Evening Star Newspaper, March 19, 1924, Page 6

& THE With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY. . courage of the premier. ‘The rest of the world has long recog- nized that what Poincare now pro- puses to do was the right and neces- March 19, 1924 sary thing to be done, and there is o reason to doubt that Poincare has THEODORE W. NOYES. . . .Editor | heen eqgally alive to the necessities of The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th t. and Peonsylvania Ave. New York Otfice: 110 East 42nd Chicago Of : Tower Buildinz. Baropan Office: 16 Regent St., London, England. The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning edition, is delivered by carciers within the eity ai G0 cents per mouth: daily ouly, 43 vents per month. Nunday oniy. 20 cents’ per month. Orde s may be seat by mail or tele- phone Muin 5000. Collection is made by car- riers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virg'ni; Daily and Sunda. Daily only Sunday on All Other States. .1yr, $10.00 Jyr, $7.00 §3.00 Member of the Associated Press, The Associated Pross is exclus'vely entitled o the use for republication of all credited (o it or not « s paper and also the ioca chts of ave als rese : 1 mo., R5¢ 1 mo, bue i 1 mo, 25¢ American Civic Association. The American Civic Association takes a strong stand for the bill which would create a commi: m to ac- quire such lands as in its judzment shall be necessary and desirable in the District of Columbla and adjacent areas in Maryland and Virginia.” The com ion would retary of the Treasury, War, chairmen of the Ho ate committees on publie and grounds and the Engineer Com- ner of the I ri«x( nd the pur- pose of the commission would be to preserve forests and natural scenery and near Washington, provide for systematic and continuc develop- ment of the park and playground sy ems of the Ca al, rve Rock creek and prevent pollution of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers. Several months the Amer Civic Association evolved its plan for ng Washington 4 more splendid Capital, and proceeded with its under- taking to sccure co-opera ple in many parts of the countr fty committees in fifty cities have 2 ;. anized to aid in promoting ns for Washi Secretary of and Sen- buildings con e association’s pl By ton, and representatives of these com- | mit; have been invited to W ton April 9 to m Capital and its back to their commi as to certain needs of Washington. The Amer truly that Washi vital to its par gress has been s hing- ke inspection of the w to act.” mgress would not which was indicated. The points out the culty appropriations by Congress to give Washington of to- day and of the future the park fea- tures it should have. The association says that required to add a single lot or a the park tem it is hardly remar] able that one plot after another has bean put to private uses b s owner. 1t would be better @ed wooded tracts in the northern sev'tion of the city been bought for sk uses years ago, and that there should have been harmony of design between the old and new Washing- tons. But these mistakes have been made, and it is useless to repine, and the thing to do now is to acquire lands along the Potomac, the upper Eastern branch and Rock creek and some of the tributaries of the rivers and the lost them hec take the action use creek for the conservation of scenery ! and stream, and that Washington as it builds farther from the Capitol shall have that charm of park and wood which was in the minds of the men who established on the Potomac river a permanent seat of government for e republ. —~———— Third Party Rumors, Revival of reports that Senator La Follette is considering the launching of a third party for the presidential campaign is attracting attention in the national political field. His decision, it is explained, will be contingent upon the kind of a platform the republican national convention writes next June. 1f it is too conservative for his liking he is described as being willing to head a movement for a presidential ticket, his platform to be framed along this well known views which have bees classed as radical. = In some quarters it is suggested that possibly Senator La Follette by this threat to organize a third party is really more intent upon “throwing a scare” into the republican conserv. tives over their platform than any- thing else. It is incredible that the republican convention could adopt any ; kind of a platform which would be entirely acceptable to Senator La Fol- lette unless they should let him write it himseif. So the republican party is likely to £Q about setting its own house in| order, to adopt a ‘‘progressive” for- ‘ward-looking platform at Cleveland, and then to let the third-party pro- moters rock along in their own fash- ion. —_—— It 1is confidently expected that enough questions will be left unde- cided by Congress to leave some snappy material available for the na- tional party platforms, Bergdoll would like to return to the U. 8. A. if the trip can be arranged strictly on a prodigal-son basis. Poincare Gets Free Hand. It is a perilous course politically upon which Premier Poincare is about to embark, and if he brings France safely through without wreck of his own fortunes he will deserve to rank as one of the great statesmen of, his age. Only a man of surpassing cour- age would undertake such a program of retrenchment and taxation as that which Poincare proposes, and which ‘by sanction of both houses of his par- liament he now has a free hand to carry out. He staked his political life on the demand that he be given almost dictatorial powers in the matter of a fiscal policy, and parliament yielded to his demand, not because it liked the idea, but because its collective cour- "l heroic remedy, but in the end the of the Sec-| n of peo- ! ns and to carry | information | diffi- | o much circumlocution is | had various rough | ,the situation. But French public opin- ion was not ready for so drastic a pro- gram, and probably would have re- mained unready but for the debacle of the franc. The French people had 0 long been fed on promises of repara- tions that they could not bring them- selves to accept the hard way of ruth- less economy and burdensome taxa- tion. But when the franc fell