Evening Star Newspaper, May 19, 1924, Page 6

'THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY .May 19, 1924 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office: Tower Building. Buropean Office: 16 Regent St., Londou. England. The Evening Star, with the Sunday momning edition, is delivered by carriers within the city at 60 cents per month: daily only, 45 cents per month: Sunday cnly, 20 cents per month. Orders may be sent by mail or tele- phone Main 5000 Collection is made by car- viers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1 yr., $5.40; 1 mo, 70c Daily only. 1yr., $6.00; 1 mo., 50c Sunday only. 1yr.,$2.40; 1 mo., 20 All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00 ; 1 mo., 85¢ Daily only . $7.00 ; 1 mo., 60c Sunday only. $3.00; 1 mo., 25¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled fo the use for republication of all Dews dis: tehes credited to it or not otherwise credited n this paper and also the local mnews pub- lished herein. ~All rights of publication of wpecial dispatches herein are also reserved. —_— ‘Washington’s Taxes High Enough. The lumpsum payment pian re- flects the thought that the District is not contributing enough and the na-| ton is contributing too much toward | Capital upbuilding. Washiagton pro- tests that in view of the recent dras- de increases in i tax burdens there should be no further increases, hastily | and inconsiderately adopted, revolu- donizing its whole fiscal system. The congressional joint committee of 1915 investigated for months and ransacked the District’s fiscal affairs from top to bottom. Answering the question whether under the organic act the District was so assessed and so taxed as to pay its fair share of the cost of Capi- wal upbuilding, the committee declared “that the present assessment wvalua- Hon of privately owned real estate in Washington is fair and reasonable “‘the payment of taxes on real estate | from the assessments as they are now constituted is a far and reasonable response in such taxation for munici- pal benefits received by the citizens of the District”; “the annual tax in ‘Washington is approximately $16 per capita. In the judgment of your com- mittee this is a reasonablo tax levy at this time, especially when we consider, &s we must, that a large proportion of the population here pays but a small amount of the ta S And Senator Works The people of the District are not undertaxed. They are, in my judgment, bearing their full share of the burden of the axpenses of the District. Just now * ¢ ¢ T think they are being taxed too high.” Assessor Richards, whose work was thus commended by the congressional joint committee, still holds the office, and with judgment ripened by experi- ence is assessing District property today. Speaking broadly, the District's per cmpita tax levy and its actual tax burden have doubled since 1915. Let us compare the real property tax burden of the Capital in the two vears: In 1915, with population 360,000— -$390,309,278 5,854,630 1,275,827 Real estate assessment. .. Real estate tax, at $1.50. Personal property taX.... $7,129,457 population 450,000— $767,056,555 9,204,680 4,800,000 In 1924, with Real estate assessment. Real estate tax, at $1.20 Personal property tax. $14,004,680 1n 1915 the congressidnal joint com- mittee, after months of investigation, reported that the tax assessment here ‘was fair, that the tax levy of $16 per capita was reasonable, that the people of the District were not undertaxed, and that they were perhaps taxed too high. In the nine years since 1915 Wash- Ington has added 25 per cent to pop- ulation and 100 per cent to tax burden. 1s not Washington paying enough? Among the items of increase in this doubling of tax burden are the recent exactions and confiscations under the law of 1922, Under the law of 1878, which pre- vailed in 1915, the District out of a Capital upbuilding appropriation of $20,000,000 would have nominaily con- tributed $10,000,000; under the 1922 law with its new 60-40 ratio it would <contribute $12,000,000. ‘The District's intangible tax rate was in 1922 increased 66 2-3 per cent. In the year before the new law (the fiscal year ending June 30, 1922) the revenue from this source was $949,058. In the year after the new law (fiscal vear 1923) the revenue from in- tangibles was $1,723,443.10, an in- crease over 1922 of $774,385.10, or nearly 82 per cent. Under the 1922 law the District was deprived of certain miscellaneous rev- enues which it had previously enjoyed. In the year before the new law it had $1,568,417 of this revenue to apply apon its half contribution. In the fiscal vear 1923 the District had only $1,480,- $62 to apply upon its 60 per cent con- tribution. Of this revenue there was turned over to the United States in 1922 $412,464, and in 1923 $892,618. The recent million-dollar gas-tax exaction is still fresh in memory. _The Capital community is meeting fully its obligation to contribute fairly 10 the upbuilding of the nation’s city. ‘Washington’s tax burden should not ‘be made heavier unless after thorough investigation changes are enacted thoughtfully and deliberately in its substantive law. Clearly this tax burden ought not to be increased or vital fiscal relations of the Capital altered by legislative rider upon an appropriation bill. This action would be shockingly unjust, seriously hurtful to the Capital's wel- fare and would violate the gentlemen’s agreement that the 1922 law should not be changed except by the regular . prooefiure of altering substantive law. Elsewhere in today’s Star editorial { ment on Gov. correspondence exposes the fallacy of the belief that tax rates are & measure of tax burdens, the delusion upon which the indictment of Washington undertaxation is based. ————————— Poor Losers. Yesterday's demonstration of hos- tility toward the American Olympic rugby team in Paris should not cause any profound feeling of irritation in this country toward France. There was nothing political