WHO’S
NEWS
THIS
WEEK
By LEMUEL F. PARTON
(Consolidated YeatUSa* WHU Service )
NH cw YORK Although the an
swer* to the famous Inquiry of
Pontius Pilate aren't all In yet, w*
assign a man to discover and tell
us what Is truth
Dr. James P. Hauler III, presi
dent of Williams college, takes on j
this office,1
Tie Said, ’Truth t„r Col, WU
May Lie at the l,*m «*• ,,on'
Bottom o, a Weir JR,.Hi
defense Information His job will be
to screen out from the mine-run of
world information the dubious,
tricky or deceptive Items of propa
ganda or distortion and deliver to
the President and the state depart
ment the chemically pure raw ma
terial for policy-making. This "fact-1
Alter" appears to be news In world
Statecraft
In the midst of a long address
which Dr. Master delivered In 1038
was the following pertinent utter
ance, foreshadowing hla new under
taking
"The first element of defense
la truth, Inculcation of the seal
to get at the truth, no matter
what the coat of time and effort,
characterises real education."
la It poss'ble that this led Colonel
Donovan to his truth-seeker? In the
above address and on several later
occasions, Dr, Baxter denounced
"defeatism," and has been a spirit
ed advocate of a "militant demo
cratic faith," which would not wait
until it was enslaved before fighting
back.
After hla graduation from Wll
llama college In 1014, Mr. Bax
ter tried Wall direct for two
yeara, w4th the Industrial Fi
nance corporation, and then re
turned to Wllllama and Harvard
for master's and doctor'a de
grees. He taught history at Col
orado college and Harvnrd and
became president of Wllllama In
1037. With him on the new trulh
filtcrtng board are six other pro
fessors, all skilled researcher*
In lha entomology of the propa
ganda hug. They have a* an
unofficial precedent the exten
sive researches of the Institute
for Propaganda Analyata.
Theodore roosevklt would
have approved highly of hit fel
low townsman of Oyster Hay, Col.
Van Santfoord Merle Smith, Just
now arriving
Alway a Somethin’ it Sydney,
SfirriV Wherever Australia, as
- Mtrlt-Smith Got* ££*£
val attache. He is tall, handsome
and physically impressive, always
looking for action.
At Princeton, young Mrrte
Kmtih “hit the line hard," as a
hack held fool hall alar; hr waa
a hetl-for-lcalhrr cavalry ottlccr
■n the Mexican border, and In
the World war, he mixed In the
fighting wherever he could find
an opening, waa wounded three
timea and waa awarded the Ilia
Ungutahed Service Croat; he had
a fling at atatecraft, at The
Hague and tn our state depart
ment; he engaged In the rough
and-tumble of Wall Street, win
ning every turn!, and aa a
yachlaman could make more out
of a bat full of wind than any
body on the lan| Island shore.
All In all his career would mako
T. R. flash a couple of octaves of
teeth and yell “Bully!"
He Is the son of the late Dr. Wil
ton Merle-Smith, who was pastor of
the Brick Church of New York, and
has long been active as one of the
leading Presbyterian laymen. After
hts graduation from Princeton In
1911, he took his law degree at Har
vard in 1914. He was a member of
the American secretariat at the
Paris peace conference, and in 1920
was appointed third assistant secre
tary of slate.
For several years after 1935. his
yaehl Seven Seas, was showing her
heels to competing craft, but more
recently Colonel Merle-Smith hss
been shore-bound by ill health.
He practiced law with a distin
guished New York Arm. in the Im
mediate post-war year*, and entered
the Investment banking field about
a decade ago. He ts now a member
of the advisory committee of the
New York Trust company.
Colonel Merle-Smith in all proba
bility will And action even in the
Australian navy.
GEN 30RGK^JB1C0 Is named
by a “constitutional congress"
for his tenth consecutive term as
president of Guatemala, his incum
bency to continue until imt>
He was Aral elected for a one-year
term, survived two revolutions, and
then set aside the constitutional lim
itation against more titan one term.
