Evening Star Newspaper, May 30, 1937, Page 5

‘ officials said all trains entering steel «_ work under a field representative dur- =+~ ing the last two years, and for senior - DOCKMEN LIKELY T0SHIFTTOC.1.0. Bridges Says Action De- pends on Continued Oppo- sition of A. F. of L. Es the Assoctated Pre-s. President Harry Bridges of the West Coast International Longshore- men’s Association, said yesterday the 20,000 members of his organization probably will shift their union alle- giance to John L. Lewis’ Committee for Industrial Organization if the American Federation of Labor con- tinues to oppose the C. I. O. Bridges criticized the A. F. of L. after a conference with Lewis, and #aid central labor bodies of Portland and Seattle have ousted two I. L. A. locals “because of their support of progressive unionism.” “Only Course Left Open.” “If the A. F. of L. continues such purges and does not change its obstructive attitude toward industrial organization,” Bridges said, “there is no doubt of what action the West | Coast I. L. A will take. No other| course will be left open to the West | Coast I. L. A than to joiu forces | with the C. I. O.” | He said his union had .'\l\hl)ri?(‘(li him last week to order a referendum | to determine whether the transfer | should be made. Declining to say | when he would call the electiou, he | said the vote would be taken “if things continue as they are.” “If it is taken,” he added, “the Yote will be almost 100 per cent for Joining the C. I. 0.” Neither Lewis nor John Brophy, di- rector of the C. 1. O, would comment on Bridges' threat. Support Offered East. ‘The Californian disclosed he had offered support of West Coast long- rhoremen to East Coast locals in what he said was an effort to create a new national mariume association which | would be, eventually, a C. I. O. affiliate. He said many Eastern locals were ready to leave the A. F. of L. Informed that an I. L. A. local on the Pacific Coast had declined to handle Ford Motor Car products today, Bridges ex sed belief Ford cars would be “tied up” if affiliation with | Civil Service Office May Stay DELAYINFILLING WHITE POST SEEN Vacant Pending Action on Reorganization. ‘The unexpected resignation from the | Civil Service Commission yesterday | C. I. O. became effective. Bridges said his organization com- | . prised about half the membership of the maritime federation of the Pacific. | He said this group would meet in Portland June 7 to discuss C. I. O. sffiliation. Mervyn Rathborne, president of the American Radio Telegraphists’ Asso- ciation, a C. I. O. affiliate and a mem- ber of the Pacific federation, an- nounced at the same time Lewis had assigned 10 men to assist the associa- tion in its organization work. Steel | (Continued From First Page.) | was unnecessary and that it would | lead to a closed shop, lost 300 work- men or more during the day. Its stainless steel division at Canton, ©Ohio, shut down with 300 men walk- ing out, and other men were re- ported, without confirmation, to have left Republic plants elsewhere which gtill were operating with curtailed | forces. Plants of Sheet & Tube and Inland were not running. In Cumberland, , it was an-| hounced that Republic’s smallest plant, | the N. & G. Taylor Co. Tin Mill, will | shut down Monday. Corporation officials in Cleveland in- structed Plant Supt. Thomas J. Mur- phy today to pay off foremen, office émployes and plant workmen Monday. The S. W. O. C.—steel unit of the John L. Lewis organization which won * agreements from United States Steel Corp. and the biggest units of the motor industry aside from the Ford | Motor Co.—centered its attack on efforts to keep food from the men | still in the plants. Trains to Be Halted. In Ohio’s Mahoning Valley union plants would be turned back; pre- viously they had been released after pickets made sure the cars carried no foodstuffs. A Republic steel official requested the Post Office Department to pro- vide “suitable escort” for mail trucks that have been halted at plant gates for examination. This action came after Republic's disclosure it had used airplanes to drop food to strike- bound plants. In the Chicago area pickets marked time after the fighting with police in which a score were inqured. Van A. Bittner, S. W. O. C. director there, charged Republic was using “every un-American means possible” to break the strike. The walkout order affected 23,000 men in the Chicago area, 49,000 in ©Ohio and smaller numbers at Buffalo, Pittsburgh and in Indiana and Michi- gan. Union officials declared 177,240 of 77,900 employes were idle, but Re- public disputed these figures. They said some of their plants were op- erating at 40 per cent capacity., VET . ERAN “IMPROVED” F. L Kidwell Held Recovering From Effects of Gas. Frank L. Kidwell, aboyt 50, was be- lieved recovering last night from the effects of illuminating gas