Evening Star Newspaper, April 30, 1935, Page 2

T A2 waw - ROOSEVELT'S CHAT SHOWS STRATEGY Use of Radio Permits Flat Statements on Disputed Questions. BY l’)AVID LAWRENCE. What goes on inside a President’s mind before he makes a radio address? Certainly, with many millions of people to listen in, the choice cannot be merely to tell them things they already know through the news- papers, but to explain some of the things they have read—to endeavor to give them an impression. Careful reading of the text of Mr. Roosevelt’s address of Sunday night will reveal that he recognized the existence of certain widely held im- pressions about his policies, and he sought, therefore, to offset those impressions. There were two ways of doing this. One was to present persuasive and convincing evidence in figures. But this might make the address too sta- tistical or uninteresting. The other way was to make flat statements, dogmatic ohservations, and trust to the people to give credence to anything a President says. | Political Custom. This method of “slanting” the news from one’s own favorable standpoint is not new, of course. Other Presi- dents have done it before. It is the customary habit of public men. i But they have never had such & big advantage as nowadays because there is no comment or challenge to what a President says over the radio. He gathers his audience together—many millions of people—makes definite as- sertions to them, and for days, maybe weeks, later, the same audience never learns through the radio, at any rate, whether the statements made to it are matters of controversy or dis- pute. | The radio has been used repeatedly by Mr. Roosevelt, who has found it one of the most valuable ways to de- velop public opinion. It is not so much what Mr. Roose- velt said last Sunday night but the | things that he selected to emphasize | which are matter of great significance. | He was conscious of his opposition, something that has not appeared in his other radio speeches as conspic- uously as in this one. Examples Cited. ‘Thus, for instance: 1, “The administration and Congress are not proceeding in any haphazard fashion in this task of gov- ernment. Each of our steps has & definite relationship to every other step.” N One of the principal criticisms di- | rected at the present administration is that it has been opportunistic, that it | has tried one experiment after the other, that it has had no general plan | for recovery, but has trusted to ex- | pediency to develop whatever seems the moment to offer the widest popu- larity or to placate the maximum number of grievances. Mr. Roosevelt is trying to offset this impression by | stating definitely that everything was worked out in advance and that he is | proceeding with a definite plan in | mind. | 2. “The objective of the Nation has | greatly changed in three years. Be- | fore that time, individual self-interest | and group selfishness were paramount | in public thinking. The general good | was a discount.” | This is one of those paragraphs | which make a very deep impression on | listeners because it is obviously what | should be the objective of the Nation. | Lobbyists Forgotten? i But a single glance at the lobbyists | the | in Congress and the great drive that | yigntly or wrongly, they got the view Schechter Poultry Corp. in New York | What’s What Behind News In Capital Father Coughlin, Avoid- ing Long, Expected to Back Roosevelt. BY PAUL MALLON. HE lowdown on the peculiar political antics of Father Coughlin has been reported to the powers that be in Wash- ington as follows: The Coughlin third party idea is just fine talk. So long as President Roosevelt “shows a disposition to go along” with the Coughlin principles, there will be no fight on him. The reverend political doctor regards the President as being, at least, as satis- factory as any one else who could be nominated. He is going into the organization of the larger States because he wants to crowd the Pres- ident into adopting his program. In fact, the silver-voiced father is being quoted on the inside here flatly as saying that he is not very keen on Mr. Roosevelt, but prob- ably will support him as the best available. There will be no joining of the Coughlin and Long forces. The pater’s pals are whispering that he is not anxious to get mixed up with the Louisiana whirlwind. Huey's program in some respects parallels that of the Detroit radio voice, but “is not so specific” (the words are authentic). Opposition to Long. The secret of this angle seems to be that Coughlin’s followers do not want Long. and the priest is too high prin-| cipled to use what his associates call “a bad means” to his end. You CANT This, of course, is at least partially THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., NEW DEAL READY FOR COURTTESTS Federal Lawyers Prepare to Defend N. R. R ard A.A. A, BY REX COLLIER. Government legal forces swung into action today in the first of two im- portant moves within 24 hours in defense of the constitutionality of a “key” pair of alphabetical recovery agencies—the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and the National Ia- dustrial Recovery Administration. ‘While picked attorneys of the New Deal were putting finishing touches today on the Government's brief to be presented to the Supreme Court tomorrow in the crucial Schecter poultry case, involving validity of the N. R. A, another group of Federal lawyers brought the A. A. A. closer to Supreme Court consideration. Legal counsel of the Justice Depart- ment’s Tax Division today filed with the United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston the Government's final brief in the Hoosac Mills case, which is destined to bring before the Supreme Court for the first time the floor stock taxes under the A. A. A. U. S. Victor in Boston Test. The Government Wwon & vigorous battle in defense of the agricultural taxes in the Federal District Court at Boston, and the case promptly was appealed to the Circuit Court of Ap- peals for the First Circut by receivers | for the Hoosac Mills Corp., one of whom is William M. Butler, former United State Senator from Massachu- setts and onetime chairman of the | Republican National Committee. Robert Nelson Anderson and Prew | Ssavoy, special assistants to the Attor- ney General. presented oral arguments before the Circuit Court’s three judges last week and, at request of the court, filed & brief today in response to one submitted by an “amicus curiae.” or friend of the court—James S. Y. { Ivins, local attorney. The Federal | ments against the A. A. A. contained question of validity of processing and | brief challenged accuracy of state- | TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 1935. Beckons the 20th Century Pioneer vide for them. (This is the second of three storie® on the A, B. C of the $4.550,000.000 | work-retief program.) | Special Dispatch to The Star. ‘The work-relief law provides eight general channels for the flow of Gov- based on the Coughlin suspicion that | jn 1ying' brief and asked the court ernment funds to furnish jobs for per- there is something wrong in Louisiana which may ultimately come out. The Coughlin boys make no effort to conceal the fact that the padre is definitely stepping down now from the pulpit to straighten out the political situation. They say he realizes that radio speeches, after all, reach only a cartain class of people, who must be organized into & political force if they are to be used effectively. His idea is to organize five groups of forgotten men—Ilabor, farmers, vet- erans, professional people of the low salary group, small business men. He is going to hold a series of meetings similar to the Michigan one. Ohio is next. He will then invade Pennsy vania, New York, Massachusetts, New Cersey, Missouri. Wisconsin and Min- nesota. These States actually have been selected. There may be more later, depending on the outcome of these endeavors. The object is to capture the populou: States that have 50 per cent of the | total presidential votes. Catch on? Five big cotton men went to the White House about 10 days ago to protest to Mr, Roosevelt against the farm control program. 71hey stressed particularly the big de- cline in cotton exports and possibly permanent loss of our foreign markets because other mations are planting more cotton. They argued that the cotton industry was facing permanent difficulty because 60 per cent of its production has been exported in the past. Foreign Trade Question. The President is said to have left them with the idea that foreign trade was a thing of the past. Whether | to reject it. | Regardless of the decision of the Circuit Court of Appeals, the A. A. A. test case will go to the Supreme Court for final judgment, as both sides have said it is their intention to have the Nation’s highest tribunal pass upon | the act. The Hoosac Mills receivers, protest- ing processing and floor stock taxes totaling more than $80,000, claim the A. A. A is unconstitutional because it delegates legislative power to the Sec- retary of Agriculture, regulates intra- state industry and because it is “'class legislation” designed to take money | | away from manufacturers and give it | to the farmers. | Federal Position Sustained. | Al these allegations have been de- | nied by the Government, and Judge Elisha Brewster of the lower court | sustained the Federal position. To- ay’s brief in the case was signed by Frank J. Wiedman, Assistant Attorney General, in charge of the tax division of the Department of Justice; Ander- special assistant; Seth Thomas, so- licitor of the Department of Agricul- ilure, and Francis J. W. Ford, United | States attorney at Boston. Stanley Reed, recently appointed as solicitor general to succeed J. Craw- ford Biggs, and Donald Richberg, | head of N. R. A, will lead the Fed- eral legal talent in the fight for | the N, R. A. tomorrow at the Supreme Court. Attorney General Cummings has appointed Richberg as a special | assistant so that he may appear with Reed in the case. The