Evening Star Newspaper, March 26, 1924, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR Witis Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY. . ..March 26, 1924 i‘HEODOEiZ w. NEYES. ...Editor The Evening Star Newspayper Company Business Office. 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 Kast 42nd St. Chicago Office: Tower Building. Furopean Office: 16 Regent St., London, England ‘The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning dition, is delivered by carriers within the ily only, 4: #0ts per month: 20 nonth. - Orders home Main 5000, ricrs at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday daily only Sunday o 0c 00 . 20 All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00: 1 m Jaily only ......1¥r, $7.00:1m Sunday only. 15r. $3.00;1m Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Tress is exclnsively entitled to the nse for republication of all news dis- natches credited to it or not otherwise credited . 850 . 6ic 25c this Taper and als the local pews pob &ccordance with the reasonable wishes | shed ‘herein. All rights of publication of apecial dispaiches hereln are also reserved. Gas Tax Equities and Inequities. The gas-tax bills House and Senate, r unite their voic in co fession, saying: “We have intended to do the things we ought not to have done. and we have intended to leave indone the things we ought to have done. We have done th things we did not intend and have left undone tho things we intended to do, and there is no health in us.” Both houses intended to ntinue he personal tax on automobiles, re- sardless of what happened to the gas rax. Both houses voted (o impose the ~as tax and to eliminate the personal tax. It is doubtiess too much to expect that either hou will view this self- Lafling of the intent to pile the gas 4x on top of the personal tax as a providential intervention to prevent them from going wrong and will abandon the attempt But Washington does urge with al] its might that the conferees on this bill take the two abortive measur spectively, can non con- and merge them into something sound | or kill and approximately equitable hem outright. Since Congress has clearly indi cated that it does not intend to elim- inate the personal tax on automobiles by substituting any other form of tax for it, and that a gas tax. if imposed, must be in addition to the personal tax, Washington has with equal clear- ness demonstrated that if it were a seif-taxing community it would have 10 gas tax at all, viewing the new tax | under local conditions as unnecessary, hurtful and creating a dangerous precedent. But if a gas tax is to be arbitrarily imposed, what should its terms be? What rate, for instance, should be exacted? * x x Until 1921 the uniform rate in mo- tor fuels tax laws was 1 cent a gal- on. On Jan 1, 1924, twenty-four states had a tax of 2 cents a gallon more, and twenty-four states had 4 gas tax of 1 cent or less, or no such tax at all. In which of these halves into which the states are divided does the District naturally fall? The primary purpose of the gas tax is to get from motorists, largely city folk, the money to pay for more and better country roads. The states with a large mileage of country roads, including those with a considerable percentage of unimproved roads and | ihose which have set a high standard i road development requiring large oxpenditures for maintenance, are most enthusiastic about this tax, and naturally fix the higher tax rate of 2 cents a gallon or more. James W, Martin of the University t Chicago, in an article in the Bulle- tin of the Nationii iax Association December, 1423, says on this yoint: “In view of the large percent- age of automobiles and trucks owned in cities, and the fact that in most states the cities receive no direct bene- fit from the gasoline tax, it is sur- prising that little objection to the tax has been raised on the ground that the tax would take revenue from the | city to construct country roads, while | e city streets, on which a very large percentage, probably more than half, of the cars are used, must be financed by some other means. A serious in- justice might be done in this wa: but, strangely enough, very little cap- ital of this has been made by the opponents of the tax.” If the District is to be viewed as # state and to have arbitrarily im- posed upon it against its will this State tax, the alien taxing body should at least analyze the reasons for the creation and imposition of this new, or substitute, tax in the states and graduate the rate of tax exacted here in proportion to the existence in the District of the conditions which justify the higher rate. If this analysis be made, and the jeaders of our legislature will conde- scend for a few minutes to give carnest, concentrated thought to thiz problem, the District will be classed in that half of the states which either do not impose upon themselves this tax at all or which tax themselves 1"cent a gallon as a maximum. = *x =z For the District has no large mile- age of country roads to be improved or maintained at a high standard by a million dollars & year new tax to bhe exacted from motorists. Qur streets and roads have been neglected in war- ime, and need a single large expendi- ture to bring them up to date in pav- ing and lighting. Part of our accumu- lated tax surpius in the Treasury was ~ollected to maintain and improve our streets, and since our streets were neglected and this money was unused in the stress of war it should be ap- plied now to the purposes for which was collected, and in accordance with the terms of proportionate con- tribgtion by the nation under which it was exacted. But if there were no surplus, no representative legislature would exact from its constituents a new milliondollar tax for country roads every year in perpetuity, when all of the accumulated unmet needs in for 1 s passed by the | this respect can be met through liberal current appropriations. In the case of the District this extra million @ year is not needed for use, {und