Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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■ ' i * y-1. ....... Bfaika.: Jbm&ihara The Barnwell People-SentliieU Barnweli g. C„ Thoreday; Jnly 25, 1935 ■4 ^-National Topic* Interpreted v by William Bruckart National Proas BulUUnc Waahlnston, p. C. Washington.—Bock in 1916 before the United States became Inyolred du.lv l. tn t 11 * World war Public Dubi our government had Mount* * national debt which w a a regarded as large at that time. It was only $1,- 200,000,000, but that was sqfDdent In those days to cause concern. On the first of July, 1935, the trea sury started a new set of hooka This represented the beginning of *a new financial year ffpithe government One of the Items It bad to enter on those books was a public debt of about |28,- 800,000,000. We of today think that Is a huge debt and when It Is com pared with the outstanding obligations of the federal government a score of years ago Its magnitude seems titanic. When the treasury closed the fiscal year books on June 30 and counted the cost of the preceding 12 months of government It was found that there had been expended roughly $7,300,000,- 000. In the same period It had col lected through Income and othej forms of taxes, Including duties laid at the customs houses, a total of approxi mately $3,800,000,000. This means that In the.last 12 months the government operated with a deficit of - something over $3,500,000,000. In other words. Its operating costs were virtually dou ble the amount of revenue It received. This deficit together with the deficit that was created during the earlier months of the Roosevelt administra tion added something like $8,000,000,- 000 to the national debt President Hoover while In office added about $4,- 000,000,000 to the national debt through deficits In the last two years of his administration. So there are two out standing phases in the financial affairs of the federal government as It starts the fiscal year of 1936, which began July 1. There la bred these questions: How long can the federal government con tinue to spend money like water and thus Increase Its public debt, and how long will the American people continue to permit expenditures by their gov ernment In excess of the revenues it collects? They are related questions. Neither can happen without the other. But It seems to me that the time has come for taxpayers and voters generally to take note of the condition of the gov ernment’s finances. Mr. Roosevelt Justifies these heavy outlays under the necessities of an emergency. He contends that when prosperity returns and business Is nor mal, citizens will pay their taxes with out complaint -an,d that these taxes will be sufficiently large In their total production to whittle down the gigantic ontstanding debt' Hence there Is at this moment an urgent need for ex amination of the whole tax structure. This Is necessary to maintain the credit of the United States. If people . .doubt or lose faith In government bonds, the credit of the government can be said to be Impaired. No nation of self-respecting people desires that thing to. happen. It has long been a recognized truism that If a United States govecnraenMwnd tfas not worth' Its face value, the money we have and * the. rights we exercise as citizens like wise become impaired in value and ' benefit. • • » Careful analysis of government finances In’the last 12 months shows that federal revenues Finance* were sufficient to • Analyzed <*o^er what Mr. Roosevelt c h a r a c- terlzes as ordinary government costs. He means by that the expenses of the regular establishments of government and .excludes all of the so-called emer gency agencies, of which there are now some sixty-odd. Thla condition reveals that federal taxes are about the only Item In governmental affairs or In .private business that have completely recovered from depression effects. Re covery has been sufficient to make the total revenues virtually the same as those received under the Hoover ad ministration In the fiscal year o_f 1929- 1930. It showfe alao. that Mr. Roose velt bos not reduced the cost of ordi nary running expenses of the govern ment aa be had planned when he be came President I mentioned earlier a comparison of the public debt now and In 1916. Let us take another date, namely, 1919. At that time the outstanding debt was $26,594,000,000. The anqual interest charge on that debt was just short of one billion dollars. Today with a much larger outstanding debt the an nual Interest charge amounts to only $820,000,000 per year. v ; This seems almost paradoxical but the answer lies In this Interest rate the government Is paying. In 1921 the average rate of Interest calculated on all different types of government se- At the present