Evening star. [volume], February 12, 1937, Page A-2, Image 2

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

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CATHOLIC ‘REBELS’
GET CONCESSION
Governor of Vera Cruz Tells
Orizaba Faithful “Some”
Churches Will Open.
BACKGROUND—
Deadlock betwgen' Catholic
m Church and state in Mexico started
- with laws of 1859 forbidding
monastic orders and nationalizing
all church properties. In constitu
tion of 1917 and, later in Calles
regime enforcement stirred clergy
and masses. Churches were closed
when priests protested laws re
quiring registration and public ob
servance of all rites.
B» the Associated Press.
ORIZABA, Vera Cruz State, Mexico,
February 12.—A signed proclamation
from the Governor of Vera Cruz in
formed the determined Catholics of
Orizaba today that “some churches”
would be permitted to reopen.
The Governor, Miguel Aleman, re
turned to Orizaba during the night to
issue the statement. At the same
time he warned that no new religious
•‘demonstrations" would be permitted.
His decision came while the peace
ful rebellion of Orizaba's Catholics
against tight church restrictions
spread through the State of Vera Cruz.
At Cordoba, among other cities, 14,000
persons paraded the streets, broke
into long-closed churches, rang the
bells exultantly.
The rebellion began on Tuesday,
When Orizaba Catholics threw open
the doors ot 14 churches which had
been dark for a decade.
Pilgrims from surrounding villages,
Including many Indians, poured in
Steadily to join the fight.
The churches here were closed
again unexpectedly yesterday by police
who had watched without interfering
when the enraged crowds first broke
into them. Four hours later a mass
attack reopened the four mo6t promi
nently located churches a second time,
without opposition from police and
soldiers.
The aroused Catholics’ hopes for
release from the anti-church laws—
more rigidly enforced in this state
than almost anywhere else in Mex
ico—were buoyed by handbills which
Indicated President Lazaro Cardenas
Was considering lifting the ban on re
ligious services by turning over the
edifices to “laymen's committees.”
They sent this telegram to the
treasury department:
; “After conferring with the Governor
of Vera Cruz. Miguel Aleman, here,
We respectfully beg you to send tele
graphic orders to the local office of
the treasury department to turn over
the churches to ‘laymen's commit
tees,’ to bring about their reopening
and calm the excitement of the
people.”
The treasury department, under a
law nationalizing church property, is
Its custodian. Similar procedure has
been used in many states to relax
amti-church laws under agreements
fcontinuing government ownership of
the property over the management of
such committees. f
Municipal Authorities Anxious.
The widely circulated handbills, de
elaring "all is settled” and intimating
freedom of worship would be restored
aoon, were unsigned, but were credited
generally to municipal authorities anx
ious for peace.
They came after day-long demon
strations for religious liberty in which
marching thousands sang the national
anthem, shouted imprecations on “offi
cial communism,” closed stores and
brought traffic to a standstill.
Gov. Aleman, who slipped away
from city hall just before the throng
of Catholics broke through police lines
in an effort to talk to him, said the
reopening of the churches was being
Considered.
He warned, however, “the authori
ties cannot permit new manifestations
which might bring about violation of
laws or disturb the public peace.”
Under his orders, four men, among
them Chief Efrain Moreno of the
Judicial police, were under arrest for
the fatal shooting Sunday of 14-year
Old Leonor Sanchez during a police
raid of supposedly clandestine services.
It was this raid which aroused the
Catholics to mass action.
CORONER PROBES DEATH
OF BABY IN CRIB
To Determine Whether Child Wn
Smothered Accidentally or Died
of Natural Cause.
j
Seven-week-old Edna Mae Fisher;
Was found dead in her crib early to
day and Coroner A. Magruder Mac
Donald began an investigation to de
termine whether she smothered or
died of natural causes.
In good health when she was tucked
into her crib last night by her mother,
Mrs. Alma Fisher, 24, of 2138 K street,
the baby was found lifeless when the
mother awoke at feeding time this
morning. The covers on the crib were
not covering the baby’s head and she
lay on her side. The father is Harry
Fisher, a dry cleaner.
Triplets Win Bounty.
