Evening Star Newspaper, September 25, 1923, Page 6

" THE EVENING STAR,| i With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY. ...September 25, 1983 THEONORE W. NOYES.......Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Busiuess Office, 11th 8t. and Pennsylva Ave. 'w York Office: 110 East 420d Si ‘Tower Bullflh!. Loudon, Eaglend. Tte Brening Star, with the Sunday morning editlon, is delivered by eurrlers within the city at 80 cents per month: daily only, 45 cents per wmoath: Sunday only. 20 cents per month. be sent by mail or telephome Ma . Collection 1 made by carriers at the €8 of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily’and Sunday..1yr., $8.40; 1 mo., fly only 1yr., $6.00; 1 mo., 5 Sunday only 1yr., $2.40; 1 m: All Other States. Dadly and Sunda: Daily onl. Sunday onl Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Prews i 6 the ‘use for repubii: i this paper and also the lished herein. ~All rights of publication of 1 dispatches herein are also reserved. local Germany Capitulates. Germany capitulates in the Ruhr. Fhis is the briefest statement of the action taken yesterday at Berlin when, at the conference between members of the cabinet and representatives of various political parties and of the occupied regions, it was decided to abandon passive resistance in the Ruhr, unconditionally and immedi- ately. In announcing this decision Chan- cellor Stresemann said that Ger- many's present efforts would be to- ward obtaining the release of prison- ers and the return of deportees. At- temipts to mccomplish these purposes, he said, as well as to obtain guaran- tees of the restoration of German sovereignty in the occupied regions, had been unsuccessful. Thus passive resistance had lost its purpose and had become even harmful to the best interests of the country. Continuation of the Ruhr struggle would mean that Germany would bleed to death, and the continued adherence of the occu- pied regions to the republic would be threatened. - Not one word, it is to be noted, about the real purposes of the French maneuver in -occupying the Ruhr, about reparations, about fulfillment of the obligations imposed by the Ver- illes treaty. Not one word of ec- knowledgment of the fact that Ger- many is in dereliction in relation to the allies. Merely that Germany is forced now to abandon a policy of passive resistance because the in- tegrity of the republic is menaced and it has been found ‘impossible by that means to secure the release of prison- ers and the return of deportees. This is typical German reasoning. Passive resistance in the Ruhr was - not, as a fact, begun to secure the reléase of prisoners and return of de- portées, or to obtain guarantees of restoration of German sovereignty in the occupied region. It was under- taken to block the French move to se- cure by direct action the reparations payments pledged by Germany in the treaty of Versailles. The prisoners were taken by the French and many individuals were deported from the re- 5160 because of the passive resistance. The integrity of the republic was menaced by resistance and its conse- quences. Abandonment of the policy was forced because Germany can no longer continue it, because it has been a losing game, because it has not | broken the French occupation. another war lost. Now it will be necessary for Ger- many to seek peace in the Ruhr by meeting the French demands. Uncon- ditional surrender on the score of passive resistance means that the oc cupation will become effective through the collection of the reparations by direct means. It is a cumbersome method, expensive to both sides. France undoubtedly would prefer a simpler course. It is already an- 1t is mounced that if good faith were shown ; by Germany the occupation of the Rubr would be made as nearly “in- visible” as possible. But there must be substantial guarantees to permit any relinguishment of the hold Fragpe now maintains upon the great indus- al fleld in western Germany. Yesterday's decision may lead to harp reactions in Germany. Prepara- tions have been made to meet them. There has been a concentration of military and police forces, and Noske, who put down the red uprising in 1919, is in Berlin prepared, it is indi- cated, to take charge of a defensive campaign in case of an outbreak of either radicalism or militarism in con- sequence of t§e change of policy. The fact that the great industrial- ists of Germany have mnot only ac- quiesded in, but supported, the gov- ernment’s decision to end passive re- sistanée in the Ruht means that they will stand by it in any crisis that may develop in consequence. They are, af- ter all, the main strength of Ger many, and their support of the min- istry, which was, it is understood, named by them for the purpose of bringing about this change of course, indicates the opening of & new era in Germany marked by the settiement of that country's foreigh relations and solution of its domestic problems. Bt R Seismographs are still showing signs of agitation, but the assumption ¢ is reasonable that the earthquake has donse its worst. The New Coal Prices. Ever since the settlement of the hard coal strike by the writing of a 7 new contract between the operators and the miners, giving the latter an advance of 10 per cent in wages, con- sumers have been wondering how much this addition to the cost of pro- duction would add to their coal bills. Washington has just now received its notice that its part in the payment of the larger labot bill will be $1 a ton inérease. It remains for the statis- ticlans who know _how much coal ‘Washington buys between September "and the end of the coal season to fig- uré out the total contribution of the Capital to the settlement in Pennsyl- vahia. Acedrding te a statement made by one of the local dealers, some of the *, larger mines have increased the price 7 g5 centd & ton at the mine, while *others have advanced the rate from $1 L= i been one 11 a ton. The dierence in prices has not been explained. Perhaps it'{s due to difference in the volume of produc- to tion. Naturally, whatever range there | ai may be at the mines will be reflected | {in the local market. Retailers who get coal that costs $1.15 @ ton more than