about it. The American team, for some reason which passes understanding, has not been popular since arrival in Paris. Some individual actions may have caused this antagonism. On the playing field, however, the team representing the United States played a clean, square game, scrupulously avoiding any un- sportsmanlike actions. Notwithstand- ing their correct bebavior, the crowd manifested a hostile sentiment, and at the conclusion, when the French team had been vanquished by a decisive score, and the American flag was hoisted in token of the result, @ dem- onstration of antagonism occurred that gave the greatest offense to all Americans present and caused deep chagrin to many French people. Apologies were tendered later, but the affair left wounds. It has been said that the French are not good sportsmen, that they are hard losers and cannot stand defeat. This is not an admirable trait in mat- ters of friendly competition. One of the prime essentials of sport is ability to take non-success calmly, however great the disappointment. Clean play- ing is the first requirement. In this respect there is no ground for com- plaint in the present instance. But the ability to lose gracefully is evi | dently not characteristic of the French multitude. Partisanship on the playing field manifests itself in this country by tremendous cheering for favorites, but rarely, if ever, by demonstrations of hostility to rivals. Perhaps this un- pleasant incident at Paris may teach a wholesome lesson to France. ‘Who's A-Fibbing? Franklin D. Roosevelt, preconven- tion manager for Gov. Alfred E. Smith, suing his first official state- Smith's prospects for securing the presidential nomination, takes a wallop at the claims of the managers of the rival candidates as to the voting strength of their respec- tive men. He points out that a rough adding of the figures of these claims would show that the convention will be composed of 2,678 delegates instead of 1,098, as the roster of the states' representation shows. He adds that if he should give the votes certain for Gov. Smith the total “would increase an already unwieldy gathering beyond the limits of Madi- son Square Garden,” and this he is reluctant to do. Then Mr. Roosevelt sets out to arouse curiosity by stating that he has private assurances, the details of which he is not at liberty to reveal; that Gov. Smith will sur- prise his rivals when the convention gets through with the favorite-son bal- lots and starts in to voting for candi- dates in earnest. He asserts that Gov. Smith's strength rests on the support which he will obtain in uninstructed delega- tions. For awhile some of them will vote for candidates whom they know have no chance of being nominated. Mr. Roosevelt claims to have knowl- edge that Gov. Smith will fall heir to a portion of this vote when the dis- tribution sets in which will surprise the rivals. That same claim is being made by the McAdoo and other managers. Somebody is spoofing us in these claims. Who is doing it? Street Improvements. The Senate subcommittee in charge of the District appropriation bill has made @ tour of streets “to survey per- sonally the need for certain proposed street improvements.” It is believed that the verdict of the committee will find many streets guilty of being too rough, and will find that many streets built on both sides with houses whose owners pay the regular District tax and are ready to pay the special street tax have no paving. It is believed that the findings of the committee ought to be reflected in appropriations for street improvements. Washington has grown faster than its streets, and lack of congressional authorization for street building has in some ways re- tarded the city’s growth. In sections of the District, roads, mud in wet weather and dust in dry weather, lead between rows of good brick house: Many of the main ways of the Capital are behind the times. Traffic has grown, and the upkeep of many streets has been by patchwork. A street be- comes worn and rough and holes ap- pear. A new pavement may be indi- cated, but the best that we have been able to do in many cases is to clean out the hole and fill it with cement or other road-making material. Here and there a yard or' so of the worst part of a broken street is cut away and a patch of new pavement is laid. Soon it becomes necessary to put a patch on another part of the street, and the result is that some of our highways are a series of patches. There are also, highways which have passed the patching stage. Much of the Capital's street paving is in poor condition, and the department of streets and the Commissioners have made the proper recommendations to Congress. —_—————— A refusal to testify leaves the pub- lic free to make its own guess as to what it was the witness preferred not to talk about. ———————————— An able man who enjoys & quiet life is now being sought as a vice presi- dential candidate. A Message From the Dixmude. ‘When the French dirigible Dix- mude, fiying from France to Africa, disappeared last December the conclu- sion was officially reached that she had been struck by lightning in a storm and destroyed. The body of her commander was found on the 28th of December, and a few scraps of wreck- age were later discovered. Now it is reported that a bottle was washed ashore on the coast of Corsica contain- ing @ scrawled message as follows: “Gesoline given out. We are adrift. ‘Wind like a tempest. Dixmude’s crew. Adieu and vive la France.” This must be an authentic record, for surely no one would fake such a token of tragedy. It is altogether like- 1y that there was time for some mem- bers of the crew to write these few ‘words on a piece of paper and, thrust- ing it into & bottle, throw it overboard before the final crash. The dirigible probably did not collapse instantly, even if it was struck by a bolt. It will be noted that the message speaks of the ship as adrift. There could be lit- tle hope for it in that condition, with fuel gone, and