Evening Star Newspaper, February 12, 1924, Page 6

\THE FVENING STAR ‘With Stnday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY.....February 12, 1824 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Busivess Office, 11th 5t. and Penpaylvaniz Ave, New York Office: 110 Fast 42pd St. Chicago Office: Tower Building. Earopean Office: 16 Regent St., London, England, The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning edition, is delivered by carricrs within the city at 60 cents per month: daily only. 45 cents per month; Sunday only, 2 cents’ per month. Orders may be sent by mall or tele- phone Main 5000. Collection ls made by car- wiers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, Daily and Sunday..1yr., $8.40; 1 mo., T0c Daily only. 13 $6.00; 1 mo., 50c Sunday only. 1yr., $2.40; 1 mo., 20c All Other States. . Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo., 85¢ Daily only. 13T $7.00: 1 mo., 60c Sunday oniy...lll1yT, $8.00;1mo., e Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press s exclusively entitled 2o the use for republication of all news dis: Patches credited to it or not otherwise credited n this peper and alwo the local news pub- Ished "B All rights of publication o ——— The President and the Senate. President Coolidge declines to yield 10 the Scnate a vitul executive func- tion, the power of appointment und the accompanying power of dismissal. The President has promptly and squarely met the issue precipitated by the Senate's action in decluring it to be the sense of that body that the President should immediately request the resignation of the Secretary of the Navy. He declines to give official recognition to an expression of the opinion of a majority of the members of the upper house. He does not spe- cifically challenge their right to ex- press their opinion. He does. how- ever, challenge their right to control his actions as the executive in mat- ters which lie strictly within the prov- ince of the great office he holds. This statement by the President has nothing to do with the merits of the case involved in the naval oil lease scandal. There is no relation between the exclusive right of the President to make appointments, subject to the ad- vice and consent of the Senate, and to make dismissals solely upon his own responsibility, and the question wheth- er Secretary Denby should or should not be relieved of his office on the ground of his connection with the oil leases. This point that the President %0 ably states is fundamental. The President gives assurance that ns soon as he is advised as to the legality of the leases and of the perti- nent facts in all the transactions he will “take such action as seems essen- tial for the full protection of the pub- lic interests.”” He assumes full re- sponsibility to the people “for his con- duct relative to the retention or dis- Tissal of public officials.” He assures the people that as soon as he can be advised so that he “may act with en- tire justice to all parties concerned &nd fully protect the public interests™ he will act. Mr. Coolidge reaches a plane of great strength when he says: “I do not propose to sucrifice any innocent man for my own welfare, nor do I pro- DOSe to retain in office any unfit man for my own welfare.” In other words, | this matter is to be handled without | Secretary jcharge of his connection with this {corruption is left indefinite- where Dolitical considerations. 1t is to be handled on the basis of equity and Justice. 1t is to be handled on the principles of righteousness. And no consideration of immediate personal or | political advantage will weigh to in- duce action calculated to win passing public approval. The American people can be trusted | to indorse and strongly support the ' President in this position. He has gunization of government. He has stated it in a manner to be understood by all. The wrath of the public is aroused | today against official corruption and a | thorough moral cieaning is demanded. achievement silenced for all time the | by the District committeo in lmiting voices of those who bylittled him as & ' the personal tax to the ‘*xcess of : for man and as an official. From that time on he has grown in the affections of the country. Lincoln was peculiarly qualified to mect the greatest crisis in the nation’s history. Gentle of spirit, yet firm in determination, quick to perceive jus- tice and to administer it, yet tolerant of faults and merciful in punishments, gifted with a broad vision, yet capable of grasping details, he was precisely theé right man for the emergency. et Misleading Whereases. The preambles of the resolution re- questing the resignation of Secretary Denby are misleading. They do not state the reasons for demanding the resignatior, which debate discloses as those really in the mind of his auc- cusers. In substance the preambles ussert: (1) That certain oil leases, signed by Secretary Fall and Secretary Denby, were, it appears from the evidence, executed under circumstances indicat- ing fraud and corruption. But nobody accuses or suspects Secretary Denby of being bribed or of any form of per- sonal or official corruption. (2) That the executive order which transferred the oil-leasing function with its powers and responsibilities from the Navy Department to the Interior Depart- ment violated the law, and being without authority of law was invalid, and the leases entered into in pursu- ance of it were unlawful, even if hon- esily made without tant of fraud or corruption, and (3) that the leasing poicy in Tespect to naval reserve ou proclaimed by President Harding as his own and reflected in these leases was, whether honestly or dishonestly administered, in deflance of the settled policy of the government and hurt- ful to the national welfare. The alleged corruption of Secretary Fall, the alieged unwisdom and disre- gard of the national interest in the ofl- teasing policy of President Harding and the alleged invalidity of the execu- tive order transferring the powers and responsibilities of oll leasing to the Interior Department touch Secretary Denby only by implication, in 2 man- ner disclosed in debate but not made clear in the preambles. If the executive order relieving the Navy Department of power and re- sponsibility in respect to naval reserve oil leases was invalid responsibility for honest administration of the leasing function, it has been suggested, re- mained with the Navy