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BRISBANE
THIS WEEK
AW Is No More
Who Will Pay Now?
Only 11 Can Run Fast
The Stale of the Union
The Supreme court decision reject
ing AAA, the ••agricultural adjust
ment act,” affects
every American di
rectly. Issued just
as the President
announced his pro
gram to balance
the national bud
get within one
thousand million
dollars, the decision
upsets that admin
istration program.
Men with large
Incomes, of whom
few survive, may
worry, for the de
cision takes from
the government sev
en hundred million a year of proc
essing taxes that will have to be made
good elsewhere. The manufacturers',
or processing, tax, handed along to
the little people, was, In reality, a sales
tax on life’s necessities—cotton cloth,
flour, meat.
The question is. Who will provide
cash promised the farmers, since the
Supreme court will not -sanction the
Bales tax, disguised as a "pross” tax?
Whence will come the hundreds of
millions the government owes to farm
ers under Its AAA promises and has
not yet paid? The farmers did their
part, the government could hardly fail
to do Its part by paying.
International News Service sports
department shows that out of about
1,80*1,000,000 human beings on earth
only 11 are known that can run a mile
at really high speed. Of these not
more than four would have any ehaneo
of heating an Individual named Glenn
Cunningham of Kansas.
You would think that the billion un
known uncounted among the so-called
'•backward races,” many with native
energy, free of civilization’s handicaps,
('onld easily he trained to beat the 11
fast ones, hut It Is not probable.
The President’s address “on the
state of Hie Union” was, like nearly
all Presidential speeches, an address
on the state of (lie administration.
Discussing danger of war, if It Is
true that “85 or 90 per cent of all the
people In the world are content with
the territorial limits of their respec
tive nations,” (lint would leave only
10 or 15 per cent of the aggressive
type.
l.loyd George. playing n little poli
ties with his friend Prime Minister
Baldwin, exults In the noble moral
uprising of the British, rejecting the
terrible, immoral plan to divide Ktlil-
•pin and placate Italy. Something
"without precedent." Lloyd George
calls It.
When* England Is concerned, "divid
ing up” is, Indeed, almost without
precedent. England's custom as a rule
Ts to swallow tilings whole, as she did
with the Transvaal, India, and other
territories that have kept her old light
ing tlag always In (lie sunshine.
Tlie Methodist Episcopal church Is
proud to announce in Nashville, Tenn.,
that It begins 19.10 with 2.781,209 reg-
plnrly enrolled members, an Increase
over the preceding year of 11,298. with
21,101 baptized infants not Included.
This Is the reply of the Methodist
Episcopalians to the “high church”
Kpiscopallans of th<> English church
that suggests giving up Protestantism
altogether us a failure.
Children will learn with pleasure
that It Is not necessary to eat spinach
unless you like It. Other vegetables
take the place of spinach with a
menacing person called “Pop Eye.”
The government, through WPA, will
print a hook on what to eat and how
to eat it. One well known New York
physician ventures the opinion that
spinach contains an objectionable
amount of “vegetable uric acid."
The English, horrified by Italian
bombing in Ethiopia, would he Inter
ested, if they have forgotten about it,
to see photographs of one big Egyp
tian city after British warships had
finished its bombardment. It was an
exceptionally complete Job, nothing
left standing.
A twenty year-old Poughkeepsie girl,
"from the other side of the tracks,”
working for $0 a week, was invited
by a young man to get into Ids auto
mobile. "Want to go somewhere for a
drink, baby?” was the Invitation for
mula. In the morning the unfortunate
girl was found in the man’s car In a
garage, dead, horribly mistreated and
beaten to death. The excuse for men
tioning so dreadful a crime is that it
ought to warn all girls foolish enough
to accept Invitations from unknown
men.
New Jersey says the execution of
Hauptmann, close at hand, will be no
theatrical show. No woman reporter
will be allowed to witness Haupt
mann’s death, an excellent Idea, al
though some young ladies will not
think so. Female reporters, let us
hope, will have babies later on. Watch
ing a miserable creature writhing In
the electric chair would not be good
for the babies, although science no
longer believes in prenatal influences,
as Voltaire did.
