Evening star. [volume], June 12, 1932, Page 2, Image 22

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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THE EVENING STAR
With Sund|j Morning Edition.
WA8HI H'O TON, D. C.
SUNDAY.'._Juno 12. 1932
THEODORE W. NOYES_Editor
The Evening Star Newspaper Company
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ned in this paper and also the ,oca! news
published herein. All rights of publication of
special alspatches herein are also reserved.
Get the Matter Done With!
The economy bill, that started out
with its flags so proudly flying and
with its bands blaring forth the in
spiring music of "Balance the Budget"
has limped, at last, into conference, its
uniform bespattered and tattered and
torn. While it may come out partial
ly revived by restoratives administered
bv conferees determined to make the
best of a bad situation, it is difficult to
see how it can now accomplish Its
original mission of closing the gap be
tween what the revenue bill will
bring in and what the Congress will
spend. If it does, the days of miracles
will, in truth, have returned.
The governmental pay cutting Issue
is easily the most difficult with which
the conferees will have to deal. The
House has approved a pay cut with ex
emptions. The Senate has approved a
furlough plan in place of the pay cut.
It is difficult to understand how the
conferees can make much out of what
has been put upon them to do without
exceeding the authority ordinarily given
them. While a majority of the con
ferees may be said to favor the pay cut
principle over the furlough principle,
the House exemption of $2,500 stands
in the way of extending the pay cut to
that army of low-paid employes who
would furnish mast of the money to be
saved. And if the furlough plan is
favored by the conferees as a last re
sort the wording of the House bill
raises the question whether its $2,500
will not apply to the furlough as well
as to the pay cut.
But speculation on the outcome now
is idle. Conferees have been known to
cut the corners of legislative precedents
and parliamentary rules before, and
the temper of both houses now is to
have done with the whole business and
get through.
That desire, in addition, must be felt
by the country at large, and certainly
is tell by the harried and harrassed
Government employe. The latter has
become the foot ball in as heartless a
game as ever was played. He has
been confronted with a succession of
blows and encouraging pats until he
knows not where he stands. First his
pay, then his leave, then both, then
neither—and under such conditions he
could excusably become a fatalist and
calmly resign himself to whatever for
tune lies in final store, were it not for
the embarrassing fact that he must
continue to eat, to clothe and pro
vide adequate housing for himself
and for his dependents. The difficulty
of doing these things under conditions
that have threatened him in various
forms have made of him an embattled
adversary. In a manner of speaking,
he is fighting for his life.
The conferees have found the ma
jority of both houses bitterly opposed
to flat pay cuts that reach down deep
into the pockets of low-paid men and
women. There has been no overpower
ing sentiment for pay cuts from the
Nation, which slowly has come to the
realization of what it would mean, not
to public servant alone, but to his kin
in private employment.
The conferees should drop the pay
cut plan as it affects the majority of
workers, apply a modified furlough
scheme and end their work. What
everybody desires, and what is wholly
important, is an immediate disposal of
a question that has dragged along with
out settlement since before the Con
gress met last December. The un
certainty has amounted to a form of
mental torture to the Federal employe,
and has created a distrust of the
ability of Congress to act with any de
gree of speed and decisiveness.
Let the conferees end this uncer
tainty now and close the Issue.
•—-1 a . ■
Any one who has the fortune to be
In attendance at either convention is
likely to have his doubts about Am
bassador Mellon's after-dinner intima
tion that politics Is second to base ball
In American interest.
How Many Were in Line?
Washington is a city of parades. Its
afreets have probably been occupied by
more procef&ions in the course of each
year than are those of any other city
in the United States. These spectacles
are In celebration of national anni
versaries, in commemoration of historte
•vents, in expression of the pride of
organization, in demonstration of senti
ments, in the presentation of petitions.
Their participants are sometimes uni
formed or picturesquely costumed, or
again are in the garb of civil life. Some
are long parades, some are short. No
record is made outside of the columns
of the daily press of the number and
nature of these pageants and no ac
curate count is kept of the numbers
participating. Such a count should be
maintained. Some record should be
preserved, for historical purposes at
least, ol the size as well as the char
acter of these public demonstrations.
This thought is suggested by th« wide
disparity of estimates of the counts of
the number taking part in the march of
the bonus petitioners here on Tuesday
evening last. The Star on Friday con
tained an account of the various esti
mates of those in the line. Ten wide
ly varying figures were given, ranging
from 3.500 to 10.000, a spread of almost
three to one.
Iiypoint of tact it would have been
quit* easy for one viewing the parade
from above to count the number almost
exactly. The men marched in column
of fours in close order and though mov
ing briskly could have been checked
almost as precisely as though they had
paved through a turnstile. Nobody
seems to have done this, though the
number of participants was a matter of
some importance. The tendency in
computing crowds is always toward
exaggeration rather than minimising.
On the occasion of the recent local
Memorial day parade one account of
the affair placed the number of par
ticipants at twelve thousand, whereas
in point of fact there were actually less
| than one thousand in line.
This is true in the guesses of other
gatherings not in parade form. A
group of one hundred people will gather
in the street to observe some accidental
happening and the impression is of
several times that number. A thousand
becomes two or three thousand, or five
or maybe ten thousand, according to
the point of view and the temperament
of the observer.
It should not be difficult to establish
a system of parade enumeration. The
police, who always accompany these
marchers as escorts, and who attend as
keepers of the lines, might be trained and
instructed to note the numbers. Then
a record could be kept, a census of the
pave, as it were, to serve the historian
of the future.
No German Monarchy.
It will be with a sigh ol satisfaction
that the world will greet an official
pledge by the militarist aristocrat gov
; eminent of Germany that it does not
: contemplate the restoration of the mon
archy. With the vons. the junkers and
the generals with which the Papen
Schleicher successor to the Bruening
regime bristles, there was plenty of
: ground for fear that the new cabinet
looks with something more than a sym
pathetic eye upon the substitution of a
| sceptered sway for the rule of the re
public.
