Evening Star Newspaper, March 22, 1923, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR, ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY . .March 22, 1923 THEODORE W. NOYES, The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St.and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 150 Nussau St. Chicago Office: Tower Building. Buropean Ofice: 10 Regent St., London, England. Editor The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning- edition, 1s delivered by carriers within the city at 60 r month; dally only, 45 cents per mouth; Sunday only, 20 cents per month. Or- dera may be sent by mail, or telephone Main 5000, " Collection is made by carriers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virginia. ¥ Daily and Sunda: Daily onl: Sunday onl; 1yr., $2.40; 1 m All Other States. Member of the Associated Press, The Associated Press is exclusively entitled o the use for republication of all news dis- atches credited to it or nof otherwise credited n this paper and also the local mews pub- lished “herein. ~All rights of publication of special disputches herein are also reserved. = e Recognition of Russia. In a statement notable for its lack of ambiguity, Secretary Hughes sweeps away all the buncombe and falsé pre- tense which have surrounded agitation tor recognition of the soviet govern. ‘ment of Russia and reduces the prop- osition to the hard reality of estab- lished facts. He makes it clear that United States does not withhold recognition of Russia because it dis- approves of the form of that govern- fnent, nor is it because of apprehen- sion that the rule of the soviets is lacking in urance of stability. He fully concedes the right of the Rus- sian people to develop their own in- stitutions in their own way, Czarism or the “dictation of the proletariat” are all one, so far as this country is concerned. Stability of government is essential, of course, he says, but he is unable to find any advantage in stability if it fheans’only the per- petuation of impossible conditions of international intercourse. Recognition of the soviet govern- ment is withheld solely because of it policy of repudiation and confiscation and its de red program, of propa- ganda for the overthrow of other gov- ernments. He makes clear the utter impossibility of maintaining friendly intercourse with a government which @vows itself not bound by the or- dinary rules of honesty and good, faith and openly declares its purpose 10 dest the governments with which it seeks to be on friendly terms. One of the chief complaints made by friends of the Moscow regime is that its overthrow has been sought by outside powers. What advocates of recognition, in effect, demand is | that no attempt shall be made to interfere with the workings of bol- shevik rule in Russia, but that the bolsheviks be given every possible fa- cility to destroy other governments. We should take the adder tosour breasts and be very careful mot to harm it while it got in its deadly work! It is urged that we should extend recognition in order to pave the way for loans to Russia and for the in- vestment of American capital there, though Russia has repudiated loans made from the proceeds of the sale of lberty bonds and has indulged in wholesale confiscation of the property of Americans. The United States is not a harsh creditor and has no desire to press debtors beyond their ability to pay, but the Secretary of State points out that there is a very wide difference between inability to pay and shameless repudiation of an hon- est debt. There has been a world- wide disposition to look upon Uncle Sam as an easy mark, but he never has been quite as easy as he would be were he to yield to demands for recognition of the Russian govern- ment so long as its program of re- pudiation, confiscation and destructive out these figures because & big trust \company in New York oame out with a statement somewhat to the effect that the coal companies were in a beg- garly condition, that their plight was pitiable, 3 The United States Coal Commission has sent out a questionnaire to persons engaged in mining, transporting and selling coal with the idea of getting some_facts as 10 what's what in the coal situation. What information the commission may get is one of the nu- merous questions which rest in.the lap of the gods. It is hoped that some light, and some reduction, may be had before the next furnace season. Mean- while a campaign is on against deal- ers in fireproof coal, It was a com- mon understanding that there was no fireproof variety of coal, but many per- sons have paid 'steen dollars e ton to discover that there is. Senator Pep- per of Pennsylvania is “after” ship- pers of fireproof coal in his state, and promises to make it warm for this Pennsylvania industry. Senator Borah. How a good man may be ofttimes misunderstood is exer ified in the conception of some members of the communistic party of Senutor Borah's possible availability as the candidate of the “reds” for President of the United States. It is to smile! Borah— a man who has e notably clear idea of the Constitution of the United States, is one of its most ‘passionate defenders and @ supporter of the orig- inal form of government of this re- public—accepting the backing of men who avowedly are set out to destroy it and supplant it with communism! In the Associated Press report of the trial in St. Joseph, Mich., of W. Z. Foster on charges of alleged criminal syndicalism it is related that an ef- fort to have the witness “tell about a Russian boom for Senator Borah for President of the United States was blocked by defense objections.” Later, ,referring to a speech made at a nfeet- ing in Germany of the communists, a delegate from Moscow from the communist internationale of Russia is quoted as saying, “In the committee one comrade said that in the near future Senator Borah may be Presi- dent of the country and, since he is a liberal, he may be in the communist party.”” Senator Borah is recognized as a liberal, truly, but they “have him wrong” when they class him as a communist. . Speaking of Senator Borah, more to the point and in the present hqur, it is certain that his address at a banquet