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News Review of Current
Events the World Over
Effect of Wagner Act Validation on National Labor Policy
and Supreme Court Controversy—President
Orders Curtailment of Expenditures.
By EDWARD W. PICKARD
© Western Newspaper Union.
VALIDATION of the Wagner act
’ brought the administration up
against the necessity of formulating
a new national labor policy to pre-
vent strikes and to
determine what
course shall be fol
lowed when collec
tive bargaining is
unsuccessful. For
this purpose Secre
tary of Labor Per
kins invited 33 lead
ers of industry and
labor to attend pri
vate meetings in
Washington, stating
they would be asked
to discuss the need
Sec. Perkins
of new safeguards for industry to
balance the gains achieved by la
bor under the Wagner act. Among
those Madame Perkins invited were
William Green, president of the
American Federation of Labor;
John L. Lewis, chairman of the
Committee for Industrial Organiza
tion; Myron C. Taylor, board chair
man of United States Steel corpora
tion; Gerard Swope, board chair
man of General Electric corpora
tion; Harper Sibley, president of
the United States Chamber of Com
merce, and government officials.
Certain of the President’s advis
ers have told him a law requiring
the incorporation of labor unions
should be passed; or that at least
there should be a law similar to the
British trades union act which pro
vides that all union funds must be
accounted for to the government
and that unions cannot participate
in sympathy or general strikes.
Organized labor always has op
posed any such legislation and prob
ably would continue to fight against
it.
John L. Lewis thinks one result
of the Wagner act decisions may
be the abandonment of the sit-down
strike, though this, he says, depends
on the attitude taken by employers
in the operation of the act. “Under
the court’s decision,” says Lewis,
“workers now have machinery for
adjudication of disputes and the
making of contracts with employers.
Everything depends on the attitude
of employers, who showed no dis
disposition to be generous although
the right of labor to gather together
for its protection had been conceded
for a lifetime.”
II OW does the upholding of the
* Wagner labor relations act af
fect the battle over the President's
plan to enlarge the Supreme court?
That question arose at once on an
nouncement of the decisions and re
ceived various answers. Opponents
of the President’s bill declared the
necessity for such a measure, if it
ever existed, was entirely removed
by this showing of liberal tendencies
by a majority of the court; and
many supporters of Mr. Roosevelt
admitted that some compromise
such as the appointment of two new
justices instead of six, might be
advisable. But the President him
self let it be known that he wished
his program pushed through without
modification. The favorable ma
jority of one, created by the shift
of Justice Roberts, did not seem to
him safe enough.
This position of the President was
taken also by some of his cabinet
members. Secretary of Agriculture
Wallace declared that agriculture
could expect nothing from the Su
preme court as now' constituted, and
urged American farmers to give the
Roosevelt plan their earnest sup
port.
Attorney General Cummings de
clared that the four justices who dis
sented from the court's decision
that the Wagner act is constitution
al still constitute a “battalion of
death” and will continue to oppose
all major New Deal social legisla
tion.
John L. Lewis, head of the C. I.
0., asserted the Supreme court had
demonstrated its “instability” anew
and that the Wagner act decisions
only made more imperative the
need for enlarging the court.
genator James Hamilton Lewis of
Illinois, whip of the senate, predict
ed that the President’s court plan
would emerge from the judiciary
committee “a much compromised,
amended and generally trans
formed measure.”
CHIEFS of executive depart
ments. independent officers and
other spending units of the govern
ment were called on by President
Roosevelt to reduce expenditures up
to the end of the fiscal year June 30.
In his letter to them the President
said:
“It is apparent at this time that
the revenues of the government for
the present year will be materially
less than the amount estimated in
my budget message of last January;
and. hence, the deficit will be far
greater than was anticipated unless
there is an immediate curtailment
of expenditure.
“You will carefully examine the
status of appropriations for your ac
tivity with a view to making a sub
stantial saving by eliminating or de
ferring all expenditures which are
t not absolutely necessary at this
> time.
