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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 1937)
SEENand HEARD around the y, NATIONAL CAPITAL! By Carter Field FAMOUS WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT j Washington.— Sen. William Gibbs McAdoo is having plenty of trouble trying to drum up support for his bill which would exempt American coastwise ships from payment of Panama canal tolls. In the first place, the Treasury department is opposed to the plan, because it does not want to give up the revenue. The Treasury is having enough trouble with congress be cause that body wants to cut taxes in various directions, and is very reluctant to impose any new ones to replace them. But that is only port of the opposi tion. There are still a good many senators and representatives who remember when Mr. McAdoo was lobbying on this Panama canal tolls question, but lobbying on the other side! One of the first big fights of Wood row Wilson was to repeal the ex emption of American coastwise ships from these tolls. President Wilson held first that the exemption violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the Hay-Pauncefoote treaty with Great Britain. But he also held that this granting of exemption to our coastwise shipping was bad eco nomics. So bitter did the fight become, in volving all the then very strong anti British feeling in this country, that It left scars which were still ugly when Wilson entered on his last fight—to ram the Versailles treaty through the senate. So high did feel ing run that on at least one occasion only the bulk of Sen. Henry F’. Ash hurst of Arizona, thrust suddenly between two quarreling senators, prevented fisticuffs right on the sen ate floor. Resented Opposition Wilson, to the day of his death, never forgave any senator or rep resentative who opposed him on this Panama canul tolls Issue. He never made any allowance for political expediency. F'or instance, it was clear at the time that no senator from any of the Pacific coast states could go along with him and hope to survive at the next election. Yet Wilson never forgave Sen. George E. Chamberlain of Oregon, nor Sen. Francis G. Newlands of Nevada, for voting as their own states demand ed. He was the more convinced of the rightness of his cause because most of the Republicans on the sen ate foreign relations committee, in cluding Elihu Root and Theodore E. Burton, went along with him. He was the more sensitive because the platform on which he had been elected, barely a year before the fight started, pledged the Democrat ic party specifically to continuance of this canal tolls exemption. The Issue has never quite died. The platform on which Warren G. Harding was elected in 1020 prom ised that the exemption would be restored, though no move to carry out this promise was ever made. Opponents of the exemption point out that it would apply only to coast wise ships, never to overseas ship ping. As coastwise shipping is barred to foreign ships, there is no question involved of encouraging American shipping except on the possibility that the exemption would permit the coast to coast ships to haul some freight which now goes by rail. This last argument rouses no enthusiasm in the administration today because of the eagerness to do everything possible to help the railroads in order to stimulate buy ing by the railroads. But Mr. McAdoo is now a senator from California, and hence sees the problem through California glasses. Whereas his devotion to Woodrow Wilson is no greater than when he I wirelessed from a liner his pair against senate upproval of the World court, another Wilson issue. Anti-Lynching Bill Pressure for the anti-lynching bill is not based purely on humanitarian ' motives, nor is it just politics. Simi I larly, resistance to the measure is • not based purely on the idea that I only this form of brutal lawlessness . is the proper preventative for cer tain types of crime. Underneath the surface there is a real struggle of far-reaching extent, which has nothing to do with lynch i ing, per se. nor even with the crime u situation. To the South the proposal, which _ has been a constant threat for 30 years, is but another form of the so called force bill back toward the r end of.the last century. The force ‘bill would have put supervision of elections in the individual states in the hands of the federal govern ment. Southerners were sure that lit would mean federal troops at their polling places on election day, >8for the ostensible purpose of mak- I "~ing it possible for every negro to ' **vote, and with the concealed pur- j JJpose, they feared, of providing Re- | publican majorities by bayonets. The South beat the force bill by a mfilibuster, lead by Sen. Arthur Pue | ^Gorman of Maryland. The proposal was never seriously made again. * Most of the agitation for the anti jjjjynching bill, which originated in the ftepublican party (Rep t*onidas C. Dyer, St. Louis Republican, was the tDonsor of the bill for many ses sions) comes from politicians anx ious to curry favor with the Negro voters in their districts or states. Whether it really pays dividends in votes is a moot question. Actually Mr. Dyer was almost defeated by a negro Democratic opponent de spite his prominence in this cause. And the Republican negro, Oscar De Priest, was defeated by a Demo cratic negro in Chicago, who still holds the seat. To Cut State Powers But interested also in the