Evening Star Newspaper, July 12, 1937, Page 9

Favoritism Seen in Tax Probes Was Mrs. Roosevelt Accorded a Special Ruling? BY DAVID LAWRENCE. T WOULD be most unfortunate if the headlines which in recent days have been telling of Mrs. Roose- velt's avoidance of income taxes were to be accepted by any portion of the public as a reflection upon the integrity of the First Lady of the land. Mrs. Roosevelt did what she thought, was right as well as legal. She is represented as having asked the Treasury De- partment for & ruling and to have been told that what she was doing Was perfectly all right. Unfortu- nately, the Treas- ; ury never made public any ruling, and circumstance W special privilese President’s wifc Based on formally a David Lawrence. | this | that some | °d to the s as have been | Mrs. Roosevelt | was poorly advised when she made a contract to seil SOV for $1 and then assigned $4.000 of income per week to ot The rules of the Interr ureau have been that even for charity, cannot be But fomewhere Bureau a s it proper for Mrs will Hamil matter swer is t! ¥ he s | | | | ne, | ned. assuming that n the Int there al is now Revenue makes a taxpay did. the why resentative to bring the The an- other tax- Now there are some undoubtediy evaded kubject to penaliy tx no sympath as to why t waited so lonz pened and u didn’t procecd long way to prosecute t of trying them out i Many obse all, however, Mrs. Roosevelr did he did in " to benefit cha and not for al gain.” Th true and the President’s wife desery every commenda for going to all the trouble sh to earn money for charity a fine example of generosity But, on othe nd, is Mrs Roosevelt to he judzed by one stand- | ard and the other taxpavers by an- | other? Take the case of Alfred P. Sloan, ir. He was revealed to have been giving $250.000 a year to charity. He and his wife were reported to be paying somewhere in the neighbor- hood cf $1.500.000 in taxes to the Federal Government last year. Is such a man to be credited with im? proper motives and to be subjected to headline a because the technical experts differ on whether an item of depreci his boat was or was no some experts it is estimated that his tax would have been increased “by about $12,000 per yvear and cer- tainly not in excess of $25.000. Is al man who gives $250.000 a year to| charity and $1.500.000 to the Treas- ury in taxes to be adjudged a tax dodger bec: of a technical dispute over an item of depreciation, especially when his attorneys advised him that he was entitled to the deduction as a o Fesult of the Treasury’s own ruling? President Roosevelt himself dis- eussed with the wmewspaper corre- spondents three years ago this sub- Ject of depreciation and told how he had taken a deduction on a barn which was built in revolutionary war times He spoke of it as an example of weak- nesses in the law. He ouzht not by any means to be called a tax dodzer because of this, but it certainly in- dicates that he himself took every legal deduction to which he was en- titled perse the Jaw For to reve: what pet Others Are Branded. Other taxpayers are now being branded as tax dodgers for doing the same thing. Why? Because the dd- Mministration believes in a policy of “smearing” those who disagree with its views. Of all the names furnished to the congressional hearings by the Treas- ury Department, nearly all were per- sons who had been opposing the ad- ministration. That's why Congress- man Fish thought it was about time in the interests of fair play to show that other persons high up in the administration were using legal loop- holes, too. The tax evaders, who did something fllegal, were lumped together with the tax avoiders, who, of course, complied with the law. No effort was made to distinguish these two groups Obviously all such loopholes should be plugged. But it will be asked in all candor why was it neces- gary for the President to order his Secretary of the Treasury to give epecific names at the tax hearings? v Would not the same purpose have been eerved by numbering or lettering the cases and giving all the pertinent details? This would have satisfied the needs of Congress from the stand- point of legislating to plug loopholes The fact that this fair plan was not used and that instead the adminis- tration sought to mar the reputation for integrity of some of the most re- spected citizens in the country is a blot that will not soon be erased. Per- * haps under the code of all is fair in politics the course taken will be con- sidered justified in