Evening Star Newspaper, August 21, 1924, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY. ....August 21, 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 Buildl European Office: 16 Regent St.,London gland. The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning edition, is delivered by carriers within the city af 60 cents per month: daily only, 43 cents per month: Sundsy onl cents’ per month, Orders may be sent by mail or tele- phone Main 5000 Collection is made by car- Tiers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1yr., $8.40 ; 1 mo., T0¢ 1 Daily only . $6.00; 1 mo., 50¢c Sunday only . 1yr, $2.40; 1 mo,, 20¢ All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 $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 to the use for republication of all news dis- s credited to it or not otherwise credited the “Indecent.” Quite naturally the La Follette organs of speech are all cluttered up with expletives against the accept- ance address of Gen. Dawes, who on Tuesday night at Evanston paid the third party the compliment of calling it the radical menace to American constitutionalism. In the most co- herent statement that has emanated from the headquarters of dissent Gen. Dawes is scored as establishing himself among the ‘“‘backward-looking conservatives.” His speech, it is de- clared, would be ridiculous if it were not “indecent.” To protest the proposals of the third party, it would seem from the tenor of this statement, is to go counter to the laws of nature, Evolu- tion of the Constitution is not only the right but the duty of American citizens. It may be changed. It should be changed. To ‘“stand pat” on it is to go backward, to sink into desuetude. The fact that the Constitution has been amended important particulars, respecting the income tax, the direct election of Senators, the prohibition of the liquor traffic and the enfranchisement of women, is now cited as a reason why the process of change should go forward more rapidly. One of the proposed changes is that which would deprive the Supreme Court of the right to nullify acts of Congress by declaring them contrary to the Constitution. Sober-minded citizens are inclined to draw back sharply from such a pro- posal. They see in it the mark of the communist. They discern in it an attack upon the very citadel of security, the judiciary. They recog- nize in it. the purpose to give un- restrained power to the ‘“proletariat.” Judging parties, like men, by the company they keep, it is impossible to see anything in the present third- party movement but an appeal to the extreme radicalism of that small minority of the people of this country who are deluded by the Russian con- cept of liberty. However pure its conception, this party has come into the world as a creature of deformity. It has all the attributes of a shock- ingly mixed parentage. No abuse of Gen. Dawes will camouflage the fact that the third party of today is the cover of all the in several nificance. In the judgment of those who were given the care of this youth, he was freed of his dual per- sonality five years ago. He was rated as normal and was sent back to society as a trustworthy person. Granting that he is insane, which is the only excuse for his present murderous mischief, it surely appears that the process of protection is ex- tremely faulty. There is today a profound senti- ment throughout the country in favor of sending the Chicago youths to the gallows for punishment for their atrocities. That is not blood- lust. It is a wholesome fear that a slighter punishment, even imprison- ment for life, would fail as a wdrn- ing and a deterrent to others. It is inspired, too, by the fear of later clemency, turning these young men back to freedom, with no assurance against renewed outbreaks of their bestiality. The mistake made in New York in 1919 may be repeated any- where, at any time. By good fortune, so far as known, lives were not lost in any of the fires Gustow set. Technically, however, he stands as guilty of a capital drime, for the firing of occupied buildings is tantamount to murder. He may be given credit for being possessed of the ‘“‘dual personality,” if by that term is meant a lack of sanity, a derangement of his moral and mental faculties. But if incarcerated again, as he was in 1915, can there be any guarantee of security against another pronouncement of a ‘‘cure”? — e Swimming Pools. The Engineer Commissioner of the District favors extension of public swimming pools, and the matter will be taken up in due time by the Board of Commissioners. Commis- sioner Bell has been on a short va- cation trip, and in Baltimore, one of the “conservative” citles, he found valuable suggestions which might be given application to Washington. He said that he was surprised at the size and number of public swimming pools in Baltimore. He believes that swimming pools may be made in Rock Creek Park and on the Patter- son tract when it becomes part of our park system. A large number of swimming pools can be made along Rock Creek when the sewer system is 8o extended that the creek is safe from pollution, and the value of the creek will be much enhanced when the flow from its watershed is conserved. It would be possible to enlarge facilities in the tidal basin and in Anacostia Park, es- pecially when that part of the pro- posed park above Benning Bridge comes to be created. There has been remarkable growth in outdoot bathing. The increase in patronage of the tidal basin beach is testimony of this. The stream of pil- grims to river, bay and sea bathing shores is other evidence. Young people generally take to water as do ducks. The advantage of public swimming places is greatly appreci- ated by emancipated woman. The girl with face, hands and neck not sunburnt is out of style. Swimming has become a great sport with chil- dren of parents who were afraid to dip their toes in cold, open water. Women who would not go “a-swim- ming” except in 8o many yards of blue flannel that they could not swim at all see their daughters plunging, diving end doing fancy strokes in bathing suits that a few years ago forces that are aiming at a complete revolution of American * institutions. To its banner have flocked all the elements of dissent and protest. Honest pleaders for relief are jostled in the ranks by scheming plotters against the Republic. Deluded ad- vocates of reforms are pushed for- ward by avowed believers in the Soviet system. If plain speaking about the charac- ter of this movement is “indecent,” then the country needs more of it. oo Candidates are disappointing any mild hopes that campaign speeches would develop @ few new pie- turesque expletives. Producers of theatrical comedy find themselves hampered by the labor situation in the theater. The prospects for this season’s crop of rhetorical novelties are not very favorable. would have been so shocking that almost any woman would have called for her smelling salts, whether she needed them or not. And yet moth- ing has gone wrong with the world or with womankind. In the movies we see many, many bathing scenes, and woman divers and swimmers are good to lpok at. The “pictures” have done something to popularize the sport. In warm sections of the United States, especi- ally on the Southern Pacific coast, it is becoming common to have a swimming pool in the yard. Perhaps this may come to be the case in the East. No argument can ‘be put up against extension of the swimming habit. The young people are for it, and the older people, if they are wise, approve. If we can have more public swimming places in Washington the “rising generation” will applaud. —————————— —_————— Bitterness of the fray between the Republican and Democratic leaders is mollified slightly by their agreement in opinion of the La Follette-Wheeler ticket. ———————— However home sick Bergdoll may e, it is not likely that the prospect of witnessing the national defense demonstration will lure him back. A “Cured” Pyromaniac. Tt was inevitable that the example of the Chicago degenerates pleading “dual personalities” as a reason for escaping the death penalty would incite others, caught in the toils of the law, to enter the same excuse for their misdeeds. A case comes to point in the arrest of a young man named Gustow in New York City for having set dwellings on fire for the fun of seeing the engines at work and the occupants struggling for escape from death. Admitting his crimes, he says: “I am a man of dual personality. There are times when I am all right, like Mr. Hyde, and then comes the desire that I can't resist. I have tried to, but I can’t. Then I am Dr. Jekyll.” There will probably be more of these cases. Suggestion is strong. The Chicago youths have been pro- claimed by the defense attorneys as irresponsible lads within whom an- tagonistic natures' struggled, with the evil personalities ~dominating. ~This New York pyromaniac, admitting to having set no less than 100 fires within the past three months, claims the same right to shift responsibility to en intangible influence. 1t appears upon tracing the record of thisefirebug that in 1915, when a lad of 16, Gustow was found to be a pyromaniac, and by arrangement with his family was sent away to Bloomingdale, the local institution for the insane, and later was trans- ferred to the State hospital at Middle- town for obgervation and treatment. In 1919 he was discharged "as *oured. 1 A reputation® for having been one of the smartest and trickiest fighters that ever went“into the prize ring. will hardly serve to provide “Kid" McCoy with theories of precocious supermentality inducing intellectual abnorma.m.m. —————————— . There is a disposition to remind Gov. Charles Bryan that a vice presi- dential candidate is in no wise ex- pected to go into training for the exercise of veto powers. ———— Alienists may yet succeed in abol- ishing capital punishment by con- vincing public opinion that there is too strong an element of luck in the preliminary proceedings. Not only is Gen. Dawes interested in.“brass tacks,” but he is in a posi- tion to provide his own hammer. Choosing Sides. The other day, as e feature of a benefit performance in Cleveland, two teams of old-time base ball players engaged in & game which was full of thrills for the spectators and was richly provocative of memories of past glorious careers on the diamond. The names of ‘' the players were all famous. Some of the greatest performers of a short generation ago were in uniform, “taking sides,” and fighting with much of their former vigor ‘and fervor for the honor of e .victory. Now comes & news picture. which shows how the sides are assigned. Two of the aforetime stars, Cy Young and Larry, better known as “Napoleon,” Lajole, are depicted standing with & bat held in " their hands, “pelming up” to see which should have first choice. Every ‘boy” who is now in middle life re- members that process. Maybe that is the way the sides are still chosen, To leave the matter in" doubt is to confess ignorance of the practiceg of the modern playing fi&d. - But it may be questioned whether many games For most of the boy teams of today are definitely organized. They have their regularly enrolled membership, and they are in turn members of leagues. If a spontaneous game.is played on & back lot—and there are very few back lots now—or on ‘a public playground, it is usually not an affair of “sides.” Two batters occupy the plate in turn until one.of them js caught out, when the catcher replaces him as he goes to the outer- most fleld. . Tossing the bat for the choosing of sides was really a matter of some skill. To make the grip as broad as possible called for finesse. To ex- haust the last fraction of an inch of the upper handle without evoking strenuous protest required skill. Then, if the least margin was left and a finger-tip grip was possible, to hold the bat thus and swing it around the head in proof, es the strict rules required, called for digital strength and for nerve. And when the right of first choice was thus secured, by getting the final grip on the bat, how the ears were assailed by clamorous petitions, *“Choose me “Pick me, buddy!” These cries mostly came from the lesser lights of the game, the least eligible ones. Those of assured skill were confident and awaited the honor of first se- lection without perturbation. As the picking