Evening Star Newspaper, September 22, 1923, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR, With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. beginning. First Ttaly judged Greace guilty instantly, and presented an ultimatum followed ‘b halr-trigger action on receipt of Greece’s refusal SATURDAY. .September 22, 1923 [t0 comply with "all - the conditions THEODORE W. NOYES........Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Businens Ofice, 11th 8¢, and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Ofice: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office: Tower Buildin Buropean Office: 16 Regent St., London, ‘The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning edition, is delivered by carriers within the city at 60 cents per month: daily only, 45 cents per month: Sunday only. 20 cents per month. Or- ders may be sent by mail or telephone Main £000. Collection is made by carriers at the end of each month. _ Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Paily and Sunday.. , $8.40; 1 mo. Daily only . $6.00; 1 mo., Sunday on $2.40; 1 mo., All Other States Daily and Sund: $10.00; Fimo., Daily onl o $7.00; 1 mo., Sunday only... $3.00; 1 mo., Member of the Associated Press. Thie Associated Press iy exclusively entitled fothe ke {or republication. of all news dis: Phtches ‘credited 1o, It or mot otheraise credited Ta his aper and aigo the locas news pub: lished herein. All rights of publication of wecial din ngland. To Do His Own Talking. Persons who in the future attempt to interpret the President's attitude on questions they have discussed with him in conferences at the White House will do so on their own sponsibility. President Coolidge, it ap- pea has been suffering recently from the too cxuberant s advocates of this or that policy. There has been talk of what the President’s stand is on the transportation pre lem, on the world court, etc, by visitors to the White House. Some of them have let their hopes run ahead of their judgment in statements made following their visit Not unnaturally, the President pro- poses to do his own talking on ques- tions that come before the Chief Executive when the time comes to glve the public the President’s atti- tude. It has been made very clear at the White House that the President does not intend to be held respons ble for any statements made by others than himself. Furthermore, the President will ignore and not seek to correct any statements made by rash visitors who seek to picture the attitude of the Preside: matters in which they are interested. The one announcement from the White House to the effect that the President will not be respon sible for any statements not male by imself is to cover the whole field, it appears. The President has too much on todo in these busy days to be chasing { gollars less than the current appro- | priation, and that is far below the fair down erroneous reports and seeking to correct them, it was said. There is no way in which the Chief Executive can muzzle his visitors. But probably in the future callers will be more chary ahout speaking for the President on subjects they have di cussed with him. The President as- sumes that persons who come to call on him have information to give him. He gives them the fullest opportunity to present this information. But when it comes to giving information him- self the President prefers to do it in his own way When Theodoreé’ Roosevelt was President he not infrequently flatly denied statements and positions at- tributed to him by visitors. The An: nias Club was a flourishing institu- tion. President Coolidge, it seems, does not intend to revive this organi- zation. But, on the other hand, he does not propose to have himself put in a false position. ——— Washington Does Its Duty. The National Capital al its obligations. It not only meets meets them, but it does more. Whenever the | { bility of beginning work on improv- call for help goes out Washington re- sponds and sets an example to other parts of the country. When the call is for money the people of the Dis- trict open their purses and tap their banked savings. We all know how frequent are these calls upon us, but we do not falter or fail. Yet we are not a rich people. Though there are only & few of our citizens who stand out beyond others in.the way of wealth it is likely that our average of holdings of what are usually termed worldly goods is higher than in many of those communities where there are many millionaires and a great many others who have no surplus above the sum needed for the bare necessities of lite. We are a fortunate and a generous people. It is known that on every occasion of need the poor chip in their dollars and pile up e splendid total. Those who are rated as of “the middle class” pour in their contributions, and those who stand out as being wealthy always come across as though dollars were made for giving in a good cause. In the matter of the Japanese fund the quota assigned to the District by the American Red Cross was $50,000. Washington promptly contributed that sum and went it.better, the District up to this time having subscribed $425.000, and the fund is still growing. The chairman of the District Japanese fund has issued a statement express- ing appreciation of the generous re- sponse which citizens have ‘made to e needs of sufferers by the Japanese catastrophe, showing that we have subscribed our quota two and a half times, and that the dollars are still coming. in. Washington always does its duty. —————— “The fact that the board and lodging at Ellis Island are no’ inducement tiakes no difference to the resolute immigrant. ———————— The Albanian-Verdict. 