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National Topics Interpreted * v by William Bruckart Tfatlonal Praas Bulldht* Wanhlnston, D. C. Washington.—One of the New Deal policies about which there Is an erer . Increasing complaint Ignore -jg jtg wanton destruc* Civil Service tlon of the civil serv ice. It" used to be •aid, under Democratic and Republican administrations alike, that It was next to Impossible to get a government Job «xcept through examinations conduct ed by the Civil Service commission. That Is, there were few appointments available other than under civil serv ice below the rank of Presidential 'selection. Now, the scene has changed to such an extent that there is little chance to get In the government through civil service and the bulk of the appointments therefore are of a purely politically-indorsed character. I do not mean to say that-the Civil Service commission has shut up shop, although it has been virtually de horned, but I do emphasize that as > of September SO-Mhe latest pay roll figures for the government—the num ber of civil service workers was only slightly more than half of the total on the government pay roll exclusive of the army, navy- and Marine corps and Civilian Conservation corps. The Civil Service commission con tinues to Issue Its montby statements on the government personnel but they are becoming increasingly less reliable because obe of the most difficult things to get In Washington these days Is the accurate figure on the dumber of workers employed by Uncle Sam. The commission records are complete as far as they go but they fail to go far enough. At this time, for example, the Civil Service commission reports that the government pay roll covers TIM,- 467 employees. That figure, however, does not include the vast array of em ployees of the Agricultural Adjust ment administration who are scattered In every county In the nation. I have beard estimates that the number of these county chairmen, Inspectors, in vestigators, etc., exceeds 110,000 but whether that is too large or too small I cannot be sure-foc the reason that there is no way by which the number can be checked. Similarly; It* is next to Impossible to ascertain the nug^ber of workers In some of the newer agen cies, created under the guise of emer gency conditions, because they too are scattered far and wide but the fact remains that the personnel of the gov ernment has been expanded more rap- idjj than ever in history and to the highest recorded peak even for war tl ue. • v • The number of employees on June 80 was given by the commission as 710,440 from which Peraonnel it will be^ seen there tncreaaee has been an Increase of more than 75,000 Hi three months. That Is. there has been that much of an Increase for which the commission has records, but again It must be remarked that the commission has no way of compelling some of the alphabetical agencies to supply H regularly with the number of ’employees on their pay rolls. The number of federal employees aside from the military services when Mr. Roosevelt took office was approx imately 585,000. The number of em ployees on the federal pay roll when Mr. Coolidge retired and Sir. Hoover became President was roughly 545,000. From these the enormous growth of the government bureaucracy is at least hinted If not demonstrated fully. Then, there are more yet to come. Several new agencies were created under acts of the lust congress and others have since been created by executive order of the President Take the Rural Rehabilitation administra tion, for example. Prof, llexford Guy Tugwell, who used Jo be brain truster No. 1, bas a fund of $250,000,000 with which to play and obviously Mr. Tug- well will need a great stuff to assist him. The National Youth administra tion is another new one. It will not have as much money as Mr. Tugwell but lt~ Is starting its operation with $50,000,000—and that Is quite a chunk of money to most of us. The National Labor board Is hardly organized yet and the Social Security board has the President who announce slderable emphasjs that he what he 8ald*-*nd that fe< Just begun to arrauge a sefupr 'LTSe- wlse the board to administer the Guf fey <roal law—a little NR A for the soft coal Industry—hgg been~appointed and Is operating with only a few clerks. It cannot get along without a sizable corps of Inspectors and exminers and Investigatora It will have to have an extensive research staff In order that It can be supplied at all times.with what ever