THE HERMISTON HERALD, HERMISTON, OREGON.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1936
OREGON STATE NEWS
OF GENERAL INTEREST
National Topics Interpreted
by William Bruckart
National Press Building
Washington.—President Roosevelt
has come out again with a statement
that the burden of
No New taxes is regrettable
Tax Levies and that there must
be no new levies
nor tax increase by the next con
gress. He chose to get his views
to the public by staging a confer
ence at the White House the other
day when he summoned Chairman
Harrison of the senate finance com
mittee and Chairman Doughton of
the house ways and means com
mittee for a breakfast meeting to
discuss the subject. He followed
this almost too quickly by releas
ing a statement, a letter from Sec
retary Morgenthau that substantiat
ed the spoken word of his two con
gressional leaders.
But somehow the word from the
White House prompted many ob
servers here to pick flaws in the
pronouncement; they began at once
to find several places in the new
picture that appeared to have been
smeared over by the paint brush,
and, in addition, there was a sud
den yelp from the Republican na
tional committee which did not help
Mr. Roosevelt’s plans to show the
country that the tax burden had
reached its peak.
The Republicans were quite harsh
because they called attention to the
fact that Mr. Roosevelt on three
previous occasions had assured the
country there would be no new
taxes, and that in each instance
new tax legislation somehow or oth
er had been enacted by congress.
Aside from the presidential dec
laration that there would be no new
taxes nor increases in the present
levies and that there would be a
study of the general tax structure,
the President made the point
through Secretary Morgenthau’s
letter that there were a good many
hundred millions in “recoverable
assets." He also urged upon the
country that business has improved
so rapidly that additional federal
income may be expected from the
present tax rates. This latter, of
course, is true providing business
holds its own or moves to higher
levels but it is with respect to the
recoverable assets that many ques
tions now are being asked. For
the sake of clarity, it may be ex
plained that the recoverable assets
to which Mr. Roosevelt referred
consisted of the loans of federal
money by the various emergency
agencies for relief and recovery
purposes. There are the millions
loaned by the Reconstruction Fi
nance corporation; the equally
large amounts loaned by the Works
Progress administration and the
Public Works administration to
states, counties and cities for relief
or for job-making construction. In
addition, there are loans by the
Home Owners’ Loan corporation,
the Federal Farm Credit ad
ministration, loans for crop produc
tion, for marketing and countless
other types. These are all carried
on the books as recoverable assets
and their total may amount to as
much as $8,000,000,000.
The policy of the New Deal ad
ministration is to consider these at
their face value. It is the claim
of the White House consistently that
these loans will be repaid and that
they can be used to retire an equal
amount of the national debt, which,
indeed, is true if the loans ever are
repaid.
So, whenever the New Deal is
called on to defend itself against
charges of imposing a gigantic bur
den of tax or an equally gigantic
burden of public debt, its spokes
men attempt to demonstrate that
the public debt figure as well as
the taxes must be considered in
their relationship to these recover
able assets.
To explain the Roosevelt position
further, one may recall that a
month ago when the public debt
reached the staggering total of $33,-
779,000,000 the Treasury secretary
contended in a public statement that
against this sum there should be
offset the cash assets in the gen
eral fund of the Treasury, then to
taling $2,681,000,000 and the $2,000,-
000,000 of gold that is sterilized in
what is known as the exchange ster
ilization fund.
“In addition,” Mr. Morgenthau
added in his statement, “we have
certain assets representing obliga
tions due us upon which the Treas
ury will realize cash and which will
ultimately be available for debt re
tirement. These recoverable assets
—millions to home owners, to farm
ers, to railways, to banks and in
surance companies, to states, and
cities—now total more than $4,000,-
900,000. These three items—cash on
hand, stabilization fund and recov
erable loans—provide an offset of
*8,750,000,000 to the $33,779,000,000
public debt.”
