Evening Star Newspaper, August 21, 1936, Page 9

Politics Clouds Northwest’s . Progress Grand Coulee Needs Non-Partisanship to Be Complete Asset. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. AKIMA, Wash, August 21.— You can't understand the pol- itics of the Northwest unless you understand its economics. Nor can you understand the spirit of its people if you come out here with the notion that America is finished, that trade with the rest of the world is done for and g . that all we have left to do in the next 25 years is to ration employ- ment and divide up our internal markets on a self - sufficiency basis. I came away from the drought areas of North Dakota disheart- ened. There was a population of 800,000 waiting patiently every year for rainfall that has over a period of 50 years averaged annually a disap- pointing percentage. More and more Federal aid, more and more money to be paid out, it seemed to me, with no solution in sight. Then I saw here in Central Wash- ington the greenest fields I have ever seen and the finest agricultural de- velopment that a people could pos- sibly want—and they told me they didn't want any rain, that it was more or less of a nuisance and that they were glad they didn't get it very often, For here in the Yakima section is the most successful irrigation project our Government has ever launched. I wanted to see the Yakima district rather than the Grand Coulee Dam because it is not the dam that will some day tell the story of the vast expenditure now planned, but the miles upon miles of wonderful fields and happy people—the objective of the Grand Coulee project. I am sorry the Grand Coulee Dam and irrigation plan has gotten mixed up in politics. is going to cost $500,000,000 before it i3 finished and it will take many years to complete, and Republicans ‘as well a® Democrats in Congress will be needed to push it through. I came here with a lot of questions fn my mind about Grand Coulee, 4 David Lawrence. which is the largest project of its kind | on the North American continent. It 1s to have three times the capacity of Boulder Dam. While I was given many logical and satisfying answers, I am inclined to believe that the spending of $500,000,000 is a risky thing if we are going to have poli- ticians in command of our national resources to be used by them as a foot ball of political ambition. I found the answers to most of my questions in a very excellent report just issued by the State Planning Council at Olympia, a commission of level-headed business men appointed by Gov. Martin. It makes a case for reclamation as a financial success. Must Have Outlet for Power, But I can't see how industries are ever going to be attracted to the State ‘ of Washington to use the surplus power generated at Grand Coulee if the Democratic State platform of this | year, which provides for “production for use” and a socialistic form of gov- ernment, really represents the wishes of the people of Washington. Nor can T understand how all the power is go- ing to be used if its sale is restricted to municipal governments or districts. Clearly there must be some way by which the wonderful supply of water- power can be used beneficially so that, on the one hand, it will not break down an existing business investment 1t shouldn't be, for it | and, on the other hand, will give this yegion the benefit of cheap power. It seems to me a sensible solution ©f this problem can be found along somewhat the same principle as is now in effect at Boulder Dam. Certainly there is a surplus of power here today, but this may not always be the case. Private companies could very well contract for future needs instead of building more power pro- Jects of their own—they ought to be able to buy their additional power from Grand Coulee. But for many years to come, power gales will hardly bring the income that its sponsors in their enthusiasm Soresee. The Grand Coulee project was originally conceived as an irrigation plan and it should be so regarded, even if it means that the profit and Joss statement does not show as much net income from power sales as is predicted by those who like to mini- mize on paper the ultimate cost. The building of the great dam known as Grand Coulee has cost al- ready about $43,000,000. It will take another $170,000,000 to finish the high dam and then it will require another $225,000,000 to complete the various frrigation projects proposed. But not all of this is to be done at once. And even if the money were all authorized, 1t is doubtful if more than $50,000,000 @ year could be spent economically in the next 10 years. Two Ideas Linked. The plan to reclaim agricultural fand requires water power to irrigate the valley. Without the water power the irrigation project is not as feasible. Rural electrification will also absorb some of the power. But basically, the