HEARD around the
NATIONAL
JC Carter API TAL Field \
Washington.—In refusing even to
admit that there is a possibility of
more new taxes, despite the obvious
necessity for either more revenue
or less spending, senators and rep¬
resentatives, not to say administra¬
tion officials, are not as stupid as
some critics seem to think.
There is a reason as big as a
house for what they are doing, and
it has nothing to do with the mental
processes that are supposed to in¬
duce an ostrich to bury its head in
the sand in the presence of danger.
The men who have the final say
on this know perfectly well that
the next revenue bill, if it is going
to provide anything like the amount
of money needed, must hit the
smaller incomes. As predicted at
the time, the new revenue law now
on the books has made tax evasion
a fine art. Also, there is a law
of diminishing returns, even in taxes
on wealth.
For example, a very high income
tax on the upper brackets is re¬
markably effective in discouraging
gambling, even business gambling.
It has restricted gambling in stocks
and commodities far more probably
than all the securities and exchange
commission’s restrictions, effective
as they have been.
Which may be a fine thing, but
that is not the point. The point is
that a man with a substantial for¬
tune, while he still retains the na¬
tural human desire to increase it,
looks at any new venture more
coldly than in the olden days. If
he loses, the government has noth¬
ing to say, but if he wins he has
to give up more than half his profits
to the Treasury. So he takes fewer
chances, plays more sure things, is
satisfied with a much smaller re¬
turn on his money, and puts more
and more of his money in tax ex¬
empt bonds. Then to balance the
danger that inflation would hurt him
in that direction, he is apt to buy
some land, not looking for immedi¬
ate return, but just as a hedge
against the possibility of his dollars
being worth less.
Tax Returns Disappoint
All of which is part of the explana¬
tion of why, with business tremen¬
dously better last year, and with
a wonderful crop of dividends, the
income tax returns of March 15
were so disappointing.
The other part of the explana¬
tion, congress and the administra¬
tion realize, is that considerably
more of the total crop of dividends
goes to small income peo'ple than
had been thought. Treasury experts
knew this from previous figures,
but their comments on the tax plan
last year were ignored, for the most
part, though attention was called
to them while the bill was under
consideration.
So to get the money that the
Treasury must have, unless spend¬
ing is to be curtailed more drastical¬
ly than any one familiar with the
political situation really expects,
tougher levies must be made on
the little incomes: Exemptions must
be reduced and rates on the little
fellows must be boosted.
But that is terrible politics and
every one knows it. Senator Robert
M. LaFollette of Wisconsin is one
of the few who have had the political
courage to advocate it.
So—if it can be postponed in one
way or another until after the 1938
election—or at least so that the re¬
turns will not have to be made un¬
til after that election—it might pre¬
vent quite a few defeats of house
members and of the senators who
then come up for re-election. Actual
prospects are, however, that the
wolf just won’t stay away from the
door as long as that.
Third Term Talk
There is more and more talk about
a third term for Franklin D. Roose¬
velt. More and more, the talk about
other Democrats, such as Governor
George H. Earle of Pennsylvania,
Paul V. McNutt of Indiana and Sec¬
retary of Agriculture Henry A. Wal¬
lace is subsiding.
There is no real question in any¬
one’s mind that popular prejudice
against a third term is not of suffi¬
cient importance to interfere. If Mr.
Roosevelt decides not to run it will
not be because of any objection to
violating that old tradition. It will
be for some other reason or reasons.
It just so happens that he rather
enjoys breaking traditions.
Nor is there any doubt that the
President could easily be renominat¬
ed and re-elected, if the election
were this fall instead of in 1940.
There is not the slightest evidence
of any diminution of his popular
strength. Most senators are of the
opinion that if the Supreme court
enlargement plan were merely a
device originating on Capitol hill,
and on which the President had said
publicly that he considered this a
matter for congress to work out,
there would not be a handful of
public sentiment for it.
