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f v X* •<i -! ■'O- liiL Barnwell Pcoplc-SentineU Barnwell, S. May 24, 1934 /'‘'I I /^ONORKSJ received for JNews Keview of Current Events the World Over NBA Will Abandon Codes for Small Businesses—More Strikes in Automobile Industry Are Foreseen by William Green. By EDWARD W. PICKARD C by Weatvrn Ncwgpaper Union G ENETCAT. JOHNSON and hla as elataotr In the NKA are tired of trying of enforce the multiplicity of codes for soinll groups, and therefore the administration has decided to abandon thousands of those arranged for lesser In dustrial plants and service establish ments. In fact, to regulate prices and trade practices and Innumerable details In countless small busi nesses has proved to tie Impracticable and Gen. Johnson e fr, (r t || ns taken an outrageously large percentage of NUA work and funds. Johnson said he was working on arrangements to substitute simple agreements for codes covering small Industries. These agreements mere ly will cover wages, hours and the collective bargaining guarantees of the recovery act. The •greements may be Identical with the Presidential re-employment contract that employers signed last summer pending adoption of codes. Those who are relieved from codes will be permitted to continue to dis play the Blue Eagle If they sign such agreements. The relaxation prob ably will apply to nearly all small establishments except retail stores. It was reported in Washington that General Johnson would soon ask the President to empower him to super vise and check prices which private bnsftjegs coneema ate charging their customers. This would be the start of his attack on the charges that the NUA Is fostering monopoly and high prices. The President could take the action by Issuing an executive order and congressional sanction would % not be necessary. Two drastic changes are expected to he made In the price policies that Johnson has been following so far. First, he may require all coded Indus tries to report their prices to the NUA Instead of to their own code authorl ties as at present. Second, Johnson may demand that the government veto any prices which It considers ex tortionate or unreasonable. The silk textile Industry found Itself overloaded with surpluses of goods, and the NBA permitted all the mills to shut down for one week, dur ing which time 30,000 workers are un employed. _The shutdown was ordered by the silk textile authority, the board aet up by the Industry Itself to rule the Industry under the code. Officially the NBA Itself did not order or ap prove the layoff, but It Is watching It closely. It may suggest the same device to other Industries. The cotton textile manufacturers are reported to he eyeing the silk shutdown envi ously. A IMING directly at the American Telephone and Telegraph com pany and the Western Union company, both of which are said to have defied him, Becovery Administrator Johnson , made public a drastic code for the wire communications Industry pre- \ pared by his own staff. Imposition of a code Is regarded to all Intents the same as writing law for the Industry affected, equal In sqope to the author- Ization for licensing Industry. Noth ing like It has been resorted to here tofore. \ In the telegraph case, with nil but one minority group flatly opposed to any code, the NBA Is proposing to change long-standing conditions and alter the Internal economy of the In dustry on the ground that existing conditions burden commerce and re duce employment. A date for hearings was set, after which the President was to be asked to take action. The code, If adopted, would deprive extensive Interests of financial au- vantages amounting to many millions of dollars, the NBA authorities de claring these are uot fairly held. Among the things It would abolish are: Exclusive rights of the Western Union Telegraph company to some thing like $23,000,000 worth of busi- new annually ; use by many corf*»r«* Hons of private wire circuits leased at figures alleged to be out of line with regular charges for the same volume of business, and free use of these cir cuits by clients of the lessees. j > >» 33 CTBIKES In many branches of the ^ automobile Industry will occur un less the striking employees of the Fisher Body plant at Flint, Mich., win their demands, according to President Green of the American Federation of Labor. “The strike of the workers em ployed at the Fisher Body plant at Flint, MW&, reflects the spirit of un rest and discontent which prevails among the automobile workers at the present time," Green said in a state ment _ - ' / There will be ao peace to the 90- itt! , fair ty settled, discrimination and < pferdon •topped, the right of collect re