Evening Star Newspaper, December 12, 1925, Page 6

g THE EVENING C ATURDAY, DECEMBER 12 19: .W{W ; ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY . ..December 12, 1825 . Editor THEODORE W. NOYES. . The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11th St. and Pennsslvania Ave. New York office: 110 Fast 13nd St Chicago Office: Tower : pean Office: 14 Recent St., London, England. The Fvening Star. with the Sunday morn- fig edition. ia delivered by carriers withi the city at 60 cents per month: daily on 45 cents per month: Sunday only, 20 cen er month. ~ Orders may be sent by matl or elephone Main 5000. Collection is mude by carrier at the end of each month. nd and Virginia. and Sund: $9.00: 1 mo. m){l‘r S £4.00: 1 mo. ¥ only £300: 1 mo. 150 All Other States and Canada. Patly and Sunday..15r.$12.00 BRIy =R 35 SR 1 mo Sunday only 13T $4001 1 mos Member of the Associated Press. The Lasociated Press {s exclusively entitled ™ the uce for republication all ne u: atches'credited (011 or mot therwlis S 13 in ihis paper and also the Joo published herein. Al rizhts of, public ©f apecial dispatches herein are also rese rved. The Traffic Director's Powers. Introduction in the Housc by Repre- sentative Thomas Blanton of Texas of & bill to increase the powers and the salar the District traffic director brings to the f an imy ant sub. fect which has been occupyving the minds waffic students Eldrid office 1t has been obvious that director has been laboring under cided handicaps of which be traced to cont ns in the code, but the majority culiar position District affairs Mr. Eldridge is ostensibiy in charge | of street traffic in Washington. To him goes all the blame and the credit. | Yet in all cases he must report first | to the Police Department. and second since > 100] the traflic de- | can | some adic of them to the pe- holds relation he in | to to the Commissioners. Ten policemen are assigned to the director. With these ten he must en- | force and carry out traffic regulations his office; these regu lations, of course, having first been | sent to the Police Department and, | second. to the Commissioners. If some especially desirable rule decided upon which rigid forcement Mr. Eldridge must send a request Depart ment for second, copy of sioners promulgated by is en- t needs fi a to the Police more and, the request to He then sits back and waits to whether the department will grant his request not. Sometimes the sction is favorable, and he is able to get the additional men: at other times it is disapproved. It is apparent that such a sfiuation & not conducive to quick results, and Washing: traflic problem are necessary if the city to emerge from the evil conditions which have beset it for many years The cure is easy to find. The traf- | fic director should have assigned to | him. and to him exclusively, the ap proximately men who make up the mobile traffic squad. He should have the authority to dispatch any or all of these men to varicus sections of the city. It a speed for in is being violated on Bladens. road Mr. Eldridge should be to consult with Commissioners hefore sending men to break up the practice. Mr. Eldridge holds rank the commissioners men, a the Commis. see or quick results in n's a | luw, in only the out comparable 1o of vehicles in other States. Yet he is the only official who has no real authority in the enforcement of the lawz. There Lut that should be responsible to the Commis - sioners, but they should Le the only to whom he should plan of putting a highly spe: flic Bureau under the Police Department has never been a success and never will be. Traflic regulation the ordinary run of police work cannot be linked. It has been tried here and has failed. The Police Department has co-operat- ed 1o the best of its ability with the director, but co-operation of | this high character cannot produce results. { If it is necessary to the | status of Mr. Eldridge the pur pose of giving him control over the traffic squad. a specific position should he created for him. If the men can be assigned without this action, well and | good. The traflic director. <hould be removed fi Jjuisdiction of the Police Department and he should have real control, rather than fancied control of traffic. Washington made a wise choice in Mr. Eldridge. and therefcre an op- portunity should be him to work out, unhampered. traffic regula- | tions for the betterment of conditions in the National Capital. e motor is no question e report and i even change | i | we howev ym the given Au artist in his . Tted Grange | has risked health in an effort to com- ply with an unrelenting program of | commercialization. way b The Pension Building. Transfer of the Pension Office to the Interior Bullding .and the proposed shifting of the Labor Department to the structure in Judiciary Square il- lustrate the make-shifts to which this (;overnment is put to provide for the housing of its working forces. Inci- dentally the departure of the pension force leaves thé red-brick building with a misnomer. It will no longer be officially, though it may | remain in | popular terms, the “Pension Building.” a now historic designation. Its terra | cotta frieze of marching soldiers, de- | signed to illustrate the character ot | ihe work for the transaction of which within its walls it was designed and puilt, will no longer be appropriate. The Pension Office force has dwin- led from its proportions of twenty years ago, when it was. despite u\e! long lapse of time since the Civil War, | which brought it into existence, one | of the largest buresus of the Govern- | ment. Within {he lost two years the | 1 has been reduced by more than | Z: 1023 the office force numbered | 131, Today it comprises only 807, one-third less. There is a sad thought in this con- uection, that the dwindling of the Pen- s 1mo.. $100 l‘u' imaginable causc |as to render {amend the law {to the Japanese. !and | opposite Washington. of the veterans of the Civil War and thelr immediate dependents. work of that office has been in strik- ing manner supplemented and sup- {planted by the Veterans' Bureau, car- ing for a great number of claims growing out of the Great War. In a few more years the Pension Office will diminish into & small seetion, will | perhaps be abolished and avsorbed into one of the other units of the public | service, Meanwhile the shifting of offices, with the Department of Labor going down into