Show SEEN SEE N and HEAR around the NATIONAL CAPITAL 4 V By y Carter Field FAMOUS WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT Washington Mot Molt Most of the efforts of tile the bigwigs of the United States State V Chamber of Commerce were devoted devot deot V ed at the annual meeting to soft ort pedaling the tile firebrands Probably IK tao per percent cent of the business men mM In tn attendance were ere breathing fire re a sad and d V brimstone privately against the New Den Deal and all Its Iti works They were bitter against the principles underlying under- under lying the new crew tax bill bUt r redheaded red headed about the seizure elzure of private telegrams tele tel grams by the Black Jack committee vociferous against government ownership own own- of utilities and government competition with private Industry and alarmed about the trend Indicated mill Indi V by the national labor relations relations rela rela- board In fact tact they ther didn't V Uk the New Deal Some of them had a few kind words about the reciprocal trade agreements agreements- but they were not Dot ot even united about that thaI Rut their But their leaders did not want the COD convention Ten lion to resolve Itself into an New anti Deal meet camp ing lag So the they put a quietus on the would would-be anti antl shouters It was not bot entirely successful Every V now and then some eater fire eater would get ret over oer a short speech In tune tone with the real frame of mind of the business busi bUll V ness men present But Dut not too often The answer to which Is II highly In V te With the exception of a afew afew few of th the themore more optimistic most of the delegates delegates' were President Roosevelt would be re elected re-elected despite despite de de- de spite what they believe bellev to be the V almost unanimous opposition of business Not necessarily big business bust busi ness fleeR As AI a matter of fact the United United Unit Unit- ed States Chamber of Commerce Istar is far tar from being just bl big business Indeed there lias been more than a suspicion from time to time that what I Is II meant when the average man speaks Pt of or big business i Is is' is just Jast a little lit lit- littie tie tle snooty about the chamber It Is I. even een said laid that J J. J P. P Morgan does not about what the chamber will will do and K no not even Interested Hurts Little Business BUline lInt Bat the average business man of or l- l Sufficient stature l to tb attend a ft chamber chamber cham chain ber berl meeting does not lIot like the tho things the tho New IJ Deal al I Is doing to business big and little In fact tact ho he thinks It Is doing more to hurt burt Uttie little lit Ut- tie tle business than thon big business de de- de constant constont repetition of the Idea V that the lao pet economic eco PeO Idea Is Ii the drive against big big- D ness RI Which makes tho tire silencing of ot the themore themore more violent critics at nt ho the meeting l all the more Interesting Interesting Interest interest Ing because of ot t the tre e conviction of s sV SQ V many of them that as the tho cards are ate arenow arenow now stacked olt Hoose may bo be reelected re- re elected That would mean muon t four ur V m more years of the same as all they ther see ee it it tM they do not want wont to put putt t tL I es Iq Inthe the position of mice sassing the cot Jinbo MAbo tae eat cat will vIll g get t tired of ot playing with villI them and l tJ them thi-m rn go 0 before nil all the life lite Is II clinked choked out V But not hut not It if they tho the cat real mad mod Some Interesting stories of the troubles some of them had been put putto putto putto to already by bureau of internal revenue men pawing over their old tax tai returns were told at this meet meet- Inc ing The stories had bad a quieting In Ill fluence They played right Into th the tho V hands hand of the leaders seeking to hus hush V too violent op open n criticism of the 8 ad 1 V ministration Some of the more optimistic promise that when the Cleveland Bud arid Philadelphia conventions am over when the two platforms have V been ben written nail and the ha candidate of t tV V the tho Itt Republicans Is Is named things Inn may mar take a 1 different turn turo V Hit Short Sellers Seller Within's a few ew days the securities commission Is I. going to crack track down dowD on short sellers plugging an obvious ous to ous-to to the trade trade loophole loophole which curiously enough had entirely escaped escaped es es- es the New Dealers until This Is to Increase the margin requirements toV re to- V oa short shott sales hIes To buy bUl cf stock on the market Under under un Un- der the securities commission ruling rul rut ln ing Ini the Ibel speculator has been ed to put up KS M per cent of the tile value But Dot to sell lett the same stock be h his has s been required to o put I mt t up op only 10 perce per percent cent ce cen This is II one of the reasons It is Ii believed hire here for tor or the heavy beRYl decline in American Telephone recently which has bas caused considerable oble embarrassment em em- here as 81 many lair fair sited aled holders of this stock are very loyal Roosevelt some nith-some some of them o of the For Tor Roosevelt Before Detore Chi Chi- cro so 0 highly esteemed by br Jim im Farley arley V V 1 V Another Important reason for tor the decline of ot this his stock Is II the proposal to tax tu dividends dIvIdend Experts Ex Perta on the Ibe subject believe the American Telephone company nr would V h have lYe a fer very difficult time simplifyIng simplify simplify- In lag Ing Its It corporate structure If It It could absorb the tho New England Bell I New York Bell UllI Chesapeake and ond Potomac Southern and all n the other operating companies In tn which it owns practically all aU the toc stock and put them Into on one on big corporation that would avoid macli of the tax problem as al It stands standi Inthe In Inthe the bill trill P passed by the house Ii here are serious objections I t to doing hia lna Am Aau ang other oilier thins thIas A.