They contend that it is the enor¬
mous popularity of the President
that is going to put the court plan
over, if it is put over, despite ob¬
jections so strong as to have
smashed party lines.
As a matter of fact it did not
take a Franklin D. Roosevelt to
topple the third term tradition over.
Calvin Coolidge today does not have
the prestige he enjoyed during his
lifetime, but no one who remem¬
bers the state of affairs when the
Republicans held their convention
at Kansas City in 1928, and in the
months preceding that gathering,
when delegates were being selected,
doubts that Coolidge could have had
that nomination by crooking his
finger.
Watch Reactions
The third term tradition began to
wither back in the Theodore Roose¬
velt administration. Few now be¬
lieve it had anything to do with
the fact that Woodrow Wilson de¬
feated Roosevelt and William How¬
ard Taft in the 1912 election. There
was some talk about it, naturally,
from the Taft orators, but Taft’s
prestige with the voters was at a
very low ebb, and many Republi¬
cans who supported Taft regretted
afterwards that they had not all
united behind Roosevelt to defeat
Wilson.
The interesting thing to watch now
is the reactions of those Democrats,
particularly in the South, who in
their hearts have not agreed with
the New Deal, but who have gone
along largely because of party reg¬
ularity. Many of them have had
very definite ideas about changing
some of the economic slants of the
Democratic party at the next na¬
tional convention, and nominating
some one more in sympathy with
their own ideas.
It is rather obvious that 1944 is
too far off for most of them to wait.
Naturally there is nothing for them
to do right now, so long as party
regularity retains its present im¬
portance in their minds. And there
is not much ground for suspecting
any change in that direction.
But it is well within the realm of
possibility that they may make up
their minds shortly that they will
fight against a third term for the
New Deal. Which may lead to more
of the sort of insurgence that has
characterized the actions of such
senators as Carter Glass and Harry
F. Byrd of Virginia, Josiah W.
Bailey of North Carolina, Millard
E. Tydings of Maryland, and Walter
F. George of Georgia.
Russia for Peace
While eager for any disarmament
conference that the United States
may propose, or that any other na¬
tion may suggest for that matter,
the Soviet Republic, Secretary of
State Cordell Hull has been unoffi¬
cially informed, believes for the mo¬
ment that the best guarantee of
peace in the eastern hemisphere is
the strength of the fighting forces
of the U. S. S. R.
As every one interested in world
diplomacy knows, much of the talk
of the “next war” centers around
the idea of Japan and Germany
fighting Russia. Soviet officials be¬
lieve that as long as their country
remains strong enough so that Ger¬
man and Japanese spies continue
to report its resisting qualities, just
so long may “Der Tag” be post¬
poned.
“The question of speed and fight¬
ing ability of planes alone is a good
illustration,” one friend of Moscow
said to Secretary Hull the other
day: “Any German expert, with
the material the Hitler secret serv¬
ice has been able to obtain, can
figure out very quickly that there
just might be considerable danger
in any move against the Soviet. It
might not be over quickly and vic¬
toriously, which of course is the
only kind of war any country
wants.”
Officials here are smiling, dis¬
creetly, over a retort made by a
friend of the Soviet at a recent re¬
ception in London, which was quick¬
ly relayed to this country by grape¬
vine.
The Easterner was asked by a
distinguished attache of the British
Foreign office why his government
had concentrated such a huge force
in its maritime provinces.
“My government is anxious to
preserve peace,” said the Russian.
“We are willing to go to great
lengths in that direction—even to
removing temptation from possible
victims. We realize fully the weak¬
ness of the Japanese for invading
any unprotected territory. They
don’t seem to be able to resist it.
So we thought if we put a powerful
force out there we would be con¬
tributing to the cause of peace on
earth.”
