Evening Star Newspaper, November 17, 1925, Page 6

8 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition, WASHINGTON, D. C. November 17, 1925 THEODORE W. NOYES. The Evening Star Newspaper Company L1an s Blsingse Offce: th St_and Pennavivania Ave New York Offica: 110 Eaat 420d St. Chicako OMes: Tower Building Buropean Ofice: 14 Regent 83.. London. Enicland: with the Sunday morn- Evenine Star e i s within fnw edition. is delivered hy ity at 60 cents per month: daily only. cents “per munth: Sunday only. 20 cents month. Orders may he sent by mail or phore Main 5000. Coliection 1s made by rer at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. | Maryand and Virginia. Datls and Sunday. .1 37 S840 1 DRI a5 Sunda 130 8001 Yindas” oy RSP 1 mo mo. mo. All Other States. Jiajly and Sunday....157..$10.00:1 Dallv only S7000 1 Sunday only.’. $3.000 1 850 £0e mo. mo! 1yl mo. Member of the Associated Press. The Asxociated Press is exclusively entitled to the uge republication of all n patehes credited to it or not otherwise ited in this paner and also the local publiched hercin of enecial dispatche — news reserved in are algo The Mall-Avenue Triangle. A Bill for the ernment of all the ia Pennsylvania avenu the and the BEstanic ( and teenth szreet, the so-called Mylil-Avenue triapgle, will be introduced in the com- | ing session of Con by Repre- purchase by the Gov- 1 Mall rden ur- sentative Underhill. This bill wilt pro- | vide for the immediate acquisition of this land and the razing of all private bufldings within the which will then be added to the present Mall and will be available for the public buildings This is.the most suitable way which to treat the area that has for many vears been virtually pre-empted for public building purposes be taken as a whole and treated as a whole, with such disregard for exist- ing street lines as is possible in pres- ent conditions in order that buiiding sites may be available that will not be cramped and restricted by thorough- fare No public L erection of ilding should be erect- ed in this cii on a strictly restricted site. It is inevitable that a depart- ment should expand and consequently is a Al rights of pubiiention | | ences Iving between | in | | { down the American merchant marine. It should | out that the Shipping Board, com- posed of seven members of different political parties, representing various sections of the country, responsible to Congress, have a divided responsibil- ity that does not make for the best operation of the fleet. The administration of the Govern- ment shipping by the board was de- fended by Chairman O'Connor, who took the position that opposition of the Shipping Board was seeking to prevent the establishment of a perma- nent American merchant marine. Either, he said, those who are advo- cating a change in the present system of operation are misled or they are influenced by sinister desires to break down the American merchant marine. Included in the list of those who have proposed that the Government fleet be operated by the Fleet Corpora- tion instead of the Shipping Board are the President of the United States, members of his cabinet, many mem- bers of Congress. If the charge by Chairman O'Connor is to be serlously considered, then the view must be taken that either the President, his cabinet and leading members of Con- gress are far less intelligent than the of the Shipping Board or are subject to sinister influ- which would drive the American flag from the The President, his cabinet and members of Congvess ure s0t fgnorant of the facts relating to the shipping whole matter again and again aware that some Americans, British and hipping re opposed to America’s permanent continuance in the overseas shipping Be- cause the President and the members are opposed to contin- membe that they situation. The been investizated They ar well has as as other interests business his cabinet e of a system of operation and that they believe is not the most_ efficient is no good reason for ving that they are bent on breaking of uar control After all the important thing in the shipping situation is to keep the American flag flying on the seas for the sake of American commerce and the national defense. The Shipping Board and the President both would be quick to admit this. The Shipping Board should be willing to admit, too, that there may be honest differences of opinion as to the best method of at- taining this result ————— Uncle Sam is endeavoring to con- outgrow its quart The main trou- ble today with the Government build- | ing equipment is that the structures | were only planned up to the needs | of the period in which they were hn-—i vided. Expansion space was not al-| lowed, and in consequence there is not | a single department in the ment that is not now scattered in de- | tached offices, The case of the Der culture is well known. more than a score of bulldings, many | of them within a small area, but some | derable distance from the main | The Internal Revenue Bureau housed in eleven different s *h dot the map ove of several square miles. The loss of time in administration as a result of this dispersion is a serious handicap in the conduct of the public business. By taking the Mall-Avenue a whole and treating it, in effect, as a whole in the allotment of space for building purposes, it will be pos- sible to provide for future extensions of public structures without marring | the architectural effect and without adding to the administrative burden that is now so heavy in consequence of the scattering of units. | There is, however, another question | { jovern- | artment of Agri- | 1t is housed in | | and that is the im- It is due to the in this connection mediacy of action. city that this tract, so long, in effect, pre-empted as eventual Government property, should be taken at once and as a whole, not in piecemeal as occa- sional needs compel the adoption of a particular site within the area. It is due to the Government that it should have such provision made for public building uses. It is due to the admin- istrative forces. that they be located | with convenience. The stretch be- tween the Capitol and the Treasury and the Avenue and the Mall is the tdeal location for public office: