L.T. SUNOCO - FRIDAY M a Y 4. 19o4 Good Evening, Everybody:- of the French Minister of War; Marshall Retain wants to ^term increase the^iap. of compulsory military service from one yea: increase the There are grim reminders in the latest move as it now is, to fifteen months; maybe even two years. The terms of the announcement seem to indicate that it is aimed at H e move on the oart of France is aimed just as much at Rome as at Berlin, It is significant to observe the stress that is laid on lengthening the military service of French conscripts. There are echoes of nineteen thirteen, when they were making a tremendous fuss because the French war Department was Droposing the nThree Xear Law," designed to extend compulsory military service from two years to three. That was followed by the “orld War . Since the war, the term has been one year — and now again — the proposal to lengthen iti TRADE (FOLLOW PARIS) Another announcement from the seat of French government makes an Interesting contrast to this warlike gesture. France Is thinking of revising her formidable trade tariffs. Those French trade tariffs have made a lot of ill-feeling all over the world. For one thing, they lost France the friendship of John Bull. It has been a conspicuous fact that little more than a year ago, France walked high, acclaimed as the most powerful nation In Europe, if not in the world. In the short space of one year, her prestige has taken a strange fall. The French Finance Minister today saysi "The exaggeration of tariffs has brought about grave unemployment In many exporting industries," What is more. It has raised the cost of living In France, and that is a thing no Frenchman, likes. And who does? JAPAfl 9 What do you know about thisV France saying to Japan, "Sou tell us to keep our hands off' China I ^and s off China yourself.1* This is a conspicuous about-face in French policy. Until recently France's sympathies were v.ith Nippon, And for two very good reasons, ihe powerful French makers of fear XMk munitions were doing quite nicely selling their deadly goods to the Mikado, Also, France was given to understand that if she played ball with the Japanese military moguls, French capital would be given an inside traej in Manchukuo, So that* s why action of the Qua! d*Orsay in ~ A A Parts is somewhat astonishing. HOOaEMAIDS Whatever you feel about Chancellor Hitler, you must His latest admit that he contributes to the Idea Is this conscription of the army — for housework. Young ladies, how would you like this idea? As soon as you graduate from grammar school you go to work for one year, without wages, as a housemaid* I seem to hear a loud tremble, a feminine chorus | saying with the strength of a couple million voices, H - Q, no. HULL (follow Japan) And it sounds strange to hear a voice from Paris that doesn’t allude to Uncle Sam as Uncle ^hyloclc. To be sure, it is not theAoice of a Frenchman, but of a young leader of the Chinese Nationalists* He threw a large and flowery bouquet at head theof Secretary £x of State Hull, saying that Secretary Hullts message to Tokio had made all patriotic Chinese feel that now they had indeed a valuable friend. Meanwhile, there is considerable uneasiness in China — rumors of a fresh Japanese invasion. The rumors come from two different parts of China. The Chinese are worried about a Japanese push from Manchuria — also another attack on Shanghai. Whether you like it or not, you have to admit one thing. The little brown men have the whole world guessing. ARABIA Thera*s much more than romance to the romantic story of Arabia and the land of coffee that we had last night. Its large international meaning is illustrated by British warships plowing through the Red Sea under full steam, and standing off the seaports of the fabulous land of Yemen. And British airplanes and armed police aremoving northward from the British-controlled port of Aden, which is south of the Kingdom of Coffee. The British authorities believe that the formidable Ibn Baud, whom they them­ selves financed, having now conquered the Land of Yemen, is bent on unifying all Arabia under his own dominant sceptre. It is explained that the quarrel between the mighty Lord of the Wahabis and his vanquished rival, the Iman of the Yemen began with a dispute over a minor stretch of desert sand called the Land of Yam. Now Baud is not content with the Land of Yam. All Arabia is to be his yam. This is the fear of His Majesty's government, which holds vital Interests along the coasts of Arabia* The British would naturally be apprehensive about anything that threatened their control of such places as Aden, the port at the ARABIA ~ £ narrow mouth of the Red Sea, it is one of the dominant strategic points along the far-flung route to India. So, when I bn gaud conquers the Kingdom of ^emen, and the land of Yam, he points a finger at John Bull’s greatly cherished lines of communication — and that canes under the bead of inter­ national affairs. But I venture the guess that there won’t be any real rumpus between the British and this lion of the Central Arabian Desert. Ibn saud really is John Bull’s old pal. John paid his money to make Ibn great. But still all this fighting may mean the rise of another Arab Empire. ifi % ^fe":. s M ■ I w , I I ....... “ ■ JOiiN laULi.iO.LIuJjjD L. T. There*s one story in the news that has had me waiting to consult an expert. Anybody want to make twenty-five hundred dollars? Here1s how. All you have to do is throw a rope up in the air and let it hang suspended from nothing, and then climb the rope up into nowhere. The Magic Circle in London, an association of magicians, has embarked on a thorough study of that ancient and famous legend of East Indian magic — the rope trick. Lord