drive are a group which believes the best j interests of the country will be served by extending federal powers and decreasing state powers. This group has a splendid object lesson for its argument in the activities of the G-men. They point to the achievements of these federal men. and to the gains made in the war on automobile thefts since transporting a stolen car across a state line would bring the federal detective agencies into play. There is a good deal to be said on both sides, but the fact remains that while the South is still strongly Democratic, and follows the New Deal in somewhat laggardly fash ion because of its party regularity, it is still unconvinced on the old states' rights issue. It wants to re tain state rights and powers, though of course it wants its full share, and a little bit more if it can get it, of federal spending. So the South views the anti-lynch ing bill with suspicion. Many of the Southerners fighting it in the senate and house would be tickled to death to have G-men go after th<» leaders of lynching mobs—if they were sure it would stop right there. This does not mean that there are not some Southerners remaining who believe lynching is occasionally necessary. Strange Maneuver A pork-barrel log-rolling hill in reverse is the strange mnneuver which—just possibly—may send the present congress down in history as upsetting every tradition of political legislative bodies. The possibility of such an extraor dinary proceeding is occasioned by the tremendous public demand for revamping the tax legislation, so that a green light may be given business and the return of prosper ity. It is complicated by the fact that for every dollar of lightened tax burden on the corporations an other dollar must be imposed in some other form of taxation—unless that dollar is saved by restricted spending. Prediction expert Emil Hurja said to Aome friends a few weeks Lack that congress would surprise every body by simply refusing to grant the administration appropriations of anything like the volume of the last few years. The former ace lieuten ant of James A. Farley was greeted ] with smiles when he made this as- j sertion. The smiles may still have been justified, but there is begin ning to be a possibility that con gress will actually do a Job of budg et slashing which will bring very deep pain to Harry L. Hopkins and Harold L. Ickes, to mention Just two of the officials most in danger j from the pruning knife. Sen. Put Harrison, chairman of I the senate finance committee, I shocked his colleagues considerably the other day by stating that if the strong senate bloc advocating repeal of the undistributed corporation earnings tax succeeded it would be necessary either to impose a sales tax or go after incomes so small that they are now exempt. Harrison hastened to add that he had always opposed a sales tax and still did. His main point was that! it might be possible to modify, but not to repeal the undistributed earn ings tax. For the same reason— that the Treasury could not spare the revenue—he opposed repeal of the capital stock tax. Needs the Money The point is that the Treasury not only needs all existing revenue, it needs more if the budget is to be balanced. Whereas politics as well as consideration for the small in come families mukes taxing them any more highly objectionable, es pecially if the tax is to be direct so that they can see it. Which confronts congress with the only alternative, as its leaders now view the situation—to cut ex penditures to the bone. This would be all very well if it were not that each individual sena tor and representative wants to keep the money flowing from the Treas ury to his particular state or dis trict. That is the traditional basis for log-rolling. Senator A wants an appropriation for his state, but to get it he has to agree to vote for similar appropriations for the states of Senators B, C and D. Other wise these senators would not vote for his appropriation. So that the only way expenditures can really be cut effectively is for this process to be reversed—for Senator A to say to his colleagues: "I will agree to cut the appropria tions for my state if you will agree to cut them in yours.” C Bell Syndicate. — WNU Service. N Berlin’s Sidewalk Cafes Are Popular. Prepared bv National Geographic Society, Washington. D. C.-WNU Service. HE baffling element of Berlin’s character is its extreme simplicity. One anticipates complexities which do not exist. The city is as unaffected and logical as the language spoken by its inhabitants. Before one can begin to compre hend what makes Berlin tick, preconceived ideas of capitals must be cast a,"tide. Gradually, out of the confused outlines of the vast mass, emerges a recognizable pat tern. Behold the anomaly of an urban agglomeration with a total popula tion of some 4,220,000, a city which can boast one of the most highly perfected transportation systems in the world, with every convenience contributed by science, and yet which contains within its limits the following: Twenty thousand cows (providing a third of the milk supply), 30,000 pigs, 10,000 goats, 700(000 chickens, 180,000 rabbits, 5,800 people keep ing bees, only three or four build ings that you can find as much as ten stories high, twelve windmills still functioning, and more than 100, 000 little gardens, the harvests of which include such imposing yearly figures as 46,000 tons of potatoes and proportionate quantities