Evening Star Newspaper, April 7, 1935, Page 2

A2 =» INFLATION BLOC RESUMES DRIVE Payment of Bonus and Sil- ver Remonetization to Be Pushed. By the Assoclated Press. The long-dormant Senate inflation bloc roused itself yesterday for a drive | to put more money in circulation by | cashing the veterans’ bonus and re- | monetizing silver. ' At almost the same time in th House, advocates of a central mone- tary authority, which would have full control over currency issuance, forced the reopening of House Banking | Committee hearings on the omnibus banking bill. The Senate bloc offered modifica- tions to the Patman new money bonus | bill, which its members contend- ed would make the measure more | acceptable to the administration. It| also organized to demand action on | the Wheeler bill for free coinage of silver. Vanderlip to Testify. | At the request of Representative Goldsborough, Democrat of Maryland, and other House committee members, Chairman Steagall, Democrat, of Ala- bama, agreed to reopen the banking | hearings tomorrow for testimony from | Frank A. Vanderlip, New York finan- | cier, and other witnesses. The bonus and silver bills were | made the rallying points for a new monetary drive after a series of con- ferences among Senators favoring cur- | rency expansion. Four committees were set up to steer the group action on these and other legislative propo- sals Those participating in the confer- ences included the men who have led inflationary drives of the past two | years, culminating in the Thomas | inflation law of 1933 and the silver | purchase act of 1934. There has been | comparatively little activity by the bloc | as a group this session, however. Thomas Heads Bonus Drive. Senator Thomas, Democrat of Okla- homa, was charged with directing the bonus drive; Wheeler, Democrat of | Montana, was named chairman of a committee to get action on his 16-to-1 silver bill; Nye, Republican of North Dakota, was placed at the head of a committee in charge of banking legis- lation. and Smith, Democrat of South Carolina, was charged with general direction of a drive for legislation to Increase prices of farm commodities. ‘The Oklahoman immediately an- nounced the amendments to the Pat- man bill he will offer tomorrow in & bid for administration acceptance of the measure. He said he proposed to date the ad- Justed service certificates from the declaration of war in 1917, making them mature two years from today, April 6, 1937. He would then offer to pay the veterans the current value of the certificates either in cash or negotiable bonds. With the certifi- cates maturing in 1937, their cur- rent value would be almost face value. Would Cancel Interest. Interest on loans previously made against the certificates would be can- celled under the Thomas pla; He would write into the law, to guard against fears of uncontrolled inflation, that the certificates wou'd be cashed in new money. but if the price index rose to the 1926 level no more new money would be issued. and the remaining certificates would be paid in the normal manner out of Treasury revenue or bond issues. ‘Thomas also proposed to insert a declaration of policy that the Gov- ernment was and would continue to care for those wounded in service, but that the bonus payment adjusted com- pensation with other veterans and that there would be no general pen- sion program in the future, Says V. F. W. Agreeable. The Oklahoman said he had talked | his amendments over with representa- | tives of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and they were acceptable, but he had | not received any assurances of admin- | istration support. | While the inflation group is almost solidly behind the Patman bill, it is not united in its stand on some of the other issues. On silver. for !n- stance. there is some division cof | thought as to whether a definite ratio | of 16 to 1 with gold should be adopted. | There is also difference of opinion | within the bloc on banking legisla- tion. Senator Nye, chairman of the banking group, has introduced Father Coughlin’s measure for the creation of a central hank, but some members of the group are more inclined to sup- port the bill submitted by administra- tion officials to centralize authority over money and credit in the Federal Reserve Board. SHARP RISE IN GUILDER ROUTS SPECULATORS BY the Associated Press. AMSTERDAM, April 6.—Specula- tors in stocks.who thought they fore- saw break-up of the gold bloc when The Netherlands bank rate was raised yesterday were sent scurrying to cover today as the guilder appreciated sharply. Heavy selling of shares developed while financial circles, backed by The Netherlands Bank's firm stand against devaluation, viewed the monetary sit- uation calmly. They held that the flight of gold from the guilder had been checked, although reports from financial cen- ters abroad said some uneasiness eontinued. e Fifty Apes Aboard Zeppelin. FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany, April 6 ().