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Show NEWS REVIEW OF CURRENTEVENTS Huge Crop Losses Due to Drought Boost Prices and Rouse Government. By EDWARD W. PICKARD PROTRACTED drought and excessively exces-sively net weather brought to the farmers of the United States a mixture mix-ture of good and evil and aroused the administration to the consideration of relief measures beyond those con-'templated con-'templated by the act creating the federal fed-eral farm board. Both government and private crop' reports led to estimates that the new corn crop had been damaged to the extent ex-tent of at least 500,000,000 bushels, and the rains that fell throughout much of the corn belt during the week were said to have come too late to have much influence on the yield since pollination had failed. Private reports by one of the leading lead-ing experts of the Middle West indicated indi-cated that a large part of the crop was beyond any material recovery. In Ohio the corn was deteriorating rapidly, and in southern Indiana it was badly damaged. In Illinois the situation was at Its worst in the southern part of the state. The crop in. northern and western Kentucky was said to be entirely ruined, and the condition in Missouri and Iowa was not much better. Throughout the whole drought region, also, pasturage and all fodder crops were burned up to an alarming extent. On the other hand, these bad crop prospects led to a sensational rise in the prices of grain on the exchanges, and within a few days there was an estimated Increase of about $650,000,-000 $650,000,-000 In the theoretical value of farmers' farm-ers' products. The market in Chicago went wild and corn led in the swift advance, followed by wheat and the other grains. For the first time in five years the public came in on a big scale, and there were heavy buying orders from foreign countries. It was believed there would be a heavy substitution sub-stitution of wheat, oats, rye and barley bar-ley for corn as live stock feed, and consequently the demand for those grains was large. Also the estimates of the Canadian wheat crop were slashed as a result of damage by drought, heat and black rust. The yield of rye in Europe, exclusive of Russia, will be far below normal, and the Prussian oats crop is greatly reduced. PRESIDENT ' HOOVER conferred with Secretary of Agriculture Hyde on plans for a government program pro-gram to aid the farmers threatened with ruin by the drought, and he asked both Mr. Hyde and Chairman Legge of the farm board to make recommendations rec-ommendations within a few days. It was stated at the White House that the President had received prompt and favorable response to his appeal to railroad executives for co-operation In reducing rail rates for the emergency emer-gency movement of live stock and feed In the stricken areas. The farm loan board said it was willing to do all possible to extend credit through the intermediate credit bauks, the farm, land banks and joint stock land banks. From congressional congression-al quarters came many requests for help, and to those was added the offer of-fer of Senator Robinson of Arkansas, the Democratic leader, to undertake a refund by congress to the farm board if the latter would divert all Its available funds to drought relief. "The measures of assistance that the farm board and the other agencies of the federal government can and should undertnke are being determined," deter-mined," said Mr. Hoover. "It is too early to determine the precise character charac-ter of relief: much depends upon the further spread of the drought; but no stone will be left unturned by the federal government In giving assistance assist-ance to local authorities." IN OTHER ways the drought had serious results. There- were numerous nu-merous destructive forest fires in both the West and the East; the milk shortage in many regions was j Beriou; and the water in the Mississippi river was so low that barges and towboats were stuck on sandbars and mud Hats all along the Father of Waters. At the same time the levels of Lakes Michigan, Superior Supe-rior and Huron were higher; which led commentators on the lake diversion di-version controversy to think that the policy of the government has resulted in giving the citizens who use the Great Lakes more water than they need, at the same time depriving the manufacturers aud farmers of the Mississippi valley of sufficient water to float their cargoes to the sea. WHEAT prices and drought did not have much effect on the Republican Re-publican primaries in Kansas as many persons had expected. Gov. Clyde M. Reed, who sought to champion the cause of the farmers and severely criticized the policies of the federal farm board, was defeated for renomi-nation renomi-nation ' by Frank Haucke, farmer, World war veteran, and former state commander of the American Legion. Senator Henry J. Allen, who was appointed ap-pointed by Governor Reed and Is a staunch supporter of the Hoover administration, ad-ministration, was nominated for the senate term ending In 1933, and Senator Sen-ator Capper was unopposed for re-nomination re-nomination for the long term. On the Democratic ticket Harry H. Woodring will oppose Haucke for the governorship, and Jonathan M. Davis, former governor, 'will try to defeat Senator Capper. SOUTHERNERS who voted for noo-ver noo-ver in 192S, through Horace Mann, formally announced their rebellion against the administration of southern federal patronage and political affairs generally by Postmaster Walter II. Brown. Mr. Mann's statement, which was Issued on the eve of a meeting of the Republican national executive committee in Washington, outlined plans adopted by a group of prominent promi-nent southern Hoovercrats to incorporate incor-porate in "all-southern" Republican organization and throw off the yoke of northern "patronage carpet-baggers" as well as of "designing political hijackers." hi-jackers." - Hoovercrats representing ten southern south-ern states had met in conference in Savannah and adopted resolutions expressing ex-pressing resentment at the refusal of the administration to recognize Mann's services and leadership. They agreed