Judiciary Square and the Pension Office up into the Interior De- partment, comes at opportune time to demonstrate anew the urgent need of a comprehensive public building {program for the relief of the depart- mental administration from choking songestion and extravagant dispersal. e — The United States and Japan. Premier Kato of Japan Las declared that war between Japan 'and the | United States is absurdity and | physically impracticable.” He speaks |advisedly. There is no conceivable oc- |casion for a conflict between the two nations, and the difficulties of waging such a war are imsuperable. In the first place the United States would |never assume an aggressive attitude toward Japan. It seeks.no advantage over Japan, it cherishes for that na tion only the friendliest of sentiments, |and it would not deliberately give af- front to it. There Dos remains the My, | Sibility of & war declared iy Japan, as aggressor, for which there is no known and which would be, as the Japanese premier says, physically impracticable. An aggressive war conducted Japan against the United States fvould be one of the most disastrous blunders ever committed by a nation. The dis- tance from coast to coast is so great virtually hopeless any maneuvers of attack. Japan might, perhaps, inflict upon outlying American posses might levy toll upon American might by ommerce, leven for a very brief period secure American the di from base, the lack of supply sources within range of ac: tivity, not to speak of the potency of the American powers of resistance and counter attack, would put uny Asiatic nation, Japan or another or a bination, at a disadvantage from the landing upon shores. But nee | com- outset leading to early catastrophe. An ations have with- out doubt been fully considered in Ja- pan. when at times feelings have heen ruflled legislation. A militant Japan has for some ve propa political purposes these couside over American party in conducting domestic rs been war ganda The majc garded these fulminations as serious. To America Japan owes too much of aratitude for aid rendered in times of dire need, for guidance and sympathy and constructive co-operation. to misled by jingoistic clamor into state of war hysteria. The immigration question is settled Premier Kato expresses the hope that some day the United States far as it pertain That day may come. " owever, has never re. a may s0 | Perhaps, on the other hand, it will not. But whether it comes or it does not. the thought of war between the two ountries remains abhorrent and fan- tastic, and it is not only reassuring. but gratifying, to hear the leading statesman of Japan so plainly and dis- tinctly state the absurdity and the physical impracticability of war. His words should serve rebuke to those in other countries who would perhaps like to see this country em- brofled in a conflict with that Far Eastern neighbor and friend for whose entrance into the of it is responsible. as a family —— erlin champlon skat player re- A ceived a head, hurled by Americans spell thermore, they irate enthusiastic an woman. are too |over Coolidge’s economy program ever to say it with such a delicacy as to- matoes ———— The “foremost champion of Spanish labor” died recently in Madrid. Ac- cording to popular conception of the “Land of Manana,” this title would be about equal to the Admiral of the Swiss Navy. An children do most of the ruling among the Iiskimo tribes. American fathers husbands find nothing in this announcement to cause their eves to bulge ——— Potomac Improvement. The chief engineer of the Army in his annual report recommends that im- provements be made in the Potomac River for the purpose of aiding navi- gation. He reports that $300,000 should be expended during the fiscal year 1927 in deepening the channel where it has shoaled in the lower part of the river, and he recommends the expenditure of $26,000 for continuing the dredging of the Virginia channel It is shown in the report that there has been serious shoaling of the channel on Kettle Bot- tom, off Maryland Point, Smith Point and Mattawoman Creek, and that near ‘Washington the channel is not of suf- ficient depth off the old Naval Maga- zine and off Marshall Hall. No main- tenance work has been done on those shoals since the completion of the original project in 1905. The commi al possibility of the Potomac River should be taken care of. Its commerce is of considerable | importance now, and the navigability of the river may become of very great importance to large and populous citles near the head of tide and to cities which may come to be along the lower reaches of the river. It is rea- sonable to think that as the years pass and as the country grows sev- eral million people will live and work near the junction of the Potomac and Eastern Branch. The growth of Washington is obvious. A large city is building along the west side of the river between Great Falls and Hunt- ing Creek. The valley of the Eastern Branch far into Maryland is gaining in population. The Potomac is a. great natural as- set to Washington and to a large part of Virginia and Maryland, and The nations 1 package of tomatoes on his| and, fur-| sion Bureau force signifies the mkslnfl' should be kept in good erder, shown that the river commerce at Washington for the year 1924 was 1,442,880 short tons, valued at $1 263,380. It consisted mainly of sand and gravel, gas-making oil and gen- eral merchandise. A wide and deep Wwaterway to the Chesapeake and to the sea is a feature which should not be neglected. It is imporiant at this time and its importance will probabiy increase. ——e—s Twenty-Four Years of Radio. Twenty-four years ago today Gu- glielmo Marconi, listening in at St. John's, Newfoundland, picked up the first transatlantic radio signal from | i | coming in jing | home Poldhu, Cornwall, on the southwest tp of England. Marconi and his as- sistants had been busy at St. John's for several days in preparation, but it was not until the 12th of December, 1901, that they were able to send up an antenna wire by.means of a kite 400 feet in the air. When that was ac- complished, Marcohi cabled for the be- ginning of the tests, the British op-{ erators at Poldhu being instructed to send the letter 'S, represented in the ode by three dots. Shortly after noon this signal was heard, and it continued to be picked up intermittently until Marconi waited for two days, meanwhile receiving other