Evening Star Newspaper, April 22, 1925, Page 6

I'HE _EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. “WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY. ... April 22, 1925 '.—l‘HEODOBE ‘W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company b st A Penney ania Ave n: : New Fork Offiter 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office : T ing. European Omce: 10 Kogent England. with the Sunday morn- Ted by carriers within the city at' 60 cents per month; daily only, 45 cents per month: Sunday only. 2 per month. Orders may be sent by mail or telephone Main 5000. Collection is made by carrier at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. i Daily and Sunday. : 1 mo., 70¢ Iy only ... r., $6.00: 1 mo., 80¢ | A AER 11378240} T mo. 20¢ All Other States. .15r..$10.00: 1 mo., 8¢ 1yr. 1. 7$7.00: 1 mo.. 8Yc 1yr. $3.00:1mo., 28¢ The Evening Star, tng edition, is delive: Daily and Sunday.. Datly only . Sunday only Member of the Associated Press. Dawes Continues the Fight. Vice President Charles G. Dawes is fairly launched on his campalgn for reform of the rules of the United States Senate. After he exploded his verbal bomb in the Senate on the day of his inauguration the Vice President made it clear he intended to take the matter to the people themselves. An aroused popular opinion is & solvent that, applied to questions of impor- tance, frequently brings action. The Vice President is taking the proper course to obtain action. Senators of the United States are not, and should not be, impervious to the demands of the people. Speaking to the Assoclated Press yesterday in New York, Gen. Dawes 1aid his finger on the very essence of the objection to a workable cloture ruls on the part of some Senators. He said: “I am, of courss, aware that each Benator realizes that to change the present rule to provide better cloture he must relinquish a potential right of obstruction which at times he can use either whelly to thwart the will of the majority or compel an unwilling ma- jority to accept a modification In legislation imposed by him.” The power of the individual Senator to tmpose his will on a majority, willlng or unwilling, is not a mere matter of indifference to the people. It smacks too greatly of the power held by individuals in the past, a power then called “the divine right of kings.” The relinquishment of power is not usually contemplated with equanimity by & Senator, or by any one else. But the Vice President struck the right note when he declared that he had confidence in the patriotism and in- tegrity of Senators of the United States when they are confronted with & question of plain duty affecting the Nation. That question, of course, is the necessity of amending the rules of the Benate so that e majority maey really control, in the interest of the people who elect the Senators. In the defense of unlimited debate in the Senate stress is laid on value derived from complete “freedom of speech.” There is nothing in the pro- posal of the Vice President that does away with freedom of speech in the Senate, when freedom of speech is in- terpreted to mean inteiligent discus- sion and debate of questions before the Senate. But when freedom of speech becomes in practice merely obstruc- tive tactics to prevent action which is desired by the majority it is a vastly different matter. The phrase, so dear to American ears and hearts, entirely loses its original significance. Free- dom of speech then becomes a weapon in the hands of the few to defeat the will of the many. The rule providing for unlimited debate and freedom of speech in the Senate is abused; it has been abused for years. It is that very abuse which has brought criti- cism upon the Senate. The Vice President may yet prove to be a benefactor in disguise—to the Senators who have assailed him. The Senate of the United States is a great body, @ part of a great institution of free government, the Congress. If the present crusade of Gen. Dawes to improve its rules results in winning back the confidence of the people, which in a degree at least has waned in recent years, it will have been a notable achlevement. ———— American enthusiasm again concen- trates on base ball, with gratitude in the heart of every citizen for the fact that this Nation has found a sport not quite so mild as cricket nor yet so ferocious as bull fighting. o Chain Bridge. It is indicated that in the next Dis- trict budget the Commissioners will include an item for @ new Chain Bridge. This matter has been under discussion for years. This is another of the old bridges of the Washington region which traffic and the times have outgrown. In the 70s there was a period of bridge construction in and neay Washington, and two or three of the wooden bridges which had been thrown across the Potomac and East- ern Branch long before the Civil War were replaced by iron-girder bridges resting on stone plers. The Chain Bridge at Little Falls was one of these. It was a long and modern bridge in its time. A horse and buggy and a farmer’s heavy two-horse wagon would cross without causing the bridge to shake as though it would fall apart. ‘Travel over the Canal road to the lit- tle settlement of Chain Bridge and over the Leesburg pike from the south end of the bridge and up the steep hill of Pimmit Run Valley or over the Pimmit Run Bridge, which broke : down as @ truck passed a year or so ago, was very light two generations ago, though the people of that time considered it a busy way. In 19256 processions of autos pass both ways aecross the bridge, and & and 10 ton trucks shake the old bridge into lveller rattles than the Capital Traction cars used to shake the Cal- vert Street Bridge. Chain Bridge rat- tles more under its traffic load then the = ‘“mew” Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge which spans the Eastern Branch., The Canal road at north end of the bridge is narrow, and the rightangle turn to the bridge is diffi- cult. The south approach to the bridge is narrow and has a sharp turn. Traffic between Washington and Vir- ginia bordering the upper Potomac and passing through the Piedmont plains