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Tht Barnwell People-Sentinel, Barawell 8, Thursday, Jnac 20, 1935 BRISBANE THIS WEEK Humpty-Dumpty NRA Many Damocle4 Swords Biggest and Fastest Gangster Ingenuity Refusing to admit the resemblance tetween NRA and Humpty-Dumpty, that “all the king's horses and all the king’s men” could not put together again, Washington will gather up the pieces of NRA and try to reconstruct “something as good.” The process may r< structors of the boy who took his watch apart, put It together and proud ly said to his friends, "Not only have I put It to gether, but I have quite a number of pieces left over that I do not need." News Review of Gurrent Artkar Brlaban* The Weyerhaeuser kidnapers, how ever “hard-boiled" they may be, must feel nervous when they hand out one Of the $200,000 ransom bills, knowing that the numl>er and series of every bill are In the possession of govern ment detectives. It will not make spending the money more agreeable to learn that thirty “O-men” from the attorney general’s office will devote their entire time to bunting for those bills and tracing the Spenders of them—$200,000 worth of Damocles swords. The giant French ship Normandie Is bere and pleasing to Americans who like superlatives. She Is the biggest Jiner ever launched, the longest, broad est, heaviest, costliest. And, crossing /n 4 days 11 hours 42 minutes, she Is the fastest. She Is built, not for profit, but for glory and to advertise French Supremacy. England will soon send her Queen Mary after the Normandie’s record and, doubtless, Mussolini will soon enter the race. . Uncle Sam? Well, he Is busy with Vher things, very busy. Just new. } Events the World- Over President Suggests Amendment of Constitution but Asks Stop-Gap Legislation to Permit Continuance of the New Deal Program. J By EDWARD W. PICKARD C We»tern Newspaper Union. . . * 11. Federal dlcohol control leglsla- P RESIDENT ROOSEVELT has creat ed a major Issue for the campaign of 1930 and stirred up widespread debate and controversy over a question that the nation had thought was settled In Its early days. Furthermore, It In the line of viciousness, modern gangsters show Ingenuity. Police give these details of the death ot Danny Walsh, head of a bootleg-rum syndi cate who was kidnaped, ransomed for $40,000, later murdered. Enemies took him to sea In a boat, made him sit with his feet In a tub of wet cement, and watch while It hardened. He was then thrown overboard with the tub of cement hard around his feet. Sev eral times, while he watched the *ement harden, It must have occurred to Danny Walsh that.a jyljnlnal ca reer Is not profitable. To aay, "Man Is half tiger and half tnonkey" Is sometimes unjust to the monkey. At High Point, N. C., J. R. Riggs, middle-aged, operating a filling station, was found, with tenpenny nails driven through each hand and each foot, fastened to a rough wooden cross. The man, having been nailed to the cross only for a short time, will probably live Riggs admitted he had engineered the crucifixion to regain his wife’s affection. Is Tlkely he has start- ed the movement for a complete re-allgn- ment of political forces Into what will be vir tually two new parties. Briefly, he proposes that the Constitution be changed to take from the states and a nbridga gj ve jj )e f e( i e ral Co by government power over the chief social and economic ques tions so that the New Deal may be saved from the doom pronounced upon It by the Supreme court. In the course of a two hour talk with the Washington correspondents the President sent tip a trial ballaon on the plan he had conceived for re modeling the government to fit his pro gram, declaring that he favored cur tailing the sovereignty of the states and giving the central government full control over agriculture. Industry, com merce and all other occupations and en terprises. He said this question of amending or re-wrltlng the Constitu tion must be settled by a vote of the people. In some ways, he said, the Su preme court decision was the best thing that could have happened to the coun try because It clarified the Issue as he presented It. The Issue must be met by moving one way or the other, he said, back to the 13 states or forward to the modern Interpretation. We are the only country In the world which has not solved this problem. Mr. Roosevelt said. We thought we were solving It, but now It Is thrown right back in our faces. We are relegated te 4he “horse and huggy" Interpreta tion of the interstate commerce clause. That many prominent Democrats will be alienated from their support of Mr. Roosevelt by this pronouncement is cer tain. Already there has been launched a movement