Evening star. [volume], October 02, 1935, Page A-2, Image 2

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

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JONES FLAYS T1
ON LOANMETHODS
False Statement Charged in
Attempt to Block Cen
tral Solution.
By the Associated Press.
A J. P. Morgan partner and the
head of the First National Bank of
New York were accused yesterday by
Jesse H. Jones, Reconstruction Finance
Corp. chairman, of attempting to
block a solution of the financial sit
uation of the New York Central Rail
road.
In a letter to Harold S. Vanderbilt
of the Finance Committee of the
road, made public here. Jones charged
that a letter signed by George Whitney
of the Morgan firm and Jackson E.
Reynolds of the First National, con
tained a statement that was "not
true,” and that the letter was “ob
viously intended to make impossible
my suggestion that the banks and
the R. F. C. exchange their demand
notes for bonds.”
The statement branded by Jones
as “not true” was that his proposal
that the banks and the R. F. C. take
convertible bonds was asking the
financial institutions to violate the
banking laws forbidding them from
owning railroad stocks. In another
letter, written Sunday to Vanderbilt,
Jones said the controller of the cur
rency had held that the banks could
legally accept the convertible bonds.
Loans Are Extended.
Immediately after writing yester
day's letter. Jones left for New York,
but last night it was made known
that the corporation has extended
until November 30 New York Central
loans totaling $15,600,000 which fell
due yesterday. The company owes
the R. F. C. a total of $27,500,000
and 10 banks $63,000,000. Jones, Van
derbilt, Whitney and Reynolds have
been seeking a means by which the
railroad company could place these
loans on a long-time basts. The bank
Joans all are on “demand” notes.
•"The Reynolds-Whitney letter, cir
culated by you among the 10 lending
banks.” said Jones yesterday, "ob
viously Intended to make impossible
my suggestion that the banks and the
R. F. C. exchange their demand notes
for bonds, as well as to discredit my
efforts to bring about such a solution.
"It imputed to me a proposal that
the banks violate the law—which is
not true; assuming to themselves more
acrupulous ethics.
"In order that there may he no mis
understanding as to my position or
theirs, I am releasing the correspond
ence.”
Jones, in his letter of September 29
to Vanderbilt, took the New Yorker
and th? bank heads to task for criti
cizing his discussions of the financial
situation of the railroad company with
newspaper men. Vanderbilt said, ”i
rannot see what useful purpose is
served by the publication of inter
views such as the one referred to.”
Government Official
“You and they seem to forget,”
.Jones answered to this, “that I am a
Government official, lending Govern
ment funds, and that the public is in
terested in R. F. C. activities and in
the New York Central's finances. You
forget, too, that these interviews to
which you object are the result of per
tinent Inquiry by the press. But if
you will search the newspaper files
you will find no statement by me that
could be hurtful to the New York
Central or to any oth«r Institution
that has had occasion to borrow from
the R. F. C.
“I appreciate that some bankers and
corporate officials do not like publicity,
but railroads are required by law to
make public their entire activities, as
is also the R. F. C. Yours is one of
our prominent railroad systems and
the condition of its finances is of in
terest to the public.
“One very good way to avoid further
publicity of this character would be
to put your finances in order.”
Jones told Vanderbilt he felt he
Would be derelict in his duty if he did
not do what he could to help “correct
what I know to be an unhealthy sit
uation” and that he would continue.
He said he told Reynolds that if
the road would authorize a $90,000,000
convertible bond issue with which to
liquidate its current debts, with the
approval of the Interstate Commerce
Commission, the R. F. C. would take
half the issue, which would pay the
road’s debt to the R. F. C. and reduce
the bank holdings by $30,000,000.
4 Fer Cent Interest.
The bonds, Jones also thought,
should bear 4 per cent Interest and
.be convertible at an attractively low
figure. Reynolds, the R. F. C. chair -
,man said, had held out lor 4% per
.cent and a conversion price of >30.
* The letter from Vanderbilt to Jones
,*as sent to the following heads of
hanks involved in the loans;
W. C. Potter, chairman Guaranty
'Trust Co. of New York; Lewis E.
