Evening Star Newspaper, November 10, 1926, Page 8

WABHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY . November 10, 1926 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. . Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 21 s B Ofice New Vork §£‘.' ;" ot Yo 5t cago Offie: Tower Building Buropean Office: 14 Regent St.. Lond England. lon, Tha Evaning Star. with the Sunday morn- Ing edition. fa delivered by carriers within ih8 clty at 60 cenin par month: dajly only. 45 canle per month: Sundays only. 20 cents par month, Orders may he sent by mall or telephone Main 5000. Collection is made by carrier at end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dafly and Sunday....1yr. $9.00: 1 mo. 78 only 11101 ¥rl§6:008 1 moll 50e unday only "..10 1111 yr! $3.00: 1 mo.. 28¢ All Other States and Canada. Dally and Sunday..1 sr.. $12.00: 1 mo., $1.00 Daily only ... 1 $R00: 1mol.” 7Be Sunday enly "0l $4.00: 1mo. 35c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dis- patehen credited 0 it or not otherwiss cred- ted 'n this vaper and also the local news piblishad her ATl rights of publication ©f apecial dispatches herein are also reserved La Plata’s Disaster. Nature's entricity was tragically {llustrated yesterday when a storm of extrems violence developed somewhere over the Potomac River and swung with tornado force inland. It covered a comparatively narrow space, in most places only about five hundred yards, less than a third of a mile. It struck the Maryland shore at a point of rela- tively scattered population. Yet by chance it swept inland along a course in which lay practically the only con- centration of humanity, a schoolhouse in which were gathered about sixty children. . Had that eddy of air, weighted by vain, twisting ut an incomputable sperd and racing forward with the momentum of a titanic express train, ‘been headed a few yards to the right or the left it would have missed that #choolhouse and those little ones. It would doubtless have taken toll else- whers, but not in such heavy numbers. Tt would have destroyed a few houses and barns, uprooted or snapped some trees, and then passed out into the air, spent and harmless. Or had it come an hour later along the route it followed it would have destroved the schoolhouse without taking any lives there. That fatal chance of location and tme caused the death of eighteen per- sons and the injuring of two score in eaddition. The little town of La Plata 18 desolated. There is scarcely a home there or in the immediately surround- Ing area that is not in mourning for & lost one or grieving over a sorely wounded one. As if chosen by the fates for this sacrifice, the community, a few hours ago peaceful and happy and prosperous, is now desolated. Succor wis sent with almost the gpeed of the storm itself as soon as the word me that Washington's Maryland neighbor was in distress. If material aid is needed it will of course be rendered. In any event, thére is for La Plata and the other parts of lower Maryland that have suffered from the storm so familiar to the peo- ple of this city by frequent visitation, the deepest sympathy and sorrow. And for the little heroes who faced peril so bravely and acted so promptly | to summon aid there is the warmest admiration and praiss N — Events move rapidly and involve complications which perplex memory. The case of Albert Fall once occupied o mind of every citizen. At this time many persons will inquire, “Where have I heard of him before?” al In restoring the glorfes' of ancient Rome, Mussolini has not yvet attained a point where the toga is more im- portant than the iron shirt. e Capital-Making Principles. In its \l report the Commis- slon of Fine Arts, deploring the fact unregulated developments have | occurred in Washington that have not | only countered the L'Enfant plan fou the National Capital, but have ren- dered the faithful following of that pian now im rges that fur- ther developments should be held as closely as possible to t project. Many fe: of the L'Enfant plan have become impracticable. of those the plan the n Commiss sub in ave been ren to| lack of detinitive legislation and suf-| ficient appropriations and the inter-| vention of py enterprise without restraint « But the broad, | principles of capital ome MeMil 1901, oW tted wtad on, ered u able, vate idance fundamental making and the ti establish ther en- actments. | still possible of execution, | 1e has undoubtedly come to | 1 by means of new sion of Fine Arts is an| comprising the best m art and architec- | mmiends projects upon tive und passes judgment | vanced from other quar- | fortunately its advice ha < tgnored. The Capital would have been closer to the | fdeal 1f it had been more falthfully followed in both positive and negative recommendations. At pr here is at work another adviscry ated by act | and Plan- available it ure. It fts own i Pa kewdse ve v powers, but with no It has a more definité function to perform than the Commis- sion of Fine Arts in respect to the tmmediate development of Washing- fon, for it Is charged with the duty of proposing spec projects, looking te the future and co-ordinating with the States of Maryland and Virginta in the laying out of a harmenious met- ropolitan area of park equipment. Its proposals however, like those of the Commission of Fine Arts, must await| congressional uction, and its work, when approved, is restricted by the narrow ltmitations of inadequate ap- propriations. ‘With all the changes and departures from the basic plans and the tardiness of actien In developing the potential- ities ef the Capital, the situation to- day i gratifying. It would have been extraordivary if the Natiema} flimuflnunm ‘most saything’y &'inetes | v | and a quarter. had been evolved strictly according to the original project. Lack of meant lack of vision on the part of succes- slve Congresses, lack of necessity in'! the early days contributed to,a slow-| ness of evolution. The greatest work In capltal making, folowing the labors of the remarkable period of the early seventies, when Cooke and Shepherd wrought wonders against the heaviest of odds to lay a consistent founda- tion, has been accomplished during the past quarter of a century. And it has been during that period