The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-08-01
By WILLIS THORNTON
Correspondent)


 has thrown the American Federa- tion of Labor headquarters here into a new ferment of activity, such as that which it went through when the MIRA and section "A were being launched.
 During recent pre-Wagner act months, the pace over at A. F. of l.. headquarters had slowed to a walk. Many, very many, of the federal unions organized during the first fine flush of MIRA enthu- siasm had fallen by the wayside.
 Now they're fiocking back to the A. F. of l.. banner, to take advan- .tage of what President William Green calls "the beginning of new chapter in the history of American labor"
 Strong unions, such as the United Mine Workers, are prepar- ing extensive drives. The U. M. w., for instance, aims at no less than complete victory over it's ancient rival, the Progressive Miners, even aspiring thus to end strife in stormy Harlan county. New char ters are growing, too..
 On August the enlarged
 council will meet and advance
 plan for the October conven.
 tion. This meeting will be fiery one, with jurisdictional
 disputes, establishment of an international union for auto workers, and the perennial political problem holding the stage.
 A growing group within the federation, notably the garment and clothing workers, are demand ing a straight labor party. The problems of possible un- onstitutionality of the Wagner
 Connery act, and of probable em- ployer resistance to it, are not
 bothering the federation. To its officials, the Wagner act is an- other chance to organize such as that offered by the MIRA, which was more or less muffed. They don't aim to huff this time. .
 Hold That Thirst!
 Remember, buddy, those days back in 1917 and 1918, when you
 were in uniform and couldn't get Q drink? That is, not officially,
 anyway.
 We'll, that act of 1917 making 1t illegal to sell intoxicating liquors to officers or enlisted men in uni- form has never been repealed. Re- l peal came to everybody else, but | not to the men in uniform. The house military affairs com
 mittee has favorably reported 8 repealer, pointing out that the wartime emergency of 1917 has passed, and that it sees no reason why a soldier shouldn't have drink, l just the same as anybody else. But the bill comes well after the .'must" program, and there's con- siderable doubt that 1t. will pass l at this session.
 Congress Nears Record
 As the present session of con- gress goes on and on, 1t begins to approach the record-breakers. If 1t continues to September i, it will then have lasted 241 days, nearly eight months. Only six of the 17O preceding sessions have run more than 800 days. But cheer up. In Wilson's day a special session called April q, 1883, to enact his reform pro- gram ran right on into the regu- lar session, which adjourned Octo- Der "A, 1914, making continuous sitting of 567 days, or more than a year and half. And the coun- try survived.
 Memorial for Mules Just inside the entrance to the State, War. and Navy building is memorial to the 68,6S2 horses and mules killed during the World war. .. When they built the sewll new postoffice department building they forgot to put in any mall chutes messengers run around the building collecting the mail. There are several trees on the CanitOl grounds supposed to have
 been planted by George Washing ton but you can't find out
 which ones they are, because the ground keepers are afraid people
 would carry them of i'm small pieces as souvenirs. Each of
 the nine corps area is getting about 14O recruits a week in the
 drive to bring the armed services up to increased authorized strength They're taking their time, seek ing quality instead of quantity. !. Army increases are from 11S,75O to 165,000, navy from S2,5O0 to 92,500, and marine corps from 14,900 to 16,000. (Copyright. 1885. NEA Service. Incl.