which ren- dered him unconscious yesterday afternoon in a bath room at 457 N street southwest, where he rooms. His condition was reported as “improved” at Casualty Hospital. Kidwell was revived by the fire Tescue squad after another roomer, Harry Newland, found him uncon- gcious. Police said a hose to a gas heater had been disconnected. Kidwell, according to neighbors, is an ex-service man who has been un- employed recently. He has two daughters in Washington and a son in Norfolk, Va. LIFE-SAVING COURSE Red Cross to Conduct Week's Series at McKinley Pool. The District Chapter of the Ameri- can Red Cross will conduct a life- saving examiners’ course at McKinley Pool, Lincoln road and Prospect ave- nue northeast, from Tuesday through Friday, from 1 to 4 pm. each day. ‘The course is to be given for all examiners who have not reviewed their life-savers who wish to become ex- aminers and who expect to conduct a water safety program this year. . ’ | immediately by speculation as to his | along this line | lishments is set- | tled. beceme civil service administrator, if | | sion replaced by a one-man agency. | It is understood, however, that this is | | about reorganization—at least so far | |be in a hurry to make a selection. of Dr. Leonard D. White was followed | successor, but it was taken for granted that there would be no development until the proposal to reorganize the executive estab- Dr. White, the Republican mem- ber of the bipar- tisan commission, is returning to his post as pro- fessor of political science at the University of Chicago. from which he took leave in February, 1934. It had been rumored in Gov- ernment circles that he was slated to Dr. White. President Roosevelt's plan to revamp the Government structure went intol effect with the Civil Service Commis- definitely precluded. Dr. White at 46 is considered one of the foremost civil | service authorities in the country and in returning to the University of Chi- cago he resumes a connection that began in 1920. If it happens that nothing is done as the Civil Service Commission ls} concerned—it will be necessary under the law to appoint another minority member, no more than two commis- sioners of the same political persuasion | being permitted to sit. No Appointment Likely Now. Even then, however, there is no cer- tainty that President Roosevelt would Since December 31, when their terms expired, Joseph B. Eastman, inde- pendent, and Hugh M. Tate, Repub- lican, have been serving without ap- pointment on the Interstate Com- merce Commission, members of this tribunal holding office until their successors have qualified. There has never been any word from the White House as to whether the President was delaying action on these cases because of the reorganiza- tion plan, which is designed to sub- ordinate all independent groups to cabinet control. In this connection, however, it seems certain that any attempt to strip the Interstate Com- merce Commission of its autonomy is doomed. Vigorous opposition to such | a step has come from the transporta- tion industry generally, business in- terests as represented in the Chamber of Commerce of the United States and from Congress. Incidentally the Social Security Board is another agency in which an appointment is to be made, the trans- fer of Murray W. Latimer from the Railroad Retirement Board to this establishment having been canceled, when it developed that he is a Dem- ocrat, and that a Republican appoint- ment was necessary in view of the fact that the other two members, Arthur J. Altmeyer and Vincent M. Miles, also are of the majority party. Sibley Mentioned for Post. A name that has been mentioned in this connection is that of Harper L. Sibley, banker and farmer of Illinois and New York, who earlier this month relinquished the presidency of the Chamber of Commerce. Sibley, a Republican, was a classmate of President Roosevelt at Groton and Harvard. On dropping the chamber presi- dency when he was slated for election to the customary third term, Sibley gave the press of business as his reason. It was rumored at the time, however, that he might get a Gov- ernment post. Next month, President Roosevelt will be called on to make a Federal Power Commission appointment, the term of Herbert J. Drane, Florida Democrat, terminating on June 22. Drane, a former member of Congress, is a Roosevelt appointee. The question of reorganization is scheduled to be in the fore of con- gressional discussion in the coming week. A House committee is due to | meet Tuesday or Wednesday to con- sider & four-bill program to carry out the President’s wishes, while a Sen- ate group is to take up the question of dealing with the matter in an omnibus measure. = R Time Inquiries Increase. Since the installation of a me- chanical apparatus in the London telephone exchange for telling sub- scribers the time by phonograph