The Key West Citizen Newspaper, May 4, 1933, Page 5

THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1938. MORE CREDIT IN MANY WAYS WITH INFLATION MOVE cceeecesseessese. Paper On Key (By MAURICE FELTON) 92222288 800006 West’s History we | 0000 OCCCOOCOCOOSEC OOS OROOADEEOOO TOC ODOOOOOEEOSORE | The following is a copy of the In 1824 a company of United. LABOR ATTRACTS | MUCH ATTENTION paper contributed by Maurice Fel- States Marines was stationed here, PEOPLE’S FORUM Peeseeegusveesscceeserese LACK OF CHARACTER ! Editor, The Citizen: | The erime record of the coun- try, the dishonesty in business and PROBE HAS. VERY | UNIQUE SETTING. The other was Dr. Karl Arnstein,! “McCord, Pastiod designer of the Akron. —____ | life in the disaster, be'put inece' Dresel’s task was the hardes}.|mand of the Akron. “ The court wanted to know of him! It was a situation what he would have done ‘that ery moment. Everybody night had he been in command of room seemed to sense it, even the the Akron. Slowly, weighing, marine doorkeepers, Js, ev- every word, and often asking the, erybody but the court. : stenographer to read back what he! Grim countenan nee e tf METHOD " INCREASES bin winner of the first prize in a and a barracks erected fer them, fronting upon the harbor between banking life, the official corrup- tion among holders of public of- MISS FRANCES PERKINS | {PROCEEDINGS STARTED ces of the admis IN, had said, he told his story. He was ral, the captain and the co! CHASING POWER OF SOME BUT REDUCES SAME IN OTHER ACTIVITIES By J. R. BRACKETT (ity Ansocinted Prennd NEW YORK, May 4,—Infla- tion and defixtion accomplished the same result if carried through to the theoretical ultimate—the destruction of valves. Therein hes the danger. But seldom has either gone to this extreme. The eourse of the depression has illastrated deflation, as, in the ease of the farmer who lost his arm through foreclosure. France’s inflation after the war reduced the value of an individ- ual’s bank account by 80 percent. How The Opposites Work contest which elosed recently at Key West’s early history: é Key West in the Early Days The history of the original set-| tlers or inhabitants of Key West is entirely unknown, although some of the stories have passed down through the generations of time contain room for an immense quantity -of ‘attthenticity.. The story 6f how Key West: obtained! its name- through: the- very first known group of people that’ exist- ed on the island is interesting. It is probable that, from the time of the first visit of Ponce de iLeon until the cession of Florida to the United States; the isiands which extended in a southwesterly direction from Cape Florida were only resorted to by the aborigines. ; Duval and Whitehead streets. the High School here dealing with! These early buildings were re- moved and in 1844 the present ornamental buildings were erect- Ft. Taylor was commenced in | 1845, but was not completed un- til 1865 due to a hurricane that destroyed or washed away the few uncompleted structures. Jefferson Davis was the Secre- tary of War during the Pierce ad- ministration. It is strongly be- ieved that Davis foresaw the Civ- il War and thought of erecting’ forts here for the benefit of the South, while peace was still in power. Although it is probable that he erected these forts, known .as the Martello Towers, at Key West for the Confederate’s bene- fit, the South never had the pleas. ‘uve of exerting its power in the forts or over the island city, SERVING IN NEW CAPACITY NOW SHOWING HER MET- TLE IN ACTIVITIES By HERBERT PLUMMER Hits Rannciated Mews WASHINGTON, May 4.— There’s probably no member of President Roosevelt’s __ official family attracting more attention these days than Miss. Frances Per- kins. Nor is it simply because she’s the first woman cabinet member nor her tricorne hat nor her re- actions to a man’s job that have attracted the attention of political observers and others in the capi- tal. It is Miss Perkins herself ‘and the way she is going about her job of enlarging the im- portance of the labor portfolio in fice, the general break-down of home life, the universal disrespect for law-order and authority, all in-| dicate that lack of character is the rock-bottom defect of the nation. Today there are in prison a number of young people equal to the standing army of the United States. Our murder rate ‘has doubled since 1900.° The inerease | in insanity has filled every State; institution to the limit. The di- voree court records, Juvenile de- linquences, the novels, magazines and the movies of the day viewed from a psychological standpoint; tell us clearly that character-build- ing in the nation has been a dis- mal failure. In business, men forget the old adage, “honesty is the best policy” and substituted the fatal. futile BARN-LIKE STRUCTURE IN) CAPITAL OUT OF KEEPING’ _WITH POMP AND CEREMONY: By HERBERT PLUMMER {Ry Axnocinted Prexx) WASHINGTON, May 4.