Evening Star Newspaper, December 18, 1928, Page 8

T [THE EVEN ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C TUESDAY.....December 18, 1928 i’xnononz W. NOYES. . ..Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 15t St Al enmavivanta A 3 an sylva) New York Office: 110 East +2nd St. ‘Chicazo Office: Tower Building. uropean Office; 14 Regent St., London. Englan Rate by Carrier Within the City. Tos Previne star 45¢ per month he Evening and Sunds (when 4 Sundays) 60c per month The Evening and Sundi (when § Sundays) The Sunday St Collection made at’ihe end o Orders may be sent in by mail ¢ Main 5 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. aily and Sunday 1yr. l;g %v 1 mo.. 85¢ E-u_v only yro 1 mo.. £0c unday only . 0c 1 yr. $400i 1 mo. 4 All Other States and Canada. ly and Sund: .1 yr..$12.00: 1 mo.. $1.00 g:”y g yr. $8.00: 1 moa 75¢ SBunday only . 1 yr., £5.00; 1 mo. 30c Star Star 65¢ per month ..5¢ per ccpy cach montn T telephone Member of the Associated Press. . to the paictes ted in this paper and also the local rews published herein. Al rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved —_— Bolivia's Grave Responsibility. ‘The world’s mind must travel back to the dread days of July, 1914, to find a parallel to the perilous situation now existent in the heart of South America. Austria was threatening Serbia with) condign punishment, while a terrified | Europe appealed almost frantically for & diplomatjc adjustment of their quar- rel. Austria rejected Europe’s advice end Armageddon was born. Two small states, Bolivia and Para- guay, today are at daggers drawn, while their sister republics of the Western Siemisphere stand pleading with them to sheathe their weapons and submit their dispute to friendly arbitration. Paraguay, in a spirit of international responsibility which will forever re- dound to her credit, has accepted the conciliatory offices of the Pan-American | Conference now in session at Washing- ton. ¥ Bolivia withholds her response to the conference’s peace overtures. Meantime a world filled with shuddering memories of fourteen years ago awaits a decision which, should it fall in the wrong di- rection, opens up for pan-America & prospect of truly immeasurable possi- bilities. Bolivia faces a grave responsibility. Undoubtedly she holds the issue of Peace or war in South America in the palm of her hand. She is a sovereign state. She can invade Paraguay, if she pleases, and take the consequences. Bolivia is the stronger of the two, and Serhaps might win the day on the fleld of battle. No victory in pan-American history $would have been more dearly bought. @it would have been purchased at the feost of flouting the counsel of Bolivia's gmmediate friends and neighbors, the | dition reached its crisis when the Wright A B C powers of South America, the whole of pan-America and the League of Nations. The price of victory—no matter whether Bolivia or Paraguay won it—would inevitably be the crea- tion of a new Tacna-Arica problem in South America. = The President and the Congress of Bolivia, to whom the Washington con- ference’s peace proposals have been submitted, cannot be blind to the myriad of results which would accrue drom their preference for bloodshed. “The verdict history will pass upon them is certain. It will be a verdict of con- demnation. It will fasten upon Bolivia the guilt for an unnecessary war at a moment when all the rest of South, Central and North America was en- gaged in a solemn, determined and promising endeavor to banish armed ‘conflict forever from the realm of inter- American relations. - Bolivia has traditional and indis- pensable friendships in the United States. She cannot afford to jeopardize them at this crucial moment by yleld- ing to any caprices of madness. Now and then smaller nations engage in warlike gestures which have their value in calling the attention of the world to how desirable peace really is. Community Chests. ‘The Community Chest system of rais- 4ng money by voluntary public contribu- tion for charity and welfare activities, ‘which soon will be given its first trial in ‘Washington, is well beyond the experi- mental stage. The National Capital is not trying something new. It is putting into effect a method of meeting the community’s social obligations which has been tested and proved sound in every part of the country. It does not, it is true, meet with equal success everywhere. A great deal de- ' pends on local circumstances. In De- troit a per capita contribution of ap- proximately five dollars secured against barely two dollars for Indianapolis. The forces to be overcome differ from city to city. The needs vary. Slight changes in the organization machinery must be made to fit local conditions. The fact remains, however, that wherever the system has been given a fair trial these results are recorded: More money is raised by the Com- munity Chest organization than was se- cured by the separate societies working independently. The cost of raising and disbursing this money is greatly reduced. It is expended more efficiently and produces better results. Money given for charity and public welfare may be considered in the na- ture of an investment in the future. The success of the investment depends largely on the soundness and efficiency of the concern which handles the money. In the hands of an inexperi- enced, unsupervised, inefficient organi- zation very little return can be ex- pected. The Community Chest system prac- tically guarantees the investment. Un- der responsible directorship it is pledged not to waste the money of which it is made the custodian. “Charity” is a golden word. But manifold are the crimes that have been committed in the name of charity. The American people are learning at Jast that much more can be accom- plished with less money simply by the application of business and scientific ‘YWM in this complicated B¢id. ture of the article. The other picture words.” - ¢ les: | less THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1928.