It thus is made to appear direct
ly in issue how completely the
Roosevelt administration calculates
using these recoverable assets in
retiring the public debt. Having
gone so thoroughly on record, it is
difficult to see how there could have
been such a mistake made as de
veloped from the White House con
ference on taxes. I refer to the
Washington, D. C.
inclusion in Secretary Morgenthau's
letter of a reference to the recover
able assets as one of the reasons
why no new taxes will not have to
be levied. Some critics have stated
boldly that tha White House state
ments on the recoverable assets
cannot be justified. Their assertion
is that if the Treasury properly in
cluded recoverable assets as a thing
to be used in offsetting the public
debt, then by the same token those
recoverable assets, or repayments
of them, cannot be used to reduce
the tax burden. In other words, the
money represented by those assets
cannot be spent in two different
ways. Either it must be used to
retire public debt or it must be
used for current spending by the
administration. It seems to be sim
ply a refusal to believe the old
adage that you cannot have your
cake and eat it tpo.
If I should attempt to analyze the
situation in the light of a personal
equation I think I might properly
say that if I loaned $500 to a
friend and at the same time if I
borrowed $500 from a bank, I
might properly say the $500
loaned to the friend could be used
to pay oil the bank loan. So far,
so good. But if the friend repaid
$250 to me and I spent that
$250 and had no other resources,
I can’t quite figure out how I would
pay the bank the $500 I had bor
rowed from that institution.
Although perhaps my worries as
an individual about government
policies may not be very important
because I am just one individual,
I entertain considerable fear about
those recoverable assets in another
respect. For some reason—and I
think I can state it—I doubt that a
very large portion of those recov
erable assets ever will be collected.
I have a hunch that in the next
fifteen or twenty years the bulk of
those debts which the Roosevelt ad
ministration counts as repayable
will be cancelled or defaulted. In
either event, I think I see how poli
tics is going to play an important
part and I am convinced further
that Mr. Morgenthau and Mr.
Roosevelt as well, if he shares Mr.
Morgenthau’s belief, is overlooking
that very vital influence when he
holds these loans as likely to be
repaid.
• • *
I recall that the late Albert C.
Ritchie, four times a Democratic
governor of Mary-
Defaalt land, predicted that
Likely
the money loaned
for the various pur
poses outlined above, would never
be paid back. Indeed, Governor
Ritchie, who was a very practical
man and who thoroughly disliked
deluding himself, used the word
“repudiation” in connection with
these debts. He said .they would be
handled just like the $11,000,000,000
of war loans made to European na
tions.
It is a noble thought, of course,
that the loans will be repaid, yet it
is quite apparent that a cancella
tion drive is already under way. I
think most of those who do me the
honor to read my column will re
call that more than a year ago
I directed their attention to the re
duction in interest rates which con
gress had ordered on many of the
loans. That is simply the first step.
Cancellation proposals, undisguised,
are bound to follow.
Unless I am mistaken, the astute
Jesse Jones, chairman of the Re
construction Finance corporation
and a man who never kids himself,
already has kissed good-by to many
of the millions that have been
loaned by his agency. Of course,
the Reconstruction Finance corpo
ration carries those loans on its
books and counts them still as val
id. But I am of the opinion that
Mr. Jones probably regards those
items as dead debts.
But to go further with the idea of
cancellation, it takes no stretch of
the imagination to say that the
Home Owners’ Loan corporation,
for example, will soon have a good
many thousand foreclosed proper
ties on its hands. It takes no more
imagination to say that politicians
who have ridden into office with
promises to help those people
whose homes have been foreclosed
will carry out their promises by
further voting interest reduction or
curtailment of principal.
A more striking illustration, it
seems to me, can be found in the
case of the loans to states, cities
and towns. Who among the poli
ticians is going to have the courage
to resist the tumult and the voting
of their constituents to avoid in
crease in their local taxes when
they call for cancellation of the
loans?
