Evening Star Newspaper, June 19, 1931, Page 1

1 ' | WEATHER. (U. 8. Weather Bureau Forecast). Fair and continued warm tonight and tomorrow; moderate westerly winds. ‘Temperatures—Highest, 87, at noon today; lowest, 67, at 5 am. Full report on page 9. Closing N.Y. Markets, Pages13,14 & 15 Entered as second post office, Wash No. 31,825. class matte ngton, D. C. JUSTICE SIDDONS DIES SUDDENLY OF ACUTE INDIGESTION Jurist, Stricken at Court House Yesterday, Fails to Survive Attack. ATTAINED NATIONAL FAME IN OIL TRIALS Funeral Expected to Be Monday. All Courts Adjourned Until Tuesday Morning. Assoclate Justice Frederick Lincoln Siddons of the District Suprente Court, who played a prominent role in the celebrated naval oil trials, died suddenly carly today at his home, 1914 Biltmore street, . Death came to the distinguished jurist at 4 o'clock this morning, follow- ing an attack of acute indigestion with which he was stricken at the court house yesterday afternoon. The im- mediate cause of death was given as acute dilation of the heart. Was on Bench Yesterday. Justice Siddons presided in & Veterans’ Bureau case yesterday morn- ing and was to have taken the bench again in the afternoon. After lunch, Towever, he complained to his secretary, Stuart Barnes, that he was suffering m indigestion. He decided to g0 to his_home. He went to bed late yesterday after- noon and a physician was summoned. Madical treatment seemed to relieve him, and early last night there were no indications of serious complications, ac- cording to Mr. Barnes. In fact, Justice | Siddons discussed with his wife the ad- visability of taking his vacation earlier than he had planned and it was tenta- tively agreed that he should leave for his Summer home in Haven, Me., to- morrow instead of next week. Strain Weakens Heart. Recurrent attacks of the stomach distress occurred during the night, how- ever, and the strain proved too great for the heart. He had had a similar aitack some months ago, but had re- covered completely after several months of rest at home. He was in his sixty- seventh year. The death of Justice Siddons pro- | foundly shocked his colleagues of the { bench and bar, few of whom knew of | his stomach attack of yesterday. All { branches of the District Supreme Court adjourned until Tuesday out of respect. A ceremony for the presenta- | tion of portraits of the justices, sched- | uled for tomorrow also Wwas postponed. | Funeral arrangements were being | made today by members of the family and friends. A committee of the Dis- trict Bar Association will be appointed to attend the services, which probably will be held Monday. Sat in Sinclair Case. i Justice Siddons attained Nation-wide prominence as presiding justice in the | trial of Harry Sinclair for conspiracy to defraud the Government in the! leasing of Teapot Dome. The trial was brought to a sensational halt in Octo- ber, 1927, when Justice Siddons cited Sinclair_and five associates for con- tempt of court in connection with the disclosure that the jury 4n the con- spiracy case had been “shadowed.” Sinclair, Henry Mason Day, William J. Burns,'W. Sherman Burns, Sheldon Clark and C. L. Vietsch were tried on | the contempt charges and all but Clark | and Vietsch were convicted. The case | went to the Supreme Court and the conviction of Sinclair, Day and Sher- | man Burns was upheld, but the elder | Burns was exonerated. Justice Siddons sentenced Sinclair to six months in the District Jail. Day was given four months and Sherman Burns was fined $1,000. Sinclair and Day served their terms amid much pub- licity. ~ Sinclair, at the same time, served out a concurrent sentence of three months for contempt of the Senate. { Nolle Prossed Fall Case. When the trial of Sinclair on the conspiracy charge was resumed a jury in Justice Siddons’ court acquitted Sin- clair. Subsequently Justice Siddons nolle prossed a similar conspiracy charge against Albert B. Fall. Pointing out that Justice Siddons may have had a premonition of sudden death, George P. Hcover, president of | the District Bar Association, today read to the District Supreme Court in gen- eral term a “prophetic” statement made by the late justice in a charge he gave to a jury less than 10 days ago in a ‘World War veteran's case. “Prophecy” Is Recalled. “It appeared that Justice Siddons must have had some premonition of death,” Attorney Hoover- declared to the court. “My attention has been called to a charge which he gave to a jury on June 10, which I feel I should read to the court. He said: “*How many of us—I won’t say any of us in this room; I hope it will not apply to any of us in this room—but how many of us, sceking generally the world over, if you please, are today robust, with nothing