The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-11-14

and labor to revive the Bl going on behind his back.
 uncle Dan" Roper is busily pushing secret plans to absorb the remnants of the MIRA into his commerce department.
 Under Roper'S scheme, all sec .tions of the MIRA except the re- search and planning division would be junked. This one re- maining division would be incor- porated in the bureau of foreign and domestic commerce.
 ROPER'S PLAN is not mere wish-thinking. It has progressed to the point where Assistant Com merce Secretary Ernest c. Draper and L. J. Martin, acting MIRA administrator, have discussed what personnel should be retained or dismissed.
 Martin, incidentally, plans to fly the Blue Eagle rooSt just after 2 Berry's industry labor congress" meets. Relations between him and Berry are friendly only on the surface. For all practical purposes, he has been superseded as NRA boss.
 ROPER'S PLAN is fully known to the White House, but 1t is be- ing kept under the blankets in order not to throw a damper on Berry's forthcoming three ring circus. The inside whisper in the commerce department is that the MIRA absorption is slated for around the first of the year.
 The president has the author ity to make the transfer by executive order. His decision will be guided, it is hinted, on what happens at Berry's show. If it proves a dud, the axe will fall and the MIRA will pass out. DiplOmatress
 William Jennings Bryan may have had rough sledding as secre- tary of state, but his daughter, Ruth Bryan Owen, is at least one woman in the New Deal who has made good.
 At first welcomed with consid- erable skepticism as U. s. minister to Denmark, she has won the gen. uine affection of the Danes.
 Mrs. Owen also has solved the economic problem. She made 3 tour of Greenland-Danish pos sessiOn-On a U. s. Coast Guard vessel, sent at government ex- pense by her good friend Secre- tary of the Treasury Morgen- thau.
 The book produced as a result of this trip is featured in the bookstores of Copenhagen. And every American tourist buys a copy.
 Coal Mystery
 The bituminous coal board has decided to delve into mystery that has perplexed consumers for many, many years. It is out to unravel the "why" of the high retail cost of coal when it sells at the minehead for only g and s a ton.
 The board thinks the wide dif- ferential between the original wholesale price and the final re- tail figure is unwarranted, and wants to know if this view is jus tified.
 According to the U. s. Bureau of Mines, the average price of soft coal at the minehead last year was $1.S2 a ton, with the average freight charge adding another $2.15. This makes an average wholesale cost per ton of $3.97. But the average price to consumers was double this fig- lire.
 This important probe will be carried out by Thomas N. Wood- ward, the boards newly appoint ed consumers counsel. Under the provisions of the Guffey coal act, the consumers counsel (only of- flee of its kind in the government service) is independent of the board and has wide powers.
 Woodward is well qualified for the job. For several years he was on the staff of the interstate commerce commission, assisted William Gibbs McAdoo as railroad administrator during the war. More recently he was vice-presi- dent of the U. s. Merchant Fleet corporation "a post from which he was dismissed by Secretary Dan Roper because he insisted that the ship operators live up to their agreements with the govern ment.
 It was to soften the blow of Rojer's action that the president
 named Woodward as consumers
 counsel on the coal board.
 MERRY-GO-ROUND
 The Suez Canal made 8 gross profit of $6O,000,0OO last year. Operating expenses were only $22,0O0, ,000. The balance was profit. Each director got a fee of $22,- 900. Among the directors are ex- President Doumergue of France and General Weygand, ex-chief of staff. Colonel Frank Knox and Senator Arthur VandenberR.