Evening Star Newspaper, February 26, 1927, Page 6

‘With Sunday Morning Edition. B WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY. ... February 26, 1927 THEODORE W. NOYES. . . . Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Vo o York Ogu"_i_mi‘a’E-at st icago Office. Tower Building. Ruropean Office; 14 Regent St.. London. England. Bustn: &t and i { The Evening Star. with the Sunday morn- | "ie 4 by “carriers, within | at 60 cents per month: daily only. oe et r month: S I]n;’l:,\'l D:l]{’. 2 ;[‘)"n;: *Orders. in Sent by m {alophona Hatn 8000, Collection is made b | carrier at end of each month. vable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dally and Sunday....1yr. $9.00: 1 mo. paty only MU Sai0! 1 mo Sunday only 3.00: 1 mo.., All Other States and Canada. Paily and Sundas..1yr.$1700:1mo. S Daily only .01 ¥r) $8.00% 1 mo Sunday only .. Il1¥r $4.00: 1 mo. Member of the A The Associated Press o) to the use for republication of all i atches credited 1o il or ot otherw ted in this paper and aleo the lo published herein. Al righta of publication of epecial dispatches hes Ik reserved | in are The McNary-Haugen Veto. | In his message to (ongress ves- ! slander and defamation, and declares | opinion in Great Britain.’ 183 of the policy to which it has ad ances against the Moscow outfit, which Is accused of almost every conceivable form of unfriendly action, ranging from a five-million-dollar effort to con- vert the British coal strike into a political revolution to recent events in China, whers Soviet agents have caused the Chinese to single out the British as special objects of hatred. The British foreign office stands with the American State Department in re- fusing to permit the official Russian government to hide behind the unoffi- al, but actually all-powerful, “politi- 1 bureau” in advocating a world revolution. ~ The note charges the Soviet government with full responsi- bility for the campaign of propaganda, there can be no improvement in An- glo-Russian relations so long as this is persisted in. ‘“There are Moscow is warned. “Beyond | dangerous to drive public course Hmits,"” which it The American Government could not ask a more complete vindication ered resolutely, despite constant pressure, TH to national defense. These are the figures in the case. And the facts seem to put Germany in a disadvantageous position from either angle. Either she must admit and explain the French charge that her military budget is not markedly smaller than that of the French, or she must accept the assertion that with her annual budget relieved of the bulk of huge pre-war defense items she is much better able than she wants to admit to continue in- definitely the Dawes payments. The former admission would scotch once and for all the fable of French mili- tarism which has more than once proved useful to Germany, and the latter would preclude the possibility of sustainin the claim that her reparation obligations are ruinous. oo Drinking Dogs. There is no question about it, the present-day liguor wlll make even a dog Intoxicated. That sounds as If an attempt was being made at humor, but it is a fact, nevertheless, and a New often from high sources, to force rec- ognition of the Russian Soviet govern- ment. The British government yield- ed to like pressure, and since has had cause for nothing but regret. Among American advocates of Russian recog- terday vetoing the McNary-Haugen farm relief bill. Iresident Coolidge utterly flattened out the economic | theories upou which that measurei had*been constructed. an imposing array of arguments to | support his contention that the Mll.f besides being unconstitutional. was contrary to the public interest. was class legislation, and would not per- manently profit even the minority of farmers singled out to be its bene- | ficiaries. Within the compass of a| not overly-long message, the Presi-| dent effectively answered every argu- | ment that supporters of the measure have put forward in more than three years of almost constant agitation. McNary-Haugen advocates have strenuously insisted that their pro- gram did not involve Government price-fixing for farm commodities. The President showed conclusively that not only was Government price- fixing necessarily involved if the proposed machinery was to be effec- tive, but that the only certain benefits .from this price-fixing would flow to the packers, millers and other processors, whose profits would be guaranteed under contracts with the Government. He argued that a pro- gram of price-fixing “once started, has no justice and no end. It isran ‘economic folly from which this coun- try has every right to be spared.” Unwillingness to launch the Gov- ernment on a program of price-fixing has been the keystone of opposition “to the McNary-Haugen bill, but Mr. Coolidge pointed out other objections almost as vital. None of these is more telling than that the bill would penalize the farmer who diversifies his crops, which is sound agriculture, and would put a premium on the un- sound methods of the one-crop farmer. He got at the heart of the economics of the situation when he urged that the cure for the crop surplus problem is to increase con- sumption by lowering ‘production and distribution costs, and thereby lower- ing prices, rather than by restricting ‘consumption and stimulating the pro- duction of still larger surpluses by higher prices artificially maintained. ‘The President makes it plain that he has no wish to close the door of hope to agriculture. He believes the Government should extend help, but that it ‘should be along lines that would be fafr to all the people and available to all farmers, not solely for the benefit of favored classes who are in part at least responsible for their own troubles because of their unwillingness to follow sound prac- tices. Plans have been proposed in Congress, he £aid, which offer prom- * tme of sound assistance without violat- ing the Constitution or economic laws or the spirit.of fair dealing, and he indicated that a measure in which they were embodied would meet with his approval. Proponents of the McNary-Haugen bill have fought a long fight and a; determined one. There is 1 occa- sion to' guestion that they fought in the utmost sincerity. But they have lost, and there is no present prospect that they can win. Now they have choice