Evening star., 1932-06-20

CHICAGO, June 2O-Chicago is
broke and Mayor Tony Cermak will be
in Washington tomorrow to see If he
can touch the Reconstruction Finance
| Corporation for something like s36.-
| 900, 900. The citys urgent needs are
considerably more than that, but if the
J R. F. C. will help out to the extent
| named, it will at least enable the empty
treasury to pay thousands of employees
whose wages are in arrears. including
! S23,000,000 owing to public school
teachers. Altogether, Mayor Cermak
will tell the R. F. C. moguls, Chicago
requires $81 100000 to meet her bills for
1882. but if she can get s36,Ooo,oOo or
| thereabouts that will tide over immedi-
ate difficulties. The mayor will make
| his appeal in Washington at the head
Of the Citizens Committee on Public
Expenditures. He will present tabula-
| ton of pressing necessities" worked
out by auditors and accountants. Mr..
Cermak and his fellow suppliantS will
| say in effect that unless Federal aid
| is granted, the great metropolis, second
| biggest in the country, will simply have
| to go out of business and hang up the
bankruptcy sign. The plight of the un-
paid school teachers is the saddest
| feature of the situation. Gen. Dawes
was besieged. on his arrival in Chicago
| Saturday. to say whether R. F.. c. funds
are available for loans to cities. He in
| dicated that special permission of Con-
greSS Is required for such purposes.
X * :; *
To National Convention visitors Chi
cago's impoverished condition presents a
| strange paradox. Externally the city
| reveals every aspect of affluence Mich
| 1gan boulevard and its incomparably
lovely skyline, especially when aglow
| with light at night, seem to reflect a
| community baSking in invincible pros
perlty. The great "outer drive" along
| Lake Michigan is jammed with endless
streams of automobiles. The long
stretches of bathing beaches are alive,
Gay and evening, with apparently care
free crowds. The loop, with its myriad
OF theaters and picture houses, throbs
with life. Hustle, ChicagoS priced
| characteristic, is visible on every hand.
All these things may be mere super
ticlalities and surface indications which
| hide real conditions like 100000 unem-
ployed, but they make it difficult to be-
lleve that the Jewel City of the un-
salted seas is busted.
X X X
Gone forever are the days when Chi
cagoans boasted of their stockyards,
their skyscrapers and the other purely
material things which were the stock in
trade of booster" times. Now they
point with pride to the Field Museum
the Adler Planetarium. the Bucking-
ham Fountain, the Shedd Aquarium
and half dozen other objects of sheer
beauty and educational value which
public-spirited citizens have bestowed
upon the community. Chicagoans are
grateful that all these boons were be-
queathed before depression came along
to deplete the fortunes of even the
city's richest families. Some of the
benefactors whose names are attached
to these glorious monuments could not
dream of such lavish philanthropy to-
day. In one eminent case, a great mu-
scum project launched by a pre-1929
multi-millionaire has had to be def
nitely abandoned. The estate out of
which it Vas to be built and main
tained is III the red.
Jouette Shouse, chairman Of the
Democratic National Executive Com
mittee, officially planted the party's
banners in Chicago during the week
end. There is some doubt whether the
hdlLodI1-hS dllNCu tliuo Cdliy
| in the game for political or for equine
reasons, for he turned up just in time
to attend the American Derby at Wash
ington Park. Next to politics, horse
racing is Shouse's grand passion. He
considers it lucky omen that he
backed the winner, and thus assured at
least his advance weeks board and
lodging bill Shouse is saying nothing
about the convention fight, in which he
Democratic fracas gets going. The
question is whether be or Senator Tom