Evening Star Newspaper, November 27, 1925, Page 6

6 THE EVENING STAR ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C FRIDAY. .November 27, 1925 THEODORE W. NOYES. . .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 11 s B vania Av Naw Fork Office: 110 Fasi 4200 St. Fhicacn Ofca: Towsr Rutldiug pean Office: 14 Regent St.. London, England. The Evening Star. with the Sunday morn- Iox edition. 18 delivered by carriora’ within the city at 60 cents per month N cents per month: Sunday only. per Sbn GRdrs may he snt Hy mail oF telephons Main 5000, Collection is made by carrier at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. aily and Sun 1yr.$R40: 1 mo. aily only = 00: 1 mo. Sunday only. .. : 700 800 20¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Asenciated Pracs is axclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dis- Patehes credited to it or not otherwise cred. ted in this paner and also the local news Diblished herein. Al richts of publication of snecial dispatches herein are also reserved. = ] Peace Scores. Definite assurance of the ratifica- tlon of the Locarno peace and security treaty, provided by the vote vesterday in the Reichstag, is welcome. While ratification has been confidently e pected ever since the agreement wa negotiated, there is solid comfort to be derived from an actual vote, which shows friends of the peace treaty to be 112 stronger than its op- ponents in the Reichstag. Already the British House of Commons has placed its seal of approval on the Locarno agreement by an overwhelm- ing vote. The die-hards in Germany have voiced their disapproval of the Lo- carno treaty. They include the Na- tionalists, the Communists and Fas- cists, divergent groups actuated by widely separated motives. But the country as a whele has turned its face toward peace—not peace for a day or a month or a year, but en- during peace. The Locarno treaty has been hailed by the world gener- ally as a long spep toward the estab- lishment of permanent peace, with disputes settled without resort to arms. Those in Germany who still retain ambitions for military domina- tion of Europe, if not the world; those who are inclined to follow in the foot- steps of Red Russia and hope for a revolution of the entire socfal struc- ture naturally are opposed to any program that will clamp strong bonds about the present international ar- rangements in the Old World. The vote in the Reichstag yesterday was on the second reading of the bill translating the peace draft into a reality. It showed the supporters of the Locarno treaty 251 strong and the opposition mustering 159. The final reading and vote on the bill are ex- pected today. Following on the heels of the rati- fication of the Locarno agreement will come the entry of Germany into the League of Nations, it is confident- ly predicted. The advocates of peace look also for a definite move toward an agreement for the limitation of armaments. Time alone can tell whether the ef- forts now directed toward a peaceful Europe will be realized. But at least there is apparent among the peoples of that continent a real desire for peace and stability. Thers is quarrel- the earliest possible time, and the case then should be speeded before the highest court, so that if possible a decision may be reached before the 3d of March. In the present state of the coun- try, with crime so prevalent, court delays should be minimized. The protraction of this Chapman case would have a most mischievous effect upon the public mind and would en- courage criminals. Every delay se- cured by a convicted lawbreaker is an incitement to crime. The question in this case is not whether Chapman is guilty of murder—he has been con- victed in Connecticut beyond the pos- sibility of appeal—but whether the law shall be thwarted by the Invo- cation of one crime to_prevent ex- piation for another. ———— Can Briand Meet the Crisis? While Aristide Briand is seeking to form a cabinet in the hope that he may be able today to effect the neces- sary combination, Paris is nervously discussing the possibility of a coup detat. Nobody seems to have any definite idea as to the form of such a reaction, yet the conditions are cer- tainly propitious for a change, even possibly in the form of government. There are on the one hand the mon- archists, whose candidate for the throne in case France should be re- stored to the ancient mode is the Duke of Orleans, collateral descendent of the Bourbons. On the other hand wre the radicals and communists, who favor a system similar to that now prevailing in Russia. These are the extremes. Nobody appears to expect either extreme. No one party in the Chamber of Deputies can control the ituation. This doubtiess means that the republican organization will be maintained. Indeed, it is almost in- concefvable that France could revert to monarchism or descend to com- munism, even though the present crisis is most serious. Briand is evidently the strongest man in France today. He has been premier before and has shown a mark- ed capacity for administration. Re- cently at Locarno he was instrumen- tal in securing a compact of powers which guarantees the security of France agains: aggression. He has been hailed in Paris as “the hero of Locarno.” It is felt that if he cannot form a ministry that can carry on through the present crisis, there is no other man capable of the task. A Fascisti group has been organized in France, representing the ultra-na- tionalist sentiment. Its numbers are unknown. Its power is unrevealed. In this present situation it is now sus- pected of a design to place a dictator in authority at Paris. But there is no known strong man in leadership. France today has no Mussolini. Re- port suggests that Millerand or Cas- telnau might be chosen by the Fas- cisti as their spokesman and leader. Seemingly this organization has been developed in secret. Eminent states- men and politiclans may be members of it without the fact belng known. It is this faction that makes the pres- ent situation uncertain. The French Fascistl, so far as they disclose themselves, wear a distin- guishing garment, consisting of a blue shirt instead of the black shirt of their Italian prototypes. They have