for those of the party who seek “a retj^rn to constitutional gov ernment” to unite with the Republicans who are of Ilk > mind. Its lenders are Bainbrldge Colby, who was"'secret ary of state In President Wilson's cabinet, and Chief Justice William R. Pattan- gnll of the Massachusetts Supreme court Mr. Colby has written to a number of Democratic leaders of national re pute proposing they meet In a south- slder some form of political action that is for our country and above party." In a letter to a friend in Washington It was revealed that Chief Justice Pat- tangnll had decided to resign In' order to Join with other Jeffersonian Demo crats to bring about a coalition with Republicans and the restoration of "constitutional government” to^ replace the New Deal. 12. Federal oil control legislation. 13. Central statistical board set up. 14. Electrical farm and borne au thority set up, The holding company measnr* hna Thomas N. McCarter bCeo resisted firmly—in- committee by two Democrats, Pet- tinglll of Indiana and Huddleston of Ala bama. In a senate debate It was vlgor ; ously attacked by D!e- terich of Illinois, Dem ocrat, and Hastings of Delaware, Republican, as an unconstitutional scheme to destroy the government’s competi tors In the power busi ness. Mr. Dieterlen said It was his honest conviction that the measure would de stroy all private ownership of public utilities in the country, together with the millions upon millions of dollars invested in them by private citizens. This measure was naturally the chief topic of discussion at ^the^annual con vention of the Edison Electric Insti tute at Atlantic City. President Thomas N. McCarter told the assem blage that the privately owned power Industry mtfst fight for Its life against the administration’s “most devastating and destructive attack.” He told of presenting “in person” to the President "a dignified memorial” setting forth “facts that seemed to the trustees to threaten the existence of this industry C HAIRMAN JESSE H. JONES an nounced that In the future the RFC will file with th® Interstate commis sion, If necessary, Its own reorganiza tion plans for railroads in financial dif ficulties and in which It Isolds a finan cial interest At the same time Mr. Jones an nounced a plan whereby the Chicago, Milwaukee, SLJPaul A Pacific railroad would be organized with the aid of a $24,000,000 government loan. A fouf- point program was worked out in cpn- ferences between Mr. Jones and H. A. Scandrett, president of the road, and will be filed for court approval. Notice of the intention of the RFC to force reorganization plans has been given in letters to the Denver & Rio Grande Western, and the Western Pa cific. Rational Topics Interpreted • by William Bruckart National Presa Building Washington, D, C. w Washington.—What of the future? Where are we going now that one of the Jceystones of the What to Be New Deal—the Na- Done Now? tIonal Recovery ad ministration — has been largely outlawed? The national capital never has*wlt- nessed such confusion, even in the midst of the World war, as has pre- ?.,, reCOr ?.. VQte t ^ ie h QUSe P a Med Vailed here since the Supreme court con-_ of the United-States had Its final say ITHOUT discusslon and without the Wilcox bill struction of seven powerful army air bases at a total cost of $110,000,000. ffhe measure specifies the locations as the Atlantic Northeast, the Atlantic Southeast and Caribbean areas, the southeastern states, the Pacific North- wesL Alaska, the Rocky mountain area, an<J' “intermediate stations neces sary for transcontinental movements In the maneuvers of the general head quarters air force.” “ /'"VNE of the most prominent figures in the World war passed from the scene with the death in Essex. England, of Viscount Byng of Vlmy. As a young officer of cavalry Byng distinguished himself in campaigns in the Sudan, In South Africa and In India. In the great war he won jin- dying fame by his desperate defense of Ypres when it was attacked by overwhelmingly superior German forces which for the first time used poison gas and flame throwers. He was given a baronetcy for this and other gallant work, and after serving as governor-general of > Canada frqm 1921 to 1920 he was made a viscount and later R a field marshal. He was called from retirement In 1928 to be come commissioner of London’s police „ . „ , . ... . . j force, but ill health forced him to and appealed to the government for a resi „ n th| . „ get-together policy for the elimination ” ^ of whatever abuses and wrongs might be found to.exist,” but said he g.ot nowhere. T EMPORARILY the work-relief pro gram was halted when the officials Tound-that the projects were too costly, and they set about hunting up projects fhat^would provide maximum worE^t minimum cost, so that the promise to employ 3,500,000 persons can be car ried out Meanwhile approval of all applications was held up. They have an average of $1,100 per man to spend. Yet the $1,000,000,000 in projects already planned will cost approximately $2,000 for every person taken off relief rolls and kept on gov ernment pay rolls until July 1, 1930. To reduce the average, Mr. Roose velt Instructed Progress Director Har ry L. Hopkins to search the country for local, quick work where material costs will he low with almost all the money going for labor and wages.