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Show J THE LEW SUN. LEIH. UTAH Brvckart's Washington Digest Harass Business With Suits While Seeking Its Co-Operation One Government Agency Presses Litigation Against Industry, While Others Urge It to Get Ready for Wartime War-time Production; Lollypops Being Investigated. By WILLIAM BRUCKART WNU Service, National Press B!df., Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON. There were two news stories emanating from official offi-cial sources here recently that seemed to emphasize an unusual contradictory situation that obtains In present national government policies. pol-icies. One of the stories had to do with a projected expansion of our military services. Representative Vinson of Georgia Is prepared to ask congress at Its next session to spend an additional $1,300,000,000 on our navy. Other house leaders are submitting an army expansion program pro-gram that will cost a record-breaking $1,670,000,000. Now, no one can deny the Importance Impor-tance of national defense. They may differ as to how much of a structure is required, but not as to the principle. prin-ciple. It always Is well to remember remem-ber that few nations, or individuals, pick a fight when they know they are due to meet real trouble which is to say that a strong army and navy are essential to peace. These two announcements concerning con-cerning military plans were made known on different days. It so happened hap-pened that on the day that the army program was given to the newspapers, newspa-pers, the department of Justice was distributing a statement telling of what it believed to be a great victory in court over a corporation. That story concerned the anti-trust action against the Aluminum Company of America. The department lawyers were obviously In high glee because a New York judge had admitted some 36 documents into evidence in the proceeding. Mention was not made that the judge had rejected something like 140 other documents, or exhibits as they were called, but much glory was claimed for the government's side. It Is not for me to say whether the gigantic Aluminum company has violated vi-olated a law: that Is the function of the court. The thing that I object to is the apparent role of the government govern-ment lawyers In this and numerous other proceedings. Their attitude is almost the same as though they wer engaged in private litigation Instead of serving and seeking justice in behalf be-half of all of the people. It is an attitude that is dangerously near to persecution, rather than prosecution, . and it is wrong. Business Being Harassed By Whole Flock of Suits The announcement regarding the Aluminum trial recalled that there were a whole flock of other suits being pressed against nearly every kind of business In the nation. The department of justice seems to be trying to get some kind of a record in its efforts to harass business, and this is not surprising when one considers thatThurmand Arnold, the former professor, is guiding this policy and that Attorney General Frank Murphy Is more of a crusader crusad-er than even the late Theodore Roosevelt. Thus, upon examination I found that there were some 23 or more proceedings being pushed by the government, actions that may be called "major litigation" in that they involve some of the main units of American Industry. I have no in tention of offering a defense for any of them because I do not know the facts. It is, however, slgnifl cant that these actions are going forward from one governmental agency while other groups are calling call-ing upon American business to make itself ready for wartime production In event of need. It will be recalled how President Roosevelt told a press conference not so long ago that there were "raids" being conducted on our war resources by some foreign powera. That is, material usable in war was being bought here, and there was little lit-tle control of these purchases by our military services. Whether this condition brought about the creation of a control board within the army and navy, I do not know. It is nevertheless a fact that the control board soon was created and purchasing missions from England Eng-land and France have to consult with that board. Long Range Planning for War Reserve Proceeding Mention should be made, in this connection, of the frequent statements state-ments from official sources of the long range planning for war reserves re-serves that has been going on. This program has been in process of development de-velopment since 1921, but It obviously obvious-ly has taken on new Impetus since fire broke out in Europe. Business has been advised repeatedly and in various ways that It must consider consid-er itself at the beck and call of its government in event of war. And that is thoroughly sound. But how, I wonder, can these two things go hand and hand; how can business be encouraged en-couraged to make itself ready in case of national emergency and go about that job wholeheartedly while the same government, supposed to be operating op-erating as a unit. Is attacking and eekirg to destroy the very machin ery which the national defense requireseven re-quireseven demands? I