The King’s bounty, the first of the
present reign, has been awarded to
Mr. and Mrs. M. Tysoe of Northamp
ton, England, to whom triplets were
bom on New Year day. The triplets’
names are Mary, Elizabeth and Ann.
Mrs. Tysoe, who is in her early 30s,
has two other children. The bounty,
In the case of triplets, is usually $15.
African Charities Profit.
■ South Africa's extraordinary pros
perity is being reflected in bumper
contributions to charity.
Congress in Brief
TODAY.
Senate:
In recess.
* Committees study bills to extend
' Connally “hot-oil" law, take profits
out of war and extend reciprocal trade
act.
La Follette committee continues
Pinkerton-General Motors Inquiry.
House:
Hears eulogy on Abraham Lincoln.
Committees hold hearings on pro
posed repeal of “long and short haul’’
provision of Interstate commerce act,
and on extension of civil service status
to emergency agency employes.
TOMORROW.
Senate:
Will not be In session.
Foreign Relations Committee meets
on neutrality legislation.
Home:
Will not be in session.
Washington
Wayside
Tales
Random Observations
of Interesting Events
and Things.
CARLOAD.
EITHER a certain popular-priced
small sedan has a marvelous
capacity or the Chinese smug
glers are going in for quantity
and not quality in bringing into our
fair land a breed of Oriental midgets.
Last Wednesday Detective Inspector
Bernard W. Thompson received a tele
gram from J. J. Healey, who holds the
same office in Charleston. S. C., to wit:
"Look out for and arrest all occu
pants of a sedan. South Carolina li
cense -• * • 17 smuggled China
men are in this car.”
Fevered research finally unearthed
the fact that faulty deciphering of
the message was responsible for the
phenomenon.
* * * *
OBEDIENCE.
It was just before the start of a
recent college basket ball game at
Tech High School that the an
nouncement was made: “Spectators
kindly will refrain from smoking."
At that very instant, a bespec
tacled old gentleman standing near
the east stands was seen to park
his pipe on a nearby shelf. He then
found himself a seat, trusting, we
suppose, that such obedience would
be rewarded by his finding the
pipe after the game.
* * * *
SAVED.
poST Office employes make a test
* of parcel post packages now and
then, opening them at random to see
if they contain first-class matter.
Some time ago, at the holiday sea
son, a checker upon opening a large
parcel post package, discovered a let
ter inside. A notice wis mailed to the
sender of the parcel explaining that
first-class matter had been discovered
in the package and that if the sender
would forward the full amount of the
first-class postage (some seven dollars)
the parcel would be forwarded to des
tination.
Payment for the lull amount came
back promptly, without protest or com
ment and the package went forward.
A year later, so the story goes, the
same inspector opened a large parcel
post package which happened to come
from the same man. Inside was a
note saying, "You-of a
so-and-so, if you open this I’ll know
my money wasn’t wasted last year.”
* * * *
"ALIAS.”
A BUSINESS man dashed from a
taxi at the door of the R. F. C.
and went up in the elevator to the
office of Jesse Jones, chairman. There
he waved a telegram. “This wire says
! that some fellow here will see me at
I 10 a.m.,” he said belligerently. ’"I
asked to see Jesse Jones anr’ he's the
only one I want to see.”
The receptionist took the telegra!n
and read it. Then she smiled. It read:
“Retel will see you 10 a.m. Thursday.
Signed. Jesse Jones.”
“Retel,” she explained, ‘‘is our tele
graph code word for ‘re telegram.’ We
have no employe by the name of ’Retel.’
Mr. Jones is waiting for you.”
* * * *
SCAMP.
A breath-taking little drama enact
ed on a Virginia-bound bus drew the
attention of Operative No. 0023 the
other day.
The principals were a hard-shelled,
obstinate, but law-abiding driver and
an irate, determined passenger.
The passenger, an elderly, dignified
man, boarded the bus on Twelfth
street near G. He apparently knew
the route the bus would take, but obvi
ously was not acquainted with the
statute forbidding the discharge of
passengers within tne city limits.
At Washington Circle the passenger
pulled the bell cord and waited for the
bus to stop and allow him to alight.
The passenger was disappointed, how
ever. The bus driver, without so much
as slowing down, explained nobody
was going to get off that bus until It
reached Rosslyn, first stop In Virginia
There was some cross-examination,
with the passenger demanding “out”
because he was an Innocent victim of
a law he knew nothing about.
