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CHE EVENING STAR, ‘With Sundsy Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. (MONDAY.....February 26, 1823 {'HEODORE W. NOYES......Editor :hl Evening Star Newspaper cu-"w ALY P Wuropean Oflf;: 16 Regent B! .mmfl‘- The Evening Star, with the mornteg Péition, 1s delivercd by carriers within the city B 80 Centn por mond, dally only, 43 cente 3 ‘month. Zeat by ‘matis oF ek Main Fonths Bun 2 : mat or e cartlers af the forn uiay Bo $000. " Collection 18" made by ®ud of each month, Rate by Mall—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. ;*nfly and Sunday..1 yr., $8.40; 1 mo,, 70c ally only... yr., $6.00; 1 mo., §0c Bunday only. 1¥r.. $2.40; 1 mo., 200 All Other States. $10.00: 1 mo., 85¢ 1 mo., 60c 1yr, $7.0 g 1yr., $3.00; 1 mo., 35¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Amsociated Preas is exclusively entitied ®c the use for republ fon of all news dls- patches credited to it or not otherwise credite in this paper and also the local news pub iished herein. ~All rights of publication of erein are also reserved. e — « Reclassification in Sight. Agreement by those in charge of the reclassification bill in the Senate upon the terms of @ compromise measure puts that important project in the way of flnal enactment. What seemed & few days ago to be impossible has ‘been accomplished in this meeting of aninds upon details of a comprehensive €cheme of government reorganization. During this last week of the session #t should be possible to obtain action fn the Senate and concurrence by the House in the substitution of the new measure for that which the House has miready passed. If there is a spirit of «accomplishment this will be done. If 4t is earnestly desired to put the gov- ernment service upon a right basis of efliciency through classified duties of the workers time remains for the enactment, The fact that the passage of the reclassification bill will entail a reed- Justment of appropriations to carry out its terms does not militate against enactment at this session, short as it may be. The actuarial computations of the difference in total between the present scale of pay and those pro- posed have been made. In any case it is possible to put this new plan into operation on the basis of the appro- priations already passed and to make good the deficiencies at the next ses- sion. It is stated that the detafls of the compromise report on the bill are in the main satisfactory to the govern- ment workers, who, it seems, were in & low state of mind at the end of last ‘week respecting the prospect. So low, indeed, was their mind on this matter %hat they proposed a meeting to be held tonight to protest the terms ‘which it was reported would be pro- vided in the new draft. That meeting, if held, should be turned into a grati- flcation meeting, for there is no rea- son to challenge the general spirit of the proposed law, although it is maturally to be expected there may be disappointments in detail. The vital consideration in this mat- ter is to secure the principle of classi- fication in the government service, to cure the i ngruities of assignment and detail that have grown during the Years until the departmental work is an inextricable maze of contradictions, overlappings and unrelated responsi- bilitles. If, in addition to the estab- Jishment of the broad principle of classification or grouping, there is adopted a salary scale which in the main is equitable a great gain will have been made. During these last few days of the session, therefore, it will be the hope of all who are concerned in the work ©of the government, subordinates and superiors and legislators, that thls fm- portant measure should reach the stage of final enactment. An earnest, sincere wish to accomplish this end ®ppears on the part of those who have Deen engaged for months in an effort 10 shape the measure to adjust differ- ences of view and to reach a ground of broadest equity to all. With con- fidence that they will carry through and score this important advance to- ward businesslike government admin- dstration, the hope of all concerned remains high. ——————— “Imperlal Caesar dead and turned to clay might stop a hole to keep the wwind away.” And Tutankhamen, who sade nations meek, is now regarded ®|s a museum freak. —_——— ‘The failure of a shipping bill may fmean that Uncle Sam'’s bills for inter- mational shipments will be higher than tiey should. i —_———— A Postal Building Program. Uncle. Sam's public bullding work thas been done in a patchwork fashion %n the course of many decades, with the result that the arrears of today, reckoning the needs in terms of the Hccommodations that a big business rhould provide for itself, are stagger- gngly heavy. -In not one single branch of the government is there an ade- «quate series of structures here and «lsewhere. This fact is illustrated by the. recommendations just made by the joint commission on the postal kervice regarding improvements and changes necessary to bring the service up to date in point of efficiency. One of the recommendations is for the appropriation of approximately 820,000,000 dnnually for a govern- ment-owned post office building pro- gram, to include all of the principal pities in the United States. It is plain to see that unless some puch systematic-series of appropria- ions is undertaken the arfears will rontinue to’ accimulate. Spasmodic occasional grants of money for new ronstruction may meet particular needs here and there, but do not Insure continuous constructive ad- wvance. Such a series of annual appropria- tions might be continued for twenty pears without fully meeting the re- fuirements of today and the elapsing time, That would mean an expendl- ture In all- of $400,000,006, a large Eum {o contemplate at omce, but not 100 large considerin the requirements wf the situation. places where powerful infiuences availed to secure liberal appropria- tlons, post office constructions have been decidedly inedequate. In most small towns the post offices are in rented bulldings, often the lower por- tions of stores, transformed for the ‘work of mall receipt and distribution. Now and again special bulldings have been provided for the larger of the towns, but they