Evening Star Newspaper, April 18, 1932, Page 1

WEATHER. (U. 8. Weather Bureau Forecast.) Fair tonight and tomorrow; not much change in temperature; minumum tem- perature tonight about 38 degrees. Tem- peratures—Highest, 58, at 5 p.m. yester- day; lowest, 39, at 6 Full report on page 9. Closing N. Y. Markets, Pages 14 and 15 a.m. today. ch ¢ Foening WITH SUNDAY NMORNING EDITION y Shar. The only evening in Washington w“.: the Au?cilted Press news service. Sunday’s Cire Saturday’s Circulation, 121,496 ulation, 130,723 —— = Entered as seco No. 32,129, nd class matter c post office, Washington, D. WASHINGTON, D. C., MONDAY, APRIL 18, 1932—THIRTY-SIX PAGES. ##» (#) Means Associated TWO CENTS. Press. AUTD SALES TAX FOUGHTATHEARING AS DISCRMINATORY Talk of General Impost Re- vived in Testimony to Senate Group. COMPARATIVE FIGURES ASKED BY COMMITTEE Industry Sicker Than Ever, Head of Rockne Motors Tells Probers. By the Associated Press. Talk of & general sales tax was re- vived before the Senate Finance Com- mittee today by opponents of the pro- posed levy on automobiles. Committee members asked that com- parative figures be supplied to show the estimated income from the tax on mutomobiles, trucks and accessories now in the bill and from a 2!} and a 1'% per cent general sales tax. A little earlier George M. Graham, head of the Rockne Motors Corpora- tion, had led a group of opponents of the automobile sales tax in a concerted drive against that levy. They sald they favored a general sales tax, excepting food and clothing, to one which they | contended discriminated against their industry. Sees Blow at Wages. The automotive industry, through Graham, told the committee the pro- sed motor vehicle excise tax would e “a direct blow at the Nation's ‘Our chief concern here today is the American pay roll,” Graham said. “Every other consideration is unim- portant. What the country needs is em- ployment, wages. These are the only factors that can bring permanent re- covery. “Balancing the budget is, of course, imperative, but there can hardly be any dissent to the principle that this must not be done at the cost of taking 2 job from the man who has one, or of keeping idle the man who sceks employment. “It is the duty of the automobile industry, and of all industry, to make every etfort to expand employment. “We oppose motor vehicle excise taxes because we believe they are a direct blow at th Nation's wages. We are certain that a presentation of the facts will establish our contention.” Edsel Ford Present. As he opened his appeal for elimina- tion of the taxes of 3 per cent on pleas- ure cars, 2 per cent on trucks and 1 per cent on tires, parts and accessories, which were l\eoldtd by Hause, Gaaks introduced lea th mobile industry "“"“ . and there in the: ommit! room. Among them were Edsel Ford, Walter Chrysler and Alfred P. Sloan, jr., presi- dent of General Motors. With emphasis, Graham told the committee that the automotive indus- try is “sicker than it has ever been since its start.” Earnings. he said, fell from $330,000,- | 000 in 1929 and $155,000,000 in 1930 to $66,000,000 in 1931, the figures not in- cluding the Ford company. “Only the courage and optimism of our manufacturers,” Graham asserted, “has kept the business going. “On the present volume, few auto- mobile manufacturers will be paying dividends by the end of 1932. The au- tomobile industry, famed for its mar- velous conceptions and constructions, is Jower than it has been since it started its great upward climb. Volume Drops Sharply. “Our volume fell from 5,358,000 ve- hicles in 1929 to 2,389,000 in 1931, a reduction of approximately 55 per cent. “Even worse has been the start for 1932. The five-year average for March is 323,604 cars, as agalnst 116,076 cars this year, a decrease of 64 per cent. ‘We have fallen off 40 per cent against March of last year, when we shipped 102,118 cars.” Graham emphasized that what his industry “resents” is “discrimination.” Pointing out that the estimated revenue from the tax is $56,000,000, he asserted “the returns do not justify the hazard.” He said that if the tax is imposed, *“we have no recourse from adding the met amount to our delivered prices.” _Questioned by Senator Couzens, Re- (Continued on Page 2, Column 5.) KANSAS MOB HANGS SLAYER OF GIRL, 8 Lynchers Seize Sheriff and Deputy and Take Confessed Attacker. By the Associated Press. ST. PRANCIS, Kans., April 18 —Mob vengeance today claimed the life of | Richard Read, 53, confessed attacker snd slayer of 8-year.old Dorothy | Hunter. Read, who was protected twice Sat- urday from mobs by a