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Show News Review of Current Events the World Over President Roosevelt Tells Congress of His Great Work Relief Plan Designed to Supplant the Downright Dole. By EDWARD W. PICKARD by Western Newspaper Union. I PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT Id hla message to congress, delivered In person at a joint session, offered the law-makers a "new and great- ill ly enlarged plan" of relief. He did not estimate Its cost, but asserted that the system of outright out-right doles shonld be dropped and the government should undertake projects of slum clearance, grade crossing elimination elim-ination and other i public works that President wou,d give emp,oy. I Roosevelt ment tQ &hmt 3 ,500,000 persons now without jobs. The figures to be proposed for this Ijjrere reserved for his budget mes-i mes-i but 'he assured congress that !. ' would be "within the sound VI r l.t of the government." 'J r. Roosevelt declared the gains J aa.'e in the year 1934 were great-I great-I r t i n the losses and expressed "a f .tro'ff hope In the coming year." He H e;i.- 'rtcsl his belief In the "profit , sotlw," but uttered a warning 3l gainst wealth "which, through ex-aresshe ex-aresshe profits, creates undue private pri-vate po-ver over private affairs, and Cito 0'it misfortune, over public affair? af-fair? as veil." This, naturally, was aki n as applying especially to the jj n'.b Ic ir (;r rice Interests, which wave;- been 30 apprehensive of the " idn-inistrs : Ion's i'ttrlons. '! As for ,-! legislative program, the "i . sidont c.:ade no attempt to out- ii. otie, i'ut. he did promise that i finite !y-:slation soon would be i posed offering old age and un- i i; ployy-ut Insurance, benefits for . oildref?' and mothers, and other t i of his social security plans. He declared the nation was mak- hc.nlwj'y toward the "new or- ii r," biii wider the framework of .' c Cunslii i :ion, and he spoke of e IinTf-n i;d Industrial activity, ii' f to agriculture and profits i i' ( mID'- that have been realized. real-ized. Then came this stern warn-, warn-, tog: "Let b'xn who, for speculative profit or partisan purpose, without just warrant would seek to disturb or dispel this assurance, take heed I before he assumes responsibility ' for any act which slows our onward stpps." The President reported an unsettled unset-tled condition in the foreign field, , with the resurrection of old jealousies jeal-ousies and passions and new strivings striv-ings for armament and power In more than one land, adding: "There Is no ground for apprehension appre-hension that our relations with any nation will be otherwise than peaceful." peace-ful." Discussing the matters that will tie brought before congress for action, ac-tion, Mr. Roosevelt said: "Among the subjects that He Im-niptliatcly Im-niptliatcly before us are the consolidation consol-idation of federal regulatory administration ad-ministration over ail forms of transportation, trans-portation, the renewal and clarification clarifica-tion of the general purposes of the nntlonnl Industrial recovery act, the strengthening 0f our facilities for the prevention, detection and treatment treat-ment of crime and criminals, the restoration of sound conditions In the public utilities field through abolition of the evil features of holding companies, the gradual tapering ta-pering off of the emergency credit , activities of government, and Im-1 Im-1 provcmont In our taxation forms and methods. I "Wo hnve already begun to feel , the bracing effect upon our eco-; eco-; ip'mlc system of a restored agriculture. j "'"he hundreds of millions of additional addi-tional loome that farmers are receiving re-ceiving is itindini, its way V to the channels of tde. "The farmers- si,are of the national nation-al Income Is slowly ri " The economic eco-nomic facts Justi.-y' 'widespread opinion of those ehg-, d In agriculture agricul-ture that our provision for maintaining main-taining a hnl.mrfd production gave at this time tl,e most adequate remedy for an old and vexing problem. prob-lem. "For the present and especially In view of abnopmai world conditions, agricultural .adjustment with certain cer-tain necos?nrv Improvements In methods sh'ml'd continue." pRESIDIJxT ROOSEVELT did not wn;;t for the opening of congress con-gress to start his fight against Immediate Im-mediate jmynient of the veterans' bonus. Jfhe commander of a Legion Le-gion po'jt In Texas wrote him for lnformnion on ti,e mutter and Mr. Rooscvjit rerlle,i at length. detail-In- his, r0a?ns for opposing the payment, lie argued that the obligation ob-ligation is not Immediately due; that off 3.500.(100 certificates outstanding. out-standing. 