—The Graf Zeppelin sailed for South America today on its first trip of the season, with 15 passengers. ‘The cargo included 50 apes en route to the Rio de Janeiro Zoo from an animal farm. MELLON ART TAX RULING IS DENIED BY HELVERING (Continued From First Page.) prescribed by the statute, and that, therefore, 1t is not entitled to claim exemption from income taxation. This letter rescinds a bureau letter dated March 8, 1933, finding, on the basis of evidence then before the bureau, that the trust would be exempt from such taxation. “If Mr. Mellon should, during the present calendar year or in any fu- ture year, make irrevocable gifts of money or objects of art or of any other things of value to a genuine public educational or charitable pur- pose,” he will be entitled to claim, and will be granted the right to make any and all of the deductions on ac- count of{such gifts which allow- able under the Innlnw Clears Way Criticism Persists BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. With the $4,880,000,000 work-relief bill out of the way the economic se- curity bill, second on the President's legislative program, is due to come up in the House this week. Like the work-relief bill, this measure may have a comparatively easy journey . through the House, although that is open to doubt. It is certain to run inot & long debate and & large num- ber of snags when it comes before the Senate. The President is expected to re- turn to Washington by Wednesday from his Florida trip. With the work- relief bill a law, and with the ex- penditure of this vast sum of money left to his discretion, the position of the President becomes even more powerful than before. Nevertheless, a restive spirit has grown up on Capitol Hill during the last two and a half months, while the battle over the work-relief bill proceeded in the Senate. Democrats Growing Restless. Attacks upon heavy governmental expenditures, upon the N. R. A, the A. A. A, and its processing taxes have been unlimbered from the Democratic side, particularly in the Senate. The New Deal has lost some of its new- ness and brightness for Capitol Hill Democrats. There is a tendency on the part of a number of them to become vocal on the subject, Senator Van Nuys, a Democrat of Indiana, issued a atement last night commenting upon the passage of the work-relief bill. but at the same time putting into words the feelings of many of his colleagues re- garding centralization of political and economic power in the Federal Gov- ernment. The Indiana Senator made no attack upon the President. nor did | THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, President’s Victory on Relief for Other Bills on Hill—Economic ginie. who takes an especial inter- est in banking legislation, has been giving all his time to the work ré- lief bill, as chairman of the Appro- priations Committee. Now that that is out of the way, hearings before the Senate subcommittee In charge of the banking bill may be expected. | Action Near on Bonus. ; With the return to Washington of | the President, the Senate Finance Committee is expected to get busy on | the soldiers’ bonus bill, which passed | the House a few weeks ago by a huge vole. Chairman Harrison has been | waiting to consult the President in | regard to this legislation, to which | the President has declared himself strongly opposed. The leaders in the | Senate have promised a fairly early |vote on a bonus bill, and this may be the next measure of major im- portance to reach the Upper House for a decision. ‘The assaults in Congress on the A. A A have become an almost | daily affair, with members from the | South and the North joining in de- | mands for the abandonment of the | processing tax on cotton, and some of them decrying the whole plan of | plowing under cotton. The matter will be taken up with the President by Senators and Representatives, FARM PROPOSALS PASSAGE DOUBTED Senator Smith Calls Com- NEW DEAL BLAME | HARBORS MEASURE PUTON ROOSEVELT Security Likely to Pass House Quickly, |Dickinson, Talked as G.0.P. but Faces Senate Snag. Presidential Timber, Makes Charges. B7 the Assoclated Press. ROANOKE, Va. April 6.—A direct attack upon President Roosevelt was made tonight by a Republican leader, Senator L. J. Dickinson of Iowa, with a declaration that the “shortcomings of the ‘New Deal’ recovery plans can no longer be charged to the ‘brain trust.’” His direct arraignment of the Pres- ident, delivered in this Southern State that deserted the Democratic ranks to swing to Herbert Hoover in 1928, marked one of the few times that foes of the New Deal swung from attack upon that title to place responsibility for what they term its failure upon Mr. Roosevelt. ’ Dickinson has been mentioned as a prospective Republican candidate for President in 1936 and his address tonight was regarded as particularly significant in view of known efforts by Republican campaign strategists to have Mr. Roosevelt personally bear the brunt of party attack. Popularity Challenged. Those in favor of such a course have argued that the President has lost some of his popularity and that in any event if a campaign is to be effective it must be directed at Pres- ident Roosevelt as the leader of the Democratic party. Senator Dickinson tonight opened with an assertion that under Demo- cratic