Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS BY JOSEPH IF labine second season of ism probe has rough tumble beginning hundred witnesses to come EDITORS 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 DOMESTIC una un A m bencan ism dearly beloved by congressional investigating committees are the hot days of a washington summer when the slightest ruffle of news makes national headlines into this scene last summer came a new figure texas rep martin dies with his loud but not accurate committee investigating vesti gating un americanism this summer martin dies came back with a new committee and a new appropriation at its first session the committee gave reporters a story as newsy as last years accusation cusa tion that shirley temple was a communist up to the witness stand strode german american bandmaster Bund master FUEHRER KUHN chos a liar fritz kuhn after hearing bearing his life story Alaba mas rep joe starnes made so bold as to ask fuehrer kuhn if his organization intended to establish a nazi government in the U S an absolute lie a flat lie shouted kuhn flaming with anger joe starnes jumped to his feet shoving reporters and photographers aside he strode toward the witness crying dont call me a liar when capitol policemen had put an end to these fighting words the committee got down to more serious work with calm deliberation illinois rep noah mason drew enough enough information from the witness to make german american distasteful when faced with the accusation cusa tion that his bund is a moneymaking racket based on the credulity of the american people kuhn countered by listing these strange objectives 1 to unite the ger man american element 2 to fight figh t communism 3 to give the german element political background the committee also learned fuehrer kuhn had visited hitler in 1936 had given him for winter reli relief ef and had worn a nazi uniform in a berlin parade his brother is a berlin supreme court justice his bund followers whose records have beben bean destroyed are pledged to defend the good name of the mother country germany most americans reading about martin dies newest revelations agreed the committee had made a good start still on the docket how ever was a list of some witnesses whom agents have rounded up since last february observers hoped this summers investigation follow last years pattern a forum for un burdening grudges RELIEF wages tva g es up A key provision of this years relief appropriation was that wages should be juggled to prevent any more geography in paris ART Watte aus famous lindia LIn dif ferent stolen from the louvre june 11 was unexpectedly returned to td parisian police by 25 year old serge an artist who admitted he took the painting to bring back its original glory sl slapping pa the thief in jau jail police called experts who found young ekys retouching had not only restored the picture but actually improved it ical variation than the difference in ir living costs necess necessitated stated for the south where labor is cheaper this meant a raise for the north it meant wage cuts for big cities it meant elimination of the 10 per cent diff differential erenthal erent ial up or down which was allowed for local conditions cast into three regions south north and west new wage scales were announced by commissioner F C harrington region no I 1 wage range to W 94 90 per month connecticut delaware district of 0 columbia illinois indiana iowa maine mao maryland land kansas massachusetts michigan minnesota missouri nebraska new hampshire new jersey new york north dakota ohio pennsylvania rhode island south dakota vermont west virginia wisconsin region no 2 wage range 44 20 to 94 90 per month arizona california colorado idaho montana nevada new mexico oregon utah washington wyoming region no 3 wage range 31 20 to 81 so 90 per month alabama arkansas florida georgia kentucky louisiana north carolina oklahoma south carolina tennessee texas virginia net result of the changes observers figured will be to raise the national monthly average from 53 to in the south rural wages will jump from 25 26 to 35 in rural areas and from 40 to in big cities ARMY before the battle at the second battle of manassas in 1862 famed stonewall jackson sent his men a raiding general popes headquarters they returned with everything but the general himself manassas again made headlines this month when the regular U S army units duplicated stonewall jacksons strategy strate gyr captured a brigadier generals outpost and advanced toward washington agton against defending national guards men this was the first phase of spectacular military maneuvers unmatched in U S peacetime the second phase began at plattsburg Platts burg N Y where national guards men and regulars began their battle this invader piercing from the north to meet the invader coming up through manassas bigger than either cither battle however was the realism of Platts burgs commander gen hugh A drum night before the war began stern jawed general drum assembled officers on the parade ground to present a few facts publicly scorned was the suggestion that his troops fight at paper strength i e with imaginary armament the army hopes some day to secure the general demanded a campaign of reality to bring home the actualities