time It Is less than 8 per cent 8o credit must be accorded the treasury for Its gradual reduction In Interest rates. Ten years ago an effort was made to market securities at gradually lower Interest rates. It did not succeed fully because private business was demanding capital and private business was paying higher Interest rates. In the last five or six years private business has called for very little money. Government securi ties and the law of supply and demand operated to allow the treasury to sell its bonds and notes at much reduced Interest On the one hand, therefore, the Roosevelt administration has run up the public debt by about $8,000,000,000 but has succeeded In actually reducing the carrying charge of this great debt structure by more than $100,000,000 per year. That Is the situation as of today. Restorationjof business activity and the resultant demand for capital may change the market for treasury bonds almost overnight but the pros pects for such business activity are not immediate. • •"- One of the Interesting things that often occurs In government affairs Is the explosive effect Start* of a single Incident Something or » 8,n S le rem,irk by an Important of ficial It Is a characteristic of chang ing conditions and It Is a circumstance which causes Washington observers to be on their toes continuously be cause they never can tell when such an Incident will occur. Thus it was the other day that Representative Brewster, Republican, of Maine, a for mer governor of that state, arose In his place In the house of representa tives and charged that the Roosevelt administration was threatefilng Indi vidual members of the house who de clined to support the administration view on a particular piece of legisla tion. Mr. Brewster named one Thomas Corcoran as the administration emis sary and bearer of the threata. He told of details of the circumstance and In formed the house that the legislation which the administration demanded he should support was the so-called “death sentence” provision In the bill to elimi nate utility holding companies. Suf fice it to say that Mr. Brewster did not yield. The polftt of this Incident, however. Is that Immediately there came from many quarters In the house a demand for an Investigation of lobbying activi ties. There had been many charges theretofore that the public utility cor porations were over running the house with lobbyists in their effort to defeat the “death sentence” section. The real reason back of this sudden outburst, however/lies in dissatisfaction among many members of congress with tactics employed by the Roosevelt administra tion. They have taken orders con stantly since Marqji 4, 1933, but ap parently they are no longer going te obey; \ So the Investigation of lobbying Is to be started by a house committee and it will be broader than just the public utility lobbyist If the undercurrent of Information proves to be correct administration representatives who have frequented the house chambers during consideration of the holding Company bill will be placed on the witness stand to tell their story. • • • Tn the meantime and maybe as a re sult of the excitement over the Br.ew- ster charge. Senator Look Into Black, an Alabama Lobbying Democrat started fireworks In the sen ate. He is prepared to create investi gating machinery ‘in that end of th« Capitol to determine what Influence the dtility lobbyists have'. exerted. That Investigation also will go beyond the utility lobbyist phase. It Is sched uled to dig up dirt o'n lobbyists for other legislation. Thus far there has been little menjlbn of administration activities around the senate. But, as in the case of the house In-, vestigation, It appears now that the senate Investigation has a double pur pose. It will be recalled that Senator Black fostered a bill requiring all lobbyists In Washington to register at the Capitol, to show their connection, to show what salaries or other com pensation they receive and to make public certain types of correspondence passing between them and the people whom 'they represent The gossip Is that the senator’s bill, although It passed the senate without difficulty, will havt hard sledding In the house. Senator Black appears to be proceed ing on thte theory that the Investiga tion will create additional atmosphere and public demand for passage of the lobbyist registration measure Actually, I believe that the Investi gation will do no more than ruin repu tations of some few people. Such an Inquiry will not stop lobbying. It wrlll not even curb or reduce lobbying. As long as individuals have property the value of which may be affected one way or the other by federal legislation^ Just so long will Individuals seek to Influence their representatives and sen ators In