raised a fund of 6,000,000 francs for propaganda, but at a recent meeting of leaders it was voted not to spend this money on arms, but on pam- phlets for countrywide distribution. —e—s Growth in population involves penal- ties as well as advantages. Washing- ton is now big enough to have its oc- ing as to the best method for bringing about peace. The peace of the world is also the desire of Americans gen- erally. But ever since the close of the war various factions in this coun- try have struggled over the proper course to be adopted, particularly by the United States, to bring about per- manent peace. If in America, admit- tedly devoted to international peace, the contest over methods is so brisk, what may be expected in Europe, where for centuries hatreds have been fostered by war? With all due allowance for honesty in the differences of opinion, both in Europe and in the United States, par- tisan and personal politics have been influential in emphasizing these dif- ferences over methods. All of which may be very human, but none the less, unfortunate. e Parisian dancing experts, having satisfied South American ideas by de. claring for the tango, will now pro- ceed, if they desire American patron- age, to teach the Charleston. e L It was a harmless and law-abiding “bomb” that got into police head- quarters. Implements of genuine deadly character do not drift in and surrender so easily. o Theories as to possibilities of aerial attack on the Atlantic Coast may be correct, but unseasonable. They are no cause for thanksgiving. e Speed the Chapman Case! Gerald Chapman’s refusal upon the advice of his lawyer to accept the commutation of his sentence of twen- ty-five years for mall robbery granted by the President brings the case back to the application for habeas corpus 10 secure his removal to the Atlanta Penitentiary. That application will be heard on Monday by a Federal judge at New Haven. He, it is expected, ‘will deny the writ on the ground that Chapman no longer is a fugitive from Federal justice, in view of the com- mutation of sentence, despite his re- fusal to accept it. The point of Chap- man's right to refuse commutation will not, it is understood, be consid- ered by the court. Should he refuse the writ, application then will be made to the Federal Court of Ap- peals, and the case then will be car- ried to the Supreme Court of the United States for final decision. Meanwhile, a formal reprieve has been granted in stay of execution until the 3d of March. Bvery effort should be made to ex- pedite this case. If Judge Thomas at New Haven denies the writ on Monday, the appellate court of that circuit should render its decision casional crime wave, thanks to a num- ber of new arrivals entirely unfamiliar with the customs of the community. ——e— The conferences over the coal situ- ation would be more gratifying to the ultimate consumer if he could be sure of following them by radio through the long Winter evenings by the side of a nice warm radiator. —————— The Cure of Banditry. It seems a long time since the days of the road agent, the stage robber, the hold-up man of the plains country and the Far West, who, with gun in hand and mask on face, ordered his victims to hold up their hands and submit to being searched. There was a romantic flavor to his exploits. He was mounted on a swift horse, and after his bit of banditry he sped away over the prairie or through the hills to his hiding place. Perhaps he swaggered into the nearest frontier settlement and dominated through bravado. Sometimes he was well known, but escaped capture for a time because no officer of the law dared to take him. Again, his identity was concealed. He might be a respectable citizen in his off hours, or perhaps a professional gambler, which was rated then as a reputable occupation. Eventually he died, as a rule “with his boots on,” cornered by a posse or shot by a nervy stage driver who wis quicker on the trigger. Sometimes he was taken alive and strung up by de- cree of Judge Lynch's court. The present-day prototype of the highwayman is by no means a roman- tic or even a picturesque figure. He is quick in action, smart in making his plans, and as a rule he gets away with the game. His slogan is “Stick ‘em up!” Everybody understands that. Occasionally he uses polite methods. He is always ready to shoot if he thinks it necessary. Certainly his vic- tims believe that he is ready to shoot, and they usually “stick 'em up” upon command. But there is no panting horse awaiting his mount to dash off into the night, over the hills, A pur- ring motor car is at the curb. Some- times the bandit of today does not bother about a car of his own, but commandeers the nearest avallable one to make his “get-away.” This suggestion of the likeness, with differences, between the frontier bandit of the earlier days in this country and the modern highwayman is given to emphasize the fact that with all the progress of our civiliza- tion, the multiplication of our defenses against disorder, the development of our security forces, the bandit is even more active now than ever before. His processes and his technique have changed, but he is still preying on people, getting his living out of the fears of his victims. He has an easier HE EVENING time at it than his prototype of the plains days and the perfod of the mining pioneers. He can arm himselt | without difficulty. He can readily find swift transportation for escape. And there 18 more loot to be had, for peo- ple are more affluent and careless about their belongings, more osten- tatious in display, more rellant upon the law safeguards, which have be- come, in fact, so ineffective. It is one thing to paint the picture of the evil and another to prescribe remedies. Of the evil there is no doubt. Of the cure there is much question. Certainly the present ccndi- tion of the courts, congested with in numerable dormant cases, offering lawbreakers lavish opportunities for delay and technical grounds for de- feat of justice, may be corrected through legislation and reforms. Po- lice activity may be Intensified. Greater care of valuables and funds may be shown by people whose af- fluence attracts the birds of prey. Of all the remedies