Amphill, the President of the Magic Circle, has announced the offer of a twenty-five hundred dollar reward to anyone who can actually perform that oriental miracle. The expert to whom I went is John Mulholland. John is not only a famous magician, but also a student of oriental magic. He is, in fact, an adopted member of a famous clan of East Indian magicians, the Bahksh family. I*ve brought him here to tell us about his investigation of the rope trick. Tell us, John, has It ever been done? <jQru'j ^ULiXiuLLiv^iJ ,^1, L. T. mu .iohOLLi .l-j_: -- Not that anybody knows, homebody always heard about It from somebody else who saw it, L. TI heard a lot about that rope trick in India. How1 do you suppose the idea started? MOLHOI i L a NU:- S o far as I could trace it* the rope trick originates with an old Chinese fairy tale* an oriental version of Jack and the Beanstalk. This fable got into India in garbled form; and the Europeans got ahold of it and garbled it some more. They supposed it was an Indian magician who performed the miracle. The Indian magicians^ themselves^know nothing about the rope trick — except what they* ve heard from Europeans The President’s letter to the United States Chamber of Commerce, the tag line of which wast "It Is time to stop crying Wolfl*1 recalls a classic anecdote of the American theatre. The gist of the President’s letter was the Intimation that criticisms of the Administration policies would be more valued if they were backed up by suggestions of better remedies. i I I I ?■ Some yea» ago the once celebrated playwright, Augustus Thomas, was producing a new play. The Manager, sitting in the back of the theatre, said? "Gus, at this point you need a funny line, a really funny line." Augustus Thomas walked to the footlights and remarked blandlys "Yes, Mr. Shubert, as for instance?* EXCHANGE When President Roosevelt was defeated and overridden on his independent House Offices bill, it looked as if his magical power over Congress was at an end. It was an important piece of legislation, yet the Congressmen overrode him, thus upping the governmental costs above the budget estimates of the present. It is therefore very significant that the House rallied behind the President today in passing cverwhfelmingly the Stock Exchange bill regulating speculation. The President had made no bones about the bill. He wanted a Securities Act with teeth in it. In fact when he took the oath of office a year ago March he said speculation with other peopled money must stop. That is just what this bill meant as passed The Senafc of course must vote on this measure now. The bill originally was drawn by the Interstate Com­ merce Committee, but since that time Republican congressmen have suggested amendments weakening Its regulations. All opposition amendments were defeated however, and the measurepassed as originally written. GRAFT I'or a long time there have been rumors of graft in various relief organizations throughout the U.S.A. Kot only in tn*. matter oi ref direct relief, but in the C*W.A« I suppose when Congress pours out sucb a lavish stream of money, that sort of thing Is unavoidable. But that doesnH make it any less shocking when we find a concrete instance. Mr. Edward Corsi. Director of the Home Relief Bureau in Hew York, Has revealed a state of affairs that would make your blood boil. Six Home Relief investigators have been arrested, twenty-seven have been summarily dismissed, and others are still on the carpet. It is charged that some of these fellows, when handing out a relief ticket for Seven Dollars, would demand a Two Dollar rebate. And the worst of it is that the conditions made public by Mr. Corsi are probably not confined to New York. Edward Corsi used to be head of the famous Union Settlement in Harlem. When President K hblxsocx Hoover needed a man GRAFT -2 to clear up the immigration situation at Ellis Island, he appointed Mr* Cor si- And. then latterly he has been in charge of home relief in Mew York INCOME TAX There are some things worth emphasizing and keeping in mind ih In the Income Tax Bill, the bill which the House of Representatives has just sent to the White House for the Presidents okay. They are of particular interest to married taxpayers in the smaller brackets. For instance, a married man with a net income of three thousand this year pays Twenty dollars. Under the new bill he will pay only eight. A husband with a net of three thousand, five hundred^dollaa?.*, who at present pays forty dollars, will give Uncle Sam only twenty-six next year; and so it goes mm along the line. The fortunate ones who have a net income of ten thousand and are now paying four hundred and eighty dollars on it, will pay only four hundred and fifteen. It is those in the higher brackets, the magnate^wfctfewm- hundred thousand dollars and up, who won91 like it. They will Ms have plenty of reason to grouse about higher taxes. CRIME Attorney General Cummings had some interesting things to 'iay in a report concerning his Department, the Department of Justice. He is asking for more money, which sounds x familiar. Referring to the Dillinger case, he remarked: "You canrt catch a criminal who drives an automobile going seventy miles an hour by using a car that canH do more than fifty.** And the Attorney General declared that he was shocked by the popularity of public enemy number one. Said he: **In a Washington theatre recently there was exhibited a picture of John Dillinger, the bandit.^ And he added: ^And there were those in the audience who applauded.