Evening Star Newspaper, February 19, 1935, Page 2

A2 #w DECISION DISPLAYS NO' PARTISANSHIP Hughes, Republican, Sup- ports Roosevelt—Demo- crat Is Dissenter. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. Guided neither by politics nor by | economic panaceas but by the logic of reason, the Supreme Court of the What’s What Behind News In Capital Gold Ruling Makes No BY PAUL MALLON. HE gold decision will make no more difference to you than it Difference to Mr. the Supreme Court had de- | cided Confederate money was United States has laid down prin- ciples of history-making importance | in its gold clause decisions, the eflects‘l of which are as follows: | First, that the Congress is warned it cannot repudiate the public debt | of the United States or diminish by 1 cent the interest or the principal on Government bonds and stay with- in the bounds of the Constitution. Second, that domestic bondholders —that is, citizens of this country—| may continue to knock at the doorsi of Congress for permission to sue for| the amount of purchasing power they may have lost through the failure of the Federal Government to pay the equivalent of gold value on all bonds which contained the specific promise to pay in gold Diplomacy Recourse. Third, that foreign bondholders may apply through the World Court and Average Citizen. no good any more, It will not influence prices, money, banking, Government policy, devalua- tion or the European gold bloc in the long run. At least this is the con- clusion of the best financial advisers in Washington. All they think it will do is to relieve the mild pressure on the U. S. stabilization jund and pro=- vide a headache powder for the jittery boys in the New York finan- cial district, who have recently enjoyed hallucinations of suspicion that the Court might rule other= wise. The New Dealers now are all saying it is & big yawn to them. They won- der why &any one got excited about it in the first place. If the truth were known, they had some jittery moments themselves, but it is all cver now. Another Self-Defense Move. through the channels of diplomacy for interest and principal on Liberty Bonds they may hold and which are | payable in the equivalent of gold.| They can show & loss because they | are getting less gold for their prin-; cipal and interest in terms of the purchasing power in their own coun- tries. But it is up to the Depart- ment of State and. finally, to Con- gress to say whether such claims will be entertained. Fourth, that all doubts are erased | as to the power of Congress to pms; Jaws relative to the currency and coinage which may impair private contracts. Individuals, it is held, can- not make contracts which interfere with the policy of Congress in mone- | tary matters. Y Fifth, that the Roosevelt adminis- tration is condemned for having broken its plighted word in a contract with its citizens. This unquestion- ably will be heard from in the next political campai¢n. 4 The effect of the decisions is ex- actly what was predicted in these dis- patches on January 23 and 30, or rather in conformity with the logie expressed therein after studying the argument of counsel, for obviously | no correspondent can know in ad- vance the decisions of the highest court of the land. Hughes Republican. 1t is significant that a Republican, & former candidate for the presidency, sitting in the chair as Chief Justice, delivered the opinions which prevented the Roosevelt administration from losing any money on the decision, while a Democrat, a former Attorney General under President Woodrow Wilson, delivered the dissenting opinion in with the rulings of the majority of vehement disagreement | Signor Mussolini is not sending all those troops down to the Ethiopian | border just to get sunburned. | You may have noticed he is very | vague about the exact number sent. Also about what he expects them to | do when they get there. One Amer- ican newsman in Rome already has been warned officially about overesti- mating. There are other obvious indications that Il Duce has clamped down the lid. Some fine mornirg about five weeks from now vou will probably awaken to find that the troops who embarked from Rome a few days ago have found it necessary to move from Italian Somaliland into the central mountains in Ethiopia near the French railway. Those are excellent mountains. They are particularly excellent jrom the standpoint of Italian colonization. The climate is ideal, temperate at all times, and the soil the richest in Africa for culti- vation purposes. Furthermore, the mountains hold hidden mineral deposits, which are waiting for some one to dig them out. Such an invasion of Ethiopia would be in self-defense, of course, possibly something like the