Evening Star Newspaper, September 29, 1936, Page 13

Roosevelt Saps Landon Votes in Kansas G. O. P. Nominee Likely to Take State by Less ‘Than 20,000. Prefatory note: Today’s dispatch deals with the situation in Kansas, which is the twenty-fourth State visited by David Lawrence in his tour of €0 out of the 48 States sounding out political sentiment. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. OPEKA, Kans., September 29.— If Alf M. Landon were running for re-election as Governor of Kansas this year he would carry the State by upward of 75,000 votes, which would be larger than his majority on the two previous occa- sions when he was elected. But since he isn’t running for Gov- ernor, but for President, and since his oppo- nent is President Roosevelt, who ¢ has managed to § stirup class cleavages, t h e chances are Lan- don will win Kan- sas by less than 20,000 votes. For while Lan- don has made an excellent record as Governor, the inroads made by Mr. Roosevelt on national issues, particularly in the wheat areas of the State affected by drought, are such that Landon's es- timated majority is about 35,000 to 40,000 in the first, second, third and fourth districts, with Mr. Roosevelt likely to win a majority of from 7,500 to 10,000 in three wheat districts. There is no doubt that Landon is personally popular and that his friend, Will West, Republican nomi- nee for Governor, is likely to be the beneficiary of the excellent State ad- ministration given by Landon and win the governorship by more than 60,000. $468,000,000 in Funds. One reason for the big Roosevelt strength in Kansas is the vast amount of money spent here by the Federal Government, which amounted to more than $468,000,000 in the last three years. I made a survey of Kansas finances to determine how much of this money could truly be regarded as aiding Landon in balancing his budget. I found that not one cent of the money relieved the State treasury in any gense or helped to cut down the cost of State government. This is because the citizens of Kan- sas who received A. A. A. checks or loans for banks or had their mortgages refinanced dealt directly with the Federal Government and not one of these items had previously been & part of the State budget. Leaving aside the road-building program, in which it has been a Fed- eral policy for many years to match the States in building highways, there are two items, one of $15,000,000 for W. P. A. or “work relief” and $58,- 000,000 of direct relief prior to W. P. A., which, taken together, total $73,- 000,000 and which have to be ex- emined to determine whether this helped the Landon State administra- tion. David Lawrence. Counties Handle Relief. It will be found, however, that, in Kansas, the State government does not handle relief problems, but that this is the legal function and re- sponsibility of the counties. Even ‘when Landon acted as intermediary for the counties in dealing with the Federal Government, his action was entirely unofficial. The State board, which his Democratic predecessor ap- pointed to handle such matters, again an unofficial body, was continued by Landon. It is an accurate statement, how= ever, to say that the counties of Kan- sas were relieved of about $24,000,000 & year for three years by the Federal Government's aid, and it is a reflec- tion on the Roosevelt administration that it did not insist here and else- where throughout the Nation on a claim-check or promissory note of some kind from the county govern- ments, for, in the course of 50 or 60 years, with a nominal rate of interest, they surely could have paid 1t all back. Some idea of the importance of eounty governments in Kansas can be obtained by noting that they spend $54,000,000 a year on their total budgets while the State government spends about $11,000,000. They have had and would have the capacity to advertised, at first, as a stabilization pact. a democratic monetary entente. What it amounte to is & three big money players will not cut tional poker gamé while one of them, France, is revaluing her chips. sensible arrangement is guarded further by an if, not cost them too much. THE EVENING STAR WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1936. News Behind the News Money Pact Gentleman’s Accord Not to Cut Each Other’s Throats. ) BY PAUL MALLON. THE money arrangement between Washington, London and Paris was It has since been called It is neither. gentlemen’s vnderstanding that the each other’s chroats in the interna- This They will do it if it does Nearly every one is now settled down to asserting that it is the first step toward currency stabilization, and it is, in the same degree that putting on your hat is the first normal step toward going for & walk, but putting on your hat has nothing to do with determining the direction you may follow after you get out the door. In other words, the big money powers have adopted a truce, but have reserved broad freedom for future action, while France is removing the largest obstacle to serious stabili« zation discussions. Stabilization may, and should come of it, but no one now knows when or how. The plain fact is the truce was overballyhooed for political pur- poses, not altogether domestic, but mostly French. As every one knows, French gove