Evening Star Newspaper, February 18, 1926, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTO D. O, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1926 mfim_q“—““& '| | | THE NORTH WINDOW THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY. . .February 18, 1926 THEODORE W. NOYES, ...Editor TheEvening Star Newspaper Company Business Offic . and Penneyl: Mee; 110 s Ave. East aind st Bu England. The Evening Star. with the Sunday mom- tng edition. lu deilvered by carrigrs within the ai 80 conta pet month: dajly only, 18 i, S Binday onty. 20 cen Rate by Mall—Fayable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, Dally and Suaday....1yr. $0.00:1mo., ly only . 8 00: 1 mo., Sunday "or1y 135 35.00: 1tz Ail Other States and Canada. Datly aud Sunday.l yr..$12.00: 1 mo., $1.00 Bally 2nt Sunday- 2 S R 00: 1 mon Y Hhe Sunday only " §500 1mo. 35c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exciusivelv entitled 10 the use for republication of all news dia- piteres credited 0 iy or not otherwim cred- ite 1= 1 se- and -lea the local news published herein. Al rights of publication ©of epecial dispatches herein are Improve Lump Payment Practice. Elsewhere in The Star is reprinted the petition to the last Comgress by! the Cliizens' Joint Committee on Fiscal Relations Between the United States and the Distriet, urging re- Jection o H. R. 473, which proposed to substitute a lump-sum payment by the Nation for Capital upbuilding in lieu of a definite proportionate con- tribution, as provided by the new organic act of June 29, 1922. This bill did not become law, but Congress, leaving the substantive law unchanged, has for two vears as a temporary and exceptional provision on annual appropriation bills substi- tuted a Iump-sum payment for the Qefinite proportionate contribution. Congress may repeat this tentative provision for next year. It may, per- haps after thoughtful consideration by joint committee, make the practize conform to the substantive law, either | whose presence in the United States ‘moral turpitude,” there was mnhint‘ for the Becretary of Labor to do but to confirm the firs] decision unless he were to grant a specific exemption, which would have been unjustified. Recourse is to be had to the courts to determine whether the law has been followed. Application for & habeas cerpus 18 Indicated as the next step. Perhaps the court will consider whether the scandalous relations con- fessed by the Countess of Cathcart constitute “moral turpitude” within the meaning of the statute. The im- migration service has so construed the law. The Secretary stateg that in pre- vious practice this construction has been maintained, and yet the whole case is ridiculous and should not have occurred. The inquisition at Ellis Island should be applied to those may tend to become a public menace and not to those who are merely occu- pants of a dubjous social position ané whase indiscretions are not matters of ublic concern. P The Sherrill Testimonial. Citizens of Wehington are to give a *estimonial dinper to Col, Clarence O. Qherrill, former director of public hufldings and parks. now citv mana- wer of Cincinnati. next Wednesday right. It should be largely attended in token cf the esteem in which this =ficient former officer of the Army is held by this community. Col. Sher- rill. assigned to duty here In a re- spansible executive capacity affecting the welfare of the District, devoted himself to this task with exceptional 7eal and {intelligent understanding of the needs of the Capital and of the standards to be souzht and main- tained. He endeared himself to the people. He was tactful in his con tacts with them, enthusiastic in the promotion of public works, and far- seeing in his vision of Washington's nossibilities for improvement. When he accepted the opportunity to do an important civic work elsewhere, his decision, though recognized as justl- fied, was a source of keen regret to =1l Washington, and i¢ s fitting that this voluntary testimonial should be by amending the definite propor- tionate contribution law, or by ceas- ing the lump-sum contribution excep- tional practice. If the 'ump-sum payment plan {s to be continued, either temporarily or permanently, care should be taken in the legislation to reduce to a mini- mum the inequities and injustices in- flicted by it. The petition of the Citjzens’ Fiscal Relations Committee cites as one ob- Jection to the lump-sum payment plan: “It reduces to & minimum or destroys any chance of equitable pro- portionate contribution by the United States in appropriating and expend- ing the District's accumulated Treas- ury tax surplvs.” Without change in the substantive law and merely through an annual exceptional approprigtion practies the lump-sum payment ®ian has accom- plished this inequity. Our Treasury tax surplus has now been practicelly appropriated and dissipated without any corresponding participation by the Nation, either under the definite proportionate contribution plan or by increase of the basic lump-sum pay- ment. The law or practice ef lump-sum approprietion should be so shaped as to prevent such gross and obvious injustices as the collection solely from the municipal taxes of the money for the use of the National Capital Park Commission. The law ereating the commission is so worded as to stamp the project as primarily national. It authorizes the purchase of park land in Maryland and Virginia as well as the District and provides specifically that the Nation shall participate in the cost of carrying out this fine work of national park development. But by making these appropriations in the District bill and by falling to provide either by specific separate ap- propriation or by the necessary in- crease of the basie lump-sum pay- ment for national participation in payment of expenses incurred by the commission, as directed by the law, the whole of the 110,000,000 pennies annually authorized to be appropriat. ed the penny-a-ysar contribution of every man, woman and child in the United States must be pald, if pald at all, from the tax pennies of the half million Americans of the Dis- trict. Great, inspiring projects, primarily national, like that under considera- tion, should be kept off