Evening Star Newspaper, March 1, 1923, Page 6

6 THE EVENING STAR, With Sunday Morning Edition. e e e e e e WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY ..March 1, 1923 THEODORE W. NOYES.......Editor R The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office : = Nassan St. Chicago Office: Tows Building. European Office: 18 Regent St., London, Engiand. ing Star, with the Sunday morning elivered by earriers within the eity per month: dally on'y, cents per month: Sunday on'y, 20 cents per wonth. ders may be gent by mail, or telephone Main £000. “Coliection is made’ by earriers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virgini Daily and Sunday..1yr., $8.40 Tally only.. 1yr., $6.00 Sunday only 1 yr., $2.40; 1 mo., 20¢ All Other States. Daily and Sunday..1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo., 85 Daily only. mo., 60c Sunday oniy Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Preas is exclusivaly entitled fo the “use for republication of all news dls- patches credited to 1t or nct otherwine credited {0 this paper and aleo the local news pub- lshed “herein. Ali rizhts of publication of wpecial dispatches herein are also reserved. ——— | Col. Harvey on War Debts. The processes of George Harvey, American ambassador at the Court of St. James, are not exactly of the va- viety which became known a gener: tion ago as “shirt-sleeve” diplomac but they lack nothing in directness | and plain speaking. Col. Harvey, in | fact, has indulged generously in plain | speaking before British audiences, | and, more to the point. he “has made them like it.” Repeatedly he has called a spade a spade, and instead of bringing the structure of diplomatic intercourse tumbling down with a crash, relations between his govern- ment and the government to which he is accredited apparently have been strengthened and bettered in ev way. Col. Harvey spoke again last night in London at a dinner given by the Pilgrims in honor of Stanley Baldwin, chancellor of the British exchequer. \d in celebration of the funding of the British debt to this government. His specch was of the usual Harvey- esque brand, felicitous and freighted with kindly feeling. but straight to the point. Funding of the British debt, he said, was a great deal more than the largest financial transaction in history, and more in its significance the conclusive set- tlement a Al problem since the armistice. It hore with it the enhancement of respect and, he helieved, the everlasting friendship of the two great nations to which the tire world looks for the pres tion of solvency and stability which are essential to the prosperity and happiness of mankind. The United Kingdom, he asserted, continues to rest on the rock of financial integrity and national honor. Then, having paid the British the tribute which was their due, Col, Har- vey took a shot at the fiction that Great Britain did not really borrow money from the United States, but merely pledged her credit that loans might be made to more needy allies, and he referred to an official state- ment by the British government con- veying that impression. He denied that this government had asked Great Britain to guarantee one cent of the loans made to the other allies, and ex- pressed the hope that at some suitable time “the British government will, with equal formality and no less ex- Dlicitness, remove the misapprehen- slon ereated by this unfortunate illu- slon.” Tp to this point the ambassador liad been speaking to his British hear- ers, but in concluding his address he enlarged his audience to include all the governments which are indebted to the government of the United States. He assured them that the Tnited States “had no intention of ruining the credit” of any govern- ment by canceling its debts to this countr; —_——— The bootlegger finds a rival in the attention of the authorities in the society hip-pocketer. | | even than of first French occupation of the Ruhr has caused the watch on the Rhine to re- semble a case of insomnia. A Street Car Fare Inquiry. A full inquiry by a special commit- tee of the Senate into the question of street car fares in the District is proposed in @ resolution which, hav- ing received the approval of the Dis- trict committee and the committee on contingent expenses, is likely to be adopted. This committee will, under its directions, investigate the financial situation of the street railway cor- porations operating here to determine whether the rate of fare as now charged is equitable. It will, in short, review the work of the Public Utilitles Commission in fixing the rate on the basis of the earning power of the corporations. Such an inquiry will probably be helpful in setting at rest definitely all questions relating to the righteousness of the present street car rates, which means the fullness and fairness of the inquiry by the Utilitles Commis- sion into the valuations of the prop- erty of the corporations. This select committee may take issue with the Utilities Commission on the score of the valuations. Everything turns upon the &ctual money investment of the owners of the lines. It is contended that the less affluent of the two cor- porations cannot in the present con- ditions earn sufficient gross revenue from the former rate of fare—six tickets for a quarter or § cents straight—to meet the fixed and over- head charges and operating expenses and make any profit. It is contended by citizens, though denled by the com- pany, that the other corporation can make a profit at the,old fare. It undoubtedly makes a larger profit now out of the present rate of fare than the company of larger mileage, heavier expense and proportionately less re- munerative service. The select committee of the Senate 18 likely to find, as the Commissioners found, that the street railway situa- tion in the District is bad because of the differing financial conditions of the two corperations, and that in e ¢ A { bad state of 1 merger only can a cure be effected. Proposals for such a merger have been made, but without success. It Is surely not desirable to adopt terms of compulsory merger that entail a heavy loss upon the present owners of either company, whatever may have been the mistakes of financing in the past on either side. Nor is it desirable by an arbitrary rate reduction to bring the fare to the point of absolute