and valleys of north Virginia is growing fast. It is not plain that the engineers consider Chain Bridge un- safe, but it is an obkolete bridge, and the increasing weight of its traffic and the jarring of the bridge must be re- ducing the margth of safety. Engineers will have an easy job bullding a new bridge over the Poto. mac and flood-plain at Little Falls, but they will have a tough task getting people to call any kind of a bridge there other than “the Chain Bridge.” It was in the 30s or early 40s that a single shortspan bridge was hung over the narrow, fast-flowing stream below Little Falls. The span was sus- pended from four chains on the prin- ciple by which later suspension bridges were sustained by steel cables. It was such an engineering feat and curiosity in bridge construction that the Chain Bridge of the Potomac became among one of the local ‘“won- ders of the world” From the north end of the bridge a road led over the rocky, tree-grown flats to the higher land along which the Chesapeake and Ohlo Canal runs. Much of the time this road could not be used. Before the Civil War a wooden bridge on low stone plers was buflt across the river and flats, but people ‘called it Chain Bridge. That bridge, after being damaged by flood and repaired several times, was replaced by the iron bridge on the old stone plers, which were height- ened, and, as everybody knows, this bridge is called Chain Bridge. If the engineers build a concrete bridge at that point, there is no doubt that we will call it the Chain Bridge. And there is very good argument that we should preserve the name and mem- ory of the old and real Chain Bridge, for it was a bridge that made its mark in history. —————e————— The Obligation of a Rare Gift. The fact that William A. Clark in his will made no provision for the preservation and maintenance of his collection of art in case both the Metropolitan Museum and the Cor- coran Gallery declined to accept it as a gift in perpetuity, virtually makes it incumbent upon the latter institution, now that the former has decided against acceptance, to insure this rare assemblage of paintings and other art works a permanent public home. The collection of art of high merit may be indulged in by a very few peo- ple, who have means and taste com- bined. Rarely has e collection been made on the scale of that of Mr. Clark. It represents, it is conservatively esti- mated, a value of about $3,000,000. That value lies largely in its character as g collection rather than in its com- ponents. Thus there is an obligation to maintain it in its entirety, even though some of the items, may not be to the taste of all critics end connols- seurs. For if it is broken up it Ioses its character as an assemblage, as the life work of an appreclator who has done much for the promotion of art in this country and to whose memory the country owes at least the tribute of appreclation that it preserve his col- lection In his name. Thus falis to the Corcoran Gallery of Art not only the opportunity to en- rich its own already valuable collec- tion by accepting this gift, but an obligation to insure the preservation of one of the world's notable collec- tions as & whole. If Mr. Clark had willed as a final alternative in the event of rejection by both {nstitutions some definite means of maintaining the collection intact for the benefit of the public, this obligation would not be 80 distinct. But evidently in making his will he did not conceive the pos- sibllity of rejection by both institu- tions, nor can the public conceive such @ possibility, with the result of either the dispersal of this rich collection and the consequent loss of its individuality or its preservation as a private gallery to which the public would have only limited access. ————— The stock market has again been compelled to remind those who thought prices would always go one way that there is such a thing as the law of averages. ———t Many Germans make bold- to pre- dict that Hindenburg will be no more successful as & politiclan than he was as a soldier. - e If Vice President Dawes can put @ stop to filibustering he will save many a throat-weary Senator the discom- forts of an attack of laryngitis. —————— The Balkan mountains are volcanic in character, 80 far as politics is con. cerned. ———— A late April frost again entitles the farmer to sympatgy. Painleve’s Vote of Confldence. The Painleve ministry has weath- ered its first storm in France, yes- terday gaining a sustaining vote in the Chamber of Deputies, 304 to 218, This vote was given after a dramatic scene, in the course of which Cail- laux, the new finance minister, who was present and sat without sign of perturbation throughout the tu- mult, was savagely denounced. This vote in the Chamber oxpress- ing confidence in the new ministor ‘was not as large as had been hoped, and the negative Vote was somewha of a surprise. But for the present the action serves to establish the ministry in the lower house. A se- vere test is yet to come, in the Sen- ate, which body sat as Caillaux’ trial court, and which is_ less in- fluenced by the Socialist sentiment, which so largely prevails in the Chamber. The issue in France today is one between sentimental and practical patriotism as regards Caillaux's status in the ministry. Calllaux is recognized and by even his bitterest enemies acknowledged as the ablest financial administrator in France to- day. ‘The country is at a crisis owing THE . EVENING to, the condition of the treasury. It is sick with that dangerous disease, inflation. A specialist has been called, who, despite his unpopularity and his dublous record, is recognized as the most eminent and the.most skilled in that particular line. Evi- dently the country is disposed to sub- rrit to his ministrations, however un- welcome his presence in the ministry may be. —— The World Champions. ‘Washington unanimously turns its attention today to the large inclosure at Georgla and Florida avenues, of- ficially known as Griffith Stadium, but popularly called the “ball park.” There a great multitude is assembling to give welcome and ‘good cheer to the world