Evening Star Newspaper, September 18, 1921, Page 42

"THE EVENING STAR,|the United States is a veritable gallery With Sunday Merning Editien. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY.....September 18, 1981 THEODORE W. NOYES. ... Editor All Other States. Tally and Sunday.1yr., $10.00; 1 Dally only.. Sunday oniy. The Railroad Strike Vote. Expectation is expressed that the Vote just taken by the railroad brother- hoods and other organizations of em- ployes will result in & heavy majority. for the strike W. 8. Stone, grand chief of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, is quoted as predicting that 98 per cent of the members of that organization would so vote, but this does. not nceessarily mean that the strike will follow automatically. For under the terms of the ballots dis- tributed by the four brotherhoods those voting “for a strike” do so on the con- dition that the chief executives and seneral chairmén of the organizations are unable to effect a settlement satis- factory to them. In other words, this brotherhood ballot if cast affirmatively is simply a mandate for a strike if the chiefs of the organizations wish to call it after further dealings. This strike vote has been taken on the question of the acceptance or re- Jection of the awards of the Railway ‘Wage Board. The brotherhoods have assumed a power of revision, so to speak, although the law places the re- sponsibility for determining the com- pensation upon the board. The rail- roads cannot reject the awards without subjecting themselves to penalties. But the operatives hold that they have such a power. It is, of course, within the right of the operatives to quit ‘work if they do not like the conditions, as individuals. But it is gravely doubt- ful whether there is a right by voting as organizations in effect to set aside the board’s findings. Yet there is rio possibility of law compulsion to insure acceptance. A strike on the railroads is not likely to occur. In the first place, there is so ‘much unemployment at present that it would be comparatively easy to break @ strike. There are too many men awaiting jobs today all through the country. Furthermore, there is no public sympathy whatever for a rail- road strike in present conditions, if in any conditions. A strike today would aim directly at the revival of industry which is now in slow progress. It ‘would set back the country at least a vear in its restoration to economic health. It would lengthen the bread lines. For it would not only throw out of work many railroad operatives, but it would cause the closing down of mills through lack of materials. The chiefs of the railroad brother- ‘hoods will probably use the strike vote if it is given as expected as a weapon- But the responsibility is so definitely put upon them that it may be doubted if they will at the last stage exercise that power, and call off their men and tie up the American railroad system, perhaps only temporarily, in a general strike. ———————————— The Public Swimming Pools. " A thorough investigation should be made of the conditions at the play- ground swimming pool in which it is believed a small boy recently received an infection that caused his death. If| there is any possible danger of the spread of infection through this means the pools should be closed until they can be supplied with constantly re- plenished water. It is obviously im- possible to maintain a ‘perfectly sani- tary pool if the water is not frequently replaced, and, in fact, no pool should be used which has not a continuous in- flow ard outflow. The use of disin- fectants will not cure the danger. It may not be that the boy’s death in this case was due to infection received in ‘the pool, though the physician attend- ing him so believes. But the posaibility is grave enough to call for a rigid in- quiry, and if there is the least ques- tion as to the sanitary condition of the pool it should be closed and all others should be examined, and if not perfect- 1y safe should be put out of commis- sion. ————— ‘The league of nations is entitled to the gratitude of Switzerland for the manner in which it has managed to keep the name of Geneva in the first- page news- ——————— The most that the average man knows about some of the great poets is the fact that they continue to have birthday celebrations after they are dead. The Government’s Cubist Pay Scale. Having heard that some of the char- ‘women at the Washington city post office earn more money than clerks who have bDeen ‘with the department ten years, Postmaster General Hays has ordered an investigation of the conditions that should go beyond the. point of merely finding out what is the pay of the charwomen and those whom they financially rank, but should de- velop other relationships. In other ‘words, the Postmaster General should, and probably will, through this in- quiry gét a true picture of the whole department. organigation. He will sce some very pronounced inharmonies;| some violations of the rules of per- spective, some coaflicts of color, alto- gether & picture that could be best classed as a futurist of the most eo- centric cubist type. e e e e s e e e of freaks in respect to compensations. 