bar* established and /< >mpany domination and Utii ildadon ■ftlifolTT -V y. .. Dissatisfaction has been accenfb- ated, he added, "befftfuse of the fallurd of the automobile labor board to func tion properly and effectively.” Miss Eliza beth Wheeler Ibn Saud poll twenty-six years a prejudice 1 dating buck to the Civil war has kept the/state of VMrglnla from being represented In the Statuary hall In the Capitol at Washington. This state of affairs has now come to an end. for congress has sccepted as gifts from Virginia the two statues which were first offered In 1908 and rejected. They are a copy of the fam ine statue of Washington by Houd’n and a statue of Gen. Robert E. I^e by Valentine. Senator Walsh of Massachusetts presided st the ceremonies tnd by bis side was Senator Glass of Virginia, Tbs presentation was made by Gov. George Peery of Virginia and the chief speaker was Dr. Francis Gaines, president of Washington and Lee uni versity. DY A vote of 62 to 13 the senate ^ passed the Fletcher-Rayburn bill which places the securities markets of the country under the regulatory con trol of a federal commission. The measure already had passed the house, so It went to conference and thence to the President for his signature. This law. coupled with the securities act, puts the financing of business almost completely under the control of the government. The Fletcher-Rayburn hill actually was written by four members of the "brain trust"—James I>andi8, member of federal trade commission; Ben Cohen, PWA coutisel; Thomas Cor coran, RFC counsel; Ferdinand Pecora, who acted as examiner and director of the senate committee’s Inquiry, and Max Lowenthal, adviser to the com mittee. l, W () B LD Good wm day” was ^ ’ May 18, and to mark It stu dents from colleges In all parts of the country gathered In Washington and staged a demonstra tion In support of world disarmament. Miss Elisabeth Wheeler, daughter of United States Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana, was chair man qf the affair, and after the meeting Miss Wheeler led a delegation to the White House and pre sented to President Roosevelt a petition asking him to take the lead In secur ing a world treaty for complete dis armament. News from abroad Indicates that this Is Imposing a tremendous task on Mr. Roosevelt, for the prospects of disarmament are growing slimmer dally. There Is no abatement of the quarrel between France and Germany over German rearming, and France has lengthened the term of service of Its soldiers, which example Belgium probably will follow. Hungary and Jugoslavia are engaged In a bitter border dispute and the former has asked for help from the League of Nations council, which has opened an other session In Genera: Japan,'still stubbornly aloof, seems to be seeking a new cause for hostilities against China, alleging that a number of Jap anese soldiers were killed by Chinese troops. The league’s commission on the Paraguay-Bollvla war In the Gran Chaco submitted a report recommend ing that all nations of the world, espe cially the American republics, be asked to Join In an effort to shut off from the two South American coun tries all the m&terl&ls necessary to carry on a war. action the relief bill appropriating I1.1C2.00Q/- 000, and Included in the measure were liberal funds for relief of the droutb- stricken areas of ths Middle W< This was by direction of the President, who considers the drouth so Serious that he called the cabinet togfCher to discuss the situation. In discussing the general terms of the bill the President explained" that be bad had to curtail his relief budget because congress had spent so much on other Items that, without a reduc tion In relief funds, the total budget would be ^thrown further out of line than the White House will- permit In a burst .of petty economy Induced by the misstatements of Tom Blanton of Texas,'the bouse cut In half the requested appropriation for continuing government representation at the Cen tury of Progress exposition In Chicago. Only $200,(100 was granted, and the bill In this form was passed also by the senate. S OME sort of a compromise on silver legislation that will be'acceptable to both the White House and the silver bloc In congress Is likely to be worked out, though Senator Borah, who wants outright remon etization of the white metal, thought the plan being prepared would not serve. Sec retary of the Treas ury Morgenthau and eight silver senators held prolonged confer ences, and all but the gentleman from Idaho were fairly well satis fied. Senator King of Utah said he hoped for a bill which would nationalize sliver bullion and provide for the establishment of a 25 per cent sliver reserve for currency. Probably the