the matter with them? The prospect of living, at least ~(Continued on Page 2, Column 2.) i in es est tot cc $4, la: of de GARNER SAYS MELLON| scl transcontinental flight, have struck a flood light in taking off | from the airport at Abilene, turned her airplane over and struck an automobile. | At the time she sald she had misjudged | her height. Income Installments the deficit stood at $945,956,020. June aggregate $165,807,977. tariff act. D. C. Justice Dies FI iMiss Earhart Gets Reprimand for Autogiro Accident Government Accuses Her of Carelessness and Poor | Judgment in Crash. By the Associated Press. ‘The Commerce Department announced today that Amelia Earhart had been reprimanded for carelessness and poor judgment in handling her autogiro when it crashed at Abllene, Tex. last Anti-Saloon League and the Women's week. Miss Earhart, who was making a is reported to Reports reaching the department re- cently have been that the inspector on | the field at the time had recommended | that she be grounded for 90 days. G. G. Budwig, in charge ef the oper- ations section of the aviation branch, today telegraphed R. W. Delaney, in spector at Dallas, for a report. telegraphed & Miss Earhart be reprimanded. Delane; recommendation that It was announced that a letter was NOW UNDER BILLION Put Total Below Mark First Time in Weeks. By the Associated Press. The Federal deficit eased below the billion dollar mark today as second- quarter income tax payments continued to pour in to the Treasury. The income tax receipts tabluated for June 17 totaled $89,910,855 and caused drop of $71,285,000 in the preceding day's red ink figure. On the close of business that day It ag the first time in several weeks the deficit has been below the billion mark. Latest figures place the Federal deficit at nearly $5,000,000 below the administration's year-end estimate of $950,000,000. Income tax receipts on June 17 ex- ceeded collections on the corresponding day during the first-quarter payments March by more than $1,000,000. The corresponding day in June, 1930, how- ever, showed total payment of $152,- 958,752 to date in Official timates have forecast the full month Income tax payments collecticns at $290,000,000. Though income tax collections were running below last year's total, officials said they were approximatly earlier timates. Latest figures have brought tal fiscal year collections to $1,730,- 436,859, as against $2,223,674,865 in the rresponding 1930 period. Governmental expenditures rose to ,086,840,250, as compared with $3,846,- 564,044 last year. Customs receipts to the close of busi- ness June® 17 brought the fiscal year| total to $365,045,365, a figure far below st year's figure of $561,271,018. TARIFF CHANGES ASKED Commission Sends Many Recom- mendations to President. ‘The Tariff Commission today sent a large number of recommendations to President Hoover. ‘What items were included in the mass documents placed on the President’s sk was not made known. Chairman Fletcher of the Tariff Commission called on Mr. Hoover for brief conference, but would not com- ent. has The reorganized commission completed nearly 100 examinations of of the 1930 hedules since passage WASHINGTON, STRATEGY BOARD FOR 1932 CAMPAIGN ORGANIZED BY DRYS All Anti-Wet Organizations in U. S. to Be Represented in Fight. WILL SEND EMISSARIES TO PARTY CONVENTIONS Dry Planks and Wet Candidates for President and Vice Presi- dent to Be Resisted. BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. | A& board of strategy to fight the bat- [tle of prohibition in the 1932 cam- | paign, representative of all the dry or- ;gmuzauons in the country, has been | agreed upon, it was said today by dry | leaders in Washington. . This board, the outgrowth of the con- | ference of organizations supporting the eighteenth amendment, is being ap- pojnted by the Executive Committee of' | that conference. When completed it will probably number 50 individuals. Al- ready some 35 of them have been se- lected. The board is to meet in the Hamilton Hotel here on June 26 to organize and | to outline its program of action. As the partial membership of this | board was revealed today, it became | apparent that not only the so-called (Old Line dry organizatiuns, like the | Christian Temperance Union, were rep- | resented. but also the recently created | Allied Forces. ‘Will Fight Wet Plank. The board of strategy, it was pointed out today, brings together all elements in the prohibition movement and all the organizations interested therein. | This board will be represented at the the Democratic and the Republican parties. It will seek to prevent inser- | tion in the platforms of the political parties any plank which may be con- | sidered ~ inimical