Evening Star Newspaper, March 7, 1925, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINCTON, D. C. SATURDAY. ...March 7. 1925 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editof The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Ofice, 11th St. and Pe unia Ave New York Offce: 110 1St Chicdzo Office European Office ngland. nday morning o withiu the dany only, 45 cents’ per aif or” tole xde by ‘ar The Evening Star, with t edition, is delivered by ea ¢ity at 60 cents per month cents per month; Sunday onl month. Orders miay be sent phone Main 3000. Collection i riers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday. .1 yr., $8.40; 1 Daily only i $6.00° Sunday onl ¥ $2.40; All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00; Daily only Sunday only. Member of the Associated The Associated Press is exclusl #o the ‘use for republication of all news dis patches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news pub i rights of publication ef reserved. “A Strong Pull, All Together!” The war of retaliation, of reprisals | and threatened reprisals, between a percentage of Washington landlords and a percentage of Washington ten- ants has brought the Capital commu- nity to the very brink of disaster. Washington has narrowly escaped the injury and humiliation of a continu- ance permanently into peace time of a war-time rents-regulating law,” which was unsound and hurtful economical- lv, defeating its avowed purpose, and which debased the American status of | the Washingtonian by the slurring contention that in, the District of Co- lumbia alone of all American commu- nities the protection guaranteed by the bill of rights to life and property is denied; that here alone the obliga- tion of contracts may be impaired with impunity, and that here alone one may be deprived of his property with- out just compensation and without due process of law. This disaster-threatening war of re- taliation must in the community in- terest be effectively and permanently checked. Within three months war rentals-fixing law by its terms will “cease to function, and the courts have already paralyzed its activities. The whole of the Capital community must, and will, co-operate to the end that no landlord retaliation of today through excessive rentals increases when the restraint of the rentals law is removed shall drive Congress next | December in retaliation in the interest of tenants into vicious legislation, | hurtful to the whole community and | violating the letter or spirit of the Constitution. The whole community must not be permitted to suffer through continu- ance of this vicious circle of vindictive | retaliatory reprisals between members of two groups of Washingtonians, les- sors and lessees, landlords and tenants, property ownej and renters. _ An arm e to be arranged by “direct dealing between landlords and tenants preliminary to a treaty of peace without victory operative either immediately or at the latest after May . when the rent-regulation law for- mally ceases to exist. Everybody must do his public-spirit-| ed part in this movement for the gen- eral community welfare. It is evident that the realtors were n carnest when not long ago they pledged their hearty co-operation in the public interest in the absence of a | rentregulation law to keep rentals reasonable in Washington and to care for tenants whose landlords insisted upon rentals that were not reasonable. They indicate their intention of pro- | cecding systematically and through organized co-operation along the line of this public-spirited activity, and un- doubtedly the tenants as a rule will heartily respond. Nobody expects that in the readjust- ments that will follow the regaining by owners of control of their rental properties there will be no differences of opinion concerning what is reason- able rental and no incompatibilities be- tween certain landlords and certain tenants which will result in the shift- | ing of tenants from cne landlord to another. But with sincere co-operation | in the community interest between property owners and tenants vindi tive reprisals and grossly excessive rentals can surely be prevented. The permanent cure of the evil of inadequate housing facilities for families of small means is to build and put in competition, for rent or sale, a great multitude of cheap, sanitary dwellings. Washington has some consplcuously public-spirited realtors and builders of large resources who would probably, in response to an appeal to their public apirit as loyal, devoted Washingtonians, make pecuniary sacrifices to meet ade- quately the obvious community need of the wholesale building of cheap, sanitary homes. Of course, this help- ful co-operation can be rendered im- possible if these Washingtonians—in- deed, all Washingtonians, collectively —are undeservedly and persistently slurred, denounced and threatened as selfish, mercenary and heartless, inter- ested solely in protection of their own pocketbooks and without an atom of concern for the welfare of either Cap- ital or Nation. In this equitable readjustment Uncle Sam must himself co-operate as not only exclusive lawmaker for the Dis- trict but as Washington's greatest employer. He will recognize that he is himself in the latter capacity the main cause of the evil to be cured, and he will for this reason co-operate the more vigorously to effect this cure. It was the influx of more than 100,- 000 war workers into Washington, without governmental preparation for their reception, which upset the local housing market, caused extortion through excessive rentals and made inevitable the practical commandeer- ing of rental properties in Washing- ton as a war emergency. In this peacetime equitable read- justment Uncle Sam will not fairly | | 1 our gplu_\'er of the District, with over 60,- 1000 on his pay roll, can Uncle Sam | conscientiously say that he is doing {21l he should to enable his employes {to meet the increased cost of living? { Is he paying his lowest-paid employes. who suffer the most, an increase of | compensation even approximating the }invrp- in the cost of living or the {increase in compensation of employes paid by all other District employers? i Will not Uncle Sam take the same | pains to provide cheap, sanitary hous- |ing for his employes, in part