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Show News Review of Current Events the World Over Economy in Government Gets a Boost Senate Ousts Sergeant at Arms Barry for Traducing It Roosevelt Invites Governors to Parley. Ly EDWARD W. PICKARD CPCON'OMY was given a real boost by the senate when It passed the treasury-post office bill, for it inserted into the measure provisions giving the Sen. Bratton Incoming President almost al-most dictatorial power pow-er in reorganizing the structure of the federal fed-eral government, coordinating, co-ordinating, consolidating consolidat-ing or reducing the number of agencies and eliminating overlapping over-lapping and duplication duplica-tion of duties, "In order or-der to further reduce expenditures and Increase In-crease efficiency in governmen t." The ' measure withholds authority to abolish or transfer an executive department in its entirety, though Senator Norris urged that this privilege also be given the "hief Executive. His proposal was rejected because senators feared It might lead to the combining of the army and navy Into one department of national defense, as has often been suggested. The bill as approved by the senate grants the new President much greater latitude than was asked by President Hoover for the same purpose. pur-pose. The executive orders will not become effective until sixty days after being submitted to congress unless congress Itself provides by law for an earlier effective date. Besides this grant of power to reorganize reor-ganize the federal establishment the senate moved toward further economies econ-omies by adopting an amendment offered of-fered by Senator Sam G. Bratton of New Mexico, one of the leading Democrats Demo-crats in the matter of savings. It requires re-quires ail department heads to cut their expenditures for 1934 by 5 per cent, though this must be done without with-out cutting wages this being insisted upon by Senator Costigan of Colorado. Mr. Bratton estimated that his plan would result in the saving of about $140,000,000 in the cost of operating the government during the next fiscal year. Other economy measures attached at-tached to the bill. It was said, would realize some 20 millions of additional savings. One of these includes the enlisted en-listed personnel of the army, navy and marine corps In the present 8V4 per cent salary cut affecting all other fed eral employees. In the house all kinds of attempts to economize were beaten during consideration con-sideration of supply bills. The representatives rep-resentatives even declined, by an overwhelming over-whelming vote, to reduce their own salaries to $7,500 or $5,000, opponents of the proposal arguing that they could not afford the cut and that lowering low-ering the pay would make the house a "rich man's club" and make It Impossible Im-possible for a poor man to enter congress. con-gress. The proponents of the reduction reduc-tion were denounced as demagogues. WITH grave formality the senate and house met together in the house chamber and watched their official offi-cial tellers extract from a mahogany chest the reports of state electors on last fall's election. The reading clerk loudly announced the state totals, and when these had been set down on big tally sheets and added up, the congress con-gress was solemnly Informed that Franklin D. Roosevelt and John N. Garner Gar-ner bad been elected President and Vice President, of the United States by a vote of 472 against 59 for Hoover and Curtis. SENATORS, despite their rules, can find ways to say some mighty mean things about one another; but an outsider out-sider mustn't cast aspersions on their integrity. David S. Barry, who bas been sergeant at arms of the senate for 14 years, has found this out and has lost his job. The seventy-three-year-old official wrote an article for Al Smith's New Outlook, the opening paragraph of which was: "Contrary, perhaps, to the popular belief, thpre are not many v D. S. Barry crooks in congress that Is, out and out grafters, or those who are willing to be such ; there are ot many senators sen-ators or representatives who sell their votes for money, and It Is pretty well known who those few are; but there are many demagogues of the kind that will vote for legislation solely sole-ly because they think that it will help their political and social fortunes." Indignant senators were swift to call Barry to account. Sitting as a trial court, they beard him admit he was unable to prove that there were bribe takers and grafters in congress; and they refused to consider his pleas that Senator Glass had said about as much concerning the fight against the McFadden baifcing bill, and that In reality his article was meant to defend de-fend tne reputation of congress despite de-spite Its Inept wording. By a vote of 53 to 17 the senate deprived Barry of pis post on the ground that he had traduced that bodv and could not prove his charge In the words of Senator David Reed of