tral, co-ordinated and in every res suitable. One further consideration’ remains, the rehabilitation of Pennsylvania avenue, the National Capital's chiet thoroughfare, an historic street, the scene of the countr: imposing ceremonials, and for years neglected and debased in consequence of the blight of unfulfilled pre-emption along the southern side. It was recently proposed that if the Government is not to take this land, which is so evi- dently suitable for Government needs, taxes on private improvements there- in should be lowered or remitted as a means of encouraging the develop- ment of Pennsylvania avenue and its redemption from its present condition. That, however, is not to be considered as long as there is a chance that the Government will take this ground and put it to use for its own building improvements. cen- pect -~ St. Louis reports a mild earthquake somewhere in the vicinity. Thanks to the selsmograph, every section of the globe may have its occasional turn at first-page fame. o Regardless of financial criticism, Florida now turns to the thermometer with confidence as her one best ad writer. P — Ship Control. The controversy over the operation of the Governmentowned merchant fleet has come to the fore again in the merchant marine conference now un- der way in this city. Stated in its simplest terms, the question is whether the Shipping Board shall have the power or whether it shall be lodged in the Fleet Corporation made responsible to the President of the United States. Sacretary Hoover of the Depart- | number |on the forty | their cases. | same muent of Commerce in an address to the conference advocated turning the Government merchant fleet over to thé Fleet Corporation, with final re- sponsibility lodged in the President. 1In support of his proposal, Mr. Hoover urged that business-like operation, economy and efficiency demanded cen- tralization of authority. He pointed vince Europe that he desires to be re garded as a patient creditor, but as a “butter-andegs man.” e — Traffic and the Public test good for the greatest should the controlling element in the decisions the Commis sioners of the District will soon make six traffic changes advo- cated by Director of Traffic Eldridge At the hearing yesterday in the District Building representatives of many interests appeared to plead Opposing views on the were expressed in many instances. No uManimity was displayed, and it is doubtful if the Commissioners made much progress in getting at the real public opinion on the various changes in the traffic code Selfish interests should not be al- lowed to control the \destinies of the city in either its traflic or any of its municipal functio) Public interest should be the governing force, and public interest alone should actuate the Commissioners in their decisions on traffic questions. This, unfortunately, has not always been the rule, as was demon: in the mnow historic “Connecticut Avenue Bridge fiasco,” when the Commissioners rescinded a routing regulation of the traffic director sim- ply because residents of an apartment house nearby objected to the noise of “automobiles running along the street.” Instead of advising this very small minority of District citizens to move into the country, where there would be less disturbance, the Commission- ers revoked a rule that was not only a distinct benefit to the whole public, but which cleared up a traffic jam at the bottle-neck entrance to the bridge, where many serious accidents have occurred. Therefore, in considering the pro- posed changes of the traffic director, the Commissioners should weigh each question on its possible benefits to the public as a whole. If the new parking abreast concession, for in- stance, will aid more people than it will inconvenience, it should be adopt- ed; but, on the contrary, if the incon- venience is shown to be of greater importance than the benefits, it should be turned down without hes- ttation. The same rule should be applied to all the forty-five other recommenda- tions. The National Capital is grow- ing in population and advancing in progressive thought. There should be no “holding back” in municipal improvement because a small minor- ity of citizens believe that Washing- ton is still an infant city. Traffic is one of the most difficult problems facing communities today. Washington is fortunate in having for its traffic director an able man. Mr. Eldridge, however, is not infal lible. Some of the recommendations he has made will probably be shown to be unfeasible under local conditions. At any event, he is recognized as an expert in his line and he should have the whole-hearted co-operation of the public and the Commissioners. He should not be hampered by petty interests which seek special privileges when the traffic policies of the city are being formulated. o The New Jersey Murder Verdict. The first degree murder verdict ren- dered in the case of Harrison Noel yesterday at Newark undoubtedly surprises a large section of the public, which has been led to expect greater leniency on the part of juries trying persons accused of homicide. In this instance the insanity plea was ad- vanced. The slayer, of whose guilt in fact there is no question, had been an inmate in a hospital for the insane. He had a sinister record, a murderous disposition. It seemed an ideal case for a verdict of acquittal on ' the ground of insanity or for a less drastic conviction than that of murder in the “The gre be question not | i T by e > EoE R Bt THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESfiAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1925. THIS AND THAT first degree without recommendation for mercy. The verdict, however, was rendered promptly. Unquestionably the Leopold and Loeb case in Chicago has affected the public judgment regarding the effi- cacy of the courts to punish ade- quately those found guilty of capital offenses. Those lads were tried for murder and entered pleas of gullty, but were sentenced to life imprison- ment on the ground of youth. Noel, of about the same age, had a positive record of mental un- balance. Abnormality in the cases of Leopold and Loeb was only a matter of inference from the abnormality of their crime. Experts