sig- nals, before he announced the suc ess of his great experiment of trans- atlantic radio communication. Phenomenal advances have been made in radio during this span of twen- ty-four vear: But Marconi's achieve. ment in 1901 was the most remar] of all. He demonst of etheric communication over vas tances, and in that demonstration he gave to the world an invaluable ; for the protection of lives ut sea. took some years to get the “wirele: installed upon the ships. At fivst only a few carried “sending” equipment. Today no ship is allowed to leave port without a radio set. In these days of almost universal radio use, with even children making apparatus, with practically every household equipped with receiving sets, with broadeasting stations scat tered thickly over the map, but little thought is given to the highly prac tical uses to which “wireless” is ap- plied. It has become a means of en: tertainment, but it remains an invalu- able aid to navigation and to the al instantaneous spread of infor- mation. These have been twenty-four wonderful years that have passed since Marconi first heard three faint clicks eries from across the At 0 pm. most Tantic = B Mellie Dunham, -time jigs and reels them Dearbort one who has ever had the good for- tune quaint and quiet will imagine, however, of the Grand Trunk brakeman, “South Paris, change for Norway,” will be music in h as sweet any coaxed from fiddle. The N can League, to Iy splendid when they take the field next Spring. Not all details of the pat terns of the new uniforms are di- vulged, but it is definitely known that they wiil not be ornamented with checks as large as those worn by the Pirate outfit S o SR Representative Blanton of Texas introduced a bill providing that diplomat violates the he shall be non grata.” Non notable player is delight Any A of o out way. to visit his town that the bellow s ears his are be surtoria any foreign eighteenth amendment, deemed “persona grata to whom? — —r——— A noted sculptor says John D. willing and patient subject. This shows that he can, at times, conquer that almost jrresistible throw dimes around. ——— As a part of his early training voung Mr. La Follette is contemplat- ing incidents of great importance in his senatorial career strictly as an Innocent bystander. ————. SHOOTING STARS. impulse to BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Invincibility. “Its nothing strange,” Sald the stout Red Grange, “To see a fallen foeman. But few I've met 1 can’t upset Since 1 became a showman. “And yet I sigh As I draw nigh To quaff Fame's glorious Nectar. Life’s incomplete; T'll never beat The iricome tax collector!” The Bright Spot. “Why don’t you introduce a few hu- morous anecdotes in your speeches, as | vou used to2 hey interfered iith ment,” answered Senator Sorghum. “The papers picked out the funny story and didn’t print any of the rest of the speech.” No Rest. Oh, Scientist, pray have a heart As you new theories disclose. You hint that days and nights depart And never leave us true repose. You say our dreams are made from things That memory has left behind And that my sleep occasion brings To wake up my unconscious mind. Jud Tunkins:says experience is a rough teacher when it comes to learn- ing the traffic regulations. Uninformed. You can’t believe all you hear. ‘Most of what I've heard today,” answered the jazz-weary person, didn’'t tell me anything in the first place.” Drowning the Argument. ‘When father scolds at idle chaff With “therefores™ and “whereases,” His daughters start the phonograph And all the family jazzes. “De race hoss,” said Uncle Eben, “has most of de luck aroun’ de track in allus bein’ sure 'bout where he's it | gineter eat an’ sleep.” Tt lsl tionals, champs of the Ameri- | the argu-| Mary Roque had seized eagerly upon the opportunity to go to Florida with Col. Ball in search of his daughter. She had been wapting to visit the land of sunshine for months, but had never found an excuse for doing so before. Aside from the slight uncon:ention ality of the proceedings—which did not worry Mary a bit—there was the pleasant prospect held forth of enjoy ing a nice trip at the beginning of the big Winter season, all at no ex- pense to herself. Col. Loganberry 11. Ball, Mary dis- covered, had enough money to sink a ship. He had made a pile of it in the game of buying and selling hogs on the Omaha market, .and had retired With more than he knew what to do with. A trip to Florida, therefore, was nothing to Col. Ball, nor was the ex- tra expense of a private lady investi gator (a title petite Mary Roque shrank from, but which fitted he very well), one to worry him. In the concluding moments of their conference, the retired hog dealer from Omaha had told her that hix daughter, Maiste Hennick, nee Ball, had informed her husband, several days before she had left him, that she was going to Oloikeye, Fla. If they were going to follow her at all, Mary reasoned, the only thing to do was to go to Oloikeve. To rush blindly into the big Southern State, trusting Lo Juck to find the fleeins Maisie, would be putting too muc the shoulders of fate. ' """ O" Mary decided that it Maisie had once said she was going to a certain town, obability she would go there men are determined creatures, ok ok % “Well, I'm going to Florida, mother,” Mary announced, as she took off her fur coat in the living room at home that evening. Her mother, a placid lady who read all the new novels as they came out, never batted an eye. Her daughter, lovely, businesslike, was a strange creature. She had given up’ trying to understand a great many years ag “Mary is no Spring chicken, know,"” she had told several good friends confidentially when they had protested against some of the daugh ter's “cccentricities they termed them So that evening. when Mary calmly offered information as to her future {course of action, no one looked startled. It Mary had said she was going to the moon. the news would have Leen accepted in much the same matter-of tuct way. “What Mary?" Morley fully over her finger so the place. “Business trip, mother. T have dis- |covered an old gentleman who wants me to find his wayward daughter, and the only way to do it is to chase down there after her.” s vour kind with you, Ma A figure stirred easy chair by the |John Roque, father of this unusual | ereature. He was a Government scien tisturtist, & man who painted exqui- site pictures of unusual objects, such s