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Weekly News Analysis
Foreign Policy Showdown Seen
Over Roosevelt’s Peace Appeal
By Joseph W. La Bine —
EDITOR'S NOTE—When opiaioea an
eapressed ia then celumaa, they an then
et the aetn analyst. and not aeceanrily
at the aetrapaper.
International
Though U. S. citizens have been
wont to decry Britain’s vaccilating
foreign policy, events of 1939 have
focused more than passing attention
on a similar problem at home: Does
Washington officialdom agree on a
sound, well-reasoned foreign policy?
Is such a policy reflected in com
mon-sense national defense?
Most Americans think not, though
by and large they feel alike about
Hitler and Mussolini, dislike war
and want no part in an arms race.
Yet informed Americans agree both
Germany and Italy were manhan
dled at Versailles, agreeing also that
the U. S. must have “adequate” de
fense, even if it means an arms
race. On the subject of American
interference in foreign affairs there
ie debate: One school prefers tra
ditional isolationism, though this
SENATOR BORAH
All Europe looked bad to him.
group also resents President Roose
velt’s strong reiteration of a long
standing U. S. interest in Pan-Amer
ican solidarity. The other school
discards silent isolationism as no
longer possible in a world of fast
communications where politicians
ride the same boat with foreign
tradesmen.
Until early April, President Roose
velt had accomplished little byway
of clarifying foreign policy, thanks
partly to an impasse with congress.
Each White House pluipp for inter
nationalism had been followed by
congressional plumping for isolation
ism, until in one short week the
President apparently took the ball
from congress via three strokes that
made the U. S. citizenry conscious
of a definite interest in Europe’s
fish kettle. First was the apparently
casual remark at Warm Springs,
where Mr. Roosevelt promised “to
return in the fall if we don’t have a
war.” Later he explained that “we”
meant western civilization, and that
the remark was actually planned to
“give direction” to public thought.
Next, while congressional isola
tionism began simmering, Mr.
Roosevelt told the Pan-American
Union’s governing board that the
Western hemisphere is willing to
match “force to force” against ag
gression, in defense of New world
institutions and independence. By
this time congressional isolation was
toiling, but a few hours later the
President delivered his biggest
stroke—a frank appeal for world
peace via diplomatic note to Hitler
and Mussolini. Its gist: The Presi
dent would serve as intermediary
between dictator states and 31 na
tions of Europe, North Africa and
Asia Minor, whose integrity he
wants them to respect. This would
lead to an international conference
for disarmament, economic settle
ment and at least 10 years of mutu
ally guaranteed peace. Most fear
ful quotation: “Plainly the world is
moving toward . . . catastrophe un
less a more rational way of guiding
events is found.”
Congress held its breath awaiting
formal replies, too concerned for
reckless speech-making at the mo
ment. Isolationism’s cause seemed
defeated, yet even liberal interna
tionalists began worrying lest the
U. S. be summoned to serve 1917’s
purpose again, i.e., bring peace to
traditionally quarrelsome Europe.
Idaho’s Sen. William E. Borah
wrote: “This is not a war over the
questions of democracy or totalitari
anism . . . These European pow
ers, whatever their ideology or po
litical views, pursue one and the
same course . . . They all violate
treaties, disregard . . . principals
of right, pursue methods which in
evitably lead to war and then call
upon the United States, Canada and
other nations to save them from
their own intolerable and vicious
methods.”
Even so, the President’s personal
brand of foreign policy bore some
fruit. Though German-Italian rejec
tion was expected from the start,
favorable replies rained on Wash
ington so fast that one purpose was
definitely accomplished: World opin
ion had at last been mobilized, draw
ing peace-loving assurances from
lesser nations which fear dealing
with either the Axis or the Anglo-
French bloc, but who will speak
their minds to an intermediary.
Even more important was the psy
chological effect. Slow in sending
their hostile, jointly prepared an
swers, the Rome-Berlin axis infer
entially and involuntarily reminded
the world that Europe's two dicta
tors are guilty of aggression, more
over will be responsible for the war
Europe soon expects.