ernments have been having 8 diffi- cult time time selling the devalua- tion theory to their thrifty farmer gold hoarders. But it could no longer maintain its unreasonble gold position in the face of continued foreign withdrawals. It had to face the end of a losing fight, which should have been faced months ago. In view of this precarious domestic French political situation, it was advisable to rate the international angle of the move as high as possible—"a boon to civilization,” “a great step toward peace,” “the biggest thing that has happened to the world in many a year.” This was right down the line of Mr. Morgenthau's recent thoughts at home. A presidential campaign is under way here. The French could not possibly rate the agreement too high to suit Mr. Morgenthau. As far as he is concerned they can call it the step which saved.the world from collapse, and give him credit for it. * ¥ * x If the stenographic notes on the three weeks of advance dickers ing were known, you would have a better understanding of Mr. Mor= genthau's sigh of relief in announcing that the gentlemen were still gen= tlemen 24 hours after the agreement was reached. Money manipulating is a rough game, and the negotiations were not anything like parchesi. For example, the insiders say Britain held out until the last two days. She was very reluctant to go into anything that would keep sterling at its pegged relationship with the dollar. Frankly, the Brit- ish assert the dollar is undervalued. If Britain could have jiggered us into an agreement not to devalue further, she could have let the pound and franc sag together and reaped a strong advantage. Not only would the British trade have been benefited, but they would have been in a better bargaining position when the serious arrangements for permanent stabilization begin. (A slightly cheaper pound permits nations to buy British goods at a discount below American goods.) * * * % More than a suspicion exists that Mr. Morgenthau brought the British around running, by a neat little maneuver. It is said he with- drew support from the tottering franc and left the British Treasury the President of France. ing the deft wording of it. holding a sack full which had been purchased pending some agree= ment. ‘Whether or not this is accurate, it will afford you an accurate in- sight into the difficulties ahead in working out a stabilization agree- ment which will be fair and final, The final wording of the no- throat-cutting agreement had been finally reached. The British prime minister had okayed it. So had But Mr. Roosevelt was at Hyde Park still study« Into Treasury Secretary Morgenthau's office came a representative of the French Embassy, excited as only a Frenchman can be when & bar- gain is nearing an end. He was out of breath and gasped something sub- stantially as follows: “Mr. Secretary, I have received a cablegram from my govern- ‘ment. It says it is getting late in Paris—it is now after 11 o'clock there—and the President of France is tired. He wishes to go to bed.” Genial Mr. Morgenthau agreed this was a rather grave matter. He sent a short message to Hyde Park on his private wire, saying the French President was tired and wished to go to bed. He asked for instructions. President Roosevelt promptly approved the draft of the announce~ ment and sent along, among other suggestions, his best official wishes to the President of France for a good night's sleep. (Copyright, 1936.) repay Uncle Sam had the policy been one of loams, not grants. 2 Landon Cuts Expenses. As for the State administration, Landon’s handling of finantes has been one of gradual reduction of ex- penses, as compared with his Demo- cratic predecessor. It should be noted, however, that balanced budgets are not necessarily a Republican achievement in Kansas, for Gov. Woodring, Democrat, Secretary of ‘War, had a balanced budget, too. It is important, however, to note the substantial increase of this sur- plus under Landon. Here are the expenses of the State government, beginning with the Democratic ad- ministration in 1932, just before Lan- don was elected: - 12,670,398 Looking at the surpluses in the treasury each year, and beginning again with the Dcmocratic Governor in 1932, the table is as follows: 1932 - $485,723 1933.. 513,200 1934 589,258 1035 1,137,803 1936 1,854,554 It will Landon has more than trebled the size of the sur- plus of his predecessor and also has kept the expenses about $380,000 be- low the 1933 budget. Landon has a reputation for good business sense and frugality. The stories they tell about him are very much like those that have grown up around the life of Calvin Coolidge. Landon has sought constantly to cut out the waste and to eliminate those who “sponge” or “graft” on the State government. It is said, for instance, that he found certain State employes who were engaged in fleld work had developed the habit of remaining in the field and charging their lunches to the State when, By a few minutes’ effort, they could ‘get to their own homes. Landon called some of them on the carpet and insisted this wasn't fair to the State. Landon is popular even among his political opponents, but the size of his majority will not show it this year because he has an opponent who is popular, too, having set in motion a flow of checks and subsidies that are bound to weigh more heavily with some of the voters than intangibles, like State pride in a favorite son’s ascendancy to the nomination by a major party for the presidency of the United States. (Copyright, 1836.) PROOF f by Service ® Quality in clothes is an Unknown Quantity . . . until you have had PROOF by SERVICE. tailoring has taught Forty years of hand the Langrock necessity for keeping Fine Clothes up to the highest standards of quality . . « not down to a price. Many a LANG- ROCK Suit still looks respectable and distinctive after many years of service. 