therefore with no power to resist the hurricane. This brief adicu tells more than the heroic despair of the Dixmude’s crew. It tells the story of the real weakness of the dirigible. It is helpless in a vio- lent storm. It offers a tremendous re- sistance to the wind, and is a mark for electric discharges. A plane may maintain itself in the air in the face of the storm if it is not caught aslant. It may make a landing in a gale with good management. But the dirigible, specially when the power is gone, nnot be maneuvered. Recently the Shenanddah was blown away from its mooring mast in New Jersey, but managed to make its way back, though its nose had been crumpled. The return, however, was made after the subsidence of the gale, and was possible only because the motive power was unimpaired. Had the fuel been exhausted it would have been helpless. The utility of the great dirigibles still problematical. They are spectacu- lar and impressive, and in certain con- ditions undoubtedly of value. But their factor of failure is still too high to rate them as a dependable means of aerial transport. ————— Teapot Dome is no longer a matter of great popular interest, owing to the fact that no developments can reason- ably be expected more startling than the disclosures already made. Ques- tions of fact promise no surprise. The significant question now is the very old one, “What are you going to do about it?” ——————— Nothing could happen that would tend more strongly to relieve socialism of its dangerous impetuosities than its political successes in Furope. The ardent theorist is seldom quite the same man when he faces practical re- sponsibilities. —— e Tt was expected that the bonus bill would pass, that the President would veto and that the House of Repre- sentatives would repass it. So far everything has run strietly according to schedule. ——————— Hundreds of cabarets and res- taurants will be padlocked prior to the Democratic convention in New York. The formality of “bestowing the keys of the city” will really mean some- thing. —_———— The expericnces of Albert Fall may have spread false notions abroad about the ease with which money can be borrowed from American financiers. ——————— Governmental policies are liable to change as time passes. The Japanese government was itself once rigidly ex- clusive in its immigration rules. —_—————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Inevitability, It's a rough old world—it's a tough old world— With methods very strange. There's hardly a man without a plan For advantageous change. Too fast we go, or else too siow, In limousine or liz. | But where the gain if we complain— For that's the way it is. Perhaps up there is a planet fair ‘Where no one fibs or fights, And none evades the statutes made To safeguard mutual rights. But here we are! So it’s best by far To attend to present biz. "Mongst the good (it's sad) there is often bad— But that's the way it is. Standing His Ground. “Public opinion is very fickle.” “That's what makes politics so in- teresting.” rejoined Senator Sorghum. “A speech which one year causes harsh criticism may, after people have had time to think it over, be the signal for unanimous cheering." Jud Tunkins says he never yet heard a speech that was as interesting as the first two minutes led him to expect. Speculative Reminiscence. “Do you approve of returning good for evil?” “As a moral proposition, I do,” an- swered Mr. Dustin Stax. “Butas I re- call my experiments with German marks I can’t see any sense in ex- changing perfectly proper cash for bad money.” Survival of the Misfit. Dame Nature in her lovely sway ‘Will often cause us grief profound. The blossom swiftly fades away. The poison ivy sticks around. Gentle Sarcasm. “I caught my boy Josh laughin® at my grammar,” said Farmer Corntos- sel. “Did you reprove him?” “I did. I told him that while he was walcome to use the dear old home for a boardin’ house he mustn’t expect it to have the attractions of a cabaret. I'm perfectly willin’ to set out the menu, but I don't intend to furnish no personal entertainment.” Sea Gazing. “Summer resorts no longer adver- tise sea serpents.” “No,” commented Old Bill Bottletop. “They have to keep up to date in of- ferin’ inducements for people to stand an’ gaze at the wild wavea. They’re circulatin’ rumors that rum-runners ‘when pursued throw thetr cargoes overboard, and that a case of Scotch is liable to be washed ashore any min- ute.” — “An ergument "dout religion,” said Uncle Eben, “Is liable to git people more interested in tryin’ to be smart dan in tryin’ to be good.™ America’s Future and Problems NO. V. Overshadowing Issues Are Ku Enforcement, Noted BY OSCAR W. UNDERWOOD, United States Senator From Alabama and Democratic Leader in the Upper Houme of the Congrems. The tremendous cataclysm of the world war has so deranged and dis- organized our self-complacent views on many things that it has become an urgent and imperative necessity to “find” ourselves again and to re- adjust our vision to the new condi- tions of social and political life that have come upon us. The thought and action of our people must shape itself to conform to the new economic prob- lems that have arisen from the ruin and devastation of a terrible war. These problems are entitled to the service of the best professional and business intellect the country pos- sesses, but they are far from getting it. Questions of the greatest moment are left to the exigencies of partisan politics, where they should receive the serious consideration of brains skilled in the administration of large business enterprises. The objectives, now too often lost sight of, should be the endurance of peace and the happiness and security of hanoin y of our own * ok % % T believe that the parumount and overshadowing issues now confront- ing our country are: Taxation—I favor the speedy re- duction of the tariff taxes which are levied on the people and which con- Stitute a distinet and outstanding party political issue. I believe that the so-called “soldiers’ adjusted com- pensation bill, “commonly known as the “bonus” will increase our taxes, and, therefore, should not be enacted 1 favor the immediate elimination of the usoless bureaus of the govern- ment and the reduction of the enor- mous number of useless federal em- ploy - Ku Klux Klan.