Evening Star Newspaper, April 24, 1923, Page 6

durance of Shakespeare, and for the prospect that his plays will continue during centuries to come to be the favorites of thoughtful men and lovers of the beautiful. One is that they are close to perfeetion in form, and the 'HE EVENING STAR, With Sunday Morning Editon. WASHINGION, D. C. TUESDAY........April 24, 1823 THEODORE W. NOYES........Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office 150 Nassau St. Chicago Office: Tower Building. Turopean Oftice: 16 Regent 8t., London, Eugland. Tie Evening Star, with the Sunday morning wdition, Is delivered by carrlers within the cits 1 60 conts per month; daily only, 45 cents per mionth; Sunday only, 20 cents per month. Or- sent by ‘mail, ot telephone Maln Collection fs made by carriers ut the eud of cach month. Late by Mail—Payable in Advance. | Maryland and Virginia. e $a)ly and Sunday..lyr., $3.40: 1 mo., ;BC Dally only, 1y $6 1L 500 Sunday only... .1y o All Other States. unday..1yr., $10.0 Syr $70 s 1yr., $3.00;1mo. 1 Dafle and i Dafly onl; Sunday only. Member of the Associated Press. | Tie Associatad Press is exclnsively entitled t0 thie ke for republication of il news dis- patebes credited to it or not otherwise eredited T (s fuaper and also the local mews pub. Yished herein, Al) vights of publication of | apecial dispatches hereln are alse reserved. < e — Courageous Leadership. cequired moral and political cour- of @ high order for President| ding. face of threats and dire forebodings by leaders of his own party. to make the speech he did toda: in New York at the annual luncheon of the Associated Pr But if it was evidence of political courage, it wi so of political wisdom. The | n people have always admired | d vesponded to courageous leader- and ey are to be won to sup- | port of the proposal for membership | n the Court of Ju it.will be by just such bold and logical | ident. | a review of party history and his Harding cuts the under those who charge him with inconsistency in ting membership after | having opposed membership in the | league of nations. Not only does he show that the republican party has a consistent advocate of the ad-| Judication of disputes between nations, Lut he quotes his own speeches. made he was a .candidate for the presidency. in support of the policy he now is pursuing as incumbent of that office. If an; is guilty of incon sistency in the matter of the interna-| Warren G, Hard- | It of in the evidence Americ ~hip, International championship as that of the Pr B own utterances Mr zround completely from advoc court heer | when tional court it is ng. Af ciearing up the record as to party consistency. and personal 3 :he-} President proceeds to slay the buga- ! Boo of league membership and entan- | giement in European politics. He demonstrates that the way is clear to! enter the court without entering the | league by any door whatsoever, the proposed Hughes reservations making | assurance doubly sure that it would not mean her seeking Denefits | from the league or assuming obliga- *ions under it. And as for Buropean sntanglements. he bluntly asserts that | even should the Senate consent to an agreement which involved us in such entanglements he, as President, would #xercise his powbr of veto to prevent its becoming effective. He concedes that the world court may not be perfect, but he argues that “we can do vastly mora to perfect it | in the capacity of an adherent than| in an aloofness in which we arrogate 10 ourselves the right to say to the world that we dictate but never com- Py Certainly the President voices the thought and best aspirations of Amer- ica when he says: I have indulged the dream, nay. a justified hope, that out of the encour- ged and sustained court might come the fulfillment of larger aspirations. In the proof of its utility and a spirit of concord amons nations might come the voluntary conference of nations. out of which could be expected a clarified and codified international 1aw to further assure peace under the lJaw and bring nations that under- tanding which is ever the first and est zuarantor of peace. Chauncey M., Depew. Tt must be a finc thing to have a whole city celgbrate your birthday, the Associated Press carry half a lumn abéut it for publication #aroughout the country and to be con- yratulated by Presidents and kings. This was the experience of Chauncey M. Depew vesterday upon the eighty- ninth anniversary of his birth. The Depew birthday has for many years heen an event in New York city, as the statesman, orator, wit, financier and philosopher added another year 10 the toll of his longevity and then cast it off with a smile, declaring it | no burden at all. Tt is the spirit of the man that the public rejoices in: the undiminished enthusiasm in life, the zest in living: the sane. normal doctrines to govern cvery.day existence which he preaches and practices. He stands as a living monument to the efficacy of them. He is the human embodiment of a sermon and @ moral. When a man on the threshold of the nineties can say that the eighties are a wonderful decade, hut that he looks forward to the nine- ties with relish, he furnishes proof of what he preaches. Happily he promises to’continue to make speeches for our delectation and enjoyment. He has only twelve pub- Jished volumes now. It were happy it he will compile enough to fill @ three- foot bookshelf. May you live long and prosper, Mr. Depew. You have a good running start. ———— Josephus Daniels came back to Washington for a visit. Perhaps he was checking up on the five-five-three razio and the one-half of 1 per cent. Shakespeare. While the precise date of the birth «of Willlam Shakespeare s undeter- mined, it {s generally accepted that it was on the 234 of April, 1564, that he saw the light of day at Stratford- on-Avon in Hngland, The year is Jnown, but the specific day is some- what vague, Agreemant, however, has ‘been effected sufficlently to establish this aw the natal day of the greatest dramatist of the English language. Now, 369 years later, his works are heing produced not only in his native Jinglish, but in other languages. The japss of time has not dimmed his suster or lessened his appeal to the Human understanding. ‘There are two reasons for the en- } companie; { ficing to carry the thir other that chey express universal emotion. . From time to time it would seem that the stage is neglecting Shake- speare, that his plays have been