Evening Star Newspaper, February 11, 1925, Page 6

THE EVENING STA With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY . February 11, 1925 THEODORE W. NOYES. . . . Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Buginess Office, 11th 5t. and Pennyylvania Ave. * " New York Office: 110 East 430d St. Chicago Office: Tower Building. European Office : 18 Regent 8t., London, England. The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning edition, ix delivered by carriers within the tity at 60 cents per month: daily only, 43 cents per month; Sunday oniy. 20 cents per month. Orders may be sent by mail or tele- phone Maln §000. Collection is mude by ear- riers at the end of each month, 04 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday. .1 yr., $8.40: 1 mo., 70¢ Daily only. . 1 yr., $6.00; 1 mo., 50¢ Sunday onl, 1yr., $2.40; 1 mo,, 30¢ All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 $10.00; 1 mo., 85¢ E $7.00; 1 mo., 80c yr., $3.00;1mo, 25¢c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Praas Is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dis- patehes credited 1o 31 or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news pub. lished “herein. ~All rights of publication of special dispatches herein_are also_reserved. No Lump-Sum Payment Plan. The lump-sum payment plan should not be substituted as permanent sub- stantive law for the definite pro- portionate contribution plan: 1. Because it destroys the relation between national and local contribu- tions, the basic principle of the laws of 1876 and 1922, which causes :n alien taxing body in taxing an unrep- resented community in some measure to tax also itself. The existence of this relation is a safeguard against ex- cessive taxation of the unrepresented community 2. Because it gives back to the na- tion its pledge of proportionate con- tribution, which accompanied national seizure of the Capital's power of self- taxation, without restoring to the Dis- trict this self-taxing power of which it had been deprived. 3. Because by destroying national obligation to make any definite pro- portionate contribution it imposes a loss of millions upon the District when the latter's Treasury surplus, collect- ed under the 50-50 law comes to be ap- propriated and spent. 4. Because it violates wantonly the peace settlement of the act of 1922, which levied taxes for five years to come, and thus promised stability on the 60-40 basis in the fiscal relations of the Capital for that period. It de- prives the District of the only impor- tant offsetting benefit continued to it by this law, in order to make heavier the new tax burdens which the 1922 law imposed. 5. If the lump-sum payment plan comes into being on the basis of its insertion by the House into an ap- propriation bill under the application of the Holman rule, the decrease or elimination of the national contribu- tion through action on an appropria- tion hill will, so far as the House is concerned, be invited and facilitated, while its increase will in effect be forbidden. The eight, nine or ten millions of original payment under this plan might in the hasty eaprice of a subsequent Congress be the only payment. Will the Senate sacrifice a wise, sound fiscal principle to whick it the defense of which it is impregnabiy intrenched in law and equity when the only temptation to sacrifice is this in- adequate and prospectively vanishing consideration? e A notion persists that a Texas statesman ought always to wear a soft hat and a Prince Albert ccat. It is no more in accord with present ideas than the English picture of a “Yankee" as wearing a chin whisker and standing in perpetual need of a haircut. e Many statesmen retire to private life, but when Mr. Charles Evans Hughes resigns there is a great deal of political curlosity as to what he is going to do next. —.—— The Presidential Election. Today in joint session Congress completes the final act of the presiden- tial election held in November by counting the electoral votes and de- claring the result. This is in accord- ance with a statute enacted February 3. 1887, which carries out the pro- vision of the Constitution that the votes of the electors cast in their several States shall be transmitted to the President of the Senate at Wash- ington, and by him opened in the pres- ence of the two houses of Congress in joint session and counted. On this occasion, as on all others but three in the history of the country, today’s pro- cedure is the merest formality, for the result of the vote is decisive and be- vond the possibility of question or further action. The electors have east 382 votes for Calvin Coolidge for Presi- dent and Charles G. President, 136 votes for John W. Davis and Charles W. Bryan and 13 votes for Robert M. La Follette and Burton K. Wheeler. Having received a ma- jority of all the votes cast, Calvin Coolidge and Charles G. Dawes are declared eclected President and Viee President, respectively A few months ago, however, the pos- sibility of another procedure in the House on this second Wednesday in February, designated by statute, was being considered and discussed by the country. Tt was computed that ne candidates might receive a majority of the electoral votes. In that evemt the House of Representatives would at once proceed to elect a President, while the Senate elected the Vice President. And it was further com- puted that under-the canstitutional provision that the vote in the House should be taken by States, no person would receive a majority of those votes, owing to the division of State delegations. This, unless party lnes were brokem, would in effeet threw the election of the Chief Executive of the country into the Senate. That pes- sibility undoubtedly influenced a. great number of voters and contributed to the result which is recorded today. ©On two ocopslons In the past the ’ is traditionally committed and in | Dawes for Vice | election haa been thrown into the House, in 1801 and 1825. On the for- mer occasion the House was dead- locked for.a time, until Thomas.Jeffer- son was chosen; on the second the election of John Quincy Adams was effected on the first ballot. In 1877 & different complication arose when the electoral votes of several States weré challenged in the House, end with much