Thursday, April 15, 1937
THE HERMISTON HERALD, HERMISTON, OREGON.
NEWS NOTES OF
THE NORTHWEST
diCofodetire
National Topics Interpreted
by William Bruckart
javinuny
National Press Building
Smart Flattering Dresses
IKI
A Brief Summary of Events
of Special Interest to
Oregon, Washington and
Idaho Communities.
1272
1212
1275
The Origin of Sitdowns.
Washington.—Senator McKellar,
Tennessee Democrat, arose in the
senate recently to
Silly Law offer a bill that
Doomed would repeal a
provision of law
prohibiting the employment of both
man and wife by the government.
It has been in effect since the sum
mer of 1933. The provision ought
to be and probably will be repealed
because, as far as I can see, there
is actually no sense in the national
government refusing to employ ef-
ficient workers because a man’s
wife or a woman’s husband al
ready is on the federal pay roll.
It was not the importance of this
particular repeal proposal, how
ever, that interested me. Senator
McKellar’s action was significant
and interesting only because when
repeal of the so-called marriage
clause and federal law was pro
posed, it marked the beginning of
the end of one of the most abortive
pieces of legislation that has been on
our statute books. I refer to the so-
called economy act of 1933.
I cannot refrain from recalling a
prediction that I made when the
economy act was before congress in
1933. It was introduced and sup
ported by the New Deal legislature
in an effort to carry out a cam
paign promise made when Presi
dent Roosevelt was running for of
fice in 1932. You will remember
that he promised to reduce the cost
of government twenty-five per cent,
saying in many speeches that the
cost of government was too high
and that a reduction in taxes was
necessary. It will be recalled like-
wise how he said that “Taxes come
from the sweat of every man who
labors.”
Well, the economy act was driven
th: sugh, despite declaration from
many senators and many represen
tatives that it was impossible to
mutilate the structure of govern
ment as proposed in that bill and
still have a gove. .ment that would
function properly. And here were
some of the most ridiculous provi
sions in that legislation to come be
fore congress in many years: They
worked injustices on veterans of the
World war, on farmers, on retired
government workers, on the army
and navy and marine corps, and
hamstrung and handicapped gov
ernment agencies in a manner I
had not seen in my long experience
as an observer of national affairs.
It was on that occasion that I
made the prediction mentioned
above, and to which I call atten
tion because of the McKellar pro
posal for repeal of the marriage
clause. I wrote at that time my
definite conviction that the economy
law was silly; that it would work
hardships and that its basis was
ninety per cent politics. I predict
ed further that within a year the
politicians in the house and senate
who had shouted so loudly about
economy would begin to chisel va
rious provisions out of that law.
Each of those things has happened
and now we see the end.
The end of the law has come but
not the end of its effects. Prac
tices in federal government admin
istration that had been operating
satisfactorily
and
efficiently
throughout the years were thrown
into the discard and new ideas sub
stituted. The discarded methods
were the development of experience
and were serving the purposes for
which they were intended. Some of
them have been restored and are
again functioning as they should but
one can wander around through the
maze of government corridors and
find attempts still being made to
make schemes work that are un
sound in practice, schemes from
the minds of theorists. It will be
a number of years before the effects
of the economy act will be obliter
ated.
** *
As the chiseling began and the
economy act fell to pieces under
sounder thinking,
Spending there
was
Orgy launched
the
greatest spending
orgy any nation ever witnessed. It
has continued with unabated pecu
liarity and is still continuing not
withstanding the fact that within
the last few weeks we have heard
statements from administration
sources to the effect that adminis
tration expenditures will be cut. The
fact is they have not been cut.
But the average person outside of
Washington sees and hears only
things related to large totals of gov
ernment spending such as relief for
the destitute and vast programs of
public building. They do not hear
nor do they see what is going on
among agencies of the government
that relate to comparatively small
items of money outgo. It is these
small items, when taken together,
that bulk so large even though by
comparison with relief the total ap
pears insignificant.
I am going to call attention to just
one item, a small item as govern
ment expenses go, about which I
suspect most persons who do me
the honor to read these articles
have had little information. They
have had little information because
they are in a position to see only
isolated examples. I refer to gov
ernment publications.
Representative Taber of New
York called attention to the condi
tion respecting government publi
cations recently when the house ap
propriations committee was holding
hearings on a bill appropriating
funds for several government de
partments.