self-defense which required Japan to seize Manchoukuo to save itself from China. | | /by the best Washington diplomatic | sources on the basis of their private advices from European capitals, in- cluding Rome. but they do not think so. | THARS GOLD A | fIN THEM THAR HILLS At least this is the Ethiopian in| the Mussolini woodpile, as discerned | They may be wrong, | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, Grace Moore’s Rise to Opera Will Be Described in Star NEYSA McMEIN. “Grace Moore, the ambitious, the gay, the generous, the persevering young lady from the backwoods of Tennessee, decided one day to be a singer. Today she has the most beautiful soprano voice in all the world. All I want to do is to tell you what happened in between.” So the famous artist, Neysa Mc- Mein, begins her story about the glamorous star of movie, radio, musi- cal comedy and grand opera. She tells it in This Week, the new maga- ' | zine, beautifully printed in colol gravure, which, beginning Sunday, February 24, will be a regular part of The Sunday Star. Miss McMein is only one of the noted contributors to this issue. There is Sinclair Lewis, Nobel prize winner, who begins his latest novel in This Week's first issue; Rupert Hughes is there with a short story; 1. A. R. Wylie, Fannie Hurst, Dorothy Sayers also appear with their latest work; Roy Chapman Andrews, tamous explorer and director of the GRACE MOORE. American Museum of Natural History, | contributes a fascinating Scientific article, and there are other short fea- tures. Even Ed Wynn is on deck to tell you how to entertain company at | home. But to get back to Grace Moore. Believe it or not, according to Miss McMein, Miss Moore wanted to be a | | locat TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1935. COLLUSION DENIED ON SHIP BIDDING Ferguson Tells Probers “General Talk” Indicated Allocating Work, By the Assoclated Press “General talk” of allocating the, 1933 naval construction program among shipyards was reported mdly: to the Senate Munitions Committee by Homer L. Ferguson, president of the! Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry- | dock Co., but he asserted there w no discussion of fixing prices, “I heard this work was to be al- 1" he said, referring to the| $238,20,000 public works ship pro- grem. but insisted he understood there | | was no curtailment of free bidding. ! “I told them,” he sa officials of other yards, “that we were going to bid the list. He described the “list” as the “entire program.” Evidence Shows Big Profit. | His assertion came after the com- | mittee had presented evidence that he ' had raised his cruiser contract bids in | 1933 in spite of having made 35 per ! cent profit on previous cruiser jobs at a lower bid. | referring to missionary and was preparing Ler- self for this role when Mary the opera diva, came to ti: s where Grace was a 14-year-old dent. Once sh> heard Mary's vol Grace forgot tll about mis | She wanted to have a viie ! and sing in opera. Miss McM you what a fight—and what w work and more work—it meant hefore the ambition was realized. Critics agree that Grace has an even better | voice than Mary Garden. Bu: what | she did before she became the :ruccess she is today, and what qualities that | | ruccess demanded. Neyso McMein will tell you in This Week, out with The Sunday Star, Sunday, February 24. en, | hool u- | 0., HANACCUSED OF PANTING FRALD Sale of Cleveland Portrait| to Ex-President’s Son Is Involved. Accused of using the mails to de- fraud in a scheme involving the sale of a portrait of former President Cleveland to his son, Richard F. Cleveland of Baltimore, George J. Shepard, 57, of the 2500 block of Thirteenth street, is under $3.000 bond for preliminary hearing Mon- Fraud Charged | “That was on account of physical | differences in the ships,” he ex- | plained. | “It was common talk,” the ship- builder testified, waving aside commi:- tee eforts to interrupt him, “that this werk was to be allocated to the people | who could do the work. “No responsible officer of the Navy Titian's “Toilet of Venus,” bought in an art gallery which he plans to art collection. Mellon Art Treasure (OMPROMISEPLAN DRAWNFORCOLNT New Agency Asked to Han- dle Juvenile Cases in Pre-Legal Stages. This is the third and concluding article of a series discussing amendatory Juvenile Court legisla= tion—why it is favored and why opposed. As in all movements for reform of |an institution, & compromise schosl exists in the controversy over a Jue venile Court law for the District In brief, this group would adopt the | plan of social procedure advocated by those now seeking a new law, but it | would be invested in some otier agency than the Juvenile Court ii- self. The court then