St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1939-04-14
WASHINGTON
.JOTTINGS
By EDWARD CORNEABY


expected to become a law at this
session of Congress. The bill not
only would place railroad and motor
carrier regulation in the hands of
the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion but also all types of inland
water carriers. That means that
all common and contract vessels
operating on the Mississippi would
be regulated by the Washington
agency which would fix the rates
the vessels would charge for their
cargo. Owners and operators of
river shipping are afraid that the
Interstate Commerce Commission,
long interested in the railroads,
will force inland water carriers to
raise their rates so that the rail
roads will be able to compete more
advantageously Obviously this
would mean added costs for Mime
sofa wheat shippers and all who
use the barge lines and water
transport. Those favoring the leg
islation, on the other hand, argue
that the shippers never get the ad-
vantage of the lower water rates
anyway. They charge that the
farmer is never given a concession
by the grain buyer if the cheaper
water transport is used, the miller
pocketing the difference between
the rail and water cost. Neverthe-
less Minnesota's representatives in
Congress are interested and are ex-
pected to oppose vigorously this
type of legislation.
Despite the tremendous increase
in the number of Government
buildings in Washington, the Fed
eral Government still spends
$3,6OO,OOO in rent for additional
needed space in the Capitol. Even
this is not enough. Social Security
had to lease a big warehouse in
Baltimore to take care of it's huge
card index covering the millions of
workers now paying taxes into the
system. This scarcity of office
space in Washington is one reason
rents are so high. Even apartment
houses have been converted into |
Government office quarters. The
Government pays all the way from
CSC to $2.75 a square foot for space,
depending on the location and the |
condition of the building rented. |
The renting, incidentally, is done
by Honest" Harold Ickes, Secre-
tary of the Interior. He told a |
House Committee inquiring into |
the rental problem: 81 am the |
chief janitor of the United States"
All this renting makes Washing
ton the fastest growing big city in
America. It now has a population
of about 100000 but most observers
predict it will have million within |
another ten years. Public building
is always going on and it's rare
day when a million dollar structure |
isn't announced. Foundation work
was begun recently for the $3,000,-
900 Thomas jefferson Memorial
which will be located in the midst
of the Japanese cherry blossom
trees. Piles are being sunk in the
soft earth rs feet to bedrock to
support the heavy marble struc-
ture, similar in size and shape to
the beautiful Lincoln Memorial.
Farther down Constitution Avenue
the $12,OO0,OOO Mellon Memorial
Art Gallery is well on it's way to
completion. The money to build
this was left by Andrew Mellon,
late Secretary of the Treasury, who
also willed the worlds most famous
collection of old master paintings
to be housed there. And to add
touch of utility, on the edge of the
Potomac River four of the largest
dredges in the country are spewing
sand and gravel from the bottom
of the river to build up a new air
port on the rivers banks. To be
known officially as Gravelly Point
Airport, it is scheduled to be the
finest and one of the largest in
America. Washington now has one
of the worst commercial airports in
the country although both the
Army and Navy have excellent
nearby fields from which planes
constantly roar on and off.
Politics is always the leading
subject in Washington. 1t is even
more so now. Much talk is made
over the results of a recent poll
conducted by a weekly magazine
among Washington press CORE
spondents. The majority of them
believe that Republican will be
elected President in 1910 and most
favor Dewey-Taft ticket. The
Democrat ticket is picked as Gar
ner and Farley and most of the
correspondents agree that such a