engaged by the defense testifled that in their opinion the defendants were irresponsible, but the judge granted mercy, if there be mercy in life sentences. In New Jer- sey, where justice is more severe and more speedy, the jury was not influ- enced by the record of detention in a hospital or by the testimony of ex- perts, and speedily tendered a verdict that invoWes the death penalty. The difference between these two trials and their outcome is an Im- pressive indication of the effect of the Leopold-Loeb case in Chicago upon public feeling as reflected in the find- ings of jurles. In general, the out- come of the Chicago trial was viewed a_fallure of justice. The cases might easily have been reversed, with a merciful verdict rendered in the New Jersey case and the extreme penalty administered in the Chicago In each instance the crime was atrocious unprovoked, wanton and brutal, call ing for the extreme punishment pro- vided by the law. It may be that the grant of mercy to the Chicago lads has served valuable purpose in evoking a mandatory public sentiment in favor of full execution of the pen- alties for willful homicide as a means of checking crime, which is so terribly prevalent in this country. o His promise of a speedy return to America may not be kept by Catllaux after all. He may be excused for de- ciding that pressing political busi- ness in France prevents him from undertaking what might prove only a sight-seeing tour. . Mrs. Lansdowne says she has no in- tention of going on the stage. This decision will bring disappointment to many press agents for whom her prominence would have made life casy. SRR Y China is at least showing an inclina- tion for fight sufficient to contradict the impression that the old dragon had been entirely overcome by the poppy product. — e Air Service s young and has its faults. Even so old and well estab- lished a system of transportation as the steam railway is not without an ase. a |unnual record of deplorable accidents. — v aor—- For the present Vice President Dawes must be content to see the Sen- ate rules temporarily subordinated in public interest to the regulations of aviation. ——r——————— Love letters evidently have great persuasive powers. Yet they sound strangely unconvincing when read aloud in court. —————————— Soft coal 18 relled on to protect the ultimate consumer from a hard bar- gain. o King Tut was only sixteen years old. His accumulation of jewels puts toq | Pim in the infant prodigy class. ated e The submarine is valuable only as 2 reminder of the horrors of war and as an incentive to peace. ———— In connection with suspicions of a trust, a “Big Four” is men- me old quartet! v SHOOTING STARS. radio tioned. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. . Quest of Freedom. A man once said, “For wealth Iyearn! I want some day to take my turn At luxury and ease. Each passing fancy I'd pursue And feel at liberty to do Exactly as I please.” ‘Wealth he achieved. At golf he'll play And heed the rules, quite strict, they say, Around the 'customed trac] Or hunt for hours through sleet and snow And pay a license fee and show A number on his back. More auto tags he has to buy. His income tax now greets the eye Ot general human kind. The more he tries to spend his gold The more he sees new rules unfold That he’s obliged to mind! Fate. *How did you happen to-adopt poli- tics as a career?” “I didn’t adopt it,” answered Sena- tor Sorghum. “A candidate was needed for a small, undesirable office just when I happened to be out of a job.” Self Satisfaction. Opinions are curfous things. Each person his pwn bravely brings And wonders just why Other persens should try To have inteflectual flings. Jud Tunkins says he's glad Tut was only sixteen years old. In spite of his wealth he was too young to pose as a self-made man. Intellectual Autocracy. “Why are you strong for the Ein- stein theory?” “Because,” whispered Prof. Helbrau, “it permits me to say anything I like. Nobody knows enough about the sub- ject to contradict me.” Musical Note. Unta the tenor low I bow For every time he hollers, I'm told by folks that know, as how He gets a thousand dollars! “Riches has wings,” said Uncle Eben. “But sometimes dey ain’ no mo’ use to de owner dan feathers is to an ostrich.” thelr, | thracite. BY CHARLES E. All the fur-bearing animals in the world can be seen on F street during the course of any noon hour. The other day I saw a fox, several raccoons, innumerable opossums, many seals, hundreds of squirrels, a leopard, a wolf, a whole tribe of muskrats, some beavers and assorted animals of unknown lineage. The strange thing was that every animal went on two legs, not four, was laughing and talking away for dear life. And then I saw that what T had mis- taken for animals were women and girls wearing the pelts of these va- rious creatures around the collars of their coats, around the cuffs, or strips of these dead animals' fur in bands, or around their necks. 1 stood for more than an_ hour watching this spectacle, and I give you my word that I could have count- ed on the fingers of my two hands the women who did not have their coats‘adorned with animal fur. There were green coats, and blue coats, and ccats of “bunny brown, there were yellow coats, and red coats, and coats of ‘“gracklchead blue"— and every coat, no matter what its color, had a collar of fur or cuffs of the same. Those that had no fur around their col their wrists, contented themselves with wearing, cast around their tender necks, a strip of some sert of furry mate So assiduously have the fur people worked to supply this demand of our falr women for this sort of personal lornment that no self-respecting mal, if he could turn out there in his stripped, quivering flesh, would recognize his own furry coat. It would be a wise fox, indeed, that would know his own skin today. 3 b Fear not, fair readers, I am not go- ing to deliver a lecture. 1 have my own ideas upon the subject—but what's the use? Tt is beyond the power of any writer to change one jot the flow of fashion. 