Evening Star Newspaper, January 28, 1923, Page 36

. THE EVENING STAR,| +g With Su Morning Edition. l t WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY.......January 28, 1923 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor ‘The Evening Star Newspaper Company Pe!u-ylvulll Ave. hicago. Ofce Tower Butlds 3 Omce? 10 iogent Bty ll-flv-.-‘n‘llnd The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning gdition. is delivered by carriers ‘within the city 3 non\:’ daily only, 45 cents Der month, Or- iay only. 20 cente ders Ty bo went vy mail o telephone Main Chtleetion s ‘made by carriers at the end of each month. {Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1 T $8.40; 1 mo., 700 Daily only. yr., $6.00; 1 mo., b0c ‘Sunday only. S1yr, 32 40 1mo., 20 us All Other States. ly and Sunday-1 r.unoo 1 mo., 85¢ E:hy .nx:“ysun Y Ye '$7.00; 1 mo., 60 Sunday only. 1 sa 00; 1 mo., 25¢ =~ Member of the Associated Press. . The Assoclated Press is exclusively entitles to the use for republication of all news dis- patches credited to it or not otherwise credited Daper and also the local news pub: lished herein. All rights of vllbllrllloll of _special dispatches herein are also reserved. - Qr. Butler's Wild Talk. #:Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler now Joins the ranks of the “defeatists” with respect to enforcement of the cighteenth amendment. In an address Béfore the Ohio Bar Association he declared belief that the amendment never can be enforced, ““no matter at what expenditure of money or of ef- fort,” and as he does not expect the amendment to be repealed within rieasurable time he sees no hope but tpat America will continue to be.a iation of law-breakers, with full ap- proval of “men and women of intel- ligence and moral sensitiveness.” 4The eminent educator’'s belief that tHe eighteenth amendment and laws enacted under it for suppression of the liquor traffic are unenforceable perhaps would carry greater weight if he were a little less reckless in lay- ihg the groundwork of his argument. But when he tells us that “the methods of czarist Russia and the Spanish inquisition” have been Te- sérted to in futile efforts to enforce {he law he tells us what we know is not true, and therefore we feel justi- fled in harboring a reasonable doubt as to the infallibility of his judgment of the ultimate outcome. When so Jearned a man as Dr, Butler indulges in such extravagance of statement it is to be feared his protest is more in- spired by passion than by zeal for the Well-belng of the nation. Dr. Butler succeeds only in making ‘imself look foolish when he declares at this stage of the contest that the liquor traffic cannot be suppressed. As a'matter of fact, American sentiment day by day grows more determined that it must and shall be suppressed. There was a time when ordinarily good citizens thought it was “smart” and something of a joke to buy boot- 1ég whisky, but their number is rapid- 1y diminishing. Dr. Butler asserts that revolt ngalns{ prohibition enforcement among “men and women of intelli- Fence and moral sensitiveness” is na- fion-wide. That statement carries its own refutation. Ne intelligent man or woman could view with equanimity the moral debauchery resulting from the business of the bootleggers, and to Zive countenance to their carnival of grime is complete proof that “moral sbnsitiveness lacking. It may be that some day the eighteenth amend- ment will be repealed, or that the laws for its enforcement will be modified, but repeal or amendment will not be the result of such attacks as that Flnehed by Dr. Butler at Columbus. Imitation Coal. That a coal dealer should be swindled by artificially blackened stone will strike many persons as curious. Men who are merely coal consumers might be so deceived without stirring up much comment, but a coal dealer t4 be “taken in" by this means argues that the job was beautifully done, or that the coal dealer was not a con- noisseur in ccal. One account has it that the counterfeit coal consisted of stone painted black, and another that the stones were dyed black. In the first account one might qongratulate ghe's self on the development of the painting ert in America, and in the other on the development of the dye- ing industry. A Brooklyn coal dealer #as brought suit for $1,400 against a man who sold him coal which turned out to be stones dyed or painted black. —_——e————— ‘Management of the naval ratios is beln‘ studied for methods slightly re- sembling the old-fashioned state ~gerrymander,” which obeyed the let- tér of the law, but concentrated forces by means of statistical manipulation. ———— This country is already involved in lfie affairs of Europe. The question is one of degree. The very fact of in- hhbiting the same earth involves Americans to some extent with Euro- peans. «The Ruhr credit experts are an- nouncing that collections are likely to b' slow and not very sure. ———————————— Car Track Congestion. ""A plan is under consideration by the iitilitles Commission to relieve the con- #éstion of car tracks on 14th street between New York avenue and H #street and on New York avenue be- gwaen 14th and 16th. This involves the shifting of the Capital Traction tifacks from 14th to 15th by way of I street. Such a change, however, would 4 to congest two comparatively nar- ‘aw blocks, those on 15th south of H and on I between 14th and 16th. Un- 1éss these streets were widened the presence of double tracks in them would seriowely impede the traffic through them, which is now heavy. _ The conditions on New York avenue and 14th street at these points are un- deniably bad, and have become worse i recent years through the increase of traffic. A long time ago & subway Was proposed as a means of relieving this congestion on the north and south routes, but the project was never de- veloped. The present proposal is an wnt to avoid the duplication of ‘nl.l subject ealls for profound ntndy and the most careful considera- tfon. When & solution is decided upon 4« should be with reference to the fu- ture development of the city as well as ‘the cure of present conditions. ‘Washington will grow larger, and as it grows the traffic in this ganglion lo- cated at l4th street