Evening star. [volume], July 05, 1936, Page A-2, Image 2

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

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AIR8UREAU SHIFTS
LAID TO POLITICS
Efficient Workers Dismissed
for New Dealers, Report
Charges.
The direct charge that efficient
employes of the Bureau of Air Com
merce were forced out to make way
for New' Deal appointees is laid at
the door of the Commerce Depart
ment in the second section of a
report by the Senate Air Committee,
which is being printed as a Senate
report for distribution among mem
bers of Congress.
The report supplements a first sec
tion which dealt critically with the
administration of the Bureau of Air
Commerce by Eugene L. Vidal, the
director, and his associates.
Among the general conclusions of
the committee were the findings that
dismissal of capable men for politi
cal reasons and the lack of a merit
system of promotion were the chief
factors contributing to the inefficiency
of the bureau, which has been under
fire from both the manufacturing
and operating airplane industry and
from the public.
The second section of the report
deals specifically with the removal
of four district managers of the
bureau, Thomas Bourne, L. C. Elliot,
I. D. Marshall and G. C. Miller as
managers, respectively, at Newark.
Fort Worth, Chicago and Salt Lake
City. These men were furloughed in
definitely without pay on February 4,
1935.
Mitchell's Part Is Cited.
Among the members of a committee
which examined the men about the
time of the furloughing, the report
6tated, w as .Ew ing Y. Mitchell, former
Assistant Secretary of Commerce.
Concerning Mitchell’s part in that
Inquiry, the report said:
"Irrespective of the reasons which
may have actuated the officials of
the Bureau of Air Commerce in
originally recommending the removals.
Assistant Secretary Mitchell, who sat
as a member of the committee while
the managers were being examined,
asked each and every one of them
Whether they did not think that
the approval of the New Deal by
the people of the United States as
expressed in the election of President
Roosevelt required a clean sweep of
Government employes connected with
the old deal and whether they did
not think that having held their
jobs for a number of years, it was
time for them to get out and let
others have a chance at these attrac
tive and lucrative jobs.
‘ He put the question to them re
peatedly and stated in no uncertain
terms that it was his opinion that it
should be answered in the affirmative,
and that new people owing their ap
pointment t» the new administration
should be given the job* in order that
these good things might be spread
around.
"There can be little doubt that these
questions and expressions by Assistant
Secretary Mitchell addressed directly
to the affected managers must leave
no uncertainty in their minds that the
desire to create jote for others was the
determining factor in the mind of t'ne
Assistant Secretary in charge of the
bureau, irrespective of the reasons
which may have operated upon the
bureau officials themselves.”
Roper Held Dissatisfied.
t The report of the committee, of
Which Senator Copeland, Democrat, of
New York, was chairman, pointed out
that apparently Secretary of Com
morce Roper was not quite satisfied
with the actions of his subordinates.
The indefinite furlough was ordered
modified and the district managers
Were instructed to report to Washing
ton, there to be temporarily relieved
from their duties.
Subsequently, the report stated.
John Dickinson, then an Assistant
Secretary of Commerce, addressed this
memorandum to the Secretary:
“Immediately after the issuance of
the original telegraphic order of the
Bureau of Air Commerce on February
4 (indefinitely furloughing the district
managers without pay) certain facts
came to my attention which seemed to
require that the case should be gone
Into further in order to determine
whether or not the intent of the order
should be carried out. These facts
may be summarized under two heads:
"I.—That the removals were being
made primarily or largely because the
men in question had served in the bu
reau under the previous administra
tion and in order to make room for
ne* appointees who would owe their
position to the present administration,
and.
‘'2.—That insofar as the removals
might be justified on the basis of lack
of efficiency or competence on the
part of the employees in question, the
judgment of competence or imcompe
tence rested upon the reports of, and
was connected with, the relations of
these men to another hold-over em
ployee of the bureau, Mr. J. A. Mount,
and involved an effort on the part of
Mount to secure their removal because
they were personally obnoxious to
him.”
(Copyright. 1»36. by the New York Herald
Tribune.)
MAN KILLS WOMAN,
COMMITS SUICIDE
80-Year-Old Mother of Victim Is
Witness to Fatal
Shooting.
By the Associated Press.
POTTSVILLE, Pa.. July 4.—Wil
liam H. Dishellhurst, 52, a. tobacco
salesman, and Miss Mabel Humes, 45,
of Girardville were shot to death to
day In the home of Miss Humes.