went on and the sides were lined up and the choices became less promising there were heart burnings. To be picked last was one of the hardest things a boy had to bear in life. g Now with regular teams, named and uniformed, and enrolled in leagues and playing scheduled games, base ball is not quite what it used to be for the small boy. But he enjoys the sport nevertheless. He is wise to the records of the professional players, and even if some of the modern juvenile sportsmen do not fully understand that picture of Cy Young and Nap Lajole palming a bat, they know that a ball game was in prospect under the leadership of two of the greatest players the sport ever knew. ——————————— Facilities for observing the motion picture studios have acquainted Mr. McAdoo with the fact that a star performer is likely to make a more effective entrance if he lets the plot unravel awhile without him. —_—— Ponzi is out. So is “Wolf” Lamar. The old question of whether the public pays proper attention to what it reads in the newspapers may be submitted to another test. e —— A cool August is a relief to the dog-hater who detects hydrophobia in the canine who reacts irritibly to hot. weather very much as human beings do. ——— China is reported to be approaching civil war. This contradicts an im- pression that civil war was an un- interrupted national custom. —_——— A considerable amount of German labor will be released for useful em- ployment by the cessation of the printing of paper marks. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, The Acceptance. Our candidate has bravely Consented to accept. He did it all so gravely The audience nearly wept. He did as we demanded. ‘We're feelin’ pretty good. And yet, to be quite candid, ‘We kind o' thought he would. The great suspense is ended. #We wouldn't stand a show— Had he not condescended Into this race to go. Of course it is essential To have things understood; And yet—quite confidential— ‘We kind o’ thought he would. Discreet Forbearance. “That recent speech of yours did not get over on the radio.” “I kept it off,” answered Senator Sorghum. “Most of my constituents are fans and might not take it kindly if my well known views came break- ing in on a favorite jazz program.” " Vermont Parody. How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood! Though Fortune has made me an opulent chap, I still love the home near the deep tangled wildwood And the old sugar bucket that gath. ered the sap. —_ Jud Tunkins says he hopes these astronomers do get something inter- esting from Mars so that for ance the town gossip will be beat to the big news. An Intangible Product. “The sympathy you so abundantly recelve must have some value.” “Maybe 80,” replied Farmer Corn-, tossel. “But I'm hard to convince that if agricultural sympathy had any real value the Chicago Board of Trade ‘would have been speculatin’ in it long ago.” 7 e e Under New Management. 0Old Bacchus used to be esteemed . 'The prince of inebriety; * But Neptune recently has schemed ‘With bibulous impiety. On lands saloons are closed at last ‘With rigorous legality, But o'er the sand bar drinks are passed ‘With reckless hospitality. 1 —_— . Replacement. “I never wear the same bathing suit twice,” remarked the belle of the beach. “It's easier to buy a new one,” said Miss Cayenne. “A little thing like that is 80 easily lost.”. 5 “De man who said pride goes befo’ a fall,” said Uncle Eben, “had it right. When_a man's braggin’ de loudest "bout ‘bein’ @ tough egg, dat's jes de Steps Which Must Be Taken BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. * In his comment upon’ the termina- tion of the London conference the British premler soberly reviewed the further steps which must be taken to bring about European pacification, and with characteristic Scotch cau tion referred to London achievements as evidence that the right road about had been entered, rather than that the destination was in sight, Among these later steps which Mr, MacDon- ald considered was that of disarma- ment, which is equally interesting in Britain and in the United States. Since President Coolidge has at least suggested a new disarmament conference, it is plain that a further world discussion of the subject of arms and armies is an immediate pos- sibility, perhaps to come in the early part of next year. Europeans as con- trasted with Americans will not, how- ever, look for any considerable - or swift chapge in the situation with re- spgct of armies. Herriot, who took office, pledged to reduce the period of service in the French army from 18 to 12 months, may be allowed to tulfill this promise, but this is about the only real prospect in sight. Cut of 100,000 Men. A curtailment of the perlod of service in the French army would automatically reduce the number of French citizens serving with the colors by a little more than 100,000 and would bring the active army of France down to approximately 550,000, of which about half would be the annual contingent called to the colors in France, to which must be added a permanent stiffening of upwards of 75,000, corresponding to our regulars; the balance would be colonial troops, malnly north and west African. Concelvably it may be possible to obtaln an agreement among the European states maintaining con- script armies, that is armies based upon universal service, to limit serv- ice with the colors to a year, since the general belief is that in this period the recruit can be adequately trained. In practice this term is becoming increasingly prevalent al- ready. But it would be easy to ex- aggerate the significance of such an agreement, in so far as disarmament is concerned. Rubr Army in Way. til the Ruhr Is evacuated France cannot consent to any reduction of the period of service, because such a reduction would deprive her of th: requisite number of troops to main- tain the Ruhr army, the army which holds the occupled districts on the left bank of the Rhine and will re- main in occupation under the Treaty of Versailles until 1935, preserve French rule in Morocco, Syria and various other colonies and at the same time to keep on proper footing the metropolitan army within the frontiers of France. Unlike