Evening Star Newspaper, April 20, 1936, Page 2

G:0.P. LEADERSHP HELD INFFECTUAL Possibility of Victory Seen Weakened by Stand-Pat : Attitude. ..., BY DAVID LAWRENCE. “With less than 60 days between now and-the national political conventions, and about six months to election day, » “candid appraisal of the political outlook would seem to indicate there are two fundamental questions in the minds of most people who throughout the length and breadth of the land are discussing politics. These are: 1. Can Mr. Roosevelt be defeated? The emphasis is on the word “can.” -2: Will Mr. Roosevelt be defeated? The emphasis is on the word “will.” _Taking the first question—can Mr. Roosevelt be defeated?—this corre- spondent would answer “yes,” on the | theory the Literary Digest poll showed conclusively there are more people in the United States opposed to the Roosevelt policies than in favor of them. While .he lapse of a few weeks since the poll was taken has led many ebservers to say Mr. Roosevelt’s stock has risen, there has been no such ma- terié] change in administration pol- icies as to warrant the belief that the voters in the Digest poll have changed their minds. G. 0. P. Leadership “Blind.” - Much more plausible is the comment that there has been a distinct down- ward curve in the “opposition,” not only because of the bitter battles be- tween candidates in pre-convention primaries, but because the Republican party leadership has shown itself blind to the exigencies of an extraordinary ‘political year. The principal difficulty, of course, is that the Republican leaders have com- Yletely ignored the fact they are not the only “opposition,” and indeed have by their ineptitude convinced many Democrats that the hope of the coun- try for an organized opposition to the New Deal no longer lies in the so- called Republican leadership. ! The simple proposition that a Dem- ‘ocrat who is dissatisfied with the New ‘Deal must vote for the prospective Republican candidate has for several ‘months given the Republicans an over- | confidence that they would acquire the ‘anti-New Deal vote anyhow, even while maintaining their stand-pat tra- ‘ditions. To this extent the Digest potl made the Republicans unduly op- timistic. Today the disillusionment is coming gradually but surely. Party pri- maries and the total votes cast are showing that while the Republican | party has a large nucleus of votes, it does not, on the other hand, possess sufficient magnetism to attract new voters or the old voters of the in- dependent kind. If the Republican platform were written tomorrow, it/ would be full of ambiguities, carrying water on both shoulders, and more or less condoning, for example, the high tapiff crimes and crass materialism which have been so characteristic of Républican platforms of the past. - ) Lack Appeal. #Fhere is as yet nothing of the hu- manitarian, nothing of the progressive or penetratingly sympathetic appeal in Republican speeches or declarations which shows a grasp of the problems of the underdog or of the true causes of unemployment. The Democratic cgy for a better share of life's benefits for the average man has not been met full square with a program that will mean more re-employment and & +higher standard of living. Basically, it is the writer's convic- tton that a coalition of all persons who oppose the New Deal can defeat Mr. Roosevelt, but not altogether because of the mistakes of commission by the mocratic party, but because of its takes of omission—its failure to let thp economic system of America func- tion, so that 10,000,000 persons can get the jobs they have waited three Jeng years to get. ZAll this requires a reorganized party of opposition and constructive alter- natives, a party in which Democrats affd Republicans stand on a basis of equality. If there is to be a merger of independent Democrats and Repub- licans, it would seem logical that such & merger be consummated on the basis of equals in their own right, rather than by an ignominous retreat of & liberal-minded bloc into the arms of 8 party of resction and standpatism. This, at zny rate, is the spirit of the Independent Democrats who have no more love for the Liberty League thaa they have for the New Dealers, but | who know that much of the hypocrisy and bunk being recited by the New | Dealers about campaign contributions and “entrenched greed” is transpar- ently for political effect, and that un- der the skin the two major parties are brethren, both supported by the xftmeyed interests of the country be- their stake in economic recovery is at bottom non-political. . Defeat Now Unlikely. <#Phe answer to the second question —will Mr. Roosevelt be defeated?—is st 3his writing “no.” The principal reason for saying so is that the Re- piflican party leaders think they have a~monopoly of the opposition to the New Deal, and are conducting them- vps on the mistaken theory that have enough votes to win anyhow. have not taken the necessary teps to win the independent Demo- crats, and it begins to look as if they ng&;fi‘r will this year. «The average disinterested observer 1£2gut of sympathy with the Repub- i strategy. e Democratic State and local or- ganizations, of course, have been cap- italieing politically the .favors and sibiidies handed out with many bil- liots of dollars of taxpayers’ money in three years. It is wrong to sdy The Democrats will “buy” the elec- tion* next November, because this im- plle€ that large groups of voters can berbpught, which is absurd. But or- ganigations to influence public sen- tifheht can be built up as readily now- adays with money out of the public > ry as with the money of the Liberty League contributors. The dif- ference is that the New Dealers and th#it henchmen use the taxpayers’ meney derived by taxes on undivided sufpluses and the like, while the Lib- ¢rty “League members put up their gwa money directly. election, however, will default to the Democrats unless e people who are sincerely op- to the New Deal on principle, Besause they believe it will wreck the Treghfury and force the workingman's doller down In purchasing power, o L T to Be broken, party customs brushed to 0ge side, a convention or confer- enceof independent Democrats held, s flitform of truly progressive and tarian ideas promulgated, and of constructively liberal adopted. It is never too late-4rdo the things that mean vic- tory. "= (Copyright, 1036.) 