Evening Star Newspaper, March 10, 1923, Page 6

i L FHE EVENING STAR, I ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. " WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY. March 10, 1923 (e - THEODORE W. NOYES. Editor Evening Star Newspaper Company ess Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. Teass OMELS” Tower Buliding. cago Ofce: Tower ; Buropesn Office: 10 Hegent Bt., London, England. ' iae, Eyeniog Star, with the Sunday moraing o 8ition, 1s dellvered by carriers within the city 8t 60 Cents per month; dally only, 43 cents per month; Sunday oply, 20 cents per month. Or- ¥, e Tiay b sent by ‘mas. oc telephone Maln 8000, Collection 1s” mad’ Ly earriers at the ead of each month. e | Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1yr., $8.40; 1 me Daily only. 1yr., $6. me Sunday oniy. 1yr., $2.40; 1m i All Other States. 1y and Sunday..1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo. Daily only. oeemre 1y ,51 00; 1 m Bunday only. -1yr., $3.0 y _Member of the Associated Press. The Assoclated Press is exclusively entitled %o the use for republication of all news dis- atches credited to it or not otherwise credited n_ this paper and also the local news pub- lished “herein. ~All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. —— i To Keep Ships Afloat. General approval will be given the determination of the Shipping Board to follow the example of the “poor be- nighted Hindu” and “do the best it kin do.” The board ®as no disposi- tion to throw up its nands and quit just because its comprehensive and hopeful program of federal aid to the merchant marine wus filibustered to its death in the Senate. It is the duty of the board to continue to function under the law as it stands, and there is no desire either to evade or shirk that duty. Whether a majority of the American people favored or opposed the admin- istration’s plan for federal aid to ship- ping now is aside from the question. No one doubts that the American peo- ple want to keep their flag flying on the sever. scas, and are opposed to serappini the merchant fleet in which they ha'® invested billions of their hard-earned dollars. The government will have to keep such ships as it can in operation, and the Treasury will have to continue to make good the losses until such time as Congress, in its wisdom, fit to exchange a hopeless and uneconomic program for one which promisds to reduce losses and in time to make the merchant fleet sclf-sustaining. There apparently is no intention of throwing government-owned vessels on the market to fetch whatever they will bring. There may be a sale, it is indicated, of such passenger vessels as are not needed to balance the fleet of the United States Lines, the gov- ernment’s operating company, but the present plan of operating cargo ves- sels is likely to continue, at least until there is some radical change in the world's shipping situation. Such sales of cargo vessels as are made will be with the proviso that they shall be comtinued in operation on established routes. Unless cargo vessels were sold at a price so low that capital iavestment would be inconsequential, private owners could not operate them generally in competition with the subsidized fleets of other nations. and to sell them at prices which would make private operation possible would involve a sacrifice of the people’s money which would be wholly unwar- ranted until there has been a dete mination whether the people, through a temporary subsidy, are willing to make their operation by private owners cventually possible. But even without regard to the orig- | inal cost of the ships, the argument is { strong for continued government oper: ation of cargo ves: with whatever losses to the Treasu rily involved. There have been too many instances lately of foreign discrimina. tion n shippers to risk placing them wholly at the merey of their trade rivals. Markets must be found for surplus products if pros- perity is to endure, and these markets would be difficult to find and more dif- ficult to hold were our carrying trade turned to those mary | interest is to destroy successful are nec s nst Amer over ! would { presidential ambitions and party poli Apartment House Mail. There is talk ame ziving postal officials delivery in ! @partment houses. Tt is to be in the nature experiment. Tt is experiment which large numbers of | apartment would like | to have tried. and 1o doubt it is true | that great of apartment | house tenants are content have | their mail put in their mail box in the | lobby. most nuail. genc of door-to-door of an an house dwellers numbers 0 The thing that concerns them | the prompt delivery of the On one side it is said that the ptancy of the *no box no mail” order has so facilitated mail de- | livery that the present carrier foree can make delivery to each apartment, | providing that the apartment has a{ mail slot in the door. On the other hand. it is said that the present car- force is not large enough to allow of this extension of mail delivery sys-{ tem. There is no way for laymen to come to an intelligent conclusion in this matter. The decision must be | made by the postal men. 1If the door- | to-door delivery in apartment houses can be made without incressing, or | lorgely increasing, postal expenses | zreat majority of persons will favor it. If the extension is to cost a great deal of money there will be considera- Lle opposition to it, It will be argued that while the door-to-door delivery would be a good thing there is no urgent nced for it. If the postal au- | thorities want to-try the plan out as an experiment they should be en- couraged to do it. e TLabor leaders in knee breeches dine with the King and Queen of England. And nobody passed the humble pie. Columbia University will send a de- bating team to England. Perhaps to give Ambassador Harvey a vacation. Trees and Parking. Tt is the plan of the superintendent of trees and parkings to spend his available tree-planting funds this year in developing a new nursery near Ana- costia and giving care to the trees now growing instead of setting out young trees along the streets. The tree program as - first drawn called for (] planting 500 trees to flll gaps in the existing lines. After the