difffculty a method of determin- ing their validity was devised and adopted, and on the eve of inaugura- tion a decision was rendered. The act of 1887, under which Congress is to- day acting, was designed to prevent recurrence of such a dangerous situa- tion as that of 1877, The great change that has taken place in American political and physi- cal conditions since the adoption of the Constitution with its provision for the choice of President and Vice Presi- dent by electors in the States is attest- ed ugain this year by the fact that to- day's ceremony in the House of Repre- sentatives is but a bare formality in final consummation of a procedure tully known to the people three months ago. The electoral college, originally designed as the veritable agency of choice, has become but a recording body for the several States. Every fact regarding the election is known within & few hours after the votes are cast on the designated November day in consequence of inventions that have made communication instanta- neous, whereas 136 years ago, when the fundamental law was adopted, weeks were required for the spread of news and the travel of messengers. —— raee The Inauguration Progtram. Curtailment of the inauguration ceremonials to the lowest terms causes the local committee named to pro- vide for the entertainment and com- fort of visitors to the Capital on that occasion to reduce its program to a minimum. The citizens have been willing to subscribe funds in abun- dance, bat the committee has wisely decided with the approval of the Presi- dent to spend ne more than s abso- lutely necessary for the simple cere- monial that is planned. At the Capitol there will be an of. | ficial ceremony, the President taking the cath of office in the open in the presence of a multitude. That is the limit of official requirements. Indeed, the President could take the oath of office privately or in one of the legisla- tive chambers, with no outdoor pro- ceedings whatever. Custom, however, has decreed that the Chief Executive shall subscribe to the oath in the pres- ence of the people. As soon as he has done so, and has delivered the address which is traditional upon that occa- sion, the formal ceremony is at an end. The progress of the President, new- 1y sworn faithtully to discharge the dut'es of his office, on his return to the White House has been the occa- sion of the greatest demonstration of the program heretofore, with recent modifications. A great concourse of troops, Federal and State, and of rep resentative organizations of citizens {from different parts of the country has attended him on that short jour- ney which marks his entrance upon his term of office. Vast throngs of people have cume to witness that pro- cession. This year there will be a com- paratively small array. It is estimated | { that the parade will pass within three- quarters of an hour. It is doubtful whether a sufficient number of people. local or visitors, would desire or re- quire special seating facilities to view | the parade to warrant the construc tion of stands. With no inaugural ball of the tradi- | tional and semi-official character, and with no fireworks to mark the close of the day, the program resolves it- self to the official ceremony at the | Capitol and the brief parade of sol- diery escorting the President to his official home. The citizens’ committee | has proceeded wisely, though with great reluctance, in curtalling its preparations. | r——— At present there is no way of meet- ing conditions of motor congestion ex- | cept by arresting violators of regula- tions. 8o long as parking facilities are | inadequate people will go on heins ar- rested. It is human nature to take | chances. A. satisfactory state of af. fairs regarding trafic will not be reached until a method is devised that will make it.a comparatively simple | matter to meet all the requirements of | safety and good order. —rae— The dog has his enemies, and ill- kept, under uncongenial conditions, often becomes dangerous. When an emergency ariges, requiring antitoxin in Nome, the canine has his day and becomes a hero. o A number of Frenchmen are in- clined to favor an abandonment of the old habit of behaving as if they were afraid of Germany. The custom may be hard to abolish, although its prac- tical value must @ppear problematical. e Having recovered his estates, Wil- helm Hohenzollern is preparéd to let the rest of the world worry about debt | cancellation, ——— In Defense of Bluebeard. An association has been formed in France for the purpose of instituting legal proceedings for the retrial of a famous criminal. Several noted his- torfans and the librarian of the French AcadeMly have joined hands to redeem from infamy a man condemned some years ago. In fact, it was just 385 years ago that Gilles de Laval, Baron de Retz, was accused of soreery, con- victed and burned at the stake. The purpose of the newly formed assocta- tion is to reopen the case and secure a new trial on the ground of freshly discovered evidence. Gilles de Laval has come down by traditon to the present by apother name, mere familiar than his own. He was the infamous “Bluebeard,” of whom horrid tales were told, t slayer of wives, the keeper of a secr chamber where thefr bodies hung, the was. enormously wealthy and spent money with great prodigality, He seemed possessed of a Fortunatus’ purse. Only through the machinations of evil spirits, it was thought, could he possibly be 8o rich. The killing of 800 people was regarded as an inci- dent, as a means of attaining human blood as an ingredient in his alchemy. Last Summer @ vein of gold was found in a rock beneath the ruins of the Chateau de Machecoul, known to have been one of Gilles de Laval's strongholds near Nantes. This is be- lieved to solve the mystery of the aource of his gold. The vein lately dis- covered is estimated to comtain 2,000, 000 francs worth of the precious metal. Other veins probably occur in the same rocks. If that was the source, indeed, of Bluebeprd's wealth the charge of alchemy fails. 