Evening Star Newspaper, November 30, 1922, Page 6

r 6 THE EVENING STAR, With Sunday Morning Edition. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., separating of French and British pol-| of those who have contributed will be' i icles with respect to Germany. What ' wasted if this pageant does not teach the consequences would be no man | its lesson, does not convince the thou- THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1922. CAPITAL KEYNOTES NEW BOOKS WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY. . November 30, 1922 | -Editor | 1 THEODORE W. NOYES. The Evening Star Newspaper Company oBusiness Office. 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office 0 Nassau St Chicago Office: Tower Building. Karopean Office : 16 Rtegent St., Lndon, England. The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning editlon, is delivered by carriers within the city &t 80 cents per month daily only, 45 cents ger month: Sunday only, 20 cents per month. Or- ders may be sent by mail, or telephone Main 5000. “Collection is made by carriers at the end of each wonth. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Datly and Sunday..1y ; 1 mo., T0¢ | Dalily only. 1 mo., 50c l Bunday oniy. i1 mo., 20¢ All Other State: \ Daily and Sunday..1 yr. $10.00; 1 mo., 85¢ Daily only. 1yr., $7.00:1 mo., 60c 1yr., $3.00;1mo., 35¢c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled 20 the use for republication of all news dis- tehes credited to it or not otherwise credit in_this paper and w'so the local news pub- lished herein. All rights of publication of apecja) +anatehes horein are also reserve Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving day is here again, latest of a long series of occasions when the nation expresses its grati- tude for blessingsebestowed by Provi- dence. Never since the institution of this custom has reason been lacking for such expression., In the darkest days, in times of the deepest anxiety, ‘when Nature has scemed to turn her most evil for against humanity, ! when the very life of the republic has been in peril, there hus been some | cause for thanksgiving, some hope for the future, some ground for faith in the cure of immediate evils and the | regainin ty and happiness. This year there no grounds for gloom, no causes for despair, no rea- of prospe sons to question the continued ad- vance of the people of America toward @ higher plane of life, a physical. mental and moral betterment. On the other hand, there ny reasons for gratitude for bestowed. No great pi befallen the land since last the people paused on this appointed day to give thanks. Misfortunes have. of cou . befallen, ach tudy occurred, but on the th ‘wastes of 1 has been views of which may risks and sacrifices in fu it Abundant | karvests have been reaped and pros- perity has prevailed. Industrial losses have bheen suffered through mistakes of judgment and failures of minds to meet that should be harmonious in the adjustment of the relations be- tween those who labor and those who kire. Even now the people are suf- fering somewhat from the conse- quences of these mistakes, but no calamity has come and with care no serious suffering will ensue. Once again the | have been called upon to express themselves at the polls on questions affecting their Jocal and national interests, and they have cast their ballots for the sixty- elghth time since the government was founded, with every evidence of clear judgment and sound belief in the fundamental principles of the Ameri- can institution. While other lands are rocked with revolt or with dan- gerous political upheavals, the United States continues, with changes, it is true, but without disruption or men- acing strain. Thanksgiving in 1922 finds us sound and well and pressing onward as a people, gaining in intelligence, solv- ing our problems as they arise in the best light available and in a spirit! of construction. patiently progressing egainst prejudice and ill-design, al greatly favored people. reduce ople The Bloc in Legislation. About this so-called bloc business. Does anybody understand it? Have those who have formed the blocs on | Capitol Hill, and are employing them in the legislative equation, thought out the problem thoroughly? Is there any assurance that in the end a sort | of chaos will not result and that we shall not witness the amazing and expensive spectacle of every bloc for itself and devil take the hindmost? | The party system we are all tammar! with. That has been in operation | from the beginning. It is by no means| perfect, and hence does not produce perfect results. The fact is we should not know ‘what to do with perfect results if they came our way. They might disor- ganize us, Nothing is or could be on & perfect basis in governmental affairs. ; But the party system in its hundred- | odd years of service has produced many excellent results, and, operating with it, we have built up a govern- ment which in world conditions of appalling confusion and Incertitude is the strongest government in ex- istence. It is so strong .the other governments are flirting with it for recognition and favor. Let us move cautfously, if further at all, in this bloc business. It would be most unfortunate and expensive | if we found that, after taking our party system to pieces, we could not arrange the pieces for effective serv- ice, and had only produced a new sort of Chinese puzzle, interesting enough as a study, but without practical value as a legislative agency. ————— As a speed artist William G. McAdoo gets better results from a simple motor car than he gets from a political band wagon. i Seizure of the Ruhr. ‘That seizure of the Ruhr basin is seriously contemplated by the French government unless there is satisfac- tory and early adjustment of the rep- erations problem is indicated by dis- patches from Paris. Such a step has been made-the subject of cabinet coun- cils, and, while official confirmation of | the program is lacking, it appears to have the coloring of authenticity. There seemingly is every reason to belleve the Poincare ministry is re- =sived upon independent action if the Jermans default payments due Jan- uary 15, and if in the meantime a sat- isfactory reparations formula has not ‘been worked out by the Brussels con- ferenes r otherwise. i Seizure of the Ruhr would be the ‘most serious step taken by any of the great powers since signing of the