News Review of Current
Events the World Over
^Windsor and Wallis Are Married, Anglican Church Out
wilted—Tax Dodging hy the Rich to Be Investi
gated—House Rebels Yield.
By EDWARD W. PICKARD
© Western Newspaper Union.
EDWARD, duke of Windsor, and
Mrs. Wallis Warfield, the Amer
ican woman for love of whom he
gave up his throne, were married in
the Chateau de Can
de, Monts, France,
and are now spend
ing their honeymoon
at Wasserleonburg
castle in lower Aus
tria. Almost at the
last moment the
Church of England
was outwitted by
the action of an ob
scu r e provincial
clergyman from the
north of England,
and the civil cere-
: w t
Duchess
of Windsor
mony performed by the mayor of
Monts was followed by a religious
wedding conducted by that same
minister, Rev. Robert Anderson
Jardine, in flat defiance of the pro
tests of the leaders of the church.
Sixteen principal guests were
ipresent in the chateau when Mayor
IMercier, pronouncing the English
(names with difficulty, and speaking
tin French, performed the civil
ceremony and pronounced the duke
sand Wallis man and wife. Vicar
Jardine, who had volunteered his
’services, recited the solemn reli
jgious rites as prescribed by the
'church, the duke placed the ring
|on the duchess’ fourth finger, and
ithey knelt on white silk cushions
while the minister prayed. Through
out the entire service the famous
j organist, Marcel Dupre, played soft
ly. The duchess, who cannot be
^called “her royal highness,” wore a
gown of Wallis blue and the corre
ispondents privileged to be present
,were agreed that she was a beau
(tiful, gracious and serene woman.
The Chateau de Cande, owned by
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bedaux of
New York, was lavishly decorated
with flowers. Wedding presents
were numerous, of course, and
some of the richest were sent by
members of the British royal fam
ily-
Vicar Jardine was reproved by
the church dignitaries for perform
ing the religious ceremony, but the
Bishop of Fulham, who has juris
diction over Anglican church af
fairs in France, after sending a
telegram of protest, admitted the
vicar might not be disciplined. He
insisted the only valid service Mr.
Jardine could perform was bene
diction after the marriage. All
Anglican church ministers on the
continent had been warned not to
marry the duke and Wallis.
A DMINISTRATION leaders, from
the President down, “turned
the heat” on the rebellious mem
bers of the house, and the latter
sullenly gave in and passed the bil
lion and a half dollar work relief
bill about as Mr. Roosevelt and
Harry Hopkins wanted it. One after
another the restrictive amendments
earmarking $505,000,000 of the total
for projects of a solid type, flood
control and highways, which had
been adopted in committee of the
whole, were called up again and
voted down by substantial majori
ties. The final vote by which the
measure was sent on to the senate
was 323 to 44.
The revolt collapsed after Majori
ty Leader Sam Rayburn, Democrat,
Texas, outlined Mr. Roosevelt’s po
sition. He said the President had
agreed to provide adequate funds
from the relief bill for PWA proj
ects, highways, grade crossing
elimination, flood control and water
conservation work.
Taunted by Minority Leader Ber
trand Snell, Republican, New York,
for the general character of his
statement, Rayburn admitted he did
not know the exact amount of
money that the President would
divert to the various projects, which
have been described as “vote-get
ting” and “pork.”
One of the “rebel” leaders, Joseph
Starnes of Alabama, though voting
for the bill, announced that con
gress would never again “relinquish
its control of expenditures.”
Still sore, especially at Harry
Hopkins, the congressmen discussed
the need for investigation of the
relief administration, and a resolu
tion calling for such action was in
troduced by Maury Maverick of
Texas.
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
HAROLD L. ICKES was taken
to the Naval hospital in Washing
ton to be treated for an intestinal
disorder. Physicians said he prob
ably would be absent from his of
fice for several weeks, a protract
ed rest being imperative.
