University of South Carolina Libraries
r ‘> v ' i'■- —' ,■ "v V - . - t .,' - rr * The Barnwell People Sentinel, Barnwell, a C, Jane 14,1984 News Review of Current Events the World Ov Johnson Averts Textile Strike and Tackles Steel Workers* Threat—^Administration Moves for Reli of Drouth Sufferers. —- r By EDWARD W^CKARD e tr wurfl ywn«wr ubwb. G ENERAL JOHNSON, adminlitra- tor of the. NR A, evidently mast be given credit for ■ skillful piece of work in negotiating the agreement which forestalled the threatened strike of some 400,000 workers In the cotton textile industry. The Imme diate peril was to the workers themselves, tor the cotton mill owners, . embarrassed by over - production, be willing to _ shut down tt^elr .. _ plants for a consider* M. F. Tlflhe able tJme of course, the New Deal would have suffered a black eye, so General Johnson tackled the problem energetically and per suaded Thomas F. McMahon, president of the United Textile Workers of America, and George Sloan, head of the Cotton Textile institute, to accept a compromise, and/the call for the strike was revoked. The employers are permitted to go ahead with their program of cortalllng production 25 per cent, and the labor ers have thek promise of an NRA Inves tigation Into the matter of higher wam-and other points of difference. The union also Is assured of increased representation on the Industrial rela tions board of the cotton textile code authority and on the NRA advisory board. / flic nekt great labor trouble, the dl§- pute between the steel masters and the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers, promised to be more difficult for General Johnson to handle, and It seemed that prompt action by President Roosevelt would be necessary to avert the threatened strike. The men demand the right of collective bargaining through the union agents. Michael P. Tlghe, pres ident ef the Amalgamated, declared It was up to Mr. Roosevelt to provide "prompt and unqualified enforcement of the law" on this point He said the government had failed the steel work ers and “their patience is exhausted.” According to the American Iron and Steel Institute, the strike threats are due to the activities of union leaders who seek government Intervention "to maneuver themselves Into positions of power and domination over the steel workers of the nation.** In a formal statement, the Institute asserted re lations of steel companies and a great mass of their employees are "peace ful,” and that tbs'whole difficulty lies with the Amalgamated association. The “closed shop" is the oae point at issue, the statement says, and for the employers to “accede to such a request would be rank treachery.” Asserting that an overwhelming ma Jorlty of the 490,000 employees In the steel industry have refused to Join the union and do not want to strike, the Institute said : “The opposition of the steel Indus try to the closed shop Is fully war ranted by Its own experience and that of other Industries, where there have been many instances of jurisdictional disputes, strikes, racketeering, exces sive dues, fines, penalties, limitation of output, and Intrusion of agents hav ing no acquaintance with the Industry or with the employees they claim as their constituents. \ "No Issue exists between the steel companies and the great majority of their employees. Since last June, more than 80,000 workers have been added to the payrolls. The eight-hour day has been generally adopted. Average hourly wages' have Increased 37 per cent, and they are now 7 per cent higher than they were at the peak In 1920. “The steel Industry believes Its em ployees generally will reslrt all efforts to fores them under Inatlon.” D CURED to action by the drouth, ^ which Is the worst the country has ever experienced, President Roose velt telephoned from Groton, Conn., to the federal relief ad ministration, directing that a special relief work program be put Into operation Im mediately In the mid* die western states. On his retarn to Washington he called a council of war to ex pand his plans and hear proposals from various *. government officials. It was stat ed by Mr. Roosevelt that farmers •hould be given cash income from Work and airo employment on proj ects so that their immediate distress might bo alleviated. Harry L. Hopkins, federal emer gency relief administrator, at once al located WW0.000 to 13 states so that the work could start The states re ceiving allotments are: Wisconsin, $2^ 100,000; Minnesota, $1,000,000; South Dakota, $1*80,000; Idaho, $280*00; fftn—, $200*00; Montana. $380*00; Nebraska, $270*00; New Mexico, $100,- 00$; North Dakota. $800*00; Utak, $180,000. H. L. Hopkins Work projects, Mr. Hopkins, said, 'will be put speedily under way to em ploy the heads