Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Hit Brawl 1 Ptcple-8—ifafl PaniwtlU 8. C. Thwday, July 22, 1937 New* Review of Current Event* STEEL GOES BACK TO WORK Two-Third* of IdU Have Returned • • • Riot* Kill Two In Aluminum Strike . • • Siege of Madrid Gets Setback W. PicLuA V ^ RTTMMURTTPfl THF. WriRTT SUMMARIZES THE WORLD'S WEEK • VMtai C.I.O. Steel Grip Loosens T HE grip of the C. I. 0. con tinued to loocen in the steel strike, as three big independent steel corporations—Republic, Bethlehem and Youngstown Sheet & Tube— reported more than two-thirds of their idle mill hands had returned to work. This covered plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Inland, the fourth of the steel independents, announced that it was operating with its nor mal force of 13,000 in Indiana since it and the Steel Workers’ Organiz ing Committee signed a compact with the state labor commission. Steel production in the Youngstown, Ohio, area, one of the principal scenes of strike violence, climbed to 76 per cent of capacity, 3 per centage points above the operating figure before the start of the strike. Strike Riot Kills Two NE striker and one policeman ^ were killed and twenty men were injured at an aluminum plant in Alcoa, Term., when rioting broke out as 3,000 strikers started a back- to-work movement. The plant, be longing to the Aluminum Company of America, had been closed since May 18, when the strike was called by the Aluminum Workers of Amer ica, an affiliate of the American Fed eration of Labor. Difference in wages paid at Alcoa and at the com pany’s plant in New Kensington, Pa., was the issue in the strike. State troops were on hand, but Adjt.-Gen. R. O. Smith, i» charge, said that they were there merely to protect rights, and no martial law had been declared. Lewis Scent tKe See J OHN L. LEWIS sought to expand the scope of his Committee for Industrial Organization by invading the maritime fodustry. With Harry Bridges, west coast longshoremen’s Wader, he sought to unify scattered maritime unions in one big industrial organization dominated by the C. I. O. The American Federation of La bor already has two strong unions in the maritime field, so this action brings Lewis into another point of friction with William Green’s or ganization The nation has 290,000 marine and coastal workers. « 'Compromise' Takes Bow SENATOR M M LOGAN. Dem- ^ ocrat. of Kentucky, presented the -compromise” version of the Pres ident's Supreme court bill to the •te. apparently with the blessings of Majority Leader Joseph T. Robinson and the chief esecu- In term an to and substitute for the old Aahurst administra tion bill, the new draft authorises ap pointment of one new justice to t h e court each year for e% try justice remaining on the court after reaching the age of seventy- five years Under lU provistrns the President would be permitted to name one new justice this year (be sides filling the vacancy Wfl by the retirement of Justice Willis Van Devanter) and assure him of at West one new appointment to the court in each remaining year of his present term of office. All of the ap pointments would hinge on the de cision of justices seventy-five or older on retirement. The opposition immediately charged that the new bill was as offensive as the old one. Sen. Burton K. Wheeler, Democrat, Montana, said: “The compromise is not going to get through. The new bill is just as objectionable as the old, because it seeks to pack the Supreme court just like the original bill did.’’ Sen. Edward R. Burke, Democrat, Neb raska, said the 43 senators would vote against any kind of measure that would increase the Supreme court. Some of the other provisions of the new bill were: Authority for 20 additional ap pointments to lower courts in the event that judges over seventy fail to retire. The old bill would have permitted 50 new appointments altogether. Speedy intervention by the gov ernment in cases involving consti tutionality of federal laws, and speedy appeal to the Supreme court. Rebels Fall from Madrid CPANISH rebel forces which took ^ Bilbao after the city’s first suc cessful siege are still finding Madrid a tough nut to crack. In a two-day battle the loyalist forces broke through the siege lines about the city, captured the villages of Villa- neuvg de la Canada and Brunette, and threatened to cut the besieging rebels off from their main forces. 