° ING STAR l'l‘he Community Chest is the ouwomz'pomnys the traction companies 8s hav- ing generously made many concessions | of this realization. The experience of other cities shows that the full value of the Community Chest system becomes apparent only after sevéra! years of popular education, and that almost inevitably there is ¢ progressive increase in donations from year to year as the benefits are realized. Charity is the business of the whole community. There can be no hard-and- fgst sectarian or social lines drawn. A family of hungry children anywhere in Washington produces an effect which eventually extends to every class and every section of the city. A street waif in one section develops into the hold- up man who terrorizes another section years later. Since the whole community suffers from such conditions it is the duty of the whole community to pay for elim- | inating them. It is no# a duty which can be passed on to some small, velun- tary group and then forgotten. - The Wright Ceremonies. Air-minded America yesterday doubt- went - through a complexity of emotion when the entire world, figura- tively, gathered on a bleak, wind-swept waste at Kitty Hawk, N. C, to do honor to the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, who twenty-five years ago made man's first flight into the sky. Ever since that historic day when a| hatless Coast Guardsman burst into a rural tavern near Kitty Hawk with the enthusiastic declaration, “They've did it, they've did it! Danged if they ain't{ been and flew,” Wilbur and Orville Wright, the former now dead, but the latter modestly the recipient of inter- | national honors, have been acclaimed as the first humans to go aloft in heavier-than-air flight. The mixture | of emotions, however, with which | America viewed yesterday's impressive ceremonies at Kitty Hawk is due to the fact that while unequivocally the Wright brothers were the first to go aloft, their machine, the pride of this country today as it was twenty-five years ago and the symbol of America’s parenthood £nd sponsorship of aviation, rests in a British museum instead of on the soil of the United States, where it was conceived and where it began | to function to create a new era in the present-day civilization. ‘There is no one in this or any other country who will deny that the proper place for the first machine to fly suc- cessfully is in the United States. The controversy which has raged for years between Orville Wright, to whom the world gave felicitations yesterday, and the Smithsonian Institution, and which | finally sent the first plane to England, should never have been begun. With the Institution insisting that a label should be affixed to the Langley plane, which slightly antedated the Wright machine, that it was believed “capable” of flight, and Orville Wright contend- ing that the inscription was unfair to him and his brother, who actually made the first flight, the unhappy con- airplane was sent across the water. Unguestionably each side of the con- troversy has its supporters, but in view of the momentous event which was celebrated yesterday at Kitty Hawk the time would seem propitious to begin a movement to bring back the plane to this country. The first step in this direction should be taken by the Smith- sonian, which, regardless of the strength of its feeling that the Langley plane could fly, should make its peace with the inventor of the plane that dic fly. It is simply a case of fact and theory. It is a theory that if properly launched the Langley machine was capable of to the public in their merger agreement, and In a sweet spirit of self-sacrifice to have offered the limits of generosity and philan- thropy have been reached, and that if it is not accepted the public will live to | rue the day. naturally anxious to get the best bar-| gain they can out of the merger agree- | ment, and if the force of public opin- jon favoring unified operation helps their cause they are duly thankful. On the other hand, the traditional public antagonism to public service corpora- tions is such that suspicion of any and | all of their motives is almost second nature. The Senate subcommittee, in its role of judge, should be able to give Wash- ington a merger that is for the benefit of the public, and not the corporations, but that, at the same time, will guard against action which the courts might hold to be confiscation. Between the conflicting views on the merger there | is a sahe middle ground which rests| with the Scnate subcommittee to find. e Diphtheria Defeated. Medical science is striving with might and main to rid tha world of diphtheria. ‘There is no reason why this may not some day be accomplished; the im- munization devised for that purpose is declared to be practically sure—so effi- cacious that cighty-five per cent of in- fants treated with the toxin-antitoxin, which is both simple and harmless, are protected completely, with the resist- ance of others greatly increased. Once this protection is universal the small left-over percentage would probably die out of its own accord. ¥ Just one thing seems to stand be- tween present partial and ultimate com- plete success, and that is the procrasti- nation of parents or their ignorance of the existence of the metiod. All chil- dren after the ninth month of life are susceptible to this really terrible dis- ease. The health department of New York City has recently made a sound and sensible suggestion to the many doctors of the metropolis. They can, it advises them, do a distinct service by going at proper intervals over the stubs of their birth certificates; noting the name and address of every mother in the mater- nity cases under their care nine months previously, and dispatching to them a short note calling attention to the im- portance, not only to their families, but also to the community, of protecting their babies against the dreaded infec- tion. v g Some rather inconspicuous members of the League of Nations are behaving in a manner which would give them no reason for surprise if officials ‘corre- sponding to a board of governors were to call them up for discipline. s ‘Underworld motives have become so uncompromising in greed and revenge that an element of romance can seldom be assumed. The so-called “murder mystery” is as a rule not very mysteri- ous. ———— In selecting a route for a good will tour, President-elect Hoover selected a region where the spirit of good will, locally as well as internationally, can assert itself with the greatest benefit. e —e——— A New York drama is depicting infernal power as a matter of relentless mechanical destruction of idealism. The rallway and taxicab din cannot fall to have their art influence. flight. It is a fact that the Wright machine, which was properly launched, made the first ascent into the air car- rying a passenger. Mr. Wright un- doubtedly takes the position that it de- tracts from the prestige of his and his brother’s accomplishment to place their plane beside a ship which dropped into the Potomac River on its attempt to get into the air, and which did not actually fly until 1914, eleven years Ilater, after it had been thoroughly re- conditioned through the advanced knowledge of aeronautics that had been acquired by that time. It would indeed be a graceful move on the part of the Smithsonian and one that would be gratifying to millions of Americans if i would