Schechter case, growing out of | proceedings brought against the 15 being made by organized groups| {na¢ the President believed the United | for alleged violation of poultry code to get money out of Congress, big- ger and better handouts by the Fed- eral Government than anything ever known in the history of the United States, makes one wonder whether the President was really aware of the extent to which self interest and group selfishness are paramount on Capitol Hill today 3. “It is true that, while business and industry are definitely better, relief rolls are still too large. How- ever, for the first time in five years, | Telief rolls have declined instead of increased during the Winter months. They are still declining.” This is the kind of statement which is difficult to analyze because the cost of relief is growing larger and larger and the personnel on the relief rolls is changing all the time. The item of cost is the one thing that is apt to be taken as the measuring stick. The fact that it is growing larger makes the problem serious. There was no reference in what the President said on the radio as to the question of the increasing relief costs. He merely stated that the relief rolls were “too large,” but that they were *declining.” The official figures are interesting. They are authorized by the F.E.R. A. In January, 1935, there were 20,670,- 042 on relief; in February, 20,523,042; in March, 20440,000. This is a slight decline to be sure, a reversal of tne trend, but, a year ago January, there were 11,102,452; a year ago Feb- ruary, 11,621,637, and, a year ago March, there were 13,539,352. And all this despite $3,300,000,000 Federal ex- penditures on public works. Anticipates Criticism. 4. “It must, however, be recognized that when an enterprise of this char- acter (work-relief) is extended over more than 3,000 counties throughout the Nation. there may be occasional instances of inefficiency, bad manage- ment or misuse of funds.” Mr. Roosevelt is here adopting the device of anticipatory rebuttal— knocking down in advance the crit- feisms that may come throughout the eountry as a result of irregularities in relief work or perhaps the use of po- litical influence. He emphasizes, how- ever, that he expects only ‘“excep- tional instances of wrong-doing.” Mr. Roosevelt is right when he says that his long experience in Government has taught him that instances of cor- ruption in Government are probably less numerous than “in almost every other line of endeavor.” But this was true when the civil service was really in charge of Government work and when personnel was selected much more on a merit basis than it is today. Ncwadays lots of people are being drawn into the Government service through political pull and influence and not through the merit system. This increases the danger that politi- cal pull will have more to do with the operations of relief than has been the case in Government service. MTr. Roosevelt frankly asked the people to feel free to criticize and to tell him of instances where work can be done better or “where improper prac- tices prevail.” (Copyright. 1935.) | year, which ends June 30. States would eventually have to recon- cile itself to the prospect of living largely within itself. Most foreign trade experts have come to that view, although they do not dare say so openly. Few people realize that the ordi- nary budget of the Government is bal- anced and teday has a surplus of $216,000,000. The regular budget runs $3,321,000.000 for the current fiscal Treasury authorities believe it will come out just about even. The present surplus will be taken up by the expenditure of $200,000,000 for the sinking fund to pay the interest on bonds. Of course, this does not take into consideration the large sums being spent for emergency relief and busi- ness promotion. The forgotten man of the New Deal | (ex-AAA-er Jerome Frank), now with the R. F. C. is declining to be for- gotten. He has raised on the inside the puzzling legal question of whether the R. F. C. is the Government. His idea, apparently, is that it is not. Hence, the R. F. C. should try its own legal cases instead of letting the Justice Department do it. The matter is causing quite a row because there are about 2,000 cases pending against the R. F. C. in District courts. On Mr. Roosevelt’s desk is Charles A. Beard's new book, “The Open Door at Home.” which advocates a policy of economic nationalism. Next Coughlin Meeting. Coughlin will invite more members of Congress to attend his next meeting. Those who attended the last included Senators Nye and Thomas (Oklahoma) and Representatives Lempke, Connery, Sweeney and O'Malley. ‘The anti-lynchers have been pass- ing around word in the Senate cloak rooms that the President has sent Senator Costigan privately a draft of an opinion by Attorney General Cum- mings upholding the constitutionality of the Costigan bill. ‘The R. F. C. will open a bank May 1 in the Virgin Islands to finance a revival of the islands’ rum trade and other