** Mr. Cummings, you can be sure that happens not only in Washington. It happens all over the country. We may not approve of this peculiarity of human nature, but since the days of Robin Hood, of Rob Roy MacGregor, and on down to the present day, there have always been certain spectacular picaroons who have caught the public Imagination. And that is something that no law can control. I agree with the Attorney General that it is unfortunate and that it makes the enforcement of law difficult* But human nature is a perverse and ornery thing. V.OODI-N The cynics were wrong when they winked a sceptical eye at the resignation of »Godin as Secretary of the Treasury, You know the wise guy remarks:- "Getting out because of ill health? Oh yeaht i»efve heard that before." 5b it has taken the death of Former Secretary^ Vtoodin to pidve that it really was because of failing health that he gave up the Treasury Department. Whatever may be said of his greatness as a Secretary of the Treasury, he certainly was one of the best beloved, the most human. He had a quality of sly geniality. T‘hey called it "elfin humor." His small gay smile was a w'him in itself. And his odd, delightful turns of fancy will remain a legend in the great^humming department that ins handles the bulky pocketbook of Uncle Sam LAFAYETTE a Tiiei^cnpfww y. picturesque celebration^in New York today, the Hundredth Anniversary of the dbath of Lafayette, The most spectacular ceremonies were held at the Mai son Francaise, the French Building at Rockefeller Center. The French War Department had prepared a graceful compliment for the occasion. After the Revolutionary War, President Washington presented General Rochambeau with a cannon captured from the British at Yorktown. This cannon is one of the spectacular exhibits at this Lafayette celebration. It took quite a deal of red tape to bring it over here. Clay Morgan of theFrench Line tells me that in order to remove it from the military museum in Paris to Rockefeller Center, Mark Marshall Retain, the Minister of War, had to issue a special decree STBVEKS And now about Harry Stevens, known from the Hudson to the Rio Grande as the hot dog king. His name became a household word with baseball fans the country over. He made a fortune selling scorecards, candy, cigars, peanuts, and above all, hot dogs. He made the hot dog what it is today. Yet he was a fellow of moods and sentiment -- as is illustrated by the fact that when the old Waldorf-Astoria was torn down, to be succeeded by its splendorous modern successor, Harry Stevens bought the furnishings of the room he had occupied for many years and continued to live among the we11-remembered bits and tokens COLLAGE It seems that I can hear melodious strains of Old Nassau* But the tuneful Princetonian measures are made discordant hy an aecompanyment of growls, hoots, and rasp­ berries. '"his is house-party time at Princeton, when Academic life should be at its best. But the boys picked today for a big row. The two antagonistic college papers at Princeton are the Tiger and the Princetonian, so you can guess the excitement when the Princetonian came out today with scare headlines and a big story that the Princetonian had collapsed, was bankrupt and was being taken over by the Tiger, The article mentions the prominence of red in the bookkeeping of the purchased publication. It quotes a letter in which a loan company turned the Princetonian down and estimated the paper as being worth 12.98. So the uproar that we hear tonight amid the stately strains of Old Nassau is the harsh and mocking laughter of the jokesters of the Tiger and the howls of the outraged editors of the Princetonian. It*s another story at Cornell — dignity, statliness and the utmost refinement, ^onight the Ezra Cornell Hotel -for- COLLEGE “ 2 -a-Day is blazing with lights, ritzy entertainment, high-hat hospitality. 'They have a hotel school at Cornell, a department for the training of hotel men fathered by Ur. Statler. And you'll see the future Oscars of the Waldorf studying Holland- aise sauce, the future General Kincaids learning how a bed should be made and analyzing the ways of keeping guests from carrying away the hotel towels. Once a year the students of hotelology take over one of the college halls and turn it into the Cornell Hotel- for-a-Day. Frank Ready, Jr., son of Frank Ready, the famous hotel Manager, vrites me that in the hotel-for-a-day every job is handled by the students down to the last Bus Boy. And its the most correct and dignified thing you ever saw. While we're on the subject of spring festivities -- there's one at Bridgeport, the greatest Industrial Exposition ever held in Connecticut. It's the Bridgeport Prosperity Exposition and is devoted to the wealth and wonder of Connect­ icut. They say they have prosperity. HIAWATHA So Hiawatha was a cannibal. Dr. Huett? a scientist of the Sm i th s on! a n liitstiai; I n s 11 tut e, declares that t on gf el low * s hero was a real person, a real war-paInted brave with a tomahawk in one hand and a pipe of peace in the other. And he was a cannibal. Then he reformed and became a ferre preacher. That is, he preached the doctrine of human brotherhood among the Indians — before the arrival pf the white man, 1 The doctor _________ dons — believes that Hiawatha was one of .the founders of the League ^ i«£< r <the Indian Confederacy of the Six Hatioff5^\ so famous in American history. The doctor doesn't say anything about Minnehaha, but let's hope that Hiaxahtax Hiawatha didn't teat her — and didn't preach to her BARBERS There's a terrifying note in the news from Bew York* Twelve thousand barbers are threatening to go on strike. They don't like the seventeen dollars a week minimum wage provided in the N,R,A, code for tonsorial arti at#. This drives me to summon a fantastic vision. Imagine the home of Father Knickerbocker looking like one gigantic House of David] It also drives me to say - SO LOHG UNTIL TOMORROW