ar- mistice, and would mark a definite 1 can foretell. It might precipitate a crisis which would bring the whole shaky European fremework tumbling down. And it might be a stabilizing influence on that decidedly unstable continent. If the despair which Ger- many professes s sincere, seizure of the Ruhr might be the final straw to break the Teuton's back and cause him to give up the struggle. If his professed despair is camouflage and bluffing, as the French believe, it might be the thing needed to bring him to his senses and to realization that he cannot make a scrap of paper of the treaty of Versalilles. Whatever the outcome, it would be a heroic remedy to apply and would be justified only on the ground that |in no other way could the situation be saved. However much they may disagree as to the proper remedy, there is general agreement among the allles that the present situation is intoler- able and that some way must be found to end it, It has seemed that every concession made to Ger- many, every easement of the peace terms, has resulted only in demand for more concessions and further ease- ment. At no stage has Germany manifested appreciation or a willing- ness to make real effort to discharge her obligations. Viewed in this light, the patience France has shown and the restraint she has placed upon her- self have been really marvelous. Con- fronted by a budget deficit of $350,- 000,000, with everything going outand nothing coming in from across the Rhine, it is little wonder the Paris government has reached a point where patience no longer seems a vir- tue and further restraint an evidence of weakn Whether or not the thing France contemplates doing is the wise thing to do, the world will sympathize with her resolution that something must be done. The Ship Bill. Passage of the merchant marine bill by the House yesterday carries that measure to the Senate for the early consideration that the President in his recent address urged and for the purpose of which the special session of Congress was called. The margin in the House was twenty-four votes, not as large a majority as some had predicted, yet sufficient to give the bill the prestige of a clear pronounce- ment by the House. This majority, it may be noted. was that which was at first estimated, indlcating that the lines as drawn when Congress reas- mbled were not changed by the dis- cussion of a week. The urgent reasons for the adoption of this measure, which the President so strongly advanced in his address to Congress, remain now as potent for the passage of the bill as when they were first stated. It is believed that a majority of the Senate favors the bill, with possibly some modifica- tions, and that if a vote can be taken before adjournment on March 4 its enactment will be effected. ‘But the opposition has resources in the upper branch of Congress for delay that may be utilized to block the way. All of the appropriation bills must be passed within a little more than three months — less, indeed, than three i months, if the usual holiday recess is taken. The question now, therefore, is whether the friends of this legis- lation, so vital to the maintenance of American shipping, can press it to passage in the short period remaining of the life of the Sixty-seventh Con- gress. This question is now better under- stood by the people of the country through the President's clear state- ment of the case. He put it before Congress in terms that everybody can grasp. Already signs eppear of a favorable reaction on this matter from the people in regions not inti- mately concerned in the merchant marine question—that is, the people of the interior states, to whom the American commercial fleet is but a name. Thanks to the broadcast pub- lication of the President's address, a prejudice against “subsidy” has been removed from many minds end the people see more clearly that it is now proposed simply to apply to the busi- ness of cargo carrying under the American flag the same principles of government assistance that have been heretofore applied to American manu- facturing, to American farming, to American internal navigation, under that same flag. A minority can sometimes defeat the will of the people in the Senate. The ship bill should be promptly re- ported and vigorously pressed, with lengthened hours of session if neces- sary, to test once again the question whether majority rules. —_——mer————— Germany’s present lack of funds is rendered doubly embarrassing by the fact that she derived no enjoyment whatever from the manner in which her resources were squandered. —_———— The Hall case has at least been disposed of in & way that creates no fear that an innocent party has suf- fered. France is not bragging about fur- nishing eny Paris costumes for the ex-kaiser's wedding. The Safety Parade. Tomorrow at noon a parade will sands of the people that through care, alone op thelr part can the awful sac- | rifice of life in the streets be lelnned.l Every one who beholds tomorrow's parade should remember the ninety- seven children who were killed in the streets of Washington last year. They should remember the homes saddened by these accidents. Every person who drives a machine should as the floats pass resolve to be always careful and considerate, and every person who walks should remember that it is his duty to himself and his family to pro- ceed with caution in the streets. If this parade produces its true and full effect Washington will be safer in the months and years to come as long as the impression of this vivid demonstration remains. ———t————— Senator Couzens. The new senator from Michigan is quoted for this: It i8 too early to take a position on national affairs, as a careful and well thought out conclusion on each sub- ject must be reached before declaring myself. It is too easy to rush Into print with snap judgments on every subject. ve had too much expe- rience with others doing this to fall into the same error. Therefore, I hope those who are interested in my convictions wili have patience until I can reach an Informed opinlon. I have always been a republican and will continug to be so, but T hope I may be considered as a progressive one. In this sign Mr. Couzens should conquer—should go far in national politics. He is not a know-all. He jhas a desire to understand matters, and doubtless also the industry and capacity to investigate them. He will not declare himself on any mat- ter until he feels he does under- stand it. He will need all of his industry. There is a good deal on the Senate’s card. Considerable feeling exists as to much of it. More feeling is likely to be aroused as time passes. The filibustering spirit is up and active now under its own name. The con- fession is frank. Later it may show in unconfessed form. When is a filibuster not a fili- buster? Never! Whether confessed or not, a filibuster stirs up feeling and makes the going hard. Mr. Couzens, therefore, will walk right into an atmosphere charged with ]ymlltlt‘s a hundred per cent strong. ‘There are in action two parties and several blocs and they are busy with many problems. It is a situation taxing to veterans. It is certain therefore to tax him, who is just entering upon his novitiate. If he likes hard work and plenty of it, he will like Washington. 