quick-thinking Plains sheriff. was located in the Cheyenne County jail, where he had been hidden away A mob estimated at 200 heavily- ermed men, motored swiftly into St. Francis late last night, seized Sherift A. A Bacon and Deputy J. H. Indors, obtained the keys to the jail, and de- parted with their prisoner’ Leaving St. Prancis the automobile caravan headed eastward toward Sel. don, miles away, home of the school. girl victim and her attacker. | About midway between the two small towns and near, Atwood, the motorists | halted. A rope was suspended frcm a tree, and Read was swung to his doom. Only a few miles away, in Atwood was Gov. Harry H. Woodring of Kansas, who arrived today on a political cam- paign tour An unidentified member of the mob telephoned Charles E. Hennenberger, coroner of Rawlings County, who left for the scene to take charge of the body. Dorothy had been missing since Thursday evening when she returned to the Seldon School house for a for- gotten dinner bucket. Read, a neighbor, a bachelor farmer and former Colorado convict, was ar- yested because of his previous convic- tion of assaulting a 15-year.old girl in | { | AS ADVOCATES END as their last resort. Famous “Pussyfoot” Johnson in Favor Of Dry Referendum By the Associated Press. BINGHAMTON. N. Y. April 18.—William E. “Pussyfoot” John- son, internationally known dry crusader, is “distinctly in favor of a referendum on the liquor question whenever the people de- mand it in the torm and manner provided by the Constitution, according to a copyrighted inter- view obtained by the Binghamton | | Press today from Johnson at his home, in Smithville Flats. BONUS FOES READY PLEAS AT HEARING Administration and House | Leaders to Open Fire Tomorrow. ' Advocates of passing the $2,000,000,- 000 soldier's bonus today closed their case before the House Ways and Means Committee and opposition testimony directed by administration and Demo- cratic leaders against the plan will| begin tomorrow. | Advocates have spent more than a week In presenting their contentions that inflation of the currency to pay the remainder outstanding on the bonus certificates would prove a spur to business, Numerous representatives, both Re- publican and Democratic, have joined veterans and leaders of some veterans' | organizations in favoring it, although Democratic and Republican leaders have expressed opposition to it. Henry L.| Stevens, national commander of the American Legion, has opposed it, also. Describes Detroit Needs. David V. Addy of Detroit, representa- | tive of the Wayne County Council of | the American Legion, including 52 posts, was today's first witness. “Detroit has suffered greater injury frcm bad economic conditions than any | Addy said. “In the last s, Detroit has spent $25,000,- | 000 on weifare, and this does not in- clude the huge sums spent by private charities.” Addy sald 600,000 persons in Detroit are dependent, at least partly, on charity. v “The Legion is spending large sums trying to find jobs for its members,” h» testified. “Our records show that hundreds of veterans have been out of work for two years. “Under the circumstances, these men look to the adjusted service certificates “Sentiment for immediate payment has grown rapidly in Michigan. The delegation to the Detroit convention | last June voted 22 for and 15 against | immediate payment. Just a month ago, the Michigan Legion department voted | 16 to 1 for immediate payment.” Addy estimated 15 to 20 per cent of the Detroit unemployed are veterans. Scores Other Measures. W. D. Jackson. spokesman for the | Brotherhcod of Railway Trainmen, said relief measures so far enacted by Con- gress have not helped business. “We feel that the bonus should be paid immediately. If you pay this bonus, you will do just, in part, what you | already have done for the railroads and | big_corporations,” Jackson said. “It makes a man feel pretty blue when | he is cold and his family hungry when he reads in the daily press of the large sums voted for the big interests and voted to relieve foreign debtors. “This bonus will create new purchas- | ing power and be the greatest thing to help conditions this Congress could do." Representative Sweeney, Democrat, of | Ohio, said his constituents were for the bonus payment and that Ohio ,would | receive $117,000,000 if the payment were made. “Better an unbalanced budget than revolution,” Sweeney said Representatives Patterson and Allgood, Alabama Damocrats, also indorsed the Patman bill. Edward C. McConnell of New York City said he was a chauffeur for the| general staff in France during the war. “I