fleas, etc. Perhaps he was the only man in the world who knew ex {actly how many hairs there are on a flea’s leg. John Rogue spoke up. “You think the old fellow is straight, Mary 2" “Certainly, father—just as you are.” John Roque had such faith in the shrewd mind of his only daughter that he never questioned her when she poke in that tone. He knew she knew. How the child had ever a quired that unerring ability to read People merely by looking at them. the governmental employe often won. you going to Florida for, asked Mrs. Roque. closing s “Thunder on the Left" care- not to lose Id gentleman going nfortable eplace. It w in a Nationallsm in ‘Turkey announces in advance of any action by the coun cil of the League of Nations that it will never acquiesce one inch in the award to Great Britain of its claimed territory of Mosul. The Permanent Court tional Justice, to which the council had referred the ir tion of the Lausanne treaty as right of the council to define the boundary between Turkey and the Kingdom of Irag (which includes Mosul). has rendered its decision un qualifiedly in favor of such authority of the council. While the council has not_vet taken action, Turkey persists in denying its right to intervene, and threatens armed resistanc With France making war on the Syrians south of Turkey, and with Reza Khan overturning the dynas of Ahmed Kedjar in Persla, on the cast, the prospect of an outbreak of war in Turkey is appalling to would be refugees from zones of terror. It is reported that the Turks have re-| cently deported thousands of Chri tians from Mosul villages, with cus tomary cruelty to women, and whole- sale pillaging. Hundreds have died from starvation and exposure. Ak x 1t will be recalled that at the close of the World War the allies invited the United States to take a mandate gver Turkey, or, at least, over Ar- menia, which was vart of the Turk- ish empire. Our Senate refused the mandate in spite of Gen. Harbord's official report that the United es mandate, if extended over all of Asia Minor, “would do much to stabiliz that part of the world.” Congress corporated the Near East Relief, whose mission is fo care for the refu- gees and victims of that region. The Near FEast Relief reports that, not- withstanding its aid with many mil- lions of dollars for provisions and clothing, 100,000 children are wan- dering city_streets uncared for and destitute. Mandates were given by the League of Nations to Great Brit- aln over Palestine and Mesopotamia and to France over Syria. In May, 1919, a Greek army of oc cupation was landed in Smyrna by direction of the allies, as it had been agreed that Smyrna should be given to Greece., That invasion was the signal for a great’outburst of Turk- ish nationalism, and the Greeks were routed with terrible losses. Follow- ing that victory, Mustapha Kemal Pasha and his Nationalist followers declared their resistance to the ut- most against further interference by foretgn powers in Turkish internal of Interna- leag erpreta- to the affairs. In July of that vear a Turk- ish conference at Ezeroum declared that the eastern vilayets (states), claimed by the British under their mandate, belonged as an integral part of Turkey and would be defended as such. A larger conference, held at Sivas, in September, reiterated the claim, and added that the Turks would never surrender one inch north of a line drawn from the southern boundary of Mosul to Alexandretta. In October, 1919, the Sultan, living at the capital, Constantinople, author- ized the holding of & parliamentary election, the result of which was an overwhelming victory for the Na- tionalists who were pledged to carry out the Ezeroum and Siva declara- tions. Mustafa Kemal Pasha, the Jeader of the Nationalists, made head- quarters at Angora. In January, 1920, the Parliament met in Angora, for fear of the Britlsh who were in military possession of Constantinople, but later Parliament removed to Con- stantinople, assured of recognition by the allies. It stood firmly for the BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. | behes THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. dered. Certainly neither he nor his romantic wife, the mother of this as- tonishing creature they called their daughter, had been able to give her those traits. LA As far as Mr, Roque could figure out, there was no ancestor, either, who was at all responsible for the un- canny ability their child possessed of being able, at one glance, to tell all about a person. Mary had never made & mistake. It was due to this gift—for gift it was— that she had gradually taken up the work of private investigator in all sorts of researches, in which she used her personality style and inimitable smile to good advantage. “He's a fine old fellow, father, spoke up Mary, dropping onto an old- tashicned sofa, the sort one seldom sees any more. It had a natural up- curve for the head. Mary *had often sald it was hideous, but had admitted, i the same time, that it was more comfortable than a davenport. “He's several times old enough to be my father,” she continued, stroking the upheld head of Velvet Puff, her Maltese. “Isn't he, Puft?” “Yes, Mary, but—" Her mother opened her book. “But some of those old fellows—"" . “Don’t you worry, mother. All he is interested in in the world is find- ing that girl, and he came to me be- cause he didn’t want to put the case in the hands of the police, or apything like that. Why, there is one thing alone that makes me know he is a straight-shoot er, a5 they say out where he comes from. He actually is afraid to see the kid again, by himself. He seems to Lave a certain sort of delicacy in the matter. 