French Not Fooled
Incidentally the French do not
take seriously all the recent pro¬
paganda — since the rout of the
Franco forces at Guadalajara —
about the Italian soldiers’ lack of
fighting ability. They have been
chuckling about it, naturally, es¬
pecially since the flight of the Italian
regiments has been played up so in
the newspapers. One cartoon showed
an Italian officer protesting to II
Duce saying that it was not “fair”
to put them up against an opposing
army which also had planes and
tanks. All of which shows that Italy
did not win as much prestige by
her Ethiopian victory as she prob¬
ably believed.
But the French make the point
that this behavior of Italian soldiers
in Spain does not mean anything.
They insist that many of the Italians
did not want to go to Spain, that
many did not even know they were
going to Spain until they were land¬
ed there. The French claim to have
reports that the Italians in many
instances are eager to surrender,
not having any heart in the fight.
© BelkSyndicatt.—W/ aLT Service,
CLEVELAND COURIER
UNCOI* IMON
AMERI CANS
■ A W
By Elmo ffl Western
Scot.t Watson Newspaper
Union
Father of the Dime Novel
A FEW years before the open
ing of the Civil war a printer
in Buffalo, N. Y., began issuing a
magazine called the Youth’s Casket
and a little later another, called
the Home Monthly. Neither was
much of a success. More success¬
ful was his brother who ran a
newsstand and began selling songs
on single pages in much the same
fashion as the ballad-hawkers of an
earlier day. Then the printer broth¬
er published a number of thes-» songs
in a pamphlet called “The Dime
Song Book” and it sold so well that
they decided to move to New York
city and publish other books for ten
cents.
Thus it was that a great Ameri¬
can institution was born, for these
brothers were Erastus F. and Ir¬
win P. Beadle and they were the
“Fathers of the Dime Novel.” They
took into partnership another na¬
tive of Buffalo, Robert Adams, and
for the next three decades there
came from the presses of Beadle
and Company and Beadle and Ad¬
ams a perfect flood of little books
(the Pocket Library, the Half-Dime
Library and the Dime Library) to
thrill the souls of American boys
and to fill the hearts of American
parents with fear that their sons
were being corrupted beyond all
hope by these “yellow-backs.”
How groundless that fear was is
shown by the fact that some of the
most distinguished Americans of to¬
day grew up on a reading diet of
Beadle’s dime novels. Exciting and
thrilling those stories may have
been (opening, as so many of them
did, with “Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three shots rang out and another
redskin bit the dust”) but they were
also highly moral. For the Villain
was always foiled, Virtue always
triumphed and it is doubtful if a
single boy ever was ruined by read¬
ing one of them.
Irwin Beadle retired from the
firm in 1862, Robert Adams died in
1866, and his two younger broth¬
ers, William and David, succeeded
him. With them as partners Eras¬
tus Beadle carried the dime novel
to the heights of its success. He
continued in the business until -889.
Then he retired with a fortune built
up by the dimes and nickels of
Young America. He died in 1894—
too early to realize that certain of
the little "yellow backs” which he
sold for a dime would later sell for
hundreds of dollars because they
are “Americana” and “collectors’
items”!
She Wanted to Be President
^ C HE wanted to be President of
the United States but if ever
there was a forlorn hope it was
that ambition of Victoria Clafin
Woodhull.
She started under the handicap of
being born in Ohio to a family that
was not only poor but disreputable.
Arid neither she nor her sister,
Tennessee Clafin (or “Tennie C.”
as she wrote it) ever tried to re¬
trieve the family reputation. In¬
stead, both of them added several
shocking items to Puritanical Amer¬
ica’s low estimate of the Clafins.
For one thing they went in for spir¬
itualism and, what was worse, they
became free love advocates.
Victoria first married Dr. Can¬
ning Woodhull but soon discarded
him for Col. James H. Blood, a
handsome and distinguished Civil
war veteran and a kindred spirit,
whom she later married. Tennes¬
see went to New York and won the
admiration of Commodore Vander¬
bilt who set her and her sister up
as brokers. Having thus entered
the business world, the sisters set
out to prove that women were just
as capable as men in other lines
of activity.