loss for one of the companies and force it through such loss into receivership. Public ownership has been proposed as a remedy for this bad -condition. Probably the Senate select committee will consider such a measure. But it will be forced to face the fact that public ownership means purchase and upon equitable terms, which are based upon fair valuation of properties and rights which cannot be ignored, even through the exercise of the right of eminent domain by condemnation. A municipal merger of the two systems in such circumstances might permit lower fares, but it must not be for- gotten that the cost of purchase must be paid by the tommunity and the interest on that purchase means taxe: | which may be considered as street way fare in another form, It will be a relief, however, to have this whole question fully and fairly | examined by a legislative committee to the end of a settlement of any doubt there may be on the score of the fares, and possibly to the end of hastening a solution through the amal- | Bamation of the two systems into one which is to be desired from ever point of view, of convenience, of ser ice and of economy. —_—————————— The Alley Emergency. With so few hourd remaining of the present session of Congress and of the Congress itself, many worthy measures press for attention and mutually conflict in their demand for consideration. There is one bill, how- ever, that should be given especial attention, for it is designed to meet a real emergency, and if not enacted before the gavel falls it will leave a deplorable and most distressing con- dition here in Washington. This bill provides for an extension of the time for the closing and va tion of dwellings in alleys in this city Under the terms several y a extended, som must be va These dwelling: of the law, enacted o and subsequently 3,000 houses in alleys ited by June 1 next. which are in a very pair, owing to the pros- pect of their vacation and loss of rev- enue from them as residences. house. it is estimated, hetween 14.000 a 15,000 people, 1f this law takes effect {on the 1st of June all of these people will be thrown out of their homes, and there has been no provision for them elsewhere. There is nobody to blame for the failure to provide proper homes for these people. Earnest efforts have been made by organizations and by individuals to secure money for the construction of substitute housings. But the funds have not been forth- coming, and in the condifions that have prevailed, with prices far beyond normal, it has been impossible to meet more than a slight fraction of the re- quirement. Hope was at one time en- tertained of a municipally aided project of construction, but for that no authority has been given and none seems likely. These housings must be provided for through private enter- prise, possibly philanthropically in- spired. Two propositions are pending in Congress to relieve this situation. One is known as the Commissioners’ bill, which extends until November 14, 1924, the date for the vacation of the alley houses. The other, a substitute, provides three “zones™ of vacation, or, rather, periods. Under it one-third of the alley dwellings would be closed on the 1st of June next, another third a vear later and the last a vear from that date. By the Commissioners’ bill all will be vacated within seventeen and one-half months from June 1 next. Under the substitute bill all will be vacated within twenty-four months and most of them within twelve. In the circumstances it is earnestly to be urged that action should be had on one or the other of these bills. Fallure to act means the eviction of nearly 15,000 people from homes which, though poor, though in many respects insanitary, though so located as to be breeders of crime and vice, are, nevertheless, the only shelter that they possess. People who learned to do without sweets during the war will not be worried by rumors of price-boosting by sugar gamblers. Many a lame duck finds his lame- ness only a temporary inconvenience and proceeds to fly high in official or industrial circles. A number of people are never re- ferred to as “prominent in society’ until they get caught in some kind of a raid. Clubs. Comment is often made on the in- crease in the number of clubs in ‘Washington and the growth of their membership. It is remarkable, but there is a reason, and so far as one can judge by human standards the reason is praiseworthy. One or two generations ago all men were com- menting on the growth of fraternal or benefit assoclations in America, and Americans were often humorously spoken of as a nation of “§'iners.” The instinct for “§'ining” was a good one, and the great majority of those or- ganizations proved their worthiness in encouraging charity, thrift, friendship and other virtues. In other days a club was generally a group of men called together for various forms of diversion and for “good fellowship,” which usually meant a good deal of Ilibation. The modern club stands for something better. There are clubs of and for men and women, and “good fellowship” and good sistership, with- out drinking, seem to be the incidental rather than the chief aim. One of thelr big alms seems to be intellectual improvement of members and the do- ing of good deeds for non-members. One gets this note in the news at holidays and at times of especial stress among the poor. In the news- papers one finds accounts of the dis- tribution of gifts amorg children and THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON! D. C, THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 1923. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS baskets of provisions among mo! poor. Again, all these new-style clubs seem to go in for instruction in serl- | ous subjects. Persons who are authori- tles in their flelds appear before the club, and club members in their turn speak on matters in which they are particularly well informed. So 1t seems that the modern club in Wash- ington, and no doubt in other cities, partakes of the nature of the old- fashioned “mutual improvement so- clety” of town and village and of the equally old-fashioned lecture lyceum, each of them a valuable institution. The modern city clubs, those that are conspicuous in the newspapers, seem to be on a higher mental and moral plane than most of those associations of men which were called clubs in the long ago. | —_———— Fewer Accidents. A decline in street accidents is noted in the first annual report of the Washington Safety Council. The council takes credit for the improved situation and there can be no doubt in the minds of persons who have( followed the matter that a very large share of the credit for better accident statistics is due to the efforts of this body of public-spirited citizens. The council, by its safety propaganda and its intensive campaign during Safety week, has reached greaf numbers of people and has “put over” the thought 1o them that there are no unavoidable accldents. During the week just passed there were fifteen hospital es a day due to street accidents, jagainst thirtyfive a day for the cor- | responding week last year. This is |a gratifying cut in casualties and by | keeping the thoughts of watchfulness and caution before people the down- ward slope in accident figures can be maintained until a very low rate is reached. The rate is still far too high, but we are headed in the right direc- tion. Pedestrians are still the greater sufferers from accident in the streets and too great emphasis cannot be lald on careful walking. Long before the streets of Washington became traffic- | burdened it was not uncommon for i persons to be knocked down by a { horse car or a horse and buggy. The | evil of reckless motoring is with us, | but if children did not play in the - | street, and if pedestrians would keep lout of the street between crossings and would exercise prudence at the crossings the list of accidents would be very much shorter. ——— Coal. Tt is good news which Utilitles Commission gives out, that on February 3 Washington had 5.000 { tons of anthracite above its 60 per cent allotment. No figures are available jas to the coal situation today, but there a belief that we are still ahead on anthracite and there is a growing feeling of safety because spring cannot be far away and then we shall be free of furnace and fuel troubles till the leaves begin to fall. Though this has been an ex- ceedingly genial and gentle winter, it has been a winter of discontent. In- fluenza and fuel troubles have beset | us. The usual kind of coal was hard to get and at least four times out of ten could not be had at all. It has been necessary to feed the furnace with a “substitute.” or a coal for which the furnace seemed to have no appetite or too great an appetite. There have | been many perplexities. Also, in- stead of getting the winter supply in one lot, most persons have been able to get only one ton at a time and it has often required a good deal of | diplomacy and hustling to get that before the furnace went on strike. But let us be of good cheer and hope that our troubles are nearing the end and that the furnace can be kept go- ing and glowing till April or May arrives. tihe Public —_———— hool teachers play so important a part in forming vouthful character that it is far from good judgment to leave them classified as undersalaried people. Chicago packers claim that combina- tion makes production and distribution less expensive. The thought of what a pork chop might cost were it not for such combination is appalling. Mussolini is a great leader, but not great cnough to avoid the necessity of recognizing factions. Poland and Lithuania have become almost as habitual in their enmity as France and Germany. | Conditions on the continent enable | Ireland to regard her troubles as small by comparison. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Propagandist. The propagandist is a man Untiring in his labors. He formulates a careful plan To educate his neighbors. ‘While you and I are jazzing it, ‘With Pleasure's merry minions, ‘The propagandist doesn't quit, But scatters his opinions. Safety First, “Your constituents say you are do- ing nothing.” “Well,” replied Senator Sorghum, “at this particular juncture in affairs it's safer to be criticized for loafing on the job than to risk making mis- take: Jud Tunkins says it seems Imponl-. ble for some people to have a good time without looking foolish. The Income Tax. ‘While I am counting up my pelf ‘To swell taxation's store, I find out things about myself I never knew before. On With the Dance. “Do you dance?” “No,” replied Miss Cayenne. “I follow the present custom. I simply stand still in a low-neck dress and shiver in time with the music.” “De world,” saild Uncle Eben, “is gittin® better, Whatever doubts you may have ‘bout de folks in it, dar ain’ no question concernin’ de real estate improvements.” BY FREDERICK Dr. Hubert Work, who becomes Secretary of the Interior on March 4, has a world war record of which the public is not generally aware. He served at Maj. Gen. Crowder's elbow in the provost marshal's office in 1917 and 1918, in charge of the physical-examination system under which Uncle Sam sent his mighty legions of “fit” young men Into the fray. After leaving the service with the rank of colonel, Dr. Work vol- unteered for duty at republican na- tional headquarters and became Will H. Hays' indefatigable ocollaborator in “organizing victory” in 1920. It Wwas the estimate Hays came to place upon Work's ability and depend- ability that caused the former to name the Coloradan first assistant postmaster general in 1921. When Hays retired he urged President Harding to appoint Work as his suc- cessor, and the promotion Work has Just earned is a tribute to the es- teem in which he is held at the White House as administrator and cabinet counselor. Dr. Work is a “rancher” on an extensive scale. He knows the problems of the great west from long contact with them. * ok x x Once upon a time this observer asked a well informed authority what three men Warren G. Harding would chiefly depend upon in an emergency involving either his personal fortunes or high politics. The answer was: “Harry Daugherty, John Weeks and Harry New.” Well, all three of them now sit at the cabinet table. New Wwas wanted there from the outset He would have been there on March 4. 