before at the mine caa hardly be ex- pected to sell it for the same price as before the strike, or for less than §1.15 more. The- dollar increase is, it would j seem, the average advance. There is serno Indication that the lotal retallers 'n iare profiteering. If the advance at the mines averages $1 a ton, and the advance in Washington averages the same, certainly there will be no goug- ing of the public by the' distributors here. This s some tomfort.” When the new scale was adopted it was sald that a cumulative profit would be col- lected all along the line. Certainly on the figures given, assuming that they are correct, the retailers will get, if any, only a negligible increase in their net revenues. This whole matter of the increased cost to the consumer turns on the question of whether the increase of the mine price only covers the differ~ ential in the scales, the actual addi- tional cost of production. The public has at present no means of knowing the facts. The Federal Coal Commis- sion has gone out of existence. Some other branch of the government should be able to determine this question and to make known the facts. The Gov- ernor of Pennsylvania immediately af- ter the settlement of the strike an- nounced that he would endeavor to prevent extortion by the caplitalizing of the wage increase of the miners. It remains now to be seen whether in the fixing of the new prices there has been any such &dvance as to consti- tute the mulcting of the consumer, which Gov. Pinchot feared. B L The President’s First Speech. President Coolidge struck the key= note of American character in his ad- dress at the opening of the American ‘Red Cross conventlon, an organization of which he is the titular head a President of the United States. “Prac- tical idealism,” of which the Red Cross is a great exponent, he pointed out, has been a dominating factor in the history of this country, an ideal- ism wheh seeks to transiate and apply the golden rule of peace on earth and good will to men. *It is necessary, on the one hand," sald the President, ‘‘to avoid the il- lusions of the visionaries and, on the other hand, the indifference of the self- ish.” The President truly said that the “constant need of civilization is for a practical idealism of this kind.” The record of the American Red Cross, which came into being in the days of Abraham Lincoln, he pointed out, has of unselfishness. The or- ganization is representative of the dominant influence which one day will rule the world, as civilizatfon comes more and more to rely upon moral force. The President pictured the strug- gles through which America has emerged triumphant, attributing that success largely to a deep faith in spiritual things, tempered by a common sense. Speaking of the latest great conflict in which the nation took part, the world war; the President said of the American people that they “went to the rescue of Europe with their treasure and their men when their own liberty and the liberty of the world was in peril, but when the victory was secure, retired from the fleld unincumbered by spoils, inde- pendent, unattached and unbought, { still continuing to contribute lavishly to the relief of the stricken and desti- tute of the old world. * * '* Such has been the moral purpose that has marked the conduct of our country up to the present hour. The American people have never adopted, and are not likely to adopt, any other course.” In his comparatively brief address to the Rad Cross the Président showed himself 2 master of compact, concise and eloguent expression. His addresses delivered while Governor of Massa- chusetts and Vice President have been regarded as masterpleces of American diction. His first-address as President of the United States, dealing not with politics, national or international, but with the moral forces which rule in this country, is worthy of a lasting place. ———————— Calling a special session of Congress is always suggested in the hope that by some means a special session can be persuaded to work faster than a regular session does. ——— A depression in the ranks of the I. W. W. {s the natural result of the tailure to invite’ more of the members to come over and help conduct the soviet” government. o e e So many different aims are an- nounced that different sections are de- veloping any kind of Ku Klux Klan that happens to occur to local pro- moters. Public opinioh may find a way to settle strikes, although as a rule def- erence to public apinion would pre- vent & strike in the first place, Publicity for School Needs. ‘The public school situation in the District has been so much discussed, and the discussion has covered such a long period, that it would seem there cannot be any one i the Capital and its environs who is not apprised of the grave fact that the public school plant, through insufficiency of appropria- tions, has fallen far behind the de- mands upon it, and that each year it lags farther behind the increase in the school population. The matter is sure- 1y understood by all parents who send children to the public schools, and by every other citizen who has active interest in the school system. But it is desirable to undertake a campaign which must bring foreibly to the at- tention of all citizens and the public authorities that our school facilities are far below our needs, that our tax- payers are anxious to bring the school system in line with public require- ments, and that the District treasury has the money to pay its share of the cost. There is in the District an organisa- tioms Which carries theé hame of the District of Columbia A Public School Association, aad tils organizatios | thirty-day to spread a knowledge of school mong the people. The execu- committee approved the pilan, it will be taken under considera- the fuli membership of the assoclation. at its next meeting. Al the signs are that the hody of mem- bers will indorse tha plan agreed to by the executive committee. Mass meetings for the purpose of arousing sentiment and recording public opin- 1on will be held in all parts of the Dis- triet. Already the appropriations com- mittee of the school a@ssociation has Held conferences with the board of education, the District