in- quiries have increased to 220,000 & week. THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MAY 30, 1937—PART ONE. Mail Truck Stopped in Strike at Warkren Steel Plant Carrying out their “strike or starve” policy against men remaining in the mills, striking steel pickets at Warren, Ohio, stop mail truck which they believed was delivering food to non-strikers, Congress 1cor}nmwd Pmrq}i‘irst Pa‘zt’») House and Senate as it did when it first broke upon them—prepared, it is said, by some of the *bright young men” of the New Deal. It is true that joint hearings have been promptly arranged, in the hope that the bill may be speeded—or seemingly so. But the prospects are that the measure will be materially amended before it is ever taken up for consideration in either house. The attack made on the labor standards bill by American Federa- | tion of Labor, which prefers to have | minimum wages and maximum hours left to collective bargaining, has been | another wet blanket upon the measure. | Wages Bill Criticized. One criticism leveled at the meas- ure yesterday by a Democratic Sen- ator was that if the Labor Standards | Committee is set up as proposed, it will immediately become a target of labor unions all over the country, demand- ing that the minimum wages be fixed at higher levels, and that the levels be the same in the various parts of the country. “The administration certainly seems to be looking for trouble,” this Sen- ator said Senator McCarran of Nevada also urged that the labor bill be passed | slowly and even that it go over until the next session of Congress. Mem- | bers of Congress, he said, ought to | take the problems home and study them. | The majority of the Judiciary Com- mittee, opposed to the President's | court bill, hopes to submit an ad- | verse report on the measure to the Senate later this week, according to Senator McCarran. After it is on the calendar, the administration forces will have to decide whether they wish to force it to some kind of conclu- | sion or whether they are willing to | let it lie dormant. Another alterna- | tive would be an announcement by the President that he would with- draw the proposal, since the court has sustained the Wagner labor re- lations act and the social security act and since he is to have an op- portunity to appoint a new associate Jjustice in place of Justice Van De- vanter. The President has given ab- | solutely no indication that he will withdraw the court bill, although a number of his followers on Capitol Hill devoutly wish he would do so. Pressure for Robinson. After Justice Van Devanter is “out” and off the court, the President may send in a nomination at any time. The pressure for the appointment of Senator Robinson of Arkansas has been very great. But many of the New Dealers are strongly opposed, and it has been rumored in some quar- ters that there is opposition to the appointment by John L. Lewis and William Green, heads of the fighting labor organizations of the country. On the other hand, it might be very difficult to get the Senate to confirm the nomination of one of the more radical New Dealers if it were sent to the Senate now. What the New Dealers would welcome would be the withdrawal of a second member of the Supreme Court—that is the with- drawal of another conservative mem- ber. Then the President could send in at the same time the nomination of Robinson and of a professed lib- eral, and hope to get them both con- firmed without much difficulty. If the President declines to appoint Senator Robinson and should name another, the situation would be dis- tinctly cloudy. If he is not going to give the appointment to Robinson, the President may simply fail to make any appointment for the next sev- eral months. The court will not be in session anyway. Over the week end administration House leaders have been working feverishly to straighten out the tangle over the relief appropriation bill. If they take a beating in the House on this measure administration prestige is likely to wane a bit. SUMMER SESSION SEEN. JASPER, Ala., May 29 (#).—Speaker William B. Bankhead foresaw today 8 prolongation of the present session of Congress “for two or three months.” “We may run until September,” said the Alabamian, “but I hope we will get done sooner.” Bankhead, at his home here for a e e s “ Arthritis Stiffens My Joints!" the letter says ... “for I am suffering the torments of acidity.” Don’t allow aches and pains to settle in your very bones, Drink the natural, alka- line water that doctors have prescribed for 75 years. Let us send you a case. Telephone MEt. 1062. MOUNTAIN VALLEY MINERAL WATER From HOT SPRINGS, ARK. 1405 K St. N.W. MEt. 1062 WBPDHed to individuals, but one other | eviction, Kurtz Blitz, on a sit-down strike at the Superior Tube Plant at Evansburg, Pa., takes his turn “at bat” following threats of forcible