Evening Star Newspaper, January 31, 1923, Page 6

g™ THE EVENING STAR, ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. -—— . WASHINGTON, D.C. 1923 ‘WEDNESDAY..January 31, THEUDORE W. NOYES...Editor the sinking of the ship was an act of piracy, in violation of all laws govern- ing clvilized warfare at sea. About & year later the same court rendered a final decree to the same effect, holding that the sinking of the ship was & German crime, and recommending that the sufferers or their heirs should The Evenlng Star Newspaper Company | Seek redress from the German govern- Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. ‘hicago Office: Towe: e Furopesn Office : 18 Regent St., London, The Eventng Star, with the Sunday moraing edition, i ’a!n“.'el!dr b: rriers within the eity t 80 cents per month: daily only, 45 cents per Fomih: Sundey oulz, 20 coats per oeene. Mata ara Tay be gent by mail or tele Ro00, ™ Tonlverton ' in wade by carrlors st ihe end of each monti. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1 yr., $8.40; 1 mo., 700 Daily only...oerse 1 Ve $6.00: 1 mo,, B0c Sunday only. $2.10; 1 mo., 20¢ All Other States. Dally and Sunda Dally only...... Bunday onl. Member of the Associated Press. The Awsoclated Press fs exclusively entitled 5 the use for republication of all news dis- patches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local uews pubd- lished hereir. ~All rights of publication of pecial disnatches herein are also reserved. —_— Nearing a Balanced Budget. President Harding’s announcement that the government's income will closely approach, if it does not equal, expenditures for the current fiscal year comes as a pleasing surprise to the country, which had been looking for- ward to a deficit of half a billion dol- 1 or more. It ought to operate as a tonic to all lines of business, and stimulation of business will increase government income and start the on the way to a Treasury something about which no participating in the great war has even begun to think. To effect the economies necessary to change an expected deficit into a near- budget has been a discour- and in many ways a thankless There is nothing spectacular in tion, little opportunity to win public applause. But the way is opened abundantly for criticism from those who seek and are given not. It requires a much higher order of moral and political courage to re- fuse to spend the people’s money than it docs to spend it. President Harding generously gives Congress a large share of eredit for the economies which brought about, and that is entitled to credit is not to be denied. But sight should not be of the fact that when Congress wd the President vetoed the sol- 8" bonus and the civil war pension bills, both of which measures would have in heavy drains upon the asury and put out of the reckoning any hope of breaking even. As a natter of fact the position of United States Treasur is much better even than that represented by President message to the budget officials. The Treasury is pay- ing interest on about ten billions of dollars which it borrowed from the American people and loaned to other governmen Interest on these loans 1o Europe i uing, but very little of is being paid. It is improbable that all of this aceruing interest will ever be paid. but much of it will in time be collectible. Taking the in- terest on these foreign loans into ac- the government's income now exceeds its outgo and a sur plus ated, The fact that the surplus is not immediately avail- not alter the fact of its aken in with us reduc 86c 60c countr; surplu other natio 1¥ balance aging task such an op have heen Congres resulted the the in his count actually is being cr able does existence. connection the enorm: the cur nu better indicat is on its way bac r there could be n that the country to normalcy. nt fis *0ld Mammies" Memorial. The proposal 1o set up a memorial statue in Washington to “the faithful rolored mammies of the south™ will be veceived with pleasure by a great num- N, a large pro- portion of whom are not vld envugh to have had a regular colored “mammy hefore the civil war. A bill has been Ler of men and won n in taxation for { ment through the State Department. In an earlier case in the state courts an insurance policy was collected upon, although the insured had signed a “rider” to the policy releasing the com- pany in the event that his death should result from war. In that case, how- ever, the insurance company, it was !| found, had failed to have the rider filed and approved by the state authorities. In the Vanderbilt case just decided the policy itself covered acts of war as outside of the scope of liability. If the federal decision should final- ly stand the state decision just ren- dered will have no effect as toclaims. The court at Albany defines the sink- differing from those employed in the federal decision. If the sinking of the Lusitania was an act of war there can be no claims save against the own- ing company. If it was an act of piracy the company is not liable, but the German government may be. Con- sidering the difficulty of larger debtors in collecting from Germany these claims are likely to become of relative- Iy slight importance, save perhaps asa matter of history. Bold Local Banditry. Washington's banditti grow bolder daily. They go about singly, or in groups, without masks, most recently cal make-up, armed, boldly entering business establishments with orders to the occupants to throw up their hands and submit to the looting of the prem- ises. They are getting small sums, the contents of cash drawers, sometimes of the pockets of merchants and even of customers. In some cases they travel In stolen cars, which they abandon when they have finished their night's work. Thus far no identifica- tions have resulted in a thorough po- lice search for those who have com mitted the recent robberies. What is to be done about this? Ob- viously, it cannot be permitted to pro- ceed without check, else the city will be terrorized. The police cannot be everywhere at once. They cannot guard the small stores night after | night. The storekeepers cannot be ex- pected to provide armed guards