Evening Star Newspaper, December 20, 1928, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY. . .December 20, 1928 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor ngland. Rate by Carrier Within the City. e Erenine Star 4%¢ per month e Evening and 8 (when 4 Sundays 60c per month 65c per month The Evenins and Sunday Star (when 5 Sundays) . ... .. 5c per ecpy he end of each ronth. The Sunday Star . . Collection made at Orders may be sent in by mail cr telephone Main 5000 unday Star Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Datly and Sunday....1 yr. £1000; 1 Daily only 1yr. $6.00: 1 Bunday only 1 yr. $4.00; mo.. B3¢ mo.. £0c 1 mo.. 40c All Other States and Canada. Dally snd Bunda: Daily only Bunday only Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively (ntitled 1o the use for repub'ication of all rews dis- atches cradited to It or not otharwise crec- ted in this paper and also the local rews published herein Al rights of publication of special dispatcaes herein are also reserved. = Disarmament Proposals. Today's Geneva dispatches record that League of Nations officials are persuaded the United States will enter no objections to the convoking of the; preparatory disarmament commission next April. The League is on safe ground in iAdulging in such confidence. Any and every thing conducive to re- lieving an arms-burdened world of the cost of armament is assured of Amer- fcan support. From the United States’| standpoint—and, of course, from the| standpoint of other countries—all de- pends upon what is necessary and un- necessary armament. It would be desirable if League of | Nations terminology, and peace advo- cates generally, were to discard “dis-| armament” in favor of the more accu- rate phrase, “limitation of armament.” ‘The United States is not in favor of disarmament. It heartily favors limita- tion of armament. It took the initiative in bringing about limitation of naval ermament seven years ago. It attempt- ed to secure extended limitation in 1927. President Coolidge loses no opportunity to assure the world of this Govem-l ment’s desire, even in the face of fail- wure at Geneva, to persist in the en- deavor to arrest superfluoussnaval ex- pansion. The world at large, including the American people—and embracing in particular at this moment the United States Senate—should not ignore the! fact that in the same breath he espouses further naval limitation the President advocates adequate sea defense for America. The Coolidge doctrine, so wvigorously laid down on Armistice day, proclaimed preparation and limitation ms the twin planks in our national de- fense platform. They do not collide or cross purposes. They do not “nuwfy" our readiness to renounce war as an instrument of national policy. They mean, in plain English, that the United States is ready to limit her naval ar- mament at that point which guarantees mnational security. Beyond that point armmament becomes unnecessary and superfiuvous. Below that point it be-| oomes dangerous. i It is the Senate's duty to see that the danger point in the United States’ defensive establishment is not reached. ‘The Senate should approve the House bill to build fifteen ten-thopsand-ton cruisers and another aircraft carrier. Defeat of that program, which is an frreducible minimum, would mean that the United States is to be forced a step nearer the point at which national se- curity is imperiled. —————— It is unfortunate, in international relationships, that a declaration of peace is so much harder to formulate than a declaration of war. v Amanullah, Afghan King. Current dispatches from Delhi state that the merry monarch, Amanullah I, and his spouse, Queen Souriya, have had to take refuge in a fort because the army has turned against them. ‘The disaffection has spread to Kabul, the ancient capital, with a population of some 100,000 and seems largely, if not entirely, due to the King's drastic westernization program, added to which 1s the Queen's desire to abolish the seclusion of women. The Afghan legation at London de- clares this is all nonsense; that the Army is loyal; that the rebel attack has failed and that the King and Queen are residing in their palace as usual; that Kabul is perfectly quiet. A British plane flying over the capital is said to have spied the traced words, “We are well; do not attempt to lan ‘Wire- less communications between Delhi and Kabul have been at times completely interrupted, while travelers arriving in India announce the declaration of mar- tial law in the seat of Afghan govern- ment. The reader can pick out the item which best suits him and believe | in it, but that something ominous is going on seems to be beyond dispute. There is a tinge of the fable of the stork king in this drama far up in the foothills of the Hindu Kush. Amanullah | raised himself to the kingly status not | two years since and .in the meantime ‘what he has not done, or tried to do, is nobody’s business. He has toured Eu- Tope, bought himself Occidental clothing, interviewed many rulers and the Pope of Rome, unveiled his wife, established a representative form of government, reorganized the laws, insisted on western dress, issued edicts against graft, abolished polygamy and done many other interesting, if possibly ill-advised, things. Now his more or less wild sub- Jects, used for centuries to doing mostly eg “hey jiease, seem to be finding him a little too rich for their blood. Religious, civic and military forces have united in opposition to his drastic program and just at present he is on the inside looking out, with anything likely to happen. No doubt exists as to this King’s personal courage, however. When his officials declined to forego their tradi- tional perquisites, he punished them severely, high and low alike. It was whispered about Kabul that Amanullah was slated for assassination, together with an intimation that his successor would be one who would adhere to the ness and defeat. tions, ‘THE EVENING 8 TAR, guards and shut himself up, but went— in his motor car, by the way—unescort- ed to the capital, seat of the conspiracy, and drove around slowly, taking an especially iong time at places most favorable to his own demise. Not a hand was raised against him. At other deep grievances of his partially transformed subjects he has simply laughed, but now things are a little more serious and no one can prophesy how it will all’ come out. Amanullah understands perfectly the singular advantages Afghanistan can derive from its geographic position and | is applying himself to preparing his | country to reap them. He