to the prohibition cause. As far as possible, it will work for the nomination of dry candidates for President and Vice President of both the parties. Board of Strategy will continue through- Siickuy reprimanding here - \**"Y | out the campaign following the national TAXES CUT DEFICIT; | conventions. The dry leaders frankly saia they ex- pect-d prohibition to be an important issue in the coming campaign, but not | the only issue. | _They expect the renomination of President Hoover by the Republicans. | President Hoover's record in support of | the enforcement of the dry laws is en- | ";"g, ndl-\.!hc":!ry to th: jocity | of the drys, sald by o | most widely knx of the dry leaders. The dry leaders also expect to be able to keep out of both party platforms any wet planks. On the other hand, the dry leaders are not deceiving themselves about the chance of nominating a dry for Presi- \dent in the Democratic National Con- Th:y expect now the nomi- nation of a Democrat who is opposed to national prohibition as it now stands. In other words, as the situation now | shapes up in the minds of the drys, the 1932 campaign will in a considerable measure follow the lines of the cam- paign of 1928. If the Democrats should write into their party platform a wet plank, the |dry leaders admit that the situation | would be very different. They _insist, (Continued on Page 2, Column 6.) 'MRS. WILLEBRANDT WINS WINE SUIT legal and 500 Gallons of Product Returned. Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, June 19.—Mabel Walker Willebrandt has won another legal Prohibition Bureau of the Federzal Gov- ernment. \ As counsel for the Pruit Industries, Ltd., co-operative organization of Cali- fornia grape growers, a position which }hiblllon Enforcement, she has had a | raid on one of the company’s branches in this city declared illegal and the seiz- ure of 500 gallons of good. red wine— to be sold, of course, only for sacra- mental purposes — ordered returned “forthwith.” The decision, made by Federal Judge Frank J. Coleman, also clarifies the rights of Jews who belong to no par- ticular congregation to buy wine for sacramental purposes. The fruit in- dustries branch at 545 East Tremont avenue, the Bronx, was raided on April 13 on_information s\lgyfled by Patrol- man Harold King, who, posing as an orthodox Jew without specific church affiliation, had obtained from a near- by rabbi a permit to purchase two bottles of wine. Judge Coleman upheld the rabbi’s privilege of issuing a permit to one not a member of his congre- ation and futhermore declared that any single sale of wine was “insufficient proof” and ‘“no bable cause” for believeing any of the wine was held for illegal sale. OVERPAYS ON LOANS Democratic Leader Declares 3 Per Cent Would Be Enough on $800,000,000. By the Associated Press. REDO, Tex., June 19.—Represent- ative John Garner of Texas, Democratic Jeader of the House, says he believes Secretary of the Treasury Mellon ha made a mistake in offering $800,000,000 in Treasury certificates at 313 per cent interest and that he advised the Secre- tary the issue undoubtedly ‘would be oversubscribed at 3 per cent. saltacton a5 The uneven dstrivu of wealth over the country. dis- | ] ition “For more than 100 years we have | down smoothly been feeding New England and con- | bumpers of her gondolas. centrating money there,” he asserted.| . perat “The time has come for this money to|as it sounds, however, but a delicate re evenly distributed and Texas | process, Ehoua -4 ‘The State of |taken the Graf on her most important should get its share. June down on Lake Constance today, demon- strating for the first time that she can. be without assistance of the landing crew earth. leasing gas until GRAF MAKES WATER LANDING WITHOUT AID OF OUTSIDERS Releasing of Gas Enables Dirigible to Descend on Lake Constance and Vessel Again Rises. d | B¥ the Associated Press. (CHSHAFEN, Germany. 19.—The Graf Zeppelin settled landed su ully on the water hich always brings her down to ‘The A whole big /ship floated on the rubber-covered le The: operation was not so simp] Dr. Hugo Eckner, who has Rhode Island, no larger than Webb |flights, made the test to demonstrate County, Tex., taxes paid more inheritance the Graf's seaworthiness t year than the entire State of starts' for the North Pole. Although before It was the wudonebyre-. he | pel ship has landed in the lake, the earlier Zeppelins used the lake regularly and were housed in bangars along the shore Their lolas were of different it the only alteration Graf was to spread water- were lowered. Then hoisted his anchor, di | along the for about a mile, re- leased us water ballsst, and the Zep- lin took to the air again. A few minutes later she was fime fhisihangar, national conventions next year of both | The work of the| Has Raid on Branch Declared II.