SANCTIONS L. T. - SUNOCO - WED.. JUNE 17, 1956 There's an old saying in politics, -If you find any movement growing too strong for you, join it.- That was the motto of the British government today. No more sanctions. That applies not only to Italy, hut to sanctions in general, ^tis Majesty's Government as we all remember, led the movement in the League for those sanctions against Mussolini and his country and now London proposes to take the lead in lifting them and going a step further, dropping them entirely as an instrument in the machinery of the League of Nations. Months ago it became self-evident that those sanctions i were a flor>. Italy contrived to carry on quite effectively in spite of them.) What was more, they turned out to be a two- edged sword, a boomerang, a weapon that threatened the party which wielded It just as much as the target. The question became a menace to the general peace and equilibrium of Europe at a most ticklish time. When the Italians not only thumbed their noses at the League, but conquered Ethiopia in the face of the sanctions, the futility of the sanctions grew ridiculous. What's more, they brought England and France SANCTIONS - 2 face to face with the prospect of an alliance between the Duce and the Fuehrer, the twin heads of Fascism. It may be expected that the lifting of the sanctions will go a long way towards soothing the outraged feelings of the Italians and healing the once ominous breach between the two countries. Nevertheless, it requires considerable boldness on the part of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and his colleagues to lead this movement. It is a piece of realistic politics, the politics of facing the facts and acknowledging them. But it will meet with many boos in the Bouse of Commons tomorrow. There*s a formidable number of M.JPs.^ who adhere to idealistic rather than realistic politick* And they are expected to lift their voices loudly against such a departure by His Majesty*s government. But one thing is certain. This, announcement has caused many sighs of relief at the Qua! d'Orsay, U iii ....... . on the bank of the Seine. France backed up Oreat Britain in the sanctions business, backed her up(^. ;■ n i^r» It was m difficult for Paris# to The prime. cardinal motive Of French politics always is and always will be Vi/hen the sanctions seemed to protection against Germany# SANCTIONS - 3 threaten French security by bringing Berlin and Rome closer together, there were many grave misgivings throughout France. With England leading the movement, France backing her up, It's a foregone conclusion that the entire penalty clause willjbe just cut out of the Covenant of the league of Nations, However, even that will not completely satisfy Mussolini. He wants what he wants when he wants it. And the next? thing he wants is - comnlete recognition of the annexation of Ethiopia, That*s the demand he will prefer at the next meeting of the League's Council, which will be held late this month. Whether the League complies or not, Italy's control of the former empire of Haile Selassie Is pretty complete; no iiizaxM mere surface control. In many parts of the land, Italians are digging, digging for treasure, trying to find those legendary mines of the Queen of Sheba. And won’t they be fed up if they don't find them; They are also on the hunt with pick and shovel for the hidden wealth of the Rases, Haile Selassle-s Satraps who Used to govern the provinces with absolute power. Several of them piled up vast fortunes. Naturally, they didn't leave it SANCTIONS - 4 lying around. Since there weren’t any banks in Ethiopia, they had to find places in which to cache their riches. An sorts of weird stories are told in Ethiopia about those caches. It is said that only the Rases themselves and one or two of their trusted retainers, know those hiding places. Some of them are under the roots of giant eucalyptus trees. Some of them are concealed by huge boulders weighing hundreds of tons, ^thers are buried dee^ in the gorges of the mighty mountains. So the Italian will be using the usual treasure hunter maps, leading to eucalyptus trees. And they’ll get no help from the Ethiopians. There’s a superstition in the land that the treasures of the Rases are guarded by mambas, the deadly, long African snakes, which strike with the speed of lightning. Similar legends are current in India about the treasures of the maharajahs, supposed to be guarded by trained cobras that will strike only at strangers. Looking for treasure and seeing snakes. AUSTRIA FOLLOW SANCTIONS No sooner is one obstacle to the harmony of Europe removed, than another crops up. The latest comes from the young Archduke Otto, the Hapsburg pretender to the Austrian throne. Otto and his Mama, the iron-willed Zita, have decided that the present lull between storms in Europe is their opportunity. The result is a manifesto signed by the Archduke. Says he: "Like my father, I’m prepared