of other vegetables and grains. Such items would appear fantas tic to the dweller on narrow, rock ribbed Manhattan. The Schreber Gartens. These little "Schreber Gartens” afford city workers easily accessible contact with the land which is so dear to the German heart; they pro mote bodily fitness through exer cise, and minimize food cost. Beside each garden is a neat little house for storing equipment. Here centers the odd-hour and week-end life of a substantial number of fam ilies. During times of crisis, these wee shelters have even housed many who would otherwise have been roofless. The so-called “Schreber Garten" movement, which has spread to most cities of Germany, was found ed in 1864 by a philanthropist who named it in honor of Schreber, a famous physician of that day. The land is owned in some cases by the city, in others by the state, and is furnished to its users (together with implements and seed) at a nominal price. Trees and rivers, more rivers and more trees. Therein lies Berlin’s greatest hold on the hearts of its dwellers. The two rivers, Havel and Spree (pronounced “Shpray"), with their eccentric twistings and turnings, form a network of waterways which makes it possible to reach many parts of the city by water. These small streams and their tributaries, connected by canals with the Elbe and the Oder, give communication for transport of freight by steamer and barge to the farthest corners of the land. Berlin has, except for Duisburg, the largest shipping tonnage of any inland city of Germany. More than live million tons of goods arrived at the port in 1935 and 1,300,000 tons were dispatched. Through the watery lanes, under gracefully arched bridges—of which < Berlin has 1,006, even more than Venice itself!—glide along wooden barges, heavy-laden carriers of coal, building materials, petroleum, i and an infinite variety of other prod ! ucts. Large numbers of fruit barges come in from the provinces, bring ing apples, pears, and peaches in their holds. In some cases these loads are marketed directly from the barges, which find mooring at advantageous points within the j town. Berliners Love Trees. The banks of the rivers are plant ed densely with trees. Rows of lin dens or plane trees line the majority of the streets. The public parks are standing armies of trees in close formation, through which cut beguil | ing avenues and paths. The most numerous membei of the tree family is the linden. Also in large numbers are found most of our familiar American trees, such as maple, elm, horse chestnut (much beloved by the German), oak, acacia, poplar and birch. A census of trees standing in streets and squares alone—entirely exclusive of the parks—totals hall a million. The Berliner’s love of trees is so deep that in many cases, where city appropriations have not pro vided the necessary funds, private citizens have paid for the planting of their own streets. Venerable, and in many cases un beautiful, landmarks of a bygone day are being sacrificed to the de mands of traffic. Scaffoldings clamber over the facades of many old buildings which do not have to suffer demolition but are going through a much-need ed face-lifting operation. The town hall, a mammoth red-brick struc ture, has recently emerged, rubi cund and a bit garish, from an all-over bath performed by steam and cleansing acids. Many Old Buildings Saved. Where possible, worthwhile old buildings are being preserved. The march of time has not yet intruded on the neighborhood of the Nikolai church, where one comes across such architectural oddities as the Knoblauch Haus—literally “Garlic House”—with its vivacious rococo exterior, and its pretentious con temporary, the Ephraim house. One learns from the archives of the Markisches museum that this latter was built by one Veitel Eph raim, an enterprising racketeer of Frederick the Great’s time. He aided an embarrassed state and likewise amassed his own fortune by coining debased “thalers,” nick named "Ephraimites,” which he struck from copper with only an onion-skin thickness of silver sur face. The most striking change ob served in the physical aspect of the city is that on Unter den Linden. This wide avenue, because of build ing the new subway, has been de nuded of its famous shade trees. Their roots were too deeply sunk in tradition and earth to make their lot tenable when the human moles began their burrowing. These dignified patriarchs were carefully dug up and placed in other more hospitable locations. Their place has been taken by a quad ruple row of fresh little upstarts. Shockingly callow and insufficient they look. It was Dorothea, wife of the Great Elector, who caused the wide boule vard to be laid out, and who her self planted the first linden tree in 1681. Perhaps it would have been only fair for her generation to name the avenue for the electress instead of for the tree she planted How ever, they made amends by giving her name to the street which paral lels Unter den Linden one block north. In 1690 an ordinance was passed by the Elector Frederick III forbid ding the burghers of the neighbor hood to allow their hogs to root around on the public street, as they were injuring the trees! Changes in Latter Day9. Berlin did not escape the west ward-pushing urge which has pos sessed continents, countries and cities. Oldsters of today tell of open fields and woodlands in western areas where now stretch illimitable acres of concrete streets and