—You cannot mix Americanism and Klanism. Any per- son who favors the Klan does so in open opposition to the Constitution, Which is the foundation rock upon Which our government is builded. The Presidency.—I favor a consti- tutivnal amendment limiting th term of office of th Ident to one term of six or s Law inforcement.—1 vor the vig- orous enforcement by the executive departments of the United hold that no man is qualif the oath of office as President would hesitate for an instant in the performance of that duty. * * x x The need for immediate tax reduc- tion is vital. How far we can carry the burden of present taxation no one can feretell. But the fact re- mains that we are fast approaching the danger point. We have reached a point where we must call a halt on any further increase in taxation or extension of national credit. The tariff is a tax burden, no mat- ter what specious arguments are used to the contrary. The tariff tax bene- fits the few at the expense of all the rest There should be a material re- duction in this form of “favored in- dustries” tax. . Our taxpayers are burdened with a rapidly growing form of national peril—a bureauc in the shape of federal emplo According_to atest figures of the Civil Service ission, we have at present mployes in the District of lumbia, and 483.547 additional em- ployes in’the nation at large—a total of 548.505—all civilians employed b. the federal government. It is a v Burns’ Resignation Is Viewed With Satisfaction -by Editors| The resignation of William J. Burns, director of the bureau of investiga- tion of the Department of Justice, Is viewed with general satisfaction by the nation's press. It was inevitable, editors feel. “It has seemed certain since evi- dence of how the Department of Jus- tice had become honeycombed with political spies that Washington would not long remain a healthful place for Mr. Burns,” in the opinion of the Mil- waukee Journal, vet, “the house- cleaning has only begun,” for “the old guard party leaders who hade this kind of thing possible remain.” The Albany Knickerbocker Press de- clares, “Any one who is not totally blind knew several weeks ago that sooner or later Mr. Burns would have to drop from the Department of Jus- tice pay rolls,”” because “public opin- ion resulting from the Daugherty in- vestigation made it imperative that he should go.” The country, contin- ves the New York Herald-Tribune, “has thoroughly tired of the plots and counter-plots through which he and his satellites appeared to move,” and, will be a relief to have no more of Mr. Burns strutting on the stage.” His retirement at this time, the Lan- sing State Journal points out, “tends to indicate the changing aspect in Washington; that the administration is gradually revising the list of offi- cials in charge of governmental ac- tivities against which the most sus- picion and criticism have been di- rected” The country is to be con- gratulated, the Baltimore Evening Sun feels, but “especially to be con- gratulated is the Coolidge adminis- tration, which is thus rid of an inca- bus that could not but have proved an increasing handicap as the months rolled on.” L The Springfield Republican indorses this view, and hopes “that the burean of investigation will employ no Gaston B. Means as its star investigator, and will raise the ethics of the government detective system so that there will be no official burglars on the government pay roll, no ‘agent provocateur,’ no frame- up specialists and no witch-hunting unit for the suppression of unpopular opin- jons” The Birmingham News suggests that “so bitter is his denunciation of his ‘detractors’ that it is very difficult to disarm the mind of a sort of blanket suspicion that Mr. Burns was asked to resign, and that he is not doing it of his own free will and accord.” The Charles- ton Post agrees that “his resignation at this time was doubtless required by At- torney General Stone, and it was a very proper thing and further earnest on the part of the new head of the department that decent and orderly methods of ad- ministering the Department of Justice would take the place of Daughertyism in the government.” Although “his in- ternational detective agency found a place in popular fancy for awhile, side the illustrious Pinkertons,” the Grand Rapids Press insists “the snoop- ing ‘bureau of investigation' as con- ey preposterous & under . the of the recent Senate probe that the re- doubtable William J. mmrlg ut“ the duties for which he was em- ployed,” the Nashville Banner holds, “his position would have been se- cure and his fame might have con- tinued to increase,” but “his methods ‘were not of high character and many of the men he employed were dis- reputable characters™; us, “the passing of Buras should result in our | leave him free to devote all his pow- MONDAY, Klux Klan, Taxation and Law Southerner Declares. table and expensive host, yet at every session of Congress it is pro- posed to add to the already swollen functions of the government further actlvities, to create more bureaus, and to 'increase the already stu- pendous ‘array of civilians on the federal pay roll. * Kk ok ok Among the evils following in the train of war has come about a cer- tain disregard for the law of the land amounting to what might be termed rebellion against the law In general. There is even an or- ganized deflance against some of the most sacred guarantees of the Con- stitution, such as trial by jury, pro- tection of the home, freedom of religious worship and the protection of property. ‘These fundamental warranties of liberty must neces- ily fail when an unrestrained mob ects th affairs of men instead of ven-handed justice proceeding from courts of 1 It is the and unmistakable dut of every decent citizen to throw the weight of his disapproval against fagrant violators of the law, in whatever garh they may be found. 