The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, December 21, 1937, Page 6

An independent Newspaper THE STATE'S OLDEST NEWSPAPER (Established 1873) State, City and County Official Newspaper ——— —————SsSsSsSsSsSsesesesese Published daily except Sunday by The Bismarck Tribune Company, Bis- fmarck, N. D., and entered at the postoffice at Bismarck as second class mail matter. : 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 Daily by carrier, per year Datly by mail per yea: (in Bismar Daily by mail per year (in state outsit Daily by mail outside of North Dakota Weekly by mail in state, per year Weekly by mail outside of North Dakota, per year. Weekly by mai] 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. Mr. Girdler Reveals Himself Perhaps the ablest business executive the CIO encountered in its effort to organize the steel industry was Tom Girdler of | Republic Steel. His name figured large in the headlines dur- | ing the labor troubles earlier this year and he was variously painted as a devil with two tails and as the bulwark for the American system of business enterprise, crowned with a halo and entitled to the special consideration of the people. It all} Cepended on the point of view. | But Tom Girdler made a speech the other day at the | annual banquet of the Ilinois Manufacturers association and | thereby gave all who heard or read it the picture of himself as he sees himself. ! As one of the big shots of “Little Steel” Girdler ranks as one of the nation’s major industrialists. And when he gives a! reason for not wanting another depression it rings true. Here’s what he said: “This country cannot afford another major depression. We have, in America, too many destructive theories borrowed from Europe, whose advocates would welcome another great depression.. They would seize upon it as an opportunity to attempt a final death blow at the principles of Democratic government and individual liberty. These are the principles upon which this country was founded and has flourished for a century and a half.” As rugged an individualist as there is in the country, Gird- ler also shows more than a smattering of social consciousness. He knows that industry must go along with the people and strive to make a better order for everyone or that it will face destruc- tion Such things as the increasing national debt do not, in them- selves, worry him, He thinks basic conditions are good and that “there are no basic economic causes making for a prolonged recession. On the contrary, there is right at hand the economic basis for a great period of industrial activity and prosperity which would give employment to millions of our people.” Neither does Mr. Girdler overstress the virtues of business. He doesn’t contend that it never makes mistakes or that the gov- ernment should leave business to go its own way unmolested, no matter what it does. Here’s what he had to say on that subject: “You and I know that business has made mistakes in the past and will make them in the future, because business is managed by humans und to err is human, As business men we must frankly recognize that many of the present controls and restrictions grew out of real or imaginary abuses in business and finance. Most often these abuses, where they existed, were practiced by a small minority, but the re- Strictions apply to all. “I am fully aware of the fact that, under modern conditions, cer- tain governmental regulations for business are highly essential. Such regulations which are necessary for real progress and for the welfare of all the people have my whole-hearted support. Business men can- | not object to government regulations to correct real abuses or where it is necessary genuinely to protect the public interest, and where such regulation is fairly and impartially applied. But business must oppose regulation or control which is punitive in intent and destruc- tive in effect.” All of which boils down to the fact that business now is willing to co-operate with government in the effort to put the country back on its feet. About all that is necessary is a bit of frank dealing on both sides and an honest desire to get things going again. Add to this a pinch of American initiative and season with the salt of confidence and we might have a recipe which would work. Tom Girdler showed business how to put the skids under the CIO. Maybe, if he puts his mind to it, he could help lead the way to a better feeling between business and the government and thus render a signal service to his country. ’ Beware Christmas Carnage Although it has the appearance of introducing a skeleton to the feast, suggestion by the National Safety Council that this is a particularly good time to exercise caution is based on hard fact. Christmas fires are notorious for the deaths they cause and the damage they do. Because of the spirit of gaiety and friv- olity common at holiday time, many forget that accident and| ‘he misfortune strikes when they are least expected, A warm regard for the sentiment of Christmas should not be permitted to supersede common sense in making Christmas preparations or in directing our activities. What is true of fire is also true of traffic, Analysis of the figures shows that more persons were killed in traffic accidents in December, 1936, than were killed in this manner for the entire year of 1913. The toll for the month was 4,290 or 340 above that for the next highest month in the mortality tables. The reasons for this are many. In addition to the hurry and bustle caused by last-minute shopping, fundamental conditions are bad. Streets and highways are covered with ice in many parts of the nation. The hours of daylight are few, particularly in this latitude. Fog, snow and sleet are fairly common, These things joined together last