Best anti-Roosevelt argument of
isolationists is that Italy and Ger
many have already broken so many
agreements that the President’s
dream of a 10-year peace “guaran
tee” is rather futile. Second best
argument is that the note merely
gave impetus to Britain’s warlike
Stop Hitler front, drawing France,
Russia and England closer to a mu
tual defense pact, which is probably
inspired by the unspoken hope that
the U. S. is willing to join the party
if need arises. Third argument is
that Axis chiefs may grow hostile
and seek revenge by discrediting
democracies via a new territorial
grab, such as Danzig, which Britain
and France have already agreed not
to protest. Since such renewed bel
ligerence would be a direct slap at
President Roosevelt, isolationists
still see hope for their cause.
Refugees
Patterned after Red Cross and
Salvation Army, the Friends Service
committee was formed in Phila
delphia during the'World war by
Quakers. An earlier Philadelphia
Quaker was Joseph Scattergood,
who in 1880 built a Quaker prepara
tory school at West Branch, lowa.
Closed in 1931 for want of funds,
Scattergood school reopens May 1
for another sort of preparatory
work. Its main building renovated,
its caretaker’s home turned into a
dormitory, the institution will house
40 to 50 refugees who can spend a
maximum of 90 days there getting
bearings for a new life in the U. S.
Then they will shift for themselves,
making way for new arrivals.
Business
A Republican, Edward J. Noble
built his confectionary business into
a mint called Life Savers before
President Roosevelt named him
chief of the civil aeronautics author
ity. Because he represents busi
ness, also because he believes—un
like many businessmen—that U. S.
industry can move forward under
current governmental regulations,
Mr. Noble was too good a friend to
be left in the non-controversial field
of aeronautics. Result: He has been
named assistant to Harry L. Hop
kins, new commerce department
chief who is conscientiously trying
to make that traditionally dead-end
office into a vital aid to U. S. busi
ness.
But Harry Hopkins is admittedly
trying to sell the New Deal to busi
ness (though not without carefully
removing obvious stumbling blocks)
and he may have his eye on the 1940
presidential campaign. Hence Mr.
Noble makes a good “front man,”
and now the front man is himself
looking for front men.
At his first press conference in
the new job, Mr. Noble gave U. S.
newspapers a want-ad for patriotic,
EDWARD J. NOBLE
Help wanted.
distinguished business leaders who,
like himself, will take $1 a year
each to assist the department’s busi
ness expansion efforts. His purpose:
“I want to get around me men
smarter than I am to do specific
jobs.”
Departmental objectives, in the
Noble opinion: (1) Restore confi
dence, leading to increased business
volume, leading in turn to lower
taxes without disturbing govern
ment’s revenue or extraordinary ex
penditures; (2) help industry re
absorb the unemployed; (3) build
foreign trade, especially to combat
thg. Nazi-Fascist threat in South
America.
People
Appointed, James Slattery, Illinois
commerce commission chairman,
U. S. senator to succeed the late J.
Hamilton Lewis.
Resigned, H. F. McElroy, for 13
years Kansas City’s city manager,
father of Mary McElroy, once a kid
nap victim.
Resigned, Son Elliott Roosevelt,
as president and a director of Hearst
Radio, Inc., to spend more time
with his Texas State Radio network.
BAKER COUNTY NEWS
Relief
His 1939 relief vote may be a rec
ord on which many a senator and
congressman will rise or fall next
election. Reason: Congress is de
termined to outlaw the present sys
tem, substituting something closer
akin to state administration in which
states will also pay a bigger share.
If the plan succeeds, fine; if not,
disgruntled relief clients could make
hostile constituents at election time.
Major idea is that of South Caro
lina’s Sen. James F. Byrnes, who
boasts coalition support for a meas
ure to place WPA, PWA, CCC and
NYA into a new public works agen
cy, provide old age assistance pay
ments, liberalize unemployment
SENATOR McNARY
He also neglected financing.
compensation and increase aid to
unemployables. Federal supervision
would continue unabated, though bi
partisan administration would at
tempt to quiet cries of politics-in
relfef.
Many Republicans support the
Byrnes bill, but the solid congres
sional economy front may break
down under relief debate. Going
whole hog against federal supervi
sion, Oregon’s Sen. Charles L. Mc-
Nary (G. O. P. minority leader)
wants WPA eliminated entirely be
cause of serious “structural defects”
which inevitably produce periodic
“scandals.” His program: (1) Re
turn relief administration to the
states; (2) create bi-partisan fed
eral boards to allocate funds; (3)
create bi-partisan state boards to
disburse relief money.