end once and for all the unfortunate bickering that has robbed this country of one of its cholcest treasures. e Another evidence of the popularity of King George is the fact that his public just now asks no greater service from him than to exercise the greatest pos- sible care with reference to his health. ————— In order to secure a perfectly quiet inauguration it would be necessary to silence the cheering of an enthusiastic public, which cannot be done. e The Battle of Briefs Begins. The Senate subcommittee studying the merger has wisely donned judicial robes and ordered the traction com- panies to submit briefs answering the attacks on their plan of agreement made by Dr. Milo R. Maltbie ‘and the Bureau of Efficiency. When those answers are available Dr. Maltbie and the bureau will doubtless be asked to submit re- buttal briefs, and the way will have been paved for oral argument. The sub- committee can then deliver its opinion after having given both sides full op- portunity to present their views of the controversial issues. By adopting this procedure the Sen- ate subcommittee has escaped the dan- ger that would lie in accepting without full consideration and the weighing of proofs the statements of Dr. Maltbie and others that the merger agree- ment is unsound. The value of criticism of the agreement will be strengthened by having its basis tested under argument. If the proceedings are expedited the Senate subcommittee should be able to settle the issue and outline a merger agreement that will be ratified before the end of the short session, thus giving Washington the benefits of unified operation. The discussion of the merger agree- ment so far has painted two pictures for the Senate committee’s examination. One shows the traction companies in the role of clever schemers offering a .o A number of things, it is agreed, ought to be kept out of politics; among them, th~ gang men. e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Not Judged by Appearances. I would not wear a fuzzy cap. I never favored whiskers white. 1 should not like to be a chap with the warning that | THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. One good habit that grows stronger with age is reading. Not all beneficial habits so increase as the years roll by. Both of these pictures, of course, are ' Some a man fain would keep with him | caricatures. The traction companies are | d vindle away, until they become lost in the mists of youth. The reading of good books, however is a habit which not only sticks b: cne, but actually grews in inter the years pass. since the mind assumes ever-increasing prestige as the incite- ments of younger days tend to fade. | Maturity gives added value to such | things. In one’s younger days books are accepted as part of the interesting panorama of . existence which spreads | before one, lit by the glow of dawn and the red of marvelous sunsets. Books, then, are things to be read lightly, if interesting, or to be left in well merited neglect if too high-brow for the occasion. Young people put no more stock in a book than in the Jatest dance record. . Past the age of 30. a man is likely to change his verdict. He will be inclined to put books in a separate category, to reserve an especial niche for them in his own mind as well as in his own home. The tunes of the moment—any mo- ment—are old next year, but the books of the undisputed great masters are always fine. The entertainment value of a good book rather increases with the years. Its perfume is everlasting. * ok kX There are some men and women who get and keep a fondness for books early, and thus need no later inducements to possess a home collection. The best public libraries cannot exactly fill the place of the home shelves. With the book lover the loaning rather supplementary. There are others who permit the love of books which was theirs in child- hood days to fade out as other interests crowd in upon them. Perhaps the dreamer instinct in them is submerged in the cruder flood of facts. Facts are all right, but dreams are fine, too. The greatest respecter of facts is the greatest dreamer. He knows that the intangible qualities of the one may and often do materfalize in the concrete possibliities of the latter. Those who lose the love of books may have it instilled into them by others. ‘This is why the giving of books as| Christmas gifts may do great good. A well chosen volume entering a home at Christmas, when the mind and heart are attuned to higher things, may work a beautiful revolution in the habits of the recipient. A good book may put a man or ‘woman back on the right track of read- ing and no one can say exactly who needs this salutary treatment, since in the matter of books the whole world is more or less a hypocrite. Books, as texts, are the foundation of education and universal schooling leads every one to do lip service to writing. Some men would resent the statement that they have forgotten how to read, but that is exactly the truth in the case of those who refuse to pick up a good story after dinner. A Christmas | book, in the right place, may work won- ders with such people. * Kk X ‘The beauty of book reading is that the fleld is so wide. If bookdom were all fiction, or all biography, or all science, or all statistical, much would be missing. The paucity of subjects would tend to satiate and disgust the average reader. The fact is that books are as inclu- libraries are upon every subject under the sun; there is & book for every mood; there is a book for happiness and a book for sadness. Childhood has its volumes, youth has its books, old agq has its peculiar tomes. Between these states are a million vari- fons, all mingling and intermingling. until & good book for a child becomes a good book for the old man who holds true to the heart of a child. A good book is one of the few things in the world which permit a man to| ke and have it, too. Perhaps the pristine savor of the mental fare may never be exactly the same again. Who can ever forget his first reading of “Pickwick Papers”? Or the keen in- terest with which he first read “Ben- Hur” or “Quo Vadis"? These first grand impressions, like the aroma of cakes just out of the oven, vanish with the years, just as the odor did with the passing hours. In the larger sense, however, one is just in saving that one may read a book and 1l have it. He actually possesses it, in a physical as well as a mental sense, after he has read it. In addition. there is another possession still remaining. It is that he | may reread it. If the time which has | passed has been sufficient the booklover } WIII find that his cake tastes almost as good as it ever did. * ok K % ‘There will always be those