have not been planned or constructed upon & consistent scale and a remarkable variety of designs has resulted. By adopting a year-by-year program of post office constructions the gov- ernment can plan effectively in ad- vance and provide for expansion. That this {8 necessary is shown by the con- ditions that prevail in some of the larger cities where rather elaborate buildings have been erected in the past, only to be quickly outgrown, without the chance of enlargement or addition. The urgent needs of today include extensive expansion in postal building facilitles in some of the largest of the citles. What s true of the post office serv- ice in the matter of butldings is true of every other branch of the govern- ment. .The bullding needs of the federal service today stand for ex- penditures reaching into the hundreds of millions. Here In this city the public building commission recom- mends & number of structures that are urgently required to enable the government to do its work effectively, with consideration for the decent com- fort and security of its force. This matter cannot be perennially post- poned without pliing up enormous ob- ligations that eventually need to be met. : Hague Court Membershi President Harding's message to the Senate asking consent that this gov- ernment should adhere, with reserva- tions, to the protocol establishing at The Hague the permanent court of {n- ternational justice brings the United States face to face with the necessity of a decision as to what part this na- tion is to play in world affairs. In re- Jecting the covemant of the league of nations we did so with professions that it was not because we wished to isolate ourselves from the world's af- fairs. We insisted that we still stood desirous in every way consistent with our institutions to promote peace and fellowship and aedvance civilization. Now we are called upon to demon- strate the sincerity of this professed deslre. It is not & matter for hasty judg- ment and decision. In fact, it is un- likely the President expects actlon in the few days remaining of the present Congress. The probabliity is that in laying the proposal before the Senate at this time he had in mind that it should be studied and discussed, and sentiment crystallized between now and next December. There i{s nothing of the nature of an emergency calling for immediate action, but it was good psychology to bring on public discus- slon of the matter during the months ‘when Congress will not be in session. Whatever may be the uitimate de- cislon as to American membership in the court, the proposal is of such su- perior importance that it is entitled to be considered without being damned in advance by the passions and prej- udices inherited from the conflict over the league of nations. And, of course, consideration of it should be free from the maneuvering of partlsan politics. roppouhlon to American membership in the league of nations is not of it- self a reason for opposing American membership in the international court. It is true that the court is a crea- tion of the league, and that its judges are elected by the league council, but the reservations suggested by Secre- tary Hughes would enable us to ac- cept membership in the court and par- ticipate in the election of judges with- out further involvement in league ai fairs. We have claimed and are en- joying benefits under the treaty of Versallles, which the Senate refused to ratify, and there would be no incon- sistency in accepting benefits through an agency of the league of nations, even though we are not & member of the league. There never has been any informed contention that the league of nations iwas wholly bad from an American point of view. In fact, fair-minded opponents recognized that the greater part of itsconception was wholly good. It was rejected because in one or two instances it proposed to operate in a manner which could not be reconciled with the institutions and tradilonal policy of this nation. The international court of justice is not one of the things to which there was objection at the time the cove- nant of the league was rejected. Hav- ing by rejection escaped what we be- lieved was bad in the progrem of the league, it would seem childish if, be- cause of the bad things which no longer have power to harm us, we refused to share in the good things which the league may accomplish. ———— References to Russia as ‘“the bear that walks like & man” belong to an old-time poetic impulse. Russia does not merely walk, but is now regarded as the country that sends over the ballet dancers. ————————— Circumstances in the Ruhr are such as to render incidental street elashes such as may occur in any neighbor- hood liable to be regarded as national conflicts. -Walter Reed Hospital. There is sentiment in-favor of the removal of Walter Reed Hospital to another site, During the controversy over the proposed extension of 14th street the question of the removal of the hospital was often touched on, and the matter will probably be further agitated if the bill for the extension of 14th street passes Congress. Like most other matters of controversy this also has two sides. The government set up a general | Army hospital on an eligible site. It was historic military ground. The flelds and bits of woodland - were charming. Picturesque brooks flowed through the grounds. The land was relatively cheap, and ‘the hospital buildings were far enough from .the crowd to give quiet to the patisnts. It was believed that-the grounds would allow for the expansion of the hospital for many years, end beyond the cant Jand that could be taken over at & very reasonable cost. During the ‘war hospital bulldings were erected, ‘with the ‘reault that the hospital site became rather crowded. In the mean- time Washington’s extraordinary growth to the nortl¥ began to press upon the hospital-and- hem it in so that it cannot be enlarged except at heavy cost. 5t . If the medica] authorities of the Army believe: +the "situation of Walter Reed 'Hospital . is .all that is needed for-the:comfort of patiénts and the growth of. the . institutign their word to that rflect should be pccepted. It they, belfeve that another site, larger, higher, and far enough in the country to be safe for