proposed that of switter, surer and more drastic pun- ishment for those who are caught fis the most likely to be effective. Ban- ditry was to a great extent stamped out in the Western country through rigorous punishment. The dashing highwayman of two or three genera- tlons ago passed off the stage of ac- tion by the short shrift of summary justice. Today’s banditry may be cor- rected by the same means. ———— -, Calendar Changes. A committee of the New York Mer- chants' Assoclation is seeking sim plification of the calendar. Suggestions are invited by the committee, and the whole question will be thrashed out at a public hearing on December 11. Having already gone on record as favoring a fixed date for Easter, the associatfon is endeavoring to have the vear divided into four equal quarter: each quarter to contain three months, two of which will have thirty d and the third thirty-one days. Another proposal is that the year be divided into thirteen months of twenty-eight days each. If this plan should be adopted every month would begin on the same day of the week. Attempts have been made, since time immemorial, to change the cal- endar. It is not believed that the cur- rent effort will meet with any more success than the hundreds of others. Plans of this nature come under the same category as the simplified spelling advocated by Theodore Roose- velt during his terms of presidenc Although there are a few users today of this type of spelling it has never come into popular practice. Interesting discussions will doubt- less be heard when the public hearing gets under way, but prospects of a permanent, accepted change in the calendar are considered to be extreme- ly small. Habit is difficult to change, and the peoples of the world have been using the present calendar for several years, to say the least. ————. Mussolini, recognizing the chance of assassination, has named his suc- cessor. In order to be practical such a scheme must avoid the possibility of mentioning a man who might be so perspicacious in thought and so en- gaging in personality as to seem pop- ularly acceptable. — e Among the things which contributed to a highly satisfactory Thanksgiving day was the announcement that there is readily available an amply sufficient supply of bituminous coal to take care of the fuel situation. e e Chicago might, if so inclined, in- voke her Board of Trade to take a hand in behalf of the public by refus- ing to supply pork and beans during a coal strike to either miners or oper-. ators. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Apple Sauce. Our flippant phrases often change. ‘We're never at a loss. One which at first seemed rather strange Is “pass the apple sauce.” Yet, better is the simple fare Amid affections dear Than viands excellent and rare, ‘With hatred hovering near— So tells the old and Reverenced Book. Sarcastic wit's a bluff. I'd rather seek plain sweets than look On the tabasco stuff. Too smartly seasoned words cause grief And leave us at a loss, While homely kindness brings relief. Let's pass the apple sauce. An Effort to Mix. “The world needs the best thought of men like yourself,” said the man who is always complimentary. “It does,” admitted Senator Sor- ghum. “But your best thought doesn’t help you to mingle with the masses on terms of sympathetic understand- ing. I'm wondering now whether, in order to be popular, I've got to learn to dance the, Charleston.” Disparity. Next to the man who overate The grim dyspeptic had a plate. Thus must the luck of living fall. You get too much or none at all. Jud Tunkins says fads move 8o fast that his present idea of an old- fashioned person is one who does cross-word puzzles. Interpreter Needed. “The facinating stranger asked our friend the heiress to be his valentine.” “Let her beware,” rejoined Miss Cayenne. “He is not so very familiar ‘with our language and may think that ‘valentine’ is & polite Americanism for ‘meal ticket.’ " All Kinds of Remarks. Investigations pass around Remarks in phrases natly. Some observations seem profound And some a trifle catty. “De man dat wants to keep bossin’ ‘round,” sald Uncle Eben, “is liable not to be happy. De traffic cop has all kinds of authority, but how hard he has to work!" STAR, WASHING ON, D. O, FRIDAY, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Are you a half-way taker? This sort of motorist, be it known, is the kind gentleman who halls you as you are waiting for the bus or street car and asks you to get in. Being polite, in_turn, you naturally get in. You don't know how to get out of getting in. But you know as well as you can know anything that the kind gentle- man is going to dump you off a half mile or more from your office, saying: This is as far as I go.” He is a half-way taker. He never, by any turn of human kindness, takes you all the way. Not he! Evidently he feels as if he has done his duty by the world when he smilingly invited you into his car. The joke of it is that you would much prefer to have ridden down town in the bus, the nice warm bus, filled with congenial passengers, many of whom you know, the others the sort of folk one likes to be wi.a. It is a slightly cool morning when your half-way taker comes along. You see him slow down his machine, and hear him call, “Want to go down?"” Not having any ready excuse on your tongue, you curse yourself men- tally for a coward, and dutifully climb into the front seat, smearing the dirt off the leather with your freshly cleaned topcoat. You shiver in the open car as it picks up speed. Visions of yourself in the warm bus, chatting tq good old Harold, come to mind as you slip downtown with the frost congealing on your whiskers, “Darn_it!” vou exclaim—to your- self. “Why on earth didn’t I think up some good yarn to hand him?" * %k k X “I am going as far as the Treasury,” vour unknown friend declares, waving his left arm in an alarming fashion. Evidently he is one of those traffic nuts who faithfully pokes out his hand to warn other motorists when he knows there is not another car withig six blocks. “Is that all right?” inquires the man, swinging his arm up and down like a semaphore. “Sure!” you reply, cursing yourself for an idiot all the time. “The walk will