for their establishments at all hours. The problem is difficult. In these cases the thieves spot their places of operation, teh thelr chances, enter quietly in the guise of customers and swiftly act. Whether they would invariably fire it resisted is not assured. In one recent case, when fired upon, the thieves returned shots, but nobody was wounded. There is no difficulty about these highway- men and store bandits getting guns. | They can arm themselves, under the {lax laws in force here, without any trouble at all. The chances are largely in their favor, and they seem to be acting with shrewdness. These late thefts may be all the work of a single gang, or they may be undertaken by different individuals, {encouraged by the successes scored already. In some cases identification | would be easy if the thieves were ! caught. for there has been little at- tempt at disguise. The heaviest pos i sible sentences should be meted {to any of these bandits who are caught and convicted. to discourage imitator: | out i Pershing on Airplanes. { Gen. Pershing has written in favor {of an air force adequate for our de- { tense. Here is certainly a man whom 'all Americans will accept as an au- | thority on matters pertaining to war. {1t is not that Gen. Pershing urges a | sufficient air force for land operations { that should make men heed his coun | sel. All men now understand that the ! airplane has established itself as an {auxiliary to branches of the Army in cbtaining information as to other with their faces painted with theatri- | 1 ! i | | ! ntroduced in the Senate by John | the lay of the land and enemy troop | Sharp Williams and favorably Daughters of the Confederacy to erect such a monument at no cost to the governn public ground in “Washin design is the joint committee nt on at The to passed on library “af Fine Arts Commission,” and its site 3 on shall be some other place than the | grounds of the Capitol. Library of Con- . White House or Potomac Park There is a happy and tender sentiment behind er this statue tween the e proposal Affectic w! : were th rule that when heyond the nurse the old a special interest in that person until the end of life. The old “colored mammy” was an institution in the southern and border states worthy of Leing symbolized in stone and bronze. to ild and rule, colored was® also the chiid pass - and “grew up"” retained nur: and the a; olored nurse —_————— - Turks are now inclined to 1t may be a trifie embarrassing for other Kuropean nations to give Turkey credit for trying to set a good example. ——————————— Oriental taste favors attar of roses hut is not indifferent to the aroma of an oil well. war, P quiet stal conditions threaten a very St. Valentine's day for the Ruhr. Piracy or War? A @ecision was rendered in Albany vesterday by the New York state court of appeals which has a bearing upon the status of the Lusitania claims. | The court held in the case of the es- tate of Alfred G. Vanderbilt, who was Jost on the torpedoed against an insurance company, that the sinking of the Lusitania was an act of war, and therefore the insur- ance policy containing the particular clause covering “acts of war” was void and the insurance may not be collected. That decision is in opposi- tion to the findings of the federal courts. In August, 1918, Judge Mayer, in the United States district court, ren- dered an opinion which resulted in throwing out the claims of Americans ngainst the eompany which owned tue Lusitania, Judge Mayer held that veport- | ¢ ed authorizing a chapter of the United | gun fire and assisting in attack and | Troubleville keeps movin' to all por- and attachment be- | her j avoid | movements, observing and directing ! defense by bombing. by machine gun | fire and in other ways. The significant | part of Gen. Pershing’s observations the air force in coast defense. He says | Virginia coast a year ago demonstrat {cd to him that one of the major mis: | sions of the airplane will be in attack- [ ing hostile fleets. He is satisfled that | the experiments showed that airplane { dropping bombs can put great war- ships out of commission. ———————————— { The amount of popular attention he licity experts who lend prominence to the beautiful land of Florida. 1 —————————— | Those who contend that Uncle Sam { should keep out of forelgn entangle- ments are compelled to admit that he jis already in for several billions of dolars. ————e——————— When Hugo Stinnes calls a strike the fact that he has not been pre- | viously recognized as a labor leader { makes no difference to workmen in the Ruhr. —_——— | The German girls who married | American doughboys hope to show the | ex-kaiser’s family what a real honey- i moon qught to be. —_——— The real traffic expert is the man H | be and recommendations has to do with | That changes jo. or Leing advised by the | that the bombing experiments off the | And try to take & photograph or grab | i i d | succeeds in retaining entitles Col. W. | J. Bryan to rank high among the pub-| o0 gay it's in New England and the | sociates to allow the Rev. Percy Stick ‘THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTO confused. He finds it hard to reach & verdict as to whether this sparrow is vicious and worthless or whether he is an aid to man, As long as there re- mains so much doubt it might be the humane thing to give “he sparrow the | benefit of that doubt. Not long ago! the charge was current that it was the English sparrow that ‘“drove off” na- tive birds, and the inference was drawn that the sparrow was responsi- ble for the decrease in the number of native birds. That decrease was clear- ly due to other causes. Bird-protec- tion laws are bringing about a notable increase in the number of native birds as well as in the number of winter and summer migrant birds. The Eng- lish sparrow in the back yards and gardens of the city seems to get along with the northern junco or “snowbird" about as well as one would look for in the case of two species of birds. Any one may see them eating from the same crust of bread, and each bird is probably duly thankful for the “hand- out.” The English sparrows in the city and in the country have