Evening Star Newspaper, March 16, 1924, Page 42

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY........March 16, 1924 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Basiness Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 Fast 42ad Bt. Bt., The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning edition, s delivered by carriers within the city at 60 cents per month: daily only, 45 cents per month; Sunday oniy. 20 cents 'rs may be sent by mail or tele- 5000. Collection is made by car- Eiers at the end of each moath. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, Daily and Sunday..1yr., $8.40; 1 mo., 70¢ Daily only. .<.1yr., $6.00; 1 mo., 50c Sunday only All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00: 1 mo., 85¢ Paity on! 1¥r., $7.00; 1 mo.,, 60c Sunday 1yr., $3.00;1mo., 35¢ Member of the Associated Press. Tue Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dis- Patches credited 1o it o not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news pub- dished ‘herein. " All rights of publication ef special dispatehes herein are also reserved. oni. “Vicious Piffle.” Secretary Mellon’s comment upon the testimony given Friday before the Senate committee that is investi- gating the official conduct of the At- torney General ‘has a peculiar signifi- cance with relation not merely to the matter specifically inspiring it, but the manner of the entire procedure in this particular inquiry. “Vicious pif- fle,” exclaimed Mr. Mellon in regard to that portion of the testimony that re- lated to himself. And the public, upon @nalysis of the amazing statements that are being made in this investiga- tion, is apt to apply that same phrase 1o the whole procedure. Without venturing in any way to Judge the merits of the matter, it may be said that rarely has such great freedom of statement been permitted 0 witnesses in matters affecting the integrity and moral character of men in public life as has been allowed to those who have thus far “testified” in this inquiry. Were this a trial in a court of law much, if not most, of the so-called testimony would be ruled out @as irrelevant and incompetent. But his is not a trial. It is an “investi- gation.” It is comparable in some re- spects to a grand jury proceeding with one important difference. It is held in public, whereas a grand jury sits and hears witnesses in private. The misfortune of this situation is that every word spoken before the in- vestigating committee, where no cross- examination is permitted to bring out the facts or allegations in their fullest Teasure, goes before the public imme- diately. Startling statements that may be followed much later by retractions, corrections, explanations or refuta- tions get to the public eye to create their deep first impressions. When the explanatory matter or denials come along the first impressions are difficult to remove. The Senate investigating committee is secking the facts. It wants the truth, the whole truth and, of course, nothing but the truth. It should safe- guard itself on the last-named score as scrupulously as on the other counts. If it is sought to “make & case” against the Attorney General that case cannot be made stronger by ed- "1, 32.40: 1 mo,, 20c I mands upon it. Where insanitary conditions were found in houses the health department an@ the building department took action. served on property owners to correct could not or would not be done by owners the work was done under di- rection of the board for the condemna- tion of insanitary buildings and the cost agsessed against the property. ‘This work has been carried on to the limit of the fund at the disposal of that board. Much more work of per | this kind is contemplated to bring the Notice was faults in buildings, and where this alleys out of the condition which has excited public indignation and unrest. The Commissioners have directed the District auditor to ask Congress for a supplemental appropriation to carry on this work, the sum to be available for the remainder of the present§scal year and in the year to begin July 1. The District health officer has said that he will recommend that the board for the condemnation of insanitary buildings ask for an appropriation of $15,000. The money spent for correc- jtion of insanitary conditions would in most cases be recovered as assess ments against the property. The pres- ent fund of the board is only $2,500 a year. This is exhausted, and in most years it has been found that this sum was not enough to permit the board to do, the work expected of it. Not the Wettest City. Rear Admiral Plunkett says he did not say it. Queried by the Navy De- partment in respect to a statement he has been reported to have made to a New York court to the effect that Washington is the “wettest” city in the United States, the admiral answers as follows: “In answer to the question by the presiliing judge as to what was the ‘wettest’ city in the United States, I said ‘I have been informed that Washington is the wettest city in the United States.’” The presiding justice, he further states, confirms this explanation. There is no reason to doubt this ver- sion of the incident. Yet it may be asked just why the presiding judge found it necessary or desirable in the case in hand to establish a superla- i tive in the matter of municipal wet- ness. It would be also interesting to know who informed Admiral Plunkett on this subject. Evidently somebody is saying this about Washington, somebody worthy of credence by a high officer of a Navy, sufficiently trustworthy to be quoted anonymously in a court of law. Of course, nobody really took the admiral seriously even at the full valu- ation of his report. Had it come from a less eminent personage it would have caused no emotion whatever. Nevertheless, it was deemed of suf- ficient importance to ascertain just what was said and upon what au- thority. What was said has been plain, but the authority remains ob- scure. Perhaps this will serve as an ad- | monition to officers of the government | against meking sweeping statements of this character. A city cannot be libeled in the sense of the law, but many cities are actually libeled-in the public esteem by Heclarations of a broad and general character which have no foundation in fact. The incident is not without its value. It has at least brought forth the dis- claimer which may be accepted as a mitting hearsay testimony that will | withdrawal of the allegation. Wash- not stand the final test. The case will | ington may be wet in spots, but it is not