Thursday, July 1, 1937
THE HERMISTON HERALD, HERMISTON, OREGON
Washington
D ig e s t j
National Topics Interpreted
•By W IL L IA M BRUCKART
NATIONAL PRESS BLDG
WASHINGTON. D C
Washington.—Two actions of sec
tions of the congress lately deserve
more than o r d i-
Congress
n a r y attention.
M akea N e ui» One of these was
probably as cou
rageous a position as any group of
senators ever has taken. The other
action—by majority of the house—
■was shot through with the utmost
cowardice and selfishness.
Lately, a group of senators, near
ly all Democrats, took their political
lives in their hands and delivered
to the senate a report from its Judi
ciary committee advising defeat of
President Roosevelt’s proposal to
add six new justices of his own
choosing to the Supreme court of
the United States.
In my time in Washington, I be
lieve I can say without qualifica
tion, there never has been a com
mittee action in the house or sen
ate in which the President, as the
leader of the dominant party, re
ceived such a castigation on a legis
lative proposal as was given Mr.
Roosevelt by Democrats who con
stituted the majority of the senate
judiciary committee. They did not
mince words in any respect. What
ever may be the merit of Mr. Roos
evelt’s proposal to add six justices
of his own choosing to the highest
court, the majority report of the
judiciary committee left no stone
unturned in disclosing objections to
the proposal as opponents of the
court reorganization scheme see
them.
Almost on the same day that
senate Democrats were, in effect,
breaking or revolting from the Pres
ident’s leadership, the Democratic
majority in the house killed off a
proposal for new taxes in the Dis
trict of Columbia that would have
resulted in taxing the salaries of
representatives and senators and
their office staffs. They were brazen
about it. They were not going to
vote an income tax upon them
selves and they made no effort to
conceal their reasons for refusing
accept the recommendations of
a special tax subcommittee which
was acting tor the permanent com
mittee in the housfi of the District
of Columbia.
Jhe District of Columbia com
mittee, examining the budget for
the seat of the federal government,
was confronted with a deficit in
the district finances and instructed
its tax subcommittee to develop new
sources of revenue in order that
the District of Columbia might not
get into debt. Among the taxes pro
posed was a tax on income of res
idents of the District of Columbia,
which is synonymous with Wash
ington, and it provided for taxing
earnings here whether the person
who earned the income was a resi
dent of the capital city or not.
That was too much. The majority
in the house of representatives just
could not take it. They voiced their
objections openly and, being supe
rior in numbers to those who be
lieved that income in the District
of Columbia should be taxed, they
forced the tax bill back to the
District of Columbia committee for
revision. Indeed, they went further.
The line of criticism of an income
tax that would touch the sacred
salaries of congressmen and sen
ators was such as to have the effect
of forcing the committee to bring
in a tax bill that would increase
the tax on property in the federal
area. Now. it is a fact that few
members of the house and a very
small number of senators have
bought residences in Washington.
They usually live in apartments or
hotels or lease homes for the period
that congress is in session. Conse
quently, a real estate tax will not
concern most of the representatives
and senators.
• • •
The indictment brought against
the President’s court plan by the
s e n a t e judiciary
Court Plan comm ittee was
Report
quite unusual i n
many
respects.
In the first Instance, it was ap
proximately fifteen thousand words
in length; being in that regard prob
ably the longest and most com
prehensive analysis that any con
gressional committee ever has
made of a piece of legislation. Cer
tainly, it is the most extensive ex
amination to be included in a com
mittee report in the last quarter of
a century.
Every argument advanced by the
administration in support of the
plan was picked to pieces and held
up to public gaze; every possible
reason for expansion of the court
by the addition of six new justices
was scrutinized and denounced and,
then, the committee put forth some
of its own ideas.
“It applies force to the Judiciary,”
the committee said in a sentence
that constituted one paragraph and
thereby was emphasized.
