Evening Star Newspaper, February 25, 1935, Page 2

“ONOURWAYY" CRY INMIDDLE WEST Despair and Depression Dis- appearing—Future Viewed With Confidence. This 18 the first of a series of fve articles comtrasting conditions in the Northern States of the Mid- dlewest, as Mr. Roosevelt, a mem- ber of the editorial staff of the New York Herald Tribune, found them on a recent tour and in the Autumn of 1933. BY NICHOLAS ROOSEVELT. The snow lies deep this Winter in Minnesota, Wisconsin and parts of Towa and Illinois, and the farmers are talking hopefully of a good year to come. Merchants report business *“Jooking up"” and even the bankers in Chicago are optimistic. Gone are the despair and depression of a year 2go. No longer do people demand inflation and other panaceas to help them out of their troubles. “We're on our way,” they say, echoing the President’s fa- mous phrase. Only a few of the more thoughtful admit that they don't know just where this “way" is leading. But they regard even this as preferable to the dark despair of 1932 and 1933. These are, in brief, impressions of the Middle West, hastily revisited after 15 months. This year my range and my time were more limited than in the Autumn of 1933, but by sifting the evidence of those friends whose anal- yses in the past have proved to be the soundest, it is possible to generalize about the present state of mind. “We're on Our Way!” Where last Summer's terrible drought wrought destruction, there is still acute poverty and distress. The Dakotas and parts of Western Min- nesota, Nebraska and Kansas would be in a bad way were it not for the Federal relief moneys. Even the other regions where the crops were good are better off for the millions of dollars poured in by Uncle Sam. But prices are up, debts are being paid off, new cars are being bought and there is hope in the air. From all sides come the echo, “We're on our way!” Franklin D. Roosevelt still is given the largest measure of credit for this. Now, as a year ago, the President’s popularity is immense. Paradoxically, together with praise for him, goes eriticism of his policies. But with true American generosity people blame his advisers for what they dislike or dis- trust. “He's doing his best,” they say, and add, “Thank God he's at least doing something!” Three Unknown Factors. While the cries of those wanting radical reforms are less headed—de- spite the spread of Townsendism and the popularity of Father Coughlin and Huey Long—three unknown factors obscure the horizon. All three are directly connected with spending. The first is the enigma of the “pump- priming” theory. The second is the menace of the Government's ever- increasing deficit. The third is the burden of relief. In other words, the dangers today sre less from untried economic ex- periments than from policies already in effect. We need no longer fear such foolish fallacies as the Warren plan or other unsound expedients to tamper with prices. The N. R. A. is ceasing to restrict recovery. The A. A. A. is being modified. There is little popular demand for new patent medicines. Santa Claus or Real Recovery? But what no one knows is: How much of the returning prosperity is due to government outpourings of cash, and how much to the rise in prices of farm products? What all the thoughtful understand is that if the present policy of Government ex- penditure continues we cannot avoid ultimate currency inflation. What only a few appreciate is that the pres- ent system of relief is building up a class of entrenched dependents who are coming to consider that they have & vested right to be supported in idle- ness on a comfortable standard of living. Uneasiness Caused. These clouds on the horizon natu- rally are causing vague uneasiness. hid pump-priming ultimately falls and the improvement in business turns out to be largely artificial, we shall have a new and terrible crisis. If the Government spends its way into currency inflation, the number of sufferers will increase by tens of mil- lions. Unless the relief problem is wisely solved we may see at the same time the Government drawn slowly toward bankruptcy and the creation of a permanent army of idle millions comparable to the proletariat that brought disaster to ancient Rome— an army of unemployed living per- manently off the employed. But many people, even including the bankers, believe that somehow we shall pull out and avoid the threatened dangers. Except in so-far as these cangers are political the odds seem to be on the side of the op- timists. Whoever travels through the Middle Western States cannot help but be struck by the incredible basic wealth of this region. Rich farm lands stretch for countless miles in all directions. They are connected by excellent roads and railroads. Farms Well Stocked. Farms have splendid barns and are stocked with the best equipment and live stock. The farmers are descended from a blend of the old Yankee stock and the most industrious races of Northern Europe. Such a combination of land, plant and race is not to be found anywhere else in the warld. It cannot go down to defeat this early in its history. It would be a mistake, however, to