United States- subsidise, •fllrsctiy **- i- States Indirectly, such development* drive out private business and then make up the difference from the general tax payers of the-country? From this vantage point, It looks to be decidedly questionable as a form of public works even in the guise of relief. Politicians who support that sort of thing, I be lieve, will wlih sometime they had JlPt.d0WL-FQ,^ History does repeat Itself! In ths days before you and I were ' yonng, Maggie, ths History system of barter was ~ th* only means of selling or baying the things ths folks of those days needed or desired. I do not suppose, how ever, that they ever thonght the Amer ican government would adopt a ays- tern of barter by which a commodity "J wonld be traded tor a human being. Yet, that la Just what has happened to this day of ao-catted high civiliza tion. * s It aeema that Samnel Insull, the Chi cagoan, who had bant up quits a big business In city light and power plants and other utilities. Is still In Greece. Some of the folks In Chicago would like to talk to Mr. Insull. Or, rather, they would like to put hlm on a wit ness stand before a Judge and Jury and then ask him question* So It was natural that they should seek ths aid of the government at Wash ington In their efforts to persuade the government of Greece to help Mr. Insall over the boundary 11ns of their country. Greece did not Join so readily with that plan, because Mr. InTOlT waKyegarded by^tpe Greeks as vu««i ti r; a nice man.\J>’ow, her* try repeat* where his- sea There came a day when prohibition waa repealed. At the same time, there was a shortage to the United States of certain kinds of win* which Greece could supply- Bnt Greece waa not welcomed as source of ths shipments which could be made under our rules of the game only under a quota fixed by our government There waa some direct word spoken here to Washing ton to the minister of Greece. It ap pears that an understanding waa reached. Greece was placed on th* quota list for 25,000 gallons of wine, and Mr. Insull hereafter may not find Greece such a pleasant haven. Of conrse, I do not profess to know what went on In the private conver- aatlons that preceded the action by ths federal alcohol control adminis tration In placing Greece on the quota list Bnt I do know the conversations And while the discussion centers on congressional possibilities and poten tialities, R seems proper to call at tention to a battle that has started on the'outside, but'directed at congres* I refer to the revival of ths long-time opposition to government Competition with buslnes* In this Instance, the hne and cry .concerns competition by numerous relief agencies and also by the Tennessee Valley authority whlchT to burlesque an old saying, to de signed to make twe bulbs tor electric ity grow on the home and farm where one ar none grew before. Th# T. V. A. started oat to be an in teresting experiment and a plan to demonstrate what was possible with water power to development of a morn or leas barren area. Its purposes have been expanded so rapidly that none of ns her* can keep np with all of Its move* Suffice R to sty, however, that the'T. V. A. to now trying to sell in scores of cities and towns and villages and farms throughout the section pom ths Ohio river to the Gnlf of Mexico. • • • > Getting hash to the relief agencies, so-called, it was ths general under- were not ell abont ths wins quota And I have heard subsequently that the American government expects eventuallyloTfave Mr. TnBuTI refuni to the United States so that hla Ideas about ths fallen utility empire can be heard.' . • 'v.~ J ,.-i. HI -•—* • XI Pathetic Incident t An incident at the treasury a day or two before Christmas distressed mo greatly. An elderly * lady—I believe aho said she was eighty- four—called at the window of ths treasury cashier to get a $20 gold place. She offered a $20 bin in exchange tor’It. The pay ing teller waa courteous bnt positive. He could not deliver gold; R was against the executive order Issued last March by President Roosevelt Ths little old lady coaid not seem to un derstand why R had to be that way, but the refusal was definite. “I do aot *ee why I cannot have that $20 gold piece,” she said, as she walked wearily away from the window. \"It to the first time since my boy was twenty-one years old that I have not given him a $20 gold piece for Chrlstma* I know he will think I am getting childish If I fall this time." She was Almost to tears at her fail ure. I thought there was a lesson in that situation, and still believe It Is ^qulta unnecessary for any government to break hearts to the Interest of commerce and industry. Where has our vaunted civilization led ns? ff, IMS, W««t«rn Nawwp&ptr Union.