— The plan of enlarging the Civilian Conservation corps from 300,000 to 000.000 was in process of revision be cause It was believed the additional men could not be enrolled If the pres ent eighteen to twenty-five-year-old age limit were retained. The probability was the age limit would be‘raised to- thirty years. Another war commander who died was Gen. Alexander von Linsingen, who was at the head of the German southern army after having fought through the earlier campaigns in norfh- ern France. PAN'S armj, which-appears to-rtHe- Japan’s foreign policy, has decided that Gen. Chiang Kai-shek, dictator of China, must retire. This was an- nttuaced at • Tientsin by Col. Takashi Sakai, chief of staff of the Japanese troops tn North China. He said : “Chiang Kai-shek, using his financial and military power under the pretense of uniting China, is act ually corrupting and disintegrating North Gen. Chiang - Kai-shek Sometimes gangsters show signs of Intelligence. Volney Davis, arrested In Chicago In connection with the Rremer kidnaping, was “flown” to St. Paul, and. arriving there, confessed complicity Ip the kidnaping, saying to the Judges: “I knew I could not get away from the ‘G-men.’” Land ownership Is the best founda tion of prosperity and security, under Just government. Those se*king to establish refugees from Germany In Palestine decide, wisely, to begin with land ownership. A fund exacted to exceed $5,000,000 is being raised for that purpose. The ground under your feet cannot run away, cannot be stolen. King George, seventy years old. cel ebrated his birthday reviewing troops, wearing the uniform of colonel-ln-chlef of the Iris!* Guards. He rode to Buck ingham palace on horseback, all four of his sons riding with him. while thon- sands cheered. Recently the queen celebrated her sixty-eighth birthday. It Is desirable that the husband be fe little older than the wife. That gives him an excuse for complaining. He can always say, “Walt until yon are as old as I am and you will un derstand." » , A Brooklyn girl, ten years old. paid $1 for a sweepstakes ticket, won $30,- )00i It will cost other little girls and Vlg men and women many dollars for ivery dollar accidentally won. Uncle Sam is presumed to get his •hare of the winnings In Income tax. He and his country would be richer If he could find a way to prevent the gambling Invasion. The United States has Important work to' do outside of NRA and its reVlstoa, work with which the 3n preme court would sot Interfere, and that Is the control of floods, protection of population against then. Two hun dred and fifty are reported killed tn southwestern Nebraska, following flood and tornado. 'rawer* H AVING Startled the country by his proposition for changing the basic law, Mr. Roosevelt turned his atten tion to speedy legislation that might salvage part of the NRA. considering. It was authoritatively said, that amend ment of the Constitution was not a matter of the immediate future. He asked congress to pass the Clark reso lution In modified form extending the NIJA until April 1, 1930, with the tin derstnnding that it would he a skeleton organization to collect and classify data hut without power to enforce wages, hours or fair trade practices upon Industry, except in the case of work done for the government. -• This was agreeable to both the senate and the house majorities. The President said there would he no attempt to cir cumvent the Supreme court decision or to persuade business men to enter into voluntary code agreements. Attorney General Cummings. Solic- Ifor General Reed^ TeThfTTankfurter and others were studying numerous proposals for substitutes for the NRA, but Secretary Early of -the White House staff said none of the sugges tions had met the requirements. Secre tary of Labor Perkins had a plan for using the government’s taxing potvers as a means toward Injerstate regula tion. Senators Nye and King intro duced In the senate a hill to expand the powers of the federal trade com mission. And there were many other propositions, but none of