Though Senator Byrnes scoffed
mainly at the impossibility of “bi
partisan” boards, both proposals
had one other major defect, namely,
financing. Senator McNary would
compel states to contribute not less
than 25 per cent of funds spent with
in their borders. Senator Byrnes
would have states pay one-third. The
stumbling block is that the U. S. will
not cut its tax levies, yet without
such cuts the 48 states cannot raise
their levies to reassume relief costs
which the government began easing
from their shoulders in 1933. The
hoped-for solution, already under
discussion, calls for U. S. alloca
tions based 50 per cent on popular
tion and 50 per cent on unemploy
ment, proportionately higher grants
going to “sub-marginal” states with
less than average per capita in
come.
Science
In J 37 B. C., two Chinese astrono
mers who reported an eclipse were
beheaded for being drunk. Four
hundred years earlier an eclipse
scared the Medes and Persians into
ending their five-year war. No such
consequences resulted one mid-
April day when the sun, moon and
earth staged a similar phenomenon.
Passing in front of the sun as
astronomists predicted, the moon
eclipsed from one-third to three
fourths of the fiery ball in a show
visible throughout most of the U. S.,
much of Europe and eastern Russia.
Asia
Discouraging to a disguised Jap
anese visitor would be modern
Chunking, new headquarters for
westward-driven China where news
men have been shown for the first
time how crafty Gen. Chiang Kai
shek is sinking the industrial roots
of a new nation, while Nippon wres
tles with war-wrecked coastal dis
tricts.
Projects include a $2,500,000 iron
and steel works which far-sighted
Chiang began building early last
fall, where a 30-ton blast furnace,
a 10-ton open hearth and a 10-inch
rolling mill will soon be in opera
tion. Nearby, under American
trained directors, are two Chinese
built electric furnaces making ship
anchors, rails and smaller steel
items.
Another important project is a
vegetable oil cracking plant where
experimental production will soon
start on artificial gasoline refined
from oil comparable to high grade
motor oils. At other sites in Chung
king’s vast new industrial district
reporters saw silk, cotton and elec
tric plants, while several thousand
workmen were"*!aborthg * over new
factories.
Lest Japan push westward to cap
ture Chungking, Chinese are ex
panding their industrial life to other
places like Szechuan, Yunnan and
Kweichow.
Miscellany
Geneva’s international labor of
fice reports U. S. unemployment
(estimated at 11,523,000) led all oth
er nations in 1939’s first three
months. Thirteen nations reportec
increased unemployment in this De
riod
ADVENTURERS’ CLUB
HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES
OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELFI
“Horror of the Gray Spots"
Hello, everybody:
Adventure just happens to most people, but Jim Burnett
of East Rutherford, N. J., goes out and hunts for his thrills. You
know, I’ve always felt that you’ll have just as many adventures
if you stay right at home and let them hunt you up. But Jim
seems to have had pretty good success with his system, too. In
the last 20 years or so, Jim has adventured in 54 countries. But
the biggest scare he ever got in his life was that time, way back
in the interior of Brazil, when he ran into the Adventure of the
Gray Spots.
In December, 1922, Jim and his pal Jay McKay were on their
way up the Amazon on an errand of vengeance. A Portuguese
half breed had killed McKay’s father and fled upstream to hide
in the wilderness. Jim and Jay had a hunch that they would
find him in the Geral Indian country, and they had started off
after him.
For two weeks they traveled up-river in a molloca, a type
of canoe used on the Amazon, turned south to ascend the
River Purus and, after a week’s paddling, picked up the murderer’s
trail from an Indian who said that a half-breed was hiding with a certain
Geral tribe on a stream that branched off the Purus a few miles farther on.
Voyagers Reach End of Their Trail.
They had paddled all that night, and dawn found them at the mouth
of the unnamed tributary of the Purus that the Indian had described.
Then both of them turned and started to run back to their canoe.
Up that little stream they went. In a couple more hours they were at
the spot to which the Indian had directed them—the end of their trail.
