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About The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19?? | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 1935)
WAWAViVAVAV/AN '.V.'.V.V.Vi'iV.'.Wt'i’.'.V.'iV.'.WiViWAWAVWi'.VAW.VAVAV. . . . EDITORIALS . . . V.V.V.V.V.V.V.'.V.V^VHMV.'AVAV.V.V.V.’.V.V.V.VA'AV.VAVWAVAV^/WASW. The Omaha Guide Published every Saturday at 3418-20 Grant St., Omaha, Neb. Phone WEbeter 1750 Entered as Second Class Matter March 15, 1927 at the Post Office at Omaha. Neb., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. Terms of Subscription $2.00 per year Race prejudice must go- The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man must pre vail These are the only principles which will stand the acid test of good citizenship in time of peace, war and death. Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday, SEPTEMBER 7, 1935 THE RURAL PRESS T! IERE are some 15,500 newspapers and period icals published in this eountry. The greatest proportion of them axe small-town weeklies, dailies, and semi-weeklies, and magazines whose principal appeal is to the rural dweller. The importance, the influence, and the worth of these publications can hardly be exaggerated They are, as the San Francisco Arginaut has writ ten, “the chief influence in the thought habits of our rural population of fifty-four million.' And the character of their comment, both in news and editorial departments, well repays those who peruse them. As a resu’t, the recent contest held by the mag azine “Country Home” to pick the best country newspaper correspondent in the United States, was of much more importance and interest than con tests usually are. The winner, a wroman, lives in a Missouri town which has a population of twenty sevfen, and is fifteen miles from the nearest rail road. For forty-four years she has been local cor respondent for a rural paper in her county. Urban editors, on reading excerpts from her correspondence, have been amazed by its quality. It does not deal wuth crimes and misdemeanors Instead it tells of the crops, the trials, tribulations and achievements of farm people who rarely make the metropolitan headlines, but who, happily, are more numerous and more vital to nation than our gangsters, our political and business renegades, and our ex-show'-girl divorces. Most interesting of all, this woman’s corres pondents. Winners of lesser prizes in the contest show* the same qualities*—the same command of clear and vivid English. The country newspaper, little known as it is to the city dweller, is one of' the finest, most permanent, and most deservedly successful influences in our American life. Last, but not least, it is the outstanding guardian of the nation in upholding our Constituiont and American ideals. UNIROFM DRIVING LAWS ARE NEEDED i"V\'E of the greatest barriers to fair and efficient ^ enforcement of traffic laws is the lack of uni formity in the traffic codes of different states and towns As one traffic authority recently pointed out, when he drives from one state to another, he doesn't hove to stop and change his nickels, dimes and dollars into other and different kinds of money; but, if hie wishes to operate his ear in accord with the law, he must at onee revise his driving habits. He leaves a state where the maximum speed allow ed is 40—and then must remember that now he must hold his ear down to 30. He has been accus tomed to traffic lights and signs placed on eoraers —now they are overhead in. the middle of streets w'hiere he is liable to mins seeing them entirely. Suppose that motor car manufacturers pursued the same practices as many cities and states. Sup pose a man who had been driving the Smith car -wanted to trade it in for thie newJon.es model, and discovered that it had a different kind of trans mission, required a different kind of fuel, and pre sented major points of difierenee in othr respects. Such a policy would be no more absurd than is the existing policy of our governmental units in adopt ing traffic codes that are utterly at variance with those of a town or state 10 miles away. The Uniform Vericies Code and Model Muni cipal Ordinance, prepared by traffic experts, could and should be adopted by ■every town and city. This o t ... n, ^ give the motorist a break—it would immensely expedite the efficiency of our police and traffic patrol departments, and make an im portant contribution to the cause of highway safety. THE FALLACY OF “SELF-INSURANCE" /"\N DECEMBER 1, 1934. a school in Fitchburg. ^ Massachusetts .was deluged by fire The loss was $500.(K)0—and it was not covered by in surance. (>n January 29. 