The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, December 17, 1937, Page 4

An Independent Ni lewspaper THE STATE’S OLDEST NEWSPAPER (Established 1873) State, City and County Official Newspaper Published daily except Sunday by The Bismarck Tribune Company, Bis- , Marck, N. D., and entered at the postoffice at Bismarck es second class mal) : Mrs. Stella 1. Mann President and Treasurer Archie O, Johnson Kenneth W. Simons Vice Pres. and Gen’l. Manager Secretary and Editor Subscription Rates Payable in Advance Dally by carrier, per year . Daily by mai) per yea> (in Daily by mail per year (in state outside of Bismarck) Datly by mail outside of North Dakota Weekly by mail in state, per year ..... Weekly by mail outside of North Dakota, per year. Weekly by mail in Canada, per year ........... Member of Audit Bureau of Circulation Member of the Associated Press The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republica- tion of the news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this newspaper and also the local news of spontaneous origin published herein. All rights of republication of all other matter herein are also reserved, Rail Empire ‘Idols’ Wrongly Identified The patient people who got the job of picking up the pieces which littered the landscape after the crash of the late Van Sweringen brothers, railroad magnates, are still at it. Latest evidence of their work comes in a schedule of claims, debts and liabilities for the estate of Mantis J. Van Sweringen, filed re- cently in the probate court at Cleveland. According to this schedule, Mantis J. Van Sweringen man- aged to get himself into debt to the tune of $68,123,760 before he died. Among the claims listed are one of $46,079,967 by J. P, Morgan & Co., and three running to more than $20,000,000 filed by three Cleveland banks—two of which have gone busted. The estate against which the claims are filed, according to the administrator, Trafton M. Dye, is “hopelessly insolvent.” Yet that is only part of the picture. Claims totaling slight- Jy more than $51,000,000 have been allowed against the estate of the late Orris P. Van Sweringen, ‘Some six weeks ago, a schedule of claims running to $21@00,000 was filed against the partnership estate of the brothers. sess All of this must inspire a vague feeling of awe in the breast of ordinary John Citizen, who considers that he has done some- thing notable when he runs up a debt of as much as $100, Any- one who can put J. P. Morgan on the cuff for $46,000,000, and then die and leave nothing to pay the debt with, has passed into the realms of fable. But the Van Sweringen debt is worth considering, not as ® natural marvel like the Grand Canyon, but as a symbol. Until the debacle actually arrived, the brothers Van Swer- ingen were commonly accepted as miracle workers and distin- guished citizens. Yet their contribution to the life of their time lay in the realm of frenzied finance rather than solid con- struction. They belonged to the race of manipulators. The dizzy pyramid of holding companies they built up, the weirdly inter- locking chain of debts, could have been accepted as noteworthy achievements only by people who had managed to confuse the substance with the shadow. se. * There is a distinction between the man who works with things and the man who works with money. It is illustrated— to go back in history a bit—by the contrasting careers of Jim Fisk and Commodore Vanderbilt. Both were very rich men, masters of high finance. But Fisk was a financial manipulator and nothing more; Vanderbilt left his country a first-rate transportation system. Fisk man- ipulated, Vanderbilt constructed. Fisk remains a symbol of the “frenzied finance” ef post-Civil War years; Vanderbilt is a symbol of the forces which built up the country. America has always honored, and richly rewarded, its Goers, It is right that it should. The trouble with the 1920's was that we got confused, and gave the homage that ought to go to the doers to the manipulators. We got our Vanderbilts and our Jim Fisks mixed up, Slum-Dwellers’ Rent It is good to learn that the federal housing administration is considering a drastic reduction in the rents collected from tenants of the new slum-clearing housing projects. Nathan Straus, housing administrator, says that he plans to demand rents low enough to house “not white-collar people but slum dwellers.” One great trouble with the slum-clearance program has heen the fact that it is impossible to build decent dwellings cheaply enough so that the proverty-stricken occupants of the slums could afford to pay for them. Mr. Straus indicates that the government may write off its Ma ee ind Scenes Washington National Labor Relations Board De- cisions Draw A, F. of L. Protests and Charges of Partiality....C. 1. O. Also Hit by Ruling on Craft-Indus- | trial Union Split. | By RODNEY DUTCHER (Tribune Washington Correspondent) Washintgon, Dec. 17.