somewhat different habits. In the days of the horse the city bird was a street and gutter forager. With so little food to be had now in the streets the city sparrows have declined in number because of starvation and removal to the country, but in the fields and woods and along the roads the Eng- lish sparrow seems to behave very much as the members of the large family of American sparrows. He works hard for a living, and eats the seeds of weeds and other plants in winter and insects in summer. He will eat domestic grain when he can get it by fair means or foul, but the English sparrow is not alone in this weakness. Learning to Work. The sixteen-year-old daughter of a busy and presumably rich and pros- perous publisher in New York is work- ing at a typewriter for $4 a week among 200 other employes in her father’s plant. So the story runs. She works there only half a day, but the other half in spent in a business col- lege. It is employment de luxe, as the young lady travels to and from the office in her auto driven by a chauf- feur. The main point is that she is learning to work, and that she may ac quire the work habit. Such a habit will make for her happiness and peace of mind in the years to come. Many men and women know' that there is no such happiness and content as that found in work. At times. and with too little vacation, work becomes drab, monotonous and burdensome, but with a little too much vacation the old job appears as a source of com- fort and ease, There is a thrill in do- ing things which cannot come to those who idle or indulge in so-called pleas- ures all the time. The fasher of this young girl has said to reporters: “I'm Zlad she’s out there working. Every girl cught to learn something that will make her self-supporting if she has to be. Then they wouldn't have to marry some man to keep them in food and clothes, as so many of them do." There is a great deal of truth in this. Perhaps it is all truth. Every one knows of mistakes made by parents in rearing a daughter with the single thought that she will “marry well.” —_————————— The reorganization of the demo- cratic party has proceeded to the ex- tent of developing several distin- guished figures as available candidates in1 24, ————e There is a disposition among his as- ney Grant of New York to retire and write his own religion. ———— Financial conditions abroad are showing startling effects of home-brew currency. The quality of gasoline calis for gas | censorship as well as gas taxes. | { SHOOTING STARS. H BY PHILAND Geographic Unrest. R JOHNSON tions of the map. You never know just when a peaceful place will get a rap to gloom. while peo- ple come from far and near | i a souvenir. { The citizens may do their best for peaceful quietude. An accident will happen or a stranger will intrude. ! think that your address is Happy Center on the Hill. Then you suddenly discover that you live in Troubleville! You'll next in Jersey state. And then it's somewhere 'way down south, to mourn a doleful fate. So let us not be boastful when we feel a blissful thrill. Most every town must take its turn at being Troubleville. Hard to Please. “Your campaign manager says you ought to make more speeches.” “Yes,” replied Senator Sorghum: “and when I make one he warns me against talking too much.” Jud Tunkins says the only two peo- | ple who never seemed to care any-| thing about the Bacon-Shakespeare controversy were Bacon and Shake- speare. Musings of a Motor Cop. with a flivver who succeeds in getting | A highway tough in quest of loot | through the day without violating a|said to Hortense, “I'm going to shoot!” police regulation. i The English Sparrow. “Shoot!" she exclaimed; “and do not fail!” Her courage made the rogue turn pale. Another man has come forward in |y, aviently she grabbed @ wrench | sparrow. This man says that ¢hirty vears he has raised fruit and | vegetables for market, and that during ! that time he has never killed one of !(hesa birds, which he calls his “little i feathered friends.” He says, with other things, that, “The white grub so destructive in newly planted straw- berry rows is held in check whenever the English sparrow shows up,” and, “When the snow lies deep I feed them every day.” So much testimony is given against ind for the English sparrow that a man not & party to the controversy is ’ steamship, | the newspapers to defend the English { myq¢ 1y beneath the flivver bench, for | Remarking, as the iscreant ran, “I thought he was a camera man! Haste. “We ain’t like you Crimson Gulch-, said Teepee Tom of Snaketown. “When we see a bootlegger we run him out of town “Yes," sneered Cactus Joe; “so's he won't lose no time makin’ a start to bring back more licker.” “A man is liable,” said Uncle Eben, “to think he has & clear conscience, ‘when he's*ohly forgetful.” | terest charge xhould ju {turbed their peace by D. C, W No Offset to District’s Credit Of Accumulated Tax Surplus BY THEODORE W. NOYES, All of the accountants, after audit- Ing the accounts between the United States and the District, agree In re- porting a minimum net surplus credit in favor of the District of $4,676,457.65. This sum represents the minimum net credit of the District in the balancing of accounts between nation and capital since 1874, however the law of June 29, 1922, may be con- strued in respect to statement of the account between 1874 and 1911. Examination of the District's ac- counts shows that there is no offset or counterclaim of either a legal or an equitable nature to this District credit, whether action of Congress on the Mayes and Spalding reports is or is not treated as settling the ac- count between 1574 and 1911. Analysis in detail of each alleged counterclaim against the District dis- closes that almost invariably it is based on some alleged blunder or neglect or law violation on the part of some officlal representing the United States alone, for whose faults of commission or omission the Dis- trict is not in any degree responsible and from whose blunders the District taxpayers of today have in no degree benefited. If the District's account i reopened and restated fully, taking into &c: count (an the law of 1922 