Evening Star Newspaper, June 18, 1937, Page 1

WEATHER. o (0. 8. Weather Bureau Forecast.) Local thundershowers this afternoon or night; tomorrow fair, not much change in temperature; moderate winds. Tem- peratures today—Highest, 86, at 2 p.m.; o lowest, 70, at midnight. Full report on page A-19, The only evening paper in Washington with the Associated Press News and Wirephoto Services. Foeni ( . WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDIT[ONg ; é . JUNE 18, Che Entered as second class matter post office, Washington, D. C. Closing N.Y. Markets—Sales—Page 18 Yesterday's Circulation, 138,192 (Some returns not et ‘received ) 85th YEAR. No. 34,016. TAX INQURY TOLD AGTOR PAID SELF " BY OWN COMPANY Charles Laughton at Same Time Gave It His U. S. Earnings, Is Story. WASHINGTON, ‘Shocked J ddge Gives Woman 360 Days for Child Beating 105 (B STRIKERS PLEDGE “HIGHT 10 FINISH" DESPITE L. 5. MOVE TN Rail Track Is Dynamited at = Republic Plant in Canton. FRIDAY, 1937—FIFTY PAGES. %%% (#) Means Associated Press. TWO CENTS. DISTRT TAX BIL PASSED BY HOUSE: SEPABATE VOTES ON3AMENDNENTS Approval Given to New | Realty and Chain Stores , Levies and Higher Inheri- tance Rates. o THESE ROOSEVELTS! HOW THEYVE CHANGED MY WHOLE \IFE! WE'RE NEVER OTHERS ARE NAMED AS FORMING CONCERNS | MEDIATION EFFORT PUSHED BY GOVERNMENT Railway Union Won't Send Men Into Dangerous Areas, Official Warns. Schick, Razor Magnate, One of | Those Avoiding Payments, Treasury Experts Say. “SNIPING” AT D. C. ISSUES IS HIT BY MRS. NORTON BACKGROUND— Income tax returns of last March were below estimates, precipitated hasty survey by Treasury Depart- ment experts. Deciding that eva- ston devices were responsible for . much of loss, Department so re- ported to President, who asked con- gressional inquiry. Legislation to close loopholes is expected this session, with general tax overhauling nexrt Winter. BACKGROUND— Committee for Industrial Organ- ization steel strike extends to four companies: Republic, Youngstown Sheet & Tube, Bethlehem and In- land. It began last May 25, after the companies refused to sign con= tracts. Inland and Youngstown are not attempting to operate; Re- public and Bethlehem are. Inland faces a National Labor Board hear=- ing on a charge of having failed to = ; . : bargain with C.I. O. Secretary of Eihe i saoclaied | e 3 3 £ Labor Perkins yesterday appointed Elmer L. Irey, Treasury tax investi- | three Federal mediators to try to gator, told congressional investigators settle difficulties of strike. today Charles Laughton, the actor, | Asks Mdre Power for Local Self- Government — Representative Kennedy Announces Prepara- tion of Reorganization Measure in Interest of Efficiency. BACKGROUND— With District facing deficit up- uard of $6,000,000 jor coming fiscal year, Congress decided to impose new tares rather than ncrease Federal contribution s ss. had “effected substantial reductions” | in taxes by turning over his Hollywood earnings to a British corporation. A short time before the Treasury in- vestigator laid before the committee the names of a group of prominent capitalists who, he asserted, escaped American taxes by forming foreign corporations. At the conclusion of today's hearing the committee, in closed session, au- thorized Chairman Doughton to ask the House Appropriations Committee for legislation for §50.000 for expenses. Vice Chairman Harrison id the Inquiry “may a good bit.” Irey said La iton, described as a British subject, set up a holding com- pany in England and contracted with | it to pay him a $20,000 salary in 1935 At the same t . he said, Laughton handed over to the company all his earnings for that c from American moving picture activities. These totaled, he said, $19i 0. | Probability of Legality Admitted. | The earnings of tie British com- ¥any, the Treasury official asserted, ‘were entirely those which Laughton obtained from the American movie industry. | He added that the entire arrange- ment “may be perfectly legal.” But it is just another illustration, he said, | of methods used to get around Ameri- can tax laws. | Roswell Magill, Undersecretary of | the Treasury, remarked, while rom-i mittee members were asking about | more names, that George Westing- house, jr. had established a corpora- tion in the Bahamas, capitalized at $3.00 He said one year Westinghouse might submit a tax return from New- foundland, another year from British [ Columbia and a third from Jamaica. | “There is no catching up with him,” Magill said® adding that he could name a dozen similar instances. | Senator Harrison asked if Westing- house could be identified. { “It's hard to identify him,” Magill | replied, “because he jumps around like a bug.” Irey outlined ways by which Ameri- can levies may be avoided through forming personal holding companies | fbroad. 