Evening Star Newspaper, November 26, 1925, Page 6

"6 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY . .November 26, 1925 | THEODORE W. NOYES...Editor| The Evening Star Newspaper Company Rusiness O vania A Fast 47nd Builay Y.andon, Ofin: Tow flice 13 Rezent wnd. s Chi European Of St The Feening St Ing e I ao the 8’ e telenhoni. carrier nra within dayis only. niv. 20 cents By mail or i is made by v Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and s << 40: 1 mo. aily oniy Si.00: 1 ma. Sunday only $2.40: 1 mo! 700 1vr 1sr ! the with the Sunday morn- | | case | that | ready All Other States. Patly and Sunda 1yr.S10.00 Datlr only 1vrl €£7.00 Bunday only 1yr. $3.00 1mo 1 o. Press. sivele entitlad uniication of all news d ; to it ar not atherwiss d fn his naner — Member of the Associated D Dangerous Stock Gambling. hout thriving Prosperity the United the are emploved at tion. Industry volume of cur lation. Cond wvorable to a times.”” There dustrial of adversity. One element, menacing the prosperity. an: product that gambling spirit ftself in specul of sk excha New Yor try's financial tra This orgy of some time past prices soaring t Justified by intrinsic cently a recession of the markct has | occurred, and chservers of financial conditions are hopeful that the period | of excessive wbling s ap- | proaching an end - there is great | danger that if this speculative spirit | 1s not moderated business and indus. | Arv will suffer a serfous setback. from | which it will be long in recovery. ! a speculative movement in th Mtock market carrying prices far be- wond the value points is certain even- | tually to lead to a collapse. A sud-| den, sharp, severe reaction not only | injures those who have been caught in the recession, but it reacts quickly | and unfaverably upon business, which | 18 founded upon confidence, the shak- | ing or withdrawal of which is likely to lead to serious depresslon. In recent speculative move- ment the hooming of prices has been carried on without regard for intrinsic values. In many cases these ad-| vances have been far beyond the most optimistic appraisal of present or even | prospective worth. Some of this stock | buying has been for investment. but the greater part has been speculative gambling. This has called for enor- mous sums-of money for margins, and for outright payments in full, largely borrowed from the banks, and thus withdrawn from the reach of borrow- ers requiring cash for their business purposes. This speculative spirit has prevailed all over the country. Banks in all the cities have been sending cash or cash credits to New York for call | loan use. The Federal Reserve banks | have begun to note this condition, and for the sake of financial stability are in certain reglons advancing redis- count rates in the hope of checking | the gambling process. It is time that | such measures were adopted, for, at | the present rate, or, rather, the rate | that prevailed until the recent setback | occurred in the stock exchange, dis- | aster is certain to come. | Business is never too sound to be | affected by adverse money conditions | or to be serfously shaken by stock market reactions and slumps. The stock gamblers, by their speculative | buying and selling, requiring a vast | amount of money for their transac- | tions, money which should be used in | other channels, have been undermin- | ing the foundations of the country’s | prosperity. The inflation of values for speculative purposes, the with- drawal of cash from legitimate uses, the blowing of stock bubbles that are certain to burst, are evils that menace the business of the country through | the collapse of confidence incident to @ sharp and sudden reversal in the market. Therefore, it is hoped that | this present movement is a sign of an | ebb of the tide of speculation, and | that the ordinary traffic in securitles | mt real, and not fictitious, values will | be resumed. prevails thre Business with few hor is peaple exceptions is active, e on the econ and business horizon no sign stat that same is pe prosperity. prevails, manife in the securities | I of the local particularly that in| of the (‘nun~! 1sactions. ting | corporations of the cent has for 1ding security | speculation been s by no means | Quite stock this ————— Florida is earnestly in favor of pro- hibition. Anyhody with spare change will find plenty of ways to get rid of it without wasting it on liquor. o Chapman Gains Three Months. A commutation of Gerald Chapman's Federal sentence of twenty-five years at Atlanta penitentiary renders nuga- tory any habeas corpus proceedings for the stay of his executlon in Con- mnecticut for murder. But Chapman's refusal to accept the commutation ralses a new legal point, which perves, nevertheless, to stay the exe- | cution. The Governor of the State | has granted a respite of three months | to permit this question to be deter- mined by the hichest court. If that court decides that the prisoner can elect to remain in custody for his earlier crime of mall robbery rather than meet the extreme punishment for his later and more serious crime of murder, Chapman must, despite the commutation, be remanded to Atlan- ta, to remain twenty-five years, with the gallows in Connecticut facing him upon the expiration of his sentence. This is a fine point of law, but for the public patience too fine a point. Chapman has been declared guilty of smurder in the first degree and sen- tenced to death. That he should /-.zruzglo to save his neck, preferring virtually life imprisonment to death, is natural. Many another man has done the same, though never before in such circumstances. He has a right to all the appeals and devices W permits. But this country | has witnessed many a defeat of jus- tice through the invocation of tech- nicalities, many protracted delays in the cxccution of sentences through the ingenuity of coursel, until no longer is there confidence that the law will take its course when men have challenged it to the limit. Though it is important question now raised in Chapman® should be definitely settlad b the highest court, it is to be deplored it has been invoked, for even though the convicted man should ntually executed, his tempo- that this ev be {rarily successful challenge of the law will