requires! equitable and moral ax well as legal indebtednesses, instead of n reduction of the Dintrict's surplus resulting. that surplus will be increased by the di covery of other District credits, both lexal and equitable. The citizens' committee’s brief con- siders separately the debits and credits: (1) Of the period since 1811, accepting actlon of Congress on Mayes and Spalding reports as set tling accounts of period 1874 to 191 (2) of the period since 1878; (3) of the period between 1874 and 1875; (4) of the period prior to 1874, so far as the equities of this period have been recognized and brought over for consideration into the period be- tween 1874 and 1878, No Cut of District's Surplus. Successive accountants (Maves Brothers, Spalding, etc.), employed by Congress have ransacked the counts from 1874 to 1911 and have al- ready reported fully every unpaid credit in favor of the United States in that period. and Congress, acting upon these reports, has compelled the District to reimburse, the United States in the full amount found to be justly due in connection with these credits. The District claims to be able to prove that these official account- ants did not state the District's cre its between 1874 and 1811 with the same fullness and completeness as the credits of the United States, and that an equitable balancing of the ac rom 1874 1o 1878 can be secured onl by adding to the District's side account certain District credits fously overlooked or ignored by official uccountan If the reports of the offic ants upon the period between 1 and 1911 and the action of Congr compelling certain reimbursements. in pursuance of these reports, are view- ed as binding the United States, but not the District. then the surplus credit of the District, found to exist in stating the account since 1911, can- not be decreased by the discovery of additional credits in favor of United but may be materi increased by adding to the Distr side of the account any additional credits of the District which the evi- dence may show to have existed and to have been neglected and omitted in the statements of the first officiul accountants If the action of Congress on the re- ports of the official sccountants be- and 1911 is held to bind the District as well as the United States, then the amount of the Dix- trict's net surplus aince 1911 will be unchanged, suffering the present nelther inérense nor decreaxe. Con. gress in legisxlating upon these re- ports of past indebtedness of the Dintrict fixed ac- of the alleged indebtedness should be equitably paid, and whether or not interest should be charged and paid ‘The Interext provislon of the act of June 29, 1922, does not apply to these relmbursements in rexpect to which Congress in final wemi-judicial wet- tiement hax determined that no in- M1y be made. If the work of the officlal accou ants on the peried hetween 1874 1011 in totally disregarded ax b | ing melther the United States mor th | Dixtrict, and a full new restatement of the entire nccount from 1874 date is made, the result will be same, and the Distriet's accumulated tax wurplux will be materlally in- creased. Equitiex of the Period from ISTS to Date. The law of 1878 contemplated ad- es by the United States to the District of Columbia to be reimbursed n the current vear. No equitable or moral obligation in favor of the Unit- ed States can arise from faithfully carrying out the law of 1878 in ac- cordance with its terms. There can be no obligation of the District, for ample, to pay interest on advances which are contemplated and com- manded by the law itself. On the other hand, there is an_equitahle or moral obligation by the United S to make good by reimbursements (perhaps with interest) any viola- tions by itself of its self-imposed ob- ligations under the law of 1878, which remained the permanent, substantive fiscal law of the District’ until it was in effect repealed by the new fiscal vanc, law of June 29, 1822 1 account- | ates | There should be a balancing of ac- counts on the half-and-half basis during this perfod. Any money col- lected under the organic act to be spent on the half-and-half basis and actually spent on any other basis (as with full cost from District tax money) should be restored one-half to the District's credit, and entered in the Treasury account. In the period since 1878 there have not only been violations of the letter and spirit of the half-and-half pro- vision of the organic act by compel- ling the payment of certain munic pal expenses, not half-and-half, but solely at the expense of the local com- munity; but there have alno been vio- tionx 'of the equitable xpirit of that % payment on the list of heavy expenses, primarily in principle and originally in fact na- tionnl expenses, paid for at first equ tably, solely by the nation. Unlawful Diversion of Tax Money. The only District of Columbla tax- ation authorized and directed by law is that given to the Commissloners to raise one-half of the amount of Dis- trict appropriations previously made by Congress. 1f the law is followed there is no possibility of a surplus of District money, unmatched by United States dollars. Indeed, the latter are under the law put up first. But in practice Congress has reveatedly col- lected more in District taxes than it has matched either before or after the levy, and has often expended this surplus without duplication, in viola- tion of the law. The account of such expenditures should be stated; and the amount found in equity to be due the District should be credited to it. As the words of Controller Dow- * decision of 1914 suggest, the or- anic act of 1578 clearly contemplated that the prunary responsibility of District financing was upon the n tional government: that the capital expenditures for the fiscal y the Cammissioners' estimates so as they were approved by Congress, £hould be made from the national reasury, the nation paying its own half in full in advance and advancing the District’s half, and reimbursing itself for advances of the District's half by levying the taxes necessary to raise this amount upon the prop- erty and privileges in the District Thé nation was to