1 used to laugh with scorn at what T called the excuse of theatrical man- agers in feeding the dear public salacious play iive the people what they want—bunk!" I snorted. I snort no longer. Along with many others, I have come to the con- clusion that the world of men and women gets more or less what it in the long run; that so long | as the people stand in huge lines to some nasty play, perhaps it fs best that the play 18 there for them to_see 5 We make no excuse for them—we stmply accept facts. There was o time, for instance, when America would no more have tolerated dis- plays of practically nude women on the stage than they would coun- tenance the same undress on the pub- lic_streets. S Yet these things are. The theaters are full, and I street on any bright afternoon is filled with more animal fur than one would be able to find in_hundreds of square miles of forest. When those of us who love our furred brethren of forest and fleld stop to realize that this same fur | mania i€ belng repeated in every town 1 city in the United States, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, from the Great Lakes to the toe of | booming Florida, our hearts become indignant—if we are inclined to be | touched by such things we even may ‘\ find our eves moist The tragic, awful joke of it all s that women are kind. They are much kinder than men. There is not one of these fur wearers—with her piece | of fur proudly around her neck—who | would not revolt in horror at the real | animals dying in the traps. “What vou don’t know won't hurt you,” =aid some old cynic, who knew his men and women. The explanation is there, | which we a TRACEWELL. I could quote you a poem upon this matter—animal trapped, looking whh| tragic eyes at the cold stars, bleeding, starving, dying, meeting the gentle Jesus, face to fa at last—but to what end? . Gentle fur wearers, the rolling tides | of fashlon will end this slaughter for | I your sake. Fur dealers, coat manufacturers, do | 1ble ¢ There is nothing that | 2MoNg not be alarmed. I or any one else can say or write that will cut into your profits one jot. The women, want fur on their coats and that settles it. After the fur mania maybe it will be feathers—but there are plenty of birds. And we have airplan word, ladies, and hundreds of men v go flying through the air for your sake, swinging huge nets, to supply the decorations for your coats season. Birds are fond of food. We sprinkle the ground with the chol of seeds, and when the silly things fly down to partake of our hospitality we will gather them in—for you. For you, sweet mothers, who tucl your little children into beds at nights—for you, the W women tender and sweet, who shudder at the mere sight of blood. * ¥ kK There is a little dog T know, a fur- bearing animal, too, ecousin to sums, He has straight forelegs and up right ears and a big black spot over his left eye which gives him the most comical aspect. To see him is to love him. His counterpart s in a thousand and one homes. His name is Spot, and he sports all day with little Billie, the pride of the household. He 15 Bill's pet. The day is never too long, or the | , demands of RBillie too insistent, for |nations of Spot. He will play until his tongue hangs out, and his to be calling “quits”; but he never wags his tail nay—never once. He is one of the family. His dinner is second only to the more elaborate meal of the voung hopeful of the family. His cute vs ‘are spoken of in the same breath with those of Billie. He is only a dog, but he has wound himself around the hearts of all who know him, in that per: ay that good dogs have, since the have been with us on this globe, with spin for our little time out of nothingness and the dark Dear old Spot! When he got lost, one day, and was I moll and cor gone for two nights and three d the family life was blighted. Billic was_disconsolate. The family adver- tised. and tnquired, and searched for blocks and blocks. 1 right eyes seem | tent, intimate | | doned, 11 | the next | 11 | most inspired and tenacious of all the est | leaders their safe 1o | Lora Grey. black, who have met and known death | sense of keen expectation that one and its sorrow—for you, voung glrls, | 4PPr the | tion there is no period more impor- funny raccoons and bright-eyed opos- | | | | | | apart and unrelated, t | common source Dull depression sat in the minds of | the A entire household . ave you found Spot yet?” friends | called up. | The virtues of the lost one were | spoken of in hushed tones, along with | a half-hearted demnation of the | little fellow for “running off.” ! “That rascal, Spot,” said the oldest member of that household, but his heart was not in it What joy reigned when Spot was! found! It seemed as if suddenly lifted from all hea reappearance of that comi al The, fellow, with his black eye, was better than a | ¢ fortune. There was nothing too good for the little animal friend, who was lost, and wa back. May we not, without undue senti- ment, give a moment’s thought—that | is all I ask—to the thousands upon thousands of little animals that go out | do not| from their own homes—but come back? They love life, too. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. The age of the earth is estimated at not less than 1,600 million years, and history declares that coal has been known as a fuel only since about 238 AD. All the rest of the time the earth received its daily. modicum of heat from other sources than coal, certainly from other fuels than an- Coal having contributed warmth only 1,600 vears, it had a “substitute” a million times as long as itself has been known. Why, then, is it so indispensable today? Habit! Man is a creature of habit—a veritable slave of habit. Three-fourths of the population of the United States would find it difficult to warm their homes if they had no other fuel than anthracite. It is the most difficult of all coals to ignite. Millions of Americans have never seen anthracite. If they use coal at all it is bituminous. This may be due to prejudice in favor of a quick flame, a strong_heat, a cheerful blaze. / Deadly gas is sometimes given off from anthracite. This gas, carbon monoxide, cannot be detected by smell, sight or any other human sense, yet it poisons its victims suddenly and fatally. It is the same gas that is given off from burning gasoline in an automobile. If the automobile engine runs in a closed garage, where this poison