Evening Star Newspaper, March 12, 1923, Page 6

8 THE EVENING - STAR, WASHINGTON, D. 0, MONDAY, MARCH 12, 1923 =8> . - e ... THE EVENING: STAR, WABHINGTON, Y. 0, WMONDXY, MARCH 12 3®f . . - .- - -~ - WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE [THE EVENING STAR, With Sunday Morning Edition. — WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY........March 12, 1923 THEODORE W. NOYES.......Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Offco 170 Naau St. cago Office: Tower Building. Buropean Office: 16 Regent St., London, England. The Evenfng Star, with the Sunday moraing #dition, 1x delivered by carriers within the &t 60 cents per month: dally only, 45 cents month: Sunday only, 20 conts per month. ers may he sent by malt, or iiephone Matn 5000. "Collection s made’ by carrlers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1yr., $8.40; 1 m Daily only Bunday only. All Other States. Daily and Sunday. 1 3 Daily only. »“ o 1 g‘ Sunday only. Member of the Associated Press. The Amsociated 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. ATl rights of publication of 181 dis e e also reserved. Maintain Naval Ratio. Maintenance of the at the American Navy proportional strength provided by the W on conference try fes a matter of good faith, which- ever way it is taken. For the govern- ment vy in excess of the 5-5-3 ration would be to break With the other nations which is to maintain a h the streets afoot and awheel. The pedestrian must be educated in the right way to walk across the streets. The motorist must be educated in the right way to move through the streets. Safety is a matter of habit, and habit is the result of self-training. Washington's traffic squad is not large enough. That goes without say- ing. No traffic squad, indeed, can possibly be large enough to do the work of making the streets safe for everybody it'thére is ‘a disposition on the part of the motorist to break rules or pedestrians to be careless. In other words, a traffic squad, however large cannot make the streets ““foolproof. But a traffic squad of good size can serve effectively as a training corps, as a corrective force through per- suasion and inducement rather than punishment. It would be well it Wash- ington had a thousand men at work today along that line of instruction, of public education in safety. —————————————— Mr. Mondell’s Farewell Statement. Out of the plenitude of experience afforded by a quarter of a century’s service in the House of Representa- tives, Mr. Mondell of Wyoming, who was majority leader in the last Con- gress, offers some pertinent comment and suggestion upon Congress and legislation in a farewell statement he has issued. He speaks of the trials ard tribulations of representatives; of injustice to which they are often sub- jected; of the danger of organized propaganda by mindrities and the dif- ficulty of members of the House in discerning between worthy projects and designing ones. But throughout arties to the agreement ) per- mit the to remain below that stre th would be to break faith with the American people. The American people gave cordial indorse nt to the proposal that the naval strength of all the great powers should t proportional basis. Th gave indorsement 10 proposal that the American Navy should be alone in reducing its strength or that it should be reduced to & greater extent than the navies of other No substaritial ipab: lie support could be won for a proposal that the cou should be permitted to lose its relative naval standing. When the Navy Department an- nounces, therefore, that an expert survey of the international naval situ- hows American sea power to be to 400,000 hort of its ren situation is dis- closed for action at the earliest day. During the months which will elapse before Con- smbles, a building program to bring the Navy up to its allotted strength s d be worked out in de- tail, and it should be one of the first taken up for congressional consideration and action in December. tr which grew out of the Washington conference on the limita- tion of naval armaments represent one of the greatest achievements of Ameri- can diplomacy, and properly interpret- ed and applied they are bound to re- sult in the future in further reduction of armaments. Their value lies in their equity, in the fact that they do not involve on the part of any par- ticipating nation a sacrifice of national security. They establish the only practical basis vet found upon which the nations can disarm with assur- ances of safety, and it is essential, if the world is to proceed further in the lightening of armament burdens, that the equilibrium thus established shall be maintained. —_——— Finger Prints. It has been suggested that persons who buy pistols be required to leave their finger prints as a part of the rec- ord. The Bertillon expert at District police headquarters has recommended this, and is quoted as saying: “If we are going to have a system requiring @ permit to purchase a gun it would be a good idea to put the applicant's tinger prints on the application. Then it the man has a criminal record we can find out whether he gives his right | rame or not.” When a bad man wants to buy a gun the matter of giving a record of himself does not give him much con- cern, His own name? Any other name will do as well, and he thinks it | will do @ great deal better. It is the eame thing in the matter of his ad- dress. Any old address will answer vy on u an pow tons proper s that possible cal the purpose. Of course, if when a man makes application to buy & gun the police department should seek to verify the answers made by the appli- cant, that would be another matter. But the finger print proposal has something to commend it. It is be- lleved that the purchaser or prospec- tive purchaser of a pistol cannot falsify his own finger tips. There is a strong prejudice among honest folk agalnst being finger print- ed, but it is probably true that the honest citizen desiring to keep a pistol in the house for emergencies, and who glves his name and address, would not hesitate at leaving a register of his finger tips, knowing that the thing 48 done for the public good. —_——— Poincare is not at his best when he eites Bismarck’s 1871 program to jus- tify French occupation of the Ruhr, It may lead some future violator of treaties to cite Germany's invasion of Belgium to justify some like