Evening Star Newspaper, July 2, 1922, Page 26

R 2 THE . EVENING . STAR, With_Sunday Morning Kdition.” WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY..........July % —_— THECDORE W. NOYES....Editor for the annual maintenance of the District government, and also has fixed the scale of pay. Had the mat- “ | ter been left to District inftiative there 1922 | Would undoubtedly have been a larger and a better paid force, insuring more adequate inspection. If in the judgment of Congress there is a liability for the dgathu and The Evening Star Newspaper Cnm‘ 'ave, | the injuries inflicted in the collapse of Business Office. 11th St. and Pennsylvania AYe. | yne pyilding, that liability should rest New Tork Office Nagsau St ! ad y Ciicago Ofees Fisst Nationa) Benk Rulding. | upon the United States alone. In this Earopean Office: 3 Regent St., London, England. | ypteer the inspection force of the Dis- The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning sdition, fs delivered by carriers within the city at 60 cents per month; daily only, 43 cents per month: Sunday only, 20 cents per month. Or- be sent by mail, or telephone Main 2000. lection je made by carriers at the end of esch month, Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Taily and Sunday. Traily only. Sunday only. The New Tax Rate. TUnder the terms of the new District appropriation bill, containing a pro- visian that is designed to put the Dis- ict on a “‘cash-payment basi: by Ist of July, 1927, the Commis- =ioners are required to change the mode of taxation. They must increase the assessment of realty from two- thirds of the real value to full valua- tion. They must then change the rate of taxation to yvield. during the five suc- ceeding fiscal years, a sufficient sum, in addition to meeting the current ap- propriations. to enable the District five vears hence to meet requisitions under appropriation acts witht cash, instead of relying upon the federal govern- ment for cash advances until its tax revenues are available. In determining the rate that, ap- plied to a full-valuation assessment, will yield such a sum, it is necessary for the Commissioners to take several factors into account. In the first place, by reason of a change in the law effected by the appropriation act, they can count upon the payment of epproximately half of the year's taxes by the 1st of December. Thus within five months of the beginning of the new fiscal year there will be in hand a sum sufficient to meet the District’s share of the. appropriations for six months of the vear. If the District is adjudged by the joint select commit- tee just organized. and by Congress upon the presentation of its report in February next, to be entitled to all or a part of the surplus of about $5,000,- ©00 of unappropriated District tax revenues now lying in the Treasury, that sum will be available as a cash asset, to serve as part of the cash- basis surpius. But the new rate must be determined in advance of any pos- sible report from this committee and action upon it, to permit the levying of the semiannual tax due in the month of November. Inasmuch as the amount that will be adjudged thus available as part of a cash-basis sur- plus is indeterminate at present, the Commissioners cannot take it into ae- count now in fixing the rate for this vear. Their problem is to ascertain the rate at which full-valued District realty and tangible personalty will vield enough to supply this year's needs, plus five-twelfths of an extra vear's needs divided into five annual installments. That would seem to en- {tail roughly an-increase in the yield by one-twelfth for each of the succeed- ing five years. But there are certain factors that complicate the problem. For instance, the advance of realty valuation to 100 per cent from 66 2-3, ‘while tangible personalty remains as heretofore at 100, means that with a reduced tax rate tangible personalty will yield less in taxes than before, and realty must make good the dif- ference. Moreover, there is no assur- ance that certain special taxes, such as upon the revenues of the public utility corporations, are by law col- Jectible on the half-yearly basis. Again, with no provision in the new Jaw for appeals from personal tax as- sessments, now appealable annually in February, ground may be laid for con- troversy over the payment of half of the tax without recourse to possible revision of the assessment. It is reasonably assured that the District appropriations will increase during the next five flscal years, so that it is impossible to estimate with Rccuracy the sum that by July 1, 1927, it will be necessary to have in hand as a cash-basis surplus sufficient to meet the Treasury requisitions from the be- ginning of the flscal year with 660 cents of District money on each dollar of expenditure. The Commissioners, however, are not at present required, nor can they reasonably be expected, to take this prospective increase into account. They should, and doubtless will, accept the present District budget law as the basis for their calculatio: figure upon getting half the taxes ‘in November and then compute the rate which will yield enough over current requisitions to give them by the end of the fifth fiscal year in succeasion sufficlent to meet the requisitions until the half-yearly taxes are paid in No- vember. Any other calculation would he in excess of the requirements of the law. Strike threats make July 1 even more prominent in the American cal- endar than July 4. < Liability for Disaster. ‘The proposition that has been ad- vanced in Congress to pass a bill ap- yropriating the sum of $2,000,000 for 1he relief of sufferers from the Knick- erbocker Theater disaster ralses an interesting question of responsibility. Ir is urged by the proponent of the measure that the burden of blame vests upon the government end the District for failure to conduct proper inspection of the building during its construction. Apert from any other consideration, it may be suggested that it would be altogether unfair to put upon the District any part of the financial lability, even though it be maintained that lack of adequate in- spection caused or permitted the col- Japse of the