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Nazi Interest In Americas Political f Observers Say Air Lines Could Be Made U. S. Menace former Senator Allen, writing about the Pan-American Con gress at Lima ana us results, in this article tells about Germany's activities in South America and why they are significant. By HENRY J. ALLEN. It is impossible to doubt the fact that the drive which Germany is making in South America today is something more than a business ef fort. __ Henrr I. Alltn. In the days before the World War, Germany was probably the most effective and persistent of all the com p e 111 o r s who sought the South American trade. They had the a d v a n tage of several good sized colonies located In ad v a n t a g eous South American states. Moreover tney had thousands of Germans scattered throughout the 10 republics in business and professional life. They had intelli gent salesmen who knew the lan guage and the habits of the South American people. These possessed a willingness to spend longer hours and make more generous conces sions, both in price and terms, than any other competitors in the field. The present activity, however, is entirely different. The German gov ernment is deliberately subsidizing efforts of significant import. For example, they are establishing in South America, under the direct financial aid of the Nazi govern ment, Important airplane lines which not only will compete with the rapidly growing Pan-American Airways, but will give to Germany a transportation service under her own control, located at advantageous places. U. S. Lines Affected. They have chosen for a vigorous exploitation some of the territory now covered by the Pan-American Airways. This competing German line is called the Lufthansa, a com pany providing air-travel tickets at a lower cost than the United States companies will offer. Whenever it Is necessary to get business they re duce the item of excess baggage, which is one of the expensive handi caps of air travel. They have been known frequently to cut out this item of charge altogether. The established airways under the eontrol of United States capital, having no government subsidies, have not been able to meet this competition. The result of it is that Germany is making some rapid progress in her airtravel. Her ships have already established regular routes in Colombia within less than half an hour's flight to the Panama Canal. Those who are fearful of the Hit ler drive in the Latin states are calling attention to the ease with which this German-controlled air route could be made a menace to the United States at the most vital point, if future developments should bring trouble involving the Latin American states. The whole procedure of establish ing the Lufthansa service has cre ated the impression with all who do business with it that it is more political than commercial and that the German dictator is deeply inter ested in covering the Latin Amer ican states with a vital transporta tion air service under German con trol. Finds Letter Opened. One of the big businessmen In Peru told me of an experience with this German company which would Indicate it is interested in some thing more than business exploita tion. business letter, under the cover of the League of Nations en velope, was received by a member of this firm. Obviously the letter had been opened and then passed along. The businessman accused the French of having trifled with this League of Nations letter be cause the mail in which it was con tained was, during the first part of the journey, handled by the French airmail service. The French took the accusation very seriously and started a thor ough investigation, after the com- , pletion of which they wrote the businessman who had made the complaint that they had discovered the letter had been opened while being carried by the Lufthansa serv ice. It was his judgment that it was the practice of the German mail plane forces handling South Amer ican communications to go through the mail complete at Nurnberg after It had been transferred to German planes which went through en route to South America. The affair excited a great deal Of gossip. The man whose letter was tampered with is satisfied with the French explanation. Out of the Incident has grown a wide impres sion that the German dictator is using the government's commercial penetration of South America for political purposes, Just as he uses It for these purposes In Middle Europe. Medical Missions Opened. The establishment of German airplanes is not the only new source of German activity. They