Evening Star Newspaper, September 15, 1931, Page 2

A—2 gaw oSt RITCHIE FOE OF U.S, UTILITY PERATION “Would Make Us Political Slaves of Government,” He Tells Lawyers. (Continued From First Page) “I have more confidence of a benef- icent outcome under enlightened busi- | ness leadership, With a minimum of | overnmental interference, than I have 5¢ getting very far by making this the foot ball of politics and politicians. And without meaning to question anybody's sincerity, I mey be permitted to wonder Whether gentlemen who discourse so ex- travagantly and so passionately on the subject are not really laying down a barra; * or a smoke screen with which they hove to hide other issues—such, for ex'mple, as prohibition—about which 1 32 ot think it politically wise to_cpeak so boldly.” Gov. Rit-hie spoke in part as foliows: Iscue Confused by Politics. “I know of no public question in which law and economics are more in- timately interwoven than they are in the public utility question. = And I know of no question which is being more confused by politics. “It has become the fashion in certain quarters to see monopolistic abuses and eapitalistic exploitation of natural re-| and of consumers and tax- payers in almost everything certain utilities do, and to demand drastic governmental action. “Justly seem to be more or less under suspicion. Perhaps this is due in part at least to the fact that through natural economic evolution the utilities are generally monopdlies, and by tradition monopolies are odious. “We may as well start, however, by admitting that the utilities have not been free from their share of faults. ‘The ambition to build up great fortunes and the concentration of power through the merger of innumerable independent concerns, either by consolidation or by the device of holding companies, has doubtless led to instances of manipu- Jation or exploitation in the utility fleld, as the same things have done in other fields, and the whole range of public utility operations is admittedly one call- ing for public scrutiny and supervision. Opposes Federal Ownership. “What sources “The question. of course, is, should socfety do in order to protect | itself, and to guide and direct utility operations for the public good? What is the economic policy or, if you will, the political philosophy animate Government in its appreach to this question? “When you come to analyze the de- mands for drastic action you find that involve the idea of Gov- ernment ownership. This is true of the agitation now going on with respect to the power industry, against which the attack upon the utilities is at present concentrated. “The national policy, must not The capitalistic system has its defects, of course—periods of forced unemplo ment is perhaps the worst—but it has centuries of evolutionary growth back of it, and under it we have come to lead the Nations of the world in every form of progress. I do not believe in crippling it. “Our political ideal always has bcen to encourage private enterprise, to be- stow upon it the carned rewards of brain and labor and to keep open the door of opportunity. Here, I believe, is the key to our material success. Here is a political ideal®worth guarding and worth fighting for. “When you come to the extent to which Government should enter the domain of business, and own, manage or control activities hitherto left to pri- vate capital and enterprise, you are confrented by issues that are as revo- lutionary as they are difficult. “If Government ownership is so de- sirable for public utilities, one might ask, ‘Why not apply it to every business in it seems to me, which the public has an economic in- | terest—and what business is there in | shortly after the body was found. One | which it has not?>—from foods, fuels, clothing, houses. amusements and luxu- ries on down the line? If it is eco- nomically advisable in the one case, why is it not equally so in the others? Ontario Project Analyzed. “Perhaps the instance most quently cited for the success of public ownership is Ontario. I venture the assertion that in Ontaro Sir Adam Beck bullt up a great political machine ally unsound project, . rrent to domestic con- sumers at less than fixed charges and the cost of production and distribution, and that the industrial users and the taxpayers pay the losses. “Indeed, I would like to sec all Gov= ned projects subjected to & Regard them as if they nd on their own feet, as if keep their books as private- ly owned enterprises of like character must keep theirs, and pay taxes on the same basis. Regard them as if the national, State or municipal credit was st not behind them, and as if their charges | and losses could not be buried in gen- eral Government accounts. Do _that, and I venture to say that nearly all will show operating deficits. “I have said that government owr.er- ship of the power industry would make us poiitical slaves of the Federal Gov- ernment. By that I mean that it would result in a political machine staggering in its magnitude. That is what has happened in Ontario. It would just as surely happen in this country. “In 1930 there were 275,000 people employed in the electric light and power business, 234,000 men and 41,000 women, The salaries and wages paid them, based on the payments actually made to those employed in 1927 as shown in the United States Cznsus report of that year, was $435,020.000. “The taxes paid by the power in- dustry would, of course, be lost in case of Government ownership. In 1930 «hese taxes