building. For the District has at no time been responsible for | the size of the inspection force or for the rate of pay for that force. Con- #reas has determined the number of iuspectors in the allocation of funds trict government is the agent of the government. The District of Colum- bia has no part in its organization, save in the selection of the individuals, and in that selection it is hampered by the scale of pay adopted in the ap- propriation bill. But would it not be unwise, save as an act of charity—in which case the federal money alone should be used— to provide a fund for the rellef of those who suffered from the dis- sater, however urgently the survivors and the families of the dead may need assistance? The building was a pri- vate one, not like the old Ford Theater on 10th street, the collapse of which caused the death of about a score and the injury of many others. In that case there was a direct llability on the part of the government for the failure of its own property and the fault of its direct agents in the re- modeling of the building while occu- pled for public service. If financial responsibility for deaths or injuries that are caused by the collapse of pri- vately owned buildings is to be as- sumed by the government or the Dis- trict on the ground that inspection was faulty, a wide range of liability is opened. —_—————————— President Harding's Warning. President Harding's address yester- day to the mine owners and repre- sentatives of the miners was at once an appeal and a warning. He had chosen his words carefully to avoid all appearance of partisanship or any suggestion of coerclon, but through- out his discourse there ran a steel thread of resolution and firm intent to use, if need be, the full powers of government to protect all the people against the disaster threatened them because of the selfishness of a few. It was plain speaking, both to miners and mine owners, and he made it clear that he held neither of them to be blameless for the situation in which the country finds itself. Be- cause they are engaged in an industry which is essential to the life of the people, he insisted that neither side is free to stand up for individual rights if by doing so they deprive the nation of the fuel without which it cannot exist. There must be yielding on both sides. Hé hoped they would find a way in common council for a com- position of their differences. If they could not, the government was ready to take @& hand. The government would act first as a mediator. “Fail- ing in that,” the President said, “‘the servants of the American people will be called to the task in the name of American safety and for the greatest good of ail the people.” If the mine owners and miners are 80 blinded to their own best interests that they will not heed this grave and proper warning, and the government 1s called upon to act “in the name of American safety,” an overwhelming majority of the American people will support the government to whatever end it may be necessary to go. And it it has not now the power to go to that necessary end the power will be given it. Notable as was the President's ad- dress for the clarity with which it stressed the fact that the well-being of ail the people must first be served, it was equally notable for the con- structive program he outlined. He found that the basic fault with the mining industry was that it was over- capitalized, overdeveloped and over- manned, with the result that miners cannot have full-time work and, there- fore, cannot live without a wage which is excessive compared with the value of their production. He pro- posed that a commission be appointed to survey the industry, with a view to remedying this fundamental fault, und that in the meantime the produc- tion of coal be resumed. " That is a proposal so obviously sen- sible and so eminently fair that its re- jection by either the miners or the mine owners would leave them in a position so untenable that public oninion would support whatever measures might be found necessary to assure that coal will be produced. \ * The average citizen fails to see why the general public should suffer be- causs the coal operators cannot get along amicably with their help. $ There is no use trying to laugh the flapper out of existence. Her summer costume is apparently so comfortable that she claims the last laugh. ¥ German monarchists are inconsider- ate in refusing Wilhelm the privilege of saying nothing\and sawing wood. Ireland absolutely refuses England the privilege of regarding her as a quiet neighbor. ¥ The Government as Tenant. Fridey et midnight the lease under.| which the government occupies -a building in this city for one of its executive departments expired. A new lease’ has not been written for the reason that a dispute has arisen be- tween the government and the owners of the property on the score of the rent to be paid. Congress has appro- priated $75,000 for the coming year's rent, and the owners ask approximate- 1y $200,600. . This case cannot be taken before the rent commission for settlement. There is no body or board or court to settle it. The goyernment remaine as tenant and tenders the amount appro- priated. The owners can take it or leave it. There is no process by which an ouster ¢an be effected, as in the case. of .an obdurate private tenant. Yet it may be that in terms of realty values and reasonable yields the amount demanded by the owners is more - nearly reasonable. than the arhount appropriated. Certainly the difference of $125,000 on the basis of = $76,000 rental paid is wide enough to suggest a fleld of compromise. But there is no ehance of compromise. graft. been sent to the governor. Oles has quit while the quitting is good. Perhaps he just naturally thought that the game was not worth the candle. As a matter of fact, the troubles of office are so great that it ‘The appropriation has been the tenant remains. All of this goes to the point of show- ing the unwisdom and unbusinessiike extravagance of continuing o house government offices in rented bislldin THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JULY 2, 1922—PART 2. : — e e | Reflections Caused by Observing emony in House of Lords