at his | own expense, that many great private employers have taken? Where are his model villages after the Pullman fashion? Why should he not extend largely the principle and policy which |authorized and justified the building of Government hotels for employes in the war time? Many employers, including a num- ber in Washington, help their em- ployes as home owners or builders by financing them at low interest rates in the purchase or building of homes. Uncle Sam might, as the great, dom- inating example-setting employer of the District, guard his employes against the too short first trust and the too expensive second trust, with its high commission, by creating a large loaning fund at a low rate of interest for the benefit of. his em- ploves who may w to buy or build a home. The hope of Washington is that in the future peace era neither the ten- ant nor the landlord shall be at the mercy of the other, but that even- handed justice and fair dealing be- tween them shall be assured, restor- ing the condition of a past peace time, when men were expected neither to extort nor to break their word of con- tract once given Let us all, renouncing recrimina- tions and reprisals, and in the spirit of civie loyalty, work together to make ‘Washington the ideal city of homes, small as well as large, pushing still farther into the remote past the period in Washington's life when it was viewed as merely the temporary camp- ing place of unsympathetic or hostile transients. French scientists are at work on ex-| periments for breaking up the atom with a view of releasing enormous forces for industrial purposes. The project seems chimerical, but nobody laughs. People laughed at the tele- phone and the airplane and at a num- { ber of other enterprises now held in the greatest respect. e “The Liberty of the People.” The address of Senator Reed, de- livered at the farewell dinner to Sena- tor Walsh of Massachusetts at the| Mayflower Hotel on Thursday night, was distinguished by the usual elo- quence of that famous Missourian. Outside of certaln withering comments generally supposed, although he was unmentioned, to have been at the ex- | pense of the Vice President of the United States, the gist of his remarks were summed up in the more wuni- versally applicable assertion that “when you attack the Senate you at- tack the liberty of the American peo- ple.” _In all good humor some one, since the Vice President is precluded under senatorial rules from carrying forward the argument, should point out to Senator Reed the possibllity of certain fallacies in his viewpoint. ‘With the theory that any one who attacks the Senate as an institution, that is, in its fundamental relationskjip to the Constitution, attacks the public liberty, no thoughtful man will dis- agree. But if that theory is to be so distorted as to render any one who dares to protest or criticize or even, in the case of the most daring, to laugh at certain of the immaterial, super- ficial, self-imposed Impediments to sen- atorial efficlency—then there are those who cannot see the matter with the | eves of Senator Reed. With varying degrees of clarity the public memery retains the impression | that—uniless the Senate is to be lifted into & unique relationship to the Con- stitution—the Senate has itself on occa- sion “attacked” one or another of the co-ordinate elements of American con- stitutional liberty. Why a Senator should assume as a defender of pub- lic Liberty the responsibility of criticiz- ing the executive or judicial branches of our Government and hold that one particular, element of the legislative body should, upon penalty of the charge of treason being laid against its critics, be immune from any criti- cism, is not made entirely clear. In all seriousness and quite apart | from Senator Reed's remarks on the subject the Senate should, and no doubt many of that body do, appreciate the fact that the Vice President voiced the growing national insistence that | the upper branch of Congress shall speedily take up the matter of so re- vising its rules as to expedite the per- formance of those duties with which the Constitution charges it, and for the accomplishment of which its com- ponent members are sent to Washing- ton. The jealous adherence to certain rules, customs or privileges which are stumbling blocks in the smooth and orderly progress of senatorial business is of no moment outside the north wing of the Capitol. The Nation holds that its interests and liberties have somewhat wider boundaries than those of even its most illustrious public ser- vants, singly or en bl ———s. One of the earliest achievements of Vice President Dawes was that of pro- Jecting Senator Reed of Missouri into renewed prominence. ———————— Radio, jazz and bootleg liquor are mentioned as promoters of insanity. Why drag in the radio and the jazz? ——— et Handling the Insurgents. The Republican organization of the Senate is having its troubles ‘“shak- ing” the insurgents. However, the vote of Senators Ladd and Frazier of North Dakota and Senator Brookhart of Towa, three of the La Follette fol- lowers during the last campaign, for the Republican nominees for Senate office yesterday is entirely consistent with the attitude of these Senators shift the responsibility for the evil conditions to be cured upon others and ignore his own obvious obligations: _ As the great snd dominating em- [ since Congress opened last December. The three Senators have continued to insist that they were elected as Re- oublicans by the Republicans of thelr TH States. They have insisted that & group ‘. of Republican Senators could not prop- {erly deprive them of their pacty desig- ation. The rub will come when they are asked to vote on the asslgnments proposed ‘by the Republican confer- ence to standing committees of the Senate, In these assignments the con- | ference has removed the insurgents | trom thelr old conmittes rank and has provided for them as minority mem- bers of the Senate, in the same way the Farmer-Labor Senators have been handled. But one of the insurgent group, Senacor La Follette of Wisconsin, is definitely through with the Republican party. This ha€ been apparent since the recent cenvention of Progressives in Chicago, when it was defermined to form a new Iiberal party in accordance with