1935. fire claimed a Chicago hieh school valife dat 250.000. Again the building was uninsured. Less than a month later, a Detroit high sehool v as burned with a loss of $1,000.000—none of w hich was covered by insurance. On February 8, the State Arsenal at Spring field, Illinois, burned. Loss was $500.000—and there was no insurance. On April 25. the 65-year-old Oregon State Cap ; itol was almost totally destroyed by fire. The buiid ! mg cost $700,000, and its contents were valued at $800,000, making a total loss of $1,500,000. The ; building was “protected” by a state insurance fund —wbieh contained $140,000 at the time of the dis aster. These are just a few of the many public struc tures that have been destroyed by fire in recent | years—and which, being uninsured, represented j total loss to the taxpayers. In the best of times, i a drain of a million dollars on the taxpayers of a city or state to restore a destroyed building, is a burden—in depressed times, w*hen every dollar of tax revenue? should be used for new productive purposes, it becomes doubly unfortunate. The belief that a governmental unit can save money through “seif-insuranae” is an old and per sistent fallacy. In the bulk of instances, insurance could have been carried during the life of destroyed buildings for a fraction of what was njevessary to replace them. Self-insurance saved the taxpay ers a penny—while it wasted a pound The tragic example of tlae many uninsured pub lic buildings which, have been ravaged by fire, will not be wasted if it causes other communities and states to think—and then take the proper acion. 1-100 OF 1 PER CENT By E. Hcrfer. IT IS reliably estimated that the public utility in 1 dustry spent approximately $1,500,000 in efforts to present its side of the holding company issue to the publie and to government officials. It has been subjected to a vicious political attack for spending this “vast som”. The public utility industry’s total investment is. in round figures, $15,000,000,000. In other words, its $1,500,000 expenditure amounted to just one one-hundredth of one per cent of the industry’s value! The money was spent in the hope that if the people and congress were given facts one of our greatest and most progressive industries might be saved from uncalled for injury. contrary to what the politicians <|Laim. the $1,500,000 did no come out of the pockets of rate payers, but out of the pockets of stockholders. L nder the American system of state regulation of utility operating companies, they are permitted to earn only a limited and definite profit above the expenses of carrying on their business. That profit, when they are able to earn it, belongs to the owners of the property. If it is spent for some other pur pose than dividends, the consumer is not affected at all. The politicians have likewise said that spend ing $1,500,0000 by utility managements amounted to misappropriation of stockholders’ money. The number of utility stockholders in existence is re ported to be in the neighborhood of five million_ and if the $1,500,000 had been divided among them, each one wool dhave received an average of about cents'. Not very much to defend a $15,000,000,000 business. It would appear that utility managements did nor spend too much in combatting the punitive bill that faced them—there is a question whether thev spent enough Is it fair to eritize a man for spending oi^e one hundredth of one per cent of thewr»rth of his pro perty to keep it from being crippled bv legislative fiat ? SEDITION BILL BEFORE HOUSE Opposition V oiced By Many Groups QN AUG! ST 13 the Kramer Sedition Bill (HR 6427) was favorably voted onto the floor of the House of Representatives by the House Judic iary Committee. If passed, this bill would multiply the number of political prisoners in the country and it would also be used as a strikebreaking weapon, it has been indicated by observers of the application of state sedition bills in the past. The text o the Bill. “BE IT EXACTED .... That any person who knowingly makes any state ment orally or in writing which advocates or urges the overthrow of the Government of the United States, or of any State or Territory, by force or ' iolencve. or by assassination of the Executive head or any other official of sueh Government, or other unlawtul means, and any person who knowinglv prints, ublishes, issues, edits, circulates, sell, dis . ributes. or diplay in public any written matter con taining any sueh statement, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both. Sec. 2. As used in this Act, the term “person” includes an individual, partnership, association, or corporation.” Requests to defeat the bill have been sent bv groups including the International Labor Defense. ; American Civil Liberties Union, and the National ; Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners. Many members of Congress have already expressed disapproval of the bill. ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS Happenings That Affect the Dinner Pails, Dividend Creeks and Tax Bills of Every Individual. Na tional and International Problems inseparable from Local Welfare. _<v()n_ One of the most dramatie aets of the late Congress oeenred, en tirely unepeetedlj as far as the eneral public was concerned, just before the session passed into his tory. This act was the passage of the so-called “neutrality plan/’ pro posed by the White House, orig inated by the Senate, and forced through the House by Administra tion leaders under a gag rule which forbade any foreed amend ments and limited debate to the absolute minimum. Reason for this unprecedented occurence does not require a mic roscope to discover. Everyone knows that Europe is closer to a major war than at any time since 1914. The American State Depart ment doubtless has a much better idea of how close wras is than any other domestic agency—it is a possibility that inside Secretary Hull's handsome, impassive, white thatched head there is knowledge that, if disclosed, would make headlines throughout the country. And, with the memory of the “in cidents'' that brought America into the World foreign poliev, seems determined to keep ns out of future conflicts if that is at all possible. High spots of the neutrality plan include: Prohibition of the export of arms and amunition to any for eign belligerent until February 29, 1936 (by that time another Congress will be in sesst m, and will be able to cope with chan e< conditions.) Prohibition of the use of Amer ican vessels in arms traffic until February 29, 1936. Establishment of a strict iieens n gsystem for American muni tions manufacturers and expoit ers. Authorization fo rthc President !o require or entirely close ter i tciiai American waters to the sub marines of bciigerents Authorization for th? President to forbid American citizens to travel abroad during war except at their own risk, unless such traveling is made necessary in order to escape a zone of conflict. It is an interesting fact that the neutrality bill passed both Houses by close to unanimous votes—vet a number of Congress men, including some who voted for it, are dubious. Senator John son. oldtime advocate of U. S. iso lation, said it would not prevent our gettin ginto war .And a few voices .including that of Senator Wadsworh, potential Republican Presidential candidate, spoke up a.amst the principle it represents, on the grounds that small, perse cuted nations will be harmed by the policy, while big, aggressive nations will not. For example. Italy could get by without pur chasing arms abroad—while clos ing of foreign buying to Ethiopia, which has no industrial resources that might be turned to munitions production, would make it impos sible for her to defend herself in the event of war However, editorial response to the plan has been highly favor ably—papers which oppose the President in most of his policies are for him when he attempts to keep us out of the pending Europ ean super-war. The provision whereby Americans traveling on snips belonging to belligerents must do so at their own risk is perhaps the most important single part of the bill—remember the JLUsitania! The last Congress was unusual ly spoken of as lethargic, slow moving ,dead on its feet. But. with September approaching and Congressmen anxious to get home in order to pay attention to their political fences, the closing days witnessed an amazing burst of activity. Passed was the banking bill— in its final form it represents a compromise between the Admin istration and such conservatives as Senator Glass. Government will control the banks—but the adminiaterini board will appar-1 ently be as non-politieal as pos- ’ sible. Passed was the 250.000,000 “soak-the-hieh” tax bill, much in' the form first asked by the Pres ident. Passed was the bitterly debated l tiiity Holding Company bill. The “death sentence" clause is out. though there is considerable difference of opinion as to what the bill really provides. Some say it gives the government the power to put holding eampanies out of business if it wants to— others say it simply provides strait-jacket regulation. Still in the air is the burning question of the bill’s constitutionalitv. Passed was the bill setting up a "little XRA" for the bituminous coal industry—a measure whose constitutionality seems more than doubtful Passed was a measure giving the federal iovernment control control over liquor, made neces sary by the Supreme Court ’a abol ition of the old NBA. Passed was a bill placing a ban against gold-damage suits after January 1st. Passed was a bill to provide interstate compacts to restrict crude oil production. THE PEOPLE REVTLT AGAINST DEBT Signs indicate that the Ameri can people are at last awakening to the danger to tax-creating, property-confiscating bond issues. A few- weeks Ao a special elec tion wa sheld in Rhode Inland, in which the voters w'ere called upon to pass on a number of proposals for building