| brush with her former colleagues of the | she assumed after resigning as assist- | ant Attorney General in Charge of Pro- | WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION D. C, FRIDAY, JUNE 19, SHOPEN ACCEPT FVEDAY WEEK | Southern Railway Workers | Agree to Plan to Prevent Cut in Force. By the Associated Press. i H. J. Carr, vice president of the | International Assoclation of Machinists, | sald today that shopmen of the South ern Rallway System had voted to ac- | cept a five-day working weel The vote was taken after railroad | officials informed union heads it was necessary to reduce expenses and sug- | gested a five-day week instead of laying | off more_employes. { Details to Be Worked Out. | Carr said_detafls were still to be | worked out between shopmen and rail- {road officials and that a meeting to | i complete the arrangements would prob- | jably be held soon. ! He sald the vote among the approx- | | imately 8,000 Southern employes affect- |;dee:'u heavily in favor of the shorter | 3 | The machinists's vice president said | the five-day week was already in effect | on a number of railroads, explaining | that the contract with the shopmen | enabled it to be put into effect without | balloting. | In the case of the Southern, however, | the contract called for a six-day week | and consent of the workers affected was | necessary before the change could be | made. Voting on the plan began mcre | than 10 days ago. No Wage Cut Involved, Carr said other ratlroads, whose agreement with their shopmen called | for a six-day week might pr.pose a | change to a five-day week, but that no balloting on such a proposal was going | on_now. | He explained that no wage cut was involved in the chang:. He added that | the shopmen, hcwever, would work one day less a week, thus reducing their in- | come and lessening raiiroad expenses, | even though no reduction was made in | SUES VANDERBILT FOR RENO DIVORC Petition Charges Cruelty—Peter Arno Considers Damage Action. RENO, Nevada, June 19 (P)— | Cornelius Vanderbilt, jr., filed suit | for divorce here today charging that his wife, the former Mary Davidson Weir Logan, of Chicago, had treated | him with extreme cruelty. | RENO, Nev., June 19 (#)—Cornelius Vanderbilt, § already troubled by family affairs, faced the possibility to- day of having something still further | !to worry about. ! Peter Arno, New York caricaturist: here for a divorce, announced last night | that he was considering the desirability | of bringing Vanderbilt and his attor-| ney, Samuel Platt, to account for “ab- surd” statements blaming him for trouble in the Vanderbilt household. | Arno’s attorney, Clyde D. Souter, also issued a formal statement in which he said the question of whether a suit for slander would be brought was being debated. - ! Saturday Half Holiday As usual, tomorrow will be a half-holiday for all of the de- partment employes and the stores will be crowded in the afternoon. For the convenience and comfort of the other shop- pers it is suggested that they will do their shopping if pos- sible in the morning. - The advertisements in today’s Star will be a great help in planning your shopping for to- morrow. Yesterday’s Advertising (Local Display) 2nd Newspaper' 3rd Newspaper 4th Newspaper 5th Newspaper 1931 -FORTY-EIGHT PAGES. i | | CLAUDE L. DRAPER, Member of the Federal Power Commis- | sion, today named by President Hoover | for ‘the five-year term ending June 22, 1936. | YALE OARSMEN WIN 2 OPENING EVENTS | Freshmen and “Jayvees Take Races From Harvard | in Annual Regatta. | Otis Smith and Commissioner Marcel | By the Associated Press. NEW LONDON, Conn., June 19.—The blue-tipped oars of Yale flashed triumph- | antly in the sun today as the Elis raced | to double victory over Harvard in the | opening events of the annual regatta between these ancient college rivals. Yale captured the freshman race by three lengths, after Which the Eli ju- | nior varsity crew scored an even more |yure “reconfirmed,” while court pro-, | decisive victory, leading the Crimson |ceedings have been instituted to oust “jayvess,” by three and a quarter lengths | over the upper two miles of the Thames | course. | 1t was the seventh time in nine years | that the Blue has swept the two morn- ning races, but seldom have the fin- ishes been as one-sided. As a result, Yale's hopes of a clean- sweep were buoyed, although Harvard remained a slight favorite for the four- mile varsity . classic, scheduled to be rowed up stream this evening. The Yale freshmen got away smartly in the first race and quickly opened up | a commanding lead with ‘the faster, smoother EIf