Evening Star Newspaper, August 18, 1937, Page 9

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1937. Vote on Black May Affect 1938 Vote: Break of Independent Dernocrats-G. O. P. Bloc Seen. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. I \HE roll call on the confirmation of Senator Black to be an as- sociate justice of the United States becomes an event of Jor political importance. It may pfoundly affect the alignment of Ts in the 1938 congressional elec- ns. This is because in recent weeks there § & distinct trend in favor of placing publican votes behind certain inde- dent Democrats in the primagies erever this was possible by State 5. Overnight the situation has pnged and many voters are discov- ng that the so- led independ- t Democrats 11 not stay ched, and that fhaps the Re- pblican party y be the only itical entity oted unremit- ngly to the se of constitu- al govern- nt in America Whether it is e pressure i David Lawrence. various States, or whether some of pse Democratic Senators are too d to make another fight, the fact ains that the final poll on the pck confirmation is the acid test of ether court “packing” with an ineli- le appointed is really indorsed by lividual members of the Senate. ndeed the issue raised by the pck appointment introduces many er elements that were not present the recent court bill contYoversy. . Black is plainly disqualified by P Constitution itself from sitting on P Supreme Court. Support for this tention is to be found in a decision the Supreme Court itself and also the plain language of the Consti- fon, which says that no Senator or presentative may be appointed to an ce in which the “emoluments” have m increased during the term for ich the Senator or Representative s elected. Tssue May Be Raised Again. [Phe issue on the question of the Ribility of Senator Black mayv be sed again before the Supreme Court plf, where it is believed that any ty to litingation in the October term y ask the Supreme Court to rule | ether Mr. Black is entitled under P Constitution to sit on the bench this time. t apart from constitutional ineli- ility, there is the question of moral- in appointments to public office. . Black’s only qualification for the pition is the fact that he has done . Roosevelt's bidding in the Senate. is not an outstanding la.vyer and s no special familiarity with legal ctice in the Federal courts. His ole background and political phil- phy in public life has been that of | yiolent partisan; a tricky, prosecut- attorney type, riding roughshod pr the rights of witnesses at hear- which he conducted, and going the very edge of the law itself to evidence for his lobby investi- ing committee, r. Black’s record shows that he ps not believe in the constitutional hts of privacy of American citi- s, and there are some who insist does not believe in the freedom religion in America. Evidence was ered in the Senate that Mr. Black s & member of the Klan or sat Klan meetings. This is testified to members of the Klan who attended meetings at which Mr. Black was d to have been present. There ms no question, of course, about fact that Senator Black won his t elecgtion with the open support the Klan. This is confirmed by wspapers in his own State dbf Ala- Ima. Klan Seen an Issue. 'he President was so eager to get the bench a “yes man” and so [xious to play a& smart maneuver on P Senate that he held up the nomi- tion for nearly three months be- sending it to the Senate and ver stopped to consult anybody ut the Klan aspect of Mr. Black's ord. he Black appointment will be an 10 in the 1938 campaign. It can rdly be otherwise. When some- fng as flagrant as this is perpe- ted it is bound to be agitated at polls. It is the only way the ple have on expressing themselves. rtainly the Senate gave the people opportunity to express themselves. ey steam-rolled and squelched pry demand for public hearings on qualifications of Mr. Black. he truth is the Democratic ma- ity in the Senate and the admin- ration were afraid of a public in- Ftigation, feeling that if the hear- s were prolonged public sentiment 1d rise against Mr. Black and his ination would be ultimately de- ted. The strategy was to get con- ation accomplished before public linion could be formed. It is a piece strategy sometimes played in poli- putting over something before people can become acquainted th the facts. But in the long run doesn’t pay the party or the poli- Hans who try it. at emerges from the controversy that the Republican party alone, a few independent Democrats, ve been standing this week for p principle of public hearings and estigation of the record of the who is appointed to be an as- fate justice. That same minority insisted that the letter of the nstitution be obeyed, and that Mr. ack wes really not eligible for the tment. Voters in Quandary. [Politically this leaves millions of who have taken to heart the preme Court issue very much in quandary. Should they rise now defend some of the independent Pmocrats who no longer protect e Supreme Court but sit back and Insent to the “packing” by an un- stitutional appointment? It cer- nly does strengthen the argument Republican leaders in various ates who have never taken kindly the idea of supporting independent mocrats. It makes difficult, more- er, the position of many of us 0 have thought that independent