Pierson, chairman of Irving Trust Co.;
Winthrop W. Aldrich, chairman of
Chase National Bank; James H. Per
kins. chairman National City Bank
of New York; Walter J. Cummings,
chairman Continental Illinois Nation
al Bank & Trust Co.; Richard K. Mel
lon. president, Mellon National Bank;
H. S. Leyman. chairman First National
Bank of Cincinnati; John P. Oleson,
chairman First National Bank of Chi
cago; Jackson E. Reynolds, president
First National Bank of New York;
George Whitney, J. P. Morgan & Co.
CASE OF PARALYSIS
LISTED IN ARLINGTON
Third of Year Involves 8-Year
Old Pupil—Other Victims
Have Recovered.
By a Staff Correspondent of The Star.
ARLINGTON COURT HOUSE, Va.,
October 2.—A third case of infantile
paralysis in Arlington County was re
ported yesterday by Dr. P. M. Chi
chester. county health officer. This
is the only active case at present, the
victims of the earlier cases having re
covered. according to Dr. Chichester.
The third victim is an S-year-old
Clarendon boy who was a student at
Stonewall Jackson School.
WOODSON TO SPEAK
Special Dispatch to Tht Star.
LORTON, Va., October 2.—Fairfax
County 8upt. of Schools W. T. Wood
son is to be the main speaker at
the teachers’ reception to be given
by the local Community League here
Friday night, when Mrs. Elsie A. Da
vis, elementary supervisor, with sev
eral members of the School Board,
will be among the guests.
A musical program has been ar
ranged by Mrs. E. J. Dwyer follow
ing the presentation of which refresh
ments will be served.
r
I What’s What I
Behind News
In Capital
Politicians Flirt With
California’s Apostles
of Easy Utopia.
BY PAUL MALLON.
AN FRANCISCO. October 2 —
The undertone In California is
not hard to hear. It is radical
ism versus democracy, and It
does not murmur; it shrieks. All the
funny political noises you have heard
from here (the red-led dock strike, the
Sinclair Epicac hawking and the Tow n
send plea to support the aged in style)
appear to be only the beginning.
The din will be deafening when
the forces of communism and fas
cism, now organizing quietly, come
to the climax of their struggle. At
least this is what both Communists
and conservatives will tell you be
hind their hands, and it seems ta
be true as far as the northern half
of this golden empire is concerned.
The inside situation L< getting
around to this partly because acme one
seems to have been pouring water Into
Dr. Sinclair's Epicac. It Is not gen
erally known, but more than a couple
of persons are supposed to have
dropped out of his outfit lately because
they believed it was losing its popular
potency.
j The Townsendites seem to be ho'd
I ing their lines better, possibly because
I there are so many elderly retired ner- j
i sons settled here with voting wives, j
! sons and daughters. Their peak else j
| may have been reached.
Within and beyond these outfits, tne
deep-dyed radicals are coming strong.
Communism may be only a diad
l herring across political paths east of
I the Rockies, but around Frisco It is
j the real, red stuff. You can get an m
| sight on that by looking behind the
vote at the last A. F. of L. State
Convention.
The Borer Within.
Harry Bridges is the clever left-wing
spearhead, boring from within organ
ized labor through his leadership cf
the longshoremen. Formerly he re
ceived about 400 or 500 votes each ye*r
when he ran for some A. F. of L. office.
A few weeks ago he received 19.202
votes in his campaign for a vice presi
dency. He was defeated. His success
ful opponents <non-radlcaisi polled an
average of 56,000 votes.
But Bridges upswing was enough
to make the regular labor leaders
whistle in amazement. They are
assuming the responsibility lor
stopping the left wing surge, which
seems to be Quite a responsibility.
On the other side, the business
people know what is coming and are
getting ready. A new Citizens Voters'
Association is being quietly organized
by a responsible authority. The
backers do not want publicity. The
importance of their move may not
be widely appreciated, but their pur
pose is to set up a State-wide net
work through which money and work
ers may be obtained to combat the
radical trend.
The movement Is non-partisan,
but largely Republican, It's purposes
are Democratic, but it will be called
Fascist. Every one seems to like
European political words out here
since Fascist methods killed the gen
eral strike.
Politicians Flirting.
The regular politicians < Republican
and Democratic) are doing consider
able coy flirting with all the wild
movements this side of communism.
They want the support.
A tip on that was offered a few
days back, when President Roosevelt
appointed a Sinclair man (George
Acret) to the Guffey Coal Board.