From the authentic lips of Baron
Wilhelm von Gayl, minister of the in
terior. the Reichsrat, or upper house of
Germany, has just heard words which
on their face evidence the Papen min
istry's loyalty to the Weimar constitu
tion. In the midst of Oermany's pres
ent struggle for existence Baron von
Gayl declares rumors of a return to the
monarchy "are foolish and therefore
harmful.1’
The minister of the interior does not
give a blank check for the future. He
suggests rather that ideas of a mon
archy are simply not things on which
any German government of this day
and hour will squander thought or en
ergy. The Reich has other and more
pressing tasks. "Monarchy or republ.c,"
says Baron von Gayl, "is not a question
that our time, let alone the present gov
ernment, is called upon to solve."
There Is here the veiled suggestion
that what may not be feasible as to to
day may come within the sphere of the
practicable tomorrow. All that the
Papen government wants the world to
be aure about, apparently, is that there
is no plan to precipitate the Reich back
into what Hohenzollern idolators no
doubt still consider the royal pomp and
glory indispensable to Germany'* safety
and welfare.
"I shall be faithful to the oath of
allegiance to the constitution that I
swore before President von Hinden
burg," Baron von Gayl asserts, "and
the chancellor and the other ministers
are In agreement with me"
Meantime this Influential spokesman
discloses that one of the cabinet's first
tasks will be to propose certain amend
ments to the constitution, In order “to
bring it into line with developments in
recent years.” Time only can tell what
lies back of these cryptic words. They
may mean that the government seeks
wider powers for curbing such "develop
ment*" as Hitler. They may denote a
program for clothing either the Presi
dent or the chancellor, or both, with
even more dictatorial prerogative* than
article forty-eight bestows. They may
contemplate ways and means for meeting,
In some form not now provided, the
sudden contingency of the venerable
Hindenburg's disappearance from the
scene. He Is eighty-five years old.
Federal constitutions, as the Ameri
can people well know, are not immu
table. They have amended their own
nineteen times, and a twentieth amend
ment, ordaining a change in the date of
a newly elected President's inaugura
tion, and a radical change in the sched
ule of congressional organization, even
now await* ratification by the Statas.
_ _
That eminent Senator from New
York, Dr. Copeland, is compelled to
take a rest. Probably many other
public men would follow his example
if they had his knowledge of the danger
of high and prolonged nervous tension.
If the demands on statesmen continue
to increase, it may be deemed proper
for insurance expert* to classify politics
as extra-hazardous occupation.
Chicago'* Request for a Loan.
Application has been made by the
mayor of Chicago to the Reconstruction
Finance Corporation for a loan to that
| city of any amount from $40,000,000 to
$150,000,000, to meet the city * impera
tive need to pay long overdue salaries
of school teachers and other employes
and to meet other pressing financial
obligations. The mayor said, in an
nouncing the request: "Our paper Is as
good as gold: we can pay the money
back as soon as we collect the taxes
for the last two years."
Chicago's financial plight has been a
national scandal for many months.
Taxes to the amount of an enormous
sum have been withheld from payment
on the score of a protest against the
assessment. The city has been virtu
ally bankrupt In consequence. Extraor
dinary efforts to raise funds to meat
the "pressing financial obligations” of
the municipality have failed. It was
sought as one expedient to issue tax
due certificates collectable when the
dispute over the assessment Is settled
by the courts, or by legislative action.
These, however, have not been taken In
any great quantity by the ciUsens. and j
In consequence nearly all of the munici
pal workers of all grades have suffered !
from lack of revenue.
Chicago could give no guarantee to
the Federal Government of reimburse
ment of any loan that might be made
to it through the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation Its security. In short, Is
Inadequate. Its credit has vanished. If
it were a business corporation it would
go Into receivership. Indeed, receiver
ship has been proposed, but even a re
ceiver would have grave trouble In find
in* revenues to carry on the business.
Extraordinary taxes might be levied, but
with the basis of taxation, the assess
ment, in almost universal dispute, there
would be no way 10 compel payment.
All the loans made by the Recon
struction Finance Corporation are se
cured. There is a presumptive capacity
on the part of the borrower to pay at
maturity. Chicago's capacity to pay
anything borrowed to meet its current
needs is decidedly uncertain in view of
the fact that these delinquent taxes may
never be collected. The assessments
upon which they are based may be
nullified. In these circumstances it is
hardly likely that the Federal Govern
ment will gamble on Chicago's ultimate
solvency by making a loan of any
amount.
Kreuger * Trick Telephone.
The late Ivar Kreuger. Sweden’s
“match king,” who killed himself in
Paris on the eve of the disclosure of
the complete collapse of his widespread
financial undertakings, was an ingenious
person. For a long time he posed as
the simple, silent man, shunning pub
licity, enveloping himself in an atmos
phere of mystery. Actually he was ac
tive, alert and highly Inventive. He
was a strange complex of apparent hon
esty and actual dishonesty. Since his
death and in the course of the Investi
gation of his affairs much has been
found to show that he was a veritable
pirate in his operations, a forger, a
floater of fraudulent bonds. Had he
survived the revelations of his falsity
he would probably have been tried for
crimes of a grave character and in all
likelihood would have been sent to
prison.
An interesting detail of Kreuger’s
mechanism of fraud has just been dis
covered in Stockholm, where some Eng
lish auditors are Investigating the tan
gled affairs of the Kreuger companies.
They were at work in the apartment
that has been widely known as
Kreuger's “silent room.’’ his sanctum
where he received his occasional visitors,
when a telephone bell rang. One of
the auditors took up the receiver but
got no answer. The bell rang a second
and a third time without a vocal re
sponse over the wire. Then It was ac
cidentally discovered that there was a
button almost flush with the surface of
the desk and that if a book or other
object were pushed over It the tele
phone bell began to ring. It was evi
dently Kreuger's practice when he
wished to get rid of an undesirable
caller to give himself a phone ring by
a casual movement and hold an imagin
ary conversation which required his im
mediate presence elsewhere, thus ef
fectively curtailing the immediate con
ference. Perhaps it was just one of
Kreuger's tricks of self-msgnlflcation,
but it looks like a part of the system of
deceit which has brought such heavy
loss upon multitudes of people and
which led to Kreuger's own death.