1 He interlaced his testimony with | details of specific transactions, bring- ing numerous questions from comm tee members as he listed individual | hames. Foreign Company Organizers, Irey said these men had formed | foreign companies: Phillip De Ronde, associated with several New York financial institu- tions and a participant in various &teamship financing operations, Jules S. Bache, whom Irey de- scribed as “a prominent New York ' capitalist.” Jacob Schick, a former Army colonel, now a citizen of Canada. Percy K. Hudson, a former mem- ber of the New York Stock Ex- change. Committee members leaned forward | s Irey brought in the name of | Bchick, whom he described as a! manufacturer of electric razors. “Col. Schick had served his coun- try with distinction, Irey said. “He | once drew a pension as a retired Army | officer. “In 1935 he became a Canadian eitizen. | “As a manufacturer of electric | razors, he had a business which proved | very profitable, these profits, under | American laws, naturally were tax- | able.” In November, 1933, the witness said, Schick formed a Bahamas corporation, | to which he assigned $129,000. The tax on this transfgr was $17,- 737, Irey said, “but if Col. Schick had Teported his income in a personal re- | (See EVASION, Page A-5.) DIRECTED ACQUITTAL FOR PARKERS REFUSED Kidnap Plot Trial Scheduled to Go to Federal Jury Next Wednesday. B the Associated Press. NEWARK, N. J, June 18.—Federal Judge William Clark refused today to direct the acquittal of Ellis H. Parker, chief of Burlington County detectives, and his son, Ellis, jr., who have been on trial the past two months charged with conspiracy to kidnap and torture Paul H. Wendel into his discredited “‘confessions” of the Lindbergh baby kidnaping. The ruling cleared away the final legal barriers keeping the case from going to a jury of eight women and four men next Wednesday for a ver- dict. Counsel will sum up Tuesday. In arguing for a directed verdict de- {fense counsel contended the Govern- ment had failed to prove any of the Pparticulars of the indictment. 3 | Steel | necessary to insure mail deliveries. | postal officials refused to deliver such | WILLIAM VAN NESS, JR. —Star Staff Photo. S 38. his own emotions, Police Court Judge Walter J. Cascy today “This is the worst case I have ever seen, and I have difficulty in controll- ing my own feelings,” Judge Casey | said. The jurist also sentenced the woman | ‘to pay a fine of $500 or serve an addi- tional 360 days in jail. “I find that you were entirely re- sponsible for the deplorable condition this child is in,” Judge Casey said. “I am giving you the worst sentence I have ever handed down.” During part of the trial, the child | sat on the clerk's bench in front of Judge Casey. One of his eyes was/ black and swollen shut and welts and bruises were &cattered over his arms, face, chest, back and legs. The boy's mother, Mrs. Ruby Adella AYING he could scarcely control | Van Ness, 36, a W. P. A. adult educa- sentenced Mrs. Theresa Cronin, | to 360 days in jail on an assault | charge growing out of the beating yes- i tion teacher, testified she came home | from work about 5 p.m. yesterday and | found her son and Mrs. Cronin miss- | ing and the boy's soiled clothing scat- tered about the bathroom. H A short while later, she said, Mrs. Cronin and her husband, Joseph | | Cronin, a Navy Yard employe, came | in with the boy staggzering between them. She rushed to him and asked, | “What's the matter laddie?” “Mrs. Cronin whipped laddie nnd‘ | it hurt awful bad,” the child answered, | Mrs. Van Ness testified. The mother, who is separated from her husband, told how Mrs. Cronin | had been taking care of the boy during | the day for three months in exchange | for free rent of three rooms for her | and Mr. Cronin, She testified the boy had been bruised and hurt frequently during the | last three weeks and declared