1 don’t know what better : surance I could have of him than that feeling.” Mr. and Mrs. Rbque nodded, al- though they scarcely understood what their child was talking about. If Mar: wanted to go to Florida, that was her business. Mrs. Roque went back to her book, Mr. Roque to his pipe and Velvet Puff to his snooze, leaving Mary dreaming about Florida before the gas heate trying t6é remember that “ad” she had read recently. thern tropical winds as mellow d soothing as the lilting notes of the harp—sweet perfumed zephyrs, fragrant with the rich aroma of orange blossoms So it had gone on. It all came back for she had a keen mem- words had impressed her, had so many others in recent She went on, murmuring: “Clear, fresh streams of crystal waters meandering lazily through pine-decked forests whose shores are lined with palms, subtropical shrul and giant live oaks with thei aerial gardens of Spanish moss— Mary particilarly liked that about the aerial gardens. “That's good,” she said; then went on “Tiny, delicately tinged orchids, silver ferns and blossoming plants of o broad bays of varied-colored from the bluest blue of the to the deepest emerald green of rranean gardens amongst the oral reefs of the inland bays—— Hot dog!” chuckled Mary Roque, almost overcome by the ad writer's ability. Then she remembered an- other one: A gay resort, enjoying the be bathing, boatin She w: S0 ory, and ti as the, months ight-hearted people t that life affords, . fishing, golf on} championship courses; fine hotels, <hops and theaters: the unique Span- .sh section, with its picturesque res- taurants and colorful grand opera; a great port and a thriving industrial ity ‘filled with business and invest- ment opportunity almost without Limit.” “Hot dog!™ said Mary Roque to Vel- vet Puff. a declaration, to wit, that those | parts of territory which were peopled exclusively by Arabs and which, at the conclusion of the armistice, re- mained occupied by enemy forces, should be settled by a plebescite.s The | part which remained inside the lines of the Turks and inhabited by a ma- | jority of Ottomans and Mussulmans should belong to Turkey. Finding the Parliament so national- | istic, the British arrested 150 member in one night; the other members who escaped, fled to Angora and renewed sessions, even after the Sultan, at the | of the allies, ordered Parlia- | ment dissolved. The conflict eventu. | ally resulted in deposition of the Suitan and the setting up of tne re- public, headed by Mustafa Kemal | To the Sultanic constitutional gov- | ernment the allies had submitted a draft of a treaty of peace, which was signed at Sevres August 10, 1920. On the same date %reat Britain and France partitioned Turkish territory between themselves as part of the conditions of peace terms confirmed by the League of Nations. When this | agreement was submitted to the Grand fonal Parliament sitting in Angora, the Parliament declared that. such terms of peace could only be enforced | by _arms. 1 Then came the Greek invasion and disastrous defeat, and the allies recognized that a new treaty must be made, acceptable to the Parliament of Nationalists. The conference of Lausanne was ¢alled for that purpose and met November, 19 * * It was at this Lausanne conference that the boundary of Mosul, as claim- ed by the British, under its mandate from the League of Nations, first be- came an issue. The Dritish handed the Turks a draft of a proposed treaty, in which it was stipulated that the “boundary of Mosul should be a line to be fixed in accord with a de- cision to be given thereon by the council of the League of Nations.” Turkey is not a member of the league. She refused the proposed treaty, which broke up the conference for two months. In the debate pre- ceding this break, Lord Curzon argued that Turkey would stand on a level with her opponent before the council, and he used this language: ‘Article 5 of the covenant provides that the decision of the council, upon which - the Turkish government will be represented, will have to be unanimous, so that no decision can be arrived at without their (the Turks) consent.” It is on this Curzon speech that the subsequent issues have turned. ‘When the Lausanne conference was reopened, the Turks presented as & counter proposition, as to Mosul, that it should “not rest on a decision of the council,” but that it should be referred to the council, “in the event of no agreement being reached with- in_a year.” ‘When the Turks had refused the original draft and broke off-negoti- ations, the British served notice that they withdrew all obligations. When the conference was renewed, no refer- ence was made to the Curzon inter- pretation of the “unanimous” condi- tion required in the council, and it has been ruled by the Permanent Court of International Justice, to which the council referred the ques- tion for advice, that unanimity meant not counting the parties at issue Turkey was thus deprived of her ex- pected power to veto whatever deci- slon she did not approve. ' (Copyright. 1935. by Payl V. Collius.) { means, |leaving the prairie a blackened, smok- {little wife | “We—we'd begun [after s THE LIBRARY TABLE By the Booklover. American readers who wish to be! thrilled by the achlevements and to realize the hardships of earlier gen- erations of their countrymen in sttling the great Middle West should read part of the story as told by a Norwegian. Johan Bojer, after spend- ing some time in North Dakota, has written a novel of the early days of that State, “The Emigrants,” which could not be excelled in realism and in power by the most skiliful of our American realists who best know the Middle West, say Willa Cather her- self. The building of their sod huts by the little band of Norwegiun set- tlers durlng the first days after the: take up their homestead ‘“quarte on the broad prairie Is the first step | in the growth of a prosperaus town, eventually the seat of a university. But even before the settlers cut out | the sod for their homes they plow up | the ground for planting. That is the reason why they have crossed the ocean all the way from Norway—to own land, much ‘land, and to grow wheat and corn, so much of it that they shall never again suffer the nar- row poverty which has driven them from their homes in the old country. Kal Skaret, stopping .his covered wagon on his own “quarter,” the farthest west of those taken up by the party, looks about him and draws a deep breath. “A hundred and sixty all his own! And in the middle their land stood the wagon, a little room on four wheels, their first house out here. The grass reached high up its sides, and Kal's first job must be to get a scythe and do some mowing, to make a bit more elbow room. Soon he was swinging his scythe vigorously; ves, this was the sort of stuff to feed animals on! le wished he had a thousand cows Ed * x _Prairie fires are among the destru tive forces of nature which menace the settlers. FErik Foss, leader of the little colony, has warned them all of this danger and told them what to do it it should come. One scorching after noon of their first Summer, while Kal is “walking behind his plow and tell- ing the oxen that they were damned