The 80-year-old mother of the dead
woman. Mrs. Matthew Humes, was the
only witness to the shooting. Police
said that Dishellhurst had slain Miss
Humes and then turned his gun on
himself. •
Dishellhurst, who had been living
In Girardville for the last two months,
went to Miss Humes’ home early to
day. She was not in and he talked
with Mrs. Humes while waiting for
her.
Police said that when Miss Humes
entered the house he opened fire upon
her. She died Instantly and he then
shot himself.
Dishellhurst was estranged from his
wife and children, who live in Potts
ville, police said. He was reported to
have been jealous of Miss Humes.
Bus Line Head Announced.
CHICAGO, July 4 OP).—Edward
Flynn, executive vice president of
the Burlington Railroad, announced
today H. C. Murphy had succeeded
Ralph M. Budd as president of the
Burlington Transportation Co., an
auxiliary bus line operating between
bare and the Pacific
Washington
Wayside
Tales
Random Observations
of Interesting Events
and Things.
NO SALE.
AN USHER at a little church In
Bethesda would enjoy greater
peace of mind if he were sure
that a communicant who left
suddenly several week* ago actually
attended services later that day.
In lieu of pew rent, the church col
lects 10 cents each from the congre
gation. The money is deposited on
a table in the rear, near where the
ushers stand. On this occasion a man
entered, placed a dime on the table
and started to walk down to a seat.
.Just then he realized that the service
w’as about to end. turned about sud
denly. picked up his dime and went
out the door.
* • • •
CHOICE.
A maid named Agnes, who
listens to the radio while not
cooking for a household in the
1900 block of R street, is glad the
Republicans and Democratic con
ventions are over, but looks for
ward to a lot of campaign oratory.
“Politics is all right,” said Agnes,
“but I prefers swing music!”
• * • •
BIRD.
'Y'HE bird sat on a fire escape out
side a window at George Wash
ington University Hospital. Appar
ently it was but half-grown, and it
must have thought it needed medical
attention. So, like the gentleman it
was, it sought the mens ward and
waited.
A patient in a wheel-chair saw it,
and reached a hand out, expecting the
> bird to fly away. Instead, it perched
ion the hand and was taken inside
• the ward. There it stayed all day.
; first on one patient's bed and then
| another. Doctor after doctor exam
j ined it. They diagnosed the bird as
a chickenhawk, but could find noth
ing wrong. Finally riding on an in
terne’s shoulder, the bird gravely in
spected the whole hospital.
That night a physician living in
the country took it home, where pre
sumably it is receiving such further
professional attention as may be ex
pected.
I
CAT NAPS.
CYLVIA SUTER, who lives at The
Westmoreland, isn't quite sure if
her experience of a few days ago por
| tends to good or bad fortune. She
wants some one to enlighten her.
Even a black cat is supposed to bring
good luck if it follows one home, most
people say, but this one came in a
bag of provisions she lugged from the
corner grocery for an impromptu
! luncheon she was giving to some of
i her Gunston classmates.
It was curled on some lettuce sound
asleep, and when she opened the bag
it stepped out leisurely, stretched and
coiled itself comfortably on the
kitchen table as if it had come to stay.
And that is what has happened, luck
or no luck, good or bad.
* * * *
COUNSEL.
rPHE so-called brittleness of the
younger generation has an Iowa
sheriff rather completely baffled, judg
ing from a letter received recently by
a Washington girl.
The letter came in response to one
she had written to a college playboy,
who had landed in jail for a minor
breach of the peace and suggested
that she sell the family jewels to re
| store him to good standing. Her letter
j said she would be glad to, and it wor
! ried the sheriff, who intercepted the
missive, so much he wrote immedi
ately;
i ■
“Dear Madam: Your offer is most
generous, but I feel it my duty to ad
: vise you by all means not to sell your
jewels.’’
* * * *
MVMBLER.
A family in the upper reaches
of Northwest Washington finally
found out what its maid was say
ing when she mumbled at her
work. It was a happy sort of
mumbling, as mumbling goes in
this world, but the housewife finally
got sufficiently curious to come
right out with the question:
"Mamie, what are you saying
under your breath all the time?"
Mamie looked up from her iron•
ing to explain:
"/ just keep saying that nobody
but you ail would have kept me
so long.”
* * * *
“DR. TOM.”