do me good.” Probably it will. A nice walk of almost a mile no doubt will be as good as a doctor’s prescrip- tion. There is one sure thing—by the time you get downtown you will be so cold you will need the walk to avert freezing to death. That is the way you feel about it. erything has ome good point, if you look for it long enough. You glow slightly over this discovery of vour incorrigible optimism. Maybe the boys at the of- fice will stop calling you an “old grouch.” Suddenly you look at your kind neighbor, name unknown, who is driv- ing like mad down the long sweep of upper Massachusetts avenue. Every 15 seconds he shoots out his left hand, which you notice is very large and red, as if trying to slap an invisible foe in the fac: Why on earth does he take his hand off that wheel so much? The car_careens on its way. Suddenly an awful thought smites you. Suppose the man is insane? What do you know about him? Maybe the fellow is executing a bold plan to Kidnap you, take you to his fellows, in some out-of-the-way spot, and truss you up for ransom! This horrible autosuggestion occuples you for three blocks, until your common sense informs. you that no one on earth would have the slightest desire to kid- nap_you. What for, indeed! * o ox % All this time your car, under the guidance of your unknown neighbor, shoots townward, hitting the high spots and low spots, the greasy spots and the spots where there ought to be concrete, but only is a big crack. Whang! The car bangs into a rut, you shoot into the air, the top of your head cracks against a bar run along the top at just the proper point to smite the unwary. You ruefully look at your host, but he pretends not to have seen. “Beautiful morning, isn’t it?" he says, with & short-arm jab of his left hand. ‘Well, his conversation is normal, anyway. You declde he is not per- haps as crazy as he looks. “Beautiful,” you say. “I thought it might rain last night.” “It did look as if it might rain.” “But it certainly is a beautiful day this morning,” he adds. E “Certainly is beautiful,” you finish. The remainder of the way you say nothing, knowing nothing of your kind friend's habits, hobbies or hu- mors. He, in his turn, is equally dumb. You wonder why he is going down this street if he is going to the Treasury, and for a second your old suspicion returns to you. Soon, how- ever, you realize that he is going to park in south of the Treasury. Away down in the park he comes to a halt. Although it is early, scores of cars are already parked along the driveway. “You can tell what time it is by the cars,” says your friend, swinging his old bus into an empty space. “The same ones every morn- ing. If T had been a minute earlier 1 could have got that space,” he says, pointing. You unlimber your stiff legs, and, with a hearty “Thank you!" start on your way to work. Anyway, the fel- low meant well. * ok ok % That, In a nutshell, is the trouble with the half-way taker. He means well, all right, but he doesn’t do well. Instead of taking one all the way, he only half does thc thing, and, like all half-doers, mugt suffer the criticism that comes to such people. In other words, in this matter as in most others, if one does not intend to “go the whole hog.” he ought to keep out of it altogether. We have no real thanks in our heart for the man with an automo- bile who takes advantage of our good nature, and then only takes us half way to the office. ven if he s: “I am going to all right for you He takes an advantage of us, for we do not like to rebuff a man who thinks he is doing us a kindness, and so we glowingly lie about it, and tell him it will be all right, sure, when we know all the time we would much rather ride the bus and get off a half-block from the office. The last three times we have been taken down to the office by kind friends, at thelir solicitation, we have been put off, respectively, a half- mile, three-fourths of a mile and a full mile from the place we wanted to_go. Maybe we are too fat and need the exercise, but we prefer to take it when we want to, not when we have to. In the future we intend to . before we step in, -and-so—is that stand our ground when some one hails us just as we are about to climb aboard our bus. We have a neat little excuse all ready for him! “Want to go down town?” he will call. “I go as far as the War De- partment.” ‘““Thanks, old man,” we will cry out. ot an engagement to meet a chap on the bus!™ Passing of Painleve Shows Weak Leadership in France BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. The present passing of Painleve al- most recalls the similar situation of 1917 and discloses again the disastrous consequences of the promotion to premier of a man whose eminence in science is only equaled by his ineptitude in politics. All dispatches emphasize his title as the greatest mathematiclan in the world, but I recall now the grim comment of Clemenceau made to me last Spring, when Painleve was about to take office. “The more 1 see of Painleve, the happier 1 am I know nothing about mathematics.” Thus, “the Tiger” expressed his contempt for the man whose weakness was re- sponsible for his own arrival as premier and dictator of France in the critical days of 1917 when the defeat of the French army at the Aisne had at last shaken its morale and defait isme was rife. TUnhappily, France has now no leader as capable of dealing with financial disaster as Clemenceau was with military and political weakness. Painleve really staked his political success upon the triumph of Caillaux in solving the financial problem. But quite characteristically, not througsh treachery but mere weakness, threw him over when his proposals awaken- ed opposition in Painleve's following. * K ok X The trouble with the French political situation now is two-fold. In the first place France has no first rate man. Secondly, the best men available belong on the whole to the minority and are not merely of the minority but are for the moment, at least, discredited by reason of the fact that they undertook a coercive policy toward Germany. France profoundly desires peace with Germany and ap- proves the policy of Briand under both the Herriot and Painleve govern- ments, the policy which is