Evening Star Newspaper, July 31, 1923, Page 6

" LTHE- BVENING STAR ., WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY: JULY 31 1923 - - - CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. COLLINS THE EVENING STAR, With Sunday Morning Edition. WAS!INGT;O N, D. C. TUESDAY. July 31, 1923 THEODORE W. NOYES. The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsyivania Ave. New Yo lgll 110 East 42nd St. Chi Mce: Tower. Bullding. Buropean Otfice: 10 Regont St., London, Eagland. Editor The Evening Star. with the Sunday moraing .gdition, is delivered by carrfers within the city At 80 cents per month: dally anly. 45 ce ‘month; Sun . 20 cent Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dally and Sunday..l yr., $8.4 Daily only $6. Sunday only. g X All Other States.’ Daily and Sunday..1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo. Daily only yr., . $7.00; 1 mo. Sunday only 1yr., $3.00; 1mo. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press fa exclusively entitled o the use for republication of all news tches credited to 1t or net otherwise credited this paper and also the local news pul lished herein. ALl rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. ~= Better News. Better news following grave tidings comes from the President's sick bed at San Francisco. The overnight re- ports regarding his. condition were .most disquieting and distressing. De- velopment of symptoms of pneumonia ‘eaused a shock to the country and ifor the first time since the beginning of the President’s indisposition it was realized that there was danger. But a long, refreshing sleep came and this morning the good news was received that Mr. Harding had awakened from that slumber much refreshed and that he immediately expressed a wish to see a newspaper, which may be ac- cepted as a sign of hope. Though it has apparently developed very quickly, the President's illness really seems to have had its origin in Alaska some days ago. . Photo- graphs taken of him in the far-north territory and just received in this sec- tion of the country show signs of fatigue and care and strain. He had undergone a difficuit journey, despite all the comforts of the best possible accommodations: had spoken frequent. Iy in the open air, as well as within doors, to great audiences; had met multitudes of the people and, although Mr. Harding has an exceptional ease of manner and contact, the experience undoubtedly imposed a severe drain upon his energies, With the best of medical attention and the most careful nursing and with a complete remission froim all official cares, the President, blessed with a constitution, has the fullest chance of early recovery. He will be cheered and strengthened in spirit and possibly in body by the knowledge, given by immediate expressions of the sincerest sympathy in all quarters of the country, that the American people are praying for to health and to service as the Chief Executive of the nation. ————————— Magnus Carries the Bit. Magnus Johnson shows signs of complete Independence of spirit. He does not relish the idea that he has been sponsored by any elder states- men, or even & junior statesman elder to himself. In a ratification jubilee held Sunday at Crookston, Minn., Magnus—he likes to be called by his first name—declared that Senators Brookhart and La Follette and others will have to reason with him, adding: “They will not drive me into any thing.” Then he thus announced him- self: “I am carrying the bit for the common people.” Magnus will not be the first great reformer to come to Washington bearing the commission of the “com- mon people,” and conscious of his supreme authority to speak for them. The path to the Capitol has been well worn in the past by such feet ag his. One of two things happens, as a rule, when such an one reaches Washing- 1op. He thunders for a while as a aribune independent of all restraint and political guidance and then lapses into the docile discipline of party or #roup management. or he continues to thunder lonesomelike to the end of his official days and exerts no influ- ence upon the course of national af- tairs. The oné-man party or the political solitaire player plays no effective ‘part in the. scheme of things. He makes a lot of noise—Magnus will surely do that—but the books of the laws carry rio statutes known to the public by his name. Truth is, the one-man per- former is almost inevitably a nega- tive force. It takes a blac, if not a fmajority, to work out affirmative re- sults, and blocs and majorities are made up of men who yleld to leader- ship and who merge their identities into the common whole. Be the fate of Magnus as a legislator what it will, his declaration is inter- esting.and perhaps important in dis- closing: that in radicalism lies con- fusion, of purposes and results. —_————— The issuing of paper marks- still Roes to prove that in Germany, a elsewhere, there are still & few people who do not read the papers. Inspection .of Federal Offices. An inspection of government build- ings in the District is being made by the public health service, under au- thority of ah order of President Taft issued in 1912, enforcement of which was interrupted by the confusion of the war. The buildings of one depart- ment—the Treasury—have ~already been gone through by the inspectars, and the buildings of two departments, ‘War and Navy, do.not fall within the scope of the Taft order because' they have their own medical or sanitary staff. The result of the inspection will be read with interest, and the re- port will probably give something of an urge to several of the departments in their effort to secure new buildings. In private buildings certain sani- tary standards are insisted on by pub- lic health authorities, and the govern- ment should see that its own work- shops have all the health safeguards which are demanded of private plants. It has been found many times by offi- cials of various departments that the] bulldings occupied by them are un- | ‘4 l s prompt restoration ( { suitable for the work carried on and { that there is loés of time, lack of effi- clency, and waste of public money be- cause of scattered bureaus, divisions and offices, some of which are housed in rented quarters. By all the recom- mendations they have .been able to make the department heads have sought to remedy this. The sanitary inspection will prob- ably. find overcrowding and lack. of light and ventilation