stroke. Elis Take Early Lead. | ‘The Blue yearlings took a lead of a 21f length inside the first 400 yards. repulsed h: Harvard's first challenge and Yale drew steadily ahead. ‘The Eli youngsters raised the beat as they headed for ‘the finish and fin- ished smoothly in 10 minutes, 25 sec- onds for the two-mile route. Harvard's time was 10:35 3-5. - The clean-cut victory of the Yale junior varsity crew came as a distinct surprise, inasmuch as this boatload was the hardest hit in the shake-up of the Eli squad resulting from violations of training rules. With the exception of the No. 3 oar, J. G. Urquhart of Chehalis, Wash., the crew was made up entirely of New York State talent. Duplicate of Freshman Race. ‘The “jayvee” contest was a duplicate of the freshman race. Again the Elis got off in better style, gained a length's advantage within the first half mile, added another half length by the time the mile post was reached and then duull’stled their lead with a sensational spurt, The Harvard “jayvees” stroked by Thomas Armstrong of Dallas, Tex., came strong in the last half mile after pull- ing together badly earlier in the race. By this time, however, the race was lost and the Elis had no trouble holding their mlfil. Yale's 2 of 10:43 was surprisingly clower than the winning freshman mark. Harvard's jayvees were clocked in 10:54. SPEED LIMIT RAISED 45 Miles an Hour Is New fih on California Highways. ). 19 will be DRAPER RENAMED 10 POWER GROUP Appointed for 5-Year Term.! Confirmation Up to Senate When It Convenes. Claude L. Draper of Wyoming today | to be a member of the Federal Power | Commission for the five-year term ex- | piring June 22, 1936. { Draper was one of the three mem- | bers of the commission under fire in the Senate at the last session as a re- | sult of the removal of Charles A. Rus- | sell, salicitor, and William V. King. | chief accountant. Under the rotating | policy set out in the law creating the | commission, Draper’s first term was but | year, the commission not having been sworn in until six months after the { passage of the law by which it was cre- | chief of naval operations that ated, Served on Utilities Board. | Draper, a Republican member, came to the commission when he was round- of the State Public Service Commission, ming, and the State Board of Equali: zation, the central taxing body there. years Draper was their chairman. He first was appointed in 1919 by the then Governor, Robert D. Carey, Republican, now Senator from Wyoming. and re- | | appointed in 1925 by Mrs. Nellie Tayloe Ross, 'mocratic Governor. 1 Draper, sitting with Chairman George | Garsaud, s a quorum, last December | dropped King and Russell in a reor-| ganizatton of the commission. | King Later Renamed. | King afterward was reappointed, but Russell's application was rejected, th emim commission concurring in this| action. | ‘Wehen the Senate insisted on “recon- sidering” the nominations of Smith, Draper and Garsaud, the latter tw Chairman Smith. ‘The Senate will pass on Commission- er Draper's nomination for .the new term at the aext session. BAKER TO ATTACK LAW. Former War Secretary to Question Con- stitutionality of Power Group. By the Associated Press. Newton D. Baker, first chairman of the Federal Power Commission, is pre- paring to challenge the constitutionality ~(Continued on Page 2, Column 1) SEIPEL TO FORM CABINET Former Chancellor of Austria Ac- cepts Mandate From President. VIENNA, June 19 (#).—Dr. Ignaz Seipel, former chancelor of Austria, to- day accepted the President’s mandate to form a new. cabinet succeeding that of Dr. Otto Ender, which resigned in disagreement concerning rehabilitation g: the Creditanstalt, Austria’s largest nk. Dr. Ender told the President last night that he had failed to persuade the party leaders to agree to formation of & wvernment by a cabinet and committee vested with extraordinary *“From Press to Home Within the Hour” The Star’s carrier system ‘covers every city block and the regular edi- | held by various tion is delivered to Washington homes as fast as the papers are printed. Yesterday’s Circulation, 113,049 P) Means Associated TWO CENTS. Press. Flyers Who Annoyed Hoover Defended By Senator Bingham By the Associated Press. ‘The aviators who flew over the Harding Memorial exercises at Marion, Ohio, earlier in the week and aroused the ire of President Hoover toflay had & friend at court. Senator Bingham, president of the National Aeronautic Associa- tion, called on President Hoover and asked him to show the three fiyers all possibly clemency. Bingham said he had told the President the men were piloting E].