1 Military titles are being bestowed for services rendered by plain civil- ians during the world war. Decora- tions for peaceful people exert a mild, idealistic influence, but this was not the way old Napoleon played the game. ! ‘Whether the admonition “Don’t get hurt” is interpreted as kindly advice or an implied threat depends largely on the mood of the person at the steering wheel. l No good politician announces his aspirations for the presidency so far ahead of the convention that his! rivals have all the time they need: to suppress his boom. | } If Europe were prosperous, though irritable, and the U. S. A. attempted to interfere, Clemenceau would prob- ably be over here telling us to mind our own business. 4 Revenues for the government will be more abundant if some way can be found to compel the bootlegger to pay taxes. l A hunger strike substitutes a hos- pital for a jail. Many people would be almost as willing to go to one as to the other. i Old-world diplomacy used to regard | American politics as a problem, and now turns to it as a solution. i Prison philanthropists naturally resent a hunger strike as a reflection on the bill of fare. f SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. A Promise, I shall not write the good old wheeze That trembles on my pen. Some ancient jokelet meant to please Oft mars the moods of men. T'll hold my peace, and strive to be Both serious and meek, Attempting no perfunctory glee— For this is Safety week. I shall .not spring the timeworn jest About Thanksgiving turk. ‘The faithful gibe deserves a rest From years of overwork. None shall discover an excuse, A just revenge to wreak, Because I turn that old turkjoke loose— For this is Safety week. Duties. “What are the principle duties of a great politiclan like yourself?"” “It seems,” answered Senator Sor- form and pass through the streets of | ghum, “as if the principle duty of a ‘Washington as a feature of Safety week, a wide variety of visual demon- strations calculated to impress the jminds of the people of Washington with need of care in the streets, care both afoot and awheel. This pageant of safety, as it may be called, is planned on the largest scale ever attempted in Washington in this connection. It will include many striking features, picturesque and col- orful, ingenious in invention and ex- pression. It cannot fail to react strongly upon all who behold it, and timed at noon, as it is, it must as- suredly reach the maximum of the community. But this should not be a mere dis- play for entertainment, an object of passing interest, & public performance to divert the crowd. It is not so in- tended. Everything depends upon the spirit in which it is received. All the effort of preparation, all the cost and the labor and the earnest free services politician is to remind his constituents that it's their duty to keep on voting for him.” Jud Tunkins says & man who is al- ways practicin’ economy gets to be almost as disagreeable as a man who is always practicin’ on the cornet. Midnight Oil. No time from study you should lose, Not spare from useful toil. But midnight oil in vain you'll use It it is fusel ofl. Safety. “They tell me that Crimson Gulch is to have a safety week." replied Cactus Joe. “The only difficulty is that some of the boys still insist that the best chance for safety is to shoot first.” “De glad hand,” sald Uncle Eben, “am’ allus a helpin’ hafjd.” - ECENTLY an automobile, al- leged to e been driven by bootleggers, collided with a machine in which two law- ablding citizens were riding. For- tunately no one was killed. The cit- izens of the District of Columbia pur- chase licenses tags, which are sup- Pposed to assist in the upkeep of the streets. They also purchase licenses if they want to travel in Maryland. It is understood that when citizens comply with the laws, national and state, they are to be afforded full protection. There has been entirely too much wild, reckless driving throughout the country, and now to the added danger from rattle-brained automobilists comes the added men- ance of rogues who are endeavoring to escape from the clutches of the law. It iz high time that adequate protection is given to the law-abiding motorists. A heavy, high-powered automobile is generally employed by those who are engaged in the illicit traffic, and one of these heavy cars going at the rate of sixty miles an hour is very apt to not only demolish the machine with which it comes in contact, but either to kill the occu- | pants of the car or to maim them for life. It {8 suggested that offenders | of this class be given the limit, and if the limit means only a short time in Jail, then the period of incarceration | be increased by law to an extent that will cause even a bootlegger to hesi- tate to drive his car beyond the legal speed limit. A ried and, while the bride had a fair knowledge of how things should be cooked, she was not what you would * ok ok x BEAUTIFUL maid and a sturdy | young chap were recently mar- | HERE and THERE in WASHINGTON BY “THE MAJOR” i | | i mud and triumphantly showed it to his helpmate, the coffee was done, cloth was spread; in fact, all the pre- liminaries were completed. The fowl was a beautiful brown, one of those dark and golden shades; a rare treat was to be enjoyed, but with all his knowledge of the woods the young husband had forgotten to remove the interfor mechanism of what might have been an excellent roasting chicken. * x K X% WRITER friend of mine, & Hoosler, told me of a thing that had happened to him while he was home on his vacation a