Department, and Secrctary Denby is to be held to account for corruption in the leasing. It has also been reasoned that the executive transfer order, even if valid, left large responsibilities of close su- pervision of the leasings to Secretary Derby which he failed to recognize and consequently shirked to the in- Jury of the national interest. It has been suggested finally that Secretary Denby erred in believing that the ex- ecutive order of transfer relieved him of all responsibility as well as all -power in connection with the reserve oil leasing function, and that conse- quently he erred in leaving himself in complete ignorance of the details of oil-reserve leases which he per- functorily signed. Tha corruption alleged by the first { whereas dominates, of course, the entire statement of reasons for Denby’s dismissal. The 1 it should be specific. Is it alleged that he participated actively in this cor- ruption, or conspired to accomplish it, or connived at it, or facilitated it by willful or ignorant neglect of some duty of supervision in respect to the oil leasing of which he had not been _relieved by the executive order of it sfer to th ri partme 2 stated an inviolable principle which | e ° el Deoestnent lies at the root of the American or-: A single whereas, stating with pre- cision the real reason of the demand Secretary Denby's resignation ought in fairness to have been substi- tuted for the preambles indicting other people. The injustice of using these accusa- To divert any of this righteous indig- ' nation from blasting criminals to the pursuit with equal vehemence of those * uccused of mistakes in public policy or errors in construing the words of statutes or even neglects of duty | without criminal intent is to confuse the moral issue and perhaps in the confusion to facilitate the escape of criminals. Who doubts that the nation will re- spond with confidence and enthusiasm, not.only to President Coolidge's pro- test against legislative usurpation of & vital executive function. but also to his declaration that he will not for selfish purposes, persbnal or partisan, either sacrifice the Innocent or permit the guilty to escape? ——— An idcal arrangement might be to compel all bootleggers who have dodged taxes to pay up arrearages and s0 lcssen the burden of government ex- pense to a very appreciable extent. ————— Abraham Lincoln, Washington does not officially ob- serve Lincoln’s birthday. It is not a holiday here by law, so that the gov: ernment work goes on as usual, though as it happens today the Sen- ate is in recess after a strenuous veriod. It seems rather strange that Lincoln's birthday should not be for- mally marked and commemorated here in the city of his great labor, the scene of his great triumph, the place of his great sacrifice. Here are men who knew him, who saw him in the midst of his soul-trying work of keep- ing the nation intact. Here are the intimate souvenirs of his memory. Here rises the great memorial to him erected by the nation which he so Tobly and faithfully and devotedly served. But it is of really little moment whether the day be marked by a sus- pension of toil or hy exercises ap- rropriate to the occasion, Lincoln lives in the hearts of the people. His fame requires no particular ceremonial. It is enduring, it is growing. £ *n his lifetime Lincoln’s critics were sharp in their comments upon him, cauystic in their satire, severe in their ridicule of the externals of the man. The success of the Union cause, so ably led by him through the four years of war, softened these asperities ' and his death-in his hour of grest tions against others as the premises on which is based the conclusion that Secretary Denby must be removed from office is emphasized by the fact that the American and constitutional rights of those others, thug accused, valaation above $1,000. As origirially framed and presented the bill was designed to relieve the District motorists of the burden of motor taxation in Maryland by accept- ing the, proposal of that state to es- tablish reciprocity through the mutual imposition of a gasoline tax. revenue from this tax, it was made plain through the Conunissioners’ statement, would be approximately the same as that now derived from motor vehicles in the District. There would be no loss of revenue and practically no gain of revenue. The measure was not designed as a revenue bill, but simply, as a means to the end of securing reciprocity with the only jurisdiction declining to recognize District motor licenses. In the committee it wus proposed to amend the District Commissioners’ bill by adding to the two-cent tax on guso line the present personal property tax on motor cars, which, would mean taxing the District motorists by about $900,000 a year for the privilege of using Maryland roads witiiout secur- ing Maryland licenses. It was then proposed in a spirit of equity to re- duce this personal property tax by exempting all motor vehicles of less than $1,000 in value, and so the bill went to the House. Yesterday it was changed again by cutting out the exemption clausc and leaving the bill on passage in its most objectionable form, increasing the total tux on Dis- trict motorists from $500,000 to $1,600,- 900 o vear. In the Senate it is to be hoped that the bill will be amended to bring it back at least to the shupe in which it emerged from the House committee, if not to the point where it came from the Commissioners. That is to say, it is for the Senate to prevent this im- position of a burdensome tax upon the people of the District, a tax for which there is no revenue need and for which there is no equity. In one respect the bill as it passed the House is particularly mischievous. It provides that all the gasoline fax money shall be placed in the Treasury to be used solely for strect and road improvements, without any matcl ing of federal money in expen ture on thc established ratio of Dis- trict maintenance, 60-40. That is to say, under this bill the District will have to its credit available for appro- priation, but not necessarily appro- priated, the total return from the gaso- line tax, which may be spent only on street and road work, while the United States pays nothing on this account, notwithstanding the provisions of the new organic act of 1922, It is most undesirable to establish segreguted funds of any character, and it is most unfair to put them upon the whole- cost basis as proposed