I) Y HUGE majorities in both sen
ate and house congress over
rode the President's veto of a bill
to extend the war risk insurance act
for another five years. It gives that
additional time in which war veter
ans may exchange their govern
ment held term insurance policies
for other forms of life insurance and
affects about 23,000 men who have
not converted their policies. Rep
resentative Rankin of Mississippi
said these veterans were “too poor”
to make the conversion at this time,
and added: “The President appar
ently didn’t consult with those fa
miliar with veterans’ affairs when
he vetoed this bill.”
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT sent a
1 message to congress asking for
legislation creating seven regional
power authorities patterned after
the TVA. He proposed the country
be divided into these regions:
The Atlantic seaboard.
The Great Lakes-Ohio valley.
The Tennessee and Cumberland
river basins.
The Missouri and the Red River
of the North basins.
The Arkansas, Red and Rio
Grande river basins.
The basins of the Colorado and
other rivers flowing into the Pacific
south of the California-Oregon state
line.
The Columbia river basin.
'T' AX dodging by wealthy men and
* women, excoriated by President
Roosevelt in a special message, is
going to be investigated speedily by
a joint committee of
congress. The reso
lution for the in
quiry was intro
duced in the senate
by Senator Pat Har
rison of Mississippi,
chairman of the fi
nance committee;
and in the house by
Robert L. Doughton
of North Carolina,
chairman of the
ways and means
committee. The in-
\ :
>
Ik -:.4S
Sen. Harrison
vestigation is designed both to focus
public attention on the extent of
the alleged tax evasion and to pro
vide congress with information nec
essary for the drafting of corrective
legislation. Senator Harrison said:
“I am sure that congress expects
that, where the law has been vio
lated, prompt action will be taken
by the government against the mal
efactors.”
He added that men and women re
ferred to, not by name, in the
President’s message, would be giv
en the opportunity to testify before
the committee if their names were
disclosed.
Accompanying Mr. Roosevelt’s
message -was a long letter to him
from Secretary of the Treasury
Morgenthau in which were outlined
eight devices which he said are be
ing employed by a minority of rich
individuals to evade taxes.
Legislation asked by the Presi
dent would be an emergency meas
ure. It is not to be confused with
legislation to revise tax schedules,
the President said.
“In regard to that subject,” Mr.
Roosevelt continued, “I have al
ready suggested to the congress
that at this session there should be
no new taxes and no changes of
rates.”
Q ENERAL HAYASHI’S semimili
tary government of Japan was
forced to resign by the major politi
cal parties, and Emperor Hirohito
summoned Prince
Fumimaro Konoe,
president of the
house of peers, to
form a new cabinet.
This the prince pro
ceeded to do, and
he was meeting with
almost complete
success in finding
men who would ac
cept office. Tempo
rarily he had trouble
in getting a finance
minister. The new government in
cludes representatives of the big
Seiyukai and Minseito parties and
is considered, therefore, a national
coalition cabinet. Presumably it is
committed to a large army and
navy, a strong foreign policy and
drastic administrative reforms.
Prince Konoe said he would strive
to end the rivalries among the vari
ous forces in the empire, meaning
especially the disputes between the
army and the political parties. The
army will support him, but its dom
ination over Japanese policies is
practically ended with the retire
ment of Hayashi who was accused
of trying to set up a Fascist regime.
BEFORE adjourning to October
the Supreme court overruled a
government request that it refuse to
review litigation challenging the
constitutionality of federal financing
of municipal power plants. By con
senting to pass on the controversy,
the court deferred a final verdict in
the case until next fall, after argu
ments are heard.
The Department of Justice con
tended this would postpone the em
ployment of many thousands of
men. Officials of the Public Works
administration declared the court’s
action means that “at least another
six months” will elapse before ques
tions affecting the release of $51,-
000,000 for fifty-four public power
projects are settled.
Wilt •
durwan
AvjoLL
about
Deporting Alien Criminals.
