Evening Star Newspaper, December 23, 1934, Page 31

SUPREME COURT WATCHES NEW DEAL IN SERENITY Becomes Curious, However, About How N. R. A. Issues Orders That May Send Violators to Jail. BY MARK SULLIVAN. HE most—shall I coin a word I and say “tonic-y"—recent event at Washington was the manner of the Supreme Court as it came to consider the New Deal, its complete poise, the complete serenity of its judicial spirit, its utter absence of excitement or strain, or even excessive serious- ness—indeed, its smiling urbanity as it questioned the Government lawyer who came before it to defend a New Deal statute. It happened that the Government lawyer was nervous and embarrassed, because an error of his client, the administration, had put him in a position that was absurd, almost comical. The manner of those justices—who compose, without much doubt, the most respected civic institution in the whole world today, a Gibraltar of confidence in a world that otherwise is jittery from pole to pole—their manner conveyed assurance that the Supreme Court continues to be what | it always has been. To expand that phrase, to say what the Supreme Court “always has been,” would re- quire a whole book of tribute to the qualities which inhere in the court as it was set up in the Constitution, and in the fine body of traditions the court has built up through 133 years. For the present purpose, the one quality of the court appropriate to mention is its completely judicial at- titude as between the citizen and the Government. It may not be universally known that, in countries other than the United States and Great Britain, courts are, as a rule, conceived of as agencies of the government, as | having a special relation and obliga- tion to the government. Under the tradition and form of British law, extended in America, our courts are conceived as independent of the Gov- ernment; as given the privilege and charged with the duty and the au- thority of looking with absolutely equal eyes upon all who come before them—even when, in any contro- versy, one litigant is the Government and the other is a citizen. Right Jeopardized. If that statement is trite, the ex- cuse for repeating it is that one of America’s present needs is the re- | read it and make suggestions; they command the writers of the code' to omit some things, to include others. Then the members of the industry who wrote the original draft make the changes dictated by N. R. A. at Wash- ington. Thereafter, when the code is written to the satisfaction of both the members of the.industry and N. R. A. headquarters, the latter O. K.s it and passes it on to President Roosevelt. The President signs it. The code is then, as Gen. Johnson put it, “the law of the land.” At least it is the law of the land until, and if, the Supreme Court says it is not. Now a primary question here in- volved is whether a code so written can be described as having been writ- ten by the members of the industry or by the N. R. A. authorities. Be- tween these two groups there is a basic difference which, before the Supreme Court, T imagine, will make about all the difference in the world. The members of the industry are | private citizens, the officials of N. R. A. at Washington are Government | officials. If we regard the code as hav- | ing been written by public officials, | that is one thing. If we regard it as having been written by private citi- zens, that is quite another thing. For it is extremely doubtful—indeed it is hardly doubtful at all, it seems almost a truism—that a group of private citi- zens cannot write a law under which another citizen can be haled before | the criminal courts. Powers Limited. Let us assume, first, that from the | facts as here outlined, the codes are | written by Government officials. If so the codes may have a favorable stand- ing—but by no means a water-tight one. It is true that Government offi- cials can write regulations under which citizens can. be prosecuted criminally. The Secretary of the | Treasury is empowered, for example, to make such regulations about in- come taxes. But the power of any ex- ecutive official of the Government to write a regulation under which a citi- zen may be jailed is extremely limited. Such a power is always carefully scru- tinized both by the courts and by Con- gress. When Congress writes a stat- | ute giving to an executive official the power to write penal regulations for | enforcing the statute—in such cases statement of ancient virtues in our form of government and society, | virtues we have taken for granted, -as | much as the air we breathe—some of | which we are now in peril of losing and which we can only save by taking up once again the long struggle by which they were originally won. Although the New Deal has been with us for nearly 20 months; al- though it has emitted executive de- crees and other regulations and rules to the number of, literally, thousands, nevertheless no case arising under it arrived before the court until this month. The delay, many of us sur- mise, was due to the wish of the Gov- ernment. It has seemed to us that the Government lawyers have been hesitant to let cases involving the New Deal come before the Supreme Court. ‘The Government has been more reluc- tant to submit its cases than the citi zens whose fates are involved The initial case, which came before the court on the 10th of this month, had to do, in part, with the indictment of a citizen of Texas