gas cannot escape, the ope ator will suddenly topple over, uncon- scious i not dead, without the slight- est warning. There is a_gas given off from burn- ing volatile bituminous coal, also, but it is entirely different; it has a strong odor, and is quickly detected. As it is not so poisonous, much more is required before the victim suffocate: If then the victim, although uncol sclous, is given an abundance of fresh alr, or of oxygen, he soon revives. There appears reason, therefore, ac- cording to the chemists, in the preju- dice against the more deadly anthra- cite on the part of persons unfamiliar with the necessary safeguards while trusting to it to warm their homes. Yet when one has long used anthra- cite he ceases to fear it. In much the same way charcoal i3 used for cooking in tropical countries. Charcoal is known to be deadly in its chemical effects similar to anthracite. It will kill a person very quickly if burned so that its fumes cannot es- cape and be replaced with fresh air. Besides, it is almost impossible for an inexperienced person to ignite a pot of charcoal, but a native Mexican burns it as easily as a skilled householder of Washington ignites anthracite. It all depends on one’s habits— prejudices. The locomotive engineer dogs not, save in a few rare cases, burn apthracite; he needs heat, and plenty of it, for making steam. He ‘prefers bituminous coal, not only for its higher calorific power, but for ita greater adaptability to quick handling, The same is true of great stationary steam plants. * * Bituminous coal may give off smoke, but only in case it is used un- skillfuily. It ignites so readily that if it is thrown on to a fire in huge shovelfuls, the coal dust instantly heats and puffs out of the furnace in a great belching black smudge, or may choke the chimney and call for the smoke inspector's wrath. No locomotive fireman throws a mass of dry coal on to the fire, for he knows that it would immediately “explode’” into his face. He wets the coal and then spreads on a thin layer, gradu- ally. The wet coal burns slowly and hotly. Every coal dealer i# prepared not only to supply customers with printed instructions, but also to follow delivery of a load of bituminous coal with a call from an “instructing visit- ing nurse,” like the uniformed nurses who call on the sick and feed them nourishment and tell them how to take care of themselves. These instructing visiting coal nurses are not young ladles skilled in nursing sick folks, but are trained firemen, skilled in nursing sick fur. naces, and instructing the home folks how to keep the furnace at the proper temperature, and the circulating steam or hot air coursing through the | lated or overpopulated by vellow races to cheer | were already taken up by é veins of the house in a wa into full health. Their s free to the customer. * * rvices are There is only one request that deal- ers urge upon coal consumers: It is that they avoid all fears leading to a panic, lest there might be a real short- age of fuel. There is not the slight- est danger of a shortage of bituminous coal. Yet there might be a causele panic resulting in a flurry of specula- tion in ‘“coal paper.” ‘When a dealer buys, say 10,000 tons of bituminous coal from a mine oper- ator, the latter delivers to the buyer a shipping bill or certificate from the railroad company showing that that lot of coal has been delivered to the railroad company and is en route. It will be delivered only on presentation of that shipping bill to the rallroad company at point of destination. The dealer meets a speculator and ofters to sell him the shipping bill for $1 a ton above what the coal had cost at the mine, the buyer to pay freight. So he sells not the actual coal, but the plece of paper, and clears his profits. That piece of paper may thus pass from hand to hand, each buyer adding a profit, and the more the public be- comes excited over coal prices or the coal supply, the more that paper will bring to the speculators. It may pass through a score of hands before the actual coal arrives, and the “ultimate consumer” pays for his excitement in the advanced price of coal, with no blame attached to the mine owners, the miners or the legitimate dealers. * ok k% There are no grounds for a panic over any possible coal shortage, re- gardless of a possible anthracite shut- down covering the entire Winter. It i3 noted that the total consumption of anthracite in a vear is only 90,000,000 tons. From April 1 to August 31— from the beginning of the mining year up to the beginning of the present strike—there had been mined 89,979.- 000 tons of anthracite, leaving a short- age of only 50,021,000 tons. Counting all that shortage as belonging to the period November 1 to next March 31, t;wg:lt:n:\éenge 2,308,662 tons a week, e up with b Place of Sntnrubie ituminous in e bituminous mines ordinaril average an output of 9,572,123 tons A week. To cover anthracite shortage it would be necessary to speed up to 11,880,785 tons, aside from the fact that the bituminous interests had a surplus of 42,000,000 tons on hand April 1. The bituminous mines today are producing more than 12,000,000 tons a week, and have a capacity of wi?:o%ggo to 14,000,000 tons, ol y can ‘“‘corner” the suppl. there are 12,000 bituminous rains, owned by 8,500 operators, no one of whom controls 2 per cent of the total output. ® (Copyright. 1925. by Paul V. Collins.) No Proof Wanted. From the Providence Journal. Somebody has refuted Einstein again. We'll have to take his word for it. load was | found, whe had come back—come | | i loccasions of w | ¥ NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM LG M. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. Viscount Grey of Falloden. Frederick A. Stokes. In the middle months of 1914, just before the end of the world, ‘when! the ‘long rivalries and animosities of Zutope so suddenly speeded up and turned definitely upon the irremedi- catastrophe of war, there was the Furopean leaders —of thought one of outstanding activity in an unalterable passion for peace. Long after the others, hope al had scttled to an acceptance of the inevitable, this man, persistent and unshakable, still sought honorable means of rescuing civilization from aric settlements of war. It was in these anxious and harried months that the average press reader came to know Grey of Falloden, Great Britain’s foreign _sccretary, as the in his many-sided overtures toward an accommodation of the con- flicting claims of Europe. It is, therefore, with a sense of per- onal acquaintance and confidence thut one takes up the memoirs of More than this, it is with Sir Bdward Grey's 25-year record of public service in the inter- est of England’s foreign relations. * koK K Within the history of later civiliz tant in its true significance than that included by Lord Grey's chronicle, period extending from 1592 to 1916. A time of national outreaching, thi The leading countries of Burope are here engaged in an aggressive colonial expansion, with its unavoidable se- quence of overlapping claims and dis puted points of common occupation The whole Eastern Hemisphere lies, : this time, thick-sown, with causes and r. sommon outgoing of the irope toward greater and iter empire, Great Britain has active part. Motivated by the gen eral spirit of expansion, by the need 0 of safeguarding earlier acquisi- tions and possibly by a dim prescience of danger to England itseif, in it is that Great Britain was not idle in this competitive race for place and power. And in th ever gre: ¥ Lord drawn Grey's “Twenty-fi Years,” from the watch tower of his official place as foreign s ry for England, lays out the greatest of these European copvergences upon ulti disaster sense of composition and proportic e draws the whole t competition into an intelligi prehensive utline of that, upon t Destgns e, lie ce back to a of bitter emulation of political agerandizement grow as ambition grows.{ is perturbed over England in Kitchener and Marchand “ashoda, each making claim adan—and war s just around corner. France and Spain to- er in Moroceo met by an in furiated war lord who thunders a| mighty verboten unless he, too, has some place in this particular sun of {2l expansion. France and Ru ! the triple alliance, | subsequent entente drives the| alliance to o frenzy. The Orient filled with clai ars and | iances and makeshift accommoda- | tions to the voracity of an expanding | ope. Finally the mad race of | Germany for a fleet to match her s preme army is the last blow to any possible peace. * ok ok % the fleld Jealousies France Ezypt meet to the the F A man of fair mind den. Always for Engl usually equipped. however, with an | explanation for the good intent and honorable behavior of Great Britain, equipped with legitimate explanation. Yie fs to other peoples than hix own. For instance, among many in- | stances, he talks of Germany's ambi- tion. “Much vague talk in Germany about ‘a place in the sun,’ and some equally vague sympathy in England with this aspiration of Germany. But if, by a place in the sun tropical Africa was meant, Germany already had her place in Southwest Africa, East Af and Cameroons and Togoland. A place | in the sun was not what Germany wanted. The tropics do not provide an outlet for a white race. What Ger- many really wanted was a_place in a temperate climate and a fertile land which could be peopled by her white population and be German. part of the German Empire and under the Ger. man flag. All the temperate lands of the world, however, not popu- Grey of Fallo- nd, it is true. and be: longed to white races, who were in fon of them. Germans could 20 there and did go, notably to the United States; they had to become one with the other white inhabitants and accept the separate government of those countries.” And this, to be sure, was not part of the plan of the Kaiser to pepper the round world with little Germans. K Lord Grey has this important thing to say about the causes of the World | War: “It scemed to me at the time, and stlll seems to me, that the mili. tary power in Germany chose the time and precipitated the war: and that had there had been a real will for peace in Germany, there would have been no great European war arising out of the Austro-Serbian dispute. But, though all this be true, It it not, in my opin. fon, the real and final account of the origin of the great war. The enormous growth of armaments in Europe, the ense of insecurity and fear caused by them—it was they that made war in- evitable. This, it seems to me, is the truest reading of history, and the les. son that the present should be learn- ing from the past in the interest of future peace, the warning to be hand. ed on to those who come after us.” o This opinion of the causes of the war, generally accepted as both rea- sonable and und, found an echo in the United States when President Harding in 1923 invited foreign na- tions to send representatives to Wash. ington for a conference on the subject of limitation of armaments. Lord Grey, as Great Britain's official rep- resentative, was present at that con- ference. And within the full period of Grey's service there have been many vital and delicate points of contact be- tween England and the United States other than this notable general con- ference upon an epoch-making subject. Many of these Anglo-American meet- ings of mind have not hitherto come into the open for the consideration of the general reader. With these the writer deals in perfect frankness and friendliness. Indeed, Lord Grey pos- sesses the gift of being able to say | the world. | borrowed Q. At the exhibition of the National of Design _there is a statue What is its signifi- A. The cestus was a boxing glove bound to the wrist and forearm by loaded thongs. It was worn by Greek and Roman cestaurii, or boxers. The figure of the athlete to which you refer represents a boxer equipped with the cestus. Q. 1Is there any truth in the idea that the continents of the world are moving?