have opened several large German med ical missions and are seeking to in troduce into South American life an infusion of German professional nurses, doctors and pharmacists. They have established recently both naval and military missions. They are watching South America with an eagerness of which South American officials are well aware. Doubtless more readers in Ger many were following with keen in terest the procedure of the Pan American Congress than could have been found in the United States. I saw in a group one night seven correspondents of Geiman newspa pers. They were not residents of South America. They were from the home offices and were sending to Germany more words about the Pan-American Congress than the reporters from the United States were sending. Whatever we may think of the solidarity resolution, it hits Ger many as a tremendously serious thing to happen. While it is only a resolution in fach in international significance it is a solidarity com pact against the totalitarian ideals and purposes of the Nazi dictator. It has created a stir not only in Germany, but amongst German in The Capital Parade Roosevelt Continues os American Man Of 1938, Remains Amazingly Healthy By JOSEPH ALSOP and ROBERT KINTNER. The American man of the Just-ended year Is, of course, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who has been the man of every year since 1933. In the last 12 months, he saw the flrst hard times of his administration and experienced his first reverses at the polls. But he continues to dominate the national stage, halfway through his second presidential term, as few of his predecessors did in their first months at the White House. "Considering his great office's usual effect on its occuDants the most astonishing thing about the President is his health. In the last year or so, he has aged con siderably. His hair is grayer and sparser. A heavy Jowl has formed around the jutting jaw. Long public ceremonials, at which he must stand and shake hands and smile, seem to tire him more than they used to. And this last week he had a little grippy cold, which sent him to bed cally uuiiuB ms nieces aeout party, at wmcn, n he had followed his former custom, he would have sat up for hours, talking and making Jokes with a big group of young people. Yet. although the years have begun to take a natural toll, he is amazingly healthy. He has vast natural energy, a remarkable digestion and a natural optimism which keeps his nerves in good order. He insists on eating and smoking more than his doctors think he should, but otherwise he takes excellent care of himself. As a result, when he celebrates his 57th birthday anniversary on January 30, he will be able to boast that he is twice as strong and twice as active as most men of his age. * * * * In an odd way he has matured in the last six years. When he took office there were still traces of the seemingly rather characterless, - youthful Mr. Roosevelt, who failed to make any great impression on his own world. These have gone. Now, no one could possibly mistake him for the merely amiable and well-intentioned Individual whom Walter Lippmann once described. The years have implanted some bitterness In the President. Like all really successful political leaders, he is an overwhelming egotist And, like most egotists, he is fairly vindictive toward those who have wounded his ego. The American press and American big business have become the objects of his lasting hatred. His talk abounds In anecdotes tending to prove the ill will, wrong-headedness or stupidity of his chosen enemies. The President’s occasional bitterness, however, is only part of his peculiar maturity, which expresses itself chiefly in more positive and coherent Judgment. At the start, he was often ready to give serious consideration to policies taking him simultaneously in two opposite directions. Now he only seems to consider opposite policies, chiefly because he has the odd political leader’s liking for keeping his advisers divided. The policies he eventually adopts almost always point the same way. The timing of his decisions, however, continues to be rather opportunistic. He still has the fault of "waiting for something to turn up” until the last minute. And, while setbacks have diminished the overassurance inspired by his 1936 triumph, some of it still remans. * * * * His personal staff—Missy Le Hand. Steve Early, Marvin McIntyre and Grace Tully—is the staff he brought to Washington. His private circle has changed in character, however, until it is now chiefly com posed of his