in & number of government offices, for these points bave been brought out many times by the departments themselves. There is a slow shaping up of a purpose to give the government at Washington the bulldings it needs, and there has been much talk since the war of a “building program.” How soon an adequate and satisfactory building program may be entered on is sorge- thing that no man can teil. In a certain way, in spite of what appears to be rather widespread pros- perity, wehave fallen upon evil times. The demand for money for many kinds of public improvements is ur- gent. The number of big and costly projects pressing for execution is large. It is hard to make great re- ductions in government expenditures éxcept by paring down the cost of services which we have come to re- gard and which we believe to be es- sential. Government revenues, so far from increasing, seem to be slumping, according to a current statement by the director of the budget. And while the government income diminishes there is a clamor for reduction in taxes. But things will come out all right in the end. « Ellis Ialand Congestion, An outrageous condition will exist at the port of New York tonight and tomorrow. Fifteen transatlantic steamers are due to arrive with ap- proximately 15,000 immigrants aboard. The capacity of the immigration sta- tion at Ellis lsland is 1,700. The im- migrants, therefore, will be compelled to remain, excépt for those first ad- mitted to the station, from forty-eight hours to a week on the ships that bring them to these shores. Immigration officials of the United States charge these conditions to. the greed of the steamship companies. The competition for carrying immi- grants is responsible, they say, and steps must be taken to check this race by the government of the United States, if the result can be accom- plisheéd in no other way. Under the quota law of thig country now in effect, limiting anngal immi. gration from a given country to 3 per cent of the aliens of that na- tionality already here, it is possible to admit up to 20 per cent of the annual quota within a month. The rew vear for immigration began July 1 and there was a tremendous rush of immigrants into American ports, particularly New York, at that time. This is to be repeated with August 1. Quotas for some of the countries— that is the 20 per cent monthly quota limits—will be exhausted for some of the countries almost immediately. Im- igrants from those countries now on the sea will necessarily be turned back when they arrive a few days or a week or two later. The hardships imposed by existing conditions upon the immigrants are very great. The hardships imposed upon the 500 men and women enmi- ployed in the immigration service at Ellis Island are great, too, in these times of rush. Secretary Davis of the Department of Labor is now in Europe, where the has been visiting many nations in his study of the immigration problem. The Secretary believes that the immi. gration law should be amended so as to provide for “selective” immigration for the benefit of the United States. He believes, too, that rigid examina- tions should be given in the foreign countries before the immigrants ever start for the shores of the United States. In this way many tragedies enacted at Ellis Island and other im- migration stations could be avoided. Aliens who had spent their all with steamship companies to reach the land of promise would not so frequently have to be deported. Well informed observers insist that the Congress will not let down the im- migration bars, despite the clamor of certain industries here for more for- eign labor. With the quota law con- tinuing in effect, Congress may be called on to pass stringent laws regu- lating the steamship companies in order to prevent congestion such as that which will exist after midnight tonight in New ¥York. The foreign countries from which the immigrants come might well lend a hand at such regulation in behalf of their nationals who are traveling to America. ——— Lecturers from abrond are begin- ning to fear. the criticisms of America, which has been described as a nation of natural speechmakers. Yet the audiences here have always shown a courteous readiness to welcome a fel- low artist personally, even though inclined to consider with expert calm questions of temperament and tech- nique. it A statesman from St. Louis says beer. would help to dispel unrest. Spoken like a statesman from St. Louis. - A Milwaukee statesman will doubtless be found to indorse the sen- timent. *Nobody doubts that old John Bar. leycorn would like to have William H. Anderson 'arrested for driving a water wagon while intoxicated with temporary power. Home for Feeble-minded. The Washington home for feeble- minded persons is soon to be begun on the 800-acre tract of land recently bought by the District Commissioners on the Little Patuxent, near Annapolis Junction, in Anne Arundel county, and this home is to have all the approved features which have bgen developed in similar institutions in other parts of the United States. The feeble-minded population of the District is not large, but it is large enough to call for the establishment of a home, and thia fact bas heen brought out time and again during a suecession of: Years by ‘mellical men and by philanthropic societies and in- dividuals. No alt‘:uhflon can be made Wwith . certainty- aa to the number of persons who_ need rest and treatment at such a place. nor can it be known how many will seek ihe quiet and other advantages of the home or who will be sent there by their kindred, but it is planned to provide accommo- dation for 500. The assistant engineer of the Dis. trict and the secretary of ‘the’ Board of Charities have inspected a number of homes for feeble-minded in New England ahd other parts of the east and the engineer officer has said that, After viewing similar’ colonies in other states, we hope to provide for ‘Washington the best institution of the kind in the United States.” This is s it should be. The District, through no fault of its people, has long failed to perform a duty in this matter, but it can‘now begin. the establishment of a home with many advantages. It can profit by what has been learned by others in taking care of and giving comfort to this particular class of persons. One comman institutional feature to he avoided is a big building, in which many persons -are housed. ‘There will be a group or