davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19
Our Daily Washington Letter
 Blow at Civil Service May Be in Cards
BY RODNEY BUTCHER

ing those jobs for their own folks. although such procedure if repeat cd from administration to admin istration definitely would stop the progress of civil service.
 4. Any employe of more than 30 years service may, undert he in- dependent offices bill passed by the house, be retired at the discretion of his department or bureau head on an annuity running from $9O0 to $1,200 a year. Some of the gov ernment's most valuable employees are now worrying over the possi- bility that they may suddenly lose their jobs and be reduced to a bare level of subsistence.
 Cut Already Taken
 Federal employees have already taken a 15 per cent pay cut-a re- duction which may be lessenei whenever the president finds that the cost of living has come within 15 per cent ofa its 1928 average. Gle is required by congress to tn- vestigate and act on that poin, every six months, which does give the federal employe a protection against inflation.)
 The employees took the 15 per cent cut without protest. but the 90-day furlough proposal has them up in the air. That would mean 4O per cent less income. The depart ment and bureau heads would be authorized by congress, if the sen. ate now approves, to impose the furlough when they think it best.
 Yet the administration feels it. self bound to make 25 per cent cut in federal expenses and has the power to do so. Only half that re- duction has been achieved by slash of veteran compensation and fed eral salaries. Nearly all the rest must come from federal employees.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19
Proceed Slowly

Hartford legislators are quite pleased with measure that will allow taxes to be levied on the athletic fields of all schools. They believe that they have uncovered rich source of income for good many ot the cities and towns of the state. In fact many contemplate the end of the depression with the added taxes they will receive. We wonder if this is so. Of course it would in versity. New Haven authorities had given this idea some thought months ago and computed that taxes on property now ex- empt would result in S160.000 more Tn taxes This, of course. is a sum not to be ignored
 Property at Yale now exempt from taxa tion includes the Payne-Whitney gymna- sum. the athletic clubhouse. the Coxe Me- morial gym. and the golf course land and buildings Incidentally West Haven has been trying for some years now to assess Yale for part of its golf course lying in the town limits. As yet it has not secured the right to do this, inasmuch as the Yale golt course, like practically every other one, can not show any profit. Contrary to opinion the Yale Bowl is taxed and is only part of the S935,725 taxable property of the uni versity.
 We are not claiming that school athletic fields shouldn't be taxed any more than mans home In way it is rather an injus- tice to the working man who struggles to pay his annual tax installments that the smooth wide fields on which boys and girls engage in athletic contests are exempt from taxation. It is not intended as such. It IS done with the idea of permitting schools to offer their advantages at tuition figures that are hardly commensurate with the knowledge that can be attained. We have always be- lieved that perhaps there was too much tax exempt property in the state, but we advise caution in striking items from the list.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19
Lend For Work

Up to March 3l the government had lent, through its Reconstruction Finance Cor poration, $2.587,000,000. By this time it is nearly S3.OCOO00000. Two-thirds of the tremendous sum dispensed in IA months went to financial institutions to poster credit. Banks and trust companies got half of it, Several hundred millions more went to building and loan associations, insurance companies and mortgage loan companies. The rest went mostly to busi- ness corporations - largely railroads and other utilities - likewise to support their credit.
 This policy was probably necessary. It saved many important business institutions from bankruptcy and kept the general credit situation from growing even worse than it did. Indirectly it helped millions of people by safeguarding their savings and in- vestments. But it had one general defect. It was not directly and immediately produc- tive. The R. F. C. saved many institutions from collapse. yet did not live up to its own name and purpose, because it was not 'reconsttuctive. It did not rebuild busi- ness It did not make work. The banks that got loans did not pass them on for productive use.
 The great need of the times is employ ment. From now on. it is hoped, the R. F. C. activities supplemented by bank loans. will be directed especially to promot- ing constructive enterprises that employ large numbers of idle people in useful work. With other government expenditures di- rected to the same end, and private business already showing healthy signs of revival, the country may soon be humming with cheer full activity.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19
New Taxes?