measure will be manda tory us to policies and permissive In leaving to the discretion of the Pres ident the means of carrying out tbs policies. BRISBANE fHIS WEEK ' Balm for Bankers Wkekt Burning Up We Drink More Whisky Six Billions for Weapons The new stock exchange law duty bring business and balm to worried bankers that now look upon their plti- fu 1, huge pjlea of ♦‘llquldltr.” alias ready money, unable to lend It, be- ©rote"'tllSy dfe afraid of everything that calls Itself “security." That is aa bad as having a cow and being afraid to milk her lest she kick. The definition of a banker aa one who "lends you an umbrella when the sun is shining and takes it hack when it rains” la not Just. The sound banker Is one who does not lose hie bank's mopey. How can he lend It when he has not the faintest Idea what anything or anybody la worth and does not even know what a dollar Is worth? Secretary Morgenthau I * A law compelling stock speculators to margin their gambling by 40 or more per cent may stimulate bank toftmt The banker may say tcT the speculator and broker, “I’ll add 20 per cent cash to that margin, or even 40 per cent, because I love you both, only I must have a first lien on the entire business.” What could the virtuous, reforming brain-trusters do about that? S ECRETARY OF \^ ? AR DKRN, In his caimclty aa president of the Na- tlonal Forest Reservation commission, announced a program Involving the ultimate purchase of 3,000,000 acres In the southern Appalachian region and the Immediate purchase of 762,186 acres In 45 units scattered through eastern states. He said the acquisi tion of units approximating 2,326,000 acres on the headwaters of the Ten nessee river, which would pearly dou ble the areas of national forests in the Appalachian region, would enable the United States forest service and co-op erating agencies to consolidate fire pro tection and combat excessive erosion 1 In the Tennessee drainage system. Rehabilitation of the new national forest lands, Dern said, also Is expect ed to help prevent disastrous floods, and to furnish continuous, even flow of water for hydro-electric develop ment and community water supply. Industries expected by the war sec retary to be aided by the development and protectTon bf Timber stands, In clude pulp and paper mills, wood using factories of various lines, rayon mills, and other Industries depending on for est products. The purchases will be made from the $20,000,000 fund allotted by Presi dent Roosevelt for purchase of forest lands as an vmergency relief measure. Bad news from wheat-growing re gions, Intense heat burning up crops. In Nebraska, hot winds added to in jury done by the sun’s heat, sweeping away moisture. The experiment of planting only Just as much wheat as Is needed may prove disastrous If rain Is too long de layed. You cannot regulate crop pro- ductlon as you can that of automo biles, or shoes. V, Washington.—Tbs Republicans are giving soma Indications that they In tend to fight for elec- u**r Quirk tlonof their partisan* Democratic are more than likely go- ■g to continue to sleet Democrats, mt tha “political accidents’’ that elect ed many others of the jrMt maJorlty la^ • ia th» nfXt r ftt \g reM - the ..hdQflt irt . jaang. m rota tea m ham use thev come Tfrom over- In this year of our Lord, Americans are drinking more whlaky ithan they did before prohibition, and paying taxes on It Three hundred millions of gallons of bootleg liquor is not In cluded In the statistics. Beer drinking has fallen off 50 per cent, according to reports from Washington. Prohibition restored whisky as the national drink. Thomas Jefferson, who thought beer would provide an antidote to drunken ness. which was widespread In his day, would be disturbed by the beer news. But he was old-fashioned. W AR In Arabia has come to an end for the present, an armistice having been officially announced. King Ibn Suud of Saudi Arabia, apparently is the victor, for It was stated his terms had been accepted by the I man Yahya of Yemen, though the terms of the treaty we^e not made pub lic Immediately. Ibn Saud's m o d e r n 1 y equipped armies al ready had captured Hodeida, the Yemen seaport, and were advancing on Sana, the capital. The fighting In that area ceased. King Ibn Saud has been gradually extending his power since 1924, and it was believed he Intended to add Ye men to his territories. He took ad vantage of a border quarrel to start hostilities some weeks ago. In a re cent Interview Ibn Saud said: “I have never envisaged territorial, expansion, and I have never desired to conquer Yemen, but Just as th/ conquest of Hejaz was forced upon me a decade ago by the hostilities bf King Hussein, similarly Yahya has forced