the minds of the President and his advisers. But if such a position is adopted the admin- istration must be prepared for a re- lentless attack on its own personnel wherever they may be vulnerable. Even the President will then not find himself immune from such crit- {cism by opposition members of Con- gress. For while the committee voted not to go into the personal affairs of the President at the tax inquiry out 2 of respect for his office, it will be noted that no such consideration was given by the President to the citizens whose names were dragged into the headlines by his orders. (Coprright, 1937.) a THE EVENING What’s Back of It All Administration Faces Troublous Problem in Puerto Rico Because of Minimum Wage Law. BY H. R. BAUKHAGE. VERY unpleasant family row is about to spoil the peace snd tran- quility of the good neighborhood. Puerto Rico is the unhappy family, now being threatened with having a slice of its income cut off. This possibility might be discounted if it weren't for the fact it is being so carefully concealed. The violent disturbances in the island have given business men the jitters. Officials deny that politics is to blame and say that the only trouble is with the needle industry (you've seen those beautiful Puerto Rican handkerchiefs) and this is due to the minimum wage law for women. The law isn't new but it was considered unconstitutional until the Supreme Court, during its last session, upheld the Washington State minimum wage statute, Now the labor commissioner of Puerto Rico has been served with an injunction against enforcement of the island's law, * ok x % Some supposedly hard-headed business men take a different view of the matter. They have had their economists down there, looking at the stormy little island through a microscope, and they say that the soil is getting unhealthy for American dollars, Some, at least, of these dollars are about to be kept at home. * oK ok K While the Government realizes the seriousness of the general situa- tion. there is a sharp conflict of theories as to what should be done. % ok Two possible courses have been suggested by unofficial ob- servers on the spot. One is to replace Gov. Blanton Winship, and thus indicate a change to a less “repressive” policy that might be (ring to the disgruntled political clements. The other is to have a sweeping investigation by an impartial commission and devise a program in accordance with its findings. X K % % An even more radical move has been suggested, which would mean the removal of Dr. Ernest Gruening. director of territories and insular possessions in the Department of the Interior, as well. The main trouble in Puerto Rico come; from a small but hig pyrotechnical group of nationalists who of late have scrambled their ba ts and bulle's. (The insular chief of police and several other officers have been shot, a judge fired at. A number of local politicians have been sentenced to the penitentiary at Atlanta for conspiracy against the United States Government.) A great hue and cry has been raised against Gov. Winship by one clement of natives. Another group blames Washington. One talks about repression of civil libecties (a charge reiterated by Arthur Garfield Hays, who headed an investigating commission of the Civil Liberties Union). Another begs for a stronger hand. PR of Gor. Winship. who is also a general, is called too militaristic by political clements other than the nationalists. The busincss men and their colicagues in the United States who deal with them, less interested in politics than profits, would like a stronger hand Of course, sending the Army down there to run things would hardly be pleasing to our other good neighbors. As a gesture of amenity, it would rival taking a polecat to a cocktail party. P The biggest show m Washington is still running to standing room only—the court fight in the Senate. P The field marshal is Senator Wheeler of Montana. The re- serves are headed by Senator Burke of Nebraska. The silent man of strategy is Senator Bemnett Champ Clark of Missouri. « x ¥ % You can't miss Senator Wheeler. He's on his feet a chance. You mav miss Burke, but he is there, Being there, in fact, is his joh. He hasn't heen off the floor a minute since the fight started Incidentally, when President Pro Tempore Key Pittman spranz his “surprise” in the court fight, which was announced as death to any hopes for filibuster by the bill's op- ponents, it wasn't any surprise to Clark. An ancient rule had been dug up prohibiting any Senator from