3,0:ss.!i00 veternns have borrowed Jl.fiO.0,000,000, or "more than he present worth of their bonujf certificates." and that when the -'terans borrowed r0 per cent fF"06 Talue of tbe certificates i I f In 1931 they nsed the funds to discharge dis-charge their debts. This last point, according to National Na-tional Commander Belgrano of the American Legion, Is one of the strongest arguments for immediate payment of the adjusted service certificates. cer-tificates. "The foundation of good business Is good credit," said Commander Belgrano. "The money due veterans would be used to satisfy bills at the corner grocery, would help pay rents that are long past due and would go to hard pressed merchants mer-chants to discharge the accounts of harder pressed veterans. 'In short, the money derived from immediate payment of the certificates certifi-cates would quickly find Its way Into every channel of business and trade and would be distributed equally and automatically throughout through-out the country. If the 3,f31,S6G war veterans, who hold certificates, are so over their heads In debt that they must use the entire amount due them to pay their bills, what greater stimulus could there be for business than to restore to business this vast potential purchasing pur-chasing power?" Speaker Byrns admitted that the cash bonus bill would pass the house "because there Is no opposition opposi-tion to It there," but he added that If the measure Is finally enacted the administration will Insist on some additional taxation to meet the estimated $2,000,000,000 expenditure. expendi-ture. It is believed the senate also will pass the bill, but leaders doubt its passage by congress over the Presidential veto that Is regarded as a certainty. THE Seventy-fourth congress, elected on the sole issue of support sup-port of the New Deal, began its first session on the dot and devot- ed its first day to the organization of the two houses and the swearing In of new members. The lawmakers assembled assem-bled in the. Capitol Capi-tol were a Serious looking lot, and with reason, for they have on their hands a big job, thnf nf mnkinw t-Vio Speaker Ngw Defl perma. Byrns nent; and in the doing of it they must solve some of the most perplexing problems that our national legislators ever have faced. It would seem that the Democrats will have no trouble In passing any legislation they wish, for they have an overpowering majority. ma-jority. In the sennte are 09 Democrats Demo-crats and only 25 Republicans, plus one Progressive Robert M. La-Follette La-Follette and one Farmer-Laborite Henrik Shipstead. The house is comprised of 322 Democrats, 102 Republicans, seven Progressives and three Farmer-Laborites. The administration ad-ministration Democrats do not anticipate an-ticipate any trouble from the Republicans; Re-publicans; it is from the radical members of their own party that their woes are likely to come, and the help of the Republicans may be necessary to curb those left wingers. The majority leaders In both houses can be counted on to hold the radicals under a tight rein If that Is possible. In the speaker's chair sits .Toseph T. Byrns, ciiosen unanimously by his fellow Democrats. lie Is too much of a compromiser to suit many of them, but is now tied to the administration, which declined to oppose his election. John H. Bnnkhend of Alabama, like Byrns one of the old school, won the leadership lead-ership of the house after a brief struggle. Senator Joseph Robinson of Arkansas was re-elected majority major-ity leader of the senate, and Senator Sena-tor Lewis of Illinois continues as whip. In their pro-session caucus the Democrats voted to reduce materially mate-rially the Republican representation representa-tion on house committees, and decided de-cided to abrogate the 1-15 rule for discharging a committee and bringing bring-ing a bill to vote within a week. The number now required for this action Is 21S. This latter action will provide another restriction on the radicals. IF LOUISIANA wants any more public works money from the administration, It nlnst "clarify" some of the new laws which Its legislature has passed at the behest be-hest of Senator Ilney P. Long. This Is the gist of a letter sent to Gov. O. K. Allen by President Roosevelt, Roose-velt, and the "klngfish" Is not pleased by It. He told the reporters report-ers be would make his reply on the floor of the senate at the first opportunity. op-portunity. The President's warning warn-ing applied especially to the Louisiana Louisi-ana moratorium law passed in November. No-vember. Since Its enactment the PWA has held up payments on about GO Louisiana projects. TIVO thousand eight hundred hills were Introduced and referred to committees on the first day of the new congress. Number 1, banded band-ed in by Representative Wright Patman of Texas, provides for the payment of the adjusted service certificates