Evening Star Newspaper, March 31, 1937, Page 1

WEATHER. (U. 8. Weather Bureau Forecast.) Fair and slightly colder, with lowest temperature tonight about 36 degrees; tomorrow fair with gentle to moderate north winds. Temperatures—Highest, 58, at 4 pm. yesterday; lowest, 43, at 5 a.m. today. Full report on page A-6. Closing New York Markets, Page 16 85th YEAR. No. TALIN COLOVALS HELP HALT REVOLT NREBEL HOROCCD 1,000 Reported Brought In | as Franco Rushes to Ceuta by Plane. 1,100 IN JAIL, 50 SLAIN TO STAMP OUT UPRISING | | Situation Believed Still Serious. Arrival of German Cruiser Blamed on Agitation. BACKGROUND— For jour days bitter fighting has been raging on southern front in Spanish civil war. The rout of the Fascist rebels from Pozoblanco, gateway to a rich mine area, gave the government’s morale another boost, The Loyalists won at Guadalajara more than a week ago. Heartened by these victories after defeat in the civil war seemed in- evitable, the Loyalists have begun offensive around Oviedo, in Avila and upon the Southern Mediter- ranean coast. The civil war began last July. 33,937, Entered as second class matter post office, Washington, D. O. 40 Americans Killed, 100 Hurt In SpanishWar Casualties Reparted in Fighting on Jara- ma Front. BY the Associated Press. VALENCIA, March 31.—Forty Amer- ican volunteers in the Spanish govern- ment's Lincoln brigade were reported today killed, with 100 wounded, tn fighting on the Jarama front south of Madrid during the last two weeks of February. A check-up disclosed the American casualties had not been as great as at first feared and several men who were reported killed in action later were discovered in hospitals. Brigade officers said no authoritative list of dead and injured had as yet been compiled. o= RACE BROADCAST SERVIGE REFUSED Telephone Company Prom- ises Not to Aid Teleflash Operators Again. tion to Washington gamblers will be seriously impeded in the future by a CASABLANCA, French Morocco, March 31.—Insurgent Gen. Francisco | Franco, seemingly beset by continuing ‘ strife in the Spanish Moroccan cradle of his eight and a half months’ rebel- ; lion, was reported by usuatly reliable% sources today to have brought 1.000] Italian colonials into the zone “from overseas” to stamp out stubborn revoit. | (The Tangier correspondent of the London Evening News said Franco himself, with four senior staff officers, | had flown to Ceuta, Spanish Morocco, from Spain.) The colonial troops, described in some quarters as either actual Italians or natives from Italian conquered | Ethiopia, landed at Ceuta, the Casa- | blanca advices said. | They were spread through the zone, where Franco's subordinates have | smashed at a civilian-military uprising | with the double-edged weapon of exe- cution and arrest. Fifty persons were executed, 1,100 thrown into jail, latest reports re- lated. | Situation Still Serious. Advices describing the executions promise given today to United States Attorney Leslie C. Garnett by the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. that it will not again provide service for Telecast or Teleflash broadcasters or other similar devices. At the same time, it was learned that the telephone company received orders late yesterday from National Telecast, Inc., to disconnnect all its sets, at one time estimated at about 150 in number. The disconnections started today. The elaborate network of wires covering the city by which race track | information was supplied to alleged | | gambling establishments first was dis- closed by a raid several weeks ago on the National Telecast headquarters in the Albee Building. At that time, William (Jewboy) Dietz and William Cahill, said to be Dietz’ partner in operation of the information service, were arrested and charged with con- spiracy to violate the gambling laws. 39 Raids Followed. ‘Thirty-nine raids have followed, with the arrest of more than 100 per- sons. It is understood many will be prosecuted as participants in the al- leged conspiracy said to involve Dietz | and Cahill. Telecast served many legitimatp Dissemination of race track informa- | and arrests of officers, civilians and soldiers said the revolt was crushed, | cocktail rooms and the like. but today’s reports indicated the situa- | It is the contention, however, of po- tion still was serious and that the |lice and Internal Revenue Bureau Smported colonials were needed as a | 8gents, who listened over tapped wires Pprecautionary measure. |of the ]sysnem for months, that Tele- £ cast also provided the information m:m::m“:z A c::"g“‘ n;‘)’:;”“i;z which enabled scores of gambling es- tablishments to operate. Fascist-insurgent regime in the Span- 2 . 