have a harmful effect. It is al- recognized that criminal encouraged to take risks becau the chance that they may defe ice through technical maneuversand delays. The percentage of unpunish ed crimes is shockingly country. A at commission of citizens at work studying the in America. seek- causes of the ter- prevalence lawbreaking this condition. It ix e most definite will volunteer present of crime the cause or & d the cure fc t one of that is that « and uncertainty of prosecu- 1 punishment upon convie- 1 that the remedy lies in en- of the courts, the curtail- 1ls and the shortening of This (1 pman case is mate 1l for stud and furnishes the basis for unanswerable argument for speedier justice as a means of public vrotection against crime. inclusions commission me is o delays tion a tion, largement an e Juggernaut. A thorough investigation should be instituted at once by the Public Utilf Commission to determine the use of the street car accldent ves- in Georgetown. Although there litles, the lives of more 50 persons were put in jeopardy ind the property damage will run into large figures. Only a miracle prevented a fright ful catastrophe when the car, out of control, dashed wildly down the hill on Wisconsin avenue, failed to take he switch at P street, jumped the track, ripped the front of three build- ings and practically demolished an automobile before coming to rest on the sidewalk against a steel pole. If faulty brake equipment was re ponsible for this near-tragedy, the commission should immediately take drastic action to compel a more com- prehensive inspection of cars before they are sent out to carry hundreds of passengers who are dependent solely on the care and skill with which this {nspection s performed. It speed down the long hill, com- bined with slippery tracks, is found to have been the cause, it 18 up to the street car company to deal appropri- ately with the motorman. Judgment and skill in the operation of a street car are as necessary as good equip- ment, and no company should allow any one who does not possess these qualities to run its vehicles. Regardless of whether this element entered into yesterday's accldent, it might be a good plan for all railway compantes to order the speed of street cars held down to a lower limit. A vehicle of this size, when out of con- trol, is a menace not only to the pas- sengers, but to all users of the street. At any event, the public expects a prompt and thorough probe of the whole incident, and it will not be sat- isfled until adequate explanation is made and appropriate action is taken. o Political Chaos in France. Is France invoking a Napoleon? Is the republic inviting a dictator? Such questions are suggested by the difficulties which are now being en- countered in Paris in the formation of a ministry to carry on the govern- ment in the face of an apparently hopelessly divided Chamber of Depu- ties, from the membership of which no dependable support for a ministry ties ca terd; were no f: n {can be secured. The defeat of the Painleve ministry has been followed by three tenders of the premiership by President Doumergue, to Briand, to Doumer, to Herriot. Neither of the two first named could make the necessary combination. Herriot, former pre- mier and one-time leader of the So- cialists, may perhaps strike the bal- ance, to serve for a short time. But in any case a ministry formed in the present conditions cannot hope for long continuance. It will be but a makeshift. Many months must elapse before a new election can be held. The presi- dent of the republic cannot prorogue Parliament without the consent of the enate. The financial situation is ex- tremely difficult. A national crisis is at hand. Hence the thought thal has already been given expression in Paris that conditions may favor the advent of a single powerful personage, capa- ble of solving the immediate problem, whether he seeks supreme individual power or merely uses existing agen- cies to bring order out of the political chaos that is now making in France. — ——————— A student mob started a riot in Evanston, IIl., as & protest against & foot ball decision. There is such a thing as allowing a game to become entirely too rough. Artistic Make-Up. The women of Berlin may be ini- tiated in the ‘“real art of make-up™ at fitty cents the lesson, according to press dispatches from the German capital. The Germans are nothing if not thorough. Here in America the women make-up without stopping to learn how. There are exceptions, of course. But, take them by and large, the paint and powder daubers are far in the majority. It is the fashion today for women to “make-up,” just as it is to wear boyish bobs, one-plece bathing suits and ‘“‘pants. An unpainted face among girls and women from the tender age of fourteen or fifteen up- ward is almost an anachronism. If they are all intent upon painting the ay. why not learn how to do it ar- - high in this | tered by the | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1925. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. tistically? Why daub? It is true that in some of the beauty parlors in {this country the attendants kindly “make-up” the patrons if they desire it. but real painting schools for girls and women are something new, par- ticularly at fifty cents a throw. In Berlin a school for training the- atrical male-up artists has widened its scope to include the public gener- ally, and it is naively explained that it 18 because more users cf cosmetics, lincluding the lipstick, rouge and powder, not to mention the eyebrow pencil, are to be seen in the streets las common on the streets of Ameri- |can cities as red-headed turkeys on a turkey ranch. then, why should not the women learn to make-up as attractively as possible? Why not learn to adopt the right tint for the right coloring of hair and eyes? So many of the paint- ed ones today give the impression of suffering from color-blindness. There is the germ of an fdea and something more in the plan adopted {by the Berlin school econom hurts, is an excellent feature. ———— Thanksgiving. It is in order this day to pause to | take account of the reasons why the ation should give thanks for bless Ings, in response to the President’s proclamation. No perfunctory feeling of gratitude