in Akron, Ohio, last night will stir discussion in republican cir- cles. By some he will be denounced as crying “wolf.” By others he will be cited as sounding a note of warn- ing against recognized tendencies in some republican quarters to ignore conditions that to many seem patent. It is a serious charge he makes against the republican party, to which he still asserts allegiance, when he says: “We are still trying to hold together and win battles through the power of patropage, the appeal to past party achievements and denuncia- tion of the opposition. It is a fearful mistake. It is bringing us to the point of political disaster and ruin.” Senator Borah said that a third party movement “is not impossible, not even immrobable,” but declared that the “oid parties have it within their power to put an end to all such movements by courageously meeting and dealing with the problems at hand in thorough fashion.” In this out- spoken utterance it is easy to con- ceive that Senator Borah has “started gomething” in republican circles. No Ready-Made Rain. The weather bureau in Washington may not dash the hopes of rain- makers, for hope séems to spring eternal in their breasts, but the bu- reau fortifies the belief of plain people that Jupiter Pluvius is still the only real and legalized rain producer. Some time ago we were given plausible and authenticated accounts of the produc- tion of rain by spraying a cloud with propaganda stands djsavowed. —_——— Conservation. Important industries over a wide region close to Washington are the gathering of oysters and the catching of fish. Neither of these industries is of such magnitude and value as for- merly, and both are threatened with extinction. The conservation commis- sion of Maryland has just made a re- port to Gov. Ritchie on the need of re- storing the supply of oysters and shad. 'The need for this is known to every- body, but as to the means for bringing mbout the restoration, “there’s the rub.” The commission has suggested that state and federal legislation be enacted to further regulate the setting of fish nets, it being eaid in the report that these nets are so numerous and extend so .far beyond their préper Jimits that comparatively - few shad ever reach their spawning ground in the rrvers of the bay. The report points out that great areas of oyster rocks, or oyster beds, once productive, pre now barren. The Chesapeake and its tributaries, famous for their pro- duction of sea food, are being despoiled. Oystermen and fishmen understand this, but no one body of men seems willing to take the lead in giving the fish and oysters a chance, and col- Jective action by those engaged in fishing and oystering is hard to secure. Bemonn De Valera keeps just one fump ehead of capture. It is a sinister .game of hare and hounds they are playing these days in Ireland. "Lenin improves steadily, even if Russia does not. ; , Coal Facts—None. The coal situation is still what is Eenerally called a “situation.” Men most intimately associated with coal @o not seem to have much worthwhile s$nformation. about it, though they in- sist that they are right and that every- body else is wrong.: The Washington , branch of the United Amalgamated Order of Furnace Tenders and La- trobe Feeders wants to know the The president of District No. T DOnited Mine Workers of America, pays that the companies of the an- ¢hracite monopoly show_ unparalleled electrified sand dropped from an air- plane. “We have it,” said the rain- makers. “People were surprised, but in these times of scientific wonders few persons had the the hardihood to say that rain could not be squeezed out of clouds ‘or pumped out of a dry atmosphere by magicians. Some per- sons held their belief in check. They recalled that a few ygars ago rain- makers were shooting the sky with bombs to call down rain and that sometimes rain fell a week or two efter the bombardment. Some said that the rain fell because of the bombardment and others said that the drought would have been broken if no ammunition had beén used. The experiments of shocking the atmos- phere with dynamite were given up and very little has been heard of them in recent years. Then came the experiment of sending an aviator above a mass of clouds and sprinkling them with electrified sand. Our own ‘weather bureau, with all the facts be- fore it, says that there is nothing in it. It says that drought is due to insuf- ficent moisture in the atmosphere and absence of other conditions essential to the formation of rain, and that if there is little moisture to bring down, obviously no device for causing rain has any value. This contention has & reasonable sound. William Jennings Bryan indorses the Cox attitude on international af- fairs. Thus is the pattern for Miss Demacracy’s 1924 costumes shaped in advance. . A band of Piute Indians is on the warpath in Utah. How do they get that way these dry days? A Loss to the Service. In the resignation of Merritt O. Chance as head of the Washington city post office the local postal system has lost & popular and ‘efficient official. ‘Washington business ~interests, ‘to which he will go, gain in proportion. Mr. Chance, in his eight years as postmaster of Washington, brought the local post office and its activities to & high level, so that generally throughout the' service the Washing- ton city post office is regarded as a ‘model for the rest of the country. He proved himself to be an executive of the best type, able to take mdvan- age af-thp begt in'the masn b 4 9 ¥ 5 him, and secure from them the best work of which they were capable. It is safe to say that Washington never had a better postmaster. But, in a larger sense, the civil service of the country suffers from the resignation of Mr. Chance. For thirty-five years he was in it, starting in &s an assistant messenger at con- siderably less than $1,000 a year sal- ary, working his way up through the various grades, He was chief clerk of the Post Office Department twice, its auditor at one time, was private secretary to Secretary Root of the War Department, was a member’ of President Taft's commission’on effi- ciency and economy, and finally city postmaster here. It is doubtful