Evening Star Newspaper, April 10, 1921, Page 40

2 THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. APRIL 10, 1921—PART 9 THE EVENING ST AR’ these interesting relics of the sixties With Sunday Morning Fattion. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY .....April 10, 1921 THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor The Evening Siar Newspaper Company and Pennsrivania Ave. Chicago Office: First Natios Europes Office: 3 Regeat St., Loadon, England. The Evening Star. with the Sonday morning edition, is deliversd by carriers within the city X 7. 45 cents per month; Sunday only. 20 cents per month. Or- ders may be sent by mail, or telephone Main . Collection is made by carriers at the eud of each month. Daily and Sunday.. Daily only £ Sunday only . 1 All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1yr., $10.00: Daily only Sunday only . . The Merger Meetings. The street railway merger meetings to begin next Tuesday are not to be open to the public. That is proper. These meetings are in the nature oll negotiations between representatives of the two corporations, with repre- sentatives of the public attending in on of Commissioners Kutz and They are not in the nature of hearings debate; ‘What is first wanted is a practical plan of merger upon which the companies can agree. Tt must then he considered from the point of view of the public interest, and the Commissioners can be depend- ed upon, representing as they do the Public Utilities Commission. to insure that the plan proposed or agreed upon by the companies does not invelve any excess capitalization for the resuit- ant coalition of interes In other words, the merger plan must be on permapeatly. The fortifications that surrounded Washington and formed the outer line of defense were small and com- pared with modern military engineer- ing were insignificant. They were de- signed. however, according to the high- est principles of military science of hat day. They were little more than carthworks. with incidental stockades land timbered galleries. Same of them |were of very small dimensions, just ! large enough to house a battery squad. They were usually on the higher hills commanding an extensive range of territory. Thus a “fort drive,” linking | them together, would effect a great { aweep roughly on the arc of a circle from the shores of the Potomac below | the confluence of the rivers around to the Potomac above Little Falls. Some of the original forts of this chain lay in Virginia, but it is not proposed to include them in the connecting park driveway at present. Washington's park system isalready remarkable for its extent and variety, But it should be continued to include { these historic spots which, if thus link- ied by a series of drives developed in | parkway fashion, would constitute one of the most interesting as well as pic- turesque features of this wonderful jcity. The cost will not be so great that the project should be continuous- Iy put into the class of something to be done some time in the future, when “times are easier.” It should be done now before it is too late. The Boy Scouts. Two years ago there were in the District of Columbia forty-three troops of Boy Scouts with a membership of $93. There are now 119 troops and 2,443 scouts. That iIs a big increase. But yet the totals are not big enough. There should be more troops and many more scouts. Every boy in Washing- ton should, in fact, be a scout, for such a basis that the combination can earn a reasonable profit with a reason- ably low rate of fare. Much will have been gained toward merger if the companies can thus agree upen practicable terms: much time will have been saved thereby. Up to this time the chief difficulty in the way of merger has been that of ad- Justing the interests of the two com- panies. Vaturally each wants the reorganization to affect it as favorably as possible. There must be sacrifices on both sides, however. and the Com- missioners are in the best position to judge as a basic proposition as to how far these sacrifices should go. ‘The Commissioners’ bill for merger ‘will probably result from these meet- ings if any progress is effected. It will be presented to Congress and will then be subject to hearings. at which the views of citizens can and should be de- : weloped. There is no occasion for a doubling of effort. With the meetings ' held privately, so to speak, with the ! rates yield the Capital Traction Com- Commissioners present, in order that they may be acquainted with all the details and the possible effect of the terms agreed upon by the companies, the whole subject can be more thor- oughly canvassed and developed than if the proceedings were complicated by the presence and suggestions of others. It is now conceded that only through merger can the street railway diffi- culties of the District be adjusted. No other plan is feasible. It will take a _long time to bring up to full earning power the Washington Railway and “seouting™ is the best of experience and training for every boy. Individual- ly these troops are self-supporting when once started. But there is a cer- tain amount of expense attached to the District organization as a whole that must be met. There are no other sources of income but the small fees paid by the boys themselves, part of which goes to the national and part to the local organization, and the pub- lic subscriptions. Just now the sum of $10,000 is needed to make up the dif- ference between the fees and the esti- mated cost of the year's activities. The Kiwanis Club of Washington has un- dertaken to raise the money. It is “passing the hat’ before the people of Washington asking for contribu- tions to this splendid cause. The “drive” will continue until the 15th. Whoever gives to the Boy Scout fund is giving to the cause of good citizenship. He is making it possible for the boys to have the best of train- ing and to enjoy wholesome and help- ful summer vacations. These