shelved. Then, when public hope is dimming, there comes a révival. Per- haps a new star develops in the dramatic firmament, a man or a wom- an capable of adequately portraying one or more of the great characters in the Shakespearean repertoire. A producer comes forward with the means to stage the ‘‘revival,” and then another period opens with the great name written frequently upon the bills. Continually. however, whatever the fluctuations in the metropolitan | { dramatic market, Shakespeare i3 being played throughout the land by minor being studied by groups and acféd by ambitious amateurs. In the great revivals there is a tendency at times toward overelabora- tion, appeals to the eye|to camouflage inadequuacies of acting. But publi taste in matters Shakespearean is too high to permit such efforts to succeed. The plays are too well known, the standards are too definitely fixed, to allow « mere picture to sufice. It is gratifying that in the latest Shake- spearcan production in this cif Just not only was the picture but the rendition was ar witnessed, beautiful, tistic. Americun audiences do not tire of Shal, through repetition. The more familiar they become with the iines the more they enjoy the perform- ances, provided they are adequate. The very familiarly of the lines is a delight. Constant study of the text does not lessen the hold of the play upon the public sympathy and appreciation. This is because it is the greatest dramutic text ever written spear Fires and Water Supply. A vivid illustration of the absurdity of doling out District money fer municipal improvements in inadequate amounts from session to session is af- forded by the shortage of water in the Brookland region incident to the great lumber yard fire of Sunday morning. It was necessary, to subdue the flames, to pour an immense quantity of water upon them. Many steamers were in use for a number of hours, and in sequence the mains in this region were almost completely drained. The re apparatus was inadequately sup- plied, and a wide area of residences was deprived of water service Sunday morning and for the greater part of the day. Had the recommendation made by the Commissioners five years ago for appropriation for a thirty-inch main in Rhode Island avenue been sranted promptly this condition would have been averted. But it was not until the past session that the item was allowed, and then in a much smaller sum than the conditions re- quired. An appropriation will become available July 1 next, suf- y-inch main barely past the point of Sunday morn- ing's fire. Lvery drop of water pumped at a fire i this District must come from the filtration plant through the ordi- nary city mains. In case of a large blaze lasting several hours, and calling for a great volume of water, the city supply is dangerously depleted. It was proposed a long time ago to es- tablish a high-pressure system for the downtbwn section, supplied with water from the river, which is just as ef- fective for fire extinguishment as fil- tered water, and much less expensive. Despite repeated demonstrations of this need Congress has refused to make the necessary appropriation, and the cost has meanwhile risen high above the original estimate. Of course, the proposed high-pres- sure system for the business area would not reach into the outer resi- dential territory, but it is plain from Sunday morning's fire that there are centers of fire danger apart from the business section that might well be included in such a service. A lumber yard is necessarily a danger point of this character. In view of the known risks that are run daily in this District from the possible lack of water in the ordinary service mains to cope with a large fire and of a shortage in the supply for the essential of household use this case of Sunday's blaze should be cited to Congress at the next session in strongest terms as an argument for immediate provision on a large scale of water main extension and high-pressure installation. ————————— Rev. Dr. Percy Stickney &rant makes a bookstall of the porch of his church. Seems as though somebody once chased out of a place of worship some people who were doing some- thing like that. Perhape, however, Dr. Grant does not belleve the story, so that makes it all right. ——— ‘Wonder what Judge Anna Gluzman of Moscow, Russia, who condemned seven men to death at one time for robbery, would do to some of these American husband-shooters —_———————— Never again,” states a girl “mare- thon dancer.” The anclent Greek runner felt the same way, and that is about the only similarity between the two. on “The Dangerous Age.” It 18 an interesting thought, ex- pressed by Dr. Vernon Kellogg of the National Research Council, that sclefitists pass through a “dangerous age” just after they have completed their work for a docter’s degree. The world has become habituated to the thought of a “‘dangerous age” in sex life, but has not given due considera- tion to tha fact that there are other dangerous ages as well, s Bpeaking before the American Geo- physical L'n(lun, recently in sesaion here, Dr. Kellogg declared that there are two avenues usually open te the man who has just acquired his docter’s degree—he can go inte one of the in- dustrial research lahoratories, or can become an instructor in seme coll or university. Foy the main thing is that he must earn his own living. Now the time has gone by when he can live in the academic shades without of $96,000 ¢ ! i | i { i | THE EVENING STAR,l WASHINGTO! ter. Bread and butter is necessary. n‘ pure science musly be sacrificed, then pure science muyst suffer. Selecting certain qualified men, the National Research Council is helping carry. these scientists through this “‘dangerous period” by allowing them to work some few more years upon research work, untrammeled by the requirements of some industrial con- cern, or by the taxing exactitudes of classroom teaching or, marking of examination papers, Research fellowshipsm are granted the selected ones, so that each man gets between $1,800 to $3,500 a year, depending upon his status as a bach- elor or married man. Even science must bow to this. But then, with a living provided, the man is free to de- vote his entire time to research. There has always been a dispute about the relative value of ‘“‘pure science” and practical science. with the decision more and more coming to rest upon the value of each branch. Modern chemistry has wrought some wonders