Prom then on the drama became
silent—except for the ringing of the
bell at eve»y corner. Even when other
passengers were taken on and the man
who wanted “out" tried to disembark,
the driver thwarted him by quickly
closing the door.
At Roeslyn the passenger took his
leave, glared over his shoulder at the
driver, and said In scathing tone:
“Scamp.”
* * * *
"Z."
Nomination for the ultra-tome
thing or other in automobile tagt—
the owner probably asked for ttt
"Z."
ThaVt all, futt the capital letter
"Z" on the license place of the
State of Ohio, on a car running
around town.
PICKETS PACE SIDEWALK
AT HOTEL FOR 3 YEARS
Three Hen on Four-Hoar Shifts
Started Perambulations in
Chicago In 1934.
B7 the Associated Press.
CHICAGO, February 13.—Albert
Weber, Conrad Frisch and Emil Win
ter believe they’ve walked off with
some sort of a picketing record.
They paused In their perambula
tions today and said they had been
pacing up and down the sidewalk In
front of a North Side hotel for ap
proximately three years. They work
(or walk) In four-hour shifts.
The picketing was started In 1934
by Local 35 of the Walters' Union.
The hostelry declined to etgn an
agreement with the organisation but
has paid union wage scales.
\
Police Hunt Escaped Inmate
for Questioning in Bab
cock Case.
By the Associated Press.
BUFFALO, N. Y., February 12.—
Police Commissioner James W. Hig
gins today ordered police to search for
an escaped Insane asylum Inmate for
questioning about the murder of Mary
Babcock, 18.
Higgins said circulars had been sent
to all precincts describing Howard
Dinger, 38, who, he said, had been
convicted in Pennsylvania of a similar
crime. He said Dinger was wanted
"as a suspect only.”
The police circular said the man
originally was sentenced to the East
ern State Penitentiary in Philadel
phia, but was transferred to the Crim
inal Insane Asylum at Falrvlew, Pa.
He escaped from the asylum August
23, 1935, Higgins said.
Meanwhile, police questioned two
suspects. A third, brought here from
Canandaigua yesterday, was released
when police said they were convinced
he had no knowledge of the crime.
Attacks Continue.
Women In some Buffalo neighbor
hoods have become wary of strangers
and fearful of appearing on streets
after dark as & result of the Babcock
murder and three subsequent attacks—
two against women and one against
a girl.
Police officials say they have not
been able to determine whether these
reported attacks have been committed
by the same man, or whether the Bab
cock slayer Is still preying upon women.
Six days have passed since the Bab
cock girl's knifed and beaten body was
found in a South Buffalo field.
The police have not determined
definitely whether the girl was at
tacked as she walked home alone from
a wake which she attended last Friday
night, or whether she was with a
companion.
Within 24 hours of a reported as
sault on a young housewife in her
home came stories of attacks on a
woman and a 13-year-old girl.
COUZENS ESTATE
LETTERS ARE ASKED
$6,000 Cash. Office Building,
Three Besidences Are Prop
erty Here.
Administrators of the estate of the
late Senator James Couzens of Michi
gan applied to District Court today for
ancillary letters of administration for
his real estate here, valued at
$461,000.
Through the law firm of Davies,
Richberg, Beebe, Busick & Richard
son they told the court that Senator
Couzens had no personal property in
the District except for $6,000 cash
on deposit in a local bank. His local
real estate consisted of an office build
ing at 1437 K street, valued at $250,
000: a house in Wesley Heights, valued
at $30,000, and residences at 2850
Woowlawn drive and 1013 Sixteenth
street, worth $90,000 and $85,000, re
spectively.
The principal probate proceedings
In connection with Senator Couzens’
estate were held in the Wayne County
(Mich.) Probate Court.
Finding that the Michigan lawmaker.
left no will. Wayne County appointed
as administrators of his estate his son.
Frank Couzens, of Detroit: Clarence
E. Wilcox of Detroit and William J.
Norton, Pleasant Ridge, Mich.
In her petition for appointment of
administrators, made to the county
court. Senator Couzens’ widow, Mr*.