many vears from the encroachment of Washing: | ton's populgtion would be preferable, the hospital might well be removed. The peculiar situation of the hos- pital, mukes it a hindrance.to the growth of the city in that direction, but it should be borne in mind that the hospital was there first, and the removal of such a hospital ought not to be demanded simply because people choose to build around it. " Nelther ought & hospital to ‘block the extension of one of-the traffic ar- terles nor put any check on the growth of the city. The hospital should have first claify upon one's consideration, but there might well be an adjust- ment by which the hospital could be placed in a better situation and the check on city growth removed. Alexander T. Cowell. Alexander T. Cowell, whose sudden death Saturday night is @ grievous shock to all his associates and friends, was one of The Star's oldest and most valued workers. He had been asso- clated with this paper for thirty-two vears in various capacities, for the greater part of that time in the prepa- ration of telegraphic news for publica: tion. Mr, Cowell's identification with ‘Washington's newspapers dated from 1883, and with The Star from 1881 In the course of that period of nearly & third of @ century of Star work “Alec” Cowell witnessed phenomenal change in newspaper methods, an extraord!- nary growth in the volume of publica- tion. He grew with the work until he had an exceptional knowledge of news values with @ rich background of his- torical information. In person modest, he remalned relatively unknown save to his associates, by whom he was held in the highest esteem and the warmest affection. At his passing The Star pays a tribute to his fidelity and the value of his services and his un- flagging interest in his_work, which he maintatned literally up to the hour of his death. —_—— Universal suffrage is demanded in Japan. The demonstrations afford an assurance that the domestic problems are sufficiently absorbing to prevent the Nipponese empire from seeking needless foreign complications. —_————— The motion -picture star who re- ferred to Will Hays as “a fixer” re- | fratned from giving expiicit informa- | tion as to what and whom he was ex- pected to fix. —————— When an eminent democrat is sug- gested @s a presidential possibility | there is usually a strarge kilence among other representative members | of the party. ! 1 The Washington, D, C., citizen sees | his hopes of a satisfactory settlement | of the fuel situation going up in soft- coal smoke. American’ purchasers of estates ‘in central Europe have not as yet an- nounced satisfactory relations with any title Insurance companies. Nobody in Russia is offerlng any serious complaint because Lenin has practically abandoned Trotsky's old soviet prospectuses. The democratic party can at least ‘boast of having a much larger number of presidential booms at present than { the republican party. Occasionally a prima donna demon- strates that she can lift her voice in a quarre] better than she does on the stage. Reclassification gradually assumes the proportions of en abstruse prob- lem in the higher mathematics. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Airship. An airship traveled through the sky. I sald, “You sure know how to fly. You seem, when your strange notes are heard, Like a colossal humming bird. “But you employ no lelsure hour ‘With sweets in some enormous flow'r; Your greatest mission seems to be To carry guns and TNT. “You bring no memories, as you roam, Of peaceful harvest and the home, You-lay no eggs, you cannot sing, Nor even promise early spring.” The Old School. . “People say you .are of the old school of statesmanship.” “I am,” replied Senator Sorghum. “But the practical exigencies of a mod- ern situation occasionally tempt me to play hookey." —_ Jud Tunkins says the average politi- cal epeegh daesn't accomplish much except to show that the orator's heart is in the right:place. ! Musings of 8 Motor Cop. . 1 once arrested sweet Hortense. I rode with her; with joy immense, And wished the station house that day ‘Were several hundred miles away. . e Deference to Example,” - . ‘Charley, dear,” sald young Mrs. Torkins, .“don’t you think a woman should be guided by the taste of her ‘husband?” “Of course.” 5 “S8o do I. That's why I'm going to have my hair cut,short and learn to smoke.’ - Readin’ and’ writin" aid <Unclé Eben, “would be 43 edsy as ’rithmetic 1f dey was practiced to de ssme extent Heretofore, save in s very few|grounds were wids siretches of va-|in e esaps gams. - WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC It tsn’t only American ambassadors who come home to roost, like Harvey of Léndon, or Fletcher of Brussels, or other distinguished visitors, to whom White House attentions are shown. The President has just ex- tended hospitality to a couple of the humblest callers who ever turned up at the executive mansion. Secretary Christian had made up Mr. Harding’s time-table for the day and the Presi- dent notice that the statutory five minutes were assigned to a Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle of Montclair, N. J. “Who's Tuttle?’ Mr. Harding asked. “Why, Mr. President,” sald Christian “that's George Tuttle, who used to be a lino- typo operator on the Marion Dally Star, und Mrs, Tuttle was one of your proofreaders.” Mr. Harding was de- lighted. “Put ‘em at the bottom of the list,” he directed, “so I can give ‘em all ‘the time they want. And, by the way, George, have one of the White Houso automobiles here and put it at thelr disposal for the rest of their stay In Washington.” 