of two courses. Either they can continue to lead a forlorn hope or they can meet in a #pirit of accommodation with others who are equally anxious to restore . agriculture to good health and work out a measure that can be enacted into law. It is earnestly to be hoped that they will choose the latter course. vt Veto of the farm bill again makes it plain that President Coolidge is mot “playing politics.” The man who says “no” In accordance with his con- victions never expects the immediate popularity of the man who says “ves” to everything. e TR Britain and the Soviet. ©lamor in this country for recogni- tion by the United States of the Soviet government of Russia is likely to be atilled, for a time at least, by the note recently issued from Downing street. Bir Austen Chamberlain, the British foreign minister, threatens abrogation of the Anglo-Russlan trade agreement of 1921 and complete severance of dip- Jomatic relations because of “flagrant violations of the solemn agreement be- tween the two countries.” There is no mincing of words in the Chamberlain note. Seldom in the his- tory of diplomacy has one government ver used such blunt language in ad- dressing another government with which it was not at war. “Relations between the British government and the union of Soviet republics,” says Bir Austen, “continue notoriously of an-unsatisfactory nature.” He calls = -sttention to the fact that Russia signed a solemn agreement undertak- ing not to support by funds or other- wise agencles aiming to epread dis- content or rebellion in any part of the British empire, and adds: “Despite the Soviet government's public protesta- tions of friendship, the highest officials defame and misrepresent Great Brit i i nition are some with good intentions and others whose intentions are bad. Praiseworthy as good intentions are, termination of policies when solid in- formation s lacking. The American Government had the information, And it had the firmness to be guided there- by. So we escape the unhappy situa- tion in which Great Britain finds itself. .o Cloture in the Senate. When Vice President Dawes de- livered his inaugural address in the .Senate two years ago he startled the country, and more particularly the Senate, by his denunciation of the abuse of the rule of unlimited debate and the use of the filibuster in the Senate. Behind the Vice President’s attack upon the Senate procedure was a growing feeling in the ‘country that the Senate was rapidly becoming an impotent, gossipy body, where talk was exalted and action was infrequent. The same Senate, without a change in its rules, during the present short session has undertaken to do business in a manner which would have as- tounded the “elder statesmen” of a few years ago. The McNary-Haugen farm bill was forced to a vote under threat of invoking the two-thirds cloture rule. The Pepper-McFadden branch-bank bill was actually brought to a vote by invoking the cloture rule. Today three petitions for cloture are pending in the Senate, one on the Boulder Dam bill, a second on the Ty- son emergency officers’ bill and a third on the public buildings bill. In the offling are proposals for cloture on the prohibition reorganization bill and the alien property bill. It Is apparent that many of the Sen- ators themselves have become dis- couraged and disgusted with the man- ner in which minorities, sometimes single Senators, have prevented action by majorities on important measures, using the rule of unlimited debate to tie up these measures. It is a healthy sign. 1Injustice has been done and poor legislation has been forced through the Senate at tKe behest of in- dividual Senators in the past because of their bargaining power. If the Senate continues to use its present cloture rule as effectively as it has now started out to do, the Vlcel President’s vision of a reform in the Senate will have come to pass, His opponents have insisted that under the existing rules of that body a ma- Jority is able to rule, if it desires. It is doubtful, however, that they visual- ized the actual imposition of cloture on the scale to which the present Senate has now turned. The urge to real accomplishment has become stronger than the determination of Senators to stick to the time-honored tradition of deliberation. - ———— The tired business man dictating correspondence to a stenographer | must take into account the possibility that the production of the notes in evidence will make him still more tired. e Declsive battles continue to be fore- cast in China, although it is a long time since that country has had a battle that decided anything. German Defense Figures. A considerable divergence of opin- fon as to the ratio of Germany’s cur- York bootlegger has discovered it to his sorrow. A few days ago a tele- phone operator heard strange sounds over an open wire. She excitedly noti- fled the police after looking up the street address. The reserves, along with an ambulance from the Knicker- bocker Hospital, hurried &9 the scene. They found nothing on the first floor He marshaled | they constitute a poor basis for the de-[©f the house but, listening intently, they heard moans in the basement. With guns drawn the police and the doctors descended. There they found three huge bulldogs staggering around the room. the telephone hanging crazily from the table with the re- coiver off the hook and a small leak in the thirty-five-gallon still. After a struggle with the three ‘‘drunks” the police arrested the owner of the house for making liquor, and he is at pres- ent ruing his fate. The moral of this story is, neither men nor animals are responsible for their conduct if they are placed in contact with the 1927 brand of whisky. And the further moral to this particu- lar bootlegger is, never employ drink- ing dogs to guard your stock. In the meantime police are congratulating themselves upon success in one of the most peculiar cases with which they have had to deal. ——e—— Russia is credited with promoting dissension in China. Russia, always generous in distributing suggestions of disorder, proceeds on the theory that there is trouble enough to go round The early effort of Vice Presldent Dawes to hold the United States Sen- ate under certain restraints appears to have drifted into the domain of un- finished business. v A possibllity of the Boulder Dam situation is the promotion of one of the most desperate “swimming con- tests” in the history of humanity. ————————— Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller are represented as rivals in wealth. The rivalry should be friendly. One supplies the flivver and the other the gas. ——v— Threats of physical gest amplifying the conveniences available to United States Senators by supplylng a gymnasium. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. New Statesmanship. Our Congressman is very brave And also wise, indeed; The Nation he will help to save 1f his remarks we’ll heed. The Constitution well he knows, Each meaning he’ll discern— And yet, events that pass disclose That he has much to learn. A peroration is N. G. When fresh dissensions grow. The big deciding point may be A solar plexus blow. ‘When he's opposing power or pelf To serve the land he loves, Our Congressman should get himself A set of boxing gloves. Fickle Populace. ““The voters out your way say you used too much money.” “There's no pleasing 'em,” sighed Senator Sorghum. “They used to complain that I was a tightwad.” Original Simplicity. When flivvers gay are going strong To make the public nervous, The old snow shovel plugs along And gives the real service. Jud Tunkins says there's no use of rent expenses for national defense to those under which she staggered prior to the World War has recently been noted in the press of America Germany and France. The claim was made by a member of the Dawes Commission that Germany's burdens under the Dawes plan are approxi- mately equal to her national defense budget before the war. Indignant disclaimers promptly ensued from Germany, it being insisted that pro- portionately the present military ex- penditure is even heavier than before the war and that there should be added to these the vast pension erans. 2 A study of the figures in the case eveals truth in the claims of both sides, owing to the failure of those indulging in the controversy to make use of a common denominator in the computing of their respective ratios. The German defenders talk in terms of foreign exchange, of German marks uand French francs translated into American dollars, and they talk only of “military” or “army” exper ditures. On such a basis—an ex- tremely unsound one, owing to the fact that foréign exchange has no intimate relationship to the value of currency expended at- home—the German claim may be ‘supported. But using the alternative and fairer method of establishing ratios by di- viding defense expenditure into the total annual budget of the nation, we find that Germany is today spending eight per cent of her total outlay on her army and navy combined, where - ain, even Tchitcherin himself partici pating in this campaign.” y British protest and warning are as on the eve of the World War she charges today pald to her war vet- | minding your own business If vou don’t advertise enough to get other people to notice it. Times Change, “I can remember when Crimson Gulch had a saloon ‘on every corner.” “Yep,"” answered Cactus Joe. “Now there are five or six bootleg automo- biles parked on every block.” 5 Protest. My radio! My radio! You should be deemed unlawful. You sound the tunes of long ago And make them seem most awful! Symbolism. ou are cultivating a mint patch.” “1 am,” answered Uncle Bill Bottle- top. “For my part a sprig of mint is Just as much a symbol of hope as an olive branch fs of peace.” “Wishin'," sald Uncle Eben, “is a | help or a hindrance 'cordin’ to whether you makes it a reason foh work or an «xcuse foh loafin’. Excess in Trust. From the Boston Herald. One fault which seems to be com- mon among our prison officials is that they ptt altogether too much trust In trusties. » TR T D. C. City of Churches. From the Boston Herald. Washington s edging toward first place for the title of the City of Churches. L e Well. What-—-? From the Naw Ovleans TimesPi was spending close to sixty per cent. About fifteen ent of the British By the way. which do we inean when we speak of the Bahama s) dustry? - E_EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, ‘THE EVENING STAR |the culmination of two years of griev-|and French budgets is today devoted! combat sug- | “Blanks in the grand lottery of time,” a fine sounding phrase from the introductory chapter to Book 2 of Henry IMelding’s “History of Tom Jones,” designates periods of life in which nothing particular happens. In looking back over one's own life, one fs very able to discern plenty of blanks in"the grand lottery of his own time. This is the reason why S0 many eminent gentlemen, when called upon suddenly for a biography for a book, say the Congressional Rec- ord, can only fill a paragraph. In this second of the 18 prelimi | nary chapters n which Fielding sets forth his ideas as to novel writing, our author plainly states that he will allow chasms in his story, if nothing happened to be worthy or interesting. J“Though we have properly enough entitled this our work, a history, and not a life; nor an apology for a life, as is more in fashion; yet we intend in it rather to pursue the method of those writers, who profess to disclose the revolutions of countries, than to imitate the painful and voluminous historian, who, to preserve the regu- larity of his series, thinks himself obliged to flll up as much paper with the detail of months and years in which nothing remarkable hap- pened, as he employs upon those no- table eras when the greatest scenes have been transacted on the human stage.” Just how revolutionary a step this was can be seen, not by a comparison of 'om Jones” with present-day novels, but with some of the storles produced before Fielding. * ok ok ding’s wit is seen in the follo ‘Such histories as these do. in very much resemble a news. paper, which consists of just the same number of words, whether there be any news in it not. They may he likewise compared to a stage coach, which performs constantly the same course, empty as well as full.” Flelding's slap at newspapers was a great deal more true in his day than today, as any one will readily agree who will look at some of the papers of only a hundred years ago. His purpose, in telling “'Tom Jones,™ he continues, is to pursue exactly the opposite course. ‘“When any extraor- dinary scene presents itself (as we trust will often be the case). we shall spend no pains nor