Behind the Scenes in Washington
Meiman, Benjamin
Behind the Scenes in Washington The Flood, the President and the Congress—Government Machinery to the Rescue— Acts of God and Men—Record Army Bill for Peacetime Voted by Senate—The Way Some...
...Poor whites, merchants, mechanics and shopkeepers deserted the East, going West and North to escape the privations that came to the old regions because of this policy...
...Too often they actually increased the poor man's cost of living:, and never fdr any length of time did they cheapen th***teee> saries of life...
...Probably not...
...Under dictatorship human beings are reduced to cattle driven with the whip in the hands of overseers who in turn receive orders from one whose will is arbitrary law for all...
...Here, for instance, as reported by the House Ways and Means Committee, are Thomas J. Watson of International Business Machines getting $364,432 for a year's labor of super in tendance...
...Whichever way they go, it is better for him to have a large crop than a small one...
...is paid $100,000 a year (on top of his share of the profit) for being president of the May department store...
...Then the Army, Coast Guard, Civilian Conservation Corps, Red Cross and relief 'workers are directed by the President to throw their full resources into the task of protection and rescue, aiding the local authorities...
...Clearly," he reported, "an important flood control measure is the covering wherever possible of bare andAiearly bare land...
...He could come out for a constitutional amendment giving Congress ' the power to enact effective and sorely needed social and labor legislation...
...THE FLOOD DISASTER DESPITE warnings of experts for many years, vast regions of this country have been swept by floods leaving cities and villages desolate" and hundreds of thousands of human beings homeless and destitute...
...N.B.—This is the May store in St...
...Washington is alarmed by reports from all parts of the country showing that the farmers, encour...
...Such lavs well common in medieval Europe and ia the ancient East...
...The first of a series of trials growing out of the reactionary mob violence of November 30 had just got under way, when they started a secret distribution of Communist leaflets...
...and so on down to Morton J. May, who...
...The floods, not Washington's, but the more serious dissaters throughout the country, had kept him at his post...
...the unsoundness of their econonit thinking by a strong leaning »• ward what is called practical psiJtics...
...Honest idealism cannot win by the methods test are perfectly adopted to the purpose...
...In spits » these mild blemishes, the book eat be recommended as as admirssh survey of important German BK ersture...
...Dykes are hastily thrown up, marooned families are carried to safety, food and medical supplies are provided, devastated regions are patrolled and sanitation measures are enforced...
...With Secretary of War Dern beside him in an open car, the President surveyed the spreading Potomac, viewed the great dykes of sandbags thrown up by thousands of workers across the low streets that lead to the Capital's water gateway and protecting the Navy and Munitions buildings on Constitution Avenue beside the Reflecting Pool...
...A minority of three prefer the more drastic Black bill, already passed by the Senate...
...His conduct is dictated by the -logic of the situation...
...But it isn't nonsense...
...Walter P. Chrysler, $197,568...
...More employment depends upon the operation of industries now idle...
...What pleases this revise* most is that the author reiato changes in literature to ebaaSV in social and economic conditio** If told that he used the Marsha method, Mr...
...But the Townsend* sal the Sinclairs, it appears, are at *V sessed with the nation of leadership and with the notion of s shortcut to success that, in tryisj to ape the practical politicises, they destroy their own organist* tions and discredit themselves...
...Large crops brought prices so low that farmers were being ruined...
...His foDeiaZ are already grumbling because % promised monthly dividends area...
...The time came when the old ruling class needed new lands in the West and this land hunger came into conflict with various interests of the North that also wanted western lands...
...and by the people can and should do everything that can be done to diminish its destructiveness...
...Moreover, the police have instructions to dragoon all voters to the polls...
...Therefore, there must be "voluntary concerted action...
...The police orders are to "bring to the ballot box the well-known 8 to 10 per cent who are indifferent or slothful to pledge themselves to Adolf Hitler...
...Government to the Rescue The Machinery of Government moved rapidly into action...
...Wt skat soon see whether he would rat**} be right than be president...
...k The Townsend Utopia seems fc be nearing its finish...
...The East suffers from floods...
...aged by the rise of prices which has resulteK, at least in part, from I the limitation of agricultural output in 1934 and '36, are this year working like beavers to till a larger acreage and raise larger quantities of wheat, corn, rice, flax, cotton, and other kinds of farm produce...
...How Some Lobbyists Work Directing its X-ray scrutiny on the devious ways of lobbyists, the Senate committee of inquiry brings to light the story of a seven-man cooperative residence...