was one of six assigned to Black Jack Pershing after Eddie Rickenbacker left to go into the air service,” he said “I was assigned to drive Herbert Hoover when he directed Belgian food relief and drove him for over a year. | Unable to Find Place. | “I came down here trying to get a place; I had been a chauffeur in New | York for 28 years. “I saw Lawrence Richey, private sec- | retary to the President, and he advised | me to take a civil service exemination. I did and passed it with 97 per cent. “I went to see Gen. Pershing. His secretary emphasized that I should not | ask for work or annoy him with my troubles. I lived up to that promise. | “I believe the only way to help the country is to pay the bonus and let it 80 _to those that need it.” | While McConnell testified, he passed to committee members copies of letters recommending his services from former employers and an autographed picture of Gen. Pershing. He said a Connecti- (Continued on Page 2, Column 5. | | | 1ead to his restoration. ... RECOMMENDS FEDERAL CONTROL OF MOTOR LINES Bus and Truck Competition With Rails and Steam- ships Cited. CONGRESS IS EXPECTED TO PASS ON DECISION Roads Urged Forms to Use Cheaper of Transport on Short Hauls. By the Associated Press. The Interstate Commerce Commise sion today recommended Federal regu- lation of motor vehicles engaged in interstate commerce and that railroads and water lines be encouraged to use the public highways. The commiSsion's decision, in the | form of recommendatiohs which are ex- pected to be transmitted to Congress, makes the following findings: “That transportation by motor ve- hicles, busses and trucks over the pub- lic highway is, within certain distances, and in certain respects a superior serv- ice and that the rail and water lines should be encouraged in the use of this instrumentality of commerce wherever such use will promote more efficient operation or improve the public serv- ice; ‘That there is substantial competi- tion between rail and water carriers on the one hand and motor carriers on the other for the transportation of both passengers and freight and that this competition is increasing; Inequality Charged. “That such competition is conducted under conditions of inequality, particu- larly in regard to regulation; “That a contributing cause, aside from the general business conditions, of | the present unsatisfactory financial condition of the railroads is the exist- | (Continued on Page 2, Column 4. PHONE CALL GIVES KIDNAPING HOPE Mysterious Speaker Says Baby Will Be Returned This Week. By the Associated Press. HOPEWELL, N. J., April 18It is the forty-ninth day since the Lindbergh baby was kidnaped and his parents are still waiting for scme word that will A mysterious telephone call to the Toledo Times stirred interest. A man who said his name was Patterson told the paper the baby is in Detroit and | Will be returned within a week. He said | the kidnapers had fallen out and warn- ed against paying more ransom. Dr. John F. Condon—the “Jafsie” who paid $50,000 ransom to & man in a Bronx cemetery and was tricked—said yesterday: “We are in contact with the kid- napers. The baby will be returncd soon, I hope.” Communication Is Denied. However, it was said by another source no actual communication has been carried on since the ransom pay- ment, but Col. Lindbergh still pins his chief hope on Dr. Condon. State police denied knowledge of a bag containing men's clothing found in Chilmark, Mass. All identifying marks had been removed from the | clothes. Massachusetts police believed | the bag dropped from an airplane. | Residents of Falmouth, Mass., said they saw an airplane, three vesseis-and | flares off Gayhcad, promontory of the island of Martha's Vineyard, Mass. This led to rumors. unconfirmed, that Col. Lindbergh again was trying to contact the kidnapers. Nobody could be found at Gayhead who saw the plane, boats or flares. The person who took Col. Lind-! bergh's $50,000 directed him to that vicinity where his baby was said to be aboard & vacht He flew there soon after pay the ransom, but failed | to get the baby { BOAT REPORTS MYSTIFY Plane, Three Craft and Flares Reported off Martha's Vineyard. VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass., April 18 (#)—The Isiand of Martha's Vineyard, off the Southern Massachusetts coast, came back in the limelight of the Lind- bergh case last night after an airplane " (Continued on Page 2, Column 1.) 'TWO WIVES ON HAND PUZZLES MAN ACQUITTED IN OLD KILLING Missourian, Aided at Trial by First Helpmate He Had: Thought Dead, Says Both Are Fine Women. By the Assoclated Press. BAKERSVILLE, N. C, April 18.