Grand Coulee cannot be looked upon @s a power project alone. It must be viewed in its relation to possible de- velopment of the 1,200,000 acres of land which are to be reclaimed and settled upon. These projects are too large for State financing and involve interstate uses of water. Undoubtedly the 11 Western States can never be nagri- culturally self-sustaining, but they do need to put more land in production to help care for their growing popula-’ tion. With 760,400,000 acres of land area, only 54,300,000 are actually or potentially arable—a little mare than the entire area of Nebraska. Of the 54,300,000 acres now aad potentially arable, 24,300,000 are not rrigated. Most of it has little rain- fall. To put 1,200,000 acres into pro- duction, which is the aim of Grand Coulee plan, is not to provide wheat, but forage, or timber use, and also specialty crops such as citrus fruits, apples, table and wine grapes and other crops not only needed here, but in demand in other parts of this coun- try and in foreign trade. If an orderly plan is developed, the surplus crop problem cen be avoided, especially since more and more the co-operative marketing idea is taking hold in the West. £ (Copyright, 1936.) THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTO News Behind the News Diplomats’ Calm Argues That Roosevelt Used Spanish Crisis as Political Excuse. BY PAUL MALLON. RESIDENT ROOSEVELT scooped his diplomatists completely when P he decided the Spanish crisis was so critical he would have to cut short his drought trip. His lads in charge of this end of the Spanish show had not heard of anything going to happen in Spain between September 3 and 11 which would require Mr. Roosevelt’s presence at his desk. You would think, in a situation like that, they would run around and try to find out what was up, or, at least, put on their gravest faces. All they did was to sit around and laugh. The Spanish crisis was so dire two weeks ago that State Secre- tary Hull decided to take a vacation. Recent developments have been so alarming that, upon the day the President made his announcement, Mr. Hull’s office said the Secretary planned to remain away another week, loiling in the beautiful hills of Western Virginia. Likewise, modern communications methods keep the President just about as well informed in mid-ocean, or at Hyde Park, as in the White House. Wired and wireless tele- phones are kept constantly open. In the Ethiopian crisis, he made his major move, in the form of the arms embargo, from a battleship in the Pacific. Earlier, he made his historic statement, breaking up the unsatisfactory London eco- nomic conference, from & yacht in the Atlantic. Observers closest to the diplo- matic inside also agree that Under- ” Secretary Phillips probably will handle any Spanish crisis, no matter where Messrs. Roosevelt and Hull are. He has been handling it right along. * ok x % The rumors now curent that the President has information indicating a general European crisis early in September, therefore, do not appear to be Jjustified. The way the lads at the helm size up the situation is this: Mussolini might be madman enough to start a war, but they do not believe it. They would set the odds anywhere from 10 to 1 to 100 to 1 that he will not. The game he is playing is obvious to them. It is the same one he used against France in the Ethopian crisis, the threat-fear game to keep France quiet. That explains to them why he is always inspiring belligerent press dispatches from Rome. While any situation like this in Europe is serious, it is not necessarily grave. Nationalistic diplomacy of all European nations probably has overemphasized the possibilities of war in the public mind. - The more logical explanation for Mr. Roosevelt’s decision was offered by cne of his sage counsellors here, who told an alarmed group of callers: “I do not know how true it is, but I have heard there is a political campaign going on.” The President enjoys nothing more than a little whimsy now and then. A number of his advisers told him from the start that his protracted itinerary on the drought trip was e needless, economically, adminis- SERVE You NG tratively or pohv.