Evening Star Newspaper, December 27, 1928, Page 6

{THE EVENING STAR : With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C RSDAY. ..December 27, 1028 'HEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor Rate by Carrier Within the City. m Evening Star.............45¢ per month fThe Evening and Sunday Star 37 (when 4 ays) a0 DT month )i (when ) 65¢ per month The Sunday Star ... ..5¢c per ecpy ¢ Collection made at'{he end of each month Orders may be sent in by mail cr telephone Main 5000. Rate 57 Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. ily and Sund: 1 yr,$1000; 1 mo., 88c aily only . 1 yr, $600; 1 mo., c unday only 1¥r. $4.00; 1 mo., 40¢ All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunda: Daily only Bunday only Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively (ntitled %0 the use for republication of all raws dis- paickes credited to (¢ or not othorwise cred. ted in this paper and also the local rews published herein. Al rights of publication of Epecial dispatches herein are lso reserved. = A Home for the Supreme Court. Plans for a building for the Supreme «Court of the United States are finally to be drawn. Both the House and ; Senate have passed a bill providing for a commission to secure preliminary .plans and estimates “for a sultable building for’ the accommodation and i(‘xclush'c use” of the Supreme Court. wAlready a site, the square just north wof that on which the Library of Con- gress stands, has been procured, and an appropriation of two hundred and feixty-cight thousand dollars is to be carried in the next deficlency bill to ‘complete the purchase, for which five hundred thousand dollars was originally «provided. The need of a bullding for the Su- preme Court has been apparent for ‘years. The court has been housed in | the Capitol Building. Its quarters have theen narrow, without proper court- Toom or chambers for the justices of the court. While the Government has expended hundreds of millions of dol- lars rearing Federal buildings in every part of the country, it has neglected | the highest court in the land. This meglect provides in itself a commentary on the manner in which the public moneys are allocated. Where there are votes and where there are powerful Tepresentatives in Congress there the money goes. At present the Supreme Court sits in the old Senate chamber, discarded when the Senate moved in 1859 to the then new north wing of the Capitol. The court is crowded in between the Senate chamber and the rotunda of the Capi- tol. 'These quarters are neither ade- quate to meet the requirements of this great court mor do they become the dignity of the highest tribunal in the land. The Government has three major ! divisions, the legislative, the executive and the judicial branches. The Capitol is the home of the legislative branch, where the laws are made. The White House is the domicile of the Chief Executive of the country. But the Supreme Court, which is at the top of the judicial branch of the Govern- | ment, has no home of its cwn, no dis- tinctive building to which the people may go when they wish to see the third " great branch of Government at its work, which is the interpretation of the laws themselves. The new Supreme Court building should be & great monument to justice. | It should be an architectural master- | piece that can rightly be compared to the Capitol and the White House. The bill which has just passed provides for a commission to obtain preliminary | Plans and estimates. Chief Justice Taft jand another member of the court will ibe miembers. Representatives of the | Senate and House and the architect of | the Capitol make up the remainder of | the’ commission. The greatest artists iin the country, 1t is to be hoped, will be willing to undertake the task of ; making these plans. Certainly, when it | comes to cost, the Congress should | deal*liberally with the judicial branch of the Government. —_———————— President-elect Hoover has pursued | tha path of duty. His journey, so in- fluéntlal for good will, has compelled ! him to miss the charm of the Christ- ! mas season in Washington. ] New ideas of a great play imply !.something that holds an audience but cannot be closely described in polite company. The American Assocation. ‘Washington has a representation of several hundred at what is expected to prove the largest scientific gathering ever held in the world—the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which opens in New York today and continues through the week. There is every indi- cation that this gathering will be larger and more representative than the meet- ing of the same society in this city four years ago. . Approximately one hundred papers, out of the two thousand odd on the pro- gram, have been contributed by scien- tific workers connected with the Dé- partment of Agriculture. Most of these deal with a complex subject in which there is little popular interest, but which is of vital import to, mankind. This is the subject of plant diseases, _and it bas a very direct bearing on‘the food supply of the future. The plant world is as much subject to the ravages of epidemics as the anirsal world. New diseases continually are making their appearance to trouble the farmer and to threaten the stability of the agricul- ture of the future. A small group of workers in the Department. of Agricul- ture laboratories here, in the fleld sta- tions and In the State agricultural col- leges are holding the front lines against these ravages. 