davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1934-02-08
VOTES TO REPEAL
BANK CHECK TAX
Ways and Means Commit
tee Continues 3.Cent
Rate on Letters.
BY the Associated Press

BY the Associated Press.
The House Ways and Means Com
mittee today voted to repeal the Q
cent bank check stamp tax, effective
January l. 1885.
This provision was placed in the
new revenue bill being drawn up for
presentation to the House. The Treas
ury estimates the bill. in its present
form, would provide s235. .000.0 ad-
ditional annual revenue.
The bank check tax would not ex-
pire until July /. 1885, under exist
ing law. 1t produced approximately
S38 200. 600 in revenue in the calendar
year 1898
The committee also continued the
Scent fntercfty postage rate on first
class mail. but adopted an amend
ment which permits the rates on Sec
ond-class matter. affecting news
papers. magazines and advertising
matter. to revert to the rates in ef-
feet prior to the 1882 revenue bill.
In addition, the committee approved
provision giving the President power
to reduce the Scent rate on first
class mail to cents if the condition
of the Treasury justifes it.
Second Class Mail Drops.
The Scent rate was continued for
only one year. Under existing law it
uould expire on July l.
Representative Vinson, Democrat. of
Kentucky, proposed the amendment
for restoration of the old rates on
second class postal matter. He ex-
planned that since the rates were in
creased under the 1892 act. second
class matter had decreased from 384.-
coo. 900 pounds annually to 265 900 900
pounds in 1888
He said it was felt this pounda ge
would be increased sufficiently to
make up for any loss of revenue due
to the reduced rates. 1t would re-
quire he said. a gain of 02.00O, 900
pounds to make up the difference.
Chairman Doughton, Democrat. of
North Carolina. and Representative
Cooper, Democrat, of Tennessee. pro-
posed the repeal of the bank check
stamp tax. Doughton said reports
to the Internal Revenue Bureau indi-
Gated a decrease in the use of bank
checks by people because of the tax
He opposed this tax when it was levied
in 1882.
The committee did not act on a
motion to reconsider the increase in
the oil import levy approved yester-
day. The levy, proposed by Secretary
IcxeS, increases the rate from 81 to AZ
cents a barrel on imported petroleum
Postpones Presentation.
Because of this levy and the excise
tax of 5 cents a pound on coconut and
sesame oil placed in the bill, Dough-
ton said the committee probably
would present the bill to the House
under a rule which would block fur
ther amendments of tariff nature
He also said the committee had nu-
merous minor details to consider be-
fore it ordered the bill reported For
the seventh time he postponed the
date for bringing the bill up for house
action. He now expects that next
Wednesday.
The postage rates on second-class
matter after July l, 1884. compared
with the present rates, follow:
Evening star., 1934-02-08

Continued on Page 3, Column p
Evening star., 1934-02-08

Probably snow tonight and tomorrow;
much colder tonight with lowest tempera-
ture about 5 degrees: moderate north or
northeast winds. Temperatures-High-
est. Al, at AIS pm yesterday lowest, Il,
at noon today Full report on page A-9.
Evening star., 1934-02-08

Continued on Page 5. Column s.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27
Europe On Edge