them seemed adequate. SOLELY on account of 111 health, * Ramsay MacDonald has retired as prime minister of Grtat Britain and gone to Ixissiemouth, his home > in Scot land, for a good rest. His successor as head of the national cabl net is Stanley Bald win, the veteran lead er of Conservatives who has been serving as lord president of the council and in re ality has been a dep uty prime minister since the national gov ernmCrfl was formed seven years ago. Mr. MacDonald exchanges places, with him, thus remaining la the cabinet but without departmental duties. The' date of his last cabinet meeting as prime- minister was the sixth anniversary «f his assumption of tiie qffi c*g for the seeund the exception of H. H. Asquith he has held the office continuously for the longest period la modern times. Of the other changes in the cabinet the most important was the transfer of Sir John Simon from the foreign office to the home office. He is suc ceeded In the former by Sir Samuel Hoare, who has been chief secretary for India. Mr. MacDonald’s son Mal colm, only thirty-four years old, was made colonial secretary. 'Stanley Baldwin China, which Chiang regards as a colony. Hence the Japanese army now feels that It is the wisest policy to uproot Chiang Kai-shek’s in fluence, especially in North China. “It Is not the communists but Chiang Kai-shek who will put an end to the existence of China. The Japanese army intends to take the necessarv measures to compel the Chinese gov- erment to abolish’the Tientsin garrison corps, the Kuomintang political branches, the Blue Shirt secret police and patriotic societies encouraging the consumption of native goods. These societies have been responsible for anti-Japanese sentim^ht as well as dis turbance of peace,and order within Manchukuo.” as to the constitutionality of the NRA and Frazler-Lemke farm mortgage moratorium law. The lack of constitu tional authority for the Frazier-Lemke law was recognized by many but until the highest court In the -land had spoken concerning ’NRA, views were divided and the Blue Eagle continued to fly, albeit In a lower circle. New Dealers generally were con fident* to the last They appeared to •ekpect some unseen force to guide the Supreme court In upholding the fan tastic program which they had devised and which the President made a part of his New Deal plans for. economic recovery. The adverse ruling made them sick at the stomach. Most of them have not yet recovered. Hence, confusion continues to reign. You have heard much discussion in the pasjt two weeks as to how the breath of life may again be breathed Into the Blue Eagle. As far as I have been able to gather from authoritative quarters In Washington, there Is noth ing left to do but perform the funeral ceremonies for the Ill-fated bird and the so-called national plan which It represented. The reports of Presi dential conferences, of meetings of statesmen and executives of the Ad ministration, of this plan and that plan and statements and expressions of opinion respecting the future course, mean absolutely nothing. When the Supreme court said that the congress had unlawfully delegated to the Presi dent power to draft codes of fair prac tice and enforce them upon private business, It took away the heart and nerve centers-of-the NlLv structure. On top of this body blow, the NRA principle Is looked upon In many quarters, and by men who know and understand the problems ot govern ment, as being thoroughly discredited In the public mind. It Is not too much to say that when a nathtnnl law does not hold the confidence of the hulk of the people its usefulness has ceased. So It was with ,the prohibition amend ment. Equally, I believe It can be stated, If opinion of statesmen of long training can be trusted, no attempts to revise the NRA will get to first base. Even the Brain Trust movement to obtain amendment of the Federal Constitution making such laws as NRA proper can win country-wide support. More Hope for Future C OL. CHARLES A. LINDBERGH’S active participation in the affairs of Transcontinental and Western Air has been terminated at least for the present. Henry B. Dupont, chairman" of the board, in aiaking the announct*- ment, denied there had been any dis agreement between the famous aviator and the company officials. “Colonel Lindbergh never has devoted 100 per cent of his time to TWA ac tivities.” Mr. Dupont said. “As ad visor he drew a retainer for his tech nical advice. Sometimes he worked several days in succession, sometimes only two or three days a month. tretr time to the C ONGRESS, it now appears, will be in session until September, for the President handed to the leaders a “must’’ program of legislation that will keep the law makers busy for a long time. Here Is the list: 1. Social security bill. £ ■'•Omnibus banking hilt 8. Holding company bill 4. Wagner labor relations bill, and Guffey coal regulations bill. 5. Tennessee valley bill. Bankhead cotton act extension. AAA amendments. Tax extension bill. TempHury NRA extension. NRA government contract re- .6. 