if-any man in the civil service of this country hes had a wider first-hand acquaintance with the civil service than Mr. Chance. He ows its good points and its bad points, its limitations and its latitude. Through thirty-five years he must have massed a knowledge of condi- tions that is exceptlonal. To allow such a man to leave the service to which he has devoted the best years of his life is but another example of the faulty conduct of the civil service, which trains a‘man care- fully, develops him to an expert—and then permits some outside business to come in and pick him off. In all such cases Uncle Sam is the loset. Mr. Chance is a striking ex- ample of this process, whereby the government allows its highly trained and efficient servants to be taken away from it at the time when they should prove the most useful to it. —————— Sugar. ‘Things never seem to be quite right, Something is always going wrong, and there is usually e fly in the oint- ment. Now it 18 sugar. The price is high and may be going higher, and it is said in the news that “‘canners and growers of berries and small fruits in certain sections of the country are facing a real peril to their industries.” And all this because of the high price of sugar. If canners cannot can we shall be short of “tinned” goods and will have to pay the price. With high sugar the table expenses of the family will go up unless we go back to the economies we practiced in war days. Canners and packers who use sugar by tons are complaining to Secretary Hoover that the uplift in sugar prices is not due to sugar shortage, but to sound. People seem to remember that during the war, when one family could get only two pounds of sugar a week, if they could get that, and had to pro- ceed cautiously in sweetening the tea and making cake, the world was full shortage in the history of man. Yet there never were so many candy shops, and the makers of soft drinks were getting all the sugar needed. Suddenly sgmething broke, the price of sugar dropped and the prices of securities of sugar companies col- lapsed. There were stories in the newspapers about vast stores of sugar stocks held in storage while the sugar shortage was on. The Secretary of }‘Commerce will probably get at the bottom of the reason for the ascending price of sugar. . e — Belief of the Egyptians that the mosquito which bit Lord Carnarvon was a reincarnation of King Tut bent on vengeance makes one wonder why the pharach did not choose to be @ crocodile. D ———————— ‘What will the advocates of the new word “Unistation™ turn to if the com- munists carry out their threat of es- tablishing a “United States of Eu- rope”? —_—— In the matter pof traffic regulation “Washington,” to gquote the classic words of Daniel- Webster, “is in the clear upper sky.” —_—— According to Mr. Manly, the “heavy sugar babies” do not all have their habitat on Broadway. And do the men of Des Lacs, N. D., actually expect to escape the rule of women by turning them out of office? SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSO! The Base Ball Enthusiast. Once more the frail arbutus smiles And wakes the soul to song. The springtime blossoming beguiles The heart, but not for long. For though the sunkissed blooms be . sweet, Their joys ere long must pall. My happiness is not complete Till some one smites the ball. The gentle birds who soar on high, ‘With songs so sweet and clear, Are not so welcome to my eve As that well batted sphere, In sylvan haunts I would not dwell. T'd rather, once for all, Sit on a bench and whoop and yell ‘When some one smites the ball. A Hard Problem. Dis life is an arifmetic Dat’s hard to understan’; It's a lesson in subtraction Dat muys’ come to every man. ‘You's ‘got to fin’ de difference— It hurts a little bit— *Twix’ what you thinks you ought to have An’ what you gwineter git. Dar’s nuffin’ dat’s too good foh us ‘When we are stahtin’ out, But as de years go slippint by Dere comes a gloomy doubt. De difference surprises you, ‘When it's mos’ time to quit, *Twix’ what you thought you ought to have An’ what you gwineter git. A Reproach. Little bit o sunshine, "Bout en hour or Den de stormciouds gather An’ de wind begins to blow. Mahch is like some people, Savin’ up deir goid; Has a liberal impulse, But it mighty soon gits cold. Oh, Mahch, why does you ack so? price manipulation, That hasa familiar | {Geo een M of stories about the greatest sugar |CcOrS¢ and Queen Mary WASHINGTON BY FREDERIC Undoubtedly one of the decisive fac- tors in President Harding's determina- tion to seek a second term 'wis the ap- proval of his “duchess,” as he long has termed the first lady of the land. Throughout their married life Mrs. Harding his been a valued coadjutor of the President. He seldom resorts to a major course of action affecting his personal fortunes without seeking her counsel. That relationship has existed ever since Mr. and Mrs, Harding collab- orated, as young people, in/ the man- agement and upbuilding of the Marion Daily Star. Mrs, Harding says her greatest achievement on the Star was the development of its circulation. She specialized in training carrier boys how to handle thelr “routes” and capture new subscribers. - Some of the lads she trained are now co-proprietors of the newspaper which laid the foundation of Warren G. Harding's political fame. . * Kok K Over fo the noble hall of maps at the Army War College in Washington bar- racks there is about to be hung a giant photograph immortalizing the sojourn of the doughboy at.Castle Ehrenbreit- stein. It is labeled “American Watch on the Rhine,” and Is a handsomely colored. enlargement, some twenty-five feet long and ‘eight feet deep, of a camera impression. The picture shows a characteristic stretch of the Rhine, with a typical German barge swinging lazily at anchor, while Yankee infantry- men are seen patrolling the banks No canvas in oils could be more atmos pheric. Maj. Gen. Edward F, McGlach- I, jr., who is now commandant of the War College, once commanded the st Division at Coblenz, and the big snap- shot revives for him vividly the old days among the Heinies. A A Plans of the Roosevelt Memorial Association for a monumental com- memoration of the