4 What’s What Behind News in Capital Will Be Put Under Microscope. BY PAUL MALLON. CONGRESSIONAL authority A factories. He intends to have one of the congressional n- vestigating committees look into the matter. It would not be surprising Department shortly. His advance information indicates there are no fewer than three or four organizations which will start a mali- at a price. Two of these outfits are said to maintain respectable fronts.’ They were originally organized for merchandising purposes and got into U. S. Rumor Factories is digging up data of rumor if he gets some help from the Justice cious rumor over the country for you rumor mongering as a sideline. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MONDAY, APRIL 20, 1936. NEWS HELD CURB |PUBLISHERS LAUD |[ Text of Mencken’s Address 10 DITATORSHIP Sir Willmott Lewis, Mencken and Frank B. Noyes Talk at A. P. Meeting. By the Assoctated Press. NEW YORK, April 20—Twc noted newspaper men, Henry L. Mencken and Sir Willmott Lewis, addressed the annual luncheon of the Associated Press today, with Mencken urging a greater emphasis on editorial pages and Sir Willmott calling news “the chief source of opinion by which gov- ernment in democratic countries must proceed.” Sir Willmott, Washington corre- spondent of the London Times, in stressing the importance of a free press, said: “The newspapers of today are not in all lands free, but where they still have liberty and defend it—against enemies without and within—where they stand for discussion and agree- ment, setting themselves unbreakably against the regimentation of custom One is supposed to have started that malicious whisper about a cer- tain brand of cigarettes some months back. Their latest products are fan- tastic whisperings that there was something wrong about the deaths of Gov. Ritchie, James M. Beck and one or two other prominent opponents of the New Deal who have died recently. They seem to have avoided President Roosevelt as a subject during the last few months. Proof against them is very hard to get, but there are now inner indica- tions that they will not be in busi- ness long. Stock Price Pushed Up. To show you how foolishly people follow rumors: The Securities and Exchange Com- mission now is pursuing a financial house and 14 co-defendants for hiring agents to go around the country cir- The agents received $10 to $25 per 100 shares to make a market for the stock merely with whispers. They went to different cities and spread the word in the right places about what a good thing it was. Guilible persons | increased the daily volume of pur- chases six times over and drove the price up 50 per cent so the big shots could get out at a profit. At least this is the Government side of the story, and it has been done before. One Man’s Idea. Business men seem to know more about politics now than they did be- fore and during the depression. More able knowledge of practical prospects. For instance, one of the topnotch- ers, who cannot be quoted, has this | practical slant on the political out- look: If business fights hard, Mr. Roosevelt can be deaten, but if it temporizes he will win. ‘With some improvement in busi- ness and some modifications of ex- treme New Deal policies, this busi- ness man, as an anti-New Dealer, fears that business may now begin to pull its punches and lose interest. Appeal to Reason. A new kind of model campaign titled, “Why Kentucky Is for the New Deal.” It was inserted in the Con- gressional Record (without reading) April 9 by the Senate Democratic floor leader. Senator Logan’s appeal to reason is almost entirely the fact that the New Deal dropped $227,000,000 of Federal donations into Kentucky. He gives names and amounts of each item in millions, including: A. A. A, $20,- 000.000; C. C. C., $23,000,000; direct relief $36,000,000; C. W. A, $9,000,~ 000; P. W. A, $30,000,000, etc., etc. ‘The New Dealers have tired of the Van Nuys bill proposing heavy pen- alties for business men who influence the vote of their employes. It is be- ing quietly strangled in the House Judiciary Committee because it is & little too raw. What made them real- ize it was a counter proposal to pre- vent Federal officials from doing the same thing. ‘The long look you may have no- ticed on Senator Wheeler's face is because he could not get anything but an upper tier seat for the open- ing game, and, when seated, he saw through a spy-glass that his secretary was sitting in a front box near the President. The old Japanese scare is being used regularly by the Filipinos in their current campaign to repeal economic barriers here. Despite the auspicious start of the new Pilippine Common- wealth and praise of the United States for freeing the islands, the possibility of strained relations between Wash~ ington and Manila is quite strong. The veterans’ lobby, flushed by vic- tory in bonus legislation, has just about given up hope for the universal draft (passed by the Senate, now in the House). A recent canvass of the legislative situation convinced an American Legion committee that it would not get through this session. You will see plenty of Mr. Roose- velt’s face in the news reels from now on. Eight separate presidential ap- pearances were photographed by reel- ers between April 8 and 16, A lot of rich Democrats are already being “mentioned” backstage as spe- cial ambassador to the coronation of Edward VIII in May, 1837. Appar- ently it is hoped that all will help their chances by making substantial contributions to Postmaster General Farley’s campaign fund. (Copyright. 