F)R THOMAS E. LATIMER of Hy
attsville and many Prince
Georges County citizens are glad he
has an M. D.
It's all because there is another
Thomas E. Latimer, a surveyor. Both
are active Republicans and both prac
tice their professions in the same sec
' tions of the county,
i With the “Dr.” handle to his name
the physician manages to keep his
identity fairly well separated from
that of the surveyor, but there are
numerous mix-ups even as it is.
“We would have a terrible time
keeping each identified in the public
mind if it were not comparatively easy
to specify ‘Dr. Tom’,” Edgar F. Czarra,
president of the County Republican
Club, says.
Bee Sends Man to Hospital.
KEWAHEE, 111. UP).—A bee which
didn’t even sting him sent Hick Ahr
of Galesburg, m., to the hospital. Hie
bee buzzed around a truck driver's
head. The distracted driver l06t con
trol of the truck, which struck Ahr’a
car. Ahr suffered a fracture of the
arm and severe cuts on the lags.
HOEY EASY VIM
Governorship Race Stand
ing 240,598 to 181,683
With Count Near End.
B} the Associated Press.
CHARLOTTE. N. C., July 4.—Clyde
R. Hoey, veteran party stalwart from
Shelby, won an overwhelming victory
over Di. Raiph W. McDonald of Wins
ton-Salem in today’s rv.n-oft Demo
cratic primary for Governor on the
face of incomplete, but representative
returns.
Reports from 1,580 of the State's
1,858 precincts tonight showed Hoey
leading the young ex-professor. The
standing was: Hoey, 240.598; McDon
ald. 181,683.
Hoey, who campaigned on his record
as a supporter of the party and de
fended the record of J. C. B. Ehrlng
haus and preceding Democratic Gov
ernors, was leading in most of the
counties shown In the incomplete re
turns.
Machine Assailed.
McDonald had attacked the record
of the recent State administrations
and had denounced Hoey as a ma
chine candidate. He had also de
manded complete repeal of the gen
eral sales tax, while Hoey had cham
pioned the tax as an emergency
measure, but had favored repeal of the
levy on staple food^
Polls Closed at Snnaet.
Hoey. a brother-in-law of Former
Gov. O. Max Gardner, maintained
that the sales tax could not be re
pealed entirely without disaster to
government activities.
There was relatively little said on
the liquor question, center of a lengthy
struggle in the last Legislature. Mc
Donald advocated a county store plan,
while Hoey, a lifelong prohibitionist,
declared he would abide by a State
wide referendum.
Rivals for Senate.
For Lieutenant Governor Paul
Grady. President pro tern of the Sen
ate. was opposed by a fellow Senator.
W. P. Horton of Chatham. Secretary
of State Stacey Wade, seeking renom
lnation, had Thad Eure, principal
clerk of the North Carolina House of
Representatives, as his antagonist.
Owing to the primary falling on a
legal holiday, election officials said the
number of absentee votes would set a
record. More than 100,000 such bal
lots were Issued, or practically 20 per
cent of the first primary's total vote.
LOUISIANA SESSION
ADOPTS TAX SLASH
State Oil Refining Levy Is Cut to
One Cent After Turbulent
Debate.
By the Axiocisted Press.
BATON ROUGE. La., July 4—A
turbulent session of the Louisiana
Senate reminiscent of the political
reign of the late Senator Huey P.
Long, passed an act today reducing
from 5 to 1 cent the State oil refining
tax.
During debate on the measure, cred
ited with inspiring impeachment pro
| ceedings against Long when he was
Governor in 1929 and a citizens’ re
volt in 1934, Senator James A. Noe.
former Governor, hurled a charge of
"dictatorship” at Lieut. Gov. Karl K.
Long and Gov. Richard Leche.
The reduction measure, requested by
Leche, passed 38 to 1, Noe casting
the only negative vote.
After asking for a leave of absence
today, Noe absented himself from the
body. Noe charged he was "criminally
arrested,” by Joe Messina, sergeant
at-arms of the senate and former
bodyguard of the late Senator Long,
and was forced to take his seat in the
chamber for the vote on the bill.
After the bill passed, the senate
adopted a motion offered by admin
istration men granting Noe a leave
of absence. Noe did not vote on the
motion.
BROWDER’S ATTACK
HITS ALL PARTIES
r —
By the Associated Press.