reparations and_debts, the Question of armaments in Europe can- not be settled at once and by any definite agreement. These armies are based in the last analysis upon a na- tion's estimate of its dangers, and there 1s obviously no fashion in which you can immediately abolish menaces, and thus procure a state of mind which will make reduction of armies possible. Europe is manifestly cooling off and as it cools off the process of mental demobilization is taking place. But unless all signs fail we are still very far from any complete mental demobilization, Question of Boandaries. Therefore, before much progress can be made it will be necessary to see just what relation to the existing system of European boundaries Ru: sla and Germany are to have. Will both accept or reject, or will one ac- cept and the other reject the status quo? The line Germany takes will have Immediate consequences for French, Belgian, Polish and Czecho- slovak military establishments, nor will any of these countries consent to reductions of their armed strength until they are satisfied in which di- rection Germany is going. The single effective argument in tavor of a reduction of the period of service In the French army is the as- sertion that France is, given the pre: ent state of Germany, overinsured. There is no argument over the pre ent need that all Frenchmen should be trained in the army, but only the debate as to how long it takes to train him and how long he need stay after he is trained in order to provide the necessary numbers. A discussion in any international conference now over any real pro- gram of disarmament would, so far as the French and Belgians are con- cerned, for example, lead at once to reopening the old and sterile discus- slon of what guarantees the United States and Great Britain would give France and Belgium against Germany, provided they disarmed and Germany later attacked them. Since we are not prepared to give any guarantees and the British are in a similar mood, it becomes excessively difficult for American or British repregentatives to press arguments for limitation of armaments beyond a certain point. Gradual Reduction Probable. Doubtless there will be one or more conferences dealing with armaments, and beyond all question there will be a gradual reduction of the armed strength of European nations as the process of adjustment goes forward, assuming that it will. But, after all, what this means is a gradual limita- tion of armaments, rather than any actual disarmaments, which is still far removed from Kuropean minds as a possibility. European nations will con- tinue to base their military establish- ment on their political situation, and the size of their armies will be in di- rect ratio to the size of the menaces which they perceive about. them. The distinction between the Euro- pean and American standpoint can perhaps be made clearest by saying that while an American discusses the reduction of armies as a step toward the re-éstablishment of peace, a con- tinental European talks of the res- toration of peaceful condition as a step toward the limitation of arma- ments. (Copyright, 1924, by the McClare Newspaper Syndicate.) Davis’ Speech Acclaimed As Literary Masterpiece John W. Davis’ speech accepting the Democratic nomination for Presi- dent is acclatmed by. the press Separs ally as a masterplece in literary qual- ity, and by Democratic editors as the inspiring pronouncement .of a great statesman. In the words of the At~ lanta Journal (Democratic), “none but an honest, able, liberal and fear- less man could have produced the speech,” which “few living Americans could equal either in felicity or in force, revealing at once the thinker and the doer, a statesman worthy of Woodrow Wilson's fallen mantle and flaming sword.” Republican critics, while most of them concede the excellence of his English, say Mr. Davis dealt in gen- eralities and offered nothing con- structive. The Seattle Times (inde- pendent _ Republican), for instance, thinks that “Democrats throughout the country who have walted hope- fully for their candidate for the pres- idency to sound the clarion call of the campaign, doubtless find the speech of John W. Davis rather flat and un- inspiring—it has plenty of polish, but not punch. Much of the unfavorable comment may be summed up in the following from the San Francisco Bulletin (in- dependent with Republican leanings) : “Mr Davis rather overstrains himself in an effort to hook up the scandals of the past two years with the Cool- idge administration. He fails to make a clear case, and in the effort to do it comes perilously near falling in line with the old formulae of arraignment and denunciation that for many years were nearly the whole thing in Demo- ocratic platforms. Nowhere, we ven- ture to say, in our political literature can be found a pronouncement more felicitous—in truth, it is almost too smooth, too suggestive of art. x k¥ ¥ On the other hand, the Omaha World Herald (independent), published by former Senator Hitchcock, a Demo- cratic leader, declares: “The out. standing impression that Mr. Davi speech must make is that here is a man fit to be President of the United States. Here is a statesman casting the mold from which come the great leaders of the republic. He is a leader not of class ior section or interest, but of and for the whole country and all its people. There is promise in his candidacy of péace and “healing for a distracted land.” . The Richriond News ‘Leider (indé- pendent Democratic) finds the address “to be the summons of a Statesman, admirable in its .poise,’ample i “its sweep, fair in its indictment, honest in its promises, democratically -pro- gressive in its outlook—about. it all there is patent honesty that i: tain impress the country.” says “something in every sentence, continues the Louisville Courier-Jour- nal (Democratfc), and ‘“he says it fearlessly, honestly, vigorously,’ tainly, “no fair-minded reader of the speech can fail to feel that it comes from a strong brain and a sound heart.” It strikes with “precision and power against the weak spots in the armor of his opponents,” says the- Brooklyn Eagle (independent Demo- cratic), and “it reveals a man of ex- traordinary intellectual power, and, what is of great consequence, a man of conscience and courage, holding to his convictions with earnestness and Intensity and ready to fight for them with all the vigor at his command.” The speech, as the Birmingham News (Democratic) puts it, “strikes a high and sustained note of statesmanship,” best traditions of Democratic leader- \ehip,” adds the Fort Worth Star-Tele- gram. “The usual political clap-trap is entirely absent” in the opinion of the Roanoke World-News (Democrat- ic); “there are no appeals for class Vvotes; there I-‘no‘ dn;dx‘lnt of issues.” The New York World (Democratic) asserts that “the charges are not the wild and empty accusations of a demagogue, but the charges of a re sponsible statesman,” and “they are congidéred charges of a man who, as legislator, executive, diplomat, law- ger and business man, has had in- comparably , broader’\practical ' expe- nce than 'huhpnul;fi'mp’:nt." e speech, Lyn 5 (Democratic) insists, “is shot to- the core with- the note of ecxalted | vealed any one thing to the New York Times m;-i:pgndmt Damocratic) s e etaciERpality of the man re < "‘nd “no one ‘ean read the address without being assured that he has large capacity for large affairs; he makes it plain that he in- tends to direct his own campalgn; if he 1s elected he will be every inch a President.” g Declaring that no franker discus- sion of public questions has ever been given, the Portland Oregon Journal (independent) maintains “his speech is convincingly of the high- minded and progressive statesman- ship of Woodrow Wilson,” for, “like Wilson, he leads the mind back to constitutional government, the same opposition to private monopoly, the same opposition to special privileges for the few.” John W. Davis, ac- cording to the Milwaukee Journal (independent), “charges to the heart of his business with such vigor, exposes so keenly the roots of the sickness of government, that, wheth- er he wins or loses, the country will be better for his clear speaking.” ‘The Baltimore Sun (independent) sees in the address “an admirable fighting quality” that shows “Mr. Davis can hit and hit hard.” It will generally be admitted, the Newark News claims, “that it is stronger, more coherently reasonable and more nobly conceived than the platform on which he nominally makes the running.” The - Indianapolis News (independent) thinks “it may be said that the speech is neither radical nor Btandpat, and that is a point in its favor.” While the Lansing State Journal (independent) remarks that “it conforms to the public belief that the Democratic candidate is an able and high-minded man, for which we are profoundly thankful” If Mr. Davis is elected, the Reading Tribune (independent) is sure ithat “if he ac- complishes no more than the four main objectives he has outlined, he ‘will have contributed largely toward the betterment of American political 1ite.” * k kX n Turning to the Republican papers, we find the Kansas City Journal charging sharply that “the Democratic nominee failedsignally to do more than provide a typically specious and sophisticated, if not hypocritical and wholly exparte, campaign document ade humorous by the fact that it is rovided by the man William J. ryan opposed and made consistent only by-the fact that another Bryan is the tail of the ticket” What Mr. Davis has to say of the tariff, the Chicago Tribune (Republican) . re- gards as probably the most important rt of his statement of policy. Next F importance, this paper feels, is his ttitude toward foreign relations, and “probably our deepest opposition to his position is his assumption that this country, the most favored in the world, the most blessed in pro- duction, the most peaceful and most desirous of peace, is a laggard in all good works, is in opposition to -all sound laws of economics and morals, and is doing itself and its neighbors hurt.” The Minneapolis Tribune (Re- publican) observes that “Mr. Davis finds the Republican tariff policy benefits the few at the expense of the many, and charges it with rob- bing labor, the farmer and the great unclassified army of consumers,” which “is what Democratic candi- dates have been saying from time immemorial. Despite this fact the great agricultural States and great industrials States have - generally ‘gone Republican’ in presidential years.” He had “to declare his hos- tility to monopoly that does not ex- ist,” adds the Pittsburgh Gasette Times (Republican), “but Bryan will be swift to discern that his brother's running mate has not sald a word insulting to ‘Wall Street.’” * %k % % As the Philadelphia Enquirer (Re- publican) sees it, “the speech is far from convincing,” because “it is one of promises; but he offers little of practical value that has not been or will not be undertaken by the pres-. ent Republican administratios After all, the New York Herald-Tribune (Republican) considers the speech “exaétly what one would expect from T | Cortess B cepghitoan) ch BY C. E. TRACEWELL, "The difficulty In life is the choice,” aid George Moore. Sometimes when a man sits in a restaurant and the walter hands him a particularly elaborate bill of fare the fact that making 'a choice between things is hard hits him be- tween the eyes. Not until he stacks up against something unusually difficult, like that menu, does he stop to reallze that ¢hoosing anything is one of the hardest feats he is called upon to perform. Making a choice is something a man faces all his life, from selecting’ a pie off a counter holding a dozen different flavors, to choosing a wife out of a million or so girl ¥ No wonder men get gray around the ears, and many of them bald at 40! * K ok k “Guess, if you can, and chooge, if you dare.” That is one of man's eternal prob- lems, from the days he first learns to walk and talk until the time when he ceases thinking and walking altogether. Just the everyday grind of selec- tion, the picking of one thing in preference to another, the choice of the best from many good and bad. Like the man who had been speak- ing prose all his life but did not realize it, all of us are dally making decisions, good and bad, often