Evening Star Newspaper, January 25, 1925, Page 38

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY.......January 25, 1925 THEODORE W. NOYES . Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Offce, 11th St. and Penasylvania Ave New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office: Tower Building. European Office: 16 Regent §1.,London, England. The Evening Star. with the Sundar morning edition. ix delivered by the city at 60 cents per mi ily only, 45 nis per month: Sunday 20 cents per month. Orders may be sent by wmail or tele vhone Maii 5000, Collection 13 made by CAF Tiers at the Rate b ¥able in Ady Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1 yr., $8.40;1 mo., 70¢ Daily only 1 yr. $6.00;1 mo., 50¢ Sunday only .....1yr, $2.40;1 mo,, 20¢ ce. ates. . $10.00:1 mo., 85¢ 00:1 mo.. 60c $3.00;1 mo., 25¢ Daily and Sunda Daily only Bunday only Member of the Associated Press. Hints From the States. New York sets a precedent to the of Columbia rent trict favoring other St lents reje The pre: ng legislation 1 the Legislature, decides ample of New Yor examples of kind of rent Congress, District’s State the ex- and to ignore the States, what will resuit in Washington words, what are the characteristics of the New York law which are to be reproduced to follow In other New but York has a law is not per- fixed date of te ination (February 15, 1926), No per- for Washington is New York precedent. Yo manent n manent Jjustified by th (2) The New public rent law a ency.” upon “congest have endangered | ed housing condition affected te pulilic welfare The New York Washingt which sericusly and health and moy example forbids $iz in nan temporary lezislation, justified | & congested housing | conditions so serious that they threat- | en public health and morals. | (3) The New York the regularly spensing even and its pr e-sided, n tribunal which .is prosecutor Judge, jury and executioner all in one. (4) The New York -law baffles unjust and oppressive landiord enabling the tenant to Tent constituted nded justi fc courts, » among | ors £ edent forbids for ‘tive com- the by how in defense to an action for rent that just and un g agreement opy an offending landlord is emergency n of his can the rental able essive charge is the leasi Moreoves in view farbid rented dwelling that the he able,” or an existing public n to recover posses unless he how wer ten ection that the dwelling for his own use ‘Wash ington, if it will follow Yorl must check and discipline the would- be unjust landlord by crippling his remedies when he seeks to collect rent regain possession, and not by creating new misdemeanors in order to fine or imprison him (5) The New York law, instead of undisguisedly impairing the obliga tion of leasing contracts, turns the | tables by accusing the agreements | st which it arms the tenant of | being “exacted under stress of prevail- ing conditions whereby the freedom of contract has been impaired.” The hint to Washington of the New York prec- edent on this point is obvious. (6) 'To prevent rentals regulation | from checking the building of dwell- | Ings to be rented, and thus defea purpose of su legisla- New York rent law does not buiit after the date of ita ena and such new dwell- ings are in addition in New York City | exempt from municipal taxation. New York thus says to s you are going to follow my example in regulating rents by law do not fail to follow me also in applying my exemp- tion antidotes to the poison germs of building paralysis.” So much for hints from New York. hteen States of the Union have comprehensive and well considered licensing law for real estate hroke Washington should have the benefit of such a L The De- partment of Justice is framing a bill | which will punish with severity rent | extortion based on criminal forms of | trust-pyramiding and all other similar devices of vicious financing. The Capital may benefit from such legis- lation. The of nearly all the States to & community contemplating rentals regulation and rate-fixing by law is in the same terms as Punch's advice to very young s contemplating matrimony: “Don’t.” But even if Sam as legislative dictator of the District should in accordance with these hints from the States refrain from unconstitutional or unwise law- making the District's exclusive legislature he can still control the situ- ation as the Capital's great employer, in this capacity by construci helpful policies solve housing problems. tion of his army of emploves Uncle might take a hint from Henry ord. Statistics show that since 1914 the average salaries of Government employes have increased 20 per cent, while the cost of housing has increased 36 per cent and the average of all items of cost of living has increased 60 per cent. The compensation of all employes except those of Uncle Sam has increased from 81 to 198 per cent. In the matter of providing cheap, sanitary housing in model vil- lages for his employes Uncle Sam might, as an employer, take a hint from Pullman. In the war-time Uncle Sam half-recognized his obligation In housing to his army of war-workers and built or started to build dormi- tories and rooming hotels. 1f Wash- ington's housing emergency of the war-time is not yet over for the pur- pose of rent legislation perhaps Uncle Sam’'s war-time housing obligation revives. Many empleyers, including a num- > owner desires New aga the primary tion, the tment, Washington: adopted a w. advice pe Uncle as and of In compensa- and many our Sam . k law is based upon | law is enforced | ¢ | ultimately command the | our ber in Washington, help their em- ployes as home-owners or builders by financing them at very low Interest rates in the purchase or building of | homes. Uncle Sam might, as the great dominating example-setting em | ployer of the District, guard his em- ployes against the too-short first trust and the much too-expensive second trust with its high commission by creating a large loaning fund at a low rate of interest for the benefit of his employes who wish to buy or build a home. ———— The Coolidge Way to Peace. Tt is the belief of President Coolidge that the time to outlaw war is now, and that to do so is the duty of the generation which knows of its own experlence that war is horrible. A later