that affect the life of all. Yet the man who worked upon his dream of a_*“talking bottle” at last achieved the radio ‘itube,” which has turned into a tremendous commercial possi- bility. Today's radio-receiving stations stand as a tribute to “pure” science, showing what may come out of a man's dream of a bottle that talks. “Pure science” and practical science are almost one and the same thing, although at times they may seem very far apart. It ix good for America that some men will have the oppor- tunity of working away at their dreams, although they may not seem to be leading anywhere. No one can say, looking at a scientist delving into his mysteries, whether or not what he is doing will lead to something “big" or not. One may have his opin- ion, but that is all. Members of Con- gress and other ‘“‘practical men” at times are wont to speak lightly of the “grubbing scientist,” and sometime are inclined to laugh at the man who spends his years counting the num- ber of hairs on a flea’s legs. Yet from the work of such grubbers after the truth have come some of the great wonders of this age, and some of the largest commercial successes. It s a good thing the National Research Couneil is doing with its research scholarships, helping scientists over their “dangerous age.”” The only drawback to it all is that there is a simflar dangerous time for many men, and there is no benevolent council to stand behind then D — Centuries ago a hpsiery manufac turer got a terrific reproof for vffering | the then Queen of Spain & pair of silk stockings. Last Sunday a Madrid priest preached a sermon stating that the dress of the queen and the ladies of the court is immoral, and hung in front of his pulpit pictures of them to prove it. The world do move. —_———— Refusal of their request for elevator in Faneuil stouter members of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery of Boston to con- tinue to puff their way up to their armory, but saves that historic build- ing from a shocking anachronism. —_———— Soviet_third-degree methods, report- ed from Moscow in the case of Dr. Tikhon. the church dignitary accused of crime, suggest that the bolshevists have invented no new forms of tor- ture, but are content to be elementary in their cruelties —_——— A noted European painter declares that in twenty-five years of art work he has never seen a perfect model or 2 really pretty woman. rough on his past subjects, but it will probably bring new patrons bent on meeting his standard. —_———— The Sultan of Turkey's beard has reached the proper length for blessing. The once-bobbed hair of some flappers seems to the owners to have reached the age for the opposite process. an Yesterday was Shakespeare's birth- day. Too bad he is not alive today to watch us “say it with tickets.” Official approval of the one-man cars will not necessarily put Washington in the class of one-horse towns. Spring in this locality has been of the “offagain-on-again” variety this year. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSOX 1 As Time Passes. Truth is stranger than fiction—you've heard it of yore. I once knew a youngster so small His presence I'd scarcely take note of before, I forgot he existed at all: And now he has grown to be taller than me, o And a certain respect is his due. Since he's manly and honest and frank as can be. It's exceedingly true. strange, but it's The acorn 1s nothing at all like the oak, And the grub from the moth differs far, ‘. I looked on him once as & bit of a joke. How sadly mistaken we are! I envy his earnestness, also his mirth, And I know that he thinks I ém due To make room for him and get off the earth! The things that seem strangest are true! A Call Hey! You with the downcast eye, And yeu with the glistening tear, And you with the faint, regretful sigh, And you with the icy sneer! Don't you know that the sky is smil- ing And the flowers are out in bloom, And the world is bent on begulling Each heart from the haunts of gloom? 4 Ang you with the bitter word— More bitter, perhape, if wise— How many a mind is to envy stirred By your fortunes which you despise! There is always some chap whose grieving, 1If his grief were only known, ‘Wauld bid you to its relieving ~ thinking much of his bread and but-| . And help you forget your ows. Hall forces the| This is rather | Ihas just heen N, D. ., TUESDAY, 'APRIL 24, 1923. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE More than meets the eye may be discerned in the announcement that Senator and Mrs. McCormick took luncheon at the White House the other day with the President and Mrs. Harding. Elimination of Willlam Hale Thompson in Chicago has pade Medill Mgiormick practically the un- crowned king of Illinois G. O. P. poli- tics. Probably no republican member of the Senute comes so near to being an absolute “boss” In his own state. Twenty out of twenty-five Cook county republican committeemen, and some fifty out of sixty down-state committeemen are sald to have sworn undying fealty to McCormick's leader- ship. The Illinois delegation at the 1924 national convention is likely to be completely under the young senator’s domination. With fifty-elght votes at this command, McCormick will be a {factor to he reckoned with, com- parable only to the leader who con- trols the delegations from New York or Pennsylvania. Incidentally, there's no man in the United States so inti- mately in touch with “abroad.” McCormick's weekly mail frequently is burdened with communications from some European prime minister, member of parliament, world-famed scientist or international celebrity in another realm, & ok % Young Americans, men or women, ambitious to shine in the diplomatic career should turn up for examina- tion at the, State Department during the week of July 9. They must be strong of mind, and, like a good horse sound in wind and limb, as well. The lexamination consists of three parts— | written, oral and physical. Six sub- | jects are included in the written tests— international law; diplomatic usage; French, German or Spanish; natural, industrial and commercial resources and commerce of the United States; American history, government, and institutions: modern history (since 1850) of Europe, ca and the far east. The oral examination is for the purpose of determining to what extent candidates possess the peculiar qualifications _essential to diplomatic success. The physical examination by government surgeons. is to determine the