the District appropriation bill if the lump-sum payment plan, either as law or prac- tice, is to dominate .that bill. Prompt and liberal appropriation in accord- ance with the terms of the law should be made in some other of the major supply bills. Or, if such projects must be handled in the Distriet bill, then in- creage the basic lump-sum payment sufficiently to obey the law’s injunc- tion of national participation, or make a separate specific appropriation out- side the lump-sum payment to meet the requirements of law and egquity. —————————— It is dangerous for a Congressman to refer to Government workers as incompetent slackers. In popular im- pression a Congressman {s supposed to be some sort of a Government ‘worker himself. The Countess Must Go. Secretary Davis' decision that the deportation order against the Countess Qf Cathcart must stand appears to be based upon the law and the practice, and unless it is overruled by the court it will stand and the “woman in the case” must be sent away from the country. The Secretary finds that the “alfen” in this case had admitted “misdemeanor involving moral turpi- tude,” and holds that such being the case exclusion is mandatery under the practice of the department for nine years. It {s deplorable that this case was ever brought forward. The spectacle of deportation is always disagreeable, and especially 50 {n such an instance. ‘The “double standard” {ssue no longer enters Into the consideration. The “man {n the case’ has fled the juris- diction, voluntarily deporting himself, under the pressure of public opinion and {n the face of threatened arrest. So- technically the woman stands [study. {=iven to him, and desirable that it should be subscribed to by a great number, fully representative of all Washington, and therehy expressive of the esteem and the gratitude of the community. Mexican Justice. Tia Juana justice grinds exceeding slow, if at all. From developments in the “shame sulcide” of the Thomas Peteet family it appears evident that the great “‘whitewash” {s being vigor- ously applied {n this appalling crime. ‘Three men of the seven held in the attack on Clyde and Audrey Petest have been released; the four viclous criminals in custody have been in- dicted merely on the assault charge; the murder indictment s dropped, and the Governor of Lower Californie is “unable to understand what all the fuss is about.” A more unsavery example of Mexi- can degeneracy has never been brought to the attention of the au- thoritiew, and yet if given the maxi- mum penalty under the indirtment, these criminals will not get more than fifteen years in jail. Coupled with this s the story being freely whispered around that the deposed chief of po- lice, who is said to be the ringleader, will never serve a term in the peni- tentlary because of his political in- fluence. The Governor of Lower California professes to be frankly surprised that a crime of this sort should draw world attention, while other officials are loudly proclaiming their horror and desire for a clean-up for con- sumption by the public press. The governor's statement that the ‘‘con- duct of the Peteet family while in Tia Juana was not above reproach” was effectively and conclusively answered when Thomas Peteet assembled his disgraced family in e room in San Diego and turned on the gas. The governor may attempt to minimize the crime, but he cannot minimize the results of it. Four people are dead, Americans who could not endure the shame of their experience in the Mexican city, and yet “their conduct was not above reproach.” The United States Government has acted promptly. An order went out yesterday from Assistant Secretary Andrews of the Treasury for the clos- ing of the international boundary at Tia Juana at six p.m. daily. That is o move in the right dlrectiop, but as long as the iniquitous cesspool that is Tia Juana today Is tolerated and per- haps encouraged by Mexican officials nothing effective can be done by the United States to bring sure protection to visitors from the American side of the international boundary. And so it. seems that those gullty of this hideous crime will either escape alto- gether or be given very light sen- tefces; that the “dives” and “dens” of Tia Juana will continue o flourish be- cause there appears to be no sincere effort on the part of Mexice to wipe out this blot. ——at—————— The improper theater enjoys a pe- culiar advantage in the fact that wvery arrest on the charge of impro- priety lengthens the line at the box office. e Old-fashioned fiddlers are much in demand at present. They imply an artistic recrudescencs in the inferen- tial protest that anything is better than the saxophone. ——————————— The American Voice. Before o capacity house, with thousands clamoring for admittance,a young American girl made her debut 1ast night in opera in New York City. She scored a great triumph. Her voice was rated as one of the purest ever heard in this country, as indeed one of the great voices in the history of opera. She is the youngest Ameri- can ever to reach the role of & prima donna in grand opers, and, but for Adelina Pattl, the youngest of all. The clrcumstances of this young woman's rise to operatic distinction are typical of American endeavor. Long ago she was recognized in her own local circle in the Middle West as the possessor of an unusual voice. Opportunities were afforded her for Local pride was aroused. The finu. and, having confepsed her ' mesns were provided for her advance- ment and now shq has “arrived” in a debut which makea operatic history. Artistically she is halled as one of the great singers of all times. The condi- tions of her advent into opera are such as to assure her an enthusiastic public as long as her performance is satisfactory. \ There {s distinct en~ouragement in this remarkable sucfess of Marion Talley for young American singers who are gifted with natural talents and inspired by ambition. There is no prejudice against the American voice in favor of the forelgn voice. This present uchievement proves thav Perhaps pride in a “home product” has had something to do with the extraordinary success of this young woman. But, after all, the high stand- ard of the opera must be maintained. and