The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1938-06-23
On Capitol Hill
By GEORGE l.. KNAPP

Washington, d. C. ULNS).-Mor
gan G. Sanders of the Third District
of Texas told story in the House
the other day about the Texas boy who
wanted to take a look at the Gulf of
Mexico.
''He tried to find someone who was
going down to the Gulf, the whole 200
miles in one big jump, but he did not
have any luck. He finally did locate
one fellow who was going 35 miles to
fix up a gin. After that, he found a
truck driver delivering some calves 20
miles farther on. Then he got Is
mile lift, and 10 mile lift Nobody
was going far; but when he added the
little distances all of them were go
ing, he got to the Gulf"
Sanders is philosopher, though he
may not know it. He told this story
to show why he did not complain at
the piecemeal progress Of the farm
program which he wants. AS mat
ter Of fact, he described perfectly the
way this Congress has done most
things-the recovery bill, the wage
and hour bill, the farm bill, the ex-
tension Of the Walsh-Healey Act, the
housing bill, and other bills. All show
progress, two of them show very
much progress; but none of them go
the distance which their champions
wanted.
What puzzles me is how Southern
Senators and Representatives can
help seeing that keeping low wage
scale in the South is hurting the
South. In two ways:
First, it is notorious that many of
the biggest mills of the South went
there from the North just to exploit
cheap labor. The profits of those mills
come north-or go to Europe; some
of the worst work ever done in break
ing a strike was at Elizabethton,
Tennessee, where the mills were own
ed by Germans. The South keeps the
rotten wages; someone else gets the
profits from those wages.
Next, T. ]. Woofter, Jr., a South
erner himself, found that about g.
100000 more people born in the South
are living outside the South than the
number now livin in Dixie who were
born elsewhere. The latest estimate
l have seen is that people are worth
to their country something over $10,-
900 apiece. Cut it to less than third
of that sum, cut it to $4,000; and that
means that the South has lost about
S1O,500, 100000 on emigration alone.
And emigration, always, goes from
low wages to higher ones.
X X X
About the most futile piece of
pettiness that the session of Congress
exhibited was Congressman Taber's
insistence that the entire wage and
hour bill be read by the clerk, when by
unanimous consent, the reading could
have been omitted. Everyone in Con-
gress knew what was in the bill.
Everyone knew by that time that it
was going to pass. But just for pure
contrariness, Taber insisted on the
reading.
To make the punishment fit the
crime, Mr.. Taber should be required
phonograph for about six hours at a
stretch, with someone on guard to
keep him from going to sleep.
x X x
One good thing which this Con-
gress has done has escaped with COM
paratively small notice. The Federal
government is launching a big naval
building program; and clause went
into the naval bill requiring the Walsh
Healey Act to be observed by all pri-
vate ship yards working on navel con-
structiOn contracts.
1t will take some very careful
watching to make sure that certain
firms do not evade that clause; and
labor had better make up it's mind to
do the watching.
"Davy John" Lewis is going to run in
the Maryland primaries for the Demo-
cratic nomination for United States
Senator.
: No announcement of any candidacy
for any place will be received by New
Dealers and by those who fought for
justice before the New Deal was born
with more enthusiasm than this Lewis
: had many terms in the House. He
was father of the parcel post law. He
| has voted for and supported every
progressive measure that has come be-
fore Congress in his time.
, He knows the laborer's plight as
not half dozen other men in Wash
ington know it. Answering the claim
that labor's condition improves with
out legislation, Lewis said:
eyes, if you give it time enough. My
grandfather went into the coal mines
of Wales at the age Of years; my
father went in at the age of 8; and
went into the coal mines of Penn.
sylvania at the age of 8. There's 2
years in generations.
x x
With the Supreme Court closed un.
! til October, few bits of more import