sees no | reason why the ancient route of migrat- | ing natfons, soldiers, pilgrims and mer- | chants should not become once more an important highway, the economic artery connecting China with the Mediterranean, Asia with Europe. He is set, first of all, on building good roads and plenty of them, and his | other reforms are explained and flluminated by this centra! jdea. He | wants his ultra-conservative and stub- | born people to “snap out of it.” With | the example of Peter the Great before him he may have gone just a little too speedily, for the Russians of that Tsar’s day were quite a different breed from the tough mountain people he governs. The period of enforced seclu- sion and safety may calm him down. After all, a modern monarch, where- soever situated, must both give and take, and it is hoped that this can | happen in Afghanistan without break- | ing the fine spirit either of the ruler or of his subjects. e The Opportunities. Most of the joy and happiness of | | Christmas time come from sharing the | good things of life with others. Follow- | Ing long-established custom, the Asso- clated Charities is again presenting Fourtcen Golden Opportunities to the citizens of Washington. The usual gen- erous response is expected. But the re- turns 5o far are rather disappointing. Have you read these opportunties? Sorrow or ill-fortune at Christmas takes on added poignancy, not always assuaged by material things. But ma- terial things soften the sting of bitter- | Sometimes they light | a candle in a window that otherwise would not shine on Christmas eve. ‘Those who know that their contribu- no matter how small, have helped to keep some candle burning, will find a greater joy in their own good fortune at Christmas time. Glance over the opportunities for good deeds which appear elsewhere in The Star today. Each carries its own appeal, though the pictures that are painted leave to the imagination the task of filling in the bleak backgrounds. ‘The opportunities presented by the Associated Charities are rare, in that they provide not merely the chance to make Christmas day a rezl occasion for thanksgiving. If there is the usual response, broken families will be kept together for a whole year; those who are ill will receive the care and treat- ment they need, and stronger founda- tions will be laid for young lives that. now are resting on the shifting sands of poverty. Select your opporunity! Life is short, and there are so few! SLNEC L SANGL The Lutheran College. The decision of the United Lutheran Church of America to erect in nearby | Maryland a two-million-dollar national colllge for women has once more strengthened the belief that the Na- tional Capital is destined to become the educational and cultural center as well as the governmental center of the | Nation. The new college, according to its sponsors, will be projected along the lines of Holyoke, Wellesley and Bryn Mawr. The site selected for its location is an 189-acre tract in the Washington Metropolitan Arez, near Wheaton and Silver Spring, Md. With the exception of Trinity College in Brookland, it will be the only exclusive women'’s college in ‘Washington or its environs. The Lutheran Churches of the Dis- trict have agreed to purchase the site, | and a fund-raising campaign for the one hundred thousand dollars needed is now underway. Nine of the Eastern Synods of the Lutheran Church have voted to co-operate in the founding of the institution and as soon as Washing- ton raises the one hundred thousand | dollars for the site they will launch campaigns for the building and en- dowment funds. It is hoped that the Washington cam- paign. not fail; leaders of the Lu- ther&hurch are confident that it will not, if support is forthcoming from the business men who have indorsed the project. i R R ‘Wall Street never permits a man to be sure of his profits or losses until the expert accountants are through with the ledgers. — e Divorce Statistics. Is the family breaking down as a social unit? ‘The 1927 marriage and divorce sta- tistics, just made public by the Census Bureau, reveal what many will regard as an alarming trend among the Amer- ican people. In a single year divorces increased six per cent. The number of marriages remained nearly station- ary. There was approximately one di- vorce for every ten marriages. The threat to the institution of the family is not immediate. This funda- mental grouping of human beings is bound, in the natural course of everts, to continue for many generations to come. There will not be a six per cent increase for many years in succession. The forces that mold the forms of hu- man relations do not operate as rapidiy as that. Nevertheless the significance of these unprejudiced statistics is un- mistakable. There has been a notabie loss in family stability. Now the long experience of the hu- man race has shown that the family unit is essential. It cannot be said that the progress of knowledge in the fields of biology, anthropology and sociology has in any way undermined the lesson of experience. If anything, science has added to the importance of the family unit. No substitute has been suggested for the family environment during childhood which has been able to withstand the testimony of direct observation. We may take it for granted that the family is worth saving and that it must be saved. , *good old customs.” When the King was warned he did not call :for his dicate that there are powerful forces argumenk” Nevertheless, the statistics seem to in- working toward its disintegration. Be- fore any sound policy can be outlined, it is necessary to know the source and nature of these forces. In this direc- tion, it must be admitted, very little progress has Licn made. Several investigations are under way. | Perhaps the most notable is that be- |ing conducted by the Federal Council of Churches. In addition, several churches are studying the problem within their own folds. An outstanding | example is the study being made by the | Episcopal Church, a preliminary report on which was made at the general con- vention in Washington two months ago. But these studies, to date, have done little more than reveal the extremely complicated nature of the problem. Plenty of persons have their own theories as to the cause of divorce in- crease. Some say it is due to a declin? in personal religion. Some blame tha phenomenon on the growth of cities, some on the political and econom: independence of women, some on an alleged national nervousness following the war, some on higher standards of education, some on changing fashions