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BRISBANE
THIS WEEK
Wilson for Earlier ^ ar?
Prayer Plus Planes
New Disease Danger
Ethiopian \ ictory?
Prof. A. M. Arnett of North Carolina
university says it was not Wilson that
kept this country-
out of war for a
white, hut tlie coun
try that kept Wil
son out of war
longer than he
would have stayed
out.
Professor Arnett
says he will prove,
in a book, that Wil
son wanted war in
1910, and was kept
out of It by three
men—Champ Clark,
Congressman Flood
and Claude Kitch-
Arthur llrluliiinr „
in, Democratic floor
lender of the house.
How deep should we have sunk in
our depression if Woodrow Wilson
had carried out his alleged [thin and
started the war one year ahead of
time, in 1910?
How many millions of Americans
would have been killed (they were
always honored with front row
places)? How many tens of billions
would have been added to the public
debt and the repudiated debts of Eu
rope?
The archbishop of Canterbury, bead
of the oflieial Church of England, has
Invited till European Christian commu
nicants to Join in prayer for peace,
witli resolutions outlawing all war.
While the archbishop takes that de
sirable step tlu* Itrltlsh government
works rapidly on 8,0<ni airplanes of
the lighting kind. Nothing like air
planes to back up eloquent prayer
for peace.
Uncle Sam has on his hands the
Job of preventing tlie spread of dis
ease throughout the country and its
importation from abroad.
Doctor Curran, in charge of Insects
for the American Museum ot Natural
History, warns New York it may he
invaded by malaria brought Into north
ern New Jersey by a CCC camp work
er from the South. The anopheles
mosquito, always present, has been
spreading the germs. He cannot do
that unless he first bites a malaria
carrier.
Haile Selassie's lighting (Jen. De| a 7,-
mat eh Hallu Kcltede sends cheerful
news to Ills royal master:
"We fought and bent, the Italians
from dawn lo dusk; 200 Italian white
soldiers, twenty Italian olllcers, killed.
Cannon, bombs and innumerable bat
teries of machine guns made murder
ous concert against ns, hut Cod pro
tected your humble Christian soldiers,
and the Eton of Judah was victorious.”
Ethiopians persist In their theory
that they are the only Christians in
volved. They say the Italians are
Catholics, therefore not Christians,
which would amuse the Italians, If
they had time for amusement
Home calls the General Dejnzinatch
dispatch "customary Ethiopian Inac
curacy."
Former Governor Alfred E. Smith,
booked for a big political talk In Wash
ington, D. C., and Invited by Mrs.
Hoosevclt to stop at the White House
during his stay In Washington, de
clines the invitation, explaining that
lie will have too ldg a crowd with him.
Politicians do not think that ttie
only reason. They exi>eot Governor
Smith to “cut loose” and say things
about the administration that would
not come gracefully from a White
House guest.
Mr. and Mrs. Triplett of Jenkins,
Ky„ who have just received from heav
en their tldrd set of triplets, say: “We
are just tickled to death, but imagine
our surprise." Resides nine triplets,
the happy couple have one set of twins,
all eleven living and all fortunate. The
baby born in a family that wants ba
bies is the fortunate child.
For the woman or man who does not
want children, the wise tiling is not to
have them—for tlie children's sake.
Hitler knows what he wants, tells
the rest o? ttie world, and tints far the
world lias let him help himself.
He wanted an end of the Versailles
treaty and got it. He wanted ttie rigtit
to build a strong battle fleet and Eng
land consented.
Now tie says he must have an air
force ns strong as that of France, and
will proceed to build It. He demands
also the return of all colonies taken
from Germany, and Intimates that he
will fight for them if lie can't got them
peaceably.
Austria will pay Uncle Sam on ac
count of debt thirty million schillings,
payment in American paper dollars.
At the current rate of exchange Uncle
Sam will get $5,(534,000. Our paper
dollars ure convenient for Europeans,
for they know, aUMoi*h we do not,
that our dollar is worth 59 cents.
Thomas AY. l.amont, a J. Plerpont
Morgan & company partner, gives five
hundred thousand dollars to establish
a “chair of political economy” at Har
vard. The money will stay and the
Interest will be used. Well invested,
it should pay the chosen professor a
fair salary.
