Newspaper Page Text
PAGE TWO LABOR WOULD NULL DRY LAW AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LA- BOR DENOUNCES ACT “SOCIAL AND MORAL FAILURE” FAVORSLIGHT WINE AND BEER Declares Law a Dangerous Breeder of Discontent and Contempt of All Law; Increased Unemployment and Raised Taxes Generally Washington.—Repeal of the Volstead prohibition enforcement act and sub r.-lssion of a measure permitting sale of light and beer was urged Monday by “xecni’ve council of the American Federation of Labor. in a statement which called upon all citi zens to join with the labor organiza tions in a campaign with these objects in view. The statement denounced the Vol stead act as “a social and moral fail ure” and “a dangerous breeder of dis content and contempt for all law.” The council, which has concluded Its session, previously announced its intention to participate In the con gressional elections through a non partisan campaign committee which will endorse and oppose candidates of major political parties, or enter if that course is considered most effective. “Before this decision was reached.” the council’s announcement said, “there was caused to be made an ex haustive investigation of the Volstead net. It was shown by this investiga tion that there had been: "A general disregard of the law among all classes of people, including those who made the law. “Creation of thousands of moon shiners among both county and city dwellers. “Creation of an army of bootleggers. “An amazing increase in the traffic In poisonous and deadly concoctions. “An increased rate of insanity, blind ness and crime among users of those concoctions and drugs. “Increase in unemployment. “Increases in taxes to city, state and national governments, amounting to approximately $1,000,000,000 per year.” The federation did not protest against the constitutional amendment embodying the prohibition policy, the statement emphasized, but considered the Volstead act “an improper interpre tation of the amendment” and stood instead for “reasonable interpretation in order that the law may be enforce able and enforced.” INDICTMENTS ARE RETURNED AGAINST MORSE AND SONS Grand Jury Investigating Ship Builders Wartime Transactions Charge Conspiracy to Defraud Washington. lndictments against Charles W. Morse, New York shipbuild er; his three sons, Benjamin, Harry and Erwin; Colin H. Livingstone of Washington, president of the Virginia Shipbuilding corporation, and seven other persons, were returned Monday by the federal grand jury which has investigated the wartime transactions of Morse and some of his associates with the shipping board. Two indictments were returned, one charging conspiracy to defraud the government and the other charging conspiracy to commit offense against the government. The conspiracy as charged by the government accuses those named of making false statements as to the val ue of their plant and assets and there by obtaining loans from the shipping board. They are also charged with having secured money for shipbuild ing purposes and to have used the same for personal interests In the way of improving their plants. It is also alleged that large quantities of mater ial for shipbuilding belonging to the Emergency Fleet corporation were se cured and then sold and the money converted to the use of the alleged conspirators. Those indicted either were or still are connected with the Groton Iron works, Groton, Conn.; the Virginia Shipbuilding corporation, Alexandria. Ya., or the United States Transport Co., Inc., which concerns are known ns the Morse companies. Women Run Hotel Day New York.—One day’s operation by women of the Hotel Biltmore Tor the benefit of the Society for the Relief and Prevention of Tuberculosis added $38,273 to the fund. Throe thousand volunteers composed the staff which took charge of the hotel. Daugherty Orders Pullman Released Washington.—Attorney Genera! Daugherty has Instructed federal au thorities at Boise, Idaho, to release th* Pullman car seized there by prohibl tion enforcement officers, which is the first involving the seizure of a railway car for violation of the national pro hibition act, resulting from discovery by authorities of a quantity of liquor on board in possession of the porter It was held, however, that the posses slon of liquor by an employe of a rail road car was not enough to warrant such procedure. POPE PIUS XI Achille Ratti,, who was elected to succeed Benedict XV and took the name of Pius XI. He was cardinal archbishop of Milan. GUILLOTINE CLAIMS HEAD OF FRENCH BLUEBEARD Henri Landru Pays Penalty for Series of Foulest Murders in French Criminal History Versailles.