amounted to $200,000,000, of which over 32 per cent went to the Fcderal Government, from 10 to 15 per cont to the State governments and the remainder to the various citles and counties. These tax>s amount to prac- tically 10 per cent of the gross revenues of the power companies. If the industry stops paying thic enormous sum toward the support of Government, as it would do if Government took it over, then the already overburdened taxpayers of the country would have to dig down in their pockets and make it up. Thus & movement whose alleged purpose is to help the public would tax the public $200,000,00). “These are some of the evils which I believe would result from Government ownecrship of the power industry, and I believe that within l-sser radius the same evils would result from State ownership, too. What Interference Means. “Governmental interference in hu- man affairs means an excess of power. It means bureaucratic centralization, and sterilization and undue impairment of individual rights and liberties. In business it becomes more of an incubus than a help. It can hector ‘nd harass sc much easler than it can guide and guard. It can so readily do more harm than good, even where only good is in- tended. “Should we not then try to make public opinion operate upon industry direct? Indeed, may we not expect in- ustry itself, for its own security and in | i % | Likewise, the hope of its own salvation, 1f for no other reasons, to work out self-govern- ing ways of eliminating any ills and in- Justices which not only the public, but enlightened business itself, should no: tolerate? “Personally, T have faith in this ex- pectation. The logic of cvents favors its realization. This depression has at or unjustly, the public utilities | | Calling Hogs THE and Hubbies EVENING | 'WIN SHOUTING CONTESTS | i l tests at th T'S a whole hog or none streiches his voeal cords and his AT MICHIGAN STATE FAIR. 0 Lillard of Arlington, Mich. (left), jaw bones, 2nd its woe unto the recalei- trant male who fails to respond when Mrs. Frenk Mills of Detroit, Mich. (right), decides its time for dinner. They won the hog and hubby calling con- Michigan State Fair held in Detroit. —A. P. Photos. WOMAN 15 SOUGHT N NORROW DEATH Officer Seen With-Companion Night Czfore Body Was Found in Ravine. ___ (Continued From First Page.) bottles of White Rock from him during the course of the evc :ing. Another witness, John Kredicos, pro- prietor of a restaurant at 1111 Seven- teenth street, told of delivering two din- ners to Hainshaw's apartment. “Wlen 'HARBORD DELIVERS WARNING ON BONUS i | Tells Legion Relief Program, Together With “Tin Cup,” Would Be Ridiculous. | National officers of the American | Legion today wene considering many | suggestions for unemployment relief in an effort to frame a program for pres- entation to the national convention at ctroit next week. The plans were STAR, which should | submitted yesterday at a conference of its jobless commission and representa- | tives ci Governors of 23 States. The officials also will carry a warn- | ing to Detroit from Maj. Gen. James G. room. When Morrow left, the witntss | Harbord, chalrman of the board of the added, one of the other officers, ap-|Radio Corporation of America, that parently having noticed his condition, mixing relief plans with the bonus will said: “That stuff has got him whipped.” ' cause them to be “laugh>d at by the | country " T of Seeing Body. Harbord, former chief of staff of the | Ruth Richardson testified she American Expeditionary Forces in | 1 returned for the dishes about two | hours later,” Kredicos declared, “Mor- row was drunk.” Earlier in the evening, Kredicos went on, Morrow chatted for a few minutes with three other policesen in his lunch . Mrs. ! the House of Commons, WASHINGTON, 'TALKIE OF GANDHI HISSED I LONDON Mahatma and MacDonald Discuss Government and Travel at Dinner. BY NEGLEY FARSON. By Cable to The Star. LONDON, England, September 15.— Mahatma Gandhi was hissed in Lon- don’s movie theaters Sunday night. A talkle of him taken in Kingsley Hall was received with a moment’s hestita- tion by the audiences—still in a quan- dary as to just how to take the holy man—but as soon as the hisses started they continued throughout the film. This was similar_to the British in- decision at the Society of Friends' House reception Saturday, when the hall, holding 1,400 persons, was thrown | wide open at the last moment in an attempt to fill it—and more than half of the audicnce were Indians. The meeting in London’s swellest ho- tel between Gandhi and Prime Ministef MacDonald has been given undue im- ortance, declares a British spokesman. ir Tej Bahodur Sapru had invited Mr. MacDonald and friends for dinner. Mr, MacDonald could not come, but dropped | in _from Chequers afterward—and Gandhi just happened along. Two Subjects Discussed. ‘The press is assured that the prime minister and_the holy man discussed: . The new British government. 