'The reclassification commission learned all about these misfits and mistakes and misadjustments, and it was hoped that’ its discoveries would result in a housecleaning. But npothing has been done. The reclassification bills are still pending in Congress with no im- mediate prospect of enactment. ‘While waiting for Congress to act it is well to have some of these par- ticular eccentricities brought to light conspicuously. The post office char- women undoubtedly earn their money, but by no stretch of the imagination can they be rated as of more value to the service than the experienced clerks ‘who are handling mails. Floor-clean- ing talent is not particularly scarce, and while no one would begrudge the good women who keep the offices clean all they can get, it is hard to contem- plate a pay roll which gives them more than men upon whom the safety of the capital's correspondence de- pends. Let these oddities and absurdities of the government’s organization come to light. The Postmaster General will probably find more in his department, and all of his cabinet colleagues can find striking cases in their own offices. Budget Director Dawes will doubtless be interested, and perhaps something can be done at the next session to ef- fect the real gconomy entailed in sclen- tific, businesslike co-ordination of the departmental force. Tell It to the Children! Recently the Commissioners asked the people of the District to spruce up the capital, to make it spick and span and attractive for the international conference which is to begin here No- vember 11. Already there are signs of response. Yards are being cleaned, some vacant lots are being trimmed, and altogether a brighter aspect has been put on things, but there is yet, much to be done. This is a city-wide matter. The clean-up spirit should ex- tend to the remotest parts of the Dis- trict. There is no virtue in merely sweeping and dusting the front room, “the parlor,” where the company is re- ceived formally, and leaving the rest of the house bedraggled ahd dirty. But a good many residents feel a bit discouraged in this matter of cleaning up and making their premises attrac- tive. They have no guarantee of pro- tection against mischievous people, es- pecially children, who trample their lawns and break their shrubs and plants and throw refuse on the prém- ises. They are wondering at present whether the Commissioners can assure that protection and give them the ré- llef for which they have prayed for a long time. One of the best effects of the.school garden work maintained here for .a number of years has been to teach some of the children regard for grow: ing things, to give them a sense of partnership in well kept yards and a feeling of responsibility for the aspect of the neighborhood. But not all of the children. Many still remain who are wholly indifferent, and who race across the terraces amd break the hedges and litter the lots and pick the flowers. Complaint to their parents is ineffective, as a rule. Most house- holders are loath to carry their com- plaints further, to cause the little tresspassers to be taken to the Juve- nile Court. And yet that is, in some cases, the only remedy. The Commissioners might well make another appeal in connection with the sprucing up of Washington for the November conference, this .time ad- dressed to the children of the city through the public schools. A procla- mation to' them read in every school- room in the capital soon after the cpening session, and made the subject of discussion by teachers from time to time afterward, would perhaps have a very good effect, not only on the children but by reflection upon the parents. At any rate it is worth try- ing as one of the means of getting ‘Washington ready for the big interna- tional party in November. ¥ Cuba is reported to be using alcohol as a substitute for gasoline. It is re- markable how the process of denaturi- zation causes the price of a liquid to drop. \ Europe is sneering at American pro- hibitien, but, if all the sea stories are true, is respectfully attentive to the fact that Uncle Sam still has the price. i It is fortunate that Mr. Babe Ruth is not as young as his name would in- dicate. As a genuine juvenlle he would be a terror with a snow ball. 1 The boll weevil may affect the cotton market, but is not mean encugh to take pecuniary advantage of his posi- tion a8 & price fixer. i This is the time ‘of year when hats are thrown into the ring. Nobody at- taches very great value to the Septem- ber straw. e e e The Pederal Aid Road Bill. Congress reconvenes next Wednes- day. Among the measures awaiting ac- tion in the House is that which is the ranks of the unemployed in Mary- land would be & most grievous hard: Thits sort of picture ¢an be found tn{ship. any department in the government. a principle. Members ot both houses generally accept the thought that the, government should aid ip the cop- struction of truck highways through the states in formation of & great na- tional system of communication. Dur- ing the war this national character of the American highway system was de- veloped. The military service of the gavernment was greatly alded in the transport of materials by trucks at a time when the railroads were con- gested. No more effective demonstra- tion could be given of the need of a complete chain of good roads than was Bad in that time. There is no occasion for delay. The passage of the bill is demanded by every consideration of economy, and at this particular juncture it is required 88 a ‘measure of practical ald in less- ening the evils. of unemployment. ‘The final passage and presidential ap- proval by the end of the week is to be desired. ——— | The Serving of Gas Bills. For many years the gas consumers of Washington have been receiving their monthly bills by door-todoor dis- tribution. The statements of acoount, formerly printed on long yellow siips, but in recent times on shorter white ones, have been tucked under front doors and stuffed into letter boxes, and sometimes