Evening Star Newspaper, January 1, 1924, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY......January 1, 1924 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and ivania Ave, New York Office: 110 East Bt. Office: Tower Building. Earepean Office: 16 Regent 8t., London, The Bvening Star, with the Sunday morning edition, is deliverea by carriers within the city at 90 cen r mouth:; dafly only, 43 cents per mont! month, Orders may be seat by mail or tele- Dhone Main 5000. Collection is made by ear- riers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, Daily and Sunday..1yr., $8.4 Daily only. 1yr., 36. Sunday only 1yr., $2.40;1 All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1yr., $10.00; Dally only.. dyr., $7. Sunday only . Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press fs exclusively entit! to the nse for republication of all news dis. patchex credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news pub. lished herein. Al rights of .publieation *pecial dispateh mo., T0¢ mo., 20¢ What of the new year? What will it bring to the American people? Will on its passing, find them as happy and contented, as prosperous, as they were in the closing hours of 1 This new year will be marked by an | event that has become a fixed experi- ence ordained by the Constitution, the selection of a President. Domestic af- fairs will be in large measure adjust- ed to that event. Already the pre- liminaries of the campaign are in evi- dence. The political wheels are a-spin. ‘The skirmishes of the great battle are being fought. And though this hap- pens every fourth year, whenever it recurs it is as some new experience. Prophets of political disaster have been refuted again and again in Amer- ica, and the people have come to un- derstand that while fervid speakers wmay proclaim the imminence of dire wmisfortune nothing terrible really hap- pens. Two generations ago something terrible did happen, and for four years the country was riven by civil strite. But that sacrifice was to the end of @ solution of a problem that. as long as it remained unsettled, menaced the na- tion with disruption. This country is firmly founded upon bedrock of institutions that have their footings on fundamental principles of communal life. It cannot be shaken out of its orderly course short of a total neglect of civic duty by @ ma- jority of the people. There is little danger of such a disaster. So the year's most important hap- pening, exciting though it may be, will not become but an episode in the nation’s history. It may lead to changes, to big changes, perhaps, but they will be in the line of the evolu- tion of the nation. In respect to the prosperity of the | people there is small reason for any | apprehension. The vear just closed has heen one of advancement, or excep- tional comfort, of remarkable percent- @ge of employment, of little public | suffering. Positively and negatively it has been @ good year. It has closed with no signs visible of a change of | economic conditions. Its friendly relations with other na- tions unimpaired, immune from dis- | aster, spared from pestilence, secure in substantial prosperity, beset with ! no serious questions that will not vield to reason and compromise, the United States faces the new year with a rich blessing of strensth and happiness. 1t may confidently expect to advance during the next twelve months toward the goal of all assemblages of people, the attainment of a state of universal | content, ruled by justice and guided by respect for the higher laws of life. —_——— Drunken Drivers. | Police report that last week they ar- | rested twenty-one persons on the' charge of driving automobiles while drunk. Probably there were many drunken drivers who were not arrest- ,ed, but if those arrested are convicted and adequately punished it will have | salutary effect on traffic conditions. | At the Tate of twenty-one convictions a week the drunken driver would at | length disappear from the streets. The offense of & drunken man driv- ing an automobile is to be treated not lightly but rigorously. Danger in the streets is great enough for all persons, even with sober men at the steering wheels of cars. The authorities recog- nize that the drunken driver is a srave menace to the community, and the superintendent of police has ad- i i unday oaly, 20 centa per | monished the force to look sharp for these offenders. Judges have ex- pressed strong opinions on the sub- Jeet, and probably will not show clem- ency in hending down punishment to these men when it is clear that they are guilty. —_———— A blizzard or two must be expected before the end of winter. However, it will be generally admitted that as e promoter of holiday cheer the weather man did nobly. An Annual Rite. ‘Welcoming the new year with noise and revelry has become a custom, after many vears. It is the common thought that something in the way of a demonstration is due the change of the calendar. Whether this is a sur- vival of ancient practices in propitia- tion of the unknown forces is not to be at present determined, but there is about the New Year eve performances much of the barbaric, something of the superstitious. Just why there should be this mani- Tfestation of noisy greeting passes un- derstanding. To many people, indeed, it may be said to most, a clamor is mecessary to mark the passing of the old and the coming of the new period. To be asleep at that time is to be derelict in some measure. To 'sit up and watch' out the old year is to per- form a rite. Selzing upon the occasion as a time for festivities is but one of the habits of the American, intent always upon the chance for a “good time.” Much money is spent in these “parties.” ‘Once upon a time there was unstinted drinking, toasting the new year with wassall. Now, doubtless, there is less, at least openly, but libations are poured forth. . e gue will camplain of the din e racket sounding forth at midnight as the year passcs. If one is awnkened from sleep by the of acclama- tion, whistles, shots and songs, it is to e good-natured realization that an- other notch has been cut on Time's stick, another digit added to the cal- endar. Back of all this is perhaps a hope that the new year will bring better fortune than the old, that perhaps “luck will change,” if it has been bad. or