Evening Star Newspaper, February 21, 1923, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR, ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WABHINGTON, D. C. ‘“WEDNESDAY .February 21, 1023 THEODORE W. NOYES., I!.Mor The Evening Star Newspaper Company The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning Wdition, is delivered by carriers within the eity At 60 ents per month: daily only, 45 cents per Sunday only, 20 cents per month. Or- dors m, be ment by i, or telephone Main 000, Cotleetion 1s’ made’ by carriers at the #8d of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1yr., $8.40; 1 mo., 70c Daily only. o -, $6.00; 1 mo., B0c Sunday only , $2.40; 1 mo., 20¢ All Other States. Daily and Sunday..1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo., Daily only. 1 £7.00: 1 mo., 8 Bunday only $3.00; 1 mo., 5¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Associnted Press is exclusively entitied t¢ the use for republication of all news dis- patches credited to it or not otherwise credited ! in this paper and ‘also the local news pub- lished “herein. Al rights of publication ef wpecial dispatelies herein are also reserved. — The School Report. It is antounced that the joint con- gressional committee on public schools will submit its report on the investi- | gation which it has conducted into the 1ocal school system before the close of the present session. It will, of course, be too late for any action by this Con- It will be in the nature of an | report for the guidance of in the future. and as such | it will be valuable provided. through further postponement of this matter of school rehabilitation, it will not be outdated by de This report tinued inquiry represents a into the school condi- tion, their physical equipment, the ratio of teachers and pupils, the place- ment of buildings, the proper design of structures, the arrangement of classes and courses, the administrative organization. Already an indication of its nature has been given through the publication of the report of the com- missioner of education of Penn: vania, Dr. Finegan, whose services were utilized by the committee as an | ®xpert. Save on the point of his fecommendation that the board of edu- tation be appointed by the President, Dr. Finegan's observations and Yosals are in. the main satisfacto He sees. as would any educator of ex- yerienc ceying the local situation, that the District’s schools are sorely underequipped and undermanned, and | that their chief need is a larger plant | and personuel. i The primary question in this matter | 18 how to provide systematically and ‘within the means of the District under eppropriation conditions the large ar- rears of school buildings required to give the children each a seat and to| allow for the assured increases of thei future. A large sum will be require to this end. Many millions are needed right now for school building arrears. Allowing two vears for each group of | new structures to be completed from the time of appropriation—and that is & reasonable estimate—it is obvious that to overtake the accumulation of | needs will in the present building con- aitions call for nearly a decade of in- tensive appropriation and construc- tion. Thus time is an essential element in the case, and it is much to be re- gretted that this report, upon which 1t is expected will be based the broad program of school provision contem- plated, has been delayed, through no fault of the committee, but from a series of circumstances beyond its control, until it is now impossible to act at the present session. With this report made now. and in hand for study during the recess of Congress, it may be taken up as an urgent matier of unfinished business by the next Congress, to the end of a Prompt answer to the demand of the capital community for a school equip- ment that meets its needs of today and of tomorrow. ————— The Drivers’ School. Attendance at the Safe Drivers’ Bchool conducted by the Washington Safety Council is encouraging. The number of commercial drivers tuming] out to attend the classes, lectures and demonstrations seems to indicate that everybody driving a car is not yet utterly set in his opinion that he knows all that is knowable about autos and auto driving, and that he is willing to learn. The hope of the ‘walking public and the driving public as well is that all auto drivers will learn valuable lessons, and especially the lesson that one good way to drive a car is to keep it always under con- trol, or “stoppable” almost instantly. Part of this lesson is that a driver should always be sharply alert, and that drowsiness, dreams and conversa- tion might be reserved for other times than when one is at .the steering wheel. “Hurry” is another element of danger. Too many auto drivers seem to be hastening to keep an ap- pointment and are late. It is better to be slow than sorry. The attendance at the school is highly satisfactory, and it is believed that much good will result from this effort of the Safety Council. long-con- pro- The price of gasoline advances re. gardless of the fact that its quality disdains the Dr. Coue formula. The Zero Milestone. In the picture section of The Star yesterday was printed an illustration of two officials of the American high- ‘way education bureau starting for San Francisco from the ‘zero milestone” on the White Lot. The particular pur- pose of their journey westward is to serve as guide to the thousands of motoring Shriners wko will come to Washington awheel for the June meeting. From this “zero milestone” will be measured the distances noted on the roads centering here. Every motorist knows the con- fusion of measurements that prevails on the roads of this country. “Five miles to Smithville” appears on a haberdasher's sign on the outskirts of that teeming metropolis, and & few rods farther on toward Smithville & hotel is posted as being four and a quarter milee dlstant, and just be.