Evening Star Newspaper, March 29, 1937, Page 2

DAOOMASED TORUNCONERES House Figure Is $l,400,000' Less Than Current Year. The House Appropriations Commit- tee recommended today an appropria- tion of $24,001,734 to run Congress for the next fiscal vear. The total represented a decrease of $1.413,724 from the amount allotted for the current year and was $946,030 below the budget estimates for the year 1937-38. A total of $8,308,078, the largest single item, was earmarked for the | House of Representatives. The amount provided for the Senate was $3,334,084. The funds included $1,672,000 for completion of air-conditioning equip- ment for the Capitol and its office buildings. A plan for operating a subway elec- tric train between the Capitol and the two House Office Buildings was but one in scores of human interest items behind the cold dollars and cents fig- ures in the bill, hearing on which cov- ered 329 printed pages—probably the briefest of any of the major appro- priation measures. Some of the| others are: How a devoted Capitol employe, on an extremely dangerous assignment, has worked 51 years without a single | day's vacation, and now about to be retired, figures it will take him 1!, to 2 years to tramn his successor. That 125 sets of talking books for | the 120,000 blind people in this coun- | try, and 18,000 specially designed | machines on which to run them off, | and 50 copies of a number of books in | Braille or Moon embossed type are | being distributed through 27 agencies | in as many States by the Library of | Congress. | How invaluable has become a digest | and index of bills by the Legislative | Reference Service, started two years ago by former Representative William W. Arnold, Democrat, of Illinois, a | Bible for Members of Congress and | purchasable at 10 or 15 cents an issue by any one. Proposal to give members of Con- gress a special air mail stamp which would save telegraph tolls and give just as quick delivery as a night letter by wire to places at a distance from ‘Washington. Bargain in Oriental Works, How an ardent patriot, enthusiastic for the Library of Congress, sold to it for $25,000, less than one-third of its value, an ‘‘exquisite” collection, which he had spent 40 years in mak- ing, of Arabic, Persian, Ethiopian and Cufic material—the first such bargain in more than a quarter of a century. | Some 30 vears ago Dr. Herbert Put- nam, the Librarian, spent $50,000 in two yearly installments for “the finest collection of Russian books out- side of Russia.” The proposed subway transporta- tion line 1s favored by many members, it was shown at the hearing, if noise can be eliminated. The Senate sub- way including the rebuilding and re- vamping of the original equipment cost about $25,000. The House has more than four times as many mem- bers to patronize such a railway, it was explained. David Lynn, architect of the Capitol, estimated that the House could have such a system at a | gost of $60,000, and that noise could | be reduced to a minimum by treating the ceiling and side walls of the sub- ways with accoustical tile. All major repairs to the Senate subway cars are made at the Washington Navy andA! Meters Official to Retire. The veteran Capitol employe, 51 | years on the job without any vacation, | 35 H. O. Bailey, United States super- | intendent of meters, 74 vears old, who | took over the job on June 30, 1886, | and is now receiving a salary of $2,100. There are 2,200 meters—gas, electric and steam—and he has to go into transformers where there are 6,600 to 13,200 volte, “and you do not know whether you are coming out or not,” | he told the committee. It takes him | 11 days to make the rounds. He is| ready for retirement in June, at $1,200 ® year. The Appropriations Subcom- | mittee was considering what allow- | ance it should make him to teach Some one to take his place. Members of the subcommittee paid | fribute to two veteran appropriation eommittee clerks—John Pugh and Jim Scanlon—when Representative Ross Collins, Democrat, of Mississippi, chairman of the District Subcommit- tee, asked that they be given increases | in salary. | Members of Congress are protesting | that they need more help in their offices to do the greatly increasing work properly for their constituents. The members of the subcommittee were agreed upon this and talked it over with South Trimble, clerk of the House—but they could do noth- ing about it except to recommend that separate legislation provide for a | substantial increase in the allowance | to each member for clerk hire. Rep- resentative Snyder (Pennsylvania) pointed out that while “voting for measures that will establish 35, 40 or 44 hours as a work week in cer- tain Industries, we are obliged to use our office help 75 and 80 hours a week in order to serve our people . back home.” Lewis & (Continued From First Page.) statement against sit-downs, the Na- | tional Association of Manufacturers made public a circular to members, advising them sit-downs were ‘“un- lawful” and that the strikers were subject to prosecution for