1921, had_he not looked upon re- election to the Senate as a certainty. The President has limitless confidence In the Hoosler's sagaclous counsel and true-blue faithfulness. Indiana political foes had about as much chance of wrecking New’'s status with Mr. Harding as they would have in attempting to muffle the roar of Niagara. The Harding-New intimacy is geographical, professional and po- litical in origin. The men long have been border neighbors in Ohlo and Indiana; both are newspaper men. and each has been ‘carrying water” in and for the . O. P. ever since they were able to hoist it * % % ok If there were anything in pride of origination, France long ago would have been on the road to the Perma- nent Court of Inte nal Justice with her rumpus in the Ruhr. For it was two Frenchmen, in the dim and distant past, who first gave birth to the idea of a world court of ar- bitral justice. The original patentee was Pierre Dubois, who suggested in the vear 1305 precise the kind of tribu: set up in 1 by the league of In another Gaul, ed a plan corre- k g ssential detall with ar- ticle XXI1I of The Hague convention providing for pacific scttlement of in- ternational disputes. John F Moore, the “‘unofficial”™ Ame Judge now sitting on the league cc has tabulated that during the nine- teenth century there were 136 inter- national arbitrations. Only nineteen occurred ‘before 1850, indicating the rapid growth in favor of arbitral ad- judication in cotemporary times. * % x % Willi H. Moran, chicf of United States secret serv the | compass compla a vet- | fully approachir WILLIAM WILE. eran of that branch of the Treasury, although his is still the sprightliness of dynamic youth. He is completing his forty-first successive year in the Sherlock Holmes division of the gov- ernment, having entered it in 1882. Although the public associates the secret scrvice almost exclusively with detective work, shadowing, sleuth stuff and other mysterious activities, its primary function is to safeguard the currency of the United States. That is why, ever since the service was Instituted in the late '60s, it has been a division of the Treasury. In tracking down the crooks who re- cently flooded thewountry. with coun- terfeit mouney, Moran and his men, therefore, engaged in the practice of their genuine and original profession. “The chief,” as his faithful subord nates fondiy call him, was in person- al charge of the protective arrange- ments for President Wilson through- out the latter's European journeys in 1918 and 1919. * X % ¥ Beware the all-absorbing and faith- ful radio, broadcasting apparatus, ye of loose tongue! One night of recent date a distinguished citizen of Wash- ington, having delivered a -stirring message at a certain commemorative meeting, was prevailed upon to repeat it for the benefit of listeners-in throughout the ethereal universe. Having submitted, move or less grace- fully, he was conducted to a broad- casting installation rigged up for the purpose. He aware that even stage whi are picked up and sent on the for better or for wors At te, he bej operations by ubcon- iously to himsel: as he fancled— “This is a ——— nuisance.' No- knew anything about it until several days later when letters rived from the four points of the ing of the profanity which had introduced Mr. '8 re- cent radio performance. * ok kX Yankee tourists and business men can't be frightened out of foreign trav- eling plans by rumblings or rumors of war. The State Department issued 10,434 passports during the first seven weeks of the mresent year, compared to 11,922 during th “g Of the round 200,000 passports i Sued in the department estimates t er cent were for business pur- pose: per cent for tourist purpos and the rest for miscellaneous objects. Passport experts figure, on the basis of se al 3 rs’ computation, that the rush season in American trafli¢ to for- elgn shores seis week of the calendar year—the one just ended. * Xk X X In the Harding cabinet sits a man who was graduated from university in the early "80s, experienc while walking down 42d street, New York. the other day. A weazened little old man approached him_and, ng him by name. lted: u aren’t you? they were in decre fellow wa athlet varsity a in the those days cu- t littie of the college was frail one. twain remini d. They soon di ered that nearly all the big fellows and strong men of their duy had died In middle life. Neariy all of the lings,” like Mr. Harding's coadjutor in question, were alive, hearty and grace- old age EDITORIAL DIGEST Force of Public Opinion Must Af- fect Labor Board. The decision of the Supreme Court in the Pennsylvania railroad’s dispute with the Rallroad Labor Board, enforce decisions is denied. although it was sustained in its publicity con- tentions, has directed attention anew | gy OF T PR AR O mer to reorganization suggestions. There seems to be a general opinion that, in view of the changed conditions in the railway labor world, the arbitra- tion functions which the Chicago or- ganization admittedly possesses will be ample to make it function proper- 1y so long as public opinion backs it up. “The decision of the court does set up the Labor Board as an arbitration tribunal of extensive influence,” says the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Its function, according to the court, is that of promoting co-operation be- tween railroad executives and rail- road labor to the end that the trans- portation systems of the nation m; be operated in the public interest. As we have said before, however. some reorganization of tho hoard that will bring the agenci controlling railroad income and railroad expendi- ture closer together and will elimi- nate from the board those represent- atives who approach every question from the point of view of the advo- cate rather than that of the judge fs desirable.” The decision “will be helpful in the future.” the Canton News is convinced, becauss it calls for “co-operation in running the rail- roads. That is exactly what is need- ed.” But while this decision on one pojnt “strengthens the position of the board in the matter of suggesting how representatives shall be chosen to negotiate wage scales,” the Wil- liamsport Sun is convinced “it does not solve the problem of how deci- sions of the board can be enforced and disputes between the railroads and workers settled without strikes. Some action which will lead to en forcement of the board's decisions is necessary.” The Philadelphia Record argues that the board “cannot pre- vent strikes, and cannot even outlaw a strike. But its right of investiga- tion and decision may be influential and therefore useful. It can assist