CLEVELAND, July 4.—Earl Brow
der, Communist presidential candi
date. loosed a broadside against all
the parties in the field at a campaign
meeting in suburban Broadview
Heights.
He accused both the Republican and
Union parties of being the "tools of
William Randolph Heart and the Lib
erty League,” the Socialists of being
“moribund and sectarian" and the
Roosevelt administration of being
"weak-kneed.”
He called the Republican party “the
chief menace to American liberty to
day,” while he said the Democrats, in
stead of being the main bulwark
against fascism, “deal in silence and
evasion" on important issues.
Representative William Lemke of
North Dakota, Union party candidate,
I he said, was “a stooge for Landon.”
Roosevelt
(Continued From First Page.)
of the colony, where he will attend
religious services at Bruton Episcopal
Parish Church, which dates back to
the early days of the Virginia colony.
It is the President's intention to
motor about Williamsburg after the
church service to see what has been
accomplished in reconstructing this
historic town to its original physical
appearance. He will then motor to
Carter's Grove, one of the noted Co
lonial homesteads on the James River
which was built originally by King
Carter. There Mr. Roosevelt and his
party will be luncheon guests of Mr.
and Mrs. Archibald McRea. the latter
being a direct descendant of King
Carter. The President then will motor
to Yorktown, the scene of the surren
der of Cornwallis and of battles dur
ing the opening days of the Civil War.
] There he will again board the Poto
mac, arriving back in Washington
during the forenoon Monday.
Cheered by Large Crowd,
Mr. Roosevelt appeared happy and
In the best of health when he waved
to the great crowd of cheering citizens
i of Richmond as the Potomac slid
| quickly from the dock and started on
| its Journey down the James. He had
i experenced two happy and interest
I ing days in Virginia, visiting shrines
and bowing and waving in response
i to cheering thousands along the way.
He received tremendous ovations both
at Big Meadows in the Sheandoah
National Park Friday afternoon and
at Monticello, where he made the
principal address at the Fourth of
July exercises there, but the acclaim
accorded him on those occasions was
nothing to compare to the tremend
ous ovation he received during his
ride through this former capital of
the Confederacy, on his way to the
river to board hts yacht.
There was no mistaking the fact
that this President, who Is a candi
date for re-election, was deeply
touched by the receptions he has re
ceived during his Virginia tour, espe
cially on his triumphant motor ride
through Richmond. He made this
evident when he yielded to the calls
of "speech'* from the throngs on the
water front. Standing at the foot of
the gangway of the yacht, waving his
broad-brimmed Panama hat as he
spoke, the President said, “My only
regret is that I cannot come to Vir
ginia and stay longer. I could use
a visit here profitably.’*
As h* arrived at the dock the Naval
; Band was playing gayly and then
changed to the President's official
piece, "Hail to the Chief.” Howitzers
boomed a 21-gun salute and there
; was a great din of cheering. This
: cheering and waving lasted through
! out the President's 10-miie drive
through the city. He was met at the
limits of the town by the mayor, Dr.
J. Fulmer Bright, and a committee
of city officials. At the President's
request, Mayor Bright rode beside
him in his open automobile during
the ride along the boulevard, Monu
ment avenue. West Franklin street
and Main street.
There was .no mistaking the fact
that Mr. Roosevelt enjoyed his visit
to Monticello. Aside from the fact
that he received ft rousing welcome
on top of that picturesque mountain
where the home of the author of the
Declaration of Independence is lo
cated, both the President and Mrs.
Roosevelt have a genuine appreciation
for the place. Both he and his wife
have visited Monticello many times
in their lives and it was interesting to
note today, as they strolled through
the various rooms on the first floor
before the beginning of the exercises,
their genuine delight in pointing out
to those near them the things of in
terest. particularly the ingenious
household inventions of Jefferson. The
President pointed to Jefferson's clock
in the main hall, which told the day
of the week and month of the year,
as well as the hour and minute; the
dumb-waiter (first of its kind in the
world), the double doors which the
sage of Monticello had devised so that
they swung in opposite directions with
pressure on one knob. He also pointed
! out some of the labor-saving devices
which Jefferson had thought out for
kitchen and dining room. Mrs. Roose
velt, in her enthusiasm, dragged Post
master General Parley, who was in
the party, to several outlying rooms
to show him things of interest.
Some of the things in the Jefferson
home were seized upon by Mr. Roose
velt to make a point in his address
there. He declared that Monticello,
more than any historic home in Amer
ica, appealed to him as best expressing
the personality of its owner.