; “You will report to me through
the acting director of the budget not
i later then May 1, 1937, the steps
which you are undertaking to reduce
expenditures and the amount of the
estimated saving resulting there
; from.”
COUTHERN congressmen found
they were no longer in the sad
dle when the house by a vote of
276 to 119 passed the anti-lynching
bill. The debate was furious and
the representatives from the South
were deeply resentful.
“For more than 100 years the peo
ple of the South have kept life in
the Democratic party,” declared
Representative E. E. Cox of
Georgia, "and now that that party
has grown powerful it turns upon
the South and proposes to pass
this wicked and cowardly law. This
bill is directed just as much against
the South as any reconstruction bill
passed after the Civil war."
The bill was sponsored by Repre
sentative Joseph Gavagan of New
York whose district includes the big
negro city of Harlem. It provides
that any state officer who surren
ders a prisoner to a mob shall be
guilty of a felony and subject to
prosecution and severe penalties. In
addition, the county in which a
lynching occurs shall be liable for
$2,000 to SIO,OOO damages, to be
paid to the family of the lynched
person.
Proponents of the measure were
greatly aided by a mob in Missis
sippi that took two negroes from a
sheriff and tortured and burned
them to death. The local authori
ties were supine and called the
shocking affair a "closed incident.”
K/f ITCHELL HEPBURN, pre-
* mier of Ontario, reiterating
his determination not to permit
C. I. O. representatives from the
United States to take
part in negotiations
for settlement of the
strike in the General
Motors of Canada
plant at Oshawa,
promised to “call
out an army if nec
essary” to protect
the property of the
corporation. Hugh
Thompson, U. A. W.
A, organizer, barred
by Hepburn, threat
ened that every Gen-
[ I
L
■ A J
Premier
Hepburn
eral Motors plant in America would
be closed unless the Oshawa strike
were settled soon with recognition
of the union demands. Homer Mar
tin, president of the U. A. W. A.,
called Hepburn a number of un
pleasant names. The Toronto Trades
and Labor Council pledged the sup
port of its 40,000 members to the
union’s strike against General Mo
tors.
Hepburn forced two of his min
isters to resign, charging they were
not supporting the government in
its fight “against the inroads of
the Lewis organization and commu
nism in general.” They are David
A. Croll, who held the labor, mu
nicipal affairs and public welfare
portfolios, and Attorney General Ar
thur W. Roebuck. Axel Hall, young
mayor of Oshawa, who has been
friendly to the strikers and critical
of Hepburn’s action, sent an “ulti
matum" to President Martin of the
Automobile Workers of America de
manding that members of the union
in the United States strike in sup
port of the Oshawa local. The lat
ter body adopted a resolution de
manding that Premier Hepburn
withdraw from the negotiations to
make way for intervention by the
dominion authorities.
In Montreal 5,508 women garment
workers, members of the C. I. O. in
ternational union, employed in 72
plants, started a strike for higher
wages; and in Fernie, B. C., 1,000
C. I. O. miners threatened to strike
for union recognition.
\V T HEN George VI is crowned
’ ’ king of Great Britain on May
12, Robert Worth Bingham, our am
bassador to London, and James W.
Gerard, President Roosevelt's spe
cial ambassador to the corbnat’on,
will appear in Westminster abbey
garbed in silk knee breeches and
ordinary evening tailed dress coats.
The State department in Washing
ton consented to a modification of
the ruling which bars American dip
lomats from wearing gala clothes
at state functions. The costume
decided upon is not full court dress
but the duke of Norfolk, who is
earl marshal, will let it go as such.
E'OR the second time in two years
* the house passed the Pettingill
bill to repeal the "long and short
haul” clause of the interstate com
merce act. This law prohibits rail
ways from charging lower rates for
a long haul than for a shorter one
■ on the same route in the same di
rection, and it hampers the roads
greatly in their comrelit’on with
water and truck carriers for long
• distance traffic.
WHEELER COUNTY EAGLE. ALAMO. GEORGIA.
about:
I California Condors.