in value almost to the vanishing point it was brought home to them that rehabilita- tion of French finances could not wait on problematical German payments. There are two main parts to the Poincare program. He proposes first to reduce administrative expenditures to an absilute minimum, involving even curtailment of rebuilding the devastaied regions. Then he will in crease taxation by 20 per cent. In this way it is proposed to balance the bud- get and stabilize the currency. It is French people will profit by it. And when the time comes that Germany begins the payment of reparations, as it inevitably must come, France will find hersclf financially among the strongest nations of the world. The Borah Warning. There was timeliness and sound common sense in the solemn warning pronounced in the Senate yesterday by Senator Borah when he told his colleagues that the nation is growing restless as a result of the neglect of essential legislation incident to the Senate’s “grand jury” pursuits. To arrive at the judgment of the senator from Idaho called for no ex- traordinary intuition; no abnormal keenness of the senatorial ear held close to Mother Earth. The popular { reaction against a course of procedure which, viewed most generously, places | such emphasis upon a series of investi- gations as to disregard the legislative needs of the hour is written plain for {all to see. The nation demands that justice be {meted out for any dishonest or dis- " honorable acts of those intrusted with ‘the administration of its affairs. But {it demands further that there be no masquerading of partisanship under | the cloak of justice, nor any shelving of needed legislation. By this time last year the Senate 1 completed its business and gone home. Today the legislative program i cly been opened. A big ma- jority of the supply bills, needed laws dealing with the coal and railroad | problems, tax reduction, the world | court, the soldier bonus, all remain to be disposed of, together with a score | of equally important if less discussed measure The Senate is warned that the pub- lie will view with disfavor either a failure to act upon these problems or action taken without due deliberation. {1t is warned that it is impossible to devote most of its working hours to | journeys along byways leading from | the straight road of the oil investiga- tion and at the same time legislate. It | will doubtless heed the warning of { Senator Borah, tear itself away from the insidiously fascinating pastime of developing negligible scandal and ap- ply itself vigorously to the basic job for which it was elected. —_—————————— The Norris Resolution. The Senate is to be ('!mgr:uul:\!rr!K upon passing the Norris resolution | vesterday, which proposes a radical | change in the date for the assembling of a newly elected Congress and the inauguration of President of the United States. It is a departure from the plan of the- fathers, abandoning the theory hitherto held. that time must clapse between the election and the functioning of Congress to let party passion which may have been aroused in the campaign abate and to allow “the country to cool off.” Mod- ern conditions have also materially shortened the time necessary when the Constitution was framed to com- ! municate election results throughout theé republic and to enable the new: congressmen to get conveniently to the Capital from the states most dis- tant from Washington. In the opinion of sixty-three sena- tors who voted for the resolution to submit the proposed constitutional ‘amendment to the states for ratifica- tion, it is a desirable change. Only seven senators held the contrary view. The resolution now goes to the House, { requiring also.a two-thirds vote in that body for adoption. It would be well {if the House could expedite action so that the amendment could be sib- { mitted to the states before this session fcloses, that the legislatures, many of which convene in January, could cox- sider its ratification early in the com ing new year. Under the proposed plan a Congress { elected in November would assemble | in January, avoiding the lapse of| thirteen months, as is now the case, i before functioning. It abolishes the | so-called “‘short session,” in which leg- islation is often hastily enacted with- out due consideration. In case the choice of President is thrown into the House the Chief Executive will be elected by a Congress fresh from the people. The resolution of submission having been thoroughly discussed in the Sen- ate, the “great deliberative body,” it can be reasonably expected that the House, boastful of its expedition, can make good its claim and act at once. ———————— A number of senators have de- veloped a Jjudicial impulse which makes them willing to try anybody once. ——ooe————— Big Fires. A recent warehouse fire in North- east Washington called out thirty pieces of fire apparatus. Without go- ing to the trouble of finding out how many pieces of fire apparatus are in the fire department every citizen, and every boy, knows that the engines, hose wagons, trucks, etc., called to put out that fire were a very large part of the District fire department. If a fire of like fury and persistence fiad started i | | ! 1 | | i in another part of:the city while that | warehouse was burning the fire de- partment would have been “put to it” to handle the situation. It seems to | testimony that the country is for the THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 1924. EVENING sTAR'unmno(oquflmflmlndlvlflufl'be common nbwadays end nowa- | nights to have a fire which demands about all the water our firemen can serve. When Washington smaller town with smaller houses a | threealarm fire was enough to draw people, from homes as far from the busy town as K street on the north, 17th on the west, Maryland avenue on the south and $th street east. When a general alarm was sounded people came to the fire from as remote dis- tricts as R and § streets, Virginia ave- rue, Washington Circle and almost from Lincoln Park. Now a fire often breaks out calling for thirty or more pieces of “apparatus,” and except in | the neighborhood of the blaze nobody | knows about it until the evening paper comes around. Washington is a grow- | | ing city, and the fire department does | rot keep pace with the city's growth. | The firemen do their best, and the city authorities work overtime to in-| terest the national-local legislature, | but it is an uphill job, and the city ' within keeps on growing, and the fire de-! partment, in relation to the city, kecps | on shrinking. There is a marked | tendency to overwork the word *con- flagration,” just as we used to over- work the word “holocaust” a genera- tion or so ago, but if the fire depart-} ment is not brought up to the size of | the ecity we will have a ‘‘conflagra- tion” that will be worthy of that big, red word. We may be calling on Alex- andria, Baltimore and Richmond for fire engines, and because of “low pres- sure” or insufficient water in the reser- voirs or some of those things that hap- | pen when they ought not, we will have a story of appalling 10ss to tell. Then there will be a hasty buying of fire envines and a putting of more firemen on the pay roil. There used | to be an old saying about locking the stable after the hor: gone. Switeerland as a Marine Power. That old joke about the “admiral of the Swiss navy" has long since lost its savor. But it may be revived b the announcement that the federal wuthorities of the Alpine republic are discussing measures to permit the Swiss flag to be flown on the high seas. For Switzerland, barred com- pletely from the ocean, nevertheless is seeking to build up a merchant ma- rine. It wants to carry its own goods In its own bottoms. So it is looking about for a merchant navy, and there- fore wants to establish the right to float the national emblem from the masthead and have it recognized by | all the powers of the world. Having no seaccast and no navy | and no mercantile fleet, Switzerland | lacks maritime laws. During the war | merchant ships that carried food sup- | plies to Switzerland displayed the na- tional colors of that country, as a' measure of protection. But that was | an emergency occasion, and its pass- ing leaves the government at Geneva | in a quandary as to how to establish | the flag on the high seas. And there is a further question in the case. If Switzerland develops a merchant ma- | rine will it not need a navy to protect | it? So that the old jest about the, Swiss admiral may after all gain some point. —_——— By this time Magnus Johnson must realize that it is going to require pa- | tience to get a brotherly love and| Golden Rule program in practical ! working order for the purposes of the | Senate. { ! e France now has on hand a program | which includes increased tax collection | and the suppression of profiteering. | Both depend on an appeal to that pa. | triotism for which the French people | are famous. { e It s a little remarkable that the investigations should have gome so far without the touch of picturesque- ness that the thumb-print expert con- tributes. —_——— It may at least be inferred from the present safe from the frequently threatened danger of a wave of Puri- tanism. ——————— Life would be easlier for statesmen if all the difficult questions now be- fore Congress could be settled by a series of prize awards. ——— The rights to films of the investi- gation would have been very market- able if proper care had been taken to have the camera men on hand. —————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Stormy Passage. ““Thou, too, sail on, oh, Ship of State!” ‘While carrying so strange a freight Which must be handled with great care. Explosives are included there., You've oil and fighting films on hand And liquids that are contraband, Together with a tax dispute— Not mentioning some crates of fruit. ‘Though rumors like tornadoes blow Amid the lightning’s angry glow, “Sail on!"—so ran the poet's lay— You ere the same stanch craft today. Intrepidity. “There’s @ man outside who says he wants you to secure him a govern- ment position.” “A government position, when we're in the midst of all this agitation?” “Yes. He says he's hunting work.” “He isn’t hunting work. He's look- fng for trouble.” Jud Tunkins says compared to the subsequent row it's liable to raise a prize fight itself seems right pleasant and peaceable, Overwhelming Information. Investigating we must go ‘With nerves unsteady, Although some of us think we know Enough already. The Pace. “The reckless life used to be made up of wine, woman and song.” *“It seems worse than that now,” commented Miss Cayenne; “bootleg, flappers and jazz." “A bad memory aln’ such a mis- fortune,” said Uncle Eben, “if it makes you forgit most of de tips you gits on hoss racin’.” - service a career; = ) CAN YOUR TAXES BE CUT? was a! A Series of Articles on tl he Cost of Government; ‘Where the Money Goes, and Wh; BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR, Author of “Can Europe Hold Together?” CHAPTER XXIV. Where Big Cuts Might Be Made. Henry C. Adams was a great Amer- ican. ‘He became associated with the University of Michigan in 1880. For forty years he was one of the lead- ing writers on finance in the United States. Me wrote a famous work called “The Science of Finance.” In this book Mr. Adams divided the basic functions of government into three groups: First, the protective function, in cluding a tax from without and and the safeguarding of health. Second, the commercial function, in- cluding all self-supporting enter- prises, such as the post office. Third, the development of function, which ‘springs from a desire on the part of society to attain higher forms of life,” and includes all scientific re- scarch, education and control of re- sources, and the collection and spread of knowledge. Public welfare, in the finest sense, then, demands the maintenance of ali three of these functions, with a par- ticular regard for a well selected re- lationship between each. How im- portant these three functions have become in the life of a nation may be largely judged by the amount of money =pent for each of them. Dr. dward B. Rosa was another high-minded Americ o was as- sociated for many years with the fa- | mous burcau of ‘standards in Was ington. In 1921 he made a very clab- orate independent analysis of gov- | ernment receipts from 10 to 1420, i He a large, compeient staff under him. ¥ many months he worked putting together the figures. Then he pub- lished his report. Tt