2. The most comfortable way to travel on a | steamship. The round-table conference and its subjects positively were not mentioned. The Indian Celegites stressed the fact that Gandhi's being here meant that the Congress, most powerful po- litical party in India, was accreditably represented and that et this confer- ence. therefore, the Indian delegation “could deliver the goods.” Col. Hakser, chief adviser of the Indian princes, said to me today pre- cisely the same thing about the British delegation. “It is impossible for the present gov- ernment to be as friencly as the last Labor goverrment,” Col. Hakser de- clared. “But you can be sure that any agreement Wwe reach with the pres- ent government is certain to go through { | Definite Results Seen. “Therefore this St. James should get somewhere definit Indian princes, as last time. really friends of the British in thes: conver- sations, for we want a federation—and if we hold back you can imagine into what a state of turmoil India would be plunged.” Thereby hangs the key to the present round table cunference—the alternative | session Th he Government ownership. ' tre- | apartment, at 3701 Sixteenth street “After watching for a few minute: id, “I looked th-ough a pair of field glasses. The body was so stil that I sent my son, Billy, 10, to notify two traffic policemen whom I had seen on the Sixteenth Street Bridge.” One of the traffic officers, Craig L. Smith, testified he and Policeman John O. Hite climbed down the steep incline into the ravine after the Richardson |boy had called their attention to the beds Morrow, both Smith and Hite said, was lying on a pile of dried weeds, his arms folded on his chest and his legs crossed. His face was cut and scratched and one of his eyes was discolored and swollen, the witnesses agreed. When | they rolled the body over to further | examine it, they said, the imprint of a | rubber heel was found on the back of the dead officer’s shirt. “All Paths Steep.” “Three paths lead down into the | ravine,” Smith testified, “and all of | them are very steep. In fact, I slipped | President of the United States and to | UPon them in many spheres. and fell myself on my way down.” | Officer Richard F. McCarty, tenth | precinct, summoned by Smith and Hite, told of having examined the ravine of the paths, he said, led from a rear deor of the apartment house in which Morrow lived. The inquest got under way after six | members of the jury had visited the ravine and thoroughly examined the spot where the body was found. According to Inspector Frank S. W. Burke, chief of the Detective Bureau, Morrow was in the habit of walking in the ravine. It was pointed out he may have gone to the ravine so as not to be at home if a policeman were sent there to learn why he had not reported i for duty at midnight Friday. “There was & footprint on tI jamb,” McCarty testified, “and it looked as though somebody had slipped. | Branches along the path were broken j Off and the dirt had been disturbed. At | the bottom of the embankment, | was an indentation which looked as body. Footprints led toward the spot where Morrow later was found. “‘Mrs. Morrow told me her husband once took her down the path, explaining it was his ‘private way’ of entering the ravine. where he often took walks.” McCarty’s testimony was corroborated by that of his commander, Capt. Ira Sheetz, who said he notified Inspector Louis J. Stoll, commander of the first inspection district. Has Car Accident. “Mrs. Morrow told me her husband had taken her to work at the Veterans' Bureau the morning before and was to have called for her at the end of the day,” the captain testified. “Instead, she said he telephoned and sald he had been involved in an automobile ac- cident, but would see her at home later. She did not see him again.” James J. Roche, 607 Decatur street, manager of a garage, testified Morrow came to the repair shop about 5 p.m. Friday to have some minor work done on a car owned by another man, ex- plaining he had been in a “little accl- dent.” * The policeman, according to Roche, had no money and asked for a $2 loan. “I paid the repair bill for him,” Roche added. After hearing several additional wit- nesses Coroner Nevitt ordered the in- quiry continued until 11:30 o'clock to- morrow morning. Meanwhile, members of the homicide squad, under the di- rection of Capt. Edward J. Kelly, as- sistant chief of the Detective Burcau, are continuing their search for the woman. Grading . Contract A:z:rded. The District Commissioners toda; awarded to Roy D. Schlegel y 1 the con- tween Thirty-fifth street and Foxall road. His bid, $1,235 for the wcrk, was the lowest of the seven bids submitted. Reservolr road is to be widened into a boulevard, —_—_— least one benefit to its credit. It has awakened business to the necessity of a more enlightened and constructive llat:;r;llml'll.llh of its own. ) ve all, we ought not to regard this utility and po:er question l': 2 legitimate political issue in any par- tisan sense. Its ultimate bearing and meaning still lie in the lap of the gods. No one foresaw the st@i.ling changes wrought by the automobile. No one knows now what changes the Deicel engine or the autogyro may cause. power is transforming the wo(;ld' and we cannot yet know the end. “The subject is one for the best brains of the land, regardless of party. No gcod can come from trying to frame liticc1 issues about it or from ireat- ing it from any other than an cconcmic standpoint.”