Evening Star Newspaper, February 15, 1924, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sundsy Morning Editi GTON, D. C. WASHIN FRIDAY... February 15, 1824 THEODORE W. NOYES. ...Editor ¥he Evening Star Newspaper Company oxiness Office, 11th St. and Pennssivanta Ave. New: York Office: 110 East 420d St. Chicago Office: Tower Buflding. Turopean Offce: 16 liegent St.. Loudon, England, " The Evening Star, with the Sundsy morning ®dition, is dolivered by carrlers within the €ty at €0 coats per month; datly .only, 45 ceats per mouth; Sunday only, 20 cents per wonth, Orders may be sent by matl or tele- phose Main 5000. Collection 15 made by éar- Tiera &t the end of each momth. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, | ' 1evy was rejected as definitely as | farm. Maryland and Virginia, Daily and Sunday.. Daily only, .1yr., $6.00; 1 mo. $2.40; 1 mo., 20¢ All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 yr.. $10.00: 1 mo. tee's love fe “a pleasant time was Ihl\d by all” except the nation’s wnrd,‘ the pereonified Capital, the unrepre- sented and impotent District. Macdonald’s Leadership. | Premier Macdonald is demonstrating ithat he has the qualifications of a parliamentary leader. He is facing a most difticult situation in the British ivarllament. He heads a minority | i party which, owing to the peculiar di-' | vision of strength, has been called to | power without the votes necessary to | put through any strictly gram. One of the principal measures , advocated by the laborites is the capi-| tal levy, which somewhat corresponds !0 the high surtax in this country. At; the recent election, however, the capi- | was the protective turiff. Yesterday in the house of commons the premier, | in answer to queries, declared that he THE roads which were bullt between 1861 and 1865 to link the forts and bat-gd- teries. Only in a few cases north and west of the Potomac are there ruins which show outlines of the earthworks. Of the sixteen major land forts south of | the Eastern branch, Forts Dupont, j Carroll and Stanton are perhaps the there's still room at the top. ionly ones at whose sites a man can United States weather bureau pur- | ind signs of ramparts and ditches. |poses to travel upward in place of A main w"&y. Nichols avenue and Ala- bama avenue, following closely the line of the old Glesboro, Hamilton and 0| Ridge roads, leads close to the ruins home. Partisan pro-| or the sites of Forts Greble, Carroll, 145 ever gone higher than the top of Snyder, Ricketts, Stanton, Wagner, Baker, Davis, Dupont and Meigs, and the Bennini road passes close to where stood Forts Chaplain and Mahan and two unnamed gfarts on the Scaggs Of the twelve major earthworks and large number of batteries extending from the Basterh branch west to the i Though there is no unexplored re- glon upon the surface of the earth, The sidewise In exploring the great un- {known. No celestial explorer has ever been more than seven miles from No balloon or flying machine |Mount Everest. What is beyond? Humanity is like termites burrowing and crawling over the surface, proud that gome few individuals' have iwings, though they can fly but @ jlittle.” What do such creatures know of the ocean of space above? The jeourse of the eagle and the cordor jls scarcely free from obstructions of towering mountain peaks. The would not consider a capital levy as a i Potomac river a few can be traced. ' loftiest peak 1s to the surface of the possible item on the List of reforms! Among these are Lincoln, Stevens and | ¢alm sea no higher than the ridges !having rejected the labor remedy, 5 jterles are to be seen. West of the oo it Is now up to the conservatives or the ! District linc wus @ group of forts in c lherals to produce some scheme to|the hills near the receiving reservoir, Member of the Associated Press, The Associated Press fs exclusivel 5 y entitle %o the use for republication of all mews i Rtches credited fo it or tot otherwise credited o this paper and also the local news pub- lehed horein. ATl rights of publication of woeclal dispatclies hersin are also feserved. == Our New Million-Dollar Tax. The fate of the gas-tax bill in the House suggests that the lower body of our municipal legislature attaches no weight whatever to the opinions und petitions of Washington taxpay- cts concerning local tax legislation, and will tolerate no epplication of the iajtiative and referendum principle for the benefit of the unrepresented taxed of the Capital. It indicates the hollow mockery of the delusive suggestion that the House wishes to give the Capital community some share in shaping its own legislation. It warns ‘Washingtonians against taking the in- itiative in submitting to the House any legislative proposition of a kind to make germane an amendment impos- ing some blistering new tax. The District suffered from lack of otor tag reciprocity with Maryland lke that enjoyed by all the states. Congress, the District's state and uniclpal legislature, had done noth- ing to correct this hurtful discrimina- tion. Maryland, in order to get an ade- Quate fund to maintaln and develop her excellent country road system, im- posed a gasoline tax, and quickly dis covered that for obvious reasons it ‘was highly expedient, almost essential, that @ similar tax should be imposed in the District. The District wanted Maryland tag Teciprocity and Maryland wanted a Bas tax In the District. An agreement wus made between the Commissioners (backed by our clti- Zene' organizations and by business end motoring Washington) and the state authorities of Maryland by which €ach party got what it desired. Tempo- rary and tentative tag reclprocity was established, and the agreement was formulated in a bill which was pre- sented to Congress, the District's legis- lature, for approval. If the District’s legislature had been elected by the people of the District, or if it had reflected their reasonable ‘wishes though not thus elected, it would have ratified this agreement at once. OF rather it would have secured long ©go for the paople of its Capital con- stituency the same reciprocal rights in Maryland that all other Americans dn the states enjoy, and there would have been Do necessity for the District to Pargain with Maryland for this equality of treatment. The bill which the Commissioners 2nd Maryland authorities agreed upon <id not reduce taxation in-the District, but merely changed in >ne respect the form of taxationp with the result of a slight increase-in the ax revenue