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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 1938)
SEEN and HEAR) around the v, NATIONAL CAPITAL! By Carter Field % FAMOUS WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT Washington—Most New Dealers are predicting a revival of the wages and hours legislation bill sometime this winter or spring, and in a form in keeping with the Roose velt objectives. But at the moment it is very difficult to see how this is going to be done. f The difficulties are not technical— actually the new bill would start out with an enormous advantage so far as parliamentary procedure is concerned. But the trouble is to find some formula for government control of wages and hours, or rath er government banning of too small wages and too long hours, on which enough members of the house could agree to obtain a majority. The majority which was apparent for the bill just a few weeks back, and which forced the bill out of the rules committee pigeonhole, was fic titious. It was a simple log-rolling proposition, under which a num ber of enthusiastic farm relief ad vocates traded their signatures to the discharge petition, plus the promise of their votes, in order to prevent a bloc movement of the Northern wages and hours advo cates against their farm bill. Just before the coalition was made it appeared that both bills were doomed. The Southern mem bers, through their strength >n the rules committee, had been able to pigeonhole the wage-hour bill at the preceding regular session. This was the surprise of the legislative year, but what really fooled every one was that this strength persist ed. So it looked as though the bill would stay pigeonholed. Weakness of the farm bill forced the coalition, and then it looked as though both bills were sure of passage, though neither was strong enough to stand alone. There’t the Rub With that strange episode now history, the new picture is: How can the men who want a wages and hours bill agree on something strong enough to stand alone? No compromise so far has been reached on any of the important difficulties. For example, who is to administer the law. William Green and his friends in the Amer ican Federation of Labor do not trust the idea of a board. They fear that President Roosevelt would appoint another group as friendly to C. I. O. as they think the n~*.ioi*a! labor re lations board is. Neither the A. F. of L. nor the C. I. O. is enthusiastic about entrusting administration to the Department of Labor. But there enters another compli cation. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins is distinctly unpopular on Capitol Hill. There are quite a few members of the house who would not vote for any bill, on final passage, which gave Secretary Perkins this added power. Partic ularly bitter in this group are a few Southerners who still resent an un fortunate remark the secretary made in her first year in office, to the broad general effect that a big ger market for shoes could be built up for Northern factories if so many people in the South would stop go ing barefoot! But for eleven months, or until the congressional election of 1938. this wage-hour bill will continue to have a tremendous technical advan tage. It has passed the senate. That passage holds until the pres ent congress dies. Nothing changes between sessions. So it is not a question ever of beating a filibus ter. It is merely a question of writ ing a bill which 218 members of the house and 49 senators would rather vote for than against. The Case of Jimmie There has been a lot of joshing about President Roosevelt's training up his elder son to take his place. “My Little Boy Jimmie,” as the President introduced him back in 1932 from the rear platform of his campaign train, has steadily been moving into the public eye ever since. In that campaign Jimmy was used as a mouthpiece for a great many things which “Papa” did not want to say at the time. For example, he predicted the speedi ness with which beer would return if his father should be elected. Then it was James who en tangled his father with James M. Curley, then mayor of Boston and one of Jimmie's very good custom ers in the insurance business. It looked for several years as though this alliance of Curley and young Roosevelt were going to march down through the years. It ap peared as though Curley would step from the governor’s chair, when he got tired of that office, into the senate, and that James would be come governor of the Bay state. This idea of James Roosevelt's running for governor of Massachu setts still persists. It would be a logical stepping stone. Friends in sist that Jimmie would like it very much. Mear while the objectionable alliance with Curley has been ter minated. The split between the Roosevelts