30 Mar 1939
Page 1
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Newspaper
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Location
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States of America
Date
Mar 30, 1939
Page
1
The WPA faces massive administrative costs and monthly bills, prompting a House committee to trim the emergency fund by 50 million dollars. Amid budget battles, editorials recall Roosevelt’s 1932 pledge to curb deficits and criticize current governance. local notes praise honesty of a Cedar Rapids carrier boy and reflect on citizens’ relationship to government.
In Des Moines Iowa the senate opened debate on a chain store tax bill. Senator G R Hill accused chain store interests of university influence and cited articles he called propaganda. The bill would impose annual license fees 10 to 500 per store and add in transit and information costs. Senator Bekman challenged the amendment as unfriendly while Breen argued for a broader fee basis to save jobs and raise about 500000. The United Press noted Hill said Silliman received 750 to 800 dollars monthly for chain store representation.
Sears Roebuck and Company reports 15.6 percent higher gross sales for Feb 27 to Mar 26 than the same period last year, marking the largest figure for any comparable period in the firm’s history in Chicago.
Senate Leader Barkley laid out a 10 point plan for the remainder of the session and a late June adjournment target. The list preserves railroad recovery and unemployment relief while excluding corporate tax reform and wage hour changes, with flexibility for any pending proposals to pass.
Prime Minister Chamberlain signaled an expansion of Britain's navy and air force after an emergency cabinet meeting. He noted the army expansion to 340,000 and said a full statement would follow as conclusions are reached while denying any final ruling on conscription. A foreign affairs debate is slated for next Sunday.
President Roosevelt nominated former New Hampshire senator Fred H. Brown a liberal Democrat to be comptroller general for 15 years. He succeeds acting Republican Richard Nash Elliott, whose term followed John Ray Mond McCarl. Brown, a former governor, has criticized New Deal actions and brings a long public service record to the office.
Bohus Benes announced a congress of Czechs and Slovaks to be held in Chicago or New York within a month to unify factions and plan for a free Czechoslovakia in a free Europe. Delegates will represent 159,000 in the United States and more in South America. Dr. Eduard Benes’s nephew noted the aim is not a US provisional government.
T B Hlubucek of Cedar Rapids, president of the Czech American Alliance of Iowa, said a plan to unify Czechs and Slovaks originated in Pittsburgh after Hitler set up the protectorate. Masaryk discussed the plan with him and noted the first Czechoslovak republic was founded in Pennsylvania.
The House approved a gag rule governing the emergency WPA appropriation of 106 million dollars. Amendments are limited to amount only, restricting edits by those backing Roosevelt’s push for 150 million. The rule allows defeat of amendments by the House in committee without a separate vote.
Washington INL reports that massive federal lending to aid distressed railroads faced opposition from the government’s chief lender, Jesse Jones, chairman of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, sparking a clash over funding priorities amid the crisis in the rail sector.
Robert Palmer 88 of 525 Knollwood Drive SE Cedar Rapids died at 1 20 a m after a long illness. A founder and longtime director vice president and business manager of Cedar Rapids Savings Bank he helped shape civic church and business life since arriving in 1881 as R G Dun sales manager. He served as treasurer for many affiliated organizations including during Carnegie gift reception. Continued on page 2 column 3.
DES MOINES RP reports Iowa House approved a bill to classify marijuana as a noxious weed under an eradication drive. The measure, 90 to 6, would require road authorities and farmers to kill growth along with other noxious plants. Names cited include Rep. John Knudson and Rep. R R Dvorak. Tama and Chelsee near Tama County cited as sites.
DES MOINES AP District Judge Lou Ladd dismissed indictments against 11 Polk County tavern operators for possession of slot machines. The dismissals came after the trial and acquittal Tuesday of Harold White, operator of the Wooden Shoe tavern, on similar charges.
Floods and heavy rains wash out a highway bridge near Vicksburg Mississippi causing five cars and a heavy truck to plunge 50 feet into a bayou. Four killed eight injured with several missing as divers search the 20 foot deep water. Victims include S M Wilsywyn Marcus Meeks M W Beaver and a nurse Mary Schrack.
Josephus Daniels recalls his boyhood town Wilson North Carolina a county seat in cotton country. Three women led mercy work across faiths providing care comfort and funerals in a community free from today’s bigotry, teaching that the only religion worth keeping is doing good.
The Senate naval affairs committee informally agreed to reject the navy’s 5 million dollar Guam improvements proposal and to report favorably next week a bill providing about 60 million dollars for naval air bases in the Pacific and Atlantic. Chairman Walsh said there has been no formal action but the plan is to call the committee together next week to report the bill with no further hearings.
City council tables a messy set of insurance bids after a Thursday meeting. Mayor Frank K. Hahn said an open session will follow as agents explain policy details and city advantages. Most bids offered multiple options, widening the spread and delaying a clear lowest bid.
Cedar Rapids city council gave final approval to a ordinance setting new minimum electrical service rates for Iowa Electric Light and Power. The reduced rates take effect after April 1 and are expected to save customers about 75000 dollars annually. Earle G. Nichols of the company explained billing in apartment houses. R M DeCastello questioned how bills were computed.
A federal grand jury indictment charges nine individuals in a McKesson Robbins mail fraud and SEC violation conspiracy. Three directors of the firm named, plus three Coster-Musica brothers, two of the widow’s brothers, and a blackmailer are implicated. False asset statements and phantom warehouses tied to two dummy companies allegedly inflated assets by about 21 million dollars from 1925 to 1938.
President Roosevelt warned Congress he would veto any legislation that damages the administration’s trade agreements. In a letter to Senator Harrison he said he would veto reciprocal taxation of state and federal salaries if riders attack the trade program remained. The letter followed by a Capitol Hill hearing where southern senators’ tax proposals on vegetables and fish oil were rejected. Senator Gillette withdrew an oil bearing seeds tax increase amendment.
In a 1933 column, ARTHUR Bugs BAER argues the farm aid cuts hit alfalfa funding, trimming from about 1.067 billion to roughly 800 million. He quips that counting money reduces it and suggests farmers restart with the nest egg, noting a $250 million loss in the deal.
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