— George Presnel!, 60-year-old coal opera- tor from Columbia, Mo, is frce of a murder charge, but a prcblem still faces him. He has two wives and he does not know what to do about it. While a mountain girl he married in his youth, now a gray-haired woman, sat beside him, Presnell was acquitted here Saturday of murdering Lewis ( Buchanan, his next-door neighbor, in 1902, He pleaded self-defense and said he stabbed Buchanan in a quarrel which | followed improper advances Buchanan made to Mrs. Presnell. Waiting the verdict in the Midwest was a second wife who mortgaged her property to help his defense “l just don't know what I'm going to do,” he sald. “Both the women I Cojorado. Officers said he confessed e had lured Dorothy to his car with string of beads, then attacked and Beat her to death, married are fine women." He added that he first would go to Erwin, Tenn., for a visit with relatives to “think things over." | letters would be traced, advised his son | Carolina for murder. Presnell brought about his dilemma | unwittingly and Solicitor John R. Jones said no bigamy charge could be lodged against him. | It came sbout thus: After the killing Presnell fled to the Midwest and took the name of George Miller, He wrote ! his father, but the latter, fearing the not to write and told him Susie Beddix, the girl he had married two years before the killing, was dead. Time passed and Presnell, then livine in Centerville, Jowa. met and married Clariet King. He became a substantial citizen, Later he moved to Columbia, Mo., and leased @ cosl mine. A sister came from North Carolina to Columbla and he sought to aid her two children, but one, a boy, refused to go to school. Presnell turned him over to the truant officer. Incensed, his sister informed officers her brother was wanted in North He was brought back in February. His first wife came hhmutheoitfllndbelnm.dh- father’s story of her death was untrue .| aminati | “The :&y.r.m prosecutor did not PROSECUTOR CHARGES MASSIE IS SHIELDING REAL SLAYER |Indicates His Belief Enlisted Man Shot Kahahawai to Deat “Bunk,“ HC Says. By the Associated Press. HONOLULU, April 18 —Lieut. Thomas H. Massie's court room statement that | he killed Joseph Kahahawai was at-| tacked by the prosecution today with an assertion that the lieutenant was “shielding” one of the three persons on trial with him for second-degree murder. An Insanity defense being laid through Massie's testimony under the guidance of Clarence Darrow also drew fire. The plea was branded by Prose- cutor John C. Kelley as “the bunk." “Why, Massie did not even kil Kahahawai,” Kelley declared in an- nouncing the eourse he would pursue today when he_resumed the cross-ex- | | h; Insanity Defense say directly which of the four de- fendants he believed shot the young native after questioning him about an | assault on the lieutenant’s wife. Kelley indicated, however, he thought Albert O. Jones was responsible. Gun Raises Question. “If Massie killed Kahahawai,” he | asked, “why did ne use Jones' gun in- | stead of his own? He admits that he took his own gun to the Fortescue house (where Kahahawai was killed) | that morning. “You get used to a gun like & wrist |3 watch or other personal equipment. So | far as Massie knew, Jones' gun was not | loaded. Yet he says he used Jones'| gun although he had his own with | im." Massie, in his testimony Saturday, admitted indirectly that he killed the Hawaiian. his_hand (Continu |00 VONEN FHT REFERENDUN MOVE Law Enforcement Commit- tee Presents Resolutions to Garner and Curtis. Resolutions opposing any change in the eighteenth amendment and strong- ly urging rigid enforcement of the present liquor laws were presented to Speaker Garner of the House and Vice President Curtis at noon today by rep- resentatives of the Woman's National Committee for Law Enforcement, which is meeting here. Almost 1,000 women went to the Capitol to see their views presented. The eighteenth amendment was char- acterized as “the only possible preven- tion of interstate liquor traffic,” in the formal expression of opinion by the group. The “persistent attack on the Con- stitution by a fanatical minority in Con- gress” was deplored. It was said that the reports and discussions on the floors of the House and Senate “are respon- sible for breaking down respect for all Jaw in certain groups, who are express- ing their defiance in lawlessness and crime.” Oppose Resubmission. The committee reiterated its opposi- tion to resubmission of the eighteenih amendment except through the regular method provided