that much of the loss has been suffered, irreparable in some degree though unavoidable in the circumstances. Reallzation of the fact that the time is at hand for the harmonious devel- opment of Washington according to a definite .plan is evident in Congress. There is no lack of funds for the execution of necessary works. A pro- gram of public buildings has been adopted. A corresponding program of park creation and extension is like- wise in the making. Time will not be actually lost if definite, construc- tive plans are finally adopted, with precautions against infringements by private enterprise, if the execution is put upon a sliding scale of successive installments. ‘The mistakes and blunders, the omis- sions and faflures of the past may not be corrected, but the future can be ured if the misfortune of those faults is utilized in the adoption of a program that cannot be stayed by fickleness of judgment or temporary stringencies. —rme————— Two Sound Traction Opinions. On the eve of his retirement from office, having resigned to take effect when the President has selected his successor, Commissioner Rudolph makes two statements regarding the local transportation question which of particular importance and weight in view of his long experience at the District Building, in the course of which he has had intimate contact with the traction situation. He de- clares first that the service-at-cost plan, which has been proposed as the basis of a possible merger of the two corporations, would be unfair to the public, for it would result, in his judg- ment, eventually in a twelve-cent rate of fare. He says, furthermore, that he is opposed positively to any mov ment designed in the interest of pub- lic ownership of the transportation 'stems, Service at cost would put the rate of fare upon the basis of “cost” as computed in terms of valuations. Ex- perience has proved the impossibility of arriving at a valuation of the prop- ertles of the companies mutually satis- factory to both the public, as repre- sented by the Utilities Commission, and the corporations. When a differ- ence exists of $12,000,000—between the $18,000,000 of the commission’s computation and the $30,000,000 of the company, in one case—it is evident that fare fixing on such a basis would be in the last degree unsatisfactory and fluctuating in results. The in- evitable course of such fluctuations would be upward. 3 Public ownership and operation of the transportation lines is undesirable. It cannot be made efficient and it is not assuredly economical. Fares may be brought to a low point by arbitrary dictum under such a system, but al- ways at the expense of the taxpayers, who must make good the deficit due to inadequate operating revenue. Private ownership and operation, under Public Utllity Commission con- trol and regulation, is the most de- sirable mode of furnishing transporta- tion to the community. Merger of the two corporations on terms that are equitable both to the stockholders and to the public is the requirement of sound reason and practical service. If that merger cannot be accomplished by the voluntary action of the two companies it must be compelled by legislation that takes into account all the equitles and strikes a balance for the benefit of the public, which must continue to support the lines by its patronage, but must not be compelled to pay excessive fares to render an undue profit upon inflated capitaliza- tion. are m——— The Hall-Mills case conveys remind- ers that there may be circumstances under which it is not safe to admit too much knowledge. e at—————— Many citizens are thankful when a blizzard arvives instead of an earth- quake or a tidal wave. As a great and enterprising city Chicago announces the first genuine Winter weather in the Middle West. S — Good Roads and Tragedy. The value of good roads was never ngly illustrated than in the cyelone tragedy yesterday at La Plata, Md.. thirty-three miles from Wash- ington. Within two hours from the time the twister crushed the school- house and its occupants ambulances bad arrived at the little town from the Army, Navy, Red Cross and local hos- s, carrying *nurses, doctors and medical supplies. The first motor am- bulance reached La Plata from Wash- ington one hour and three-quarters after the wind obliterated the frail building, while from Indian Head, Md., twenty miles from the scene, a sur- geon and medical attendants were rushed to the small town In one hour Taking into considera- tion the inevitable delay after any such catastrophe, the shock of the people nearest the scene, the hurried phone calls for help, and the mobiliza- tion of doctors and nurses in the hos- pitals, the thirty-three-mile run was made in remarkable time. Undoubtedly lives have been saved and suffering eased by the prompt re- sponse to the appeal for aid. Some of the more seriously injured were hrought back to Washington on a fast run, so that proper hospital treatment could be given. All in all, yeoman service was rendered to the stricken. None of this work, or at least very little of it, would have been possible had road conditions been as they were ten, fifteen or twenty years ago. Six or seven hours, and perhaps more, would have been needed to make the thirty-three-mile trip under the con- more str { populaces of both countries may y THE 1and, but, unfortunately, do still obtain in other States which have not yet seen the light of hard-surfaced roads. Maryland has reason to be proud of her State highway system and vester- day’s experience will not lessen that pride. Good roads not only mean good business at all times, but in times of tragedy, holocausts and in cyclones they mean the saving of life and suc- cor to the injured. —— e Sleep. Sclence has again delved deep into the mystetfes of sleep, and has emerged with startling information that may immediately start a boom in the purchase of beds. In experiments conducted at Colgate University it has been discovered that six hours of sleep on a soft and downy mattress laid upon flexible springs 1s equal to eight hours of slumber on a hard and unyielding surface, such as a board- ing-house cot. This information was culled after exhaustive tests in which calories “of sleep-freshened students were counted and