pretend that the new optimism im- plies that the farmer's problems are solved. Far from it. Some of his basic problems are even further from solu- tion today than they were before the A. A. A began its experiments with controlling production. The difference is, however, that a year ago these ex- periments were viewed uncritically and were accepted in desperation. To- day they are being weighed and dis- cussed and those parts which seem to hold promise of usefulness will un- doubtedly be retained. The very fact that the farmers themselves are check- ing with their own practical experi- ence the theories of bureaucrats and professors is a healthy sign. If the A. A A were to do nothing other than to demonstrate should not be followed it would be useful as helping to focus construc- tive thinking on the farm problem. In the mext article, tomorrow, Mr. Roosevelt will describe the effects of easing the farmers’ debt burdens. HICCOUGH VICTIM DIES MANCHESTER, Ohio, February 25 (®P—Victim for six days of an attack of hiccoughs, David McMullen, ”in::: found dead yesterday, a shotgun his heart. He lived alone, and had been under treatment of two physicians for the ‘Iment. What’s What Behind News In Capital Farley’s Mailmen Bear Letters Which Provoke Revolt in Congress. BY PAUL MALLON. HE meilman is the biggest in- fluence on Congress. He can spread an inside alarm faster than any one else. Even the President cannot generally prevail against him. This tells the whole inside story of what happened to Mr. Roosevelt in his relief wage dispute with the Senate. Of course, there is a suspicion that the man behind the mailman in this presidential de- feat was Mr. William Green of the A.F.of L. At least his labor rain- makers inspired as much of the postal deluge as they could. This is only a symptom, however, of a much more serious inner situation now being created in Congress by let- ters from the folks back home. Sev- eral Senators (most of them Mid- western) will tell you privately that | their mail a year ago was largely { made up of demands that they stand by the President. Now they can show you stacks of letters demanding that they resist the delegation of broad re- lief powers which the President has been seeking. Such evidence may not mean any- thing so far as gauging public senti- ment is concerned. But it certainly means members of Congress, particu- larly the new ones, are mulling new thoughts in their minds. What hurt Mr. Roosevelt so much | was the fact that his letter of per- sonal appeal was read to the Senate | just before the vote. It may now be | denied, but that letter would not have been read had he known he was go- ing to be defeated. It was submitted because he had erroneous private in- formation about the expected result. Machinery Slips. Sogewhat the same slip-up occur- red in the World Court fight. The President had no information then that he was going to be licked, until it was too late to do anything about it. This matter was taken up inside the White House the day after the wags defeat. Some new arrange- ments are going to be made whereby Mr. Roosevelt may know more ac- curately how the Senate is lined up. There is some talk about an arrange- ment whereby the leaders report to him twice & day on such important matters. From a practical standpoint, the defeat did mot amount to much. Mr. Roosevelt will get the kind of relief bill he wants after the Sen- ate gets through with it. The House will stand by him and force the Senate to retreat from the Pposi- tions it is now taking . You may have noticed that the very day of the Senate defeat, Speaker Byrns announced to the House that 10,000 jobs in the C. C. C. were going | 38 to be allotted to Representatives for distribution. That gravy bowl came in the nick of time. Some Democrats in the House have been very much displeased at the way the Senators have been rebelling and getting in good with the labor vote. House Democratic members had to stand by the President and take their chances on incurring the wrath of labor voters. They do not think that was fair. “Dear Bill” Received. A. F. L-er Green appeared at a White House reception the night of his Senate victory over the President. He stocd in line like the others. There was some speculation as to how he might be received. Finally he reached the President, who grasped his hand and smiled cordially: “Well, ‘Dear Bill’” Military intelligence has some in- teresting private figures on the Soviet forces in the Far East. These may explain why Japan has recently manifested a reluctance to goad the Soviets. They indicate that the Rus- sian Far Eastern Army numbers be- tween 200,000 and 250,000 men, in- cluding 10,000 cavalry, 50 heavy guns, 500 field guns, 400 tanks, between 4,000 and 5,000 machine guns and 500 airplanes, including a few long-range A new reason why Japan eyes the Soviets with distrust has been ob- tained by our officials lately from Japanese sources. This information indicates that Moscow is now working on a plan to settle permanently 1,200,000 colonists from European Rus- sia in the Far East. The Japanese seem to fear, with reason, that this colony in Siberia