cannot be used on country roads | or streets as in the states. Its creation 49 u special fund will set up a danger- bus precedent, and endanger the prom- | ised stability of the compromise fiscal i settlement of the new organic act of ; 1922, If not made and approvriated in advance as a special street and road {improvement fund it will be injected nto tho Treasury as miscellaneous receipts and be in effect lost, since it | can only be extracted for the District’ { benefit with difficulty and pain by {a legislative major surgical operation. It our local legislature, like the {legislatures of the states, legislated | from the viewpoint of the wishes and | would class the District {pose upon themselves a gas tax and | would reject altogether the District- { Maryland gas tax proposal in its pres- | ent mangled and repulsive shape. | Butifitisinconceivable that our local | legislation should be shaped wholly in ta1d the obvious inter ! community. then, | consideration, will not our legislators (fix as the maximum gas tax rate 1 cent per gallon, that being the maxi mum rate imposed in twenty-four | states of the Union, including thos { which have no gas tax at all? * Kk & X If there is to be a reopening of the seeming agreement of the two houses to substitute the gas tax for the per- sonal tax on automobiles then there can be and ought to be a similar re- opening of the agreement between the two houses concerning the amount of the gas tax rate, in order to fix it at 2 more equitable figure. B Since the two houses have (unin- tentionally) voted to eliminate the per- isonal tax on automobiles, it might {not be unreasonable that in com- promising with themselves to restore the tax, they should medify it by fix- ing a small exemption on automobiles, $300. If this were an American s of the taxed | i such exemption would be made, if the nal tax were not eliminated cn- Poincare Ministry Falls. To the American mind the fall of the Poincare ministry in France is a { political paradox difficult to under- stand. |umph it suffers defeat in parliament on a minor issue and promptly goes out of office. It had not been believed Poincare could survive his determina- {tion to lay heavy additional burdens of taxation on the French people, but | the program was put through, though Ithe fate of the ministry hung daily {in the balance. The strength mani- { fested in forcing tax legislation ought to have been sufiicient to carry the ministry through to a balancing of |the budget and stabilization of the franc, which are the objectives of |the increased taxation. But the | chamber of deputies, favoring a more {1iberal pension policy than was con- | sistent with the ministry’s financial program, failed to return a majority vote when it was made a question of confidence. So the premier carried the resignations of himself and of his colleagues to the “Elysee Palace. Retirement of the masterful Poin- care comes at one of the most critical periods for France since the armistice. The report of the Dawes committee on the paying capacity of Germany is about ready to be submitted to the reparations commission, and to it | final settlement of the reparations problem. Forecasts of the committee’s findings indicate that, while not con- ceding all that France has claimed, they at least furnish for the first time a practical basis of payments and hold out to France the prospect of some actual cash returns. In some im- portant respects the findings of the experts vindicate Poincare's policy toward Germany, and in the crucial matter of occupation of the Ruhr the face of the premier at least is saved, as the experts advise only relinquish- ment of economic control, permitting military control to continue. Just what the effect of a change of government in France will be on the j eve of necessary decisions as to repa- jrations remains to be seen, but there is no reason at this time to believe a new government will be less friend- 1v to the Dawes program than that of Poincare would have been. From this distance it looks as if the adverse vote in parliament was more of a vindictive slap at Poincare because of the bitter dose he had made the deputies swallow than a reflection of French hostility either toward the tax- ation and retrenchment program or prospective settlement of reparations along the lines of t’ty \Wes report. ——— ‘Washington, D, C., although an in- nocent bystander with reference to matters under investigation, is ex- pected to provide court machinery. Politics makes strange bedfellows, but the nights are often sleepless. Mr. Mellon Squelches Rumor. In these days of govermment by rumor, when apparently no man's reputation is safe from besmirchment by what the crosseyed man said to the butcher's sister-inlaw, Secretary Mellon is to be commended for the prompt and effective manner in which he has “called” the peddlers of stories. affecting his personal integrity. A former employe of the bureau of in- ternal revenue charged that the Secre- tary of the Treasury had used his official influence to bring about a re- duction in the taxes of “Mellon com- panies.” Mr. Mellon's answer was to cause the companies in question to waive their rights to privacy provided by the statutes for tax returns and to invite fullest congressional inquiry into all payments and reductions. Mr. Mellon's simple denial that he ever had interfered in any way with the internal revenue bureau in behalf of companies in which he was inter- ested would have satisfied right-think- ing people; if, indeed, any denial was needed at all. But even the most rumor-inflamed mind must admit the completeness with which the Secre- interests of its Capital constituents it} In the hour of its greatest tri-; | contest between there have been attached hopes of a | T | promptly | serves to emphasize how dangerous lamong the states, which do not im-{is the public state of mind when the as @ minimum of | aa irore Jine 17 1o nominate candl. { be made to various liberal, progressive | coun i i wi 1 If-taxing community it is clear that | DS health, and doubting whether there | { | i i THE EVENING tary has squelched thé story by mak- ing the tax returns available to the special Senate committee. If there was anything irregular there the commit- tee will, of course, dig it out and give it to the public. If not, it will have to give Mr. Mellon a clean bill of health. 