in the amend- ment adopted yesterday by the House. In respect to the personal tax on motor vehicles the District can have no hope of any but the most rigid and full-valuation assessment for tax pur- poses. The widest fluctuations prevail elsewhere in this regard, but heére it can be well assured that under the Jjealous scrutiny of Congress motor vehicles will for taxation purposes be rated at the highest point. The Dis: trict will not be able to make the show- ing, for instance, that was presented in Illinois in 1917, when only 15,135 motor cars were assessed for taxation in Cook county at an average valua- tion of $112.95, while in the entire state only 166,645 were assessed at an average valuation of $85.05. Ex-Secretary Fall’s ranch does not qualify him to stand as a great ex- ample for the farmer in politics. German diplomacy lacks discretion. It still reflects an unfortunate phase of German statesmanship, There are almost as many compet- ing tax-reduction plans as if somebody had offered a prize. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. ““The World’s a Stage.” You got to pay to see the show, Although it makes no hit. The money that you must bestow are fully protected. Before ex-Secretary Fall can be convicted and punished a jury must find him guilty. Before any of Pres- ident Harding's acts or orders can be definitely pronounced illegal the jeourts must act. And if President | Harding had lived only in a national | election by the ballots of the people (of the United States could his oil- | leasing policy be pronounced unsound iand pernicious. | But in Secretary Denby's case, on lu'u: mere recital of accusations prl-] |marily against others, with no spe- Intellectual Capital. cific indictment of himself, it was pro- “You are sometimes rather cautious posed to conviet him of something |about expressing your opinions.” undefined and to punish him by dis- ‘Not cautious,” answered Senator misgal from office, without the safe.] Sorghum, “but economical. A states- guard of a court’s judgment upon the | man’s opinions are his capital, and its legality of his acts and of trial by |utter improvidence to scatter them Jury of the fact of guilt or innocence, |around unless they are wanted by a Depends on where you sit. Although the actors strut and fume In rather poor display, For easy chalr or standing room You've surely got to pay. Sensations now and then are brought To thrill the public mind. A scene with pathos may be fraught Or comedy refined. Though episodes may oft arise To fill you with dismay, The income tax collector cries, “You've surely got to pay!” and without even the safeguards jogainst injustice to which he is en- itled in the high court of constitu- tional impeachment. Disregarding for the moment the iissue of legislative encroachment upon !the rights and powers of the execu- |tive, it was inconceivable that Presi- jdent Coolidge could approve an indict- ment, trial and conviction debased by these characteristics and confirm a sentence of official capital punishment thos - irregularly and with shocking disregard of fair play imposed. Motor “Reciprocity” Taxation. Yesterday’s action by the House of Representatives in adopting the so- called motor reciprocity bill puts the case up to the Senate in the most ob- Jectionable form, for the District, in which it could conceivably be framed. The bill as it passed the House im- poses a tax on gasoline of 2 cents a gallon, a personal property tax on the motor cars without any exemption and a registration tax of 15 cents horsepower. This is a complete change from the measure as it Was presented | by the District Commissioners as a means of securing motor reciprocity with: Maryland through the imposition Mnglnlhauxwmh,mlflk posed by the state. It is likewise a de- trom offeted 7 campaign manager or e mdgazine editor.” . ‘Jud Tunkins says he wouldn’t mind being a multimillionaire if he thought he could give away a hundred thou: sand dollars now and then without being investigated. ] Selfish Stateswomen. “Some of the greatest rulers men- tioned in history have been women. “‘Quite true,” answered -Miss Cay- enne. “But it is disappointing to ob- serve that they were all satisfied to boss the men. None I have read about ‘went before their people with a ring- ing, authoritative demand for votes for other women.” Oratorical Agitation. A placid mood I sought to reach. I was in fine condition. A man came 'round and made a speech And spoiled my disposition. ¢ “Over in Pokeberry township,” re- ‘marked Uncle Bill Bottletop, “the only real sober and industrious family is a bunch of moonshiners that has to keep that way for fear of the revenoos.” .“Some political speeches help to keep up enthusiasm,” said Uncle Eben, “but dey don’t make no mo’ real dif- funce in pesults dan hollerin’ st de 1n @ craps gume ¢ g 3 x> EVENING ‘STAR, WASHINGTON, D. ©; TU ESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 192% WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS .BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE William G. McAdoo handled himself well before the Senate oil committee. He resisted any tenfptation to be either handclapping of his friends in the in- quisition chamber, mostly women, was the only theatrical episode of his hour on the stand. On some spectators the impression was created that the atti- {tude_ of the committee, especfally re- publican senators, was obsequious and lacked ‘“punch.” But, after all, Mr, McAddo was there as a voluntary wit- ness. He was not a prisoner in a dock. The Californian's supporters concede that the popular reaction to Mr. Me- Adoo’s account of his professional relu- tions with Doheny will probably make or break the McAdoo presidential can- didacy. Astute ears, trained in tho of stydying political ecarth- L will beclose to the ground for the mext few hours. On their seismo- graphic observations Willlam Gibbs Me- Adoo i destined to rise or fall. * ok k% President Coolidge has issued another philanthropic executive order, akin to that which recently bestowed civil serv- ico status upon Mrs. Shaughnessy, widow of the late second assistant postmaster general. The beneficiary is in this cuse also a woman. The order reads: “Mrs. Margaret Murphy may be ap- pointed us money counter or to & po: tion of similar character without exami- nation under the civil service rulcs. She is the mother of a disabicd soldicr. *“This order is granted as a matter