Revival of business changes many things, including taxes. For years now our numer- ous taxing bodies have been raising tax rates and seeking new forms of taxation. The guest has grown frenzied with the deepening depression and the drying up of sources. At present there is hardly taxing unit. from the federal government to the village that is not looking for some new way of raising money to meet its obliga- tionS.
 The need is great, but it may be well to go slow now. If this present business spurt is the real thing - and it may be - new taxes may not be needed. As employment grows and business is done again at profit, the streams of private income rise, replenish- ing streams of public income. People pay their real estate taxes again. More of them become subject again to income taxes, and they pay on larger amounts. While passing through this transition stage, it may be bet ter in many cases to borrow for present emergencies than to load taxpayers with new taxes that will be hard to get rid of and will tend to retard business improvement.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19
A Book a Day
 by BRUCE CAPTION
How To Profit In Time Of Imitation

"The Primer of Imitation" by Earl Sparling. contains some time lv advice for all of us confused folk who have been asking. What is imitation likely to mean to me!"
 First of iall, says MT Sparling, the man in debt when imitation be- gins stands to profit. He borrows at one level and pays off at lower one, and the larger the scale on which he does it the more he profits.
 Secondly, he buys things like stocks and commodities. He buys on credit, as far as possible. He floats a loan, perhaps, on his in- surance policy. Always he remem- bers that he is handling dear money now but that he will be handling cheap money a little Ia ter on.
 Unfortunately, however, as MT Sparling points out, the average citizen can't do a great deal of this. The profits of an infiationary period go chiefly to the governing class; which class, he says. con- sists of those able to borrow money at the bank. If you belong ta that class you are able to, use a Kind of money the rest of us can't touch -"book money" bank credit; and in an infiationary period such money is abundant. you can get 1t for the asking and you can do some very wonderful things with 1t.
 For the wage earner and salaried employe. Mir Sparling doesn't see a great deal of hope. Their pay will rise. but the cost of livng will rise faster. The only consolation seems to be a time of deflation, like the immediate past, is even harder on them.
 This instructive little book Is offered by the John Day Go for S1,50,
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19
Regents For the State

< The bill establishing council of regents to replace the state education board and the trustees of Connecticut State College seems nearer than ever now. due to favorable ac- ton on the bill by the House this week. The opposition to the bill materialized to certain extent, but it was not as great as we were led to believe earlier this week when we learned that the state school board, the trustees and the state grange were opposed to the measure.
 We cannot quite understand the argu- ment that the proposed board will be more costly than the present two groups which 1t replaces. It was certainly evident this week in legislative circles that the harmony which should exist between the state board of edu- cation and the board of trustees of the col lege was lacking. If there was any spirit of cooperation. such as is badly needed in ad- ministering the educational affairs of the state. it would have resulted in powerful combine against the now assured regents.
 We have never found as much fault with fhe state education board as many other editors in the state. Of recent years this board has been the target for various missiles. Its activities have been criticized in towns and cities where it has perhaps come into conflict with the local school board. But we always regarded it as merely acting within ifs own right. So far as we know the trustees of the state college. including as they do prominent and influential citizens of Con- necficut. has acted within reason and mod srnfion always. We find no fault with these boards but we applaud the plan to replace fhesn with a modern educational body tha, viii rid the state of a number of duplicated eforts in public schooling.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19
Their Complaint Justified

Democrats in Congress are starting to kick over the traces. We must say we can't blame them very much. Their action IS di- rected towards national leaders. of course. Even President Roosevelt. whose magnetic presence has dominated the situation at Washington since March 4. is coming in for his share of criticism. The attacks are con- cerned solely with the fact that patronage grants are being held up unreasonably. It IS high time that the powers that be had made their choices and had announced them.
 True there are grave matters of interna- tional consequence now under discussion. An important conference looms next month. Congress is hustling to complete its task be- fore the date. so that the President. the Cab inet, and the administration advisers may be free of all domestic problems. That's flne attitude to take But the leaders of the party should certainly see that in securing the CO., operation of the democratic legislators which we must say is likewise backed by republicans, they are not reciprocating
 In democratic as we'll as republican cir cles political strength too often depends up- on patronage at home. That is being denied in many sections of the country, certainly in Connecticut. There is no earthly reason, so far as we can see, why appointments should be held up any longer. What is to be gained by so doing? The men who are to get the offices can't change like ehameleons over- night They are today what they will be one day after the appointment is announced Some man must be chosen: another one must be omitted from the list. Why not dis tribute the patronage and have done with it2
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19
PRESIDENT HIBBEN
fNew York Timesl