1f a dispatch, that comes from Pre- veza is verified, the findings of the al- lied inquiry commission into the Al- banian assassinations, for which Greece has been held accountable by Italy and virtually also by the coun- cll of ambassadors, will prove an em- barrassment to the council and to the powers that permitted the decision at Paris. For it is stated that the Japa- nese, British and Freneh delegates on the inquiry commission are convinced @t the murder of the Italian officers wa>s actuated by a desire for ven- ssunce and not by political motives, and, furthermore, that they absolve the Greeks from the accusation of negligence in trying to trace the mur- < derers. ‘ _ Thig case has. “back-fired" from the. ements of | { i | taxpay ! mains are below. requirements. Square | vection of the budget bureau. Under exacted,: seizing Corfu after bombard- ment In which several innocent people were slain, Then the council of am- bassadors took up the case—although it belonged really to the league of na- tiois, which Italy refused to recognize in the premises—and likewise found \Greece guilty without an investiga- tion, - ordering the government at Athens to make apologies and to pay honors to Italy and to deposit 50,- 000,000 lira. in trust as bail for repa- rations. In other words, the accused was condemned without a trial. But, a trial was ordered, and the verdict is about to be rendered. If it is in the terms indicated by the dispatéh from Preveza it will be a repudiation of the action already taken. What then will be the course regarding the twelve or fifteen Greeks still at Corfu? Can ade- quate reparation be made for them, or will the seizure of Corfu be excused as a warrantable expedient in con- sideration of national temperament? And finally, what will be done to re- habilitate the league of nations, which has been so sorely injured by Italy's repudiation? The"Supplemental Estimates. The District Commissioners are exerting themselves to the end that the budget bureau shall give due onsideration to the needs of the Cap- ital, and have sent a letter supporting the supplemental estimates of seven million dollars plus to the director of the budget. The supplementary sched- ule of estimates was accompanied by a letter from the District auditor, who presented fairly and positively rea- sons why favorable consideration should be given to items in that sched- ule. The Commissioners follow this with a letter which, though its text has not been made public, is known to set forth that the cut made in the regular schedule of estimates would leave the District government imper- fectly provided and compel elimina- tion from the estimates of items de- manded by public sentiment and ade- quately provided for by taxpayers’ money It is believed that the supplemental schedule contains an. item of about one miillion dollars for the school building program. This is far below the amount asked by the board of education. The school situation has been thoroughly canvassed, and is nown to practically everybody in the District. The sum carried in the regu- lar estimates is about half a million needs of the schools. The school plant { : : | must be brought in line with the de- mand upon it, and a large sum of money will be required to do this. We might as well begin the spending now. he money to bear our legal share of the cost is coming in from the District s, Street paving, sewer and water miles of rural land have been trans- formed and added to the city, but the usual city services have not kept pace with building and settlement, though the people there are paying city taxes. It is certainly the understanding that property owners paying city taxes, at a high rate of tax on a high as- sessment of value, are entitled to streets, sewers, water and fire and po- lice protection, yet the District gov- ernment cannot furnish them. That is, it cannot furnish them under the regular schedule as reduced by di- the supplemental . estimates some | progress might be made. | The Commissioners are pressing upon the budget bureau the desira- ing street lighting and making over the Washington channel water front. They are doing all within their power to secure favorable consideration of items for adding Klingle and Piney Branch valleys and the Patterson tract to the park system. Haste is necessary in this matter, because builders are already encroaching on those natural park lands. ———————————— Baron Renfrew can enjoy a vaca- tion on a Canada ranch with perfect confidence that the interests of the Prince of Wales are being wisely cared for by the most eminent British statesmanship. ————————— The agreement between anthracite operators and miners is to run for two years. At the expiration of that period the price to be required from the con- sumer will again come up for con- sideration. —_————————— The chiet’ boundary question before the league of nations is the limit that can be placed on Mussolini’s arbitrary assumptions. | | + | National Criminal Identification. As a measure of justice the estab- lishment in this city of a central crim- inal identification bureau for the United States will be of national im- portance, This has been decided upon at a conference held here attended by the Attorney General and representa- tive heads of police departments end other agencies for the detection and punishment of crime. Though there is no statutory provision for the institu- tion it can be maintained at least for the present without difficulty, and the hope is that it will eventually’ be recognized @s a part of the crime- suppression work of the government acting as agent for the states. At present there is a large collection of criminal identification material at Leavenworth, Kan., the seat of the largest federal penal institution. But that is not as efficient as it would be in Washington and, furthermore, it does not ‘contain full records aend identifying files from the states. Much valuable time is lpst in the pursuit of ‘tugitive criminals and their identifi- cation. when captured through the necessity of searching by correspond- ence through perhaps a dozen centers of such records. Long ago it was recognized that somie concentration of ‘these records should be had at a convenient point, and Washington has always been re- garded as the most desirable location. At the conference held yesterday that view.was confirmed, and decision was reached to develop here such a cen- tral. buresu to serve 8s a cleacing house of information breakers. { Under present meethods of registra~ tion it is virtually imjossible for a criminal, once arrested, photographed and finger-printed according to the v(enrfl.lnl law- | sclentific methods of registration, to conceal his identity when again taken into custody. By adoption of a code of descriptions it iy possible to con- firm identification by telegraph, tele- phone or radio. A