8o nearly SMcreaeftil was the et- Amelia: Lost in the Pacific. from other fronts, delaying tempo rarily the drive on Santander, next rebel objective on the Biscayan coast. Meanwhile, the fall of Bilbao was expected to add 150,000 refugees to the constant stream pouring into loyalist Valencia. Although some of the refugees remained in France, where they were first taken, the vast majority preferred to go to Catalo nia, where the government takes care of them at its own expense. Nearly 1,500,000 have arrived in Va lencia since the start of the war and 300,000 have remained there. Bingham's 4th of July D OBERT WORTH BINGHAM, ^ United States ambassador to London, became the third promi nent American to bring down the fury of Nazi Germany’s officialdom and press when, in an Independence day speech before the American society in that city, he declared Un cle Sam had been forced by the dic tator countries to join Britain in an armament race. Mayor LaGuardia of New York and Cardinal Munde lein of Chicago had been other re cent Nazi targets. The ambassador was quoted as saying. “There must be some (of the dictatorships) who realize that they have imposed upon the British commonwealth and the United States an armaments race. “We did everything in our power to avert it. but it is a race, and the British and ourselves must inevita bly win. I admit the strongest ar guments that can be made for dic tatorship#—they offer a better meth od of preparing for war. But I am sure that democracies provide a better way to finish a war.” The Nazis charged that the am bassador had insulted Germany and Italy with his “arrogance and ig norance ’* Voelkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper, added: “If there is any talk of defense, then we should speak of defense against the arrogant and teacher-like atti tude of the defenders of western ideals." Nevy Hunts for AmoRg P OUR ships of the United States 1 navy, with attendant airplanes; two ships of the Japanese navy, and a British freighter scoured the vast wastes of the South Pacific in an effort to find and rescue Amelia Earhart Putnam, America's No. 1 woman flyer, and her navi gator, Fred Noonan. The pair had been forced down before complet ing the 2,570-mile hop from New Guinea to Howland island, a “leg" of their ’round-the-world flight. Signals received from the hapless flyers were so weak that it was impossible to tell whether they were afloat at sea or marooned on some tiny island, and as the days passed it became doubtful that many of the radio messages which served as clues for the searchers were from the two at all. Storms over the area of the sea in which they were believed lost hampered searchers and minimized possibili ties of a rescue. So alarmed was the world at the loss of Amelia and her companion, the United States even sent out the giant aircraft carrier Lexington with 98 planes aboard, which, it was said, could explore an area of 36,000 square miles in five or six hours. Mae West Tells All , T T SEEMS Mae West, buxom 1 blonde cinema menace DID mar ry Frank Wallace in Milwaukee on April 11, 1911, after all. After stout ly denying the marriage which aroused the whole nation when it was revealed in 1935, she did an about-face and confessed it, al though denying she had ever lived with the vaudeville player as his wife. Her admission was necessitat ed when she answered Wallace’s suit for declaratory relief in a Los Angeles court. Ngfion Finds Mors Jobs VTEARLY M,000,000 persons are 1 dow employed in noo-agricul- tural pursuits, the federal reserve board has announced. This is only 1.000.000 as 1400.000 shy «* the ev- talMI am about: Irvin S. Cobb S ANTA MONICA, CALIF.— Out in the desert country I met kindly, hospitable folk bravely making the best of thing! on remote, small home steads. On little far-away ranches, on res ervation trading posts, they are edu cating their children by resolute self-sac rifice; keeping in touch with the world through radio, through books and mag azinesand newspapers; and al most invariably con tent with their lives and proud of their struggles and living comfortably — yes, and happily—within their means, how ever meager. Then I come back to crowded cities where wealth seems only to make the inmates dissatisfied be cause somebody with greater wealth puts on a gaudier show of ostenta tion and extravagance. And I see the man who feverishly is striving after riches so that when he breaks down he may afford the most ex pensive nerve specialist. And the spoiled woman who was bom with a silver spoon in her mouth, but judging by her expression the spoon must have been full of castor oil— and the flavor lasts. And the poor little rich children who have every-, thing now and so will have nothing —except maybe dollars—when they grow up. Curious, isn’t it, that so little buys such a lot for some people and such a lot buys so little for the others? • • • The Return of Prosperity. T CAN’T help gloating over what * appeared in this space when I predicted that the temperamental and fickle bird of passage known as prosperity was winging its way back. Because the Better Business bureau reports that sellers of no good stocks are showing increased activity. Moreover, I hear that for the first time in years practically all the veteran bunco-steers are off relief. The lean times when the locusts of depression gnawed away our sub stance