Evening Star Newspaper, February 18, 1928, Page 6

QMTHE EVENING STAR | With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D.C. SATURDAY...February 18, 1928 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: LU St and Pen ov Chicy Offce: Buropean ."‘Euum. it Carrier Within the City. e ererte Siar 452 Ber mavith 8¢ per month nasivanta Ave 70 East 42nd St. 63¢ pet month ... 3¢ per cops t the end Star made o in by mail or be sen as lection ers mar Main $000. Rate by Mail—P aryland and Virginia. 151, $900: 1 mo. A ch m t telephone of the rule, the offender could be brought before the bar of the Senate and dealt with accordingly. Senator Norris makes the point that the chances are slim for such legisla~ tion as is proposed by Senator Caraway, for the whole subject of lobbying is & difficult one upon which to legislate. Such considerations led to the attempt of Senator Walsh to get at the matter under the rules of the Senate. Despite the weak point of this proposed amend- ment to the rules—that it would be down no explicit penalties for viola- tion—it would be interesting to watch its disposition, It is a rather peculiar circumstance that leaves the Congress of the United States, and the people whom it repre- cerns the names, the strength and the | motives of interests willing to spend large amounts of money in agitating for or against legislation. Some of the 100 Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press 18 exciusivels eni ® use for republication of ail news ihe local news AN richte of publication hes e 2180 reserved. Surerteding the Substantive Law. In reporting the District of Colum- bi* appropriation bill to the House of Representatives the appropriations com- mittee of that bodv adheres to the lump-sum provision and sets forth its reesone for thus continuing to ignore ihe substantive law. which provides for a o n of District expenses on the sixty-forty basis of definite propor- tion. It declares that Congress, by its adoption of the lump-sum plan in 1825, “has definitely adopted the prin- ciple as the Federal policy to super- sede the former percentage of division of expenses” It bases its action on the assumption that the present rate of taxation. $1.70..in the District is lower than the tax rate in comparable cities and that under the definite ratio of sixty-forty it would fall to $1.20, far below that obtaining elsewhere. Inasmuch as the House has hereto- fore followed the recommendations of its appropriations committee in this matter. it will probably do so again and thus in all likelihood the bill will be passed with the lump-sum provision as the appropriative principle. It will then 80 to the Senate. which has throughout this process of “supersading” the sub- stantive law resisted the attempt to make the lump-sum provision either temporary or basic and has succeeded in preventing the inclusion of the word “hereafter.” which would effect the re- peal of the definite proportion pro- vision. It is confidently expected that th: Senate will pursue this course on the [present occasion and that it will support the contention of the District that the eost of municipal operation should be divided proportionately between the { States require the registration of those )| who seck to influence the Legislatures, % | but it is ridiculous to suppose that such | ] regulations can or do prevent the nefa- rious activities of the class of lobbyists against whom most complaint is direct- ed. For there is virtue as well as evil under the general head of “lobbying.” A man actuated by humanitarian mo- tives alone and who seeks to influence Congress to pass a bill for the compul- | sory feeding of bread crumbs to the | birds during s snowstorm is as much of 8 lobbyist as the clever fellow who is paid a high salary to work for the same legislation in behalf of the bread trust. But it is doubtful if any rule, or any law, would discourage either of them in the least or result in distinguishing between their mottves. With its highly developed inquisi- torial powers, it would seem that the Senate is already sufficiently equipped ' to hunt down and expose the dangerous | lobbles with which it is afflicted. It is to be doubted if any rule or law would materially assist & body of legislators whose plain duty now is ably to choose between the right and the wrong. the <i7in and the chaff. and whose respon- siveness to lobbyists should depend not | on the strength or guile of the lobby, but upon the intelligence and integrity of the legislators. ————— A Smokescreen. It is to be regretted that the subcom- | mittee of the House spparently con- sidered the argument of opponents to the Treadway bill for compulsory insur- ance for motorists in the District as impressive enough to cause it to defer consideration of the measure. The chief argument of those who. obviously for selfish reasons. opposed the enactment of a financial responsibility law for the District was that the large numbers of Virginia and Maryland motorists dafly n Washington would operate to nul- lify thé eflects of such & law, and that the District should wait until Maryland and Virginia were ready to enact a similar statute before taking action. This argument is but another smoke- Government and the Capital munici- pality. The District Commissioners, who have been heard but not heeded by the House committee, together with fepresentatives of organized Washing- ton. will again be heard by the Senate eommittee and it is hoped heeded by that body. Eventually this matter of the appro- priative basis for the maintenance of the District of Columbia must be de- termined in a more satisfactory man- mer than through conferences between the two houses and to & more satisfac- tory conclusion than by a compromise which ieaves the lump-sum provision in effect standing from