Pennsylvania, the senate "made a holy show of Itself." Barry did not lack defenders, the warmest of these being Senator Otis Glenn of Illinois and Senator M. M. Logan of Kentucky. Mr. Glenn, being a lame duck, was not afraid to say what he thought, and he had a lot of hot thoughts on the matter. He pointed out that what Barry had written was but one small voice In a chorus of criticism of the senate, and continued: "I cannot distinguish very materially material-ly between attacking a body of this kind, as has been done In the present Instance, and the privilege which Is exercised nearly every day In committee commit-tee rooms of the senate of browbeating browbeat-ing a witness, accusing him, attacking him as he sits there, called in response to a summons. "1 do not distinguish between the attacks made upon this body and the attacks made In this body day after day by distinguished members of this body, attacking, abusing, condemning, blackening people's names and reputations, reputa-tions, knowing that the next morning upon the front pages of the responsible responsi-ble newspapers of this country those charges, unsustained, will be broadcast to the world." The debate was lively and rather vituperative, and was immensely enjoyed en-joyed by the occupants of the galleries. One of hese was heard to quote: "The lady doth protest too much, me-thinks." me-thinks." WHILE the President-Elect was cruising about the Caribbean trying try-ing to catch fish the amateur cabinet builders kept right on working. Late 'v5 If 1 Jesse H. Jones gossip was that William Wil-liam H. Woodin of New York would be secretary of commerce com-merce ; Henry L. Stevens Stev-ens of North Carolina, former commander of the American Legion, secretary of war, and Archibald McNeil of Connecticut or O. Max Gardner of North Carolina secretary of the navy. Jesse I. Straus, New York merchant, also was put In the running for the commerce portfolio. More definite than these rumors was the report that Jesse H. Jones, eminent Democrat and business man of Houston, Texas, would be made head of the Reconstruction Finance Fi-nance corporation. He would succeed Atlee Pomerene, whose appointment as chairman by President Hoover was blocked, with all other nominations, in the senate. Mr. Roosevelt will rely greatly on the Reconstruction Finance corporation and its vast credit in carrying car-rying out his plans In the "new deal" and would receive strong and able support from Mr. Jones as its chairman. chair-man. PLENTY of expert advice on ways of pulling the nation out of the slough of despond is to be offered soon. First the senate finance committee commit-tee invited more than half a hundred of the nation's leading men in all lines to present their views on the causes of the economic depression and the needed legislative remedies, and those views presumably are now being formulated. for-mulated. Then President-Elect Roosevelt Roose-velt sent to the governors of the 48 states Invitations to meet him in the White House on March 6 to discuss means of solving national problems In which the governments of the states and the nation have a common vital Interest In his letter Mr. Roosevelt said : "It Is my thought that we should discuss for our mutual benefit certain subjects, such as : "(a) Conflicting taxation by federal and state governments; "(b) Federal aid for unemployment relief; "(c) Mortgage foreclosures, especially especial-ly on farm lands, and "(d) Better land use by afforestation, afforesta-tion, elimination of marginal agricultural agricul-tural land, flood prevention, etc.; "(e) Reorganization and consolidation consolida-tion of local government to decrease tax costs." It Is believed al! or nearly all of the governors will accept Mr. Roosevelt's Roose-velt's Invitation gladly. All but ten of them are Democrats and might be expected to be In Washington for the Inaugural ceremonies. WITH considerable Democratic support, the government's program pro-gram for aid to the unemployed was greatly broadened. It provides, among other things, for an additional $300.-000,000 $300.-000,000 direct relief loans to states, and In Washington there was a belief that it had a good chance of passage during the present session. The bill as drafted also would liberalize the law under which the R. F. C makes loans for self-liquidating construction projects proj-ects ; and it makes provision for loans to private corporations for the development devel-opment of community farming and ocean air transportation if such projects proj-ects are self-liquidating. THAT flurry over the activities of William C. Bullitt, who wac reported report-ed In Europe as being a secret representative repre-sentative of LIr. Roosevelt sent over i i W. C. Bullitt to deal with the governments gov-ernments of nations that owe war debts to the United States, probably has blown over for good. Bullitt, who was a State department de-partment representative representa-tive under Woodrow Wilson, also