1 favor the cratic platform of 5 which pro- nounced against the Know-Nothings | of that era—and the Ku Klux Klan is the Know-Nothing Klan of today. x ok * We are just recovering from the shock of a tragedy the pathos of which moved the world. A Presi- dent succumbed to the rigorous ex- actions of his office, striving with an exemplary patience and heroic consciousness of duty to crowd into his short four years of office a host of herculean labol Had he been allotted a large space of time, he might have spared his strength and conserved his powers to their ful- fillment. An election to the presi- den mean; the sacrifice of per- haps half the term to party demands, which cannot be ignored or thrust aside so long as party loyalty exists or party ties exert a binding forc It is not a mere personal ambition that dominates the FPresident. If he is cor ientions and ruly imbued with t abstract principles of gov- ernment for which his party stands, he must more or less recpgnize his obligations to see them made per- and abiding f the good of v. This means that those his ¢ countl should be de must be given up to qu lieney and politic: led —that the opposit not steal a march plant itself within the breastworks of the Capitol at the next election * x % * eva the newly elected Presi- of his eligibility to another| {ll cease to be the maneuver. Free Intolerable you will Re dent term and he center of political your Executive from this yoke about his neck and or and encrgies to the STval masses of the people. The unsettlement of business every four years is entirely too frequent a disturbanoe of our affairs of trade| and trafic The gers of a third term are too remote to Worry about.| The people are too firmly intrenched | in their opposition to the thousght of it. As for our foreign policy—that is already hewn out by an inexorable logio of events Our destin | forth is unalterably interwoven with the destinies of our sister nations| over the sea Tomorrow—Senator Magnus Johnson. in United States and Great orth - American - Newspaper All righta reserve secret service being kept at duties for which it was designed.’’ As the Brooklyn Eagle sees it: “He was not out of place in an organization that alternately employed and prosecuted Gaston B. Means. He revels in in- trigue and melodrama. If he didnt talk so much he would be a model agent to direct the secret activities of a Machiavellian government. Such a man should never hold office and di- rect the secret service of a republic.” * % X ¥ The Buffalo News contends “Mr. Burns lent a flavor of old Russia to the office of the bureau of investiga- tion,” and “in that post, Attorney General Harlan F. Stone must have regarded him as an anachronism.” The Des Moines Tribune also notes “his was the Russian notion of na- tional secret service, a mnational po- lice organized for political uses and acting as ‘agents provocateurs,’ but fortunately there is something in this theory that shocks the American no- tion of fairness and justice, so Burns had to go." To which the Providence Tribune ds “his going will cause no regret,” moreover, “his widespread activitles' in frightening the country through his ‘red’ scares will go down in American political history as the hysterical reaction of the country to the war, with Burns' name always connected therewith” and now that he is out, “it is hoped that the re- mainder of the discredited Depart- ment of Justice will follow.” Burng’ activities “in the conspiracy with the secretary of the Republican na- tional committee to ‘get Wheeler were infamous and it was high time for him to go,” according to the New York Evening World, which con- cludes “the departure of Daugherty and Burns, however, does not finish the job of cleaning the Department of Justice of the men engaged in these outrageous proceedings, and it is to be hoped Attorney General Stone will clean house from garret to basement and use a liberal supply of disinfectant™ School Pupils’ Work Inspected by Citizens To the Editor of The Star: The report of the meeting of the Citizens' Association of Park View Tuesday evening was like *“Hamlet™ with Hamiet left out, as it failed en- tirely to mention the real purpose of the evening, which was the inspection of the annual exhibit of the work of MAY 19, 1924 THE SLAVE OF CUSTOM BY JOHN CARLYLE. At about fifteen minutes after 7 in the evening on any battleship of the United States fleet the bugle sounds “Hammocks.” Bluejackets by the scores and hundreds come piling into the great areas below decks to draw their hammocks for the night. ‘That is to say, they do in theory. As a matter of fact, most of the crew prefer to sleep with their bed- ding on the floor or on the decks above or on cots. A few sleep in hammocks and those who do don't ‘draw them” when the bugle sounds. But they go through all the motions at the same time each evening—for it “has always been done. Eight bells, indicating the time of day, sounds loud and clear across the ship. The clock Is near the captain's cabin. No doubt he can hear it. But an orderly immediately approaches, salutes the captain and informs that the clock has struck 8 bells. “Make it so replies the captain, Now, of course it is so without the captain’s making it so. And the captain knew it all the time. But custom is the hardest of masters and his slavery is not easy to escape. Because John Panl Jones and Nelson of Trafalgar and Admiral Farragut did thus and so, it is done thus and 80 today. Appafently this is reason enough. Every night a guard of British soldiers masches to an unused and rather un ortant building in I« don and g on watch. The occa- sion for guarding this spot long since passed—but it has always been done. And the ¥ou ar ommunities and individuals are the slave of custom. We