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McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, S. C., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1937 News Review of Current Events TAX REVISION IS COMING President's Message Outlines Program Designed to Assist Small Business Looking as if he had just bitten into a sour, very soar, pickle, Norman H. Davis, chief of the American delegation to the nine-power conference in Brussels, is pictured chatting with British foreign minister Anthony Eden (left) and French foreign minister Yvon Delbos (right). The conference has accomplished nothing towards solving the Sino-Japanese tangle. U/. ^SUMMARIZES THE WORLE SUMMARIZES THE WORLD’S WEEK G Western Newspaper Union. Extra Session Opens W ITH the evident intention of doing what it can to aid busi ness, congress began its extraordi nary session. Its first business was to listen to a rath er long message from Mr. Roosevelt in which the Chief Executive commit ted himself to limit ed tax law revision for the purpose of removing admitted injustices suffered especially by small business and non- speculative inves tors. Mr. Roosevelt proposed tax “modifications ade quate to encourage productive en terprise,” but explained that he sought primarily to aid at the ex pense of individual or partnership undertaking. The President said exercise of President Roosevelt “ordinary prudence” would protect the nation against prolonged busi ness recession. He reiterated his intention to bal ance the next fiscal year budget, and demanded that congress find and provide new revenue for any added expenditures authorized now. The President asked congress to provide: 1. Wages and hours legislation. 2. An “all-weather” crop control program. 3. Reorganization of executive de partments. 4. National planning for better use of natural resources. It appeared certain that a vig orous opposition to all or part of this program would arise, but near ly everybody seemed in favor of tax law revision. "Fireside Chat" /CALLING on the nation for full co- 1 operation in the taking of the voluntary census of the unemployed, taken by the Post Office depart ment, President Roosevelt in a “fireside chat” by radio said that permanent cure of the unemploy ment problem lies in finding jobs in industry and agriculture. Neverthe less, he said, it is still the policy of the administration that no one shall starve through lack of government aid. He gave assurance that the gov ernment will try to stimulate pri vate industry enough to enable it to re-absorb the jobless; and after the results of the census are tabulated, a long-range program will be launched. This program, he said, will apply to employers as well as to workers, and in this was per ceived a note of encouragement to business. The President said prosperity of the nation depended upon national purchasing power, and added: “Our far-sighted industrial lead ers now recognize that a very sub stantial share of corporate earnings must be paid out in wages, or the soil from which these industries grow will soon become impov erished. Our farmers recognize that their largest customers are the workers for wages, and that farm markets cannot be maintained ex cept through widespread purchasing power.” Mr. Roosevelt emphasized that America will not try to solve the employment problem by a huge armament program, as other na tions are doing. Here'* Wallace's Program C EGRET ARY WALLACE offered a ^ program which he said would “promote security for both farmers and consumers” in his annual re port to the President. To finance it he recommended a moderate proc essing tax on cotton only. Crop con- i_ • trol when necessary, and the “ever normal granary” are parts of his plan. These are the six points of the program which Wallace said would harmonize with the general welfare: 1. Farmers should‘have a share in the national income to re-establish the prewar ratio of the average farmer’s purchasing power to that of the average non-farmer. 2. The people who live on the land must have security of tenure, either as owners of land or renters on a long-time basis. 3. The soil must be used properly and conserved for future farmers and future city dwellers. 4. Farmers through sound co-op eratives must come into control of those marketing, processing, pur chasing and service functions which they can manage efficiently. 5. Family sized farms should be favored by federal programs, bene fit payments and other such aids to rural income. 