45 4% Sarr BR.OS. /I N C. Fine Apparel for Gentlemen 1341 F STREET N.W. Roosevelt Sets Tempo for Campaign Adroit Political Sailor, He Takes Wind From Landon’s Sails. BY MARK SULLIVAN, R. ROOSEVELT'S speeches this week may permit the campaign to become one of major issues. Not that Mr. Roosevelt wants the campaign to be on major issues. As a matter of strategy it is not up to the President in office to put forth the major issues. His role is defensive, and it is to his advantage if he can confine the neces- sity of defense to merely minor mat- ters. It is up to Gov. Landon to set up the major issues and to attack. So * far Mr. Landon § has dcne com- } paratively little in the way of strong assaull he has mainly © expounded poli- cles of his own, As for Mr. Roose: velt, he has prace ¥ ticed a most } adroit strategy of making attack upon him difficult, of offsetting at- tacks before they come, and, gener- ally, of keeping the campaign on a minor key. So far Mr. Roosevelt has controlled the atmosphere of the campaign. At creating atmosphere, evoking such public moods as he wants, averting any public mood that would be detri- mental to him—at all that Mr. Roose- velt is one of the most expert politi- cians in the modern world, a world in which the creation of desired moods in the public has become as ever before a fundamental art in politics. Mr. Roosevelt is adept at that, and he is incredibly agile in all his tactics. Attention Turned to Drought. The country gets stirred up about reduction of food supply, high prices for food and imports of food from abroad. Thereupon the adminisira- tion becomes very much concerned about the drought. The drought, mind you, not A. A. A. It is the drought, and only the drought that caused it. Triple-A, and the plowing under, and the paying to not raise crops, and the slaughter of young pigs—all that must be forgotten. The country must be made “drought-con- scious.” Mr. Roosevelt makes a trip into the drought territory. He calls & conference of Governors of drought- smitten States at Des Moines. To that conference Jay N. Darling (the car- toonist “Ding”’), has applied the word “window dressing.” And William Hard declares that a drought report by a committe of administration offi- cials was written, in substance, before the committee departed from Wash- ington. That drought conference at Des Moines made the country think of drought, took the country’s mind away from Triple-A. And when Mr. Roose- velt invited Landon to achieved the further advantage of making it difficult for Mr. Landon to attack him very heavily. One of the best and most ingenious of all ways to avert attack is to invite your ad- versary to lunch with you in the eyes of the public, shake hands with him, and smith with him, and exchange pleasantries, with a hundred reporters and camera men reporting it for a public which is bound to believe that your adversary cannot have anything very unpleasant to say about you. Wind Taken From Sails. It is suggested in the newspapers that a forthcoming speech by Landon is going to propose crop insurance for farmers—and two days before Mr. Landon’s date for speaking, the ad- ministration” gives out a plan of its own for crop insurance. Newspapers state that Landon is going to advocate Mark Sullivan, attend, he ’ & cure for farm tenancy—and one day before Mr. Landon makes his speech Mr. Roosevelt writes & public letter to Speaker Bankhead of the House, telling him to get busy with a New Deal remedy for farm tenancy—al- though the House does not meet till next January, and although conceiv- ably Mr. Bankhead may not be Speak- er and conceivably Mr. Roosevelt may not be President, Mr. Roosevelt hears that William Randolph Hearst is going to print articles charging him with having the support of Communists—and Mr. Roosevelt, & day in advarce of the anticipated publication, gives out through his secretary a statement that the expected charge will be “con- ceived in malice and born in political spite.” (This, though, was probably not an example of Mr. Roosevelt cool and gaily adroit; one suspects that on this occasion Mr. Roosevelt was angry, and therefore did the wrong thing.) And if there is public suspicion that the administration may be too inti- mate with Russia, how better dissi- pate that impression than by having the Secretary of the Treasury spectac- ularly attack the Soviet government, upon a charge that the Russians are trying to sabotage a currency stabili- gation agreement recently effected by Mr. Roosevelt with Britain and France? Tax Views Given. The country becomes restless about Government expenditures, tends to make extravagance a campaign