Commissioners and officialé of the budget, and an- other conference is planned with the director of the budget, who wants to be put in touch with parents and to get at first hand their views as to school needs. o In the regular schedule of estimates for the mext fiscal year the items for acquisition of school sites and erection of school buildings were cut out to bring the estimates within the sum set by the director of the budget, and the result is that the estimates carry a sum below the current appropria- tion, which is known to be far below the amount required for the necessary enlargement of the school plant. In the supplemental schedule of esti mates sent by the Commissioners to the bureau of the budget, and sup- ported by strong arguments for fa- vorable consideration, there is said to be the item of about $1,000,900 for the public schools. W ai Shrieking Rails. Why is it that the street railway companies are so negligent of the rails at the curves on their lines that more often than otherwise they are in a state of screaming protest? These curve rails are supposed to be greased frequently to prevent the friction of the flanges from making hidious sounds as the cars round the turns. In point of fact, however, the greass gang is either used on other work or is slack on its job, for at most curves at most times the passing cars send forth siren sounds that rasp the nerves of all within radius. This is & totally unnecessary noise. Its elim- Ination costs but little and the Public Utilities Commission—or the police de- partment if the matter is not directly within the commission’s purview— should insist upon regular attention to prevent the nuisance. If a fino ‘were applied for every shriek that is emitted from one of these curves bet- ter order might be maintained. Any private citizen who commits a nul- sance as grave as these howling car tracks would be promptly haled to court and punished. There should be no discrimination through inattention or indifference. ——— More attention to medical examina- tions of immigrants is demanded. Par- ticular attention would seem to be due the question of whether an indlvid- ual's state of health is such as to giv him a fair chance of surviving condi- tions at Ellis Island. ———a An Investigation to ascertain who gets the money when the price of a @rd | pommodity appears abnormally high is proposed. An arrangement by which any exorbitant beneficiary is expécted to pay the cost of investigation would not seem unfair. BT L R T So far as coal prices are concerned the uitimate consumer will be content to hope for the best and congratuiate himself on the fact that he is no longer obliged to fear the worst. —_——— Geologists say there is small chance of serious earthquakes on the Atlantic coast. This is one slight advantage that glorlous California will have to concede to the eastern states. ———— Every tourist who has traveled in Turkey says the country is full of! people who know how to drive & bargain. The diplomacy reflects the national spirit. —————— The price of gasoline is going down while that of coal goes up; which fact will excuse many people for deserting the fireside for the flivver. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Smoke Writer. Distant'above his fellow men His message bids him fly. A fragile airplane is his pen. His paper is the sky. Journeying far a line to trace And make his meaning clear, The peril that he has to face Inspires no thought of fear. He who a simple truth would tell For all the world to read, _ Up, near the clouds, must learn to dwell And oft be brave, indeed. Mighty Combination, \ “Dd you think women have im- proved politics “1 don't know whether they have improved it,” answered Senator Sor- ghum; “but they have certainly made it more interesting. Either politics or women were once considered quite competent to keep you guessing.”, Jud Tunkins says, judging by the shows you see, what the tired busi- ness man is tired of is his home. Autumn Absurdity. The warm wave still invites our scorn. Untimely it occurs. ‘We don’t see why September Morn Keeps on her summer furs. The Mystified Consumer. “Do you understand that coal is go~ ing to be more expensive?” “I have suspected it for a long tims But I don't pretend to understand it." Foolish, at Least. “The liquor you used to get in Crimson Gulch would make-a man crazy. “It’s different now,” mused Cactus Joe. “A man has to be kind o' crazy before he'd think of swallowing it.”" *Tain’ no great credit to be a truth- teller,” said Uncle Eber, “if you sim- ply hae a curiosity to sie how some- ngethef? Xllf-—Belgium’s Struggle for Life BY JOHN F. Mf. Theunis, before you became prime minister of Belgium you were & banker. Would ycu tell the peopl of America just what Belgium will get out of the invasion of the Ruhr ex- cept more expenses and a lot of troubl The prime minister~ of Belgium is & small, dark-complexioned, middie- ged mun. He was seated at his flat- top desk in the office of the minister of finance, which pceltion he also holds. Everything about gave one the appearance of order and effi- clenoy. He rpoke English, but did not reply directly to my question. “Belglum 1s the ~most populous country in the world,” declared the minister in a low, pleasant tone. .“In 1913 she had 647 people to the square mile. Liks England, we live by in- ational trade. - The war brought us mountains of debts. These we can never pay, even the interest charges, uniefs Germany pays use. That's why we entered the Ruhr with France.” - = He knew it was not a sufficlent an- ;::n So;ila 1. But Bel.tunln ls‘del- ai e must h m somebody. B deanngite * ok % The problem of Belgium is to sup- port a population of 7,500,000 jammed into an area one-tenth as large as Arvizona. 