generation will be less likely to do it, he fears, for time will dim the ors and magnify the glor ome | hopeful things have been achieved in | the six years since the great war an end, but thoughts and | fears of wars to come still burden and { oppress mankina, Delegates attending the national conference on the causes and cure of war, to whom the President spoke yes- terday at the White House, could not fail to be impressed with the earnest- | ness of his. conviction that to further tter understandings among the peo- {ples of the world is statesmanship's highest duty. He recalled that it has been said that ‘the peace which ends one war commonly sows the seeds of the next war. There could be no bet ter demonstration that this is true than the conditions which exist in Europe today. But how to uproot these war seeds before they ripen to their | harvest of death and devastation? He | does not believe it will be done by a superstate armed with physical force to make its decrees effective. If there is no other way, then, he holds, our civilization is not worthy of its name. But he sees a way in the force of the public opinion of the world, by defying which no nation may hope to profit. That there may be a means of crys. tallizing the world’s opinion and direct- ing it intelligently and justly, he be- lieves in the Permanent Court of In- ternational Justice and of American participation in the functioning of that tribunal. Out of the court he would expect to see come gradually a body of international law and pro- dure which, “by avoiding the dan which would attend the estab. of a supergovernment, will respect and approbation of the world's public opin- and the co-operation of the na- tions.” The President has little patience with those who would hold back be- cause they think Europe has not done all it might have done to travel the ways of peace. “‘Our responsibility is for ourselves alone.” he said, “for do- ing the part that falls to us because of place in the world.” The Presi- dent makes it plain that he yields to in idealism or in longing for world, but he knc al world in which we live, and that its problems must be solved in practical ways. The Court of Interna- tional Justice he holds to be a practi- cal step in a practical way to peace. | came to gers lishment ion none a better s it is a o - —— Popular interest in the Einstein theory has faded. An effort to under- stand it thoroughly might be more | persistent if it could be shown that it either hindered or accelerated phenom- ena familiar under the old Newtonian | system. ———— The public has reached a philosophic trame of mind which makes it possible to collect high prices without mention- ing a strike at the mines or any other form of trouble in explanation. —— Political skies of late have been re- markable for one eclipse after an- other. ————r———————— Wireless to the Philippines. Recent discussions in Congress have brought forth the fact that communi cation between the United States and the Philippines, so far as concerns the daily interchange of adequate news re- ports, is at present dependent upon the use of the United States Navy's radio equipment. Authority for this use of the Nation's naval facilities was granted by Congress in 1920 and renewed in 1922. That authorization expires on June 30 of this year. Simi. larly the Hawaiian newspapers are largely dependent upon the Navy radio stations for adequate reports covering the mainland and the world. Prior to 1920 there was no such di- rect exchange of news reports with our island possessions in the Pacific. In the Philippines the delays in trans- mission and the high rates for cable service forced the island papers to se- cure their news of the United States and the world from British news serv- ices in Shanghai or Hongkong. And today, if authorization to use the naval facilities is permitted to expire, the Hawaiian press, although able to fall back upon the service of the Radio Corporation of America at satisfac- tory commercial rates, would find its news reports cut of necessity to one- half the present volume, owing to the crowding of the commercial sending apparatus. It has been ascertained that, al- though the Radio Corporation has been granted a franchise by the Philip- pine government, it will be three years before direct communication can be established by it with the United States, and that even ther the cor- poration may not be able to grant a word rate sufficiently cheap to make possible the transmission of the daily news report. it was under these circumstances that Representative Free of California recently introduced a resolution in the House renewing the authorization un- der which the Navy has carried news and commercial messages since 1920— commercial messages to be carried at commercial rates when and where pri- vately operated stations are not avail- able to render the service, and news messages at the low rate essential to the insuring of independent and relia- ble American news reports. This bill was._ favorably reported upon by the House merchant marine committee, with a modification under which the authority would cease on January 1, 1927. It now develops that some mem- bers of the committee will block tl | acy passage of the measure unless the use of raval radio for commercial mes- sages other than news reports be in- hibited. 