for violating a provision of the oil code. It turned out that this provision had been in the original code as promulgated by the President, but was inadvertently omitted from a revision of the code and remained non-existent for a full vear. Meantime, the unfortunate Texan—I quote his lawyer speaking before the Supreme Court—“was ar- rested, indicted and held in jail for several days * * * for violating a law that did not exist, but nobody knew it.” This led Mr. Chief Justice Hughes and Mr. Justice Brandeis to inquire | just how these “laws"—they are really | Executive orders of the President—are | written and promulgated. As Mr. Jus- | tice Brandeis put it: “Is there any| official or general publication of these Executive orders? Is there any way in which one can find out what is in these Executive orders?” And as the Government lawyer replied to these | and more searching questions, “smiles appeared on the usually solemn faces | of the justices and the crowd of law- yers that filled the room”—I am quot- ing from a description by a careful ‘Washington correspondent, Mr. Theo- dore C. Wallen of the New York Her- ald Tribune. Court Is Curious, That episode had to do with care- | lessness of the administration in pro- | mulgating many so-called “laws,” un- | der which citizens may find themselves in jail. This carelessness did not en- | tail from the court anything more serious than a request by the court that the Government file within two days a memorandum showing to what extent orders and regulations having the force of law are filed and pub- lished. But the fundamental question in- volved in N. R. A. is whether those thousands of executive orders and codes are law at all, whether they have any validity—even when cor- rectly written and made public. This is the great, broad fundamental ques- tin upon which the court will pass: Are the N. R. A. codes law, or are they not? Adverse decisions by the| court would make the whole of N. R. A. as vain in law, as futile to produce compulsion, as_impotent to regiment the citizen and make him march in step, as Gen. Hugh Johnson bawling &t an Army mule, across the Missis- sippi River. One key question before the Su- preme Court—one of perhaps three that will determine the validity of the whole New Deal—is, to put it briefly, whether N. R. A. codes are law. They purport to be law. Under them many citizens have gone to jail, hundreds have been fined, literally thousands have been intimidated by threats of prosecution, millions, prac- tically every citizen, have been re- strained in their actions or otherwise affected. For enforcing the codes there is a numerously manned “divi- sion of litigation” at Washington. Hundreds of lawyers spend all their time conducting prosecutions or other forms of litigation under the codes. A Fine Question. ‘Whether these codes are law is & fine question. The answer is deter- mined, in some part, by who writes the codes. This is not a legal way of putting it, but to state it this way will heip toward clarity for the non- legal reader. In any industry a group of the leading members come together or are called together. In many cases they are already together in the form of a “trade association” of some kind, that arose before N. R. A. These leaders of the industry write a code— I think there is no question that the original draft of each code is written by a committee of leaders of the in- dustry. Thereupon the code is for- ,warded to N. R. A. headquarters af| | | Congress is careful to limit the power strictly. And, because giving to an executive official the authority to write penal regulations is dangerous in any form of government other than au- tocracy—because of that the courts | are even more meticulous in inter- preting such statutes than Congress is in writing them. The net of this is that if, from the facts, it can be said that N. R. A. codes are written by Government offi- cials, in that case the codes should | have a favorable standing before the courts, though not necessarily a com- | pletely sound one. There are many | grounds, regardless of authorship, on which the Supreme Court might find N. R. A. unconstitutional. What of Claims? But can we say, on the facts as here outlined, that the N. R. A. codes are written by public officials? Are we not obliged to say that they are really written by the private citizens who actually do the writing? If the codes |are written by public officials—then what becomes of that resounding phrase often used by Gen. Johnson and still used by Mr. Donald Rich- berg, “self-government in industry”? Can Mr. Richberg say, for purposes of propaganda, that N. R. A. is “self- government in industry,” and there- after say, for the purpose of litigation, that each N. R. A. code is an official act of the Government? If the codes are written by public officials, if they are acts of the Government, clearly the word “self” must be crossed out of “self-government in industry.” To say the codes are written by the public officials who merely check them and O. K. them seems a quibble. The codes could only be written by persons having intimate and detailed acquaint- ance with the industries they cover. The purpose of each code is to lay down minute rules for its industry. The effect of each code is to give toa majority within each industry the power to make rules for the whole of the industry—and cause the minor- ity, the dissenter, to go to jail if he| fails to