be made assured of successful {no longer proclaimed in a court of prosecution by disregarding the rules | law to be the last word in moisture. of evidence to introduce into the rec- ord a great mass of so-called testi- mony that would not in court of law be permitted utterance. The American sense of fair play is challenged by the procedure. One of the fundamental principles in Ameri- can jurisprudence is that an accused person has a right of defense. Another sound and primary principle in our law is that the accused person is pre- i The Colorado teacher Who assumes that a little lion hunting would prove a gentle relaxation for President Cool- idge is probably right. A lion hunt is 2 serene and decorous affair com- pared with an effort to tame the finan- cial and political wild cat. ! Before government ownership advo- cates go further in asking Uncle Sam sumed to be innocent until proved guilty, notwithstanding the fact of accusation. If this is a sincere research for facts to elicit the truth alone, application to the procedure of the customary mafeguards aguinst ‘“‘vicious piffie” is required. l Curiosity is pardonable as to how old King Tut managed to accummu- Jate so much wealth without being en- gased in the oil business. l i Speculators who thought the French franc would go down can sympathize with those who once thought the Ger- man mark would go up. Extraordinary interest is manifested én the coming base ball season. The oountry needs the relaxation. l The Alleys. Much criticlsm has been made of a number of alleys in Washington. Public-spirited men and women have sone through certain alleys and ex- pressed themselves as shocked at con- ditions. The criticism has been voiced that alley houses ere crowded, and that insanitary conditions exist. Some complaint has been made agurinst the unsightliness of alleys. The alley be- comes a periodical public question in ‘Washington. We have had the prob- lem with us for many years, and it is & problem that is not singular to ‘Washington. Not many persons live in an alley through choice, and it is no doubt true that the ratio of alley dwellers to the whole population has been growing less over & long period. When the war caused a bulge in the city’s population there was an increase in the alley population, and the high cost of food and shelter and other factors have operated to keep the alley population too large. Recent police surveys have shown that the alley population is about 10,000, but it is not claimed that all these live under insanitary conditions. Some alleys @are as well paved, sewered and lighted @s some streets, and are as habitable as many narrow streets fn poor dis- tricts in many cities. Some alley ‘homes in Washington are as sanitary as some houses on streets. But very disagreeable conditions have been found in some alleys, and the District authorities moved at once to do what they could to correct those conditions. The m?flfimt: department put forth extra clean them, though thé District's fund for street and alley cleaning, like most other Districs Sunds, is below the de- to run big industries they should see how he manages to come out in a transaction with the oil interests. I An active and eggressive statesman, ; Poincare permits himself to pause now and then only for the purpose of se- curing another indorsement. Efforts of ex-Secretary Fall to pay the mortgage off the dear old farm has afforded some of the most pathetic scenes in a thrilling drama. Though reputations topple, the in- terest in whether the oil leases are technically valid does not entirely sub- side. Beefeaters Threaten to Strike. Americans who have visited the Tower of London bring away with them a vivid recollection of the “Beef- eaters,” as the yeoman warders who maintain guard over the ancient estab- lishment are called. These quaintly costumed custodians, reminiscent of the sixteenth century, edd a touch of color and picturesqueness to the other- ‘wise drab and grim surround@ings. Just so do the guards in the Plantin Museum at Antwerp, who are clothed in the medieval style. The Beefeaters at the Tower of London are a grave and serious corps. They are all old army sergeants, whose spotless rec- ords entitle them to this appointment. Tourists who have observed them standing about in the venerable pre- cincts have doubtless often thought of them as in enjovment of a fairly easy job. But it seems that the Beef- eaters have another view of the mat- ter. They are now threatening a strike for shorter hours. At present they are on duty ten hours & day, and they think that eight hours is long enough to wear the ancient costume and an- swer the foolish questions of the tour- ists, and between vizitations gaze upon lme melancholy reminders of -a tragic ipast. Some time ago, it seems, they were promised that flve men would be added to the force, which would per- mit a reduction of hours. But some- how the promise has not been kept, and now it would seem that the Beef- eaters have formed a union and have issued an ultimatum to the govern- ment. They will walk out if not re- lieved. One 'cannot imagine the Tower of London without *its - buckle-shoed, woolen-stockinged, kneé-breechell cus- todians with their pancake hats and quaint doublets. They are a part of the British tradition. 8o it is to be assumed that the government will now ) w 1_. heed the warning given and quickly add the five new members to this an- clent and honorable corps and bring it up to date by giving it an elght-hour day. Just the same, one is prone to wonder what would have happened if the Beefeaters in the days of Henry VIII had struck for higher wages or shorter hours. For King Hal was a: strikebreaker if ever there was one. —— o Ancient Drama. A scholarly and otherwise distin- guished Washington man has just dls- cussed before a distingulshed Wash- ington audience the beginning of the drama. A man searching for the be- ginning of anything is led far back in the past. Sometimes a modern dls-! covery is something that happened to be forgot for @ thousand years. Many researches in the ‘beginnings” o!l things lead @ man so far back that ha' comes to & time when there were not | S0 many written records as now, and few of which have been preserved to us. Then his researches carry him back to @ time when there were no written records or to a time whence no records have come to us. This dis- tinguished man goes far beyond the Christian era in his search for drama. He finds plays and actors in Wh" pagan times. As far back as he can go he finds plays