to meet again in Atlanta on August 15 to perfect their organization. Because of the heavy Hoover vote In the South in 192S, the ten states represented in the Savannah conference will be entitled en-titled to 2G7 delegates in the 1932 Republican Re-publican convention, 100 more than they were allowed In the Kansas City convention. The Republican executive committee accepted the resignation of Claudius ' M. Huston as national chairman and elected Senator Fess as his successor. Robert H. Lucas was made executive director, and he quits his post as Internal In-ternal revenue commissioner to give his full time to the work. GREAT interest was felt In a conference con-ference winch Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York held with John J. Raskob, former Gov. Al Smith and other party leaders. It was understood un-derstood that Mr. Roosevelt would seek re-election on a "dripping-wet" platform and would make a leading issue of public electricity rates. The belief was that Mr. Smith would place Mr. Roosevelt In nomination at the state convention. Republicans of New York state seem badly split as to the liquor question. ques-tion. The wets, led by former Senator Sen-ator James W. Wadsworth, Insist upon up-on a declaration for repeal of the Eighteenth amendment, declaring they will accept no compromise. The drys. on the other hand, are as firm in their stand and threaten to form a new dry party if the wet plank Is adopted. BEFORE a crowd of 5,000 persons, two negroes were lynched by a mob In Marion, Ind. They had been arrested for murdering a white man and attacking his girl companion, and were said to have confessed. The sheriff, police and fire department, tried In vain to scatter the lynchers with tear bombs and fire hose streams. PRESIDENT nOOVER announced the appointment of Maj. Gen. Douglas MacArthur to be chief of staff of the army to succeed Maj. Gen. O. P. Summerail when the latter retires re-tires In November. General MacArthur, MacAr-thur, who is head of the army department de-partment in the Philippines, is now on temporary duty In China. He is fifty years old, the youngest army officer offi-cer of his rank in active service, and was advanced over the heads of sev- eral older officers, the President said, n' because he is the senior major general gen-eral whose age would permit him to serve the full four-year term as chief of staff. He graduated from West Point in 1903 nnd his career, especially especial-ly In the World war, was brilliant. At the same time the President appointed ap-pointed Brig. Gen. Ben II. Fuller to be commandant of the marine corps to fill the vacancy left by the death of General Neville. 0 T EAL foreign Intervention in China i ' may soon result from the bloody doings of the Chinese Communists in Hunan province, if it is not already in effect. The British are leading tha way, sending a considerable number of soldiers up the Yangtze to Hankow, which was threatened by the Reds. The troops were to be placed on a cruiser ready to be landed If necessary to protect British property. The American gunboat Tutulla left for up-river up-river to reinforce the Palos, and the flagship Pittsburgh of the Asiatic fleet, w-ith a destroyer division, was on the way from Tsingtao to Shanghai. Japan Ja-pan also was in action, sending a number num-ber of destroyers with landing parties of marines to Hankow, Kiuklang and other river ports threatened by Communist Com-munist invasion. The Nationalist government had aQ-mitted aQ-mitted its inability to guarantee protection pro-tection for foreign residents of Hankow, Han-kow, though it was sending additional troops to that region and had re-occupied Changsha. The Communists were still entrenched in the hills about the city and were continuing their sanguinary course, having already slain two thousand Chinese residents of the place and captured four thousand. thou-sand. Outrages against British Nationals Na-tionals included the sending of a severed se-vered finger of Miss Edith Nettleton, missionary, with a demand for $50,0O( ransom for herself and Miss Edith Harrison, held captive a month, to the V British legation. T TNEMPLOYMENT in Great Brit- aln has reached the highest point since July, 1921, the number registered regis-tered as out of work being 2,011,407. Last week hundreds of railway employees em-ployees were laid off because of the falling off in traffic- Official reports show that unemployment in Germany is decreasing slightly, In France is negligible, and has decreased in Den- v mark, Sweden, Holland, Italy and Aus- tria. In the United States the situation was brightened somewhat by resumption resump-tion of work in the automobile factories fac-tories of the Detroit area and other places and by several of the biggest railway shops. The Chicago region saw good prospects for a revival of the building industry. JOHN HENRY MEARS and his pi-J pi-J lot, H. J. Brown, who intended to make a record-breaking airplane flight around the world, have had to postpone post-pone It, for their plane was wrecked as It was leaving the runway at Harbor Har-bor Grace, Newfoundland. The German aviators, Hirtb and Weller, who were on their way from Berlin to Chicago by way of Iceland and Greenland, reached Reykjavik, Iceland, safely, but abandoned their project for want of a suitable landing place In Greenland and because their supply of gas did not arrive. Capt. Frank Hawks et a new record rec-ord for flight from New York to Los Angeles, making the distance In a ' swift tittle monoplane In 14 Hours, 50 minutes and 43 seconds, with five stops for refueling. His average speed was about 179 miles an hour. OFFICIAL but unrevised census figures give the total population of continental United States as 122,-729,472. 122,-729,472. The outlying possessions bring the grand total to 137,501,501, this including an estimate for the Philippine Islands where an enumeration enumer-ation has not been made for several years. The proportions of population east and west of the Mississippi have shifted less than one-half of 1 per cent in ten years, being respectively G9.C per cent and 30.4 per cent. (. 1930. Western Newspaper Union.) |