however exultant the public may e over the development of a purely American voice without foreign train. ing. the actual performance is the test. It remains now to be seen whether Marion Talley can hold her own in the public favor against others who are verhaps as gifted and who have the prestige of training and instruction ubroad, where opera is more fully de veloped and where teaching has be- come a recognized art. 1f this girl is a vocal genius she is at the threshold of a great career. When the emotion and the enthusiasm of her spectacular debut have subsided and she is strictly “on her own,” meeting the exacting requirements of repertoire, her real chance will come. She has been given a wonderful start, and it is greatly to her credft that she has by her talents and her diligence and her good sense in devoting herself wholly to this work of preparation earned the right to a hearing and deserved the praise that is now bestowed upon her. Twice now within a short time two young American girls have reached the front, one from the ranks of musi. cal comedy and one from church choir and concert. To Mary Lewis and to Marion Talley belong the laurels of public appreciation for their contribu- tion to American operatie prestige. ——————————— The Chinese hold to thelr ancient tradition that an occasional fight ix a proper incident to natjonal life. Their statesmen and philosophers, however, cannot fall to percelve tha: it grows more and more diffcult to surround hostilities with the barrier of ethnological exclusiveness. —————————— Germany's financiers are gloomy. If we were to believe some of them, the nation’s principal assets are limited to Nietzsche's philosophy and Ein- stein’s theory. e Despite his plan to rebuild ancient Rome, Mussolini will for the present be contént to dismiss the architect and listen to the trained nurse. A radio announcer is compelled to struggle with foreign terms which too frequently identify him as a mispro- nouncer. Mexico is unfortunate in the geo- graphical accident that made Tia Juana a next-door neighbor to the U. 8. A. ———— English print refers to automobile rubber as “tyres.” America accepts the inference of fatigue and spells it “tires.” The suggestion is frankly empha- sized that it takes at least two to make a “moral turpitude.” SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Moral Turpitude. We've had our little errors, Resulting in divorce. We've had our “Night Club” terrors, With methods rather coarse. And pictures we have printed Exploiting of the nude— But we've scorned all things that hinted - At Moral Turpitude. ‘We've heard the actors talking In accents most ‘profane. We're told of Justice balking Because of bootleg gain. Though manners seem erratic And frequently most crude, ‘We draw the line emphatic At Moral Turpitude. Obvious Error. “Do you think flibustering wrong? “I do,” answered Senator Sorghum. “And yet you have filibustered.” “But # never got me anywhere. That's how I know it is wrong."” is The Future. The Future is a kindly bluff Our present ills to leaven. We're sure we shall have coal enough— In nineteen-twenty-seven. The Counsel of Caution. “Let’s rebuild anclent Rorhe,” said Mussolini. “Be satisfled with asserting yourself as a political adviser,” sald the pru- @ent friend. ‘“Why assume the au- tocratic powers of a Realtor?” Jud Tunkins says the ex-Kalser, like many another feller that started in life to be a genius, has wound up by bein' regarded as a darn good business man. No Chance. “Why were you a failure in motion pictures?” “They cut out the best portion of the film,” answered Cactus Joe; ‘“‘the part in which I licked the director.” Penalties. “Isn’t it against the Jaw for all these men to bet on the races?"” “Let 'em alone,” replied Casey the Copper. “They’ll go broke much faster playin' the ponies than they would from the fines inflicted by the statutes.” B . Sympathy. The street car and the telephone Approach in an asppealing tone And make you almost want to weep '‘Cause their expenses are 80 steep! “De anthracite strike is over,” said Uncle Eben, “If de woman workers is alive to deir own interests, de nex’ number on de program is g'inter be ‘e scrubladies’ strike.” - THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. “I love the last one the best of all,” 2 once popular song declared. The ditty referred to girls, of course, but the sentiment applies equally well to the historical romances of Alexandre Dumas, the elder. Whichever one of these stories one reads, he 1s likely to arise from its perusal with the feeling that it is the best one of the long lot turned out by this writer. FinisHing “The Conspirators,” some- times called after the name of the hero, ‘Le Chevalier D Harmental,” the read- s amuzed to find it 1 a.m., Instead of the 10 p.m. which he believed it to be. Such {s the power of narration pos- sussed by Dumas that minutes pass on wings and one becomes a child again, returning to the wonderful days when ‘Treasure Island’ was a place, not a story. Recently in this colimn a descrip- tlon was given of the Street of Lost Time, the locale of much of the action in "“The Conspirators.” Since that time we have finiShed this novel and have nu hesitancy in recommending it as one of the very best of Dumas' stories. In character drawing and local color it far surpasses such a thriller as Marguerite de Valois,” in which the errible Catherine de Medici plies her nefarfous business of poisoner, with ner own children as victims. The latter story, after all, is rather a ulghtmare than a vigorous action tale. The pitch is struck by the poison motive and is never altered. As in a dream, the various members of the royal houschold, each plotting to seize the throne, demand the entire re- sourcek of the author. Hence, in “Marguerite de Valois" Dumas secured tense narrational in- terest at the expense of color and truth. He gives littie 1dea of the mas- sacre of St. Bartholomew, allowing himself to be greatly outdone by our own Stanley Weyman. * %% In “The Conspirators,” howes Du- mas gave himself time and canvas enough to describe, to portray, to elaborate character. "herefore, his picture of the dashing cavaller, Raoul D'Harmental, {s true to the perivd, when