of executive benevolenc: * K X X Authorities on Capitol Hill designate George Wharton Pepper of Pennsyl- vania as the future spokesman-in-chief jof the Coolidge administration in the Senate. The President, they say, will continue to consult with the official re- publican leaders of the upper house— Senators Lodge, Lenroot, Wadsworth and Curtis—but his mouthpiece will be Pepper. — The cultured Philadelphia lawyer was the stur performer on the administration’s behalf in the recent ofl debate. No defense of Mr. Coolidge's policy of calm and caution was more eloquent, more fervent or more con ! vincing than Pepper's. Boles Penrose's successor is a master of logic and | Enclish expression. His democratic jcolleagues seldom rise In rejoinder to the Pennsylvanian without stressing his highly trained legal mind” or his “distinguished learning in the law” or some other aspect of Pepper’s intellec- n presidential is customarily tual attuinments. If F more us ght contemplate an He is fifty-seven, but purposes. counted, Pepper mi eminent future. doesn’t 100k it. ¥ ok k% Dr. Frank Crane, editoriallsermonizer, whose syndicated homilies on life, eth- ics and politicswreach a wider congre- gation than any clergyman in history ever addressed, is in Washington. He has come for guch inspiration as he can The | combative, dramatic or “political.” The | derive from current events at the Capi- tal. Crane says they Intcrmittently cheer and dishearten him. This ob- server car-witnessed a polite encounter between Dr. Crane and one of the Senate’s propaganda-investigating co mittees. The preacher-writer, who gives Edward W. Bok some of the credit for transferring him from the pulpit to the more thrilliag career of journalism, has no patience with senatorial attempts to curb propugunda of Bok's sort. “T'm a believer in old Demos,” said Crane. Then he opined that if the Senate of the United States has anything better up its slceve on behalf of world peace than a Hok plan it ought to let its wisdom shine upon a universe cager for light and leading. Crane's tabloid ser- mons are now preached in printer’s ink all over the carth. R The diary of Gideon Welles, Presidént Lincoln’s Secretary of the Navy, was recently sold at auction for an absurdly low price, considering its historical im- portance. In Welles' own handwriting, under date of April 14, 1865, the day Lincoln was assassinated, is recorded the story, not widely known, of Lin- coln’s dreum of the night before. The President related it to a meeting of his cabinet. The adminls:ration was nxiously awaiting news from Grant, whom Le ad surrendered five da before. Lincoln, who was fon i rlarding the most scrious discussions With storics, told the cabinet that dur- ing the preceding night he had dreamed vividly that something—he did not know just what—was going to happen that day. of vital importance to the Union. e hoped, Lincoln explained, that it would be “good news from Grant." Before that duy was over Lin- colu “belonged to the ages.” * X ¥ % " Representative George H. Tinkham of Massachusetts, big-game hunter and millionaire bachelor, is partially envel- oped by a beard that would make him a model for a cough-drops advertise- ment. He is «n influential personage in Boston. Not long ago two men passed Tinkham on the Common. Said one: “There goes Congressman Tink- ham. He can have ut anything wants around here’* Rejoined the “Well, why doesn't” Le get u s * ok ¥ x South Dakota banks have been top- pling, but that state is one of the chief gold-producing regions in the country. Its total output in 1923—303,981 ounce. valued at $6,283,900—was exceeded only by the outputs of California, Colorado and Alaska in the order 1ed. Call fornia still leads in @ wide margain. It mined & in worth §1 produced five ounce South 0 teen, and Texas (Copyright, 1 .01 ounce: oo und poteonresch & wider omare:| " M iy See “Leanings” of Bok Winner Reflected in That his natural leanings had much to do with his preparation of a prize winning peace plan is con- sidered certain by editors who dis- cuss the fortune of Dr. Charles Her- bert Levermore, to whom has been handed one-half of the $100,000 purse offered by Edward W. Bok of Phila- delphia for a’ practicable plan for world peace. Inasmuch as the second’ 000 was to be paid only if the ted States adopted the plan, editors feel that Dr. Levermore has received all he can hope for. But at that they seem to think he has been well pald for what he has done. The Star pointed out that Dr. Lever- more, because of “his affiliations and services,” is a strong pro-leaguer and it feels that his success “is a re- ward for long devotion to this cause, a worthy cause, and one in which prizes and rewards are rare. But question arises whether his virtually exclusive dedication to the league work, and to the thought of Ameri- can participation, may not somewhat ! ciubarrass Mr. Bok in view of the be- lief expressed, perhaps wholly un- worthily, that' the competition is in the nature of an organized effort to ‘put over the league in the United States.” The New York Times in- sists “it is no magic that has brought the result, for probably no other man in the United States has wrestled more persistently with the problem of international relations with a view to findng a way to prevent war. Without knowing anything about any of the other plans submitted, the pre- sumption is all in favor of this high- 1y_qualified exper Because he has been “secretary of the world court and the league of nations court” the Springfleld Repub- lican suggests “if Senators Reed and Moses cannot now prove the existence of a ‘foul’ plot to foiet the league of nations on an unsuspecting country it will have to be admitted that they have lost their cunning.” Dr. Lever- more’s standing makes his contribu- tion “well worth considering.” the Jersey City Journal holds, while the Albany Knickerbocker Press feels “it is reassuring that such men are at work, it is well that at times they are brought from their cloistered workshops into the place of public observation. It is particularly pleas- ing to know that they are rewarded. And whatever the James A. Reeds | think about it when one of them finds | merit in the league of nations it does not necessarily follow that he should be lynched.” - It fs, of course, “propaganda,” the Brookiyn Eagle points out, “the kind of propaganda that has been neces- sary to urge civilization on at every step