1sh zone, and the populace, some per- | Lcchash, Which ceased operating . here several weeks ago, is said to be sons stated, was kept from rioting only | 5 sy by the most igid measures. & subsidiary of Nationwide News, | which handles racing news throughout Efforts to confirm the advices, which | the country. Nationwide News, then eame from several sources, Were known as General News, moved out of hindered by the fact that telephonic | Washington in 1934, promising Gar- ‘!gnhermz places, such as restaurants, | communication with Tetuan, capital | of Spanish Morocco, was cut for the | second time in 24 hours. Diplomatic sources at Tangier at- tributed recent insurgent assertions that the French were stirring up trou- | ble in Spanish Morocco to a desire to cover the growing agitation in that region. In some quarters it was believed the | arrival of a new German cruiser at | Ceuta resulted from Republican agita- | tion. Extra Privileges Sought. One unconfirmed report said Italians | had been offering bribes at Tetuan | in an attempt to gain greater privi- leges, which they declared the insur- gent authorities were giving to Ger- | mans. The first move of the counter-revo- | tution was to have been the arrest of Col. Juan Beigbeder y Atenza, the insurgent high commissioner, and his | tafl. Then, throughout next week end,| the revolters’ position would have | been consolidated through seizure of railroad stations and public services throughout the colony (The Daily Mail reports said the | eonspirators planned to raise the flag | of the Madrid-Valencia government | while a squad of 50 pilots seized the planes of the insurgent airports and | (See SPAIN, Page A-5) PLEA OF INNOCENT MADE IN STABBING | Yhomas Smith Denies Slaying of Babcock Girl—Sanity Test Is Considered. #7 the Associated Press. BUFFALO, N. Y., March 31.—Eight- een-year-old Thomas Smith pleaded innocent today to a charge of murder- ing 18-year-old Mary Ellen Babcock, end his attorneys saia they might ask the court to appoint a sanity commis- sion. Smith appeared briefly in court, then was returned to jail to await a hearing April 14. His arraignment on a first-degree murder charge took place 24 hours after announcement by Police Com- missioner James W. Higgins that Smith had confessed the knife-slaying of Miss Babcock February 5. William J. Flynn, one of Smith’s Bawyers, said no request had been made yet for a sanity examination, but such a request was being con- sidered. “We have taken the position that #f he did the things it is claimed he did, he is suffering from some mental trouble,” Flynn said. “But we are not yet satisfied that bhe did them.” Earlier today Smith was taken to & hospital, where Frances Fitzgerald, 14, lies with a wound in her back. Higgins said Smith had confessed that he stabbed Frances with an i Yick Sunday. nett it would not again furnish track information to gamblers in the Dis- trict. Then Teleflash Comes In. Within the past year, however, Teleflash set up operations in Wash- ington under the representation that it would service only legitimate estab- lishments. But recently the local Teleflash manager, Leonard J. Ma- tusky, was arrested and charged with conspiracy. At the same time Na- tionwide News announced he had vio- lated orders and was being discharged. Racing information dissemination to gamblers reached the proportions of an extensive and lucrative business under Sam Beard, once king of Washington's gamblers. Beard now is serving a prison term in the Federal Penitentiary at Atlanta. Police say Dietz set up his business LINDBERGH.S IN ATHENS Crown Prince Stunts Own Plane in Welcome Gesture. ATHENS, Greece, March 31 (®).