expressed in_the Locarno pacts. Briand has for a long time been “indicated,” as the French say. But Briand is not in the least interested in finance. His fleld is forelgn poli- tics, and recently he has been most brililantly successful. In all_human probability the laurels won at Locarno would wither promptly were he to un- dertake the impossible task of solving the French financial difficulties. And Briand is not only a great forelgn minister, but he is also a superb poli- tician. * ok k% His political philosophy is disclosed in a comment he is reported to have made to Mussolini while in Rome a year ago. Mussolini asked him how he had managed to be prime minister seven or eight times, and Briand re- plied: “You see, it is this way: I do not care for office. What I like is to be the coming man. So, just as soon as I have to take office T try to get out as soon as possible. The man in office is finished, but to be the coming man, that is everything.” Mussolini, by the way, is reported to have been far from pleased by this explanation. Now Briand has been the “‘coming” man for two years, but in office he would face all the difficulties which have brought down both Herrlot and Painleve. The French trouble lies in the fact that the country is very strongly in favor of the pacific foreign policy of the last two governments and similarly opposed to the foreign policy of Poincare and of Millerand. On the other hand, the country is also far more conservative than either the Painleve or the Herriot government in domestice questions. But the majority in the Chamber, as contrasted with national sentiment, is radical. A working majority of the Chamber belongs to the Soclalist and Radical parties. Actually, the decisive influence belongs to the Soclalists, who are led by the greatest single figure in cotemporary French politics, Leon Blum. No radical government can last if it does not have the hun- dred and odd Socialist votes. Losing them brought Painleve down. But the price of these votes is the ac- ceptance of radical and soclalistic doctrines and policles far more ex- treme than the nation will accept. * k ok % What Briand is_aiming for is ob- vious. He will take office if he can bring about a new combination of political forces, a combination made up of the moderate conservatives and the reasonable radicals, a combina- tion that will accept and act in the “spirit of Locarno” abroad, but will also adopt financial policles of a con- servative rather than a soclalistic tinge at home. This combination would mean a destruction of all ex- isting lines and the formation of a new bloc. But only if such a bloe is possible would Briand undertake of- fice, for he has no great hankering for ‘the premiership. He is old, tired and wholly satisfied where he is as forelgn minister, a post assured to him, it would seem, in any conceiva- ble government. Underlying all else in the French situation is the fact that the present Parliament is not only no longer rep- resentative of Cotemporary French opinion, but it is also paralyzed by complete divergence of views in the two houses. The Senate is much more_conservative than the country, the Chamber far mere radical. More- over, neither house as it stands was chosen with any reference to the questions which are now uppermost in the national mind. There is, then, & rather impressively complete break- down in the whole system of parlia- mentary government. ) * kK K The suggestion one meets in the dispatches, however, that a dictator- ship on the Itallan model is likely, seems to me, judging from a distance, a little exaggerated. The French have a long history of unhappy experience with dictators. If the dictatorship of Clemenceau saved the war in 1917-18, most Frenchmen belfeve that the con- tinuance of it after the armistice lost the peace. Far more likely than a dictatorship is a combination of “all the talents,” a ministry of national de- fense, which is a familiar French de- vice in time of crisis. Such a ministry Briand could head, and without some such ministry his stay as prime minister would be short, and probably inglorious. But it can only come when French appre- hension and exasperation reach such a point that all sensible politicians will be driven to surrender petty bicker- ings and personal and party advan- tage in the face of national wrath. One would believe this time could not long be delayed, but it is not quite clear that it has arrived. * K ok X As to Locarno and the recent settle- ments, nothing suggests that they will be endangered, although if Poincare and Millerand came to power, then the whole outlook and atmosphere might be less favorable, not because the nation had changed its mind, but because extreme nationalists had been put in power for financial reasons, and, nevertheless, continued to be na- tionalistic as to foreign questions. But it seems as little likely that Poincare would be called as that President Doumergue will summon Leon Blum. From the financial phase of war liquidation France has so far been more successtul—or it may prove in the end less su o S8 | NOVEMBER 27, 1925. hohn Witherspoon Not Princeton Founder To the Editor of The Star: Mr. Josephus Daniels should be more sure of his facts before making historical statements of some impor- tance. In connection with the pro- posed Woodrow Wilson memorial, Mr. Daniels makes public announcement of John Witherspoon as the founder of Princeton University. In point of fact that noted institution of learning was established by the Colonial Leg- islature of New Jersey in 1748 with Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, a Presby- terian clergyman, as its first presi- dent. At the death of Dickinson, a year later, the college was removed to Newark from Elizabethtown, where it had been first placed, and Rev. Dr. Aaron Burr—father of the traltorous one of later years—was made its president. To President Burr was due the more complete organization of the college, with its governing boards, faculty and curriculum. Under his administration the college was removed to Princeton, where for several years it continued to function and progress favorably under his care. President Burr was succeeded by that greatest divine and philosophical treatise writer of his day, Jonathan Edwards, whose death, however, took place within a year from his installa- tion. He was succeeded in turn by Samuel Davies and Samuel Finley tiil 1768, when John Witherspoon was in- augurated president, 22 years after the foundation of the college. Witherspoon was a Scotch minister, a graduate of Edinburgh University, who had become noted as a theological treatise writer. He proved to be quite as much a man of affairs and poli- ticlan as schoolman. In truth he was a man of high commanding abilities, who, while conducting the affairs of the college with increasing success in all directions, took part in the stir- ing political affairs of the colonies previous to and during the Revolu- tionary perfod. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and for six years was a member of the Continental Congress, always fore- most in debate during the time when the college functlons were partially suspended as a result of war damage. John Witherspoon was in fact quite as muoh a statesman and political manager of his day as he was a col- lege president and educator in gen- eral. It was, perhaps, this political slant of his character, differing from any of his predecessors, that led Mr. Daniels in sympathy of a kind, to name him as the founder of the col- lege. Under Witherspoon's adminis- tration of 26 years the college achleved success and high reputation. He was succeeded by his son-in-law, Samuel Stanhope Smith, in 1795 For many vears “Princeton’ tinued to be known officially a: College of New Jersey,” and various- ly. as “Princeton College” and “Princeton University.” It was not till its one hundred and fiftieth an- niversary in 1896 that it was formal; promulgated as “Princeton Univer- aity”—under which title it now ranks among the very foremost of great American schools of learning. H. M. SEALE JORDAN. Modern Happenings Cause Dizziness To the Editor of The Star I'm dizzy—Lenin is in a cl coffin 50 that the world may see him; King Tut is wrapped in gold, be- decked with precious stones and hid from the world in the sand dunes of Egypt: Mussolini is a_benign dic- tator expecting to go Napoleon one hetter: ex-Emperor William says England has no etatesmen: Mitchell is fighting the Army and Navy single-handed; potatoes are $5 a bushel; Federal Government finds it necessary to pardon Chapman for stealing several millions of dollars hefore Connecticut can hang him for murder; bandits take several hours to shoot up a town in Michigan; 8,000 Northwestern University stu- dents celebrate the winning of a foot ball game by nearly killing the mayor who Interferes with their “pranks” besides burning down a college building and interfering with firemen and policemen in the per- formance of their duties. These little tales, tersely told in the news columns of the day, incline me to believe that the word eudemonics is a much mis- understood word. Amateur foot ballists acting like bandits, bandits acting like amateur foot ballists, banditry an avocation and foot ball the entire university curriculum. I'm dizzy. Over in England the other day the trial of a murderer lasted just 4 minutes—he'll be dead in a wgek, but Chapman may live forever. What are universities and courts for, anyhow? Looks like universities are operated to graduate bandits and courts used to defeat justice—that is, in this country of liberty and license, grace and disgrace. I was taught in school—(just the common, ordinary public school)— that universities were places boys and girls went to learn how to do the fourth dimension and other mind- broadening stunts, not how to become bandits, through an intensive study of the philosophy of foot ball. Of courts my school teachers told me very little, except, probably, that Thomas Jefferson. Alexander Hamil- ton, Abraham Lincoln, didn’t grad- uate in foot ball before “tempering Justice with mercy.” I'm dizzy! Are we becoming a Nation _of foot ballists? GROVER WARREN AYERS. Tickling Babies’ Feet Condemned by M. D. To the Editor of The Star: The writer of this article was in active practice of medicine 44 years and is fully aware that doctors do absurd things and make unreasonable suggestions. Sometimes one can be found that will sa Let your child in the cradle cry when it awakens, so as to strengthen its lungs.” The writer has seen three children with hernia, caused by the mother doing that very thing. When an adult awakens the first move is to turn over. If his flesh aches, what about the tender flesh of a baby The acme of idiocy was reached when some M. D.—God same the mark—in a late issue of The Star suggested that we tickle a baby and make it laugh for the same reason that we should let it cry. The writer's practice was largely among children, at one period for five years at an or- phan’s home containing between 200 and 300 children, and was always careful to forbid tickling of babies. Their nerves are of more importance than their lung power. Tickling when the victim was bound was one of the old, brutal forms of torturing a cap tured enemy. HARRY T. DUNBAR. con- ‘the ‘We’d Be Reconciled. From the Wall Street Journal. Miners and operators who claim to be fighting for “the public’s interest” should leave us to our fate. process is inevitable. The British, Germans and Italians have passed through it. For Britain it has meant long-continued unemployment, for Germany, inflation and repudiation; for Italy, the dictatorship of Musso- lini. For France it may mean some unemployment, it has meant inflation, which may yet amount to repudiation, but it is unlikely to end in dictator- ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. Where are most of the pecans and English walnuts raised in this country?—C. W. B. A. The area of the most extensive plantings of pecans lies in Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Florida. The most extensive plantings of English walnuts are in California. Q. What kind of motors are used in small working models of airplanes?— A J. C. A. Motor cycle engines are used. WQ. ‘What 1s a telephone city?