outrage. ————— Gen. Mitchell thinks rainmaking by elrplanes practicable. Now if he can only prevent rain at the wrong hours he will make a hit with the base ball fans. —_———————— Meat packers have concluded that one merger in hand is worth two in an argument before the Federal Trade Commission. ———— The Traffic Bureau. The traffic bureau recently moved finto its new quarters at 14th and E streets with informal ceremonies, in- cluding a review of the traffic squad. Inspector Headley played host to rep- resentatives of the District govern- ment and the civic organizations that are working to make Washington safe for humanity. It was an occasion ‘worthy of note, because it is hoped that it marks an advance “in traffic edjustment in the capital. ‘This problem of traffic regulation is going to be very hard to eolves It can, in truth, be solved only through ‘#he education of the people Who use | asks for help. his rem and philosophical observa- tions runs a continuous vein of un- stinted appreciation of the dignity of the House and the integrity of its membership. The former majority leader gives the Senate a sharp rap for filibuster- ing and holding up desirable legislation recommended by the House, while at- tempting to kill some bill against which a minority is arrayed. He points out that it would not be in order to criticize in the House action favorable or unfavorable which the Senate might take on a specified measure. “But,” he says, “it is quite another matter when the rules of the Senate allow a minority to prevent the ex- pression of an opinion by a vote, and that is particularly true in view of the fact that the filibuster against the shipping bill prevented consideration by the Senate of many important measures passed by the House. The former majority leader does not mince words in commenting upon the variance ofttimes shown between the known views of members and their re- corded vote: “If every vote which has been taken since I have been here,” says Mr. Mondell, “‘were based upon the free confessions in the cloak- room rather than those voiced in the roll call under the pressure of mili- tant minorities, it would have been better for the country. May God speed the day when the moral courage of the Congress shall equal the integrity and good intention of its members.” In this connection he prays for his former colleagues “that your constitu- ents will give you latitude for the exer- cise of vour good judgment and that Providence will give you courage equal to your high purpose and good intent.” Mr. Mondell believes that the appro- priations should run with the calendar year rather than the fiscal year, and thinks that appropriations will be still further consolidated in coming years. He says that one of the problems which must be met in the near future is that of eliminating or lengthening the short sessjon. He maintains that | the period from the first Monday in December until the 4th of March no longer suffices for a fair and reason- able consideration of legislation. Central Union Mission. The Central Union Mission, which has been carrying on its Christian work in this cfty for nearly forty years, is pressing its campaign to raise money for a new building. It has $65,000 in hand and is trying to raise—and is very likely raising— $35,000 that it may set up a $100,000 building. The site of the old building facing on Louisiana avenue and C street will be used for the new struc- ture. In the new building will be ac- commodation for 100 children, the Children’s Home of the Union Mission being now at 1201 1st street north. west, with accommodations for 35 children. Those persons who know the work this mission has done for many years and is still doing will wish it success in its bullding fund campaign. They will not only wish it success, but will contribute to its success. The old building is believed to be beyond economical and satis- factory repair. The superintendent of the mission says that the building “has now almost become useless and he tells of the many things that age has done to it, Teams of the Cen- tral Union Mission are at work. It is another fund-raising drive, but ‘Washington is used to drives and cam- paigns, and this time it is the Cen- tral Union Mission, long one of the useful institutions of the city, which ) The Turks are aept pupils of the western powers. They are ready to subordinate political principles to cash considerations. Just as Senator Hiram Johnson sails for Furope Lassan peak resumes its voleanic eruptions. California is bound to be heard. Some people are hard to please. Ba- varians want e dictator, but object to bolshevism. Eleven thousand New York barbers are going to strike. Next! The Wooden Indian. Not long ago & New TYork writer made a census of wooden Indians in Manbattan, Starting out with the thought that this Indian was extinct, he found three or four of the carved sav- ages still standing with uplifted toma- hawks end offering cigars for sale. No doubt this census was incomplets, &8s 80 meny censuses are, and it seems likely that.a town which stuck to the horse car as long as New York four wooden Indians. One seldom sees 2 wooden Indian in Washington, though once they were @s numerous as tobacco shops. The tobacconist could no more sell see-gars, snuff, “manufactured” chewing tobacco, natural “twists” end red clay and white clay pipes without a wooden Indian to help him than the apothe- cary col1ld do business without & giant mortar and pestle above the door and red and green lights in the window. The wooden Indian has been banished from the main streets in the central part of the city, but it must be that some members of the tribe are still engaged in business in other parts of the capital. They must be very old Indians. Their paint must be faded, their feathers droopini, their features cracked and chipped. Their toma- hawks must be dull. All of us with a little gray hair remember the wooden Indian. He was a good savage. He never drank bootleg or any other poison. He never smoked his own tobacco and he never massacred white men with his tomahawk. He was faithful to his post. And the passing of the wooden Indian calls to mind that the carved wooden figurehead without which a ship dared not put to sea is another of the things that have passed out. Making Land for Cities. A civil engineer discussing the New York city of the future takes a