1t the same frankness and good sense which Mr. Mellon has shown had been evidenced in other quarters e good deal less of hysteria would have attended the various congressional In- vestigations. It was the efforts of some persons, becoming almost frantic at times, to keep from testifying or to keep from telling the whole truth that let loose the wild flood of rumors | with which hington has been deluged. The fact that some of these attempted evasions, when, finally brought to book, were shown to have been so pitifully unwarranted, only most absurd of {ales does not fail to find believers. It was just such an in- flamed state of mind that caused witches to be hanged at Salem. The Farmer-Labor Party. Yesterday, in St. Paul, a call was issued for a national convention to be | dates for President and V on the farme "o President labor ticket. Appeal will and radical groups throughout the to join the farmer-labor move- | ment. “Thus will come to a head the efforts h have been in the making for more than a year to assemble into one compact organization all the dis- senters from the two old parties, with the object of covering the country with a patchwork political quilt of many hues and designs. The progress | of the farmer-labor movement will be watched with much interest by old-line | politicians, albeit with much skepticism as to its succe: It is supposed that the movers in the new enterprise will look to Sena- tor La Follette to head their ticket, but recent reports in political circles represent Senator La Follette as not being disposed to do o on account of | | I 1 “would be anything in self, politically But no doubt there will be plenty of presidential timber at hand which the farmer-laborites will deem avall- able for their purposes. It might not be a bad thing if all the radical ele- | ments in the country could be as- sembled in one organization and leave the field clear for a straightaway | the democrats and it for him- republicans. B The New York clergyman who de- clares that dancing is entitled to} recognition as a religious rite will be | expected to look the modern dance over and effect some modifications. —_——— The reparations problem has its dif- | ficulties, but after disclosures by the United States Senate the impression | must arise that Mr. Dawes picked something comparatively easy. —_———— A%ertain percentage of the lawless i clement in Philadelphia is said to! have subsided. There may be a little time needed to decide whether it has reformed or is only resting up. e s E The one encouraging feature of the discussion of the proposition to reduce taxes is the persistent assurance that it can be done. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, A Sad Song. I heard a gentle stranger sing, In tones so tremulous and sweet, “The changes that a day may bring Are very strange and all complete. I've known mankind of every sort, And at the news 1 now turn pale. Each day T look for the report, ‘Another friend has gone to jail.’ “Some friends have gone in debt too strong, And some on bootleg take a chance; A number park their flivvers wrong ‘While others fool with fierce finance. And so, as rumors wildly fiy, 1 listen and expect to wail S AR, WASHINGTON, D. C,, WEDNESDAY Alexandroff of Macedonia BY CONSTANTINE A. CHEKREZI, Professor of History, National University of Washington, D. Commissioner of Albania to the United States. A special correspondent of the Lon- don Times was assigned a quite un- usual beat last January. To carry out his assignment he Had to travel some hundred miles by motor car, horse and on foot, through bleak and desolate mountains in the heart of the regularly severs winter of Mace- donla. And the object of his assign- ment was to obtain a rathér unique interview, up in the snow-covered highlands, from a hunted man, an outlaw on.whose head a prics of one million dinars has been put by the Serbian government. The upshot of that exeiting inter- view was the discovery, or rather the confirmation of the actual existence, in the mountains of the erstwhile kingdom of Alexander the Great, of a powerful revolutionary organization; of a “vast octopus which has its ten- tacles stretched out over most of southeastern Europe,” and which con- trols the peoples of Macedonia to such an extent as to have virtually sup- planted the local hostile Serbian and Greek authorities, as well as Lo be & supergovernment in {tselfl. And ' at the head of this organization there reigns supreme the hunted outiaw, { Todor Alexandroff, a native of Mace- donia, & Bulgarian by race, the man on whose unsheared head the royal put ‘A very remarkable man,” rn fighter” and com- mander the Times corre- spondent characterizes him. “He leads a wandering life,” the correspondent reports, “which needs | to be seen 1o be believed, dedicated to the creation of an autonomous Mace- donla—with its capital at Saloniki. And this man has so far succeeded in establishing law and order in this most l"SOand section of the Bal- kans that “everywhere thriving peas- antry declared that robbery and crime are things of the past.”” “The people pay a progressive income tax, which is exclusively devoted to the purchase of arms and clothing. They find it worth while to support the organiza- tion, for the organization confers great benefits.” *x %% No wonder, then, that the Balkans' are hanging fire. In fact, for some time lately, their never too clear { political horizon has been daily be- coming more gloomy and more menacing. Black leaden clouds have been hovering ominously over the treacherous mountain tops of Mace- donia: chilly wind, not unmlike the breath of death, i tated lowlands, and from time to time, spitefully hissing sparks escape through