champions, the Washington ball elub, the sufprise of the season of 1924. It hardly seems real. So long has ‘Washington hoped and wished and wondered and faithfully held on to the possibility, of some day having a winning ball team that when the flag was won last Fall, followed by the supreme triumph of the world champlonship, the Capital was dazed. And it has hardly emerged even now, with the actuality established and the plaudits of the world of base ball still reverberating for the plucky and skillful work of Manager Harris and his teammates. The spirit that won the champion- ship, in the American League Jast year and the world title in the post- season series is still in evidence In the apparently strengthened team that takes the fleld this Spring. It has beéen manifested already in games played away from home, games plucked out of the “lost” column by persistence, nerve and steadiness. A team that will not be beaten is a hard team to beat. Last year proved to the Nationals that faith works wonders. They now have faith in their prowess, just as the public has faith in their capacity to repeat the triumph of 1924. And so Washington welcomes the champions and wishes them the best of luck for this new year, confident that they will matntain the highest standards of the national ame throughout the season and again set a winning pace. ———————— ‘The rules of the United States Sen- ate are naturally contemplated by Senator Butler with the cool analysis of @ man who had nothing whatever to do. with making them in the first place. —————————— European revolutionists represent the uninformed element of soclety that gives no heed to the earnest intelli- gence devoted to the reprehension of war as an obsolete practice. ————— ‘The general public of France scans & program of currency readjustment with alert apprehension concerning any future suggestions which may be based on it, of debt cancellation. —————————— Bulgarian students were arrested in Berlin for communistic activities. One of the dangers of a “frat” is that it may drift {nto political afliations. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Base Ball Season. We haven't strayed so very far From life's accustomed way Although perplexing problems are More numerous today. In spite of all the questions deep Affecting wealth or fame, Unto the query still we keep: “Who's Golng to Win the Game?” Restraints. “Are you in favor of prohibition?” “Certainl; answered Senator Sor- ghum. “All I bope is that the boot- leggers out home won't get to be so wealthy and influential that I won't dare express my sentiments,” The Toll of the Town. The farmer is of joy bereft Because, as he to market goes He has so little profit left ‘When he has paid to see the shows. And all he gets when he is through ‘With modern drama as a school, 1s @ reminder, far from .new, Of terms for cussing out a mule. Jud Tunkins says the North Pole has been discovered, but it won't at- tract very much attention till the realtors take hold of it as & Summer fesort proposition. Science of Killing. We don't want war.- Both poor and rich Agree to this, beyond a doubt. But there are new Inventions which The world is anxious to try out. Realistic Talk. * “Was the play entertaining “Not very,” answered Miss Cayenne. “Some of the dialogue sounded merely like what father says when his collar button roils under’the bureau.” An Early Economy. ‘ Sald Nebuchadnezzar, “That banquet, -alas, Has filled me with darkest misgiv- ing! So, maybe, hereafter I'll dine upon grass And baffle the high But later developments g0on brought a chiil $ To his thrifty and wise disposition, ‘When the hired man brought an ex- orbitant bill For keeping the lawn in condition. cost of living.” “People seems like dey takes mo’ in- terest,” sald Uncle Eb_e'n, “In base ball dan dey does in’ politics.’. In base:ball dey fegls mo’ confident dat dey knows what dey’s talkin’ 'bout.” ———————— Persons who have bullt homes never cease to wonder how the birds ac- complish it with so little trouble.— Detrait Free Press.’ 3 ——— A base ball player can knock flies, but if will soon be up to the rest of us to swat them.—Terre Haute Star. - oy R, ‘Whatever elsé -happens, It is to be hoped that the Stone Mountain proj STAR, 'WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. A sort of bovine -Aphrodite sat on the opposite side of the cafe, placidly chewing away at her plate of chicken and macaroni. ‘A8 soon as she completes her fod- |- der,” said my companion, “she will smoke a cigarette. When she has fin- ighed that, she will smoke another. Then she will leave. It is Cafe Carlllon at high tide. This is the place George Jean Na- than, one of the editors of the Amer- can Mercury, has labeled the only decent establishment wherein to take nourishment in ‘“a city of “horrible food. George wrongs Washington, al- though it must be admitted he ends his letter cleverly. That {s the troubls with 8o many clever things. They sound tremendously good if one does not stop to think much about them. Of course, the National Capital has its share of dairy lunchrooms, arm- chair dining cars and other places which one would not expect to appeal to the esthetic tastes of a New York intellectual, What Mr. Nathan liked about Cafe Cariliori, undoubtedly, was its cosmo- politan atmosphere. He felt at home. 1 did, 100, after I had been inserted behind the rim of the big horseshoe around the room. Atmosphere is what does it. Out of the crude daylight, with its crass ' street nofses and sweating mechanicals, we entered into the quietness of this gustatory Arcadia, past the ‘“city of horrible food" letter, neatly framed in the tiny lobby, where the girl takes your coat and hat. We expect a check, but, not re- celving any, suppose we are too mer- cantlle in our expectations, and so bid our belongings good-bye, as we enter into the depth. * K ox K Inside, everything is subdued. Cur- tains are drawn at the windows, while high overhead shaded lamps send down soft, almost ambrosial, glows, lighting up the fair faces of women, as they sit smoking. Yes, the ladies smoke in Cafe Caril- lon. T am not sure that this is