of dress, some on racial disintegration in the American melting pot. The list of reasons might be continued indef- initely. . Sober investigation has not upheld any of these explanations. Any one of them, given the proper circumstances, might be a contributing factor. The divoree figures constitute a warn- ing which cannot be disregarded. Th: are a challenge to the doctors of so- ciety to determine the cause. Some- thing is at work under the surface powerful enough to overcome the strong religious, social and civic taboos and systems of discipline which have been set up to guard the institution of the family. It is at work in all classes of society. It probably will continue’ to work until it is discovered and a remedy found. There is nothing to be gained by lamentation in the face of such a chal- lenge. It calls for work and study. ] A Guarantee of Character. Fifty-seven ~ Washington agencies some time next month will make a common appeal to the public for finan- cial support. They are engagad in character build- ing, caring for the sick, sheltering homeless. children, relieving family dis- | tress and numerous other lines of re- lief work. The fact that these fifty-seven agen- cies have been admitted to the Com- munity Chest organization is a guar- antee that they have produced results in the past and can produce them in the future. It is a guarantee that there is need for their work and that they are doing it with a reasonable degree of efficiency. They have no skeletons in their closets. Before they were admitt® to the Community Chest they were sub- Jected to searching scrutiny. This or- ganization stands in the position of a trustee representing the public. It is headed by a trained sociologist with professional knowledge, which enables him to detect any subterfuges at- tempted in the name of charity. The different organizations will con- tinue to work in their own flelds and with the methods which have proved effective in the past. The Community Chest plan allows even more leeway for individuality than was possible in the past. By removing financial worries from the organizations themselves it will enable them for the first time freely to work out their programs. —————————— Aeroplanes may drop TNT on a help- less city. What other aeroplanes may be doing at the same time is a matter for consideration. Flying craft are quickly made and permit no monopoly of the arts of destruction. et Fossils discovered in New Mexico lend support to the theory of evolution. For- tunately, a fossil has no power of speech which might contribute to an embittered and unrewarding discussion. oo Many theaters are closed In New York. Night clubs manage to- keep going. Theaters may have to be rebuilt to provide for waiters and refreshments. ————— As a leader of fashion, Vice President | Dawes has asserted limited influence. His “underslung pipe” personally unique. ————— Any average citizen's checkbook will testify that Santa Claus is no myth, ——————— SHOOTING STARS. has remained BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Scrub Pine. A scrub pine grew out in the field. Slight was the promise it revealed. He sighed, “I bring no blossoms fine. ‘What can a pine do, but repine?” This patient tree has found a place Where musie, lights and youthful grace Surround him with unstinted glee— For he is now a Christmas Tree. Might of Music. “Are you fond of music?” “Very,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I have been the prominent figure at many a political meeting that couldn’t have been a success without the brass band.” Jud Tunkins says there is no Santa Claus for the man who refuses to pinch-hit for an old saint so lovable and overworked. Unanimity. The world in frank agreement stands ( In many homes, through many lands, ‘Friend Santa Claus is still with us To claim a vote unanimous. “He who tells his troubles,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “gains feeble support from friends, while re- vealing points of weakness to enemies.” In Self-defense. “Do you think prohibition has re- strained the use of intoxicants?” “I do,” answered Uncle Bill Bottle- top. “A high-power rum-runner who cares anything about his life has sim- ply got to keep sober.” Monotony. My Radio! My Radio! I'm going to quit you cold. Though voices new their arts bestow, The tunes are always old. “T is losin’ my faith in moral persua- sion,” said Uncle Eben. “It seems like 'a gunman has de best of any sudden “The novel is outworn,” flatly de-| clared Matthew Josephson, author of | “Zola and His Time” in an interview in the New York World last week. “Biography, the transcription of human lives, is the unrivaled literary medium of the present day.” ‘Well, many people will not agree with ‘; you, Mr. Josephson. Despite the in-| crease in the number of popular biog- raphies pouring from the publishe presses, the novel is holding its owi pretty well, thank you! ‘What we object to, sir, in all the pow- | wow that has been made about biog- | raphy during the past half decade is| the naive belief on the part of the prac- | titioners that biography is something new under the sun. To read the blurbs on the jackets of some of the fat volumes playing up the lives of great, near-great and merely notorious persons, the unsuspecting might think that biography was never known before, that it never existed prior to these same fat volumes at $5 each, more or I The only thing that has happened to biography, always a standard divi- sion of letters, is that biographers have faken a plain tip from newspaper men. Biography has deftly turned to jour- nalism for a bit of “pep,” verve, human interest—call it what you will | A modern biographer “plays up” his | subject better than the old 1e bio- graphical writer did. He understands propaganda, its theory and practice, and applies it in the interest of his subject. If you will take any of the new popu- lar biographies, the chances are 10 to 1 that you will find that the author, instead of beginning with the birth of the hero, boldlv plunges into the very life of him. To aid him. he has the benefit of a profusion of interesting pic- tures, cte. In addition—and no doubt this is the great merit of modern biography- biographer tries his hest to see men,” to show the reader who he was, and why he acted as he did. If this results in “debunking” the hero, all the better. The writer pines to show the reader the “real man.” . 