trespass. The bitter feeling between Green and | Lewis has grown steadily more intense | since the automobile strikes started in | December. As spokesman for the A. F. of L.'s eraft unions, Green urged the Gen- eral Motors Corp. not to make any agreement with Lewis’ United Auto- mobile Workers (an industrial union) that would freeze craft unions out of General Motors plants. So far, Green has taken no hand in the Chrysler strike. He said recently | he understood the craft unions would be protected. Lewis refused to say that his state- ment regarding Green’s opinion on sit-down strikes meant that he was approving the sit-down technique. He | consistently has refused to indorse | the sit-down publicly, although he is known to feel there are arguments to Justify the technique. In a statement issued in Washing- ton last night, Green asserted sit- down ™ strikes heid ‘“grave impll tions detrimental to labor’s interest.” “I publicly warn labor against this llegal procedure,” he said. Green said there were two major reasons why “thinking men and wom- | out W ashington Random Observations of Interesting Events and Things. HE Dennis Hoeys—he is the ac- tor and she is his wife—are going to have a very good story to tell of Washington society It is about a jittery woman who at- tended rather a grand function with the Hoeys 2t one of the larger diplo- matic establishments in Washington. lost and the lady got extremely so, especially when she saw her face in a mirror, decided it needed powder and went to look for the powder room. more she asked the more confused she became Finally, taking a firm grip on her- self, she surveyed the room to find After studying the various faces, she selected one which she was posi- tive wore the expression of the per- fect servant, one who knew every- She walked over and asked her ques- tion. The man said he did not know. And why, indeed, should he—being Wayside ENVOY. when they go home to London. It was a fine place in which to get No one knew where it was and the precisely the right person to ask. thing. the Ambassador of one of the powers that always are called “great” in the | newspaper headlines? * ok K Kk FUTURE. And, speaking of great powers, England probably would have quaked in its shoes had it been at a certain local theater the other night. So, at least, thinks a wom- an who hears some pretty choice things by keeping her ears open between the acts. What she heard on this occasion was the following: “Yes, I'm poing over for the coro- nation. I want the children to see it. There probably never will be another coronation in the world the way things are going and I want them to see one so they can tell their grandchildren about it.” * ox ok x LUCK ’l‘HAT tan which Bill Owens sports these days is a freak of luck. Having five minutes to kill on a cer- tain recent day in New York, he dropped in to see Fred Robbins, the man who gets jobs for musicians. Fred was busy on the phone, but he interrupted the conversation long enough to ask Bill if he was working at the moment “I've got a job, but I'm not working for the next two weeks,” Owens ex- plained, wondering what it was all about. Fred did not explain until after he had turned back to the tele- phone and remarked: “Sure, I'll have him on board to- morrow morning at 10 o’clock.” The next morning at 10 Owens sailed on & liner bound for Havana, not merely with all expenses paid, but with a salary to hoot. . * x kX BRING-EM-BACK ALIVE. ALOT of Cubans smiled in vain into the lens of John Caswell's movie camera on his recent vacation in the land of sugar and senoritas. It was Mr. Caswell's idea to sort of catch the island republic off guard and bring Havana home with him in un- retouched celluloid. For & whole week, when he was not doing other things, Mr. Caswell was “shooting” Cubans at their variously interesting activities. He came home feeling pretty happy over the whole thing. Felt that way, indeed, until last Saturday morning when he opened the camera to find that he had forgotten to put film in the darned thing. * ok ok X NATURALS IF‘ YOU ever see Art Brown, the radio man, wearing a long face, he probably is feeling sad about the fact that the adults of today are the boys and girls of yesterday. It is Art's idea that if people never grew up in this world, they all would be good radio performers. because then every one could perform on the radio and no one would have to listen to it.) At any rate, he never has worked with a child who had “mike fright.” And he never has worked with an adult who didn't. He has there a pretty practical reason for liking children. * ok Kk % AUTHORITY, A husband-and-wife combina- tion was bound for a very late party on Saturday night. The wife was doing the driving and when they arrived the only available parking space involved backing smack against the bumper of another car. “You can’t do that” said the husband. “That chap can’t get out.” % A “It's much too late for him to be going out, anyway,” said the wife, which seemed to settle the matter definitely. * % % X LENT ended in