Margaret Couzens of Detroit, said her
husband's estate In Wayne consisted
of more than $100,000 in real estate
and $1,000,000 In personal property.
Exact figures were not given. Senator
Couzens’ children, who will come in
for a share of the estate, are Frank
Couzens, Mrs. Madeleine C. Yaw and
Edith Valeria Oouzens, a minor, both
of Bloomfield Township, Mich., and
Mrs. Margo C. Chewning, Birming
ham, Mich.
Senator Oouzens died October 22 in
Detroit.
Wally’s Aunt Returns
Silent on the affairs of Mrs. Wallis Simpson, her niece, Mrs.
D. Buchanan Merryman of Washington is shown as she left the
Conte di Savoia in New York, on her return to the United State*,
after a visit with Mrs. Simpson in London and Cannes.
—Copyright, A. P. Wirephoto,
m m
STAFF OF W. P. A.
FACES NEW CUT
Hopkins Says 2,000 More to
Be Dropped by
June 30.
Dismissal of at .east 2,000 more ad
ministrative employes of the W. P. A.
is necessary. Administrator Harry L.
Hopkins said yesterday before his de
parture for Chicago, to reduce the rolls
to approximately 30,COO by June 30
next.
Due to the necessity of reducing ad
ministrative expenses, he pointed out
that “dismissals occurring weekly"
have brought about a reduction of
nearly 6,000 employes In th field and
In Washington in a year.
February 29 last the total adminis
trative force was 38,440, 'including
2,225 employed at Washington head
quarters. The last available figures,
December 31, showed a count of 1,611
In Washington and 31,220 In the field,
or 32,831 for both.
Since December there has been a
continuous though gradual reduction
in the local and field staffs.
The $789,000,000 deficiency bill for
relief, Hopkins indicated, is none too
much to pay relief expenses through
the remainder of the present fiscal
year. He admitted, however, that the
expenses of flood relief borne by W.
P A. would scarcely be reflected in the
administrative rolls.
“Administrative costs are already
too low,” Hopkins said. Such cuts, he
explained, always affect efficiency.
Objectives Discussed.
Pitting the unemployed for jobs in
private industry, Hopkins said also,
has been one of three principles of the
Federal work relief program.
“We had to give the Jobless the
kind of work which would preserve,
restore or Increase their working abil
ity. and thus make them better com
petitors for private jobs," he said,
making public a 110-page summary of
information on which officials based
the program.
The other two objectives of the
Works Progress Administration, Hop
kins said, were "to give people work"
and “to give each community the sort
of public Improvements and services
which Its officials wanted.”
The summary showed 6 402,000 per
sons were eligible for W. P. A. Jobs at
the start of 1936, when it was pre
pared.
Hopkins said it was being made pub
lic now to show how operations had
been guided by facts developed In the 1
Social Research Division.
This total, he said, does not mean j
the W. P. A. could have employed all
6,402.000, even If appropriations were
sufficient, because of rules which for- I
bid hiring more than one worker in
any family.
More than one-third of the total
were women, and nearly four-flfth3
of the male workers were heads of
families. They represented 160 oc
cupational classifications.
Stresses Task Involved.
Hopkins pointed to the total of more
than 840.000 totally inexperienced
ellgibles as illustrative of the task In
volved in providing useful projects.
Over half of that group were boys and
girls seeking jobs for the first time.
Of the 300.000 over 25, many were
housewives with family responsibili
ties who were trying. Hopkins said, to
get jobs in an attempt to keep their
families together.
There were 618.000 persons experi
enced only In domestic and personal
service work, and 110,000 retail store
sales clerks. There were 240,000
office workers, 960,000 unskilled la
borers and 435.000 farm laborers.
In the "unusual” classification, 75
women listed themselves as "delivery
men” and 289 men were termed
"laundresses."
There also were four female auto
mechanics, 34 feminine truck and
tractor drivers and 39 female boot
blacks. Under the heading of dress
makers and milliners were 474 men.
Double Door Proves Trap.
COLUMBUS, Ohio OP).—John Scott,
burglary suspect, slipped from the
grasp of Probation Officer Henry Cow
ley, ran down a court house corridor
and lunged against one side of a dou
ble door leading to the street. The
door was locked. Cowley led Scott
back to Jail through the unlocked side.
