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Show News Review of Current Events the World Over President Scraps Farm Board and Combines Several Bureaus Into One Agency; Wins First Round With British on Debts. WHAT the President terms the "farm credit administration" was created by executive order which, If It meets with concessional ap- , proval, as Is expected. f r? wtI uecotue operative f ' W May 27. f -.: B The "farm credit I:'. J administration" re- I "fcv places the federal I. M ' ' farm board, the fed- ' o- era' farnl 'oan hoard, S and t)ie farm credit 0 1 activities that have if been scattered through Jul scven difier,?nt Sov" ernmental agencies. H.nry Morgan- T))e ..acimlnistratlon thau, Jr. wll be hMl1ed by Henry Morpentlian, Jr., with the title o( governor, and an assistant, for the present at least, Taul Bestor, with the title of commissioner. Governor Morjrenthau said, after Issuance Is-suance of the order, that the activities of the government In granting loans to farmers and farm organizations will be fully co-ordinated. In the past, with the government making loans through the Department of Agriculture, Agricul-ture, the R. F. C, the farm board and other agencies, varying rates of interest inter-est were charged and different purposes pur-poses and conditions were set up, and under the new regime, Governor Mor-feenthau Mor-feenthau said, unity of purpose and treatment will be observed strictly. He also declared that all employees of the new credit administration will be placed under civil service, instead of under a patronage system as exists ex-ists In many of the bureaus at present. The executive order issued by the President directed the abolishment of the farm stabilization activities of the farm board which have resulted in losses of three hundred million dollars, dol-lars, except that he provided they should be continued only to liquidate the left over holdings of the board. This consists of thirty million bushels of wheat and twenty-eight thousand bales of cotton. In a message to congress accompanying accom-panying the order President Eoose-Telt Eoose-Telt said his purpose was to "maintain "main-tain and strengthen a sound and permanent per-manent system of co-operative agricultural agri-cultural credit subject to federal supervision and operated on the basis of providing the maximum of security to present and prospective Investors in bonds and debentures resting on farm mortgages or other agricultural Fecurities all for the purpose of meeting the credit needs of agriculture agricul-ture at minimum cost" The consolidation of these various activities under one head Is expected to result In an administrative saving of approximately two million dollars a year. TpIlE efforts of European nations to cancel or greatly reduce the war debts owed to the United States are r.n, and It is said President Roosevelt has won the first . ,. skirmish to the ex- Z tent of considering ?i.'& world economic con- I- 4 dltions before any Wwn discussion of srnr jf . ...-. , O debts. i , - f I As a result of Mr f , Roosevelt's Insistence . a4r it is reported the L ,, ' ' British government I" . . has backed down '"y i from the position an- , , , . ' , . Sir Ronald nonnced by Austen . . Chamberlain, chancel- ' lor of the exchequer, when he said that Britain would not swap economic concessions for revision of the debt. The British are now willing to discuss dis-cuss economic concessions before the debt question Is taken up. By virtue of this sudden cl unge of front on the part of the MncHonald ministry, the world economic conference Is likely to be held In April or May Instead of next summer or autumn, as the European Eu-ropean powers were planning. The British ambassador. Sir Ronald Lindsay has discussed wllh Secretary of State Cordon Hull, the questions to come before the economic conference confer-ence before the debt question Is considered. con-sidered. The French are also willing to discuss dis-cuss economic questions before considering con-sidering war debts. Following a White House conference between President Pres-ident Roosevelt and M. Jacques Slern, vice chairman of the finance committee commit-tee of the French chamber of deputies, M. Stern said that he had not. discussed dis-cussed war debts with the President ; that their conversation had been con-fltird con-fltird lo the economic conference which the deputy thought "It would be very Important to hold as soon as can be made possible." Asked about the debt, lie said "It would be ory Important for France to pay the I icceniber Installment as a mark of respect to President Itoose-velL Itoose-velL Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Hull have taken the position from the start that .lie war debts are secondary In Importance Impor-tance to the removal of tariff, embargo, embar-go, quota, exchange and other restrictions restric-tions on International trade. A preparatory commission named 1'or the purpose of preparing an agen-da agen-da for the economic conference has listed the following subjects for con-flderatlon con-flderatlon : "The original and present weight of debt and Interest obligations. "Trice