would continue as a court of law. The present District law, they admit, is inadequate from several standpoints, first of them being the actual draftsmanship of the statue, | Originally enacted in 1906, it has be« come a hodge-podge of amendments, additions, conflicts and confusing ref- erences. In many respects it is obso- by Andrew W. Mellon for exhi build here to house a $19,000,000 Department told me we would be - allowed certain jobs,” he emphasized. but added: “It was general talk that under the P. W. A. the President had the power to place this work where it would carry out the purposes of N. R. A. and spread employment. Says Loss Feared. “T was perfectly willing to take the { — work at cost,” Ferguson continued, ex- | Mellon—one of the finest privat 3 vate col- | plaining there was little work in the | jections in the unrl(i—wovu!d be an yards and “we faced the loss of mer- | gsset of immense value to a national chant veixe] work that evaporated capital. e ik Of increasing costs and | .ryys famous group, each ftem of He said when the prcposals to the | which is of the finest quality, in addi- yards came from the Nm.). 'Depan» |tion to what we already have here, ment in June, 1933, there was no |WOUld g0 a long way toward making intimation that allocation was in ’x‘“h:n?}l{m one of the art centers of e earth. | prospect. For that reason, he declared, his| “The more we have in this city of company prepared to bid on the en- |such outstanding treasures. the better }nre list of ships to be put under con- |it will be for the Nation's Capital and | tract, including cruisers , and de- | for the country at large.” previously,” he said, “that the Navy |eid. “The annovncement that the :)Lp:(‘;;d :.sblu mi only on the work ] magnificent art collection of Mr. Mel- | ted, but when these proposals | on is to come to Washington is one /MELLON WILL GIVE \ $50,000,000 ART | GALLERY TO NATION . (Continued most gratifying not only to the Smith- sonian Institution, but to all lovers of art in our country. It appeals to those interested in our Capital and to every patriotic American who desires to see | here a Mecca for all that is good in the culture of our great Nation. “That Mr. Mellon's collection in- cludes canvases of the highest im- portance is scant expression of the case. His paintings have been gath- ered with discrimination and come from the best that has been available. His gift will be not only one of tran- scendent importance in itself, but will inevitably lead other public-spirited patrons of art to make this city the permanent home of their treasures. “The plan in general for the per- manent establishment of Mr. Mellon's collection here has been known to the Smithsonian Institution for some time. While I have not seen the text that is the basis for the public announcement of yesterday, the outline as presented in the press is exceedingly gratifying. “The value of Mr. Mellon's great benefaction to the people of America cannot be overestimated.” | came out, I considered the matter was | cleared up.” | Ferguson declared there was no col- | | lusion among the builders on bidding | for the 1933 prcgram, although he | | conceded there were many conferences | | among the builders immediately be- | forehand. These were for the most | pg;t in connection with drafting a code. Stephen Raushenbush, committee SENDER OF BONB TENPTED SUCIE day before United States Commis- sioner Needham C. Turnage. | Shepard was arrested at his home | yesterday afternoon by Deputy United counsel, introduced a letter written | from the New York office of the com- ipnny saying it had “closed” in ad- vance a deal for metal furniture for Missive Was Wired to Fire ELEVATOR STRIKE IN GOTHAM ENDS 18-Hour Conference Halts lete To a similar degree, however, they criticize the proposed “social court” to the extent of declaring it uncon=- stitutional in its contemplated re- moval of legal rights from those who would be brought befcre it. They refer to constitutional guarantecs of | representation oy counscl. trial by jury and the statutory protections of the individual which have bcen es- tablished through the years of de=: velopment of the present court struc= ture. Fear Menace to Fairness. Further, they attack the theory of investing the court with the executiue power of directing inquiries and sift- | ing cases to decide which should nor sheuld not be brought in for further action Such a system, they claim, | would result in prejudgment of most | cases, might preclude the chances of. & fair hearing before commitment to an institution is direc*ed. As an I t that an agency court exercise juri dren to the investigations an vision and probationary cases. In instances where tf ment is found not