| { abl { maintain such a residence properly. yond that perbaps a garage blazons its existence five and a quarter miles away. Inasmuch as Smithville is less than half a miie across, these direc- tions are confusing and tend to weak- en the faith of the traveler in the sense of distance possessed by the natives. In approaching a large city, as a result of the enterprise of local busi- ness yien, a wide range of distance di- rections is afforded to the motorist. He does not know whether the meas. urement has been made from some cen+ tral municipal point or from the shop, or hotel, or gas station, or repair es- tablishment, or cafe thus advertised. He is happy to know that he is on the way. With the zero milestone established in the White Lot all “official” meas- | urements on the roads leading into| Washington will be based upon this starting point. It is an appropriate, position. It may interfere somewhat with the measurements in the “guides,” which perhaps run from some other point noted particularly in the text, but at any rate it serves to standard- ize the distances. 1t is, of course, of little moment to the motorist whether the measuring' point is half a mile or a mile one way or another so long as he strikes the town for which he is headed. After a run of 150 miles, possibly more, in a day a few hundred more turng of the wheels make little difference. But in these motoring days it is well to be accurate. Gone are the times when a wayfarer inquiring at a country store or a crossroads is told that the run | o So-and-So is “just a piece down the | road.” The gas combustion engine has | made Americans distance-wise. and now the time has come for “zero| stones " No Vice Presidential Home. 1t is much to be regretted that Con- gress has not found a way to accept the generous and patriotic offer made by Mrs. John B. Henderson of a home for the Vice President of the United States. That offer was made in a spirit of helpfulness, with a view to equip- ping the second executive officer of the country with a permanent, suit- residence. Heretofore no pro- vision whatever has been made for him, and this fact has militated against the development of the office. Unless a man of large private means the Vice President has been unable to take part in the official functions at the capital in a manner comporting with the posi- tion. | The reason advanced for the declina- | tion of the tender of the artistic build- ing is that an indisposition prevails at the Capitol to provide the necessary funds to enable the Vice President to Naturally it would be essential to make such a provision, else the official | home attached to the office would be a serious burden, which the incumbent hould not be expected to bear. It would be required either to increase his compensation materially or to ap- | propriate annually for the upkeep of the mansion. Neither seems possible now in the circumstances of economy that prevail. Eventually it may be decided that the government should provide a suit- able residence for the Vice President, to enable him to render effective as- sistance to the President in the dis- charge of those social duties which are a necessary part of the chief execu- tive office. In that event the cost will be very much greater to the United States than if the handsome offer of | Mre. Henderson had been accepted | and provision had been made for the proper upkeep of the house. It is usually thus with ecorlomies that have only the short range of perspective. The rejection of this offer doés not in the least lessen the public apprecia- | tion of Mrs. Henderson's gracious and | public-spirited temder. It was made | unselfishly, and the misfortune is that it could not be accepted in the same manner. | | The motion picture industry has not | made convincing arrangements to pre- vent a “dictator” from being more or less censored. German marks are going up and French francs are coming down, but it is not likely that the twain ever will meet. Old Tutankhamen never knew what a brilliant array of posthumous press agents he was to have. conditions “first robin" Climatic make the lame duck. conspire to look like a Fruit Exposition. ! Washington may be chosen as the place for holding “the largest and | most complete fruit and vegetable =] position ever held in the east.”” The condition is that a building or hall large enough for the exposition shall be found. Most likely this condition can be met. The news that such an exposition will be held comes from Winchester, the apple capital of America, and has been given out by the secretary of the Virginia State Horticultural Soclety. He says that the horticultural societies of Virginia, ‘West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsyl- vania are co-operating in the proposal for holding such an exposition an- nually. The National Capital would be an appropriaté place for an exposition of peculiar interest to the group of “neighbor states” and of nation-wide importance as well. The production of food is one of the big questions of the world, and the production of food and wealth from American soil and from the soil of our neighborhood are ques- tions of prime importance. Mueh of the land in our section is undeveloped or underdeveloped, yet the potentiali- ties are there. We are close to one of the largest and most profitable apple-growing re- glons of the world. Figure® published about a year ago showed that Virginia was the third epple state, New York being first and Washington second, but in the number of young trees not in bearing Virginia was far ahead of ‘Washington, end it may be that Vir- ginia is, or is close upon being, second to New York. The chief apple section of. Virginia is the Shenandoah valley, but fine orchards of apples and other fruits are spreading in the eastern Pledmont squatry, apd. profitable ;and Port Tobacco should come upon | our streets one would be apt to think chards are found on the wide plateau between the Piedmont and the “fall line,” or that line where the ‘and drops from the plateau to the coastal plain. All through the western counties of Maryland fruit culture is carried on extensively. South of Washington are immense stretches of land where no doubt: fruit culture could be carried on, and there are also great stretches of land of proved adaptability for the cultivation of vegetables. The pro- posed exposition would have a stimu- lating effect. on the people of a wide area, and it would be a revelation to most persons in the east as to quality and variety of things grown in our section. 