merely laid upon the door mats. So accustomed to this method of bill service have the people become that few have ever thought of the in. congrulty of it. Yet from time to time mishaps occur, bills are blown away by the wind or picked up by irresponsi- ble persons and “maturity day” comes with its embarrassments. For under the terms of the bargain with the gas company—bargain in which the con- sumer has had no voice—if the bill is not paid within ten days a penaity is period after that the supply is cut off. Formerly the first-stated figure, that which could be pald within ten days, was called a discount, whereas in truth it was the regular rate, and the larger amount that could be collected after ten days was in the way of pen- alty. But, howeyer that may be, if a verson does not get his bill and does not hustle te abtain one from the com- pany before the 10th of the month he is muicted in a higher rate, and he may be suddenly deprived of gas for failure to pay. In view of these ‘penalties for non- payment it would surely seem to be incumbent upon the gas company to deliver the bills in-.a manner more surely to reach the consumers. Elec- tric current bills are served by mail, and there is no particular reason why the gas bill should not be so served. This {s a matter the Public Utilities Commission might well consider, first on the ground of a more certain and dependable service of bills and second. in view of the penalties to which the consumer is subject and which, though innocent of any fault of de- fault, he may suffer. A mail service of gas bills would surely be as certain as the present house-to-house delivery, and in view of the flimsy character of the slips themselves and the danger of: dispersal, actually more.reliable. ——ati————— e It is the opinion of Mr. John Bas- sett Moore that human nature may, have to change in some respects be- fore war can be permanently abolished. Yet human nature hes always con-| templated war as something to be avoided, and responsibility for war has been ascribed to the petty ambi- tions of the few. Human nature, as a rule, is on the side of peace, but has hitherto been unsuccessful in properly organizing the intelligent majority into a dominating influence, “: - ——————tE————— s The reduction in the cost of eggs was considerable, but not enough to prevent the hen who consents to lay in winter from being entitied to treat- ment as a pet. ———————m = The deliberations of Britain and Ire- land-are_subject to some delays owing| to the desire to have a definition of what diplomacy refers to as accom: plished facts. ———— e — v Trotsky would like to compel & sys- tem which would provide that no food can be considered genuine unless it has a soviet label. The most formidable unemployment menace comes when a strike is seri- ously discussed. SHOOTING® STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Substance and Shadow. ‘The skies are full of beauty rare; Through forest acenes the songbirds i, And all the world is wondrous fatr— And yet I scarcely motice it! Yet when art strives to imitate ‘The glories freely strewn abroad, I go with patience all sedate And pay and marvel and applaud. Free Speech. “You have the right to give your opinions freely.” “Yes,” replied Senator Sorghum. “But there are ocoasions on which I'd rather be paid for them by a pub lisher.” Jud Tunkins says after studying a picture of justice he decided the lady ought to take off the biindfold and keep her eyes on the soales. One Danger Abseat. ‘The airship’s wild foesings Our gfiels bid us nurse. 1t the aky had grade crossings The luck might be worse. Talent. “TIen’t your doy Josh & help to you?” " “Not much,” admitted Farmer Corn- tossel. “He's too artistic. He says puttin’ his hand to the plow ia liabdle, t» apofl his technique on the ukulele™ Anether Kind. ~Any horse thieves around herey” “Yes,” said Oactus Jo, “But. we Politics at Home ' Ohio, and Mext Year. . Some gurrent political ‘goselp of more than ‘ordinary interest reistes to Ohio and next year- Theq Buckeye state is in the pleture. It is the home of there are politiclans in both parties who expect, and even hope, to see the two men pitted against each other again three years hence. Next year Ohio elects a full state ticket and a United States senator. Chairman White and former Gov. Har- mon are under discussion for the gubernatorial nominstion, and Mr. Pomerene for the senstorial nomina- tion. Mr. Pomerene stands out as the prominent democratic figure. He is in his second term in the Senate, and holds excellent rank' there. He was unknown to the country at large when first elected, but had made himself so well known by 1316, when he eame up for re-election, that in that year's cam- paign he attracted a share of national attention, and was awarded liberal credit for the 90,000 majority Ohio gave the democratic national ticket. His second term was easily secured. To match Mr. Pomerene, Mr. Daugh- erty is suggested. The Attorney Gen- eral is popular at home, and rated as & master politician. He has had a larger and longer experience in party management than Mr. Harding, whose campaign for the presidential nomina- tion he directed, and to whose election he contributed much. As the story goes, Mr. Daugherty would prefer a seat in the Senate to his present office. While a lawyer by profession, and fond of his profession, he is fonder of politics; and as a seng- tor from Ohio and the recognized spokesman in the Senate for the ad- ministration he would be piaced to his liking, and have an opportunity to supervise the campaign for Mr. Hard- ing’s renomination. It