soldier-President in Washington are rapidly assuming shape. A special committee of the association is dealing with the proj- ect, ,its memby including Elihu Root, Mark Sullivan, Senator Hiram W. Johnson. Will H. Hays, James R. Garfield, James P. Goodrich, Irwin R. ank B. Kellogg. Arthur Leonard Wood and Robbins. The sculptors of will be invited to formulate for creating a Roosevelt memorial of impressiveness not short of that of the sphinx or the pyramids. One suggestion is that the memorial shall take the form of a lion. If that idea is adopted. there is a proposal OBSERVATIONS WILLIAM WILE the lion should be placed in the foot- nills of the Rocky mountains, with the mountains as a background. Even if placed in Washington, as the memorial is almost certain to be, many Rooseveltians are urging that a replica, or another memorial, be se up in the Rockies, which “T. R. loved so well. * K ok x Maj. Gen. Henry T. Allen, U, 8. A., recently American commander-in- chief in Germany, will formally leave the Army on April 13, having on that day reached the retirement age of sixty-four. Although no longer on the active list, Gen. Allen will be occupied for some time in preparing an officlal history of the American occupation of the Coblenz bridgehead. It will not be his maiden venture with the pen. In 1886 hée produced a work on “Reconnaissance of CQpper, Tannana and Kuyukuk Rivers” and in 1895 wrote a book on the “Military System of Sweden.” Gen. Allen is a Kentuckian, and, like all sons of the Blue Grass, a passionate horseman. * ok k¥ A witty Englishman—there is such a breed—who 'has been spending the summer in Washington this winter, remarked that the capital's climatic eccentricitles reminded him of Lon- don. “In London,” he said, knows whether to start out in the morning in a linen duster, a fur coat or a diving suit.” ey If there’s any safety in numbers Uncle Sam ought to be able to keep pretty well and accurately informed on British naval affairs, for we main- tain no fewer than six naval attaches at the London embassy. One ranks as attache (Capt. Charles L. Hussey) and he has flve assistant attaches under him. Great Britain lists only two naval attaches at her embassy in Washington. Somebody is likely to hear from the amende honorable which Secretary Hughes has just been constrained to make to our British friends for our “bloomer” about their gun ranges. * ok ok ok Japan's ears will be to the Amer- fcan ground around about April 16, for on that date, as now scheduled. the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments pro and con the elebrated California alien land law s. As the court soon afterward will zdjourn -for the summer, a de- cision ix unlikely until much later in the year. (Copyright, 1928.) EDITORIAL DIGEST Sees a Labor Ministry Looking on Horizon. The compelling reason why King consented to dine at Lady Astor's with the leaders of the British labor party is believed by most editors to be that they are convinced the time is not far distant when labor will be called on to form a cabinet. Most of those who discuss the subject consider the action a proper one and have little sympathys for the opposition voiced by a certain element of the advanced laborites in Britain. Some, however, suggest there was a desire to make trouble in labor ranks behind the invitation. “The world is losing much of its aristocratic manner and daily there are signs of Increased democracy on the horizon,” says the Dayton News. “After evervthing is said and done this king business is on the toboggan in the world. Rulers no longer hold themselves aloof from the rest of the people. They have come to recog- nize that democr: is in the saddie and it is going to make its voice heard in public affairs. Lady Astor demonstrated her own democratic concept in arranging this dinner, and the circumstance, while out of the ordinary is quite wholesome.’ Em- on the fact that the vore knee breeches’ seems overdone, as the Toronto Star sees it. because “it can be taken for granted that to Ramsay Macdonald, Clynes and the others, and to Lady As tor also, silk knee breeches are nefther here nor there alongside the funda- mental realities of the hour. These men lead the official opposition parliament. The king sees in them & rising force in the nation and he takes them into account. They re- as men of seriqus purpose accepting every ruling of use om at par. Yet, stepping as they did into a social region where | silk knee breeches are deemed im- perative, their mental reactions—con- sidering their own history and ex- perience—were perhaps best relieved by the fact of Lady Astor, who met them with banter and discussed knee breeches with levity.” In addition, as the Brooklyn Fagle points out, “‘prob- ably there mever was a time in the history of the British empire when a crown-and-people alliance could have been so confident of dominating the whole situation as it might be today. The time may come, and come soon, when = labor ministry will be not unwelcome to the reign- ing sovereign. The trend as shown by the by-elections is largely in labor's favor, and 1t is a trend not likely to subside if conservatism governa the party’s course, as Is more than likely under tHe leadership of Ramsay Macdonald.”, Should a labor cabinet develop, the Pittsburgh Gazette-Times points out that, “while George might still be the king, the laborites would repre- sent the people of England, who really have the power, despite the existence of the monarch. Instead of patronizing the laborites by breaking bread with them, it is more, probab] that the king has recognized the pre: ence of a force with which he may Tribute to Chaulfeur. Mother Thanks “Gallant Gentle- man” for Helping Child. To the Editor of The Stai . Owing to traffic conditions here, | chaufteurs are more often cursed than blest, but I wish ‘I might through your colums, reverse the usual pro- cedure :: thank an unknown chauffeur. & Today, on 16th. street above P, my little girl of ten met with a sad accident. Her sewing basket containing a| tiny celluloid doll and innumerable dollie capes l.ll;l dresses flew out of her hands, and to her horror rolled to the middle of the street among the cars streaming by. Dollle and clothes flew, and small spools and the big wheels of passing cars picked up the bits of lace and silks and holding them glued with the mud and rain, passed, down 16th street. » ‘his 13 inch doll lay prone on the street about maet a horrid fate, ‘when some kin chauffeur gallantly relo\:od hhel'l'd..