year to year with- out repeal or amendment of the sub- stantive law. Already proposals have been made that instead of continying to ignore the substantive law, which war based fifty years ago upon thor- ough inquiry into the fiscal eguities and the tax-paying capacity of the Distriet property owners, and amended after another such inquiry, Congress should proceed to ascertain by exact investigation whether in fact the Dis- trict s rightly assessed and taxed in eomparison with other communities. The House committee on &ppropria- *. tions declares that it is. and the House fellows its eonclusion. The Senate com- mittee on appropriations and the Sen- ate believe that it is not, but the best they can do in practice is to hold the “supersession” of the substantive law o & year-by-year status Against this method of fiscal legisla- tion the District protests. It has not been granted itz “day in court” on this Question in the House, although in the eourse of the hearings on the appro- tian il officials and residents of the Ospiial community have been al- lowed 1n state their views of the equity of Nation-District relationship, but with the distinct understanding that their views would not prevail. Bhould the Senate thir year present & more @etermined front in this matter and in- ®s upon & fair, full eonsideration of the equities of Federal-District rela- tonsnip s more isierable situation would zesult S — The laborer iz worthy of his hire, but | vme stusents of the iaw 65 not o) o far as 1o ipxist that the allenist 15 aiweyt worthy of nis fes | “Tepriobbles sre siwaye with us and & the memory of the oldest man Con- grete nas been trying o do somelbing st them There have been many Investigations L% lnelr wetivities, and meny startiing Gscuveries, Lul e Job- | Digs remuin. Oue may sympathize with ient demands of Benslors ! Massachusells aud Carawsy ©f Arkenses for & regulsry orgenized prood e which would permit & thor- ougn srutiny of the sims snd sctivities ef tne many lobbyists who snnuslly ook v, Washington. But bowever de- irasie the ends 1 be gained, the effec- tienese of tne methods proposed re- Gy w | license plates. Screen thrown out to deprive the Dis- trict of what has been elsewhere char- acterized as “the greatest piece of motor legislation ever put on the statute 500ks.” The State of Massachusetts has been working for more than a year un- der a law similar to that which Repre- sentative Treadway is seeking for the District, and no difficulties whatever have been experienced in enforcing it because of alien tourists or commuters within its borders. Massachusetts is bounded by five States with a total population of some fourteen million. The District is bound- ed by two States with a total popula- tion of about four million. Of course, all the motorists of the five States sur- rounding Massachusetts do not regu- larly, or even periodically, drive within its borders, and by the same token neither do all of the motorists in Mary- land and Virginia come into Washing- ton. But it is apparent that with the tremendous annual Summer influx into Massachusetts from practically every State in the Union, and the potential drivers within its borders from the five surrounding States, Massachusetts has far more of a problem than Washington possibly could have with the exodus from the city in the Summer and the comparatively small population of ad- Jjoining States. The District for years has been struggling t maintain its independent motor rights against Maryland and Vir- ginia. The establishment of reciprocity with Maryland marked a successful termination of its controversies with that State, and the recent tag flurry with Virginia was amicably and satis- factorily settled in a manner that was gratifying to National Capital inde- pendence. It does not seem logical, therefore, to go back to the time when the District was at the beck and call of Maryland and Virginia and subservient %0 them in matters of automobile legis- lstion. It the theory of financial responsi- bility for every one who operates an sutomobile is correct, and the un- prejudiced minds of the country are supporters of this theory, then the Na- tional Capital should benefit by enact- ment of a law requiring mowrists to demonstrate responsibility for thelr own acts before they are allowed to buy It is earnestly to be nhoped, for this reason, that members of Congress who are considering the meas- ure will not be misled by seifish argu- ments which sre calculated to divert them from consideration of the demon- strated worth of legisiation that re- {places the careless, reckless end in- wivent muterist with the careful, cau- tivus snd finsnclally responsible auto- moblle driver. B Public information from day w day 16 more and more inclined W concen- trate on the fact that the jury is still out. - Do Sharks Bite? Van Campen Hellner, suthor, ichthy- mains in doust Benator Caraway has Wuroguced o bill W compel those seek- tng v, influence legislation o diaelose the namee of their employers, how much they are paid, how mueh they have for expenser ard what constitutes these “expenses ' Benstor Walsh has gone about gelting Information iIn an- other way. He proposes sn smendment 0 the Senate rules which would require Wobbylete 1o register with the Becretary ©f the Benate thelr rames, the names of their employers and the legislation in which they are interested. Senator ] ':l‘ belloves tiat in case of ’ { ologist and a fleld representative of the American Museum of Natural Mistory, is on his way o the Bahama lslands, where he will take some motion pic- tures of underses life. That is the main object of his trip. But it fades into in- significance as compared to Lhe popular interest surrounding one of his pro- posed experiments “on the side” the experiment bheing t swim, protected