December to kill more persons than were slain in the entire Revolutionary war, to create empty chairs at what were expected to be festive boards |° und introduce a note of suffering and sorrow into a period of peace and good will. Out of Gas There are times when it does seem as if the predominating trait of the American people must be plain absent-mindedness, ’ Some enterprising statistician with a flair for oddments of interesting but useless information has reported that no fewer than 1,500,000 motorists last year managed to get themselves stalled on the highway with empty gasoline tanks, and if that Tecord can be due to anything but ordinary every-day absent- - mindedness, many persons would like to know what it is. Every car nowadays has a gasoline gauge, perfectly visible j Will be carrying nearly 2,000,000 per- THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1937 ind Scenes Washington Increasing Rapidly Buying Power Accentuates Slump ao Count Surprises Of- By RODNEY DUTCHER (Tribune Wi Correspondent) Washington, Dec, 21.—More than 1,500,000 persons have lost their jobs since Labor Day and about 1,700,000 have had their working hours—and hence their purchasing power—cur- tailed. At least 2,475,000 persons who were at work in August will be out of work by the third week in January. These secret estimates as to the effect of the current business reces- sion on employment have been care- fully worked out by some of the gov- ernment’s foremost economists and statisticians. Officially, of course, it is stated that there’s no way of telling the amount of new unemployment. <Act- ually, there has been some real effort to find out where the country stands and what relief needs may amount to next winter and spring. Indications are that 950,000 persons have been laid off by factories since the beginning of September, about 275,000 in the construction industry and around 210,000 in the transporta- tion and mining industries, That adds up to 1,435,000 and, if the figures are approximately correct, there are other Jobless in addition. * * Buying Power Is Reduced The estimated 1,700,000 whose em- ployment has been cut down to two or three or four days a week are an important factor in the business sit- ation because the resultant decline in *” 1 Jingo Bells! Jingo Bells! eo croc oo ccs cose rc or ccc coc orooc co ccoccse sm cce ony purchasing power accentuates the present downward spiral. More layoffs are anticipated after Christmas. Many now working in the retail, wholesale and mail order trade will be released. Others now work- ing part-time in industry are expected to go off payrolls entirely. Some em- ployers who have deliberately re- frained from pre-Christmas layoffs will finally break the news. And by the middle of January, it’s computed, agricultural unemployment—largely seasonal—will have reached 450,000. The previously cited estimate of 2,475,000 may be conservative. Some government economists believe that the number of “new unemployed” will reach 3,000,000 by the middle of January. Some students of the situation be- lieve the spiral may pause about that time and others do not. ** * Job Census Reflects Slump The federal unemployment census was taken right in the middle of the September-January period and con- sequently will reflect only partially the effect of the business slump. Accuracy of this count will depend largely on the care with which ques- tionnaire replies are checked as to ene they report actual unemploy- ment Secrecy surrounds the early dis- coveries of those who have socess to the compilation process. But it can be stated that the number of unem- ployed already indicated by this cen- sus is considerably larger than of- ficials pace ‘“ * WPA Rolls Increasing By the first of the year, WPA rolls sons and will reach the peak limit which Administrator Harry Hopkins says is possible under the 1937-38 ap- propriation of $1,500,000,000, it now ap- Pears. WPA employment is now about 1,575,000 and is increasing rap- idly as 350,000 more persons begin to them for an additional WPA app! priation. The degree of this pres- sure is likely to be conditionad by the speed or lag with which the in- crease in unemployment is reflected on local relief rolls, and the extent to which unemployment insurance sys- tems in nearly half the states serve to keep the “new unemployed” off those rolls, (Copyright, 1937, NEA Service, Inc.) ——_—_—__—_— | SOTHEYSAY | Children may be written off as a dead loss, economically speaking, in this age of industrialized mechaniza- tion.—Dr. Paul Popenoe, Sociologist. zs* * e To pursue a policy of reducing pro- duction means constant reduction of purchasing power of more and more people.—U. 8S. Senator William E. Borah, Idaho. e* You cannot scare a tiger from his stricken prey by waving phylacteries (protective charms) in his face— David Lloyd George, commenting on the invasion of China. ** & Every slump comes from America, and the more we isolate ourselevs from that country, the better—H. G. Williams, Conservative M. P., speak- ing of ADeor Ameican relations, The Sino-Japanese conflict is for us a holy war.—Matsuzo Nagia, Jap- anese minister i pects Germany once was a rich nation. Through robbery we were reduced to “have nots.”—Gen. Franz Von Epp, one nting on Germany's colonial salad in some palatable form. —Dr. Victor Heiser, ae 2 ‘author, * Ma's pumpkin pies ne world.—John Weston, New York iv» _ to the driver at all times. There are times when it seems ag if |s#ving—Mrs. every corner had a filling station. With that combination, it is|% ; hard to see how anyone ever gets stalled with an empty tank. ‘Yet somehow we all do it—a million and a half of us, in one year’s _ We must be tolerably flighty people, in some ways, s* & They don’t want the old duffers of 55 or 60. Young are ex- ish author, on return to England from a trip to tie United’ States, The Great Game of P Copyright 1937, ‘The Baltimore Sun ‘ DISAPPOINTMENT ington helping to ward off the “na- With the ready acceptance by Mr.