the public to understand the merits of the controversy, educate public opinion and have considerable welght with both the companies and the unions. It Is quite possible that the fight of last summer was not in vain. As a_moral influence there are stili possibilities of usefulness in the board, and we believe neither com- panies nor unions will be quite as ready again for a trial of strength as they were last year.” In addition, the decision emphasizes “‘the necessity that the board be given | in} which the authority of the latter toi i 1 power to enforce its decisions.,” the Waterbury Republican holds, in in- dorsing the plan to abolish it alto- gether and combine it of the Interstate Commerce Commis- sion. But it is the opinion of the Chattanooga News that such action is taken the changed na- ul labor situation be considered, inasmuch as “nation-wide concert of action sems to have been abandoned. both by the roads and their employes, Negotiations between emplo mediate are mad hoods seem also to h plan.” Regardless the decision shows “the board has no power to enforce its rulings,” the Mobile Register argues that “the de- clsion strengthens the influence of the board and clears the atmo: of the confusion that has exis regard to its functions™ If * given teeth.” as s been suggested, the Baltimore News feels that “it might have more direct power. but it would be vastly restricted to its us. it has can be cally. The that the b quently gr. a road and { s are now confined to the im rned. Contraets The brother- ve adopted this of the fact that uged almost effect of thi wird survives and conse- lually attracts to itself the authority of tradition, can sca Iy be forecast. If the principles underlying the board live and are extended it may be necessary to de- velop an entirely new theory of ad- ministrative government. It should be remembered, the Provi- dence Journal insists, “that the board gets a certain new moral standing 1tocrati- under the decision and should enjoy | an added prestige henceforth through the definite permission accorded it to employ publicity as a lever in the furtherance of its plans.” It equally is certain, us the Boston Transcript sees it, that while decisions of the board may not “be the best that could be reached. the court decides that resistance to its decisions will hereafter be made in the light of full | publicity and the parties disregard- ing the judgment given will be called upon to justify their action before the bar of public opinion or to face that hostile sentiment which on occa- sion can prove so powerful.” Dis- agreeing with this argument, the Louls Post-Dispatch characterizes the outcome as “a Labor Board de- feat”” to which the Chicago News rejoins that “this significant decision should enhance the prestige of the board and lessen opposition to it from every quarter.” The Duluth News Tribune replies to both opinions by insisting “whether the decision will strengthen the board or end its usefulness will be determined by developments. It will strengthen ‘its position if an enlightened public opinion gets be- hind the decisions of the beard and supports them vigorously. It will weaken that position if the board fails to win public confidench. If the public backs the Labor Board both employers and unions will consider very ocarefully before they flout its decislon: ECHOES FROM CAPITOL HILL DISTRICT COMPELLED TO TRAIL. I am here today to do justice to the children and to do justice to the Dis- trict, not by trailing behind the ap- propriations committee every year with bills that are subject to a point of order.—Representative Focht, Pennsylvania, republican. DID NOAH GET A SUBSIDY? 1 remembered the fact that Noah built the ark, but I did not remem- ber that he got a subsidy.—Senator Caraway, Arkansas, democrat. MBLLON’S PLEA TO REMEMBER THRIFT LESSONS OF THE WAR. Secretary Mellon is probably acting on the wise judgment expressed years ago by Barnum, the showman, that “there is one born every minute,” and on_the short memory of the average individual, who, even though badly stung, always comes back for more.— Senator Ladd, North Dakota, republi- GREAT BRITAIN'S GAIN FROM THE WAR. Great Britain added to her empire as a result of the war, either by an- nexation or by protectorates and mandates, a territory of 3,972,000 square miles—larger than continental Europe—with a population of more than 51,725,000.—Senator La Follette, ‘Wisconsin, republican. A SERIOUS MATTER FOR GREAT BRITAIN, There was a large inoreass of mar- riages in Great Britain immediately after the close of the war, but not a corresponding inorease in birth rate. and since then the birth rate, if I am correctly informed by such statistics as I have been able to examine, has been declining; and that, at this mo- ment particularly, is a very serious matter - -for - the - country.—Senator Lodge, Massachusetts, republican. GOOD ADVICE. Let us be partisans, not republican or democratic partisans, but parti- sans of America.—Senator Ransdell, Louisiana, democrat. B « ame period u vear | in with the eighth | He had a disconcerting | When | “weak- | as a division | i before any Without teeth the power which | that | | i i i i {which {Ing 1o find itrue | Dutch painter said some years ago to jan Amer ifor this re supposing i et The North Window BY LEILA MECHLIN, A distinguished art critic standing befors a water color by Marin at & Tecent out-of-town exhibition said ruefully: “I'm sorry, but I don’t get him, Don’t get him,” repeated a bystander. ‘Why should you? What is there to get?” “That's just it,” the oritic explained, “I don't know. Cer- tainly there is something in his work Wwhich s worth while, something in- dicative of purpose, but 1 don’t see it “If you don’t see it, what makes you think that it's there?” wonder- ingly asked the layman. “Becaus was the answer, “people in whose Judgment I have the utmost faith say it is.there; they do get it.” The picture in question had the appearance to the uninitlated of an extremely immature work, a varfety of color spots placed in almost & hap- hazard way on paper, after the man- ner of the modernists. It was & landscape, but it was incomplete. The layman would have passed it by almost without thought, but the re- mark of the critic kept coming back, opening, as it were, an avenue of In- quiry. ““Is it possible,” thought she, that the painter of that water color, 80 meaningless even to the trained eye of the critic, had the germ of an idea which he was striving to eluci- date and which might in time prove not merely revolutionary, but illumi- nating?