with- out suspecting that this is in reality about the hardest job we face day by day. ‘Watch any business man select- ing his lunch, you will get a good idea of one of the reasons, at least, for the “tired business man.” He ap- proaches the momentous problem in exactly the same spirit he does some welghty mercantile question. The executive still remains executive. Lemon, peach, chocolate, apricot and custard pie catch his eye. What- ever else man may be, he is a pie eater, first and last. This is the inescapable heritage of an American. No man can be said to be an Amer- ican, indeed, unless he eats pie, to paraphrase the statement of Secre- tary Davis to the effect that no man is_an_ American until he has eaten off a lunch counter. Temon, peach, chocolate, and custard? How does the man make his selec- tion? Frankly, nobody knows, not even the man himself. There is no particular reason, as far as he knows, why he should prefer one flavor over another today. He is betwixt the devil and the deep blue sea, or, in ple phraseology, between lemon and peach, or choco- late and apricot, or apricot and custard, or custard and lemon, and peach and chocolate, and the 3,749,637 other comparisons that might be made. See him stand deliberately eyeing those succulent pies. Could he hand down a decision as to abolishing a branch house with any more gravity? Would his eyes be any more intent when he came to the consideration of giving Bill Jones a ‘“raise’ “Guess I'll take a plece of custard,” he tells the counter man. “No, make it peach,” he adds, triumphantly. Why he made it peach or how he made it peach, only his innards can tell, and they will not talk. * K kX The same process of selection, of choosing one from several, is made daily by all of us in the various channels of our activities. There is never just one necktie on the rack—there are many. There is never just one peach on the plate —there are several equally tempting. ‘When a man goes to buy an auto- mobile he often wishes) the manu- facturers had done a little some- thing to save him from the embar- rassment of such riches, he finds so many models, s0o many makes, so many engines, so many styles, so many finishes. He talks them over with his friends and finds that each one prefers a different car. Those who own auto- mobiles speak up for their own selec- tion, having gone through the doubt of choice, and virtuously betmg at rest on the subject, at least osten- tiously. The trouble is that each new friend he meets is an ardent booster for a different car, £o that he might as well come to a decision on his own behalf and be done with it. This he proceeds to do, with much discussion of *motors, learned and otherwise, finally making his choice. If he is honest with himself, nine out of ten times, he will confess that there was no particular reason at all why he chose the new car. He will prove this next year by selecting an- other make. the apricot * % % x “The strongest principle of growth lles in human choice,” George Eliot said, in her “Daniel Deronda.” These everyday decisions make man what he is, some persons being on the horns of the diurnal dilemma longer than others, that is all. The man who can make a quick choice is fortunate, in some wa: the reputation for having a good brain, until he happens to make a bum selection. The man who chooses carefully is put to more trouble and vexation of spirit, but probably does better by himself and others in the long run. There is another phase to choosing, that voiced by Shakespeare: . 1 will not choose what many men desire, Because I will not jump With common epitits, And rank me with the barbarous multitudes. This is_where education, whether of the achools or experience, comes to help a man, giving him a wider acquaintance and knowledge, so that his selections may be made in all lines with judgment. How can a man select the better .books if he knows only the trashy sort? How can the child with music in his soul make a good choice if he knows only ‘“blues” songs and th: cheapest sort of syncopation? * X k % The fascination of chance, fortune, luck, call it what you will, is what makes these daily choices not only endurable but enjoyable. The man selecting his flavor for the day may not realize it, but he is gambling, in a sense, almost-as much as when he holds the cards in front qf him and wears that super-wise expression, “the poker face.” It is the quality of doubt in the thing that exercises the magic, that throws the glamour of the mysterious over the commonplace, that sends a man plunging back into the secret recesses of his mid-brain to the al- most fofgotten days when to make & wrong choice was to die. Then a selection meant something. If he picked the wrong sort of ber- ries on the wrong sort of bush, he curled up in his misery and died the death, and his fellows chattered at this sudden thing that had come about among them. Today our ordinary choosings are not attended with such dangers, but Qaily selections. 3 . \ stateménts, felicitously and carefully phrased,” in fact, “the smoothness and rhythm of the style are mml}l.l cent of Mr. Wilson's at its best.” The Ohio. State Journal (Republican), h belleves the . speech ngthen his_ candidacy,” it shows him a clear thinker, a good etrategist, s hard fighter, possessed with all that joyful confidence, as he terms it, which makes a contender always dangerous,” and ;hc Sloux arac: and gets | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. At' what home will the’ Prince of Wales stop in New York City and ‘Washington?—R. 8. 8. X. He will stop at the James A. Burden house on Long Island during his stay In New York. This estab- lishment has been put at his disposal by the owner who is now abroad. At presant the Prince of Wales does not plan to stop overnight in Wash- ington.” Q. How can a political committee borrow money from a bank when the committees are not incorporated?— L N. A, Money for campaign commit- tees that is borrowed from banks is secured on the indorsements of offi- clal party leaders as individuals whose notes are regarded as acceptable by the banks. +Q. How is the value of a trade mark figured?