adoption of that plan, which represented tree planting on a very small scale for Washington, the War Department turned over to the District as a tree nursery thirty-five acres of rich land reclaimed from the Eastern branch flats. The superintendent believed that the $3,500 which was‘at his dis- posal for replacing trees uprooted by storm and those Kkilled in other ways could be better used in building up the new nursery. His plans have been approved by the Commissioners, and in other years the work of extending the lines of street trees ought to be carried on at a rate to insure that the capital shall remain famous for its trees. It is the intent of the superin- tendent of trees and parkings to make an active campaign aegainst insects that injure the city’s shade trees, and squads of men will be set at the work of spraying. There is a good deal that might be done by citizens in behalf of the trees. If each citizen would adopt the street tree or trees in front of his property, lend a hand in guarding them against injury, take a little in- terest in seelng that the roots get wa- ter in time of drought, that the earth does not cake too hard about them and that caterpillars do not play havoc with the foliage, it would be an ex- cellent thing for the trees, for the homes they stand before and for the whole city. In giving some attention to the tree the householder could keep an eye the parking between the pavement and the curb. It was the i tent that this strip of land should be kept green, but throughout the city one finds scedy and neglected park- ings, their condition generally due to rough treatment by children at play. Citizens might do the best they can in the interest of trees and parking. They will soon be giving earnest at- tention to their own lawns or the grass and flower plots at their doorways, and it would not be an arduous task to extend their care a few feet farther and show a regard for the street tree and the parking. —_——————————— The Primary System. Lawmaking in this country has not been suspended by the adjournment of Congress. State legislatures are grind- ing away on laws of state import, some of which, relating as they do to elections, have national application. All legislatures meet in 1923, except those of Kentucky, Louisiana, Mary- land, Mississippi and Virginia. The sessions began in January, ‘except in Florida, which begins in April, and Georgia, which begins in June. One of the proposals over which the state legislatures have Jjurisdiction, though its effect, if enacted, would be distinctly national, is the extension of the primary system to presidential elections. The principal states in which campaigns are now being con- ducted by the progressive forces for effective presidential primary laws are Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wash- ington, Towa, New Mexico, Arizona and New York. Reports received at national headquarters in this city for this movement, “the people’s legisla- tive service,” are that there is a strong probability that a majority of them will adopt effective presidential pri- mary laws during the present session of' the legislatures. Tt is claimed by the national promoters of the proposed change that if this forecast is borne out a majority of the delegates in the next national conventions will be chosen by presidential primaries. The states which now have presidential primaries are California, Illinois, In- diana. Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Caro- lina, North Dakota, Oregon, Penn: vania, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Senator Johnson of California. au- thor of the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States for nation-wide presidential primaries. has frankly given up hope of its sub- mission to the states by Congress, on the ground of determined opposition from the southern states. So the friends of the movement have turned their attention to securing action by the states. The outcome of the current mov in the legislatures bear with ¢ effeet on ments various stie upon 0 lo nagement and file: indeed, it should be said, to transfer control from the management to the individ- 1al members of the party. The action of the legislatures is worthy of being followed with close interest. ———————— French scientists announce that 10 would be party result :n of the upon the rank One hold cies. the { per cent of the women of today have and that the number is w time there has been ion as o why so many forms of continental whiskers strike the observer as effeminate. ——————————— This title “Unistation” will move many. steeped in the vernacular of the hour, ad aning into the line d words of tongue or pen.’ mustaches, growing. specu to iy of all new m ———— Gen. Degoutte expects the economic blockade of the Rubr soon to bear fruit: Which is it to be, general, sweet or citrus? ———— Lady Astor's effort to outlaw sale of liquor to minors sounds like a bit of ancient American history. ——— Preparing for = Welcome Guest. Mistress Springiis on her way to Washington. According to the al- manac she is due about March 21, when the enters the sign of Aries. It is a popular, though mis- taken, notion that Spring comes to Washington at the beginning of March, and there ought to be evidence enough to satisfy ‘anybody that this popular notion is one of the many things that are not 1t is often rumored that Spring is here when she is not, but as coming events cast their shadows hbefore it may be that the vernal season throws its smiles out in advance, with the result that many perscns have to itart the fire again and look for tie sblankets. Although Spring 15 comiag' she has not quite come. Very likely she may have to face cold winds and wet her pretty feet in slush before she can cross the Potomac and get. into the parks and gardens of Washington. A number sun 1of the @ays of March stand between her and the capital, and one ‘of those days is the 17th, a day which, like the 4th, hasa particular aversion to Spring. It may be premature to write of the coming of Spring, but the time 18 near when she will put her mark upon the lawns and parks and hang her symbols on the trees. Washington should welcome her, and Washington will welcome her, but there is con- siderable