Evening Star Newspaper, December 23, 1936, Page 11

Gridiron Club Satire Packs Message Famous Dinner Shows Politicai Sportsmanship and Force of Opinion. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. N A single room at the banquet board the party in power, the par- ty out of power, the successful candidates at the last election, the unsuccessful ones, the representa- tives of capital, the representatives of labor, the President of the United States, the Chief Justice of the United States, the Speaker of the- House and the Vice President—in fact, the Gov- ernment of the United States sat down to dinner with the press of Wash- ington. It was one of those famous affairs of the Gridiron Club, of which there have been two a year since 1886 in which men and events have been satirized. Impressions of such an episode are limited in comment because the Gridiron Club has a rule that § what is said by the speakers can- not be quoted aft- erward—a rule in- troduced so that men in public life will speak freely and frankly. But it is per- missible to discuss Gridiron Club dinners in their objective sense. No American who sat down at that dinner—and, of course, there were representatives of nearly every foreign government, too—but must have felt a thrill of pride aris- ing out of the fact that, while the press had been shackled in many countries, it remains free in America. Sportsmanship in Politics. ‘The theme of the occasion, however, was not the freedom to satirize. It was something deeper and more significant. It was the feeling that in America sportsmanship in politics is as deeply rooted as in the contests of the athletic fleld. Gov. Landon was there and so was Chairman Hamilton. Not far away were seated President Roosevelt and Chairman Jim Farley. Within a few seats from John D. Rockefeller, jr, sat William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, and at the same long guest table was John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers. ‘Throughout the occasion ran the | note of get-together, of comradeship, of a common interest in the rightful | eolution of current problems. The sketches acted by members of the Gridiron Club were pointed. No one could say they were slanted in one | direction more than' another. Both rides, all factions. came in for good- natured satire. The fact that the ac- tion of the playlets took place before the President of the United States made them, to be sure, more realistic | than when read in the authorized re- ports given out in advance to the press. On the whole, the idea of kidding | the big fellows in Government has been going on many years as a pastime of the press. But the speakers have upon occasion turned the tables on the press with some well-directed shafts at the weaknesses, if not the {naccuracies, of the press itself, Food for Thought Remains. Something constructive can be de- rived from these Gridiron dinners. David Lawrence, THE EVE) News Behind the News Gold Control Plan Marks Switch—Excess Reserve Boost Limited as Boom Control. BY PAUL MALLON. ECRETARY MORGENTHAU'S shiny new gold brake bands were not devised in the Treasury at all. They really represented a funda- mental change in the line of thought of President Roosevelt's eco- nomic thinkers in the Federal Reserve Board. These idca men subtly switched their proposed method cf handling the coming boom and selected the entirely innocent Treasury Secretary as their agent. It came about this way: The F. R. B. group (meaning Chairman Marriner Eccles for the most part) had intended to increase reserve requirements in January. Their intention was so clearly hinted in their official announcements as to be an accepted fact., Certain New York banks were so sure of it that they had been getting their cash tills ready to meet the order. But the Eccles school suddenly decided that this was not the Jway to do it, at ieast not now. They wanted another method of putting on the brakes, and the weather-proof gold lining device was « concocted for Mr. Morgenthau to announce ‘What upset the old plan was this inside reasoning: The Eccles boom-brakers have already used 50 per cent of their power to increase reserve require- ments. That is, they have told the banks to keep $1,500,000,000 more in reserve than was required form- erly, thus preventing the banks from lending this money out in case some one wants to borrow it in the future boom. No one wants to now. L00Ks TRE o g&'}' " Under the law they can hike these reserve requirements $1,500,000,000 more. But after that they are through. Eccles’ excess reserve position was somewhat like that of the lad at the circus with one of those inflated crying balloons, which wail as the air is emitted. His wail against a boom was already half deflated. If he used up the other half now, he would have to buy a whistle to control the credit traffic jam which is believed to be coming. He wisely bought the whistle ahead of