in its progress away from bar- ‘barism. It should not be overlooked, however, that the Levermore plan, which would establish a nominal re- lationship between the league of na- tions and the United States, has been pronounced by eych an eminent re- publican and qualified statesman as Elihu Root as the most practical plan for furthering peace among nations.” Emphasis is placed by the Baltimore Sun on the fact that “Dr. Levermore, student of history and international law, himself an ardent worker in the cause of more stable international relations,” has_worked out from _his observations, knowledge and reflec- tions_a plan considered best out of the 22,165 submitted for the prize award. He would be the last to say that his echeme is either particularly brilliant or particularly immune to valid criticism. In fact, it is neither, but it is basically sound and practical, and these are the assets most needed in the work of securing effective American oo-operation for world peace.” * % “This, obviously,” says the Syracuse Herald, “was a man who knew what he was talking about when he sub- mitted his carefully matured proposal to the Bok committee. It was the output of a teeming brain and a mas- ter hand. The very blood of our dem- ocratic life is the. circulation of opinion which we call discussion, or more specifically free speech. 3 Bok's crime was an effort to quicken and invigorate that circulation with regard to a question of supreme im- port to human civilization. When senators were chosen the purpose of the electorate in every state was to ‘influence legislation’ by electing them. But the Senate, through its own committee and according to its own confession, has been hounding Mr. Bok and his assoclates in the prize contest for doing the same thi ” The Levermore plan, as the -it, “proposes a lead America, s { Cni 1 ! His Peace Plan Wilson and Dr. Charles Levermore were classmates at Johns Hopkin, finds significance in that fact. And the Newark News directs atten- tion to the fact that r. Levermore is a republican, a realist, a pacifist in he sense of a maker of peace and not slacker. and an all-round sound fellow. ~ When the senatorial . in- quisitor of Mr. Bok and Miss Lape Eet a hold of Dr. Levermore—if thoy choose to do so—they will have an old Trojan on their hands. He will approach them as mere babes in the political woods. He will be able to recall to their minds the traditions of the party when McK and Roo: velt, Andrew White and John Hay, 'Kreat Borah, Johnson and Moses |{'€rtain] and’ not thought for the party on foreign re- lations. When they have finished, if they catch the spirit which must have @ place in the breust of the republican [call is from Winning |Separate into two friendly companies. {Here are reproductions of the fine art patriarch who wrote the plan, they scarcely can cscape the feeling that all the time the been inconsequential neophytes who went sadly astray.” “I am the master of my fate, “I am the captain of my soul” —HENLEY. xw's Battle Alone. For years Dr. Anna Howard Shaw {express appreciation of a o] NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM THE NORTHWESTERN MILLER. Willigm C. Edgar, editor. The Mil- ler Publishing Company. Have you soen the famous Red River valley in springtime, its full length mantled In a green softer than the emerald wears, more living than the jade? Have you seen it in mid- summer, clad from top to toe in sump- tuous garments of russet and gold? Have you ever, at one or the other of these seasons, followed the rich and famous valley as it runs 300 miles and more, from lower Minnesota through North Dakota and on well up into Manitoba? One of the rich wheat fields of the world, this valley, which through the agencies of soll and sun and husbandry has proved so great a factor in the building of this section of the northwest—setting the pace of Its swift growth, proving the quality of its scttlers, shaping the charac of its development, linking it in an ever-expanding neighborhood of com- mon interests and interchangeabl tivities. Odd, that this particuls length of land steps out in so clear a distinction from thousands of othcrs. The explanation goes back to the an- cestry and early history of the Red River valley. * ¥ k& Once upon & time in that long ago which nowadays we glibly designate by thousands of years, even million —certainly in some far prehistoric Past—a huge lake stretched where the valley now 1 This lake cov- ,ecred more than w hundred thousand square miles, an area larger than that of zIl the great lukes rolled into one. The Red River valley is the bed of that ancient lake. In the slow cen- turies 1ying in between the two, mighty glaciers passed that way— grinding, scouring, leveling the face of the land, carrying, in sum, vast loads of silt, laying it down upon the sunken bed of the lake. And these two soils worked out, together, a specfal chemistry of their own, be- coming one in the process. This soil posscssed a clear aflinity for the wheat sown within it, quickening the seed to surpassing productivity and excellen * % % % Here the husbandman himself steps in for deserved recognition. A north Lurope man, he, waywise to the soil and its culture. A sturdy, hard-work- ing man whose forefathers in the old country had also plowed and planted and harvested the land. The soil, the wheat and the farmer constitute the asic partnership upon which the rapid growth and phenomenal pros- perity of this section depend. To this £old production by |Initial partnership have been added innumerable supplementary ones. At Alabama jthe call of the wheat cities have come into being, these, in effect, immense flour mills and grain warchouses; huge planis for the makine of ma- chinery for the farm and for better processes of convertin, the. wheat into flour; miles of factories for turn- ing the wheat into food products of endless variety; laboratories for soil analysis and test and experiment agricultural colleges; special publica- tions for current information and larger contracts; distributing centers, too, these citi long processions of carriers passing to and from by land and water. * ¥ * % TUpon occasion one or another of these allied enterprises comes to pause for a reaccounting of aims and achievements. Such an occasion is represented by the volume at hand. In this case the Northwestern Miller is making a celebration—a half cen- tury the service of wheat capped by a golden