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Show house August Z!t without a roll all, under the mot drastic gag rule in many years. Only two hours of debate were allowed, and no amendments, except by the committee, ,were permitted. The bill, highly technical, contained 105 pages, and is expected to yield $:;00,i00,000 the first year of operation. op-eration. The bill also contains sections that suspend the Vinson-Trammell act limiting profits on airplane and warship contracts, and perniil five-year amortization of new-plants new-plants built for national defense purposes. Two normal profits bases are optional, and rates on e.vcess profits range torn 20 to 25 per cent. The senate will hold hearings this week on the tax bill, and some radical revisions may be proposed. Is'o gag rule is possible under senate procedure, and as the proposed taxes could not be collected before next year in any case, the porfits limitations and amortization provisions of the bill may be separated from the tax features. The administration program now provides for adjournment of congress about September 14. The twentieth anniversary of the Nineteenth amendment, providing for woman suffrage,, was observed in the national capital on August a CAPITAL 4 GLEANINGS Last Thursday night the senate, after three weeks' debate, passed by a vote of 58 to 32 the Burke-Wadsworth Burke-Wadsworth military training bill, subjecting the young men of the nation to the first peacetime conscription con-scription in American history. The ' legislation Is now being considered consider-ed in the house and final action should be taken by the end of the week. Under the terms of the bill, 12,-000,000 12,-000,000 men between the ages of 21 and 31 would register for the draft. If .called, they would receive re-ceive a year's training and could be sent for service anywhere in the Western hemisphere or Amer- 26, when a group of women from the Southern poll-tar states petitioned peti-tioned congress to remove this voting requirement. They charged charg-ed that thousands of women still are disfranchised by poll taxes. Beneath the statue of the suffrage leader, Susan B. Anthony, in the capitol, this group presented their petition to Representative Geyei of California, author of the anti-poll anti-poll tax bill. Representative Tinkham, veteran veter-an member of the house foreign affairs committee, has charged hat the president will be guilty ol acts of a "brazen" dictator unless he submits for senate ratification the new Canadian-American de fense "alliance." Pie declared; "The immediate and imperative business of the people of the Unit ed States is not to putdowndic-tatorship putdowndic-tatorship in Europe or Asia, but to put down dictatorship here and now with a heavy hand." Of course, the senate must ratify treaties, but even though this "alliance" "al-liance" may be as important as a treaty, technically there may be io requirement for senate consideration. consid-eration. It is difficult to learn here whether whe-ther national defense orders are being expedited, or if they are being be-ing delayed. Senator Byrd (Democrat (Dem-ocrat of Virginia) last week charged that only 343 combat planes have been ordered in the last 100 days, but the White House replied that the army and navy have on order 6,727 aircraft. Of this number only 3,250 were classed class-ed as combat and observation planes, the balance being training planes for pilots. Despite this lack of preparedness, there are some persons urging the United Slates to become involved in the war. ican possessions. Plans of the amy provide for drafting 400,000 men this fall and an additional 400,000 next April. By 1945, when the bill would cease to operate the nation would have a force of 4,000,000 men, which General George C. Marshall, army chief of staff, stated would be necessary for defense of the Western hemisphere. hemis-phere. Not more than 900,000 drafted men 'could be in the army at any one time. The senate added add-ed an amendment authorizing the army and navy to take over factories fac-tories necessary to the national defense in case they are unable to come to terms with owners as to the arms orders. Land, sea and air forces, active and reserve, have reached a new peacetime total of 919,807, it was reported August 27. The 'total in the navy and naval reserves, marines ma-rines and marine reserves is 241,-307, 241,-307, and the army, national guard, army reserve officers and enlisted reserves total 67S,500. After a month's hearings by the ways and means committee, the excess-profits tax bill passed the Chairman Carl Vinson (Democrat (Demo-crat of Georgia) of the house naval na-val affairs committee on August 28 inserted in the Congressional Record statistics on negotiated navy department contracts, showing show-ing that Robert & Company got 8 out of 66 awards. The estimated cost of the eight projects involved was $26,S59,0S1, and Robert & Company fees totaled $931,560. Robert & Company' is the e'nbi-neering e'nbi-neering firm of Lawrence W. (Chip) Robert, secretarry of the Democratic national committee. Virtually all of the national defense de-fense contracts are being awarded without competitive bids, and now that profit limitations have been elimnated, there should ensue a saturnalia of profiteering. |