Evening Star Newspaper, March 26, 1923, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., MONDAY, MARCH 26, 1923. ‘m&l————m ? THE EVENING STAR, ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY. March 26, 1923 THEODORE W. NOYES........Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Oftice, 11th St. and Pennayivania Ave. New York Office; 150 Nassuu St. Chicago Offce: Tower Bulliing. European Oftice: 16 Regeat St., London, England. The Evening Star, with the Snndny morning edition, is delivered by carriers withfn the city at 60 cents per month; daily only, 45 cents per month; Sunday only. 20 cents per month. Or- ders may be sent by mall, or telephone Main ©000. ~Collection is made by carriers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1yr., $8.40; 1 mo., 70c Daily only vee1YT. 36 . 50c Sunday 2 All Other States. v and Sun 1yr., $10.0 only... 1yr., $7. Sunday only. 1yr, $ Member of the Associated Press, ssociated Pross is exclusively entitled ¢ for republication of ail mews dis- credited to it or not otherwise credited paper and also the loeal news pub- lished he rights of pudlieation of Labor and the Soviets. 1f anything additional to the recent statement of Hughes and the of Sccretary Hoover was needed to answer effectively agitation for recognition by this government of | the soviet government of Russia, it is| found in anMarticle published in last | week's issue of the American Federa- | tionist, the ican Fede rific Secret: letter official organ of the Amer- ition of Labor. It is a te nment of the Lenin and . and shows that under it ad of promising an is headed straight ary earthly for rui: paradise, The article takes up one by one the claims of beneficence and shatters them to bits. Even the claim that ¢ restored the land 10 peasant farmers, the most widely exploited of the alleged accomplish- ments of the Moscow government, is shown to be utterly false and mislead- The peasants under czarist rule 188,000,000 dessiatines of land. holdings today have been in wsed only to 224,000,000 dessiatines. and they this rease not to the | soviets, but to their own initiative, “The peasants,” says the article, “*began to take the ty's land, without ask- ing anybod under Keren- sky. and they finished taking it, with- out ng anybody's consent, under Lenin.” After s of wrecking, the article says, the bolshevists are trying to re- turn t . t from which they star E t havoc they have left b nd they are aski the world | for what th are going to do, but have not yet done. They the public to not only their vecord ot plunder and destruction, but their unparalleled inefficiency, their acknowledged hostility to the peasants and their habit of reversing their so- called p or leaving them on paper and without the slightest prac- tleal effect.” In all the and misrepre- sentation with regard to Russia, noth- ing is more notable than the refusal of American to “fall” for red and pink propaganda. Labor in many other countries has been sympathetic with and active in behalf of the bol- shevists, but American labor has kept its fect firmly planted on solid ground and has steadfastly refused to abandon the practical benefits of its own pro- | gram to follow the will-othe-wisp of | dreams. Its sane leadership has seen | through the false pretense of the Rus- sian despotism, and the result is that radical tiato have 1o make but little headway with the rank and file. ———— The Clean-Up Call. The Commissioners are making ready to sound the first call for spring clean-up, and with these bright and comfortable days of late March the thoughts of many persons are per- haps turning to the rake and spade, but it cannot he expected that the spring clean-up industry will get into full swing till March has passed. The good old town of Washington is look- ing shabby in some of its home sec- tions. Houses need paint, lawns and vards are gray and there is a good deal of litter waiting for the rake. But soon the bushes will put forth leaves, grass will turn green and the flowers bloom. When the Commissioners sound the clean-up call Washington will be ready, and thousands of gal- lant houscholders will take off their coats or put on their aprons and “go to it” with a zip that will make the city shine. —_—— Tt is President Harding's hard luck that he will not be here next Monday to watch the Easter egg rolling on the ‘White Lot. It would be restful after a long, hard winter of observation of Jog rolling on Capitol Hill. bolshevik soviets held Their oW consent, as t continues. credit,all ove v claim they agitation Tabor been able Secretary Hughes' recent statement has dampened soviet hopes of recogni- tlon. They are not willing to pay the price—otherwise, their debts. Government vigor in going after the gamblers who sent sugar “skyrocket- ing" warrants belief that some one is likely to get hurt by a falling stick. School Construction. The municipal architect’s office is at work on plans for the erection, en- largement and remodeling of public school buildings authorized and pro- vided for by appropriations for the next fiscal year. The small force of that office is working diligently, and presumably putting in overtime, that ell plans may be ready by July 1, it that be possible, that contracts may be let and that construction may be under way in late summer and early fall. This work is of the highest im- portance. The inadequacy of the school plant of the District has been emphasized, and although the building program authorized at the last session ©of Congress will not bring the capac- Aty of the plant in line with the needs ©of the school population it is a long step, perhaps several steps, in that direction, and the prospect is that the overcrowding of schools, with all its evil consequences, may soon come to @n end. The people ask that no time be lost in getting ready the new and the remodeled butldings for the use of pupils, and it is manifest that the District authorities are exerting them- selves that the people shall be prompt- ly served. There are provisions in the appropriation act for the purchase of school sites, and these provisions are to be made effective with all speed consistent with careful and con- sclentious work. On the whole the school housing