'In 1913 she was doing Just that. Like Engl#nd and Franceand ! Germany and Italy, she bought more. &oods outside than she sold. In 1913 she bought 926 millions of dollars of goods outside Belgium and sold 726 millions outside. She needed 200 millions to square the account. And she 4id it with her “invisibl exports. From her investments abroad she got approximately 130 millions, from her tourist trade, 50 millions; from her merchant marine, remittances from abroad, internation— al insurance, an additional amount. It was enough. Her machinery In in- ternational trade was well oiled and running smoothly. She was in 1913 supporting a larger population jp-a smaller space than any nation in Eu- rope. Her per capita annual {ncome was $173, as against $112 for Italy. Then the Germans crashed through ! Belgium. For four and one-half years the war was on. She plled up ex- penses. She didn’t count the cost. But the reckoning day has come. When the war broke on Beigium she had a public debt of 722 millions of dollars. By April, 1919. she had in- creased this to 1,588 millions of dol- lars—just 3.4 times as much. * e That's one part of the story. Here's another. She increased the amount of her bank notes and deposits from $340,000,000 In 1914 to $1,395,000,000 in 1920, while her gold reserve on her outstanding obligations during this time went down from 28.4 per cent to less than 5 cents on the dol- lar. What happened? It's an old story now. As the ratio of increase of paper money over goods produced rose. the cost of living likewlse rose. Purchasing power of money Wenl' down. Real wages likewise de- creased. Just as it did elsewhere and everywhere under like conditions. It took $159 to buy in 1920 what $100 bought in 1914. But money wages in Belgium had gone up from 100 to 360. That is to say, based on purchasing power, the wage-worker was getting in 1920 only 65 per cent of what he got in 1914 While the state was feeding him business opium (called inflation in polite soclety) his real condition—physical and was getting worse. 'nmldI WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE Just before the members of the United States Coal Commission ad- journed, sine dle, on Saturday, they made merry with their beloved col- league, Thomas R. Marshall. They told him they were going to peti- jtion President Coolidge to “appolnt” !Mnnhlll to the vice presidency. The lground for the recommendation, it} was explained, is that Marshall not {only has the necessary experlence, {but has reverted to the status of -i statesman out of a job. The gentle-| man from Indiana says all the money Mellon’s got in the Treasury couldn’t beguile him back to Capitol Hill. For a while Mr. Marshall thought of prac- ticing law in Washington, in emula- tion of a number of eminent ex- amples-set by unemployed politiclans, but he has renounced the idea. He finds he can make all he needs, in- cluding good 5-cent clgars, by write ing and speaking, and to those pur- suits henceforward will devote him- self. * % x ¥ Reports recently gained currency that when Woodrow Wilson returned trom France the first time in Feb- {ruary, 1919, Gov. Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts welcomed him at Bos. ton in terms that identified Mr. Cool- imge as a believer in “Wilson poll- cles.” This observer has pursued the story to its source. The closing words of Gov. Coolidge's greeting were: “We have welcomed the President with a reception more marked even than that which was accorded to Gen. George _ Washington—more unlted than could have been given at any time during his life to President Ab- raham Lincoln. We welcome him as the representative of a great people, as a great statesman, a8 one to whom we hdve intrusted our destinies, and one whom we are sure we will sup- port in the future in working out of that destiny, as usetts has supported him In the past.” * k k% Charles F. Jenkins of Philadelphia, a leading member of the Friends His. torical Soclety, reveals in & publica- tion called “Tdrtola” the existence of a mysterious sealed packet in the safe of the librarian of Congress. Its contents hark back to the revolution and a controversy in which Dr. Wil- liam Thornton, a Quaker architect in Tortola, British §Fest Indles, was im- plicated. Instructions are attached pro- viding that the packet may not be open. ed until January 1, 1925, After being in custody nearly 150 years. It was Thorn: ton, as not many Americans are aware, who drew the pian from which, substan- tially, the Capitol at Washington was erected, In March, 1792, Thomas' Jef- ferson, Secretary of State, advertised for plans for the President's house and for the Capitol. Thornton de- cided to compete, but reached Phila- delphia (then the capital) after the competition was closed. President ‘Washington liked the young Quaker's design and recommended it to the commissioners as combining “gran- deur, . simplicity and convenlence,” whereupon it was accepted. H * k k3 Among the things the woods are full of are vice presidential candi- dates on “the Coolidge ticket.” A well developed bbom isesaid to be blossoming in the west. for Repre~ sentative Sydney Anderson of. Min- nésota. On the theory that the em- battled farming community could uf fully’ supply the tail-end of the re- {adce. SINCLAI® purchase five French franes; now it will purchase twenty-one.~All’ this spells only one thing-huge expenses. * ok ok % Even before the war she had diffi- culty in raising enough taxes to pay her expenses. In 1913 she had a deficit of $23,000,000, which she raised by selling her bonds. Since the close of the war her receipts from taxes have been less than one-third of her expenditures. The balance is made up by government borrowings. Al remdy 94 per cent of all the assets of the stdte bank are government obligations. Her Interest charges are plling up at an alarming rate. In 1922 they were over 66 pdr cent of her ordinary receipts from taxes and her foreign debt charges are not in- cluded. Truly this pyramiding of labili- ties cannot continue very ~much longer. But, you say, what about German reparatioris? = Already we have seen that the amount of Ger- man reparation will be determineil by the excees of German exports over imports (which today is below zero) and by the willingness of the world to recelve German goods. So it's not 8o much a case of what Germany can pay as how much the allies want of German goods. That's the real reparation problem. & i Our next question s, then: Can Bel- gium cut her expenses? She can't cut the big items of interest, pensions and reconstruction. Those amount to 80 per cent of her expenditures. She can cut military expenditures, and she