short time ago. It seems that the town in which he lived, when a boy, contains & num- ber of men who have had the great misfortune to lose their eyesight, and the majority of them who have suf- fered this great loss have turned their talents to piano tuning, in whica they have proved particularly adept. The sightless ones are quite dexterous and seemingly have little trouble of find- ing their way around the city. The majority of them board in a hotel where my friend stopped while at home. Upon returning one night to the hostelry he mistook the door of one of the piano tuners for his own and entered. As he pushed open the door he stumbled. Striking a match, he found the switch and turned on the electric light; he noted with amazement a man sitting in a chair. It was one of his blind friends, and after apologizing for having entered his room, he said: “How Is it you are up so late at night when you work hard all day long?” To which the other replied: “Why, I have been reading, and on his knees reposed a Braile book.” To my friend it was uncanny, but it resulted, when here- call a post-graduate in the culinary | turned to Washington, in his sending art. A Sunday or so ago the twain in a check to an institution that de- hopped in their roadster and sped|Votes its time in assisting those who out into the country—they had elect- | ever live in darkness. ed to cook their migday meal over a camp fire. It would be a pleasant de- parture from the dally routine. The * k x X E shades of Chateau Thierry! Ye vaunted prowess of the marine, young husband on the day before had | the soldier of the sea! After all that stopped at the market place and ex- has been written and sung about the changed a goodly sum of coln for|courage and wonderful fighting spirit what he was assured was a splendid | specimen of a roasting chicken. They arrived at the side of a little brook, a re was built, the fowl was covered vith a thin coatlng of mud, friend husband assured her that that was the way all of his friends pre- parcd chicken when out in the wood: an hour or so elapsed, fresh faggots were thrown on the glowing gmbers, 2 blaze sprang into being and the coffee pot was placed thereon. While the water was boiling the young hus- band skillfully removed the mass of for ! of this wonderful body of men I saw a sight on 15th street a day or so ago that will, when the news of it reaches the Secretary of the Navy, the commanding general, and all the other brave, gallant, fearless members of this organization, cause them to bow their heads in humiliation. Never again will the morale be the same, and all because one sergeant of the organ- ization walked up one, of the main thoroughfares of the nation's capital with, and can you imagine it, an um- brella in his hand. EDITORIAL DIGEST Editors Hold Widely Difl'erenti: Views on Ship Subsidy Plan. Presldent Harding's message to the special sesslon of Congress urging the passage of the ship subsidy bill as a measure of economy to replace the existing system has been received with varying opinions by editors. The dissension in Congress over the bill is reflected in the views expressed concerning the merits of the legisla- tion generally. “The truth Is” says the Newark News (independent), “that American | i labor and American capital find more | profitable employment ashore than afloat, and any effort to lure them, where they will not go in open com petition, of their free volition, is arti- ficial and bound to prove abortive in the long run. The policies of high tarift walls and ship subsidies are the opposite poles of the economics of trade” It is the belief of the Boltimore Sun_(de; h trouble with Mr. Harding’s logic is that the course he advises is largely experimental. And if Mr. Harding is beaten In the Senate on his subsidy policy by a combination of democrats and progressive republicans he | should_certainly, on his own show- ing, call an extra sessfon of Congress after March 4 to deal with this per- plexing problem in fts own way. The New York Evening World (demo- cratic) likewise inquires whether “‘the President has stopped to consider that some of the ‘resolute hostilit, against a_ship subsidy may come from a public capable of seeing that, granting the genuineness of the ship problem, the Fordney-McCumber tariff and the Harding foreign policy of isolatlon form a discouraging com- bination against American ships seek- ing goods to carry.” Sharp opposition is voiced by the Knoxville Sentinel (democratic), which believes it is better for the American people to bear the ills of the shipping situation they have than fly to certainty of greater ills they are sure to experi- ence if placed at the mercy of the ship subsidy leeches. They know what it costs them for their govern- ment to run the ships. They will never know from one Congress to an- other what it will cost them for the private interests to run them at the government expense.” The position of the President, the Syracuse Herald (independent) be- lieves, is “strong in points, but weak in the sense that his appeal for gov- ernment aid comes on the heels of a tariff enactment that struck a damag- ing blow at cur whole foreign trade. It is the opinion of the Boston Tran- script (Independent republican), how- ever, “that the choice is between gov- ernment aid and government owner- ship,” and It favors the former. The Petersburg Progress (independent) characterizes the proposal as “funda- mentally_unsound,” while the Norfolk Ledger Dispatch, assuming a direct- 1y opposite position, cites the letter of J. R. Howard, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, arguing that the farmer “will benefit by the proposed subsidy,” as a proper reply to the farm bloc opposition in Congress. The facts cited by the President “outweigh heavily any ar- guments in opposition,” in the opinion of the Albany News (independent re- publican), which says three courses are open to Congress, “one construc- tive, one obstructive and one destruc- tive.” The suggested relief would not be of any use, the Buffalo Times democratic), says, as “the subsidy plan, while Volsteadism persists, is not even an experiment with a chance of success. It is sheer waste. It is throwing $30,000,000 a year into the sinkhole of Volsteadism.” As the Rochester Times Union (in- dependent) sees the proposal, “it lacks popular support; is a measure for which there is no demand; would be an abuse of