be the primary and responsible contributor: the District was to be the incidental and delayed contributor of a fixed amount of Te- inrursement. That the District should be on a “cash -basis” or a “pay-as- you-go” Bakis was abhorrent to every principle at the foundations of the organic act. Law and equity, as ex- pressed in the organic act, combined to direct the national government to make the necessary advances to the hstri vernm=nt, and to reim- burse itself through the I 1 govern- ment by local taxation sufficing to pay the District's balf. Until the law of changed this relation of Dis- triet and nation, any alteration of procedure which made the District the primary contributo 1 Uncle am the incidental and voluntary contriby v of undefined f-de- fined deficits would have ted both w and e The fact that United Stat tween 1878 and K made these within the current r to the District without intercst “charge raises no equitable im for reimbursements today even to the extent of interest on these past These advances were made accordance with the law and were justified by the highest con- sideratio £ equity. If without Specific change of substantive law by Congress_the District had been de prived of the benefit of these ad- van without interest within the current vear the District would have had a claim both in law and equity of injury. for which fair compensation might réaconably have been sought. Equity Augments District Surplus. In the relntions which existed be- ween nation an ecapital, the nne tion all-powerful, with despotic con- trol of all District assets, and the District impotent. volceless, negligie ble, any failure of the nation to meet the self-impoxed obligation of the or- | gantc act while that law was per- mitted to remain unamended among the statutes was a violation of law and equity, ralxing an equitable credit lin favor of the Dixtrict, which it ix {the a | to ascertnin and readjust. The omnipotence of the nation and the impotence of the capital 1 the | handl of the capital's assets {affairs render it impossible to raise an equitable credit in favor of the I nation against the District bared on | the manner in which the District's affairs have been managed or mis- managed, If the n on’s agents, in handling District affairs, have blun- dered or violated law, the nation, and not the impotent, helpless District, is responsible. 1f these blunders and law via ions have injured the cay tal, the nation, in a readjustment of the kind in which the joint committee is engaged, should remedy the injury If these blunders or la violation: by the nation’s agents have been to the disadvantage of the nation, as by preventing the collection of just debts from the District taxpayers of some vear in the remote past who owed the indebtedness. the nation should {remember that it is responsible for | the neglects or Llunders of its agents, and that it should hear the resulting Joss rather than the District taxpay ers of today, who were not respon- sible In any- way for the fault of ! many vears ago, who have not in any way profited by it. and who are taggering under the war and recon- truction tax burdens of today, i i runicipal In the relations of nation and Dis- | triet, in handling the affairs of the | eapital, it ix almost inconceivahle that there ean develop from any past mixmanagement or blunderinz n lects in respect to District afiairs | indebtedness, rooted in eauity, n for indebted. THE WAYS OF WASHINGTON BY WILLIAM PICKETT HELM. Those groans you hear ut midnight come from the illustrious dead. They are turning over in their graves. Some newly-arrived shade has dis- telling them how good we are these piping days of prohibition. The loud and Daniel Webster's. of embassy liquor hands. Daniel liked his toddy. Once at the closq of a jolly dinner party, held under the auspices of the Demon Rum, he got up to tell the world a few things that rested on his mind. More wined than wordy, he forgot what he wanted to say. A friend with lighter cargo sat near and prompted him. “Tariff," whispered the prompter.. “Friends,” said Webster, “the tariff is a subject requiring profound at- tention of statesmen. Fact is—" and he nodded. i “National debt,” the prompter whis- pered. W “National debt—— Oh, ves" said Webster. “There’s the national debt. The national debt is— the national debt.” Loud cheering! The speaker, sur- prised, became wide awake. “You're right, friend tinued. “Should be paid. paid.” More cheering—much mmore. “Shall be paid,” exclaimed the tri- umphant orator. now fully aroused. “I'll be hanged if it won't be paid. He took out his pocketbook and turned to a slumbering gentleman on his left. “How much is it?" he asked in’all serlousness. “I'll pay it myself.” eloquent moan is He has just heard in bootleggers' he con- Must be That robust groan comes from An- drew Jackson. He remembers what happened one fine morning at Bladens- bure: Jackson liked cockfighting. He bought his birds with the eve of a connoisseur. In his home state of Tennessee there wasn't a bird that had a chance against the Jackson gamecocks. When he was home for his birds. fowls were then put into trim for a | fight with some pretentious birds from Annapolis. Their heads and President he sent These Hermitage their nat- finely were closely trimmed and ural spurs were covered by tempered steel gaffs. Each bird had his trainer. The President journeved out to Bladens- burg—and the Hermitage cocks were completely wiped out by the Maryland pretenders. While the President was so engaged Mrs. Jackson, according to rumor current in Washington society., was smoking her pipe in the White House. Chief Justice Marshall and his as- sociates on the Supreme Court bench used to deny themseives wine except in wet weather. But “Brother Story. step to the window was quite & common request,at their luneheons. X And_Story scan the sky. “No, Brother Marshal shining brightly.” “But_our jurisdiction,” replied Mar- shall; “have you considered it? It is wide and far. < “Somewhere in that jurisdiction, T know. it is raining. 