difficult of enforcement because it lays | only by & bathing sull, among sharks in order to test the swimmer's theory that s)l sharks are not dangerous, He believes that only the earcharodon, or violston white sisgk, Wi sUsgk A BUDOAD being. one that plays no THE EVENING Others, he thinks, bite ohly when bit- ten apd are, therefore, harmless, Hu- man beings usually refrain from biting sharks. Mr. Hellner's theory should not be hard to demonstrate. He will dive under the water, seek the company of sharks, and if he comes up he is right. If he does not come up he is wrong. A fair test, however, will depend upon the behavior of the white sharks, and Mr. Hellner has evidently determinéd to keep the white sharks out of it alto- gether. To co-operate, the white shark must also decide to keep out of the experiment. If a white shark bites Mr. Heilner it will be declared a foul and the experiment will be off. It is to be hoped that the white shark will live up to his reputation as a good sportsman sents, almost wholly in the dark as con- | 80d g0 off somewhere else while Mr. Hellner does his diving. Conducted as & sclentific test and to widen the human knowledge of sharks, the experiment will no doubt be val- uable and the experimenter should be acclaimed for his daring. But as to the effect of the test upon the popular at- titude regarding the shark, its value ay be discounted right now. The swimming public will be interested in watching whether Mr. Heilner comes up or stavs down. If he stays down every- body will stav, “I told you s0.” And if he comes up nobody is going to start a movement for & kinder and more tol- erant understanding of the shark. To Mr. Helilner there may be white sharks and other-sharks. But to the unscien- tific public. & shark is a shark. —ee—t Lindbergh should be permitted to make the trip over Europe on which he had set his heart. His difficulty in preserving an incognito would be serious. Wherever he attempted to land he would probably find a crowd with lunch baskets prepared for a picnic party. ——— Ben Franklin advocated thrift, but could not give advice that would pro- vide against the use of concentrated wealth in politics. Even a philosopher has his limitations. ——————— Expressions of admiration for Hoover have been so earnest as to prevent any suspicion that they were mere valen- tines. o A street car merger is represented by its promoters as a public benefit well worth the increase of fare that seems possible. e The old discussion goes on: Are wicked plays as bad as the audiences who support them? S ‘There is great art in the statesman- ship that can make liberal handshaking compensate for restraint of speech. o SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. When Lindy Quits Flying. When Lindy quits fiying, There'll be no denying That nature can somehow be changed We all may. stop eating, And cease our competing In games that are neatly arranged. When Lindy quits flying No more we'll be trying For laughter, or else for applause. Nobody will chatter About some grave matter That's vaguely described as Cause.” When Lindy quits flying ‘True love will be dying, And dancers will flee from the floor; | And nature that's normal, In moods free or formal, Will not be the same any more! Avoiding Further Controversy, “Do you believe that story about George Washington and the cherry tree?” “Implicitly,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “My constituents all admire it. Why should I raise a new issue?” ‘Wistfulness. He had a million dollars, And he’s getting many more. His simple breakfast is a woeful joke. And now he sadly hollers For those happy days of yore, When his appetite was fine, though he was broke. “The An ostrich is a silly bird who par- takes of the carelessness of human genius. She lays enormous eggs pro- miscuously, without any heed to the | large price they might bring per doz. Jud Tunkins says & woman can dress | more rapidly than a man. But she is not making the result look like a com- plete job, * Faint Expectation, “Hasn't that mint patch of yours excited suspicion?” “Not that I could notice,” said Uncle Blll Bottleto] “8o far, it has only aroused hope. “Words of wisdom,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “are o0 often de- pressing because they are expressions not of fortunate experience, but of re- morse.” Strap-Hanging the Expense! Prosperity is going some. ‘We point to it with proper pride. Upon the street car we may come ‘To pay & dollar for a ride. And then we'll ponder without mirth On what the outcome represents: Has 8 cents heen a dollar's worth? Or is & dollar just 8 cents? “A trifin' man,” sald Uncle Eben, “i8 more apt 1o beat de industrious an’ savin’ citizen in gettin’ 1o u place where e kin Jead de worklens life.” Miscalled. Fiom the New York Sun. Muyor ‘Thompson his one obvious comeback to 8ir Hugh Dennlson’s chat - acterization of him as “a fortultous blatherskite” He can deny that he s forwuitous. ) The Fiction Season. ¥ro) the Low Augeles Evening ¥ "Farents who forbid their ‘children to read fairy tales will have to be particu- larly on the watchout during this elec- tion year, ) Pushed Imnr It the Ouiland Tr has been hoth- ered by no one does not prevent him from wnnouncing that at the earnest solieitation of his many friends he has decided to run for office, - One Undiscriminating Law. 'Igfiuln W. or 15 about the only ‘mm STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1928. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. For the Boy Scouts’ sterling motto, “Do a good deed every day,” thelr elders might well substitute the follow= ing: Learn something new every day.” °| Perhaps it is too much to expect that the “grown-ups” can emulate their children in playing the good game of looking for a good deed. One must be trained in doing good, just as one must have the multiplica- tion table drilled into one, if it is to be of any practical use to one in later life. The Scouts are on the right trail. The mere statement of the Boy Scouts’ creed (of which this is but one portion) sets up the boys to the theory and practice of doing good to others. There are many barriers in the way of doing good in this world. Suspicion is an obstacle. Unworthy thoughts in the minds of others make a formidable barrfer. Pride offers itself in many cases as insurmountable. It is well, if the race is to look for good, that the children be trained to it, for countless older persons have been forced to give up the practice through lack of opvortunity. ok A good substitute, then, is this which calls for every onc to learn something new every day. It is not new advice, any more than the idea of doing a good deed to some one else is new. Its statement, however, perhaps may lead some into the practice of one of the most interesting games in the world, that of increasing one's knowl- edge. The beauty of this game lies in the | fact that the knowledge may be trivial, worthiess, or it may be of keen prac- tical value, something that may be utilized in that othar game of wresting | as many dollars from the world as pos- sible in the individual case. It makes no difference. One scores a point just the same, whether the fresh truth be little or big. The world is so large that there is never lack of something to learn, if one stops to realize the necessity or the pleasure of the learning. The trouble comes when a man of a certain age stops being interested in hearing something new. It is for this reason that many persons find them- selves in secret sympathy with the men of Athens, who, St. Paul said, did nothing but hear or talk of something new all day long. It is a safe bet that the Athenians of St. Paul's day had eager, vivid minds, ready to listen and ready to absorb, al- ways on the lookout for something they had not heard before. Certainly they listened to him. * x o* % This is a happy trait, perhaps the only antidote to the awful truth that | far too many persons stop learning any- thing after the age of 30 years, as the psychologists say. After delving through so many books and so many alleged and real facts, over a period of so many years, is it not rather disheartening that any one is willing to suffer himself to stop cold Just because he is able to do so? Suppose he has garnered from the world’s storehouse of facts just enough to enable him to make a living, to get along nicely, thank you— Well, is that any reason why he should sit content. in the midst of so many million facts? It may be said that no one does. The mere contacts of living, it is true, result in the assimilation of some- thing or other now and then. One cannot brecze around, or rub up against the world, without absorb- ing something. or rubbing off a few facts. * ok kK Yet it remains true (one may dare to believe) that by deliberately hold- ing in mind the idea that pne ought to learn something new every day, he will be able to accumulate a great deal more that is interesting, or useful, or both, in the course of a given number of years. ‘The victim of this pleasant form of mental penury may be riding down- town in a public vehicle with a com- panion. Every companion knows some- thing that one does not know. Every one knows a few facts that a com- panion does not know. A gasoline truck, one of the lumber- ing street leviathans so necessary in this automotiye age, goes past and down the street. “What is that chain hanging down In the back for?" idly inquires the man who belleves in acquisitions. He points to a slender steel chain | suspended beneath the rear of the vehicle—a chain just long enough to touch the ground. As the truck bowls on, the ch ain | clinks over the asphalt. Going over | cobblestones, it jumps from stone to | stone, curving, following faithfully, never losing its touch with the street for but a second at a time. What is it there for? “Why. that chain is carried to form | a path for electric currents that might | and swashing around of th> gasoline!" comes the reply “It prevents ex=| plosions.” | * ok ok One might go through life without | giving those dangling chains so much | as a single thought. Those chains play | no part whatever in the economy of the average person. No doubt untold thou- sands of persons have looked at such trucks without ever moticing those chains. Perhaps, in a similar manner, persons formerly looked at gypsy wagons without noticing the dogs run- ning along underneath. It is not the slightest bit of reflection | against any one. of course, that a series of links beneath a pot-bellied | truck falls to attract their attention. | But the fact remains (one may still dare to believe) that he who sees the chain and wonders about it to the ex- tent of finding out what it is there for is doing himself a service. ! He will not be able to go into soclety | with his newly acquired fact, and im- mediately become the center of attrac- | tion by reason of his knowledge. | Nor will he, if he happens to be a | young man, be enabled to thrill the | board of directors with his knowledge. | and thus be promoted to president of | | the firm, | Such things seem only to happen in | the advertising pages of the magazines! | | | He who inquires about his chain, ! | however, will inquire about other things. | | He will, by reason of this bent of ht {mind. find life interesting in all ft | aspects, not just some | dured. Boredom will thus recelve its greatest setback, and cennui play a losing game. | The man who secs and wants to know | | may not become president of his firm, | but one thing is certain: ! | _He will enjoy life as he goes along. | | He will find the waste places of daily