SANTA MONICA, CALIF.—
Local naturalists are all
agog over the discovery
that the California condor is
coming back in numbers to his
former haunts just up country
from here. In fact, they are
going out of one violent gog
> right into another. Because the
t condor, the mightiest winged
5 j creature in all North America,
’ was supposed to be practically
’ I extinct, along with such van
j Ished species of native wild life
’ as the great auk, the passenger
I pigeon and the lightning rod
' ■ agent.
, ! So now we have set up a new
। । mark for envious Florida to shoot
at. For while they
' may have croupiers
at Bradley’s in
' Palm Beach, with
1 eyes as keen and
; bleak as the con
dor’s are, and real
estate dealers in
Miami as greedy as
he is, our frustrated
rivals will be put to
it to dig up a bird
with a wing spread
of from nine to elev
en feet.
• • •
Communism’s Gallant Foe.
IT ARDLY a day passes but we
* * read in the paper of an ac
count of individual heroism, of sac
rifice, of devotion to duty—some
thing which renews our faith in hu- j
man beings and makes us realize
that scattered through the world are
splendid souls of whom we never ।
heard before and probably shall
never hear again. When the emer
gency came he rose to it—and that’s
enough.
Hut because, in the last few
months, we’ve learned to expect it
of him, I'm thinking many of us
fail to appreciate a recurrent act of
gallant service by one venerable,
enfeebled man whose name is fa
miliar to all Christendom. From I
time to time, triumphing by sheer i
will power, by sheer singleness of
purpose above his own suffering, -
Pope Pius XI, speaking from what *
soon must be his deathbed, sends
forth a clarion call for a united
front against the growing menace
of "ommunism.
• • ♦
Waning Merchant Marines.
AFTER we’ve spent billions in
government subsidies trying to
build up a proper merchant fleet
of our own, it’s just a trifle discon- :
certing to read that, among the six (
nations leading in maritime ship
ping, the United States still ranks !
third in gross tonnage, fifth in ships .
having a speed of twelve knots or :
better, and last in ships built within ;
the last ten years.
But, although Los Angeles is a i
I great port, we have no time right |
I now to pester about a comparatively i
> trivial thing such as the threatened ■
| vanishment of the American flag |
| from the seven seas—not while j
; we’re still so uncertain about who i
will have the leading parts in “Gone ;
; With the Wind.” To date, nearly
i every lady in the movie colony has
I been suggested for Scarlett O'Hara
' except Mae West and Jane Withers,
i and as for Rhett Butler—well, it
' may yet be necessary to cast that
j role as a whole minstrel first part,
i with an interlocutor and six end
I men.
• • •
Italians in Spain.
IT MUST be slightly annoying to
those Italian soldiers who were
; flung headlong upon Spain to fight
in a war in which they had no per-
I sonal interest, when, through mis
| take, they are mown down in hun
' dreds by their own troops, and then I
the bewildered remnants find them- i
I selves in the hands of the oppos- j
i ing government forces, who have a
; reputation for sometimes being a |
i trifle rough with prisoners whom i
they capture.
i Still, it must K be a great com- ;
I fort to the confused captives—and
I to the relatives of the fallen back !
I home as well—to have assurance
1 from Mussolini that they are win- ;
I ning the way for fascist doctrines.
Until they heard that cheering mes
sage. those battered survivors prob
ably thought that they had been
licked
• • •
The Height of Gall.
AS J. CAESAR remarked at the |
time, all Gaul was once divid- i
ed in three parts, but it is obvious
that subsequently there was a com
plete re-consolidation.
When France, already in default
to us on one little four-billion debt,
starts scheming to peddle her new
est issue of government securities
over here, that must indeed be re
garded as the height of gallishness
or Gaulishness —spell it either way,
reader, it’ll come out the same.
Moreover, to evade the Johnson act,
she would have American investors
send the money to Pans and buy
i these French bonds there. This sort
| of smacks of inviting Br’r Rabbit
j to come into camp to be massacred,
■ instead of hunting him down with
’ the dogs.
IRVIN S. COBB.
© —WNU Service.
