Evening Star Newspaper, March 1, 1924, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR ‘With Sunday Morning Edition, WASHINGTON, D. C. THEODORE W. NOYES. ...Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Bueiness Office, 11th St. and Peuns New York Oft Chicago OffLe: Buropean Office: 16 Rege st., London, England. wdition, city ai 60 ¢ ceuts per mo, cents’ per month. Ordes may il or tele- phone Main 5000, tion is wade by car: riers at the end of each mouth. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday.. $8.40; 1 mo,, 70¢ Daily only Sunday only th: daily only, 45 . §10.00; 1 moy, 85 00 ; 1 mo., 60 3.00;1 mo. Daily and Sunday.1 Daily only ...... $ Sunday only § Member of the Associated Press. The Associated to the use for rv Jatchies credited to i1 o n this paper and also Tished b A special dispatches herein are -— i tion of 5 wlo A Cosmic Current. ‘Was it something more than a mere coincidence that yesterd: can Senate had a veritable tempest in a teapot with a ferocious verl battle while the French chamber of deputies was enwzaged in a Donny- brook Fair shindy? pen to happen? Or w psychie wave, some radio current of excitement pulsating acy the lantic to aftect both hodies simults neously? A political psychologist ought to inguire into this matter. The spectacle in the Senate was a mild one compared with that in the French chamber. At P arose between socialist and royalist members, the antipodes of the polit «cal sphere. A royalist member shouted Curs!” in the direction of the treme left while the endless Caillaux se was being discussed. Then things began to snap. Blows and kicks were exchanged—ah, yes, Fronch have boxing with the feet “gavate.” So far ualties resulted. But the finall i to be adjourned bec the disorder. In the American S the blows were 3 There was plenty s with th blows, but tl lanzuage. Ther counters, but the; were. all foren: And, finally, ther was no forced adjournment. The ses sion just wore itsclf to a elose through exhaustion. is o conflict kicks, for perfected a mode of which is called known no ¢ ion ate hal ones. but it heavy were with harsh were desperate Had it not been that the House of | had reached the point | duction | been | Representative of finally voting on bill, all the discussi turned into print or stenographic notes, it, too, would probably have caught the current and given a di leglslative fireworks. But it is hard to stage a general melee in the Hous when the roll calls are in progress. Gone are d @ roll call was real excitement. The tabulation of the will of the lower and larger branch of the American par- llament—which is a wue word in view of its real meaning of talking body—was onc on of real sporting interest. Now it is a tame performance. So the House missed its chance to react to the cosmic wave sweeping westward. he ta; on having Blackmail and Humor. The other day a man over in that amazing city of New York received a package at his r When opened, proved to contain a car- rier pigeon and a note, which set forth that if he did not immediately send a $1,000 bill back to the unnamed di patcher by the pigeon he would suffer dire disaster, arson or perhaps mur- der. Not having a thousand-dollar bill handy, he sent the pigeon and the note o the police. The stor apers and was printed. It was also st forth that the police were ce the sender of the menus ive by means of the pigeon. ‘This gave some folks cause to wonder. Why should the police tip off the blackmailer thu; police knew something, or suspected something. They marked the pigeon, fastened a string to its leg and set it free. Then they watched certain houses, homes of close friends of the receiver of the threat. Sure enough, the pigeon returned to one of them. The occupant explained that it was his pigeon, but that he had loaned it to a friend. This was the third man in the case. He was arrested, and in an up.car of laughter explained that he had sent the pigeon and the black: mailing note to his friend for fun, to scare him. But the police proved to be deficient in humor. They arrested him for blackmail, just the same, and ,at latest accounts his friend who re- ceived the pigeon and the menacing “hote was scurrying around to get bail for him. Thus ends the joke. But does it end the force of the suggestion for genuine blackmailers? Carrier ‘pigeons may figure in future profes- *sional gouging practices. Meanwhile ‘the perpetrator of this merry jest will probably find his sense of humor dulled by a good fright, if not by actual pen- alty. —_———— ‘While others are investigating, Hiram Johnson continues to concen- trate on his presidential boom. The National Gallery. Plans for a building for the Na- ional Gallery of Art are soon to be ‘drawn, and bills are to be introduced in the Senate and House making ap- ,propriation for a gallery building sHould' tunds not be obtained for that ‘plrposé by gift or bequest. Payment ‘for the plans that are to be drawn will be.made from a fund of $10,000 * which has been privately rafsed. It 1s obvious that the national collec- tion, already appraised at several milifon dollars, and rapidly growing, ¥ should have a structure for its proper care and display. Just now the col- lection, outside of the Freer collec- tion, is housed chiefly in the natural history building of the National Mu- seum, under the Smithsonian Insti- sution. The collection is imperfectly the Ameri- | 4 I them.” | the ! use of | tongue. | of | vs of the filibuster, when | sidential door which, ' was given to! 3ut evidently thej THE EVENING ———— STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 1924 shown in a number ‘of rooms of that Wwill pay any price for a catnip jag.