—-Henri Desire Landru, “Bluebeard of Gambais,” convicted of the murder of 10 women and one youth, gave his life Saturday in ex change for 11 he had taken. Mysterious until death, Landru re sented Father Loiselles’ query as to whether he had any confession to make. “It is an insult to a man like me,” was his reply. Had I any confession to make I would have made it long ago.” But never did he utter the word “in nocent,” as he had failed to utter ft during his 34 months of imprisonment and the 21 days of his trial. He refused the sacrament, but con versed a few moments with the priest. “I shall be brave, never fear,” he told the clergyman. Although plans for the execution had been kept in the utmost secrecy, crowds began to gather about the old Versailles jail a little after midnight. The clatter of cavalry horses along Georges Clemenceau street, in which the execution .took place, was plainly audible in Landru’s cell, and when he awoke he heard the sound of hammers as workmen erected “timbers of jus tice” by the flickering light of two square, old-fashioned candle lanterns. The guillotine was erected only a few feet from the main entrance to the jail. At 6 o’clock the doors of the prison opened slowly, revealing in the court yard the procurator general, the warden of the prison and Landru’s two lawyers, M. Moro-Giafferi and M. Du treuit. Then Landru appeared, clad in dark trousers and white shirt. His ber.rd, which was one of his most striking characteristics, and which had become familiar to the thousands through pub lication of his portrait during the trial, had been trimmed; his head was shaved and his neck and face were deathly pale. The executioner’s assistants caught him around the waist and levelled him on the table, which was immediately upended, the heavily weighted knife slid down and the whole affair was over in less than 20 seconds. Landru never faltered from the time he ap peared in the door; he gave the guillo tine one look, squared his shoulders and walked erect, uttering not a word. The crowd, which had been kept at such a distance that it saw nothing of the details, uttered no cry, and the si lence was only broken by the bugles soundine reveille in the nearby bar racks, and the Angelus bells. Then the hundred or more news paper correspondents and the few offi cials who had witnessed the execution left the scene, while outside the lines of cavalry, many persons were asking “was it all over?” Henry Desire Landru, the “blue beard of Gambais,” was arrested on April 4, 1919, on 11 counts of murder growing out of the disappearance of a boy and 10 women to whom he had promised marriage. The charmer of 283 women of all ages from 20 to 60, many of them foolish and wealthy widows, was born in Paris In 1869. He was a mechanical engineer and had been well educated. Lnndtu had previously engaged the attention of the police through his swindling operations, for which he was sentenced to prison for n term of four years. He was married and had two grown children. He was a dark-vis aged man with shining bald head and long black whiskers, and during the progress of his trial for murder, which began Nov. 7, 1921, before the Ver sailles assizes, and ended the follow ing November 20, he participated dramatically in his own defense. Fear Delegatee May Not Return Moscow. —Tn order to insure return to Russia of the delegation sent to Genoa, only those persons who have families or possessions that may be considered good hostages or guaran tees will be allowed to go there. The soviet has had too many examples of its agents willing to work abroad, but unwill! hg to return. Several govern ment agents will accompany the dele gation under the guise of secretaries to Insure the good conduct and return of the delegates. CHICAGO IS ROCKED BY DYNAMITE BLAST Thirty Tons of Explosives at Stone Quarry Go Off Caus ing Great Destruction Chicago.—Chicago and its suburbs have found out what caused the blast which literally shook them to their foundations and caused a frenzy of excitement Saturday night. Thirty tons of dynamite let go in a stone quarry southwest of the city, shortly before 9 o’clock, and hundreds of thou sands of alarmed residents went to bed not knowing just what had hap pened to give rise to rumors of con certed bombings, earthquakes, falling meteors and disasters to manufactur ing plants. For an hour after the blast the Chi cago district was in a furore. The smashing of glass In thousands of win dows, the shaking of buildings and the noise of the explosion gave rise to re ports that bombings were occurring si multaneously at many places. In spite of the large area of land af fected by the blast, only one man was Injured seriously, although scores were cut by glass and shaken and bruised— some of them living miles from the zone of the blast. Albert Kendle, the injured man, was operating a crane some distance from the explosion and sustained a broken arm. The McCook quarry of the Consum ers’ company, about 11 miles from Chi cago’s downtown district, contained two powder magazines where dynamite was stored to thaw out and dry. In each magazine 600 cases of dynamite were stored, each e«*s& containing 50 pounds of the explosive. The cause of the explosion probably never will be known. It is possible that a case of the dynamite fell on another case or that a rafter fell on a case. The home* of workmen situated only a few hundred yards from the quarry were apparently hurt no worse than those miles away. Tills was explained by the fact that the powder magazines were in the bottom of the quarry, the houses thus being protected. The damage caused by the explosion never will be known, but it is hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is little to show the effect of the blast at the spot where it occurred. A great hole in the ground 50 feet wide and 200 feet long marks the place where the powder magazines stood. BLOC FAVORS DEBT IN- TEREST TO PAY BONOS Western Senators Are Among Group Favoring Use of Foreign Loan Incomes Washington.