01d Vehicles. It is heralded that the number of jinrikishas is diminishing in Japan, and that the vehicle will probably soon disappear from Tokio. The auto- mobile and bicycle and higher ’rikisha fares are given as some of the reasons for the decline of the man-drawn cart, and now the news is that subways are to be built in Toklo. The passing of the ‘rikisha will give a feeling of re- gret to many persons, but we in Washington have seen pass from use many types of vehicle once familiar in our streets and on the roads near the city. There was the public hack with its pair of lean horses and its colored driver in seedy livery and a rusty plug hat. A few specimens of the hack survive. but it is almost ex- tinct. If one of the old four-horse stage coaches carrying mail and passengers between Washington and Baltimore, Washington and Frederick, Washing- ton and Winchester and Waskhington that Rice's circus had come to town and was about to pitch its tent on the south side of the canal at 6th and B streets. Around our markets not many years ago were ox teams—a “yoke" of steers and a cumbrous cart. One could see them plodding along the Avenue. Now, a man must go into the depths of Charles or St. Marys county, King George, Westmoreland or Northum- berland to see an ox cart, and even in those counties they are becoming few. A “hansom cab,” with its driver on a high seat at the rear, would now be viewed as a spectacle in the street, vet once it was a stylish and popular thing. Even the once common buggy has become rare in the capital. So, too, have the luxurious victeria and landau, and very likely specimens of these will find a place in the National Museum before the jinrikisha passes from Japan. A moment of sunshine on Ground Hog day accounts, in the calendar of superstition, for six weeks of bad weather, when inclemency is inevita. ble. The ground hog is one of our! leading “sure thing” performers. European stutesmen are beginning to understand that a presidential cam- paign every four years gives Uncle Sam all the politics he can reasonably be expected to handle. China is reported to be relapsing! into the opium habit. The Chinesé door is always open to Old Man Trou- ble. The “Demon Rum" would be less ob- jectionable if he remained true to his title and avoided synthetic devices. A cold wave has struck the Ruhr, complicating the problem of coal shoveling with snow shoveling. Mild winter prophecies are now pigeonholed, to be brought out for use next fall. SHOOTING STARS. { BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Bade the children in Egypt make bricks without straw. Sing Toorili, Toorill, Toorili, Lay! Hast heard of the rhymester who rhymes every day? We've heard of child labor in mine and in mill. The poets, like children, their tasks must fulfill. Till they go to the bad and then go to the worse And il up e “kollum” with stuff called “free verse.” Sing Toorili, Toorili, Toorili, Lay! Life's rough on the rhymester who rhymes every day. The ditchdigger digs and the brick- layer climbs, FEach soothing his soul with = ditty betimes. But the scribe who goes limping on metrical feet Cannot measure eight hours for a task that's complete. Sing Tooril, Toorili, Toorili, Lay! All poets are fools, and they rhyme every day! A Moment of Difidence. “When you made your first public speech did you have stage fright?” “No,” replied Senator Sorghum, “But I had it the first time I talked to the man who was putting up my cam- paign fund.” Jud Tunkins says it's no disgrace to be poor. The fact proves you're no ‘bootlegger. Musings of a Motor Cop. Hortense Magee was looking fine. I fear my manners were unwise, ‘When I put up the go-go sign, T also made some goo-g0o eyes. Toilers. H We've heard of the slave in the gal- ley so drear. We've heard of the Kongo, where men toil in fear. ‘We've heard of old Pharach, whose merciless law The Vanishing Farm. “The Big Town,” said Farmer Corn- tossel, “is only forty miles away. “That ought to make it easier for you to market the products of your farmg.” “I want you to understand that this ' ein’t no farm. This here is suburban real estate. i . *De man.dat talks big," said Uncle Eben, “ain't always de same as de one THE WAYS OF WASHINGTON BY WILLIAM PICKETT HELM. I dropped into prohibition head- quarters the other day and chatted for a few minutes with Commissioner Haynes, chief boss of the nation’s en- forcement officers. “How about this prohibition busi- ness, Mr. Commissioner?” I asked him. ‘A fellow told me the other day that the prohibition law never would be- come fully effective. Is he right?” “Dead right, as far as he went,”” Mr. Haynes replied. “Did he say anything about any of the other laws?" “Why, po” T replied. “We were talking about booze and bootleggers and enforcement and so on.” “He didn’t happen to remark that the law against murder never would be entirely effective, did h “No: not a word about murder, This fellow's a peaceable—-"" “Dldn’t say anything, either, about the law against stealing, I suppose? Nothing about forgery? No reference to arson? Just talked about prohibi- tion, I take it es, sir; that's right. Sald neyer see the law fully effective. ‘Well,” replied the commissioner, “The prohibition law, as he calls it, is no_different from any other law in one respect; every law on our law books is broken. “If the law agalnst murder were never broken, it would be the only law in its class. If the law against stealing were never broken, the men who sell locks, keys, safgy, vaults and burglary Insurance would go out of business. So also would many of our 10,000 gheriffs and 80,000 policemen. ow this law against liquor isn't a whit less of a law than the against murder. Both have got to be obeyed. T didn't make the law against liquor, but 1 believe in it and I am going 'to enforce it to the best of my ability. “Furthermore, it is being enforced a we'd great deal more strictly than some of |4t one of t the propagandists against lead you to believe. “When the law against murder and the law against theft are never broken, then the law against prohib tion will be 100 per cent effective, too. ‘And in the meantime?”’ I asked. ‘The United States was never so dry as It is today. It was never so hard to get a drink as now. And what you get! “What would you think of a friend who Invited you into his home and it would set, before you a bottle labeled ‘98 per | I came to Baltimore and it rank poison,’ ave some? ‘When your friend offers you boot leg whiskey, that's what he's offering you. The forged label doesn't say so. but our chemists do. They've an- alyzed it and they know “Not 2 per cent of the stuff sold by bootleggers today is bonded whisky. The stuff that comes in from Cuba and the Bahamas {s made right there and shipped here under labels that are printed there. Pure Scotch is made from Cuban cane; rve is made from moonshine and coloring matter. “And put this down: no matter what any one tells you, less and less is coming in as time passes. We are not getting so much now as we got a vear ago. We were not getting so much then as we got a year before and urged you to EDITORIAL DIGEST chich holds that “such by-products a& Glad to Talk About It Even|y ton' and development of Though Cost Is Prohibitive. Although the cabinet quickly drop- ped the suggestion of a new canal uniting the Atlantic and Pac to be constructed along the Nicaraguan route, because the lowest estimate of cost was a billion dollars, the news- papers of the country still are dis- cussing the proposal. Many seem in- clined to indorse the proposition in the abstract, especlally since the Panama canal Is showing an excellent profit in its operation. But most mid- dle-western editors insist that the great need of the nation at this time is the St. Lawrence-Atlantic deep waterways and want any other scheme sidetracked until that is ac- complished. The suggestion of a billion-dollar cost caused The Star to recall that “4f that figufe had been breathed as a possibility when the canal project was under discussion at the beginning of the century evervbody would have been staggered. But since then the world has been talking terms of bil- lions, and there is no longer any rea- son to shrink from the nine-figure sums. The Panama canal is making money at.a rate that no optimist ven- tured to predict when it was started. Some day, without doubt, that sec- ond canal will be constructed, and probably at Nicaragua, where this government has a concession. Con- sidering' the length of time that such a work requires and aiso the length of time it needs in the stage of de- cision, this nt contemplation of the matter is by no means prema~ ture” The possibilities of such & canal would be almost limitless, and the Newark News points out “it would bring the west coast, which is now being exploited largely by western American capital, in touch with the ‘American east and Europe. The pos- sibilities of the transnicaraguan route give us a bond of interest with the Central American republics and make their efforts to help themselves one of our legitimate concerns.” So far as the cost is concerned, the At- lanta Journal sees “no reason why the work should not be started with- In a year or two, using a part of the revenues from the Panama canal to help dig the second and evidently needed channel.” - Attent'on is directed by the Brooklyn Eagle ¢, the fact that “politicians will not be slow to ascribe the suggestion to the hope that American enthusiasm may be aroused by such & project and the national attention be diverted from the conditions in Europe and our relations to them during the campaign of next year.” And it is the political rather than the economic_aspects of the proposal that appeal to the Springfleld Union, Discontent. (In reply to B, K. Murray’s “Content- B ment.”) I think that I should rather be the flame That l{ves c‘ns moment, born with one ntent, To glive its warmth and die—than be content And live a thousand years with all the fame The world could heap on me. The sharp descent That lies beneatlr oyr feet—the sheer ascent That rises far above our sight—up that we came, Up this we, too, shall go, nor pause for breath, Nor say we are content, until at last, Secure within the changeless arms 1flent o l,'::lfihl. mov Caught 1:: by eager hands, and see it cast Its Ktle light upon the road to "™ CHARLES T. LANHAM. Congressional Club’s Founder Still Living To the Editor of The Star;” The interesting article in The Star of Sunday, February 11, conoerning the election of Mrs Byrnes to the: presidency of the Congressional Clud contains an errer that all first mem-~ ik o, b know our law | | ' | 1 1 { | | 1 | | | | sued instructions to his force of 2,500 | one | of the rankest kind.” that. We'll get less a year hence than ‘we get now.” Commissioner Haynes has on his staff about 3,800 workers. Manifestly it is impossible for that small staff to make and keep America dry. “It was never Intended that they should,” he told me. “We are now getting the organized enforcement aid Of the states. the cities, the counties, the towns and the villages. The local authorities are the ones to enforce the prohibition law, the same as they enforce the other laws. “My staff could then be free to go after the big conspirators whose ram- ifications extend through several state Jurisdictions. “And we are getting that assistance in ever-growing volume. Only three states now have falled to enact en- forcement laws. There are very few large cities whose authorities are not helping us. The policeman who sees that the other laws are observed :uu added the prohibition law to his it “One police chief came about 500 miles to see me the other day. He had taken office only with the under- standing that he would be unham- pered in the enforcement of all laws— the prohibition law included. “Another police chief recently is- to enforce the law agalnst liquor. Failure to enforce will mean trouble for the policeman who fails. In that case I feel I have added 2,500 en- forcement agents to my staff.” “There is a good deal of talk about the flood of liquor in bootleggers' hands, but it's mostly talk. The boot- leggers are finding it harder every day to do business; and what they seil sn’t liquor at all, but poisonous’ stuff The chief of the prohibition move- ment in Europe, hearing of the prev- lance of bootlegging here, came to the United States to find out condi- tions at first hand. He landed in New York. *I bought a pad of paper and some pencils,” he said, “and took my place » busiest corners in Ne York. It was just after dinnmer. I wanted to count the drunks. “I stayed there two hours and didn't see a single drunken man. Then I went away, thinking that I had been unfortunate in selecting a site for my count. he next night I went to another place where I had seen many drunk- ards nightly in the past. I waited there two hours, but didn't see a sin- gle_one. “I went to Philadelphia and tried to find a drunken man there. 