of primary commodities and price of manufactured goods, both wholesale and retail. "The existing volume of production in different staple commodities entering enter-ing in world trade. "The willingness of creditors to make International loans and their unwillingness un-willingness to receive payment in goods and services. "The distribution In different countries coun-tries of the available gold supplies of the world. "The disharmony between the stable and fluctuating rates of exchange." rrime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, ot England, will preside at the economic econo-mic conference and will name the date for its convening. DROGRESS of the farm relief bill In the senate has been slow. Senatorial Sena-torial dignity would not permit of the speeding up of the ponderous machinery machin-ery of the upper house regardless of the plea of Secretary of Agriculture Wallace for speed and for the passage of the bill as originally written by the President and his advisors. There just had to be hearings on the bill and everybody, for and against, must have a chance to talk, and they have talked. At this writing It seems that "a" bill will eventually pass but whether it will be the bill that passed the house, and is acceptable to the administration, admin-istration, or whether It will be so radically rad-ically changed as to be unrecognized by its proponents, or unacceptable at the White House, Is for the future to reveal, CRM relief In other directions 1 moved along more rapidly. The proposal for refinancing farm mortgages mort-gages has taken form and the proposition propo-sition Is for the selling of farm mortgage mort-gage bonds to the extent of from nine to ten billion dollars on which the government will guarantee the Interest, Inter-est, but not the principal. It Is expected ex-pected the government's guarantee of Interest will make the. bonds marketable market-able at a comparatively low Interest rate. Farm lenders have urged a government govern-ment guarantee of the principal on such a bond Issue, hut such a guarantee guar-antee would make them a direct obligation obli-gation of the government, and mean simply an Increase In the national debt of nine or ten billion dollars. Guaranteeing Guar-anteeing the interest only means that should there be a complete default on the part of the farmers, which is never probable, the treasury would have from three hundred to four hundred hun-dred million dollars to pay annually until the bonds had matured. TpIIEKE is a growing belief In Wash-- Wash-- Ington that the budget will not be balanced during the next fiscal year beginning July 1. regardless of the economies made by cutting the pay of government employees, reorganization of bureaus and departments, and reductions re-ductions In payments to veterans, amounting to an expected total of some seven hundred millions, and regardless re-gardless of an added revenue from the tax on beer, estimated at about one hundred and fifty million. The relief grant of five hundred millions mil-lions provided for In a bill now before congress, and the two hundred millions for the reforestation plans, will alone off-set the economies. It Is probable that the more ambitious plans of the President will he financed through new bond Issues, but there will be Increased Interest charges and a sinking fund to provide for which will run Into hundreds hun-dreds of millions annually. Along with these things tax yields are falling short of estimates beennse of the continued prostration of business. FIVE hundred million dollars to be provided by the federal government govern-ment and distributed as unemplov-ment unemplov-ment relief by the states Is called for In a bill Introduced In p?-&(v!-rr. the senate by Senators v Wagner of New York $ ... Costigan of Colorado and Pa Follelte ot ? J Wisconsin. i 7- - , The bill provides j that the huge slim shall be given out . 5 right to such stales as shall apply for aid, p' ) ' ' nml 'l! a r- -,J sponsibllitv for see- .i . '. Senator ng that the money , i- ,, , , , , La FollcttB Is given wisely In the hands of a "federal relief administrator." adminis-trator." This official would be appointed by the President, wllh the consent of the senate, and carry on his dalles Independent Inde-pendent of any oilier department. The Reconstruction Finance corporation cor-poration Is given authority, under the bill, to borrow the live hundred mill-Ion mill-Ion dollars, but will have no powers beyond turning the money over to tho relief administrator. Ten days after the appointment of the relief executive, execu-tive, the Reconstruction Finance cor-porallon cor-porallon would cease to have any control con-trol over the granting of loans to Btates or munlclpalllles for relief purposes, pur-poses, and thus all of tho government's govern-ment's relief financing would bo under the one Jurisdiction. A NATION-WIPE boycott on all Jewish business and professional men in Germany has been clamped down by Chancellor Hitler's National Socialist party. The announcement states that It will last "until Jewish life in Germany Is paralyzed." Hitler's Hit-ler's government, while not