—T hfr t y Republican members of the house, prominent in the group opposing the sales tax. came out formally Saturday in favor of us ing the refunded foreign bonds to fi nance the soldiers’ bonus. In a Joint open letter to Chairman Fordney, of the ways and means com mittee, they said the use of these bonds would “remove a grossly unjust proposal, prevent the overturning of congress and will be just to the form er soldiers who served for us these foreign debts. “The bonus should be passed with out any objections tax and should be passed without delay,” added the let ter, which was framed by Representa tive Frear, of Wisconsin, and signed by 29 other members, mostly from western states. ’ “Your action, supported by members of the committee in discarding any sales tax on the bonus bill,” the letter said, “will receive the hearty support of members of congress, generally. “A sales tax would penalize every former soldier and compel him to pay toward his own meager bonus. Nine hundred thousand jobless, former sol diers, will be obliged. Immediately, to pay consumption taxes under any sales tax law. “No sales tax law could get through the house and senate in less than 90 days, if passed at all. Ninety days more would be required to secure a clerical force to put the law In opera tion. thus taking until September or October of this year.. “Congressman Longworth Is author ity for the statement that when Brit ish bonds are received In June or July, next, these can be used, with the ap proval of the president, to finance the bonus, or several months before any sales tax would be available. “Semi-annual Interest on this debt, amounting to $125,000,000, has been voted in the British budget and is un derstood to be collectible by June 1, next.” Some pressure to speed up the bonus bill In the house Is being exerted non', but leaders generally, apparently, are not inclined to rush the legislation. German Liner Docks In N. Y. New York.—Hoboken’s water front took on a holiday aspect Monday on the arrival of the North German Lloyd passenger liner, Seydllt, the first of that company’s vessels to resume trnns*- Atlantic service to this port since August, 1914. The liner was accom panied from quarantine to her pier by a tug bearing a reception committee of several hundred persons. A band played American and German airs on the trip through the upper bay. The liner brought 117 passengers and flew the German merchant marine flag. FINANCIAL MESS APPEARS BAD NORTH DAKOTA BANK AUDITS SHOW A MOST SERIOUS CON DITION INDEED. The absolute mlHiuaiuigeinent and -reeddexsiress. to cay nothing of what appears like criminal eareleeaiieAM, en gaged in by the Nonpartisan League eftlciulH of North Dakota, becomes .mere pronounced nw further and addi tional audits of the books are made public. No opponent of the League ev er charged one-tenth as much as is now being proven by certified ac countants. The Bank of North Dakota appears to have been run not as a legitimate" banking institution, but rather as a sort of clearing house by which funds were secured from the people through taxation and dissipated for rndk*al propaganda and socialist experiments. While the net loss ascertained to Dec. 81, 1921, is given as $255,088, the report says this is but n “paper toss.” for the actual loss in the end will run into mil lions It would appear. In arriving at the "paper losses” no account Is taken of the value of assets as they appear on the nooks save as shown In the book and these assets, In many instances, appear worthies*. In arriving at the result called paper losses, the report recently filed shows that no consideration' has heen given the fact that there is $548,484 loaned to closed bunks. Nor Is any conslderntlot. given to the fact that $756,460 of the loans in banks that are open, or were open at the time of (he report, lire past due. These items, together with past due loans on warehouse receipts and other collateral, bring the total of past due paper in the bank to $1,337,- Oil. Further, no consideration has been given the fact that there is rede posited in closed banks the sum of sl,- 590,996. Run for Leaguers Only. That the Bank of North Dakota was run in the interest of the Nonpartisan League leaders, and not the fanners of that state, is evident from an analysis of the items “money deposited or loaned to closed banks.” The report shows that $1,050,209 is due from sis teen closed hanks affiliated with the League, and this sum is exclusive of the interest past due which runs into many thousand dollars. In other words, over two-thirds of all the money rede vosited or loaned ro banks that .are closed, was placed in less than one-third of the banks that have failed. The re port further shows that fifteen Tongue banks still <»i»eii have on redeposlt or in loans $1,079,785, or 80 per cent as much money from the Bank of North Dako tu as have approximately 835 banks in the state not affiliated with the League. Much stress has been laid by organ izers and others on the large number of individual depositors in the Bank of North Dakota, but here, again. It would seem, some one strained his imaglnn tion. The total amount due individual depositors Jan. 1, this year, was $24,- 696, the balance of the deposits being largely money belonging to the taxpay ers of the state. The total number of individual depositors numbered 241, of which 10 had overdrafts, 81 with de posits of less than $lO, 63 with depos its of less than $5, and 36 