not one of the big features of the place. The sight of .a woman smoking in ordinary public usually offends my delicate taste, but in here it seems ail right, somehow or other. Ordinarily, when I see a girl puff- ing away, 1 am tempted to revert to my Puritan ancestors, and snatch the filthy weed from between her sparkling, red lips. (Too sparkling.) Here, however, the sight soothes me. I long for Aphrodite, over there, to get through her macaroni and start smoking, too. Thers is a glad air of refined tobaceo consumption here that quite wifl; the heart. And surely no one could smoke with m than she. weoam I will have to admit that I fell for Aphrodite the moment I lald my ah- too-weak eyes upon her. It was not from a sea of foam she arose, but waist up from behind the horseshoe counter. The nether portions of her anatomy gleamed in a mauve shade of silk from beneath the table. She was fair to look upon, even when she ate m%‘;‘:roni_ ere was a test of femi, 2 P nine beauty, The glare of pitiless sunlight . is more than many women m.n‘nu.nd. but the windings of cruel macaroni would try even Venus. Qur Aphrc. dite of the Carillon, however, maneu- vers her fork very graeefully. She eyes me calmly, dispassionately, much as. a scientlst might inspect a bug under & rock. A She looks, and eats. It will rot be long now before she starts smoking. Ah,” Jove, that will be a sight for Olympus! o Clear-eyed women, in beautiful duds, sit at the little tables in the center of the room, talking to their men. The horseshoe looks at them all, and they look back, now and then, as women will, when sure of their own male beings. Deft waiters, in full dress, glide hither and yon, ushering newcomers to particular .seats after a method as mysterious as logarithms, Just why a waiter wants one to sit where he does not want to sit is abstruse. “Anyway, I have found out why they always put a glass of water at vour plate,” whispers my companion, triumphantly. “To give you something to drink,” I innocently reply. “It is a signal to other waiters that service at that particular place has begun.” “Oht* A three-piece orchestra starts up in velvet fashion at the rears There is a piano, “sax” and violin. Um-pah, um- pah, um-pah drones the accompani- in a fox trot. Um-pah, um-pah, um- pah, um-pah. We wag our cigarettes in_time. Lefsurely we consume our maca- ronl, utterly indifferent to the anxious diners who are flocking in at the door, pathetically eager to oust us from our calm seats behind the rim. ‘We, however, do not oust worth a cent. ‘One of the charms of this place is conversational. If you have some one to talk to, Cafe Carillon is the place to bring ‘em. * x ok % Um-pah, um-pah, um-pah um-pah. “Have you noticed all these girls flocking around Washington these days?” “'High school girls of the Nation. Pretty things.” “Their dresses are much too short.” {They are from the great Midwest. I just got back from a trip out that way. The women out there grab the fashion books, and follow them out to the letter. They think they are aping the Eastern women. But the latter modify the skirts to suit them- selves. See for yourself here.” It is true. Under these soft lights the women seem as fair flowers, al- most as sweet peas, in their pastel gowns. Right there in the center of the room is one I like fmmensely. Soft, mouse-gray dress, clever in its simplicity. Blg, black hat. Some women look good in large hats. Others do not. 3 m-pah, um-pah, um-pah; um-pah. Aphrodite has begun on her first clgarette. She puffs with sublime pla- cidity, staring at us with round,gblue eyes, the color of dew-washed viBlets. Then, suddenly, comes the reason for the charm of this place, the big rea- son, the superreason, above and be- yond the subdued lights, the good food, the quick, silent service. Here men and women, surfeited in the city, are making their last stand for Adventure. The men look at the women, and the women look at the men, all in a very well bred sort of way, but un- derneath it all is a great longing for Adventure. We are perfectly safe here, and yet—and yet— Um-pah, um-pah, um-pah, um-pah. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE John Coolidge's re-enrollment in a citizens' military training camp is a useful crack in the eve for the pacifist movement. For three years the tional Council for Prevention of Wa has left no stone unturned to de- popularize the training camp pro- visions of the defense act of June 4, 1920. Frederick J. Libby, leader of the anti-preparedness forces, calls the defense act “a Prussianizing war measure.” When Libby was urging Congress to cut down our already skeletonized standing Army to 85,000 men, he wrote (in the National Council “bulletin” of April 8, 1922) that “if an Army of 85,000 is not enough to carry out the provisions of the defense act, repeal the defense act!” In Wis- consin, a year or two ago, it was re- ported that anti-preparedness fanatics Joined citizens’ training camps to con- duct pacifist propaganda within the: The President’s son is going to a camp for the second time, not only for his own physical and patriotic £00d, but because Calvin Coolidge belleves in citizen ' training for na- tional defense. * ok ko John Garibaldi Sargemt will make his oratorical debut in Washington as the principal speaker at the dinner of the American Law Institute on May 2. He will hold forth under the toastmastership of his predeces- sor in the attorney generalship, Mr. Justice Harlan Fiske Stone. The din- ner will conclude a two-day session of the institute, ‘founded in Wash- ington two years ago. The principal object of the session is the considera- tion, with a view to suggestion and criticism, of outstanding law ques- tions, such as the law of eontracts, conflict of laws and torts. An in- teresting discussion will range around a report on the “defects in criminal justice” to be submitted by a com- mittee, of which Herbert S. Hadley, former Goverpor of Missouri, is the head. The officers of the American Law Institute include Elihu Root, honorary president; George W. Wick- ersham, president; Benjamin N: Car- dozo, vice president, and William