time, while he still had half the air left in his balloon, and thus he is sure not to run out of influence noise. ‘There was snother equally important consideration. The pressure for further action against reserves seems to be coming mainly from the large banks. They are in a position to meet it, they have large cash re serves. The little fellows are not in such a good position. Another in- crease would pinch most of them. Of course, the big banks would not weep about that, and, furthermore, the big banks would like to have Gov. Eccles exhaust his whistle now and get it over with. They do not like the idea of Eccles being able to slip up behind them any time he chooses to call them to a stop. Note—This does not mean the prospect of another boost in reserve requirements is entirely out. It may come later, and in small doses, but much later than the banks have been expecting, and in much smaller * kX % Some authorities are saying the American move is comparable to the one the British took last week. Hints of possible collusion toward stabilization or something like it have been published. ‘Those who know say there is nothing in such visions. ‘The British move seems to have been purely technical. The gov- ernment was trying to replenish its stabilization fund, and its gold negotiations with the Bank of England were solely for that purpose The only importance was that it indicated the British have suffered great pressure recently upon their stabilization fund. * x ok ‘The very smart young men who thought up the device say it will have no more economic effect than a preventative. They expect it to work like this: Whenever that foreign gold, which has been worrying Mr. Roosevelt, comes into the United States Mr. Morgenthau will buy it and salt it away in one of those remote vaults where the speculators and boom promoters cannot get it. He will also do that with newly mined gold. He will pay for all this gold with Treasury notes, bearing a small rate of interest. Thus it will cost him a little or a lot of money in interest, depending on the amount he buys. The fundamental purpose of the move, therefore, is to maintain the status quo. But the intensity of this and other New Deal efforts toward boom control will furnish you with at least a slight inside hint of their certainty that it is on the way. (Copyright, 1936.) when contracts with the latter expire December 31. SPANISH MERCURY MINES ’Output Likely to Be MAY DROP ITALIAN AGENT Handled Through London After Long after the last guest has departed, the memory of a thrust here or there‘ remains. Officialdom is apt to re- member that maybe there was, after | all, a real point in an innocently in- | tended song or parody on a passing event or policy. To me, the Gridiron dinner this week seemed particularly illustrative of the mood of the period through which we are passing. Underneath 45 a serious appreciation of the | enormity of the problems that face governments everywhere. It was not that these problems were treated lightly. Far from it. They were treated with that sensible perspective which makes the victims of a bit of satire aware that the strongest force in America is the force of a discern- ing public opinion. Poise Emphasized. ‘What the occasion did emphasize was the consummate poise of our people. There may be breakers ahead, there may be unsolvable problems on the agenda, but the reward for their solu- tion lies in the esteem of such groups as are gathered in this strictly Ameri- ean type of dinner. Beneath the cloaks of partianship, indeed of ambition, are hearts that know and have faith in American pur- poses and American ways of achieving the true aims of democracy. With so much of the world making a mockery of free institutions, leaders in Ameri- cean public life and American thought, in American commerce and American labor, sat down to see themselves mir- rored with a truth that was unmis- takable. They saw democracy check- ing itself. They saw democracy ap- pralsing itself. In fact, they saw democracy guiding itself after the fashion of the lines of the Scotch poet Burns who wrote: “Oh, wad some power the giftie gle us, “To see oursel's as others see us, “It wad frae monie a blunder free us, “And foolish notion.” (Copyright, 1936,) China's farmers are buying more in several years. Need LUMBER for Christmas? If you need a small quantity of lumber for the Christmas “Tree garden, for dispiays, or a base for electric trains, eto., let us fill your needs. We cater to small orders, and cut lumber to wanted sizes at no'extra cost. Stop in or phone us .. . We deliver it in & hurry without extra cost. J. FRANK ELLY SUDDEN zm otk 2121 Ga. Ave. NOrth 1341 Contract Expires. Br the Assoctated Press. LONDON, December 23.