industries, thereby putting the Government into another business. Only Chairman Biddle of the N. R. A. Labor Board will under- stand the wise crack mow current, that “Richberg, in his N. R. A. re- organization fight, is playing both ends against the Biddle.” The T. V. A. has found a family in fhe Norris Dam area which had a total cash income last year of $5, out of which $1.85 was saved. The money came from the sale of eggs. lflml"hl. 1935.) | previsions, was selected by Cummings | for the supreme test of N. R. A, con- stitutionality after he had withdrawn |a prior test case involving the lum- ber code, It was explained that the |lumber code case, known as the Belcher suit, did not present a proper | test of validity of the recovery act, | as the lumber code was drawn hastily | and differs from most other N. R. A. codes. ‘The Government recently won on | a majority of counts in the lower | court’s decision in the Schechter case. Federal and private counsel agreed to facilitate presentation of the case to the Supreme Court. DR. SIZ00 TO SPEAK Dr. Joseph R. Sizoo will be the speaker at the evening session of the all-day classis of the Reformed Church being held at the First Reformed Church, Thirteenth and Monroe streets, today. Representatives from Baltimore and ‘Washington are attending the classis. Delegates this morning heard Miss Selma Grether, and this afternoon were to be entertained with a musical | program at tbe church. Ickes Is Expected To Get Aide at $10,000 a Year By the Associated Press. It looked today as though Secretary Ickes is going to get that new $10,000 undersecretary he wants. And if he does, it will be the second time in recent weeks that he has come out on top despite congressional foes who have been shooting at him. Weeks ago, during the fight over the $4,880,000,000 work and relief bill, Congressmen who complained that Ickes had not treated them with due regard sought to make certain that he would take a back seat in the works effort. But the other day he became a member of the drive's “big three” when he was named chairman of the allotment board. Then, when the Interior Depart- ment appropriation bill came up, the House promptly deleted the under- secretary job asked by the Budget Bureau and approved by the Appro- priations Committee. The Senate put it back in, though, and the conferees of the two Houses left it in. Today the -House ap- proached & vote on the conference re- port, with the prediction by Chair- man Taylor, Democrat, of Colorado, it would approve the undersecretary. Even Representative Woodrum, Demo- crat, of Virginia, an Appropriation Committes Democrat who led the fight against the new post, conceded it prob- ably would go through. The Republicans, though, were ready to pounce upon the $10,000 item, possibiy forcing a record vote. Taylor praised Ickes and said” he thought it was agreed he needed the undersecretary worse than did other departments that have such positions. son, Savoy, J. Louis Monarch, another | | sons on relief. | Officials have estimated that $880.- 200,000 will be needed to provide direct | relief until the work program is under way, and to support those unable to work Congress has limited the spending of the remaining $4000,000.000 as | follows: | ~ Eight hundred million dollars for | building highways, roads, streets and elimination of grade crossings. | Five hundred million dollars for wa ter conservation, irrigation, reclaiming land, helping 1mpoverished farmers and moving them to fertile land. Rural Electrification. One hundred million dollars for rural electrification—extending power lines to farms. Four hundred and fifty million dol- lars for building homes and apart- ments. Three hundred million dollars for work which educational, professional and clerical persons can do. Six hundred million dollars to & | ALASKA COLONITS Work Relief Program Divided Into Eight General Channels 880 Million Will Be Spent for Direct Aid But Remaining Four Billion Goes Into Efforts to Create Jobs. | double the size of the Civilian Conser- |\-anon Corps to care for unemployed vouths and war veterans. Three hundred and fifty million dollars to plant forests. improve rivers ! and harbors, prevent soil erosion and duststorms, and provide proper san- itation. | Nine hundred million dollars to be loaned or given to States, territories, cities and public groups for work- | | making enterprises. ! Roosevelt Gets Power. President Roosevelt, however, is per- | mitted to use not more than one- | fifth of the entire sum to increase the amount spent in any of the eight | divisions, thus enabling him almost to | double even the largest. | | Many projects will be under the direct supervision of the Government Others, including a large part of the | road - building and grade - crossing elimination program, will be carried on by the States or cities. Some will | be let out to private contractors, | Officials acknowledge that their problem is not where to find projects. but to choose those which offer the