Postmaster General Farley Is sup
posed to have fixed that. It was the
first patronage recognition he has
given Sinclair. Of course, he hopes
E. P. I. C.-ac will be sold In New Deal
bottles next year.
A similar explanation lies behind
the news some time back that Re
publican Gov. Merriam had come
out for the Townsend, plan. His
pals say he was misquoted, that
he never favored S200 a month for
any one. but only a "reasonable’’
sum. Whatever he favored. M was
mindful of the Townsend strength
out here.
What every visitor asks first is how
California comes to be the testing
ground for all these fancy ideas.
There are few heavy industries here,
consequently little industrial unem
ployment. The papers are currently
publishing statistics showing that the
Pacific Coast States have recovered
faster than others. They were the
last to feel the depression. <No
bank failed in San Francisco.)
How radicalism can flourish in such
a situation is explained by Califor
nians with the same answer they give
to all other local phenomena—the
climate.
Strangely, that seems to be the right
answer, at least partly. Not that the
weather is so balmy it makes people
that way, but transients have been
pouring into the State throughout
the depression. It is estimated that
as many as 200,000 without support
came Into the State during the de
pression. The Federal Transient Bu
reau has figures showing that it has
been caring for 30,000 to 40,000 in
coming destitutes each month. Also,
the expansion of California during
the last decade lured all classes of
unsettled and dissatisfied people, liv
ing on investments not yet recovered.
At any rate, it is not too much
to say that any one could get nearly
any kind of movement going in this
State, even If its purpose were solely
to start an exploration expedition to
the moon.
Merriam for Vice President.
Gov. Merriam is acting very much
like a vice presidential candidate, and
he is. His folks are trying to get the
California delegation pledged to him
for President, with a view to trading
It off for the vice presidential nomi
nation (a la McAdoo-Garner). The
mo6t influential Republicans are pri
vately working for an uninstructed
delegation, or one pledged to Hoover
£* . -
IMPORTS OF FOOD
SHOW SHARP RISE
Wheat, Corn and Cattle
Lead—Export Balance
Is Slumping Badly.
By th. Ai.oci.tM) Pr.si.
Heavy increase* in American im
ports of foodstuffs during the first
half of 1935 wera reported today by
the Chamber of Commerce of the
United States.
Chamber statisticians, noting,
among other things, a 117 per cent
Jump in wheat imports, a 11,462 per
cent increase in corn imports, and
. 358 per cent rise in cattle im
ports, attributed the Increases to the
drought and higher domestic price*.
Their review of imports followed
publication last nigbt of an analysis
of recent foreign trade which they
said Indicated the year end would
show the smallest favorable trade
balance in 40 years.
An improved showing was predicted
for the last four months of this year,
but even so chamber experts fig
ured the tout favorable balance of
exports over imports would fall slight
ly below $100,000,000. Not since 1895,
they said,.has the excess of exports
dropped oelow that figure. Last
year's favorable trad* balance was
$778,000,000.
Manufactured Articles Lead.
The analysis asserted manufactured
articles were displacing farm products
as the United States' leading export
commodities.
In its review of food imports for
the first six months, the report said:
"Feeding grains, cattle, meats, but
ter, vegetable oil and oil seeds flowed
into the United States in the heaviest
importation in many years.
"Imports of wheat for the half year
amounted to 12,179,000 bushels, which
was 117 per cent larger than in the
corresponding half of 1934 and 92 per
cent above the five-year average.
"By-product wheat feeds Imported
totaled 182.000 tons, an Increase of
226 per cent over 1934 and 138 per
cent above the five-year average. Corn
imported amounted to 17,620,000
bushels, 11.462 per cent more than last
year and 7.550 per cent above the five
year average. Receipts of oats
amounted to 10.055.000 bushels, ex
ceeding last year's quantity by 47,558
per cent and the five-year average by
6,510 per cent.
Cattle Imports Gain.
“In the same period, we imported
230,581 cattle, 356 per cent more than
last year and 183 per cent above the
five-year period. Imported meat prod
ucts. chiefly canned, jumped to 58.
000.000 pounds, an increase of 122 per
cent above 1934 and 76 per cent above
the five-year period. Importation! of
butter amounted to 21,500,000 pounds,
an increase of 7,448 per cent above
last year and 2.438 per cent larger
than the five-year period. Moat of the
butter Imports came In during the first
four months of the year.