administration “the sky is grow- ing darker and no man knows what the weather will be tomorrow.” Repeatedly he cited Roosevelt's cam- paign statements to support the con- | tention they are far different from present administration policies. “Verily,” Dickinson said, “Candidate D. ¢, APRIL 7, 1935—PART ONE READY FOR HOUSE Debate on Important Omni- bus Bill Due to Begin Tomorrow. BY WILL P. KENNEDY. The first omnibus rivers and har- bors bill in five years is to come up in the House tomorrow, being sub- stituted for District day as the most "lmpomnt measure ready for action oh the administration program. It provides for the authorization of 204 projects, 77 of which are now under | way with funds provided from the! emergency appropriations. The other | 127 projects have been recommended | by the chié® of engineers, but they ! | have not yet been authorized by Con- ' gress. | The total estimated cost of the projects included is $272,132,172.70, of which $58,067,499.49 has already been provided from public works funds. The total estimated cost of the projects for which public works | funds have been allocated is $105,- 011,457.30. Among the 127 new projects are two for improvement, development and beautification of the water front of the National Capital. One of these is for the north side of Washington Channel. The plan provides for a | yacht harbor, in four sections, on the | upstream half of the frontage above | the War College, with berthing space | for 286 boats; a wharf for the joint | use of the harbor police and harbor | fire department; a new workhouse | pier on the downstream half, and three new piers for commercial use. The plans provide space for eventual widening of Water street to 160 feet, for a future park bridge at the head of the channel, and for th® future architectural treatment of the new | structures. he mention any of the New Deal acts | by name. He said, however, that it was time to call a halt and decen- tralize. Hopes Drain Will ‘Stop. mittee Meeting on A.A.A. Amendments. Roosevelt is a total stranger to Pres- | dent Roosevelt.” | To Cost $1,650,000. The silver-haired Senator told a! The estimated cost is $1,650,000. Virginia conference of Republicans Al property on this water front is that there was only one place to|owned by the Federal Government. put the blame for administration er- | The bill provides for a 50-50 division After expressing the hope that not all of the $4,880,000,000 carried in the | work-relief bill would be expended and that conditions would so improve that a major part of the appropriation | would not be needed, Senator Van | Nuys continued: 1 thoroughly appreciate the fact that such severe drains upon the Federal Treasury cannot continue in- definitely. Sooner or later we shall reach the bottom of the barrel. | “As I see it, the instant duty of the | administration and the Congress is to encourage the States and private industry to rehabilitate themselves through their own efforts. “I deplore the growing tendency to depend more and more upon Federal aid. I deplore, likewise, that cen- | tralization of political and economic | which necessarily has grown up in the administration of our emergency { measures. I shall welcome the opportunity to assist in the decenmtralization of this power even more rapidly than it has developed. I shall begin working to that end just as soon as our industrial, agricultural and economic conditions Jjustify that end. From daily contacts, I feel sure that this viewpoint ! shared by an overwheiming majority of the Senate.” Others More Aroused. Mr. Van Nuys is more mild in his comments than other Democrats who have become aroused over the cen- tralization of power in the hands of the Executive Department of the Federal Government. ‘The other measures on the “must” program of the President for this Congress certainly do not tend toward decentralization. The N. R. A, is to be continued for another two years— apparently as an emergency measure— with Federal control over industry. ‘The Federal Reserve System is to be banking bill, centralizing the power and control of money and credit still further in Washington. The economic security bill, with its Federal contribu- tions to force the States into uniform- ity of pension and insurance legisla- tion. places still further power in the hands of the Executive in Washington. It looks now as though the Senate would have none of the major pro- | posals of the President before it for some time, certainly for a week or two. | ‘When the House shall have passed the economic security bill and sent it to the Senate, it will go to the Finance Committee. That committee already has held hearings on the security bill. It will, however, require some time to go over the bill before it is reported | to the Senate, possibly with impor-| tant amendments. Teeth in McSwain Bill. The House, by adopting an amend- ment to the McSwain bill offered by Representative McSwain, chairman of the Military Affairs Committee, levy- ing excess profits taxes, yesterday opened the door to real and effective legislation to take the profits out of war. As matters stood, the House was about to