davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06
Mr.. FIXIT
He Fixes Things

To r<celv. attention IN tn1s col
umn lst1EFs must rive nsms and
address q writer Only Initials
VII - oublishsd when reouested
Mr.. F1xlf: Where II The SYA
office n Tacoma and Olympia,
and when are they open- What
are sse requirements IsF Ess
Tacoma police forces What
schools are necessary after high
school and would geometry be
Of any value; BOB d.
The NYA office in Tacoma II
at 1909 Washington building
and the Olympia office in the
Old Capitol building. They are
open during regular office hours
Monday through Friday.
Essential requirements of q
candidate for the police force
are proof Of high school educa-
ton and Of age. which must be
between % and 81. There also
are physical requirements. which
you can obtain by a call at the
Civil Service office, room 100,
City hall You can get full in
formation there and would have
TO apply there to take the ex-
animation.
A police officer might not find
a daily application Of geometry
but II could be useful as foun-
dalton for his thinking as IN any
other walk of life.
Mr.. Fixif: I am puzzled about
the electoral college. Please ad-
wise me who II II that casts the
electoral votes for our presi-
dents. / believe there are 9th
ers ~ dumb ~ myself about
the electoral college. 1 have
asked some quite intelligent men
and they could not shed any
light on the subject. O. o. NJ.
Our first suggestion IN that
you read Article II and the 18th
amendment to the United States
Constitution. That will tell you
the system was conceived Of hav-
ing elected or appointed for each
state a number Of persons equal
to its total Of senators and rep
resentatives. Their duty would
be to meet and vote for presi-
dent. That group Of persons was
10 be known as the electoral
college.
BY political evolution, how
ever. the electoral college exists
now only In name. A complete
slate of electors N placed on the
ballot by each political party
and they vote as pledged. so the
result Of a presidential election
Is known as soon as II is de-
termined which party's electors
were elected. Originally. respon-
sible prominent citizens were to
be elected to decide for them
selves who should be president.
Now. while their names are on
the ballot, they are virtually
anonymous and only I'll q legal
requirement.
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06
Ten Million Acres

When farms raise of any given crop than be
sod in the United States abroad and do year after
year. there would to be two primary solutions Try
arrange greater consumption at home and sales abroad
and 2, raise something else.
For 20 years a series of attempts have been made to
accomplish No. l. But many people do not realize how
much progress has been made along the lines of No. 2.
Twenty years soy beans almost novelty. This
year than 100000 being devoted to rails
ing them Some made into hay turned under
as fertilizer marketed for the which
have been developed of plastics OIL meal and
food Ten million acres them have been withdrawn from
producing crops for which there present market and
turned to producing crop for which there is market
The whole country gains by this simple application of
sense.
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06
in
Stamps
hoie Almost Succeeded
In Oonoesous Mission

I ESS thsn . nile nom his own
- lines and safety, Nathan Hale,
Americas most famous spy, was
captured and hanged. The U. s.
lucent stamp above. issued in
1921 donors the schooimsster~
hero.
Hall vss tes<hine school in
New London, Conn, when word
OF The battle OF Lexington was
received. He closed his desk,
Joined TIE army. Six months
later he was commissioned cap
tain There wasn't enough action
in the infantry TO satisfy the ex-
schoolmaster, 50 he transferred 70
Knowlton's Rangers, General
Washington's scouts.
When Washington sought IN
formation on British troop move
nsents and defenses, Hale voaun-
teered for the mission. He made
his way through the British lines
IN New York, drew maps.
sketehed positions He was cap
tsred by . patrol, within . mile
q American lines, as he returned
with his information
Haie;s last words--1 regret that
Y have but one life 10 give for
my country"-msde the school
teacher one of the nations great
e 1900
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06