long look ahead, but one would be careless and presumptuous in this age of en- gineering achievements to character- ize that long look as a pipe dream or any other kind of a dream. It may become a reality. He outlines a plan to add two and a half square miles to Manhattan Island by building a sea- wall from the Battery to the narrows and pumping in sand from the lower bay and the Atlantic. The plan looks feasible on the map. Tt would be the most notable extension of a city by the water route on record, but there have been some remarkable accom- plishments of that kind. An impor- tant part of San Franciseo is built on filled land—that is, earth dumped into the bay. In the early days of San Francisco thgre was riotous speculu- tion in “‘water lots,” or subdivisions of the bay which it was planned to fill. These “water lots” finally be- came building lots, and acres of big structures stand on them today. Back in the 60's and early 70's, when the reclamation of the Potomac marshes was a lively subject, plans were drawn and surveys made for fill- ing in the flats and shoals from the wharf line on the Washington chan- nel to the Georgetown channel, the Washington water front being moved westward to about the present west- erly wall of Potomac Park. Streets and squares were planned through this new land, and it was proposed that the city sell the lots to pay the cost of the work. Hepatica. An old friend of the people of the District is missing. It cannot be that he is lost, but he is not living up to his schedule. He is the man who finds the first hepatica in spring, or finds it be- fore spring. Washington has grown to be such a crowded city, teeming with people who could not plow a furrow straight nor build a rail fence, that it may be possible there are persons here who would not know hepatica if a big bunch of the white or blue flowers should rige up before them and say, “I am Hepatica!” It is one of our ir and ecarly wild flowers. The plant leaves are lobed and shaped as a liver, hence the name “hepatica.” It is blooming now on the south slopes in open woods and under a quilt of leaves that fell from the trees last year. Generally the man who finds the first hepatica of the season rushes to town to tell about it and show his trophy, but this year he has not been heard from. Times are changing! ———— Have the naval construction limita- tions set for England, Japan and France at the arms conference been construed by Congress as merely limit- ing the extent to which their navies shall be permitted to excel ours? ————— One of the most depressing things about the income tax return is its un- avoidable tendency to stimulate re- flection as to how much more wisely we might have spent it. ———————e—————— A German prince in the Ruhr has been fined seven million marks for carrying brass knuckles. The French are showing unexpected leniency. ——————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Not at All Boastful. I feel my bosom swellin’ ‘With e growin’ sense of pride, An’ when the cause I'm tellin’, ‘Why my right won’t be denied. This New Year institution ‘With me has made a hit I formed a resolution An’ 1t ain’t broke vit! T sometimes lean to boastin’ "Bout how righteous I kin be. I found my pleasure most in Braggin' that way. Yes, sirree. But I got quick execution. ‘Thet's the habit I have quit. 1 formed a resolution An’ it ain't broke vit! The Tired Child. ‘Though puppets come with flaxen poll And gleaming eyes of luster deep, At night we find the old rag doll Enfolded in her arms asleep. And o, as through the years we rove And sometimes thrive in fortune’s quest, The ones whom first we learned to love Are still the ones we love the best. The Value of Emphasis. The man who on some fine effect . His time and,skilifylness employs ‘Wil find himself in grim neglect Compared to one who makes & noise. ‘The ertist with & violin ' Muy wound a melody sublima, But he who atirs the bass drum’s dln. could show up more than thres er| Will get more listensrs svery time. Congress has adjourned, but is stilly without subjecting its backers to talking. Its loquacious activities will be continued until March 16 through the Congressional Record. Fat dally issues are required for publication of “speeches held for revision” or “extension of remarks.” Both rep- resentatives and senators are partici- pating in this - posthumous compila- tion for completion of the permanent record of the Sixty-seventh Congress. The range of their ebullitions, as re- vealed by the edition of March 10, runs the whole gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous. Represent- ative Fordney acclaims the virtues of the new tariff christened with his name. Senator Harris waxes eloquent over sodium nitrate and calclum ar- senate. Senator Stanley divests him- self of adumbrations on filled milk. Representative Little consumes pages about, stabilizing_the price of wheat. Representative Sinclair revives the story of the Indian battle of Killdeer mountain. Representative _Blanton wastes valuable English on Bergdoll, draft dodger. Representative An- drews warns of danger to the eight- eenth amendment. Printing is ex- pensive, but silence is not golden on Capitol Hill. S ded Senator James W. Wadsworth, jr., of New York is the very latest re- publicun presidentiai *possibility.” He has been trotted out by admirers in his home state for consideration in the event Mr. Harding declares a G. O. P. free-for-all in 1924. “Wads- worth for President and Roosevelt for governor” is the combination that has been worked out. Few know that President Harding considers Wadsworth one of his closest and ablest friends. He likes the young New Yorker's politicAl courage. It was characteristicall; revealed a couple of years ago before the re- publican state convention in New York. Wadsworth was urged to come out for uncompromising adherence to the Volstead act and for woman suffrage. He declined, even though he faced a fight for re-election. He declared in a speech which for state manlike fearlessness has been com- pared to one of Edmund Burke's ef- forts thut while he had obligations to the state of New York he had duties to his own consclonce, and these, he said, he could not violate. * ¥ %k % Secretary Wallace's objections to the great Armour-Morris packing merger recall an anecdote of the late John G. Johnson, famous Philadelphia corporation lawyer, in