—The National Labor Relations Board created to en- force labor’s right to organiez freely and bargain collectively through its|° own selected agents, is under attack— especially by the American Federation of Labor, which charges it with fa- voritism toward the C. I. O. On that charge the Federation largely bases its opposition to the pending minimum |, wage-maximum hour bill. Counter-charge is brought that the A. F. of L,, officially maintaining that the C. I, O, is an outlaw, dual union group, actually is stabbing at the board because it is not persistently partial to the A. F. of L. Meanwhile it has gone almost un- noticed that an NLRB decision involv- ing an A. F. of L,-C. I. O, fight has just revealed the board’s first split and first dissenting opinion, with a 2 to 1 vote in favor of a fundamental A. F. of L. principle. x * x | Cite Two Decisions The board defends itself against charges of favoritism. The C. J. O. defends itself against charges of law- lessness or irresponsibility. The A. F. | of L. defends itself against charges of | forming “sem{-company unions.”, And various employers defend themselves against charges that they have coerced employes into joinng A. F. of L, unions in violation of the act. | Meanwhile; it is instructive to ex- amine two recent decisions of the board which have held in effect: | That imposition of an A. F. of L. union on employes by action of em- ployers is no more legal than imposi- tion of a “company union.” ‘That craft unions should be per- mitted to carve themselves off from industrial unions, even in predomi- nantly industrial production plants. SARS GOING ON LONG JOURNEYS — BUT THERE (6 SOMETHING IN THE WAY * * * Ban ‘Favored’ Union ‘The board recently ordered the Consolidated Edison and affiliated companies in New York not to give effect to contracts with the Interna- tional Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (A. F. of L.) which gave that union exclusively collective bargaining rights, to end its alleged use of labor spies, to cease persuading employes to THE HOPKINS CONVERSION join the IBEW, to cease discouraging! Not the least interesting of recent employes from joining the’ United/developments in Washington is the Radio and Electrical Workers Of alteration in his general attitude on America (C. I. 0.) and to reinstate| economic issues of Mr. Harry Hop- six employes allegedly fired for union | kins, head of the WPA and the great- activity. lest spender of federal money in all ‘The board concluded that the com-|history. It is conservatively estimated penies bad engaged in unfair labor/ that in the last four years more than practices by interfering with, restrain-| eight of the sixteen billion dollars ing and coercing their employes; that| which the New Deal has expended the granting of the IBEW contracts! has been passed out by Mr. Hopkins. was a part of the employers’ unlawful| and he is still spending for work course of conduct and that the con-| relief upward of one and a half billions tracts were hence invalid. @ year. dated Bilson branded tho findings 8: rani e as - Sittetly unwarranted” and promised| But his point of view has changed to observe the contracts until a fed-| Somewhat in the last twelve months. eral court invalidated them, if ever.|There was # time when Mr. Hopkins President Dan Tracy of IBEW said|Was one of the most ferocious of all the board’s action was “biased, big-|the administration denouncers. It oted, illegal and dictatorial,” and|was he who preached the doctrine to Green said “the decision outrages the | his aides that “this is a fight between provisions of the Wagner act.” the Haves and the Have-Nots and * * vocates, far over on the radical side. ; ‘Today, by men who have had rather close contact with him, he is not re- garded as radical at all. On the con- trary, it is reported by those who know best the inside gossip of the palace that Mr. Hopkins’ weight is now over on the conservative side. He, with Mr. Kennedy, combats the anti-capitalistic ‘counselors of the president, and he was reported recent- ly as having Joined with Mr. B. M. Baruch in urging upon Vice President Garner not only budget belancing but tax revision along the lines ad- vocated by such anti-New Dealers as Senator Carter Glass and Mr. Lewis Ww. » It was Mr. Hopkins who, at one of the confidential White House. conferences, we are told by the well-informed Mr. Krock, of the New York Times, opposed the two presidential counselors