a blaze of sacrifice on the part of a Washingtonian whose name implies he should belong to a certain religious faith even though it happens he does not. He went into rather a well known restaurant on a recent fast day and ordered one of the meat combinations on the menu. “You can't have that today,” said the hostess, who was taking the order. “Why not?” asked the customer. “With your name, you just can't,” she replied. “But my name has nothing to do with it,” he protested. That's what he thought. The hostess ordered an omelet for him. What is more, he ate it and liked it! — en of labor” must disavow sit-down strikes. He said these were that pub- lic opinion would not support them and that they would “inevitably lead to permanent injury.” “Labor should refrain from en- gaging in sit-down strikes and main- tain its freedom of action and associa- tion,” he said, “rather than experi- ment with it and as a resuit be sub- jected to oppressive legal regulation and compulsory arbitration. “Labor, therefore, runs the risk of losing more than can be gained by engaging in sit-down strikes.” 100 Seek School Job. SIKESTON, Mo, March 29 (#).— More than 100 educators have applied for the position of superintendent of schools here, to succeed Roy V. Ellise, who is retiring after 16 years of service. (It may be some one else’s idea that that is a good idea | THE E G NAZIPERSECUTON OF JEWS ASSALE {Rabbi Wise, in Town Hall, Blames “Inferiority Complex.” Scoring persecution of Jews in Germany, Rabbi Stephen Wise of New York City, last night predicted that Nazi Germany would turn against “the Catholics next, and Protestants last.” Rabbi Wise told Town Hall at the Shoreham Hotel that the principal cause of persecution, in his opinion was an “Inferiority complex,” on the part of the persecutor. But he agreed with Canon Anson Phelps Stokes of Washington Cathedral, that ignorance and fear played their part in raclal and religious persecution. The distinguished rabbi insisted that persecution does as much or even more harm to the persecutor than to the persecuted. He pointed out that the Jews have survived a long line of persecutors. “Of course we are hurt by perse- cution,” he declared, “but we survive. I give you the friendly warning that no measure of persecution will destroy the Jew.” Deploring the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor of Nazi Germany Janu- ary 30, 1933, which he named as & sorry date in history for the Jewish people, Rabbi Wise branded the Hit- ler book, “Mein Kampf,” as a docu- ment which “reeks of hatred against the Latin races.” In response to the audience that the Town Hall next year take up the question of the Negro in the United States for one evening's discussion, Dr. Frank Bohn, chairman of the forum last night, said the committee in charge was considering the question, and asked the audience to write to the committee as to whether the subject should be considered some night next season. Rabbi Wise referred to an attempt to bring back “Klenism,” and said there were nearly 200 anti-Jewish or- ganizations in the United States. “But,” he insisted, “we Jews will sur- vive this latest form of religious per- secution.” Persecutions Traced. Tracing history of racial and re- ligious persecutions, the speaker paid glowing tribute to the United States as the “country which has done more |than any other country to overcome ill will—a meeting place of races and peoples of the earth. Men of all races and faiths meet together here,” he | said, “in oneness of a common devo- tion in that ideal which is our coun- oy Both Rabbi Wise and Canon Stokes referred to movements under way sponsored by religious leaders in this country for co-operation of Christians and Jews, toward a better understand- ing. Both could unite, the speakers said, in “the fatherhood of God and | brotherhood of man,” and looked to faith and elimination of ignorance to help clear up misunderstandings. Canon Stokes reported progress here in Washington by the Committee on Religious Life, including Catholics, Orthodox Jews, Liberal Jews and Protestants. Canon Stokes thought | most persecution was due to a “‘superi- | ority” complex on the part of the per- EV suggestion from plex, blamed by the rabbi. On suggestion of Paul M. Pearson, former Governor of the Virgin Islands, & member of the panel, who was introduced as a member of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, Rabbi Wise discussed the encyclical sent by Pope Pius to Catholics in Germany, and praised the Catholic Church for this action. Use as “Scapegoat” Cited. Mrs. Helen Howell Moorhead of the Foreign Policy Association, also a panel member, raised the question of goat.” Rabbi Wise considered it a | compliment that the Jew wa. singled | out as the “first scapegoat.” In Nazi | Germany, he said, “Jews as a race, as | & group, were victimized because the | azi finds it convenient to lay sins on | the shoulder of the Jew for enormous | economic difficulties growing out of blunders of government and state.” Edward Keating, editor of Labor, another