work to be done in preparing for her reception. Whole districts of the city have a shabby look. Grass plots before thousands of happy homes have a seedy, rundown appearance. Many of them are disfigured with lit- ter, & condition which a strong arm and a rake might cure in & few min- utes. Vines and shrubbery need some attention. Trash has accumulated in the basement and the closets. There will be, of course, a clean-up cam- paign aebout the time Miss Spring comes across the Highway bridge, but it might be well to make some prepa- rations now. Such work would make Washington better looking and would make the job easier when the crocuses and hyacinths fling out their colors. —————————— Government Salaries. There is a story in the news that the assistant secretary of commerce may resign to accept the presidency of a corporation “at a salary several times greater than he recelves as as- sistant secretary.” It is an old story. Something of the kind comes into print nearly every day, and in the cases of many resignations from the public service no mention is made of the greater private-paid salary the re- tiring official is to receive. The re- tirement of highly efficient men from the public service to accept higher pay is regrettable, but there seems to be no help for it. The government cannot or will not pay as much for business brains as business corpore- tions are willing to pay. While many men are content to serve their govern- ment for the honor of the thing, many other men will pass up the honor to accept a private job with the proper salary attachment. No one can blame either type of man. Each to his taste. | other lines of work. The lesson is that while the government probably ought not to be asked to pay the salaries which corporations pay officers and technical experts, the whole level of government salaries should be higher. They should be brought in line with present-day standards of living and the decreased purchasing power of money. —————— Turkey is determined to stand out for complete sovereignty to the last piece of white meat; even at the risk of being gobbled by the western power thankless task, there is a glamour or ome sort of distinction in a public title which makes appeal to many men. It often happens that a man after being invested with the honors of public office finds those honors a poor substitute for a salary which en- ables him to live well, enjoy the pleas. ures of the world and make provision for old age and for setting up his chil- dren in life. Other men having en- joyed the rich salaries paid in indus- try for talent and efficiency decide that the honors of public office with an humble salary outweigh the other plan, and that by living in a plain way they can get along well, educate their children and set them to the task of working out thelr own salvation— generally in some other city. Other men, long in public service, become contented with their lot and like gov- ernment service better than the strain of rivalry and stress of competition of | ————— French fines against German towns | that behave badly are etated in marks by the million. i to state the cost of the German occu- | pation of France in similar terms. ——————————— | That Michigan young lady with the 114.degree temperature ought to go to Alaska to get ill the next time. —_——————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, A Golf Reminiscence. When we played shinny long ago Our clothing did not fret us, | We wore no coats of sunset glow— Our mothers would not let us. Oh, we were coltish in our glee: | We loved to prance and whinny | We asked no “niblick” and no When we were playing shinny. Oh. where are those companions now— The thin boy we called “Fatty™; The boy ill-clad, with grimy brow; The boy so neat and natty: The boy who was so very fat His comrades named him “Skinny"'? There is no friendship here like that i We knew while playing shinny. | Perchance, one day a club I'll take And set the golf ball flying, At least, an effort I may make: There's naught, you know, like try- ing. - But T shall miss those boyish friends, So freckle-faced and grinny: No modern game can make amends | For those lost hours of shinny. A Humble Sermon. Dar nebber wa'n’t no one who couldn't fin' out Sumpin’ clus to his home to git busy Jabout. 11t may be de work doesn’ pay as it should, But it's better dan loafin’ an’ bein’ no good. So I mixes d> whitewash or pushes de spade 'Thout talkin' too much money dat's paid. Don’ was'e all yoh time countin’ up de reward, Jes’ ten’ to yoh bus'ness an’ trus’ in de Lord. ‘bout de When Moses, de prophet, led Israel's band He didn’ start axin’ de price of de land He was leadin’ 'em to. Ef dey followed de light He knowed dat de future wah boun’ to come right. De onlies’ way to succeed is to staht A-doin’ yoh bes' wid yoh han’s and yoh heart. So don’ git contrairy and sing off de chord, Jes' ten’ to yoh bus'ness an’ trus’ in de Lord. i | Though public office is generally a, It would be appalling | BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE Hiram Johnson's against American entry into the “league court” many politiclans hear the detonation of his opening gun in the fight for the 1924 republican pres- identlal nomination. Johnson now is in open opposition to President Hard- ing’s paramount issue in the realm of foreign policy. It is hard to recon- clle the Californian’s hostility with his reputed unwillingness to oppose Mr. Harding in the primaries. John- son 1s reported by his friends to be; broadside | spoke at the opening meeting of the | w. new Washington society, is account- ed by some suthorities the greatest of living paychologists. John Broad- us Watson, formerly of the Univer. sity of Chicago, and Knight Dunlap, professor of experimental psychology at Johns Hopkins, are prospectiv speakers. * ok % % A Washington flapper, evidently of the gold-digger fraternity, was asked what was her favorite hymn. She re- plied: “Him that hath.” * ok ok ok The Library Table By The Booklover In the good days before the great ar, when it was proper to use and to praise books and other things “made in Germany,” Baedeker was & synonym for the best guide book: We even had a United States Baed- eker, edited, by the way, by