adequate, cases would be prepared on legal grounds and brought before the court for disposition. In its practical application to the District, it was pointed out, the ma- chinery of the public welfare system could be expanded to embrace a more complete family investigating unit. In co-operation with the office of the corporation counsel, such a unit could become an effective social agency. In instances where its advisory function | is found ineffective. the force of & court would be in the background. Claim Best Retained. In its operation, however, this court would follow accepted legal procedure with any individual brought befgre it having recourse to right of cqynsel, trial by jury and appeal. Through this division of responsibility and maintenance of legal right, pro- proposed of the | the Supreme Court. Hence, no further | GEORGE J. SHEPARD. two airplane carriers the company proof need be cited of the non- political and non-partisan character of the Supreme Court. The decisions will stand throughout thistory as a clarification of the rights of the Federal Government with re- spect to monetary changes. the Roosevelt administration didn't| lose any money on the cases, it lost | on principle the so-called public con- ! tract cases and won the private con- tract cases. | The reasons were simple motwith- | standing the mass of legal verbiage. | The court merely held that when two | persons make a contract to pay ini‘ dollars of a certain standard they | do not specify bullion o1 a commod- ity payment but they attempt to de- fine “dollars.” Thus any privale‘ parties, even though they be States or municipalities, must take the risk | that Congress, in the exercise of its sovereign power to coin money and regulate its value, may some day sub- eequently change the standard and Impair the “appaernt obligaiion.” Decision Not Unexpected. | Otherwise private individuals could | make contracts defining a dollar and | various kinds of currency would be | in circulation at the same time. This | decision was not unexpected and really caused no surorise. As for the Liberty bond cases, those fn which the Governmen:> was itself 8 party to the contract, the question turned on an entirely different point. Here the Supreme Court declared that no majority in Congress could overturn a contract made by the Gov- ernment itself with its citizens. The court argued that the fourteenth amendment, which contains a so- called forgotten clause, mentioned in these dispatches on January 23, and has never before besn ruled upon In any court case, was stili vital and meant that the amount of the public | debt could not be reduced by act of Congress. Perhaps the most sweeping denun- ciation of the Democratic administra- tion’s course in abrogating the gold clause in Government bonds is con- tained in this sentence, which will be repeated doubtless for many yvears to come: “While the Congress is under mno duty to provide remedies through the courts, the contractual obligation still exists, and despite infirmities of procedure remains binding upon the conscience of the sovereign.” Future Action Possible. This is as much as to say that some day a future Congress may be elected which could honor the contract and pay claims. But what are the amounts that could be paid? The court did not feel that John M. Perry, who made his plea through the Court of Claims for $1.69 in exchange for every dollar of his Liberty bonds, was entitled to 69 cents because he had not proved a loss, but actually, reckoned in terms of today’s currency, has made a gain. But the court was careful to point out that Mr. Perry had not proved a loss. Somebody else might. The court said that a computation of loss involved the question of “purchasing power.” Now there were some com- modities, like cotton and wheat, which have been measured in gold prices. If a man had agreed to buy wheat ‘While | These deductions did not require | the services of a diplomatic Sherlock. Holmes. The only thing worth having in Ethiopia is the central mountaim range. However, Mussolini is likely to have his hands full if he tries to get it. The last time Italy tried to invade the hinterland, the Ethiopians slaughtered nearly 10,000 Italians. The troops will have to cross sweltering, fever-ridden jungle lowlands in which modern weapons of warfare are less effective than the Indian warfare tactics of the fanatical,Fthiopian tribesmen. Furthermore, the Ethiopians, who for centuries have been successful in repelling foreign invaders, especially the Italians, are spoiling for a fight, Diplomatic Morale Drops. The morale of American diplomats |in Europe has dropped considerably, if it has not collapsed entirely, since the Senate blocked American adher- ence to the