—Often it is in the little known places of Washington, or rather, in places that the average person doesn’t know how to reach, that one en-} counters dramatic incidents in this capital city. { And so it was when the navy started its inquiry into the tragic disaster that befell the airship Ak-' ron in the early morning hours of Monday, April 4, off the New Jer- sey coast. A naval court of inquiry always is impressive. Gold-braided ad- mirals, captains, commanders and | ' | ‘the man who recommended that’ er seemed never to, change. v4 lieutenants abound. A Strange Setting It was the setting for “the Ak- ron inquiry, however, rather tha: he President’s cabinet. Washington is familiar | women in high positions. The gentlewomen of congress for a idea that efficiency and smart- ness and shrewd skill would do as well, until a drop in public trust}, brought home to them the basic Defiation destroyes money,| of the country, the piratical crews, while inflation creates .it., Defla-| with which the neighboring. seas tion increases the purchasing pow-, were infested, and the fishermen, er of those who have money, but| (many of them: from St. Augus- ‘eause Key West was under the Un- jon flag throughout: tke Civil War. Incorporated with redyeces the number of people who have money; inflation lowers the purchasing power of money but gives it to more people. Complete deflation would turn ali credit into hard cash. Since there is about $4,250,000,000 of gold in the country, this “would mean, if carried to the theoretical extreme, that all of the $35,000,-| cine years since, human bones of|D- C. Pinkham. the other hand, more \Brisa) his camping ground. Thejing that the early settlers were 000,000 bank deposits and the bil- lions in securities would be re- duced to gold, the basie money. Inflation attempts to turn hard cash into eredit and eredit into more credit. Carried to the the- oretical extreme, this would make all money valueless because there an marks literally beeame worth less than the paper they were printed on, In 1929 America inflated credit in a similar way, but not to such an extreme. People who had mage paper fortunes on the stock market tried to turn their stocks into money only to find there was not that much money. ‘Inflation No Stranger Inflation is not new to Ameri- ca. It nearly“always comes with great business prosperity in the creation of more credit. Such 'n- flation ifically. induced, but f Seog agar tt of tanks others te lend money. ‘A loan creates money, A deposit Probable the conquerors tarried in the of $1,000 may be lent by ‘the bank to another person,! whe redeposita the $1,000, giving itis Seen fo. whon Fr ! to get cash, cause it the bor to rinke a profit on lated value of his en-; ) deflation seta in. ; ; of in- flation are that. first, wages and | : not advance quickly | parchasing| pur- ol zg wings extremely defi- purchasing S ions have been forced n Because of a short- or for other reasons, control. The United ! Eo 5 z F i ti i i i § nation in the world. argue therefore that. r security exsist today than in 1929; that al | ‘The tamer of lions and steps out, And just as he does from the crowd comes a shout! “A lion is loose!" yells the mobi 8 become impossible for{ tine) who were .engaged ‘in sup- plying the market of Havana with the “finny tribes” that abounded in their vicinity. Of the occasional presence of the first, we have-evidence in the marks of ancient fortifications of mounds of earth, found in the various 1lo- calities, (in one of which, opened a large size were distovered) and tradition ‘has in addition, brought down to us notices of them which deserve credit ci upon the same authority in other parts of the country. The oldest tradi- tional story, dgting back to 1785, used to say that probably about the coast were of different tribes, and as these islanders frequently vis- ited the mainland for the purpose of hunting, a feud arose among the tribes, and those from the mainland having made an irrmp- tien into the islands, the inhabi- tents were driven from island to island antil they reached Tey West. Here, as they could flee no further, they were compelled to risk a final battle, which result- ed in the almost entire extermina- tion of the islanders. This sanguinary battle strewed the island with bones as it -was not to commit the bones of the dead to’ the ground, thence the name of the island Cayo Hueso {in Spanish (‘Bone Island”) In addition to this story, there fre various other stories refer- ving to the early history of “The Golden Isle of the Sea.” — It is that the early Spanish pirates used the island as a place of refuge (due to the natural har- bor and deep waters) from stormy waves or other pirate ships. This has ben proved authentic by the fact that hidden pirate treasures have been found on the island and some of the other Florida Keys. On one occasion, a stranger vis- ited the island, with a complete camping outfit. He made the South Beach (formerly called La residents of the island noticed that ‘the tent kept moving gradually up the beach. One day it was dis- covered that the visitor had dis- ® dwring the hours of the night, but he hed left his marks. A hage square hole was found where the tent hed last been plac- ed. The stranger had been searching for a hidden treecure had used his tent as a wall to conceal his toil of digging in the This ‘well-known incident verifies the statement that pirates used the island at some unknown time in the past. Specimens of human skeletons that have been found reveal clear- ly that the early inhabitants of Large skalls have been un- earthed from huge mounds of rich soil, Other bones that have been found show that the earlier inhab- According to a report left by ‘an early pioneer of the island, Key West was first