used the Aluminum company only as an Illustration, and it happens hap-pens to be a good one. There are something like 50 army officers, concerned con-cerned with Inspection, consultation, consulta-tion, guidance, in the various plants of the Aluminum company. There are dozeni more, yes, several hundreds hun-dreds of army officers and naval officers doing like work in scores of other great manufacturing plants. You can see them crawling all over skeletons of ships in shipyards. They have to make Inspections to make sure the specifications are met. They are to be found In experimental laboratories, lab-oratories, using private funds and private facilities for tests looking to improvement of the various things used in war. All of which is fine; it is a co-operation business ought to give, but, again, there Is posed that question of how can government govern-ment get all of these things done while a group of theorists, paid by the same taxpayers, devote their time to prosecution of the most flimsy flim-sy Interpretation of law violations? When I was digging around on the list of pending government prosecu-tlons prosecu-tlons I found the so-called "big three," Ford, Chrysler and General Motors, in the automobile field, were being prosecuted for alleged violation viola-tion of anti-trust laws in automobile Installment financing upon what surely Is a strange basis. When the suit was started it was simply a charge of unfair competition in the matter of financing. The thing has simmered down now, however, and the issue actually is whether it Is violation of law for using methods of financing installment buyers in a manner that results in less Cost to the buyer. Hold It's Wrong to Provide For Cheap Auto Financing That is to say, the presont Issue Is whether it Is a violation of law to set means of cheap financing. From all of the facts I have been able to gather, our government, through its department of justice, actually is asserting as-serting in court that it is wrong for the automotive companies to maintain main-tain financing corporations which will result in a saving to the purchasers pur-chasers of motor cars. If that is not silly, then I have a cock-eyed mentality. One ought not pass over the temporary tem-porary national economic committee commit-tee which has been sitting, off and on, for more than a year. The committee com-mittee is supposed to be leading the way to a new national economic policy, a new method of doing business busi-ness in the United States. It may, but I doubt It. Thus far, about the most tangible results certainly, the most important effect of the investigation in-vestigation and hearings is the opportunity op-portunity that has been accorded government theorists to expound their ideas. For them, it has been a great opportunity. Dozens of them have been able for the first time in their lives to see their opinions set down in printed form In the committee com-mittee record of the hearings. Of course, In referring to the T. N. E. C, one surely ought to call attention at-tention to the great number of witnesses wit-nesses from commerce and industry indus-try and the gouging and sniping of them that has been going on by a group of "thinkers" who serve as lawyers for the committee. One ought to mention also to the half-baked half-baked testimony presented In a number num-ber of Instances by witnesses whose chief gripe seemed to be that they or their businesses were not making mak-ing money. Lastly, reference should be made to the effort that has been made throughout the hearings to discredit dis-credit every line of business that has grown big. Lolly pop Industry Actually Is Under Investigation I have no way of knowing what the government Is spending in all of these trials and Investigations. Nor is it possible to know what the cost to business has been. The T. N. E. C. has had half a million dollars and it will get some more. The department of justice has been hiring hir-ing lawyers by the bagfuIL The fed eral trade commission likewise has been jumping onto business prac tices from great Industries like steel and cement on through the list to the manufacturers of lollypops. (Don't laugh at that last one. The lollypop industry actually Is under investigation, for some official believes be-lieves that there is a large monopoly of lollypoppies.) But to name a few others among the nation's industries that eager government prosecutors are using to make reputations for themselves as lawyers, we find these: milk, oil. steel, building material in all phases. sulphur, rubber, glass, motion pictures, pic-tures, telegraph, telephone, utilities of all kinds, food distributors, tobacco, to-bacco, insurance, typewriters and trade associations. The effort to show that medical doctors art tradesmen, and subject to the anti trust laws also should be included. WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS BY JOSEPH W. LaBlNE U. S. Ships May Be Registered Under European Neutral Flags In Effort to Circumvent Law (EDITOE'S NOTE When opinion are expressed In these columns, they are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.) Reled by Weetern Newspaper Union. - MARITIME: Neutrality Having