fitness of candi- dates to live in any climate. * ook o Secretury Weeks is gratified the country's response to his crusade against pacifism and its mollycoddle minfone. From to coast his warnings against the false teachings of anti-preparcdness zealots have | aroused commendatory comment. Mr. | Weeks is satisfied that the“men and women who would “prevent war” by making America defenseless will have hard sledding in the future when they try to propagandize. During recent times various personages and organi- zations at one time “afMliated” with the pacifilst clique have withdrawn their names and support. Secretary Weeks' red-blooded attack is likely to lead to other defections. Millions of vatriotic and right-minded Americans have been “afliliated” with the pacifist movement against their knowledge or | intent. over coast * % x % upon at- | the recent | Insistence b taching a the Senate “ride; to BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. As in the case of the United States, the commission of the senate on for- eign relations in France exercises a very important role in the direction and control of her international poli- {cles—more so indeed than the for- {eign relations committee of the American Senate. For, whereas the minister actually in charge of the | direction of these policies over here— jthat is to say, the Secretary of State—is responsible only to the i President, the minister of foreign af- | fairs in Paris, who happens to be also tha premier, is responsible, where in- ternational policles are concerned, to j the national legislature, and more es- pecially to its permanent committees jon foreign affairs. In fact, the min- ister in question and the entire cab- inet are dependent for their existence and for their continuance in office upon the approval of the legislature, which can upset them overnight and drive them from power. * ¥ ok ¥ It is worthy, therefore, of attention lon this side of the Atlantic that M. Justin de Selves. senator of the de- partment of Tarn-et-Garonne and knight grand cross of the Legion of Honor, also happily married to an American wife in the person of the former Miss Garrison of New York, elected to the chair- manship of the commission of the French senate on forelgn affairs. De Selves is a very distinguished-looking man and a nephew of the DW non- agenarian, Charles de Freycinet, who has during the last half century held cabinet office more often than any French statesman now living. In fact, de Selves shares much of his venerable uncle's suavity, kindliness of character and utter freedom from official arrogance. Not but what he has a temper and | strong prejudices in which also hel resembles his uncle. + Thus, when Georges Clemenceau returned last winter from his tour in America, he went to pay & call upon de Freycinet, with whom he had co-operated and with whom he had sometimes fought homeric battles, but always for the welfare and in behalf of what each of them believed to ba the best in- terests of their beloved country, The meeting between thems two old vet- erans of 1870 was of the most cor- dial and even affectionate descrip- tlon. De Freycinet was much touched by the attentfon on the part of Clemenceau in coming to eall on him and to tell him all about his trip to the United States. The interview lasted abput two hours, but before they got through, differences of opinion cropped up. Hach lost his temper, and began shouting at one another, and finally matters reached such a pass that Clemenceau had to be led out. of the room' by relatives of de Freycinet, who, shaking his fist at Clemenceau, insisting that he never wanted to see him again, while Clemenceau equally excited. maintained loudly and an- grily that De Freycinet was in his | | fane e o tolithol eche LI S i sl o Senate Commission Chairman Looms Large in French Foreign Relations dotage, which is very far from being the case. ok ok ¥ With De Selves, the mere mention of the name of ex-Premier Joseph Calllaux is enough to make him see red, and to lose every vestige of equanimity. He cannot forget how when he was filling the role of min- ister of foreign affairs before the great war, Caillaux, then premier, took upon himself to pursue a foreign policy on his own account, diame- American-Canadian halibut fisherie! treaty is causing a first-class rumpus among the deminions of the British émpire. The Senate proposed, and Canada accepted, a clause afirming that the treaty applied ‘to nationals of all parts of the British empire. As the pact was signed by M. Lapointe, the Canadian minister of marine, and not by Sir Auckland Geddes, the Brit- ish ambassador. other “daughter states” of Britannia are by no means readv to recnwnize Canada's richt fo legfelate in their nama " The onnosi- tion rarty in the Canadian parliament, | ted by the former nremicr, Arthur Maichen, s attacking the treatv, which has not vet heen ratified at Ottawa. Premier Rricé of Anstralia wants to know “whether ("fanada’e tion means that G=eat Rritain will in future he recnonsibla for whataver one of its dominions doee” He added: “In anv event. the porition created is more seriaus thar annears an the sur- face’ There will he a British im- nerial conference in Tandon thiz fall, and the humble halibut is likely to bulk big in its deliberations. * Kk ok * Dr. Wiihelm Kiesselbach, Ger- many's representative on the Ameri- can-German mixetl claims commis- sion, together with his ecollaborators, Herr von Lewinski and Herr Kiep, have just returned from Berlin. They have been abroad for two months in consultation with their home govern- ment over the | on-dollar claims America fs about to file against Ger- many. The members of the mixed commission will meet at once with a view to settinz a date for the heein- ning of hearings. The month of May 1 find theae full swing. The 50.000,000-0d German held by the al ropertv custodian 1 pledee” for the pay- ment of adjudicated claims. * ok ok ok head of famed Scotland Yard, Gen. Sir Willlam Harwood, K. C. B, D. & O, will arrive in Amer- ica in a day or two on a special mis- sion from the British government. His official rank and title is that of chief commissioner of the British metropolitan police. He will be formally welcomed to the country at a dinner in his honor on the evening of April 30, tendered by the Pilgrims of the Unlted States. Chauncey M. Depew, president of the Pilgrims, will inaugurate his ninetieth year by pre- siding at the