de- | rived. Under the Wil as originally framed automoblles would pay more | 1ax revenue into the Treasury than ‘under the old law, and the new reve- nue was subjected as to its disposition to the caprice of Congress, whereas the old personal tax which was given up went without question exclusively | to pay the District's proportion under ! the sixty-forty arrangement. ‘The District was willing to make these sacrifices to pay for tag reci- procity, and no more. But the House was not content with these sacrifices. The original propost- tion substituted the gas tax for the personal tax and the license tax on automobiles. Our legislators retained the gas tax as a new and additional tax, but restored the personal tax, ®dded « tax on horsepower and set up & speclal street-improvement fund out- side of the budget and the sixty-forty plan of contribution, thus establishing ;| @ dangerous precedent. ‘These stabs at the District taxpay- ers were not administered all at once or by the same men. The advocates and opponents of the original gastax bill, bitterly clashing at first, ended in 1 mutual admiration and a love feast by ! adopting the ingenious expedient of ylelding each to the other whenever the macrifice was at the expense of the District. . The. Washington taxpayer was offered by both advocates and op- ponents of the gas-tax bill as 2 human sacrifice on the altar of District com- ‘mittee harmony. No such cheerful alacrity in making vicarious sacrifice has been noted since Artemas Ward annouficed his patriotic readiness to-sacrifice the last of his ‘wife's relatives upon the altar of his country. ; The House by its action and its re- fusal to act through the three or four dozen members who showed sufficlent interest in District legislation to be present, thus, in effect, says: “Though 1 correspond to your state legislature T will not, like other state legislatures, insist that Maryland equitably and without price give you motor reciproc- ity. Nor will I permit you to buy this reciprocity by & simple and fair read- Justment of your existing tax burdens. I¢ you want Maryland reciprocity (which I ought, to get for you for nothing) you must assent to two new forms of taxation and, in this era of nation-wide demand for tax reduction, ‘veu must bear an edditional tax bur- deon, wantonly imposed, of more than & milion dollars.” o3 55 Evidently st the, District = | i | | | blame for delay in the proceedings. inot so much whether Mr. McAdoo | save the country from the bad effects | of the heavy debt, the premicr adding that it should be ‘“some honest, scheme.” because he consldered cither repudiation or inflation as dishonest and would reject either of those alter- { natives. Thus the labor léader and prime minister puts the burden of construc- | tive legislation on this important ques- tion upon the opposition, which, if combined, would be able to present a {majority. The ministerial party, it jwould seem from this, would stand as {urbitrator und not as proponent. At the same time the premier indicated that he will not regard defeat of the ministry’s relief plan as a vote of cen- sure. This-is a sort of “heads I win and tails you lose” proposition. - The labor | ministry will not advance a capital levy plan and therefore will not risk defeat on that measure. It will ex- pect the opposition to unite upon a fiscal - relicf measure, adoption of which it will not regard as a censure necessitating the vacation of office. Tt will put forward its own measares and will not consider their defeat-as a vote of “no confidence.” Thls {5 undeniably a very strong po- sition—if it can be maintained. But it is & very difficult position to main- tain. The situation is altogether ab- normal, and if Macdonald can handle it he will have demonstrated qualities of leadership such as Great Brtmn! sorely needs at this time. A general election, however, is not likely to be | long postponed. The ministry party without votes to put across its own program, with its principal fiscal prop- osition rejected in advance by the country, must seek the lines of least resistance in order to endure. But constructive works are essential, and it it quite certain thatinafew months dependence upon conservative and lib- eral votes will bring about a condition that must be recognized as a sign for dissolution, and another appeal to the country. The proceedings in the house of commons during this period will be well worth study as a spectacle of par- liamentary management. ————————— Help the President Proceed. President Coolidge 13 sincerely de- sirous of getting the prosecution of the government's casc in the oil scan- dal under way speedily. He wants the advice and consent of the Senate in the selection of the bi-partisan prose- cutors. No one in the land doubts the genulneness of his purpose nor his in- tention to hold to rigid accounting the men who will have the prosecution in hand. ; He is experiencing difficulty in find- ing the men to undertake the impor- tant duty, as one objection after an- other to the selections arises or threatens. There can be no protest against the exercise of the utmost care in choosing, but at the same time it is not advisable that captious ob- Jections should be interposed. In the case of former Senator Pomerene it is understood the Presi- dent feels that the cavil against his name is not well founded. If the President has thorough confidence in this selection his judgment is entitled to respect by the Senate. The country wants the case to get on, and will absolve the President from i ) The President, the Senate and the na. tion are one in the purpose of prose- cutton, and the people will not sym- pathize with any course of action which spells delay beyond the extent of reasonable care in the selection of the prosecutors. ————e In spite of the sensational revela- tions of a most modern nature, old King Tut keeps plugging away for his share of the publicity. ———————————————— The country has had the experience of a financial scandal which calls for no emotional outbursts regarding the wickedness of Wall street. A conference will be called to decide shall quit the race as whether he is still in it. ————— | | A Fort Boulevard. There is a prospect that a boulevard connecting the sites of & number of Washington's civil war forts may at last be provided. A plan to designate & route by which the fort sites may be reached is to be framed, end the en- gineer department is to improve that route “as fast as possible out of regu- lar