a man might be t of scoundrel, but would zed word even unto death. of the lovely Bathilde, ward o Jean Beuvat, grips the heart of the reader, so that his greatest wish in all the world, as he comes to the closing chapters, iy that this young lady may be made happy. His characterization of the worthy, simple Beuvat, who did sublime acts by instinct, at which more intelligent men might have stumbled, takes its place in the immortal gallery of char- acters in which D'Artagnan holds first place. Instead of resting content with tell- ing a gripping narrative, Dumas here draws characters with sure strokes, so that these men and women become real to us. Contrast the character. M Mole, in *“Marguerite de Valols, that of the Chevaller D’Harmental. The former is a straw figure, the latter that of a man. It is only in the terrible closing chap- ters of the first book that one works up any particular interest in M. de la Mole, whose characterization as a “fop” by Prince Francois the reader heartlly agrees with. And even then the sympathy comes by means of the awful torture to which the innocent young man is subjected. * X % ¥ In “The Conspiratore’” ferent. Here, with sure hand, Dumas gives us a real story that ranks with the all is air- to sav “The Conspirators” is as good as “The Three Musketeers,” which the world iong ugo gave premier piace, but certainly, in the affection of some readers, it occupies a place along with that sterling romance. “The Conspirators” is & great story, not only Lecause it cAiries one right along, but also on accoynt of the reality of its characters. A narration can be good .without the characters 80 belng. One may feel conscious that he is reading only about men of straw, but at the sume time appreciate the narrative, When, however, an author gives, by tine, loving touches, little peculiarities to each character, so that they all llve, in the moving mind of the reader (s they did in the creating mind of world’s greatest. It would be absurd the author), then there stands forth a first-class novel in every respect The scenes in the Street of J.ost Time are unforgettable. Ths narrow thoroughfare, scarcely a crack in com- parison with great avenues, str.kes the Imagination by a thousand fea- tures, Deftly, like the dramatist he was, Dumas builds up his romance, one to appeal to every reader, fur where is there the person who aas not dreumed of living in a garret and finding across the way, In ancther garret, ¢ beau- tful young girl? Here is an eternal situation, which very few persons in all the world are ever given to find, ver any one may realize it at will by reading “The Con spirators!” Such 15 the eternal power of a reai romance. * x ok % If you, gentle reader, are “fed up,” 85 the saying is, on much modern fic- tion, turn to the old masters, whose blace in the world of books !s secure. The seal of approval of thousands of readers has been placed upon them, the judgment of countless readers has branded them *A.1." If “The Conspirators” nounced for publication one might reasonably be suspicious of it; it has been too long published, how- ever, for any one to doubt its merit. [Bomewhere in France there are 1,200 romances kicking around with the name “Dumas’ on the title page. The vast bulk of these stories is un- known to American readers., Prob- ably no modern Frenchman has read more than 100 of them. In America we commonly find trans- lations of perhaps 50 of the more than & thousand tales. These are the sifted flour; thege are the cream of them all, The reader may perhaps wonder how Alexandre Dumas managed to write 8o much. He dldn't. He had a “fiction factory,” in which he was the chief conspirator. His agile brain worked so fast, his gift of inventive genius was so large, that neither he nor any other man that ever lived could have put into words all_he created. So he hired men to do the writing. “The Romance Factory of Alexandre Dumas and Company,” as it was called, naturally enough produced many mediocre novels. The best of them all, and especially the ones ac- tually written entire by the pen of the master, have come down to us. Let no one lament, therefore, that he cannot read the rest of them. Time is a tireless, remorseless critic. In the huge generality of cases what time leaves us is what is worth while. ";rh. Conspirators” is one of the were an- To all those readers of “The Count of Monte Cristo,” “The Queen’'s Neck- . “The Black Tulip,” etc., this known novel, “The Conspira- rs, ance that they will find there true ro- mance, and a corking good story. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. The report that Mr. John D. Rock- efeller, ir., had donated to King Fuad of Egypt $10,000,000 to establish at Cairo a great museum and archeolog- fcal institute came as a surprise to the average American, but not to scholars. The Rockefeller fortune is hack of the University of Chicago, and the Egyptian institute Is an extension of that institution of learning and re- search. The enterprise is under the guidance of Prof. James H. Breasted of the Chicago University, the leading Egyptologist of America, although Dr. Breasted modestly attributes credit to Prof. Plerre Lacau, director general of the organization in Egypt having he work in charge. - Mr. Rockefeller says,” ‘Above all, the donor seeks to ress by this offer international amity and the friendliness and respect felt by Amer- jca, the newest land of the West, to- ward Egypt. the oldest land of lh.’, Eagt and the oldest land in ‘history. However, it would be questioned whether it is really worth §10,000,000 just to extend greetings, however po- etical, between the United States and Egypt—if that were all that is iIn- volved. * k kO To most laymen there is no subject quite o dry as archeology. It may seem indeed fitting for mature profes- sors, and for such environment as the neighborhood of the Great Sahara Desert, but for lively interest why pour out the millions on Egyptian bones and dusty relics of prehistoric days? Furthermore, the ultra-Ameri- can asks if there are not enough mys- tery and history in our own archeol- ogY, without delving into the tombs of more. Tut-ankh-Amens. How about our Indian mounds, built by some un- konwn race (?) before the Indians ar- rived? How about the origin of In- dians, the ‘real Americans”? What of the Toltecs, the Aztecs, the Incas and all their pyramids and pallce!;" Can we not find interest closer home? The question is remindful of the adage of the editor who explained the perspettive of news, ‘‘A dog fight on the street in front of the office is of more value as news than & battle on the other side of the ocean.” But the archeologist answers that is not so, when in that battle s the A. E. F.