. . — ■ — —. i i
i
Guest From the Sky
*
Otto Lang, noted sldier, at a recent demonstration at Paradise Inn., Mount Rainier, Wash., is
shown as he came doivn the slopes of the famous mountain to sail right over Paradise Lodge
Building. It was cold, as can be seen by the size of the icicles hanging from the eaves of the roof.
No doubt, Otto, tired of the frigid slopes up above, decided he would get to the lodge in a hurry.
—Wide World Photo, i
Judiciary
(■Continued From First Page.)
Junction with the President, it was
said, had made the final study.
Literally thousands of ideas were
presented. In the wide search for a
plan to make laws like the N. R. A.
and the A. A. A. “stick.” Every
body in Washington. It was said, had
a happy Idea. In the Spring of last
year a number of people were put to
work sorting over these ideas. By
Summer the studies took a rather
definite direction, it was revealed
tod?y.
Opponents of the President’s plan
have attacked him for not bringing it
forward during his campaign for re
' election, and giving the voters a
chance to know what he had in mind
with regard to the Supreme Court and
the Constitution before they cast their
ballots. Doubtless they will seize upon
the admission now made that studies
of the problem were begun a year and
a half ago, and that these studies took
a rather definite trend last Summer.
The fact remains, however, that the
final decision regarding the judiciary
reorganization bill was not made un
til after the President’s return to this
country in December.
Suggestions Were Classified.
While the President was away the
Attorney General and the solicitor
general listed the large number of
j proposals In several categories, the
easier to study them and to arrive at
some conclusion. The process of elim
ination began when the President re
turned.
The first, large, general category In
cluded proposed amendments to the
Constitution. These proposals Includ
ed amendments giving Congress au
thority to deal with Industry, labor and
agriculture, amendments curtailing
the powers of the Supreme Court, etc.
The President and his advisers
turned their backs on the constitu
tional amendment route, it was
learned, because of the time element.
In the first place the amendments
were many and different In character.
Many of those who favored a consti
tutional amendment would have had
to be willing to waive their own pet
amendments. There would have been
also great difficulty In getting them
all to agree on the proper language in
the amendment proposed.
In the second place it takes some
times years to get a constitutional
amendment acted upon by the States
—as In the case of the child labor
amendment, still hanging fire after
a dozen years. And, It was said, it Is
not a very difficult trick to prevent
the ratification of a constitutional
amendment by 13 States—a sufficient
number to block ratification, since it
requires favorable action by three
fourth of the 48 States, or 36, to
ratify.
Opinion Divergence Weighed.
The second large category of pro
posals included legislation. The pro
posed laws would have taken away
from the Surpeme Court authority to
pass upon the constitutionality of acts
of Congress. Others would have made
a 6-to-3, or a 7-to-2, or an 8-to-l, or
a unanimous decision of the Supreme
Court necessary to Invalidate an act
of Congress.
These legislative proposals, It was
said, were of doubtful constitution
ality and If enacted Into law might
well have been held Invalid by the
highest court. For three or four hun
dred years or more, under English
common law, it had been that a ma
jority of a court could decide a case
before the court. English common
law had prevailed In the American
Colonies up until the adoption of the
Constitution of the United States.
So by a process of elimination the
President and his two advisers came
down to the present judiciary reor
ganization plan. As they studied the
question of the Supreme Court and
what could be done about It, they real
ized, it was said, that the question
became more and more one of the
whole Judiciary.
Held Keault of Natural Evolution.
And finally, It Is maintained, there
Is nothing mysterious about the Pres
ident’s plan for dealing with the ju
diciary, including the Supreme Court.
It Is the result of a process of evolu
tion, arrived at over a long period of
time.
President Roosevelt at his press
conference today would not comment
upon the attacks made on his plan nor
on Its probable progress through Con
gress, nor on any compromise plan.
Asked If he were surprised at the
reaction to his recommendations, he
replied smilingly that It depended upon
which newspaper was read.
And when he was questioned about
the conference which he is having with
Senators and what they are saying to
him, he asked, with a laugh, “Do you
want to be here all day?”
Two more Senators were called to
the White House today, McKellar and
Bachman of Tennessee, and presum
ably discussed the court bill with the
President
Plan Put Above Others.