public wtorks, and carrying on other activities in the name of relief. In spite of the facts that pansage of all the bills would have increased the state s bonded indebtedness by about 54) per cent, the “dope”! had it that the measures, with their political backing, would pass. The “dope” missed. Rhode Is land citizens voted down ail but one of the measures, by heavy majorities. The measure that passed provided for direct relief for the needy, and w-as designed to achieve the necessary purpose at a minimum of cost—without saddlin gthe taxpayers with un necessary and expensive public works. A short time laier the voters of California met a similar crisis at the polls. Several measures which would have put that already debt ridden state farther into debt, were on the ballbt. An aw'akened citizenry swung the axe—and when the votes w-ere counted the measures had taken hearty lick mgs It is to be hoped that these el ections, in widely separated states, are symbolic of the national trend of thought. The most menacing governmental ventures of recent years have been those whieh have piled debt upon debt, put govern ment into competition with pri vate business, increased taxes, weakened state credit and creat-| ed industrial fear. This course has made it next to impossible to \ impossible to create normal jobs Decause private industry, sole source of productive employment, is afraid to take chances in the face of eonfiseatory taxation, leg islation and regulation. We are drawing capital into tax-free fed eral bonds where its chief bene fits aecrue to our growing bur eaucracy, not to the people of the needy. Follow- Rhode Island and Calif ornia in defeating debt-creating oo nd issues. —oOo— LIGHT FOE NOTHING! An industrial publication re cently printed a letter from a man who had been thinking about his electric bill—long a burning topic where the politicians gather. This man had run across one of his ol dstatements. He found that, seventeen years before, he had paid a monthly bill of $6.58 for 92 kilowatt hours—while now he pays only 27 cents for more than 180 kilowatt hours. Doing some further figuring, he discovered that he was getting current for his lights, vaeuum Statistics prove that Americans are drinking less whiskey than they did prior to 1917. Tree. They have less money to pay for it at double the price was prior to 1917. cleaner, radio and refrigerator for what he had formerly paid for L&ht alone. He then estimated that he was getting the current for at! these appliances for what he had form erly paid for ice alone—so, in effect, his lighting was costing him nothing! Throughout the nation this ex perience has been duplicated to a greater or lesser degree. While the politicians have been crying about the high cost of power (in stead of about rapidly increasing taxes for which rapidly increasing able.) the private electric indus try has been steadily cutting the bill. It has increased economies in operation, and passed them on to the consumer It has broadened its field of service, thus cutting the unit eost of doing business. It has stimulated use of electric appliances—thus increasing the load, and again making a dent in the rate level. The politicians talk while pri vate enterprise does things. That always seems to be the case. Pol ities provides non-productive rhe torical fireworks, while ordinary, ambitions eitizens pave the way for real achievement. EDUCATION FOR THT FARMERS OF TOMORROW The satisfactory solution of many agricultural problems, in the opinion of Dean Chris L. Christensen of the College of Ag riculture, University of Wiscon sin. will be greatly advanced by better education for farm youth. Any sound curriculum of study must be built around social and cultural, as well as vocational in terests. The young farmer must be taught nutritional chemistry, bacteriology, farm mechanics and engineering, forestry, the hand ling of farm insects and pests. And he must be taught, as well, the importance and methods of cooperation activity, whieh is the greatest social, as well as eco nomic factor in the lift of the mod ern American farmer. The farmer's reliance on cooper ative organizations Dean Chris tensen believes, will steadily in crease in the future. These organ izations. when well-managed and supported, have proven their worth—they have passed the relm of theory. They have brought business technique to agriculture —and doing that, in many eases, has wrought order out of chaos. The youth of the farm is its great hope for the future—and soundly-conceived programs, de signed to educate boys and girls in all the problems they will face as time passes, will immeasurably brighten the long-pull outlook for agriculture. —oO©— CUTTING THE FOOD BUDGET The price of pork and pork pro ducts recently returned to the 1929 high levels. Other fasic- food products are climbing the same