‘ndnu with photographers and not intended to disturb the program. A few minutes after Bingham's call, Secretary Lamont, arriving at the White House for cabinet meeting, said that at least two of the aviators were flying above the prescribed 1,000 feet. “We will get the whole matter straightened out today,” Lamont said. “I don't think that any action we take will be unduly severe. Neither the aviation branch nor the President have any desire to be too severe with the fiyers.” NAVY APPLIES GAG ON ALL OFFICERS Department Orders Strict Silence on Conferences Within Service. ‘The Secretary of the Navy has ap- plied a “gag” on all Navy officers who may have participated in executive con- ferences, it was learned today. An order that Navy officers are to hold in strictest confidence the proceed- ings of any conferences of an execu- tive nature in which they have parti- cipated was disclosed today by Admiral William V. Pratt, chief of naval opera- tions, ‘Leaks” from naval conferences were | was reappointed by President Hoover |plamed for the order. The Navy Department explained that the order for secrecy, dated June 10, 1931, was approved by Secretary Adams two ‘days later. Distribution of copies| of this order, the department said, was made to the assistant Secretary of the Navy, the general board, the Bureaus of Navigation, Ordnance, Engineerl Aeronautics, Construction and Repair, Yards and Docks, Supplies and ~Ac- counts, Medicine and Surgery and the judge ‘advocate general’s office. The department quoted Admiral Pratt’s request to hold executive con- { for one year. He has served but a half | ferences secret, as follows: Admiral's Recommendation. “It has come to the attention of the occasion- aliy the conferences which have been offices of the rt- ment are not treated as executive in character, and that sometimes the sub- stance of what has been discussed ap- pears either in service bulletins, in the | ing out his twelfth year as a member | press or is the subject of general corri- dor_discussion. “It is therefcre recommended that | which regulates all utilities in Wyo- | the secretary approve the following policy, viz: That all conferences held in the secretary or assistant secretary’s of- 9 These are dual agencies, and for nine | fices, the general board and the office of operations be considered always as ex- ecutive in character unless word to the ccntrary is given by the supervising au- thority. It is taken for granted that the chiefs of all bureaus will take the necessary steps to see that conferences held within the purview of their own bureaus will support the line of general policy indicated above, as to the execu- tive character of conferences, as the normal precedure, when conditions fit.” BINGHAM URGES NEW AIR SERVICE PROGRAM | Senator Asks Hoover to Recommend ! Another Five-Year Plan for Army and Navy. By the Associated Press. Senator Bingham today asked Presi- dent Hoover to recommend a mew five- year airplane program for the Army and Navy. The Connecticut Republican said the present five-year program was near- ing its end and unless something was done at the next Congress the two serv- ices would drop behind in aviation de- velopment and the airplane industry would be practically: wrecked. He said six years ago when the Mor- row board, which recommended the present program, was sitting at the Capitol, only 32 actual combat planes could be assembled from the two serv- ices. In contrast with that showing, he pointed to the recent Army air ma- neuvers in which more than 600 planes flew over the Nation’s Capital. A carefully outlined program for the next five years built on details fur- nished by the Army and Navy, he said, would enable the airplane industry to contlfl‘uu its development with some powers. mniltlyim is president of the National Aeronautic Association. CHIEF LOCKS 4YEAR-OLD BOY IN CELL AT MOTHER’S REQUEST An;npolis Police Commissioner .Calls Both to TFask for Holding Child Prisoner Overnight. Special Dispatch to The Star. LIS, Md., June 19.—Police Commissioner R. Lee Waller today de- plored the act of Mrs. Do Perry, I avin Bex & year-old 200, RoRer. S g he - year- , , I, locked h’:u a %B at beadquarters night because mlny and the tramps and diseased persons are placed is not human,” the commissioner said. It is also learned that persons are aroused at the police chief for carrying out the request of Mrs. Perry, who is tuhe!d.lfillhm 01‘, Comdr. W. B. WAR DEBT AGTION SEEN A HOOVER CALLS N LEADERS Three Members of Senate and Tilson Visit White House for Conference. ALL AGREE U. S. HAS VITAL INTEREST IN SITUATION Belief Grows Revision or Morato- rium Is Considered to Avoid Crisis in Europe. President Hoover is showing a vital interest in the involved European finan- cial situation and as a result of con- ferences here today there is a belief in Washington that