groups of small buildings and the institution will have the appearance of a pretty village and something of the atmos- phere of a well ordered home. The construction work will probably be be- gun this fiscal year. While the ultimate cost of this new District institution is estimated at $300,000, there is available the sum of $62,000, which is the balance of the appropriation of $100,000 remaining after the purchase of the land. One wise and sympathetic proposal is that the place shall not be known as the Home for Feeble-Minded, but that it shall have a happy name and one which does not call attention to the affliction of the people living there. Two names—Columbian Village and ‘Washington Colony—have so far been suggested. —_———— England repoits that the twelve- mile limit is being sympathetically considered. The nature of the sym- pathy is not precisely defined. Man sailors would sympathize with any- body on shore who is twelve miles away when the hour for groz arrives, ————— Many Americans may appear indif- ferent to world problems because they are so busy looking after. their own supply of fuel for next winter that they cannot concentrate on ship- ments of coal for the Ruhr or on the Mesopotamian oil situation. —_———————— Oil men say gasoline is too plentiful to be sold at current rat Many a motorist can remember when the. fliv- ver tank could be filled up for 10 cents a gallon with a fluid that smelled better and delivered more power. ————— William Watson says poetically that Liberty's image adorns her own tomb. This may lead New York to consider a concession to sensitive foreign senti ment by moving the Bartholdi statue cut beyond the iwelve-mile limit. ———— A third party is expected by Sena- tor La Follette unless the republicans and democrats liberalize and even rad 1calize. - The difficulty about a third party is that in-an election it seldom runs even a good third. ——————————— Eminent republicans believe that a state can soon be carved from Alaska, and one that will be better behaved than Minnesota, —_——————— The pugilist 1= tne champion tender for short hours and high muneration. ————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. For a Starter. Amid' the problems of the world We have to pause and ponder Lest something hits us and we're whirled Too suddenly Up Yonder. We seek to bring about the day- Ot quietude seraphic: But first we've got to find a way To regulate the traffic. con re- Though we are not in present strife Where waves of flame are tossing, There's still a chance to lose your life At any railroad crossing. A warld peace must be ours, we vow, In glarious phrase so graphic— And as'a starter we'll learn how To regulate the traffic. The battle bugies do not blow; But auto horns resounding Both day and night let people know That danger is abounding. The public mind is too much bent On matters epitaphic. Let's gather round with one consent And regulate the traffic. Fickle Flivver Vote. “Why do you object to the nomi- nation of that eminent motor manu- facturer?” “His popularity is too unreliable,’ answered Senator - Sorghum. 00 many votes would be suddenly influ- enced by the way people’s flivvers happened to be working on ‘election day. Jud Tunkins says his hired man has got 8o interested: in politics that.about all the work he does is guess work.’ From Grave to Gay. When matrimony brings dismay Time swiftly soothes the sorrow, And those who get divorced today Hold weddings on the morrow. Seeking Escape. “You dance more than you used to.” replied Miss.Cayenne. “The music is getting to ‘be 8o’ irritating you' have to do something' to keep your mind off it.” Advantage. “I'm studying psychoanalysis,” -re. marked Mr. Meekton. “Do you think it will benefit you?"” “It may. Already I'm getting a little the best. of the home conversa- tion by learning e lot of words Hen- rietta doesn’t know_the meaning of.” “De bootlegger,” said Unele Eben, de reason why members. of so many ~ families ‘hab trouble buyin’ shoes.” 4 | The report from the soldiers' train, ing camps that 47 per cent of the 23,330 men who offered to take mili- tary training were found physically unfit receives justification from Gen. |Pershing, who declares that six out ©of every ten young men between sev- enteen and twenty-five years of age Who are seen on the business streets of Washington would not qualify for military duty. * ok ok % It is the opinion of military au- thorities that this great percentage of defective men Is a national disgrace and one that can and should be re- moved. It {s claimed that in France and Germany the percentage of de- fectives is only 10 per cent. The claim as to those . European countries may be questioned, for the physical contrasts In appearance be- tween any European and American troops ‘during the world war did not Justify faith in the physical superior- ity of the Europeans. On the con- trary, the “Americans are larger. stronger and apparently far btter set It may be explained that the Ameri- can physical tests are stricter. leav- ing a greater proportion of men In the discard. Whether that be true or not, the fact that half of the Ameri- cans are reported not in perfect con- dition at military age indicates a serious condition In Wichita, Kan., last week the head school nurse reported that dur- ing the school term 14,153 pupils were inspected and 2,419 were found defective. ¥ ox ok The Duke of Cornwall, alias the Prince of Wales, owns a farm in Canada and, like all good farmers; fie is going to help in the harvest. He will “unofficially” and ask his farm superintendent for a job. If he is the regular fellow that he is known in America as being, he will doff his coat when he runs the har- vester; and not try to drive in a sultry sun with a heavy coat but toned up, just as if he were Presi- dent of the United States. =% come Being a wheat raiser, will he join the farm bloc and demand that the government buy his crop, at a price which will make his farm pay? Wh ever heard of a “gentleman farmer: m paying expenses? Maybe the “impending peril” of the duke's farm ies in parliament. but if so, he might write his pa and ask him to do to parliament’ what Hamlet wished to do to his own “too, too solid flesh” thaw and dissolve it. The weather will help on the thaw, if King Pa will do the rest oA 1f the duke will only stick around until -December and take a run down to Washington, Senators Fra Ladd, Magnus Johnson and hart