of veterans Immediately in cash through the Issuance of greenbacks. Patman and other supporters sup-porters of this plan call It "controlled "con-trolled Inflation." Lemke of North Dakota, Republican, Repub-lican, Introduced a measure for the liquidation and re-financing of agricultural ag-ricultural Indebtedness. The liquidation liquida-tion would be carried out at a reduced re-duced rate of Interest, according to the bill, by establishing an efficient effi-cient credit system, through the use of the federal farm loan and federal reserve banking systems. Lemke also provided for the creation cre-ation of a board of agriculture to supervise the program. Continuance of the HOLC was proposed by several congressmen. The bond issue of this agency would increase anywhere from one billion to four and a half billion dollars In the various bills introduced intro-duced on the subject A 100 per cent payoff for depositors depos-itors whose funds are tied up In trust companies was sought In twe bills written by Representative Clarence J. McLeod of Michigan. ONE of the most serious issues that will confront congress is the battle between business and industry in-dustry on one side and organized labor on the other, especially over the thirty-hour work week. The American Federation of Labor Is committed to this proposition, and to the retention of the collective bargaining provisions of the NRA act. Big business, as represented by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States and the National Manufacturers' association, Is opposed op-posed to the thirty-hour week, and now has the support of the Brookings Institution. It also seeks the separation of labor bargaining and practice codes in the reorganization reorgan-ization of the NRA. The opening shot in this battle Is the Introduction Introduc-tion by Senator Hugo L. Black of Alabama of his thirty-hour work week bill, which at present has hot the support of the administration. WITH remarkable celerity the jury In the Hauptmann trial was selected, consisting of eight men and four women, and Attorney General Wilentz set forth the state's case against the Bronx carpenter car-penter who is accused of kidnaping and murdering the baby son of Colonel Lindhergh. The colonel and Mrs. Lindhergh were present, and they and Betty Gow, the child's nurse, were among the early witnesses. wit-nesses. On behalf of the state the attorney general demanded the penalty pen-alty of first degree murder. IN 1933 the James E. Sullivan memorial trophy, awarded to the athlete contributing the most to the cause of amateur athletics dur-In dur-In the year, was missed by Bill Bonthron of Princeton by just one vote and was given to Glenn Cunningham. Cun-ningham. Now it Is In Bill's possession pos-session as the result of his great foot-racing campaign during 1934, in the course of which he established estab-lished a world record for 1,500 meters me-ters and beat Cunningham In three out of five races. In the nationwide ballot, conducted con-ducted by A. A. U., Bonthron led In the preliminary voting and then piled up 1,072 votes In the final test after the field had been cut to seven. Benjamin B. Eastman, former Stanford Stan-ford track star, ran second with 029 and then came Ralph Metcalfe, Marquette university's negro sprinter, sprint-er, with 413, and Glen Hardin, Louisiana State university, with 285. Three swimmers trailed the trackmen. track-men. Lenore Klght of Homestead, Pa., received 2G2 votes; Jack Med-Ica Med-Ica of Seattle, 109, and Kntherine Rawls, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 154. CENATOR VANDENBERG of Michigan, liberal Republican, says he will Introduce in the senate sen-ate a bill designed to take the Post r & -v' Office department out of politics. The measure he has drafted would put all postmasters and postal officials, except ex-cept the postmaster postmas-ter general, under the civil service, and In the giving out of jobs the post office employees would have the Senator preference. Senator Vandenberg vandenherg has been persi.ftently demanding that Postmaster General Farley either resign re-sign from the cabinet or give op his chairmanship of the Democratic nntio:,al committee. In line with this his bill will prohibit the postmaster post-master general from holding any political office. The Michigan senator said he had written the bill after conferences with the civil service commission and several organizations within the Post Office department ne predicted pre-dicted it would have strong support from the latter qnarter. By taking politics out of tl.e department de-partment and establishing a career service, Vandenberg said, "the pavement-pounding letter carriers may look forward to ultimate graduation gradua-tion to the high post of first ussist' ant postmaster eneraL" |