authority and a breach of confidence and ought certainly to be defeated.” Unless the opponents have a “better plan,” the Chicago News (indepnedent) holds that “the alter- native is either destruction of the at merchant marine, acquired by this nation at prodigious cost, or con- tinuation of government operation of some of its ships in uneconomic and unfair competition with private ves- sels to the detriment of both, so that Congress can hardly hesitate as to the choice and its plain duty.” This is the opinion as well of the Harrisburg Telegraph (independent), which says “the question to be decided is whether the government shall abandon the ships entirely, keep them going at a loss of $50,000,000 a year less mail service and other charges saved. But Congress won't look on the subject dispassionately from a purely pa- triotic and business standpoint, for the simple reason that Congress isn't built that way.” The President’s plan is characterized bw the Pittsburgh Leader (progressive republican) as “the constructive way,” and it savs mocratic) that ‘‘the} hat “the obstructionists and destruc- ionists were given a bad half hour by President Harding's address.” Un- less the President will “insist on laws denying the right of subsidized ves- to form combinations with each other and with foreign transporta- tion concerns and compels them to meet the lowest competition,” the De- troit News (independent) thinks “the President will have loat, by sheer lack of foresight, the battle he himself made, and with the battle more im- portant things besides.” There is a “placing of the cart be- fore the horse” in the subsidy plan, the Dayton News (democratic) as- serts. as “the common sense approach to this whole question is to give at- tention first to the creation of mar- kets: to an improved svstem of credits, particularly in agricultural regions: to impose business funda- mentals upon the railroads, and then give unprejudiced attention to the ships of the seas. The trouble with the administration is that it is, ap- parently at least, not now able to sense the conditions either national or international. It has {mmeshed itself into a perfect tangle of eco- nomic incongruities.” This Degenerating Race. According to an authority quoted at a meeting of the national commit- tee for the prevention of blindness every person in the United States will be wearing glasses within a_century. This sounds alarming. but after ali it is only a minor item in the list of predicted degenerations which _the human race is about to suffer. That sooner or later everybody in the world will be bald-headed is one of the established doctrines of blological prophets, and they are equally certain that mankind is rushing headlong to- ward a toothless future. . . There are further aspects of the outlook which need consideration. The automobile is rapidly depriving the people of the natural use of their legs, which are said to be gradually shrinking toward a merely vestigial existence owirg to constant disuse, and the devolopment of the aeroplane threatens to hasten _this process, which wil be still further accelerated by the radio. Already the world takes most of l(uI music mechanically and there is no particular reason why books should not be published phonographically, thereby doing away with reading, which would seem to be one of the natural consequences of disappearing eyesight. Food is progressing in re. finement toward the point where it will come precooked, premasticated and predigested, which suggests that the bother of eating may be abolished, and as to drinking, Mr. Volstead has already taken care of that. Evidently this discussion might be indefinitely extended, but it has proceeded far enough to point to the conclusion that the human race is moving to- ward a state in which men will be immobile, unappendaged and senseless. —Detroit Free Press. If we got everything we wanted there wouldn't be room to put it any- where.—Kalamazoo Gazette. ular man is one who has a A pop! cellar that will give him about 200 smiles "o the gallon.—Birmingham ews. No doubt, the parting words of the sultan were: “I am sorry I have not more wives to leave to my country.”— Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. “Diva Reduced to Tears.”—Headline. This beats Mary Garden, who reduced to llt‘: pounds.—Little Rock (Ark.) Ga- ze! 3 The funny thing about a business AT RANDOM SOME IMPRESSIONS OF MY ELD- ERS. St. John Ervine. (Mac- millan.) Two easy chairs and, in between, a hearth-fire shedding that warmth and twilight under which speech opens out into intimacy and mere listening becomes an eager and sym- pathetic partaking. * ok x % This {8 simply one’s homemade setting for St. John Ervine's “Some Impressions of My Elders.” When, in its effect upon the reader, a book re- fuses to remain a book, but turns into a personal experlence instead, then a tangible place must be sup- plied for the pursuit of the adventure. And, so, one’'s own providing, Mr. Ervine, in most companionable ~ mood, talks about some of the older members of his craft—about Arnold Bennett and George Moore, about Gilbert Chester- ton and Bernard Shaw and Gals- vao.r%:' and Wells and Yeats and * x * % Now, it this were a proper book— Which it is not—instead of a live company—which it f{s—then, each man here would be put into a partic- ular place—into a cell, so to speak, guarded by the jealous keepers of the sacred claptrap of literary composi- tion. And, indeed, Mr. Ervine does make a gesture toward this business of individual quarantine and isola- tion. Almost at once, however, he gives it up, knowing—none better— that live things {nvariably refuse to stay put. Therefore, these men step out from their own set places, at will, irresistibly drawn together by the disagrecements as well. The result is that, while each separate group of impressions” centers about a single figure—say, Galsworthy, or Shaw, or another—it takes about all of the re- maining seven to light him up ade- qQuately through both the likenesses and the differences that these others shed upon him. This plan projects a continuous coming and going on the part of all. No, there Is no confusion from the use of this method—this no- method, the strict constructionists will have it—no more confusion than exists when a number of people meet in actuality. The book stands as a study in life, rather than as an ex- cursion into literature. One of its admirable