the overcharged atmosphere. Only the other day the rumbling echo of a loud thunderbolt reached even to the shores of America. For on the 26th of February the Serbian legation in Washington was is- . a meaningful official statement. With other things it was said in it that “the Belgrade government is apprehensive over international trou- | ble again breaking out in the Bal- kans, because of the activities of Bulgarian bands, led by Todor Alex- androff. along the frontiers of Greek and Serbian Macedonia.” And about the same time, if not before, Serbian army divisions were hurriedly being thrown on the Bul- garian frontier. all ready to invade Bulgaria in order to punish her for the stupendous achievements of Alex- ndroff; the Serbians and Greeks con- tending that the Macedonian move- ment is the result of direct manipula- tion from Sofia. It was further as- serted that this time Alexandroff was about to carry out a general rising in Macedonia against both Serbia and Grecce. In fact, he had told the i Times correspondent. only two months before, that in Macedonia alone he could mobilizo approximately 150,000 men, and there are some 300,000 desperato Macedonian refugees in Bulgaria, besides. Furthermore, the correspondent states that the organ- ization had, at the time of his visit. a large supply of rifies, bombs and ammunition, and that it was ac- cumulating 'bigger reserves of arms and munitions in preparation for the general rising. In a frantic effort to disprove the joint Serbo-Greek charge of foster- ing_rebellion in Macedonia and to avert the imminent invasion, the Bul- | garian government proceeded to carry out wholesale ests during the first week of Marcl Hundreds of persons Editors of Nation Demand Radio Be Free of Monopoly Control of the air admittedly is the compelling proposition not only in America, but all over the world. The suit of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company against broadcasting stations has called at- tention to the possibility of radio sweeping the agi- | Before each day has drifted by, ‘Another friend has gone to jail? " Human Nature. {said the ready-made philosopher. ! ful man. “Don't your constituents want their taxes reduced?” “Yes," answered Senator Sorghum. | “But human nature is peculiar. A | number of them are willing to pay a lot of taxes themselves if they can see somebody else paying a still higher rate.” Jud Tunkins says he doesn’t mind his wife's believing in the theory of evolution, only he wishes she wouldn't glare at him every time she men- tions it. “Faint heart never won fair lady, “That's right,” answered the bash- ! “The way the ladies dress sometimes you've got to have your ! nerve with you to look at one long enough to feel acquainted.” i Ode to a Senator. i The waters, radiant in the vernal glow, Are swishing. You must investigate. You cannot go| A-fishing. The Ivories. “Anybody in Crimson Guich play ‘mah-jong?” “No,” answered Cactus Joe. “We ought to like it, but we can’t finance ! the layout. Anybody with money enough to buy a mah-jong set would rather buy @& few stacks of poker chips.” H The Flow of Money. “You say that man could give in- ! formation about who is getting the | oil money?” “He could tell where some of it goes,” answercd Miss Cayenne. “He's a Florida hotel clerk.” “Tell @ man you think a hosa race is gineter be crooked,” said Uncle Eben, “an’ he'll be pow'ful indignant. Jes' de same he’s liable to hang around foh, information as to what de sure- thing bet is gineter be™ e }it now stands.” { monopoly and it has aroused wide- spread interest. The nation's editors jagree unanimously that there should be no momopoly of the air and that the government should move quickly to regulate radio and broadcasting. In the opinion of the Milwaukee Journal “the American mind is skep- tical of monopoly and considers the air, above all else, immune from pri- vate control. If there must be c trol of broadcasting, the publiz -vill insist that it be vested in the gov- ernment and not with any corporate entity.” Against a monopoly, the Reading Tribune insists, “public opin- ion, if it were consulted, vehemently would shout no. It would say, with Herbert Hoover, that ‘it would be in principle the same as though the entire press of the country were so controlled.”” " “The main thing, ac- cording to the Albany News, is “to protect the public interest not only at_present, but for all time and in whatever far-reaching developments may be attained in radio, and there must be full responsibility nnd care in broadcasting.” Some move, the New York Evening Worid -feels, should be made at once, before a situation arises that will spell chaos for months and result in a general disturbance of this great and gro ing medium of education and amuse- ment. The steps for its safeguarding can be taken none too soon.” * % ¥ ¥ The White radio bill, the Chicago Daily News suggests, “must be carc- fully scrutinized and the public's rights against monopoly amply safe- Zuarded if the measure is to pass. ‘The people must demand protection against monopoly gained through bureaucratic favor and denial of the right of appeal. Here is a danger [public property; that that apparently exists in the bill as The Brooklyn Eagle admits “the problems involved are manifold and difficult. bill represents an attempt to solve a few. It is a step in the right direc- tion. Broadcasting will have to ac- cept the same government control and regulation that has been found expedient in other types of public service." The Baltimore Sun, however, says, “So far as concerts and lighter forms of entertainment are concerned, this may seem to endow the broadcasting The White | feels “there are enough listeners-in over i | | tieular moment, seems to have been | frolicking Jolly crowd. There will be were arrested and imprisoned with- out trial, on suspicion that they were elther coworkers or sympathizers of Todor Alexandroff. 