business blocks. The inexorable thrust of building enterprise has encircled lakes and linked once widely sep arated communities into an urban entity In the galloping twenties of the postwar period came the realization of the realtor’s dream of a Berlin Broadway—“Berlin in Light.” The Kurfuersten-Damm sowed its wild oats in the lurid early day of jazz, but has now settled down to a smug, bourgeois middle age. The Emperor William Memorial church (built as a monument to Kaiser William the First and his wife, Kaiserin Augusta), which forms the root of the West Berlin section, is as out of place amid its surrounding cafes, restaurants, and movie palaces as Trinity church is in the hubbub of lower Broadway. Neon signs make a vivid imprint on the night aspect of the city. Step gayly up the Kurfuersten-Damm or Friederich-Strasse at any time aft er dark and you will find yourself wooed by the variegated, pulsing effulgence of a host of dance halls, ball houses and cabarets. Haus Vaterland on the Potsdamer Platz, twelve years after its much advertised construction, is popular with travelers. They flock in of evenings—visitors from abroad and from the provinces of Germany. Overweight Children By DR. JAMES W. BARTON @ Bell Syndicate.—WNU Service. INHERE was a time when the fatter the baby the healthier he was supposed to be, and prize winning babies were always the very plump kind. However when physicians and nurses were appointed as judges, very fat babies were no longer prize winners. A very fat baby often means a very fat child, and a very fat child means that there . Dr. Barton will not be mucn play, or exercise, and the eating of all kinds of food at all hours of the day. In addition to this overweight the youngster may have a protruding abdo men which makes him or her appear even heavier, much to its own and its parents’ embarrass ment. It is true that in a number of these cases there may be some gland de fect—thyroid in the neck, pituitary lying on the floor of the skull—and it is only fair to these youngsters that this point be considered in the treatment to reduce weight. Dr. P. Mallam, in 'Clinical Jour nal, London, states that he is “convinced that dieting is the key note to treatment in almost all cases of obesity (overweight) in children, but before prescribing a system of diet a careful family history and knowledge of conditions under which the child is being reared must be obtained. Obesity beginning in childhood often gives rise to en docrine (ductless gland) trouble later on, and when a strong ten dency to obesity is found in the fam ily, one would always be prepared to face a more difficult task than when there is not this family ten dency. But even where there is the family tendency to overweight a cure, permanent and complete, . can be obtained in the majority of cases by simple measures.” Fluids Make Weight. Dr. Mallam doesn’t hesitate to point out that fluids—water, tea, milk—are really weight produc ing foods, and must be watched as “the question of fluid intake is of con siderable importance. If these chil dren are instructed to drink early in the morning and then try not to drink at all during the day, this is often a great help in reducing weight.” Appetite is largely a question of satisfying the feeling of hunger, and these children must be schooled to eat slowly. Salt and sugar should be cut down to the lowest possible amount. Many children appear even fatter than they are because of protruding abdomen, sway back, round shoul ders, or other defects in posture, therefore exercises to develop the abdominal muscles—trying to touch the toes with knees kept straight— and exercises to take the bend or “sway” out of the small of the back—hanging on rings or a hori zontal bar—should be given under competent instruction and in a class if possible. For a while, at least, the use of an abdominal support or belt is ad vised by Dr. Mallam, as there is no doubt that if the youngster is thus supported he will play longer and so grow stronger. If a child loses weight consistent ly under treatment (as this is his growing age) the treatment is be ing overdone. If one treats an over weight child of ten years and at twelve the child weighs the same, one should realize that a great deal has been achieved. Insulin Shock. One of the recent “cures” that is being discussed favorably and un favorably by the medical profes sion is the “insulin cure for de mentia praecox”—the persistent dream state; the condition in which the patient has worked out a system of living that satisfies him but which renders him unfit to earn a living or take his place in family or business life. The treatment consists in giving the patient a “shock” by injecting insulin, after which many patients have apparently become normal in mind. The results in some of the cases reported have been "amaz ing.” However, as this ailment causes much unhappiness in families be cause it often affects “the brightest and the best” it would be greatly re gretted if the report of this treat ment brought false hopes to many. For this reason, a warning to pa tients. families, and physicians is given in a recent editorial of the Journal of the American Medical Association: “It is hoped and may prove to be a fact, that the so-called insulin i shock treatment for dementia prae cox will find a useful place among the forms of treatment, but its exact value has not yet been determined and it can be definitely stated