1t is unlikely that a special rule, un- der which the resolution can alone be brought up during the remainder of the session, will be forthcoming with- out a unanimous report from the mer- chant marine committee. In that not only the interests of the Philippines and Hawail, but the interests of the Nation #s a whole, are intimately in- volved in the maintenance of close news contact between the mainland and the islands—the comimittee should make cvery effort so to iron out its differences as to make possible an ex- tension of the authorization which, wise from 1920 to 1925, is no less wise today. America cannot afford to weaken any of the links that bind the components of the Nation together, and this is the more true in the-case of our more remote possessions. It is a truth which England has long recos- nized. Pending the installation of pri- vately operated apparatus, Which can handle commercial messages at a rate which can be met, the Nation should, if necessary, pocket a small loss in the interest of maintaining contact with all of its territory. ot Accidents. A compilation of reports of the traf- fic accidents in Washington in 1924 shows that 91 persons were killed in accidents of that kind, 71 meeting death in or under motor cars, 13 being killed by street cars, 2 by railroad trains, 2 by wagons and 2 by bicycles. There were more accident fatalities in 1924 than in 1923, and there can be no assurance that the list of accidents will not be longer in 1925 than last year. Revislon and improvement of traf- fic regulation may reduce the number of deaths in 1925, but it will be the part of prudence for every man, wom- an and child to observe great caution in crossing streets or walking on the suburban roads, When a person has to cross a street that undertaking should be foremost in that person's mind. He should think of nothing else. He should lay aside business care for the moment and suspend reaaing. He should see that the way is clear, and if the crossing is one where a policeman is on duty he should watch and obey the signals of the officer. The deaths from street car ents are lamentable, and the traction companies are doing what they can to minimize danger to pas- sengers and pedestrians, and they will exert all possible means to keep the accident record of 1925 to as low a point as they can. In addition to 91 traffic deaths, 94 persons lost life in other accidents. Eleven were drowned, the same num- ber died from accidental burns, 26 were killed by falls and 25 died from accidentally inhaling gas. The lesson in this is that persons should always be careful. Perhaps if every man would think of the business immedi ately in hand, and not of some offside | subject, deaths from accident and the extent of suffering would be greatly reduced. o Bergdoll's chauffeur goes before a jury in Philadelphia, but it is not be- lieved that the most important wit. ness in the case can be persuaded to come home and give evidence. r——— It is now urged that smugglers will buy opium o long as China continues to produce it, and that China will con- tinue to produce it so long as smug- glers buy it. e Objection to remarks by Senator Walsh may yet renew the discussion of censorship for radio. B France is inclined to contradict the cynical aphorism that there is no senti- ment in business, e BY THOMAS R. MARSHALL, Former Vice President of the United States, Reason for so many divorces is to be found in the fact that couples are mismated. Before marriage the man and the woman ought to test them- selves out as to whether they gener- ate anger at the same time. If they do, let them beware. All persons have a capacity for humor as well as for anger. Those only should marry whose machinery is so geared that when one is growling the other is grinning. Not only in home life, but in soclety at large, the sense of hu- mor is the safety valve. Revolutions take place when all the people get angry simultaneously. Revolutions never occur when part of the popu- lation is smiling at predatory bodies in _the community. The Trinity runs through all ture. It is one of the strongest proofs of the basic idea of our reli- glon. At times it would seem as though we had passed through the periods of brute force and of intel- lectual dominance and had entered the period of spiritual activity and control. Then again our faith is shaken when we find all three blend- ed in one Dbit of human conduct. The blending arises not from feeling nor from intelligence, but because both the intellect and soul temporarily hand over the scepter of life to mad passion, na- * X ok ok When a man gets angry he at once seeks direct action to remedy the evil under which he is suffering. A body of workingmen become con- vinced that they are not recelving a fair share of the joint product of la- bor and capital. In time they become incensed. The result is a strike to rectify the wrong. They will tell you that in the long run these strikes have produced an uplift of wages and congitions. Yet I doubt whether it has Veen physical fear which has brought amelioration. 1 am rather inclined to believe that it has been spiritual consciousness. Albeit, the Trinity “in man always has existed It has been with him from the begin- ning. One part of it never has to- tally died, allowing another part to control his conduct completely. We have had other strikes than those of labor. We have had moral or spiritual strik They embodied the anger of men at a course of con- duct which was prescribed for them by mome authority either human or divine. When a man does not like a law which has been enacted, he is apt to become angry at constituted authority He is not unlike the col- ored soprano who quit the choir after she had dreamed that the Lord had fold her to sing a certain hymn. She was not going to be bossed by any- body. It may be human nature, but many men seem to want to go on strike against anything which is or- dered of them R oo How much good, if an to theé worid from moral strikes 1 do not say. Some insist that liberty has flung wide her banner, enlarged her horizon and increased her territory by men . has come BY A great national organization of women has placed itself on record as urging the appointment of women to such positions as assistant secretaries of the various Government depart- ments and President Coolidge may shortly be memorialized to that end. The next step will be, according to well Informed leaders, to secure a cabinet post for a woman, and after that the beneficiaries of the nine- teenth amendment will have only to achieve the vice presidency and presi- dency to make their conquest of politics complete Some man politicians are asking where the women will stop, and others, where they can be stopped, if at alll The women themselves say there is no reason why they should stop with any office short of the high- est, although no one who speaks au- théritatively for them will suggest the likelihood of a woman being a candldate for President within the next few vears. They insist, however, that a woman President of the United States is within the bounds of possibility, and that there is no question of woman's ability to discharge the duties of that high office. There have been woman rulers of great countries, they point SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. ‘The White Collar Man. ‘With farmers I must sympathize As to my tasks I go, And struggle to economize, Commuting to and fro. For rent reductions oft I beg With futile eloquence. 