Evening Star Newspaper, January 29, 1933, Page 2

FARM BILL FACES Forum Speaker BTTEREST FIGHT Full Week of Hearings on Al-| lotment Plan Due in Sen- ate Committee. By the Associated Press. Buffeted by criticisms, the domestic | allotment farm relief bill last night, faced another full week of hearings be- | fore the Senate Agriculture Committee | can get to work on it with a view to! reporting it to the Senate. i ‘The heaviest barrage of opposition yet | 15 expected to be laid down tomorrow | when the packers open up agains; the! measure, with G. F. Swift of the Insti-| tute of American Meat Packers as their | big gun. A flat prediction of failure for the allotment price-boosting plan unless it is accompanied by measures for cur-} rency and credi, expansion was given a House committee yesterday by the! head of one of the big farm organiza- | tions which united to draw it up. The statement was made by John A.! Simpson, president of the National| Farmers’ Union, during hearings on in- flation legislation before the Ways and Means Committee. He has stated pre- viously that he regards the bill only as a “pittance” for the farmer. Four Other Objections. Before the Senate committee, four more voices were added to the chorus of criticism which the controversial measure passed by the House more than two weeks ago has raised. Objections came from a college pro- fessor, a hog raiser, a farmer &nc live stock man and the publisher of an agri- cultural journal. “This bill seems to be a novel experi- ment that some people want to try out on the farmer,” said Henry Wood, who raises hogs on his 320-acre farm near Moville, ITowa “I can truthfully say the farmer is in no mood to be trifled with or experi- mented on.” He advocated currency inflation, re- financing of home mortgages at 2!3 per cent, and Government economy. Chairman McNary, Republican, of Oregon, asked him whether he had any connection with the packers and he replied emphatically in the negative. The same question was asked by Mc- Nary of George Van Orman Stuart, Hartland, Wis,, who described himself as a farmer and livestock commission merchant, “No, only as one who sells them live- | stock,” the witness replied. Under the bill, a tax would be levied on the packer of hogs, and the proces- sar of the six other products sclected, #0 that a bounty could be paid to the producer who cut his production 20 per cent. The bounty would be paid only on the share which enters into| domestic consumption. Other Products Dealt With. Besides hogs, the bill deals with| wheat, cotton, tobacco, rice, peanuts | and dairy products. Members of the | ccmmittee are seriously considering re- ducing this number. Chairman Mc- Nary yesterday asked one of the wit- nesses—Clarence Poe, Raleigh. N. C., publisher of the Progressive Farmer— what he thought of confining it to cotton and wheat. “I think it might be justified, be- cause its a new measure involving an untried policy. to try it out on_cotton and wheat for a year or two,” Poe re- plied. Acreage reduction provisions of the | bill were the particular target of J. T.,| Sanders, Stillwater, Okla., head of the | | Department of Agricultural Economics | of Oklahoma Agricultural College, “If vou think the stabilization ef- forts of the Farm Board, or prohibi- tion, are unpopular just try to enforce mflg thing on the American farmer,” he Stuart said the bill would be “dan- gerous,” result in a “tremendous sur- plus” and “the complete breakdown of ou- cash market for hogs.” Both Wood and Stuart contended the increased price of pork would lead the public to use other meats, thus affect- ing the hog raiser adversely. McNary many times advised the nesses to expedite their testimony much as possible so the hearings will not be too protracted. While he plans to have the commit- tee consicer it promptly and friends of the legislation believe it may get Sen- ate consideration. they do not expect its enactment this session because of strong belief President Hoover would veto it. To Get Early Attention. The measure is expected to be one of the first to receive attention, however, at the special session Presicent-elect | Roosevelt is expected to call ihis Spring. A bill to provide for liquidation of joint stock and land banks threatened with bankruptcy was introduced by Senator Dickinson, Republican, of Iowa. It provides for a system of holding companies, to which the Treasury would subscribe the capital, to take over banks and liquidate them in a fashion which weuld not require harsh | foreclosure on farmers' property. Another new addition to farm legis- lation was a bill introduced by Senator Walsh, Democrat, of Montana, for ex- | tending and adjusting repayment of Government seed, feed and crop pro- | duction loans. The Secretary of Agriculture would | be empowered to extend the time for | Tepayment over a five-year priod, to| permit farmers to use for live stock feed orops upon which the Government holds a llen, to waive priority of liens now held as security for payment, and to release liens -now held to enable farm- ers to secure credit from agricultural oreZit corporations or other govern- mental agencies. i A bill introduced yesterday by S(n- ator Bratton, Democrat, of New Mex..o, would permit repayment over a 10-year period of livestock lcans irom the agri- cultural credit corporations. FORT BARES OPPOSITION T0 CURRENCY INFLATION! Home Loan Bank Chief Pr:fers! Credit Txpansion to Mcney Changes as Trade Remedy. i By the Associated Press. DES MOINES, Iowa, January 28.