must indeed be over if the customers begin to nibble more free ly at the same dependable old baits. So, as he thumbs his copy of the sucker list against the morrow’s campaign, I seem to hear Mr. Henry J. Slickguy (late of Leavenworth but now opening offices in the Wall street district) murmuring to him self: “Happy days are hers again! Drouth may kill the com. Rust rots the wheat. Boll weevils destroy the cotton. But, thanks be, there’s one crop in America which never fails!” Have you a little gold brick in your home, dear reader? Well, don’t worry, nobody's going to be slight ed. Ere long you’ll get your chance to invest in one. • • • Making Mental Slips. T HE most incredible thing has come to pass. Here I go along, year after year, building up a rep utation for invariably being right, the same as George Bernard Shaw and Mme. Secretary Perkins. Then —bango!—I make one little slip and the trusting reader is shocked from pit to dome. The other day I suggested taxing salaries of governmental em ployees. Now from all sides I'm told federal employees are subject to income taxes; only the vast ma jority of them, and probably the hardest-worked ones, draw such •mall wages that they owe Uncle Sam nothing when March 15 rolls around. So far as I recall, this is the sec ond time in my life I've been wrong. I can’t cite what the other instance was—some very trifling matter, no doubt—but it must have occurred because I remember the nation-wide pie going around in a daze mutter ing: “Can it be possible?” I now admit that early error and the recent one, too, and humbly beg pardon of my devoted public—all eight of them. It’ll never happen again. ' • • • Conquered Champions. IT HAS been brought to the atten- * lion of Mr. James J. Braddock that something happened to him a while back. Probably, by now, he has quit wondering whether many others were caught in the earth quake, but is reported to be still saying “Ouch!” at intervals. And now, as is customary, his backers will insist he demand a re turn engagement—or disaster—with the Brown Bomber. But if I were Mr. Braddock—game though he be —I think I’d pattern my reply on the example of th« gentleman who was knocked galley-west by a hit- and-run motorist. As the dazed pedestrian was try ing feebly to ascertain whether bs eras all in one piece, a kind-hearted citizen burned up. “Have an accident?” he inquired, bright*. ' No. Washington Digest j Ndhond! Topics Interpreted By WILLIAM BRUCKART Lefcii . L-t -1 -i—-I-r-.'. < Washington.—It appears that an other session of congress will go by - .. without the con- zpending gress and the ad- Will Co On ministration doing anything serious in the way of cutting down govern ment expenses. There is nothing that can be done now toward carry ing out the expressions made by President Roosevelt in his message last January when he told congress that he wanted to cut federal ex penses and take important steps to ward balancing the federal budget. The reason that federal spending is due to go on for another year at the extraordinary rate of the last four or five years is because a majority in congress, under the lash of the White House, refused to require states and local governments to bear a percentage of the relief costs. In other words, federal spending will go on because congress and the President have lacked the courage to start taking the federal govern ment out of the relief work and gradually restore it to the care of those folks in the various communi ties who know where relief is need ed. There had been a very determined movement in congress to compel the states to share in the gigantic relief burden. It took on various forms and had various sponsors. But the end and aim of all of them was to divide the cost in equitable fash ion. The proposal that had the best chance of getting through was one offered by Senator Robinson of Arkansas, the Democratic leader in the senate. He offered an amend ment to the relief bill which would have required the states to con tribute one-fourth of the amount ex pended in each state, with the fed eral Treasury supplying the remain der. When that amount was offered, it was something in the nature of a compromise between proposals that the states should bear 40 per cent and that they should bear none of the cost. With the White House op erating through the President’s lob byist, Charles West, and Senator Barkley of Kentucky, the adminis tration was able to force defeat of the Robinson amendment. Now, Senator Barkley is assist ant Democratic leader of the sen ate and so we had the spectacle of one of Mr. Roosevelt’s spokesmen being on one side and a second one on the other side. The one who was spurred on by the President was victorious. I am not sure that the Robinson proposal would have resulted in an appreciable reduction in the federal outlay for relief. Of course, it would have cut the total somewhat