The Chicago bank that notified its
depositors to withdraw their money be
cause the work of taking care of it was
not likely to be reasonably profitable
will have an asset of good will worth
a great deal should it in the course of
time decide to reorganize and reopen.
--* l
Any "Red" with a trace of kindness
in his make-up would remain as far
from Anacostia as possible for fear of
causing injustice in the public mind to
men who have no thought in common
with him.
In so uncertain a state of affairs,
an early Indorsement of any Democratic
candidate may be a mistake, inasmuch
as it is certain to concentrate opposi
tion immediately.
Admiration of old-fashioned poetry
and music does not lead Henry Ford
to develop the Idea and prefer the old
fashtoned horse and buggy to the auto
mobile.
At present the idea of a campaign
slogan for Mr. France of Maryland
would seem to be something to the
effect that “anything can happen.”
The high cost of campaigning is
again asserting itself as a means of dis
couraging the rich.
SHOOTING STARS.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON
Old Song.
Those deer old songs of long ego,
They have a manner strange
Of echoing from afar to chow
How much our moods may change.
A frown is shown on many a brow.
Gone is the jaunty style.
Nobody lightly tells us now
To 'smile, smile, smile.”
"The old kit bag” we sadly see
With troubles packed once more.
Pandora's box it seems to be.
Though not of classic lore.
We’re hoping, ss our heads we bow,
That in a little while
Tate will contrive to show us how
To smile, smile, smile.
Intangible Influences.
“Are you afraid of ghosts?”
"Not the kind discussed in psychic re
search,” answered Senator Sorghum.
"But I must admit these intangible
boys, known as ghost w’rtters. sometimes
scare me a little.”
Jud Tunktns says the next time he
sees a coUege professor, he's going to
ask him whether in nistory, as far
back as wrote up. there was ever a tax
plan that gave entire satisfaction to
everybody.
Alcohol and Prtrolcum.
Gas and rum—
What foes they are!
The ten-gallon tank
And the 2-quart jar!
Color Scheme.
"Why do you persist in looking on
the dark side?”
"For variety's sake,” answered Mr.
Dustin Stax. "I’m tired of having to
study entries in red ink."
"Money,” said Hi Ho. the sage of
Chinatown, "Is most to be admired when
it seeks usefulness instead of enter
tainment."
Comparativity.
The universe goes round and round
New wonders to reveal
And humble you and I are found
Like flies upon the wheel.
"Old Satan has a heap o’ disguises."
said Uncle Eben, "an- one ^>f his special
favorites is Easy Money."’
STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS
BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D., IL. D,
Bishop of Washington.
"My strength is made perfect in
weakness.” This paradoxical state
ment was made to one of the strongest
characters that the world has known—
namely, the Apostle Paul. He had been
writing to his young converts concern
ing a physical malady that so hindered
and restricted him in his field of oper
ation that he plead that it might be re
moved. The consistency of his appeal
seemed quite obvious He felt that his
ministry to men would be greatly in
creased were his physical ailment re
moved. The answer to his plea was:
"My grace is sufficient for thee, for my
strength is made perfect in weakness.”
So impressed was he by this strange
answer to his plea that he declared
with boldness: "I will glory in my in
firmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me.” He further declares "I
take pleasure in infirmities, for when
I am weak, then I am strong." When
once he was satisfied that his physical
, disability was to be the actual means of
increased spiritual strength, he went on
his way unembarrassed and unhindered.
One of the remarkable things about
life is that any expression of power or
genius gTows very- frequently out of mis
fortune, disappointment and hindrances
placed in our way. The old adage that
"necessity is the mother of invention”
has been demonstrated again and again.
As we study the lives of the men and
women who have enriched the race, we
are struck by the fact that in many
cases, if not in most, their rare gifts
were disclosed after a period of failure
and defeat. Milton's blindness did not
hinder him from producing one of the
greatest allegories the w-orld has known,
nor did Bedford gaol restrict Bunyan
in his pilgrimage. Dante's exile was a
contributing factor in the production of
his immortal work. Robert Louis
Stevenson, combating a disease that
eventually destroyed him in the pilme
of his manhood, wrote his finest verse
and his most enduring fiction when he
was beaten down and rendered physl
cally Impotent by a dread malady.
It Is hard for us to appraise the
value of misfortune of any kind. Nat
urally we seek to avoid It. We crave
health and strength, we strive for those
things that contribute to ease and
luxury. There Is no inconsistency in
this, but the more we study ourselves
and the more rightly we appraise our
best qualities and gifts, the more evi
dent It Is that we really rise on "step
ping stones of our dead selves to higher
things.” No one goes out of his way
to seek misfortune, and we are all Ir
ritated and depressed when our ex
pectations tall of realization. On the
other hand, as we fairly survey our
lives we discover that our real attain
ments and our strongest virtues have
been most highly developed In periods,
where we have had to blaze our trail
and fight our way. What is true of us
individually Is true of us as a people.
We have attained our truest and most
lasting satisfactions, and we have grown
in stature, as well as in power, where
we have suffered reverses and had to
contend with problems that seemed In
superable. We are trying at the present
time to work out a philosophy that will
reconcile the stern hardships imposed
upon us individually and collectively
by a long period of depression. We are
bound to believe that what we are ex
periencing Is to produce a stronger and
finer national character. With mate
rial values depleted and gravely im
paired. we are being compelled to con
sider the deeper, finer value* of life. The
disciplines and privations that are laid
upon us are compelling us to deep re
flection. Where we were self-assured
and self-confident In the period of our
affluence, we are being forced to freshly
lecognize life's finer values and Its more
permanent assets. It may be that we
are coming to realize the significance
of the Master's words: "My strength is
made perfect in w eakness "
Retention, Resubmission and Repeal,
The Three R*s of Republican Policies
BY WILLIAM HARD.