living peopled with strange flowers of information, about which he will be one of the few to care or know. | Such a man, cne who believes in the | slogan of “Learn something new every | | day.” will become a connotsseur of facts, | And are not connolsseurs the happi | people in the world? | thing to be - Improvement Looked for fillder New Senate Immigration Bill General interest in proposed changes in the immigration law centers largely in provisions for quotas to be applied to persons coming from countries on this continent. Mexico and Canada, espe- cially, would be affected by the changes under the Watson bill in the Senate. “A constant source of unnecessary ir- ritation ~ with our good neighbor, Canada,” the Kalamazoo Gazette ex- plains, “is wiped out in the new bill, which would set the quota immigration from countries of the Western Hemi- sphere on a basis of 10 per cent of the nationals of each country who were resident here in 1890. This is estimated to give Canada a quota of something like 100,000, compared with non-quota admissions of 73.000, or a practical lifting of the restriction. On the other hand, however, the Mexican annual quota under the new law would be cut | down to something like 7,500 from the non-quota influx from that country last year of upward of 75,000. But to off-| set the Southwest's seasonal demand for labor from across the border, provision is made to admit for temporary resi- dence of not more than six months up t0 10,000 Mexicans, when In the opinfon of the Secretary of Labor workers of like kind cannot be obtained in the United States within reasonable dis- ! tance of the labor to be performed.” “Mexican immigration,” according to | the Providence Bulletin, “has increased by leaps and bounds in recent years. | From 15,000 in 1914 it swelled to 60,000 in 192 Last year it went on to the new high figure of 77.000. 13 years, it has multiplied itself by five. And the great bulk of this increase has come since the close of the war and the passage of the laws restricting immigra- | tion from overseas. While we have closed the front door, the back door has been left wide open.” * ok ox o Referring, however, to the fact that “many thoughtful members of Congress from the great Northeast are most solicitous about the Influx of Mexicans onto the vast areas of the Southwest,” the Fort Worth Record-Telegram states: “It 15 impossible to convince them that more damage has been done to law en- forcement, property and human life by | the allens, smuggled and legitimate, who have reached these shores via the At- lantic seaboard and the Great Lakes during the past two years than from the Mexicans who have ‘invaded' the SBouthwest since the Battle of San Jacinto. Mexicans are not ‘gangsters.’ There are no quasi-political organiza- tions In the Bouthwest which can or will utllize professional gunmen. ‘There 18 less lawlessness along the Rio Grande than there 15 on the most famous ‘Lake Front' in the world.” Comparing the Senate measure with Representative Albert Johnson's propo- sal for the "most drastie restriction of immigration,” the Brooklyn Dally Eagle says of the latter: *“The iden of applying the "2 per cent of 1890 residents’ quots to Mexicans and Canadlans has evoke Mity. Last year, 68,000 Mexi- me In to work for our farme Houthwest, ‘The average for sev- erul yeurs has been above 50,000, ‘The Johnson mensure would reduce this to 1,600, ‘The Watson bill would make it somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000, It 15 clulmed that, particularly in the suger beet industry, the Mexican peons are the only avallable source of field lahor.* “Deporting Britishers and permitting Canadians to enter freely,” observes the Grand Rapids Press, “has been rather an inconsistent procedure. The Watson bill would put them both on a quota basis, ‘That has the advantage of fatr- ness and the possible disadvantage of meonvenience, particularly if 1t is go- g to call for any type of passport traveling. Except thal this parsgraph will need eareful study, the Watson bill 15 one of unusually high practical merit."” e In praise of the Henate measure, the NP:Inllhld Republican declar cludes on equal terms the c the Weslorn Hemisphere in Lhe quoja increase of 300 per cent. | ‘Thus, in a span of but | i 4 | provisions'of the law, while actually ex- cluding Mexicans only; it combines the | present quota basis with the ‘national |origins’ basis, ‘retaining the best fea- tures of both': it meets the demands of | {agriculture and the development of | { public works in the Southwest for sea- sonal labor, and it minimizes the sepa- | ration of immigrant families.” | The New York Times also directs at- | ntion to the fact that the measure | ves preference in immigration quotas | to wives and dependent children of im- | migrants resident in this country who have declared citizenship intentions,” and suggests, “There is every reason why Congress should cure the defect in | | the immigration law which this reso- lution exposes.” | In an attack on illegal entries, the Mtilwaukee Journal advises that “per- baps it would help matters to adop fnother proposal which would make it |8 prison offense for an immigrant, once deported, again to land in this country, | There isn't much discouragement,” con- | |tnues the Journal, “in merely giving ' | those caught sneaking into the country | | free ride back to where they started | from.” Discussing the $6,000,000 avail- | able for enforcement, the Rock Island Argus suggests that “the leak in the | melting pot should be treated by the soldering iron of an ample financial ap- | propriation.” i The Worcester Gazette doesn't like | the idea of letting down the bars fur- | ther. “It 15 difficult to approve increas- ing the igmigration totals," savs this paper. we must compromise on a | patehed-ujd law, it ought to be possible |to do it without increasing admission | totals ! e = Probing Fire Insurance Rates. o the Hartford Conrant The Fall River conflagration was an ! untimely occurrence for the purpose of Gov. Fuller and Massachusetts legis- | Iators who are seeking an investigation | of fire insurance rates with w view, of | cburse, to bringing about a reduction. | While it was not of such magnitude as | to be of great importance fn ftself, it | points to the absurdity of basing con- | clusions s to falr fire fnsurance rates | on anything less than the record of a | eries of years. ‘To make | companies’ because they had a favors | able underwriting experience last year | s the part of neither wisdom nor fair-| ness. Yet that is what is being done | in_Massachusetts. There 15 really nothing new in what Massachusetts 1s attempting to do 15 the old story of muking i companles targets because they had a perlod of prosperity. In 19 for the first time in years, fire insur. ance companies generally made a proft on thelr underwriting. In many other had been obliged to look to tments for thelr profits. Last orms i their underwiiting instituted by the compantes and the favorable five record of the year enabled many to show u profit fn their busin of merely i the investiment business. But 1927 was one year and 1928 s another It may be very different t5 price fixing is bad at best, but If 1t 15 to be done, it should be done only after time has made it possible to do it intelligently - S methods themselve The Seeking Sisters, From the New York Evening Post Kansas, we note, has now invented & Cireek letter title for its leap year sorority—Clotta Getta Poppa vt He s That Sort, From the Columne Ohin State Jaurmal He 18 the kind of man, we said in! our bitterly intolerant way, who would get all worked up over the paramount importance of revising the calendar, 3 reatere . t Back Somehow. From the Ashievilie Fines . A Toant, ‘I “Uhe wood ofd days, the hoss and buggy didn't break down so far frum home. A be built up in the tank by the swishing | h | rageous woman THE LIBRARY TABLE By the Booklover That remarkable mediocrity, Frances Trollope, shares the honors with her more famous son in Michael Sadleii recent biography, “Anthony Trollope. She won for herself reprobation both in Amcrica and England by her bool “Domestic Manners of the Americans, but in view of the hardships of her life and her acute destitution at the time, one can hardly blame her for capitalizing her unfavorable impres- sions of the United States and its people. Married at 29 to a proud and pedantic lawyer, whose star had pre- destined him' to failure, she had seven children in_ rapid succession. Seven years after her marriage her husband, Speculating on expectations of property from an uncle, took, on a long lease, an expensive country place near Har- row, called Julians. Shortly the uncle, ,‘now an old gentleman of 60, marrie 'a_young wife and scttled to the be getting of a large family of childre and the Trollope expectations w shattered. Thomas Trollope succeed as little at farming as he had at law and was soon obliged to rent Julians and to move to a smaller farm in the neighborhood, Julians Hill. A third move three years later brought the family to “a wretched tumble-down farmhouse” at Harrow Weald. During this period of rapid decline in the fam- ily fortunes Mrs. Trollope had lost two of her children and was finding it very hard to provide an education for the remaining .five. Her husband, “worn by disappointment and persistent iil- health into a peevish invalid,” spent s time shut up alone in the one ade- quate room of the farmhouse, sur- rounded by his books, busy writing an mense ecclesiastical encyclopae- dia, “a book that no one wanted—a book that by death’s decree no one would posses; * %k ok In 1827 Frances Trollope, always the more energetic and resourceful as things grew worse, sailed for America with her triend, Frances Wright, an American- zed Englishwoman who was promot. of the Trollop cilia and Emil women. The swampy forest of Nashoba, 15 miles trom Memphis, where the ettlement was to be started, discour- aged Mrs, Troilope at sight and she fled to Cincinnati, where she and her chil- dren would soon have been reduced to the starvation poin? except for the con- tributions to their support of the French artist, Auguste Hervieu, who had joined the pa The nadir seemed reached, but other misfortunes were to come. Thomas Trollope, in England. by desperate efforts, raised a sum of money and came over to Cincinnati t join his wife and establish a bazaar to ell odds and ends to the barbarians of the New World. A grotesque “Graeco- Moresco-Gothic-Chinese looking build- ng” was erected, stocked with cutlery, d useful and usel kinds, and furni a fancy work hall. a museum and a panorama of London painted by Hervieu. Compiete and overwhelming failure followed and the building was, until its demolition in 1881, known as “Trollope’s Folly.” Mrs. Trollope was desperate and “in her tremity she turned to an idea h which two years ago she had played. the idea of writing a book.” ¥ wonder that “Domestic Manners of the America was cleverly satirical and somewhat {ll-natured? Clever satire was salable and Mrs. Trollope ba W America had not tended to make her ‘eel good-natured. Today we are inclined to be glad that Frances Trollope W able to pull her famiiy out of pover: even at the expens ’ The United States was strong enough to survive both her satire and later that of Dickens. The success of this book {ended her most acute financial difficul- | |ties. for it created a market for her | | which she continued to supply, with| poor novels, until she was 77 years oid. | Her troubles, howevér. were not ended. for in 1834 the balliffs occupied the Trollope home