<gt King Features Syndicate, lac.
WNU Service.
Arthur II rim hit tit*
AAA Is Killed by Decision
of the Supreme Court
S IX Justices of the United States
Supreme court, Including Chief
Justice Hughes, joined in an opinion
that killed the Agricultural Adjust
ment act. Three as
sociate justices, Stone,
Brandeis and Cardozo,
dissented. The major
ity decision, read by
Associate J ustice
Owen J. Roberts, held
that the AAA was
wholly unconstitution
al because it invaded
the rights of the states
in seeking to control
farm production. The
whole system of proc
essing taxes Imposed
to finance the program was swept into
discard.
Not only are the processing taxes
Illegal but the court apparently de
clared fhe farm benefit contracts void
and put up bars against any attempt
of the federal government to regulate
farm production by whatever means.
Senators and representatives who
Immediately began planning legislation
to continue benefit payments to farm
ers and to balance agricultural output
did not seem to grasp the full signi
ficance of this part of the decision.
The court said flatly that regulation
of fti rm production is not within the
scope of the federal government and
of Its powers to accomplish this, nor
can It purchase adherence to a control
scheme by federal payments.
The decision destroyed not only the
original AAA but also the amended act
of the last session of congress.
The dissenting opinion held that the
AAA was a legitimate employment of
the power to tax for the general wel
fare. It attacked the theory that the
preservation of our institutions is the
exclusive concern of the Supreme court
and suggested that under the majority
decision the unemployment work relief
act Is unconstitutional.
President Roosevelt, Secretary of
Agriculture Wallace and other admin
istration leaders had no immediate
comment on the decision to make pub
lic, hut the President called Attorney
General Cummings and Mr, Wallace In
to conference. The administration and
congress must do something to raise
nearly half a billion dollars which the
government lias contracted to pay
farmers and against which it now has
no income, since the processing Impost
Is outlawed. Disposition of about $200,-
000,000 accumulated under court orders
that Impounded processing tax collec
tions must he determined.
AAA Administrator Chester Davis
stopped nil payments to farmers “until
further notice," and the Treasury de
partment ordered nil collectors of in
ternal revenue to desist from further
efforts to collect processing taxes.
In his budget message President
Roosevelt Included revenue from
processing taxes, so the Supreme court
decision had the effect of throwing the
1917 budget still further out of bal
ance by something like a billion dol
lars.
President’s Message Is a
Defiance of Opponents
OURROUNDED by klieg lights, nil-
crophones and movie cameras,
President Roosevelt stood before the
senate and house In night joint session
and delivered what
was nominally his an
nual message on the
state of the nation.
Actually it was not
that at all, but a
statement concerning
the warfare and in
ternational d i s t ti r-
bunces on the other
continents, followed
by what the press
generally considered
an eloquent and mili
tant political speech
addressed to the people of the United
States, who by the millions were listen
ing in on their radios. Partisan opin
ion of his message is perhaps worth
less. Of course his supporters praised
it highly, and his opponents were
equally emphatic in derogation.
Democrats and Republicans alike
commended the President’s opening
paragraphs In which he boldly con
demned the aggression of Italy and
Japan, though without naming those
nations; and there was little dissent
from his assertion that the United
States must maintain its neutrality
while seeking to “discourage the use by
belligerent nations of any and alt
American products calculated to facil
itate the prosecution of a war In quan
tities over and above our normal ex
ports to them in time of peace.”
The remainder of the message, de
voted to domestic affairs, was devoted
chiefly to a belligerently worded de
fense of the New Deal measures of the
administration, an attack on those who
oppose them and a spirited passage
In which Mr. Roosevelt defied and
dared his critics to move for the re
peal of those measures instead of
“hiding their dissent in a cowardly
cloak of generality.” In only two
paragraphs did the President dwell on
“the state of the nation.” In these
he said that after nearly three years
of the New Deal national income is
President
Roosevelt
increasing, agriculture and industry
are “returning to full activity,” and
“we approach a balance of the national
budget” That last statement was
greeted with mocking laughter from
the Republican side of the chamber,
and though the Democrats cheered
loudly, Mr. Roosevelt himself smiled
at his words.
