Evening Star Newspaper, February 14, 1925, Page 6

—-entire 110,000,000 pennles, represent- THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY...February 14, 1925 THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor “The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th 8t. and Penncylvania Ave: N 110 Fast 42nd 8t. European Office : 16 Regent Kt., London. The Evening Star, with the Suuday morning #ition, ix deliverd by carriers within the city at 60 aatly only, 45 cants per manth; Suuday 20 cents per month, Orders may be sent by mail ot te phone Main 5000. Collection s miade by car- Fiers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable In Advance, Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday. .1 yr., $8.4 Daily only. ..1yr, $6. Sunday only.......1yr, $2.40; mo., 70¢ mo., 50c mo., 20¢ All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.0 Daily only.......1yr, $7.0 Sunday only Ayr, $3.0 mo., 85¢ 1 mo., 80c mo., 25¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exciusively entitled to the ‘use for repuhlication of ail news dis. Patches credited to 1+ or not otherwise credited in this paper and alse the local news pub. Jished herein. All rights of publfeation of epectal dispatches herein are also reserved. Increase Lump-Sum Payment. If the Senate, either as an alterna- tive of the 60-40 plan or as a com-: promise in conference, assents under compulsion to the temporary appli- cation of the lump-sum-payment plan for 1926, the basic lump-sum payment of $9,000,000 ought in equity and in accordance with law to be increased by the Senate in a definite amount. The annual appropriations of more than a million dollars a year, author- ized as supplemental and extraordi- nary expenditures by the new District of Columbia Park Commission law, are directed by the law itself to be paid “from the revenues of the Dis- trict of Columbia and the general funds of the Treasury in the same proportion as other expenses of the District of Columbla.” The current ratio is 60-40, fixed in the substantive law by the new or- #anic act of 1922, and still unrepealed. The wholesale exceptions to the 60-40 ratio involved in the temporary lump- payment plan of 1925 merely suspend the substantive law of 1922 for the vear during which the exceptions apply and do not repeal or perma- nently amend the substantive law. The Park Commission law clearly contemplates - (and provides) that the authorized annual appropriation of a million dollars shall be made, $600,- 000 from District revenue and $400,- 000 from the National Treasury. If the District appropriations for 1926 were made at the 60-40 ratio in ac- cordance with existing substantive law, this apportionment of the parks expenditure would result automati- cally. 1f tentatively and for only the vear, a lump-sum payment is to be substituted for the national 40 per cént contribution, the Nation’s con- tribution of $400,000, or thereabouts, ought lawfully and equitably to be added specifically to the nine millions of basic lump-sum payment. The Park Commission appropriation i8 made unmistakably as a supple- ment to the current maintenance and development appropriation, With its nine millions of lump-sum payment in accordance with last year's tenta- tive precedent. If the 6040 ratio is not applied to the whole appropriation, and if the lump-sum payment is not increased as suggested, it is gen- efally recognized that every cent of the Park Commission's miliion dol- lars per year will come from the Dis- trict taxpayers. Of course, the Sendte will either by adhering to the 60-40 plan or by adding approximately $400,000 to the Jump-sum payment prevent this ob- viously unjust shifting of a national burden to the shoulders of the taxpay- ing Capital community. Since the House bill appropriates for the Park Commission $600,000 under circum- stances which, ds everybody fecog- niges, cause evety cent of this amount to be paid from the local taxes, the Senate will exactly meet the demands of this particular equity if in ac- cordance with the 60-40 ratio it adds $400,000 to the Nation's $9,000,000 lumpsum payment and the same amount to the Park Commission ap- propriation. Congress will not permit any tenta- tive juggling with the ratio of national and local community contribution to- ward Capital development to throw the whole burden of Park Commission expenditure upon the local taxpayers. 1. The law specifically forbids this procedure by directing a_divjsion of the cost. 2. The project is broadly national. “The terms of the law suggest the pa- triotic interest in it to the extent of a cent a year contribution of every man, woman and child in the Republic. Con- gress will detect the gross perversion of law and equity which results in a denial to 109,500,000 Americans of all participation in the patriotic privilege of parks contribution and exacts the ing the whole Nation, from the half- -million Americans (at more than §2 annually per head) of the District of Columbia. 8. The title to all the land pur- chased by the Park Commission is s vested in the United States. The Park Commission can purchase land in ad- Jjacent Maryland and Virginia as well as in the District. If the whole cost _falls upon local taxpayers their tax _:<money will buy for Uncle Sam exclu- sive title to land outside of the Dis. triet in Maryland and Virginia, The natural, easy way to avold this " inequity and perversion of the law is for Congress, after its temporary tentative experiment with the lump- -payment plan, to adhere now without exception to the definite proportion plan of contribution directed by exist- “ing substantive law. If, however, there is to be, even temporarily, a lump-sum payment contribution for 1926 approxi- < mately $400,000 should clearly be add- ‘ed by the Senate to the nine million iumpsum payment proposed by the House and firmly adhered to in con- ference. If the lump-suni payment is thus in- creased $400,000 by the Senate the Park Commission appropriatiori will ppropriately be raised from $600,000 to $1,000,000. 