connection with high-finance amalgamations. Johngon was consulted on important ovccasions by E. H. Harriman. Harri- man had one of his vast railroad merger deal's on hand and wanted advice from Johnson! who was in Europe. The rail magnate cabled Johnson details of the projected transaction in extenso, requesting re- ply by cable, regardless of expense. arriman urged Johnson to spare no words. The point at issue was whether the deal could be effected the federal punishment ~ under pinion was four statutes. Johnson's words in length: “Merger possible: conviction certain. He charged Harriman $26,000 a word for the opinion. The merger was abandoned. * ok K K Famous Americans have repre- sented the United States at previous pan-American conferences. To the first one, in 1888, held at Washing- ton, President Cleveland appointed former Senator John B. Henderson, Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius N. Bliss, Charles R. Flint, Clement Studebaker, former Senator Henry G. Davis and T. Jefferson Coolidge. At the second conference at Mexico City in 1901 the American delegates included John Barrett, Charles M. Pepper and Vol- ney W. Foster. At Rio de Janeiro in 1906, at the third conference, the United States was represented by Leo S. Rowe, Van Leer Polk, A. J. Mon- tague, Paul 8. Reinsch and T, Lar- rinaga (of Porto Rico). To the fourth conference at Buenos Aires in 1910 we sent formef Ambassador Henry White, Gen. E. H. Crowder, Lewis Nixon, John Bassett Moore, Bernard Moses and Lamar C. Quintero. * ok %k Something approximating ecivil war seems to be threatened in California over the project to establish a sec- ond state university in south Cali- fornia. The Argonaut, San Fran- clsco's sprightly oracle, suggests, sharply, that those who advocate the plan are “southern Californians’ rather than “Californians.” Says the Argonau alifornians realize that the esti mable persons constituting the ma- jority of southern California popula- tion not Californians, but e, und even substantially, are foreigner from Towa, Ilnois and other prairie states constituting the west, of which this area is certainly not a part.” The present California state uni- versity at Berkeley, mnear San Franctsco, and San Franciscans view with alarm scheme that threat- ens to make Los Angeles a rival near- university town. Washington schoolmen in attend- nce at a recent educational conven- tion report that a middle western high school principal gave a couple of oxamples of characteristic intel- ligence in his English _clatses. Themes were given out for subse- quent One youth, under 5 defined counter- punishable by - had noted it was classified as “a grave offense” An- other opined that Sherman was killed in his attempt to march to the sea, use “the negro population fol d in his wake.” * % x x The capital's latest is that Harry S. New succeeded anather Harry, General Daugherty,. as. President Harding’s political impresario. Mr. New is said to have been put into the cabinet primarily for the purpose of organizing Mr. Harding’s renomina- tion in 1924 and subsequent re- election are in a quizzing. examination. political titbit has officially Attorney EDITORIAL DIGE T Regret the Passage of “Uncle Joe” and “John Sharp.” Two notable figures passed out of public life with the end of the re- cent session of Congress. They were Joseph Gurley Cannon of the House of Representatives and John Sharp Williams of the Senate. They were different individuals, always per- sonally friendly, always politically enemies. There was, the Baltimore American sizes them up. “more iron in the €oul of Mr. Cannon and there as was more cynical philosophy in the | spirit of Mr. Williams. The former was rather taciturn and biting; the latter was eloquent, with the elo- quence of tragic poetry. Mr. Cannon was a practical man who loved to rule his fellows and to play the game of practical politics for his personal prestige and for the pres- tige of his party. Mr. Willlams was an able oritic, droll, an expert hater of hypocrisy, whether it were politi- cal or. personal; full of keen humor, the darts of which were always flung from motives of pathos or ridi- cule. . He was never funny merely for the sake of adding to the pleas- ure of living. And the way in which they quit public life is ‘typical of them both. They demonstrated only one point in common—that was that neither wanted any fuss and feathers in his leave-taking. Mr. Cannon left recalling the days of his leadership; Mr. Willlams quit sardonically. He wanted to return to Mississippl be- cause he wanted to get rid of the stenches of Washington and to re- gain contact with a more decent lite. So far as “Uncle Joe” is concern- ed, the Utica Observer-Dispatch feols “he has grown old gracefully and has mellowed with the years The cotemporary of Lincoln and Douglas, he has lived on in public service these many vears, and now his last term is ended. As to_ the future, he says, ‘Well, I am just about set to enjoy life, visit with my chil- dren and grandchildren and laugh at the folks dashing about’” = A “sim- flar view is entertained by the Ralelgh News and Observer in the case of John Sharp Williams, which is convinced as well that ‘it is so rare that public men upon their own motion retire that the action of Mr. Williams {s an event. While other able senators framed and piloted the con- crete measures for carrying on the war, Senator Willlams incarnated and’ voiced the real feeling and aspiration of the American people. It may be truly said of Mr. Wilson and Mr. Williams—par nobile fratrum —and should be said of them_while they are with us in the flesh: Within his heart east shall be one with west, and his effaceless thought shall be that earth was made for all, its driven millions sore dis- traught. For he at last shall look and see through all the creeds about him hurled, his nation {s humanity, his country is the world.”” When he gets down home the Minneapolis Journal convinced John S Williams “will consider that he is well out of it. He will read a page of Tacitus and then one of Mon- taigne; he will listen to the music of the mocking birds in his syca- mores; he will mix himself a mint julep as his planter-father did—he swears he will do that—and he will be content. Will . the republic be. content with' John Sharp Willlams, last of the statesmen, gone, with mothing to mitigate the Norrises, the Hi Johnsons, the wild Injun Brooks harts, the demagogical La Follettes? Ave atque vale, John Sharp Wil- liams, hail and fareweil.” “Uncle Joe Cannon's picturesque personality makes an appeal to his countrymen.” the Springfield Repub- lican insists, “and they have liked to read about him especially in dave when, even before the final departure he had become more of a congres- sional bystander than an actual par- ticipant_in_political controversy. Tt has been Mr. Cannon's fate, pleasant in one sense, but less so in another. 