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Show I NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS Written for The Telegrem By Ray Tucker 4 WASHINGTON After long and private talks and thoughts, America's business nun have derided de-rided that they must accept President Pres-ident Roosevelt's challenge to promote and produce recovery. They sense between the lines of his public and White House study talks that he is giving them their last chance to make good. It's almost impossible to discover dis-cover anybody an industrialist, private utility mngnate, banker who regards Mr. Roosevelt as having confessed new deal defeat de-feat and definitely shifted to the ; right. They believe that he still entertains his original dislike and distrust of business bigness, especially es-pecially as they note his partiality partial-ity to mm like Robert H. Jackson. Jack-son. "Tommie" Corcoran, Henry Wallace, George Norris. Nevertheless, Neverthe-less, for their own salvation, they figure that they must produce or else. This unhappy conclusion explains ex-plains the epidemic of speeches begging business men to spend and expand and furnish employmentthe employ-mentthe Lam mot du Pont, Clarence Woolley and William B. Warner utterances. Though they didn't like It. they agree with "Joe" Kennedy's ultimatum: "You may not agree with Roosevelt, but he's here for three more years, so make the best of it." It's a truce with both gangs wearing sidearms. The success of President Roosevelt's private homebuilding project depends upon a man whom he has not treated any too smoothly smooth-ly in the last few months President Presi-dent William A. Green of the American Federation of Labor. F. D. R.'s housing aids see scant hope of a building boom in the measure now before congress. con-gress. Even Federal Reserve Governor Gov-ernor Ercles' board members think that he Is unduly optimistic. optimis-tic. The bill aims to barks lap borrowers by lowering interest terms and providing longer terms for amortization of mortgages. But It will not encourage people to borrow or build so long as labor costs remain so high. Building material prices have started to sag under pressure of reduced demand, but labor scales have not been revised downward. Mr. Green's organization Still shelters the building trades. Incidentally, In-cidentally, they are dominated by anti-Roosevelt Republicans resentful re-sentful over administration favoritism fa-voritism toward John L. Lewis. It is extremely doubtful If they will underwrite the presidential proposal that hourly wages be lowered In return for a guarantee of more continuous employment annually. Their retort to the White i House is: "Who will guarantee 1 the steady employment?" Nobody 1 has give them a satisfactory an- j ewer yet. . The southern and Democratic 1 state of Alabama has become j President Roosevelt's problem child. It may cap the appointment appoint-ment of Justice Black to the supreme su-preme court by sending the erstwhile erst-while wild-eyed, but now conservative, con-servative, Tom Heflin to the United Unit-ed States senate. Such an outcome in the special election to fill the Black senate vacancy would be a below-the-belt blow at F. D. R. at this particular moment. Therefore, he had an unexplained guest aboard the special spe-cial train which carried the presidential presi-dential party from Miami to Washington a week ago. He was Representative Lester Hill, who waves the administration banner in the conflict with Mr. Heflin. The Roosevelt-Hill reunion wasn't first-page news except in Alabama, Ala-bama, where it Is hoped that it will encourage all new dealers to vote for the White House favorite. fa-vorite. The fun or funeral began long before Mr. Black was judicially judi-cially anointed. With the Alabama Ala-bama Power company supplying funds and personnel, conservative conserva-tive interests In Alabama organized organ-ized to defeat the ex-senator for reelection. It sighted its anti-T V A guns on Mr. Hill when he donned the Black mantle senatorial, sena-torial, not klannish and thus the ineffably radical Tom Heflin has become the white-haired boy of , the power company's political machine. Even presidential scouts concede that right now the election elec-tion is a tossup. Our conventionalized cousins across the water will nurse another an-other grouch against Uncle Sam when they learn that the inspiration inspira-tion for Hore-Belisha's ahakeup of the British army command was Major General Malin Craig's scrapping of the seniority system over here. It taught them things over there. Vhn General Craig became chief of staff, he discovered that the army's 6A general officers brigadiers and majors averaged about 62 years. It was then the custom to promote colonels to higher rank so that they would walk off with maximum pay, even though they had only a few years to serve before retiring at 64. Often they put in only a few months or years in their new posts. The army was a nice old men's home. General Craig has reduced the average age of general officers from 62 to approximately 57 years. He has sidetracked scores of sen- f- ior ranking colonels to name men he regarded as fit for special assignments as-signments and immediate promotions. promo-tions. It has created an internal revolt among official oldsters, though they dare not publicize their growls. But i has been the subject of serious study by British Brit-ish military attaches at Washington, Wash-ington, who supplied Hore-Beli-sha with detailed memos on its beneficial results many months ago. The national relations board would face a suit for eviction from Washington's swankiest and most expensive office building if the operators didn't need the rent. Labor's arbiters recently moved into the structure, which also houses such legal aristocrats as Pat Hurley, former secretary of war; Everett Sanders, erstwhile chairman, Republican national committee: Mabel Walker Wille-brandt, Wille-brandt, the vanished Joan of Arc of prohibition politicians, and many others. The NLRB employes, em-ployes, long accustomed to the informality of a government building, loiter In the halls, elevators ele-vators and cafeteria in unconventional uncon-ventional attire and manner. Their slightly radical exchanges also pique more conservative tenants. Cynics suggest that the N L R B, In view of its threat to freedom of the press, doesn't need a new building only a new board. And the date for a thorough house-cleaning house-cleaning Is supposed to have been set by the White House. Mr. R. is disgusted with the whole shebang. she-bang. Notes: Minimum soft coal prices, effective December 16, are slightly higher for industrial and rail users and somewhat lower low-er for domestic use this applies to territory east 'of Mississippi river. . . . Congress committees are studying proposed revision of regulations concerning coastwise trade. . . . Realignment of foreign trade routes also under consider- . ation. ...CIO effort to unionize union-ize oil field workers is a failure. . . . A commission is working out plans to ease up on farmers in reclamation areas who can't make the grade. . . . The 70-car freight train bill goes over till January 11. . . . More trade corporations filed income tax returns in 1936 than in 1929. . . . Large increase in demand for agricultural products by industrial and chemical concerns. con-cerns. . . . Progress is made in developing synthetic rubber and ; camphor. . . . Time grows short for passage of housing stimula- ! tion bill at this session. , Copyright, 1937, for The Telegram. I |