is adequate. The people of America should thoughtfully con sider the circumstances of thelr life, the bounties they are enjoying, the | opportunities they find in daily lives to advance and to justify themselves members of soclety. Yet enumeration of the blessings | | | | people is a trite recital at best. They are well known, often related. They are evident in the daily golngs and comings of all the people. They are part of the very atmosphere of every- day existence. Prosperity, employ- ment, security from aggression, a free choice of occupation, the chance for every man to rise to higher planes of wocial and business activity, a sound Government based upon the highest principles of “self-determination,” the administration of affairs intrusted to citizens of integrity and capacity— | such are the fundamentals of Ameri- can life. To appreciate the American citizenship, these times, it is glance abroad, to other lands, where blessings espectally happiness and soclal development. ica has received no deep wounds. Prosperity prevails in all sections, where this tale cannot be told. grave anxleties beset this land. The prospect is fair, undimmed by clouds of doubt or fear. happy, aspirant for learning, eager for service, gifted with the richest boun- ties of nature! Americans have in- day, fervently and reverently, for their blessings. ———————— It is a long way back to the time when a man shot his own Thanksgiv- ing turkey. The passing of those old- time conditions is among the things for which we of today have to be thankful. ——————————— The headline, “Daring Robbery,” should be abolished. There are no daring robberfes. A thief is the most thorough of “safety-first” performers and neglects no precaution, however cowardly. ————————— An effort to dissolve the alleged movie trust may have the final effect, !as in the case of Standard Oil, of mak- {ng the business more prosperous. o Student riots in this country per- tain to sports and not to politics, as in Europe. This is at least keeping on the safe side. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Barefoot Boy. “Blessings on you, Barefoot Boy!" Sang the poet long ago. Greater peace we'd now enjoy Had you stayed forever so. Bootleg wine and bootleg gin Make the future insecure, And, what's worse, they're bringing in Bootleg forms of literature. So we tondly think of you As these bootleg fads annoy; And we mention it anew, “Blessings on you, Barefoot Boy!" Forgotten. “Your friend Slicker says he can't remember @ single case of graft in your community.” “Well!” rejolned Senator Sorghum, “all T can say is, some cases of apha- sta are terribl Lucky Combination. Thanksgiving day we'll duly cele- brate. For him the world just now pro- ceeds aright ‘Who can combine, on this auspicious date, The price of turkey with an appe- tite. Jud Tunkins says it's only decent for a man to love dogs, but it he tries to own too many it makes him look triflin’. Other Folks’ Affairs. “Was it wise for Mr. Chuggins to go so deep in debt for an automo- bile?"" “Perhaps, in a way,” replied Miss Cayenne. “But it was undoubtedly foolish for the man to sell it to him.” Implements of Exercise. The golf club now is put awa New sports assume control. Sometimes we'll shovel snow, they Ay, Sometimes we'll shovel coal. “De world is improvin',” sald Uncle Eben, “but not fast enough to justifie de raises in-rent.” B a | than on the stage. Painted faces are | In the name of all art, | among all classes of the people. Else- | No | I read every evening. A strong, healthy people, thrifty and | | of makeup. | 1Fifty cents a lesson in these days of | tures by ‘fashion’s trend.’ ¥, and more economy until it |in | your | that have been bestowed upon us a8 a | 1n' the da. of |(vou have in | fine) for fashion” but necessary to | torturing literally to death of some | | | that seventh | self-evident. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Here are some of the things we ought to be thankful for this Thanks- giving: 1. That cats cannot open refrig- erator doors. 2. That mankind haven't tails. 3. That all paint isn't fresh. 4. That High School Cadet officers are not as ferocious as they look. 5. That doctors don't give all their medicine at once. 6. That babies can’t tell what they see. 7. That we are not fur-bearing animals. Here are some letters thad elucidate point. The others are The first letter comes from Virginia: “Will you allow me to thank you most sincerely for the effective piece in Tuesday’s Star relating to the fur folks and the wearing of furs by the ladies. “I am just a woman of insignifi- cance but my heart throbs with pain when 1 look and realize the mighty suffering caused these helpless crea. If others your profession would interest themselves in censuring this inhuman custom there might be an innovation Fashion might decree a less cruel style of dress and spare some of the animals, who are minding their own business, to enjoy a life given them by the Creator of mankind “Please consider me a follower of ced, and, although only a small unit, T am faithful to the ciuse. “Cordially yours, Mrs. L. E. D." * X ok % Another letter is from the presi- dent of the Anti-Steel Trap League. He writes in part: “May I take off my hat to you for your This and That contribution in The Star of November 17?2 Artisti- cally it was a gem, a pretty conceit, while it developed into an excellent (and excellently camoufiaged) homily. of slipshod style and the King's scullion’s English, it is delicious to read such prose. Please don't take this for interested ‘taffy ‘It i3 apparent that you have had the vision to see the colossal size of this steel-trap business. I trapped as a boy and many vears thereafter. I | was three times a professional trap- per. By degrees my 10 or more gen- erations of Puritans rose out of thefr graves and finally they got my moral goat. 1 formerly saw the awful thing, but I did not acknowledge it. Finally I not only recognized it, but I ‘went the whole hog' and decided to fight it for the rest of ngy life. “Personally, I think this abolition of the non-kiliing traps about the most important thing in America, be- cause the condonement of our women their psychology down s sake alone of the 100,000,000 animals & year forms a criminal complex which