—F. T. V. A. The value -of & trade mark de- pends upon the advertising back of it that- has impressed it upon the public mind. It is reported that the owners of one well known trade mark refused an offer of $3,000,000 for it, although they only paid $5,000 for it originally. Q. How many people witness pro- fessional base ball games on days when all the teams are playing?— B. A. Figures are not available for the average daily attendance at pro- fessional base ball games. It is esti- mated, however, that on Memorial day and on the Fourth of July, this year, the 16 major league teams played to a total attendance of 260,- 000 each day, while the 26 minor leagues had an aggregate of 350,000 spectators. This would make a maxi- mum attendance of approximately 600,000, Q. What corporation has the gr&elli number of stockholders?— The American Telephone and Telegraph Company, with more than 300,000 stockholders, is said to have the largest number of stockholders of any American corporation. How many kinds of fish 2 T are there? A. The Bureau of Fisheries says that as far back as 1800 Dr. Gunther of the British Museum had listed about 3,600 species of salt water fishes and about 2,300 species of fresh water fishes. Since then the number of known species has increased to sev- eral times these numbers, and new species are constantly being identified. Q. What is logwood used for?— F. U. O. A. Logwood is used in dyeing, chiefly black, although it also gives shades of blue, gray and violet. Q. Our gang wouid like to know what the record is for relaying rails?—M. T. A. What is claimed to be a world record for relaying rails was estab- lished by a crew of men on the Canadian Pacific Railway, New Bruns- wick district, recently. In two days the men tore up 29.7 miles of old 85-pound rails and replaced them with new. There were 220 men in the gang. According to all available records, the former Canadian record was 117 miles, which exceeds that established in the United States. Q. Were many colonial womer en- gaged In business as merchants? A. Probably the number was twice as large as today. Elizabeth Dexter, an authority on colonial women, says that about 9 per cent of the mer- chants of colonial days were women. Q. Please give me a formula for making fly paper—H. A. K. A. Boil together 1 pound rosin, 3% ounces molasses, and 3% ounces boiled linseed oil until thick enough, then spread on heavy manila paper. Q. Please give a short biography of Chaminade—L. W. G. A. Cecile Louise Stephanie Chami- nade, the French composer, was born in Paris in 1861. She w; Le Couppey, Savard, Godard and made her debut as a pi- anist at 18. Because of their melo- diousness and piquant rhythm the Chaminade compositions have been very popular, (Inform and entertain yourself by making comstant use of The Star Information Bureau, Frederic .J. Haskin, director, Twenty-first and C streets morthwest. There is a wealth of information at the com- mand of Star readers. There is no charge for service ezcept a two- cent stamp, which should be in- closed for direct reply.) RUSSIA SINCE LENIN Themnhubaul!hatmwwyuiz is today, in a series of uncensored articles by an observer who spent morths in Russia studying conditions. — BY SEYMOUR B. CONGER. Article XVIL A number of foreign firms and business men have embarked on busi- ness ventures in Russia, attracted by the invitations to foreign capital from the bolshevik, anti-capitalistic government, and by their own ex- pectations of large profits to be real- ized in the “land of immeasurable | resources,” as bolshevik spellbinders call it. Almost without exception, their experiences have been so highly disappointing, their calculations of costs and profits so upset by official manipulations and labor troubles, that they have either abandoned their concessions or are trying to save what they can from the wreck before withdrawing. The committee on concessions, the governmental organization created to examine and pass upon foreign applications for coneessions, has had, 80 far as I have heard, only one application before it during my stay in Russia, the experiences of other concession holders having scared off all other applicants. The only two outside interests which, to my knowledge, are at all satisfied with their experiences with Russian concessions are the Krupps, who, with their British backers, hold an agricultural concession in south- ern Russia, and the Danish Great Northern Telegraph Cable Co., who accept business for their cables land- ing in Russia. ‘The troubles wlich the others have encountered may be grouped under three principal heads—arbitrary tax- ation, official control of courts and legal procedure and perpetual labor troubles, together with individual snags for each individual venture. No matter how satisfactory may seem the terms of a concession, bolshevism, which, be it remembered, is avowedly the deadly foe of capital and the bourgeois investor and entrepreneur, is able and does by means rob it of its advantages. The Case of Two Americans. Two Pacific Coast Americans, who had built up a profitable trading busi- ness along the Kamchatkan and Si- berian coast during the lifetime of the Far Eastern Republic, came) to Moscow several months ago to straighten out relations with the new regime directed from Moscow and make arrangements to continue oper- ations. They, encountered only pro- crastination and extortion from the central authorities; and while they were here received a long series of telegrams about new taxes, fees, fines and penalties, which were being levied without rhyme or reason on their local representatives. A final wire that new fees and penalties, amount- ing to a quarter of a million dollars, had been assessed against one of their trading posts sent them flying home from Moscow, sadder, but wiser. The Westinghouse interests have an airbrake factory at Yaroslavl, which they have been operating un- der g concession to make equipment for the run-down Russian railways. Their services were welcome, but only so long as they were indis- pensable. This year the bolsheviks got an airbrake plant of their own in operation, pirating the foreign patents, and took the 1924 contracts away from the