of his endeavor may be guessed
from an Aug. 8 dispatch which
quotes him as blaming China
entirely for the Chinese-Japan-
csc war.
The major general was one Of
those highly placed persons who
met at the Harvard club May n
and planned to stampede this
country into the shackles Of
peacetime CONSUMPTION. That he
knew what he was doing Is evil
denced by his arguments for
CONSUMPTION before the first
world war, as quoted by Senator
Rush Holt:
The first thing needed Is to
destroy all initiative. and that.
with the training. fits men to be
soldiers. The recruit does not
know how to carry out orders.
We must get our men 30
they are machines.
We have to have our men
trained 30 that the influence Of
fear Is overpowered by the peril
of an incorporating military
system, often backed up by q
pistol in the hands Of an off,
Ger. The recruits have got to
put their heads into the military
moose. They have got to be
lacked up. They have got TO be
bswled out"
In the officers training camp
attended by the writer during
the last war, the colonel put IL
more tersely: You have to 30
train your men that II they ara
ordered to shoot their grand
mothers they viii do II without
hesitation"
Such is militarism. and any
one who likes IT will find il a.
easy TO serve in Japan a. In this
country.
ROBERT J. PEARsALL
SITS So. Park ave
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06
YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Sweden, the Suez canal In
Egypt. or the Panama canal?
8. Name the nominee for pres
ident OF the Prohibition party.
8. What is the correct title OF
the Wagner labor act?
Z. Which Italian city IL known
~ the Bride Of the Sea-!
8. What is a colony for lepers
called
.. Who wrote The Battle
Hymn of the Republic"7
10. Which actor il sometimes
called The Great Profile?
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06

intractables behave.
John Nance Gamers closest
friends are begging him to re-
turn to the capital for the clos
ing days of the session They
don't want this distinguished
friend from Texas to make his
exit from the national theater
as a seeming sorehead against
the minor role assigned to him
by Producer Roosevelt.
A new note has crept into
these friendly complaints
against the vice presidents self
imposed absence. Even his as
sociates point out that, after all,
he receives $4,000 a year for
presiding over the senate, and
that he owes it to the taxpayer
to earn his salary. The presi-
dent can perform the duties of
his office while absent from
Washington. but the ". P. must
be "on location" in the senate
chamber to justify his keep.
Numerous letters to Uvalde's
leading citizen have highlighted
this consideration.
There In no doubt that Gar
ner is sore over his forgotten
man" role. He glued his ear to
the radio during the convention
proceedings leading to the NOM
ination of Henry Wallace for
vice president; his face reflected
his disappointment. So far az
10 known. he has sent no con-
CALCULATIONS to Roosevelt and
Wallace. His friends don't blame
him for being mad. But they
wish he would not show 1t so
spectacularly.
The bowls of minor White
House attaches reveal that Wen
dell Willkie hit hard in demand
ing publication Of the original
Stettinius report on how the
United States should prepare for
war. The inside story might
prove difficult to laugh off.
The Stettinius board was as
signed the task Of framing a
broad, general plan for mobiliza-
ton OF American resources in
event of q conflict. Unlike the
present ADMINISTRATIONS COM
mission, 1t did not concern itself
with the actual rearrning of the
defense establishment. But the
Stettinius selections included 80
many Wall Streeters that it
aroused the antagonism of the
Ickes Cohen Corcoran crowd.
Other presidential policies re-
sulting from the impact of the
European war struck extreme
New Dealers as ultra-conserva-
tive. They figured that F. d. r
was being kidnapped by the reac-
tionsries. as Woodrow Wilson
was in his second term. They
carried their complaints and
warnings to the White House.
and the invited invaders were
asked TO leave Washington.
But not before they had for
mulated several basic theories
which they submitted to the
White House. These suggested,
in general. that any wartime
effort be made with a minimum
disturbances Of the economic and
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06