is bound to | conditions are far less favorable to| pulliey every moral step ahead “The women, the church, the press Though scarred by the war, through | —how shail we interest them, gal- | the loss of a muititude of men, Amer- | VaNize them “Very trul Another woman: “Your column in The Evening Star is one of the first parts of the paper 1 have been S0 much interested in your accounts of Jack Spratt, the ungrateful feline, because his doings so closely resemble those of my own cat, a great black lord of my household. “Of course, 1 knew from your ac- counts of Jack Spratt that you must love animals, but when I read your rours, 5. B.» letter from a Virginia deed occasion to give thanks on this | touching appeal in last night's Star 1 felt T must write you and express my appreciation. “I have seen much trapping in my childhood home in northern New Eng- land, which I left to come to Wash- ington, along with many others in the early days of 1917. I feel, as you say, that women are kind. “I also feel that if a full realiza- tion of all the horrors and tortures that these shy little animals undergo before thefr little coats—oh, how Luxor Splendor Inspires Thoughts Those who think of America as wholly materialistic or coldly sclen- tific may be pleasantly surprised to note that some newspapers pass by the golden glories of the funeral trap- pings of King Tut-ankh-Amen, re- cently uncovered near Luxor, Egypt, in thelr comments and, with real sentiment, deplore what they term the desecration of the mummy of this long dead Pharaoh. Some are un- equivocal in thefr objections, while others, though regretful, still believe that the results to sclence and his- tory justify apparent desecration. “Such infinite pains to maintain an eternity of respect for the skin and bones of the king of kings—and such abominable profanation at last!” ex- claims the Boston Evening Transcript. “The thoroughness of the desecra- tion,” it declares, “is in proportion to the splendor and long effective- ness of the royal precautions. And the saddest and strangest part of the profanation,” concludes the Trans- script, “perhaps, is that it is abso- lutely our duty to freat Tut-ankh- Amen in this way for the sake of science and the store of human knowl- edge.” This is the thought also of the Asheville Times, as it reminds those to whom “the autopsy of the Egypt- ologists and archeologists will appear as a desecration” that they must re- member, “that the Egyptian govern- ment has consented to the work, and that all of the results will be care- fully preserved in museums. Sclence has much on its side when it declares justifiable its apparent disregard for humanity in the name of progress of civilization.” * kK % Though it concedes that it is “vital that this sclentific investigation of the tomb be thorough,” the San Ber- nardino Sun _thinks ‘‘present.day thought would have been soothed had there been some regard for the fact that this mummy was once a man, and entitled in death, even though it has been long, to revetence.” To the Louisville Courfer-Journal there is no justification in the ghoul- ish work,” “which is declared ‘none too cleverly cloaked by professed pas- slon for art.” What has been “going on at Luxor for three years,” causes this commentator “to wonder whether |or not the soul of what men call ‘civilization’ was lald away in King Tut’s tomb with the embalmed body of the 16-year-old Pharaoh.” The Dan- vill Register concurs with this senti- ment, declaring that “no greater ef- frontery to the kings of the earth has ever been given than in the wholesale robbery of the graves of Egyptian kings and queens that has been tak ing place in recent years at Luxo: and this paper asks: “What does our boasted civilization amount to when it will permit such license and such lberties?" Less serious is the attitude of the Providence Journal, which ponders the contrast between the ancient and the present in the words: “Where once no Egyptian dared touch the hem of his garments, a whole corps i busy today inquiring into the state many it takes to make just one beau- tiful wrap—are finally converted into collars and cuffs and coats and strips ‘of some rort of furry material’ that' adorn milady, was brought more widely to notice, that possibly even- tually some way could be devised whereby women could still have the fur, but it could be acquired by more merciful means—such as fur farms, where the animals are put humanely to death. “These little anfmals—otters, musk- rats, coons, foxes, etc.—are 50 shy they are seldom seen in their native haunts, but at night they are forced out by the need of food and the cruel traps are baited with what to them is choice food—gloves often being used to prevent the odor of a man, which i3 easily detected by their keen scent. “The snap of the jaws of a trap is often strong enough to break the leg of a small animal and there he must sta suffering, cold, hungry and terrified, until the trap is visited at the convenience of the trapper and he is put out of his misery. It i$ not an uncommon occurrence to find a sprung trap containing a paw which has been gnawed off by the animal in his desperate efforts to free himself “I feel sure that gerating when T s of the country w this trapping the trappers are the lowest class of men—too lazy and shiftless to learn any trade or work, but content to earn an indifferent living by preving on the needs of animals for food, which is often dif- ficult enough to secure when the riv- ers are frozen over and the snow lies many feet deep. “I realize that this iy not a par- ticular! pleasant suhbject, nor one which will meet with widespread sym- pathy, but please write a little more in your inimitable style. Hoping that I have not wearied you by my lengthy appreciation of your effort, I am, yours truly, Mrs, B, E. C.” * X ok % The writer of this column is thank- ful today for many kind letters sent him during and since his return from a belated vacation. Perhaps one or two more may interest. I have just returned from near New London, Conn., where I fled after the hot spell of last June. Your ad for the recovery of the lost Jack Spratt and the writeup concerning this distinguished feline appeared in |The Star just hefore I left and, though I'm not especially fond