Vagabond Editorials

Bv Ju.k Dionne

The tin medal for the pessimistic championship goes to the bird that said: "Boy, in L937 we'll be looking back and saying-'weren't things fine in good old 1931?' "

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That was really a first class tip I gave president Hoover in this column recently, when I suggested that he was the guy that could, should, and by every right ought to take on the job of protecting American labor, American industry, and American safety, from the inroads of Russian goods, of every sort, shape, and description. ff there ever was a man that has been getting the worst of the ,,breaks", President lloover is that IT. .

And if there ever was an individual who needed to take advantage of every presentable opportunity to do something definite and specific in his own behalf to wipe out the debits that have been heaped upon him, he is likewise that same party. ft remains to be proven whether or not Mr. Hoover is really a man of action and decision, a man big enough, and brave enough, and quick witted enough, to really DO things. From the time he took office until his recent proposition of a moratorium for Germany, our friend Herbert hasn't showed much. Even his most subsidized biographer will admit that.

Yet it would only take a few bold strokes of definite and decisive character, performed in such a way that the populace could see and admire, to wipe out the past anJ em_ blazen'the future for this Mr. president. If f were Mr. Ifoover, and was not even interested in the various pertinent aspects of the situation but only in the matter of votegetting, I would call in the press boys this very day, and I would say to them, "Boys, tell the people of the United States that I am going to keep Russian goods out of this country". And it would make him more votes than the business depression has lost him.

That's a tip, Mr. President. No extra charge for the suggestion. And, while I'm at it, here's another that hinges right in with that one, and with your proposed moratorium for war debts. Why not do some smart trading? Why not say to the European countries that owe us money, ,,We will grant you a moratorium on your war debts, if you will do something that will be healthy for both of us-close your doors to Russian goods". How would that be for a smart proposition? We'd be helping the other fellow, and we'd be helping ourselves at the same time. American goods have been chased bodily out of Europe by the Russian goods invasion. Now the Russians want to come and chase American goods out of America also.

'We are asking yo.r, ui, tioolur, to take a good strong dose of iron before you go to bed tonight, and when you get up in the morning, start doing something definite, something practical, something immediate, something brave and timely about this *""_rtT b*usiness.

Fling aside the silly sophistries that our Government has been indulging in with regard to this Russian blight that is starting to creep into our land; supersede these half-baked politicians and would-be diplomats who are acting as apolo- gists and stalking horses for this Russian menace: take the job over yourself, and settle*this thing, man-fashion.

Frankly, Mr. Hoover, there are probably a hundred million Americans who have decided-and are not backward about so expressing themselves-that you ..haven't got it,', if you know what I mean. Personally, I believe you HAVE. Give us a sample of genuine Americanism, get yourself a big stick like Teddy used to swing whenever the creeping, crawling things of the earth began getting in his way, and let's have some action. What say? rf!**

Change ! We are accustomed to hearing asphalt roofing and shingles referred to in the lumber industry as ..wood substitutes". Several years ago a big Redwood manufacturing concern in California hired a lot of smart scientific guys and opened up a research laboratory to see what they could find that they could make out of their Redwood besides boards. One of the best ideas these be-spectacled birds dug up was to take the bark of the Redwood tree, defiberize and grind it, and use it as a base for asphalt roofings'

For several years now several of the large asphalt roofing manufacturers of the West have been using Redwood bark in place of rags for asphalt roofing and shingle base. It helped a lot. Removing the bark from the Redwood trees is ordinarily one of the high costs of logging. Here they found a market for the bark after they used it, so they brought it right in to the mill, prepared it, and shipped it in bales to the asphalt roofing folks. And now they announce that their market is spreading, and that they are

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