While the bonus for the ex-serv
ice men is a dead issue, every one I
knows how representatives and sen I
ators capitulated to the demands of
the veterans’ lobby. Picture for
yourself, if you will, how much
stronger the demand will be when I
a whole community sets up a howl i
to have the funds it has borrowed
from the federal government final
ly declared to have been just a gift
and not a loan.
© Western Newspaper Union.
Tales and
Traditions
from American
Brief Resume of Happenings
of the Week Collected lor
Our Readers
Turner—A rock formation con
taining fossilized oysters was found
recently near Turner, thus offering
further proof that the valley was once
a large bay of the ocean. The speci
men, containing the fossils, was
found on the C. T. White farm, and
was uncovered by WPA workers.
Enterprise — Dr. It. B. Stone's
cocker spaniel, “Peter”, tried to take
a bull elk by the horns near Wallowa
lake recently and for his efforts got
knocked out by some of the elk's
friends. Six or eight of the big deer
surrounded him and would have
killed him had not he been rescued
by James Clayton.
Rockaway—Jack Parr saw a big
fin in the shallow water near where
he was surf fishing, so he decided to
investigate. Armed with a sheath
knife, he jumped in the water and
found the fin was firmly attached to
a big sun fish weighing 65 pounds.
The fish had been stranded in a bay
when the tide went out.
Sweet Home — Unusually heavy
yields of wheat and other grains are
now being harvested in eastern Linn
county in the vicinity of Sweet Home.
Threshing crews are running behind
schedules. Many farmers with large
quantities of wheat are planning to
hold their grain in warehouses pend
ing an expected further increase in
price.
Salem—Civil service examination
will be held October 17 to determine
eligible applicants for appointment to
the United States naval academy at
Annapolis, Md., as the first congres
sional district of Oregon will have one
vacancy at that academy in 1937.
Congressman James W. Mott is an
xious for all young men of his dis
trict to try for the appointment.
Roseburg—He wanted a ride and
couldn’t attract attention, so he
dragged a small tree across the high
way. Robert Parker was the one who
craved transportation—and he got
more than enough when the first car
to come along was that of Deputy
Sheriff Clifford Thornton. Thorn
ton, after hitting the barricade and
almost ditching his machine, took
Parker to jail.
Corvallis — Approximately 40 per
cent, of the beef produced in Oregon
is sold outside the state, H. A. Lind
gren, extension animal husbandry
head at Oregon State college, said.
Oregon is one of 20 states which pro
duces a surplus of beef. Livestock
associations and marketing agencies
in the state are joining with similar
organizations nationally in observing
August as national beet month.
Grants Pass—With some growers
reporting a 100 per cent, crop and
others varying from as low as 50 per
cent., hop growers in the Rogue
River valley are highly optimistie
this year. Although total production
will not be up to normal for the
county, still generally the hop ranch
ers are making much better showings
than are those elsewhere along the
Pacific coast, where 50 per cent, will
be near the top, and in the Willam
ette valley, where a one-third crop
is expected.
BIRD MARKET BOOMS
Salem—Market for Oregon turkeys
increased 385,963 pounds over the
sales for 1934, according to the an
nual report of the Turkey Growers’
association.
Some 82,886 birds
weighed 1,277,937 pounds. These
figures are incorporated in a report
to be made at the annual meeting of
the association in Corvallis August
25.
The summary telling the results of
last year’s marketing will also show
an increase in membership in the as
sociation from 970 to 1102, and a re
duction in packing costs from 1.19
cents a pound to 1.03.
ORE SURVEY PROMISING
St. Helens — Unusually good Iron
and silica prospects were found in a
two days’ survey of deposits last
week by Professor Hodge of Oregon
State college and Al Morris, St. Hel
ens. Free iron ore with little waste
was found back of Scappoose, at
Trenholm and Wilark. Sand in the
river at Columbia City was estimated
to be 90 per cent, pure silica. A
more extensive survey will be made
later.
Samples are to be sent to Mr.