0 bo a survivor of a past and passing political order. As Speaker he ruled with an iron hand. Then the long process of the development of the speakership was rudely arrested and the powers of the office were cur- tailed. Since then Mr. Cannon has been a survivor in a reminiscent rather than an active sense, and the country has had nothing save good will toward him, it bas today in his retirement, which, it is to be hoped, will be filled with pleasures of age and reflection.” He was, after all, as the New York Times sees him. “a good old czar, who has given and taken so many hard knocks in the last fifty years He will dance a jig_on his hundredth birthday. He has done the state long service. He has survived partisanship and is an original salient national character. The Senate also is poorer for the re- tirement of his old friend and foe, John Sharp Williame, who has been in one house or the other most of the last thirty vears. He was frank and fearless, but he got sick of the show. He has gone back to his books and his plantation.” There was “mingled with Speaker Cannon’s so-called autocratic methods in the chair,” as the Providence Jour- nal recalls it, “a vein of strong com- mon-sense. He liked to see things done. He hated hypocrisy. He used all his strong powers of invective to berate the man who adopted a holier- than-thou attitude toward his fellow man. At eighty-seven Uncle Joe is far, let us hope, from finishing his career. He carrigd away with him the genuine interest of his fellow citizens, the affectionate regard of a very great many of them and the per- sonal consciousness of having given consistently of his talents to the wel- fare of the country, as he judged that welfare to be, through a period outstripping the term of any other American who ever sat in either branch of the national lawmaking body.” He carried with him affection of the strongest sort, the Philadelphia Bulletin argues, and “it illustrates the great strength and elasticity com- bined in the American system. Politi- cal battles, no matter how vehement in their conduct and expression, leave no personal rancor and work no for- feiture of esteem among the embat- tled enemies.” In _this case, as in that of John Sharp Williams, “a great figure retires,” the Memphis Commer- clal-Appeal insists. “John Sharp Wil- llams may have been wrong on some issues, for no human mind is above mistake, but when he was wrong every one knew that his error was thoroughly and absolutely honest. He will go down in the records of the natlon and of the south as one of the great men who have graced our legis- lative tribunals. The Senate can ill afford to lose him. There he has occupied a distingulshed position and in the records of senatorial achieve- ment he will fill a bright page. “Thelr retirement is to be regretted :)‘yl'fll. as lmtfi were hlroui. splendid esmen,” the Wheeling Register points out. » » IN A FEW WORDS “You cannot shift individual respon-] ‘I regard constitutional prohibition ibility from one man fto others. ;‘henyhu been too much bullding of fences around men to protect their morals. 4 ~REV. NE WELL_D!IGHT 'HILLIS, Seventy-five per ocent of the case in the domestic relations courts have their origin in some ‘in-law” trouble. ‘Why do people get married when they are 8o attached to the home they gre’ geaviney -—JUDGE WEIL. to me now that farming Is!: ‘l'n:’elghan yo: usually take one step’ forward ,and two backward financially, . 5 of. an_“ignerant veter” is. the i.n’ ql‘! nt man who won't take' te at all. "h."“.wv“;'c'p i as the most serious and powerful en- emy which those who labor for tem- perance and for the control of liquor traffic have ever had to fight. —NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER. A courtship which lasts more than Brapore, itis, Sont waste Sour time. n't ‘waste your t! —REV. EDWARD S.’BBOC;’.‘ The Versailles treaty is at an , for the parties conc.’med h-va‘?& peated r;:‘.lgn 'dmllnl‘:lhl {o, recognize individual interests, et It is su that Bngland ti prohibition, eurious B4 periment of our friends across the sea. This would simply mean sacri- ficing the mass of normal people to a Iot of abnormal people. < ~0C. H. the best | Approves Humane Tactics Howard S. Fisk Complains of Alleged Treatmernit of - Vets. To the EAitor of The Star: ‘I read with considerable interest the article in Saturday's Star to the effect that Director Frank T. -Hines of the United States Veterans' Bu- reau announced that his policy for operating’ that bureau would be based on the elimination of “red tape” in the handling of veterans’ claims and the prevention of “hard-boile meth- ods in treatment of veterans seeking assistance from the government, land I feel certain that if he doey nothing else but carry out these alms during his administration he will have accomplished a feat that will be deserving of commendation from the veterans of the world war. Those of us who attended the re- lcem reception tendered by National Press Club Post, No. 20, the American Leglon, to National Commander Alvin M. Owsley, will remember that in a very pointed address the national commander urged Director Hines, who Wwas present on that occasion, to see that the sick and disabled veterans were treated In a sympathetic man- ner and not through “hard-boiled” tactics. So it is gratifying to learn that the new director Intends to start out with this intention and aim in view. And right here let me say that the start should be made here in the fourth district, which comprises the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginta. This has been one of the greatest complaints for some time past—that the officlals of this district were t0o bent on using ard-boiled” methods in the treat- ment of veterans. Considered Difficult Problem. The article in question states that this district is “considered a difficult one, on account of including thg Dis- trict of Columbia, and being so. close under the eye of Congress.” Why is it any more dificult than any of the other thirteen districts? If anything the men in this district should re- ceive more “sympathetic” treatment than they do. I have in mind cases where veterans who have called at the fourth district in regard to claims have been threatened with being committed to the insane asylum if they persisted in following up their claims. _Therefore, T am glad that the new director has announced that any one employing “hard-hoiled” ~methods would be subject to dismisral, be- cause any further cases coming to my attention will be called to the attention of Director Hines. 