vacation trips of the scouts are part of the course. The boys are not merely hav- ing fun. They are learning, they are combining health and pleasure and in- struction. President Harding recently said: “I am with the scout movement heart and soul. It is an organization teaching the spirit of service and honor which we must always have in our citizenship. It is a school of de- mocracy because in it standing is won only by taking the equal opportunity given all individuals to show their own merit, capacity and worth. I Electric Company even at the rates:wish every boy in our America could now prevalent, and meanwhile those pany an inordinate profit. This dis-| parity can only be corrected by the imposition of a tax upon net revenues instead of gross, which is a form of a penalty upon prosperity. This is an | undesirable expedient, and yet if mer- ger is not effected it stands as the only means of curing the evil now preva- lent. The Peonage Murder Conviction. Conviction of John S. Williams for the murder of one of the ele\'en; negroes whose dead bodies were found on or near his farm in Georgia, on which it is charged he practiced peon- age, was based chiefly upon the testi- mony of a colored helper on the farm, . who acknowledged participation in the slayings. Rarely does such a result occur in the south, where on the un- supported testimony of a negro a white man can hardly be convicted. But in this case there were other cir- cumstances that weighed with the Jjury. Still, the verdict is a strange one. The defendant was found guilty of murder, with recommendation to mercy. and accordingly he was given a sentence of life imprisonment instead of death. This remarkable finding is helieved to have been a compromise between conviction in the first degree and acquittal. The crime itself was as atrocious as could be conceived. The fact that the specific killing for which Williams was tried was done by Manning, the helper, at Williams' orders does not lessen the guilt of the principal. Still. for this murder he will not suffer death as would his ac- complice if he had not turned state's evidence and if he had been tried and convicted vow will follow a series of appeals. The principal counsel for the defense declares that he has “just begun to fight.” This means a long delay. The hope is that before the legal procedure i= finished the state of Georgia will have cleared itself of reproach by put- ting an end to the abominable system of peonage and forced labor punish- ments which furnished the foundation for this unspeakable atroc: ——————— Lenin may entertain hopes that con- cessions judiciously granted will as- sist in bringing about a state of com- parative order such as sovietism has been unable to secure. 1 The Fort Drive. A bill is to be sent 1o Congress next Ib have the advantage and the honor of eing in the Boy Scout organization and of learning therein that co-opera- tion, justice, the customs of fair play and the gentleness of good manners make for peace and growth as di tinguished from the resuits of disor- ganization and seifishness and cow- ardice which lead to contentions and [+ conflict.” The way to make the organization in Washington reach every boy is to give it an adequate endowment. Who- ever gives to this fund is investing. The welfare of Washington depends very largely upon the character and £ood health of the younger generation. Boy Scout work is foundation work, and on it is built the citizenship of the future. i The ex-kaiser's wish to move to South America may be due to a desire to locate where there are still primeval forests to invite the woodchopper. I The German mathematicians have not been free in circulating statistics concerning how much it costs to main- tain an ex-kaiser and his family. A truly industrious statesman has no more hesitation about offering reso- lutions than he would have if every day were the 1st of January. } The hostilities between Greece and Turkey will be readily understood by an old-fashioned Kentucky feudist. No reviewer has questioned the en- viable status of Mr. Lansing's book as a best seller. A Criminal or a Liart? A man named Harris the other day startled the New York police by an- nouncing, when arrested on a bad check charge in Buffalo, that he was one of the gunmen hired to kill El- , well, the whist expert and turfman, nearly a year ago in New York city. ‘The story has been subjected to all possible tests. He has made some mis- takes of statement in respect to the layout of the Elwell premises and twisted some other facts that have been established in connection with the crime. But in the main, in the judg- ment of a New York police representa- tive who went to Buffalo after him, Harris’ version of the killing fits prac- tically into the known circumstances. Of course, he may have read up on the crime if he is a faker, and pro- vided himself with a circumstantial story of the killing. His version is that a woman unknown to them hired him and his comrade to “do” Elwell. week by the Commissioners calling for a survey and the preparation of plans for a connecting parkway between the old civil war forts around Washing- ton. This project has been contem- plated for a number of years. Unfor- tunately no practical steps have been taken toward its consummation. Mean- while some of the old fortifications have been almost obliterated, though their sites are still well marked. It is to be hoped that the parkway will be Lrought into being in time to preserve I} She promised him $5,000, but they got only about $590 apiece. Harris thinks his partner doublecrossed him and got the whole sum for himself. The partner, he avers, did the actual shoot- ing. Just why a man should confess to a crime of which he is not accused is not clear. There are no signs of un- usual conscientiousness in this case. ‘The man was not a neurotic. He has been pronounced sane by alienists who » have examined him. He is not ad- dicted to drugs, as far