— the sons of the anxious readers. Not o, then, is the story of American In- dians superior in interest, however proximate, to the tale of our own an- cestry born in Eden, taught in Egypt and Babylonia, sanctified in Palestine, cultured in Gresce and Rome and reaching the climax of civilization, In France, England and Amor.l.u Why, all those anclents are “our folks.” What care we for the Mongo- lians who rowed 30 or 40 miles across Bering Strait some 15,000 years ago, and gradually increased to 16,000,000 or 20,000,000 “Indians" spreading over North and South America before Co- lumbus sailed to Cathay end met them —true Cathayans—half way to China? Interesting Indlans, but not “our own folks."” The sclentist argues it is like the cynic indifference assumed by the mocker of ancestry, before some nealogist digs up the line proving of ancestry, before some genealogist digs up the line proving that “his folks” came to America in the May- flower. Now that archeologists prove that back of the Mayflower was Noah’s Ark and the Garden of Eden, and we are direct descendants of the original first lemurs of Asia or Afriea, of course we find intense interest in all additional facts the archeologists— learned men—dig up around Ur, Baby- lon or Caliro. Archeology is less than a century old. Modern archeology has been said to be scarcely one decade old, such strides in advance have the re- searchers made even since the World War period. So much that was be. lieved and taught by standard scfen- tists prior to the last decade has heen found untrue that today archeology is 8 new acience. Our professors of the great universities agreed, ten or fif- teen years ago, that man must have lived upon the Western Hemisphere at least 100,000 years. Some argued that the Garden of Eden some- where in Yucatan, or possibly at the North Pole, and that, from this nu- cleus, mankind had increased and spread over Atlantis, Asia, Africa and Europe. This was supposed to be the original “Old World"; Europe its off- spring. We were told that prior.to the In- dians, who had come here in recent years, there had been the Mound Buflders and CIff Dwellers, whose civilization was marvelous, but that they had disappeared, and been suc- ceeded by the savage Indians. Also, the Aztecs had annihilated the Toltecs, as the Toltees must have conquered some previous race of great cultur: which had built the palaces of Mit Palenque Chichen. There was erudite speculation as to whether the Toltecs or their predecessors were not the lost Ten Tribes of Israel. In Arizona, there was sald to have been @ high civilization which had been conquered “without trace” by the Indian sav- ages. - ‘Within the last 10 years, it is con- cluded that the Mound Builders, the CLft Dwellers, the Aztecs, Toltecs and Incas, all were just Indians—of nu- merous tribes and nations, but In. dians, descended from the Mongolians, who had come from northeastern Si beria, across Bering Strait, settled in Alaska, then, as centuries passed, they had spread out over the hemisphere. * % Kk Dr. Ales Hrdlicka thus defines the conclusions of science, in his chap. ter on “The Origin and Antiguity of the American Indlan,” published in the Smithsonian report for 1923. He further ghows that man could not have originated in this hemisphere and spread over the rest of the world. He speaks as a sclentist, saying: “"The anthropologist of today knows definitely that man evolved from the nearer primates; there is abundant material evidence to that effect, re- gardless of other considerations. These primates must naturally have approached man in all important re- spects, a condition that could be realized only by the most advanced anthropold apes; but the existence of such forms in America is very doubtful. There were on this conti- nent Eocene and Oligocene lemurs and other primitive forms, and ulfl- mately the ordinary rican mon- keys, but nothing, so far as known, of any advanced ancestry to man. * * ¢ These facts alone suffice to render an American origin of the In- dian extremely improbable.” Peace Against Handicaps. From b 3 Boebite: all" the Vikiia of Buropean lecturers, our relations with the Old ‘World continus to be amicable. Muddled. From the Nasbville Banner, Bince the Tower of Babel there has been nothing comparabls to the de- bate on the farm situation. ‘ A Definition. From the Daytona Beach Journal. A great man is one who can travel without talking about what he bas seen forever after. ¢ By Leila Mechlin. The series of exhibitions of the works of modernists at the Phillips Memorial Gallery this season, the ex- hibition and dispersa! of the famous John Quinn collection at the Art Cen- ter, New York, last month, and the circulation by the Society of Graphic Arts of a collection of Fifty Prints of the Year, half of which are extremely “modern,” have made timely discus- slon of this newest phase of art. The advocates of modernism are not only zealous in {ts support, but utterly intolerant of opposition. Tradition to them s anathema, and those who hold with tradition are brainless and blind. Curiously enough, those who stand for tradition are satisfied to let the modernists do the talking. The exhihition of ¥ifty Prints of the Year, assembled and sent out on circuit by the American Institute of Graphic Arts, was chosen by representatives of the two factions. Ernest D. Roth was the juror for the conservative sec- Uon of the exhibition; Ralph Pearson for the modernists’ section. Both were invited to contribute statements for the catalogue, outlining the viewpoints of the two opposed schools, Mr. Pear. son consented: Mr. Roth declined, giv- ing as his reason that prints made in the representative traditional manner require no statement, they