facts and figures It needs or wants. So it goes on through the list almost unending. One newspaper columnist had the audacity to say In his column the other day that If Relief Administrator Harry Hopkins really wants to solve the unemployment problem he ought to turn bis attention to the government Itself. At the rate of expansion, the government probably could be made to absorb the 3,500,(NX) unemployed to whom Mr. Hopkins was preparing to give work by December L * * * December 1 Is hereabouts. But Mr. Hopkins has not succeeded In his much - publicized plan to Where'» give all of the 8£00- the Jobe? 000 unemployed workers Jobs. He was doomed to failure from the start He aaDeonced. It will 6e remembered. that all federal relief was to end on November 1, by which time he figured that made-work would be available for the'3,500,000. This figure was the top most limit for which the federal gov ernment was to be responsible. The states ahd municipalities were to take care of the remainder of ’roughly 5,000,000 who had to have help. November *1 came along and Mr. Hopkins changed the date to December 1 He did tjils after consultation with the President who announced with con- meant Just federal relief was going to stop as of December 1. But It seems the machinery was too ponderous to get In motion In time to absorb all of these workers. Most folks recognized It weeks ago but Mr. Hopkins steadfastly 'clung to his dream and that dream, like so many others, was dissipated In the thin air and sank almost without trace. On top of this Hopkins failure has come a serious problem. It is serious • . for the adminlstra- Serious tlon not only because “'Problem of the fact that wln- " V ter Is coming on and people must bo fed and clothed but It is delicate from the political stand point In the last few weeks a con siderable number of complaints have reached Washington officials from those who were provided with work. They contend that the government wage rate Is Insufficient to meet their needs. This results from the Increased cost of living—higher prices for food and clothing and^the other necessaries of life. The administration Is being blamed for this condition. Opponents of the New Deal are capitalizing this discon tent They are saying to the folks who find the wages too small that they have been made the rictlm of New Deal policies, such as tampering with the currency, nationalizing silver, pay ing bounties for reduced production on the farms and the like. "w The upshot of the situation Is that not only those on made-work who are paid by the government and those who are op legitimate pay rolls of In dustry are becoming thoroughly dis satisfied. They aj-e demanding more money. I do not believe anyone can forecast what will happen. One thing is certain: If Industry must Increase wages, consumers will have to pay the price. There will be further Increases in the things we all buy in event higher wages are obtained from com merce and Industry. And, if the gov ernment raises wages to those on made- work, the drain on the treasury will be correspondingly faster. The taxpayer has to pay this. So all In all there la a difficult problem to be solved by the itfent I T’S the same old story, boys and girls. Adventure*never shows up when you look for it—always pops up when you least expect it. Take the case of Edgar Columbia. " - ^ He chased adventure from Canada to Mexico and back again, but the scare of his life came to him when he went inter a lunch room one night to get a cup of coffee. * . lA. That cup of coffee cost Ed five cents, and came doggone near to costing him his life. It was In the early part of January, 1923, and Ed was In Port land, Maine. Up there he was a member in good standing of the International Longshoremen's union, Local 861, and engaged In the work of loading and un loading the boats that came in and out of Portland harbor. It was a he-man’s job, and Ed says he met up with some pretty, hard-boiled characters along the Portland waterfront: “The men who frequent the dock districts In all seaports,” Ed -says, are apt to be a pretty tough lot And Portland was no exception to the rule. Human flotsam passed through there from the seven seas and the five conti nents. There were toughs—crooks—yes, and murderers—all of them flocking to the shabby waterfront Rialto as beetles flock to a bright light Nice People, These Waterfront Folks/ “In Portland these characters could be found on Commercial street, Fore street and; the lower part of India street They hung out In dives, clip-Joints, cheap beaneries and In the back rooms of blind pigs.” That was the sort of locality Ed Columbia worked In, and his work was as hard as the neighborhood was rough. When a boat was scheduled to leave in the morning, the longshoremen worked all night to get It loaded. 