5 o0 ‘There is a great deal to be said in favor of this method. Readers do, in- deed, crave the “souls” of their heroes. If a biographer can show us the man's soul, he is & better biographer, every- thing taken into consideration, than | the writer who merely passes in review a series of well authenticated facts. ‘What irks one a bit is the evident be- lief on the part of most of the writers in “the unrivaled literary medium of the present day” that this style of bio- graphy is something entirely new. As a matter of fact, Plutarch some | 2,000 years ago specialized on miniature | biographies which were surprisingly “modern” in spirit and treatment. The novel had not yet been born, so it could not have been deemed “outworn” by him or any one eise. Plutarch’s bio- graphies were-—and are—full of “pep” simply because the old fellow was a gossipy. ‘garrulous man who was inter- ested in everything he could find out about his subjects, He wasn't satisfied with the battles alone: he had a moral- istic leaning which made him pry into the private affairs (love affairs, today of his Greek and Roman heroes. He wanted to discover the “souls” of his subjects. How well he succeeded is shown by the fact that his “Parallel Lives” are popular throughout the world hundreds of years after they were written. How many of the “modern” THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. |ing to do with him. So he printed biographies will be in print 2,000 years hence? L Elbert Hubbard of East Aurora, in his “Little Journeys to the Homes of | the Great and Near Great,” many years ago wrote small biographies in strictly modern form. Discriminating men (in- cluding Thomas A. Edison) greeted his work with applause, but the orthodox schools of literature (including the pub- | lishers of the same) would have noth- | (most exquisitely) his own works. The “Little Journeys” consist of short lives written in strict “journalese.” This was the one great point of criti- | cism against them. The fact seems to | be that they were in advance of their | day. Previously the “pep” of news- paperdom had been regarded as well enough for news stories, but somehow it was not thought good form to carry its snap over into book form. Hubbard took a great man, whether painter, sci- entist, business man, and made him first of all a human being. When he considered Kant, for instance, what in- terested him was that the German phi- losopher walked a certain number of miles every day along exactly the same | route. Maybe he failed to give the ex- | act scope of the man’s philosophy, but ! certainly he pictured the man very | well, indeed. As to the question of whether the | novel is outworn, perhaps that is best | left to time. Many readers will feel, at | least until time shall have demonstrated | otherwise, that the novel is doing very | well. There is still a great surge of novels from the presses. Month by month they come, some by older writers, some by newer ones, some the ambi- tious “first novels” of men and women unknown to literary fame. Literary forms have their heydays. It is problematical whether poetry will over regain with English-speaking peo- ples the prestige it once held. Perhaps the novel is doomed to second place, with biography assuming the first posi- tion. To say that biography is the “unrivaled medium of the present day,” however, scems to us & bit strong. Of | course, there is so much resemblance between a certain type of novel and a certain type of biography that one is ! almost the other, no matter which form is considered. Yet there will always be, we believe, a preference by many for fiction which makes no ¢'"ier pretense. Shakespeare said “the piay's the thing,” but among the majority of readers the story is the thing. Undoubtedly that was what Shakespeare meant. The swing of ac- tion, the development of plot, the sus-! pense of suspense, if one may put it that way, combined with uncertainty and doubt—these together constitute the appeal of the story. Exact definitions of “a novel” leave one cold, because the medium is so flexible and has been so variously han- dled, from the days of Fielding to those of Galsworthy, that every one realizes that definitions count for little. In an- cient Greece the people responded to the charm of poetry, but what really appealed to them was the narrative. As long as human beings are -human beings, they will love stories. The mod- ern biography (which so prides itself on being up-to-date) is simply the story of a man’s life told more inter- estingly—as a story—than it would have been, in all probability, by the staid biographer of half a century ago. That old man looked upon the methods of journalism askance. but since his days newspapers have established a pride in themselves and a writing tech~ nique which has 0 many merits that it is being quietly adopted by writers of books. What is best in modern biographies is journalistic. Instant and cordial approval has been given by the press to President Cool- idge's idea of a summer White House in the hills near Washington. As one paper puts it, “the suggestion surprises because it was not made sooner.” “A convincing point is that after seven years' experience the President thinks this most desirable, though for- merly with contrary mind, and Congress may wisely make the provision he sug- gests,” observes the St. Louis Globe-| Democrat. The Sioux Falls Argus- Leader adds from its own observation that, “appreciating the value of Cool- idge’s vacations in South Dakota and Wisconsin,” it feels that “this is a wise course, and one that should be con- tirued for the benefit of the Nation as a whole.” “There is a good opening for some member of Congress,” says the Charles- ton Evening Post, “to put the Presi- dent’s suggestion into the form of a bill authorizing the purchase of a site and the building of a retreat near Washington,” although that paper con- cedes that “the next President may want to go to California or Maine or Colorado for the Summer, or maybe to Porto Rico or “lawail.” * ok x k The Chicago Daily News sees “wise cconomy” in the suggestion, while the| Milwaukee Journal gives the indorse- | ment: “Mr. Hoover may feel some hesi- | tation about asking Congress to do thi There should be no need of his aski | Congress should take the lead. We've | talked a great deal, now let's do come- | thing.” The Rochester Times-Union be- lieves that “most Americans will con- sider the recommendation sotund,” and the Morgantown New Dominion de- clares that “Congress might well take action on this proposal at its present session as a recognition of the example that Mr. Coolidge has furnished to his successors in office on ways and means of keeping physically fit.” The charactef of such a vacation home interests the Roanoke World- News, which is impressed by the thought that “in the erection of such a mansion there is an_opportunity for a new study of the best America can produce in country house architecture,” as well as in “the laying out of the grounds ani gardens.” Modesty on the part of the President in his notion of what a Summer White House shoul'l be is seen by the Philadel- phia Evening Bulletin, and that paper is convinced that “Congress will be likely to develop larger ideas when it takes the matter up,” adding that “none should regard it as extravagance to provide the President of the United States with the comfort that men in private life enjov.”