obey the majority. ~That, to American habits of thought, does not sound good. We are accustomed to think that laws under which we may be hauled before the criminal courts can only be written by congresses and legislatures which represent all the people, and are duly elected by all the people. Liberty at Stake. A defense of N. R. A. sometimes | | made by ingenious New Deal propa- gandists Is that it is right for the majority of an industry to govern the minority, that this is an American and democratic way. They say that— this is the point they rely on—ma- jority rule already exists in all sorts of institutions, clubs, societies, corpo- rations. True. But here is the difference— and it is all the difference in the world: In a club or corporation or society, all that a majority can do to the minority, to a dissenter, is to expel him, or some similar form of discipline. But under the N. R. A. codes the dissenter can be hauled be- fore the criminal courts. That is what goes against the American tradition of liberty. There is much talk just now about what liberty is. How would this do as a definition: Liberty is measured by the degree of the citizen's immunity from compulsion by the State. (Copyright, 1934, New York Tribune. Inc.) Casket of Ancient Brazilian Is Found THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, DECEMBER 23, 1934—PART TWO. Senate Balance of Power Republicans Yet May Control in Certain Situations—Progressives Have Strong Bloc Leadership. NO. 1, SENATOR WILLIAM E. BORAH: NO. 2, SENATOR JAMES COUZENS SHIPSTEAD; NO. 5, SENATOR HIRAM JOHNSON; NO. 6, SENATOR GEORGE W. NORRI: ATOR BRONSON B. CUTTIN BY JOHN SNURE. ENATE Republicans are begin- ning to realize that they may S find themselves in a much better strategical position in the first session of the Seventy- fourth Congress than they antici- pated when they read the returns from the November 6 elections. The Republican group, attenuated though it is, seems likely to hold the balance of power in the upper house in a number of legislative situations. More particularly, it seems likely that the progressive Republican and moderate Republican Senators will find themselves working in harness on occasions, when their votes will be influential and not improbably controlling. It is not likely that the entire Republican force in the Senate will be united often, though it may be on a few occasions. It will be worth while to keep track of the course and the activities of a dozen members of the Senate on the Republican side, or, more ac- curately, on the non-Democratic side, from the opening of the session, Jan- uary 3, on. In this group are in- cluded the progressive Republicans and those Senators who for the pres- ent incline to a moderate or middle- of-the-road policy. G. 0. P. Revamping Dormant. Thus far, regardless of the various appeals for reorganization and re- habilitation of the Republican party, made by Senator William E. Borah of Idaho, Senator Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota and others, there is no sign now of any concerted move- ment to that end which is likely to bring results. Even the proposal of Henry P. Fletcher, national chairman, for a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Republican National Commit- tee and the plan favored by some of issuing a set of fundamental doc- trines or principles, are pronounced inopportune by some regular Repub- licans. | But what is entirely possible is that | out of the situation in the Senate | will develop sufficient unity of thought, | cohesiveness and dissatisfaction with | phases of the administration program among Republican Senators to make | eventual party reorganization more | feasible and practicable than it ap- pears at this time. In other words, it seems certain that much political | importance may attach to the course of Republican Senators through the | Winter and Spring. Attitude to be Watched. It cohesion and a, disposition to unity on certain great problems in op- position to the administration’s rec- ommendations and desires develop, that will not pass unnoticed by the | country. On the other hand, if there is complete Republican failure to oper- ate in unison, and hopeless division in Republican quarters over the chief aspects of the New Deal, particularly the future New Deal as it will be shaped in 1935, that will obviously mean almost no show of a revitalized Republican party in the next cam- paign. In the group of members on the Republican side of the chamber who are likely to be influential this session are Senators George W. Norris of Nebraska, Borah and Nye, Hiram Johnson of California, Bronson Cut- ting of New Mexico, James Couzens of Michigan, Lynn J. Frazier of North Dakota, Peter Norbeck of South Da- kota, all more or less insurgent and progressive; Charles L. McNary of Oregon, Republican Senate leader and Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan, who are taking a moderate or middle- of-the-road course on administration policies, and Robert M. La Follette, jr., of Wisconsin and Henrik Shipstead of Minnesota, who while not labeled Re- publicans, are nearly at one with the progressive Republicans on most im- portant propositions before Congress. Senators Frederick Steiwer of Oregon, and Arthur Capper of Kan- sas, and some “old guard” Republicans may reinforce this list as the session develops. McNary’s Course Changed. ‘These Senators constitute the in- surgent or independent element on the Republican side of the chamber. Senator McNary, Republican leader, has never been called an insurgent. Nevertheless, he is now taking a course different from that of “old guard” Republicans. He has said that he will act on each measure on its merits. and not on the basis of support or opposition to the New Deal. Senator Vandenberg, who will be assistant Re- publican leader and whip, takes sub- stantially the same position. On the other hand, the “old guard” Republicans are looked on as com- pletely hostile to the vital features of New Deal legislation. This list of | plan: SANTOS, (#).