and New York avenue and 15th stieet and Pennsyl- vania avenue will increase. A subway down 14th street to Pennsylvania ave- nue, with perhaps a branch westward to supply the needs of the section west of 15th street and south of Pennsyl- vania avenue, would seem to promise a maximum of advantage. . The problem here is chiefly one of regulating the north and south traf- fic. Car lines occupy the following streets: Fifth, for part of the way; 7th, 9th, 1ith and 14th and Con- necticut avenue. Sixth, 8th, which s interrupted by public bulldings; 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th, save for short distances on 15th end 17th, are unoccupled. It is undesirable to place tracks on gany more of these streets. Some offthe streets should be left vacant for ordinary traffic, which is always slowed and blocked by the presence of car lines. This matter is broader than the mere question of the 14th end New York avenue conditions, and requires study from the point of view of the Washington of ten or more years hence. Certainly some means should be found of relieving a congestion which is both dangerous and discom- moding. ———ee———— Bavaria a Storm Center. A peculiar state of affairs Is report- ed from Munich, where Adolph Hit- tler, leader of the Bavarian “gray shirts,” or fascisti, has declared war on the government. Ludendorff, for- merly one of the leaders of the Ger- man army in the great war, is reputed to be behind this movement, and it is understood that at least 50,000 men have been enrolled. A mass meeting called for today has been forbidden, and reichswehr troops and police forces have been called out for pos- sible service in case the fascisti un- dertake to hold the meeting or to move against the government. Bavaria is notoriously a monarchical center. It is more strongly anti-repub- lican than any other part of Germany. A monarchist movement there, how- ever, would not be in the direction of a restoration of the Hohenzollerns, but would aim at the re-establishment of the Bavarian throne in favor of the Wittelsbach family, with doubtless Crown Prince Rupprecht as king. In- deed, such a development has been expected ever since the armistice. A “fascistl movement” in Bavaria is a logical outcome of the present troubles of the government at Berlin. Separation of Bavaria from the Ger- man republic would be & serious blow to the Ebert organization, for it would include the most prosperous and pro- gressive portion of the country. It is impossible to foresee the full conse- quences. The fall of the republic it- self, succeeded by minor monarchies if not by communist states, would be within the possibilities. Such a break-up of the German re- public would, of course, have a pro- found effect upon all Europe. The reparations problem, already difficult, would be increased. At present the al- lied powers have to look to but a sin- gle organization for the satisfaction of war claims. If they have to look to two or more governments, harmonious only in their indisposition to pay, the task of collection will be greatly com- plicated. But Bavaria will not necessarily fall under monarchical rule easily. The government at Munich has taken pre- cautions to protect itself, and it would seem that Hittler, who appears to be but a figurehead for more important and influential persons, has blundered in announcing his plans prematurely. Today may witness a conflict at Munich, may, indeed, see an overturn, or the beginning of German disintegra- tion. Or, on the other hand, it may see another flash in the pan such es that of the Kapp “putsch,” which was such a miserable failure in the way of reactionary revolution. As France goes farther into the Rhine region the demonstration may cause perplexities calculated to remind the reader of the Uncle Remus story about Br'er Rabbit and the tar baby. European nations occasionally try to be complimentary by assuring Amer- ica that no war will be complete un- less the western hemisphere is in it. Germany goes on issuing paper money with a lavishness which. may make a bale of marks cheap enough to serve as a substitute for coal. —— Prohibition has gotten rid of most of the whisky, and is now confronted by the task of getting rid of the even more pernicious substitutes. A magician is suing another for stealing his tricks. Magiclans should be content to fool the public without practicing on one another. The Building Material Shortage. According to an article printed in vesterday's Star e serious shortage of building materials threatens to delay the numerous - construction projects planned for early undertaking in Washington. In practically every line of supplies there is a failure of de- lveries—steel, cement, brick, lumber, piph, enamelware. In fact, everything that enters into e building is short, and those who contract for construc- tion-are at the mercy of a slow market and congested rail lines. In these circumstances Washington will be fortunate, indeed, if the pro- Jjected constructions, estimated at a value of $43,000,000, are finished dur- ing this present year. Every other city in the country is feeling the effects of this condition. The material shortage is due partly. to strikes in specific in- dustries, partly to slow railrcad de. liveries caused by the rail strike of last summer and the deterioration of the motive power, and to the coal strike, which affected virtually all menufacturing establishments. These conditions, moreover, developed just when industry was reviving and when building was booming. In short, they came at a time of rapidly increasing demand. Consequently there is sharp mmp-uum for deliveries, which has had an effect upon prices. Naturally dealers and contractors have been fm- pelled to offer .pech.l prices for early THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTO: Marshall Advises Uplifters deliveries, which is, in effect, the o!