1t is difficult, however, to find much of public interest in blights and fungt which are striking at human welfare 80 large a proportion of the population engaged in research. The Government laboratories always have a large repre- sentation at these annual congresses of American science. - Papers more calculated to stir the public imagination will be contributed by staff workers of the Naval Observa- tory, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Geological Survey, the Bureau of Mines, the Carnegie Institution and the Smithsonian Institution. The annual meetings of the Ameri- can Association are important events in the history of each year. The quality of the papers is greatly varied. But there have been few such gatherings which have not been notable for the first announcement of some eonception sclentific progress. A Misguided Movement. Announcement is made that Wash- ington on January 8 is o be the scene of a national conference of protest against the cruiser bill. Like all Gaul, the conference will be divided into three parts. It will open with a forenoon of “general discussion,” continue with an afternoon of personal buttonholing of Senators and wind up with a banquet in the evening, at which “Senators heading the opposition to the cruiser bill” will hold forth. ‘The “citizens’ committee” which is engineering the forthcoming cruiser conference numbers among its members several hundred well known and well intentioned men and women. Church| leaders and spokeswomen of the fem- inist movement are conspicuous among them. The roster includes many names which have figured consistently in all the cotemporary drives against pre- paredness measures in Congress. There is no reason to challenge the good in- tent of these opponents of national de- fense. But there is every reason to question the wisdom of their procedure and the soundness of their political logic. The group, which is bent upon tor- pedoing the rational and reasonable ex- pansion of the Navy recommended by President Coolidge, Secretary Kellogg and Secretary Wilbur, bases its hostil- ity to the cruiser program on the alle~ gation that it “nullifies” the anti-war treaty. In that connection it is worth while pointing out to them, lest in thelrl zeal they overlook it, that the multilat- eral pact has one broad, underlying im- plication. That implication is the right of self-defense. ‘While renouncing war as an instru- ment of national policy, no signatory power abandons the right to defend itself against aggression. The right of self-defense is worthless without the power to exercise it. Thus viewed, the anti-war treaty and the cruiser bill, far from “nullifying” each other, supple- ment each other. It is sincerely hoped that the anti-cruiser conference 1 not adjourn without giving heed to this aspect of its commendable purpose to promote the cause of international peace. The choice presented to the American peo- ple, put in the simplest possible terms, is peace by preparedness, or inability to defend themselves because of under- preparedness. B Sentiment Versus Sense. The weather, like the poor, is always with us, If any reader of The Star can recall a finer spell of pre-Christmas and Christmas weather than that ob- taining in 1928 he is at liberty to write the date and description thereof and deposit it in the nearest trash recep- tacle. Bright, clear, cold, but not too cold; no snow or rain, sleet or even fog, the past seven or eight days and nights would seem to have been utterly perfect. Even the moon was just right. Sentimentalists are wont to deplore the lack of a “white Christmas,” such as is featured in one’s recollections, es- pecially those of a good many years gone by. These are exceedingly pretty on a Christmas card, or even in actu- ality, for those who have nothing bet- ter to do than bundle up and trudge around in the snow and ice, admiring the appealing effect of lights glimmer- ing over the whiteness. Such are also very nice for the youthful coaster, skater, ski devotee and snowballer, but the good aspects of such a climatic favor as Washington has just enjoyed porary, deprivations, ‘The yuletide season, with all its or discovery of the first importance in | far outweigh the adverse, or any tem- | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. ©. capital, In few cities in the world is| damental rules of the foad and con-| gests traffic. The Hoover conference on street and highway safety in its uniform vehicle code prescribes the in- side turn as the only acceptable ma- neuver, and, consequently, if ‘the Wash- ington authorities are right, the ex- perts from all parts of the country which compose the organization for safety are wrong, which would hardly sesm to be a reasonable conclusion. ‘The outside turn is made in two sec- tions. The inside turn, in heavy traffic, is likewise made in two sections, but frequently it can be made in one con- tinuous operation, which facilitates traffic movement. The outside turn clogs street space and prevents, on nar- row thoroughfares, the innocuous right- hand turn. The inside turn, on the other hand, leaves street space clear not only for through traffic, but for the right-hand maneuver. One of the greatest objections, how- ever, to the outside turn is that it forces motorists to make two entirely different types of turns, according to conditions. At an automatically light- ed intersection or a crossing controlled by traffic police, a motorist must pull to the right. At other intersections he is supposed to pull to the left. The re- sult has been shown to be that the motorist is in a constant state of con- fusion and will attempt to make the outside turn at uncontrolled points, thereby breasting two streams of traffic, one at his rear, and violating every fundamental rule of driving. Addlngi the fact that it is often impossible for the motorist to tell as he approaches an intersection whether a policeman is stationed there at that particular mo- ment, and the consequent weaving from line to line of traffic that is necessary to be in the proper position for a turn, the positive danger of the present ar- rangement can be appreciated. Commissioner Dougherty will be do- ing the city a great service if he would either rescind his order extending the outside turn to manually controlled in- tersections. or would abolish completely a system of turning which is not ac- cepted by traffic experts and which is causing great confusion to local mo- torists. N German statesmanship proposes pun- ishment for any one who asserts that the Kaiser’s government was to blame for the war. It has been shown that the Kaiser was not in reality the gov- ernment, and events have not upheld him as a symbol of national pride. In the meantime Germany has settled down to & plan of sincere workmanship calculated to be of genuine value to the world. ———— A new manner of finance is in evi- dence, which assumes that a cash seek- er does not need to sign a check or even an I O. U. if he has equipped himself with a gun. —————_ Should Mussolini succeed in reviving the glories of old Rome, it is to be hoped that he will at least manage to substitute base ball for gladiatorial contests. ————— Reduction of taxes has brought gen- eral rejoicing, but the