"In the very furnishings," he said,
“which Jefferson devised, on his own
drawing board, and made in his own
shop, there speaks ready capacity for
detail and, above all, a creative
genius.”
Jefferson Is Landed.
Mr. Roosevelt devoted a great part
of his Independence day talk to the
lauding of Jefferson. Probably he dis
appointed many of his politically
minded listeners by his apparent fail
ure to inject some smashing political
utterances into his speech. He did,
however, take pains to remind his
audience that the patriots of Jeffer
son’s day used new methods to meet
the problems of that period, and he
laid emphasis upon the fact that
Jefferson’s principalee of government
were aimed to benefit the plain peo
ple. just as Mr. Roosevelt has empha
sized in connection with the purposes
of the New Deal today.
It could not but have been pleasing
to the President to listen to the speak
ers preceding him at Monticello as
they likened him to the “sage of
Monticello,’' because the President’s
ideas and actions have aroused storms
of protests among the conservative,
so-called Jeffersonian Democrats of
his party. Senator Carter Glass of
Virginia, who has calustically criti
cized the Roosevelt spending and mon
etary policies, declared in introducing
the President that Mr. Roosevelt pos
sesses the "love of humanity and
plain people" that characterized Jef
ferson.
But the peppery little 8enator would
not yield all the praise to the man
from Hyde Park. He inserted in his
Introductory remarks the opinion that
Jefferson had “the most fertile mind
of tny man who ever lived before him
or since.” *He lauded Jefferson from
his devotion to the practice of the
PriadplM at nprsMutattv* govern
4
ment, which principles the 77-year-old
Senator declared "will lve as long as
j eternity."
Peery Welcome* President.
Preceding Senator Glass, Gov.
j George C. Peery of Virginia, in his
1 introduction of Senator Glass and
■ welcome to the President, threw the
mantle of Jefferson oratorlcally about
the shoulders of Franklin D. Roose
velt. Gov. Perry asserted that “an
other great liberal of the present"
had journeyed to the home of the
“great liberal of the past."
Stuart G. Gibboney, president of
the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foun
dation, who presided at the exercises,
referred to President Roosevelt as a
“worthy successor" to Jefferson. He
j declared that “we acclaim you for all
; the devotion you have shown in your
public life to the cause of the com
mon people and because you have
fought for equal opportunity for all
against all special privileges."
In his address, President Roosevelt
seemed to have studiously avoided
drawing any Invidious contrast be
tween the founding fathers of the Na
j tion and the conservative antl-New
! Dealers of today. He did not have to.
An alert and receptive audience, as
sembled on the picturesque lawn of
the Jefferson Mansion, was listening
attentively and did not miss a point.
Cite* Influences of 1776.
The President was greeted with a
great cheer and handclapping when,
speaking of Jefferson and his asso
I ciates of 1776, he told the audience
j that:
“Theirs were not the gods of things
as they were, but the gods of things
I as they ought to be. They used new
j means and new models to build new
structures."
Pointing out that Jefferson was only
33 years old when he wrote the Dec
laration of Independence. President
Roosevelt stated to his audience that
a modern democracy "needs, above all
other things, the continuance of the
spirit of youth.” He added in this
connection that the problems of today
call as greatly for the continuance of
imagination and energy and capacity
for responsibility as did the age of
Thomas Jefferson and his fellows.
"Was the spirit of such men as Jef
ferson the spirit of a golden age, gone
now and never to be repeated in our
history? Was the feeling of funda
mental freedom which lighted the Are
of their ability a miracle which we
shall never aee again?
Sees No Limitations.
■ That is not my belief," the Presi
' dent continued with emphatic expres
sion. "It is not beyond our power
i to relight that sacred fire. There are
, no limitations upon the Nation's ca
pacity to obtain and maintain true
freedom except the strength of our
’ Nation's desire and determination.”
Mrs. Roosevelt, who occupied a chair
, on the Monticello portico close to her
husband as he spoke, was attired in
colors which seemed to have been de
liberately designed in recognition of
the holiday. She wore a white flat
hat and white crepe frock, set off by a
’ red and blue silk scarf and red and
j blue patterned leather belt.