of cats, I felt much concerned over the | loss, not only to you, but to the whole co . I am not exag. in the part e 1 have seen just by chance, across your This and That in the | Sunday edition of November 1, and asten to write you my delight that | the lost was found. I've been mal ing a slow recovery from writing lot of what from my point of view was slushy fiction for the New York | magazines—not so grammatical this, {but you'll get my meaning and your articles have seemed like an oasis in a_ particularly dreary desert. So| thank you, pleasant journeyings, and a_speedy return for the student and philosopher with his beloved Jack Spratt. Very truly, M. C Another: ome time ago wrote In The Star regarding gladiolus flower, some details of which appealed to me: First, the now officlal pronunciation of the name, and, second, your appreciation of the flower’s beauty. As to the lat- ter, perhaps, I am more unblased than most admirers, for I have not planted a single bulb of it this vear, and, as a rule, do not do this any vear.” The writer says that on ac- count of lack of time and clay soil he confines himseit to the Iris, add- ing: “However, Mr. Tracewell, while speaking of and admiring the gladio- lus, why omit all reference to an- other flower, which, in my mind, is the most glorious of them all—the Iris! Capital ,' please, for most lovers of it write it so 1 came vou the of Desecration of his ribs. How are the mighty fall- en!” In this vein, also, the Tampa Daily Times comments: “Now that they have found King Tut's body, they tell us he was the victim of a poison plot. We had expected something dif- ferent, at least, if not original—tut tut.” Referring to the treasures that have been found in the tomb and the several coffins, the Fort Worth Record- Telegram ejaculates: “Imagine a bunch of relatives of the present period allowing anvthing of value to be sealed up in a tomb! And stiH peo- ple insist that human nature hasn’t changed any during the ages!” EE I Y This buried treasure intrigues the interest also of several other journals. Says the Goshen Dally News-Times: “The wealth and art of the richest of civilizations poured into a grave! It must have taken a great deal of auto- cratic power, superstition and love on the part of the bereaved family to sequester such wealth forever, as they supposed, from the eyes of the living. The young Pharaoh, they belleved,” | explains the News.Times, “could use it where he was going. It would glve him a worthy entrance to heaven and due consideration there.” According to the New York Evening Post, “‘never was so inconsiderable a soverelgn so conspicuously sepultured; a mere nonentity has become famous by what was buried with him ‘and upon him:"” in which opinion the Racine Times-Call agrees, stating: “That 16-year-old lad, Tut-ankh-Amen, who pretended to rule Egypt in her day of glory, was lald away more magnificently than any modern poet or romancer has ever imagined.” The young king was “laid away un- der the most ornate suroundings and was covered with gems and gold,” re- marks the Pacatello Tribune. * K Xk % Though not discounting the value of these treasures, the searchers would be more elated if they had dis- covered some authentic documents in the tomb, “according to some com- ments. As the Richmond News- Leader puts it: “They would gladly surrender the whole contents of the burial place for a single papyrus of cotemporary history, or even for a transcript of Tut-ankh-Amen’s letters or decrees,” since, as this paper states; “apart from the king's tartouche, re- peated & thousand times over, the only written memorials found in the most richly stored of all ancient tombs are a few score hasty inscrip- tions on the walls and some laconic hieroglyphs on certain of the en- graved treasures.” Still the New York Times feels that a great work has been done in bringing to view “this glorious relic of a buried civilization,” while the Lexington Leader believes that the complete story of the achlevements of Howard Carter and those associated with him, when it is fully known, “will constitute one of the greatest romances of antiquarian research.’” Snobs. From the Baltimore Morning Sun. Alas! Those we prefer are too snob- bish to accept us, and those who would associate with us we are too snobbish to accept. THE NORTH WINDOW By Leila Mechlin. Royal Cortissoz and Willlam Lyon Phelps have been having recently a friendly controversy In their respec- tive departments of Scribner's Maga- zine, “The Field of Art” and “As I Like It on the subject of stilllife painting. Prof. Phelps some months ago nominated for his so-called “ig- noble prize” all stilllife painting, and not being satisfied with this con- demnation, later in his columns re- iterated the wish that every painting of still life might be done away with. The first offense was overlooked by his art-critic collengue, but the second drew fire, and the entire “Field of Art” in the current number of Scrib- ner’s is devoted to an effort on the part of Mr. Cortissoz to convert his mis- guided fellow writer and those few who may be on the same side of the fence to a realization of the error of their ways and the folly of their posi- tion. It is a merry war, and one which should fnduce just that sort of discus- sion which i{s most helpful to art. * K % % We have today an abundance of criticism, the kind of criticism which voices, fn most instances, discontent, dissatisfaction, wholesale condemna- tion, sweeping derogatory comment, not .after the fashion of Mr., Phelps, but in a petty little way, with refer- ence to individual examples. It gen- erally is voiced by those who do not know, and is engendered by thought- less like or dislike. Reverent admira- tion for works of art, which, strange- ly enough, was the rule in the Vic- torian age when art was probably at as low an ebb as it has ever reached, has now gone out of style. Only the few, it seems, are thrilled by works of art and stand before them in mute admiration. Curiously enough, this is an objec- tion which Prof. Phelps himself makes in his own department this month concerning great singers. Telling how he himself, and other writers, have been moved not merely to tears, but silence—voicelessness, by beauty in prose and poetry, and, above