pass the McSwain bill, with no provision relating to taxes. Under the Constitution all tax legis- | lation must originate in the House. ‘The Senate Munitions Committee, which has investigated the question of war profits for months and has prepared a bill with taxes and teeth in it, would have been powerless to offer its measure as an amendment to the House bill had not the McSwain | amendment been adopted. Senator Vandenberg of Michigan, a member of the Munitions Committee of the Senate and strongly interested in the passage of such legislation, visited the House yesterday and per- suaded Mr. McSwain to offer a tax amendment to his bill, so that the House and Senate might, in the end, co-operate in working out a war profits bill. The McSwain bill is ex- pected to come to a vote in the House tomorrow. A great deal of opposition has been expressed to the measure. Rivers Bill on Calendar. ‘The first omnibus rives and harbors bill to come before Congress in five vears is slated to come up in the House tomorrow or Tuesday. It au- thorizes an expenditure of $272,500,000. The Senate has as its unfinished business the Copeland bill _dealing with drugs, cosmetics, etc. There is on the Senate calendar the Black 30- hour work week bill. But Senator Black does not intend to press this measure until after the N. R. A. bill, which touches hours of labor through the codee, is reported to the Senate. He may offer the 30-hour proposition as an amendment to the N. R. A. The Senate Finance Committee has decreed as yet no time for closing the investigation of the N. R. A, although Senstor Harrison, chairman, has in- troduced the administration bill in vhe Senate. That measure will be chenged materially, members of the committee insist, before it is reported 10 the Senate. The administration’s banking bill has progressed no fur- ther than committee House, power in the Federal Government, | is | | revamped under the administration | By the Associated Press. Despite Secretary Wallace's asser- tion that the need for the A. A. A. | rors “and that is on the doorstep of | of this cost, as recommended by the | harbors bill in five years—the longest the White House.” General Decline Alleged. “It cannot be denied,” he continued. .Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, although the engineer for | this district had recommended that the District of Columbia should pay Chairman Joseph J. Mansfleld of When the first omnibus rivers and | { hiatus in the history of the country | —comes up in the House tomorrow, there will be sitting beside Repre- sentative Joseph J. Mansfield of amendments was “imperative,” Chair- «that every detail of our social and | jn\v ihe cost of the wharves to be | Texas, chairman of the committee man Smith, Democrat, of Carolina, of the Senate Agriculture Committee yesterday said there was a “serious question” whether they would get through this session. The amendments, which would ex- tend the power of the Secretary of | Agriculture to license middlemen handling farm commodities, have been sent back to the House Agricul- ture Committee for reconsideration. The licensing provisions aroused in- tense opposition. Meeting Tomorrow. Smith, who introduced the amend- ! ments in the Senate, said he had j called his committee to meet tomor- row to consider them. He added, how- | ever, that the “public has been so aroused over cértain features of the | bill” that he could not predict what the members would do. 4 | Wallace said recently that the A. A. A. might have to abandon mar- | keting agreements—the pacts by which handlers of farm products | ordinarily are bound to buy a certain | quantity of a commodity at a certain | price—unless the amendments were | enacted. | He promised to “go to bat and stay | at bat” in an effort to get the amend- | ments through. | Irked by recent downpours of criti- cism, Wallace also has asserted he would attempt to persuade President | Roosevelt not to make use of the George amendment to the $4,880,000.- 000 work relief bill. This would per- mit the President to use a part of the measure's funds to pay benefits to farmers who reduce acreage or otherwise adjust production. Use to Be Urged. But, in the face of this, George, Smith and a sizable group of legis- lators from' the South and New Eng- land plan to call on President Roose- velt after his return to Washington next week to urge him to use the George amendment and lift the processing tax of 4.2 a lint pound on cotton. Admittedly harassesd and hard pressed, textile interests North and South have assailed the processing tax. They assert it increases costs and helps Japanese competition in | the domestic market. | George said yesterday Mr. Roose- | velt would be urged to abandon the | cotton tax “altogether for one year,” meanwhile using rellef funds for benefit payments. Smith said he favored this to “give the manufacturers an opportunity to recoup.” ROBERTS TO SPEAK for the District of Columbia, will address the annual meeting of Georgetown University Chapter of Pi Gamma Mu, national social science honor society, at 8 o'clock tomorrow night in Copley Lounge at the col- lege, Thirty-seventh