One passage in the message was In
terpreted by some as a threat to close
the lower courts to suits attacking the
constitutionality of federal laws. The
I’resident told congress that its enact
ments require “protection until final
adjudication by the highest tribunal,”
and added that congress “has the right
and can find the means to protect its
own prerogatives.”
Altogether, the spectacle in the house
chamber was extraordinary and un-
paralled. All the senators and repre
sentatives were there, the latter being
remarkably noisy. Eight members of
the cabinet attended, and in the gal
leries sat Mrs. Roosevelt, the wives of
cabinet members, diplomats and enough
other privileged persons to fill the seats
completely. Vice I’resident Garner and
Speaker Byrns jointly presided over
the session.
The President’s message was de
nounced by the American Liberty
league as “the most dangerous speech
that ever came from a President,” and
by Former President Herbert Hoover
as a message of “ ‘war on earth and
ill will among men.’”
Senator Joseph T. Robinson, Demo
cratic leader, struck back at the Pres
ident's critics in a statement declaring
that If the President had recited the
Ten Commandments he would have
been accused of having ulterior mo
tives. He repeated the challenge of
the President to his critics to repeal
New Deal legislation.
Secretary of Labor Perkins
Praises Year’s Doings
S ECRETARY of Labor Frances Per
kins found In the developments of
the last year much of
American workingman,
report she cited these
five great advance
ments for labor:
1. Unemployment
compensation, accom
plished through the
social security act.
2. Old-age security,
brought about also by
the social security act.
8. Establishment of
boards for settling in
dustrial disputes lo
cally.
4. Greater co-opera-
tlou between the states and the Labor
department, through regional confer
ences.
5. Development of the United States-
employment service.
Even the large number of strikes
during 1935 could be viewed with some
satisfaction by her, for she said they
were “due in part to the natural expec
tation of labor to share in the early
fruits of business improvement.”
For the future Miss Perkins envi
sioned a minimum wage law, a short
work week of perhaps 40 hours, com
pensation insurance, and strict regula
tion of machinery to prevent industrial
accidents.
Budget Message Shows
Billion Dollar Deficit
I N ills message to congress submit
ting his approved budget for the
1997 fiscal year, beginning July 1 next,
President Roosevelt followed the dou
ble system of accounting his admin
istration lias always employed—one set
of books for regular expenditures and
Income and another set for emergency
spending and appropriations. He as
sorted that receipts from all sources in
tlie next fiscal year will aggregate an
estimated $5,054,000,000. Expenditures
for all regular government departments
are estimated at $5,049,000,000. So
the “regular” budget will be in balance,
with a surplus of $5,000,000.
But the message went on to say, af
ter explaining that the regular gov
ernment books will show fiscal affairs
in the black, ns to Income and outgo,
they will show red to the extent of $1,-
109,000,000 in works-relief spending, less
the $5,000,1X10 "surplus,” this leaving
t lie new appropriation for further
works-relief open for at least two
months.
That figure of $1,109,000,000 repre
sents the President’s estimate of unex
pended balances on July 1 from the '
$4,880,01X1,000 and previous emergency
appropriations. It does not take into
account probable new appropriations
for similar purposes yet to be deter
mined.
Guffey Coal Act Again Is
Declared Invalid
O NCE more the Guffey coal act has
been declared unconstitutional,
this time by Federal Judge John P.
Barnes of Chicago. He granted to a
local coal company a temporary In
junction to restrain federal officials
from collecting a portion of the taxes
imposed under the law.
The Injunction is to remain In force
pending a ruling by the United States
Supreme court on similar suits brought
by the Carter Coal company in Wash
ington, D. C., and by the Tway Coal
company in Louisville, Ky.
benefit for the
In her annual
Secretary
Perkins
Lindberghs Are Quietly
Living in Wales
C LOSELY guarded by police, Col. and
Mrs. Charles A. Lindbergh and
their son, Jon, are now established at
Llandaff, Wales, in the home of J.