1 trust that in the administration of his office the new director will not find it necessary to economize at the expense of the disabled veteran. I note in the same article that the manager of the fourth district had effected great savings, due to “pro- noting efliciercy and __ economy throughout the fourth district, to such an extent that approximately half a million dollars would be saved to the government.” 1 would like to inguire how much of this saving was at the expense of the disabled vet- eran? If bureau officials figure that the slashing of compensation of wounded and disabled former service men from $100 a month to $50 a month and’ from $157.50 a month to less than $40 a month is considered as savings to the government, then I don’t agree with those officials. Cites Two Instances. In these two cases, of which I have peregonal knowledge, one was suffer- ing from tuberculosis and the other with part of a limb gone, and in each instance they had to fight for recog- nition to have their compensation re. stored. The former service man had two small children, whom he was re- quired to take out of school, and the latter is now fighting his case before the bureau. 1t is fust such conditions as these that cause urirest and dissatisfaction among those most deserving heroes who gavé their all to their country in time of need during the world war. And it is this condition that Natfonal Commander Owsley invited attention to in his recent address. when he urged a sweeping investigation of the bureau. which he said was being criticized from all sections of the countr: The action of Director Hines in re- storing the manager of the fourth district and suspending former Direc- tor Charles E. Forbes’ order which made him liaison officer and assistant to_the director is not meeting. 1 am told. with favor among the former service men in the National Capital. {They feel that former Director Forbes | knew what he was doing at the time in the interest of the former service men of the fourth district, and regret that the new director did not agree with his predecessor. Avold Petty Politics. If the new director is desirous of administering justice, speeding up de- layed cases and removing those re- sponsible for the delays and carry- ing out the provisions of the Sweet bill, let him cut out all “petty poli- tics” in his bureau, maintaln an “open-door” policy and listen to com- plaints emanating from reliable sources and suggestions for remedy- ing evils which may from time to time be brought to his attention, and he will have the hearty support of not only the disabled veterans themselves, but the indorsement of the various organizations growing out of the recent war. To my mind the wounded and_ disabled veterans of this war should receive every possi- ble attention and care, without re- gard to expense, and if any economy §s to be effected let it be in the re- duction of surplus help and material and not in_the compensation of these heroes, deserving ReroSl, s wARD s. FISK. Recalls ‘Heavy Brigade’ Tribute for Dr. Tindall To the Editor of The Star: I have read with great interest the communication of Dr. William Tindall published in The Star of Sunday, March 11, relative to the charge of the “Heavy Brigade” at Balaclava. 1 note that Dr. Tindall states: “Here was a theme more imposing for poetic desoription than the charge of the Light Brigade, which was made later that day, as it was a brilliant while the charge of the 1In concluding his letter he says: “The caprice of glory was never more strikingly illustrated thdn in the renown which the Light Brigade derived from that charge and in the obeourity which even hides from com- mon knowledge the equally heroio and vastly more important achieve- ‘ment of Gen. Scarlett and his daring 0y dn ‘ocours to me that no engagement which has been described by Lord Tennyson can properly be said to be “obscure” and that no achievement to which the famous poet-laureate devoted & poem of sixty-six lines can, with acouracy, be characterized as “hidden from common knowledge.” I respectfully suggest that Dr. Tindall hunt up and read Tennyson's stirring poem, “The Heavy Brigade. In & volume entitled “Lyra Herolca,” compiled by William Ernest Henley and published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, Tennyson 8 represented by two ems. One is “The Heavy Brigade.” “The Charge of the Light Brigade” 18 not even included. By many the former poem, which is the longer of the two, {9 considered to outrank the latter in the same proportion as the results of the two engagementa. The catchy meter ‘and versification of “The Light Brigade,” which has made # «a. marked favo! for schoolboy declamation for decades, probahly has had & great deal to do with its popu- larity. In his ;oom Tennyson men- Soarlett tions name, and also regiment the detachment, the 24 two ted In ragoons, or Royal BSoots Greys, and the 6th, or R CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. COLLINS The Secretary of Labor, Mr. Davis, is desirous of furthering the cause of the education and Americaniza- tion of immigrants, and to that end he proposes organizing them into what he ineptly calls a “Castle Gar- den” assoclation, or, rather, he pro- Poses that the members be dubbed the “Castle Gardeners.” The intention is laudable, but will the method produce the result aimed at? * k x x The name appears objectionable to many who have no desire to become or ‘be known as “gardeners” of any kind. They object, therefore, to be- ing advertised to thelr neighbors as “Castle Gardeners.” Swedes, Germans, French, Aus- trians, Poles, Irish, Italians—did they all come to America because they