man taken at Kan- sas City, for example, may have left a criminal record at Bosten of at Seattle or at New Orleans, and with a central bureau properly maintained he can be recognized. With the rec- ords of all those citlm, for instance, centered here, it is necessary merely to communicate with Washington, to obtain the requisite information. Criminals have cleverly found means to lessen their traces, but they cannot effectually destroy their identities. The combination of measurements, photographs and finger prints is an infallible test of personality. The Washington bureau properly equipped and administered will serve materially to make crime more dangerous to the perpetrator, and therefore to increase the safeguards of society. —————— London people are complaining of the telephone service as conducted un- der government auspices. Complaints of telephone service are inevitable. They differ from complaints of postal service in that they need not be re- duced to writing, but can be expressed and replied to in impromptu terms on the spur of the moment. As a matter of governmental dignity it is perhaps best to follow the American plan and keep the phones under private pro- prietorship. ———— Observations of the recent eclipse of the sun are expected to provide proof of the Einstein theory. That the average citizen will understand the proof better than he does the theory is too much to hope. —————————e Assertions are made in England that standardized manufacture is tak- ing the soul out of American busi- ness. There may be grounds for the criticism. Art has often complained that our business man is too tired to be souiful. ——————————— The assumption, that Germany had immense concealed resources which might suddenly be put in aggressive operation has dwindled to the propor- tions of an exploded myth. Dempsey can always draw a crowd of pugilist fanciers who do not want to miss a chance of being on the ground when he gets beaten. Embarrassment arises in disputes between European nations because of efforts of obstinate parties to decide a question two ways at once. In the face of the news from Japan very few citizens of other nations will have the assurance to ask sympathy for their own housing problems. Japan's financial credit is more sub- stantial than the buildings of Tokio that were shattered by the earth- quake. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON The 0ld Photograph. When the coming generation looking backward on today Sees pictures which quite recently were taken, Some youth will use the language of the sentimental lay ‘While gentle reminiscences awaken. He'll gaze upon a picture of a lady very fair, And he'll murmur, ‘mongst the sighs he cannot smother, “I scarcely recognize her as she is de- picted there. It's a dear old-fashioned photograph of mother.” “The skirt is scarcely long enough to reach below the knee. She has a very juvenile complexion, The way she holds & cigarette is grace- ful as can be, Hér summer furs become her to perfection, A lipstick has equipped her with a sweet, unfading smile, And her hair is short like that of little brother. I like her looks much better since those clothes went out of style. It's a dear old-fashioned photograph of mother. Making the Game Interesting. “'Of course, there are some bad men in politics.” “Naturally,” answered Senator Sor- ghum, complacently. “Conditions re- quire them. If there were no bad men there wouldn't be anybody to run on the opposition ticket.” Jud Tunkins says the man who minds his own business instead of being @ valued.citizen is merely apt to get the reputation of being unso- ciable. ‘The Sinner’s Dependence. “‘A bootlegger is a wicked person.” “He is,” agreed Uncle Bill Bottle- top. “But there’s many a man who wouldn’t be so wicked if a whole lot more people weren't so foolish.” Struck. There comes a feeling of dislike As prices higher go. No.matter who decides to strike The public feels the blow. Working Hard. . “Will your boy Josh remain in col- lege?” “He thinks ®0,” replied Farmer Corntossel. “He don't take very kind to study, but he's workin' hard in hopes the foot ball team can't do without him. The Dangerous Sense of Humor. “Lost your job as a. cdddy?” said one boy. f “Yep,” replied the other. “I could do the work all right, jbut I cquldn’t learn not to leugh.” g “Contentment is .a great blessin’ said Uncle Eben; “ceppin’ when one man jes wants to sit around contented an’ let de rest of de fam'ly do de work.” v * Hold Together? IX—The Problem of Germany. Dr. Rudolph Helferding is the new finance minister of the republic Tmany. Young. able and active, he hes just announced himself in favor Of . new currency based on gold. “Inflation must be stopped or Ger- many is . doomed,” said Dr. Hel- ferding in reply to a question of mine. . “Not only is it destroying our cultural life by taking all the ma- terial wealth of the middle classes; but it is causing the awful concen:. tration of wealth of Germany - into fewer and fewer hands. This is bad for Germany. It is bad for interna- tional trade and it is bad for the world. It must be stopped.” Let us seo the problem Helferding fae Germany in 1914 was a world leader ir international trade. With ‘an area about the size of France she had a population exceeding that of France By twenty-five millions. Her cur- rency, like that of England, was sound, Her government receipts and expenditures balanced; 82 per cent of | her receipts came from direct taxes as against 29 per cent of direct taxes in France, Her international e Changed moved within the gold points. At this time she had outstanding 655 millions of dollars in bank notes and deposits, and 260 millions of dol lars in gold reserve. That is to say. I for every dollar of notes and deposits | outstanding she had 40 cents of gold to pay with. During the war she increased her bank notes and de- posits to” 9,000 millions of dollars. while her gold reserve only increased to millions of dollars.” To put it in another way, the bank notes and deposits increased during the war 13.7 times, while the gold reserve in- creased only 2.1 times. For every dollar of hank notes and deposits outstanding at the end of 1918 Ge many had 6.3 of gold to Day with. What happened? The same thing_as in France and Great