recommendations of La Follette. Senator La Follette ls in Florida. i whither he went early In the Winter for his health. Had he been here yes- terday for the organization of the Sen- ate it is likely he would have voted for 2 candidate of his own for President pro tempore of the Senate. He has done 30 before. When he returns to Washington he may seek to organize a new political group in the Senate and House, with the blacklisted insur- gents as the nucleus, provided he can prevail upon them to join with him, as they did in the last campaign. Un- doubtedly La Follette and his follow- ers will seek to regain the balance of power which they held in the last Con- gress and lost in the recent election. The effort of the Republican organi- zation in the Senate and House to eliminate the insurgents from the party ranks is the first open attempt along that line. In the past the Re- publicans have sought to placate the so-called progressives, to herd them into line at the polls. But it has dawned on the Republican leadership that the rank and file of the so-called progressive movement was more nu- merous in the Democratic than in the Republican party. They discovered that a third-party movement was more detri- mental to the Democrats than to the Republicans. Why, they ask, should they frown upon a third-party move- ment which would be mere injurious to thelr traditional ‘enemy than to themselves? To split the opposition is good generalship. The Democrats were inclined to play the game with the progressive group in the last Congress and during the campaign. They have learned error of such tactics. At the Demo- cratic caucus of the Senate yesterday it was determined to aflow the Repub- licans to handle the progressives as they saw fit in the Senate organiza. tion. Henceforth the Democrats will act alone. It is no secret, however, that the Democratic party as consti- tuted today is more wilely split be- than is the Republican. Should the Democrats undertake to eliminate the doing, then, indeed, the prospects of a new liberal party might loom on the political horizon. . Although he left out that particular line, it did not take Senator Reed’s paraphrase of Fuzzy-Wuzzy to remind the country that the Vice President is “a first-class fightin’ man." ———— A sense of pain will be pardonable cn the part of Magnus Johnson as he observes the United States Senate con- cerned with many rules besides the Golden Rule. ———— The term of office for Gen. Mitchell will automatically expire on March 26. It is generally understood that nothing will be attempted to contradict the course of nature. s was quiet, but the United States Capi- tol was not. i ———. SHOOTING STARS, BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, Question. The fish will soon begin to bite— This fact becomes, we learn, A reason satisfying quite For motions to adjourn. A glint of sunghine on the wave; A silver sky serene— ‘Who cares how Nations misbehave ‘While tranquil is the scenel ‘We hail the coming hour of bliss With no contention fraught When the important question's this: “How many have you caught?” Reticence. “You have been rather reserved of late in your public expression.” “My constituents,” replied Senator Sorghum, “have done me the honor of assuming that I am a person of ex- traordinary. sagacity. Why risk dis- turbing the impression merely for the tun of making a speech?” Interference. Thought ranges now through space immense, But in a style erratic. We get with every speech of sense A lot of ragtime “static.” Jud Tunkins says profanity has be- come so common that you can get credit for an original style simply by not using it. For a Change, The world is welcoming anew A prophecy of cheer. The Ground Hog's influence is through. The early robin’s here. One Way Only, “The cost of gasoline continues to go up.” “Yes,” answered Mr. Chuggins. “It's the most reliable system of one-way traffic yet disclosed.” Annual Ordeal. My income tax I calculate, Determined to be fair, And set down items, small or great, ‘With conscientious care. I love my Country and her laws ‘With faith that cannot fail; ‘While wondering if she'll be the cause Of putting me in jail. “Economy,” said Uncle Eben, “is kind o' like sulphur and molasses. You's always-sure it 'ud be right good foh somebody else.” 3 the | tween progressives and conservatives | progressives, as the Republicans are | On Inauguration day the Avenue! Just as I was getting ready to write an article about Longfellow, along comes William Tipton Talbott with a lstter in which he ranks cm great bard side by side wita Tenay- son My, Tailolt says. ii 4 nots. that he is “pleased like otnurs that. in this day of vers libre, jazz, salactous bunk, Psyche Ann Alley Sis ind scared- moralists, you dare to be « Daniel and stand up in the lion's den to hold {o things of good repute in the mid- Victorian era.” Of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, whose poetry the bright boys hav been pleased to label “sugury™ of re- cent years, Mr. Talbott writes was much pleased hy your state. ment in The Star of Fehrury 27 that you are ‘not sure but that Longfellow should occupy the honcr position in the center' of your Literary Squure It would please me better If you were sure. | "I stand Longfellow beside Tenny- {son #s a poet and am not sure which is the greater. In clearness and force- fulness 1 think_he equals Tennyson, and In {enderness, as ‘the high priert of the temple of the soul,’ excels him, “But that {s not exactly what I rat down to write. In answer to the dic- tum that Longfellow is ‘sugary, 1 would edge In with a quotation irom ‘Paul Revere's Ride'—which is thc greatest song of a ride in the Englieh language “It is Kot because o the master- ful simplicity of its lines. “The Ride From Ghent to Aix,’ ‘Sheridan’s Ride,’ “Tam o' Snanter,’ ‘John Gilpin,' ‘Kit Carson's Ride do not by several lengths approach it, and, speaking of Kit Carson, why not include Joaquin Miller among the truly American poets in your Literary Bquare? At this point let me Interrupt the letter long enough to say that James Whitcomb Riley also ought o g0 Into Literary Square, and perhaps Eugene Fleld, tRe latter for “Little Boy Blus," if for nothing more. Mr. Talbott again: “Longfellow, T think, is so often referred to as lack- ing masculine quality because the public knows him chiefly through the ‘Psalm of Life’ and similar pieces. A fact which nobody seems to consider is that Longfellow was a versatile versifier. “There is a wide and varied range of style and theme in a group includ- |ing such pieces as ‘The Beleaguered City, ‘Excelsior, ‘The Children's Hour,' ‘The Skeleton in Armor,’ ‘The {Arsenal at Springfield,’ ‘Nuremberg,’ |"The Birds of Killingworth, ‘Evange- {line’ and ‘Miles Standish’ and ‘Hia- { watha.’ | “In fact, | may Longfellow's lyrical life the ‘Belfry of Bruges | “Tales of a Wayside Inn' period. ! "“In choosing & sample to illustrate | Longfellow's strength in simplieit: I hesitate between that cted the once hackneyed passage from “The Building of the Ship,’ commenc- ing, ‘Thou. too, sail on, oh, Ship of State. But as the consummate model of a tale in verse, ‘Paul Revere’s Ride’ is nothing else except, and here is it lofty finish: { And w0 through the night rode Paul Revere; Aud o through the oight went his cry of A ery of defiance and not of fear, A voice in the darkness, & knock st the door And & word that shall echo forevermore, For, borne on the uightwind of the | Through all our history. t» the last, In_the hour of peril and darkness a need, | ~"The people will waken and Isten to hear | The burrying hoof-beats of that ateed, And the midnight message of Faul Revere. “Let me add that the claim that Longfellow s ‘sugary’ itself sounds sanded-sugary in the rexding of lines like these, and in passing let me likewise remark that the lterary puzzle of my- young life—my second childhood, that is to say—Is to un- derstand how it s that American critics let their English brethren, un- answered, damn American poetry Almost the last act of Becretary of State Hughes before his retiremvent { from the cabinet was the completion {of two matters of boundary arbitra- tions affecting South American con- troversies which had menaced that continent for many decades. The Tacna-Arica dispute between Chile {and Peru, which in 1922 was referrad to the President of the United Suites for arbitration, was decided last week and will be officially announced to- day, in a decision of 21,00 words- rather lengthy decision for a Presi- dent who is traditionally distinguish- od for reticence. The other arbitrat- ed boundary is that between Brazil. Colombia and Peru. £k x % No inkling of the nature of Presi- dent Coolidge’s decision in the Tucna- Arica dispute has been permitted to leak out of the State Department. The Important_ fact is that it sewtl:s a question which has been menacing a South American war for the last 32 years. | The original cause of the dispute between Chile and her neighbors on the north was the valuable guan ex- isting in the Desert of Atacama. Un- til 1842 there had never been a ques- tion as to the location of the northern boundary of Chile, as won in her war for independence from Spain. ‘The carliest constitutions of Chile de- fined her limits as “from the Desart of Atacama to Cape Horn, and from the Cordilleras of the And:s to the Pacific Ocean.” Such a boundary did not include the Desert of Atacama, which desert was unquestionably within the juris- diction of Bolivia, giving that country a coast line. 'The Desert >f Atacemna extends from 27 to 23 degrees south. In 1842 President Montt of Chile informed the Chilean Congress that he had sent a commission to search for guano, and that the commisaion had found it in the region between 29 and 23 degrees longitude, in the Desert of Atacama, and that “all the guano deposits that existed in the province of Coquimbo, in the littoral of Atacama and in the adjacent is- lands, are hereby declared national property. { & .ok oR Bolivia protested in vain that all of Atacama Desert belonged to her. Chile proposed to compromise by dividing the desert, and after pro- longed negotlations was forced to yield the region between 27 and 24 Qegrees: Chile still claimed territory up to 23 degrees. Another compro- mise resulted in an agreement to hold that region between 23 and 25, in partnership, each country to receive half of the guano and minerals ex- ported. Further encroachments by Chile led to disquiet not only in Bolivia, - but also In Peruy; toward which the Chilean advance was trend- ing. In 1873 a treaty was made be- tween Peru and Bolivia, described as a “defensive alliance against all for- eign aggression,” binding the parties to mutual protection against en- croachments or attempted protector- ates. The pact was kept seoret. Chile based a claim to the disputed territory upon the ground that sh had made of it “conquest for civiliza- tion, thanks to the enterprise, capital and labor of Chilean nationals." The legality of such grounds for taking and claiming territory is disputed by international lawyers, though, since the days of Queen Elizabeth of. En; land, it has been recognized that mere discovery without possession and development did not make & per- fegt title to new territory. . Jis ‘The dispute continued to grow in be divided into three periods— | the commonplace the early ‘Voices of the Night' period, | is the only American who has suc- period and the | E EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, MARCH 7, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. with praise of Whitman, whose stuff, although properly labeleq -polite lit- erature, perhaps, is only raw ma- terlal so far as poetry technically is concerned."” * ok ok ; Ralph Waldo Emerson partially lost his memory in the last years of his life, and at the funeral of Long- fellow looked on the face of the desd poet, and said: “That gentleman a sweet, b"““mlm.o‘::l'-mn 1 have entirely forgotten his This Incident, one of the most pa- thetle in American literary history, 1s valuable because of its characteriza- tion of Henry Wadsworth Longtellow. He was, Indeed, & sweet, beautiful soul. One has but to look at his pho- tograph to know that. Emerson, who had khown him all his life, but who could not recall his name at his bler, knew that. Those of today, Who are tempera- mentally offended by the sweet and the beautiful, having somehow got the idea that sweetness Is entirely feminine, and beuuty likewise w sole prerogative of women, have attracted attentlon by branding Longfellow's verse as effeminate. But 