| , bullding, and much of it {s stored in ‘The most staid and circumspect house ' ithe basement and In inaccessible cat if tempted with catnip will neg- | i lect her household dutles and give her- | self to wild abandon. The alley cat, | SATURDAY......March 1, 1824, "o\ iimeontan Institution, has said tempted with this dangerous plant, * | that the housing facllities for the Na- will roll upon it, and seems to say ! | places because of insufficient space. Charles D. Walcott, secretary of | adequate, but that the size and growth | |of the collection interfere with the:cruel of the Department of Agricul- | {chief purposes of the Smithsonian. | Space taken by the art collection is | With something that may do them | i the Sundsy morning | needed for other things. He points | mortal hurt. Perhaps somebody in the | arriers within the ' out that under the terms of the Smith. | Senate will introduce a resolution de- . gorgeous sunlight in the world. It is ture to meditate tempting wild cats i tional Gallery are not only most In- that there are no shadows but only | CAN YOUR TAXES BE CUT? A" Series of Articles on the Cost of Government; Where the Money ‘Goes, and Why. BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR, | CHAPTER VL A Department for a Yenr on Twelve Hours’ Interest. In most other countries the depart- i ' | | son bequest art was included among | Manding that the President fire the | n.nt of tabor fs called the depart- ! the branches to be cultivated, but that | science und history should, according | !to the wishes of the founder, claim | | principal attention. The exhibits of | archeology and anthropology are be- ing crowded by the art collection, ‘and | parts of the scientific collections have . ibeen forced into dark and relatively | C | inaccessible portions of the building. , see what happens A proposal to wait for private cid- zens to put up the money for & build- ing for the national art collection {seems to be a small and beggarly | thing for the government to do, and | | Dr. Walcott rightly says: “The United | States cannot expect citizens to pro-! | commodate not only the existing gal- | {lery but the scores of valuable col-| llections that will be given to the | United States as soon as the gavern- ! {ment is able to properly display i The Amended Revenue Bill. | On the principle that half a loaf is | i better than no bread, the administra- tion should feel that it has ground to| {1ook favorably upon the action of the | { House on the tax-reduction bill. In idlod. when it is analyzed, and all the | clements of its creation are considered, | | the bill may be said to be better than { bal a loaf. | In the first place it is a | measure, the work of the | publican party, for which i to vote in the end. It is not the | { original administration plan, to be | but when does a measure of leg- through the mill without or a while it looked as if | the bill would come out of the House with the hallmark of the democrats put on with the ald of insurgent re- | publicans. In the next place the vote on the fvill s that the insurgent repub- licans are not bound body and soul to : the democ and cannot be depend- ed upon by the democrats to follow hir lead at all times. There is still sme party loyalty left in their bosom Another consideration is that the in- { surgents have won a victory in for ing adoption of rates more to their liking than the Mellon plan, yet cannot be taunted with having deserted their | party. The democrats will take credit | to themselves for having assisted in liberalizing the rates agreed upon, but only as assistants. | o it would seem that all hands have ion to be pleased with the legis- | lation. 1 republican united re- ! democrats | oc i ————— ! What'’s in a Name! ! A man having no visible m | suppert was “picked up” by Plummer of Montgomes { judged a vagrant by Judge Rig ced to the Maryland house of | tion for nine months, according to a news item in The Star. The re- port is that the man said his home, was “anywhere.” There might not | ¢ be particular interest in this case, be- ! cause men are “sent up” or sent down for vagrancy every day. But { the feature of this case that raises it i out of the ordinary is that the name of | | the man was Romeo St. Armour. 1t is| a name that does not savor in sound | of the common variety of vagrancy., There are, of course, many men with ! splendid names who have no visible ! means of support, but who seem to get | along very well because of the name: ! But that is a side remark. Romeo St. | Armour has a rich and sonoro und, and one might believe, though | the sheriff and judge seem not to have believed, that Romeo St. Armour may | have a royal heart under his frayed { shirt or under no shirt at all. With, such a name and with no visible | means of support, but with a well | made suit of clothes, this man might i have cut some figure in circles far removed from the house of correc-| tion. Of course, Romeo St. Armour ; | has figured in court circles, if one will | { forgive a blithesome jest under such ! | mournful circumstances. i { ——————e—————————— H | As Congress studies the subject| ! more the number of ways in which it may be possible to save money for the | taxpayer appears so great that the! | debate necessarily becomes lengthy. —————— | Masked men robbed a Florida hotel | and got only $1,200 from the guests. Evidently they did not pick the right | { hotel. | | Use of code telegrams threatens to | | transfer interest In clphers from | Shakespearean literature to current Jjournalism. , i { i i < Catnip. It is reported that the Department of Agriculture has planted a bed of catnip from which' to' make catnip oil as a bait to lure mountain lions and bobeats to their death. The plan may be efficient, but is it sportsmanlike? Perhaps there is no great feeling of affection in the east for the wild moun- tain lion and the wilder bobcat, and in certain parts of the west are peo- ple who holdathat mountain lions and bobcats are not good neighbors. While one may withhold any warm expres- sion of regard