in the Constitution. “Any of the various bills submitted for breaking down this law would be with- out precedent, extremely expensive and misleading. and would furnish no solu- ~ (Continued on Page 2, Column 6. BAY STATE SMITH'S, DECLARES WALSH Senator Attacks Those Who Say | “Happy Warrior” Cannot Be Nominated. By the Associated Press. | BOSTON, April 18—United States Senatcr David I. Walsh last night attacked those who have been asserting that Alfred E. Smith cannot be nomi- nated and predicted at a large Smith | rally that the “happy warrior” would secure Massachusetts’ 36 votes in the Chicago convention. “You can't tell me,” he told his audi- ence, “that anybody can force into the ears of Massachusetts Democrats the | story that Smith can't win and that they had better get on the band wagon of some other man.” Smith, he sald, was not defeated in 1928. “Tolerance, anti-prohibition sen- timent, liberal and prcgressive thought were defeated, but the defeat was only temporary, and the leader for those great issues and principles is battling on again and we in Massachusetts will be with him to the end. Massachusetts will cast 26 votes for Smith in the Chi- cago convention.” | mony and & statement to the effect | that the average annual receipts of the | Radio Programs o Page C-3 16,759 ARLINGTON SHORTAGE FOUND $62,629 Due to County, Au- ditor for State Testifies in Court. By a Staff Correspondent of The Star. ARLINGTON COUNTY COURT| HOUSE, April 18—The total net short- age developed to date in the audit of the books of County Clerk William H. Duncan is $76,755.58, of which amount $62,629.90 is due Arlington County, it was testified in court today by T. Cole- | man Andrews, State auditor of public | accounts and his assistant, L. McCarthy | Downs. Following the receipt of this testi- clerk’s office for the past four years | have been $80,000, Judge Walter T. Mc- | Carthy ordered Duncan's present bond | of $8,000 increased $72,000 to bring it | up to the average annual income of his office. Grand Jury Gets Case. | This action was taken as a result of | a rule recently issued by Judge Mc- Carthy requiring Duncan to appear at the opening of court today and to show cause why the bond of his office should not be increased to the extent of the revenue handled by him Bills charging Duncan, Ball, former treasurer, and F. J. Hallock, former clerk of the school board, with the larceny of public funds were presented to the grand jury this morning by Lawrence W. Douglas, com- monwealth’s attorney, but had not been acted upon by the grand jury at a late hour. Duncan was nct in court, his attor- neys, Leo P. Harlow and Amos C. Crouse, presenting a doctor’s certificate showing that he was unable to make his appearance The certificate stated that Duncan was in a serious condition. As a result of the certificate his at- torneys attempted to delay action on the rule. E. Wade Holds Delay Unnecessary. Douglas stated to the court, however, that while he did not wish to inflict | any personal hardship upon Duncan, he felt that a delay was unnecessary. “If an increase in a bond of office was ever needed it is needed here right now,” Douglas declared. He further stated that under the present condi- tions there was nothing to prevent (Continued on Page 2, Column 3) COL. NELSON MARGETTS DIES IN SAN FRANCISCO Acted as American Obseverer of Japanese Occupation of Manchuria. | By the Associated Press, SAN FRANCISCO, April 18.—Col. Nelson F. Margeits, who acted as ob- server for the United States of the Manchurian occupation by Japan, died at the Letterman general Army Hos- pital here yesterday. He was military attache at Peking two years. in | campa. | By the Associated Press, Because of {ll health, Col. Margetis was ordered to San rnnchn:rgm China in February. He was a native of D, AR, DELFGATES DISCUSS POLTS Mrs. R. W. Magna, Candidate for President, Not to Hand-pick Ticket. Constitution Hall hummed with polit- ical rumors today as hundreds of late arrivals crowded about the registration | booths in advance of tonight's gala opening of the Forty-first Continental Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution. More than 3,000 delegates and nearly as many alter- nates will assemble at the call of their president general, Mrs. Lowell Fletcher Hoe':’fl. to listen to Vice President With everything pointing to the unanimous election of Mrs. Russell William Magna of Holyoke, Mass, and her entire “cabinet” ticket in Thurs- day’s triennial election, reports lated in administration ecircles that Mrs. Magna will keep hands off the igning for the elght