—One of the pre-his- |13 includes Senators Daniel O. Has- toric men of Brazil, crouching through | tings and John G. Townsend, jr., of centuries in the earthen urn that was | Delaware; L. J. Dickinson of Iowa, his casket, was disinterred here re- | Frederick Hale and Wallace H. White, cently. All that remained was bones. |jr. of Maine; Thomas D. Schall of Time had gnawed away even at|Minnesota, Henry W. Keyes of New these and curators at the Museum of | Hampshire, W. Warren Barbour of Ypiranga used extreme care not to!New Jersey, James J. Davis of Penn- add damage to the blows of a pickax | sylvania, Jesse H. Metcalf of Rhode in the hands of a laborer who struck | Island, Warren R. Austin and Ernest the precious antiquary several times|W. Gibson of Vermont, and Robert D. while digging a well. Carey of Wyoming. Authorities said the hieroglyphics| In considering what the independ- arranged in circular rows around the | ent or insurgent Republicans may ac- urn, 3.3 feet deep and some three | complish, it is necessary to bear in feet in its largest diameter, made it|mind that for many years insurgency resemble the catafalque of an olden | has been a potent force in the Senate. Guiana prince. They would not esti- | The amount of important legisla- mate the lapse of time since the |tion achieved by that veteran insur- burial day; said they “guessed” it |gent, Senator Norris, in his long serv- could be measured in many centuries, | ice, is admittedly remarkable, and is is 27, including 25 designated as Re- publicans; Senator La Follette, who is now labeled a Progressive, and Sen- ator Shipstead, Farmer-Labor. In making up committees, however, it is the purpose of Senator McNary to treat the entire 27 as a unit, or, in other words, to give Senators La Fol- lette and Shipstead the same commit- tee places they had when Republican strength was greater than now. Senator Nye, progressive Republi- can, has been chosen as the new chair- man of the Committee on Committees. While political significance is denied and it is pointed out that Senator Nye is entitled to the place by seniority, the selection is, nevertheless, attract- ing wide political notice. Senator Nye is in accord with Senator Mc- Nary as to treatment of Senators La Follette and Shipstead on committees. While it is possible for the Demo- cratic leaders to upset the arrange- ment, it has not been attacked by them yet. It is clear that if the independents on the Republican side act with any coherence at all, they will be a force in legislation this session. This is because, although they are not nu- merically strong they include men who can make strong appeals to the country, who get attention “back home.” Democrats May Differ. Moreover, it appears more certain that Senate Democrats, with their top- heavy majority, will not be able to travel far without developing serious factional differences. Strong ele- ments among the Democrats naturally find themselves aligned with the pro- gressive Republicans. It is doubtful if all the political skill pf President Roosevelt and the persuasive powers of Senator Joseph T. Robinson, Demo- cratic leader, can keep the Senate Democrats from sharp division in numerous instances. The expected Democratic division will add to the weight of the independent group on the Republican side. That group, although with the White House at times, will doubtless | vote for the bonus. It will insist on I big expenditures for relief, including SOCIAL JUSTICE IS BASIS OF MEXICO’S NEW DEAL Benefits to Farmer and Laborer Come First in Cutline of Calles—Cardenas Six-Year Plan. BY GASTON NERVAL. F THE Mexicans had mastered the art of making slogans and profit- ing by them half as well as their cousins north of the Rio Grande have—or even as well as their more distant friends in the land of the Soviets—they would have covered their towns with huge placards and billboards inscribed with Gen. Calles’ definition of the aim of their six-year “Economic prosperity through social justice.” No other phrase has more briefly, and yet more thoroughly, described the meaning of the Mexican “new deal” which the Cardenas administra- tion is to inaugurate next January. And no political speech, however flowery or resounding, could better convey its purpose and significance to the masses on whose support it de- pends. We have dealt in a previous article with the origins and development of the principles behind the Mexican six- year plan. We have seen how the Na- tional Revolutionary party, after com- pleting its initial mission of bringing together the various revolutionary groups which had started the political and social transformation of Mexico, decided to enter into a higher and constructive stage, one “in which its political action and its economic and social activities may be productive of more fruitful results