. tract for grading Reservcir road be- | saw the body from a window of her France, was outspoken in a suggestion | that the Legion take care of the 750,- 000 veterans estimated to be out of em- ployment. He addressed the conference |after proposals had been submitted ranging from legalization of beer to a $10,000,000,000 Federal construction pro- gram. Says Natien Is Uneasy. He said there was “a little uneasi- ness” in the country about the Legion. “We have listened to a great many things here,” he sald, “that, it scems to | me, would be more useful if we were preparing for a panic in about 1935 than to meet the present situation.” The Legion's unemployment commission had estimated that there were 6,250,000 {men out cf work, based on a survey | made by 10,000 posts. Of this number | 750,000 were former service men.” | Gen. Harbord estimated that the 750,000 unemployed veterans to be about 121> per cent of the total num- ber of unemployed, adding: “If we can show the country an ex- ample of, say, 3 per cent of the popu- laticn, which is the total number of veterans, taking care of 12 per cent of the unemployed, and could say to the Mr. Walter 8. Gifford, ‘now in your calculation of the unemployed leave the | veterans out, for we can take care of | those boys, I think you will be doing # very great thing. * Savage Replies to Harbord. | . “I cannot imagine anything more ri- | diculous,” he continued, “then for you to go down to Detroit with a program of relief in one hand and hold out an | empty tin cup in the other. “If you do, you will be laughed at I by the country. And I say that as a !man in favor of the bonus legislation in_1924.” Howard P. Savage, chairman of the Legion’s Unemployment Commission, 1and a former national commander, in { his reply to Gen. Harbord, said, “If | sented at the national convention at Detroit. the right answer will be forth- coming.” | "I do feel this” Savage said, “that| there | If they keep on goading the fellows into| find that I cannot serve my country {it. there will be a battle. The whole {though it may have been made by a DORUS Matter. in my opinion, did not| originate in the Legion. It is not our | baby.” Conference Is Criticized. He added that the bonus matter could be handled at Detroit “without | getting ourselves too far involved.” | “What we are interested in today is | getting some 6,000,000 men back to work,” he sald. | Another military man, David J. Davis, adjutant general of Pennsylvania, and representative of Gov. Pinchot, frankly | criticized the suggestions which were made to the conference. He said he had come here for suggestions that could be ;used in Pennsylvania, but was “a little | disappointed.” He said most of the | things suggested were already done in his State, adding that methods now. being used could not be proposed as solutions. { Rellef Suggestions Made. {, Brig. Gen. Osborne C. Wood, adju- tant general of New Mexico and repre- senting Gov. Seligman, declared that his State had its unemployment prob- {lem, which he believed could be coped | without outside ald. However, he is- sued a warning that New Mexico could not promise relief for those who might migrate to the Southwest during the ! Winter. | The | before i | gestions: | Restoration of the brewing industry, to provide work for 1,250,000; a $10,- 000,000,000 Federal construction pro- | gram for roads and bridges; a national | forestry program; enactment of the | Wagner bill to create employment | agencies through co-operation of the | Federal and State governments; mobili- glon's commission today had for study the following sug- | zation of 1,000,000 men to clean up . towns from coast to coast; raising of child labor age limits and lowering of old age pension limits; a national con- | ference of Governors, and others, to consider flve-day week plans and meth- ods for distribution of necessities with- out money, and increased State appro- | priations for relief. Mahatma Addresses English Fruit King As ‘Your Majesty ) | By the Assoctated Pr | LONDON, September 15.—Gan- ! | dnt met a King today, not his own sovereign, King George, but the “Pearly King of Hoxto He is England's most famous fruit dealer and dresses in a coat of resplendent pearls. Gandhi addressed him as “your majesty” and was in turn addressed as “sainted seer.” The fruit potentate then pre- sented the Indian leader with two crates of California oranges. al he door- | Proper picture of that subject is pre-| to agreeing to the Indian demands is t0> terrible to contemplate. It means a return to military autocracy over a people numbering one-fifth of the world’s population. Gandhi's real mis- | sion_here might be a dramatic appeal | for peace between the Hindus and the Moslems to accept a compromise which worried Britain is now only too willing to hold out to them (Con i SELF-RULE DEMAND IS MADE BY GANDHI IN STIRRING SPEECH (Continued From First Page) | L 18310 stand together as equals they certainly | will be better able to help each other | in solving the problems which beset | em.” Then he read the mandate given him at Karachi. It is the Nationalists' | corner stone of Indian freedom, de- | manding the abolition of restrictions | which they assert have been imposed He ex | plained that he had been invested with | discretion to make adjustments or con- cessions, but he asserted that “these { must be consistent with the funda- mentals of Indian indeperdence which T have laid down.” Traces History of Congress. At the beginning he recalled the founding of the Indian national Con- gress, and traced its history to show its cosmoplitan character. “The. Congress is completely na- | tional,” he said, “recognizing no dis- tinctions in race, reiigion or sex. It was conceived by an Englishman, Allan Octavus Hume, nearly half a century ago, and was nursed to maturity by two Parsees. “Among its presidents during the nearly half a century of its life have been represerftatives of all the principal races in India, including two women.” | M. Gandhi spoke for three-quarters | of an hour, concluding with the asser- tion: “I will withdraw if and