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Show I WALL STREET VIEWS , , . By James McMulin, Ruanda! Observer . NEW YORK New Yorkers credit Senator George W. NorrU fNebbrasks) with a neat coup the other day that escaped general gen-eral attention. As this column has previously noted, Norris bill to authorise the Teaneasee Valley authority to Mil $100,000,000 in bonds for the purchase of private power properties proper-ties hae been bottled up in the house military affairs committee. commit-tee. The opposition of coal interests in-terests and coal labor has been very effective. The Nebraska veteran vet-eran finally got fed up with the delay and stuck an unprecedented burr under the house's saddle. This cons la ted of persuading the senate to reenact his measure word for word as a rider to a debt limitation bill that had already al-ready passed the house. The latter lat-ter bill simply empowered the treasury to Increase the proportion propor-tion of long-term securities in its total debt and bad nothing to do with T V A. The idea was that, if the house military affairs committee persisted in trying to strangle hie original proposal. It would come before the house as part of another meesure and thus escape the committee's attentions. The house is reported to be pretty sore about the senate's dUemrr tesy" in trying to force its hand, but the device ie likely to gat action unless the military affairs committee producee Its compromise compro-mise amendments shortly. While the president wrangles with the mind-our-own-business boys on Capitol hill about the neutrality law and foreign policy in general, word comes from London Lon-don to New York financial leaders lead-ers that England doesn't care much whether the neutrality act is amended or not. The existing law, while it would bar the sale of American arms and munitions to any belligerent in the event of war, would still permit Britain and France to purchase pur-chase steeL cotton, oil, foodstuffs and other essential materials here on a cash-and-carry basis. John Bull mainly wants to be sure that Uncle Sam will come across with these materials In a pinch. England's Eng-land's own manufacturing facilities facili-ties are now equal to the task of converting them into the machinery machin-ery of war with the possible important im-portant exception of airplanes. So, although Britain would like to have the law changed for her benefit, she has ceased to exert backstage pressure on her friende here to bring this about Meanwhile Mean-while she is laying in a goodly store of malaria la. For instance, the British have bought 100,000 tons of scrap iron from this country coun-try In mount weeks and sent ever seventeen ehlpe to carry it away. Secretary of the Interior Harold ; L. Ickes will Inherit a frightful headache when his department takes over the functions of the bituminous coal commission on July 1. But "Honest Harold waa never one to ehrink from burdensome burden-some problems. Experte eay that prices are quoted on more than 300,000 different dif-ferent kinds of coal in the United States. Variations of geography and conditions of use are covered in separate quotations as well as obvious differences in site and quality. All Mr. Ickee has to do is to set prices and make them stick on sll categories of coal. -Of course hs can and will make use of the voluminous data gath- t red by the coal commission, but every price he fixes is subject to , challenge either in hearings held j by his department or in the j courts. , Coal operators are certain to . file objections to hundreds of ( items, which means another long , ( and weary delay before the new price schedule can be effectively , promulgated. But Ickes appeare to- be undaunted sy-tne prospeet. t Coal men badly divided among themselves aa to th course they ahould follow believe they can get along well enough with their new overlord. They figure that at least he won't be too busy play-ing play-ing politics ss the coal commission commis-sion was) to attend to his job. He has Intimated that he will not object ob-ject to certain changee in the Guffey act, which is all to the good from their viewpoint The Industry is so sick it welcomes the attention of almost any doctor-even doctor-even an ultra-new dealer. Heedlines proclaim that the conviction of Martin T. Manton may repoen 2500 cases In which he took part as a federal judge. New York law sharps call this I the bunk. They point out that ; there ia no legal machinery pro- vided to handle such cases. They i predict that ons test case msy be rushed through judicial channels to the supreme court and that the latter will rule, as a matter of practical policy, that a closed I case stays closed . even if the 1 judge who decided it subsequently ! proves dishonest So litigants who ; were defeated in Judge Manton 1 court had better not bank on re- dress at this late data. Copyright, 1939, McClure Syndicate |