World Court. One of the foremost ambassadors made an off-the-record speech about it recently which superiors in the State Department would just as soon jorget. There will certainly be trouble if the Senate ever finds out about it. This am- bassador has described himself as “very unhappy and I dom’t care who knows it.” Others have been embarrassed in their relations with European states- men because they were certain the Court resolution would b2 adopted and, of course, made promises and predictions which now cannot be ful- filled. The Senate action seems to have caused & much greater stir in European diplomatic circles than it did here. Some of our diplomats have a feeling that they might as well come home now and do some Spring planting in the back yard. ‘Their situation in European capitals is about as congenial as that of the Ethiopian Minister in Rome, ‘There are only 320,000 people in this country who use electricity for all power in their homes. Only a million use power for cooking, five million for refrigeration, and thirteen million homes have electric lights. The Federal Power Commission has dug up this data to push the agitation for cheaper electrical rates. It is furnishing strong inspiration on the inside for fulfillment of the Roosevelt power policy. The New Dealers be- lieve it shows that the field is wide open for vast expansion in the use of electricity by cheapening it. Code Changed Thirty Times. If the Senate ever tries to conduct and to pay for it in Liberty bonds|a real investigation of the N. R. A, with the gold clause in them he might | it will take years. The original be able to prove a loss today. codifying is not hard to fathom, but The present law permits suits in the [it is the recodifying that counts. Court of Claims in certain circum- | Strangest example is the lumber stances. The exceptions are within |code. The N. R. A. publicity divisfon the power of Congress to make. has never announced it, but the So, all in all, Congress has violated | lumber code has been changed its word, the administration has|exactly 30 times. Even its own papa, broken a contract with its citizens, | Johnson, the general, would not but, beyond leaving this to the “con- | recognize his lumber child now. Just sclence” of the Government to pon-|to list the changes, plus the origindl der and consider, the dollars-and-[code provisions, would require this cents effect of the great “gold-clause” | whole column. The most important cases is exactly where it was before | change was knocking out the price the courts decided the issue. In other | control feature. words, “payable in gold” on your Lib-| Some ballyhooed code provisions erty bond means payable in gold or|have never been put into effect while its equivalent, but, in the parlance|others have been so altered as, to of the day, “Try and get it!” change their meaning- entirely. This (Copyright, 1935.) situation, plus lax law -enforcement, | States Marshals C. Graves and F. E. Ott, and pleaded not guilty when ar- ‘ raigned before Turnage, terming the matter a mistake. He was jailed until he could make bond. Aliases Are Admitted. Authorities say the scheme lay in misrepresenting paintings as certain works. Postal Inspector M. W. P. Zantzinger, who worked on the case, told Commissioner Turnage that Shepard, who admits using the aliases of Dr. F. D. Vernon and John J. Hughes, had “operated extensively.” The complaint, which names only Cleveland as a victim, also alleges there were others. Cleveland, general counsel for the Public Service Commission in Balti- more, bought the portrait of his father for $150, in 1932, it is ex- plained, on the understanding it had been painted by Paul Bersch, who lived in Baltimore some 40 years ago. Authenticity Questioned, At the time of the sale, Shepard was said to have been going under the name of Vernon. The authenticity of the painting later was questioned, and when Shepard, using his own name, reputedly offered Cleveland a portrait of Charles Carroll of Carroll- ton as a work of Rembrandt Peale, recently the son of the former Presi- dent reported the matter to authori- ties. The basis of the complaint is in let- ters the man is said to have written Cleveland and others. Shepard, who says he is a physi- cian, told officials he is suffering from an incurable disease. 4 D. C. OFFICER RELIEVED OF COMMAND IN C. C. C. Capt. Joyner Reports in Arrest to Fort Meade—Company “Irreg- ularities” Probed, By the Associated Press. BALTIMORE, February 19.