7. & 9. 10. qulrementa. DOUISSON’S French cabinet having *-* fallen almost Immediately, Presi dent Lebrun had great difficulty find ing another premier. Pierre HI* 1 * former foreign minister, finally under took to form a new government and to “sAve the franc.” He kept the foreign ministry post himself, and put Marcel Regnier In as minister of finance. walked out of the old senate chamber whb'b it has occupied as a courtroom since 1859. When the court recon venes next October after its summer recess it will be housed In the magni ficent new $10,000,000 marble building Just east of the Capitol company, hut now has decided to de vote the^next few months exclusively to his personal affairs, although he will continue to be available In emer gencies for consultation. He still is TWA’s technical adviser and he will be available if we need him. Probably when his personal affairs are straight ened out he may be devoting a lot of time to qur problems. 7 L ITTLE George Weyerhaeuser, nine year-old lumber fortune heir who was kidnaped from Tacoma, is safe at home, but tbe “snatchers” who held him captive for a week got away" with $200,000 ransom money paid by tbe lad’s family. They fled In a fast automobile, and at this writing are still at large, though pursued closely by an army of government agents and other officers. W Tm „, n ,_ T _ . . . |7l.«ttQS and, tornadoes wrought ITHOUT any special ceremony ^ havocV*’ebraska, Colorado, Wyo- the Supreme court at the end T e Xas and Ka nsas-a region of a * p rln g session for the last tiffir ^ on „ rec€ntlj wa8 a ffH Cte d by drouth aud dust storms.' It was thought as many as 250 lives were lost and great numbers of families were rendered homeless. The worst flood area was in southern Nebraska, where tbe Republican river was swollen Into S raging torrent Enough Indications already have be come visible to warrant a statement that the summer months will see chis eling, price putting and other nefarious and improper business practices going ou and that these will be disastrous to countless business Interests. The congress will strive In a half-hearted • fashion to offset the loss of strength and prestige suffered by the New peal at the hands of the Supreme court. But the effort plainly will he only, half hearted. So It is made to appear that the country must submit for several months at least to a bad condition. After that. If the opinions of experi enced men are worth while, there ought to he a substantial change for the bet ter. Careful surveys, close examina tions of the problems at hand and candid thinking has brought to un biased observers the conclusion that there is more hope fbr the future now as regards the economic situation than there was while the Blue Eagle con tinued to soar and ballyhoo artists continued to preach about its powers to restore ^prosperity. I believe this statement which is the consensus ought to > be tempered with one sugges tion. There is likely to be a restora tion of confidence generally If the Ad ministration turns aside from Brain Trust theories and employs the prac tical Instead of the theoretical method of government. • • • To the agricultural community the decision invalidating the Frazler- Lemke mortgage Just an moratorium law prob- Idle Dream ab, y has in terest. It should not be so. The Frazler-Lemke law from tbe first was an Idle dream was predicated upon shortsighted under standings of basic economic laws. Ev erywhere I have Inquired concerning the probable end or result of the work ings of that statute, Informed persons declared It meant eventual destruction of credit for agriculture. Supporters of the Frazler-Lemke Idea cannot lean, as do supporters of the NRA principle, upon an accusation that the law was badly administered. It was administered, according to the Farm Credit Administration, In the spirit and letter of Its Intent Yet be cause It was fundamentally unsound >It never could succeed. My own guess Is that the Supreme court by Its ruling in this case has rendered a great serv ice to American agriculture. Simmered down, the law which was nroposed by Senator Frazier and Rep resentative Lemke, both of North Da^ kota, was designed to give purely temporary aid to distressed owners 'bf mortgage farm\ lands. The things which apparently neither of the co-s authors foresaw was the effect thef