2 * ¥ ¥ x For once the situation was saved. The invasion did not take place, and the general rising in Macedonia, if one was really planned at that par- frustrated, for the time being at least. But Alexandroff and his organization can by no means be done away with by an invasion of Bulgaria or by the mere imprisonment of any followers he might have in that country. If that were 5o, the Greeks and Serblans Wwould have' rid themselves of him long ago. Nor would there have been any meed of putting a price of 1,000, 000 dinars on his head. The fact i< tha! the organization has such a tremen- dous hold on the native population that the Times correspondent agrees with Alexandroff’s statement that he organization is the population, and the population the organization.” Furthermore, in commenting on the fact that the organization maintains at present unofficial representatives in the principal capitals of Burope, and on Alexandroff’s expressed am- bition ‘that one day it will have its official representatives accredited to every European country.. the corr ondent adds the following signifl cant statement: “Still, even today there exists in the revolutionary or- ganization a factor which neither sreat nor small kuropean powers can afford to disregard.” To sum up: In the existence of Alexandroff and his organization the Balkan pcopies are confronted with @ condition, and not with a theory. That condition must be met squarely one way or the other; and the inter- ested Balkan states will, inexorably, be put to the choice soon enough. Lither the widespread Macedonian movement must be crushed out, or the general demand for an autono- mous Macedonia must be given rec- ognition in some manner. The first alternative may, if it is to be attempted at all, bs accomplished only by the most ruthless extermina- i tion of all the partisans of autono- | mous Macedonia. And that simply means laying waste the whole coun- try; for. compared to Balkan meth- ods of destruction, the German rav- ages committed in Helgium and northern France would appear like the damage left in the trail of a no quarter given or asked. When it comes to delusions on matters of wounded national sensibility or pride, every Balkan nation is self-worship. ing enough to defy all laws and com- mandments, human or divine. % % % The second alternative. that of an autonomous Macedonia within which every component part of its hope- lessly mixed population may find freedom and self-expression, is not only a logical solution, but it may also pave the way for a greater and more general blessing. Tt would scem, indeed, that Providence or na- ture has, itself, suggested a definitive settlement of the whole Balkan tangle when it made Macedonia the common receptacle of the cast-off portions of all the Balkan races. With its Albanian. Bulgarian, Greek, Rumanian, _Serbian and ‘Turkish population, Macedonia is but a mini- ature of ‘the whole peninsula: an object-lesson to profit from, a nature- made pattern for a greater Balkan commonwealth. Her very physical location in the heart and center of the peninsula outlines a natural nucleus, which, itself, formed once the corner stone for the foundation of one of the greatest empires In his- tory, around which the kindred sur- rounding peoples may freely consoli- date again into a better, nobler and more lasting federation. o True enough, this all may sound like a dream. For, If mankind affects the slowest form of locomo- tion in its onward march toward in- ternational fellowship, the Balkan peoples are, avowedly, but sorry stragglers at the tail end of the line. And yet, if those peoples are to rid themselves of their present moral and material bankruptey; it they have but a modicum of decency and ambition to cease being the wretched pawns and tools in the hands of the great powers: if they but desire to put an end to petty discords which are keeping them in an everlasting condition of turmoil and resulting neo-barbarism; then they must steal a march on themselves on the road to real greatness and permanent prosperity. matter,” and since radio is still in its infancy, “it is all the more important that its future shall be assured and guaranteed against movements which seek a monopoly. It matters not what form this monopoly shall take. The results are what must be of interest to radio users and manufacturers.” In the interest of all concerned, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch maintains, “espe- cially the people who in the long run must pay all the costs of broadcasting and will be helped or injured by the manner and method of its control, a Wway out of the present chaos must be found. While the Atlanta Journal is confident that “whatever legisla- tion may be needful to prevent mo- nopoly of converse in the ether doubt- less will be forthcoming.” But the vanishing of the monopoly bugaboo, the Grand Rapids Press belleves, merely emphasizes another and more serious responsibility—the prevention of an unholy and terrible competition in the air by broadcast mediocrity,” and “perhaps before the matter is set- tled a radio inspection bureau will have to be created at considerable federal expense to regulate and license stations, forcing broadcasters to pay for their advertising with pro- grams of worthy quality. Although inst “a _monopoly. the Springfield Union agrees “to permit existing conditions to continue is to encourage degeneration of service,” be- cause “it requires no straining of the imagination to foresee that time when, uniess radio fans are in some manner forcéd to pay more than the mere price of their sets for the service they receive, they will be deluged with advertising schemes, and with the words of those who for some reason or other are will- ing to pay for broadcasting.” * % ¥ % The Philadelphia Bulletin, however, thinks “it would be poor business policy to discourage the widest possible de- velopment of radio interest, and variety of broadcasting is an incentive of high power, and radiophans of the country would like the assurance of the White bill with its anti-monopoly provisions.” To which the Wyoming State Tribune adds. “To o great