...Twenty-four hours before he had planned to go aboard the special train that was to take him to the South...
...Although the author estfines his discussion to that literature which is read in the EnghsV s peaking world, some nanSsSmSBn writers, as for instance W» Renter, might well have bean included...
...Recently Dr...
...Poor innocent creatures...
...The result was a Civil War and the abolition of slavery...
...1...
...Good wishes, and nothing more...
...writes.] Just scratching the surface, the committee found eighteen "big executives" who are paid from $275 up to $1,000 a day (Sundays included) for real or alleged services...
...The most important job now is securing ads for the Basaar journal...
...Many Utopians try to make up is...
...COMMUNISTS AT IT AGAIN T^HE Communists are at their old tricks again, this time * in Tampa...
...The usually placid Potomac was roaring between its historic banks, rising over the carefully landscaped vistas of golf links, polo fields, drives and even the banks of the lagoon where the famed cherry blossoms are soon scheduled to burst...
...characters did when told that at spoke prose, namely that he MSB knew it...
...In the line of Utopias taaaJH indeed no new thing under the sag What are thought to be novel nomic panaceas are only very eg, ones dug out of the scrapbeae at * history, where they have laia *> long that their former vogne-^gBN been forgotten...
...Alfred P. Sloan of General Motors getting $201,693...
...It will require hundreds of millions of dollars to restore ruined regions, more millions to restore soil values, and years of planning to avoid another such disaster...
...The injunctions would forbid "blanket" demands for telegrams and also publication of certain ones seized...
...Under these i Iiiuiiiiilsnfjf it is hard to understand why Sp> author should be the victim of tke legend that king Frederick the Great of Prussia was an «S>^ pression of Enlightenment...
...TIM Nazis, on whose "literature" tit author overeaotiously does '** pass judgment, are more . ess* «is tent when they see in Frederfc* II one of their heroes...
...This policy of intense exploitation of the soil for generations in the old slave South contributed to the overthrow of slavery itself...
...Sounds like nonsense doesn't it...
...dred years ago...
...But here is a chance to prevent others from falling "innocently" into these pitfalls: A House Committee reports favorably the Smith Anti-Lobbying bill, which requires that all lobbyists must register quarterly and report on their affiliations, receipts and payments...
...It could -not come at a better time if it had been planned...
...Only Nazi candidates appear on the ballot and one risks a concentration camp if he votes No...
...It* leads...
...Upton Sinclair of Epic fa* % an example...
...They could be even ia- , perfectly enforced'only by costly and vexatious policing and espionage, which prornoted btfhary asd blackmail...
...Such action would indeed win him also 'arouse savage opposition, «V i pecially in several Pniannifo states...
...Congress recoils against the idea of a 30-hour law as this will invoke the stubborn antagonism of the masters of industry...
...Prtntkt M0» Inc., New York...
...He found that 650,000 gallons of rain fell on one acre in 1931...
...Most of the on* they were secretly or often opsak' violated...
...The provision had been eliminated from the measure in the House...
...The Bazaar will be held at the People's House four days from Thursday, April 23 to Sunday, April 26...
...Will he do it...
...And What is this latest curs" sfjf Just a law licensing all mercaatih businesses, forbidding wholeselen to sell at retail or retailers to s* st wholesale, and fixing msTinnj and minimum prices for varlsis commodities...
...So then, what will Labor have got out of the BooseveK Administration...
...If we are going into the military business, this appropriation is not Urge enough," he said...
...In the last "election"* even prisoners in concentration camps were required to vote under the eyes of sadist bullies...
...Under the circumstances this could have no effect but to inflame public opinion on a false issue...
...German Literature hlSTORlCAL SURVEY OFGBU MAS LITERATURE...
...A government for...
...Covering saO a vast field -in one small veins* necessitated a very sketchy treatment of the writers,and that work...
...Without their brain labor industry just could not go on and the working people would perish...
...the West suffers from dust storms.They are twin brothers...
...That scheme was old five hs?f...
...The increased funds provide for an increase in the enlisted personnel of the army from 147,000 to 166,000...
...Most labor of superintendence is In fact done by hired men, not by owners of capital...
...Government induced farmers to restrict productieo^Trices rose and farmers rejoiced...
...They dare not cross this zone and yet it is necessary to cross it...
...of job-hunting oId -party politicians...
...And this again is nothing new...
...Bess "Sew...
...It is essential to their purposes to destroy all hope in orderly and democratic procedure...