offices of vice president general. Advance notice was given that Mrs. Magna will do away with the old D, A, R. “steam roller,” and 'voice ro choice in the selection of the vice presidents general to serve under her during the next three years. This means the various State delega- tions will fight it out among themselves to eliminate two of the 10 candidates for the eight positions, coveted next to the cabinet posts. Candidate Impartial. For the first time in the history of the national society, it was said, Mrs. Magna will further demonstrate her impartiality in the elections by having all 10 vice presidential candidates re- ceiving with her in the line after the nominations of Wednesday night. As in the case of cabinet posts, the administration candidate for president general always heretofore has carefully handpicked her selections for vice presi- dents general. Almost invariably the administration candidates have been elected. In doing away with machine tactics this year, Mrs. Magna paves the way for a brisk fight in the secondary election. 6,000 Expected to Atlend. Tonight's opening of the congress at 8:30 o'clock was expected to bring out the full attendance of visiting delega- tions. Slightly more than 2,000 had registered last night, and hundreds more are continuing to arrive. Counting the alternates, it was expected the total at- tendance would reach nearly 6,000. Mrs. Henry M. Roberts, jr., chairman of the Credentials Committee. predicted there would be no decrease in this year's at- tendance. Senator Simeon D. Fess of Ohio, vice chairman of the George Washington Bicentennial Commission, will sound tonight's keynote for D. A. R. partici- pation in the patriotic celebration, and Charles Moore, chairman of the Fig Arts Commission, will be another speaker. While State delegations were estab- lishing headquarters and greeting the WO0DCOCK SUSPENDS DALLAS DRY AGENTS| Does Not Believe Two Guilty of Crime in Slaying, but Says They Are Below Standard. Amos W. W. Woodcock, prohibition director, i a statement today said he believed Prohibition Agents N. D.! Heaton and L. C. Smith, who shot and killed Marion McGlothlin at Dalias April 8, were not guilty of any crime, but had not measured up to the stand- ard set for prohibition agents. Woodcock said the matter of guilt was one for the courts to determine, but information in his hands wes that the men fired “clearly in self-defense.” ia?d “any one has a right to defend his ife.” He told of the effort by prohibition officials to prevent use of weapons by agents and cited figures to show success of the policy. “While I do not think that the agents are guilty of crime in a legal sense, I do think they do not measure up to the standard we have required in the Bureau of Prohibition,” Woodcock said. The director said that since the shoot- ing he had learned that Smith had previously been convicted of man- slaughter. He said that the conviction was unknown to the Civil Service Com- , which qualified him, and that he knew nothing of his record. Agent Heaton, he said, seemed to have been the prime mover in events which caused the tragedy and had attempted to arrest a person whom he had no warrant. He ordered both agents | Senate Office Building was jammed with SHORT SACES ARE Declares He Has Resorted to Practice, but Not in Last Nine Months. NOTABLES INCLUDED IN LIST OF SELLERS Data Furnished Committee With- held, but Does Not Contain Cabinet Members' Names. By the Associated Press. Richard Whitney, president of the New | York Stock Exchange, again sparred | successfully with Senate “bear hunters” today while the Senate Banking Com- mittee continued to hold in reserve the list of short sellers submitted by Whit- ney. Appearing again before a capacity crowd, the 43-year-old Exchange head defended market practices, and dented short selling wgs a depressing factor, The committee made no use of the list of 24,000 short sales furnished by Whit- ney Saturday under subpoena and the names were withheld. Counsel for the committee disclosed, however, that it includes names of ra- tionally prominent people, but said cur- | sory examination did not reveal the names of any cabinet officers, as had Leen reported. Five Reels of Film. The data requested by the committee in its quest of information to support the charge that bear raids had much to do with depressing the values of se- curities to record lows was contained in five reeis of film, a photographic rec- ord of stock transactions. The com-| mittee had demanded a list of the big | short accounts, the brokers handling them and the customers for whom