book cakes which, to paraphrase Shakespeare, time cannot wither nor custom stale. One of these is Charles Dickens’ great “Christmas Carol.” were delighted the other day to meet a gentleman who sald that the article upon “A Christ- mas Carol” which appeared in these columns several years ago is pasted in the front of his copy of Dickens' im- | mortal tale and that he invariably reads the article before he makes his annual reading of the story. This was a gracious (and most ap- preciated) compliment Inclusion in “A Christmas Carol,” whether by paste or other method, is an honor. Surely the “Carol” must stand as a supreme example of the ageless story, the book which is great despite physical small- ness. After the lengthier and heavier novels have passed away—if ever, which we doubt—"A Christmas Carol” will be read by the generations of man, Some- where in its make-up the novelist man- aged to incorporate immortality. How he did it, analysis will not discover. Dis- sect it as you may, the secret escapes you. It escaped even Dickens himself. He wrote a score of other Christmas stories, but not one of them begins to equal this masterpicce. It stands alone. There are other works in world lit- erature of like immortality, heavier or lighter, yet each undimmed by passing time. The crowning joy of the great habit of reading is to search out as many of them as one may before the time comes to leave the library of this life. He who imagined, in the mad pride of intellectuality, as Poe called it, that he had read all the great books, has discovered ere this that he had but begun on them. Every tongue has its great books. He who has knowledge of one only perhaps wilt forever miss some of the greatest. Intellectual curiosity brings more and more of them to him in translation. National pride deprives him of some, untlln‘na(uflty teaches him better. To dip info the good books of all libraries, as Lucretius’ bee did into the honey of antiquity, is to come into manhood in reading, that one great habit which | | | | sive as life itself. There is a book grows stronger with time. Demands for A Inquiry Into Although American and British in- quirles have disclosed much informa- tion about the sinking of the steamship Vestris, the press of this country feels that only a beginning has been made toward fully appreciating the lessons which should be learned from this appalling tragedy. “Do something about it,” urges the Albany Evening News, observing that Capt. Jessop, Ame-ican adviser in the New York investigation, “recommends that owners be compelled to provide full data on stability for every ship.” The News insists that “public interest must not lag. There must be insistence on every precaution to safeguard lives of ship passengers.” Quoting Capt. Jessop's assertion that “it is incomprehensible that so much | incompetence could be loaded into one boat,” the Milwaukee Journal calls it| “as scathing a criticism of British sea- | manship as has been made since Britain went down to the sea.” The Journal also refers to the inquiry ordered by the Department of Commerce, and adds, “It would seem that the record of the ‘Who guided reindeer through the night. Yet cap and whiskers and the rest ‘Win my unquestioning applause, ‘Though he is not by beauty blest, I'm very strong.for Santa Claus. ‘We love the soul that's good and true. And yet to fanciful display We turn in carelessness anew, Forgetting friends of yesterday. Despite his rugged homeliness, When Christmas comes again, pause In grateful candor to confess We're very strong for Santa Claus. we Variable Sentiments. “Do you resent the use of money in politics?” “Sometimes,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “A great deal depends on whether the person who uses it is a friend of mine.” Jud Tunkins says a man who wor- ships money never backslides in his chosen religion. Critical Summary. “That taxi narrowly missed you.” “Good driver,” commented Miss Cayenne, “but poor marksman.” A “Flu”-ent Wail. T'd not complain, if I were kicked By a gigantic pachyderm. But why, oh why, should I be licked, Quite unaware, by some small germ? Disappointing Mechanism. “How did you happen to be on the wrong side of the market?” “I overestimated myself as a pet of Fortune,” answered Mr. Dustin Stax, “and mistook the stock ticker for Santa Claus.” “A lofty mind is well,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. “It is not found in one who goes among his fel- low men carrying his head too high.” Variable Standards. My Radio! My Radio! You agitate the mind. ‘Too Rough your output seems'to grow, Or else you're too Refined. You push a jazzy dialect. Infinitives you split. And next you say that speech correct gold brick to the public in the form of a merger, for which they are anxious to receive a written receipt before the gilt wears off and exposes the true na- Alone should make a hit. | “A hoss race,” said Unclz Eben, “is | one way of setilin’ what might be a department should be thoroughly ‘in- spected’ itself in a congressional inquiry to learn how much incompetence has been loaded into the inspection bu- reau.” * oK K K “The British government, the Ameri- can Government, the owners of the Vestris and the people must feel that additional search for the utmost ob- tainable light upon a difficult but vitally important case should be renewed at once,” in the opinion of the Hartford Times, and the Little Rock Arkansas Democrat concludes that “what is needed now is a complete review of the testimony by neutral observers.” The Arkansas paper also says of the case: “The testimony showed that some per- son or persons were guilty of the gross- est of negligence. It showed that the Iiner was a helpless hulk within a com- paratively short time after it struck the storm area. It showed that what- ever inspection it may have undergone was pitifully inadequate. It showed that the ship was poorly officered and its crew untrained.” ‘The official report “confirms the ver- dict of public opinion and adds specific conclusions of appalling import,” avers the Binghamton Press, which recom- mends that “the United States Govern- ment and the other governments of the maritime nations of the world ought now to be interested in finding out how much competence is loaded into.other ships of the seven seas.” “Unquestionably new recommenda- tions for the safeguarding of life at sea will follow this disaster,” in the opinion of the Roanoke World-News. “The in- vestigations so far held do not explain why the * steamboat inspection service of ‘the United States Department of Commerce approved this ship and al- lowed it to sail from New York in un- seaworthy condition.” That paper holds that the blame falls