1 feel they have missed the mark. They have been ashamed to read his work in public, when all the time they ought to have read him at home. Our American disposition is such that we are ashamed of the good, the clean, the beautiful in pub- lie. At home, all decent men realize the necessity for the good, the clean, the Leautiful, the truly sweet. I have a triend who prides himself on being rough. Yet he guye himself auway one day when he told me the story of the goidfish, his child’s pets, and the warm water which his wife put in the bowl. He found the fish panting. Pouring cold water in, he revived the goldfish. “And If the kid had woke up and found those fish dead—well!” You see, he not as rough as he painted himself. None of us are. That {s where Longfellow reaches the heart, in the home, concerning which he wrote his best poems. Prot. Curtis Hidden Puge says “Longfellow's life was that of & simple, faithful, true man and gentle- man, kindly and home-loving. And that is what he has put into his verse. He has been well calied ‘the laureate of the common human heart.’ He is first and most of all the poet of the home.” There is not an aspect of home life, Prof. Page says, that Longfellow has not touched and beautified. 'If much of his poetry is mere commonplace it is always the making beautiful of * * Longfellow cessfully written poems of any co siderable length. It is Longfellow's distinctive glory that he had the pa- tience and the sustained artistic power-to win success in this difficult form—a kind of success which is al- most the rarest fn literature.” American literature—English liter- ature—is the richer for Longfellow. One has but to read him with sym- pathy in the home, where he belongs, to know that the world would be the orer without his poems. They have woven themselves so into the warp and woof of our American lives that often we are inclined to laugh at them, as we are at all guod and sacred things—in public. But the man who has a little girl who would ery if the goldfish dled, or the man who has no child, but who understands, will continue to read in private the lines: O little feet! that such long y .Ilnll wander on lhlvll‘l: hopes and fears, and bieed beneath your load; e warside inn, Am weary, thinking of you 0 little b that, weak or strong, Have still to serve or rule sa lon, Have still so dong to give or ask: 1. Who so much With book aud pea Have tolled among my fellow men, Am veary, thir BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. intensity as Chilean gus poured Into the desert, and in 1879 open hostilities begun. Peru, acting in accord with her secret treaty of alliance and defense with Bolivia, sought to mediate for peace between Bolivia and Chile, but the discovery of the secret treaty precipitated war with Peru and Bolivia against Chile. The latter country was at the same time on the verge of hostilities with Argentina, her nelghbor on the east, concerning a boundary dispute. Chile was Invariably victorious against Bolivia, and finally defeated the combined armies of Peru and Bo- livia, in a battle of Tacna, in 1880. The settlement of the hostilities as agreed to in conference aboard a United States naval vessel, resulted in her ceding to Chile all of the Peruvian province of Tarapaca to Chile in.perpetuity, and the Bolivian provinces of Tacna and Arica to be held by Chile for 10 years, at the end of which time a plebiscite of the inhabitants was to declde to which country they should belong—to Chile or to Peru. Bollvia was conciliated for the loss of her corridor to the sea, when Chile built for her a rallroad from Arica to La Paz, with a free port at Arica * ok ok ¥ When the 10 years expired in 1894, it was found that the treaty had failed to specify how the plebiscite would be taken, and Peru refused to agree that, Chile alone should con- duct it and should vote all Chlleans who had colonized the disputed terri- tory. So no plebiscite was taken. It is said that since the war of 1879-83 many Peruvian familles have con- tinued to live in Tacna or Arica sole- ly from motives of patriotism, await- ing the plebiscite that they might vote for their fatherland. It is argued that since the plebis- cite which was stipulated in the treaty was not held, the treaty was violated and ceased to be valld in its provisions. Bollvia-attempted to re- claim her former rights, but both 0 seekers -Chile and Peru have refused to recog- nize her interest in the present dis- pute. * ok ok ‘When it appeared that hostilities were sgain on the verge of being renewed between Peru and Chile, on January 18, 1922, Secretary of State Hughes tele- graphed to both countries inviting them to send representatives to Washington for direct conference. This was done In May, 1922. Bolivia again sought to become a party to the negotiations but was refused. The United States took no part in the conference. Out of three months’ pourpariers resulted a protocol, referring the whole controversy to the President of the United States for tlement. That settiement Is now ready for today’s announcement, and it fs final. ERE In the settlement of the other bound- ary dispute—between Brazil, Colombia and Peru, as announced on the last day of Secretary Hughes’ s ce, the claims of the respective countries were based upon & treay between Spain and Portu- gal made in 1777. An amicable arrange. ment was brought about in a conference held in Secretary Hughes' office in the State Department.. The special signifi- cance in both of these cases is mot in the territory involved, so much as it is in the recognition by South American nations of the fairness and disinter- estedness of the powerful father of the Monroe Doctrine, Uncle Sam, in seek- | tent indexes that greatly enhance the 1925. THE LIBRARY TABLE BY THE BOOKLOVER. The recurring miracle of Spring is almost upon us. Some trees, shrubs and bulbs in parks, gardens, door- yards and along roadsides wl be in full blooms. The woods also will beckon us to leave automobile roads and paths and will invite us 'to search for the blossoms that are thrusting themselves up between the tallen leaves of last Winter. The comparatively few people whose legs have not become atrophied from dis- use, with the universality of the au- tomobile, and who still take pleasure in walking