Mr. Taber estimated that gov
ernment publications were costing
in the neighborhood of twenty-mil
lion-dollars a year. He called them
administration propaganda.
“Every organization in the gov
ernment,” Mr. Taber declared, “is
sending out all sorts of propagan
da, propaganda in fancy colors,
pamphlets with pictures of resettle
ment projects, pictures of WPA
propositions and all that sort of
thing.”
It was the first estimate I had
been able to obtain of the cost of
government publications for it is
not easy to ascertain how much
these beautifully done magazines
cost each department or agency.
Nor is it easy to determine how
much is paid for the distribution of
the countless thousands of state
ments issued for the press or mailed
in millions of copies to voters. The
whole thing constitutes a maze that
is so complex that it is staggering.
The government printing office lists
73 periodicals of the magazine type
for which it will take subscriptions
or sell individual copies. These, of
course, are printed documents. They
do not include the many pamphlets
that are mimeographed or published
otherwise by governmental
agencies.
• • •
I mentioned the distribution of of
ficial statements for the press and
.
to voters through-
Weighing
out the country.
the Cost
There is no way,
as far as I can
see, to calculate the total, but one
Washington correspondent recently
took occasion to weigh the output
of press statements from the De
partment of Agriculture for one
week.
His curiosity had been
aroused by the tremendous volume
that had been delivered to his of
fice—both by mail and by special
messenger—and so he weighed the
week’s grist. It totaled more than
three and one-half pounds. This, as
I said, was from only one depart
ment and the weight was the weight
of the paper alone.
One need not employ a great deal
of imagination to think of the cost
involved. First there was the pa
per iiself. In the second place there
was the cost of typing the material
and then of mimeographing it. But
before it reached either one of these
stages, it was necessary that a vast
amount of work be done by well
paid men and women writers and
research workers who prepared the
material that was used whether in
mimeographing or in printing.
There are two publications that
come to my desk regularly that
strike me as being extraordi
narily expensive. The “Consumers’
Guide,” a product of the Agricul
ture Adjustment administration and
the “Electrification News,” pub
lished by the Rural Electrification
administration, are the two most ex
pensive and most elaborate periodi
cals that I regularly see. They are
sent out free not only to the Wash
ington correspondents but to thou
sands upon thousands of voters—
to any voter whose name either
agency obtains. And they are paid
for out of taxpayers’ money.
Typographically, each of these pe
riodicals is exceptionally well done
from a magazine standpoint. They
are replete with pictures, and cop
per engraving is expensive.
And so it is throughout the gov
ernment. Everywhere a correspond-
ent goes among government offices
he meets "federal workers,” among
the government personnel, engaged
in preparing and distributing the
government's stories for public
reading.
• • •
Now, let me touch on another
phase of the cost of government
,
publications. I re-
F ranking
fer to the use of
Abuse
the franking privi
lege. As everyone
knows, government mail goes
through the United States mails
without the payment of postage.
That does not mean, however, that
the railroads or the airplanes or
the steamships haul that mail free.
The only difference between that
mail and the letters you write or
receive is that the government pays
the transportation lines on a pound
basis and no stamps are used. It is
bulk transportation whereas when
you and I mail letters we pay the
cost of transportation on those let
ters to the government by means
of a postage stamp.
It is entirely proper and reason
able that government mail should
not require postage stamps. It
would simply be taking government
money out of one pocket and put
ting it in another. Yet, in the end
you and I, as taxpayers, pay for the
transportation of the government
mail and we pay for the millions
of pieces that are sent out from the
various government department*.
• Western Newspaper Union.
MABTON, Wash.—Seepage of gas
Into the city well has led geologists
to recommend the Mabton area as a
location for drilling i gas well.
WILBUR, Wash.—Hugh McShane,
founder and manager of the spectacu-
uar annual two-day salmon celebra
tion here, has set the celebration
this year for May 29 and 30 .
PENDLETON, Ore.—L. G. Frazier,
dean of Pendleton Round-Up di
rectors, has resigned. He Is succeeded
by A. L. Powers. Frazier had served
as grounds director since 1910.
PINE GROVE, Ore.—The George
T. Galligan orchard at Pine Grove,
one of the first commercial orchards
of Hood River valley, has been
bought by Victor Thomsen at a price
reported to be 130,000 for the 37
acres.