- fering of higher rates for goods. It is most unfortunate that this con dition should prevail ai present, mn - there is such urgent need of construc- tions to supply the housing needs of the people, and to aid in the develop- ment of business and industry, checked by the war-time stringencies. Fort Myer Enlargement. It would seem that there ought not to be any argument as to the desira- bility of the plan advanced by the War Department for the enlargement of Fort Myer to accommodate & regiment of infantry in eddition to its present garrison of cavalry and fleld artillery. Adequate protection of the National Capltal ought to be a first considera- tion in any scheme of national de- fense, and it is shown conclusively that this can be best and moet eco- nomically accomplished by taking ad- vantage of facilities already existing at the post across the Potomac. The government now owns ample acreage there, provided with roeds, drill grounds, water and sewerage, and the department asks only for $500,000 for the erection of barracks for the troops and quarters for officers. Half a million dollars would be a very small premium to pay for a per- manent policy of insurance on the scores of millions the government has invested in its “plant” in Washington, An armed enemy invaded the capital once in the nation’s history, and there is no guarantee that it could not be accomplished again. But there are other things than war which might endanger the government estgblish- ment. An outbreak of mob viclence on e scale too large to be handled by the police—possible, even if improba- ble—or & conflagration, might make the presence of an adequate force of organized end disciplined men the very essence of safety. The proposal does not involve any increase in the military establishment. ‘With the small regular establishment which has been decreed by Congress, the necessities of national defense call for the concentration of troops at strategic points, and the War Depart- ment program proposes only that there shall be stationed at Fort Myer a regi- ment now stationed somewhere else, that somewhere else being & point of less strategic value. Because some in- terior point is unwilling to lose what- ever benefits may accrue from a neigh- boring Army post ought not to be per- mitted to stand in the way of ade- quate protection of the capital as a part of & carefully thought-out scheme of national defense. Prison for Reckless Motoring. Imposition of a term of five years in the penitentiary upon & motorist whose machine hit and killed & small boy may have a wholesome effect in this city. It is a notice of the punish- ment that awaits any driver who runs his machine recklessly and. without regard for the rights and safety of | others. These cases are 0 rare that they are the more impressive when they occur. It has been often said that) motor carelessness is not punished in ‘Washington, but with this conviction and sentence it becomes evident that reckless motoring is attended with serious risks not only to the people in the streets, but to the drivers as well. The proceedings to impeach the At- torney General afforded another ex- ample of the details which arise to conswme time and leave Congress with unfinished business on hand at the close of the session. If_the ex-kaiser wanted to establish a happy household he should have studied & number of the United States soldlers on the Rhine. Clemenceau will not return to Amer- ica, the interest of events at home being beyond anything this country can hops to provide. The only kind word to be sald for the bootleg bandit is that he never stops long enough at e time to crowd the parking space. The Turks claim to be actuated by noble patriotic purposes. This claim is ome of the formalities of every auto- cratic enterprise. Lloyd Georgs declines to retire from public discussion in a manner which might give him any future advantage as & dark horse. SHOOTING STARS. BY PI'H.BIDII JOENSON, Kminx = Secret. A woman never yet was known To keep & secret, 50 they say. I called up on the telephone And merely asked the time of day. Upon my ear the answer fell In accents which brought grim dis- = may. The lady would not even tell A curious man the time of d-y. Simulstions, bil “A man in your position must be ablé to keep his temper.” “Sometimes,” replied Senator Sor- ghum, “and at others he must pretend to be angry when he really {sn't.” Jud Tunkins says Ben Franklin dis- covered electricity and also advised thrift, so that posterity could pay for it. Professional Exemption, The scientist bids numerous men com- plain As they observe his list. 'Most everybody seems & bit insane, Exceptthe alienist. Looking to the Future. “I understand your™ boy is study- ing to be a lawyer. “I insisted on it,” replied Farmer Corntossel. “Josh has got a reckless disposition, and is liable to peed all the lawyers the family can pervide, in- cludin’ his own self.” 5 “Foolishness,” ‘sait Uncle. Eben, “aln satisfled Wil patience an’ forbear- ance. It alius wants to be congratu- lated.” I BY THOMAS R. MARSHALL. HE uplifter, if he is the right kind, has a hard job to keep from being downpusher at the same time; to do good only without doing evil as well. Men @ not object to the uplift as one of the forces moving toward what the ‘world views as a better and fairer civilization or to the real uplifter, but even superficial thimkers re- alize there is more than one kind of uplift and not a few different kinds of uplifters. The constitu- tion of man in all primal instinots, passions and comparative ambi- tions has not changed in form from age to age, although it has in- creased in intensity. The struggle now, as always, has to do with the survival of the fittest. Just judg- ments are to be obtained not by assaulting the law of the survival of the fittest, but by an endeavor to educate the people as to who are the fittest to survive. And by education I do not mean academio theories, intellectually assented to, but academlo theories so thorough- ly and universally accepted that men of their own volition gladly govern their liv by them, al- though they run oun(-r to indl- vidual success. * ok k% In the economio life of today the man who arbitrarily insists upon lowering the wage of the working man {8 a downpusher. I use the phrase with no meaning of disre- spect. I admit that as he sees the ‘wage scale he i{s convinced that its lowering would benefit all con- sumers of the land. But men of the largest vision often see only a small arc of the horizon at which they look. That employer is