Meanwhile, persons cloee to the ad
ministration expreeeed the better Pieel
m
Roosevelt Cheered;
Union League Club
Blasts Court Plan
BT the Associated Press.
Stephen T. Early, a presiden
tial secretary, told reporters to
day that President Roosevelt
arose slightly Indisposed this
morning, but on reading that
the Union League Club of New
York had adopted a resolution
opposing his judicial reform plan.
“he immediately began to feel
better."
“He showed an immediate im
provement and it put him in a
happy mood for the day's work.”
Early added.
The secretary said the news
paper account recalled to the
President the boos aimed at him
in Wall Street and at Harvard
University during the campaign,
and he “hoped it was as good an
omen.”
dent Roosevelt would let fundamental
labor and farm policies simmer until
the court reorganization problem la
settled.
Mr. Roosevelt's series of conferences !
with Democratic Congressmen, they |
' said, apparently indicated he was '
pressing for adoption of his Judicial
proposals as a prelude to any other
recommendations during this session '
of Congress.
Justice Department officials re
vealed Attorney General Cummings
would explain the President's ju
diciary reform program Sunday night
in a coast-to-coast radio broadcast.
He will speak at 7 o'clock.
Some of Roosevelt's supporters gave
notice of no compromise with oppon- j
ents of the most controversial of his
' suggestions—enlargement of the Su
preme Court If Justices over 70 do not
retire.
Their declaration was made in the
face of a statement by Senator Norris,
Independent, of Nebraska, whom Mr.
Roosevelt supported for re-election
last year, that the proposal entailed
“danger’’ because it would permit a
President to create a new court over
night, the Associated Press said.
Favored Only as Last Resort.
Administration forces had hoped
the veteran Nebraskan would line up
in favor of the reorganization pro
gram. Instead, he said after talking
with the President late yesterday he
would support Supreme Court enlarge
ment only as a last resort.
“Some other Congress may come
along after I’m dead and Increase It
again," he said, “until it may get as
large as Congress itself. Then we
would have to build another palace to
house them.
“The new court may be as bad as
this one.”
Norris proposed legislation to re
quire that more than a majority vote
in the Supreme Court be required to
hold laws unconstitutional. Nebraska,
he pointed out, requires a 5-to-2 vote
to hold a State act invalid.
Although expressing the belief a
constitutional amendment would take
too long to meet the present situation,
he urged as a long-time remedy an
amendment limiting the terms of Su
preme Court justices.
“The present situation is Intolerable
and something must be done to pre
vent the courts from legislating in
stead of Congress,” Norris said.
“I’ve never known a President that
seemed less like a dictator, or less in
clined to be one,” he added.
Conference to Debate Plan.
Norris Is head of the Conference on
Constitutional Amendment, which will
meet here next month. Members of
the group said it would discuss Mr.
Roosevelt's proposals along with others
for limiting the court’s powers, either
by statute or amendment.
Senator McCarran, Democrat, of
Nevada, was drafting a resolution ask
ing all Government agencies to report
to Congress the court injunctions by
which congressional enactments have
been restrained In the last four years.
He said this would be only a factual
report.
Opponents of the President’s pro
gram were endeavoring to form a
united front in both House and Sen
ate. Republicans said the minority
party’s members were co-operating In
formally with Democratic dissenters to
frame opposition tactics.
The Republican titular leader, Alf
M. Landon, will express his views to
night in a Lincoln day speech In New
York.
Gov. George H. Earle, Pennsylvania
Democrat, said at Springfield, HI., that
if Lincoln were President now, he
would “do the same as Mr. Roosevelt
is doing.’’
“The court has been on a sit-down
strike for many years,” Earle declared.
At a Lincoln day dinner In Cleve
land, on the other hand. Representa
tive Fish, Republican, of New York,
said Mr. Roosevelt was trying to
"stack the Suprens* Court, circum
vent tbs Constitution, and mate blm»
* -
self the master of the judicial func
tions of the Republic."
Many Leaders Express Views.
Their views were among many
expressed last night by leaders in
public affairs throughout the country.
Prank E. Gannett, newspaper pub
lisher, disclosed formation of a “na- I
tional committee to uphold Constitu- '
tionai Government" in opposition to
Mr. Roosevelt's proposals.