1 shudder when T break an egg Because of the expense. The farmer wears his overalls ‘When he to labor goes, My duty at the office calls Each day for “‘Sunday clo'es.” I've sympathized in tender style, Oh, farmer friend, with thee. I ask that for a little while You'll sympathize with me. Temperamental Relief. “Are you going to see the new un- derworld play?” “Yes," answered Senator Sorghum. “My indignation has been consider- ably aroused. My public position for- bids me to use profanity, but I'd kind o' like momentarily to get into the atmosphere of it.” The Eclipse. Your glimmering gray light Brought moments sublime. We could rise before daylight, Yet sleep overtime. . Jud Tunkins says he bets Wagner could have wrote some great jazz musie\if he had known how to play the banjo. Close Figuring. “Did you tell the landlord he’ll have to put new paper in the flat?" asked she. “Yes,” answered he. “How did he behave about it?"” “Most cordially. He grasped my hand and told me my call had saved him the 2-cent stamp necessary to send the notice that next month our rent/will be raised.” Financial Peacemaking. All war plans might have been less rash 1f nations would refuse To fight, except with ready cash, Instead of 1. 0. U's. “I admires de man dat makes said Uncle Eben, “but not de out, who made records quite as credit- able as those of men, and the Amer- ican woman has the intellect, the courage, the executive ability, and the moral stamina to rank her with distinguished leaders of the sex in other lands, in this age or any other. Since suffrage was made nation- wide in the United States women have held almost every kind of elec- tive or appointive public office. In the executive field they have had everything from mayor and city man- ager to the governorship of a State; in the legislative realm they have served on town and clty councils and boards of ‘aldermen, in State legisla- tures and in the lower branch of the Congress of the United States. One woman even reached the Senate by appointment, but only for an interval so brief that it cannot be sald she served as Senator. In the judicial division of our gov- ernmental system they have held city. and county judgeships and one woman has attained membership in the Supreme Court of a State, Two Woman Governors. Texas and Wyoming now boast woman governors, Mrs. Miriam A. Ferguson having been elected to a full term In Texas, thus attaining the office her husband once held and re- signed, and Mrs. Nellle Tayloe Ross having been elected to serve the un- expired term of her husband, who died in_office. ; New Mexico has had a woman lieu- tenant governor and & woman secre- tary of state, and at the recent elec- tion Mrs. Florence E. S. Knapp was chosen Secretary of State of New York, the first woman to win an im- portant State office in the East. Four ears ago a woman candidate for the ame office in New York and this vear woman candidates for Secretary of State In Rhode Island, West Vir- ginia and Missouri were defeated. Indiana elected a woman to State office for the first time last Novem- ber, Mrs. Emma Eaton White being chosen reporter of the Supreme Court, and women were elected State super- intendents of public instruction in Colorado, North Dakota and Wash- ington. The latter position has been held by women in Idaho, Iowa, Mon- tana, New Mexico and Wyoming. Mrs. Mary T. Horton of New Jer- sey 15 the first woman to break into Congress from an Eastern State, and she was also the only woman elected to the House of Répresentatives in 1924, although there were a number of woman nominees. Mrs, Julius Kahn is now a candidate for the seat long held by her husband, the late chairman of the House committee on military affairs, and is sald to have a fair chance of success. Miss Jeannette Rankin of Montana earned the distinction of being the first woman elected to Congress, but | when she refused to vote on the declaration of war she made herself a one-termer. Miss Alice Robertson of Oklahoma, the next woman to be elected to the House, also served but one term. Mrs. Winifred Huck of Tllinois served tha unexpired term of her father, a matter of dut two Humor Is Salvation of World From Chaos, Says Marshall standing out against control, either human or divine, but I prefer to be- lieve that the liberties of men have been enlarged by the consclousness of right rather than by strikes against the prohibitions of men or angels. Neither the physical strike nor the moral strike, old as each is in the affairs of men, has ever been re- garded as a cause for laughter; on the contrary, each now as always affords causes for regret and reasons for reform. It has remained for the present to produce strikes'which are humorous. They are going on now in various countries of the world. They are called intellectual strikes. Students In schools and universities, when something happens in govern- ment which does not meet with their approval, go upon these strikes by announcing to the world that until thelr government does what they de- gire It to do they will refuse to go on with their education. If there is anything to be learned they will not learn it If there is anything to be sought out in books they will close the books. They W learn nothing more, care to know nothing more until the government complies with their demand. To me this is the joke of the twentieth century—in fact, the joke of the ages * % % % men with strong arms have have their way with government, when men by the use of their spiritual and moral faculties have failed at swaying government to sult themselves, how may these immature youths, scattered in all sorts of educational institutions throughout the world, expect to ac- complish anything by refusing to continue their education? I can un- erstand why a man will not work when he believes he Js not getting a decent day's wage, or why another will hold back when attempt is made to drive him into the nh!