Evening star., 1936-08-21


business. men. large and small, through
out the United States, as well as by many
persons in other walks of life, to the
assertion of Col Frank Knox, Republican
vice presidential candidate, in his
Hagerstown speech Wednesday night
that I'VE want fewer laws and better
laws" This is the opinion OF many
well-seasoned political observers here
who point out that while mass produc-
ton" may be desirable in industry it is
a mistake to attempt to apply it to legis-
lation. Many administrations doubtless
have been guilty of putting more laws
on the statute books than were neces-
sary, but no previous administration, it
is freely admitted, has gone to the extent
of the present one in this respect. The
result has been that today thousands OF
lawyers and business men in all parts OF
the country are studying the complexities
of some recent legislation, hurriedly
passed, including the amended revenue
law and the so-called "anti-chain store
act" in an effort to untangle some OF
the problems which have been created
for them thereby and to resolve the con-
fusion and uncertainty in their minds
as to the effect of these laws on the
conduct of their daily affairs.
~
Reports received here from various
fronts regarding the civil conflict now
raging in Spain fail to reveal In full the
intensity, the bitterness, the cruelty OF
that contest. Furthermore, officials
point out, these reports do not portray,
nor could they portray in their terrible
reality, the horror and the suffering
caused by numerous acts of atrocity
which doubtless are taking place in many
parts of the Iberian peninsula in con-
nection with the sanguinary progress OF
the strife. When President Roosevelt
in his Chautauqua speech pictured the
horrors of war as he had seen them with
his own eyes at the battlefront during
the World War, it was to serve as a
warning to the people of the United
States not to permit themselves in any
manner to become embroiled in such
conflict. This Government has been
watching the Spanish situation closely
both as to its wider implications and
with an eye to the protection OF its own
citizens who had been caught in the
maelstrom, in order that no untoward
happening to any of them might Jeop-
ardize the neutral position of this coun-
try. Fortunately, in spite Of the dam
gerous position in which many Ameri-
can citizens have been placed in Spain
during the past five weeks, none has
been reported as seriously injured or
killed.
Back to the days Of David is the reader
carried by the report that slingshots are
being used by shepherds in the province
of Malaga in hurting grenades against
the rebels in that region. While Off
cials here are not fully advised as to the
nature of the military equipment being
used in some sectors Of the Spanish
fighting zone, it is believed that in many
places they are making use of whatever
fighting machine" they can lay their
hands on, no matter how primitive or out
of date it may be as judged by modern
standards of warfare. Mute evidence Is
given in some Of the ancient cannon now
standing in front of the War Depart
ment here as to the type of guns used
by the Spaniards during the war with
the United States in 1898. One Of these
highly decorated pieces bears on 1t the
date of manufacture, July, 1748.
81 y
with President Roosevelt about ready
to return to Washington from his Hyde
Park home. where be has been devotine