when I or England.” When Gandhi returned to St. James’ Palace, he entered the palace through | the friary court entrance—the back | way—and in trying to make his way alone through the maze of corridors m the lower part of the buflding he be- came lost. He had to be directed to the | conference room by an attendant. | His secretary carried & vacuum bottle | filled with goat's milk and a plenic basket containing dates and fruit for his mid-day meal, to be taken between sessions of the committee. He had & one-hour talk with Sir | Samuel Hoare, secretary for India, earlier in the day and they were un- |derstood to have discussed matters of | | procedure for the meeting. | TEACHER WANTED GANDHI TO BE GREAT MUSICIAN | Pupil to Say He Exceeded Her Expectations. By the Associated Press. LONDON, Sepemb 15-—Mahatma Gandhi mused today over a letter from the Englishwoman who taught him dancing and the violin 43 years ago when he was a struggling law student. She would like to come to see him. “It's more than 40 years since I had you as a pupil,” she wrote, “but I hope you haven't changed a bit. You were then a model young man and an apt student. I had hoped you would be- come a great musician, but you have transcended all my expectations by be- coming a saint and a great leader. “I suppose because of your present exalted position you no longer take ! any interest in dancing or the violin, but when you have a few minutes’ leisure I would like to come to see you.” BAND CONCERT. By the United States Soldiers’ Home Band this evening at the bandstand at 5:30 o'clock. John S. M. Zimmermann, bandmaster. Anton Pointner, assistant. March, “Staunch and Tru . Teike Overture, “Jubilee” . Von Weber Plece de concert, “Rol Capri- Mendelssohn edy, “Shuf- | Waltz suite, “Gold and Silver”. . , Finale, “Get Cut and Get Under the Moon" ..Jerome “The Star Spangled Banner.” Nautilus Reaches Norway. HARSTAD, Norway, September 15 (#)~The submarine Nautilus, com= manded by Sir Hubert Wilkins, arrived ! off Senja, on the northern coast of Norway, today and will be piloted into the harbor here late in the day. | man of the special board of five prom- Englishwoman Writes to Former | th! D O ‘The personnel of a special civilian board which may be appointed to inquire into the alleged Policeman Orville Staples was discussed yesterday at a meeting of civic leaders with the District Cor nd shown in the above picture ineh chardson and Harry King. Back ro the mee a George l"(‘ngll H. L. Robb and George W. Offutt, 5030 DEGREECASES READY FOR JUR Department of Justice Probe Said to Involve 25 Policemen. | | | ___ (Continued From First Page) | completed, as it was the Commissioners who first asked the bureau to conduct the investigation. . | After attorneys for Inspector Stoll and Officer Hunt filed their petition with the court, both lawyers issued | statements explaining their actions. | In his statement Mr. Quinn said that in filing the petition “we wish it dis- tinctly understood that this move is not to be taken as an indication on our part that we will do anything to block | or impede any investigation by any | board ited by the Commissioners for the District of Columbia. We have | taken this step because we feel that it | is high time that illegal reports by grand Jjurles in this District be con- demned snd that grand jurors be given to understand that their duty is to in- dict or ignore and that it is no part of their duty to make vicious attacks on indlviduals whether in public or private life.” | In the statement issued by Mr. Ja- | cobson, the grand jury is also taken to task in the following language: “It is believed that this is the proper time to put the present grand jury! and every other giand jury on notice that when the motives and conduct of the individual are impugned and he held to reprobation without an op- portunity to defend or protect his name or reputation, that such grand juries shall have a healthy regard for the responsibllity of its utterances and to restrain false exaggerated and unfound- er statements.” | Declares Trial Sought. “The filing of the petition to ex- pecial report of the grand half of Mr. Hunt should not age any thoi h investigation of the charges or of hiding behind technicali~ ties. | “Mr. Hunt has made every effort pos- sible to cbtain a trial without avail | and he still welcomes the opportunity | to face his accusers before any fair and impartial trial board. 5 “The board of five attorneys ap- | pointed by the Commissioners, whose reputation and standing in the com- | munity ere beyond reproach, is satis- factory to Mr. Hunt and he is willing | and anxious that charges be preferred | against him immediately and that he be | given a trial before that board.” | The petition to expunge the grand jury report from the files, state that since it is neither a presentment nor indictment it was not filed by the grand | jury for a purpose of involving a judi- | cial action of tfe court and was no part of any judicial proceeding in the court. The only function required of the court | by the grand jury was that the court | “shall act as its messenger in trans- | mitting to the Commissioners the said report and its recommendations.” ! Investigation of the grand jury's| charges made in the Staples report, will not be undertaken until the latter part of the week, according to an announce- ment by Henry P. Blair, acting chair- | | | inent Washington lawyers appointed by | the Commissioners Saturday to con- sider action on it. Mr. Blair