dinner as toastmaster. The veteran jokesmith's voice is still sonorous and his wit unstaled o ok % in The new Representative lsrael M. Foster of Ohio 19 the proud possessor of a gold watch, presented by the young woman residents of government hotel X-Y. The gift is a token of their uppre- ciation of Mr. Foster's services in s curing u “reprieve” for Mrs. Jesta M. Richards, who was discharged as manager of the hotel on March 15, but who has been given a chance for reinstatement on June 1. Mrs Richards i3 immensely popular with the X-Y household. She hails from Representative Foster's ome town of Athens, and her case seemed hopeless until the congressman cleared for action. Foster has carried a time piece of civil-war vintage, so the girls’ modern substitute was a wel- come remembrance. (Copyright, 1 trically opposed to that of the admin- istration. and to that of the minister of foreign affairs actually employing secret agents of his own at Berlin, at adrid and in other capitals, working in underhand opposition to che duly aceredited ambassadors of France. The result was that there was a | regular mixup. both as regards the attitude of France towards Germany in connection with west Africa and with Spain in the matter of her oc- cupation of Larache and Alcazar in Morocco. Matters finally came to such a pitch that De Selves publicly apostrophized Caillaux as a liar, and as an intriguer with foreign financiers against the interests of France, the result being that the ministry was driven out of office, Caillaux with a sinister reputation’ and De Selves with his honor absolutely intact and above reproach, but blamed for lack of perspicacity in permitting nego- tiatlons such as those of ex-Premier Caillaux, to be carried on in foreign capitals without the cognizance or knowledge of the department of for- eign affairs on the Quai d'Orsay, of which he was the chief. % Naturally, the trial of ex-Premier Caillaux, some years later. by the senate for high treason, must have been gratifying-to De Selves, and re- garded by him as fitting retribution, and he was among those who voted i favor of the imposition of the stigm of felony upon the ex-premier, who is still deprived of his civic rights and compelled by the police to confine his comings and goings to a certuin re- stricted region, and t. vi from Paris. e * x ¥ % If Charles de Freycinet was min- Ister of war of the Tours govern- ment in the Franco-German war of 1870-1871, and organized those new armies from thence for the continu- ance of the resistance to the enemy, his nephew, Justin de Selves, acquired distinction on the various battle- flelds as a captain of the so-calied Mobiles, who furnished the rank and file of de Freycinet's new armies. | When the fighting ceased he made himself very useful to the provisional government at Bordeaux, and then was appointed, first of all, as deputy governor and’ afterward as prefect or governor of a successive number of provincial departments. In 1890 his uncle, de Freycinet, then premier, in- trusted him with the cabinet office of director of posts, telegraphs and telephones, and it may be recalled that he presided with considerable abllity’ and success over the epoch- making international postal and tele- graph congress, which took place in Paris during the closing decade of the last century. Then he was appointed prefect of the Seine—that is to say, civil gov- ernor—not only of the capital, but also of the entire- metropolitan region an office which he held for sixteen years, As such it was his duty to reconcile the views of the national government, of which he was the metropolitan executive, with those of the various metropolitan mayors and of the municipal council of th capital. The mayors have mostly been soclalists, and that, too, was the case with the majority of the mu- nicipal council. The result was, and still is, that the national govern, ment and the city dignataries are al. most constantly at loggerheads, and it is up to the prefect of the Seine to keep a semblance of peace between them. He also has to welcome of- flolally, in the name of the city, all foreign monarchs and rulers and royal and imperial personages visit- ng " the French capital, So that When, before the grest war, he be- came minister of foreign affaire there was not & ruler {n Hurepe whose personal acquaintance and good will he did not enjoy, IN A FEW WORDS. . The league has been the foot ball of American politicians. Now the question is are our United States cenators going to be in our hand: i to be in theirs? LERS LAJDLO’ Women can play ball as well as men.. There i# no reason why some sturdy girl with a keen batting eye could not outdo Babe Ruth's hom NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM MUMBO JUMBO. Henry Clews, jr. Bonl & Liveright. Mumbo Jumbo s the god of hum- bug. Humbug is the essence of de- mocracy. This, at any rate, is the way Henry Clews, jr. has figured it out. It is upon such calculations that he has built “Mumbo Jumbo," a comedy of universal humbuggery. Not one play, however, nor even a dozen of them, could contain the feelings and opinions of Mr. Clew on the subject of modern democratic decadence. Therefore, to meet a very real need for means of adequate axpression he has adopted the Shavian literary device of the long preface. Here he has given himself room to | spread his theme out to its full ex- tent. Here he finds himself able to shake it and beat and bedevil it gen- erally, without hindrance, in behalf of personal casement and public ad- monition. cientists say that the records show an average of twelve earthquakes a day.” That may be a cosmopolitan endurance dance of Mother Earth, but there is a better explanation. An international scientist, Wwho studies the aura and vibrations as they affect the human mind, states that vibrations will end the divorce evil—and so maybe that is what the world Is up to. This authority is no less than Baron Eugene Fersen, who has been lecturing at the City Club, Washington. He is quite handsome, but persists in remaining a bachelor. It 15 the duty of some young and charming Washingtonian Cleopatra to catch him and shake him real hard. Vary the shakes so as to be sure to strike the right vibrations. Tune| him with the right rythm and he will eat out of her hand. Like medi- cine, all bachelors are “to be shaken before taken.” What they lack is vi- brations—or earthquakes. ‘ *HE. | Financial experts are warning business