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Show WEEKLY IEIFS ANALYSIS BY JOSEPH W. LaBLE President's Political Activity Since Congress' Adjournment Shows Heavy Interest in 1940 (EDITOR'S NOTE When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.) Released by Western Newspaper Union. POLITICS: Rebuttal Home in Hyde Park, Franklin Roosevelt probably reviewed editorial edito-rial opinion on his recent seven-month seven-month debate with congress. The public thought congress had won, for it killed his lend-spend and housing hous-ing bills, defeated his neutrality program pro-gram and passed the Hatch "clean politics" bill. Not so evident were his victorious defense and relief programs pro-grams anchis retention of the ?2, 000,000 currency stabilization fund. On three successive days, therefore, he went before the people, first to boast, next to scold, last to warn. Signing the Ashurst bill (creating an administrative officer to supervise super-vise federal court budgets) he announced an-nounced that all goals of his 1937 I f 'A & 1 i . I t v . ..... ::.; .-.v. . . --VwKwSl UTAH'S SEN. KING " don't see how . . court reorganization proposal had been realized, six of them by laws and the seventh (change in attitude) "through opinions of the Supreme Court itself. Next day observers thought he let a cat from the bag. Discussing his neutrality and lend-spend defeats, he borrowed an analogy suggested by his wife a precipice to which he said congress is leading business, and over which it may plunge "next spring." Placing it on a gambling basis, the President said a G. O. P. -Democratic coalition had made "two bets with the nation": (1) On continued peace, and (2) business' ability to absorb wage earners who lose WPA and PWA jobs "next spring." Some thought it possible the President Presi-dent was gambling too, staking his 1940 candidacy on next spring's prospects. If there is a war andor heavy unemployment, congress will be wrong and Mr. Roosevelt right, thus justifying a third term attempt. Certain it was that no politician without interest in 1940 would have delivered the message President Roosevelt sent next day to young Democrats convening in Pittsburgh. Smoothly laying the groundwork for some action, perhaps a retirement from politics, possibly a coup to keep the Democratic party "liberal," "liber-al," or possibly for a new third party, he sent this warning: "If we nominate conservative candidates, or lip-service candidates, on a strad-dlebug strad-dlebug platform, I personally for my own self-respect and because of my long service to, and belief in liberal democracy, will find it impossible im-possible to have an active part in such an unfortunate suicide of the old Democratic party." Meanwhile, members of congress took exception to the precipice analogy anal-ogy and wondered if Mr. Roosevelt had the right man leading the right horse to doom. Said Michigan's Rep. Earl Michener: "The coalition . . . has stopped the American people just before they went over the financial finan-cial precipice." Said Utah's Sen. William H. King: "I don't see how anyone can contend consistently that when we appropriated nearly ?13,-000,000,000 ?13,-000,000,000 for next year, congress was not doing everything within its power, provided spending is the answer." an-swer." CONGRESS: How Much? How much a so-called "$13,000,-000.000 "$13,000,-000.000 congress" actually appropriated appropri-ated and spent became the compu- tation job of Budget Director Harold D. Smith. His decision: Congress appropriated more than $13,000,000,-000 $13,000,000,-000 but included some funds spent before July 1 and some to be spent in future fiscal years. For the 1939-40 1939-40 year he figured the total was $10,472,354,914, or $260,937,376 more than President Roosevelt's budget estimate. Previous year's record: $9,268,338,030, which exceeded treasury treas-ury receipts by $3,600,514,404. Meanwhile the matter of appropriations appro-priations became a political football. Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Barkley said if was less than $10,-000,000,000 $10,-000,000,000 because several re-appropriations were included. New York's Rep. John Taber placed it at $14,-061,596,619, $14,-061,596,619, with about $1,000,000,000 each being spent before and after the current fiscal year. Publicly denouncing de-nouncing a public debt he said had reached $53,895,100,000 (including $13,000,000,000 government corporation corpora-tion debts) and pointing to an alleged al-leged 60 per cent payroll increase since 1933, Mr. Taber probably helped speed President Roosevelt's appeal next day that departments and agencies slash their next year's budget requests. Also in Washington: C Social security stopped receiving claims for lump-sum old age insurance insur-ance benefits, and prepared to inaugurate in-augurate new monthly benefit payments pay-ments to workers over 65 who have paid taxes on their incomes the past 18 months. ft California's Rep. Frank Buck, after conferring with the President, predicted serious consideration of a plan to broaden the personal income tax base and increase the basic rate. ft House Minority Leader Joseph Martin announced Republicans will have definite programs on at least three major topics housing, agriculture agri-culture and reciprocal trade agreements agree-ments to present at the next congress con-gress as alternatives to administration administra-tion measures. EUROPE: Tension Up "Hostilities began at 8 p m. The dec. laration of war between Eastland and U'estland xvas quickly followed by a series of bombing raids by Eastland along the east coast of Westland from Wash to points north of the Thames estuary. Eleven sudden raids were made on this territory during the first forty minutes . . . Two raids have been made on South London and anti-air-craft batteries have been heavily en-gaged en-gaged ..." In London early-to-bedders were irked because Sir John Anderson, chief of air-raid precautions, made them stay up late to test effectiveness effective-ness of their new