panel member, speaking as & Catholic, said “bigotry” was not pe- culiar to any one people or belief. But, he predicted, “I believe it's dying out.” Religious prejudice he branded as “utterly ridiculous and silly.” He said he had seen men voted into high places on a wave of religious prejudice and later swept out. Closing his discussion on a broad religious note, Ribbi Wise declared his prayer as a Jew was that ‘“the risen Christ may rise for the Jew and the Christian alike on Eastertide, with a truer, deeper, more brotherly justice to the brothers of Jesus and to all the sons of men.” The next program of Town Hall, next Sunday night, will present Wil- liam Lyon Phelps on ‘‘Contemporary Books and the Value of Good Reading.” Diplomatic (Continued From First Page.) Ambassador to Moscow, is reported to be anxious to obtain a transfer to London. He now is on his way to ‘Washington to see whether the Presi- dent is to agree to such a change. David H. Morris, United States Am- bassador to Belgium, is reported de- sirous to retire. While he has taken no official steps toward that end, his diplomacy. In the event of his re- tirement, it is probable that Hugh Gibson, at present Ambassador to Bra. zil, but who will be without a job when Caffery takes over the Rio de Janeiro Embassy, will be appointed to Brussels, where he served the United States during the Hoover administra- tion. Congress in Brie ‘TODAY. Senate: Debates crop insurance bill. Reorganization Committee hears Brookings Institution experts explain scheme to revamp executive agencies. House: Considers District legislation. TOMORROW. Senate: Probebly will take up Guffey coal bill, if erop insurance bill passes to- day. Judiciary Committee will resume hearings on President’s court bill. House: Considers legislative appropriation bill. Foreign Affairs Committee considers resolution for Federal participation in New York World Pair, 10:30 am. t STAR, WASHINGTO 33 ON FREIGHTER ARE THOUGHT SAFE Stricken Volunteer Reported Winning Fight to Reach Port. BY the Associated Press. BAN FRANCISCO, March 29.—The stricken freighter Volunteer, with 39 aboard, apparently was winning lts fight early today against a leaky hull and defective pumps, radio messages indicated. Mackay Radio reported a message from the liner Empress of Canads at 3 am., saying the Volunteer was striving to make Kobe under its own power. The message said the British motorship Fresno City, which sped 240 miles under forced draft to the aid of the Volunteer, had resumed its course to Los Angeles. The Japanese freighter Uyo Maru was reported standing by the Volun- teer, which carried a crew of 37 and two passengers. The first message in nearly 24 hours to be received by Globe Wireless, from the passenger liner President Harrison, read: “Volunteer Kobe.” Conflicting Report Received. The reports from the Harrison and Empress of Canada conflicted with an earlier message from the Choshi wireless station at Tokio, which said an unnamed British steamer had res- cued those aboard the Volunteer and the freighter apparently was doomed. Buffeted for two days by a terrific gale, the American carrier's pumps became clogged early Saturday. Water poured through spread hull plates into the No. 1 hold. Capt. W. M. Geldert, skipper of the Volunteer, ordered two calls for help flashed within four hours. Ships in the immediate area, in- cluding the Presno City and the speedy Empress of Canada began (o converge on the Volunteer. The Fresno City was the nearest ship. ‘When it reached the floundering ves- sel, the Empress of Canada resumed its course toward the United States. The Volunteer cleared New Orleans February 7 for Kobe, Japan, with a cargo of cotton and general freight. She is a United States Shipping | Board vessel operated by Lykes Bros.. | New Orleans shipping concern. | Reports from ships near the Volun- | teer indicated weather conditions were | favorable and the wind moderate. proceeding slowly w Judiciary (Continued From Pirst Page.) “the President thought this was nob secutor, instead of “inferiority” com- | Germany using the Jews as a ‘“scape- | friends say that he has had enough of | right and I believe the fair-thinking | people of America agree that it is | not right.” | McKellar listed a dozen ‘“excuses” | he said Hughes gave for dismissing the 87 per cent. He characterized it as “remarkable” | in | that Hughes said “the litigants these cases had no interest which the court should consider.” Denouncing again and again what he sald was Hughes' failure to dis- close the court’s procedure, McKel- iar at one point said: “Why this secrecy In a court of justice? Why cannot the facts be given? Why cannot the method of dealing with dismissed certiorari cases be frankly imparted to the pub- lic? Quoting Hughes as saying that where cases had been fully heard in lower courts and the dispute interested no one but the litigants, they had no right to “burden the Supreme Court,” McKellar said “I think these astound- ing statements of the Chief Justice will indeed be information to