should. But even if she cut her mili- tary expenses to one-third, this would only take 5 per cent off her total ex- penses. Her big items she cannot re- In 1912 she paid in taxes 43 Belgian francs per Inhabitant, while in 1922 she pald 268 francs for every inhabitant. No, the solution does not lie in dig- ging more into the meager income of the people of Belgium. It must come from an Increase in national income ~by her increasing her excess of ex- ports over her imports. That's the! only way any nation can Brow wealthy. Can she do this? The rec- ord since the war is not encouraging. In 1922 Belgium purchased $675.000, 000 worth of goods from the citizens of other countries and sold $425,000, 000 worth of goods outside Belgium. The deficit which she must pay is $260,000,000. What do these figures mean? The value of her imports in 1922 is only 72 per cent of the im- ports of 1913 and the corresponding figure for exports is only 58 per cent.| The deficit is 20 per cent higher than in 1913, Now. this is an alarming state of affairs for a country so de- pendent on foreign trade as Belgium. Stiil it's their best record since the close of the war. What conclusion must we come to! The real story of Belgium in Sep- tember, 1923, is that of a densely populated industrial country, bravely attempting to pay her way, in spite of a 200 per cent increase in national overhead expenses and a 33 per cent decrease In national fncome. She can last until her surplus savings are gone—no longer. Her bank account is going fast. Belgium today Is sink- ing financially. She cannot help her- self. She is caught in a death-jem. ! She, too. must take her stand beside | those other nations of Europe—Eng- | and, Italy, Germany—who must have ternational trade to live. Belgium again proves that modern industrialism and modern welfare cannot live in the same civilization. One or the other must go. Next: Can Austria Liv (Copyright, 1923.°in United Stat Britain by North American N Allisnce. ~ All righi and Great wapaper reserved. publican ticket, Anderson's friends regard him uncommonly available | material. He would be satisfactory | to former service men. too. because he is a veter: { ican war. Arderson ranks as one of | the soundest men in Congress on ag- ricultural topics and has just cele- brated his forty-first birthday. He was Minnesota's representative at the | recent midsummer wheat conference | in Chicago. * * x x From diplomacy to bamking is. the jump about to be executed by Col. Thomas H. Birch of New Jersey. After serving for nearly ten years as Amer- ican minister to Portugal, Col. Birch | has organized the Trust Company of North America, which will fling open its doors In New York in October. Birch | has assoclated with him in the direction | of the company two' well known politi- | clans, Senator Edward I. Edwards of New ' Jersey—himself a banker—and former Gov. Willlam C. Sproul of Penn- eylvania. ‘The company will specialize in exploiting opportynities for American | capital abroad. ¥ i of the Spanish-Amer- | * ok ok ok News from California relates that Al- bert B. Fall, Secretary of the Interior in President Harding’s cabinet, has Joined the powerful Doheny oil combi- nation. Mr. Fall has recently been in consuitation with the Dohenys at Los Angeles, headquarters of the Mexlcan Petroleum Company, which they con- trol. Fall is to devote himself espe- cially to the development of ofl, mining and railway properties in Mexico, where the Doheny group has extensive hold- ings. The former senator from New Mexico was the “Mexican expert” of the Harding cabinet. He spent the summer in Europe, including Russia, looking into the oil situation. . * Ok k% There was some breezy repartee the other day between Huston Thompson of the Federal Trade Commission and Levi Cooke, Washington corporation lawyer. Bome time ago, at the behest of the in- dependent steel interests, which Cooke. represented, a District of Columbla alon befors its bar, to show cause why the commission should not be adjudged In contempt. Thompson told Cooke it was a salutary thing he (Thompson) happened to be out of town when a great branch of the government was subjected to that ignominious_ordeal, declaring he'd have told the court thing or two, “even if it had landed mi in jafl for dife Cooke rejoined that the presiding judge’s lan had ef- fectually cocled -the ardor of the com- missioners who did appear, but none of them ever played foot ball at Princeton as “Shy” Thompson once did. - {Copyright, 1928.) Indigestion Kills ‘When Bullet Fails Af‘er living twenty-four years with a bullet imbedded n his drain, a vet- eran of the Spanish-American war dies in New York. The bullet pierced his skull in the Philippines campaign, and lodged where surgeons were afrald to remove it. The victim seém- ed none the worse. He worked regu- larly and was active in social and civic affairs. The bullet, of course, was thé thing estion, ly fear most are not the onés that inflict Elu greatest harm.—Muskegon Chrom o . S AN OLD CHINESE GARDEN. Ksate “ Kerby. Shanghai: Chung Hwa Book Company. Four hundred years no——.‘muq more, maybe, a trifie less, perhaps— there lived in Soochow the politiclan Wong Whel Yul. Then, just as both before that time and since, there could not be found the wide world over a more fickle jade than the goddess of palitical good luck. It befell, therefore, that quite suddenly one day Wong Whel Yul found himself facing the cold shoulder and nting eye of this deity’s disfavor. Now in those far days the Order of the Lame Duck for the kindly healing of broken pol- iticians had not been invented. 