The prohibition plank to be adopted
at the Republican National Conven
tion next week will be neither wet nor
dry but amphibian It will have a
sawdust top and web feet.
Mr James R Oarfield the Presi
dent's platform carpenter, left l*re for
Chicago with two rough-hewn planks
in his possession One of them had
more sawdust on it than the other. It
carried on its surface many words de
nouncing alcohol and nullification At
its bottom it carried "resubmission'
of the eighteenth amendment
The other one carried "resubmis
sion” of the eighteenth amendment
with simply a thinner veneer of verbal
protective coloring
Virtually every United States Sena
tor, wet or dry. who is a delegate to
the convention, has approved "resub
mlssion " Postmaster General Brown,
possessor of the southern delegates to
tne convention, has also approved "re
submission.’’ The southern delegates
will tend strongly to approve his ap
proval They will seem to the conven
tion to reflect the views of the Presi
dent.
Intimate visitors of the President
state that he will accept "resubmis
sion” if the convention demands it.
Other intimate visitors of the President
state that he is as dry as ever and will
repudiate any wet plank adopted by
the convention. The answer is that
"dry" has become a relative term. It
U related to the conventions three
R’s
The convention’s three R s are re
tention, resubmission, repeal. There
is also a limping fourth R Referendum.
This fourth R would call for an ad
visory vote of the whole people prior
to any action by the Congress toward
changing the Constitution. It would
Interpose an additional step between
thought and action. It is a postpone
ment device It found hardly any
favor among the Republican State con
ventions which chase delegates to the
approaching Republican National Con
vention. There will be virtually no
delegates in the Republican National
Convention instructed for referendum
The convention will therefore, in all
probability, choose only from among
retention and resubmission and repeal.
* * * *
If the southern delegates are re
sponsive to Postmaster General Brown s
ideals, there will be an overwhelming
majority of all delegates in the con
vention for resubmisaion. The dele
gates from the northern and eastern
resubmishion States plus the southern
delegates will be irresistible. The con
sequences for the President as viewed
in the dry light of the pronouncements
of the National Prohibition Board of
Strategy would seem at first to be woe
some
The National Prohibition Board of
Strategy, embracing almost all of the
most eminent leaders of the dry cause
in the United States, has officially de
clared that resubmission would be
"nothing more nor less" than a scheme
for "attracting the opponents of pro
hibition" and "nothing more nor less"
than "a sop for wet support." It ha*
even officially declared that it would
be "far more insidious and would far
more greatly deceive the public" than
an outright demand for repeal.
The reason for this attitude by the
National Prohibition Board of Strategy
is that the human brain, in Washing-:
ton, so far, even with the help of all
known treatises on logic, has been un
able to devise, under the Constitution,
any resubmission proposal which would
not carry with it the jxwsibility of com
plete or partial repeal.
* * * *
A resubmission Senator stated the
case today exactly by saying:
"To resubmit the eighteenth amend
ment means that the Congress, by a
two-thirds vote of each house, shall
send to the States a proposal dealing
with the Constitution. That proposal,
under the Constitution, can be only in
the form of an amendment to the Con
stitution. This amendment could not
be: ’The eighteenth amendment is here
by retained,’ That would be too humor
ous even for a people with a sense of
humor. You cannot have an amend
ment simply repeating an amendment
already in existence. The new proposed
amendment would have to be new. It
would have to say, for Instance. ‘The
eighteenth amendment is hereby re
pealed.' Or It would have to say. ‘The
eighteenth amendment is hereby, in the
folowing respects, changed.’ If three
quarters cf the States *hould decline
to ratify the proposed new amendment,
then the old eighteenth amendment
would be retained. That is true. Never
theless, there would always be the pos
sibility that three-quarters of the States
might consent to ratify the proposed
new amendment. Therefore, resubmls
sion means possible repeal, or, at any
rate, possible revision. I admit it. I
admit it becau*e it cannot be denied."
In practice, therefore, resubmission,
along with giving the States a chance
to retain the eighteenth amendment,
gives them also inevitably one of two
other chances—a chance to repeal it or
a chance to revise it. Naither of these
two last chances is genuinely desired
by the National Prohibition Board of
Strategy.
What is hoped by administration
leaders is that the National Prohibition
Board of Strategy will prefer Mr. Hoo
ver personally to any thinkable Demo
cratic nominee and will realise that
Mr. Hoover, in order to get re-elected,
has to harmonize the Republican plat
form with one most distressing sociolog
ical fact.
That fact is the deip*e!own controlling
fact in the convention at Chicago. It .
is as follows:
The Republican voters in the dry
States—whether Maine in the East or
Kansas in the West—are very largely
old-stock Americans who draw their
allegiance to the Republican party out
a
of inheritance and out of a tradition
extending back to the days of the
War Between the States. They always
seek to find all available Justifications
for continuing to vote the Republican
ticket. Their record is that In presi
dential years they will vote It even In
the midst of much dissatisfaction with
Republican policies.
* * * *
Contrariwise, the Republican voters
in the urban regions of the wet State*
—whether New York in the East or
Illinois in the West—include great
numbers of new-stock Americans who
care nothing at all about the War Be
tween the States and who became Re
publicans only through learning that
the Republican party is the party of
prosperity. They do not now see the
prosperity. Their allegiance to the party
has been economic, not emotional. They
will be readier bolters many times over,
than the old-atoek Republicans of the
dry regions.
But "they must not bolt ” That Is
the central hope of those who would
re-elect Mr. Hoover. Hence their sub
sidiary hope that the National Prohibi
tion Board of 8trategv will join them
in tolerating resubmisaion It is a
political necessity, they think, if the
White House is to be occupied after
March 4 next by a President who can
say
"I personally am as dry as ever.”
Such counsels will in any case be
dominant at Chicago, and the Repub
lican party there, unless intercepted by
some unforeseeable development, will
start riding on a plank that can go like
a covered wagon across the desert to
resubmission and retention or like a
submarine through the ocean to re-1
submlsLson and revision or resubmit -
lion and repeal.