— Inflated credit rather than inflated currency was the depression cure ad- vanced by Franklin W. Fort of Wash- ington, chairman of the Federal Home Lcan Bank System. here to confer with! other home loan officials. | He said experiences here and abroad ! have shown that cwrency inflation is 10 DISEOSS SHOALS | Crowther explained yesterday. “'so that | we will collect in duties exactly what SENATOR McKELLAR. WKELLAR IN FORUM Senator to Explain Possibili- ties of Power Plant’s De- velopment. What the further development and operation of the Muscle Shoals power plant will mean to the Tennessee River Valley and to many States outside that valley will be discussed by Senator Ken- neth D. McKellar of Tennessee in the National Radio Forum tomorrow night at 10:30 o'clock.. The National Radin Forum is arranged by The Washington Star and broadcast over the network of the National Broadcasting Co. The recent visit of President-elect Roosevelt to Muscle Shoals and his declaration that he intends to see to it that the power plant there be really put to work in full force has clearly indicated that the next administration is prepared to go forward with the de- velopment. Senator McKellar has long been a close student of the Muscle Shoals situation. His State is vitally in- terested in the further development and use of the power facilities on the Ten- nessee River, as well as in its develop- ment as a carrier of water-borne tr:fli.c. REPUBLICANS FORCE DEMOCRATS TO ACT ON HIGHER TARIFF __ (Continued From First Page) York. It would make the tariff in- creases automatic in a ratio based on the percentage of depreciation of the currency. “It levies a countervailing surtax,” we intended to collect when we wrote the tariff act of 1930.” Administered by Treasury. The plan would be administered by the Treasury and follows closely the bill by Representative Hill, Democrat, of Washington, on which a subcommit- tee has been holiding hearings. The Treasury opposed the Hill bill, prefer- ring a plan to b2 administered by the Tariff Commission through a broaden- ing of its flexible powers. Representative Rainey, the Demo- cratic leader, said that if the Repub- licans vote solidly the necessary major- ity probably would be cbtatired by them to get the bill upon the floor. That it will get some Democratic votes already was clear. Hill of Wash- ington has sponsored such a plan, Con- nery of Massachusetts and Boland of Pennsylvania have testified for it, and| three others—Patman of Texas, Martin of Oregon and Kellar of Illinois—signed the Republican discharge petition. Testimony Favors Plan. Most of the testimony before the Ways and Means Subcommittce has fa- vored the plan, but yesterday John A. Simpson, president of the National Farmers’ Union, assailed it as useless without currency expansion. “You can pass this bill and three months from now the army of unem- ployed will bz greater in banks will have clozed their doors, more farms have becen foreclosed and the price of farm crops will be cheaper than today.” Simpson said. “In other words, this bill is not a remedy. “If we were to reduce the value of our dollar as measured in commodities to the value it had January 1, 1920, we | would increase the cost of production in every foreign country to ruch an extent that with our present tariff rates and their present tariff rates the advantage in trade would be favorable to this country.” HELD IN KIDNAPING DES MOINES, Iowa, January 28 (#). —Mrs. Margaret Shanklin, 32, was held here today after City detectives said they found Norman Eugene Lroll, 6- month-old son of Mr. and Mrs. August Leoll, reported kidnaped January 11, in her home. Mrs. Shanklin, officers said, admitted taking the baby because e loved him £0." She was identified, they said, as the “Mrs. Garrison” who had been em- ployed in the Leoll home. The child's hair had besn clipped short, but had not been harmed when detectives, posing as magazine sales- men, went to the Shanklin home this morning. The discovery today climaxed a two weeks' search. Killed in Crash» not_a remedy. “In 1929 when prices were at the ak,” he said, “the United States had| tween four and five billion dollars in ' currency cutst>nding. At the same time we had 58 billion dcllars in credit. | Today we have a billion dollars more | currency than we had in 1929, yet prices | are at the very bottom. At the same| time our credit volume h3s dwindled to about 46 billion dollars, a decrease of $12,000,000,000.” | PRSI —_— i SPINNING WHEELS ACTIVE —— | Ancient Methods Revived in Envi | katchewan District. SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Janu- ary 28 () —From dusty attics spinning | wheels are being resurrected so that thrifty Priscillas may utilize locally grown wool. W. G. Clark, who keeps 100 Shrop- shire sheep, said neighhors have bought his entire clip. The wool has been washed, carded, twisted and knitted socks, sweaters and mi JAMES F. GROVE, Park policeman, who was fatally in- jured yesterday when his motor cycle was struck by an automobile on a curve near the entrance to rock Pazk. THE SUNDAY . STAR, WASHINGTO! BROUSSARD PROBE. 