jointly upon the | two nations. * ok ok X A phase which is emphasized by the Buffalo Evening News is thatt“on some | important points it appears that the; Vestris was not subject to either Ameri. can or British inspection,” and the News sees “the need for revision of the laws relating to inspection.” The call for greater radio protection of world shipping is made in several comments. The nearness of an Ameri- can freighter, the Montoso, to the sink- ing ship is mentioned by the Minne-' apolis Tribune, with the statement that the passing craft “might have lent in- valugble assistance to the Vestris had the Montoso carried wireless equipment, as it would have been compelled to do under British laws.” The Tribune con- tinues: *“The question is not one of American responsibility; it is merely a question whether the British provision 1s not more sensible and more conducive to marine efficiency than the American provision.” “The parliamentary body of every na- tion,” in the judgment of the Pittsburgh | Post-Gazette, “should enact such a law, | hard argument wifout po waste of since the service at sea is interna- tlonal. Wireless cannot do everything, ction Follow Vestris Tragedy but it can do much; and all who enter ocean-going vessels should demand that, along with the other features of pro- tection.” The Portland Oregonian also feels that “the incident again illus- trates the international character of marine procedure. Practical Britons having seen by experience that radio is important to all shipping and that pas- senger-carrying capacity is not the only criterion of ability, it is unfortunate, in the light of recent events, that their example had not been more widely followed.” LRI “The Senate can render a service by studying the inquiry report as a basis for corrective legislation,” advises the Indianapolis Star, while the Kansas City Journal-Post views some of the recommendations made by the experts as “obviously wise,” and states in de- tail: “One is that all seagoing vessels shall be equipped with wireless, and that sea connections shall be so located that they may be inspected at sea. In- spectors should see to it that lifeboats are water-tight. It is surprising that such a test is not already required * * * That the examination of offi- cers is inadequate and that there are not enough lifeboat drills to prepare the crews for emergencies are sad revela- tions. * * * One suggestion subject- ing a vessel to inspection, even if it has been inspected by another govern-' ment, puts safety above mere comity.” The Long Beach Press-Telegram feels that “it should be said, in fairness, that such carelessness and incompetence as developed in the Vestris disaster are exceedingly rare.” The Flint Daily Journal concludes that “it seems to re- quire a sea tragedy to wake the public up to providing further safety meas- ures.” ——— Fewer and Stronger Banks in U. S. Trend From the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The trend in American banking toward fewer and larger institutions is noted again in this year's annual report of the controller of the currency. The number of National banks decreased 125 in the past year in spite of an ad- dition of more than 100 through the creation of new banks and the reorgani- zation of State banks under the Na- tional banking act. Liquidations ac- count for a major part of the decrease. Consolidation was also a factor. But whether the decrease is due to the one or the other, the effect is the same, a smaller number of banks and larger average resources. Two years of operation under the amended National banking act permit- ting limited branch banking show a surprisingly small interest on the part of National banks in operating branches. It might have bheen inferred from the congressional debates on the McFadden bill that, once it had passed, National banks would engage in a broad branch- banking activity. According to the controller’s records, the 7,700-odd Na- tional banks in the United States oper- ate at the present time only 188 branches. of which about one-third are in New York. Another fact of interest to which at- tention is called by the Secretary of the Treasury and the controller is that most of the Government securities against which the National bank notes are issued will mature in 1930. That means the: National bank note will soon pass from circulation unless the note issue privilege is extended to other por- tlons of the public debt. The Treasury announces that no plans have been made to issue the notes in the smaller biils now being printed, because of the uncertainty as to their future. The records of the controller indi- cate that about 20 per cent of the Na- tional banks are no longer availing themselves of the circulation privilege, a fair indication that it is no longer an important source of profit. But that fact will not stand in the way of a 1 us fight against National bank ! note retirement when that proposal is offered, as it will be, in the next Con- gress, A o) NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM LG M. GHOND THE HUNTER. Dhan-Gopal Mukerji. Illustrated by Boris Artzy- basheff. E. P. Dutton & Co. LONG HORN: Leader of the Deer. Joseph Wharton Lippincott. The Penn Publishing Co. Hunters separate into two classes. One is out to kill. The other is out to know. The first s equipped with the | latest perfection of arms and ammuni- tion. Tt is, likewise, supported by in- genious devices of deception and decoy. At the licensed point of each year these hunters dash away upon an enterprise | Which, as between man and man, would | get the prompt “low-down” and the swift kick of dismissal. Right now, throughout the United States, more than 5,000,000 of these “sportsmen” are engaged, body and brain, in the heroic business of match- ing their prowess with that of rabbits and squirrels, duck and quail—with that of all the other small whatnot of unpro- tected wild life. Now and then a downed deer stamps the adventure as of clear | St. George-and-the-Dragon pattern. And there ‘is the fox! Perhaps no fairly familiar spectacle is more pitiable, on the man side of it, than the fox hunt. Meet, if you please, a dozen men, more or less; all on horseback, all very much dressed up, attended by a pack of hounds—horse and hound of surpassing beauty and intelligence. Off and away they go—that is, off and away, after several carefully prepared poses before the camera. Then, with a deal of | Wheeling and caracoling, the troop sets out, hoofs pounding and bright colors flashing in the sunlight. And what, pray, is this great emprise? Why, this great emprise is the pursuit of one little frightened fox, running for dear life over hill and field, through wayside screen and into every makeshift covert. Mighty hunters! Old Nimrod himself was, I fancy, much of the same kidney as t Little Jackie Horners, all!