—The Daily Herald, Labor newspaper, today re- ported the Spanish Almaden mercury | mines were planning to market their (The Almaden mines, situated in Ciudad Real Province in Spain, are among the most important mercury producers in Europe.) The newspaper said negotiations to turn the mercury sales to London | were carried on in the English capital through the Spanish finance minister, Dr. Juan Negrin, who was stated to have agreed that production of the | mines would be increased. The Daily Herald added that it was | 1expected the Alexander Pickering Co. | | would handle the mercury sales, as it output through London, instead of | did before the 10-vear Spanish-Italian Rome's Mercurio Europeo Syndicate, J agreement was signed. 2 " < 3?« X2 =3 N\ = S\—— HOLBS IT HEAD HIGH ), Ay Compad f S SN ) It’s a matter of balance . . . this making of Semate Beer. Jusi hops and malt wen’t ke a beer of the goodmess of Senate. It is the preper correlation of hops, m: t,r;:;un: eoflr;.grl‘u...tlemll; cooking to the legree make the basis of the wort from which comes Washington’s faverite beverage. CHR. HEURICH BREWIN WASHINGTON, D.C. NG _STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, trm! 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. Low-Cost Housing Politics Wall of Protests Must Be Hurdled to Bring Homes in Reach of Masses. BY JAY FRANKLIN. NY American who thinks that you can draw a sharp line be- A tween business and politics had better take a good, long look at the cost of housing and the bunkers which the New Deal must carry if it is to get anywhere with the present bogmlet. Construction costs vary so greatly from one town to the next, even in- side the same region, that any set of figures on the subject must be taken with a teaspoonful of question marks. “Representative” costs on a “$4,000 house” could, however, be stated as follows: Builder’s profit, $200 to $400 (or | what the traffic will bear); wages, $1,200 to $1,400 (union rates and regulations) ; land, $800 (20 per cent of total cost is standard practice); equipment and materials, $1,600 (fur- nace, water heater, stove, refrigerator are now standard equipment). This expenditure must be amor- tized on the basis of durability, plus 6 per cent interest on the capital investment. Generally speaking, an annual charge of 10 per cent is quired to carry and retire an inves ment in residential housing. On a “$4,000 house” this means an annual charge of $400—or about $33 a month —as the minimum for either renting or hire-purchase purposes. ‘This monthly minimum is higher than the monthly maximum of $25, which can be paid by industrial workers on average weekly earnings of $23. Mass Production Formula. Now the New Dealers maintain that building costs are way out of line with other costs and must be reduced. They believe that it would be possible to build the same “$4,000 house” for as little as $2.500, without injustice, under an integrated construction pro- gram which would substitute the idea of social desirability for profiteering in the housing field. Their new fig- ures would work out along the follow- ing lines: Builder's profit—$100. (This is an application of the mass production formula by which you increase gross profits through smaller unit profits and larger sales. The builders of one large F. H. A. housing project in the East are already accepting a $100 profit per house. This is good busi- ness in terms of a large program such as we must have to support re- covery, Business is likely to co-oper- ate in this field.) Wages—$800 to $850. (Unit labor costs can be reduced by integrated wholesale housing projects, which will permit economies in the use of labor. Union wage rates can also be reduced on the basis of steadier employment which will increase individual annual earnings. Thus the building trades | will be far better off than under the present system of hit-or-miss employ- ment, and will at the same time make their own contribution to national prosperity, This simple proposition _'DR. BENEDICT, CANCER RESEARCHER, SUCCUMBS Professor of Biological Chemistry at Cornell Is Victim of Heart Ailment. Bs the Associated Press. ELMSFORD, N. Y., December 23.— Dr. Stanley Rossiter Benedict, profes- sor of biological chemistry at Cornell University Medical College, New York City, died last night at his home of a heart ailment. He was 56. Dr. Benedict, for nearly 25 years director of chemical cancer research at the college, thres years ago re- will probably be resisted to the last ditch by the building trades and by the American Federation of Labor. It means a big fight. This fight will be won only by reducing hourly wage rates in the interest of total earnings or by substituting other methods of construction which call for less skilled labor.) Land Too High. Land—$400. (There is no reason why residential land should cost ma- terially more than the cost of farm land plus improvements. However, land speculation has been an Ameri- can vice since early Colonial days and will not be easily stopped. Use of public authority, through condemna- tion proceedings under the right of eminent domain, or by establishing “yardsticks” for profits in land, could halve the cost of land for subdivision purposes. This means a big battle in the courts. With more land and far fewer people than in Europe, there is no justification for the present scale of real estate prices in America.) Materials and equipment—$1,150. (A 10-20 per cent saving is possible on all building materials where pur- chases are made direct-from the man- ufacturers, without resort to jobbers. For - single tailor-made houses this saving is not practicable. Under a big-scale housing program it would be | worth the builder's while to sidestep the jobbers and reduce his costs.) Interest Rate Cut. S0 here you have your house” for $2,500. That is not the limit to the savings. Amortization of this investment should be at the same rate as the other, but the interest rate on the capital should be reduced from 6 per cent to 4 per cent. This means an annual carrying charge of 8 per cent on $2,500, which works out at $200 a year, or about $16.50 a month— a figure which’ puts decent housing within the reach of the mass of our Industrial workers. To establish a standard 4 per cent interest rate on mortgage -capital means & terrific struggie with the building and loan associations, the banks, the insurance companies and the numerous private investors who have dug in on a 6 per cent basis. It means sacrificing the interests of the so-called rentier class for the benefit of the people as a whole. It means that capital invested in residential housing must take a 33'3 per cent pay cut. This proposition will bring a yell of anguish that will make the complaints of the last four years sound like an organized cheering section. It is for this reason that those New Dealers who believe in reducing hous- ing costs are convinced that Congress will prefer to subsidize the present crazy housing racket rather than have it make sense in terms of American wages. This means taxation and in- flation as a substitute for supply and demand. And that's not so hot as a national policy. (Copyright, 1936,) $4,000 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1936. This Changing World Limit on Naval Construction Ends With Death of Washington and London Treaty. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN. HE end of this year will see the death of the only one-eyed limitation of arms agreement—the naval treaty of Washington and London. The defunct treaty was full of holes. It did not provide for any actual saving of taxpayers’ money. But it did limit a naval race between the world powers. * koK X ‘This all over now. 8o is the limit on naval construction. The powers which signed the new agree- ment last year are compelled to keep each other informed of their plans—whatever that may mean. The British-German naval agree- ment of 1935 provided that Ger- many was entitled to 35 per cent of the total British tonnage. Now, as the British naval construction is going up, the German tonnage is increasing, too. And when Germany is building bigger and better ships, France must do the same thing to keep just a step ahead of the Reich; and when France builds new ships, Mussolini cannot remain behind, and he, too, increases his navy. And as the European maritime nations build bigger navies we have to follow their example—otherwise our neutrality might be impaired. And when we increase our Navy the Japanese put new ships on the slips. And so it goes, all over the world. * x % % The Germans are not increasing only the size of their navy. but the size of the actual ships. Thus, when they signed the agreement with Great Britain they let the world know that they would confine the size of their new battleships to 26,000 tons each, carrying only nine 1l-inch guns. That was ample for their needs. The chiefs of staff of the other European nations—with the exception of Italy—praised the wisdom of the German admiralty and declared the fine German technicians are right to say that the days of the sea monster of 35,000 tons hurling 16-inch sheels at 35,000 yards were over, The German naval program indicated clearly that the smaller ship is the naval vessel of the future. It was less costly to build, less costly to operate and the savings could be put into new constructions. ® * * x ‘The Germans launched the Scharnhorst, a 26,000-ton battleship, last October. But Hitler did not like it. Neither did the German naval archi- tects. It looked kind of skimpy. It did not indicate might. It was not sufficiently superlative. So the next hattleship, the German admiralty an- nounced, would be a 35,000-tonner with all the modern trimmings, 18-inch guns, airplanes, heavy armour and so fourth, This decision of the Ger- mans called for retaliation. The [ Prench are building similar leivia- thans and so are the British. Since we are going to mount 16-inch guns on our new battle- ships which are going to be bwlt this year, the other nations will do the same. The expenditure involved