Hodge next week for analysis. Con
trary to the belief of many that Co
lumbia county Iron contained too
much phosphorus to be commercially
valuable, it was reported following
the survey that the ore contained
very little phosphorus.
Political History
s about
Woes of French Hotelkeepers.
ANTA MONICA, CALIF.—
As he gazes forth on a boule
vard full of rampaging Reds and
thinks about his empty bedrooms,
I’ll bet there isn’t a hotel keeper
in Paris who wouldn’t trade a
great gross of assorted French
communists, including all the
standardized grades, such as the
comparatively rare slick type, the
partly haired-over hybrid and the
common fur-bearing variety, for
just one old-fashioned easy-going
American visitor.
S
Private Olympic Games.
() RIGIN ALL Y these Olympian
— games were based upon the
ideal of strengthen
ing inter - racial
friendships through
competitive sport.
But when, in dis
patches from Ber-
lin a f e 1 1 ow
reads of disputed
decisions, ques
tioned reversals, al
le g e d discrimina
tions against some
winning contestants
on account of color, Irvin S. Cobb
and the unnecessarily brutal pub
licity, or so it appeared at long
distance, that was given to the dis
ciplining of an indiscreet woman
athlete; and then the threatened
withdrawals of aggrieved teams
from certain Latin countries, he
gets to thinking, the reader does,
that maybe it would be better if
each national group held its own
little private Olympian show.
Uncle Sam’s Alien Burdens
JO matter which party controls
— congress, watch at the next
term for this: A campaign for legis
lation opening the doors to millions
of aliens now barred out under the
quota laws, which also would legal
ize the presence here of a great
mass of the foreign-born, some of
them criminals, some misfits and
malcontents, some avowed enemies
of our government, some paupers
on Federal relief, who already are
biding amongst us through whole
sale smuggling-in, through fraudu
lent immigration papers, through
carelessness—to use a gentle term
—on the part of public servants
charged with the duty of guarding
at the gate.
In the years before us, it will be
a sufficiently heavy burden to care
for our own worthy homefolks.
Cleverness of the Chinese.
Q )NCE, long ago, I, being a re-
- porter, was detailed to accom
pany to police headquarters in New
York a Chinese prince who’d come
over to study our police methods.
We were in the Bertillon bureau,
presided over by the famous in
spector Faurot.
“Ah, yes,” said the courtly visi
tor in faultless English, “this same
system has been in vogue in my
land since time immemorial, ex
cept that we use fingerprinting in
addition to legal signatures and of
ficial seals, for further validating
important documents."
“Don’t you also use it for record
ing habitual criminals?”
"I do not think so.”
"Well, then,” asked Faurot, "how
do you identify them?”
“Very simple,” said the prince
and smiled a gentle smile. “When
we catch a chronic offender we im
mediately cut off his head, and then
anyone may recognize him at a
glance.”
The Spanish Extravaganza.
FELLOW picks up the paper
and reads in the news dis
patches from Spain that the Loyal
ists licked the Royalists, or vice-
versa; and the Leftists tied into
the Nationalists again—or maybe
they’re both the same.
Whereas the insurgents walloped
the radicals, but elsewhere the gov
ernment forces drove back the reb
els; and meanwhile the Reds or the
Centrists or somebody did some
thing unpleasant to the Republican
outfit, as opposed to the monar-
chial group; and at all points south
and west the anti-clericals and the
church, the Agrarian party, the
Fascists and the Communists, the
besiegers and the defenders, the
peasants and the townspeople, the
laboring classes and the aristocrats,
the land-owners and the tenants,
etc., etc., etc., were snarled into
various hard knots. So what?
A
IRVIN S. COBB.
FRANK I. HAOIN
ELMO KOH WATSON
BACHELOR CAMPAIGNERS
T OD AY’S accepted view of the
- way to ballyhoo the voter is,
broadly speaking, to tell him first
one of two things—either the candi
date recommended was reared on
the farm or he has sold newspa
pers.