“The only argument for the in
crease which survives analysis,” the
report added, “ is that congress
should enlarge the court so as to
make the policies of this administra
tion effective.”
jB H
Jb»
The bill was found by the seven
Democrats and three Republicans
who constituted a majority of the
senate judiciary committee, to be
“ a needless, futile and utterly dan
gerous abandonment of constitution
al principle." It charged that the
“American system” of independ
ence of the courts would be violated
and that if the bill were to be en
acted into law, “political control”
over the judiciary branch of the
government would pass into the
hands of the President.
With the presentation of this ter
rific attack on the bill to the senate,
a second unusual circumstance de
veloped. Those Dt .nocrats who
were opposed to the President’s
proposal decided to go about the job
of fighting the measure on the floor
in a manner seldom seen in the
congress. These opponents from the
Democratic ranks got together and
chose Senator Wheeler of Montana
as leader of the Democratic oppo
sition to the Democratic Presi
dent's court revision program. They
gave him full authority to act, in
cluding the selection of a steering
committee, a committee on strat
egy, to aid him.
Thus, in the senate now we have
three major leaders. Senator Wheel
er will speak for the court opposi
tion; Senator Robinson of Arkansas
as the leader of the Democratic
party in the senate will lead the
fight for passage of the court bill;
and Senator McNary of Oregon will
head up the Republicans as usual.
Since all of the Republicans and
Independents excepting only Senator
La Follette, Progressive, of Wis
consin, are opposed to the court
revision plan, Senator McNary and
Senator Wheeler are working hand
in glove against the regular Demo
cratic line-up headed by Senator
Robinson.
It appears that the President is
going to be badly defeated on this
piece of legislation, but it is too
early to be sure. Mr. Roosevelt is
a powerful figure and he has politi
cal knowledge that must be de
scribed as remarkable. He has with
him in the senate some exceedingly
able political strategists. It is thus
a battle of wit?.
Mr. Roosevelt has said several
times that he will accept no com
promises. There is a very definite
feeling at the Capitol, however, that
the President will be glad to have
a compromise if he can get one
and save the bill from complete
wreckage. On the other hand, Sen
ator Wheeler and his strategy
committee have announced in no
uncertain terms that they will de
feat the bill or any compromise that
is offered. Time alone can answer
the question of what will come out
of the President's proposal. At this
writing, the odds certainly are
against the President on the
proposition.
s e e
Speaking of taxes and the selfish
ness that was evident in the house
„
~
action, as men-
H u n tT a x
tioned e a r l i e r ,
Evader»
calls to mind the
investigation b y
the joint house and senate com
mittee that is now under way. This
committee, made up of five repre
sentatives and five senators has be
gun a search to find out how tax
payers avoid taxes or reduce the
amounts they would otherwise have
to pay by various trick schemes.
The committee has been given fifty
thousand dollars with which to
make the investigation and it is re
ceiving able assistance from Under
Secretary Roswell Magill and other
Treasury experts on taxation.
Contrary to the outlook when Mr.
Roosevelt released a vicious attack
on tax dodgers and tax avoiders,
this committee is getting down to
real business and there is every
reason to believe it will be able
to recommend to congress changes
in the law that will stop some of
the schemes and tricks to which
large taxpayers have resorted.
I have sat in on a number of the
hearings thus far, including the
opening session when Secretary
Morgenthau made the opening state
ment and disclosed to the satisfac
tion of everyone that he was not
conversant with the problem at
hand. Like the President, Mr. Mor
genthau attempted to place the tax
problem confronting the govern
ment on moral grounds. His state
ment did not click with the com
mittee at all. With two or three ex
ceptions, the committee members
recognized the problem as purely a
question of law and Senator Pat
Harrison, Democrat of Mississippi,
vice chairman, said that there was
no point in making the investigation
“ a Roman holiday.” Therefore, the
thing settled down very quickly to
on earnest study of cases where
men have resorted to various kinds
of subterfuges of law, to reduce
their tax liability.
In this connection, it seemed to
me that too much credit cannot
be given Under Secretary Magill
who apparently is anxious to get V>
the bottom of the problem.
• Western Newspaper Union.