said he planned to call the group togethe: either Thursday or Fri- day for an prganization meeting, and before any % % are taken to begin the inquiry the board would confer with the Commlslion!r:um fldekrmi.ne the rocedure to be followed. % In the meantime several of the five civic leaders called upon by the Com- missioners to assist them in selecting e nnel of an extraordinary civilan_board which will try members of the Police Department, in the event such a course is recommended by the | investigating board of lawyers, filed lists containing the names of outstand- { ing men they believe should be ap- pointed to the Trial Board. One of | the lists was submitted by George W. | Offutt, president of the Washlngton: Board o? ‘Trade. Will Have 30 to Choose From. Names of the men nominated for the Trial Board, it was said, will not be made public until all g§ve of the civic organizations respond to the re- quest to name candidates. Each group was to_submit a list of ng hx;:e:i iving the Commissioners & go from which to choose a board of five. The of private business was given by Mr. Blair as the reason for the delay in the organization of the board of lawyers. Several of the men appointed to the board, he said, will be busily engaged until the latter part of the week. Aside from Mr. Blair the board is composed of Col. Walter C. Clephane, Col. J. Miller Kenyon, Daniel W. O'Donoghue and Stanton C. Peelle. Oofponan Counsel Willlam ~W. Bride announced he had pledged his co-operation to the Investigating Board and said he would arrange to have vided for meetings in the board with sten e ohfi:erwsr%ll?'r rmer po. cl l, e fo1 - memn:\nd?’:l""fnmed" and removed rom the force. 1 Despite reports to the contrary, it was said at the District Building that the five lawyers will confine the scope of the uunnry to the grand jury charges. There is & remote probability, however, it was pointed out, that the board might be asked ltw the eonsh;mm of !.he'.u;; vestigation to suggest improvemen helleku should be made io the Police TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 ude, front row, left to right: W Missing GERMAN FLYER OVERDUE AT NEW YORK. George C. Havenner, Mark Lansburgh, . W. Bride, Commissioner Crosby, Commissioner Reichelderfer, Maj. IBRIAND IS VICTOR “framing” of former mmissioners. Those at PRESSURE REPORT * ORDERED BY WOOD Engineer Testifies He Made| Language Strong to im- INGENEVA DEBAT: Repels Attack on European Union Commission, an Agency He Sponsored. By the Associated Press. GENEVA, September 15— Aristide Briand, French foreign minister, suc- cessfully repelled gn attack upon his “child"—the Europaan Union Commis- sion—in a committee of the League of Nations Assembly today. As a result, the commission will con- tinue its work, but will open its doors to non-European participation in treat- ing with questions of world-wide inter- est. The attack upon the commission was made by Naotake Sato, Japanese rep- resentative, who said its wc be done by regular financial and eco- nomic organizaticns of the League of Nations. Problems studied by the commi are universal and not solely Europcan, the Japanese said. He also urged that the Soviet economic non-aggressicn scheme be handled by the League's p manent organization rather than by a commission of limited scope Work Declared Fruitful. “The European Commission's has been fruitful and will be cven mq useful in the future,” the veteran French minister replied. “Because I did not mention the commission in mYy As- sembly address, some people satd I was about to abandon my own child. They were wrong. o While Julius Curtius. foreign minister, hristian Lang, Norway's representative, opposed imme- diate liquidation of the European Union Commisison, they sympathized wi anxieties of non-European sta suggested that next year the com sion should operate on a limited ba The Norwegian representa opposed an Esthonian proj vior the German posal to in | struct the commission to study 21l pos- sible measures for constitt ropean union. A United Tope is not now a desira Norwegian saic The Czechcslovakian, Jugos Greek re t press Financial Interests. | __(Continued From First Page,) Service Corporation, the Chicago con cern which is said now to own the local company, lay heavily over the hearing yesterday afternoon. Hours of | Mr. Roberts and d drew from Wood's unwilling lips a picture of Col. Peirce and a host commissicn. Referred to Committee. |of his associates standing in the back- Without m:king a definite _decision, CHRISTIAN JOHANSSEN, German sirman, who, with Wilhelm Rody and Fernando da Costa Veiga, Portuguese pilot, took off Monday from an_improvised flying field at Juncal do Sol, near Lisbon, Portugal, on & pro- jected nmon-stop flight to New York. The fiyers hoped to reach New York within® 42 hours. They are fiying a Junkers all-metal plane, the Esa, ilar to the transatlantic plane, the Bremen, which made the crossing in 19; —A. P. Photo SARAZEN LEADING AL ESPINOSA, 3 UP Former Champion Goes Out in Sub-Par in Pursuit of Pro Golf Title. i By the Associated Press. PROVIDENCE, R. I, September 15.