When this has been established
the campaign manager next
begins to issue a swelling stream
of pictures, mostly of the candidate
in the bosom of his family. The
larger the family, so much better
the results, is the political rea
soning.
With this in mind it is interest
ing to reflect that two of the 31
Presidents challenged the accept
ed political belief that it "couldn’t
be done,” and campaigned for
the office successfully while unmar
ried. They were James Buchanan,
and Grover Cleveland.
Cleveland, after little more than
a year in the White House, mar
ried Frances Folsom there on
June 2, 1886. Buchanan remained
unmarried and was, therefore, the
only bachelor President.
Most of our Presidents have per
formed nobly in lifting the aver
age size of White House families.
Theodore Roosevelt customarily
is regarded as a pioneer among
advocates of large families. The
fact is that T. R. was something of
a piker in this respect when his
record is compared with that of
his predecessors.
The Republican Roosevelt mar
ried twice, with one child from
the first union and five from the
second. But John Tyler, also twice
married, was father to three sons
and four daughters by his first wife
and to five sons and two daughters
by the second.
Tyler may have taken his cue
from William H. Harrison, preced
ing White House resident, who
sired six sons and four daughters.
Six Presidents, including the
immortal George Washington, were
childless. But Rutherford B. Hayes
with eight, and Thomas Jefferson
and Zachary Taylor, with six chil-
dren apiece, helped raise the av-
erage.
Youngest to marry was An-
drew Johnson, a stripling of
eighteen on May 5, 1827 when he
wed Eliza McCardle, the woman
who later taught the Tennessee
tailor to read.
TAKING A WALK
A CHECKUP on election day in
-i November, 1936, doubtless will
disclose that some of the more
prominent members of both major
political parties have “gone fish-
ing.”
Going fishing is the politician’s
milder and more modern method
of showing dissatisfaction with his
party’s candidate and refusing to
appear at the polls where he is en
titled to vote. It is his way of “tak
ing a walk,” a topic stirred to live
discussion by public remarks of Al
fred E. Smith of New York, prior
to the national conventions.
Taking a walk would be no new
experience of the Democratic par
ty but history records that Alex-
ander Hamilton, powerful Federal
ist of the country’s earliest days,
was the first important stroller and
that his action ultimately resulted
in the destruction of his party.
Hamilton, a dominant political
personality, was a bitter opponent
of John Adams, second president,
having tried to block his election
as vice-president although both
were Federalists.
The feud continued when John
Adams became President, Hamil
ton secretly obtaining and holding
control of the Adams cabinet. Ad
ams, not by nature gifted in that
sort of intrigue, nevertheless fought
back with considerable success.
Hamilton was not the man to
take any rebuffs sitting down.
When John Adams sought re-elec
tion in the campaign of 1800 Ham
ilton "took a walk” by publica-
tion of a letter designed to show
“irrefragable proofs” of Adams’
unfitness for the job.
Hamilton succeeded too com
pletely in his battle. Adams failed
of re-election but the Federalist
party went down with him. While
the ding-dong “walkout” battle was
in progress during the Adams pres
idency, Thomas Jefferson, whose
name is referred to so frequently
by Democratic orators, took ad-
vantage of the duelling.
Jefferson was earnestly and ef-
ficiently making his plea for uni-
fled support of the "plain peepul”
and in the election he smashed
the Federalists so completely they
never again figured conspicuously
in a national election.
© Western Newspaper Union.
/louselioia •
© Queslm
A mixture of one part vinegar
and two parts linseed oil, applied
with a soft cloth to suitcases and
bags will clean and polish them.
* * *
A large piece of blotting paper
placed on the closet floor will ab
sorb moisture from wet rubbers
that may be placed in closet.
« • •
Scorch on cotton or linen may
be removed with soap and water.