speak for themselves. Here is an instance where silence makes more eloquent comment than many words. Art which does not speak for itself is cer tainly serfously handicapped. * ¥ k *x The spokesmen for modern art are eloquent and plausible. The argu- ments they deduce are impressive and ofttimes convincing, provided they be read or heard awayv from the works themselves. What is said about modern art almost all traditionalists can agree with, but how much fairer is the speech than that which is spoken about! Apparently, the mod- ernists know much_ better than the do. For instance, Mr. Pearson says, Modern art {s no more than o ress similation of basic laws and a new bending of them to the purposes of the living expression of today.” The word “living” Is a favorite with the modernists. It is life, professedly that they are seeking. Each of the print makers repre- sented, according to Mr. Pearson, “has something to say, not about su- perficial facts, but essential realities of life or nature. Each says it through the ordered control of creative design On these two accounts their work ‘was chosen as being a significant ex pression of the life of today in the terms of today.” Admirable, but who i to judge whether or not these prints do give “significant expression of the life of today in the terms of today”? One of these prints, for in- stance, shows an aquarium, another a group of “Tunnel Dwellers,” a third is “An African Phantasie a fourth “The Mountains of Llano,” a fifth is an “Abstraction.” Life is so big and so full and with so many sides, how can tiny expressions of incidents be boldly declared to express it all? Yet this group s supposed to be falrly representaiive of the best that has grown out of post-impressionism. * %k ok x What {8 “lite"”? There are those who have chosen to picture the slums of New York and have dared to call them representative of life: there are those who have pictured life on our Western plains and declare that typ- ical of today and of America. No one can comprehend it all: each must choose, and a fact which the modern- ists seem to have overlooked is the possibility of choice. Mr. Pearson claims—and he is per- haps the leading spokesman for the modernists—that modern art is.not mere representation. “In an apple, for instance,” he says, “is summed up the mystery of the univeyse.” *In the multiple relations of an apple to a pear and a piece of cloth are sum- med up all the embryonic mysteries of art.” “In a bridge or a door is much more of reality than the en- gineer or the carpenter ever sees or gueeses.” “The signing of a peace treaty between warring nations, the friendly wagging of a collie's tail, take on a significance in thelr own right to which we may have been entirely blind. The artist can reveal these un- knowns and a thousand other un- knowns—can again extend experience beyond prevalling horizons as he did in the ‘darker’ ages—if we let him do s0.” The modernist is endeavoring, ap- parently, to get away from reality. No longer does art imitate nature or even attempt to interpret nature, but the modernists do continue to use natural objects as symbols, and they do seem to feel that the way to get attention is to shock the beholder; thus they attempt to ‘“recapture the age of \\‘untler;‘ . * A number of years ago, bhefore modernism had got a foothold in this country, a book was published in Eng- land reproducing the works of some of the French modernists and contain- ing an article on Matisse by Gertrude Stein, whose writings have done much to call attention to his works and those of his forerunners. The follow- ing sentence occurred in that article and is supposed to sum up the spirit of the modernists’ intention. It would seem to parallel, in the use of words, the works of the modernists in paint or pencil. She says: “There were very many who were wanting to be ones doing what he was doing that is to be ones clearly ex- pressing something and then very many of them were not wanting to be being ones doing that thing, that is clearly expressing something, they wanted to be ones expressing some- thing being struggling, something being going to be some other thing, something being going to be some- thing some one sometime would be clearly expressing and that would be something that would be a thing then that would then be greatly expressing some other thing than that thing, cer- tainly very many were then not want- ing to be doing what this one was doing clearly expressing something and some of them had been ones want- ing to be doing that thing wanting to be ones clearly expressing something." It is not the compositor's fault that no period appears; this is a single sentence as Miss Stein rendered it. If you will read it over and over and over again you may discover the hid- den meaning. 8o, likewise, if you glve yourself sufficient time you may find one what the modernists are striving for in their elumsily rendered g:{ln!lh!;. ls}’::t.tol lhehh;{.enuon, un- ibtedly, ou shal - adly, 1y out 5 not under. * ok ok ok And this s art—an effort to return barbarism, to exalt ux]lneul; and vulgarity, to substitute dissonances for harmonies, to throw aside that most preclous possession of civiliza- uo‘a‘—;\oblh ,!ra.dluonl. Michael Pupin, in his remarkable autoblography, “From Immigrant to Inventor,” sa “I feel that the cul- tivation of old traditions was the prin- cipal element in the spiritual life of the village people.” (The people of his native village, Idvor, in Serbia.) “The knowledge of these traditions was necessary and sufficlent to them in order to understand their position in the world.” Surely this {s what tradi- tion means, respect for that which has gone before. It was this respect which enabled ‘the solitary immigrant boy from remote Serbia to attain to a posi- tion of pre-eminence in our land, re- spect for the traditions of his ances- tors, respect for the traditions of America, respect for the traditions of the colleges that he attended, respect “saints of sclence,” as his mother put it. How else can civiliza- tion carry on? Wemn!mpoomA Wwe are not bound by tradition, ANSWERS T( Q‘C How tall s Anna Q Nilsson?— A. She 18 5 feet 7 inchen. Q. What per cent of the country’s poptlation lives tn New York City?