for mountain lions and bobeats, one may be pardoned for say- ing that to put out catnip oil as a lure to these wildlings would be to take unfair advantage of them. It strikes at the point of greatest moral weak- ness in cats. Felidae have a natural affection for catnip. Without taking trouble to look up authorities it is not known offhand whether cats think of catnip as a gracious perfume, a drug, that drives away all care, or as a beverage with a very high content of something that intoxicates. No ‘man has been fonder of any kind of a nip than a cat is of catnip. The average Washingtonian is rather a tame sort of fellow who is not on terms of intimacy with moun- tain lions or bobcats, but he knows that all the cats of his acquaintance ' | way catnip bureau of the department. —————————— Now Comes March. When winter comes along and fair days occur there-are certain ones who croak of bad weather to come, “Just wait,” they groan, “until December gets well under way, and then you'll " Sometimes it does happen, and again it does not. 1f not, then the pessimists declare that Janu- ary will bring its bitterness to make the winter keenly feit. And maybe January proves to be a mild month, but the croakers will not he discour- aged. They will say: “It's all right =! vide a building of suitable size to ac- | now, but just walt until February gets in its deadly work.” Then, perchance, Fobruary passes without any particu- larly bad manifestations. Then the weather gloomster is at his happest. | “March will turn the trick,” he says. “Savage old month, March! Just wait till March gets going right, and you'll find the climate is right back where | it used to be when you got your ears frosted and your nose nipped and| vour toes disabled by the bitter cold.” All this has happencd this yea mild avd smiling December, a placid and temperate Janua ary of a truly early-springlike nature. All of the shifting predictions of the pessimists have been heard and passed into the limbo of the unverified. Now comes March. Truly a treacherous month, and one to warrant the est hopes of the weather gloom: particularly when it opens mildly, ¢ it docs today. That old saying abou the lamblike beginning with the lion. ! i like ending occurs at once to the mind. Maybe the croakers are going to win out at last. Perhaps they will make good on at least the last lap of | the race. But meanwhile nothing that ; | can come now, in even the mad month of March, can possibly compensate on the unpleasant side for the glorious weather that Washington has enjoyed thus far this season. So let March do ts worst, and let the glooms wallow in their satisfaction over ultimately verified forecasts of woeful weather | stated by Col. Bryan that the to universal peace is through brotherhood, love and service. The as- sertion cannot be disputed, and, more- over, has the merit of transcending all gossip or accusation and lifting the thought into an upper atmosphere of abstract morality. It may be doubted whether even Col. Bryan can limit { himself to so exalted an attitude to- { ward the world and its affairs all {through the coming campaign. —————— Mr. Fall addressed his assoc! terms of endearment that now appe on the record. Even the gentle phra of affection incident to a busine transaction become embarras when produced as evidence. A lawyer is obliged to protect the interests of his client to the best of his ability, but as Mr. Bainbridge Colby's attitude toward the Teapot enterprise pointed out he need not take the job unless he likes it. —_———————— A New York minister sugsésts sub- stitution of the writings of modern statesmen for the Bible. A question of censorship for the pulpit may yet arise. * ———————— An inheritance tax might not seem so hard to a spendthrift heir if the government would arrange to collect it at a cabaret to the tune of a jazz orchestra. ———————— Electricity has made secrecy diffi- cult. A telegraph or telephone opera- tor can hardly avoid becoming ac- quainted with communications intend- ed to be confidential. —_— Modern resources are still in the lead. The treasures found at Luxor are nothing compared to the opulence uncovered at Teapot Dome. ——— SHOOTING STARS. 'BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Careless Wealth. The world is growing better. Fortune heeds the slightest beck. ‘You.merely write a letter " ‘And somebody sends a che: The money that’s requested Is so punctually found That people get arrested Just.for. throwing it around, * - Wary. “You declined to allow that great artist to paint your picture!” “Couldn’t take a chance!” Senator” Sorghum. going to do me in oil replied He said, he was Jud Tunkins says it's gettin’ kind o’ pathetic the way some rich men'll take a kindhearted, innocent lawyer an' get him into trouble. Speaking Louder. Conscience is a still small voice Promoting morals high¥r; Congress makes a stronger choice And brings an amplifier. Unflattering. “This new drug will make a man tell the truth at all the times, “How very rude of it!” exclaimed Miss Cayenne. ’ Fortified. . “I never ‘saw but one man,” said Uncle Bill Bottletop, “that I though: had a chance foolin’ with bootleg liquor. He was a sword-swallower and lfi.’ wife was a 'lmke::ha_rmer." Cost of Compliments, “Whenever I's waitin’ on: a-little party,” eald Uncle Eben, “where one man stands up while de rest sing ‘He™ a Jolly Good Féallow*dat's de gemmar 1 alfus reeser ¢ and a Febru- | " have power “to establish a uni ment of soclul welfare, It was bullt out of the old bureau of labor, or- ! ganized .in 1885 as a bureau of the Department of the Interior. Three years later It hecame the Department of Labor. It was made independent, but was not then considered of suf- ficient importance to give its'director a place in tho President's cabinet. This only came in 1903, when a De- partment of Commerce and Labor was organized. Ten