lieutenants. Hopkins, Ickes, Tom Corcoran Henry Morgenthau, Frank Walker, the White House military aide Col "Pa” Watson, and a few friends of the old days are the accepted’ intimates. They take part in,the easy, genial life which the President and Mrs Roosevelt have known how to keep going at the White House in the intervals of the endless round of official business and entertainment. He is a great talker. His humor is of a rather obvious kind mnnina mjTuR] to funny nicknames and descrip tions of the incongruities of his position. The rigmarole entailed by the British royal visit is a typical humorous subject for him. On serious matters. He speaks freely and forcefully to his friends. In a sense, the tragedy of his administration (at least for New Dealers) is that he was so ,. , . . r- long in choosing his goal. Now his essential objective, as he lately summad It up. is to repeat Andrew s vlctory oyer the Bank of thp Unitpd States, once more reduc n™ .hen’K great economic power to political impotence. Even P?' he kncms what he wants, he is being distracted from his nnti Pallet ^”“1? for forpign affairs' **w men are more bitterly 1 \ha£ h<7 or more anxlous to have this country- plav an agg.i(;’p antf.'Basc.is.t. part- And thus- with but two more years to hnt ttS|, Htnsa ,ls I11!1. dlv'ded- Hls accomplishments have been vast, bUt U c0„®HaMUi^QethheLhMCan complptp hls task as he sees it. (Copyright. 1939, by the North American Newspaper Alliance, Inc.) terests all over South America. This was especially apparent in the Ar gentine objections to the wording of the resolution. Argentina is the most important Latin American state. Thousands of Germans in business there nat urally have resented the growing attitude of the Americas against the German program. Recently, out of this resentment has come an es tablished resistance. Members Blackballed. A leading German club in Argen tina was ordered from Berlin to em phasize certain adherence to the Nazi cause in the way of decorations and ceremonial recognitions of the Hitler regime. Members of the Ger man colony who belonged to the club, but who did not fall in with the new Nazi order were black balled and made the subject of so cial pressure. This indicated the close attention to the South Amer ican situation which the Nazi regime is giving all over South America. That German arms have been landed both upon the eastern and western coast of South America there seems no room to doubt. One definite incident that has been re ported so often that everybody be lieves It, relates to a cargo of Ger man beer which was delivered in a southern republic, where it fell un der the suspicious observation of the officials who ordered it opened and found that the beer barrels were packed with German rifles. It had been consigned to a German society. That arms have been delivered se cretly from Germany in Guatemala has been charged so often that even German propaganda no longer at tempts to deny it. These are incidents in the mul tiplying evidence that Germanv has engaged upon a definite forward looking program of military prep aration in South America. These facts are not doubted here. They formed a basis for the surprising unanimity with which the Pan American Congress created it sol idarity compact. (Copyright. 1989.) A Slight Mistake ENOLA, Pa. (/P).—Volunteer fire men rushed from their jobs to hop aboad a fire truck. Two miles out in the country, the truck skidded to halt at a rural dwelling. A housewife met the volunteers as they lugged hose and fire extinguishers toward the build ing. "Oh, I’m so sorry,” she caid, "I meant to call the doctor.” ADVERTISEMENT. ADVERTISEMENT. 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Regular price for each, tlt.M. Special for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. m Note: Regular fee for examination omitted on them days Tour Eye Comfort and Vision Depend on the Proper Eye Examination and Fit My Twenty-three Tears’ Experience Assures This Confidence DR. W. F. FINN Phene ME. 0318 Eyesight Specialist Phone ME. 0818 Registered 9 A M. to S P.M. __ Located Ontonctrist _ 23 Tfitn ii S0A-307 McGill Bids. Copyright. 