as can be de- termined. So what is the motive if he is not guilty, and what was the in- | piration of confession if he is”? | It is not the first time, however, i that a man has claimed to be guilty in | order to gain notoriety or transporta- j tion. This man Harris may be one of Washington as News Center. Says the St. Louis Globe-Democra “The discovery is just being made by some that the city of Washington is a great news center. It always was a at news center. The new estimate those peculiar characters who love the | N 1 N that it is the greatest news center | limelight regardless of the occasion. | iy the world. and the war is held re- 10f course, it may be he is telling the | sponsible for it, after the present > . | fashion of holding the war responsib truth. A few days will determine | (Ash o0 O e hing, even things | when he gets back to New York and hich it had virtually no influence. on i te either an | © * * In the sense that any great ough tests. He is either a is put through tests. He is either anl ;) where much important news | amazing criminal or dne of the most |{& hound to nriginate must have its| {news status determined by the ability | fantastic liars on record. n h \d appreciation of values of its press | irepresentatives and the facilities af- —————————— (forded them, Washington has long been Canoes of Potomac Indians. '} "\ uiesi news conter of the world. | There are many seasons in Wash-In the 1 ard in which he is held, the ! e, readiness of all public men to co-| ington and one of these is the canoe gpirate in his work and the oppor- season. That season is opening ¢ is tunit afforded him as a matter of 3 o 5 o | cour: he press representative at about to open. Of course, some e n'm” il o Jone e A pbsition tma paddle their canoes all winter, as|striking contrast with his nondescript | some men carry on openair or «\;y"nviiflld N‘nn'unps‘lr:-mtd pnxi!:r’:n in l.x-n;; e e g s . ldon. * i is not within recent ! water bathing all winter, but there ' gnths that such men have discovered ! are not many of these fellows. It is| Washington to be a worthy field.” when the days turn long and bright! There are those. however, who have that the canoe season comes and that|yet to make this discovery: who hold these trim and shapely, light and | that Washington is the worst place in | speedy craft glide upon our rivers. { the country from which to observe the | And not only do our rivers know them, | country, and appraise events, particu- but on the canal they are passing to larly political events. Tt was only a| and fro from spring till fall. They|few years ago that Mr. Wilson. on glory in gay colors, bright red, vivid jone of his trips out of town, "jollied™ | green and all that. “‘How Indianesque jan audience in this vein, and ex- they seem,” is what we often say ay | pressed pleasure at his opportunity to | | they pass. Lot an outside view of things. | It spirits of Potomac Indians flont| The compliment quoled comes ap- above the river or lounge along!propriately from the newspaper whose | its shore they must marvel at the|rise to national consequence and in- beauty, lightness and swiftness of fluence was accomplished under the' these boats. *“We never had any-|direction of a man who had had his; thing like that.” is probably what|journalistic training as a Washington | they say. Down in the National Mu. | correspondent. and who exhibited the} seum is a life-like group of Kuropeans | fruits of it to the close of his distin-| and Indians. It is called, “Captain|guished career. Smith Trading With Virginia In- T. B. McCullough was the inventor | dians.” The descriptive card says that | of the newspaper interview, and found | | Capt. Smith is bartering with Indians | his inspiration in the nmmrluv\lllox. on the James river for corn to relieve | provided by his Washington environ- distress at Jamestown. The Indians,|ment. He studied the field, indeed, so therefore, are James River Indians,|industriously and successtully, that, and, no doubt, much the same kind of | secking a new 1 eation, he was able | Indians as those of the Rappahannock. { to exhibit his qualitics there to signal | Patuxent and Potomac. By the side|advantage. In a section overwhelm- of Smith’s boat is a canoe containing (ingly democratic, he conducted a re- | three Indians and several bushels of | publican paper with so keen and true corn. It is the real Indian canoe of an appreciation of news values, he this region, for the makers of that|topped his democratic rivals in half a striking group made things according | dozen democratic states, -and made it to the best available information. The;a power throughout the whole M Indian canoe is neither light nor grace-; sippi valley. It was a notable ach; ful. It is not gayly colored. It is a mentin American journalism. tree trunk that has been hollowed | and rudely shaped by stone axes and perhaps bone knives. Its color is that | of barked wood that has been long exposed to weather and water—dark brown—nearly black. Our Washington canoeists have canoes of more beauty than those which Potomac Indians used. —_———— A solemn referendum resembles a magazine article in the numerous no- tations indicating that the most in- teresting developments are to be found further on. se a Cabinet Changes. There is sporting blood in this coun- tr: Chances are taken on nearly everything. The latest gamble is on i the Harding cabinet—as to whether it j holds together for the four years, or, if not, which member will be the first | to retire. Calculations are based on the difficulties of the different depart- ments, and the temperaments of the different men assigned to handle them. | In the lingo of the sporting world, you lays down your money and you takes your choice. You employ such knowl- ——————————— edge as you may have of departmental As time passes there is less and less | Pusiness, and of the patience of those tendency to call upon Col. Bryan for | Intrusted