for the Mexican commonwealth.” Program of Action. ‘The outcome was the six-year plan, which is to be the program of action of the Mexican government for the next six years, and the “more fruitful results” which it aims to accomplish are eloquently summarized in the fol- lowing official outline: Agriculture—The solving of the agrarian problem relating to the dis- tribution and restitution of lands and waters; the establishment of farm colonies, free housing with sanitary provisions, free medical services; the establishment of agricultural schools; application of minimum wage laws; expansion of agricultural credit; pro- vision for the distribution of large land holdings among the small farmers. Live Stock—Lands not suitable for the growing of crops of vegetables or fruit, etc., to be devoted to cattle raising, with stock farms to be estab- lished and stock provided by the Gov- ernment. Irrigation—The Federal Govern- ment to assume charge of important irrigation projects too large for local governments. Forests—Timber lands, nurseries and national parks to be developed with forest rangers in charge. To Reguiate Commerce. Commerce—Regulations to provide co-ordination of private with social interests, limiting liberty of competi- tion; producers to be aided in adapt- ing their products to the needs of for- eign markets; trade treaties with other countries to be sought. Labor—Unions to be favored; the Government to foster social insurance in connection with old age and death; aid in home ownership; industrial schools to be founded; programs of sports to be encouraged to aid in the health of workers; commissions to be established to study the workers’ needs and to assist in eliminating disputes between capital and labor. National Economy—A controlled sys- tem of industrialization, looking to- ward highest production, improve- ments in salaries and benefits to con- sumers; medium-capacity industries to be en and concentration of capital that might destroy small or- ganizations upon which regional or community benefit is based to be pre- vented; nationalization of subsoil riches to be attempted by all possible means, and the acquisition of mining deposits by foreigners to be prevented; antedating by far the first white ad- |an illustration of the situation. venturers who set foot on Braszilian' In the new Senate, the Democrats soil. The earliest calculations are,of will have the extraordinary, Washington. N. R. A. headquarters’ 7, strength Spanish exploration in 1499, of 69. The non-Democratic strength a national system of electric power generation. Communications—An elahorate pro- gram for highway construction; sub- sidies to be granted private interests in establishment of airways; the mer- | chant marine to be developed. Public Health Increase. | Public Health—Augment the pub- lic health funds from 1.93 per cent of the national budget (in 1926) to 5.50 per cent (in 1939); give particular at- tention to the health of workmen and problems in small communities. Education—Increase the education allotment from 15 per cent of the na- tional budget (1934) to 20 per cent (1939), and increase the number of rural schools by 1,000 in 1935, 2,000 in 1936, and 3,000 in 1937; control by the State of all private, primary and secondary schools; improvement of teachers’ training; agricultural educa- | tion; attention to vocational prepara- | | tion and choices; sports programs to | eliminate alcoholic and other abuses. Government—Speedier justice; chil- dren’s courts; measures to eliminate prostitution, obscene literature and drunkenness; encourage certain classes | of immigration. | Foreign Relations—Cordial relations with all nations, especially the Latin American; denouncement of interna- tional wars; development of interna- tional commerce and intellectual ex- change; settlement of disputes by ar- bitration. To American readers some of the things mentioned in this outline may sound too elementary—they have been in existence here for generations—but for the great mass of Mexico they will be a genuine “new deal.” On the other hand, if some of these provisions are only endeavors to catch up with the march of material civilization in other regions of the globe, others are far ahead even of of the most advanced nations, particularly those dealing with social legislation. Many a first-class power will find much to learn, and to copy, from the Mexican six-year plan in its social implications. In the meantime, while the six- year plan marches on towards its goal of “economic prosperity through social Justice,” the Mexican leaders will be gradually—and let us hope succesfully —shifting the emphasis from their old revolutionary cry of “Land and Lib- erty” to a new one, more realistic and more essential, of “Land and Security.” (Copyright, 1934.) Mussolini Currency Measures Drastic ROME —The measures adopted by Premier Mussolini, involving the sur- render to the state of all foreign credits held by Italians and the centralization of all foreign exchange transactions in a state agency, represent stringent protective measures to maintain the stability of the lira. With the pench- ant of Fascism to apply the most mili- tant terms possible to everything, from “the battle of grain” to “the battle of the birth rate,” high-sounding phrase- ology goes at something of a discount in this country, but there is little ex- aggeration when speaking of the “battle of the lira.” Even such a sober journal as the in- dustrial paper “Il Sole” has sensed the smoke of battle in the new protec- tive decrees. “As in modern warfare it is not conceivable that the armed synthesis of the nation can renounce any of its rights to individuals, like- wise it is not admissible that in a modern economic war the state can recognize the Individual privileges which would,damage its position.” Harsh as are the new restrictions on their foreign holdings, Italians are told they at least are less Draconian than those now in force in Germany, or those which President Roosevelt not hesitate to apply. Substan- the entire purpose of the decree is to prevent any flight from the lira 0. 