He is hard-boiled and diligent, bril
liantly educated and strongly pro
Uniled Slates He is startlingly like
Napoleon tn appearance, w-.th a hair
cut like the little corporal's, under
studying Napoleon in attitudes, dress
I
WASMINOTON.-Don’t underesti
mate anything that can be twisted
Into a "moral Issue" in figuring
what will happen politically. It hap
pens so often In our legislatures and
In congress and too often in the di
rection of Injustice, that one some
times wonder* why the framers of
our Constitution, who seemed to
have prepared against most of the
other difficulties Into which we have
run, did not protect us against this!
Latest example is the surrender
of the house of representatives to
the senate on practically everything
of Importance in the revenue bill in
exchange—for what? A victory on
a comparatively unimportant Issue,
but which could be classified under
the "moral" category.
The senate, on the advice of some
disinterested tax experts, had pro
vided that when a couple la sepa
rated, and the man Is paying ali
mony to his wife, that alimony can
be deducted from his total income
in computing the tax Another phase
of the provision provided that the
alimony should he considered as In
come by the wife, would huve to be
reported just ns though It were In
come from Investments, or salary,
and a tax paid on It If It were suf
ficiently large after the deductions.
Immediately there was a hue and
cry from certain quarters—it was
branded In a "handout" sent to all
newspaper men In Washington as
well as members of congress as "en
couraging divorce."
Just how anyone could figure that
men and women would break up
happy homes in order to save the
difference between one bracket and
another on part of their lnoome is
difficult for the writer to Imagine
but that ia what this "handout" in
timated.
It's a Mystery
It happened several years ago,
when the writer's attention was di
rected to this by a friend, that it
seemed possible that the original
motive underlying this wording of
the law (for It Is the letter of the
law, and not treasury department
regulations) would make an inter
esting article. The writer talked to
Senator Pat Harrison, of Mississip
pi, then chairman of the senate
finance committee, which handles
all tax legislation, to treasury offi
cials and others. No one could re
member what had been behind the
original wording. No one defended It.
Certainly no church had ever ad
vocated it No church In this coun
try forbids separation. It is only
against remarriage that the RELI
GIOUS objection applies. And it is
not the remarried divorced man who
is so hard hit. He can claim the full
deduction of a married man because
he Is living with his new wife. He
can also claim 1400 deduction for his
ex-wife as a dependent, believe it or
not. She Is no longer his wife, and
hcnco does not come within the pro
hibition In the law.
Yet the house yielded on nearly
everything else in controversy, in
order to preserve this absurdity I
• • •
Small Croup Control*
U. S. Movie Interest*
The weakness of the movie inter
ests under attack by isolationist sen
ators is not due to their being guilty
of the charge of making pro-war
propaganda, pictures—assuming for
the sake of argument that they are
guilty- but because it is so easy to
show that a small group of men has
the power to say what films shall
be shown the American public.
If it were not for this—if it were
not for the well-known fact that an
independent theater owner has no
chance to buck any one of the big
movie Interests—the charge that a
small group of producers, ''animat
ed by the persecutions end hatreds
of the Old world," is injecting pro
war propaganda Into American
films, on which Senators Gerald P.
Nye and Bennett Clark rely, would
be merely a laugh to the country.
Seriously, on this point, does any
one really believe that the big movie
producers would turn out propagan
da films if they lost money on them
—if they were sure in advance that
they would lose money?
John T. Flynn, tn his argument
before the committee against the
j movie producers, provided food for
thought along this line He attached
the "glorification" of the affair be
I tween Lord Nelson and Lady Hamil
ton tn "That Hamilton Woman."