3¢ the Park Commission appropriation is left at $600,000, as provided in the House bill, the lump- sum payment will equitably be in- creased by $240,000, or 40 per cent of the total Park Commission appropri- tlon. Or if the existing 6040 ratio of the substantive law is applied to the whole appropriation the requirements of equity and of the Park Commission law concerning division of the cost will be met automatically, whatever the amount of the Park Commission appropriation. ————— All Cry and No Wool. The Senate last night devoted a spe- cial gession of two hours and a quar- ter to the exclusive consideration of District business, according to an agreement previously had, with a def- inite schedule of bills. The net result of the session is the addition of 12 pages to the Congressional Record. One of the seven measures, the first scheduled in order for consideration, was promptly laid before the Benate and was debated—if the discussion that ensued can be so styled—for the full term of two hours and a quarter. It was the Dbill for the regulation of motor traffic in the District, the prod- uct of a long series of conferefices be- tween the District committees of both houses. The mere reading of the bill, which was insisted upon, took up a large part of the time. At no stage in the proceedings was a serious disposi- tion evinced to secure enactment. Ob- Jections were raised to various pro- visions, some ‘of which seemed well founded, but not one amendment crystallizing an objection was présent- ed and voted upon. A reading of the Congressional Rec- ord.giving an account of these futile proceedings leaves the impression that the Senate met last evening hot in a mood of accomplishment, to discharge taithfully its dutles as a branch of the District’s Legislature, but for the pur- pose of preventing action. The chair- man of the Distriet committee was denied consideration of the bill para- graph by paragraph in order that it might be amended, and he was also not permitted to withdraw the bill, when it became evident that it could not be passed, in order to proceed to the next itém oh the program, the bill providing for a series of school con- structions. The preserit session of Congress will close at noon on the 4th of March. After today there are 16 legisiative days remaining. The calendars of both houses are congested. In the dis- cussion of general business a digposi- tion prevalls to expedite matters to avold needless debate and to get down to business. Last night's exhibition In fhe Henate has been a marked con- trast. The District committees of the House and Benate have labored faith. tully and diligently on all the matters that were scheduled for consideration at that session. In other cases the judgment of committees s relied upon in the main. In this instance the Judg- ment of the District committees, work- ing for the first time in the history of District legislation jointly for the pur- pose of effecting results, was disre- garded. This is discouraging. The more so as the waste of time without results occurred i the Senate, where the Dis- trict has usually been given the most constructively helpful consideration. But the hope remaihs that in sheer Shame for this demonstration of in- effectiveness the Senate may now pro- ceed seriously to the consideration of District business in the discharge of its constitutional duty and clear the calendar - of - those measures upon which the two committees have agreed. Amend and adopt or reject, but do not admit impotency to act at all. ————— Restoration of his estates enables ex-Kalser Wilhelm to econgratulate himself on the fact that, despite mili- tary viciesitudes, he has been able to pay off the mortgage on the dear old home. ———— If Uncle 8am were by nature a land srabber, his present position in inter- national finance would enable him to bold mortgages on a large percentage of the world's real estate. ————————— King Tut was entombed in magnifi- cence. The lapse of time has made him appear only the central figure in & collection of curios. The Pullman Burcharge. By an overwhelming vote the Sen- ate has adopted a rider to one of the appropriation bills declaring unlawful surcharges on railroad fares accom- panying Pullman reservations. The other day the Interstate Commerce Commission, by a divided vote, ruled in favor of continuing these sur- charges. which net the railroad com- panies of the country, it is estimated. & revenue of about $87,000,000 a year. If this amendment is accepted by the House it will bécome law, and will overrule the decision of the commis- sion. The basis of the commission’s de- cision, s already stated, was that the surchatge revenues are needed by the railroads, ahd that if they are out off passenger rates must be increased generally. By maihtaining the sur- charge, the commission held, those passengers who cannot afford the more luxurious form of travel are given the benefit of & comparatively low basic fare. Maintenance of the surcharge, therefore, in effect, estab- lishes two classes of passenger rates in this country. The Senate’s vote to newative the decision of the commission is, of course, within the power of Congrens. That body, creating the Interstate Commerce Commission, relegated the general question of railroad fares and rates to it. But such a relegation of power does not deprive the Congtess of authority. It may at any time impose conditions and prescribe specific rates if 1t desirés to take over the business of schedule makihg. Should the House now agree to the. surcharge amend- ment it will, in effect, if the commis- sion’s computation -of the rallroads’ needs is sound, virtually authorige, perhaps compel, a revision of the pas- senger fare schedule. In any event, the case will be remanded to the commis- sion. Abolition of the surcharge will, of course, be welcomed by all travelers i1 who use Pullman accommodations. This excess fare was adopted ay a war- time expedient for incfeasing thé reve-. nues of the rallroads at a time when they, under the operation of the Gov- ernment, needed the money. It has been contlnued, although gonditions have greatly changed and railroad finances have decidedly {mproved. It wag acceded to by the public at the time of its imposition as were other exactions and cost additions as a means of helping to “win the war.” The war has been over for more than six years, and this surcharge is now viewed by rallroad users as an anduly protracted “‘hang.over.” The Henate votes to end it. ———t Flood West of Washington. There i$ flood in several parts of