dark shades. It was "blackout" night, the most comprehensive trial yet made of facilities fa-cilities with which England hopes to foil an invader from the continent. When morning came, Londoners F ' 1 f f ' j ft- i & i ALBERT FORSTER pfuir read the above account of proceedings, proceed-ings, also reading that nine army air pilots had been killed. What made the "war" news seem the more realistic was word from the continent that Albert Forster, the . Nazi "fuehrer" of Danzig, had flown to Berchtesgaden for conferences with Adolf Hitler. German-Polish tension had previously previ-ously been heightened when (1) a German airliner was fired upon while passing over Gydnia; (2) a Warsaw paper had warned Poland would bombard Danzig if political union with the Reich were proclaimed, pro-claimed, and (3) Danzig's semi-official newspaper Vorposten, asserted the city was "prepared for defense against Poland's war threats." All Europe watched Fuehrer For-ster's For-ster's return from Berchtesgaden. Interest heightened when he proclaimed pro-claimed a Danzig mass meeting. That night, while his mob cried "Pfui!" at every mention of Poland, shrewd Fuehrer Forster resorted to time-tested dictator tactics. On Poland's Po-land's shoulders he heaped a charge of plotting to seize not only Danzig but East Prussia as well. No sooner had this untruth raised German-Danziger German-Danziger resentment to a fever pitch than Herr Forster made 'ie simple announcement that his brown shirted followers have made full preparations to reunite the ancient free city with Germany. AGRICULTURE: More Stamps In Washington, Secretary of Agriculture Agri-culture Wallace at last took out of the experimentation stage his latest lat-est and one of his most successful plans to get rid of food surpluses. For three months the food stamp plan was tested m Rochester, Dayton Day-ton and Seattle, expanded to Birmingham Bir-mingham and Des Moines, and finally final-ly to Shawnee, Okla. At all but the latter place, relief families were fed by sale of orange stamps (for buying buy-ing regular foods) and free distribution distribu-tion of blue stamps (for buying surplus sur-plus foods). At Shawnee, low-income families tried the plan. Not until early August did Mr. Wallace uncross his fingers. Then, it- i F - 1- & jf "H " j SECRETARY WALLACE Uncrossed his fingers. pronouncing the stamp plan successful, success-ful, he announced it will be expanded expand-ed on a national basis very soon. If it works nationally like it has at Rochester, farmers will be happy. In the three-month trial there, food sales were upped 8 per cent. Forecast Not until August 1 can any year's agricultural yield be accurately gauged. Simultaneously this August the U. S. department of agriculture and European sources released their predictions, the first on cotton, the latter on grains alone. Both looked bad: Wheat. If big crops bode war, Europe must have war this autumn. Germany stored. her surplus wheat in dance halls and gymnasiums. In the hot Danube basm, the Ukraine and the Vistula's valleys peasants brought m a crop that sold at the lowest price smce 1592. In Rome, the International Institute of Agriculture Agri-culture forecast the largest wheat crop since the World war, excepting except-ing last year. With Soviet and Canadian Ca-nadian production up, with devaluation devalua-tion of far eastern silver destroying purchasing power, the institute gloomily predicted a glutted market mar-ket through 1940 and 1941. Meanwhile U. S. farmers considered consid-ered themselves lucky. Although Chicago wheat prices would normally normal-ly be between 35 and 40 cents, and on the farm, 30 cents (customary differential under Liverpool prices), they are actually about 10 cents above Liverpool. Reasons: (1) U. S. loans to farmers on stored wheat keeps the supply down and the price up; (2) production this year was down 20 per cent, producing a crop about equal to the nation's need; (3) the U. S. pays a bounty to exporters of wheat, amounting to $28,000,000 on 118,000,000 bushels last season. Cotton. Biggest cotton news was the Export-Import bank's credit sale of 250,000 bales to Spain, taken as a gesture to woo General Franco away from the Rome-Berlin axis. Meanwhile the International Cotton federation closed its Zurich meeting by cabling Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace in protest against U. S. export subsidies. In Washington Washing-ton the August 1 forecast was released, re-leased, painting a somewhat brighter bright-er picture: Placed at 11,412,000 bales, the yield would be 531,000 bales under last year, and 2,388;000 bales less than the 10-year (1928-37) average. But there will still be a carryover of about 13,000,000 bales. MEDICINE: Mary Heart Into a little maternity hospital in the center of Manila's slums walked Mrs. Manuel Quezon, wife of the Philippine commonwealth's president. presi-dent. Like scores of others, she came to see a phenomenon recorded record-ed only once before in medical history. his-tory. Sound asleep after feeding from an eye-dropper was a seven-pound seven-pound baby, normal in every way except that her heart was completely complete-ly outside her body. While physicians physi-cians watched fascinated through a stemless cocktail glass placed over the heart, they wondered whether to operate. Having baptized her child Mary Heart, the devout mother moth-er said she believed her infant's condition con-dition was caused by her worship of a picture which showed Josus Christ with his heart exposed. ASIA: Hush Settlement One month ago Russia and Japan were ready to wage war over oil and coal resources in Russia's half of Sakhalin island. Reason: Jap concessionaires' refused to hike wages of Russian workers. Both nations na-tions reinforced border garrisons and Jap warships rushed to the scene. At both Moscow and Tokyo, there was no sign of surrender. Almost Al-most unnoticed in the press a few weeks later w:as the humiliating outcome out-come for Japan: Concessionaires granted a 15 per cent wage increase |