1 failed. there I saw my first drunken man. He was not even fully drunk—about half drunk, should T it mights in New York, Phila- delphia and Baltimore and but one| half-drunken man to be scen! I'm going back home and tell the propa. gandists. “That is where most of the propa- ganda against prohibition comes from, vou may know—from Europe. Well, I'm going back and tell them that America is headed toward total prohibition so fast that she’ll get there in a couple or three years. “You can't stop it. A nolsy minor- ity is talking a lot about bootlegging but they're only making noise. ~Real liquor isn't to be had. Poison-drink ing is losing its fad. Prohibition is at the threshold | | | | the pacific Central America_are not to be over- looked. Our markets would be expand- ed and our industry aided the fos- tering of stable conditions along the proposed canal route, and Central Amer- fcan good will might well be cemented by it.” The “cost is not an obstacle,” the Albany Knickerbocker-Press holds, as vall that needs to be considered is whether another canal would be useful and val " The angle of national defense likewise is injected into the dis- cussion the Des Moine which points out that ¢ t have one instead of two fleets, nama canal is this fleet’s Achilles We shall have the second canal eventually. The real momentum behin the project will be ‘strategic necessity, but commercial conditions will more or less dictate the time.” The discussion of a possible second canal, the Oakland Tribune points out. has ‘called the attention of the world to the astounding growth of the ship- ping business between the east and west coasts. Those men who pointed out these things when the canal was be- ing dug have earned the title of proph- cts.” The Janesville Gazette, for its keywrench 'into the machine by suggesting that “it may be we need another transoceanic canal, but we need something else more than that, and right now—the St. Lawrence to the ocean route, opened and ready for use. We can struggle along for many years without the canal across the Nicaragua peninsula—we are in dire need of the the great lakes to the 4 is opinion, the Du- luth News-Tribune insists “the time to begin 1o think about the Nicaragua route is just after the great lakes-St. Tawrence waterway has been com- pleted. The Panama canal is not utilized to more than 40 per cent of its capacity now. The middle west will favor & Nicaragua canal when the great lakes- St. Lawrence waterway has been com- pleted, and when the urgent necessity for a second canal is shown.” Tt is the opinfon of the Kansas City Journal that if the Nicaraguan canal is constructed | “this country could, under such freedom from the’ vexatious re- strictions of the treaties regulating the Panama canal, give preferential terms to American coastwise trade and world- wide shipping which the Clayton-Bulwer and Hay-Pauncefote treaties prohibit. The advantages to this country of such independence are manifest Tt will be well to fully consider the cost at that, the Boston Post argues, and its relafion to the finances of the country, as “no money should be spent needlessly,” but the Lima Republican- Gazette suggests that “a canal in that reglon would not require locks and would be less endangered by earth- quake shocks. Also it would be a little less expensive than the Panama canal was.” To wh the Pueblo Star-Jour- nal adds that “it would take vears, of course, for the Panama profits to be sufficient to bulld a new canal, but the matter could be arranged by a bond issue and the interest and redemption taken care of by the annual profits from the Panama canal.’” Logical Valuation Plan for Street Car Rates To the Editor of The Star: Referring to your editorial in Sun- day's Star of February 18, it would seem hardly conceivable that the gov- ernment would prescribe an arbitrary rate for the local street railroads on the one hand, and on the other re- quire the Interstate Commerce Com- mission to make rates for the inter- state rallroads on a valuation basis. The proposition appears to be too in- consistent to be enacted or sustained. The logical valuation plan for rate making will prevall because any oth- er plan will make the necessary cap- ital scarce and high and keep the railroads underdeveloped. F. C. SMITH. — | Mrs. James Breck Perkins of New York, founder and first president of the Congressional Club, is happily etill living, to make glad a legion of friends. Here, in my home, were made the, initial plans, and here was helq the first meeting of the potential club. Even the enthusiastic, far-seeing founder could not dream to what digni inftuenoce on, wi ted | runs Politics at Large ® Senator Oscar Underwood of Ala- ,hnml is the subject of considerable qulet but earnest talk in democratic circles in connection with the demo- cratic presidential nomination. From the middle west come reports of prop- aganda in his behalf of a character that does not warrant dismissal of his possible candidacy lightly. At the Capitol it is said that former Presi- dent Woodrow Wilson is very favor- able to him, the only qudlification being his geographical location. John W. Davis of West Virginia is also said to be held in high esteem by Mr. Wilson, but with a like limi- tation geographically. Democratic leaders, many of them, are disposed to hold that on aecount of the appre- hended closeness of the next presi- dential contest the nominee should come from one of the great pivotal states. * Kk ok Republican politicians in Congress declare that if the shipping bill is filibustered to death at this session of Congress, the restoration of the American merchant marine is likely to be a leading issue in the next campaign. On a test vote on the passage of the bill, Minority Leader Underwood predicts that thirty-five of the thirty-seven democratic sena- tors will vote against the bill. That action would be classed as official declaration by the democrats that they oppose the upbuilding of the merchant marine by means of a subsidy. The regular republicans in the Senate will vote for the bill, leaving the radical progressives 1o vote the other way. Thus party lines will be marked. It is held by republicans that should the