* * ok ok ok One does not commonly look for an answer to such inquiries as this in articles on religion, but, curiously ough. the writer discovered such an explanation in an article on “Mod- ernism and the Church.” by the Rev Roland Cotton Smith, for many years rector of St. John's Church in this city, which was published in a cur- rent number of the Outlook. In this article Dr. Smith says: “The art of today is not sensual and materialis- tic; it is the attempt of a man to express, not what the other man has seen, but what he sees of the spirit within the form. The result ot his labors often appears monstrous, but it is a step in the right direction: for when the true spirit is recap- tured it will inevitably express itself in the right form. This development We can see most clearly 1n modern art throws a light upon the whole modern surging of the spirit It springs out of reality, and it refuses for the pre to accept any of the establi forms, but when the spirit is recap- tured we shall find that it will ex- press itself more and more in the o0ld accepted forms” In this briet paragraph Dr. Smith with marvelous clarity sets forth the idea back of the movement in art—some- thing which no artist has apparently been able to do and which no critic t done—possibly beca neither artist nor critic has had the wisdom nor the intuition to discover that germ of an idea that was labor- expression. * * present Up to the time the effort, the struggle, has been ugly and has brought forth distressing results, but it is possible that Dr. Smith is right and that out of this ugliness, this haze of misunderstanding, may be coming a new art which is infinitely better than and equally precious as the art of the past. To gain a de- sired end it is sometimes necessary to go through long dark passages. Large achievement almost always comes as the result, possibly as the reward, of struggle. It is easier by far to repeat what others have said than to put forth new, worth-while ideas. The leader of a great symphony orchestra said to the writer less than fortnight ago. “The mu 1 out- Jouk is discouraging. What are we doing today but repeat what has been done so well in the p: Oh, yes, do it well—the works of the asters are besutifully rendered to- ay. But we are making no contri- bution; we have no brilliant voung omposers cither in this country or abroad—that is, none of the stature {Beethoven, or Brahms, or To & great extent the in painting. An accomplished an traveler in Holland: “It is impossible for us to paint any- thing which is original today. If we attempt a landscape, involuntarily we do a Mauve; if we choose an interior with figures as our theme, we produce a weak imitation of Israels. It is on that the modern Dutch school, which attained such heights Lut a decade ago, has almost sunk into oblivion.” The conditions in this country have not been altogether different. Cur- exhibitions of American paint- ing for some time have testified to an | extraordinary techni part of the painters, but evidenced an almost tragi absence of real mes- sage. Not only this, but In many instances the artists have scemed to have lost their ideals of beauty and to be putting forth work of an ex- tremely graccless sort. Undoubtedly it was time for a renaissance. And vet it has been hard to be- lieve that out of the confusion of modernism could come something new and fresh and fine in the fleld of art. No one in one's sane mind could admire the abortions which have been brought forth by cubism, post- impressionism. futurism; but hideous as they have been, in themselves meaningless to the uninitiated, they should perhaps have been regarded as indicative of a spirit of progress, as witnessing to a dissatistaction with feeble imitation and a desire t search out new truth. Through aii the grotesque ugliness, though un- observed, may have run a thread of purpose, and this purpose may per- al skill on the thaps later on find beautiful expres- sion in the “old accepted forms.” * kK X The Pennsylvania Academy's cur- rent exhibition, which is now in progress in Philadelphia, goes far to substantiate such belief. This exhi- bition shows work by cotemporary American artists which s strong, col- orful, fine; work of real beauty and charm, exquisitely rendered, and yet in the modern idiom; plictures which are not grotesque, which are done with that same skill which the great masters employed and with no less realization of the fundamental prin- ciples governing all fine art, yet pic- tures of an essentlally different sort from any that have previously been produced: pictures which make a room full of works by distinguished painters of fifty years ago look dull and uninteresting, smoky and life- pass * %k % ‘We hold no brief for the so-called “modernists,” but we realize that art today 1s making progress. Move- ment is indicative of life; works of art may be In every senss correct, but dead. There is an art of go innocu- ous a quality that it is inexplicably bad—art of a feeble prettiness which is utterly valueless. Art of this sort is most often admired, but in com- parison the ugliness assoclated with ‘modernism is iInfinitely preferable; the one has character, the other has none. Why not, then, have patience with the “modernists,” even while ad- mitting that we do not “get them, and, above all, not pretending that we like their works? Why not ac- cept Dr. Smith's explanation of their purpose and trust that under all 1s a fundamental idea which in its de- velopment will open an era of great original creative accomplishment through which beauty will be added to the world in /0 measure? To do #o is, to say the least, reasonable and cheering. life and demands j CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. COLLINS. It all depended on the viewpoint as|tea. to which farm credit bill of tho Sen- ate deserved approval. The per bill was indorsed by Banker Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury, as the only plan which should be considered. It proposed the organization of banks with private funds for the purpose of making three-year loans. Mr. Mellon