1936.) Boy to Get Scholarship. The North Carolina 4-H Club mem- ber who grows and exhibits the best baby beef calf in 1936 will receive a one-year scholarship to State college. culating rumors about a certain stock. .| of them seem to have an understand- | speech is that of Senator Logan, en- | and obedience by goose-step, even the cynic may find a place for hope.” Most Critics Bad, Says Mencken. Mencken, of the Baltimore Sun papers, said: “The newspaper is rot only a news-monger; it is also a critic.” “That it may be a bad one is be- side the point; nine-tenths of all critics are bad ones,” the editor and writer said. “The essential thing is that it is the only critical agency of any genuine competence and influ- ence that is left in the American scheme of things. I don't argue here that newspapers ought always to be ‘agin’ ‘the Gov- ernment. Far from it. All I argue is that they ought to be ready for it when, as and if it needs attention. “And when they have something to say about it, whether in challenge or in commendation, they ought to say something in type legible at a dis- tance of at least 6 inches and under headlines suitable to the importance ! of the subject and in a place less de- pressing than the funeral perlor of the editorial page.” In calling for vigorous editorial writing, Mencken said: “The effort to keep the news columns clean of editorializing has reacted on the editorial page itself. | “We have all worked so hard—and | 1o one less than the directors of the Associated Press—to make news writing really impartial that we have come near making editorial writing impar- | tial, too. Is that an improvement? I | have some doubt of it. * * *” Noyes Stresses Impartial News. | Frank B. Noyes, publisher of The Washington Star and president of the | Associated Press, presided at the luncheon. With the Nation preparing for a presidential campaign, Noyes reiterated the unbiased and non-partisan atti- | tude of the Associated Press in the dissemination of news. H “It will surprise none of you to learn that this is a year when the United States goes through a presi- | dential campaign,” he said. “And so | it seems desirable that what I say | today be confined to a statement of the fundamental mission of the As- sociated Press, namely, the creation for us of the news report; also that I state publicly how through this or- | ganization we try to obtain for our newspapers accurate and impartial DONE. * *1® “In any campaign our newspapers | or ourselves as individuals may have | preferences just as may be the case on all controversial questions, but this institution of ours which we call the Associated Press must not favor or oppose anything. With that no| member of the Associated Press has ever disagreed.” | Toast to White House Pair. The one toast of the luncheon, ac- | cording to custom, was given to| President and Mrs. Roosevelt. It was | offered by President Noyes, who said: “On these annual occasions, it is our custom to drink but one toast. I ask you to rise and drink to the health of the President of the United States and that of the gracious lady of the White House.” Noyes paid tribute to Sir Willmott and Mencken. The latter, he said, “is an extraordinary combination of & great journalist, a great radical and | a great conservative.” “In his capacity of Washington cor- respondent of the London Times,” Noyes said, “Sir Willmott has rendered a great service to the English-speaking | peoples. For day by day, year by year, he has interpreted to Great Britain the changing currents of thought in the| United States sympathetically, intelli- | gently and comprehensively, to the enormous advantage of both common- wealths. His understanding of our problems, our people, is, I believe, as complete as that of any man.” Sir Willmott, recalling the origin of the expression of “the fourth estate” as used for the press, said: “The press is no longer fourth in the heirarchy of national powers—it is hardly less than first in the sweep and continuity of its influence. Danger Held From Within. “Both in England and in the United States the danger which confronts what we call freedom of the press is not chiefly from without, for that we can meet, but from within. “It is, as I gee it, & danger which grows with the growth and with the increasing integration of the news- paper system—the danger that the freedom which makes us great and useful may make some among us too great, that individuals may acquire a power which (if the freedom we de- mand is to be ours) they cannot be prevented from harnessing in the serve ice of personal ambition rather than of the community from which their strength flows. “We are all of us, each in his place, among the guardians of freedom, but ‘Quid custodiet ipsos custodes?’ asked the stern old Roman—who shall guard your own guards? “I beg of you earnestly to believe that these doubts are not mine alone, but that they preoccupy the minds of innumerable men within my own craft, which is that of writer, not publisher.” * Sessions Open Tomorrow. The fiftieth annual Convention of the American Newspaper Publishers’ Association will begin tomorrow and run through Friday. Election of directors, reception of reports of the general manager and directorate, and committee activities are some of the major items on the program of the Associated Press. Directors Are Increased. The Associated Press at its meeting unanimously adopted an amendment to the by-laws increasing the number of directors from 15 to 18 to give & larger representation to smaller news- papers. The amendment, effective in 1937, provides that three directors shall be , the last three years. GAINBY BUSINES Improvement Over 1935 Is Noted With Varying De- grees of Optimism. BY the Assoctated Press. NEW YORK, April 20.—Newspaper publishers, arriving today for their annual conventions, answered the question “how’s business?” with vary- ing degrees of optimism, Here for the annual meetings of the Associated Press and the American Newspaper Publishers’ Association, they agreed generally that business is better than last year. Among those cgmmenting on busi- ness in their respective sections wers the following: Joseph R. Knowland, publisher, the Oakland, Calif., Tribune—“Conditions generally in California show quite a little improvement. We have had good rains. more than usual, auguring | well for agriculture. Peaches, apri- cots and' other deciduous fruits have been hurt by frosts. The omly diffi- culty in the general business situa- tion is the uncertainty as to the future. Confidence is still somewhat lacking as to whether improvement will con- tinue and this has a retarding in- fluence on business.” Stuart H. Perry, publisher, the Adrian, Mich,, Telegram—"Business in the southern part of Michigan is pretty well back to normal. Prospects are pretty good for 1936-7 and busi- ness generally this year should be 10 per cent better than last year, and perhaps even better than that. Some of our autamobile accessory plants— we manufacture no automobiles in our section—have been very busy working 24 hours a day.” Frederick E. Murphy, publisher, the Minneapolis Tribune—"Business con- ditions in the Northwest are better | than they have been in five years. Minnesota, and the Dakotas have had | plenty of moisture and the outlook is ideal so far as crops are concerned. The farm industry is 200 to 300 per | cent better than last year. Farmers have more maney to spend and this is reflected in the automobile sales in Minnesota, the Dakotas and Wis- | consin.” | L. K. Nicholson, publisher, the New | Orleans Times-Picayune—"Business is slowly coming back. It is better than last vear.” Linwood I. Noyes, publisher, the Ironwood, Mich., Daily Globe—"The ! iron ore season is getting under way in the upper peninsula and we expect a substantial increase in shipments, which is the best barometer of busi- ness conditions in our section.” Oscar S. Stauffer, publisher, the | Arkansas City, Kans., Traveler—“Busi- | ness is very good, considering every- thing. Kansas has been short in moisture and consequently the crop prospects are fair, but better than | Industry is pick- | ing up and is reflected in the in- | crease in railroad travel which has been marked.” Clark Howell, sr, publisher, the Atlanta Constitution—“Georgia is en- | Joying the best business since 1930. Retail trade the past three months any time in the last seven years. They are getting twice as much for their cotton, tobacco and other farm prod- ago. They are paying up their debts with the banks and raising more of their own products for the home and barn than at any time in the last 20 is larger than at any time since 1930. | “The farmers are better fixed than | inNg department alone occupies more | ucts than they were getting four years | Baltimore Writer Cites Rapid Changes and Im- provements in Associated Press and Newspapers. Fy the Assoclated Press. EW YORK, April 20.—Here is the text of an address today by H. L. Mencken of the Bal- timore Sun papers at the an- nual luncheon of the Associated Press: ‘There is probably no younger man on earth, either in outward aspect or interior fire, than Frank B. Noyes, and yet the sworn records show that he has been president of the Associated Press for 36 years. Dizzy years indeed and full of revolutions. I am allowed only three hours for my sermon this afternoon, 50 I can't rehearse all the changes that have gone on, but there is at least time to mention a few of them. When Mr. Noyes took office as head of this little club, there was not, in all the world, & jazz band, a radio crooner or a movie star. Nearly a million veterans of the Civil War were still alive, and only a few hardy pioneers had ever had their tonsils cut out. McKinley was President, with the Detroit Edison Co. and was being laughed at for trying to build automobiles, and the first flight of an airship was three years off. Men flocked into theaters to see women's legs, and women sneaked into depart- ment stores, blushing and looking back over their shoulders, to buy powder puffs. Here in New York prohibition was heard of only as a far-off and incredible hobgoblin, like the Dalai Lama or cannibalism. First A. P. Copy. It was about the time Mr. Noyes be- piece of A. P. copy. It was a small sheet of flimsy, reporting that some eminent criminal had been hanged— maybe 10 lines, no more. Not a word from