appropriations.” A ‘“fort boule- vard” is possible by utilizing existing roads end streets, and only here and there would it be necessary to build a short plece of road. If the boulevard is brought about, with the ruins of old forts preserved and the sites of forts marked, it would be quite an achievement. A fort drive has been part of Wash- ington's improvement plan for about forty years, and when the proposal ‘was brought forward many of the civil war defenses were in a fair state of preservation, or at least were not de- cayed beyond recognition, and in only a few cases had the sites been re- turned to agriculture or used for build- ing. The land was cheap. It would bave been an easy matter to build a connecting road or utilize the military and remains of these are visible. The making of a fort boulevard will be interesting, especially if a few of the old fort sites and fort ruins are preserved. The District Red Cross. Plans are under consideration for the erection of a home of the Distriet chapter- of the American Red Cross. Maj. Gen. Barnett, the new chairman of the chapter, has made this enter- prise the chief purpose of his adminis- tration, and is vigorously starting the | work. It is proposed to erect a build- ing at a cost of about $300,000, of which $150,000 will be sought from | Congress and the remainder from the Red Cross chapt throughout the country. The District chapter has al- ready oversubscribed its ‘quota by pledgig more than $27,000. And there are Indications of warm response from the chapters in other cities to the ap- peal for aid for this enterprise. It is important that the District chapter of the American Red Cross should have a scparate and inde- peadent home of its own apart from tie national headquarters on 17th street. It, indeed. has such a sep- arate establishment, but it is an inade- quate building, unsuited to the uses of the organization and incapable of expansion and development. The Dis- trict chapter has its own work to do apart from the national work, indeed the local phase of the national work. In other citles, far separated from the national headquarters, the chapters have their own establishments, and it is even more important that here at the National Capital the local chapter should have a compiete and distinct cquipment. The fact that the local chapter has already subscribed more than its quota is an encouragement to the belief that this new addition to Washington's physical equipment will soon come into being. ——— Difficulty is experienced by some of the old-time politiclans in regarding the congressional investigations as anythipg but early incidents of the campaign. —_——— Delay in finding a government at- torney is partly due to the fact that when a good one was available the oil interests weve very likely to hire him. The Teapot Dome affalr i now re- ferred to as “‘a billion-dollar scandal.” There is such @ thing as being over- capitalized. Mr. Fall saw no reason for incrim- inating himself when 8o many others appeared willing to attend to the mat- ter. A third party is threatened. The cternal - triangle is not yet to disap- pear from American politics. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNEON. Unmaking a Mollycoddle. Little Willie's parents loving Undertook to use their wealith, So this old world would quit shoving And be used for Willie's health. ‘Willle turned to jazzy measures; Stayed out rather late at night; Sidestepped the patrician pleasures ©Of his family polite. Though his parents in confusion Chided Willle now and then, He disdained serene seclusion, ‘ Mingling with his fellow men. He arose by plain endeavor. Now his home folks get a thrill, Saying, “Is not Willie cleve Everybody calls him ‘Bill" To Be Accurate. “Do Mr. F. and Mr. D. represent Teapot Dome?” inquired the visitor. “To be accurate,” answered Senator Sorghum, “I should say they repre- sent the dough-pot team.” Jud Tunkins says as this earth Keeps turning on its axis too many of us are willing to sit comfortable and take a free ride. Retribution? Slow, But Sure. Enormous wealth King Tut amassed; How much could not be stated. Now that 3,000 years have passed, He gets investigated! X Mutual Interest. “We need more mutual undef'stand- ing."” “Yep,” replied Farmer Corntossel. “We're workin’ along that way. The bankers think they know all about farming and the farmers think they know all about banking.” A Literary Enterprise.. “Is that bootlegger running an il- leit stin?” Y * “No,” answered' Uncle Bill Bottle- top. “He doesn’t go to all that trou- ble. The stuff he sells is easy made, and all the plant he needs is a press and some type to print the labels.” “You can't belleve.all you hear,” said Uncle Eben. “De sorrowful part of de proposition is dat de.part you can't believe is generally de most In terestin'” proposed by the ministry. The voters De Russy. The remains of several bat- | 0f & grapefruit are above the in- ,dentations of the peel. All the wls- idom of weather experts comes from { what they have learned in exploring the atmospheric “peel” around the | giobe, 1o thicker than twenty-two !miles'above sea level. Imagine some ! woather bureau Marco Polo telling us iwonder tales of the world over our heads—describing phenomena of the | stratosphere and of how the hotter jthe sun's rays the colder is our own air—and then learn that he has never been up there at all, and that his vertical research has been no farther than half way to Baltimore! * Kk ¥ ¥ 1t is true that weather bureau ob- {servers have been sending up “pilot { balloons,” twenty inches in dlameter, and watching them through tele- scopes. The balloons carry self-re- {cording instruments which register the temperature and atmospheric pressure. Another kind of test bal- loon also is sent up, which ascends until the lightness of the atmosphere re- {moves counteracting pressure against t of its own gas within the bal- then it bursts, and down come recording instruments, safling safely In a little parachute. But none of thexe pilot gas bags has ever reached higher than twen- ty-two miles, They tell the weather doctors that after passing six miles up, the temperature remains station- ar, so far as iner Ing elevation | Roes, though on different days it i\'arlc Does that mean that up there !all the spucc is empty and meaning- {less to explarers? Until aviation made the discovery of air pockets even aclentists seem to have assumed | that alr wus a great mass of uniform density, except that altitude lessened {the deneity ‘or pressure uniformly ! the higher it wenl For elghtesn years, Astronomer !George A. HIll of the Naval Observa- itory hag been making almost hourly iobservations of the declensions of a {particuar star—Alpha Lyru—and the way that star has danced up and {down according to the hour of day or nfght was an astronomical puzzle, ¥s_ the recording sheet would show’ the curve dropping down as the sun traversed the heavens, while during the night the star remalned very steadily at the same degree and jminute. Why should a star wabble around by day and be staid and sober |all night? Through thousands of ob- servations the declension is shown to follow that daily drop, according to the hour. The théory Is that the air is not one Inorganic mass, but is a series of layers of varying density and varying angles, laminated and ever shifting. The sun_warms them and they chunge. The light passing from one density to another Is refracted, bent, | twisted, distorted. Even astronomers imust therefore mot trust their own eyes or telescopes and assume that a beum of light {8 a straight line. When a star seems to move out of place, it may not be the star that has moved, {but the ray of light that has been |refracted as it traversed through |some unknown layer of denser or {lighter atmosphere. What a_ wonder {is refraction! What unknown won- ders some Marco Polo of astrology s about to display when he actually visits the aerlal ocean heights, hun- dreds of miles up, instead of crawling, termite-like, and reaching sightless feelers—pilot balloons up only twen- ty-two miles ‘Two astronomers—one being at the Naval Observatory and the other at another station—are simultaneously observing meteors. A meteor 18 in- visible until it enters our atmosphere, and then friction with the air causes it to become a ball of fire. By simul- taneous observation of the time and declension of tic visible meteor, and by triangulation of the dupiicate ob- servations, they are going to dis- cover how high the meteor was when it first became visible by alr-friction —1,000 or 2,000 miles up? Of course, that will not tell how far it had al ready traveled through air while it was warming up, but it will tell that the alr is at least that high—and higher, Now nobody knows the helght and depth of the aerial ocean. Storms and dry weather are not ali .formed at the bottom of the air-world about us. What ocurrents ebb and flow 100 or 1,000 miles above earth? * ok X X% toddard of Clark University astonished the public a few years ago by announcing that he had computed the problems of physics Involved in shooting a rocket from earth to the moon. Hig demonstrations of how the rocket could, Le propelled by suc- cessive explosions from within welf, as it soared through rpace, were indorsed by ather scientista Skeptics object that It will be {m possible to carry out Dr. Goddard's rocket scheme, because the rocket would soon turn tail and shoot down to earth instead of keeping a straight onward flight. Dr. W. J. Humphreys of the weather bureau points to the feather on an Indian arrow, which keeps the arrow headed for the tar- ®et. But after the rocket en route to the moon had passed beyond the pressure of air how would the “feath- ered arrow” keep its course through ether or a vacuum? (Forget the in- candescence of the metallic meteor in passing through our alr.) How keep its course through ethir or vacuum? Dr. Humphreys points to the moth which Is drawn to the flame., In the head of the model rocket I8 a bit of selenfum, connected by wire with a little eléctric motor operating and gulding vents, which shape the di- rection of the rocket. When the light of the moon falls on that sensitive silenium it sets up an electric cur- rent, which operates the motor and shifts the center of gravity, and. therefore, the direction. Afmed at the moon, the light of the moon would attract it to its fate, and at a certain distance the gravity of earth would be less than the grav- ity of the moon ‘in attracting the rocket, until it wowld fall upon the moon. Thereta charge of magnesfum carried by the rocket would explode and the flash would be visible on earth But, s: the skeptle, the theory of continuous propulsion to keep the rocket on fts way would not work. because after it passed out of our alr there would be nothing for the exploding charge to push against, hence no force in the explosion. Be- sides. when the first explosion came it would blow up all the rest of the charges. Dr. Humphreys smiles and replies that the explosion is not de pendent on anything to push against It blows up in all directions, from a center of inertiz, and while the backward force would find no resist- ance, the onward force would strike against the comparative inertia of the flying rocket aud give it another push—like the push of a gas engine's explostion. As for blowing up all the ammunition with the first explosion, why s not that true, then, in repeat- ing rifies and machine guns? Suc- cessive explosions would be operated | with clockwork and electricity. ow the weather bureau and Dr. Goddard are planning teamwork in sending such rockets up 500 miles, laden with various recording instru- ments. It ip even proposed by Dr. Humphreys of the weather bureau to trap samples of the alr every hun- dred miles or so, and seal it In ther- mos bottles so that it will reach the laboratory on M street at the same temperature and density and with all its gases as when it was caught. It will require $10,000 to carry out the experiment of sending the rock- ets 500 miles into our air. part of it Is subscribed. (Copyright, 1924, by Paul V. Collins.) Embassy Flag Incident i It necded the intervention of Mrs. Woodrow Wilson herself to prevent the stupldity of the German ambassa- dor at Washington in refusing to half-staff the embassy flag in token of grief over the passage of the former President to prevent the complete col- | lapse of the efforts to raise money to feed the starving German children. Probably no single proposition has eo aroused America since the days of the war than has this incident. There.ls universal condemnation for the am- bassador and for German officialdom generally, while the attitude of the German newspapers also aroused keen Tesentment. The New York Times feels that this incident, coupled with the abuse heap- ed on the dying ex-President by Ger- man_riewspapers, was “not so much to affront the United States or to out- rago American sentiment, but to maintain a German