‘d gave her to the sobbing _c! My :hlld told me the chauffeur made several trips, evidently braving the destruction ~of 16th street, himself to gather in ten small spools, the doll and bits of good: The dollie was slightly injured and I re gret to say that M. also told me that one lady who drove past laugh- ed at the an!edy. Horrid, unim- ble woman “J‘\?ui'uu, I siy this unknown chauffeur was a gallant gentleman to help the grief of a little child effects from lete dew o, ““MABEEA & WATSON, pare himself to meet it should the oc- casion arise. It is evident that the old ruling class, with exclusive privi- lege of access to the ear of the mon- arch, is wabbling on its support The fact that these leaders ha “been subjected to much criticism by their suspicious followers” means little as the New York World sees it, “as it Is certain the meeting was of the king's seeking. Instead of finding fault with its leaders, the labor party might far better rejoice at the sign of the times. Whatever the king may think of labor's governmental policies, he evidently regards the party as a good sporting,_proposition in politics and is preparing for the day when he will be called on to receive its leaders officlally in Buckingham Palace.” The king was simply following in the footsteps of present day royalty, as the Indianapolis Star views the din- ner, although “the gathering as a social affair was one in which the members of the British nobility never before had mingled. It was not less an experience in democracy for the king and_aueen than for the laborite guests. Yes, the status of kings has changed, but they gain, not lose.” “King George himself asked for the opportunity of meeting in this way representative members of the labor party and their wives” says the Loufsville Post, “and doubtless his | idea was all right. But to Americans | the custom that requires these guests to dress themselves up in knee breeches seems a little silly. Some- thing could easily have been conceded to custom. We assume that these labor parliamentarians long ago equipped themselves with ordinary dress clothes, which every one wears in the evening in London. But why did the king require them, or why 1ha forced to deal and wishes to pre- knee breeches and silk stockings? Out of the ordinary as the occasion was, the Bristol Herald-Courfer sug- gests “one may well wish that such occasions may become of frequent occurrence, that rovalty in England may oftener meet the leaders of the different classes of English people on a social level. The average working- man in England may have felt like throwing the paper down and jump- ing on it when he read about those | knickers, but on reflection he should agree that {t was right and proper that the labor leaders should show a disposition to meet the king and queen half wav." It is “that particu- lar variety of hokum which produces sockless Simpsons and overall sena- tors in this country which is stirring up the row in England over this re- ception,” the Philadelphia Bulletin holds, because “its social reception by royalty was in effect notice that the crown is taking account of the possibility of a labor ministry. It was a tribute to a new politcal force that should please none more than the labor partisans, whose ‘lunatic fringe’ presumably is alone responsible for this carping at sensible acceptanos of a king’s courtesy.” The purely so- clalistic point of view, however, is summed up by the New York Call, which disapproves the meeting and insists “the represenattive of the worker owes it to himself as well as to the movement to avoid such social functions. He may return from them as devoted to his class as ever, but suspicion 18 likely to follow him and develop factions that could have been avoided.” In a Few Words. George Washington’s cabinet recog- nized the revolutionary government of France in 1793, and it is the duty of this nation, in the interest of peace and humanity, to recognize, uncondi- tionally, soviet Russia. —SENATOR BORAH. I hate to work. I wouldn’t work if I didn’t have to. I hate work so much ¥'d like to be Vice President again. —THOMAS R. MARSHALL. If milady keeps her most savage weapon, feminine charm, well pol- ished, I care not whether she plays the ukelele or the slide trombone, nor whether she indulges in oroquet or ths l'na.aly art, = RDON HALL (Dean, Dait- ‘mouth). I am an American and:have no ‘ad- vice to offer France and no desire to, visit Germany, —SENATOR HIRAM JOHNSON. 1 would like to see a uniform cos- tume for every woman, providing, of course, I could pick my own uniform. —MRS. WILSON WOODROW. —~— The solid south isn’t as_hopelessly solld as are the ivory headpieces of some of those east, west and north who try to write about it. —W. O. SAUNDERS. President Harding will be a_ candi- date in 1924 because of public de- mand, not because he wishes it. No man wants that job much, once he m#n GENERAL DAUGH~ ERTY., kY does he require any one, to dress in | The North Window BY LEILA MECHLIN, Under the- title “A Beautiful ‘World,” the Scapa Society of England has just issued the iatest number of its occasional journal. This soclety has as its object the prevention of disfigurement of town and country by advertising signs, painted or post- ed, it matters not. It was organized in 1893 and the distinguished artist, Albert Waterhouse, was one of its first presidents. Through its instru- mentality in 1907 parliament adopted an act regulating bodrdings over twelve feet in height, and since then other bills of a restrictive nature have become laws. The 'beautiful lake district of England is thus protected against despoilment. In most in- stances regulations or prohibitory measures have been legalized by the local governments—county ~councils and the like—which effectively “puts a stop to the nuisance. The fact is that outdoor advertis- ing has and does still