noble example dld not suffice to modify the cover charges for a dinner on New Year eve. —_— e To revive an old phrase, prohibition enforcement must remain in some de- gree a matter of “self-determination for the individual.” ————— Peace treaties are sometimes inef- fectual. But they have permanent value as announcements of universal desire, ———t Bolivia and Paraguay have appar- em':"l;mhed the conclusion that fight- dng is not only irritating, but expensive, ———— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Peace and Good Order. We know that it is wrong to fight, Unto a day we'll point with pride When gunmen do not think it right ‘To take somebody “for a ride.” We know that honesty must be Of policies the very best. ‘The cash custodian won't see A pistol pushed against his chest, From strife we'll ind & sweet release As onward through the years we roam. Let's finally agree that Peace, Like Charity, begins At Home. bustling and even nerve-racking pre- liminaries, has become too vast, too eco- nomieally important for any sensible person to wish it hampered by sloppy conditions underfoot, and snow in this latitude usually means just that. For every pretty fir tree loaded with white crystals some poor horse is down or keeping his feet with difficulty, some car is skidding, some- tired postman, driver or delivery clerk is working longer overtime. The modern Christ- mas needs.every aid that meteorological chance can give it. Time was when this Capital was & very leisurely place. Most of its residents lived near the center of things and their celebrations were of a more modest sort. A white Christmas then proved often rather a pleasant feature. ‘Those who thoroughly enjoy their dash of snow and ice will undoubtedly get it later. In the meantime the com- munity as a whole is very much ahead of the game because of the kindly skies of the week or more just past. To pine for a white Christmas is a pretty enough sentiment, Looked at logically, however, one might as consistently pray for & very hot Fourth of July. The “shop-early” admonition will soon reappear. Christmas of 1920 is, after all, less than a year away. Studying the Left Turn. In deciding upon & close study of the present peculiar left-hand-turn rule in ‘Washington, Co:imissioner Dougherty is making & mc ing to the great L since the outside i. was extended to int. those who drive has grown in volume. ‘8t will be gratify- of motorists. Ever irn arrangement Zuons controlled by policemen, the wail of protest from Penalty of Wit. “You said many clever things in your “Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum. “But I lost influence as a statesman. The laughs I got caused the audience to confuse me with the vaudeville en- tertalners.” Jud Tunkins says he’s tired of being bawled out. Turn about is fair play, and he's going to get a job as a trafic officer. N Christmas Tree. To fairyland friends we are clinging. We cherish the lights and the song. ‘The memories childhood is bringing Are thoughts that can never go wrong. The Christmas tree governs the nations ‘With influence centuries old, As children, with glad incantations, Bring goblins so happy, yet bold. Stern facts offer stubborn resistance, ‘We'll face the world problems anew. But Fancy still rules our existence, And only the Myth seems quite true. Common Humanity. “Do you beileve in votes for women?” “Only in some degree,” answered Miss Cayenne. “Women, just the same as men, leave the impression that they can go entirely wrong in their politics.” “Our ancestors have done their best,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. “We accept their fortunes, but do not heed their advice.” Fis ‘The Boss. ‘The statesman’s intellectual. worth Of time has caused a loss. Old Santa, ruling all the earth, Hag proved the real Boss, “Dar should be more singin’” said ; MHURSDAY, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. ‘The spirit of the holiday season should lead every friend of animals to think of stray dogs and cats and to actively make some provision for them. There is scarcely a neighborhood in which there will not be some roamer on four feet, uncared for except when such a friend takes thought for him. Especially is this true of cats. ‘This domestic animal is used to shift- ing for itself. Perhaps it was left to do so last Summer when its “family” went away without bothering its com- posite head about what was to become of Tom. Some people are like that. Tom got along pretty well, thank you, what with the garbage cans and the grub handed him out by kind neighbors. It is true that he got a bad case of gastritis when hun, forced him to eat some refuse W 'h otherwise he would not have touched. Nature managed to bring him around, however, so that he is alive today, with a rather husky meow and a big appetite. He is dirty, but how can a fellow be very clean who never gets a chance to take a bath? It is too cold outdoors for a cat to do much licking of himself. His saliva would freeze on his fur. And the in- centive is lacking, too. Who on earth would feel like taking a bath with the thermometer 20 degrees above zero? * ok kK So Tom huddles on your back porch in the morning, hoping against hope to be let into the house for a time, so that he may thaw himself out a bit and enter into the ancient heritage of his tribe—a home. One would not wax eloquent over the miseries of homeless animals when there are so many homeless people in the world. Their miseries, however, are acute to those who particularly care for them. ¥ In respect to animals, human beings are divided into two classes, in the main—those who are indifferent to them and those who really like them. In the first class must come also those who treat them with cruelty. The second class, being much smaller than the first, must make up for their lack of numbers by their overwhelming interest in mankind’s pets. This they may do in many ways, but at this sea- ]sonl of the year in one way particu- arly. B!;' putting out food for the strays, the waifs of street and alley, one does a good deed without ostentation. While the furry creatures will be grateful, in their own style, the fact remains that they scarcely associate the gift with the giver. Thus one’s right hand does, indeed, know not what the left hand doeth. This gesture is lost on the air of the world, except in so far as it helps some living