SANTA MONICA, CALIF.—
Wouldn’t it be lovely if the
other states, not to mention the
federal government, followed
the example set by the gover
nor of New York?
He commutes the sentences of for
eign-born, long-term convicts so
they may be eligible
for parole—not mind
you, to go free and
sin some more, but
to be turned over to
the port authorities
for immediate de
portation.
That is, it would
be a lovely idea if
only we could b e
sure that these same
criminals wouldn't
come slipping back
in again. The pres-
ent immigration law was devised
as a barrier to protect decent cit
izens, both native and naturalized,
against the human scum of the old
world, but it appears to be more
like a sieve if we may judge by the
hordes of nondesirable aliens who
somehow manage to get in and stay
in and even go on relief, some of
them.
In other words, when we give
these unpleasant parties a compli
mentary ride back where they come
from, let’s make sure it’s not going
to be a round trip.
• • •
Missionaries From China.
E' ROM Peiping a group of believ
" ers in the doctrine of Confucius
are sending missionaries to the
United States. We’ve been sending
out missionaries to their country
for centuries, but that Chinamen
should dare to try the same thing on
us—well, that’s a white horse of a
yellow color.
What if, not content with seeking
converts, these interlopers inculcat
ed among us certain phases of their
heathenish philosophy, such as
teaching young people consideration
and respect for their elders; and
showing that rushing about in a
frenzy does not necessarily indicate
business energy; and that the natur
al aim of man is not always to
worship speed and—up to thirty
odd thousands a year—to die by it;
and that intolerance as between re
ligious creeds isn’t invariably proof
pf true piety; and that minding
one's own affairs is really quite
an admirable trait?
if Why, native Americans wouldn’t
be able to recognize the old home
place any more!
! Such threats against a superior
civilization are not to be borne.
• • •
Vanished Americans.
IT’S exciting to prowl among the
ruined cities of the first Ameri
cans, who scattered into the twi
lights of antiquity when the Chris
tian era was still young. They were
our oldest families, older than even
old Southern families—and who ever
heard of a new Southern family or
even just a middle-aged Southern
family?
) But afterwards, it’s confusing to
read the theories of the expert re
searchers who have passed judg
ment on those vanished cliff-dwell
ing peoples, because few such
learned gentlemen agree on any
single point. There is one very emi
nent authority who invariably in
sists that all the rest of the emi
ne n t authorities are absolutely
wrong about everything. He is the
Mr. Justice Mcßeynolds of the ar
cheologists.
’ After reading some of the conflict
ing literature on this subject. I’ve
decided that a true scientist is one
who is positive there are no other
true scientists.
• * •
Unemployment Statistics.
rp HANKS to bright young bureau-
A crats in Washington, we know
how many goldfish are hatched ev
ery year and what the gross annual
yield of guinea pigs is, and the exact
proportion of albinos born in any
given period, but it never seemed
to occur to anybody to compile
reasonably accurate statistics on un
employment.
Yet, with depression behind us
and business up to boom-time levels,
it’s estimated that between eight
and nine million people are out of
work, not counting those on strike,
and judging by the papers there
must be a couple of million of them.
Apparently the more prosperous we
grow on the surface, the more de
plorable becomes the status of
those off the payrolls. It doesn’t
make sense. Or anyhow there was
a time when it wouldn't have made
sense.
* This curious situation puts a fel
low in mind of the old old story
of the chap whose wife had an
operation, and, every day when he
called at the hospital, he was told
the patient showed improvement.
One morning, as he came away,
weeping, he met a friend.
“How’s the wife?” inquired the
latter.
“She’s dead.”
‘Tm so sorry,” said the friend.
“What did she die of?”
“Improvements,” said the widow
er.
IRVIN S. COBB
Q —WNU Service.
f > I
Prince Konoe
WHEELER COUNTY EAGLE. ALAMO, GEORGIA.
Irvin S. Cobb.
Washington.—Farm leaders have
gone before congress again to press
a new agricultural
Urge New program. Like
Farm Program several that have
come through in
the last half-dozen years, the new
proposition is based on a subsidy.