the Shenandoah Valley, and reports have been sent that the valley turnpike is submerged at & number of places, that many creek fords are impassable and that a new bridge in place of one car- ried off by the flood last Bpring s un- der water. Thia is proof of the great helght to which water has risen in that section. All the water which pourd into the Nofth and South forks of the Shenandoah and into the Shen- andoah north of the confluence of the forks enters the Potomac at Harpers Ferry. Flood conditions are also re- ported at many places In the upper Potom: ‘alley, and all this water is passing of must pass Washington. High water is looked for in the river below Great Falls and along the Georgetown front, and with an unfor- tunate combination of wind and tide property loss may oceur on the flood plain. Buch precautions as can be are being taken. Rain would aggraVate the situation, but the Weather Bureau does not predict rain in the Washing- ton reglon. The forecast is of fair weather with rising temperature to- day and cloudy atmosphere with mod- erate winds tomorrow. Indications are that the river will be spectacular at ‘Washingtori, and that thousands of people will watch the rushing water at Great and Little Falls, but that the mighty flood from the mountains and valleys west of Washington will pass the falls, roll int6 the wide river at Washington and pass to the lower Potomac and the bay without causing extensive property loss. — e Every effort is being made to sup- press vice in the U. 8. A. No reliable method has been discovered for pre- venting the Améfican citizen from going to those parts of Burope where all kinds of temptation flourish as usual. ———— e Romance has departed from the career of Gaston Means. No true de- tective permita himselt to go to prison instead of sending other people there. R A Political experts assert that there is not room for three parties. The No- vember election fendered it doubtful whether there is room for more than one party. ——————— A little more inclemerit weather may be desirable for purposes of street- cleaning rehearsal prior to the 4th of March. ————————— e When Lenin departed this life, Trotsky, whose name Was 80 conspie- yously linked with his, immediately began to look like “etc.” ————— Educational institutions are unan. imous in repudiating raw alcohol as something too rough even for hazing purposes. e —tt— Explanations of an advance in the price of gasoline may not be logically convincing, but théy are commer- clally eonclusive. ot o Germany is not sufficiently depleted in money to be unable to afford a se- ries of financial scandals. —— e e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDRR JOHNBON. Instinct. A mocking bird who lingers so serene Where all is bleak amid the Winter scene, No 8dng attempts; he bravely waits to greet The sunshine and the blossom smiling sweet. He has no fears like those we mortals face As changeful seasons g0 thelr ’‘cus. tomed pace. And while we halt and reason and sup- pose, He bides his time to sing; because He Knows. : Enforced Veracity. “George Washington couldn't tell a falsehood.” “Neither can 1,” answered Senator Sorghum. “People have become so wise that my constituents would catch me at it in a minute.” Pleas. Offenders offer in defense Some pleas that baffle common sense. A litile nonsense fiow ahd then 1s relished by the worst of men. Jud Tunkins says & note in bank is always a note to be sung in a4 sad minor key. On Second Thought. “Since you are disconténted, why don’t you sell your farm and move to the city?" ] “I've heard about them prices for flats,” answered Farmer Corntossel. 'd rather go on bein’ discontented than take a chance on bein’ plain des- perate. Literary Eficiency. ‘The man of wondrous intellect Indites his thought #o clear, And we with reverent respect Redd on and persevers. But he wha wrote the volumes rare— 1 say it with regret— Unto the agent can't compare ‘Who sold to me the set! “De man dat's afrald_he wan’t be noticed,” said Uncle Eben, “mos’ gen- erally realizes Gat ne-doesn' aeserve to be noticed.” ‘THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. po.Nelther a borrower nor a lender e Those time-worn words of old Po- lonius rifig yet with true wisdom, re- plete with something precious that appeals t6 the divine common sense in men. Most of thd old maxims Have much truth in them; that is why they have lived an won the wpprobation .of generatlans, and still strike us worth tréasuring. , Not they need be wholly trae. Po- lonius' sAw about saving is a good instance In point. The old fellow, as depicted by Shakespeare, made his remark for a specific hearer, who needed just that advice. He did not mean that a man was never . to borrow 2 bits when he needed it, or should refuse to pur- chase a Bome until he had the entire purchase pricg saved up in cash. was no: sich-fool, old Polonius. He redognizeéd that hard and fast rules will never do. So he enunclat- ed & geheral principle, which each person mfust apply to fit his individ- ual case. Polonius did not try to fit it, of course, to modern business, to hank- ing_or corporations. The remark is for personal, indi- vidual application. To use the words of the immortal W. S. Gilbert, you have to make the punishment fit the crime, If one does not borrow money from others, it follows as the night the day that he should not lend it to others. And, if he does not lend, neither should he borrow, This is one case of going around in a circle that means something. iLend me 310, old man." some one ed. “I'll make it five,” the one hit sald. “Why. * % ¥ “You lose five and 1 lose five." There i8 perhaps no policy that the average man can adopt that will repay him better than that of the “no ‘lending, no borrowing” in his personal affairs * For a simon-pure method of crea ing 1l feeling and losing friends, borrowing and lending money Is one of the very best. It is & sort of vicious sword that cuts both ways. We will consider first the lending of money to others. There are two kinds of botrrowers liable to hit you for a loan. Firkt, there is the borrower of trifling sums. He usually wants “2 bits” or maybe 50 cerits, Why is it that most men say “2 bits” when they borrow 25 cents? 