an Eng- lishman, Dr. James F. Muirhead, though published in Leipzig. Unfortu- nately it has not been revised since 1909, though it s still in many re- spects the most useful gulde to this country &s a whole. We now have a sort of Washington Baedeker. It {sn't convinced that if the G. O. P. goes tof Who have the most characteristic | called that, but is officially known at the country next vear on a platform { providing for “entanglement” withi the league of nations it will be as overwhelmingly repudiated as the democrats were in 1920. The frrecon- cilable arch-priest looks upon himself as the logical savior of the republi-| can party from such a doom. John-| son galls for Europe today. Those who know his mental processes are confident he will return with a store- house of corroborated prejudices, * Kk Xk ¥ The Marquis Curzon of Kedleston, British forelgn secretary, who is chiefly responsible for the unylelding policy of his government in the con- troversy over the United States con- sulate at Newcastle, has never ranked as particularly friendly to America His only obvious partiality toward us has been exhibited in the choice of his wives, both his first wife (the for- mer Mary Leiter of Washington) and the prexent Lady Curzon having bee American-born. The lat Walter Hines Page, our war ambassador at London, more than once took occasion to voice his distrust of Lord Curzon, | who was an influential _member of both the Asquith and Llovd George | cabinets. Since earliest youth Curzon has enjoyed among his compatriots a | reputation for austerity bordering on superciliousness. To this day there clings to him a bit of doggerel com- posed when he was an undergraduate at Oxford: “My name is George Nathaniel Curzon. | T am a most superior purzon. My face is round, my hair is sleck And T dine at Blenheim twice a week. * k ¥ % ! Plans of the Princess Bibesco, Alice | ,Roosevelt Longworth, Mrs. Eugene Mevyer, jr., and other intellectuals to | form a soclety of psychology inf{ {yvashington are conceived in x de- sire to counteract the “charlatan- ism” palmed off here in the guise of applied psychology. They declare the National Capital hus been surfeited with isms of all sorts, mostly of for-| eign origin, that have been allowe whole, despite their deleterious ch: acter. In William James America | had perhaps the first, and certainly one of the foremost, psvchologists the world has yet produced. Kobert | Sessions Woodworth of Columbia University, a discipic of James, who a Non-Political Postmasters an] Tdeal Difficult in Attainment. | The course of treatment prescribed | for the Post Office Department by | Dr. Hubert Work just before he left | the postmaster generalship is looked upon by most editorial writers as ex- | cellent advice if it could only be made to work along the lines pre- scribed. The selection of postmasters upon a purely business basis, with- out regard to either political consid- eration or civil service ratings, is, as one writer puts it, the ideal way. but, like all other ideals, exceedingly | dificult of attalnment. In the opin- | ion of mot a few editors, Dr. Work’s suggested departure from {civil service in the selection of post- masters would mean merely that there would be more politics in the department, not less, and thus defeat the object at which he aims. While the Asheville Times (inde- pendent) suggests that the program which Dr. Work puts forth in leaving the postmaster generalship “comes in the nature of a deathbed repent- ance,” the Williamsport (Pa) Sun { (independent) regasds it as the con-| iclusions “of a man who knows what he is talking sbout” and henc worthy of attention. “The operation | of the post office is purely a business | function,” says the Tacoma Ledger| (independent); “the post office is the | biggest business in the country, as well as the department of govern- ment that comes closest to the lives! of all the people. That it shall prop-i erly function, business methods should ibe employed, and these cannot bej effective unlesy directed by business! {men.” But whether or not the Work | recommendation that the selection | of postmasters should be wholly in | the hands of the department wiil op- | erate o put business men in control | 15f the postal business is a matter of Considerable doubt in editorial minds. The consensus of obinion.” ac- cording to the actield (Ohio) News (democrat s that the method, if adopted, would amount to | 1% return to the spoils system in: handing out political jobs. ® * *| Relicved of all obligations to the | public oF to competent seekers after | postal positions. it would not take long for the Postmaster General's of- s sume the position of Santa aus and dole out jobs to deserv- ing partisians.” It is well the Milwau- kee Journal _(independent) thinks, | for the Post Office Department to be | the final judge in the matter of ap- pointments, but even by going into the fleld to make his selections the Postmaster General would probably ! find that “he still had politics to deal with—not partisan politics, per- haps, but personal politics. The man however, | The best time to play golf is in the morning. With each stroke at the little white ball at dawn there will disappear a part of your chronic grouchiness, spring fever or any other ailment to which the average individual is subject. —DR. WALTER L. Hopkins Hospital). The bustle will be generally worn again this spring, but it will not be the stiff, ungraceful thing of grand- mother's day, but a mass of ruffles lace. i and —MME. ALLA RIPLEY. CRAIG (Johns There have been other meusures | than the prohibition act for which I should receive the credit—or blame. —ANDREW J. VOLSTEAD. The prediction that gasoline will soon be a dollar a gallon is absurd. Our prices are fixed by the law of supply only and there are at present no indications that any Increase whatsoever will be necessary. —W. E. TEAGLE (of Standard Oil Company). | Since the time of Charles V the rinciple of the balance of power has Pesn the dominating one in Buropean politics and still is, despite the league of_nations. —HENRY P, FLETCHHER (United States ambassador to Belglum). lably | the Okiahom. | ocratic) believes that such regulat | Supporters heads In America? Seraphin