8o it is seri- ously proposed to secure a retrial and purge the name of this one-time mar- shal of France. It 18 not unusual in that country to reopen old cases. There are numerous records of retrials of persons long ago condemned. The fact that 'Gilles de Laval was burned at the stakesin 1440 is not regarded as a bar to his second trial in the light of new facts. So his name may be cleared on the score of alchemy and wicked dealings with the powers of darkness, althbugh there will still remain the matter of the mysterious disappearance of & number of persons who, as in the case of his modern namesake, Henri Landru, were known to have entered his stronghold never to reappear. His present advocates aver that the charge of the murder of 800 was doubtless a gross exaggeration. If Bluebeard ls fully cleared on a retrial one of the most fascinating though gruesome of traditional tales will lose its historical authority. Potomac Flood Reports. The flood danger has appeared in the Potomac, and it is reported that some of the creeks carrying the flow of an extensive watershed are running swift and high. Hundreds of moun- tain brooke which add their flow to creeks and rivers that join the Poto- mac are showing a Spring-flood tem- per, and messages tell that Antietam and Conogocheague are out of their banks, and that Wills Creek threatens trouble. It must be that the Shenan- doah and Monocacy Rivers are high. and with rain falling on thousands of miles of snow a good deal of water wiil pass under the bridges at Wash. | ington. At this time it is probable that there will be no such loss and suffer- ing by flood in the upper Potomac Valley as last Spring. and Washing- ton looks with complacency on high water in the tidal part of the Potomac. A few years ago reports of high water in the creeks between Great Falls and the Allegheny Mountains, and news from Cumberiand, Williamsport and Harpers Ferry of rising water would have been the chief subject of con- vereation at Washington. With the cutting of a broad channel for the Potomac opposite Washington, re- moval of the Long Bridge causeway across the flats and the building of the Highway and Railroad Bridges having greater height than Long Bridge the chance of flood at Wash- ington has been so diminished that our people think little about it, except perhaps as an interesting spectacle. —————————— People who gave their belongings aw under the impression that the end of the world was at hand are now trying to recover them. Pessimism never pays. ———————— The G. O. P. evidently contemplates reducing insurgency as nearly as pos- sible to a personal state of mind as distinguished from a public demon- stration. e — An increase in the price of bread | Will afford the farmer opportunity to | sympathize with people who live in cities. ——————————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILASDER JOHNSON. The Reason. Why do the actors loudly swear, With violence alarming And give a fterce, barbaric air To scenes that might be charming. They even contravenc the laws. Their conscience? Nothing strikes it. ©Oh. friend, the reason is because At heart the public likes it. An Economist. “‘Are you in favor of economy?” “Of course, I am,” answered Sena- tor Sorghum. “If I had my way every- body in my district would begin right now to save up money to contribute to my next campeign fund.” Philadelphia. A City of Brotherly Love should as. pire To reform, and all eagerly grab it. Fraternal affection we cannot admire ‘Where treating's restored as a habit. Jud Tunkins says he bets if George Washington had ever heard that story about his never having told a lie ne'd bave nailed it as one. The Pesition of Advantage. “Have you ever thought of running for office?” “No,” answered Farmer Corntossel. “I can’t see why § ain't enjoyin’ my- seif more havin’ folks requestin’ my vete thar k would travelin® around re- questin’ theirs.” . Attive. As Fashion progresses, she leads more and more To the prhmitive styles that wers fa- vored of yore. In a circle-we travel that startles the view, As the new becomes old and the old becomes new. Some day, far away, as our steps we retrace, Again we may greet aborigial grace That contented will be with a_galu at- owner of a mysterious Key. In addi tion to sercery Be was actually ae- cused of murdering seme 500 womem and children. But the presecution of 1440 was not comcerned with this wholesale slaughter. “Bluebeard” was mainly accused of engaging in black arts, specifically of making gold.. He i tire Of a headdress of feathers, whiel all will admire. i “An envious man,” said Uncle Eben, “ts always imaginin’ dat he could be heppier if ke couid mole other mlserable.” THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. “Trust thyself; every heart vibrates to that fron string.” On_re-reading Emerson's essay on Self-Reliance the other day I was struck with the thought that here was a 'man saying unforgettable things in an unforgettahle way. Yet how many read Emerson to- day? 1 mean, compared with how many read the latest popular novel or magazines? A friend growls around about lack of “punch” in writing, but he mever reads the dar- ing things tossed off by the sage of Concord. The reason for this is that Ralph ‘§ildo Emeérson Is hard fo read. It will not do to say one must be a highbrow to read him. He s not hard 1o read becauss it takes brains to read him, but mainly because he is printed in such huge paragraphs and because his connection of ideas 1s dificult to follow. Some enterprising publisher would render a great service to the spirit of Emerson and to the Americany peo- ple by printing his works in & new form, with short paragraphs of a sen- tence or two taking the place of the half page and page paragraphs in which the man wrote. ’ There is something stifiing to one of those monstrous paragraphs. Old Plutarch had such paragraphs, nay, sentences hundreds of words long. The Bible, in Its original form, was Just one tremendous sentence. The mind finds it difficult to follow a mass of type. The long paragraph is a mechanical hurdle, much as small type is a setback to the average reader. We had better write less, and have what we do write printed in larger type. The other reason why Emerson is hard reading 1s because he did not sprinkle his pages with connectiv Sometimes, between the ending o one sentence and the beginning of the next, there will be perhaps as much as two whole paragraphs of thought! But the reader has to sup- ply it himself. 