The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-04-01

atA&AAta SaAAoAg Ao AAAASVA NSS Departments Sam Reber
 Reher had gone to Martinique to negotiate with Vichy Admiral Robert regarding tho airplane car- rier, cruisers and six oil tankers ruSting In Martinique waters, Sub- SeQuently, the State Department announced that an agreement had been reached with Admiral Robert whereby these ships would be turned over to the U, s, A. Months have passed, however, with no re- suit.
 After State Department envoy Reher returned, Treasury ot- ficlalS asked him;
 "VVhat about the gold in Mar unique? What ls Co become of that?"
 They referred to 25 billions of gold francs still stored in Mar unique.
 "Oh," replied Reber, "that didn't come up."
 "Nasn't it even nlentiOned:" asked Treasury officials, who rec memhered how France had de- faulted on her debts from World War I, stlll owing us several bil- Hon dollars.
 "No," replied RebeE, "did you think it would be safer up here?"
 "Wen, N certainly isn't very safe down therc," COuntered the Treasury.
 we decided" replied Reber. "that we didn't want to do any, thing which might infringe on the sovereignty of France"
 That ended the matter. The gold is still in Martinique, and Admiral Robert, who apparently isn't much impressed by the sub- tleties of State Department ap- peasement, has continued to thumb his nose at the United States. MRS. PEPPERS ORANGES
 Mrs. Claude Pepper and Mrs. Allen Ellender, wives of the sena- tors from Florida and Louisiana, got into a friendly argument at the Senate Ladies' Luncheon club over the relative merits of or- anges from Florida and Louisiana.
 Mrs. Pepper had remarked that there was nothing in the world to beat a Temple orange from the sunny state of Florida.
 Mrs. Ellender gently differed with her.
 "I am sure, my dear" she said, "that you don't know our Louisiana oranges. They are simply divine. No Florida Or- ange could even touch them."
 Mrs. Pepper, however, stuck to the Temple oranges of Folrida.
 "I'Il tell you what we'll dO," she said, "I'll have some Tenn pie oranges sent up here. And you get some from Louisiana, and we'll serve them to the Sem ate ladies and let them judge"
 Mrs. Ellender agreed. The Sem ate ladies also agreed to act as judges in this Florida Louisiana contest, and all looked forward to a feast of oranges.
 But Mrs. Ellender apparently was not accustomed to ordering oranges. Usually they are or- dered by the crate. She, how ever, ordered fifty, meaning fifty oranges, one orange for each of the Senator's wives who usually attend the luncheons.
 The day of the contest arrived, but not the Louisiana oranges. Mrs. Ellender did not produce. Mrs. Peppers Temple oranges ar- rived from Florida and were pro- nounced delicious. She won the contest.
 Later Mrs. EIlender's oranges arrived from Louisiana - not fifty oranges, but fifty crates. They cost her $25O.
 GHOST OF ANDY MELLON
 Andrew W. Mellon was not quite so frank. As Secretary of the Treasury under Coolidge he start ed a campaign to lower taxes on higher bracket incomes, arguing that this would release more money for individual enterprise. Tn a way it did. It released mile lions for stock market speculation and Coolidge Bull Market.
 The Mellon theory later was called the "trickle-down" system, whereby a large amount of money released at the top gradually trickled' down to the wage-earner at the bottom. However, the : trislEle was so meagre by the time 1t reached the bottom, that the inequalities of the system led to the two well remembered econ- omic holocaust.
 Today some Republicans, once sold on the Ruml plan. gradually are realizing that if taxes are for-