— Col. and Mrs. Charles A. Lindbergh landed at Tatoi Airdrome at 9:25 am. today from the Island of Rhodes. Crown Prince Paul of Greece stunted his plane slowly over the fleld as the Lindberghs arrived. A crowd which expected them earlier had dwindled. after Beard's ring had been smashed. | ah WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, MODEL'S FATHER AGAIN QUIZZED IN TRIPLE SLAYING Joseph Gedeon and Three Others in New Round- Up for Clues. POINTS TO BE CLEARED IN STORY OF PARENT Fingerprints Found on Bedding Tested by Experts—Former Husband Is Witness. BACKGRQUND— The bodies of Veronica Gedeon, artists’ model, 20, her mother, Mrs. Mary Gedeon, 54, and Frank Byrnes, 35, a roomer, were found Easter afternoon in their New York home, the two women strangled and the man hacked to death. - Suspects have been questioned, but none held, and police are depending on fingerprints to identify the slayer. By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, March 31.—Joseph Gedeon, scrawny father of Veronica “Ronnie” Gedeon and estranged hus- band of Mary Gedeon, both strangled to death in the triple murders of Beek- man Hill Easter Sunday, was brought in for further questioning by police today along with three other principal characters in New York'’s strange mur- der drama. With District Attorney William C Dodge taking active charge of ques- tioning for the first time in a fresh burst of police activity, detectives brought to the Fifty-first street sta- ion Robert Fowler, 25, who married the gay art model when she was 16, and Jean Carp, 20, a model and closest friend of “Ronnie.” Also questioned again was Georges (French) Gueret, former roomer in the apartment where Ronnie and her mother were strangled and another roomer, Frank Byrnes, stabbed to death some time early Sunday morn- ing. Gueret, released yesterday after 30 hours of questioning as a “guest” of the police, walked unescorted into the station. Points to Be Cleared. Although denying that the case ‘WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION COLLINS TO OFFER 9 NEW TAX BILLS - FORD.C. REVENUE House Committee Aroused Over Subgroup’s “Usurpa- tion” in Changes. NEW LEVIES ON CARS, INCOMES PROVIDED Measures Would Yield Over 12 Million From Various Sources to Meet Deficit. BY JAMES E. CHINN. Nine new tax revenue bills, esti- mated to yield more than $12,000,000 from various sources in the District, will be introduced iu the House today by Chairman Collins of the Sub- committee on Appropriations which drafted the 1938 District supply bill. One-half of the $12,000,000 will be needed to absorb an anticipated defi- cit, since the appropriations carried in the bill are $6,000,000 in excess of the estimated revenue availability in the coming fiscal year. The bal- ance, according to Collins, will be set up as a reserve, which may be used to reduce the tax on real estate /in the 1939 fiscal year. | The tax bills will vitally affect every wage earner, automobile owner and various types of business—utility corporations, insurance companies, theaters and other places of amuse- | | ment and parking lot operators. { Revolt Seen on Reorganization. Meanwhile, the House District Com- mittee, aroused over efforts of the | Appropriations Committee to usurp its | authority in legislative matters by arranging for drastic reorganization | of certain municipal agencies and | services in the 1938 supply bill, ap- | peared on the verge of revolt. Behind closed doors, the commit- | tee informally discussed some of the | | legislative riders with which the sup- | | ply bill is loaded and finally decided | im hold a special meeting at 10:30 | 8.m. tomorrow to determine a course | | of action. | | Provisions in the supply bill for transferring Gallinger Hospital and | | the new Tuberculosis Sanatorium at | Glenn Dale, Md., from supervision of | | the Board of Public Welfare to the | | Health Department, and the proposed1 shifting of numerous playgrounds now | under control of the Playground De- MRCHAIR ¢ Foening Star 1937—FORTY-FOUR PAGES. The only evening paper in Washington with the Associated Press News and Wirephoto Services. Yesterday’s v 35 sjeokok ok (P) Means Associate Circulation, 143,090 (Some returns not yet received.) TWO CENTS. d Press. MAN: | HAVE CALLED THESE GENTLEMEN To TESTIFY AGAINST THE PLAN TO PACK THE SUPREME COURT! WAGNER OUTLINES | SIT-DOWN' VIEWS Sees Them Result of Em- ployers’ “Violations” of Industrial Liberties. BY JOHN C. HENRY. Senator Wagner, Democrat, of New York, co-author of the national labor relations law, in his first formal com- mitment on the sit-down strike, told the Senate today “the sit-down has | been used only in protest against re- violations of industrial lib- which