6. Federal and state funds should continue to be spent to promote ag ricultural research and farm effi ciency. Leaving It Up to Uncle Sam I TNLESS congress changes the ^ neutrality act, it is probable the nations that signed and adhered to the nine-power Pacific treaty will take no positive ac tion against Japan for violating that pact. The delegates to the Brussels con ference, with the ex ception of Italy, vot ed to censure the Japanese for mak ing war on China, and then adjourned to get further in structions from their governments. Great Britain and France agreed to join in any effort “short of war” which the United States may de cide should be made, this meaning economic sanctions against Japan. But the isolationist policy of this country would have to be abandoned if such sanctions were to be of any avail. N. H. Davis A long document was submitted to the conference by China asking that the war be ended by the inflic tion of penalties against Japan. The memorandum gave statistical tables that showed economic sanctions could halt Japan because of that na tion’s dependence on foreign mar kets and foreign sources of supply. Norman H. Davis, chief Ameri can delegate, in addressing the con ference, was rather conciliatory to ward Japan, but he said: “The question in its final analysis, is whether international relations shall be determined by arbitrary force or by law and respect for in ternational treaties. In fact, that seems to be the greatest issue fac ing the world today, and one of the most momentous problems that mankind has been called on to solve.” Plot to Kill Stalin? PROM foreign diplomats stationed 1 in Moscow came reports that a plot by German agents to assassi nate Dictator Stalin of Russia had been uncovered, and that it might compromise Maxim Litvinov, for eign commissar, who left the Brus sels conference suddenly and ap parently seriously worried. Investi gations by the G. P. U. already have resulted in the recall or dis appearance of many leading Rus sian diplomats. The German con sul general in Leningrad was or dered to leave the country imme diately. It is believed two German agents arrested some weeks ago confessed the conspiracy to murder Stalin and brtblve the country in a civil war. One of Hongkong’s Picturesque Streets. Great Britain's Hongkong and Other Seaports of South China Prepared by National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C.—WNU Service. ^Tklnkd about The Law’s Injustice. ANTA MONICA, CALIF.— Had it happened in another country, we’d say, “What curi ous ideas foreigners have of law enforcement.” A footpad with an evil record held up a victim. A bystander saw the crime, identified the thief. The ruffian was held under indict ment. But he could give bond. The spec tator was “de tained” as a mate rial witness—a gen tle way of saying he was locked up, ex actly as though he had been the crim inal. Well, he was guilty of being poor. Six months later came the trial. The defendant, having been out all that time on bail, looked hale and hearty. The prosecution’s witness was produced under guard, pale and sickly from close confinement. It didn’t help his health any when the crook’s attorney browbeat him, yelled at him, practically accused him of perjury. The citizen sued the state for false imprisonment, for loss of wages, for separation from his fam ily, for all he’d suffered. Under the statutes he had no standing. They threw his case out. Meanwhile, the convicted crook had been released by the parole board and was free as a bird. * * * • Aquatic Novelties. NTERESTING discoveries were made in Hawaiian waters by gov ernment ichthyologists. For fear the similarity of sound may lead to wrong impressions, let me state that this department has nothing to do with Secretary Ickes, although, since ichthyology pertains to fish, Mme. Secretary Perkins might pos sibly have a contrary view on this point. Because they do say there are moments in the cabinet when all is not sweetness and accord. However, the point is that Uncle Sam’s piscatorial sharps dredged up a fish that is most delectable for six months of the year, but poisonous the other six months. So at least they’ve found a creature emblemat ic of the California climate. Let this be regarded around here as treason, I will state that I’m as loyal a native stepson as any that ever came out of Iowa, having been here long enough now to join in passing resolutions endorsing the scenery and at intervals uttering three loud ringing cheers for the sunsets. Also let envious Florida refrain from gloating. To typify Florida’s climate that fish would be good only four months of the year and power fully hard to put up with the rest of the time. • • * Lecturing Adventures. N ALABAMA is a sect which for bids its converts to laugh or even smile. Now I know who it was bought out the house when I delivered a humorous lecture down there. The other day a chap asked me why I didn’t go back on the lecture platform. I told him I’d appeared in practically ever sizable town in America, and, though it was years ago and probably popular indigna tion had abated now, still I wasn’t taking any chances—I was waiting for some new towns to be built. Once I tried the experimemt of slipping around to the front door to hear what the crowd said, coming out. That was the night I attempted suicide by gas, but was saved when someone, passing through the hotel corridor, smelled something that smelled even worse than the hotel smelled. A lecturer’s lot is not a happy one. But usually it’s the audience that suffers most. • * • Eating Oysters. HERE’S a brand-new movement called eat-oysters-in-any-month- you-please movement, or, unless you’re working on space rates, it may be called E. O. I. A. M. Y. P. M., for short. Its sponsor says the prejudice against eating oysters in months having an “r” in them is a fallacy dating back 2,000 years when, between hiccoughs, a Roman senator said: “Oysters should be eaten only in certain seasons.” So it appears we’ve been penaliz ing ourselves ever since then for the indigestion