with depos its of less than sl. But 6 depositors had accounts in excess of SI,OOO, and 5 of these did not live In the state, so that there was just one man In the state of North Dakota who had confi dence enough in this bank to place his individual deposit of a sum greater than SI,OOO. Mess Hard to Untangle. It will take some time for certified public accountants to make n full and complete report, not only of the Bank of North Dakota, but of the other state industries the result of “socialism In action,” under the name of the 'Nonpar tisan League. The system of keeping books, In many instances, was so slack that much time will be required to un tangle the mess. However, with par tial reports being made from time to time, even those In North Dakota who have expressed themselves freely about the absolute disregard of League officials for efficiency and carefulness, are astonished at what is being shown Mr. Townley, who from the prison door went to St. Paul to make a speech —making speeches being one of the best things he does—stated that one could not expect reforms to be worked out by “a bunch of dubs.” Just now Townley has a new scheme which ere many months may appear to take over the Nonpartisan League organization' In Wyoming. This is to ba called the National Farms Bloc. The gathering nt Chicago during the week of Fob 19 was called by socialists, communists and radicals of all kinds. The farm ers, it would seem, are becoming fully advised as to what the Nonpartisan League Is. Organizers are not able to extract the $lB per quite ns easily ns they did a couple of years ago when people thought this an honest move ment. So a change in name is necee sary, just as it was necessary In North Dakota to change the name SoclaUst party to the Nonpartisan league. Na tional Farm Bloc sounds good. It will deceive, in the end, possibly as many did the Nonpartisan League, because of the action of senators and congress men establishing In Congress what is known m the “farmers’ bloc,” although the new movement In which Mr. Town ley and a number of socialists have r hand, has nothing whatever to do with this combination of senators and con gressmen. SI,OOO Reward will be paid for information lead ing to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons killing or stealing stock belonging to W. K. COE Cody, Wyoming HOOVEI /I Best Vacuum Clean SsIMK J on MarKet SHOSHONE ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWEI GEORGE BECK. Prc.ld.nt i Cowboys! Ranchers! Now is the Time to Shoe Your Horses! You Can’t Beat \ Scotty The Blacksmith NEW & SECOND HAND STORE Highest Cash Price Paid for Hides, Pelts and Furs At ths Old Place on Sheridan Avenue, Cody, Wyoming Successor to ( Lambert’s 2nd Hand Store) Our Hobby Is Good n . f Printing •ample, of I I ■ ji z _ our busi- ■ I nesscards, !; — 1 11 viti ting 1 • M card,, wedding !■ and other invitations, pam- phlets, folder,, letter heads, ■ J statements, shipping tags, !• envelopes, etc., constantly carried in stock for your ■; accommodation. 1 > Get our figures on that printing you have been ■ ; thinking of. New Type, Latest Style Faces Chaplains of the U. THE first annual report from the office of chief of chaplains of the War department, Washington, D. C., written by John T. Ax ton, colonel, United States army, chief of chap lains, covering the fiscal year 1021, has been made public. This report shows a corps of 185 chaplains, in cluding one colonel, nine lieutenant colonels, eight majors, 42 captains and 125 first lieutenants. These chaplains are classified as follows: Baptist, 2G; Baptist, colored, 2; Congregational, 0; Disciples of Christ, 10; Lutheran, 12; Methodist Episcopal, 41; Methodist Episcopal. colored, 2; Methodist Protestant, 1; Presbyterian, 15; Prot estant Episcopal, 17; Cumberland Presbyter! ar., 1; Reformed, 2; Roman Catholic, 42; Universallet, 2; Unitarian, 2; United Evangelical, 1. Ninety-eight of these chaplains were appointed during the war. They were selected from nmopg 600 appli cants who had seen service during the World war and who had indicated a desire to enter the regular army. ‘These men had the unqualified com mendation of their military command ers and were highly Indorsed by their respective denominations. They were chosen because they were found to possess that fidelity, poise of mind, breadth and tolerance of view, seren ity of spirit, large outlook, patience ■I WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 1952, DWIGHT E. HOLLISTER j Attomey-at-Law i Cody, Wyoming i Pioneer Bldg. Phone M I n . DO IT NOW Send us the price of a year’s subscription if you are in arrears S. War Department and good temper, energy and enthu siasm, and that overmastering love of service for men which are essen tial to success.” The report tells of the work that has been undertaken by army chap lains. who In many cases with very few facilities have built up worth while centers of religious and moral Inspiration. ‘‘There have been exigencies of ths service that have necessitated the de tail of chaplains to various duties that are extraprofesslonal,” Colonel Aston states. ‘‘They have served In the cemeterlal section of the quarter master department, as post exchange officers, directors of education and recreation, as morale officers, man agers of Liberty theaters and of box ing exhibitions, school teachers and as counsel for the defense.”