Several comments could be made
on that. In the first place many
people who pay admissions to mov
ies love to see any film which re
volves around an illicit love affair
between any bygone persons of suffi
cient Unpo«ance. There may have
been such a movie which d>d no*
,yield a fat profit to its producers
and the individual theater owners,
but if so it has eseaped the notice
of this writer. And one doubts
whether John T. Flynn could re
j member it.
RAZOR BLADES _
• UK TOUK DEALER roR THE •
OUTSTANDING BLADE VALUE
@KENT 'Z-u.tl
frctt: BLADES rex
“TAKING THE COUNTRY RV STORM”
KNOWN FROM COAST TO COAST
• cumn company , at. *■©«*», **. •
Naturally Human
A man la aimple when hia chief
care la the wish to be what he ought
to be, that ia honeatly and natural
ly human.—Charles Wagner.
-
Coal Was Used in the Bronze Age
■ -- —'I.
The popular legend la that coal
was discovered by Joseph of Ari
mathea who, near Glastonbury In
A. D. 67, found a black lump and
took it to the monastery where It
was thought to be a stone and
thrown on the fire. It became
known as "seacoles,” and was
first used generally as fuel in 1228.
It is now established that coal
was used in Great Britain much
AND WHAT YOU AS A CAR OWNER AND A
I1OYAI1 AMERICAN CAN DO ABOUT IT
Jjf - if
Among the strategic raw materials so vital
to national defense, rubber is one of the most
indispensable.
Airplanes, scout cars, tanks and trucks — as
well as thousands of vehicles necessary for
transportation in defense industries — reauirc
tires, tubes, and hundreds of other products
made from rubber.
And while no other nation in the world has
such vast natural resources as the United States,
all of our rubber must be imported across thousands
of milts of ocean.
Map showing routes that rubber travels to the U. S.
With world conditions as they are today, we
must face the growing possibility that this
Country may be cut off from its principal sources
of rubber supply.
Realizing the dangers of a single source of
supply, Harvey S. Firestone be^an years ago the
development of a huge million-acre tract of
land in Liberia for growing rubber. Today, an
over-increasing amount of higbest-auality rubber is
being shipped to Firestone from these plantations.
At present, this country has on hand or in
transit only enough crude rubber and finished
products to last 13 months at present rate of
consumption.
< omt\t risen of rubber supply on hand ami amount
needed for one year at present rate of consumption.
Every month part of the rubber imported is
used by the government to build up a reserve.
The remainder is allotted to the rubber companies
who must FIRST manufacture products needed
for defense. They then use the rest to make the
thousands of rubber products needed by
automobile and other manufacturers and by the
public.
Neu’ Firestone synthetic rubber factory
Fully aware of these
serious conditions.
Firestone has taken
tnany steps to conserve
and increase America’s
supply of rubber. In
cooperation with the
government. Firestone
is now building another
factory for the
manufacture of synthetic
rubber. This will greatly
increase present capacity.
A_I ^ ^
• ircstone scientists and
engineers recently
developed the new wear
resisting Vitsmic rubber
compou'ui, which enables
car owners to get much
greater mileage from
their tires and thus save
more rubber.
HOW EVERY CAR OWNER CAN HELP
CONSERVE RUBBER
'Today’s conditions stand as a challenge to
the loyalty and patriotism of American motorists.
Here are a few common-sense rules of tire
care which will save millions of pounds of
rubber annually for your country — and save
money Jor you.
UNDERINFLATED TIRES WASTE RUBBER
Look at this chart
—■ if a. tire with m a* a. a*
3/v _ __ _ J _ _ C Prtwurt Promt* Prosurt Proturt
0 pounds ot
recommended air
pressure is run at
25 pounds, 32% of
normal mileage is
sacrificed! Save
money and save
rubber by having
your tires checked
every week.
SPEED WASTES
RUBBER
Chart shows
excessive speed is
the greatest thief of
tire mileage. An
increase in speed of
50% may mean a
50% increase in the
cost of operating your
car.