Draper Lewis, director. * ok k¥ The American language . is still more or less mysterious in Great Britain. The word “graft” has lately been puzzling British philologists. J. Broadbent Marshall of Leeds turns on this light in the London Sunday Times: The word “graft” came into vogue in the United States about 1901 in connection with the al- leged widespread corruption of public officials and persons in places of trust. Sometimes ex- plained as that which is grafted onto one's legimate gain; -some- times as originating in the pro- vincial and colonial use of graft in the sense of work (like job- bery, from job). * ok kK ‘When _the tempestuous rainstorm of last Sunday struck the presiden. tial yacht Mayflower in mid-Poto- mac, it did not catch Mr. and Mrs. Coolidge unprepared for that kind of weather. The capricious climate of the Chesapeake Bay region in- duced them some time ago to equip themselves with :some. seagoing rubber coats of jet black, such as sallors wear, and which are proof against the dirtiest weather. The President always wears a commo= dore's cap aboard the Mayflower, and when he's clad in his seaman’s wa- terproof he looks the part of a mar< iner. \bold. ; ; 5 * k¥ K A distinguished Englishman, welk known in the United States, is lost. somewhere in America. That is to say, a number of people in Washing- ton’ who have wanted very much to establish contact with him cannot locate him.- He is Lerd Lee of Fare- ham, one-time first lord of the Bri ish admiral a it mem- ect doesn’t go campletely on the|ber Lord Lee recently was heard of in Philadelphia. Everybody supposed he would come to Washington. But even the British embassy has no trace of him, nor necessarfly would have, for he is no longer in public life. Yord Lee (then Capt. Arthur Lee) was British military attache with our Army in Cuba in 1898, and he struck up a great comradeship with Theodore Roosevelt. i Gejsser Celesia, a former secretary of t Itallan embassy in Washing- ton and now attached to the foreign office in Rome, took home with him our native knack for nicknames. He writes this observer that Benito Mps- solini has come to be known as “Big Ben,” a sobriguet hitherto associated exclusively with the great clock that booms from the tall tower of the Houses of Parliament in London. * * % % Willilam Marshall Bullitt of .Ken- tucky, former Solicitor General of the United States, says that every dollar of the $60,000,000,000 of life insurance in force in the United States may be taxed, if the Supreme Court sustains a certain practice now in dispute be- fore it. Mr. Bullitt appeared before the tribunal the other day on behalf of the Association of Life Insurance Presidents. The case is a forerunner of the contest over the constitution- ality of the gift tax. While well set- tled that Congress can levy an in- heritance tax on the estate of a de- ceased person, the present statute at- tempts to tax the life insurance owned by the bengficlary directly, The bene- ficiaries of the late Henry C. Frick received $425,000 in insurance on his life. The amount was payable to them directly, but the law requires them to pay a tax based not on the amount of the life insurance they re- ceive, but on the full amount of the Frick estate. A tax of 25 per cent cost them $108,000. The issue the Supreme Court is called upon to decide is whether the tax was or was not legitimately imposed. One of the decisions apparently reached at the Spring meeting of the Federal Advisory Council and Reserve Board was to proceed forthwith with plans for rechartering the 12 reserve when their first charters ex- pire, in 1934, From time to time the reserve system has been under fire. Some organized opposition to the re- newal of charters when the time comes is anticipated and friends of the system. will map out their cam- paign well in advance. They would do well to bring ‘the question of charter renewals to the attention of an early Congress. The whole extension issue should be con- sidered well in advance of the expira- tion of present charters. The time should never come when uncertainties affecting the continuance of the sys- tem might be carried over into in- dustry and businéss generally. 3 And when the charters of the re- serve banks are extended they ought to be extended not for another 20 years, but indefinitely. The system has established a definite place for itself. It has proved its usefulness and should not be. required at regu- lar intervals in the re to prove its right to continued existence. The ve system which function- ed so advantageously during the war, and which -is functioning so well to- day, may not be the reserve system exactly suited to the needs of the country 50 or 100 years- hence. Changes which may be needed can be made by amending the law as the need arises, but the 12 Federal banks should be chartered as permanent in- APRIL - 22, 1925 Politics at Large BY N. 0. MESSENGER. President Coolidge is being warned by his political advisers to be chary about allowing himself to be involved in any way fr prospective contests in the next elections for the United States senatorships which may in- volve factional fights among the Re- publicans in the States where and when they are to be held. Politicians say they discern a disposition on the part of prospective Republican candi- dates for office, high and low, who face possiblafactional contests to hitch their charlots to the Coolidge star, now unt- versally admitted to be in the ascend- ency. The President is being caution ed against the wiles and intrigues of candidates seeking - to avail them- selves of the President’s personal pop- ularity for their own benefit. In some of the States factional fights threaten to be intense and bitter. It is said that the President is listéning with attentive ear to the admonitions his friends are giving him. * ok kK Vice President Dawes, in ihe opin- ion of political observers, is making a good flying start in his campaign for revision of the Senate riles and aboli- tion of those which in the practices of the Senate increase the possibility of fillbustering and delay. It is admit- ted at the same