is a readable piece of specylation. Fusion and Tammany. ‘Things in New York are looking bet- ter and brighter for fusion since the mayoralty primary. An excellent man, nominated by a sweeping majority, is carrying thé standard. Tammany, ‘which was very cocky before, is not so' cocky now. Leader Murphy hes his troubles. The resuit of the primary on the democratic side as to the presi- dency of the borough of Manhattan is in disputs. A recount has been de- manded, and the anti-Murphy aspirant claims to have the “goods.” The mat- ter has been taken into court. But suppose fusion wins. Suppose Maj. Curran, a thoroughly qualified man, is elected mayor. How long. will the fruits of victory last? How stable ‘will bé the conditions of reform after Temmany has been dislodged? Fusion in New York has won before, but withoit permanent effect. Some years ago it won under Seth Low, a fine type of competent man, and then at another time under W. L. Strong, another fine man, and both gave a good account of sives in office. But the fusion movement in both cases petered out. Tammany held together, patient and philosophical in defeat, and in due time came back, unchas- tened and unchanged, and took pos- session -in the old way and cut its capers in the old fashion. Timmany never peters out, never disbands. This will be the time of times for: fusion under republican auspices to hold together in office and lay founda- tions for the future. Republican con- trol under excellent leadership exists at Albany and in Washington. Sym- pathy and support, therefore; will be available for business policies in the city hall in New York. If fusion wins in November will the| winning yield something permanent? Or will the reformers, weary of well doing, fall apart,’and leave the way clear again for the return of Tammany at the next trial of conclusions? ——— e The Campsign. The expected split in the ranks of the Virginia democracy has not as yet materialived. Some of the Tucker men, 1t is true, are sulking. But the known number is not large. Those of most tampaign consequence have bowed to the primary resuit after the fashion of good losers, and are plédging them- selves to the support of the nominee, who is a good democrat and & clean man. He won by fair means, and, as it turned out, easily. - Naturally, Mr. Tucker’s friends are much disappointed. He is an able and attractive man, and bears a name long in high political favor in the state. His father setved for years in Congress, end was a constitutional lawyer of eminence. But the son, whila inherit- ing the father's ability, did not inherit his political popularity. This was not his first manifestation of a desire to be Governor of Virginia, but it will prodably be his last. The expected split in the republican party has materialised. The colored wing of the party, in protest against the exclusiveness of the white wing, has put a ticket of its own In the fleld, and summoned all colored voters to support it. This gesture, however, is intended aore for effect outside than Inside the state. Colored voters, who are numer- cus in the northern and middie states I | i Remedy for Many Ills Lies - 'Within Powers of States BY THOMAS R. MARSHALL, Former Viee President of the United States, ART of the price we pay for the necessities and conven- . fenices of modern life is the never-ending fight upon the part of tho consumer to restrain and prevent too much cupldity upon the part of the producer. Men engaged in a common busi- ness long ago discovered that by combining they would be enabled to do one or all of three things: They could reduce production and thus enhsnce . prices; they could lessen overhead charges by divid- ing the territory amf thus obtain practically a monopoly, and they could by temporary reduction of prices drive weak competitors lrlunuc:‘h‘ ‘flfiid. of these proceedings has been distasteful to our common sense of right and all have been deemed f{nimical to our system of &overnment. * % x ¥ The labor union has done nothing to bring it into sharper conflict with the great mass of the people than its effort to 1imit production by fixing the amount of work any one man should do in a day. And the excuse of the “capitalistic trust” that it could produce and sell more cheaply to the public than the small concern has enabled it to do business, but it has not convinced the average man that the capitalistic trust is in con- ®onance with our governmental theory. $ It may be true that there is always a $20,000-a-year job in one of these organizations for a $20,- 000 mar, but one of the gusran- tees of my government is that I have a right to pursue happiness if I am willing to pay the brice of that pursuit. It follows, there- fore, that although I may be a 20,000 map, and although there may be a $20,000 job awaiting me, still, if I would be happler in run- ning a 3,000 business of my own where I may be near my mother- in-law and enjcy her conversation, a government which stands for Justice and this right of mine should see to it that I am not ariven out of business. . * % % % This would have come to pass long ago if it had not been for the fact that there is just as much cupidity among consumers as among prodycers. Independent fac- teries outside the combination may prove conclusively to the consumer that the combination is selling him g0ods at lower prices only tempo- rarily in order to drive out com- petitors, and the consumer may know it, understand it and deplore it, yet he will buy of the combina- tion, justifying himself with “suffi- clent unto the day is the evil thereof.” Maybe I'll be dead