QUICK STARTS AND SUDDEN STOPS
ARE COSTLY
In quick getaways, wheels ^
spin against the pavement, ^
wasting rubber. Sudden stops ^
cause your wheels to slide.
Save rubber by starting and stopping slowly.
CHECK WHEEL ALIGNMENT AND HAVE
BRAKES BALANCED
A wheel only J^-inch out ofline
is dragged sideways 87 feet per
mile, scraping off tread rubber.
Unbalanced brakes are equally
wasteful of tire mileage. Save rubber by bavtng
your wheel alignment and brakes checked regularly.
CHANGE TIRES FROM WHEEL TO WHEEL
EVERY 5,000 MILES
The diagram at the
right shows how the tires
on your car should be
changed from one wheel
to another every 5,000
miles. Ibis plan oj inter-cbangmg tires saves
rubber by eliminating uneven tire u car.
SAVES YOUR TIRES ... SAVES YOUR CAR
SAVES YOUR MONEY!
In every community there is a Firestone Dealer
or Store that will gladly perform these services
without one cent oj cost to you.
INSPECT YOUR TIRES AND CHECK THEM
FOR CORRECT INFLATION
Your tires will De properly
inflated free at any time. Nails,
glass or other objects are
removed from the tread. Breaks i
in the tire body are located so
that they may be repaired before damage occurs.
These simple precautions increase tire mileage.
TEST YOUR BRAKES WITH THE MOST
ACCURATE MACHINES
Balanced brakes prolong tire
life. Firestone electric brake
machines scientifically balance
each wheel. Your Firestone
Dealer or Store will gladly test
your brakes jree.
CHECK YOUR WHEEL ALIGNMENT WITH
MOST MODERN EQUIPMENT
Pigeon-toed wheels that
waste so much rubber and ^
gasoline can be quickly
aligned. Your car should be (U
checked regularly for®
alignment — another jree
Firestone Service.
INSPECT AND TEST YOUR BATTERY
lour firestone ueaier or
k Store will gladly test the battery
* free upon request. And their
f efficient equipment will tell the
exact condition of each cell so
that you may avoid annoying
road delays.
TEST YOUR SPARK PLUGS
Unless your spark plugs have
full firing power they waste
gasoline. Your motor will fire
unevenly and cause increased
wear on running parts. Have
your Firestone Dealer or Store
test your plugs every 4,000
miles. There is no charge!
I WHEN YOU NEED NEW TIRES
i • . . IT’S ALWAYS GOOD
JUDGMENT TO BUY THE BEST
One of the most effective ways to save rubber —
I and at the same time save money and save precious
human lives — is to equip your present tires with
Firestone Life Protectors, the new-type tubes that
out-uear three sets of ordinary tubes.
With Firestone Life Protectors on your car you j
can drive your present tires safely thousands of (
extra miles without fear of blowouts, because
these tubes make a blowout as harmless as a slow leak.
And after your present tires are worn out, replace
them with the safest, longest-wearing tires that
money can buy — the new Safti-Sured Firestone
DeLuxe Champion Tires — the only tires made that
are safety-proved on the speedway for your protection
\ on the highway.
Von are imiiftl to linen to the Voice of Firestone witk Richard Crooks* Margaret Speaks and the Firestom
Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Alfred Wallenstein, Monday evenings, over N. B. C. Red Set work
SAVE RUBBER BY
RETREADING YOUR
SMOOTH,WORN TIRES
If your smooth tire has
a safe body, a rugged,
tough, long-wearing,
non-skid Firestone
New-Tread can be
applied at amazingly
low cost, which will give
up to 80% of the mileage
built into the original
tread. This is one of the
best u ays to save rubber.
GET THIS BOOK FREE
It will help save rtbber for
defease aad money tor yoa
Join in the campaign
to conserve rubber for
defense. Get your copy of
this new FREE booklet
at your nearby Firestone
Dealer or Store or from
The Firestone Tire &
Rubber Company, Akron,
Ohio.