Politics at Home The Color Line in Politics. Cer There is talk in Florida of reor- The United States should ndt be ay f-m;lng the republican party of the tenant, but should own its ,own hous-|gtate on a basis exclusively white. ing equipment. It should build for it- self and not let others build for it. It should not be in the position of a pre- ferred tenant, with power to name the rent and to remain in possession against the will of the owner. The government has the power to commandeer any building that it oc- cupies for public purposes by con- demnation. It can in the present case condemn the building and use it as its own. In point of fact, the continued occupation of, this building at a lower rate than the own r charges is in ef- fect condemnation without going through the procedure prescribed by law. The government surely should not put itself in this attitude. The di- rect correction of such a fault lles through the provision of adequate government buildings under govern- ment ownership. Bielaski’s Abduction. | Suggestion that Bruce Bielaski framed his own kidnaping is advanced by newspapers at Mexico City, with a keen memory for the case of Jenkins, the former American consular agent at Puebla. But the Mexico City papers failed to recall that a thorough investi- gation of the Jenkins case exonerated him from any suspicion of a frame- up. Just so in the Blelaskl case, there is nothing to indicate that the former Cepartment of Justice official was not sbducted by ransom-seeking bandits. “There have been too many actual ab- Cuctions beyongd any possibility of sus- picion to cause a doubt in this latest case. It is of no moment that the abduction was so clumsily managed. As to that, the fact is probably that ar idea prevails in certain circles in Mexico that abduction means eas” money, and everybody is trying it. It was remarked at the time of Bielaski's escape that the affair bore signs of having been conducted by amateurs, and Bielaski himself afterward so characterized the work of his captors. “he only important matter in this con- nection is the promptness with which the Mexican newspapers advance the suggestion that the kidnaping was a fcke. This shows an ill-disposition to- ward this country that has its sinister suggestion. A much more satisfactory sttitude on the part of the press of the Mexican capital would be one of con- gratulation upon the escape of the captured man rather than the charge that he had for some undisclosed and vnsuggested reason managed his own ebduction. Oles Out of Office. Ex-Mayor George L. Oles of Youngs- town, Ohio, just resigned in conse- quence of attacks upon him and hisad- ministration, is a disillusioned man. | He ran for the office last fall as an in- dependent, and was elected after a sensational campaign, in which he promised to do things for Youngstown which it urgently needed done. The people took him at his own valuation and put the reins in his hands. Now he throws them down disgusted. sick at heart, sore, saying that he hes had only five expressions of thanks in six stormy months and more kicks than & man can conveniently count. Oles and his friends say that he gave Youngstown good government. His enemies say that he was incom- petent and even aver that he accepted A petition for his removal had Perhaps ‘would seem to be hardly worth while for any busy citizen to accept a place, especially such a sure-fire trou- ble place as mayor. A square man taking such a public job must be fired with an extraordinery ambition to render service to his fellow citizens regardless of cost and chagrin. l Chinese conservatism asserts itself in regarding an occasional revolution as an essential evidence of regard for national custom. l Lenin, apparently, does not permit 11 health to interfere with his office hours. 4 The colored voter, or rather the col- ored man entitled under the federal Constitution to a vote, is to be ex- cluded, ,An gxperiment of this kind was tried in Virginia last year. The re- publicans of the Old Dominion made an appeal for support for a state ticket which had been nominated by a con- vention composed only of white men. The experiment failed completely. The colored contingent of the party resented the movement by putting a state ticket of its own in the field, while those democrats for whom the white contingent was angling failed or refused to bite. The democratic ticket was elected by the largest majority ever recorded in a state contest. The experiment in Florida will fail, and deserve to fail. The colored man was enfranchised by the republican party, and, wherever permitted to vote, has ever since supported repub- lican candidates, state and national. In some states he has been, and still is. & material factor in republican cal- culations. He responds to party ap- peals, and votes stralght. = That he is excluded from all politi- cal activity in other states is no fault of his. He is the victim of circum- stances and prejudices over which he has no control. Juggling in this fashion with the suffrage will yield nothing to the re- publicans who attempt it. If the south- ern states are to be converted to re- publicanism it must be through ap- peals based upon principles and poli- cies, and not upon appeals recognizing prejudices which the democrats have established and fostered and from which derived a long list of local bene- fits. The Constitution forbids the drawing of the color line at the polls, and provides a peralty wher: the line is drawn. —_——— An Unusual Boom. The Ford boomers are not vocal these days, but busy sounding senti- ment in a quiet way as to the boomee’s chances. Outsiders, however, are asking ques- tions. 1s Mr. Ford a vepublican? 