- ‘The Lexington Leader also feels that the country is “rich enough to afford another White House.” The President’s statement that “the public little understands the exacting duties of the mistress of the White House” is emphasized by the Newark Evening News, with the belief that “for her a home in the country would be just as great a relief as.for him." This phase also brings favorable com- ment from the Spokane Spokesman- Review. The Charleston Daily .Mail sees need of “the freedom of movement and of leisure so highly prized in the lives of less conspicuous citizens.” * K Kk “It may be believed that the idea of a Summer White House has been so generally approved,” according to the Schenectady Gazette, “that Congress will act soon. It will be a fitting con- clusion to Mr. Coolidge’s term and a proper beginning for Mr. Hoover to have the project formally launched now.” The Columbus Evening Dis- |patch urges that “the words of Calvin Coolidge should be heeded,” and the Detroit News that “the authorization sheuld come from the present brief ses- sion of the outgoing Congcess.” Its need is justified by the Mont- gomery Advertiser as relief from “a man-killing job,” while the Worcester Telegram would add other measures intended to “save the strenglh of Presi- Summer White House in Hills Given Approval as Real Need | tee him physical comfort.” | ever, dents for the largest affairs of state.” The Scranton Times believes that the proposed house would in ftself “expe- dite the business of-the Government.” The New York World concludes that “it is something that Presidents might actively work for, and especially retir- ing Presidents.” “A President’s health is of greatest importance,” remarks the Nashville Banner, with the further comment that “jt is the public's business to protect it in every possible way dand to'guaran- The Day- ton Daily News expresses the hope that “the President has merely articulated what is in the mind of our American:| public, and that provision will be made without unseemly delay.” * ok ok K “Mr. Coolidge is asking for Presidents| only what is enjoyed by thousands of private citizens,” says the New York Sun, and the Hartford Times proposes: “A practical recourse might, be that the| Government should purchase a consid- erable wild tract in the region, say, of Frederick, . Md., where elevations of more than a thousand feet can be found, and let the Presidents have there something equivalent to what the weary business man of the Northern cities likes to call his ‘shack.’ Yet™ suggests the Hartford paper, “if it is logic to move the President out of ‘Washington for the Summer, why not have a permanent Summer capital in an appropriate location clear out of the | sultry regions and be done with it?” The suggestion that it might not be advisable to restrict the President's Summer to one place is made by the Raleigh News and Observer, the Great Falls Tribune and the Harrisburg Tele- graph. The Uniontown Herald, how- sees no reason why the planj “would prevent long trips to distant| parts of the country at intervals.” The Jersey City Journal offers the prediction: “Now we shall probably have a little war—of propaganda—from the various States near Washington as to whose hills are the best for the presidential health. Shall it be Mary- land, or Delaware, or Virginia, or West Virginia? Probably it will be the one with the best known trout, since Hoover, too, likes fishing.” S e RO Have a False Alarm or Two? From the Florence, Ala., Herald. Firemen in the English town of Ling- field are disappointed. They got a new fire engine a year ago and the town hasn’t had a fire since. et 1 The Year's Best Discovery. From the Bellingham Herald. ‘There is one thing that even temper- amental Hollywood stage stars cannot ngfl into submission. Its nickname is brind o Page Mr. Hoover. From the Toledo Blade. There is talk of linking the two Americas. Maybe it could be done with chain stores. ot And Good Morning, at That. Fioh the Ottawa Journal. Parents are advised by am author never to neglect to say “Good night” to their children. After 3 a.m. it should be said in a whisper. e One Derby Race Ended. From the Nashville Banner. Just by way of snatching any pos- sible crumb of comfort, it may be point- ed out that a brown derby epidemic was obviated. o That Makes It Certain. Fzam the Seattle Daily Tim It appears certain that Mars is not inhabited. Any lady on being addressec as “the big-eared woman” certainly would have something to say in reply. Suggests Deferred Bolivian Appraisal To the Editor of The Star: The people, government and friends of Bolivia can with reason, and an ap- peal to fairness, ask our people, and the peoples of other countries, to_sus pend iu:hgment in the Bolivian-Para- s\mt);fln ispute until they know the acts. k¢ Bolivians are not a quarrelsome warlike people, as I know after a 10- year residence in their country. They are traditionally predisposed toward peace, and they krow the many ad- vantages that come from living in friend- | 1y relationship with one's neighbors. It | may be due to that tendency and policy that she has lost, or had taken from her in recent years nearly one-third of her territory. The present trouble with Paraguay grows out of a long-existing dispute over a large region—about 100,000 square miles, twice the size of the State of New York—in that part of Bolivia known as the Gran Chaco, which lies |in the extreme southeastern part of the country, the most remote sections from La Paz, the capital, and very sparsely populated. It borders on Paraguay, not far—almost just across the River Paraguay—from Asuncion, the capital, and easily accessible by water and land to the people and troops of that coun- try. It is one of the great reserve parts of Bolivia, possessing great possibilities in agriculture and oil, capable of sus- taining a population equal almost to the present total inhabitants