congress. It seems to me to be a perfectly natural and normal thing, and without defending the slimy type of lobbying end the raw or crook ed deals that may come from lobbying, the voters have a right to express their view* te their representatives. The Irony of the present situation is that undoubtedly there will be no reference In either Investigation to the tremendous activity carried on by the American Federation of Labor lobby ists or the lobbyists for. the American Legion or the lobbyists for certain groups such as the pacifists or the rad ical supporters of Russian types of government Nor Is It likely that the correct picture of administration pres sure upon the last two sessions of con gress will be disclosed. • WMtora M«wapap«r Uatoa. MM mmm Let Our Motto Be GOOD HEALTH _ BY DR. LLOYD ARNOLD Colics* pf Medicine. . RABIES ’Because the so-called dog days are In August many people think the dan ger of rabies Is greatest In the sum mer. But this Is not so. The dis ease occurs at all seasons of the year; Indeed, - the cold winter months seem to increase Its viru lence. Cases of rabies have decreased most encouragingly since Pasteur, the great French sci entist, developed his vaccination treat ment against rabies In 1884^-a treat ment that since has been used through out the world, and Is known every where as the “Pasteur treatment.” But there are still too mSriy cases of rabies. In the months of December, January and February of this winter 1,057 persons were reported bitten by dogs In Chicago alone. Of these, 28 dogs tested for rabies, showed evi dences of Infection. In cities the greatest danger is from stray dogs; in the country districts the danger is from the bites of home dogs that may have been infected by stray dogs roaming the heighborhood. The Infection in rabies Is carried In the saliva of the animal'or person who has It. That was established as early as 1813. It Is a wound infection. One usually gets It through a bite, but If one already has an open wound and the saliva Infected with rabies touches It, one may develop the disease, al though not bitten. Bites on the bare skin, therefore, are more dangerous than bites through the dothlng for then the cloth may soak up the saliva. BJtes on .the head and neck are most serious, as the virus travels along the nerves to the brain, and these parts of the body are the shortest distance from the brain. I have read stories of children attacked by mad dogs where an older person running to the rescue, and unable to get between the dog and the child, has managed to throw a coat or other heavy cloth over the child’s head, so that the dog’s teeth have sunk Into the cloth. Such per sons have done- the wisest thing pos sible In the emergency. Rabies Is most common In .dogs, al though all animals are susceptible. Even birds may get It The mortality rate Is practically 100 per cent If the person contracts rabies and the Pas teur treatment has not been applied In time. Fortunately the Incubation period Is a long one, from two weeks to eight weeks, and sometimes even-.longer, so fhere usually Is time for the Pasteur treatment to.be effective. If the treat ment is not delayed too long. For merly there were only a few cities in this country where the Pasteur treatment could be given, thus neces sitating a long, expensive and anxious trip on the part of an Infected person. Now, however, it Is not necessary to leave home. Any accredited doctor can administer the treatment. When a dog, frothing at the,mputh, Is on the loose, snapping at other dogg apd at children, there is usually panic In a community. Mothers run out snatching their children in; neighbors telephone frantically to each other; If men-are at home, they form an emer gency committee; the police are called. It is lucky Indeed If someone doesn’t use a gun. Using a gun is decidedly wrong, uhtess there is no other way of stopping the dog. Every, effort should be made to capture the animal alive, for It Is Important to know whether the dog Is really mad. This Is the proper treatment of the dog,- according to a bulletin Issued by the Illinois department of public health: “The dog should be securely chained or confined in a safe place and provided with his regular food supply during an observation period of two weeks. The early symptoms of rabies In a dog are variable. He may be unusually friendly or may develop a limp In one leg, or his voice may^be- come-hoarse and he may appear to have a bone or other foreign object lodged^ In his throat,- It 4s dangerous even to attempt the examination of such an animal, and he should be ob served by a veterinarian. If the dog remains well and healthy throughout the two weeks, he may be released and any person whom he may have bitten need have no fear of rabies resulting