recounted and men- tal arithmetic—such as multiplying 459 by 345—was attempted for fifteen minutes at a stretch. So all men and women who earn their daily hardtack by the use of what Ring Lardner would laughingly all the brain should do one of three things: Sleep six hours on the soft bed they may possess, sleep eight hours on the hard bed that is their lot or go straightway to the first furniture store and purchase one of those soft concoctions which would save them considerable sleep during their lifetime, if they figured it tltat way. N In spite of all that has been done for their moral improvement and en- tertainment, prisoners continue to break out of penitentiaries Thereo are persons who simply cannot ap- preciate a good home. —_ Jewel thieves in New York every now and then call attention to mag- nificences which were popularly un- known. Their operations, however, represent a form of social publicity too expensive to be enjoyed. American radio equipment, like the American motion picture, assumes world leadership. Their value to civi- lization is greater than that of ma- chine guns and submarines. Civiliza- tion is buying what it needs. Lo ooan e The Prince of Wales has not fallen from a horse in a long time. His horsemanship has improved or else he has decided that this method of arousing a genial interest in an admir- ing public is unreasonably exacting. Among the embarrassments arising in connection with the Hall-Mills case are those surrounding a person suspected of knowing something of actual importance. e = Missfonaries who can he spared from remote, uncivilized portions of the globe might find congenial and valuable occupation in doing some- thing for Herrtn, Il S The visit of Queen Marie is a great personal success regardless of any little blunders in stage management for which she cannot be regarded as in any way responsible. ————r b That eminent radio operator, Ken neth Ormiston, once so much in evi- dence, limits his present attention strictly to the request, “Please stand by. —————————— Poiitical leaders in France and Ger- many shake hands. The general t be persuaded to do the same. e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON Chairman of the Reception Committee. Isn't ‘it the gay life, Riding on a train— The beautiful display life That marks a lady's reign: Here's a dainty dancer And a diplomat ‘While a big financer Talks of this and that. Isn't it the glad life! Dear old Uncle Si Now forsakes his sad life— Wears a hat so high! Diplomat and dancer In retirement bow. Uncle Si's the prancer In the spotlight now. Refillings. ‘Any man’s place can be filled.” know that,” answered Senator Sorghum. “A new man can sit at an old office desk. But it won’t seem like the same old place.” Endearment. The turkey is & noble bird ‘Who brings us Autumn cheer. He's dear to us—and we have heard He may be still more dear! Jud Tunkins war is something that is made to seem glorious chiefly by poets who have had no practical experience with it. Small Sacrifice. “‘People tore up telephone directories and threw them out of the window on Armistice day.” ““What difference did it make? The operator wouldn't give me the right number anyhow. “A man who buys flattery,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “in- variably loses money in a bad bar- gain.” Always Hopetul The radio announcer tells About his entertaining list. Much admiration he compels. He is our champlon optimist. Comforts of Home. joing to Paris next year?" “Why should I? There are plenty of night clubs in New York where I can be treated superciliously by the| head waiter.” “De weather prophet,” said Uncle Eben, “shows de advantage of patience. If you wait long enough, some true.” t EVENING - STAR, WASHINGTON, D. 0., WEDNESDAY, BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL., (Second in a Serles of Two.) The vogue for books in inexpen- sive form, always a good thing in a democracy, has reached new heights this year in America. There are today available in Wash- ington stores more good books in cheap, though pleasing, form than ever before. It is now possible for a man with limited means to have a home library of great books at a minimum cost, composed of volumes of which he will not be ashamed as to appear- ance. Above all, these volumes have that “booky” look which every booklover at heart wants his books to have. This is an intangible quality which publishers of England commonly more often realize than our own pub- lishers, although there are some ex- ceptions, happily. Whereas 10 years ago there were only the books of the Everyman Li- brary and Burt's Home Library to be readily found for as low as a dollar, one now will discover a dozen or so publishers vying with one another in putting out good books in cheap, though adequate, form. Nelson’s Classies, which have just #ppeared on the local market, printed and published by T. Nelson & Sons, London and Edinbtirgh, enable the booklover to gratify his taste at 50 cents a copy. These are very “booky” little books, generally with good type, on good paper, bound tastefully in a pleasing red cover with gold titles, presenting as a_ whole a decidedly literary at- mosphere, in the best sense of the term. Here, for no more than one pays for an ephemeral copy of a magazine of destructive criticism, may be se- cured the works of Charles Dickens, Sir Walter Scott, many of Robert Louls Stevenson's, some of Thackeray George Elfot, Charles Kingsley, Vi tor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Fenimore Cooper, Anthony Trollope, to say nothing of two stories by Harrison Ainsworth, not heard of much any more, and novels by many others, with many of the so-called d classic such as Pal “Golden Treasure,” and some- s, such as Boswell's “Tour of the Hebrides with Dr. John- son. This same publisher also has avail- able a standard library at $1, more strongly bound. on the same thin paper as it used in the $2 editions. Many persons like this sort of paper, and surely its use does allow one to pack a large number of books in a given space. * K ok % For sheer beauty, in moderate priced books, nothing is quite equal, in our opinion, to Macmillan’s Mod- ern Readers’ Series, sold for $1.25 a volume. These are bound in deep green half-leather, and