Events of the past forty-eight hours in Austria have once more lighted the fuse which, if allowed to burn too close, will again plunge Europe into scenes of war and destruction such as were witnessed twenty years ago this very time. Any thing, as they say, can happen, if the latest unfortunate affair is not handled in the very best of diplomatic manner. Cool deliberate thinking is needed to untangle the present state of affairs.
 The assassination of Austria Chan cellor, Dr Dollfuss, is regrettable thing and one for which the Nazi government itself must make all possible amends even if the wrong itself never can be fully righted. True Austria's little" Chancel- Tor has acted more or less high-handed, especially in the matter of the Socialist revolt some few months back possibly aid ing and abetting the ill-advised Nazi up rising which led to his overthrow and death on Wednesday. But on the con- trary that neither gives nor offers sane tion for any such move on the part of the Nazi government.
 That any such movement on the part of the Nazis, if contemplated, will be allowed to grow to such proportions as any delib- crate crossing in a wholesale manner ot the Austrian border can be only too open- y interpreted as hostile act by Italy's readiness in advancing forty thousand picked troops to the border the minute the lid blew off. France is reported to be in similar readiness, so it seems that the Nazi government will think twice before it forces Germany to throw down the gauntlet to the bigger part of the old world again.
 In the overthrow and assassination of Chancellor Dollfuss is seen, however, the apparent danger of too much dictator ship, the thing which is spreading over Europe to-day. Too much depends upon one mans say-so and it is a question whether any country should allow itself to be euchred into such position. Virtu- ally the lives and destiny of such coun- try depend on that one mans judgment. Prejudices against the man rather than the country are allowed to overshadow diplomatic relations and on that mans rise or fall the country depends Until Flu rope extricates itself from such condi- tion it will be moving backward towards the barbaric age from which it sprung in- stead of forward with the rest of the world.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27
Excellent Appointment

The appointment of Attorney David A. Wilson of Hartford, chairman of the State Central Committee to the United States Attorney Generals staff as a spe cial assistant comes as happy climax to Connecticut's patronage war That At torney Wilson should be thus honored is only in keeping with the valuable service which he has rendered the party over a long period of years in Connecticut.
 Furthermore with his appointment coming so close on the heels of the naming of Robert P. Butler as United States Dis trict Attorney for Connecticut, things be- gin to look up for a better and more united democracy in Connecticut for the Fall election than they have in a number of years That the various factions are getting together and as fast as possible are ironing out the difficulties which were besetting the party is only too evident.
 Several important things yet remain to be done as far as patronage is concerned, but the main obstacle seems to have final ly been surmounted and all factions final ly united and finally appeased. This is only as it should have been months ago. It allows the party leaders to assume their rightful position and maintain the pres tige accompanying it. Without such an understanding it was next to impossible for the party to function properly. From now on until the polls close in November it looks as if harmony would be the order of the day.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27
Unite The Police

The law finally caught up with John Dillinger; and the way in which it all happened is. sample of the kind of police work that can eventually reduce Ameri- can crime to something like civilized pro- portions It caught up with him, you see, because there existed one police organiza- ton = the force maintained by the De- partment of Justice - which is empow- cred to act anywhere in the country, which is not under the influence of local poli- ticians and which never gets off the trail.
 The form of local self-government un- der which we live is an essential part of our democracy, and there doesn't seem to be any very good reason for changing 1t materially. But it does play right into the hands of the crook. An outlaw is not con-
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27

fined, any longer, to his own city or coun- try; indeed, he is not even confined to his own state. He can hold up an Indiana bank one day and swoop down on filling station in Texas a week later; if his hideout in Wisconsin gets too hot for him he can run to another one in Pennsylvania.
 This puts the local police at such tre- mendous disadvantage, that in many cases they are quite literally helpless. Yet that isn't their only handicap The local sheriff bas to be a politician, chosen usually for vote-getting ability and not for his skill as an officer of the law. The local police chief is a political appointee, and in nine cases out of ten he can't call his soul his own. If the gangster has any political "drag" in his home town and, if he is big shot, ne usually has - the cop goes into action with one hand tied.
 Add these things together, and you find little reason to wonder why the Dillingers, the Pretty Boy Floyds, the Baby-Face Nelsons and all the rest can cut such a wide swath. But the Department of Jus tice is something else again. It is beyond the reach of local politics. It pays no at tention to state or city boundary lines. And it is so organized that when it gets on trail it can stay on it, for months or years if need be, until it gets it's quarry.
 That is the sort of police work that is vitally needed. A few more achievements like those which the department has re- corded in the past year, and this relent- less, methodical and certain method of go- ing after crooks will begin to instill in the hearts of underworldlings the kind of fear which is the best of all crime preventives.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27
Paris Letter