'OYSTER “PIRATES” INHANDS OF G.0.P. Bratton and Connally Won’t Go to Louisiana—Long to Be in “Front Line.” By the Associated Press. . On the shoulders of Republican Sen- ators will rest the job in New Orleans tlis week of inestigating the Demo- | cratic primary in which Senator Ed- win F. Broussard was defeated for re- election by Representative John H. Overton, the nominee backed by Sena- tor Huey P, Long. Senators Bratton of New Mexico and Connally of Texas, Democratic mem- bers of the Special Campaign Funds In- vestigating Committee. which had de- cided to go to Louisiana for further hearings- in Broussard’s contest, said yesterday they could not accompany other committee members to the State. Each said urgent senatorial duties caused them to feel their time could be better spent in Washington, which leaves Chairman Howell (Republican, of Nabraska), Carey (Republican, of Wyoming) and Townsend (Republican, of Delaware). Howell and Carey prob- ably will go tomorrow or Tuesday. Senator Long. self-styled “kingfish” and political dictator of the State, intends to go to be “in the front line trenches” when the committee starts its hearings. Long, strutting about a Senate ante- room yesterday, informed the press and the world at larg> that “they won't find anything on me” in connection with the primary and that the or- ganization that elected Overton this last year elected Broussard six years before. Some time later Long issued a for- mal statement in which he said that “at the solicitation of the Broussard forces” an arbitration committee of two from each sice was designated to han- dle the election in New Orleans, add- ing: “Our two men abdicated their func- tions to the Broussard arbitrators. “They were beaten in the city, but at that, not nearly so bad as they were beat in the country. And yet they have undertaken under such cir- cumstances to belly-ache over being beaten in an election conducted by themselves.” He indicated that part of his “front line” duty would be to lead Overton's presentation of his case if it should be necessary, explaining that he didn't “sit back in a castie” in political mat- ters but wanted to be right out in front “whenever there’s any fighting. e & SAYS INFORMER BAN WOULD KILL LIQUOR ENFORCEMENT HERE ___(Continued From First Page) not be affected by the proposals. A small percentage of the total cases are made by them. however. “It is absolutely necessary.” Mr. Hart said, “to have concrete evidence of a purchase to get a jury to convict in liquor caser. That is marked money, the purchase and the purchaser to give testimony. The law states that to se- cure a werrant to enter and search a hcuse there must be knowledge of sale therein. The so-called ‘observation evidence’ doesn't go over with our juries, r0 we almort have to have buys.” Informers ars not used exclusively here for purchasing evidence, as quite often rcokie policemen are employed, until they become known to the boot- leggers. Mr. Hart has always favored the use of policemen. But it is esti- mated that the 10 “specizl employes.” 2s the enforcement officials prefer to call them, average 35 ca‘es a week. The methcd of using informers here, in general, is as follows: The informer gets some friend or talks his way into a “spcakeasy” or into a bootlegger's house, where he buys both drinks and a pint or s> of liquor with marked money. With his signature to an afi- davit, he swears cut a warrant. He is then ‘given more money by officers and told to return to the place and make another purchzse. The raiding squad fo'lows with the warrant end after re- ceiving a signal frrm the informer breaks into the place and takes the purchese from their man and the marked money from the bootlegger. When the case io considered especially important, the informer is in-tructed to moke a number of buys. Generally, only a count cf possession is placed against the person arvested and the purchases used to prove the man did not have the contraband for his own uce and to make conviction easier. Fol- lowing conviction of the bootlegger a padlcck injunction is cbtained in Dis- trict Supreme Court. The infcrmer system, according to Licut. Little, was used here before the days of prohibition, in gzmbling cases. They ere still used for this, although the informers are separate from the liquor enforcement group. One man, Lieut. Little said, made hundrsds of liquer caes before he was too well known by Lootleggers, and now he is engaged by the gambling squad. INQUIRY ON FORD'S CHARGES PROPOSED BY SENATOR BLACK (Continued Prom First Page.) produce evidence” was all wrong and that there would be action on it. Black said he believed his bill could pass at this session. He said only two witnesses had opposed the bill. “One,’ he added, “was a Communist Wwho want to destroy the capitalistic system, and the other a representative of the manufacteurers’ association wl-ufh wants to dominate the laboring man. PLANTS TO REOPEN SOON. Ford Pledges Operation Again in “Very Short Time.” DETROIT, January 28 (#).