un- usually wise and just who takes into consideration when he starts on a salary-reducing and wage- lowering policy what his employes have to buy in order to live in comfort and how much they have to_pay for these things. If he will realize there is just 80 much work to be done in Amer- ica and so many men to do it “not ® ¢ * beasts with lower passions and * * * beasts with lower pains,” but men accustomed to the standard of American citi- zenship; if he will not forget that a crust of black bread and a glass of vodka will not bring content- ment; if he will remember that the genius of our {nstitutions s such that a man {s entitled to any livihg that he can obtain by means of his labor, and If he wiil grant that any wage should be some- what commensurate with the re- quirement of decent living, tho irritation between the downpusher and the right kind of an uplifter ‘will be measurably lessened. * k% ¥ Whenever I think of the effort by law, either crystallized In statute or attempted to be made by the customs of business, with reference to the wage of the work- ingman, I recall an incident of English history at the end of that lague known as the “black The agricultural labor of Great Britain had been decimated. It was the judgment of parlia- ment, as it is the judgment of many employers today, that some- thing should be done to prevent farm laborers of the kingdom from demanding and receiving extor- tionate wages. A maximum wag law, fixing a wage higher than which no laborer should contract for his hire, was enacted. law proved mnon-enforceable. was supplemented by laws pun. ishing the veomanry for contract- ing to pay or for paying any higher wage. These, too, proved JANUARY 28, 1923—PART 2 To Avoid Being Downpushers Ilnlvlllln‘. ‘With dogged deter- mination to see that which they said was the law, the enforced law of the kingdom, British legislators reinforced the statutes with penal enactments to punish magistrates and oourts which did not enforce them. And still the le lation ‘was unavailing. The n who wanted to hire and the mnn who wanted to work found ways to circumvent parliament. * ¥ ¥ ¥ T have my doubts about & minimum wage law being enforceable. The urge of necessity during an abund- ance of unemployed labor would in my opinion finally devise a way ‘whereby the man who must work in order to prevent starvation for his family would work for less than the law allowed. How vain and futile it is for men who to do busi- mess to say without the consent of the workingmen at a time when there i2 & scarcity of labor that they must take less than such a sum as will enable them to buy the things that l‘l‘; with the standards of American e, If 52 per cent of the American Deople continue to prefer to walk the in farm homes, the merry dance will have to go on. The law of supply and demand accentuated by the needs and desires of the people will still have to apply. Our best. hope is that a proportion of them will leave the pavements for the clods, cease to be consumers and become pro- ducers, increase the supply of neces- saries of life, reduce the cost of Hv- ing and thereby lower wages. Cum- berers of the ground like myself are the fellows who do the most growling, however. When I sit down and quietly think about it, T wonder ought not to move out to m: mue farm in Indiana and go-to work r shut up. * Kok % Now this has to do with the legitimate contest between the honest uplifter and the honorable down- pusher engaged in the great contest of life to determine who shall sur- vive. Falrly fought in reason and in Justice. those of us who look on should not complain. But there is a condition about which we have a right, lazy and useless as we are, to make a few observations whether or not they get anywhere. All that uplift which comes from the submerged million seeking to straighten their backs and get a larger outlook, if sought without riot or revolution and with due regard for the rights, sensibilities and feelings of others, is beyond all question justifiable and laud- able. These uplifters should in- crease. But there is another up- lifter about whose utility and value to civilization I have my doubts. ~He is the kind-hearted man, £iled full of theories that hava never been tried, who goes around over America contributing to dis- content by condemning conditions which he believes to be unjustifi- able, but which have never been complained of by the men suffer- ing under them. He adds the di- vine quality of telling every man in the 1and what he ought to have and how he ought to live. We would do no favor to a charming woman with a mole by recommend- ing a beauty doctor unless we knew that the mole was remov- able with safety and certainty. We might be creating discontent, with no hope of relief. I wish professional uplifters might be required to furnish bonds guaranteeing that the wrongs they depict are correctible. Their activities are all right when prac- ticable. but their appeal should be made to those who can bring rec- tification. not to those who are un- mindful of the things they are suf- fering from. _Uplift must be con- ducted with brain and heart and conacience. Otherwise it is apt to spread discontent and accomplish nothing. (Copyright, 1823, by Thomas R. Marshall.) Inside Stuff About New York BY WILLIAM JOHNSTON. NEW YORK, January 27. The average New Yorker seldom lives long in the same apartment. It is seldom that the average middle- class family has the same address for more than two years, which is the ordinary lease perfod. Every apart- ment house has its disadvantages a home, so tenants are constantly being lured into new ones, only to find there & new set of disadvantages to be endured for another two years. Sooner or later, as his income in- creases, the New Yorker acquires an ambition to own a home in the suburbs, but real estate men tell me that these country homes are kept only three years after purchase, the owners _then returning to the city to live. The reasons assigned are the disadvantages of country life after city conveniences, the difficulty of getting rvants to stay in the suburbs, and the problem of main- taining a fuel supply. Sense of Property Lacking. Even those New Yorkers who have scquired