1f so, what about Mr. Harding? As a republicans, whether for or against the administration. or only languidly observing the situation. are slating the President for renomina- tion. It Mr. Ford's supporters have an in- dependent nomination in view, what is the basis of their claim that Mr. Ford as a candidate would run par-| ticularly well in the south? The south —the lawer south—is incontestably democratic. cyclone of 1920. Is there the slightest prospect of a commotion more violent than that in 19242 1s it possible to conceive as matters stand of a presi- dential candidate or platform other than democratic with the ghost of a show in the lower south two years hence? Mr. Ford's position in politics is ¥nique. He had not been thought of as a potential political leader until Woodrow Wilson, then President. sug- gested him for the Senate. And Mr. Wilson was a democrat, Mr. Ford a republican, and Michigan a republic- an state. Still, the suggestion, odd as it was, caught on, and some men, rated as practical politicians, became Ford boomers. They were republicans, and realized that, elected to the Senate in such circumstances, Mr. Ford would necessarily be a Wilson man, and not a representative of republican policies. Mr. Ford, however, missed the Sen- ate, as he is likely to miss the presi- dency. His position, strong in the business world, is too indefinite in the political world to make his name one of potency to conjure with there. e — The Disgruntled. The new party, according to its projectors, is to be composed of former republicans and former democrats in about equal numbers—voters who have tired of their old affiliations through a feeling that a new party is due and should be made as strong as possible. * Look, they exclalm, at the present situation! The republicans, though in power by a landslide, are not redeem- Discussion arises as to whether the ing their promises. They are not af- ocean itself shall be “wet” or “drys’ SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNBSON. Sublime and Ridiculous. A wondrous sunset in the west | fording the relief the country needs. The democrats have no remedies— at any rate, are offering none. Beyond criticizing the opposition they seem unable to go. They are vigorous kick- ers, but not constructors. So a new party, it is asserted, is necessary to satisfy both discontenfed Caused transformations rare to flit. { republicans and discontented demo- As daylight splendor sank to rest. Nobody seemed to notice it. A flapper hurried down the beach crats, who, under the pressure of dis- appointment, will be able to get to- gether on a platform and run things. This calls for a national ticket In garb which decorous lines for-|grawn from the two old parties. Shall s00k— A bit too scanty in its reach— And everybody had a look. Graftology. ship of the movies?"” “I em afraid,” answered Senator sufficiently numerous, without intro- ducing a photograft. Jud Tunkins says people might be more careful about marriage if the minister got as big & fee es the divorce lawyer charges. Hortense Magee. Hortense has bought a new machine. She looked as haughty as a queen it be a disgruntled republican for first place and a disgruntled democrat for second, or the other way around? It a republican for first place, shall he be taken from east, or west, or middle “Why are you opposed 10 & Censor-{ un¢ryy +1f a democrat, shall the south, as usual, be barred? The speculation grows apace. Names Sorghum, “that some of the censors d tai = = are being suggested, and certain ac. might be susceptible to pecuniary per- tions of certain men are referred to suasion. Varieties of graft are already as evidence that those men are taking notice and consenting to the new party plans—are, indeed, counseling on the quiet and under cover as to how best to promote such a break-up of the two ojd parties as will supply the material for & new and compelling orgenization of national consequence two years hence. ———— e The theory of evolution is fascinat- As she went speeding through thefy;. t; tne imagination. Whether it is town . Till the speedometer fell down. It was my duty es & cop, To call on Miss Magee to stop. 8he answered, as she made a bow, “I'd like to, but I don't know how!" Attire. “Isn’t that fig leaf raiment a bit scant?” inquired Adam. “Humph!” rejoined Eve. “You cught to see me in my bathing suit! " “Conselence has a still small voice,” said Uncle Eben, “‘but old Satan uses & megaphone.™ = 3 ¥ | correct or not makes little difference in practical affairs. The idea that man is evolved from lower animal life is less important than consideration of the process of nature ‘which often de- velopes & demagogue into a responsi- ble statesman. —— e The Mexican bandits dealt an in- sidious blow by appraising Mr. Bruce Bielaski at s0 low a figure as $5,000. — e In the course of time the Fourth of July oratory will become as safe and sane as the fireworks. . She withstood even the) l | l | BY THOMAS R. MARSFRALL, Wermer Viee Prasident of the United States. LONDON, June 24. ‘Witnessing the introduction of & mewly created peer into the house of lords, 1 had opportunity to con- trast the ceremony with the sim- Ple induction. of a United States senator into offics. The American Benate has often been referred to, every one knows, as the counter- part of the British house of lords, with the outstanding difference that membership in the one is re- stricted by terms, while fn the other life tenyre prevails. The induction of a new senator is entircly devoid of formalfty. His credentials, signed by the gov- ernor of his state, are read by a clerk. He is escorted by his col- league to the leTt of the presid- ing officer, who administers the oath, whercupon he takes his seat as a full-fledged member. He does not even kiss the volume which contains the only guaranty of the sincerity of his oath. * % % % Far different is the ceremony by which a newly created peer is re- celved inta the house of lords. But first a word about the setting. The chamber itself reflects an at- mosphere of venerable tradition. The lord chancellor of Great Britain presides. At one end of the chamber is the historic woolsack, or seat of equity, which 1s occu- pied by the lord chancellor fn the trial of causes, but which he leaves when he speaks upon a leg- {slative question in order to main- tain the distinction between legis- lative and judicial authority. The- the woolsack, or seat is not in the legislative chamber. The lord chancellor was seated upon the woolsack when 1 made my visit. In an adjacent room were assembled the earl marshal, the lord great chamberlain, who was attended by the garter king of arms; the newly created peer and two peers of