situation, which has been distressingly bad for several years, is improving, and the people of the District are ready to offer up their thanks for that improvement. In recent years, because of conditions with which all persons are famillar, the District féll behind in many mat- ters municipal, but perhaps in nothing else did it fall behind so lamentably as in public school facilities. —_———————— Democrats and the Volstead Act. By all signs, omens and portents the democrats are in for a regular Donnybrook fair of a time when they come to dealing with the near-wet and dry question In their national con- vention. Two factions in the councils and leadership of the party, with op- posing .views on suggesting in the national platform modification of the Volstead act, are facing each other with war in their eyes. “If we do not declare for modification we might as well not go into the campaign” as- serts one faction. ““On the contrary,” says the other, “if we stand for light wine and beer we are beaten before we begin.” How the two factions are matched numerically can only be shown on the roll call on adoption of the platform, for one is now making as much noise as the other. One argument advanced in the heat- ed discussions now going on in the party is that the south, which fur- nishes such a large proportion of votes In the electoral college, is irre- vocably dry, and would not vote for a near-wet candidate or platform in the election. To which it is retorted that the south will have to vote for what- ever candidate and platform are put up—a “case of must.” In addressing their fellow party men, the near-wets take them figuratively up on a high mountain and show them a panorama spread out, which they claim spells victory at the polls—Massachusetts, { Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois and Missouri, which the tempters insist are more than likely to go democratic on a light-wine- and-beer platform. They point to the fact that the New York democrats last fall accepted such a platform without a single dissenting vote in the convention, because the leaders told the delegates that it would assure a great victory. “The democratic swapped its birthright for a mess of votage,” angrily retort the drys, and they go on to say that the rest of the country is not like the northern At- lantic seaboard states on the prohibi- tion question. The bitterness between the factions is markedly intense and growing all the time. The feeling among politicians is that the republi- cans will not deal with prohibition beyond insisting upon law enforce- ment, holding to the bellef that the majority sentiment of the nation as a whole, when it comes to the actual voting, will be against any immediate modification of the law. P Guarding the Civil Service. Many truths were uttered by speak- ers at the recent dinner of the fed- party, then, | eral employes’ unions of the District. A former secretary of the congres- sional joint commission for reclassifi- cation is quoted as saying that civil service employes should be put be- ond the reach of politicians. He also id that “if there is anything wrong with the civil service today 90 per cent s due to the fact that politiclans won't keep their hands off.” The ob- ject of the civil service law was that the service should be removed from politics, and that employes should be beyond the reach of politiclans. The civil service cannot reach its highest efficiency until this is done. There is a general feeling that em. ployment in the civil service should be based on merit and not on patron- age. The civil service law has the support of the great body of Ameri- cans. The country is grateful that there has been a mighty change for the better in public opinion on this subject. It was not many years ago that advocates of spoils for victors were vociferous, and believers in tem- porary terms of employment for gov- ernment clerks were exceedingly nu- merous. We have made long strides since those days when a government clerk considered it unsafe to have any other home in Washington than a boarding house, because a change of administration or a change of repre- sentation of his own district might mean, and usually did mean, the loss of his position. The friends of civil service are right in being on the alert against all snipers at the system. Fear of Germany is reported as making France reluctant to ratify the Washington naval treatles. The friendships France would cement by ratification would arm her thrice. President Harding indorses the home-owning movement, having rea- son to know the value of a personal front porch. “Reds” in the Ruhr may wear green shirts, but that does not make their designs less black. The Fast-Growing City. The expansion program of the Poto- mac Electric Power Company, which calls for spending $4,000,000 during this and next year, presents an object lesson of the growth of Washington, and also illustrates the difficulty which some public service corpora- tions have had and are having to ex- pand facilities that the public may be served. The demand for the extension of electricity and gas for lighting and heating, of telephone service and transportation, has been without prece- dent in the District and contiguous territory. This demand has made it- self equally felt for the extension of streets, street paving, sewers and water mains. That the electric, gas and telephone services have been ex- tended to keep pace with the growing needs of the people has been either because of surpluses in the hands of those utilities or their credit which has given them a market for edditional securities. The difficulty of the Dis- trict government in meeting the de- mend for street paving is notorious, but it seems to have done all that was possible with the funds at its dis- posal. The traction companies have had their own problems, and their own troubles, especially the lines merged to make up the company which un- dertook the policy of ‘developing™ outlying territory by providing trans- portation in advance of the demand. It was a theory that if an electric rail- road were built, giving cheap, quick and easy transportation to and from the center of the city, people would bulld their homes along the line and towns would come