...Acts of God and Men Frank Kent and Mark Sullivan will probably blame Charlie Michelson for these floods as a publicity stunt for the New Deal's flood control and'soil erosion propaganda...
...What palsies the thinking of the statesmen at Washington who daily face the greatest economic disaster in all history is the zone between private ownership of industry and something beyond which they fear...
...Take for an example the Saga] ' Credit scheme, which a few bssmk | ago carried Mr...
...Many a capitalist knows nothing about the business of which he is part owner, but he gets his dividends just the same—not for working "with hand or brain," but just because he is owner...
...Every farmer wishes all other farmers*would reduce their acreage, because that would increase prices...
...So it is right that the capitalists should get profit to reward them for their invaluable Services...
...On an acre plantedto corn 134,000 gallons ran off at once...
...People's International Bazaar—April 23rd to 26th Having finished the important job of handling food distribution for 13,000 strikers in 10 councils, the women are now busy on Bazaar arrangements...
...Now, tempted by high prices resulting from reduced output, farmers are making every effort to increase Output—which will bring prices down again...
...And when s capitalist does hold a corporation office, and presumably is rendering some service, be is paid for it over and above the profit on his capital—paid, and paid well...
...Senator Black already hinted as much, and I know he means it too...
...Behind the Scenes in Washington The Flood, the President and the Congress—Government Machinery to the Rescue— Acts of God and Men—Record Army Bill for Peacetime Voted by Senate—The Way Some Lobbyists Work...
...Where they war* nog and then enforced tor a while, they seldom if ever gave the dashes results...
...Private capitalism is unable to employ the millions which it has thrown into idleness and the government has been compelled to place its victims on rations either through direct relief or through work relief...
...Even the worst catastrophies impress one much deeper when they strike home...
...They can well afford to endanger other people s Uvea to win their point...
...Largest Army Bill in Peace Time Last Monday the Senate voted for the largest peace time army bill in the history of our country, a total of $611,362,604...
...His individual interest is diametrically opposed to his class interest...
...Rarely have we had such an example of guessing, uncertainty and muddling through as in these statements...
...The National Conference of Investors is supported largely by utility and railroad interests, a fact in which the committee sees significance since Congress had before it the Utility Holding Company bill, opposed by utility interests, and the Long and Short Haul bill, favored by railroad interests...
...Generations of this reckless and suicidal policy are being paid for by the present generation...
...on an acre planted to, a good meadow crop only 7,000 gallons ran off...
...Aberhsrt iatrfa premiership of Alberta and whan failure is erelong going to rne* him into oblivion...
...A one-crop region—cotton —the slave owners shifted to other lands as rapidly as they ruined the soil...
...For generations the destruction of forests, failure to restore, noil values by rotation of crops and employment of other conservation methods have exhausted the spongy topsoil that formerly absorbed heavy rains, permitting the water to slowly seep into creeks and rivers...
...but it would not he prudent to bet much on a reversal by the Supreme Court If it applies the same principles of constitutional interpretation that it has applied to other New Deal laws it will wipe this important act of the statute book...
...being paid...
...Spotlighted by the disaster is the value of flood control and of measures to cheek soil erosion...
...Senator King said he believed the appropriation to be "provocative" to other nations...
...Of course such political tactics are really—as.«um«f the Utopians to be sincere—1st from being practical...
...i Facing this dilemma, the President urges the ruling business barons to increase employment and then dedares that they can do little to increase jobs...
...Declaring that the "Army and Navy" crowd are continously lobbying for a large Army and Navy, Frazier told the Senate that "these preparations for war mean war...
...53 senators voted for the bill and only 12 against it...
...has astonished the public and disheartened many of his f olloavn by making his grandiose project a tall to Senator Borah's presidential kits, What is going to happen to tht kite is very doubtful, but the t*9 can never be more than a talta tail that may weigh the Us down and get dragged In the mai as it descends, a tall that mto . come loose in mid-flight and vanja among the clouds, anyhow justs tail...
...It'll be interesting to see whether the courts will attempt to curb the Senate's investigation powers, in wnicns«eeee the Senate may turn around ami attempt to curb the Court's injunction powers...
...By Benjamin Meiman Our Washington Correspondent A BOUT one and a half centuries ago, when the •'founding fathers" decided to build the nation's capital on a swampy lowland, now called Washington, D. C, they did not see the good it might do to flood sufferers in other less fortunate part* of the country...
...Now he has had 4* graft a new proposal upoa^JS original one in order to revive tacit hopes...
...No one has a right to blame him...