mocrats represented & new hope American politics—a means of idging the gap between the reac- bnary policies of the Republican y eand the well-intentioned but porly effectuated policies of the Pw Deal. The probabilities are that when N What’s Back of It All Neutrality Law Debate Rages—Invocation Would Hit Cotton’s War Boom. BY H. R, BAUKHAGE. ESPITE the roar of conflict echoing from Congress over the Black nomination for the Supreme Court £nd the cries of dying legis- latien, the shells bursting over &nangha! echo ttrough the Capital. Translated in official American terms, the Far Eastern problem is the neutrality problem. And that subject, at this writing, is submerged in a sea of official silence. * ok ok ok There is not yet so much as a speck of action under the neu- trality law visible on the horizon, although it's the heated topic discussed behind closed doors. z * Kk ok % In this connection, & question is borne in on the south wind, per- haps impertinently, since the days of dollar diplomacy are supposed to be over. What might war, with its huge demands, bring to the ailing member of our economic family, cotton, especially if exports are not in- terfered with? The great war nearly floored that commodity at first and then made it king. ‘When neutrality legislation was pending in Congress, pounds of printed matter were turned out, hours spent in debate, Nation- wide mail and speaking campaigns organized “to keep this country out of other people's wars.” Most of the agitation came from pacifist sources. The admin- istration agreed in principle, but said privately that a neutrality law was all right, but it wouldn't work. * ok k% Now they are saying (not for quotation, of course) “I told you so!” As one official erpressed it unofficially, “the law is on the books and so is Secretary Hull, sitting there.” REMEMBER E A\ ME, sONNY 9 * ok Kk ok There are reports that Italy has been inquiring why, since we went neutral so readily and emphatically in the Italo-Ethiopian affair, we can't recognize a state of war when one of the States is China? These reports are emphatically denied. As a matter of fact, it is said that Italy rather liked our brand of neutrality—at least as com- pared with the sanctions which the League of Nations tried to apply. Which is another proof, some say, that neutrality laws don’t always work the way they are meant to. When the great war first closed the commodity markets, cotton went to 5 cents a pound. By 1915, Senator Sheppard of Texas Was reporting to President Wilson that “shipping cotton was exceedingly hazardous, very costly and inevitably limited.” Germany wanted it and made offers, but, by the end of August, 1915, the British declared this was essential con= traband. Then, later, came the war loans, America joined the Allies, the crops were short and the glorious days of 40-cent cotton were with us. * oK K x Speaking of cotton, if the speculators think they are going to have a wild party on the basis of a war boom, they are riding for a fall. R Preparations have gone along very quietly. The details of the program cannot be revealed at this writing. But it can be announced with certainty that the new commodity exchange administration (successor to the old grain futures administration) is ready for a crackdown. They've got the law. It has the teeth. And the commission has the money, too. In addition, it has the backing of the President and Secre- tary of Agriculture Wallace. DS The Securities and Exchange \ Commission has been putting the bridle on the stock market gam- blers while the cotton and grain futures jugglers have been riding along without too much trouble. Now the joy ride is to be over. The Commodity Exchange Commission has moved into larger quarters in the south building of the Department of Agriculture, un- A branch office has been opened in New Branches in Chicago and New York already exist. * kK ok der whose auspices it operates. Orleans. The Democratic party has just discovered a new strange creature growing in its nest. It is the “Epius” movement, not EPIC. but quite as romantic, and takes in (theoretically) a lot more territory than Upton Sinclair's movement. (The latter confined himself mainly to California.) The initials stand for: End Poverty in the United States. It started in South Dakota, and its father is Arthur W. Watwood, who has run for Congress three times. He just ran, He was, however, a Government attorney in Washington and only re- cently resigned to go home and foster his Epius. The idea seems to be to shorten working hours, obtain liberal old-age pensions and do several other things which add up to the brotherhood of man. It sounds harmless, but these days every little movement has potential meaning of its own—even if it means nothing itself. (Copyright, 1937, by the North American Newspaper Alliance, Inc.) many of the independent Democrats, some of those who fought the Presi- dent’s court reorganization bill, get back home they will find themselves being asked why they deserted the cause of constitutionalism by voting for confirmation of Senator Black. As the 1938 campaigns for members of Congress progress the story of how many Democrats really cared for the fundamental principles of constitu- tional government will be developed. Meanwhile the work of three Dem- ocrats—Senators Burke of Nebraska, King