McCormick messenger. (McCormick, S.C.) 1902-current, November 25, 1937, Image 2
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.
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