Llewellyn Morgan, kinsman by mar
riage of Mrs. Lindbergh. They had
traveled by automobile from Liverpool,
where they landed, and elaborate pre
cautions were taken to protect them
en route.
It was reported In Madrid that ne
gotiations had been started on behalf
of Colonel Lindbergh for the purchase
of a small estate near Gerona, border
ing on Spain’s famous “Costa Brava"
j on the Mediterranean. It has also been
| rumored that the Lindberghs intend to
return to the United States in a few
months. The colonel himself Is com
pletely reticent about his plans.
What Ickes Thinks of
Critics of New Deal
H AROLD L. ICKES, In his capacity
of administrator of the PWA,
went to Brooklyn to take part In the
ceremony of breaking ground for the
$12,783,000 Williams
burg slum clearance
project, and took the
opportunity to speak
very harshly about
those who oppose the
New Deal, dubbing
them “the coupon clip
ping gentry,” “the
Lord Plushbottoms of
the club windows,”
and “reactionists” who
“shout that enlight
ened progress is un
constitutional.”
“The slum is hut one vicious product
of that old order whose passing, we
hope, is at hand," Mr. Ickes said, “I
refer to the old order of special priv
ilege, the creator and upholder of a
social system containing vicious con
trasts of opulence and squalor that
have shamed the democracy of our own
times. Its day in America is facing
the westerning sun, but the harsh
cracklings of its senile prophets are
still heard in opposition to every pro
gressive proposal; predicting disaster
for every humanitarian attempt to
ameliorate the lot of the least fortu
nate of our people.
“There are those who take an al
most sadistic delight in dashing the
hopes of our underprivileged citizens
by ill-advisedly proclaiming that the
public housing program of PWA Is a
failure. The facts prove the contrary.
Somewhere a housing program had to
be started. The federal government
took the initiative.
“We have 47 active projects on our
demonstration program, all under con
struction. Eleven thousand persons
are already enjoying the splendid mod
ern accommodations of limited divi
dend housing projects financed by
PWA, and the first federal develop
ments will be occupied early in the
spring.”
Great Britain Sending
More Men to Africa
TUST before Foreign Secretary An-
•J thony Eden goes to Geneva to at
tend the January 20 meeting of the
League of Nations council, the British
government will decide on its proposals
for extension of the sanctions against
Italy to include oil, coal, iron and steel.
But the cabinet is not waiting for this
to prepare for eventualities. It has
suddenly decided to strengthen greatly
its armed forces in Africa and has
taken over several liners for the Medi
terranean troop transport service. The
Scythia already has sailed with troops
and guns, probably for Alexandria,
Egypt, and others are to follow soon.
Haile Selassie Protests
Use of Poison Gas
C'ROM his field headquarters In
* Dess.ve Emperor Haile Selassie sent
to the League of Nations a vigorous
protest against the war methods of
the Invading Italians. The emperor
charged specifically that Italian flyers,
in raining explosives on the southern
army of his son-in-law, Ras Desta
Denitu, near Dolo, used poison gas and
destroyed a Swedish Red Cross am
bulance laden with sick and wounded.
A special meeting of the Swedish
Red Cross was held in Stockholm to
take action in this matter.
The Italian government in Rome as
serted the aerial bombardment was
fully justified by the alleged behead
ing of two Italian aviators by the
Ethiopians after the flyers had crashed
at Daggah Bur in Ogaden. The com
munique also said it was well known
that "Ethiopian chieftains take shelter
under Red Cross signs when they see
Italian airplanes.”
New Tax Levies That Are
Now in Effect
N EW tax levies of more than $350,-
01X1.000 a year went into effect on
New Year's day, these being the result
of delayed tax rates passed at the last
session of congress. The heaviest Is
from the unemployment insurance and
old age pensions act, which is expect
ed to raise about $240.00b,000 in taxes
on Industrial payrolls. Other new
taxes include:
Raising of individual returns, $50,-
900,000.
Corporation tax boost. $40,000,000.
Gift tax Increase, $25,000,000.
Intercorporate tax levy, $30,000,000.