owned by a gentie- man named Jean P. Salas. The governor of the territory of Fior- » The island of Key West was in- corporated in 1828 as a town by} an act of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida. The! government of the town was main- ly in the hands of ohe man, called the President, and in a Council, to consist of six persons. The jfirst president of the town was In 1832, the in- corporated town gave placé to an incerporated city. Key West derived its import- ance in. the tommercial world from: First. Its geographical position, it being the extreme southern point in the United States. Second. For its capacious harbor, the great depth of water over its bar and the ease of in- gréss and egress to and from its outer and inner roadsteads, and Third.. Such ready protection to her shipping, naval and other- wise, in time of war and stress of weather. The United States government established a Custom House at Key West in 1822. The revenues of the Custom House at Key West show an average of $45,000 annually from 1828 to 1832. In 1876 Key West paid $192,035.80 for Internal Revenue to the United States, It is esti- mated that the receipts from this source for 1877 were $225,000.00 emount not only larger than was paid by any other city in the state, but more than was paid by all the other cities in the state put together.) é The total population of the town in 1831 is recorded at 300. At that time Miami was a mosquito swamp on the Miami river. The Mosquitoes were about their only inhabitants, Miami remained in this condition for over a half cen- tury longer, while Key West kept steadily on the increase, until the city was the largest in the state. This was in 1876. ° Religious Nature Tt is well to state that the early inhabitants of our island were of a religidus character. As early as 1882 they held public services in what was known as the County Court House. The first known church of this city was the Protes- tant Episcopal church (this show- of English deseent.) In Novem- ber, 1832, a Sunday school was commenced, which in January, 1833, had between fifty and sixty children in attendance. By 1876, the membership was six hundred and seventy. There were church- es of different denominations or- ganized early in the history, name- ly, Methodist, Baptist and the Ro- man Catholic. Educational matters were of early importance. The earliest school dates back to 1835, and was kept by Rev. Bennett of the St. Paul’s congregation. By 1875, the children attending school in Key West numbered 1500. Ev- eryone actively &ssisted in the up- keep of the school system of our city, and let me say here that even to the present time, we have a) schoo] system for which every lost al Key West citizen should feel proud. Key West is proud to lay claim te having some of the oldest struc- tures in the state. St. Augustine, alone, is popular for being an old city and having ancient structures, but few people, even in our own | long time have provided observers ample opportunity to see how they can stand the gaff. Fighting Back Miss Perkins made an impres- sion the first time she made what might be called a public appear- ance, Those who saw her, within less than a month after she had taken office, before the joint commit- tees of the house and senate con- sidering the administration’s bill creating corps of unemployed to work in the national forests, were convinced that she could hold her own. Congressional committees at times are trying to cabinet mem- bers. Pat Hurley, when he was secretary of war, became so_ in- censed at the jibes he suffered at the hands of one that he stalked out of the committee room vowing he would not return until they could agree to treat him with what he termed the proper con- sideration. Ogden Mills, former secre- tary of the treasury and a former member of the house, also had his troubles with the gentlemen ‘‘on the hill.” Under fire for the first time, Miss Perkins emerged with flying colors. There are those who will tell you that she bested her con- gressional inquisitors — routed those skilled in parliamentary practice and legal debates. Direet In Action Direct in everything, precedents as such mean nothing to her. For example, when a metropolitan paper criticized her policies in an editorial, she came right back with a letter explaining her stand. An influential member of con- gress had been having difficulty with immigration inspectors in his district. After repeated com- plaints, he appealed to her. She picked up a telephone, got a line direct to the immigration uffice in that section, and cleared’ every- thing up within a few minutes. That’s how she works. They’re already saying around here that before she gets through the labor department, the youngest division of government now, will be among the mest important and influential of all. The First National Bank of Key West. The third oldest house is on the corner of Eaton and Duval streets now owned and occupied by Mr. Raymond Johnson. Notice that Duval street was the impor- tant section of Key West in the early days as well as at the present time. Isolated City Key Wést was an extremely is- olated city in “the days of her youth.” The only means of transportation to and from her vi- cinity was by boat, and sail-boats at that. If the wind blew, every- thing was all right, but if a calm set-in, “my the distress™ The mail, too, in those days was a slow process of communication. A ship used to transport the mail between Charleston, South Carolina, and this city every month. The peo- ple used to flock to the dock when the news that the mail ship had arrived was spread. It was the big event of the month. And, now, in conclusion, let me add that, in spite of the isolation and geographical position of our ida rewarded him with the island}city, stop to think that we have}“Gem of the Sea,” in those early did nothing in regards to improv- Tn 1821 (one sold his right, title, and in- John W. Simonton, of if years. Some hundred years ially when stated in jthere are very few days, Key West was richer than the majority ef the large present day cities of America and that as a whole, the present day inhabi- tants of our island know very little business fact that character alone commands confidence. It we are ever going to get back to normal we must get back to character. No matter how many regula- tions upon stock exchange, upon banks, upon business in general, you may have, there will, inevi- tably, be a repetition of relapses, until business men awaken to the fundamental fact that business can only be firmly established on character. Business thrives on confidence and is bred in charac- ter. Bad public officials undermine law. In public life, the absence of character in public officials has brought about the most deplorable disrespect for law and distrust in the instrumentalities of the courts end of justice. ii It is a terrible thing when peo-/ ple lose ¢onfidence in those who rule them. When public officials forget their sacred oaths, and stoop to the level of common thieves, and by fraud, deceit, pre- judice and injustice infringe on the rights of citizens, authority be- comes a travesty, and the flood- gates of crime are opened wide, When the robes of justice are stained with unspeakable crime of bribery, tattered and torn by av- arice-and self-seeking, public con- fidence is crushed and the majesty and sanctity of the law in the courtroom and the halls of legis- lature are irretrievably undermin- ed. Never will we curb crime as long as frenzied fanatics, ecclesias- tic lobbyists brow beat lawmakers. bidder. Never will we curb crime as the criminal can buy protec- tion at the price of the ballot. Never will we curb crime as long as the decision of judge and jury are auctioned off to the highest bidder. Never will be curb crime as long as appointments to teach- ing staff comes only after payment of bribe money to grafting school committee men. Never will we curb crime as long as_ novelists and moving pictures point out crime as heroism whether it be of the gangster or double stand- ards of love affairs! Never will we curb crime as long as the plead- ings of policy and political expe- diency are substituted for princi- ples of justice. When character sits in the chair of authority, when justice reigns in tribunals of the people, when integrity and honesty rule in pub- our problem. Character building is the need of the need. TRUTH Key West, May 4, 1933. | E i i i H FyF iT bij (iti hkehakahikadedeleded the admirals that impressed 0! servers at this particular court. Beyond the navy yard, in the southeast section of the city, a° barn-like structure wholly out of | keeping with the dignity and pomp of the participants was the se’ ting. Nattily dressed marines guarded the entrances. Interested ob- servers could get in, but first it was necessary to satisfy these marines that you were an interest- ed observer. ; Seated behind a green-covered. table, resplendent in his gold braid, was the president of the! court—that affable but stern old sea dog, Rear Admiral Henry V. Butler. At his right was Captain Harry E. Shoemaker, and at hi: left, the third member of the cour and the lowest in rank, Command. er Sidney Kraus. Off to one s was the judge advocate, and to! the other the only surviving offi-| cer of the ill-starred Akron, Lt. Com. H. V. Wiley. Wiley knows more, perhaps, ; than any living man about what happened the night the Akro went to her doom. But he sat} there, apparently listening to ev-| WEN but taking no part him- self. Expert Testimony The day we witnessed the court of inquiry in action, two of the most distinguished witnesses were heard. One was Capt. Alger Dresel, who now commands the MUST PLOW DEEP : anp SOW WIDE | NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING HAS BECOME: THE SPEECH OF BUSINESS---the million tongued: | salesman who reaches a million people with sel imum cost and effort. ce NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING ~~ is news of wanted goods Macon, sister ship of the Akron. 02 edd de deedededidildedidid deketakcberberededhnds [Ado de dedede didlhedeheutisdoc| Cement, the wise building C Medeci uh dade dice tcbul Phone 598 i With the Federal Government going off the Gold Standard, money is bound to be cheap- er, which means high prices. With lumber as low as $15.00 M. and Paint, and other articles priced low now, will do their repair work at once, because even one day’s time may see drastic Labor is plentiful, with thousands of our best men out of work. Take advantage of this situation; give employment te some worthy person, and save money on your or repair costs. SOUTH FLORIDA CONTRACTING & ENGINEERING COMPANY “Your Home Is Worthy Of The Best”