and actors and audi- ences. i Everybody knows that there are old plays, and that many plays that are called new are not worth the money it costs to see them. Some theater- goers believe that there are no new play plots. Every now and then a new play or a Broadway success “or something of that kind comes to Washington with a plot, if it has one, ‘which must have been in use when the grandmother of King Tut was playing with.a doll. Perhaps the plot of many a new play was known to playgoers who went to the theater wearing nothing but tattoo marks and bear robes. Of course, women still dress in the skins of wild beusts and string themselves with beads. There is nothing new in that. But we have play plots today which must have been known to playgoers who checked their stone clubs at the door and per- baps were sorry they had done so. —————o——————— Coolidge Also Strong in North. Harold Ickes, Illinois manager of Senator Hiram W. Johnson's presi- dential candidacy, has written an open letter to James W. Good, west- ern manager for President Coolidge, in which he complains that the Cool- | idge adherents are basing their claims of ultimate victory on ‘patronage- controlled delegates from southern states.” The point is not well taken, in view of the progress made thus far in se- curing delegates to the national con- vention pledged, instructed or known to be favorable to President Cool- idge’s nomination. Up to date, the real Coolidge strength has been found to be in the north. If it be said that the south has not been heard from in full, the retort is that neither has the north. The real point is that Presi- dent Coolidge has demonstrated his strength in northern states where reasonable expectations may have been entertained by his opponents of | breaking through the Coolidge lines. That has not occurred. Delegates for Coolidge from north- ern states, including the border state of Kentucky, which is not classed with the solid south, thus far chosen | number 129. Delegates from southern | states total 34. The Phillipines are | sending two delegates. That does not | look much like "puronagocom.rouea‘ strength.” H Mr. Tckes would seem to have “an. | other guess coming to him.” —_——— Another effort is to be made by Harry Thaw to prove his sanity, thus introducing still another subject in the already bewildering study of men- tal and moral complexities. —————— In spite of fluctuations, European money is still all right for those who insist on the plain old-fashioned metal currency. The only bad money is imaginary money. So far the charges affecting the De- partment of Justice are met by en Attorney General denial. —_— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Storms, ‘The storm that wildly swept the sky Brought terror to each heart. ‘We take our losses and we try To make & better start. That storm appears a bit of luck, ‘Which, when its course is through, Has cleared away the useless truck And bids us build anew. Gossip. “There is a great deal of idle gossip going around.” “There are times,” answered Sena- tor Sorghum, “when comfort would be enhanced if there were more idle gos- sip going around end not so much stuff that can actually be proved.” Jud Tunkins says cigarettes make him terribly nervous, especially when his wife tries to smoke one. it Modest Worth, ‘We often wonder, 'mid complaint Of things we don't deserve, good men oft have hearts so faint And crooks have so much nerve. Altogether Different. “Women change their minds.” “Yes,” answered Mr. Meekton. “When we were married Henrietta made me promise not to stay out late. and now she's indignant if I don't go to all kinds of parties and stay up till 1 o'clock in the morning.” Abstemions Community. “Any bootleggers around here?” asked the stranger. “Not one,” replied Uncle Bill Bottle- “Town reformed?” “No. Broke.” “Dar ain’ nufin’® wrong . about money,” maid Uncle Eben, “’ceppin’ dat it's liable to wander off an’ git into bad company.” i crowd by themselves. |Proposes to Aid the Farmers By a “Tapering-Off” Process| .. BY THOMAS R. MARNHALL, In the old duys, before Mr, Volstesd | n became a commanding fgure In American political and economie life, In the days when the lauer Interests dominated politics and no one dream« ed that men could be made good by law or sobered up by statute, there Wwas & process known as tapering off. A man who had boen drinking to ex- cess for days, weeks, months and had traveled the route of intoxleation to tho forest Inhabited by purple ele- phants, blue monkeys and red snakes, was supposed to find his solo sulva- tion in this process. He was not sud- denly deprived of Intoxicants. Rn- ther, strong liquor was fed to him in gradually reduced quantity until ho was restored to a fairly normal con- dition of body and mind. Then he was urged to show sense enough to leave “It” alone thereafter. * x X ¥ Stimulants have much the same ef- fect upon the body politic that intoxi- cants have upon the Individual. Let mo illustrate: ¥or many years now our governmont has been upon a financial orgy. Whenever it Is be- lieved it could stimulate the business of the country it has offered protec- tion, taxation or subsidy. The body Politio has absorbed so much of these intoxicants that it is beginning to see things. In the old days of the free and un- restricted use of liquors, beer drink- ers used to gather together in a body, whisky drinkers in another, wine bib- bers in still another and the cocktall ‘Today we have the blocs of government, created, to my mind, by the intoxicants used by business. The various big and little interests of America join togetherac- cording to the kind of intoxicant which they hope the government will grant to them in the belief that it will stimulate. No one, so far as 1 know, is hoping for a sudden and compiete cessation of the use of these intoxicants. The utmost that any of us who do not belleve that temporary stimulants ever lead to permanent health can hope for is a process of tapering off, in the hope that if it shall be restorative and curative in the case of any one industry, it will come into general favor. * ¥ ¥ * The only man who really produces anything is the farmer. Other men may by thelr industry, ingenity and enterprise add to the exchange value of things already in existence, but the farmer alone is the producer who causes two blades of grass to grow where but one grew before. He is really the only person who introduces into life any new source of wealth. Justice, therefore, demands that he have a square deal, that every rea- sonable