Paris. (UP)-It's roses all the way for newlyweds in Europe this year.
 To encourage population and revive tourist trade at the same time, governments have put them- selves ins the marriage business and decreed this summer shall te an idyll for honeymooners.
 Hitler and Mussolini led the way in trying to add bliss to the first few days of marriage for young couples. The Duce has succeeded in attracting thousands of young couples to Rome from all over Europe to spend their honeymoon by special cheap travel rates.
 Hitler Enters Competition
 The German chancellor is pep ping up the business of propagat- ing young Germans by offering all manner of inducements to young men to lead blonde young Aryian brides to the altar.
 Not to be busted from it's place as the paradise for honeynooners, France also is giving helping hand to yonug couples with lots of wanderlust but little money. Main ly to aid young married folks to realize their dream of their first joint vacation in Paris, or the Ri- yiera, travel rates have been re- duced throughout France from ordinary double fare to single fare for any round-trip.
 This, rate is to bring visitors for the special midsummer Paris fetes, but the Tourist Office of the French government frankly says the reduction is aimed at newly married folks.
 German Marriages Increase
 In Germany; Herr Hitler's schemes to make life happier for honeymooners has resulted in 100000 more marriages this year already and the number of mar ried couples in Germany is ex- pected to be increased by 100000 at the end of 1884.
 In glorifying honeymooners, European governments are really endeavoring to encourage the birth rate, especially so in France where the decline in the size of families is seriously disturbing to a nation which believes it will have need of excess rather than de- creased man power within the next 20 years from the point of view of national safety.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27
Women in Politics

Now it is reported that Mrs William Langer, wife of the busted governor of North Dakota, may run for the governor ship herself; and one is moved to hope tha: the report is incorrect.
 Not that women aren't needed in poli- tics. Far from it. But the woman who is to make a valuable contribution to our political life must build her own career and stand on her own feet. In too many cases, women have gone into politics as proxies for their husbands. The Fergu- sons, in Texas, have given the most notice able example of how that works.
 Heaven knows, American politics offers women a rich field. Such women as Judge Florence Allen of Ohio and Labor Secretary Frances Perkins have shown how profitably it can be cultivated. But the woman who goes into politics as her husbands "alter ego" does little to con- vince anyone that women have valuable contribution to make in American public life.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27

the idea they might make use of these non-registered local ex- changes for smart money" tricks they are in for rude awak- ening.
 Registered, or not registered, the SEC intends keeping an cage eye on all exchanges and their manipulatiOns.
 MERRY-GO-ROUND
 The idea of forest shelter r-belts has been tried before, chiefly by the Car of Russia, who wanted to break the storms which sweep the Ukraine. The Soviet government has carried on the idea over about 100,000,O00 acres =. One phase of Roose- velts' shelter belt scheme will be employment to drought-stricken farmers. They will plant trees on their own property, receive government pay for so doing. !. .. Roosevelt also felt the East and Far West had got a lot of PWA money, that the midwest had received much less A lot of PIOpdSdHud dSdiHSI HdIo -HlbiuS Representative John J. McSwain has been sent into South Carolina by the Army. Its generals didn't like his expose of squandered money in the War Department, have spread the rumor that he was attacking Roosevelt" The facts were exactly the reverse A report that "Jefty" O. Connor, chunky comptroller of the currency, might step back to private life,. has been going the rounds of the treasury.
 Copyright, 1884, by United eFa-
 ture Syndicate, Inc.)
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27
Press Comment
THE LAND WE LIVE IN (Bridgeport Telegram)

We live in a land where a man may be free if he cares to be. No where and at no time has the word "citizen" taken on the sacred con notation it possesses to-day.
 Ours is a land where no man may be imprisoned for debt; for fancied offenses against those sci in authority over him, or because he chooses to worship God in 2 manner peculiar to himself.
 It is land where the axiom Knowledge is Power, is honored tC the fullest; where the community figuratively takes the child by the collar and makes him learn wheth- CT he wills or not.
 We live in land where tradi- tions find their way into the com ic ashcan if that is where they belong; where caste and class count for very little, and where a man may change his status in so- ciety if he so desires and has it in himself to rise.
 We confess with the critics of American life that it could be bet ter. We say it will be bettered. But until transportation is arr ranged to some other planet, our own country is fair tarrying place for those lucky enough to be present. Certainly nowhere else on the globe could the above be written with fewer amendments and reSeryatiOnsi
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27
This time it looked as if the plan would go through. PREMATURE PUBLICITY