'That is like the President wherever and whenever old friends are concerned. * % A % Not often jhas a man the satisfac- tion of outliving the judge who sen- tenced him to death, That is the ex- perience through which John Ha: Hammond has just passed. In 1896, when a young mining engineer in the Transvaal, Hammond was tried, convicted and condemmed to death by Justice Relnhold Gregorowsk! at Pretoria_for complicity in the cele- brated Jameson rald. His sentence, along with that of his fellow pris- oners, later was commuted to fifteen vears’ {mprisonment and later to & fine of $125.000, for which Hammond purchased his liberty. Justice Gre, orowski recently passed away at Pre- toria, being a member of the supreme court bench of the South °African union at the time. Many years after the Jameson raid passed into history, Gregorowski caused word to be sent to Hammond that if he had to do it all over again, the judge would have ordered “Oom Paul” Kruger to the scaffold instead of the American min- ing engineer snd his comrades. * k k% One of the most prodiglous statis- tical productions which even Wash- ington, a community of endless fig- ures, has ever seen is the complla- tlon now being privately circulated by Martin J. Gillen of Wisconsi: Gillen was John Barton Payne right-hand man &t the Shipping Board. He has worked out a super- elaborate scheme for bringing order out of economic chaos in Europe with American aid,.chiefly in the in- terest of the American farmer. In a series of “leaflets,” nearly the size of a newspaper page, Gillen piles up tables of international trade bal- ances, crop results, foreign loans, living costs, and what not. They cover the past twenty-three years and peer speculatively {nto tha fu- ture. Gillen wants the United Stat to appoint four:. great “fact-finding commissions,” dealing with the ma- jor phuses of American-European economio distress, headed, respective- WILLIAM WILE. 1y, by Elthu Root, Bernard M. Baruch, enjamin_Strong and Julius H. Barnes. He would oreate a ffth “American economio commission on home affairs” with Alexander Legge as chairman. Ad chairman generai- issimo of all the commissions, Gillen proposes Mr. Strong, governor of the federal reserve bank at New York. * ¥ % ¥ Although both Japan and Brazll deny the existence of a plan to col- onize Brazil with 600,000 Japanese settlers, late news from Tokio tells of a scheme to bring Japanese In quantities to Argentina. Takashi Nakamura, the mikado’s minister at Buenos Aires, recently arrived in Tokio on leuve. He drew & rosy plo- ture of the prospects of Japanese im- migration in the Argentine republic. Three thousand Nipponese already are settled in that country as agri- culturists; & third of them own the land they till. Mr. Nakamura stress- ed that Argentina presents no land- law_difficulties or raclal problems such as exist in California. He also quoted the new president of tha re- public as “openly welcoming orien- taal immigrants to assist in the de- velopment of the country” and de- scribing the Argentine as “an jdeal country for Japanese settiers.” * k% % Only & week or two before Senator Borah broke loose in the Senate with a new appeal for Soviet recognition, Secretary Hughes completed an ex- haustive survey of that problem. He called upon all and sundry. both at the State Department and at our foreign stations, to contribute the full sum of their knowledge to condi- tions In Russia and the advisability, or otherwise, of relations with Mos- cow. Testimony was sought, too, from responsible Americans recently in Russia. The consensus of opinion. thie observer is informed, was that nothing effective or reliable has oc- curred to deflect the United States government from the attitude it has hitherto maintained. The communist autocracy established in the Kremlin knows exactly what it must do to merit recognition at Washington. The necessary has not been done. Until it s, America will continue to regard the Soviet government unworthy of official notice. * % % % A lost sheep has been straying around Washington. He is Alexander P. Moore, of Pittsburgh, who has just deserted the newspaper business after forty-two consecutive years 8s a re- porter, editor, publisher and propri- etor. During that long period Moore has owned In whole or in part every one of Pittsburgh’s newspaper proper- ties, but when he sold The Leader to a syndicate early in February he dis- posed of the filnal vestige of new: paper interest he still possesse: Moore admits that the habit of idle- ness {8 going to be hard for him to acquire. Not all the perfumes of Arabia, he says, will ever smell as sweet to him as prm“r.avm“;" (Copyright, w. Senator Robinson Has Unique Record of Off Again, On Again, Gone Again Jobs The unique record of belng a repre- sentative in Congress, governor of the state and United States senator- elect all within the space of a fort- night is held by Senator James T. Robinson of Ar- kansas, who is to be the democratic leader in the Sen- ate In the next Congress. It came about in this way: While serving in the House of Rep- resentatives he was elected Go ernor of Arkan- sas. Hardly had he retired from the House and been inaugurated when Senator Jeft Davis died suddenly. Gov. Robinson was elected to flll the vacancy, all this happening within two weeks. ‘When Senator * Simmons, from a sick-bed In his home in North Caro- linz, authorized the withdrawal of his name from the race for the lead- ership of the minority in the next Senate the name of Senator Robinson wag the only one left of those consid- ered for the Senate democratic leader- ship, and his name will be the only one presented to the conference when & sucoessor to Senator Oscar W. Un- derwood, the present leader, 1s chosen. Senator Underwood voluntarily re- tires to the ranks after about three SENATOR EOBINSON years of commendable service in the leadership role. Senator Robinson will give to the militant minority a progressive lead- ership. As the democrats will have forty-two senators in the next Con- gress, and added to their number the votes of several of the republican senators of independent thought, the office of minority leader will be a formidable one. The democratic lead- ership, with progressive republican help at times, will be fraught with many possibilities, and the action of this combination may have far-reach- ing effect. Senator Robinson Is a forceful speaker. He has mastered parlia- mentary procedure and makes an ex- cellent presiding officer. He was per- manent chalrman of the democratic national convention at San Francisco. Assisting Senator Robinson in his management of the minority In its onslaughts on the majority will be as his chief scout and sharpshooter Sen- ator Pat Harrison. Senator Swanson will ever be in readiness to help in the drives on the enemy, and Senator Gerry 18 expected to continue as the democrattc whip, a position he