Evening Star Newspaper, January 25, 1935, Page 6

A—6 # BYRNS SECRETARY BRIGHTENS OFFICE Will Seek Homelike, Cheery Atmosphere for Callers. BY GRACE HENDRICK EUSTIS. If any reader suffers from the de- lusion that Southern women are not capable of high-powered efficiency, let him take peek at Margaret M. Robertson, secretary for the last 13 years to Joseph Byrns, Speaker of the House. Dark-haired, bright-faced, of me- dium height, retaining, in spite of so many years in Washington, the ex- pressions and graces of Dixie, Mrs, Robertson has changed the atmos- phere of the Speaker's office. The Tuneral blue is coming off the myraid bookcases. Why shouldn’t books stand on their own right? There will be open fires in the now dead fire- places. There will be new curtains, possibly red ones, replacing the pres- ent sombre, black draperies. “I believe,” Mrs. Robertson salid, looking around the reception room with a critical eye, “that when people from all over the country take the trouble to come to the Capitol and look at the Speaker's office that they should find something worth their while.” Then she told of an old man who walked in the other day and made the following comment: “The only thing this room lacks is s few stuffed birds.” In the Speaker's own office she wants to change around the position of the furniture, get some new plants from the Botanical Gardens and in- troduce notes of bright color. Interviews Lawmakers. At the present writing, this is her daily program: She spends the morn- ings in the reception room of the Speaker's office. Here she interviews all the Representatives who come to see the Speaker with their troubles. She knows them all personally and nine-tenths of the time their prob- lems. At 11:45, all visitors are shunted out and the press is admitted. This, according to Mrs. Robertson, is going to be an inviolable rule. After lunch she retires downstairs to the Speaker’s private office, where, with the aid of four other secretaries, one of them her sister, they strive to answer all the letters. Sometimes they get through at 6, sometimes at 7, sometimes much later. *I sometimes wonder what all this bustle is about,” she said. “There are times when I wish I were a vegetable. In fact,” she added with a grin, “an afternoon in a boilermaker’s factory would seem calm compared to this!” ‘There are two principles Mrs. Robertson insists on. She explains that they come directly from the Speaker. The first is to take especial care of all the people from the Speak- er’s own district in Tennessee. After all, she says, they are the pillars on which he re ‘The second is to be as prompt as possible with mail. Coupled with these objects she must have & daily and accurate knowledge of what is going on in the House and an in- exhaustible fund of diplomacy. Wife of Army Man. This is Mrs. Robertson’s professional life. It goes on all the year around, except for infrequent running trips to Termessee to see her family. After Congress adjourns, she remains, see- ing people, answering letters, picking up all the threads that have been lost in the session’s shuffle. Her home life is equally full. She and her husband, Lieut. W. A. R. Robertson, who is in the Army Air Corps, have a home at Bolling Field and four children. There are three girls, Audrey, Betsy and Gladys, all of whom go to junior high school, and Robbie, jr., 3. This young blade distinguished himself the other day in the Speaker's office by an acute observance of rules. Some one gave him some chewing gum and he started to drop the paper on the floor. His mother remonstrated. After he had chewed the gum till there was no more flavor he stuffed it in his pocket. When Mrs. Robertson suggested that wasn’t the place to put it he replied that he certainly couldn't put the gum on the floor of Mr. Byrns’ office. Living at Bolling Field is a perfect solution for this busy family. In the Summer the children ride Army horses and swim and often, on a hot moon- light night, Mr. and Mrs. Robertson will go to the stables, saddle up two prancers and ride off. ROOSEVELT REFUSES TO REBUKE MEXICO Rejects Request to Sever Diplo- matic Relations on Basis of Alleged Persecution. By the Assoclated Press. Representative Higgins (Democrat) of Massochusetts said yesterday Pres- 1dent Roosevelt had rejected requests to sever diplomatic relations with Mexico as a rebuke for alleged perse- cution of Catholics by representatives of the Mexican government. One request had been made by