denounced the Lenroot- Anderson bill because it was provid- ing for deskroom in each of the twelve federal farm loan banks already established by the Hollis law of 1916, and the government was to supply $5,000,000 capital to each of[Kklilled the twelve banks. In either case ad- ditional funds were to be procured by the sale of debenture bonds to the amount of ten times the capital. The Lenroot-Anderson bill would lend to farmers for a term of from six months to three years. * ok ok From the standpoint of the banker the Lenroot-Anderson bill was anathema; it would involve govern- ment money in aiding fafmers, and that would Involve the government in the control of such banks. be impossible to lend such money to farmers for less than 7% per cent, he claimed. Now comes Dirt Farmer Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture, paying his It would | Maybe the fair ladics, as she suggests, might arrest the moonshin- ers better than do the huskies now employed in that laudable task. But would they like the rough work con- nected with it>—getting shot up, of chascd down the road by dogs, or manhandled by toughs whose rule is the hard-boiied “treat 'em rough. Annette Abbott tlorney genernf, s not think that signment at all. is helped to this idea by he internal revenus col per cent of the man frer bootleggers and rs are either corrupted or within the first six months. It would muss up things badly to have that happen to ladies. M Adams is not fayoring the wets in this argument. She is the assistant who wrote the ruling which barred Mr. Lasker's bars on shipboard and another ruling putting wholesale liquor dealers out of business. * ok ok K Possibly both ladles are right. Mre. Adams is mindful of the rough brigandage of the road and the slum; Mrs. Pinchot may bs remembeting that there is violation in high so- clety which sets going an influencs most _ perniclous. Woman _ detectives may be useful in tipping off the fash- ionable vioiators that they may be watched and cnce accumulated. Let the ladies get together and al the report of lector ~that officers imoonshin respects to the banker Secretary of {will be well. the Treasury for what he does not know as to when the cows come home on a farm. “I can see no strong obj Mr. Walla, to the ena ction,” says *y ent of the ter as a rural credits stitute for the Lenroot-Anderson bitl, would give the farmers of the nation the best of reasons for feeling that in reply they had been offered a stone.” (e Referring to the Capper bill, Secre- tary Wallace says, in a letter to Rep- resentative Anderson: “The credit facilities it authorizes may highly useful to ranching interests if actually brought into existence. The plan does not, however, meet the farmer's needs for intermediate credit It is not designed to meet the needs in which diversified ming is fo lowed. Tt does not protect borrowers from excessive interest rates. the color of federal money-making corpo for that especial purpc Whether he meant to do it Secretary Wallace put his finger on the very key to the attitude of capi- tal toward farmers. Capital is pat- ronizing, broadly sympathetic willing to lend aid—or lend anything it possesses to aid agriculture—pro- vided the security is satisfactory and the interest profitable to the stock- hold Capital is looking out_of the wicket of the bank counter. The farmer is looking over his fen his field and his cattle. The vie decides the differens Not in a generation will realize that it is not a question profits on the loans that shall decide the problems of our weakening asri- culture. Time may come when bonuses will be called for—subsidies— ve farming from utter collapse. ‘The farmers do not ask for inte rates that will not invite investment in the debentures, but actual farm conditions must be met in the terms of the loans. and not merely live stock interests consulted, if = diversitied farming is to be saved. * % ok x Mavbe Mrs. Gifford Pinchot, wife of the Governor of Pennsylvania, Is wrong in thinking the enforcement of the Volstead law against moonshiners and bootleggers is just like a pink Pper bill also, but to offer the lat-! 11, or a sub-| to their request for bread | prove | of the great surplus-producing states { paid; |inadequate to house the children en- or not.y fone disput | bag rule.” t | wa | * % x Some one should offer a reward o ral trillion iarks for cvidenc leading to the dfscovery of the motiv: or provocation of the ghoulish gle iwith which Congress delights to at. tack the schools of the District of Co. lumbia. If the germ or microb could once be isolated, a parasite or antidote might be developed to at- tack it. At present the whole assauit by our great and wise and learned statesmen is 8o utterly inexplicable that the most scientific research fails identify the seat of the discase. ibly the psychologist was right specificd tho exact number of et before all Americans would be crazy, but no one expected a break- down near, physically and {chronologically. * ok ok % Will any one deny that the teachers of Washington are wretchedly under- that the school buildings are school hours and the of teaching talent? Will any a rational explanation why <men should think it their pa- > duty to rob Washington chil- of their birthright? n_any the fact that the schools al of tha nation ought to schools of the mnatlon? . by on of the a national titled best to full one giv cong t dren of the cap be the model Or that the rdlines nd scandal? T One of the things most bitterly re- sented by the reconstructed states after the civil war was the “carpet- * Men from distant states came into communities, with no com- munity interest, and reigned accord- ing to their interpretation of what good for the hiects.” His- is not clear as to whether they cared whether school kept or not. Just so they got their per diem and mileage, “Carpetbag rule” has been abolished everywhere cxcept in the District of Columbia. Some rulers still don't care whether school keeps or mnot. Verhaps the no children at- tending the alleged public schools of Washington. _Certainly they have no relatives or friends underiaking to live comfortably on a teachers p (Copyright, 1923, br P. V. Collins.) tor: Powis Castle Library, About to Be Sold, Contains Many Literary Treasures BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. Powls