thing, and pleases the mind and heart of him who makes it. * koK * A glance at the “lost” ads every night will show that between half a dozen and a full dozen dogs roam away from their homes daily. It is probably true that the dog fs more likely to get lost in a great city than a cat, Cats do, indeed, come back. They have powers probably su- perior to those of the dog in the matter of orlentation. There have been many theories advanced, ranging from scent to radio impulses, but the whole thing still remains a mystery. A dog that strays to the home in cold weather will be grateful not only for a full meal, but even more for a warm basement to sleep in. Usually the dog's owner may be traced from the tag. A good meal, of course, is the best aid for any roaming animal. food inside him, he is able to keep going, but when his fjiel gives out, he is lost, indeed. Even in the coldest weather a pan of drinking water may be placed next to the house, near a window, through which usually enough heat filters to keep the water from freezing. e bk So a bowl of milk may be placed for | the wandering cat, which will lap it up in_the night. Many familles throw away perfectly good food. It may be suggested that some of this should be saved and put out on the walk at the gate for the furry creatures which roam that way by night, Usually every crumb of the meal will be gone in the morning. Thus the ani- mal lover has the satisfaction of know- ing that some hungry animal was |he' od by his thoughtfulness. vat “fans” also will be lured to place catnip on the back porch, where prowl- ing Tom and Tabby may revel a bit in {an herb which they love, but which | ordinarily they do not recelve. | A cat needs no other introduction to | catnip than his nose, even if it is the ;?rs(. time in his life that he has smelled t. Catnip is in his blood. It is amusing to watch an alley walf make his first acquaintance with cat- mint, as it is sometimes called. He will snuff it for a second in an inquiring manner, then begin to eat greedily, picking it over for the choice blossoms. ‘Those who prefer the cat to other pets may go so far as to place a couple of “catnip mice” on the back walk 7or the roamers, y + ‘These stuffed bits of flannel, made in the shape of a mouse, and looking sur- prisingly like one, will give any old alley cat a joyous half hour. * K Kk Nor must the birds be forgotten. ‘Those who are particularly fond of the feathered creatures of air say that many birds are put to it to live at all during the cold months of Winter. Major assistance is given them by any one who likes them enough to put out bread crumbs, suet, scraps of meat, ap- ples or other foodstuffs. Foods that otherwise would go to ‘waste make excellent provender for the birds. At first they will be wary, but when they discover that food is given them regularly at a given point, they | seem to make I;P their minds that everything is all right. ‘Then they will fly down the moment the human provider turns his k and begin to devour the strength-giving {gud which Providence has put down for em, ‘To be a Providence for something, though only dog, cat or bird—is not this worth while? BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. Now who would have ever guessed that Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, presi- dent of Columbia University, would find himself in the company of Mr. Bumble, declaring, “If the law suppose that, the law is a ass—a idiot.” Dr. Butler objects to making more laws, especially laws with penalties for their violation. He does not actually mention such as the Volstead law, but if he had spoken of that he might have found an alibi as_to its penalties for violation—in New York. He now gen- eralizes from that one particular law to which he has hitherto conspicuously objected; he objects to all “laws which are not supported by the majority.” The assumption appears to be that laws which are violated must be con- trary to public support. The Volstead law is violated, therefore, it must be without public support. Law against murder is also violated. Did not the newly created police commissioner of New York City, Mr. Whalen, point out, last week, that out of 223 deaths by violence, in that city, within the last few months, the police had made only two arrests? Therefore, it is obvious that New York does not support laws prohibiting murder. At least the pen- alties should be revoked, and the public should set about to educate its future murderers and admonish with a tone of rebuke, “Tut! Tut!” The law being “a ass,” it should be barred from good soclety. Yet only yesterday Mrs. Vanderlip, wife of the president of the greatest bank, the City National, announced that “there is no social status in New York—nothing but a ‘conglomeration.’” So let the law be barred from the draying rooms of the “conglomeration” lest there be too many “asses” there, * K ok % To progress in the reading of Dr. Butler, it is interesting to note his as- surance that the Columbia University Law School has undertaken to “restate the law,” “but a care must be had,” he warns, “that in these restatements there are not enshrined and given new life. old errors and fallacies which it is high time were left behind alto- gether.” N Mnybed it bvgg;hr%mend the Constitu- tion, and al ‘ongress. The doctor had just stated that “the law is a ass” and now he wants to drop some things behind the main battery of the ass. What does “a ass” do when something strange is tickling its hind legs? Dr. Butler is foolhardy—not heroic—unless he decides to leave part of the revision to Congress or the Legislature lest there rise confusion as to which is the law and which the * k kK He points out that the present-day condition of politics is not worse than it was in the pioneer days of the re- public. He testifies, “Democracy has come a long way, but, quite plainly, it has a still longer way to go before the maxims and the ideals of the political philosophers who first expounded and extolled it are l;:,vzn measurably illus- trated and attained.” He protests that politics today is filled with “ignorance,® intolerance, bigotry and bitter partisanship; and stupendous self-conceit and self-satis- faction are manifest on every side.” Yet in his next paragraph he records, “It is of no great comfort to be re- minded that during the height of the political warfare between the