myth,” which was that “Germany was not beaten in the war.” Somewhat similar is the view entertained by the Baltimore Sun, which feels “the flag blunder is an {llustration of the mental myopla of German statesmen and the people of the United States are too generous and too sensible to hold the whole Ger= man people responsible. But it {s an incident that will tend to awaken old prejudices and possibly delay the re- sumption of whole-hearted co-opera- tion. National tact is more effectiye thdn super-intellectuality. * Ok K K “Are we to take the cry of hate from the German press as a fair re- flection of the mentality of Germany today?” the Newark News demands. It presents a sinister picture of anger, bitterness, resentment, re- '\'enze, It picks out the one great in- ifluence that fought at Paris impar- { tlally for the good of all the peoples, Icnnquer.d as well as conquerors, and reviles him because, single-handed, and undermined by the American senators, he could not annihilate the forces of reaction—the principal nucleus of which was in Germany herself. What prospect of brother- hood and peace does this message to Wilson's deathbed from Germany glve us?” The German ambassader also was “steadfastly consistent,” the Brooklyn Eagle insists, while the Lynchburg Advance holds his action “not only shocks, but insults the sen- sibilities and feelings of this nation.’ To this the Lynchburg News adds “any reasonable German ought . tlo have foreseen that this public, official, degrading exhibition of 'German venom would {nevitably invite -th contempt and scorn of others—the keen resentment of the American people—and that it would bode un- happily for Germany in the future so far as American public opinion wa: concerned. But the squareheads could not see it that way—they could not eee it until they were made to understand that their action would injure Germany—<that attempts to in- sult the memory of the dead are so cowardly as to excite the wrath of all right-thinking people.” “This act will. do nothing to de- tract from the luster of Wilsons name,” the Portland Oregon Journal points out, but it is bound to react against those responsible. 1t was not ‘Woodrow Wilson alone who waged Draws Wrath of Editoi's alone but at the American people i the war.” The affront, the ln(nnpx\?ll)lg Sentinel goes on to say, can be “laid to German_stupldit: but even at , the Roancke World-News feels it does not follow that the recall of 80 tactless 2 man as Ambassador Wiedfeldt would not be a good thing for both America and Germany. is hard to reconcile this action, as the Minneapolis Tribune sees it, be- cause “Germany needs American {riendship a3 ‘she never needed it before. She is now one of the weak as against the strong. Of that fact she should take expedient account.” LI At that, the Grand Rapids Herald feels it should be remembercd right now that “this new blunder is orly one of a long series, including the episode of Manila bay, when only the good sense of the British Admiral Chester prevented hostilitics hetween Dewey and the German Admiral Dietrich, the sword-rattling bellig. erency of the kaiser during Roosc velt's presidency, inspiting Teddy to threaten use of the American battle fleet, and dozens of other equally pat examples of German obtuseness. The German people should pray for de- Ilverar. » from their ‘diplomatic’ friend Whi e “a display of genuine mourn- ing weld not be expected,” the Kala- mazoo . ctte argues, ‘the merest courtesy demanded a diplomatic and official manifestation of feelings which should bo evoked by the death even of the bitterest antagonist.” This view has the indorsement of the Se- attle Times, which also declares “at & time when the nation was dolng rev- erence to the memory of its fallen leader the attitude the German government, as expressed through its embassy, is a deliberate insult to the American people,” and the Kansas City Journal points out *nobody be- lieves that an ambassador, especially under the German system, would tak such action on his own initiative. Summing’ up about the general ex- pression, the Utica Observer-Dispatch argues “It was a tactless dispiay of disrespect and it hes brought criti- cisms from all sides, a8 it should.” @ Urges Retirement Law for Congress To the Editor of The Star. Your issue of January 30 contained a very sensible article on the pro- posed retirement law by George A. Warren. We have repeatedly urged that no compulsory law be enacted, @s it was unnecessary. The varlous bureaus always have the power to ,dismiss any one at any time for the good of the service, which fact covers all cases and conditions that may arise. When the employe's work be- comes unsatisfactory from any cause the remedy is available. 1 notice some of our representatives are in their eighty-eighth year. How out retiring our senators—in fact, all members of Congress—at forty years of age on the principle that men reach the climax of their power at that age, then begin to o down- ade To set an age limit.for any one is untenable. ° No good argument for it has been advanced at the hearing re- cently closed on the proposed bills it-| 1t EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1924 IN TODAY’S SPOTLIGHT BY PAUL V. COLLINS Editorial Correspondence. Letters ' addressed to the Editor of The Star, and in- tended for publication, must be signed by the writer. The exigencies of space require the announcement of the policy that in all save extraordinary cases such communications shall not exceed 300 words in length. Designs Distinct Flag. Writer Brings Forward Emblem Made Yeurs Ago. To the Editor of The Star. A number of years ago, when there | was talk of a flag for Washington, I i made a design which I thought would be both decorative and distinctive, having for its dominating feature, in jthe center, the shield portion of Washington's coat-of-arms. No oth- er design, however handsome and { elaborate, ‘would so fully apply to the National Capital. whose founder was jour first President and for whom it was named. The design then submit- ' ted met with _the approval of artists, architects and others, including Cuno il Rudolph, although he was not then :a member 'of the board of Commis- sioners, Nothing was done, however, nd the whole matter died down. 1 have again brought my design to attention, as there seems to be a re- vival of interest in a flag for Wash- ! ington and thé District, as evidenced by a story in The Star a few days ago, headed “Distinctive D. C. Flag iIs Authorfzed in Bill,” which states { that & bill introduced by Representa- tive Reed, chairman of the House District committer, and having the i support of the D. A, R., proposes that & commisslon be created to procure & design for such a flag and that an appropriation of $1,600 be authorized therefor, rom an English print in colors {1 got the red for the three stars and the two stripes on this historic shield. To make a colorful background and to separate the red and white shield from the solid red of the flag, which color shows best against a blue sKY, I inserted a bluc cross, on the cen- ter of which the shield was superim- jposed. No lettering was used, for when flying aloft inscriptions are useless and, merely make a design “spotty It has been said that the design for the United States flag was suggested by the stars and stripes on the Wash- ington shield. 