in the construction of heavier ships and larger guns amounts to only a dozen or so million dollars a year, and what is that in the dance of billions which are being spent now on armaments. *ox o X Strategists are delighted at the idea of having Atlantic seadromes between Europe and the United States. They have already started on figuring their strategic value. Two of these will be placed between Ireland and Newfoundland, about 1,800 miles, An airforce garrison on each could operate to clear the ocean of all enemy shipping and deal with commerce-raiding ships of war. Anti- aircraft armament would offer adequate protection to these steel islands. ‘Their constructipn will be such as to offer shelter to ocean-going subma- rines and facilitate a certain amount of repair work. | R M’GEE BELIEVED MAN | “5.is Tevica’sy earway paseo- ! men and Sheriff Lester Massingham WHO H"JAGKED CA | of Butler County began a search im- mediately. Authorities of Southern Missouri border counties and Arkansas Hunters Identify Pictures of Con- g McGee. victed Murderer Long I Unreported. By the Associated Press. POPLAR BLUFF, Mo, December | | authorities alsc were notified to watch‘ Headline Folk and What They Do Yosuke Matsuoka Cre- ating New Stir in Manchuria. BY LEMUEL F. PARTON. OSUKE MATSUOKA is Japan's Clive of India. This blunt, bespectacled little man, presi- dent of the South Manchuria Railway, was a jump or two ahead of Japan in taking Manchuria. Bossing 4,400 miles or railroad, steamship lines, banks, factories, mines and mills, he has made this bleak domain pretty nearly a one-man empire, and he’s still reaching out. Soviet Russia gets its back up over his alleged talk about planting the Japanese flag on the Ural Moun- tains. Whether he said it or not, it is international back-fence cater- wauling which . keeps the neigh- bors awake and which may yet re- sult in a riot call. Typical Yuletide diplomacy on both sides. M. Matsuoka, who, it will be re- membered, led Japan's walkout on the League of Nations three years ago, was educated in California sec- ondary schools and was graduated from the Law School of the Uni- versity of Oregon in 1900. The legend there is that he was a crack student and an astute poker player. It is also recalled that he was a master of the American idiom, later revealed | in his ready and fluent use of Ameri- can slang. He is a snappy dresser and pulis constantly at a bulidog pipe. All in all, he is one of the most thore oughly occidentalized of the powerful Japanese who are leading the Asiatic outreach. He was in the diplomatic service in his early years, but soon talked himself out of that career—too out« | spoken and too sardonic. - His real | genius was disclosed in business. In Manchuria he became the business partner of the “old marshal,” Chang Tso-lin, father of the Chang who is Chiang Kai-shek's captor. The two of them virtually ran Manchuria and 4their “take” was such as to inspire- the “Clive of India” allusion. When ,old Chang was blown up by rival statesmen, M. Matsuoka managed nicely without him and he was a pow- erful force in the momentum with which Japan plunged into Asia. It has been said that he is a student of Machiavelli. Whether he is or not, he is Machiavellian in his realism and his contempt for political philosophies when they run afoul of a tangible ra- | tional interest. | He was first a director, then vice president and now president of the South Manchuria Railway. (Copyright, 1936.) M. Matsuoka. ported he and an associate had found | 23—A man identified by photographs a direct relationship between the | 38 Claude McGee, convicted murderer amount of magnesium in food and the | Who escaped from jail November 18, |rate of growth of the body and of | held up two hunters, forced them Gize an Man a an s Gitr malignant tumors. Around 1910 he perfected a chem- ical test for the measurement of sugar in the urine. Professor Benedict was born in Cincinnati. Floridans See First Movies. The Ocala (Fla.) Star offered five | 30-day movie passes to the oldest residents of the county who never | first trace of him since his escape have seen & motion picture, to bring him from Deering, Mo, to near Poplar Bluff and then fled in their automobile last night. i The hunters, put out of the car about 3 miles east of here, were Wil- liam R. Phillips of Little Rock, Ark. United States Government land bank examiner, and Horton Scott, Caruth- ersvilie, Mo., motion picture operator. Both, after looking at pictures of McGee, told authorities he was the man who held them up. It was the from the Scott County Jail at Ben- Closed all day Saturday, December 26 Last-Minute Reminders If you have overlooked some man on your gift list—don’t worry—there is still time and a wonderful assortment of The Mode Holiday WE SELL U. S. GOVERNMENT INSPECTED MEATS <GS MARKET CO. 311 7th St. N.W. Vig¥iar 3146 M St. N.W. 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