ladder, with the result that the cost of living is daily becoming more of a problem to the average American family. As prices thus advance, the need for food distributing methods that eliminate handling charges be tween producer and consumer, be comes constantly more evident. This same problem faced the con sumer in the early twenties and eaused the creation of the large scale food buying and selling or ganizations which have done such valuable work, not only in reduc ing the cost of maintaining the consumer's dinner-table, but in benefiting the producer. In this connection, it is well to remember that the producer of farm products, the farmer, like wise constitutes a great consum ing market. The producer, there fore, is greatly interested not only in what he receives for what he sells, but what he must pay for what he buys. Growth of chain grocery merchandising, by elim inating needless middlemen tran sactions. has tended to increase the farmer's share of the retail sel ing price of his products, while materially lowering the cost of what he must buy as a consumer. ^HIm In the single state of Calofirnia one large chain grocery system bought foods valued at more than $46,000,000 from the state's farm ers in one reeent year. Other ehainss and independent groups made similar vast purchases_to the benefit of everyone concerned. BILLIONS LOST TO INDUSTRY Figures don’t lie—and in the ease of railroad purchasing, once the backbone of scores of Amer ican industries, they tell a sad but truthful story. In the five years from 1925 to 1929 inclusive, railroads had a net operating income of about $6,000, 000,000—and their purchases to ta'ed almost $7,000,000,000. In the next five-year period railroad ineome dropped to $2. 6*10,000.000—and railroad pur chases declined to the abnormally low total of $3,117,000,000. Where even in the bad year of 1931, the rails bouarht $615,000,000 worth of goods from factories, mines and timber-producers, they bought only $319,000,000 worth in 1933. Last year the trend turned somewhat upward, bringing pur chases to $625,000,000, which was $65,000,000 more than their net operating ineome. These statistics certainly pro vide proof of the oft-made state ment that revival of freight and passenger business, which would be immediately reflected in soar ing railroad buying, would be a mighty influence for recovery. Ever since the war, the rails have faeed more and more problems —they have been overtaxed and overregulated, while some of their competitors have been sub sidized with public money, and others have been, practically free from government supervision. The newly-passed bill, whereby highway carriers will be regulat ed in the same manner as the rails, is a progressive step. However, before the rails can resume their place as the greatest single em ployer of labor and patronizer of industry, they must be freed of such unnecessary restrictions as the iong-and-short-haul law, and of the fear of ne wand inherently vicious legislation of the 30-hour week and train limit law type. _nfir,_ SECURITY COMES FIRST There are two main reasons for the exceptional record of stabil ity and safety made by the life insurance industry during years of unparalleled stress. First, the whole investment pro gram of life insurance has but one watchword: Maximum safety. The men entrusted with the hand ling, investing, selling and rein vesting of life insurance assets are thoroughly trained and are intimately in touch with indus trial conditions throughout the country. They have expert fact finding organizations at their dis posal. which produce important information long before the pub lic is aware of it. In brief, they provide what the average investor is absolutely unable to provide for himself—scientific, realistic, hard-headed security analysis that makes few mistd.es. As oae life insurance executive has said, ‘ Eternal care and study in selec tion is the price of safety' Second, life niurance assets are widely distributed—both from the standpoint of geography, and the type of holding For example, the investment set-up of a represen tative life company is something like this Government bonds, 9.9 per cent; railroad obligations, 15 per cent; public utility obliga tions, 9.4 pe rcent; other bonds an dstoeks, 3.1 per cent; farm mortgages. 7.9 per cent; other mortgages. 24.7 per cent ; policy loans. 17.7 pe rcent; real estate 5.8 per cent; cash, 2.5 per cent, miscellaneous, 4 per cent. Wide distribution of risk to ob tain maximum security, is the guidi gnprineiple of life insur ance. The experience during de pression shows how sound that principle is. Mother?—Let your boys be Guide newsboys. Send them to the Omaha Guide Office. 2418-20 Grant Street. Notice. Subscribers: If you don’t sret your paper by Saturday, 2 p. m.. '•all Webster 1750. 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