will become even more propitious if it has been good. At such a time it is like traveling a turning road, with the possibility of a reward lying just beyond the next bend. It is but an arbitrary affair after all, this marking off of the year at this particular time. It might as well be a month earlier, or a month Jater. If astronomical considerations prevail- ed the nmew year would immediately follow the shortest day of the year, December 21 or 22, instead of Jan- uary 1. It might still be called Jan- 1 and the whole calendar re- arranged accordingly. For a new vear actually does start then, a year of at first waxing daylight, for six months, with waning light thereafter. But this is New Year day, and a few hours ago it was welcomed with much noise and rejoicing. And thus it will be continued to be welcomed in the years to come, with perhaps va- riations and exaggerations. Meanwhile the hearty handclasp and exchange of good wishes for the coming twelve- month serve all the purposes of the occasion, whatever may be the degree of sound and whatever the festivities that accompany the dawn of a ne period. uary | Communists and Workers' Party. A three-day conventlon of the workers® party of America is in prog- ress in Chicago. An attendance of 000 was expected, and was pro- claimed in advance as proof that the movement is growing. As a matter of fact about 200 were present at the opening session. According to reports of the meeting there was the usual fulmination about the capitalists, the tyrannical government and the urgent need of “boring from within” in the labor organizations. The most inter- esting feature of the session, however, was the reading of a message from ithe executive committee of the com- munist international at Moscow. Evi- dently under restraint, the committee, after denouncing ‘“‘American imperial- ism,” said: The excellent work that has been done by the communists in the left wing of the labor movement of the United States demonstrates that if all the comrades were members of trade unions the work would Increase many fold. What work? There can be but one answer: To sovietize the United States through the domination of the unions, the wrecking of industries and the subversion of the government. Mos- cow may rave in protest against the charge that there is an organic corn- nection between the communist inter- national and the soviet government. Its friends here may declaim in im- passioned protest against the Sugges- tion that the third international, di- rectly or through the agency of the soviet administration, which is its creature, is seeking to “hoist the red {flag over the White House.” But the fact remains that the third interna- tional is trying to promote commu- nism in the United States. It still be- lieves that this can be done through the medium of organized labor. But, happily, organized labor in the United States is intelligent to the degree that it recognizes the menace to itself as to the country in this insidious propa ganda. Hence the pitiably small gath- | ering at Chicago and hence the plain- tive wail involved in the message from Moscow. That “if” in the communica- tion is the fly in the communist oint- ment. ————————— There are always statesmen who re gard shifting the burden of taxation as more important than a genuine reduction. The fact that the heavy tax paid by the larger business man always reappears in the price to the consumer may have a bearing on the discussion worth considering. ——— The great danger confronting the idea of tax reduction is that of being talked to death by its friends. The project is too popular to escape the at- tentions of the man who is always on hand with modifying suggestions. ———— Reports that European capitals are in a mood of reckless spending afford the chief support for the view that there is going to be another war. ———————— The Chinese bandits are apparently the only prominent citizens of their country who are capable of putting through a fixed policy. Cheese at White House Receptions. Some customs once observed at ‘White House receptions on New Year day are no more. At the first of these receptions cake, wine and cheese were served to callers, and the President had time «to move among and chat with those who came to greet him. How times and White House recep- tions have changed! It is recorded that several of our Presidents had a. New Year bowl of punch, and that ‘White House servants ladled it for the stimulation of the guests, but at what seems to have been the first New Year reception at the White House, which was held January 1, 1802, in the term of Mr. Jefferson, it is likely that cheese was also served. And by that cheese there hangs e tale! Ardent and uncompromising demo- crats, supporters of Mr. Jefferson, agreed to make the President a New Year gift. The proposal seems to have originated with John Leland, a Bap- tist minister. The gift took the form of a cheese which was made at Cheshire, Mass., and weighed 1,600 pounds. It was said’at the time that it was so strictly a democratic cheese that not a pint of milk, not a gill of the milk from which it was made was drawn from a cow belonging to a fed- eralist. That great cheese was brought from Massachusetts to Washington on & sleigh, and with becoming ceremony was presented to President Jefferson on New Year morn, 1802. These facts are written in the “Life of the Rev. Manasssh Cutler,” and are to be found also in Bryan's “History of the Na- tional Capital.” It is a fair inference THE EVENIN that bits of that cheese wete served to New Year callers, for it is written that after being served with cake and ‘wine the callers were led by President Jefferson into the east room to see the mammoth cheese. It is not likely that so hospitable a man as Jefferson ‘would show food to people without in- sisting that they take some. The Rev. Manasseh Jjots it down that four years later, attending the New Year public reception at the White House he was | served with a piece of the famous cheese. At New York and Philadelphia Presi- dents Washington and Adams held u “levee” each week, but it would seem that Adams on coming to Washington in November, 1800, discontinued the “levee” plan of meeting the public. Most likely this was because the White House was not finished. The rooms had not been plastered, and