years later this department was'dlvided Into two departments—one the Department of Commerce, ths other the Department of Labor, each presided over by a member of the cabinet. James J. Davis of Pennsylvania is only the second man to occupy the Pposition of Secretary of Labor in the United States. My appointment was at 4 o'clock in the afternoon at his office in the rented nine-story bullding In Wash- ington used by the Department of Labor. “This department was organized to foster, promote and develop the wel- fare of the wago earners of the Unlted States,” declared Secretary Davis, “and to improve their working conditions, and to advance their op- portunities for profitable employ- ment.” One Worker in Five Is Female. That's the way the law reads. It's !a big contract. There are 41,000,000 persons in the United States classified I the 1920 census as gainfully em- ployed, and of these 25,000,000 are wage earners, They, with their fam- illes, make up the majority of the people of the United States, If we follow it a little further we find that in 1920 there were 8,349,000 girls and women of ten years'ot age and over who were working. So one worker in_every five in America is a woman The Department of Labor Is divid- ed into seven bureaus. 1. The bureau 4 { This Is th 5 partment. twenty yea Carroil D. It mad rs 2go, in the days when Wrigit was Commussioner )€ Labor and associated with the De- partment of the Interior. This bu- reau is required by law to collect, ate and report at least once a year, or oftener if necessary, full and mplete statistics of the condition 1of iabdr, and the products and distri- bution of the products of sam Its work s nation-wide. It issucs the monthly Labor Review. It publishes many bouks and pumphlets dealing with labor statistics. Its statistics are accepted as authoritative through- out the world. Its index hgurcs on {the rise or fall of the cost of living are standard and official. On July 1, 11922, there were 146 persons em- ployed in this department. This is an_increase of t ve over the preceding year. . fiscal year ed June 30, 19 £225,900. For 19 increased by approximately 2. The bureau of naturalization is another. This bureau has charge of ithe complete work of the naturaliza- ion of aliens throughout the United ates, which Is definitely prescribed in the Constitution. The Constitu- tion provides that Congress shall rm rule of naturalization throughout the Cnited States.” P s $100,000 More for Making! Citizens. | This work has always been carricd jon. But of recent years it has as- |sumed a new place of great import- ance. Schools In 2,461 communities throughout the United States in 1 suppiied this bureau ames of 289,723 candidates ifor citizenship. This is an increase In order to become a citizen of 1the United States an allen must swear tormally to such an intention and claration. Last year 296,636 per- sons in the United States filed such clarations of intention. This is the rst step. rs later the final istep can be when an alien p nehip papers from courts. One hundred and fifty- sizht thousand and fifty-nine aliens petitioned for their citizenship papers In all 145,084 were made fuil rejected. In this bureau 288 persons were femployed on July 1, 1923, and there | Capt. “Bob” Bartlett wants to | know whether the naval alr service {is a “tender plant” which must be | utilized to be kept up to hothouse speed or whether 1t actually is a sec- {tion of *he national defense which ishall function when the time comes. | There has been no direct answer to | the captain. On the contrary, inas- { much as President Coolidge has de- creed that the lighter-than-air craft { Shenandoah, “Daughter of tho Stars,” ! shall not attempt to navigate above )the north pole, the editors of the country have agreed to disasres on his deciston. “Why President abundant reasons before him for holding up the flight, should have tried to shift to Congress a respon- sibllity that coustitutionally belongs to him as commander-in-chlef,” the Boston Transeript thinks, “is a ques- tion that his well-wishérs far and near will be hard put to answer.” The St. Joseph News-Press points out, further, that “some of the mem- ber of Congress say they are mys- tifled by the attitude of tha President, because there has been little opposi: tion in Congress, and what opposition }hus developed has been the result of ] dount regarding the value of the ex- | pedition and the danger involved rather than objection to the expense. The San Irancisco Bulletin, how- ever, 1s convinced that, “having pledged himself to a policy of econ- Smy._in governmental expenditures, the President does not wish his sin- cerity to be questioned, and is mind- ful of the fact that his move is being closely watched by political oppo- nents.” If Congress sanctions the un- dertaking, the Manchester Union feel ‘there can be no question raised of he legality of such an outlay of na- -ional funds, or of congressional ap- proval of the undertaking itselt. * ok kX The Philadelphia Bulletin suggests he “possibility of claiming for Great ritain a million square miles of land ind water between Alaska and the .orth pole is a strong Incentive to an \rctic enterprise of this ultra-modern kind” The Chattanooga News men- “ions, further, that “all indications of public opinion. have been favorable to the undertaking,” and if the trip s not to be undertaken “the people \re entitled to know what are the ob- ections and obstacles.” The Buffalo Cews hints that “perhaps the fact ihat the great stake in tae adventurs Coolidge, with Author of “Can Europe Hold Together?” was spent for the fiscal year 1923 a total of $665,000 for the work. An increase of approximately $100.000 is provided for in the 1924 budget. It's @ most Important and necessary work. 3. The employment service bureau is still another. This is a compara- tively mew bureau. It