The current program, like the old
AAA, is predicated on agreements
by which farmers will not do some
thing and be paid for not doing it.
To obtain the subsidies from the
federal treasury contemplated in
the new farm legislation, farmers
will have to sign contracts agreeing
to curtail their acreages up to twen
ty per cent of their average cultiva
tion for the last several years. If
they fail or refuse to sign these
contracts, the legislation describes
them as not co-operating and, there
fore, they would be denied the right
to obtain loans from the federal gov
ernment and they would not have a
guarantee of “parity prices,” as a
penalty. Moreover, those farmers
who failed or refused to co-operate
in this manner would be subjected
to prohibitive taxes on the sale of
products grown in excess of limits
on totals to be prescribed by Secre
tary Wallace of the Department of
Agriculture.
The announced basis of this new
program is for “conservation of the
soil.” Further, its sponsors contend
that it will mean a gradual upbuild
ing of the fertility of the soil so that,
in the end, fewer acres will have to
be cultivated to produce the same
volume of corn or cotton or wheat
or whatever other crop is grown.
But I think there are few individ
uals who will say that the above
reasons honestly constitute the basis
for this new farm legislation. I
think it must be admitted that the
plan is only a subterfuge; that,
while it may help some farmers by
giving them cash, it is pure politics
with cash as a sop.
I am not one equipped to say that
agriculture does not need a subsidy
even though prices of farm products
are now almost double what they
were in 1933. It is entirely possible
that farmers throughout the nation
still need help in the form of cash.
It may be the better part of wisdom
to vote such payments as are con
templated in this new legislation. On
the other hand, however, if there
is that need then let us be honest
about it.
President Roosevelt lately has
signed a new law which provides
subsidies to shipping companies in
order that America may have its
own merchant marine, but those
payments are to be called subsidies.
They are not disguised nor con
cealed. It seems ridiculous, there
fore, that the farm leaders should
not be frank with the members of
their organizations. If they feel that
a subsidy is needed, why not put
it up to congress that way so that
those farmers, who believe in sub
sidies as well as those who want
to see agriculture left alone for
awhile can understand what is go
ing on.
• ♦ •
I imagine that the farm leaders
who are sponsoring the new legisla
tion could scarce-
Chose jy have chosen a
Bad Time
presentation of
their program. I mean that, in
presenting this type of legislation
when congress is undergoing a wave
of economy, the program is likely
to receive scant consideration. I*
always has been the case that legis
lation goes through several stages
of hauling and filling in congress
with the result that after much de
bate a bill satisfactory to the ma
jority emerges. In presenting their
program at this time, therefore, the
farm leaders are not doing a very
good job of leading. There will be
much agitation on the part of the
farm leaders that will get just no
where at all because of conditions
in congress.
Edward A. O’Neal, president of
the American Farm Bureau Feder
ation, recently was quoted as saying
that the new plan would not require
any payments direct from the treas
ury; that is, it would pay its own
way through the medium of taxes if
it “works perfectly.” That is the
rub. I find doubt in nearly all quar
ters that the plan can “work per
fectly.” It is so complex and re
quires such a bureaucracy for ad
ministration of it that to expect it
to “work perfectly,” is virtually to
expect that legislation will control
the weather. I think everyone will
agree that congress and the admin
istration has hot yet been able to
find the formula for controlling the
weather.
I believe it can be said fairly that
many farmers are dissatisfied with
the soil conservation program
adopted as a substitute for the AAA
which the much criticized Supreme
court held unconstitutional by a
unanimous vote. Even those offi
cials of the Department of Agricul
ture who are frank will admit that
the soil conservation is not an effec
tive means for controlling produc
tion. It does have merit as far as
it goes in conserving the soil. But
there is another phase: It has been
pointed out too often almost to need
repetition here that the soil con-
servation law, as occurred under
the AAA, results in millions of dol
lars being paid to individuals and
corporations who are in no way par
ticipating in conservation activities.