4ln the winter those nights often ran a temperature of 15 or 20 degrees below zero, and at such times the men took turns going out for a cup of coffee to keep them warm. ' It wak on one of these nights, about 2:30 a. m., that Ed started out for a , cup of hot Java. He went Into one of those all-night lunch rooms of India street, and sat down at the long, wooden lunch counter on one of those round Presf and his relief advisers. Few of us ever stop to think what a Job It Is to maintain the supply of money In circulation. Ire Some Omitting any consid- Big Job eratlon of the paper currency which keeps the gigantic bureau of printing and en graving operating 24 hours each day and considering only the coins that Jingle, It requires the operation of two or three great plants to mint our pioney. The bureau of the mint In the treas ury gave out some figures the other day that seem to m.e to be most inter esting. They are Interesting because of their size. On the basis of these figures. It is calculated that there are actually In the pockets of the Ameri can people the following number of coins, each figure being an approxima tion: 1,000,000,000 dimes, 1,400,000, 000 nickels, 5,500,000,000 pennies, 400,000,000 quarters, 200,000,000 half dollars and approximately 33,000,000 silver dollars. *■ These figures furnish an interesting commentary as well on our present modes of living. They supply a side light on our system of taxation which calls for pennies, nickels and dimes here, there and .everywhere as a result of sales taxes. Besides, transportation systems like the street cars call for an exceptionally large quantity of the minor coins like nickels and dimes. One could enumerate a score of fac tors In modern life that compel each of us to carry and use these small coins. The mint bureau Is authority also for the Information that even this stupendous sum of minor coins seems insufficient. The mints, accordingly, have been speeded up and they are now working at a rate almost double that of 1934. How much further they will have to expand cannot be fore told, but as an Innocent bystander, I fear that if I have to carry coins In any greater number than I have had them loaded In my pockets. It la going to mean new business for the tailors. They will have steady work replacing trouser pockets. • Wastern Nawipapar Union. Discipline of Seamen Danger at sea may bring out either the best or the worst traits of human nature. Nothing can be more Inspir ing than the general discipline and courage shown on shipboard in most emergencies; nothing more sickening than the manifestation of panic in ex ceptional cases. In this respect a great responsibility devolves upon the com mander. It is he who sets the exam pie for both crew and passengers. “Waterfront Battle By FLOYD GIBBONS -Famous Headline Hunter. »» V - Then—Socko—Ed Let Go a Haymaker. spinning stools. There were 15 or 20 tough-looking eggs sitting aronnd at nearby tables, drinking and playing cards, but they didn’t worry Ed any, be cause Ed was Justus tough-looking as they were and weighed 187 pounds in the bargain. " Ed ordered his coffee and an egg sandwich. While he was eating . his sandwich and sipping his coffee, a tough-looking gent came walking into the lunch room and, with a string of curses, flopped himself down on the stool beside Ed. The tough guy had a pretty good cargo of liquor aboard. He was, as a matter of fact, at that stage of drunkenness where he was getting meaner-and uglier by the minute. But—well—that was none of Ed’s business. He went right on eating and drinking his coffee as If nothing had ever happened. Ed Tak«h Abuse as Long as He Can. ^ Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, the drunk turned on Ed and began calling him every name he could think of. It seems that some man had stolen his girl from him, and Ed looked like that man. For a while Ed paid no atten tlon to him. ( “Ho was furious,’* says Ed, M and my Indifference didn’t help any. ■ Finally, I told him to pipe down and go to h L Then he went com- pletely nuts.” The drunk began yelling at the top of his voice, threatening to kill Ed. Then he jumped to his feet #nd made a