into being. The theory was all right. The people built and the towns came, but many of those pionecer lines of railway have had a hard time paying their way and some have never paid. Cost of maintenance and operation mounted to figures which their builders did not foresee and could not have foreseen. The increase of patronage was not proportional with the increase of population, because the auto and the smooth road came to give their serv- fce. Some of these lines when the war came on, and a demand for trans- port came to them which might have made them profitable notwithstanding the jump in operating costs, could not | bring their services to ‘the point of taking care of the increased traffic of- fered. They had a deficit instead of a surplus, and they had no credit on which to borrow money. So many borrowers were bidding “for money that rates on good collateral were ex- ceedingly high, and practically pros hibitive to a railroad whose equip- ment was behind the times and whose operation had never shown a profit. ‘With the aid of the auto Washington has been growing in directions not served by car lines, and in those sec- tions the individual automobile is often supplemented by the auto bus. The street car systems are operating bus lines to serve the public and act as feeders to their track lines. When one contemplates the vast building de- velopment and population growth that are going on in all directions beyond what was a few years ago the outer line of the city, one must realize that on the whole the work of the public | utility corporations in the effort to keep pace has been, under the condi. tions, commendable. ——— President Harding defie the dic- tates of the Florida hotels as to the wearing of evening clothes and ap. pears in comfortable flannels. “‘Prece- dent,” as Swinburne says, “is indeed a King of men.” But as William Pitt once pointed out there are those “greater than the king himself.” —_——— The West Point cadet who attempt- ed to emulate the methods of the young lady from Michigan in develop- ing a record-breaking temperature lacks, to say the least, that quality of initiative essential to a good soldier. ——— ‘There is a threat of a strike of or- ganized musicians up in New York. As the crisis approaches the ringing words of Rufus Choate, “Keep step to | the music of the Union,” are no doubt being quoted throughout Gotham. —_———— Smuggling of Chinese by airpiane shows how much the world has moved upward since the days when negro slaves were run into Canada by the “‘underground” route. ———— Europe is reported as the Pan-American Congress at San-| tiago. Probably in amazement that nations can be neighbors without quarreling. ‘watching” | That Stradivarius which sold for 1,042,235,000 marks is almost in a class with the fiddle Nero played. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON Insubordination. The doctor is a man severe: He fills my breast with quaking fear; And warns me that I'll have to shun Most everything that seems like fun. And yet, and yet, I can't forget I saw him smoke a cigarette! And he has often sipped his tea And likewise coffee! Yes, sirree! In spite of all hig teachings wise He never walks for exercise, And when he dines he has the best, The richest and the daintiest. And yet he somehow seems to be Free from the ills that come to me. I envy him. It must be nice To give instead of take advice. Unterrifled. ‘What'’s de use o' workin’ when de sun is shinin’ bright? What's de use o’ workin’ when de air is warm, jes' right? A-hoein’ of de 'tater and a-plantin’ of de corn. Dey isn’ foh yoh uncle, jes’ as sho as you is born; 'Cause when it comes to living’ right along, I wants to state. Dat de river's full o' fishes an’ de ground is full o' bait. I may not get de honey dat de bee plles up all day, But I'd ruther be a butterfly an’ hab a chance to play; An’ hahd times isn’ gwine to git so far beyond control Dat yoh hasn’ got a chance to cut yohse'f a fishin' pole. So dar ain’ no use to worry an’ com- plain about your fate ‘When de river's full o' fishes an’ de ground is full o’ bait. —_——— The King of Sweden lost his match in the Nice tennis tournament. After the things that other monarchs have lost lately this setback must look to them almost like finding something.— New York Post. ————— One advantage of the short skirt, says the sweet young thing, is the fact that it often impresses the parent with the inadvisability of letting baby walk too early.—Springfield News. In the olden days the brave men crossed the continent. Today they cross streets without looking.—Ashe- ville Times, - {many a bad one’ { “this jmoral movement {to be subject to erdinary WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FRFDERIC There are professions under the sun that the average man wots not of. The 1923 membership list of a Washing- ton club, famed as perhaps the mightiest aggregation of “braine” in the United States, records the following occupations of some of its adherents: Agronomist, astrophysiclst, agrostol- ogist, apiculturist, agricultural ex- plorer, consulting forester, conserva- tionist, clinical psychiatrist, crop technologist, geodetist, geneticist, housing expert, Ichthyologlst, or- chardist, petrologist, professor of farm crops, professor of government, paleontologist, social engineer, soil physicist, topographic engineer and valuation engineer. * ok ok X Daniel Calhoun Roper, former com- missloner of internal revenue and now one of the engineers-in-chief of the McAdoo boom, met “Uncle Joe” Cannon in the Pennsylvania terminal at New York the other night, as botk were allghting from the Congres- sional Limited. “Uncle Joe” was a bit confused by the gloom and the crowds in the station and Roper of- fered his services as guide. Cannon was bound for his hotel room across the He gladly accepted the courtesy and was profuse in his atitude. “Don’t mention " sald per. “Nothing ever gives a demo- at so much pleasure as to put a { republican to siee * ok %k " Andrew W. Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury, is on the first vacation he has indulged himself since he took office, two vears ago this month. Mellon, Hughes and Hoover are the Harding cabinet officers who eschew #uch modern luxuries as vacations and, like many 1 mortals, enjoy them. selves most at work. They happen to be the members of the adminis- tration popularly regarded out among the plain people of the land as the plllars of the Harding regime. Mr. Mellon, in particular, is looked upon as having measured Up to the stature of the greatest Secretaries of the Treasury in the republic’s history. He has left in charge, as Acting Sec- retary, the youngest man who ever occupied the berth since Alexander Hamilton filled it in the years be- tween 1789 and 1793—Seymour Par- ker Gilbert, jr. of New Jersey, who is only twenty-nine yvears old. Gil- Harvard LL. B. cum laude aund has been undersecretary of the Treasury, in charge of fiscal affairs, since July 1, 1921 i Representative and Mrs. Nicholas Longworth will join the grand army of European globe trotters early in WILLIAM WILE the summer. The Cincinnati congress- man has not been abroad for fifteen years, but Mrs. Longworth has vis- ited Europe frequently in that in- terval. Senator Robert L. Owen of Oklahoma, will be another transatlan- tic tourist as summer approaches. He will cover the same ground he did In the winter of 1921-1922, in search of first-hand information on Euro- pean economic affairs, for use during senatorial debates in the Sixty-eighth Congress, * ok X ¥ Politicians of all parties will tell you that “Fighting Bob” La Follette —the man at whom Attorney General Daugherty was tilting in Florida, when he referred to a republican “who is always a candidate”—has hit on two incalculably popular fs- sues in crusading against the prices of gasoline and sugar. With 12,000,000 to 15,000,000 automobliles in the coun- try and sugar in nearly everybody's mouth, a “rabble-rouser” could hard- 1y devise political talking points be: ter designed to bestir the emotions of the proletarlat. Some see astute presidential tactics in La Follette's onslaught against profiteering in gas and sweet stuffs. * ok ok K One of Washington's cleverest and best-liked young diplomats, Michael Kwapiszewski, counselor of the Pol- ish legation, is soon to leave the United States, having been transfer- red to forelgn office service at War- saw. Mr. Kwaplszewski was present at the birth of new Poland's diplo- matie relations with America, having been M. Paderewski's chief of staff in this country in 1917, when the Poles' fortunes were still aspira- tions. Like 80 many diplomats sent to Washington, Mr. Kwapiszewski's wife is an American lady, and, as is the custom among Pollsh women, ends up her surname with an “a.” in- stead of the “1" which distinguishes the male gender in the Polish lan- i guage. Xk Senator Oscar W. Underwood’s friends, who are nowadays constrained not to have his “southern” affillations unduly emphasized, have discovered the fact that he spent many vears in Min- nesota. Moreover, they are remind- ing folks, Underwood is a native of Louisville, Ky. According to the Sen- ator's self-inscribed “Who's Who,” he was admitted to the bar at Birming- ham in 1584, aged twenty-two, %o that if he lived in Knute Nelson's do- main, it must have been in his ‘teens and immediately before he became an adopted son of Alabama. (Copyright, 1923.) EDITORIAL DIGEST Certainly All of the Facts Ought to Be Made Public. The decision of Justi Staley of the New York Supreme Court that the Anti-Saloon League must file an accounting of its activities as a po- litical organization meets with gen- eral commendation in the newspa- pers of the nation. Those who are strongly in favor of the league unite with the opponents in commending publicity, insf can do no harm move unjust cri sm., “The decision itself,” as the Sche- nectady Gazette sees it, “is carefully based on what Justice Staley says is the principle that ‘publicity never hurt a good cause and has destroyed Newspapers have me thing since long before Justice Staley began his ca- reer. Surely, if the Antl loon League collected its money fairly and spent it openly, it has nothing to fear from filing with the state as detailed a statement as any plitical candidate ever tried to avoid. The New York Evening World, however, insists that ruling means the most power- ful single political force in the coun- can no longer masquerade as a too pure and lofty laws. The super-government of the Anti-Saloon League has always carefully con- cealed its sord! side. Not until re- cently have there been even glimpses of the queer financial transactions that take place behind the curtains of this sacred cause. Inside William H. Anderson and the other leaders of the league have struggled desper- ately to keep the curtains down. Bu the hand of the law is stronge The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is m tified why the league so long should have fought publicity, because “no one can Intelligently question its po- litical character. It has played the game of politics, but would not obey the rules. The decision, though be- lated, is wholesome It will be un- welcome, of course, to many of the pay roll beneficiaries, but in as far as its methods and purposes are hon- orable, as the court pointed out, pub- lcity will be helpful to the Anti- Saloon League, as it Is to any worthy cause.” The fact that the Treasury also has ruled the league political in char- acter, in that contributors to lIts revenue cannot deduct such contri- butions in reporting income diverted for charitable purpos emphasizes the importance of Justice Staley’'s de- cision, the Boston Globe insists, be- cause it refutes “the contention of the league that its funds were 8o- licited and expended for purely edu- cational purposes. There seems to be no sound reason why the ruling should not stand. The league s fighting liquor. That is fair enough. When it participates in political prop- IN AFEW WORDS My experience does not furnish a short explicit prescription for keep- ing health and working power till elghty-nine years, but one thing seems highl);(lmportan§, u:de;cz:ll‘l_ L‘-‘l:- cumstances keep as calm as - ture permits—DR. CHARLES W. ELIOT. while it may re- preached this try am not fighting this bill because I am 5 danee all fiend, but I love pinochle, and I am afraid if they suc- ceed in regulating our dancing they might try to regulate our pinochle.