points. * * k% The author behind his book excites 2 keener general curiosity than does the exponent of any other profession or craft. Especially is this true of the authors of fiction. Let Mary Rob- erts Rinehart attend a tea in Wash- ington, or Irvin Cobb occupy a box at the ball game, or Rupert Hughes walk along F street, and, immediate- lv, each of these occasions becomes, for the moment, a matter of special 8tir and comment. There is a reason for our personal interest in them. The material of the story-teller is a part of our material. Everybody has a share {n the universal gift of imagi- nation, though but a chosen few are able to weave into a seeming reality the fleeting fabric of our dreams. We marvel at these magiclans, and ad- mire them. and envy them a little, and want to know every manner of thing about them. In these impressions Mr. Ervine gives innumerable inti- mate and revealing touches, rounding the book to a full and satisfying measure. ! * x x x Curious groups form here, and sep- arate, and form again. For instance. the pairing off of Arnold Bennett and George Moore is, upon its face, a most unlikely thing. But, as it turns out, there s the bond of debtor and credi- !tor here. Years ago—so the story | runs—when Arnold Bennett was a journalist producing, meanwhile, an occastonal novel of sorts, he came, one day, upon a Story whose setting was the barren “Five Towns” in one of which he himself was born. Al arid spot, this, {ts soil hostile to ro- benefit of the miners to be enabled | mance, or so this native would have thought, had he thought about it at all. Yet. here in his hand was George Moore's “A Mummers Wife.” product of the five towns, a piece of real life Wwrought to the form of an admirable art. This novel roused Bennett—so it is said—to the drama of the com- monplace, to the romance of familiar things. Subsequently “The Old Wives' Tale” and its famous sucoes- sors gave splendid support to this discovery. must have fliched “A Mummers Wife.” reading it by stealth as well, since the index expurgatorius, or its Prot- estant equivalent, had against it, following up the edict by sweeping all the library shelves clean of this offense against good morals and good taste. Today “A Mummer's Wife" reads like a Story of compara- tive restraint and circumspection. Times have changed. With the rise of the tribe of Ben Hecht new stand- | ards have lifted George Moore's bar- barism into a polite and innocuous { modern classic. *x x x % One likes to stay around in the company of Arnold Bennett. He is 8o incorrigibly young. Mr. Ervine himself seems like a grandfather by {the side of this gallant youngster, who is, in reality, one of the ‘“‘elders.” “There is not anything, made by God or man, which does not interest Mr. Bennett. Familiarity breeds contempt in the most of us, but it does not breed contempt in him. He never gets used to things.” This is why the sun stands still in the heavens for Arnold Bennett. He has the zest to play with the young folks, gathering, inci- dentally, that intuitive hold upon the outlook, the feelings, the be- haviors of youth, especlally of the young women, as these figure so life- likely in his novels. Bennett paints pictures. He loves music. He has a passion for dancing that “threatens to keep him jigging through ballrooms for the rest of his life.” One hopes so. More power to his fiying feet! * k % *x But one must be getting along. A column is an inexorable thing. Yet, here is Mr. Wells, that prodigious man {who, over night, can create a new so- clal or political world and, what s more, he can pass out of the old into the new before morning. without any mover's fuss whatever. To the great powers of this man of instinctive and many-sided growth, Mr. Chester- ton, “one of the most appreciative men in the world,” pays the boyish- ly enthusiastic tribute of saying, “You lie awake nights and hear him | grow.” To this Mr. Ervine smilingly | revival s that those who have faiths adds, “unless one lies awake at night are not the ones at the mourners’ bench.—Rochester Times-Union. Let the Tiger eat his onion soup for breakfast; he kisses people only on the cheek.—Norfolk Ledger-Dis- patch. The Supreme Court may be e: - ed to put on more airs than ever. It has & Butler now.—Philadelphia Rec- ord. ‘Washington escaped one burden in his time. It was more than 100 years after his death before he word “radi- i t! cal” became an epithet.—Detroit News. A. B. See apparently’ belleves that the education of woman should not go beyond the three letters so. de- 1ightfully reproduced in his name. Yet an elevator man ought to stand for elevation.—New York World. Mr. Harding’s pleasing reference in his address to “the seas” sug- ‘gests that the President was brought up in the bellef that it was the cod- fishes that made the ocecn salt—Bos- ton Transcript. @ and merely hears him changing his mind” * ® ® And there is Yeats, the raven. No, no, he does not croak. On the contrary, he sings “a heavenly strain”—remote and cryptio as heavenly strains are wont to be. It is only the sable covering of his body and soul that suggests the dolorous bird of blackness. * * * And there are ithe others, Shaw and Galsworthy and |the beloved “A. E.” ® ¢ ® And then those moments, too, when Mr. Ervin in his own person as an Irishman- “I am as Irish in my origin and emo- fons as any man"—says true and passionate things to Ireland and the Irish people. * % ¥ ¥ The prime pleasure of this book lles in getting somewhat personally acquainted with a group of men, who, as writers, are already preity well known. And, then, too, the pleasure of Ervine himself—waywise to the craft, a fair criticc & friendly man with hnmlls‘r; and :cnn‘oh and attnl!xhl’m speaking 8¢ WATD for e woof of his good g L from this definite corner of | By the way, Mr. Bennett | declared | BY PAUL V. COLLINS. Chairman Langley of the House committee on public bulldings and grounds belleves that the government ought to own, and not rent, buildings needed for public use. He has an- nounced that his committee will pro- pose a blanket program to that end, which will result, if adopted, in the immediate crection of many.govern- ment buildings in Washington; for the government is now spending hun- dreds of thousands of dollars on rentals of old buildings, privately owned. In hardly any instance are the old buildings really adapted to the u: to which they are put. and