opportunity be given him to make a success. But it is not doing him any good in the world everlasi- ingly to discuss academic questions. Men may not live by bread alone, and the farmer cannot live upon the rea- sons that are advanced for th> un- fortunate condition of his industry. One of the cvils of American life is the existence of a middle man for about every two and & half farmers, | a comtented state of mind { (Copyrighe, 1924, by Tweaty.fist Ceatury ress. in order 1o bring about distribution of farm products to those of the Men and Affairs BY ROBERT T. SMALL. ‘Washington's sensibilities have be- come so dulled by the never ceasing investigations that the amazing story told by Edward L. Doheny of his con- nection with affairs of state in Mexico has scarcely caused a ripple on the surface here. Time was when & revelation of this sort would have brought about a storm in diplomatic and State Depaktment circles. But on this occasion, nothing at all. Mr. Doheny places himself in the position of a man who was able to dictate the fate of the Mexican re- public one way or the other. This one citizen of the United States, whose hobby has been the employment of ex- cabinet officers, according to his own statement, debated with himself as to whether Obregon should be permitted to remain as president or if the rebel de la Huerta was to be given the reins of government. Mr. Doheny of the oil millions final- 1y plunked for Obregon and Obregon remains supreme, with only a few scattering rebel bands in the field against him. Mr. Doheny paid off the Obregon army with his good American money and the Obregon army de- feated the Huertistas. The inference is plain that if Mr. Doheny hadn't chosen personally to pay off the Ob- regon soldiers, or if he had chosen to give a few million dollars to Mr. de la Huerta, the whole face of things in Mexico would have been dif- ferent. *x %3 Naturally, Mr. Doheny expects the re- constituted Obregon government to “be £00d™ to his oil interests in the future and he figures that he will probably get this small item of $5,000,000 back several fold in the increased output of Mexican crude oil and petroleum. The incident, however, serves to shed additional light upon the Cali- fornia oil multimillionaire and to ex- plain some of the arrogance with which he approaches public questions and public persons in this country. The incident also causes some spec- ulation as to the purchases of war materials recently made in this coun- try by the Obregon government. Not all of Mr, Doheny’s $5,000,000 contri- bution “to Obregon success was used in paying off the army, o it is to be inferred that some of it has found its way back to the United States gov- ernment for the sale of cast-off or second-hand weapons and ammuni- tions sent to Obregon to quell the re- beilious de Huerta. It is an wind, indeed, that blows no * kX K X It is an intriguing thing to think of one distingnished American citizen making an after-dinner decision as to the fate of an entire people. Doheny says that emissaries of de la Huerta came to him to interest him in the revolution. He had an investigation made of the situation. This didn't keep him up nights at all, but he just ':np(ed to know. His agents reported back to him that Obregon looked the better bet. nenu&n the Obre- gonistas had it Mr. heny didn’t worry about the matter after that He had decided that Obregon was to remain in power and there was noth- ing for Obregon to do but remain in power. Edward Doheny, hard-fisted, fight- ing man, ruthless in his use of human materials to gain any desired end, apparently gets the greatest joy out of life in combat. He has many mil- lions—more than most men ever dreamed of. Furthermore, most men of his millions would retire. But Do- heny is just as restless, just as un- tiring In his ceaseless enérgy today as he was at the time he was making his first stake. The oil man has never been rated as in_the class of Henry Ford or John D. Rockefeller, or even Secretary Mellon, but it appears that he gets more “action” for his money than any of the American multi-millionaires. Perhaps, 80! me day; pproached, he may settle the Ger- :nn reparations question. Who knows? l o American people who must purchase them or starve. Yet there is no legal wiry | Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. Jou occasionally see in the lic print about the value of a fow wpare minutes a day given to study or serious reading is practical stuff, and to drive commission merchants, {I call Represeatative James T. Begg Wholoshlers and retailers out of busi- onn. 1f anybody wishes to do busi- | ness with any of them, it is his right. ! The rallroads of this country, mot- withstanding statements to the con- trary, ve shown rather conclusively to my mind that the charges a furmer in compelled to pay for the transpor- tutlon of his crops to the market ia but_a small proportion of the cost to the ultimate consumer. I have yet to have brought my atteation a workable hypothesis by which a re- ductlon = in" " transportation charges ould Inure to the benefit of the| farmer. 1 know of no one who has agreed to execute an indemnity bond conditioned that If the railroad rates on farm products were cut in two, the raving would pass into the potkets of the farmers and not into the pock- ots of the middlemen and consumers, or, indecd, that the consumer would benofiz, * K x % Manifestly, the one important thing for the furmer just mow Is & market {for his surplus products. Whenever there shall come a demana for the en- tire agricultural product of this coun- try, when men shall bid for it, know- ing there will be no surplus, but that all will be required for immediato con- sumption, then prices received by the farmer for his products will be enhanced. The European situation re- veals a demand for the surplus farm products of America if there were some way in which their sale could be financed. As a permanent policy, I would be opposed to the govern-: ment assisting busincss and 1ding intoxicants to any industry, either for the purpose of making it feel good for a time, or with a view to restoration to health. But the ancient doctrine of tapering off might proper- ly be applied in the case of agricul- ture. % % x ‘Why not listen to the modest re- quest of the agriculturists of Ameri- ca? Why may not the government ad- vance the money for a farmers’ ex- port financing commission to sell our surplus farm products upon credit in European markets where they are sorely needed? The farmer with his modesty and high sense of patriotism is not asking that the government shall give to him any sum of mofey. He is willing, if the money shall be advanced to finance the exportation of his surplus crops, that all losses which may be sustained shall be made Kood to the government by benefi- ciaries of the exporting pian. Per- sons who are wise emough economi- cally usually to know what they are talking about say that this plam would bring increased values to farm products and would measurably re- store agricuitural classes to & sound financial basis. . 