—K. C. V. A. This idea i “Wegener hypothests, Prof. Alfred Wegener his book, “The Origin of Continents and Oceans,” published in 1912. This theory is that the continents of the | world are drifting, the rate of move- | slow, and | { | embodied in " suggested by of Austria in the ment being necessarily ver during recent conferences of scientists it was decided that certain tests, in volving radio, were to be made during the Winter of 1926-1927. Q. Did the late President Theodore Roosevelt ever approve the idea of league of nations’—D. L. A. Nobel lecture® in 1910 id, in part: “It would be a master stroke if those great powers honestly bent on peace would form a league of peace, not only to keep e among themselves, but to pre: vent, by force, if necessary, its be broken by others. The man or st man who should bring about such a conditlon would have earned his place in history for all time and his title to the gratitude of all mankind.” What is the liberty cap?—W A. The cap, was by the Phrygian can, or liberty 4 peaked headdress worn anclent Phrygians, and when placed upon the heads of sluves be came a token of their freedom, thus becoming a 'mbol of 1 riy During the French Revolution it the mark of a “patriot,” and XVI was compelled to wear it in ord to show his agreement with the peo ple's desires. The cap appears the head of the goddess of liberty on some of the coins of the United | at and has also been adopted by some foreign countries and in cluded in their coats of arms Q. Were there State labor bureaus before the natio: al department created?—YV S A. Massachusetts created the f bur of labor in 1869. Congress followed with the creation of the Na tional Bureau of Labor in 1834, the Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903 and the Department of Labor in 1913. Q. What college first offered courses in journalism?—W. C. F. A. The School of Journalism, estal lished at Columbla University urd the Pulitzer endowment of 1803, was the first institution of the kind in the d. It was opened September Q. Are there Kimberley gold fie well as diamond fields>—T. K. G A. There is a_district in Western Australia called Kimberley that came was a: the information you need. BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN into public notice as a result of the discovery of gold there in 1585, but the name s not generally linked Zold fields as it is with diamond mi Q. Who invented the laryngoscope? —M. R. T. A. Drs. Turck of Vien and Czermak of Prague are generally given credit for having Introduced this instrument in complete form into medical practice, although other phy- sieians had used a reflecting mirror o explore the reces of the throat prior to the time the two Germ took up the subject in 1857 Q. At growing. year 20007 the ra how ~A.R. N A. According to estimates of who are preparing the re of New York and its environs city wil a populatic of about 18,000, 75 years from and what is known as the Metropolitan area will have a total of 2% ) 1o 30,000,000 Q. What is a plebiscite?—E. C. W. A. A plebiscite is a form of voting introduced in France under the poleonic regime by which the whole body of voters ratified or refused to ify a legist enactment. Na- Who were the Jukes?—R. L A. The Jukes fan New Yor record for crime of the Jukes know the Q. 1t had an nd paupe Marg; rer of ( Q. What per cer tion should be used to floor?—R. G. D. A c acid using the acid pound to the g adding to the solu of niter. A the bleact must_be we acid from t poison and shonld not be z a rag held in the fingers i the on n e acid Please give the limeri “The poor unfortunite Hin- A. It runs, “The poor benighted Hindoo, He does the best he kin do: He sticks to caste, From last; For pants he do Nam about it throuugh Information Bureaw 11l knowledge the suining through research and investigation is available to you Don't hesitate to make your wants known. A 2-cent stamp will bring vou This serr- ice is for all readers of The Star and is designed to be helpful to all who avail themselves of it. An effective clearing house between the Govern- ment and the people will aid you, and it is pours for the asking. Address The Star Information Bureau, Fred eric J. Haskin, director, Twenty-first and (' streets northwest, Washington, D) (Ask TUn the Washingt of The Star ernment Gor- Common Sense BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. The settlement of the Italian debt represents a triumph of common sense and indicates statesmanlike couraga in the face of very possible domestic misapprehension. Following the failure of the French negoti: tions, nothing was more inevitable than’ that a similar failure in the case of Ita would be bound to have | unfortunate reactions = 1d an aken our position in the eyes The fact that there has| been very general European criticism | of our attitude would hot be modified | or improved if, following failure here, Rome should suffer the financial cri- sis which has already come to Paris The terms to which Italy has | agreed will not, to the Italian mind large degree of own part, for the at Ttaly has agr represent any sity on ou ple reason that wha to pay surpassed jans had expectes S agreement has the advantage of be-| ing accepted by the Italians, and| therefore is presumptively pos: | Broad] speaking, we have asked| the Italians to pay on an average of | 21, per cent to cover the principal and interest of what they borrowed | from us. or 1z per cent on what they | plus the accumulated ir terest. This stands galnst an av erage of 41 per cent., which we asked | from the British on ‘the sum actually borrowed by them, or 4 per cent on the | principal plus the accumulated iInte est. The best offer which we are re- ported to have made to the French, al- though it was never officially ac- knowledged, represented about 3 per cent on what they had borrowed plus accumulated interest. Fare Better Than Britain. In a word, Italy’s bargain is three times more advantageous than Brit- ain’s and twice as advantageous as that offered to France and rejected | by Caillaux. All things considered, this is not an unfair or unreasonable estimate of the relative capacity of the three countries to payv. And it does bear out our assertion that capacity to pay would be the test of government in every case. Looking to the net result, we have now settled with Britain, Italy and Belgium among the larger countries as well as with half a dozen smaller nations, of which Poland was our largest debtor. We are now entitled to receive an average of $250,000,000 annually, in round figures, for the next two generations and the ultl- mate funding of the French and other smaller debts outstanding would —certainly raise this to