will find delight in hunt- Ing out the wild blossoms that the changing seasons bring. As a vade mecum for Iidentification and inter- pretation In flower-hunting rambles nothing better could be found than “The Book of Wild Flowers,” recently published by the National Geographic Soclety. This handsome und usetul book Is further described as “an in- troduction to the ways of plant life, together with biographies of 250 rep- resentative species.” Edited and in large part written by Dr. William J. Showalter, assistant editor of the National Geographlc Magazine, the book consists of chapters on “Explor- ing the Mysteries of Plant Life,” by the editor; “Our State Fiowers.” by Dr. Gilbert Grosvenor, president of the National Geographic Society: miliar Grasses and Their Flowe, J. Geske and Dr. Showalte lant Biographies,” alzo by Showalter. Dr. Showalter’s chapter on “Ex- ploring the Mysteries of Plant Life Is a graphic and revealing exposition of the energy silently put forth and the miethods of work by which plants transform sunshine, dir, water and minerals Into materials for the food, olothing, heating, cooking, housing, furniture and books required by man- kind. He tells how plants reproduce and wage their battles for existence. The most valuable part of the book for use in identifying wild flowers is its largest section, made up of terse descriptions of plants, or plant blog- raphies—a sort of “who's who among wild flowe Not the least Interest- ing and valuable part of this section consists of 120 pages of flower paint- ings by Miss Mary E. Eaton. These and eight paintings of the flowers of familiar grasses as the microscope reveals them, by E. J. Geske, ase all beautifully reproduced in colors. Text snd illysizatione are ali marked with both common and botanical names, and the book is supplied with compe- serviceabllity of the book as a practi- cal manual T fictional account the clalm made by its publisher; Bernhard Kellermann's novel, Sth of November.” The author pic- tures Berlin as degenerating rapidly under war pressure into a misery, filth and destruction. His de- scriptions of the almost daily in- creasing squalor are those of a man who has secn. “Berlin was like a dirty sponge that some oOne was squeezing. Streams of dirt poured trom the black heavens, from the roofs and the thousand-windowed walls of the houses. The slush stood ankle-deep in the streets and cozed in through the worn soles of people's shoes.” “And later, when in- fluenza has become a yearly visita- tion, pale, yellowlsh, ~with waxen | ears, bent shoulders, coughing, mournful eyes, feverish—all of them bore the signs. Grippe would lay them low, today, tomorrow, in a year—it didn’t matter when—they could no longer escape.” * % % If the frequency with which Wash- | ington gets itself written up s any| true indication, the interest and af-| fections of the American people are| each year turning more and more toward their National Capital city. It would be easy to fill this column with a bare list of books of recent publication devoted entirely to Wash- ington, its history, institutions and objects of interest. More and more novels have their scene laid In Wash- Ington. Scores, perhaps hundreds, of magasine articles are each year writ- ten about some phase of Washington life. Clinton W. Gilbert, one of the authors of “The Mirrors of Washing- ton,” has a sprighbtly article in the March Current History entitled “Mir- roring Washington,” dealing not with the characters on the national stage but with the ecity itself as it is being so rapidly transformed under our eyes. He says that the old Washing- ton has gone, but that the new Wash- ington has not vet arrived—that the “new gense of the power, dignity and great destiny of the country” which he expects to be reflected in the buflding of the Capital has not yet quite been realized. To him Wash- ington is a “boom town,” with real estate as Washington's one industry; the real estate speculator Is here found at hisz fiercest. But the real estate speculators everywhere pu ting up their “cubical piles of brick, as Ambassador Jusserand called them, and the haphazard bullding of the Government itself cannot entirely submerge the planned city of Maj. 1'Enfant's dream, though they do jeopardize its complete success. In spite of “the carelessness, the neglect, the lack of imagination, the timidity which often characterizes the Go ernment In its relation to the Cap- ital, and of the poverty of the com- merelal spirit which has failed to achieve the outward forms of beauty and power here * * * there remains the lure of Washington.” This lure 1s partly the physical charm imparted to the city in the beginning and part- 1y “the fascination that living at the center of a nation's political life al- ways exercises.” To these he adds the soclety here and “a sort of Old World leisureliness, for Washington is a re- treat, an escape from the bustle, madness, pressure of life in other parts of the country.” Mr. Gilbert concludes by saying that “for the moment we have turned our back upon {imagination at the National Capital,” but fnevitably the great day “lies just beyond.” % X ok ¥ 1 have not yet had an opportunity ‘Seventy Years of Life and the autobiography of Samuel Gompers, recently published in two volumes. His leadership of the or- ganized American Jabor movement has been one of the most remarkably successful achievements of the age. My appetite to read this autoblog- raphy has been sharpened by the in- clsively critical, but sympathetic ar- ‘Was Gompers?' by Benjamin Stolberg in the March Atlantic Monthly. “For years Samuel Gompers was American labor,” writes Mr. Stolberg “He was the Moses of the 40 vears in the wilderness, its dally struggle for manna, its dally defense against in- ner rebellion and outer attack * * His work done he went to the top of the mountain and died. His death revealed that he was not much of a prophet, for his vision was limited by ‘his watchful pugnacity He was not much of a thinker for the same reason. He was a great personal chieftain, whose narrow righteous- ness was never disturbed by philo- sophical doubts or utopian dreams * * * He was a personal leader —vigilant, dictatorial, canny, incor- ruptible, narrow in his ideals, though wide in his sympathies, and for his ;n:e and place the only man for the city of | Q. How much does it cost to stop and start a train?