and Mongolia may prove to be a base for the spread of revolutionary activity in the Orient. Problem Grave. With Communism already spread- ing through six Chinese provinces and social unrest increasing in Japan proper, Tokio has a problem on its hands, about which it will do little talking out loud. Radio officials say Huey Long's three broadcasts did not cost him a cent. He was given the three half- hour periods free on the ground that he was “an important character of news interest.” The radio companies received, they say, 68,000 letters from the first broadcast. ‘The Nation is getting healthier, if not wealthier. A census for 86 citles shows a mortality rate of 12.6 this year compared with 13.6 last year. There was no notice given it, but the erstwhile politically great John J. Raskob resigned recently from Mr. Roosevelt’s business liaison body and went on a trip around the world. Officials of the A. A. A., perturbed about leaks of official information, tracked down one recently and found forming a processor what was going on in the department. The offender was not one of those later removed. A newsman who lost his job A—2 =z THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25 1935. —_— - = AMERIGAN SYSTEM SEEN IN BALANCE Observer Believes Time Is Ripe for People to Ex- press Definite View. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. Nearly two years have passed since President Roosevelt was inaugurated. The second anniversary of his inaugu- ration will occasion many reviews and comments and forecasts. Whatever has happened in the past, however, by way of drastic change in the Ameri- can system is hardly to be compared in scope or intensity with the change that lies just ahead, assuming that the administration is in earnest with its legislative program and that Congress will continue to follow the Roosevelt leadership. ‘Today, as one takes a panorama of the whole legislative situation, the following are the striking develop- ments which have come upon the scene one by one, but which, when viewed collectively and in a group, serve to emphasize the fundamental transformation of the American eco- nomic and business and financial and labor picture: First, complete control of all bank deposits and all credit by a politically appointed, or, rather, governmentally dominated, board. Second, complete control of the is- suance of paper money by the Gov- ernment without permitting any of the gold backing to be used for re- demption. Control of Food. ‘Third, complete control by the Gov- ernment of all food businesses, all farms. and all processors or handlers of products that come out of the soil—everybody from farmer to retail grocer. ; trol by the | B | Carter Glass and Harry Byrd—have | Government of oil, coal, electricity, power and businesses derived there- from, and of all forms of transporta- tion, including railroads, busses, air- ways and merchant marine. Also reg- ulatory control of telephones, tele- graph and radio broadcasting. Fifth, complete control of the capi- tal markets through the Securities Exchange Commission. Sixth, complete control by the Gov= ernment of the relations between em- | ployers and employes. Seventh, direct and indirect control of manufacturing and all other forms of business through the extension of the N. R. A. system for another two years. Some of the foregoing controls already are in existence, others now are proposed in legislation now pending. ‘Whoever suggests that much of the foregoing is unconstitutional because it interferes with commerce inside State boundaries is reminded that the administration expects in due time. as the Supreme Court delineates Federal | and State powers, to see the State Leg- islatures enact whatever legislation is necessary to make the New Deal legally effective. Resistance in Congress. The concentration of authority in! the Federal Government and the de- sire to put more in the hands of the executive branch of the Government has awakened in Congress some re- sistance and opposition, but the main pillars of the administration's program appear to be safe from attack. at least till the next elections, when the issues created by the program will be judged ain. Looking at Europe and its Fascism and Communism and at England, where a managed currency has also substituted the old gold standard, the American experiment has taken on some of the main features of the Old World's emergency policies and attempted an adaptation to the Amer- ican scene. ‘The one thing which is not par- alleled abroad anywhere at the mo- ment is the size of the deficit and borrowings of the United States Gov- ernment. Europe has had and has the dole and work relief and various forms of unemployment insurance and schemes for economic security, and, indeed, drastic methods of govern- mental control, extending from the corporate state in Italy to the gov- ernment controls over everything, in- cluding freedom of speech and thought, in Germany. Big Business Attacked. Notwithstanding that the condition of many individuals and many busi- nesses is better in America than it was two years ago, there are defla- tionary and dissolution processes