< Copyr:*M. 1M2 >
Helping Home Owners
Who Are Embarrassed
BY HARDEN COLFAX.
One of the most hopeful signs of the
day u found by Department of Com
merce authorities in the rescue of
thousands of financially embarrassed
home owners in certain communities
through organized private effort.
It was disclosed today that the depart
ment's Building and Housing Division
is healing fine things about the work
of local committees, composed of public
spirited and socially-minded persons
familiar with real estate problems, to
whom harassed property owners may
go for advice and assistance, and which
in co-operation With unemployment
relief organizations and welfare com
mittees are rendering valuable assist
ance to prevent needles* foreclosure*
on small homes.
The achievements of the Joint Wel
fare Committee of the Philadelphia
Real Estate Board are cited particularly
by Arthur J. Mertzke, economic
analyst of the division, in a report now
being prepared Up to this week the
committee had investigated more than
3.500 cases of individuals in financial
difficulties over paying for their homes,
and of these 85 per cent had been
helped in one way or another.
* * * *
"The Division of Building and Hous
ing learns." says a statement author
ized Saturday, “that committee* or
other similar groups to that at Phila
delphia are already functioning in New
York. New Jersey, Delaware and West
Virginia as well as cities in other parts
of Pennsylvania, noteworthy aroang
these being Atlantic City and Camdqn
in New Jersey and Wilmington in Dela
ware. It hopes that this Philadelphia
set-up will commend itself to other
communities In still other parts of the
country and. for this reason, is com
mending the Idea. It is proposed to
bring out a report embodying the plan
in the course of the next few weeks.
The survey was made in Philadelphia ;
by Mr. Mertzke. at the request of the
President's Conference on Home Build
ing and Home Owning, because in Phil
adelphia. so largely the home of build
ing and loan associations, the plan had
already been under way when the.
President’s conference met last
December.’’ I
* * * *
Composed of nine members, realtors
and building and loan men, appointed
jointly bv the Real Estate Board of
the City of Philadelphia, and the
State League of Building and Lzian
Associations, the Philadelphia commit-.
tee gives its services without remunera- '
tion The cases which come before It
are reported to include financing prob
lems of almost every description. Among
these seeking help are included not
only home owners threatened with
foreclosure, but heads of families who
are seeking ways of refinancing proper
ties so as to lighten their present bur
dens, individual* who have been »ub
Jeeted to exorbitant financing charges
and families out of employment and
actually In want of food, unable to pay
Interest or taxe*.
Carried on in as informal and per- I
sonal manner as possible, the work of
the committee consist* in finding out
all the details of the situation and, In
the majority of case*, working out a
helpful solution. Often it even inter- I
cedes with the holders of the mortgages
and urges them to extend the time in
which a solution may be worked out.
In many eases a written arrangement
1* made which leaves the existing
mortgage undisturbed, and provides for
the payment by mortgagees of taxe*
which may be in arrears and reducing
the monthly payment*.
♦ * * *
In the majority of cases the commit
tee finds the situation not hopeless. It
encourages the distressed owners to do 1
everything within their power to hold
on. at the same time interceding with
the mortgagees Involved, asking them
to co-operate with the committee by
allowing a reasonable amount of time
to work out a solution which will en
Capital Sidelights
BY WILL r. KENNEDY.
"Martyrs do not die In vain.”
I Hie assassination of President Gar
field, on July 2, 1881, as he was about
to take a special train to visit his
alma mater, Williams College, Willlams
town. Mass., by a disgruntled office
seeker under the old political spoils
system led to the establishment of the
Civil Service as a merit system, which
went into effect July 16, 1883.
This new system was set up with the
Idea that "a Government position
should be a badge of honor”—and as a
real economy measure wiping out the
waste and extravagance of the old
regime—providing that "those seeking
public office were no longer to be made
the sycophants to purveyors of office
which rightfully belonged to the people."
The golden Jubilee year of the Civil
Service begins July 1. It will be ob
served on that date by a new law going
Into effect—a legislative rider on an
appropriation bill—slashing the salaries
in this “merit system.”
Five years ago William C. Dcming,
president of the U. S. Civil Service
Commission, in a foreword to "The
Romance of the Merit System." which
he called "a splendid contribution to
the epic of popular government,” writ
ten by Matthew F. Halloran. an em
ployee of the commission during its
entire existence, said:
"If we may call the Declaration of
Independence our great charter of
liberty, and the Constitution the com
pass by which the Ship of State is held
to its course, we may designate the
Civil Service act the ballast which pre
serves an even keel in the stress of
political storm.”
Mr. Halloran as historian in retro
spect wrote: "Looking back over a
period of 45 years of trials, tribulations
and triumphs, the Civil Service Com
mission, guardians of the merit system,
with ‘Palmam qul meruit ferat' as Its
motto, rejoices over work well done
No blemish tarnishes its fair fame. Its
integrity remains unsullied as a com
ponent part of a great Government.
"Profiting by the experience of the
past, with renewed vigor and inspira
tion for the future, as the fifth decade
draws near it is well equipped to assist
in upholding and perpetuating the high
standard of the Civil Service In carrv
ing on the Important work of the Gov
ernment of a great and mighty Nation.
As the Army and Navy stand for
discipline and efficiency, so likewise does
the Civil Service under the merit system
uphold its beat traditions.
This reward of salary reduction at
the golden Jubilee celebration of a
merit system which for half a century
has efficiently kept the countless activi
ties of the Government in operation for
the benefit of all the people, no matter
what President or member* of Congress
might come or go, falls upon thousands
who worked without salary increases
during the period of the World War
while those in outside employment were
having their pay pyramided.
And throughout the decades there
have remained in this merit system
thousands doing the Government's work
by sheer devotion, giving inventive
genius, scientific expertness, specialized
training and experience which they
could have sold for a much higher price
in the open market.