—L. J. D. P. A. 1t costs approximately start and stop a train. $1 to E name is derived from Etienne de Silhouette, a French min- ister of finance, who was famous for his measures of economy in Al business was stripped of unnecessary detail. Paintings were reduced to mere outlines. Whether this was in conformance with the spirit of econ- omy or because it was coincidence that black wnd white outline por- traits became popular at this time, the name “Silhouette” was applied to them and has clung Q. Is there any possibility of spontaneous combustion in sawdust? —W. 0. K A. The Bureau of Standards says that sawdust In piles, particularly where dawmp, is liable to spontaneous combustion Q. When were Meuson fruit jurs in- vented?—R. 8. W. A The_Bnll Brothers say that this r was Invented in 1858 Q. Is the the Angora?—L. A. The Persian cat Is larger and has coarser halr than the Angora. Q. Has the word “gloaming” al- ways been in good usage?—C. E, B. A. In Dr. Johnson's day “gloaming" was classed as a vulgarism. “Pony was then considered slang. Q. In “The Road to Mandalay” does Theba's Queen refer to the Queen of Sheba?—13. § A. The word about which you have Inquired is spelled “Thebaw.” not “Shebu.” Suplyawlat was the Queer of Thebaw, who was in turn the last King of Burma. He was deposed by the British in 1855. Persian_cz . t larger than Q. 1s the water buffalo a useful animal?—L, P. A The water buffalo valued highly in China, especially in the fiolds, where it is used for the culti- vation of the rice crop. It ig said that they are more powerful thap the ox and capable of dragging or carry- ing a heavier load. The female ylelds @ much greater quantity of milk than a cow, and of excellent quality, from which the ghee or semi-fluid butter of India is made. The hide is valued for its strength and durability. Q roli A, invented?—D. H. G. The perforated paper roll was ! vented in 18 and the perforated music sheet appeared as early as 1842, when a Frenchman patented it :ln'l’rzn Q. Who holds the record for throw- ing a base ball?—J. ¥. L. A heldon Le Jeune, 12, 1910, threw a base ball 426 feet 913 inches, and holds the record. Q. Does a woman preccde or fol- low her escort down a recelviyg line? A V. R A. A woman is received first. Q. Can a goldfish be tamed?—A | B ML A. The Bureau of Fisheries says that it is not unusual to tame goldfish, al- though some are more easily tamed than others. They are often known to come to the top and eat out of one's hand. Q. How are Pullman cars named?— W. H. D. A. The officials of the company have all the fields of literature, history, geography, botony and bielogy from which to choose. The cars are named What kind of paper is used for | player-piano rolls and when was the| The paper on which these rolls | of | are made is 33 per cent rope fiber. | in- | first set on October | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN Dodson and Trotwood, and again Savarin, Aberlin, Magdelin and Valea- tin. Q. May one say “The acoustl the new Auditorium are excellent G. D. A. The verb should be in the singu lar. Q. What constitutes the national Wages board of Englan — B C. A.° Representatives of the rallway companies, the unions, rallway users and the general body of trade unions The composition of this board is defigitely provided for by act of Par- liament. Q. Does a minor pay tax?—J. A. H. A. He does pay an come tax if he has a taxable income. It is paid through hls guardian or direct, if he is in control of his income. Q A H. A. Harry Houdini was born in Ap pleton, Wis. Q. Can you inform me concerning the number of meals served in 1924 by the Washington, D. C., Young Women's Christlan Association —C. E. B, A, Last vear 584,254 meals wer( served by the Young Women's Chris. tlap Association cafeterias Q. Why was the name given to certain Chinese?—S A. The Chinese name fo: ers was I-ho-Chuan, which meana League of United Patriots, but since the last part of the name can be ac- cented as to mean “fists.” and sinca athletic exercises were much prac- ticed by the members, the name “Box- ers” was given to them by foreigners Q. What is the earliest recorded l-tter in history?—J. H A. It was formerly believed that the earllest extant collection of for- mal letters wa the series of about 150 Greek epistles profe ng to have been written by the tyrant Phalaris of the sixth century B. C. A contro- versy arose, however, and Richard Bentley, in his famous “Dissertation on the Letters of Phalaris” in 1699, demonstrated, s is now universally admitted, that they are of compara- tively late origin, about the second century A. D. Among the early gen- uine lctters of the Greek period are those of Isocrates (died s B. C.) nine in number. Q. “What are peanut shells or in tinplate mills AR A. They are used in polishing tin- plate. Q an income Is Houdini an American?—J “Boxer" B. ( Box- A used “the person who Spangled Banner Kindly name The in type—K A A printer's Q. amuel Sands What W. 0. P, A. Literally is an “olla podrida o. the phrase means “putrid pot.” The name is applied to a stew made of meat, fish, poultry vegetables and other ingredients. 1t is cooked in a closed pot. The stew highly seasoned with pepper and garltc. Q. How many gates and chariots did Thebes have?—M. G. C. A. The.capital of ancient Egypt had 100 gates and 200 chariots at | each gate. Q. Does the Dead Sea contain more salt than the ocean?