the lawyers. No interviews with the wives or spiritual advisers of the deceased, Even the name of the hangman wasn't mentioned. The whole thing might have been engraved on a 10-cent piece. It went on page 4, which was about equal to page 37 today, and got a spot pretty far down the page. No art. The only picture on that page was a half-tone of a bi- cycle racer engraved on copper with a | screen of about 120. In those days no | one believed seriously that half-tones could be stereotyped. They were bev- eled along the edges, curved in a little press, fastened on the mat, and cast into the plate—one half-tone for each and needed more than one. I remem- ber the bicycle racer because one of his half-tones got loose that night, wrecked a new Goss press, set the managing editor and the foreman of the press room to fighting with monkey-wrenches, and provided a swell show for us young reporters. Certainly we have seen a lot of progress since that primitive era What the full Associated Press report now amounts to on a busy night I don't know precisely. and neither, T suppose. does any one else, not evel All T am sure of is that, down in the Baltimore Sun office it is now common to get more news from Kitzmiller, Md., or Omsk, Siberia, than we used to get from New York or Sing Sing. The sport- space. works more men and uses more different kinds of type than the whole news section of 36 years ago. Taking all the American dailies together, they | print more stuff about a good. juicy | murder than their predecessors of |1861-65 printed about the entire | Civil War. Lindbergh's clipping book years.” —— cities of less than 50,000 population. The three members shall be nom:i- nated separately and elected by separate ballot. The candidate re- ceiving the most votes shall serve for three years, the next highest for two years, and the third for one year. The amendment specifically pro- vides that the candidates’ newspapers shall not be controlled or operated by or affiliated with any newspaper owner in a city of more than 50,000 popula- tion. The morning session heard the an- nual reports of Kent Cooper, general manager, and the board of directors, the report of the Nomirating Commit- tee, and a report urging members to give consideration to the question whether the Associated Press should embark upon a program of advertising. Five Associated Press directors whose terms expire this month and who have been nominated for re-elec- tion are: W. H. Cowles, Spokane (Wash.) Spokesman-Review; E. Lan- sing Ray. St. Louis Globe-Democrat; Col. Robert R. McCormick, Chicago Tribune; George B. Longan, Kansas City Star, and L. K. Nicholson, New Orleans Times-Picayune. In accordance with the association’s rules, the Nominating Committee also put forward the names of five other candidates for the board. These are: E. K. Gaylord, Oklahoma City Okla- homan and Times; Alfred G. Hill, Fort Collins (Colo.) Express-Courier; J. Lawrence Horne, jr., Rocky Mount (N. C) Telegram; William J. Pape, is four times as thick as George Washington's. When the President makes a speech we not only print it in full; we also print a two-column | summary of it, a summary of the | summary in a 10-point lead, and a | summary of the summary of the summary in a first-page box. Progress in Letters. But it isn't only in news-gathering that the newspapers of the United | States have forged ahead. They have also made enormous progress in art and beautiful letters. I well remem- ber how, as a young Sunday editor, I | had to concoct my own colored comics. First I had to find an idea that hadn't been used for at least two weeks, then I had to find an artist sober enough to make the drawings, and then I had to see them through the engraving and stereotyping departments and the press room. If the blue eye of a red-faced character got anywhere within the limits of his face we called it good register. But now there are great factories turning out comic mats by the bale, and they print as beautifully as banknotes and are full of the same nourishing boloney. The column boys do almost as well for literature. Some time ago a colleague told me that he | in one issue of a New York paper. I got a copy and counted 19, another columnist had been put to work be- tween the 7 a.m. noon edition and the 1 p.m. absolutely last final, with clos- ing stock market quotations. That night I read all 19 columns. Nine of them were devoted to denouncing the other 10. The other 10, I should add in justice, were free from this vituper- Waterbury (Conn.) Republican, and Howard C. Rice, Brattleboro (Vt.) Re- former. Arms (Continued From First Page.) “because airplane and engtne con- struction are still rapidly developing arts.” Already, the Government is manu- facturing half its naval vessels, all its naval guns aud small arms, together with part of its ammunition. Thus, the committee recommendation would involve nationalization of machine gun manufacture, certain gun forgings, the balance of its ammunition, armor plate, and additional equipment for naval building. Expansion of Navy yards, the report said, could be accom- plished at a cost of $23,600,000. The majority urged that private munitions makers be prohibited from selling American military inventions abroad. AnsWering minority views on na- tionalization, the majority asserted costs would not be greater since prof- its, estimated as high as 58 per cent on certain naval contracts, would be eliminated. As to dangers of over-production, the report said the present Govern- | ation, ‘Their authors gave over all their space to stroking and