time that even with this good start he has a long way to 80 to achieve his goal. The Vice President immediately upon taking office gave fair warning of his intend- ed campaign in behalf of reform of the existing rules. He also gave no- tice of the method of campaign he proposed to wage. He explained then that he intended to go to the people with his demand for reform and start a backfire on the Senate itself. Events of the past few days show that he is running true te form in his effort to reach the voters direct and to try to align them with him agginst the Senators themselves, seeking to bring pressure upon them direct from the voters. His speeches are being broadcast over the radio as he gets the ear of the voters directly in their homes. This is to be supplemented by a plan of publicity through the daily press which is expected to reach the eyes of thousands who may not bave the facilities of hearing his speeches. e At that, it is redlized that Vice President Dawes will be appealing to [ the ears and eyes of many who are at present disposed to see points of benefit in the present system which impose a check upon too hasty con- sideration of legislation by that “‘great- est deliberative body in the world,” the United States Senate. The South, which has & long memory where free- dom from Federal election laws is con- cerned, still holds distinct recollection of the menace of the force bill of years ago, and is disposed to look at the Dawes plan of restricted debate as a possible stalking horse of another force bill in the future. Vice President Dawes has declared that he has “enlisted for the term of the war,” which, in his case, is to be his tenure of office as Vice President. He does not minimize the size of the fight before him, but is going into it to win or lose, with all his aggressive nature. He considers his strongest weapon to be his indifference to po- litical reward. He never falls to taunt the Senators with the fact that he does not “owe them anything.” He says that he will be out of politics when he leaves his present office and, there- fore, is not amenable to suggestions of reward for or reprisal upon himself. e Secretary of the Treasury Mellon has sounded a note of warning to the country of a big flght directed against the Federal Reserve system-when the time comes for its friends to seeK a renewal of its charters. He foresdes a drive against the system from “malev- olent interests,” which he does not designate or specify. He expects the attacks to be made by those who would have the Federal Reserve act radically amended. His own opinion is that the Federal Reserve system is still in its infancy, but he predicts it has come to_stay. Secretary Mellon’s views aye ex- pressed in an article he has written for the Nation's Business, a magazine published by the Chamber of Com- merce of the United States. He con- tends that the Federal Reserve banks have established themselves securely in our economiec system. He foresees that the effectiveness of the expected attack will depend largely upon the particular phase of the business cycle which happens to prevail at the time. If the country is at that time in the midst of a wave of prosperity, the op- position to the renewal of the charters will be slight. If, however, the country should be passing through a period of depression, the oppesition will be more serious becausa the discontent which prevails at such period will be seeking some point of attack. While discounting the likelihood of efforts to defeat renewal of the char- ters, Secretary Mellon sees the possi- bility of the impairment of the sys- tem by changes benefiting this or that group which might prove to be funda- mental and serious interference with the function of the banks as reserve institutions. 3 e It is well known by financiers and legislators that the Federal Reserve system in its inception and construc- tion embodies one of the greatest ex- amples of non-partisan legislation on the statute books. Created by the joint efforts of Democrats and Repub- licans in the House and Senate, whose aim was to work for the benefit of all classes, the Federal Reserve system in its operations up to this time has justified the aims of its creators as a practical measure of the highest order of merit. Although its initial trial occurred in a period of unprecedented ‘economic and financial strain, the sys- tem has not only emerged without im- pairment of its own strength and sta- bility, but, in Secretary Mellon's words, “has brought the country through the emergency with the soundest financial structure in its his- tory.” Secretary Mellon, it is said, as long as he remains in office, will constitute himself ghief sentinel on the watch tower to/ warn against the approaches of attackers upon this great economic policy. 3 3 ¥ ok ok ok Notwithstanding the croakings of those who apprehend as an event of the future a conflictbetweenthe United States and Japan over immigration re- strictions imposed upon Japanese citi- zens, the belief remains strong in offi- cial and congressional circles that no such possibility looms in the near fy- ture, if at all. It was feared in some quarters that the next Congress would be presented with a reopening of the Japanese immigration question, but all surface indications at present are to the contrary. The latest assurance of continued peaceful relations between Japan and the United States came from Japanese Ambassador Matsudaira in an address Monday night at the Harvard Club in New York before the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. Ambassador Matsudaira scouted as impossible war between the United States ard his own country. He said that no retallatory measures were to be taken in answer to discriminatory laws, against Japanese in America. The ~ Ambassador added that the charge had heen made that certain clauses in the new Russo-Japanese trealy transgressed the principle of the open door in Russia, which would be Inimical to the United States. in- terests. He sald he was glad to see ‘| outstanding leader who has the cour- ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. What three countles can be seen| from Beur's Den, near Bluemont, | Va.