Out of this civil service—now to be
rewarded with a wholesale pay cut—
have come some of the Nation's best
executives. There was a youth, appoint
ed through a stenographer and type
writer examination, serving in the Post
Office Department by transfer from the
New York customs house. When Presi
dent Cleveland asked for a competent
stenographer for the White House staff
this youth was sent over. That was
George B. Cortelyou. who was stenogra
pher and executive clerk to President
Cleveland, assistant secretary and secre
tary to President McKinley, secretary to
President Roosevelt, who later appointed
him to the cabinet, where he was suc
cessively Secretary of Commerce and
Labor. Postmaster General and Secre
tary of the Treasury. He left the public
service to become president of the Con
solidated Gas Co. of New York There
you see the merit system an open door
to a brilliant executive career.
Members of Congress ought to appre
ciate the devotion that lies behind this
50 years of civil service, for many of
them were part of the merit system
temporarily Among them are Repre
sentatives John J. Boylan. New York:
Leonidas C. Dyer, Missouri: Butler B.
Hare. South Carolina: Homer Hoch,
Kansas, Mayer Jacobeteln. New York,
and Addison T Smith. Idaho Patrick
J. Haltlgan, reading clerk of the House,
was formerly a printer in the Govern
ment Printing Office.
The opportunities that civil service
workers have for stepping out Into
leadership in the business and profes
sional world is illustrated In many ro
mantic careers, such as that of Frank
J. Hogan, nationally known as a leader
of the District bar. who came to Wash
ington from Georgia at the age of 33
and entered the Federal service at
$1,200 a year, from which he resigned
when receiving $1,800.
Many high State officials throughout
the country, leaders in the largest busi
ness enterprises, men of prominence
along all lines in the public eye, have
served their apprenticeship in the Gov
ernment service Clifford K. Berryman,
the internationally famous cartoonist of
The Star, was a draftsman in the Pat
ent Office.
In each branch of the Government
are executives who have worked their
way up from the lowest ranks to high
executive positions through sheer merit,
by dint of work well done and devotion
to duty, wearing proudly their badge of
honor—“In the Federal Service"—
i which now brings them a pay cut >:
George R. Wales of the Civil Service
Commission. J. Edgar Hoover, director
of the Bureau of Investigations, Depart
ment of Justice: John Greene, deputy
public printer: John F. Bethune. first
foreign surveyor for the United States
Tariff Commission; Ouy F. Allen, Bu
reau of the Budget; Raymond F. Crist.
Department of Labor: Charles O. Ab
bott. secretary of the Smithsonian In
stitution; Herbert D. Brown, chief of
the Bureau of Efficiency; Edward C.
Finney, Assistant Secretary, Department
of the Interior; Wilbur J. Carr, Assist
ant Secretary of State: George R. Put
nam. commissioner of light houses—are
among many who have cltjnbed from an
entrance salary of 81.000 or less. Most
of these men have repeatedly refused
offers of much higher salaries from pri
vate Industry.
Contra Sirens.
From the Louisville Courisr-Journtl.
The Government will experiment with
the radio as a substitute for foghorns.
Will mariners hear croonera instead of
sirens along the reef-strewn shore?
Wasted Talent.
F>om the Columbus Ohio Btste Journal.
Apparently those Navy officials who
have ruled that ensigns can't marry
until two years after they’ve graduated
discount the value of practical fight
ing experience.
Both Hard to Bear.
From th* Keokuk Dsiir Ostt City.
Proceedings In Washington tend to
the conclusion that taxation with repre
sentation may be about as unpopular
as taxation without.
able the mortgagor to tide over tha
emergency.
A remarkable degree of co-operation
has been secured from building and
loan associations, trust companies,
mortgage companies, insurance com
panies, lawyers and other individuals,
the committee reports. The effective
ness of its work seems to be due to the
fact that it always endeavors to be
fair and reasonable and that the mem
bers are not paid for their services.
To further the v.-ork of these local
organizations it Is now planned to
have them co-operate with a special
committee of the Reconstruction
Finance Corporation, which regards
urging ot leniency in payments on old
mortgages as pan of its field.
(Copyright, 1932.) •
Problem of the Recapture Ftind
BY FREDERIC J. UASK1N.
- ■ --
On top ol the tax dilemma, the deficit,
the bonus and the thousand other
problems staring a busy Congress in the
lace in an election year, the particularly
vexed problem of what to do about the
recapture clause of the Interstate com
merce act la coming to a head. Con
gress Is being pressed to decide whether
to make a gift of some *360.000,000 to a
part cf the common carriers of the
United States and a deluge of litigation
thereby Invited; to give the railroads
free rein In the amount of profits they
may make, or to reach a compromise.
The recapture clause rose out of the
turmell of railroad finance, created In
large part by the war-time assumption
or the carriers by the Government. The
*500,000,000 revolving fund which had
been created by Congress resulted In
huge cash loans being advanced and
the railroads owed the Government a
good deal on account of addition* and
betterments to railroad property while
In Government hands In the hope of
ultimately balancing the books, the act
to regulate commerce was amended to
Include what has since been called the
recapture clause. This provided that In
case a railroad made net earnings of
more than 6 per cent it should divide
the excess above that percentage with
the Treasury of the United States.
Nothing seems to be more technical
than railroad law, especially as it ap
plies to finance. The opportunities for
Utigation are numberless. There has
been a good deal up to the present, but
under certain circumstances it is ex
pected that a new flood of law suits will
follow action on the recapture clause.
The amount paid into this fund by
railroads which have earned more than
6 per cent since 1920, when the pro
vision took effect, Is not large It
amounts to only *10,681.000 and nearly
all of this has been paid under pro
test Loss than *40,000 has actually
been turned over by railroads witnou:
any strings attached.
Money Not Available.