and O streets. Mr. Roberts’ topic will be the prob- lem of hospitalization. be presented. HE general économic situation I confronting the people of the | United States after two years of the Roosevelt New Deal will be discussed by Senator Bur- | ton K. Wheeler, Demociat, of Mon- | tana, in the National Radio Forum | tomorrow night at 10:30 o’clock. The forum, arranged by The Wash- ington Star, will be broadcast over a coast-to-coast network of the National Broadcasting Co. Locally the address will be heard from Station WRC. Senator Wheeler, a friend of the New Deal, is chairman of the Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce. He has long been recognized as an outstanding progressive and is a close student of monetary subjects, par- ticularly those pertaining to silver. He is also a student of economie conditions and has taken an active Interest in the many new economic policies adopted by the present ad- ministration Senator Wheeler is known also as an independent, and his views cn many subjects are wholly his own, without deference to parties or factions, The Montana leader also has taken considerable interest in social ques- tions and in the many proposed mea: ures that have come before Congress for social reliet and for future soclal security. He plans, in his address, to réview economic made from the William A. Roberts, people’s counsel | New members of the chapter will | worse now than it was in the begin- ning of 1933.” Item by item, he took up “State rights,” “public utilities,” “control of business.” “agriculture” and “cam- paign pledges” to emphasize his con- tention the President had repudiated his pre-election assurances to “turn back to paternalism, to bureaucratic control and to executive orders.” “The duty of the Republican party | is apparent.” he said. “The collapse {that will follow the present course | should be pointed out.” | Dickinson's statements were taken | by observers here to hold added sig- nificance both because of the Demo- cratic lie of attack against President Hoover prior to and during the 1932 campaign, and because of the Sena tor's own statement today in Wasn- | | ington. | Aspirations Side-Stepped. | Asked in the National Capital { whether he had aspirations for the Republican presidential nomination in 1936, he was quoted as replying: “I have nothing to say. I am going to seek re-election to the Senate. Any: thing that happens along national | lines will have to be over and above { that ambition. My fate is in the hands of the Republican party.” | In his speech tonight, Dickinson quoted Franklin D. Roosevelt as say |ing in 1930 that “‘Washington must not be encouraged to interfere” in | control of public utilitles, insurance, business, agriculture or social welfars, then asked: “What is taking place in the public utility field of the United States?" | Answering his own questions, he ! said: “In the first place, the Tennessee Valley Authority is entering into direct competition with every public utility company in that area. Investments Held Menaced. Adding to that, he declared the “net effect” of the bill for control of public | utility holding companies, “will be to | destroy the investments in the securi- | ties of those companies, amounting to | billions of dollars.” | Establishment of N. R. A. and “nul- | lification of the anti-trust laws,” he asserted, has brought “oppression of small enterprises and bureaucratic rule over business.” In bitter language the speaker as- sailed the proposal of Secretary Wal- lace of agriculture for a National Economic Council, with power to sug- gest economic laws for a direct vote of the people. “WI Secretary Wallace really means,” Dickinson said. “is that con- stitutional safeguards should be abol- ished so far as they tend to hamper the experiments under the ‘New Deal. | Summarizing, Dickinson declared | | regulate everything through a bureau | in Washington.” “When the spending spreé is ended, | when erystal gazing ceases to be attractive, when it is found that most panaceas are a myth, then the ideals of the Republican party, its construc- tive policies. its dependable leadership, will again be in favor. Radio Forum Speaker © SENATOR WHEELER. South | business position in this country 18| oneiructed for District use. Repre- in charge of the bill, a | sentatives of the Washington Board of Trade and other local organizations urged the committee to follow that recommendation. The other local project for im- provement of Washington Harbor is recommended to be paid for entirely from Federal funds as a navigation improvement. The report made by Chairman Mansfield says: “The Potomac River below Washington, 110 miles, has a | depth of 24 feet. The channels at ‘Washington—the Georgetown Chan- nei, the Washington Channel and the Anacostia River Channel—have project depths of 20 feet. The com- | merce on these channels in 1933 amounted to 1.827.186 tons. To se- cure a full realization of the benefits of the project in the lower river the bill provides for securing a depth of 24 feet in the channels referred to, also for a turning basin opposite the navy yard - The estimated cost is $325.000. with $83.000 annuaily for maintenance of the entire project.” The bill coming before the House tomorrow will authorize the under- aking of these projects as funds be- come available. Since the cuirent War Department appropriation pro- vides only the funds necessary for maintenance and operation of exist- ing projects, Chairman Mansfield ex- plains, funds for the execution of projects in this bill must come from emergency appropriations. Needed Improvements. The program, while not neglecting inland waters, Chairman Mansfield says, deals more with a much- needed improvement in the port and channel conditions on the Atlantic. Pacific and Gulf Coasts, and on the ' | Great Lakes. With few exceptions | the major inland waterways included |are already under construction with | emergency funds. The House com- mittee considers them meritoriaus | and recommends their completion. | Stressing the need for the passage of this bill, Chairman Mansfield ex- plains that it will preserve the legal {sut,un of the projects initiated under the emergency program and permit young- old fellow of 62. He is Joseph H. Mc- | Gann, clerk cf the committee, who for 33 years—longer than any man on the committee has labored for a unified, co-ordinated waterways system to de- velop the matchless natural endow- | ment of this country. “Mac” has served with seven chair- men, four Republican snd three Dem- | ocratic: seven years with Burton, two | | with Alexander of New York, six with Sperkman of Florida. two with Small of North Carclina, two with Kennedy 10 with Dempsey of New York four with Mansfield of Texas | During that time he has handled | appropriation authorizations totaling | two billion dollars out of the $2.443,- 1801.690 appropriated for river and | harbor projects in the entire history of the Government, to which must be added $93,854.000 allotted by the Pub- | lic Werks Adminisiration. McGann was a Cleveland, Ohio, youngster and used to peddle new | papers. He built up a wond>rful | rcute, of which he is still proud—more | than 'a haif century later In fact, he wakes up nights dreaming of the old Toute. 1 Accompanied Burton. | | After some 10 years in the marine business and office work, he came to the Capitol with the late Senator and | Representative Theodore Burton of | Ohfo—who in his day was one of the | best authorities on waterways develop- | ment—of international recognition. Burton studied on the ground the waterways of Europe, South America and the Orient—and took McGann on his trips abroad. He made a personal inspection of all the important water- way projects in the United States— with McGann as his right-hand man. nd Rivers and Harbors Committee Clerk Boasts 33-Year Record the Rivers and Harbors Committee, in wheel chair, and Joseph H. McGann, clerk of the committee. —8tar Stafl Photo. So—while there are other employes about the Capitol who have been longer in service than McGann, there is no one who has been longer on one particular job. He has become an expert in that special line. And McGann has never in all these years had an argument or serious disagree- ment with any member of the Rivers and Harbors Committee. He has worked tirelessly and efficiently for the development of all secuions of tha country He has seen the committee grow from 17 members to 26 members During his regime more than four- fifths of the appropriations for Rivers and Harbors projects passed during the entire history of the Government have been approved and expended. He has seen the waterways worked into a comprehensive system. due to the large appropriations during the last 12 to 15 years. where 20 years ago the development of such a co- ordinated system seemed discouraging. Started Filing System. When McGann came with Chair- man Burion February 1. 1902, the Rivers and Harbors Committee of the House had no reliable records. and -its files were chaotic. He had had 10 years experience in office work and business systems. He instituted a filing system and started in to build up a library Representative and Scnator Burton was one of the wonder men of Con- gress. He was at the height of his career of scme 30 years in both houses of Congress while he was chairman of the Rivers and Harbors Committee. Ten years ago in the House he made a speech emphasizing that there was only one reminiscence of the 14 years from 1895 to 1909 when he was a member and chairman of the Rivers and Harbors Committee—"“the faithful service of the industrious clerk. Mr. McGann, who was appointed in 1902 All succeeding chairmen of the committee have publicly attested the value of the services rendered by Mr. McGann. 