talking more than twice on the subject in the same ligisiative day. The Missourian and his col- leagues knew it was coming. Thev kave, it is said. the antidote read to applt when needed Al of this. however, docsn’t scare the administration a bit The President, as indicated earlier in this column, beiieves that a filibuster will turn the country against the opposing Senators The way Senator Clark plans to get around the new appropriation of the old rule to stop the filibuster by allowing each Senator to talk but twice on any subject is simple, but effective, New amendments to the bill will be introduced by the opposition Senators as desired. A new amendment js a new subject and so the talk can go on forever as long as amendments hold out whenever there’s by the North American nee, Ine) HERE'S STAR, WASHINGTON, MONDAY, trHE opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not necessarily The Star’s. Such opinions are presented in The Star’s effort to give all sides of questions of interest to its readers, although such opinions may be contradictory among themselves and directly opposed to The Star’s. We, the People Lippman Court Bill Filibuster Plea Hit as Appeal Contrary to Democracy. FRANKLIN. l | i | BY JAY OME days ago, in an open letter, this column requested Mr. Walter Lippmann to come over to the side of his former friends and associates and help in the battle for economic democracy. impossible that he should take a leaf from Mr. Lippmann's book and ap- peal to force to silence an obdurate critic. It is probable that Mr. Lipp- mann realizes that he himself is im- mune in his right of freedom of speech from -interference by Mr. Roosevelt or the latter’s agents. It follows then that Mr. Lippmann is arguing that the rules of democracy may be waived by those who don't like a democratic Today Mr. Lippmann has made an answer which convinces me, at any rate, that the former liberal of The New Republic and the New York don n World h’;s completely gone over to| Measure, while those who believe in the side of the concervatives. In his | ;”“”"“f" must abide by the rules discussion of “The Great Filibuster” | This s Close to the communistic po- against the proposed judiciary reform | $ition. It is intellectually a part of bill, Mr. Lippmann states emphati- | f2scism. cally that it is the moral duty of the | I am honestly sorry that Walter opposition Senators to prevent a vote | LiPPMann, who for so many years being taken on this measure by talking | 135 been counted among the defend- and talking and talking interminably. | €S of democracy, should have allowed There is no need to remark at this | :,’; “I’)T;“a{,',””,"”,‘f"'“"'" lojtampede point that the filibuster is the nega- in the g“nm’n(‘“l“l'n‘\l;n( of the .:'Fp tion ‘of democrscy, 0f 1y Whe monell o ° R TS Which perits ap equivalent of force, of arbitrary re- | o0 1;,’:(';('4“‘\“"“’;}}" “"f""’""'fh °y action, in the parliamentary process. | Jig e < ACtON by the autocratic de- It is a denial of the right of the elected | 1\ % '”""”7‘;“! T representatives of the American people | ;o 2,. h"‘” 2 Judicial ref | to vote on measures within their con- e ! ing stitutional competence. It recalls the | & MOVE as to justify so great a defec- old liberum veto which destroyed the | HO1 from the processes of logic and old Poland and is the little brother of | Persuasion. I, for one, would rather the vote-stealing and floater-vote | 5°¢ the Jjudicial reform bill fa tactics by which municipal machines | *°3ten by open vote in the Conz sometimes try to win closely contested | (a0 to have it put across by trickery elections. It is difficult to reconcile | ANd force, and I had hoped that Mr open incitement to a Senate fili Lippmann and his fellows would fe with any respect for the principles of | It better to be beaten than to betray democratic self-government, J“‘e Republic by trickery and force. Measure Declared Bad One, LT Mr. Lippmann justifies his appeal | to force by arguing that the judiciary reform bill is A bad measure: that it constitutes no part of President Roose- | velt's “mandate” in the 1936 election, | that it menaces the svstem of checks- m s not so sha ess TWO MEN AND WOMEN ARE HELD IN SHOOTING that he doesn't like it { : This seems to me to be a clear (n\ni Above Heart Is Said to | Be Critical. Two men and a woman were being questioned by police today in connec- tion with the shooting last night of John Costello, 26, in the third-floor hallway of an apartment house in the 1200 block of M street At Emergency Hospital condition was said to be c One bullet heart and another his left shoulder Clvde N. Strange who 15 investigating, said Coste shot after he of arguing that the end justifies the means—a doctrine which may be true | of the ad processes of human evo- lution. By such lozic, a Hitler has always justified pogroms and blood puiges: a Stalin the execution of Trotzkyites and “wreckers,” Mussolini his cong and intervention in Sp chief defense of doctrinaires and ty- | rants as been outlawed in dem- ocratic society as be inferior to what is known as law and order. For observe where this perilous teaching would lead! Mr. Lippmann Ryssell C. Tarvin. 