Britain. We need not repeat the experience Iin detail except to say that prices went steadily up and the purchasing value of her money went steadily down. It we figure wholesale prices In Ger- many n July, 1914, at 100, we find them av che close of the war at 217. That is to say, it took $217 at the close of the war to purchase what $100 would at the beginning. Still she inflated her currency less during the war than any of the other great belligerents. * ¥ k X At the outbreak of the war the public debt of Germany was $17 per capita—the lowest in Europe. Its annual interest charges were only 62 cents per capita. During the war, as in France, taxes were not greatly increased. Still, her war taxes per capita per annum were $5.72, as against 12 cents in France—forty- seven times as much. Yet only 11 cents out of every dollar spent by Germany during the war was raised by taxation. She got the other 59 cents by selling $24,500,000,000 worth of her bonds to her own people. She made 39,000,000 individual sales. To- day those government bonds are worth exactly $408. That is one thing the people of Germany got out of the war. Germany in pre-war days was buy- ing, even at the height of her pros- perity, more goods outside of Ger- many than she sold. About $3 000 a year more. How did she pay She paid it in exactly the same way as France—by her so-called invisible exports. She received about $350,000,000 a year on her investments owned out- side of Germany, $125,000,000 more WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC Conspicuous league of nations ad- vocates consulted by this observer lgMrm the time has not yet come to {pronounce judgment on recent events. | | John Hessin Clarke, former associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, now president of the League of Nations Non-Partisan Association, says: “I regard the incident as not yet sufficiently settled for final com- ment. Perhaps I may have some- thing to say of it later on.” A. Law- rence, Lowell, president of Harvard University, an earnest coadjutor of of Mr, Clarke in league advocacy, says: “Before expressing an opinion, 1. should prefer to wait until the outcome of the controversies be- tween Italy and Greece and Jugo- slavia is known, and until it is clear whether the league will take any further action or not” Col. House, one of the architects of the covenant, in what is probably the only exhaust- ive Interview he ever gave in his life, claims that “the actual settle- ment of the Greco-Italian crisis was accomplished by the council of am- bassadors, but the league was behind it” * % x * Senator, Borah has a unique talent for getting the ear of Washington and the country. His return from prolonged absence in the wWest re- stored “Big Bill” at & leap to the front pages of the newspapers and the thoughts of politicians of all hues. Instantly the issue of farm re- lief, the thing now nearest to Borah's: heart, vaulted into the limelight. Per- haps It was a mere coincidence that the day he arrived in Washington the cabinet devoted its entire attention %o rural woes. The silver-tongued Idahoan dines at the White House, and immediately the possibility of President Coolidge's summoning Con- gress in special session becomes {afresh the theme of national dis- cussion. Borah spent the summer in Idaho inspecting his 1924 senatorial fences and found them in satisfactory condition. His desk in the Senate office building is piled sky-high with communications that customarily reach Borah from every state in the Unlon., * % % % One of these days, sooner than the country may expect, the Ku Kiux Klan may disturb the state of ndi- ana as ominously as it now isjagi- tating Oklahoma. One of the sub- jects on which Senator James E. Watson waxes most fervent is the growth and invisible power of the Klan in, Hoosierdom. Few southern states, it is declared, possess as form- idable an organization as the klans- men boast in Indiana. They are said to number’ 400,000 regular mem- ers. At the 1922 elections they dem- onstrated in notable instances their abllity to overthrow candidates whom they consider objectionable. The Klan confidently expects to name the | ndiana. next Governor of I Both r publican and democratic leaders are frankly concerped over a situation which, they fear, i®» going from bad to worse. * % %k x Senator Pat Harrison of Mi back from the west, where been serving on the Senate’s re- forestation committee, visited Pri dent Coolidge on Thursday. The democrat whom President Harding, a few months before his death, pleas- ‘antly dubbed, “the chiet - trouble maker,” had the most cordial kind of a pow-wow with Mr. Cool After they’d been talking a while the Presi- dent, in a moment of reminiscence over Senate days, said: Pat, do you know what's the most familiar thing fabroa: from “ler® merchnt marine services ¢ |and/ another’ §125,000,000 from tour- l.lél'rfiml_tmcel abroad, ete. ' This o her $360,000,000 & year .with Which ale could square her purchases | and &till bave over, $125,000,- for good measure. So, as in the case of France, hdy problem was an ‘éasy one. - .0 Iy "“Now let us see What another the war did for Germany. Her investments abroad were either s0ld_or- later confiscated. This re- lieved her of § 0 a day income. Invisible . export 1 gone. Her merchant marine was either sunk or later confiscated under the Versailles treaty, thereby taking from her an- other. $320,000 a day income. - Invisi- ble export No. 2 gone. Her service tees, tourists, etc., stopped during the thereby taking from her $200.