that on Tuesday she found he had veral (See BEATING, Page A-3. COMMITEE e OFFOODIVAL BANS Attorney Describes | P. 0. Refusal of Delivery in Strike. BACKGROUND— Charges of mail interference at strike-torn Warren and Niles, Ohio, | prompted investigation by Senate Post Office Committee to determine whether whole field of strike eflects on mail deliveries should be probed. Committee decided yesterday to probe numerous ramifications of strike. BY JOHN H. CLINE. The refusal of postal authorities to deliver food into strike-bound Republic Steel plants in Ohio was described to the Senate Post Office Committee to- day by Lewis L. Guarnieri, attorney for the steel corporation. He took the stand after Philip Mur- ray, chairman of the Steel Workers’ Organizing Committee, had testified the Government should use all force Guarnieri said he had attempted to mail four packages of food into plants in Niles and Warren, Ohio, and that ‘irregular” mail. Medicine Allowed to Pass. He added that Bert Flaherty, as-| sistant postmaster at Niles, told him |§ package of medicine had been mailed | into the plant, but union officials were | called in first and gave their permis- sion when they saw the package actu- ally contained medicine. Later, he said, Flaherty denied hav- ing said strikers were permitted to inspect the package. He further quoted Flaherty as having said “food, clothing, newspapers and the like” could not be delivered to the plant because the strikers “would not al- low it.” Guarnieri added that citi- zens were not permitted by pickets to walk along the streets unless they had a C. I. O. pass and that railroad tracks in Niles had been WYynamited to prevent trains from going into the plant, Hé added the postmaster at Warren told him a special delivery messenger carrying a package of clothing into the plant had been stopped by a picket who took the package from him, opened it, ahd asked him to take it back to the post office when he dis- covered it contained clothing. When the postmaster learned the package had been opened, the attorney said, he became indignant, called in two local labor leaders and told them it was going to be delivered because it had been opened. This was doge, he said. Case Being Investigated. W. W. Howes, First Assistant Post- master General, sitting at the com- mittee table, interrupted to say the case was being investigated and that the offender would be prosecuted if it was found a crime had been com- mitted. After the attorney completed his Senate Group To Show Movie Of Steel Killings La Follette Says Film to Be Exhibited at “Proper Time.” B the Associated Press. Chairman La Follette announced | today the Senate Civil Liberties Com- | mittee would at the proper time show Publicly the newsreel film of the Me- morial day clash between steel strik- ers and police in Chicago. It has been withheld from exhibi- tion. La Follette said his committee, con- | ducting an inquiry into the clash, would show the film when it was ready to proceed with public hear- ings. “As chairman of the committee,” La Follette said, “I regard this film as important but not complete evi- dence concerning the events which transpired on that day. The com- mittee is now in process of securing the testimony of eye-witnesses and participants on both sides. “Z would regard the showing of the -pictures prior to the taking of direct testimony from. individuals as being an inadequate and ex parte revela- tion of only a portion of the evidence which the committee hopes to present at a public hearing. “As soon as the committee is pre- pared to proceed with testimony of individuals who participated in or who witnessed the events on Me- morial day, representatives of the press will be given a proper.oppor- tunity to get all of the testimony, including that portion of it which 1s revealed by this newsreel.” BRAZILIAN OFFICIALS ARE DUE HERE TODAY 8ix, Headed by Finance Minister, on Economic Mission to This Country. By the Assoctated Press. MIAMI, Fla, June 18.—Six Bra- zilian officials on an economic mis- sion to the United States left by plane today for Washington. Their ship (Eastern Air Lines) took off at 9 am. (E. 8. T.) and was scheduled to reach the Capital at 4:10 pm. ‘The Brazilians} headed by Finance Minister Arthur de Souzacosta. ar- rived here late yesterday after a four- day trip by air from Rio de Janeiro. They will be guests in Washington of the Brazilian Ambassador. Their conferences with Government officials will begin next week, Souzacosta said. S T Hurley Buys New Mexico Home. ALBUQUERQUE, N. Mex., June 18 (@).