greatest return in jobs and benefits | for the public. i | | (The third and last story tomorrow will outline the machinery to administer the PAXTONNUDEWINS CORGORAN PRIZE Boston Artist First in Pop- ularity Voting for Fourth Time. Disregarding preferences of a pro- fessional jury, the public has selected a nude, “Nellle Looks Down on Phryne,” by William M. Paxton, Bos- ton artist, as the most popular pic- ture in the Fourteenth Biennial Ex- of Art. - This is the fourth time in the his- tory of these exhibitions that Paxton has won the $200 prize awarded by the gallery to the picture receiving endum of visitors. A total of 259 votes was cast for his picture. More- over, snother painting by Paxton, “Mrs. Guido Perara,” & portrait of the daughter of Rev. Ze Barney T. Phil- lips, rector of Epiphany Episcopal Church, won second place in the bal- loting this year, with 160 votes. _Third place went to “Phyllis,” a painting by Richard S. Meryman, principal of the Corcoran School of Art. “Phyllis” received 123 votes. “Striker” Is Fourth. Pourth place was given Julius Bloch’s “The Striker,” the painting which attracted attention of Pres- ident and Mrs. Roosevelt and which has been purchased by the Corcoran Gallery for its permanent collection. This painting received 112 votes, The balloting began Easter Mon- day and continued through last Sun- day. During that period, 8,610 per- sons visited the show and were given ballots. The total number of ballots marked was not available today. In announcing the results of the voting, C. Powell Minnigerode, di- rector of the gallery, said: “Mr. Paxton rarely fails to produce a painting which makes a strong popu- lar appeal. His figures are always well drawn. In his particular field he is one of the outstanding Amer- ican painters.” Winuer Is Striking. The Paxton painting is a striking study of a young woman gazing medi- tatively at a small statuette held at arm’s lengtih. Paxton first won the popular prize at the seventh biennial show in 1920 with his “Girl Sewing.” He won again at the eighth exhibi- tion in 1922 with “Girl Arranging” and at the twelfth exhibition in 1930 with a nude, “Two Models.” Minnigerode disclosed that Eugene Speicher's painting of a blacksmith, “Red Moore,” chosen by a jury of dis- tinguished artists for the first W. A. Clark prize of $2,000, received 30 votes in the popular referendum. F. C. Frieseke's “Girl at Piano,” winner of second Clark prize, received 7 votes from the public.\ Henry E. Mattson’s “The Beacon,” third cholce of the jury, received 10 votes and Kenneth M. Adams’ “New Mexico Landscape,” the jury’s fourth selection, got only one vote in the referendum. Final Dance Slated. CLARENDON, Va., April 30 (Spe- welfare dance hibition of Contemporary American 0il Paintings at the Corcoran Gallery | the most votes in & popular refer- | prooram.) s | DECISION AFFECTS 115 DAM PROJECTS { | Lawyers in Congress See Opening for Court Action on Other Sites. By the Adsociated Press. Power and reclamation dams, upon which millions have been spent by the | Public Works Administration, today Ezppuemly were in a precarious posi- tion as a result of a decision yesterday by the Supreme Court. | The decision was a refusal to grant the United States Government an in- | Junction prohibiting Arizona from forcibly halting or otherwise interfer- ing with construction of Parker Dam on the Colorado River. | The court held construction of Par- | llur Dam had not been authorized by | aw. It was recalled, however, that the | same procedure was followed in ap- | proving and alloting money for Par- | ker Dam as that followed in alloca- | tions made for construction of Grand | Coulee, in Washington, the Bonne- | ville Dam in Oregon, Fort Peck Dam | on the Missouri River in Montana, | and for some of the upper Mississippi River works. Court Action Seen. ‘While no court action has been in- | augurated against construction of the dams, other than the Parker Dam, | which is involved in a long interstate | feud over use of the waters of the | Colorado, lawyers in Congress said | they believed the decision opened the | way for such action. There was some show of jubilation on the part of members of the House Rivers and Harbors Committee, which | lor a time had been stripped of its | control over rivers and “harbors im- provements by the policy of the Public Works Administration. Parker Dam is the smallest of these great berriers. Its estimated cost is $13,000,000. It would divert water into the $200,000,000 aqueduct of the Met- ropolitan Water District of Southern | California. . — I Price $1 at The Evening Star Business Office, or by mail, pestpaid | today e e e Order Form— NGME ccovvveeroocaccnssancncncs | Street ..oceeeeceniieciniiasaiene [ City..uueernnnainnnes L e ———— A typical farm in the Matanuska Valley of Alaska, the scene of the F. E. R. A. colonization project. Vege- tation thrives there as it would in a hot house, and some 67 Minnesota families are now en route to the sector in the hope of wresting from its fertile soil that which their submarginal Minnesota farms were unable to pro- —Wide World Photo. ACCEPT GAMBLE Everything to Gain and Nothing to Lose Is Pre- vailing Spirit. By the Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO, April 30.