great wealth seem to have failed in inculcating into their fam- {lies the desirablility of keeping in the family an estate s a permanent family seat, such as exists in Eng- land. Ownership of the costly man- slons erected by New York multi- aires 1s constantly shifting, :‘::‘au?un the great country estates seldom :ra ‘owned by the same family for two generations. The million- dollar hom bullt by the late Joseph R. de Lamar at Madison nue and 37th street has just been sold o the National Democratic Club, and Geo! Gould’s palatial home at Lakewood, N. J., Georglan Court, is to be turned into a ;:ot:nt.r‘{ ed..h [dle Hour, one o e Vande: 'hu. i Island estates, is being lald a ;ol! course. A Col. Harvey Story. Every time Ambassador Harvey re- turns to America the New York re- porters poke a lot of “fun at his clothes and his personal appearance, but Col. Harvey ls quite used to it I recall that once during the war he was in Washington, and in = hotel lobby vn Intmduead to a wuum senator, 1 a m-mr‘nuf ly looked him over, big horn glasses and all Harvey,” houll. “You on at all 1 nnnn: ycud look mu. said. Harve: “No,” IIM the uumr “yol Jook as it Peter Newell had drawn you."” Robbing the Visitor. Americans who complain about the extortions with which they meet while traveling abroad might do well to look about at home before they start criticlsing other countrles. A recent investigation ehowed that at Bllis Island, where the immigrants arrive, or, rather, at the Battery, vm tematicall Iy fleecin, paid $85 to ride a few blocks tfl happened, l(!tl. too well Th. ber the Pennsylvania station. Tn another case a family going to Kansas were ’l;ld a strip of subway tickets for Another alien, who dropped into a barber shop near the Pennsylvania station and permitted the barber to give him all the extras he suggested, out of a $10 bill received only $4.05 change. This particular victim went :,o gaurl.—and the court upheld the arber. Now a Church Map. It Is hard 'work getting New York- ers to attend church. Many persons who come to the metropolis to live attend once or twice, but, missing the acquaintanceship they enjoyed in other citles, gave up the habit. To offset this eight different denmomina- tions on the West Side have begun a house-to-house canvass, distribut- ing a folder. On one side ft has a map that shows where all the churches of the various denomina- !lcna are located. On the other side calendar giving the hours of the fous church services and names and telephone numbers of the various pastors. Evanescent Is Fame, The recent marriage of Judge Alton B. Parker, at seventy, to Mrs, Amelia Day Campbell, recalls & dinner table anecdote I heard a few weeks ago. A woman taking riding I ns in Cen- tral Park, with a riding master in attendance, asked who the distin- gulshed-looking man on horseback was who had waved his hand to the rldmml::‘ri the ridi: riding master, Mr. Pl.r:: r. He ran l’or‘;nl.yor a t:“: uan of the p at’the Tnoident but when ther e B T e s arker on candidate, few of them could l.nnwr. ‘Whe Mr. Gastem Is. New York is well acquainted with Edward Page Gaston, the archeologist in London, who 18 trying to discover the burial place of Pocahontas and havé her body brought back to Vir- ginla. He is an American by birth, coming originally from Henry, ul. and is a brother of Luoy Page ton. who tried to run tor Prelld t 9n an anticigarette platform. B n was formerly in the diplo- matio service, but for many years in London tions to the British rmany. ‘Thomas Plll.'l Birthday. January 29 is tho 186th anniversary of the birthday of Thomas Paine, and each year a devoted little group of his admirers hold a dinner in New York to commemorate the event. This ;nr the dinner_will be held at !ho ifth Avenue Restaurant, and speakers will be the president of m association, William M. Vander Weyde; M Van Doren, Col. Ransom H. tett and Don C. Seitz. Col. Gil- lett, 'ho ll counsel of the =I‘ ulk Paine Thi k of Our Present Perver- sfon of Freedom?” prisoners in Gil- | de association dm: Wdenngn ont, | palgn; el the 1 Ji prod i hat presi- = h- low" 1881 had amassed dy to had » y his n he et has & H : philatelist, o Ce tnn. ‘has just recelived an envelope ed to be l: ever to have been paid on a package through the malls from a foreign country. He l Capital Sidelights By WILL P, KENNEDY. Few persons about the Capitol, even members of Congress, know that Coa- gress has a furniture shop of its own, under the administration of Willlam Pyler Page, clerk of the House. This #hop has been {n operation since May 19, 1919, since when it has salvaged and put into use furniture that would have cost upwards of $100,000. From that date to the end of the fiscal year, June 20, 1922 this shop cost $45,808.30, representing repairs to 5,085 pieces of equipment, ranging from a bent-wood chair to remodelling the huge com- mittee table of the committee on ways and means from 16 to 25 feet In length and feet in width. The stuffed couches and arm chairs and daven- ports in the House lobby and lounging rooms were in a dilapidated condition, but were torn down to the frames and entirely rebullt. Mr. Page testified a hearing that the upholsterar cabinetmaker and finisher are the best g::i“hl.m.n of thelr line in the National The lurnuuu shop was established at a time when new furniture was badly needed. blll prices were poo- hibitive. War prices also prevailed on rugs and carpets, and those bougit faded easily because of the inferior dyes. To overcome this situation and 3;”:“& lo;nt saving In cleaning a et-cleaning establishment established as an adjunct to the niture shop. o Already more than 90,- 000 yards of carpet have been cleaned by a process which removes dirt and restores the original design. When Representative Allen Treadway of Massachusetts, now an actlve mafority member of the House ways and means committee, first went to Amherst College an upper-class- man, who later was a very prominent 7% m"#ln in New York, asked what |by stood for. Treadway replied that it was a family name—Towner— and thereafter throughout his sssocia- tions as a student and alumnus of Amherst he has been known as “Tow- ser” Treadway. Last week man camie to his office in the House office building asking for “Towser.’ It turned out to be an Amherst class- ‘mate, Harry Perine, now a prominent business man in Seattle. When “Uncle Joe" Fordney, chalr- man of the ways and means commit- tee, whose name adorns the recent tariff act, quits Congress at the end of the Dresent session after a quarter of a century service, a lunchroom de luxe will cease to exist. Not one of the thousands of tourists who climb the marble stairs on the east front of the House end of the Caplitol, going to the galleries. realizes that in an alcove off his office and running under those stairs, Mr. Fordney has a_pri- Yate lunchroom. His chef is Harry Parker, who has been messenger and doorman for the ways and mieans ccmmittes for thirty-five years. There is an electric percoiator to make cof- fee and an electric toaster. As lunch- eon companions daily Mr. Fordney has kis secretary, Miss Carrie Rody, who has been with him twelve years, and Miss Grace Greenwood, another assist- ant. Mr. Fordney also has a personal barber, James H. Neale, shaved him, vears. who has in his office, for eight There are forty-two pages on duty on the floor of the House and at the entrances to the hall of the House. During the short session of Congress their pay amounted to $12,390 and during the Ion( session, which begins the 1st of December. be increased to $2: It cost $713,085 to publish the Con- gressional Record, which carries the proceedings of Congre including debate, while both es are in session, during the year 1922. Representative Nicholas Longworth of Ohio, who some years ago fame velt, most likely man to become floor lead- er in the next Congress, is reputed to be “the best dressed man in Con- this will have to «ress.” He s also considered “an aris- tocrat” by many who do not know how democratic he really is. 'he other day Gus Karger, veteran Wash- irgton correspondent, who has as- sumed the role of press-mentor for ‘Nick” as he has for vears served g Bill” Taft in & eimilar capacity, met Longworth and sald facetiously: ‘Nick, you mustn't be so fastidious in your habiliments if you want to get the support of the proletariat.” And Longworth replied “T've been wearing thls old brown sult for a week, and this {s far from new—see.” (And Longworth h'isted the tail of his coat disclosing a good sized patch on the seat of his trousers.) The Library of Congress expects to have printed during the coming year two more volumes of the Journal of the Continental Congress. Dr. Her- bert Putnam, the librarian, explains that twenty-three volumes have already been published and eight more will be ready for the printer, which would complete the set. American historlans are now using the origi- nals, which Dr. Putnam feels should net ‘be allowed. The distribution of an edition of 2,000 sets was started many years ago and the library is trying to complete the sets outstand- ing. It will cost $225,000 to print the proposed two volumes during the next year, ‘There are 4,000 employes in the tovmm.n! printing ofice and the plant covers fifteen acres .of floor space. Flash yourself a_mental “close-up” of Representative Samuel Winslow of Massachusetts, chairman of the House committee on interstate and forelgn commerce, who is the largest man in the House, carrying around three hun- dred pounds of avoirdupois. Can you imagine Winslow, with protruding rotundity at the place where his walst line should be, with a large tin box sticking out in front of his cor- porosity, held in place by a strap around his neck, and said tin box laden with sticks of molasses candy. That's a real picture of Sam Wins- low, aged nine, walking about the -lruu of his native heath—Worces- ter, Mass. Joshed the other day by some of his colleagues, Winslow de- nied that he was ever anything like 2 igy. He said he never had much 'R at school or seemed to make much of a success at anything else, so when he had reached the mature age of nine he thought he'd better make a start to be a merchant prince. So he joined a small army of “kid peddlers’ who vended the molasses candy wares for one well-known “Mother Love.” HIs tin box contained tour dozen gobs of this confection, and the process of vending was to open the 1id and let boys or girls or occasionally grown folks help them- selves to a few cents’ worth—as much as they could »ly for. was four ln\! ‘e had to turn in the money every night. He ‘worked away llllh(lllly l!temoonl after school was out for several weeks until he the sum of 50 cents. With that embryo fortune in hand he thought he could {ndulge his appetite for the candy and proceeded and to treat the boys. He did a rushing busin it was time to and that night when ound he ten ‘or Eivi ntire accumulation. out of the anfly-umnx business the temptations e- cause were too Representative Ernest R, Ackerman of New Jersey, the most enthusiastic r stamp collector, in Con- showed the writer the face of an en- velope coming from Russia which was prepaid with stamps having a face value of nine million ruhlal or an equivalent of $4,500,000 in United States curremcy, according to prewar standards, but which stamps now equal only a few cents because of the reciated currency. Representative r similar letter tively in his cam- but- the it acquisition. out- the flm valuation on ”the former . letter by several t.ho\uud dollars. MEN AND AFFAIRS BY ROBERT .T. SMALL. ORD comes from Paris that Burope has been excited for ten days or more over the report that Herbert Hoover was about to sail for the other side. It fs easy to understand this excitement. Europe looks upon Secretary Hoover as the one man in this country who really understands Europe and who sympathizes with her various ills and allments. Eu- rope feels that when Hoover reaches her soll the time will have arrived when the United States intends to do something very definite in the way of foreign relations. All of which s very, very true. It can be put down now as an unas- sallable fact that when Herbert Hoover, in his official capacity as a member of President Harding's cab- inet, sets sail for Europe he will carry in his pocket something decld- edly real in the way of an American foreign policy. Mr. Hoover will not 80 abroad with merely a negation on his