but not by the full one-fourth that ap peared on its face. It was valuable as a piece of legislation, however, because it would have required the states again to assume some of the burden which only a few years ago they carried in its entirety. It was a principle for which Senator Rob inson fought and it was a principle upon which he was defeated be cause Harry Hopkins, relief admin istrator, objected and still objects to returning any part of the relief obligation to the local authorities. I suspect that Senator Robinson’s activities on the relief proposition will not help his relations with the White House but I think it ought to be said that Senator Robinson demonstrated again his capacity as statesman. He demonstrated as well that he recognizes the dan gers confronting the United States Treasury which at the end of the current fiscal year—June 39—had an outstanding debt in excess of $36,000,000,000. From among some of the senators I gained the impression that there is considerable worry about the gov ernment’s spending and they wanted excitement which ensued, with peo- Tto see the Robinson amendment pre vail because they recognized it as a move that would eventually bring federal government spending within control. Also, senators of that school of thought maintained that if states were called upon to bear some of the burden of relief, it wmild bring home forcefully the fact ffiat all of this spending must sometime be made up out of taxes. People do not like to pay taxes and they cannot be blamed for their attitude. Unless they realize, however, that borrowed money is being spent and they and their children and chil dren’s children ere to be taxed to pay off the loans, they will not be in favor of reducing nationaL state or local expenses. A The debate in the senate on the proposition to send some of the re- .. lief burden back to Cdy Mayor* the states showed Are Active rather plainly that most of the sena tors are disgusted with talk that hunger and distress will haunt the lend if states are required again to take over some of this charity work. The impression I gained from this debate was that a powerful lob by of man re from some of the iarf af the rH'ilTTili' constantly in forcing the federal government to pay the relief rolls in New York city and save his own New York city budget. Another phase of the debate should be noticed. It was the re luctance of congress to reassume its right to direct and control the spending of federal funds. The above-mentioned Mr. Hopkins wants to be free and unfettered in his spending and those policies were the ones he recommended to Mr. Roosevelt. Consequently, with ad ministration pressure on many sen ators, the Hopkins idea prevailed and so for another year congress must sit back and watch the Hop kins organization spend money vir tually any way it desires. I think there ought to be a les son in this whole situation upon which the country can look back rather regretfully. The experience gained by making lump sum ap propriations certainly shows how a bad habit can be contracted and how difficult it is to cure that habit. Seldom in history until this depres sion would congress ever vote lump sum appropriations for executive departments to spend as they will. Having contracted the habit, how ever, it is going to be difficult here after to deny any President lump sum appropriations, provided only that he has a substantial majority in the house and senate. No doubt many persons will won der why this sort of thing consti tutes an important issue. The an swer is simple. Governments are wasteful and the federal govern ment, being larger than state or lo cal governments, is just that much more wasteful and unable to handle money carefully. If states and lo cal communities have to bear ex penses of this sort out of their own treasuries, they see to it that only those entitled to relief obtain it. Un happily, the national relief system is caring for thousands upon thou sands of men who could get jobs and who could support their fami lies but who will not do so as long as money is given them from Wash ington. Since the national debt is at the highest point in the history of our nation, there is a growing convic tion at the Capitol that a halt must be called sometime. The present trouble is that there are not yet enough courageous representatives and senators to force a stoppage in such spending. • • • While the steel strike blazed forth with battle after battle, blood was shed and property Baker Take* was damaged, lit- Labor Job tie attention was paid to a develop ment here in the nation's capital—in the government itself. While all of the sensational things were happening on the steel front, one Jacob Baker was resigning his job as assistant relief administrator and was accepting the job of chief of a new labor unit to be associated with John L. Lewis and his Com mittee for Industrial Organization. Mr. Baker’s unit is to be made up of government workers themselves, a labor union in the government of the United States. For some years, there have been minor labor units among govern ment employees. They were affili ated with the American Federation of Labor. Generally speaking, they were impotent and did little more than create a dozen jobs for the offi cials of the organization. Now, however, the government workers are to have a "militant, fighting labor union which will get things done for them.’’ Such at least is the press agent word that has been spread under Mr. Baker’s direction. Mr. Baker it familiar with the problems of government service. Undoubtedly he recognizes that he cannot use the same methods in or ganizing government workers that are used in private industry. If, for example, he would attempt a strike, I think probably it would be the end of labor organizations in the government of the “militant, fighting” type. The advance notices concerning Mr. Baker’s plans seem to indicate that he is seeking members below the grades of official rank. In other words, if the Baker plans are car ried out, the new union will be made up of the so-called rank and file. This would seem to be an advanta geous arrangement because it elim inates some of the dangers that al ways develop where bureaucrats and division heads assume too much authority. There is a danger also in confin ing the organization to the rank and file because among the less experi enced labor leaders there is always a tendency “to flare up.” That is to say, lacking experience they may My things or do things which ere regreUebie or which they have to regret later on Way Back When By JKANN! ARTIST WAS A LAWYER’S APPRENTICE H enri matissl, one of uh greatest of modern French art ists, whose works now sell for hun dreds of thouMnds of francs, might have been a commonplace lawyer had not Fate stepped in when she did. He was born in a small town in Picardy in 1869. son of a wheat dealer. His childhood was unevent ful and he became a lawyer’s ap prentice. Then, Fate came along with an attack of appendicitis which left him an invalid for many months. In order to keep occupied while convalescing, he took up painting; and it proved so fascinat ing that he never opened another law book. Matisse’s first paintings, in the early 1900s, brought but a few francs. He and the group with which he associated himself, all fa mous now, were called “the wild beasts” because of their mad style. Their paintings outraged conserva tives of the art world. Matisse was accused of willful eccentricity, senseless disregard of nature, and a deliberate intent to advertise him self. His paintings were refused exhibition space in many galleries, but slowly he built recognition for his work. In 1927, his “Fruits and Flowers” won first prize in the Car negie International exhibition. In 1928. the Luxembourg galleries bid 300,000 francs (or his picture. “Side board,” but the man who once could hardly buy enough bread with the few francs his work brought could now afforo to donate th.* picture to them, accepting only one franc in order to make the transaction le gal • • • SINGER WAS A BISCUIT PACKER U : SUALLY we are inclined to give too much credit to chance or lud in analyzing the success of prominent people, forgett*.* that w.thout th ? talent to ‘ake advantage of an unexpected opportunity they could not have risen. Helen Mor gan’s sudden rise to fame is an ex ample. Born In Danville. Illinois, her fa ther died when she was very young, leaving Helen Morgan and her mother practical!) penniless When •he was flve year old. paint thrown oy another child partially blinded her. and she had to spend a full yeai in a dark room She sang to herself to pess the long dark hours and later she Mng tn a church choir in Chicagu. There, sne worked as a manicurist, a waitress, a comp tometer operator, and a model She was a ribbon clerk at Marshall Field's department store and a bis cuit packer for the National Biscuit company. None of her jobs lasted long, for her eyes we;e always on the stage. She sang occasionally in cabarets and finally got a job through Ziegfeld in the chorus of “Sally.’ Dissatisfied, she quit, and Billy Rore hired her to sing in his Backstage club. That was Helen Morgan’s lucky cuance. The Backstage club was so small that she was forced to sit on the piano! Most of us would con sider it a disadvantage, and per haps she did, too. But the public was interested; she became a sen sation, and speedily rose to fame. Musical comedies and motion pic tures starred her, and soon she was singing in a night club named for her. at a salary of $1,500 per week. Today she ia known the world over Perhaps, if Helen Morgan had not had to sit on the piano in the Bdfk- stage club, aha would never have to stardom Perhaps, aha loe a couple of years. a* rt •mwmeotmmo