1f he cannot, or does not, then Emerson strikes him as Jerky. He is bewildered by the pro- tusion of ideas. Reading Emerson's essays clear through, first and second series, is like reading the dictionary “for fun" —there Is not much fun or profit in the proceeding. Read an essay at a time, however, one flads point and pleasure in it *ox ok % “To belleve your own thought, to believe that what is true for vou in your private heart is true for all men—that Is genius.™ So says Emersin, on the first page of his 30-page essay on Self-Reli-| ance. The sage did not say so, but| he alzo meant, undoubtedly, that to| believe what Is true for you in your | private heart also is true for all} men, is the very beginning and end | of writing. Given a certain amount of common sense, imagination, experience and freshness of view, a writer can at- tract and’ hoid others because he echoes for them their own thoughts. | He puts their own private ideas into words, sometimes even thoughts which at first they refuse. Emerson wrote in a grand manner, perhaps just a little Mt too grand for ordinary, everyday use. That is why we have to take him in small doses. There is food for a day's meditation in just a few lines of his. For instance: “There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the con- viction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must| take himself for better, for worse, as his portion: that though the wide universe is fall of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil hestowed on that plot of ground which is given him to il There is scarcely a one of us who does not need that admonition, that stimulating thought, as from time to time we become dissatisfied with lite, and imagine that new flelds | { Everybody who has known Calvin( Coolidge's political character at close range expected him to put his foot down on a spectacular inauguration and keep it down. Pomp is repulsive to him in ftself and obnoxious be- cause it entails expenditure of public money. That is the principal reason Mr. Coolidge determined to take office amid the severest simplicty. The rea- on he would not change his mind about It is that he seldom does change his mind about anything. From the very beginning of its efforts to induce the Prosident to agree to a semblance of pageantry on March 4, the inaug- ural committee was up against a stone wall. No sort of argument avalled. The truth is, there Is some- thing more than Mr. Coolidge's per- sonal predilections involved. There are political equations at stake, in his judgment, that outweigh all others. The President has embarked wpon an uncompromising economy srogram. He is a devout believer in the power of example. He thinks that an inexpensive inauguration is the only kind that is consistent with the money-saving doctrine he is now preaching to Congress and the coun- try at large. } + * ¥ K K Mrs. Nellie Tayloe Ross, woman Governor of Wpyoming, will be the central figure in a great Democratic “get-together” dinner at Washington om March 7. The dinner will be given under the auspices of the National Femocratic Women’s Club. Mrs. J. Borden Harriman and Mrs. John B. Kendrick, wife of the junor Senator trom Wyoming, are in active charge of arrangements on behalf of the club’s board of governors. Mrs. Ross will speak at the dinner, as will some prominent Democratic males, t to be chesen. The Democratic wom- en, in accormiance With the eternal fitness of things, are reversing the usual procedure and mvmng“n num- ber of mem to be “patrons” of th-! function. Mrs. Ross may be one of the State governors to attend the Coolidge inauguration. If she comes she wants to have as her escort the celebrated cavalry troop of “musical ponies” from Fort Russell, Wyo., which are famed throughout the Army for their rhy{hmie prancing. L rank W. Stearns, President Cool- | idge‘s “Cel. House,” will sail for | a two-month visit to Burope on March 26. When somebody sald to Stearns that it was to be Fhoped he wouldn’t cause a world war, like “the other Col. House™ did, as a result of his trip to Burope in 1914, Stearns ex- plained that one experience of that Kind was enough for him. Then he teld how the day after Re fimished a sojourn in Eurape in 1870, the Franco- Prussian war broke out. “Colonel” Stearns Is as different from Col. House as day from night. House al- ways was mysterfous and reticent. Stearns always Is palpable and com- municative. He Is not old enough to be the President’s father, but his manmer in and around the White House is far more parental than po- | litical. Undoubtedly he has a Cool- | idge misston fw Burope. It fw & mis- lsiom he has always had from his [ politteal protege—that of “stzing up” | mew and giving Calvin his inside, confidential opinion of tlem amd the work they're dofng. * x kX Nearly everybody in Coungress looks | solitude.” . TRACEWELL. would offer more rewards and satis- factions. Perhaps they might—and then, agaln, perhaps they might not. “A man is relleved and gay wh he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has sald or done otherwise shall give him no peace.” Every one knows the truth of that, even the rawest recruit to the office boy force. “Trust thyself—every heart vi- brates to that iron string. Accept the place the Divine Providence has found for you, the soclety of your cotemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done 80, and confided themselves childitke to the genfus of their age, betray- ing their perception that the =bso- lutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in ail their being. “And we are now men. and must in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids in a protected cornmer, not cowards fleeing before a revolu- tion, but guides, redeemers and bene- factors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and (the Dark. Brave words, those, of which every American today can be proud, as these United States go forward on the waves of prosperity, education, and, it is to be hoped, essential decency. EEE R Children, babes, and even brut Emerson says, show us how to go. Every parent kndws the full truth of the following: “Infancy conforms to mobody; all conform to it, so that one babe com- monly makes four or five out of th'e adults who prattle and play to it” Emerson preaches non-conformity and non-consistence, but not in_an anzrchistic way. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind, he says. This, of course, it your mind has the integrity to make it sacred. The four-flusher, the pan- handler, canmot quote Emerson in thelir defense. “It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion: it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who, in the midst of the crowd, keeps with per- fect sweetness the Independence of have to go back to the better put You will Bible to find anything that. MR foolish consistency is the hob- goblin of little minds,” is another of the famous quotations from this es- say. Thousands have got solace out of the next purple sentence: “To be great is to be misuhderstood. Yet Emerson himself did not sanc- tion even quoting of himself, for he said: “Man is timid and apologetic: he is no longer upright: he dares not say ‘I think ‘I am,’ but quotes some suint or sage. “He is ashamed before the blade| of grass or the growing rose. “These roses under my Wwindow make no reference to former roses or to better ones: they are; they exist with God today. “There is no time for them. “There is simply the rose; it perfect in every moment of its ex-| letence. SRR “Before a leaf-bu wh:le life mcts; in the full-blown flower there is no more: in the leaf- less root there ix no less. “Jts nature is satisfied, and it satis- fles nature, in all moments alike. “But man postpones Or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eve laments the past. or heedless of the riches that sur- round him, stands on tiptoe to for- future “E}{Teunno: be happy and strong until he, too, vilse with nature in the ove time.” ‘"G?:"'s‘n.',fim not be afraid of our Emerson, who expressed the genius not only of his own age, but of our age, and of all ages. has burst, its WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Pennsylvania now and then hears |that he closely resembles England's celebrated tragedian, the late Sir Henry Irving. Kelly has a claim to fame that outvanks even that dis- tinguished compliment. He's a dry who represents an overwhelmingly wet district, the great indusfrial re- glon of Braddock, outside of Pitts- burgh. Braddock's been returning Kelly to Congress regularly for 10 years. He is a Dnewspaper publisher by occupation. One of Mr. Kelly's constituents is a:.. ol lady with an inexplieable fondness for public docu- ments. She is on the Congressman’ mailng list fer everything he can frank her. The other day she re- ceived a piece de resistance. It wa the bound volume of eulogies deliv: ered In recent mowths on the occa- sion of deaths of i1uembers of the House. “Dear Mr. Kelly,” she wrote the Braddock Representative. “T thank you for that lovely book of speeches. T like books about dead Congressmen the best of all." * K k% Representative Charles A. Mooney of Ohlo has introduced a bill in the House to erect In Viashington a $50,000 monument to the memory of Haym Solomon. Solomon was the Jewish patriot and banker who loaned and centributed to the Rev- olutionary Army and the Comtinnen- tal Governmient more than $700,000. Not ong dollar of principal or intere: the Moomey Bl recites, was ever re- pald. Mooney favors & suitable mon- ument in Solomon’s honor as “the very best way of instilling patriotism into American youth, By emphasizing the respect and affection that this Government holds for .citizens who have made great sacrifices” EEE One. of Washingfon's interesting official visitors, at home from abroad, is Fredertck Achenbach, who repre. sents the United States Tarift Com- mission in Central Europe, with headquarters at Berlin. Mr. Achen- bach, who has been in the same service for 18 years, has as impor- tant.& mission as sny ome of Uncle Sam’'s faithful and underyald serv- ants anywhere on earth. His job is to keep in touch with costs of pro- duction in foreign nianufactories in order that the Unmited States Treas- ury may have sccurate data for cus- |toms tariff purposes. The Fordney- McCumber law requires foreigners who send manufactared goods to the United States to expose the facts on demand of American official agents. The information 18 kept strictly confldemtial. It never leaks to competitors in this country. The law is rigidly enforced. Exporters to this country, who refuse to comply with”it, find our markets barred to them. Every once ia a while the bars Rave to be put up. Canada imposes the same rules against United States mmnufacturérs. 3 * K ok * ‘Washington's latest schoolboy quib: Yosngstar. Ne.. k—Why d¥dn't the world conte 10 an end the other day? Youngster Ne. 2-<Because Coolidge vetoed it. I - (Caprright, 39T5.) Europe Some Teacher. | From the Birmingham Age-Herald. Eusope has -at least taught tRis like somebody more or less famous.|country to leAd no more money am Bepresentative M. Clyde Kelly of l falth, they are for what| BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. Out of the West comes a call to the Democratic party to forget its local issues; to become a united, cohesive, national party. Gavin McNab, Demo- cratic boss of San Francisco, a dominat- ing figure in the parey and at the New York comvention a McAdoo supporter, has written a letter to Franklin D. Rooseveit of New York, Al Smith leader in the same convention, giving his views of the causes of the misfortunes of the party, and recommending several steps that might be taken to heip rehabilitate it. His letter 8 in reply to a request from Mr. Reosevelt for interchange of views by Democratic leaders on what should be done. Mr. McNab doesn’t mince words. He sags “AS now comstituted, the Democratic party is merely an aggregation of local interests. Some of these are out of sym- pathy with one another, some actualy antagonistic. It resembies in this re- epect the old Austrian empire. “The Demoeratic party is not, and under these cireumstances cannot be, affirmative. Nor ean it be truly na- tional.” * ok K x The opinlon of Mr. McNab, coming trom a sectlon of the country which did not cast a singte electoral vote for the national ticket in the last election, and where the popular-—heaven save the mark—vote was o small as to put the Democratie party in third place in many of these States, is of pecultar interest, if the party is to rise again to national vietory. After