Wet the spot with water and ex
pose to the sun for a day or
longer if necessary. The scorch
disappears more rapidly if the
material is moistened first.
see
If your garden peas get too
hard for serving in the regular
way, cook them until tender,
press through a sieve and use the
pulp in soup.
• • •
Minced ham and chopped green
pepper makes a tasty filling for
deviled eggs.
• • •
If you wish to boil a cracked
egg place a little vinegar in the
water in which it is boiled. This
will keep the egg from seeping
through the crack in the shell.
• * •
To remove colored candle wax
stains from table linen, first re
move wax as completely as pos
sible, then remove the dye re
maining in the linen with dena
tured alcohol.
• • •
Raw wool left on the farm is
fine for light-weight comforters,
baby quilts, foot warmers, and
even pillows and mattresses. Of
course it has to be washed and
carded.
• • •
If you want your glassware to
sparkle, add a little lemon juice
to the water in which it is rinsed.
© Associated Newspapers.—WNU Service.
45-Foot Tide
The largest known periodic tides
in the Atlantic ocean and in the
world as a whole aoour in Minas
Basin, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia,
where a mean range of 42 feet
and a spring range of 45 feet have
been reported.
REDUCE TIME LOST
FROM MONTHLY PAIN
Wouldn’t it be a grand and glorious feeling to
know that next month and each month to
follow there will be no more excessively bad
days — that you can attend your duties without
further interruption or loss of time?
Take SALICON tablets to relieve the pain and
suffering. You can depend on "ALICON to the
utmost. It is quick relief, forms no habits and
has no bad effects. For your efficiency's sake,
as well as for your comfort —
Ask your druggist for SALICON.
FACE ALL
11
a.
/042s (Jut
ecarro"""
’
"
yr Cuant
A NEW GIRL NOW
s Eun TO GO OUT AGA) <
EÜTCunA CETANES 11
WEPED CLEAR MY SW (<‘
BY EXTERNALLY CAUSED
PIMPLES, RASHES, /
BLACKHEADS - GET
/
QUICK RELIEF WITH
tunamil
FREE Sample, write
"Cuticura" Dept. 34,
Malden, Mass. ,
SOAP
and
OINTMENT
35—36
WNU—13
When in the Northwest
HEATHMAN
HOTELS
Un the hub of Portland Oresons
shopping and theatrical center...
these two splendid hostelries of
fer you every comfort and luxury
at extremely moderate cost
BEST IN THE WEST
Portland j newest and finest ho-
tels. . located in the hub of the
shopping and recreational district
.. are the unquestioned choice of
experienced travelers.
St. John»—The city has purchased
a used truck from the county with
which to dispose of street cleanings.
Marshal Harry C. Hamilton will
drive.
Zigzag—Vondie Miller of the su
pervisor's office of the forest service
reported last week that more than
1000 gallons of huckleberries were
taken from Larch mountain patches
over the week-end. Berries are said
to be much finer and more numer
ous than they have been for several
seasons.
Disguise
“Raising many potatoes?”
“Not for publication,” said Farmer
Corntossel. “My boy Josh says he be-
Hevea education will help us so that
we can bootleg a few through the mar
ket by calling them pommes de terre
or kartoffels or even plain p’taties.”
Do Not Tire So Easily
Those whose work requires fast,
but rhythmic movements, tire less
easily than those who must move
slowly at irregular intervals, ac- I
cording to psychological studies.
Soldiers, it was found, march far
ther when keeping step to band
music, the rhythm apparently
causing the men to forget their fa
tigue instead of wasting energy
Modern Detective Methods
Walter—How did you guess we bad thinking about how tired they are
and how much farther they must
a new dish-washer, sir?
Diner—The fingerprints on the plates go.
are different—Stray Stories Magazine.
rut NEW
HEATHMAN ,
VMPDYNY « Muin
THS
HEATH MAM
HADRY E HEATIAN
MN> MT SAMon
MANAeER
PORTLAND
OREGON