men against the temptation of overexpansion of enterprise. La- bor is doing more than warn in the building trades, for it is expanding its own wages to such an extent that bullding contractors are bound to hesitate in planning broad building programs. Throughout the country skilled mechanics are demanding $1.25 and hour. Bricklayers, n some places, are getting $1.50 an hour, with bonuses on the weekly pay above the hourly rate as high as $10 extra. The value of all existing buildings keeps pace with the cost of repro- ducing similar buildings, so the higher the wages, the greater the valuation of present homes. * % The play itseif is a fantastio affair that centers, finally, fn the inmates and activities of a sanatorfum— replica in miniature, one takes it. of this modern madhouse of a world. ‘The gates of this institution are for- ever on the hinge to admit another, and another, arfd another—each land- ed on the offside of sanity through the delusions and hypocrisies and rivalries and disappointments of a state founded on the affirmation that all men are created equal. And there are fashions in lunacy, it appears, as well as in all other human fnterests No longer does Buddha reflesh him- self in these possessed people, nor Confucius, nor Mahomet, nor Jesus; no longer Alexander, nor Caesar, nor Napoleon—leaders all. TInstead, the prepossessions of this place are those of notorious communists, pacifists, anarchists, bolshevists. The entrants here come happy in the belief that they are Charllie Chanlins and Mary Pickfods, ~Carpentiers and Demp- seys, messy futurist painters and messier free versifiers, occultists, feminists. If the book had held off a week longer we should have seen, without a doubt, marathon dancers shuffiing and shimmying through the gates of this retreat for the moron The index price of food fell & cents last week, but its “dull thud” was hardly noticeable in the midst of the efforts to pay the retail price What | had been costing $3.39 for a pound | each of thirty-one articles of food dropped to $2.26 Perhaps the ftems one really eats were the ones which went up, while the things we don't care for did all the falling. (Pessi- mist!) o | Kok ok ok Sometimes fate seems (0 tempt ca- lamity. It was such a c s when the Daughters of the American Revo- lution hesitated to declare an emer- and the half-baked generally. geney and suspend their rules, so as Ngaln. atter ine shion ot Stiaw |t° reintroduce and pass resolutions | and somewhat 1h the maamer ot tne|Feitersting the moclety’s bicking of old play, characters here are intro- | the Poliey of natlonal preparedness duced in elaborate consideration. Tor|for war. Such a resolution had been | instance, “John Brown—later known |introduced early in the session nm; as Mervyn “Tall, slender, his hair {Teferred to the committee on reso- Jonz and straight, in the way op|lutions. The committee did not re- voung artists. He has the &lo port out the resolu and the ex- | Yague movements of the somnampbu. | Dlanation was made that the society | list. With long. slender hands and |had gone on record last vear as fa feet, small mouth and ears. diminu- | VOTINng preparedness, and therefore tive teeth and scanty beard. he has another such resolution this year all the characteristics of n declining | Would he superfluous | aristocracy of the past—for the ef- | The daily press commented on the fete, newspapered, so-called aris action as indicating a weakening of racy of today is o intermarried with ] the D. A. R, stand on preparedness, millionaire hutcher. grocer, pork. |especially as the resolution specific- packer and Jew that it' has become |&lly indorsed the position of Secre- degenerate, not from overrefinement, | 1ary of War Weeks, in combating the but rather from overcrassness, and |Protests of pacifist women. more often than not outporks pork- packer in hog-wallowing vulgarity.” | “Mervyn is art, weakened, corrupted. diseased, degenerated and driven mad by democracy, science and power ma- chinery, which have turned the studio into pubHeity Bureau,” and so on and so on. The presentation of the characters you see, not only presents them, but it at the same fime restates the au- thor's theme of modern democratic degeneracy, and. again, it provides something of a vent for his own sur- charged feelings of resentment and rebellion. TInteresting and illuminat- ing. this procession of the personages of the drama. One laughs over the antics of these actors. They are mad as March hares. all of them, as mad as a fluent and offended author can make them. Savagely he parades them in their silliness and vulgarities and insincerities. And one does laugh, not at the wit, for it is hardly wit— rather. a broad-footed. square-step- ping humor, with a sharp pebble in its hoot. If one. however, feels dis. posed to contend that this is wit. he must admit that it works through blows, not by thrusts—the meat-ax rather than the rapier. B One wonders how Henry Clew: Jr. got that way. Right here the | long preface comes forward in ex-| planation. Tt turns out from this| that Mr. Clews is both an individual- | ist and an aristocrat. Now his brand | of individualism is not that defined and advocated in Herbert Hoover's “Amerioan Individualism.” This, vou | recall. is friendly and encouraging to the per<onal ambition and initia- ative of every man under a thousand rights conferred bv ror renpubliean form of government. The kind that Mr. Clews indorses of Enronean errige, monarchical and political. Here ' only the exclusive higher orders are capable of preserving and nerpetuating the fine flower of civi- lization. The business of the man of vou and me—is to look after the huze bulk of necessities reauired not only by ourselves. hut by those hich the rules were suspended and the indorsement was overwhelmingly | passed. If that had not happened. the society would have lost prestige immeasurably throughout the coun- try, and not realized the extent of its loss until the delegates had reached their homes. Now it stands clear and proudly ‘the foremost patriotic society in the country. It asks noth- ing for itself but the privilege of patriotic service. * ok k% There must have been mischief in| the mind of the yYoung lady who met the emergency of Gen. Pershing's failure to keep his appointment to ad- dress the D. A. R. congress. when she | was acked what she would play first on her violin. Miss Ruth Kemper re- plied: *‘Yankee Doodle, in