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Show Washington Comment! Of course the lengthy Fourth of July holiday has something to do with it. But actually, long before that, Washington had lapsed gracefully into the summer dol-drum. dol-drum. With officialdom having practically folded its tents, everybody every-body left hereabouts rushed away to Gettysburg to hear Mr. Roosevelt Roose-velt try and fail naturally to top Mr. Lincoln's immortal address. ad-dress. The press has been in a dither for some weeks because, with congress gone, it looked hopefully to the cabinet officials to help fill up white space with news of the federal departments. The press hand-outs aren't what they used to be. Secretary' Hull is quiet and restrained and that's understandable, under-standable, the foreign situation being what it is. And Secretary Morgenthau has something to say occasionally when the treasury needs financing. Secretary Roper of course never misses a chance. But the attorney general has practically prac-tically gone into the silences as far as press conferences are concerned; con-cerned; likewise the postmaster general and Secretary Wallace. Secretary Ickes has been in Europe and Madam Perkins is still there. So that albout finishes the roster of the lady and gentlemen who are not talking this season. Apropos of the cabinet, the Institute ot Public Opinion poll for the past week still gives Secretary Hull the lead as the most popular cabinet member, not only with Democrats but winning 50 per cent of the Republican votes. He shares with Postmaster General Farley and Secretary Perkins the distinction of 'being the best known of the cabinet to the "man in the street". The least known are voted to be Secretary Roper, Secretary Wood-ring Wood-ring and the attorney general. Public belief in the members which have done the best job in their respective re-spective departments ranks them in the following order: Hull, Swanson, Morgenthau, Farley, Woodring, Ickes, Wallace, Cum-mings Cum-mings Perkins and Roper. The federal debt, revealed by the treasury at the beginning of the new fiscal year makes grave reading. read-ing. It has risen . by $4.07 per every man, woman and child in the nation in the last fiscal year. Officials Of-ficials in charge of emergency spending indicated their monthly outlay would reach $200,000,000 by Labor day and possibly $300,000,'-000 $300,000,'-000 by the end of the calendar year. The treasury statement puts the national per capita debt at $268.70, a total of $37,164,749,315.- . ',15, or $740,126,583 more than a year ago. The increased responsibilities oi the state department are causing it to be reorganized this summer. Congress has authorized two new divisions a cultural division designed de-signed to promote better relations with Pan-America and a division (Continued on last page) Washington Comment (Continued from first page) of communications to take care ot shipping, radio, calbles, etc. The state department building, which was completed 50 years ago this year, is really inadequate for its increased obligations; it has a floor area of about 10 acres and one and three-fourths miles of corridors cor-ridors which seem about ten times that long to tourists or tired reporters. re-porters. At the time of its completed, com-pleted, it was said to be the largest larg-est and finest office building in the world, hut it now has been thrown completely into the shade by the sumptuous new deal structures struc-tures housing the other government govern-ment departments. The war department, de-partment, which is partially housed under its roof, recently has given up 50 rooms for state department use; the navy moved out altogether after the World war. Previously all three were housed in the fine old grey building. With echoes of the Fourth still echoing in our weary ears did you know that more people have been killed in the 1900's celebrating celebrat-ing the Revolutionary war than in the war itself? Al?o that the Fourth of July is not the anniversary anniver-sary of the signing of the Declara-; tion of Independence? Officials ai the Library of Congress, where the document is kept, inform us that the Declaration was passed by congress July 4, 1776, but it was not until August 2, 1776, that the 56 signers put their names to it; some were not even members ot congress on the Fourth. While our typewriter still possesses pos-sesses its two -overworked keys (its $-key and its 0-key) is perhaps a good time to rehash the status of the international debt. Another June 15th having gone into the limbo, the indebtedness of foreign counties to Uncle Sam stands something like this: our twelve World war debtor nations defaulted default-ed as usual to the tune of $22,-259,070,056. $22,-259,070,056. When thte ste mi -annual installments, totaling $1,891,-661,670 $1,891,-661,670 fell due on June 15, no nations na-tions except gallant little Finland took any notice of it. Finland, as always, paid her share in full $161,935. Great Britain ignored her half-yearly debt of $1,080,157,-132; $1,080,157,-132; France forgot her obligation of $545,951,725; Italy was blandly unconscious of her $100,861,35i installment likewise Belgium, Poland, Po-land, Rumania, Yugoslavia, and all the rest. So to-be-expected has this occurence become that even congress has practically stopped I talking about it; it was scarcely referred to in the senate when the fatal day rolled around. There is talk current that our new ambassador ambas-sador to England, Joe Kennedy, is di ing something drastic and efficient ef-ficient about Britain's debt ana if he swings it, he can have the White House on a silver platter il he should want it; also there is an active controversy on in several quarters about the Hungarian proposal pro-posal to pay face value of her post war advances of $1,685,835 it Uncle Sam will cancel all interest. But the little flurry which always follows international debt-day will have died down in no time and the : debt problem and what to do aboui -it may be said to have grown a ' beard long since around here. I Just to demonstrate that old-: old-: time congresses did funny things too in the rush for adjournment; I an ancient bill turned up in the : Capitol attic the other day show-; show-; ing that in September, 1789 the House passed a bill putting the capital of the United States' in Pennsylvania on the Susquehanna, instead of in Maryland and Virginia Vir-ginia on the Potomac; the Senate ' amended and passed it and the House concurred, Adjournmenl arrived and the bill must have been lost in the rush otherwise today the map of the United States would be different! |