that it is not by any means a cure for all cases of dementia praecox.” HCWTo SEW Ruth Wyeth Spears Make This Attractive Ottoman. GET a wooden box from the gro cer. It should be about as long as the width of the chair with which the ottoman is to be used. The depth of the sides should be four inches as shown here at A. The legs should be made of two by two’s or you may have a set of nicely turned legs from an old-fa ble or other piece of furniture that may be cut down to the right length. Fasten in place with long screws through the corners of the box as shown here at B. About half a bat of cotton will be needed. Put five or six layers of the cotton on the top, cutting the first layer about four inches smaller all around than the top of the box. Place it in the center. Cut the next layer a little bigger and the others still bigger until the last one is the same size as the top. Now, cut a layer of cotton to go ov^r the top and down over Jlsk Me Another 0 A General Quiz 1. What is the only walled city in America? 2. Why is the sky blue? 3. What land lies closest to 0 de grees latitude and 0 degrees longi tude? 4. What was Aaron Burr’s con spiracy supposed to have been? 5. What harbor has two tides a day? 6. What is the length of the long est pipe line in the world? 7. Name a few authors who had to wait a long time for financial success. 8. How long a line would it take to go over the Great Pyramid, reaching the earth on each side? 9. What is the proper name for the salad made of sliced or chopped cabage? — Answers 1. Quebec. 2. Because the particles of dust in the upper atmosphere reflect only the blue waves of light. 3. The British Gold Coast col ony is nearest. 4. To form a new empire in the Southwest out of Mexican or Lou isiana territory. 5. The harbor of Southampton, England. 6. The longest pipe line was re cently built under Americaa di rection across Asia Minor, and ex tends for a distance of 1,150 miles. 7. Joseph Conrad wrote for 20 years before he sold a book. In the first nine years of George Ber nard Shaw’s literary endeavor, he realized about $30. A. A. Milne earned about $100 the first year he spent as a full-time author. 8. A line stretched over the slop ing sides and over the top, from earth to earth, would measure 1,186.4 feet, with 36 feet resting on the flat top. 9. Coleslaw, from cole, an old name for cabbage. the ends as at C and another to go over the top and down the sides as at D. Cut a piece of heavy muslin to fasten tightly over the cotton. Cut the corners of the muslin as at E. Sew with heavy thread as at F and then tack as at G. To make the cover, stretch the top tightly over the muslin and sew it along the sides through the mus lin, then make a straight four-inch band to go all around and add the ruffle to it. Every Homemaker should have a copy of Mrs. Spears’ new book, SEWING. Forty-eight pages of step-by-step directions for making slipcovers and dressing tables; restoring and upholstering chairs, couches; making curtains for ev ery type of room and purpose. Making lampshades, rugs, otto mans and other useful articles for the home. Readers wishing a copy should send name and address, enclosing 25 cents, to Mrs. Spears, 210 South Desplaines St., Chicago, Illinois. Take it to any radio dealer! SeeV the new 1938 farm radios. Choose the radio you like best, and ask your dealer how you can save $7.50 on the purchase of a new battery radio equipped with a genuine Win charger. Wincharger turns FREE WIND POWER into electricity, brings "big-city" reception to farm homes. Elimi 6-VOLT FREE POWER From the WIND RUNS VOUR RAOIO nates ' B batteries. Ends expensive re charging. Provides plenty of free electricity to run your radio as much as you want for less than 50c a year power operating a*t. See Any Radio Dealer! Two Kinds of Debts I pay debts of honor—not honor able debts.—Reynolds. Gives, Easier, Quicker Ironing A gift that brings the joy of j better, easier ironing in a third less time over old methods! Heats j itself. Easily regulated. Operates with ordinary untreated gasoline for V6c an hour or less. Glides over clothes with little ' effort. Genuine instant lighting. Hand some blue porcelain enameled body matches J cool blue handle. See this ideal work-saving gift for Mother or Sister at your dealer's, j FREE FOLDERS—Send a postcard now I THE COLEMAN LAMP AND STOVE CO. ‘ Dept.(A/U-322,Wichita. Kans.; Chicago. IN.; , Philadelphia, Pa.; Lot Angeles, Calif (7322) J Are Women Better ! Shoppers than Men I GRANTING a woman’s reputation for wise buying, let’s trace the methods by which she has earned it Where does she find out about the advantages and details of electrical refrigeration?What tells her how to keep the whole household clean — rugs, floors, bathroom tiling — and have energy left over for golf and parties? How does she learn about new and delicious entrees and desserts that surprise and delight her family? Where does she discover those subtleties of dress and make-up that a man appreciates but never understands? Why, she reads the advertisements She is a consistent, thought ful reader of advertisements, because she has found that she can believe them and profit thereby. Overlooking the advertisements would be depriving herself of data continuously useful in her job of Purchasing Agent to the Family. For that matter, watch a wise man buy a car or a suit or an insur ance policy. Not a bad shopper himself! He reads advertisements, too!