Soud- binine, Russian actor and sculptor, now in Washington, thinks they adorn Herbert Hoover, Medill McCormick and Jack Barrymore. Soudbinine, who has “done” McCormick and Bar- rymore and is now making a bust of Hoover, was In quest of three heads which would typify American char- acter. He fixed upon the cabinet of- ficer, the United States senator and the actor after selecAng his subjects at random from among photographs f notable Americans. Senator Mc- Cormick is thought by his kinsmen and friends to have a headplece amuzingly like the one popularly as- sociated with “Uncle Sam.” On the sion of a diplomatic bal masque young 1llinoisan was fitted with chin” whiskers agd other hirsute ap- pendages and is said to have looked pur allegorical national hero to the ife. * % % ¥ Somebody asked Joseph . Tumulty, who ought to know, whether a tain well known democrat cherishes serious designs on his party’s presi- dential nomination next year. “Prob- said Woodrow Wilson's Bos- Every democrat in the coun- cer: well. ltry over thirty-five does.” * % %k ok Two members of the Washington diplomatio corps—Dr. Bedrich Ste- panek, Czechoslovakian minister, and Dr. Ante Tresich Pavichich, minister of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes— find themselves more pleasantly as- | sociated in pe; w ce than in war. Both re rehels against the authority of the Hapsburgs and active in con- racy for their overthrow. At thrilling moment of the war Pavich- ich and Stepanek were serving the cause of Slav liberation on the Dal- matian co They were to have escaped from Austrian jurisdiction in an allied submarine, but arrange- ments fell through and phey were compelied to effect thelr escape, which they did, by their own devices. Dr. Pavichich told the story at this weel's celebration of the sevent third birthday of Dr. Masaryk, prest dent of the (‘zechoslovak republic, of whom the Serb minister was a col- league in the old Austrian parlia- ment. (Coprright, 1023.) EDITORIAL DIGEST with the ‘pull’ would still try te land the job, and probably would get it e Detroit Free Press (independent) i3 also skeptical Jf Keeping politics out of “a svstem which reposes un- limited discretion in the Postmaster B " and with the resetrictiol civil servico removed, it gets in, then a general rip- ping uw of the organization wiil be inevitable every time an administra- tion changes, and the theory that postmasters hold office for indefinite terms will give way to the facts of the spoils system.” and “everybody knows.” save the Youngstown Vindi- gator (demacraticl. that " postma e puld keep e as lon does his work wei Hewante so post office appointments i is concerned, City Oklahoman (dem- is especiall Department.” kept as fr ie” whil Work's re needed in the Post Ofice because it “should be from politics as “Postmaster General ommendation would have Just the opposite eftect.” But the Grand Rapids Press (independent) believes that “the postmaster general,] as |_thr('llrnl head of the great firm of U. S. & Co., mail deliveries, should be able to scout around for the best man for the office of postmaster without having to choose from the £rist turned out by a elvil service examination.” for, ‘as the Chicagn News (independent) says, “that this plan has not alwavs vielded satisfac- tory results is admitted by sincere u _of the merit system.” The proposal will undoubtedly “bring @ blast of condemnation from civil seérvice reform advoca " who will assert that Dr. Work ndeavoring to restore the spoils system in its entireiy,” but as the South Bend T bune (independent republican), se “the competitive civil service ex tlon system is somewhat like the primary. Its theory Is good. but in actual - do what i “if this Tribune designer system were believes it would open the way for warked improvement in the effective operation of the post office, Theoretically the Work recommen dations for making the politics-proof “sounds well,” iira Star-Gazette thinks. but also it sounds “familiar,” for “it has been stated and restated time after time in varty platforms and by politicians who were talking bunk which they knew they did not mean.” Theor neither practical nor p. Utica Observer-Dispateh (independ- end) adds, and even Dr. Work him- elf, “given power to make appoint- ments as he outlines and recommends, would make his selections in har- mony with the wishes of senators and representatives and _party leader: The trouble as the Waterloo (lowa Tribune (independent) sees it that “when the democrats are in ¢ fice they want the post offices out of politics. When the republicans come in they say it is a grand scheme, but that the rule should not go into ef- feet while (he democrats are filling the jobs. And so it has gone. intended,” abolished,” the El- (independent) ssible,” the ) IN A FEW WORDS The citizen who approaches a law- suit does so in fear and trembling, with the feeling that he is going into some dark cavern in which he must feel his way about' and where every:- thing that happens is beyond the comprehension of an ordinary mortal. —GOV. ALFRED SMITH (of IU's the love of women that helps men to understand the love of God. —LADY ASTOR. Englangd might be playing a stronger hand in fworld politics, but the gov- crnment knows that the British pop- ulace won't fight any more. The boys are home to siay. —HILLATRE BELLOC. The motion picture theater of the tuture will be built like an elongated egg and will hold 20,000 people. Tt will be a temple of color, music and pictures, but mostly music. —S. L. ROTHAFEL. Idealism is an essential of civiliza- tion, but the professional ldealists have their heads in the clouds and leave those who keep their feet on the groun pay the freight. —"UNCLE JOE" CANNON. The American detective {8 too mno- ticeable. He his profession writ- ten all over his face, to say nothing of his shoes. —ISRAEL BLUMENFIELD, far as civil serviee control of! 2 | pos- | it does not always | the | department | aside, the program is| New | “Rider's: Washington.” However, it does treat of the objects of Interest in the Natlonal Capital in the same discriminating, systematic and thor- ough way that Baedeker guides treat London or Paris. * K K ok “Rider's Washington” is a most