of farm famillea In need. The projects will Include the development of additional water sup ply through digging wells and through Impounding or diverting water from rive/s and lakes. '‘-Projects employing men and women Ri the canning of meat fruits and Vegetables also will be used to con serve food resources of the area and furnish cash Income for the families. Road work, as well, will provide’Con siderable emergency omplnymAnt, A congressional appropriation that may exceed $500,000,000 was the para mount proposal before the drought conference. Some congressmen felt $1,000,000,000 would be necessary. The picture presented to the confer ence was one of live stock emaciated for want of water and food, grass hoppers and chinch bugs doing un told damage In the wake of the heat and dryness, thousands of acres of planted grain lying ungarmlnated or blighted and hundreda of farm com munities praying for rain. Plana of live stock owners In the most seriously affected states to drive their cattle into Minnesota, North Da kota and Wisconsin for feeding and grazing were forestalled by the action of the governors of those three states forbidding the carrying out of the scheme. In Minnesota Governor Olson mobilised the National Guard to patrol TIT HEN Secretary ef the Navy v v Swanson contracted for the pur chase of 27 airplanes end ports from e Cleveland company for $688,182, with out competition. Comptroller Gen. J. IL McCarl naked hie authority for such action, refusing to permit payment pending explanation. Mr. Swanson in his reply sold the lew gave him au thority to approve the purchase ef air planes for experfanoatel purpofep with out competition, and virtually told Mr. McCarl that It was none of his buri- neoa. DEFORE a vast multitude of per- eona gathered at Gettysburg battle. the bordt-rs amt enforce the emhargor G reat Britain formally notified the United States that It would not pay anything on the war debt In stallment due June 15; that It would make no more Niymenta until the United Statee consents to a downward revision of the debt, and that any dis cussion of revision at this time would he useless. All of which means plain default. The British note was sent in response to a blnnt notification from President Roosevelt aa to the sums due. It was evident, from foreign dis patches, that the other debtor nations, except Finland, would follow the course adopted by the British. In Mb war debt message to congress the President said this country ex pected the debtor nations to pay un less satisfactory excuses could be of fered, and he called attention to the vast sums those nations are expend ing on armaments His plain language was not at all pleasing to the natlona that owe us nearly twelve and one- half billion dollars. L OUIS BARTHOU, foreign minister of France, appears as the domi nating figure in the negotiations that may dispel the war clouds hhnglng over Europe. The most Important thing he already has ac complished Is the en gineering of an ac cord between France and Germany on con ditions for the Saar plebiscite and setting the date fer that vote on January IS, 1935. The agreement give* assurance that France, Louis Barthou un( j er the pretext 0 f preserving order, will not use force to prevent the return of the Saar basin to Germany. It also means that the Germans now have everything to lose and nothing to gain from a putsch In the Saar, so the possibility of a clash In the near future Is virtually elimi nated. Of special Importance Is a clause that amounts to rtcognitlon of the rights of Jewish and anti-Nazi mi norities In the Saar. In the disarmament conference In Geneva M. Barthou has been equally forceful though not so peaceful In his doings. He has stood out firmly equality and hai greatly angered Sir John Simon, British foreign secretary. In connection with Counsellor Rosen berg of the Soviet embassy In Paris, Barthou has been forming what la called an eastern Locarno pact to be signed by Russia. Rumania, Czecho slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Es tonia, with France aa Its moral guar antor. This would be rather a shock to Germany and Poland, and the Fran- co-Russlan bloc thus formed would force Great Britain into the back ground In matters concerning conti nental Europe. To block this scheme the British would be glad to have the arms conference agree on a minimum program and then adjourn. A LL opposition to administration measures for the remainder of the session was headed off in tha house by the adoption of a gag rule which was pushed through by the Democratic leaders In a tumultuous session. The Republicans shouted and booed, and even used their fiats, but to no avqll, and so the way was cleared for final action by tbf repre sentatives