who held that our present system is not worth sav- ing, and wanted the president to “let CAA gear eee The Great Gane of POLITICS Copyright 1937, by The Baltimore Sup By FRANK R. KENT classified in that way. The neo New Dealers, who once regarded him as one of them, are now somewhat caus- tic in their comments upon the pres- of the "A director and the reasons, It would be unfair to imply that . Hopkins now advocates capitalism and is anxious to balance the budget and » ABB fact, what he advocates Hopting ip not out chief; he * the sooner you eth it re Hee eee It was Mr. Hopkins, » when Mr. vine woe cn Upton Sinclair run for governor in California, clasped him to his bosom with the glad shout of “He is one of us,” or words to that effect. In brief, Mr. Hopkins has done quite a little to stir up class feeling in the country. And in the first Roosevelt term he was regarded as one of the most ar- dent of the More Abundant Life ad- Se ees . ‘Now it’s the C. I. O's turn to holler. In the Allis-Chalmers case involving 10,000 automobile company workers the NLRB, with Member Edwin 8. Smith dissenting, has held that two groups of employes may vote separately whether they wish to be represented as A. F. of L. craft units or by the United Automobile Workers’ (C. I. O.). local covering the whole plant. The two federation unions are the IBEW endl ibe Brotherhood of Firemen and Although the UAW is conceded to have a majority of all employes among its members, those unions appear to have majorities in their own crafts. Craft union claims as to four other units were disallowed on the ground that their evidence of membership ‘was unsubstential, Smith's dissent held that the ma- jority decision voted in a small em- ploye group choice of determining whether, in a mass-production plant, @ complete industrial bargaining unit or one from which one or most crafts had been severed, was the more ap- paeitagd to promote collective bar- rf , : The decision had been left to a fnvestment, if necessary, in order to charge prices that the traffic can bear; and while this will involve a considerable fi- nancial sacrifice it is hard to think of any other way in which a slum-clearance project actually can take care of the people who live in the slums. Ready for Trouble The United States air force is “one of the biggest and pos- sibly the most efficient” air force in existence. So says that famous British authority, “Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft,” an annual publication which reviews national air forces once each year. : : This British authority, incidentally, is puzzled by America’s big air fleet. It points out that America is isolated and safe, with nothing to fear from any enemy close enough to do any damage. Why, it asks, should the Amercan people spend money for such a powerful weapon? The answer to that one is easy: just in case, brother—just in case. This country is going to keep out of trouble if it can; but it doesn’t mind having the world know that if trouble should come the country is perfectly well able to handle it. Cabinet Quiz There is a good deal of sense in the parliamentary reform Suggested recently by Congressman Maury Maverick of Texas. Maverick would borrow just enough of the British system to make our cabinet members accountable to the people, through congress. He proposes that cabinet officers be given the right to participate in debate on the floor of the house of representa- tives, and that they be subject to questioning by congressmen on three days of every week while congress is in session. - A good deal could be said for this proposal. Congress ‘would be far better informed about the activities of the execu- group known to be hostile to indus- trial organization, he said, and wishes of the great majority were ignored. Small craft groups, he said, would be enabled to throw thousands out of work by striking and hamper major- ity attempts to achieve stable employ- ment through collective bargaining. (Copyright, 1937, NEA Service, Inc. You know, copper, the only kind of & policeman that’s a good policeman 4s a dead one. You're all rats.—Paul acces » 18, Chicago, accused of mur- ier, ** & 1 don't know what it is—I happen never to have come across it before — Dr. William Beebe, scientist, who failed to identify a strange fish found near Baltimore, ee 8 Never again! The cost is prohibi- tive. — Tommy Manville, New York city, married and divorced four times, who safe be wilt never rastry Bean: Everyone -in the United States, ex- cept perhaps our State Department, knows that a state of war exists in China.