extent the radio is tents cannot be accepted as a justifi- xé:t.km for monopoly of aerial : cation” The Davenport Democrat also the country to make the subject one of vital moment, and to back up the gov- ernment in any determination it may h;.v'; Mfl .o one shall gain a monopoly 0 air.” o‘l'he Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch is con- vinced “it is too valuable an invention to be permitied to be bog.lled ap. and too great an agency for the spread of propaganda. to be allowed to become & Hust-growed’ creature like Topsy, so stations with undeserved dignity; but | government regulation appears neces- in the discussion of debatable topics —political, economic or other—the prospects of censorship should arouse most serious apprehension.” As the Columbus Dispatch sees it, “It should be possible to upon at least a few principles of federal supervision, and set them up as a ork to be completed as experience poiats the way." The Springfield News declares “a X constantly will great principle is at -stake -im this-tune hmm sary for the protection of the public in- terest, but the government must move carefully.” Until the future, of the in- dustry is better understood, and its field of service more clearly defined, _the Cleveland Plain Dealer concludes, “the promoters of the industry, the manufac- the apparatus, will do the worrying,” while “the audie: ‘mated 1 | | | cogtinue to| MARCH 1924, Politics at Large BY N. 0. MESSENGER 26. It is reported in credible political circles that Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin has told friends that in no circumstances will he accept momination for the presi-’ dency at the head of a third party ticket. He is sald to be influenced by two considerations in reaching this determination: First, on account of his health, which has been and is precarious. He realizes, it is said, that he has not the physique to go through such a strenuous campaign as would neces- sarily involve his stumping the country, leading an independent ticket. He feels that life is more than political meat. Second, it is reported, he appre- hends that he would only pull down the republican temple, without bene- fiting himself; that the chances are against his being elected; and, more- over, he has never bolted. He is still, as he always has been, a republican, although not of the kind of repub- licans who dominate the republican party as at present organized and controlled. 2 W Political logic woéuld seem to sup- port the credibility of this report as to Senator La Follette's attitude. No doubt he was highly pleased at the showing he made in the Dakota primaries, where his name was placed on the republican ticket by “pasters” in spite of his protest. But North Dakota’s vote in the electoral college is small. Add to it the sure vote of Wisconsin, the prob- able vote of Minnesota and the pos- sible vote of South Dakota and Wash- ington, should he run as an in- dependent, he would still have all the phalanx of conservative states, east, west, north and south, against him shot through here and there with radicals, but yet ineffective to register victory for him. And after ail, what would it avail him to only bring confusion to the party which has honored him throughout the years in Wisconsin? * % % % Whether Senator La Follette has his face set against leading a third party or not, plans are under way for the organization of one, under the auspices of the farmer-labo party of Minnesota. A call was sent out yesterday for the calling of a national convention in St. Paul June 17 to nominate candidates for Pr dent and Vice President. Various groups of progressive and radical elements are to participate in the convention. * % % % The democratic national committee is planning to stage an object lesson on the effects of the republican tar- iff law on the cost of women's ap- parel and foodstuffs. Through e ! hibits of clothing and foodstuffs, plac arded with the tariff tolls on cach ar- ticle, women of the various states will demonstrate the democratic the- ory that the Fordney-McCumber tar- iff bill is the chief cause of the pres. ent high cost of living. Accepting the tariff as one of the main issues of the forthcoming presi dential election and one in which women particularly should be inter- ested, the commiites claims, ina much as $40,000,000,000 a year is spent by women, the committee has issued a pamphlet on “The Tariff as a Tax on Women.” This pamphlet is to form the basis of study and discussion in | more than 2,000 towns and cities by democratic women's ciubs. *= % * “We place before American house- wives the astounding fact that the Bordney-McCumber tariff costs the people of this country $4,000,000,000 a Year in excessive prices of the things they buy,” said Mrs. Emily Newell Blair, vice chairman of the demo- cratic national committee. “Of this sum only $500.000,000 goes into the United States Treasury as tariff reve- nue; the other $3,560,000.000 goes into the pockets of specially protected manufacturers. The profiteers get 871 cents of every dollar; the gov- ernment gets only 12% cents of every dollar the tariff extorts. * » % “The woman who buys a $2 pair of silk stockings pays $1.20 into the pockets of the tariff barons. On her woolen dress, weighing three and a half pounds, she has paid a tariff toll of $3.21. On*her unlined American kid gloves, for which she paid $4, she has paid a tarift of $2. For each pound of sugar, for which she is now | paying 9 cents, an exorbitant price, she includes 2 Cents tariff; on cream- ery butter she pays a tariff of § cents a pound. If she buys an aluminum pot, pan or kettle for her kitchen, costing $2, she has contributed in the cost price $1.45 in the tariff toll “These facts are perfectly under- standable to the American housewife. They explain to her why the income of $20 per week of pre-war days has the purchasing power of only $12 per Week mow. ' To the sugar barons alone the American housewife paid $42,000,000 last year." * % % % Then the statement goes on to at- North | l There is a three-sided war rag ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS Q. How many square fnches of; skin has an adult’—A. G. L. A. Dr. W. A. Pusey says that the | average individual has about one and | one-half square meters of skin. This is approximately 3,500 square inches. | Q. What is the value of the com- moree in the leading ports of world?