—Henry Ford, in a statement tonight, announced that his automobile plants throughout the country “one way or another will be going again full tilt in a very short time.” At the same time he said that the labor trouble in local body plants that forced & shut down of his factories throughout the country “is not a strike | son —it’s an attack on the Ford industries.” The statement, the first Mr. Ford has made since he was quoted abroad as saying over the telephone that “certain competitors” were responsible for the body plant strike was very brief. He deciined to comment on the telephone interview with a London newspaper, but said: “You just can't stop prcgress. This is rot a strike—it's an attack on the Ford industries. So wsas the Selden patent suit years ago, but all efforts of that kind to throttle any industry is like a man throwing ashes into the wind; eventually he gets himself all covered over with ashes. One way or another cur plants will be going sgain full tilt in a very short time.” While an official statement to that effect was lacking, it was intimated con- sideration had been given to the pos- sibility the Ford Co. might prepare to make its cwn bodies if nece:sary. All the dies now used by the Co. at the Highland Park plant are owned by the Ford Co. At the Briggs plants today, police said the strikers were wavering between a desire to return to work by Monday ncon, when the Briggs Co. said it would begin hiring generally, and hclding to demands of their leaders that the company recognize shop committees set up by the l'-l&n. % AWAITING CALM Potomac Operations to Be Resumed They Say, Le- gally or Not. ___(Continued From First Page.) which closed the Potomac River to that method of oystering, in 1930 and 1931. The same conservation officers call the rendezvous which the Tangier and Smith Island oystermen make here, in the Machodoc River, a “pirate nest.” Similar “nests” are scattered up and down the Virginia coast and generally center about a store where the men, on their month-long stay away from home, purchase their supplies. Now “devil diver"—that’s the term that “riles” these oystermen more than anything else. Some of the higher ranking Maryiand conservationists have sald that the “devil diver will catch everything in sight,” and the oyster- men who talked with this writer said, a little wearily, they only wished that were true! Actually, the dread “devil diver” is a 1932—or even a 1931—auto- mobile license tag! Understanding of '“Scraper.” To appreciate the “menace” hidden in these old license plates—devil divers, that is—one might have a better un- derstanding of the “scrapes.” These implements are fashioned out of iron rods into a triangular kind of marine rake. The base of the triangle is fitted with teeth which are designed to scoop up the oystefs and these teeth are so shaped that they sweep the oysters they stir up into a kind of iron-link sack which drags along in the wake of the iron teeth. The apex of the triangle is fitted with a ring to which is fastened a line that leads to the boat. As the boat moves forward slow- ly, the “scrape” is lowered over the side and to the bottom where it is towed back and forth over the oyster rock. The license plate which forms the “devil diver” or “sinker” as the oyster- men themselves call it, is fitted to the iron frame of the scrape and acts as a horizontal rudder which forces the scrape's teeth on the bottom of the river. During the last month the activities of the oystermen and the efforts of the conservation officers to enforce the ban on the “scrapes” has produced whi is popularly known as an “oyster wa The ban was brought about first in 1930 when the State of Virginia en- acted a law prohibiting oystermen from scraping. The following year the State of Maryland enacted similar legislation. Both States continue to license oyster- men to tong, however, and the men here tonight at Coles Point are all licensed oystermen. Ban to Conserve Crop. The two-State ban was enacted in order to conserve the rapidly-diminish- ing natural oyster crop in the Pot-mac River. No definite time limit was set in either State’s law but the idea behind the legislation was to give the oysters now in the river time to spawn and to attain greater growth. In the long run, framers of the laws point out, the ban will wirk to the advantage of the very oystermen who now oppose it. But it is a “long-run” and these are hard times. The result is strife, and even shooting. although yet no man has been killed or wounded The conservationists who talked with