is hoped to make it the central clearing house for labor throughout the United States. This bureau in 1923 co-oper- ated with forty states in its work. Together there were placed in posi- tlons & total of 2,156.000 persons out of 2,887,000 registrations. This jagency {s a co-operative agenc: worldng closely with such agenci in the several states. There were 510 persons in this bureau July 1, 1923, and a total of $223,000 was spent in the work. For 1924 approximately the same expenditure iscontemplated. The Woman's Burean Bilf 4. The woman’s bureau is an im- portant divislon. It was created in 1918 as a war service and in 1920 made & permanent bureau of the De- partment of Labor. It has as its ob- Ject “to formulate standards and:pol- icles which shall promote the wel- fare of ‘wage-earning women, im- prove their working conditions, in- crease thelr efficlency and advance their opportunities for profitable em- ployment.” Miss Mary Anderson, long a promi- {nent worker in this feld, has charge of the bureau. Forty-seven persons were employed in this bureau in 1823, an increase of twelve over 1922, and $93/000 was spent by them in their work. This amount is increased to $103,000 for 1924, G. The children's bureau is, next to immigration, the lurgest and most fmportant service in th Department of Labor. ~First, it deals with the health and care of infants. On the question of infant mortality forty states are co-operating with this bu- reau. It deals with the whole prob- {lem “of child labor in the United |States. Tlis is all the more impor- tant because of a recent decision of {the United States Supreme Court de- jclaring federal regulation of child jlabor unconstitutional. Miss Grace Abbott, an exception- ally capable woman of long experi- ence, has charge of this work. On July'1, 1923, there were employed 241 This ot ne durir ; 0 t for the flscal se of $700,000 is laskea for 1924. 6. The bureau of Immigration is the most Important of all the bureaus of the Department of Lubor. It has lcomplete charge of all the work of ladmitting alicns to the United States. iJust now it is gngaged in an e haustive stuy of the whole question | of immigration. Head Tax Cuts Expense. The present more restri jwants Secretary belleves in ed immigration. He e bette? immigrant only ad- imitted. He is very much concerned. He points out that 2,067,704 aliens fentered the United States during the last four years, of whom one-half {were from ‘eastern and southern Eu- rope. He points out that of the {14.000,000 foreign-born whites in the ;United States today less than half lare citizens. He appears very an |{ious about i He wants two sp. cific things: (1) That the immigrants ibe picked In Europe by our own agencles—not here. (2) That each! be required to register for citizen 18Ship work for a short period of train- «ing after being admitted to | country. i oIn t empl: $3.115,000. tion is $400.000. i The Department of Labor, for alll its work, spent $6,698,000 gross f Ithe fiscal yeargended June 30, 1923. They are asking for approximately $7,700,000, or about $1,000,000 more than for 1923. But this is but half the story. We | find in the Treasury report for the same period that this department col- lected in receipts, mostly from the immigration head tax, a total of $5, 150.000. To sum up. The Department of La- bor, doing a st service and emgloy 4 people, cost the people of the United States approximately §1 - 500,000 net for the year ending June 30, 1924, The government is paying out more every twelve hours for in- terest on the public debt than the Department of Labor is spending every vear. Manifestly, this Is not the place where expenditures can be materially cut. (Copyright, 1 in Tnited States and Great is bureau 1,847 perrons are In 1923 the bureau spent For 1924 the appropria- increased by approximately this | b { cently_issue: | Sandburg’s peculiar type of poetry Britain by North' American Newspaper Alliance,” Il rights reserved.) Tomorrow: One-Tenth of 1 Per Cent For the State Department. 'Abandonment of Polar Flight Stirs Emotions at Variance was oil was what brouglt about the cancellation of the plans for the Shenandoah's flight” But the Pitts- burgh Chronicle-Telegraph defends the President’s stand on this question, as it “evinces his strict sense of pro- priety and right regarding the role played by Congress as a branch of the government.” Under any condi- tions, the Detroit Free Press Insists, “the 'President would be justified in referring to Congress for approval, even though he may not be compelled to do so: and as matters stand, he is acting shrewdly and prudently, and probably to the deep disappointment of political opponents.” Because of the danger, the doubt as to the feasi- bility of the polar flight and the ele- ment of cost, the New York Evening World maintains, “it s just as well that the responsibility “for results shall not be concentrated on the e: ecutive department.” “With a chance of success estimated at one’ in seven, and the possibility that the crew may suffer a_worse fate than that met by the crew of the Dixmude,” the Indianapolis News agrees, “it is well that there s some power ablo to require the Navy to defend its declsion in more convinc- ing terms than have yet been em- ployed.” * ¥ %k ok In any event, the Lowell Leader holds, the “discussion of the proposi- tion by Congress is scarcely to be d fined as meddlesome interferenc ‘Then, if the opportunity is lost, the Worcester Gazette declares, “the blame will be on Congress.” While the Sioux City Journal admits “if President Coolidge consents to the arrangements for the flight only when influenced to do so by a crystalliza- tion of public opinion, he then will have done right, whatever the out- come.” It may be well that the pro- posed flight has been called off, in the opinion of the Lynchburg Advance, which feels that “although