and Curley became, ap , parently, irreconcilable when the President, during a campaign swing through the Bay state in the closing days of the 1936 campaign, failed to mention Curley's name, though Curley was on the Democratic ticket with the President, and was at th* time governor of the state. As to Curley It is impossible ever to estimate the extent of the eifect of any par ticular thing in politics. There are too many complications. But en thusiastic Roosevelt fans believe Curley would have been elected had the President supported him with anything like the ardor that Curley had shown for F. D. R. in 1932, or since. And naturally, while the Cur ley following does not go this far, it is extremely bitter over the “in gratitude.” Which is very interesting, because Jimmie brought Curley into his fa ther’s campaign in 1932, sat in with Curley on Massachusetts patronage —to the great indignation of the two Democratic senators, David I. Walsh and Marcus A. Coolidge—and then is generally suspected of being the cause, though he had not in tended to be, of the split! For there are many who think that the prime reason for bringing Jimmie to Wash ington was not to train him up for the presidency later on, helpful as this training might be, but to get him out of the trouble his father feared he was getting into in Mas sachusetts. And part of this trouble was his association with Curley. It was suspected by some of the Presi dent’s advisers that Curley had made it appear too easy to Jimmie to capitalize political friendships in writing insurance. Especially, as for some reason there is less attempt to camouflage that sort of thing in Massachusetts than in some other states. But there is little doubt as to what is going on right now. The President is putting more and morp power into Jimmie’s hands. Farley vs. LaGuardia Friends of James A. Farley are telling the big politician that he can easily be elected governor of New York in November even if the Re publicans should nominate Fiorello H. LaGuardia. Incidentally their arguments ure rather interesting in view of the thumping majority that LaGuardia piled up in the recent New York mayoralty election. Time is one of the important ele ments. They insist that when the gubernatorial election is held La Guardia will still have three more years to serve as mayor under the term to which he was elected last month. Yet the term he may be seeking as governor would be for only two years. So many of the New York City voters who thought he made a good mayor in his last term, and who voted for him to have four more years rather than to turn the city over to the Democratic bosses, will think it would be poor strategy for them to help send him to Albany. It is also contended that scores of thousands of New Yorkers who thought LaGuardia should be con tinued as mayor would oppose the idea of the mayor becoming Presi dent of the United States. On this point the illustration of Alfred E. Smith is used. Smith was elected governor in 1918, was beaten in the Harding landslide of 1920, came back in 1922, weathered the Coolidge 1924 Republican landslide comfort ably, and was re-elected triumphant ly in 1926. Yet more than 100.000 New Yorkers who had voted for him for governor at his lowest ebbs, and several times that number who had voted for him in his good years, refused to vote for him for President It should be borne in mind here that in 1922 Smith was at the flood-tide of his strength. Other Angles Which would seem ample proof that plenty of people will vote for a good public servant for some of fices, but will not necessarily sup port the same man for President. There is another angle, involving Tammany, which is not so well un derstood in the country as it is in New York City. Tammany, at the recent mayoralty election, was sulk ing. It had been beaten in the pri mary Control of the Democratic party in New York city had been taken over by the outlying bosses, those of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx. Many Tammany leaders were sore—were not at all dis pleased with seeing the men who had ousted them from control take a licking from LaGuardia. Farley is a master compromiser and pacifier. His friends do not doubt that the full strength of all the Democratic organisations in the greater city would be thrown behind him in a gubernatorial race. Also, Farley has never relaxed his grip on the upstate New York Democrat ic organization. He built that or ganization in the period from 1928 on. It could be depended on to do its utmost for him. But there are a good many upstate Republican leaders who would not want to aid LaGuardia in his presi dential ambitions. They would not be averse to see Farley polishing him off, and thus clearing the way to the nomination of “their kind" of Republican. Copyright.