NEWS NOTES OF
THE NORTHWEST
The Star Spangled Banner
NDER the starry flag that wares
over this fair land, every citizen
a king, and there is no avenua to
wealth and fame, position and power,
that is not open to every child of the
Republic.— IV. A. Prossner.
A Brief Summary oi Events
about :
T he N ew NRA B ill.
MONICA, CALIF. —
They do say the new NRA
S ANTA
bill, as drawn by the Gallagher
U it
o f S p e c ia l In te re s t to
O regon, Washington and
Idaho Communities.
and Shean of the adm inistra
tion, Messrs. Corcoran and
Cohen, is more sweeping than
was the original NRA.
SALEM, Ore.— Possibility or post
poning th e 1937 sta te fa > until
late Septem ber was discussed here
when th e sta te board of ag ricu ltu re
Even Gen. Hugh Johnson, once as m et to draw up prelim inary plans
conversational as Mrs. Astor’s par for th e event.
rot, but lately exiled
HOOD RIVER, O re.— D efinite re
amid the uncongen
sults in th e eradication of m osquitoes
ial silences, crawls
have been attain ed in a campaign at
out from under a log
Hood River in which city, county and
in the woods with
residents co-operated. Evening pic
lichens in his hair,
nics are to be revived.
but the lower jaw
ONTARIO, Ore.— The sheepmen of
s t i l l w o rk in g
M alheur county are expecting a boom
s m o o t h l y in the
in th e lamb m arket. Lambs are now
socket, to tell how
selling a t $10 to $12 a hundred. A
drastic a thing it is.
lamb of average w eight will bring
Critics assert this
around $8, a p ro fit of about $1.
legislation will cov
er business like a Irvin S. Cobb
DAYTON, W ash.— The new well
wet blanket over a
a t Dayton, in a test, has yielded be
sick pup, and point out that the tween 500 and 650 gallons of w ater
number of sick pups benefited by per m inute. The com m unity is ju b i
being tucked under wet blankets is la n t over the prospect of a plentiful
quite small. However, these fussy supply during the canning season.
persons belong to the opposition and
EUGENE, Ore.— Travel over Ihe
don’t count. Anyhow, they didn’t
count much at the last election ex sum m it of the Cascades from Eugene
cept in Maine, Vermont and one to C entral Oregon may now be made
backward precinct in the Ozark by way of Odell lake, according to
forest officials. T his is the sh o rtest
mountains.
• • •
ro u te from Eugene to K lam ath Falls.
Friendly French Visitors.
DAVENPORT, W ash. — Jo h n F.
TT SEEMS we were cruelly wrong Lynn has bought fo r cash from Si
in ascribing mercenary motives mon M. Reinbold, a stock ranch of
to those French financiers who’ve 705 acres near Davenport. The o r
been dropping in on us lately. They chard of Lynp, a t Peach, has been
came only to establish more cordial purchased by th e governm ent as p art
relations. Of course, there’s a new
French bond issue to be floated, but of the Coulee Dam project.
COULEE DAM, W ash. — From a
these visits were purely friendly
place of usual quiet, Coulee Dam, the
and altruistic.
Still and all, I can’t help thinking engineers’ model tow n, suddenly has
of Mr. Pincus, who invaded the east become noisy. T h irty m agpies are
side to invite his old neighbor, Mr. responsible. Children of engineers
Ginsburg, whom he hadn’t seen in took young birds from nests in n ea r
years, to be a guest at Mrs. Pincus’ by canyons and adopted them as pets.
birthday party.
Residents report th e noisy creatu res
He gave full directions for travel can be heard on nearly every street.
ing uptown, then added:
PASCO, W ash.— C onstruction., of
“Vere we lif now it’s von of dose two new 160,000-gallon gasoline and
swell valk-up flats. So mit your oil storage tan k s has been begun a t
right elbow you gif a little poosh on A ttalia by th e T idew ater T ran sp o r
the thoid button in the door jam tation company, ow ners of th e boat
downstairs und the lock goes glick- Mary Gall, which tran sp o rts m otor
glick und in you come. You go up fuels up the Columbia from P o rt
two floors und den, mit your other
elbow, you gif one more little poosh land for distribution. The new tan k s
on the foist door to the left und valk will replace two 47,000-gallon ta n k s
in—und vill mommer be surprised!” built several m onths ago by th e same
“Vait,” exclaimed Mr. Ginsburg. company.