John V. Riffe, leader of the Steel Workers’ Organi: who was arrested for aiming a blow at police, shown at the East Side Station in Chicago. brief rest, prepared to return to Washington Monday. His brother, Senator John H. Bankhead, who also | has been home for a rest, left for the Capital today. ‘ D. C. Taxes (Continued F‘romjfizstfi?agv ) Seal one of the Commissioners’ Com- mittee, stated that the question would be raised again this week as to the | | constitutionality of the proposed in- come tax and the questions of what exemptions Congress may or may not make. The program as drafted by the Commissioners' Committee, in com- pliance with instructions from the Tax Subcommittee of the House Dis- trict Committee, embodies the fol- lowing: 1. Business privilege tax on gross receipts, expected to raise $3,000,000, more or less. The rate would be three-fifths of 1 per cent. The term “business” would include the carrying on, or exercising for gain or economic benefit, either direct or indirect, of “any trade, business, profession, voca- { tion or commercial activity in the District not including, however, labor or services rendered by any individual for wage or salary.” Exemption of $1,000. 2. District income tax, which may bring in $2,000,000 or more. It pro- vides for personal exemption of $1,000 for single persons, $2,500 for married persons living with husband or wife, and $300 for each dependent. The rates would be 1 per cent on net incomes up to $2,000, 1.5 per cent on net incomes from $2,000 to $5,000, | 2 per cent on incomes from $5,000 to | $10,000, 2.5 per cent on incomes from | $10,000 to $15.000, 3 per cent on in- | comes from $15,000 to $20,000, 35| per cent on incomes from $20,000 to | $30,000, 4 per cent on incomes from $30,000 to $50,000 and 5 per cent on incomes in excess of $50,000. Confusion existed as to whether | the bill, completed in rough form yesterday but not yet mimeographed, carried a flat rate of 5 per cent on net incomes of corporations. One official said corporations would be permitted to pay the graduated scale | member said his recollection was the 5 per cent rate was provided. This | point will be cleared up by Tuesday | noon. 3. An estates and inheritance tax,| estimated to produce about $800,000 additional. This bill has been ready for several weeks. Weight Tax on Autos. 4. Weight tax on motor vehicles, estimated to raise an additional $1,500,000, which would go into the District’s special fund for highway im- | provements, instead of into the gen- | eral fund. This shift in the use of | this money was determined upon after | the House Committee group ignored | the proposed increase in the gasoline tax. The weight tax bill provides for an assessment of $5 on passenger cars weighing no more than 3,500 pounds, | $8 on cars weighing between 3,500 and 4,500 pounds, and $12 on cars | dHot-Wa New weighing more than 4,500 pounds. graduated scale is proposed for com- mercial vehicles, ranging from $15 on vehicles weighing no more than 2,000 more than 16,000 pounds. receipts of insurance risks written in the District. The present rate would be raised from 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent, and this would be applied to the net premium receipts of the mutual fire insurance companies and the fraternal insurance associations, now exempt from the present levy, A Parking Tax. 6. Tax to be imposed for privilege of parking cars on public highways. This missioners to make use of parking meters and leaving to them the fixing of rates. | on rates though 5 cents for an hour | has been suggested in the Congres- | sional Committee, while at the District | Building yesterday there was talk of | a rate of 5 cents for a half-hour. 7. An amendment to the District's present personal property tax laws, | which would put “teeth” into existing | statutes, principally to empower the | District assessor to examine the | books and records of banks and other ‘msutuncns or individuals which per- | tain to the tax returns due from Dis- trict residents. He also would be em- powered to subpoena books and records and to take testimony. | The Commissioners plan to retain | the District's intangible | property levy, which last year brought ' in some $2,100.000. With strengthen- | ing of this law, District Assessor Fred | D. Allen believes the receipts will be i greatly swelled, and he has suggested the increase might go as high as $1,000,000, but other District officials insist this estimate of the increase is much optimistic. The amendments also would add to the present powers of the District col- lector of taxes to distrain and sell goods, chattels and other effects, in- cluding stocks, securities, counts, evidences of debt and the liks as a means of forcing collection of due personal property taxes, Gasoline Levy. 8. Amendment of the District's gasoline tax law to require