war upon me now by sending troops into Naslr and Najran while nominally engaged In negotiations for peaceful settle ment." A NDREW W. MELLON, the ven erable and wealthy ex-secretary of the treasury and former ambassa dor to England, came out on top In his latest contest with the Department of Jus tice. The government had accused him of evading his Income taxes and sought his Indictment by a fed eral grand Jury In Pittsburgh. However, the grand Jury re fused to return a true bill, declaring the charges were without „ basis. A ' W ' Me,,on The foreman of the Jury was Wil liam Beeson, a bank clerk. Among others on the Jury were five laborers, two farmers, two engineers, two me chanics, two clerks, One plumber, one carpenter, a lumber dealer, and a writer. Mr. Mellon said: “I am of course gratified that I have been exonerated by a Jury of my fellow citizens. The fact that the grand jury reached a sound conclusion, notwithstanding the unusual methods pursued In my case, Is proof of the good sense and fairness of the American people." In previous statements Mr. Mellon had charged Attorney General Cmn- mings with playing politics "of the crudest sort," and had set forth at length his Innocence. Figures supplied by the League of Nations show that European countries have spent about $6,000,000,000 since the last war on killing machinery for another war, while carefully refrain ing from paying the $10,000,000,000 that they owe us. It Is announced from Paris that, for the fourth time, France will default on the war debt to the United States.. And it is probable that England will i default again, as she did last time. Last time she handed Uncle Sam "a token," saying: “Please accept that, and don’t call It a default" It Is doubtful that this country would accept a token this time. Eng land probably either faces a substan tial payment or official default 01X the ground that the emergency Is over and that Presi dent Roosevelt and his administration are continuing on a spending spree Just to afford deserving Democrats with pie from the government counter. The tlpoff as to the direction from which the attack will come arose the other day without attracting a great deal of attention. It came from Rep resentative Snell of New York, the Re publican leader In the house, who op posed one of the newer brain-trust creations because he declared, un equivocally, “the emergency Is over." After Mr. Snell had made the state ment, I Inquired of a number of per sons, astute In politics, what they thought of this anomaly. Here Is a leader of the opposition party declar ing that the emergency Is over, and If that condition exists, the leader of the opposition, by inference at least, has admitted that credit for the Job mnst be given the Roosevelt administration. I find as' well that the Democrats can hardly, admit the correctness of the statement withont admitting at ths same time that there should be an end immediately to the countless emergen- cf agencies that the Roosevelt admin istration has set np. It seems to me,i therefore, that we are witnessing one of the most ridiculous situations that has ever occurred - In—polltlce where peculiar things are the rule. Suc cinctly, It amounts to this: each side actually Is contending that the other la right. — Of course, It should be -eaW-, much water will flow under the bridge be fore the votes are counted In Novem ber; Indeed, many changes will have come before the congressional cam paigns In the various states get stirred np to s white heat, but unless the course of battle now Indicated Is al tered, I predict the campaigners will have to do some fancy high rope walk ing. It surely appears that getting one’s own legs tangled up In those ar guments Is about the easiest thing In sight Curious possibilities are offered by the situation. For example, are the Democrats going to go out on the hustings and say to their mass meet ings la effect that “we have not suc ceeded ; we must keep the AAA and the NRA" and others? And. at the same time, are we golag to hear from Republican spellbinders that “the. Democrats have UAed-ihe presslon and they must now home because they come whelmlngly Republican communities. The Republican leaders are asserting they will pick up eighty or ninety seats from the Democrats next No vember. There can be no doubt that they will gain some, but eighty or ninety Is a high figure In anybody’s language. v • • • It seems to me that Representative Mark Wilcox of Florida has won a rather signal honor ‘First Termer* in his first term as Wins Honor ® member of tha house of representa tives by obtaining passage of the leg- tslatlon that his come to be knowTnfW the municipal bankruptcy bill It Is something like twenty