officially countenancing the boycott, Is not expected ex-pected to Intervene. At Nazi headquarters it was said that the boycott "is a purely defensive measure solely directed against German Ger-man Jewry as retaliation for the anti-German anti-German campaign In foreign countries." coun-tries." All over Germany Jewish owned shops and department stores closed their doors and were picketed hy storm troopers. THE President's bill providing for the employment of 250.000 men for the purpose of reforestation and other work in government forest reserves re-serves and along the rivers, passed congress with some amendments made by the senate. One of these amendments amend-ments removes the state quota restrictions re-strictions on the sixty-eight million dollars remaining of the relief funds in the hands of the Reconstruction Finance corporation. This makes It possible for states that have borrowed up to the quota previously provided to continue to borrow until the sixty-eight sixty-eight million Is exhausted. In the house the bill was adopted without a roll call, but with the Republican Re-publican members In opposition. This opposition was not directed at the bill but at the methods of ruling the house by the Democratic majority. It was the first of the administration bills that had not received non-partisan support. The hill was strongly op- j posed by President Green of the American Amer-ican Federation of Labor. T""TRECTOR of the Budget Lewis W. - Douglas has completed the task of revising the payment to veterans under the terms of the economy bill giving the President dictatorial powers for such revision. This revision eliminates elimi-nates from the pension rolls all veterans vet-erans with non-service disabilities, and j reduces the payments to those with service disabilities by approximately I 15 per cent, the same percentage of reduction as that made In the wages of government employees. The economies that either have been, or are expected to be, effected cover the reduction of 15 per cent In the wages of all government employees made by the President; reduction In veterans' benefits and administration now made; reorganization of the departments de-partments and bureaus In the administrative admin-istrative branch of the government, for which the President hns authority, author-ity, and on which he Is now working; postal service economies, now being considered. When all have been completed com-pleted the following savings will have been effected : Veterans' benefits and administration ad-ministration $480,000,000 Reorganization of ndmlnts-tive ndmlnts-tive branch of the povern-ment. povern-ment. InrludinK abolition of functions $50,000,000 Reduction In the pay of poverninent employers... 12S.000.000 Postal service economies.. 75.000,000 Total $?30. 000.000 Among the new expenditures that will offset these savings Is the appropriation appro-priation of five hundred million dollars dol-lars as gift to the states to be nsed for non-employment relief, and the reforestation re-forestation plan of the President which congress has authorized, and which Involves nn expenditure of not less than two hundred million dollars. A fF.XICAN Communists object to ' Josephns Daniels as American ambassador at Mexico City. Posters captioned "Out with Daniels" have appeared nn walls In the capital. They call him "the murderer of Azueta nnd Prlbe." These men were Mexicans who were killed In the fighting when Fulled Slates forces landed at Vera Cruz In 1011. At that time Mr. Daniels Dan-iels was secretary of the navy. UNDER the authority granted him by congress the President hns ordered or-dered a 15 per cent cut In the pay of all federal employees, effective April 1. The order affects the employees In all departments Including olllcers nnd enlisted en-listed men In the army and navy. Post Olllce department, nnd all others on the government pay rolls, n total of approximately NHimo. The authority given by congress provided for smii cut as reduced Ing expenses might warrant up u m total of 15 per cent. An Investigation of living costs made by the Department Depart-ment of Labor showed a decrease from June .111 of last year to the present time of 21.7 per cent. On the strength of that, report the President ordered Ihe cut. In pay to the limit of that nl-lowed nl-lowed by the terms of the economy law. It Is estimated the saving to the government will bo approximately $ 125,1 NKl.OOO annually. FEDERAL regulation of new stock nnd bond Issues Is proposed by the President. He nsks the passage of legislation leg-islation that will require the organizers, organiz-ers, promoters, and sellers of the Issues Is-sues to submit for public Information a complete financial statement concerning con-cerning the slocks anil bonds offered. The proposed law would provide that full Information be given on every ev-ery prospectus offering securities for public sale, and similar Information be made available at. other sources. Bonuses and commissions paid to sellers would nlso be revealed to the public. No serious objection to the terms of the hill Is expected In either tho house or the senate. C Wrnlorn Nfwnanr UnUn. |