1 feel confident that { the distinctive and associative quality {of the flag 1 have suggested strike & new note impossible of duplication or imitation by any state now existing or yet to he formed, would lend itself most admirably to street and building decoration. Mr. Isasc Gans, president of the Chamber of Commerce, hus expressed to me both his sentiment for the proc- {Ject to supply a flaw for the Distrlct nd his personal approval of the de- sign 1 have outlined abo JOHN MACKAYE DUNBAR, 5 6th street northw i Anti-Bonus League Growing, Says Writer To the Bitor of The & I noticed the letter of J. Bently Mulferd which appeared in your columns recently in opposition to the bonus and the answer thereto by John R. Dower, and would like an opportunity of presenting a few facts which might be of interest to the latter. The Ex-Servica Men's Anti-Bonus League is not by any means restrict- ed to New York City, as it has at the present date, outside that city, 01 chartered local units and is or- with great Further than that, only an ex tremely small percentage of its mem- bership held rank above that of cap tain, Mr. Mulford's estimate that 85 per cent of the veterans are op- posed to the bonus is probably some- where near correct. The American Legion is the only numerically great organization which is working ac- T for the bonu: organi- zation comprises about 10 per cent of the veterans of the world war. Poteibly approximately 2 per cent are opposing the bonus with vigor cqual to the American Legion's sup- port. The balance, some 80 per cent of the veterang, are not enrolled on either side. Our experience In or- ganizing them is that they are almost all opposed to the bonus for them- selves, but do mnot care to go on record as opposing it for any one else who may happen to want it. The American Legion is far from unanfmous in its bonus sentiment, According to the New York Herald twenty-six Amerfcan Leglon posts of ‘Westchester county, meeting with the county committee, were asked to ex- press by vote their sentiments on the | bonus proposition. The results were {56 per cent not voting, 7 per cent ] oPposed to the bonus and 37 per cent in_favor of it. In addition to the Augustus P. Gardner Post of Washington, D. C, some twenty-four American 'Legion posts have gone on record as op- posed to the bonus, The commander of the City Club Post of New York city has acted with commanders of other posts opposing the bonus to form a committee of American Legion posts opposed to the honus. When these facts are taken in con- slderation, it does not seem that Mr. Mulford is so Ionesome in his con- | victions within the American Legion as Mr. Dower thinks he must be CHARLES I STANTON, COURAGE “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” —HENLEY. | i ! i | MeAdoo's Fight Against Poverty. Poverty, harsh and uncompromi ing, was a constant companion of ‘Willlam G. McAdoo In his early years. ‘When he was born his parents were well-to-do, with a beautiful planta- tion at Marietta, Ga. While his fa- ther was fighting in the civil war, his mother had to flee With her three weeks-old baby, ahead of Sherman's ‘march to the sea. The plantation was so devastated that there was no use returning to it, and after the famlily reunited in Mil- ledgeville, the McAdoos' financial con- dition was so bad that the boy had to help with the housework when his j mother was taken ill. To provide an education for the children, the father gave up his uncertain law practice and taught at the University of Ten- nessee, in Knoxville, junior year, young McAdoo became deputy clerk in the United States cir- cuit court at Chattanooga, to earn funds that he might study’ law, and was admitted to the bar when twen- : ty-one vears old. Consolidating the street railways of Knoxville, he was made president of | the new company—and it went into the hands of a receiver. Many Knox- ville citizens then thought that the young man, who had lost all his earn- ings In the crash, was foredoomed to failure. B Going to New York, at twenty-nine, {he became an obscure lawyer with a i small office in Wall street. years later he started to com- plete the Hudson river tunnel project, that already had caused two failures at & cost of over twenty lives and 1$40,000,000. The powerful transit syn: dicates fought him politically, finan. cially and in the courts, the banks would not help, the panic of 1893 added to the task, but he raised $70,- 000,000 and in 1908 opened four of the McAdoo_tubes. : He was Secretary of the Treasur: during President Wilson's admini [ tration, director general of rallways jduring the war, and married the President's daughter. He now 1s a war against Germany—the American !or can be. Also it would secin to be | Jawyer, and & candidate for the nomi- th him almost to & people were wi e at Woodrow man. The ‘Was & thrust o against the inte nd fundamental titution of mlsm nation for President of the United ACopyright, S000) ... ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q' How many times must one wallé around Lafayette Square in order to walk a mile?—L. P. . A. It s necessury to walic twice around and 400 feet farther. The slde- walks on the Pennsylvania avenue and H street sides arc each 760 feet long and 2215 feet wide. On the Madison place and Jackson place sides they are each 460 feet long and 17% feet wide. This gives a total length of sidewalk of 2,440 feet. Lafayette Park contains 6.96 acres. Q. Is the Mr. Doheny to whom the California oll lease was sold the same one whose name was presented to the last democratic national convention as a candidate for the vice presidentlal nomination?