1t is what 1 would call a tapering- oft process. Experimentation for two or three years would disclose either that the plan was f{alacious or suffl. ciently beneficial that the farmer: themselves should take charge and dismiss the government from further activity. Although opposed to the whole system of government aid to business, I feel that justice demands that our government which has done much for other industries should do this much for agriculture. The indus- try must be restored to a normal CoN- dition. Farmers must be returned to Fifty Years Ago In The Star Charles Sumner, senator from Mas- sachusetts for twenty-three years, died in Washington, March 11, 1874, at his residence at the corner of Ver- mont avenue and Sudden Death of H street, a red trick building, Charles Sumner. which later for a good many years was used a3 an annex to the Arlington Hotel. Mr. Sumner had appeared in his seat in the Senate the day before and seemed to be in his usual health. About 2 o'clock he was seized with a severe pain in the region of the heart, and, leaving his seat, rested for a short time on a sofa. Later he rallied and retumed home, apparently in his ordinary health, dining that evéning with friends. About 9 o'clock, at night be was again attacked and) physiclans were summoned, who found him suffering from angina pectoris, | He sank steadily, and, as stated, pass- | ed away about twenty-five hours after his first attack. The issues of ‘The Star carry long accounts of his death and reviews of his career; also the proceedings {n Congress and cere- | monies of the funeral, which took | place on the lhll‘!e:fl!h at the Cflpllo!.’ In an editorial printed in The Star of March 17, 1874, is given a remi- niscence of the writer of an inter- view with Mr. Sumner held in the June previous on the The Morning of eve of his de- parture for hts Lincoln’s Death. summer vacation “The conversation turned upon the assassination of President Lincoln, and Mr. Sumner gave an exceedingly in- teresting, detalled account of his ex- perience on that dreadful night. It is unnecessary here to rehearse his narrative. Suffice it to say he was with Mr. Lincoln-all night, and in the morning saw him breathe his ast. “1 had been terribly exercised all night’ ho said, ‘over the reports in regard to Mr. Seward, and desired to to him_as soon as possible. My rst duty, however, was to the dying 1 therciore stayed by hia side all night. When he drew his last breath, some one—I think Stan- ton—called upon a chaplain who was present to offer prayer. I had already taken my hat to go, but waited until the prayer was concluded, when I left hastily. On reaching the steps I saw Gen. Halleck preceded me. Anxious to go to Mr. Seward at once, I asked Gen. lleck if he would take me there in his carriage, which standing in the street. Gen. Halleck replied that he was going that way, and would do so with pleasure. He added, “I shall have to ask you to wait for me at the Kirkwood House, &s 1 want to see Vicd President John- son (he was stopping there) a mo- ment.” Then for the first time it fiashed upon me like an electric shock that Andrew Johnson was President of the United States. So absorbing had been my grief that it did not oc- cur to me before. Near D street, think it was, a rope cordon guarded | soldiers had been stretohed across 10th street, and & large crowd was collected, Recognizing Gen. Halleok and myself, a number of voices said: “Senator, how Lincoln i 1 rosponded ih & low tone of voice, but loud enough to be heard by all, | “Gentlemen, Mr. Lincoln has just| dlea:” " The announcement being re. | celved In sorrowful silence. Arrived in front of the Kirkwood, leck alighted and, sayi be away but a moment,” passed into hotel. Now, Gen. Halleck was peculiar man—a man- of few rds—and when & minute later he returned 1 inquired, “General, what did you say to Mr. Johnson?” “Mr. Johnson, don't house without a guard t out " Mr. Lindoln and fact that he United States.’ aware: of Ohlo, ae of the outstanding, clear- minded, plain-gpoken young men in Con- gress, as witness. “Jim” Begg had struggle to get his start in life. was born and |raised on & farm. Bince he was four- teen bhe has lutely made his own way. He quit school at fifteen because he had passed the tcachers examination and was not old enough to teach. Then he went to work on a farm, and con- tinued at that work for four years. But one day. while he was husking corn on a coid, frosty morning, he heard the school bell ring. He thought, “That man i8 getting $50 a_month, in- side where It is warm, and he wears decent clothes: I am getting 325 for working hard out here in the cold and wear overalls.” Right then and there, he decided to ’:Ilt the farm, S:t more education and fit himeeif to do some- thiug that would require brains rather than brawn. He bought some text books and car- ried them with him when he went into the fields to work. When the team needed a rest, Farmboy Jim took his book from his pocket and perused it Rasult, the nest spring he again passed the examination for a Bchool teacher's certlficate and taught in his home school, to accomplish anything worth needed more education, so he quit teaching school and started college, hav- ing saved $1,000. To accumulate that $1,000 he saved every cent he could out of what earned and bought and sold anything he could get his hands on. He can- vassed one summer for maps, and made enough in two months to pay his ex- penses at college during the next year. A peculiar fact is that part of the ter- ritory over which he canvassed is in the district he now represeats in Con- gress. He did his pre, ory work and col- lege work and Pearned his. degree in three and a half years. Then he went back to the teaching profession and spent fourteen years as a su| dent of achools In three different cities, Co- lumbus Grove. his home village: Iron- ton and Sandusky, Ohfo. Again he decided that if he intended to educate his children and achieve a position of any