of our state of preparedness only in tanks he said is t the he army up to strength other deficiencies manpower 77 per cent machine guns 67 per cent trucks 83 automatic rifles 57 said he 1 I do not intend to belittle the advantages of speed but mobility off the battlefield cannot compensate for inefficiency in the conduct of a fight what we need to learn is how to fight BUSINESS oil 07 A simple law of economics is that prices drop as surpluses increase no exception is crude oil which in one week dropped a rough 30 cents a barrel major reason thought oilmen was the rapid recent exploitation of new oil pools in illinois which operate full blast without production restrictions enforced by other states in the mid continental area meeting in oklahoma city the interstate oil compact commission decided to let each state handle the problem in its own way five states texas oklahoma new mexico kansas and arkansas found a way production was stopped for 15 days in tennessee A 5 UTILITIES wendell commonwealth southern power corporation said goodby good by to tennessee where its lines lilies had been purchased by TVA said a full page newspaper ad we still be believe I 1 that the interests of the public are better served ed by privately operated utilities we could not stay in business and compete with virtually tax free plants next day TVA gave mr wilkie EUROPE war of nerves last summer it was britaina Brit ains viscount runciman who volunteered to mediate the scrap between czechoslovakia and germany mediation and czecho slovakian hopes came to a sudden end when viscount runciman turned pro nazi this month there arose a new potential viscount runciman named dr karl kar J burckhardt internationally respected swiss scholar appointed by the league of nations as high commissioner of danzig off to hillers Hit lers berchtesgaden eyrie he be flew one day without notifying the league there while he listened in silence der fuehrer lectured angrily a and n d a at t length a about b 0 ut u t danzig W why h y had he as high com c 0 m missioner allowed incidents in danzig and why should danzig not be returned immediately to the reich dr burckhardt hardi had no burckhardt chance to di li A runciman that great britain alone knew about his miss mission ion and had empowered him to bespeak her official attitude on danzig next day back in danzig the commissioner forwarded a highly confidential report of proceedings to london significantly neither poland nor france got copies meanwhile grasping at the chance the controlled german press started another war of nerves pouring out rumors of british spon bored peace plans veteran students of propaganda decided this had two purposes 1 to make poland think the british are ready to desert them and 2 to find out via the report and denial method just how far britain really will go toward appeasement this latter point was indeed important por tant high german circles confidently fi expected danzig would be returned to the reich within a few weeks since there was little chance britain would aid poland in rescuing danzig from an internally inspired an so great was the confidence that der fuehrer himself planned to cross into east prussia late in august greater still the press soon took danzig for granted and began talking about german acquisition of polish corridor as another aim in the appeasement to come for the fourth time in one year europe reme remembered m that adolf hitler only ge gets ts hungrier each time hes fed agriculture rail rebellion expiring august I 1 were vere loans on some bushels of farm sealed corn although the commodity credit corporation has offered to extend these loans the consensus holds most farmers will turn their old grain over to the government thereby making room for the 1939 crop last month the department of agriculture ri saw what was coming bids were called on storage bins for defaulted corn topping this problem came another the railroads first rebuff was the carriers refusal to let the government erect its bins without cost on railway property also denied was a reduced rate and elimination of demurrage charges on movement of the bins to their destination the railroads thought they had good reason for being stubborn because there was handwriting on the wall this autumn will see first practical application of the ever norma normal I 1 granary program designed to set aside excess supplies of grain in years of large production to be held for lean crop periods As it affects corn this program will raise havoc with the normal flow of grain from farm to market via railroads by buying its bins the U S will make storage at the farm end later when finally moved corn will be hauled as government property and will thus bring additional loss of revenue to railto railroads a ds because land grant statutes call cal I 1 for reduced 50 per cent carrying charges in hi all U S SO e thanksgiving cartoonists and columnists had a field day because president roosevelt said he would proclaim thanksgiving november ber 23 not november 30 while calendar makers moaned and college football officials complained that their schedules would be upset the state department finally announced mr Roosevel ts proclamation affects only the district of columbia each state sets its ow own 1 |