is unquestion- ably the most comprehensive and most intelligent survey from the plain ¢ viewpoint of govern- ment finances which was ever under- taken. He attempted to put together into figures Henry Adams' general outline. His analysis stopped with the fiscal year year which cnded June 30, 1 . Unfortunately for America, Dr. Rosa died shortly after his report was issued. Figures Brought Down to Date. But the figures based on Dr. Rosa’s plan have been continued by certain | well known experts up to and includ- ing the fiscal year 1923. T have be- fore me the essential figures under such a classification from July 1, 1905 to June 30, 1922, Dr. Rosa’s analysis shows that the expenditures of the government did not greatly change from 1910 to 1915. In 1310 they were $640,000.000 net, and in 1915 wer: $680.000,000. The net debt remain at about $1,000,000,000 during the pe- riod. ir 1) i we take two normal pre-war years, such as 1915 and 1916, and seyen abnormal war and post-war years, 1917 to 1923, inclusive, we find seven amazing revelations: First, in the pi ar vears, 1915 and 1816, the protective function | (military ‘expenses) took two-thirds | of all government expenditures; the | commercial function (primal penses) took 30 per cent; wh development function (research, sci- | ence and educational) took only 4 per cent of the total amount spant Second, in the war years, 1917 to function ae- t of the total expenses of the Uni States gov- ernment; the commercial function 6 ver cent, while the development func- | tion had to be satisfied with 1 per| cent L3 Eighty-three cents out of every | ernment $1 spent from 1917 to ! inclusive, went into the great | war. Third, the cash cost of the great | war to' July 1, 1922, was $31.6! 697.000. This does not inchude sin ing fund payments, unsettled claims | and other acerued liabilities, Fourth. in 1923, the great wnri costs were $2.000.000.600 out of total | expenditures of about $3,500.000,060. This is about the annual burden the people of the United tes will have to meet for many s to come over and above novmal military ex penses and all civil expenses. Inte: est payments will diminish, but as | we have already seen in our chapter | on pensions, pensions will tend to| grow perhaps even faster than inter- | est decreases. Surplus Piled Up. Fifth, revenue from taxes has more | than paid all the expenses of the TUnited States government from 1920 to 1923, inclusive—a surplus of over three billions having been piled up during this period. But even with | this surplus, about twelve billions of deficit coversd by borrowing still re- | mains to be met. This deficit plus ten billions of principle loaned to the allies during and after the war over and above this, gives us approxi- mately twenty-two billions of dollars, or about the total on June 30, 1923 of ‘the public debt of the United States. On March 1, 1924, the public debt stood at $21,781,866,000. Sixth, the annual cost of the sov- ernment now is about three and one- half billions of doliars, where in 1916, it was $700,000.000—five times as great today as then. Seventh, the outgo for public works continues at a high figure, de- spite the war burden that the Amer- ican people are now iaboring under. Let us bring the figures right up to 1924. The actual expenses are fol- lowing very closely the estimates of the bureau of the budget. KFor the year ending June 30, 1924, according to the official report of the director of the budget, military expenses arc expected to take 38.5 cents out of every $1 spent by the government; the public debt charges will take an- other 40.8 cents. Together these two Urges Public Support Of Rogers Proposal To the Bditor of The Star: The newspapers have glven very little space to a discussion of the Rogers bill for the reorganization of our foreign service; partly because we are not desperately interested in matters foreign just now, and partly, 1 believe, because we have as a na- tion a somewhat vague though ex- alted idea of what an important part our forelgn representatives play in international affairs. We idealize our fareign service officers as good-l10ok- | ing men who fly from place to place in handsome limousines, who are al- ways on hand to do anv flag-raising stunt, protect outraged Americans, and who in their leisure moments sit in the shade of some fine old castle and sip fine liquors by the quart and by the hour. T say this is our idealized cinema idea of what our secretaries, min- isters and consular officers are like. And like such popular characters they are just about as true to life as any other of the film likenesses. On the contrary, our foreign officers are earnest, hard-working. competent | erings in Cleveland and New York, men; and they are just as represent- ative of the best in American life as any other typical Americans. They undergo many more privations than do the average well bred, well edu- cated American—both financially, socially and otherwise. ‘As one of those who have been in the work, llked it, and are anxious to see the service keep pace with American politics and industry, I be- lfeve the Rogers bill offers a verv distinct and necessary change in our foreign system. Suecinctly, the bill aims: (1) To provide a living salary for young men who, though possess- ing all necessary qualifications, lack private means, ’md nr‘ad ther;l:nn revented new from making of e 2 (2) to make the i i | vet | for 110 years. 