—Third Corps Area headquarters announced today Capt. Robert A. Joyner had been relieved of command of C. C. C. Company 1329 at Negro Mountain, Somerset County, Pa., and ordered to report in arrest to the commanding officer of Fort George G. Meade, Md. In the meantime, the heaquarters announced, Col. William W. Taylor, corps area inspector, has been de- tailed to investigate alleged irregulari- ties in the mess funds of the C. C. C. company. Disposition of the matter will await & report of Col. Taylor. Joyner was said to have arrived at Fort Meade yesterday. His home was given as Washington, D. C., and he was listed as a mem- ber of the Infantry Reserve. — e makes Mr. Roosevelt’s proposed re- organization essential. The White House is still having trouble with too many spokesmen who do mot seem to agree. One such spokesman recently told @ State Legislature that Mr. Roosevelt was mot behind the child labor ‘amendment. The naming of Advising and Plan- ning Counsellor Wood (Sears, Roe- buck) as relief adviser is generally interpreted as reflecting Commerce Secretary Roper’s recently enlarged influence at the White House. - ‘The White House is keeping mum about it as yet, but Mr. Roosevelt plans to go fishing aboard the Nourmahal down South in a few weeks, probably leaving here around March 23, Most famous dog in Washington is Treasury Secretary Morgenthau's Timmie. a cocker spaniel. Mr. Mor- genthau walks Timmie to his Treas- ury office on pleasant days and sends him home in & limousine about 11 a.m. (Copyrishk 1935.) SHEPPARD BACKS Training for 30,000 Reserve Officers. Senator Morris Sheppard of Texas, chairman of the Senate Military Af- fairs Committee, and other dis- tinguished speakers last night dis- cussed plans for a balanced national defense before a banquet given by the National Council of the Reserve Officers’ Association at the Mayflower Hotel. Senator Sheppard said he favored a Regular Army in peace time of at least 14.000 officers and 165.000 en- listed men. He added that duty should be provided for not less than 30,000 Reserve officers annually, and for 50,000 men in the citizens' military training camps. | the War Department in its efforts to sentative John J. McSwain, chairman of the House Military Affairs Com;, B. Parks, chairman of the House sub- committee on War Department Ap- propriations. | Woodring, Assistant Secretary of War, who characterized the country’s Re- serve officers as one of the most im- portant units of national defense and urged the officers to keep their organ- ization at the highest point of ef- ficiency. Brig. Gen. Charles D. Her- ron, executive for Reserve affairs in the War Department, also addressed the meeting, presided over by Lieut. Col. Frank E. Lowe of Portland, Me., president of the Reserve Officers’ As- sociation. Dr. Thomas H. Heally, chairman of the National Defense Committee, American Legion, served as toast- master. Twelve Senators, 37 Repre- sentatives, 10 general officers and | more than 100 members of the coun- cil attended the dinner. More than 40 States were represented. The council, which meets between conventions of the association, will adjourn tomorrow morning follow- ing a three-day session. BAND CONCERT. By the United States Soldiers’ Home Band Orchestra, Stanley Hall, at 5:30 o'clock. John S. M. Zimmer- mann, bandmaster; Anton Pointner, assistant leader. By the United States Navy Band Orchestra this evening, at 8 o'clock, in the sail loft, Navy Yard, Lieut. Charles Benter, leader; Alexander Morris, assistant leader. The use of Night Final Edition of The DEFENSE PROGRAM Favors Increase in Army and | build up national defense by Repre- | mittee, and Representative Tillman | Another speaker was Harry H. | later was awarded from the 1933 pro- gram. % e WOMEN’S BRAVERY IN SCAFFOLD DEATHS AMAZING TO NAZIS (Continued From Pirst Page) beauties, met her death likewise with- out a sign of any emotion. according | to the informant. He described her as “an extremely good-looking person about 35 years old.” “What impressed us most of the two women's behavior during their last minutes of life,” he said, “was | that neither one of them even mur- mured a single word." The informant, who heard the pros- ecutor reading the verdict in which the women's former occupation was | given, said that both were employed | at the foreign office and not at the active ‘Reichswehr ministry, as previously had | been reported. As a revelation of %ome of the back- ground of the history of the two | women, the Associated Press was told | Further co-operation was pledged |that the' two candidates for death |Earle Christenberry, was postmarked | were taken to Ploetzenses Prison about 8 p.m. last Saturday, “one hour after the death verdict was passed.” They were put immediately into the death cell and were constantly watched by two prison wardens. “Nobody ever dreamed they would be | decapitated so soon,” said the in- formant. “Not until Sunday night did we learn that the beheading would take place Monday,” said the witness. “The executioner and his assistants ar- rived late Sunday night and the scaf- fold was erected during the night.” The two women spent their last hours af Sunday night and early Monday drinking wine and coffee and smoking “uncountable expensive cig- arettes.” The condemned in German prisons are allowed to spend 100 marks—abou?