have an air about them that is generally found only in books costing many times their price. Here, too, the books which English-speaking world has agreed to call “classics” rule. e finds Aesop's Fables Franklin's ‘“*Autobiography worth’s poems, Lamb's “F of nd many others, together with Marius, the Epicurean,” “A Kentucky Cardinal” and Rich Man. stand that the plan of ridging great works in this serie: was done with “Thre Musketeers,” for instance, has been the long Here discontinued, and that henceforth all the books published will be un- abridged. This is a step in the right direction, as the format of these volumes is too beautiful to condone tampered masterpieces. Another "interesting series, pub- lished at $1, is the Star Dollar Titles, put out by the Garden City Publish- ing Company. Iere one finds, in larger size than the Nelson books, works of a more general nature, such as Tumulty's “Woodrow Wilson As I Know Him” and Werner's com- paratively recent biography of P. T. Barnum. Here one also finds the omni- present autoblography of Benjamin Franklin, side by side with the late Henry Krehbiel's “Book of Uperas” and the anonymous “Mirrors of Washington.” If you want some book that not very long ago was published only in a $4 to $5 edition, look up this list. It may be there. e The Lambskin Library, published by Doubleday, Page & Co., at $1, is bound in imported English red leath- er, and each volume, as such, is quite as good as many for which we have paid $2 and more. Here one may find—not only Frank- lin's “Autobiography” again—but Conrad's great “Lord Jim," Tarking- ton’s Mor- ley's ‘‘Haunted Harry Leon Wilson's “Bunker Bean,” Helen Keller's _“Story Life” and Booker T. Washington's “Up From Slavery.” By the way, if you have never read the latter, you owe it to yourself to read it, especially have your boy read it. He will never whine about going to school again. “Alice in Wonderland” s in this series, too—it 1s naother that is in cluded in all of them. Within the past year, the com- plete works of two great autho have appeared on the market for 90 cents a volume, and may be pu chased book by book, as one please: Scribner’s puts out Stevenson in this inexpensive but good form, and Doubleday, Page & Co. does the like for O. Henry. We have space left consideration of three bys.” the liveryman Library, publish- ed by J. M. Dent & Co., in London, P. Dutton & Co., in New York; Burt's Home Library, published by the A. L. Burt Co., and the Modern put out by the Modern Library, Inc., New York. sveryman books for many years held the inexpensive field al- most without competition, and in- cluded many works often hard to find in book shops, such as Gibbon's “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” and various translations of great Greek and Roman authors, and so0_on. Burt's Home Library is a _sub- stantial serfes of sturdily bound books, enerally in good-sized type on opaque paper. These sell for a dollar apiece. In this library one finds not only the standard novelists, but many poets, essayists and \'\lhel:fi who have helped write the world's real literature. Personally, we have always found these books very satis- factory, standing household knocks well, a not inconsiderable feature, after all. Recall how Wordsworth cut_his hooks with a buttered knife! The Modern Library, selling at 90 95 cents per volume, lives up to s title, with the inclusion of books by “moderns of moderns.” Here one finds Sherwood Anderson, James Branch Cabell and Theodore Dreiser, longside Lewls Carroll's “Alice in Wonderland hre’'s “Life of the Caterpillar” and Blake's “Poems.” WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. ueen Marle, according to the latest will spend only three <hington—November 24, One of them November is Thanksgiving Her majesty’s plans here include a gala dinner and diplomatic reception o be tendered by the Itallan Am- hassador and Signora de Martno at the beautiful new embassy on & teenth street. One of the Queen other Washington days has been a: signed to the Rumanian legation, which will hold a brilliant reception in her honor. One day, Marie ha decreed, shall be entirely her own, untrammeled by engagements of an: kind, in order that she may “do” our Capital magnificent in her own queenly and vivaclous way. * ok ok % Whether or not the President is playing politics and spiking Demo- cratic guns with his new tax-rebate talk, it's the kind of language that mainly has built up the “Coolidge myth” the country over. People sometimes damn_Mr. Coolidge with a faint praise. They deplore his un- emotionalism. They wish he were more like Teddy Roosevelt. They call him uninspiring. But they usually end up by acclaiming Coolidge safety and sanity, and they alway stress economy and the tax tion which it permits as the Pra dent's chief claim to public favor. o, in the vernacular of\the era, he is “doing his stuff” when he harps ou the favorite chord in the Coolidge repertoire. The Nation at large is not interested in politics. What does make it sit up and take notice is any- thing that massages the pocket nerve in the right direction. That's what proposals of tax rebates and tax refunds do. Hence, the front pse hd the limelight for the President whenever he addresses himsclf (o those soothing subject T Cabot Lodge, jr.. grandson of the late “scholas in politics.” has resumed his newspaper work in Washington after his maiden venture tn the field that gave his family re- nown. Lodge, jr., organized for the late senatorfal campaign in Massachs setts the “Republican Associates,’ composed for tho most part of new voters and other young men with G. O. P. leanings. A fow nights beforo, clection he made his first public speech—before the Middlesex Club, in | Boston. It was a clarion call to arms for the impending fray. The talk was modest and incisive. But it had an even more admirable quality—it was only five minutes in length. If brevity Is the soul of success in poli- | ties, Henry Cabot Lodge, jr., should go far. At present, journalism ab- corbs his enthusiasm. although there have been stories that he 18 slated for an attractive post in the foreign serv- ice, with duty in the State Depart- ment. 1 * oK KK Senator George H. Moses, Republi- can, of New