on the communlcatfona, municipal bankruptcy and deficiency bills. It was understood the senate, after dfcpoetag of tha tariff bill, would agree to tho conference report oa the air aull measure sad then almost ear ths stiver MR Held President Roosevelt delivered a Memorial day address that was In effect a vigorous attack on critics of his plans for national recovery. In troduced by Governor Ptnchot as "the first citizen ot the world,” Mr. Roosevelt first paid eloquent tribute to the men of the North and South who fought bravely on that historic field, aqd described how the sections of the nation ITar^een irelTfea- P resident “tutor one, its unity being aided by foreign wars, until now all sectionalism has disappeared. He continued: "We are all brothers now in a new understanding. The grain farmers of the West dp not set themselves up for preference if we seek at the same time to help the cotton farmers of the South; nor do thd tobacco growers complain of discrimination if, at the same time, we help the cattle men of the plains and mountains. “In our planning to lift Industry to normal prosperity, the farmer upholds our efforts. And as we give tie farmer a long sought equality the city worker age man. We know that we all have a stake—a partnership In the govern ment of our country. "Today we have many means of knowing each other—means that have sounded the doom of sectionalism. It Is, I think, as I survey the picture from every angle, a simple fact that the chief hindrance to progress cornea from three elements which, thank God, grow leas in Importance with the growth of a clearer understanding of our purposes on the part of the over whelming majority. ^ "These groups are those who seek to stir up political animosity or to build political advantage by the dis tortion of facts; those who, by declin ing to follow the rules of the game, seek to gain an unfair advantage over those who live up to the rules; and those few who still because they have never been willing to take an Interest In their fellow Americans, dwell Inside of their own narrow spheres and still represent the selfishness of sectional ism which haa no place In our national life.” BRISBANE THIS WEEK Five little Girls at Oeee Big Bilk Come Beck Only Flew the Atlantic Cube Remembers lira Oliva Dionne ef North Bay, Ont, bad five ehUdrdb last Sunday, and "expected” another. She baa tea ebUdren, her famKrtncreBfeed by ftre girl bablea at roe birth! Dr. A. R. Dafoe of Oellander says: **1110 five little girls are all well and chirping." This will Interest millions of women far more than. NRA, the Rssslan-Jap- aneae complications or tbs approach ing home-going of congress. Bills of large denomination, from $600 to $1*00 end $10,000, are used rarely In ordinary affairs. When banka began losing sad peo ple became frightened. It was observed that bank customers were asking for these big bills In exchange for checks, I and, before long, millions of them ‘dis appeared. The federal reserve consid ers it a good sign that they are com ing out from hiding. Just before (he bank crials the amount of big bills In hiding rose to one billion nine hundred millions. Of these large bills, three hundred and fifty millions have recently returned to the United States treasury and to reserve banks, which, according to tbe federal reserve, indicates "better times.” Two Preach flyers, Gapt Maurice Ross! and Lieut Paul Codes, landed on Long Island after an attempt to . . . w . fly nonstop from Paris to California, understands and helps. All of ua share Frenchmen are hr whatever good cornea to the aver- Mid to be greatly humiliated by their Inability to fly on and roach Cali fornia, where a glorious reception awaited them.' It would seem that flying the At lantic westward, Infinitely more diffi cult than going the other way, la a sufficient accomplishment, considering that less than twenty-five years ago Lord Northcllffe was offering ten thou sand pounds to any man that would fly across the little English channel The day la not far away when men will fly nonstop from Parts to San Francisco as a matter of course, sod from anywhere on earth to any other spot on earth. . National Topic* Interpreted by William Bmckart Conservation corps embodies a definite schema for restoring forests that have Jives of tndlvldsala been cutover and constitute nothing FeclEWectaof throughout the unit- more than waata land; It provides fov Washington.