bill fail the plight of the mer- chant marine will become o pitiable a8 to attract the attention of the whole country between now and the coming on of the presidential elec- tion and that reaction in favor of up- building the merchant marine will assuredly set in and create a politi- cal issue. Kb e With Congr: on vacation until next December, with President Hard. ing recuperating in the south and later possibly on a trip to Alaska, affairs of state and administration are likely to give way to renewed interest in politics, and as the dog days approach there will be gossip a-plenty. It i a cold day when the summer does bring a flood of dog-day politi- cal suggestions on candidacies and policies from the sublime to the ridic- ulous. Well, let's have 'em when the season sets in. o Gov. Al Smith of New York says “shoo-fly” to the presidential bee his friends are trying to set buzzing. He declares he is too busy a-governing to bother with presidential politics, but wise old democrats in the Empire state “that's all in your eye and that the young governor could be detected blushing if vou inspected him closely when he “denies the soft impeachment™ of his possible candidacy Democrats from the west and south who think the sectarian question so se- Jus as to disqualify Gov. Smith as a candidaic aver that Be Tammany Hall is trying to build up a sentiment for Gov. Smith merely for “trading purposes”—that is to create a bloc of delegates, con- trolled by Tammany, which could be awung_ to some other candidate for value received in political assets. Never forget that with th leading spirits in that powerful organization it “Tammany uber alle * % X ¥ They do say that some of the repub- licans are growing lukewarm on the proposition, at one time so favorably considered, of holding the next republi can national convention in San Fran- cisco, because it would give Senator Hiram Johnson too much prestige if he decides to be a candidate; and with his state going wild over him the conven- tion might be psychologically swayed. That is very complimentary to the California _senator, of course, but it sounds rather spiteful if it is true. Other republicans say that holding the convention at the Golden Gate would make it pretty expensive to transport the colored deiegates from the south. It was observed by democrat democratic national convention in San Francisco that a _higher personnel among delegations had resulted from the cost of travel, and that from the east and south many men of affairs in their states had replaced the former perennial politicians making up some delegations. e * * * £ x % ‘The newspaper men who went to the last San Francisco convention are solidly in favor of the republicans taking their national convention to the same spot. The climate certainly was a lifesaver to these workers, and if the prolonged convention had been held in some city subject to great extremes of heat they would have been ‘iplumb worn out” be- fore it was over. The most ideal con- vential hall the country affords is in San Francisco, and the citizens were the soul of hospitality and considera- tion. * k% % Talk of opposition to President Harding’s renomination, which had a spurt a short time ago, has again died down. It swings like a pendulum, and very little is required to start it. The best judgment of the republican managers is that no movement will gain sufficient headway to menace the party’s Solidarity, for that is what they think would result if a contest for the nomination should be brought. * k x *x Democratic politicians are wonder- ing if the south will be solidified in support of any particular candidate or whether the delegations will divide their support among several at the outset, Complimentary votes no doubt will be cast on the first few ballots, but the south will be looking for a candidate who 100ks likely to win at the polls, and ‘friendship ceases’ when that stage of the balloting is reached. * Kk ok Mr. McAdoo is recognized as having a potential following among labor unions, but that very fact is operat- ing to his disadvantage among mapy conservative democrats high in the councils of the party. They do not view with equanimity the prospect of possible supremacy of any particular class in the executive branch of the government. The democratic party will unques- tionably adopt a very radical plat- form, d with that outlook before them there is discernible at this time a pronounced drift of - sentiment among influential democrats for the selection of a candidate recognized as being conservative in tendency. This looks like setting a trap to “catch 'em coming and going. * ok kX The next Congress, when it as- sembles, will witness an avalanche of radical legislative measures in bills emanating from democrats and radi- cal republicans. The temper of the times is pronounced to be in many re- spects similar to the conditions which existed in the days of “Sockless” Jerry Simpson, Senator Peffer et al, and when the Farmers' Alliance 1ivea and flourished. Proposing to cure the ilis fo the body politic by legislation promises to be the most popular in- dlaor sport at the Capitol next se sion. In both parties, however, will be found ‘men who share the belief President Harding is known to hold —that the country_ is overlegislated already. At any rdte, should Pre dent Harding live there will be & Ex.n in the hwhll‘fufiouu during lh:t Tess who- courage to hfi & vigorous pen, M-IW 408 s S gavs he camntry. % : CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. Hon. Aunt Alice Robertson, M. C., 18, 8oing to her Oklahoma farm next March 5, and let the country go to the bow-wows. Not only that, but she is EOINg to take the bow-wows with her, which is the most modern way for a stateswoman to assert her su- | periority 1o mere men. President; Harding and Laddie Boy may think | they are some pumpkins, here on Main street (yclept Pennsylvania avenue), | but Laddie Boy wouldn't last three flicks of a sheep's tail if he ventured ! on Miss Farmer Robertson's estate after March 4. A few days ago the lady from Oklahoma mentfoned to a fellow member that she wished she could find a bulldog that would “eat ‘em alive,” and he carried the message to a constituent in Ohio, who has sent her a fighting bulldog warranted to lick any man or beast on earth. Tt { is so ferocious