— "Oh, what a great boy am I!” * ok % % Now the other class. than the first. Much larger More mixed in strain, however. Not so firmly welded in com- position. Less united, therefore, in purpose and action. By and large, this second class is made up of men and women the world over who, through personal experience or believable hear- say, have wakened to a keen interest in animal life, to a respect for it—to the definite sense, if you will, of noblesse oblige. The courage of these hunted things compels tribute. For courage is courage, you know. Their subtle knowl- edge of the -human, friend or foe, be- comes an astonishment to the onlooker. Their ingenuities of defense and escape command admiration. In a word, the economy of wild life, the philosophy of existence, so to speak, developedp by it through a long and perilous past, tallies so closely with that of man him- self as to make the ties of true kin- ship both unmistakable and significant. Science has been the discoverer here. Science, made popular, has been the prime teacher. Through the work of these there has come to man a better sense of proportion, a truer corcept of all life. Many agencies have risen for the support and spread of this new vision. Organizations, societies, groups and individuals are fronting in friendly intent upon the facts of wild life, upon the problems that it posits. Students, artists, plain lovers of the woods and flelds, writers and story-tell- ers—these are contributing to the new education. Beautiful books are by hun- dreds inviting children of all ages to come to this new school of the woods. * ok Kk St. Francis of Assisl hundreds of years ago began a school of this sort. But his lessons lapsed and were for- gotten under man's passion of pursuit and death. * ok kK This year is a particularly rich one in books about the animal world. Love- ly books, inside and out. Out of these hundreds let's look at a couple, Where it would be clear delight to talk about them all. “Ghond the Hunter” comes from In- dia. “Long Horn" from a stretch of Virginia wocds. Ghond is a high-caste Indian boy who, when the proper age arrived, was initiated into the ancient and honorable career of “village hunt- er” A great ceremony this, religious in its spirit, whereby Ghond pledged himself—not to kill the jungle beasts, not wantonly, but to hold them to the jungle when otherwise hunger and thirst might drive them into ‘the vil- lages. Such pledge, carried out, pic- tures the relationship existing in India between man and the other animals. God made them all, so the East Indian says. The inhabitants, therefore, act in accordance with such belief. The book is a simple and beautiful recital by the same poet, Dhan Gopal, as made of “Gay-Neck,” the story of a pigeon, such a complete delight to readers everywhere. Both are the same in spirit. Both bring out the feeling of India for the animals of its do- main. “Ghond” is the bigger story, for it covers all the activities of village life, in a remote corner of the country not yet. disturbed by the tides of this modern day. If this book comes to you, be sure to read it aloud, for it sings, actually sings its way through the ad- ventures of Ghond the Hunter. In contrast to this tale of the East, “Long Horn" is clearly of our own pat- tern and locality. The story of a wise buck that, staryng as a mere baby, taught himself the wisdom of the- hunter and taught himself also an elaborate technic of evasion and escape. Through many adventures, every one of which you will read in suspense and fear, Long Horn makes his cautious and successful way through youth and on up to the responsibility of bringing up his family, as well as to the equally burdensome business of pretecting the herd of which he is the recognized leader. For long, for years in fact, Long Horn was pursued by a man and his dog, neither of whom seemed able to give up the conquest of so splendid a creature. There came a day when the gage of battle.was actually thrown. There they stood face to face—man and dog here, Long Horn ihere. They looked straight across «t one another. And then Tom Gibson slid his hand under the collar of Bismark—shaking in an ague of lust for the word to go. Then Tom and Bismark turned and walked away. Noblesse oblige! If you get these two books for Christ- mas—all you young folks up to 90 at least—you are going to be rich. If you get almost any of the great books about animals that this Christmas is producing—then you are equally lucky. I'm hoping—— * oK K K Friday night as I was reading The Evening Star I came upon this account of big-game hunting off in Asia, where princes and princelets appear to be doing their best to please great hunters from the Western World. This is a per- sonal account, all signed 'neverything: “Leopards abound—and for shoot- ing them at night an iron cage has been invented in which the sportsman sits. * * * A kid is tethered in the open about 30 yards in front of the cage and a pole with an electric light fixed upon it throws a light down upon the goat. * * * The cage is covered with green bushes to conceal the occupant, but a narrow slit is left open in front for a rifle barrel to be pushed through. As a rule, the frightened kid bleats steadily, but should it cease to do so, a whistle will bring up a man with a fresh one from 300 or 400 yards away. No leopard made its appearance in the night I sat up—but I remember shoot- ing a hyena and a wild boar in the glare of the motor headlights as I drove home.” Oh, most noble hunter! ——— They Can’t Dry the U. S. Dry. From the Nashville Banner. A dry leader says University of Vir- ginia students drink too much liquor, but falls to say how much he thinks would be about right. ‘This is a special department, devoted solely to the handling of queries. paper puts at your disposal the services of an extensive organization in Wash- ington to serve you in any capacity that relates to information. This serv- jce is free. Failure to make use of it| deprives you of benefits to which you are entitled. Your obligation is only 2 cents in coin or stamps, inclosed with your inquiry, for direct reply. Address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washing- ton, D. C. Q. How old is Helen Wills and how tall is she?—W. I. B. A. She was born October 6, 1905, so is 23 years old. She is 5 feet 7} inches tall. Q. Is it according to custom to have an Empress of Japan ascend the throne at the same time that the Emperor does?