“For the first time alnce 1924 cane
sugar became our leading import, dis
placing coflee, which had held first
place for several years. During the
half year we imported 3.376.000.000
pounds of sugar, valued at 873.496,000.
Two-thirds of it came from Cuba.
The quantity was 29 per cent greater
than the amount Imported in the first
half of 1934 and was 6 per cent larger
than the 1930-1934 five-year average."
For the first eight months of 1935.
department figures showed, exports
totaled 91,9(9,000.000, while import*
aggregated *1,341.000,000. Officials
were Interested In the fact that for the
same period of 1934 exports added up
to exactly the same figure as this year,
but Imports were *31,000,000 less, or
*1,110.000.000.
Russian Trade Fluctuates.
Officials aald fluctuations in Russian
purchases were the rule rather than
the exception because of the fact that
one Russian firm buys all that na
tions Imports. This presented, they
said, an entirely different picture
than a country of many individual
importers with many and varying
needs.
The department figures for August's
commerce with other nations showed
little net change from the preceding
month, but revealed a deep drop in
Russian purchases of American com
modities.
Notwithstanding the trade agree
ment with Russia signed in July, un
der which the Soviet guaranteed to
buy (30.000.000 worth of American
goods annually, exports fell from
*5,520,000 in July to *826,000 in Au
gust. A slash In Soviet purchases of
cotton and machinery accounted for
the difference.
NAVY WORKER RETIRES
James V. Niswanner, 63, Served
18 Tears in Sight Shop.
James Vernon Niswanner, 62, was
retired from Government service this
week after serving 18 years as a gen
eral helper in the sight shop, Wash
ington Navy Yard. He lives at 506
B street southeast.
Employes of the shop presented him
with a gift. Mr. Niswanner, who was
retired under the age limit law, has
held only two jobs during his life,
having served 20 years at his former
place of employment.
SEEK $60,000 DAMAGES
Waiters 8ue C. James Toole as
Result of Auto Collision.
Three suits asking a total of *60.
000 damages have been filed in District
Supreme Court against C. James
Toole, SU8 Chevy Chase parkway,
whoee car is said to have been in
collision frith another machine at
Conduit and Canal roads June 38.
The three plaintiffs, Edward Baker,
John Horrls and Raymond A. Powell,
all of 3614 Connecticut avenue, were
Tiding in the other ear. They told
the court they are waiters and were
forced to lose from 10 to 18 days' work
each.
for impersonal trading purpose*. They
will win.
‘ Frisco is already preparing for a
world fair In 1838.
There are 11,000 members of the
Longshoremen’s Union, but only 4,000
ire working. Relief, therefore, is lup
porting a considerable portion of the
left wing labor movement
strong Knox sentiment exists among
regular Republicans.
The Republican progressive Senator
Johnson told a delegation of canners
off the record the other day that
he would support Mr. Roosevelt In ’36.
The support probably will be quiet.
California Throngs Hear Roosevelts
Approximately 75,000 person* gathered In the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum yesterday to hear Presi
dent Rooaevelt speak The President addressed the cro wd from an automobile, in which he la shown with Mrs.
Roosevelt ar# Mayor Shaw of Los Angeles.
Pleading for the support of Community Chests throughout the Nation. Mrs. Roosevelt addressed nearly 15,
ooo women in the Hollywood bowl i few hour* after the President * speech In the coliseum.
—Copyright, A. P. Wirephotoe.
- ■ ■ •— JL._
President
(Continued From First. Page 1
inhabited spots but surrounded by
fishing grounds.
To Be on "Enemy'* Ship.
A spectacular battle exercise with
the President on a cruiser represent
ing the ‘ enemy'’ was mapped tor the
fleet.
The naval battle maneuver—the
first ever witnessed by a Chief Ex
ecutive of the Nation—will see 130
: fighting ship* in action. Aircraft car
rier*. battleship*, heavy and light
cruisers, submarine*, destroyers and
minesweepers will join in the attack,
i With President Roosevelt on the
cruiser Houston will be Admiral
Joseph Mason Reeves, commander in
chief of the United States fleet. The
f other “enemy" ship will be the
cruiser Portland, aboard which will
. be newspaper men.
Aircraft will give the sensational
touch as squadrons dive, ‘'bombing”
the President's ship, and laying opa
lescent white smoke curtains.