or will not care to buy when the price goes up, he argues. Tt usually is futile to warn the public and it is worse than folly to serve the public upon the theory that it will assist you in your la- bors. appreciate your services or reward you for them, even though they prove successful. Sin is what the other fellow does. No class of people has inveighed more bit- terly against the trust than labor unions, yet, by limiting production upon the part of their members, they have themselves organized a trust and increased the prices of their products. * % % X% Between justice and cupidity there is a never-ending fight. The law is constantly being invoked to redress grievances. For twoscore years ' Attorneys General of the United States have suffered night- mares caused by their efforts to dissolve and destroy the trusts. Prosecutions galore have been In- stituted and successfully prose- cuted. and the courts have ordered the dissolution of this trust and that trust; yet, in some mysterious ‘way, the trusts have been stronger after dissolution than before. So impotent have béen the efforts of the government that the-“fiyers of the black flag” have adopted & song running like this: “Hallalujah! thine the glory, Hallelujah! Amen. Hallelujah! thine the glory, Dissolve us again.” 8o hopeless has been the legal coutest that during the last ad- ministration an effort was made to adjust inequalities by exempting certain combinations of citizsens from the penalties of the anti-trust laws, The moment this was done the hour had arrived for the repeal of sll laws upon the subject of trusts. This government can no more divide its cftizens doing the same thing into two classes, one exempt from the penalties of the law and the other responsible to the law, than it could exist half slave and half free .Every one must must have the right to do a thing without punishment or mno one should have that right. ERCE “The incapacity -of the general government to deal with this ques- tion has at last brought some of —— e ———— e ———————————— the states to a realisation that this is a union of states. After fifty years of acquiescence in the false belief that the civil war ended state rights, we/are beginning to discovar that good government de- pends upon reassertion of the doc- trine of state rights and the super- imposition upon that doctrine of the additiona] doctrine of state du- ties. The trust evil is largely a cor- porate evil. The general govern- ment is not engaged in the busi- ness of creating corporations. In ‘my judgment, it has no power to create them. A corporation is the creature of the state. When, if ever, the trust situation gets bad enough to shock the moral sense of the American people, it will be found that the joint doctrine of state rights and state duties is the only anchor to windward. ‘When that time comes the several states of this Union will set about fo revise their corporate laws. ‘They will limit the formation of corporations to purposes which are public or quasi-public_in their character. They will forbid the formation of corporations to run cigar stands and peanut roasters. They will put responsibility for the conduct of private business 'k upon the individual, and they will be sure to retain control over the operations of all corporations chartered by them. * * k ¥ Meanwhile there is not much dificulty in reaching a solution, even in the present condition of corporate law. The courts will hold, T have no doubt, that, as crea- tures of the state, corporations are endowed with just such rights and privileges as the law has conferred on them; that though they are persons, they are not human be- inge, and that the state has created them to do only those things which the state has permitted them to do. Surely no state of the Union has issued a charter authorizing one corporation to contral a legal or common-law marrisge with an- other. The states have not paid much attention to this question, because the tendency of the Ilast forty years has been to turn over every local right to the general govern- ment and to demand that it shall provide and enforce penalties for violations® of those rights. But more and more results are showing ,that Washington is too far away from the source of the evil to get g0od treatment. Men have been saying “Let us have a new religion, a new govern- ment, & new soclal order.” But hell has not been abolished to the sat- ishfaction of us all. ‘It has not been established that a clerk in ‘Washington knows better what the grade of my sldewalk should be than my lecal engineer. The old social order has been found to possess virtues not characteristic of the new. People are prone to ;:}lnrn to old ideas when new ones * % ¥ ¥ ‘When I observe the confusion in which it finds itself and the utter inability of the general govern- ment to rectify trust evils and to punish offenders I am convinced that the old doctrine of state rights needs to be reasserted, with this solemn warning to the by Uncle Sam: “You can do these things far better than I can. It is your duty to do them. I am going to give you @ chance to discharge your duties, but I warn you that you must at least attempt to re- move the injustices created by the trusts and to punish offenders. If you neglect or fail, I shall try a hand. The world's work must be done. You are competent. Do it. Otherwise the burden of an at- tempt will be upon me.” My criticism, which in part has been misunderstood to be a criti- cism of the general government and its usurpations of power, has been in reality a criticism of the individual and the state for their