this rep-rter said that the oy:termen who break the scrape ben are too lazy to tong. They insist that tonging is practical and productive of an ade- quate income. The oystermen themselves, however, told this writer that tonging in the Po- t-mac is not practical Tonging, they showed him, is done with an implement very closely resembling two elongated garden rakes, crorsed like scicsors, with their teeth meshing. The tonger stands in his boat and “chews” at the oyster rock with a scissor-cutting gmotion cf the tong handles. Returns on Labor Small. Given a clear, calm day. the oyster- men here {cnight say. a boat with three experienced men working it. can tong l | ‘With oysters now bringing their catchers only 65 cents a bushel, the total gress income for such a boat would be only $3.25. Out of this, must go money for fuel and grub. A day's work will use no less than five gallons of gasoline and is not a living wage. The oystermen sell their catch to Potomac from Crisfield, Md. These are larger motor boats equipped with auxiliary sail and they cruise among the oystermen until their holds and forward decks—and that’s practically the entire vessel—are filled and then they travel to the market centers. Some credence was lent the assertions made by the oystermen with respect to the minuteness of their incomes by the conditions this reporter saw in oyster- Beach. Many of them are actually de- pendent on charity for sustenance. The Red Cross, The Star was told, is helping | many families. Customers are “Carried.” Capn L. W. Jett, stovekeeper at Colonial Beach, who supplies many of the oystermen, is “carrying along” most of his customers, while Cap'n OIiff, boat builder whose plant adjoins Cap'n Jett's store, told this reporter that his books were laden with obligations of the oystermen whose boats and engines he has repaired. Being watermen, the oystermen are trained for nothing else except, perhaps. , labor with a pick and shovel. there's none of that to be had. “Pirating?” The oystermen don't see that they are doing that. “Listen—" one of them put here tonight; “we aren't taking a thing that belongs to anybody. Maryland didn't put those oysters out there in the river, and Virginia didn’t put 'em out there. God-amighty put them on those rocks for men to make a living by. And that's what we're a-doin’. We're takin® what God-amighty intended us to have and if we don’t keep on doin’ it—we starve and our families starve! That's the whole thing.” Another pointed out that many of the oysters that are brought to the surface Yhese days are dead. It's the fresh water that's coming down from the tributaries of the river that is killing them and more freshets are expected by them in the later months of the sea- And “And there they are—the police boats—Ilots of the oysters won't be caught by anybody while they can do ‘em any good, and they won't let us catch 'em now,” he expressed it. “Police Boats” Draw Comment. Mention of the “police boats,” and all the men had something to say. Two of the conservative officers in particular have gained the animosity of the oystermen. They are Capt. Edward J. Plowden and Bruce Wilmer. Capt. Plowden is the officer who reported that on the night of January 17 his boat was fired on by one of the “pirates.” He reported that he returned the fire and that he “believed” his shots struck a boat. They did. This reporter found the boat and saw the bullet holes in it and talked with its skipper—a 22-year-old oysterman who is supporting- his wid- owed mother, He is Rue Tawes Mc- Craedy, whose pink cheeks make him appear boyish among the rugged older men whose years on the waters of the Chesapeake Bay country has made their i skin leathery. Rue told this writer that he was run- ning for harbor—Leonardtown, Md.— with a sick man when suddenly a fast boat, skippered by Capt. Plowden, came abreast of his craft and opened fire. The bullet crashed through the no more than four or five bushels a day. ! men's homes at and near Colonial | ‘Top: The oyster fleet lying at Coles Point, in the Machodoc River, late yes- terday, awaiting a calm which would enable it to venture out cn the Potomac in quest of oysters. Center: Rue Tawes McCraedy, 22- year-old oysterman, points out the bul- let hole in his boat’s cabin door which was fired by a Maryland State conser- vation officer. Bottom: A group of who have been dubbed *| at their rendezvous in pose with their scrape “devil diver.” the oystermen ‘pirates” shown the Machodoc, and its dread | panion door at the aft end of the cuddy cabin. The ill man had moved to the cockpit a few scconds before the shot, Rue said, ctherwise the first casualty of the “oyster war” might have been | recorded. Capt. Plowden, the young oysterman continued, forced him to! | raise his hands and then ordered him |to shut off his motor. When Ru~ stooped for his engine controls, he said. the conservation officer called at him to_keep his hands up. ‘While this was going on, a shot {from the darkness did whistle over Capt. Plowden’s bcat and that fire | was returned. After