1 do not know, but they usually do. And the inconvenient thing about the proceeding Is that they cheerfully forget all about returning the money. A good specimen of this small hor- rower cah abstract a quartef here, a 50-cent plece here, maybe a whole dollar there, so. that in the end he will owe everybody in his office. Soon the gang Eets next to him, how- ever, and he finds ft difficult to pick up any more free money. Sometimes the office itself calls him to task. After all, this Apecimen of bor- rower is small game, for the sum total of his borrowinzs 18 limited, and is not missed very much, being spread thin over the list of his acquaint- ances. Ate the worst, he is just something of a nuisance. Not 80 the second type, he who borrows on a bigger scale. He never asks for anything less than 85, or $10, maybe $25 or more. He alwa; has plenty in the bank—so he says —but fof any one of a number of perfectly good reasons—to him—he is unable to connect with the precise amount he needs at this very time he wants it. So if you will just let him have it, old man, he will return it to you tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock, sharp, without - fail. Your money will be safer with him than in the bank. As a matter of fact, in his pocket it wiil be safer than in your own, for you will then be saved the temptation to spend it! The trouble—from your viewpoint He —is that he never means to pay it back at all, and you know that quite as well as he does. Yet, It you were to mnnounce that fact, he would be terribly indignant. This Is one time when the truth does more than hurt. Prabably 9 out. of 10 borrowers never have the slightest intention of returning your money it they ean get out of doing so. Bome men have the thing down almost to an art. Seeing you off gudrd, with the light of human kindness in your eyes, they. rush you for the sum they want, lit- erally surprising it out of you. Down in your heart you know you have no business letting the man have it—you have a wife and child at home—but the first thing you knoWw you are ex- tracting the bills, earned by you with much labor, and turning them over to this bird who has not earned them and certainly does not deserve them. The thing, that hurts about the pro- ceeding is that the borrower does not give you credit for a gift. It is al- ways a “loan” in his phraseology. yet in truth it is a gift. Yet instead of panhandling you, as the honest beggar does, this chap mouthes around to save his pride. ere, old man, take this $10, and Gofd bless you!” If you could say that, you would not mind go much to part with the ifon men. Theén you could have some satistaction in doing a good deed, But the borrower deprives you of the right to feel good, then goes away—and avolds you. Usually he adopts one of two courses—sneaks out of yout path, apologizes every time he sees you, until both of you are acutely uncomfortable, or else he boldly ignores you. He may be right in the same office with you, but he conveniently looks the othet way. He saw you easily enough but a short time before! *xox % It was not for nothing that money was called the root of all evil. From the standpoint of lending to others, money is an evil—when you lend it— because it tends to create a feeling of restraint between two persons. This does not apply, of course, be- tween two good friends of moquaint- ances, both of whom have the high- ect conception of borrowing and lending. It is & genuine pleasure to loan money, up to the limit of your ability, to the friend whom you know will absolutely pay the money back at the time he says he will. To loan money to others, however, merely depletes your own pocketbook and introduces a feeling of distr against the man to whom you have given the money. 5 Even happy-go-lucky fellows, I have noticed, are quite put out when some one to whom they have loancd money does not return it. There & a lot of “bunk” upon this subject— many men would not agree to what 1 am saying here for fear of not be- ing considered “good sports.” But down in every man's heart there is a recognition of the evils of borrowing and lending. Every man knows that if you want to re- tain the ftiendship of a friend, do not lend him money. The psychology of the thing ig that any decent man abhors being under obligation to another. My friend does me the favor of loaning me money; immediately, from & plane of equals, I am lowefed to the plane of one upon whom a favor is conferred. Say not that this does not apply! Human nature is human nature. There are thousands of men and women who have sworn they could not be entangled in a quarrel over & will, only to become hotly involved later on. The safest policy, It one can ad- here to it, Is never to borrow and never to lend. A man who never bor- rows from others—except his very closest friends-—will be respected by the chronic borfowers, even when they find out he will not lend. And if you borrow—even from a close friend—jot the sum and name down, and go without food first until you have paid it back. That way wisdom lies. Editors Score Bryan’s Plan To “Trade” Debts for Peace Willlam Jennings Bryan's plea to exchange “worthless debts for price- less peace” Is regarded by some edi- tors as a plece of altrulsm not to be considered seriously. Others deplore its moral effect upon the nations in- volved and express doubt that they would disarm should their debts be canceled. “In chasing the shadows of phrase- making Mr. Bryan forsakes the sub- stance of fundamental moral prin- ciples,” says the Los Angeles Times. “He is permitting his altrulsm to carry him so far he will have to walk back. He should read the admonition of Herbert Spencer, ‘Pure aitruism leads to Inevitable suicide.’ Or, hs a constant reader of the Bible, he might turn to Matthew, xvii.26, and meditate on the words, ‘Lord, have patience with me and I will pay Thee all’ in relation to the act of France which calls for cancellation of United Btates debts and stands ready to collect from Germany to the last farthing at the point of the bayonet. : “Mr. Bryan' ter than his logic,” says the Coshoe- ton Tribune, which sees an incon- sisteney in.Mr. an's idea of set- ting disamament hs a price of debt cancellation and admitting at the same time that debtors have no in- tention- of paying anyway. The Tri- bune continues: “In othef wards, he would. have us Make & virtue of ne- cessity and surrender our plans to what. we can. never get, no matter how. our- claims afe pressed.” “It is ridiculous to say that the European debts will never be paid,” says the Dubuque Times-Journal. “Great Bri- tain is taking care of the debt. Po- land is ready .to make a million- dollar .payment t6 the United States. France is discuseing the debt.prob- lem and will probably soon comeé to some sort of a definite understanding about its debt with the United Stites Government, Were the debtor nations to settle their obligations to the United States -on the terms set down by Willlam Jennings Bryan they would be forever disgraced. The et~ tlement would-be a biot on thelr his- tories.” The Bellingham Herald adds: “It js time for the French politicians to tell their people what everybody else _knows—that only by honoring their.debté.can they maintain .a place in the good opinlon of .the world, and, what may be equally important to them, preserve their credit.abroad.” LR I 0O lnl. Mr. Bryan's assumption that forc?lx::' will Brand the United and oause: her to lose the Salt Lake City Deseret News say: “The United States hag.no intention of being ‘a harsh creditor. ‘The debt ques- tion will finally have to be settied in the broadest spirit’ of compromise and ges erosity. -Jt must not be permitted to be- come-a political-and eccnomic danger, for it is not now and never haa been a purely finanoial-issue. It is -safe to say that the United States will never-gend & battleship to Furope or brand her ebtor as a bankrupt in an effort to col- ect these -debts.” ~The Detroit Free Prees holds, ““As far-as his theory that by knuckling under to debt repudiators this country would gain f{riends is con- Mr.. Bryan by ‘mfl“lnfl it m wflm nfi)e'"flm he never learned to co-ordinate his knowl- edge, gained by practical experience, and his theofies.” ““While the problem of war debts is as serious as Mr. Bryan depicts it, he is very far from having found the solu- tion,” observes the Springfield Republi- can. “If the world could be induced to disarm it would gain finandlally far more than $11,000,000,000, but the diffi- culty in taking initial steps lies not in the financlal, but in the Political plane. TNe United States would sacrifice $11.- 000,000,000 worth of bad debts, and in return the nations of the world would scrap their naviee, disband their armies and live happlly forever after. This is putting a high valuation on the debts which he calls worthless, and debtor na- tions which denythe moral validity of the claims of the United States would not be likely to pay eo stiff a price for their cancellation,” Eleven billions, thinks the Santa Barbara Press-Demo- crat, “would be very little to pay for permanént peace even If we were sure of being able to odiléct that amount from our forelgn debtors, which wé afe not.’ IR R “The moat objectionable feature of Mr. Bryan's plan, says the 8ioux City Jour- nal, “in the suggestion that this sum of $11,000,000,000 be written oft the books in exchange for world disarmament. He has not said what guarantee he has that the world would agree to disarm. Buro- pean countries heavily in debt todag-are spending far more on armaments than the creditor nation, the United Btate: Mr. Bryan's euggestion that the United States purchase u priceless peace by canceling the worthless debta is en- couragement to buy & PIg {n a peke. B 20t SRR O R Rt Last week an estimable 1ady of this eity went on a search for a doil with a rag body. She had a doll like that When she Was 1 child, and she wanted Ser grandchild to have one, tou. Strange to say-=or, pnrnnr:, not a0 stronge—she was unable find a cag-bodied doll in Washington. The world of dolls moves, t0o, rag bodles have given way to bisque and the unbreakable materials. At last the Iidy nrrived In a small notion stors uptown, where she had traded for many years. She asked the proprietress:for a doll, and was shown the entire stock. Nothing suited her, However, until she spled & box on a shelf. ) ;onmnn dolis,"read a sign on one and. 3 “What on earth are orphan dolls?"* she askéd. -“I thought all dolly were érphans until adopted.” Then the shop Keeper explatned that in that box she placed odds and ends of dolls, to bs “fixed up" this Fall and sent at Christmas time to the little children in the various orphaas ages of Washington. P e It is easy to pick out the foreign born. They cuss capital instead of. Congress.—Nashville Tennesseean. - Inured - as:- we have become to almost any shoek, we shudder at the thought that we may be nearing the soason when flesh-colored bathing sufts will be the vogue.~~Dallds Jour. nal, ” A Brookfyn pastor says & man must be a_hero to his wife. But what is. he to do about it if shée réfuses to] give up the idea that he is & mi ticket?—Boston Transcript. -~ ARY 14, 1995. WASHINGTON, D. C.. SATURDAY, FEBR THE LIBRARY TABLE BY THE BOOKLOVER It is perhaps true that the average humanity loves a sinner better than a saint. Some evidence on this point is supplied by the applauxe of many critics and reviewers which h $reéted the new blography of Robert Louis Stevenson by John A. Steuart. That Stevenson had in his early days been as much of a Don Juan as Burns had been carefully Ooncealed by his couain, Graham Balfour, Sir Sidney Colvin and other blographers. Mr. Steuart explains, under the heading “A New Stevenson,” In the chapter A Melodramatic Revolt,” that much material concerning the life .and character of Stevenson was kept se- cret for over 20 years after his death through the decislon of Mrs. Steven- #on. Mfs. Stevenson knew, he says, the uRsavory detafls of her husband's past, but had perhaps a double motive for comcealing them; first, possible Jealousy of those early loves, and, second, a fear that knowledge of cer- tain facts might outrage the taste «f the public and injure the sales of his works. At Mrs. Stevenson's death the Stevenson material paksed to her daughter, Mrs. Isobel Strong, later Mrs. Salisbury Field, and from her same to a New York salesroom, where it was purchased and by degrees was given to the public. Mr. Steuart's work, “Robert Louls Stevenson: A Critical Blography,” is based largely on thig recent material and on per- soral Investigations in Stevenson's native city of Edinburgh. * ok o % Mr. Steuart