prominence in ‘the world_he must quit teaching school. This he did at the age of forty. He then went into chamber of commerce and_one year thereafter was elected to Congress from the thirteenth Ohio district, being the first republican to represent his county in forty years, and the first congressman out of his home county of Erie in sixty-seven years. For % number of years he has been dabbling in business, being connected with several_industries and a couple of panks. He is president of the First Joint Stock Land Bank in Cleveland, Ohio. * * x % The District schools and thé Public Library in the Natlonal Capital have a decided friend in Representative Frank H. Funk of Bloomington, IiL. Who is one of the ablest members on the subcommittee which drafted the =ppropriation bill for the District of Columbia, because he has a unique school on his own £500-acre farm near Bloomington, and recently gave the school a librars. This is & rural school. a real cross- roads school, but unlike all others in class, which are, for the most part, one-room shacks, this school, of which Representative Funk is patron. employs five teachers. has a thre year Righ school course, three cover- trucks to bring the children to school, has a gymnastum and a com- munity hall which cost $20,000, and is thoroughly equipped ~for pl moving picture shows and communit entertainment. Representative Funk contributed three acres of land for the school playground and agricultural experi- ment plots. Last year, when this school wanted a library, Representa- ‘he | inance. CHAPTER XXL Cam the Debt Charges Be Cut? ‘When the great war came to an end in November, 1919, the government of the United States owed approximately twenty-five billions of dollars of inter- est-bearing obligations. We had also increased the volume of ouar money— our bank note circulation—from 72§ mil- lions of dollars at the end of 1913 to 3,808 milHons of dollars at the end of 1919. The value of the dollar, based on purchasing power, had been cut in two. Inflation had done it. We saw in the last chapter that it was mecessary to distinguish between goods and credit in order to understand the difference be- tween actual war losses and the s0- called war costs. ‘The war losses are in goods or serv-, fces, while the war costs are expressed | In_terms of money. Loases include| &oods people that wers destruyed e maimed. ~ Gosts. inclads. (1) & ha- | tional debt, which has become the pri- vate asset of the citizens of the na- tion; (3) paper currency, which was| issued to buy goods and pay for serv-| ices; and (3) taxes, which represent a part of the private surplus surrendered of public | ption. distinction is vital to any real . You see goods are Drlmfly,( while credit and money, the measure of goods, are secondary. may be ! destroyed, but the money or the credit | paid for them remains. That is where ¢ most of our confused thinking comes in. S0 the wastes of war consist of the destruction of surplus ¢ notes and liberty bonds and paper money. do not increase or decrease the | nation's wealth. Nor do great debts | end & war, As the surpius of produc- tion over consumption is reduced & nation is weakened. And when the sur- plus of production over consumption is | wiped out, then the war must end. 8o ! both the factor of increased production | and that of decreased comsumption | figure in the final outcome—for physical | victory or defeat. | Debt Charges Imcrease Forty Times. | l So I say again that from the stand- | point of 95 per cent of all the psople in America we would have been immeas- urably better off today in every way if every dollar epent for war purposes | had been raised by taxation. But it was not done. The question then s as to what our policy will be with regard 10 the public debt charges, which are by far the largest single item in our national expenses. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1924, the bureau of the budget esti- mates that 41.61 cents out of every dot- ! lar collected for federal purpsses will g0 to pay public_debt charges, as| nst less than 1 per cent in '1816.: This item for 1924 is more than is Leing consum) This spent during the same period for the y, Navy, Interior, Agriculture, Labor, Treasury, Justice, State and ! Commerce departments combined, and | pensions. In & word, if we leave out Jjust the expenses of the Veterans’ Bu- Teau for 1924, public debt charges are xmore than all the rest of the expenses | of the government combined. Pubiic| | debt charges are costing the peopio of | { America for this year at the rate of | 110,000 a_minute. it is a first lien on {the production of the nation. | Three suggestions for meeting this huge debt have been advanced since the | war. The first is that a capital levy should ibe adopted by the national govern- ! ment, 80 as to pay off both the princi- [pal and the interest at one time. The { wealth of the nation is estimated at 350 { billions of doilars. It is sald that & levy of 6 per cent on all the wealth of the ! | nation would pay off this huge debt and | ! 5o make the burden for -the average | man much easier to bear. In this way the war tax burden could not be shifted lthrou:h indirect taxation by those best CAN YOUR TAXES BE CUT? A Series of Articles on the Cost of Government; Where the Money Goes, and Why. ——— BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR, Author of “Can Europe Hold Together?" - tive Funk donated 1,060 books, in- cluding Encyclopedia 'Britannica and other recognized works of reference. !nhle to bear it. Shall Holders Relinquish. It is claimed that the deflation period i i - {cansed mearly all the small holders of Invariably in getting rid of surplus | government obligations to sell or dis- war supplies the United States g0v-{pose of their bonds, a great many sell- ernment has lost money. Tt will be |jng gt a large discount. Today it s recalled that a deal for disposing oricmm.d that the vast majoeity of ail certain surplus goods at Perryville.