taking young Mc- ! Craedy’s boat in tow, the youth re- {lated * here tonight. ' Cept.” Plowden i searched the small craft. Finding neither scrape. oysters or rifle, Capt. Plowden released him. Enmity of Oystermen. Mr. Wilmer, who became a paid con- servation officer only this year after having worked a whole year without ! pay, gained the enmity of the oyster- men by his tactics with his small speedy boat. which could outrun any of the work boats used by'the oystermen. Mr. Wilmer, all the oystermen agree, is| pretty quick with his rifle, pointing it | { menacingly at the boatmen he seeks | | to_question | | "It was two weeks ago, however, that Mr. Wilmer’s fast boat, the Pope's Creek, was taken from her mcorings at a stake ,in Pope’s Creek, Md. The little ship presumably was sunk —by “cyster piretes.” Mr. Wilmer himself told this| reporter. The stout lines by which thcl craft was tied to its mocring stake had been hacked through as with an axe. | a quart of oil. they say, and the money Mr. Wilmer now is using a canoe and | — that is left, split among the three men, hoping against hope that he Will be t; talk with Mr. Roosevelt early in | ne at International Police Chiefs to | provided with a new fast bcat. | And so goes the “oyster war.” “buy-boats” which run up_in the'jjcensed oystermen are nestling in the | noon. ! coves similar to this one while the 40- mile wind piles up forbidding seas out | | in the Potomac. Across the river, in the | | lec of protecting coves at various points | jup and down the Maryland shore. lie the Maryland State conservation boats. | This writer was aboard one of them | |last night and its cabin bulkheads are | racked with hieh-powered rifles. These are the boats that wait for the oyster- | men to come cut and scrape. | And the oystermen say they are going out. | ELECTION OFFICERS DUE TO HALT PROSECUTIONS | Eight Democrats, Indicted in New | York, Says U. 8. Attorney and | Agents Should Be Neutral. By the Associated Press. % NEW YORK, January 28.—Eight | Democratic election inspectors and dis- | trict captains recently indicted by Fed- | eral grand juries for alleged miscon- duct in the November election, today began suit in the Federal Court, seek- | ing to restrain United States Attorney George Z. Medalie and his agents from further prosecution. The action also seeks to have all the acts taken by Medalie and his agents in connection with the matter to date and the indictments declared null and void. ‘The plaintiffs claim that as a quasi- judicial officer, the United States at- torney should have no personal interest in any matter prosecuted by him nor any “spleen or resentment” against any of those prosecuted. The matter will come before Federal’ Judge William Bondy for hearing Tues- day morning. According to the complaint and pe- tition filed today, a crime charged in each of the indictments was that Me- dalie, who was Republican candidate for the United States Senate, was, through the acts of the petitioners, “not given but defrauded out of the full number of votes cast for him.” e e A PUP LEADS PARENTS TO BODIES OF SONS Boys, 15 and 18, Suffocated as Cave Play House in Sand Falls In. By the Associated Press. YUKON, Okla.,, January 28.—Led to the spot by a three-month-old pup, |Mr. and Mrs. V. W. Gray, tenant farmers; today found the bodies of their two sons, Bennie, 15, and Paul, 13, in a cave playhouse, victims of suf- focation | ing with Bennle’s ':',uw at its feet. The mother and father followed the com- sand, had \ i LINDSAY ARRIVES AT WARM SPRINGS FOR PARLEY TODAY | —_— | _(Continued From First Page.) | March. 2ving Washington by airpla Ambassador Lin told news- paper men “there are many things to be gone over.” That was all. statement agrees with the word from here that debts, economics and arma- ments are to be gone over. Whether intended or not, the novel separate meetings the President-elect is arranging with the foreign powers are believed to be c¢riving a wedge in any European alliances that may exist to- day, but no slightest intimation that such a purpose was sought has been suggested here. Silent on British Note. There has been no reaction from Mr. Roosevelt whatever on the recent Brit- ish note accepting his proposal to con- bine an economic discusiion Wil i war debts talk but to limit drastically the scope of the economic moses. Perhaps this 1s the reason for the Lindsay conference. At least that un- doubtedly will come up. It is ex- pected Mr. Roosevelt will make it clear that in linking the proposed world eco- nomic conference with the separate debt talks he will show just how far he wants to go. Only the agenia for the economic parley is expected to be acranged by the economic missions to come to Wash- ington with the debts representatives, but Mr. Roosevelt most certainly in- tends to get something in return for debt relief. News that the French cabinet had fallen brought no reaction here nor was there any fresh sign of the attitude of the Roosevelt mind toward the French debt payment which was not | Meanwhile, there is | met in December. no arrangement with France, Belgium and the others, who defaulted, for re- viewing their debts. 