paper. (Note: To- day we use “‘or") to open it at large to our reader; but if whole years should pass without preducing anything worthy his notice, we shall not be afraid of a chasm in our history; but shall hasten on to matters of conse- quence, and leave such periods of time totally unobserved.” It is interesting to note that Fleld- ing unvaryingly speaks of ‘“our reader,” using the singular, plural. This would seem (o be the A writer writes to the not to the ones who a subtle difference. There is a mutual understanding, a solemn compact, between the writer and his reader. Every reader reads, one at a time, and it is for him, or her, that the writer writes. “These are indeed to be considered as blanks in the grand lottery of time,” continues Fielding, referring to the uninteresting perlods in the history of his characters. “My reader then is not to be surprised, if, in the of all readers. chapters very short, and others alto- gether as long; some that contain only the time of a single day, and others that comprise vears; in a word, if m and sometimes to fly." LR Then our author comes right down to it. In his bantering. vet serious way, he makes the foliowing mem- | orable statement D. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. not the | best course. for one reader is the type | course of this work, he shall find some | history sometimes seems to stand still, | C., “For all which I shall not look on myself as accountable to any court of critical jurisdiction: for as I am, in reality, the founder of a new prov. ince of writing, so 1 am at liberty to make what laws I please therein.” “I am, in reality, the e new province of writin; ‘With what calm assurance Fielding writes that sentence, taking a crack, at the same time, at the critics, even more ac- tive in his day than ours! He was, in truth, the founder of a new province in novel writing, and 1t today enjoy a story ot real life, think a bit upon this old play and novel writer, who was the first 1o see that a novel, to be a work of art, must have proportion, as well as be honest. There were “picaresque” stories be- fore Fielding. Either, Richardson or Defoe probably more truly deserves the title of ‘father of the Knglish novel”; but it was Henry Flelding who first thought things in his story telling, and looked both forward and backward, in his plots, giving so much to such an incident, so much to another, blending the various parts to a more or less perfect whole. Co- hesion is the word. Fielding had it. To allow him to continue: “And these laws, my readers, whom I consider as my subjects, are bound to belleve in and to obey; with which that they may readily and cheerfully comply, 1 do hereby assure them that I shall principally regard their ease and advantage in all such insti- tutions: for I do not, like a ‘jure di- vino' tyrant, imagine that they are my slaves, or my commodity. “I am, indeed, set over them for their own good only. and was created for their use, and not they for mine. | Nor do I doubt, while I make their interest the great rule of my writings, they will unanimously coneur In sup- porting my dignity, and in rendering me all the honor I shall desire.” deserve or * % % % It may be seen from the foregoing what a radical doctrine in fiction Henry Fielding preached. So much of it has been adopted for so many years that some may regard it as common- place, but they will not do so after recalling that Flelding lived between 1707 and 1754. The novelist is created for the use of the reader, not the reader for the novelist. The main purpose of the | novelist is to interest, and to do this | he is permitted to juggle scenes and | time as he pleases. 1f he does these | things, Flelding suggested. his dignity | as a writer will be upheld by the dis- { criminating, and he shall receive all the honor he deserves or desire: The world has been according Field- ing that homor ever since. “Tom Jones” is universally given unstinting praise, and is “discovered” every year | by thousands of persons for them- selves. It does no good, after all, just | to hear that a story is a good one: if it is not good for you, what good is it—to you? Every year thousands of readers, dipping into ““Tom Jones” with trepi: dation, find in it much jolly fun and something of the nature of a cold bath, so positively elemental is it in language and manners. And something of the indifference | of its writer to the professional critic is acquired by the reader. ‘Reader, I think proper, before we proceed any further together, to acquaint thee that I Intend to digress, through this whole history, as often as I see occa- {sion, of which T.am myself a better Jjudge than any pitiful critic whatever; and here I nust desire all those critics to mind their own business, and not | to meddle with affairs.or works which no ways concern them: for till they produce the authority by which they | are constituted judges, 1 shall not ! plead to their jurisdiction.” In forbidding the use of the mails for transportation of small tirearms the Federal Government, in the opin- ion of the press, has taken a step in the right direction. While it is recog- nized that professional criminals will continue to get the tools of their trade without difficulty, any move toward limiting the circulation of pistols is welcomad, and it is pointed out that suppression of mail-order business will keep weapons out of the hands of {many boys and irresponsibles. Those who have been fighting the battle, according to the Detroft Free Press. “have been obliged to fight members of the body (Congress) who have among their constituents weapon manufacturers that are thriving by making and selling instruments of murder to assassins and do not want their business curtailed. And it was jonly by keeping on the job all the time and making strong, continuous efforts that the men working in the interest of public safety were able to get through even the legislation they have secured, and they did that by taking advantage of a strategic opening.” “There is growing opinion that such dangerous weapons should be kept out of the hands of all but an author- ized few.! Certainly they should not be obtainable merely for the asking and the price,” declares the Winston-Salem Sentinel, while the Springfield (Illinois) State Journal contends that ‘“the closing of the mails should be