28, ar does mot like President Roosevelt's gg. judiciary reform hill. Let i, suppose . that the President believes that the survival of this Nation depends on its passage and that he does not like Mr. Lippmann’s opposition to it. What is to prevent the President from hav- ing Mr. Lippmann locked up? Presi- dent Lincoln did much that kind of thing all War and is now hailed as one of our greatest national heroes For Lincoln won the war and justified the means bv an end which seemed to him to be desirable, despite what th thought of many of his war meas- ures. | | Right of Free Speech. | Smce Mr. Roosevelt happens to be- | | Costello’s all of the same address. A 32- iber pistol was recovered from Miss Jordan’s purse, Strange sa Charles Lamar, 47 other apartment at the M street ber, was ordered held for ques- g concerning the ownership of the pistol. HELEN KANE TO WED Boop-Doop-a-Doop Girl to Take Third Husband. 10S ANGELES, July 12 (P —Helen Kane, who popularized boop-a-doop singing. i8 Roing to be married for a third time, probably in September, she said today The prospective bridegroom is W couris lieve that the preservation of the democratic principle is the great ob- fect 1t s of American Government, WHY YOU CAN'T BUYA STALE OLD G OLD LD GOLD offers you a NEW quality in cigarettes: prime freshness in any climate under all weather conditions. Even when “dog-day” humidity is at its worst you can’t buy a soggy Old Gold. Nor an Old Gold staled by parching, blazing heat. As soon as they are made, Double-Mellow Old Golds are sealed fresh in a package wrapped with an extra jacket of Cellophane. A scientific pack, absolutely weather-tight. The only pack of its kind in the world. Two jackets of Cellophane seal the Old Gold pack both top and bottom. Seal it against dampness, dryness and dust. These Old Golds are sealed fresh and sold fresh. Sold fresh! That's what brings a NEW quality to Old Golds. For a stale cigarette is only half a cigarette—and who wants to pay full price for only half a smoke? Double-Mellow! Prize Crop Tobaccos! Old Golds and get a FRESH experience! (Established 1 Freshness! Smoke FRESH 760) 2 and-balances of the Constitution, and | Condition of Man Wounded Just | who lived in an- | JULY 12, 1937, This Changing World It Is Doubtful That Germany and Italy Will Be Frightened by France’s Ultimatum. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN. HE 22 nations forming the London Non-Intervention Committee have planked the neutrality baby in the arms of its nurse, Capt. Anthony Eden. It is up to him to find a pacifier for that howling brat. The Germans and the Italians are looking across the fence smiling. ‘The drastic method of forcing a Franco-British patrol on the Spanish coasts by a majority vote of the participating nations has been abandoned. ° Yugoslavia, Sweden and Den- mark have officially expressed their views that it would not be wise to divide up Europe in two hostile camps. Europe is already 80 divided. but these three states did not want to antagonize the Ttalians and the Germans un- necessarily. * % ok Whether Mussolini and Hitler will become frightened at the threat of the French government to open the frontiers leading to Spain is doubtful. The few more things the Spanish loyalists might get across the Pyrenees will not be sufficient to cause the defeat of Gen. Franco. * %% Finance Minister Bonnet was skeptical while he was in Washington sbout the unbearable heat of this city. He used to say that people are al- ways inclined to exaggerate and that he himself is not bothered by the heat. He was undoubtedly telling the truth. Yet he is sweating more today in Paris than he would have had he remained here. He has to find about $2.000.000.000 to cover the deficit of the French treasury. And that is no easy task when the only sources of revenue are abandoning of the