1 Me | become a warring people and * | come |4 {tems require 79.6 cents of each dol- lar spent during this present year by the government. If we put all the other activities of the government together, we find that they will cost the American people just 20.4 cents. Now. manifestly, if we are to cut expenditures ment, we must attack the place where the ¢xpenditures are large. In other words, we must attack these items which total 89 per cent. We need not Kive B0 much attention to others which take 20 per cent. Employes Increase 110,000. Yes, it is true that the total num- ber of federal government employes (Army and Navy not included) has grown from 438,057 in June, 1916, to 548,531 on the same date in 1923; that is an increase of about 110,000 people. Now, where does this Iincrease come in? Just four departments. The growing Post Office Department took 25000 of the increase; the Veterans® Bureau, 28.000; sury Depart- ment, about * ‘War Depart- ment, over 1 vy, over 7.000. All together t bsorh more thal the total increase. Some departments decreased. Mark vou, these are fed- eral civil employes. The soldiers and sailors of the Unitcd States are not included in this list. We have heard during the past few years a great deal about the govern- ment doing too many things and that j the expenses were piling up because of these various new devclopments 1t developed that the government meddling too much in busi These figures will sh government's activitie ed. re is only one bus <3 that the nment is meddling in too much rous result, and that the business of war. dustrial plant is so organized today that there is no such thing as a victor or a vanquished in modern warfare. There used to be, but not now. Europe today proves this. Yet we are continuing to spend billions and more hillions in a n effort to protect ourselves in exactly the same way that the European na- tions protected themselves prior ta 1914, have con- “If the Army and the Navy men of | the United States had their way every man in America would be i the Army and the Navy,” declared a very high government official to me recently. Says Saving Liex in War Funds. Now, take the Army. It is larger now than it was hefore the war. and all Europe is bankrupt. are we preparing for? Surely not for participation in another European war. tier? is We have needed no armies there Are we Zoing to com- mence now? No! Well, then, possibl ico. One eabinet officer told me could “clean Mexico with 000 men if it nee V. But we have our from a total of 21 1,000 men in th ivilization 1924 year of Chris 0 if we decide to n up” Mexico, we have over five t as many men in the Army and N as we nead. valter Brown savs we may he able efficiency and economy and reor- nization of government husiness to ve one-half of 1 per cent totn] annual expenditures. That is $18.000,000 a year—what we are spending on the Army and the Navy every ten d Hoover says we are spending all too ‘ittle on development and con- ‘ructive work. In _ this Hoover agrees with Henry Adams, but the | record shows we have been spending t ten vears for miiitary as much onstructiv, for the activities have spent on the of the government. In a word. the government is too mu~h in the business of war and too itrle in_the busin of peace, and -onsidering our p: isolation. thix applies to no government in the | world any more than it does to ours Relief from federal taxes will not from cuttinz the salaries fovernment employes _down from, s 00 a year to $1,500 a vear: nor will it come from discharging from the government service a few thousand government clerks and em- ployes. It will not come by reor- ganizing the government bureaus, nor by reducing relatively the great scientific_and research departments such as we have been doing during the past ten hysterical years. Calls Arms Afms the Crux. The expenses of the federal gov- ernment can be reduced only when the American people serfously attack the whole public policy of military preparedness. When the American people realize the significance of war in relation to the bread and butter of everyday life. £0 that no one can confuse them, that modern warfare is not only Individual but national suicide (I mean from not only the physical and moral, but the economic point of view as weil). When they know that Mr. Aver- age-Man pays the titanic expens incident to any modern war only b pulling in his belt and lowering h Standard of living and the standar of living of the whole country until the war debt is paid. In a word, when the long-suffering and discouraged taxpayer in America Attacks the whole stupid policy of national defense, as we now under- stand it, and_substitutes for it the Spirit of friendly co-operation in pur- Suing the arts of peace, the construc- tive function of the government, then real relief will be at hand. (Copyright, 1924, in United States and Great Tritain by North American Newspaper Allianee. All rights reserved.) Tomorrow: Paying the Bills for Uncle Sam. two branches, diplomatic and consu lar, interchangeable so that officers may be used in either capacity, d pending upon the needs of the serv- ice, and (3) to provide for old age, whereby faithful and efficient officers after a long term of service are granted a_nominal annuity commen~ surate with their experience and yroved ability. These are the main features of the bill. There are others that might have been added that are probably just as urgent and important as these, but fundamentally the Rogers measure cur foreign service on the same prac- tical basis as the Army and Navy— an efficient service, honestly directed and adequately manned. It aims to make the foreign serv- ice as attractive a career for quali- fied and ambitious young men as the Army or Navy offers to them no and with this purpose in view, I by lieve the Rogers bill deserves the active support of every one who would like to see our forelgn service a steadily improving, actively effi- ent_organization of representative mericans. ~ ARNOLD A. McKAY. Insurance Against Strain. From the New York Tribune. Before the coming political gath- radio enthusiasts will do well to re- inforce the strength of their aerials. Times Have Changed. From the New York Tiibune. In the days when poets sang rap- turously of spring the government wasn't demanding the first income tax installment early in March. Trial Is Suggested. From the Bajtimore Sun. il While the public is clamoring for gonm-v-uo-. let's try it on national onor, in the federal govern- | those | just where | The modern in- | What | Is it to arm our Canadian fron- | of the! of | When they know, | is a step toward placing| Politics at Large BY N. 0. MESSENGER ! Juhn T. Adams, chairman of the re- ' publican national committee, has jmade an appeal for fuller participa- | (UOD of voters in party activitles. In' | & current statement he says: “American citizens are responuble! for the character of their govern= ment, whether it be federal, state or local. Our public officials are nomi- nated and elested by thé people. It | should be‘kept in mind that the work {of getting good publio