satisfactory plece af work and fills u place not occupied by the excellent briefer illustrated guides already on the market. The compiler, Dr. Fred- erfc T. Cooper, spent many months in ‘Washington just before the United States entered the war, and carefully authenticated every scrap of infor- mation, which has been further re- vised within recent, months. The re- sults are found in nearly 530 pages of text, and a minute index, together with a general map, and several plans of-sections of the District and of the large public buildings. Follow- ing the Baedeker plan, objects of special Interest are starred, detailed descriptions are given and historical notes are appended. The book con- tains a general description of Wash- ington, a sketch of its history, a statement of the local and a Washington bibliography. The guide also covers the suburbs, includ- ing Alexandria. Arlington,” Mount Vernon and those to the north and west. Although this guide is primarily designed to be consulted rather than to be read, much of it will be found to be highly interesting reading, both for Washingtonians and for visitors. * ok %k Another recent book devoted to the Capital city is entitled “The Book of Washington.” This has been written by Robert Shackleton, a fluent writer who had previously written similar hooks about Boston, New York, Phila- delphia and Chicago. This is decidedly 1 readable book. The interest of its text is heightened Ly excellent illus- trations, .bath half-tones and line drawings. Mr. Shackleton also spent several months in Washington while writinz his book, but his search has brought together not so much the {facts that one expects to find in a xuide hook. but a goodly collection of gossip and stories about people, public buildings and private houses connected with past and present Washington. All these stories he serves up so pleasantly that his book is sure to prove diverting and popular with readers, whether permanent residents or temporary sojourners de- sirous of knowing something of the colorful things that make Washington so interesting. * & * { Henry Van Dyke says of Arthur ! Train’s new movel, “His Children's Children,” that it does for the New York of our own day what Thackeray's “Vanity Fair” did for the London of a hundred years ago. {“It 1ifts the curtain and shows us in behind the scenes.” The novel pre- sents a New York family, founded on what the author calls piracy. Perhaps the most striking character is the old grandfather, Peter B. Kayne, “a con- verted pirate,” who lives in the third story of the family mansion and watches lite, £rxs The newest periodical to come to The Booklover's desk fs called Time. the Weekly News-Magazine, issued in New York. In form about the size {of Life, it consists of briefly told ac- counts of events, arranged in classi- fied order. The first number, publish- ed on March 3, covers national affairs, foreign news. books, art, the theater, {movies, music, education, _religlon, Naw, “science, finance. sport. aero- nautics and crime (placed last!). It is not a journal of quoted opinions Ilike the Literary Digest, but is made up of brief, original articles, with- out editorials. 1t will be interesting to watch whether there is a place for such a publication R The detective story always finds its many readers, whether the story be {a masterpiece of its kind by Conan »oyle or one of the most obvious and machine-made by a mediocre author. One of the earliest American writers y aspublic_in this field was Katharine Green. After a con- iderable lapse of time, she has writ- ten a new mystery The Step on the Stair.” It w 1876 that “The Leavenworth Ci was sub- mitted to a publisher. and, although the manuscript was written in lead vencil. the possibilities of the book «were appreciated, and its publication i{was arranged fo Since then, prob- fably thirty stories have come from | the same pen, and the announcement of this new novel should whet the ap- petite of all that legion who try to outguess the writers of mystery Stories. ok x % The publicatian of biographies in {the interest of expectant candidates ifor the presidency has long been a { familiar method of arousing interest in persons willing to serve their coun- Uy in that capacity. That Henry “ord has such aspirations has for some time been well known, so that it iv not surprising that a fine crop jof biographies of him has already en produced. FolHowing several rlier_books, in 1917 “Henry Ford's »wn Story.” as told by Rose Wilder Lane, was published. and in 1922, two ks, "'Th! Truth About Henry Life and Work.” by.Henry Ford him- {self. "in collaboration with Samuel ‘rowther. For the coming year there 1is also promised another book, to be entitled “Henry Ford: An Interpreta- tion.” by Rev. Dr. Samuel Mar- {auis, Mr. Ford's former pastor, and {now’ head of the sociological depart- jment of the Ford Motor Company Most readers of “My Life and Work agree that it is far more than a piece of campaign puffery, that it is indeed a well written account of the life and opinions of an intensely interesting man. Translations of it into French, | German, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish have also been pub- ished, and the publishers report a request from Japan for a Japanese edition. % Ok ¥k % Sir Rider Haggard possesses a ring which belonged to the mother-in-law of the Egyptian King Tutankhamen, whose name has recently become as | familiar a household word as Mother | Goose or Robin Hood. The story of the ring was told in Haggard's novel, “Smith and the Pharaohs,” published two years ago. * K H ok Something of a sensation was cre- ated by the publication, two years ago, of the “Poems of a Little Girl,” by Hilda Conkling, nine yeags old. A new volume of her verses, recently published. is called “Shoes of the Wind." Their quality is shown by this poem, entitled “Books" Rooks, books that T love so, Poetry .. . fairy tales . All of them together make one Rroad as a mountain With golden pages res o 0. Iiread . of living . . . of tories . . huge book e tell: uy that huge book, government | v Sarah T. Bushnell, and “My | CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. COLLINS' In Hoosierdom there grew up two neighbors—a girl and a hoy. As the