— ASSEMBiYMA]\ HUTT (N. Y.). There is no profession which is carried on underlfculch exncémg,“:n:; tating_and mortifying conditio; that go! a politician.—DAVID LLOYD GEORGE. Not every wife is a Lady Macbeth. There are still women who live under the conditions and habits of obeying what their husbands direct—LORD ULLSWATER. Petticoat government may be all R avinced me that womans piace shal convinced me tha is in the home.—MRS. F. H. WARD (Des Lacs, N. D.). Of course, my reception as a singer wasg discouraging, but, then, when Calve first_appeared they stoned her. —GANNA WALSKA. I bar the short frock worn two sea- sons ago, but my contention is that the ekirt some inches above the ankle is the most graceful and universally becoming.—CAPT. MOLYNEAUX (Pa- risian designer). The House of Lords has over 700 members, but there are never more than fifty in attendance. The rest can be found at the race course. In fact, I am there myself most of the time. ~LORD NEWTON, ting that It certainly | §55e aganda to strengthen its cause by placing men In its favor in political office, however, its purely educative function ceases Finally, it Is ex- tremely undemocratic and dangerous that any large and powerful group should be able to solicit funds and expend them, even remotely. in con- nection with elections without being forced to disclose what it is doing with its money The decision good sense, and we assume sound law,” suggests the Indianapolis News in asserting “it is not to be assumed that those who have contributed to the league are ashamed of having 0. It is said the natlonal and various state leagues disburse annu- ally sums of money running into the millions. Where it comes from and what is done with it are most impor- tant questions. It must likewise be remembered in this_very connection, the Detroit Free Press points out, that “no movement which makes its appeal to the American people has more need of agencies whose hands are beyond any suspicion of sofl as has the dry movement. It is making an up-hill fight, o far as public sym- pathy is concerned, and it cannot af- ford to carry a handlcap, no matter how small.” The surprise is that the officials of the league oppose publicit; says the Philadelphia Bulletin, because “there was not the slightest imaginable rea- son why the league shovld have de- clined fo open its books and show its acts. Jts worst troubles and misfor- tunes have been brought upon it by the policy of its representatives in seeking to evade a law which In all common-sense interpretation was di- rectly applicable to it.” “Its methods have been those em- ployed by purely political organiza- tions,” says the Springfield Union, “and the New York decision should serve as a precedent in every state in which the league operates.” Both the pros and the antis in prohibition should be compelied to closely ac- count for every dollar expended, the Chicago Tribune aseerts, because they “are in politics, and while there their methods should be open on both sides.” Warmly praising the accom- plishments of the league, the Peoria Transcript Insists “it has won its spurs in battle. The nation is legally dry. There should be no hesitation in” making public its expenditures This latter position has the unquali- fled approval of the Manchester Union, which in turn argues “it is the leaders rather than the court who should have insisted on complete pub- licity long ago. If they had, there would be no prospective Anderson trial, with all its charges and counter- charges, and with its Inevitable derti- mental influence on the work of this splendid organization.” Withholding this information, the Worcester Tele- gram further says, “would be detri- mental to its reputation for stralght- forwardness and good faith” while, as the Canton News sees it, “if the league uses money to secure the elec- tion or defeat of any person, it should be held to account as a political agency.” Says Writer Confused Identity of Envoys To the Editor of The Star: The gifted pen of the Marquise de Fontenoy has endowed the late Ger- man minister plenipotentiary to Chile with a career unparalleled in the history of diplomacy. The flowered obituary in the Washington Star of March 2 makes him at once the kalser's envoy to Mexico and minister to Chile. It must not be inferred, though, as the marquise powerfully hints, that this doubly honored personage ad- ministered- his Chilean dutles by absent treatment. The colorful nar- rative vividly depicts the minister's activities on the banks of the Rio Grande during the great war. Most unethically, thinks the marquise, culling from fiction arrestingly-in- teresting incidents, the kaiser's min- ister to Chile plotted against the United States from his vantage ground in Mexico. Of the minister's journey to New York and of his sojourn in the me- tropolis in 1919 the marquise gives a convincingly life:like picture. Es- tablished in Berlin after 1919, so the author relates, the German minister to Chile patriotically fostered the trade of his country with Latin Amer: ica. All this, while the recently de- ceased German minister had not set foot outsidé the frontiers of Chile since 1910! The reason for the omnipresence of this accomplished diplomat 1is, however, not far to seek. By one of those not Infrequent slips, the Mar- quise de Fontenoy confused Heinrich von Eckhart, envoy to Mexico, with F‘lrl(.; von uEreklert.m?lerm-n minister plenipotentia; In e. "BUGENE - LOMBARD. ‘Omitted From Roster. Names of Noted Legielative Re- porters Supplied. To the Editor of The Star: In your edition of Sunday, March 18, Mr. W. P. Kennedy, in his inter esting column, “Capitol Sldelights, gave a well deserved eulogy on the Iate Fred Irland, and in doing so called a roster, as it were, of the House official reporting corps, pres- ent and former. He omited a few names I should like to take the liberty of supplying, it you will kindly grant me the space. In mentioning Mr. McElhone and Speaker Samuel J. Randall he quite forgot the name of Andrew Devine, who was a skilled member of the House corps. A close neighbor of Mr. Randall's, he lived on histotric C street southeast, where Mr. Cream- er, the most recent valuable addition to the staff, still maintains a