William H. "Alfalfa Bill” Murray,
former Democratic Governor of Okla
homa, said if the reorganization pro
gram succeeded, “control of the press
is the next step."
Red Rider
(Continued From First Page.)
that would grow out of merely modify
ing the rider to permit teaching while
retaining the rest of the rider is that
the possibility would still exist that
children might misunderstand what a
teacher had said and go home with
complaints that the teacher was ad
vocating a certain doctrine.
"Of course, I still believe Congress
should repeal the rider outright.”
Senator Wheeler, who tried to have
the rider repealed in the last Congress,
has contended in the past that It is an
unnecessary reflection on the teachers.
In the House yesterday the Board
of Education was charged by Repre
sentative Jenckes, Democrat, of Indi
ana with “lobbying and propagandiz
ing" on a national scale to have Con
gress enact legislation to permit the
advocacy of communism in the schools.
Says “Be Not Deceived.”
She urged the members not to be
“deceived" by statements of the School
Board that the House amendment is
an insult to teachers.
Mrs. Jenckes also renewed charges
she made before the Education Sub
committee of the House District Com
mittee during hearings on the “red
rider" repeal bill at the last session
of Congress—charges she declared the i
board “has not been able to answer.”
"I ask the members of this House
of Representatives to arouse your
selves to a full realization of what Is
happening,” Mrs. Jenckes declared.
"This affects your congressional dis
tricts.”
Mrs. Jenckes also declared If Con
gress permits the board to "legalize
the advocacy of communism” in the
public schools, communistic propa
ganda “will quickly be in every public
school In America, and It won't be
long before this same communistic
influence will remove the crosses from
the steeples of our churches in every
city In America.”
PUSHKIN HONORED
Alexander Pushkin was honored
last night as the “father of Russian
literature” and one of the world’s
greatest writers in a centenary me
morial program at the Washington
Club.
Boris Barsol, Russian-born writer
and diplomat, of New’ York, spoke of
the “immortality” of Pushkin's works
to more than 200 followers of the au
thor. Dean Henry Gratton Doyle of
George Washington University intro
duced the speaker.
i ■ ■■ ■— 1 i
Court Plan Stand
State Legislatures Take
Action For and Against
Reorganization.
By the Associated Press.
What State Legislatures have done
about President Roosevelt’s court re
organization proposal:
Colorado, House, adopted resolution
for.
Delaware, House, adopted resolution
for.
Indiana. Senate and House adopted
resolutions for.
Ohio, House defeated resolution
against.
Connecticut. House, adopted resolu
tion against.
Kansas, House, adopted resolution
against.
Texas, Senate, adopted resolution
against: House defeated resolution for.
Maine, Senate and House, adopted
resolution asking Congress to protect
the Supreme Court.
New Hampshire, Senate, rejected
resolution for.
South Carolina, House, sent to com
mittee for extended study a resolution
for.
Arkansas, House and Senate, re
fused to act immediately on resolu
tion for.
Tennessee, House, refused to act
Immediately on resolution against.
Pennsylvania, Senate, defeated reso
lution against.
Maryland, House, no action on reso
lution against.
Massachusetts, House, no action on
resolution against.
Minnesota. House, no action on
resolution asking amendment of pro
posal.
Oklahoma, House, no action on reso
lution for.
Washington, House, adopted resolu
tion for, __ _ .. •
t ■
WELL’S VIEWS
MISSING IN REPORT
Farm Tenancy Reform Is
Urged by Wallace Com
mittee Prospectus.
BS the Associated Press.
A long-term national program for
reform In farm tenancy will reach
President Roosevelt early next week,
but It was learned today it would not
contain the views of Rexford G. Tug
Well, former Undersecretary of Agri
culture.
The President said today he would
prepare over the week end messages
to Congress on farm tenancy and crop
insurance.
The report was completed late yes
terday by'the special committee ap
pointed by Mr. Roosevelt last Decem
ber, just as Tugwell resigned from „
Government service. Its contents
were held confidential.
The President appointed Secretary
Wallace chairman of the committee
and Tugwell as a member. Tugwell
did not attend either the organization
meeting or the committee's final ses
sion at which the report was drafted.