will take him into their councils and tell him more ahout durum wheat and Durham cows than Horatio “ever dreamed of.” The mere fact that they are “dirt farmers” and he a roval gentleman farmer won't make “nary bit of difference”; for the dirt farmer of today is oft the gentleman of tomorrow, and it takes only three generations from shirt- to the throme of Russia or White House of the U. S. A. hould the spirit of mortal be {proud A The prince is a great cavalier, and can ride anything from a democratic mule to a G. O. P. elephant. Both animals will meet him at the border and he may stride both and come tearing into Washington like -a rodeo on & rampage X Banana psychology might save a nation. - The silly song about the man who had no bananas has started & ryn on the banana bank and doubled the ' EDITORIA ! If Somebody Is to Win Then Why Not Tom Marshall? With the conditions under which the $100,000 peace award prize offered Edward W. Bok may be won at fully revealed, and the contest now well under way, many editors are scrutinizing somewhat closely the suggestion fathered by Thomas Riley Marshall. once Vice President of the United States. Marshall would have an international agreement entered into by all world powers whereby no nation could declare war until such action had been Indorsed through a referendum vote of all man and woman nationals above the age of {eighteen years. Should the verdict be for hostilities, then action would have to be diverted until sixty days had elapsed. : Naturally the Marshall suggestion was offered “on the spur of the mo- ment” and probably was not Intended seriously. It ingludes, in the “delay feature one of the principles of the Bryzn peace treaties drafted when the Commoner was Secretary of State, and now a part of the international policy of the United States; while the referendum suggestion likewise was ifathered by Col. Willlam Jennings Bryan and written by him as a plank in a democratic platform. But, in_the language of th hat makes no never mind,” so far as most editors are concerned. It a “good suggestion.” the ma- jority consider and, as the Oakland Tribune points out, “would serve the ends of peace by forcing a delay be- fore the declaration of war. It de- mands an _International agreement which would have to be backed by the power of a league of nations or similar organization and so really includes more than appears in the simple text. Mr. Marshall may not win the prize. It is more than likely he will not, but his plan will have ailded in developing a discussion which cannot fail to advance appre- ciably the peace idea. And that is what the Bok award is for.” It is entirely possible, .the Loulsville Courler-Journal bolds, that ‘“‘when he proposes that those who do the fight- Ing and pay the bills should deter- mine whether war is to be declared Mr. Marshall is no doubt having his little Joke,” while the Wotcester. Gazette wonders whether he “had better fight for peace or for that good nickel cigar.” The Gazette, however, insists that Marshall's uttered senti- ments show that he realizes the forces that lie behind all wars while, at the same time he is wondering whether “the crusaders for peace are on the right track. It is impossible to say ‘they can do mo harm' for they might, by excess of zeal, themselves cause complications of diplomatic delieacy with threat of war. But cer- tain it is that the desive for peace with honor is so strong in so many minds the world over that it must constitute a force in restraint of the impulse to resort to arms." The Albany Knickerbocker-Press recalls that Mr. Marshall personally admits “he is not convinced that the world is ready for peace,” and holds that “the practicability of the Mar- shall plan will be immediately chal- lenged. It would not be wise or pru- dent, even if it were possible, to suspend military operations until a referendum could be taken and the votes counted. It might be asked what would have -happened if a ref- erendum had been taken in the United States after the Lusitania was nk. It is undoubtedly true, how- ever desirable peace may be, that there are certain issues over which nations still will"go to war. issues will exist for some vears to cime. It is futile to attempt imme- dl{"dy«o remove these issues and -it goes without saying that unti] these 1ssues are entirely removed there is by last street, Brook- | price of the fruit. Every time any one sings it he adds a penny to the high cost of bananas. Now if some one will please write a catchy song telling how much there is in optimistic patriotism, the coun- try will be saved. That is the “road away from revolution,” but there are 100 many banana peels sprinkled along its sidewalk. * ok ok ok There is considerablé excited dis- cussion about what should be done by the government to meet the coal emergency in case of a strike of the miners. Members of Congress are talking of drastic measures which they would advise the President to take—such as having him selze the mines and “draft” labor to operate them. It would be a bold prophet Wheé would undertake to foretell what President Harding will do to meet & coal emergency, but it takes no prophet to tell some of the things which he won't do. He may declare an emergency, and, for the public safety, confiscate control of the mines, but under no emergency will he un- dertake to “draft jabor,” for that is expressly forbidden by the Constitu- tion. The Constitution, by its four- teenth amendment, forbids any man’'s involuntary servitude except for crime. Besides, an untrained man in a mine would not only endanger his own life, but the lives of all oth- ers who are’in the same mine. * % ok ok The joke is on Europe. took our Hiram Johnson for “Mr. Easy Mark” when he came over there. She fed him and toasted him and em- braced him—a la Francals—and then, because he did not bite the hand that they thought they She mis- was feeding him, had him captured What was the European surprise to discover that their guest, who had eaten salt at their table and perhaps had drunk their vin ordinaire (or ex- traordinaire). had come back home and was gullty of doing that heni- ous thing -— saving uncomplimentary things about what he had seen when he was a guest! ) The only consolation the French statesman gets out of the senator's New York speech Is that he said worse things about England than he did_about France. AR No wonder European dignitaries re- fuse, of