— Gene Sarazen, twice P. G. A. champlion and yesterday's medalist, today was 3 up on Al Espinosa of Chicago, when they reached the half-way mark of their 36-hole match in the annual tourna- ment. The Long Island man gained four holes as he galloped out in sub par 34. Espinosa was not able to reduce this lead until Gene chipped his second over the eighteenth green and used up 3 more to hole out. Espinosa was on in 2 and took a pair of putts. Sarazen's card was 71. His opponent scored a 75. Paul Runyan, White Plains, N. Y, and Arthur Gusa, Narragansett, R. I., finished the first 18 holes in a deadlock, each with cards of 75. Henry Cuici of Stratford, Conn., was 3 up on Willie MacFarlane, Tuckahoe, N. Y. when they ended their first round. The 1925 open champlon twice pulled up even, but Cuici’s birdie 3 on the thirteenth teenth and eighteenth with par 4s, Mac Farlane taking extra putts on each of les, H Horton Smith went out in par figures which put him 3 up on Walter Bemish of 'N. Y. A par 4 on the six- teenth boosted Smith's lead another notch. and he became 5 up with another par 4 on the home green. Smith had & 73 and his opponent a 79. ‘Walter Hagen, who has won this event five times, was wild on most of the early tees, and although he gained control of his drives coming in, he was 3 down to Peter O'Hara of Verona, Pa., when they quit for lunch. O'Hara, former Irish champion, had five lt;&““ greens on his inward nine, and harpshooting checked Hagen's sensational attempt to regain lost ground. Cyril Walker of Ridgewood, N. J., finished the first 18 holes 2 up on Ed Dudley of Concordville, Pa. Billie Burke, open champion, had to shoot par golf on his second nine to over- take Dave Hackney of Lowell, Mass., at the sixteenth hole. Burke became 2 up when the Massachusetts golfer took & 5 on the eighteenth. Johnny Golden, Noroton, Conn., pro, ended his first round with a 5-up margin _on Alfred Sargent of Toledo. Bill Mehlhorn, New York, who gave a par-70 performance. held the same lead on Leo Diegel, winner in 1928 and 1929. Diegel, carding a 75, had only one poor hole in his round, the seven- teenth, where he lost a stroke and g{m;m by placing his second shot out unds. Jack Collins of Dayton, Ohio, picked up on the fourth and sixteenth and finished the first 18 3 down to Tom Cre’.{vy. steady youngster from Albany, Jeinny Farrell, whose expert putting ”n him the single play-off place, lost is touch on the home green, where he missed & short one for a 5 to become 1 down to Jim Foulis of Chicago. The latter jumped into an immediate lead with a birdie 3 on the first hole, an advantage he maintainet until they reached the fourteenth green, where Farrell squared the match with a par 4. Another par 4 on the sixteenth put the Mamarons~% star in the lead, only to have Foulis :lose strong and regain command with a birdie 4 on the ;:ve\g‘; en Department. teenth and a Jar 4 on the hole that cost Farrell five strokes each. sim- | ground, and often stepping right into the forcground, overruling d:cisions of !.hfl local organization and dictating to it policies in direct contravention of existing regulations. M. Roberts was successful in hooking up the Chicago concern directly with the “large and substantial” increase in gas pressures | which occurred Jast Fall, after the local company’s engincer had warned its president that the increased pressures | represented a “bad condition,” which was likely to become “aggravated.” Gas is sent from point to point solely | by pressure. The farther it is sent, and the more gas that is sent, the higher the_initial pressure must be to carry the load to its destination. Then the | consumers nearest the sending point {suffer whatever ill consequences result | |from high pressures. At the hearing yesterday Mr. Russell claimed that | within_reasonable limits the increased pressures had no effect whatever on | consumers' bills or the efficiency of their appliances, but when he wrote his | memorandum to the cffect that high pressures caused a “bad condition” he | was evidently singing a different tune Company Knew of Excess. This memorandum, produced by Roberts, was dated November 12, 1930 At that time there was an engineer Alfred Hurlburt, employed by Chicago Co., getting $100 a day from' he local company for “expert advice and assistance.” The company had known, according to Wood's testimony, from early in the Summer that the pressures in its distributor system were already in excess yf the Jegal limits | (6 inches maximum). Yet it went | ahead with a strenuous campaign to | put more pressure on the lines by sell- ing house-heating furnaces. Mr. Wood said that each space heater sold would add the equivalent of eight or nine normal consumer lcads to the company's system. By the time of Mr. Russell's memorandum on the “bad condition™ some nine hundred space heaters had been sold as a re- | sult of the campaign, and immediately thereafter the campaign was called off. At_different times Mr. Wood offered different explanations for calling a halt. At one time he sald that the | system was quite able to take care of | distributing thig extra load. but he | feared if the campaign continued the | manufacturing plant would not be able to make enough gas to keep all the| customers supplied. But at another | | time he said that the halt was called because it was feared the load on the distributor system would be too great.