his own degree. Soon they entered the chamber in dignified procession, headed by the usher of the Black Rod and the earl marshal with his baton. The garter king of arms carried the newly created peer's patent. The peer. himself, bore his writ of summons. . * k% x 1 may pause to explain that a newly created peer receives from the king not only a patent to his peerage, or a commission, but also a writ of summons to appear in the house of lords and discharge his duties. It was because Lady Rhondda had no writ of sum- mons that she was denied admis- sion to the house of lords when she appeared with her patent to nobility. The procession, each member bowing at the entrance to the chamber, advanced down one side, ere the lords temporal were ed. Midway a second bow was made, and then a third at the woolsack, where the garter King of arms delivered to the new peer his patent. The peer, kneeling, presented it and his writ of sum- mons to the lord high chancellor. Rising, he retired to the temporal side of the house with his two sup- porters while his patent and writ were being read. The oath was administered. The newly created peer was seated. Thrice he arose with his support- ers and bowed to the lord chan- céilor, who retarned the salutation without rising. Then he was es- corted to the woolsack, where the lord chancellor shook hands with him. Thus he became for the rest of his life a member of th. house of lords. * ¥ % % I know myself to be a democrat, Wholly divested of any love for the trappings that surround royalty, but I must confess that it was an impressive ceremonfal. As it pro- ceeded T found myself wondering whether or no thee might be too much democratic simplicity in the formal affairs of government. This was not a wholly new thought to me. 1 often had pondered whether the Protestant forefathers, in flee- ing from what they thought were the superstitions of the Roman Catholic Church, had not carried their reforms too far. They made the gervices of the church cold, dull, uninteresting. 1 can remem- ber far enough back in my own life when music was forbidden in the church, when members of my family belfeved it distinctly sinful to observe Christmas or Easter. But subsequently belief was es- tablished that even religion, which has the very highest appeal to hu- man emotions, required some rec- ognition of gurroundings in order that man's soul might be satisfied, %0 more and more, the Protestant Church restored those instrumen- talities, which, through the eye and ear, help to instill devotion. ‘The remarkable growth of the moving picture industry is proof that may not be gainsald that many permanent impulses of life come though the sense of sight, while proof is not needed of the fact that music is a unlversal language spoken by every human heart and understood by every soul. We have come to understand that any beautiful thing which we may give to God or any pleas- ing song which we may sing is not a mark of superstitution, but an evidence of the very highest and finest mode of worship. * % ¥ % If Protestantism can adopt these methods, may there not be some- thing for democracy to consider with reference to the induction of a public officlal into office? May it not be that with a little more ceremonial to catch the public eye and to impress the truth that office holding is permanent for the period it has been conferred and that ruling even by popular consent is, nevertheless, ruling, there might be a keener apprecia- tion of the fact that authority even in a demorcracy is authority, and as such is entitied to respect- ful consideration by those who created and conferred it. 1 was curious to know who this new peer was and what particular service he had rendered to the British empire that led to his pre- ferment. I was told he was the manufacturer of a popular brand of whisky. Whatever his business, he manifestly had been successful in it and had fought his way to a commanding_position in the busi- ness world. To me, he well illustr: ted the difference between Ameri- can and British thought. touching successful business careers. Great Britain knights a successful busi- ness man. America indicts him. In Great Britain, he is incarcerated for life in the House of Lords. In America he is compelled to fight incarceration in the penitentiary. I am not philosopher enough to determine which punishment the better fits the crime. I can only say that justice is sure in Great Britain. Seeks Fair Play in Elections UTTING Marquis of Queensbury rules into politics, injecting a true sportsmanlike spirit into the contests at the polls and establishing by federal flat the great American principal of fair play in the great American prerogative and priv- ilege of popular elections is the thought behind a proposal in Con- gress for a new constitutional amend- ment. Representative Frederick W. Dal- linger of Massachusetts, chairman of the house elections committee, has in- troduced a resolution which proposes to give Congress “power to regulate the nomination and election of sena. tors and representatives in Congres: This legislation was prompted by two notable cases, the Newberry case in Michigan, in which the Supreme Court in its decision virtually wiped out the corrupt practices act, and the Harrison case in Virginla, in which the House committee has found that the minority party was not xe_ven “a fair chance for its white alley. In one line the purpose of the Dal- linger resolution is “to require cer- tain fundamental principles of fair- ness in the election laws of the states.” There is no intention of hav- ing federal officials take complete charge of the elections. It merely Tooks to having the states themselves pass election laws that will embody The great American principle of “fair ey * ¥ ¥ ¥ Representative Dallinger expects to press this resolution when the House reassembles after its summer recess to consider ship subsidy and the tariff bill when it comes back from the Senate. After the Newberry dectsion Chair- man Andrews of the House commit- tee on election -of President, Vice President and representatives in Con- gress was concerned because the cor- rupt practices act had been disgred- fted. Knowing that Representative Dallinger had made a life study of government and elections had been a lecturer in government at Har- vard, and was recognized as au- thoritative author on the_subject. he sought counsel with him. 