carelessness and indifference in the discharge of their duties and for the utterly reckless way in which they have passed responsibility to ‘Washington. It may do no great good but while any one will read or listen I am going to continue to prod the individual and the state to discharge their own duties. * % x *x Even now there is a ray of light. Attorney General Lesh of Indiana, ‘who is a real lawyer, has filed two suits to dissolve what he denomi- nates trusts, one against the milk and butter men and the other against the ioe men. As part of the relief sought he is asking that the charters of the offending com- panies be forfeited. I am not try- ing these cases nor seeking to forestall, either public opinion or the judgment of the courts. What I am attempting to point out is that there exists a remedy for the trust evil, that 1f corporations created by the state combine to enhance prices the charters of these corporations may be for- feited. And they oan be forfeited by the state that issued them and by no one else. (Copright by Themas B. Marshall.) Real Trade Service Now Ready The American foreign trade pro- gram is now established upon a sub- stantial, permanent basts, and the re- organised bureau of foreign and do- mestic commerce is in & much better position than ever befors to meet the demands of the foreign trade commu- nity for acturate and timely infor- mation, acoording to Julius Klein, the and definitely In party calculations;new director of the bureau. there, are asked to believe that thers| The Washington headquarters of the s no hope for colored men now in the | bureau, so pathetically undermanned ©ld party of Lincoln, and.advised to take a course of their own, regardiess of whether or not it inures to the bene- fit of their open opponent, the demo- cratic party. The effect of this gesture is the sub- ject of much talk. In some yuarters the gesture is whistied down the wind; 1n others it is regarded as bearing the weed of something important. P e e New York city is justified in deraand.| ing adequats school Taollities. The fo- ture mayots of New York wil be chosen from among the schoolboys of In_the past as compared with the fleld service, has been transformed by the | 1 creation of a strong group of com- modity an@ technical experts. Herbert Hoover has alteady empha- sised the advantages of the new cont- modity divisions. In addition to these, the servics of the bureau has besn materially improved by the establish- ment of special offices to cover such important subjects as foreign com- mercial laws, transportation, commu- | & nteations and- commercial- practices. 'The demands already made upon these divisions for information indicate how badly this sort of technical assistance has been needed, especlally because today, and ve the right to prepars|op tne confusion which.new prevails tory education. D don’t 9O after 'em the way we used to.| - Whea 2 landied i sccused of| Bince we got & race track at Crimson{profitesring he 1ooks at the dilis relat Passage of this bill is confdently ax-|Guich the crooked bookmakers ssem{iag to his property with In fact, the executive organimtion of{pected. There is no oppositien. 0 It 1] to have the heys tamed/ ' susploton that PO in many export fialds. bureaw N0 of forel fmporters, is being ex- panded. X i The regional or geographical divi- slons dealing with the mebT | og‘!;‘_:;r This betrayal caused his final over-|eria. The cause of the catastrophe Latin America, weste e and ‘eastern Europe are in process of reorganisation, with a view toward directing their efforts toward sur- veys of general economic conditions, which can be carried out only on a geographical basis. This work has taken an effective form in the monthl: cable service, in which groups of fiel ts are collaborating with the re- gional divisions in the pre jodic statements on e general ness situation in the majo! siness e r trade ly for the ggllnm in- of the home ‘of- strength. ening of the bureau’s di operative offices throughout the coun- will iasure s more scientific dis- tribution of commercial and economic information, Dr. Klein explains, but will make certain a more scientific and There may de a disposition to ques the wisdom of mndl1t more lon, as been some members of ly at a timé when t_expenditures iz wo urgen! . But it is cers tainly true now, as never before, that hz country needs every of foreign businsss % scondmil f:!omt?on X 'm‘“ of o can - safeguard th . tion dous made by our government and by i Silibtnn s oue countries, T * Heard and Seen How to get a sest on & Washing- ton street car has long been a prob- lem, It is with the hope that some help may be afforded to foot-weary man- kind—with accent on ‘the man—that the following suggestions are offered: They are the result of matin study of this acute problem, of lemgthy re- search and much cbservation of the street car habits of Washingtonians. ‘The thing to do is to board your car for work during one of the k periods” which evi moralng. Observation will reveal these. One often wonders why it is so many people are on the cars at about or near the time when they should be in their offices and at thelir places of business. These are the people who are late to work. For instance, the biggeat jams occur from 8:50 to 9:05, cars being packed with folk who started just & bit too late to reach the office on_time. 3 Therefore, get in ahead of 'em. If you are due at work at 7 am., your car at any time up to 6:! o'clock, or shortly before. The bh who are late won't start unatil 6: o'clock. If you are due at 7:30 am., take advantage of the “slack” from 