lawyers and litigants throughout the Nation.” “This is the most remarkable judi- cial expression that ever well from the lipc of any Supreme Court justice,” the Tennesseean added, “Namely, that a litigant in his court has no right to burden the court with a dispute that interests no one but the litigant.” Suggests “Assistant Court.” McKellar suggested the creation of an “assistant court” to harmonize de- cisions by various Federal courts. He contended the Supreme Court was not suited to the task because of “much dissension among members of the court as to what the law is and what the Constitution means.” At one place in his argument, Mc- Kellar said the Chief Justice had set up a “straw man” by attempting to “make it appear that the Presi- dent favored the ascheme of unre- stricted appeals.” “Our Constitution provides for only one Supreme Court,” McKellar said, “and if the court is not large enough to examine and pass upon the cases that come to it under the severely limited restrictions of its jurisdiction already made by the Congress, then we should add enough members to do the work in a proper, fair, just and impartial manner.” Will Broadoast Tonight. Senator Glass, recently recovered from a lengthy iliness, will broadcast his address tonight at 10 o‘clock. He will speak for an hour over the Columbia Broadcasting System's net- work and can be heard here through Station WJSV. It will be his second major radio address, his first having been in support of Mr. Roosevelt's presidential candidacy in 1932. He did not take part in last year's na- tional campaign. Senator Robinson, an advocate of the Roosevelt bill, will deliver a 45- minute radio address tomorrow night. Whether it will be a direct reply to Glass’ speech was not disclosed. Opposition testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee also re- sumes tomorrow. Foes of the bill have the rest of the week to present witnesses, while next week will be devoted to rebuttal witnesses. Administration leaders said they ex- pected to offer very little rebuttal testimony in an effort to end the hearings by April 10. Chairman Ashurst said, however, that any citizen wishing to be heard would have an opportunity. Ashurst and Senator La Follette, Progressive, of Wisconsin, predicted passage of the President's bill to in- crease the size of the Supreme Court unless justices over 70 retire. The Executive Council of the Junior Bar Associstion opposed the President’s bill in & statement last night, declaring it would set a pre- cedent for “eventual destruction of the independence of the judiciary.” The sssociation’s 4,200 members, it said, voted 4-to-1 against the bill. The Utility Consumers’ National Policy Committee, on the other hand, said the majority of the Supreme Court “has made it impossible to have effective and economical regulation of private utility companies.” X | D. C, @ Central Figures in Slaying Probe MONDAY, MARCH 2 9, 1937 No. 1—Joseph Gedeon, fa- ther of slain model, shown after being questioned in triple slaying at New York. No. 2—Veronica Gedeon, 20, who was found slain with her mother and a roomer. She is shown in one of the towel ad poses for which she was widely known. No. 3—Police remarked on the shrill barking of this pekinese when they entered the Gedeon apartment after the slayings. Neighbors said they had not heard the dog bark during the time of the crime. No. 4—Mr. and Mrs. Joseph C. Kudner leaving police sta- tion after being questioned Mrs. Kudner is a sister of the slain model. ——Copyright, A. P. Wirephotos. Murders (Continued From Pirst Page) to be slain, with Byrnes next and Veronica last Only one inhabitant of the five-room | apartment remained alive when the killer's work was finished. That was a little Pekingese dog vhich barked bravely when police arrived. The triple murder was discovered at 3:10 p.m. yesterday by Mrs. Gedeon's estranged husband, Joseph Gedeon, an upholsterer; another daughter, Mrs. Ethel Kudner, and her husband, Joseph Kudner, when they arrived at the apartment for an Easter dinner. They saw the nude body of Veronica lying on the bed, the partly clothed body of her mother crumpled half beneath the bed, and the dead Byrnes on the bed in his own room. Byrnes was dressed only in his underwear. Police remarked on the shrill bark- ing of the Pekingese at the entrance of strangers. Neighbors said they had not heard the dog bark once during | the night “Ronnie” Gedeon, as the model was | known to dozens of artists and pho- tographers, had a great number of friends. Police sald her father thought she had too many—that his disap- proval of this fact led to the separa- tion of himself and his wife. Walked Into Killer's Hands. It was one of these friends, Stephen Butter, & securities messenger for & Wall street house, who was the last identified person to see Ronnie alive. He said he took her home from & date at 3 am. and left her at the door. Apperently her mother and Byrnes were dead at ihat time and she walked into the murderer's hands. Her fur coat and pocketbook were found in the