followed by the closing of other avenues, after which local laws governing the sale of pistols could be enforced.” = The Fort Worth Star-Telegram remarks that “gunmen will still Have no trouble in getting any kind of firearm they de- sire”; that “they are already plenti- fully ‘supplied, and always will be able to bootleg plstols in sufficient quantity for their purposes. The anti-mail-order law, however,” continues the Star- Telegram, “will very materially help keep pistols out of the hands of any and every voungster.” * X ¥ % “There will always be 4 market in according to the Arkansas where eapons may, be hought by persons who have just cause for buying them. But the day is passing when six-shooters can be {almost hawked about the streets like {hot tamales or peanuts.” The Adrian | Telegram points out that “Canada is ontemplating a much longer step in form of a_complete regulation of 1| weapons,” but that “in this coun- try the power of Congress in-much a matter is very limited, and action by all the 48 States would be pecessary before the subject could be completely dealt with.” The Texarkana Gazette, however, holds that “unless uniform State legislation can be obtained to correct this evil, the Federal Govern- ment will be obiiged to go the whole distanie and exercise Federal control over the entire firearms industry.” The Chicago Daily Tribune observes that “the professional crook is going to get his pistol legally or fllegallv, but the new law will help keep guns out of the hands of youths who glory {In the possession of & regular cowboy shooting iron. These romantic young- sters are not going to break any laws |to get & pistol,” adds the News, “and !the saving in accidental death and homicide will be considerable. Even more important, the law will help keep guns out of the hands of nitwits, for whom firearms seem to have a fascination that is fatal In the exact Feonsn of the word.” The Kalamazoo | { America, Democrat, l 3 | 1 damsels who' might Ay Wi d Barring of Guns From Mails Prfiise(! by Press of Nation | been acquired with sucl e h promptness * X ok % Calling the new law “merely a ges- ture in the general direction” toward the day when the carrying of weapons will be more thoroughly frowned SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2 Hwilllam THE LIBRARY TABLE By the Booklover. It is a safe social rule which pre- vents us from telling our friends our| . honest opinions of them. Otherwise, triendship might soon cease. Keepers of journals, or even line-a-day books. have a secure repository for such opinions, which must often serve help- fully to ward off complexes of sup- pression. If later fame causes such journals to be published, their revela. tions sometimes rise to the status of biography. The famous Cardinal de Retz, cleric and politician during the period of the minority of Louis X1 and the rule of Cardinal Mazarin, wrote memoirs, to which he confided not only his love intrigues and his quarrels with the great cardinal and the Duke d'Orleans, but also brief estimates of some of the prominent persons of the court. great opinion of the queen-motber. but wrote that she “had more of the plous intentién than of real plety, more ohstinacy than well grounded resolution, and a greater measure of incapacity than of all the rest.” * okek K He confided to his pages that Cardinal Mazarin was mean of birth, had a scandalous youth and “loved himself too well, which s natural to a sordid soul; and feared himself too little, the true characteristic of those that have no regard for their reputa- tion.” The Duke d'Orleans was sel down as a coward, with “all the good qualities requisite for a man of hon- or except courage.” The Prince -de Conde won the approval of the critical Cardinal de Retz, as a great general and as possessing “as pure a soul as any in the world.” Mme. de Chev- reuse, famous for her connection with the Duke of Buckingham, he de- scribed as a woman “whose vivacity supplied the want of judgment” and who found it impossible “‘to live with- out being in love with somebody * % % x The scorned fanaticlsms of one gen- eration have a way of hecoming the respected reforms of the next and finally are imbedded in our history as accepted social movements. The history of some of the later movements and of the moving spirits in such re- forms is contained in a serles of bio- graphical studies entitled ““Causes and Thelr Champions,” by M. A. De Wolfe Howe. The book deals with eight men. and women of recent times whose| names have been associated with the furtherance of some great causes. His- tory and biography are blended, since in each case the cause is presented as well as its champion. They include the Red Cross and Clara Barton: toler- ance in religion as embodied in Phillips Brooks; the long drive for temperance with the help of Frances F. Willard; the new uses for great wealth as ex- emplified by the Rockefellers; the American labor movement led by Sam- uel Gompers; woman suffrage and its Napoleon, Susan B. Anthony: the road up from slavery for Booker T. Wash- ington and his people; and world peace and Woodrow Wilson's fight for it. Each monograph is based on wide reading and succeeds in being sym- pathetic, accurate and popular. The Booklover's appreciation of the serv- ices of librarians to writets {s such that he delights at the author’s expres- sion of gratitude in his preface “for constant helpfulness from the librarian and staff of that blessed focus of teeming shelves and quiet alcoves, the Boston Athenaeum.” * X x k¥ The Atlantic Monthly articles of Z. Ripley, _professor of political economy at Harvard, have been incorporated in a book, “Main Street and Wall Street,” which should be helpful to investors who make no claim to unusual business acumen and who are not on the “inside.” The! book tells a great deal about methods of finance in use today. Unjustifiable practices are pointed out and attacked and constructive suggestions for im- provement are offered. Advice to the small investor forms one of the most valuable features of the book. Prof. Ripley belleves strongly in the neces- sity for full and frank financial State- ments by all corporations. * x ok % “One has, perhaps, to live in Wash- ington,” says Mary Badger Wilson in the foreword to her collection of short stories, “The Painted City.” “to find what a sallow city it