love each other or because they were fired with an ambition to become Ameri- cans? Call these proud new Ameri- cans “Castle Gardeners” and many will take it as a sneer and taunt rather than an honor. It sets them off apart from Americans who are not “Castle Gardeners” but native cltizens. The bane of Americaniza- tion is to group the aliens into a claks by themselves—a little less than Americans. That forces them to use their native language rather than absorbing through contact the ideas and tongue of America. * k% % ‘astle Gardeners”! At least one United States senator and many very prominent and wealthy citizens en- tered America through Castle Gar- den, but would they feel honored to be introduced now in the ordinary contacts of business or social life as “Castle Gardeners”? The more thelr early privation can be effaced from their memories or from the memories of their associates the better Ameri- cans they feel themselves to be. Of couree, if their success in life and fortune becomes so outstanding that they can afford to look back over the long road of hardship, a few will boast of being self-made or of hav- ing come up even through Castle Garden, but where one attains that eminence a million remain strugglers all their lives and see nothing to brag about in their having entered Amer- ica in poverty and remained in com- parative poverty most of their lives. * * % ok Americans have been accused, or at least suspected, by Europeans of feeling a bit superior to other na- tionalities. There is little enough reason for any such ‘“‘uppishness.” We have enough to be ashamed of, as well as to be proud of, in Americ But there is no justification in any attitude of patronizing the men and women who come to our shores, as came even our ancestors, eager to better their fortunes. Forty-six per cent of the school teachers of Connecticut are chilgren of Castle Gardeners. They are in- structing native Americans, * ok % ox Many an immigrant becomes a bet- ter patriot than are some natives. ‘Two boys were twitting each other about their parentage. One was an adopted child, the other was proud that the father and mother in his home were his very own parents. “Humpth! Your parents don't love you like mine love me,” taunted the “real” son. “Youre just adopted; your parents aren't your own par- ents.” ‘“Ye-e-s. Mine are my adopted par- ents. Your parents had to take you; mine chose me. That shows how much they love me.” The man who chose to come half around the world to become an American is prouder of his adopted country than some natives can un- derstand. Don’t twit him of being a “Castle Gardener,” of being only “an adopted son. * ok * ¥ But the immigrant who lives here ten, twenty or thirty years and makes no effort to learn the language of the country or to become naturalized-- tell him “there's u ship going home every duy.” No room for parasites. : - * Kk k% § Gov. Scott C. Bone of Aluska, a former Washington editor, recom- mends to the Alaska legislature that it memoralize Congress to provide free homesteads to be given to Alaska soldiers cof the world war. Thie suggestion might be enlarged to cover not only Alaska veterans but all veteruns who choose to take advantage of a homestead and turn to farming. At the close of the civil war the Yeterans sang a very popular song, “Uncle Sam 15 rich enough to give us all a farm.” It was true, for at that period the prairies of the west d. It has the world war. for there is scarcel any desirable land in the United States not alrcady taken up. i But why should we overlook that vast territory of Alaska—as exten- sive as all the United States east of the Mississippi river? "Not all of it is farm land, nor is the climate at all salubrious, but there are thou- sands of square miles of as good farm land as most of the states can boast, and as for climate, it is offi- clally stated that the temperature at Sitka, its capital, is comparable witli that of the District of Columbia. * k% ok ¥ There is more agricultura] land in the Tanana valley, Alaska, than there is in corresponding territory and lat!- tude in Norway, Sweden and Russla —about 10,000,000 acres. The total tillable land in Alaska is estimated at 64,000,000 acres. That 64,000,000 acres would provide 400,000 farms of 160 acres each. with a farm popula- tion of 2,000,000. In the same pro- portion as the average population in the states, that would support 4.000 000 population in cities and villages in_the agricultural region alone With the mining industry. fishing forestry and kindred interests added for the less temperate regions of that great peninsula, the day is coming when Alaska will teem with 10,000.000 people, and will be cut up into half a dozen states. The Second Assistant Postmaster General, Col. Paul Henderson, who has charge of the parcel post service, is planning some radical improve- ments in the service. These w.ll probably include the handling of the rapidly growing volume of parcel post by speclal trains, rather than mixed with regular mail upon pas- senger trains. It will also mean the substitution of steel hampers in place of mail bags, so that breakages will be_reduced. Now, if these steel hampers be made in standardized units, so that a given number exactly fill « car, leaving no ‘waste space, additional economy would be achieved. This Is an idea invented some vears ago and patented by a St Louis™ engineer, but never put to practical use. It was intended for all kinds of merchandise and farm freights. The units would be inter- changeable and be loaded and Jocked before the arrival of the train. A car could then be filled in a few min- utes by a derrick lifting the steel units aboard, as ships are loaded. The units would not all be the same size but smaller ones would be quarters or eighths of the dimensions of th. larger ones, according to the volum- , of the shipment, : * ok K ok Watch out, Mr. Farmer, and be sur« you plant your potatoes and every- thing that grows underground in “the dark of the moon,” o that when they begin to grow the moon will be growing, too, and will hurry them ; along. Superstition? Nothing of the kind, It is a truth. Science now verifies what many a good farmer has been half ashamed to declare, al- though he believed it. Experiments_are being made by agricultural chemists in Liverpool. and they discover that moonlight does affect the action of the sugar in