1 think we will be safe in taking a little something. at the window would the sun is wed purpose of thix inquiry | and | na- | which today's taxpayers are morally | and see if it doesn’t look like rain” ! | 1and beer, i ! i i 1 i | i i { i | { come: Politics at Large BY N. 0. MESSENGER. The first skirmish in the titanic struggle between the wet and dry forces of the nation, which is expect- ed to be a feature of the next na- tional campaign, occurred in New York Monday. The outcome was a draw, but the incldent served to em- phasize the closeness of the fight and the deadly earnestness of both par- ties in support of their respective policies. Pursuant to the recommendation of the democratic state platform that Congress be memorialized by the state to modify the Volstead act to permit the use of light wine and beer, reso- lutions to that effect had been intro- duced simultaneously in the assembly and the senate by the democratic leader in each house. Monday night the senate adopted the Walker reso- lutlon by a vote of 27 to 17. Two re- publicans voted with the democrats. On the same day, by a vote of 78 to 64, the assembly refused to adopt a like resolution and referred it to the judiclary committee. The significance seen by the politicians in these votes is that the riging tide of wet senti- ment, claimed to be extensive by the wets, does not materialize when It comes to actual legislation in the volume asserted by them. Many people drew the inference from the unparalleled vote given the democratic ticket in New York last November that the state was over- whelmingly wet. Others, at the time, pointed out that Alfred E. Smith's personal popularity had great influ- ence in rolling up the astonishing majority and that other elements also entered into it. When the wet and dry issue was soparated from all others and stood out by itself for a roll call vote the contest began to tuke on truer pro- portions. It cannot be told at this time what the outcome will be. At present a deadlock exists between the two houses of the legislature, but the fact remains that as long as it con- tinues there can be no memorial to Congress. i x Congress will have the subject be- fore it at the next session, regardless of whether it is brought up by any state. The advocates of light wine and beer had hoped that the memorial of the legisiature of the Empire state might have been brought in before this session ends, to serve as an object lesson and a stimulus to the wet forces during the interim between the present Congress and the new one to open next December. It was felt that it would encourage wet sentiment all over the country and possibly result in similar action by other legislatures in session during this year. Whether any of them do act favor- ably on memorials or not, there will be bills in plenty in the bill box of the next House of Representatives and doubtless a few in the Senate on the first day of the next session. pro- posing modification of the Voistead act, not only providing for light wine but lessening the restr tions in other ways So the fight. which will mea still be progressing' in the state be echoed in the national and eventually carried to at large in the campaign the presidency resentatives. ime will Congres the country f 1924 for and senators and rep- * % x 1f the vote in the New York legis- lature can be taken as a criterion of party division in other states the re- bublicans will, as a party, take the dry side of the question and the democrats the wet. This, too, in spite of the belief held by many repub- licans that unless the party “loosens up” on the beer and wine prop: tion it will carry a heavy handi in the national elections of 1924 s expected that there will be refl tion of this view in the republican national convention. although the prevailing thought is that, despite the g of the utilitarians, when it to the actual test the ma- Jority of the convention will support the drys and refuse to carry in the platform a declaration for modifica- tion of the Volstead ac Lacking a pronouncement in favor of beer and wine in the platform upon the subject, candidates for House and Senate ~on the republican ticket would be left to their individual ac- tion in their candidacies. Those who wanted to could declare their prin- ciples before their constituencies without party dislovalty. It is not thought by leading republicans that the national platform would in terms decry against modification. but would simply remain silent. £ % % # Will any aspirant for the ratic nomination for the presidency have the temerity to go before the country and the primaries with an pen declaration for beer and wine and seek to win delegates to the convention on that jssue? Politicians are disposed to answ that question in the negative. Sev. eral democratic possibilities will be known to be personally favorable to modification, but will they have the courage to announce their platform while they are hunting for dele- gates? It is pointed out that it would be one thing for the nominee of a national convention which had put light wine and beer in its pl form to stand by the platform as the official expression of tne party, quite as the exponent r of the determina tion to put in such a plank. He would have all the Bryan democrats on his back at the outset—democrits who might not go to the length of suggesting Mr. Bryan as the nominee, ibut who are strong believers in his principles. * ok Any aspirant for the democratic nomination must have a large follow- ing in the south, and the south has been and is in faver of prohibition as a national policy. If the democrati pational convention declares for modi fication it is not to be expected that the south will bolt the nominee. That is too violent an assumption. The south will fight the plank proposed to the convention, although with the possibility of victory at the polls in 1924 regarded by all democrats as so tavorable, the allurement held out by the wet element of the party of a { modification plank being a possible vote-getter will be very tempting to many of the practical politicians. e Senator-elect Edwards of New Jer- sey is being talked about s the one man who might possibly ask for dele- gates pledged to the wet plank. He is on record as promising to