Washington! .
- Digest A
National Topics Interpreted
By WILLIAM BRUCKART^SH^^
NATIONAL PRESS BLDG. WASHINGTON, D C Tlffill fHwU
Washington.—Many spineless offi
cials of the federal government
were horribly
Must Curb shocked the other
Lewis day when several
hundred farmers
took matters into their own u ands
and drove a bunch of sit-down
strikers out of the great Hershey
chocolate plants in Pennsylvania.
They thought it was terrible that
men who were striking for higher
wages should be beaten and slugged
as the farmers at Hershey, Pennsyl
vania, treated the sit-down strikers.
The strikers had closed the choco
late plants, thus cutting off the
daily market for thousands of gal
lons of milk.
Fortunately for the country the
number of these spineless creatures,
charged with official responsibility,
is very few. But I mention the fact
because therein is a key to some of
the things that have been happen
ing in the Roosevelt administra
tion’s treatment of the labor dis
turbances.
I believe no one can support vi
olence but there can be no doubt
that the federal government is
charged with responsibility for pro
tecting rights. Rights are possessed
by everyone under our Constitution
and under our form of government
and when a handful of individuals
assume to disregard the rights of
others it becomes something more
than a situation about which soft
( words and tears for the down-trod
den worker are required.
The importance of the action of
the farmers at Hershey, Pennsyl
vania, cannot be minimized. It is
a straw that points which way the
wind blows. It means that unless
the headlong and unrestrained ac
tions of John L. Lewis and his labor
agitators are curbed, sooner or later
we will pay with blood; we will
pay with lives of citizens because
the American people always have
insisted and always will insist upon
a square deal.
In treating of conditions within
the country, it is well always to
avoid inflammatory declarations. I
hope I am never guilty of unfair
ness in anything I write. But the
cold fact is that, in this country,
the time has arrived when govern
ment must make a choice between
its functions as government and al
lowing autocracy of labor leaders
to destroy the rights and property
of the other millions of our popula
tion. Labor has its rights and they
must be protected, but it is equally
important that the rights of those
who are not members of any union,
who want to work, who own prop
erty, be protected. Thus far in the
present labor controversy, it must
be said that the Roosevelt admin
istration and the governors of most
of the states have fallen short in
their sworn duty.
There has been much praise ac
corded Governor Murphy of Mich
igan for “settling” the strikes in
the automobile plants. Yet, I cannot
help wondering whether the term
“settlement” is correct when strik
ers thumbed their noses at the
courts and when law enforcement
officers were told by theil superiors
to hold off the execution of court
decrees. It seems to me that we, as
a nation, will have cause to regret
“settlements” of that kind for a
good many years to come.
• * •
I am inclining to the belief that
there is only one word capable of
describing the at-
Pohtical titude of the ROOS- ;
Cowardice evelt administra-
tion in dealing
with strikers of the sit down charac- '
। ter. Labor has a weapon in the
strike and it is entitled to use that
weapon because too many business
j interests have refused to be fair.
But when labor abuses, instead of
uses, the weapon available to it,
• then the time has come to call them
। to account just as business interests
are called to account when they vio
late laws. The difference is that the
ranks of labor involve millions of
' votes whereas, the ranks of business
involve only a comparatively small
I number of votes. Therefore, by any
* line of reasoning I have been able
to follow through, it seems to me
■ that the federal government’s posi
। tion thus far can properly be de
| scribed as political cowardice.
| There are a number of reasons
i why I think this term is appro
priate. First, there was the famous
night conference when Mr. Roose
velt returned from his Georgia va
cation and talked things over with
the house and senate New Deal
leaders. They emerged from that
meeting with the President, saying
that the federal government could
do nothing; that no federal laws
had been violated and that no re
quest had come from any proper
authority for federal government in
tervention.