officials is not all done on election day. It begins in the party primaries and conven- | tions. This preliminary werk for the | coming presidential election {s now ' well under way. In many states the | dates of the primaries and conven- tions for selection of candidates have Ibeen set. “It is the duty of every good citizen | | Who wishes good government to be- | long to a party and to participate in | bis party primaries. It is his duty to sec that the candidates nominated | iare party men who represent the party principles and who are pledged to support its policies and co-oper- ate with its organigation. Only in this man r can we h; responsible party government, which is the most successful form ' of representative government yet devised. * ¥ % ok “Durng the last few years,” Chair- man Adams goes on to say, “there has been a great deal of propaganda Ide('rying party activity. There has been an attempt to make virtue of ! s0-called non-partisanship. Instead 1 of non-partisanship beingea virtue, it is a menace. It tends to break down ative government. The need hour is not for less party ac- but for more of it. underlying cause of most po- 1 evils today is the indifference of our citizens Lo their right of suf- frage. Even the briefest study of nomination and election figures shows that the majority of legal voters are taking no purt either in their pri- marics or the general elections, Less |than half the citizens of the United | voted in the presidential ele tion of 1920. The percentage tak rm.rl“|n the congressional elections 2 even less. uch conditions make possible a government by the minority. Repre- sentative government is not auto- matic. It is not self-supporting. it draws not only its authority from the People, but it draws its strength and vitality from them. Unless they par- ticipate in public affairs .in an active and intclligent manner their govern. t must cease to be representa- it * %k % x The next big contest over the se- lection of republican delegates is in South Dakota, where the primaries | will be held April 25. Tt is a red-hot | fight between President Coolidge and | Senator Hiram W. Johnson, with a ! sprinkling of La Follette support, | which, of course, will be intensifie suft in North Dak iied) zone into Sou h the cudgels in Lehalf volidee. He wils tell oters what the Coolidge adiin- {Istration has done and explain its | policies, especially the Mellon .ux | plan. Leslie M. Shaw of fowa, form r retary of the Treasury and wa Wn in the northwest, is also & the stump for the President. * ¥ ok % The contest for the selection of eleven delegates at large from Tlii- nois to the republican national con- vention is assuming bitter propor- | tions. Former Representative William | A. Rodenberg of that state, who re- fused to abide by the uninstructed slate made up by the leaders and cked over the traces by announcing himself as a candidate instructed for President Coolidge, s out in a bitter attack upon the “boss he terms the leaders. In a stafement sent to every republican newspaper in the staté he charges that the slate | prepared by Senator William B. M | Kinlev. . He say “There are several Kinley’s hand-picked absolutely meaningls epubl e | knc | i names on Mc- ate’ that are n so far as the icans of Ilinois are concerned. 1 of his selections are men who have contributed less than nothing to republican success in state and nation. They are not representative of the party and their election as delegates large cannot be justified on any { sound political grounds. “In arranging his band-picked ‘slate’ our new senatorial boss kindly granted a single representative to that vast section of the state lying south of Springfield and comprising almost six_congressional districts. He also kindly permitted the woman voters of {the state to have a single represent- ative who re in Chicago and de- nied the do ate woman voters any representation whatsoever. 1 do not believe that the fair-minded r ublicans of the state will sanc- n such unjustifiable discrimination jagainst the woman voters and against the loyal republicans of southern Iili- nois. ! * * % % Taking a vigorous side-swipe at ithe Senate, the statement goes on to say: “In view of the present disgraceful performances of the United States Senate, the republicans can no longer 100k for leadership to that hysterical and discredited body. Instead of per- forming its constitutional functions and legislating in the interests of the people, as urgently requested by President Coolidge, the Senate has become a school for scandal, in which any kind of invesiigating resolution can be passed upon the mere presen- tation of irresponsible gossip and rumor. The less the party submits to senatorial dictation at this time the better our prospects for success in November.” * £k % So the third party movement bobs up again, this timé with the sug- gestlon that it may be headed by Senator La Follette, with a democrat as vice presidential candidate. That iis a new proposition—putting a de; ocrat in second place—and the pol {tictans_are wondering how it woul, take. Senator La Follette, it Is ex- ! plained, would only head a bolting ticket in the event the republican na- {tional convention does not frame a | platform to suit him. | * Kk x * | An tdea of the kind of platform| iSenator La Follette would like is| !given in a statement issued Monday | by Henry A. Huber, secretary of the| i{La Follette campaign committee, at | Madison. He wants a “complete house- cleaning in the Department of Jus- tice, the Department of the Interior : and other executive departments.” He demands that the “power of the gov- | |ernment _be used to crush monopoly and not foster it He wants recovery of the naval oil reserves; complete revision of the water power act and all other acts relating to the public domain; public control of all national resources, including water power, coal, iron, timber and minerals; cu tailment of military and naval ex- penditures; reduction of federal es. G * K kK Southern politicians say that if a third party should be formed, the mere selection of a democrat for sec- ond place would not win the solid south to it, even though a southern man were named. Democracy is too thoroughly rooted in the south, they say, to be dispiaced by any such de- v‘i: all the changes and uncertain- ties of political allegiances in other seclions, and the deut toward political independence, the south, they say. stands as a monument of steadiness in its devotion to the democratic party. ¢ i ! | mesn?