-r\'nruw‘nf a law which he feels to be a violation of his rights, but it is beyond me why any person would cease his own e(?u- cation because things were not being run to suit him. This may be the ludicrous end of the modern idea that no one can be compelled to do anything in this world until he has been convinced that it is for his own best interest Thesa intellectual strikes may be the results of that training of the human intellect that it has an inalienable right to detarmine for itself what it will be, what it will know, what it will do, to what extent it, will suf- fer and permit itself to gpt under the control of constituted authority. This Is self-determination gone mad. The world now is split up enough into feeble, incompetent governments. It will be worse split up if feeble and incompetent governments are to be hampered by Intellectual strikes. But 1 look for no such thing. The joke will not 1 These intellectual strikers will become laughing stocks of the people Who know that, whether we like it or not, we are under some sort of law, and that this law, whether made by a majority or auto- cratically made, must be obeyed or government will perish. (Copyright, 1925, by 21st Century Press.) When been unable to WHERE WILL WOMEN STOP? FREDERIC J. HASKIN months, and Mrs. Mae Nolan of Cali- fornia also saw brief service in the House as the successor of her hus- band, the late Representative John Nolan Mrs. W. D. Fenton of Georgia, who was accorded the distinction by ap- pointment, is the only woman who can lay claim to the title of United States Senator. Important Posts in Washington. While the organized women of the country are making their campaign for assistant secretaryships, which rank next to cabinet posts, it may be noted that a woman now holds a position of that importance and that many other offices of equal or greater importance in Washington are now administered by members of the fair sex. Mrs. Mabel Walker Willebrandt 6f California is now serving as A ant Attorney General, which corre- sponds to an assistant secretaryship in the other departments, and she succeeded another woman in that place, Mrs. Annette Abbott Adems, also of California. She has charge of Department of Justice activities re- lating to prohibition, internal reve- nue laws, income tax evasion cases, liguor smuggling and the like. Mrs. Willebrandt has been mention- ed recently In connection with the filling of a vacancy in a Federal judgeship, and should she be appointed she would be the first woman to attain that honor. Judge Florence Allen of the Ohio Supreme Court is the only woman who has been elected to the highest judiclal tribunal of a State, but num- bers of women have held minor judge- ships. Two are conspicuous in Wash- ington—Judge Mary O'Toole of the Municipal Court and Judge Kathryn Sellers of the Juvenile Court. Three highly important Federal commissionerships are held by wom- en—Mrs. Helen Hunt Gardener of the United States Civil Service Commis- sion, Mrs. Clara Sears Taylor of the District of Columbia Rent Commis- sion and Mrs. Bessio Brueggeman, chairman of the Federal Employes Compensation Commission of the De- partment of Labor. Then there are Miss Mary Anderson, head of the Woman's Bureau; Miss Grace Abbott, head of the Children's Bureau; Miss Lucile Atcherson, the first woman to achieve an appoint- ment In the diplomatic service, who is now stationed in the State Depart- ment; Maj. Julla Stimson, head of the Army Nurse Corps; Miss Lucy Min- nigerode, head of the Public Health Service Nurse Corps; Miss Beatrice Bowman, head of the Navy Nurse Corps; Miss Anita Phipps, who has charge of the social service work of the War Department; Mrs. Mina E. Van Winkle, who is a lleutenant in the Metropolitan Police Force of ‘Weshington, and innumerable other women who hold posts in the public service at the Natlon's Capital. Auto-Dodging Course Shows Practical Need A school up In Oregon has estab- lished a course in automobile dodg- ing! That's what you call practical edu- cation. That's keeping learning abreast of the times. Latin and trig- onometry are all right in their way, but they won't save you from a skid- ding truck—and won't be any good to you after it has run over you, But the school which teaches auto dodg- ing marries learning to longevity. Its graduates should not only have much more chance than other graduates] to serve the world through their full terms of usefulness, but should re- celve material febates on their accl- dent and life Insurance policies, It is good for any one to know that nowadays the open road is no place in which to do one’s dreaming. One is far too likely to drop into the sleep which knows no waking. Besides, educating pedestrians to dodge seems to be the only hope left. For all attempts to educate drivers to respect human life appear to have [ fallsd miserably.—Los Angeles Times. Capital Sidelights Sometimes among the wives of members of Congress we find one distinguished in her own right as well as through the outstanding ability of her husband elected by his fellow citizens to represent them in the legislative counsels. Such a one Is Mrs. Mora L. Ackerman, wife of Representative Ernest R. Ackerman of New Jersey. Mrs. Ackerman is a poet, and a bpok of her werses has just been published, and Ix being eagerly read by the congressional circle. Representative and Mrs. Ackerman were in Tokio just before the earth- quake and tidal wave wrecked that city, but Mrs. Ackerman had a pre- sentiment of impending calamity and they hastened on their way, and were 30 miles distant when wild nature struck. Mrs. Ackerman has written a poem about this experience, entitled “Heaven's Message.” Among other of her poems have attracted attentipn are: Soldier's Return,” “Childhood, Believe,” “Memory's Gallery of P! tures The Measures of Lif “Charm Versus Beauty,” "Glve What You Have to Some One” “As Unto Others,” “Happiness ~Makers” and unset Picture.” A that ‘The “Make Visitors at the Capitogthese days are having a chance to Yee a ver) diffcult feat of art mechanics per- formed. Under the supervision of Charles E. Fairman, curator of art works in the Capitol for the last 16 years, one of the big historical paint- ings in the rotunda, “The Baptism of Pocahontas,” is being relined