has capably filled. Senator Robinson will be fortunate in being able to have the counsel of Senator Underwood In the maneuvers of the minority, but Senator Robin- son 1s a ready fighter and is counted upon to fight the battles of leadership with energy. EDITORIAL DIGEST Changing of Rules of Supreme Court Debated. ©On the movement “to have the five- to-four winning score fn the Supreme Court changed,” as one writer calls Senator Borah's propo: ‘editorial opinion 1s lined up appareatly in equal etrength on each side of the question, with the entire width of the ¥ffleld between them. Practically the only point on which there is any shade of agreement is that if any change is to be made in the present practicé the Borah idea of requiring a seven-to-two decision before a law can be declared unconstitutional is a conservative one. “To some minds,” the Christian'Sci- ence Monitor suggests, “the essence of the power and the dignity of the Supreme Court lies. in its being ex- empt from amendment, correction or improvement. It must ‘be looked upon as something above eritlcism nd above faults,” but the paper I “not sure that this limitation would not ‘in the end enhance, rather than detract from, the dignity of the court in the eyes of the public.” Certainly fivesto-for decisions “hdvs been all too . frequent.t the Duluth Herald holds, and “it is the p: to do away with them, falo Newsd agrees, “dissatisfaction is bound to result when vital légisiation is held invalid by a bare majority of the court.” > - Nowhere else in ‘thc ‘world, declare: the Boston Globe, “is there a trib with such suthority. ¥ Americans go through all the forms of deciding for oyrselves what laws we want, We Tedt & Congress. A "bill is passed and, en to. tha White House. Preéident signs. Is it.to be not? That depends upon, the jufists on the Suprethe bench. If as many as five of them say ‘No’ nothing shart of a constitutional amendment ,civil war can override. thelr And, adds the,Pittsburg Press, power “was not conferred by either. Congress or the Constitution. The Bupreme Court judges admittedly arrogated it to thempelye: ‘No, act-of’ Congress,” the Raleigh wg . .and., ryet .. maintain ‘ought to. be lightly set aside. or an nulled easily. = The presumption Is t it is e law or nine & the court would not divide so evenly,” because, 28 the Indianapolis News ar- gues, “there is certainly a strong pre- sumption in favor of the constitu- tionality of a law that four justic have declared to be constitutional and “it may be a very strong pre- sumption when the weight of the brain power, though not of number: is on the side of constitutl Admitting, iany passed by a vote that is laws are only a majority of the quorum pres gzd far ‘mA":i.n half the entire n (W. Va.) Mall asks, “if it {s danger- rship.” the Charleston s the whimsicalities of fickle and ephemeral majorities, to put a law on the statute books by a bare majority?” Particularly, the Green Bay Press Gazette - suggests, when “much of the work of the Su. prems Court Is the result of tmproper legislation which is enacted for po- litical purposes” constitutionality. “A_ law-interpreting power,” says the Peoria Transcript, “is quite necessary as a lawmaking power. We can conceive of nothing more mi: chievous than a system which would enable Congress to make and inter- pret its laws under the federal Con- stitution.” With such a power, the Boston Herald suggests that “Con- | Eress could amend the Constitution !in particular instances, and make it- elf in effect a legislative body of ited competenc: f one concedes for the sake lof the argument the desirability of I!ho novel limitation proposed,” the Chicago News raises the ‘“serlous | question to whether that limita- 1tion could be imposed by statute. It is more than probable—indeed, it is morally at the Bo; bill would itself be pronounced uncon- stitutional by the Supreme Court as constituting ‘an interference by the legislative department with the co- equal judicial department.” The New- ark News suggests a method by which “the Senate, by failing to con- firm appointees to the. Supreme Court bench, could give acts.of Congress, owever repugnant to the Constits tion, all the force of the organic law, and “when the court was felt to be strongly agalnst the -constitutionality of & measure that was coming up, to Iwronm" and it points out that 1 without regard to to Mrs. Logan. Virile in Thought, Cflflllfifllfll and Eloquent, Says Eulogizer., To the Bditor of The Star: A remarkable ‘'woman, Mra John A. Logan, had been enshrined into immortal life. A product that the United States only could produce. Virile in thought, courageous in action, eloquent and forci- ble {n her messages of and for humanity, creed, color, nationality were at all times champloned by her. The altruis- tic spirit of the founders dominated her. And while some of her convictions were not always followed, no one ever doubted her convictions. For fifty years and more we were comrades in the forefront of public duty, and I learned to admire and esteem her, as an impor- tant factor of Amarican life and oppor- Her great soldier husband, statesman and patriot, owed much to her wonderful insight into human na- ture. She was not only ekillful, but taotful no less, and many delicate situa- tions were saved by her keen analysis of motives. She was at all times in ad- yance of her entourage. She was a rn leader, and as such her name will €0 down in American history. SIMON WOLF. Given Good Treatment. Veteran Calls Attention to Ef- ficiency at Mount Alto. To the Editor of The Btar: “Ses! How far that little candle throws its beams, Bo shines a good deed in the naughty world.” This sentiment, expressed by a §Teat man so many years ago, is quits applicable to an age which fs €0 obviously characterized by a spirit of restlessness and discontent. In this perfod of reconstruction, where there is such an appealing demand to unite again all the economic and 8social forces which wero so suddenly and ruthlessly broken, over night, as it were, by a war which encircled the entire globe, Itis a sad fact to note that there are a number of our ex- service men expressing daily a grow- ing spirit of discontent and lack of appreciation. True, Indeed. many Have sacrificed