—M. M. ' stones i Janney in 1873 and 1874. { Department | cents. ANSWERS TO QUE BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. What {s “curling” and what do the terms “skip” and “bonspiel” A. “Curling” is an anclent game originating In Scotland. known to have existed previous to 1600. It is played on the fce with large, smooth | of hemispherical form, to which are attached Iron or wooden | handles. The first club formed in the | United States was at Pontiac, Mich, 1842, “SKip” is the name of the play- er, one on each side, under whose di- rection the ice is swept, this being done In a special manner. “Bonspiel” is the name for curling matches with picked players. i . How old is Charlie Chaplin?— W. 0. H. A. Charles Chaplin will be thirty- five years old in April. Q. What is a young swan called?— A M. P. A. The name used for a young swan is cygnet. Q. Who invented the train coupler used now?—C. B. D. Janney train coupler, which oday, was patented by Eli I. There have been since that date a number of pat. ents on automatic couplers. Q, In a_game of cribbage A plays | 9: B plays 3; A, 6; B, 4; A, 2; B, 5. B claims run of 5, 'which A does not allow. Which is right?—A. F. H. A. B is right. It {s not necessary that the cards come in sequence. Since no card interferes, it is a run of 5. Q. Should potatoes be cooked salted or unsalted water?—A. P. C. A. Potatoes should be put on to cook in salted, boiling water. Salt added at the beginning of the cook- ing reduces the loss of mineral mat- ter about one-th } Q. What is meant by a “wilder- ness” in the Bible?—J. G. §. A. A dictionary of the Bible says that the word wilderness or desert suggests to English hearers ideus which are foreign to the Hebrew | word so translated. The word mi bar oceurs about 280 times in the Old | Testament. It is translated wilder- ness in the Authorized Version, except | in twelve passages, where the word is desert. Midbar is probably a tract | to which herds are driven, an uncui- tivated region, but one where pastur- age, however scanty, may be found. Q. Whers were the oldest ship models originally deposited?—M. H. A. E.K. Chatterton says that, omit- ting the Egyptian tomb examples. the oldest ship models were those hung in churches. in! Q. Kindly send me the rules gov- erning the egg-rolling contest played on the White House lawn on Easter Monday.—N. Lo H. A. The superintendent of grounds | says that so far as he knows there| are no rules governing the egg-roll- ing on the White House ground Many contests take place, but the; are entirely unofficial. Q. called nutria?—T. W. T. | A. Nutria is the fur taken from the | coypu, & South American aquatic ro dent. Q. nd hair the same sort of thin; Al A Wool is a living appendage of the produced by increas epiderm The difference be: tween wool and hair is one of degree | rather than kind. Q. In a four-handed game of ho: shoe pitching can one partmer advise the other?—A. F, Y. A. Partners may coach each other. Other contestants or onlookers are | IN TODAY’S BY PAUL V. The Department of Agriculture has issued a preliminary report of an analysis of the retall price of bread in seven cities. It is based upon careful Investigation covering sev- eral months, yet it falls to esplain why bread is so much dearer, today than it was before the war. “How much does bread cost in the Army?" was asked of the Quarter- master Corps. “It costs whatever flour cost. was tne answer. “From 100 pounds | of flour we make 134 pound loaves| of bread, and that overrun of 34 pounds pays for all other ingredients | and for the labor of baking." When it fs suggested that civilian | bakeries might figure on the same basis, there comes the reply that the ' Army does not count rents nor ove r-! head, and that it pays its bakers $23 a month and beard. while civilian bakers get more than that per week. Offsetting _that argument is the | come-back that the Army does not use all the labor-saving machinery | employed in_up-to-date commercial bakeries, and its labor is a greater element per loaf than is true of com- mercial bread. The defense of com- mercial bakeries, as voiced by the of ~ Agriculture, ~rests chiefly. if not entirely, upon the claim that modern bread contains ingredi- ents little thought of ten years ago —milk, lard, sugar, malt,’ete, that that Is why we pay 9§ cen loaf instead of 5 cents. ** % In a bulletin issued this week by ! the Department of Agriculture, it isi stated that “bakers receive & larger | part of the price you pay for a loaf of bread than any other agency.” By “bakers” the department does not refer to the workers in, the bakeshops, but to the master bak- ers. The statement s made that in the investigation, “the margin over the cost of flour ranged from 4| cents a loaf on an ecight-cent loaf in; New Orleans, to 6 cents on a ten-cent | 10af in Chicago.” This margin covers operating and manufacturing = ex- penses, Including all other ingredients aside from the flour. Master bakers say they cannot sell bread at pre-war price, because prior to the war bakers earned less than half present wages. The statistician of the Department of Labor, MT. Ethelbert Stewart, laughs at the ide that the rise of wages has justified the doubling of the price of bread— or _nearly doubling it. 4 With modern labor-saving machin- ery the labor cost has been greatl Taduced—not enhanced, as claimed in the last decade. If Washington and Philadelphia bakeries are not so equipped, their owners might profit, he thinks, by a trip to Baltimore. * % ¥ X In Washington one man turns out 165 pound loaves per hour, in Phila- delphia 145 loaves and in Baltimore 307 loaves. The difference is not In the men, but in their equipment of | machinery. In Baltimore the working baker earns 51 cents per hour, in Philadel- phia 72 cents and in Washington 93 a In Baltimore 100 loaves contain 21 cents of labor wages, in Philadelphia 43 cents and in Washington 65 cents If Washington bakeries used the sam equipment as is used in Baltimore, | says Mr. Stewart, one man would pro- duce 302.52 pounds, while he is now producing only 100 pounds. * k k¥ | sun’s al | of hoisonous Is there = fur-bearing animal| ¢ { to 6 cents. | bakeries made in 1916 and 1 I3 forbidden to coach a player o fore in any mannor with. the during the process of the g Inter- itcher o mS,s"}Il]o-; far luv;nrd the zehifh does - come on 3 £ e e A. Th :ll\l/al ?bservatnry Bays the - 46 at noon en. Jjune 21 may be found’ by subtractiag the tude of the place from 1131 de- grees; the altitude on Decem may be found by subtracting th tude from 651 degree: ) Q. When was pulvert st used?