years came on the girl became a mis- tionary to the wild Indlan, in Indian Territory, over a thousand miles from home; the boy “chased fires, reporter, in his home state. “Gnats are unnoticed wheresoe'er they fly, But the eagle's gazed upon with every eye.” A few days ago the “boy” and the “gir]” reminded each other that the vears had wrought wonders, for Miss Alice Robertson, the retiring repre- sentative from Oklahoma, presented her photograph to the new FPost- master General, autographed: “To the nice little boy that I used to know, who has grown to be such a great man.” e One retiring congressman boasts that he lived in Washington on $80 a month, being without either wife or “dog.” It is not the wife who makes up the difference between the $80 scale of living and the $600-a- month plan; it is the “dog.” The representative who must “put on plenty of dog” needs at least the in- come that Charlie Chaplin finds in- adequate, even for matrimony. There is, in fact, no limit to what any man can spend in Washington or in any other city, but the spread is inevita- bly due mostly to the “dog.” Many a statesman thinks he would have no influence if he killed his “dog. which only goes to show that when it comes to sizing up some states- men, with or without their “dogs,” 'd rather be a dog and bay at the moon, Than such a Roman.” The dog’s the thing. and many a career is doomed when the great re- fuse to take down their signs: “Love me, love my ‘dog’” and take their woes too serfously when the public laughs at their song: “Ye've gotta quit kickin' my houn’ dawg aroun’!” o The ladles of government employ who have the privilege of living in the government-owned Plaza Hotels at $45 a month, with room and two good meals a day, together with vari ous speeial luxuries not found in pri- vate boarding houses, are bewailing their hard lot because it is found necessary to raise the price to $i0 a month. The increase is due to the de- mand of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road Company that the government {pay rent on the railroad land occu- pied, In part, by the hotels. Hitherto the government has had the use of the railroad land in consideration of paying the taxes only. The tenants do not claim that they could get board and accommodations elsewhere that would compare with what they get at the Plaza hatels for anything like the same cost. Their complaint is aimed only at the fact that even at the $45 rate the govern- ment made a clear profit last vear, ex- ceeding $86,000, and they argue, there- fore, that the government ought to pay the land rental without charging it up to the tenants. That is not counted by the govern- ment managers as a fair business ar- gument. It should not concern the tenants, they say. as to what the government profits amount to: all that concerns them is whether theyv could do better elsewhere; if so, let them move and give room for the waiting list. Heartless, isn't it? But that is business. The government is not an eleemosynary institution. nor are those happy tenants “charity pa- tients.” * ok ok K Nevertheless, this dispute brings out the truth of what has been argued repeatedly, that the success of the Plaza Hotels at §45 a month for room and board, with parlors and all mod- ern improvements, demonstrates that it is possible for private enterprises to emulate the plan and make money, while furnishing first-class board and i room for $50 or $60 a month. * K kK How would it do for the govern- ment to board its statesmen in the Plaza hotels at $50 a month, in view BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. Some months ago elaborate de- slgns were published on this side of the ocean for the reconstruction ot the Bank of Eugland and for the conversion of the sauat Old Lady of Threadneedle Street into a species ot twentieth century skyscraper, while retaining the familiar outside walls of the present single story of the building which has for over 140 years |been one of the best kuown land- {marks of the city of London. A feature of the reconstruction was the building over of the garden around which the bank was bullt. and, in view of the extraordinary value placed upon every yard and even every foot of land in that por- tion of the city, and of the immense pressure for inoreased accommoda- | tion, long felt by the governors of the bank, it has always seemed strange that they should have al- lowed o much of the space within the walls of the bank to remain in the coudition of a shady old garden. Few persons. and certainly neither | the governors of the bank nor vet the reconstruction, have been now aware of the origin of this gar- den, which has just been brought to flight through the disconcerting di. {covery that the bank has no author- ity to build over it, and that either the plans of the reconstruction, al- | ready accepted and determined upon, will have to be completely changed, or else that municipal, ecclesiasticai and, above all, parliamentary legis- lation entalling long and costly de- lays will have to be obtained before the obstacles in the way of the re- building and extension can be re- moved. * Tt seems that when the Bank of England was last reconstructed in 1781 the old St. Christopher-le-Stocks, a church designed by Sir Christopher Wren, was pulled down in order to make way for the extension of the bank, authority to do so having been duly obtained by act of parliament, approved of by King George III. The old church was surrounded by a graveyard, and it was particularly stipulated by the act of parliament in question that all the bones of the dead in the churchyard should be gathered together in a great vault, oc- cupying the church's site, and the surface of which should be converted into a garden and never be built upon. It remains to be seen whether par- liament will consent to legislate in favor of the removal of the bones of the dead who formerly reposed in the graveyard of St. Christopher-le-Stocks Church to some other churchyard or cemetery, or if the stipulation under which the sacred edifice and its gar- den of the dead was surrendered to Bank of ‘will be merely * the architects employed by them for | until | of their compluint that they cannot live elsewhere on $625 a