© Ki^« Features Syndicate, Inc.
wKU Service.
No New Taxes Soon, Says
Senator Pat Harrison
S ENATOR PAT HARRISON of Mis
sissippi, chairman of the senate
finance committee, on his arrival In
Washington for the opening of con
gress gave out ttie
welcome statement
that no new general
tux legislation would
be pushed through
during this session.
Said he: "1 don’t look
for It and 1 don't
think it is in the
realm of possibility.”
Adoption of a man
ufacturer’s excise tax
was also "out,” ac
cording to Harrison.
He pictured an unusually short ses
sion of congress with appropriation
hills and amendments to existing leg
islation tlie principal business to he
handled.
In tlie senator's opinion a compro
mise on the bonus, always politically
vexatious, would lie reached and a
presidential veto would be avoided.
Harrison reiterated his opposition to
the Townsend old age pension plan and
said it would make no progress at tlie
new session.
Many house members agreed with
Harrison as to taxes. It, wouldn’t he
good policy to pass such measures this
session for there will tie elections in
435 congressional districts in 1936.
Pat Harrison took a crack tit the
Liberty league and its legislative pro
gram offered to congress. The league,
he said, was “ready to take over the
legislative and judicial functions” of
tlie national government, and might lie
magnanimous enough to take over the
executive branch as well. The sena
tor called (lie league a “lobby" and de
scribed its statements as "plutocratic
propaganda.”
Alcohol Control Valid,
Says Federal Judge
F ederal judge Charles j.
RUIGGLE of Peoria, 111., ruled that
the Federal Alcohol Control mlminis
tration act ts constitutional, the deci
sion being made in a test Case brought
by a Peoria distillery company. Tlie
alcohol administration closed the dis
tillery, asserting it held no basic per
mit at tlie time the old code was out
lawed by the Supreme court. The com
pany field It did hold such a permit
and applied for a new one.
Judge Rriggle denied the plea for
an injunction to force the administra
tion temporarily to retract its decision
on the application for a basic permit.
In Ids decision he said:
"The former objections to the wrong
ful delegation of legislative authority
with reference to tlie so-called ‘code’
provisions now has been obviated by
this act, and while the plaintiff’s po
sition In some other respects is not
without merit, yet the court is not con
vinced that sufficient doubt exists ns
to the constitutionality of the act to
warrant the court, in granting a tem
porary Injunction.”
Ruling by McCarl Halts
Relief Food Purchase
C OMPTROLLER GENERAL J. R.
McCAHL Issued an order that
blocked the plans of the Federal Sur
plus Commodity corporation to buy
surplus farm products
for relief distribution,
lie held that tlie ad
Ministration could
not use the 30 per
cent of gross customs
receipts set aside for
the AAA to buy farm
products to he given
to relief clients. In a
letter to Secretary
Wallace, McCarl said
relief legislation and
relevant statutes pro
vided Knottier way to handle such
purchases.
It was believed McCarl's ruling
would not affect AAA plans for pur
chases for diversion purposes and not
for relief distribution. An offer has
been made for purchases of surplus
potatoes from ttie 1935 crop, to he di
verted into industrial channels. Of
ficials said, however, they did not ex
pect growers to take advantage of this
otfer because of recently advanced
prices for potatoes.
Latest Returns From
Literary Digest Poll
VEW DEALERS speak scornfully
’ of ttie Presidential poll conducted
by ttie Literary Digest, but everyone
Is eager to see what it reveals. The
latest returns show a still further de
cline in New Deal popularity. Out of
a total of 9S7.158 votes received, 577,-
631 answered negatively tlie question
•'Do you now approve tlie acts and pol
icies of the Roosevelt New Deal to
date?" This brought the negative per
centage to the new high figure of 58.51
per cent. Tlie lust preceding percent
age was 57.69.
Eleven of t he thirteen southern
•dates continued solidly New Deal.
Only Florida and Oklahoma voted
igainst It. The twelve middle western
farm states continued balloting more
than 3 to 2 against the administration.
The Rocky Mountain states, with
the single exception of Utah, contrlb-
Sen. Harrison.
uted substantial majorities against the
New I»eal, as did four of the six New
England states, which were voting 3
to 1 against Roosevelt.