Hope was expressed last June
 on the occasion of President Hib-
 ben's jubilee-his 50th year as a
 graduate of Princeton-that he
 might long give the world the bene-
 fit of what Thomas Chalmers
 would call the "elate independ-
 ence" of his soul. It is lamentable
 loss that he should so soon be taken. Only a few days ago he
 was speaking in support Of the
 presidents remedial program.
 which is clearing the ground that i've may go forward constructive
 'ly for the next few years"; and he
 was calling our country's attention to the Hitler menace. Some months hack, on his return from Europe,
 he was still urging that the United
 States should enter the League of Nations, and imputing its weakness principally to our absence from ir'
 He was a man firm in his convic- tions, though he had the courage 70
 change his mind when he round good reason to do so. He is now. first of all. invested
 with the immortality that belongs to the institution with which his life was associated for forty years = Princeton university. Against the fact of death Is pitted. as one of his brother philosophers has said, the two immortalities. the one of hope, the other of resolu- tion"-the hope that death Is not the end, and the Thigh resolve that at least in our own hearts and ] deeds the dead shall live vicnri-
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19
SANITATION AND SOIL FERTILIZATION

oorresnondent asks whether drainage from septic tanks into garden near oy pc pu,- lutes the soil and makes 1t unsa1e to eat Sese- tables grown in the garden.
 The answer is no, with unimportant ex- captions. There is practically no good evidence that such contamination or soii IS A a soa9e tvnhoid fever dysentery, cholera The soil naturally digests and purifies such organic mat'er' a' least the soil close to the surface
 Carcasses or other animal or vegetable matter buried or worked into the soil withlh a foot or two of the surface qulckly uhoeIso Accommodation, which is a bacterial process that utilizes oxygen from the air. and disease germs present in the matter so aooeo to tre soil are destroyed or rendered lnGapaotc of producing disease. But if such organic mat ter be buried several feet deep especiaHy III clay or sand, it may resist decomposltion TOT many years. The bacteria of the soli must M have oxygen and hence they thrive only Tn the top soil ,,, ,ror,, round worm, tape worm or rather their esso' do survive in polluted soil. and in the instance of hoollworm the eggs develop into larvae Tn the soil, and know that persons who go barefoot where the soil is polluted With nook, worm may contract "dew itch' or "toe itch'' which is the skin irritation caused by penetra- ton by the hookworm larvae, and little later the parasites entering the body in that way lodge in the duodenum and the host develops the characteristic anemia and mo account
 ianguor or hookworm disease.
 But even these parasitic infestations are r. ouite effectually guarded against by ordinary washing of vegetables or fruits which are to he eaten raw, and of course all risk of infec- tion via contamination of such produce py poi luted soil is obviated by ordinary cooking: ,, A leaky cesspool or broken drain whch ols- charges into the soil several feet below the surface may pollute the ground water, but the same discharge upon or near the surface comparatively harmless in that respect.
 Below six feet the soil is usually sterile or pra ctically free from germ life.
 The soil of graveyards contains no more ba cteria or disease germs than does the soii ol a garden. !. T.. s,e,,.
 Experiments have proved that it is difhcul' or impossible to make known disease germs grow or survive in soil The soil tempera.ture is too low, it's oxygen, sunlight and nutrltive elements are not suitable for disease germs.
 Tentanus bacilli Qockjaw germs) are about
 the only disease germs that do exist m soil
 bacillus is a satural inhabitant of the intestlna tract of horses, cows sheep and perhaps other domestic and wild animals
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19

One of the erroneous facts that has crept around this nation of recent years with re- gard to Muscle Shoals is its connection with the manufacture of chemical fertilizers. This is due to the fact that it is source of n- trate supplies, SO essential to good fertilizers and also so essential in the manufacture of war explosives. However. Muscle Shoals real value does not lie in the above factor. but in its water power probabilities This fact has always been more or less submerged through some skillful lobbying on the part of the electric power interests. Fortunately their grip on Congress has slipped and we are now going to see Muscle Shoals ex- plotted together with the entire Tennessee river valley. But Muscle Shoals will not be a great manufacturing point of nitrate sup plies. It would be fiat failure if it was. There is an over abundance of chemical ni- trate manufactured today. And there is no need for Uncle Sam to enter this field in which competition today is at such point that little progress is being made. It was Senator Norris who sensed this some years ago and who made the fight for government experimentation with electric power at Mus ce Shoals As result today we stand to see a great area of our southern states re- vivihed,
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19
ERNEST TORRENCE
fRridpenort Telegram)