1037. by Dr. W. P. Pina. McGill Bldg. 008-914 G N.W. crBt opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not * necessarily The Star's. Such opinions are presented in The Star's effort to give all sides of questions of interest to its readers, although such opinions may he contradictory among themselves and directly opposed to The Star’s. Washington Observations Roosevelt Must Show His Hand Soon With Only Two Years of Second Term Remaining FrtderU William Wilt. By FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Two years from today Franklin Delano Roosevelt either will be pack ing up at No. 1600 Pennsylvania avenue, to make way for a succes sor, or settling _ _ down for a third term, in su preme vindica tion of his speech of accep tance pledge at Chicago in July, 1932, that "there will be many precedents" in the presidency he was shortly to occupy. At the outset of the second half of his second term Mr. Roosevelt leaves the matter of a third term a sheer guessing contest. But even for one in his exalted position the sands sooner or later will be run ning out. He cannot indefinitely be a fence sitter. As an expert angler, no one knows better that he must fish or cut bait. Scarcely more than one more Jackson Day dinner can pass without his letting the tlOO-a-plate faithful know whether they are to whoop it up for "four more years of Roosevelt" or are at liberty to plight their troth to and plant their hopes in a Hopkins, a Jackson, a Wallace, a Jones, a Ken nedy, a Murphy, an Ickes or a Far ley, or begin to burn incense before some less ardent New Deal god named Darner or Hull, or make long-range genuflections to old-line Democrats who answer to the call of Clark, Tydings or Byrd. * * * * We may not have to wait longer than the day after tomorrow for some 1940 squeak .from the sphinx. F. D. R.'s report to Congress on the state of the Union will certainly have implications outrunning the life of the session, and give a glim mer whether he thinks somebody else can carry the New Deal torch onward and forward. The Presi dent has carefully guarded his mas sage secrets. Though details re main to be supplied, its general lines have been apparent They will con cern mainly the three R's—relief, rearmament and reorganisation. Whenever this observer ventures upon the precarious pastime of try ing to anticipate the next play to be called by the New Deal quarterback, he is reminded of a sage remark once made by Michelson. the wise old owl who still sits at the right hand side of the throne, at least in White House press conferences, despite circumstantial tales that he is playing ball these days with the Farley-Garner outfit rather than the boy scouts who have the master's “ear.” Charley the Mike, my oldest newspaper pal in Washington and still the best beloved, said that the safest guide to Roosevelt's mental processes is never to forget that he’s a “Dutchman,” with all of a ''Dutch man's” stubbornness. Michelson gave some chapter-and-verse in stances to bolster that characteriza 'tlon of the "boss.” * * * * The appointment of former Gov. Frank Murphy to the attorney gen eralship means only one thing. It | means that the naval-minded Presl i dent has determined to face the sea of trouble confronting him by in voking the John Paul Jones spirit. It means that Roosevelt has “just begun to fight.” Addition first of Secretary of Commerce Hopkins and now of Murphy to the cabinet de notes in particular that the White House is in no mood for compro mise with big business. The two appointments are about as concilia tory a gesture to finance and indus try, about as cordial a bid for co operation between capital and Gov ernment, as the flaunting of a red flag by a toreador is to a bull about to be enticed to the kill. Hopkins and Murphy personalize the "Dutch” in F. D. R. as far as economic royal ty is concerned. So will his insist ence on another $500,000,000, more or less, to continue relief under W. P. A. auspices, though perhaps on curtailed and decentralized lines. Congress and the country, too, by all advance signs, will find the President standing by his guns with ancestral tenacity on the subject of Government reorganization. The emphasis and Importance the ad ministration laid on the defeat of John O’Connor for re-election to the House and to his old position as key man in the Committee on Rules was no idle bit of Rooseveltlan pique. It was notice to all concerned that the pet project which O'Connor thwarted would be revived as soon as his obstructive power was crushed. * * * * Aft the signals are set on the threshold of the session, rearma ment will provide the President with the stellar opportunity and occasion for showing the country that "Dutch" blood courses through his veins. On the issue that a stupend ous increase in national defense, primarily in the air, is vital to America's security, Mr. Roosevelt is prepared to be as unbending as Gibraltar. Assurance is ample that he has a struggle on his hands to induce Congress to