Senate Munitions Probers
to Hear J. P. Morgan
X/IEMBERS of the senate munitions
*’'■* committee announced that they
would resume on January 7 their in
vestigation of whether loans to the
allies helped to get the United States
into ttie World war. and the first wit
nesses will he .1. P. Morgan and Thom
as AV. Larnont, of Morgan & Co. The
committee plans to try for the enact
ment of broader neutrality legislation.
The Morgan firm, which was fiscal
agent for Great Britain during the
war, has denied emphatically that it
played any part in leading America
into the conflict. Chairman Nye and
other committee members have
thought otherwise.
Benson Named to Fill
Out Schall’s Term
C'LMER A. BENSON, state hanking
1 J commissioner of Minnesota, was
appointed United States senator by
Gov. Floyd B. Olson to complete the
term of the late Senator Thomas D.
Schall. He will serve until December
31, 1936. Mr. Benson has been a Farm-
er-Laborite since that party’s birth and
before that was active in the Nonpar
tisan league movement in Minnesota.
He is forty years old.
Tlie new senator is an advocate of
public ownership of monopolistic in
dustry and a backer of collective bar
gaining for labor. He has urged great
er levies on higher incomes and in
heritances, and favors immediate pay
ment of the soldiers’ bonus.
“I shall be very glad,” Benson said,
“to join the liberal bloc in congress
in opposition to those who would turn
the arms of the clock backwards and
perpetuate a system callous to human
suffering, which neither understands
nor wants to understand the meaning
of human happiness."
Mississippi Valley Plan
of Senator Norris
W ITHOUT waiting for a ruling by
the Supreme court on the valid
ity of the Tennessee Valley authority
act. Senator Norris of Nebraska, fa
ther of that and much
other advanced leg
islation. has prepared
a bill for a Mississip
pi Valley authority
nlong the same lines
as the TV A but im
mensely greater in
scope. He intends to
introduce the measure
soon in congress. It
would embrace more
than half of continen
tal United States, in
cluding all the vast plain between the
Alleghenies and the western continen
tal divide and from near the Canadian
border to the delta of the Mississippi;
only the Tennessee valley would be
omitted from tlie plan.
Norris said it was an expansion of
his former plan for a Missouri vallev
Sen. Norris.
authority. Flood control would be its
chief goal, he disclosed, but it alsq
would direct the development of navi
gation, Irrigation, hydroelectric power,
soil conservation and reforestation.
Like TVA It would be managed by
a three-man directorate. The cost is
not stated. Congress would vote funds
from year to year as the work pro
gressed.
Uruguay Severs Relations
With Soviet Russia
rVEOLARING that all America Is
menaced with violence by tlie
Communists, the Uruguayan govern
ment severed relations with the govern
ment of Soviet Russia; Minister Alex
ander Rinkin and his staff were hand
ed their passports, and the Uruguayan
charge d’affaires was recalled from
Moscow. The decree, signed by Presi
dent Gabriel Terra and all members of
the cabinet, asserted that Montevideo
was the headquarters of Communists
who were plotting uprisings in all
South America countries, and quoted
tlie Brazilian charges that the abor
tive rebellion there in November was
instigated by the Soviet government
and that the Montevideo legation was
its intermediary.
Relations with Russia were broken
on these three formal charges:
1. That tlie recent congress of the
Third Internationale in Moscow agreed
to push a communistic drive through
out South America, with Communists
involved in the Brazilian uprising.
2. That tlie Soviet legation remitted
checks for large sums to unidentified
recipients, "providing foundation” for
a presumption that the legation active
ly aided Communist plans.
3. Ttiat there was a direct connec
tion between the Third Internationale
and die Soviet government.
Dr. Jose Espalter, Uruguayan for
eign minister, said:
“We have proof that Montevideo was
the center of a gigantic Soviet expan
sionist plot and that Minkin was or-
ganizing a revolution in Uruguay for
next February or March.
Uruguay is the only South American
nation that recognized the Soviet Rus
sian government.
Huge Deficit in First
Half of Fiscal Year
T X 7TTH the final week not reported.
' V the treasury came to the end of
the first half of the current fiscal year
with receipts behind expenditures by
about $1,786,000,000. For every dollar
collected in taxes and other revenues
since the financial year began July 1,
$1.95 had been spent. Of the latter,
$1.10 went for the regular general ex
penditures of department and bureaus
and 85 cents was for relief and other
emergency purposes.