—V. G. B. A. E. L. Doheny, petroleum producer, 1s the same Mr. Doheny whose name was presented to the ‘democratic na- tional convention. Several names were 1 presented, but Mr, Franklin Roosevelt jwas selected by acclamation to take second place on the ticket. Q. Is it against the law to kill rob- ins?—I B. k. A. The blological survey says that it 1s against the federal migratory treaty act regulations to kill robins. Q. How many freight cars arc loaded in u week?—F. T. M. A. In 1923 the weekly average of frelght car loadings was 975,000, while in 1922 the weekly average was 838,000 Q. Where does the nickel come from? =M. E. C. A. About $3 per cent of thé world's nickel supply is taken out in the Vicin- ity of Sudbury, Ont. Q. Does iodine heal u wound?—E. A. Todine has no healing proper- ties. It is used to disinfect wounds and sfould be applied as soon as po sible. One application is suffictent. ‘Tincture of jodine should not be ap- plied on unbroken skin surfaces. Q. What tribe of Indlans owns the most oil-producing wells?—D. O. T. A. The Osage Indians head the list. They own wells which produced 41 §10,178 barrels of oil last year, bring- ing them in bonus, rent and reyalty $30,612,111. Q. What jewel is in the Pope's ring?—A. D. H. A. His holiness wears a ring set with & large Spanish emerald. Q. At _what time does the roval family of Great Eritain rise?—C. B, T. A. According to various reports, it is a general custom for the royal fam- ily in England to rise 2t 7 o'clock in the morning. BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. That Germany’s ambassador at Washington, Dr. Otto Wiedfeldt, has long been anxious to resign and to return to his infinitely more remuner- atlve and congenfal occupation as mangging director of the glant Krupp concern at Esser is no secret. In- deed, his acceptance of the mission to the United States in March, 1922, was wholly in response to an appeal by the government to HIs patriotism, and a sacrifice of his inclinations. The authorities at Berlin were of the opinfon that so important an indus- trialist and business man as Wied- feldt would inspire more confidence and good will in America, especially mat. Now that Dr. Wiedfeldt, whose knowledge of diplomatic etiquette is of the most limited description, has managed, possibly through ignorance, perhaps through too blind obedience 1o stupld instructiond received from Berlin, to alienate any reviving Amer- ican sympathies here for his native land and for its misfortunes by his hesitation in complying #vith Pres- ident Coolldge's commands for official mourning for the death of Woodrow ‘Wilson, there is no question but that | his usefulness as a_ promoter of the restoration of friendship between his own nation and the United States has been seriously impaired. Tc is reported by cable from Berlin, | on excellent authority, that he will be succeeded at Washington by Dr. Wil- helm Solf, who is an entirely different kind of individual, not merely a diplo- mat of considerable experience, but a former - cabinet minister, deputy chan- cellor of the empire before the over: throw of the monarchy, and a states man In the best sense of the word. He | has been on terms of warm friendship before the great war with many Bng- lish statesmen, upon whom he made a most favorable impression, especially upon Lord Grey of Falloden, former secretary of state for foreign affairs; upon the late Lord Harcourt when he was secretary of state for the colonies, and upon Lord Cecll, who now that he has a seat In the house of lords has dropped his Christian name of “Robert’ which he bore while in the house of commons. 1In fact, Solf is on terms of more or less intimate acquaintance with most of the leading statesmen of the old world, and his countrymen recall with gratitude that it was largely ow- | ing to his labors, and above all to the impression which he made at the con- gress of Versailles in 1919, that Ger- many obtained the right to enter and to trade on equal,terms with England, the United States, France and Italy, in all their and her own former colonies on the dark continent. * ok x Solt comes from one of those old families of the Berlin bourgeoisic who pride themselves on their bourgeols an- cestry,"and who have always preferred to be at the head of the burgesses of their native city to belonging to the tall end of the aristocracy; families who have in consequence thercof rejected all the patents of nobility that were of- fered to them prior to the overthrow of the Hohenzollern monarchy. A strapping big fellow, considerably over six feet in height, broad in proportion, with a fair complexion, clean shaven, and lll‘fhfly bald, he is still on the sunny side of sixty and has a considerable FH\'n!a fortune of his own inherited ol m his father, who was long a leading Leaving the university when In his 'member of the city council at Berlin. | Having no need to work for a living, Willlam Solf took up in his youth' the study of Sanskrit, & sub- Ject on which he remains to this day one of the leading authorities in Eu rope. His studles in connection there- with took him to Indla, and it was while there engaged in Sanskrit re- searches that he became so intimately acquainted with Indian life in all its phases, and especially with the more intellectual classes of natives, that when on one occasion the German consul general at Bombay very sud- denly died he was requested by the Berlin government to take over the post, first of all temporarily, and then permanently. That {8 how he came 10 join the service of his government. His offical dutles took him sub- sequently as governor to Germany's !West African possessions, now ocm- |braced in the British South African Union. While there he made a study of the mineral wealth of the country, 'which he was quick to appreciate, and, realizing the extent to which its yleld of dinmonds could be exploited, he made it his business to study the en- tire South African diemond trade and industry, about which he knows more today than many & South African dealer in precious stones. Them he spent nearly ten years as governor of S8amoa, where he devoted himself to obtaining an intimate acqualntance in the business world, than a diplo- . Q. Did the ‘people of Martinique have any warning that Mount Pele: would erupt?