grab with both hands for the stool be (had been sitting on. Those stools were Just round seats set In Iron pipes. On the bottom of each seat was a sort of stem that fit loosely into the pipe—a metal spike pro truding about three-quarters of an Inch—that the drunk picked up. , Holding the seat with both hands, he raised It high about his head and tried to drive the spike into Ed’s skull. Ed jumped—and none too soon, either. The edge of the seat grazed his head, and as the drunk raised it for another blow, Ed started back- ' ing away toward the corner of the room. As he backed away the drunk followed, raving mad and still yelling bloody murder. "At every lunge," Ed says, “I backed away, until I was caught In the corner. I was afraid to make a grab for that spiked seat, because If I missed it, it meant a broken arm or wrist. I didn't know what to do, and In that cor ner, with no means of escape, the situation f was getting pretty desperate. It Took a Cool Mind .and a Sure Eye. "Finally, 1 had to do something. And what did I do? Well, remember how he was holding that stool seat with both 'hands? Every time he lifted It, he would leave his face and jaw showing between his upraised arms. That was my cue.” And Ed sure took that cue. He drew back his right fist and waited for those arms to go up again. Then—socko—Ed let go a haymaker for that unprotected Jaw. The Iprymaker landed and the bird dropped. He was lying on the floor, colder than an Eskimo s nose, while Ed slipped cut of the door and went stroll- Ing.back to the docks. ' " 1 — : —-—«**•* "And in spite of the cold,” Eld says, "I was perspiring plenty. 1 wonder If it could have been the coffee?” That’s the way adventures run up along the waterfront in Portland. ©—WNU Service 1 HOPE ybu heard ZaSu Pitt* when she did “Dulcy” on the radio; it was a relief ( to hear her and not one of her imitators. In cidentally, she’s quite interested in those girls who do impersonations of her; says she’s always wanted to hear one, but somehow she Just never has. And I wish you might know that same ZaSu Pltt|; you'd like her so much. She journeyed to New York to do that broad- cast, and spent ^most of her time shopping for her children—her daughter, who is thir teen, and her adopted son (Barbara LaMarr's little boy, you’ll re call), who is a little younger. She started ZaSu Pitts. out at the crack of daw-n each morning and was on hand when the stores opened, to buy simple frocks and sweaters and suits. And very smart she looked, too, dressed In dark blue—her favorite color. She was besieged with'offers to do more broadcasts; Ben Bernle, for one, wanted her on his program. She was urged to go on the stage; qne remark ably good offer was made for her to do a sketch in a new show—but she turned them all down. Wanted to go home to her family. For she's a family , woman; children and husband come* first, and her career afterward. Nancy Carroll seems to have side tracked her screen career In favor of night clubs. She Is seen about a lot* looking a bit plump/ Have you heard that early, early morning, program on the radio—the Milkmen’s Matinee? It’s very popular, not only with the milkmen, but also at open-all-night lunch carta, and lots of requests pour In for special numbers. —4*— Remember Julia Faye, without whom no DeMUIe picture was complete in the old days? She recently married a scenario writer, In California. —4*— Major Bowes’ genial "All right, all right” Is fast becoming a byword all over tbe-country; one of our best foot ball announcers loves to use It In cldentally, honors are being heaped on the Major so fast that It’s bard to keep track of them. Recently a new wing of the Kernan Hospital for CripiBed Children, in Batlmore, was dedicated to him., Fred MacMarray’s rapid climb to the movie heights should encourage every one who wants to go Into the movies. Two years ago^he couldn’t get even an extra job One yea? ago be worked In ‘The Gild ed Lily,” with Claud ette Colbert, the first screen work he'd had except for a small part In “Grind Old Girt” with May R ob s o n. Since then he’s been rushed from one pic- ./ Fred tore to another, be- MacMurray cause you and I and all the people like us liked him. He’s played oppo site Katharine Hepburn. Carole Lom bard and Claudette. Colbert again. . ■—4*— Well, we had our Dickens cycle In pictures (and It Isn’t over yet, appar ently, for W. O. Field^will probably 1o “Pickwick Papers”), and now we’re In for a round of Kipling, "The Light that