the Knights of Columbus and another by Higgins, who also presented to Con- gress a resolution for the severance of diplomatic relations. Higgins said he would press for passage of his reso- lution in view of the President’s atti- tude. The requests asked for both the withdrawal of Ambassador Daniels and the refusal of the United States to recognize Dr. Francisco _Castillo Najera as the new Ambassador from Mexico, The President replied that, at his authorization, the appointment of N:‘yiera had been approved, Higgins said. Commenting on Daniels’ social visits to Mexican government officials, Presi- dent Roosevelt said they were made as ‘courtesy call THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FR;[D'A'Y, JANUARY 25, 1935. This Changing World uropean Optimism Following Laval - Mussolini Agreements Dissipating — Germany Is Main Trouble. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN. this country after Mussolini and Laval announced their spectacular political agree- ment has already begun to dissipate. Officially, most foreign offices con- tinue to play the “peace and re- conciliation” tune. Unofficially, they admit the situation is not as rosy as they paint it. THE wave of optimism which prevailed in Europe and in The real trouble in Europe today is that nobody knows when and where _Germany is going to stop. There is no doubt that the Ger- man government has a definite po- litical program, which has been sketched out already in the days of the pacific foreign secretary Stresemann, and is being enforced by the dynamic Hitler. The pro- gram is simple enough—the terri- torial reconstruction of Germany— exactly as it was before the World War—and the economic recon- struction of Germany by becom= 4 4 4 ing the leading power in Central and Eastern Europe. ‘The overwhelming success of the Saar plebiscite has convinced Hitler that Germany's national reconstruc- tion program cannot be stopped by anv power. Restlessness in Memel. Only a few days after the plebiscite the!German element in Memel, now a Lithuanian port, but once a part of the Reich, became restless. Troops were reported concentrated in East Prussia. Memel is of little consequence for Germany—except for bartering reasons. The Germans want to take back the Polish Corridor. But they have a treaty of alliance with the Poles and will not retake the corridor by force. ‘The Poles are at present interested in the corridor only because it gives them an outlet to the sea. They have given up the political idea for which the corridor had been created —to split Germany in two. If the Germans can offer them an outlet to the sea other than the port of Gdynia they will be glad to take it. Lithuania May Be Sacrificed. Neither Poland nor Germany has ever believed in the necessity of the independent state of Lithuania, and if that independence has to be sacri- ficed for reasons of high politics, it Six More Day Pre- 4 7 Inventory 4 Overcoats QOvercoats Clearance Sale! $150,000 worth of men’s fine clothing, shoes, hats and furnishings at less than $100,000 Just 90 $30 Suits) Overcoats & Topcoats— many by Schloss Bros. $17 Just 135 $35 Schloss and Haddington Suits, & Topcoats 21 Just 220 $40 Schloss Fine Quality Suits, & Topcoats Furnishings: will, provided the opposition of the other powers can be neutralized. The Germans and Poles believe France and Italy, deeply concerned with the maintenance of their own interests in countries close to them- selves, may not take too much to heart the loss of Lithuania’s inde- pendence. If the move in the Memel territory is successful, Poland would eagerly swap the corridor for Lithuania and Memel. Austrian Nazis Powerful. The Austrian situation is even more disturbing. There is no doubt that the Nazi element in Austria is far more powerful than any other com- bined political elements in that re- public. According to reliable reports, no less than 80 per cent of the Austrians are Nazis, and the present government of Schuschnig and Prince Starhemberg could be swept out of power in a few hours when the Austrian Nazis decided to do so. Outside Vienna it has no following at all. And even in Vienna there are not 50 per cent who really believe in that puppet administration which is directed from Rome. A Nazi rebellion in Austria and the setting up of such a govern= ment in Austria—even if the move- ment comes from within—is full of dangerous complications. Italy is pledged to maintain the < T H E H UGB “independence” of Austria. This