scratching themselves. But now, having recalled some of our triumphs in our chosen art, I hope T'll be forgiven for mentioning our grandest and gaudiest failure. I al- lude, of course, to the editorial page. It has been going downhill steadily for 50 years. No one thinks of great American editors any more; every one thinks of great sports writers, comic artists and columnists. Yet it seems to me—and in fact I admit it in a ‘whisper as one who has performed principally on editorial pages for a generation past—that no other page on the newspaper of today is better manned. It enlists good men, and sometimes brilliant men, and they work hard and faithfully. On even than any other page, and not infre- quently it shows wider information and sounder judgment. Prize Offered Editors. Yet how many read it and heed it i 1] H 3 | to keep the news columns clean of Henry Ford had just quit a nice job | came president that I saw my firsl‘ plate—that is, if it was a big paper | had counted no less than 18 columns | luck is really with you, you may even land in jail. ‘Why are such effects impossible on the editorial page? They are impos- sible for several plain reasons. One is that the editorial page, save in.a few newspapers, i$ so gloomy and for- bidding, typographically, that only a reader itching for punishment is ever tempted to read it. It prints the longest paragraphs in the paper, and | under the smallest heads. It is mainly written and made up before anything actually happens, and at least half the time what it says about | things that happened yesterday is| blown up by the follow-ups of today. If you printed college yells under such feeble one-line heads, they would sound like algebraic equations. Reacts on Editorials. There is something else. The effort editorializing has reacted on the edi- torial page itself. We have all worked 50 hard—and no one less than the | directors of the Associated Press—to make news-writing really impartial that we have come near making edi- torial-writing impartial, too. Is that an improvement? I begin to have some doubt of it. The first job of a newspaper, to be sure, is to print the news, and nowhere on earth is it done | more diligently or more honestly than in this great free republic, the envy | and despair of all the decadent prin- cipalities of Europe. But printing the bare news is only half of that job.| The rest is interpreting it, showing | what it signifies, getting some sense and coherence into it. In brief, the newspaper is not only a news-monger; it is also a critic. That it may be a bad one is beside the point; nine-tenths of all critics are bad ones. The essential thing is that it is the only critical agency of »1.y genu- | ine competence and influer.ce that is left in the American scheme of things. ‘The pedagogues of the country, when they become public jobholders, cut ;zheu— own throats—as many of them | now begin to realize. No one pays any | attention to them any more: when | they are heard of at all, it is as comic | characters, Ameliorates Heresy. | ‘The pulpit has gone further and | fared worse. In most communities it is now tolerated only in so far as it confines itself to post-mortem matters, and never says anything that can be either proved or disproved. Thz Lalls of legislation hardly deserve to be | mentioned at all. The only actual di- vision of opinion that they ever show is over the question whether A or B should have the job. The opposition in the English House of Commons is |8 living force and. as we saw only lately, is really able to influence gov- ernment policy. But in Congress the minority has no rights that the ma- Jority is bound to respect. When it is knocked in the head it is forbidden even to howl. | | This leaves the field open to the ; newspapers of the country. They con- ¥ stitute its only effective opposition, | | and one of their clearest duties is to| | keep & wary eye on the gentlemen wh operate this great Nation, and only | too often slip into the assumption that | they own it. I don’t argue here that | newspapers ought always to be agin | the Government. Far from it. All| | I argue is that they ought to be ready | lfor it when, as and if it needs at- | tention. And when they have some- thing to say about it, whether in chal- | lenge or in commendation, they ought | to say that something in type legible at a distance of at least 6 inches, and under headlines suitable to the im- portance of the subject, and in a place | less depressing than the funeral parlor | | of the editorial page. | I ameliorate my heresy by hasten- | ing to add in conclusion that the ed: torial page, with crape stripped off it, | would still have the function of of-| fering useful information and refined | entertainment to the more philosophi- | cal type of reader. It could go on | printing such things as I have long | contributed to it myself—Ilearned, deli- | | cate essays which strike a neat balance | | between pro and con, and leave only the sweet sourd of music on the ear. But when there is really something to | be said, why not say it where pecple | will hear it? Why go down into the | cellar to hold an auction sale—and | | selling ideas is an auction sale pre- | cisely like any other? Why not get out on the sidewalk and ring a bell? Congress in Brief TODAY. | Senate: Debates flood control legislation. Labor Subcommittee gets testimony on use of industrial espionage. Labor Committee examines Wagner housing bill. House: Considers consent calendar and minor bills. ‘Ways and Mears Committee meets on new tax bill. TOMORROW. te: Probably will take up