Swarms of destroyers will lay down
great rolling smoke screens.
Newest of American naval sea
fighters, the division of heavy cruisers
will flank the President's ship.
In the various phases of the naval
battle action, ranges will be fore
shortened, so that all the units will be
within view of the President.
D. C. GRAND 1DRY
SWORN IN TODAY
Four Women Included in
New Group—Towson
Is Foreman. .
Norman E. Towson. 34, assistant
treasurer of the Washington Loan Sc
Trust Co., was selected by Justice
Daniel W. O'Donoghue as foreman of
the new District grand Jury, which
was sworn in this afternoon.
There were four women among the
jurora. who will serve for the next
three months.
This was the first grand Jury to
be choaen since the new Jury service
law for the District went into effect.
Although the law now permits service
of Government employes, none was
selected today. There was one notary
public, however, but none of the other
classes of citizens barred from Jury
•erviee by the former law.
Following the disclosure of the pres
ence of a notary public on the Jury, the
question of the new law’s validity was
widely discussed among court house
attaches, who expect It to be challenged
before many weeks. If the new law
should be invalidated all indictments
returned by a grand Jury on which sat
any persona authorised to serve by the
new law might be quashed.
rue jurors art:
Mr. Towson, who lives at 3726
Livingston street; Nils Chalmars. 57,
of 1467 Irving street; William J. Fitz
gerald, 34, 5229 Fifth street; Edward
Brooke Harry, 40, of 4303 River road;
Henry X. Kimball, 43, of 2154 Twenty
eighth street; Julius A. Krentzlln. 60,
of 1747 Columbia road; Alfred L.
Mallonee, 42, of 3813 Seventh street;
Sylvio B. Maynard. 37, of 1620 Newton
street northeast, the notary public;
Ashton L. McAllister, 3i. of 2701
Fourteenth street: Mrs. Eunice V.
Mock, 36. of 1164 Abbey place north
east; Harry R. Ober, ar., 50, 5718
Third street; Thomas J, Rout, 61. of
3511 Fourteenth street; Joaiah Mike
Schwartz, 41. of 1444 W *tre«t; Nastln
C. Trivett, 39, of 619 Quebec place:
Samuel Alexander, 51, of 1436 Harvard
street; Mrs. Florence R. Carbaugh. 41,
of 2706 Sixth street northeast; Mrs.
Annie M. Crowther, 55, of 265 Con
cord avenue; Benjamin Krasnlck. 42,
of 3318 Warder street; 8. Frank Levy,
38, of 2927 Twenty-eighth street; C. D.
Gibson Maxwell, 35, of 1311 Holly
street; Thomas White McGuire. 44,
of 2138 California street; Miss Evelyn
B. 8m all wood. 30, 1357 Madison street,
and John D. Smoot, 82, of 413 Rltten
house street.
BOOK CRITIC TO SPEAK
Xlas Mary-Cgrter Roberta to Ad
dress Women's City Club.
Mise Mary-Carter Roberts, book
critic of The 8tar, will address the
book review section of the Women’s
City Club, at the organisation's first
Fall meeting at 2 pm. tomorrow at
the club bouse, 736 Jackson place.
Miss Roberts will review the out
standing books of the past year, giv
ing a brief resume of the beet sellers.
A
-
Jury Foreman
NORMAN E. TOWSON.
I
_
Deputy D. C. Tax Assessor
Gives Evidence on Value
of Plant.
Public hearing* on the present value
of the Washington and Georgetown
Gas Light Coe. were returned today by
the Public Utilities Commission with
a commission witness, H. D. Scantlln,
a deputy District assessor of taxes, on
the stand.
The present hearing is directed to a
finding on the proper Tates to be
chirred for gu service on the basis of
present value of the companies, which
are in joint ownership. Following
conclusion of the hearings, attorneys
for the commission and companies are
expected to resume conferences on
the proposed adoption of a sliding
scale arrangement for annual correc
tion of rates, as sponsored by People's
Counsel William A. Roberts.
Scantlln this morning presented evi
dence to show the cost of reproduction
new of the physical properties of the
Washington Gas Light Co., as pf De
cember 1, 1934, would be $16,241,245.