of a Roman senator, although, so far as eating the Cali fornia oyster is concerned—he runs around forty to the dozen—I per sonally could refrain for the whole year without any undue longings. The California oyster looks some thing like a brass overall button suf fering from vertigris. Still, maybe it’s all for the best. Because during May, June, July and August is when the oyster does prac tically all his courting. There’s lit tle enough romance left in the world —and anyhow, who am I to come between an oyster and his love-life? He doesn’t seem to have any too much fun the rest of the time. IRVIN S. COBB. e—WNU Service. H ONGKONG, like Singa pore, is a tribute to Brit ish commercial enter prise in the Far East. Ships of the Seven Seas enliven the har bor and bring business to the vigorous city that now rises on the once barren islands where dwelt a few fishermen, stone cutters and bands of pirates. “It is a delusion to hope that Hongkong can ever become a com mercial emporium like Singapore,” wrote the despondent colonial treas urer in 1844. But instead of delusion, the mira cle has been achieved! Large busi ness and government buildings along the water front, palatial houses clinging boldly to the precipi tous hillsides, schools, universities, shipbuilding docks, cement facto ries, and sugar refineries; a strate gic commercial and naval base— this is Hongkong. Several times tonnage figures have placed it among the world’s princi pal seaports. At present, approxi mately 50,000 vessels, carrying in their holds more than 40,000,000 tons of cargo for foreign trade, cut fur rows in and out of the harbor an nually. And British colonials find romance, not dull figures, in these shipping statistics, because, except for a few articles of local consump tion, Hongkong is a free port. Con sequently, its very existence de pends upon its service as distribut ing center for all South China. To be geographically accurate, one should call the city Victoria, but, save for official documents, the port has taken the name of the is land colony, derived from the Chinese Heung Kong (Fragrant Streams, or Good Harbor). To the mountainous Hongkong col ony, Kowloon, on the mainland oppo site, was added, later to be extend ed again by the inclusion of the specially leased New Territories. In all, this oasis of British-controlled activity now embraces 391 square miles. After you have explored Hong kong’s Chinatown, splashed with its colorful hieroglyphics, the stair- stepped streets, markets, and curio shops, take a ride up the cable tramway to the Peak; or, if you de sire, you can make the steep ascent in a bobbing sedan chair, carried on the shoulders of perspiring coolies. Here, high above the noise of com merce, you are among the palaces of the wealthy. Looking Down From the Peak. At your feet the teeming city spreads like a mighty sweeping sickle along the harbor. Lying along the Praya, tied to midharbor buoys, and churning up slender white wakes in the jade-tinted waters, are the argosies of half the world. A mile beyond, sprawling white on the red earth, is Kowloon, with its ho tels, warehouses, and jutting piers. A plume of white steam rises above a liner’s funnel—another ship is off for San Francisco, London, or Marseilles. Tiny junks lift their mat ting sails; back and forth between Victoria and Kowloon ply double nosed ferries, carrying 35,000 com muters daily. Come up again at night, when the city lights have sprung to life and naval greyhounds are convers ing in flash-beam semaphore; you will see a magic land. Day or night, it is an unforgettable pan orama. On several occasions Hongkong has been visited by the typhoons that brew their viciousness in the China sea. These storms, in which the wind blows as much as 120 or 125 miles an hour, have ripped through the harbor, causing great havoc ashore and among the ships. Sets of signals, however, are ar ranged to give sufficient warning, so that the launches, junks, and sam pans can find refuge in the three typhoon shelters and larger ships can get to safe anchorages in pro tected bays. Baggage comes aboard, winches are rattling, and hundreds of Chi- aese are shouting and strewing bun dles and babies over the steerage deck—it is sailing time for the lo cal steamer, bound for Swatow and other ports to the north. Northeast from the narrow Lye- mun pass through which you sail is notorious Bias bay. Ever since early days this district has had unsavory reputation as the headquarters of pirate gangs who infest the coast. Outwardly the settlement of 10,000 people of Bias bay is agriculturist, but the activity is less serious as farming than as camouflage. Pirates of Bias Bay. During the old sailing days these freebooters usually intercepted passing vessels by stretching a ca ble between tw<? junks; then, as soon as the rope was caught by the victim’s bows, the junks would be pulled alongside, so that the board ing of the vessel was an easy mat ter. With the coming of steam- propelled ships, their technique changed to boarding the steamers as passengers and at the opportune moment taking possession, then forcing its officers to sail the ship into Bias bay for looting. When riding a coastal steamer to day, you are comparatively safe from becoming the victim of