—An attitude of “everything to gain and nothing to lose” was expressed here by impoverished Minnesota farm families en route to new homes in a Government-sponsored Alaskan colony. The emigrants, 274 men, women and children from 67 families were guests today at various public entertain- ments while awaiting the sailing to- morrow of the Army transport St. Mihiel, which will take them to Alaska. Each family will be given a 40- acre tract in the valley and the $3.000 cost may be paid over a 30- year period. A woman's reaction to the adven- ture came from Madeleine de Foras, Red Cross nurse accompanying the colonists. I am thrilled at the thought of neering with these families” she said. “It is something new and some- thing interesting. But I am no stranger to pioneer work. I can chop down trees and split wood if neces- sary.” The party was given an elaborate | welcome yesterday when the 22-car train, which brought the group from | St. Paul, tion here. A band blared “Happy Days Are Here Again,” and the pioneers were welcomed by Mayor Angelo Rossi and others. The emigrants, many of them women and tiny babies. were cheer- ful despite being told they must live in tents until homes are built, that land must be cleared. and that mos- quitoes are very bothersome in Summer. ONE DEAD, 5 SHOT IN BUSINESS FEUD Texan Is Said to Have Confessed Firing Shot gun Into Crowd. Minn., rolled into the sta- By the Associated Press. TYLER, Tex.. April 30.—A feud between rival filling station operators was blamed today for the fatal shoot- ing of one man and the wounding of five other persons. Three loads of buckshot were fired into a group gathered last night at a station operated by H. M. Ferguson, 4 miles east of here. A short time after the shooting, Jim Bryant, operator of the station across the highway. sur- rendered. “I've just been in a one-sided shoot- ing,” Deputy Sheriff Ross Parker quoted him as saying. shooting. Lock me up. I only wanted to settle matters with that young one. I'm sorry if I hit any one else.” He did not explain his reference to the*“young one.” Clint Ferguson, 41, died early today. His brother, Ira Ferguson, 32, was shot in the ab- domen and little hope was held for his recovery. The four other per- sons, including Mrs. H. M. Ferguson, 62, mother of the man killed, were less seriously injured. The elder Fer- guson escaped by falling to the floor when the firing started. “We were shot down like pigs,” said Ira Ferguson as he was placed on the operating table in a hospital here. Sheriff Tom Sikes said witnesses to the shooting told him that mem- bers of the Ferguson family had been blamed by Bryant for the dynamit- ing of his station about a year ago. At that time, County Attorney John Lawhon said, Bryant had filed charges against Clint Ferguson in i with the blast. S i The Government at Work Che Euvening Star Offers Its Readers The only complete and authoritative description of the Federal Govern- ment now available. “It is & work of great value"— Charles G. Dawes, former Vice President of the United States. q | N | ] ] ] State.. “I did all the | AIRLINE COLONISTS BUSY ON MIDWAY Forty Men Rush Building of Houses, Radio Towers and Plane Haven. BY JUNIUS B. WOOD. By Radio to The Star. MIDWAY ISLAND, April 30 (N.A. N.A.) —Running at its highest speed, & launch towing a barge piled high | with frozen meats, eggs and other | food plowed through the waves from | | the steamship North Haven to the| shore of Midway Island. In a short time the last 2,000 tons of cargo brought by the ship a fortnight ago | was safely on the isle that will serve | as one of the bases for the Pan- American Airways line linking the | United States and China. Unloading that amount in time would make a city stevedore laugh, but it's another story to ac-| complish the task from a ship an- chored in the open sea, with the barges rising and falling 10 feet in rough waves at the side of the steel hull and then being towed 4 miles through a mass of coral reefs. | ‘The harbor where the cargo was landed was not equipped with docks | or stanch piers, but was a sandy beach, with the surf often breaking | shoulder high. And the crew hold- | ing its footing and stowing heavy | | pieces of freight on the bobbing | barges had never tied a sailor's knob! |a few weeks ago, nor voyaged over| anything rougher than a country! road. ; | Island Has Refrigeration. such | | | 'The last cargo was the food trans- ferred from the special refrigerator | built in the ship to the refrigerator | plant built on the island. Though Midway is not in the tropics, the con- | | tents of the refrigerator were not im- | proved by their slow ride for 4 miles over sun-kissed waves and a slower trek of a mile over broiling sand The barge-load of food is enough to | | feed