late. to lecture in America. They can’t tell us anything, after our own congressional majority gets home. * % % % Senator Brookhart has de- manding that a special of Congress be cailed as soon as [resi- dent Harding gets back, and that its first act shall be to plunge into the wheat market and buy 500,000,000 bushels of wheat at a price that will give farmers a profit. Yet in his lat- est interview he naively rémarked: “1 do not know whether there will ibe a special session of Congress. but that is the only remedy; and it is only a temporary one, for the pres- ent impending peril to agriculture lies in_that special session.” Whether he meant just what his words imply will be clearer later, but the conservatives agree that he ex- pressed truth when he spoke of the “impending peril to agriculture” ly- ing in that special session. * € x It Is denied by the old-timers that Congress and President seriously considering the Brodkhart “peril to agriculture,” which would consist in plunging the nation into Ithe wheat speculator’s pit. If that “impending peril” ever should arrive, what would happen to the farmers? Would they continue their study of world conditions and the law of supply and demand while Uncle Sam holds the bag? (Copyright. 1923, by P. V. L DIGEST little nope of formulating a plan which will positively assure peace.” The simplicity of the Marshall plan commends it to the Reading Tribune, which holds “the idea is worth tr i The man who is able under the present system to make a scrap of paper of a document is just as likely under the Marshall sysiem to make a scrap of paper of it. The only difference will be that under the Marshall plan, if he is unsuccessful, he will lose his head. The losing of heads, however, has never stood in the way of achieving personal ambi- tions and it is not likely to, even in the twentieth centur: heen session News, Springfleld News and Miami News-Metropolis point out, “does not lay claim to having suggested this methed first,” the suggestion is cer- tain to attract attention because “since the masses in every country are obliged to bear the burdens of a war, of whatever proportions it may be, it is essentlally necessary for the officials of a country to in mind the implied requirements to permit those who pay the price of war to determine whether they want such a resort to arms. If war or peace is put up to the people who suffer most from the first and profit most from the last, there is no question as to what the declsion will be.” While doubtful that any plan suggested will end war the Worcester Post feels “perhaps the seeds of lasting peace are contained in the former Vice President's sug- gestions. 1f they are they should be carefully nurtured.” On its part the Minneapolis Tribune, after: récalling the hundred of thousands of sugges- tions that are certain to follow that of Mr. Marshall, asks Mr. Bok to “pardon a rank outsider’s way, for we propose toward the making of a war- proof world: Gangway for the golden rule!” The Tampa Times doubts whether “any better plan than this of the genial Tom will be presented; the Portland Express wants him to “share"” honors with William Jennings Bryan, while the Norfolk Pilot agrees that, after all, “his viewpoint is cer- tain to be homely, laudable and easy to understand.” ~'As a remedy, the Albany Times-Union concludes Mar- shall “rings the bullseye. Sets Good Example By Arresting Barber It is pessible to wax humorous over the action of a man in New York who took a barber into court on a charge of the larceny of 10 cents, but there is a side to the act which most Americans might take pattern by with profit and to their own increased self-respect. ‘The complainant was an intermit- tent tipper and when he got a thirty- cent check for have instead of the ual twenty, he sald to tlie barber, ‘How come?” or words of similar impart. Then, he told the magistrate, the barber admitted. fearing the day might be an intermittent one on the customers tipping calendar, he add- ed his usual honorarium of a dime to the price of the check. The cus- tcmer further told the “judge” he didn’t propose to submit to that kind of “robbery.” The magistrate con- tinued the case while he pondered the charge. ¢ The customer did the right (hlnfi: it his charge is truly founded. 'The average man is either too-timid to rebuke a gra for fear he will be thought a “cheap sk or he finda- it is easier to pay than to make a row. He ‘wrong, and the conse- These | quence is that the tip-seekers prac- tice a kind of terrorization. The New._ York man deserves admiration for his nerve and willingness to put himself to a lot of trouble.—Philadel- phia Evening Bullgtin. 1 v Harding are | While Mr. Marshali, as the Dayton | NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM HOW TO MAKE THE BEST OF LIFE. Arnold Bennett. George H. Doran Company. 3 In outlook and attitude “How to Make the Best of Lite" stands for the bulk of the later output of Arnold Bennett literature. The group as a whole represents a definite stage of Mr. Bennett's work, and, without doubt, it represents as well a definite stage in his individual life. * ¥ % ¥ St.- John - Ervine, in that fair and entertaining “Some Impressions of My Elders,” tells us that Arnold Ben- nett, when only a young fellow, used to write novels “of sorts.” That was in the days when he earned his liv- ing in some retall shop of his native Five Towns. The novel writing, one takes it, stood as easement from the routine of daily-work, indicating, the character of recreation and play always does indicate, the natural bens of temperament. These novels “of sorts” were clearly of the usual' youth~ ful brand., Imagination, uncurbed, in sole charge. Negligible the restrain- Ing laws that serve to build words Into living drama. Five Towns was a dull little place, adequate for food and clothes and lodging, but of a zer signficance to a young writer of romance. Then, one day, there came to the hand of Arnold Bennett a new novel. To his amazement, to his bewllder- ment, it was drawn straight out from Five Towns itself. straight from the place where he had spent a colorless, work-a-day _existence. orge Moore set “A Mummer's Wife” in Five Towns. And Moore's perfection : of gift in seizing upon reality, coupled witih an equal perfection in’ his - dium of transmission, brought the dead town to life. In fidelity to: no more than the truth itself, Mdore showed this English