of the country, and with excellent tide-water connection with the Atlantic. Because of its location and great distance from the populated part and cities of the country, it is very difficult to guard and protect that._particular corner. Situated as it fs, it Y5 not only exposed. but a positive temptation to a nearby territory-hungry nation. About’ 50 years ago Chile took from Bolivia her entire coastal territory, in- cluding the fine, rich province, port and city of Antofagasta, with its extensive rich nitrate deposif A few years later Brazil took a very large area from the northeastern part of the country, and more recently, in a boundary dispute settlement, Peru sliced off a large piece of the northwestern corner. For a long time Chile has been known to have a desire to possess the southwestern part of the country, including the province of Cruro, in which are found the prin- cipal and richest deposits of tin in that country, and from which she derives the greater part of her national revenue. Already Chile has shown her hand in that direction and conspicuously enough to put Bolivia unceasingly on her guard. With experience like that, it is but natural that Bolivia should view with apprehension and alarm the invasion of her territory by the armed force of a bordering nation; and she demands, as she has the right to do, and as we or any other rition would do, under the circumstances, respect for her frontiers and the territory within, In' due time Bolivia’s action and rights will be considered by either the League of Nations, to which, by reason of her being a member of it, she was obliged to submt the dispute, or other competent tribunal. and the decision she will await with confidence in its righteousness, and with assurance to { all nations that it will be respected and obeyed by her. HORACE G. KNOWLES, Former American Minister to Bolivia. et Billionaires Split On Thrift Problem From the New York Times. One of America’s two billionaire: Henry Ford, believes that the advi to all boys to save their money regu- larly is partly wrong. The other bil- lionaire, John D. Rockefeller, sr., be- lieves that the advice is entirely right. Any advice is apt to be partly wrong and partly right. But both Mr. Ford and Mr. Rockefeller are billionaires, and aspiring American youth may be pardoned for wondering which one to believe and follow. It is an old discussion raised by what Mr. Ford said to the newspaper men av Washington. His thought is that every boy, of whatever promise, should be told that he “will never get anywhere without work * * * but no sue- cessful boys ever saved money. They spent it as fast as they got it for things to improve themselves.” While his statement is too wholesale to be accurate—and Mr. Rockefeller confronts it with the facts of his own youth and the practice of his age—it may well be true that the boy destined to be great is rarely a thrifty boy in the savings bank sense. But it is equally true that many boys who never will amount to anything have the same in- disposition to save, and in their cases thrift would help. If there were some machine which would accurately register whether a boy was the sort who ought te save, then he could be notified that thrift maxims were off so far as he was concerned. The next hoy could be told that saving his dimes was the only way to keep himself free from crippling debt. But, in the absence of such a device, more people will agree with the advice of the oil billionaire than with the counsel of the motors billionaire. For it is still considered disciplinary for the young to refrain from buying everything they can. The subjects of wealth and thrift were luring to Francis Bacon, and he dis- coursed frequently upon them. He laid down such rules as these: “Certainly, if a man will keep but of even han his ordinary expenses ought to be bu to the half of his receipts; and if he think to wax rich, but to the third part”” The philosopher did not agres even with the Ford reservation, for, said he: “A man had need, if he be plentiful in some kind of expens be as saving again in some other. he had some inkling of what the De- troit manufacturer was driving at when he remarked that “it was truly observed by one, that himself came hardly to a little riches, and very easily to great riches. * * * The ways to enrich are many, and most of them foul. Par- simony is one of the best * * * yet it withholdeth men from works of liber- ality and charity.” The finest mind of the Elizabethan age is seen, from these extracts to agree in part and in principle with both our billionaires, leaning a bit to the Rocke- feller side. With all this testimony to choose from, the American youth must do the best he can. Expert Guessers Fail To Hit Stock Market From the Ottawa Journal. Financial experts, we are beginning to suspect, are in the same class as base_ball and foot ball and election prophets. When the war started, these experts assured us that it couldn't last over three months—the whole world financial structure would crash. In the language of the street, they were “all wet.” A few years ago the same experts were assuring us that there were too many automobiles; that the saturation point had been reached; that there was going to be a crash. Each year since then more automobiles have been made and bought and sold than before. And it is the same with the stock market. For a year now the experts have been telling us that stocks simply couldn’t go higher. If they did, said these money sharps, everything would topple down and there would be general disaster. Yet what has happened? What has happened is that stocks, although suf- fering on occasional setback, have kept on soaring. ‘Where it is all going to end, we do not know. More than_ that, it looks as though the financial experts don’t know, either. Some day something may happen that will enable them to say “We told you so”; but thus far they have been consistently and hopelessly and completely wrong. The whole thing suggests that there are things in modern economics and finance about which financial -experts can merely guess, and that a lot of the mysterious jargon they use is merely a cloak to keep us from thinking they are guess- or | Any reader can get the answer to any question by writing to our Informa- | tion Bureau in Washington, D. C. This loffer applies strictly to_information. The bureau cangot give advice on legal, | medical and financial matters. It does not attempt to settle domestic troubles I nor undertake exhaustive research on j any subject. Write your question plainly and briefly. Give full name and ad- |dress and inclose 2 cents in coin or ctamps for return postage. The Teply is sent direct to the inquirer. The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washing- | ton, D. C. | Q How many years has New York had an annual horse show?