bath room, presumably where she placed them after she en- tered the apartment, but her dress was torn from her in the living room, and her single undergarment, ripped and torn, was found on the floor of the bed room. Bruises on her throat indicated she had been strangled. Cosmon Cambinias, who lived on the second floor, directly underneath, told police he heard muffied screams and the sound of a scuffie about 11 p.m. Saturday, but they ceased and he did not think them worthy of investi- gating. o Egg Rolling (Continued From First Page.) to make another appearance later today. While the crowd increased, William Reeves, chief gardener at the Execu- tive Mansion, gratefully noted that the lawn was almost dry and, there- fore would suffer comparatively little damage. Grass Trampled Last Year. Lest year, when 48528 persons turned out for the Easter frolic, the Iawn was wet and the grass was badly trampled. Reeves said the grounds were in better condition today than at any time in his experience. The portions of the lawn which suffer most from the crowds are those shaded by the big trees. The grass recovers slowly in the shaded areas, Reeves said. Sparrows, Dpigeons, starlings and robins, which frequent the south lawn, will have a big day tomorrow, feast- ing on the remnants of thousands of FEaster eggs scattered over the grass by the young celebrators. Reeves said the birds are of considerable assist- ance to the caretakers who clean the south grounds after each Easter Mon- day. Perhaps the biggest egg to make its appearance at the White House today was delivered to Mrs. Roose- velt by 10-year-old Carl Schiffeler, son of the manager of the Raleigh Hotel. The chocolate-coated egg, made by the hotel chef, weighed nearly 6 pounds. The children were entertained by feats of sight of hand performed by A | te-tainment. | David Belmont, & magician from New York, who occupied a decorated stand on the lawn. After Belmont fished many yards of bright silkk from the coat of an astonished 7-year-old. who had vol- unteered to assist with the perform- ance, Arthur Moose, a ventriloquist, mounted the platform and conversed with his dummy, called “‘Jerry.” The children seemed to get a huge amount of enjoyment from the en- The smallest members of the crowd looked on from the shoulders of their parents. The only casualty was a 10-year-old | boy, who got some dirt in his eyes| while rolling down a hill after an| egg. A Red Cross nurse bathed his | eyes and he returned to play | Besides William, a second Roosevelt | grandchild is at the White House— | 6-year-old Sarah, daughter of Mr. and | Mrs. James Roosevelt. | The children—all under 12 and companied by a parent or guardian— rolled their eggs down artificial hills built by Andrew Jackson, a Tennes- seean, who missed his native moun- tains and had the mounds raised to break the monotony of the flat ground At 3 p.m. the general public will be admitted to hear an outdoor concert by the Marine Band. This morning several juvenile bands played for the children as they romped over the lawn. Boy and Girl Scouts and Girl Re- serves were on hand to assist with the games and look after the very young children. An interne from Emergency Hospital and a nurse detail from the Red Cross were stationed on the south lawn to assist in case of emergency. The sloping greensward provides the scene for the egg rolling itself, the technique being to roll an egg down a bank and hit another egg resting at the bottom. If you are “playing for keeps,” you get the egg you hit. In revealing that the cold has failed to damage the cherry trees, Frank T. Gartside, assistant superintendent of National Capital parks, announced the blossoms will be at their best between | April 4 to 11, the weathes notwith- standing. Barga.ining (Oontinued From First Page.) provisions of the 1934 national fire- arms act requiring dealers to register with the collector of internal revenue and pay & special tax of $200 a year. It upheld an effort by the State of Washington to impose a 2 per cent tax on articles brought into the State for use in constructing Grand Coulee Dam. Justices Butler and MCcRey- nolds dissented. Frasier-Lemke Act Valid. In the Frazier-Lemke case, Justice Brandeis delivered the unanimous de- cision that the provisions of the in- volved legislation make ‘“‘no unreason- able modification of the mortagee’s rights, and hence are valid.” It was Brandeis who delivered the unanimous decision two years ago holding the original Frazier-Lemke act, granting a five-year moratorium, unconstitutional on the ground it took property without due process of law. In today's decision Brandeis said the court had no occasion to decide whether “an absolute stay of three vears would have been justified under the bankruptcy power.” “We are of the opinion,” he added, “that, while the act affords the debtor, ordinarily, & three-year period of re- habilitation, the stay provided for is not an absolute one; and that the court may terminate the stay and order | » sale earlier.” In the railway labor case, the