They ran their boat ashore on a narrow, sandy beach, and
started ashore. Back in the jungle they could see an Indian vil
lage, and a group of half a dozen natives coming forward to meet
them. “The Geral Indians were once considered the most sav
age on the South American continent,” says Jim, “but we ad
vanced boldly toward the handful before us.”
It was a tense situation, and Jim and Jay knew it. The Indians
might be peaceably disposed—and then again they might not. And even
though they might be inclined to be peaceable, they certainly wouldn’t
'feel any too friendly to the two white men when they learned their errand
was to take away the fugitive they had been sheltering. Yes—it was a
tense situation all right—-but nothing Jim or Jay had yet imagined was
as bad as what actually happened.
The Indians were about twenty paces away when Jim saw
them—the gray spots. The skins of every one of those Indians
were gray and blotchy and spotted—spotted with the most dread
ful disease known to the world. Leprosy!
Jim yelled: “Stop, McKay—stop!” McKay uttered just one
word. “Lepers!” Then both of them turned and started to run
back to their canoe.
They reached the river bank together, leaped over it and
landed on the beach—right on top of a couple of Indian boys who
had circled around them to see what they could steal from the
boat. "They turned on us and fought us fiercely,” says Jim,
“no doubt resenting our catching them at it. They scratched
and bit and kicked us before, finally we heaved them bodily out
onto the sand and pushed our molloca into the river amid a bed
lam of shouts from the advancing Indians.
Fear of Leprosy Haunts the Two Men.
“For the moment we had just one single thought in our minds—to
get away from the immediate neighborhood. It wasn’t until after a quar
ter of an hour of hard paddling, when we were a mile away down stream,
that we realized, with a strange, sinking sensation in the pits of our
stomachs that we had handled the leprous wretches—that they had bitten
and scratched us.”
Jim says that worrying about their exposure to leprosy was
bad enough, but the real horror of the business didn’t hit them
until a week later. Then, tiny, round gray spots began to appear
on his and Jay McKay’s wrists and arms. “The shock,” says
Jim, “was terrific. In fact, McKay’s hair turned snow white—at
the age of thirty. I wished that I were dead then and there, and
I guess McKay did, too. Have you ever seen the Louisiana leper
colony, or been in the Ladrones? I had always pitied those poor
gray-skinned victims of a living death—and now I was becoming
one myself.”
They pushed on down the river. In another two weeks the spots
had spread over their entire bodies. Life, then, was like a nightmare.
For there they were, thousands of miles away from civilization, coming
down with the world’s most dreaded disease. And even getting back to
civilization would be scant comfort. Not even modern medicine can cure
that hateful, wasting malady of which those spots were the first awful
symptom.
Horror Grows Worse as Time Passes.
“The ghastly horror," says Jim, “grew on us day by day. We pad
died along mechanically, like a couple of automatons, wishing to heaven
we’d die—trying to get up the courage to end our mental agony. As we
paddled, we prayed. We knew that no prayer could cure us, but I believe
today that they saved us from a worse fate—madness!”
And then, one day as they were rounding a turn near the mouth of
the Maderia river, they came upon another white man—a doctor from
the English hospital at Porto Velho, and Jim says that if there ever was
a messenger from heaven come in answer to a prayer, Doctor King was
that messenger. There in the jungle he gave them a brief examination,
and then he told them the news.
“Boys,” he said, “I know you’ve been suffering the tortures of
the damned, but you can stop worrying. Your cases are a rare
form of false leprosy—a disease that looks a lot like the real
thing, but which a good rest and a little medical attention will
take care of. It won’t be long before you’re as fit as ever.”
That ended those two lads' mission of vengeance. They never did
catch the killer. But Jim hopes that if Jay McKay is in this country
he reads this yarn. After all these years, he’d like to see him again.
Copyright—WNU Service.
Pagoda Tree Brought From Orient to Western World 1747
Sophora japonica, or the Pagoda
tree, was one of the first to be intro
duced from the Orient to the western
world. It landed in France as long
ago as 1747. Widely cultivated in
the Far East, it is usually seen by
visitors around Buddhist temples
and other religious sanctuaries The
pointed leaves of the Pagoda tree
are dark green above, gray under
neath. The bark is deeply-fissured
and corrugated. The older trees
have much of the appearance of the
white ash. It is especially valuable
because of its late flowering habit.