But there was one small hitch. Roosevelt told his plans to an official of the American Tree association. But he cautioned: No publicity. l don't want any one to kidnap my baby"
 However, someone broke the story. And Roosevelt, as fre- quently happens with prema- ture publicity, was peeved. He said nothing more to the Forest Service.
 This was in June. The first of July came. Forest officials eX- pected an executive order before Roosevelt sailed to the Carib- bean. They sat with pretty col ored pictures of trees on care fully planned maps, waiting for the money. No word came from the White House or the cruiser Houston.
 Finally, Secretary Wallace wired Roosevelt at Panama urg- ing immediate action. The drought, he said, was growing worse. There should be no des lay in starting this years plant ing.
 So last week the president wirelessed authority to expend S1O,OOO,OO0 on immediate plant ing of his long planned shelter belt.
 FIRST TASTE .@=
 The country's sixty odd stock exchanges are about to get their first actual taste of federal regu-, lation.
 The impending dose will be d mild one.
 It will consist of question naire, quietly prepared by the Stock Exchange commission, calling for detailed and specific information regarding member ship, type and volume of Stock Exchange business.
 The purpose of the inquiry is to prepare for the formal rcgis- tratiOn of exchanges. September is the time limit for this.
 A few of the small, local ex- changes already have made con- fidential overtures regarding the possibility of being exempted from registration. Under the Stock Exchange Act the SEC has the power to grant such excep- tions
 This does not relieve smaller exchanges, however, of strict fed eral control and supervision. If any Of the pool operators have
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27
So They Say

Baby talk is not to be scorned husband winner, but it must be stopped after marriage.- pr Mehran K. Thompson. of Michigan State Nor mai College. No amount of political or economic maneuver- ing can offset combat successfully the natural results of great invention engineering devel- opment.-Dr Karl T. Compton, president of Mass achusetts Institute of Technology
 
 am not a very old woman-79 you know Mrs James Roosevelt mother of the president.
 
 A continuance of the existing economic nation asm can mean only both national and world sui cde.-Dr Nicholas Murray Butler. president of Columbia University.
 First and foremost in the heart of every man and woman is the desire for a new a better and a cheaper home.-Harvey Wiley Corbett, famous architect.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27

Washington, July 27.-Only a handful of people know it, but the president himself was sole ly responsible for devising the plan to build a shelter belt of trees 100 miles wide and 1000 miles long from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
 The genesis of the plan came on hot July day during his campaign tour. A train wreck was the cause. It detained him on the prairies of Montana for three hours.
 The day was sweltering. The heat was aggravated by the lack of vegetation, killed by copper smelting fumes.
 Roosevelt didn't say any thing about his idea at the time, but shortly after he entered the White House he asked rather casually of members of Forest Service: "HOw much would 1t cost to rcforest the American desert?"
 The Forest Service took the American desert to mean New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada, and didn't pay much attention to the idea. They figured the task was beyond human accomplish ment.
 MOUNTAIN BARRIERS
 But in July of last year Roose- welt was conferring with them regarding the growing of seed lings in Forestry nurseries, and he raised the question again. Then it developed that he was thinking of the Montana train wreck and the arid wastes from that area south to the Gulf of Mexico.
 Forest officials replied that it would be impossible to plant trees from Montana south be- cause of the Rocky mountains, but that column of trees could be planted through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas to the Gulf. So they made an estimate on that. The cost, they found, was pro- hibitive.
 But Roosevelt would not aban- don the project.
 "This is my baby" he told members of the Forest Service.
 And he showed that he meant it. Tree experts were amazed at his knowledge. They found he had planted many trees with his own hands on his mothers Hyde Park estate before his illness.
 Finally Roosevelt worked out plan for strip of trees 100 feet wide reaching from Canada to the Gulf, then an open space one mile wide, then another 100 feet of trees, then another open mile, and so on for 100 miles. This was cheaper than a solid 100 mile column of trees and ac- complished the same end.
 SNOW RETENTION
 The result, weather experts told him, would not be more rain. for trees do not make rain. But the trees will hold snow and rain, decrease evaporation, let moisture sink in. Also they will break the high winds that strip the surface of the soil like frosting off a cake. This is the reason the trees at the western margin of the shelter-break will be smaller, rising to larger heights toward the middle.
 All this was worked out last summer. Then the president, absorbed with toher things, postponed action.
 But one year later-May H. with terrific dust storm sweep ing the country and clouding the sun from the White House, Roosevelt took up the idea again.
 "We'K get, the money from PWA," the president said.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27
A Book a Day.
Sea Serpent Isn't A Myth, He Insists
By BRUCE CAPTION