His principal defect, in their
analysis, Ia his inability to stamp
a deep and definite imprint of
his personality on the popular
mind. That impresses them as
a dangerous sign in view of the
apparent absence Of clear-cut is
sues between the major parties.
1t explains why some New Deal
ers are belittling him as "a Re-
publican Roosevelt lacking the
latter's experience" And since
national preparedness has be-
come the vital issue in the peo-
pies opinion also with some
help from r. ID. RS strategy
that thrust may prove fatal
before November.
Wilkes tactics-his tart re-
torts. his grasp Of public ques-
tions, his breadth Of view, his
courage in renouncing Father
Coughlin and challenging indus
trial conscription-may delight
learned students of politics;
they reflect an honesty and in
telligence often missing from
the political stage. But his
friends fear that he treats the
presidential contest as an in
tellectual duel. whereas it will
probably be decided by the emo
tional reactions which the two
contenders arouse among the
electorate.
A closeup study OF eireum-
stances surrounding the Over
ton-Russell amendment suggests
that it was inspired by politics
rather than q desire to imple-
ment the national defense pro-
gram. 1t was deliberately de-
signed as a fire escape for SEN
stors who have been scorched
by flaming protests from con-
sutuents against the human
draft.
Despite private and published
polls. Capitol Hill mail is run
ming heavily against conscrip-
ton of men, especially from the
Middle and Far West. II has
frightened the statesmen. So
the proposal to take over private
plants was showed In TO save
fellow-senators. and to spank
those who refused to fall into
line. Eighteen who voted against
peacetime militarization saw
their chance. and squared them
selves by lining up behind the
Overton-Russell shotgun They
included ten Democrats. four
Republicans. two Progressives.
two Fsrmer-Laborites. All but
one switcher-Wslsh of Masss-
chusetts-hailed from the wide
open spaces. where opposition to
the draft is fiercest.
AS further insight into mo-
tiyes behind the provocative
scheme. existing laws grant suf-
ficisnt authority for regimenting
any reluctant or stsnd-offish in
dastrislists Only in two minor
instances did this power have to
be used in World War !. War
Industries Chairman Bernard
Baruch. only q few nights ago.
declared that the mere threat OF
the 1917 law - still unrepealed
was enough 10 make Industrial
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06
QUESTIONS TO TIES

Can you answer seven of these
test questions Turn 10 the
womsn's page for the answers.
1. How many original articles
were in the constitution OF the
United States7
2. II. NJ. s. Pinafore" 10 an
opera by Gilbert and -
3. Give the numbers Of the
prohibition and repeal amend
ments to the constitution.
4. The longest canal in the
world In the Gotta canal m
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06

will pay 81 to any JOB 1nven-
tor" featured in Strange As 1t
Seems. II you have learned how
to make your own opportunity.
write to John Xix, care of this
paper.
Tomorrow: 90-Hour Shower
Bath
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06

houses, mounts the pictures,
frames them and sells them for
81 each. He finds q ready mar
ket.
Have you invented a job--or
do you know someone who has?
To encourage initiative among
employment seekers, John Xix
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06

industrial establishment-with
conscientious regard for demo-
cratic methods and customs
with the least possible sggran-
dizement Of the executive arm
Of the government
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06
KEEPING UP-IO-pATE

More than any other single
institution the secondary
schools have helped to minimize
class distinctions--Dr. Francis
T. SpauIding. professor Of edu-
cation, Harvard university.
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06
H5dTT5s5Faa,,y2z2sRg!

initiative and referendum and
direct primary in Oregon.
What turned the tide :. far
- election 60 rzi.s1 States
senator was concerned was
the circus put mp by the WASH
inKfon legislature In 1905.
After wasting . great deal Of
time n balioting and trading
and. ~ was pretty generally
IN evidence. the expenditure Of
considerable money, the legis-
lafure elected the dark horse
candidate. Samuel II. Piles
Before the next senatorial
election came around Washing
ton had adopted the preferen-
tial primary system which sent
Bourne TO the United States
senate from Oregon
Adoption Of the initiative and
referendum In Washington, Ore
gon was influenced by practices
that had become established in
the state legislatures. Special
interests used money to influ-
ence favorable Legislation and
used IL Just As lavishly to prevent
other legislation.
Use OF money In elections or
to influence legislation was not
denied. II was a practice that
had grown up through the years
and was due largely to the fact
that the niggardIy salaries paid
members Of state legislatures
was not enough to pay their
expenses.
One way Of distributing the
money was 10 get certain key
members Into q poker game
with high stakes and let them
win. The story Of how e6o,000
IN railroad money In one game
WAS lost TO the wrong crowd
n familiar.
John Rea tells . good story
about the game In which there
was several thousand dollars
In the pot and . newspaper
reporter scooped IL up, said,
"What are you going to do
about it?" and disappeared.
The answer was easy. There
wasn't anything anybody want
ed to do about II.
Once started, the movement
for the radical departures
from established practice went
through rapidly. The law Civ
ing the people the right to initi-
ate new legislation and reject
legislative acts of which they
did not approve made the law
makers more careful. The direct
primary stopped the fixing Of
conventions. Whether II brought
other practices equally objec-
tionable into politics Is a de-
batable question.
Bourne began his career as a
Republican but his liberal views
put him In dutch with the or
ganization. His election as
United States senator In 1906
was accomplished by a combina-
ton of liberal Republicans.
Democrats and "Mugwumps."
The hardshells thought that was
a tough break for Oregon. Now.
at his death 81 years later.
many of those who feared that
his philosophy would wreck the
country proudly proclaim their
admiration.
Besides his work In the field
of Legislation In the Northwest,
Bourne was notable rs the
father Of the parcel post, an
other radical departure.
The career Of Jonathan Bourne
encourages the belief that in the
long run some of the new phi
losophies of the past decade may
not be 30 bad for the country.
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06
P ULSE OF
T HE PU BLIC
HOME GUARD Is
POLITICAL MOVE