honor of | the distinguished, but absent soldier, | for whom I am pinch-hitting.” | But Yankee Doodle came to town and that is just what Yankee Pershing did not do. Yankee Doodle called him- self “macaroni”—the equivalent of “an exquisite, or fop.” In the pres- i Decision Will React Upon the Su- preme Court Itself. The most marked effect of the latest opinion of the United States Supreme | Court, by which the minimum wage | law of the District of Columbia is de- | clared unconstitutional by five jus- tices and upheld by three others. will not be upon woman wage earners, editorial opinion holds. Following o | closely upon the adverse decision on the child labor law, this new decision, it is very widely felt, will react to is ! court-martial On the last day of the convention |1 | or commonwealths. spirits above us who, seeing visions and dreaming dreams. must be pro- tected by us in security and leisure. while they embody these dreams in pure art. and set for us meanwhile An unattainable ideal in the fine art of living. The people are mot un to this big motive and movement. They cannot deliver the goods. And no more mischievous thing has heen the detriment of the court itself, with the result, the New York Evening World predicts, that “curbing the Su- preme Court is likely to become an important political issue.” The majority decision has many porters among newspapers, which de- fend Justice Sutherland’s opinion as good law and constitutional interpre- Aone. so far. than holding out to them | tation, as well as sound economic bright promises and providing a large ! judgment. But drawing conclusions 1sieure for their inevitable failures. |from the mass of editorial comment Thix equality business has befuddled {on the decision and on the economic the common peovle into vain imaein- | principle involved, the Cleveland ings, pretentious gestures. meretri- | News is probably justified in its as- cions achievement. This is respon- | sertion that “American thought RX}t! sible for the present mania of cult|feeling found far better expression in and fem—this lefsure and thig lie | the dissenting opinions filed by Chief ahout ecauality. Just addled brains, |Justice Taft and Justices Sanford and artificially stimulated to eccentric and | Holmes.” meaningless motions, Itke the ferk-| It is but “another of those strange fngs of a dead froz’s legm—endlessly | hair-splitting decisions the jogic of harmful. though, these antlcs of the | Which one must seek far to discover. common neople. as the Wilkes-Barre Record analyzes Tha arch enemy of true clvilization | it. While to the Loulsville Post “the 15 that man Watt who discovered tha | Opinion is sound as a dollar so far as pastiferous power of steam.to make | CONStitutional matters are concerned, machinery go. thereby liberating to |@nd it is sound from the viewpoint of | fdleness or chosen pursuits millions | Public policy.” To hold the balance be- of hands. hitherto held to the sofl, | tWeen “the due process of law clauses All tha fakers in thfs overpopulated |of the Constitution and the modern in- World_of fakers go back to the letsurs | Stinct for ‘social justice' is,” ‘the New that Watt created for them, with its | YOrk Times thinks, “perhaps the hard- false hopes and its indifferent work |®st task of the Supreme Court.” Con- along strange lines. Bound, vet, to | ceding this difficulty, the Baltimore Sun e the world’s undoing, this. In the | SUBEests, however, that ‘ithere jhave words of Mr. Clews himself, let us |been cases in which the court by an| gea who some of these agents of |elasto construction of certain statutes destruction _are:—Scientiflc hooligans, | and on the ground of public policy has literary Dr. Cooks, art expres- |indicated that the fundamental law slonists, romantic altrulsts. color- | might be made broad enough to cover Llind cublsts, chicken-hearted edi- | 2ll the complex necessities of a period tors, gold-brick communists, hoho |in Which {ndustrial and soclal ameliora- naries, peanut-brained femi- | tion is recognized as one of the cer- Just & few of them, thesc.|taintles of progress,” even though, in Over the menace of this situation the [the opinion of the paper, “the bulk of author falls Into praver, Jean Jac- | its recent decisions have been distinctly ques Roussean's old in the opposite direction.” And the member it. “Almighty God, minimum wage decision, the Reading { us from the sclences and the per- | (Pa.) Tribune fears, “will be viewed, as niclous arts of our fathers! Grant us | another attempt on the part of the ignorance, {nnocence, and poverty [highest tribunal to sustain the em- once more, as the only things which | ployers of women and child labor. can bring happiness and which are of | On the contrary, according fo the value in thine eyes.” But prayer | Cincinnati Enquirer, the decision ‘ds a cannot save us. Mr. Clews admits|sensible and reasonable defense of the this, for he declares with the author- [ well-established American _constitd- ity of a pontiff that “the world has | tlonal principle of the inviolability of aiready gone to the devil” He does | the individual right to contract,” a con- make a fow exceptions here, Musso- | stitutional sateguard which the Milwau- in{ among them, and. the Clews |kee Journal declares to be “of far more famlly and Henry Arthur Jonos. | vaiue to individual human liberties than Jones gets taken and saved, by |any particular law which may be held virture of that ge ééml.uvs attack |to Infringe it. But “fresdom of con- | on Walls, “My Dear Wel tract,” observes the Chattanooga News, ! A bizarre ‘performance, with just | ‘“can’ be made to hide a multitude of enough truth at the bottom of the |sins,” and admitting that, “of course, it contentlon to enlist grains of sympathy | was an_invasion of the right of free- for the author's state of mind. tm, | dom of contract, in the economic however, the performance as such |sense,” the Indlanapolls News suggests, , that will command attention and | however, that ¥there has probably not troversy ‘and & Food-nacured at- | been & law Dassed in this country or in | a law of’ on the lingulstlo contortions of | England in the last seventy years for fluent and imeginative ;y‘rmr, of “one justice can, ; the necessity, CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. COLLINS ence of 3,000 exquisitely-gowned anq bejeweled ladies, even 80 modest a man as Gen. Pershing would have needed all the plumes