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Show PAN AMERICA: Blues Song Ever since Europe went to war last autumn, U. S. business men have hoped to capture the profitable South American trade which heretofore here-tofore belonged mostly to Germany and Britain. Loans and credits were arranged, American solidarity was preached and good neighborli-ness neighborli-ness became the order of the day. More realistic, the U. S. department of commerce sent its experts to dig out the facts. WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS BY JOSEPH W. LaBINE Balkans Draw Russ Attention Following Conquest in Finland; Allies Retreat From Near East (EDITOR'S NOTE When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.) Released by Western Newspaper Union Congress: What Both Houses Are Doing In house and senate, U. S. legislators busied themselves during mid-March ivith the following subjects: Six months later the experts reached a conclusion: "Until . . . definite action is taken on the defaulted de-faulted obligations of South American Ameri-can countries, until . . . the U. S. investing public will have confidence in South American political conditions condi-tions . . . and until . . . the fear of expropriation and nationalistic legislation is overcome, a large increase in-crease in our exports to and imports im-ports from South America cannot be expected . . ." Major difficulty was that South American imports from the U. S. far outweigh U. S. imports from the south, a situation which is robbing rob-bing the little countries of their gold and silver. POLITICS. Debate and a threatened threat-ened filibuster delayed a senate vote on amendments to the Hatch "clean politics" act. Aim: To prohibit state employees, who are paid in whole or in part with U. S. funds, from engaging in political activity. No. 1 opponent was Sen. Sherman Minton (D., Ind.). Passed was one amendment limiting political contributions con-tributions to $5,000. CENSUS. Okayed 9 to 7 by the senate commerce committee was a Neb.) complained about FBI's "disgraceful "dis-graceful and indefensible third term degree methods" in arresting De-troiters De-troiters charged with recruiting soldiers sol-diers for the Spanish loyalist army. DEFENSE. Passed by the house was a measure authorizing $654,-000,000 $654,-000,000 in the next two years for 21 warships, 22 auxiliary vessels and 1,011 fighting planes. Meanwhile, the senate weighed a resolution to probe U. S. plane sales abroad. AGRICULTURE. Certain to pass the senate and very likely to pass the house were boosts which brought the farm appropriation to more than one billion dollars. Major Ma-jor boosts: $212,000,000 for parity payments. But there were growing fears that next year's congress will be left to worry about where the money is coming from. Meanwhile, its economy program shattered, congress heard Franklin Roosevelt suggest once more that new taxes may be needed. LABOR. Of 17 amendments to the Wagner act suggested by a special house committee, at least one seemed destined to pass: Enlargement Enlarge-ment of the labor board from three to five members. resolution to strike personal income questions from the 1940 census. Secretary Secre-tary of Commerce Harry Hopkins ruled that income questions ques-tions may be answered an-swered in sealed, unsigned letters. CIVIL LIBERTIES. LIBER-TIES. J. Edgar Hoover's G-men AGRICULTURE: Weather and Crops In Texas, farmers were planting cotton. Up in the Dakotas they were limbering up for spring seeding. seed-ing. At Washington, the U. S. weather bureau decided the time was ripe for a report and forecast. Points: C. Because soil moisture stands at low ebb, spring wheat producing states will yield under-normal supplies sup-plies this year unless heavy rains or snows fall within the next few weeks. C. Drouth also plagues the winter wheat belt from Nebraska south into Texas and from Colorado east were accused in the GE0 NOrris senate commerce- d; sgracejui ... committee of using wire-tapping and voice recorders to snoop into people's affairs. Meanwhile Mean-while Sen. George Norris (Ind., into the Ohio valley. Although some sections had heavy midwinter precipitation, pre-cipitation, poor moisture conditions during the autumn germination months will cut even deeper into already small plantings. ' C. Below-normal precipitation was also recorded along the Atlantic seaboard, sea-board, but it was too early to base crop forecasts on it C Out west, where northern California Califor-nia was just draining off flood waters, wa-ters, the bureau reported unusually heavy precipitation during the winter. CHINA: Thin Ice Primary topic of Far Eastern interest in-terest right now is the Russo-Finnish Russo-Finnish peace (See EUROPE), which may turn the Soviet behemoth's be-hemoth's attention eastward once more. None could tell whether the Reds would reopen their dormant war against Japan in Outer Mongolia, Mon-golia, meanwhile aiding Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, or whether they would work alone. Either development seemed possible, pos-sible, an uncertainty vihich made inconsequential the manifesto issued is-sued at Shanghai by Japanese Puppet Pup-pet Wang Ching-wei. Said he: A new pro-Japanese government will be established In China almost immediately. im-mediately. Although he regretted that "now is not the time" to reveal his plans for readjusted Sino-Jap relations, Puppet Wang appealed for a renunciation of General Chiang. At Tokyo, Premier Mitsumasa Yonai issued an abstract and high-sounding high-sounding statement promising Japanese Jap-anese support of the Wang government. govern-ment. But abstractions from Tokyo and Shanghai only emphasized Japan's helplessness. Since Premier Yonai was vague, and since Puppet Wang could tell China nothing about his new government's plans, it was a safe guess that the entire peace structure was skating on thin ice. POLITICS: Third Term in England Most Britishers are keenly interested inter-ested in a third term for Franklin Roosevelt, for they feel his foreign policy works In their favor. In mid-March mid-March readers of the London Daily Mail smacked their lips over a story by the well-informed diplomatic correspondent, Wilson Broadbent. Said he: "It is now established beyond any doubt that the report of (Undersecretary (Undersec-retary of State Sumner Welles) on his tour of European capitals will directly affect Mr. Roosevelt's decision deci-sion regarding a third term . . . Should no peace loophole be revealed re-vealed . . . and the war develops Into a fierce European struggle, then President Roosevelt certainly will run for a third term." Where Mr. Broadbent got his "beyond "be-yond doubt" Information, Americans Ameri-cans in London could not discover. What mystified them still more but suddenly seemed more logical was the very antithesis of this conclusion, conclu-sion, namely, that President Roosevelt Roose-velt would be a cinch for re-election if he succeeded In bringing peace to Europe. Other political news: C. In New Hampshire, 1010's flrnt primary election placed a full slato of Democratic convention delegates at the disposal of Franklin Koouc-velt. Koouc-velt. Republicans, who drew the bi(;,;;eit votu, elected an unpledged delegation us requested by Sen. H. Styles Bridges, New Ilamp.'ihirc'H presidential hopeful. 41. At Knkorno, Ind., Eleanor Roone-velt Roone-velt said iilie didn't know anything about a third term: "After being the wife of a public ofllclnl for years, you learn to accept what lifo gives you." |