It Is stated that this huge sum has
accrued, but is not In hand, because of
refusal of the railroad* to turn over
the money. Injunctions preventing
collections have been obtained and the
propriety of the collection of these ex
cess earnings is a question before me
court* The law’s delay is so fruitful
of postponement! that the business has
been held up for years Each year the
sum grows. Even the *10,000,000 whicn
has been paid In has been paie under
protest snd therefore eanot be used to
make loans to distressed roads, a pur
pose of Congress in originally provid
ing for the fund. The *360.000,000 ac
crued has. in some cases, actually been
set aside In railroad reserves and is in
tact, en escrow in a manner, wnle.
In other cases it is merely a book
charge In any event, the Government
has not been ahle to lay hand* on the
money.
Meantime two plans are pending to
settle the whole question. The first plan
calls for the straight repeal of the re
capture clause. A bill offered by Repre
sentative Rayburn of Texas, providing
for repeal, wiping off the whole original
legislation now is before Congress. The
Interstate Commerce Commission has
gone on record as favoring the repeal,
some members being in favor of making
th« repeal retroactive: others merely
being willing to have its operation go
no farther than it has gone, with no
future collections or accruala.
The objection to repeal of the recap
ture clause which has been voiced Is
that. If made retroactive, It would con
stitute a gift of *360.000.000 to the rail
road*. Nor would all of the railroad!
receive this gift; only those who need
it the least. Of the 162 class 1 rail
roads, recapture has accrued on 90 Of
232 class 2 railroads, recapture has ac
crued on 138. Of 329 etas* 3 railroads,
recapture has accrued on 134. On 363
lesser lines, recapture has accrued on
84. Those roads which have been earn
ing a full 6 per cent for themselves,
and then an overplus agregating $720.
000.000, to be divided with the Govern
ment. are the ones which would, under
the repeal bill of Representative Rav
bum, be relieved of this indebtedness,
despite the fact that they would not
have been accumulating anything were
not their earnings high. The roads
which have been limping along making
less than 6 per cent—some only 1 or 2
1 per cent—have had nothing subject to
j recapture and, therefore, would have no
part in the gift involved In the repeal
measure.
Who Should Get Rebate.
Here arises a new question. If the
money is returned should these rail
roads be permitted to keep It? In any
Anal analysis it is obvious that the
money originally was paid by the ship
pers The Atchison. Topeka k Santa
Fe, for example, Is one of the big trunk
lines earning recapture excess If the
Government refunds this debt, the ques
tion arises, should not the railroad, in
turn, refund a proportionate amount to
the shippers who paid the freight bills?
A cloud of litigation, instigated by the
shippers, which would congest court
. dockets for years would likely follow
1 repeal.
A substitute measure ha* been offered
by Representative Nelson of Wisconsin.
His plan does not can for repeal but
for continued recap* -re or. a •>«*;«
which would be mere to '-arr.eri
Instead of re**p'.v-e r.r/7 t'.rr.r.g
annually Irons now »•< ~ an aver
age for i.eree-?**- p**~ •/!> «o..f
(uo*V.ured t - cf •*.»
mcr-»/ taxer. *.y to V.-'*--.re- v - d
oe ica.ed dr.v-. i.*„t pe--e--»r*
made tv: e ;e-.-.<d t*. p*r-od
at U-e d_u:r**.t- tf tee fremau Cn
mer-.e Ccetarasxr.
A-c C.U'X.tf.r.r ™.v,s cf i.v s-f
of ln. Jt-.tec ditot .ip* -.*.» ez.t’.r.g
x ■ j fu_.-mi.ftd 07 1 -a -'s-c wrt-.tr.
made su trap *. per oe-.t 'until it
chanced that a .- .g» dam prt .ee*. m
erected tt tt» its ?r 1 tor a year
the _c* .cad 1 ter-y profit* ole bus me**
aru-cg f.*tsr. tut* .ca.._ng cf 2 - art ton
nage cf m*'»-t». ftr the dam Thu
or.e yea: rp_.td »z:e*.s profit* tnto the
recapt-re titegcry But the year be
fore and the year after showed return*
far under the * per cent In *uch a
case the Nelson bill would atersge those
three years of earning*, taking a small
er amount or perhaps nothing, but
stabilizing the railroad s finance*
Another quandary has been raised in
connection with the valutlon of railroad
property on which reasonable rates are
computed. In the famous St. Louis &
O'Fallon Railroad case the Supreme
Court of the United States ruled that
about 50 per cent weight should be
given the O'Fallon's contention that
valuation should be based on repro
du^on new less depreciation. The
Interstate Commerce Commission op
posed this view and the court held that
the other 50 per cent should be
weighted In accordance with the com
missions view that original cost be the
basis. In the later Richmond, Fred
ericksburg k Potomac case, the court
gave a 60-40 division of importance.
So the whole question is more or less
suspended
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star
Fifty year* ago Congress was engaged
In increasing the departmental forces in
T Washington, with ad
lncreasing ditional appropria
TT S r.rr.i tions In the annual
u. o. forces bllls ln,.ead o{ It_
ducing the forces and salaries, as at
present. The Star of June 9. 1882.
prints the following news item:
"The legislative, executive and judicial
appropriation bill was reported to the
House yesterday afternoon. It appro
priated *19,777,627.90. The total num
ber of persons employed In the
several executive departments and
their respective bureaus or offices
at Washington under specific au
thority of law during the current year
is 5.313; the number employed and paid
from miscellaneous appropriations is
840. making In all 6.155 actually In serv
ice during the current fiscal year, at an
aggregate cost of *7.367,531.82. The
number estimated for the service of the
ensuing fiscal year of 1883 is 7.649. at
a co*t of *9,477,608. The number rec
ommended in the bill is 7,552, at a cost
per annum of *9,195,611.25,
"The present force in the Pension
Office Is 742 employes, at an annual cost
of *868.530. The bill provides an addi
tional force of 817 employes, at an an
nual cost of 81.013.400. The present
force in the surgeon general's office is
257 employes, at an annual cost of
$307,737.67. The bill provides an addi
tional force of 166 employes, at an an
nual cost of *224.290. The present force
in the adjutant general's office is 423
employes, at an annual cost of *498.
