| Show weekly news analysis political activity starts early to capture publicity spotlight by W labine la bine J EDITORS NOTE when opinions jr ar expressed in these columns they ar ue those of the news analyst sad and not necessarily of cl tie the newspaper POLITICS stump trail war and neutrality made way in november for politics for between now and january 3 when reconvening congress grasps public attention politicians have their only pre con bention chance to sell the cause of 1940 on the republican side at least three stumpers were hitting the trail while national headquarters in washington planned a skull session december 7 to map campaign strategy the democratic party meanwhile contented itself waiting tor for franklin roosevelt to say yes or no new yorks district attorney tom dewey was not so busy prosecuting german american bundsman fritz i kuhn that he failed to hear the ques tion most good republicans have been asking about him where does he stand on national issues deiv dewey ey like at least two other 1940 hopefuls was preparing to talk first on the agenda is a speech at minneapolis december 6 where party observers hoped to hear an answer other stumpers 1 chios sen robert taft who ranks low on gallup polls opened j TOM DEWEY I 1 answer alwer at minneapolis his campaign at cleveland by criticizing gallup polls for leading to superficial facts and piling up bandwagon sentiment on his schedule before christmas are at least eight states 2 new Hamp shires H styles bridges who has dropped the H tor for campaign purposes was found in los angeles 3 sen arthur va n was silent so war penn sylvanies syl gov arthur james latest new candidate G 0 P 1940 strategy will probably be streamlined if early signs offer an indication seriously considered is a blitzkrieg from sept september em to november instead of a long campaign meanwhile marion martin assistant national chairman told reporters of a organization strong which will sell the party not by punching doorbells door bells but through social contacts one job to scotch the notion that all republican women are rich and wear orchids franklin roosevelt kept himself busy playing with the press laying a cornerstone for the jefferson memorial in washington he said he hoped he could be present when it was dedicated in 1941 this he commented later was injected intentionally tio nally to trip up the commentators A few days later dedicating his memorial library at hyde park he poked more fun I 1 hope they the press will give due interpretation pre tation to my statement that we hope it will be a fine day when we open the building at baltimore sen burton wheeler who may be john y lewis candidate made a speech i abat looked conciliatory with frank lin roosevelt at dallas the texas editorial association booming john garner took a crack at john lewis criticism of their hero by holding a banquet dedicated to sin and corruption the whisky drinking old man who was busy fishing that day got himself toasted with milk EUROPE protest or plea A war that hurts civilians is at once the most painful and the most likely to end in a hurry thus far the war of 1939 has disdained disdain ed bombing cities and has even been easy on troops in the front line but a continent whose life blood courses the seven seas cannot laugh off many body blows to its merchant marine by late november the intensified warship submarine mine warfare being waged between britain and germany had taken a big toll and the price was getting higher every day britain searched tor for the nazi raiders deutschland Deutsch land and admiral scheer while the air force made a futile raid on the naval base at wilhelmshaven Wilhelm shaven the navy was ordered r to seize all nazi ships transferred to russian registry cause of this scurrying was the wars second major disaster the athenia sinking cost lives but were feared lost when the dutch liner simon bolivar struck a mine in the Engli english engliski sli channel both germans and english denied responsibility while lithuanian italian and swedish merchant vessels were also being sent to the bottom in neutral ports word of such disasters S spread pread quickly observers wondered it if the protest might not take form in new peace pleas on land adolt adolf hitler had little chance for western front activity he was too busy in czechoslovakia czecho slovakia where student inspired uprisings against nazi rule were smashed via liquidation of 12 ringleaders ring leaders before a firing squad trouble ahead the most incorrigible finnish optimist could not deny that the future looked tough for the home team with negotiators back from their fruitless talks in moscow all finland quavered as the vitriolic russian press loosed blast after blast against its scandinavian neighbor moscow was obviously building up war talk as a prelude to what observers think is an almost certain self defense invasion TAXATION argument long simmering has been the anticipated blowup blow up between spenders and savers which is bound to come when congress meets next january owen D young and gerard swope board chairman and president respectively of the general electric company announced their retirement january 1 to make way for younger blood benito mussolini warned that italy wants the final word when peacetime returns to europe wang ching chang wel wei whom japan hoped to establish as puppet ruler of china has balked so much that establishment ot of the government has been postponed or dr james monroe smith ex president of louisiana state university who was convicted of fleecing fleeming flee cing state and college attempted to kill himself in prison with a razor blade archduke otto pretender to the austrian throne sought allied support for restoration of the hapsburg dynasty I 1 reason in the next fiscal year the national debt will pass the legal limit congress will have its choice of boosting that limit or making an about face on spending first signs of an inter tion squabble came after marriner eccles federal reserve chairman and spending advocate told st louis bankers that congress should raise 1 1 W 11 el MARRINER ECCLES no friend of the treasury taxes next year secretary of the treasury henry was vacationing cation ing at the time so the dirty work of repudiating eccles statement tell fell to undersecretary john W hanes said he 1 I dont think he eccles spoke for the administration I 1 doubt seriously if he spoke for congress I 1 am certain he speak for the treasury observers thought john hanes boss would secretly applaud the remark for henry although loyal to the president has fought deficit spending and the tra treasury sury far from stumbling blindly allaead is sifting thousands of suggestions gest ions solicited during the past summer before