Failed,” "Kim” and "Captains Courageous” being the first of bis itories to reach the screen. And On- less Paramount’s Gary Cooper plays the hero in the first named of these, there’s no justice I —-k— It looks as if "She Married Her Boss” might prove tg be Claudette CoL bert’s most successful picture; the aters In the big cities have been hold ing it over. By GRANDMOTHER CLARE This cute pot holder set makes an attractive addition to any kitchen or an inexpensive practical gift With very little handwork you ca^ make this charming set. Good-looking pot holders are always In demand Make np one ot these seta and you will want to make more. Package A-8 contains bird cage and two pot holders stamped and tinted bn unbleached muslin to be embroid ered and made np. Instructions are given for embroidery stitches and the color scheme Is also given. Em broidery thread is not Included. Fif teen cents each or four for 50 cents, postpaid. Address Home Craft Co., Dept A, Nineteenth and St Louis Ave M St Louis, Mo. Inclose self-addressed stamped envelope when writing for any Information. Land for Every One on ~ Friendly Islet in Prtrific Tonga, In the Pacific, baa an nounced that there Is land for every one In Its Islands. Queen Salotl and her husband, who Is prime minister, have seen that every youth In the Frlgndly Islands on reaebings sixteen Is given a quarter of an acre of land In his village and eight acres In the bush. He must build a hut-end grow coconuts. Education Is free and com pulsory In Tonga, and 90 per cent of Tongans can read, and write. SKIN, Clever Opossum Prefers to Live in Warm Climes The expression, "playing ’possum,” originally came from a peculiar habit of the opossum himself. He, yon see. Is a master of the game,of pretending, notes a writer In the Boston Herald. Normally, he seeks escape from ene mies by running to the woods and climbing a tree. If hje Is absolutely um able to get away, though, he will feign death a$d keep up the deceffclon tin der the_ most trying circumstances Kicking or beating him doesn’t do the slightest bit of good, for through It all he persists in pretendlhg to be dead. However, If one Is really Interested In knowing the true state of affairs, he may be thrown into the water. There, the apparently dead opossum will come to his senses more quickly than one can blink his startled eyes. No creature Is more American than the opossum, for he does not exist outside of America. Although he pre fers southern and tropical dimes, he has been known to wander as fsr north as New England. The opossum Is a rather queer looking little animal about the size of a cat He bas 50 teeth, a bristly tongue and a long scily tall. His fur Is long, fine and wooly and is Interspersed with longer, coarse white hairs, except on the head and some of the under parts where the hair Is short and close The tall Is not quite as long as, tne body. He lives wild In the woods and retires to the branch of a tree to devour bis food. While doing so, be twines bis tall around the branch securing himself to the tree, much In the way a ship secures Itself to the pier. Gentlo Frederick the Great Berliners like to point out that, con trary to other equestrian statues, the statue of Frederick the Great on Unter den Linden shows no spurn. The em peror did not use them because ha loved horses. Paramount will cast Charles Boyer -appoaUa MarJene DtetrtcA tlon to Happiness.” Welcome news to til the Boyer enthusiasts, Isn’t it? Per baps he'll inspire Marlene to greater heights. —A— Leslie Howard wants Anita Louise to go to New York to play “Ophelia” to his "Hamlet” on the stage. Well, she’d look too lovely for words, but whether or not she could handle the role Is something else again. However, the talented Howard doesn’t usually make mistakes. ODDS AND ENDS ... Walloc* Booty is doing oxcerptt from kit pictures on Use air, ond it looks os if Sopkio Tucker would do tho roles ployed by Mono Dressier ... When rekoorsiisg for g broadcast, Joan Bennett wore, bodlroom dippers ... Under similar ciratmstances, Joan Crawford worked in her stocking foot... All the interviewers are cheering for Eleanor Powoil, became site’s to like able . . . Connie BoeteaU is bock on the air, after a long absence, but her sisters aren’t . . . The French Academy rated Frank Black for giving us so Franck compositions bn the air ... AU the movie companies want Joe Louis, she defeated Mast Baer. Ualsa. Ibr skin troubles. 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