'he result was that Mr. Dallinger introduced a resolution for a constitutlonal amend- ment that Congress “shall have power to regulate all expenditures made or incurred by any person or persons for the pu e of influencing directly or indirectly the nomination or election of any candidate for the affice of sen- ator or representative in the Con- gress of the United States, and to prohibit corrupt practices in connec- tion with any such nomination or election.” This was intended to meet directly the issue raised in the Newberry case and make it clear that Congress has the right to regulate expenditures. But the resolution was referred to the judiciary committee instead of to the Andrews elections committee, and there it still reposes in spite of efforts to e it re-referred, Representative Joseph W of Massachusetts terposing objections to the = * % ¥ ¥ Then came the contested election case of John Paul against Represent- ative Thomas W. Harrison, the sitting member from the seventh Virginia district. = According to the majority report, it was shown that in ghe nam- ing of registrars or election board or judge of elections the minority party was not allowed to name & repre- sentative to see that thers was fair blllg,tln and a fair count. The ma- Jor 'j » that the state consti- tution, which failed to prohibit such an unfair and un-American practice, bad never been subl ed to a popu- | req financial darn.—Bi pire. Anns. oti 3501 she didn’t wait for the price lo‘ lar vote for approval, and that every judge must take the oath to uphold that particular constjtution. So Representative Dallinger put in his new resolution for a constitutional amendment, designed to “kill two birds with one stone.” The author study of elections that when a state like Virginia has no law Insuring the mincrity of a square deal Congress ought to go far enough to require a fair election law which will assure the minority of fair representation. In this connection it is recalled that back in the nineties Henry Cabot Lodge, then a member of the House, got through what the southerners dubbed “the force bill.” which pro- vided for federal officers to conduct federal elections, to see that there was & fair national election. Senator George Frisbie Hoar fathered the bill in the Senate and was beaten by a combination of western free silver re- publicans and southern democrats. * * % x It has always been contended that Congress had power to regulate the national elections, but southerners claimed that the act was unconstitu- tional. Senators and representatives are now elected under the state laws. Representative Dallinger understands the feeling against having federal of- ficials go to a state and take charge of the election. But he believes that Congress ought to go so far in regard to the election of senators and rep- resentatives as to make certain that the minority party will have fair representation. He glves an interesting illustration, painting a picture of the famous gen- tlemen from Virginia who settled their differences on dueling flelds in the vicinity of the National Capital. He points out that in each instance it was religiously observed as a true sportsman’s principle that each party should select his own secon There ‘was no chance for an unfair adve: sary to have blanks put in his op- ponent’s pistol. But under the Vir- ginia law, he emphasizes, there is no provision for the opponent (a mi- nority party man) at the pol to have a representative to see that he gets “fair p A * % % % Representative Dallinger makes it Dlain that the proposed amendment to the Constitution would not affect many states at all where there is ample provision made for equal rep- resentation of both parties. as in his home state of Massachusetts. In very few states, he says, would the situ: tion arise as it has in Virginia. Some lawyers contend that a new corrupt practice act, if passed, would probably be sustained by the Su- reme Court, in spite of the decision n the Newberry case, where Justice McKenna raised a fine technical point. Repregentative Dallinger and those supparting his resolution say that Congress might just as well make the matter absolutely certain by an out- and-out amendment which will gettle once and for all time its right to regulate elections of meibers of Con- gress, so as to uire “fair play” and a square deal for all candidates. —_—— Keeping a daughter in clothes always a ton Sun. A u::-hnd 1s one ';l'wd knows how ‘worthless you are and dosen’ Fraingham News. ¢ &Y & mbhm.—ulm_un.! It bas got so that the life of a hnnromn -utl;::“;l is almost as & lous as of & base 1 - . Cotumbia’ Record: heljinm, Dickie Oleson was pominai for United States unuor’fln ":! nesota on a campaign expenditure of hb Many a woman will wonder W get own 1o §195.—Toledo Blade. says he is convinced from his life! ‘While putting a record on a plum-l ograph the other day the writer was struck with the fact that a point on the circumference of the disc makes seventy-eight revolutions a minute exactly the same as any point in nearer to the center. In other words, while a point two Inches, say, from the center is going around a certain number of inches, a point on the outer edge s going around a greatly fncreased number of inches In exactly the same time. _Supposin’ the disc were increased to a diameter of a mile—some record!