- 000 a day income. Invisible export No. § gone. In other words, her in- vigible ,exports which she had used to pay. the exceas of her purchases each year, and amounting_to $1,500,- 000 & day, were’ gone. < I want every reader to get the true significance of this. When Germany lost. her invisible export account she lost the key to her international trade. She-lost her business balance wheel. That practically destroved her international business life.. And when the means for carrying on interna- ional trade goes, ‘the standard of | iving for the average man within i1 that nation falls. ’ * k% ¥ But this is not the whole story. It is not half the story. Not only has! she lost her invisible export account, | but she has also lost a very great part of her visible exports as well. She has lost under the provisions of the peace treaty 25 per cent of her| coal (not including the Ruhr), 74 per| cent of her iron ore, 68 per cent of her zinc ore, 15 per cent of her wheat land and 18 per cent of her potato land. Such a misfortune would erip- ple any people in the world. In itself it might well cause social decay. Just study these flgures for a moment. Translate them into the lives of peo- ple. at does it mean? It means Germany when she signed the peace ! treaty signed her financial death| warrant. It means that Germany has| $3,000,000 a day less income to buy goods with on the world markets. It means that she has lost one-third of her income. while of the balance left another third goes to pay interest charges only on the internal debt. Interest charges on her debt imme- dlately after the war were fifty-three times what they were in 1913. It means her credjt structuresis ruined. {1t means that she can sell no more bonds to tide hér over. It means her industrial machine, which she built especially for international trade, has been wrecked. It means a lower and lower standard of living for the masses. It means that she has left no agency except the government printing press. It means that her doom is sealed and | thie printing presses will work on until the end. It means that twenty mil- lion people today cannot live above the head line, whene sixty million lived in_comfort before. This tells the story. In 1914 an American dollar would buy four Ger- man marks; in 1918, ten marks 1921, one hundred marks; in 1922, fifteen hundred marks; in August, 1923, twelve million marks, and Septem- ber 8, fifty million marks. The problem already has gotten on beyond her control. The financial dyke has broken. Germany is doomed. | Tomorrow—Reparations and the Ruhr Invasion H iff Tnited States and Great orth American Newspaper I rights reserved.) thing (Copyright. 1923, ritain ' b Al | WILLIAM WILE ! | about you to know. Joined Harrison said he'd like “Your voice,” Coolidge re- kN Martin Luther Davey, who is com- | | ing back to the Sixt hth Congress | from the Akron district of Ohio, after | having sat in the Sixty-sixth Con-| | gress, was in Washington this week | on forestry affairs. Davey is a tree | surgeon by profession. Somebody | drew him Into a discussion of the al- leged disrepute into which Congress has fallen. “One of the widespread myths” Davey interpolated, “is the belief that Congress is the easiest get-rich-quick opportunity extant. The folks ‘back home' almost every- where have a notion that pots of gold are waliting on Capitol Hill to be grabbed by anybody who'll take them. T look back upon ten years of active public life, in Washington and in my state, without recalling a solitary in- stance of ‘graft’ ever having been sug- gested to me or to anybody I ever heard of In any way, shape or man- ner. 1 long ago came to the con- clusion there ain’t no such animal.” A Australia, which is allowed to land| only 300 of her people in the United States as permanent residents in any one year, likes not our immigration quota system. The Sydney Bulletin, ! the commonwealth’s leading news- paper, proposes retaliation. It pionts out that in 1921 Australia bought from the United States $130,000,000 worth more of goods than she sold us. To bring America to terms on the immigratiori propesition, therefore, the Bulletin facetiously suggests that as soon as Auystraiia purchases from the U. S. A, exceed her sales to us by more than 50 per cen he law of the quota™ shall automatically come into force. Under it further American sales in Australia shall cease until the succeeding January 1. Any goods thenceforward arriving shall be sent back at the American shipper's cost and no action for recovery shall lie in the Australian courts. The Bulle- tin comments: “That would advertise ‘Austrglia and elevate it enormously in American respect, as being not the worm it looked. Also it would lead to the opening of hurried negotiations.” * K Kk When Mrs. Harding takes up her winter residence in Washington, In apartments in Massachusetts avenue, three former first ladies of the land will® bs domiciled within a few squares af one another. Mrs. William Howard Taft lives close by, in Wyo- ming avgnue, and Mns. Weodrow Wil- son’s home, . just around the corner in S street. (Copyright, 1923.) In a Few Words. | Great Britain has not withdrawn from the continent, but has been pushed out amid the sniggers of the ‘world. *—LLOYD GEORGE. In eo far as statesmanship consists in understanding the other man's int of view, Russia’s notions must e takeninto consideration whether we think them sensible or not. -ARTHUR RUHL. Few national leaders anywhere have had the courage to make it plain, that what under the old order nations regardéd as right must now, if subscriptionf to the league is to mean . anything whatever, be con- demned.as wrong. . ~—NORMAN ANGELL. It is true that I prefer’'a bad gov- ernment run by Fillpinos to one run | like heaven by the Americans. - ~—MANUEL QUEZON. (Filipino-political leader.) “An equity Judge ought not to”be turneq into & superpoliceman. 7 { sal .| emotional The Library Table B8Y THE BOOKLOVER Much was written at the time of publication about “The Letters of Franklin K. Lane.” The Booklover looked over the letters then rather hastily, and now, with summer vaca- tion leisure, he has been reading them, slowly and with deep apprecia- tion. He is impressed, as all readers and reviewers have been, with the two prominent aspects of the “Let- ters,” as they show Lane's political activities, opinions, ideals, and as they show his personal philosophy of life and death. It is of the latter as- pect that I am going to write briefly, by means of quotations from the “Letters” Never have letters given a more frank and sincere revelation of personality—a most lovable one— and personal philosophy than these of Lane. Throughout his life and at the time of 'his death Lane's attitude to- ward religion was one of deep rever- ence: intense longing to believe something, but honest inability really to believe. Over and over, to his inti- mate friends, he expresses these feel- ings, with a growing pathos as his health fails and he