 One of the best of the old, silent picture plays before the advent of the talking pictures was "The Cov- cred Wagon" It brought thrills to millions Americans in the course of it's long career. There was some- thing elemental about it's pictur- ized version of American men and women, conquering the wilderness in pioneer days, braving every kind of hardship and danger.
 Such pictures, doubtless, have the strongest appeal to those who by the nature of their lives have the least opportunity to share in the thrills of pioneering. They get what the psychologists might call "vicarious satisfaction" out Of it.
 In "The Covered Wagon" no character brought greater joy to the audiences than Bill Jackson. the gigantic, laconic tobacco chewing scout. The role was played by Ernest Terrence. an ac- tor who was never really a star. but who preferred being a good character man" rather than a poor matinee idol.
 Terrence played character parts in a number of other successful films, in which his skill in make up, his attention to detail, and his all-around good acting won him the plaudits of the critics and the appreciation of the public. He died this week, genuinely mourned by his profession and the public.
 His success was proof that those who make the most of what they have to do may go further than those with greater opportunities, who fail to rise to them.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19
Here, There And EDeryDhere

that justice has not been uniform.
 However, flop in expenditure relief in one quarter does not of it. self mean that there should be no saving in others; one neglect of duty does not justify another. The dominant point is that the public of the state needs expenditure re- lief to save 1t from more taxes. and that every dollar possible should be saved.
 The public should get the bene- fit of all the savings proposed in the original budget program, in salary establishments and in the highway department as well as in other quarters. With its own in- come cut to pieces for the past several years. 1t has kept on pay ing state salaries at the old scale. There is not the least bit of unfair ness in making modest reduction in those now. The only unfairness is in trying to block partial re- adjustment at even this late date, in having delayed the saving un- duly, and in going so lightly. not heavily, at pruning the whole list of state costs.
 Governor Cross says that it Is too late now to tear up the budget. It Is not too late, though, to go back to work on 1t and cut enough out of 1t to give the states tax paying public a break. The legts- iature has not done that yet; one of it's most important pieces of business for the whole session still is only, half done.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19
Forest Fire Situation

Annually it becomes our unpleasant duty to remind people to beware of starting for est fires The season IS now at hand when the danger of them is great. We had an ab- normal rainfall in April. May, especially the last week. has been unusually dry. Blame this on both sun and breeze. They, are two factors that dry up any land Tn short order. Suffice it to say our forest lands are tinderlke just at present. They are en- dangered by the smallest fire. Don't light any Guard against the spread of those started
 A great many of the forest fires that have ruined so many acres of valuable forestland in Connecticut were started in careless fash ion To this day no doubt many person may be unaware of the fact that he or she started a fire that did thousands of dollars damage. A cigarette tossed from speeding motor car by the side of the road IS the cause of more fires than could be imagined. Especially in these days cigarette will hnd ready material in which to shoulder and finally to burst into flame.
 Naturally permits to light fires in the open are denied all applicants while the woods remain as dry as they are. Observe this regulation carefully. Backyard fires are similarly regulated by local fire marshals. They should not be lighted without his permission. In fact no bonfire can be start cd at this season without specific permission. if the letter of the law is to be observed. Remember that the next time you burn rub bish. It's good idea to play safe with fires. They are too destructive.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19

land back just where he aartsd- We have always opposed any such diversions on the grounds that it sets precedent that in time will result in abuses of the privilege. It is all right to say that highway funds are riehtfuIIy state funds and hence can be used for any purpose. But it must be re- membered that many taxes are levied today strictly through highway means. A sao;cf- ist pays gas taxes solely because he believes the money will repair and build roads, And they should Before there is any diversion of funds we request that some thought be given to the Merritt Highway which is bad ly in need of financial support. Why turn aside money that can be used'to build it?
The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-05-19
CoNNECMCUTs BRAIN TRUST
Bridgeport Telegram)

NSAA06OPOit CIC6I IaMJ
 Much has been written about the "brain trust'' of college professors surrounding President Roosevelt. But Connecticut has "brain trust" of its own.
 Professor Charles M. Bakewell of Yale, Connecticut's congressman at-large, continues in politics but retires from Yale University. After 28 years of teaching on the Yale staff, he is now going to devote his undivided attention to congress. He will doubtless be an astunte, op- position critic of the Moleys and Tugwells at Washington. Professor Wilbur Cross continues to occupy the governors chair at Hartford.
 Professor Bingham is in tenn porary eclipse. He loves public life too we'll to stay out of it forever. Professor Albert Levitt is down in Washington, angling for a job which will enable him to continue his favorite hobby-the pursuit of J. Henry Roraback and his corpor- ations.
 Professor Harry Morgan Ayres of Westport holds no public office but you can't tell. He continues to be an active influence in his home town and his own party. Connecticut's "brain trust' is slightly disorganized but still functioning.