fought for and having won "cash and carry" neutrality, the United States promptly sought ways to circumvent it While American vessels and seamen loafed along the waterfronts, crafty minds were thinking up at least two ways of maintaining maritime traffic despite neutrality: (1) chartering foreign ships, a perfectly legal method used ;' I i 4 I.'' it A MINISTER BRENNAN The President tympalhized. by Black Diamond Lines, Inc.; (2) registering U. S. ships with other nations, also legal but carrying a few potentially unpleasant implications. implica-tions. With Its next meeting still a week away, the maritime commission was almost certain to refuse requests for transfer of some 90 U. S. vessels to Central or South American registry. regis-try. When the idea was first broached. President Roosevelt supported sup-ported it Later, after getting a lecture lec-ture from Secretary of State1 Cor-dcll Cor-dcll Hull, he told reporters that the more he thought about it the more convinced he became that it wasn't right. Reason: It would place sister American republics in a neutrality position different from our own. Loud as the complaints of American Ameri-can ship owners were those of lesser European neutrals whose thriving U. S. commerce was stopped by the neutrality law. Two loudest objectors objec-tors were Eire and Belgium. The former sent its minister, Robert Brennan, to tell the state department depart-ment that Eire should be excluded from the "combat tone" because be-cause she is neutral and will remain re-main so; because Eire needs U. S. products; because Eire doesn't believe be-lieve U. S. ships would be endangered endan-gered visiting her ports. Belgium sent her Ambassador Count Robert Van Der Straten-Ponthoz to inquire" about transferring U. S. ships to Belgian Bel-gian registry. Certainly, commented the President Presi-dent objections to Latin-American transfers wouldn't prevail In the case of European neutrals like Ireland. Ire-land. Ifr was a pretty safe guess, therefore, that U. S. ships may soon sail under European flags. EUROPE: The War Gone like sudden sunshine on a cloudy day was the Belgian-Dutch effort to make peace between Hitler and the allies. And after the sun came threats of rain, for it ended the last hope of armistice. There was still much saber rattling, such as Winston Churchill'a speech calling call-ing Der Fuehrer a "cornered maniac," but the foes were ready to start slaughtering. Sea and air warfare went ahead precipitously. One day Berlin announced an-nounced (by inference) that henceforth hence-forth all British-French merchantmen merchant-men would be torpedoed. Reason: They're all armed. Next day, after a successful but pointless air attack on the Shetland Islands, Berlin warned it would "show the British what it means to be at war with NAMES ! ... in the newsj James Monroe Smith, ousted president of Louisiana State university, uni-versity, was given 8 to 24 years in prison for forgery, obtaining money under false pretenses and misuse of funds. Al Smith Jr. was sworn In as New York city councilman, following fol-lowing the family's political footsteps.- Marry Guggenheim, 81, capitalistic capital-istic member of the famous copper-mining family, died at New York. Ex-Kaiser Wilhelm H was reported re-ported building a bomb-proof cellar cel-lar at Doom, Netherlands. Moses Annenberg, Philadelphia publisher and erstwhile operator of a horse-race betting tip service, serv-ice, announced after a U. S. crackdown that he had "forever quit the business." Germany." In 72 hours 11 ships were sunk, one a British destroyer. Britain, for ber part, sank two Nazi merchantmen and a U-boat The week's most thought-provoking news dispatch came from John T. Whitaker of the Chicago Daily Newt, who cabled from Rome that Der Fuehrer's position looked desperate. des-perate. Said Whitaker: Hitler had indecisively retreated after massing troops on the Belgian-Dutch frontier; fron-tier; he can pierce the Maginot line only by wasting a million men; he can't break the British blockade; Scandinavia opposes him, and a strike at the Balkans will bring down the wrath of Russia and Italy, each of which "has his measure." Conclusion: "He finds, for the first time ... that the cards are not stacked against his immediate foe. And as he delays, confusion and defeatism de-featism are inevitable at home . . ." Finlandia Leaving Moscow without customary cus-tomary diplomatic formalities, Finnish conferees returned to Hel-singfors Hel-singfors where awaiting officials already al-ready knew they had refused to grant Russian demands. Immediately Immedi-ately the Soviet press began a withering with-ering anti-Finnish campaign which could only be a prelude to armed action. First, Moscow's Pravda claimed Finland was on the brink of economic ruin, but Helsingfors quietly replied the Finns could get along. Next the Soviet news agency, Tass, accused Finnish ruling circles of fostering anti-Rus sian policy. Helsingfors answered by announcing there would be no resumption of conversations. CRIME: O'llare-Capone Who killed Cock Robin was never a greater mystery than who killed Edward J. O'Hare, Chicago racetrack race-track owner whose