more and more feels the need of some sustaining re- ligion or philosophy. In a letter to his wife he says: “But I am a miserable, groping creature, cast on a sea of doubt, re- jecting one spar to grasp another, and crying all the time against the storm for help. T do not know an- other man who has tortured himself =0 insistently with the problems that are unsolvable.” Of Balfour he s “Anne (Mrs. Lane) sat next to him a personal God, personal fter death, and answer to, prayer, which is a remarkable state- ment of faith foc one who has lived through our scientific age. T think at bottom he is a mystic.” To his brother he writes: “I am trying hard to believe some- thing that might be called the shadow of a religion—a God that has a good purpose, and another life in which there is a chance for further growth, if not for glory. But when I bump up against a series of afflictions such as you have been subjected to, I fall back upon Fred’s philosophy of a purposeless or elsp a cruel God * * I simply have a sinking of the heart, a goneness, a hopelessness—not even the pleasure of a resignation.” In a letter to a friend he says: A man who can believe anything is miles ahead of the rest of us. I would gladly take Christian Science, Mohammedanism, the Holy Rollers or anything else that promised some answer to the perplexing problems.” He writes to his daughter soon after her marriage: “I wish “you would really sink yourself into some religion. To start right is so important. You will miss much joy in life, T am convinced, by not having a faith. something to live by. something that explains the ques- tions that rise each hour. Buddhism does not claim to be supernatural, is not founded on miracles, and vet Buddha taught the philosophy ~of Christ 500 years before He came. The central note is getting above self—real self-mastery.” Just before his operation at Rochester, Minn., he writes: “I find myself quits serenes, for I can look forward even to the very worst result with the feeling that there is no one to meet me over there to whom I've done any wrong.” In another letter of the same date he sa. Td Jike to have Anne's perfect sureness as to the future, but, lacking jit. T do not look forward with fear even if the worst should happen. I've never done a wrong to any man or woman or child that I can now re- call—but maybe my memory {s fail- ing.” During the Interval of twel days between his operation and his death he dictated a letter to be sent to the many friends who were tele- graphing or writing to inquire about him. In this he said: “Ah, now I was to know the great secret! For forty years I had been wondering. wondering—and I had come to the conclusion that perhaps the best statement of my creed could be fitted into the words, ‘I accept,’ which to me meant that if in the law of nature my individual spirit was to go back into the great ocean of spirits, my one duty was to con- form. ‘Lead, Kindly Light, was all the gospel I had. I accepted. I made pretense to put out my hand in sub- mission and lay there.” After a brief period, during which it seemed that Lane might be on the way to restored Thealth and renewed life, he suddenly went. either to learn or not to learn “the great secret;” for, as he himself a short time before: “Either 1 would know, or not know. and I would not know that I would not know.” i The spirit of Thomas Hardy as it appears in his poetry receives a fine tribute from John Middleton Murry in a review of Hardy's “Collected Poems,” published recently in the New York Times book review. Mr. Murry eays: “It is to the spirit of a great man that I come to submit my- self and to pay homage. I take up the ‘Collected Poems’ now in order that T may approach a hero of hu- manity. 1 am spellbound. Binding the earliest of the poems to the last, I am aware of an imperishable thread of predestination. No matter how casual its occasion, each several poem has its place in the structure of en- during poetry which Hardy has built to be the everlasting mansion of his spirit.” * *x k X Treland In recent years has suggested so much of hatred, mingled with crude sentimentalism, both in literature and politics, that it is a keen pleasure to be recalled to the Ireland of Celtic fancy and idealism by such a book as Padriac Colum’s new novel, “Castie Conquer.” Colum's artistry and im- agination also furnish a delightful contrast for any one who has recently made an_excursion into the extreme and decadent naturalism of his fellow countryman, James-Joyce. It will be remembered that Padriac Colum was one of the leaders in the Irish literary renaissance of twenty years ago, with which the names of Yeats and Synge are even more closely connected. Colum’s verse, drama and fictlon are all Yolk literature, and are always con- cerned more with the soul of the Irish peasant than with his external life. “Castle Conquer” combines realism and_symbolism _in an interpreation of Irish character. The action covers fifty years of Irish struggle, ambition and suffering, and ends with the pres- ent time, in a mood of sad acceptance rather thanyf hope fulfilled. _ € The late Maurice Hewlett hated pub- licity so much that he lived in a small Wiltshire village about ten miles from a railway station. He re- ceived few visitors-and always re- fused to give interviews to juornal- ists concerning his personal life and history. His daily life. was very sim- ple and regular. He breakfasted about §:30, worked in his garden until 10, wrote until 12, then walked in his garden until lunch time at 1. In the afternoon he read, wrote letters, walked over the downs, or fished until dinner, at 8. His evenings were given to reading. He rarvely read novels, but was especially fond of biography and French and Italian literature. R E. M. Hull, who thrilled all school girls and a few older people several years ago by her improbable desert novel “The Sheik,” has attempted to repeat her success by another similar novel, “The Desert Healer. In this second story ‘there are the same thrills, impossible situations and agonies also the same rather vivi hara atmosphere. Scorch! suns, blinding sand storms, M,“{,h..,, iedans and primitive, brutal masculinity are measured out i RS ANSWERS T O QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. To settle a dispute kindly statg whether the same man writes Dopey Dan and The Mixer for the Everfing Star?