the construction gang of 40 men remaining on Midway until the North | Haven returns a couple of months | later, and also the island's 12 per- manent colonists for several months longer, until another supply ship ar- rives. The food stores ended the! | island’s dependence on the outside world to that extent. The men on Midway will have a radio to talk across the waters and in a few weeks the clipper planes will start fiying | from the mainland of the United | States across the Pacific. The colon- | ists will be alone on the tiny island in mid-Pacific in a few days when | the North Haven sails to repeat the same job on Wake Island. An amazing change has been ac- complished in a few days by the con- struction gang on a little corner of the sandy island which for hundreds | of vears has been covered with a rank growth of jungle bushes and whose only sign of life has becn | myriads of ocean birds. Thougn i |is not yet a Summer resort, with a tourist hotel, pleasure boats, beach parasols and tennis courts, one can distinguish the form that this new settlement on a waterlapped desert is going to take. Radio Towers Rise. | The towers of three radio stations, for sending, receiving and the direc- | tion finder, arise from corners of the island. A steel windmill, anchored to concrete caissons. is pumping water from a newly-sunk well. Half a dozen scattered brown roofs stand out against a background of green brush and white sand. A piece of luck favored the party when it arrived. In the colonization area specified by the United States Navy, which is sovereign over these Pacific atolls, the newcomers found a grove of Australian hardwood trees planted by employes of the Commer- cial Pacific Cable Co. years ago and now grown to substantial size. They also found a tiny six-sided building | constructed of boards from discarded | packing cases and wire netting, with a palm leaf roof. during the drab | prohibition days. The building, known as “Whoopee House,” stood in a grove a half mile from the well-kept cable compound. where the cup that cheers | was forbidden in those years. Merely by installing the necessary | machinery and scribbling a “keep | out” sign on the door of the cramped quarters of the well ventilated | “whoopee house,” it became a station for engineers and office men, a me- teorological bureau, a doctor’s clini | a radio station and a kitchen. Now | | each of these activities is in its own building, so rapidly have the portable buildings risen on stable foundations. | Fires Never Go Out. Eternal fires have been lit in pat- | ented ovens which burn 10 pounds {of coal a day and never go out. The | Chinese cooks are learning to broil | beefsteak without frying their fingers | |at the same time. The honeymoon oil stoves which an uncanny fore- sight provided for the bachelor sta- tion managers, in anticipation that the future will bring brides to the islands, were put to practical use for cooking the last two weeks. Now | the oil stoves are again cold, wrapped }in clean paper, awaiting the happy | event. Aside from the grove of Australian hardwood trees, the site of the set- | tlement is covered with a tangled mass of shoulder-high bushes, called magnolias here and airplants in Ha- wail. These bushes had to be cleared by hand, and the men swung machetes on every spot where a build- ing has risen. Nature through the years has erected around the jungle brush a protecting bulwark of sand dunes, 20 feet high, against the stormy waves. While the sand wall protects the Pan-American Airways settlement, which is only a scant 5'; feet above | the sea, it was a hindrance to the | tractors pulling heavily loaded sleds | from the beach. A road was cut through the sand wall, which the men | promptly chistened “Culebra Cut” in | memory of the Panama Canal. | Beach Extends Far. Another surprise came when 8| | survey showed that the flat beach out- | side the dunes, speckled with the rusty iron and rotting hulls of ship- wrecks, extends 1,500 feet farther than the hydrographic charts show. Flowing tides and winds added to the grains of sand and through the decades the island has been steadily growing. The architect’s plans, drawn before the island was surveyed for buildings symmetrically located in the new compound, could be readjusted to actual conditions without destroying the artistic effect. The harbor re- quired more serious planning. Pri- marily, the purpose of the work on the island, requiring so much effort and expense, was to prepare a Way station for the planes that will fly between America and Asia. Obtaining a safe harbor for the planes was es- sential, and this has now been done at Midway possibly better than was anticimated before the actual shore- line was known. PRESIDENT DRAFTS TRANGPORT PLANS Co-ordination of Rails, Wa- ter, Highways and Air Lines Favored. BY WILL P. KENNEDY, President Roosevelt is preparing a new message to Congress on the trans- portation service, which is expected to emphasize development and co-ordi- nation of all