| ¢pe liberty bonds are owned by the Md., was one of the scandals aired in { well-to-do. The report of the Secre- the investigation of the Veterans' Bu- ! tary of the Treasury for the year end- reau. Also the former director of|ing June 30, 1923, seems to confirm this sales of the War Dey ent is one | View. of ten to be tried in the District Su- | We may assume that the vast major- preme Court this spring on war fraud | ity of the bonds of the smaller denomi- charges, the prosecution claiming |nations (350, $100 and $500) are held by that the government was defrauded | small Investors, while those of larger 1 |in is Mr ‘General, is Mr. Lincoln still alive? {ready for business, 40,000 city car- Ge - {O’Sulltvan c: “'IL gfl:]‘l’lfl.l. wmel:a within forty years has : G 1,000 per cent, which caused the posi e nson” don’t. 5o ‘bat Sof th {Master to Wire 1o Washington ths fol. This |lowing telogram: “Office out of my the. way_ 1% “which Mr. Jonnson |control 2y of the {open mail ,¥as President of the & of nearly $2,000,000 1n the disposition of lumber. It is refreshing. therefore, to hear the testimony of Maj. C. D, Hartman, director of sales for the Quartermaster Corps, before the House appropria- tions committee. in which he stated { that “one particular lot of some 500,~ | after tho period of violent deflation had 000 cans of pineapplo that was bought at between 17 and 19 cents was resol for 21%. per can.” * K % % An interesting illustration of how the chemical warfare service is help- ing agriculture with airplanes as an agency, thus bringmg iato play in peace-time industry the two newest and most powerful branches of mod- ern warfars, was told to Congress the other day by Brig. Gen. Amos A. Fries. He explained that the sprin- kling of chemicals on plants from air- planes has extended commercial pos sibilities in attacking insects that de- stroy growing crops. The interesting incident that he re- called happened in connection with the experiments of the air service and the agricuitura! department of the state of Ohio. “They reported to us that the liq- uids could not be sprinkled from an airplane,” id Gen. Fries. “We said that we could do it; that wi sure we could do it, although not attempted it theretofore. They said the liquid material used was atomized so finely om being dropped by the airplane that it re; ed sus- pended in the air like & fog and would not fall to the ground. The chemical warfare service overcame this fea~ ture by applying air pressure to force the liquid In the opposite direction of the airplane’s flight.” In this way the liquid was com- pelled to drop in such a way as to combat the pests. X * ¥ ¥k Amasing statistics showing the growth of the postal service are given by Representative Patrick B. O'Sullivan of Derby, Conn., who, although a Yale and Georgetown Uni- wversity graduate, enlisted in the Navy during the world war and served on the U. S. S. North Dakota as ensign. At the close of the fiscal v in 1800 the sum of the Post Office - ment's receipts was $280,804, Repre- sentative O'Sullivan points out; dur- g the past fiscal year its receipts were $532,827,925, & magnificent dem- onstration of the use to which . the American public puts this utiiit; “Each day over 51,000 post offi throw open their doors, 66,000 as sistant postmasters and clerks get rlflrlb throw on lthalrn"l::l.l ”Dohb'i-' oy - late families would 44,000 rural carriers u n | be proh oF (got. Henry out of the Stall As to divoros, decrees would be ob- As an example of growth, stagger- | tainable on the grounds of adultery, ing- in magnitude Representative | cruel or treatment, abandon- s attention to Los An- increased its pos! receipts from $60,000 to $6,000,000. A striking example of mushroom growth is a fourth. post office in Arkansas, the business of which in three months of 1932 increased over etters arriving 5,000 to 7,000 parcel post by the toa; caanot 1 5,00 to U P A L T T L R denominstions, such as $1,000, 35,000, $10,000, 350,000 and $100,000, are owned by the large investors. On June 30, 1919, the total holdings of the small investor class amounted to 1$8.469,000.000, while the large investors held $12,856,000,000. Three vears later, been pretty well spent—to be exact on d | August 31, 1923—the smail investor class held just’$2,767,000,000 of bonds, while those owning the iarge denominations had increased their holdings to $13,- $54,000,000. But the big argument advanced by | the advocates of the ital levy is that it will shut off the hardships of de- fiation {n paying the public debt before y the costs become un! e. say that if the capital levy is not adopted ent will be o e governm its creditors dollars worth very much more in purchasing power than it re- ocelved. The government borrowed dol- lars worth fifty cents and is now paying back dollars worth sixty-five cents. ‘Without a capital levy this dollar being paid pack will likely increase in value as the years go on, and by such a proc- ess the bondholder is benefited at the expense of the tixpayer. There i8 much truth in this conten- tion. The last election in Great Britain ¥as largely fought out on this issuve e Dresent Eovernment of Great committed to the program of the capital levy to pay approximats. 1y Balf of its huge internal debt. Earopean Debt Problem. The secéad plan so far suggested 1o [neet, this government e Epae tote Insis! e seventeen European countries who now o us - mately twelve and a half billions of dollars be made to pay up imme- diately. This sounds plausible at first glance, but is it 50 easy to accom- plish?* Let us see. This stupendous debt was created in the first place by America selling to Europe an excess of goods over what Eurobe sold to America In {he same period. - amount of the excess is the amount of the debt. It can be paid back only in the same way—but allowing thesc debtor countries to sell to us an ex- cens of their goods over what we sell to them. How much more? much as s necessary to pay the debi. That 16 to say, if we want those debts pald by these European nations, it will ‘be necessary for the United States to allow these seventeen ne- tions to send us each year for the next forty years approximately €50 million dollars more g than we sell to them. Will we do it? We haven't started to do it yet. The record for 1923 shows that these seventeen nations who owe us sent to the United States about 300 millions of goods, but we sent to them 1,700 millions of goods, no doubt paid for largely by borrowings. The record further shows that amount which we sent to them, two- thirds: was farm products. If we in- st on Europe paying its exportabie surplus for reparations and interest on war debts, either to us or to oth- ers, Europe cannot at the same time buy foodstuffs or other products from us, We cannot eat our cake and have it, too. If we decide on such a policy where will the American farmer seil his surplus? Is further comment along this line necessary to show tha! such & policy would only end in &u preme disaster for the people of the United States. The third plan suggested for re- dueing this expenditure