It makes one laugh, such state
ments as these. If President Roose
velt and his administration had de
sired to curb sit down strikes, does
anyone believe that he could not
have conveyed word to Governor
I Murphy of Michigan that he was
I willing to help? J think there are
5^ ^0
Irvin 8. Cobb
plenty of grapevines by which word
could have been sent to the Mich
igan governor and, I truly believe,
that if there had been a request
for federal troops, there -would have
been a distinct change in the at
titude of Labor Leader Lewis al
most oversight.
Further^ I have heard from plenty
of lawyers in the house and senate
that the decision that no federal law
was being violated was wholly
questionable. Those lawyers were
quite convinced that Mr. Roosevelt
had federal statutes at his com
mand to use as the basis for ac
tion in the various sit down strikes—
if he seriously wanted to get mixed
up in the labor row.
Then, I am reminded of the very
frequent attacks which were forth
coming from the White House and
other New Deal spokesmen when
employers and banks and business
generally failed to measure up to
New Deal demands in the recovery
programs. The President spoke with
emphasis on those occasions. He
has been completely silent in the
current situation.
• • •
And he has been able to maintain
silence through protection given him
by political ma-
Kept neuvering in the
Silent senate. As an in-
stance of this, let
me cite the efforts of Senator
McNary of Oregon, the so-called Re
publican leader, in the senate, who
attempted to put the question di
rectly to the President. He sought,
when the senate was floundering
and dodging over a resolution con
demning sit down strikes, to change
the form of the resolution from one
needing only concurrence of the
house to a joint resolution which is
a measure that requires the signa
ture of the President. Majority
Leader Robinson was quick to block
that maneuvering. No one needs to
tell you, of course, that Mr. Roose
velt did not want to have that reso
lution come to him.
So, as a second instance of fed
eral government sissiness, we see '
a subservient majority of New Deal- ;
ers adopting a resolution which said |
in effect, “You naughty boys! You
know it is wrong to indulge in sit
down strikes, to take possession of
other people’s property, and we are
going to slap you on the wrist for
it.” Well, that was a declaration of
policy but when the resolution was
before the senate they could not
resist the temptation to denounce
business because they charged it
was unfair to labor.
Then, we have another circum
stance. Representative Dies, a Tex
as Democrat, proposed a resolution
in the house for an investigation of ;
sit down strikes. Mr. Dies was will- :
ing to condemn sit down strikes
but he wanted to know what the
facts were. Very quickly, many of
the weak-kneed boys on the floor
of the house smelled a thorough-go
ing inquiry into labor organizations
generally, into political activities of
labor groups, into racketeering
where local labor organizations are
in the hands of irresponsible or
scheming radicals. So, the house
sneaked out from under and, as
painlessly as possible, dodged ftis
issue by depositing the Dies .resolu
tion on the table from which, of
course, it will never be withdrawn.
I called these policies political '
cowardice in an earlier statement
in this article. All of the elements
seem to me to be present to justify
that description. But there is an
' other phase of the whole situation.
I It concerns the future of the poli
j ticians w’ho have run away from
Lie teal issue this time. I am quite
I convinced it will rise up to hold
. them in the not too distant future.
. . .
I In the course of the discussion of
the labor controversy, I adverted on
several occasions
Talk or t 0 the politics that
Third Term is imbedded in the
situation. There is
I so much of politics in the picture
I that one hears in the under current
around Washington a discussion of
President Roosevelt’s future plans.
It is curious, but it appears possible,
that Mr. Roosevelt may be forced
to run for a third term. Such a
course obviously would break all
precedents, but Mr. Roosevelt likes
to break precedents.
He has stated on several oc
casions his ambition to leave the
White House in 1940 with the nation
at peace and economically prosper
ous. This observation has been re
peated whenever the opportunity
was 'propitious. On the last occa
sion, there were a number of ob
servers in Washington who sus
tained the same reaction to the de
claration, namely, that perhaps—
and only perhaps—Mr. Roosevelt
had a yearning in his heart to serve
another four years after his pres
ent term expires. One writer, noted
for his direct expressions, observed
that only by constantly referring
to his future retirement could the
President invite groups to interest
themselves in demanding him to
run for a third term.
© Western Newspaper Union.