>—C. 8. C. A: The Geologicgl Surves says that land in three Virginia counties is visible—in Frederick, Warren and Clark—and it is also possible to see into Jefferson County, W. Va. Q. Would the past Winter be con- sidered an open ore or an old-fash- foned hard one?—C. P. “<A. On the whole, the past Winter would doubtless be classed as an open Winter, although several rather se- vere cold waves occurred and there was considerable depth of snowfall during the latter part of January from Pennsylvania to the northeast- ward, 3 Q. Was Easter Island destroyed by an earthquake?—G. W. A. A. The rumors that Easter Island Q. Is & man who was in the me chant marine and who now has tu« berculosis eligible to Government fne surauce?—E. F. W. A. Members of the merchant mas rine are not considered a part of the military or naval forces of the Unif States according to the United State: insurance act and the World Wa veteran act. Q. Is there a tribe of the Ancieni Rechabites in existence now?—L. M. A. The ancient Rechabites are no{ in existence today. There is, hows ever, an Independent Order of Rechas bites, the title of a total abstinenc beneficial soclety founded in Engiand in 1835, a branch of which was ors ganized in the United States in 1842, Q. What is Glencoe”—E. G. H. A. Glencoe is a glen in the north he origin of the namé had sunk benedth the Pacific during the earthquake of November, 1922, proved unfounded. The island is still 'in existence. Q. Is stainless as good in quality as regular steel?—W. L. R. A. The Bureau of Standards says that stalnless steel is true steel and the quality is considered as good as the ordinary type. As in other steels, it has various grades. The process for making stainless steel is patented. Q. Who owns the Garden of Geth- semane’—E. C. R. A. The Garden of Gethsemane be- longs to the Franciscan monks. Q. Please name the different lights used in a motion picture studio.— A M. R A. One studio lists lights as fol- lows: K-L-I-E-GL (Spots _only), W<O-H-L (tilts), W-O-H-L (broad- eldes), Cooper-Hewitt L blanks (over- head goosenecks), high intensity arcs, G-Electric-15 O amp., sunlight arcs. Q. In cookery, what is meant by teaspoonful? Should it be level, rounded or heaping?—R. E. C. A. All measurements, such as tea- spoonfuls, tablespoonfuls and cupfuls in l'eclu pes are meant for level measure- ments. Q. In poker, can a man open the pot and then discard one of the cards which made it possible to open?— A, The man may split openers. The discard of the opener should al- ways be placed under thé chips in the center of the table, in order that he need not announce the fact when he splits openers. After. the hand is played he turns over his discard. Q. Why are the notes of a previous meeting called “minutes”?>—W. §. The word “minute’ is from old Latin, meaning a slight fraction or small portion. Its use as a defini- tion of the reading of the former acts of an organization is to call to the remembrance of the members the minute or small things which took place which might escape the atten- tion of the members or fail to be recorded in the permanent records of the organization. Q. Who wrote “Carry-Me Back to OI' Virginny"?—H. R. A. It was written by James Bland, a negro living. in New Orleans. Q. In what ‘State do the mos people live in the country?>—T. H. C. A. Texas has the largest rural population, 3,150,359 people living in the country. Q. What grain pure cider vinegar does the pure food law require’— A. Forty grain is required for full strength pure cider vinegar. Q. Who called Boston the “Hub of the Universe”>—F. B. A. The term was applied- jestingly to the State House of Boston by Oliver Wendelk Holmes in one of his essays as the center! of a self-satis- fied community. The expression is now popularly applied to the city as a whole, which regards itself as su- perior in wisdom and culture. Q. Which way does Mount Vernon face?—T. M. C. A. The ma faces southeast. n at Mount Vernon Q. When was the weight of silver dollar changed?’—R. D.-W. A. Under the act of January 18, 1837, the weight of the silver dollar was changed from 416 grains to 412% grains. The fineness was changed from 892.4 to 900. Q. What kind of money is abbre- viated with a capital L with two short Ures. through the stem?—C. G. B. A. The symbol for the English pound is an L with one mark crossing it. The L with two lines is an obsolete sign for the English pound which s seen occasionally in German publi- cations. the of Scotland, so named from the River Coe, which rises in the hills at its eastern end and flows through it. It is famous historically as the scenq of the massacre of February, 1692. Q. Who said ‘“Re: ranny is obedience to God A." This statement among Jefferson's death. to_ twe ~W. N. I was found papers aftep hid Q. When was the French and Ine dian War officially over’—W. C. H, A. It closed with the treaty Paris, February 10, 1763. Q. Could a mirror b of a motion picture screen A. If the screen of a motic was replaced by a mi: possible to see the picture in the mi. ror. Q. Is the tomb recently uncovered by the Boston-Harvard expeditic the pyramid of Cheops older t| of Tut-ankh-amen A. Sclentists probably 2,000 v one discovered b Q. How aid name?—P. D. A. The popular story of how this Spanish province acquired its name is told by Eleanor E one of her travel books. “E explorers enters ing the province met a peasant indo- lently driving a mule ov ass; they begged him to tell them the name of this sunny and ple: sumably in a lang which he understood He looked them over, siler ing in the usual Spanish fus Andalusia acquire itd T. * which simply meant ‘Go on, ; but the strangers took it to be the mame of the country, which they registéred on their rough charts as Andalusia.” Q. Why is a girl kissed when caught under the mistletoe”—R. C. O. A. Authorities differ somewhat con- cerning the origin of the cus kissing under the mistletoe. of the opinion that it is an innocent survival from the Saturnalia of tk ancients when riot and lice ran loose. Other authorities cla that it js a survival of the ancient Druids of Britain. The mistletoe is believed to have been given to the goddess of love o keep, and every one who passe: under it recelved a kiss to show it wa the emblem of love. The Druids cut , the sacred mistletoe and hung it over the doorways to propitiate the woo: land spirits. According to myth, on happiness could enter under the mis- tletoe, hence the tradition of the kiss, Q. Where is the largest building in the world?