'WHITEHALL Gl@j’llflll‘l‘ Britain Pleased at Lindsay-Roesevelt Conference. 'LONDON, January 28 (#).—Sir Ronald Lindsay's departure for Warm Springs, Ga., to visit President-elect Roosevelt, was viewed Wwith satisfaction today in Whitehall circles, where it was felt the Ambassador thus would be able to present more clearly to Downing Street swhen he returns the views of the Presi- dent-elect. While it was understood that Sir Ronald was under no definite instruc- tions, it was regarded as entirely possi- ble he might outline to Mr. Roosevelt the British position, as enunciated by Chancellor of the Exchequer Neville Fh‘tll?ebm& in hé.snspeecmh at Leeds and n subsequent Bril agreement to enter into new debts talks. As viewed here, the British, cleverly parrying Mr. Roosevelt's infer- ence that debts and economic condi- tions were to be discussed simultane- cusly, hope to have forced the Wash- ington Conference to be narrowed down to debts alone, It was felt that the conference between Mr. Roosevelt might serve very useful purposes. In his Leeds Mr. Chamberlain speech reiterated that Britain would prefer all- around cancellation of debts and | | UNITE TO BATTLE WORLDCRIMINAL Open Offices Here and at Geneva. By the Associatcd Press. NEW YORK, January 28.—An inter- naticnal police force to expedite the apprehending of international crlmeLs( was formed today. It will be known as the International World Police, and its organization was completed by representatives of two agencies, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Interna- ticnal Police Conference. ‘The new organization will supply the | connecting link between these agencies and the Internatfonal Criminal Police Commission of Europe. Police Commissioner Edward P. Mul- rooney of New York City, who presided at the meeting of police officials at which the organization was drafted, said “the whole purpose is to expedite action and enhance the facilities of all recognized police departments in appre- hending international criminals and preventing further international crime.” ‘The commissioner said the Interna- tional World Police would maintain headquarters in Geneva and Wash- ington. J. Edgar Hoover of the Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, assured the police officials at toda meeting that his bureau stood behine AILWAY AID PLAN PROMISED FEB. 22 mith Fixes Date of Findings by Committee—R. F. C. Laans Probed by Couzens. By the Adsociated Press. The results of a quick but thorough inspection of the Government’s end of the railroad problem, were carried back to New York last night by a voluntary Citizens’ Commmittee with the promise of a definite plen for righting the coun- try's transportation troubles by late February. The distinguished National Trans- portation Committee, of which Calvin Coolidge was chairman until his death, left behind in the Capital a quickened activity on various angles of the rail prcblem which forecast action in sev- eral directions before the commiitee report is issued, by February 22. The members, Bernard M. Baruch, acting chairman; Alfred E. Smith, Clark Howell of Atlanta, Alexander Legge of Chicago, conferred at the Capitol with Representative Rayburn, chairman of the House Interstate Com- merce Committee, examining pending legislation, then went to the Interstate Commerce Commission for an extended discussion with officials who direct rail regulaticn Smith Backs Rayburn Bill. Smith, acting as committee spokes- man, set the date for the report, said the committee vas in sympathy with the rail bankruptcy plan of the La Guardia-McKeown bili, but declined to indorse it specifically. He did approve Rayburn’s pending bill to repeal the recapture clause, under which the Gov- ernment is authorized to take a portion of excess railroad profits. Definite new energy was put behind this and other legislation, although the bankruptcy act was the only one ap=- pearing to have distinct chances of pas- sage at the present session. Another attack on rail problems, how- ever, was launched by Senator Couzens, who as chairman of a banking sub- committee, started investigating Recon- struction Finance Corporation loans to determine whether his resolution, to forbid any more such credits for a time, should be adopted. Couzens said the committee would require estimates of the present value of collateral put up for such loans; would demand the names of roads likely to have to borrow within the next six months, and would call upon the Re- construction Finance Corporation to give a complete summary of the lcans made, and where the money went. ‘It is not to the interest of the se. curity holders or the public.” the Sen- ator said, “that the Government con- tinue using the taxpayers' credit to save an already hopeless conditicn. He emphasized the remark did not mean all railroads. but that many borrowed “that can't hope to hav overinflated capital structure tained.” Hearings Start Tuesday. Hearings