to make any sacrifices, even if they entail wearing a crown." In explanation he adds: rI place my people before myself. This is my firm intention, so help me God." Any time the people of Austria summon him, he will give up his meagre quarters and the almost threadbare circumstances in which he and his Mother and sisters have been living, reluctantly but patriotically to take up residence once more in the imnerial palaces of Vienna and Schoenbrunn. That big hearted manifesto might not be taken seriously but for a rumor that accompanies it. Expert observers diagnose It as having been issued with the knowledge, consent and support of Premier Mussolini. That, we must remember, is just a report. AUSTRIA FOLLOW SANCTIONS - g unofficial. Therefs nothing in the manifesto to prove it. But the grapevine telegraph has been buzzing with the advice that the Duce and Chancellor Schuschnigg have come to terms on this subject, that it is the secret purpose of the Chancellor to restore the flapsburgs and that Mussolini has been promised his quid pro quo. Where does that it leave the Little Entente^ Only the other day the Balkan nations were notified that it was none of their business whether Austria was a monarchy, republic or what-not. And again, what of France? Will Monsieur Blum’s government follow the precedent of his predecessors and back up the Little Entente? CANADA An announcement from Canada ought to warm the cockles of the hearts of pacifists. Where other countries are increasing their armies, Canada is reducing hers. The Dominion government proposes to cut its fighting force from a hundred and thirty-five thousand to ninety thousand. At the same time, the Royal Canadian Army will be reorganized, mechanized, made more compact. Civil aviation is going to be under a new cabinet minister, the Minister of Transport and Communications. That leaves the Department of National Defense free to devote all its attention to the tr-M rhtmr. ±o AVIATION American aviation jessed an important milestone today. Ten years ago, a two hundred horsepower plane, with a single engine, took off from an airport carrying mail for Uncle Sam. Today, the same company that started with that single engined plane, completed its hundredth million mile of flying. That’s the story of United Airlines* A hundred million miles. seven hundred and seventy-five thousand passengers, seventeen thousand tons of mail, more than four million, six hundred thousand pounds of air express. Instead of two hundred horsepower planes, li mil In m In “T eleven hundred and fifty horsepower, fca gg at three miles a minute, POLITICS we've heard from the G.O.P. Elephant, we're going to hear the Democratic Donkey next week; Today comes a preliminary bellow from the Bull Moose* The Progressive Party is still alive, and ready toAkick at a moment's notice. from Washington today. It comes, from Senator Bob LaFollette of Wisconsin, who has been the virtual leader of the Bull Moose forces ever since the death of the famous father to whose toga he succeeded.good deal b £ hangs on what the Progressives will do between now and November. With the Republican Party reorgan­ ized, wlth^sumi^S^emocratic magnificoes such as Ely of Massachusetts, Alfalfa Bill Murray of Oklahoma, A1 Smith 4# walkout, any little help that President Roosevelt's party may That's the challenge conveyed in an announcement get from the Progressives, Is not to be sneezed at. Senator Norris of Nebraska and Senator LaFollette are foremost among Senator those who have taken the President's side in many a hard fought issue. POLITICS - 2 Today’s announcement by Senator LaFollette says clearly that the Progressives are going to hold their fire. They are waiting until after next week’s Convention at Philadelphia. Then they'll hold a conference. In other words, what they do, whether they’ll throw their support to Roosevelt, depends entirely upon the text of the democratic platform. Senator Bob Wagner of New York is busy working on it at this moment. Like other olatforms, of course it will be a thing put together by many carpenters. Though senator V/agner is the camenter-in-chief, presumably Professor Moley is behind the scenes hammering in many a nail. And naturally the completed structure will not be thrust into the daylight until it is okayed by the White House. The probability is that the planks will be artificed carefully enough to carry the weight of not only Democratic but Progressive feet. Meanwhile, rumors continue to come from the Coughlin-Townsand-"Share-the-Wealth" alliance. This Junta la - . , tn/rpther of that Democratic nlatform also waiting the putting togetner ox POLITICS - 3 As things stand at present, we are threatened with having to wait until Thursday^to learn its planks. Cynics have been rude enough to dbserve that Jim Farley is going to prolong the Convention so as to give the City of Philadelphia its money’s worth in return for the cash received by the National Committee