these piratical attacks; but you do experi ence the feeling, strongly sugges tive, of traveling in a floating patrol wagon, for the first-class accommo dations and the bridge are protected by heavy iron grilles. Many thrilling tales are told of these menaces to coastal shipping, some of which contain accounts of unusual bravery against heavy odds. Officers have accounted well for themselves in cracking pirates* heads with deep-sea leads and other weapons, and British judges have brought some of the cutthroat lead ers to unpleasant “necktie” parties. In these South China waters, too, are other pirate groups, some led by women, who specialize on fish ing fleets and lighterage junks. Act ing under the guise of “protection,** they reap heavy tolls from the own ers of these craft. Spreading fanwise on the silt land built by the Han Kiang, Swatow has little to recommend itself from a visitor’s viewpoint. Its main importance lies in its service as shipping point for pro duce coming from Chaochow and other Chinese towns along the lower portion of the Han. Needleworkers of Swatow. Its chief exports are linen em broidery and laces—and Chinese coolies. Fifty years ago the latter were in such demand that many traders began the lucrative business of kidnaping the natives and taking them to distant lands, where they were sold into what amounted to slavery conditions. With the hatred that these acts soon engendered, for eigners were barred from Swatow for several years. Now thousands of Chinese leave Swatow in legiti mate emigration. A woman sitting beside the door way of her home working deftly with needle on a piece of fine linen or grass cloth, is Swatow’s chief sym bol of industry. Walk through the side streets or visit the surrounding villages and you will find hundreds of women and girls thus employed. The delicately embroidered linen, laces, and drawn work which they produce, usually under foreign di rection, are exported almost entire ly to American markets. Amoy, of tea fame, was once con sidered one of the dirtiest and most backward cities of all China; it has been undergoing complete transfor mation during the last few years. Wide streets are being cut through the old ramshackle settlements; men and women are breaking rocks for the new roads and an extensive Bund, and are literally carving away some of the rock hills to make room for new developments; a park, the finest in all South China, has been recently built. Across from Amoy is the island of Kolongsu, where are located the foreign concessions. Hundreds of gaily painted sampans afford trans portation across the harbor and to the ships that anchor in midstream. Irvin S. Cobb AROUND |P THE HOUSE When Washing Blankets: Never leave any soap in blankets as this will turn them yellow. Allow half a cupful of vinegar to each gallon cf final rinsing water; this will clear all soap from them. * * * Washing Voile.—Voile frocks will not shrink if you use a table spoonful of epsom salts to every gallon of water when washing them. * • • In Making Vegetable Salads.— To prevent vegetable salads from becoming too watery, dry the veg etables before combining with the salad dressing. * * * Savory Salmon Dish.—STurn out a small tin of salmon, remove skin and bones and flake the fish. Sea son with pepper and salt. Mix 2 cupfuls of breadcrumbs with 2 ounces of flour, stir in 2 well-beat en eggs and the salmon. Mix well, then form into the shape of a fresh salmon steak. Fry in a lit tle hot fat until brown, turning carefully so that both sides are cooked. Serve garnished with sliced lemon or tomatoes. * * • Ten-Minute Sweet.—Line a but tered pie dish with breadcrumbs. Into a pint of milk whisk 2 eggs, 4 tablespoonfuls of sugar and a dash of vanilla essence. Pour over the crumbs and bake for 10 minutes. When Sales Drop Between 1929 and 1933 the ex penditure for advertising in news papers and periodicals dropped 50 per cent, but the value of manu factured products showed a much greater reduction percentage. ITS GREAT TO BE BACK AT WORK when you've found a way to ease the pains of RHEUMATISM and do it the inexpensive way, too. You can pay as high as you want for remedies claimed to relieve the S ain of Rheumatism, Neuritis, ciatica, etc. But the medicine so many doctors generally approve— the one used by thousands of families daily — is Bayer Aspirin —15^ a dozen tablets — about 1/ apiece. Simply take 2 Bayer Aspirin tablets with a half glass of water. Repeat, if necessary, according to directions. Usually this will ease such pain in a remarkably short time. For quick relief from such pain which exhausts you and keeps you awake at night — ask for genuine Bayer Aspinn. virtually 1 cent a tablet Peace in the Home He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.—Goethe. JstlOW WHITE PETROLEUM JELLY | LARGE JARS StMOlO* LIQUID. TABLETS SALVE. NOSE DROPS checks MALARIA in three days COLDS first day Headache, 30 minutes. fty *9ab>M3r*TlNB’*-World’s Best lialsiest A Sure Index of Value ... is knowledge of a manufacturer's name and what it stands for. It is the most certain method, except that of actual use, for judging the value of any manufac tured goods. Here is the only guarantee against careless workmanship or Bujf use of shoddy materials. ADVERTISED GOODS