the east room was the “laundry” or “wash- house,” or at any rate there is testi- mony that the week's wash of the i White House family was hung there [to dry. Jefferson seems not to have liked the “levee" idea. It perhaps smacked to him of kings and Europe, and he directed that anybody wanting to see the President should be shown in to him at any reasonable time. But on the 4th of July, 1801, he gave a general public reception at the White House, and on the following New Year another grand and general public re- ception, in the accounts of which we get the cheese, wine and cake. Secretary Mellon’s Message. Secretary Mellon gives the country a New Year greeting in terms that { will be clearly understood and highly appreciated. The United States, he says, has recovered remarkably from a severe industrial depression; busi- ness is on a sound footing, with fairly balanced relations between industries, and there is basis for confidence that the year immediately ahead will see continued progress “if the drag of an unsound basis of taxation is removed from business and industry.” Treasury conditions are propitious. The fiscal year closed with a surplus of about $320,000,000 ahove all ex- penditures chargeable against ordi- nary receipts, including sinking fund and debt retirements. The government has refunded the seven and a half billions of the short-dated debt with- out disturbance of husiness or strain on the financial market. This accom- plishment is alone a notable achieve- ment. Now. with the short-term debts re- financed, with the British loan put in order of liquidation, with a surplus of revenues over ordinary expendi- tures, it is proposed to lower taxes. A plan to that effect has been advanced and is before Congress. It is believed that if adopted by enactment into law it will yleld a great measure of relief to all classes of taxpayers, and will, moreover, relemse for investment in productive enterprises funds that are necessary for the expansion of the country’s business. This is a plain, simple statement. It appeals to the business sense of the people. It should make for a straight- forward action by Congress in the di- rection of tax reduction, not as a po- litical expedient, but as a measure of | plain business equity and common { sense. ——— 1 The sovietist who thought of using the red flag as an official decoration in Washington may have been one of those exponents of freakish effects in Russian art. —_————— Oil prices are being advanced by various oil companies. There is no trade understanding permitted, but the sense of imitation is strong. ————— A trial of the former kaiser is now 1 being demanded in some parts of Ger- many where the idea when first sug- | gested was not at all popular. ————— In estimating the value of German resources the calculations relating to paper marks will require a large amount of patient arithmetic. ———— Mexico found simple fireworks in- adequate for her New Year demon- strations and put in an order for arms and ammunition. —_——————— SHOOTING STARS. EY PHILANDER JOHNSON New Year Resolution. Hello! Here vou are again, New Year Resolution, Hailed with penitential pen, Or with elocution! Though 'mid scenes and customs new Now I give you greeting, There is little change in you Bince our earliest meeting. l You will cheer me for a day ‘While T feel regrettul. All too soon you fade away To the shades forgetful. But you patiently return ‘To essist endeavor, And some day we're going to learn To be friends forever. Consistencies, “Why have you made no New Year resolutions?” “Circumstances are unfavorable, answered Senator Sorghum. “To make resolutions for the future would imply admission that I have been wrong in the past, and your true statesman does not work that way. Jud Tunkins says the only kind he’d care about is one of those ojd-fash- loned winters when coal was $6 & ton. Smiling Fortune. In Wall street Fortune wears a smile, But Luck is so elastic, You'll notice, every little while, The smile appears sarcastic. Humane. “Don’t you find that more men are going to jail since bootleg became prevalent?” “No,” enswered Cactus Joe. “This is @& kind-hearted community. We don't bother with no jall. We send ‘em straight to the hospital.” “On de mornin’ of January 2,” said Uncle Eben, “many a man is won- derin’ whut done became of dat Happy New Year dey bin- so much talk G_STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., TUESDAY, WASHINGTON BY FREDERIC Janbary in Washington, in a political sense, will be conspicuously democratic In tinge. The national committee will be In'annual session on the 15th and 16th under the chairmanship of Judge Cordell Hull, congressman from Tennessce. The campaign of 1924, of course, will dominate proceed- ings, for the selection of date and place fo# the national convention is the all- important business in hand. The third week in June and Chicago are the time and the city that seem probable to the point of certainty. The meeting will be historic in Amerjcan political annals because it will be the first time that women have participated in national committee sessions as co-equals of men on so important an occasion. Fifty-four of the newly enfranchised sex will sit alongside fifty-four men as full-fledged voting members of the committee. The republicans have not yet elevated their woman “associate members” to full committee status. * ok x Usually in presidential ~years the democrats hold a Jackson day love feast in Washington during the early days of January. The occasion re- solves itself into a bench show at which aspiring presidential or vice presiden- tial candidates present themselves and more or less modestly display their wares. Such a function was held in 1 but none is scheduled for this year. Perhaps it is because no Wash- ington banqueting hall has a head table long enough to accommodate all of the democratic Barkises. Many of them, like Senator Underwood, will be on hand during the national committee meeting. Others, like Mr. McAdoo, will be represented by industrious proxies. Leaders will be here from every state in the Union. Wirepulling and elbo greasing, as is customary on such occa- sions, will be in lively progress. democrats will assemble in high fettle, They are persuaded that 1924 is another year of destiny for them. * % * *x ‘Whenever