—D. F. A. Telephone companies divide citles into sections, each with several thousand telephone subscribers. Each section is a telephone city, has its own central office and a name such as “Columbia” or “Potomac” to desig- nate it. When a number is called that is within the same telephone city the connection is made in the local central. ‘When a number is called that is out- side the telephone city, the local cen- tral connects with a trunk line which leads to a central office in the proper telephone city. There connection is made with the subscriber wanted. Q. Is a man in the Navy permitted to wear cits when on shore leave’— E. B. C. A. It is entirely optional whether a man wears civilian clothes while on leave of absence. The enlisted men are not allowed to have civilians' clothes on board ship. However, they can change after they leave the ship. Officers are allowed to keep citizens’ clothes on ship and usually prefer to wear them while on leave. Q. Is a discarded cigarette, cigar or pipe tobacco most likely to cause a fire?—F. F. P. A. The Forest Service has experi- mented with the three in reference to forest fires, and finds that pipe heels are only second to lighted matches in | their ability to start fires, and that this smoldering tobacco is much more likely to kindle forest litter, bark, rot- ten wood or pine needles than either a cigarette or cigar Q. What are “water nixies"?—C. S. w. A. A nixie is a water sprite usuvally of small stature. Sometimes it is a woman, and sometimes it is a man. Q. Who have heen the Big Ten| Foot Ball Conference champions in the last five years?—W. H. § | A. In 1820, Ohfo State; 1921, Towa; 1922, Towa, Michigan and Chicago 1923, Illinois and Michigan: 1924, CI cago. | Q. If two automobiles of the same make and weight should collide, one moving at the rate of 10 miles per hour and one at 50 miles, will the oc cupants of both cars be equally liable | to injury?—D. R. A. Theoretically, a head-on collision between two freely moving bodies of the same weight and type would re- sult in an equal shock to both, re- gardless of their speeds. The forces of impact act equally on both bodies, and in the case of two automobiles | would tend to throw all oce forward in thelr respective c: equal violence. However, in a collision between autos involving speeds as high as 50 miles per hour <o many unevaluated factors would enter that it is probable that results would seldom, if ever, be exactly as expected from the theoretical case. Q. What kinds of lights were used in ancient Egypt?—G. H. A. Oil lamps were the lighting medium of the ancient Egyptians, both olive and fish ofl being used. Q. Who owns the “Great Mogul"'?— W. 0. G. A. It is the property of Ahmed Mirza, deposed Shah of Persia. It is regarded as the most beautiful di mond in the world and second in size only to the Cullinan diamond. The Shah's jewels are valued at $400, 000,000, Q. How can water pipes be kept from freezing?—M. 8. A. Letting the faucets drip slowly will keep the water in motion and may prevent water pipes from freezing, but a stop and waste valve, which any plumber will install, is a more reliable means of prevention. This valve, placed instde the cellar wall, shuts off. when desired, the flow from the ex terfor pipes and dreins the interfor pipes of water. Efther a brass or iron valve may be bought, brass being pre! erable, as it does not rust, Q. What foods contain a consider able amount of calcfum?—C. R. L. A. Those vegetables containing cal clum are listed in the order of thei: wealth in that particular mineral salt: Caulifiower, celery, spinach, lettu chard, turnips, cabbage, string beans, asparagus, radishes, carrots, parsnips, enions, cucumbers, pumpkins, toma’ toes, dried beans, beets, squash, mush rooms, lentils, dried peas, fresh lima beans, green peas, dried lima beans, sweet potatoes, white potatoes and fresh corn. Q. Will chemicals destroy cat-tails in ponds?—C. S. § A. The application of chemicals in ater in which weeds are growing is not considered a practicable way to plants like cattalls, whose re deeply imbedded in the mud The pond may be drained and plowed, or if the pond is shallow the weeds | may be held in check by mowing Q. When was sugar from sugar cane’—R. A. Tt is reported that the manu- facture of sugar cane is older than history and that reference to it is found in the Sanskrit of Ancient In dia. The Greeks and Romans used sugar at one time for medicinal pur- ) poses only, obtaining it from India at great cost. first made Q. What are the chances of ceeding as a motion picture actor’ V. E. M. ‘A. Robert G. McIntyre, casting di rector at the MetroGoldwyn-Mayer studlos, says that one motion pictura cant in every 5000 rises from to leading film roles; one ,000 to stardom Q. What is the process for salting | peanuts in the shell>—F. J. K. A. Salting peanuts in the shell is done quite extensively in the tropics. The peanurs are boined in a salt liquid and then allowed to dry, after which they are roasted. No special equipment is required for this process Q. Did Walter Johnson pitch the whole opening game n the 1924 world series?—P. M. A. He pitched the entire game. (Uncle Sam is constantly working for you. He is solving your problems of agriculture, of industry and of com- merce. He fosters new enterprises, introduces mew crops and opens up new lands and markets. He does countless things to make better the products of the fields, the mines and the mills. He aids and encourages in- vention and provides educational ad- vantages of a thousand kinds. He im- proves facilities of communities and transportation and safeguards your life and health He is the highest specialist in_any man’s line of work and he wants you to make use of all his resources of information and serv- ice. If you desire help of any kind from Uncle Sam let our Washington ) Information Bureau get it for you There is no charge for service ezcept 2 cents in stamps to cover the return postage. Address The Star Informa- tion Bureau, Frederic J. Haaskin, di- rector, Twenty-first and C streets northicest, Washington, D. C.) WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. ‘White Houseward' the star of Am- herst continues to take its course. Not counting either of those unoffi habitues of the Executive Mansion, Frank W. Stearns and Dwight W. Morrow, there are now three sons