—A. M. C. A. The five leading ports of th world and the vajue of their com- merce are as follows: Liverpool, $4.- | 000,000.000; London, G55.604.001 New York ecily, $3,062, deaux, France, geille, France, §1,934,60 Q. What was Samucl Pepy- ment on “Romeo and Juliet”?—F. A. & oA In 1661 the diarist went to se Romeo,"” and reported it play o itself the worst that 1 cver heard.” Q. Has the gospel been preached | to all the nations of the earth?—D. B. | A. It has not reached all pa the earth. Large portions of and Africa hive not heard the gos Q. Are the post offices compelled to | 1y a flag?—A. M. H. A. The Post Office Department that postmasters are not compelled to have a flag, but that the dep ment furnishes them L, postma | upon request. Whenever t P of the post office [i e Sent to all the Ja not, ho! ass offi permit I have develop in barre ve been put. N. A, C The Department of Aggiculture | says that the fact is that in so regions certain organisms belonging to the genus Gordius, and somew. closely resembling horse hairs, are not uncommon. They get into th water Ly leaving insects and oth small organisms, in which they have previously lived. They go into th. water for the purpose of mating and depositing their eggs. These lalter| | are _microscopic, and give to | | microscopic young ones in enormous | numbers, some of which their way into suitab grow to the size of so. snakes. This he host insects or other s The hairs from the of a horse will to life. Q. there per mile of ri n horscha s where horse hair: How do vou explain | 1 hosts i nd tail | How many telegraph polr ilroad track are The number of poles to ¥he mils ds upon the number ed. When there are 6 there ar: 30 poles to th there are 41 poles; 71 10 80, 59 poles. In plac particularly exposed to wir t many more poles are used hat a and slec Q. How did the Indian “Ra the-Face” get his name? —G. V. B It said that “Rain-in-the- o his name as the re- sult snal encounter when about ten years of age with a (Tey- enne boy, whom he worsted: he ceived several blows in the face ausing it to be spattered with blood where the paint had been washed away Q. How long has tattooing practiced?—R. 5. F. A. Tt is impossible and where the custom began, but it of IN TODAY’S in- been to whe of ng | ery ancient — i | | ideal toy | taug! BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN origin. were ot In the tombs near Thebes nd painted representatiohs 16N with tattoc % Inmentaries Ca being tattosed. When @4 the n uppear fo white ne in h Brit Q m first in Chrigtian Shina?-—H ed to e and ordered Scriptures translated his perusal. In 62% Al he found the satisfactory, and that preached within the empi s have the me for small childrer Q. What education —A W, 3 X A. The bureau of edncation that a child should be g 14 be toys of tive use. Th it is the in most games. The baby given a soft, bright-colored ha ht to play w 1 harder balls should be alue An ma which’ er entive -tend Luter. dev wor standa’— ¢ kstor lord bishe and later ful papri htdy. Mix with ubie boiler for five half cup ehopped stuff sp (Any 7 question by o tion Burean. Frede tor, 1220 North Capial stree fer applics strictly to informatio burean cannot give advice o cal and fina ters attempt fo underta > your question pl Give fu o and address and crnds in ps for retur AlL replies sent direet postage the inguire SPOTLIGHT BY PAUL V. COLLINS in Honduras and threatening to volve the United States. American ,marines have been sent to the capital, Tegucigalpa, for the sole purpose of protecting the lives and property of | Americans and Europeans endnng«*rul! by drunken and riotous soldiers of the | {de facto government holding the city lagainst the independent but simul- |taneous attacks of two besieging {armies. The soldiers of the defending | larmy have already destroyed or stolen | in- managem atnican ¥ and in his message to the Senate in connection with the pro- posed treat id down principles which b the Monros doo- | trine. He “Any country whosa duct themsalves well our hearty friend take > finances Dubli peopla - con~ iproperty exceeding haif a million dol- | lars. | Al _aliens are iAmerican legation, and the presenc of the 176 marines is considered mors ithan sufficient to protect the legatio and its people. While the Spangled Banner enrages Hondura: |they have a wholesome res; ‘our disciplined marines The worst phase of the situa ithe famine within the city of land the imminence of an epidemi ‘disease which, It is reported, threatens | not only the pent-up city, but the sur- rounding country. * % % % sheltered in t Honduras is a typical Central| American republic. wherein the con- | istitution is less powerful than the | machete, and the president is but a | little less dictatorial than a dictator! would be legal. As the constitution forbids a presi- | {@ent to succeed himself without a | t intervening, it is necessary for | tack the republican stronghold of |1¢7™ Inte & ! argument that a high tariff keeps up | {him to find a pliant puppet to fill the | high wages and high costs for farm products. “The fallacy urged upon working people and farmers that a high tariff keeps up high wages and high costs for farm produets is clearly shown in the item of sugar, in which the beet- ower and the sugar field worker &re both underpaid, regardless of the high sugar tariff, because the excess price goes into the pocket of the beet sugar trusts factory owner. In the beot sugar industry thousands of children are employed from the time they can toddle into the fields. “Our democratic women's clubs are asking women to discuss and think over these tariff figures and facts and then to govern themselves in the forthcoming elections in accord- ance with whether they stand for the party of high tariff or the party of tariff for revenue only. Only in party organizations can women gen- erally influence the repeal of the high' tariff and substitute for it a tariff which will lower the cost of living to them as ‘chiefs of the household budget.’ * * = x The democratic and republican na- tional committees are exchanging amenities with each other through their press bureaus as to whether Secretary Josephus Danlels and Sec- retary Payne, in the Wilson adminis- tration, or Secretary Fall and Secre- tary Denby, in‘the Harding admin- istration, dre responsible for ihe Navy leases. ‘They don't mind calling each liars any more than taking a pinch of snuff. * ¥ ¥ ¥ Senator Reed of Missouri, in his statement of Monday, declaring that he will ablde by the decision of the primaries in his state, and loyally support his party, is thought to have given intimation that he will not press his presidential candidacy with much energy from now on. Lacking the support of his own, state, it is felt that he could not make much headway asking support elsewhere. Tom Taggart of Indiana is having a hard time with that recalcitrant presidential candidate of his, Senator Ralston. Every time Mr. Taggart comes out with a blast for his man, Senator Ralston makes a statement that he is not a candidate, and Mr. ;gart has to admonish his auditors fi nu‘:‘t‘on to Ralston’'s ErRERes vacancy between legal terms for the | |“regular” president. This explains the | present imbroglio. The to the administration's e, | while at the same time objecting (o | each other. The United States has severed dip- lomatic relations, since there is now no constitutional government. The term of President Guteriez has ex- | pired, but he has declared himself dic- tator ad interim, while indorsing the N candidacies of Gen. Arias (who is! commanding the defense of the capi- tal) and -also of former President Polycarp Bonilla. It would not be politic for the administration to giv fuld and open support to either Bo- nilla or Arias, for the successful can- | didate might then imagine that he was as_strong as Guteriez himself. Then when Guteriez became roady to | resume potwer it might be difficult to | oust the ruling regime. H * % x | Another factor in the situation is | the candidacy of Gen. Carias, repre- senting the outspoken opposition to the = Guteriez administration. Gen. “arias is commanding one of the at- tacking armies and Gen. Ferrero the other, but the latest reports indicate that these two armies have combined. It is feared that if the attackers en- ter the city they will massacre the de facto adherents and then fall upon each other. Then if Ferrero, with his army of 2,000 barefooted Indians, finds himself the more powerful, he perhaps will declare himself dictator, and will fight both the Arias and Carias factions. All the armies are mainly equipped with machetes—the long knives used in cutting sugar cane. They have few rifies and pistols, and President Cool- idge has stopped the shipment of arms to Honduras from the United St Shduras is about the size of Ponn- sylvania, with a population of less | than 600,000, of whom nine-tenths are | Carib Indians. The United States is interested .in the republic because Americans own practically all of its banana plantations. Half of the Hon- duran exports consist of Americans own a silver mine and other enterprises. Italians, French and British also have business inter-| ests of various kinds. * K * ¥ Above all other considerations, the Monroe doctrine makes the United States = the ' superguardian of the [ bananas, peace of this hemisphere and the pro- | tector. of interests of all Buro- pean fatiofials invested In any couu- | its undeveloped resource ing eith | {eations. m the nic_wre which e ties of o crica_as tire interve nation ciple police power Sy and o1y, did & *"that e the Monmgd rpretation Meant United Stagds tor TG tri ig its ne intervention hy prevent intery o in In 186 v B ciers floated a loan for - Ha that Trordy more than $230.000, P firm the &0 igerest, inca upon said r. g . the bidding been and auctionin: them paid* on the acc to $12 .000. T claim that the b m a lien upon the enti and all it resources, de undeveloped, and they refuse sent to any concession to otl bond intc in. the 1ed w ! StaTIOW o @ond- dge, Fives | tho development of its resourigs nature, Numerous attemp been made by American of State—Root and Knox parti —to refinance the bonds. take them over fron helders, but no schem has met ‘with parties. The impossibilit ariy s 1o itish = 80 ofg both it Pay-* for doth approval of Hondu © principal or interes parent. There arc latent poss of trouble between the United with its modernized Monrae d and the British with th &roup ‘of Now Yo loaned Honduras $500,000, customs of the port pledged as security, in spite of tha British . assumptions of cxolusive # rights to contrul ail income agd ro- Soure. * ¥ Xk ¥ Since 1340 there have been six at- tempts to federate the five nations of Central America into one union. The last attempt was made in 1921, at the cull of Salvador. Ib fatled when it was disclosed that the &nimating im- pulse was jealousy of the Nicaraguan treaty with the United States con cerning the right to build the Nica- raguan interoce: c canal, with American naval bases at both ends of the canal, the United States dgr. ing to pay CArag $3,000,000. Th other Central Americ: tes wanted to share in the benefits afig professcd fear of our dominance thkough our naval con catagua T fused to join the federation in the face of this jealousy and the ,union fell \through, although theére was an effort to overturn tbe . Nicaraguan government by force in order to er-b fect the federation. Secretary o State Hughes has-expressed Lhe atti- tude of the United States as strongly & favoring such a union, provided it is brought about through the spenta= neous consent of the states compos ing it 1 s fobo (Copyright, 1024, by Panl V. Colltns )