a widower like Senator McNary of Oregon capitulates to Hy- men a second time the Senate’s bat- talion of irreconcilable bachelors is shaken to its foundations. Senatorial opposition to the league of connubfal bliss, lke hostility to another league, is centered in the New England delega- tion. It includes Brandegee of Con- necticut, Hale of Maine and Walsh of Massachusetts. Two other apparently inveterate opponents of entangling matrimonial alliances are McKellar of Tennessee and Elkins of- West Virginia. Widower “eligibles” include Senators Walsh of Montana and Heflin of Ala- bama. * % * ¥ Although Calvin Coolldge and Hiram Johnson are the only republican candi- dates avowedly in the presidential race, Frank O. Lowden will loom more and more conspicuously as time goes on. His BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune, com- mandant of the United States Marine Corps, in his annual report to the Secretary of the Navy, made public last week, renewed his request and urged recommendation for legislation nabling some form of selective pro- motion for Marine officers in lieu of the present seniority system, which he denounced as “a serious block to efficiency and an unnecessary finan- cial draln on the taxpayers.” e pointed out that United States employed limited se- lective systems. Of course, selective promotion in- stead of promotion by seniority al- ways gives rise to insinuations of fa- voritism. But there are many great | men of vast experience and judgment {who do not hesitate to advocate this form of promotion. And I recall in this connection a visitors’ book which has been kept for years on board the British torpedo schoolship Vernon at Portsmouth, in the pages of which ! many distinguished and _illustrious personages have been invited, afte: being shown over the most scientific department of the British naval serv- ice, the one in which most of the new ! inventions are conceived or tried out and experimented with, are asked to autograph their names along Wwith some comment, usually a brief sen- tence. Among the most moteworthy of these comments is the following maxim which I commend to the atten- tion of Gen. Lejeune, and it runs as follows: “Favoritism of ef- ciency.” is the secret * K X ¥ The signature below is that of the late Lord Fisher, whose rank as ad- miral of the fleet corresponded With that of field marshal in the army, and who at the time when he wrote it, in 1908, was the first sea lord of the ad- miralty, and to all intents and pur- poses the executive chief of all the maritime forces of the British Em- pire, as well as the man more than any other responsible for the person- {nel of the commanders. That is to {say, it was “Jackie” Fisher who at i the time was determining the promo- jtions and the assignments of com- mands from those of terpedo boats and destroyers to those of great fleets of battleships. It was because Lord Fisher was absolutely ruthless in “scrapping” the naval rules and regu- lations governing promotion by se- niority, for the sake of favoritism, | that is'to say, selective promotion, in the same way that he scrapped hun- {dreds of warships, some of them cost- { ing millions of pounds sterling, which had become obsolete, that Great Brit- {tain’s navy was not only ready but {also on a war footing on the very day of ‘the sudden outbreak of hostili- ties in_August, 1914, and was, there- fore, able to preserve throughout the conflict the mastery of the sea: 1 x k X % "Phere are few words in the English ianguage that grate on the ear more unpleasantly than that of “favorit- ism.” It is held to imply injustice, since, as explained by the Century Dictionary, it consists in & “dispo- sition to favor one person or family, or one class of men, in neglect of others having equal claims.” And the person who thus derives advantage from such favoritism is usually held to have acquired “dominant influence over his superior by unworthy means for seifish purposes.” That this should be the comstruc- tion based upon favoritism fs not surprising, when we recall the un- savory roles which the favorites of rulers have played in the annals of the world. Exciting the jealousy as well as the anger of the people by the misuse of the power derived from the partiality of the anointed of the Lord, they have naturally been held up in all ages to execration, not alone by the historian but likewise by the poet, by the playwright and by the artist. In short, favoritism has al- ways been regarded as one of the most grave and dangerous faults that could be laid at the door of any one in authority. And yet here was a man like Lord Fisher, virtually the rank- ing officer of. the British navy, the principal and most trusted naval ad- viser of his king and of his gov- ernment, & commander and master- ful administrator of unique_experience, with an interna- tional re nutloa the_one to whom the. whole Brit Empire looked lm‘:'ll othlrl‘ mflh&l zu‘: time defenses a nof superfor to that of an; other two great powers of the world, _Nadvocating favoritism as a means to £ The | Lord Fisher Strong Advocate Of “Favoritism” in Promeotion the Army of the; absolutely OBSERVATIONS ‘ WILLIAM WILE, western friends are so confident of his strength as a compromise candidate that they speak of it with enthusiastic assurance. No_ Lowden headquarters 18 to be established at Chicago or any- where else. The former Governor of Ilinois himself, between now and June, will do little or nothing to promote his fortunes. He will give a conspicuous demonstration of “lying low” and say- ing nothing. Then when Coolidge forces and Johnson forces close for the fray at Chicago den’s star will rise ascendant. Tha what _his admirers are saying, any rate. Their calculation {s that jthere will be such a hopeless deadlock between conservatives who want Cool- idge and progressives who favor John- son that a “‘middle-grounder’” Lowden will walk off with the prize. * K k% President Coolidge hasn't suffered mucl in that respect, but a good many people think that Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana bears a considerable re- |semblance to the squire of the White |House. MWe is fair-haired, like Mr. Coolidge, of about the same build, and thinks now and then along New Eng- land lines, being a native of Massa- chusetts. Wheeler s one