expresses the belief that the public is entitled to the Whole truth about its great men and pfofesses that only devotion to this truth has prompted him in his in- vestigations, but there is throughout the blography a auspicion of - the fconoclast who énjoys smashing the idel. At times he mives utterance to a plous regret that Stevenson's morals were far from creditable, but for the miost part his attitude seams one of satigfaction that Stevanson was not a “seraph in chocolate” He explains Stevenson's frequenting of the low haunts about Calton Hill in Edinburgh, where he consorted with “seamen, chimney sweeps, thieves and their kind and gentle womenfolk,” as a revolt against the “Victorlan re- liglosity” of the home of his father, Thomas Stevenson. It was in the Calton Hil quarter that he met “Claire,” a Highland girl named Kate Drummond, who had drifted far trom the pure air of her native hills. He wished t6 marry her but, as usual, had no money except that furnished by his father, and “Claire” would not have been an acceptable daughter-in- law at Number 17 Herlot Row. Even after he had become devoted to Mrs. Osbourne, while he was walting -for her to secure her divorce so that she could marry him, Stevenson “had at least two other affairs in his native town ® ¢ * The two (women) knew each other, Or at any rate, mét One meeting took place near Swans ton Cottage, while Stevenson was there with his parents; and there was, 1 am Informed, a scene of fury resulting in physical violence.” * ok x % Mr. Steuart condemfis the crisy of Stevenson's essay, Aspects of Robert Burhs,” in which Stevenson, In a “spasm of morality” in jucgment on Burns for his matory irregularities” at the very! time when Btevenson himself was gullty of the same sins. The biog- rapher imagines Burns as laughing at Stevenson and saying: “You among the Pharisees? ¢ * Don Juan, libertine, indeed. Fine names from your lips. 1f I dearly 1o'ed the lasses (as I did to my cost), are you shy of them? Robin, we're birds of a feather there, 0ld hawks, both of us. Why, then, slash my back at such a plitech?” S ® ®ox % Mr. Steuart does an Act of justice toward Stevenson's long-suffering fa- ther, and exomerates him from- the charges of cruelty towafd his son so often made aAgainst him. Thomas Stev- enson was a dour Scot, & strict Cove- nanter, who wished his son to be a re- spectable citizen and hated the very ought af his dabbling in literature. Between hitn and Robert Louis there were such high barriers of temperament that the two could never understand each other. Btevenson's successive abandonment of the careers of engin- eering and the law, both proposed by his father, his ‘“melodramatic revolt against all his father held dear in faith and morals” and his wild life in the disreputable quarters of Edinburgh were all “stabs in the heart” of Thomas Stevensdn. Yet in spite of continual offense to all his feelings and bellefs, the stern father forgave agajn and again and supported his son until within a few years of the latter's death, when a late success made Stevenson inde- pendent. Thomas Stevenson abherred divorce, but after his son's marriage to Mrs. Osbourne he was won over by her tact and Increased his aliowance for thelr expenses. The only time when he appeared to fail his son was during the months Stevenson spent in San Fran. cisco just preceding his marriage, when, desperately Il and almost penniless, he reached the lowest ebb in a life that had few flood tides. But Thomas Stev- enson did not know of his son's plight. When he finally received the news through friends, he at once sent a re- mittance, followed by the message, “Count on £280 annually.” Stevenson remarked: “I always light on my feet, and the best part of my legs is my father." * k% % Some years ago Bamuel Butier shocked the orthodox by his thinly velled autbbiographical novel, “The Way of All Flesh." :He pictured the narrow, convention-ridden life of the English country rectory where he sed his childhood, in such a way to make the reader agree with him that he @id well to escape as soon. a8 possible. “The Way of All Flesh” has usually -been considered &n:indlctment of unsympathetic, un- comprehending parenthood. Another autoblographical novel, similar in type, which ‘was writtén about a decade ago, was little notiesd at the time, but has since grown steadily inthe esteem of readérs, is W. Somer- set Ma ghatke #Of Human Bondage. As in “The Way of All Flesh," the chief eharacter passes his early child- hood in a rectory. Philip Carey, a delicate child with a deformed foot, is left an orphan when he 1s very young and is taken by his unocle, Rev. Willlam Carey, with whom he re- mains until he is about 13. From this time “his career follows some- what * closely that of Somerset Maugham, himself. He goes to King's, School at Tercanbury (Canterbury), then to the University of Heldel He tries accountancy in Lon- don and art in Paris and finally goes thPough & long struggle to graduae tion as a physician from’ St. Luke Hospital, London. Maugham's ow! radustion was from Bt. Thomas' ospital, London. . . LR In his latest book, “Thé Actor's Heritage,” Walter Pritchard Eaton takes Heywood Broun to task for complaining about the bad manners of modern theater audiences. In the &90d old days, a hundrsd years ago, the galleries' would assall the boxes and the pit with a continual rain of apple cores, nut shells and the dregs of thelr brandy flasks. An indignant correspondent of the pariod once ‘wrote to the Mail Bag of his favorite paper, us follows: ‘The players voi0es were ten or a doden times in- terrupted so that they could not be heard, "aAd two Br three fellows in the gallery were particularly scan- dalous, Above all-the rest there was SRR T st ou direct- ing it to the ladies in the boxes." ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J]. HASKIN Q. In the past 40 years has New York or Washington registered the lower temperature?—F. R. A. The Weather Bureau says that the lowest temperature registered in New York City for 1884-1924 inclusive was 13 degrees below on December 30, 1917. In Washington, D. C., a tem- perature of 15 degrees below was registered February 11, 1899. Q. How slowly can an aeroplane fy7—P. 8. M. A. Capt. Leprier, a French naval officer, established a new record by driving a specially buflt plane at the low speed of 313% miles an hour. Q. How many are there In Montreal?