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Show WASHINGTON NgWS " FROM OUR CONGRESSMAN ' W. K. GRANGER WPA Authorizes 48-Hour Week A 48-hour week has been authorized for W P A workers on defense projects pro-jects such as airports, access roads and building cons'.ruction at Army and Navy posts. The new regulations regula-tions will affect about 200,000 workers. work-ers. About 150.000 are changing from a 30-hour week and 50 000 from l 40-hour week in certified defens construction projects. Civilian Pilot Training The progress pro-gress report on the civilian pilot raining program shows that 4,813 jraduates have volunteered ani have been accepted by the Army ind Navy air services, and that in addition, 914 flight instructor!-trained instructor!-trained in the program are at wont in other aviation activities. Of the.e nstructors, 463 are teaching flight it Army centers, 27 at Navy centers cen-ters and 117 at Canadian training :enters. Others are on active duty with the Army and Navy and 207 have Joined the commercial alrltne.s In this way the program is not only proving of benefit to the armed services, but providing more airline air-line pilots, who themselves form an Important cog in the defense machine. mach-ine. New teachers are being trained constantly and a reservoir is being built up on which the armed forces for-ces and the alrjines can continue to draw. Thus far a total of 2,0-33 Instructors have received refresher courses in the program, while 37,277 pilots have completed student courses successfully. Bills Introduced Concerning Old Age Pensions Since the beginning begin-ning of the 77th Congress, some 50 or more bills have been Introduced on the subject of social security, most of which are concerned with old age pensions. This gives us an idea of how much sentiment there is In the present Congress for old age pensions. One of the bills, introduced in-troduced by Mr. O'Connor of Montana, Mon-tana, known as H. R. 1036, is the Townsend Act of the 77th Congress. This bill is drawn along the lines of all previous Townsend pension bills, with minor changes, having in it the national recovery feature. Another bill, by Mr. Patton of Texas, H. R. 2678, provides for a flat pension pen-sion to all qualified persons 65 years of age or over of $30.00 a month to be paid out of the Treasury of the United States without any reference to state participation. Most of ths other bills are amendments to the present Social Security Act, in most instances setting a minimum of $30.00 per month to be paid out of the Federal Treasury. Ships Available for Aid to Britain The United States government has begun a survey of American shipping ship-ping resources, since it may soon be called upon to transfer to the British thousands of tons of merchant mer-chant ships needed to transport vast quantities of war supplies. In these resources are about 1,150 ship3 of a total of agout 7,078,000 gross tons, exclusive of the laid up fleet. Since the beginning of the war, the Maritime Commission has approved ap-proved transfer from American to British registry of about 775,000 tons of merchant ships. Array Sets New Health Record The Army's death rate was the lowest low-est and its general health the best of any on record. Significant as compared to 1935 are the Improved rates for air transport accidents, tuberculosis and pneumonia. Deaths from all causes were at the rate o.' 3.1 per cent per thousand s.oldlei-3. Statement by the Secretary of State "i was most gratified, as will be all the people of this country, as well as those of our sister re- publics of this hemisphere, to learn 'from the manifesto issued by the Panamanian government that Panama Pana-ma will make available immediately to our military authorities certain sites which are coasldered essential for the protection and security of the Panama Canal." Religion and Democracy Are Similar Simi-lar We know that the state is the servant and not the master oi man. It is brous-ht into existence by men to serve thiVr purposes, dictated dictat-ed by their own free wills, and when, as in the present crisis of world civilization, any la!erj arise to impose upon mankind an all-powerful state which crushes alike religion re-ligion and political freedom, we know that such leaders are the enemies, ene-mies, not only of the fundamental dogma of religion, but also of the fundamental principles upon which this democratic society which we call the United States of. America was founded. It is of the utmost importance that all Americans should now thoroughly comprehend the elementary ele-mentary principles of free govern ment which sometimes one is almost al-most tempted to believe are bein? forgotten. Too many of our citizens today look upon the government as something outside of ourselves, as an agency which rules us instead of an agency which we rule ourselves. our-selves. We must never forget that this government was established by men who believed that the functio.i of government Is merely to provide pro-vide the orderly structure which men, exercising their free wills, might provide for their material needs. |