Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS BY JOSEPH W labine defense costs zoom skyward As army navy start tap tapping ping appropriations for new year EDITORS NOTE when opinions are expressed in these columns they are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this news newspaper released by western newspaper union 7 7 7 7 77 9 K 3 HOESS HOMES AT HAMMOND IND SEE HOUSING A 40 acre white elephant may become a national model DEFENSE spree in 1922 theun the U S spent only lor for its army by 1929 the dove of peace cooed coded so pleasantly that only was needed for all defense army navy and coast guard the upward swing in arms arm s costs did not start until 1936 gained strong impetus last year and zoomed to unprecedented peacetime heights in the current congressional session As the 1938 39 fiscal year ended and military men reached tor for new funds provided by a new year the next 12 months indeed looked like record breakers summing up the past year undersecretary of war louis johnson told readers of the army arid and navy jour IU A V X undersecretary JOHNSON the army got its share nal that new planes heavy and medium bombers pursuit attack observation cargo and training had been delivered and that more had been ordered most of them single engine pursuit ships upped per cent under current orders were sound locators tor for antiaircraft control antiaircraft anti aircraft artillery per cent aircraft artillery per cent antiaircraft anti aircraft control directors per cent journal readers also heard from the navys paymaster rear adm ray spear that his extraordinary expenditures next year will help V U S industry per cent will go for materials 39 01 for labor but what interested most taxpayers was how much americas defense F spree pree would cost figures ARMY regular appropriation 8 12 1933 deficiency bill 28 7 extraordinary army bill panama canal new locks civil pilot training 5 civilian Conse conservation ration corps civil functions works total 1 NAVY regular appropriation 1939 deficiency cap lency bill 36 shore est establishments blish ments strategic materials supplemental construction total COAST GUARD D regular appropriation 1939 deficiency bill 1 expansion total f 5 when taxpayers totaled these figures they found defense costs had risen considerably above mere the total bill HOUSING hammond plan biggest criticism of federal housing administration homes is that they cost too much for the mail wage earner likewise huge metropolitan slum clearance projects merely add to a cites congestion instead of following the futures inevitable trend to decentralization last year at hammond ind four brothers na named p ed frank william Wf lliam joseph and john hoess divided a 40 acre white elephant int into 0 one acre homesteads sized up hammonds workmen who earn from 25 to 30 a week and have neither sayings savings nor guaranteed jobs and decided to build homes for them each was to be a five room house with two bedrooms kitchen living room and bath costing 1600 to 2500 including land of each tenant they asked 10 per cent down and 25 a month plus 6 per cent amortized interest lett left to the occupants were painting decorating plumbing grid and fixture future installation though all homes were wired by this summer 36 of the 40 homesteads were occupied tenants were eating out of their gardens and were hard at work making homes out of houses this successful experiment might have gone unnoticed except for ne braskas sen george norris who recently expounded its merits in the chamber as a comparison with and projects said he the idea is to build a home for as little atle money as possible we should extend assistance to the laboring men and poorer classes who do not now own houses but desire to own them next came a subpoena tor for brother frank hoess to explain his project this month before sen joseph C OMa honeys temporary national economic committee which may recommend it as the basis for ft a national program to amend the 1937 housing act awaiting hearing time frank hoess busied himself opposing a proposed clearance program ram tor for hammond and nearby gary ind both suburbs of chicago his 1 reas reasoning ning not only will tenement apartments increase congestion but they also eat up ul in rent the money a workman might u use s for easy payments on his own home hom e mediterranean rebound one year ago turkeys premier reft ruled a mediocre nation no more important to war frightened france and britain than her inconsequential neighbors iraq and iran but by early july of this year the turks were s so so solidly eidly locked with allies far and near that both benito mussolini and adolf hitler frowned when they looked at the eastern mediterranean axis move by turkey came following italis invasion of albania which burst asunder the piffling riffling piff ling balkan entente with bulgaria leaning axis wise and yugoslavia torn by a croat slav feud premier made haste under british tutelage to form