| | At that time there was a program of | | main expansion under way to take care | |of the increasing load. “Why" ex- claimed Mr. Wood, “I laid _miles and miles of main last year!” But shortly afterward there came a change. Evi- dently serious differences of opinion had occurred between Mr. Hurlburt and Mr. Russ?1l, so serious that Mr. Wood consid- ered it necessary to dictate a memoran- dum to the effect that in any further dif- crences Mr. Hurlburt was to havethe last word,” and if there was still a difference, ood would settle it per- sonally by .aking it up with Col. Peirce. ‘This happened January 12, 1931. At that time, or shortly thereafter, the wings of the local officials were still further clipped by an order from higher up that all I. R’s (Improvement requi- sitions) must bear the approval of Wil- liam H. Wilds and Donald McClurg. Mr. Wood professed ignorance as to who they are, but they are vice presidents of | the Central Public Service Corporation, and ghe new order made dominance of that concern over the affairs of the local company complete. Evidently Mr. ‘Wood's program for more mains was scrapped on account of the expense, and a decision was reached to do nothing to reduce pressures, but the Utilities Commission was to be asked to give its blessing to the pressures then (as now) in existence. This is the petition that ic now being considered. In testimony to be introduced later by the company it will be claimed that in order to lay the mains necessary to get the dis- tributor system back to the 6-inch maximum it will be necessary to spend $600,000 and that nchody will get any benfit out of this. ‘Wood Unwilling Witness. Mr. Wood's revealing testimony was elicited from him by clever cross- examination by Mr. Roberts. Mr. Wood was not. a willing witness. He Wwanted to appear in the light of taking the blame personally for anything wrong his company might have done, and not trying to shuffle the responsi- bility on to the owners of the property. He remembered that there was a sec- tion of town somewnhere where the yl-nra Wwas 80 high that each house or several blocks was e%:lpptd with an individual “governor protect it {rom excessive pressures, but could not remember where it was. He remem- bered that his company nad been dis- satisfled with the 6-inch pressure maxi- mum long before he came to Washing- | l | | | | a the committee reierred the to a Drafting Committe understanding the Commission of European Union should continue to operate, but with the participation of non-Eurcpeans upon any question of world-wide concern. A demand for retrenchment in the expense of operating the Lezgue made from many g sembly yesterday. Support for the econor almost unanimous and the only dis- agreement observed was upon the de- gree of the reduction which should be made in the 1932 budget Generally speaking, the delegations agreed with the New Zealand repre- sentatives, who insisted the disarma- ment conference should not be submit- ted to the expense pruning knife. The League's budget for 1931 is ap- proximately $6,000.000. Speakers {rom Norway, Italy, Venezuele, Holland and Australia led the attack upon the penses and emphasized the psy logical value of economy in League operations. “Some officials of the League are getting salaries beyond the wildest dream of any government functionary.” said Delegate Hambro of Norwar, speaking in fluent English. * Murmur of Approval. ‘There was a general murmur o proval. “In many countries tod: Delegate Hambro continued, “wher national budgets are being t with difficulty, the League of N: is re- The present salary general is $20.000 a year. aries of the deputy sec ler_secretary general are The British' government hailed before the Leagu Finland in a dispute British employment of during the World War, the matter was a private cl should be settled in British cou Alejandro Lerroux. presid council, adjourned the case could prepare a recommend: The ships in_question v tioned from Finland by the Russian Government, vhich tered them to Great Britain owners are urging that Great B: pay for the ships. UNDERCOVER AGENTS ARREST 275 IN DRIVE and ur 5.000 eac Wwhich wa Merrick Directs Spe the Carolines Virginia. By the Associated Press. RICHMOND, Va. September 15. —Capt. R. Q. Merrick, prohibition ad- ministrator for the fourth district, to= day sald about 275 persons had been arrested in Virgin!x and the two Caro- linas since September 1 as the result of & drive by undercover agents. The work, he said, does not include the regular raiding activities of Federal agents. . WORLb ECONOMIC CRISIS DISCUSSED FROM THRONE | Situation as It Affects the Nether- lands Presented at Opening of Parliament. { By the Associated Press. THE HAGUE, Scptember 15.—The | world economic crisis as it affects the | Netherlands was discussed in a_speech from the throne when Queen Wilhel- mina, with the Prince Consort and Prin- cess Juliana, opened Parlinment today. speech announced temporary measures were under consideration to safeguard certain branches of industry regarded as vital to the nation. “State revenues again are diminish- ing considerably,” said the speech, “and in the future a further decline must be expected. The necessity for maintain- ing financial equilibrium under these conditions demands extraordinary mod- eration and a sense of sacrifict —_—— Co. for his expert services. although his company wrote to the commission less than a month ago that Hurlburt had turned these checks over to the Central Public Service Corporation. But Mr. Roberts would not be denied, and most of his questions were based on documents spread hefore him. Often ton, but did not know that they had petitioned the commission for an in- crease and that the commission had 1ofused it. He did not remember what Mr. Hurlburt had done with the checks pais him I"‘h ‘Washington Gas Light after a long period of parrying the | answer would be: “Well, I have no personal recollection of it: but if my name is signed to it, I will admit ft.”