with its transaction. expressions as an expert on either| OBIY four of the men with whom peace or prohibition. Mr. Wilson started remained with him during his eight years in office— The commiercial developtent b wire. o Doliels, Mr. Burleson, Mr. Hous ton and Mr. W. B. Wilson. Mr. less has made Marconi no less promi-| pry,, M- McAdoo, Mr. Garrison and ;‘:::m_" a capitalist than as an in-| v peafield passed out by resignation, and Mr. McReynolds by appointment to the Supreme Court. The earlier cabinets held together fairly well. But as time passed politics became more strenuous, party factions more exacting, and shifts necessary. The Tyler cabinet—1841-5—stands out as the topliner in the matter of changes. Under Mr. Tyler four He sang from the dawn till the day-|erved in the State D:‘:ar!ment, four light was gone. it 3 ; in the Treasury Department, five in| Z ”‘:‘-m‘;:; are dancing and singing | \ne War Department, five in the Navy Department, two in the Post Office| But I seemed to annoy, for he said, | pepartment and three in the Depart. “No, my boy— i x ment of Justice. Quit i T appear to experience pleasure com- | gi2teamen Quiteia;eolicetion of SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDBR JOHNSON. Business and Pleasure. I once saw a robin who hopped on the lawn, plete, i : Mr. Tyler, it will be remembered, But I'm really looking for something Wil ¥ o eatr succeeded illiam Henry Harrison, who lived but a month after entering The lambkin who skipped o'er the land. | the White House. A row between the eapeia0 gieen, new President and his party—the whig And the cattle serene as they browsed | PATtY —threw everything into con- through the scene, fusion, and paved the way for the The rabbit whose race set a wondertul [ democrats at the next presidential e election. Seemed to welcome the flowers that brightened the place. Mr. Wilson in Washington. But each while disporting with frolic-| Woodrow Wilson's choice of home some feet comes in happily for him now. He is| Was really looking for something to|right on the spot where things are eat. beginning to happen. He will not be, obliged to trust entirely to the printed Though life is a season of eager un- 5 page for his information about what rest, . : It's undoubtedly best to enliven the [i® Pappeninz. Personal friends—some quest. in, some out of, office—can, and prob- We'll try to step lightly in time to a| 4P Will. drop in on him daily and Gong. fortity his reading with details that usually pass by word of mouth. It When we join with the throng that 4 helps to a thorough understanding of goes moving along. Why think of the bitter instead of the | “YCN!S o receive the inside” ot fosrog things in this way hot from the griddle. . Even though we're just looking for Somstbing o eat? Whether Mr. Wilson continues long to take an interest in politics must depend somewhat upon the state of his health, and somewhat upon the writ- ing task he has set for himself. His ten years here—must at Trenton _|and then here—must have given him a strong taste for the game. But it is a safe assumption that. for a time, Mr. Wilson's interest inj what is going on in Congress, and in Needful Discrimination. party management outside, will be To laugh at trouble is a plan well|keen. The business in hand will re- Enowh late intimately to matters with which Which human hardship mellows, | he had to do while President, and nat- Provided that the troubles are your |urally he will follow every move made e toward the final disposition of them And not the other tellow's. P UiEliCitide. il ‘Washington, for months, will be the Past and Present. scene of activities of world-wide im- History repeats itself.”” portance. When they relate to world “I'm afraid 80" replied Miss Cay-|affairs, the world, of course, will be at enne. “Tendencies in fashionable at-|close attention. When they relate to tire begin to remind one of the Gar-|domestic affairs—as they often will— den of Eden.” we shall be at the closest attention. We are anxious to get on our feet Jud Tunkins says those who couldn’t | again; to function as a nation in a con- get to town on Easter Monday can |fident and successful way again; to set cheer up. The golfing promises to|all the wheels of our vast machinery make the vicinity of the White House | turning again, and, if possible, go to look like a perpetual egg-rolling. the head of the world procession. ———— And Costs Much More. Reductions in price indicate that “What is the difference between a |price-fixing is, after all, a very inexact cook and a chef?” branch of commercial science. replied Mr. Cumrox, “tries —_——— to please you. A chef makes you| The Island of Yap is one of the eat things whether you like 'em or | geographical quantities that awoke to not.” find themselves famous. Valuable Influence. “Do you think the dollar-a-year man exercised a valuable influence?" “Undoubtedly,” replied Senator Sor- ghum. “At least he took a little con celt out of the man whose only claim to consideration is the size of the salary he manages to draw.” POLITICS AT HOME Planm to Sell Co-operatively Encourages Farmers to Plant CLINE. By SHELDO? N unusually forward spring has hurried the American farmer finto a decision as to his planting program for the coming season. In January and February, even as late March, the farmer was doing a int of talking about cutting down his acreage. He didn't intend to grow crops. he asserted, to be sold as at less than the cost of produc- tion Tf the cities couldn’t or wouldn’t pay prices which would enable him to come out without a loss. the cities could go hunzry— or go hang for all of him Rut the thing of real importance 1< what the farmer is saying and doing—more particularly doing— now. at the beginning of April Is he sitting around twirling his thumbs. while splendid plowing weather is going to waste? De- cidedly. he is not. He is up and hustling and in every way acting like a man who expects to grow a bumper