of a drum major, to have €hone consplicuously. During the revolution, there was a regiment of Maryland, whose un! forms were especially flashy and it was known as the “macaroni” regi- ment. Possibly the commander-in- chief of the A. E. ™ had hoped to bor- row a macaroni uniform, in honor of the daughters of that regiment, or of that war, and, failing to get one that would fit, he did what he never was accused of doing in France—fled in the face of the enemy—the thousands of Daughters. Ought not the Daughters appoint a to try him? While a drumhead court-martial might be im practical, there is Miss Kemper's vio lin. Let no macaroni escape' o It is reported that the President has< decided to utilize the Navy in chasing rum-runners on the high seas. 1° any boat, no matter what flag it car ries, is found hovering outside of the three-mile limit, and yet makes cor tact with the shore through boats to dispose of its contraband liquor, the order will he for the nava vessels to give chase and oyerhav and capture the pirate boat. Consu!s of foreign nations captains that the that there will be ficcatior Tt is alleged that some of the officers resent the idea that ti be used for chasing rum runners they think that is beneath the nity of the Navy It is not heneath the digni Army to do riot dutv and v sae iy ane wetst whinh tetnnanliviit work of policemen. Why should eo! diers do any_more degrading than Navy offic and men? Navy upportec the t people as w defense of the the country. Every naval offic well as every man. is under o support the laws of the land. &g or dered by his comma 1-chief ar by other ‘officers in command. Th Navy has alwavs been the pride the ~ nation, but public sentimer would take = ¢ sudden tumbl from that prid spirit of uj pis call were ma Tt is related that of the Army once fafled to salute major general in command. called to account he apologized was dismissed with a caution right: but it wouw'd have been a ser ous ter, if T ha 1 ant; let’ this you said the major ge Perhaps the prote : of chasing pirates are confin ensigns and do not reach t Hence their seriousness * ok x % Has the G. O some of the progressive have been predicting it would? Se retary of War Weeks has reslgne But is not from the rar and but only fro the national committee. He busy with pacifist pestering to atter to the duties of a committeeman in the same day. the Con the monthly paper owned by William J. Brvan and h Governor Bryan of Xe announces suspension of pub { y othe nav v w ll enlisted m te a to th P. actual ybe it file of the party i t nd moner, edited brother. hraska resemble the man for position jus opens. Ominous: before the battle * % % % Is the Pennsylvania seven-year-old cousin of President Harding a chip of the old block? He writes from York demanding the interference of the President in the matter of the York authoritics who refuse to ap point him on the police force. He s sure he would make a good police le Warren advises him to wait he grows two feet more, and he « sure that, if he then wants to join the force, he will be ted, ‘but in the meanwhile, the Presiden: points out that he has little influence toward overriding the York au thoritie That and he before boy will make a good scout can join the Boy Scouts ever he grows two feet taller Probably when he grows up he may be just a statesman and never even become a lieutenant of p (Copyright, 1923 P. V. Collins.} EDITORIAL DIGEST Congress and the President. and t laws of legisiatures and governors It is an unwar- tyrannical power.’ ctment, the Utics ulating industry that jon of that freedom.’ E freedom of contract the court “finds to be more precious than living wages,” comments the Du luth Herald, which declares that while “it may be good law * * * it is atro cious humanity. Discussion as the decision is ranted and Legislative en the purpose of was not an in This “academ| 2 to whether or not atrocious humanity or “sound cconomics,” of course, be- mes un editorial debate on the soundness lucy of the minimun rine, which oplnion is wide- Iy at variavce, “Beyond any manner of doubt” as tne Nashville Banner sces it. “if the minimum wage prin ciple had stood, it would have been no great while un somebody would hav succeeded in slipping through Congress a law fixing the highest wage that a man can lawfully re ive for his work,” and in the firm ith that the decision is “good eco non al (Co believ will prove to women workers” T ansas City Times replies that “it is not the hundreds of thou- oung women in the country rk in shops and factories and stores who will rejoice * * * It was not the working 2irls who asked the deciston of the court.” And while the Elmira Star-Gazette commends the termination of an dventure int paternalism that esents large danger to individual liberty and in- dependent action,” the Jacksonville Journal contends that “a paternalism that protects womanhood and chil- dren from exploitation, starvation and ignorance is a benefit to the country.” “It would be a mistake, however.” the Cloveland Plain Dealer points out “to regard the decision of the Su- preme Court in this case as the end of the minimum wage agitation,’ for, as The Washington Star says. “laws regulating wages for women and girls were brought about in response to demands that could not be denied, and it is not likely that the case 'will be finally closed by the decision against the constitu- tionality of such laws” As the Watertown Standard puts it, “such statutes were not conoeived until their need was pressing,” and since the court decision does mnot remove ‘conditions make regu- of some kind advisable.” It is doubtful in the opinion of e New Bedford Standard thar ‘women workers will suffer mucl from the decision.” but it fears that “the Supreme Court will” Following the decision against the child labor law, “tHis annulment of protection for ‘women will create much popular resentment,” the Brooklyn Eagle is certain, and “may easily hasten cer- taln proposed ‘reforms’ to emd mere majority decisions” It is not “a sound situation,” the Portland, Ore. Journal contends, when a maJority Pross reminds us, “Is the means pro- vided for the people to express wair will regarding the new conur=ions that inevitably arise. Their richt or power to do so cannot properi- be questioned.” If expreseion of that will runs counter to the Constitution the Roanoke World-News says, “the thing to do is to humanize the Cgn- stitution.” s wage de b lation