State, Justice, Commerce and Labor appropriations bill. Agriculture Committee hearing, 10 a.m., on commodity exchange hill. House: Wil hold memorial services for de- ceased members. Interstate Commerce Committee be- gins hearings on bill to amend com- | munications act of 1934, 10 a.m. | HE daily reports from Europe quota of “crucial moment,” T direct action. unwilling to to treaty promises that do not suit them. Postponement to the middle of May of con- sideration of Alice Longworth. bluff has worn pretty thin. How much longer will the members continue to pay club dues to such a futile and passion-arousing Nations has turnd out to be? BLACK STUDYING The National Scene BY ALICE ROOSEVELT LONGWORTH tion,” “grave crisis,” all the familiar cries of “wolf” that lost meaning through repetition. Meanwhile, the Versailles and other treaties are being very thoroughly “revised,” without the formality of calling a conference. The overlord of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk, has moved his troops into the demilitarized zone at the Dardanelies. He has merely followed the lead of Mussolini and Hitler in taking to . He recognizes the simple fact that the League of Nations is powerless or admission that the combined League-British LIBERTY LEAGUE Lobby Committee Preparing for Duel With Shouse and Associates. By the Associated Press. The Senate Lobby Committee con- centrated today on gathering data about the American Liberty League preparatory to calling the league's officials to testify. The public hearings on the league, which is an arch foe of many New Deal policies and has been denouncing the Lobby Committee for its actions in subpoenaing telegrams, are ex- pected to be held soon. The Capital expected a notable duel when Jouett Shouse, league president, and other officials, face Chairman Black across the committee table. There were indications that soon after the league hearings, the commit- | tee might wind up its work, especially | since both House and Senate have now | passed bills requiring lobbyists to reg- ister and disclose their financial af- fairs. Since the bills passed the two Houses in somewhat different form, a conference is expected to be held this week in an effort to reach agreement. The committee still is studying ways and means of raising money to pay counsel in the fight against William Randolph Hearst, who is seeking to | enjoin the committee from examining his telegrams. The District Supreme Court ruled against Hearst, but he plans an appeal. With the House refusing to grant the committee $10,000 to employ a lawyer, committee members said the idea of asking the public to contribute funds to carry on the fight is under | consideration. They also said that several lawyers, who were not named, have volun- teered to serve without pay. Col. Crampton Harris of Birmingham, Ala,, | who was legal counsel for the com- mittee in the District Court fight, is still serving without compensation, it was said, though he draws expense money. ‘The resolution to appropriate $10,- 000 was introduced and passed by the Senate because the present law limits compensation for committee employes to $3,600 & year, Housing (Continued From First Page.) in the durable goods industry, and the overflow of the technologically unemployed in other fields. The build- ing program of this scope must be predominantly the task of private industry.” Wagner said the bill was aimed directly at relief of low income groups. He contended that for this reason outright Federal grants would be es- sential. Federal grants to communities up to 45 per cent of any project would be permitted. The labor view on the bill was oiced by Harry C. Bates, chairman { the American Federation of Labor Housing Committee and president of the Bricklayers, Masons and Plasterers’ International Union. He told the committee “no industry has been sicker during the past six years than the building industry” and urged enactment of the Wagner bill this session. Irvin S. Cobb Says: Gridiron Burlesque Is Burlesque of a Burlesque. SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 20. —Except the obituary column, noth- ing could be sadder than the newspa- per account of a gridiron club dinner. Yet gridiron club dinners aim to be satirically amus- ing, and fre- quently are. Turning them out must be a| trem en dously hard job, because they deal with the national po- litical scene, and any producer of farces will tell you you can't burlesque a bur- lesque. In other words, you can't TAXES AND RELIEF 0CCUPY CONGRESS Few Other Measures Ex- pected to Secure Action of This Session, BACKGROUND— Much to distress of most members of Congress, President Rooseveit in February asked for new tax legis- lation. Proposal was for revision of corporate tax system, with levy on undistributed profits replacing ex- cess profits, corporate income and capital stock tazes. House Ways and Means Commit= tee has had legislation under con- sideration nearly two months, orig- inal plan being modified Ranking with tazes as obstacle to adjournment is relief bill calling for §1,500,000,000; now before House Appropriations Committee. BY the Assoctated Press. Taxes and relief still were barring | the way to congressional adjournment today, but virtually every other legis- | lative proposal on the books was sched- | uled for a painless death through neglect. First of the big issues to reach open debate will be the revenue measure, | now receiving final polishing from the | House.Ways and Means Committee. | Speaker Byrns said at his press con- ference today the House will start