the fallure of the Democratic national convention to Rominate Mr. McAdoo, considered by the West the only progressive among the candidates for the nomination, the Democratic party in the Goldem West Suffered an eclipse which threatened to be both total and permanent. But, ac- cording to Mr. McNab, there io lifs in the oid party yet, if the party leader- ship takes the right steps. Mr. McNab charges that the Demo- cratic party has never had the.courage' to take an inventory of its affairs. “The first duty of the party leader- ship.” he says, "is to take the long- delayed inventory, that it may be deter- mined whether it is possible to bring a united, cohesive, national party, actuated By lofty principies and inspired with enthusiasm, to the service of the peo- ple. If fthis cannot be done,” he asks, “then why the existenes of the Demo- eratic party > * * x % x The Democratic party’s local issues are found in New York, in Chicago, in the South, Mr. McNaB says, They have fnterests which conflict and which seemingly have littie in cam- mon with the interests of the pro- 8ressive people of the West. In New York is the money interest. Thix ie true of Chicago. In the South the greatest local Issue of them all ex- ists—the negro. Mr. McNab speaks tolerantly of these local interests and issues, but he speaks with some bitter- ness of the failure of the Democratic leadership to recognize the democracy of the West, which put Woodrow Wil- #on into the White House and kept him there. Western Democrats, he sald, protested In 1918, while the war Wwa$ on, against the plan to have President Wilson write a partisan letter, urging the election of a Demo- cratic Congress. But the letter was written despite this protest, with disastrous results to the parfs in the congressional election. - * o x X The California leader also advances A suggestion to prevent the dead- locking of Demoeratié¢ natiomal con- ventions. while at the same titie re- taining the two-thirds rule, by which a candidate must reecive twosthirds of those voting in order to be nom- inated. “Turning to the least important, but most disagreeable, matter—the lat, convention—in which you and I acte as pallbearers for the party,” says Mr. MeNab, “and where the crepe wast { BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN k Q. Was the Hast Potomac golf course concession awarded as the re- sult of open competitive bids?— G. P C A. The office of public buildings and grounds says that the East Po- tomac Park golf course wazs awarded as the result of a selective eom- petition. A certain number of re- sponsible people who would be fitted for this particular type of work were selected and the concession was given to the one whom they felt was Dest equipped and most capable to carry on the work. On July 20, 1921, a eontract was let which was to last for the period ending December 31, 1926, and the compamy was to pay 3350 each March annually for the life of the contract, which included also the operation of the course, the main- tenance, help, etc. It was a nine-hole course and known as East Potomae Park. There was a mecond contract made on April 18, 1923, which modi- fled the origiwal contract. In this contract the company took over nine more holes which were being added to the course and were to complete the second growp of holes at its own cost, making an 18-hole course In June, 1924, a third contract was made in which it 5 to eon- sider nine more holes north of this course which would cost from $18,000 to $20,000 and the contract was ex- tended until Decernber, 1929, and the $856 payment was eliminated. This yearly payment has not been paid wince March, 1924, In addition it operates West Potomac Park courses consisting of nine holes for practice only, for ~white people, which is southeast of the l.ncoln Memorial, and nine holes northwest of the Lin- coln Memorial, which is for the ex- clusive use of colored people. Caninty. &.-om Baltimore Ealtimore from St. Louis was separated County in 1852. Q. Please give ar¢ €asy way to clean bass drum heacls —F. L. A. Art gum is a :tnple and fective agent for cleai0g the skin on a bass drum. Q. What language is Wspoken h.y the Dutch in South Afrtq1?—R. N A. There are many dif'arent dia- lects spoken by the Dutch izdiabitants of South Africa, the most .common being Plat Deutseh or Low: Dutch, similar to Low German. Q. How large would bell be that weighs 500 B. McS. A. A bell of this weight mea:wres 29 inches across the mouth, and the frame in which it rests and swings would measure 4 feet by 2 feet 10 inches, with a height sncluding the bell wheel of about 4 feet 9 inches. a @hurch poumls>— Q. What hours compose the quief period on the radio?—K. M. H A. Accgrding to a new regulation, amateurs operating on wave length from 150 to 200 meters must not broadcast between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. daily and on Sundays during church service hours. Q. How much faster is airp service than dog team?—P. T. In_ experimental service tween Fairbanks and McGrath un airplane covered a distance in 6 hours that a dog team had traveled in 35 days under great difficuities « Q. Can an absolute produced’—J. R. K A. The Department of Natural and Experimental Philosophy says that be- vaenum be Q. Which is the leading division of the Boy Scouts in the District? —R. B: A. The Boy Scouts of America say that there is no ranking troop in the ‘Bistrict of Columbia. Q. In a game of 500, A bids seven no-trumps. He has t@ken six tricks, and leads the ace of diamonds. B bhas the joker, king, queen and 10 of diamonds. Can B, with the other diamends in his hand, play the joker on the ace?—(G. B. A. The holder of the’joker at no- trump, no¢ having the lead is not al- lowed to trump with the joker as long as he can follow, suit. Q. I am the beneflgiary of an only son, and applied last August for the soldier's bonus. If my claim has been disappreved will I be notified? —L. E. F. A. You will be notified by letter of any action. Certilicates have been issued only since the first of the year, so it may be some time before you are notified Q L. R. A. Unsuccessful attempts have been made to prove zhe existence of a real Robin. His career as de veloped in modern literature has many authentic detwils, but these have been transferred from the lives of real people to the imaginary character of Robin Hood — = Q. Are rainbows moon?