These factors, coupled with prospec
tive expenditures, caused an increase
of $1,843,000,000 in the gross federal
public debt. The debt rose from $28,-
700.000,000 last July 1, to $30,543,000,-
000 on December 23.
For the same period, all categories
of receipts, except processing taxes,
showed increases over a year ago. To
tal receipts were $1,865,000,000 com
pared with $1,811,000,000 in the same
period of the 1935 fiscal year.
Against the public debt total, the
treasury had a balance of $2,291,000,-
000 in cash on hand, which included
$143,000,000 of its gold profits result
ing from the revaluation of the dollar,
and $252,000,000 from seignorage
charges on the coinage of newly mined
silver.
The working balance totaled $1,895,-
000,000, much larger than usual be
cause some $900,000,000 was borrowed
to meet the wintertime costs of the
relief and recovery programs.
Chance for European War
Seems to Increase
TATAR clouds over Europe were
»E growing denser and blacker dur
ing the Christmas holidays when all
the Christian world was supposed to
be singing "Peace on
Earth, good will
toward men.” Under
the skillful guidance
of Anthony Eden, the
new British foreign
secretary, a solid
front against Italy was
being built up. There
was no present talk
of further sanctions
against Mussolini, but
it is expected added
penalties will be put
in force late in January. Meanwhile
the general military and naval staffs
of Great Britain and France concluded
conversations which were declared
“satisfactory," meaning that those na
tions were prepared to stand by each
other in case II Duee makes what
Prime Minister Baldwin called “a mad
dog attack.” In the capitals of other
members of the League of Nations
similar plans were being laid by mili
tary and naval attaches.
Turkey came into line with the
other presumptive opponents of Italy,
but is reported to have made a sugges
tion that France doesn’t like. This is
that it be permitted to fortify the
Dardanelles, the strait between Eu
rope and Asiatic Turkey which was
demilitarized under the treaty of
Lausanne after the World war. The
Turks also, according to Paris ad
vices, ask the eventual return of the
island of Rhodes in the Aegean sea,
which has been under Italian sov
ereignty since 1923.
Eden is a firm believer in the
League of Nations and, though he is
moving with caution, is determined to
bring Italy to terms through the sanc
tions provided the other members of
the league give the necessary support.
The British government certainly
doesn’t want war with Italy, but it is
fast preparing for armed conflict if
that shall prove to be unavoidable.
That Mussolini, too, is getting ready
for extreme eventualities was evi
denced by orders canceling all Christ
mas leaves of all officers and men of
the army. The same orders directed
the return to their units of the 100,-
000 army men demobilized in Novem
ber in order that they might do the
needed work on their farms.
Premier Laval, defending his course
in the negotiations to end the Italo-
Ethiopian war and promising that
France would stand by Great Britain
faithfully if the latter were attacked,
saved his government temporarily by
the slight margin of twenty votes. He
skilfully dodged the oil embargo Is
sue. It was believed that his downfall
before long was likely.
Terms on Which Ethiopia
Will Discuss Peace
TAISPATCHES from Addis Ababa
said reliable sources there dis
closed the terms on which Emperor
Haile Selassie had authorized his dele
gation at Geneva to discuss peace.
They were thus stated:
Withdrawal of Italian troops from
Ethiopia; recognition of the African
empire’s sovereignty; payment of in
demnity by Italy; delimitation of East
African boundaries between Ethiopia
and tlie Italian colonies by a league
of nations committee, and foreigt
economic, administrative, and finan
cial aid and advice for Ethiopia only
on the condition there would be no
Italian influence.
Lindbergh’s Going May
Lead to Crime Inquiry
pVEPARTURE of Col. Charles A.
Lindbergh with his wife and child
from the Untied States because of
threats of kidnapers probably will lead
to a congressional investigation of
crime. Senator Pope of Idaho said he
was prepared to introduce a resolution
calling for such an inquiry, in the hope
of making America a safer place in
which to live.
His resolution would authorize an
investigation of local enforcement con
ditions, primarily to determine if ai
"American Scotland Yard” controlled
by the federal government could co-or
dinate police agencies successfully.
Aethony Eden
On His Way to the Dining Table.