of Utah and Copeland of New York—is a remarkable example of courage under trying circumstances when most of their colleagues had deserted them. Incidentally, Senator Austin of Vermont, acting minority leader in the absence of Senator Mc- Nary, has developed in very quick | time an organized opposition to the Black confirmation. The speeches of Senators Bridges of New Hampshire and Steiwer of Oregon and White of Maine will stand out in the official | records as an indictment of the in- | eligibility of Senator Black on con- stitutional grounds, but, more than that, Mr. Bridges’ appeal for real liberalism was a masterful presenta- tion of the case against the New Dealers as reactionaries, because while calling themselves liberal they refuse to allow the people a chance to be heard on matters of vital concern. OF A DRAST SPORTS COATS $16.50 & $18.50 COATS NOW NATURAL TAN, BLUE & BROWN GAB- IC SALE 63 ARDINES, BLUE & BROWN FLANNELS, FANCY PATTERNS, HOUNDSTOOTH & TATTERSALL CHECKS. SIZES 35 to 44— ALSO SHORTS, LONG, STOUTS LEWIS & TH®S. SALTZ INCORPORATED 1409 G STREET N. W. NOT CONNECTED WITH SALTZ 'BROS. INC, crHE 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 al sides of questions of interest to its readers, although such opinions ma% ‘themselves and directly opposed to T, be contradictory among e Star’s. Roosevelt and the Budget There Is a Top to Public Expansion and Spending, Observer Says. BY DOROTHY THOMPSON. HE firmness of intention in the President's desire to balance the budget need be doubted by no one. If anything, he has been more cautious in his promises than in his purposes. He is not serious- ly concerned with the preeent size of the national debt, despite the fact that it is expect- ed this week to pass $37,000,000,~ 000 and reach the highest peak in American history. He believes that a Nation the size of ours with its na- tional income, can easily carry such a debt, and whatever Amer- ican economists may think, it is s foreign economists, study the American with him. 1t is obvious, however, that the con- tinuation of an unbalanced budget in the midst of mounting recovery rep- resents a real menace. It has infla- tionary tendencies of & serious sort. There has never been, in my belief, any reason to fear a currency infla- tion, but there is certainly reason to fear a too-extensive credit inflation, if we continue to have an unbalanced budget with production going full tilt. ‘The President, we are told, is bring- ing energetic pressure on the depart- ment heads to keep below their budget estimates. He has locked up $400,- 000,000 of department budget funds in reserve accounts and will refuse to release them except with the appro- val of the Bureau of the Budget. And he can be counted on to frown upon further emergency expenditures. His attitude is a reason for optimism, and t is further supported by the fact that gold deliveries to this country appear to be decreasing, and that long- term bond issues and income from social security funds are beginning to replace the short-term bank loans. Just the same, the current deficit is | more than half what the deficit for the whole year—ending next July 1—was estimated to be. Spring tax collec- tions may take a powerful leap, but they will certainly have to, if we are to come out anywhere near even. The Government's Role. It is unfortunate that administra- tion leaders hawe not devoted more of their talent for publicity to edu- cating the public to the real implica- tions of the elastic budget. In contradiction to the theory that the budget of a nation is like that of a household, which has to be balanced annually, the present ad- ministration has gone on the thesis that it resembles, rather, the budget | of a great industry, which must | balance, not annually, but over the | business cycle. In times of depres- slon, when private investment be- comes cautious or nearly stops alto- gether, it is the business of govern- ment to start the cycle upward again by spending its money, and it is justi- fiec in radically unbalancing the budget if necessary in order to do so. There are many economists who believe that with sufficient budgetary elasticity the peaks and valleys of depressions can be ironed out and such depres- sions &s the recent one prevented altogether by automatic government action, taken much more expeditiously than was the last. If, for instance, indexes show that unemployment has passed a point which may be con- sidered as normal—transitional un- Dorbthy Thompson, ignificant that most who watch and situation, agree | ployed who never were employed and | matic index—but we have got to do | means established that the loan lassical RECORDS B(c =na THe Beethoven: Egmont Overture, 2 sides, 1 12-inch, Sale price, 75¢ Tschaikowsky: Nutcracker Suite, 6 sides, 3 12-inch. Regularly $6. Regulorly $2. Sale price, $2 Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, 2 sides, 1 12-inch. Regularly $2. Sale price, 75¢. Debussy: Afternoon of a Faun, 2 sides, 1 12 Regularly $2 Sale price, i Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, 1 12-inch. Regularly $2. Bolero, 2 sides, 1 10-inch. Regularly $1.50. Sale price, 50c. Schubert: Symphony No. 8 “Un- finished,” 6 sides, 3 12-inch. Reg- ularly $6. Sale price, $2.25 Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta Gems, 12 sides, 6 