. m the President's party on his
i cruise back to Washington from Rlch
. mond are Mrs. Roosevelt. Secretary of
! the interior Ickaa. Assistant Secretary
A
TOWNSEND GROUP
_
“Intelligent” Pension Plan
Urged—Nation Warned
“It Is Asleep.”
By the Associated Press.
FARGO. N. Dak. July 4—William
Lemke, Union party candidate for
President, demanded an "honest and
intelligent” old-age pension and
termed the Townsend organization
the "greatest and most patriotic in
America.” in an address before a
Fargo Townsend Club picnic here
today.
The North Dakota Representative
did not give flat indorsement of the
S200-a-month plan, although he up
held many of its features.
"If Dr. Townsend has done nothing
else.” Lemke said, "he has implanted
in the minds and hearts of American
people the true fact that they have
created enough wealth to be entitled
to old-age security.
See* Program "Insult.’*
“If you had sent enough intelligent
people to Congress we would have
passed a decent old-age pension. But
what did you get? Nothing but a
subterfuge—an insult to our intelli
gence.'’
He called the social security act an
"insecurity’’ act and labeled it "un
just” and “idiotic.”
Of the Townsend plan's proposed
transactions tax, he said:
“Some people oppose it. But we
have a sales tax now for the politi
cians. Let's hava it for the old people
for a while.”
Earlier, at Moorhead. Minn., Lemke
criticized the American people for
being "asleep at the switch with the
Nation in peril.”
Fears Future Poverty.
“You are selling your children and
your children's children into poverty
for a Government sandwich,” he de
clared at a July Fourth celebration.
“Our Government is now $36,000,000.
000 in the red. * * * Every cent will
have to be paid back.
"The Government must help in a
calamity, but it must help make its
people self-supporting, not beggars.”
I of State R. Walton Moore. Miss Mar
| guerite Lehand, the President s privati
secretary, and Capt. Paul Bastedo
White House naval aide. Postmastei
General Parley left the President ai
the river front and hurried beck t<
Washington for a stay of only a fev
hours before journeying to New York
Marvin H. McIntyre of the Whin
House secretariat, who, with Mrs. Me
Intyre, accompanied the President a
far as Richmond, remained at tha
city over night, but will Join the Pres
ident at church services in Williams
ourg tomorrow after which he will mo
tor back to Washington.
A
LEWIS-GREEN FEUD -i
Eagerness to Gain Votes of
Steel Workers Evidenced
by New Deal.
BY CARLISLE BARGERON. *
Between John L. Lewis and the New
Deal, the conservative labor leader
ship which William Green has given
the country since the death of Sam
uel Gompers is hanging on the ropes.
The outcome of the efforts to organ
ize the steel workers will probably de
termine whether it can battle through
the present troubled state of affairs
or whether it takes the count. If
Lewis wins, there can be but little
doubt that it takes the count. *
The movement against the steel in
dustry is more than a labor move
ment. It is a political movement as
well. There is every indication that
it has the support of the New Deal
There are some observers who argue
that while there is no doubt as to
where the administration will be in
the case of a showdown, that the
movement right at this time is em
barrassing to the administration be- f
cause it would prefer not to be put
In the position of having to choose
during the campaign. The evidence
to this writer is decidedly to the
contrary, that instead of it being
embarrassing to the administration
that the New Deal is right with Lewis
in his efforts to get a showdown.
Pressman Legal Adviser.
Prof. Tugwell, for one thing, has
been counseling with Lewis. He has
been a frequent visitor in the latter's
Alexandria home. Only recently one
of his men. Lee Pressman, was turned
over to Lewis as his chief legal ad
viser. Pressman was one of that
group of brilliants that was purged
from A. A. A. when Tugwell was
down at Warm Springs with Mr.
Roosevelt that time. He was taken
over to Resettlement with Tugwell,
and although the appearances have
been that the professor was to ba
kept very quiet during the campaign,
his activities apparently have not
been checked in the least.
Lewis' organizers already are argu
ing as they did in lining up the coal
miners three years ago, that the United
States Government wants them to
join his union and that they will be
protected even to the point of being
supported with relief funds in the
event of a strike, which from the
attitude of the steel barons there most
certainly will be if the organisation
movement is pressed.
It is not known what is running
through Mr. Roosevelt’s mind in the
matter. The way the more militant
Of his advisers are thinking is very
clear.