the rental must be high enough to enable the owners to keep them up. It goes without saving that when a landiord knows that he is renting to Uncle {Sam he does not lower his rental too {extravagantly. { 1t has always been the policy of the Ign\'ernmenl to carry its own insur- lance. No fire insurance is ever car- Iried on a public building, since, In case of loss, it I8 assumed that the government is as well able to cover the loss as any private insurance com- pany. Yet the government. with its practically unlimited resources, hires the investments of individuals for its offices. Mr. Langley is right in de- claring that such a course is incon- sistent and extravagant. * * % x But just what Is in the mind and purpose of the chairman when he an- nounces that the proposed buildings are not to be “monumental” in de- sign? Surely the vision which con- ceives the need of government butld- ings will also recognize that we are building for future ages. We should not erect merely plain “business blocks,” out of harmony with other government buildings and inconsist- ent with the dignity of the nation. 1f all that Congress would consider at present would be an economy row, by all means remodel the temporary shacks built to meet the war emer- gency and let them continue to serve temporary usefulness until the coun- try is ready for permanent gtructures, artistic and adequate. Such is the attitude of members of Congress, who may decide to hold back thelr in- dorsement of the Langley program unless it proves to be committed to a plan of real construction for the future centuries. They point with pride to the Capitol, the Treasury and War and Navy bulldings, the Con- gressional Library and the Senate and { House office buildings, and say that ino government building should lower the standard already set. Washing- ton, the city beautiful, should main- tain the dignity of the great nation of which it is the heart. * X X % The Retail Coal Merchants' Associa- tion has recommended to the Federal Coal Commission that consumers be urged to lay in their year's stocks of coal during the summer months, 80 as to equalize the demand, and thereby keep the miners at work the year round. That is indisputably a desir- able aim, it is argued from the con- {sumers’ standpoint, that all the reso- {lutions and recommendations of that !nature are so one-sided, in the in- {terest of the producers and handlers jof coal, that nothing of a substantial inature will come of the recommenda- {tion. The whole burden of the recom- imendation, they say, will fall upon the far-sighted consumer, who s asked to capitalize his stock of coal, Imany months before he will need it. The way to bring about that practice is to make an inducement to the sum- mer buyer, by fixing attractive prices !in summer, much lower than prices of jwinter sales. There is some differ- ence in price already. but the evidence that the difference is inadequate lies lin the fact that it does not produce Isufficlent reaction on the part of the ibuyers: else they would buy in sum- {mer, or in such months as gave the |right inducement, all things consid- jered. * % ¥ * It would most certainly be to the {to work 300 davs a year, instead of {less of 100 to 200. How much is that {worth? This is a question of pure | economics, not of sentiment. All the !resolutions and recommendations in !the world will simply swing around {the circle and come back to the eco- | nomic point: *What is it worth to the sellers for the buyers to co-operate?” What is the measure of the value of an all-year market, as compared with a three-months selling season? All that can be figured out, so that a !special price can be scheduled for each month, which will equalize the tax or interest which would fall upon the buyer. P Of course this season’s conditions are special, on account of the strike, but strikes would not be so likely if the whole business were standarized, to avoid doing a vear's selling in three months. Everybody would be benefited—miners, sellers and con- sumers. Washington is said, by deal- ers, to be 20,000 tons short of even To those who serve In high office the ways of Washington promise rich reward after the days of service are over. Washington makes—and often breaks—her adopted sons. She impoverishes a poor man by her calls upon his purse. She demands entertaining and a scale of living far beyond her scale of salarles. She squeezes her victim comfortably dry and turns him loose. Then, likely as not, he makes his fortune. Take McAdoo, for instance. As war-time Secretary of the Treas- ury McAdoo handled more money than any other American, iiving or dead. He was & poor man when he came to \Washington, and the longer he stayed the poorer he got. He had to leave office to make a living. Oscar Price, one of his subordinates, got him his first jnlli after he left the overnment pay roll. B rice was director of publlcity of one of the liberty loans—the second, I think. Also, he was & man of ideas. One day he asked Douglas Fairbanks, the movie star: “Did you ever stop to consider the trend of the movies today?” “Whaddyemean, trend of the mov- asked Fairbanks. ust this: The big producers are gradually coming to featuer the star Jess and the company more.” Price showed an advertisement to back up his assertion. The company was fea- tured; the stars were not. Doug saw the point. “Well, what do you think ought to be done about it?” he asked. Price tilted his cigar at a higher angle and looked out the window. “Form your own company,” he coun- seled, presently. Doug went home, nursed the idea and came back. Not long after the Fairbanks-Pickford-Chaplin combina- tion was announced. At the same time a second company was formed—a company to take over the selling end of the new combination. Price was put at the head of the seliing company. His salary—but why go into the question of movie salaries? It was reported to be fabulous, and undoubtedly it was a corker. ‘When his boss resigned—maybe = little before that—Price went to him. » & THE WAYS OF WASHINGTON BY WILLIAM PICKETT HELM. 1its quota of 60 per cent of its normal supply. * *x % % ‘While poking up the furnace, do not forget that the snow must be cleaned ©off the sidewalk before you dare go to the office. If the snow be neglected more than eight hours after it falls the city will clean it off, charging the property owner all the expense, plus 325 penalty for each snowfall. It