To this, he testified, should be added
$3,368, 911 for certain overhead values,
but not including certain intangibles,
such as “working capital,’’ and not
making allowances for depreciation.
Study of evidence before the com
mission revealed that gas company
witnesses had claimed the correspond
ing value to be $17,379,010, or less
than that stated by the commission
witness. The question of how much
should be allowed for depreciation has
not as yet been covered In testimony.
This la expected to have an important
influence on final claims. •
*
SHOWN IN DISTRICT
20 Per Cent Increase in Use
of Facilities Cited by
Miss Baker.
Marked growth of interest in recrea
tion here was revealed today In the
annual report of the District Play
ground Department, showing a 20
per cent increase in attendance during
the year ended June 30.
Miss 81byl Baker, head of the de
partment. informed the Commissioners
the grand total of active participants
in events at the various municipal
recreational facilities in the past year
was 4.659,000.
This record was taken at the 36
year-round play centers, 59 part-time
centers on school grounds and in
parks, the three swimming pools on
playgrounds and the Monument
Grounds pools, a total of 101 centers,
Miss Baker said.
The attendance was classified as
follows: Playgrounds and recreation
centers, 4.121,635; Reno tennis courts,
23.000: swimming pools. 253,730; spe
cial play centers. 9.704; extra play
ground activities. 250,931. There were
2.625.367 white participants. 2.023.930
colored and 9,704 unclassified as to
race.
•‘Unemployed youth of after-school
age is more than ever before availing
Itself of playground facilities,” she
said.
The Increase In use of pools, she
esld. was 35 per cent, due In part to
the Increase in the number of wad
ing pools and in pert to the system of
swimming Instruction and to ad
vances made in sanitation and safety.
The playground program has been
considerably advanced. Miss Baker
said, due to the emergency works op
erations. Under this program two
running tracks were constructed, 10
tennis courts regraded and surfaced,
two wading pools Installed, two recre
ation buildings erected. Other grad
ing. fencing and wall building projects
were completed and more than 3,000
pieces of equipment were built or re
paired.
Federation to Meet.
FAIRFAX, Va., October 3 (Special).
—The Fairfax County Federation of
School and Civic Leagues will hold Its
first meeting of the current session
tonight in the Fairfax Elementary
School. Mrs. B. H. Wlttlg, secretary,
has announced.
-•—*
Divorce Granted.
ROCKVILLE. Md., October 3 (Spe
cial).—Judge Charles W. Woodward
has signed a decree In the circuit
court here granting to Margot l~
Whiteford of Cedar Orove. Md., an
absolute divorce from Harry J. White
ford of Washington.
Bingo Party Set.
VIENNA, Va., October 3 (Spe
cial).—Betsy Ross Council, Daugh
ters of America, will hold a benefit
bingo party In the O. F. A. Hall here
Friday evening.
CODES REVAMPING
IS FORWARD SIEP
Harmonious Business Pacts
Form True Basis of
Recovery.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
Obscured by the formal language of
executive orders and legal phrases, the
announcement by the White House of
action to reorganise the codes of fair
competition is perhaps the most im
portant President Roosevelt has taken
since the national Industrial recovery
act was declared unconstitutional.
And because the step is in the right
direction and affords an opportunity
to stabilize competition in many in
dustries, praise for the undertaking
must be coupled with a warning not
to expect too much from the plan until
It has had at least two or three years
In which to operate.
Many persons, including this corre
spondent, began In the Autumn of
1933 to point out that the system of
compulsory codes was not only uncon- *
stltutional but that the price-fixing
features were uneconomic as well as
In conflict with the spirit and letter
of our laws against monopolies.
Commission Proper Agency.
It was asserted then that the New
Deal had encompassed too much in
its plan to stabilize competition and
that it was running the risk of losing
by confusion of method and purpose
much of what had been gained over a
period of 20 years in developing fair
trade practices through the Federal
Trade Commission originally set up by
President Wilson.
The suggestion was made in 1933.!
and repeated periodically throughout!
1934 and 1935. that the logical agency
to handle the whole subject was not
the loosely built and inexperienced ,
N. R. A., but the Federal Trade Com- j
mission, and that Mr. Roosevelt had
the power by simple executive order
to delegate the task to the Trade Com
mission.