—N. E. K. A. The recent coronation was the only occasion upon which an Emperor and his consort have been enthroned at the same time. Q. In what direction does the Lean- ing Tower of Pisa lean—J. L. R. A. It is inclined at present about 13 feet 8 inches toward the south. Q. What nation first made paper out of wood?—D. W. S. A.- Paper was first manufactured from wood by the Japanese. Q. Does a battleship pitch with the firing of its guns?—H. W. A. The Navy Department says that all ships are so constructed on the de- signs of naval architects that they re- tain their stability in all conditions of rolling and pitching with the sea mo- tion and when all the guns are being fired. The recoll of the guns produces hardly any rolling effect on large ships. Q. In ancient days in Rome woman guests at a wedding cried out “Tallas- sio!” as the uride left for her.new home. What significance had this custom?— Ww. C. C. A. ‘allassio” is the name of a basket of wool. The cry was uttered to remind the bride of her domestic duties as the spinner of wool. Q. Will glycerin put into the radiator of an automobile keep the alcohol from evaporating?—O. E. J. A. The addition of glycerin will not keep alcohol from evaporating, but it will mix with the alcohol and will raise the boiling point somewhat. Q. When a ship sinks must the cap- tain go down with the ship even if he can be saved?—A. V. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. captain be the last onme to leave the ship in case of disaster at sea. 1If there is a chance of his being saved after those intrusted to his protection are rescued, it is considered perfectly proper. There is no rule that he should 80 down with the ship. Q. Please tell me something of the Hershey Community Center.—A. N. S. A. Milton S. Hershey recently gave $2,000,000 for the erection of & com- munity center for Hershey, Pa. The structure will be of Italian Renaissance design and six stories high. One of the features will be a theater with a seat- ing capacity of 2,500. There will be a public library, gymnasium, swimming pool, dining room and study halls. With this latest benefaction the town be- comes by far the richest community of its size in per capita wealth. Mr Hershey’s benefactions to his neighbors total at least $65 000. Q. What advantage h: over an airplane?—sS. W. A. One of the greatest advantages 1s that it does not depend on its engines for sustentation. If desired, the motors may be shut off entirely and the ship can be flown as a free balloon. as a dirigible G. Q. How many square feet of space must be allowed for each person in de- signing a theater auditorium?—A. H. F. A. According to the theater ordi- nance of the National Board of Fire Underwriter, a minimum of 3 square feet per person must be allowed in the designing of an auditorium. Q. Is there a good highway connect- ing Tampa and Miami?—M. M. A. The Tamiami Trail was opened to the public April 25, 1928. This highway is 300 miles in length and crosses the Everglades, a triumph in engineering. Q. Are any of the American pupils of Liszt still living?—N. N. A. James Madison Tracy, who was probably the last surviving American pupil of Franz Liszt, died recently in Denver at the age of 91. In 1900 he founded in Denver the Liszt School of Muste. Q. When was the first grandfather's clock made in America?—C. D. S. A. So far as we know, the earliest grandfather’s clock to be made in this country was manufactured by .David Rittenhouse in Philadelphia in 1767. Q. How many almonds are grown in this country?—P. A. T. A. California produces about 99 per cent of the domestic almonds, and this year’s crop is estimated at 27,000,000 pounds. The United States imports A. It is an unwritten law that the Truly, “thére are many men of many minds”"—upon the very important sub- ject of keeping the peace of the world. This is again demonstrated in the dis- cussions as to how war is to be stopped between Bolivia and Paraguay, and also what effect the ratifying of the Kellogg muitilateral peace pact will have upon adequate preparedness against possible {wein spite of the universal agreement to outlaw war as a national policy. * k ok % One of the controlling reasons set up against the ratification of the League of Nations pact was the fear of establishing a superpower which would dominate our independence and sover- eign integrity. Americans objected to being ruled from Geneva by a body Nevertheless, within the last few days an American colonel has stood in the spotlight through advocating that all the nations of the world which belong to the League should assign 10 per cent. of their flying forces to one grand army, based on Geneva anc¢ commanded by the League of Nations. The service of such an air force would be to compel obedience to the League’s commands. In short, the American colonel is not satisfled with American independence and American ideals of liberty and justice, but would substitute forced subordination to a for- eign power, a lyglot international “Tammany” which would be the great- est supergovernment since the Roman Empire. The proposal received promi- nent position on the pages of news- papers after thousands of words about the enthusiasm of League members had been cabled from Switzerland. * Xk x Somewhat parallel with the flying colonel’s idea of a winged army to en- force international peace was the action two years ago of a conference in Pitts- burgh recommending a world alliance to replace the present League. It pro- posed, by resolution, to “overthrow the institution of war, by outlawing it and making war a crime under the law of nations.” The "resolutions continued: “To this end, we urge that America take the lead and call an international conference for the purpose of adopting a universal treaty, in which the nations shall forswear their ancient right of g war, and shall agree to sub- Court of International Justice, and shall | provide a code of international law of peace, whose primary statute outlaws war and defines military aggression as a crime. With war outlawed, the court should be clothed with affirmative ju- tion over all disputes covered by the code or arising under treaties, and shall have the power to issue summons | to any nation to appear and answer the complaints of another nation.” Supergovernment “with teeth in it!” Yet no such code of international law exists, and courts are not expected to create laws. This plan, devised not in the halls of Congress nor the De- partment of State by diplomats trained in international intercourse, but by preachers and laymen idealists, also proposed to subordinate American inde- pendence and sovereignty to a court of law dominated by Old World influ- ences. If the International Court could summons a nation to its bar of justice, how long before it would be defiantly mocked in