salul were made, | Whitney testified today he had sold | short in the past, but not within the last nine months or year. During his testimony, he engaged in several tilts with his questioners. On one occasion, he was asked by Willlam A. Gray, Philadelphia lawyer engaged by the committee, if brokers lending custom- ers’ stocks had the advantage of money turned over by a short seller. “Must I answer ‘yes or no’?” Whitney asked the chairman. “If you are capable,” shot back Gray. “Well, then, I will answer ‘ves and| no’,” replied Whitney finally. “You have been that a good deal,” retorted Gray, 8. Committee Room Jammed. The spacious committee room in the spectators when today's hearing began. Newspaper men ciustered around two long tables on each side of the com- mittee. Chairman Norbeck took a seat at the head of the table, while Whitney again sat at the middle. Claude Branch, committee counsel, accompanied by some assistants, was | present. Gray appeared also to aid the committee. Chairman Norbeck asked Branch, whom he described as temporary cou sel and “in charge,” to sit next to him. Gray, sitting next to Branch, began the | examination. “Mr. Whitney, you have been called | upon to defend short selling,” he started. “To explain short selling,” rupted Whitney. “Why do you say ‘explain'?” “Because that is what it is, due to| the ignorance of the public.” Integral Part of Speculation. Gray demanded that Whitney say “why you think short selling is neces- sary " “I believe that short selling is an ad- vantage to the market,” the witness said, “because it is an integral part of speculation, the other part being mar- ginal purchasing. Speculation togeth- (Continued on Page 2, Column 8.) CHINA QUAKE DEAD PUT IN THOUSANDS Bodies Strewn Over Hupeh Prov- ince, Dispatches to Han- kow Say. inter- | By the Associated Press. HANKOW, China, April 18.—Belated reports reaching here today through Chinese sources from Northeast Hupeh province said an earthquake took a toll of “several tens of thousands of persons” there on April 6 in several towns and villages of the province. The reports said the quake slightly jarred the Yangtze Valley and they painted a picture of appalling condi- tions. Their lateness was taken to il- lustrate the lack of communications in the interior. “Human corpses and dead animals are strewn over the ground throughout the stricken area,” the dispatches said. The important walled town of Macheng was reported to have suffered most se- verely from the gquake. the walls of 70 per cent of the houses having crum- bled on their inhabitants. ‘The dispatches concluded that the quakes had been “a terrible visitation on the people, who already had suf- fered from the plunderiigs of Com- munists and bandits.” MAN WHO SOUGHT BODIES OF APOSTLES SUCCUMBS Grandson of Founder of Shipyard in Philadelphia Wrote Books on Italy. By the Assoclated Press. FLORENCE, Italy, April 18.—Walter H. Cramp, 65, of Philadelphia, grand- son of the founder of the Cramp Ship- yard, died today in the villa where he had lived for the last seven years. He had written a number of books about Italy. A daughter, Mrs. Henry W. Ford of Convent Station, N. J,, was with him when he died. Mr. Crampp had been a friend of the Pope and had financed excavatiops n WHITNEY DENIES ECONOMY PROGRAM WILL BE GARRIED | BEARISH FACTORSIN OMNIBUS BILL Committee Overrides Chair- man to Adopt Proposal of President. SENATE 0. K.’S PLAN FOR JOINT BOARD Commission of Nine Would Study Reorganization of Govern- mental Agencies, By different approaches, the Presi- dent's economy program moved brisk- ly forward today on both sides of the Capitol. The House Economy Committee over- rode its chairman, Representative Mc- Duffie, Democrat, Alabama, and agreed to incorporate the retrenchment meas- ures in an omnibus bill. McDuffie want- ed to separate them into three groups. No vote was taken by it, however, to determine whether it would accept the President’s furlough plan for Govern- ment employes instead of a pay cut favored by McDuffle. The Senate adopted a resolution to set up a joint commission previovsly recommended by the President to study reorganization of Government depart- ments, Jones Resolution Wins. The resolution introduced by Chair- man Jones of the Appropriations Com- mittee was approved without debate or a record vote. Under it the commission would report back to Congress within 30 days. The resolution now goes to the House for consideration. The commission would be composed of three members of the House, three Senators and three members appointed by the President. Meanwhile Speaker Garner said the House should accept the cuts made by the Senate in the appropriation bills, and said he would recognize Represent- ative Taylor, Democrat, Colorado, to move acceptance of the Senate amend- ments which trimmed $5,000,000 out of the Interior Department supply bill. If the 11 per cent is included in the omnibus bill then Representative Ram- seyer, Republican, of Nebraska, will offer the President's furlough proposal as an alternative when the matter comes up in the House, If, however, the President’s plan is written into the omnibus bill then Chairman McDuffie will offer his 11 per cent plan as a substitute. 