—Tha expanding Influ ence of the federal government on the New Deal * . T has become a matter that la attracting attention, and more and more repercussions are to be noted in die National _ Capital Some ob servers tell me they think It Is an Indication that the multifarious agen cies that have been set op under the New Deal art at last In full operation and tbeir effects are now reaching to the grass rdots of the country. How ever that may be^it can be stated without equivocation that the so-called alphabetical soup (the varioue admin istrations and boards and commissions known only by initials) ace making their presence felt for better or for worse In the Uves/of Indlvldualf. I cannot agree with the exaggerated assertion by a leading Republican politician that "we are subject to Hit ler decrees from a hundred different sources,” but there seems little doubt of vast power being wielded by the various New Deal agencies. For Instance, Harry Hopkins, fed eral relief administrator, has decreed that there will be no drought relief funds for cattle owners supplied by the federal emergency relief admin- G OING from Gettysburg to New York, the President embarked on the cruiser Indianapolis, put out to sea and reviewed the American fleet, which, aa assistant secretary of thp navy, he helped to command during the World war and In which he main tains the warmest Interest With him were Secretary Swanson and Josephus Daniels, the war time navy secretary. There were eome other distinguished guests, but members of congress tried ’In vain to get aboard. The Indianapolis was anchored about a mile from Ambrose lightship, aud 88 fighting ships passed proudly In review. The Pennsylvania, flying the four-starred flag of Admiral David A. Sellers, commander of the fleet, led the parade and then, with the Louis ville, turned out of line and anchored nenr the Indianapolis. It was an Im posing spectacle, ruch aa had cot been witnessed since the early days of Pres ident Coolldge 1 * administration. U NDER the present administration the navy la doing quite well, but the army feels that it la neglected. Secretary of War Dern and Newton D.,Baker, who held the portfolio dur ing the war, appeared before the house military affairs committee and urged the passage of the Thompeon bill which would Increase the strength ef the army to 105,000 enlisted men and 14,003 officers. That the present regu lar army Is inadequate in the fact of present disturbed world conditions was The American army aa now manned could not simultaneously protect our outlying poisesalcas, train civilian*, and repel "any sudden invaders,” Sec retary Dern insisted. A more satisfac tory army would cost tho nation 000,000 annually, he said In explain] that he had not suggested an Increase to President Roosevelt because of tho President’s desire to balance the bud- get. y ’ Mr. Baker could not “Imagine an army leas than five times the present size of ours having the slightest effect on the military policy of any other nation." Of course, he did not advo cate any such increase; he Mid font divisions, one in each section of the country; with s fifth free to train civilians, would suffice. A MONG the notable persons taken by death were Jamee Rolph, Jr., governor of California; and Rev. Charles L. O’Donnell president of Notre Dame university. Both had boon U1 for a long time. Two retired generals of the army who were Foil known also paaaod away. They were Maj. Gen. James Parker, noted cavalry Brig. Gen. Frank M. The people end government of Cuba nre trying to find four assassins ac cused of attempting to murder Jeffer son Caffery, United Statee ambassa dor. The real Cubans, intelligent peo ple, seek no quarrel with the United States. They "remember the Maine” nod what happened to Spain after that ship was sent to the bottom. Spain was driven out of Cuba and all tha way home across the Atlantic and out of the Philippines as well Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, wife of the President, an able, energetic and kind-hearted woman, went te Alder- •oh, W. Vn., to inspect the federal' prison Tor women end apeak to the *00 inmates. For such an address, or any address to any prisoners, the best text la the well-known remark of the Bohemian John Hum. looking /at a poor drunkard In the gutter: "But for the grace of God there lies John Hues." Mrs. Roosevelt talks over the radio, and for^doing so is paid $500 a min ute. Others do the Mme and are paid as mneb or even more, but Mrs. Roosevelt gives all her radio receipts to charity. Not many of the others do that rnmmmmjL • S'* MuaaoUnl observing world-wlda preparation for war, and no disarma ment Mys, "If I mast fight I must" and gets ready, wastes so time sob bing or sighing./. Before 1940, beginning at oace, he will spend one thousand million lire en fighting surface ships and the Mme hnge sum on fighting, airships. "Man’s tragic destiny la war,” Mys he, and tells Italians to prepare tot long hard times, to meet the war bills. At least 80 per cent of Europe grants peace, and does not know bow to get it