—O. D. K A. The Dead Sea contains five times as much salt as the water of the ocean. is (Inform and entertain _yourself by making constant use of The Star In- formation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin Director, Twenty-first and C strects northwest. There is a wealth of informa- tion at the command of The Star readers as babies are, according to desire of those in authority. Often cars are named in serles or sets, as Pickwick Several points of view are pressed by the press of America ward the ralse in salaries for na- tional legislators passed during the closing hours of the Sixty-eighth Con- gress. While the preponderance of this opinion is recorded against the increase, there are not a few papers to express approval of the move. Even some of those supporters of Congress, however, decry the manner in which the increase was effected— as a rider on an appropriation bill and without a record vote, save a supplemental vote in the Senate. “Reasonable objection does not lie against the salary-increase bill passe by the United States Senate and House,’ declares the Philadelphia Bulletin, which adds, “If the public does not elect $10,000 men to pass laws for the Nation, the fault lies with the voters.” On the other side of the argument, the Springfield Republican says: “To i call it a ‘steal’ would be unwarranted. But it is the most unmistakable ‘grab’ ever known. Congressmen are in a position to help the: lves, so they reach in. The poor devils of Govern- ment employes with less reach and n power to vote away the people’s money are left in the cold. If nobody were looking, under the circum- stances, the Congressmen would be happier still.” In the belief of the Canton Daily News: “Except as opin- jon may divide on the fundamental question as to whether or not public officials should receive any salary at all, there can be no question of the rightness in the increase of Senators and Congressmen which was voted the other day. But there can be found no words sufficiently severe to con- demn the cowardice and trickery by which that action was taken in both the Senate and House without a record vote." “Increasing the pay to $10,000 would be an economy,” thinks the Indianapolis Star, “if it would msure getting $10,000 Congressmen, which it would mnot.” And the Pittsburgh Gaszette-Times adds: “To earnest, de- voted, competent Congressmen—Sena- tors or Representatives—the country would be glad to pay even more than the $10,000 provided in the new sal- ary bill, but atively few in either House qualify The Akron Beacon- Journal remarks: ‘“Last time Con- gress increased its members’ salaries from $5,000 to $7,500 the people yelled ‘highway robbery.’ Accustomed to so many hold-ups now, in both private and public life, they are likely to view/ the $10,000 raise with calmness and thank their lucky stars that it is no worse.” ex- to. * K ¥ ¥ “Congress,” in the opinion of the New York Herald-Tribune, “was not in a very favorable position to ask for generous compensation.” It adds: “Many voters will wonder why public servants who squander the taxpayer's substance and seek to deny bim tax relief should have made such a record an argument for a salary boost. But this Congress is not the sort of Con- gress to refraln from bestowing favors on itself merely because they have Dot heen earne: The Philadelphia Public Ledger says: “Congressmen should have an increase of pay.” But, it adds “The trouble s, that a do-nothing, blundering and discredited Congress has ‘taken upon itself the job of raising congressional pay. The in- stant reaction of the average citizen Will Talk Just the Same. From the Shreveport Journ: You oan't change fundamentals. If ever- Mr.. is engraved ' on money, 1t will talk just the same. is that the Sixty-eighth Congress has been overpaid. It will be admitted that an able Congressman is worth every dime of $10,000 & year. s Congress has been anything but able.” There is no charge for service czcept a 2-cent stamp, which showld be nclosed for direct reply.) Press Generally Attacks Pay Increase for Congress Dilatory in general, says the New York World. “Congress can make it snappy when its own pocket is con- cerned. “Why all this fuss about increasing Congressmen's salaries from $7,500 a year to $10,0007" asks the Cincinnati Times-Star, which continues: “Every body knows that no man can live on $7,500 a year as a Congressman should. Not only is the expense of living in Washington greater than in almost any other city, or in any town, village, hamlet or farm, but there is invari- ably the necessity of maintaining, to a degree. the establishment back home.” While the Minneapolis Tribune thinks, “Unless the view be taken that a member of Congress should deem himself partly compensated by the putative honor that attaches to his position, $10,000 a year salary cannot be called excessive in a country well postured financially ours.” “If $7,500 a year was a fair salary before the war it is not a fair salary now,” remarks the Portland Telegram, which adds, “When we read authentic and oft-repeated stories geous profiteering at the National Capital. not only in exorbitant rents, but in practically all of life's ne ities, the increased pay does not appear un- Just.” The San Antonio sarcastic and observes: “We must not be picayunishly ungrateful. For the 531 Senators and Representatives that increase would mean but a beggarly $1.327,500 a year more to the tax- payers. And the Sixty-eighth Con- gress' glorious record simply would shriek against the injustice of deny- ing this salary boost.” ———— Tourist Camp Comment. press waxes Patron Considers Charges Too High Under Government. To the Editor of The Sta: T have noted the statement in The Supday Star about the tourist camp at Potomac Park. The article would lead one to think the Government had recently taken it over and made wonderful strides there. The writer lived there over three months last year and made & €pecial trip to see the Improvements. He found the cement washing plat- form for cars was the same one con- structed by a party who operated the camp before Government control. He also learned the registering fes w hiked to 50 cents per night, and tents, which rented last vear for 50 cents and later raised to 75 cents, were also raised to $1 per night. We, as tourists, were told the camp was operated on a non-profit basis | Groceries were higher, gasoline was raised 1 cent above the general price, the price of tents raised, with regis- tering fee of 50 cents, which is more than the writer has ever paid except in Miami, Fla. Camps run by private individuals are glad to get a fee of 25 cents. Is this Government so poor that it has to charge more than individuals? As high as 800 cars have paid registra- tion fees in one week, to say nothing of the extra profit made in the rent- ing of tents, which were always filled; the grocery, the restaurant, post cards, maps and the filling sta- tion. One man offered the Government $10,000 for the concession and was refused, and yet we are told the con- cesslons were & fallure. Why ls ®? CURTIS F. SMITH.