‘l('n{]y, because there is nothing outstanding he can do about it more than has already been done. The Spanish crisis, therefore, may prove to be more of a handy excuse than a danger, * % X X Largest arms purchaser here during July was a country of which Americans rarely hear, the Dutch East Indies. Licenses for the export of $1,400,000 of war materials were issued to that Netherlands possession by the State Department. No one here had any previous notion that the Dutch East Indies were getting ready to go to war with any one. The answer is Britain and the Shell Oil Co. Largest store of oil in the Far East i5 in the Dutch East Indies. Oil is what runs battleships. The Dutch fields are largely under control of the British. In case of trouble ir: the Far East, they would be the center of dispute between the Japanese and British fleets. The newly purcnased “munitions” are really military flying boats. These are to patrol the coast line, which covers 49 degrees of longitude, a distance as great as from New York to San Francisco. United States intelligence authorities have heard that East Indians have been having trouble h Japanese fishing boats, similar to that in and around the Philippines. Japanese fishermen are always coming in, mapping and sounding the harbors. Note—Second largest domestic arms purchaser was China. bought $600,000 worth of military plane engines, gun racks, etc. (Copyright. 1936.) She E o e HOUSE | D. C, to & democratic republic. The Spanish republic lasted five years. Recently, while remaining & republic, it moved in the direction of communism. ‘Thereupon, in early July, persons holding the Fascist philosophy of so- clety took up arms. As in Italy and Germany, fascism arose as an anti- dote to communism., What is now going on in Spain is a fight between fascism and communism. Thus what has gone on in five of the greatest European nations is a struggle between communism and fascism. In one country, Russia, ccm= munism has established itself firmly. In Germany and Italy, fascism has U. S. Should Heed Lessons in Europe Communism, Fascism Gaining at Expense of Democracy. BY MARK SULLIVAN, MITTING qualifications and O not attempting exactness of definition, which are not pos- sible in a limited space, & rough statement of what is now up- permost in the world, and it calls for the most serious attention Americans are capable of giving, would read as follows: In 1917 a revolution in Russia abandoned monarchy. It set up a democratic re- ... public, much like Er‘ our own. This | was a familiar type of revolution. It was the same sort of revolution : toward democ- | racy which had been geing on all over the world for more than a cen- tury, sometimes with violence, sometimes peace- fully. In Russia, how- “ar 1y guniivan., ever, soon after the first revolution, Trotsky and Lenin arrived. They plotted and car- ried out a second revolution. This was from democracy to communism. Communism was a form of govern- ment and society new to the world. Communism, having got a foothold in Russia, began a vigorous campaign to extend itself to the rest of the world. One of the countries in which it made some headway was Italy. In Italy, while the movement to- ward communism was under way, in 1922, Mussolfhi came to the front. He evolved a form of society and gov- ernment which he called fascism. It will be observed that fascism was devised as a kind of antidote to com- munism. Germany Follows Suit. A few years later, another country, Germany, went through a similar ex- perience. Germany, immediately after the war, had had a revolution of the older type, from monarchy to a re- public. The German republic lasted sev- eral years. Then communism began to undermine it. At that point, Hitler | brought forward a system called Naziism, which was set up in 1932, Naziism essentially is the same as fascism. It will be observed that in Germany as in Italy, fascism arose as a kind of antidote to communism. The conflict between communism and fascism went on in several smaller | European countries. The next de- | velopment in an important country was in France a few months ago. What took place in France cannot be called adoption of communism, for France still retains the form of a| democratic government and still re- tains private ownership of property. The development in France was, how- ever, in the communistic direction. We come now to Spain. In Spain | five years ago occurred a revolution |of the type long familiar, the same as the first revolutions in Russia and Germany, a revolution from monarchy — - peroreeecs Fvery SUILT KUPPENHEIMER or GROSNER Remaining From Qur Clearance Sale $1.65 Shirts reduced to $1.2 9 White broadcloth, neckband and collar at- tached. Sizes 13 to 17%. (6 for $7.50) $1 Neckties reduced to 69- Every tie hand-made. Wool lined! Re- sillent construction. Plenty of bow ties. (6 for $3.75) models. $1and $1.65 $19 75 Were $29.75 steds you've admired all season. .. in Chestys, Drapes and conservative The same smart wor- Were $40 ‘This group in- cludes the fa- mous Kuppen- SPORT heimer and Gros- ner tailoring in Drapes and ‘Twists., SHIRTS 79- Popular polo shirts in pull-over styles. Plain shades and fancy patterns in Terry cloth, accordian weaves and rayon. One and three button rope style neck openings. Were $45.