Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-12-16
POSTAL RATES, NAVY
AND SHOALS TANCLE
6bAafff. Z CONGRESS-
Memorial Exercises for
Woodrow Wilson to Be
Held on Monday


problems stood out above other
! legislative issues as the short ses-
sion Of this congress swung into
it's third week.
Though tomorrow will be set
aside for services i'll commemoration
of the late President Wilson, when
congress gets GOWN to business
again on Tuesday it will be con-
fronted with the exceedingly knotty
question of how to raise postal salar-
les and postal rates to satisfy every
one, how to dispose of the great
! Muscle Shoals power and nitrogen
! project, and what if anything is the
matter with the navy.
| This session got under way two
weeks ago with a carefully laid pro-
gram announced by leaders. This
program involved urgent attention
to the necessary supply bills first,
with contentious legislation kept in
the background until appropriations
were attended to. But already
| these three controversial questions
| have crowded to the front.
The postal rates problem is the
!
two-thirds of the senate are pledged
in one way or another to grant the
salary raise so earnestly and long
sought by hard worked postofflce
employees, and yet most Republican
| senators are very reluctant to over
ride the presidents veto.
The only alternative for this
group is to find some way to pro-
duce a postal salary raise bill which
the president will sign. Mr.. Coolidge
has stated that he would not APP
prove a salary increase bill unless
increased postal revenues are pro-
vided to pay for the raise in pay.
In other words that he was opposed
to passing the pay raise onto the
tax payers
In order to give congress chance
to make up it's mind on this score
Postmaster General New yesterday
sent to the capitol a suggested
schedule of postal rate increases
which he said would provide an adj
ditional $66,000000 postal reverde to
meet the $6S,000,0 900 additional the
postal salaries increase would cost.
The clamor against this proposal
was immediate and intense. The in
creases would fall all along the line
on about everything in the postal
service except first class letters.
Post cards would be increased to
IL cents, special delivery to 10
cents, registered letters to Is cents,
and so on with-the~increase in rates.
on the distribution of newspapers
and third class advertising matter
such that publishers claimed the
mail circulation Of publications
would be crippled if not destroyed.
The production of the New bill,
which will be introduced by Senator
Sterling, chairman of the poStoftlce
committee, put the question square
ly UP to congress. If the postal
salaries increase is not passed the
postal employees will raise the cry
they have been betrayed. If it is
passed over the presidents veto a
Republican congress VIII again have
gone on record as flouting u Repub-
lican president, moreover one who
has just been overwhelmingly in
dorsed by the people If both the
salaries and rate increases are pass
ed members fear Il storm OF pro-
test from the public, led by news
papers and especially the little coun-
try newspapers and weeklies, upon
which many members depend strong
ly in their campaigns.
! A question hardly less difficult OF
solution is the Muscle Shoals prob
lem, which has bee nbefore con-
gross for years.
The great Wilson dam will be
finished by next July and this ses-
sion Of congress must make some
decision on what to do with it. The
| Underwood bill, now the one most
seriously considered, would author
! ize the secretary of war to lease the
! project to private operators at
per cent of $45, 600, the cost OF
the dam, with the proviso that the
lessee must produce 10000 tons OF
! fixed nitrogen year.
The Underwood bill has been at
tackled on the floor from many
angles Some senators are deter
mined that the project shall be OPP
Grated by the government. Others
claim the attempt to produce 40, 900
tons of fixed nitrogen annually is
! impossible. Attacks on the Under
wood bill eliminated yesterday in an
editorial charge that the Alabama
senator's measure would turn over
/ Muscle Shoals to the Alabama Power
company.
Underwood made a fiery speech
| in the senate demanding u senato-
rial investigation of the charge.
! The senate judiciary committee
when it meets tomorrow will agree
! upon the course of the investigation.
This inquiry will probably further
/ delay settlement of the Muscle
! Shoals problem.
J The naval issue now demanding the
attention of both houses of congress
is not so pressing as the othes two
but may prove by far the most diff
cult of the three. Charges have been
made by civilian naval experts that
the American navy has fallen be-
low it's treaty ratio strength. These
charges have been in part denied and
in part supported by the testimony
,,e thn Secretary Of the Navy Wilbur.
The house appropriation commit
tee in reporting the annual naval
appropriation bills yesterday declared
the navy to be approximately at
treaty strength ana that there was
no cause for alarm" a coincident
statement by Wilbur said there was
need for $4,000 900 year con-
struction program to maintain the
navy at treaty strength. The wide
variance among the many expert"
opinions on the navy has stimulated
the demand for q through congress
sional investigation. 1t is probable
that this investigation wan oe a.
thorized and will become one of the
major tasks of this session of con-