3, SENATOR L. J. FRAZIER:; NO. 4, SENATOR HENRIK ; NO. 7, SENATOR GERALD P. NYE; NO. 8, SEN- 3 NO. 9, SENATOR ARTHUR VANDEN.BERG; NO. 10, SENATOR PETER NORBECK; NO. 11, SENATOR C HARLES L. McNARY; NO. 12, SENATOR ROBERT M. LAFOLLETTE. ~—A, P, Harris-Ewing and Underwood Photos. | public works, regardless of what the | administration recommends. It will support old-age pensions, which the administration has shown a disposition to hold back, evoking protests from labor. It will buck the proposed extension of recovery legis- lation and a new lease of life for the N. R. A. unless the small business man is protected from the blight of monopoly. These are illustrations of questions on which the Senate independents on the Republican side, or most of them, may part company with the Presi- dent. And there are many other sub- | jects of possible or probable differ- | ence. The detcrmination of the progres- | sive Senator Bronson Cutting of New Mexico, whom the administration would like to unseat, is more fixed | than ever. And there are signs of | clashing over the issue of taking the profits out of war and the movement for Government manufacture of muni- | tions and war material, which is being led by Senator Nye. It is impossible to conceal the fact that at this time the administration plan to have a group headed by Bernard M. Baruch devise legislation on war profits and the Nye program, with considerable Republican and Democratic backing, do not jibe. (Copyright. 1934.) —_— e [Vatican Is Neutral In Saar Campaign ROME —Strict neutrality is the | policy adopted by the Vatican in the Saar plebiscite campaign. This atti- tude, it is declared in authorized | Vatican circles, will be maintained to | the end, whatever course events may take. It is not denied that certain Catho- lics in the Saar have endeavored to persuade the Holy See to come out in favor of leaving the territory under League of Nations government. It is a well-known fact that those Saar Catholics who have been active in | the anti-Hitler campaign are appre- | hensive as to their fate in the event, which now seems probable, that the Saar votes to return to Germany. It is true, also, that many German Catholics who have suffered persecu- | tion in Germany at the hands of the | National Socialists are hoping for an | anti-Hitler vote January 13, feeling | that such an outcome would serve as a warning to Hitler. | Again, it is certain that the con- | cordat signed in Rome by Von Papen, ixs practically suspended today. The | Vatican holds that the Nazi govern- | ment has not lived up to its promises | of religious freedom. But none of these considerations | convinces the Papal State Department | that any good end would be served | by taking sides In the plebiscite. (Copyright. 1934.) ARy, | France Argues Course Of Nazi Relationship PARIS.—Can France be friends with | Germany and England at the same ltlme? That, in the opinion of many | competent observers in Europe, is the | question that underlies the present | efforts of France and Germany to get | together, and may partly explain why | they are having so much difficulty | in doing so. | There are two schools of thought in France. One, headed for the mo- ment by the foreign minister, Pierre Laval, hopes that an understanding can be worked out with Germany without imperiling France's friendship with England. The other, to which apparently Pierre Etienne Flandin, the Premier, belongs, seeks to believe that reconciliation with Germany is |a chimera, and that it is better not to risk losing England’s good will for the sake of an impossible dream. (Copyright. 1934.) Cathedral Figures _ Rouse Germans’ Ire BREMEN (#).—Five monumental figures on Bremen Cathedral are the subject of a bitter controversy between leading architects and members of the “Germanic Faith Movement,” the latter using the church’s architecture as propaganda material in their neo- paganist fight against the Christian Church. Adherents of the “Germanic Faith Movement” claim these groups which were added to the architecture of the old cathedral in 1902 were created by an art unfamiliar to the Germanic race and symbolize the victory of Ju- daism over the Nordic race through the power of a heterogeneous Chris- tian Church. Mutual. Prom the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph. The California avocado growers in- dignantly object to having the fruit known as an ailigator pear and, per- haps, if the truth were known, so does the alligator. Permanency. From the Louisville Courier-Journal. The woman who spent a week'’s al- lotment from the F. E. R. A. at & beauty parlor doubtless had heard the ‘word “permanent” used in discussions of the employment®problem. D3 'OFFICE SEEKERS UNDER CLEVELAND’S REGIME Carpenter Discusses