temporary arrangement would have as to the future. By this I mean that, for example, If a farmer wants to buy a home and had only a small amount of cash, he must borrow money from someone else. If the holder of fbaL money were made to feel that at any— time during the life of that mortgage congress could pass a law telling the lender he could not force payment of the debt few there would be who would be willing to lend their money. It Is not human nature to lend money un less there Is a reasonable assurance that It will be repaid. Thus, It seems to me the Frazler- Lemke law contained elements of danger that were overlooked In the stress of depressed conditions. As laws now stand,, leriders of capital wljl have some assurance that'the security they take will continue to be security and that the Individual who borrows, whether he be th^ owner of a farm or. the owner of a business in town, either will make payments on the principal or surrender the property. • » • Perhaps, the worst blow dealt Pres ident Roosevelt personally was the Su preme court decision The Worst which held that the Blow Presidential power did not extend to re moval of a.Federal Trade Commission member except tor the reasons pre scribed in the law Itself. It will be re membered that Mr. Roosevelt forcibly* ousted the late William E. Humphrey from commission membership because, it was opehly stated at the time, Mr. Humphrey was a conservative repub lican and he, therefore, did not see eye to eye with the President and his Ne/ Deal plans. Mr. Humphrey sued the government for the salary for his term. After his-death his executors carried on the litigation which has Just now been decided in their favor. It is the principle Involved here that is important. The Federal Trade Com mission was set up as a qunsi-Judiclal body, one endowed with powers to reg ulate against improper business prac tices and to determine the propriety of general business dealings where those dealings aftected country wide business or the Interests of the public. It takes no stretch of the imagina tion to see how Presidential Interfer ence with the commission personnel would result in changes of commission policy. One business practice might - be held proper by a commission whose majority was conservative while that . 5e considered Il legal by a commlssibh dominated by a liberal or radical membership. It be comes obvious then that if the Presi dent were permitted to disturb the personnel of the commission, especially judges, there could be no continuity of policy and business itself would hardly know from day to day when It was 'abiding by the taw or when It was— not. Several months ago. I recall, I re ported to you in these columns some thing in the nature AAA Comes Of a prediction that Next the Supreme court would become better known to the general public before the current*Administration had ended than it had been known since it rendered the famous Dred Scott decision In civil war days. It’was a perfectly obvious eircumstance. Sooner or later the questions of a constitutional natbre In volved in the New Deal procedure ob viously were going to be tested In court , . • Now, I feel warranted In reporting that the highest court again will be In the public eye. The next momen tous decision likely to come from the. bench of the nine austere Justices will be s ruling affecting the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and there- fore of . vital Import ta the American farmer. There will be other cases In volving New Deal plans, of course, but their importance cannot possibly be as great as any decision affecting the AAA. because It is an Integral part of the New Deal program for recovery. «> There Is no possibility of a ruling on any AAA questions before next Oc tober. No-lest cases have yet reached the Supreme court for argument but there are half a dozen wending their slow way through minor courts. Conr slderation by the Supreme court even tually Is, of course, certain because they Involve constitutional questions. Notwithstanding the fact that a Su preme court decision on the AAA is con siderably distant, it Is to be noted that after the NRA was outlawed, there was considerable scurrying around among AAA officials. Fresh considera tion, was given to many points of law over which there Is doubt Amend ments which the AAA have asked congress to enact to strengthen tbe original Adjustment Act were suddenly withdrawn from the senate floor by those who sponsored them. The reason given was that there were imperfections which should be corrected. The real reason for the action was fear of sud den development ot litigation over thn controverted points. • Wait ana Nawapapar Union. V.