The nomination of Landon by the
Republicans has turned the New <
Deal’s strategy around. They realize
now that they must have the indus
trial workers of the East. Indeed, re
cent polls have shown Mr. Roose
velt skidding in the agricultural sec
tions and picking up in the Eastern
industrial centers. The frenzy with
which they went about getting Gov,
Lehman to stand for re-election at
tests to the importance they attach
to New York.
Pennsylvania is just as important.
To insure carrying it they want to
bring the steel workers under their
wing. They are not under their wing
now. The aristocracy of labor that
they are, it is doubtful if the class
consciousness stirred up by the New
Deal has registered very much with
them. According to figures available
j to this writer, they are receiving high
: er wages and more men are employed
in the industry than in 1929.
This is no argument against unioni
zation. of course. The threat of un
ionization has undoubtedly gotten
them to the point they are. With em
ployers so afraid of the union as are
the steel barons, the threat of unioni
zation usually gets the employe more '
than the unionization itself.
Men Fairly Content.
I Prom the fact that one hears of no
pronounced unrest in the Industry,
the men must be fairly content. They
are organized into company unions
I which seem to be serving them satis
factorily now, but. to repeat, the rea
son they are. undoubtedly, U the
threat of outside unionization.
But as long as they are under this *
1 sort of organization and satisfied, men
! with families and homes and making
good money, they are not the mal
j contents upon which the New Deal
can confidently depend.
The labor leaders and the New
Dealers can shout until they are blue
in the face about the right of these
men to join an organization of their
own chooamg. It is an inalienable
right, and incidentally has been writ
ten into statutory law long before the
: New Deal was heard of. The trouble"
comes in enforcing it because it is
also the inalienable right of an em- "
ployer—to stick to the legalist 10
phases—to fire his employes.
Several States have long had lava
designed to assist the working man in
organizing. Texas for years had and
probably still has. a law making it
unlawful and subject to all sorts of
' fines and imprisonment, to discharge
| a man for belonging to a union.
It required that when a man left
an employer, either voluntarily or In
voluntarily. that he be given a "clear
ance" telling why he had left. There
was a railroad in the State notori
ously anti-union. Every time it dls- .
charged a man it gave him this
clearance saying that his services had
been satisfactory but that he had
been let out for one reason or an
other—nothing to do with the union.
The watermark of this clearance was
j a stork. If the stork's head was
drooping the employe was marked.
| Yet you couldn’t prove anything on
the railroad. It was entitled to Its
j whimsical designs in stationery.
Convention Gave
$10,000,000 Boost
To Philadelphia
Weekly Business Survey
of Commerce Depart
ment Gives Data.
1st the Associated Press.
Federal trade experts yesterday
! estimated the Democratic National
Convention was worth $10,000,000 to
i Philadelphia.
| This total was included in a na
I tional weekly business survey of the
; Commerce Department, which said:
‘ Presence of crowds attending Dem
ocratic convention stimulated busi
ness of hotels, restaurants and liquor
stores and taxis.”
Philadelphia merchants put up.
$200,000 to help the Democratic Na
tional Committee finance the conven
tion.
k 4
President Leads Nation in Fourth Celebration
President Roosevelt shown yesterday on the portico of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s horns, ss he led the Nation in
observance of Independence day. He is flanked by Colonial guards of Monticello.
- + -MM
The President and members of his party as they paused at the Farmington Country Club.
Charlottesville, on the way to Monticello. Left to right: R. Walton Moore, Assistant Secretary
of State; Gov. Peery of Virginia, Senator Carter Glass, the President, Col. E. M. Watson, the
President’s military aide; Postmaster General Farley and Secretary Iclces. —A. P. Photos.
DAVID LAWRENCE
To Analyze the Platforms
David Lawrence, whose dispatches are printed regularly
in The Star, has been making a special study of
the platforms adopted by the Republican and
Democratic National Conventions. He
has written a series of six special
articles on the subject of
these party campaign
proposals.
IN THIS SERIES HE WILL ANALYZE THE
IMPORTANT PLANKS OF EACH PLAT
« FORM, WRITING IN DETAIL AS TO PLANKS:
Old Age and Unemployment Insurance
Administration of Relief Agriculture Labor
Foreign Trade Policy
The Constitution—Change in Form of Government
Business The Extension of the Merit System
And the Many Other Campaign Principles of
Great Interest to All Our Readers.
READ THIS IMPORTANT SERIES OF ARTICLES
Beginning in The Star Tomorrow '
. » _______
— a ! v !