Federal- Uncle Eben. “In most cases it's just as sensible as de talk dat goes around, be- sides bein‘ comfortable to de ear.” It has now reached the point that the Commissioner in charge of police through the plants. Although the plant disease papers constitute the largest single contribution to the American As- sociation meetings made by Washing- ! tontans this year, they are by no means | tmclusive, Washington -8 & t fi ~ > has wisely taken cognizance and has determined to reconsider the subject in all its phases. The Washington outside turn s prac- | 77o% 'n° Hosnoks Times ticed In only & few other cities in the | (e ey country, -It viclates one of .the -fun- the -law .at bay—! - Well, They've Proven It. nhnuemwowu‘ te on m&-mbtd:y'fllmx) indefinitely, ¢ ] fosi ists and the first Republicans, language of extreme bitterness and vilification was constantly used.” A reading of any of the newspapers and pamphlets of the days of the Fed- eration and early Republic verifies thas, for it brings shocks to every ward-heeler. We discovered what a professor of English in another col- lege recently declared, “What the Eng- llefig language most needs is a supply of new and adequate cuss-words.” There is the old supply, so long neg- lected, but finely embalmed in the political controversies of 150 to 125 years ago. We are far more polite, even in a modern whispering campaign, than were the fathers of the Republic. Masons have discovered live toads today incased in the cavities of corner stones laid half a century ago—so they say. What, then, may be the survival of “a ass” burled in olden statutes? Dr. Butler visualizes real dangers, which he rightly “views with alarm.” * % X ¥ He does not “point with p:lg:" at the inc lawlessness of United Bhares, Menougn & certain Organiza- tion in his city, which wants to return to legalized wine and beer and other foods of “temperance,” alleges, in an adjoining column, that other parts of America are even drunker now than is New York—but, Dr. Butler adds: “The cure for lawlessness is not to pass more laws, still less to inflict more rigid, more severe and more cruel pun- ishments for law violation. These can only be more or less futile and aggra~ vating expedients. The true cure is, first, not to enact or promulgate laws which the general will does not, or will not, accept, and then to train that gen- eral will to a habit of intelligent self- discipline which will make it law-abid- ing and law-conforming when it ac- cepts laws, as just and right.” That is exactly what the anarchists are teaching. ~Anarchy would abolish enforcement of law, except by the in- g{g:dual acceptance of whatever suits In a republic, no laws remain on the statute books unless approved by the “general will.” Legislators who fail to discover that trulsm are quickly de- feated for re-election. The will of the voters is interpreted in the act of their representative—otherwise he ceases to be a representative of the public. Every attempt to demonstrate that Dr. Butler's particular bete noir—the Volstead law—does not express the will of the people, is rebuked by an in- creased and uncontradictable reasser- tion by popular vote—as witness the re- cent national election, in which Gov. Smith made it the outstanding issue. ‘That law may be “a ass” judging from what it did to the governor, but it re- mains the reiterated will of the people. It may bray, but it is not effectually “brayed in a mortar” of scholastic de- nunciation. Dr. Butler’'s main argument for light- ening the penalties of laws is borne out, of enlightened governments. It is today's condition—not theory alone. Today, there are no shameful gratings behind which languish prison- ers for debt, exhibited to the public gaze and_ in gross humiliation of the victim. Men are not tortured with thumbscrews and racks to force testi- mony or confession. Men are “innocent until Erroved guilty” and are protected in their rights. Men are not hanged for stealing a sheep, with which to feed a starving family, Men are not put in stocks and held in agony while hoo- dlums mock. Men’s ears are not cut off for trivial offenses against the noble, nor tongues slashed for alleged perjury. Woman victims of slander or spite are not tied to ducking stools, nor are they hanged or burned as witches. On the contrary, how are our crim- inals in jail pampered with modern mercy, and satiated with maudlin sym- pathy of sentimentalists! .How few are punished at all, while their crimes in- crease and multiply and damn the earth, until this most enlightened, most sharitable, most ?mgrcsslve ang prosper= ous nation in all history is the greai- est shelter of crime in all civilization. ‘We have more violence and murders and kidnaping in ope, city of the United States than in all of the British Isles. Except Soviet Russia, America holds human life more cheaply than does any other nation of civilized people. Dr. Butler's own State may have found the answer in its Baumes law, which makes obligatory a life sentence for the habitual criminal—upon his fourth conviction of a felony—but, after scoffing at severe laws against crime, he declares that “it would be inappropri- ate to discuess” in his annual report of his great institution, which is to ‘“re- state laws,” what should be substituted fro punitive or reformatory or exem- plary treatment of outlaws. Penologists would have been glad to have had constructive criticism from the great institution of learning. (Copyright. 1028, by Paul ¥. Collins.) What A Sordid Prospect! From the Waterbury Republican. Mr. Hoover is reported as very much impressed at the rapidity with which South America is being motorized. When the process has gone far enough, cars will suffice as instruments for dis- posing of the surplus populations and revolutions can safely be dispensed with. s Takes Two to Make A Fight. From the Fort Worth Record-Telesram. It should be a lesson to us to realize that the most comical situations on the stage have at least one angry in them, X With | in recent centuries, by the genéral trend’| ! The around fllgg‘mt a DECEMBER 27, 1928.’ Holds Evolution Explains Moral Virtues in Animals BY E. E. FREE, PH. D. ‘That moral qualities, like sympathy or affection or unselfishness, are not only products of the same processes of evolution that created man’s body, but are possessed in some degree by many lower animals, was maintained by Prof. J. Arthur Thomson, distinguished nat- uralist of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, in his recent Norman Lock- yer lecture before the PBritish Science Guild in London. For the doctrine of man's original sin modern science proposes to substi- tute, Prof. Thomson said, the doctrine of original righteousness, for the be- ginnings of righteousness go far back of man. All naturalists know, the lec- turer continued, that birds care for their young even more single-mindedly than the average human parent, that many mammals sacrifice individual in- terests for the good of the family or tribe, that many other ‘“social” virtues are illustrated in animal life. These virtues seem to have obtained for their possessors first places in Na- ture’s lists; typified by the birds and by man. What biologists call “survival value” must reside, Prof. Thomson as- serted, in these virtues; begun in the history of evolution millions of years before any creature like man had been developed and for which man’s animal ancestors deserve much of the credit, no less than for the human body. e Tennessee Race Track Gambling Declared Dead From the Nashville Banner. Race track gambling in Tennessee is dead and will remain dead. Its revival is beyond the power of any interest, however fortified polltically or finan- clally. The mandate of Tennesseeans decreeing its outlawry was unmistak- able and deliberate; its wisdom has been abundantly established. The verdict of condemnation written in the statutes stands unimpeached by any event rais- ing question of its justice or need; and no intrigue or appeal directed to its repeal or modification will merit, or receive, any measure of popular ap- proval. Public sentiment is clear on this subject and the General Assembly will not dare trifle with it. . The report given a few days ago in a Chicago racing journal that a measure proposing pari-mutuel betting in lieu of bookmaking of the olden days would be presented to the incoming Legislature and with the backing of a group of accredited strong political in- fluence in the affairs of the State was the first open prophecy that gossip to that effect in circulation for some time would lead to positive action along that line. Whether the disclaimer of approval which Gov. Horton has made will oper- ate as a deterrent to the prosecution of the alleged plans of the parties in in- terest remains to be seen. However that may be, the confldent prediction is ventured that Tennessee is not ready to surrender a law founded upon mani- fest need for the protection of society and of its youth more especially from an influence notoriously demoralizing and debasing, to the manipulation and destruction by any selfish interest, however adroit and eminent. ‘The pari-mutuel is even more se- ductive and dangerous than the auc- tioneer; and the offer of a tax to go into the State's revenues would be a tender of collusion with crime, the ac- ceptance of which would shame the Commonwealth. Should this reputed scheme have a foundation in fact and serious pur- pose, the offenders would quickly dis- cover that the State will meet their challenge squarely and promptly and administer a rebuke beyond question of its determined intent. U. S. Watches Whalen In Role of Guardian From the Manchester Union. In one way or another the country has been led to take a good deal of in- terest in Grover Whalen's acceptance of the New York police commissionership. To begin with, the gentleman has been extensively advertised. His curious role of officlal “greeter,” charged with the duty of extending formal welcome to distinguished visitors to the metropolis, has brought him frequently into the Jimelight. Habitual patrons of the movies have come to recognize him at sight and to think of him as going through life achieving the difficult task of looking at home in garments of ceremony. So it is not to be wondered at that a large part of the population of the hinterlands has put him down as a social butterfly, highly decorative but not otherwise.important. Yet the fact is that Mr. Whalen is a successful busi- ness man, & man of affairs, who gives up the managership of a great mercan- tile establishment to take over the tasl of heading the New York police force. Incidentally, he accepts a big cut in income. In most cases that sort of thing is accepted as evidence of genuine public spirit. In several aspects the police job is not alluring. Things have been going badly in the department. There has been bitter complaint of lassitude in clearing up sensational crime mysteries. Commissioner Whalen starts in by mak- ing a lot of changes, Probably he will find cause to make more. Unless the New York press is singularly misin- formed, there is plenty of reason for a general shake-up. ! There will be a deal of curiosity to see how Mr. Whalen gets along in his new role. In large part, though, it will be concerned with his success in carry- ing businesslike efficiency from a big store to the biggest of the country’s lice departments. The official recep- lon phase of his experience will not be so much in mind after a little. Publication Printed On Cornstalk Paper From the Indlanapolis Star. The December number of the Prairie Farmer is of special interest to agri- culturists in this part of the world be- cause it is the first publication to be printed on paper made from cornstalks. The new industry has been established in Danville, Ill, and seems to have passed well beyond the experimental stage. The company is turning out cornstalk pulp that ‘is converted into a quality of paper that promises much for the future of the farmer in the corn belt. Sclentists have been at work for years experimenting with processes for utilizing cornstalks. They have pro- gressed to the point where that article of waste on the farms seems about to become a very valuable by-product of crop raising. Not only can paper be made from the cornstalks, but the rayon industry and others using cellulose are expected to become extensive pur- chasers of a product that has been a waste and nuisance to the tiller of the soil in the corn belt. ‘The paper on which the Prairie Farmer is printed was made from corn- stalks grown in Vermillion County, IIL, and Vermillion and Warren Counties, Ind. It is, of course, too soon to say what cornstalks might be expected to yleld to the grower, but at present the company using them is taking them in return for the service of harvesting the farmer's corn crop. That means & saving of $3 to 85 'an acre, even m the primary stages of the industry’s development, which is like so. much found money. What the cornstalks may mean eventually to the farmer and to the users of paper remains for the furture to disclose. —— e Unless It’'s Two. Prom the Muncle Morning Star. Truck drivers are said to be the most careful, and there is nothing like a truck to make other drivers careful. The World's an Airport. Prom the Des Moines Tribune-Capital. rumor never has to look landing place. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ‘This is & special department devoted to the handling of inquiries. You have at your disposal an extensive organiza- tion in Washington to serve you in any capacity that relates to information. Write your question, your name and your address clearly, and inclose 2 cents in coin or stamps for reply. Send to The Evening Star Information Bureau, frechnch. Haskin, director, Washing- on, N Q. How old was Eleanora Duse at the time of her death?—C. V. A. She was past 64. Duse, the most famous of Italian actresses, was born at Vigevano, Italy, in October, 1859, and died in Pittsburgh, Pa., in April, 1924. Q. Since Paraguay is noted for its wonderful orange crops, why are the oranges allowed to go to waste by the thousands?—A. G. W. A. The Pan-American Union says | that the reason is lack of transportation. In the republic'there are only 274 miles of railroad and practically no highways which penetrate the regions where oranges grow. railroad and near the Paraguay River are shipped in larger quantities to Buenos Alres. Q. What proportion of business ven- tures fail, and what are the principal reasons?—R. P. G. A. The ratio of business failures to Oranges raised near the | tendered by the Navy with the approval of President Coolidge. Q. When were the symbols of the Evangelists adopted?—S. D. A. In the fifth century the Four Beasts which had already been used as emblems of the Four Archangels and the Four Great Prophets were adopted as symbols of the Evangelists, and two centuries later these curious creatures were universally employed as symbolic of these four saints. At first they were simply emblems of the Evangelists, but after St. Jerome wrote of the Vision of Ezekiel, each of these beasts was as- signed to a particular saint. To St. Matthew was given the cherub, or winged human face: to St. Mark, the Lion; to St. Luke, the Ox; and to St. John, the Eagle. Q. How much and what kind of cream does it take to make a pound of butter?>—F. E. R. A. The amount. of cream required to produce a pound of butter does not depend on the breed of cow, but on the richness of the cream, Two quarts of cream containing 20 per cent butter fat will make a pound of butter, and one ‘and a half quarts of cream con- taining 30 per cent butterfat will pro- duce a pound of butter. Q. Can children in the primary gradescbe taught to use a typewriter?— total establishments has averaged about | R, C. 1 per cent per year over a long period of years. The highest ratio since data have been collected was in 1878 at 1.55 per cent. The causes of business fail- ures are given in -their order of im- portance as follows: Lack of capital, incompetence, specific conditions, fraud, inexperience, competition, neglect, un- wise credits, faflure of others, extrava- gance and speculation. Q. How are the Hawailan Islands, Oahu and Maui, pronounced?—H. L. A. Oahu is pronounced as if spelled Oh-ah-hoo, and Maui, Mow-ee. Q. Who is considered the greatest art collector of modern times?—R. F. A. It is often said that the late John Plerpont Morgan was. His collections were the largest, most varied, and many of them the most important owned by & single individual. He has been com- pared with Lorenzo de’ Medici, and it has been sald that he mr};und even :hAt prince in the catholicity of his aste, Q. Where did the honeydew melon originate?—F. J. K. A. The honeydew melon that is on the market in'this country is the same as the melon listed by Paris seedsmen as Antibes zinurdgreexn g‘eeshed me;on. The. origin: see of honeydew melén is said to have been obtained from a melon shipped from Africa to New York City. This seed was planted at Rocky Ford, Colo., and John Gauger and Weaver were responsible for hav- ing put this melon on the market in the United States. 1" Q. How long has Handel's “Messiah” been sung in London?—N. W. A. The first performance was given in 1749. Since that time it has been a custom in London to perform that work with greatly augmented chorus and orchestra each year at Christmas. Q. Are there other natural bridges in the United States besides the one in Virginia?—L. M. A. There are many others. At least seven of them are important enough to be pointed to as curiosities in their localities. Q. When was the management of naval affairs under the Department of War?—M. T. A. From 1789 to 1798, Q. :’vmc race has the largest brain? A, It is the largest in the white race, smallest in some of the Central African savages. Q. What size animals are known as big game?—H. B. A. 1t is an elastic term, and is gen- erally understood to include all wild mammals larger than a common fox. Q. Why is the Government paying the expenses of Mr. Hoover's trip to South America?—D. M. T. A. The Government is not paying Mr. Hoover for his South American trip with the exception of the use of the battleship Maryland to convey him along the coast. This is no great addi- tional expense to the Government, as the upkeep of the ship is necessary under all circumstances. The ship was Arouses Pride ‘The recent triumphant celebration of the anniversary of the first successful airplane flight graphically reminded the Nation that it has been slow in giving full recognition to the epochal achieve- ment of the Wright brothers in the sand hills of Kitty Hawk, N. C, 25 years ago. Although the Wrights' experiments were quietly conducted, with slight pub- lic attention, the Raleigh News and Observer recalls that “in a few days after the successful flight a quarter of a century ago the world grasped the significance of the conquest of the air * * * The Wrights went to Wash- ington with their little craft,” con- tinues the North Carolina paper. “They flew at Fort Myer and the Congress adjourned to