their lives. Theirs is the supreme sacrifice. Others have given nobly the best years of their llves, the most important time for the creation of a career or a profession, and soms have given more, their health. But is the true spirit of such a gift and the good resulting thercfrom to be lost under a mask of sclf-pity and dissatisfaction? Whether this is true of the entire nation the writer can- not say, but such is the case in this particular bospital in the very heart of the nation's capital, which has very recently come to my attentlon. It is only fair and just that truth should come to light. Such being my honest conviction, as an ex-serv- ice man I wish the public to know the real work that is golng on at the United States Veterans' Bureau Hospital at Mount Alto, in_this city. While an inmate of this hospital I received every possible courtesy and attention. As an ex-service man, being a student in the United States Veterans' Bureau School of Photog- raphy, 1 was sent to this hospital for an operation and treatment for tonsilectomy. 1 could not help but contrast the .treatment in previous hospitals. This embraced hospitali- zation in various government hos- pitals throughout the United States and overseas, where I was wounded. 1 further note that on several occa- stons 1 was in hospitals for treat- ment for causes of very Serious na- ture and that the attention shown me could not compare with that ex- tended me during my illness here, which was not sufficiently serious to demand any specisl attention and care to insur® & speedy Trecovery. For this reason T wished to publicly call it to the attention of those con- cerned in order that the true motive, the seriousness of purpose and the spirit. of 'service which characterize overy’member of the hospitdl staff. fncluding doctors, nurses and brder- lies, may be fully realized and duly appreciated. AMES T. GOWER. ————————— Declares Recognition Of Russia Far Distant To the Editor of The Star: side from the reasons stated in The Star editorial of the 22d, there still {s another reason why it would be in- advisable for us to recognize the ex- isting government of Ruesia. = ording to an official report from Racsia the soviet government defl- nitely has gone out of existence and has become the nucleus for world volution. T WVorker, official organ of the communist party of America, in its {ssue of February 17, 1923, publishes a dispatch from its Moscow corre- spondent, which states, in part: “On the first day of the new year, 1823, the Russian federated soviet re- public went out of existence and & new federation, known as the unfon of soclalist soviet republics took its place. * * ® ur New Year present to the pro- lauemt of the world’ is what the newspaper Isvestia calls it. & ¢ Entrance is open to all soclalist soviet republics, to those existing and to those that shall arise in the future. And it is provided that the congress of the new state, instead.of meeting at Moscow, as before, shall from time to time meet in the capitals of the component soclalist soviet states. This new and unexpected move by the soviet revolutionists should com- pletely knook the props from under the feet of those obsessed ones who for the last five years have been counseling recognition of the benign and beneficent soviet government. It is conceivable that we could recognize even so radical a govern- ment as the Russlan soviet govern- ment of yesterday, but one must be rash indeed to counsel recognition of what s acknowledged to be an active ocenter of world revolt that brazenly boasts of its purpose to destroy utter- 1y our industrial and political systems, and then the union of socialist soviet republics is to absorb what s left of our American civilization. Thus it appears that the bungling Russian communists, by their latest move, definitely have destroyed every hope entertained by the friends of soviet Russia, have closed the doors to recognition by our government, and for a_ while longer Russia will be compelled_to wander. as an outcast from the family of nations, respeoted by none and shunned by all. SAMUEL SALOMAN. Says Arch of Triumph Is Not Like D. C. Corner To the Editor of The Star In yesterday's Star you printed a plan of the corner of 16th ané K streets rorthwest whersin was shown the proposed method of handling trafic at that particular point; also a com- iparison of thit corner with Colum- bus Circle, New York city, and the Arch of Triumph, Parfs. Now let me say, first. I do not know anything about Columbus Cir- cle, but I do know about the Arch of Triumph, having .driven around it several hundred times, and any man who would purposely try to make & comparison between 16th and K streets northwest and the Arch of Triumph of Paris surely needs to revisit that place and note the dif- ence between the two. boulevard at least the width of Pennsylvania avenue, . approaches from one side, while there are sev- eral more approaches from different ides and the whole “arch” is sur- rounded or was until just since the war by iron posts and a heavy chain, and the whole circle is nearly a quar- ter of a mile around or perhaps more. L 1f this is-a samiple of “expeért” worl 1 am not surprised that any com: it LS et I g e | e kS iy Y d { ! Vs CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. COLLINS. ‘There are over seventy proposed amendments to the United States Con- stitution pending before Congress. Possibly two will be submitted to the people within the next year for ratl- fication; the others will lle as mere expressions of unrest of certain radi- cal or “reform"” elements. The most dangerous proposition is probably that which would set the pPowers of Congress above those of the Supreme Court, to construe the con- stitutionality of any law. It is pro- posed that, In case a law be decreed by the Supreme Court to be in conflict’ with the Constitution, Congress may review the decision of the Supreme Court, and If three-fourths of the vot- ing members vote to sustain the law, in spite of its unconstitutionality, it will be the law beyond the power of the court to set it aside. This was the doctrine of the pro- gressives In 1912, and was advocated by the leader of that party. Never- theless, it is clear, under mipened