—Patrick J. Hurley, Secretary of War under President Hoover, said here today he had purchased & home in testimony, Chairman McKellsr or- (Bee MAILS, Page A - Santa Fe, N. Mex., and would estab- lish residence July 18. ‘ | It has no power of compulsion, and B the Associated Press. CLEVELAND, June 18—C. I. O shouted a spirited “Carry on!" to | its striking steel workers today as| violence flared anew on the strike | front. At Canion, Ohio, a short section of the trackage of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad, near the Republic steel | plant, was dynamited today. mmage} was slight, however, and was repaired quickly. The house of Anthony Castro, who has remained at work in the Republic plant despite the strike, was bombed, | one corner wrecked. Hundreds of grim, brawny men gathered at Johnstown, Pa,, last night and raised calloused hands in a united pledge to continue the strike against | the Bethlehem plant there “for weeks | and weeks,” if necessary, to win a signed contract. But the Johnstown picket lines were | thinner, and the plant officials re-| ported work was going on “much bet- ter.” A Chicago mass meeting heard | speakers lambast the four strike-af- fected steel corporations, and then | sang the strike theme song, “Sign | on the Dotted Line.” | Cleveland, however, became the | focal point of interest as the Fed- eral Government's mediation efforts | took form. The first meeting of a| three-man mediation board, whichi Secretary of Labor Perkins named | yesterday, was called for tomorrow | by its chairman, Charles P. Taft, 2d. ! The other mediators are Lloyd K.| Garrison of the University of Wis- | consin and the veteran trouble shoot- | er, Edward F. McGrady of the Labor Department. Board's Future Uncertain, ‘Whether the board would have any- | thing to mediate was a big question there was no indication today the steel companies or the C. I. O. were ready to rest the fate of the strike in the hands of such a board. “We will co-operate,” was as far as either side was willing to go. Taft, a Republican, who drafted that party’'s planks on relief and so- cial security in the Landon platform, hoped to get the decks cleared for action today. Garrison is expected in time for tomorrow’s meeting, but Mc- Grady, now aboard the Berengaria en route home from Europe, may not arrive until late tomorrow night. . Taft, not yet 40, is author of “You and I and Roosevelt,” a book in which he takes issue with many New Deal policies, Three years ago he success- fully mediated the Electric Auto-Lite strike at Toledo, an accomplishment that wpn the approbation of both President Roosevelt and Secretary Perkins, The possibility the steel strike, which is costing about $750,000 a day, might spread to the railroads was suggested today in a statement by Alexander F. Whitney, president of the Brotherhood of Railway Train- men: Asked concerning reports that the trainmen would refuse to handle shipments to or from strike-affected plants, he said: “I told our fellows at Youngstown, Warren and Canton, Ohio, and in one or two places in Pennsylvania, that they were not required to sub- ject themselves to danger. Under unusual circumstances it is up to the men to decide whether moyement of cars is dangerous. Thugs Rounded Up, Is Charge, “The difficulty is that the steel companies and some railroads are rounding up all the thugs in .the country, putting stars on them and calling them officers. It is dangerous to work around such men, “I told our men that if the rail- roads undertook to discipline them or ordered them to work under dangerous conditions we will protect them.” The back-to-work chorus was heard on several sectors. At Johnstown a Citizens’ Committee, organized to pre- serve order, adopted a resolution in- sisting that there be “no compromise with the right to work.” Representative Clare Hoffman, the militant Michigan Republican, who offered to lead a citizen “army” to the aid of Monroe, Mich., several days ago, addressed the citizens’ rally at Johnstown and called upon ,“true Americans” to “join hands and fight together to triumph over disloyal forces of disorder