hamlet, so_drab and humdrum of externals, ‘to he as ried and urgent, as impressive and vital in deep-seated human content {as were ever Troy or Babylon or Bagdad. * koK % “A Mummer's Wife,” so it is said, opened the mind of Arnold Bennett to the romance of the commonplace. It faced him squarely around upon &n intensive first-hand study of.the garden variety of human within the | purlieus of Five Towns itself. And this new home-grown order of talent brought Mr. Bennett ultimately into honor and acclalm as a’ master of modern realism in English fictior. A commanding position, thls, support- ed and sustained by an impressive array of novels dealing with the be- haviors of human nature along the levels of everyday doings. And for thousands of readers Arnold Bennett has done exactly what George Moore's novel is said to have done for him He has revealed the vital essence of the commonplace, linking it up in a blood bond with every order of hyman motive and conduct the world over. * ¥ % x And now It is obvious Bennett is entering upon ancther stage of his career. He is slipping into a new role—and a natural shift it is, as one comes to think of ft. All his life—save in that short fatile adventuring into the field of flam- boyant fliction—Mr. Bennett has been trained, or has trained himself, t> an exact expert, practical handling of facts. Facts as they stand in agtual alignment with life have been: his material from those early days in the shop of Five Towns, on through the later years of distinguished suc- cess in_the domain of realistic fic- tion. Facts have, throughout. been {his zoal and his guide, his exclusive preoccupation. Inevitably, therefore, his mind has gradually taken or the |cast and color of authority—genial, {to be sure, but authority none the less. Like the school teacher who, ifive hours a day. five days a week, year in_and year out, is the arbiter from whom there is no appeal. This does something to the mind of that teacher. It shapes her bearings’ and controls her contacts. It does same- thing well-nigh fatal. ~ And, that Mr. in a to Mr. Bennett. For he is ertering the stage of giving advice. ‘Now noboby knows better than this man that no one takes advice, no one. He has demonstrated this a thousand times in his fine and faithful novels. Nevertheless, he is unable to resis a form of self-indulgence that: the fpacked contents of his own miné in- iduce and practically impose. TAd- monition, _guidance, warning, may possibly, just possibly, come firally to curtail an impressive artistry. . The devoted readers of Mr. Bennett, under this late treatment, will gradvally grow to the feeling of some compo- Site young Telemachus at the fect of the benovolent Mentor. * % % ¥ The book in hand needs but a ¥ora to show Mr. Bennett's drift into: the Irole of counselor and guide. “How to Make the Best of Life” is a zolid block of advice, touching upon sach stage, from the cradle—not to:the grave, not exactly, but into matri- mony instead. Since there is but a minute for this consideration, let us i begin well along here where Mr. Ben~ nett sits down to tell all about when and where and how to fall in fove. Now everybody knows, including ithis author, that a man who can give real- 1y sound advice on this subject is:di qualified for prescribing either bre- vention or cure of the consuming malady. He has forgotten, quite, the force and fervor of the symptéms. Besides, .a “fall’ of any sort pre- cludes the possibility of preparation, else it is no fall at all. And this par- ticular “fall” with which he deels so laboriously is the clearest and shzer- est of accldents. “There-is no way, in fact, of changing its precipitancy of character. Nevertheless, Mr. Benhett goes into a careful preparation the threatening calamnity. And does the young man do when s: toms appear. Does he hie himself away to the lady? Does he, per- chance, betake hmiself to some friend acting 'in the capacity of physician? He does neither of these things, i he is following Mr. Bennett. Instrad, he looks up his bank account. The balance here tells him what to-do. Let us suppose that this is quite to the good. Then what? has looked over the fleld like a stock appraiser does he take definite steps in any certain direction. Indeed, tkere are so many danger signals, and “Go Slo” signs set up here that if they were minded they would make 2| matter of falling in love about as joy- ous as going to market or doing any other of the purely useful things with which this man of long foresizht seeks to link up the supreme preoc- cupation of youth. The bare answer of inhibitions .laid down here 1 validate the author's claim as® a love guide, even of a guide who is trying. to make the best of life. Hare is a long—and tiresome and stodgs— turning of the subject of young léve inside out and upside down, a dls- tressing period of fumigation snd other measures of disinfection, enough, as a whole, to work the com. plete finish of any love germ that might find lodgment in_the heart of human. And, when Mr. Bennett takea up the subject of matrimony he is no less thorough, no less practical, na less exhaustive. no less exhaus than when he ls giving out admo: tion on the subject of love. The spi#it of suthority is taking possession of a writer who has served the world wall by way of his own conception and projection of fiction. Too bad! LG or hat mild sense, it is doing the same thing | Not till he 2 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS By Frederic J. Haskin @ What do the painted bands ‘mean that have been put on the #lectric light posts along the curbs .of ?rlnclnal streets? K. H. £. The American Automobile As- Isqclation says that these color band fmarkers are In general use in the Now England states, New York and sylvania, and that an effort is betng made to have them adopted Wnuuy. Biue bands signify north d t; vellow s " ‘more thin one color it signifies that a drever is on the right road for routes that are marked on an automobile mzp as golng in any of the directions signified. Q. How many strikes were there inithe United States last year? M. H. A. Approximately 3,000 strikes are orded for the year 1922, involving 3,600,000 persons. This was an in- criase of 832 strikes over the pre- vijus year. 2. Do more men cmmit sulcide? M. H. T. Of 12,000 suicides in the United States In 1922, according to the data of the Save-a-Life League, one third were women. It is interesting to néte that seventy-nine were million- aires. than women Q. Do we still have a tariff on the Importation of alcoholic beverages? J. G. A Under the Fordney-McCumber LEXIME act of 1922 there was a duty of $% a proof gallon on brandy, $5 a proof gallon on champagne and $1 a gallon on ale and beer. iQ. How long have we had trust companies in this country? D. D. iA. The vear 1923 was the one hun dredth anniversary of trust company astivities in the” United States, the first grant of fiduciary powers to & ({?;!