in store for other businesses and indi- viduals not so fortunate. One form of attack in Congress is against big- ness in business as such, disregard- ing wholly the fact that, in America, the bringing of small units together has resulted in low prices in the merchandising of products of the farm and of the mines and that diversi- fied use of capital has made possi- ble at low cost many things that might shoot up in price if the clock :n the economic world is turned back to the days of small cumbersome and inefficient units. But in Washington today no such objective thinking is being done. Offi- cials are too busy or too preoccupied to see what a huge governmental bureaucracy they are fashioning and how the entire success of their plans for governmental control of every- thing depends on the wisdom, skill, disinterestedness and vision of the men in Government. If there were signs that Govern- ment officials were eschewing politics and headlines, were giving up their political vengeances and punitive cru- sades and trying to put the Nation’s economic structure into some kind of cohesive and well-integrated scheme or there would be cause for great encouragement. But he would be an unfaithful re- porter here of things as they are who would say that the legislative hodge- podge before Congress today is plan- ned economy. Rather, it is 8 mixture of the plans of rival groups and forces, each striving for acvantage and men- acing the administration’s political future if it dares to cross the will of the asserting groups. Shows Evidence of Fatigue. | Mr. Roosevelt shows fatigue. This is the goes on a vacation. turn to Florida waters again and receration. Sometimes it time he Maybe ik g L | veterans' payments over presidential i former at New Deal monetary and ibanking policies, the latter at the | monetary reform and even the admin- SERVICE TRADES | bers, bootblacks, restaurant employes, REVOLT IN SENATE PROVING GENERAL Both Conservatives and Lib- erals Join Democratic Deserters’ Ranks. By the Associated Press. Democrats of the “conservative” | and “ultra-liberal” wings are having their innings in the Senate these | days. Capitol observers are wonder- | ing when and if the administration- | ists are going to stem the rally. Political sideliners, trying to figure what the score will be when this ses- sion’s game is over, took a look at the | line-up on the four major questions on which the Roosevelt administra- tion has met defeat since the Presi- dent took office. ‘Twenty-nine Democrats went against thelr White House chief in the last Congress when the veterans'| compensation veto was overridden. Twenty-two voted against the St.;| Lawrence waterway treaty in the! same Congress. 1 ‘Twenty Desert on Court. This session 20 Democrats left the reservation to vote against the World | Court and 21 answered “aye” on pre- vailing wages for public works despite strenuous opposition by the White | House. i ‘The latter vote was the first serious | setback for the President on any part | of the emergency recovery program. Senator McCarran, Nevada Demo- | crat, around whose prevailing wage amendment the struggle raged, has differed from the administration more | than once. He joined with Senator | Steiwer (Republican, of Oregon), in the last Congress to force more liberal objections. ‘The two Virginia conservatives— hurled criticism also at intervals, the | efforts to expand the agricultural ad- Jjustment program and more recently at the relief bill and social security program. ! Huey Long is taking frequent swipes | at the administration program. | Ultra-liberals—Wheeler of Montana and Thomas of Oklahoma—have par- | tially won some of their ideas for istration stalwart—Wagner of New York—has now differed from his chief’ on the wages phase in the relief bill. CODE IS PLANNED N. R. A. Reported Consider- ing Link to General Retail Agreement, By the Assoclated Press. While controversy over N. R. A's future continued an authoritative source disclosed today that Blue Eagle officials are tentatively considering bringing the service trades under the general retail code. ‘These trades employ 5,000.000 bar- pants workers. After months of puzzling, certain recovery chieftains were said to have hit upon the retail code idea as a means of solving a long-pending prob- lem of enforcing wage and hour pro- visions in these small businesses defl- nitely not engaged in interstate com- merce. Sell Articles Besides Services. It was disclosed today that some officials _believed the barber and | beauty shops, dyers and cleaners and | other trades could be linked to the retail code because almost all sell preparations in addition to the serv- ices rendered. It was pointed out, as an example, that in many cases motor service stations sell tobacco and candy a3 well as oil, gas and tires. A definite decision to move to bring businesses under the big code has not yet been made, 50 far as is known. From the very first N. R. A. encoun- tered with the service trades. Soon after nine national codes were ap- proved, each containing price-fixing arrangements, it became apparent to many experts that a Federal authority in