Twelve Lost in Crash
of British Air Liner
'T'WELVE persons, nine of them pas-
-*■ sengers, perished when the Im
perial Airways liner City of Khartoum
crashed in the Mediterranean off Alex
andria, Egypt The only survivor was
Pilot Vernon G. Wilson, who was
taken from the water in a critical con
dition. Among the victims was one
American, James C. Luke of Phila
delphia, an oil engineer.
W ashington. — President Roosevelt
has told congress that he wants it to
finish its labors and
Expect adjourn in short
Long Session order. He has fig
ured that about three
months ought to give the members suf
ficient time to mull over the problems
that confront them and that they then
should return to their several homes.
But the President is doomed to disap
pointment if he sincerely believes that
he can get congress out of the Capital
by the end of March. The best guess
right now is that the congress will be
in session at least four months and,
it is well within the range of possi
bilities that it will remain in session
almost to the time of the national
conventions.
There are a number of factors that
make realization of the President’s
early adjournment wish impossible of
realization. Probably the most Influen
tial of these is the fact that this is
a campaign year. Every member of
the house and one-third of fhe senate,
along with Mr. Roosevelt himself, are
affected by the election date and poli
tics must have its turn. Every four
years this same condition obtains and
every four years politicians do about
the same things in furtherance of theif
own political interests. The bulk of
fhe legislation to he considered has
Its political tinge. Politics even creep
into the annual appropriation < bills—
and usually the result is a swelling of
fhe totals in order that some gears of
Individual political machines may be
oiled just a bit for smooth running in
the campaign.
While the appropriation bills are Im
portant from a political standpoint,
their weight in this session of con
gress sinks rather below par because
there are such things as the bonus
for the World war veterans, the Town
send old age pension plan, various
New Deal reform measures and such
replacement legislation as may be
necessary since the Supreme court
kicked over New Deal propositions like
the Agricultural Adjustment act with
its processing taxes and sundry other
schemes. However the Roosevelt lead
ers in congress may desire to act, the
machinery of legislation can be run
only so fast in an election year.
* * *
One of the chief reasons why a con
gressional session in an election year
drags on longer than
Seek usual is because of
Publicity the publicity value
the sessions have for
Individual representatives and senators.
Members of congress discovered a hun
dred years ago that the chambers of
the house and senate constituted splen
did sounding boards for the dissemina
tion of political views. There has
beeen Increasing use of this poten
tiality as the years have gone by until
now the older members of the house
and senate have become very adept in
capitalizing on this factor, it takes no
stretch of the imagination to discover
that a senator or representative, speak
ing from the floor of his respective
chamber, gets much more publicity
than his opponent back home who talks
only as a private citizen. It is per
fectly natural, therefore, that those
members seeking re-election want to
take full advantage of the publicity
vehicle available to them in Wash
ington.
The use of this publicity weapon
is available to opponents of the New
Deal as well as to its supporters.
While the approaching election may be
expected to knit the house Democrats
more closely into a unified front for
the November election, the same con
dition is not true in the senate. In
that body, there are a number of old-
line Democrats who do not like the
New Deal and who are going to utilize
every available opportunity to make
their record as Democrats as complete
as it is possible to do before they must
speak to the home folks in person. It
is obvious that such men as Senator
Carter Glass, of Virginia, cannot de
sert the Democratic ticket and run for
re-election independently. So it Is to he
expected that men of this type will
establish for themselves a comprehen
sive outline of their political beliefs
as Democrats while distinguishing
their position from that known as the
New Deal. They must look to the fu
ture when, according to all indications,
they feel the party machinery will
again be controlled by the Jeffersonian
type of Democrat instead of by the
reform type of Democrat headed by
men and women with the New Deal
outlook.
• • •
An additional factor operating in the
senate is the presence of two Repub-
_ . ican Presidential pos-
I wo More sibilities in the per-
Factors sons of Senator Wil
liam E. Borah of
Idaho and Arthur H. Vandenberg of
Michigan. Senator Borah is actively
seeking pledged delegates to the Repub
lican national convention. Senator Van
denberg says he Is not a candidate, but
the well-known bee is buzzing around
and there are many observers who think
that Senator Vandenberg is hoping
that, in case of a convention stalemate”
the assembled delegates may riot and
turn to him as the nominee.