& $50 K uppen heimer and Grosner Suits 347 of 1325 ¥ Street A SK ABOUT OUR 10-DAY CHARGE ACCOUNT PLAN- 14 established itself firmly. In France, there is a strong swing toward com- mumism. In Spain, the two concep- tions are engaged in a bloody war. ‘Throughcut all this, democracy is forgotter. Democracy does not even figure in the fighting. The ¢nd of demccracy is taken for granted. It is a struggle between fascism and com- munism over what Mussolini sneer- ingly called “the putrid corpse of lib- erty.” The only Jarge country in Eu- rope still holding to the democratic form of government and a free society is Britain. Both Very Much Alike. Between fascism and communism the chief distinction is that fascism preserves the right of individual cwn- ership of propeity, while communism denies it. Excepting that difference, the two are much alike. Both use dictatorship as the mechanism of gov- ernment. Both get rid of parliamen- tary government, in the countries on which they take hold. (After 19 years communism in Russia has just re- cently announced that there is to be a parliament of a limited kind.) Both deny the right of any opposition po- litical parties to exist—both insist on the “one party state” Both deny freedom of the press. Both deny free- dom of opinion. Both deny freedom of religion (though in Italy Mussolini has not yet thought it wise to make a frontal attack on the strongly en- trenched Catholic church). Both deny that the individual has any rights which government needs to respect— in both the ideal is the “authorita- rian state” Both regard opposition or criticism as treason and punish it as such. Individual rights and lib- erties, as practiced in democratic countries, disappear utterly. ‘This brief epitome here given pic- tures a condition which America can- not ignore. It gives somber signifi- cance to the ironic title of Mr. Sin- clair Lewis’ book, “It Can't Happen here.” Plainly, this is a condition which America must look in the face. The attack on democracy has been going on in the world since 1917. The re- public set up in Russia lasted only six | months, the one in Germany only 14 | years, the one in Spain only 5.years. | Today, the tide against democracy { runs stronger and stronger. Within the past few weeks it has invaded | France and submerged Spain. Our own country and Great Britain are the only large nations which still re- tain a democratic government and a | free society. Clearly, the problem fac- ing America is the preservation of our | form of government and society. Be- | side that, every other problem is| minor, (Copyright, 1936, FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1936. We, the People Bringing in Products of Other Countries May Put End to Economic Delirium. BY JAY FRANKLIN. EORGE N. PEEK, who resigned as head of the New Deal's Export- Import Bank after a series of squabbles with Henry Wallace, Cordell Hull and President Rosevelt, has been having high jinks in the economic madhouse, He has joined the Landonites and his recent radio attack on the New Deal tells the tragic story of how cruel Secretary Wallace and mean Secre- tary Hull, wilfully, feloniously and with malice aforethought, stopped Peek from giving away something for nothing. ' Time and gaain, it seems, Peek was on the verge of success in selling our farm products at a loss in foreign markets. Time and again, he was blocked in his patriotic pur- pose to enable foreigners to obtain American foods and fibers for less than we had to pay for them our- selves. The cup of his bitterness is full and he has long been telling the world what he thinks of the men who thwarted him, Peek is chiefly excited about the Canadian tariff agreement. A horrid picture emerges as he surveys the facts. Henry Wallace’s paper—Wallace's Farmer and Iowa Homestead—pointed out that, during the first five months of this treaty with the Dominion, “exports of lard from the United States to Canada doubled. Exports of hams and shoulders increased five times. Exports of pickled pork increased 60 per cent. Exports of live poul- try tripled. Exports of eggs increased seven times.” True, says “Uncle George,” but look at what we got in ezchange, For $307.000 worth of American live stock products erported to Canada— an increase of $191,000 over 1935—we got back 36,556,000 worth of Canadian cattle, live poultry, cheddar cheese, potatoes and maple sugar, an increase of $2,977,000 over 1935, 8o it appears that we ot about $3,000,000 worth of additional Canadian livestock products—though how even Peek can rate potatoes and maple sugar among livestock staggers the imagination—in exchane for *about $200,000 worth of similar American products, (Since this unusual equation is Peek's, we can only observe with awe that, on the basis of his calculations, the Canadians have given us a profit of 150 per cent on the deal.) Of coure, the figures really point to & mutual growth of production, trade and prosperity for Canadian and American farmers alike, but this is an election year so why bother with the facts? ‘The