consideration of the bill either Wed- nesday or Thursday, “probably Thurs- day.” After a conference with House lead- | ers, Chairman Doughton, Democrat, of | North Carolina, and other members of the Ways and Means Committee, the Speaker said debate on the measure probably will be limited to 16 hours, 8 hours to a side. Bryns said the committee is ready to introduce the bill tomorrow and may ! file a report on it by Tuesday night. He added he did not expect the House to reach a vote until the first of next week. The Senate Finance Committee scheduled to hold its hearings while | House consideration is in progress. As finally written by the House sub- committee, the bill provides for a tax on corporation net income graduated according to sums withheld from dis- tribution to stockholders, temporary extension of the existing capital stock and excess profits taxes, levies on foreign stockholders in domestic in- dustries and a windfall tax designed to recapture from processors a part of unpaid or refunded A. A. A. proc- essing levies. | No estimate of the actual revenue the bill would produce was available today, but the committee was aiming | at $§799,000,000. President Roosevelt | had recommended a program that would finance the new farm subsidy | and bonus pre-payment acts, in addi- tion to recoverirg losses from the out- lawing of the A. A. A. A House Ap- propriations Subcommittee will con- | tinue efforts today to complete a de- | ficiency bill carrying the $1,500.000,000 | the President asked for W. P. A. next | year. | This request also faces & rocky | road in the Senate, where Republicans |and some Democrats will seek a change in the present system of ad- | ministering relief expenditures. ! The Navy appropriation bill will re- main the only major supply proposal to come out of the House committee after the relief fund is approved. All other annual appropriation bills are either through the House, or both Houses and awaiting conference action. Howe (Continued From First Page.) | Daughters of the American Revolu- tion. The widow and her son, Hartley, | reached here last night from Fall | River and were met by Mrs. Rooses velt. Howe’s friendship with the man he affectionately called “the boss™ | began in Albany, when Mr. Roosevelt | was a State Senator and Howe & | newspaper correspondent. | Through success, failure and near- tragedy, they were inseparable. Howe was with Mr. Roosevelt when the lat- | ter was Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the Wilson administration; advised him in the unsuccessful drive for the vice presidency in 1920, en- couraged him through the attack of | infantile paralysis and was in the inner counsel during the 1932 cam- paign. Victory Credited to Howe. oe very runny on a subject which al- ready is so much funnier than any- thing you can think of to write about it—and that's what the fellows at Washington are up against. This business of trying to be comic | is a serious business anyway, espe- clally since all comedy is predicated on distress. A fat man falling down makes us laugh because he suffers both in spirit and flesh. But if he is a pallbearer, say, at a funeral, and falls down on his own high hat and breaks up the services—well, now then, you've got something that’s really funny. A definition of comedy could be: Tragedy standing on its head with its pants torn. (Copyright. 1936. by the North American Newspaver Alliance. Inc.) \ contain even more than the usual *“clash imminent,” “delicate situa- force strong nations to live up sanctions against Italy is a tacit debating society as the League of After the presidency was won, Mr. | Roosevelt said Howe and James A. Farley were responsible, above all others, for the “great victory.” Howe's death came after more than | & year's fight—much of it under an | oxygen tent—against heart and chest | complications. | Expressions of regret came from | leaders in public life who since early | World War days had known Howe. | Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War while Mr. Roosevelt was a member of the “little cabinet,” said of Howe: “His devotion to his country was his outstanding characteristic. His death | is a great loss.” Gen. Hugh S. Johnson, former N. R. A. chieftain, telephoned the fol- lowing comment from New York: “Gospel Hymn No. 1 has been for- gotten—Only an Armor Bearer'—l have lost a dear friend, but Franklin Roosevelt has lost more than that.” Since 1932, Howe was constantly close to Mr. Roosevelt's office, living at the White House, with an office only a few steps removed from that of the President. More than a year ago his illness was so critical that hope was aband- oned, but the veteran political strati- gist surprised physicians by his stamina and apparent recovery. Last August when White House re- pairs necessitated cutting off of electricity and plumbing, Howe was removed to Naval Hospital. The President made many trips to the hospital to visit his friend, the last only a few days ago. Although a native of Indiana—he was born in Indianapolis January 14, 1871—it was a lifetime spent in close- up observation of New York politics that equipped him for the role he was to play. He grew up in Saratoga, then as now visited frequently by politictans. His father ran a paper and the son, naturally enough, drifted into the newspaper business and became cor respondent for New York dailies. More ‘than 30 years ago he went to Albany as correspondent for the old (Copyright. 1938) New York Herald. This post led to 8 friendship such as has rarely been been known in American political history. ‘