Congress has recog- peated erties nized.” This statement followed Wagner's assertion that he advocated “obedience to law and court orders and decisions by all people at all times.” Leading up to his discussion of the sit-down strategy. Wagner charged that the worker of today still “sees his fair share of the products of in- ' had become “hot,” Deputy Inspector | Partment to the Community Center | dustry denied him, as it has been in Francis J. Kear said “there are cer- | Department of the public schools, were | the past, by the greed of monopoly tain points about Gedeon's story we ' Understood to be the chief targets of | capital. He finds his hours growing piys | longér while millions remain unem- want him to clear up.” Crimson fingerprints with their damning telltale record provided de- tectives today with their first concrete clue. When they match bloody smudges | on an apartment bed sheet with the arches, loops and whorls on a man’s finger tips they hope to ascertain the identity of the murderer. In the fingerprint section at police headquarters and in the bigger col- lection of prints at the Department of Justice in Washington, experts classified and compared the stains left on a sheet of Miss Gedeon's bed with the digit records of known crim- inals. Habitue of Ball Rooms. Shapely, good-looking and described by her own father as a trifler with men'’s affections, she posed for artists and photographers, illustrated with | her semi-nude figure blood-and-tnun- der detective stories and was & habitue of bars and ball rooms. The fingerprints and other evidence led detectives to conclude the killer had taken his time in dispatching his victims. He apparently spent several hours in the Beekman Hill Apartment. He oarefully washed his hands, they said, between the time he sank an in- (See FATHER, Page A-2) FIRE WRECKS MESS HALL | $300,000 Loss to Veterans’ Insti- tution at Marion, Ind. MARION, Ind., March 31 (#).—Fire of undertermined origin destroyed the mess hall at the United States Vet- erans’ Hospital here early today, caus- | ing damage estimated at $300,000 by hospital officials. The building, one of the oldest at the institution, was constructed ini 1890. Provision was made for feeding the 1,500 patients in other hospital build- ings. BY the Associated Press. EL PASO, Tex., March 31.—Robert M. Miller, missing Safford, Ariz.,, Boy Scout executive, walked into the EI Paso Natural Gas Co. control station north of here early today. He said he had been freed by kid- napers last night. Fred Rosch, in charge of the station at Sunrise Acres, north of El Paso, called the office of Sheriff Chris Fox, and deputies brought Miller to the sheriff’s office. Miller said that he was kidnaped last Wednesday while on his way to Globe, Ariz., from Safford. Miller said he had been stopped by a car which was across the road and a man lay in front of the car as if injured. “I stopped my car to give aid,” he said. “The man jumped up and hit me. Two other men, hiding in the car leaped out and knocked me out. The next thing I knew I awoke in their. car.” Miller said that he had been kept in custody of the kidnapers until last night when he was pushed out of the car on the desert. Miller told the sheriff he was held at an adobe house he believed was in El Paso County, until last night. He said the men then put him in an auto, drove toward El Paso and rg- leased him. P Missing Boy Scout Executive Returns, Says He Was Kidnaped He said he walked about four hours before reaching the gas company sta- tion. Sheriff Fox quoted Miller as saying he believed the men had planned to ask ransom from the Boy Scout or- ganization, since they questioned him about its finances and his standing with the organization. Several hundred searchers were tramping the hills between Safford and Duncan, Ariz, determined but losing hope in the week-long hunt, when Miller appeared at El Paso. It was the greatest manhunt in re- cent Arizona history. Among the searchers were Boy Scouts congregated from over the State to search for their lost leader, a fleld executive recently assigned to the Safford area. Also helping were National Guards- men, C. C. C. enroliees, Soil Conserva- tion workers, peace officers and civi- lians. When the search was at its height over the week end more than 1,500 persons participated. Last Wednesday morning Miller left 3afford