Washington could not enforce a fixed price schedule in, say, a Mid- western city. Regional Agreements Urged. To meet this situation, regional agreements, establishing fixed prices for hair cuts and suit pressing, were urged. A number of these were sub- mitted to N. R. A, for approval but only & few were sanctioned. The legal question arose as to the Federal Gov- ernment’s power to approve such agreements, which applied only to a local region. The latest development in the de- Ih:‘t: n(;;;l; ;l, R. A. was a statement Senator Borah, Rep lican, of Idaho taking issue with Don- ald Richberg, who had urged that the new law be made flexible enough to unl‘l:;:s‘ & distinction between kinds of —_— Clarendon Corporation to Meet. CLARENDON, Va, February 325 pressers and other such for Thursday night in rooms of the Chamber of here. mmwmumonqumm- ‘Treasury. And on top of it all is the specter of inflation as it rears its ugly head over working people and others with fixed incomes, those with life insur- ance policies, those with savings, all of whom may not know what “devalu- Eugene Grace Greets Chairman Nye Eugene R. Grace, president of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. (left), shaking hands with Senator Gerald P. Nye, chairman of the committee, after he had told the committee that if the Government taxed their profits 100 per cent in war time it would put the company out of business. Famed Bobsledders’ Mother Takes First Ride at Seventyi Mrs. James Stevens Has Thrilling Time With Three Sons Down Mount Van Hoevenberg Run. (The Mount Van Hoevenberg bob~ sled run, a mile and a half of glis- tening ice with high bank, zig-2ag and right-angle turns, provides one of the world’s most thrilling rides. Yesterday Mrs. James Stevens, 70-year-old mother of the famous bobsledding brothers, agreed to ride with her sons just “to stop all this bob talk I have been hearing around the house for five years.” In the Jollowing article she describes her ride for the Associated Press.) BY MRS. JAMES STEVENS. LAKE PLACID, N. Y., February 25. —Just as I thought I was going about as fast as any one ever came down the Mount Van Hoevenberg run. Hubert. my eldest son who was pilot- ing the sled, would call, “Let er go” to Curtis at the brake. Paul, who sat behind me, kept call- ing for more braking and the three couldn't seem to agree as to the speed that would suit my taste, but I liked it and I wish I had ridden sooner so that I could get used to it and see more as the sled went down. Sees Wall of Ice. ‘With the idea of breaking the wind in my face I lowered my head several times in the curves and Paul kept telling me to turn around. When I did all I could see was a great wall of ice. They forgot the brake on the finish stretch and then I had a real ride. T wanted to go as fast as I could as long as I was making the ride, and | 'we certainly sped along. I don't see how the boys ever collect their wits to know how or where to steer. | I wasn't frightened because I knew | if there was any danger the boys | | wouldn't ask me to go with them. The | only time I felt a little worried was | when I lost hold of the strap at | | Whiteface, the hairpin turn, but I isoon found it again and everything | was all right. I didn't feel at all like | falling off the sled, as they tell me | some people do. | Postponed Ride. | My sons have been after me for , five vears to try the slide, but I always | felt there were enough Stevenses bob- | | bing. Like my first plane ride, I| kept putting it off and last year I| decided to wait until after my 70th | birthday. | | Now I'm glad I've finally got around | | to trying it. I can understand what | the boys are talking about. As we | | hit Whiteface I remembered the study | | Hubert made of that curve when! racing first started at the run. In Shady, the right angle curve, I thought of the problem that turn used to be for Curtis. When the trip was over I didn't feet at all shaky, even though the boys thought I should be. I was brought up to take things as they come and, in my family, bobsledding is one of the things. U.S.ARMS DISCUSSED BY JAPANESE PEERS House Weighs Army and Navy Budget in Light of Soviet Plans, Also. By the Associated Press. ‘TOKIO, February 25.—The House of Peers went into secret session today to hear Mineo Osumi, minister of navy, and Gen. Senjuro Hayashi, minister of war, discuss American and Soviet armaments in relation to the Japanese Army and Navy budget. ‘The ministers took the fioor to reply to an interpellation by Viscount Kiko Okochi, who declared accurate knowl- edge on the strength of United States and Russia's military resources is essential in determining what Japan should spend on her own armaments. Baron Toshiotsu Sakamoto, retired vice admiral, inquired whether the United States was not the outstanding opponent to Japan's claim for naval parity and therefore the chief obstacle to a naval agreement. Koki Hirota, the foreign minister, replied that it was equally difficult to convince the United States and Great Britain of the justice of Japan's claims. RETIMING WASHINGTON TRAFFIC LIGHTS URGED Change to Permit Vehicles to Cover at Least Mile Un- stopped Proposed. Retiming of Washington's traffic lights to permit vehicles to cover at least & mile before being stopped was suggested today by, Representative Dirksen, Republican, of Iilinois, as a means of expediting the movement of traffic. Dirksen pointed out that under the larger cities, particularly Detroit and New York, he said, are handling their traffic problems more effectively than ‘Washington because they increase the period between a change in light sig- nals. Dirksen is a member of the District the second Republican MAYOR JACKSON , AGAIN CANDIDATE {Favors Agency Being Formed to| Lower Budget and Re- duce Taxes. By the Associated Press. BALTIMORE, February 25.