month, and thelr demand of an increase of pay from $7,500 to $10,000 a year? Give them “commutation of quarters,” on the same basis as Army officers, or supply them, as if they were briga- diers, with six-room apartments and commissary “stores at 10 per cent above wholesale coxt. Statesmen come high, but we must have ‘em. * % ox % There is a great weakness in the Borah postal card campaign for the presidency. The new Postmaster Gen- eral, Harry New, is the political wire- puller of President Harding, and ru- mor has it that he is reading all the Borah postals, It's a hundred to one that he tells President Harding the secrets of Borah strategy. ok k% Senator Ladd is wrestling with the soviet government of Russia to gain the ussurance that its invitation for a party of congressmen to visit Rus- sia at the soviet government's ex- pense is given without any strings to it. The senators and representa- tives are willing to be the guests of Russla, if, after partaking of the hos- pitality, they are to be permitted to tell the world that their recent hosts are failures and. a bad lot. Senator Borzh has declined the invitation to be one of that party, saying he has arranged to 50 and pay his own ex- penses. Russia will probably assure the J.add party that they will be free to talk, but so would any host assure his guest, with the mental reserva- tion that he would show his bad breeding if, after partaking of the salt of hospitality, his free talk failed to be complimentary. If the United States needs an inspection of Russia. is not the United States able to pay the freight? e Wireless telephone waves make hair grow on bald heads, according to a cablegram from London, but what & suffering world wants to know is what is the effect of the oscillation on the inside of the same skull. Will it stimulate the brains, as well as the hair? Possibly the idea is like the old one that eating fish stimulated brain growth. When an aspiring yvoung writer sent a specimen of his effusions’ to Mark Twain and asked him how much fish he should eat, Mark advised him to eat a whale. Would 400 am- plifiers in the House be enough to start with? We should not stop at mere whiskers. itk v All the radicals, alias “progres- sive: in the Senate are going to sit together, like birds of a feather, in the next session. They will not use amplifiers, but seismographs, to mark the earthquakes they will produce with their gigantic landslides and upheavals. Mavbe a tidal wave will tollow their every move. * x x * Dr. Royal S. Copeland, senator-elect from New York, announces that he does not intend to bother his head about international finance, nor any- thing highbrow, but he will treat the body politic with all the emetics meeded. One joy of his life is the thought that he is to serve in the Senate even while Senator Lodge is still there, for he “wants to get whack at him." Senator Copeland is not the first man with that most laudable ambi- tion. A big bruiser from Boston traveled all the way to Washington for that very purpose, about the time Germany wanted America to paint all her ships like barber poles, so that she would not sink any, by mis- take. He too took his chances in “taking a whack” at Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. After he got out of the hospital, he apologized, saying he didn't know it was loaded (Copyright, 1923, by P. V. Collins.) = Garden Court of Bank of England Covers Burial Ground of Old Church repealed in the face of inevituble cp- position. G It is doubtful if there has cver been any banking institution in the world where so great an aggregation of riches from all parts of the universe have been gathered together under one roof. Foreign monarchs and for- cign governments, even those of the far orient, have at onc time or an- other confided their greatest treasures to the Bank of England as the one place of all others for safekeeping. The huge underground portion of the bank, where all these riches are pre- served. and the ingenious contrivances devised_ for their protection. are oc- casionally shown to carefully select- ed visitors. But it is doubtful whether any of them who bave been thus privileged have ever realized that on the same level, and separated only from them by a heavy stone wall, re- inforced by highly tempered steel. there lay all the bones and skeletons of the former occupants of the grave- vard of the Wren church of St. Chris- topher-le-Stocks. * Kk Arriving this week in New York from Brazil on his way to England is the Rt. Hon. Sir John Tilley, who two cars ago was appointed to succecd Sir Ralph Paget as British ambass: dor at Rio. His promotion to the post from an assistant undersecre- tary of state at the foreign office car- ries with it the customary appoint- ment to membership of the privy council, an increase of salary from $7.500 a year to $35,000 per annum, in addition to varlous liberal allowances and a stately official residence, fur- nished even to the superb silver serv- ice, and maintained at governmen pei . Then, too, if Sir John had been bliged to wind up his career at the foreign office with the salary of an aseistant undersecretary of state, he would have had to content himself, on his retirement. with & pension’ of $5.000 a vear, whercas now, as a for- mer ambassador, he will bé accorded conviderably more than treble that amount : Sir John Tiliey, who_is expected to make a brief stay in New York and Washington before proceeding 1o England, has many American friends, acquired through his services in con- nectlon with the Venezuelan Bound- ary Arbitration Commission in Paris, for the settiement of then pending differences that had arisen between Great Britain and the United States, and he has also come into contuct with American officials at the serles of international conferences at Brus- sels and elsewhere, at which tho * % United States was represented. Sir John received his education at Eton and at King's College, Cam- bridge; is about fifty-four vears of age, so that he has still a fuil decade before ho reaches the statutory limit for retirement; has a son and two daughters, and is married to a daugh- ter of the late Sir Willlam Montgom- ery Cunninghame, ninth baronet, of -his line and a Victoria Cross hero,