and untamable that | the Buckeye owner was afrald to keep him in a village lest he depopu- late the town. It was in anticipation of the coming of this man-eating tiger that another lame duck of her state has learned to fly. Man-yell | would not be safe if merely up a tree. | > 5 The Federation of Citizens’ Associa- tions s destrous of honoring the American flag by putting it into every school classroom and over every school building in Washington. That calls for 1,700 small flags in the | rooms and 160 large flags over the buildings. Lvery patriot sympathizes with the motive of the proposal. There are two considerations, how- ever. which may make It more prac- tical and beneficial than the original idea. First, the flag should stand for something definite in the minds of the school children. Merely putting it upon the wall of a classroom does not honor Old Glory; it there becomes only a bright decoration. It has no more significance than a bunch of ! bright autumn leaves. It is in no way associated with the idea of duty, of real patriotic sacrifice. It is only | decorative. In the Army or Navy the flag is never used as a decoration; it means something very definite. 1ty marks headquarters of a camp; it stands for the nation at the head of a | regiment on the march. When it is| raised upon its staff the band plays: “Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn' . ‘early light, 5 What so proudly we hailed twilight's last gleaming?" While it is ascending, or at sunset while it is descending, every officer | stands at salute, and the regiment tands at attentioh. There is a rever. nce shown which impresses itself upon the subconscious mind of every- body. No soldier ever thinks of the a decoration, pVhat is true of the Army is true he at the of| has not learned that distinction, nor will the child learn jit, seeing the bright stripes and white | iStars draped over a picture on the classroom wall. Many a self-styled patriot believes that he or she is honoring the flag when it is used for a tablecloth upon a speaker's stand, or sewed in to a group with the flags jof all nations. That is a sacrilege, and children should learn that lesson early. The flag is of the holy of holies. Who that saw it upon the battle field at 11 o’clock Armistice day, when | it broke through the fog and camou- flage and waved “victory” above the | batteries, could ever forget that iti is the incarnated soul of America and Liberty? Second: To equip each room with a flag—1,700 of them—means & need- less expense. To supply one hand- some regulation flag, upon a suitable staff, for each school building will cost far less, be more dignified and of greater value in inspiring the chil- dren with due respect. Let e Y child learn to salute it. It can be raised just before school opens and {BY LA MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. August Tyssen has been described in a number of newspapers on this side of the Atlantic as the German Rockefeller. This is a distinct re- flection on the good name of an American, one who has' contributed to the welfare of mankind, and to philanthropio causes of every sort, a greater amount of Ais enormous wealth than all his fellow multi- millionaires put together. Rocke- feller has never been proven guilty by his own ledgers and books of having falsified all thq sworn docu- ments which he furnished to his own government and to foreign powers, and of having consistently cheated the Berlin treasury with the object of throwing the main burden of tax- atlon upon his poorer fellow citizer for his own benefit. It may ba re- called that when the French invaded the Rubr district the German iron and steel magnates were chiefly con- cerned in placing their books and ledgers beyond the reach of the French army of occupation. Several special trainloads of these books and ledgers _were conveyed to Hamburg and to Berlin in safety. But at least half of them were left behind, and these have furnished information which should be widely known on this side of the water. * ok Kk 1t is needless to go here into any dotailed figures. The books go to show that the statistics furnished by Tyssen in particular, by Hugo Stinnes, and by their fellow iron ana coal magnates of the Rhine region wera completely false and that the production was double, and even treble, the amount sworn to by them and on which they were taxed for revenue purposes. Thus it is shown that for the twelve months ending December 31, 1922, the German pro- duction of steel was 12,000,000 tons, as compared with 10,000,000 tons in the extremely prosperous year of 1913, prior to the great war. This was during a period when the Brit- ish steel works were only producing 50 per cent of their capacity and the French works even much less— namely, 49 per cent. Indeed, the books ‘of Tyssen, of Hugo Stinnes and of their fellow magnates show that, far from being checked or mpered in their industrial output, their production and consequently their profits were even much great- er than before the war, and that of all European countries Germany, at any rate, as far as the industrial magnates were concerned, had at- tained the highest. degree of pros- perity. These revelations have proved an eye-opener to those friends of Ger- many in foreign countries—even in England and in the United States— who were under the erroneous im- pression that Teuton industries had een ruined by the demands made upon the German treasury for the money due to France, Belgium and the other powers of the entente, un- der the head of reparation for the terrible destruction and devastation | which they nad wrought during the great war in the countries which the fad invaded. By * k k% The disclostires have also creatéd a profound impression upon the Ger- man masses, and have tended to still further exasperate them against their profiteers and multi-millionaires who have flatly refused to subscribe to any German national loan, or to pay what' was due by them to the tre: sury at Berlin under the head of taxation. Tyssen, Stinnes and their associates | eral Daugherty. jthen will b, | something .