and destruction.” ‘The tone was different on the ros- trum of the Chicago mass meeting where Lieut. Gov. Thomas Kennedy of Pennsylvania was the principal speaker, filling in for John L. Lewis, head of C. I. O, who was obliged to| cancel his engagement. Youngstown Sheet & Tube has stated it is ready to resume operations as soon as there is “assurance that the men can return to work without danger to themselves or t@ property.” RULERS, CITIZENS ABANDON BILBAO New Capital Set Up as Troops Fall Back to Pro- tect Retreat From City, BACKGROUND— G For more than a month since his last big drive on Madrid, Rebel Chieftain Francisco Franco has turned his guns on Bilbao, attempt- ing to capture.the last stronghold of the Loyalists in North Spain. In recent days of heary fighting he has drawn close to his strategic objective. PARIS. June 18 ().—The Basque government delegation in Paris charged tonight that Great Britain had withdrawn protection from merchant ships which have been evacuating the civil population of Bilbao. <0 The Basques said that all means of escape from Bilbao were now cut, with 70,000 non-compatants in urgent need of relief and only 30,000 evacuated. By the Associcted Press. HENDAYE, Franco-Spanish Border, June 18.—Two divisions of Basque defenders fell back to their rear- guard positions west of Bilbao today to keep open the road for retreat to Santander as the government fled the never conquered northern capital. Meanwhile, in the eastern suburbs of the city of Mount Archanda, the leg- | weary rebel troops came within sight of Loyalist snipers and the fires in the city. They awaited only the comple- tion of an encircling movement by | troops toiling up the torturous hills to the west of Bilbao before making the push to enter Bilbao's limits.. But frightened refugees brought out stories of a Basque capital fortified with cobblestone barricades and hid- den mines for a fight to the finish. All bridges that led into the “new city” across the Nervion River are mined, the refugees said. The main streets are crisscrossed with the cob- blestone barricades. Insurgents declared they held com- plete control of the eastern reaches of the Nervion River, Bilbao's avenue to the Bay of Biscay, and were launch- ing the long-awaited pinching move- ment to drive the Basques from the western hills and inclose the city. The official Basque delegation at Bayonne, France, announced the gov- ernment of the semi-autonomous re- public had left its besieged capital “for another point in Basque terri- tory.” The location of the new capital was being kept secret for military reasons, but one report said the gov- ernment had taken up its seat at the little village of Trucios, about 20 miles west of Bilbao, on & secondary road to Santander. Defense Command Named. Before they left they turned over the military command to a new de- fense junta composed of Gen. Gamir Uribarri, chief defense commander; Jesus Leizaola, minister of justice; Santiago Aznar, ministe? of industry, and Juan de Astigarrabia, minister of public works. While Basque shock troops slowed up the enemy advance to protect the retreat of their main body and the withdrawal of artillery batteries and stores of ammunition, the third and fourth Basque divisions reached the rear-guard positions and occupied them. . The Basques were apparently mass- ing all their forces west of the city to prevent Generalissimo Francisco Franco's insurgents from capturing the dominant heights, cutting the highway to Santander and bottling up the capital. Bilbao, incidentally, is withstanding its fifth siege in 100 years, Population Swollen. The shelling of the city from the insurgent gun implacements on the éastern outskirts continued through- out the night, the defense junta de- clared, with pursuit planes flying only 200 feet above the streets, machine gunning everything in range. “One hundred fifty thousand per- sons have been evacuated from Bil- bao to Santander by land and sea (See SPAIN, Page A-4.) — 90 Chinese Bandits Sain. ‘TOKIO, June 18 (#).