Editor, The Times: In a re-
cent issue of The Times there
appeared on the front page
story with the hold type head
Home Guard Corps Set Up For
Tacoma" Then. in smaller type
Jobs Planned for Every Adult
in Case of Emergency"
! do not doubt the fairness Of
your reporting, but after all,
this thing is right down the
politicians alley. Yes, including
the president, who for more than
seven years has had an ener-
getic complex, down through
Governor Martin, also running
for a third term, who has set
up a state energetic board.
According to your story. doc
tors, nurses. police aids and fire
fighters are being organized.
And an intelligence service. I'm
in favor of the latter. This thing
Is 20 uncalled for.
Politicians would have you
believe they can feel the hot
breath of Hitler on their sleeves.
Not to mention Mussolini. No
sane person doubts but what
the president allowed US to be
two-thirds undermined, under
fed and unemployed. Nor could
they doubt that we should at
once "arm to the teeth"
The administration called the
Empire of the Sun an aggressive
nation. 1t called Hitler and Mus
solini worse than thieves and
robbers. which Of course. they
are. However. no responsible
head of a responsible nation
should talk that way TO heads
of other nations unless armed
with something more than sling
shots and paper-wad guns.
Now. in this election year, to
play upon the people through
press and radio as an excuse for
his own worse than blunders is
the cheapest kind of politics, to
say the least.
Senator Homer Bone, and on
this issue I wish we had more
like him. was right when he said.
regarding the sailing of the s.
S. American Legion that most
inflammstory incident of the
whole war that the stubborness
of one man sends 900 human be-
ings into a zone where they
might be blown skyward any
minute"
Please let us have less propa-
gsnda inspired by politicians
under the guise Of defense
JACK SHIRLEY,
RT
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06
JOB INVENTOR

Tod stromquist, 1s-year-old
oberlin college student, had to
have money to pay his tuition.
20 he set out with a camera and
a brilliant idea and invented
job-that pays him $50 q week.
Tod photographs tive
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06
.TIcuT An Inside Picture of Finm
II i u IL i ciol ond Political America
BY RAY TUCKER

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Wilkie supporters are deeply
upset by his present failure to up their high
expectations of him campagner. They concede that
he could not hope to maintain the operate tempo at
Phiadephia-aso that he has not yet begun to fight
but they have received troubous reports of slump his
gtOck
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06

Dangerous" Citizen Not
So Dangerous After Al
Jonathan Bourne's Program
Working Out
People Now Elect United
States Senators
And Help Make Their
Own Laws
A BOUT IS years ago Jons-
n than Bourne, Of Portland.
was considered a dangerous
citizen. He was proposing,
among other things. to break
long established presidents and
give the people the right to
initiate laws which they thought
would be helpful but which leg
islatures would not pass. Surely
the men who set up this de-
mocracy knew what they were
doing. Just as bad a. letting
the people make their own laws
was his other proposal to let
them vote to accept OF reject
laws passed by legislatures to
serve special interests. That
combination-initiative and ref
erendum-was the first step in
breaking down the government
which George Washington and
his ragged soldiers fought to
establish.
Bourne also was guilty OF
other conspiracies against the
government. Associated with
one w. s. U'Ren, he proposed q
direct primary law by which the
people would nominate their
own candidates for office In
stead of leaving 1t to political
conventions, usually fixed 70
that the only work of the or
ganization, besides making a
noise, was to approve the type
written documents which the
chairman pulled out of his
pocket. He also proposed that
the election Of United States
senators be turned over TO the
people instead Of being left to
the within, often inspired, OF
state legislatures.
The other day Jonathan
Bourne, aged IS, died in WASH
ington, ID. c., one of the ma
tons most honored citizens.
In his home state, Oregon, the
newspapers which fought his
initiative and referendum, d.
rect primary and election Of
United States senators by the
people, mourned his death NJ
the passing Of . great man
who served his country well.
Though he has not been heard
of in either connection for q
number of years, Tscoma had a
two-fold interest in Jonathan
Bourne. First was his interest
in the old Tacoma Eastern rail-
road through his association
with the Ladd interests. Of Port
land. That gave him an interest
in the coming Of the Milwaukee
railroad to Tacoma and the sale
of the Tacoma Eastern to the
Milwaukee for the main line en-
trance. Next was the assistance
he gave when q group Of Pierce
county "mugwumps' proposed to
establish in this state the same
measures which had knocked
precedent into a cooked hat in
Oregon.
The heaven began working
in Washington before Bourne
and U'Ren accomplished the
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06
MAI. GEN o'RYAN
AND CONSCRPTION