Castle, the principal country seat of the Earl of Powls in Mont gomeryshire—the “Castle of Garde Doloureuse” of Sir Walter Scott's novel “The Betrothed"—is about to surrender its wonderful literary treasures. For the Powis Castle library, relatively unknown, and which for a strange reason, explained below, has escaped the attention of Dbibliographers, 18 to be sold through Sotheby's in London three weeks hence—that is to say, on the 20th, 21st and 22d instant. The collection con- tains many works of great rarity, in- cluding the Shakespearcan quartos, the 1600 edition of “The Merchant of Venice” and the 1622 edition of “Othiello.” There are a number of exceedingly rare books of the teenth and sixteenth centuries in Welsh. But perhaps the volume which appeals most to the imagina- tion in the forthcoming sale is quarto copy of the first edition Milton's “Comus,” and of Which the first performance of the masque Was given under his supervision in 1634 by the children of the first Earl ot Bridgewater, lord president of the council of Wales, at Ludlow Castle, his official residence. It bears the signature as well as a number of marginal notes of the great poet. Tt is understood that large bids will be made for this wonderfully interesting copy of “Comus” and for the Shake- spearean quartos in behalf of certain well known American collectors and that the treasures are destined to cross the Atlant ok K K Powis Castle, formerly known as Red Castle, being built of red sand- stone, is of great antiquity, having originally been the seat of Owen Ap-Grifiith, the last Welsh sovereign, Prince of Powis-Gwenwyn. The latter's descendants having be- come extinct in the male line, the castle passed through the distaff side of the house to the Herberts, a junior branch of the great family of which the Earl of Pembroke is the chief. There were Herbert Earl of Powis, | also a Marquis of Powis, and even a Duke of Powis, who played an im- portant role at the Stuart court of St. Germain after the deposition and exile of James IL The great Lord Clive's son married the only sister and sole heiress of the last of the Herbert lords of Powis, and, on be- coming through this union the owner of Powis Castle and of all the landed property connected therewith, was created Eari of Powis of the present line. Powls Castle Is a huge baronial pile built on an eminence in the midst of & very extensive and beautiful park, and contains a marvelous collection of Indian curios and relics brought from the orient by the great Lord Clive, to whose victories the British crown is so largely indebted for the possession of its mighty Indian em- pire. * ok kK this Lord Clive. whose title today by his descendant, the n and heir of the Earl of vho, it may be remembered, and captured Calcutta and inflicted, condign punishment upon its cruel - ruler for the atrocity still known in history as the “black hole of Calcutta.” If the literary treasures and collec- tions of bool and manuscripts of Powis Castle escaped the attention It was is borne eldest s Powis, atormed ff- | of | | and throux {ninete to the | third 13 e the ken of wout all the las th century it we bibliographers haif of the largely dus tricity of the late and f Powis. His entire life to have been ove | sl d by the fact that on reach- ling manhood he had accidentally ‘klll-d his father. t ccond earl, { while out shooting, a -tragedy which caused him to withdraw altogether |from society and live from thence- forth the life of a recluse. He was not on particularly good terms with { sw. the present earl, and | latter, as George Herbert, ried the famous beauty, Miss V jet Lane Fox, they had extremely lit- chich' to live. 1In fact, theirr very straitened. Before ny months had p: ed, how- er. the te earl suddenly died and ung couple found themselves in ession of a very large fortune 1. pos inde: * ok Kk The late carl's eccentricity had taken the form, with other way: of hiding things in the most out-of- the-way places. Thus he displayed the utmost ingenuity in contriving secret cupboards and “caches,” and aven had rooms in tiie immense old castle walled up in such a fashion as to leave no trace of their exist- ence. Much of the library which s about to be placed on sale at Sotheby's this month was in this fashion hidden away from view. All the frst vears of the possession of Powis €astle by the present earl and countess were spent in hunting up these various “caches.”” Rooms that had been unopened for hal century or more, and the very existence of which had been unsuspected, were found, and many precious things be- sides rare literary treasures, such as valuable old masters, literally tons of ola silver plate and a quantity of superb jewels, some of Indian origin, were brought to light. It is asserted that Lord Powis, and especially his countess, were assisted in their search by the apparition of the second earl—of the one who had been killed by his son—and who, ap- pearing to m in their dreams, in- dicated su sively all the wvarious places of concealment. But it was not only to the present earl and countess that the spook of tho second earl appeared. The story goes that one night he came to the bedside of the oid family butler, who, being strong-minded and convinced that the apparition meant no harm, arose in Tespons to the beckoning of the specter and followed it. He was led in this fashion to a remote portion of the castle, where the ghost pointed to a spot on the stone flagging of this chamber in one of the most ancient parts of the building, * kK K On the following morning the but- ler, who had taken note of the spoty summoned to his assistance the head gardener, also an old family servant, and, prying up one of the flagstones and digging down a little, came upon an ancient-looking fron box. Before it as removed Lord Powis was notified. By his direction it was taken to the library and there opened. It contained a number of documents, all carefully tied with red tape. What the docu- ments were has never been definitely revealed. There 1s supposd to have Dbeen long missing title deeds to cer- tain tracts af land and property. But that they were valuable to the own- ers of Powis Castle is best shown by the fact that the two servants, the butler and the gardener, were hand- somely pensioned for life, each of them with a cottage, rent free. i