gold standard, further devaluation of the franc, a full stop to all further govern- ment expenditures, increase of taxes and an increase in the tariffs. PR All these measures are bound to be highly unpopular with the masses because they mean an increase in the cost of living and are aflecting the lower and the middle classes far more than those who have money. K ko There might be a shout in the near future against the Chautemps government and a demand from the extremists to take the money as some sort of a capital levy. Of course, Bonnet is talking about further borrowing. The French experts don't seem able to get together as to how much should be borrowed in 1938. All we need, says Bonnet, is about 30,000,- 000,000 francs (about $1.200,000,000). You are crazy, answers Paul Revnaud. an outstanding financial ex- pert, you will have to have at least 50,000,000,000 francs ($2.000,000,000 at the present rate of exchange). Of course, France still has about 6.000 pounds of gold in the vauits of the Banque de France But that money cannot be used, for the time being at least. be- cause it constitutes France’s war chest. Bonnet's friends sav that he yeally would® have preferred the sweltering heat in Washington, D. C. to the heat of the Palais du Louvre, where the ministry of finance is located. PR The Japanese are holding their Summer maneuvers near Peiping. In order to give them a realistic touch they have put live ammunition in their rifies. machine guns and field guns and have practiced on the Chinese troops The nese have retaliated and in this manner the Japanese Army command in China is having a realistic war game, ok ow % Most observers believe that this last outburst of the Japanese military commanders is only a preparatory move for a higger and better war against the Soviets. The Chinese are only the erperi- mental rabbits. * o % % This belief of the nbservers is strengthened by the fact that about three new Japanese divisions have slipped out of Japan very quietly and have been added to the 150.000 soldiers stationed at the present moment in Manchuria. liam Gerald, Los Angeles automobile dealer. Outing Planned. The Sanitary Grocery Co. Employes’ Miss Kane has been divorced from | pssociation will hold an outing at Glen Joseph Kane, department store buver,| peno park Wednesday, beginning at and Max Hoffman, ir, actor son of 3 pm Dancer Gertrude Hoffman. MIs| g Cartright, company divisional Kane once clowned in Hollywood | cecretary, is head of the committee films. |in charge of arrangements. Other committee members include M. L | of Norway's merchant | Summers. Carl Upperman, N. Foster nd C. Warhoppe Headline Folk and What They Do. Anna Sten Is Coming Back in Films With English Company. BY LEMUEL F. PARTON. NNA STEN, Sam Goldwyn's “million dollar baby." is back in the films again, this tima with an Englich company. in “Two Who Dared,” just now opening fn New York. Miss Sten and Mr Goldwyn were the two who dared 1932, in bringing the Russian beauty to Hollywood. It cost Goldwyn $1.- 000,000 to teach her English. with three shifts of teachers, and put on her first film, “Nana," all of which he immedi- ately scrapped— this in addition to her salary of $3.000 a week. Miss Sten, daring and winning, saved $156.000 during her Holly- Wwood engagement. she learned English saw her in a Ri she speak Engl ' was the repl teach her.” he cabled thought he had another Dietrich. Other films fole Nana.” Her contract was can= Anna Sten, Slan pice he “Sign her up and w back. He | Garbo or lowed celled She was Anjuchka Stenski, the daughter of a teacher of the ballet in Kiev. Her father was killed when she was 12 years old. She supported herself and her mother washing dishes in a restaurant. A skilled dancer, she joined a traveling troupe, barnstorming through the Crimean i ss, her exquisite beauty unin paired by such hardships. Her hus- | band is Dr. Eugen Frencke, a moving picture director. Stettinius May Ascend Throne, Edward R | prince of steel throne Januar Taylor, ret being passed & garded as au Stettinius will ir, crown ascend to the ceed Myron C. he word now steel eircl, but lack attaining a run of varfant steel baron sense of the social re- n to say that ant functiol n is the social ed to create s men aty of hairman of the Fu mittee of the United ates Stesl Corp., he has been an rt modernist, furthering a method to pick executive fic basis, and urg- ing st SEALED AT THE TOP by the OUTER Jacket of Cellophane SEALED AT THE BOTTOM by the INNER Jacket of Cellophane