Civil Service y Changes in Washington Under a New Administration. This is the thirty-fourth of a series of weekly articles on inter- esting persons and events in the National Capital during the 80s by Frank G. Carpenter, world- famous author and traveler. The next chapter in the series will be published next Sunday in The Star. who now aspires to Senator Sher- man'’s place in the United States Senate. It was as to how McLean be- came the manager of the Enquirer and how he acquired control of the paper. The Enquirer was owned by Faran and Washington McLean be- fore John got hold of it. John had been absent in Europe for some years study] in the various German uni- versities and when he came back his father, old Washington McLean, put the young man to work doing all kinds of ordinary work about the counting room. It was his idea that John should master the newspaper business in every detail. At the same time he made young John a present of a few shares of the paper’s stock in order to increase his interest in it. But the boy learned faster than his father thought. One night at a meet- ing of the stockholders of the En- quirer he took occasion to make a speech in direct opposition to his father, delivering strong objections to his policy. The old gentleman was both surprised and piqued. Rising, he remonstrated with John in the meeting, telling him he did not think he owned enough of the stock of the paper to have the right to advocate such radical changes. John replied, so the story goes: “My father may be mistaken about that. I think I own CHAPTER XXXIV. BY FRANK R. CARPENTER. HEARD last night a story about John R. McLean, the edi- tor of the Cincinnati Enquirer, hotels. At Willard's, where Vice Pres- ident Hendricks stops, the gang ap- pears especially seedy and desperate, and among these guarded denuncia- tions of Cleveland's civil service ideas are not infrequent. The incoming trains are bringing in more, too, and the city will be crowded with this class until Cleveland has firmly es- tablished the fact that civil service reform is to prevail in spirit and in truth, or until the bars are let down and the whole flock makes a dash at the Treasury surplus, like a lot of sheep following their leaders over the fence. The Republicans much doubt Cleveland’s ability to preserve the | eivil service by his present method | of leaving the matter entirely in the hands of his cabinet, and having | nothing whatever to do with it him- self. Two former secretaries have told me that if the secretaries of the various departments are inclined to act on the spoils theory, they can make the changes and Cleveland will be almost powerless to prevent it. It may be done without his knowing. | If complaints are filed, the secretary can assert that the changes were all made for cause, the turned-out of- ficeholder will be told so, and that will end the matter. Cleveland must take the statements of his own polit- ical and presidential family over those |of the opposite party. The pressure |upon the Democrats is apt to be so |great that they will not hesitate to | change where cause can be trumped {up. In the meantime the clerks in the departments are not feeling secure. They do not sleep well of nights, and | fear to go to the office in the morn- }mg. lest they find the sentence of | official capitation upon their desks. The Press in Washington. Cleveland’s official organ will be the ‘Wuhingmn Post, which is edited by | Stilson Hutchins. The Post is a | blanket sheet folio with eight columns more of the Enquirer stock than he o the page, and it publishes a paper does.” twice this size on Sunday. It is en- Upon_investigation this proved to | terprising and spicy, and it pays a be so. Young John had quietly slipped | 800d deal for Sunday letters, having out among the minor stockholders |mong its contributors Joseph Hatton, and had bought up their stock un- |the noted London novelist; Joaquin known to his father. He then out- | Miller, the poet of the Sierras, and lined a new policy for the Enquirer, |Many others. spent a great deal more money and | M. Hutchins is still a young man, eventually made it one of the big and he will probably be a power with newspapers of the country. His mar- | MI. Cleveland. He started life as a riage with one of the leading society | Printer's boy in New Hampshire some girls in Washington is a greet incen- | 20 years ago, and in due time drifted tive to his senatorial ambition. Miss | West. He had some connection with Emily Beale, his wife, has been one of | 0 Iowa paper; then went to St. Louis, the closest associates of all the Presi- | Where he bought out the St. Louis dents for years. Gen. Beale has been | Post. He made money out of that and one of the chief figures of Washing- | ¥as sent to the Missouri Legislature. ton society and the election of Mc- |Since he came to Washington he has Lean to the Senate would establish | 2dded largely to his fortune and he him on an equal social footing with | OWns & house on Massachusetts ave- his father-in-law. inug. just next to that of Windom, John McLean is evidently preparing | ¥hich ought to be worth $50,000 any to come to Washington to live and | 9a%: . : both he and his father, Washington | Stilson Hutchins has been twice | McLean, own valuable property here. | MarTied and his second wife has died Within the last year John has bought | Within a year or so. She was the a whole square of ground in the most | Sister-in-law of the noted B. B. fashionable of the city, at the head | French, who was once clerk of the of Connecticut avenue, within a |House. The second Mrs. Hutchins was stone’s throw of Blaine's big house, |2 fascinating woman of Spanish- and I see that it has been mded..