trouble is that most of our leading economic figures are the victims of a childish concept of wealth and of a completely paranoiac notion of prosperity. To most of them—and Peek is far from standing alone for 'this point of view, even among those New Dealers who have not dabbled in desertion—the paper evidences of debt are more important and much more fascinating than the real things which people, eat, wear and use. As a nation we are still laboring under the same sort of delusion as that which prompted us to suttee our savings in Mr. Hoover's Wall Street and which persuaded us that the Nation was growing rich by swapping American goods for foreign bonds in the years before the crash. L Let's look at the facts. What is wrong with the idea that prosperity should be measured by what our people consume as well as by what they roduce? P Granted that “something for nothing” is both morally enervating W and bad business in the long run— 03 4 would we not be better off, in terms of wealth, if we could get all the rubber, tin, tea, coffee, sugar, an- timony, manganese and so forth, which we need, without the neces- sity of giving a single bale of cot- ton, bushel of wheat or pound of lard in exchange? Isn't there some appeal in the belief that, if we alter a few of our domestic arrangements, we can put an end to the economic delirium which convinces us that we can get rich only by swapping goods for pretty pieces of paper, and that our national welfare depends upon dumping our real weslth outside the boundaries of the country? Aw Ve g, (Copyright. 1936.) OU didn’t say that, when you married her. But has she become one? Does she spend her time trudging wearily 1 about, buying, shopping, comparing—trying to be as thrifty as possible with your money? If she does, why not give her a tip? Tell her to shop by telephone, instead. Tell her how it will save her time, her energy, give her .more time for leisure. And (in your ear) it will probably give you a happier, younger wife. THE CHESAPEAKE AND POTOMAC TELEPHONE COMPANY 723 13th Street N. W . ¥ Telephone— For Your Paper Needs See our display in Telephone Company window. S. FREEDMAN & SONS Headline Folk and What They Do J. J. Hines, Tammany’s No. 1 Man, Keeps Grip on Patronage. BY LEMUEL F. PARTON. HERE is an interesting swirl of national politics around Tam- L many’s civil war, as there is around the St. Louls, Chi- cago and Philadelphia machines. These battles may tip a state this way or that. The delicate political balance of New York State may make Christo- pher D. Sullivan’s haymaker, swung on the person of William P. Kenneally, and Mr. Kenneally’s rejoinder, a much more resounding blow than the sim- ilar exchange between Messrs. Louis and Sharkey. © James J. Hines, regarded as the most powerful man in Tammany, is the New Deal patronage dealer in New York and the boss of the faction, loyalty to which led the aging Mr. Kenneally to butt his bald head into Mr. Sullivan’s stomach, in immediate dissent to the latter's round-house swing. Thus Mr. Hines stands at the fulerum of powerful forces. His de- crees may weigh heavily in the ending of the schism, holding New York for Roosevelt, or a Tammany war which will toss the State over to the Repub- licans. He has had a fist, so to speak, in every blue ribbon-Tammany fight in the last 20 years. He came into power in 1912, after a couple of spirited til with the late Charles F. Murphy, an was hailed as the leader of the “New Tammany” who would root the old- line bosses out of power. His methods have been those of the “Old Tam- many.” ‘He has built his power and his machine in his eleventh ‘assembly district in the tradition of the big and little Tim Sullivans, “the” Mc- Manus and the rest—fixing things up and rustling food and jobs for poor and needy voters. Tammany developed this system in the decades of the im- migration influx. It is a political amalgam against which the reformers’ 16-inch shells have spattered like shot. Like San Francisco's political fueh- rer, the late Eddie Graney, he was a blacksmith. But he has a lot more than brawn, Political railbirds call him “the smarte est man in Tammany.” It is perhaps well for all concerned that Mr. Hines did not join in the more impulsive and overt milling of Wednesday's encounter. His biceps measure 15 inches around, one-half inch more than those of the late Bob Fitzsimmons, also & blacksmith. He has a 12-inch forearm, which just | matches Jack Johnson's corresponding | measurement. He is stocky in build, | gray-haired and wary-eyed, with a | powerful fist and physique—58 years old and still agile and muscular, | He made his start in politics when he got himself elected alderman, 32 years ago. His father was a black- smith, also a demon horseshoer. (Copyright, 1936.) MEtropolitean 9900 —618 K St. N.W. NAtional 7234 723 13th St. N.W.