offering congress any recommendations on a 1940 tax program that congress may also be contrary was hinted when colorados sen alva adams told the press he favored establishment of a congressional agency to police the appropriation demands of executive departments not by way of blocking requests for funds but to give the taxpayer a chance to argue his side of the story meanwhile it was learned the budget bureau may not issue its customary revised estimate of receipts and expenditures this year like the congressional tax committee which is holding its recommendations in abeyance the budget bureau is 5 stymied by abnormal conditions abroad CRIME capone who killed cock robin was never a greater ogreater mystery than who killed edward J chicago r racetrack owner whose asnass assassination nation in early november set off the b biggest gangland witch hunt since alphonse phonse AI capone went to prison in 1932 reasons the murder came just before capone was released and was known to have associations with capone two theories to date 1 that as interim manager of the capone gambling syndicate was rubbed out because he refused to turn back the reins when scarface al was to be released 2 that was slain by dissenting capone mobsters who feared he would return the reins to scarface al AI the deeper federal and city investigators vesti gators probed the mystery the more complex it became the more embarrassing too especially tor for one judge eugene J holland of chicago municipal court who was associated with in a real estate enterprise officials wondered it if there could be any connection between this and the tact fact that only 23 28 of the chicago gambling cases handled by judge holland in the past 15 months had resulted in convictions vict ions two days before capones calones Ca pones mysterious release in philadelphia a 21 year old named russell stoddard was held by los angeles police after a mysterious stabbing not only did he claim to be a former bodyguard but officials found in his possessions a letter indicating that stoddard knew who killed LABOR liability compared with A F of L the hands of C 1 I 0 are comparatively clean in the justice departments campaign to remove alleged trade restraints in the building industry though both organizations have maintained trust buster thurman arnold has no right to indict trade unions under the antitrust anti trust laws it is chiefly A F of L building groups which are suffering in the present drive already indicted tor for example is william hutchenson of indianapolis di head of the carpenters union and an A F of L vice president thurman arnold listened to labors complaints a few days and then startled labor with a ruling organized labor is not immune from prosecution and the justice department will prosecute unions attempting to prevent private industry from using improved production methods designed to bring cheaper and better goods to the buying public miscellany no sabotage at bayonne N J government investigators vesti gators scoffed at sabotage rumors when a U S owned but pana ma registered tanker exploded to injure four persons quits lat L at baltimore brother john capone intimated that scarface al just released from prison is humbled and ready to cry quits said john hes in a cheerful mood and hold a grudge against anybody rubens finale C L at miami the daughter mother and father of ruth marie rubens ruben s who figured two years ago in a fraudulent soviet passport case FORSAKEN RUBENS ruth will stay in U S S R learned their notorious relative had become ruth frieder boerger of the soviet union and probably never will be heard of again in the U S BUSINESS 0 christmas cheer U S income hit a low of 40 billion dollars in 1932 and rose to a post depression peak of 72 billions in 1937 last year it slid back to 64 billion and with the approach of christmas shopping season business executives were optimistic enough to predict that 1939 would send it up again possibly to 68 63 billion the first nine months showed an increase of about two billion over last year while steady advances since october 1 1 are expected to tack on another billion for the final three months indices greater employment longer working hours largest year end dividend payments since 1937 highest business activity in 10 years bolstered farm income thanks to the war rise in prices and increased city buying power PAN AMERICA good and bad in a happy mood did secretary of commerce harry hopkins announce foreign trade figures for the autumn months exports to the uni united d kingdom except cotton were appreciably so were exports ty to glum gium netherlands spain germany and poland but a ray of warm sunshine came from the south exports to latin america in october were 28 23 per cent higher than in september against but all was not peaches and cream complaints against the governments e ern r reciprocal trade program began blossoming bloss oming in farm and industrial du circles and were even felt by diplomats announcing the new trade pact with venezuela would take effect december 16 the president pointed out that germany and countries all under her de facto control would not benefit from tariff reductions on v Z an AW HARRY HOPKINS happy but others crude petroleum and miscellaneous agricultural products this brought two repercussions 1 observers wondered whether such recognition of germanys germanas Germ anys control over czechoslovakia and poland might not be a blunder 2 the 50 per cent tariff cut on crude oil imports meant among other things that mexico could sell us at a reduced rate the oil she expropriated from U S companies loudest objector to the latin american trade expansion was fred brenckman legislative representative of the national grange who told that groups convention in peoria IU ill that he like the proposed argentine trade tra de treaty a pact which would necessitate larger agricultural imports from that nation to offset larger exports from the U S said he it looks as if we were going to buy argentine friendship at the cost of the american farmer T R E COURTS death of justice pierce butler paved the way for a fifth supreme court appointment by president roosevelt thus making the court liberal for another generation possible successor attorney general frank murphy federations federation formation of a british french supreme economic council and pooling of all allied resources is regarded as a step toward a long range plan for establishing a federation of european states after the war TAXES georgias state supreme court ruled a special chain store tax levied by the city of columbus ga was illegal TRADE poors surveys indi cate a gain of about 8 per cent over 1938 in this years department store sales released by western newspaper Ut fion |