the licens- ing and bonding of gasoline importers, and to establish a more definite “chain of title” to imported gas, as a means of insurance against any possible eva- sion of payment of the gas tax levy. It is in this measure that is found the proposal that the receipts of the proposed weight tax on automobiles would be directed into the District's special highway fund. This amend- ment also provides that all proceeds from fees for the registration and titling of motor vehicles and the issu- ance of operators’ permits shall be placed in the highway fund. Should this bill to license and bond gasoline importers be lost, of course, the receipts to be collected from the | proposed motor vehicle weight tax would go into the general fund, un- | less that measure were amenced in Congress to direct such monies into the highway fund. Registration Proposed. | A ninth bill is to be drafted by the | Commissioners to provide for the reg- istration of foreign (non-local) cor= o He 1937 % ARCO BOILER Complete hot-wa- ter heat — new Arco Boiler, 6 Radiators, 300-t. Radiation; in- stalled, only No Money Down 1st Payment Sept. 30 3 Years to Pay unit now! New 1937 Ideal As low as placements Only. Offers you more HEAT for less money than ever before. See this more efficient heating Boiler Re- No Money Down—3 Years to Pay AMERICAN OIL BURNERS Includes burn Jon tank and all n plete “installation. guaranteed. pay. er, 275-gal- eces. sary equipment for com. Fully 3 years to Installed Complete $230 Complete Heating Service Free Estimates AMERICAN HEATING 1005 N. Y. Ave. N.W. ENG. CO., INC. al confers general powers on the Com- | There has been no decision | personal | bank ac- | porations doing business in the D:s-. | trict. It would require them to desig- nate a local agent upon whom legal process could be served. The bill is pounds, to $150 for vehicles weighing not intended as a revenue measure, | are non-profit making. |and it is anticipated the registration 5. Increased taxes on net premium |fee would be nominal, perhaps about | 112,000 units of insurance in force | $25 a year. A tenth feature will be a request by { the Commissioners for authority to | | obtain advances from the Treasury to | | meet current bills next fiscal year. | while awaiting collection of old and new taxes. Worn out by their sudden struggles to revise their own tax program mem- | bers of the Commissoners’ Tax Rev- enue Committee scattered late yes day, some going out of town for a short rest, leaving completion of this | final bill to Tuesday or Wednesday They said it would be finished by Thursday. $2,000,000 Revenue Seen. In the House District Committee bloc fighting the income tax. Repre- | sentative Allen, Democrat, of Dela- ware, a member of the Tax Subcom- mittee, is expected to take a leading part in the compromise move. He may have the support of Representative Kennedy, Democrat, of Maryland, the subcommittee chairman, and the only‘ member who voted against the income tax. Allen is known to be in favor of an increase in the real estate tax. He fought vigorously in the subcommittee, | however, for the sales tax, and only | gave up the battle at the last moment when he saw defeat was inevitable. Representative Cole, Republican, of | New York. another member of the | subcommittee, is inclined to favor an | increase in the real estate levy. | has mentioned a rate of $2.00 which | | would be the highest in the history of | the District if adopted. Allen, howa ever, believes a 20-cent increase would be sufficient since the Commissioners | are aiming to raise about $2,000,000 from an income tax. It has been estimated a 20-cent in- crease would produce between $2,000,- 000 and $2,400,000. Chairman Norton of the District | Committee is another sales tax ad- | vocate who may join in the impend- | ing compromise fight. She is non- | committal, however, but said her po- sition would be made known in ad- vance of the committee meeting. Income Tax Protested. Mrs. Norton announced that the first protest against the income tax she has received thus far came from Herbert G. Kaiser, chairman of the ‘Legxslali\‘e Committee of the Gov-| | ernment Insurance Conference, com- | posed of beneficial and welfare asso- ciations of Federal workers in eight Government departments, the Wash- | ington Navy Yard and District gov- ernment. Kaiser declared the income tax plan would “seriously affect continua- tion of group insurance available to Government employes who are mem- bers of the Government insurance group” and pointed out that unless —A. | subcommittee directed the Commis- | * A-S ing Committee, P. and Wide World Photos. an exemption is written into the bill | association membership fees would have to be increased or death benefits decreased. The groups, Kaiser said, Kaiser also explained there are in the District covered by 51 master group