con- sideration, that it would operate to annul the safeguards of constitutional government against the .radicalism that might at any time sweep the country oft its feet. * % % ¥ “Let the people rule!” is a slogan for the stump, but not a principle for the legirlature nor the court. The people are influenced too often by ill- considered frenzies of change, and are carried away by oratory and beguile- ment of class against class, or the insidious bribery of hoping for im- practicable rewards of experimental measures. £ E xR So great a democrat as Abraham Lincoln confessed that “You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time.” That being the case, it is argued it is not safe to give unlimited power to the ‘probable victims of delusions or demagogues; they should be held in the wholesome restraint of the Con- stitution, that justice to the minori- ties may not be subverted, and the lessons of history be ignored through the plausible deceptions of sophistry and demagogy. By safeguarding agalnst hasty, impulsive action, time i8 given for sober reflection and sane guidance of learning and “the wisdom of the elders” That {s the mission and function of our written Constitu- tion, according to the conservative view. * = x % Under the proposition that Congress should have power, by a three-fourths vote, to override the provisions of the Constitution, the Congress could wholly revolutionize the government, under the leadership of a dangerous radical or dictator. I+ could usurp or abolieh the executive and judiclal branches of government, and select a directorate of its own membership (like the directorate of France, & century ago), and by another step, substifute a dictator, like Lenin. It could abolish freedom of speech and religion, cancel debts, repudiate gov- ernment bonds and enslave the mi- nority. If this statement seems far- fetched, let the reader go back in memory, or American and European history, for the many instances in which” one or more of exactly such attempts have been proposed, and too often have been strongly upheld— only to end in disaster. * x % % The right of “recall of judicial de- cisions.” as it was characterized, is, therefore, an entering wedge, en- dangering the most fundamental principles of the Constitution and our republican form of government, ac- cording te the position of the con- servative statesmen in and out of Congress. * xR Many of the men who adhere to the above statement are quite ready to admit that the Constitution is not a decalogue, writ upon tables of stone and unaiterable, but contend that the constitutional provisions of & method of amending it are ample, and the best means of expressing the will or the people. “Let the people rule” s the ultimate will of America, but ler them first be informed of the facr« and probable results of measur. proposed. E SR There is one amendment offerc: which will require that the right t. ratify any amehdment shall be take away from state legislatures, und lodged in a popular vote, after campalgn of education. That claimed to be more democratic in line with the spirit of the natio The ratification will still be by sta:: units, but the will of the state w not be expressed through its legisis ture, the members of which may no have discussed the amendment witl their constituents. * % %% In both the Senate and House, cor siderable discussion has been giver to a proposition to restrain the Su preme Court in its judiclal decistons setting aslde a law as unconstitu- tional, so that it would not be per- mitted to so decree upon a mere ma- jority of one justice. There have not been many cases where a court decree relating to constitutionali has rested on a five to four vote, b there have been over forty cases in the last thirty years in which five-to four decisions have decided grave questions of justice. Some of the great lawyers asser! that Congress has no constitutiona! power to invade the field of the ju dicial branch of the government and Umit its powers. Others point to th provision already in the Constitutic which, they claim, gives that powe to Congress, in the clause which sax that in cases affecting ambassado- and public ministers and consuls, the court shall have original jurisdictio: (fixed by the Constitution, out o reach of Congress), but “in all othe cases before mentioned, the Suprerm. Court_shall have appeilate jurisd tion, both as to law and fact, wi such exceptions arid under such regu lations as the Congress shall make * ¥ ¥ *x The language of the Constitutio it {s claimed, therein clearly gives the Congress power to make exceptions and regulations to unlimited fur tioning of the court. Under tha power, Congress has legislated tha: not less than six justices shall con stitute a quorum, provided how the« court shall adjourn when there 18 not & quorum, and empowered it to mal orders upon a pending case, in th absence of a quorum. Under the same clause, it {5 now argued that Congress has the power to require that not less than seven of the . justices shall agree before a law ca: be declared unconstitutional. If so perhaps Congress might go farther and require a unanimous decision of the court to annul a law, althougl that has not been proposed. * x x % The extremists’ argument that C gress Is as well qualified to decide upon the constitutionality of the laws it passes as is the Supreme Court 's challenged by the ablest lawyers of both branches. Party spirit vitiates unbiased judgment, they say, and the numerical majorities are not mnoces sarily the learned in the law, nor are they of the judicial temperamer: to weigh the meaning of the law: provisions. The Supreme Court sheet-anchor of safety against aotion taken under excitement undue influences. e Secretary Wallace of the Depurt ment: of Agriculture rules that indemnity shall be paid In case tu berculosis compels the official destrt tion of scrub bulls. He believes scrubs should not be classed as bree ing stock. Indemnity goes only pure breds. (Copyright, 1923, by P. V. Collins.