- A. f V V V r w t It would make much more dIm difficult cult and delicate the matter of local re r re- re lations Officials of the local opo op- op-j op crating companies are treated with much more consideration in the In which they theT operate than they would be If It they were employees em em- of the big company In fact the difference here bere Is II difficult to ex- ex It would woold arouse an entirely en en- S en-S Urel different feeling toward the the local Comp companies on the part of the customers the public generally and nd the city councils council and legisla totes tures Onerous Alternative Yet the alternative payIng alternative paying taxes tues on the dividends of the subsidiary compa companies would companIes nies would be bo very err onerous onerous- Indeed and there la Is not too much hope bope that the senate in rewriting the tax tu bill will eliminate this In- In In Ill dividend tax tar In tact fact the Idea Is ver very dear to President Roosevelt's heart It might be termed his ht pet Idea No 2 in the whole tax No 1 I being getting the camels camel's nose under the edge of the tent In the tho drive drle against bigness What the pro-New pro Deal stockholders stockholders stockholders stock stock- holders in ID Telephone who have been squealing about the communications communIcation commission probo want to know Is Is what public purpose Is served by putting the company to the necessity necessity sity of revamping its II corporate structure What they ther hope for IIan Isan Is II Isan an amendment which would put pot all an utilities In a separate classification just Juet as the railroads and banks bonks are put In a separate classification Inthe in inthe inthe the house tax tu bill The railroads simply must be relieved re to- of this tax plan they point out because Inmany in inmany many Instances they ther are prevented by bi laws and leases as 81 well as other from simplifying their corporate structures Fear Repercussions Department of or Agriculture officials out out- daIs are just a hub little nervous over possible repercussions from President dent Roosevelt's speech In New York 1 Especially the the- I Presidents President's laying so 10 much stress on the community com corn of ot Interests between the garment workers In New York lork and the farmers wh who produce prOd the food of tho nation And his hll statement that If It Jh the people of New York city alone could buy all an the food tood they wanted It would require e three million mil aull lion more acres of good land to supply their needs For or as agriculture officials sadly Ur point out out ver very out very privately ot of course Americans bought foreign agricultural turn tural 1 products which which bad they been blen grown In the tue United States would have taken n ft lot more than thon three million additional acres to produce Brushing aside such luch products as BI coffee corret cocoa beans bonns tapioca sago and arrowroot Imports of all an of ot which Increased but which are not produced commercially In the United Unit Unit- rd Id States there were Imports Import of foreign foodstuffs which could very ell easily Ill 1 have been produced In this country thus providing buying power pow pow- er r for tor tho the products of American Industry Industry In In- and achieving the vcr very sort lort of on which the President resl dent laid lold so much stress For or Instance In 1013 this country Imported bushels of wheat 43 bushels of corn tons of or wheat product by feeds pounds of barley malt head bead of ot cattle 8 1 pounds pound of ot tallow pounds of butt butter r and qua quantities of foreign produced fats and and lind oils greater than ever before In hl history I Just to give Ive an ides Idea of the he Increase In crease lom butter Imports exceed exceed- eil those of ot the prevIous year b by 1013 1915 per cent cent the tire lIve Ove lIvelar year lar average by 1413 per fler cent I Blame AAA Program Part of all flood of food and antl feed Imports of course was due to the drouth But by far the major portion W was I due to the AAA program pro pro- gram It wa was right down the very err the President was talking J about about keeping keeping prices up Department Department Depart Depart- meat ment of Agriculture officials lu Ia their private explanations soy say that while the drouth upset their plans plane there Is also the Inescapable fact that they t overdid curtailment even had hail there been no no drouth On one point the agriculture officials om om- om elate are Ire adamant They do not that they ther overdid the cotton curtailment part of ot the program but there are ate plenty of outside experts experts cx- cx ex ex- perle who admit It for them As A. a matter mailer of fact fad there are senators and representatives from the cotton COllon producing states who are lire extremely worried about the whole cotton situation They are not talking talk In lag ing about it In public for It 11 not be popular back home bom In the year lear Just lust past Secretary of Comm Commerce Daniel G. G Roper himself him self sell a 1 South Carolinian has haa had some apparent justification for Ms hIs contention conte during the last three years that Brat Drull Is II not Dot really a menace For Brazil has bal had bad a crop failure lInt But farmers do not discontinue dis dl continue growing a crop out o of which they have been making money monel for several neural years JUIt b because ause they have one on crop trop failure re V M r V r |