Now, while Mr. O’Neal thinks that
the proposed law can be operated
without expense to the federal treas
ury, there is yet the conviction in
some quarters that it probably will
cost about six hundred million dol
lars a year to pay the subsidies
and pay for administration of the
law. Six hundred million dollars a
year is a large sum at any time
and it bulks much larger at a time
when there is a nation-wide cry for
a balanced budget for the federal
government. It is a sum that, if the
budget of the federal government
otherwise were balanced, would be
sufficient to frighten thousands of
holders of United States bonds.
It would seem then that the farm
leaders ought to take into consid
eration the status of the federal
government’s financial affairs if
they want to develop a program
that will live. I have heard from
many students of agricultural prob
lems that the remedy for farm con
ditions is not an expensive new sys
tem of farm subsidies. They assert
that it will be impossible for Uncle
Sam to continue annual payments
to some three million or more farm
ers and they are convinced, further,
that most farmers themselves ob
jected to being placed in the cate
gory of relief clients. An argument
is also advanced that more and
more farmers believe federal poli
cies that cause money to be handed
out free to farmers will, in the end,
destroy the independence of agri
culture. However that may be and
however the majority of the farm
ers feel about receiving money gra
tis from the government at Wash
ington, it cannot be said that agri
culture is being placed on a sound
footing by politicians and political
farm leaders whose sole objective
is to loot the treasury. Farmers
would not permit it to happen to
the governments of their states or
their counties but a considerable
number of them apparently have
been persuaded that the govern
met at Washington is something
else.
• • •
The Department of Commerce
which has supervision of airplane
. . n .. traffic has an-
I dots nounced that it
Out of Races will not permit
American pilots to
participate in an air race that was
proposed for this summer. The race
was to have taken place from New
York to Paris, but the Department
of Commerce has vetoed the plan
unequivocally because it considers
the race as nothing more than a
stunt.
It may occur to some that such a
ruling by the Department of Com
merce constitutes an interference
with private business beyond rea
son. I cannot share that view. The
experts have been unable to find in
this proposed race any possibility
of benefit for aviation nor any ex
perimentation that would lead to
more scientific flying. It has taken
the position that there is too great
a danger involved for those pilots
who are foolhardy enough to under
take the three thousand two hun
dred mile flight across the ocean.
Its position is further fortified with
the argument that if any of the
pilots should lose their lives in that
type of aviation, it will cause many
thousands of persons to lose faith in
the airplane as a means of trans
portation. In short, the department
thinks that there are only disad
vantages and no advantages in the
prospect.
While many persons may disagree
with the position the department has
taken, it is heartening to those of
us who like to see private business
encouraged, to know that a respon
sible federal agency charged with
supervision of a private industry is
again functioning as it was intended
to do. For several years, the De
partment of Commerce, with par
ticular respect to its aviation di
vision, has been in a state of tur
moil. There were wide differences
of opinion and in consequence little
in the way of permanent develop
ment was sponsored from Washing
ton for the aviation industry.
In criticizing the government’s in
activity, no observer would be fair
unless he also called attention to the
frailties and the failures of the in
dustry itself. It is true that some
of the larger lines lately have made
sensational improvements in the
equipment they use in the air and
in the operations part of flying.
It is true that larger and better
planes have been built and are
building. But it is likewise true
that a number of airlines have
adopted penurious, penny pinching
policies and have refused to re
place worn out’and obsolete planes
because they did not want to invest
additional money. Until the air in
dustry awakens to the necessity for
spending money and until the De
partment of Commerce becomes a
smooth functioning supervisory
agent, the air travel of this country
will not even approach the limit of
its capacity.
© Western Newspaper Union.
WHO’S NEWS
THIS WEEK...
By Lemuel F. Parion
vvvwwfVvrr vvvrvVfVr v v / W
Temperamental Sculptor.