anniversary. Dressed in its best, so to speak, with banners flying nad bands playing, this anni- versary number marshals the ars and proclaims the progress of the at industry of the west. the big book offers a fine front of boliday bravery. Paper and tions make an imme- diate and striking appeal. The next the illustrations that of painting and sketch, setting out some point of history, some incident of special moment and interest, some artist’s conception of the beauty and meaning of the subject. These pic- tures stand in good fellowship beside admirable examples of the practical art that belongs to the business of advertising. Indeed, the section given over to this purpose possesses high quality in both form and content. The pictorial part of this book is specially attractive, tempting one to point out this picture in color or that one, this etching or that, as having particular point and appeal. Fairer, however, to illustrative wanted a home, but she spent the |SRSemble of unusual merit. greater part of her life traveling and “boarding around.” * ¥ * X% The body of this anniversary num- During her first recitation in a|ber is, in view of its commemorative Lawrence, Mas: schoolroom, fainted from fright. she | Purpose, definitely calculated to pre- The teacher (Sent a comprehensive survey, one urged her to rest, but the girl went | tEat covers not only the high points back to the platform and finished. in thé half-century career of the Her family moved to Michigan, and { Northwestern Miller itself, but one Q. Has the Ruseian Ballet Acad-» emy been continued under the soviet} regime?—I. B. L. A. Louls Chalif says that the academy does still exist in some fashion, but that it’is not so eficient as in former tim Q. What is the oldest town in Ne- braska?—A. R. A. Bellevue is the oldest town, %helf;ifl! settlement having been made n 1810, Q. What is the difference between | a warranty deed and a quit claim deed?—M. G. A. A warranty deed contains cov- enants which guarantec that the buyer shall have a perfect title to the property. A quit claim ‘decd glves only such title as the dealer may have. Statutory law in some jurisdictions has abolished this dis- tinction, Q. How many cow-testing ciations are there?—A. M. H. A. The Department of Agriculturc saye that there are 627 cow-testing tions in the United with 277,0,0 dairy cows in the or- ganizations. Cows are tested for tuberculosis infection. Q. What was the extent of the damage done in the Berkeley, Calil fire?—L. C. K. A. In the fire which swept Berke- ley, Calif.,, 1,000 residences were stroyed and the small towns of Boy, Springs, Markham and Johannes- burg were wiped out, with an esti- ed loss of $10,000,000. verul people were killed or injured. Hus the Amer abor decided to l , | an Federation form a labor A. At the last convention of the American Federation of® Labor, held in Portland, Oreg., the proposal to form a labor parily was voted down, 25,086 to 1,895, Where was Pancho Villa killed?— D. P.J. A. Gen. Fruncisco Villa and_his secretary were asvassinated at Par- rul, MeSico. Q. What mal appear on window panes? A. When the a dew point below freczing tem-| perature tho moisture is deposited on the window pane directly in the form of spiculae or slender prisms of ce, and it is under these circum- stances that the most delicats frost figures are formed l pictures F. J. B. Q. How many children are there in the average farmers family? B. H. G. | A. Aoccording 1o census reports the farmers of the United States have an average of 3.8 children. Q. How much silver is there spoons marked sterling?—F. J. All sterling silver mu fine sllver and .0 in con- alloy. Q. How did the Canadian produc- tion of wheat last year compare with that in the United States?—F. C. A. The Department of Agricul- ture says that in 1923 the United States produced 785,741.000 bushels of wheat, while Canada produced 470,000,000 bushels. Q. Where are the four largest redwood trees in the world?—M. E. H. . They are all in California. Three are in the Sequoia National ir in a room has! ? ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY. FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Park., Of these, the General Ehe man has a height of 279.9 feet awd greatest diameter of feet: the Abraham Lincoln a height of 270 feot and diameter of 31 feet: and the ifornia trce a helght of 260 fect an diameter of 30 ; tn"the Gener: al Park, which wlj ia, has & height of diaméter of 35 feet. Q. What is the object in a tournx ment—to disarm or to unhorse the opponent?- L. A. The object of a tournament to defeat the adversary, either by u horsing him or by breaking his ian thereby placing him at the mercy his adversury. Q. W —~T. D. A. t constitutes natural gas Tt is & guseous member of the My series, petroleum being - “mber and asphalt o solid i made up chict! gas, or methane (CH* usually forms over 90 per ce eatire gas, the extremes of umber of anal of United States samples be 0 (Ale) and 14, (Dexter, K. n.). In this same serfe: garbon dioxide ranges from 0.05 to 30.40 per cent: mitrogen from to 0.60 per cent and oxygen from trace to 9 per t. Other hydro- carbons are usually present in small amounts, but range from a few tenths per cent up to 0 or 30 per cent In exceptional cuscs. The rare b e helium has Q ; Rome was mot built in o % D, from <ywood, of English h_wus printed for the fi the collection whic! What causes the trees?—R. K. S. A. The cause of the agcent of sap has long been a mooted question but Sir J. C. Bose, = noted Hind plant biologist, has recently an- nounced that as the result of a lons study of the problem he believer that it is due to a pumping action. akin to that exerted by the heart of an animal. Whereas the pumpi in_an animal is done by u singic - organ, plants it is_carricd minu , each of in 1bing action, continually drawing up ater from below and expelling upward to, the next cell. The act cells are ‘mostly in_the cortex or inner bark, next to the woody tissue. The biologist cxp! the experiment which led to his conclusion, as fol- lows: * plant had all its leaves i the stem coated with an imperme: varni thus causing a complete stoppage transpiration.. The root pre eliminated by cutting off t The cut end of the stem wi placed in w and th feet pe: hour, and this in the complete absenc of transpiration and root pressure The ascent must, therefore, be due to some independent cellular activit present _in the interior