are all in some gree the thoughtless victims of routine. Inspect your habits some day and see how many things o are doing just because you have always done them. See how ma v things you are doing in just th particalar way becauso you have always done them in just that par- ticular way. The mere reason of custom is not reason enough. Your habits should justify themselves by their proved utility, their demonstrated contribu- tion to your welfars. Check off the things you You have always done them. Get rea- sons or get rid of them. Don’t he afraid to substitute new habits, new customs, new methods when the test of time has proved the old ones outworn. (Copyright, 1924.) Theater Built in 1804. Writer Reviews History of Site of the President Since Early Days. To the Editor of The Star: T write to correct or clarify a state- ment made in “Answers to Questions” in Wednesday's Star. The question was asked “How long has there been a theater on the site of the President Theater on Penn- Ivania avenue™ The answer given was, in part, that “in 1861, under the management of S. W. Glenn, the the- ater on the site of the President Theater ®oday was known at Caru- His was the first theater on this ete. A brief statement regarding the site of the playhouse is given in The vening Star of June 26, 1920, and is follo: “Originally the site of the Wash- ington Theater, which was erected by popular subscription in 1804, the building had its main entrance on 11th street near C street. Here in 1508 Joseph Jefferson first appeared before a Washington audience, and in 1819 the theater had the honor of numbering President Monroe and his family among its patrens. This is| the earliest record of a President at- tending a show in the National Capital, “The original structure was partly burned April 19, 1820, to be later re- built by Lewis Carusi and renamed ‘the Washington _Assembly Rooms. In the early 60s Carusi's Salon was a famous dancing rendezvous, furnish- ing e scene for many social funo- tions,” ete. It was the first building erected in Washington for theatrical purposes and the first performance was given there November 16, 1804. Under the management of Carusi, here were held the inaugural bal of Presidents Van Buren (1337), Polk (1845). Taylor (1849), Pierce (1853) and Buchanan (1857). From 1841 to 1843, the city post ofice occupied rooms in the basement of Carusi's Salon. Regarding the building, Madison Davis had this to say before the Columbia Historical ety in 1902: he building—Carusi's Saloon—to which the post office was taken, is still standing, though sadly altered. It is now known as Kernan's or the Lyceum Theater. in the sense in which that word is now commonly used, but a place of entertainment, to which, its whole use as such, some of the most fashionable and distinguished ladies and gentlemen not only of the Capital City dut of the whole nation were womt to go. Carusi's, indeed, was one of the great institutions of the federal city.” At a ball given here in 1826 by Mrs. Johnston of Louisiana the waltz was first introduced by Baron Stackel- burg, and many of Washington's first families first learned here to trip the light fantastic. In the early 50s the writers mother was one of a great many who from time to time took dancing les- sons from Lewis Carusi The music was furnished by a darky named Harry White, who was a fairly good violinist. Twenty years later, when he was his own master, our family moved into a neighborhood where Harry White lived in an old shack, typical hereabout in,early years fol- lowing the civil war. He was then quite venerable and his hair had grown white with age, but he still could fiddle. My mother recognized him and he remembered her, and many pleasant chats she had with him, going over her childhood days when she was taking dancing lessons at Carusi’s Salon to his tuneful mel- odies. JOHN CLAGETT_ PROCTOR, Historian, Society of Natives, D. C. How Big Are Hailstones? Question Here Answered. How bdig are haflstones? This is Jjust a sample of the sort of questions that pour in daily to almost every de- partment or burean of the govern- ment. ‘Who could answer this question? the pupils, which had been prepared by them under the painstaking direc- tion of their teachers. Long before the hour of the open- ing of the meeting, the invited guests filled the schoolhouse, as more than 2,000 people visited the exhibit, which was displayed in every room and in all of the corridors. From the kindergarten to the eiglth grade were creditable speci- mens of the work of the scholars. The little tots in the kindergarten had laid out a plan of the city, form~ ing the notable buildings with blocks, and each successive grade showed ‘work that could be highly commended. The domestic science room exhibit- ed attractive posters, with well or- dered menus decorated in colors. The post office room had many boxes and letters ' showing the proper method for mailing. The entire building, from the base- ment to the upper floor, was a bower of cut flowers and blooming plants Miss Fairley and her staff of com- petent teachers have reason to be congratulated upon the results of the work exhibited. .. ALICE B. WILLIAMS ‘Why, the weather burean. After care- ful research it finds that hailstones larger than a man's fist and weighing more than a pound have several times been reported on responsible author- ity. During a haflstorm in Natal on April 17, 1874, stomes fell that weighed a pound and a half, and passed through a corrugated iron roof as if it had been made of paper. N Hailstones fourteen inches in cir- cumference fell in New: South Wales in February, 1847. At Cazorlas Spain, on June 15, 1829, houses were crushed, under blocks of ice, some of which are said to have weighed four'and a half pounds. In October, 1844, a haflstorm at Cette, France, wrecked houses and _sank vessels. b Authentic. reports, which have been collected by the weather bureau, of the finding of hailstones much larger than those above mentioned, undoubt- edly refer, the bureau says, to masses of ice resulting from the coalescence, after fall , of & numbeér of smaller’ hailstones Iying olosely packed to- gether on the ground. are doing just because | It was not a saloon | throughout | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. Where is the center of popuia- tion of " the city of Washington?