has already begun to snow in Washing- ton. There are some compensations in this violent exercise of shoveling snow. Recent science tells us that deep breathing will prevent varicose veins and bald heads. We grow baid by not using our lungs sufficiently. Maybe that explains the long hair of musicians and some statesmen. That long-haired and world-renowned Pole, combined statesman and pianist, must |have shoveled a lot of snow in his day. The spirit of tolerance permits plcket- jers to pester the President and malign cabinet officials and abuse the govern- ment generally with banners tending to bring the government into contempt. Yet as soon as pickets disturbed a eign legation they were arrested. any one speaks disrespectfully of & judge on the bench, or writes cri of court decisions, he is held in co) tempt of court, but contempt of the chief executive and his advise flaunted at the very gates of the House. Does tolerance justify leniency? * % % % It is most gratifying to learn President Harding is taking a I personal interest in the preservatior Rock Creek and the development of the park which takes it name from that charming natural feature. The Board of Trade deserves all praise for ing & movement to save the bits of for- est remaining along the creek. Action must be positive, next spring, or it will be too late to stop buflding projects at the expense of the forest trees. Another project of importance is the heautif: of the river bank in the region of ¢ navy yard and docks. ** x x Perhaps there is a direct connection between the statistics of the death rate of Washington and the need of greater development of parks and playgrounds. Washington has no need to fecl hus miliated by its vital statistics, for the death rate per 1.000 as reported this week by the census bureau is tetter than that of many other cities, notably New York and Chicago. It is 14.2, while the rate for whites alone is only 118, The national average is 116, but some cities and states run down as low us 88 per 1,000 Why should not the Capital become the model, from a sanitary standpoint, as well as from the Stand- point of beauty? Experts in health agree that there is no medicine =0 good as fresh air: give the people parks and ready ac them. Many of our schools are without plaverounds for the chikiren. That lack 16 aseigned by some critics as largely responsible for the numerous strec cidents to children—ninety-seven fatali- ties last vear, for children. due to tra accidents. Give the children grounds: give the grown-ups and dren rccreation parks. That is “Safety first” and “Don't get hurt” all roiled into one policy of civic betterment. * ¥ X % i 1Is it not amazing that there exists {in Washington no Pasteur clinic pre- | pared for instant treatment of per- sons bitten by mad animals? Every moment's delay in beginning the {treatment is serfous, for the whole { theory of the treatment lies in mak- ing the patient immune. or rather re- sistant, to the virus of the bite be- fore that virus can incubate. The administered innoculation, beginning extremely attenuated and gradually increasing in strength, must aceus- tom the system to resist virus daily stronger than that of the previous Aose, and that artificial virus incu- bates more rapidly than the virus of the bite, 80 that by the time the viry Af the bite incubates the svstem shs have gained the power to resist it For a great city like Washington to abandon its anti-rabies elinic. there- fore. espectally in view of our having some fifteen cases within the last year, is almost incomprehensible. * % % % virgihia furnished England her first 1ady member of parilament, and now Lady Astor has invited Wash- ington to send to England our police- i woman, Lieut. Van Winkle, to teach the people over there the functions of & woman police officer—that she s not in competition with male police- ! men, but that she is useful where a | male policeman would be useless. | She can_inspect dance halls and re- sorts. She can protect female stravs and do many things to suppleme the men of the force. These incid recall the prophecy of the late Wil- liam Stead in his bock. ‘he Ameri- canization of the World.” America sets the pace. even if she does stum-g ble occasionally. Is 1t not time fo the flow of lecturers to reverse it- self? Europe needs advice and coun- cil which America can supply—from police women to senators. { i i | | i I Something like the following conver- sation followed: ported to be $100,000. Take the fig- ures or leave them, as you wish whatever they were, they were mighty attractive. The writer is told that Mr. McAdoo is still counsel to Doug. Be that as it may, the former Secretary of the Treasury has recouped.his persona! fortunes. Tumulty wrote his book about W.l- son after the White House days were over. The newspaper which published it in serial form estimated that Mr., ‘Tumulty made $100,000 by that one ven- ture into writing. ‘Thomas R. Marshall, President, and Josephus former Vice Daniels, ‘took to the pen. They ing a comfortable living. 3 After his presidential campaign Charles Evans Hughes, as every one, knows, practiced law in New York |for a time. He was a poor man, but clients came so fast he could hardly handle them all. In one case alone— eight-year Secretary of the Navy, also | re both mak- and it was not a specially big one— | Mr. Hughes received a fee of $50.000. That was several times over his an- nual salary as a Supreme Court Jjustice. e Mr. Taft, through his Yale profes- ! sorship, his lectures and his writings {after he left the presidency, assured { himself of a competence the rest of his days. It wasn't unduly large, but it was enough for comfort. And Franklin K. Lane, his letters recently disclosed, resigned from the cabinet largely because of financial pressure, to accept a $50,000 position. The thriftiest man in_public life recently was Woodrow Wilson. Mr. ‘Wilson never stinted, but he believed in saving. When he entered politics he had practically no resources. When he left the White House he had saved a large part of the $600,000 he re- ceived during the eight years he was President. ‘The answer, of course, is that Wash- jngton throws the mational spotlight upon men in high places. No other city has the personal advertising ad-{ vantages she offers. More than that, she develops men. She gives them responsibilities that expand them. But, mostly, she ad- vertises them. 1 |