branches—rail, water, highway and air—primarily in the in- | terest of the public. The bill drafted by Joseph B. East- man, Federal co-ordinator of trans- portation, to reorganize the Interstate Commerce Commission is aead, a can- vass of members of the House Com- mittee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce discloses. ‘The bill sponsored by Senator Wheel- er and Representative Huddleston of Alabama, known as the “motor carrier act,” providing for regulation of the transportation of passengers and prop- erty by motor carriers operating in interstate commerce, already passed by the Senate, will be passed by the House, probably next week, Chairman Rayburn of the Interstate Commerce Committee predicts. The bill is part of a complete and co-ordinated pro- gram of legislation recommended by the Interstate Commerce Commission, touching all forms of transportation The ultimate objective of the en- tire program is a system of co-ordi- nated transportation for the Nation which will supply the most efficient means of transportation and furnish service as cheaply as is consistent with fair treatment of labor and with earnings to support adequate credit and the ability to expand. Held Up in House. This transportation legislation ha been held up in the House commitier behind the public utility bill, one of the “big three” musts on the admin- istration program. This measure pro- vides for control in the public interest of public utility holding companies the mails and the facilities of interstate commerce to regulate the iransmission and sale of electric en- ergy and natural gas in interstate and foreign comme After eight wre of all-day hear: Chairman Rav- burn is about to name three sub- committees to work out the best pro- visions for (1) amendments to the water power act: (2) control of elec- i and power: (3) regulation of the gas industry. This bill will be re- ported to the House in about a week President Roosevelt’s -transportation message probably will not urge any particular bill. It is indicatea that ne will discuss each phase of transpor- tation service. showing the require- ments for development of railroad. waterway, motor highway and air carriers. and suggest co-ordination. Legislative leaders are of the opinion that the President will not support Eastman’s_bill, which calls for an enlarged Interstate Commerce Com- mission with a concentrated control. The other 10 commissioners bluntly opposed this measure in a report to Congress, saying that “there is little profit in present discussion of re- organization of the commission to meet duties which are yet wholly hypothetical.” Regarding the so-called Control Board provision of the Eastman plah, they frankly told Congress: 3 “This Control Board would in es- sence be the commission. The re- maining members, more than a ma- jority of the whole number, will still be called commissioners, will be little more than examiners, and privileged to vote in the disposition of but & limited class of cases. While theoreti- cally they will be equals with the commissioners who will sit as members of the Control Board, they wiil have no voice in any matters of adminis- tration; they cannot advise with their colleagues, except through courtesy, and they will not join in the reports of the commission to Congress. Such a form of organization must result in discord and in inefficiency and lack of concert of action.” Eastman Term Over June 16. The term of Eastman as Federal co-ordinator expires on June 16. The President can't extend it under the law. The work that the co-ordinator has been doing would logically be turned over to a division of the com- mission, of which the present co- ordinator might be chairman. There is considerable interest in the Wheeler-Huddleston bill, which has been considered in executive sessions for several weeks by a subcommittee consisting of Representatives Huddles- ton of Alabama, Bulwinkle of North Carolina, Terry of Arkansas, Sadowski of Michigan, all Democrats; Wads- worth of New York and Holmes of Massachusetts, both Republicans. That committee is in session this afternoon preparing to draft its report to the full committee, which will make con- cessions to those who have feared the legislation was going to hamper high- way transportation and bus service. P By the Associated Press ‘TODAY. Senate. Debates anti-lynching bill, House. Debates omnibus banking bill. Merchant Marine Committee opens hearing on ship subsidy legislation. TOMORROW. Senate. On the floor—Motion to take up the anti-lynching bill, or efforts to get up soldiers’ bonus bill. Commerce Committee—Hearing on ship subsidies bill. Finance Committee—Executive, on N. R. A. legislation. Banking Subcommittee—Hearing on new banking bill. Patents Committee—Executive meet- ing, routine business. House. o Continues debate on banking. bijl. House District Committee meets at 10:30 a.m. to receive the report of (Copyriahy. 1935, by the North American spuper Alliance. Inc.) ¢ the Special Crime Investigating Com- mittee. »