authorize 13.000 warplanes for the Army and to step up the total naval and military budget from a present round billion to some billion and a half. The message to Congress will leave no doubt of White House readiness to do battle to the bitter end for the rearmament program. Every sug gestion emanating from presi dential precincts foreordains that the ample Roosevelt Jaw is set. on that score, beyond any probability of retreat. * * * * It goes without saying that the "Dutch" in the President will be up with a capital U the moment Bill Borah and his fellow saboteurs begin laying depth charges under the reciprocal trade agreement program. To assail that darling of the New Deal gods is in their eyes like challenging holy writ. It will be combated in corresponding spirit. I miss my guess if the message doesn't vigorously warn the group which would restore the discredited system of tariff tinkering by requir ing Senate ratification of the Hull pacts. Which reminds me that when the Secretary of State himself clears for action, to defend his baby, Borah can be excused for Reduced! While they last we are closing out a special group of floor samples, slightly used and reconditioned pianos at substantial reductions. Included are spinets, baby grands and small uprights of many of the better makes—Mason b Hamlin, Chick ering, Story b Clark, Musette, Cable, Weser, Huntington, etc., in a good selection of styles and designs, and at all prices. Most are current and popular models at prices that make it well worth your while to buy now ... but if you're interested come in quickly, as the best values always go first. UNUSUALLY LIBERAL TERMS Arthur Jhrhm FXUrO COMPANY 1239a,6 Street a,Cor. 13~ N.W. LARGEST SELECTION OF PIANOS IN THE CITY We, the People Failure of Senate to Confirm Hopkins Would Increase His Political Stature By JAY FRANKLIN. When practical politicians engage in practical politics, I may not like it but it is, after all, their profession and I can accept their decisions or combat them. However, when amateur politicians, men who have never been elected to public office or run a political campaign, try to | play practical politics, I have much the same feeling as when children play ball in the streets. It worries me. So the current drive to line up Senate votes for the confirmation do* LOCK A 6s PbjkTicau 1 AScJt -IHiJ A *2a of Harry L. Hopkins as Secretary of Commerce is distinctly dis turbing. I like and respect Mr. Hopkins. He is an able admin istrator, a hard fighter, a loyal colleague and a fine man. He will make a good cabinet officer and if he handles himself well will emerge as a presidential possibility with the blessing of the White House. He is playing for high stakes but it seems to me mat ms lieutenants rail to realize that u he fails of confirmation he may become a man of greater political stature than If he gets a Senate majority by ordinary political trading. ’Here Is an example of what is happening. The great State of Winnemac lies west of the Mississippi River. Both its Senators are Democrat*. The senior Senator from Winnemac—call him Mr. Squealer—has spent the last two years attacking President Roosevelt and opposing the New Deal reform policies. The junior Senator, Mr. Strongheart, is a New Dealer who has not only loyally supported the administration but who feels that the people of Winnemac are in favor of the Roosevelt program. Sen ator Squealer has been trying to knife Senator Strongheart, with powerful corporate backing, but the New Dealers are too strong in Winnemac and believe that they can beat Mr. Squealer in the 1940 primaries.. Now Harry Hopkins' friends want Squealer to vote for confirma tion and have learned that his price is the surrender of the liberal Democrats of Winnemac to the Squealer machine and the recognition by Strongheart that Squealer runs the party in his State. Mr. Strong heart deeply resents the Invitation to sell the New Dealers down the river, in the name of "practical politics.” and is fully prepared to vote against confirming Mr. Hopkins for his new cabinet job. In other words, if the administration is ready to betray the New Deal in Winnemac for the sake of Mr. Squealer’s vote, Senator Strongheart— who is counted on by the Hopkins crowd—may not stand hitched. This little problem in political dynamics illustrates the dilemma of the New Deal. It is human to work harder for the one lost Senator than for t£e ninety and nine loyal New Dealers. But if the price of saving the wandering Mr. Squealer is the loss of the liberals it is hard to see any advantage to