of the Purple and White headquartered there. Calvin Coolidge and his per- sonal secretary, Edward T. Clark, are two of them, and Crawford, just appointed chief clerk, is the other. That makes enough to give a consid- erable volume of sound to the Am- herst college vell, if anybody can con- ceive of the President joining in a thing so explosive. Mr. Crawford was graduated from Amherst in the class of 1897. In addition to the academic tie that binds him to Mr. Coolidge, the new chief clerk has had a close: up of Republican politics for many years. The employer he is leaving to join the White House staff, Charles D.” Hilles, Republican national com- mitteeman from New York. was| President Taft's secretary from 1911} to 1913. The Amherst bloc at Wash- ington includes Assoctate Justice Har- lan F. Stone. * K ¥ ox Charlés Warren, Democrat and Washington lawyer —and therefore not to be confused with Charies Beecher Warren of Michigan, who fell afoul of the United States Senate last March—is the author of the latest | treatise on ‘“Congress, the Constitu- tion and the Supreme Court.” Mr. ‘Warren’s book, which is just off the press, includes’ a brief description of every case in which the Supreme Court has held an act ‘of Congres: unconstitutional. It also contains a description of the cases decided by the court, whether on constitutional grounds or otherwise, especially af- fecting labor. This observer discovers a worthy novelty about the Warren opus. It is written in language which, while exact, may be easily un- derstood by every layman, as well as by lawyers. The author's “Supreme Court in United States History” was in 1922 awarded the Pulitzer prize for the best book on American his- tory produced that year. * kK One of England's distinguished judges and_barristers-at-law, George Blaiklock, J. P., recorder of Gran- tham, is a visitor to Washington. Mr. Blaiklock’'s purpose in visiting the United States is to interest our pro- hibition philanthropists in the London Temperance Hospital, of which he is one of the managers. The hospital has just embarked upon a $200,000 building program. “Inasmuch as ours was the first temperance hospital in the world,” says Mr. Blaiklock, “and the United States is the first country in the world to outlaw the liquor traf- fic, we feel that the American Na- tion might like to give the money to bulld the new memorial wing as a permanent monument of friendship between our two peoples.” Among the innovations introduced by the London Temperance Hospital from the hour of its foundation in 1873 was the banishment of all forms of alcohol as medical aid to the healing of dis- ease. The English jurists's son is the chief engineer of one of Washington's great public utility companies. * k ok ¥ Miss Nellie Verne Walker, Ameri- can sculptress, has come to Washing- ton to give illustrated lectures on clay modeling. A pupil of Lorado Taft and afterward associated with him in the famous Midway Studios at Chicago, Miss Walker is a native of Iowa. to 1861, and later from 1 Statutory Hall, at the Capitol. Miss Walker also designed the statue of Senator Isaac Stephenson of Wiscon- sin, at Marinette, Wis. One of her most picturesque works is the heroic figure of Chief Keokuk, overlooking the Mississippi River at Keokuk, Towa. Weighing scarcely 100 pounds, energetic, optimistic and well inform- ed, Miss Walker is wholly unspoiled by fame. Recently she gave a soiree at the Chicago Art Institute for all y the old Hawkeye friends she could drum up. One was a bovhood play- mate, now a harber in a Windy City hotel. to 1867, in ey The first father ever to visit his son in the White House was Nathaniel Fillmore, father of President Millard Fillmore. The elder Filimore was a pioneer log-cabin settler in Cavuga County, N. Y. He was a vigorous octogenarian when he came to Wash- ington to stay with his distinguished son some time in 1852. Fillmore, sr., blamed his physical decline to the fact that he was induced to move from the frontier country in central New York to the up-and-coming town of Buf- falo. “Squire” Filimore, as the old gentleman came to be known in Washington, was a much beloved and warmly ‘welcomed figure at White, House functions. But when urged to\ prolong his stay, he exclaimed: “No, no! I don't like it here. It isn't a good place for Millard. I wish he was home in Buffalo, where he helongs!" Just why “Squire” Fillmore didn’t feel at home in Washington the records fail to disclose. ¥ ok ok ok Will the Coolidge economy result in adding a word—the President’s nwn surname—to the English language” If it does, it will be a case of history repeating itself. The word “slihouette” (a profile portrait in black) is derived from Etienne de Silhouette, French ¢ minister of finance in 1759, who was subject to fierce attack because of his attempts to reform the finances of France through rigid retrenchments in expenditure. * ok Kk X This is the season of annual reports by the heads of executive departments. In a day or two it will rain reports in Washington. They give accounts of stewardship during virtually 11 months ; of the calendar year, are formally ad- dressed to the President and are actu- ally for the information of Congress. The average citizen never reads them, although they are crammed with “meat.” (Copyright. 1025.) e National Secrets and The Mitchell Trial To the Editor of The Star: Must all the secrets of the military of this country be aired to the world in the conduct of a military court? Must the policies of our administra- tion be plastered in red type for the enlightenment of foreign powers? Let both the prosecution and the de- fense in the Mitchell trial attend to the matter at hand and put from their minds the idea that the American people are stupid. The American peo- ple are not so dull that they do not know that there are agents of other governments always at work. Let us hope that before the trial is over not all our Government secrets will ke broadcast for the edification of the universe. Let these secrets be Among her best known works is the bronze statue-of James Harlan, United I Btates l-n?lnn Iowa from 1855 e} ed. The American people understag * the necessity of dt. mw )4 stupid. - MARTIN &,