10-inch. Regu- larly $9. Sale price, $3. Wagner: “Ride of the Walkures,” 2 sides, 1 12-inch. Regularly $2. Sale price, #5c. Johann Strauss: Waltzes of Strauss, 10 sides of 5 12-inch. Regularly $10. Sale price, $3.75. Prompt Attention to and Phoxe Orders NATIONAL 4730 Mail (Middle of the Block) employment of men passing from one job to another —the Government should immediately, they think, be- gin starting public works, which have been planned carefully in advance and kept on the program for just such emergencies. Thus wholesale slumps can be prevented. But no economist believes that & national budget can indefinitely be kept out of balance without catas- trophe. When private production and national income have begun to ap- proximate normal the Government budget must be contracted, and re- serves must be laid up against the next deflationary period. This is the logic of an elastic budget, and the people have not been educated to the theory. On the contrary, Legislatures are inclined to think that if income is expanding the Government ought to be able to expand its expenditures, too. If we could afford billions when the Nation was poor, why not even more when the Nation is rich? This was, however, the logic of private capital in 1929—the logic of Mr. Mellon, that there was no top to the boom. Experience educated the American public to the fallacy of that theory applied to private invest- ment and expansion, but it hasn't edu- cated it yet to recognize the same fallacy in public investment, expan- sion and spending. Checking Up on Employment. Furthermore, certain indexes which are essential to our knowledge of where we really stand have been knocked out by the relief policy. Normally, the amount of unemployment is a fairly reliable index to the general economic situation of the country. But our un- employment figures are totally unre- liable, because the policy of the relief administration has been to define un- employment as a certain inadequacy in income, so that undoubtedly tens of thousands are counted as unem- | are social cases, useless for ing the extent of recovery. ment insurance, once it is in operation, will furnish a fairly reliable and auto- something meanwhile, And, meanwhile, there is no let-up in the pressure from groups of all kinds, who have been encouraged to believe that a providential Govern- ment will augment their incomes by one form of subsidy or another. Within the last few days the cot- ton farmers, who already are receiv- | ing several sorts of Government sub- sides—for soil conservation and, by the extension of another year, of 3!, per cent interest rates—have asked | and demanded a loan for the purpose | of holding and increasing the price of | cotton, in the face of this year's ex- | traordinary crop. But it is by no is necessary. If growers should receive| the present prices for the current crop their gross income would be equal to last year's, which was considered sat- | isfactory. The greater quantity would | offset the increase in price. In other| words, what they are loking for—and | have been encouraged to expect—is al guaranteed price rather than a mir‘ This Changing World Neutrality Act, Hailed as Only Instrument of Peace, Has Failed at the First Test. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN. HE neutrality act, which a few months ago was haijled as the only in- strument to keep this country cut of wrr, has proved unworkable at the firs; test. President Ropsevelt is hesitating to proclaim that a state of war between China and Japan exists although there is not a taxi driver in this city who has the slightest doubt that there is a war going on between the two countries. * Kk % ‘The hesitation of the President is quite natural. The neutrality act as demanded by the House makes it mandatory upon the Chief Executive to enforce an em- bargo on exports of arms, am- munition and implements of war to all belligerents as soon as he has decided that two or several natians are fighting. None of the President's ad- visers want to apply an embargo on down-trodden defenseless China. It would be a crime, they say, to prevent’ the Chinese from purchasing arms and ammunition in this country while Japan has up-to-date and fully equipped factories. The neutrality act in its present form helps the aggressor and not the victim. Of course, if the President wants to go further and forbid shipment in American vessels of certain types of raw materials which are essential to Japan, that country ‘would suffer too. * Kok ok But one must.remember that those who are in the business of selling raw materials would kick up a terrific rumpus if the Govern- ment prevented them from making money. f * ok K % In the eves of the average citizen only those who sell the finished products: Guns, airplanes, tanks, etc. are merchants of death. Those who sell cotton, scrap iron, copper and what not, all essentials in the manufacture of arms and ammunition are just business people who are endeavoring to make an honest penny after so many lean years. It is with this problem that Mr. Roosevelt and his advisers have to contend at the present moment. EE R The only way out found by the White House, so far has been not to m~cognize that the fighting in Northern China and the killing of thou- sands of people in and around Shanghai as an act of war. It's just