—C. H. T S5 osl At A. The experiment of using pulver- 1zed coal was made about fnr(y-fie\-o years ago, when it was tried as a fuel for heating the kilns in which the raw materials for making Pori- land cement were burned it was not su @t the time, but methods i « been devised that make pulverized coal a suceessful f what part of the whale lebone found?— J Baleen, commonly called w the mouths of cer ows in depend, ring from two to twel leneth, attached to the upper jam, and forms a fri ¢ sleve for cols lecting and ret A hone Q. What dates divide tory from mediev from modern history A The date uzea t ancient history is u The date for the closing of medinsni story is not 8o closely defined, Some historians take the beginning of the sixteenth century—about the time of discovery of Amerios, some others date 1645 A D.’ making the include the time between shment of the first bar- dom in Italy and the gen- ation of Eur at the close of the thirty years' nelent his- medieval PP the close of there it can wat 3 [t A There act, such apparatus. New York city uses apparatus. Q. What the legend about tha forming of the diamond?—C. Diamond was the name of & youth of the Island of 0 was one of the attend- the infant Jupiter in his It was decreed that Diamond not bo subjected to the ills flesh is heir to, so he was trans- formed into the hardest and most brilliant substance in nature. Q. What the oldest piece furniture in the world” T A. The throne of the Ezyptian Queen Hel u, which {s in the British Museum, is the oldest niece of fur- niture in the world ny pieces of furniture extant back 3,000 years, piece of P date Q. Do snakes charm their prey in order to catch it?— M. C. A. The popular helief in the power to charm their of helplessness It is said, how- the influence of ex- all mammals surround- i they ven- to be hit by the snake, ted in efforts inces- rapid vietim has n in that un: ement the are forgetful ing them with the staring eves ar sant darting out and in of th tongue. (Take adrantage of the free informa- tion burcau which this newspaper main- tains. If there is @ question vou want answercd. don't hesitate to use this ser- ice. All replies are sent direct to the in~ quirer. Address Frederic J Haskin, di- rector, The Star Information Burecu. 1205 North Capitol street. e Jor return’ p SPOTLIGHT . COLLINS claimed that he could not reduce his price to 8 cents without reducing his profit to half a cent, which would cut below his overhead costs, and the United States currency recognizes no coin less than a cent It does not follow, however, that the one-cent reduction might not be passed on to the bakeries, leaving' the dealer his full 1% cents profit, even if the retail price were reduced That would still leave the bakeries the margin between the cost of flour and labor (about 1% oents) and their wholesale price—a margin of nearly 200 per cent on the cost. That is counted by the department ac. countants to be a fair margin con sidering the 300 turnovers per annum, The champions of the bakeries point to the fact that bread was for= merly baked at home, and that when- er the housewife objects to paying e price of bakery bread she has her recourse. But housewives have =zotten out of the habit of home bak- ing of regular bread, and with the dearth of a find every possible means for shifting home duties and labors. * % %k ¥ The United States Senate investis gated war-time profits, and in Senate document No 259, pages 80-83, it is | reported that while mills made from 18 to 694 per cent profit in 1916, and as high as 2,628 per cent in 1917, 917 from 125 to 424 per cent profit on capital invested. According to the Wall Street Journal of February 24, one great baking company paid on its common stock a dividend in 191 of $§; in 1920 of $28; in 1921 $1 1922, $382, and 1923, §613. In seven years an investment of one dollar in that_baking company becomes worth $309. £ % How much is the farmer responsible for the cost of bread, since the Army basis of the cost of bread is what- ever the flour co The wheat pro- ducer, according to the Department of Agriculture, gets 1.5 cents for the wheat in a pound of bread, the skilled laborer (the baker) gets (in a modern bakery) one-hundredth of 21 cents, and the transportation companies, tha millers and the bakerie and retail stores get the res The price of commercial bread is not regulated by the cost of wheat. for if the farmer ave his wheat free, under present ditions, the pound of bread would ill cost the te consumer” 7 cents a pound-—3j r cent more tha bread cost before the war, while the farmer got a fair price for his grain. * ¥ ¥ k There are great differences in the quality of flour, depending upon the kind of wheat used and the method of its manufacture, These differences have been scientifically studied in re- cent years. All large mills maintain experimental bakeries for dally test- ing of the baking qualities of their flours. The science of blending wheats is most intricate. The blends arc based upon the gluten and other elements found in each lot of wheat, regardless of market grading. Much is said of the 10ss of nutritive qualities_through the extraction of parts of the wheat grain and through the electric bleaching of the flour, | but_bleaching is defended by many | agricultural chemists as not delete- rious, and it adds to the attractive. ness of the bread. Attractiveness Does distribution cost too much? The Department of Agriculture finds that the retailer averages about 1% cents profit on a nine-cent loaf. It is s adds to appetite, and, as Shakespeare says: “Now good digestion waits on apped tite, And health on both.” (Copyright, 1024, by Paul V. Collius]