— M H A. The bureau of census says that the center of population is about 222 feet north of M street northwest, and 57 feet east of 5th street northwest. Q. Please give a brief description of the statue of Abraham Lincoln stand- ing over a negro slave—H. V. H. A. This is known as the emancipa- tion group, and stands In Lincoin Park, Washington, D. C. The quota- tion on the pedestal “Emancipa- tion,” and on the base “Grace set free, and the country at peace, Lincoln rests from his labors.” Q. What are the largest denomina~ tions of paper, gold and silver money in the United States?—S. G. S. A. The largest paper bill is the $10,000 Treasury or Federal Reserve note; the largest gold piece, the $20 double eagle, and ‘the largest silver coin, the silver dollar. Q. What is a Saratoga chop?—W. G. D, A. This is a new cut of meat. Sara. togn chops are the boned and rolled shoulder roast of lamb cut into slices. Q. Was Robert E. Lee's father killed in'a fight>—T. N. R. A. In Page's biography of Lee, he mentions the fact that the father of Gen. lece was mortally injured in an election riot in Baltimore. Q. When was the first chautanqua?— MOA K. A The first chautanqua assembly was In gession from August 4 to 18, 1874, s the result of a plan formed by Lewis Miller of Akron, Ohio, and the Rev, John H. Vincent of New York. Q. Why does glass cut more easily and more evenly under water than in the air>—M. E. S. A. The bureau of standards says that the cutting In air sets up vibra- tions in the glass and this tends to crack it. When the glass is placed under water the vibrations are pre- vented. Q. Why are we thirsty after eating salt or sweet food?—B. M. A. The reaction of thirst comes from taking into the svstem more salt or sugar than Is nee: This excess ar- rests the s ions of the mucous membrane, and the resulting dryness is relicved by water, which will di- lute and carry off the excess salt or sugar. Q. Was Lafayette influenced by the Ameriea flag in selecting the colors for the flag of the French R public?—H. R. A. The tricolor of France dates from 1789. There are three versions of the | story concerning the origin of the de- | sig Probably th most authentic story is to the ef t after th {fall "of the Bastile, lafavet | was appointed by mander-in-chief 3 Guard, he devised for the guard a new cockade made of the white of roval family and the colors of Parls, which “time out of mind" were and continue to be red, white and blue, Q. What is the temperature inside a gasoline motor when the gas is ex- ploded?—J. R. A IN TODAY’S Sun Yat-sen is not dead, but livath! Adherents of the Peking government | of North China had heard with relief, | last week, that the leader of the| Canton government, South China, had | died. They said: ‘“There is no other Sun Yat-sen; the opposition will col- lapse.” i But Sun Yat-sen had merely gone away for a rest; he is back at the helm, refreshed and vigorous—the George Washington of a freed and democratic China—freed from the | foreigner, yet torn by military oli- garchy and planderbund. * % x % Asia has produced three grea leaders in this generation: Ghandi, Wwho seeks to deliver India, and Kem- al Pasha, the builder of the New Tur- key—and Sun Yat-sen. Neither of | the owers is so outstanding in self- sacrifice, in patience, in patriotic achievement, in personal peril and self-forgetfulness and personal lo as the one who delivered half a mil- lion people from the tyranny of the Manchu conquerors, and then, for| the sake of unity, put aside the pres- idency after he had been eclected a augurated, rather than permit d ion in his liberated country. Denounced as an agitator, dema- gogue and traitor—even as were am Adams, Ben Franklin, Patrick | Henry and John Hancock—Sun Yat- | sen has kept his Lead—literally as well as fizuratively. In 1894 he helped to form in Canton a secret society of cighteen patriots, pledged to deliver China from the Manchus. i We can conceive the audacity and peril of that compact? For 300 years the Manchus had ruled through the connivance of millions of office-seek- ing Chinamen and millions of spies To utter a word of criticism of the Manchu government, even within one’s most intimate circle, meant that the * " was reported, and be- head:! uickly followed. Geventean mambers of that seeret society were promptly beheaded, but Sun Yat-sen escaped. Later, he was captured as he walked the streets of London, held as a prisoner in the Chinese' legation (1896), where, it was said, he was to be executed, but the British government interfered and | released him. | Secretly he worked on. chiefly | amongst his countrymen abroad. in- cluding some ten years in the United States. He was next heard of when. | in 1912, he led an army against the Manchu emperor, and was himself elected the first president of a Re- public of China. FEighteen vears of struggle and at last victory! | x % ¥ But there was too great a prize in the presidency, and a rival rose, in the person of Yuan Shi-kai, unwill- ing to abide by the election of Sun Yat-sen. Rather than permit a divi- sion in the country for which he had already sacrificed so much Sun Yat- son resigned the presidency and ap- pealed to his followers to elect Yuan Shi-kai. Yuan Shi-kai began his adminis- tration under the constitution at Poking, and the next year he borrow- ed 25,000,000 pounds sterling from the so-called six-power group of bankers—borrowed it against the ob- jections of the National Council (parliament) and {n spite of the open warning of President Woodrow Wil- son to American bankers against participating in the loan. without the approval of the National Council. Then, with the money in his pos- session, Yuan Shi-kai dismissed the National Council, against the proy sion of the constitution: “Article XX— The National Council shall itself con- voke, conduct and adjourn its own meetings.” The National Council immediately reconvened in Canton, where the former President Sun Yat-sen organ- ized an army to defend the constitu- tion. The legal National Council, by an almost unanimous vote, again elected Sun Yat-sen president of the Chinese Republic, while at Peking Yuan Shi-kal proclaimed himself em- peror. This resulted in a general rally of the south agatnst the usurp- er of the north and a_vear later Yuan Shi-kai renounced his own act ¥ A. The average temperature whan the gas is exploded in a gasoline mo- tor is 3,000 degr ». Q. What count; of the Antilles?