policies, with insurance cov- erage totaling $96,500,000. The House bill as it stands re- quires $6,000,000 of new local rev- enue, and the tax program the House sioners to draft over the week end | was intended to raise only that! amount. More Taxes Needed. Consequently, whatever increase the Senate makes in the total of the bill TOLLEY DEFENDS FARM PROGRAM Reveals $300,000 Paid to Interests Headed by Ex- A. A. A. Officer. By the Assocfated Press. H. R. Tolley, A. A. A. administra= tor, defended the Government's farm program yesterday, and said that most of the “sensational” criticism of it is “without foundation in fact." He wrote to Senator Vandenberg, Republican, of Michigan, who r cently criticized phases of the pro- gram. In response to a request by Vandenberg, he disclosed that Mis- sissippi farms managed by a former Agricultural . Adjustment Administra- tion executive had received more than $300,000 in benefit payments from the Government since 1933. Tolley referred Vandenberg to offi cial reports on these payments to the Delta Pine & Land Co., Scott, Miss., which is managed by Oscar Johnston, former A. A. A. director, and to the Delta Planting Co., with which Johns= ton also is associated. There has been much criticism of large payments to big farm operators, but A. A. A. men have taken the posi- tion that they are required under the law, and that it is up to Congress to change the law if it desires Tolley sent five letters to Vanden= berg, dealing with different criticisms, In one he said the farm program was worked out and administered by farmers. Attempts “are continuously being made to discredit their efforts by false and malicious propaganda,” | he said. Tolley then discussed several come plaints forwarded by Vandenberg. One of them involved an attempt to collect $3 for dues for the Platte Coun= ty, Nebr, Farm Bureau Federation from farmers receiving benefit pay= ment checks. Tolley informed Van- denberg this was an error that had previously been discovered and core rected by Claude R. Wickard, A. A. A. director in the north central region, and Fred S. Wallace, Nebraska chair- man, — Radio for County Police. Rutland. England's smallest county, with only 18 policemen. has equi would necessitate further tax propos- | als, presumably when the tax bills reach the Senate. While the Senate cannot originate tax legislation, under the Constitution, it is free to enlarge or alter a tax program that comes to it from the House. Chairman King of the Sen- ate’s District Legislative Committee, | said vesterday he will call a meeting to consider the city's revenue s:m-‘ ation as soon as the House acts. Even if new tax bills are passed during June, District Auditor Dono- | van has pointed out at the Senate | hearings that the resulting revenue would not begin to come in imme- diately. In view of this fact, there are strong indications the Senate may add a clause to the appropriation bill restoring to the District the right it had for many years prior to 1927 to obtain temporary advances of fupds | from the Federal Treasury to meet monthly obligations early in the fiscal the force with the latest radio te raphy and telephon: Graduates Bring your gift problems to us — we carry a wide selection to choose from, specializing in perfect dia=- monds and all American= made watches. Charge Accounts Invited M. Wurtzburger Co. year, pending the collection of the city’s own revenue. 901 G St. N.W. BY COMPARISON . . . RECOGNIZED AS THE BEST Rug Cleaning To clean rugs. thoroughly as they should be cleaned requires: The cleaning of rugs today is an art. 1. Knowledge of rugs and fabrics. 2. Practical experience and ability. 3. Approved modern equipment. 4. Expert workmen. Mr. Pyle has over 40 years' experience in rug cleaning. You may safely entrust your fine domestics and imported rugs to him for re- sponsible and thorough cleaning. Phone now for rates on rug cleaning and Summer storage. Sanitary Carpet & Rug Cleaning Go., Inc. 106 Indiona Avenue N.W. PHONES: NAH. 329|—NAH‘ 3257—NAtl. 2036 DROOP’'S MUSIC HOUSE 1300 G STREET In Memoriam ENEATH the sod on the grassy slopes of beautiful Arlington—on the flower-bedecked hillsides of our cemeteries—on the poppy-covered fields of France and in many wilds mortal remains gave us. victory. Remembrance. DECORATION DAY 1937 ET us ever cherish them as our benefactors. us regard this day as especially hallowed because of their sacrifices, their love and all they did for us and and wastes of our own country—rest the of our loved ones and our illustrious dead —forever asleep. Let LET us ever bear aloft the torch of Freedom and Liberty which lighted their way—the torch which they so gallantly carried through storm and strife to ET this day be consecrated to their memories and let us enshrine them in our heart of hearts encircled with blossoming wreaths of Love, Affection and