Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1935-01-31

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NEPOTIsM CRITICIZED
NEW FOOD, DRUG BILL
MANY CHANGES MADE
WORK RELIEF PROBLEMS
THE SECURITY OUTLOOK
BLOCKS IN CONGRESS
UTILITY BONDS WORTH MORE
Continued w~rangling by individu-
al congressman over patronage is in
evitable. and signs multiply that
some of the Democrats want some
thing done about jobs. Last year
some House Democrats appointed a
special committee to look into the
patronage situation, but it made no
report. Its chairman was not reflect
ed, but last week there was talk
among Democrats of a party patron
age caucus to look into the situation,
especially as regards to the appoint
ments by Secretary of the Interior
Ickes, who is PWA Administrator,
and Harry Hopkins, the Relief Ad-
ministrator.
Another topic, frequently talked
about, with out any action being
taken, is the war on nepotism and
what many regard as petty graft"
in Congress. Members of Congress
are able to get shaves and h%aircuts,
oils and unguents, mineral water and
other things free of charge. In addi-
ton they get a liberal mileage allow
ance that exceeds the cost of travel
to Washington. Moreover, some Of
them place their wives, daughters,
sons, or other relatives on the pay
roll as clerks or staff members, when
in fact, the relatives do practically
nothing but draw their pay. There
are, of course, some wives and rela-
tives actually performing the work
for which they are paid, but in a
number of cases the Congressman
gives a "cinch" job to a relative, and
employs other help to do most, If not
all, Of the work.
SO
The food and drug bill proposed to
Congress last year, which includes
far-reaching grants of authority to
the Secretary of Agriculture to reg
ulate and control the packing, label
ing and advertising Of food and drug
preparations, will probably be dras-
tically modified before being sub
to Congress. The original
generally known as the
Tugwell bill, was bitterly opposed by
many groups through many weeks of
public hearings, and repeated revis-
ions failed to satisfy the opposition.
The modified bill, it is understood,
sets up two individual committees
to promulate rules and regulations
for enforcement. One will be a Pub
lie Health Group and the other a
Food Standard Agency.
Other changes proposed would
eliminate the requirement that man
ufacturers of proprietary medicines
reveal ingredients on their labels,
which many claimed would be a
complete sell-out to competitors. The
new provisions would permit the fill
ing of this information so that Off
Gals could make certain that no in
compatible harmful substances are
involved.
Again, the list of diseases for
which cures" cannot be advertised
is reduced to five, but may be in
creased by the committee on Public
Health set UP In the measure.
Natural food products, sold in open
containers, would be exempted. Ad-
vertisers, as we'll as newspaper and
magazine publishers, vigorously pro-
tested against provisions relating to
advertising, which, they claimed,
so strict as to prevent legiti-
mate advertising. The new bill, seeks
to avoid this injustice by prohibiting
or misleading statements In
advertising along the line of the pro-
'iolouS nOW dppliCdDlt W lduciS,
which it is believed have proved adj
equate to protect consumers.
That there are difficulties connect
with the public works program
as it is designed to give work
to those now without employment is
in data collected by the FERA
after a survey of six cities. 1t seems
that there is a high concentration Of
"~employables" in metropolitan
c%enters, far from the probable site
Of many projects. In fact, the report
indicates that so per cent of the g.
On 5000 employables, mentioned by
The President, reside in metropolitan
areas. Most Of the projects contem
plated are away from urban centers, r