Mr. Roosevelt now has done this and
deserves to be commended for taking
the action, belated though it is. His
move marks a signal victory for con-!
structive criticism and provea that in
a democracy dissenting voices are often
useful In ah&plng public policy and
that It is harmful to “yea" the Presi
dent just because It msy be unpopular
at the moment to do otherwise.
Just what Is Involved In the Presi
dent's executive order will not be ap
parent for many months, till busi
nesses and industries become familiar
with the great advantages and oppor
tunities that are opened up by the new
procedure and until they learn just
how to adapt their own situations to
the requirements of the voluntary code
scheme.
Ns Boycotts Involved.
First of all. the plan is voluntary.!
Nobody is compelled to go to the Trade ,
Commission. There is no boycott or
legalized intimidation.
Secondly, the members of an indus
try or group who do go before the
Trade Commission do not get im
munity from anti-trust prosecution as
a monopoly or price-fixing combina- .
tion. and they do not deserve it.
Third, the Industry which proposes
a voluntary code does, however, get
immunity from being prosecuted as a
combination in restraint of trade when 1
it seeks only to eliminate practices that
are unfair, that are wasteful, that
mean ruinous competition.
To put It another way, what has
just happened under Mr. Roosevelts
order Is something for which friends of
revision of our anti-trust laws have
been clamoring for many years—a
chance to see the Government render
affirmative help In getting industries
organized for co-operative effort, in
stead of sitting back and applying
negative restraints in the form of law
suits, actual or threatened.
The anti-trust laws have ever since
1890 been left to the courts alone to
Interpret and really to administer. The
decisions revealed, however, a gradu
ally Increasing area permitted by the
courts to businesses that wished to act
co-operatively. It Is cumbersome and
time-consuming, nevertheless, to wait
for law suits to perform the functions
of an administrative tribunal. So, in
the Federal Trade Commission we now
have at last what President Wilson
designed It to be—an administrative
body, quasi-judicial in Its attitude as
between conflicting interests and •
medlative agency with which Industry
can sit down and work out Its prob
lems as they touch the laws of com
petition.
N. R. A. Went Too Far.
How does this dlfler from the
N. R. A.? The latter was not safe
guarded with provisions for proper
hearings and careful procedure, nor
did It frown upon price-fixing. As a
matter of fact, N. R. A. tried to do
too much and to force in industries by
compulsory action or by Blue Eagle
coercion what actually there was no
Federal right to do. The N. R. A.
defied the laws of economics and sur
rendered to the emotionalism of a
crusade for purchasing power arti
ficially raised.
A voluntary pact is a different thing.
The units in an Industry which stay
out of the combination will find them
selves arrayed against larger units
which will be able to produce goods
at lower coats—through the elimina
tion of waste in certain phases of com
petition—and thus in the end the code
governed group will enjoy advantages
In the sale of goods that may eventu
ally drive the recalcitrant or minority
group into the code as a matter of
self-protection.
The danger is that the public may
refuse to pay the high price and may
turn to substitutes. Hence, considera
tion of labor provisions, insofar as they
relate to maximum hours, tum usually
upon rates per hour, and this requires
caution lest the N. R. A. blunders be
repeated. The drive must be for higher
volume at less cost rather than smaller
volume, limited output and higher
costs.
The N. R. A. had as its main ob
jective Increasing wages without re
gard to the final coat to the consumer.
The consumers' groups and their
spokesmen were able to make only a
feeble protest against this trend, and
N. R. A. finally collapsed because it
interfered too much with the laws of
economics and price.
Co-operation Now Advisable.
But Mr. Roosevelt's executive order
has stipulated that the labor clauses
shall be Included only when It Is
possible to reach an agreement on
standards. And it is hoped that labor
and capital wUl co-operate in seeing
that half a loaf Is better than none
and that some labor standards agreed
to by a large group are much more
helpful in producing a stabilized in
dustry than are constant friction and
dispute.
(Copyright. 1938.1
Water by Bail
Payta, a small but important town
in Peru, has to have its water brought
by rail. >
<£ kj
Vote in Brighton Parley Is
Overwhelming for Firm
Attitude.
Bt th* Associated Press.
BRIGHTON, England, October 2._
The British Labor party backed by an
overwhelming majority today its Ex
ecutive Committee's policy o! urging
use of military sanctions, If necessary,
to restrain Italy's East African cam
paign.
The vote, taken by a card ballot at
the party s annual conference, showed
2,168.000 for sanctions to 102,000
against.
