Side Issues

Most of the voters who went to the polls on Election Day not only elected public officials, but decided many another question. There were an aggregate of 150 referenda on the ballots in 32 states. Some prime questions which voters answered:

California Store Tax, Among 23 questions submitted to California's voters, the one that made the biggest stir was No. 22, to settle whether a law passed by the Legislature in 1935 should go into effect. Called modestly a retail store license, it provided a $1 tax on the first store in a chain, $2 on the second, $4 on the third and so on up to $500 on the tenth and each subsequent store. Gasoline stations and beauty parlors were exempted, but other chain stores, led by Safeway with 1,300 stores, got the help of Adman Don Francisco of Lord & Thomas (who two years ago waged a successful fight to defeat Upton Sinclair for Governor) and launched a desperate campaign to defeat the tax. Listing chain stores as paying almost $7,000,000 a year in taxes, paying almost $9,000,000 in rent, saving California consumers $14,000,000 a year by underselling independents 10%, purchasing $250,000,000 a year of California fruit and other products, almost half of which was shipped out of the state, the chains sloganed "22 is a tax on You." Most pretentious piece of chain propaganda began six months ago with "California's Hour," a radio program with oldtime Cinemactor Conrad Nagel as Master of Ceremonies. Independent storemen founded an Anti-Monopoly League raised some $50,000 (compared to the $400,000 to $500,000 which the chains admitted spending), plied the public with counter propaganda.

Late returns indicated that the chain stores had beaten the tax by a few thousand votes.

New York Charter. Some 2,600,000 voters in New York City had the opportunity of adopting a new city charter in place of the 35-year-old charter under which Tammany long thrived. Drawn up by a Commission including Thomas D. Thacher, onetime Solicitor General of the U. S., Charles Evans Hughes Jr., also a onetime Solicitor General, Thomas I. Parkinson, president of Equitable Life and other men of similar calibre, the proposed charter provided 1) centralization of legislative power in new City Council of 32 members, 2) making the Board of Estimate (formerly also a legislative body) into a strictly administrative board, 3) creating a Planning Commission, as independent as possible of politics with the duty of originating city projects requiring capital investments, 4) unifying under a Department of Housing the regulation of building operations formerly divided among building commissioners of five boroughs, 5) fiscal requirements that would put the city gradually on a pay-as-you-go basis, reduce debt charges and eliminate graft at the expense of property, owners against whom assessments are made for improvements. The New York Merchants' Association, the Citizens' Union, the Community Councils of New York along with Fusion Mayor LaGuardia and civitarians generally gave the new chapter vigorous support. Bitterly Tammany assailed it and redoubled its efforts particularly against a second proposition on the voting machines, providing that members of the new City Council should be elected by proportional representation. Even "bigger-than-Tammany" Al Smith, stout proponent of Charter reform, sided with his fellows against proportional representation, an issue on which Tammany felt it was fighting for its life.

New Yorkers voted about 5-to-3 against Tammany and for the reforms.

Chicago Time. Last March Chicago's Democratic Kelly-Nash machine put Chicago on Eastern Standard Time all year round. Biggest backer of the change was arch-Republican Colonel Robert R. McCormick who wanted to get an hour's more news every day for his morning Tribune, take away an hour's news from his rival, Colonel Frank Knox's afternoon News. This week Chicagoans were given an opportunity not of settling the question but making their preferences known by an advisory referendum on three questions 1) Shall Chicago have Eastern Time (daylight saving all year round)? 2) Shall Chicago have Central Time (no daylight saving)? 3) Shall Chicago have daylight saving from May through September?

By better than 2-to-1 Chicagoans plumped for the third proposition, to restore their city to a normal Midwestern schedule.

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