for bringing the show there. Democratic leaders repudiate the cynicism. They’re declaring that it Is because of the move to abolish the two-thirds rule that the affair will be prolonged and that it will be Friday night before the delegates get round to the formality of nominating Mr. Roosevelt FLETCHER Another gap in the ranks of the New Deal at Washington. Ihe death of Senator Duncan Fletcher of Florida removes not only the second in seniority in the upper House, but also one of the stauncnest supportGrs of Pr©sid6H‘t Roos©v©l'fc. Only one rngn has served longer In the Senate, -irn- Mr. Borah of Idaho. Only a few weeks ago the Senate and the State of Florida had to mourn the passing of Senator Fletcher's colleague, Tf* Park Trammell. Mr. Fletcher was seventy-six years old. He died in harness, so the speak, without warning. He was still in the throes of a vigorous fight for that much debated Florida Ship Canal. It was the project nearest to his heart. Ever since he came to the Senate, twenty-seven years ago, he has been urging the building of that waterway, he passes away without knowing whether his dream will come true. However, he had the satisfac­ tion of watching the proposal get a new lease on life only a few days ago. capitol. His shaggy* He was a picturesque figure in and ramd around the leonine head, was one of the handsomest FLETCHER - 2 Congress. For all his years, he carried himself straight a ramrod. You seldom read his name on page one. He was not the oratorical debating type. Just a plugger, the kind that does his work in committee rooms and cloak rooms. The men of Arkansas who flogged a preacher and a girl are going to have to answer to^Baa^S^^ At any rate, the Department of Justice is going to investigate the attach on the Reverend Claude Williams and Miss^Blagden. Early today it looked as though that affair would escape official attention altogether. The Sheriff of the county said he had received no complaints, would not act unless Mr. Smith and Miss Blagden made formal cottgfeefarrfcafet The governor A* of the state vowed that he was power less. The only circumstances in which he could investigate any such local happening would be »ir.yjctaigY-rwBptir»±-x-K>'f'x'fc by sending out the National Guard, and that he could not do without the request of the local authorities. Martial law can be declared in Arkansas only by the legislature, and the legislature does not meet until January • However, the news from Washington indicates that the G-men will look into that • X. - Ifttl a In 11 gjrh c w i JUDGE "The American public me* loves to be humbugged," So said P. T. Barnum fifty years ago. We now know it to be a fact. becsna^Xt’s confirmed by a decision of a court of law. Incidentally, that decision reveals the. existance oii Long Island of a rare bird, a Judge with a sense of humor*.— Justice Paul Bonynge of the New York Supreme Court. Justice Bonynge Uttered that A^phthemAin the text of ^ a ruling which he pronounced that dog racing is not illegal in the State of New York. To the discomfiture of the District Attorney, he also pronounced that the option system of betting is quite in accordance with law. As many people pi i liberty know, that*s the system whereby the customer buys an option on the greyhound before the race, cashing it in if, as and when the pooch wins, according to certain odds. But the quality that makes Justice Bonyngefs decision of general interest is the dry humor in which It is written. The District Attorney had argued that buying an option on a dog was a mere subterfuge for a $2 bet. To this Justice Bonynge replied: -a-wrongful .inteMr JUDGE - 2 "A church bazaar.” said he "wnn-M ~ x, , j - u ntj, would scarcely be complete without a bevy of winsome damsels selling chances on bed quilts, radios and a host of other htings." He continued: "If the proceeds are to be devoted to the Ladies Sewing Circle or the demine*s vacation, no sin is perceived. The local prosecutor stays his hand. But if a couple of dusky youths are apprehended rolling the bones to a state of moderate warmth, blind justice perceives the infamy of the performance and the law takes its course." Then the justice*s decision reads: "Sweepstakes and lotteries are unspeakably vile. Yet through them we have contributed so many millions to the ^rish hospitals that it is rumored patriotic Irishmen volunteer to have their tonsils and appendixes removed just to keep the hospital beds occupied and the nurses employed." In a final spurt of irony, Justice Bonynge said: "For a generation or more betting on horse races was unlawful. Then the legislature suddenly discovered the need of improving the breed of horses. Let no one suspect that our best citizens repair to Beimost Park and other tracks for the purpose of betting or gambling. Perish the thought.* Their brains rest on higher things. Imnroving the breed of horses is their aim," says his facetious Honor -- and, SO LONG UNTIL TOMORROW.