—S. V. A. It is believed that the Vatican, covering an area of 121 acres, is the largest building in the world. Other extensive buildings are the Palace of the Louvre in Paris, and the Palace of Versailles. Q. When the moon is eclipsed how wide is the shadow of the earth the moon and how far beyond does it extend?—V.-F. C. A. If the earth is at mean dis tance from the sun and the moon at mean distance from the earth the diameter of the shadow at the moon is about the distance it exten moon about 620,000 miles. Q. How much ballast is required for a mile of railroad?—R. R. H A, Where the subgrad s well drained and solid about 325 cars of gravel to the mile is the usual esti- mate. (Are you ever hampered for want of information? Do you wonder and blunder, through misinformation? This. column was instituted to serve a very apparent neced of our readers, @ud its popularity is attested by its possibili- ties. Address inquiries to The Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Has- kin, director, Twenty-first and C streets morthwest. Inclose a 2-cent , stamp for a direct reply.) Smith’s State Victories Factors in Gov. Al Smith’s victories in the New York State Legislature have a bear- ing on the question of party leader- ship in the Natjon, in the opinion of many editors. The suggestion, how- ever, that they establish his claim as the logical presidential nominee is disputed by those who believe victory in 1928 depends upon elimination of the personalities active in last year’s deadlock. 0 “The spectacular triumphs of Gov. Smith in the closing days of the Leg- islature are probably without parallel in the history of the State, and possi- bly without precedent in that of the entire ' country,” observes the New York Evening World (independent Democratic). Continuing, the World says: ‘“Here {s a man who has over- come the curse of legislative paralysis or stupidity without disregarding the constitutional Hmitations of his pow- er. If the dramatic triumphs of Al Smith are a tribute to his leadership, they are not less a tribute to popular government when democracy has an age and capacity to lead.” * %k X X Gov. Smith's “victory in forcing through the Legislature a 25 per cent reduction in income taxes was a credit to his understanding of the state of popular feeling and a reflec- tion upon the leadership of the Re- publican majority, which had fought him to the jast ditch, where it was compelled to yleld,” says the Wash- ington Star (independent). The basis for the victory is not far to seek, ac- cording to the Pittsburgh Sun.(inde- pendent Democratic), which says: “It National Fight like that is worth a great deal to a Stat “Having worsted his political foes in the Legislature in decisive fashion, ramming his legislative program down the throats of the Republican ma- Jority in both branches,” declares the Roanoke Times (Democratic), Gov. Al Smith is now enjoving, or at any rate he is receiving, the enthusiastic en- comiums of the New York Democratio! press. And even his enemies freely concede that the governor ha a political cares most part has been a ser £ succe: sive triumphs. His backers are al- ready predicting that he will succeed | Wadsworth in the Senate in 1926 and Coolidge in the White House in 1928, That the governor still has his eye on the White House is quite probable. His political career, so far from being ended, seems to be rife with possibil- itles. He's a good man to keep a watchful eye on, is Al Smith.” The Aberdeen World (independent) thinks the Democratic party canj scarcely ignore Al Smith in the next presidential campaign, but “his can. didacy will mean another quarrel just as bitter and prolonged as that at Madison Square Garden last year. How the party can compose that situation is not clear.” for the * % * “Many Democrats have believed that” the hope of their party lies in reom ganization to the exclusion of the per sonalities and issues on which it was wrecked last year,” says the Lincoln State Journal (independent- Repube lican). “But with Al Smith, standing head and shoulders abovesall Demos lles in the fact that he was careful first to be right. His position on tax reduction, as on a number of other important issues, was taken upon bases sound, lable.” To this the Sun adds: “An executive, it seems, with the ability and the desire to be right, and the courage. to -fight for his convictions, doesn’t always need the support of a legislative majority. If he has not those qualifications, as is well known, a legislative majority cannot always save him.” . The Appleton Post-Crescent (inde- pendent) thinks “had it not been for Mr. Smith’s courage and determina- tion the New York Legislature would have been the usual political-trading body we find in most States.” The Post-Crescent sum e out- crats in popularity and prestige, thig cannot be done. Because it had a Bryan in this position of power the Democratic party has beenhin a statq of wreck most of the time for 80 years. Smith, a more practical and adrott politician than Bryan ever may dominate as Bryan did and win as Bryan could not.” “Fervent laudations of ‘Smith, no matter how well he may deserve them, will almost certainly inerease the stubbornness and determiriation of the forces of Bryan and McAdop,” believes the Springfleld Union (Republican). This paper wants to know “what a: surance is there that the populari of Smith, probably at a greater height right now than ever before, may no “The results show what a real bent upon.; true public Nt e sl cyon Long e him, A governor wane rather than wax in the years b fore 1928,” and warns: ““Popularity , is a fiekle jade, -as" all Who have ‘watched ~ her volatile ' nature wil AN