\COLLINS, lowered, with ceremony, at dismissal Then it will mean what it should mean. * ook K This week marks the eighteenti anniversary of the beginning of 11, Rotary Club. It will be celebrated i broadcasting to twenty-seven cou tries speeches of public men exp ing American ideals. There will speeches from President Hardi Speaker Gillett and Attorney Ger This is a wonderful means of spreading the spirit of America 80 that othe ioens wil appreciate that we I ic abov. the hoarding of the “almighty dollar Never before has the audible - an American President been hear simultaneously in twenty-seven cou tries, * * “apper-McFadden bill ereation of agricultural cred corporations, operating with priv capital. These corporations will I¢ * imoney to farmers for a period of nir ed on the security of nor farm products (such corn), stored in public and inepected by goverr - ts, 50 as to make the ware pts available as collaters loans. The farmers’ pape accepted by the federal reserve for rediscount, so the farn ers will have the benefit of the fed eral reserve bank, hitherto lim to commercial loans. The fede reserve bank will ulso purchase per of the farm marketing associa gricultur. wheat or warehouse ment ag, house recs for the ted e The Lenroot-Anderson biil prope to create a banking department each of the existing farm 1Ia banks, which now are only farn mortgage institutions. This woull require a new personnel to hand! the nine-month loans, and it woul be putting the government into the general agricultural banking busi- ness. Secretary Mellon opposes that plan, and claims that such_banks would have to charge 7 to T% per cent interest 1o the farmers in orde: to cover overhead expenses. They would get the funds from the la banks, which pay 5 per cent o their ‘bonds, on which they obtair capital from investor The land bank would have to charge the farm credits department fome advance over the cost of the funds, so that wccording to Secretary Mellon, the farmer would be paying probably 71 per cent. Besides, the government would be responsible for the agement of the whole business, and that, the Secretary of the Treasur claims, is outside the proper func- tions of a federal government. * x x * Both measures were passed by the Senate, but neither has yet been co sidered in the House. The House leaders are complaining that the Senate shifted sibility upon the House In passing two ting measures, and leaving to the House the task of choosing which plan to adopt. It is possible that the result ill be that the House will entirely different either of the Senate measures, that, in the tangle, the time of ad journment, March 4, will arrive witl nothing enacted into law for the farmers’ benefit. Both bills_of the Senate have sponsors in the House Anderson and McFadden It takes a long time to take ca man spe adopt from » of the shipping interests, through the | subsidy bill; there may not be time to look after both the ship owners and the farmers. There is only one more week after this week. (Copyrigh V. Collins, 1923.) {Iron and Coal Magnates in Ruhr | Have Incurred Hatred of Proletariat at the | affluent result h, fellow countrymen, and been to embitter the lat- ter agai them. Indeed, the menace of a4 popular rising of the n and even of the lower bourgeoisic, Wl find that the depreciated national cus renc has ceased to have any p chasing power, and who are confron: ed by starvation, is at the pres moment a greater peril than ever. an insurrection bry out in Ge many—and it will be a terrible one it will be directed, not against th French occupants of the Ruhr, but against Tyssen, Stinnes, the Stumms and their fellow ofiteers, who huve been piling up wealth and making ostentatious display thereof, whe the entive country is face to fac with destitution and famine. * k ¥ % Now that a reconciliation has take: place between the dent wings of the liberal party, and t Lioyd George and the adherents and friends of Herbert Asquith are once more united against the present conserva- tive government, the appointment of Tapt. Hilton Youns, M. P., ax chief whip and party manager acquites increased interest. Capt. Young member of the bar and former edito; of the Economist and financial editor of the London Morning Post prior the outbreak of the great war. I promptly secured a commission as commander of the royal naval reserve in August, 1914, and served with con- siderable 'distinction—first of all in a, then in the Mediter- , afterward with the nava ssion_in Serbia, also in command of an armored train in the Archangel campaign, and, above all, in the chan nel off the coast of Belgium. Capt. Young, likewlse, formed one of that band of heroes who took the Vindictive under the fire of the Ger- man guns and sank her in the en- trance of Zeebrugge harhor, so as t block the canal to the principal base of the ex-kalser's submari H came out of this daring expeditiol with the loss of an arm, while amony the honors which he won during the war were the British _distinguished service ~order, tho British _di guished service cross, the Relg croix de guerre and the French Legion of Honor and the croix de guerre. ik Ex Capt. Hilton Young Is about forty four years of age, and although his hair is tinged with gray, his smile and manner are boyish and he js general favorite—not only in society but also in parliament. He marricd u couple of years ago Lady Scott, th sculptress, widow of Capt. Robert F Scott, R. N. the antarctic explore who met such a tragic death on his way back from the south pole. His widow retains his name and her titie It may be recalled that Capt. S was created, posthumously, a knight commander of the Order of the Bath by King George in recognition of that work of _antarctic exploration to which he gave his life. That is how his widow became Lady Scott, daugh- ter of Canon Lloyd Bruce. She has achieved considerable success as & sculptress, contributing in no small degree to’the income needed for her own subsistence and that of her six- teen-year-old boy, Peter Scott, until her marriage to Capt. Young. Capt. Young is a younger on of old Sir George Young, fourth baronet of Formosa, a picturesque islet in the Thames, nearly opposite Lord Astor's magnificent countyy seat at Cliveden. The Youngs hail from Dorset, where they were lords of the manor when Sir Francis Drake set sail for the new world, nearly four centuries ago. They have been in possession of For- mosa ever gince its acquisition by Ad- miral Sir George Young, who played 8 notable role in the taking of Quebec and of Havana. - ' / {