— . B. C. A. Bix_millfon persons, or x- imately 5 per cent of the_country's population, reside in New York City. Q. When and where was the race run in which Upeet beat Man-0-War? mA’.' It was at Samtogs, August 13, Q. How many diffsrent formatipns are used by t.hot:n;‘ce college foot are used by the average college foot- ball team. The standard plays in the game of foot ball are a small number of simple plays which yleld the best results. The plays include a direct and indirect clams and a buaking formation. The play straight ahead, the off-tackle play and the end run are all methods that will develop greater efficiency the more they are perfected. Q. Did a negro write “Carry Me Back to Ole Virginny”?—J. M. B. A. Jumes Bland, a New Orleans negro, wrote “Carry Me Back to Ole Virginny” in the days prior to the Civil War period. Q. Is there a Government standard for sauerkraut?—E. 8. A. A definition and standard for sauerkraut has been adopted by the Secretary of Agriculture as a guide for the officials of the department in the enforcement of the Federal food and drugs act, upon the recommenda- tion of the joint committes on defini- tions and = standards, as follows “‘Sauerkraut is the clean, sound prod. uct, of characteristic acid flavor, ob- tained by the full fermentation, chief- ly lactic, of properly prepared and shredded cabbage in the presence of not less than 2 per cent nor more than 3 per cent of salt. It contains, upon completion of the fermentation, not less than 1% per cent of acid, ex- pressed as lactic acid. Sauerkraut which has been rebrined in the proc- ess of canning or repacking contains ) QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC | HASKIN Kz, In many African tribes the na- tivem kism the ground over which a chief has trod. In Australls, kissing the ground, or rather breathing upon 1t, s @ form, of greeting emong vari- ous peoples. Lombroso tells us that kissing is a Caic: Seaing I» Cancaslan habit and that O What is a salaam?—L. F. F. A. The salaam is the common torm’ of salutation among Mohammedans to those of their own faith. The full salutation translated s ‘Peace be unto you!" and the reply, “And unto you peace!” Q. Are we import! J England?—W. L. poT e iesal Siom A. During January, 1926, we im ported 121,100 long tons, with average value of $10 per ton. Q. What disease causes the mos' deaths in the United States?—H. T. H A. The Public Health Service say that disease of the heart, at present causes more deaths than any othe! one thing. Influenza and pneumonia stand together in the next place as diseases. Q. What has caused antimony to go to such a high price?—A. L. 1L A. Antimony is obtained from the large resource in China in the province Hunan, often called Antimony Hill. When it passes through the various ovinces each government taxes it. 'he revolutions and political disturb- ances in China have greatly curtalled the output and disturbed the confi- dence In a steady supply. As the con- sumption has increased tremendous!y the price of anttmony has greatly i creased. Q. Is the sale of closed cars in creasing?—C. D. A. There ars no figures available for the sales of cars. The production figures are quite closs to them, how- ever. In 1924, 48.6 per cent of the ou put was closed cars, while in 1925, 7 per cent of the output was closed. Q. Please give the name of the ne- gro officer who at one time arrested President Grant for fast driving.— J. W. P. A._The Superintendent of the Po- lice Department of Washington, D. C., not less than 1 per cent of acid ex- pressed as lactic acld.” Q. When did the memorial stone from the Pope of Rome disappear from the Washington Monument Grounds?—D. E. K. A his stone, to be used in the construction of the Washington Mon- ument, disappeared on March 6, 1854, | and was supposedly thrown into the Potomac. Q. D4 the Unlon soldiers or the Confederates capture more prisoners? —A. M. B, A. There were 211,411 Union soldiers captured by the Confederates and 462,834 Confederate soldiers captured by the Unfon forces. Q. Is kissing a universal custom?— D. H. A. Kissing as a form of greeting and affection is comparatively recent. The habit of kissing is unknown to the Polynesians, who greet by press- ing noses. The Laplanders also apply thelr noses against the person they wish to salute. In Otaheite we are told that they rub their noses to- gether, and, of course, we all know this s the favorite form of greeting and affection among the Eskimos. says that Willilam H. West, & private on the Metropolitan Police Force, was the officer who arrested President Grant for fast driving. Q. What does it mean when & jum he:i’u\k/ !'}I‘flakfl of carrying a balloon . This is an expression common in the lumber camps of the Northwes:, and refers to the practice of ftineran: workers carrying a bed roll of blan- kets with them. Q. Who wrote “The conductor when he receives his fare will punch {n the presence of the passinjare”?—M. W A. H. B. Bishop relates the etory of these verses in ‘“Notes and Anecdotes of Many Years.” I. H. Bromley wrote the lines. Take advantage of this free service. If you are not one of the thousands who have patronized the bureau since its establishment we want you to start now, This is 2 service maintained for the benefit of the readers of The Eve- ning Ktar, and we want you to get your share of bemefit from it. Send your questions to us. Inclose 2 cents in stamps for return postage. Address The Evening Star Information Bureau Frederic J. Haskin, director, Wash- Neither the Japanese nor the Chinese ington, D. C. “Own Your Home” Is Advice. To. Uncle Sam as Diplomat *Own-your-own-home’ advice, which 50 long has been dinned into the ears of the thrifty citizens of the United States, is now being directed at Uncle Sam himself, In a bill sponsored by Representative Stephen G. Porter of Pennsylvania, chairman of the for- elgn affairs committee, carrying $5,000,000 to be used toward housing of the United States embassies abroad. Newspaper comment i8 favorable to the passage of the measure. “‘Secretary Kellogg has given his indorsement to a bill introduced by Chairman Porter of the House foreign affairs committee, which would author- the State Department to acquire