'FOURTH MAN HELD IN LYDDANE CASE | AS CHARGES GROW __ (Continued From First. Page) them to be maintained in the future | | from annual appropriations. There | H. Pugh and detectives conducting the i has been no river and harbors bill | investigation, | since July 3, 1930, a five-year period | S in | which represents the greatest length | Authorities had withheld charges | “the Democratic party is proposing to | of time without the enactment of such legislation since the Civil War. During the past five years, in the | absence of river and harbor legisla- tion, the development of United States waterways has been dependent upon the emergency appropriations and the allocation of funds by an emergency agency. The undertaking of new projects—such as the two under con- sideration for the Washington water- front—has been dependent upon the aprroval of that emergency agency. The emergency public works construc- tion has had as a primary purpose the meeting of needs for employment—the | selection of projects has been governea by considerations other than the needs | of navigation. Important projects badly needed for commerce have not been included in the relief program. ‘Two of the major projects in the bill are: Provision of depths in the important ports of the Great Lakes, to correspond with the depths provided in the con- necting channels, which under the rivers and harbors act of five years ago were authorized to be increased from a depth of 21 feet to depths suitable for vessels with a draft of 24 feet. Provision for deepening the New York Barge Canal connecting Lake Ontario with the Hudson River. The barge canal, with an increasing com- merce, is handicapped by the project depth of 12 feet mow available, as compared to the 14-foot depth avail- able in the Canadian channels on the St. Lawrence River. RAIL WAGES IN 1934 LARGEST SINCE 1931 Attributed to Pay Restoratigns and Increase of 38,000 Employes. Total wages paid to class one rafl- road workers were shown in statistics made public yesterday by the Inter- state Commerce Commission to have been larger in 1934 than at any time since 1931. This was believed to be due largely to salary cut restorations and an in- crease of 38,000 employes in 1934. ‘The showed there were 1.- 008,995 railroad 'workers who drew total wages of $1,519,225,601 last year comj to ‘l,m .ll.ll 864 drawn by 970,808 worker 33, and $1,512,- by 1,031,914 workers £. X kers 821,975 drawn 1932, the Beall case until they talked to Davis, a Washington resident. ©On Priday the latter had told police that a woman introduced to him as { “Mrs. Lyddane” had offered him $1,500 to dispose of Mrs. Beall. Woman Under Bond. | | Mrs. Lyddane, who had been at | | liberty in custody of her attorneys | without bond, was brought in by her | counsel at Pugh's request and was placed under $5.000 bond on each ! charge. The $10,000 bond was given | in the form of real estate security by her father, James McLaughlin, re- | tired Rockville landscape gardener. | Bonds in the amount of $10,000 each also were fixed for Carnell and Davis by Police Justice Donald A. De Lashmutt, but neither was able to furnish that amount and they were committed to jail in default. Boland, said by police to be a Washington gambler, who is charged, together with Mrs. Lyddane, with con- spiracy to murder Lyddane, also was | taken before Judge De Lashmutt and | a similar bond was set in his case. | He likewise was committed in default. | Earlier in the day Brown. who has | & police record, had told Washington | detectives assisting in the Lyddane | investigation, that Boland had offered | him $1,000 to murder Lyddane. He said he refused to have any- | thing to do with the proposition and walked out on the meeting with Bo- land. The meeting, he said, occurred in a Washington restaurant near Sixth street and Pennsylvania avenue. Brown Questioned. Brown, who had surrendered at Dis- trict police headquarters upon learn- ing that he was being sought, was taken to Rockville and questioned for several hours. _Authorities refused to disclose any phase of the statement which he made there. ‘The Alexandria man was released on $500 bond as a material State wit- ness after Pugh and police had fin- ished the questioning. Mrs. Lyddane and Boland had been scheduled to be given a preliminary hearing in the Rockville Police «Court tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock, but the hearing was continued untik, April 20 at the request of the woman's at- torneys after the second.charge was preferred. Mrs. Beall, named by investigators second in | as the intended victim of the M:@m.llmfihd W ilne_ss Caught CONSPIRACY LAID TORUBBER FIRMS Aimost Entire Industry and Code Units Charged With Trade Restraint. By the Associated Press. In the first case brought by & Government agency against N. R. A. code authorities, the Federal Trade Commission yesterday charged almost the entire rubber manufacturing in- dustry, including two of its code boards, with conspiracy to restrain trade. The commission asserted that the authorities 18 manufacturing cor- porations and their principal trade associations had fixed prices, not only in violation of the commission's act, but also of their own code. N. R. A. was not directly involved and the commission said the industry disregarded N. R. A. orders. It was said authoritatively, however, that the Blue Eagle organization did not co-operate in bringing yesterday's charges. Relations Strained. One official said he doubted that N. R. A. knew the complaint was in prospect, and officials from both agencies concede privately that they | are hardly on speaking terms—a con- dition that has prevailed since