resi- dence. Mr. Devine was a great crony of James G. Blaine, whose brother, Robert Blaine, also lived on C street. Mr. Devine was a brilliant raconteur and had a fund of anecdotes regard- ing Blaine which were most inter- esting. Cotemporaneous with Mr. Devine was Mr. Lord, who, to use the vernacular, could sling a wicked “pot-hook.” Then, there was W. H. Burr and John Edwards, likewlse Daniel B. Lloyd, John H. White, who retired in 1900, and A. C. Welch. These were all tried and tri men, an honor to the shorthand profession. . W. Brown Was Expert. No list is complete without mention of my father, the late David Wolfe Brown, who first served on the Senate reporting staff, and later, an ex- tremely young man, joined the House corps. At that time the really expert shorthand reporters of the country were few and far between. My father, along with Dennis F. Murph recelved instruction from Oliver Dyer, whose name is a shining light in th shorthand world. He died “in harne in 1904, after forty years' service, and the nofebook that fell from his able hand recorded the famous Bourke- Cockran-Dalzell debate. One of the many notebooks that, by the w. recorded the wit, wisdom and folly of almost every man prominent in the olitical history of the United States during the past fifty years! The late Fred Irland, whose recent death is a great blow to the short- hand fraternity, once paid this tribute: ‘Mr. Brown was a co- temporary of that other great re- porter, Dennis F. Murphy. It wa these two men, one for many vears reporter of the United States Senate and the other a member of the House corps, who set the standard of Amer- ican parllamentary reporting so high that the best any one can ever hope to do hereafter is to emulate their attainments.” Becomes Dean. Upon the death of Mr. McE exceedingly well known and cle only an Irishman can hope to b vid Wolfe Brown became de though often lovingly referre “chief.” for, his sgervice w knowledged to bas one of the most brilliant as well #s one of the long {(with the exception of that splendid | veteran. Theodore Shuey of the Sen- ate staff) in this or any country. His fame rests secure without any tribute from my pen, but just let me add that he was an author and edu- cator, having written numerous -es says ‘and text books, which are con sidered classics, and one of which, cience and Art of Phrasemaking,” was used until out of print in the Business High School of this city. Like voung Lochinvar, Fred Irland came out of the west to add new blood to the Hou: corps, and soon proved his intellectual worth and keen ability. At the time of his death he had, through long and faithful 8ervice, fallien heir to the deanship and was carrying on splendidly the old traditions of the corps of official reporters of the House, of which Uncle Joe Cannon has sald: “I doubt if its equal exists elsewhere. No one can do the work unless he is a mas- ter in his profession and, in addition, | brings to the work a broad and thor- ough knowledge of men and things, all of which must be on tap for im- mediate use.” MARY BROW| MESNY. Dollar’s Buying Power Attention Directed to Bill Be- fore House to Stabilize Money. To the Editor of The Star: Apropos of your article, “Fluctu- ating Value of Dollar Is Urged.” i your issue of December 19, 1922, T am writing to express the hope that you will read and quote from what nine experts have said in the hearings be- fore the committee on banking' and currency of the House of Represent- atives on the Goldsborough bill to stabilize the purchasing power of money. In the last passage (page 57) Prof. King estimates that the effect of our unstable dollar in shifting the own- ership of weaith back and forth from one set of persons to another during the last few vears is the equivalent of robberies aggregating forty bil- lions of dollars! You will observe that the propo- nents of this bill include President Kent of the Merchants’ Bank of Pas- | Dr. Wolff of the United} safe, N. J.; States bureau of standards, Mrs. Ran- some, legislative chairman of the American_association of University Women; Dr. Willford I. King of the National Bureau of FEconomic Re- search (the chief authority on income statistics in the United States). All of these. as well as others who ap- peared (Prof. Rogers, Mr. Wells, Mr. Shibley and Mr. Lee), are thoroughly fitted to speak on this subject. T might add that the same plan which is now called by my name was, long before I advocated it, proposed by Simon Newcomb, recognized through- out the world as one of the leading and clearest thinking American sci- entists; Prof. Marshall, the dean of English economists, and Aneurin Wil- ilams, a leading member of parlia- ment. I could add long lists of names of economists, business men, bankers and organizations which have ap- proved the principle of the Golds- borough bill. Those who condemn it as impracticable have, so far as I can find out, never studied it. Its object is simply to do away with inflation and deflation, which cause alternate complaints over the “high cost of 1iving” and the “depression of trade”” This is recognizéd as the crying need, not only of Europe, but America. The Genoa conference passed resolutions demanding _that something should be done to stabilize the value of gold, and the same de- mand has been made by Reginald Me- Kenna, formerly chancellor of the British exchequer and now president of the largest bank in the world—the same man who last fall addressed the American Bankers' Assoclation in New York. In at least three of his annual addresses to shareholders he has_called attention to the urgent need of preventing further inflation or deflation and stabilizing the value both of paper money and gold money. TRVING FISHER. Backs Monument Plan. To the Editor of The Star: Years ago I wrote to The Evening Star that the statue of Gen. Jackson ought to be removed and that of ‘Washington take its place. It is ab- surd to have Jackson surrounded by the four patriots of the revolution. 