—M. N A The moon does cause rainbows. but they generally show little or ne color, on account of the faintnes of the moon's light Occasionally however, bright lumar rainbows are | quite distinetly colored. Is “Robin Hood™ baséd on fact? made the Q. When wiJl the next fair be held in Leipzig, Germany?—M. N. W. A. The next will te fthe Laster fair, which is a book fair. There are three held each <year in New Year day, at. Baster, at Michaelmas, Sefptember and aguin 29 hung on the doer before the electian instead of after the election, as is the custom. T shall 1fmit my observations t6 & matter of mere mechanics. “There should be a rule that, after ped until only two remain. This would get rid of the political dwarfs, who. through personal vanity or ani- mosity toward some other candidate, deadlock the convention enforced, it would, perhaps, be u sary to abrogate the two-thirds All of which does not, on the sur- face, seem to indicate that Mr. Mec- Nab has entirely forgotten the cut- throat warfare which was carried on In Madison Square Garden- last Sum- mer. Mr. McNab also recommends that a rule be adopted that where the people of a State have, by direct primary. elected delegates instructed for a candidate, the people’s will cannot be disregarded unless a majority of the delegation from that State so determines. His quarrel is that at the last convenition it was ruled that a State convention might instruct its delogates for a candi@ate and apply the unit rule and that these jastruc- tions would Be enforced, but that where the people of a State so in- structed, the delegates were free. It s contrary to the principles a State convention is stronger than the whole people of a State,” he says. * * ok Already the Democrats are begin- ning to cast about seriously for party iasues In the next campaign. The tariff, in the opinion of Senator Pat Harrison of Mississippi and some of the other Democratic leaders In.Con- gress, promises to loom up again as a real issue. Still others are hoping that the Democrats will turn their faces again in the difection of States” rights, which seemingly have been lost sight of by afl parties In the scramble for so-called progressive legislation. The pre-ent deéfeat of the child 1abor améndment to thé Fed- eral Constitution je giving the States rights cause a whiff of oxygen. Those Democrats who fre looking to the tariff as & tnain issue, point out that the President’s agricultural conference and its report are tak- ing & leading part In opeming up the tariff agaln, The conference has recommended that a tartff wall be erected to help the farmer and to put his dollar on a parity with that of the manufacturer; that the American farmer confine his planting so as to meet the needs of the American con sumer, according to the Democratic interpretation. Now the Democrats propose the equalisation shall come from a reductfon of the tariff wall on manufactured products. Sueh a course, they insist, will ald the con- sumer as well as the farmer. They hope to pin the “special interests” label on, the Republicans in this strugsle. £k k¥ While the Democrats are seeking light in the wilderness, the Repub- lican leadership fs showing up in no Mmean manner. Durfng the last seés- sion of Congress, which ended in June, the leadeérship of President Coolldge was eonstantly challenged. Although nominally the control of Congress was Republican, the Con gress shook its fist in the face the President wheénéver it got ready. It declined to pmss administration measures, and put through the sol- diérs’ bonus bill over the President's veto. Now we have a vastly different pic- ture—although the same Congress is on the job. The President has had his way in regard to the postal pay bill. Legtslation has been and Is be- fng turmed 6wt in the present short session In greatet A&bundance than €ver before it #0 short & petlod. The President has submitted his agricul- tural program—tramed by the con- ference he called to aid him. If the ‘Congress falls to pass it, or any part of it, them ®he. President probably With this | of progressive democracy to hold llu|¥ Q. Was St. Louis made an ind | pendent city before Baltimore was? —T. M. D. A. St Louis was made a distinct and separate polRical subdivision of a predetermined number of ballots{vhe State of Missouri in 1876 by act the lowest candidate should be drop- | «f the Legislature which divorced it | As in the case of Charles R. Forb edftors af the country are very nearly unanimous in the belief that the con- vietion of Gaston B. Means, agrent of ‘the Department of Justice, of .conspiracy to defrand the Gov- erncient amd his sentence to two year tmprisonment and the payment of ai $10,000 fine, will have a salutary fhe law in " says the Sawta was securetl ini spite of the fact that powerful influence: and my:n once associated with him in his oflicial capacity did everyvthing possibk~ to save n from prison. £pite of this pressure justice has breen -vindicayetl. cunnot | turn the scales of justice, and the biz crook must sometimes, at least, sy ffer for /his offenses.” . The Louisville Times thinks of Meat's “will not swing public the vervice of Mr. Daugherty .and the Tenien oy of President Harding in appoinsing his political pal Attorney Géneral. .The outcome of the Means and Felder cases will not have any other effgct than to confirm a long standing Ja lief of the onlooking public.” N The view'n ' the Dubugue Times- Journal is that the conviction Means “streag hens public couviction that Congress, ,in the interest of jus- tice and natiaial awelfare, should cease to don theJutlivial robes” The Times-Journal coa'tinues: “Means has servad as a ‘horrkhle example’ of the fncompetancy of € ongress as a jury. Let the future wighg-doer in public office suffar the sarA= ardeal and en- joy the same justiq: ‘that are the fot of the ordinary | lawbreakers in the criminal courts”® And in the opinion of the Fargo yTribune: “Of course, 1t is strange 3 hat such a one should have ever becovne an agent of the Depastment of Justice, but 1t is even more strange that Senators thought that his testimamy in the investigations last Wintex and -the testimony of a Roxle Stinspn would