the suc- cess of such would be a feather in America’s aviation cap, the trip should be thoroughly an undertaking planned in order to meet every pos- sible emergency.” It is this element of mischance, to the Spring- fleld News, which “caused mauy to feel that the trip would better be left for some indefinite future date.” The ‘alamazoo Gazette concludes that “the President's decision will have the approval not only of many distinguished aeronautical engineers who have looked upon the proposed flight as foolhardy, but of a consid- erable body of public opinion which has been opposed to risking the valu- able ship and the lives of io the grim hazards oi the fa { want The Library Table BY THE BOOKLOVER 1 ‘There should be & copyright law by which a writer of fiction might copy- right his characters for all time. Some creators of successful charac- ters have been oblig®d to kill them off prematurely, to the sorrow of af- fectionate readers, for fear that suc- ceeding writers of less originality might borrow the characters and cap- Italize their popularity, Addison Is sald to have ended his “De Coverley Papers” with the death of the simple, kindly Sir Roger for this reason, und Trollope brought Mrs. Proudle to an untimely end because he did not wish any one else to take liberties \Vll)ll her personality. Who knows but that some humorist might have reformed? the bishop's redoubtable wife into a meek spoulle who knew “her pla ‘l(—lr{ln&: ridiculed Richardson’s “P: mela” by creating for her a masc: line prototype in the form of a brother, “Joseph Andrews.” Mol e cently Sir Harry Johnston has, in “The Gay Dombeys,” attempted to supplement Dickens, Even ake- speare has not been immune from such tampering, for St. John Ervine has written u play, “The Lady of Belmont,” In which he tries to ul t all Shakespeare's conclusions in ** Merchant of Ve ! Basing bis plot on stray sugges- tions in Shakespeare's famous play, St. John Ervine works out a sequel in which Shylock appears as not such a bad fellow after all, Bassanio as a far from satisfactory husband, Anto- nio as a stupld bore, Jessica as a loose woman and Nerissa as a shrew. We are glad that he leaves» us our 1lusions about Portia, because many of us have always considered P! Shakespeare's finest woman. In Lady of Belmont” Shylock is shown as a victim of injustice (there is fea- son for this point of view to be found in Shakespeare's portrayal), and as rising above his persecutions and be- ming @ noble-minded, forglving enator of Veniee, who strajghtens out all the petty Intrigues at Belmont and evgn offers to lend Bassanio money. Bassanio, whom me speare’ students have aly despised as entircly unworthy , is developed by St. John Ervine into a spendthrift und a philanderer who “attempts to seduce a _willing Jesslca, but is prevented by Shylock. Antonio hecomes « tiresome, boasting dotard, w can talk of nothing but the trial and the pound of flesh. * k¥ % Readers who are inclined to avold books cntitled “Anthropology,” “Evo- lution” and “Biology,” for fear-that they will soon find themselves en- gulfed In a sea of abstruse words and technicalities or bored by fine-spun arguments, can take up with perfect confldenca “The Coming of Man" by John M. Tyler, professor emeritus of biology in Amherst College. The book Is written in a simple, charmin style and in 135 pages tells'the “sto of man's slow and endless coming in a way that makes that story very vivid and _vital. 1 was especially struck, in his chapter on “The Dawn of Civilization,” by the author's statement that woman was the real originator of _agriculture. While savage man was hunting, savage woman gathered berries, grain and bulbs, some of which were lost sprouted and grew. Woman, noticing this, “pulled away the smothering weeds, and possibly loosened the soil with her digging stick. This was | the beginning of the garden, far | older than the farm, « & ¢ aid hoe | culture is woman's work. ® ¢ 2 H knowledze of plants made her the first_herbalist and botanist, the first physician. * * * Shehas founded ag- riculture and given it 2 hich position and value.” To prevent the men and ys from eating up all the seed grain and growing roots in time of scarcity, the woman enlisted the heip of the priests, who instituted the ter- rors of the taboo. Finally as the Chrden mrew apace and as game be- | ame scarcer she drafted the man to fuide the plow. t man became i the fari ans “he is no | longer to roam and wander as he will. He is being tamed and | house and home broken.” These | quotations will give the flavor of this | small book on a great subject, re- in the series s rather ¢ of Por- herst Books.” W Those who especlally admire and those who especially detest Carl will equally be interested in some comments on it made by Samuel Me- Chord Crothers in his essay “New Poets and _Poets volume, “The Cheerful Crothers says: “I think most of us Sympathize with the “old-fashioned reader, when we take up Carl Sand-| burg’s ‘Chicags Poems.” While we| admit his power, we feel a certain lack of urbanity In his greeting. “‘Hog_butcher of the world, Player, with railroads, - pailon's andler. Stormy husky, brawling. City of the big shoulde: i . “Sandburg evidently believes in treating his readers rough. He slaps us on the back. rolls us in the mud, Shows us slghts we don't want to See, introduces us to people we don’t to know and then acks us we like. Chicago. To sit ‘with iter at_supper In a German eating steak and onions’ i slnh{v?'gadeninz experience. But the description of it seems to lend itself {6 prose rather than to poetry. We P dler who wears a flannel “T kney co handler who . E “é;r:lw‘n% pearl buttons the size of & Goitar. u dred-pound hunk into a ea- And b 163 3 oA helps bimself to cold bam and rye bread. . “Is that the way to begin a poem? * Kk X w)Mankind at the Crossroads” an tnterestingly written