a little game and almost overnight the whole thing may end in a love feast, e 1t is explained officially that the administration cannot take a risk and proclaim that there is a war in the Far East, and find out next morning that the Chinese and the Japanese have called off their fight and are the best of friends. * oK K % On Capitol Hill and especially in the Senate, there is a fecling that the neutrality act should be amended by changing the words “the Presi- dent shall issue a proclamation” to “the President may issue a procla- mation.” That would take care of the situation, for the time being at least. When another conflict occurs in some other part of the globe our leg lators may realize how utterly useless is that “instrument of peace,” they have drafted this year. o * kK Neither Great Britain, France nor the United States slightest intention of intervening in China. If m from these countries are being dispatched to the war area to help the evacuation of the respective nationals and to re-assert the treaty rights to ex-territoriality and concessions obtained from previous Chinese gov- ernments. None of the Western powers want to abandon 1 and privileges obtained in China many years ago . . . until they are physically kicked out by the Japanese as has been the case in Manchukuo. The influence of these powers in the Far East is on the wane The “earnest representations” made in Tokio to prevent Shanghai from becoming a war area have had as much effect as the request of a heavily overdrawn customer to a bank president for a loan without security. It does not cost any- thing to ask, especially when you know your request will be turned down have the at profit. The Government's forecast|ence with the 12-cent loan in 1934, | shows an average yield of 223 pounds | the ri t of which was to decrease to the acre, the highest in 42 years.| American exports to less than 5.000,- The greater the vield an acre the lower | 000 bales—the smallest, with one ex- the cost of production and the greater | ception, since 1895 | the possibilty of a decent profit at a| It it be a useful thing if the low price. President would give a fireside chat | But the loan indicates the objec-| to the Nation on why he considers the | tive—again to peg cotton by Govern-| balancing of the budget essential. ment subsidy, despite all the experi- (Copyright, 1637.) | Headline Folk and What They Do Hunter College Head to Introduce Movie Making in Classes. BY LEMUEL PARTON. HIS department has noted the swarming of women into play producing and directing. To- day comes the news from Hollywood that Hunter College of New York, the largest woman's college in the world, will offer a course in mo- tion picture production, including every department of picture making. Dr. Eugene Colligan, president of Hunter, makes the announcement in the film capital. Hunter College has an enrollment of 15,071, Dr. Colligan, president of Hunter since May 4, 1934, is a progressive New York educator who insists that colleges must be adaptable and con- form to reality, but must maintain a broad foundation of the humanities, He stresses constant attention to in= dividual differences, and has won the commendation of educat He was graduated from Teachers' College in 1908, ees from Columbia and Fordham and made his in the New York public schools. esident of the Catholic Writ- ers' Guild. The Pacific Coast thinks it may have another Jim Corbett in Preddie Apostoli of San Prancisco, the belting bellhop o will meet Marcel Thil September 23 for the world middle- weight championship. He is a hand- some lad, a clerk in a jewelry stome after his bellhopping experience. His defeat of Babe Risko and Brouillard They tell me San getting all steamed up abo Just how solemn Papa Thil got ba not quite ¢! 33-vear-old, bald n the main line is He relinquished his after world-wide down victory over the decision on a He has been fighting 12 years, getting his start as an Army boxer. When he was a stall boy, soldiers of A. E. F. taught him to box. He Wws a lot of wear and tear, but is dable. 1937.) NAVY TRANSPORTisAILS Henderson Going to West Coast and Asiatic Stations. NORFOLK, Va The naval tra | Norfolk yesterday for the West Coast and Asiatic stations. She had aboard & number of officers and enlisted men, including 130 Marines. Officers at the Marine barracks at the naval operating base said the Marines were being sent to fill gaps in crew complem on various ships in the Pacific and Asiatic fleets. An unofficial report was that the Henderson would pick up several hun- dred Marines at Guantanamo, Cuba, to be taken to the West Coast. “The distance downtown seemed cut in half” A few reasons why we urge Yyou to see and drive the Lincoln-Zephyr V-12 for 1937: Smooth-flowing 12-cylinder power + .. with 14 10 18 miles per gallon! . Steel body structure of exclusive design that gives lower center of gravity, greater road clearance, increased roominess. L] Greater beanty for 1937 . . . dis- tinctive new instrument panels, rich new upholstery treatment. . Finer operation for 1937... easier steering. .. still greater quietness and smoothness. . New body-types, now 4 inall... with large built-in luggage space, opening from outside. COUPE. illustrated is *1,244.25 Delivered in Washington and vicinity. 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