all, in music, he comments on the fact that never has he known a great singer to be rendered voiceless through the ren- dition of a moving passage, and he 1s perplexcd whether to set it down to amazing self-control or lack of emo- fonal susceptibility. It is not an uncommon thing to see persons moved to tears by music, by the writtten or spoken word, occasion- ally by the great work of art, and to an extent this is a test of great art, for such tears and speechlessness ev dence to extreme joy rather than sor- row; they are the tribute to great! beauty. To those who are susceptible to such emotion nothing can compare with it in the way of joy save that h comes through love and human | relationships, bordering on the divine. It is a measure of this beauty which | Mr. Cortissoz finds in certain still life paintings and which Prof. Phelps de- nies. Mr. Cortissoz, therefore, points out that of all kinds of painting this kind represents intrinsically, perhaps, the purest sense of beauty on the part of the artist. No artist paints a still life study from mere desire to imitate the objects—that is not art— but, espying the loveliness of color, of light and shade, and of composition presented in the real thing, he or she is moved to give that beauty inter-{ pretation. The grapes which the birds mistook for real and pecked, the rab- bit on the barn door which fooled the hunter, the flower which deceived the bee, are not a high type of art; they are mere deception: but the groups of common objects painted by Chardin, by Vollon, by our own John La Farge and William M. Chase, and in the present day, Emil Carlsen and his son, are of intrinsic and superlative beauty. Mr. Cortissoz_uses as an example of what Prof. Phelps dislikes and he greatly admires, the painting of still life by Frank W. Benson that the painter himself selected to represent him in the centennial exhibition of the National Academy of Design, which has but recently been shown in this city. This shows precisely the kind of subject to which Prof. Phelps has made objection—a bowl of fruit on a cloth-covered table; grapes which have apparently dropped out, Iying on the cloth, other objects about. t does not sound pretty, but as Mr.| Benson has rendered it it has great benuty—beauty in texture, in tone, in color, in light and shade, in composi- tion. It is a lovely thing to rest one's eves upon. * K K K In the Phillips Memorial Gallery is to be seen a bowl of roses painted by J. Alden Weir. No one would mistake them for real roses: they are not picked out, petal by petal, but they are en- veloped in atmosphere, they are as one might see a bowl of roses in one's own house intimately, a lovely object, suggestive of the beauty and perfec- tion of creation. Mr. Phillips, who is an astute collector of art, has secured other examples of still life painting, works by the great men of the French school—fruit, and in some instances flowers, and they take their places in his really great collection in perfect harmony with the magnificent por- traits and landscapes of the greatest masters. * ok k¥ A delightful book was written a year or so ago by Mr. Arthur Edwin Bye, entitled ““Pots and Pans," devoted en- tirely to this subject of still life paint- ing, and treating of it in a most inter- esting and instructive manner. . Now, any subject which will. provide ma- terial for an entire book, 2 book thor- oughly readable and enjoyable for the layman as well as the technician, must have considerable substance, consid- erable raison d'etre, EE 0ddly enough, still life painting is having a special vogue at this time, and if we are not mistaken, in this par- ticular fleld cotemporary artists are making perhaps their largest contri- bution. Occasionally one hears it said that cotemporary painters are not craftsmen, that they have not mas- tered the technique of their art, but in the fleld of still life painting not a few but many are exhibiting remarkable technical proficiency. Mr. Cortissoz ventures the opinion that the most worthwhile work of the extreme mod- ernists has been their still life paint- ing, and for excellent reason, because here those things which they lay em- phasis on are those which give domi- nant interest — color relation, decora- tion, unity of impression. And it should be remarked that the still life painting today has much more artistic quality than that of 40 or 60 years ago. No longer do we have “yards of roses,” dishes of pansies, heaped-up plates of fruit done in the imitative way. Even the onions and carrots, the tin pans and the copper bowls used in the art schools for the purpose of study, against which George de Forest Brush railed indig- nantly, are used in such wise that they take on, despite their commonplace aspect, real significance from the standpoint of beauty. All this should indicate progress, a wider-eyed appre- clation of art, and should lead not to a taboo of the still life painting, but rather to its respectful admiration. ————— No Lottery Tickets. From the Columbus Dispatch. France may proceed with her lottery revenue scheme, but she mustn't ex- pect Uncle Sam to take any of his claim out in (.lekm Q. How many strikes and lock- outs have occurred within the last year, how were they settled and how many people were affected?—C. N. A. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics says there were 274 labor disputes resulting in strikes or lockouts in this country during the firat quarter of 1925. During the vear 1924 there were 310. These are the latest figures. In the strikes oc- curring in the first quarter of 1925 there were about 110,000 people in- volved. In over 40 per cent of the disputes wages was a prominent question. Of course, the hours, recognition of the unfon and general employment conditions were other prominent causes. The number of d: lost in the industrial disputes ending in the first quarter for the 175 reporting duration was approxi- mately 4,138. Q. Does the Weather Bureau think the windjammers used in_ California are entirely successful?