Atif 7a rot tie
22eCiae T Helen
/ Twelvetree*
Creamed Eggs With Chili
and Rice
To two cupfuls of well-seasoned
medium white sauce add one tea
spoonful chili powder and si x
hard-cooked eggs, cut in quarters.
Meanwhile, cook one cupful of
rice, season it to suit the taste
and arrange in a border around a
platter. Pour the egg mixture into
the centei. Serves six.
Copyright.—WNU Service.
Foreign Words
and Phrases w
Etourderie. (F.) Giddy conduct,
an imprudent caprice.
Ricordo. (It.) A souvenir, a
I keepsake.
A contre coeur. (F.) Unwilling-
Calembour. (F.) A pun.
| Pas seul. (F.) A dance per
| formed by one person.
Sans culottes. (F.) Ragged men,
| the lower classes during the
, French revolution.
Si non e vero, e ben trovato.
; (It.) If it is not true, it is very
i ingenious.
A la lettre. (F.) To the letter,
literally.
Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Pellets made of
May Apple are effective in removing
accumulated body waste.—Adv.
Helping Others
What do we live for, if it is not
to make life less difficult for each
I other?
for WOMEN only
CARDUI is a special medicine for
the relief of some of the suffering 4
which results from a woman's weak- ft
ened condition. It has been found
to make monthly periods less dis
agreeable, and, when its use has been
kept up awhile, has helped many
poorly nourished women to get more
strength from their food. This medi
cine (pronounced “Card-u-i”) has
been used and recommended by
women for many, many years. Find
out whether It will help you by
giving it a fair trial. Os course, if
not benefited, consult a physician.
Two Kinds of Secrecy
A proper secrecy is the only
j mystery of able men; mystery
I is the only secrecy of weak and
i cunning ones.—Chesterfield.
Miss
REE IEEE
says; r J/
CAPUDINE
relieves f y
HEADACHE \ 1 /
quicker because Uy
it’s liquid... W
“ already tliiiclved, -
Hasten Early
Hasten in the morning so that
by evening thy work for the day
be accomplished.
Don’t Irritate
Gas Bloating
If you want to really GET RIO OF
GAS and terrible bloating, don’t expect
to do it by just doctoring your stom
ach with harsh, irritating alkalies and
“gas tablets.” Most GAS is lodged in
the stomach and upper intestine and A
is due to old poiconous matter in the
constipated bowels that are loaded
i with ill-causing bacteria.
If your constipation is of tong stand- V
Ing, enormous quantities of dangerous
bacteria accumulate. Then your diges
i tion is upset. GAS often presses heart
i and lungs, making life miserable.
You can’t eat or sleep. Your head
i aches. Your back aches. Your ccm
! plexion is sallow and pimply. Your
breath is foul. You are a sick, grouchy,
; wretched, unhappy person. YOUR
; SYSTEM IS POISONED.
! Thousands of sufferers have found In
Adlerika the quick, scientific way to
| nd their systems of harmful bacteria,
j Adlerika rids you of gas and cleans
। foul poisons out of BOTH upper and
j lower bowels. Give your bowels a
REAL cleansing with Adlerika. Get
nd of GAS. Adlerika does not gripe
—is net habit forming. At all Leading
Druggists.
Ignorance and Knowledge
Distance sometimes endears
friendship and absence sweetenetb
it.—Howell.
To Get. Rid of Acid
and Poisonous Waste
Your kidneys help to keep you well
by constantly filtering waste matter
from the blood. If your kidneys get
functionally disordered and fail to
remove excess impurities, there may be
poisoning of the whole system and
body-wide distress.
Burning, scanty or too frequent uri
nation may be a warning of some kidney
or bladder disturbance.
You may suffer nagging backache,
persistent headache, attacks of dirtiness,
getting up nights, swelling, puffiness
under the eyes—feel weak, nervous,
played out.
In such cases it is better to rely on ft.
medicine that has won country-wide
acclaim than on something less favor
ably known. Use Doan’s Pill*. A multi
tude of grateful people recommend
Doan't. Ask your neighbor*.