com- pany contended in attacking the act that one section, which provides that » carrier shall negotiate with the rep- resentative of employes certified by the National Mediation Board, im- poses no legally enforcible obligation, and that it is unconstitutional because it deprives railroads of their property and liberty of contact. “The peaceable settlement of labor controversies, especially where they ' | ployes are engaged have such a re-| may seriously impair the ability of an interstate rail carrier to perform its | service to the public, is a matter of | public concern,” Justice Stone said in reading the opinion. | “In considering the propriety of the equitable relief granted here,” Stone cortinued. e cannot ignore the judgment of Congress, deliberately ex- pressed in legislation. that where the obstruction of the company union is | removed, the meeting of employers and employes at the conference table is a powerful aid to industrial peace. “Moreover, the resources of railway labor act are not exhausted negotiation feils in the first instance result in agreement. “If disputes concerning changes in rates of pay, rules or working condi- tions.” the decision added, are not ad- justed, either party could invoke the | services of the National (Railway) | Mediation Board. Stone continued “With the coercive influence of the company union ended, and in view of the interest of both parties in avoid- ing a strike, we cannot assume that negotiation, as required by the decree, will not result in agreement, or lead to successful mediation, or arbitration, or that the attempt to secure one or another through the relief which the | district court gave is not worth the | effort.” No Agreement Compelled. Stone said “the statute does not undertake to compel agreement be- tween the employer and employes, but it does command those preliminary steps without which no agreement can be reached.” “It at least requires the employer to meet and confer with the authorized representative of its employes,” he‘ said, “to listen to their complaints, to| make reasonable effort to compose dif- ferences—in short, to enter into a negotiation for the settlement of labor disputes.” On the question of whether the rail- way labor act could apply to railroad employes not directly connected with operating trains, Stone said: “Petitioner insists that the act as| applied to its ‘back shop’ employes is not within the commerce power since their duties have no direct relation- ship to interstate transportation. “The back shop employes are en- gaged in making classified repairs, which consist of heavy repairs on locomotives and cars withdrawn from service for that purpose for long periods. * * * When not engaged | in repair work, .the back shop em- ployes perform store order work, the manufacture of material such as rivets and repair parts to be placed in rail- road stores for use at points on the liney s one. “The activities in which these em- it | to lation to the other confessedly inter- state activities of the petitioner that they are to be regarded as a part of them. * * ¢ Danger to Service. “The relation of the back shop to transportation is such that a strike of petitioner's employes there, quite apart from the likelihood of its spreading to the operating depart- ment, would subject petitioner to the danger, substantial, though possibly indefinable in its extent, of interrup- tion of the transportation service. The cause is not remote from the effect. The relation between them is not tenuous. The effect on commerce cannot be regarded as negligible. * ¢ * “It is no answer, as petitioner sug- gests that it could close its back shop and turn over the repair work to in-| dependent contractors. Whether the railroad should do its repair work in its own shop or in those of another is a question of railroad management. It is petitioner’s determination to make its own repairs which has brought its relations with shop em- ployes within the purview of the rail- way labor act. It is the nature of the work done and its relation to inter- state transportation which afford adequate basis for the exercise of the regulatory power of Congress. { | and three operators. 1 LEWIS TO DIRECT MINERS'PAY FIEHT Entry of C. I. 0. Head Into Negotiations May End Deadlock. BY the Associated Press. NEW YORK, March 29.