—E. D. A. For two or three weeks prior to May &, 1902, the volcanic activity of Pelee had been increasing. By Apr 25 the sulphurous vapors made breath lng difiicult in St. Pierre. By May » ashes'from the volcano impeded traf fic, and on May 6 an avalanch poured down upon the neig towns ang villages. On May 8 the eruption, which almost destroyed the city of St. Pierre in two minutee Q. Does the Constitution provide for the forming of & cubinet?—F. L. B A. The Constitution of the United States made no provision for the creation of executive departments, vesting the sole- executlve power in the President. These departments were created by successive acts of Congress, under authority oconferred by the Constitution in Article I, se tion 8, paragraph- 18. The Depart- ments 'of State, then called fore! affatrs; Treasury und War were es tablished by the first firet Congress. The Secretatles of these, together with the Attorney General, who was then a part of the judicial’ establishment, formed the first President’s cablnet. Q. Are coal mines warmer in win- ter and cooler in summer?—E. J. A. The bureau of mines saye that coal mines are not warmer in winter tand cooler in summer. The heat of the earth increases 1 degree for eve 100 feet of depth. Coal mines are not usually very deep and, therefore, not affected to any great extent by the theat of the earth. The temperature lof the mine depends upon the loca tion and the depth. Q. What is a moratorium?—J. P. A. A moratorfum s a period dur ing which the obligor has a leg: right to delay meeting an dbligation Q. When was gas first used in the ‘White House?—E. O, D. A. Gas was introduced into the ‘White House December 29, 1848, dur ing the administration of Presidert Polk, S Q. Why was the coining of money discontinued at the New Orleane mint?—A. E. C. A. According to the office of the director of the mint it was found that the demand for coin was not sufficient to warrant the operation of more than three mints. Q. Do animals lap up water or suck it up?—S. J. A. Carnivorous animals lap up water with the tongue. Herbivorous animals, as the horse and the ox, suctk it up. (Have you asked Haskin? He docs not know all the things that peop ask_him, but he knows people wh do know. Try him. Ktate your ques- tion briefly, write plainly, and in- close 2 cents in stamps for retur postage. Address Frederio J. Has- kin, director. The Star Information Bureau, 1220 North Capitol atreet.) Solf, Mentioned as German Envoy, Is Noted as Diplomat with_all the numerous and intric | problems of the Pacific ocean, and the countries bordering thereon. Nc German is possessed of such a pro- found and far-reaching knowledge o: the subject. %% After the congress of Versailles his countrymen, aware of the necessity of restoring the sadly damaged prestig. of Germany in the far orient and of the urgency of reorganizing thelr economic interests in that part of the world, induccd him to accept the post of ambassador to Japan, where he was shrewd enough to make use of his profound knowledge of Sanskrit and of the various forms of Bud- dhism which he had acquired while in India and in Ceylon, to gét into clos¢ and intimate touch with the sclen- tists of the great island empire of the orient. He especially made friend: with the Marquis Okuma, the grand old man of Japan and her most emi- nent statesman, who, it is interesting to recall, negotiated as minister of finance the first American loan for Japan, now some fifty years ago. namely, early in the seventies, It was at Dr. Solf's suggestion that Okuma about a couple of vears ago idelivered a most remarkable public address at Tokio, advocating that a: least two hundred German sclentlst: of the highest standing should be in- {vited at once by the émperor's gov- ernment to Japan for employment | there in the promotion of national re search and industry. He urged thi | at"least half that number could i placed in the unfversitles, where h was convinced that they would prov a new inspiration and stimulus | scientific investigation. He recon. |mended that they should be paid o lan uverage of $10,000 a vear. Th would only amount to $2,000,000. Bu even if it were five times that muech, Okuma argued that the money could I not be expended to better purpos j He claimed that the conditions f: } Germany were such since the wi that many of the most cminent of h | seientiste and experts had been ler | without remunerative occupation, and i that, this being the case, Japan should | take advantage of the opportunity to iobtain on the most favorable condi- tions the highest form of skllled lu or. That these suggestions have born. fruit is shown by the steady stream of German scientists who have reached Japan during the last two {years for the purpose of employ ment there. Of course, every Ge man teacher in Japan exercises u° lasting Influence upon his pupils, and this influence usually proves to b not only educational but also_polit- ical and economic. For each Teuton in the Land of the Rising Sun feels himself compelled by motives of that German patriotism which assumes &o many peculiar forms to he active as’ a political agent of the Berlin gov- ernment. ® % ok ¥ Dr. Solf was also instrumental in securing for the Berlin department of education a gift from the Japaunese government of some $2,000,000 worth' of instruments and paraphernalia session of tha' - < » needed for scientific research, withy the object of having them distributed: among the various universities of | Germany which have been so much’ tmproved by the great war. All this goes to show that Solf, who speaks . English without any trace of a for-- { elgn accent, I8 a very clever and re- { sourceful man of vast experlence, of | fertile initiative, of independent for- tune and keenly appreclative of Eng-, ilish and American life and charac- teristics. If anything were needed to, | further demonstrate his shrewdness, it is the caution which he has shown in refraining from permitting himsel? \to be drawn Into any one of those i ministerial corbinations at Berlin which have succeeded one another with such rapidity, leaving the mem- bers “thereof stranded Wwith sorely damaged prestige, ruined’ political reputations, and with a knowledge that they have forfeited the confi- dence of their own countrymen &t home and foreign statesmen and of money markets abroad. Just at tho present time, a far-sighted man like Solt finds it prudent to be active for Germany abroad rather than at home, and whatever ambitions he may hav with regurd to .future power and eminence, there are much more likely to be furthered by his making & suc- cess of his difficult mission th United States than by taking part in the present 3 3