years since a “freshman" member of the house of representatives has sponsored s piece of legislation of national scope that was passed and become a law. Plenty of new members have Introduced bills, nationwide In their effect, bjut aa far as my research has disclosed, none has been successful in the last twenty^ years. . Mr. Wilcox won membership In ths house by defeating Mrs. Ruth Bryan Owen, daughter of the famed William Jennings Bryan, for the Democratic nomination In his district where the nomination la tantamount to an slee* . Ul “ ~UtIon pnt an end to their orgy of spending and run ning up bills which the taxpayers must meet"? Neither aide, of course, will say It In those words. But, tf the argument goes ahead as It has started, that will have to be the substance of their tale Germany, owing private debts to 1 Americans. English and French plans to pay the BngBsh and French, and let the Americans wait. In accordance with a well-established European cus tom. President Roosevelt Is said to have Informed Germany that he does not favor this discrimination. He might stop the German nonsense by Informing Mr. Hitler’s government that until he treats his American creditors exactly as any others the ports of the United States will be closed to German products and, If necessary, to German ships also. This country doesn’t need Europe, and Europe does need this country. “Steel” Is looking up, the output be ing at a higher level now than any time since June, 1930. 1 Incidentally, in Geneva, where world ! news and war news centers. It Is 1 learned that “the nations are strength ening every military branch of their governments.’’ — If all this getting ready should end as It usually does tn Europe you would see United States steel production go up fast. Many million tons of Iron would he needed for killing. It is to be hoped that this time our government will not send ten thousand mTIHfiffirenirB ts enable Europe to pay for her killing machinery, as was done last time. H OW the League of Nations pro poses to aid China was told In a long report, made public by the Nan king government, covering the ar rangement made by Dr. Ludwig Rajch- man. representative In China of the league. This plan, it Is supposed, led to Japan’s recent statement of a policy demanding that other nations ke^ their hands off China. The document w f as politically Inocuous, being chiefly the recommendations of technical ad visers for projects designed to attract foreign capital to China and consoli date It as an Independent nation. The list of advisors did not Include any Japanese. P. K RESIDENT ROOSEVELT is again grandfather for down In Fort Worth, Texas, a daughter has been horn to Mr. and Mrs. Elliott Rooee- tlL The baby. Who weighed to fhe voters. Therewfll have tobe some very careful, as well as very quick, thinking before the campaign’s end. One polltlcial observer here suggested that this may turn out to be a most confusing campaign because" of the anomaly that Is now presented by Mr. Snell’s declaration. • • • There is considerable discussion here as to how far-reaching the effect may be If the Re- Just publicans stress. Speculation w,th sufficient vigor, the contention that the Democrats are trying to bold on to the extra Jobs and that they are continuing to spend taxpayers’ money for repayment of political debts. There is always something sinister about that kind of thing. Whether the charge Is right or wrong, many voters get auspicious when campaigners per sist in talking about raids on the fed eral treasury. They always think of k in terms of theft of money from the local bank or stores and not In the terms of political maneuvering, al though I confess 1 can see little dif ference. It always has happened that the “political tfarty In power has con trolled the flow of public moneys Into the spots where the funds wll! do tbs most good, politically, and when either side kicks about that. It serais to me It Is exactly IJke one mule calling an- tlon. So he was given a baptism of fire before he ever reached the house it self. Whether it was the political prestige won by licking an outstand ing Democratic., ffomacu. Qf for Qtber reasons, tne fact remains that Mr. Wil cox Anally forced through a piece of legislation that constitutes somethin* entirely new In our national structure of laws. The measure, as I said. Is national In scope and It probably win affect the financial status of some 2£00 com munities which the bill calls taxing districts. This list of taxing districts Includes municipalities, counties, bor oughs, Tillages, parishes, townships, and Incorporated taxing districts such as schools, drainage, Irrigation, levs* sewer, paring, sanitary, port, or any other districts