—G. B. K. A. Both of these features are the work of W. H. Claggett. Q. How long has the Congressional Record been published?—H. L. F. A. This official record has been pub- lished since 1789, although the name has been changed several times, F' 1789 to 1825 it was called the A};;gfi of Congress; from 1825 to 1837, the Regsiter of Debates; from 1837 1875, the Congressional and since that time the Congressional Record. From 1789 to 1799, the pro- ceedings of the Senate were not in- cluded as all of the sessions were held behind closed doors. The “execu- tive"” sessions of the Senate are secret and are not reported in the Congres- sional Record. Globe, Q. Can radio messages from the United States be picked up at the north pole?—L. D. L. A. Capt. McMillan, who has started on 'his eighth arctic trip, has taken with him powerful recelving and sending equipment. Unless auroral dis- turbances interfere, he expects to communicate with the United States by radio. He says that on his last trip, when two degrees beyond th arctic circle, he heard distinctly mes sages from the Arlington station. Q. Pleaso give the names of some naturalized citizens of the United States who are holding public office? A. ‘Among them are: James J. I Secretary of Labor, born in Wales; Senator Couzens, Canada; Represent- ative Kahn, German tive Voigt, Germany Strauss, Bavaria: United States Min- ister Schurman, Canada. Q. Are. there Indian trfbes, where most of the people still live in wig- wams? A. J. D. A. The Indian office says that of the 371 Indian tribes ‘still remaining in the United States. there are -only twenty tribes where the majority of Indians and their familles dwell in teepees, wikiups or hogans. Q. What is the best thing to use to clean the varnish surfaces of an automobile?—D. D. D. A. Popular Science Monthly says that cool, clean water, a sponge and chamois are the best weapons with which to combat deterioration. Soak off the mud and dirt with a gentle stream of water from a hose with- out a nozzle. Then sponge With clean water, and dry with chamois. Wet the chamois throughly and wring dry be- fore using. Do not wash car while it stands in bright sunshine, Q. Was Kingston, Jamaica, ever de- stroyed by an earthquake?—A. H. D. A. The city was practically de- stroyed by earthquake and fire Janu- ary 24, 1907. The loss of life was be- tween 1,000 and 1,500, and the prop- erty loss more than $5,000,000. Q. Why does David Belasco affect clerical attire?—A. K. D. A. He was educated in a monastery, vhich is saild to account for his predilection for such garments, Q. What are the Ellis Island?—M. P. A. The immigration service savs that owing to the congested condi- tions at Ellis Island there are no visiting days. A few persons from time to time are allowed to go through the buildings, being conduct- ed by an immigration official. Q. What city has the greatest num- ber of art treasures?>—L. H. K. A. Florence, Italy, probably con- tains more works of art than any other similar area. Michael Angelo, Raphael, Leonardo da_Vinel, Giotto, Luca della Robia, Donateilo, Fra Filippo Lippi, Botticelli and Andrea del Sarto all worked in Florence, many of them being native Floren- tines, and the city has many examples of their paintings and statues. isiting days at Q. Are gold dollars and two-and-a- half-dollar pieces still coined?—F. L. S. A. The coinage of the gold dollar was discontinued in 1887, but the two- and-a-half-dollar pieces ave still being coined. to| Q. 1s grapefruit sold in s A sold in E The s that gi nd more ow can epagtment of Comme. \ obtained in does the aur nd to wha een?—L, § frequency borealis varies with the lati the pla It is comparative within 45 degrees of the equ more frequent toward the north to the latitude of about 60 deg: where it sometimes becomes nightly occurrence. less frequent near the pol Q. Why is a ‘goat always associated with lodge initiations?—V. M. A A. The assoctation of the goat w Initiation: stitions originating middle ages. There was, the continent They used counection with their initiatic wore imitation goat faces. As their meetings were veilod in secrocy the ignorant populace believed them to he in league with the devil. initiations are also h ¥, many persons at the time be- 4’ that Satanic rites were prac ticed. Thus the goat came to be Q. How ofte: alis appear south can it by A. The of t jassociated with lodge initiations. Q. Arc the enormou alled coal dust whic umulating hear o |used for any prac Iw. B A ulm through “washeries,” the larges {of reclaimed coal sold for do: coal, the smaller for steam e in some places the dust is mixed wi tar and “b s “boulets, Q: Has the Ku ¥ an’s organization A. Th is such known as Kamelia in Indiana alone enrolled as membe tl an Tt orga is sal 90,000 women are Q. Is catalep: A. Catalepsy i phenomenon, not a number of nc consisting .of w attitude of some atalepsy 1 panied by un K. N, mator found in a disease?— pecu a discase rv disorders and persistent muscular part of the body. ot be accom- 1s have give ti A. Th propagati mate: the largely deter edity, ete. Cows often secrate confinuously” for two, three or years without producing a. calf on the other hand, the birth of serves to stimulate the secr milk. Authorities on ghe subject agree that the best results are ol tained when the cow produces a calf at regular in s each ve Q. Ts there immune to tuber: A. The public health serv that there is no race nor of people known that is not subject to tuberculosis. “In some parts of tI world, due to climatic conditions the occ ation of t , tuber losis is very rare. Q. Does it neccssars calf each ye best milk?