issue; the country becomes “tax-conscious” —and the administration gives out & statement that no tax increases or new taxes will be levied next year. A meeting of Jeffersonian Demo= crats is held at Detroit to urge Demo= crats to opppse the New Deal—and Mr. Roosevelt asks the greatest anti- New Deal Democrat of all, Senator Carter Glass, to visit the White House; Senator Glass, of course, com- plies and at the White House door tells newspaper men that he expects to vote for Mr. Roosevelt. That sort of thing, the strategy of indirection, has created the atmos- phere of the campaign so far, without the public realizing how it was being done. It has prevented the country from thinking about some matters upon which the administration glaringly vulnerable. If the campaign is to be fought on the really serious issues, some one opposed to Mr. Roosevelt must develop a strategy su- perior to the latter's. Gov. Landon may accomplish it through sheer earnestness, even though he utterly lacks Mr. Roosevelt's agility. Per- haps ex-Gov. Smith may help with his speeches beginning next Thursday night; he knows Mr. Roosevelt's curves. (Copyright, COUGHLIN IS SINCERE, SAYS JAMES ROOSEVELT President's Son in Upholding Priest's Right to Talk, Says He Aids G. 0. P. By the Associated Press. BOSTON, September 29 —James Roosevelt, eldest son of the President, asserted his belief yesterday Rev. Charles E. Coughlin was “absolutely sincere” in his opposition to the New Deal. “As & citizen of this Nation he is entitled to his opinion. He also has the right to voice that opinion,” Roosevelt added. His speech was broadcast. “However, it would seem obvious that there are only two men who have a real chance of being elected Presi- dent in November. The first is the Republican candidate, Alfred Lan- don, and the other, the Democratic candidate, my father “Therefore a vote which ordinarily ‘would go to the Democratic candidate and is given to a third party candi- date is directly a vote to further the election chance of the Republican can- didate.” 1936,) Gets Big Wheat Yield. STELLA, Nebra. (#).—Frank James, with 105 acres seeded to wheat, de- livered 3,500 bushels of wheat to the Hanson elevator here. His average per acre was 33.5. q’H! opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not necessarily The Star’s. Such opinions are presented in The Star’s effort to give all sides of questions of interest to its readers, although such ‘opinions may be contradictory among themselves and directly opposed to The Star’s. TO MY COMPLEXION CARE O We, the People New Deal Leadership Seen in Franc Devaluation Move. BY JAY FRANKLIN. HE announcement that the French government proposes to devalue the franc by 33 per cent illustrates the value of the New Deal's monetary policies in the battle of world currencies. The logical time for Fremch devalution was wh:n Leon Blum’s Socialist government took office last Spring. Ezcept for the absence of bank failures, the domestic unrest caused by deflation and unemployment in France was strikingly similar to that which faced Roosevelt in March, 1933. In France, however, the power of the international bankers had first to be broken by parliamentary action, whereas, with us, it had already been shattered by the run on our banks. In many ways, Washington of- ficials would have preferred French devaluation to have come earlier in the Summer and it is an open -e;lret ';hl& Secretary Morgenthau's reply nator Vand s in- quiry about gold purchases from France was hastened in o::ebre?o‘ ;::e- cede the announcement of the equilibrium arrangements worked out between Washington, London and Paris, Treasury officials are congratulating themselves, not only on the arduous task successfully achieved by Morgenthau, but also on the {‘-:g !;{nt t:;l mlr:mry is not in the same helpless position as er Hoover’s gold standard when the British w - et ish went off gold tn Sep: Then there was nothing much we could do about it but watch our gold reserves draining away, our competitive exports being undersold by British wareg and our farm prices doing a fatal tailspin. hile the franc is obviously less important to us than is the pound sterling, it directly affects British currency, Roosevelt's legal power further to devaluate the dollar and Secretary Morgenthau's $2,000,000,000 stabiliza- ‘non fund are weapons with which we can, if necessary, defend our ‘domestic prosperity” against foreign inflation. (“Domestic prosperity” is the escalator clause in the present currency agreement.) * X ¥ % French money has been running to England ang sterli X reflects an unnaturally high level for the moment. denlncen:ucececehd.snx'x: pegging the franc anywhere near the old pre-1831 ratio of 25 francs to the dollar and 125 to the pound, everybody will be ha) and corner will have been turned. ¥ PPy a dangerous However, European politics insert a big question mark into this picture. No one knows yet what the “natural level” of the franc will prove to be in the face of the threat of war and revolution on the continent. And mo one knows whether the Fremch radicals will be satisfled with a New Deal type of controlied devaluation or will insist on whole hog inflation. If the latter situation should develop, the British would be bound