—Mayor Howard W. Jackson is a Democratic candidate for re-election. The munic- ipal election is in May. ‘With his announcement—to which he said he was aware there was op- position—the Mayor sponsored an agency designed to lower the budget and reduce taxes. He suggested the organization of a non-political body with the power to veto the city’s annual budget total and thereby have virtual control over the size of the tax rate. The group, creation of which would necessitate & charter amendment, would also be authorized to supervise pay-as-you-go details and to pass on bond issues. In his announcement the Mayor said the “past four years have been the most difficult experienced by me in my whole public career.” He decided to run, he said in re- sponse to petitions, by “groups of Baltimore’s leading business and pro- fessional men, and in response to requests, made orally and in letters, lm men and women in every walk of life” HEARING OF COBLENTZ. PRESIDENT SILENT Attorney for Frederick Institu- tion’s Former President, Con- tends Indictment Faulty. By the Associated Press. BALTIMORE, February 25.—A hear- ing on an indictment charging Emory L. Coblentz, former president of the defunct Central Trust Co. of Frederick, with fraudulent corporate representa- tions was scheduled today. tends the indictment, Howard County, is faulty in that Coblentz has been tried on a similar charge in Frederick County and that he was acquitted of fraud in two civil cases. A plea attacking the indictment was sustained last May, but the Court of Appeals ruled the case should be tried. FIRE AUXILIARY HOST Special Dispatch to The Star. IN BANK CASE TODAY | tion —Harris-Ewing Photo. ONSENATEACTION May Suggest Reconsidera- tion of Work-Relief Measure. By the Associated Press. HYDE PARK, N. Y., February 25.— President Roosevelt watched interest- edly but silently today the reaction of the country to the Senate’s vote against his work relief program. At his boyhood home here for a rest, | the President offered no comment, | but there was every indication that | he was convinced that work relief | rather than the dole was the better attack on unemployment. | May Ask Reconsideration. With the $4,880,000,000 work bill back in the Senate Appropriations Committee it appears likely that Mr. Roosevelt will suggest its reconsider- ation by the Senate once the measure of public reaction has been recorded. | However, he carefully refrained from | any comment today on this or other public issues. Members of the presidential staff | have reflected some concern at the ef- | fect of Congress of messages from organized groups and they also are watching keenly and silently the re- sult of the move by Senate leaders to | cause general public sentiment. Drives Old Sleigh. President Roosevelt drove the old | family sleigh over the snow-covered | lanes of the estate yesterday. | He arrived yesterday morning by | special train from Cambridge, Mass., | in time for a steaming breakfast with his mother and Mrs. Roosevelt in the house overlooking the frozen Hudson River. | Official cares were put aside as| far as possible and he spent the day | in relaxation. It was midafternoon | when Mr. Roosevelt took up the reins of the two-seated black-and-red sleigh pulled by the chestnut mare of the President's daughter, Mrs. John Boettiger. Mr. and Mrs. Boettiger joined in the ride, Anna seated with her father on the front seat. The President came here from the initiation ceremony of the Harvard Fly Club, where he visited last night with friends of school days. He went to Harvard to see his third son, Pranklin, jr., initiated into the club. Mr. Roosevelt expects to remain at home until tomorrow night. |Congress in Brlefl TODAY. SENATE. ‘Takes up $98,000,000 appropria- tion for Justice, Labor, State and Commerce Departments. Interstate Commerce Subcommit- tee resumes study of coal conserva- tion bill. Munitions Committee calls Eugene | G. Grace for questioning as head of | Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co. Interstate Commerce Subcommittee takes up motor-carrier section of Eastman transportation legislation. HOUSE. Military Subcommittee opens hear- ing on $400,000,000 Army moderniza- plan. Banking Committee continues hear- | ing on omnib's banking bill. | Naval Committee hears testimony on $38,000,000 naval public works pro- gram. ‘Ways and Means Committee studies EDUCATORS HEAR SPENDING PLEA Jesse Jones Asks That Citi- zens Take Risk and