7:08 to about 7¢20 o'clock. If you belong to the large group aiming to get to work at 8 o'clock, be at the corner for cars coming along between 7:35 and 7:50 am. If due at 8:30 o'clock, try for the cars between 8:06 and about 8:20. And if a government worker, try between 8:30 and 8:45. Of course, these periods are not uni- form, and every one will have to work the table out for himself, but by fol- lowing out something along this line one stands a great deal better chance of getting a seat. * * % The modern child comes in for a lot of discussion. Much of the comment, too, is not tavorable, but perhaps the kids are not as bad as these writers make out. Conditions of modern life, the wide- spread scope of activitles once en- joyed only by a relatively few, have much to do with it. The result is that many children nowadays know more and have seen more than people many years their elders. Place the blame where you will, the fact remains. Take a nine-year-old girl of this city. She was discussing the mother of one of her playmates. “She is very mean,”. sald the child, decidedly. “My own mother is no wonder, but this one is hopeless’ * % Probably the largest waste paper basket in Washington is on duty in the office of Kirk Russell, head of the office of information of the Post Of- fice Department. The average government depart- ment waste basket is the normal af- fair, just wide enough' across the brim S0 that the average toss of 2 crumpled paper will hit, but to fall out on the floor. s This basket of Russell's is a whale, or a well, or whatever you choose to call it. in comparison. Even the worst shot can't miss the capacious basket. As a matter of fact, however, the basket is used comparatively little, for one of the big jobs of the office is filing away articles from newspa- pers of the country in relation to the postal service. Postmaster General Hays 0 keeps affairs on the move that most of the material finds its way into the files, rather than into the waste-paper basket. * * School starts tomorrow, marking in icturesque fashion the beginning of Fhother autumn in the National Cap- ital. For, whatever the calendar may say, or the weather indicate, fall begins in Washington when the children- start to_school Soon the leaves will begin to fall from the city’'s thousands of trees, on streets and in parks, especially in Rock Creek Park. Leaf-falling time is looked forward to annually by thousands of people as perhaps the most beautiful season of all. The cold snap in the air, the brown-gold-red leaves, the new im- petus given a great city's activities by the change, combine to make au- tumn here a time to rejoice in. | | A Fairy-Tale King. Bernard Shaw wrote.a satirical comedy about Bulgaria loag before the war, and it was immediately-turn- ed into a musicsl’ comedy.. Cértainly the picture which the Independence Belge of Brussels paints: of -ex-Czar Ferdinand indicates that- Mr. Shaw was on the right trsick—the court at least had all the elements of musical comedy royalty about it: * - “A telegram -was “going ‘round all the newspapers recently saying that Ferdinand of Sake-Coburg, ex-Czar of Bulgaria, had gone mad; details were ven, in his retirement at Coburg. ‘erdinand, who imagined himseif vic- torious in the great war, tfiought his servants were kings and yvassals and made them-swear allegiance to him, their sovereign lord. - g ““This ne has not been affirmed at present, and it is most ‘probable’ that this telegram was a piéce ©f ‘imagi- nation. s “And yet,” says the writer, -“there ‘was likelthood in this rumor. No ome Iwould have been surprised it Ferdi- nand had gone mad, that such an €x- istence should end in intellectual darkness. This man has lived for thirty-five years in an ambitious dream, in intrigues constantly asso- ciated with war or nearly unchaining it. How many bloody conflicts did he risk in order to remain prince of Bul- garia since 1887, or to have himself proclaimed king? During the Balkan war he thought he was going to be Emperor at tium, that he would enter St. Sophia triumphantly on horseback; in 1918 his portrait as Bysantine emperor was sold in the BSoflia shops. And this great dream suddenly ended in blood. “No doubt it was this mad am- bition which made him join the slliance with Germany, Austria Turkey against Russia and France the loss of ‘his crown. °And was the cause of how many “’.lt :uhzgn“ N‘h ul:n t]] t the hel ven by Bul- Mlt’“' Elrk-y _.:nd “Aiunm bad prolonged the war’ for two years. “When a man bears such responsi- bility it is not astqaishing If he loses his reason. At least it would seem to men such as you and me quite impossible to live with the remorse that these responsibilities must cause. “But evidently we make ourselves illusions about the conscience the sensitiveness of thoss who are ble of such erimes. “Wilhelm wanted war” continues the writer. “He prepared it in oold blood with his statesmen and some aml Hungarian generals. For more than four years he knew that thousands of men fell every day through his fault. proud and criminal will. ber of d knows the terrible amount. has not his reason. is not mad. - o :‘- Tlt;ntuu lk:'";: at Doorn when he is consp He has just designed the plan for a mausoleum for the empress, and sends el to o . are just as well as he. the “young warrior, Verdun, ‘Wieringen | throw, | ) 2 FIFTY YEARS AGO - IN THE STAR § The activities of the internationals, headed’ up tG the time of his death by Plan to Fight career was.noted in Radieali this column & week 850, were such as to call for the most determined ef- forts by the European powers. In The