to do something about it, and we would follow suit, if necessary, by further devaluation or by silver purghases, or by both. * ok ox % _The crisis of the franc writes a scornful commentary on the stabilization proposals of the so-called “international dankers” who dominated the World Economic Conference at London and whose scheme was dlocked by Roosevelt's July 3, 1933, “bombshell” telegram to the conference. For French devaluation shows that the threat to monetary stability comes from political and economic causes which cannot be circum- vented by any amount of gold re- serves or money manipulation. All this sounds very abstract, but the situation is that—with the world as it is—the President's monetary powers can block the re- turn of 5-cent cotton and 30-cent wheat which would have been a result of inflation in those nations whose markets set the world price for raw materials. It is true that when one big nation remains on gold speculators can nimbly hop in and out of gold to make a killing in paper money. This happened during the post-war German and French infla=- tion and again when the Japanese yen and the British pound cut loose from gold early in the world depression, Our experiences during these periods suggest that the American people had to pay too high a price to allow this gamble to be continued. Now, thanks to the New Deal money laws of 1933, we are in a position not only to help the French people weather their financial hurricane, but to protect our own house in the bargain. (Oopyright. 1938.) POST-ELECTION MEETING JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., September 20 (#).—With a promise that politics will be forgotten, Gov. Guy B. Park of Missouri officially invited the chief executives of the 47 other States to the annual Governors’ Conference in this State, November 16-18. “The election will be over, politics forgotten, and we should have not only an interesting and instructive conference, but a good time as well,” Park wrote each of the executives. "MOVING We take the rick. You get perfect service from shkilled packers and storage men who are in our employ the year round. MERCHANTS TRANSFER - STORAGE CO. NATIONAL 6300 Stove We carry a complete line of parts for all tyi o? botlers, mm’:ea RUDOLPH & WEST co. 1852 N, Y. Ave. NAMW. 4870 R L Ave. N THE M Headline Folk and What They Do La Rue of Brooklyn Due for Lead in Musso- lini Film, BY LEMUEL F. PARTON, 'ORD keeps trickling through from Italy that Mussolini will make his moving pice s ture, “Christopher Colume us” an adventure in showmanship even greater and more spectacular than his Ethioplan maneuver. Tt will be a financial and attention-getting enterprise for Fascist Italy, and they are heaving in everything at hand in the line of bold histrionics and Latin bravura. And the chances are Il Duce can borrow more money on it than he can on Ethiopia. A Brooklyn boy, born in New York's Yorkville section, will get the stately title role, it is understood here. He is Jack la Rue, gigolo and gunman in his previous screen roles, Mae West's Spanish lover in “Diamond Lil” Quite poisonous have been his portrayals of un- derworld fauna, of such insective orous type as to suggest that Co= lumus made a mistake, La Rue is a good actor, and will have to be to bridge the stretch between his sus- picious worldings and the bland and ingenuous old Christopher. Growing up in Yorkville, the son of | & ptano maker, he was roughed up and scarred & bit in parochial milling, | Passing the old Selmick studios, he | decided on a flicker career, stepped in and picked up a bellhop role in & Norma Talmadge picture. He got a little start on Broadway as a proteg” | of Paul Muni. He went to Hollywoo# in 1832 to take the part of Muni'» bodyguard in “Scarface.” George | Raft got the part, and great fame | and kudos therewith. La Rue was an in-and-outer in small parts until he dished the elab- | orate villainies of “Diamond Lil” | He did nicely in a Western, although he never had been on a horse. | Whether he has ever been on s ship probably won't make any difference in the Columbus picture. Things are like that in Hollywood. He is 5 feet 11 inches tall and | weighs 155 pounds. He is a straight | Latin type, with regular features and showly teeth, which have been pare ticularly useful in screen deviltries. His family, including six sisters, lives in Brooklyn. He is an expert cook, loves spaghetti and reads screen mag- azines. (Copyright. 1936,) thing.in town. At the Taft you hold the key to New York. TIMES SQUARE'S LARGEST NOTEX 2000 ROOMS WITH BATH, from $2.50 HOTEL AurmeoLewss. Mer. TART wsons. NEW YORK at 50th HER OF THAT B/G BOY ITS ACTIVE LATHER HAT a shame to let skin look old—marred by the tiny blem- ishes, enlarged pores, the dull, lifes less look, that mean Cosmetic Skin. So many lovely women have learned how to keep skin young. Here’s the simple rule they follow. Before they renew their make-up— g ALWAYS before they go to bed — . \ ¥ they remove cosmetics thoroughly I GUARD MOST CAREFULLY AGAINST COSMETIC SKIN- NEVER| GO TO BED WITHOUT USING LUX TOILET SOAP | use cosmetics but I'm not afraid of . Cosmetic Skin! | use LuxToilet Soap with the ACTIVE lather of Lux Toie let Soap. 9 outof 10 screen stars use it! WARNER.BROTHERS_STAR