—and the speed of this huge disc still main- tained at seventy-eight revolutions a minute, how fast would a given jpoint on the edge be going? : Not being a mathematician, I leave {this pretty problem to the burcau of | Standards, naval observatory or any jone of the wucores of statistical jbranches of the government service. { It ought to be easy to work out for a person whose inclinations run quv. way. i * * If one doesn’t happen to “be math- ematical,” being in classification in- discrimately branded as “literary,” it is astounding to remark the ease with which some people can add up tremendous columns of figures or tear the heart out of a diffieult “problem” before it c B Brobje has a chance to There is Maj. Dan Donovan, the District auditor. He can take a row of figures ten feet Jong in his left handf“polue a pencil in his right hand and spin down the columns one after the other, adding them up “just Iike that.” Now if you haven't got the “knack" you could’ camp on the trail of such an array of numerals until you got Dervous prostration and stil not be able to take oath as to the accuracy of the final result. i * * % A non-mathematical gentieman was talking to a couple of Civil Service Commission experts about recent changes made in some of Uncle Sam's tests for entrance into the service. In general clerical tests, to given for the first time this month, the tremendous old “puzzlers” are to be eliminated, and In their stead forty brief questions in practical arithmetic given candidates. All the old questions about “if it takes ninety yards of carpet to cover a hexagonal floor forty feet by sixty feet, how many yards of silk will it take 1o make 'a dress for a woman six feet tall” etc, are given the g0-by “We are going to substitute some- thing brief. something practical, something ‘snappy,’ if you want tu use that term.” the expert said, with pardonable pride. * here—look at this little prob- ," and he read one off the new lem, list. “You can do that, can’t you?” he continued. The listener gave the problem the “once over.” It was brief, it ought to have been easyv enough and he ought to have been able to work it and, perhaps, but- ure!” he replied. We are all like that. * * X But to get back to the phonographs. These instruments have been much maligned. The average person is apt to say something disparaging about “jazz,” and make out as if he were used to listening to nothing except the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. As a matter of fact, the same average person perhaps hasn’t the slightest idea in the world what he means when he speaks of “jazz music.” Have you' Do vou mean the music, or the way it is played? Many people, listening to a good fox- trot tune on a phonograph, brand it as “Jazz,” when there is nothing “jazzy" about It in the world. * * % One word in defense of the fox-trot tune. If Mozart could come back and hear a good fox-trot, with its snappy rhythm and general spirit of motion and life, he would like it. So would Mendelssohn. As for “Papa Haydn,” he would clap his_great hands, swing with the tun and then go put some of the new ef- i fects into a symphony. In some of the symphonies left to us by this old mod- ernist, by the way. are to be found some ' keen fox trots, although they weren't called by that name then. Surely, the man who took a native delight in placing a sudden loud chord in the middle of a soft movement, Haydn did in_his “Surprise Symphony would not_fail to appreciate the tricks of the modern saxophone. 7 CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Heard and Seen| Fifty Years Ago be | LY, in The Star * The deman) for the opening of * libraries and such other places of public use on Sundays Libraries way, made fitry yeard, ago, though it was not’ on Sunday. |, IuE atcerward imn it was generally granted, though some advance had been effected. In The Star of June 24, 1872, is & short editorial on this subject: “The Boston papers are disgusted Wwith the course of Mayor Gaston, who 'hu vetoed the bLill opening the pub- jlc library on Sundays. The plan of {opening libraries on Sunday for the juse of the public has worked so well§ ¢ in other cities that the papers urged the councils to pass the bill over the {mayor's veto. It is strange that re- {lgious people fail to smee thdt the- library is the greatest auxiliary to the preacher for the proper observance of the Sabbath that can be secured,- keeping young people away from vicious haunts on that day. We hope to see the day when the Congress" Library, the Christian Association Library’ and other libraries will be thrown open to the public on Sun- day. Mr. Spofford. the thoughtful and thoroughly informed head of the' Congress Library, favors, if we mis- take not, the opening of that library to the public, not only on evenings, but on Sundays, and would doubi- less give his intelligent co-operation in_any movement to provide such a means of attracting young men fror the pernicious modes of killing time on Sunday now prevailing. This would serve to attract those who will not or do nos go to church: but in order that the plan should harmon- ize with churchgoing, the libraries might be opened on Sunday after- " noons after the main church service of the day has been conclude * * x 4 Though some advance had been made fifty years ago in the matter of city cleanliness all was ’ Insanitary not satistactory to - Washingtonians who Conditions. o0, o pride in the capital as attested by the following in The Star of June 25, 1872: “Without agreeing to all the censure given to the board of health, it must be conceded that they show a hesi- Ilzlll.‘y in dealing with notorious nui- jsances like the manure nuisance on |the river front that does not arguc ' Iwenl for their usefulness. It waus |hoped when the board was created by Congress that, deriving its powers |from that body. it would be abie 1t act independently of local influences. It was fondly hoped that the sway of the voting pig owners, cow dealers, manure gatherers and other nuisadce creators WAas over. But the board seems to expend all its energies iu everlasting talk, and while they de- Ibate as to what they may, can ér must do. disease is gaining a footl: - {hold and our doctors have already their hands full. as is 100 well known. | " Prom the very nature of the casc. what is needed on the part of the board of health is action, not talk Let them abate nuisances and then discuss their power to do so after- |wards. When the long winter even- ings come they can talk ad libitum.” * * *x Announcement in The Star of June 7 1872, that the Baltimore ana Poto- mac railroad would | New Railroad be orened for travel the following week Line Ready. narkea completion of a work in which the people of the District had taken keen interest, ow- ing to the prospect it afforded of re- lief from the monopoly of