ex- pression, translated into plain Eng- lish, means that Italy is pledged to control the Austrian government and prevent at any price the German- Austrian economic anschluss. For this reason Mussolini maintains a strong force at the Austrian border. This force can strike within & few hours and get to Vienna as soon as the Nazis take control of that city. Implications Serious. But the implications of such a move give a severe headache to the mem- bers of the European foreign office and general staffs. The Nazis say that as soon as the Italians move in Vienna the capital of Austria will be transferred to the mountainous part of the country, Graz or Innsbruck, and let the Italians fol- low them there. A guerilla war even in a weakened country like Austria can be full of fearful consequences. What will the Yugoslavs do in such an eventuality? What will the Germans do to support their fellow Germans in Tyrol? Won't the Abyssinians, prompted by their Japanese and German advisers, take advantage of the situation and settle their scores. with the Italians? It is not surprising that once more the foreign secretaries open the confi- F U dential reports from Central and East- ern Europe with trembling hand and a fast-beating heart. * kK % ‘The Hitler government has found a convenient way to reconcile their in- terests with their principles. Only Aryens, according to the Nazi theoxy, are worthy people. But there are a number of outsiders who are im- portant to the German interests. They have all been declared honorary Aryans. Thus when at the outset of the Hitler regime the Japanese have been classified with the scum of the earth, to the great disappointment of Tokio, Hitler decreed them to be hon- orary Aryans. The same thing has been applied to a number of Jews in Germany such as the Mendelsohn family, whose members are among the TOWNGEND TALKS ABOUT REVOLUTION Tells Press Club 30,000,000 Followers Will Insist on Pension Plan, ‘The casual prediction that his fol- lowers will overturn the Government of the United States if it refuses to put into effect his old-age revolving pension plan was voiced by Dr. F. E. Townsend at a luncheon at the Na- tional Press Club yesterday. The Townsend revolution will be peaceful and accomplished by process of election in defeat of all those op- posed to his scheme and their replace- ment by supporters of the plan, he promised. ‘The doctor sappeared before the Washington correspondents yesterday American citizens. By his own ad- mission, the Associated Press reported, these 30,000,000 are “cock-eyed,” but that is the precise reason they should “try a cock-eyed plan.” And cocke eyed though it may be, the Californian continued, it is the simple method by which the depression may be ended and by which the search for compli= cated panaceas may be ended. From his millions of followers, Dr. Townsend admitted, the corporation now pressing the plan takes 25 cents per head for a pamphlet sent out in explanation of the proposal. To pre= pare the booklet, he said, “costs us less than a nickel.” In brief, the doctor's plan wowe bring a pension of $200 per month: everybody over 60 years of age, the onlv requirement being that the money be spent in the United States each month, s A Patronage Caucus Postponed. Discontented House Democrats were all set last night to air their indigna- tion over the patronage situation, but the biggest day’s work of the session set their plans awry. When it took until nearly 7 p.m. to dispose of the $4,880.000,000 public works bill, the patronage caucus, called for 7:30 o'clock, was postponed until most prominent bankers in the Reich.| as the new Messiah of 30,000,000 | Tuesday night. R N T UBRE COMPANY 3-PC. TAPESTRY SUITE Another sensational price reduction during our January Sale. This suite is exactly as illustrated, consisting of a sofa, high-back chair and button-back chair. ered in tapestry. No Money Down It is of fine spring construction and is richly cov- Presenting the Newest Models! PHILCO RADIO LIBERAL TRADE-IN ALL e — Regular $22.95 Studio Couch A comfortable, couch of fine construction. rably covered. well made Du- No Money Down Regular $29.95 Studio Couch A fine couch of deep spring construction, attractively cov- ered. Opens into a full size double bed. No Money Down $‘| 4.95 E NO MONEY DOWN! Philco Model OWANCE RS 45C $49.95 Six-tube American and Foreign All ‘Wave for either alternating or direct current. 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