Editor The Times: In Alien
Poison" in the Aug. 81 Satur-
day Evening Post. Stanley High
mentions Maj. Gen John +.
Organ. who recently sailed for
Japan in the service Of the
Japan Economic Federation. He
viii get $4,000 for three months
OF endeavor. and 5000 for each
month thereafter" The nature
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06

The heaven began working
in Washington before Bourne
and URen accomplished the
The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-09-06

To receIvs attention IN ~ col
umn lsz1Ers must rive nzms ana
address q writer Only tnIttals
VII - publishes when reoueseed
Evening star., 1940-01-14
Archbishop Cur|ey
To Talk al Manresa's S
Annual Banquet
Justice Harold Stephens
To Be Principal Loy
Speaker Tomorrow

A message touching on current
world conditions is expected to be
brought members of Manresa, local
Catholic laymen's retreat organiza-
ton, by Archbishop Michael j. Cur
ley of Baltimore and Washington
tomorrow night, when he attends
the groups 1lth annual banquet In
the Mayflower Hotel.
Archbishop Curley is to be guest
of honor at the testimonial affair,
which is scheduled to begin at 7
o'clock.
Justice Harold N. Stephens of the
United States Court Of Appeals here
will be the principal lay speaker.
Walter I. Plant will be POSTMASTER.
The dinner has been arranged by
a group of committees under the
general Craftsmanship of Thomas F..
Murphy.
Those at the head table will in
clude DR.. M. Darcy Magee, presi-
dent of the Washington Section,
League OF Laymen's Retreats, who
has headed the group for two years.
Among the guests will be the Very
Rev. zazharus Joseph Maher, Amer
lean assistant to the Rev. Father
General of the Society of Jesus; the
Very Rev. Vincent L. Keelan, vice
provincial of the Jesuit order in this
area: the Very Rev. Arthur A.
OLeary. S. j.. president of George
town University; Msgr. Peter Gull
day of Catholic University; the
Very Rev. Leonard Walsh, o. F. NJ,
Franciscan Monastery; the Rev.
Joseph M. Moran, spiritual director
of the Washington Section, Holy
Name Society.
Also Msgr. Lawrence Sheehan,
director of the Washington Catholic
Charities; the Very Rev. Eugene
Sugrann, c. M. F.: the Right Rev.
Edward Buckley, rector, st. Mat
thew's Cathedral; the Rev. Louis
M. OLeary, o. p, spiritual direc-
tor of the Third Order of st. DOM
inic: Gov. O'Conor of Maryland,
Bernard A. Garrity, president CT
the Baltimore Section, League of
Laymen's Retreats; Supt. of Police
Ernest w. Brown, Chief Engineer
Stephen T. Porter of the Fire De-
partment and Surg. Gen. Thomas
Parran of the United States Public
Health Service.
Evening star., 1940-01-14
Quints' Guardians Get
Worlds Fair Proposal
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
TORONTO, Jan. ia plan to
take the Dionne quintuplets to the
New York Worlds Fair this spring
was submitted to the quintuplets'
Board of Guardians today by J. c.
Holmes, vice president of the fair
corporation. The guardians have
not considered or replied to the offer.
Under the plan the quints would
be in New York only for four or five
weeks, starting May II. They would
return to their Callander home be-
fore the tourist rush ordinarily starts
in mid-June.
The fair would guarantee the Ca
madam Red Cros at least $100,00
for the quints' visit. They would be
exhibited in a reproduction of the
Dafoe Nursery. their present home,
on the site of last years Soviet ex-
hibit.