—WNU Service. Pumping Water for Irrigation in Inner China. Four Great Chinese Cities On the Yangtze and Han Rivers Prepared by National Geographic Society. Washington. D. C.-WNU Service. F THE four Chinese cities to which the gov ernment of the re public moved due to the pressure of the Sino-Japa nese conflict, Hankow stands out as the city of most impor tance. Because of its excel lent communications with Canton and Hong Kong, many of the important gov ernment activities were moved to this inland port. Hankow lies about 600 miles up the Yangtze. The city proper sprawls over a wide area of the north bank of the river where the Han pours its muddy torrent. Across the Han lies Hanyang, and across the mile-wide Yangtze, Wu chang. The latter city is older than Hankow for it was flourishing when Hankow was a mere fishing hamlet. Both Hanyang and Wuchange are now a part of "Greater Hankow” with more than a million and a half inhabitants. Hankow’s harbor seethes with ac tivity. Ungainly junks move about the water manned by expert river men nearly as easily as,modern giants of the sea in our busy sea ports. They range from craft with rotten hulks and gaping holes above the water line to huge high-pooped craft, adorned with brightly painted carvings and plates that make them look like floating circus wag ons. Small matting-covered sampans dart here and there by the muscle power of perspiring coolies whose families fill the air along the shore with the singsong chatter of the Ori ent. It is estimated that 25,000 native boats ply in and out of Han kow and its sister cities. Mean while modern steamboats from low er Yangtze points come and go on schedule. The Hankow Bund Looks Occidental. The Hankow Bund, stretching along the Yangtze for two miles, is disconcerting to the traveler seek ing purely Chinese panoramas. Trees shade the wide boulevard while the landward side is flanked by modern banks and business build ings that are not unlike those of New York, London, Paris and Ber lin. Beyond the Bund, upstream, the roofs of concrete warehouses fc;m a portion of the city’s skyline. Here hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of cotton, silk, tea, wood oil, beans and many other products of a vast area of China served by the Yangtze and Han usually are stored, awaiting shipment. Beyond the warehouses begin the foreign concessions. The British concession, oldest of all, was estab lished in 1861 when Hankow was opened to foreign trade. Then, in order, came the Russian, the French and the old German conces sions, each marked by wide streets and modern residences and shops. There are several electric light and power stations in the city. A native city in the background also seethes with commercial ac tivity to the tune of noises that strain the visitor’s eardrums. Some of the narrow lanes are paved with flagstone while others are mere ruts. Nevertheless, they are the playgrounds of thousands of chil dren, and the busy streets of a city which has been called the "Hub of the Universe.” To the foreigner, the pedestrians in their loose-fitting clothing resem ble pajama-clad citizens on parade, but the wearers are by no means ready to retire. Business in Han know is almost a religion, and nearly every man seen on the street has to do with the enormous amount of commerce that flows through and past the port If a traveler knows the advertis ing code in Hankow, he can locate any type of business by reading the shapes and colors of the shop signs which project over the narrow thor oughfares For instance, gold plat ers use salmon-colored boards with bright green characters. Druggists' boards are gilded. Black, gold, red. and green are thp predominating colors. On each sign is a motto and whan a store changes hands. the sign is valued somewhat the same as American “good will.” Important governmental depart ments also were moved to Changsha and Chungking. Fireworks of Changsha. Changsha is a city of fireworks, literally and figuratively. The Fourth of July firecrackers used by the American small bey before the “Safe and Sane Fourth” was so widely enforced were imported heavily from Changsha. It is the capital of the hilly prov ince of Hunan, important because it contains enormous coal fields, many’ unworked, and because in il, to the north of Changsha, is the huge lake, Tung-ting hu, which acts as a res ervoir for the Yangtze floods. Among Changsha’s most interest ing sights are the wheelbarrows that climb stairs. Some distance ahead of the regulation wheel there is an other smaller one. In climbing over flagstone steps or bridges, the han dles of the wheelbarrow are lowered until the auxiliary wheel rises above the next higher step. Then the wheelbarrow, which often carries 300 or 400 pounds, see-saws