WILLAPA HARBOR— In th e fu
“I could get to that Bronnix. I got
brains, ain’t it? But ulso I got fin tu re, don’t order raw Pacific oysters
gers und thumbs. Vot is de poosh- in hope of finding a lustrous pearl
inside th e shell. Coast oyster grow
mit-elbows stuff?”
ers now subject th e oysters to a
Murmured Mr. Pincus gently:
“Surely you vouldn’t come empty- fluoroscope te st before they are
handed!”
m arketed to determ ine if the shells
• * *
contain pearls. D uring th e spring
Visiting Ancient Ranchos.
30,000 cases of oyster seed from J a
T TNDER the guidance of Leo pan were planted in Pacific w aters.
Carillo, that most native of all T he tiny spats will grow into full-
native sons, I’ve been visiting such fledged oysters In 18 months.
of the ancient ranchos as remain
RAYMOND, W ash.— According to
practically what they were before local
observers h ardly a seagull has
the Gringos came to southern Cali
fornia. You almost expect to find been seen in Raymond in th e past
Ramona weaving in a crumbly pa four days, all of them having left
fo r th e seashore. The reason for
tio.
\
What’s more, every one of these th is is th a t thousands of crabs have
lovely places is lived on by one of been w ashed ashore on the Oregon
Leo’s cousins. He has more kin coast from the bottom of th e ocean
folks than a microbe. They say the and th e gulls have gone to d in n er in
early Carillos were pure Spanish, a royal fashion. O bservers say th a t
but I insist there must have been a m achinery dragged along th e ocean
strong strain of Belgian hare in the bottom in search of deep-sea fish
stock. When it came to progeny, have caused the death of the crabs.
HE Star Spangled Banner wks designated at the national anthem by an Act
of Congresl, Approved on March 3, 1931. It was written by Francis Scott
T
Key after he had witnessed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in
' I
Baltimore, in IfljL The words of this stirring song were sung to the tune of
“Anacreon in Heayen” and immediately became popular and it was regarded
as the national anthem though it was not made legally so until 1931.
LIBER TY ,
o n e of tw o
tr e a su re d
The O rator of
the Revolution
BELLS
WO of the bells which played
“ Give Me Liberty or Give Me
important r o l e s in early
Death.”—Patrick Henry.
American history — pealing
FO RBID it, Almighty God!—”
warnings or glad tidings during “ the
" thundered Patrick Henry in
nation’s battle for survival—are
treasured by Philadelphia, observes the Virginia Convention at Rich
a Philadelphia United Press corre mond, in 1775, in a speech typical
of “the explosive temper of the
spondent.
Most valuable of the two from time”—“I know not what course
historical standpoint is the world- others may take, but as for me,
famed Liberty bell, which was tolled give me liberty, or give me death!”
when first public announcement was The orator of the Revolution had
made of the Continental Congress’ been found. It was Patrick Henry
adoption of the Declaration of Inde who established before the Ameri
can people that government was a
pendence on July 4, 1776.
The bell had pealed for anniver contract between King and people
saries and festivals until 1835, when and that the violation of such con
it cracked while being rung for the tract by the King was truly an
funeral procession of Chief Justice illegal act.
John Marshall of the United States
Supreme court.