8o it came to pass that Wong Whei was constrained to walk y by him- self along the dismel path that leads into obscurity. * ok koK On the outskirts of Boochow, as In all cities of Whatever date, there lay a waste and littered stretch, waiting, it may be, for some shrewd realtor of the Ming era to turn it into a subdiviston neatly platted out for the fleecing of ensnared and Innocent home builders. Wong Whel greatly desired this tract. And not yet wholly divested of practical acumen and political method, he, quietly slip- ping in ahead of the possible pro- moter, acquired this unattractive acreage for his own. Already, in imagination, he had created a lordly pleasure ground out of this shabby reach of weed and scrub and lazy pond oozing idly off into swamp and muck, * k% % And Wong Whei cleared and drained and dug and planted and tended. The seasons smiled upon him. The gods of growing things €ach lent a hand. And, finally, the place of beauty and peace that had 50 long lain a mere plcture in the mind of Wong Whei moved out and took possession of the soll. Fruit trees in clouds of bloom stretched long arcades of sweet-smelling love- liness. Leafy corners screened by close-standing’ stems of slender bam- boo invited to seclusion. Winding paths led along the ways of medita tion. Laughing brooks called for companionship. ~ The sluggish pond changed to a quick and crystal mir- ror, repeating the beauty of the bor dering banks and the shining. stars and the radiant moon. And Wong Whel gave to his garden the name of Tseh Tsen Yuen, ““the Garden of the Unsuccessful Politiclan.” In_in- tent a memorial to faflure, Tseh Tsen Yuen became in effect a mon- ument to the indestructible power of beauty, *x % x As the garden through the season ing years ripened to mellow perfec- tion, men came from far and near to gather in the magic of its beauty, the benediction of its peace. More often than any other there came to this spot Wong Whei's friend, Wen Chen Ming, great landscape artist, great poet, too. And just as Wong Whei had years before moved the picture garden of his mind out into the substantial soil itself, so Wen Chen Ming by magic of his art took it up again and set it, against time and change, in the imperishable do- main of art. Moving back and forth bétween the living garden and Its pictured face looking out from under the hand of the artist, men marveled at the oneness of the two. The same were they—not only in form and line, in color and mass, but the same, too, in power to reach out into the human heart, stirring it to the melancholy that ‘pure beauty—so changing, so fleeing—is sure to bring. And by and by Wen Chen Ming had gathered up upon a silken scroll the full love- liness of Tseh Tsen Yuen. To each picture he added a little poem in a further completing touch. So paired in song and painting at the hands of a great artist, the garden of Wong Whei moved out of the years Into time. * x ok x Wong Whel Yul went his way. And Wen Chen Ming his. The garden passer from change into ruin. Ming rule gave way to Manchu. And at intervals along this time there came | occasional rumors from scholars and art lovers of a rare scroll of plctures by Wen Chen Ming. Those who trav. eled to see this carefully guarded treasure declared it to embody the best of the Ming art tradition, with, besides, many a touch reminiscent of the art of the preceding period, the Yuan dynasty founded by Kublal Khan. L A “An Old Chinese Garden” serves to bring to life again the place of beauty that, so long ago, Wong Whei created and Wen Chen perpetuated. In & spirit of high artistic initiativ and enterprise Mrs. Kerby has, through this reproduction of the gar- den_ scroll of Wen Chen, opened to modern art lovers of the west the topmost point of power achieved by this famous painter of the Ming pe- riod. A sumptuous volume, surpass- ingly fit in the sum of its externals to house the treasure within. A spa- cious thing of royal hues, its leafage silken to the touch as the parent Clearly a book that calls for nothing less than ceremonial ap- proach. Once inside, however, old garden and Wen Chen take com- plete poswession. Here “The Rosy Walk” and ‘eamy _Tower,” Lotus Cow Meditation,’ .scroll. ‘The Bower of Fra- rance” and “Place of Smile Th amboo Grove,” ‘“The Peace-Tree Bank” lead one on from lure to lure through the garden loveliness that ages ago Wong Whel wrought out of the barren acréeage of Soochow's draggled outskist One hears him saying to his friend, “I have made it. You must hold it" Then, with hand glove-soft, Wen Chen took up the enchanting garden and set it upon his scroll so gewtly, bit by bit, that it brooded there like a live bird upon its n¢ That velvet touch of softness, that clear quality of life have passed over in persistent ap- peal from the original to this re- production. So here does one meet, t00, that strange evocative power that all high orfental art possesses, a power that draws out such thoughts and emotions as certainly do not lie in the me: line and arrangement and _subtle shadings of the picture itself. Amasingly suggestive still these pictures once removed from the originel. The art of reproduction here has in a genius quite its own splen- didly supported that of the artist himself, * %k x " A poet, oo, this versatile Wen Chen, and greatly skilled, besides, in the written forms of the Chinese litera- ture. A poem stands here with each of the paintings, accompanied by a description in the Chinese text. Listen to this poem on “The Bamboo Grove': On the hillock T plant many tall bamboos, Which_form themselves into a grove at its foot: There even in midsummer you have autumn weather, ' And under the dense foliage you won't know ‘when it_is moon. In this grove there is one who, free of wordly o ares, With a lute and a_goblet, is enoying the sweetness of life. ‘When tnol m Dblows he wakes up from in- toxieat And, sitting erect, he listens to the rustling of the leaves. One gathers that this is Wong Chel, the disappointed politiclan, harvest- ing an Omaresque philosophy out of his worldly troubles. A splendid thing, this surpassing book, with only a single drawback to its complete perfection. It is not a book for every one. Happy is its Bossessor. for it is his good fortune to hold a rare thing, not overeasy of attainment. Thinking it over, rol lblwll is w a drawback Rather, quite mo-lti- o A the *“The The Place of Clear "ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY REDERIC ]. HASKIN Q. What Egyptian city s sald to conform somewhat in Its general plan to Washington, D. C.?2—J, D. L» A. English engineers laid out the city of Khartum with diagonal ave- nues and many little parks, after the manner of Washington. In Khar- tum's case the purpose of the avenus arrangement was military, so that machine guns could sweep all direc- tions from many points. Some as- sert that L/Entant had the same con- sideration in mind when he planned Washington’s avenue system. Q.. What doss a modern battleship cost?