seed and stimulates germination. Now. how many old farmers are goi declare, “T told you so all my life (Copyright, 1923, by P. V. Collins.) ’ / J Viscount Mountmorres of Varied Career Postponed Spanish War for Two Days BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. Viscount Mountmorres, after having figured in turn as amateur diplomat- ist, as couturier, as explorer of the Sahara, of the Kongo valley and of Central Asia, as county councilor of London, as editor of a society weekly, as director of the Tropical Imstitute at Liverpool, a street-crossing sweep- er, a gambler with a system who at- tempted to break the bank at Monte Carlo, a stoker, and, incidentally, also a bankrupt—officiated last week as a clergyman of the Church of England and as rector of the Lancashire par- ish of Swinton, near Manchester, at the funeral of his widowed mother, the tragic murder of whose husband in 1880 in the west of Ireland in con- nection with the agrarian troubles then raging there created an enor- mous sensation, exciting universal sympathy. Indeed, Queen Victoria made it her business to do what she could for the widow and orphans. who were left in very impoverished circumstances. ‘The queen ted to the vis- countess a suite of apartments in Hampton court palace, free of taxes and rates, which she occupled until her death last week, and a pension of $3,000 a year, and likewise offered to make the present Lord Mountmorres, then a thirteen-year-old boy, one of her pages of honor, a court office carrying with it a yearly pay of $1,500, and, as a general rule, nomi- nation to a commission in the army at the close of the four years' service. * ok x * The young viscount, on receiving his appointment, was taken to pay his respects to her majesty, after being duly instructed as to how he should approach and kneel and kiss her hand. So embarrassed was he, however, that when the critical mo- ment arrived he tripped in kneeling down, and, losing his head entirely and in the hope of preserving his balance, clutched violent hold of the hand which the old queen had ex- tended to be kissed. ‘otally unpre- pared for such a contretemps, the august lady lost her balance as well and sustained a fall which was re- sponsible to a_ great extent for the injury to her knee from which she suffered so much during the closing years of her more than sixty year: ign. "lfnls sald that the queen not only kept admirable command of her by no means facile temper on this occa- sion, but even sought with kindly words to soothe the fears of the hor- ror-stricken lad, who, judging from his Jooks, expected nothing less than instant consignment to the Tower of London, followed by decapitation or possibly by even hanging and quar- ur"vnh‘l'h she showed no resentment, she considered it prudent to cancel his appolntment as one of her pages of honor, being of the opinion that he was scarcely fitted for the exi- gencles of court life. But, with the generosity which characterized. her, he made him an allowance of the me amount that he would have re- ceived as of honor during his term of office, and which served to pay for.his education at Radley and afterward at Oxford. * % Kk % Lozd Mountworres engaged the at- tention of ths United States govera~ ment for the first time in 1898, when. in a wild and fantastic attempt to avert the war between Spain and America, he managed at any rate to delay the outbreak of the conflict for / the space of forty-eight hours, Pre- senting himself to the late John H then ambassador in London, in his capacity as a peer of the realm, he sounded him as to whether the United States government would be willing to purchase Cuba. In some way Hay got the impression that Lord Mount- morres was acting for the Spanish ; ambassador, while the latter, when asked by Lord Mountmorres whether his government would be willing to sell, became imbued with the idea that he was making the inquiries in behalf of Ambassador Hay. ‘The matter, at any rate, Was re- ferred by wire from London by the two embassles in question to Wash- ington and Madrid. respectively, and the actua] declaration of war was de- layed by a couple of days until it was _definitely understood that Spain would not sell Cuba under any cir- cumstances, and that the viscount in approaching_Ambassador Hay on the subject in London had been acting purely on his own behalf and without the slightest vestige of authority on the part of the Spanish government or its diplomatic representative, * koK ok Since then and before landing in the quiet parish rectory of Swinton as a country parson, with his actress wife, Lord Mountmorres had many extraordinary. adventures, including that of being kidnapped by Moorish pirates. He has tried to do many things—has been a director and even chairman of a number of companies that have gone to smash. He has been representative in England of a great Parisian dressmaking concern. and was for a time in the employ of Lord Northcliffe, turning out excel- lent copy for the London Mail, among ! his special articles being those de- scribing his experlences disguised a a tramp, & street-crossing sweeper, a stoker on a river steamer and a number of other callings, one of them landing him in jall on a technfcal charge for a term of a few days, which, of course, gave him the oppor- tunity of portraying very vividly the economy of a prison as seen by a peer. He was sent out on another occa- slon by the London Globe to investi- gate conditions in the Kongo valley, and wrote a most Interesting serles of letters, in which he demonstrated / that the districts directly under the control of the Belgian government were extremely well administered and free from abuse and tyranny, whereas the most atrocious condi tions and the most frightful bar- revailed in the great terri- tory leased to the various rubber companies largely controlled before the war by Germans and which. had their headquarters at Antwerp. It was these companies which gave such a sinister meaning to the commer- clal term of ‘“red rubber.” As Lord Mountmorres has no son by his marriage with the very pretty former divette, Bessle Rowe oOf the Galety, who now presides as mistress over his rectory at Swinton, his vis county, of which he is the sixth holder, will become ‘extinct at his death, while his baronetcy, dating from 1631, will go to a very distant auina . Hervey de Montmorencys .. ) $