The "Century of Progress" exposi tion is opened for the second year with a succsm big enough to please evea Chicago. Anything must be big to satisfy Chicago. Already It is apparent that this year’s greater and better exposition will eclipse the first year. In attend ance and in every other way. Henry Ford 4ras there to Inspect his new exposition buildings. Befors bs realized It, half a dozen young Americaas, twelve to fifteen years old, had recognized him, appointed him their guide, without pay, and kept him busy for an hour explaining everything to them, while bis distracted secre taries tried to remind him of impor tant bnalneM appointments. *' ‘ Mr. Ford told them: "These boys are more Important Vhocs la nothing serious tho matter with a country when tbs young peo- ple ire interested In now tdehs.” Do not foil to visit Chicago's won derful "Century of ProgreM" exposi tion this summer. Bet what haa been dons la the past century of progress. Bss year country, coming and going and ask yourself what tha next cen tury of progress win this off Stile* r ' suddenly selective cutting ef Uees ln lumber- tng operations, and It is designed to' create in tho minds of all citizens/ the necessity for sustaining our for ests against the time when, at the present rets of destruction, there would bs no more lumber. 1 was sur prised when the forestry service told mo that forest land was just about one-fourth of the entire area In the United States. But the forestry offi cials reminded me at the Mme time that unleM there is a serious con servation movement, there is only -enough timber In sight to provide lum ber for about thirty years more. Mr. Roosevelt Is proposing legisla tion, most of which wttt be rMdy for the session of congress meeting to January, 1935, to provide machinery for co-ordinating the efforts of the federal and state governments and for gaining the co-operation of ^private land owners In restoring growing trees. / ' - • • • A good many Washington observers are wondering how soon the federal t r i d e commission Headed for and NRA are going a Cloth I” lock *<"?■ Th * / two agencies are certainly headed In the direction of a clash. It is generally conceded here sooner or later Jnhw. son’s NRA codes that establish mon opolies to various fields of commerce and Industry are going to be made the subject of pithy comment from fed eral trade commission circles. How soon It will come, or what form the disagreement will take, of course, can be only • matter of conjecture now. It is necessary to recall the basis upon which the federal trade commis sion was created In order to get a clear understanding of the clash that la to be expected. First of all, the creators of the. federal trade commis sion had In mind the Idea of a fed eral agency that could be watching big busineqp all of the time. Where IL found unfair practices, smothering of the little Independent units, and such other conditions as some sharp-shoot ing businesses use. the commission can. and does, cite thqro publicly. It goes after the facts In public hearings and exposes the practices. It also Issues orders directing the offending busi nesses to eliminate the objectionable practices. If they choose to disregard the commission orders, the matter la tnrned over to prosecuting officers of the government and tougher penal ties may bo Imposed. Now, the national recovery act and General Johnson’s codes have gone a long way toward making tho conamla- sTonV ruardTsnahrp of TTlUe busThei* nil In Its effect The codes permit monopolies. *or rather, the codes pro vide under the recovery act that tho anti trust laws shall not apply to thoM businesses signing the terms and con dition! of the codes. It la seen, there fore. that the provisions of the fed eral trade commission act can hardly be enforced. That la to My. tho com mission cannot order a business to cease doing something that General Johnson’s codes declare to be quite all right Thus far, the commission haa kept reasonably quiet about the thing. It Is true, however, that Its members have thoughts about the situation that would make Interesting reading If they were to be expressed openly. The commission has kicked about a few of the codes In a mild sort of way. Its criticisms have been tem pered, It Is said, by the fact that none knows exactly bow to go about effecting a reconciliation of the • di verse positions enacted Into law In the recovery act and the federal trade commission act Apparently, there have bee^no Instructions from the White House and so the commission Is looked upon merely as drifting until sttcfr tlme aa an administration policy « Ist'ration unless the holders of any mortgages on those cattle agree not to foreclose such mortgages. And, be It said, the