Hampshire, referring to the fates that overtook Butler in Mas- sachusetts and Wadsworth in New York, calls himself “the only spared monument on the Atlantic Coast.” Moses doesn't think the United States Senate during the next year and a ill do much else than try to and severally, Pres- | Hampshire's in- | ris there are | ses, Republi- vincible fa no fewer tha cans and Democrats, % and wiliing to do service as national andard bearers two years hence. * ok * % | Frederick W. Peabody of Ashburn- ! ham, Mass.. who petitioned the Presi- dent in July of this year to cancel the war debts Europe owes us, is now en- gaged In an effort to organize the country in favor of cancellation. To thousapds ¢f privete addresses Mg, Peabody is malling a pamphlet con- taining his letter to Mr. Coolidge and some of the raverable comments it evoked. “It is earnestly hoped,” says Mr. Peabody, “thit those who sympa- thize with the purpose of this pam- phlet and who agice with me th tion-wide organization for nation-wide action is imperative, if substantial re- sults are to be achieved, will send their names for tentative enrollment. The plan contemplates no fees or dues and calls only for voluntary local co- operation. Later a committee of 100, or 1,000. as may be deemed advisable, will be formed.” There isn't much New England restraint in the lurid lan- guage which adorns the cover of Mr. Peabody's preachment. “America, awake! Awake!!” it shrieks, and then: “You are being sold, betrayed, dishon- ored! Your great dead demand your vindication! ~Your unborn must not be shamed * kX Kk Winter dinner tables in Washington, the whispering gallery of the Nation, are bound to buzz when people begin talking about “Revelr: novel of Capital life. Its author, Sam- uel Hopkins Adams, purports to deal with men, women and events familiar to most persons who now live in Washington, for they are supposed to have to do with the vears 1921, 1922 and 1923. The publishers confidently proclaim that readers will have no difficulty 1g the real iden- titles of " characters, who include a President of the United States, cabinet officers and others who can be identified in the Federal pic- ture of two or three vears ago. Mr. Adams, & romanticist of renown. has drawn liberally upon his fmagination and not shrunk from making gossip serve freely and vividly the purposes of fiction. * % & ok Louis D. Brandels, associate jus- tice of the Supreme Court, enters the septuagenarian class on November 13, though In looks, bearing and mental vigor no one ever takes him for a day more than 60 years of age. Mr. Brandels is now the second oldest man on the Supreme Court bench, only Mr. Holmes being his senior. = Chiet Justice Taft {8 a vear vounger than Brandels. The year 1926 marks the tenth anniversary of the latter's ap- pointment to the Nation's tribunal of last resort. President Wilson named him an associate justice on January 28, 1916, and then ensued the famous contest over his confirmation, which lasted until the succeeding June. Taft, now Brandels' chief, was |1n the forefront of the fight against him, but five years of intimate asso- ciation have entirely obliterated the animosities of that acrimonious day. Brandeis' appointment was widely hailed as that of an ultra-radical. To- day the lawyers of the country ac- claim him as one of the keenest analytical minds that ever adorned the Supreme Court. * x ko One of the earliest rumors of the congressional season, which sets in with the assembling of the Senate in special session, I3 that a distinguished member of the Coolidge cabinet may shortly vacate his portfollo. He hails from the West and Is concerned mainly with Western problems. A Midwestern Senator, who fell by the wayside in the 1 primaries, i heralded as the successor of the exee- utive chief said to be hankering for private life. (Copyright. 1926.) Easy Grace. From the Seattle Daily Times. A democratic manner Is that easy nonchalance with which a fifty-trunk personage shakes the hand of the one- trunk citizeny N OVEMBER 1 Politics at Lérge By G. Gould Lincoln. Maine has the first and last words in the elections of 1926. In September Maine's general election, for gover- nor and members of the House and other officials, was held, for Maine has never yet conformed to the prac- tice of all the other 47 States which elect the first Tuesday aftc-r’llle first Monday in November. On November 29 Maine holds another election—to fill the vacancy in the Senate cause by the death of the late Senator Fernald, Republican. Ordinarily this special election would pass with com- paratively little interest to the out- side world. But not so this year. The makeup of the Senate in thel Seventieth Congress now stands 47 Republicans, 47 Democrats, 1 Farmer- Labor and 1 vacancy, the cancy be Ing the hitherto Republican seat in Maine. Much hangs on the election of a Republican or a Democrat in the Pine Tree State. If the Republicans win, as there is every indication they will, the Republicans will have cxact- ly one-half the membership of 4[‘\? Senate, with the probability that Sen- ator Shipstead of Minnesota, Farmer- Labor, will join with them in matters of organization and some legislation. If the Democrats elect a Senator in Maine, then they will have 43 Sena- tors, ‘armer-Labor Senator s with the Republicans at all times, the Democrats will be in a position to control. With the Sen- ate evenly divided, the Vice President, a Republican, casts the deciding vote. ok oK K “As Malne goes, so goes the Na- tion,” the usual pre-election dictum, changes now to, “As Maine goes, =0 goes the Senate.” The Republicans have nominated Arthur R. Gould of Presque Isle. much to their own sur- prise, for he was opposed by former Gov. Percival P. Baxter. Baxter was considered the best known Republican in the State. Ile had been president of the State Senate and twice gov ernor. The longer a man is in public office the greater his crop of political enemies, however. Mr. Gould has never held public office, except for term in the state Senatoe, 1921-1 He is a self-made business man. who started his career as a farm laborer, | picking bugs off cabbages. and now is rated one of the wealthiest and most important men in the State, his interests ranging from