contempt of court, or before the court would be appealing to or commanding that League army of 10 per cent of all the flyers of all nations to enforce its decrees? What would be the result of national sovereignty? * k% % The will to 'outlaw war was not original with Foreign Minister Briand when_he proposed such a treaty with the United States, nor with Secretary Kellogg when he enlarged the plan to cover all the nations. Just so far, the same will was expressed in the Peacc] Conference at Pittsburgh. But when that conference of impracticable ideal- | ists undertook to specify means for en- forcing a foreign court’s orders in America, it got into water beyond its depth. b U A great New York daily argues edi- torially that the Briand proposal of peace between France and the United States was appropriate in itself, be- cause we have been traditional friends and have been at peace for more than 100 years. ‘That century of peace could not have been stretched very much longer, else it would have bumped into our first war after the Revolu- tion—1798. Our French spoliation claims are still alive. We also have been at peace for more than 100 years with every European nation except i about 18,000,000 pounds. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. Character”: “‘What means did you em- ploy?’ was the question asked of the wife of Concini, in regard to her treat- ment of Mary of Medici, and the answer was ‘Only that influence that every strong mind has over a weak one.’ Cannot Caesar in irons shuffic off the. irons and transfer them to Hippo or Thraso, the turnkey? Is an iron handcuff so immutable a bond? Suppose a slaver on the coast -|of Guinea should take aboard a gang of negroes, which should contain per- sons of the stamp of Toussaint L'Ouverture; or let us fancy he has under those masks a gang of Washing- | tons in chains. When they arrive in |Cuba, will the relative order of the ship's company be the same? Is there nothing but rope and iron?” No * Ity” carries reserve force beyond its llff:ll expression. * * % But the spirit of an agreement is its strength. According to Senator Bruce, who opposes this Kellogg treaty, there is but one gauwge by which to test its stremgth, just as the slave ships would test the handcuffs upon the hands of savages they captured. He measures the iron, not the brains or heart. The Senator pointed to the Bryan arbitration treaties and added: “Not only has the United States’ be- come a party to innumerable concilia- tion and arbitration pacts already, but it can truly be said that there is not one of them that was, or is, not in- vested with a practical value of which the Kellogg pact is totally devoid. They, at least, sought by specific conciliatory and arbitral processes which, within certain limits, are by no means in- effective to stay the uplifted hand of q{war. * * * The Kellogg pact contains no provision designed to give practical effect to its condemnation of recourse to war for the solution of international | controversies, its renunclation of war as an instrument of national policy, and its abjuration of all. settlements or solutions of international disputes or conflicts except by pacific means.” That is the condemning yardstick by which national good faith is measur- ed, in the estimate of the Senator from Maryland. Measured by a Bryan treaty which compels nations to agree in advance to compromise all disputes, the Kellogg treaty is found wanting. Just what was to happen to a nation which, in spite of a Bryan arbitration wagin, mit their disputes to the Permanent |treaty, refused to arbitrate or repudiat- ed the arbitral award, or set up & claim that the offense was not justiciable, and went to war on the plea of self-defense? What was the effective penalty of such a violation? When Soviet Russia refused to honor her national debts and schemed to act as an enemy of other nations, she was refused recog- nition by the other nations. Yet she has deflantly strutted as if she had been “unduly penalized.” Russia, how- ever, was first to sign and ratify the Kellogg pact in the hope that it might reinstate her good status among nations, not through penalties endured, but through good faith proved. * k k Senator Bruce declares that the Kel- logg treéaty contains no stipulated pen- alties, but its defenders ask: Does it not contain what is more - effective—the spirit of honor among mnations which lay claim to civilization and good faith? ‘St. Paul might have applied his dec- laration about the letter of the law and the spirit to modern affairs when he announced: “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held: that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the coldness of the |letter.” Practically all great international re- lations are based on honmor and good faith, not on armies threatening p tive expeditions. We do not collect our European debts with armed force. ‘There are some 60 nations which stand up in world- revival meeting, confess their sins of the past and pledge them- selves to avold such guilty practices hereafter. They reform and sign & pledge. They renounce war as a le: mate means of settling controver: just as a self-respecting householder abstains from brawling with his neigh- bors. The strength of the new ple is not in its literary composition nor its legal phraseology, but in its pledged spirit, say the defenders thereof—"not of the letter, but the spirit, for the let ter killéth, but the spirit giveth life.” For a pledged nation, after the new agreement goes into effect, declare the supporters, to violate its pledge wonld bring national ostracism—an excom= munication from the pale of civiliza- tion. Hitherto it has been of no greater disgrace than for an automobilist to be Spain and with all American nations except Mexico, which in 1846 we con- quered and then paid for her land which we took. Later we saved Mexico from a European usurper and asked no compensation therefor. So, after all, why limit the scope of the peace treaty to France? All American nations, in conference at Havana, adopted the same principle outlawing war. That includes Bolivia and Paraguay, which also are signa- tories to League Covenant. Quoting I | Emerson's “Essay on penalized for wrong parking, pay his fine and drive on. Even Germany counted the price, the penalty, of her invasion of Belgium—and found it prof- itable to her plans. Penalties are con- trasted with gains, but honor stands alone without offsetting mitigation. In the decade of the League, with all its threat of interference and its penalties, there have been 28 major wars which it failed to stop. “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts.” 5 (Copyricht, 1928, by Paul V. Colling.)