crop and to get a good price for it. * % ok * Such being the case. the question arises: What has wrought this change in the farmer's state of mind? Is it anything which Con- gresa or the executive branch of the federal government has done to relieve him from expectation that last year's conditions will be repeated? Again the answer is, de- cidedly not! Nor is this all. Despite all the clamor there was for special tariff legislation and re-creation of the War Finance Corporation for the financing of food exports. the real- 1y intelligent farmer did not ex- pect any material assistance from ‘he government. The agitation for legislation and executive interfer- ence came largely from politico- farmers and from plain politiclans anxious to cultivate the farmer vote. It contained only passing in- terest to the men who actually plow and plant and harvest the great staple crops upon which the nation depends for its sustcnance. They knew that the conditions which operated so seriously to their hurt last vear were in part abnormal and, therefore, only tem- porary, and partly rooted in fun- damental conditions which were not to be cured by legislation or presidential decree. * % % % So with the opening of spring we find preparations being made for the growing of normal crops in the expectation that their sale will re- sult in normal profits. Tt is alto- gether probable that the crops will not equal in size the war-stimu- lated harvests of recent years, and it may be accepted as a certainty that there will be ne such mar- gins of profit as were realized from 1916 to 1919. But enough staple foodstufts will be grown to sus- tain the cities, and they will be sold at prices which will enable the farmer to plow and plant again next year. It will not happen this year, and in all probability it will not hap- Pen next year or the next, that the farmer will realize a profit com- mensurate with his risk and In- vestment or wages adequate for his hours of labor. But he believes the time is approaching when he will receive commensurate profits and adequate wage: And that i the reason why this year he is go- ing ahead with his spring plant- ing —not satisfied with conditions. bui hopeful and confident that they will be changed for the better. * % x % His hope and confidence are not based on anything he expects the government to do for him. They are based on what he intends to do for himself. This thing he intends to do is de- fined in two words—Co-operative Selling! Go out where the farmers are at work this spring and you'll find they are not talking or thinking of tariff legislation or the financing of foreign trade. Co-operative selling is the thing they are at work upon. They have very firmly made up their minds that they are going to get a larger share of what the consumer is called upon to pay. And they are going to get it, they are resolved, by taking for them- selves a goodly share of the prof- its which now go into the pockets of the middleman. * ¥ k¥ It is no unblazed trail the farm- ers have set out to follow. They have before them the successes at- tained by the citrus fruit growers of California and Florida, the grape growers of California, the apple growers of the northwest and other undertakings equally successful but less well advertised. They know what they want to do, and they have a pretty good idea of how to do it. Having in mind a classical say- ing as to the resumption of specie payments, they are coming to the conclusion that the way to co-op- erate is to co-operate. And when they have arrived fully at that conclusion the chief difficulty in their way ha been over- come. Tn the past the farmer has Leen an extremist in the matter of individualism. and a 1ot of co-op- erative undertakings have come 1o zrief heeause the participants sim- ply could n would not co-o srate. But necessity. the mother of other things beside invention is overcoming the farmer's inherent disposition 10 it alone. ® ok ok % Some of the programs under consideration. and upon the work- ing out of which real progress is being made, are almost staggering in their magnitude. For example, there is the proposal for co-opera- tive marketing of the great grain Crops—a venture with turnover figures running into the billions of dollars. This isn't any idle dream. Tt is a hard. matter-of- fact husiness proposal upon which real money is being staked. And it is backed by the leading organ- izations of farmers in the country, such as the National Grange, the American Farm Bureau Federa- tion, the Equity Society. the Na- tional ¥armers' Union. the Farm- ers’ Bquity Co-ope; hanz- es and the grain d The projectors a $30.000 for preliminary and going forward tions. fund of ~xpenses with their plans. It is expected that ization will begin to function in the handling of the harvest of 1 and that within two yenrs thereafter the buik of grain crops will be marketed through its agency. The undertaking is in the hands of men who know the grain businesx inside out, from the time the seed is planted in the ground until the product is delivered to the ultimate consumer, and they are on record us asserting that the only thing necded to make suc- cess absolutely sure is a general willingness on the part of grain growers to co-operate. ¥ Potato growers, cotton planters, live stock growers and others are watching the grain co-operation venture closely and planning un- dertakings of their own along sim- ilar lines. If there are any laws on the statute books which would interfere with the full success of such concerns a concentrated drive will be made for their repeal. And it has been repeatedly demonstrat- ed that Congress is ready to jump through a hoop at any time it thinks the agricultural vote would be edified by such a performance. So the farmers have no need to hold back for fear they will run contrary to the law. Proposals that the Chicago Board of Trade and other grain exchanges shall be abolished do not seem to interest