from wheel to wheel until the next level stretch of the flagstones is attained. Changsha is closely linked with New Haven, Conn., for there is, just outside the rapidly disappearing wall, in which the inhabitants once took great pride, one of the best known mission Schools in China, which is Yale's contribution to the education of the Chinese. A large part of Hunan is an un worked field of anthracite and bi tuminous coal and at Pinghsiang, which is connected with Cbangsha by railroad, there is one of the mines wtm.ii turutsnrs iuei ior me great iron works at Hanyang. With about 500.000 inhabitants, Changsha rules a province of 22 million and is one of the cleanest cities in China. Many of the streets are long and straight and at on* time the city itself was divided be tween two magistracies. The ba zaars are full of life and interest, some of the candies being famous for miles around. Chungking a Busy Port. Chungking is a busy river port lying about 1,500 miles upstream from the mouth of the Yangtze riv er. It is the chief port and point of entry for the rich province of Szech wan, said to contain the natural re sources of an empire. The far-reaching trade of Szech way is conducted entirely by river craft from Chungking, whose popu lation of half a million is crowded into a small triangle formed by the junction of the Kialing river with the Yangtze. Fields at the back of the city, mak ing the third side of the triangle, have gradually become entirely filed with graves of countless gen erations. This has resulted in hope lessly enclosing the great port of Chungking upon its rocky promon tory between the two rivers, and making its expansion impossible, an cestral graves having heretofore been considered inviolable. Through the centuries the city has increased in population, but with out expansion of territory, until overcrowding has almost passed be lief. The city being built on a rock, there is no possibility of prop er drainage, so that Chungking ranks high in odors, even among Chinese communities. Many Valuable Exports. However, enormous wealth is hid den away behind Chungking’s rath er dismal exterior. The products of an empire have passed through her gates for centuries, rare and valuable goods destined for the mar kets of the world. These include some of the most sought-after prod ucts of modern commerce, so val uable as to be worth transporting 1,500 miles to the mouth of the Yangtze and thence half round the earth. Among Chungking’s exports are musk from the glands of Tib etan antelopes, widely used in per fume making, and wood oil, pressed from the seeds of the fruit of a tree, valuable in the manufacture of varnish. Chungking's hog bris tles are famous among brush man ufacturers the world over and she exports an insect wax used in the preparation of medicines. • ~2kwv\hd about Magazine Solicitors. Houston, tex.—what has become of all the struggling collegians, rang ing in age up to fifty-five, who used to solicit magazine sub scriptions so they could spend another semester at dear old Bushwah? We counted that day lost whose low descending sun didn't find us signing on the dot ted line. And some times we got the wrong magazines and sometimes we didn't get any mag azines at all and once in awhile we got the magazines we'd ordered and then didn’t like them. But our consola- — tioi. was that we’d |rvin g, Cobb aided all those ear nest undergraduates to complete the education for which they panted as the hart panteth after the water brook. Can it be that the gallant army packed the campuses until vast numbers got crushed in the jam? Or is it that many of them are getting too old to travel around? Lately there has been an unaccount able falling-off in the business. We are bearing up bravely, since now we have more time in which to lead our own lives. P. S.—I have on hand a complete file for 1935 of the Northwestern Bee Raiser which I would like to trade for a ukulele. • • • Matriarchy’s Approach. SOME inspired philosopher—and not a woman either—declares that within a century women will dominate every imaginable field of human endeavor. What do you mean, within a cen tury? If the prophet will leave out the ancient science of growing chin whiskers and the knack of making a sleeping car washroom look like a hurrah’s nest I’m saying that wom en are already away out in front everywhere. Since Henry the Eighth, the two greatest kings England had were both queens—Elizabeth and Victo ria. Men thought up war and im proved the art of war and now arp hoping to perfect it to the point of exterminating the species, but 'twas in the midst of bloody warfares that Florence Nightingale laid the foundations and Clara Barton built the structure of mercy by method and life-saving by skill and tender ness and sanitation. Take