® $4—in making their last hours more Ppleasant. “They cannot get drunk, however,” said the informant, “because there are regulations which provide that their beverages shall not contain more than 18 per cent alcohol.” ‘The women were unable to sleep if, for no other reason, than that they received visits from the prisen di- rector, a Protestant pastor, and war- dens of the prison. i The two women who had been known in Berlin society for their gor- geous gowns and furs, went to their deaths dressed in blue prison gar- ments. “But,” said the witness, “thev had to wear short, heavy, woolen socks for men because the prison had no wom- en’s wear.” As soon as the headless bodies were placed in the coffins, the black boxes were sealed there in the prison court- yard. Then they were taken out of the prison immediately. The Night Final Edition on White Paper ink paper has been discontinued in the Evening Star and hereafter the front page of this edition will be printed on White paper. RED STARS A row of Red Stars is printed down the right-hand margin of the front page to identify the Night Final Edition. Call National 5000 and order the “Night Final™ delivered regularly to your home, and delivery will start immediately. Before Being Mailed to Senator Long. The man who sent a “bomb” to Senator Huey Long yesterday was toy- |ing with suicide instead of murder— unless, of course, it was all a joke. For he had connected “detonation” | ! wires from a dry cell battery direct | | to the “explosive” before he wrapped | | the infernal contraption and ad- dressed it to the Senator. This completion of the circuit 1s| 1 usually left to a secret spring released when the package is unwrappet. Had the shattered, wire-connected bottle | in the parcel contained an explosive, | it would have gone “boom” before leaving the sender’s hands. Postmarked Medford, Oreg. Experts disclosed this today after a minute examination of all clues |in the case. Theé package. which threw Long's office force into con-| fusion when opened by his secretary, | Medford, Oreg. Bits of the Medford Daily Tribune of February 3 were wrapped about | | the broken bottle, which apparently 'had been shattered in the mails. | {Thm also were four paper-wrapped | | sticks of spent matches. On the paper were mysterious in- scriptions which were turned over to War Department interpreters. Long's office later was informed the message | contained Greek, Turkish and Yiddish words, translated as follows: “Quit stelling around and send moor ar. In my opinion now is the | | time to strike. Send ar. here instead | of Portland. Less danger suspicion. | “(Signed) MIFN.” Substance Not Identified. Fragments of the bottle were examined by Agriculture Department chemists, who learned that nitro- glycerine was not present, although | they could not identify the substance spilled from the bottle. Senator Long was in New York when the package was received. He tele- phoned his secretary to give him a full description of the “bomb.” The package was returned to the Post Office Department where inspec- tors sought clues to the identity of the sender. SCARLETT TO FIGHT ANNULMENT SUIT Former Chauffeur to Brand Charges of Socialite Bride as False and Plans Action. The annulment sought by his bride of a few weeks will be contested in court by George S. Scarlett, 3d, 21- year-old former chauffeur for Mrs. Howard de Walden Cooke, Scarlett's mother-in-law. The former Jane Cook, 19, filed suit in District Supreme Court yesterday, charging Scarlett threatened her life unless she married him, and that he misrepresented his financial standing. Claude A. Thompson, Scarlett's at- torney, said today the allegations would be denied as false. He said his client would contest the annulment in order to “keep the record clear.” Scarlett is in Winston-Salem, N. C., at the home of his parents. He and the former Miss Jane Cooke eloped in Jane’s automobile after cutting the telephone” wires at the Cooke resi- dence. Scarlett later was arrested on of making off. with Mrs. Cooke's jewelry, but the warrant was dismissed at a preliminary hearing in Rockville, Md., Police Court. Threat to Entire City. Concessions Made. By the Assoclated Press. NEW YORK. February 19.