—V. K. A. The municipality maintains 10 open ice-skating rinks and there are 94 rinks of the same kind in Montreal. -skating rinks Q. How much gra on a lawn 100 feet W. B A A. About 10 pounds will be right 4w one pound is adequate for about 400 square feet. seed i8 needed by 40 feet?— Q. What will white that G. W. F. A. It 1 essential that white wine vinegar be used. Cider vinegar darkens horse radish. keep horse radish is sealed in bottles?— Q. T6 whom should a new com- poser send his songs for publication? —O0. N. A. The Music Industries Chamber of Commerce says that any legitimate publisher, who has recognized songs on eale in established music stores, will give some consideration to songs of the type with which he has been most successful, but publishers are not looking for the work of ama- teurs. or for song poems without muki¢ or for songs for which the music has been ground out to order by song sharks. Q. How fast can bricks M. E. B A. It is reported that a brickl Shefeld, England, established a record by laying 808 bricks in an hour or more than 13 a minute, be laid?— Q. In Buddhism on the decline Japan?—C. N. A. On the contrary, it has taken on a new stimulus within the past six or elght years. Hundreds of Buddhist Sunday schools, organized on the lines 6f Christian Sunday schools, are being established in Japan. Young Buddhist priests are addressing meetings in the parks and along the highways. An in- teresting fact to noté is the adoption of Christian hymns. The name “Jesus" i changed to " Returning travelers tell of hearing little Japanese children singing “Buddha loves me, this now." in Q. What good does nitrate of soda do plants’—W. B. < A. Nitrate of soda is good for plants and flowers if used In moderation. It increases the vegetable growth, stim- ulating the foliage rather than the flowers. Too much will prove injurious. Q. When will the next total eclipse of the sun occur?—M. J. M. A. The next total eclipse of the sun will occur January 14, 1926. The region of its general visibility is Sumatra and Borneo and its approximate duration is 1 minutes. Q. How old is China?—J. C. A. Although the Chinese had vari- of their country, standard chronology ;{ ghln.. begins with the year 2852 Q. Where s the largest medical library in the world?—C. M. A. It {s sald that the United States Army Medical Librery in Washington, D. G, s the largest Q. How d1a4 Botticelll nickname?—H. . B. A. The family name of the Floren- tine painter is Filipepl. A brother who first won the nickname “Botti- celli” was given it by sportive friends “Botticelll” (little barrel) clung to the tamily. Q. How is the new law working?—A. C. J A. Immigration officials are quoted as saying that six months of the new law bave convinced them that it is & declded improvement over the Dillingham act. Instead of 700,000, slightly over 300,000 will have been admitted by June, 1925, according to present indications. Maj. Henry H Curran, commissioner of immigration at Ellls Island, where 90 per cent of the Buropean immigrants iand, is particularly pleased. “We are get- ting half as many as we did under the old law, and that is a g0od thing for all concerned,” he sald. “It is good for the country, because we can as- similate them better. Therefore, it is &00d for the immigrant. He receives more attention than he could other- wise got at the stations, and because i1s one of a lesser number his are correspondingly win _this immigration Q. How much corn can be husked in one day by one man?—C. A. A. A £00d husker can make as high as 100 bushels, but the average under average conditions is from 50 to bushels in the corn belt. Q. What fe the toughest wood used for furniture?®—A. H A. Hickory 1s first, followed by cork, elm. yellow and sweet birch, oak and ‘black walnut. Q. Who was the first European to reproduce porcelains exactly in the manner of the Chinese?—J. F. B. A. Johann Frederich Bottger (1682- 1719) is so credited. Q. What was the ter?"—V. A. Q. A. The explosion and conflagration at Hallfax, Nova $cotia, December 6, 1917, was caused by the collision of two ships, one carrying a cargo of war munitions. The total destruction covered 21; square miles. This ca- tastrophe was followed by a blizzard, greatly hampering the work of res- cue. One thousand one hundred ffty- eizht dead bodies were recovered. 4,000 were seriously injured, 20,000 rendered homeless, and the prop- erty loss was estimated at $50,000,000, ‘The French steamship Mt. Blanc, car- rying munitions, collided with the Belgian relief ehip Imo. The French captain Capt. Lemodic, the Bel- glan captain W. J. Harrison. The French steamer was accused of not having used proper signals. “Halifax disas- (Have you asked Haskin? Heo does not know all the things that people sk Rim, but he knows people who do know. Try hém. State your question briefly. write piainly and fnclose 2 cents in atamps for retwm postage. Address Frederis J. Haakin, Director, The Star ous legends concerning the antiquity Information Bureau, Twenty-first and C streets northwest.) BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. Washington, the Capital of the Na- tion, is the only large city in the country which has no provision for aiding poor mothers in the Bupport of their young children without sep- arating the family tles Our laws permit the Board of Chil- dren's Guardians to pay for the sup- port of half-orphans—children whose fathers are dead or incapacitated— provided the pay does not go to the children’s natural guardians, the mothers, whose only fault may be that in the struggle of life they are having difficulty in earning enough to be independent of help. -For many years there have been efforts to in- duce Congress to provide that the aid as now given by the Board of Chil- dren's Guardlans, to board the de- pendent children among strangers, might be given directly to the moth- ers that they might keep maternal hold upon their children. Scarcely a voice has ever been raised, either in Congress or out of it, in opposition to that proposal, yet session after session adjourns ~ without action Minor detalls of the proposed plans have been the only points of differ- ence between supporters of the de- sired