Take the word of an officer and a gentleman for it-you're not be- ing as smart as you think you are. if you laugh at all these stories about sea serpents.
 The gentlemanly officer in ques- ton Is Lieut. Comm R. T. Gould of the British navy. He has just written a book. "The Case for the Sea Serpent" in which he asserts bluntly that there's lot more in this sea serpent talk than most of us have supposed.
 MT Gould has undertaken the prodigious task of reviewing prac- tically all sea serpent stories since 1900. And he demonstrates pretty clearly that a lot of them are alto gether too substantial to be pooh- poohed.
 Over and over again. he says. re- ports of sea serpents have come from men whose honesty cannot be questioned, and who were com petent observers unlikely to be de- ceived by glimpses of whales. schools of porpoises or the other things which are commonly sup posed to be the basis of sea ser pent stories.
 Hard-boiled Gloucester fisher- men made detailed reports of a sea monster more than century ago. A British naval captain risked his professional reputation by report ing such a creature to the ad- miralty in 1S48.
 |. The skipper of British cruiser saw one in 1917 and got torpedoed two days later---and to this day survivors of his crew insist that the creature jinxed them.
 MT Gould doesn't think that the creature in question is serpent, however. He suspects that it is a descendant of the prehistoric ple- siosaurus, still roaming the seas. Whatever 1t is, he insists that the proaf of its existence is altogether too solid to be, ignored. Published by Putnam, this en- tertaining book retails at s2.50.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27
ChuckleCorner
SCRAP SHOTS By Elizabeth Porter

Europe is facing another war? Well, they needn't count on us backing this one.
 They really intend to pay their war debts-just as soon as we give them the money.
 Right now, they are more inter- ested in preparations than repara tions. But they don't. know who'll fight who. Haven't closed the bids yet.
 We hope Uncle Sam will not be like the Smithville ham who said to his audience, T don't want to fight, but you're just egging me on."
 {. Nor should we follow England s eggzample:
 Who violates Great Gritain's pact
 Is certain to regret it She'll have her peace, tho she must
 lick
 The whole darn world to get it. We might have more success in executing the dissrmament pact if we'd execute the leaders. t. In case of war we wouldn't have a league" to stand on.'
 We'd be totally unprepared. Our newspaper lads have used up their supply of adjectives describing the depression.
 Back in 1T and IS ''our boys were fighting for this country. But it's only since last legislature that they're really. beginning to get it.
 If we really want to avoid every thing resembling q fight why not let Madison Square garden handle the detniisf
The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-27
Selected Poem
sLEIGHT OF WING

(May Lewis in Voices in the Christian Sclen
 Monitor) These birds that are. both air and water wise. That plunge into the deep, wind flooded skies. Or ride,
 Securely saddled, haughtily astrl1e The currents of the tide Like magic toys they make the steep descent From buoyant air to watery element They spread their tails like ans And lightly as a balanced trick, unfold From the curved bodys nold Their salmo colored legs for airy underprop: Then downward float Until the gliding breast Meets, without splash or splatter Of drop' The sudden chill arrival tf the wave There the bird sits, close wrapped. at rest, As much at ease, as calm and grave Tn the cild crystal hollow As in a nest.