of the plant. Sir J. C. Bose is the inventor of ar electric probe, us Le calls it, which reveals the minute activit (Have you o question yow want ow swered. Send it to The Star Information Bureaw, Frederic J. Haskin, director, 1220 North Capitol street. There is no charge for this service, except two cents in stemps for return postage.) British Red Cross of the Sea To Observe Centenary Soon BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. England’s future king as president of the Royal National Lifeboat Insti- | tution, which has justly been de- | scribed as England's Red Cross serv- ice of the sea, has addressed invita- tions to the leading representatives of the lifeboat societies and services of other nations to take part in the celebration of the centenary of the ) British organization, which com- mences on Tuesday, the 4th of March next, and which will continue throughout the summer, culminating in an international conference to be held on the 11th of July for the dis- cussion of a number of questions af» fecting this particular branch of mari- time relief work, such as the interna- tional uniformity of signals to be used by vessels in distress and by lifeboats. One of the first invitations that have been dispatched bearing the Prince of Wales' signature is that addressed to the Massachusetts Humane Society, which may be described as the pioneer lifeboat Institution in the world. For whereas the Royal National Lifeboat Institution of Great Britain was founded in March, 1824, at the City of London Tavern, under the patron- age of King George IV, by Col. Sir William Hillary, by the then Arch- years ago, which cost anywhere frois $500 to $1,200 to construct and equip. The men needed to man the boats are there in plenty. From the rescue ot a shipwrecked sailor the coastal poy ulation and the fisherfolk never hy back, always prompted by a fee ©f brotherhood to risk their lives re gardless of cost But the Prince o Wales and those who are associa with him in the Inaintenance of Great Britain's Red Cross service of the sea are resolved that the mes ghould have the very best boats that oney can buy in order that aste of life at sea may be further reduced. . x % k% Since every American vigiting ti Bri metropolis makes a pilgrim- age to the Tower of London, the ald Norman fortress of William tho Con- queror, and crosses the threshold of the Wakefield Tower in order to gaze upon the crown jewels and the royal regalia of the English men archg, which are on exhibition ther protected by an elaborate system « eteel bars and armed guards, th should make a poit of demandi: to be. shown the tablet rccently let into the wali there wherein is r corded on beautifully illuminat: vellum the fact that it the place where the saintly Kir VI whose canonization is now beinz petitioned for at Rome, was murder stil her home was a log cabin in the |that includes as well such earlier woods, where schools, books or news. | facts as are needed to round and il- papers had not penetrated. Finaily | luminate the stery of the great wheat Dbishop of Canterbury, the bishops ef | ed by Richard III, who, having foun: London_anad of Chestef, the then|Henry on his knees praying there Prime Minister Lord Liverpool, Sir|stabbed him to death, “punching hi- Robert_Peel, George Canning, Lord | anointed body full of deadly holes,” - ) ’ % t securing old books, she learned industry of this region. Here are hi; enough to be the scttlement's first | torical sketches and bits of biograph:; teacher. she saved $18. Invited to preach, she told her pa: ents, they gasped at the “disgrace’ The pay was $2 a week, and | plain records of special achievement in_this fleld; waymarks set up to point the steps of progress in wheat cultivation; notices of judgments and and refused to hear her, or to help |awards in recognition of superior ac- her prepare for the ministry. Ske j complishment. Here are, besides, Wwas so frightened, during her first |stories and poems, all bearing upon sermon, that her trembling shook the oil in the lamps on the desk. Then to Albion College, and after that to the University of Boston, where she was the only woman in a class of forty-two. With little funds, } she rented a room without heat, studied in bed to keep warm, and finally broke down on her way to recitation. Loans helped her to complete her course. Then the Methodist Episcopal Conference refused to ordain her be- cause she was a woman. ‘This avenue closed, she studied four years more, and became a charity doctor to women. What she learned converted her to woman suffrage. Her addresses in its favor were so forceful that she was appointed or- ganizer, and later elected president of the National American Woman's Suffrage Assoclation and honorary president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. She spoke before nearly every state legislature, before congressional com- mittees of the country and in leading cities of the world, being, in many places of Europe, the, first woman to occupy the pulpit. Her father heard her speak and praised her, she saw equal suffrage and temperance established in this|ment of the milling business country, she was honored by the world, and, a few years before her death, Miss Shaw had a beautiful home of her own. (Oopyright, 1923.) In a Few Words. . Italians make more responsive audi- ences, but Americans feel as deeply and as greatly as the peoples of any other nation. It is merely a difference on the outside, on the inside it is the same. I have an Am know, —MME. GALLI-CURCL the theme in hand. “The Mill by the Sea” s a characteristic Eden Phillpott tale. “The Miller of Sans-Souci,” “The Grist,” indicate the drift and point of the stories. “The Red Mil,” “The ‘Wind in the Wheat,” “A Blessing for Bread” and “Famine” give the com- mon contributory purpose of the ‘A_Short History of Flour g “The Development of Bak- ing,” “War Bread in Retrospect,” add features of definite information and discussion. Editor Willlam C. Edgar, supported by half a hundred illustra- tions, "Qf"""’ story of the North- estern Miller. 