a new mutual defense pact with rumania and greece both of whom are now ready to fight 1 a nazi fascist invasion of yugoslavia or 2 a dictator drive starting in bulgaria next in quick succession came turkish pacts with france and britain the former in exchange tor for french cession of the league of nations mandated hatay republic syrian Alex andretta upshot of these treaties was that western democracies gained control of the strategic dardanelles Darda nelles and gaining access to the black sea to help rumania in case of war and draw friendly russia into the mediterranean meanwhile came turkish pacts with iraq iran and afghanistan ghani stan while egypt opened conversations seeking balkan aid should italy invade nile mile territory in desperation axis powers at to form a balkan counter block of yugoslavia bulgaria and hungary only the latter of which could offer much help in war adding to woes boes are three western mediterranean developments op ments 1 gals tion of fidelity to its alliance with britain 2 apparent insistence on neutrality in a general war Q 3 increased british naval and military strength in the gibraltar area POLITICS decision I 1 I 1 not ol 01 in many a moon has the U S seen a more P popular ular politician cl n than J james ames aloysous Aloys lus s parley farley who lift gilted lilted e d franklin roosevelt to the white franklin house ouse twice who thus lifted himself from obscurity and who this year or next must make the greatest decision of his miraculous career shall he back the president for a third term thereby forsaking his P political lotical friends who have left the new deal standard or shall he desert thereby losing the support of roosevelt men either path may be suicide and best guesses hold that not even jim farley himself knows which path to take but this much every politician knows next years democratic convention must build its reelection election re platform on the record of eight years under franklin roosevelt otherwise the party has no leg on which to stand it if jim parley farley is to desert the president and seek a ver very y logical vice presidential candid candidacy acy for himself under either vice president john nance garner or se secretary of state cordell hull he cannot afford to speak a against his boss lest it tin undermine dermine the bartys only platform neither can he speak indis boss favor avor for that would stamp him permanently with the new deal stripe for a man whose entire future hangs on a network of friendships ships any commitment before the president announces his decini decision on would be fatal meantime the postmaster general is wasting no time building more pol political fences for whoever cari can use them himself the president or of an any y of a bakers dozen potential candidates dates s when he tells audiences audience his party will win in 1940 on 0 n the roosevelt record it means nothing pennsylvania titans dream in 1837 intrepid pennsylvanian ians first arst thought of 0 building a south penn railroad cut through the th rugged appalachians from harris burg to pittsburgh fifty years lat la er two industrial titans almost did it andrew carnegie because adoth er line controlled rail traffic and am pegged freight rates out of pitts burgh william H vanderbilt Van derbUt be cause the same railroad purchased purchase a line which paralleled his new nev york stork central tracks along the hud son they abandoned it in 1885 by 1940 the year old drean dream win will be completed not as a rail road but a four lane moderate level leve express toll highway which uses use sight eight of the nine tunnels started by b Vander bilts workmen knocks thi the tops lops of smaller hills and spans deep dee valleys total cost 63 transfusion switching of blood from one mans veins to an others has improved tremendously since 1492 when pope innocent VIII and three donors who attempted to save his life all died in the first crude attempt but in 0 one n e field where transfusion is most needed saving mothers lives in childbirth the process is not used enough 10 per cent of all maternity deaths result from hemorrhages next september at cleveland the U S congress on obstetrics and gynecology will summon physic physicians ans nurses hospital administrators and educators to stimulate more interest in childbirth transfusion recruiting HECK to man its vast new arms expansion program the army must sign up recruits in the next 12 months facilities recruiting stations including IS 18 on wheels most men will go to the air corps they must be unmarried in good physical shape and from 18 to 35 years of age enlistment list ment Is for three years 7 SILVER under the senate amendment to boost silver price from 64 64 to 77 57 cents per ounce western miners predict men should get new jobs many mines closed sirce since silver lost its place beside gold as a monetary base could operate profitably under the higher price but cannot make ends meet at the 64 64 cent level |