—W. A. M. A. A “windjammer” {s the local name fn California fruit growing dis- tricts for a machine devised to raise the temperature of an orchard by the process of mixing the air during criti- cal perlods when the fruit is threat- ened by frost. The Weather Bureau has had occasion to make practical tests with a number of these devices, but up to the present time has found no “windjammer” which can be rec- ommended for complete protection from low temperatures. The use of many small orchard heaters is today the only practical means of raising the temperature of the air near the ground sufficlently to protect the fruit on the trees. Q. How much space does one potind of air occupy?—M. J. B. A. At atmospheric pressure one pound of air occupies about 13 cubic feet. Q. How fast do hawks fly?—J. K. A. Some species of hawks have a speed of 200 feet a second. Q. When was the tribe of Bilox{ first known?—J. A. A. Biloxi was a small Siouan tribe formerly living in southern Missis- sippi, now nearly or quite extinct. The first direct notice of the Biloxi is that by Iberville, who found them in 1699 about Bilox! Bay, on the Gulf coast of Mississippl, in connection with two other small tribes, the Paskagula and Moctobi, the three together num- bering only about 20 cabins. Q. What per cent of farm mort- gages are held by life insurance com- panies’—F. D. M. A. Life insurance companies have been one of the largest factors in financing agriculture for many dec- ades. They are estimated to hold at present about 20 per cént of all farm mortgages. In September, 1923, the total amounted to no less than §1,781,- 000,000. Q. When and where will the Army and Novy game be played this year? —J. C.J. A. The Army and Navy foot ball game will be played on the Polo Grounds, New York City, November 28, 1925, Tickets are only avallable through the athletic board at the United States.Naval Academy and the United States Military Academy, and some through the management of the Polo Grounds, New York City, N. Y. Q. Who speaks correct French, the people of France or Canada’—L. A. M A. The correct literary French is the French spoken in Northern France and principally in Paris. The French of Southern France, of the French provinces and Canada has been large ly modified by foreign languages. Q. How are the butter cakes made that are baked on griddles in restau rant windows?—M. § A. The following recipe will make five pounds of mixture: Dissolve one ounce of yeast in a little warm water to which a pinch of sugar has been added. Rub together two ounces of sugar, one-third ounce salt and ounces of fat. Add one-half p water and one half pint of milk to tht mixture, then add one pound of flour. To this add the yeast and, another pound of flour, Allow to stand in a warm place one hour. Roll out to a thickness of three-quarters of an inch, cut into shape, allow to stand 25 min. utes. When the griddle is hot, put on the cake, und when it has raised twice its original size, turn it on the other side and brown. Q. What classes of land are included in “deserts’ S. A. The term deserts {s used to in- clude the tundras or frozen plains of the Arctic regions, the great ice wastes of the Arctic and Antarctic continents and sometimes the temporary wastes of steppes which are only covered with vegetation for a few months in the Spring. The name is usually re- stricted, however, to the hot dried dis- tricts of the latitudes where the tem- peratures are extreme, the rainfall very scanty and evaporation very rapid. These hot deserts occur in two belts encircling the earth: In the Northern Hemisphere thers stretch the great Sahara, the Lipyan and Nubian deserts, the Desert of Arabia, Perslz, Turkestan and Gobi, and con tinued in the Great Basin of North America. The southern ring, less ex tensive, and more broken includes the Kalahar! desert in Africa, the interfor of Australia, and the Atacama desert in South America. Q. How is Yde's name pronounced, and what is his nationality?—A. T. 8. A. Yde of the Pittsburgh Pirates prounces his name as if spelled Eedee. His nationality is Norweglan. (Letters _are going every minute from our Free Information Bureau in Washington telling readers whatever they want to know. They are in an- syer to all kinds of queries—on all Kkinds of subjects—from all kinds of people. Make use of this free service which The Star is maintaining for you. Its only purpose is to help you and we want you to benefit from it. Get the habit of writing to The Star Information Bureau, Frederic J Has- kin, director, Washington, D. C. In- close two cents in stamps for return postage.) BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. The French government is again in distress. The Painleve ministry has failed to retain the backing of a ma- jority of the Assembly, and, under the practice in that country, the fail- ure requires the resignation of the cabinet. M. Aristide Briand, who already has had seven terms as premier, Was again offered the premiership. As he could not satisfy the Socialists of the As- sembly, who hold the balance of power, he declined the empty honor, knowing that within a few days he would follow Painleve in defeat. The premiership was then offered to Sen- ator Doumer, a Socialist, but he failed to gain the backing of a majority, and at present the task is in the hands of M. Herriot. Under radical soclalism what is to be the fate of France? The Painleve ministry went into defeat, ostensibly, upon a bill to inflate the currency bil- lions of francs, but, really, because it refused the Soclalist demand for a “capital Jevy,” or confiscation of prop- erty of the wealthy. When socfalism comes vaulting into the saddle, will it go en comble (to the limit), or will power bring with it a recognition ot responsibility? * K Kk There 18 no law in France requiring the resignation of the ministry upon iosing the support of the majority of the Assembly, but a ministry is help- less without legislative support, and, therefore, there can be no alternative. The French constitution differs ma- terially from the English form of gov- ernment. In England, if a cabinet loses parllamentary support, so much the worse for Parliament, for the King, acting through the prime min- ister, may prorogue it and cali for a new election of members of the House of Commons. The country at large may elect other members who will support the measures and policies of the cabinet, and the prime minister, with the same secretaries, may ‘“‘carry o Such is not the case in France. The