near Harrow and sol out all their belongings. The cou- then transported her whole family, with the exception of the oldest son, to Bruges, where living wi cheaper. Here she nursed through long last illnesses her son, Henry, and her husband. often sitting by the sick bed: all night long. “drugging herself awake with green tea, even with laudanum, and writing, writing desperately.” Short- 1y after her return to England in 1835, her daughter, Emily, also died. It is gratifying to know that from this time on her life ran a smoother course, with | freedom from financial worries and the | devotion of her remaining daughter and | ©f the Sen | two sons, until her death in her 84th/men year. . “A Comprehensive Guide to G iish,” by George Philip v prevailing errors are pointed out and corrected. It is & useful book for the desk or libra: ut rather too thick to be ¢ though it would be most hel minute ald to public speake: fect the impromptu metho calorful slang expressions ai sort of recognit: piker. “grouch, Sragr A “lounge-lizard," “cake-eater’ hound. The correct pn are given for many proper quently mispronounced, as ton, Caen, Ceeil, Spuyten Duyvild (New Y difficulty in this word), Arapahoe, Cholmonde! sky, Vosges, Greenwic! Capuchin. The spelli nam follow the United States Geograph the nunciation of " first “a” is given as long. not short. N The “back to the farm™ does not appeal to your cording to Ruth Suckow show in several novels th opposite movement is the youth today. City oppor young people as soon as they besin think on_their own accoun In T ow- and proper the of mities tempt to drive on | Bonney Family,” Miss Suckow bexins | all with the family of a pastor i & I o Towa town, which is really r the rich farming country surrounding it. She shows the forces which, one by one, take away the different mem- bers of the family to a city life, until only Sarah Bonney, the devoted eldest daughter, is left--with empty hands The need of something to do to use her abundant energy finally drives her forth also, awa country to the eity, with its blackened buildings and gas-tinted air. To many the most delighttul part of the book ts the tresh, peaceful yet stimulating. atmosphere of the lowa country, so well suggested by the author R ow ok The French eritie Michaud, formerly a prof n the of Californta, gives some {nteresting ostimates of present-day Ametican fies ton writers in this volume, “The Amert can Novel ‘Today: a Social and Psy chological Study™ The chapters were st delivered as lectures at the Sor- honne in 1926, and the volume received the Montyon prige of the French Acad- emy., ‘The Enghish translation is by the author. The cholce of novel WIiters representative of American trends of thought today is arguable Some of them are Theodore Dretser, Joseph Hergeshetmer, Waldo Frank, Floyd Dell, Zona Gale, Sinvlatr Lewis, Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, James Branch Cabell, Ben Heoht, Wil liam Carlos Willlams and Robert Me- Almon Rexis LRI Not very high peaks but very beau- | ttul ones ehavactenae the Adivandacks. In “Peaks and Peaple of (he Adiron- dacks,” by Russell M L. Carson, the small section of the Adivondacks, Essex and Franklin Counties, where ave over 40 poaks of @ hHelght of at least 4,000 feet, In described with considerable geo- graphical and geologioal detail Is it any | ¢ from her much-loved | University | he Adirondacks, sonal life that puzzles you? Is there something you want to know without delay? Submit your question to Frec: eric J. Haskin, Director of our Wash. ington Information Bureau. He is em- ployed to help you. Address your in- quiry to The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C., and Inclose 2 cen! in stamps for return postage. year for which statistics are compiled? —J. 8. F. liminary report of mortality statisties in Bureau, 6.4 per cent of all deaths were due to accidents. Some years ago w 1 | €stimated that 14,000,000 persons are | qp;, disabled each year for a shorter or! longer period.” | @. How low is the lowest spot in the United States and in the world?—D. H. A. The lowest spot in this country is in Death Valley, California. It is 276 feet below sea level. level. Q. What percentage of students work their way through college?—J. B. year by the Bureau of Education, only expenses. In 408 colleges and univer- 39 per cent of them paying all or part | of their expenses. In the co-educatio: al institutions, 44 per cent were pa: }ing their way: in the men’s colleg iper cent; in women's colleges, 1 cent. ‘pe Q. that will check the chest: S. E. G. |of the Department of Agriculture states . What is the origin of the hand salute of the soldier>—M. V. A. A. This salute is believed to have | close of tournaments and {inights, passing in revie throne of beauty. raised their mailed fists to shade their eye: 1 ed ‘The Senate committee on agriculture, ! has unanimousiy reported out for pa age the revised McNary-Haugen b for “relief of agriculture.” committee on agriculture, of which M: Haugen is chairman, has been holdirg | hearings on the measure and is get {ready to report the bill for passage {the House: it may be so reported o of committee within the next three four days. The revised bill to dodge most of the pitfalls which in. duced President Coolidge to veto it last vear. It does not eliminate. however, ! needed money, and her experiences in |the particular stumi hich the President found most objec- n—the requirement from ucers of a ce: a {w payment its “equalization President and Attorney General have !held to be unconstitutional. * % x % Sentiment regarding the measure is sharply divided. The supporters of the bill declare that it is necessary that the ! Government shall come to the rel agriculture, owing to the impos of such relief being achieved other way: even the many