is that while agresing to pay the debt in full, ths American poople insist that the ins terest rate be reduced very materiallx from the present high level. Ome-Half Per Cent Means §110,000,000. It is the oontention of the advo- cates for this plan that “a high rate of interest paid cn government se- curities sets the pace in maintainiag a high interest rate on borrowings of all kinds, in view of the fact that it is estimated that about S0 per cen. of all commercial transactions are based on credit.” The government owes Now about $22,000,000,000. A half of 1 per cent reduction in interest means a saving to the taxpayer of $110,000.000 a year. This is no small item. During tho year 1923 the Treasury art- ment oarried on the greatest amount of peace financing ever attempted. It was handled as & banking proposi- tion, mostly with bankers. The point of view of the banker prevailed. I do not need to say that interest is to the banker what water is to the fish The more the better. Interest rates on ail government obligations which were offered during the past year must have been eminently satisfac- | tory to the bankers, for every issus was greatly oversubscribed. Here's the record: From December 15, 1922, to September 15 1933, the Treasury offcred approximately $2. 150,000,600 of movernment obligatio at ratee varying from 4 to 4% pe cent. So attractive were these o ferings that the volume of subscrip- tions total proximately $4,100.- 606.600. During the acxt five years the gov- ernment has te take care of approxi- mately four billions of Treasury notes, and three billion four hundred million in Liberty bonds, or a total of approximately $7,400.000,000. sinking fund will provide for about cne billlon six hundred twenty mil- lions, leaving a balance of $5.780,- 000,000 which has to be by issuing new securities or by adding new taxes. If onc-half of 1 per cent even can be saved of this amount, ft will mean $27,000.000 a vear. That is more than the Interior Department cost us for 1923, This is no small {tem to negiect. The obligations of the United States are at this time the finest and safest security, relatively, in the world, No state within the country has such power and such credit. Goverament Is Largest Debtor. The Treasury Department declarss that interest rates are determined by the oonditions of the market For the ordinary debtor this is probably true, but in the case of the United States such a statement needs a real qualification. United States is_too big to be discounted or {gnored. It is the largest debtor within the councry. it sets the pace and to a very larze extent can set the Interest rate The o = Congress has seen fit to give to the Secretary of the Treasury the yower to fix tha interest rates on all refunding obligaticns of the govern- ment. It 18 a terrific power. It means over a course of years hundreds of iniilions of dollars one way or the other. If the ple of America are golng to buckle down and pay the ebt without qualifications of any kind, they should insist that interest charges on all renewals must be made low, and the long-suffering people or the’ United States so far have not insisted. [§ 1024, by N¢ jance. in United States and Great ?th American Ne r Al rights reserved.) Tomerrow: R.-“ xht, ritatn Al 'pendent Spend- 5. Marriage and Divorce Legislation BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Uniform marriage and diverce legisla- tion is one of the important problems pending before Congreas which has been overshadowed by the sensational investi- gations that have monopolised the news in Washington. A subcommittee of the House committeo on the judiciary has the subject under consideration, and If Congress acts favorably on the proposal now before it the next step will be ac- tion by the states on & constitutional amendment under which the laws on marriage and divorcs, on the question of the legitimacy of children and on the care and custody of children affected by the annulment of marriages or by divorces may be made -uniform through- out the United States. With respect to marriage it is pro- posed that no ceremony may be per- formsd without & license, application Mmmmbomndommklis Posied tn"the chunty clerks ofies, and the marriage of imbeciles, tho insane. the tubercular, the epileptic and those Feiated within mmed| ment or faiure to prowide for a period of a year, incurable- insanity or the oonviction of either party of the crime of murder. Defendants in divorce ac- tions would be required to appear in oourt, or falling to do 80, representatives would be designated by an officer of the court to appear for them. amendment for uniform laws regu- ll‘nflnl divorce is one of the measures is backed by the wom- en's Jjoint al committee, which is made up of seventeen lons exclusively. of ‘wpmen, or in which women are represented. It is not part of the mittes’s program for which an_especial drive is being made at the present ses- sion, but six of the seventeen y organizations have {ndorsed it formall ‘This means that the question will never bs dropped, and that sooner or later Congress will act upon it. * x % % Agitation of the divorce problem in a national way dates back almost fifty years. At that time there wetre no data by which ghe extent of the growth of divorce in the country at large ould be gauged, oF by which the seriousness of the situation with respect to the differences in state laws could be impressed upon the public. In the 50's thers was so much discussion of the subject that the Forty-Ninth Congress waa stir- red to action, and a bill was passed authorising a census of the married and divorced population of the coun-: try. The report covered a period 1886, ana roes. twenty years, from 1867 o showed a total of 328,716 -divo: This report led to -renewed disous- sion from press, pulpit and public rostrum, but that was all that it did lead to, and. the agitation gradually died down. Two decades later, in 1909, the bureau of the census pub- lished & wpeclal report on marriage and divorce covering the forty-year period from 1867. to 1906, which Bhow- ed a total of 1,874,341 divorces, with 94&.‘2’!‘ during the last twemty-year pe e Each five-year period for the whole forty years showed a marked increase. over the five years (mmediately pre- ceding, averaging about 30.-per cemt Duriag thess. periods the population "'t. increasing- only- about 10. per cen! No federal census was again taken until-1916, and then only for one year, largely Jshowing a total of 113,036 divoroes com- "In u:z.‘m ‘were 148,684 -~