| Strong Criticism of Gen. Smuts Brings Forth an Official Statement BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. Gen. Smuts, the premier of the Brit- ish South African Union and its plenipotentiary at the peace congress of 1918, has been the object of so much criticlém—both in that part of the world and {n Europe and America —in connection with the important role which he played at Versailles in 1919, that he has considered it neces- sary to issue a public officlal and signed statement on the subject. He insists, that from a purely legal point of view, the powers of the entente would have been perfectly justified in demanding of Germany that she should pay ample reparation for all the damage done to allied civillans by land, sea or air, and the cost of the pensions, which was estimated at the time of the congress to total up to the colossal sum of 25,000,000,000 pounds sterling ($125,000,000,000). He insists that his opinion in this connec- tion a8 to the amount of the liability of Germany in the matter of Tepara- tions was shared by the principal British legal representatives at the . the of Birkenhead, then lord high chancellor: Lord He- , the present lord chief justice of England, and Lord Justice of Ap- peal Sumner—also President Wilson. * % % But, he contended that the lawful assessment of the money due by Ger- many under the head of reparations and the policy of extorting it were two entirely different questions, and it was on this account that the task of determining the amount which it was within the power of Germany to pay was left to the reparation commission, which ultimately fized the German lfability six thousand six hundred million sterling—that is to ®ay considerably over $33,000,000,000. He admits that even at the time he regarded this sum as beyond the power of Germany to pay, and that he labored with all his might to scale down the amount—not to a sum that would Just and legal, but to one which it would be within the power of Germany to pay. He does not deny the fact that even after this amount had been still further cut down a year ago by the great powers acting on the advice of .the board of reparations, Germany defaulted in all obligations, and reminds his critics of the fact that if she had won the war she would have exacted vastly greater amounts from the en- tente nations under the head of “war indemnities,” even than the hundred and ' twenty-five thousand million dollars, estimated by Premier Smuts, by Lord Birkenhead and by President Wilson as the extent of German llabilities, * Kk ok % Of course, Premier Smuts attributes to the defeat of the treaty of Ver- sailles by the Senate at Washington on its presentation to that body by President Wilson for ratification the determination of Germany not to pay the amount originally fixed by the board of reparations. According to him, the Germans saw in the rejec- tion of the treaty of Versailles by the Anierican Senate a demonstration of its disapproval of the terms con- tained therein, and of the obligations which it entailed. Nor did he seem to believe that Germany will feel her- self compelled to pay until America gives full approval to the entente démands made upon her. ° Count Eric Klelmansegg, who has ust away at Vienns, was, until j?mm;- of tie Frent war, < one of the most conspicuous fig: in the life of the dual empire, = ing filled the post of governor of t metropolitan province of lower Aus- tria for nearly thirty years, save for an Interlude of two years durinc which he held the ofice of prem! 1t was during his term of premle ship that he appeared on the stage of Vienna, at a charitable vaude ville performance organized by ! brilllantly clever wife, and achicved on that occasion a tremendous cess with a number of comic of his own composition—both as re gards words, music and interpreta tion, which he gave in a burlesq role, while the countess danced, sang and acted, with inimitable grace anc chic, as & soubrette. * ok ¥ x She was a Russian by daughter of a petty noble of thr name of Lebedeff of the district around Kishineff, and by reason of her lack of blueness of blood, and of her foreign origin, had to endurc much at the hands of the great ladies of the Viennese aristocra who sought to cold shoulder her. Indeed it was not until when her husbanc became premier, and Emperor Francis Joseph, in consequence thereof, h. bestowed upon her the titular ran! “lady of thet palace.,” that birth—th been barred, despite the coun: office. She failed, however, to recel the order of the star cross, whi of the palace,” but for which genes ogical qualifications and the Roma:’ Catholic faith were indispensable. Notwithstanding the difference rank, the countess was for long the ief rival of the now octogenaria: Princess Pauline Metternich in the matter of the sovereignty of the revels at Vienna. " She first came upon t scene in this connection when t princess was in deep mourning fo her husband, and then for her daug! ter, Countess Waldstein, who died i1 such a tragic manner. Afterward th princess was herself prostrated by illness, and when she eventually re sumed her scepter as queen of the fetes she found that she had & com | petitor in the person of the wife of the governor, who had by virtue of her husband's official position, assum ed the leading role in the organiza- tion of all the festivals of a charitable nature and otherwise that used 1o endow with so-much gavety and bri! liancy the Viennese season. * ok x % Vienna gained by the return Princess Pauline. For, a merry war ensued between the two ladies, each having her own set of followers. the bourgeoise and the artistic world gradually flocking around the coun- tess, while the old aristocracy r» mained true to its allegiance to Princess Pauline. E ‘The Klelmanseggs hailed originall: from Hanover. Countess Sophir Kielmansegg, wife of Count Adol’ Kielmansegg, figures in the annals of England as the popular sultana of King George I, was nicknamed LY the English people “the Elephant. owing to her elephantine proportions in her old age, was created by her royal lover Countess of Darlington in the British peerage, and was por trayed with a vitriolic pen by Horace Wl!pol& ‘The old castle of _Kiel- mansegg_on the Fischa in lower Austria, from which the family takes its title, was destroved by the Turks on the occasion of their last siege o Vienna. For further particulars of the Kielmansegg family 1 would re fer my readers to Tom Hood's fa- miltar poem, “Miss Kislmansegg and Her Golfen Le