of the babies of the new Senate; he is only forty-one. He was elected as a democrat, but made_ speeches in Minnesota last sum- mer for Magnus Johnson. * ok Xk * Great Britain is sending an im- portant financlal and commercial dele- gation to Brazil to make a thorough study of its economic situation. The evident purpose is to pave the way for @ vigorous invasion of South America’s biggest country for British capital. The delegation will consist of Edwin Mon- tagu, formerly secretary of state for Indi; Sir Charles Addis, minent banker and steamship magnate; Lord {lovat, & well known soldier, and Hart- ley Withers, England’s foremost writer on economic subjects. The mission ex- pects to spend three months in Brazil. It was invited by the Brazilian govern- ment, which seems to desire British co- operation in the program of financial reconstruction now under way at Rio de Janeiro. * x o* K Secretary Hughes' disinclination to shake hands with soviet Russia is sub- Jecting him to heavy hombardment from ultra-libera) quarters. Now and then they are hurling the cpithet of ‘“re- actionary” in his direction. Hughes' friends recall that when there was a movement afoot in New York state couple of years ago to expel the five socialist members of the assembly no voice was raised in louder protest _than that of the present Secretary of State. He took the position that, legally elected either in la {merely becaus: | it his efficiency, and actually setting down in black and white ove signature as one of the maxims by which he was guided In the per- formance of his responsible duties. * % Kk ¥ President Roosevelt, here in the United States, King ward and his naval and military advisers, such as Lord “Jackie” Fisher, Lord Kitche- ner, the Earl of Ypres and Field Mar- ehal Earl Haigh, afterward the Brit- ish generalissimo in the great war, and, In France, of the masterful Georges Clemenceau, war-time pre- mier, and Marshal Foch, repeatedly laid themselves open to the charges of favoritism by adopting the maxim advocated by Lord Fisher in the se- lection of the commanding officers of their respective armies and navies, re- gardless of conslderations of = se- niority. The latter, while it generally en- talls the experience of years, does not necessarily imply efficlenoy. Very often an officer at the head of the list may be lamentably inferior to his ju- niors in energy. tact, in judgment in the handling of nd in the knowledge of the t develop- ments of the science of war. He may be suffering from temperamental de- fects. In any of these cases it is in the interest of the service and in the interest of the nation that he should be passed over, and that promotion or | appointment hould go, instead, to that particular one of his juniors who is known by the executives to be pos- sessed in the highest degree of the qualities required for the command. | * %k k *x Naturally the executive upon whom the responsibility rests is tempted to nominate the man whom he knows best, with whose character he is most intimately acquainted and of whose suitability for the position he is best sasured, perhaps through, personal friendship sometimes, sometimes through official assoclation. This is only to be expected. It is war that puts every armed service, both on land and at sea, on its mettle, and which constitutes the most crucial test of efficlency. And in the hours of national peril, when so much, nay, perbaps everything, de- pends on_the selection of the right man for the job. all the rules and laws governing promotion by senlority go Dby the board. as so much obstructive red tape, and as often as not junlors are promoted over the heads of many hundreds of senfors. And since one of the principal aims of the armed sorvices In the United States, as in Great Britain and in France, is to be ready at all times for an emergency, that readiness constituting the top notch of efficiency, why should not, also, in the piping times of peace se- lection determine promotion instead of seniority, even though it be de- nounced as fayoritism? Wesley Chapel Record Corrected by Mr. Topham To the Editor of The Sta: I read with interest the article in The Star of December 21. in reference to the sale of Wesley Chapel, at the corner of 5th and F' streets north- west. I wish to correct several er- rors that have crept into the record and which have been given alike by several of our local papers. Wesley Chapel, the original bullding at the corner of 5th and F streets, was fin- ished and occupled in 1829. This was in the old third ward of our city, and it is interesting to note that two other churches were built in this same ward in this year, namely,_the original Fourth Presby- terian Church, on 9th street above G street, which ‘was dedicated on March 1, 1829, and_the Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, on 5th street above D street, afterward the site of the old Columbian Law bullding, which was opened on April 11, 1829. ‘Wesley Chapel, built in 1829, was razed in 1856 and gave place at the same location to Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church, at that time a modern _brick _structure sixty by ninety feet. It was this churoh building that has just been sold to the denomination known as the Sev- enth-day Adventists. My father attended church services| g in the old Wesley Chapel when he first came to Washington, and my mother attended Sunday school when a girl at thé old Columbian Law Yuilding on 5th street. WASHINGTON TOPHAM. JANUARY 1, 1924. AT RANDOM THE GASPARDS OF PINE CROFT— Ralph Connor. George H. Doran Company. The making of Paul Gaspard—this is Ralph Connor's new story. Now, & man in the making provides the most exciting of spectacles for those who have the eyes and the mind and the heart for this surpassing adventure. It is a common and open business, too —this manmaking—going on around us, and within us, every minute day and night. But so many are the con- cealing interventions, so flecting and broken are the views in any given like | case, so feeble are our powers of lon religion are transcription and application, that were it not for the novelist we should Personages of distinction are always |he in large part shut out from the|the sense of denying the existence of having doubles discovered for them.