—S. D. | A. It is now in its forty-fifth year. This year six nations participated in the horse show at Madison Square Garden. { Q. How many railroads in the United States are now using electricity in op- eration?>—G. E. S. A. Nineteen railroads in this country have now been electrified to some ex- tent. Q. Does an airplane machine gun ever get out of time and hit the blade of the propeller?—C. E. W. A. There are cases recorded when this has happened. Q. Is there a single lost industrial art?—A. R. S. A. The tatues is a lost industrial art. Mar lustrate the use of this method. . How much money was paid out A. The total payments to policy- holders by 319 life insurance companies during 1927 were $1,500,000,000. The payments of 320 assessment and fra- ternal orders were $151,000,000. Q. Was a street in the capital of Czechoslovakia named for Hoover?— F. H. A. About five years ago a street in Prague was named in honor of Herbert Hoover. Q. When was the Needlework Guild of America organized?—A. M. M. A. It was organized in 1885 by a small group of women who recognized the great need for clothing in hospitals, homes and other charities. From this small beginning the work has been ex- tended so that branches now function in 40 States, the District of Columbia, Long Island and the Territory of Ha- wali. It has never changed its simple form of membership—the giving of two or more new garments or a sum of money. $ Q. How is “Cockburn” pronounced in England?—F. D. A. It is pronounced as if spelled “Co-burn.” Q Why is a form of comnbread called “johnny cake"?—G. R. A. In colonial times such bread was called journey cake or cakes, and was probably cooked for carrying on a jour- The Ameer of Afghanistan and his Queen are fugitives seeking safety from their rebellious subjects. They have hidden in a fort, where are soldiers whom they trust to be loyal, but whether their confidence is well placed remains to be proved. The offense which is charged against the royal ruler is that of undertaking to modernize the institutions and prac- tices of the Afghans beyond the com- prehension and approval of the con- servative tribal sentiment. For Ameer (King) Amanullah has visited Europe and seen the wonders of the West, and he forgets Kipling’s warning: “Oh, East is East and West is West, And never the twain shall meet.” King Amanullah has endeavored to compel their meeting, by royal decree. Hence his throne topples. His Queen has been so very radical as to influence him to make polygamy unlawful—as “outrageous” an act as it would be in American to decree the reverse, com- manding all good husbands to take on two or three extra wives. At least that progressiveness is ascribed as the main reason for the revolt, but there are more -sordid motives manifested also— such as a dispute with the Mohmand Trib2 over revenue matters, and an eager joining the revolt by other tribes bent on loot and rapine. An- other motive for revolt is said to be arrears in the pay of the army. How much Russian Bolshevism may have to do with it also may be surmised in the light of the fact that for a century there has been rivalry between Russia and Great Britain over the | buffer state of Afghanistan, which stands - between Russia in Asia and British India. A . The country which so suddenly steps into the limelight is a wild, mountain- ous region, 500 miles from north to south by 900 miles from east to west. It is peopled by 6,000,000, made up of 3,000.- 1000 Afghans and the rest Arabs, Jews, Kaffirs, Hazaras and Baluchis—unas- similated with the Afghans, yet con- stituting several minorities, unsym- pathetic with each other. The Af- | 8hans live in the country districts; the others largely occupy the cities, and engage in industry, which is despised by the higher ranks of Afghans as de- grading to a man. The chief city is the capital, Kabul, with a population of 180,000. This city marks the most eastern peneration of Alexander the Great, who here built a fort. R Whatever may be the motives of the rebels, they are not so interesting as are the characters of the fugitive King Europe has not ceased to gasp in astonishment at the recent tour of its principal countries by this Oriental monarch, attired in a sky-blue satin coat and crimson satin trousers, while he fingered his jeweled sword, ever by his side, and asked unending questions. He arrived first in Italy, where he was met by the King and later by Mus- solini. He visited Paris and London and Moscow. He was impressed by what he saw of Western civilization, al- though, could he have gone back a thousand years or farther—to the fifth and sixth centuries—he might have awed Europe with the superiority of Afghanistan progress over the benighted condition of the West. ‘When he left his kingdom for this trip it was his intention to circumnavi- gate the globe and visit America on his way, but state affairs brought his jour- ney to an end more abruptly, and so he returned home. Then his troubles really began. £ & as He declared the independence of his country from Great Britain, which for decades has been paying some $60,000 a year for the rvight of controlling Afghanistan’s foreign relations. ‘That declaration of independence at once depleted the income of the Afghanistan treasury and tended to in- crease local taxation. The tribes might have endured the increased costs of government, but when it came to adopt- ing the nonsensical custom of having only one wife per man, when anybody kncw that many men could afford three or four—so long as the women worked —why, that was going too far! Then, as if that were not enough, what did Queen Souriya propose but to abolish “purdah”—the practice of keep- ing women beyond a partition in all rooms where both sexes assembled. In America, we hear that the place of woman is in the home; in the Orient, ths accepted place for woman is not only in the home, but behind the “pur- dah.” Women should be heard, not seen, excepiuby their own husbands and B Address | use of diorite for carved | extant examples of Egyptian statues il- Q. by life insurance companies last year? | G Amanullah and of his Queen Souriya. | | conditions prevailing ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN. | ney. The word has become “johnny” as | 1t Tost its significance. | Q. Please give the given names of the women who will be in the next Con- | gress—R. G. T. A. They are Florence Kahn, Cali- | fornia; Edith Rogers, Massachusetts: Mary Norton, New Jersey; Katherine Langley, Kentuckv: Ruth McCormick, Illinois; Ruth Pratt, New York: Ruth Owen, Florida, and Fannie Oldfield, Arkansas. Q. How many junior leagues are there?