—U. S. Senator Arthur Capper, Kansas, ***e * Our ranks are now thinned down to the veterans who can take punish- ment. — Representative John Martin, Colorado, after a five-hour congres- Teduced attendance I believe that the war office, andthe government . .. hold that England could save the face of Germany by re- storing part of her colonies. — Mrs. Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale, so- actress. tive branch, and the policies of the different departments would take be much more responsive to the will of the people. ‘ The Maverick _Plan might well be worth a trial. BIT OF HUMOR NOW AND THEN 18 RELISHED SY THE BEST OF MEN Obadiah (boastfully)—I can go out with girl I please. Soe evan uarient what I hear you don’t please very many of them. Sally—When I marry I want a man who is game from head to foot, Pro Footballer — Well, give me & chance; I’ve got a game leg already. Boss—Rastus, I gave you $5 to buy me a domestic turkey for Christmas. Thesone you brought me has buckshot in it. Rastus—I done brought yo’ a do- mestic turkey, boss. Boss — Well, what about the shot in it? Rastus (sheepishly)—I ‘specks dey was meant fo’ me, sah. . Prof. (to Freshman entering class late)—On what date were you born, ung man? oe il 2, sir. Freshman—On Prof.—Hum, pene late must be a habit with you. 4 Freddie—Fightin’? Not me. Mother—But you have a black eye. Somebody must have struck you. Freddie—I wasn’t fightin’ at all and nobody struck me. It was an acci- dent. 4 Mother—An accident? Freddie—Yes, mam. I was sittin’ on top of that new boy down the street and I fotgot to hold his feet. BARBS ) ——_____ _____ As Hitler and the British envoy conferred, Europe still seemed to be headed straight for Halifax, as grand- father would harp seid it. Dried milk used as “white coal” to pull a train out of Chicago may lead many an-humble family to believe that Whee ezine ih ts evn Back Tere * * When the 200-inch mirror is in- stalled in California, it. will be just like some snooty star to insist on a bigger one for her sressing Toom. * Idaho townspeople drilled out a sup- ply of hot water for the winter, evi- dently unaware that the government probably would be glad to keep them supplied free, *** * Last heard of the fellow who said that for five cents he'd put a bomb under the tax offices, he was well on the way to becoming a millionaire. | (Copyright, 1937, NEA Serivce, Inc) her slide.” Mr. Hopkins, it is re- ported, strongly opposed this notion and Mr. Roosevelt agreed with him. Aside from the astonishing fact that the president of the United States should have among those with whom he confidentially advises on national affairs men who openly advise him to scrap the American system, and should debate that subject with them —aside from that, the position taken ‘by Mr. Hopkins is significant. Per- haps an injustice has been done him, ‘but the general feeling has been that he belonged with the extreme left- wing group, for whose company the president has shown such decided preference, Certainly his and comments have lent substance to that idea. is But he INSURED AGAINST ‘BREAKS’ All Tricks Except One Are ‘Cold’ But Declarer Covers Every Chance to Lose Three No Trump Contract - By WILLIAM E. McKENNEY (Secretary, American Contract Bridge League) SOLUTION TO PREVIOUS CONTRACT PROBLEM sEe When Benedict Jarmel of New York City, declarer on today’s hand, saw the dummy, his contract of three quite safe. top cards 3° i a i Ribs Rage bs i F eek 8 2 : ey i E BEES i ie beill Ef il ge 3 i : 2 $ Fae trick in either hearts or clubs, which could be done automatically if either of these suits broke three and three. Naturally, with an spperent lsy- down he gave only fleeting considers- to the possibility of a squeese, although he it in mind, i £ i E i 1G af i Pr Uter| E A cashed three dummy ing to health but sot inte Address Dre Brady accompanied by @ stampei Dr, Brady case oF dl Moda Wilterietlers t Write ibune. All queries lope. rtain' fly and | must be HOW’S THAT COUGH, I DARE ASK readers have had time to make up end try fall 9 Bee well as the edditionsl vitamin B and vitamin G one Dr. Osler, in the last edition of his “Practice,” sald of chronic bronchitis: “Turpentine, the old-fashioned recommended by the Dublin physicians, has in many qi deservedly into disuse.” This refers of course to the tine intended for medicinal use and not to the crude tine intended for industrial use. The average dose of the tine is not more than two or three I GRAND QUERADS , SALL Qe Tero «OP. F897 BY NEA SERVICE, ND: 1. M. REC. W.'6 PAT. OPP, KIALUSIEIRIW CTL IHIE LIM JAIN] LILLIE im | OINMEAILIAIT] RIK) EIRISIT a 38 Chum. 40 Mooley apple. 59 She was rated 11 Frozen water,. 4 Genus 41 Sun god. among the 13 To merit. auke, 45 Afvernoon, ieshe the disease. VERTICAL musician,