|contagion of the great adventure. We [ God, 1y | should miss the sight of its triumphs | sibility of belleving that this grand and defeats—pluck and persistence on the one hand, feebleness and futility on the other. Both of equal service to us in checking up the uneven and unequal ways through which charac- ter finally emerges or falls back into mere indeterminate human stuff, * k% % To the making of Paul Gaspard the mother had contributed a deeply re- ligious strain. From the father he took a joyous love of life, an artist’s elation over the sheer beauty of the world. A man of easy accommoda- tions, Hugh Gaspard, these set off against the mother's inflexible resist- ance to_compromise. A good little chap, Poaul himself, natural and theréfore interesting. When we come upon him first he is, under the moth- er's tuition, engaged in the strenu- ous business of learning the cate- chism, interrupting the lesson with a hundred intimate questions as to the feelings and doings of God in re- spect to his own small person. The daily task ended, he is off and awuy out into the open under the lighter guidance of the father. A happy child- hood that moves out into a bovhood and youth where trouble waits for him. The mother fades and passes under the austere loneliness of th& big northwest. Hugh Gaspard. not possessed of the fiber to endure, seeks to escape trouble by running away. Heavy responsibility, coupled deep personal grief, comes early Paul Gaspard, x % % x This is the point at which the story moves out into the current of com- mon interest, becoming, in a sense, the story of countless and daughters who find themselves pos- sessed of a legacy of unfulfillment, for thelr taking or for their leaving. It ie worth while going along with Paul Gaspard here, for he accepts the in- heritance of his father's defeat. Th . the big manch veautiful “Pine to be held till his father's re- turn against the designs of those who everywhere pe: nal advantage out of rich but dangered enterprises. A man-size that puts good muscle on young Paul and sharpens his wits as ell. There is later, besides, the ter- rible effect of complete moral la on the part of Hugh Gaspard, fled again into the Indian country where years before also he had sinned against the law of race, the white man’'s immemorial pleasure and self- constituted right the world over * x % x Such is the situation and such the process by way of which Ralph Con- nor projects this man-in-the-making. Such the cross-section of life that produces Paul Gaspard. It is signi- ficant that this character is drawn from the deepest personal intimacies of the author himself. Here is the northwest environment with which his owo Betive career has been so completely identified. Here the an- cestral Scot strain is fundamental in the character of each. With both there is a profound sense of God im- minent in the world of nature and in the world of man. One hesitates to call Paul Gaspard a pious man, for the term has gathered allen meanings that would surely serve to distort the picture. More nearly does he fit into the concept of the modern mystic, surrounded, directed, sustained by an intelligence that |@etrates thé whole of life, waiting on! for man to be- come conscious of its nearness and power. A vallant and shining youth, Paul Gaspard, who in circumstances as dramatic as they are, altogether bellevable plays the part of a man in fashion so natural and simple as to give him the quality of true great- ness. Paul Gaspard moves out of this book, going along with one, the chosen companion of many a satisfy- ing hour. sons * ok ox % And have you read Grant Overton's story of “The Man Called Ralph Con- nor”? If you have you know that Ralph Connor is, in fact, Charles Gor- don, a boy out of Scotland, a student in Canada, a missio among the lumbermen and miners, a friend of the Indian, pastor of a big church in Winnipeg, and, finally, a soldier, Maj. Charles W. Gordon, chaplain of the 43rd Battalion Cameron Highlanders of Canada. It was he who sald when the great war broke that Canada must send half a million men. And 'anada sent the half million and “‘over sixty thousand didna come back.’ It was the western front— rom Ypres sallent, Sanctuary Wood, the bloodshed of the Somme and back again to Arras. Connor saw the regiment shrunk from full strength to two officers and six- ty-five men. He knelt down amid the roar of guns and hailing of machine gun bullets to do last rites for his own men and comrades. On the eighth day of October, 1916, the outfit stormed the Regina trench on the Somme. Unable to advance, they wouldna retreat. So they died where they stood. A man, all through, you see, this preacher of the northwest. One likes to picture him in‘ the earlier days, too, a tall, slender, serious young fel- 1ow, living among the lumbermen and the miners where life is bare to the bone. Fighting men, often drunk, men of coarse speech and rough w: But even rough men have troubles of their own, and it was then that Char- ley Gordon proved himself as much a man as the toughest ones of the lot. There were no end of things that ho wanted to do for these folks. So, un- der the advice of a friend, he becan to write down the story of the lumber- men and miners, to paint their pic- tures. Warm pictures from which the breath of life went out to those who read. And the name Ralph Con- nor, known where the name Charley Gordon means nothing—why the name was picked up much by acci- dent, as it were. “Ralph Connor, the ‘Well-Beloved,” many !ulkuxclll him thi . G is. G. M. In a Few Words. Progressives in Congress are men “who want to go somewhere but don't know where. —SENATOR REED. There may not be a perfectly dry eity in this country, but they all are immeasurably dryer today than be- fore the prohibition law went into effeot. —WILLIAM H. ANDERSON. ‘The best thing for neurasthenic people to do is to stop calling in the doctor and go back to work. —DR. McGREGOR SHARP. Men, being more vain than women, are less willing to accept instruc- en_ when they have asked for it. —DAVID BELASCO. saci the most selfish of all ‘human om: ~—MARY RO stand ready to gather! In that time Ralph | Mo love can be both the most iheing ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERI Q. How many band instruments does John Philip Sousa play?