rascals,” he notices flock after flock of birds flying past him. Then the prairie itself seems to become alive. Hares and rabbits scurry in the same direction as the birds. One or iwo coyotes, then, astonishingly, scores of them tear by. “And what the dickens was that? Rattlesnakes, gliding along the ground, hissing with fear' And that” A gray wolf. In the distance he could see herds of long-legged ante- lopes galloping along with their thrown back. Then his cows come running in from the plain in terror. Kal and his neighbors on the other sections do not understand what it all Never in their mountain homes orway have they seen thing like it.: They see a dense c off in the \West and think per] rain is coming to break the long drought. But the cloud grows dusky red and the odor of smoke becomes heavy in the air. Then as the cloud comes nearer the plain beneath it a pears to be a sea of fire. ik comes running into Kal's “quarter shouting: “Plow around your quarte as quick as you can! The prairie fire’s coming! Burn away the grass around the house.” Then he dashes off to in- struct his other neighbors. The chap- ters of ‘“The Emigrants” which describe this prairie fire and the des perate efforts of the settlers to fight it and save their homes, beasts und crops, form perhaps the most dramatic part of a book full of the drama « real life. After the fire has passe: ing plain, where the sections of the settlers are like green oases, Erik Foss asks his neighbors if they are not ready to give up and go back to the old country. Several of them have their feet bandaged in wet cloths be. cause of burns: all are haggard and exhausted from the fight with the fire monster. They look at one another questioningl For a time no one speaks. Then Kal stammers: “‘Does that mean that I've got to give up mv hundred and sixty acres?” And his bent Karen, savs hesitatingly to feel quite at| hgme here. Besides, everything will | be all right.” That settles it. Kal| and Karen are the oldest, of the col- | ony and have a family of children. If! they can hold out, the others can. So they stay. * kTR The conflict in the hearts of settl between homesickness for | Norway, with its mountains, woods, | high pasture lands and flords, and a ! growing love for their prairfe homes, | where land is abundant and easy to| till, is one of the elements which | make this story an epic. Per Foil makes a2 mound of earth at a little dis. tance from his hut and whenever the monotony of the plain almost drives | him mad he throws a few more spade- | fuls of earth on the mound and tries | to remember the fir-clad knoll at home. After the first good harvest Karen Skaret has the men bring her from the town. over 100 miles awav | a few oak and birch saplings to plant | in a circle near her hut, just as they | grew back in Skaret. Of all the set- tlers, Morten Kvidal feels the strug-| gle most, for he has left behind in | Norway 4 mother, brothers and sisters and the small farm of Kvidal, which he has dreamed of making into one of the big farms of the district. Finally me years on the prairie, longing draws him back to Norway and the little farm of Kvidal. He loves the mountains and the sea us much as _ever, but now the farms seem smaller than ever and the land stony and almost impossible to clear The class distinctions, too, have b come intolerable to him. For weeks he debates with himself whether to remain or to go back to his prairie farm. Then he recelves a letter from the settlement: North Dakota has been admitted to the Union: a road has been begun over the prairie from the town: a railway is being talked about. He can stay no longer. He must go back. He knows that he has secretly intended to go all along, and | that this time it will be for good. | Years after, when he is the owner of a huge Dakota farm, a new Kvidal, and is a patriarch in the community, one of the old settlers asks him, ““Are you still homesick, Morten?" He replies: “Do you suppose there has been a single day, in all these long years, when I didn't say to myself, ‘I'm going_home soon to buy back Kvidal? We who came out here have two souls, and two countries. Of course I'm a stanch American now. But think of all I've meant to do in Norway! the | * ko k Lytton Strachey in his small vol- ume, “Pope,” the Leslie Stephen lec- ture for 1925, represents the dictator of eighteenth-century English poetry as a “fiendish monkey" of malicious- ness. He says that the “little monster of Twickenham' kept the literary and social world in terror by the power of his satirical pen. He says: “You might wake up one morning to find vourself exposed, both now and for- ever, to the riducule of the polite world.” Having passed judgment on Pope's personality, Mr. Strachey de- votes the rest of his lecture to his poetic technique, especially his use of the couplet. I e “Europe Turns the Corner,” by Stanley High, is a more hopeful book than most of the many post-war books on Europe. The author believes that Europe is improving economically and socially. He does not gloomily pre- dict_another war in the near future, as do most writers, and for this the reader is grateful. He does, however, strongly express the opinion that the United States should cease her self- righteous aloofness and do something to belp world settlement. | —— | covenant.” { sequently. | Only 36 states have ratified ft. | means that out of the 67 states in |a given Instance. Q. 13 coal now being formed be- neath the earth’s surface?—J. F. A. A fuel technologist says that there is no coal being formed under the earth’s surface now and there never was. The coal that is now found under the earth’s surface, no matter how deep it may be, was formed above the surface and later covered up. Coal was formed in an- cient peat bogs in the same manner as peat is formed at the present time. Q. When was it found that iron ships would float as well as wooden ones?—C. W. K. A. It is not recorded who first dis- covered that an iron vessel would float as eusily as a wooden one. It is re- corded that an iron boat was built and launched on the River Foss, in York- shire, England, as early as 1777, but the date of the invention of iron as a 1ecognized materfal for ship construc- tion is often given as 1818, when the lighter Vulean was buiit on the Mon land Canal, near Glasgow, Scotland. Q. Where built?