more than $350,000,000. It will, however, be a number of years before we touch this maximum and meantime the American taxpayer will continue to carry part of the load. This ~ represents, assuming later payments from France, a return of $350,000.000 annually on loans aggre- gating $10,000,000.000, or, as it stands a return of $250,000,000 on loans: amounting to $6,500,000,000. Britain, which during the war and since lent upward of $8,000,000,000, has so far received nothing in interest or prin- cipal and the single prospective con- ditional settlement, that with France, would bring in $62,000.000 annuaily, or 2 per cent on the original loan plus accumulated interest. Far Exceeds Reparations. Assuming that Italy will now fund what he thinks in a manner that is invariably free from any implication of offense. So, many of us get a new and fair-minded and dependable read- ing of news—home news, in a sense— from the memoirs of this English gen- tleman. There are intimate recollec- tions here of Roosevelt and Walter Hines Page and Col. House. All of these Lord Grey held in high esteem and warm friendship. In a very her debt to Britain on similar terms, England will receive something like $50,000,000 from Italy annually, and Ttaly will pay abroad on the ave for the next two generations thing like $86,000,000. As the Ttalian 10 per cent share in reparations can never conceivably amount to this sum, we have now the extraordinary spec- tacle of another victorious nation ac- tually paving abroad, as Britain has marked degree does this book of mem- oirs suggest those deeply interesting volumes of the Page letters, produced while Walter Hines Page, with the sympathy and assistance of Col. House, was carrying so big a load of anxious responsibility for the United States upon its slow approach to the war. * * ¥ ¥ A quiet, unpretentious man, with an amazingly elear and sympathetic mind been paying. Notwithstanding the Italian agree- coupled with an equal power of ex- pression, offers by way of these mem- oirs both the substance of his wide | great Triumphant In Italian Debt Settlement ment to pay us, it 1s plain that t payments, like all others, inc the British, and, for that matter, st depend in the long r reat change in the Buro- pean n and upon a very great rise in European prosperi ter what the face value o claims as now fixed by treaty, they can in the nature of things represent ° no more than cl 10 share in a fi ture prospe It Europe improve our payments will certainly be as- sured, but if present conditions co; tinue, which is fortunately unlikely, not even Britain will be able to con- tinue payments to us indefinitely. In this circumstance lies the single danger incident to the debis put in the position of nd precisely as Europe's good or bad our popularity position in Europe will be rfortable or disagreeable. F goes without saying that if the T ships of the war and PoSt-w: continue the tribute to America will seem intolerable, the more 8o becau American prosperity already contrasts sharply with European hardship and in cases even misery. Will Blame U. S. Europe is bound to keep in mind the facts that the European nations are paying Britain on account of debts incurred Auring the war, because Britain is paying us, and only to the amount Britain pays us. In the same fashion German reparation, while paid to all her conquerors, will not, in all probability, even amount to enough to meet the aggregate obligations of the nations to the United States. Thus precisely as the British gove ernment in the Balfour note informed France and Ithly that they would bave We a creditor, situation i and_our |to pay Britain because America In~ sisted upon British payments, Fran Italy and Britain will tell German: that reparations represent not Ger- man payments to them, but German contributions to their American paye ments. Interallled debts and repara- tions could be automatically wiped out if it were not for the American debts, and as a consequence we shail be held responsible for both. This situation might easily prove the basis for common action of an economic character, particularly if the European situation made the pays ments difficult; thus the existence of the debts must have a very real po- litical _significance in our relations with Europe for many vears, as they are bound to diminish our rather slight remaining popularity for a sime ilar period. French Crisis a Menace. Meantime the settlement of the Ital. ian ‘debt must lead to a renewal of speculation as to whether the French will make a new offer. Nothing in French comment suggests that France is yet ready to go beyond the offer which was rejected in Washington. Moreover, there is a growing feeling in France that the additional loans which might be secured here after ettlement might prove a curse rather than a blessing, since they might postpene the obvious necessity of a complete liquidation. Fundamentally, of course, the diffi- culties of France are different from those of Italy. for France is to all in- tents and purposes a self-sufficing country, capable of feeding herself and of producing a surplug in e her needs for foreign purch France went through bankruptcy, as Germany did two vears ago, while there would be much incidental suf- fering, France would emerge speedily and the basis of her prosperity would not be disturbed. But if France is compelled to go through bankruptey, the advantages incident to funding foreign debts will disappear, for it is only to et loans to avoid bankruptcy that France has proposed British and American set- tlements. Moreover, if bankruptey comes, repudiation of forelgn zovern- mental debts will be just as inevitable as repudiation of domestic govern- mental obligations. Thus a crash in France almost inevitably means the elimination of the French debt as an American asset. That is why rejoic- ing over French difficulties in certain experience and the genial kindliness of his personal temperament. A most useful book, and certainly a most ab- sorbing one, from a highly distin- gulshed source of information. quarters now is as shortsighted as it is ilitempered. France may suffer, but if the suffering goes heyond a certaim point we shall lose our claim; (Covyrishi, 1825.)