They began publishing Woodhull
and Clafin’s Weexly and with it
Victoria started her own “boom”
for President. She ran for that
high office on a platform of wom¬
en’s rights—and kept right on run¬
ning for many years. She went to
Washington and appeared before
the judiciary committee of the
house of representatives to demand
the right to vote. Of course, she
failed to win that right just as she
failed to get anyone ^to take her
Presidential candidacy^ seriously.
So she finally gave up the at¬
tempt, discarded Colonel Blood and
went to England where she acquired
another husband, as did her sister.
Then both of them disowned free
love, won their way into English
society and for many years pub¬
lished a magazine devoted to ad¬
vanced views on many subjects.
Eventually Victoria settled down
into a placid existence as the Lady
Bountiful of a small town in Wor¬
cestershire and became known as
“a social reformer who suffered for
views now generally accepted.”
When she died in 1927 at -he age of
ninety, the vicar who preached her
funeral sermon told his hearers,
“We have been privileged to have
had one of the world’s greatest per¬
sonalities among us”!
Parading the Fashions
A STYLE show De Luxe for De
** Ladies on this De Lightful
Spring day!
Betty Ann feels just a bit the
most elegant of the three for her
housecoat is superlative. She has
“skirts” like the ladies in the
feminine yesterdays; her basque
is form-fitting; her sash has a
bow, and her sleeves puff.
Mama, very young for her
years, can not resist styles that
bring more compliments her way.
The no-belt feature of this one is
definitely new, and does wonders
for the figure a bit past the slim
stage. The continuing collar,
which in soft pastels is always
flattering, gives the break re¬
quired by the all-in-one waist and
skirt. The fitted top and flaring
bottom make for style plus com¬
fort, a demand matrons, even
though youthful, always make.
Winifred on the left is privately
‘ YOUR. MONEY BACK -. \ the full purchase price, plus postage! (If live in
IF SWITCH/NS TO POS7UM Canada, address General you
DOESN'T HELP YOU[ _/ Foods, Ltd., Cobourg, Ont.)
Give Postum a fair trial.. .drink it for the full 30 days!
Postum contains no caffein. It is simply whole wheat
V_VDS If you are one of those who cannotsafely and bran, roasted and slightly sweetened. Postum
/ jL_ drink coffee... try Postum’s 30-day test. comes in two forms...Postum Cereal, the kind you
Buy a can of Postum at your grocer’s boil or percolate...and Instant Postum, made instantly
and drink it instead of coffee for one full month. in the cup. It is economical, easy to make and deli¬
If...after 30 days ...you do not feel better, return cious. You may miss coffee at first, but after 30 days,
the top of the Postum container to General Foods, you’ll love Postum for its own rich, full-bodied flavor.
Battle Creek, Michigan, and we will cheerfully refund A General Foods product.
Copr. 1937, King Features Syndicate, G. F. Corp. Licensee (This offer expires December 31. 1937.)
making up her mind to have a
housecoat, too; though she is
mightily pleased with the way her
print has turned out. She chose
this style because the fitted, brok¬
en waist line and front seamed
skirt are so very slenderizing.
She’s on her way to the 4-H meet¬
ing now and has only stopped
to remind Betty Ann of the picnic
“The Jolly Twelve” are having on
Tuesday.
Pattern 1285 comes in sizes. 12-
20 (30 to 40). Size 14 requires 3%
yards of 39 inch material.
. 81
wanvmm ‘
“unkr‘omm ' ¢ ‘
Pattern 1282 is for sizes 14-20
(32 to 44 bust). Size 16 requires
5% yards of 39 inch material. It
requires 2'A yards of ribbon for
tie belt.
Pattern 1983 is for sizes 36 to 50.
Size 38 requires 5% yards of 39
inch material. With the short
sleeves it requires only 5 yards
of 39 inch material.
Send your order to The Sewing
Circle Pattern Dept., Room 1020,
211 W. Wacker Dr., Chicago, 111.
Price of patterns, 15 cents (in
coins) each.
© Bell Syndicate.-WNU Service.
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