TROY, Ida.—April 80, Troy and
the high school will be hosts to 300
musicians of eight Latah county
schools. The festival started here
two years ago. Miss Marie Marler
of the Troy high school, acting chair
man, said preparations are well under
way.
TILLAMOOK, Ore. — With grass
production starting rapidly during
the recent warm rains, Tillamook
dairymen are “feelin’ fine” and are
polishing up additional cans to hold
the increased supply of milk. Present
prospects indicate a good season for
dairymen and other farmers.
ENTERPRISE, Ore.—A flock of
about 25 beautiful wild swans
dropped in at the pond of the state
fish hatchery last week. The birds
appear nearly every spring on their
flight to the lakes and marshes of the
Far North, and remain a few days on
ponds of the county. They are pro
tected, quite tame and attract much
attention.
ASTORIA, Ore.—The Oregon fish
commission set April 26, as the open
ing date of the commercial fishing
season on the Columbia. The com
mission, regularly opening the season
May 1, exercised its authority to ad
vance the date, thus giving the in
dustry a five-day head start. The
change was agreed to by the Wash
ington commission.
YAKIMA, Wash. — The contract
hop market this spring Is In “good
condition” Lloyd Hughes, prominent
valley grower and dealer has an
nounced. He said that one-year con
tracts have been signed for as much
as 25 cents a pound. Three-year
contract prices range from 13 to 24
cents. Eighty-five per cent of the
Yakima villey growers are now under
contract, he said.
>
ANTA MONICA, CALIF.—
With the Barnum show there
once was an elderly lady ele
phant named Helen. Now, Helen
had wearied of traipsing to and
fro in the land.
S
Probably she figured she’d seen
everything anyhow. So each fall,
when the season
ended, she went Prong,
rejoicing
back 1491, 2
home to Bridgeport, y
J
Conn.
I .I
Nobody ever knew
the date of depar- !,
a
ture the next spring. ■ - .2
There was no more
bustle about winter- sat
quarters on that th ohi
morning than for
weeks past.
P.i
But always, when Irvin s. Cobb
the handlers en
tered the “bull barn” to lead forth
the herd, they found Helen hun
kered down on her voluminous
haunches, which, under that vast
weight, spread out like cake batter
on a hot griddle. She would be
uttering shrill sobs of defiance. And
neither prodding nor honeyed words
could budge her.
So they’d wrap chains around her
and two of her mates would hitch
on and drag her bodily, she still on
her rubbery flanks, aboard a wait
ing car. She’d quit weeping then
and wipe her snout and accept what
fate sent her.
So please don’t come telling me
that the sit-down strike is a new
notion or that somebody in Europe
first thought it up. Thirty years ago
I saw my lady elephant friend, Hel
en, putting on one, all by her four-
ton self.
• • •
Taxes and More Taxes.
UST when everybody is taking
comfort from the yodelled prom
ises of that happy optimist, Chair
man Harrison of the senate finance
committee, that the government
will be able to get by for 1937 with
out asking this congress to boost
taxes, what happens?
Why, in a most annoying way,
Governor Eccles of the federal re
serve board keeps proclaiming that,
to make treasury receipts come
anywhere near meeting treasury
disbursements throughout the year,
he’s afraid it’s going to be neces
sary to raise the rates on incomes
and profits higher than ever.
And meanwhile state governors
and civic authorities scream with
agony at the bare prospect of any
reductions in Uncle Sam’s allot
ments for local projects.
A balanced budget would seem to
be like Santa Claus, something
everybody talks about but nobody
ever expects to see.
re,
stwh
mytt
J
1+03
RS. DICK EVANS has come
to town and brought Ann and
M
Eddie LeRoy with her. She lives
in Palm Beach in the wintertime
and, of course, knows all about
style. That’s why she wears this
directoire type frock that is both
new and figure flattering. In the
floral print she has chosen she
is perfectly gowned for the parties
that will be given for her in the
home town. The kiddies are wear
ing the simple styles appropriate
to childhood and therein their
smartness lies.
Auntie Rose Sews, Too.
Little Ann is asking Auntie Rose
if she makes her clothes too.
“Sure enough, dear,” comes the
reply. “I made this percale for
mornings and have a beauty in
yellow crepe cut from the same
pattern to wear to the Bid-or-Bi
meetings.”
