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Show ' WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Supreme Court Decision Declares 'Home Oule' Rent Controls Valid; Five Million Deceiving Public Aid fFTDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed In these columns, they are those of Weitcrn Newapuper Union's news analysts and nut necessarily at this newspaper.) I Off to Prison V. : f RENT CURBS: Home Rule Okayed The 'home rule' rent control law which allows states and cities to decontrol their own areas was upheld by the U.S. supreme court In almost record time. The court's ruling came in less than a week after oral arguments were heard. THE LAW was enacted last summer sum-mer by congress and is due to expire June :i0, 1050. It had lost in its first federal court test when a U.S. district judge declared it unconstitutional un-constitutional because it delegated powers of congress to the states and local governing bodies. Tighe Wood and the justice department de-partment by-passed intermediate courts and appealed the finding directly di-rectly to the high court. While there had been no general statements to the effect, there was a widespread impression that many states and local areas had withheld decontrol action because of the pending suit. IN ONE INSTANCE, a Kentucky county area had restored rent curbs after lifting them had resulted re-sulted In what was termed "unreasonable" "un-reasonable" rent increases. However short private building Rep. J. Parnell Thomas, sentenced sen-tenced to 6 to 18 months in prison and fined $10,000 for salary sal-ary kick-backs in his congressional congres-sional office, is shown as he started for the Danbury, Conn., federal prison to begin serving sentence. BUDGET: How Much? While President Truman sunned himself at Key West, Fla., posing for newsmen, busying himself with affairs of state even though on vacation, American taxpayers were particularly interested in the visit paid him by John Snyder, secretary sec-retary of the treasury. THE REASON, of course, was the forthcoming budget message which the President was preparing prepar-ing to deliver to congress. Until that time, no U.S. taxpayer would know just what the administration had in mind concerning taxes. Everyone knew that the President Presi-dent had publicly stated he would need some 12 billion dollars more in revenue if the budget were to be balanced, but everyone knew, too, that there were many senators and representatives who would not go along with any such proposal. propo-sal. It couid also be regarded as significant or not that there had been no recent declaration from the President concerning taxation or any need for tax increase. WHETHER THAT MEANT the President was prepared to recede from his original tax proposals was purely a matter of speculation-but speculation-but such a course was probable, inasmuch as some of the President's Presi-dent's cabinet members had been saying publicly that a reduction in taxes, or holding them at the present pres-ent federal level would be good for U.S. business and the nation's economy. econ-omy. And, as a rule, cabinet members don't comment on such controversial controver-sial subjects until their remarks have been cleared previously with the White House. Henry Wallace didn't follow that procedure and now he's an ex-cabinet member. INJUSTICE: Charged to Census Twenty-three Republican con gressmen wouldn't be alone in their attack on that phase of the 1950 census which will require every fifth person over 14 years of age to disclose all the facts about his income. The Republicans banded together in a blast of criticism at the census cen-sus bureau's planned procedure in an action following attacks earlier by Representative Brown of Ohio and Hinshaw of California upon the bureau's 1950 questionnaire. THAT CRITICISM charged that the "Truman administration is perpetrating an outrageous discrimination dis-crimination against small-income people . . ." Brown had demanded of Philip M. Hauser, acting director of the census, that he cite "legal authority" author-ity" for the income questions. He charged that such inquiries are unlawful. In the meantime, a spokesman for the census bureau told newsmen news-men that "only a few" of the citizens citi-zens asked the income question are expected to object to it. ' He explained that those who decline to give the enumerator the information infor-mation personally would be permitted per-mitted to mail it to the bureau in Washington. The Republican critics' view was: "IF A PERSON earns more than $10,000, all he has to do is say so, without giving the amount, and the census taker is satisfied. But for all people earning under $10,000, the questionnaire stands as written writ-ten . . . This is a raw injustice." As an added basis for its position, posi-tion, the census bureau stated the figures about income will be confidential, con-fidential, not even open to tax collectors col-lectors or the FBI. That being the case, what good will the figures do anyone and why does the census cen-sus bureau insist on having them? Ax Man had fallen of its goals, there was no argument that the housing shortage had eased somewhat and it appeared that congress might find it relatively easy to abandon all rent curbs when the present "home rule" act expires. But In view of what had happened hap-pened In some isolated areas in rental charges, congress might leave the way open for restoration of controls wherever landlords displayed dis-played a tendency to gouge tenants. ten-ants. PUBLIC AID: Cost Enormous In a country as powerful and prosperous as the United States it seemed an ironical paradox, but the record showed it to be true more than five million Americans were receiving public assistance of some form or other, and at a