—I. 3 ors on which ¢ 1k depends eriod o the co sined by her breed race of peopl the flavor deteriorate when the cold storage L. A. The Department of Agr {says that grapefruit wi \ I'superior eating quality after a period | of 6né to three months in cold stor age if suitably cured before storing | One reason for tr that. while | sugar content remains about the same |the acid content decreases marked |during storage, and rently | bitter principle * is - broken do which also enhances the sweet | | | the fruit. The fruit stores when picked about midseason (If you have a que answered send it to formation Bureau, Frederic J. Has- kin, director, 1220 North Capitol street. Give your full name and ad- dress so that the information may be sent dircct. Inclose 2 cents n stamps for return postage.) The Star In- Spain’s Crisis Remains Grave, But King Seen as Unmenaced It was dus to the faflure to re- establish order in Morocco, coupled with the belief of the military ele- ment that enlargements of the “sphere of influence” -thers must prove disastrous, which enabled the Spanish military element to over- throw the existing government at Madrid and form a new control of the country. The king, the church and the army remain the bulwarks of law and stability in the opinion of most critics and the hope is expressed that under the new government it will be pos- sible for Spain to re-establish her economic stability. The outlook for some time to coms, however, must continue serious. Commenting on the outlook the Chi- cago Daily News feels “if the present insurrection should help gradually to bring peace in Morocco and should lead to fiscal readjustment, honesty in the centralized bureaucratic gov- ernment in Madrid, proper encourag- ment of agriculture, irrigation and road building and national legisla- tion covering industrial relations, most Spanards would have reason to| look back upon it as a beneficial turning point. Separatist and seces-| sionist movements in Spain can be checked and counteracted by meas- ures extending local autonomy and local Initiative. The habit of some disaffected elements of resorting to violence is the product of pessimism and despair.” Pointing out further that “the French have had no trouble, and have been able to work great benefits in their territory in Morocco, while Spain, incompetent and reac- tionary, has met only defeat,” the New York Evening World insists “the Moors have never forgotten the expulsion of their ancestors from Andalusia. They feel that they right- fully belong more in Spain than the Spanish do in Morocco.” * ok ok ok The insurrection “was long threat- ened,” the Newark News asserts, “but probably no one explanation ac- counts for the uprising. The revo- lutionists speak fair and temperate- ly. Their purpose, they say, is to set up an homest and efficient govern- ment, to deal sternly with those re- sponsible for the Moroccan flasco; to re-establish Spanish military pres- tige among the Moors and stop the Morocco adventure there and to put into effect an enlightened domestic program.” The leaders hold the power to am- plify_and carry out this program, as the New York Tribune sees it, be- cause “the army is a powerful factor in Spanish politics. The monarchy is firmly establlshed. Few Spaniards would like to see the king displaced, and there is practically no bolshevism or extreme radical sentiment in the country.” It may take a long time for the situation to work itself out, in the opinion of the Richmond News- Leader, and it will be hard to under- stand the inside of it all, “because Spanish Politics is not studied in Ameriea. Marshal Rivera represents the soldfer in politics, a type of which America is well-nigh fr . - DIoduced. langer in France and was ponsible fPr the Dreyfus c .. Even now France is having a hot controver. over military or civilian control of the army. This is very similar to that of Spain, and would produce se- rious results were not Germany mu- tering across the Rhine.” * ok ok ok While the military leaders protesting their loyalty to the king.” the Atlanta Journal recalls, “this was the cry of Mussolinl and his black 'Shlris in the Itallan revolution; and thus far they have been | conslderate enough toward acquies- cent King Victor Emmanuel | Spain, however, the future of royal family is most dubfous. Alfonso himself is a consciaptious, liberal and popular ruler. But after | him——7? After him the deluge, man observers afe inclined to predict Somewhat gimilar is the viewpoint of the Lynchburg News, which alst points out that “the present disturb- ances in Spain serve chiefly to remind of a steadily increasing tendency among the dissatisfled populations to resort to direct action as a means of effecting ‘what they conceive to be de- sirable changes in the form or meth- ode of their governments. “In their success the government is |represented as surrendering under a iclub of d@ action vi similar to that whic has been wielded by the bolshevists of Russia the Mus- | solinites of 'Italy. Hence the world | has a roached that much nearer to pread culmination of a highly perilous tendency. Even in Great Britain the laboring classes have more than once of late predicated their strike policy upon a sort of economic pressure which, in last analysis, 1s fundamentally akin to di- rect action. In other countries, too, it is quite easy to point to unmis- takable symptoms of a politically disordered state of public mind which seeks to find its ultimate express in direct action, another name the lawless employment of force * ¥ k& There is this difference in Spanish situation, as the Ka 200 Gazetto reasons it out, “nothing 50 easily attracts the contempt of @ man of action, like an alert military commander, as the voluble indecision and perpetual wavering of demo- cratio leaders. The soldier some- times does not realize that in a con- stitutional democracy no decision of statesmanship is soundly arrived at unless it carries with it the &c- quiesence of the people. Most of the revolutions that in recent years changed the political complexion of the world resulted from explosions in army circles _against governments apparently basking in the suniizht of hearty popular support”” Spain suf- ifered much from the after cffects of {the war, the Boston Trar t makes plain, and the “cost-of maintaining the campaign agaiust the Moors put an added etrain upon an already heavily burdened exchequer. — Ob- iviously thé situation is a critical one fbut King Alfonso seems to be the man’ most likely to save Spain. This s also the opinion of the New York Herald, which: recalls “Alfonso in the past displaved unusual tac and political acumen in critical situ tions,” while the World believes “the unfortunate Moroccan war, a dny rate, may. be drawing toward an, “are the King the | ]