—H. F. A. In his student days this great bandmaster studied violin, euphonium and trombone. He also played the flute. Later he added « general knowledge of other members of the band family and studed the viola, which he played professionally. For many years Sousa has confined him- self to composition and conducting. Q. What' was the Charles Darwin?—D. K. A. As & young man Charles Dar- win was a Christian. His later views best expressed by | himself In his autobiography, where he says: “In my most extreme fluctua- tions 1 have never been an athelst in religion of But I may say that the impos- and wondrous universe with our con- sclous selves arose through chance seems to me the chief reason for the existence of God." Mr. Darwin fre quently made Use of expressions such as “with his godlike intellget “I hope to heaven,” but himself®de. clared that he was subject to fluctua- | tions of opinfon on the subject of | religion and declined in answer to | inquiries to express a definite belie or disbellef. Q. What is the tabular standard of value?—K. F. D. A. A tabular standard of value is a proposal for giving fixity to the value of money by varying from time to time the amounts of gold to be pald according to changes in its pur. chasing power of, say, 100 standard commodities. The great obstacle to its adoption Is the difficulty of get- fing economists to agree upon the precise manner of fixing the standard and calculating the averages of the various commodities, or even agree- ing_upon what commodities should be included. Q. Who was the voungest delegate the Paris peace conference?—H. S, A._The voungest delegate was An- dre Tardieu of France, who was born in 1876, thus being forty-three vears of age at the time of the conference. Iy Q. Where and when were window glass and glass bottles first made in the United States?—E. 8 A. The first industrial enterprise in the United States was a glass bottle factory erected in the Virginia colony moon after 1607. It was located in the woods about one mile from James- town. Window glass was manufac- tured in what I8 believed to be the New Jersey. It one mile east county, by important win- ass factory was erected at Co d Glass been tsburgh of Pittsburgh f | Compa Q. What was ?—P. M. T. A. The bead is probably the oldest form in which glass was used. It was among the first objects adopted for personal ornament. first use made of gl | Q. What were the outstanding ac- complishments of President Taft administration?—D. B A. The important developme during the four years of Pres Taft's incumbency were reform of the ies of the House of Representa- the corporation tax, 1809; | & the powers of the Inter: | mmerce Commission: p Denby Program i | asin The naval program suggested by Sec- iretary Bdwin Denby has aroused all of {the ancient spirit of controversy be- tween the advocates of a big navy and a little one. In addition the question of whether adoption of this program would not nullify agreements of the Washing- ton naval conference has once more been pressed to the front. Tho sugges- tion that gun turrets in existing big ships must be elevated, that many new and high-powered submarines, with & round-the-world cruising radius, are needed up to 50,000 tons at least and that eight 10,000-ton cruisers, gunboats and an aviation program must be built and arranged are held indicative in many quarters as being certain to mark the initiation of another naval race, while they are as warmly defended in others as_ absolutely necessary for the national defense. Altogether the naval Secretary's report has initiated one of the warmest discussions of recent months and one which is only dwarfed by the tax battle. * The report Is characterized by the Detroit News as a *'big navy one. The Secretary does not recommend the con- struction of the obsolete type of vessels | expressly forbidden in the arms treat But he is for a place near the front in the mew naval race of cruisers, sub- marines and seaplanes.” Yet all that he ! asks for “is needed, if the fleet is to be modernized,” insists the Portsmouth IStar. “It will be money well spent. { Unless the guns of our fleet are to be made equal in range to those warships of other powers whose structures per- mit extreme elevation we shall lose all the advantage we might gain by the employment of airplane scouts. It com {down to a question of self-defense, re. gardless of how friendly to this govern- ment may be the power whose warships possess superior range to ours. The Navy Department sees nothing in its proposals that can fairly be called an vasion or violation of the Washington treaty. It is guided solely by considera- tions having to do with the national defense. It must be conceded that lts position to the average layman appears to be sufficiently strong to merit appro- val of its program by Congress, * Xk X Indorsing this latter view, the St.! Paul Dispatch emphasizes the fact that “the state of the Navy, as dis- osed by Secretary Denby, is not a reassuring one. We hope that Con- gress will give very careful and sympathetic attention to the recom- mendations which he has placed be- | fore it." This suggestion has the un- | qualified approval of the Hartford Times because “we want to be ade- quately prepared for emergencies,” but the Times also feels Ysometimes | one is tempted to believe what this| country cannot indefinitely go evading responsibility and at t same time insist on being treatcd with great dignity. So many speeches | on the part of our highest authori- | ties on the dangers from other n tions must be as amusing as t may be disheartening to a wor which used to look westward for great things” The Bay City Times- Tribune, in insisting that acceptance of the Denby program will be in no way an “aping of the naval and aerial building ambitions of other powers,” emphasizes the ‘“peace-time £ccomplishments of the Navy during the past fow years” recalling the aid to Japan at the time of the earth- quake, the relief of the Chilean Qdal:wave sufferers, rescue of the Smyrna fire survivors and other deeds Which show the great necessity of I * the C J. HASKIN savings bank, 1910, 1912; children’s hur'n:lnd ment of Labor, 1913/ an Imitation 6f cam tions, 1810-11 L arcel post 1912; Depart publicity fo ign _contribu- and the submission of ;‘3;‘,‘""{:’“"“‘ amendments for the in- L) X an direct United States senatorsr ot " ©f 1 Q Where 18 Caesar buried?