be given any credence by the.Amer- ican people.” * Xk X ¥ \ “This man,” says the Renot Ga- zette, ‘“whose festimony befores the Senate committes inquiring into yhe will say to the country, “Congress had the chance to help the farmers and didn’t take it.” Congress became about as popular as a red-headed step-child a few months ago because it did not support the President and failed to put through legislation. * % k% Out in Ohio already there is gos- sip about the next senatorial cam- paign, when Senator Willls, Repub- lican, must rum-again. Democrats of the Buckeye State aré talking of sev- eral possible scahdidates. Gov. A. V. Donahey, who brought _the ' bacon home, notwithstanding the huge Re- publican majority rolled up for the national ticket, is perhaps more prominently in_the limelight for, the nomination than> others. are those who look to former Gov. Cox ms the candidate to run against Mr. Willis. Former Senator Pome- rene and Claude -Meeker are other Démocrats- tioned. Leipzig— | s, | Attorney former | guilty In| It has been-shown once | wmore that -even pewarful. influences conviction’ opinion {oward a favorable view of | of But there | modern sclentific methods are cap- able of producing an absolute vacuum. With a temperature of 106 degrees below zero, the space ahove the mereury in a barometer contains no moisture nor gas and is called an absolute vacuum. It is true that n pump can be devised to abstract Scientists have {matter from a space. begun to experiment with tempera- |tures near the absolute zero mark, |¢—272 degrees C.), and there ar« several methods now whereby all | gas can be remoyed from a space | @ Who was the Japanese states- | man who was killed in 19097—N. R A. The Jupancse statesman who {was assassinated in 1909 was Prince |1te, murdered at Harbin. October 286, {at the rallway etation where he had |gone to confer with the Russian | Finance Commission on the Far East | question. Prince Ito was killed by |a Korean student Q. What is the 1Bunday on record’—W. W. | _A. The earliest date upon }Easter falls is March 21 Q. How long will the natural re- ources of the world, such as miz rals and oll, la c A. Authorities on the conservation of natural resodrces have estimated the length of time that it will take to exhaust the neral and metal resources of the United States and other parts of the world. It is stated that high grade iron ores wil {last beyond the middle of the pres century if consumption tinues increase at the present The supply of the precious metals copper, Ylead, zinc. silver, etc., be estimated closely, but it exhaustible within, one to t | turies unless unexpected de found. The known petroleum suppl is 15.000.000,000 barries. The suppl nnot be expected to last bevon years earliest Easter - | |8 |# | | canno is clea cen be (Take vdvantage of the free informa- tion burcau which this newspaper maan- tains. If there is a question you want nnswered-dow't hesitate to use this serr icc. Al replies are sent direct to the in quirer. Address The Star Informatéon Burcau, Frederic J. Haskin. Director Twenty-first and C streets northwest Inclose 2 cents in mps for retwn postage.) Victory for Justice Is Seen By Press in Means’ Conviction General's conduct was re- ived with approval and avidity by ator Burton K. Wheeler, is found of obtaining money by pre- |tending that members of Presider | Harding’s cabinet were grafte | that he was their agent in sol |bribes.” The Cincinnati Times-Star adds “Of course, ton B. Means |'had, in former vears, been tried for murder and different *forms of graft But that wes .known when Senator |"Wheeler made Means his associat and therefore should not be forming an estimate of Mean: acter. Means now goes, the v persccution. to join the 17 casket- makers whom he duped.’ “The trial judge.” observes the S Paul Dispatch, “declined to Mr. Daugherty on the 'sity | Washington, and that closed his con- nection with the « The Dis- pateh continues: 1t did not | close his connection with Means. One of the interesting points developed |during the investigation of the De | partment of Justice last year was the high standing in the department during Mr. Daugherty’'s administra- tion, of ‘this man who boasts that he had been under indictment every offense from murder down and who is now under conviction on tv {crimes. Probably the most tamagin ]temm\on,v brought out during the l-vestigation was that Means. was damaging not b use of the cock-and-bull stories he -told the committee, -which . Senator Wheelcr took so grevely, but -simply because it revealed so -effectively the kind of shady men who enjoved the con fidence of the Pepartment of Justive under Mr. Paugherty.” ““There has always been. mystery about Means,” says ‘the Phiiadeiphia Public Ledger, “but the greatest mys- tery of all has mever been explained How could 4t thappen ‘that such a man as Means might éver become a Govern {ment employe and an agent of the De partment of Justice™ “Somehow Means enjoved a intmunity.” thinks the Steux -City Jour- nal, “though he frequently referred to his prosecutions as persecutions. Means will ‘be almoset dlone in ‘feeling vegretful over this conviction.” While :the Pit burgh Gazette-Times reflects: “His sistence in crime can be accounted f onlv on the ground. that his repeated suceass in beating the taw’ confirmed an opinion formed -eatiy~in lit that he was fmmune-to legal processes. If Means were to attemnt t6 Uraw.a moral from is final fallyre in comflict with.the law it would probabiy be ‘play a tone hand.’ His undoing eame when he taok oth | '4into his eonfidence to carry on:the more 1\ditious of his operations. But for ©0.rs the obvious moral ‘be sure your e11nes will find you out.” \ +-*1 he man-may not be the most colos- sal wiar in the world,” declares the Roa: < “Times, “but certainly he has never 3 llowed ihis ‘regard for the truth to hamd eap him in any particular e tent in W e battle of life. Two years in prison isA not a ‘very iong Rime, assum- | ing that } e serves it. and Gaston B Means wiify be ireard drom again. If this { Drophecy gow SAWTY, £0 much thehetter.” —e———. Out o'f the Game. From the Cinctam ' ‘Enquirer. President Coolh ‘ige prides himsulf on being & man of, 12w worts. 'But ‘thut puts him out of}td © cross-word puasle igame. 1t e