menace the beauty of citles, towns and rural dis- tricts In Europe as well as in Amer- ca, and though In some instances the commercial posters of Italy, France and England are superior to our American posters, they can, misplaced, be quite as offensive as those of less artistic merit. France regulates out: door advertising by: taxation, but has not succeeded in eliminating it, and in some of the French rural districts painted signs have become an offense to the eye, * K x * In no country has this form of ad- vertising been carried to such an ex- tent or taken on 80 menacing an aspect as in the United States, and it is difficult to know to what extent it may be carried unless public opin- ion wills to the contrary. As a Brit- ish architectural magazine declares: “So long as it is possible to display advertisements In prominent posi- tions the rivaly of commercial firms renders it unwise for one firm to re- main unrepresented while its rival shouts to the passing pedestrian or railway traveler. 1f one firm of mustard makers advertises, its rival canpot afford not to, and thig though both may regret the money which has to be spent in making the world hideous.” And here's the pity of it! . The posters displayed on billboards are by no means bad; some are ex- ceedingly handsome, really works of art; but very few, in conjunction with nature, add to the beauty of land- e. Of course, the architects and builders complain of the disfig- urement of advertising signs—and the possible to relate outdoor advertising to city life in such a way that it is not offensive. It is not possible to bring it into relationship with land- scape, so far as any one as yet has been able to discover. A nspicu- ous instance is an advertising sign set on an island or peninsula in the Susequehanna river, to be read and rercad by those going by railroad from Washington to New York. The sign is not unnecessarily ugly. but it intrudes upon the vista, it spoils the picture. * ¥ ¥ ¥ A distinguished lecturer on litera- ture declared in a recent lecture given in this city that the average indi- vidual was more sensitive to beauty in art than in nature, but'it is the conviction of the writer that he was wrong and that among our'American people the majority are appreciative of beauty in nature, whereas only the few recognize and delight in it in art. In witness to the widespread appreciation of beauty In nature among Americans may be quoted the number of persons who yearly visit our great national parks. -According to the latest figures, over a million tourists visited these parks in_the summer of 1922, approximately . 800, 000 going by train, over 700,000 by motol Of course, there are those whose eves hava not been opened to the beauty of landscape which is close at hand and familiar. The man who ran a pussenger boat on a plcturesque canal, heing told by a traveler that it must be a great privilege to spend his days amid _sach charming scenery. replied: “Scenery! Where's any .scenery? I ain't seen none around these parts But that same man would probably have stood in awe. and admiration before Niagara. It is true that at Atlantic City the benches on the boardwalk are turn- ed with their backs to the ocean, but sn are they on the promenade at Nice; vet it is the beauty of the ocean which draws many visitors t6 both of tiese resorts. It is the beauty in nature which glves the inspiration for art, and it is In turm the truth of the artist’s interpretation of na- ture which lends art its real value. This fact has been delightfully set forth and elucidated by John W. Beatty, director emeritus of the de- partment of fine arts of the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh. in a little book entitled “The Relation of Art to Na- ture” just issued by the press of William Rudge, New York. Mr, Beatty, who is himself a painter of 1andscapes, claims that the art of the painter and sculptor is imitative, not creative: that the great masterpieces of art which have withstood the test of time rest firmly upon the supreme expression of oharacter and beauty found dn nature, and that it is the mis- sion of art to reveal .and make plain these rare and lovely qualities. TIn sup- port of his argument, he gnotes Michael Angelo, Albert Durer, Leonardo da Vinci, Hogarth, Reynolds, . Constable, Gilbert Stuart, Corot, Millet, Whistler, Abbott Thayer, Winslow Homer, La Farge, and the great sculptor, Rodin— a splendid procession of towering figures. Mr. Beatty’s contention is not, as some may misunderstand, that the artist imitates nature to the decep- tion of man, but that he strives to copy it in its every mood with the utmost truth and sincerity. He ro- calls asking Winslow Homer if in painting nature he ever took the lib- erty of modifying the color, of chang- ing what he saw before him for the sake. of effect, and the reply he re- celved was: “Never, never. When I have selected the thing carefully I paint it exactly as it appears” Mr. Homer insisted that one must not paint everything nor anything one saw, but must wait, and wait pa- tiently, for a particular effeot, and must have sense enough to know it when it arrived. In other words, that the artist’s business was seléction as well as transcription; that he must percelve beauty in composition, -in color, in arrangement, and have the ability to' truthfully set it forth. Ab- bott Thayer said: “To the artist see- ing is the all-important'thing. * * * He discovers beautiful and har- monious colors in nature which were unseen at first. He realizes the ex- quisite grace of line to be found on every hand, but unperceived before— have a right tg do so—but it is| las a perfect - CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. COLLINS On Mr. Edison’s birthday he start- ed a discussion by his criticisms of dally nmewspapers. He complained that they pay too little attention to the discoveries of sclence. A cynical newspaperman, brother of a scientist, mockingly taunted his brother with the alleged uselessness of ultra-sclence. The brother, Prof. Michelson of the Chicago Unlversity, had been exultingly telling of a triumph of the spectroscope, by which he could test whether there was sodium in the sun's atmosphers. “Who the devil cares?’ retorted the horny-brained journali That seemed a conclusive reply to both the Chicago sclentist and to Mr. Edison —but was 1t? The practical achieve- ments of science are all about us, but 8o soon do we become familiar with results that we forget origins. * ok x x The spectroscope, for splitting beams of light into their elements, is not a toy. today, as it was a few decades ago. It is in daily practical use in every sugar factory, for test- ing sugar. It is used in other chem- istry, and some businesses are wholly dependent upon it. By the spectroscope the presence of any mineral in a gas through which light passes, is made absolutely certain— as indisputable as is a thumb print for identifying a person. In 1868 one of the “pure sclentists” | | emisslons of —such as Mr. Michaelson, the jour- nalist scoffed at—Sir Norman Lock- yer—detected a light in the promi- nences of the sun’s corona, which differed in its' spectroscopic mark- ings, from the light given out by any substance known on earth. therefore, named it from the Greek word “helos,” meaning the sun— “helium."” In 1895 Sir William Ramsay dis- covered ldentically the same spectro- scoplc markings in a hitherto un- known metal on earth. So the “new"” metal was found in the sun twenty- seven years before it ‘was found on h. ' This was helium. ‘Well,” says the scoffer, devil cares?” * ok ok K Helium, thus discovered, appeared of comparatively little interest—in a factory—but wait. In 1869 Sir William Crookes made an experiment w of glass. There is no such thing vacuum; it is impos- sible to extract all air from any re- ceptable, but Crookes created what passes, for practical purposes, as a “vacuum,” and what atmosphere re- mained in the tube he assumed was ether, such as, in theory, fills all space, He sent a charge through the vacuum the atoms of and discovered “ether” aglow, and shooting sparks therefrom, with a eed which he measured. by sci- entific means, to be 100,000 niiles a second—equal to four times around the earth—in a second. caused by electricit thode rays. were merely “Wha the the cathode or negative he called the light To Crookes, a scientific devil cares?” * ok % ok . Crookes made little practical use of his “cathode rays,” but he was interested in their luminosity. He thought that the matter remaining in his “vacuum tube” was merely electrified and was making light waves in the ether. Other scientists continued to_ ex- periment with the effect of those light waves, or cathode rays, upon various metals, and Becquerel covered that with the salts of uran- under the influence-of cathode he got something which would glow on its own account: it would even photograph through opaque substances. Uranium and cathode rays were leading to something. wonder. THE WAYS OF WASHINGTON He, | getting out a newspaper or running | SM#!l h a vacuum tube | of electricity | As this was | the rays | They- were- the foterunner of Roent- gen rays. * Rk K Later Lenard showed that the elec- trified atoms in Crookes' vacuum tubs while throwing off tho cathodo “sparkg”’_were actually throwing off their component parts, now known as “electrons.” This revolutionized the whole atomic theory, and an atom, {nstead of being an ultimate and indi- visible unit, was found to be a uni- verse—a miniature of our solar uni- verse—with electrons _its planets. about a center sun. The electrons penetrated through opaque substanc: “Who the devi] cares?” * %k x K ] In 1895, Roentgen, experimenting with the cathode rays of Crookes’, found that the salts of uranium un- der their influence not only photo graphed through opaqueness, but actually carried visibility through “impenetrable walls” of stone and flesh. He found the Roentgen rays, and there is no limit to their practical use in studying the human organs and thelr physical processes. With them disease ceases to baffle and life is ! prolonged. “Who the devil cares?'—if thero is a political conventlon or s al scan dal crowding newspaper sy Uranium aglow! Roentgen rays: ¥k The shining uranium aroused scientists to investigate whether t light came from the uranium itself or from somethin soctated with it. Prof. Curie and his sclentific wife made many analyses of minerals and at last hit upon a kind of pitchblend which gave a su stance that glowed all the time—a million times ro radiant than uranium. They called it radium. £ % It would be superfluous to expatfate upon the wonders and value of ra- dlum. The greatest of all marvels y of the Curie discovery is that no only radium but many other sub- stances are found to be radio-active, which means. that incessantly they are giving off particles, infinitely which are known as electrons, for their atoms are breaking up and shooting these ele with th tof as t this radio-activity the of a are illuminated 1 parts of the ocean ships plow at nlg through _fies ws | moltor gold. Every arc lamp is spreading electrons: every flash of lightning is an explosion of electrons; every sta: is flooding the universe with rons. Perhaps this accounts for the undiminishing radfance and heat of the sun. It may prove that, not gravi n, but electrified electrons hold universes together and maintain life. i o It has been discovered recently that radium breaks up spontaneous helium, that mysterious metal which was first found in the gases of the corona of the sun and twenty-seve years later in the metals of the earth Through continued radio-activ uranium, radium and helium bre down from one to the other, and fin- ally into lead. So, at last, transmu tatlon of onme eclemental metal into another takes place and the key of the ancfent alchemist is discovered He tried to make lead into the higher metals; our scientists have learned hotv the higher metals may be made into lead. When will they find the way to reverse the process and malke gold out of lead, since the two metals! are the extreme of the same chain? “Who the devil cares’ When that is accomplished gold will be as c s lead and no more precin T romance of science! What is more thrilling? (Copyright, 1923, br P. V. Collins.) 