‘xorlllun haying been , made in Q. How large aré the windows i the Washington Monument? R. G., CA. They vary in size, but are aboit eet by 4 feet. Q. Has it ever been proposed to build a bridge over San Francisco . C. La . . Such a project has been dis- sed for several years and recently tvo engineers made a report estimat. ing that a structu combining a mole, trestle, girdle bridge and tun- nsl would cost $40.000,000. The lo- cation recommended would provide - route about 9.38 miles long bétween the city halls of San Francisco and Cakland. Because of its cost it is not expected that the project will be carried further in the immediate fu- e Q. Ts it true that the Panama ca nal has mere traMic than it handle? B. E. T. feg of the waterway, but the canal is BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. © those who are disposed to orit- e Fleld Marshal Lord Allenby for proclaiming the abolition of the mar- tfal law, which he has maintained un- tfl now in Egypt, as a premature and risky measure, it is necessary to draw their attention to the fact that he szill holds the two principal and mas- ter keys to the-situation. True, the Egvptian people have received at his hand their national independence and aZconstitution of their own devising, based on universal suffrage. The con- sEitution as first drafted reserved to the king an absolute veto upon all legislation, and. above all, a veto upon any change in its provistons. But, at the instance of Lord Allenby, the powers of the king in matters of legislation were slightly modified in the more popular sense, with a re- salt that the field marshal and, con- uently, Great Britain, are no lénger regarded as foreign tyran but as the protectors of the people against any arbitrary action and potism on the part of their sov- ereign, * ¥ Yow. the king is not popular, and s never enjoyed the confidence and good will of his subjects, having been efiucated and brought up entirely in ly, during the exile there of his father, old ‘*Khedive fshmael of Suez canal fame. Indeed, King Fued cannot_even speak Arabic or Turkish hout a foreign accent, and his Knowledge of the native idioms is j elementary. It is no exaggeration to state that Fued, who received his threne from the English, is entirely Gependent for his maintenance there- cn to Lord Allenby, who controls ab- solutely the only effective armed | force—that “is to say, the British {army of occupation—in the land of the Nile, and through him Allenby {can, whenever he sees fit, exercise the fower of veto over the legislature. Moreover, since Great Britain re- fains the sovereignty and the ex- Glusive administration of the Sudan, Wwhich is subject to the English in- gtead of to the Egyptian flag, Lord Allenby, as high commissioner of the Sudan, may be said to control the supply of the water of the Nile to the éntire kingdom of Egypt. The supply % dependent upon the volume Which the English authorities allow to pass éver or through those huge dams and frrigation works, which’ they have donstructed at the cost of many mil- flons of dollars on' the twpo branches ¢ the upper Nile above Khartoum. The whole harvests of Egypt. her rops of grain, of cotton and of Sugar, all depend upon the amount 3f water which they receive from the Rile, which Is indeed their very life tream, A low Nile spells to them fuin, famine and disaster;: a high Hile' means rich harvests and pros- berity. e ok k¥ ‘What, with her small army of oc- éupation in Egypt, with the control, the Sudan, of the northern waters £ the Nile, needed for irrigation of fhe northern valley and of the delta, and the knowledge on the part of King Feud that he is entirely de. Hendent upon Lord Allenby and Great f[ritain for_his continuance on_the ihrone: at Cairo, England has-been Seadily able to afford to abolish mar- iial law in Egypt and to accord to its people a constitutional government and national independence. HAllenby's control of the entire Tgyptian situation, though less ob- trusive, is far greater today than in the days of Lord Cromer and Lord er, when Egypt was an auton- vince of the Ottoman em- * *x iate Sultan Hussen. elder brother of the present King Feud, the land of fhe Nile was a protectorate that s to say, a vassal state of the British empire. The only drawback is that £o much depends upon the life and ealth of Lord Allenby, the victorious soldier who freed Jerusalem and the oly land from the blighting and ty- nic rule of the Turk, after centuries of oppression. But, I suppose, if he Were to disappear, England would find some equally’ capable man te take his place. When Lord Cromer was driven, by the condition of his haalth, to resign his supreme direc- tion of the affairs-of Egypt, at the close of a term extending over & quar- ter of placable. Yet, an admirable suc- céssor was found in_the person of Field Marshal Lord Kitchener, who understood the oriental mind ‘to an even greater extent than Cromer. and Kitchener, in turn, has found an equally remarkable successor in Field Marshal Lord Allenby who resembles him in 80 many respects and of whom tha natives stand in equal awe and regard as the real fountain head of trde Jjustice. : * K ok % Zord Eversley, who has just cele: brated his nipety-second birthday, is nol only thyfoldest member of cither .