cost of two billion dollars a year to the taxpayers. JOHN L. THURSTON, acting security administrator, cited those figures at the opening of a 10-day congressional inquiry into the problems of the nation's low-Income low-Income families. Thurston explained ex-plained that the federal government govern-ment provides about half of the two billion dollar annual outlay for public aid, with the other half coming from state and local community com-munity funds. Thurston, himself, saw the contradiction con-tradiction in the situation as he indicated when he said: "This seems to some people an astonishing phenomenon, considering consider-ing the fact that we have had full, or practically full, employment for the past seven or eight years." HE SOUGHT to clarify the situation, situa-tion, however, when he added: "It Is not at all astonishing, however, in relation to the large ECONOMY: Over a Barrel More than 500 national leaders, talking of the need of economy in operation of the federal government, govern-ment, may have felt themselves more over the barrel than around it when they met for a "cracker barrel" discussion of the problem. It was a real cracker barrel, bearing the legend "citizens' committee com-mittee for the Hoover report," set up amid the handsome appointments appoint-ments of Washington's Shoreham hotel. DELEGATES HEARD Herbert Hoover, chairman of the committee commit-tee appointed to study means of stream lining the government, praise the accomplishments of his commission and of the committee now seeking to get the commission's commis-sion's proposals adopted. After pointing out that federal expenditure of more than 43 billion bil-lion dollars and a deficit of more than five billion have been announced an-nounced for the current fiscal year, he declared: "I believe it may be much greater great-er In the next fiscal year. We may be turning two Frankensteins loose in the land. Their terrifying names are 'higher taxes' and 'inflation.' " HOOVER POINTED OUT that six months have passed since the commission he headed finished its reports on congress, and on economics eco-nomics and improvements in the executive branch, and, in the meantime, the "recommendations have had a magnificent support by the press and public." All of which was true. The rub seemed to be in getting congress and the President to go all the way suggested by the Hoover commission com-mission in effecting more government govern-ment economy and efficiency. number of families with no earner, or a low-income earner, and in view of inadequacies of our social Insurance program." Then Thurston used the occasion to get in a few licks for President Truman's "Fair Deal" program, contending that its enactment would help provide "better living" for low-income families. WAR VETS: More Benefits Slated for delivery after January Jan-uary 1 were increases in benefits for disabled U.S. war veterans, dependents and widows. The veterans vet-erans administration reported that 'checks of some two million recipients recip-ients were about to be increased. THE LARGEST GROUPS to receive re-ceive increases, the V.A. said, included in-cluded nearly two million veterans veter-ans with service-connected disabilities dis-abilities from 10 to 100 per cent. This group includes World War I and II veterans disabled in service ser-vice and other veterans disabled in peacetime service since July 15. 1903. The old rates of payment range from $13.80 to $138 a month for war service, and from $11.04 to $110.40 for peacetime service. THE NEW RATES are 8.7 per cent higher respectively, $15 to $150 and $12 to $120. About 5S.000 widows receiving compensation because of the service-connected death of a veteran and who have one or more children chil-dren also will get increases. LABORITES: Ousted by Aussies For the second time within 11 days proponents of socialism in the British commonwealth had been ousted by the voters. Advocates Advo-cates of free enterprise threw out Australia's Labor government, an action which paralleled the election elec-tion verdict in New Zealand. WERE THESE IMPORTANT portents or did they signify nothing? noth-ing? If one chose to place the events alongside the current difficulties dif-ficulties experienced by the British Brit-ish Labor government, and attempt at-tempt to evaluate them correctly, the answer would be that socialism social-ism appeared to be on its way out in the British commonwealth. On the other hand, the foes of the free enterprise system everywhere, every-where, would doggedly stand on Labor's claimed progress over the years, and attempt to take the stand that those voting out were doing so simply because they did not know what was best for themselves. them-selves. ROBERT GORDON MENZIES. Australian Liberal leader who will now be restored to the prime ministry min-istry he held from 1939 to 1941, called the turn in an earlier comment com-ment on the Australian situation: "The Socialists were brought to power in New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain in that order. The dramatic (New Zealand) result re-sult seems a happy omen that they will go out in the same order." Mayor-elect Andrew J. , "Bossy" Gillis, of Newbury-port, Newbury-port, Mass., sharpened up the ax which he said will fall on the necks of a lot of jobholders job-holders after he takes over again at city hall. He landed back in office in a surprise victory. BRITISH DOCTOR: Change of Heart Dr. E. F. St. John Lyburn had made no bones about how put out he was about England's socialized health program. The first British dector to announce publicly he would operate it, he was also the first to announce he was going to quit it. But the doctor changed his mind. He's returning to the program. But, he said, there was a reason. His patients asked him. |