assassination in early November set off the biggest gangland witchhunt since Alphonse Capone went to prison in 1932. Rea sons: The murder came just before Capone was released, and O'Hare was known to have associations with Capone. Two theories to date: (1) That O'Hare, as Interim man ager of the Capone gambling syndl cate, was "rubbed out" because he refused to turn back the reins when "Scarface Al" was to be released. (2) That O'Hare was slain by dis senting Capone mobsters who feared he would return the reins to Scar-face Scar-face Al. The deeper federal and city investigators in-vestigators probed the mystery, the more complex it became. The more embarrassing, too, especially for one Judge Eugene J. Holland of Chi-cago Chi-cago municipal court, who was associated asso-ciated with O'Hare in a real estate enterprise. Officials wondered if there could be any connection between be-tween this and the fact that only 28 of the 12,624 Chicago gambling cases r JUDGE HOLLAND Embarrassed. handled by Judge Holland in the past 13 months had resulted in convictions. con-victions. Two days before Ca pone's mysterious myste-rious 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 O'Hare bodyguard, but officials found In his possessions a letter indicating that Stoddard knew who killed O'Hare. COURTS: 5 to 4 Only two years have passed since Franklin Roosevelt sent the senate his first nominee to the Supreme court Alabama's Sen. Hugo L. Black. Since then, one by one, have come Liberal Stanley Reed, Liberal Felix Frankfurter and Liberal Bill Douglas. With only four Roosevelt appointees, the nine-man court was still theoretically anti-New Deal. This month died Justice Pierce Butler, 73-year-old conservative, a Catholic from Minnesota. When his successor is named, the New Deal will have an undisputed liberal majority ma-jority which will last at least another an-other generation. Among possible successors observers listed another midwest Catholic, Michigan's Frank Murphy. W v "7 ; iH r, W ''Ill MMMMMMMMW NEWS QUIZ; A AV""-'. rt;vVA4vW"-- Know your newt? Each of the jolloicint questions countt M-Score: M-Score: 100. excellent; 80. good: 60, average; 40, poor; 20 or 0, Uk! hk! 1. Arrow on above map points to Lagnnfllas, Venezuela. It was In the news because: (A) the new U. S.-Veneiuela trade pact ua slimed there: (B) 500 were killed in a fire; (C) a two-hea-ted baby was born there. 2. The Neva river, nmntng through Leningrad, Russia, overflowed over-flowed its banks although no dams or dykes were broken, and no rain fell. Russia blamed Finland. Fin-land. Why? 3. Thousands of trees uprooted In the 1938 New England hurricane hurri-cane have just been disposed of. now? 4. What former senator from California recently boomed President Pres-ident Roosevelt for a third term? 5. Prince Frederick Wilhelm, youngest son of the former German Ger-man crown prince, was reportedly: reported-ly: (A) beheaded as an anti-Nazi plotter; (B) hinted as Adolf Hitler's Hit-ler's successor; (C) killed at the western front. (Answer at bottom of column.) CONGRESS: Annuities Exempted from social security are some 10,000,000 self-employed persons, agricultural workers and domestics, who thus receive no retirement re-tirement income at age 65. Also exempted are minor groups like seamen. sea-men. At the next congressional session, ses-sion, announced New York's Sen. Robert Wagner, he will introduce a SENATOR WAGNER How much saved? government-sponsored voluntary annuity an-nuity plan whereby anyone making the necessary payments can buy an annuity paying $1,200 a year at age 60 or 65, L , $100 a month. The chief Wagner argument: That such annuities can be handled by the U. S. at a substantially lower cost than private insurance companies. A high insurance executive, he said, had raised no objection to the plan. Nevertheless, critics got to work immediately. Though admitting private firms now make a substan-tial substan-tial profit it was asserted the U. S. must use the same mortality tables and can therefore save no more than an approximate 2.1 per cent agent's commission on its annuities. Tax Fight Tax revision may be No. 1 on the congressional agenda January 3. A hint that not even the administration administra-tion knows what to do about it appeared ap-peared when Acting Secretary of the Treasury John W. Hanes criticized the proposal of Marriner S. Eccles, federal reserve chairman, to adopt higher taxes and thus pay for next year's fiscal deficit. Commented Mr. Hanes: "... I don't think he spoke for the administration ... I doubt if he spoke for congress . . ." INDUSTRY: Man With Stick When the Justice department's Trust Buster Thurman Arnold shows his face, any well-trained industrialist industrial-ist rushes to get his books in order. or-der. Thus far Mr. Arnold's big stick has struck at the railroads, movies, building industry, aluminum, medicine medi-cine and many a lesser trade or profession. This month he struck again: At Los Angeles a federal grand jury indicted 41 major and secondary second-ary oil companies and two associations associa-tions on charges ct conspiring to raise artificially and maintain gasoline gaso-line prices on the Pacific coast (Oregon. (Ore-gon. Washington, California, Arizona and Nevada). In this region, says the md;ctment the defendants control con-trol 95 per cent of gasoline sales. News Quiz Amwers L (B) Is correct. One of LeunU-la LeunU-la major oU termin.Is exploded Z. Because ol winds from Finland" as the Soviet explanation which charged Finland w.tb failure to ta- 3. Sold for $14,400,000 te Vnber wholesaler' co-operatiTe 4. William Cibbs McAdoo. tofer'denltd60" w Pacific &&Mntmufi Ocean rfftAMufcftTO lift-""--" j 111 I WHO'S NEWS THIS WEEK By LEMUEL F. PARTON NEW YORK. Rudolf Friml, maker mak-er of melodies for 25 years, finals y gives credit to his collaborators. With the ouijl board, he's always . talking shop Noted Composer with treat Credits Ethereal composers, ., , . . and every Collaborators once ln a while they help him round out a score. He never knew why the "Song of the Vagabonds" just sang itself through in five minutes, faster than he could score it, until he learned that he had an ethereal spokesman, or spooksman. His career, from the start on down to his present fifty-ninth year, is a testimonial to occult guidance, In planting him always al-ways in the highway of Lady Luck. In Prague, his birthplace, his father worked in a bakery. One day, his mother gave his father money to buy wood. Fates or phantoms guided him instead to a pawn shop, where he made a down payment on a tiny piano. Rudolf's mother was so angry she wanted to chop it to pieces, but the boy persuaded her to let him keep it. One day the owner of the bakery passed by, heard the lad playing beautifully beau-tifully and helped groove him into his musical career. At the age of 10, he had published pub-lished a barcarolle. In the musical conservatory of Prague, where he studied under Antonin Dvorak, he teamed up with Jan Kubelik. They were playing at a concert which Daniel Frohman happened opportunely oppor-tunely to. attend. He took them to the United States for a tour of 80 cities. Whether or not Mr. Friml was just an amanuensis for spirits, his compositions com-positions streamed along rapidly "Glorianna," "The Firefly," '.'Ka-tinka," '.'Ka-tinka," "High Jinks," "Music Hath Charms," "The Vagabond King," and a whole album of others, none of them seeming to be of ghostly Inspiration. Hollywood still keeps him busy and successful. H GORDON SELFRIDGE, the Anglo American merchant prince, visiting this country, makes it a tossup between communism u . .. ., and ruinous H. G. Self ridge taxatIon. Sees Passing of Queried about Socces Idyll communi.sni overrunning Europe after the war," he asks, "What of it? What is the difference between communism and a society where a tax takes half of the income and a surtax the other half?" ' He says the day of initiative and enterprise is past. He is an authority on that subject. Sixty-two. years ago, he swept nt a store in Eipon, Wis. Two years later, he was an errand boy for Marshall Field A Co. In Chicago, and a partner when he quit, in 1904. Punch ribbed him mercilessly when he opened his store in London, and the smart salons were full of clever mots about the American invader. invad-er. He made them like him. He hired as head of his dress department de-partment Lady Afflick, who had thought up the cleverest jokes about him. Here in 1937, he was optimistic about Europe and the world in gen-eraL gen-eraL Now he says, "The opportunity opportu-nity to achieve and to show results has been eliminated all over the world." A LBERT SARRAUT, French min-1 min-1 ister of interior, swings on the French Reds with a spiked club. He links them with the Germans and Albert Sarraut Promis" 1 sweep them i ough One Day, from all "vil- Pacific the Next lages' munici-palities, munici-palities, cities and towns," And he means to do Just that M. Sarraut as governor-general of French Indo-China, was regarded as a hard-fisted and implacable colonial administrator. Returning to his country villa in France, he read Tolstoy, and renounced' all belief in force. When he became minister of interior, his enemies, catching him thus off guard, swarmed all over aim. He resigned from the ministry minis-try and said? "I find now that I have no desire de-sire to smite hip and thigh those who do not think as I do. Ton gentlemen take over the job and see what yon can do with It" He again became minister of the Interior, but offered his resignation when King Alexander was assassinated assassi-nated in Marseilles. But taking the premiership, he again swung his war club, hotly denouncing obstructionists obstruc-tionists and meddlers. Alternately tough and conciliatory, he is a veteran vet-eran cf the rough-and-tumble of French politics, A vacation, in his garden, where he is given to reading read-ing and meditating, is apt to bring on the Tolstoyan mood. (Consolidated FeatureWNTJ Service I V i !' "V Nature will give unn but In reC that we study her 5!? Bowe By her dictates C cows in a meadow rnl 50 spells dbaSH dom with which ever, l thoroughly familiar 1 People gathered toek. spot where there Z ,1 100,000 causes VonS and unnecessary lunZ- drik van Loon. Su2er,ESEj accumulated body -SelSjJjl Man Proposes . 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