Prepared by the National Geographic Society.
Washington, D. C.-WNU Service.
O NE of the largest of wild game
birds which has been domesti
cated, the turkey has become
"tlie national festival bird” of
various countries. As a wild bird in
North America, the turkey supplied the
numerous tribes of Indians and the
early white settlers with "game” fowl
in great abundance, whereas in later
times tlie domesticated turkey lias pro
vided kings and presidents, as well as
the more lowly in rank, in various na
tions with a class of meat that has
come to be regarded as essential in the
proper celebration of certain holidays.
The turkey is the only race of poul
try that originated in the United States.
When Francisco Fernandez, under the
patronage of Philip II of Spain, arrived
at the northern coast of Yucatan in
1517, turkeys were observed to have
been domesticated by the natives. In
1518 Grijalva discovered Mexico and
found domesticated turkeys in great
numbers. Gomara and Hernandez re
fer to wild as well as domesticated
forms.
Various Indian tribes fed freely upon
turkey meat, obtained from both wild
and domesticated flocks. The Aztecs
were more inclined to domesticate the
turkey than the northern Indians, but
all tribes hunted the wild birds.
The flesh was not the only part of
the turkey used by the Indians. Feath
ers served to adorn the wearing ap
parel, and they were also made into
robes and blankets, being twisted sepa
rately into strands of wild hemp and
then woven together.
In its original habitat the wild tur
key ranged from the Atlantic coast to
as far north as the Dakotas, and from
southern Ontario to southern Mexico.
It was not a native of the three Pacific
coast states, nor of Idaho, Montana,
Utah, Nevada and Wyoming.
With practically a whole continent
for his home, the more favored haunts
of tlie wild turkey were the forests
and brush lands, where food was abun
dant and there was some protection
from natural enemies. He fed on
acorns, seeds, berries, grass and in
sects, especially grasshoppers.
Found Wild in Southern States.
Tlie clearing of the forests and brush
lands for agricultural purposes and the
shooting of thousands of birds by hunt
ers were two of the most important
factors contributing to the gradual re
treat of the wild turkey from northern
and eastern states.
It is still to be found in Arizona, New
Mexico, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsyl
vania, Maryland, Arkansas, Colorado,
Oklahoma, Missouri, Mississippi, Loui
siana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Texas,
Virginia, West Virginia, and Mexico.
Various sta.te game departments are
reintroducing the bird, and restocking
depleted areas.
Although there is no doubt that the
wild turkey originated In America,
there is much doubt as to how it got
its name. Some early writers have
suggested that the name "turkey” was
adopted because of the supposed re
semblance between the adornments of
the fowl’s head and the fez worn
Turkish citizens. But the most widely
accepted explanation is that the name
bears some resemblance to the bird’s
repeated call-notes—"turk, turk, turk.”
The turkey is not a migratory bird
in the sense that ducks and geese mi
grate hundreds of miles from the south
to the north in the spring and return
in the fall, much to the delight of thou
sands of hunters.
The wild turkey is a handsome bird
of stately carriage. His glossy plumage
is mostly greenish bronze, with gold
and coppery reflections. In the sun
light the effect is a delight to the eye.
The feathers of the neck, breast, body,
and back are tipped with a band of
velvety black, thus accentuating the
glowing sheen of tlie remainder of the
plumage.
One outstanding characteristic of tlie
turkey is that the upper portion of the
neck and the head is bare of feathers,
the skin being rich purple or blue.
Tlie folds or lumps of bare skin are
called caruncles. There is a single wat
tle, and from the crown of tlie head
there hangs a pencil-like projection of
tlie skin, which reddens when the gob
blers make love to the hens.
Another outstanding character of the
turkey is the tuft of wiry, hairlike
“beard” springing from the center of
the breast. In some old male wild tur
keys, the beard trails to the ground.
The feet of the wild turkey are light
purple. They are equipped with short,
heavy spurs, but while the male
chicken fights principally with his
spurs, the turkey fights almost entirely
with his beak.
Gobbler’s “Breast Sponge.”
The wild gobbler is provided with
an interesting appendage, which is not
found on the females or on young gob
blers. John James Audubon, writing
in v 1831, speaks of it as the “breast
sponge,” and it serves a very impor
tant function. In the spring, during
the gobbling season, this sponge is
filled with fat and serves to sustain
the bird; he usually eats little while
strutting, gobbling, and otherwise mak
ing love to the females.