—J. D. W. A. The Navy Department says that the battleship Colorado cost approxi- mately $35,000,000 for construction, and the yearly maintenance of such a ves! including pay of officers and men and other details of a similar nature, may_ be estimated at from $1,500,600 to $1,800,000. Q. A. Dr. Lorenz will 'be back in New York city about October 1, and can then be reached at 471 Park avenue. P How can Dr. Lorenz be reached? D. Q. What will preserve the leather binding on books?—C. C. A. To preserve leather binding on books wipe off with olive “or castor oil. Be sure to rub dry. . Was Carugo in San Francisco at the time of the earthquake?—D. S. A. Caruso sang the role of Don Jose in ‘Carmen” in San Francisco the night before 4he earthquake. Q@ Do fish shed thelr teeth?—R. s B A. The bureau of fisheries sa that such an idea is a popular fal- lacy. Scientists believe that at cer- tain times, probably at spawning time, the gums of the fish swell. hid- ing the testh, and that the fish do not actually shed them. Q. Whet is necessary to make a gift legal?>—U. D. B. A. To make a glft legal there must not only be actual or constructive de- livery, but the donor must have acted of his own free will and be compe- tent to contract. Also nothing must be necessary to make the gift com- plete, and it must be effectual abso- lutely and immediately. Some au- thorities hold that the gift must be accepted by the donee to make it ef- fectua:, but acceptance will be pre- umed in law if the gift is entirely beneficial. Q. What blood, used D. F. A. Dragon's blood is soluble in al- cohol, amyl alcohol, benzine or ohloroform. It is less soluble in tur- pentine. Q. Are there mosquitoes in Alaska? —D. L. M. A. Mosquitoes are a familiar pest in most parts of the territory. will dissolve dragon’s Tor staining violins?— To what degree should milk be - ed for cottage cheese?—E. M. C. A. The bureau of home economics ys that in making cottage cheese milk should be heated from 90 to 95 degrees if clabber is used. However, if junket or vennet tablets are em- ployed the milk ehould be heated to 75 degrees. Q. 1Is the north pole moving south? —C. C. H. A. Careful analysis by the United States coast and geodetic survey seems to indicate that the pole-point is shifting progressively southward toward the continent of North Amer- ica. The analysis shows a southward drift of the pole amounting to a trifie more than six inches a year. This would amount to less than one mile in 10,000 yeara, and would equal only ninety-five miles in a milllon years. Q. Why is a bird not shocked nos killed when it sits upon an ele wire?—H. E. 8. A. The bureau of biological surve says that when a bird sits upon a = gle electric wire the circuit is not completed. If any portion of his body however. Tests on the second wir the bird will receive a shock and probably be killed. Q. Please explain the meaning of the word “dossier”?>—G. O. A. The word “dossier” is Frer is used in English in refe bundle of papers relating matter. The word is Ang, pronounced with “r sounded Q. Was Frederick II known as Frederick the Great during nis life- time?—H. C. A. Frederick the Great was given this sobriquet after his death Q. What kind of cloth is airplanes?—E. D, C. A. The cloth used in airplanes is made of Irish linen or Sea Island co ton. It usually runs about thirty inches wide. Q. Who wrote the rhyme, “I do not like thee, Dr. Fell. The reason why 1 cannot tell. But this I know, and know full well, I do not like thee, Dr Fell"?—M. V. K. A. Tom Brown, who was born in 1863 and died in 1704, was the author of the lines addressed to Dr. Fell an instructor in a boys' school for whom the author felt an aversion Q. When was the game of check invented?—T. E. A. The game of draughts or checkers is sald to be of the grea est antiquity. Pieces of check: boards and men have been found tombs of Egyptian rulers of a date not later than 1600 B. ¢ Some of these are at present preserved in the British Museum. Homer in his “Odyssey” speaks about this gam. being played by the suitors of Penelope, h. It ence to a to some zed and ’ used s Q. What term regarding England corresponds to our Wall street? o A. In the United States the term Lombard strest is used to denote London’s stock exchange. In Eng- land, however, Lombard street and Threadneedle street refer more par-f ticularly to the banking element. and Capel street and Throgmorton street are used to designate the district of theé stock exchange. Wall street is used in this country as a name for both the banking interests and the stock market. Q. Why Is graham flour £o called? A. This flour takes its name from Sylvester Graham, who first claimed for this unbolted flour a great nu- tritive value. . Is the ordinary house cat mere- ly & domesticated species of wild- cat? F. F. A. The house cat is a descendant of the North African “gloved” or “Caffre” cat, which was domesticated by the Egyptians before the time of the oldest monuments_of their civi- lization. (Have you a question you want answered? Send it to The Star Informa- Hon Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, di- rector, 1220 North Capitol street. Give your full name and address so that the information may be sent dx‘ul The only charge for this service is 2 cents | in stamps for return postage. CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. COLLINS ‘Within the last week Senator Wil- llam E. Borah has lifted his voice in bewailing. the condition of farmers and has drawn a picture of such dire- ful nature that one would naturally fear that agriculture had reached the end of the road, with nothing ahead of it but a leap of desperation Into the bottomless abyss. The eloquent senator is not the only Jeremiah, cry- ing aloud: ‘“Destruction upon de- struction is cried; for the whole iand is spoiled.” * % X ¥ This is the darkest side of a most important economic situation, but it is encouraging to note that the econ- omists of the Department of Agri- culture can present facts as to a | brighter side. The