Invest. By the Associated Press. ATLANTIC CITY, N. J, February | 25—The aims of national planning are clearly set forth in the preamble to the Constitution, Charles E. Mer- riam, chairman of the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago and a member of the Na- tional Resources Board, told the 65th annual convention of the Department of . Superintendence of the National Education Association today. Merriam, Charles A. Beard, noted historian, and Jesse H. Jones, chair- man of the Reconstruction Finance Corp., were principal speakers at the morning session. Prof. Merriam cited the preamble: “Justice, domestic tranquility, com- mon defense, general welfare and se- curing the blessings of liberty to our- selves and to posterity.” Breach in Thought. Beard said that former President Hoover made “a breach in the historic thought of America” and President Roosevelt widened the breach. “When President Hoover declared that ‘no one shall starve in America’ | and took steps to check the course of the panic, he made a breach in the | historic thought of America,” Beard | said. “When President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his message of January 4, 1935, proclaimed his objectives to be the security of livelihood, security against the major hazards of life and security of homes, he widened the breach opened by his predecessor.” The address Jones made to the edu- cators was, in part, a plea that banks be more considerate of prospective borrowers and that borrowers invest and “take a reasonable risk” in the interest of permanent recovery. Roosevelt’s Message. Jones brought a message of greeting to the convention from President Roosevelt which said, in part, that “our ultimate security, to a large ex- tent, is based upon the individual's character, information, skill and at- titude and the responsibility rests squarely upon those who direct edu- cation in America.” “It is your duty, no less than mine* the President's message concluded, “to look beyond the narrow confines of the school rooms to see that education provides strength and security for those institutions we have treasured since we first established ourselves as a nation, and shall continue ever- lastingly to cherish.” At a special meeting, not officially connected with the convention, but attended by about 500 delegates, Dr. Beard last night commended the Sen- ate investigation of the munitions in- dustry and attacked propaganda de- signed “to increase the fear of war and promote the sale of munitions.” DELTA CHI ALUMNI PLAN BANQUET TOMORROW Senators Schwellenbach and Mur- ray Will Be Guests of Honor at Affair. The Delta Chi Alumni Association of Washington tomorrow night will hold its annual banquet in the Hamil- ton Hotel. The program, which be- gins at 6:30 o'clock, will have enter- tainment and other special attrac- tions. Guests of Honor for the dinner will be Senators Schwellenbach of Wash- ington and Murray of Montana and Representatives Kenney of New Jer- sey and Dockweiler of California. The Committee on Arrangements is headed by Harry J. Daly, president of the association, who is being assisted by Ray F. McCarthy, John T. Graves, Bernard Vincent and Dell C. Floyd. I Your Income Tax I Depreciation Allowances. The amount to be recovered by depreciation is the cost of the prop- erty if acquired after February 28, 1913. If acquired by purchase prior to that date, the basis is the cost of the property, less depreciation sus- tained prior to March 1, 1913, or the vr™1e on March 1, 1913, whichever is greater. . |~ The property allowance for de- | preciation is that amount which | should be set aside for the taxable year in accordance with a reasonably consistent plan (not necessarily a uniform rate), whereby the aggregate amount so set aside, plus the salvage value, will at the end of the useful life of the property equal the cost or other basis of the property. The depreciation rate of & building is not based upon the number of years it will stand before being condemned and razed, but on the number of years it will remain habitable or service- able for the purpose for which con- structed. If the taxpayer builds a new builde ing, the period over which depreciation may be claimed begins at the time the building is completed and capable of being used. Buildings under con- struction ere not subject to a de- preciation allowance. 3 If it is clearly shown tha#, because of economic or other conditic., prop= erty must be abandoned at a Wate prior to the end of its normal useful life, so that depreciation deductions alone are insufficient to return the cost or other basis, & reasonable de- duction for obsolescence may be al- lowed in addition to depreciation. No deduction for obsolescence is permit. ted because, in the opinion of the taxpayer, the property may become economic security legislation. T o I ] Price $§1 ! at The Evening Star Business Office, or by mail, postpaid L _ 1 NGME seveececsssscccsssscccanncae | Street ...ceieceenisscnnniiiioie. 1 City. cevennnnen obsolete at some future date, he 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. 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