Star of Septemaber 11, 1871, is the following: “A telegram from Vienna states that one of the results of the con- ference between the emperors of Ger- many and Austria at Salzburg was an agreement that each should use his influence to secure a general congress of the powera of Eyrope for a decisive iand umited policy for the of the International Society on the continent of Europe.. The Germa goverament will give an earnest o its decision by ordering the arrest, probably immediately, of the leaders of the trades strike at Berlin and of 50 y the international agents preventing the departure of German workmen to England. Another result of the con- ference is that Austria and Germany will closely cembine to repel ag- gression and to repudiate sive ideas. any is strengthen Austria and the Austrian emperor, with his cabinet, unjon with Italy.’ s ‘., In an issue of The Star shortly aft- erward, September 14, 1871, is a little item dealing with Germany ‘Wants certain German as- pirations that were Helgoland. not satisfled until long afterward, and then in a man- ner to give serious concera later to other powers.. s e “Germany still hankers a el- goland, notwithstanding the many 1 5, of previous re- T e S e Gaszette has a lengthy demand for v * » * % At this time fifty years ago the New York Times was just making ithe ‘restoration’ of the ‘rocky isle’ withheld by England in 101§ because Germany was not then united and was s u bstantial Boss Tweed headway In pas. . its lone fight. by New York Times ,gyinst the Tweed ring In New York city. In The Star of September 15, 1 is this paragraph on the situation: “The power of the press in secur- ing a correct and honest administra- tion.of public affairs is aptly illus- trated in the late breakdown of the long can- jon the substance of the city of New not then the ‘power of the first prder’ Iank. For years the public has been which it since become. The Gazette adds that it would not recom- mend an immediate declaration of war against England for the few square feet of ocean rock. It designs in the first place that the reichstag should make known by a unanimous , vote that Hel ‘was indispens- - able to Germany, when it doubts not that at the voice of that august as- sembly the predilections of land for an ‘inalienable’ portion of the fatherland would be certain to dis- appear.” D satisfied of the frauds and rascalities lof the Tammany democracy, and oc- casiopally spasmodic attempts have been made, through the press and other agencies, to bring about a re- form, but it remained ‘for the New York Times to organise and carry on a systematic crusade agalnst the > harples which finally worked their overthrow. Of course, after the war was !M.fl.f' ipaugurated and breaches were made in the fortifications of the enemies, it had the hearty co-opera- tion and efficlent aid of other papers. But to that journal belongs the credit of inaugurating the famous campaign and furnishing most of the ammuni- tion. The victory is a great one for the Times, and the achievement re- flects credit not only on that paper but on the whole profession of jour- nalism. It is furthermore a motice to rogues everywhere that their schemes must come to naught when e: and opposed by a vigilant and inde- ‘ CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. |pendent press.’ DIGEST OF FOREIGN PRESS often_ thinkers become mad who spend their lives trying to make a little more happiness and peace for humanity. “But Wilhelm, or the crown prince, or Ferdinand, or Tirpitz, no. They know no remorse, as they knew no pity.” Graphophones in Church. The suggestion of Prof. Grant of Leeds that “graphophones in sur- plices” might before long supplant clergymen, has been in a sense an- ticipated, says an article in the Lon- , don News. Some timd ago the Paris Temps anvounced that the parish priest of Lamartre had installed a talking machine in his church, to as- sist *his congregation to make the re- ‘sponses, and about the same time the bass solos in a requiem mass were ndered by a graphophone in an rish church at the obsequies of & _member of the choir. The records used had been made by the deceased choirman_a short time before his death, and the graphophone used dur- ing the funeral service was Pl on the coffin. Any day now we may hear of the first graphophone sermon. but, says the News writer, somehow 1 think it will be a long time before we read in the matrimonial an- nouncements: “By graphophone, as- sisted by a choirboy to put on the appropriate records—" A Wandering Mountain. The rare phenomeénon of & mov- ing mountain, an. event in nature which may happen only once in many centuries, was observed during the P past summer in Austria, reports the Vienna correspondent of the London Observer. The unusual “traveler™ in # this_instanée is the Sandling., near Alt-Aussee, a village in the beautiful lake district of Styria and Upper Aus- v has pot yet been cleared up. b-, mbly, the correspondent states, the inv’ . undations of last September softened the ground in meany places, and the pressure of the rocks must have beea - 80 strong . that half way up to the 9 summit of the Sandling (which is more than five thousand fest high) - the mountain begun to wander or - move. A perpendioular wall which - réaches up to the top has been: de- molished by the sinking of the masses of earth, and & river of -mud three hundred feet wide is rolling down linto the valley. The Sandling was covered with Al- the firat inkling the ° o was they e tr that at one moment they took a step too high, in the next second a step 100 low, a8 if one missed & step