and scholarly work by Prof. Edward M. FEast of Harvard, is a book to make the reader “stop, look and listen.” Its purpose s “to present a picture of the present world situation as re- gards the population and food supply and to submit a forecast of the prob- able tendency of the future” The thor holds_that in the face of rap- iy C@iminishing food reserves the human race can progress only by a Tigorous reduction of the birth rate. s belleves that this reduction must be “throughout the whole popdlation and not merely within one section Which furnishes those of most social Worth.” To use his own words, the author “believes in the control of human reproduction, the freedom of the family to build firmly for the next generation by intent rather than by hazard, the opportunity of-fulfill- ing the social responsibility of the individual to the family and the na- tion, with due regard to the health of the mother, the efliciency of the father, the welfare of the children and the stamina of the race. He be- Tleves, moreover, that 1f this reme- dia) prescription 1s not generally ac- Cepted and_put in practice man's froubles will speedily multiply as they never have before.. This book Geserves and is likely to have a wide and thoughtful reading. ~ * ok k K A book is soon to be-published in English entitled, “Sermon on the Sea,” by Mahatma Gandhl, with an introduction by John Haynes Holmes. 1t 1s to be a discussion, In the form of Socratic dialogue, of Gandhi's social and political views, which have in re- Cent years won such a following in fndia and made so much trouble for the British government. * ¥ k¥ Franklin K. Lane's “Letters” are now. belng manufactured in Braille, in order that these letters of fine hu- manity and typlcal American courage and richness of imagination may be € of the blind. tretght how a dynam ‘ n l ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ]J. HASKIN Q. What citles have fare?—J. G. D, A. The American Electric Rail- way Association advises that the leading citles in thc United States now operating on a G-cent fare with free transfers are Los Angeles and San Francisco, Calif. The city of Los Angeles s served by the geles Rallroad Corporation, and op- erates on a G-cent fure with free transfers. The Paclfic Electric Railway Company also gives some locul scrv. ice, It has two 6-cent zone: 10-cent fare for rides betw inner and outer zones, In San cisco there are two companies operat- ing, the Market Street Railway z the Municipul Railway of San cisco. On account of this double fce It s necessary for pas traveling from certain points of the city to other points to pay a double fare, b cents on the Market Street Railway and 5 cents on line. For thiz reason Su is not regarded ax a str city. The other outstandi - of & fairly large city charging 5 cents and giving free transfers is Akron, Ohio, with a population of next largest city with a o and free transters is South Bend, Ind., with a population of 70,000, Q. What states beside are divided into parishes? A. There which the cent car Louistana —L. L other states In divisions are no political known as parishes. Q. What is the value of the out- put_of the government printing of- ice?—W. H. The value of the output year of the govern Hee is approximate, Q. Who wrote “Elizabeth and Her German Garden"? %A € This novel, which was publish- ANONY 110U A from the pen of Marguerite Cunliffe-Owen. . g nt printing of- $10,000,000. ed Q. When and to what extent were $3 £old pieces coined?—G. A. A Three-dollar gold pieces were coined from 1854 to 1%89, inclusive. The krand total amounted to' $1,615, ,00u. Q. Ts retired pay taxab! A. Retired pay of an oflicer or an enlisted man is not considered pen- slon. Pens is compensation fr the government for war servi Pensions are exempt from income tax, whereas retired pay is taxable Q. Was Thomas Jeffersc surviving signer of the ot Independence?—F. G. N, A. According to the compilation of Simon Newton of Detroft, Charles Carroll ‘was the fifty-sixth and the last signer of the Declaration to dic, his_death occurring November 1 18 Thomas _Jefferson and John Adams, both of whom died July 4, 1826, were, respectively, the fifty-fifth and fifty-fourth signers to pass away. Q. What does "Eleu lore” mean? 1 find it in a poem by Walter Scott.— G. A. U, A. Exactly what the phrass means cannot be st Scott used it as an exclamation of sadne: the last Q. Are the churc entering the motion picture field?—F. B. A. A natlonal motion pictures conference meeting in Washington adopted resolutions which included one to the effect that “some co. operative effort should be made b the united churches for the estab: lishment of 4 motion picture founda- tion for the production of such film: as shall effectively help carry the gospel of Christ and the kingdom of God into the hearts and lives of the | whole world.” Q. Do any of our states forbid the teaching of foreign languages in the schoo A, L P. A teachi State statutes prohibiting the ng of foreign languages to pu- | pils below the eighth grade in pub- | private and parochial schools e declared unconstitutional by the nited States Supreme Court on June lic, sc! W Los An-| Declaration | ¢ 4. 