Such a condition means, as it has
meant before, that these two men will
desire to see all of the political Issues
aired In congressional debates. It is
only natural and logical as well that
the Republican minority in the house
and senate will seek to foment as
much debate as possible in order to
obtain a record of what the majority
party thinks or proposes to do if re
turned to power.
In all respects, the session will be the
most political, therefore, since Mr.
Roosevelt took office. His Presidential
message on the state of the Union al
ready is being kicked back and forth
and picked to pieces in the preliminary
campaign gunfire. There Is simply no
way by which this situation can be
avoided. The opening of congress
was the opening of the 1936 cam
paign.
* • *
In an earlier letter, I reported to
you concerning the question of a
neutrality policy and
Congress declared at that time
May Stall that it was the most
important Item to
come before the current session. It re
mains so. I believe the situation is
even more delicate than in my earlier
anaylsis of this problem and it may
well be that congress will stall along
In reaching a decision on this policy in
order to give foreign developments an
opportunity to manifest themselves fur
ther. The administration apparently Is
willing to let congress work out the
legislation without much interference
but the leaders realize that a decision
will be difficult as long as foreign
maneuvers continue to present an al
most daily change in the scenery.
Reference is made to the neutrality
question here because it is one of the
things entering Into the combination
that will cause a longer session than
the President wishes.
There seems to be no doubt that
passage of a bill to pay the soldiers’
bonus at an early date will be accom
plished in this session. Likewise, there
is hardly the shadow of a doubt that
if congress passes such legislation and
Mr. Roosevelt vetoes It, the bill will
be passed over the veto. It is a cam
paign year and It is not a good time
for politicians to antagonize an br-
ganization with the vast membership
of the American Legion or the other
groups of ex-service men. This legis
lation will not contribute much to the
length of the session but in all such
cases representatives and senators
must make their speeches and be on
record as to why they voted for or
against a bill.
The Townsend plan cannot get any
where In the current session. I do
not mean that it will be dodged as a
subject of discussion. This is impos
sible. There will be plenty of debate
on it. In the end, however, it will be
sidetracked.
Then, there was a flock of Infla
tionary schemes due to horn In on the
parade as the session moves forward.
Farm mortgage refinancing is one
of them. It is unfortunate that the in
flationists—those who are willing to
prostitute the currency in any manner
—are leading in this fight.
* * *
In all probability, also, the current
session of congress will be called upon
w . . to meet some prob-
Waiting iems resulting from
Decisions adverse decisions by
the Supreme Court of
the United States. The court has be
fore it any number of cases Involving
New Deal policies, including such as
the AAA, the TV A with its Tennessee
Valley power yardstick, the attempt to
regulate wages and hours of labor un
der the Guffey coal hill known as the
Little NRA, and a half dozen other
policy propositions. It seems unlikely,
although no one can guess, that all of
these measures will he held constitu
tional. If any are held invalid, nat
urally the President will ask congress
to draft new legislation.
As a sample of the political aspect
of the current session, one can sight
the furor that was stirred up when
President Roosevelt delivered his mas
sage on the state of the Union to a
night session of congress. Except for
one instance, Presidents always have
delivered or sent their message to con
gress at noon of a day after the session
has had two or three meetings. Mr.Roose-
vent chose to get his message to con
gress on the very first day of the cur
rent session but In order to do it and
allow for consummation of the usual
routine of the opening day, it was
necessary to hold a joint session at
night.
The White House announcement of
tiffs decision immediately precipitate 1
a biting demand from Henry P.
Fletcher, Republican national chair
man. Mr. Fletcher charged that since
the President’s speech was being de
livered “out of hours” and was being
broadcast to potentially the greatest
radio audience ever to listen to a
Presidential message of this kind, the
broadcasting companies must agree to
allocate time for the Republicans to
answer it. The Republican chairman
asserted that the message was reduced
to the “common level of a political
speech” and so he demanded for the
opposition the right to analyze it from
the opposition standpoint through fhe
same number of radio stations and to
potentially the same radio audience.
/ © Western Newspaper Union.