071.24. The bill provides an additional
force of 167 employes, at an annual
cost of (200.660. There ia also a proper
increase for the same purpose in the
second auditor's, third auditor's, second
controller's and the office of the Secre
tary of War, rendered necessary on ac
count of the increase in the Pension
Office. The bill also provides for sn
increase of 14 clerics In the office of the
sixth auditor. Among the changes in
troduced in the bill is the abolition of
what is known as general service men
in the War Department, a system by
I which enlisted men have been employed
I in clerical duty.”
*
* ♦
Charles H. Read, the counsel for
Gulteau, who succeeded Scoville In the
_ ., _ defense of Gar
Ouiteau Beceivei field's assassin
Spiritual Counsel.
teau's behalf, despite the refusal of the
appellate court to set aside the rulings
of the trial court and the verdict of
guilty. In The Star of June 10, 1882.
is an account of Reed's visit to the jail
to secure Guiteau's signature to papers
to accompany a petition for a writ of
habeas corpus to one of the branches
of the Supreme Court of the United
States. Guileeu said .that he had no
Idea that this effort would be of any
use. but he signed the papers to satlsty
his counsel. The 6tar'$ account con
tinues :
“On Thursday last the prisoner had a
long conversation with the warden of
the Jail, Oen. Crocker, in reference to
receiving the visits of some minister
regularly. Gulteau did not seem in
clined to make any selection at first,
claiming that he could get along well
enough without one, and that there was
no need of one In his ease, but finally
said that he could see the propriety of
having one regular minister. A number
of names were proposed and canvassed,
and when that of Rev. Dr. W W Hicks
of the Tabernacle, South Washington,
was mentioned Gulteau made some
minute inquiries as to him and said
that he would be glad if Dr. Hicks
would call. Dr. Hicks yesterday went to
the jail and entered Guiteau’s cell with
Oen. Crocker. The prisoner received
the minister very courteously and after
some preliminary conversation entered
upon a discussion of his ease, dwelling
upon the Inspiration theory, speaking
with vehemence and frequently striking
the table with his hands. Dr. Hicks
then asked what would be the effect on
his theory if he found that three weeks
from that day he would certainly be
hanged and suggested that man was re
sponsible for hts acts. Dr. Hicks sug
gested that they should pray together
and Guiteau responded. By all means.'
A prayer was then offered and the pris
oner. with much feeling, responded fre
quently In devoutly uttered ‘Amens.’
Britain More Hopeful
Regarding Lausanne
BY A. G. GARDINER.
LONDON, June II.—-President Eair.onn
De Valera's vlait to London on Friday,
which, in spite of the action of the
Irish Senate in postponing the aboli
tion of the oath of allegiance, did not
disclose any change In the Irish lead
ers adamant attitude, delayed the de
parture of Premier Ramsay MacDon
ald and Sir John Simon to Pans for
the negotiations with Premier Herriot
preparatory to the Lausanne and
Geneva conferences Both are meet
ing the French premier over the wee*
end.
A more cheerful spirit prevails here
in regard to the prospects at Lausanne.
Herriot s declaration of policy Tuesday
created a good impression. It Indicated
a definite change of atmosphere in
French foreign policy, no disposition to
seek the support of Andre Tardieu and
a conciliatory attitude toward the
French Socialists, who are firm in their
insistence on disarmament and better
relations with Germany. It is felt here
that the more Herriot relies lor support
on the Left, the more chance there is
of favorable results both at Lausanne
and Geneva.
lk ik * *
It is gratifying also that the political
upheaval in Germany has not rattled
the new French government. Internal
ly that upheaval has created an explo
sive situation. Chancellor Franz von
Papen obviously is moving toward an
undisguised dictatorship. Clearly he
has no intention of being trammeled
by the Reichstag, and. equally clearly,
he contemplates dissolution of the Prus
sian Diet and the administration of
Prussia by a Reich commissioner. This
has aroused grave alarm in Bavaria,
which never was cordial to Prussia,
and will not tolerate its liberties being
overridden by a Prussian dictatorship.
The course of internal events in Ger
many until the Reichstag elections July
31 largely depends upon the relations
established between Gen Kurt von
Schleicher. Reichwehr minister, who
is the real power behind the new chan
cellor, and the Hitlerite*, who are cer
tain to be the most formidable party
returned at the polls.
* ¥ * *
But the domeatic confusion in Ger
many should not prejudice affairs at
Lausanne or Geneva next week. Von
Papen is likely to take a position both
on reparations and disarmament prac
tically the same as that which Dr.
Heinrich Bruemng would have taken:
namely, an equality status in regard to
armaments and a declaration of inabil
ity to pay reparations. On the latter
question opinion is much clarified and
Herrlot. while insisting that Germany
cannot be permitted simply to disavow
her obligations, expresses readiness to
discuss any proposals calculated to pro
mote the stability of the world.
That Germany cannot pay now ad
mits of no dispute, and though in the
future she may be in a position to pay
something—say a moderate total of five
or six hundred million dollars over a
period of years—the feeling everywhere
is condensing to the view that the
world can no longer afford the conse
quences of prolongation of the repara
tions controversy.
* * * *
As the London Spectator remarks,
both this country and France will gain
more by complete cancellation of repar
ations now than by any deferred pay
ment that might be harvested after a
prolonged moratorium.
Influential British opinion favors
MacDonald announcing at Lausanne
that, while Germany's juridical obliga
tions to pay still stand, her inability to
pay is recognized end that Britain in
tends to accept no further reparations
payments. It is also suggested that the
premier offer to remit the war debt of
any country that similarly relinquishes
reparations from Germany. The al
ternative is a prolonged extension of
the moratorium, but this without Anal
agreement as to a limited basis of the
settlement would still leave the prob
lem hanging like a nightmare over fu
ture world trade.
(Copyrlfht. 1932.)
This interview evidently made a consid
erable impression on the prisoner, for in
parting he bade Dr Hicks good-by
warmly, inviting him to come again as
often as he could and telling him he
would like to see him daily if possible/*