“I’ll bet you can sew fast, too,
the way Mother does. It only took
her two mornings to make Ed
die’s suit and my dress. Won’t
you help me with my doll clothes
now?”
“Indeed I will, Ann, and then
we will have some of those oat
meal cookies you like for lunch.”
The Patterns.
Pattern 1272 is available in sizes
14 to 20 (32 to 42 bust). Size 16 re
quires 4% yards of 39 inch ma
terial and 2% yards of ribbon for
tie belt.
Pattern 1275 is for sizes 6 months
to 4 years. Size 1 requires 1%
yards of 32 inch material.
Pattern 1403 comes in sizes 2,
4, and 6 years. Size 4 requires 112
WHEAT CONTRACTS HIGH
PENDLETON, Ore.—Heaviest and
earliest contract selling of wheat for
August delivery in more than seven
years involves about 500,000 bushels
in the Pendleton territory, dealers
here said. The contract price stood
at about $1.02 to $1.03 a bushel.
Largest single contract reported
was for 10,000 bushels from one
grower, who raises annually about
30,000 bushels.
.
LICENSE EXAMS SLATED
OLYMPIA, Wash.—Examinations
under the new highway act for
operators’ licenses will begin on Au
gust 1, officials of the highway de
partment said. Anyone who applies
for new licenses or renewals before
that time will not be required to
take the examination, but those who
apply for licenses for the first time,
or for renewals after August 1,
must submit to examination.
The reason for that ruling is that
the machinery and details for hold
ing the examinations have not been
worked out. However, all operators
must submit to the tests within the
next two years.
FARM MEETINGS SCHEDULED
MOSCOW, Ida.—Farm debt ad
justment committees tn 16 counties
of Washington, Oregon and northern
Idaho will start meeting once each
month with Frank H. LaFrantz, dis
trict supervisor, he said here last
week. Now that country roads have
again become passable, LeFrenz said
he would make a personal call to
county seats representing 60,000
square miles of territory.
Major changes will be made In the
debt adjustment program this year,
the supervisor explained. The prin
cipal change will deal with the newly
approved Frasier Lemke bill, which
he said will probably extend the debt
payment of farmers from one to three
years.
KELLOGG, Ida.—Entered by the
chamber of commerce, Myron Higbee,
Cataldo, champion wood sawyer of
this district, will compete in a wood
sawing event at the Golden Gate
bridge celebration May 23 in San
Francisco.
BOISE, Ida.—Water users of Boise
valley, through their executive com-
mittee, have gone on record as op
posed to the creation of the proposed
Sawtooth national park and will ask
Senator Popo to withdraw hie meas-
ure, pending In congress.
Self-Determination.
FORMERLY the states jealously
- guarded their sovereign per
quisites. Once—but that was so
long ago many have almost forgot
ten it—they fought among them
selves one of the bloodiest civil wars
in history over the issue of states’
rights.
Now we see them complacently
surrendering to federal bureaus
those ancient privileges—and may
be, after all, that’s the proper thing
to do, if in centralized authority lies
the hope of preserving a republican
form of government.
Still, one wonders what English
men would do under like circum
stances, since Englishmen are fussy
about their inheritance of self-de
termination. Perhaps the distinc
tion is this:
In democracies there exists the
false theory that all men are born
free and equal. So the Englishman
insists on having his freedom, which
is a concrete thing, and laughs at
the idea of equality. Whereas, the
American abandons his individual
freedom provided he may cling to
the fetish of equality.
Yankee tweedledee and British
tweedledum may be brothers under
the skin, but they have different
skin diseases.
• • •
The Parole Racket.
T IS astonishing but seemingly
true that, of five young gang
sters recently caught red-handed in
a criminal operation, not a single
one was a convict out on parole. Is
there no way to bar rank amateurs
from a profession calling for prior
experience and proper background?
And can it be that the various pa
role boards over the union are not
turning loose qualified practitioners
fast enough to keep up with the de
mand? Maybe we need self-open
ing jails.
Those sentimentalists who abhor
the idea that a chronic offender be
required to serve out his latest sen-1
tence should take steps right away
to correct this thing before it goes
too far. Our parole system must
be vindicated if it costs the lives
and property of ten times as many
innocent citizens as at present
I
IRVIN S. COBB.
©— WNU Service.
Festival Bills Elephant Fight
Elephant tug-of-wars, in which
the beasts locked tusks and some
times struggled for hours, were a
feature of a festival recently held
near Calcutta, India.
yards of 36 inch material.