is, peneath its painted cheek. A brief inspection will not discover the artifice. * But Mving in and with it, one learns that it is singularly bloodless, this paint- ed city. The life of its people is upon,” the San Bernardino Sun says: It 18 unlawful in every State to carry & concealed weapon, bit seldom do we hear that a potential murderer and robber is arrested. It ien’t easy to de- termine that a person is carrying a weapon.” The Flint Daily Journal agrees that “few gentlemen engaged in killing as a business have ever had much trouble in carrying the tools of their trade with them.” That paper also feels that “a good start has been made In restricting thé sale of arms,” but adds that “its ultimate value is yet to be demonstrated.” “The bill does not go into effect until 90 days have expired.” remarks the Detroit News under a satirical editorial, headed “More Hokum,” and the News continues: “Gunmen are natorfously thriftless, and will prob- ably make no effort to stock up during this period. Perhaps they figure there are various ways of getting weapons in e«pite of the act. They will find. however, that there is no way at all except automobile, airplane, ship, etc., or by purchase from a_ bona fide dealer.” The Waterbury Republican, on the other hand, affirms that at least “what the law will do will be to reduce the nuinber of pistols annually finding their way into the closets and top bureau drawers.” Filipino Work Changed By American Machines Alas for bucolic scenes and a pic- turesque countryside when the iron hand of American machinery touches them! Formerly abounding in the Philippines and still delighting the eye in remote reglons, they are disap- pearing year by year. This time of vear in earlier times they were most abundant, for it is harvest time, followed by thrashing. The native peasantry has just taken from the flelds a $100,000,000 rice crop. It is true that when this crop was being cut every fleld blazed with color and animation. There was the bronzed fleld, the burdened stalks bending to the ground 5o that every one had to be lifted up and cut with the sickle. The bundles then were bound by hand and placed in shocks' as in the United States. Then. on heavy wooden carts with solid wooden wheels turning on creak- ing axles, the bundles were hauled to the stack yards. This all kept the peasants busy, happy afd singing. Children, men and women in the fields together, every dexterous hand occupied, were gay in blg sun shades and garments rivaling *Joseph's envied coat, They sang the sagas of the race, they "courted and loved, they reveled at fiestas and danced and drank deep at_waeddings. Trye to their pagan instincts, they tipped each grain stack with the crosg—to be a totem against light- ning. But, with the harvegt, poetic scenes closed: American thrashing machin a ars trundled on to tho fields. seis at ihe stacks vne afier an i 1 did_the business i zeiting onit the k. in_short ordeil - pratieal. | L perniclously anemic. A cit> of em- ployes—no matter how high-sounding their titles may be. A city where nobody takes a chance. A city of fear.” Again, in one of the stories. “Cherry Blossoms,” the author save: “That was the meaning of the gray monotony she had lately come to realize in Washington life. Washing-| ton was a city of salaried men and| women. They walked in a sort of lockstep from one small promotion to another and they could never know the scarlet drama'of success or fail- ure. Beauty was thrown over the city like a silken coverlet, but when vou lifted the fringed edge, under- neath you would find patched sheets and a darned pillow slip!” Myra Davis, in “Cherry Blossoms,” who has come to Washington from a New Jersey industrial town to take a posl- tion as stenographer in a Government department. is the thinker of these gloomy thoughts about the beautiful “painted city.” She leaves Washing- ton to get out of the “lockstep” and goes back to the office of Bloomberg's shoe factory in New Jersey. Then, the author gives us a more cheerful view. Myra misses Washington. When the new sales manager at Bloomberg's, John Peterson, formerly Jan Petrow- ski, who is headed straight for busi- ness success, asks her to marry him. she says, “I am not going to.marry you, John. * * * | am going back to Washington * * * where there are ‘cherry blossoms in the Spring- time.” * Kok % Taking refuge from a life which has become disillusioning, even dis gusting, to him, in the occupation of a movie photographer, a modern Ital- fan finds there at least excitement if not soul satisfaction. The Italian is Seraflno Gubbio in Pirandello’s novel, “Shoot!” The dramatic climax, or catastrophe, of the story is an oc- casfon when Gubblo is to *shoot” a scene in which a real tiger Is to be killed. At the crucial moment, the hero, who is to kill the tiger, makes a mistake and kills the adventuress inatead. The paroled tiger takes ad- vantage of the situation and devours the hero. Gubbio sticks to his camera during all the proceedings. As might be expected, this film, so inadvertently original. is immensely successful and Gubbio finds himself rich—an outcome which probably helps to make his philosophy of life He had noj_g authority, the C. P. R., discusses the success of Canad of the World War upon land, and, when necessary, cash loans to develop their farms into | profitable enterprises. no severer test of agricultural possl- bilitles than that of placing men inex- perfenced upon wild land, with limited tools and 6, 1927. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Qi ;V_hen did Harry Greb die?— A. October 22, 1926, whils under- going an operation for an eye injury. Q. What breed of rabbit grows the largest in this country?—O. C. T. A. The gray Flemish glants are the largest rabbits bred by American fanciers. They attain their full de velopment at about 15 months, when the bucks should weigh 13 pounds or more and the does not less than 15 pounds. The adult does have the appendage known as ‘“dewlap” well developed. Q.What are the provisions of the act recently passed in England legiti- mating children born out of wedlock? . M. A. Until the beginning of this year no child born out of wedlock In Great Britain could be later legitimated by the marriage of the parents. On Jan- uary 1, 1927, an act came inio force making this possible, except in cases where elther parent was married to a third person at the time the child was born. Legitimation dates only from the time the act came into force, even though the marriage occurred eariler. Legitimated children are to have the same rights of inheritance as children born in wedlock, and they have the right to have their births registered. Q. Where was the first 'School of Journalism in the United States?