bring up modification in the Congress, and, of course, his state is frankly wet. Jjt would be understood anyvhow that if necks were plucked, their tail feathers | the convention wanted an avowed wet candidate he could fill the bill. * x % Mr. McAdoo's friends, who thought that he had secured a monopoly on the labor vote of the country, are worried about the extent and growth of the Henry Ford boom for the presi- dential nomination. The labor vote was counted upon to furnish a large asset in Mr. McAdoo's political budget in contesting for the nomination, but it is being found that Mr. Ford has a strong following in labor circles. while he is thought unguestionably to “have the edge" on Mr. McAdoo with the farmers. Democratic politicians discover, they say, that Mr. Ford I8 be ag discussed favorably by the rank and file outside of farm and shop. This statement is confirmed by Tepublican advices as to the general state of politics. * ok ok % John W. Davis of West Virginia, former ambassador to Great Britain, is being quietly talked about by demo- crats of prominence who are not fa- Just a little —for my conscience tells | yorably disposed to either Mr. Me- me it is only a shower.” (Copyright, 1928.) Adoo or Mr. Ford, on grounds of their possible lack of conservatism. demo- | but | another to canvass the country | . Washington Obs ervations BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Irwin B. Laughiin of Pennsylvania, a resident of Washington, has just been nominated a regent of the Smithsonian Institution by President Harding. Mr. Laughlin succeeds the late Alexander Graham Bell on the board of regents of America's na- tional establishment “for the in- crease and diffusion of knowledge among men’” The Smithsonian, which celebrates its seventy-seventh birthday this year, is governed by a board of regents consisting of the Vice President, the Chief Justice three members of the United States | Senate, three members of the House and six citizens of the United States appolnted by joint resolution of Con- gress. Mr. Laughlin is one of the distinguished ‘“career men"” of the American diplomatic service and Is still on the active list, though mnot assigned to duty. He was secretary to Senator Lodge at the Washington armament conference. Laughlin was counselor at the London embassy continuously from 1912 1919, ren- dering conspicuous service during the war. Previously he had been on duty in Japan, Siam, China, Russi Greece, Montenegro, France, Turkey and Germany. He is largely interest- ed in the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation. 4 Thomas Hastings, eminent New York architect, is en route to Eng- land to superintend reconstruction of the London mansions presented 1o the United States by J. Pi¢ gan for embassy purposes houses, standing at opposite Hyde Park, ed into one, with a trance. Congress 000 for reconstruction and furnish ings. It is expected that it will be July 1. at the earliest, before Am- bassador Harvey will be able 1o take possession Prince’s Gate new single ppropriated $15 % % = The International Lyceum and Chau- tauqua Association, which held a nota- ble in Washington De cember. is circulating the facsimile o @ letter addressed to the conference b President Harding. Mr. Harding has been “a chautauqua turn” in his day, his famous lecture on Alexander Ham- titon having delighted a brow tent audience in the middle west. has been to me a personal satisfaction. wrote the President to Dr. Paul Pearson, president of the I. L. C. A “as well as an intellectual and spiritual opportunity, to be numbered among the lectu who have carried th 2 of chautauqua throughout the Indeed, one may, with much say that this spléndid educational ment_has found its greatest | beneficiaries among those who ing varied audiences red comm the eagerness with which the number of many mil seek_illumination of public the broadening of comm * ok % % conference in many in t country addre ng and questions a nity vision Nobody elier in the country e taking a interest in the project to put adequate housing accommod the dispdeal of our Vice President tions at forea others their en nto politics and But Representative Dan Riordur New York “grew up into politics.” His father district or local their district ty-six years. his death young Dan stepped his father's and has now held down the job for two years almost half a cen- tury the family has trolled the DANIELJ. RIORDAN. o =y ", seniority Representative Riordan will hold twelfth rank in the coming Con- gress, but he seems to be more proud of his home-town status as district leader than of his congressional r | Tt was back in the days “when old | New York was voung” that the Rior- ldan family settled down Manhat- Ltan. They still occupy the old house at 29 Oliver street and are the next- door neighbors and friends of {Gov. Al Smith. Although what once a peaceful suburb has changed to roaring downtown New York, it is hly unlikely that either Smith or Riordan will ever give up old home. About the into active parade era’ close. He toreh-light ECHOES FROM way shov n of was captain bass of assembly for twen- on into shaes twenty- sam con- dis- nk in close was his time of Riordan's politics toreh- was just drawing to the last New York. the remembers ade in LIBERTY THROUGH POWER OF THE PURSE. 1 want senators to re there never would have parliamentar; political cial liberty English peoples except from the use power of the purse by the legisi bodies of all countries.—Senator lams, Mi: democrat. reniber that been nd and finan- Amongst peaking of the Wil- ippi, We should sell the auto of the re !ess driver who runs down persons or {the street. There psycho about the driver of cars. Many mad persons while driving cars arc | seizea with the idea thut pedestrians have no rights. The speed-mad man will risk his family. but he will never sk his car.