sites in a number of cities for em. bassy and other diplomatic buildings, notes the Muncie Star. “As the diplo- matic and consular service has been reorganized and placed on a merit system, the purchase of embassy and legation property abroad is a neces- sary step in making available the abil- ity of those who progress up the diplo- matic ladder.” The Huntington Adver- tiser remarks that “the parsimony of our Government in providing quarters has long been a source of much criticism_and a handlcap to our di- plomacy,” and commends the thought of Secretary Kellogg that he “‘would apply to the Government the same principle recommended to thrifty in- dividuals—It is cheaper to own your home than to pay rent.” * k% ¥ I_ The Seattle Times feels that “the richest and most powerful Nation in the world should make it possible to command ability without looking at the diplomat’s bank account to see it he_could afford to take a position.” In the opinion of the Watertown Times, “there are two reasons why the Unlted States should maintain its diplomatic quarters abroad. It places the United States on & dignified plane with other nations. External fmpres- sions always count for more or less. Another reason why the United States should provide diplomatic residences and offices is that such a practice would not make it necessary to select only those with private fortunes for important diplomatic posts. It is as absurd to ask a representative abroad to furnish his own house and office as it would be to require the President to pay rent at the White House. Discussing present conditions, the New London Evening Day declares: “The man who would be ambassador must at least be a millionaire, for he must skimp on his salary to hire a suitable home, and he must sometimes skimp otherwise to insure proper quarters for his official staff. He must pay his of & rent that morally is ‘an obligation of his Government.” This state of affairs, the Day observes, 1s not good for the morale of the diplo- matic service because “so long as a minister feels that he cannot afford to be promoted to an am! hip we lose something of value in his serv- ice.” In similar vein {s the comment of the Terre Haute Star: “The United States maintains 51 diplomatic mis- sions abroad and only 14 of them are housed {n Government-owned build- diplomatic representatives in capitals such as Berlin, Rome, Buenos Aires, Brussels, Stockholm, The Hague, Vi- enna, Budapest and othera oocupy rented bulldings for office and resi- dence. No allowance is made for the when we lose reverence for tradition we are on the downward road. Brander Matthews once said: ““The tendency toward anarchy, toward un- the side, because if it persisted the several arts would and that is inconcelvable since man needs them all and too long cease to be, has devalo] them in respo; his needs.” cost of the residence and the acale on which the American envoys must live necessitates a private fortune as e preliminary to accepting an appoint ment abroad."” * %k % % “Under a_ policy of isolation this country might be able to continue its present methods in diplomacy,” says the Columbia Missourian. isolation has never existed, and in an age of world associations, courts and treaties of all kinds, diplomatic relations affect the welfare of every part of the Nation. An investment in houses for our representatives abroad—which may be considered as permanent—is_an_imperative neces- The St. Joseph News.Press c ers that “this country has been | on a cheese-paring basis all along in this matter,” and expresses the hope “that the pending measure indlcates a disposition on the part of Congress to adopt a broad, constructive polic and to provide & permanent method by which appropriz be acquired in which t7 house cur embassies and legations in all coun- il “We need build no palaces or state 1y banquet halls,” says the Portland Telegram, but rather ‘substantial American homes, equipped with all the household convenlences which are uniquely American and furnished i the quiet, good taste which is the measure of refinement.” To such a home, continues the Telegram, we can send a man “with all such qual itles of mind and character as fit hir. for the post, but without considera | tion of his bank account.” * x % The Christian Science Monitor be- lieves “it should be &s possible for a person of small means to become an ambassador as for him to aspire to the presidency or a seat in Congress,” and considers that in owning {ts own em bassies and legations the TUnited States would experience an *“accom- panying increase in prestigs, the value of which cannot be estimated in dollars.”” At the present time, as emphasized by the Lynchburg News, “the fact remains that no citizen of this republic can accept a place es Ambassador to Great Britaln cr ¥rance or any other great foreign country unless he has money of his own with which to foot the hills.”" The Worcester Evening Gazette con- cludes: “Here is comething which should grate upon our democratic sensibilitfes. Why do we not rem edy it? The Crow on Trial. ¥rom the Butte Daily Post. Up in the province of Ontarlo a heated controversy is raging as to whether the well known crow does or does not have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of food. Those who are against the crow maintain that it eats chiefly song birds, chickens and corn. Those who are in favor of the crow maintain that it eats cornborers, grasshoppers, wireworms, cutworms and other noxious insects when those are to be found, {ndulging In its canni- balistic habits merely when {t can't get the succulent pests. The two schools naturally divide themselves into enemies and deéfenders of the crow. The former want this wayward bird rendered extinct at the earliest possible time. The ‘others would give him the hospitality of the countrysjde and permit him to roam at will and eat as he chooses protected by a closed season. There are bird-lovers and sclentific authorities on both sides of the ques- tion. And, as in so many arguments, very good evidence is found for bothy sides. Some sort of compromise policy may be necessary, one that will pre- vent some of the crow's worst crimes without losing the benefit of his help- ful activitles. |