early in recovery organization's existence. There was, meanwhile, an expecta- tion in reliably informed sources that other similar cases will be brought by the commission. The Justice Department, coinci- | dentally, was busy with plans aimed at securing a ruling on N. R. A.’s con- | stitutionality at this term of the Su- preme Court. The Schechter case, involving the live poultry code, has | been chosen for the test. Officials said | they hoped the court would decide whether to review the suit a week | from tomorrow. | The rubber case was brought after | testimony in the N. R. A. hearing be- fore the Senate Finance Committee | by commission officials that members of the rubber industry had {llegally fixed prices of fire hose. The complaint yesteraay noted this accusation especially, but broadened the charge to include other mechani- | cal rubber goods. The N. R. A. code boards accused were the master code authority for the rubber manufacturing industry and the code authority for the mechanical rubber goods division of the rubber manufacturing industry. The Rubber Manufacturers' Association, Inc.. and members of the mechanical goods division of that association also were named. Among the corporations in- cluded in the charge were B. F. Good- rich Rubber Co., Akron; the Goodye: r Tire and Rubber Co. Inc, Akren United States Rubber Products, In- New York City, and other compan.c ;in New Jersey, California, Penns: | vania and Ohio. The commission charged that tl authorities and firms had acted “un- der color of office and employing power and author pretended by them to be theirs members” of the code authorities. The commission said these “pre- tended powers” not only were not given them by the code, but were ex- pressly withheld by it. Boycotts Charged. The commission asserted that the members of the code authorities as- sisted and co-operated with members of the industry “in the conduet of boycotts directed against those who did not maintain resale prices dictated by the corporate respondents.” With June 16 the date for expira- tion of the present recovery act, the Senate Finance Committee tentatively decided yesterday to wind up its in- vestigation of N. R. A. within the next 10 days or two weeks and get down to consideration of legislation in executive session. Hundreds of apglications to be heard have becn received by the com- mittee, but the Senators have decided it will be impossible to hear them all. Hugh §S. Johnson, former ad- ministrator, probably will be the last witness. He is studying the complaints | presented in the hearings and will !attempt to answer some of the | criticism of his administration of the law. B GULF STATES STORMS LEAVE DEATH TOLL OF 4 | Property and Crop Damage From Tornadic Winds Mounts Into Thousands of Dollars. By the Associated Press NEW ORLEANS, April 6. —Tornadic winds and electrical storms bursting 1 | with sporadic fury last night and to- HARRY E. THOMAS. Arthur Beall, Darnestown garage owner. She named Mrs. Lyddane as corespondent in a divorce suit filed against her husband several years ago, which was dropped two days later. Carnell and Boiand are said to have | signed a statement following their ar- rest last Monday in which they claimed Mrs. Lyddane had promised them $3.000 for the murder of her husband, a similar sum for the slaying of Mrs. Beall, and the keys to the Farmers Banking & Trust Co. of Rockville, where Mrs. Lyddane is employed as the president’s secretary, as an ad- | ditional consideration. They are said to have declared they | had no intention of carrying out the plan, but were merely uing the plot as a subterfuge to obtain money from the Rockville woman. Mrs. Lyddane steadfastly denies any knowledge of the allegations made by the two men, while her counselors maintain that the story allegedly told by the men is the result of & “blackmail” plot evolved as the outcome of the Beall divorce suit. Her husband has also defended his wife. Mrs. Boland, a pretty and slender red-haired woman, called on her hus- band at the Rockville jail late yester- day and was allowed to talk with him for some time, with a policeman in attendance. Shortly afterward Boland conferred with his attorney, John T. Mullen of ‘Washington, and Mullen tcld news- paper men that Boland snd his wife had talked over the possibility of rais- ing bond for his release and the wife bad left to begin negotiations. “Boland,” Mullen said, “figures he is r goat in this thing. | day through the Gulf Coast States left four persons dead and many | thousands of dollars of property and | crop damage. | Lightning accounted for two of the deaths. Trees were uprooted and blown against houses. ofl -derricks were smashed and windows were blown out. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Ala- bama felt the storm. The deaths were: C. R. Wheat. 26, of near Henderson, Tex.; Marion Triday, 38, a farmer of near Chestnut, La.: Manchild Stevens, 35, colored, drowned near Vivian, La., and I. J. Stevens, 32, a farmer, killed by lightning near Crestview, FIA. . SHOQOTING STARS BY PHILANDER JOHNSON Clever, intimate bits about affairs of the moment. EDITORIAL PAGE TODAY!