In which Improvements have been made In bonds and sold to pay for them. In order to take ad vantage of the provisions of the law, the taxing district must declare Itself to be Insolvent and unable to pay the Interest or principal of the debt The officials of the taxing district may pe- s federal court for the right to arrange Its debt on a new basis, but the court must be shown that st least three-fourths In numbef and amount of holders of the bonds are willing to agree to the terms of a compromise. If they do agree, then the court may Issue a decree that will compel the re maining bondholders to accept the set- tlement What happens, of course. Is that the taxing district will be able to replace the defaulted bonds with a fresh series, probably at a lower Interest rate. The A Texas candidate declares his con gressional candidacy anonymously, re fuses to give his name, but Issues a photograph of himself as a boy six years old, with “button shoes and a suit forty years old." saying, "Judge me by this.’* That picture Is apt to deceive the public. At the age of six almost any human being looks Intelligent, honest, pleasing. Jlut forty years of time, pol itics and scheming often change that Railroads, battling te recapture traf fic. have orchestras on trains, pretty, sweet “hostesses" in club cars, saying, “Can I do anything for your Such things will help little. Quick, cheap transportation is what people want The elevated railway In New York never made money until It changed from 10 to 5 cents. Then It made a greet deal until the tabway came. ’&sz£s: mu - r other ‘longear? ! won’t even suggest that I can guess what the ultimate effect of these strange arguments is going to be. Anyone who tries to predict the result st this time Is Just being silly. The best judgment I can get Is that the re sults In the various congressional dis tricts are going to vary; The differ ence likely will be dependent entire ly upon bow many mistakes—plain bonekead statements—the various can didates make in their attempts to fol low arguments and analyses laid down for them by the national political com mittees. My belief Is that there wtil be plenty of them and there ought to be, therefore, a considerable amount of surprise when the votes are counted. It Is quite apparent to the Demo cratic leaders, and they say ao, that a number of house skats, now held by Democrats, will be turned over to the Republics ns next fall There are •sets occupied by Democrats who have •e reasen on earth to be in the house except by virtue of the tromendoue landslide that placed Mr. Reoeevelt la the White House. Districts aormallj taxing district gets out of the predic ament of what amounts to bankruptcy, and the bondholders get new securities which are marketable and have some thing like their face value because the Interest will be paid. This privllegs is extended for only two years, but It Is the general understanding that the communities concerned will be able to accomplish settlements with their creditors much sooner than that, and It is obviously hoped also that Im proved financial conditions through out the nation will make the Job of rearranging the debts easier than H was a few years ago. The bill did not get through con gress without a fight It had plenty of opposition from members who con tended It was a step toward repudia tion of debts, a thing always to be ab horred. There was argument also that by granting permission for the munici palities and taxing districts to force such compromise as will result, the congress was making such securities less attractive to tnveston: • • • One of the obvious results of having the spotlight turned onto an individual ——prrjr - -ev * fact or an t«- Ktading sue is plenty of com- the NRA meat People talk . \ about It Sometime* however, the talk develops Jibes and Jests and ofttimes they are not pleas ant for the ardent advocates of a proposition to swallow. For Instance, until recently discussion of NRA had been confined to serious asgument, very often of a heated character. Lately, however, jokes and pans about NRA have been emerging wKb greater frequency and there art now a con siderable number of them. The lab est, and one of the best that I have heard, runs as follows: N. R. A. me down to sleep, I pray Thee, Lord, my codes to keep; If I should bust before I wake. A. A, F. of L. my plant will take. I heard already that the American Federation of Labor considers the ref. erence to it in the doggerel to be else* ly akin te unfair practice, or what ever it Is organised labor nya about those who art aot Its supporter* Gen eral Johnson’s reactions are not yet a matter of record, although I know he has aeaa the thing. • to Woatsrs Uamwrnsm Oataa. 8 m