Show weekly news analysis congress wins economy tussle but finds ands it it holds 1 lot hot pota potato to by joseph W la ba bine J V ua S e mien N SOCIAL SECURITY COSTS WENT DOWN secretary of the treasury henry jr left as he recommended recommend ei before the house ways and means committee that a limited old age reserve fund fum be substituted for social tys controversial full ull reserve plan at the right is arthur 1 altmeyer social security board chairman EDITORS DI TOnS NOTE OTE when men opinions lons fie s expressed ese d an fn in these columns they are those of 1 the he i news analyst sad and not act nea necessarily a of 1 the th 0 newspaper sews paper congress U S business was pouting genuinely last february when harry hopkins made his famous des moines speech promising a new administration effort to start the recovery ball rolling but to business men recovery was precluded by high relief costs and exorbitant taxes when the administration indicated unwillingness to slash costs mr hopkins highly touted appeasement pea plan bogged down and in its place arose the most hostile economy minded congress president roosevelt has ever faced many administration leaders like secretary and vice president garner are economy bent others like federal reserve chairman marriner eccles a white house favorite believe government should spend when industry will not providing a semblance of normalcy but so unpopular a philosophy bucks the public trend which politics A sm smarter arter course is to give congress and the nation its economy if prosperity results the white house will bask in glory if it misses fire the public can be reminded that the white house counseled against it all along whatever the reasoning a sudden switch in administration attitude has brought new peace to washington eccles Dem demarche arclie appearing before a special senate silver committee mr eccles confounded his audience e nce by advocating governmental economy his reasoning while I 1 am convinced that such a policy under present conditions would have v disastrous results we live in a democracy and therefore the viewpoint of the majority should promptly be made effective his suggestion that federal spending be concentrated on competing non rion public activities ie buildings roads schools hospitals housing demarche next day mr gave administration blessing to congressional plans for postponing scheduled increases in payroll contributions tor for social security also endorsing A a payas pay as you go system founded on sound actuarial principles present assessments are I 1 per cent each against employer and employee in 1940 and 1941 this would jump to aa per cent each 2 per cent to 1945 2 per cent to 1948 3 per cent each after 1948 mr Morgen thaus four alternatives 1 one per cent to 1940 va 1 per cent to 1943 2 per cent to 1948 1946 avs per cent to 1949 3 per cent after that 2 boost from 1 to 14 per cent in 1940 to idt 1 per cent in 1941 to 1 per cent in 1942 present schedule thereafter 3 boost from I 1 to I 1 A per cent in 1940 to 1 per cent in 1941 to 1 per cent in 1942 present schedule e thereafter 4 omit increase to 1 per cent in 1940 step up rates in 1943 and follow present schedule thereafter 6 3 reasoning the trend of business conditions in specific future years could not be accurately foreseen in 1935 when social security was started under the present reserve plan today it appears a reserve would be sound also recommended was a trustee board to hold social security funds thereby spiking criticism that the money is now being used to pay governmental expenditures under actual operation payroll contributions now go to the treasury are shifted to the old age reserve fund then invested in treasury securities to bring the cash back to the general fund sour note given a highly coveted concession congress has found economy is easier to talk about than enforce next on the list is the farm appropriations bill carrying a item for parity payments which had not been included in the original budget estimate farm state representatives foreseeing poll political tidal suicide if parity appropriations were not made hoped the money might come from a renewal of processing taxes indus trial state lawmakers knew their constituents would object and both groups reflected that less social security income would leave secretary Secre iary Morgen thaus cupboard bare pan america anterita in early march brazils foreign minister oswaldo aranha arrived at washington spent two weeks making friends and returned home with a basketful of plums in return for liberal U S credit allowances to develop brazilian trade and industry partly a pan american defense measure senor aranha agreed to resume payment on brazilian debts to U S bondholders bond holders on july 1 but commitments that were convenient in washington were hard to Q X X J k V Q j M OSWALDO ARANHA back home his tone gone changed repeat when the foreign minister returned to rio de janeiro to pacify hard pressed brazilians Brazi lians the smooth tongued statesman told his home folks that 1 I always subordinated that moral obligation of payment to material capacity to do it my theory in promising payment was to tranquilize more than half a million holders of our bonds observers have decided senor aranha is merely playing a clever game of diplomatic hide and seek from safely within his own baill wick he can make pointed inferences that brazilian bond payments will not be forthcoming as expected unless U S tradesmen jump to reduce his nations large surpluses people organized by mrs ken maynard estranged wife of the cowboy actor an escort service to assist inebriated los angeles night club guests to their homes turned religious al capone former chicago beer baron now imprisoned at terminal island calif when a visiting minister asked prisoners to stand it they felt the need of the saviour capone was the first to rise rie europe C drope lost almost forgotten in the heat of european affairs was a prediction that came true that march would be a crisis month As march neared its lamb like end fuehrer adolt adolf hitler and premier benito mussolini had indeed engineered a cribs and Eu ropes democracies were found wanting the blunt tact fact for nine days after germanys germanas Germ anys czech conquest france britain russia and poland sought unsuccessfully cess fully tor for solidarity while hitler made hay in slovakia memel lithuania belgium and rumania the aftermath mussolini found courage to cry openly far the first time for french concessions by the mont months its end it appeared flowers would bloom this april in europe for only the remote possibility of french anti italian action could mar an otherwise complete nazi fascist victory germany of minor importance to jittery london and france are new german treaties handcuffing slovakia and lithuania of greater interest is the barter treaty with belgium an inroad that strikes close to home but most important is the pact hitler shoved down the throat of Ru manias king carol its gist about 80 90 per cent of carols farm products end and most of his ton annual oil production go to germany rumania is brought politically militarily and econom economically into the orbit by concessions ces unprecedented in modern economic relations between two sovereign nations with hitler apparently headed eastward rumania offers an excellent trojan horse tor for penetration of the russian ukraine but increasingly remembered is the fact that another empire bound warrior napoleon met his match in russia spain by late march the 32 month civil war had apparently run its full course ready to end with a nationalist victory to be followed by german italian domination italy all AH that remains to complete 1939 conquest e D KING CAROL something was stuffed down doton his throat is french capitulation to mediterranean demands no competent observer expects paris to balk at 1 giving minority rights to italians in tunisia 2 granting italy a share in administration of the suez canal or 3 allowing italy to control the railroad from french djibouti to addis ababa ethiopians key city so long as no territorial demands are made paris will register nothing more positive than an air of righteousness significance Eu ropes future will and berlin since democratic solidarity efforts continue to tail fail france and england cannot be expected to oppose any dictator conquest short of encroachment on their own territory and even here they would balk at armed opposition miscellany favored by more congressmen elpa expansion slon of the neutrality acts cash and carry provision to include sale ol of munitions to warring nations 0 commemorated by a special irish postal stamp the anniversary of the american constitution and george installation stal lation as first U S president 9 offered by japan return of 01 mandated caroline islands to germany as a gesture of good will and an example to other countries holding former german colonies stipulation the islands are to be surrendered when the reich recovers colonies from britain and france |