—P. AT works, at Q. What is expanded metal>—N. L. A. Expanded metal is a material of openwork or netlike appearance, man- ufactured by taking sheet metal, ing numerous short slits in it parallel was the Los Angeles s built by the Zeppelin Friedrichshaten, Germany. with one another, such slits being made in lines which are quite close to- gether, and with the slits of one line alternated in position with those of the lines at both sides of it, and then strecching the metal in the plane of the sheet o as to spread the slits into fairly wide openings. An important use thereof is in the walls of buildings as a substitute for laths, for the sup- port of the plastic materials of which walls are composed, it having among its advantages that of being fireproof, Q. How much room is allowed for each horse in a race’--J. L. M. A. Five feet of space is allowed for each horse entered in a race. (“Without popular education. 10 government which rests upon popi- lar action can lony endure.” These are thét words of Woedrow Wilson, who was one of the great authoritics on Government. Uncle Sam realizes his responsibility in educating his peo- ple and has made available to ticm the immense governmental resources of information. Our Washington Ii- formation Bureau will act as agcut for you and procure any data that it is within the rules of the Governme to give out. Just submit your que toin qnd inclose 2 cents in stamps 1 cover the return postage. Address The Star Information Bureau, Frederic ./ Haskin, director, Twenty-first and streets nortacest, Washington. D« Is Borah’s World Court Plan Unreasonable; a Reply to Hudson BY HERBERT F. WRIGHT. of Political Science, Georgetown University. The strictures of Prof. Manley O. Hudson, sometime official of ~the Teague of Nations and now Bemis ssor of international law at the Harvard Law School, upon Senator Borah's Geclaration of intention to do evervthing possible to divorce the Permanent Court of International Justice from the League of Nations, warrgnt a close serutiny, if for no other' reason, hecause they come from such a distinguished source and are leveled at such a distinguished object as the statement of the chairman of the Se ttee on foreign T lations. Prof. Hudson Professor ate conr enumerates “three ways in which the court and the league are related: (1) the judges are elected by the council and the assem- bly of the league; (2) the budget of the court forms a part of the budget of the I ue, and (3) the court may give advisory opinions on the request of the council or assembly,” To quote his words, “it may be useful to in- quire why the divorcement is to be attempted, whether it is possible and what it would mean.” It is true that “the deadlock of a whole generation of effort was broken in 1920, when Mr. Root proposed tha the difficulties of agreeing on a meth- od of electing the judges be escaped by utilizing the counci! and assembly of the League of Nations for this purpose.” It must be remembered, however, that the advisory commit- tee of jurists, of which Mr. Root was a member, was acting upon the i Vitation of the council of the league, that its secretary was the undersecre tary general of the league and that its report was made to the council of the league. It was perfectly nat- ural, therefore, for this committee to conceive its purpose to be the elab- oration of a draft of a court primaril for the members of the league. cordingly, it proposed that “the court shali be openof right to the states mentioned in the annex to the cov- enant,” which were 45 in number, al- though ‘“other states may have ac- ess to it” upon such conditions as shall be determined by the_ council in accordance with article 17 of the Had this not been thel purpose they would have suggested a scheme for the election of judges which would have been entirely depenndent of the league, yet equally effective and satisfactory. Several such plans have been suggested sub- But it was the business of the advisory committee, not to plan a World Coyrt accessible to alt states upon mere ratification, but to plan a court for the members of the league and such other states as the councll of the league might care to | approve. A “World” Court. Prof. Hudson makes much of the fact that 48 states have now signed the protocol of the statute of the court, with the inference that the United States is one of a small mi- nority. But there is a vast difference between signature and ratification. The United States signed the covi nant of the league, but it has consist- ently refused to ratify it. So it is with the protocol of the court’s statute. This the family of nations' considered worthy by the court of receiving com- munications concerning its activities 36, or 54 per cent, have agreed to use the court if it pleases them so to do in Only 17.,0r 25 per cent, have ratified the optional clause concerning compulsory jurisdiction or consider it in force. In other words, 5 per cent (including all the larger and more important states) cannot ba haled into court in a given case against its will. Will the criminal state, any more than the eriminal individual, be inclined to submit his case voluntarily to an impartial tribunal? The answer is that only 25 per cent of the 67 states are adherents to the idea of a real World Court or International Court of Justice. Again, not only the 36 mentioned above as ratifiers of the court’s proto- col, or 54 per cent of the 67 state: participate in the_election of judge: but the entire members of the league, or §2 per cent of the 67 states, although. unless the court is a league organ, there. is no more reason for the 19 league members who Lave not rati- fied the protocol. or 29 per cent of the 67 states, to participate in the election of the judges than there is for the 12 non-members of the league, or the re- maining 18 per cent of the 67,com- prising the family of nations. Prof. Hudson, moreover, has set up a “straw soldier” when he says that “all the other nations are satisfied with .this_method,” and that “Presi- dent Harding and President Coolidge and Secretary Hughes proposed that the United States accept it.” There is no, question here of throwing “the fat back into the fire where it was from 1899 ta 1920.” The method of election is eminently satisfactory in principle. It is the court’s intimate connection with the league which is objectionable. Is the Court Independent? Nor does this mean a holy horror of “‘the thought of an American going to Geneva.” If the people of the ted States desire