lips. A visit by President Hard- ing himself could hardly be regard- ed by Europeans as of more impor- tance than a trip by -Mr. Hoover. Even the rumor of such a trip by the Secretary of Commerce, whose relief work made his name known from one end of the eastern hemisphere to the other, sends thrill through Lon- don, Paris and Berlin, to say nothing of the lesser capitals. The latest rumor has not been in- sistent enough to call forth a denial - Hoover or to lead him into any sort of a discussion of the Eu- ropean situation at this time. The Secretary knows, however, the im- portance that would be attached to anything he might say. There is no question but that a good deal of pressure has been brought to bear upon him to visit Europe in the near future so that he may “observe” and “advise” even In a personal capacity. This the Secretary will not do. The United States and Europe itself may take it for granted that if, and when, Mr. Hoover sails eastward from New York the administration’'s European policy or ideas have crystallized into something definite and immediate. This information is vouchsafed by those who know Hoover the best They say he is an engineer and can work only on a concrete plan. * ¥ % % The old-fashioned “hooch-hound,” the fellow who could scent the alco- holic stuff from afar and who could be the first to line-up at the bar when a good spender hove in sight, can get & good job just now in the prohibition enforcement service. The service wants some keen sniffers, sharp-scented men, who know the aromas of all the most popular brands of home brew. And very soon if you see a strange looking person hanging about the corner or the front gate with nose lifted to the breeze, you can put him down as a “hooch-hound” on the job, and you had better her- metically seal the kitchen or the cel- lar if you happen to have anything on. Recent decisions of the high courts in what is known as the “boiling raisins” case have resulted in new corders being sent to prohibition en- forcement officers telling them that if they smell anything suspicious about a house, be it dwelling or hop, they can enter such house, trail the odor to its lair and if they find any apparatus for the making of alco- holic beverages at work, they may arrest the owner of the place or any one else who hmppens to be on the premises and in a position to know about the brew on the fire. Tt seems that in the “boiling raisins” case a prohibition officer passing a dwelling_throught he de- tected the odor of boiling raisins. He halted, sniffed about a little more and then became convinced that he smelt boiling raisina. Instinctively he knew that boiling raisins meant no good to the Volstead act. He smashed into the house and found a still at work. Naturally the case was fought. It was contended the prohi- bition agent had no right to enter the home without a_ search warrant. The courts have heid that where a man {is traine¢ in smelling, where his olfactory nerves are attuned to the whifs that are wafted from the old copper pot, and all Its ncw relations, and he can assume from the exer- cise of the sense of smell that a crime against Volsteadism is being Terpetrated, he has the right to en- ter and search without the interposi- tion of the usual warrant. The department’s task now 1s to get the keen smellers. The jobs are open. But woe to the smellers who geot the wrong scent. It I8 one thing to trace & guilty odor to its illegal lair, but it is quite something else again to get on a false scent and enter a. perfectly innocent home, ‘which might unhappily be on the lee side of a hoochery a block or more away. * & %k Speaking of rum, Washington had its great rum thrill last week. The police announcement ‘that they had traced the ‘leak” of “embassy liquor’ to a servant in the Cuban legation Naturally the Cuban minister was indignant. A quick inquiry in the le- gation proper convinced him there Wwas no leak and =0 he immediatel: demanded of the State Department and the police that something be done at once to clear the good name of the legation. This clearane has come about in 2 most convincing way and the joke i on the rich clubmen of the city who have been paying fabulous prices for “the real legation stuff,” which has turned out to be nothing more tha synthetic gin and whisky, made righ: here in some dark and damp cella: A cornered bootlegger told the 1 lice that he had been getting I “stuff” through the Cuban legatic He concocted the story to save his reputation with his high-class ‘‘cus tomers.” He had been charging then, ywhere from $18 to $22 a quart fo 00ds” that cost about a_ dollar quart to manufacture. His large ‘stock™ of legation “stuff” s dwindled under police investigatic: to less than a quart of what appear to be real whisky. The chemists are even inclined to doubt that. It is funny how men who claimed to 1 such connofsseurs of whisky in t pre-Volstead days fall for the awfu “hootch” now peddled as the res thing. *x x % Some more ‘amazing figures hay- Jjust come out of Germany telling of the demoralization of prices which have followed the French invasio The diminished buying power of t mark was considered bad enough when that relic of a one-time stable currency was quoted around 7.000 o 8,000 to the dollar. But now 111 the mark has descended to the neigh borhood of 24,000 to the dollar, wis relative deterioration in all the other stabilized currencies of the world, Germany is all but without & med! of exchange. Naturally the prices quoted nowa- days In marks have no literal mean- ing because they can't be compre- hended. But the plight Germany in today and the plight she w continue to be in for years to come. regardless of any action against her by her former enemies. may best be realized by the fact that before the war a person worth 40,000 marks was supposed to be possessed of a com- fortable fortune, something to last a lifetime with thrifty handling of the money. Today an ordinary dress in Berlin costs 200,000 marks. A pound of meat costs 900 marks, while a pound of pork, dearer still to the German heart, costs up to 1.400 marks. Red cabbage, also 50 dear to the German heart, costs 110 marks a pound—the ordinary equivalent of $27.50. Beer— that