mortgage holder who re fuses to make such an agreement Is up the well known stump. He can take the cattle, of course, when the mortgage matures, but If the mortgages have many months to run, the cattle are liable to die of starvation In the meantime. Without attempting to de cide the merit of sneb a policy on the part of the federal government, the Illustration shows the power that la wielded from Washington. The Reconstruction Finance corpora tion has been exercising Us Influence with banks" for some time. While RFC officials Insist they are not at tempting to control policies of banks, it nevertheless remains as a fact that they are exercising voting power In the boards of directors of numerous banking Institutions. They went so far In the case of a great Chicago bank as to insist that the man they selected be elected by the board aa Its chairman. In addition, through the Federal Deposit Insurance corpora tion. the bank policies on loans are closely watched, and this Is happen ing at a time wbea the President and some of his advisers are strongly urg ing the banka to make loans. From what I know of the banking business, I imagine few banka will hesitate on making loans In large amounts pro viding the borrower has some secur ity to put up that will assure repay- naent of the funds borrowed. • • • Under NRA and the numerous codes, various terms and conditions are laid down Typical of for business HowCoJ'Workt nr>ct!rM H-r, la a typical case: the code for the graphic arts Industries haa a provision prohibiting extension of credit for longer than two yearn. That Is. a printing plant owner or publisher of a country news paper or any one albe wanting to boy ■ linotype machine had been allowed sometimes as much aa five years In which to pay for expensive equipment of that kind. Now, however, he must pay for It within two years or the manufacturer will be a code violator by selling It on a long term basis Thus It la to be seen that the code exerts an Influence on what might be called the Innocent bystander. The country publisher cannot save up gold with which to pay for the machinery because he would be a criminal to have gold under present law. Again declaring that I /m not dis cussing the merit of the proposition. It remains as a fact that the federal trade commission la exerting an In fluence on the type of investments In dividuals mak« reatrit of Jtr con trol over the Issue and sale of shares of stock or bonds mission cannot reach a corporation that Is doing business only. In ft horns stato, but tbe larger corpor* \ tious engage In busineM on a broad/ er scale than that and the bulk of shares and bonds therefore, mnst net be Issued until the federal trade com mission’s securities experts have de termined the facts abont the corpora tion that offers them. It Is a matter of record,'of course, that numerous corporations have sold purely blue sky stock, but the point I aln attempting to make is that here is another federal Influence on the lives of Individuals There are so many ether examples that could be dted that they would fill more space than la available here. • • • Aa we go through the mouth of June, another phase of the New Deal becomes effectivs I Fcreel refer to the develop- Coneervation . , M coun try s forests Private ly as well as publicly, owned. While there will be no noticeable results for some Urns the President’s forest con- eeryatlon policy haa become operative nevertheless and it Is a long-range affair that la generally accepted as building for the future^ * The program which the President Initiated when he started the Civillaa is framed. - ^omehody la going to have to Iron out the differences. They cannot go on Indefinitely. That fact Is ob viousWhen- one government agency goes ahead and allows a thing to be done that another government agency has been created to • prevenC lb is axiomatic that a collision Is going to occur between them In due course. Few. observers and few Important leaders as well are willing to attempt a prediction as to the outcome. Ono reason Is that NRA Is under fire from several directions and I believe it can not be Mid to what extent the general principles of NRA are going to be come Imbedded In our Industrial struc ture e e e Government officials -are be—mlng more and more concerned about the growth of smuggling and bootlegging of liquor. A determined effort Is be ing made to check (his illicit trads but the optimism expressed by officials charged with tho reaponstbllity does not ring very loud. Indeed, the talk I hear in s goed many quarters to that there must be some revision down ward of the import m duties and tha local aud state taaa_ on Ifcaor or elM tho bootlegger and smuggler win be doing as much business as tha n # r . -■; /