hydroelectric | power plants to potatoes, and Includ- | ing lumber. He is 69 years old, but without a gray hair in his head. He feet 3 inches tall, a long © figure with powerful shoulders last Yankee.” His words are few and short clipped. He conservative Republican, and plans to follow closely in the footsteps of the late Senator Fernald, who opposed the League of Nations and the World Court. * ok ok % Against Mr. Gould the Democrats hava nominated Fulton J. Redman Redman is young, energetic, a mem- ber of a. law firm in New York, though he keeps his residence and office in Ellsworth, Me. He was a_candidate for the Senate on the Democratic ticket two years ago against Senator Fernald and was defeated by Fernald by 51,000 votes. Mr. Redman’ is making an campaizn. He Is recefving assistance from the Democratic organ tion outside the State, which realizes how much his election may mean to the party. But Maine is Republican. o a Democrat to win there the Republi cans must be seriously divided. To date there is nothing to show that the Republicans will fail to roll up th Jority needed to elect Mr. Gould. n deed, the personal popularity of Gould in many parts of the State likely to give him a large vote. Furthermore, l"!(‘ Republicans are by no means in. different to the need of sending him to the Senate, where his vote will be greatly needed in the next Cong: and, indeed, in the session wh opens in December. * ok % Democrats are taking great comfort from the senatorial elections, in which they won seven seats held by Repub- licuns and lost none of thelr own. v are inclined to give no little credit to the Democratic senatovial committee, headed by Senator Peter Goelet Gerry of Rhode Island, New England’s only Democratic Senato until the recent election of Senator David 1. Walsh This committee labored quietly, but effectively. It sent funds into some of the hotly contested States in greater amount than has usually been the although not in proportions which would lead to charges of cor- ruption. The report filed by the treas- urer of the senatorial committee, Sen- ator Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware, shows that the contributions were generous. Instead of using the funds in the national headquarters they were sent into the States where they would do the most good. The func- tion of the committee, other than a sisting in strategy of the political bat- tles in several States, was to furnish detailed voting records of all of the sitting Republican members who were up for re-election, and the vote of a Senator is now considered the acid test of his political or senatorial rec- ord. The committee prepared and broadcast thousands of copies of the Democratic ““‘Book of Facts.” The com- mittee broadcast also thousands of copies of pamphlet extracts of the Congressional Record, and kept a small office force in Washington to answer hundreds of queries propound- ed by the various candidates. The Democratic committee depended large- ly upon the spoken word carried by the party speakers into the contested States, under the direction of Senator Claude A. Swanson of Virginfa, chal man of the Democratic senatorial speakers’ bureau. Col. k. A. Halsey of the Senate staff was the acting secre- ta of the Democratic senatorial committee. ctive, ok X Democrats are pleased with the victor senatorial candidates in setts and New York, reg a pivotal States. The dry half of th Democratic party is not saying much about the part that the prohibition issue played in the election of Wagner in New York and Walsh in Massa chusetts, although the wet half is pointing’ with pride to those victories of anti-prohibition candidates for the Senate. Although Senator Walsh has been elected to flll the unexpired term of the late Senator Lodge of Massa- chusetts, 1t appears ,that Senator Willlam M. Butler, chalrman of the Republican national committee, will continue Senator for several weeks, or until Senator Walsh pr nts him- self and his credentials in the Sen- ate and Is sworn in. Furthermore, according to officials of the Senate, Senator Butler will con- tinue to draw the pay of Senator un- tl Senator Walsh qualifies by ap- pearing in the Senate and taking the oath of office, and the pay of Senator Walsh as Senator does not begin un- til_he qualifies in the manner de- scribed. The especially s of their * x k% The law relating to the Butler- Walsh case was enacted a couple of vears ago. It provides “that salaries of Senators appointed to fill vacan- cles in the Senate shall commence on the day of their appointment and con. tinue until their successors are elected and qualified, and salaries of Senators elected to flll vacancies in the Senate shall commenc¢e on the day they quallfy; provided that when no ap- pointments have been made to fll such vacancies, the salarfes of Sena- tors eleeted to fill such vacancies shall commence on the day following their elections.” 3| trarily set this aside y in Massachusetts. | WHAT D. C. GOVERNMENT NEEDS The permanent statute law fixes the | fiscal relations between the Federal and District governments on a pro- portion or ratio basis, but in recent years by a clause in the appropriation bill making provisions for support of the Capital City Congress has arbi- ar after yea { making the appropriations for municipality of Washington to be pid entirely from local taxes, except for a lump-sum_contribution of $9,000,000 from the Federal Treasury, or com- mon fund of the Nation. This nine million doliar lump sum, the Nation's share In supporting the itional Capital as the most beauti- ul city in the world and which fs ng developed on an elaborate scale with costly embellishments that no mere mu ality would feel it could afford, is just an arbitrary conclusion not based on any intelligent, s tematic,* seientific, fair study of the equities involved and the obligations as between the Federal Government and the taxpayers of the District of Columbi: On the false theory that percent- age of real estate ownership is the full measure of national obligation in Capital _upbuilding, attempt is made to justify the lump-sum contribution, on “the assumption that the Federal Government’s property holdings, for the present and for many vears in the future, have reached the