1 wish our unrest was as easily re- paired as the statue of Washington, e are lacking in concrete work, too many groub# 8ad not enough Amer- 1 SIMON WOLF. CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. COLLINS Gen. Hines, director of the veterans’ bureau, handles the criticisms of the White committee, that there is dan- Rer of overhospitalization of the vet- erans, through building more hos- pitals than needed, or, rather, than will be needed, after the peak of the demand is passed, a few years hence, by saying that the fact that there might be empty beds in New England while there were patients in Arizona does not indicate a surplus. The second Langeley appropriation for hospitals was put by Congress into the hands of the veterans’ bu- reau managers, independent of the White committee. The White com- mittee, controlling the first appro- priation of $15,000,000, was appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury. This committee, according to the v erans’ bureau and the American Le- gion, has persisted from the very b ginning in “paper hospitalization, and ignored the actual needs of the veterans, Director Forbes had that opposition to contend with, and now Gen. Hines meets the same retarding influence. It is most encouraging to the friends of the veterans to find that Gen. Hines faces the issue squarely, and declares that the veterans' bu- reau hospital building plan will be pushed, regardless of the obstruction methods of the White committee. * ok ok ok The result may be that the White committee will delay or wholly stop the further construction of such hos- pitals as it controls, unless President Harding shows the same attitude of sympathy with the needs of the sol- diers as actuates Gen. Hines. In that attitude the American Legion stands committed. The legion fs de- cd to expose and oppose hypoc- 1 pretense of want- ave money to the government, h has already been appropriated Congr with a mandate to use in the ald of disabled and sick veterans. The White committee seems determined to find arguments for not using the appropriation until the peak of the need” will have passed by the death of many needy veterans S0 that there will not be so empty hospitals at last for the g ernment to dispose of. It is dollars, not lives. that interest the learned committ There are few communities which could not take over the hospitals which prove, twenty or forty vears from now, no longer to be required by the world war veterans. The go ernment cheerfully talks of serap- PIng unnceded battleships. Wh then, must the veterans of to suffer negl and inadequate care. [lest in a quarter of a century a few old hospital build find no demand for the: H “The story of hospital construction by the government, judged by actual results, is a tragedy discredit to the government and an < jaffront to the American Legion,” de- clares Col. A. A. Sprague, chairma of the rehabilitation committee of t {legion given out by the Treasury as the to- tal spent by the government o pital construction. which Sec of the Treasury amounts to more than_ $300.000,000. It is claimed 1y Col. Spri that sum includes all that w during the war in France pitals both France and for cantonments. 3 Ye . Sprague, that that ha sted since the war in_ new pitals for the veterans. Instead of $200,000,000, as claimed by Mr. Mellon BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. It seems but the other day tha was recording in these columns marriage of the ninth Earl of De bigh, head of the house of Feild Miss Kathleen Emmet, who cended from a brother of the Iris patriot, Robert Emmet, and is jdaughter of the Id(s Emmet of New York. i a And now of young Thomas Addis Emmet, grandson of the doctor and great- {Ereat-grandnephew of the patriot, to Miss E. Rodd, daughter of Sir Ren- nell Rodd, who was for so many years British ambassador at Rome. Young Tom Emmet took part the great war, Robert Emmet, an officer of the First Life Guards' Regiment, laid down his Iite, and in which their father, Col. Robert Emmet, likewise played a gal- lant role in France under the British flag It is useless to expatiate here on the subject of the Irish house of Emmet, which is so familiar to peo- ple on both sides of the Atlantic and which_figures so largely in the his- tory of Enin. The Rodds. however, well known here, and may be useful to mentio Tom Emmet’s bride has inherited a goodly share of the comely looks for which both her parents hav s been noted, and that she v tually come into the poss considerable share of the ve, fortune of her mother, who was_one of the Guthries of Craigie, in For- farshire, her wealth being derived from the fortune acquired by her father in South Africa. X s While British Ambassador in Italy, S Rennell Rodd was accused in the Ger- man press of practically dominating the Itallan royal family, and in that way also the Itallan government, not only through his own personal charm, but also very largely through Miss Brown, who was the nursery govern- ess of Princess Yolanda, of her sis- ters and of her brother, the crown prince, most of them now grown up. The king and queen of Italy has been, and still are, wrapped up alto- gether in their children, and it was asserted by the German press that Sir Rennell and Miss Brown used to take advantage of the affection en- joyed by the royal youngsters on the part of their parents to sway the latter in the direction of British policies. Much of the resentment of the Germans against Sir Rennell Rodd during the great war and since is due to the fact that he was formerly one of their particular favorities—a man, indeed, who owed his rapid rise largely through 'his intimacy with the reigning house of Prussia. In- deed, Germans formerly expected he would wind up his career as a par- ticularly welcome representative of the British empire at Berlin. 