—The Domei (Japanese) News Agency reported to- day Japanese troops had attacked 200 Chinese bandits near Harbin, Man- chukuo, killing 90 and seising many rifies in an eighi-hour battle. { | New Jersey Member of House Forced to Relinquish Post. Representative Mary T. Norton Democrat, of New Jersey, announced today she would resign as chairman of the House District Committee to fill the vacancy as head of the more important Labor Committee caused by the recent death of Representative William P. Connery, Democrat, of | Massachusetts. | ‘The announcement followed a con- ference with Speaker Bankhead at which he is understood to have urged Mrs. Norton to remain at the head of the District Committee because of her interest in the District and her familiarity with its complex problems. Mrs. Norton, however, is understood to have told Bankhead that if she were elected chairman of the Labor Committee she would be compelled to accept the position to better serve her constituents in New Jersey—a district largely made up of labor. By virtue of seniority Mrs. Norton is entitled to the chairmanship of the | Labor Committee. She now is the | ranking member. Her selection as chairman must be made, however, by the House Ways and Means Commit- | | tee, and confirmed by the House. | Representative Palmisano, Demo- | crat, of Maryland, will succeed Mrs. | Norton as chairman of the District | Committee. He already has an-| | nounced he would accept the position. | Mrs. Norton issued the following | statement after the conference with | | Bankhead: | “I deeply regret that I am com- | pelled to leave the District Commit- tee to accept the chairmanship of the | Labor Committee, when and if it is | | offered to me. I represent a labor | district in New Jersey and I feel the people of that district have more claim on me than do the people of the District or any one else. They | | have returned me to Congress seven | times. 1 would, indeed, be ungrateful | if T did not take advantage of the opportunity better to serve them. “For six years I have given the Dis- trict and its problems my undivided attention—problems that are very close to my heart. And if I do get the appointment as chairman of the Labor Committee I shall always be on the floor of the House fighting for the District whenever it needs my help. “I can't emphasize too strongly my appreciation for the co-operation of | the District officials, its residents, and especially the press. Memories of these associations will be cherished as long as T live.” Mrs. Norton, at her home in Jersey City, was urged by Bankhead to return to Washington for the conference, Mrs. Norton to Head Labor, which lasted about 20 minutes. Summary of Page. | Page. | Amusements B-14 | Radio _.___. B-6 Comics ..C-10-11 | Short Story . C-6 Editorials __.A-10 Society ... . B-3 Financial __ A-17 | Sports C-1-4 Lost & Found C-6 | Woman's Pg. .C-5 | Obituary .. A-12| FOREIGN. Government quits Balbao: troops fall back, natives flee. Page A-1 500 Reich clerics reported jailed by Nazis. Page A-1 Gaston Doumergue, twice premier, dies. Page A-15 NATIONAL. Actor Charles Laughton tax reduction method is bared. Page A-1 Food mail bans in strike described to Senators. Page A-1 Strikers pledge ‘“fight to finish” in steel dispute. Page A-1 Leaders back compromise in relief controversy in Senate. Page A-4 WASHINGTON AND NEARBY. Woman given 360-day jail sentence for beating boy. Page A-1 Mrs. Norton to head labor, Palmisano D. C. Committee. Page A-1 House finally passes tax program for District. Page A-1 President’s plans for week end an- nounced. Page A-2 Lorton officials deny misdemeanor prisoners at Lorton. Page A-3 Fireman, policeman hurt in violent electrical storm. Page A-12 ‘Wysanski resigns from Justice Depart- ment to practice law. PageA-15 Palmisano D. C. Committee Ajter long subcommittee schedule come t Congress and their employes. House balked, however, and substituted ine crease in realty and personal prope erty tar. consideration House BY JAMES E al income d District passed by the 0 the Senate to tive fate, permitted to 5 0. k., however, taken on three ten into ctic six-hour amendment was ap- completely plan from 1e rate from new fiscal 1.50 to $1.70 beginning The other two were sponsored by Dies, Democrat, of amendment, substituting rate schedule under the in- © tax rate than proposed set up in the original bill in order to “soak | the rich,” was approved by a 153-45 | death in REPRESENTATIVE PALMISANO. WEATHER IS BLAMED | FOR DEATH OF PILOT | e | By the Assoclated Press. | ROSENBURG, Oreg, June 18.