Pattern 1212 is designed in sizes-
34 to 48. Size 36 requires 5 yards
of 35 inch material plus % yard
contrasting for the collar.
New Pattern Book
Send for the Barbara Bell Spring
and Summer Pattern Book. Make
yourself attractive, practical and
becoming clothes, selecting de
signs from the Barbara Bell well-
planned, easy-to-make patterns.
Interesting and exclusive fashions
for little children and the difficult
junior age; slenderizing, well-cut
patterns for the mature figure;
afternoon dresses for the most
particular young women and ma
trons and other patterns for spe
cial occasions are all to be found
in the Barbara Bell Pattern Book.
Send 15 cents today for your copy.
Send your order to The Sewing
Circle Patteri Dept., 149 New
Montgomery Ave., San Francisco,
Calif. Price of patterns, 15 cents
(in coins) each.
© Bell Syndicate.—WNU Service.
Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Pellets are an
effective laxative. Sugar coated.
Children like them. Buy now!—Adv,
Talent and Genius
Talent is that which is in a
man’s power. Genius is that in
whose power a man is—Lowell.
1
Hara-Kiri in Japan
Obligatory hara-kiri was abol-
ished by Japan in 1868. Voluntary;
hara-kiri is sometimes practiced.
Large National Forest
Lolo National forest, in Idaho ana
Montana, has the largest gross area
of any national forest.
Cincinnati, Covington Bridge
Cincinnati was first connected tot
Covington, Ky., by a bridge in 1867.)
Spain’s First Stamps
Spain's first stamps, in 1850, bore
the likeness of Queen Isabella.
WNU—13
15—37
A Great Gift
The first great gift we can be
Faulty Shakespeare
The class had been studying stow on others is a good example.
English poetry and was now un- —Morell.
desgoing a quiz on that subject.
The instructor had taken from one
of Wordsworth’s poems the follow
ing line to explain: “The child is
father to the man.”
One young man studied the
Don’t Neglect Them !
question in perplexity for several
Nature designed the kidneys to do •
minutes. Finally, he wrote: “This
marvelous job. Their task is to keep the
flowing blood stream free of an excess of
was writen by Shakespeare. He
toxic impurities. The act of living—life
often made this kind of mistake.”
is constantly producing waste
matter the kidneys must remove from
—Indianapolis News.
the blood if good health is to endure.
Sentinels
of Health
Brief Remarks
A speaker, who had been asked
to make his after-dinner remarks
as brief as possible, rose and
said:
“I have been asked to propose
the toast of our guest and I have
been told that the less said the
better.”
HIGH VOLTAGE
When the kidneys fail to function as
Nature intended, there is retention of
waste that may cause body-wide dis-
tress. One may suffer nagging backache»
persistent headache, attacks of dizziness,
getting up nights, swelling, puffiness
under the eyesfeel tired, nervous, all
worn out.
Frequent, scanty or burning passages
may be further evidence of kidney or
bladder disturbance.
The recognised and proper treatment
is a diuretic medicine to help the kidneys
get rid of excesa poisonous body waste.
Use Doaiia PilU. They have had more
than forty years of public approval. Are
endorsed the country over. Insist on
Dean 9. Sold at all drug stores.
D oans P ills
"Quotations"
Lem—Clark calls himself a hu
man dynamo.
Dun—Well, why shouldn’t he?
Everything he has on is charged.
A writer muses on what the
half-century-old Statue of Liberty
would say if she could speak.
She’d probably claim to be still in
her twenties.—Rochester Times-
Union.
The Shoe Fit
Solicitor—You pay a small de-
posit, then you make no more
payments for six months.
Lady of the House—Who told
you about us?
----- V—
An adequate revival of interna-
tional trade will be the most pow
erful single force for easing politi
cal tensions and averting the danger
of war.—Cordell Hull.
Morals, which change so slowly,
are ehanging today like clouds be
fore the wind.—W ill Durant.
The great scholars of the world
are the captain: of the modern
world's army of progress.— NiekoUs
Murray Buller.
I vannot stand a sad expression
on someone's face. I wish to see ev-
eryone happy, smiling and enjoying
himself.—Ignore Jan Paderewski.
Any woman who likes it could
be a successful explorer.—Mrs. Mar
tin Johnson.