from the bite. If, on the other hand, the dog should manifest the symptoms of rabies during the observation period, he ^hould be killed so that the head may* be detached WIflSdut mutilation, packed In Ice In a double tin-lined container and expressed, to the labora tory.” It cannot be shipped parcel post States and municipal labora tories are equipped to make this ex amination. A person bitten bp a dog should go clean and dress the wound properly, and if the dog is known to be rabid, he will start the anti-rabic treatment at oncei Home remedies should never be relied on. It Is estimated that there are 40,- 000,000 dogs In this country. If we embarked on a vigorous campaign to exterminate the strays, and then .would vaccinate all pet dogs tn Infected dis tricts, we could virtually stamp out rabies. \ • Wcetera Newspaper Unloa. MAKE NO CLAIM , OF “SURE”—CURES FOR HUMAN ILLS Can all children be immunised against Infantile paralysis as against diphtheria and smallpox? That Is the question which the nation’s anx ious mothers have been asking of Dr. William H. Park since the di rector of -New Tork’s health depart ment bureau of laboratories an nounced the discovery of a new tie- cine for the disease. In 1 the Parents' Magazine, Doctor . Park answers with a qualified, “No, not yet” “To begin with, the process of ob taining vaccine Is costly and compli cated,” explained the doctor. “We can make only from 200 to 800 doses a week in the laboratories of the department of health, and we have not perfected methods af storing It for future use. Of course, If we had more money, we could produce more vaccine. As It Is, there Is not enough to inoculate every child In the Unit ed States. So distribution of the vaccine must necessarily be limited now to those who have actually been exposed to the .disease and to groups of children tinder five years of age whose reactions can be studied ever a course of years.” In, addition to cost and complica tion, Doctor Park declares that science Is hampered In its efforts towards wholesale immunization by Its own lack of knowledge. “We know that poliomyelitis Is caused by a virus which we believe enters the nervous system, not the blood stream, through the nerves governing our sense of smell We think there are 'carriers’—people who carry this virus from one tb another. We believe it Is not carried by insects nor have we found any Indication of any other source of In fection. We know that 80 per cent of the adults are Immune.” Five months Is the usual duration of an epidemic, and Doctor Park Is hopeful tjie new vaccine will protect Inoculated children through one siege of the epidemic at least, If not for a lifetime.—Kansas City Star. B««’s "Sweet Tooth” Though they deal in nectar and honey all their lives, bees do not have as sensitive a “sweet tooth” as human beings, it has been discov ered by Prof. Karl von Frisch of Munich. Science Service reported that Pro- sessor Von Frisch had "trained" bees to expect supplies of ordinary cane- sugar solution at a given place. When they became used to visiting It regularly, he cut down the strength of the solution. The lowest concentration the bees eon) as sweet was about 2 per ee Human Magi get s sirs from sugar solutions only (hat strong.—Literary Digest, V when you want r.. good muffins No need to experiment when you bake muffing— benefit by the experience of cooking experts who have learned that sour millr with Baking £oda is the leaven ing for best results. Tested recipes for a variety of muf fins are included in our cook book—send the cou pon for a free copy. When buying Baking Soda, ask for Arm & Hammer or Cow Brand, they are identical In quality and cost—one or the other is obtainable W where for just a few cents, MAIL THE COUPON OUT ( mm MAD DOG I Give ME THAT 8alU quick! pours one in i gee! OOZY DEAN AND 1 RECKON YOU ALL BELONG TO THE DIZZY DEAN WINNERS WELL, GRAPE-NUTS WILL GIVE IT TO YOU, I'VE PUT GRAPE-NUTS ON MY ALL-STAR TEAM AS AN ENERGY- Boys/ Girls! Get ValukBTe Prizes FrccT Join die Dizzy Dean. Winners... wear the Member ship Pin... get Dizzy’s Autographed Portrait! Wn. Solid broora, wfch red« •Ud lederio*. Ere* foe I Grape- Nwe peckage-ttw. la oederias, be *cre to uk foe Prfa* No. 301. a PUiy DeaaAatesrasbei Sortra*. Br Bechnck, eke • b> 10—wkfa IXaar'e facsimile aicaatanra. Free far 1 firaps flew sarfcaM am la oedarias. b* awe to aak foe No. 304. Bend top from one 12-oc. yeDow-and-bhx Qrape-Nota package, with your name and addreee, to Grape-Nuta, Battle Creek, Mich., for membership pin and copy of dub manual abowinc 27 nifty free tee. And to have lota af energy, etart eat- _ Grape-Ntfts right away. It baa a winniag flavor all ks own. Iconmirical. too, for two _ with milk orcveaai varied nourishment than many a i 'vfel kjs