10 Per Cent Cut Plan. Speaker Garner announced that it is on the program of the Democratic !lxeo;dershlp of the House nb accept the ! per cent cuts proposed the Sen- ate on various departmental appropri- ation bills. The frst will be | taken this afternocon when Chairman | Byrns of the Appropriations Commit- tee is recognized under suspension of the rules to move to accept the Senate amendments to the Interior Depart- ment appropriation bill, which includes the McKellar amendments for a flat 10 per cent cut throughout the depart- ment, which means a drastic cut in personnel. ‘The House leadership also announced that the pay cut and economy legis- lation has been postponed until the Economy Committee has completed its draft of the omnibus bill. The legis- lative appropriation bill, under this pol- icy, on which it is intended, by use of a special rule, to saddle the pay cut and economy program as an amend- ment, will not be called up for action tognorrow. The naval appropriation bill will be reported to the House to- morrow and taken up immediately for consideration. No Item Eliminated. Thus far no item on the President's economy program has been eliminated in the tentative agreements reached by the Economy Committee, and it is prob- able that each any every item recom- mended by the President in the inter- est of economy will be brought to the House in the omnibus bill. The work of the subcommittee has been to en- large upon the various items proposed by the President rather than to strike out any of them. Budget Director Roop is to confer with the committee this afternoon re- garding a Shipping Board item on which the committee desires further information. After this has been set- tled the committee will proceed to go through the President’s cmnibus plan item by item, determining in what form each of the provisions will be written into the omnibus bill. Much of this work has already been done and the committee expects to be able to complete its omnibus pay cut and economy bill by tomorrow night. G. O. P. Division Refuted. Representative Willlamson, Republic- an of South Dakota, at the close of the morning executive session, said that the Republican members of the com- mittee and he believes a majority of the Republican members in the House are standing stanchly behind the Presi- dent’s program. This refutes the per- sistent reports coming out of the ex- ecutive session that the Republican members are divided on the President’s program. It was disclosed. however, foday that Representative Will R. Wood, Republi- can, of Indiana, formerly chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and au- thor of the original salary reduction bill and member of Special Subcommit- tee which drafted the 11 per cent pay cut proposal, prefers that method of reducing salaries to the President’s fur- lough system. His Republican col- leagues are endeavoring. to persuade Mr. Wood to stand with them for proval of the President's furlough plan. House approval of all the slashes made by the Senate in appropriation bills was advocated today by Speaker Garner, The Texan's statement to newspaper men sald he would recognize Rep- resentative Taylor, Democrat, Colorado, to move suspension of the House rules later in the day for the House to ac- cept the 189 Senate amendments to the ‘tContinued on Page 2, Column 8.) COLLEGE BOY MISSING Massachusetts Tech Student Is Feared Drowned. GLOUCESTER, Mass., April 18 (P). for P. Insti- search of the bodies of the Apostles Peter and Paul under the Church of the Aplan Way. The Philadelphian had written a number of books about excavations and searches for the bodies of the apostles and several volumes of general infor- mation about Italy. He formerly lived in Rome, it b o:d'lfl.ll :;mnllht u:nu :c..- a urday kS n‘l’cwpnnymlhnmcn at Eastern Point, Reeve's father, Frederick '.x“ m""‘cn?’ ‘Western Springs, Ill. & y - cago business man, was en route here to charge of the search. It was hflmmwm A~ S