some action by the dministration is imminent. * The President called to the White House today three members of the Sen- ate and Representative Tilson of Con- necticut, Republican leader of the House. Immediately upon his return last night from the Middle West, Mr. Hoover held a long conference with Secretary of State Stimson. Yesterday in London Becretary of the Treasury Mellon held a series of conferences with Prime Min- ister MacDonald and other British offi- cials who recently have heard the plea | of Germany's officials for a cut in the German reparations bill, 5 Smoot Coming to Capital. Chairman Smoot of the Senate Fi- nance Committee is leaving Salt Lake City today for an unexpected visit to Washington. Senator Reed, Republic- an, Pennsylvania, conferred with Mr. Hoover at breakfast today together with Representative Tilson. Later the President called to the White House Senator Walsh of Mon- tana, a Democratic member of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen- ator Glass of Virginia, a former Demo- cratic Secretary of the Treasury. There was a rumdr at the Capitol that Sen- ator Watson of Indiana, the Republic- an leader,” might reach the city over the week end. ‘The President’s conversations with the congressional leaders has led to the belief that some revision of the World ‘War debts or perhaps a moratorium on them is contemplated as a means of helping to avoid the prospective finan- cial crisis in Europe. Congressional ap- proval would be required of any change in the debt status. Callers Silent on Visits. l European nations all met their debt payments due this month and no addi- tional payments are due to be paid the | United States until next December 15. For that reason any Government action ht be in another direction. ‘White _House callers flatly re- fused to discuss their visit, but they all agreed the Government is vitally interested in the n financial crisis. They also pointed out that this Government’s economic situation is in- volved in the world situation and that a collapse in Europe might have a severe reaction in this country. Another caller at the White House today was Undersecretary of the Treas- ury Mills. He conferred with the President after the cabinet meeting. b&: 'decllned to say what he talked about. BELIEVE DEBTS DISCUSSED. London Observers Discount Denials on Conferences of Mellon. LONDON, June 19 (#).—Andrew W. Mellon, American Secretary of the Treas- ury, continues to describe his conferences with British statesmen and bankers as having no political significance, but there is a general belief that his con- versations with Prime Minister Mac- Donald will have an important bearing on Mr. MacDonald’s meeting with Chancellor Bruening in Berlin next month. Apart from reparations and & possi- ble moratorium, it is believed the gen- eral European economic situation will be threshed out at that meeting in the light of added information gained by British statesmen in their talks with the American Secretary. Mr. MacDonald in an official state- ment today denied Mr. Mellon was here to discuss war debts at the invitation of the British government, but observers profess to see in that denial no con- tradiction of reports the general economic situation has been the topic of discussion in the past two days be- tween Mr. Mzlion and British leaders. May Be Guest at Chegquers. ‘The government is uncommunicative, but it is thought possible that Mr. Mel- lon may be a week end guest at the prime minister’s coyntry home at Chequers. At the American embassy it was said that Mr. Mellon was resting this after- noon and probably would go to Cam- bridge tonight. In the past two days Mr. Mellon has conferred with Mr. MacDonald twice, and yesterday Montague Norman, gov- ernor of the Bank of England, and Ar- thur Henderson, the foreign secretary, also took part in a conversation in Mr. MacDonald’s office. Shortly thereafter the foreign office announced that Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Henderson would go to Berlin July 17, returning the visit which Chancellor Breuning and Herr Curtius made to Chequers. MacDonald Issues Statement. Prime Minister MacDonald issued at his residence the following statement: “The prime minister’s attention has been drawn to a statement in a news- paper today that the government in- vited Mr. Mellon to come to this try to discuss a revision of war debts. “The statement in every respect is ab- solutely untrue. No invitation was is- sued by the government to Mr. Mellon nor has any such communication been ; made to the Government in Washing- | ton inviting them to discuss this or ar other subject.” DO-X NEARS GOAL RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, (®)—'The seaplane DO-X,