—C. A. The body of Jullus Caesar was burned in the Field of Mars at Rome There 18 no record to show that his ashes were preserved In any place. Q. Are the days shorter in the win ter time in New England than the: are in Florida?—J. F. D. A. The days are shorter in north. e the Q. Must a deed to be valid name a: actual money consideration?—J. M. T A. The consideration of a deed must be good or valuable, and nor partaking of anything immoral, il gal or fraudulent, Q. What was igin of the pression “on the fence”?—C. W. A. The Richmond Whig is credi with the first use of this expressio: when It said, in 1828: “There are cer tain administration editors, editor for & long time, on the fence.” Q. Was Andrew Johnson elacted t Senate after he was President Z. W, C. . A. Andrew Johnson's term as Pres ident ended in 1 and in 1875 he was elected to the United States Sen ate. He served during the extra ses sion which conyened in March, and died in July, 18 Q. Was it ever proposed to mak Patrick Henry dictator of Virginia? N.D. E. A. The schem Virginia was his knowledge Henry was spoken In the midst of the agitation Arc bald Cary met Henry's Ralf-brot nd delivered his famous threa: Sir. 1 am told that your brother wishes to be dictator. Tell him from me that the day of his appointment shall be the day of his death, for he shall find my dagger in his heart be- ' fore the sunset of that da: The project was speedily abandoned ' Q. Who invented the cash register” dictatorship h d without consent _ Patric of for the po B. A. The modern cash register was invented by Jacob Ritty of Dayton Ohio, patented in 1879. It was sug gested to him by the dial on a steam ship which recorded the number of revolutions of the propeller. Q. Who composed the United States commission to China in_ 1920 which went to Investigate the Shan tung question’—G. B. B A. There was no American commis s t to China on the Shantung in 1820 or subsequentl iantung question lay in abey o from the t »f the Paris con nce until th ashington confe An unofficial e )gresslun!. party visited China as well as othdr , but they were in no way connected with the Shantung questio (Did wou ever write a letter to Fred- eric J. Haskin? You can ask our In- formation Bureaw any question of fact and get the answer in a personal letter This is a part of that best purpose of this newspaper—SERVICE. There is no charge, except 2 cents in stamps for return postage. Get the habit of ask ing questions of Frederic J. Haskin, Di rector, The 'Star Information Burea 1220 North Capitol sireet.) for U. S. Navy Stirs Nation-Wide Discussion must have all its proper compone parts to be the protection required by the country.” ‘ * % X % That is likewise the view Bridgeport Post, which points “it is clear to any one that a definite rrogram for the maintenance of the Navy must not only be approved, but must also be carried out effectively steadily and surely. As the richest nation in the world must have naval protection, and that of a thor. practical and d endable sort we department. departments this is nece Pittshurgh Gazette-Times insists. es pecially so far as the submarine is concerned, inasmuch *its numer- ousness among the new navies of old world indieates the character o naval warfare ‘next time’' e should be able to meet America is committed to armament reduction as fast as it is possible to bring it about.” The Springfield excaption to the that changes in gun be made without vi ington treaty, beca of the deve opments that followe the congres slonal action at the last session, when an appropriation for that purpose was made, only to be withheld by the direct order of Pre hlrnl“ Harding and the Republ sists “the dou! {s sufctent to emphasize the desira- bility of getting the facts as to the British _ship: any action taken by this ernment on subject. —_—r——————— Disasters at Year’s End. To the Edit f The Star It is a notewerthy coincidence tia great disasters so frequently occur during the last days of expiring years, the “Grim Destroyer” seeming intent upon making the hest possible showlng for the annual balance sheet This communication today is really the resglt of a cholera scourge which was raging exactly half a cemtury Then three years later that abula horror was staged for De- when, with the rest, P. P. were lost to the world eater holocaust also st of this closing onth—not to mention other in- 3: km and_to are contem- Slating the Afty heroic souls who, it Feams. through the destruction of the Dixmude, will h issed a'“ par- ticipation in a “Hap) w Year. And this is all the more regrettable pecause it could have been 8o read olded, since a positively aerial system is readi procurable when those in control hall feel dis- posed to avail themselves of its ad- Vantages. ) it g But this is a digression, my pbject bein 1o animadvert the increasing frequency of year-end (;ulaxl,l"gfl:n~ Al 'S ot resulting from 1 ¥ Tativitios, ¥ F. STEE Republican takex Denby suggestion elevations can ting the Wash- Ashis cemper 30, Bitss and wife The Iroguois The occurred on the Saturday Half Holiday. { T the Editor of The Star The government clerks had a half hour addea to their workday not so very long ago, and a little later. they were ordered to take their lunch halt hour between half-past 12 and 1 o'clock instead of taking the half Nour any time between the hours of 12 and 1 o'clock, so that ;‘! ll:ahcllc_s;us v day half holiday :i‘;r:hfl)"gzrna;AV|:r::{ the “would o] £ working about as many hours in a B4 v they were year a8 (0¥ sixand one-half hours keeping the fleet on the seven se: “The expense of maval competition has been stopped” the ago Tribui holds, so “Congress should enable the American Navy to keep the position to which it is entitled. The treaty is good if America keeps its rights under ft. It is bad if America permits Navy weakness to result from lack of It s not en; number of Y “ure now working 120 h 98y, oron & vear than they were TS ey were working only six and one-half hours a day, and that 47 hours plus the time’ that was 120 ted by the clerks when they took e funeh half hour “any time be- e n the hours of 12 and 1 o'clock N More than equal the 186 hours x:.'mh- to give the government clerks Laif holiday all the year around. > JOHN ANSCHUTY..