— Ty A. Robert E. Lee established it at Washington and Lee University in 1869 Q. Who sald, divided we fall" s % A. The expression, ‘nited we stand, divided we fall,” was used in a poem entitled “The Flag of Our Unlon,” by George Pope Morris. The earliest use of the words in America was in_Dickinson's “Liberty #ong,"” first published in the Boston Gazette on the 18th of July, 1768. The thought expressed in the lines, however, is much older, and may be found in the early Roman poems. nited we stand, P. Q. How long has the Twentieth Century Limited been running?—J. R. A. The Twentleth Century Limited made its first trip to accommodate travel to the World's Columblan Ex- position at Chicago in 1893. It made its first record of 112.5 miles per hour in the same year. The engine making this record was No. 999. It is still in service. Q. Who invented skis? When was the first ski tournament held>—M. C'. A. The ski was invented by the Aryans in the sixth century traversing the vast plains of Central Asia. - The first ski tourney was held in Norway in 1879. = - Q. Was Dion Boucicault, sr. an author as well as an actor’—W. E. 8. A. Boucicault had written many plays before he appeared as an actor. His first play was produced before he was 19 years old, and he was 30 when he appeared behind the footlights. Q. How long have fingerprints been used as a means of identification?— D. A C. A. There is record of the use of fingerprints by the Chinese as early as 200 B.C. They employed an im- pression of the thumb as a signature for business and legal transactions. Q. What was the population of the ancient city of Athens>—A. G. R. A. At the height of Athens’ power as a city state the population was for | estimated to be between 300,000 and , 350,000. Q. Are there any Chiness Catholla bishops?—L. E. A. On October 28, 1926, Pius XI, in the presence of his court and of the diplomatic body, consecrated bishops six Chinese priests. Th were Chao, Soow, Cheng, Choo, Hoo and Tsoo. These were the first of that race to be elevated to the posi tion of bishop. Q. How can 1 get rid of soft snafls in a garden?—M. N. A. The best remedy for sualls is alr-slaked lime scattered about the garden. When this comes in contaot with the bodies of the snails they throw off so much slime that they be come weakened and die. Other reme. dies are soot, road dust and sifted wood ashes. . Why is thers to be a “Hearing week”?—N. L. A. The American Federation of Or- ganizations for the Hard of Hearing says that & national Hearing week is planned for the first week in May, in order to mold public opinion in re- gard to the problems of the deafened. Hearing devices and lipreading will’ be demonstrated, literature distributed and talks broadcust about prevention of deafness, conservation of hearing and rehabilitation of the deafened. Q. How long is the pontoon bridge | at Dardanelle, Ark.”—G. B. D. | A This bridge across the Arkansas River {s approximately one-half mlile long and 8 feet wide. It was bullt | about 1895 and is still in use. This is | & much longer pontoon bridge than the | one at Reads Landing, Minn. | @ Who are some of t Italian authors of today? A. Among the present-day writers of Italy are: Giosue Carducel, Glo- vanni Pascoli, Anne Vivanti, Papini. Ada Negri, Piranaeleo and Alfred Panzinl. | Q. Does the merchant marine of | Great Britain use coal for fuel exclu sively?—R. D. A." According to Brassey's Naval and Shipping Annual of 1926 only % per cent of the tonnage of the merchant marine of Great Britain de. pends entirelv on coal. Two thousand one hundred and forty-five vessels (in cluding auxiliary vessels) of 2,714,173 tons are fitted with internal combus tion engines. Q. 1Is it true that mosWof the paint ings that are considered the world's greatest have religious subjects’— IR € A $ A. Many of them do treat of events recorded in the Bible. ! Q. When did the firs i to this country?—F. K. | A. It is recorded that the first Ger man in America was Tyrker the Ger- man, noted in the Saga of Leif Eric son's expedition in the eleventh cen tury. There were several Germans among the settlers of Jamestown, also in the Massachusetts Bay colony. he leading -A. W. P. German come Have we had_the pleasure of serv- ing you through our Washington in- formation bureau? Can't we be of some help to you in your daily prob- lems? Our business is to furnish you with authoritative information, and we invite you to ask any question of fact in which you are interested. Send your inquiry to The Evening Ster In- formation Bureau. Frederic J. IHas- kin, director, Washington, D. €. In- close 2 cents in stamps for return postage. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL ¥ President Coolidge has vetoed the McNary-Haugen bill for farm aid. There is no problem of economics more mportant than that of food pro- duction. American agriculture has made serious demands upon the Gov. ernment for Federal financing, claim- ing that it is impossible for the farm- ers themselves to market their crops in an “orderly,” therefore profitable, manner. Whatever may be the mer&v of that controversial question, it is fh- teresting to note that similar problems have confronted our neighbors in Can- ada, with considerably less agitation for artificial government help. Even while American farmers—or at least their political guardians—are com- plaining of financial failure, the Ca- nadian Pacific Railroad published a survey of farm prosperity in Canada. and reports that “the agricultura' sit- uation in the Dominion could not be more encouraging.” * % ok A Making full allowances for the fact that the railroad company’s own in terests are enhanced by encouraging settlement along the s, whereby freight Is created, the bulletin issued by the company !s filled with statis- tics and other facts. which tend to prove the conclusions drawn that it is possible to be a farmer and be happy. Following the World War and the depression caused by lessening of the | strain to produce food for the unpro- ducing armies. Canada suffered as did America and many other countries. But the new bulietin adds: “The British market, due to the vei disturbeq condition of that countr: has been very uncertain and extrem Iy unsatisfactory in the past year from the point of view of the beef cattle pro ducer. There is every confidence, how- | ever, that this is a passing phase, and, with improving industrial condition there is every expectation that 1927 will make a better showing. “The - British Columbla appie situa tion has been, too, a little disturb- ing, due to the lack of satistactory | marketing organization. Recent co- | operation for this purpose, however, gives better prospects of success. * ¢ ¢ Canada now has had three fairly pros- perous successive vears in agriculture and it is generally conceded by farm- ers that conditions are about normal. The financial condition of the agricul- tural population is unquestionably bet- ter than it has been for many years. e s & Considerable new acreage is to be expected in 1927. accountable to | the substantial agricultural immigra- tion In 1926.” | | 1 | * ko Another bulletin issued by the same | in settling veterans ". CO.LLINS. into the national treasury, out of their farm operations, nearly $4,000,000 { Bankers now rate some of those sol- | diers who started eight or nine vears ago with practically nothing as worth | between $15,000 and $20,000—all made | from their farms. * o ok % Canadian farmers are always de- pendent upon the prices in the world market for practically all of their products. They produce 46 per oent as much grain as do the farmers of the United States, yet American farmers are often independent of for- eign demand for their products, find- ing ample tariff - protected home markets. For nearly a score of years, prior to the discussion of reciprocity with Canada on farm products, in 1911, not a bushel of Northwestern hard wheat—either as wheat or flour— had been exported, and while thas de- | bate was in ‘progress over the rect | procity pact the prevailing market | prico of grain of the same grades ranged 11 cents a bushel higher on the south of the international bound- ary thaa it did north of that imag inary line. because all of American hard wheat was used in the United States and was protected against Canadian competition by a tariff. Canada produces the same kind of grain This advantage to American rmers was attributable solely to the industries here, making a profitabie home roarket such as ‘anada lacked in the same propor to its farm production. Caneda, dependent rkets, now boasts of the prosperity of its agriculture and offers | @ striking object lesson In the suc of its 30,000 inexperienced former s in farming on what before the war was undeveloped land. And all that, in spite of climatio severity and shortage of rainfall in much of the agricultural regions. * ok % % While farmers have suffered from overproduction of certain crops, city consumers have seldom benefited by such abundance. Villagers, closer to | the farms, have been invited to. come out to orchards overburdened with ap- ples and other fruits for which there was no demand at profitable prices. and the visitors were invited to “help themselves.” Yet a pound of bread cost 5.6 cents in 1918 and 9.4 cents In 1926. A pound of pork chops cost 20.3 cents in 1913 and 37.2 in 1926. Potatoes are 122 per cent higher to the consumer than in 1913; corn meal, 70 per cent higher: butter, 49 per cent higher: eggs. 37 per cent higher: sir loin steak, 62 per cent higher; ham 104 per cent higher, and lamb, 115 per cent more. Climate remains the same, sofl fer aiding them “wit | ‘There can be in practical agriculture more cheerful. * " “The O. Henry Memorial Prize Stories of 192 chosen by bur Daniel Steele’s “Bubbles.” judges first chose Willa Cathi Mortal Enemy.” but Miss could not atories must volume, ed to Sherwood Anderson’s in the Woods. all be printed “‘Death best “short short story” was first of-| upon prairie for | Canada_under the laws of 1917 and and on his refusal [ 1919. More than 24,000 received loans was given to Albert Richard Wetjen | for the start, while 6,500 required no other | lonns ered to James Between Worlds, ranch Cabell ‘Thirteen in for “Command. stories are included amongy them “‘Stella Booth frarkington; by v Heaton -Nurse, “Thrice,; ft Widow of Hung Gow,’ by-Chfirles Caldwell Dobie. the volume, limited capital, and demanding that | Award | they make a living and pay back the | the | financial gdvances. Society of Arts and Sciences, has been | to have relleved the peon distress by published. The first-prize story is Wil- | confiscating The | the large land holdings, and dividing “My | the acres among the {liiterate peons Cather | with neither tools nor credit. The ex- permit reprinting, and prize | periment has been a failure, as it was in a|bound to be, The second prize was award-| capital, brains and brawn. But, ac- cording to the Canadian report, more The prize for the|than 30,000 former soldiers were placed Mexico professes (without compensation) for farming requires land in northwestern Last year there were tility just as rich, except that farmers are using less fertilizer, or at it paying less for what they use. FEven the much accused faulty middleman is no worse than he was before the war. Farm help costs more, but that does not affect the farmer who de- pends on his own labor. While the farmers accuse Congress and the other powers that have thelr local habitation in Washington '1!!! indifference to their farm prosperity. if speclal® legislation to give them Government aid be defeated, there is no region where the high cost of - ing has been greater than in the Capltal of the Nation. For example, compare the increase of food costs in vurlo‘g; clties between 1913 and December, 6: In Los Angeles the increased cost was 47.8 per cent, in Denver, & per cent; in Minneapolls, 56.7, and in Washington, D). C., 72.4 per cent. In 1926 food costs fell slightly in most parts of the country. while in Wash- ington the average cost rose. While agriculiure a_happy and pros. A wishing 970 mada partial puym nts a 4,541 made prepayments in advance of (with great fer their obligations. The soldicrs paid' 1927, is it not nat. ing onlans are saying or, “Me, tool” (Copyright. 1937. by Paul V. Colline) §