membership in 'the league, then it is entirely appropriate for an American representative to go to Geneva. But it is fatuous to urge that, while the United States should not become a member of the league, it should use the organs of the league precisely as if it were a member. The first Harding-Hughes-Coolidge reservation, if it means anything, im- plies that the court is a league orga otherwise, if it were entirely independ- ent as urged, there would be no neces- sity of this reservation. That is why President Coolidge, in his annual message, significantly says that the court “‘appears’” to be independent of the league, because the protocol of its statute is a separate instrument. | But that the court is, a matter of Ac- | in- | { | | | fact, an organ of the league and is 80 considered by the court and by members of the league, is capable of demonstration from their official pu lications, so that it is unnecessary detail it here. The suggestion the court from the league is no more unreasonable or npracticable” than the suggested adherence with reservss tions. Any reservations proposed ¥ the United States would require i approval of the present signatories, otherwise there would be no real ra fication effected by the United States, If the Hardin rvations are lieved to be warranted and acceptable, and if, as has be maintained, the court 'is really independent of league, there should be no obje on the part of leagu: iembers to American reservations removing all doubt on this point by actually vorcing the court from the leag Senator Borah proposes. The Court Budget. Prof. Hudson next takes up question of the court budget. ° again he inadvertently shows the in- timate connection of the court with the league. “The money necessary 1o pay the bills of the World Court (sic) is now collected from 35 nations, gll members of the league,” while onl 36, or 65 per cent of the member have actually ratified the pro the court. All of the league members contribute to the expenses of a court, which, i it were independent, would belong only to the 36 ratifiers of it protocol of signature. And while the financial section of the league 1s. as Prof. Hudson alleges. a satisfactory machinery for apportionment and lection of contributions for the ex- penses of the league, it does not see an insuperable or uneconomical tas to have, for instance, the interna- tional bureau at The Hague perforr this service for the court. Prof. Hud son's suggestion, that “if we desi our check can be sent directly to th court's registrar at The Hague wit out even passing through the league’s agencies at Geneva," is, apart from the implication that the letter i the proper and normal method of pay a concession which is beneath tempt. If we are to enter the co as at present constituted, let us r fool ourselves by any such subterfuge as making our contribution “on sly.” 80 to speak. Considerable anxiety is felt by Prof. Hudson as to what explanation Sena- tor Borah will offer to the other 48 countries for his suggested change in the present arrangement. He makes Senator Borah say to them, “Dupli cate vour machinery,” which, of course, is an exaggeration, and makes them reply. “We do mnot why.” An appropriate answer is no far to seek. If the court is divorced from the league, as the anti-leaguers desire, American adherence to court may be secured without the for mal rejection of membership in ti league. This should be sati g the court, which they c first step into the league, while leav- ing the latter question of league memn: bership for further consideration upon its merits at some future date. In other words, the much-desired Ameri- can participation in the so-called World Court would be obtained at the insignificant price of making the court independent of the league, as they maintain it is already. Advisory Opinions Another question which proves bothersome to Prof. Hudson is that of advisory opinfons. I do not imagine that Senator Borah would entertain any serious objections to the rendering of advisory opinions by the court upon any matter of law which the parties in dispute agree to submit to it, provided the court iself were entirely independ ent of the league and the opinions were furnished to any signatory of the protocol (among them, of course, the members of the league) only after “notice, full opportunity for hearing. careful deliberation and immediate public announcement.” What Senator Borah 1s opposed to is the rendering of advisory opinions without the con sent of the interested parties or upon non-legal questions. ‘Divorcing the court from the league,” concludes Prof. Hudson. “is a wholly impracticable, although unde sirable, thoroughly reactionary pro gram. It s Wholly unnecessary to America’s remaining outside the league.” If this be s0, he should tell us why the first Harding reservation has been considered necessary. “To pro- pose it to other countries would mean not_ simply that America remains out of the league, but also that she op- poses other countries’ going on with the league, as it has been launched.” Quandoque dormitat Homerus; why shouldn’t Prof. Hudson be allowed his little nap. Divorce does not prevent separate maintenance. The league could continue the work it has been dolng since before the court was estab- lished, the only difference being t the court of which it would make use from time to time would be a World Court instead of a League Court. Far from other countries rejecting such a proposal, they would probably rejoice that America had flnally stated her position with regard to a World Court and had not attempted to share in the League Court without undertaking the obligations of league membership. Sen- ator Borah, therefore, in supporting the court divorced from the league, is ot only “standing for our doing noth- ing.” but is even rendering a great public service by calling attention to the organic union of the court wii the league. For that the present court. is an organ of the league, we have on no less distinguished an authority than Sir Erlc Drummond himself, the secretary general of the League of Nations, whe, in a cemamunication to the councll at its session in Rome. in November, 1924, regarding the advic: bllity of the Permanent Court fo warding a report of its work for the information of the assembly, pointed out that the object. thereby was “‘that the ht have a general view of t! of the organs of “ye league.” of divorcement n as