>JEW YORK.—“A very tem-
A ’ peramental sculptor,” says
A. E. Demaray, associate di
rector of the national park serv
ice, in explaining to the house
appropriations subcommittee
how difficult it was for his de
partment to estimate the de
gree of progress on the Mount
Rushmore memorial at Rapid
City, S. D.
Commenting on Mr. Demaray's
statement, the sculptor, Gutzon
Borglum, ever pungently articulate,
remarks that the memorial is not a
road contractor’s job nor one that
can be measured by the engineer’s
rule and compass.
In both thrust and riposte are
marked a certain mildness usually
not observed in Sculptor Borglum's
controversies, wherefor it may with
confidence be assumed that the cur
rent issue is of minor character,
with little or no chance of its de
velopment into some such contre
temps as that between the eminent
master of chisel and hammer and
the Stone Mountain Memorial as
sociation in Georgia.
That ended forlornly with the de
struction by the sculptor of all
plans, models and work in the carv
ing of heroic figures of the Confed
eracy on the face of the mountain
outside of Atlanta and his with
drawal from the enterprise.
Temperamental? Yes, quite so.
But, as well, a thinker, a man
of original views and conceptions,
and physically as powerful as he is
mentally dynamic.
It was Borglum who startled the
country back in the early 1900 s
when, in the course of an embattled
interlude with critics of some of his
ideas concerning sculptural embel
lishment of the outer walls of the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine,
on Morningside Heights, New York,
he announced that all angels were
male; that a female angel was un
known in the heavenly phalanstery
as set forth in Bible or religious
rubric.
» » »
Spain’s Strong Man.
FRANCISCO LARGO CABAL
-1 LERO, who handed in his man
date as Spanish premier because of
communist objections to his pro
posal of plans for a new govern
ment following the recent ministe
rial crisis, is not included in the
new cabinet formed by Dr. Juan
Necrin, former finance minister.
Thus Spain’s fourth premier since
the outbreak of civil war last July
passes from the official life of his
embattled nation.
But those who know this militant
Marxist, this man of courage and
deep social convictions, have no
idea he will disappear as a national
force of immense influence. He was
one of the leaders responsible for
the overthrow of the Spanish mon
archy and establishment of the re
public in April, 1931.
The key to Largo Caballero’s
character lies in the fact that he
was a typical child of the poverty
stricken Spanish masses. At the
age of seven he began a long strug
gle to earn his living and at the
same time to educate himself, cir
cumstances which explain his fiery
adherence to socialist doctrines
from his early youth.
Learning the trade of stone ma
son, at which for many years he
worked, he was in 1917 tried and
sentenced to life imprisonment for
his share in the organization of a 1
revolutionary strike. His election
as a socialist member of the Cortes
saved him from his sentence. Ar
rested and imprisoned thereafter at
various times and on various
charges, he was at liberty when the
present civil war broke out; he
rushed to the Guadarrama front and
participated in many actions.
Holding for a united front of Span
iards of all parties and affiliations
against the forces of the insurgent
General Franco, the premier was
willing to grant representation in
the government even to anarchists,
for whom he has no regard, as well
as to communists, to whom he is
not warm. But in the end, his plan
for himself to take over the port
folio of national defense, with the
aim of imparting new vigor and bet
ter direction to the war, was not ac
ceptable to opposing factions. So
he retired.
• • •
Award for Merit.
T'O Dr. James Lewis Howe, dean
A of the school of applied science
and head of the department of
chemistry at Washington and Lee
university, goes the 1937 award of
the Herty medal, which, symbolic
of outstanding work in southern
chemistry, is annually bestowed by
the southern division of the Ameri
can Chemical society.
Dr. How'e, however, is a New
England importation, stemming
back to Newburyport, Mass., where,
in 1859 he was born. Graduated
from Amherst in 1880, he took de
grees as master of arts and doctor
of philosophy at Gottingen after a
course of study in Germany ending
in 1882.
© Consolidated News Features.
WNU Service.