prosperity of food producers measures, to a large de- gree, the welfare of food consumers. This is especlally interesting to | Washingtonians, since this city is reported to be one of the three most } expensive food markets in the coun- try, the other two being Richmond and Detroit. * X x ¥ The- department economists state that the discouragement of farmers {1s confined to wheat raisers. Many of | them, it is true, are insolvent, and in some danger of bankruptcy, because of overproduction this year. But the wheats farmers are not the majority of farm population of the United | States, and, the economists assert {that there is danger of overstating {the general situation if the wheat | region is taken as a type of all. No | officia) statistics exist as to the num | Ber of failures even in the wheat r glon, but the department is now gath- ering such facts. * ok ko “More than 2,000,000 people have left the farms in 1922, and it is esti- mated,” says Senator Borah, 8,000,000 will leave in 1923. You get the feeling of a stampede.” The Department of Agriculture, | some months ago, gave out its esti- |mate that 2,000,000 people had left the farms in 1932, At the same time the department also id the move from citles and towns to the country was 880,000 persons. While the senator was quoting the trek from country to city, why omit the trek from city to country? Also, why mnot quote the births in the country, 925000, and deaths, 265,000—a vital gain of 660,000—leav- ing a final net loss of country popu- lation of only 470,000—13% per cent of the agricultural population of 31,- 359,000. . Official statistios do mot set out to prove any hypothesis, but merely to tell facts. A net loss of 470,000 does not make so bitter a wall as 2,000,000 A shift of 1.5 per cent is a normal, healthy shif: like 1920 or 1921, the direction. Most of this drifting in the last year or g0, from the country consisted of “hired men”—not farm owners—drawn to the higher wages of the industries, rather than driven away from farms. * % % % It would indeed Indicate a stagna- tion which would be unhealthy, peas- ant conditions; rather than those of free Americanism, if there were not this free flowing to and from the country, adjusting supply and de- mand. What farming needs most of all right now Is that there be fewer farmers and more city mouths to ‘The migration from farm to city is the most onwurfilu feature of the situation, according to the Secretary of Agriculture and the ex- perts in agricultural economics con- nected with the department. * ok k% The senator points to the abandon- ment_of farms in New England. be- tween 1910 and 1920, to which the l | 1 » “that | Department of Agriculture replies: “Well, what of that? Does that have any bearing on agricultural depres- sion of today? Was it not due to the competition of the richer virgin lands of the west, plus-the Gemand for New Englana homesteads and hills for the pleasure of summer resori- ers?” »xk* Senator Borah asserts that aba mwent of farms now extends throuyh- out the west, as well as in the older states. The Department statiscians ask on what authority that state- ment is made, since no official tistics indicate anything of the kind, and crop production does not sub- stantiate it. If many western farms have been abondoned, and their acres are lying idle, then the acres which are still bearing crops must have in- creased in fertility abundantly. Thi is not a denial thac some farmers have come to town, but it denies that the migration away from farms is serious, Farmers must reduce their personnel, because wne farmer now; cultivates 14 per cent more acres than his father did; improved ma- chinery partly explains that. The farmer no longer does the crude tasks that his father did. He does not hammer out his plow, mend his wagons, grind his grist, tan hides, make butter, nor do many other things formerly done on the farm, now dome in town. All that relieves farm work, and sends labor to town following the job, as shown by de- partment statistics. * X X % In the Yearbook of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1922, on page 11, appears this statement of the eco- nomics of farm migration to the cities: “The greatly accelerated movement of farmers, and especlally farmers' gons, from the farms to the cities and industrial centers, is one of the hope- ful signs. It is not possiblé to meas- ure this movement with absoluts ac- curacy, but our best estimates ind cate that during the months of Jul August and September twice as many persons left the farms for the cities {as normally. “This movement is in direct re- sponse to the willingness of the buy- ing public to pay much higher prices for labor in the building trades, manufactures and industrics, than for labor on the farms. When fair relationships between agricul- ture and other prices are restored, and the capable worker can market his labor on the farm, whether by working for himself or for another farmer, at wages which will com- pare favorably, all things considered, with the wages he Is able to get in the city, the movement will again be- % come normal.” * ok kK Farm wages are now only 3% per cent higher than they were before the war, while city industrial wages are double or quadruple what they formerly were. The distress among wheat raisers will find {ts natural remedy in change of crop. Wheat acreage must shrink. But that remedy is not so simple as it may seem. The department ex-. perts advise every farmer to solve his _own problem, for no general counsel fits all conditions. In the corn belt it is easy to get back into corn and hogs, or othér stock, but in the mid-west, beyond the 100th meridian, where the rain- fall is sub-arid, it was a mistake to plow up the natural grass, suitable for stock, and put the acres into wheat, to meet the call of the war Now wheat fails to be profitable and the natural sod is gone. There ap- pears to be no remedy. The land will remain desert for many years, unless irrigated, and there js no cal' for costly irrigation. There are already t00 many acres rowing crops in the Talted Btates without adding theres to. Thus say the department authof~ . Coliina.) I l l itles. ' (Copyright, 1028, by P. A