—Mavor La Guardia announced early today that the possibility of an elevator strike throughout the city had been averted in an 18-hcus cocference be- tween representatives of the Building Employes’ Union ard +he Real Estate Board of New York. Buth sides made concessions and ice was rostored today where yesterday the strike was in effect. Their accord applies only where building managements had signed a previous arbitration agreement, James J. Bambrizk, union president, said there would be no immediate strike action against other structures. “There will be a ull.” he said, while the union intensifies its drive for a closed shop thronghout the city. He described the real estate men as “licked.” It was dissatisfaction with the awards under the arbitration agree- ment, reached last November, which prompted the strike call. Union lead- ers said the concessions assured them of victory. The Realty Advisory Board prom- ised to recommend to office and loft building owners that the arbitration award be made effective for six months, instead of a year, and that in the meanwhiie a study will Le made of these buildings and their employes “with a view to recommending rea- sonable minimum wages.” Edward C. McGrady, Assistant Sec- retary of Labor, joined in the nego- tiations. For a long time McGrady ran back and forth as a messenger boy between the rival forces, which sat in separate rooms. A police survey showed that 60 buildings in mid-Manhattan were affected yesterday. The union had put the number at 200. But the num- ber of persons left without service ran high in the thousands, a single building sometimes housing as high as 10,000 persons during business hours. DUNKUM WILL SPEAK Addresses Oldest Inhabitants ‘Washington’s Birthday. Gratz Everard Dunkum will de- liver the principal address at tn: | Washington's birthday anniversary celebration of the Association of Oldest Inhabitants at the Old Union Engine House, Nineteenth and H streets, next Friday morning. Jesse C. Suter wil read Wachington's Fare- well Address. The services wil be preceded by a business meeting of the association at 10 o’clock. but | ponents of the compromise plan con- tend that the possibility of autocracy of power is checked, the constitutione ality of the court is beyond question and society and the individual each are served. It improves the present procedure, they maintain, in widening the juris- diction of a social agency which is or can be equipped to exercise a function ' of social responsibility. At the same time it simplifies and clarifies the au- thority of the court. Mail Six Years Late. COLBY. Wis. (®.—Mrs. H. L. Welsch admitted today the mail serv- jce was rather slow. but she wasn't complaining. Six years after it was mailed from Minneapolis, a letter reached Mrs. Welsch here, 240 miles from the sending point. Postmarked February, 1929, the letter contained & check representing money won in & contest. Your Income Tax Bad Debts—Year in Which Deductible. To be allowed as a deduction from gross income, a bad debt must have been determined by the taxpayer to be worthless within the taxable year for which it is claimed and, where books are kept, it also must have been | charged off within the same year. | The necessity for this provision is ob=- vious. If a debt could be deducted without the requirement that it be charged off the taxpayer's books, the | certainty of its worthlessness would be open to question. Neither the tax- | payer nor the Government could be | certain that a debt would not be | claimed more than onee. If a bad debt were allowed as a de- | duction, without regard to the year when it became worthless, such charges could be accumulated to be | deducted in a year when there was & large income. ‘The burden is upon the taxpayer to | show that a debt claimed as a deduc- | tion was without value during the taxable year. A statement should be attached to the return showing the propriety of any deductions for bad debts, If in the exercise of sound business judgment a taxpayer con- cludes, after making every reasonable effort to determine whether there is likelihood of recovery. that the debt is of no value, deduction for such debt is allowable. Court action as proof that the debt is worthless is not es- sential. It is optional with the taxpayer, in | a year prior to that in which a debt | becomes wholly worthless, to take & | deduction for partial loss if partial | worthlessness occurs, If it can be shown that upon maturity of a bond, mortgage, or note evidencing a debt it will not be paid in full, the partial loss is deductible. The Evening Star Offers Its Readers This Worth-While BOOK It explains the permanent departments of the Federal Government and the Alphabet | - Bureaus of the New Deal. Every American should read it. Order today. oo e e — Order FOrm === ’ 3 Price §1 at The Evening Star Business Office, or A [