The vote was greeted with resound
ing cheers from the convention floor,
which had been for a day the scene
of a bitter contest by relay of speakers.
Sanctions Held Only Means.
Some argued that sanctions were
the only way to prevent Premier
Benito Mussolini from proceeding with
an Ethiopian campaign while others
contended that clamping down even
milder, economic sanctions would not
only further arouse Italy but would
embroil all Europe in war.
Herbert Morrison, winding up tho
debate for adherence for the use of
sanctions, asserted:
"Military sanction* cannot be ruled
out. If they are ruled out you may
weaken the power for peace of the
League.
"An aggressor State must be mad#
to feel that If it rebels against the
League, the situation for it will be
utterly helpless."
Resource Question Raised.
Morrison, referring to the question
of Sir Samuel Hoare. British foreign
secretary, raised at Geneva concern
ing world distribution of raw mate
rials, said:
"I would be prepared to say that no
Individual State shall have crown col
onies at all. All of them should bo
handed over to the League, adminis
tered under mandates and controlled
by the League.
"It does not follow that the British
crown colonies would no longer be
under British administration. It may
sound 'jingo,’ but I still feel that per
haps the British are the most consid
erate colonial administrators of any
government in the world."
CLAIMING FALSE ARREST,
BROTHERS FILE SUIT
By , Stiff Corrcipondent of The Star.
UPPER MARLBORO, Md., Octo
ber 2.—Alleging malicious prosecu
tion and false arrest, two Hvattsville
men yesterday filed suit in Circuit
Court for damages totaling $20,000
against William E. Redden of Chillum.
One of the plaintiffs. Neil Mathe
son, says in his declaration he was
arrested on a charge of stealing a
$20 electric motor on complaint of
Redden. His brother, Donovan O. J.
Matheson, told the court he was
charged with being an accessory to
the alleged theft. Both men were
acquitted after a hearing In Police
Court, their declarations say.
They are represented by Attorney
Walter L. Green.
“Captured"* Oil
Is Claimed by Man
Who Found Leak
Camps at Pool He Made
When His Land Was
Invaded.
By th« Associated Press.
OKLAHOMA CITY, October 5 —
Clarence Eggleston, oil worker, camp
ed beside Lightning Creek today and
muttered to himself of the law of
capture, a phrase made familiar by
the oil pages of the daily press of th«
midcontinent petroleum area.
Fifteen hundred barrels of oil had
Clarence Eggleston ••captured" and
he proclaimed:
"I know my rights, and I’m going
to stand on 'em and stay right here!"
Owner of a 10-acre tract on Light
ning Cleek. Eggleston found a break
in a pipeline in the rich Oklahoma
City field had allowed the oil to run
into the creek bed.
Eggleston quickly built a board dam
and the oil remained in place, float
ing undisturbed on the sluggish
waters.
“Oil's where you find it." he mum
bled sleepily last night and this is my
property. By gum, its my oil!"
J. Lynn Overlees, superintendent of
the Harrell-Davis Oil Co., which pro
duced the oil. demanded its release.
Two distinct court orders forbad#
removal of the oil by any one em
ployed by Eggleston, but neither ap
plied to him and he bedded down be
side his dam and sat there today.
"This darned oil has damaged soma
very fine trees on my place.” said Eg
gleston. “Besides, think of the hazard
If this blamed stuff should catch Are.
“I figure my damage is about *1,500
and they can pay me that or I'll taka
the oil.”
Irvin S. Cobb ,
Says:
It’s Time for Debtor
Nations Not to Pay
Uncle Sam Again.
LOS ANGELES. October 2—IT
memory rightly serves this humble
scribe, it's almost time for our Gov
ernment to go through the laughable
routine oi send
ing off the cus
tomary batch oi
those quaint
“Please remit”
notes to remind
the European
powers that ac
cu mu la ted In
stallments and
back interest pay
ments are over
due on that little
debt of eleven or
twelve billions, or
whatever It comes
to by now.
Tne usual pro
cedure will be followed—that Is, the
rut of ’em will just ignore the whole
theory, and somebody in Paris, where
the repudiation idea originated, will
denounce Uncle Sam for his hideous
greed.
"LaPayette, they ain’t there*
<Oopyr'*ht lass by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. Inc.t
4