satura- tion point—that the Government al- ready holds about all the land that it intends to own here. But it cannot too often be emphasized that the per- centage of real estate ownership is not the only, or even the most im- portant, consideration, * ok * K 1t should be remembered that origl- nally the Government took five- sevenths of all the land in the Capital City area and threw more than half of the whole area into streets. Then in selling off lots to defray the cost of public buildings, as an inducement to purchasers it pledged that ‘(h_e Government would develop the Capi- tal City and the property owmers would be relieved from a very large provortion of the ordinary expense of a city. This promise of the Go ernment was advertised even in for- eign newspapers, but the pledse was not kept In the Jefferson Papers we find him protesting to Congress against wast- ine the resources of this Distri which it held as “residuary legatee Then in 1835 the District went into ' ing to carry the entire Capital development, after s had dissipgted the resources pally intended largely for streets ) were never built and on which teulously small sum had been spent. o, at first agreeing to pay practi- v all the costs of the Capital City, but in reality paying practically noth- ing, Congress in the organic act of |187& recognized its obligation, which it then agreed to carry out in part by adopting the half-and-half principle of ng the expenses of the Natlonal \pital. But linked in with that pro- ionate sharing of costs it took to! self all control of national and state taxation for the District. That was a \ctory and just arrangement then, hecause we did not have here in the District sufficient population and resources to command voting repre- sentation in Congress, and our experi- e with a voteless Delegate had )ween very unsatisfactory. PR | b rticle of representa- Thus every | ken from the people power W sumed by Fhen a few ago Congress clanged the proportion from §0-50 to (60-40 in_aceordance with substantive | law, and more recently by arbitrary ‘tion made lump-sum appropriations, but it has not surrendered back any of the power that it teok from the people here as an integral part of the i poliey In the organic act of o that there are other considera- tions 1o be taken into account which are wmich more important than the proportion of property owned by the Federal Government, as long as the ion holds exclusive power, shut- : the District authoritles out from saving how much shall be raised in taxes and how the taxes shall be spent. There is the fundamental prin- ciple invelved that “ebligation follows power.” The definite proportion principle of sharlng the costs, which the District people have persistently contended whether it be 50-50 or 60-40, or other ratlo, rests on this founda- tion, that the National Congress in making appropriations _would be spending its own or the Nation's tax money as well as that of the District. It is & guard against the spending of tax money by a body in which the taxed are not represented. * X k % The primary obligation is on Con- gress to see that the Capital of the tion is developed In every way worthy of the Nation—a visible repre- sentation of the wealth, power, taste and love of the American people in |all the 48 States—and an especial “ob- {lization following power” that the rel- atively small number of local resi- dents in Washington are not unfairly and oppressively taxed. But even the attempted justifica- tion on the ground that Uncle Sam now owns about all the land he ever intends to own here is an entirely er- roneous premise, for we have the Federal Government even now about to take over other very considerable areas For example, the entire triangle De- tween Sixth and teenth streets !south of Pennsylvania avenue to the | Mall as sites for new Federal build ings under a 30,000,000 fund. The ap- proximate cost of tely owned proper(y in this area will be some 000,000, v has been given and ap- a1 made for completion of the of 1.3 04 square feet of Iand hetween the Capitol Building and | i Union Station, to be improved as a park vista for the Capitol. the present {cost being about $3.250.000. | Legislation authorizing an expend- | tture of some $17.000,000 for acqui-j | sition of six squares between tho Cap- | itol and Sixth street, required in the { straightening and improvement of B self a Senator can qualify only by appearing in the open Senate, while that body is in session, and taking Ish should appear tn when that body s to deal with the ase of Judge English of the Eastern gistrict_of 1 and presented his credentials he could be sworn in im- mediately. Here in Washington, how- ever, the understanding is that suffi- cient time has not 3 : the formal canvass of the Massachu- setts vote necessary befors Senator Walsh can receive his credentlals from the governor. As Judge Eng- lish has resigned and the Senate is | expected to recess until December, it does not appear lkely that Senator | Walsh will be able to qualify until | the opening of the regular session | three weeks hence | The law relating to of salaries to Senators elected to fill ancie quoted | would @ppear to fct with the sev- enteenth amendment to the Constitu- tion, providing for the direct election | of Senators, which states that Sena- | tors appointed to fill vacancies shall serve until an election is held. But the Constitutlon also provides that each State is entitled to two Senators and that provision of the Constitu- tion was borne in mind when the law the ment inted or | | volved, on the BY WILL P. KENNEDY. No. 2—Fiscal Relations on Equitable Basia. street as already authorized in the Arlington Memorial Bridge act, and to square up the Mall and to remove evesores and hovels and dens from the Capitol vista, Is even now pending before the public bufldings and grounds committees of House and Senate. * & % % Other large and very valuable pleces of real estate that the Federal Gov- ernment contemplates taking over in the near future are: Whole squares between Maryland avenue and R street south and between B street and Canal street, at the foot of Cap itol Hill and adjoining the .Capit Grounds, as a new site for the Na tional Botanic Garden: all the cort surrounding the Cabitol grounds; mor: than 400 acres in the Mount Hamfito: and Hickey Hill area at a cost of $300,000, for a National Arboretum about 1,000 acres rolatively near tho arboretum as_a new, experfmenta farm for the Department of Agrie ture; the entire square west of La yette Park opposite the State, War and N Building for a new Statc Department Bullding. 