7 * ¥ ¥ ¥ The sketches of biography, gathered from different parts of the, book and brought together for the purpose of comparison, throw an interesting light upon the development of at least one phase of the wheat industry. These sketches disclose dynasties of millers—grandfathers, fathers, sons and even farther back since forbears untry were of the same :;r:‘l‘x‘;fl?gll‘liomfllelyu, all. This single fact is shown here to have had a di- rect effect not only upon the deva]ga; e purposes and methods u :::n‘;xfi: (e 5s well. It discloses a community of aim, a trained skill in its pursuit, a pride in its success—a solidarity whose counterpart suggests that of the European guild. EREE In effect, this anniversary number of the Northwestern Miller is a pageant of the medieval guild—except that there is nothing medieval about it save this idea of unity and solidar- erican husband. I|ity operating toward an industrial end. That it is a pageant is unde- niable—a brilliant, active, colorful History shows that when France|pageant that is quite as dramatic and has stood alone she has suffered de- feat. If she.won in 1918, it was only because she did not stand alone. —EX-PREMIER BRIAND. John Russell and Willlam Wilber- force, the champion abolitionist, the Massachusetts Humane Society, a purely benevolent institution, had or- ganized as far back as in 1789 a life- saving service along the rocky coast of that state, equipped with huts and with lifeboats. for use by volunteer crews, the earllest station being that at Cohasset. i Between 1849 and 1870 this society secured _appropriations from Con- gress aggregating $40,000, and it still maintains no less than sixty-nine lifeboat stations along the Massa chusetts coast entirely independent, though working in friendly union, with the lifeboat service inaugurat- ed by the United States ‘government in 1848 on the.coast of New\Jersey and which, now under the direction of the Treasury Department at Wash- ington, has no less than three hun- dred_fully equipped stations, some two hundred of them on the Atlantic and gulf coast, eightecen on the Pa- cific coast and sixty-one on the great lakes and one at the falls of the Ohio river at Louisville, Ky. : EEE Now, whereas the lifeboat saving service of the ‘United States, exclu- sive of the splendid work of the Massachusetts Humane Society, is maintained and paid for by the Unit- ed States government as a federal institution, the Royal National Life Boat Institution of Great Britain is purely voluntary, that is to say phi- lanthropic organization, where the atations and the boats, some of tho |mqst modern ones costing as much as 1$90,000 to build, are paid for by pub- | Ilic subsciption ‘and by revenues de- rived from charitable bequests. The society has an annual income of a| little over a million dollars. It has; 243 lifeboats scattered ~around the 5,000 miles or more of coast of the British Isles with some 10,000 train- ed surfmen in its service—that setv- ice belng for the most part, entirely ntary and unpaid. A "'erre };‘ never any difficulty about finding the volunteers to man lifeboats when a ship is in danger, the volunteers being drawn from that longshore populatipn and fisherfolk, with their unrivaled knowledge of Shakespeare has it. The inscription is couched in the following language and is headed “In the name of the Blessed Trinity Father, Son and Holy Ghost, of Our Lady St. Mary, Mother of Christ, and all the holy company of hea: “The Society of Blessed Mary « Eton glves Sir George, the presen keeper of the jewel liouse, and i his sucogssors in that office the sur of ten pounds sterling, ng_hin and his successory each year on the twenty-first day of May at six o'cloc in the evening, oither with his ow: hand or by the hand of another chosen by him, to lay Some white flowers on the floor of the orator: in the Wakefield Tower, the present jewel house, this being the place where our royal founder, King Henry VI, of holy memory, was kneeling at the close of his life here upon earth in the year of our Lord 1471.” * * % ¥ of devotion has the approval of the comstable of the tower and the sanction of George \" The flowers to be lilies of Eton, tied together with 2 blue ribbon corre sponding with the similar offerine made year by year on the eve of the feast of St. Nicholas by two of the king’s scholars at Henry's grave in St. George’s Chapel, in Windsor. The people of the #ewel House are asked to arrange for the removal of the flowers at the same hour on the fol- lowing evening and for them to be burned. It is well known that the blameles but singularly unfortunate and ill- fated King Henry VI has always been an object of particular sympathy and of profound regard by the present and last generation of the reigning louse of England, especlally of Queen Victoria, of Edward VII and now of King George and Queen Mary, and that they view with quiet favor the efforts which are being made by their Catholic subjects to secure Henry's canonization by the Church of Rome. The royal sanction which the pres- ent occupant of the throne has given to the placing of the memorial tab. let in the Wakefleld Tower and th terms of the language in which the This tribute much ‘more useful than the present|the local waters and of the points of | ingcription is couched and his sover spectacle of some period or DO Bnt rhose representation 18 quea- tionable either as good pageant or It is no use telling France to turn |good senee—and that certalnly serves out of the Rubr unless we are pre- pared to turn her out of the Ruhr. —R. McNEILL, M. What a man ean do is determined by his native eqtipment, what he does is de ed by. the stances of his life. ~DB. the truth not at all. A golden cele- bration to be proud of, this, since in the happlest possible combination- it proves to be, first, a delight to the eye, and, even b"‘ .l:;’hudli':\;'::‘l im ress! - S s R L T ble fact that it is " t and r on_ the shore. And if the cen- g:l:‘nglgl celebration is to be made the occasion of a drive, not among the foreign guests of the institusdon, but among the people of Great Britain, t is solely in order to improve and renew the boats and the equipment. A motor lifeboat, costing, as I have said above, in the Reighborhood of $100,000, can accomplish immeasur- w;’f\’un in a storm-beaten coast the o ore effeative work in the sav= . lifeboat of 100 cign authorization for the official commemoration of the anniversary of Henry VI's murder are calculated attract widespread attention must be taken [n connection with unprecedented honoring of that ot royal martyr, Charles L when buglers of, the Grenadier Guards, tis is to say, of the moharch's chies household ' regiment, assembled to sound-the “Last Post” at the stat: of Charles) on the anniversary of mumur%uln. 4 v > ) 5