reform. * k% x Two forms of legislation are now pending, both supported by practi- cally all organisations interested in the need of adjusting the work and consolidating the agencies of relief. One {8 a mothers’ pension bill, which has been under consideration of the Bureau of the Budget for several weeks. The other, which aims only to abolish the need of separating mother and child, consists of an amendment to the bill es- tablishing a board of general wel- fare which will take over the func- tions of thé several boards hitherto controlling different charities and oenal institutions. This amendment, nudbmitted by Representatives Blan- ton and Moore, provides: “Where a child would otherwise be taken from the custody of its parent or parents because they were finanelally unable to care for the child, the mother shall be paid the same compensation for it care as would be paid an outsider under the practice heretofore pre- vailing.” The bill, as amended, has already passed -the House, and, at present writing, is expeoted to pass the Sen- ate without opposition. ® % % % But, while that amendment elimi- nates what is held by many to be the inhumanity of the fofmer situation requiring the separation of children | from their mothers without the moth- ers. cénsent (éven when they have made no_ application for financial help), it does not add one dollar to the funds for the relief of poor moth- rs and the support of their children. present funds of the various ‘hords amount to a total of $160,000 & yéar, THe néw law, establishing the {goArd of public welfare, would not afféct that sum, but it s esti- mated that ‘a sultable mothers’ pen- #lon law, such as exists in 42 States, would- requite about $100,000 a year addit{onal. Both the Blanton amendment to the general _welfare bill and the mothers’ pension bill are indorsed by all the o0ld boards, which would be cbnsolidated and sueceeded by the new -welfare board; also approved by the Board ot District Commissioners. }, v o x - We mothdts’ pension bill provides that! wheneves a parent of a éhild ‘under 16 years of age is unable to provide for thé proper care of ‘such 4 chlid in hi8 home, the mother may, make Applieation to the board of public weifare, provided she has been a resident of ‘the District: for one year and |s a citizen of the United Btates, ,, > The board then -is.to ascertain whether the mother is'a suitable pér- son, morally, to have the care of a child, and whether there 18-z father or other relative, or any {ristitution under legal obligations to care for the child. and shall decide what re- lief is needed. Thereafter inspection shall be maintained to see that the child is properly cared for and schooled, under the rules of the board. It Is estimated that thera are approximately 1,000 widows in the District with from one to four chil- dren who need such help. * % % The idea of a social obligation of the public cate of widows and or- phans 1s already recognized in the laws of many States, but it has never crystallized in the District of Colum- bia, which is wholly governed by Congressmen from the States where such Nelp has been given for years It was here in the Natlonal Capital that the {dea was first discussed and approved, in the time of President Roosevelt—1809—at & White House conference called by Mr. Roosevelt The fundamental principle was adopt- ed that children should not be taken from their homes. Up to that time the public had not concelved such obligations as belonging to the state, and eo, after discussing the great need that it be given, the only praetical method indorsed was that the funds should come from private subscrip- tion and not from the public treasur: The principle that the public treas ury should support public schools as a means of developing good citigen- ship had long been recognized, but the same argument for public support of orphans seemed too radical. In the 1912 Bull Moose campaign Col. Roosevelt vigorously advocated pub- 1ie pensione for widowed mothers. Prior to that conferencé at the White House & very few sporadic in- stances of such public aid to orphans had been given. In 1908 the juvenile courts of some countles of California granted county aid to children in their own homes, and in 1911 the State re- imbursed the county treasuries such outlays. School ald was given in & few cases in Oklahoma, Michigan and Wisconsin, and in New Jersey charity from county funds was voted to ald orphans. The first legal provision of ald to mothers of dependent children was adopted by the Missouri Legisla- ture in 1011, but it applied only to Kansas City and St. Louis. The first State-wide ald to mothers was adopt- ed by Illinofs in that same year. In the last 12 vears the mothers’ pension plan has grown in favor rapidly, 5o that today it exists in 42 Btates an@ Alaska and Hawaif, but not_yet in the District of Columbia, Porto Rico, Kentucky, Alabama, Geor- ®ia, South Carolina, New Mexico or Mississippl. In some States, where the law has been on the statutes for several years, the appropriations have been Inade- quate and the application of the law has been incomplete, especially out- side of the large cities. There is no other oity of the class of the Na- tional Capital without such provision. * k% % An analysis of the causes of the needs of 9,194 cases in five States shows that in 75 per oent of the families the father was dead, in 13 per cent the father was physically or mentally incapacitated, in 10 per cent the father had deserted the family, in 1 per cent the parents were di- voroed and In 1 per cent the father was in prison. Between 1918 and 1920 the number of cases aided in. the United States increased 120 per cent, and the ex- penditures for thelr.ajd grew 255 per cent. The inadequacy of the home aid given, eyen where the law has been in existence several years, i indicated by the report thdt the amounts pald to boarding houses by private mgen- | dles for the care of children averaged $60 ‘a month, but the amount given for the ald of dependent children kept in their own homes avéraged in seven States only between §22 and §20;-in four States $30 to $39 and in fno State higher than $55, The amounts in each case are fixed by the authorities after thorough investiga- tion of actual conditions. (Copyright, 1925, by Paul V. Collins.)