— Weather conditions were blamed by members of a special investigating | committee last night for the death of | Lieut. Comdr. Paul S. Ives, Naval Re- serve flyer, of Boston, in the crash of a United States Navy plane Tuesday night. | The board questioned Mechanic Charles "Ernest Brostrom, who bailed out of the ship a few seconds before | it crashed. Ives' body will be sent to Boston. Members of the committee were Lieut. Comdr. D. A. York, U. S. N Capt. J. B. Hardie, U. S. M. C,, and Lieut. J. F. Goodwin, U. S. N. Today’s Star City heads, desperate for funds. to appeal to Senate. Page B-1 Seventh street widening up before Planning Commission. Page B-1 D. C. Minimum Wage Board begins new duties. Page B-1 Bid accepted for new Alley Dwelling | Authority project. Page B-1 Tax returns secrecy should be lifted, archivists told. Page B-1 Scouts making Jamboree self-liquidat- ing by own funds. Page B-1 EDITORIAL AND COMMENT. Editorials. Page This and That. Page Political Mill. Page Washington Observations. . Page Answers to Questions. Page David Lawrence. Page H. R. Baukhage. Page Dorothy Thompson. Page Constantine Brown. Page Headline Folk. Page PEEEEEEEE» MISCELLANY. Trafic Convictions. City News in Brief. Shipping News. Winning Contract. Vital Statistics. Service Orders. Young Washington. Dorothy Dix. Betsy Caswell. Cross-Word Puzzle, Nature's Children. Bedtime Story. Laetter-Out. ' Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page C-11 vote. The other, cing a graduated tax on chain stores, was adopted, 131 to 53. Mrs. Norton Resents “Sniping.” After the House finally passed the bill, Chairman Norton of the District Committee, who was absent during debate on the measure because of a her family, took the floor and in a five-minute speech praised the special subcommittee of the Dis- trict Committee that framed the tax program for “its hours of work.” She said the work of the District Committee was Ty much misunder- steod and vel e appreciated by members of the House.” “As soon as the District Committee brings a bill declared, been W to the House floor,” she ‘certain members who have miliar with the committee's begin sniping at it.” rs. Norton said that work on the t Committee “does us no good at home.” She added, however, that the District “depends on us.” She concluded with a plea to House members to give the District more power for self-government. Even though a complete suffrage plan might not be adopted, she said, a bill giving the Commissioners authority to adopt ordinances should be able to pass the House. Reorganization Bill Announced. Almost simultaneous with the pase sage of the tax bill, Representative Kennedy, Democrat, of Maryland, who served as chairman of the special tax subcommittee, announced he was pre= paring a bill designed to reorganize the District government in the interest of efficiency and economy. The meas= ure, he said, also would give the Dise trict “greater control” over its own affairs by broadening the powers of the Commissioners. Kennedy did not reveal the details of the proposed bill, but said he would have it ready for introduction within a week or 10 days. Framing of a tax program was only one of the duties assigned to Ken- nedy's subcommitte at the time of its creation. It also was directed to study the set-up of the municipal gove ernment with a view to recommend= | ing a plan of reorganization. Delay Is Threatened. As soon as the House convened it appeared that final action on the tax bill was headed for delay in view of parliamentary tactics adopted by Rep- resentative Dirksen, Republican, of Illinois, who champicned the ill-fated income tax plan as a member of the Kennedy sub-committee. He forced all members in the chamber to an- swer a roll call on a point of no quorum. Later, he insisted on a separate vqia (See TAX, Page A-4) BUI.|:ETIN EDMONTON, Alberta, June 18 (Canadian Press).—Maje J. E. Genet, in charge of the Royal Can= adian Corps of Signal Stations here, said today he had been in- formed that Soviet aviators have taken off on a non-stop flight from Moscow to San Francisco. Maj. Genet said he had been ad-ised that the take-off was at a 2 am, Greenwich meridian time (10 pm., E. S. T—Thursday night). His station had made no contract with the Soviet plan2. Both Director Patterson of the Dominion Meteorological Bureau in Toronto and the Soviet gove ernment agent in Seattle, Wash,, notified him of the take-off, Maf. Genet s2'd. 4