—Senator Ashurst, Ari- zona, democrat PEOPLE HERE ARE HE' The people here are he erless, with no vote, no voice, in choosing those who set these rates. It is not fair, it is not decent, for us to sit here and permit such an ex- ploitation of the people’s servants is carried on in this Distric! tor Ashurst, Arizona, democrat THE TAIL THAT WAGS THE DOC 1 want to call attention to the fact that there was a revolutionary change and transformation of the postal service when we inaugurated the parcel post. The parcel post the first vear that it was inaugurated amounted to a billion. It is now from five to six billlon—Represen tive Steenerson, Minnesota, \republi- can. FROM THE HOUSE POINT OF VIEW.. Senators are always asking for ap- propriations.—Representative Madden, lllinois. republican. . pow- pont Mor- | | ! prohibition enforcement | the nation o | Thomas R. Marshall. When that Hoosler sage was killing time offictalle ) @s presiding officer of the United Statss enate he once opined to this writee: ‘There are just three ways for a President to get along financlally. Pm can live above his income; he can be a grafter, or he can make money on the side” Marshall permitted himself 1o be asked which one of those paths he trod. He said he lectured and wrote as a means of making both ends meet but never lucratively enough to afford an automobile. * 5 % * There has recently come off the at the government printing office a bulky volume of nearly 1.800 bayss it is the offictal record of the Washifigton conference on limitatton of armaiert and contains the verbatim proceedings of plenary sessions in English Ant French texts. The compller of this fts toric compendium is Gaillard Hunt, who has been “editor” for the State De- partment since 1521, and functioned in that capacity at the conference. Dur- ing the war Mr. Hunt was a State De- partment adviser on citizenship ques- tions. A Louixianian by birth, he is the author of a number of standard volumes on American historical events. Baillie Blanchard, long attached to the Anierican embassy in Paris, supervise the Krench version of the conferenc record. It can be had for $1.75 from the superintendent of documents at the gov- ernment printing office. There will be no free distribution, s is customars with official publications £ X x 0 Butler, president of whose attack on has agitated as just instituted a series called *Tracts for To designed to set il thinking things realms of political 1 and 2 are off respectively, with he Nation and the States va, the Nation Without States,” by Dr Butler, and “The Courts and the Peo veridge, February “Senator La Fof upreme Court on Policy. 56 Murray lumbia Universit f pub wns d They - Ameri pub through in vario Tracts activity 0. the press, and deal the ack on the Rational _Immigr hould We Recognize Soviet Rus “ and “What Is the Matter W Railways?" Louis A. Coolidge aves, Jerome Landfield and He: Pritchétt will write next mont tracts dynamic the Unitec promine ts younger set is telling a good one at his own ex His wife, herself a gifted poli- is the daughter of a deceased senator. Her mo Washington. So ir: . you ought e very proud to be both the widow a great senator and the mother of a very promising membe 1 rather th at pense. tician, nd celebrated recently one said to h to was i ate, Besides a future t in your he ol v in reply the supposed ref tn her sor Vitions m he party of on.TT dlanet I mrant your dat Succeeded His Father as “Boss” Of New York Tammany Districts which was staged by the republica in the McKinley-Bryan campaig 1545 The republicans turned out thousands in the afternoon and s ed their parade, which throughout a iy night. “Of the pre portion ¢ vse were prohibition Riordan never tin reminiscently have en those fellows nine hours on water viewed t and publicans had hi A democratic bu! the parade car linley is on our is in our hearts New York state Mr. Riorda ding “Bis natura naturally their mar ton gotten out ried the buttons, but After sarying motto ce just e atmosphere who nd 1 An Representative proud of the fact Representative ned to get back t out-and-out Riordan Manhattan Tan nanyit Riordun holds what probably a unique record in Cot zress. He was born a half-mile fron his district, moved into it when he was six months old and has never heen away from it six months in his life, his fongest period of absence be his trip with the naval affairs to Burope during W time d of 1918. H . eleventh New York, includ Wi street. Castle Garden, the famous old Bowery and the new Bowery, Peo pled during the old days chiefly h Irish and German immigrants, it now teems with every nationality unde the sun. Riordan's assembly distric is one of the m ibbed denio i ons Unfted States 11t was the only di in New Yori that stood for Cox in the late republi can land of the sidential elec mitte tions CAPITOL HILL IN DEFENSE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. He who hesitates is Attorney General who arrogates himself” the right to use judgment rather than that of the Wi Department as to what suits he ain should be impeached. Wh Jught to bring his suit at once 4 then send out and see if he can T evidence to support {t.—R gentative Volstead, Wixconsin, repuy- ican OUR NATIONAL IND We have indebtedne state, municipal and from’ $100.000,000.000 to 000, attempted to ascerta approx ¥ what was the indeb edness of the character last refers to. The figures differ. but 1 have not any hesitancy in saying the oblig tion of the United States, the states municipalities and private individuals reach the stupendous figure of more than $100.000,000,000.—Senator King | Utah, democrat. | THE PROFITEERS | ARE RESPONSIBLE, ! 1t is not the people clamoring for government control: it is these eve lasting profiteers and greedy me: | who are laying such burdens on t people that we are driven to aither pay tribute to them in unhoiy amounts or turn the industries over to the government and risk Qur chances with tneir policy.—Ssgaier Smith, South Carolwa, democrat. INFAMOUS TAX LAW |IN KENTUCKY. ! Down in Kentucky. my native state. | we have the most infamous tax law that is on the statute books of any state in the whole Union. There money depasited in bank puys-a tax |.,( only-10 cents, hut money invested lost, and TBTEDVESS, s—nut rdividua £150,000.0 in farins and other projects or unders i takings that the public or the people must have bears a tax of 40 cents.— | Representative Johnson, democrat, | Kentucky.