4 BY WILLIAM PICKETT HELM It's funny about inventors. Some of them invent because they want to; others because they can't help it. The latter generally time and money on their inventions than are ever returned to them. The patent office is the bide-a- wee home of the brain-children of the nation’s Inventors. They troop in by the tens of thousands every vear. Occasionally, a sound more often a cracked one; sorry breed they are! Poor, pitiful little hopes, fears and ambitions of the tribe of genius! what a The line that divides genius from | insanity often is a hair-line. A list to one side of the line may carry an inventor into the Hall of Fame; a leaning to the other may take him eventually to the asylum. Nowhere on this whirling ball of mud we call the world Is the hair- line sa apparent as in the patent office here in Washington. Startlingly original, for instance, is the invention of a Pennsylvan gentleman. He has patented a look- ing glass fish bait. The balt, an ar- tificial fish, has a small mirror in its side, and the whole is highly pol- ished. In other words, this gentlema wants the poor fish to look at him- self in the mirror. Here is what the inventor says in his specification: “The glitter and flashing lights (ot the highly polfshed bait) are well known attractives; but the mirror is an additional feature that insures the effectiveness of the bait in the following manner: “A male fish, seeing his image upon looking therein, will appear to see another fish approach it from the opposite side with intent to seize the bait. %This will not only arouse his war- like spirit, but will appeal to his the movement, charm and beauty of | &Tee! natural forms. . New beauties are re- vealed from day to day: new har- monies are seen and felt.” Even so, ‘Whistler, in his most subtle sym- phonic paintings. merely reflected that great truth, the beauty of nature, which he had discovered. * k% K It is springtime, and the faot of the beauty of nature is most obvious, perhaps more so here in Washington than in any other city in the world. The late James Bryce wrote most charmingly of nature in and about ‘Washington. The French ambassa. dor, Mr. Jusserand, in_a public ad- dress in this city last May spoke of the loveliness of the cl environs and called attention to the destruc- tion of some of the most notable features, the wooded hills and dales, through' real te “Improvement. Architecture is one of the flne arts; bill posters are sometimes the wprk of distinguished artists, It is the artist's _privilege &nd - function, through his interpretations, to open one’s eyes to beauty and to increase enjoyment therein.” Only & short- sighted .people will employ art to de- stroy beauty in nature and'thus im- poverish: net themselves, but Fie will selze the balt quickly in order to defeat the approaching rival” Fine, but what about the fish who doesn’t want to fight and who is afraid of the approaching rival? We read o “In case the fish is suspected of cowardice—" Suspected? By whom, please, Mr. Inventpr? But, starting again: “In case the fish is suspected of cowardice I may make the mirror of convex form, in order that the rival or antagonist may appear to be smaller.” P And there you are. The brave fish gets his and the coward likewise. It's a gone fish that approaches that lure. Wait a - minute, though. What about the lady fish? We consul specification again, and we read In the case of a female fish the attractiveness of & mirror ‘well known to need discussion. . For further specifications send 5 cents to the commissioner of patents and ask for a copy of patent No. 1,180,753. spend more | idea; | patented dozens or scores of inven- tions. A few of these men have made a great deal of ey b of the inventions, however, of others are imp: al and valueless. In the class of chronio inventors who never get anywhere with their ideas was a professional man lived not many hundred miles from } Washington. He contributed to the exchequer vear after year, but never s0ld & single invention, because eve thing he patented was impractical One day the patent office got a let ter from his wife, “Please don't grant my husband any more patents,” it read. “He spends all his time and most of his mondy on vou. “He doesn’t get much salary, and he can't get more, because he doesn't do much but work on ntions “And his v is needed here at home. So please don't do any more business with hi who ‘There is on record in the patent office the case of an exa Ner who resfgned some fifty-odd veurs ago be- cause he had reached the cunfiluslml‘ that there wasn't anything left invent and patent. Therefore, herea- soned, he would soon be thrown out of a job. So he beat the government to it by quitting. More patents have been granted since then than were granted before, Another unusual incident is the case of a gentleman who invented a handy hat for winter wear. This gentleman liked to walk along t street with his hands in his pockets. He was quite bothered by the ne- cessity of removing his hands from the warmth of his pockets to lift his hat to ladies of his acquaintance. ! So he invented a hat that lifts itself. All he has to do is lean for- ward and, presto! off comes the hat. | He leans back and, bingo! on it goes | again. Handy, no end. All the courtesies ! of the occasion and none of the in- conveniences. Odly, none of the hat factories bought the invention. o A movie has been made entitled “How to Get a Patent” The movie shows also some of the other sido of the picture, and in that, too, it is true. to life. Reuben and whiskers come in from the farm. He has an idea worth mil- lions. It is @ new-fangled, slick pat- ent for a pair of suspenders, or, as ho ¥ calls 'em, “galluses.” Into the suspender room he goes. Rows of filing cases line the walls, Each filing case has from a dozen s several hundggd descriptions of pat- ents already granted. ' From one of the compartments a clerk takes a sheaf of papers. They the | are the patents on suspenders. Reuben, chin and whiskers working on a_ tobacco cud, looks over his shoulder. Presently they reach a de- scription that brings Reuben's busy jaws to a full stop. He stops, stares and spits. “Gosh.” he says, “already patent- ed-—=back in 184! Y Most simple ideas already have been Datented.