—M. C. / A. In the Association of Junior | Leagues there are 104 junior leagues in various cities in the United States and Canada. Q. What percentage of our recruits for service in the World War was illiterate?—J. D. O. A. Of the whole Army about 25 per cent was illiterate. Q. What is a planetarium?—C.R. G A. 1t is an instrument which projects the heavens artificially upon a white dome. Fifteen are in use abroad, but the first in this country is to be in- Jed in Chicago with the purpose of ularizing and dramatizing astron- cmy. Q. How many bones are there in the hend, not counting the bones of the % B . There are 19. Q. What bulldings are Spanish archi- tects planning to copy?—B. S | A. The government of Spain has sent two architects to the United States for the purpose of studying our universities in connection with the pro- jected university town near Madrid. It is planned to model it after some of our universities. Q. What was the Rosctta stone?— . T. A. Winwood Reade says: “The Rosetta stone, that remarkable monu- ment which, with its inscriptions in Greek, in the Egyptian vernacular and in the sacred hieroglyphics, has afforded the means of deciphering the mysteri- ous language of the Nile, was a memo- rial of gratitude from the Egyptian priests to a Greek king, to whom in return for favors conferred they erected an image and a golden shrine.” Q. Why is honey incorporated in beadity preparations?>—H. D. A. Honey is considered a perfect food and is a quick feeding one. It is easily absorbed by the skin. Q. What proportion of the women employed in factories are foreign born? —R. A. A. According tc the 1920 census, one in five of all the women in the manu- facturing industries are foreign born. Q. How much raw meat should a cat be given for a meal?—R. D. ‘A. Four to eight ounces of raw meat |is'a good meal for a cat. Two meals a day of fresh raw beef and plenty of | clean, cold water will keep a cat at its | best. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. masters. So the self-respecting tribes- men protested against the Queen’s pro- posal for the indecent exposure of womankind—not their knees, but actu- ally their faces, with no powder on their noses and no rouge on their cheeks. That was going too far! It inecited righteous indignation and war through- out the mountain ranges. Unveiled and unshielded by purdah! What is the mod- ern world coming to? Women's knees will yet be visible in Kabul, as brazing- ly as in America! If his majesty, King Amanullah, had actually gone to America, there is not a man in Afghanistan who can conceive what “reforms” he might have brought home and tried out, to demoral society. Companionate marriages and State control of all children and wom- en’s clubs and women voting in political matters! Women might, even run for Congress or become preachers and law- yers!—or frequent the movies! The Queen’s name, Souriya, is so nearly Ilike a certain French word. “souriere,” that it makes one smile to hear what she has stirred up. But it is no laughing matter now. * ok kK 1t is quite probable that as the situa- tion in that buffer state becomes more fully reported, it will be found that these reforms attempted by the King are only the excuses of a Bolshevist- led uprising. It is alleged that the rebel army Is officered by Russians and that Bol- shevist propaganda has been actively circulated for some time. For nearly | a century possession of Afghanistan has | been a bone of contention between Rus- | sia and Great Britain, for it was un- questionably the hope of the Czar to gain that gateway into India, stir up rebellion against the British, and eventually drive the English ouf of | India, whether to be followed by Rus- sian control or merely to weaken the British prestige in the Far East. Since | the end of the Czar, Russia is said to have kept alive her ambition to control India, but Great Britain subsidized the buffer state, and through boundary commissions definitely settled all un- certainty as to where lines of demarca- tion lay. * koK K The Afghan air force is officered | wholly by Russians and the commercial | air lincs lead only to Soviet landing | places. | " There is not a mile of railroad in the couniry, and, owing to its extremely mountainous terrain, there probably | will never be railroads, now that ir | travel is developed. Caravans of camels |do all work of transporation on the | ground, with elephants for ceremonial | affairs, such as wedding processions and | royal parades. *x %k * X | While the present revolt in Afghan- istan might be counted as of little in- terest to us in the Far Wesi, the ef- fect in India which may grow out of it is likely to be serious. Said the Manchester Guardian, on the occasion of King Amanullah’s visit to England, last year: “Afghanistan is warlike; Alghan- stan is a hotbed of Mohammedan fanaticism; Afghanistan is independent of foreign control; Afghanistan enjoys swara (self-rule), though its form of government is not modeled on Western lines. The ruler of Afghanistan is not a constitutional monarch, as we un- derstand the term, but neither is he an irresponsible and all-powerful auto- crat. Evidently, Indian Mohammedans wili find food for thought in the ex- ample of Afghanistan. A knowledge of in the Indian states will save the elder Hindu poli- ticians from an excess of enthusiasm over this new model, but the younger men may begin to think of Indian Mus- solinis and Kemals. We can hardly blame them if they do. The process of modernization is not likely to prove | painless in Afghanistan any more than it has proved painless in China. Yet the young men of India must feel some shame that they are not free to share with their neighbors the pangs of a { rebirth.” i The meaning of the King's name, Amanullah, is “the Peace of God" but he is far from being a pacifist. He claims direct descent from Genghis Khan and Tamerlane. A correspond- ent from Rome, who saw his visit to Italy, described him ' as follows: “His indefatigable work at the tasks of government, his love of discipline, his hate of graft of all kinds, his will- ingness to run the government single- handed and his fierce desire to modern- ize the country, have won him the so- briquet of “the Mussolini of the East” (Fopyright. 1028, by Paul V. Collina) .