foreign-operated plant. The Westinghouse people sought con- tracts to keep the plant running in Poland, Esthonia, Latvia and other outside countries, but operating costs ‘were too high. They kept running for several months without orders to keep their men employed. At bolshevik sugges- tion an attempt was made to induce the home company to put up a half- million dollars more’ to pay wages at the unproductive plant; and when the company refused to throw more good money after bad, there was a torrent of abuse from the workmen's committee and the bolshevik papers agajnst the “unjust Americans.” Couldn’t Get Profits Out. The Otto Wolff concern, one of the great German metallurgical syndi- cates, with Dutch and British capital behind it, secured a most attractive- and import business in Russia, oper- ating through one of the bolshevik type of mixed companies, with the Russian government as an equal partner. Up to 40 per cent net profits were to be divided equally between the partners; above that the govern- ment a larger share; and for a time-the Russian authoritles allowed and incited the companv to charge such prices on imports into Russia that the 40-per-cent limit was largely "exceeded. When, however, the for- eign partver tried to get its pay for materials and profits out of bolshevia ‘through exported commodities, snags were encountered right away. Li- censes could not be obtained; the foreign trade monopoly ignored the privileges of the foreign partner, and e 4 asner of doink vuathsse with on’t ers ness w! sithdzew: Lrom, $he, gone cesgion at the end of the first year— the first available opportunity. The bolshevik government has since been hawking the WoIff share in the mixed company about capitalistic Europe; but no one has been found to buy in System of Import Licenses. A number of foreign concerns were operating in the Soviet republics in the Caucasus. Fora time all went well until the Soviet Foreign Trade Monopoly suddenly stepped in last May and in- troduced a system of import licenses. Licenses were refused for goods lying in the customshouses or already shipped, but these could be sold pro- vided the monopoly was given 60 per cent of the profit. The companies sub- mitted perforce to this gouge and were then suddenly served with no- tice to accept the government as a fifty-fifty partner under the mixed company system. German firms which failed to comply were forced to de- liver their entire stock of goods to the state trade department and liquidated and expelled. concern, more fortunate in the cir- cumstances that the Anglo-Russian negotiations were in progress in London, obtained a stay of execution, but is on the list for expulsion as soon as the London negotiations turn one way or the other. Norwegian interests which had large industrial investments in pre- war Russia and were expropriated by the bolsheviks obtained in compen- sation a timber concession in north- ern Russia. The terms of the con- cession were so attractive that the concession was regarded as a really equitable compensation for their con- fiscated property. After they started to operate, however, trouble with the authorities, trouble with their work: men, trouble of all sorts and origins, developed. A short time ago the Nor+ wegians realized that under sueh conditions the concession was value- less to them and are now chiefly i terested in getting out. Soviets Refused to Pay. i} A British friend of mine who alse lost a prosperous business and large cash and property resources under bolshevik nationalization of property was offered in the same way com- pensation through a concession and after looking over the field saw a chance to recoup his losses through a concession to build houses and ofiee buildings in Moscow and elsewhere. The bolsheviks welcomed the sugges- tion on account of the great houshig shortage in Russia and gave him:a very attractive looking concession. He undertook some contracts to build for departments of the Soviet ZOV» ernment. Prices were fixed in the contracts, but after completion of the work the sums were arbitrarily re- duced. Appeal to the bolshevik courts was useless. He built a number]pf apartment houses, but had so m trouble with his workmen that © had to abandon independent build operations. Now he undertakes of such buildings on which he can private Russian contractors to do the work and take the risk. His oW employes are constantly subject] arrest under the bolshevik syste: terrorizing all Russians from tions with foreigners unless they agree to act as spies for the secret police, and he has great difficulty in keeping a staff together. The bolshevik system not only works on the old axiom that the power to tax includes the power to destroy and can be so used, but has discovered new weapons against the private capitalist. The boycott, like the tax weapon, is openly preached as a suitable means of bringing private. capital to its knees, with no legal recourse against the boycotter, and foreign firms undertaking to do business in Soviet Russia must count on the possibility of being faced with boycotts, strikes, “ca’ canny” and sabotage measures, etc., without any possibillty of defending themselves. Evén_the foreign' representatives are called on the carpet and subjected to inqpisitoridl treatment and threats by the all-powerful political police. In one case, however, the police have been successfully defied. Mr. Bevan, representative of one of the British steamship companies, was called to account by the political police for technical infractions of the" emigration regulations. Or, rather, the chief tried to call him to account. Bevan, however, took charge of the interview, announced that he was going to do the talking, sald his say and departed. The government, agajn not venturing to affront the British government during the Anglo-Rus- sian negotjations, did not arrest and expel him, as expected, but asked the company to recall him. The company declined, not caring much what hap- pened 'In view of the new American immigration. restrictions, and Bevan is still on the job—the only resident of Russia who has ‘ever proved too much for the dreaded Cheka Comraight, 3904, 3 Fubite-Ledsst O