1923, and at that that twenty-one laws. Q. What are the qu a Rhode holarshi; A. To be eligibl Rhiodes scholarsh citizen of the bn een and not rs of and naing in some nting colle United States, Q. How does th nese In China coupa ulation of the United A. The bout threc many Chin China being e Q. time 1t was stated st such it ove aho What is the sure at the ¢ A. The mosphertc pre one ton per &quar a market which e st of the latter a mus in the case of the former @ 1ok Q. How times ball go bick R, P. A’ On a table cushions, th which a ball has’ mud the length of a of Ttaly, e in '} fourth A. Th lution of years ago in Guer traced to the festival Ceres, the godaess of Q. What is the an epoch and A. Epoch and era & in the gr: nce between B I 1y used story either one of time, con int of somr which it and which ing determining ur year from which T preceding o° and ark an but an importa chronolo epoch v an according to th jon Bureat . answer your for th stamps for The Star Info 1. Haskin, di- ol ‘street). The star i J. Haskin i 7 sert turn_pos mation Bureaii, rector, 1220 North ¢ WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE Former Senator George E. Cham- berlain of Oregon, who will be one of Attorney General -Daugherty’'s coun- sel In any official investigation, was Warren G. Harding's closest demo- cratic friend. They struck up a warm comradeship when both were in the Senate. Sitting around the old-fash-| joned stove in the newspaper men's shacks adjacent to the Marion “front porch” the night before election in 1920, Harding remarked 2 just’ ome democrat I_hope W elected tomorrow. That's ¢ Chamberlain.” The wish was doomed not to be gratified. Chamberlain went down in the Harding landslide. suc- cumbing to Robert antield, re- publican, by 16,500 vot h lame-duck season set in, early in 1921, Chamberlain was one_ of his first friends whom President Harding took care of. He was appointed a Shipping Board commissioner and served as the northern Pacific coast ropresentative till his resignation a year ago. Since then he has prac- ticed law fu Washington. * % % k John'W. Davis' boom for the demo- cratic | presidential nomination s about to be launched in Washington as & more or less national movement. A committeo of influential democrats, resident in the District of Columbla, is to be named, to become the boom's official sponsor. West Virginians at the Capital are the guiding spirits. They are confident it will gain in mo- mentum, once launched. The former ambassador’'s backers are conscious they have one primary Obslflf.‘lu to overcome in attempting to “sell” him to the democratic party. That is his| sociation with Stetson, Jennings & Ruseell, the New York law firm Which enjoys one of the biggest cor- poration practices in the country. Yet Davis' friends recall that Grover Cleveland, in the four-year interval between his first and second terms, not only belonged to tho same fir: but was the late Plerpont Morgan personal attorney. Davis recently represented the American Glassblow- ers’ Union In triumphant Iitigation before the United States Suprems Court. So his adherents say he has & “labor record” to offset his connec- tion with “the interests.” * F k¥ Sir Esme Howard, K. C. B., the new British ambassador to the United States, lost no time in establishing contacts In Washington. He arrived in the Capital on Thursday, and on Friday noon was at lunch in a popu- lar downtown hotel, as democratic ally unambassadorial in dress and meanor as the humblest person in room. Sir Esme's host was Ale: der_P. Moore, American amba to Spain. Howard was British am- hassador at Madrid throughout Moore's sojourn at King Alfonso’s court and they became bosom friends. Sir Esme was kept busy at lunch time shaking hands with a host of friends who knew him when he was -ounselor of the British embassy at Washington under Ambassador Bryce. * % kK Irresponsible gossip is in circula- tion in Washington, and from Wash- ington has been grapevined across the country, to the effect that the entombment of Woodrow Wilson in the National Cathedral was an or- ganized plece of ‘“propaganda” for that building project. The story iredits Bishop Freeman with having sxecuted a masterplece of “salesman- hip No varn ever had flimsier foundation. It was one of Washing- When the | ton’'s distinguished new L C. Probert, mana iated Press f | —who sumge was the ideal b row Wilson. Mrs for Wood- Wilson enthustas proposal.© Pro mirer of th ence serv took des S rection, by since Prober in hotel room he and Gr: rable buddies, Tuilieri, been insepu acing the have Calvin Coolide to have a pretty keen memory Alse he ap pears to be an exponent of that art of which Roosevelt wa remembering the little trifles of li and recalling them &t a psychological moment. The other of the President! charming young womun fir Ale west. who happens to be the a thriving daily news; (mentioning the n town), the Presid me very nicely during the of 1920, for i speec on a rai speak to your people turncd their enthusiasm und bad weather. T've never that” Which shows that politiclan, too. * master- The Tammany delegation Con gress had a feast in Washington on night this week, * Smith wa the toast of the hour, with Senator Copeland an ind sccond choice. The New Y plan ning the mightiest tumult in honor . Smith at the democratic na tional convention that the history of “demonstrations” ever recorded. Th time limit has been set at eight hours The convention, to be put out of working day whild self hoarse over th | on “tbe sidewalks of New York. San Francisco convention was turn ed into bedlam for forty-five minutis when Bourke Cockran ced” Smit! in nomination four * Chewing gum w. the juicy theme of discussion for an hour in the House on February 28. llcre are some of the gems of thouzht that found es pression: Mr, Kvale of Minnesota—p: in the interest of civilization, woull not the gentleman suggest putting some provision in the bill which would limit the use of ewing gum to_Indians and negro Mr. Chindblom of Illinols—Certain- Iy not. The gentleman is mistaken in supposing that gum is an injury to civilization. The time is past when gentlemen can make that argument to intelligent people, at least people as Intelligent as members of thic House, many of whum use chewiny ato this pas- W York—Wa of discu chewine and hea fairly well of minor s gum. From wi from home, the p dfsgusted with the Cot and its ittitude on this tux bill like to sce an exclse tax put on r chewing, instead of gum-chewing, over matters of no importance. (Copyright, 1024.)