the proponents of co-oper- ative selling in the least. They concede, in fact, that even under the scheme of co-operative selling the grain exchanges may be use- ful, though they will mot in any sense be necessary. They will not be able to do the farmers any harm, for the process would work out that the managers of the co- operative selling association would fix the prices of grain, not the gambliers in the wheat pit. * % % w | Naturally, the query arises: What is the consumer going to get out of it? The answer of the farmers is that that is up to the consumer. If the consumer gets nothing more, the farmers say, be at least will get aessurance of a continued food supply, and they think that is a pretty good-sized slice for the consumer under present conditions. But they argue that the con- sumer can get a good deal more out of it if he will. The farmer tells the consumer, in short, to go and do likewise. It is the inten- tion of the farmers to dispense with the services of a good many middlemen and to take for them- selves the profits those middlemen new reap. They say it is up to city dwellers to organize for co- operative buying, thus eliminating some more middlemen, whose pres- ent profits could go to the con- sumer. Co-operative selling associations composed of producers doing busi- ness with co-operative buying as- sociations composed of consumers is the ideal held out. It is not con- tended that this idea could be fully attained—certainly not for many, many years—but there are hard-headed business men who think the time now is ripe to travel a long way along that road. And whatever direction is traveled is bound to operate both to make production more certainly profitable and to reduce the cost of living. (Copyright, 1921, by The Washiogton Star.) are the organ- Beating Up Nature. To the Bditor of The Star: If you should demonstrate your love for a friend by knocking off his hat, blacking his eye, or loosening his tront teeth a lJunacy commission would probably sit on your case. Yet any Sunday during the spring so- called nature lovers can be seen afoot or in automobiles demonstrating their love for nature in this fashion. Dog- wood trees have been broken down and their branches stripped down by the thousand. Many of these trees have been too badly injured to re- cover. The flowers are often badly wilted on reaching home and are thrown away. Unless these pseudo- nature lovers awake to the damage they are causing, the days of the dog- | | ion, and if necessary this instruction should be supplemented by the heavy hand of the law. The Maryland law provides a fine of from $5 to $25 or 30 to 90 days' imprisonment, or both, for taking or destroying in any man- ner any plant material without the written consent or personal super- vision of the owner. Let us get bus with these wild people and show them the error of their way. The local chap- ter of the Wild Flower Preservation Society of America is doing this through the press, circulars, lectures and the public schools. P. L. RICKER. ———— A perfumed grapefruit has just been produced by a noted horticul- turist—a pleasing quality for this fruit to acquire, as it generally per- wood, sweet bay, redbud, trailing ar-| sists in taking the part of an atom- butus, phlox, ladies’ slippers, blood-|izer.—Brattleboro Reformer. root, hepatica and many other at- tractive wild flowers are numbered. The roots of many of the smaller|dents th plants are torn up in picking and few or no flowers are left to make sced, thus one locality after another is stripped. The rhododendron is al- ready exterminated locally. Doubtless these people do love na- ture in their way and possibly their way is better than no way at all, but these nature lovers need education. They need instruction in the new way of wooing which is coming intv fash- 5 4 A Wellesley professor tells h to pronounce “bee! it were “bean” is silly, and that they should stick to the good American “bin.” Now if she will include the pronunciation of “were” as ‘*“wear,” lite will begin to look brighter.— Cleveland Plain Dealer. In spite of what Mitch Palmer said, we haven't seen any bock beer sun- daes advertised in our drug store her windows, yet.—Richmond (Ind.) Item. |litical opinions. She is an lndep!& HEARD AND SEEN Separating the sheep from the goats has pro difficult problem ages. but it is particularly hard for the neighbors in a riain northwest community who have been brought face 1o face with the problem re- cently One household can o the posses- sion of two small white animals which they instailed in the back yard, The Creatures hezan to cry forthwith, and have been at it ever since. | The neighbors were divided into two TYing chops,”™ neighbor But he was mistaken When ! Lp the mext morning an « sound greeted s cars “Baa-a-a'" » o I often wonder what the watchme old. although of another kind You will find a great variety of men in these positions of trust. just about | the same variations in men that are to be found in other walks of iife There is the watchman who remem- bers you when you come in, a there i8 the watchman who never does There is the man who Jooks ut all visitors with a suspicious eye and there Is the man who beams upon all. Young men, espeeially. seem to ex- cite the distrust of watchmen in the late—without attracting the atten- | tion of the chief. Young man. do v vork here?” i the question the captain of the watch will hurl at the visitor as he enters the elevator. not to let that deter one from send- ing in an alarm when one genuinely thinks it necessary. Just because there are a number of false alarms does not mean that each call has not been sent in sin- cereiy and in the best of faith. The quicker the fire department attacks a fire the better chance it conquer it. A local woman turned in an alarm recently which is a case in nt. She was just entering her Kkitchen when there was a crash and a cloud of what seemed to be smoke filled the room. She ran