to meet his brother and superior Bcout executive, George Miller, in Globe, 85 miles west of Safford. He 'Was seen & half hour later in Thatcher, three miles east of Safford. Then he disappeared. In less than two hours his car was seen parked at Duncan, 42 miles in the opposite di- rection from his destination.’3 | attack. Miss Sibyl grounds director, Baker, was closeted with ployed. He visualizes the horrors | the committee during a portion of the | of another depression brought on by | discussion. Determining Legislative Action. “If the Appropriations Committee |can determine legislative action for | the District, it would appear that the Legislative Committee is not neces- | sary,” declared Chairman Norton. “the question we are concerned about is whether our committee is to func- ~tion in its own right, or to be sub- | jected to the will of the Appropria- | tions Committee.” Mrs. Norton pointed out she re- | cently created a special subcommittee | | to revive the study of the Jacobs fiscal | | relations plan, which the Appropria- | | tions Committee discarded. The new subcommittee, however, has been in- | structed to broaden the scope of the | study to include proposals for reor- | ganizing the District government in ;Lhe interest of efficiency and economy. | | Since the Appropriations Committee | | has undertaken to make some of these | | changes in the supply bill, Mrs. Nor- | | ton said the special subcommittee may | |as well be abolished. | Subject to Point of Order. | The legislative riders in the ap- | | propriation bill—there are 21 alto- gether—are usually subject to a point these distortions in our economy. He | observes his right to organize and bargain collectively— his only salva- tion in a modern economic world— trampled upon. Under these circum- stances, strikes have occurred. Sit-Down Technique. | “In some of these strikes the sit- down technique has evolved, as mass picketing and other techniques evolved in the past. Whether or not a par- | ticular technique is wise or foolish as a matter of pure industrial policy is not for me to say. What techniques will be approved by the law of the future no man in the world can say. I believe that today every one should obey the law of today; and it is for each jurisdiction to say what the law is within its boundaries. I ad- vocate obedience to law and court orders and decisions by all people, everywhere, at all times. “But in the current situation these all-important facts stand out above all others: The sit-down has been used only in protest against repeated violations and industrial liberties which Congress has recognized. The sit-down, even in the few cases where labor has used it effectively, has suc- (See COLLINS, Page A-6.) Summary of Page. Radio ..... C-4 Society . B-3 Short Story B-6 Sports C-1-3 Woman's Pg. B-13 | Page. | Amusements C-10 Comics B-15 Editorials __A-10 | Financial A-15 Lost & Found A-3 Obituary A-2 SUPREME COUR1 ISSUE. Robinson defends court plan, assails McReynolds and Glass. Page A-1 Columnist sees dictator threat in court packing. Page A-1 Henry J. Allen and Senator Thomas debate court issue. Page A-4 STRIKE SITUATION. Wagner sees sit-downs result of em- ployers’ “violations”. Page A-1 Murphy forecasts long week end for Lewis and Chrysler. Page A-1 Rayon stay-in strike “firm but friend- ly,” says leader. Page A-7 FOREIGN. Forty Americans killed in Spanish War. Page A-1 Counter revolution in Morocco is crushed, many executed. Page A-1 Army forces dissolution of Japanese parliament. Page A-6 NATIONAL. Joseph Gedeon, father of artist model, questioned in slayings. Page A-1 Crowley urges that U. S. step out of money-lending business. Page A-2 House committee rejects plan for loans to farm tenants. Page A-2 Inflation greatest danger, Senator Bailey asserts. Page A-4 $100,000,000 crop insurance bill passed by Senate. Page A-4 House member says U. 8. judge got $35,000 fee. Page A-5 Mine conference rushed as old agree- ment nears end. Page A-6 WASHINGTON AND VICINITY. Collins to offer nine new D. C. tax bills to raise $12,000,000. Page A-1 164,000 benefit in District from social security. Page A-2 ‘Three D. C. residents killed in traffic accidents. Page B-1 Girl, 19, held for shooting employer in pay row. Page B-1 D. C. churches asked to ajd drive for “able jobless.” { Page B-1 (See PROBE, Page A-2.) Today’s Star