this country at the present moment: for energy, for readiness of speech, for range of interest, for versatility in making publicity and, incidentally, acquiring it, for endur ance under strain, what man amongst us is to be compared with the first lady of the language, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt? * * » Banishing Sectionalism. ON ONE stretch of road down here—and it is not a main-trav eled highway and this not exactly the tourist season—I saw cars bear ing license tags of nine separate states, ranging from New Hamp shire and Florida to Utah and Ore gon, besides one from Hawaii and one from Puerto Rico. And next summer Texas cars will be boring into every corner of this Union and the folks riding in them will be getting acquainted with their fellow countrymen and finding out that, when you know the other fellow, he’s not so different, after all. Like most evil things, sectional ism and parochial prejudices and with Vermont neighbor to Virginia and the Dakotas talking it over with the Carolinas, there’s seed being sown which inevitably must sprout a finer yield of Americanism than any our land ever produced—if only we keep the tares of communism and the chaff of snobbery out of the crop, only make patriotic service a thing of elbow-grease and not of lip-movements. What price, then, the wearers of ] the black shirts and the white sheets; the parlor pinks, the yellow internationalists and the red flag wavers? » • • Freedom of the Press. DICTATORS invariably cancel freedom of the press and curb freedom of education. Otherwise, they fail. Although he uttered the words over 250 years ago, Governor Berke ley of Virginia spoke for all the breed of political tyrants when he 1 said: “I thank God there are no free schools, nor printing, for learn ing has brought disobedience and heresy into the world, and printing has divulged them.” Foulness in drama or literature, like a skunk penned under a barrel, eventually destroys itself by just naturally choking to death on its own smell. Control of the newest medium of publicity, the radio, is easy. But information put in type keeps on traveling. No people ever stayed free once the press—and the school teacher— had been muzzled. IRVIN S. COBB Copyright.—WNU Service. - 0P> SEW 4*"" Ruth Wyeth Spears Making; a Chintz Bed Spread With Corded Seams. \X/OULD you like to make a ** chintz bedspread to match your curtains? Of course, such a spread must have seams in it, for most chintzes are only 36 inches wide, while the average double bed is about 54 inches wide. But seams need not detract from the beauty of the spread. Eleven and a half yards of 36 inch-wide chintz will make this spread and pillow cover for a "Quotations" -A It it some commendation that we have avoided to characterize any person without long experience.— Swift. A wise man sees as much as he ought, not as much as he can.— Montaigne. Love is but another name ' >r that inscrutable presence by which the soul is connected with humanity.— W. G. Simms. Delay is cowardice and doubt despair.— Whitehead. The generous heart should scorn a pleasure which gives others pain.— Thompson. Either I will And a way, or 1 will make one.—Sir Philip Sidney. double bed. In the diagrams at the right I have given the dimen sions for cutting these for a 54 inch-wide bed. It is best to cut the center portions first; then cut the 18-inch side sections for the pillow cover; then the 10-inch strips for pillow cover and spread. This leaves a long 26-inch-wide strip for the side ruffles of the spread. Cable cord for the corded seama may be purchased at notion coun ters. Prepared bias trimming may be used for the cord covering. Baste the covering over the cord, as shown here at A; then place the covered cord in the seam, as shown, and stitch as at B, using the cording foot of your machine. 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, I Illinois. USE ... the BEST BUY in TIRE CHAINS Check these * 4 Points: yl, WEED American Bar A S Reinforcements stop for ward, backward and side W skids. Twice the metal to wear through. h .. >3. Made of “WEEDAL AS LOY”—the tough, wear er resisting metal especially " developed for making WEED Tire Chains. 3. Side chains welded and case-hardened to take the punishment from curbs and ruts. 4. Patented Lever-Lock End Hook simplifies put ting on and taking off chains. • Get Your Money’s Worth Insist on the Genuine! AMERICAN CHAIN & CABLE COMPANY, INC. Bridgeport, Connecticut 'IfOKA. Safety l icensed to manufacture and sell Bar-Reinforced Tire cnaina under i mtea rwee ana <uanmaimn letters Patent: American Chain A Cable Company. Inc.: The MoKay Company . The Hodell Chalu Company Pyrene Manufacturing Company: Dominion Chain Company, Limited; and Pyrene Manufacturing Company of Canada, Limited.