to give the alarm. the fire company got there found a large patch of plaster had broken loose from the celling. It was flying plaster the woman had seen. But it had so happened that a neighbor had been burning her din- ner, which smell. combined with the sight of the floating plaster dust, gave the woman the impression of fire. = CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. When they for | factions. one claiming that the *und the oth- : as strenuously that W a mice smIn acoustics is volved thers ine car may hear t 1 begin with a "B while an- et may hear it as beginning with an “N* The eve offers little aid ias it is hard to tell a lamb from a kid from one's back window, especially when vards and an alley intervene The lambs—or is it goats—hezan erying st € am and were to be heard as late as midnight Then one day think about as they sit in the corr! dors in the various government de- lpurlmvmm watching offictals, clerks and visitors come and go. one day much like another as far as the watche scal is concerned But there is no reason to pry into, their thoughts. They arc men who have served their country well apd long. in the very great majority of cases, and are now in positions that | sull require faithful serv as of | departments. If a young man enters . { with overcoat on arm. he ix imme- | diately set down as a clerk who is attempting to met into hix office— Altogether. the government watch-; man has a great deal more exciting time than he seems to have. * % The fire department haz 1o put up with a lot of things. But every fireman will tell vou has to| FIFTY YEARS AGO IN - THE STAR. Filty years ago the space between the Capitol and the White Lot now | known as the Mall | Continuous Mall was a series of unconnected smail Park Proposed. ... 1d reser- | vations. A pian was under way in { INT1 to unite them into the combined | park it now exists. 1t came t naught at time, but it was later ! successfully revived. The Star of April 4 INTL s The aken - pression with some the proposcd { capitoline park will call for the ex { penditure of & larse sum of money 4 v expense wi be of the most trifling amount. com- | paratively: and uo such resuits the w of ornamental plias { grounds and tine drives could possibiy be achieved fo- che sum but for t.a Dreuliar favoring circumsfisees. in the first place. it I8 an e5~or 1o speak | of it as the creation of & new park | A that is 17 oe done is 1o ximply thr by means of | continuous various gov- rnment resery. tehing from | the Capitol to t7e White House, now divided only by serfes and roadw “The only wors 30 he done in way of filling is -8 reservation No ! commonly know? as the White Lot south of the Ex¢®utive Mansion. This work is ir ;anid pregress out cos Zovernment. as need as a pl deposit for surp th from varfaus quartors. The « cavation for { ndation 1 ow new State D¥aartment will supn'y [ more varth, avl all that is needed in addition can 14 got readily when tie | work of dred”ing the canal at the | western end X entered upon. aa it | be spea®ily The excavations | Dl i nie el et i #3 conveniently ta 11 White Lot, near the | - same time this ma- Will he rede T BN Xt we c¢dme to the Monument | grounds whirh. under the contem- plated park ‘mnrovement. will ha connected w the White T,ot hv a hridee over the These erounds 1 ar o gradine A will require 1 E the way of trae htine ok 4 wenderful ange in tha® na of the park - [ rne aen Departme: {grounds next nr Adv in a for- | aard state of improve- | Eastern ment and without any 3 further expenditure will seCtlons' Corm a mos! attractive part of the park gzrounds. The Smithsonian grounds adjoining may he considered finished Armory Square and ‘the propagating gardens will re o quire hut a small expenditure | money to adapt them to the purposes {in view. and then we have a mag- nificent stretch ¢ park all the way ause to the Capitol from the Whi with drives threnzh the whole of &in- gular interest and bheauty. The mede of effecting this grand improvement {is very simnle rvenuiring, first. that the authoritv shall be given to the proper officers to throw the different reservations into one: after which the {cnly expenditure needed for the pres- ent is for the construction of a grand {central avenue through the parks. | fogming the main drive, and running {west until it _intersects an avenue to | start from Executive avenue. directlv sonth of the White House. This {Would form at once a pleasant drive {hetween the White House and the {Capitol and any further improvements found desirable could be made from time to time. As there appears to he {a prospect that various memorial monuments like the Morse monument will be erected in Washingten, the new park will afford favorable sites for them. “Thus as we have shown above. a few vears a grand central park will Le formed in Washington for the en- joyment and health of all and virtual- Iy without cost to the government “Senator Morriill of Vermont, chair- man of the Senate committee on pub- lic buildings ard grounds. and other members of taste and culture in both houses, take great interest in this feasible and inexnensive plan of car- rying out the grand improvement of the pubite grounds. and it is to he hoped that their inteligent efforts will be crowned with success.” DIGEST OF FOREIGN PRESS A TLittle Kindness—and Tact. To secure the co-operation of the peasants in greater food production no compulsion—such as arbitrary ar- rests, detention. threats to use arms and swearing—is to be used.