As the mating season advances the
gobbler usually becomes quite thin, as
the reservoir of fat is used up. There
is no pairing off in couples, as in the
case of many other wild birds, for the
wild turkey male is polygamous in the |
extreme and loves a large harem. I
Bitter fights among the old males are j
common, the victor claiming the harem I
of the vanquished. The defeated male j
must perforce seek battle with another j
for the possession of another flock of j
females, or he is obliged to join a I
group of disconsolate "bachelors.” i
The females select secluded spots I
for their nests and make a slight de- I
pression in the ground, into which a I
few dry leaves are scratched. From I
eight to fifteen eggs, somewhat smaller |
and more pointed than those of the do- |
mestic varieties, are laid.
After four weeks of incubating, the I
baby turks, or poults, appear, covered 1
with gray down, dotted with dusky I
spots, and with two dusky stripes run- 1
ning from the top of the head down 1
the sides of the back. The down is |
soon replaced by feathers, which are 1
replaced by another coat of feathers I
when the birds molt. The molting sea- I
son begins in August, and by the latter I
part of December all of the old feath- 9
ers have been replaced by new ones.
The young gobbler acquires his
"beard” in the center of the breast by
November and it continues to grow
rapidly until the third year, and there-1 1
after more slowly.
The young turkeys receive the care fl
of their mother until they are four or I
five months old, after which they look 8
after themselves. At six or seven I
months of age, the young gobblers I
separate from the young and old hens I
and range by themselves. The old gob- I
biers also range by themselves, usually 9
in flocks of about fifteen. The sexes I
roost apart.
Plenty of Enemies.
This large and magnificent wild bird I
has always had numerous enemies, I
such as the fox, coon, mink, skunk, I
wolf, lynx, and coyote. Its bird en- I
emies include owls, eagles, and hawks. I
One writer says “There is never a rao- 9
ment in the poor turkey’s life that eter- I
nai vigilance is not the price of its I
existence.” Not only must the turkey I
be on guard every hour of tlie day, but H
it must also seek roosting places that I
are more or less inaccessible to its |
natural enemies. For this reason tur- I
keys favor trees growing in shallow I
water, which seems to provide some |
protection from night prowlers.
In early colonial days wild turkeys i
were very numerous in Massachusetts, I
and at tlie beginning of the Nineteenth I
century they could be purchased for I
six cents each, while large birds, rang- 9
ing from 25 to 30 pounds, sold for 25 I
cents. When Cortez first visited the F
capital of Mexico, “no less than 500 B
turkeys, the cheapest meat in Mexico, I
were allowed for the feeding of the fl
vultures and eagles kept in the royal H
aviaries.”
The turkey was first introduced into tl
Spain in 1519 by Francisco Fernandez. ■
From that country it spread through- fl
out Europe and Englhnd, being intro- B
duced into the latter country in 1521. B
The turkey was introduced to Ger-gjl
many in 1530. The first mention of thegj
bird in Italy was in an ordinance is-H
sued by the magistrate of Venice in §J
1556, "repressing the luxury of servin? H
turkeys.” In 1570 Bartolomeo Scappll
cook to Pope Pius V, published receipts B
for cooking turkey.
In recent years dressed turkeys havsH
been imported into the United States H
from Hungary, Russia, Austria, and Ire H
land, and large numbers come from At'®
gentina. Such is the irony of fate; tw®
ing indigenous to the United States arJ H
existing here in countless numbers, ti> e H
wild turkey was domesticated ana®
later taken to other countries, from®
which it is now imported in t^H
"dressed” form.
In Texas, Colorado, a4d the Dakotas®
many flocks of a thousand or nio-*H
birds are raised annually. Frequently®
these large flocks are herded on tli* H
prairies in much the same manner a*®
are sheep and cattle.
From the original wild stocks \|
has developed a number of useful van- ®
eties which differ largely in respect t* ®
plumage color. There a- - e six standard®
varieties recognized by the America 3 ®
Poultry association: the Slate, tt! H
Bourbon Red, the Black, the Narraga 3 ’®
sett, the Bronze, and th» White
land.