D. C. Commissioners invite Nation to | blossom festival. Page B-1 | Canadian governor general visiting | shrines here today. Page A-3 Catholic students meet to hear talks on peace. Page A-12 | EDITORIALS AND COMMENT. ! Editorials. Page A-10 | This and That. Page A-10 Answers to Questions. Page A-10 Washington Observations. Page A-10 David Lawrence. Page A-11 Paul Mallon. Page A-11 Dorothy Thompson. Page A-11 Constantine Brown. Page A-11 Lemuel Porton. Page A-11 SPORTS. Phebus may replace Lanahan as Griff | pitcher. Page C-1 Long-term contracts benefiting grid coaches. Page C-1 Table tennis aces’ skill amazes local fans. Page C-1 Bobby Jones rated high in Augusta golf event. Page C-2 Steele offered $15,000 to box Overlin here. Page C-2 Amateur fighters end tourney here to- night. Page C-2 Mack lauds Mexicans as base ball conditioners. Page C-3 ‘Texas Senate ready to ban racing as meet opens, Page C-3 FINANCIAL. U. S. bonds drop (table). Page A-15 Power output far above 1936. Page A-15 Copper price boosted. Page A-15 8tocks irregular (table). Page A-16 D. C. clearings soar. Page A-16 Curb list mixed (table). Page A-17 MISCELLANY. Washington Wayside, Service Orders. City News in Brief. Vital Statistics. Traffic Convictions. Nature’s Children. ‘Winning Contract. Dorothy Dix. Betsy Caswell. Bedtime Story. Men’s Fashions. Crossword Puzsle. Letter-Out. Page A-2 Page B-10 Page B-10 Page B-13 Page B-13 Page B-14 Page B-14 Page B-15 "> Page C-5 Lincoln Widow Expires at 90 At Home Here Daughter-in-Law of Emancipator Was Married Here. Mrs. Robert Todd Lincoln, daugh- | ter-in-law of a President, daughter of a Senator and wife of a soldier and statesman, died today at the age of 90 in her Georgetown home, 3014 N street. Born in Iowa City, Iowa, in Sep- tember, 1846, the daughter of Senator and Mrs. James Harlan of Iowa, Mrs Lincoln lived here for a great many years and was well known for her philanthropies to various institutions. | Following the death of her husband in 1926, she made it a policy to turn over to the Library of Congress all letters and papers of his father, Pres- ident Lincoln, in the interests of American history. During the last 10 (See LINCOLN, Page A-6.) ROBINSON ASSALS COURTEBILL CRITICS Glass and McReynolds Hit. Roosevelt Asks Wage Law Include Men, Children. BY the Associated Press. Senator Robinson, the Democratic leader, took the air last night in de- fense of the Roosevelt court plan, | assailing Supreme Court Justice Mc- Reynolds and Senator Glass of Vir-| | ginia for their recent attacks on the proposal. | The majority leader's speech was | | broadcast shortly after President | Roosevelt had said minimum wage legislation, in view of the decision in the Washington case, should cover | | men as well as women and children. Should Attorney General Cummings | rule that the District minimum wage | statute, invalidated in the famous Adkins case, is inoperative, Congress | will be asked to enact another law ap- | plying to men as well as women, Mr. | Roosevelt added. The Adkins case, decided 14 years ago, was overruled by the Supreme Court Monday in its Washington State decision. Justice McReynolds on good sports- manship, contending the justice had violated his own definition of that term. McReynolds, indirectly criticizing (See JUDICIARY, Page A-5.) ILL SAILOR RESCUED Taken From Ship on Cutter to Delaware Hospital. CAPE MAY, N. J, March 31 (#).—A stricken member of the crew of the 8. 8. Cherokee was transferred at sea today to a Coast Guard cutter and taken to Beebe Hospital, Lewes, Del. Louis Forrest, 22, Jacksonville, Fla., | suffering from a stomach ailment, was | removed from the passenger craft when his condition became grave. The Cherokee, en route from New York to Miami, was 20 miles off Cape May at the time of the transfer. Senator Robinson took issue with | MURPHY PREDICTS THREE- DAY PARLEY | Chrysler and Lewis Will Meet Again Friday for Negotiations. BACKGROUND— With seven days of negotiation completed the Chrysler automobile strike remains unsettlec Chief cause of disagreement be- tween the motor magnate and John Lewis, labor leader, is reported to be over recognition of the United Automobile Workers' of America as sole bargaining agency for em- ployes. b the Associated Press LANSING. Mich, March 31.