—Russian Wireless. g These are, says a writer in the Lon- don Express, the newest orders from Lenin. They are, I think, drastic enough to astonish the humble moujik Shivering in his samovar. The moujik < the sturdy Russian peasant. you know, whom we admired so much at the beginning of the war. He is a in every way, but dull. splendid fellow - 1 fancy Lenin's commissarl their work cut out explai (with gentle kindness, mot blows) that he must co-operate in greater food production. Let us try to imag- h a scene. Ine e ‘my conception. as to local color, on the first act of “Boris Go- douno There are the peasants in bright-colored clothes, assembled in the snow, and the jack-booted com- missaries, Every one is talking very quickly through a fuzz of whiskers, and in the corner a very old peas is sadly beating his wife. In the foreground is the first commissary. wiping his brow. He has been ex- plaining the decree for three hours. First Commissary (brightly)—Well. brothers, you have heard. “Back to your fields, then, and work (There is sllénce. except for the very old peasant, who is beating his Wife dreamily. The rest stand about ily in clumps.) = m;‘e’g"o‘r‘\d Commissary—I think they've grasped it. Serge. Though with a fouple of revolvers * * * (He meditates regretfully First Commissary— wants a little kindly, tact. tand perfectly nbw. der e o1d man has riow stopped beat- ing his wife and is waving his arms like a windmill. Thb other peasants are evidently encouraging him to say Someching, and he hobbles up.) ; First Commissary (genially)—Here's ssaries will have ning to him Vonsense. Tt only They un- fine old fellow wants a le more fight on that tough bit about the exchange problem, I expect. Well, granfer? BT he Very Old Prasant (mumbling)— o heint mo scholards, us bain't, but us 'ud sure-ly like fur to know—— First Commissary (encouragingly)— Yes. Yes _ The Very Old Pea nt—| ud like fur to know what vew've been a-la_l about to we all along like. (Bright- 1y)—Us bain't no scholards. i Fi (ommissary (gasping)—What —T've—been—talking—about— little kindly tact, Serge. els for his revoiver. So does e Firat . Commissar In_five minutes the place is empty. —Sounds of intense agricultural or are heard in the distance. That is the peasants who got away in time.) Second Commissary (dreamily)— Nothing like tact, Serge. Nothing like it. 0 Tempora'! O Mores! Thus wails the manageress of the dining arrangements of the Austrian parliament, Frau Hedwig von Wei- mann, who longs for the days of princes and counts. writes “D. T. in the Manchester Guardian. Woman suffrage in Austria dates from the days of the republic—from November. 1918. But Frau Hedwig von Weimann has been in Parliament for thirty-five | nothing good ahead, ears. ¥ frau von Weimann holds her post —which is a very satisfactory and!ganin much to met lucrative one, even in these n days —through no compromise of » V4 ‘Second Commissary (smoothly)—A { thinker and kotows to no man. When | the s lists were in power she fed them—and despised them. Her voice trembles with pride and regret as she points to a distant corner of (he par- liament dining room and assures $6u, in a properly d voice, that at that table 1 ten princes and_ thirty-five co And now? “Now. fraulein.” sne wil say. “l would not speak for publication, but confidentially—confidentially—now it s schrecklich (terrible). © ® * They are no longer gentlemen.” “Then gnadigste (gracious ome)— !then it was herrlich (grand). The first year 1 was here Prince Auerberg was prime minister, and after kim the great Graf Taaffe. He was minister for twenty years. It was a pleasure to serve those gracious ones. Then we had beautiful dinners. And for only two kronen. Think, only! For two kronen I would give the grand ones a soup: feine suppe—Julienne An entree, then. Sometimes half Cchicken, tender and brown, served with a fresh salade. after the French fashion, and a compote with a des- Sert—mehlspeise, cheese and fruit. And much good wine. How the gra- cious gentlemen would eat! And now—Ilook you—what have you had today. here at the parliament? Boiled beef only. and potatoes, with Kuchen nd coffec. And it cost 30 kronen Six months ago it was only 12 kronen; then until January, 20 kroner But now, I must charge more. other- wise I shall go bankrupt feeding the tatesmen Frau von Weimann has very Little respect for statesmen as a class— statesmen, that is who are untitled. She chuckled with glee as she recounted the story of the rev lution in 1918. “You think, gracious lady, that the peonle made the revolution. bu deed, I know who made it day the politicians would come in 1o {lunch, and eat quickly. Sometimes {they would hardly touch their food. They were very excited, and sat in lit- tle mroups, first at one table. then t another. Right here in these dining rooms all was arranged. On the day of which I speak—November 12— there was a great crowd in front of parliament. Hundreds of thousands. 1 should think. They had come to cake the parliament give them a re- public. but. indeed. the parliament had already decided who the president of the republic would be. But one man. I think he was a communist, in the crowd, fired his rifie. and then the people thought the parliament was resisting them, and many shot at the building. The _statesmen, gracious lady, were much perturbed. I._too, was frightened. 1. Hedwig_von Wei- mann, fled to the cellal Yes, many statesmen and—pardon my mention- ing it—many journalists inquired the way to the eellar and accompanied me there. Well do 1 remember the part which was played in the revolution by the well known financier, the leader of the German nationalist bloc. the gnadig Dr. Steinwinder. All the time, gracious lady. he was lying un- der a table in the cellar. “-But, after all, it was a little revo- lution. As I have told vou, the Par- liament had everything arranged; even, 1 think. the red flag to fly, un 8o weiter. Therefore the red guard soon cleared the streets. Then they came in and ate and drank. All my supplies, gracious lady, they ocon. sumed. Alas! Nor did they pay. The revolution, it cost me much.” Frau von Weimann is gloomy about the outlook for stria. Bee she says. 1 cost so much. Every day 1 go from one store to snother and must bar- lies for my kit- suffer greatly. vern—from . The poor peop Aha these wine w them what can one hoj . 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