by Charles E. Moberly, painter and dec- orator and designer, who has been working on the decoration of the Capitol Building for more than 30 years. This great painting was ordered by the Congress in 1837, and was put in place in 1842. It was relined in 1883 by H. N. Barlow. Some months ago it was discovered that the old canvas back \on this picture was in a flimsy condition and that soon there would be nothing left but the painted sur- face. Acting under instruction from David Lynn, architect of the Capitol Mr. Fairman wrote all over the United States trylng to procure a able canvas for relining, and was unable to do so. He had to send to Brussels, where he got just what he wanted—18 feet 4 inches by 12 feet 4 inches. This was secured through a personal representative of the State Department in Brussels It will be cemented to the back of the picture, this cement having been in use for many vears in fastening paintings to plaster walls and known to be effective. * o ok % “The Baptism of Pocahontas’ painted by John Gadsby Chapman, a native of Alexandria, Va. who was pald $10,000. John Trumbull, who was an aide-de-camp to George Washington in the War of Indepen- dence, and who studied under Ben- jamin West, painted the first four of the great historical pictures for the rotunda of the Capitol—"“Signing the Declaration of Independence,” “Sur. render of Gen. Burgoyne,” “Surrender of Cornwallis” and “Washington Re- slgning His Commission.” Congress was undecided for some time as to how to fill in the other four niches, and finally decided to give commissions for the other four. Chapman studied art in Italy and later painted in New York, where he was one of the founders of the Cen- tury Club. He was elected a full mem- ber of the Academy of Design in 1835. He was interested in wood engrav- ing and became a teacher in thls branch of art. He was also an etcher of note, and produced many etchings from orizinal designs, among them being: “Return From the Vontag “A Monk Asking Alms.” “Ttallan Goat- herds,” “The Gleaner,” “A View on the Campagna” and “Maswaddox Creek, Eastern Shore, Md. Mr. Chapman furnished the illustra- tions for the Harper's Bible, and was the author of a draw Dbe the best of its kind in the English language, and which passed through many editions in this country and Great Britain. Among his painting: are: “Sunset on the Campagna, Etruscan Girl,” “Vintage Scene, Last Arrow” and “Valley of Mexlico. In 1848 he went to Rome a second time and resided in Rome until 187S. He died in Brooklyn, N. Y., July 6, 1890. Members committee, of the House District having Jjurisdiction over legislation affecting the National Capital, had an opportunity during the week to listen in on an interest- Ing debate between two former d trict judges, Representative Ralph Gilbert, Kentucky. and Representative Thomas Blanton, Texas, on the legislative ethics of one man setting up his own judgment against his fellows after a fair hearing on the case fn question had been had. ‘When the secretary of the Ameri- can Soclety of Architects was before the House committee on public build- ings and grounds urging that in the $150,000,000 public buildings program under consideration, the best archi- tectural talent of the country should be employed so that this country might build up for posterity such noble examples of the esthetic side of architecture as were left by ancient Rome and Greece he ran plumb up against a cold stone wall Members of the committee made it plain that they were much more in- terested in having a suitable work- shop for Uncle Sam than in giving an ambitlous architect an opportunity to design_a memorial, and Repre- sentative Miller said: “When we had a great post officé building erected in Chicago and one of the great archi- tects of the country was engaged to design It, we found, after the build- ing was almost finished, that the architect had been so much interested in designing a beautiful structure that he had entirely overlooked pro- viding & way to get the mail into the post office buflding.” * Xk x Congress was treated to a word picture of how a lie travels the other day and the description has been preserved for posterity in the Con- gressional Record. Representative John N. Tillman of Arkansas is author of the following: “The short and ugly word moves like a meteor. A lie can travel 40 miles while the truth is getting its boots on. Slanders have been riding about like demons on rumor's {ongue. Everybody has been trailing the winged feet of furtive whispers. The keen-fanged sleuths have been hot on the scent of every tale—and tales there are a plenty. “Mrs. Grundy or Wild-eyed Wash or Windy Jim or Babbling Bobby re- marked ‘that Susan Slusher has not swept her kitchen since Christmas eve, or that Merry Mable has been seen talking to a traffic cop for five whole minutes, or, what is more to the point, that some Senator or Rep- resentative has received 40,000,000 doughnuts for voting for a bridge across Salt River. “The story starts and away it goes. After it has made three rounds twice and zigzagged across the clrcle once or more, Mr. Stringing Bee hears it and whispers it to Henpecked Pete’s brother-in-law, and he starts with it on the run. “A lie travels faster than the truth because It meets so many friend: who give it a ride. Truth gets up in the cold, gray dawn and has to kndck four times before he can get a door open, but a lie is greeted with the glad word, creamed and coffeed and fed and petted and laughed at and slapped on the back, and then ent hurrying on in the swiftest auto- moblle an the Blace” was | ing book said to | A total eclipse of the sun is the de- light 6f the pessimist. It makes him exclaim “what's the use?’ An eclipse i8 80 much grander, 5o much more in- exorable than anything in earthly life and tells in its own way the tale of the wonderously ingenious “system” of the universe, compared to which our terrestrial affairs sink into an in- significance bordering on oblivion With the regularity of a split sec- ond watch these eclipses have been going on through the ages and will continue to what we are pleased to call the end. But in the universe is there such a thing as an end? The sun may die, the moon may crumble, but other plants will go their way and other peoples In other spheres will be marveling at the phenomena of the crossing and recrossing of the stars on their appointed rounds. The sun surveys the earth with a benign calmness which reckons not of time. It causes its light to shine re- gardless of what pygmy people may do. If all ‘the nations had killed off all the other nations during the World War, the sun's eclipse of Saturday would not have been one-thousandth of a second off schedule. Here was a fixed event which nothing compre- heneible 10 the finite mind could stop. Tut-ankh-Amen. recently dug from the dust of 3,000 years, worshiped the same old sun and marveled at fts antics. Three thousand years in the future—300,000 years hence—other rulers more powerful than the young Egyptian will be strutting their given hour upon the stage under the spot- light of the same old solar system. As an antidote for false pride, as a putter of one in one’s proper place, nothing quite compares with an eclipse of the sun. %k x Another pessimistic thought 1s in- volved in the statement of some old scrooge of a statistician that the use of mistletoe rapidly is declining. It is going out of fashion. The infer- ence is that It is all due to younger generation. They are sup- posed to be doing o much kissing and “necking” that to hang a plece of mistietoe on the chandelier would come under the head of the world useless ation. In other words, this is a self-starting age in oscula tion as well as in automobiles. The suggestion of the traditional sprig of mistletos is no longer necessary. Then, too, the old-fashioned chan- liers are disappearin hive side lights. There still is a place for the Christmas greens over the doorways, but practical and steady kissing unquestionably has re- placed the old, sly and subtle smack, and mistletoe is slowly bat certainly going into the discard, into the realm of forgotten thin ® % X One of the best bits of witticism heard in Washington in a logg time Fifty Years Ago In The Star The political legal situation in the District fifty years ago was one of el embarrassment and District and difficulty. The terri- torlal government had Congress. ..n anolished and a |temporary commissionership form had been established. While waiting for Congress to decide upon a permanent organization for the Capital com- munity Washington's needs were neglected and its prospect was dubi- ous. In The Star of January 1%, 1875, is the following editorial on the subject: “There is great danger of failure of Congress to pass any this season to remedy our District difficulties. The session is already half through and the national busi- ness now pressing will so occupy the attention of Congress for the re- | mainder that there will be little time > give to District matters. And yet is imperative that some action should be taken by Congress | Winter, settling definitely the finan- cial relations of the Government with the District. The case is so serious for our taxpayers and business men that it may be said to be almost one of life and death to them. “Should Congress adjourn without such action the shrinkage of values and the utter stagnation tha fall upon all business operations would be something appalling. And vet in the face of this fact we fi the class of our citizens who have the most at stake resting supinely ither from hopelessness or because they are deluded by the utterly mis- taken idea that matters will come right without any exertion on their part. In fact, all ‘the action taken by our eltizens, apparently, is by those interested in opposing partic- ular features of the District bills now before Congress, and thus the force exercised is altogether in the way of obstruction. Under the circumstances it is not strange that Congress, however kind- Iv disposed toward us, should feel at a loss how to proceed. It Is now time that the responsible citizens of the District should take some united effort to secure some congressional action establishing the proportions that the General Government and the people of the District shall pay of the District expenses. This principle is established both by the Morrill bill and the Sargent bill. In the latter the per cent of the tax the Govern- ment shall pay on its property is glven in figures; in the Morrill bill the exact amount Is not defined, be- cause, in Mr. Morrill's oplnion, the proportions might vary from year to year, and if, for instance, Congress should see fit to appropriate $10,000.- 000 in a single year for District im- provements, it would not be fair to require the people of the District to pay an equivalent sum. ,“Our opinfon is that it would be more satisfactory all around to bave Congress establish the exact propor- tion it will pay, as in the Sargent bill, but as we understand that Mr. Morrill is not tenacious of particular points of his bill of this character, so that the general framework s main- tained, 1t is probable that he would readily accept any amendment that would make it falr and just to our taxpayers. It Is said that the Morrill bill. or some bill indorsed by the joint special committee, will find a better chance of securing the atten- tion of. Congress than any new bill. We know not how this may be, but there can be no question that the point s to concentrata all the strength available upon whatever bill, embodying the principle of Gov- ernment paying its fair proportion of District expenses, has the Dbest chance of passing this session. ‘Tt will never do to have the mat- ter go over to the next Congress, and to a House in which States’ rights’ op- position to building up a great Na- tional Capital will doubtless come in play to the disadvantage of this Dis- trict. And it must be remembered, sls0, that the next House will be, with the exception of 30 or 40 mem- bers, utter strangers here, and entire- ly unfamiliar with the wants and ne- cessities of the peopls of the District, and of the nature of the obligations of the General Government to the Dis- rict. 