}merlcan‘ducent. Mr. Hutchins fell within a few months. This plot is the | iR love with her at sight, and made old Homestead Cemetery, out of which | Der a present of this big $50,000 house the “skeletons have been taken. Its | before she died. soil, however, is saturated with the de- | , The Post will now make more money cayed flesh of hundreds of humans, | than ever. The advertisers of Wash- and, to say nothing of ghosts. Still | ington will patronize it because it is John R. McLean paid over $50,000 for | the court paper, and the thousands of it, and I suppose it is worth it. | clerks who want to keep on good The Washington correspondent Df‘terms_wnh the administration will the New York Graphic, who is well | Subscribe for it and read it in their acquainted with Cleveland, says he |©ffices to hide their Republicanism. has been studying him for years,| Washington is a city of toadies; it land tells me that the people know | always yells for the party which is ‘nothing of his bull-headed obstinacy. | uppermost. Clerks, citizens and busi- “He believes in civil service reform,” | ness men are all the same, and this to says this man, “and I am sure he will | such an extent that some of the mer- stick to it to a large extent. At the|chants think the advertising in an close of his term I would not be sur- | anti-administration paper rather hurts ! prised if it would be found that half | than helps their trade. of the clerks were still Republican and | The Evening Star seems to be hedg- only half Democrats.” ing towards Cleveland, though during the campaign it was avowedly for S e Blaine. The Star is published in the | afternoon and is a little folio, except | on Saturday, when it publishes a double sheet. It is owned by three partners and has made them all wealthy. The hotels here are crowded and office seekers are thick as shells on the beach. They make a motley-look- ing crowd, and long hair, red noses and shiny clothes are seen in all the Nye Joins List of Great Senate Probers By Work in Leading Munitions Inquiry (Continued From First Page.) and does not lose his temper with witnesses. He has a sense of humor and a sparkle in his eye. “Have you found it a handicap, not being a lawyer, in conducting investi- gations for the Senate,” he was asked. “Sometimes,” Nye answered. “I have not been able to follow legal questions as well as I might have done had I been trained as a lawyer. On the other hand, frequently I have been glad that I was not a lawyer and could go straight to a point. The thing works both ways.” Nye has always been a Progressive —a Non-Partisan Leaguer—and a Re- publican. He did not jump the po- litical fence into the Democratic camp in 1928 or 1932 as did some of his Progressive colleagues. In the Senate he is found voting invariably with the Progressive group. More recently he has joined Senator Borah of Idaho in the demand that the G. O. P. be reorganized on liberal lines with new and liberal leaders. He does not often meke a speech in the Senat® and never unless a subject in which he is particularly interested is before that body. His speeches are carefully prepared and worth hearing. His life is active, but mostly all work. He has-no time for outdoor exercise. He has a compact with Senator “Bob” La Follette of Wis- consin, who came into the Senate the same year he did, to take up golf. So far they have not got around to it. But since the ancient and royal game has become one of the most Democratic pastimes in the country, the North Dakota and Wis- consin Senators may indulge them- selves—if they find the time. Fortification Would Make Oresund Gibraltar of Gateway to Baltic Sea STOCKHOLM (#).—A proposal to fortify Oresund, the narrow strip of water between Denmark and Sweden, as a defense measure for the entire Baltic area is being discussed in the Scandinavian press. The Oresund is the natural and most efficient gateway to the Baltic, and a most strategic military point in the event that war in Europe should threaten the safety or neutrality of the Scandinavian and Baltic states. The plan advanced, it is held, would make the strait a veritable Gibraltar of the North, with modern coast ar- | tillery ready to play a devastating cross-fire from the Swedish and Dan- ish coasts. Preach Stronger Defense. This new emphasis on coast defense is in keeping with a desire for in- creased armaments that is gaining ! ground in peace-loving Scandinavia, as a result of the tangled political situation in Europe as a whole. trality gesture. The same procedure, together with a powerful coast artil- lery, it is being ted out, would be an efficient safeguard against in- vasion by water of the Baltic area, especially if the Great Belt waterway to the south of Copenhagen also were strongly fortified. Swedish military authorities so far have been non-commital on the proj- ect which is to be presented to ‘-3 Swedish Defense Committee. Dani~ military leaders are more open in their interest. The fear of a Germany that might try to reach northward for food and raw materials is no secret in Denmark. Strategy Supplants Power. No less an authority than Capt. Paul Ipsen, chief of staff of the Dan-