— L. A. Cuba is often given this p turesque appellatio, Q. Why raw peeied copper or i s called the Pearl K does the water in which potatoes stand turn a n color’—L. C. §. The Department of Agriculturs says that the change in the water under the conditions you describe is due to an oxidase from the potato the constituents which are un known. Q. stro it of What part of Tokio was de jyed by the earthquake and fire?- . Approximately the city three-fourt two-thirds of wrecke Not since of Tondo 1 1366 has so part How an long The secrct § was organ Democratic Republ opposed to the Federali an_active part in the paign of 1800, Q. A claims that there ocean s B claims there is Which is right? is a1 3 along o A. There oceurring ocean bed is not f: face for long distan land. This is know and though frague weather, it is due turbances from h Q. How hot should an oven be bread, pastry, >—B. W. F. A. Custard ples and puddi should have a heat of from 2if 250 degrees Fahrenheit; spos bread, gingerbread, plain cake oookies, 350 to 400; Parker I roils, 450; biscuit, 450 to 550. Q. Who was the original of Gain borough's “Blue Boy”?—A. D. L A. Jonathan Butthal, the son cf . wealthy ironmonger of London, the original “Rlue Boy” in the 1 trait by Gainsborough which br that name. Q. What is picric acid?—D. W. K A. Pleric s the acid obtained the action of nitri¢ acid on pheno or llied compounds. It is bitter poisonous and u able when heated It is used as a d d in the manu facture of explosi people always die broken?—>M. R. S to common belief. £ the rover and (Readers of The Evening Star can or the answer fo any question by address ing a letter to The Star Information B reaw, Frederic n, Director, Wash ot frer applics strictis full name and a dress and 2 cents n stamps fo return pos inclose tage.) SPOTLIGHT BY PAUL V. COLLINS succeeded to the pres t Yuan-hung recallc il to Peking, an ded. That war he divided the popuil: tion of C ach side involvi twice as m wdherents as the e tire population of the United States * k% ¥ When the world war came Presi dent Li Yuan-hung wanted to enter on the side of the allies, but tv council voted neutrality, arguing tha China could accomplish lttle in European war and needed all her re sources to repair the unsettled con ditions at home. President Li there upon dismissed the council and the civil war reopened. ain sen was elected preside council, sitting at Canton President Li Yuan-hung borrowed from Jap and agreed in Japs Xtortionate term: twenty-ona points which agreement is annu remem bered by southern China in a “Da of Shame President Li. after dismissing the tional Council, organized a new Council, known as_the “Bogus Cou ¢ with which he elected. as b successor. Hsu Shih-chang, the' pre. ent incumbent. Last fall Presi Hsu_di a the “Bogus Council on_the und that it was flle and tha southerners a what of the legality ted by what he s as an illegal is th t Hsu of t Tnited the Yuan-hung denc: § the Natjonal C. the civil war e about equ. in council? powers of Euro States, through international bank aned their mil empAror” and st the sanction of uncil * % the te influence ers. who had I illegally to th the president, the National Ci * The Canton President Sun Y, government—th t-sen—ha offered r the monc borrowed by the Peking government but has repudiated all conc to foreign powers and stands f China against foreign encroachment n Yat-sen is represented by his op ponents leaning toward 1 cialism of sovietism and by herents, rather, as being merely the rights of the peop militarism _and__ the grafters. The adheren: sition to the progre: dore Roosevelt, not th a Lenin. for, E * * The Chinese Republic’s constitatior appears to follow the essential 1 of our own iIn declaring t power is derived from the peop bill of rights appears identical w'th our own. As the masses are wholly uneducated, the popular vote is theory only, for it could not be ex pected that the hundreds of millians who have lived as subjects of mon- archs and conquerors could imme diately become capable of exercising intelligently the popular franchise since even in our own republic only a third of our authorized voters ever vote, Our Congress, in 1908, under Roose velt, remitted part of the Boxer up- rising indemnity, and a few weeks ago the balance was remitted, on con- dition that the remitted money shall be used in edncation. This doe: mean, in China, education of masses, but only higher education for the classes. To Christian missionaries alone must be credited all the work of cdu- cating the masses, but the Canton government, under President Sun Yat-sen, promises compulsory schools for all, as soon as peace is achicved, with unity of China umder the con stitution. * ¥ ox % The world owes much to Clina Her civilization was splendid with great edifices and great ifiventions when western Europe was in the caves of savagery. A quarter of the world’s land area and a quarter of the world’s population are Chinese. 'and returned to his claim of the pres- idency (1916), but he died a few months later, and the Vice President Yet with all their potential power, the Chinese are never aggressive. (Cogyright, 1024, by Paul V. Colline)