will begin Tuesday. Smith announced the date of the forthcoming report after the confcrence with Rayburn. He declined to indicate what the recommencations would be. he sole and only purpose of our he said, “is to get ideas and to check up on some things relative to & comprehensive report and plans in re. spect to the railroad situation and what m’l’s be dgne about it.” iscussing the Dbankruptcy revisi bill, he said that "whuepnlylurluy : sympathy” with the measure's purpose, he could not say whether the commit- tee would approve of the bill “after it comes from the laundry,” meaning Ehu; the House has finished amend- g it. Smith also refrained from expressing an opinion on pending bills by Rayburn to place railroad holding companies and bus lines under I. C. C. reguiation. Both plans will be dealt with in the report, he said. The committee did not call on Couzens, chairman of the Senate’s Interstate Commerce Committee, de- ceuse his view already haa been ob- tamned by Baruch and the committee’s time was limited. It assembled in Washington yesterday morning at Smith's hotel room, went directly to Rayburn's office and. after a lunch- Tecess. met again with the inter- state commerce commissioners. After this meeting the members separated, most of them heading for New York, where the next meeting will be held. e FIVE FORECLOSURES ON MINNESOTA FARMS THWARTED BY 5,000 (Continued From First Page.) maine the court house, since forenoon, made & saie “physically impossible.” A quick thrust by five bank bandits, while between 2,000 and 2,500 farmers were - hurrying into Madison to pre- vent three sales hclped give sheriffs of the three counties a hectic day. Bank Raided by Four. Four raiders, whose featurcs were hiddcn partially by heavy growths of | beards, ‘forced four emploves and a customer of the Klein National Bank at Madison to the floor and escaped with between $7.000 and $8,000 in a car driven by a fifth, The bandits swept .into town while roads were thronged by the automo- biles of incoming farmers, less than an hour before the scheduled sale time. Sheriff A. G. Smaogard, saying at- tempts to dispose of the three iarms appeared futile, immediately anrounced postponements. The farms were those of Casper Westfield, 75 years old. who has lived on the land 43 years; Thcmas the new organization and would co- cperate to the fullest extent of its ability. Commissioner Mulrooney said the plan for such an international police power was sponsored first at a joint meeting of the three agencies in Paris Among the officials at today’s meeting were James M. Clark, Pittsburgh; James W Detroit! Wil K. Watkins, E am A. Mills, Philadelphia; William P. Rutledge, Wyandotte, Mich.; Alfred Seymour, Lansing, Mich,, and Fernand Dufresne, Montreai. FORMER REPRESENTATIVE LEADING SPECIAL VOTE Joe H. Eagle, Anti-Prohibition " Democrat of Texas, Heading for House Seat. By the Associated Press. HOUSTON, Tex., January 28.—Joe by | H. Eagle, former Representative in Con- gress, appeared to be leading as re- turns from a special election to select a successor to the late Representative Daniel E. Garrett of the th Texas district were tabulated tonight. Eagle is a Houston Democrat who ad- vocates prohibition repeal. The incomplete vote at 4 p.m. gave le 6,022, Chester H. Bryan 1,771, Robert L. Cole, who appealed for “dry” hl:lxpofl. 1,368. Only tered votes been cast for the 30 other ““Eigle, ¥ho served in Congress trom 2gle, who sel 1913 until 1921, has snnounced he 1};; scatt Demo- bonds of $500 each. were orderly. Faaberg and Berent Olson John A. Bosch of Atwater. president of the Minnesota Farmers' Holiday As- sociation and secretary of the national holiday unit, was here. Before the sheriff announced--post- lponement Bosch asked farmers who filled the officer’s quarters. “Do you | want these farms foreclosed? “No,” came the chorused response. He later told newspapermen the pur- pose of the protest meetings was to create enough demonstration so the National Government “will wake up.” Farm Help Imperative. “We don't believe in mob rule and don't believe in encouraging people not to pay their debts, but the farmers must have help,” Bosch said. Some of the farmers went to Monte- video, 30 miles away, where 400 cheered as Sheriff N. A. Pederson announced postponement after waiting 45 minutes for bids on the farm of G. M. Thomp- son. The tract on which the lumber com- pany had a claim was to be sold at Granite Falls, 35 miles from here. It belongs to O. J. Olson, near there. A spokesman for one of the mort- gagors asserted “great lemienci” had been given before institution of fore- closure proceedings. Failure to make payments made sale necessary for pro- tection of the mortgagor's “financial integrity,” he said. Meanwhile at Jefferson, Wis., liminary hearing for the 11 farmers charged with rioting as result of the "dime auction” of the Otto Febock farm near there two.weeks ago, was set for February 11, when they were ar- raigned before Justice of the Peace Arthur Puerner. All signed their own The proceedings