President of France cannot call for a new election of the Assembly, without the consent of the Senate, and such prorogation is obsolete. ~ In both countries the members of the upper house hold life tenures of office, and the changing will of the people finds expression only through the lower house—the House of Commons in Eng- land and Chamber of Deputies in France. A Senator in France may hold a salaried position while serving in the Senate, but a Deputy cannot do so without being re-elected after accept- ing the salary, except that a Deputy may serve in the cabinet and retain his seat in the Chamber. The min- istry, headed by the premier, is re- sponsible directly to the Assembly— not to the President. ‘When our President Cleveland made his famous complaint that he “had Congress on his hands,” he uttered an Americanism which would be incom- prehensible in France, for the Presi- dent of France has practically nothing to do with the policies or acts of the Assembly—the parllamentary body corresponding to our Congress. The policies are framed by the cabinet, i.e., the ministry, and submitted to the Assembly for approval. It is when the principai policies fail to gain that ap- proval that the ministry must resign. So jealous is the Assembly of its pow- er to control the ministry that any failure to resign after such disap- proval would lead to refusal to pass financial appropriations or to indorse. any of the subsequent measures intro- duced by the recalcitrant ministry. There is no permanency in any French ministry, for there is no such thing' as any party’s holding a ma- Jority in the Assembly. It s not a body made up and controlled by two great parties, as in the United States Congress; it is composed of ‘‘blocs,” each a minority, but each fighting all the others. * ok ok X Down the center of the Chamber of Deputies runs a broad aisle. The President of the Chamber sits at one end of that aisle. On his right, facing the center—not facing the presiding officer, as in our Congress—sit the more conservative ‘“blocs”—the Bour- bons and other blocs standing for either the republic under the constitu- tion or for some pretender to the French throne. Next are the Pro- gressives. Then the Action Liberale, which has for its purpose the recon. ciling of the Catholic Church and the state; otherwise supporting the pres- ent constitution, To the President's left, facing the center aisle, sit the Radicals—divided into several blocs, but all in opposi- tion to the Clericals of Actign Liberale. First are the “socialistically inclined Radicals,” championing government ownership of industry, raflroads, mines, etc., but supporting the con stitution. These include such leaders as Deputy Caillaux, who, as minister of finance, recently tried to arrange the funding of the debt to the United States. Clemenceau is of this bloc. Farther to the left sit the Radical Socialists, including such distinguished leaders as Poincare, Briand and Mil- lerand. The latter two men have been read out of the Socialist party, be- cause they dared to enter coalition ministries with non-Socialist members, but they persist in maintaining so- cialistic principles. Still farther to the left are the Ex- treme Radicals, who border on Com- munism or Sovietism. The “blocs” sometimes group under three general parties—the Conserv- atives (Monarchists, generally), the Republicans and the Radicals, but there is little party unity. while there are sometimes nine blocs in the Chamber, opposing each other. * %X X % France is sometimes called the Mother of Socialism, hence the present tendency to enhance socialistic con- trol. Last Tuesday the newly . arrived Soviet ambassador from Russia was about to be officially and very cere- moniously received at the Palais Elysee by President Domergue. The ambassador requested that the na- tional band of the Republique Fran- caise should play the “‘Internationale” —the music of Red Revolution—upon his arrival at the Palais. He was in- formed that it would play the *Mar. selllaise,” but that no French national band would play the “Internationale.” The ambassador appealed to the min- ister of foreign affairs, M. Briand, who told him, emphatically, that his demand would not be accorded. The Russian left in a towering rage, only to be followed with official notice that he would not be received at all gt the Palals. EE France changes its ministry oftener than_does England. From 1850 to 1914 England had only 12 prime min- isters; France had the same number from 1900 to 1914. From the adoption of the present French constitution in 1873 to 1914 France had 50 ministries, only four of which lasted two years and most of them only a few months. When a new premier assumes office in France his first act is to issue a long “‘declaration” of his policies, well knowing that, in all probability, he will not last long enough to get down to the middle of his announced plat- form. Senator Doumer, who i8 now in the act of trying to form a minis- try, must face a demand of the 8o- clalists that not less than 7 of the 14 portfolios must be given to Radical Socialists. All other “blocs” are ready to oppose him at the first opportunity. * X K % In England the cabinet officers are controlled only in a general way by Parliament; they introduce, practical- ly, all general measures, and the party in power votes as a unit in supporting the measures of their cabinet. In France the Chamber of Deputies dlc- tates to its ministers in all details. In France, at any time, an oppo- nent may introduce an “interpella- tion,” without first asking the con- sent of the ministry. This is ostensi- bly an inquiry for information, but, after it has aroused debate, some o] ponent moves the “order of the day, meaning that they have had enough of the minister’s defense and will turn from it to.the “regular business'—a polite snub requiring the ministry to resent it by resigning. A ministerial crisis may not be so upsetting as appears on the surface, for it is so commonplace an event that it upsets no function of the govern- ment, which is carried on by trained clerks. It usually results in the re- tention of some of the ministers under a new premler, or of the same pre- mier, with new personnel in his cabl- net. (Copyright. 1925. by Paul V. Collins.)