—John L. Lewis, hefty leader of the Committee for Industrial Organization, returned to his home grounds today to take charge of the soft coal miners’ fight for higher wages and shorter hours. As president of the United Mine ‘Workers for 18 years, Lewis is a vet- eran of many wage and hour negotia- tions with the soft coal operators. Some operators privately predicted his presence would help break the deadlock between miners and oper= ators that threatens to result in a strike of 400,000 miners Thursday. The negotiations are in the hands of a joint committee of three miners For the last week Philip Murray, union vice presi- dent; Thomas Kennedy, secretary=~ treasurer, and Van A. Bittner, South= ern West Virginia district president, have spoken for the miners. Charles P. O'Neill, Central Pennsylvania; L. T. Putman, Southern West Virginia, and Duncan Kennedy of Charleston, W. Va., have represented the producers. Minimum Wage (Continued Prom First Page.) fixed in order to meet the very neces- sities of existence is not an admissiblz means to that end? ‘The Legislature of the State was clearly entitled to consider the situa- ation of women in employment, the fact that they are in the class receiv- ing the least pay, that bargaining power is relatively weak, and that they are the ready victims of those who would take advantage of their neces- | sitous circumstances. Entitled to Adopt Measures. “The Legislature was entitled to adopt measures to reduce the evils of the seating system, the exploiting of workers at wages 50 low as to be insufficient to meet the bare cost of living. thus making their very help- sness the occasion of a most in- ous competition The Legislature had the right to consider that its minimum wage re- quirements would be an important aid in carrying out its policy of pro= tection. The adoption of similar re- quirements by many States evidenced A deep-seated conviction both a5 to the presence of the evil and as to the means adapted to check it. “Legislative response to that con- viction cannot be regarded as arbi- trary or capricious, and that is all we had to decide. Even if the wisdom of the policy be regarded as debatable and its effects uncertain, still the Legislature is entitled to its judg- ment."” This last sentence was interpreted as a direct reply to court critics who testified during the Senate Committee hearings that the court had exceeded its power by attempting to pass on the wisdom of legislation Minority Opinion. Commenting on the position taken by the majority, the minority opinion read oy Justice Sutherland, said: “It is hard to see why the power to fix minimum wages does not connote a like power in respect of maximum wages. And yet, if both powers are exercised in such a way that the minimum and the maximum s0 nearly approach each other as to become sub- stantially the same, the right to make any contract in respect of wages will have been completely abrogated “The Washington statute is in every substantial respect identical with the statute involved in the Adkins case. Such vices as existed in the latter are present in the former. And if the Adkins case was properly decided, as we who join in this opinion think it was. it necessarily follows that the Washington statute is invalid" Continuing his discussion of the pow- er of the Legislature to determine the wisdom of the statute, the Chief Jus- tice added: “There is an additional and com- pelling consideration which recent economic experience has brought into » strong light. The exploitation of a class of workegs who are in an unequal position with respect to bar- gaining power and are thus relatively defenseless against the denial of & living wage is not only detrimental to their health and well-being, but casts a direct burden for their support upon the community. What these workers lose in wages the taxpayers are called upon to pay. The bare cost of live ing must be met. Relief Demand Noted. “We may take judicial notice of the unparalleled demand for relief which arose during the recent period of de- pression and still continues to an alarming extent despite the degree of economic recovery which has been achieved. It is unnecessary to cite offi- cial statistics to establish what is of common knowledge through the length and breadth of the land “While in the instant case no factual brief has been presented, there is no reason to doubt that the State of ‘Washington has encountered the same social problem that is present else- where. The community is not bound to provide what is in effect a subsidy for unconscionable employers. The community may direct its lJawmaking power to correct the abuse which springs from their selfish disregard of the public interest. “The argument that the legislation in question constitutes an arbitrary discrimination, because it does not ex- tend to men, is unavailing. This court has frequently held that the legisla- tive authority, acting within its proper field, is not bound to extend its regu- lation to all cases which it might pos- sibly reach.” BOY KILLED AT PLAY T0 BE BURIED TODAY Funeral services are being held today for Robert McFarland Russell, 11, son of Dr. Albert E. Russell of the United States Public Health Service, who was killed Friday night by a revolver in the hands of a playmate. Burial in Cedar Hill Cemetery was to follow services at 11:45 am. at St. Stephen’s and the Ircarnation Episcopal Church, with Rev. Paul Wilbur, rector, officiating. Richard Ham, 13, son of William F. Ham, chairman of the board of the Potomac Electric Power Co., who was showing his gun collection ta Robert in the Ham home when the tragedy occurred, was exonerated Sat- urday by a coroner’s jury that decided Robert's death was accidental. Robert was an only son. The Rus- sells] live at 1870 Wyoming avenue. < .