| tional economic disaster.” Joseph P. Kennedy of his appointment as ambassador to Great Britain comes| Nor can it be maintained that Mr. some disappointment. No one wants| Kennedy has been drafted for this to disparage the services performed | high ambassadorial place; that it has by Mr. Kennedy nor spoil his pleasure} been forced upon him, or that there in the new field he is about to enter.| exsits an emergency which compels None the less the conception of him as| him to leave Washington, where our a citizen, who, anxious only to help in| domestic difficulties multiply and the a crisis, devotes his great abilities to} need of the president for wise counsel salvaging the ship of state without de-| and disinterested friends is very great, sire for reward, is somewhat marred.| indeed. It is equally impossible — — though the effort is made—to sustain It was a picture consistently painted | any theory of the vital im; of by various journalistic adniirers and,) his new post. It glitters, it is true, but it must be admitted, somewhat con-| that is all. There is a dignified posi- tributed to by Mr. Kennedy, himself. tion to maintain, speeches to be made, No other idea of the man, for example, | entertaining to do and many routine fits his eloquent exhortation before} duties. But there really are no great the Economic club in New York last| problems to be solved. Mr. Hull has week when he lectured business men] already laid the foundation for his upon their duty, called upon more of| reciprocal treaty with Great Britain, them to go down to Washington and,| and when there arise real questions of as he was doing, make their “contri-| international agreements on currency, bution” instead of finding fault;| debts or co-operative action, the ad- pointed out that “there never was &/ ministration sends to ‘the scene its time when it was more important for! specially trained and widely experi- yeu and all of us to get behind and| enced Ambassador-at-Large, Mr. Nor- try to do something for the cause.”| man Davis. In these days of the trans- He has just repeated this lecture in anj atlantic telephone, ambassadors are interview in which he severely scolded| little more than glorified messenger business men for not being sweeter boys, and the only way you can make toward the president. 8 bad ambassador is by making an ass And then we find that, despite the “national economic disaster” which he asserts threatens us, and his vehement intimation that patriotic men should go to Washington, there to do what, they can to avert the crash—then we find that Mr. Kennedy has gone to Palm Beach for Christmas, which is, of course, all right, and after Christ- mas is going to England for the next three years, which is all right, too, but it does rather muss up the picture. It develops that actually while he was (though if he ever got any abuse no on one can recall it)—at that very time he was slated for the softest and most socially desirable of all diplo- matic posts. Certainly no one can object to his grasping this honor if he covets it, but it does detract from the force of his arraignment of those who’ retain doubt concerning the sincerity | of Mr. Roosevelt and are not in Wash- [BARBS of yourself, If two weeks ago anyone had sug- gested that Mr. Kennedy wanted an ambassadorship, his friends would have hooted in derision. The secretary of the treasury— ut an ambassa- dor—don’t be foolish. It shows you never can tell. ‘How is he going to) make his “contribution” over there? Ot what use is his great influence with Mr, Roosevelt 3,000 miles away? ‘Who OLITICS is going to check the Corcorans and the Oohens, block the anti-capitalistic THOR fee & 8 xisting of his most recent public utterances should want to be one or think that can continue making his “contribu- tion” by such remote control. UNUSUAL STRATEGY FAILS | Defender’s Effort to Force Play of Vital Trump Is Balked. Declarer Makes His Contract. ~ By WILLIAM E, McKENNEY (Secretary, American Contract Bridge League) The defense East and West put up on today’s hand was worthy of s better fate. If a player deliberately his partner led Siew dlanicnd rather than a higher one Finally he got what he believed was the right answer, so, instead of putting ——_—_—_—<$_§$§_$____— ¢/ rus « trick with a low card to force! on the seven of trumps and winning India, not to be outdone in fakirs, sends one who with his eyes can bore right through « robot. ** * - Every Man a King has flickered, but the nation is still cluttered with clam- oring pretenders, eke ip, the average Under a dictatorshi citizen's life is just tied up in a series of “nots.’ *** * Sticking out the tongue is a popular in Tibet—and assembled ® six-spot from the dummy hand, when he could ruff with # seven and win the six-spot, it is either # very fine play or a very dumb one. How- ever} it did not find the declarer nap- ping. SOLUTION TO PREVIOUS CONTRACT PROBLEM 4AQI1095 92 @59875 o5 the trick, he the t iS was up to declarer, and Your Personal Health if E j z i i D : l rf | By William Brady, M. D. rea to tters bi and in ink, Address ‘ribune, All queries must be accompanied by @ stam: 1d envelope, Rp eg ut “Doctor Tambefji, of Africa, will now read a paper pg aelge se zebra bones in hay fever cases.” - a8 |. Writer of Fairy Lore. | HORIZONTAL, Famous Answer to-Previeus Puzsic APIOILIAINID! RIAINMMAICIIVIE MS [HIE FIAISIT MERIT DIES ML IAINDD) - AISISIEIRITISMMRIE VIE TGISIE! aa ny 8 Fiptalrie|or poate VEE RIAIT IH Ril i R NIE RME TRI POO cieinrey 25 Betole- Vv INOS] 30 ne 12 Pursues. ama @ ae 2 ad 468 Wn de LP rrr ro