—Gov. Frank Murphy indicated today a long week end may be in store for Walter P. Chrysler, John L Lewis and other negotiators who will resume efforts Friday to settle the Chrysler automo- | bile strike. Before leaving for Detroit, Murphy announced he would return to the | State capital tomorrow and added: “We probably will be here Friday, Saturday and Sunday” When the conference trying to de- termine the extent of bargaining recognition to be accorded the United Automobile Workers in Chrysler plants adjourned yesterday, the Gov- ernor said he would “press day and | night, if necessary’ for speedy settle- ment when it resumed Delay in Parley Likely. Although the next session is sched- | uled for Priday, Murphy said he ex- | pected it would be Saturday before | Chrysler, chairman of the board of the corporation, and Lewis, head of the Committee for Industrial Organ- ization, get together again. Donald E. Bates, president of the Reo Motor Car Co. whose truck man- ufacturing plant here has been closed | since March 10 by a sit-down strike, | expressed “hope” today for an early settlement of that dispute and pre- dicted that automotive labor trouble | generally will result in a lower margin of profit to manufacturers and a gen- eral increase in costs of all commod- ities. A sit-down strike halted operations | at the Bay City, Mich., plant of the | Plywood Corp. today. Approximately 175 workers awaited arrival of Kemp Williams, C. I. O. organizer, to start | negotiations with the management on wage demands. Labor Bills Considered. Meanwhile bills before the Michigan Legislature moved into the spotlight today. Onlv a few doors from Gov. Murphy’s office the Senate was ready to vote on three measures intended to curb sit-down strikes. brewing in the House. | Two of the bills, introduced by Senator William Palmer, Flint Demo- crat, would make it a felony to take possession of industrial property or interfere with its use by the owners and would make mandatory the nego- tiation of disputes between employers and employes before a strike or lock- out. S g 38-Year-01d Coat Worn. | GREENVILLE, S. C., March 31 (). | —Dave Alexander, a farmer near here, | said today he was still wearing an overcoat he purchased 38 years ago | for $13.59. BY the Associated Press. BOSTON, March 31.—A strike of 1,200 truck drivers and helpers today tied up the operations of more than 40 Greater Boston fuel companies and threatened to impair operation of private power plants generating elec- tricity in some of the city’s large buildings. John F. Donovan, secretary of the Coal and Fuel Chauffeurs and Help- ers’ Union, an affiliate of the Ameri- can Federation of Labor, which called the strike at midnight, said the union would allow emergency deliveries to hospitals and would be lenient where the “public safety or health” was in- volved. Union employes, Donovan said, de- manded a 15 per cent wage increase, 11 holidays a year, instead of 7, with pay, a straight 40-hour week through- out the year in comparison with the present 40 hours in Summer and 48 in Winter, and other concessions. L Jounnn},xumm of the Boston Coal Truck Drivers Strike, Tying Up 40 Companies Metropolitan Coal Co., said several of | the larger companies, acting as a group, had offered chauffeurs $35 and helpers $31 a week, an increase of $2. They also agreed to a 40-hour week for five months and a 48-hour week for seven months. He said the plants of the entire group were tied up, and other dealers ad- mitted they were forced to suspend operations. Approximately 2,000,000 persons live in Metropolitan Bostdn, the district in | which the strike was called. The strike came with cool weather pre- | vailing, with temperatures dropping | below freezing point during the night | and early morning. Normally at this time of year householders begin restocking low sup- | plies of fuel, while thousands of | families using coke stock only small | supplies of that. In event the strike | extends several days, they might be | | paratus of the state. At the opposite end of the capitol | another fight over a labor bill was | COLUMNIST SEES DIGTATOR THREAT INCOURT PACKING |Dorothy Thompson Is First Woman to Appear at Senate Hearings. CAPACITY CROWD DRAWN BY PRESENCE OF WRITER Follows Dr. Edwin Borchard of Yale, Who Terms Proposal “Speculative Leap.” BY JOHN H. CLINE. Describing herself as a “researcher into mortality of republics.” Miss Dor- othy Thompson, newspaper