7 i * K K X Sir Rennell, when he first went to Berlin as junior secretary of the em- bassy there, carried with him a warm letter of recommendation from Lord Roseberry to the late Emperor and Empress Frederick. The imperial couple took a great liking to him, and after the tragic death of Em- peror Frederick at Potsdam In the in are mot so it therefore that voung late Dr. Thomas Ad- | | vorabl comes the news from London of the |}¥AO B impending wedding early next month | in which his brother, | i for the sick. a | | ufacturers of committee—the total on h struction since the war | ni: 53, £23,276.03. L] Dr. White, the head of the committee, from Pittsburgh—Mr. Mellon's city. He was appointed by his friend Mellon, and seeks by the propaganda to uphold Mellon's an- tagonism to veteran rellef wherever it costs money out of the Treasury. whether Congress has ordered it or not. e One development of the last White report, advocating a let-up on hos- pital construction, is to reopen ths fight of the American Legion against the White committee, its “father,” Secretary Mellon, and, unless stopped instanter, it cannot fail to hgve w amaging effect upon any sup- port possible from the legion for the Harding _administration, which ad- ministration has not shown prac tic; sympathy at any time with the cau of the veterans. “T don't see why W said one legion official, because he's a friend of Mellon and wanted to make it look as though the Treasury has handled so huge a sum.” ite daid it’ unless 1t is * % % % When the mechanics in releasing the statue from its base tortured Gen. Washington by “roasting” hiy feet, the general lost his head. Tt is one of the rare instances in which that could he said of Washingt but if he had to run for office tod guch .a loss of poise would not rprising. be ek The newspapers are and Sena'tor B ating that part; Mr. voring a sl out weakeni telephone interv, with Prohibiti Commissioner Wheeler, overheard by an eavesdropper, he recommended the quoting Mr h as strongl es are break- ioted as fa- forcement with- ald that in notwithstanding thar are outstanding republicans. His qualification that he insists upon Snforcement without weakening.' It is noticeable. however, that while he admires Senafor Curtis of Kansas the_republican whin of the Senate ex-Senator (now federal judge) Ken yon of Iowa and Senator Shepard of as and several others. who, he would make good democratic he makes no mention of tor Borah of Idaho. Senator Borah, too. thinks the of parties are breaking up and a party may form. yet he does not o! Mr. Bryan as its candidate. “How do the Y B's—Br: Borah—improve each shinin The bees are quite t for this time of vear they do ir flower time? 2 confer, ngton betwe arcotic Control Board and man- drugs, with the view |to laving a foundation for the ca: | to be opened State Department lo control of narcotics April king The 1 byt to world State De- Col. Sprague challenges the fizures | partment will open diplomatic nego- tions with other n to make an tions and seel nternational agreemnet of co-operation in fighting the evil which is the greatest menace now confronting men It is required that the manufac {turers attending this conference wiil agree to abide by the federal regula- tions concerning the importation of narcotic drugs. Only such quantities as are needed for medicinal purposes will be permitted to be imported That will make it easier to concen- attention upon the narcotic by P. V. Colling Father of Miss Rodd, Bride-to-Be, Has Had Varied Diplomatic Career writing a mono fated ruler who lives ory under the name of Rodd_produced the most charmi and altogether sym pathetic portrait of that unhapps sovereign that has ever appeared. It as printed in several roceeds being devoted to chari- 8 iated by the imperial The book served to com- author to the extremely fa- attention of Queen Victoria been profoundly attached to Gérman son-in-law, and from t time forth Rennell Rodd's proy motion in the diplomatic service was very rapid Todd became one of Lord Cromer's principal lleutenants in Egypt; was under fire during the insurrection i Zanzibar which culminated in his driving out the usurper and in his establishment_of the late sultan upon the throne. Then he was designated by the late Lord Salisbury to head the remarkable special embassy to the court of Ab; infa, which at- tracted no end of attention among the warrfors of the Negus by the immense stature of the members of the mission, all of them being con- siderably over six feet in height three of them, indeed, exceeding six feet four. mend th * ok ok x Sir Rennell’s next post was that of minister plenipotentiary at Stock- holm, and from there he was pro- moted to the post of ambassador at Rome, where, until his retirement, not long ago, he enjoved a salary of $40,000, the possession of a palace in the Via Vent! Settembre, magnifi- cently furnished and equipped with evervthing necessary, Including a $30.000 service of sflver plate and a large and beautiful garden. There was also at Sir Rennell's disposal a beautiful villa with spacious ground, at Posilipo, in the suburbs of Naples, on the water's edge, and which. be- longing for many vears to Lord Rose- berry, was presented by him to the English government for use as a villegiatura for its ambassador at Rome, Sir Rennell has been only once in America, namely, in 1908, when he came over here 'in connection with the American publication of his books and the guest throughout the greater party of his stay of the for- mer Secretary of the Navy, George von L. Meyer and Mrs. Meyer, whom he had known at Rome. His books include at least half a dozen volumes of verse, a monograph on Sir Wal- ter Raleigh and a very remarkable work on the “Princes of Ach, the material of which he gathered while attached as a young man to the British legation at Athens. * Kk x x The princes of Achaia were those Norman, Provencal and English knights and nobles taking part In the various crusades, who settled®down in Greece, especially in Morea, Epirug and Albania, Instead of returning home, building stately castles, ac- cording to fashion, then prevalling in the west of Europe, thus trans- planting to the east the existence of the feudal barons of the occldent. For two centuries they flourished, playing an active role in the affalr of that corner of the world, influ- encing local art and literature. But eventually nearly all of them died out. Many picturesque ruins of their castles and strongholds, however, re- main. But even the very existence of their former owners was forgotten allke by the people of the country, by students and by novelists, until Sir Rennell Rodd took the trouble to peer into this so long forgotte aftermath of the crusades and U summer of 1888 his English widow | ring to light some of the most fas- confided to young Rodd the extreme- cinating romances of. history. languages, ,