't ts imperative, we say, that there should be action this session upon the vital point of finance. whether we shall or shall not ‘save the principle’ of suffrage by electing one or more officers who have no real powers Is a trivial one in comparison, and can be wrangled over at leisure after we have secured the great desi- deratum of Government recognition of the the | New houses | MEN AND AFFAIRS BY ROBERT T. SMALL. was_brought to the National Capital by Don Sterling of Portland, Ore., who attended the seesions of tha Soclety of American Editors. Don related that when the story of Pres! dent Coolldge's journey to Chicago in an ordinary Pullman of a regular train reached the Pacific Coast, a wag on the paper handed in a para- graph which opined that inaemuch as the President undoubtedly would carry his wave of economy to tha ocean as well as to the railroads and possibly give up the use of the May flower, the country might hear upon the President’s return that Basoom Slemp had taken him out for a wesk end row on the Potomaa. * ok ox A dilapidated-looking flivver from somewhere in the West—somewhers out of the great open spaces—toursd through Washington a day or two ago and caused no end of laughter On the back of the rattling coupe was painted in rough white characters | thix admonintion: “Four wheels. No brakes. Bab- boon tires. Don't hit me big boy. I'm growing old." * K % ok While the men of the country are making a big howdy-do over the ac- cession of “Ma" Ferguson to tha gubernatorial throne in Texas, tha feminists of the Nation are turning their heads away from snifiing the air with unmistakably big sniffs They do not number “Ma” in their ranks. She has been a big disap- pointment to them in one way, but on the other hand, she has justified thelr prediction and there is always |some satisfaction in “I told you so." “Ma,” it appears, is entirely too | much ‘under the thumb of her hus- {band, Jim. As a matter of fact the feminists say that “Ma" is merely | substituting for Jim, because Jim |couldn’t run for office iast time. They say that Jim is governor just as much as he was some seven or elght years ago, and that “Ma” really represents no great stride for the ascendancy of the femals of the species in modern politics. “Ma” was elected by the Ferguson bloe in Texas, u bloc strong enough to have cast about 150,000 votes for Tim Ferguson for President |of the United States ars ax when Jim was the candidate of own one-man party. “Ma’s” first acts in exalt husband and aeking his advice on & connected with the office ed the feminists to groan in despair. The idea of a woman gover- nor doing a thing like that is & and wormwood to them. Next time they back a for high office she will be either a widow, a con- firmed spinster, or a Lucy Stoner who refuses to accept her husband's name “Ma” is a feminist wash-out, a “dud, a whited sepulchre—0. Woe is wom- |an's lot! i (Coprright, 1925.) | Heard and Seen | Jack Sprate, to a tremendous lecture from Big ng her jazz cat, had to listen bill | this | would | The question | Jim, an old tiger feline, who lives down in the next alley, but who occa- | sionally crosses the into | Spratt's alley. We could him | going on. . ““When ¥ | Big Jim, * street hear was a kitten,” growled a cat was expected to stay {at nome nights prow! |around like you young fellows. It | meant something t to be a house |cat. We were fireside ornaments |you get what I mean, and we orna- mented “Yes, sir, we put up a good job of decoration, and we got plenty of real cream and beefsteak as reward Say, I would sit by a fire all day long | to get a bit of beefsteak, I would.” “A Dbit”" questioned Jack. “How { much?" “Oh, just the s the table. Jack Spratt hearty. “The scraps left table!” he howled, do you know how get?” ‘How much?’ Joubttully. “Well, I used pound a day— “Gosh!" “And when my physician came to treat me for a cold, he prescribed half ound per day. Oh, yes, every day Whew!" was all Jim could say * % Notwithstanding this hearty Jack Spratt felt the call of the wild one day last week and left his happy home. His eyves gleamed. He must up and away! “Good-bye, folks!" he purred, has- tily finishing his breakfast, and run- ning out the back door. “See you later.” That was the last we saw of Jack Spratt for many hours. The day wen: by, and night came, but no Jack. Tha family became worried. A lost ad finally was put in the paper. It read CAT—Tiger tom, small head, white breast and feet. Large reward return. In reality that ad should have read something like this CAT—Tiger tom, has very aggrieved expression, as if he hadn't a friend in the world, but gets more grub than any ocat in town; head is too small he wouldn't place at all in a cat show; isn't worth a cent to anybody else, but we will be glad to loosen up to a considerable extent to get him back, just the same. Pets are like that. They have a way of ingratiating themselves, so that when they go they are missed The night wore on, and still no Spratt. The little stars sprinkled the cold £ky, the milkman came and went on his rounds, but there was no cat's meow sounding out of the vast dark- ness. Nobody will ever know where he was. It ia one of the every-night mysteries of Catland. * *x With the morning came the task of going down into the cellar to open up the furnace. Opening up the f nace consists of allowing the sm pipe damper to lie down flat opening up the draft after peekin,. . the feed door to see “how she 100Ks. She looked very well; small blue flames just beginning to come up through the coals used for banking. In a few miautes the plant would be roaring. All was wéll—except there was no triendly feline greeting. “Guess old Jack is & gonner this time. He never has been gone this long before.” Dismal pictures of what may hap- Den to a venturesome cat alone in a Ereat city came to mind. There was that poor black cat stretched cold and Stiff in the street the other morn- ing, probably the victim of a speed- ing motorist. “Meow! Meow!" A white nose and chest appeared at the basement window. It was old Jack himself. The cat had come baock! And that was how Jack Spratt won his own reward *._E. TRACEWELL craps left over from laughed long and over from the derisively. “Say, much beefsteak 1 queried Big Jim o get a quarter of a Tave its duties and responsibilities in be- half of the Government city. We shall be very foolish if whil scrambling for the shadow we lose the substance. Will not our citizens of weight and energy move in the matter before it is tos lataf®