| 19 can | Address your inquiry to The Star CA. The trafic of the Panama canal | director. has nearly quadrupled since the open-{ There is no charge crcept 2 ! l century, he was pronounced | verse runs as follows: now being used only to 40 per cent of its capacity. Q. What is tantglum? D. K. H A. Tantalum is & mew commercial metal recently placed on the market, the most unusual property of which is its resistance to corrosion. It i3 sald to be of greater poteptial value than platinum. L2 nm;l;;-z- become cheaper? L. ’ A French experts assert that jn the neéat future it Will be possible to'turr gut a’ complete fiying machine for Q. Have all the foreigners who were captured by the Chinese bandits been released’—L. J, P. A. Bight men, Including four Amer- icans, who were the last of the rev- enty-seven foreign prisoners taken by the Shantung bandits on May & were reported on June 12 to have been released. Q. How many soclalists are there in the Wisconsin legislature’—M. W A. At the last election the socialists in Wisconsin elected eleven assemby- men and three state senators. Q. Are there more negroes whites in South Carolina —N, M. A.In 1920 the whites in South Caro- lina numbered 818,538 and the negroes 864,719. Q. Who paid for the White House” M. P. A. The original cost was defraved from the sule of lands donated by Maryland and Virginia. Q. What is the fire United States?—J. M. T. A. The National Board of Fire Un- derwriters estimated the losscs in at $500,000,000—an equivalent of $4.4 for each person in the country. Q. What book has the widest sale?— V. E B A The Bible is the world's best seller. An average of 30.000,000 copies are sold yearly, or 80,000 cach day than building of the P loss of the Has Japan a warm or cool climate? —M. F. A. Climatic_conditions vary widely in Japan. In the Loo-choo group subtropical conditions prevail; the heat s great, and snow und ice are never seen. In the Kurile Islands, on the ‘other hand, snow and ice never entirely disappear Q.. Are days Idnger or shorter than they used to be?—D. K A: §ince the earth is slowing down, ntists say it follows that it was once ,rotating faster, and that there was a period, a long time ago, when the day comprised only twenty hou Golng farther back still, until inco ceivable ages ago, the earth mus have been rotating on its axis in period of from three to four hours (Let The Star answer your questio) Haskin strest cents n a ! Jormation Bureaw, Frederic J. 1220 North Capitol amps for return pestage.) British Control in India Today I Stronger Than in Days of er_mer. house of parliament in point of serv- ice, but, likewise, the oldest living statesman of cabinet rank, for he served as a lord of the a iralt der the premiership of Earl during the American war of He is still hale and heart tends to attain the cemtur fore he gives up work and goe: last rest. .His father lived: to eighty-four, and his uncle, Viscount Eversley, was so keen, to the verv last, about outdoor sports that he bought a new pair of guns when he was ninety-two. Lord Eversley is iikewise .the senior member of the Athenasum «Club. ;The last occasion on which he crossedl the Atlantic was six weeks before the great war, when, at the age of eighty-two or more, h came to America for the purpose o visiting his old friend, the I seph H. Choate. At one time his name—not that o Lord Eversley, but of George Lefevre, which he bore before h vation fo the peerage—was v known and popular in this country This was due to a couple of speeches Wwhich he delivered in the house o €ommo: some sixty years or more ago. The first was maiden speech. It concerned the escap t the Alabama from the Mersey du the civil war, and he was so v in denouncing the gross care of the English officials intrusted w the duty of detaining the Confedera cruiser. predicting that. sooner later, Great Britain would have pay very heavily for her neglect. that his remarks received widespread at- tention on this side of the Atlantic. On the occasion of his second ora- torical effort in the house of com- mons he happened to be the f: series of speakers on the subje England's relations with the States, advocating a friendli tude and urging the nece: tivating American good wi Cyrus Field was in the gallery of the house of commons and had arranger that the entire speeches should be ca- bled in extense to New York, a feat never until that time attempted. Through some unforeseen accident to the cable all telegraphic communica- tion between the new and the old world was suddenly interrupted at the very moment when Shaw-Lefe- vre's speech had passed, in toto, safe- ly over the wires. Thus it was that on the following day his utteran figured quite alone in the Americ press concerning the subject befor parliament, namely, the improvement of relations between the two great English-speaking countries, nd ha thereby acquired a reputation for statesmanship and a prestige on this side of the ocean which was in no sense of the word warranted by his political standing at that time in England. T Later on he became a more impor- tant figure in English public life, was the prineipal - lieutenant of John Bright when the latter was minister of commerce and was afterward, in turn, minister of- public works, post- master géneral and president of the/ lacal government board, being event- ually raised to a seat in the house of lords by way of consoling him for his exclusion from the administration of Sir Henry Campbell-Bammerman on the return of the liberals to power in 1905. On receiving his peerage he took the title of Lord Eversley. which had been previously borne b, that famous kinsman of his, who re- mains on record as the best, and cer- tainly tthe most bandsome, speakerf who has ever presided over the de- Hberations of the house of commons. That peer took his title trom the par- ish of Eversley, in which his Hamp- shire country seat, Heckfield Court. was situated and of which his friend and nelghbor, Canon Charles Kinge- ley. was the Tector. It is necessary to mention this in order to explain an odd verse in one of Kingsley's poems. Kingsley was passionately fond of fishing in the chalk streams of Eversley and, for his fishing, he loved a southwest wina, ‘20 Broductive of rain, & windf which brought him sounds from the neighboring military camp at Alder- shot, sounds from the railroad lino and 'sounds of the clock striking at Heckfield Court, the heme of iis good friend, Lord Eversley. These wel- come sourids he . coufd hear-when there was 4 southwest wind. , The he Oh,’ Blessed drums of Aldershot, Oh, blessed. blessed, southwest trai Oh, blessed, blessed, speaker's clock, All prophesying rain. No one would know what was meant by this verse, unless informed that it referred to the clock of Heck- fleld Court, the country seat of the first Lord 'Eversley, speaker of the house of commons, and that the trai was_the one which passes on m‘ London and Southwestern railroa. nearby, or that the drums of the great ‘military camp _at Aldershot could be heard at Eversley-when: the wind was (o & certaln direétion.