transporta- tion enjoyed by the Baltimore and Ohio for vears. The Baltimore con- nections were not complete, and for a- time it would be necessary for pas- sengers traveling' north to go by street cars from a temporary depot on Townsend street to connect Wiih other lines of travel. pending the com- pletion -of the tunnel The work of construction was start- ed in 1868, and had been pressed Steadily for four vears. About the Tast thing done in preparation for the opening was the testing of the bridges on the line from Odenton -io Washington. “Three large engines with an aggregate weight of over ninety tons.” according to the news Story, were run over these bridges Which Stood the fest. The length of the line was thirty-seven miles, with nineteen stopp points betweei Washington and Baltimore. The roll- ing stock ready for the opening con- sisted of elghteen first-class and five baggage cars and five four-wheel Baldwin locomotives DIGEST OF FOREIGN PRESS A Revision of the Versailles | Treaty. l PARIS. — Writing in La Victoire, Gustave Herve, its editor, says: “Just as the y‘r:nk(ort treaty en- gendered the war of 1914, so the Ver- sailles treaty will fatally engender a new European catastrophe. Poland is condemned to a fourth dismember- ment unless we bring about a Te- vision of the Versailles treaty to put an end definitely to the century-old animosity between Germany and France. “It need hardly be said that such a revision would necessitate sacrifices on both sides and an immense effort of common sense, honesty and hu- manity. I believe that the French national block, because it is essen- tially a republican block and that it reprasents some of the most noble traditions of French idealism. is not incapable of this effort; in Germany the socialist majority party, the dem- ocratic and the Catholic parties—that is to say, the three parties whose coslition has until now saved the re- public on the other side of the Rhine— sre perhaps also capable of under- standing that this would be a means of rshnhmlnlm"lsegafng;fl in the iversal democracy. e):"Vx\z'I?:l“;‘ou)d republican Trance of- fer republican without abandoning sny of essential rights or principles? “1. The immediate million Germans of A German republic, Wh much Germans as the are Polish, and ns‘::'l': n territory the ‘(‘::::;':nr the "'"e‘.“"'iflfl :erenl‘lr; = . Who Wi e ::;! of terrllo;y“(l}er- ng too near their borders, SO hough united to Germany, might be militarily neutralized. “g. The evacuation ot.tl);:ro:c.:md he allied troops - fi‘:-,::igx’; Uf the status of the Rhine m’“{“"i‘he restitution to Germany of the Saar region after a rectification of frontier which would give us the Saar districts which belanged to France in 1789 and in 1814, and which were takeh from the French in 1815, it being understood that the exploita- tion of the Saar mines would profit France until the restoration of our mines in the north was completed. “4. The restitution to Germany with Poland’s consent, of the old free fown of Dantzig, where the Poles Would only keep @ free port and a narrow zone on the coast between Dantsig and Prussian Pomerania. “5. Suppression of the most fa- vyored nation clause in favor of France in the Versallles treaty and establishment . of commercial rela- tions on equal footing between the tions. 2 . Reatitution to Germany of the Togo and Ca Germany her union of the six ustria with the o are just us Poles of Posen union of form- might offend Rest! part of meroun placed under. Erench mandate. *7, Immediate admission of Ger- many, presented by Poland and France, into the league of nations, and simultaneous limitation of all armaments as soon as Russian condi- tions would alow it. & 78 “On the other hand, what could we demand from the German republic: “1. The solemn repudiation of the German imperial government as be- ing principally responsible for the world war and the stigmatization of the violation of Belgian neutrality. “2. That she should recognize the basis of European justice, th principle of self-determination; that she should admit the legitimity of the Polish resurrection, of the restitution after plebescite of the Polish part of Upper Silesia, and the justice-of res turning_ Slesvig to Denmark and Alsace-Lorraine to France, ] That she should admit her duty to repair to the limit of her power the ruins which imperial Germany kad caused, it being understood that in case of the debts interallied being annulled or reduced, the debt of Ger- man reparations should be reduced in proportion. “4. That the Rhine provinces, on the | right and on the left bank, should be formed into an autonomous state, militarily neutralized, but belonging to the German republic, the evacua- tion of occupied territory should take place immediately after the meeting - of the first Rhineland parliament. “5. That she should give up. the Russo-German treaty and promise to guarantce Poland and Rumania ageinat all unprovoked aggression by bolshevist Russia. “This seems to me to be a reasona- ble basis for a peace treaty between France, Poland and Germany, which in time would do away with the ani- mosity which centuries of war have accumulated between our two mna- tions. Why should not the men of good faith which exist in our two countries try this revision of the Ver- sailles aty at a time when on both sides of the Rhine the remem- brance of the horrors of war is still present in everybody's mind? “I feel sure that even Clemenceav, confronted with the danger whRen threatens Poland and the still greater danger to entire civilization caused by the bolshevists, would accept, if he wore In power, 2 modification of his Versailles work which would put France so high in the esteem qf Eng- land, the United Statés and the rest of humanity. Duke to Sell 60,000 Asres. = LONDON.—The Duke of Richmond - and Gordon is to sell his Huntly es- tates in Aberdeenshire, extending over 60,000 acres, according fo. the. Evening News. ~ He is retainihg Ml’eltl!l.l n luQR shire and Morayshire. S ‘The property to be sold ‘includ fully 350 excellent -farms and th crofts and fens of Huntly town. The estates passed to the prese: duke in 1903 8 it e o o. In- the.. rates- G other burdens 525, ool : [ oA