1t will be readily seen from the mera mention of such specific profects, which do not by any means compris; all the realty plans of Congress and the Federal offictals, that some of the most _desirable areas in the Capital are about to pass into Federal owne: ship and be removed from taxation This 1s a very fmportant consideratio because there is no citv in all the world where &0 much of the prop erty is removed from taxation. With a total of 43,000 acres, we find by the records of the as s office that the United States Government holds 7.600 acres valued at $400,000,000; tin District Government, 625 acry at $30,000,000, and legation: ble institutions, churches and schoois 1,300 acres, valued at $50.000,000. Thix leaves 30,00 s exclusive of streers on which taxes can be levied. This and is valued at $402, provements valued or a total of approximate 9 000. Tn other words, there is a a billion and a half of renl estata h of which taxable individuals own L than a billion and the other half h Hon—one-third of the total—is e empt. R So we sce that not only on the land held by the IFederal Government but also on other valuable properties, such as embassics and legations, here be- cause this Is the Nation's Capital, the taxable area is reduced and the local taxpayers must bear a burden heyond what would be required in any eity other than the Capital. Along this same line of thought in no other city In the country arn boulevard streets 160 feet wide main- tained, the entire cost of which, some £§3.000,000 to $3,500,000 a year, is patd by local taxes while every other State in the Union shares tn a $150,000,000 pot of Federal ald in road building. Consider also that Congress forces the District taxpayers to buy large park areas which from a strictly munieclpal viewpoint are not the most desirable locations for community recreational facilities If, as congressmen sometimes argue, we were only doing what other large cities are doing in providing such facllities for the people. Hers in Washington the most extensive park system in the world is being de- veloped—in a city 10 miles square and with only a half million inhabitants. In considering equities in connection with our fiscal polley. and how Con- gress unjustly and arbitrarily tmposos burdens, the Gibson subcommittee should note such {llustrations as this: Congress passed a law author 1zing appropriations for acquisition of park lands in the District and in ad- Jacent Maryland and Virginia under a continuing program at the rate of 1 cent per annum per person for all the population of the United States. This would mean approximately $1,100,000 a year, as our latest census returns show upward of 110,000,000 persons. But thus far the appropria- tions have been made at the rate of $600,000 a vear, and added to the reg. ular District appropriation bill so that the entire sum comes out of the District taxpayers. Under the intent of the substantive law only $5.000 should come from the District tax payers, which 1s 1 cent for each of the 500,000 population. * ok kK As the District of Columbfa devel ops, both as a local community and as the Nation's Capital, under the ex clusive control of the Nation as repre sented by Congress, there is corrn- sponding increase in the responsibllity of the United States Government to ward the Capital—to see that it 13 de veloped not only «s a progressive mu nicipality, but as the home city of the greatest government in the world's his tory. This should ba the primary and dominant consideration of Congress and the Federal Government regard ing the National Capital. When the Budget Bureau was or ganized with our present Vice Presi dent as the first budget director, th first thought was the District budget was extravagant wh com- pared with that of other cit And then this homely comparison was made to emphasize how Washingtor is “different” and must “keep up an ppearance that other clties need not ke two men recelving the same ries—one is a blacksmith and the other ank clerk. The former b the very nature of his work can wear old and dirty clothing which costs practically nothing, while the bank clerk must be well dressed. Out of this grew the Budget Burean saying that “We must dress the local cor munity of Washington with National Capital ¢ ‘The interest and obligation of (he Federal Government should consa quently be constandly increasing, canse we are buflding here not onls a local community hut the Ca the greatest Natlon. Therefore arbitrary lump sum appropriat from the Federal Treasury is equitable, but the al relatio should be on a proportion, or ratio ot percentage basls. PR The Incal taxpayers without volce in making our laws as emphasized in the first article in this series are left to carry the burden of Capital sup port for the Nation. And mark you, ihis tax burden falls heaviest on the employes of the Government, who own a majority of the small homes here, because we have only one large industry here, and although that is the biggest Industry in the world it evades taxation—Uncle Sam's work shop. These Government employ« get their tax money not out of any business but from salaries which have been scaled down mathematically and mechanically to a minimum lving wage—least of all, they can afford to carry the burden of Capital develop- ment. Therefore it is fundamental that the fiscal relations between the Fed- eral Government and the municipality of the District of Columbia should be on a basis that will constantly and permanently take into the reckoning all the equities and obligations in art of the parent Gov ernment as well as on the part of the loval and patriotic community e the home city and Capital United States. of “the Hold *Em, Sing Sing! From the New York Sun. The number of college men in Sing Sing Is Increasing rapldly. Warden Lawes i3 reported to be looking for & Lndex the yules of the Senats it~ mm\mmmm &ood foot ball coach.