The flowers are cream-colored and
borne in large much-branched pan
icles. In the Orient trees 80 feet
tall, with trunks 12 feet in girth and
an abundance of picturesque
gnarled, wide-spreading roots, are
frequently to be seen. There are
several distinct varieties, the most
picturesque of the Pagoda trees
having pendant, crowded branches
(pendula).
Curtaining Windows
To Increase Width
By RUTH WYETH SPEARS
A READER living on a rural
** route in South Dakota writes,
me: “My parlor is 16 by 14 feet
and has an 8 foot ceiling. Right;
in the center of the 16 foot wail
are two windows, each 6 feet high
and 3 feet wide. They are only 1
foot apart and 1 foot from the
ceiling. How should I curtain
these windows? Should the drapes
AN OLTTUNE DRAWING OF WALL MADE TO
SCALE SHOWS THAT WINDOWS ARE
BADLY WAGED AND
SHOULD^LOOKWPER
VT'I I I I i 4 i . <
ThFtwOMNDOWS TREATED AS A UNIT
DRAPES EXTEND 6-OVER WALL AT SIDES
cover the 1 foot space between
them? How long should they be?
Would you extend the drapes
nearer the ceiling? I have been
advised to do this.—S. A.”
These questions are nice and
definite and all dimensions are
given. A scale drawing was mafe
a little larger than the one shown
here; Vt inch to a foot. This
showed immediately that the win
dows needed to look wider rather
than higher. By framing them
with a valance and side drapes to
the floor they are made into a unit
of pleasing proportions.
Give your own home a fresh
start with new curtains; slipcov
ers ; and other smart new touches,
which you will find in Book 1,
SEWING, for the Home Decora
tor. Book 2, Gifts, Novelties and
Embroidery, illustrates 90 ef^
broidery stitches and many ways
to use them. They are 25 cents
each; with each order for both
books, Crazypatch Leaflet showing .
36 authentic embroidery stitches is
included FREE. Address, Mrs.
Spears, 210 S. Desplaines St., Chi
cago, 111.
AROUND
THE HOU SE
Reviving Serge. — Blue serge
suits can be revived by sponging
with vinegar and water before
they are pressed.
• • •
Important Trifle.—A pinch of
salt added to hot starch will give
a high glow. '
Scorched Linens. — To remove
light scorches from linens, wet the
stained area with cold water and
expose it to the sun until the stain
disappears. , 1
• • •
Renovating Shades.—A coat of
flat oil paint will prolong the life
of window shades.
* * •
A Treat for Plants.—A little am
monia in the w ater once a week;
when giving the plants their drinki
will keep the soil sweet and the|
leaves glossy. ;
Can’t Eat, Can’t
Sleep, Awful Gas
PRESSES HEART
"Gas on my stomach ns bo bad X could
not eat or Bleep. It even pressed on my
heart. A friend suggested Adlerika. The
first dose brought me relief. Now I eat as I
wish, sleep fine, and never felt better."—
Mrs. Jas. Filler. Adlerika acts on BOTH
upper and lower bowels. Adlerika gives your
Intestinal system a real cleansing, bringing
out waste matter that may hays caused GAS
BLOATING, sour stomach, headaches,
nervousness, and sleepless nights for months.
You will be amased at this efficient intestinal
cleanser. Just one spoonful usually rehevee
GAS and constipation. Adlerika does not
gripe, is not habit forming. Recommended by
many doctors and druggists for 35 years.
cold at all drug storu
Select Few
Better be with a few who are
right, than with many who are
wrong.—Jarvis A. Wood.
ISFOR TENDER SKW
MorolineW
SNOW-WHITE PETROLEUM JELLY
The Real Test
It is much harder to be honest
with yourself than with othera.
kh«|
[many insects I
I oh nomissnvm I
I VtGITMUS S SHIOIS I
I Demand original seated I
bottles, from gour dealer ■
WNU—7 17-39
•The best place
to start your shop
ping tour ia in
your favorite easy
chair, with an open
newspaper.
SHOPPING
Tour
Make a habit of reading the advertise
ments in this paper every week. They
can save you time, energy and money.