co-operaty | trol prices, and unless prices of the staple farm products can be stablh:cvd {and maintained on a profitable level. they argue, agriculture is doomed to ir {the Federa] Government shall set up a | board of 12 men. one from each district {of the present Farm lLand Banks. and | supply them with $400.000.000 working ‘apital. This board will be named the President, by an ate, according to the require- ts of the Constitution. In the bill | 1a | President was to be limited in to be preparcd and submitted by the Agricultural Assoc sentatives of the represent In addition to the permanent board. having power to control the surp there will be a council oo epresentative agr sts from Farm Land Bank . MAak: a council of 84 farmers or stockraiser | who will meet when called together b chairman of the board or the Se of Agriculture to advise will not repre provided I be selected geogra: much division of s feature. One argu lection on & commodit ure is not intended vance the selfish interests of the pa ticular producers of a cer the welfare of co ple generally is to example, cotton rai 1, but they do | prices’ are boosted | as cons that the geograp! | will make for broader bex Wiow i The crux of the who { Hes t the plan fo | beyond what the tinental United “wheat, cory as designated St year's revised bill. made to mee | tions of the Prestdent that §list was tgnoring more farm lleved,” the measure now “It is hereby declared o be | policy of Congress @ promote the | derly marketing of agric modities in tuiterstate commerce, and to that {the executions of the | s act. o provide for the contnal & | disposttion of surpluses of sueh com | modittes, 1o preserve advantageous do- estic markeds 1 chcommadities, to s from unduly de ssing the prices obtaed mmodities, to u waste i the marketing of sueh oome modities, and 0 further the orgay thon of producers of such commodtty Into co-operative associations.” LR While the preambdle atove quoted speaks I general of “farm tommodis ties" 1t 18 obvious that that can apply jonly to tmperishable commodities—not 10 fruits, eggs. dalry products, ete It 1 provided that the board shall estimate i advance of the marketing [ period what the proper price ought to be in the hame market. and what & the prospective surplus crop adbove do- mestle needs—the surplus which must todacco the Provisions 1 stary of each peak 13 tald s naming. s first ascent and anavdotes con neoted with 1t There are Whitetace, Marey, Melntyre, Gothios, Haystack. | A. The Metropolitan Life Insurance ' w-?’ Company says: “According to the prr-\ 1926 for the United States Death Rcz-‘ istration Area, published by the Census |, The lowest | spot in the world is said to be the Dead | gare of Sea_in Palestine, 1,290 feet below sea| on’ the A. Of 600 institutions surveved Tast | The drscmcparey sa 27 reported no students earning their | that the vaccine treatment of trees to) immunize them against chestnut blight | is still entirely in an experimental swga‘ | originated in feudal davs when a queen | {of love and beauty was chosen at the;dr The House | i | eope ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. What do you need to know? Is there, they were dazzied by the beauty of the some point about your business or per-|queen. Q. How many sermons did Bishop Asbury preach?—N. T. A. “The Prophet of the Long Road"” preached over 16,500 sermon: Q. Why did certain of the cld mas- ters divide their c: ses into squares? ts | —M. T. A. This proces3 was der to determine cOITe . How many fatal accidents were ' Some modern portr there in the United States in the last|same methods. How are Gr named?—A. K. A. The usual pr ding i a name in English. which aims, ideals or character of the ernity. This name d | Gre The initial Greel words that form » name is known only to lUn.- members of the organization. ] Q. Why is it said that CI born in the year 4 B.C. when |1s supposed to be reckoned fro: irth?—D. H. A. For many centuries the exact the birth’ of Christ was based calculations of Dionysius, a learned monk of Rome, of the century. Subsequent t however, demon: comparison of the his | Rome with the Scr i birth of Christ. Accor sities, the students earned $23,500,000, | oot OF CRTISE. Accotd a census or enumerat | territory of Herod, i the decree of Augus (in the author} Syria. This w: Has a vaccine been discovered the date of D: nut hl!ihz?—‘ A’ The Bureau of Plant Industry |ture, “The Big Parace’ Q. How long was A Q. Is “Old Doc Ross. acter in “The Lonesome Roa character™—T. D. A. Lucy Furman drew tl acter from life. Q. How is the V ssed from the floor wh It consisted I H. S. officer of the addressed from BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. £ exchange, a lecture |Of Which Senator McNary is chairman. ' States and at the “world m of the fixed price United States. The to be anticipated surpius abroad aganst the particular Tocessing. undertakes | bt e nh another veto in case the measure passes Cangress. * s x In his veto message last year Pre: dent Coolidge said: It contempiates that packers’ may o { be commissioned by the Government enough to create a near 3 & N arm associations are too small to con- n. H The proposal is made, therefore, that | . tobacco and oo d with the advice 3 session it was provided that the | cod | loction of members of the board o af Nary-Hau reNgRLes farm re! He would ne A lower prive th o0k hatd s seasu and mak MAIRSE are favorable o ordesly Roting * This woull pevent & tnmedt 3 e Nary Al BN revalviag SO0 00, € from the Federal Trewsury, R lad © s o holdug Dack the surs Pluses while they are fad out 1o foregn markets AL W lss, and 1o reimdutse the Quant, Noonmark, Hutricane and wany | ks of mutiers, packers aad otder others loved by a frequenters L Y of the | processaws, ACoRrTAd 1888 Pawl V. Coliee )