When he resigned as Undersecretary
to become an executive in a large
molasses corporation, Tugwell was
asked if he had given up all his Gov
ernment connections.
“No, I shall always be interested in
the problem of the low-income farmer
and I will serve on the National Ten
ancy Commission.” he replied.
Friends said he was in Florida suf
fering from a throat infection at the
time of the first meeting and was In
Bermuda at the time of final session.
They said several others named by
the President had been unable to at
tend both sessions.
Secretary Wallace has suggested
that a long-term tenancy program
must be much broader than Federal
financial aid to tenant farmers who
are capable of becoming Independent
farm owners.
Wallace has proposed legislative
measures to control landlord-tenant
relations, long-term farm leases, and
a program of education supervision and
assistance for tenants unfitted to be
come independent owners.
The Resettlement Administration
under Tugwell started a model tenants
program.
“Extreme Poverty” Listed.
Picturing ‘‘extreme poverty” in
which approximately one-fourth of
America's farmers live, the 80-page
report of the President's Farm Ten
ancy Committee, according to the
New’ York Times, contains a proposal
that a Farm Security Administration
be established to contract with present
tenants for the purchase ol farmlands
over a 40-year period so they would
be secure In their tenure and immune
to land speculation.
The new agency would be built
around the present Resettlement Ad
ministration and supplemented by a
farm security corporation under the
proposal. The tenant-ownership pro
gram, for which no amount of money
was mentioned, although it was un
derstood some members of the Presi
dent’s committee feel at least $10,
000.000 a year should be provided,
would be augmented by legislation to
help farm owners avoid the loss of
their lands, to provide ordinary hous
ing and sanitary facilities for migra
tory farm laborers and to safeguard
civil liberties of tenants.
The report, the Times says, calls the
President's attention to the fact that
few’er than half of the farmers of the
Nation own the land they operate and
that “rural civilization is threatened
with decadence."
Nearly 3.000.000 farmer* are living
under conditions directly attributable
to tenancy, which "makes them
equally easy prey to economic and
even political parasites."
To prevent land speculation. It was
proposed Congress enact a form of
windfall tax on the proceeds of land
sales undertaken within three years
of the time the land was first acquired
by the seller.
In the case of tenants desiring to
buy farmsteads from the Govern
ment, it was recommended they
undergo a trial period of five years,
during which they could demonstrate
conclusively their desire and ability to
become owners.
No initial payment would be re
quired under the program recom
mended, and rates of payment oa
amortization would be determined by
a fixed percentage of the farmer's in
come from crops.
It was proposed indebtedness of pur
chasing tenants for farmstead acqui
sitions should be amortized at the
same rate of interest the Government
now pays on long-term bonds—21 j
per cent.
A program of State action also was
outlined, designed to improve con
tractual relations between landlord
and tenant through State legislation.
RIDER AMENDMENT
SUPPORT REQUESTED
Every Member of Senate Commit
tee Sent Informative Letter
by Federation.
An "informative communication’*
has been sent to every member of
the Senate by the Committee on Elim
ination of Communistic Propaganda
From District of Columbia Schools,
Federation of Citizens' Associations—
composed of Harry N. Stull, Mrs.
Horace J. Phelps and George E. Sulli
van, chairman—urging support of the.
McCormack amendment to the so
called "red rider."
The letter, drafted at a meeting of
the committee Wednesday, asked Sen
ators to "keep track” of House reso
lution 148, as passed by the House with
the McCormack amendment. The
amendment, it was pointed out, would
exclude from school faculties "any
person advocating communism or
treating any such doctrine with favor
or support; but no official or teacher
shall be required to make any special
declaration of non-violation hereof
as a condition for payment of salary."
The committee advised the Sena
tors that “an extensi , investigation
conducted by this organization (tha
federation) disclosed much communis
tic propaganda, distinguished from
factual and truthful data about com
munism, in use in the public schools
of the District” and referred to
printed hearings of the House on tha
District appropriation bill for 1937.
“Because of this amazing condition
which the school authorities refused
to remove," the letter said, “this fed
eration adopted resolutions on Jan
uary 4, 1936, urging a congressional
Investigation, and took further action
on March 28, 1936, opposing repeal
of so-called ‘Red rider’ until soma
substitute legislative protection to pu
pils be provided.’’
* a