Mr. Hopkins. Speaking generally, the President can afford to make great concessions in form to the conservative Democrats but no concessions in substance, since a real surrender on any important issue would be at the expense of masses of poor people who trust the President not to let them down. Moreover, there is nothing in Senator Squealer’s record to convince the New Dealers of Winnemac that once bought he would stay bought. He has a reputation for undependability— to put it mildly—and like all senior Senators Is bitten by the presi dential bug. If he saw Harry Hopkins as the White House preference for the 1940 nomination, wild horses could not keep Squealer in line and he would use the liquidation of Senator Vott FAUL iW tlNl OR 0,J BuWtp- I Btrongneart as an added weapon in his struggle against New Dealers. This issue carries far beyond the State of Winnemac. All over the country, as the administra tion forces canvass the Senate on votes for Mr. Hopkins, there are similar liberal groups whose elimination Is the price for Con servative senatorial “ayes.” I honestly believe that it would be oeuer ior Mr. Hopkins, both in principle and as "practical politics.” to risk rejection than to secure his new job at the expense of those whose support is indispensable for a New Deal victory in 1940. (Copyrluht, 1010.) thinking that the League of Nations feud has come to life again. He will be left in no doubt that there’s a fight on. The lion of Lima will see to that. <Coprrltht, 1939.) —-• . Business Men's Luncheon The weekly luncheon of the Co lumbia Heights Business Men’s As sociation will be held at 12:15 p.m. tomorrow in Sholl’s Cafe, 3027 Four teenth street N.W. Light of Learning COTATI, Calif. </P).—unused to the marvels of the modern day, one of Peter Proskoriakoff's Jersey cows tried to swallow the attractive looking electric light bulb which dangled from an extension cord. The barn floor was wet. Bossy was electrocuted. But it was not “light's out.” The bulb was still alight in her mouth when Proskoriakoff found her. Headline Folk And What They Do Guy T. Helvering, Revenue Chief, Won't Talk By LEMUEL F. PARTON. That clear "Tally-ho!” which has Just set 50,000 Federal agents on the hot trail of foreign spies throughout these United States, was Ol! T. HelTcrlnf. raised Dy Dig, bland, well-nigh wordless Guy T. Helvering. The “T” stands for Tresillian. Chief Irey of the Internal Revenue De partment's i n - telligence unit leads the hunt afield, but be hind the pack is the shadow of the depart ment’s commis sioner, bossing tne job, though saying little even when some sort of say is impera tive. Commissioner Helvering is named sorrowfully by newspaper men as the man almost nobody ever interviews. Though that is true, it is odd, for his broad, ami able face, his full underlip, his open gate, suggest a fellow who would be tickled pink to sit down and talk his head off. It isn’t as though he had much to conceal beyond that middle name and the fact that his pleasant wife is called Tinnie Ludoweine. That he was born in Felicity, Ohio, is quite in order. When the Spanish American W'ar was boiling, he made a soldier good enough to wind up a corporal, and when you recall that then there were no O. T. C.’s to turn out 90-day lieutenants, a corporal's chevron isn’t bad. Afterward he was a lawyer, prose cutor, banker. Congressman and finally commissioner of internal revenue. Not bad at all! Neverthe less, if he were locked in a room with a clam the first sound prob ably would not come from Mr. Hel vering. Off and on he has been mentioned for Secretary of War, the Senate, the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, but he has never been persuaded to say so much as a word about any of the rumors. He carries a cane and there is a growing conviction that he does this because as often as not he can point and so avoid open ing his mouth. (Copyright, 1939.) MOTHER FROMJUTS Bh•nt H At 2991 «r lift wiiolo Bom tfi i)P Chifkra Bn vltMU Wholo lYfetf (1 ir Chicken Box vl*lu l<H OtMvtry Chorfi nr BU# By 1109 Ninth tt N. V. am You eon be soreofa tight roof if you use Winslow's Roof Paints. 922 N. Y. Ave.Na. 8610 "' —Reduced! < J ALL SUITS and TOPCOATS (Tuxedo* Included) $30 Grades. $35 Grades.S2G75 $40 Grades.831-75 $45 Grades.83G-75 OPEN A BUDGET ACCOUNT ALL OVERCOATS—REDUCED! $30 Grades.SJ0.T5 $40 Grades.82G‘75 $50 Grades.*31’75 $60 Grades —.830‘,s FURNISHINGS REDUCED 20% to 30% Tie*, Glove*, Shirts, Hose, Shoes, Mufflers, Underwear, Etc. j OPEN A CHARGE ACCOUNT J* Solved! 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