was tboogbt by some French officials to be an emissary of CoL Edward M. House. He visited London. Paris and other capitals and conferred with various high personages, and our State department called on Ambassador Edge for Infori ation. The ambassador ambassa-dor replied that Bullitt was acting on his own respons:bility as a writer Interested In-terested in foreign affairs and was representing no one in the United States. Mr. Edge, it is understood, reported that this Is only one of many similar Incidents. Ever since Mr. Roosevelt's nomination, the embassy has had reports re-ports of a long succesion of such "emissaries." "em-issaries." VARIOUS plans for the regeneration of the Republican party have been discussed, and one already has been started. This Is the organization of the National Republican league, with Vice President Charles Curtis at its tfead and headquarters In Washington. Three vice chairmen have been named Senators Felix Hebert of Rhode Island Is-land and Daniel O. Hastings of Delaware Dela-ware and former Representative John Q. Tilson ofConnecticut, The make-up of the league appears to be strictly regular Republican. The new organization announced by John A. Campbell of White Plains, N. Y., who will be its director, is designed to carry on a vigorous campaign for a comeback not only in the 1936 Presidential Presi-dential election but in next year's congressional con-gressional races also. It Is professedly professed-ly neither for nor against the Interests of any one candidate. The senate Republican organization seems determined to continue in good standing in the party caucus the insurgents insur-gents who supported Roosevelt last falL Senator Charles L. McNary of Oregon, the probable new Republican leader of the senate, declared that a proposal to read out of the party Senators Sen-ators George W. Norris of Nebraska, Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin, Hiram Johnson of California, and Bronson Cutting of New Mexico, had "not a fchance in the world" to succeed. suc-ceed. Suggestions were heard recently that Secretary of the Treasury Mills would be made chairman of the Republican Re-publican national committee, but he said he would not accept the place. "I've had a lot of politics In the last 25 years and I don't intend to step out of here into the chairmanship of any political committee," Mills said. GREAT BRITAIN'S cabinet in three sessions gave final approval to the British policy for negotiations with Mr. Roosevelt in the debt conference to be held In Washington. Of course the cabinet's conclusions were not made public, but It was understood Ambassador Sir Ronald Lindsay would bring back a plan providing for a lump sum payment of between $1,250,-000,000 $1,250,-000,000 and $2,000,000,000 as settlement settle-ment for the entire debt of about $11,-000,000,000 $11,-000,000,000 which the European nations na-tions owe the United States. This, the debtor nations think, would be In accord with their own Lausanne agreement agree-ment on German reparations. Representative Rainey of Illinois declared: de-clared: "The United States will not accept any such slash," and opinion In congressional circles upheld this view. Moreover, Mr. Roosevelt's plan of dealing with each nation separately will give the British small opportunity opportu-nity to put forward a proposal for all of them. GERMANY'S new government under un-der Chancellor Hitler Is not to have smooth sailing by any means and may be upset at the coming elections. The Socialists and Communists were trying strenuously to lay aside their differences and Join In the fight against the Nazis, and it seemed likely they would succeed in this. Vice Chancellor Von Papen, armed with a decree signed by President Von Hindenberg, assumed the premiership of Prussia, dissolved the diet of that state and ordered new elections on March 5. Premier Braun and the other old Prussian ministers were summarily ousted. The government also Issued a new set of severe laws curtailing the right of assembly and of free speech and gagging the press. PREMIER DALAD1ER postponed the downfall of his new French government for a time by temporarily abandoning the attempt to balance the budget. The cabinet rejected a proposal pro-posal to reduce the pay of employees of the state, and approved measures which would slightly Increase the taxes on gasoline and bank checks. All told, It approved measures designed de-signed to provide $232,000.0(10, half of which would be In new taxes and half resulting from economies In civil expenditures. ex-penditures. This measure will be operative op-erative until another budget project can be drafted. RECENT deaths of note were those of Dr. Lawrence F. Abbott, for mer president and publisher of tlu Outlook and close friend ! Thendort Roosevelt; and Count Albert Apporiyi of Hungary, the oldest stati-sniiin ol the League of .Vitinns un'i a powerful politieal figure in his country. 1 & 3 3 Western NewMiapr I LibQ. |