good German beer we hear o much about—costs 80 marks, or the normal equivalent of $22.50 a bottle. Coffee costs 4,000 marks, or the nor- mal_equivalent of £1,000 a pound. ‘Wages, of course, have not kep' pace with the increasing price of food and clothes nor have profes- sional fees. Persons who derived their income from investments paying a given dividend naturally have noth- Il;“( to fall back upon at a time like this. If it be true that Germany has purposely wrecked her monetary sve- tem, ae some of her antagonists be- lieve, that wreck has been complete beyond the wildest dreams of the wreckers. Fifty Years Ago in The Star ‘The question of improving the river front and harbor was complicated fifty years ago by Interests Block certain private in- terests and it re- Improvements. quireq some skill- ful maneuvering and Involved a long delay in overcoming objections to clear the way for this work, which meant so much to Washington. The reclamation of the flats, indeed, led to suits which were not settled by Supreme Court decision until years after the great enterprise was start- ed. The first stage in this matter is thus described in The Star of January 21, 1873: “The need of improving the river front and harbor and reclaiming the malarious marshes opposite the city has been long felt and various desul- tory projects thereto have been start- ed and died out without results. The District government has now taken hold of the matter in earnest and it is to be hoped that either through government assistance or the opera- tions of private enterprise the two desired objects, 1. e., a first-class har- bor for the District citles and the reclamation of the fever-lair marshes, may be accomplished. “There are two bills now before the House District committee for this purpose. One proposes that the fm- provement shall be done by. the gov- ernment, the proceeds of the sale of lands reclaimed to go first to reim- burse the United States and after- wards for the benefit of the District of Columbia. The uiond ‘proposes that the work shall be done by a pri: vate company. The main feature of the plan is the closing of the present channel of the Potomac between Easbys point and the line of the Ana- costia channel; the filling of the flats between the main channel and the north shore of the river and the exca- yation of the main channel between the above points. PR “The Houn District committee met yesterday to consider these biils and there was a general rally of opposing interests to show why the improve- ments should not be undertaken. “Among the Interests thus repre- the Agueduct Bridge Com o ""maml Jahn Wllmn-—Jv ‘Wilson " party, - the Chesapeake and Ohfo Canal Company and the owners of those pretending to own present wharf sites. The first two interests were heard yesterday and the hea: f ‘was continued. “The pretensions sent up by these two interests are worthy of note as fllustrating the sort of obstacles met all. the way through in carrying out lny immn‘m plln o( improvement peculative con- oarm ot ,{e crldlt mohllllr‘ stamp; in fact the. first named, the Aqueduct Brld e Com ‘mobilier, it ulut the Vi M bv ny, is an offshoot of the the uflm\ul Xpor fl.h credit meMlhr apeils. P ot bill through . Congress giving his 8 ‘whol 600 Ia H. H, Cai nd | from. the coal bridge company the remarkable char- ter by which it took possession of the Aqueduct and was permitted to charge the enormous tolls which the Virginia farmers have found so oppressive. Ames it was, oo, who succeeded in de- feating an appropriation for the re- construction of the Chain bridge (free), in order that all the travel and oduce should be compelled to go over his Aqueduct bridge and pay ex- orbitant tolls. The bridge compan resists any improvement on the rivi front which will interfere with the Aqueduct bridge or compel them to pur a draw in it. * % % “Interest No. 2 represented yester day was the Wilson-Kidwell combi- nation for the grab possession of all the river flats from Easby's wharf to the arsenal. By this modest operation the parties named hope to get posses- sion of some 650 acres above and below the Long bridge, covering nearly the entire river front of the city. The first move in this speculative little game was the taking out of a land patent for some sixty acres of the flats opposite the observatory. “This patent was granted when Jo Wilson was commissioner of the land office, and his brother, John Wilson. who 'took the deed to be recorded at the city hall, sought laboriously to have the fact concealed from the reporters that such a document was in existence The sum of $23 was paid by the Wilson- Kidwell combination to the land office for this tract as government land. Sub sequently they tried to ‘pre-empt’_some 00 acres of the flats above and“below the Long Bridge; but whether from the change of land ‘commissioner or . from some other cause, there has béen a hitch in the easy ‘process of acquiring the o T front of e large city and they haven't got the patent for the acres, “These Snterprising gentlemen who little grab Fame o the herbor feons are, of course, very much outraged that any plan of improvement that does not leave them in full possession of all the land have invested reclaimed. Messrs. Wilson, Kidwell and '“_h thlll. therefore, strike hands In‘a furthier comment on this ques- tion The Star“in its issue. of’ January 23, 1873, says: “The adyance in the value of property along the river front since the question of improving our harbor and chuuicl has been before Congress is wonderful. Those recking marshea, the ‘Kidweli meadows,” have risen 423-te. um - 000 or thereabouts, and If we are to be- lieve President Gorman of. the C. & O. nal Co. and the other honorable gen- tlemen who appeared before the House committee for the Distriot in behalf of that company vesterday, even that use- leas, foul and unsightly, 3ital from Rock Creek to 17th st., a rival of our fllled- | up_ Washington canal in. worthlessness | and filthiness—has suddenly. come 10 be | considered a great arters of trade, ‘mare valugble than all the rast of the canal { town, toCumberland.’ es- / sential not only to the. prosperity. of | the canal cpmpany. hit the (uthre or ! Have thougnt 17