Other bells identified with Ameri TRANSCRIBED DECLARATION
the strain was to the Pacific coast
ca’s
struggle against foreign encum "^E ITH ER Thomas Jefferson
PASCO, W ash.— Sea gu lls th at
what the Potomac shad has been
’ nor John Hancock was the
brances are the chimes in the stee
to the eastern seaboard. It's more flew from th e Pacific Coast th is ple of Old Christ church. During
penman who transcribed the Dec
week-end to join farm ers of th e re the Revolutionary war they were
than a family—it’s a species.
laration of Independence. The ac
gion In th e ir b attle ag ain st advancing removed and secreted to block pos
tual work of transcription was
And a mighty noble breed it is— hordes
of Mormon crickets, have sible attempts of English soldiers
done by Timothy Matlack.
producing even yet the flagrant es
sence of a time that elsewhere has been augm ented by an alm ost equal to melt them for ammunition.
vanished and a day when hospitality num ber of black ravens. This y ear
still ruled and a naturally kindly th e pests a re being fought along a
people had time to be mannerly and 35-mile trench and a re eaten by those
the instinct to be both simple and who come afte r them . Under th e di
rection of A rthur Chase, S tate college
grandly courteous at once.
entom ologist, 35 men are w orking
• • •
daily w ith spray guns and poison,
Privileges of Nazidom.
*Tp HE German commoner may be spraying both crickets and th e vege
shy on the food rations and have tatio n ahead of them . The poison
some awkward moments unless he kills th e crickets b u t not th e birds.
conforms to the new Nazi religion.
SALMON ON WAY V P RIVER
But he enjoys complete freedom of
first American flag w as made,
the press—or rather, complete free- 1 STEVENSON. W ash.— T housands
is being restored to its colonial
dom from the press. And lately an of salm on, held In th e Bonneville
condition, through Ihe gener
other precious privilege has been 1 dam forebay pending com pletion of
osity oi A. Atwater Kent. For
th e fishw alk, a re on th e ir way up
accorded him.
many years this house has
stream
to
th
e
ir
spawning
grounds.
He may fight duels. Heretofore,
been visited by thousands oi
T
he
fish
were
released
by
raising
this inestimable boon was exclusive
tourists annually.
of
th
e
stop
logs.
ly reserved for the highborn. But
Falling rapidly into ruin, the
dilapidated condition oi ' the
now he may go forth and carve and j
BIO SOLE HAULS MADE
patriotic shrine w as brought to
be carved until the field of honor
ASTORIA, Ore.— Traw lers o p era t
Mr. Kent’s attention through a
looks like somebody had been clean
newspaper article which pic
ing off th e Columbia riv er rep o rt ex
ing fish.
tured the lolling plaster, the
cellent hauls of sole, according to
This increase in his blessings ! Louts Beverino. m anager of th e In
leaking rooi and general con
dition oi disrepair.
makes me recall a tale that Charley
te
rn
atio
n
al
Fish
company
of
San
Russell, the cowboy artist, used to
The living-room, shown, still
I
Francisco.
T
he
company
sen
t
two
has the gorgeous fireplace
tell:
with white mantel framed with
“ The boys were fixing to hang a traw le rs north th is spring to try
the original blue Dutch tile. The
horse thief,” Charley said. "He only fishing in th e ocean banks off th e
room w as originally decorated
weighed about ninety pounds, but Columbia river. H auls as high as
for his heft he was the champion ten tons a day are being made. T he
horse thief of Montana. The rope fish Is iced and sent to San F ra a-
was swung from the roof of a barn. cisco.
Then they balanced a long board :
out of the loft window, and the con
ARLINGTON, Ore.— T o u rists a
demned was out at the far end of it, long way from hom e have passed
ready for the drop, when a stranger j through A rlington. According to th e
busted in.
license plate on th e car, th ey w ere
“ Everybody thought he craved to . from Greece. T he car of G recian
pray, but that unknown humanita m aka, differed from American cars.
rian had a better notion than that.
SALEM, Ore. — The state Und
In less'n a minute he came inching
out on that plank and there wasn't board has announced the sale of
a dry eye in the crowd as he edged 24.374.000 board feet of timber In
up behind the poor trembling wretch Klamath county to the Crater Lake
and slipped an anvil in the seat of Box & Lumber company at a cost of
approximately >97.000. Money de
his pants.’*
T
menean
IRVIN S. COBB.
B -W N V Service.
rived from the sale will go Into the
Mate common school fund.