columnist told the Senate Judiciary Committee this afternoon that the President’ plan to “pack” the Supreme Court necessarily carries an implied threat of dictatorship The appearance of the smartly dressed columnist, first woman | testufy before the committee, drew a | capacity crowd to the large Sena'e to caucus room Many of these were women who were reluctant to leave during the luncheon recess frr fear they might not be able to get their seats during the afiernoon Miss Thompson, wife of Sinclair Lewis, the novelist took the stand | after Dr. Edwin Borchard, professor ‘or constitutional law at Yale, had testified that the court plan is a “speculative leap in the dark unless a revolution in the attitude of the | Judges toward the Constitution is | anticipated.” Minton Discusses Hughes. In the Senate, meanwhile, Senator Minton, Democrat, of Indiana, de- | clared that Chief Justice Hughes. once a candidate for President, had “never | forgotten the lessons he learned in the arena of politics.” Minton, ardent supporter of Presi- | dent Roosevelt's court reorganization bill, took the Senate floor to discuss the letter written by Chief Justice | Hughes to Senator Wheeler, Demo- crat, of Montana. Hughes said an increase in the size of the court would impair rather than increase its ef- ficiency. Borchard and Miss Thompson agreed that the court legislation 1s “legally constitutional but politically unconstitutional.” Declaring that for some time she | had been “an observer at the collapse of constitutional democracies,” Miss Thompson continued “T have never suggested that Presi- dent Roosevelt is trying to establish a dictatorship, but I have said that if any President wanted to establish a dictatorship and to do so with all the appearances of legality, this is the way he would take. He would keep the Supreme Court, but switch it into line. Coups Keep Legal Apparatus. “The modern coup d'etat,” she added, “does not destroy the legal ap- It keeps it, for the coup d’etat wishes to appear legal. It only alters its spirit and its aim.” The greatest danger to democracies, she continued, is that reforms, oftea very good and much needed reforms, should be rushed through at a rate n which they cannot be digested by so. ciety. Pointing out that Hitler, in assum- ing leadership in Germanay, took an oath to support the constitution of Weimar, she declared: “He has never offered another Con- stitution. He just obliterated it by a series of decrees backed by a supine Parliament. But the German gov- ernment, under the Weimar constitu= | tion, did not perish because it failed to meet human needs. It perished be- cause it guaranteed to meet them. and there came a time when it could not | possibly meet them on the scale to which the people haa become accus- tomed.” Political Freedom Necessary. Declaring the demand for “economic freedom” through a redistribution of | wealth “justified.” she warned that | “economic freedom will prove a com- | plete mirage unless it is acomplished with the maintenance of political freedom.” Urging a constitutional amendment instead of the court bill, she con- cluded: “You are being asked to push the process of centering power in the Na- " (See HEARING, Page A-5) session. U. . BONDS RENEW DOWNWARD DRIFT Some Issues Off More Than Half Point—Stock Market Is Irregular. BS the Associated Press. NEW YORK, March 31.—A decline in United States Government bonds in the New York Stock Exchange to- day carried some issues lower in moderate selling by as much as $6 or more per $1,000 face value bond. Reports that the Treasury had re- duced its available investment funds in trust accounts to a small figure and that main support of the bonds would have to be through Reserve bank buying were said to have con- tributed to the slump. In early trad- ing 10 issues were quoted at new lows for the year, several of them below parity. The stock market, after yesterday's sharp upturn, was irregular, with steel, motor and rail shares inclined to be lower and oils and metals a little higher. Cotton futures ranged from 15 cents a bale lower to 45 cents higher, PR Liquor Bill Opposed. AUGUSTA, Me., March 31 (#).— The Maine Legislature’s Temperance Committee today reported unfavorably on a bill to repeal a law prohibiting sale of liquor to Indians. There are two Indian tr on reservations in seriously mecbeq Maine.