...This book is an outline of German literature "from the bsfisning until 1936...
...It is only a district court, of course, that has spoken...
...on the meadow only 1 per cent...
...Meanwhile the Senate votes unanimously to allot $10,000 for defense of the Senate committee against court injunctions asked by publisher William R. Hearst...
...E. Knudsen, $201,896...
...First, the Weather Bureau, aided by other agencies, spreads instantly information which serves to warn of coming peril...
...If we are not, it is too large...
...From the corn land 20 per cent of the water ran away...
...Congressmen sharing the bouse and others being entertained there, of course, claimed, they did not know "Bob" Smith was a lobbyist...
...Farmers Compete, Courts Hit] uier, Bosses Draw Fat Wages I^FENDERS of the existing . system tell us., that the capitalists' profit is not unearned income, but "wages of superintendence.'' The owners of capital, they allege, manage and direct the mines and factories and railways...
...Liptsin would ably answer, as one at Melius...
...v/ • • * ' And now the National Labor Relations Act has been found unconstitutional...
...The conviction of lynchers, like the acquittal of workingmen unjustly prosecuted, would strengthen that hope and weaken the case for conspiraUve methods, for insurrectionism, for the program of dictatorship...
...Louis, not .the one in Brooklyn...
...Their average is $150,000 a year—just double the salary paid to the President of the United States...
...Last year's appropriation for the War Department was $422,896,470...
...By *f Liptzin, 300 pp...
...This muddling is typical of the New Deal...
...For his class as a whole he advocates a policy of reduced acreage...
...Opposition to the hill was based on the Urge amount of appropriations and in some quarters on the ground that excessive military preparations lead to war...
...NEW DEAL MUDDLING PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT in his budget message urged private business to "extend its operations so as to absorb an increasing number of the unemployed...
...There is one way, and only one way, in which President Roosevelt could affirm a re so hits will to do what he started out to do in 1933...
...Each farmer knows that increasing or reducing his particular acreage and output will have no perceptible effect on prices, but will substantially affect his own income...
...Also, those who can secure merchandise from any source, please lenve name and address at the Party office and we will make the preliminary appeal, followed up by a personal visit...
...And the President does not get dividends in addition, as they do...
...THE GERMAN "ELECTION" \JO normal human being has any illusions about the * * "election" in Germany on Sunday when the population will go to the polls to ratify the policies of Hitler...
...Also, «• regret that from the author' presentation an inference can *e drawn that the Nazis' claims » Nietzsche are justified...
...If the guilty men escape they will owe a debt of gratitude to the Communist party, whose regular policy in all such cases is to push themselves into the limelight and bring about a miscarriage of justice out of which they can make political capital...
...I don't want Norman Thomas complaining that I have misstated something about the people who advertise their unionbreaking business ins the Tammany organ for which N.T...
...Keep the Dates Open—Make No Other Plans On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a regular dinner will be served under the supervision of the Women's Committee...
...Army engineers point out that the Federal Government has spent in the past 25 years about 372 million dollars to .control floods* yet the loss from this one flood is estimated to exceed this sum...
...Senator Frazier lost in an effort to have the Senate write into the bill a provision limiting profits on airplanes and ordnance to 10 per cent...
...Both may be called "Acts of God," but negligence of men makes them more destructive...
...Frank B. Howe of Cornell made a report of his experiments on the effects of floods in New York State...
...for himself he practices a policy of increased production...
...Comrades that patronize restaurants, have doctors, dentists— and all have neighborhood stores— approach them for ads...
...Whether prices rise or fall does not depend upon his individual action...
...To which our first reply is that many capitalists do nothing of the sort...
...We also want personal complimentary ads...
...Hfclef, Goering, Goebbels and Streieb* have just as much right to pose* Nietzsche's conception of super*** as the Inquisition had to speak » the name of Christ...
...Of the seven men sharing expenses in a suburban house on the outskirts of Washington last summer, six were members of Congress and the seventh was Robert E. Smith, employed by the National Conference of Investors...
...The President saw with his own eyes at the edge of his own back yard an example of what can happen when angry rivers rise...
...There is method in their madness...
...It is just the way attempts at governmental price pegging logically work out under a system Of competitive production for sale...
...The owners will not operate them and the administration does nothing to see that they are operated...
...To do the right tang would, it must be admitted, haft his chances of re-election...
...The President allots 25 million dollars to replace destroyed utilities and publicly owned property...
...In his relief message he declared that individual employers cannot do much to increase employment...
Vol. 19 • March 1936 • No. 13