see the flight. They flew over the Capitol, and the necks of law- makers were craned to see the achieve- ment. That was 25 years ago. The story of Byrd's flying to the North Pole, of Lindbergh's trip across the Atlantic and wonderful conquests by other dis- tinguished aviators, as well as the gird- ling of the globe, tells the progress since that day, forever memorable, at Kitty Hawk.” * K K % “Man’s ambition to conquer the skies was unrealized for centuries,” says the San Francisco Bulletin. “History and mythology tell us of men who watched birds soar into the sky, smoke rise up and fade away in the haze, and they longed to shake off the shackles of gravity and fly. It was use man was long chained to the ground that American capital was slow to back lhel It is only in| challengers of the sky. A. In an experiment conducted at the Horace Mann School at Teachers College, Columbia University, five and six year old children are being taught their spelling and_writing lessons on typewriters. Dr. Rollo Reynolds, the’ principal, believes that the children will 1cam to spell more rapidly by this sys-/ em. Q. What is the origin of the name Taos, the home of an art colony?—N. T.! A. Taos is short for San Fernando de’ Taos, the name of the saint to whom the town is dedicated. Q. Who established the Peabody Con-' servatory of music in Baltimore?—W. C.’ A. The conservatory is George Pea-’ body’s gift to the city of his adoption. The founder was born in Massachu- setts in 1795, a poor boy. At the age of 20 he went South to seek his for- tune and settled in Baltimore. Here: he laid the foundations of the great wealth he was some day to possess: His death was in 1869, and during his: life he gave away from eight to nine millions of dollars. Students now come: to this conservatory from 34 States, China, Hawali, and Philippine Islands.’ Q. What are the balls made of which’ are used as Christmas tree .oma-, ments?—B. G. ! “A. The decorations used on Christmas, trees are made from various materials,’ ‘The colored balls are generally made from very thin glass. Q. Where and how did the Christ- mas tree idea originate?—E. C. A. In regard to why Christmas trees came into use we find the following ex- planation: It was the desire of the! church to combat the heathen customs which prevailed at this season. Christ- mas carols and Christmas plays were introduced and later “Christ trees” or Christmas trees adorned with lights and gifts, the latter in commemoration of the gifts brought to the Christ Child by the Wise Men. There is a diversity, of opinion as to where the Christmas tree custom originated, it being credited, to both Italy and Germany. Q. What are some of the mpentl-: apn.!n connected with the mistletoe?— A. The mistletoe was intimately: connected with many of the supersti- tions of the ancient Germans and the British Druids. thology, Balder is said to have been slain with a spear of mistletoe. Among the, Celts the mistletoe which grew on the oak was in peculiar esteem for magical virtues. Traces of the ancient regard. for mistletoe still remain in some old: English and German customs, as kiss- ing under the mistletoe at Christmas. ‘The mistletoe was at one time in high repute as a_ remedy for epilepsy and convulsions, but it seems to possess no decided medicinal properties. Q. Into what languages was the speech of the new British high com- ml.sgonn to Palestine translated?—N. of g cellor and his reply were translated into_ the three official languages, English, Arabic and Hebrew. : Wright Anniversary Triumph of Countrymen him, shouting, ! They've done it!"” * k kX “Richer development, greater useful- ness, more general utility lie ahead™ declares the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “No one now knows nor can imagine the limits of achievements in the air. But whatever the future of flying may unfold, these triumphs of today and tomorrow trace back definitely to the: ploneering work of the Wrights.” The Bellingham Herald adds: “The silver anniversary of that epochal event finds aviation an established and accepted form of practical transportation, vying with the railroad, the motor bus and the steamship. More than that, it is conceded to be barely on the threshold of the development through which it is destined to pass.” “The last quarter of & century has been a period of phenomenal develop- ment along every line,* observes the Nashville Banner, “and there is no tell- ing how much of it is due to the in- spiration given the minds of men by the solution of the problem of human flight as offered by the Wrights.” 1 “One of the great milestones of civil~ ‘They've dons }1zation” is the Charlotte Observer's esti- mate of the place of the first successful flight, and that paper believes that the monument to the Wrights is “no less a monument to those traits of character which have placed America at the head of the nations. The marker,” continues the Observer, “serves but little purpose —to remind future generations of the place and time of the beginning of great things. The real monument to Wilbur and Orville Wright and to the the last five years that industry and!inventive genius which they exemplify capital have regarded the airplane with * consists of the general acceptance and anything but skeptical eyes. Other pio- neers who joined the ranks of the born and ground-bound skeptics. And today we have huge passenger planes, carrying capitalists, business or pleasure bent; industrialists and their commodi- ties, mail and perishables—we have commercial airplanes making an aver- nxfi: daily record of more than 45,000 miles.” Reviewing some of the stories told of the early experiences of the Wrights when they selected a remote strip of the North Carolina coast, the Spring- field Republican explains: “It is often overlooked that the development of the airplane was preceded by valuable, if dangerous, experimentation with gliders, and that considerable knowledge about the construction and use of aircraft was obtained from those earlier machines. When the Wrights first went to Kitty Hawk, in 1900, their primary object was to obtain experience in the air by means of gliding flights, and the bleak sand hills of Kitty Hawk were chosen because steady winds, favorable to gliding, were to be found there.” “A historic fifth of a minute” is de- scribed by the New York Evening Post. “Orville Wright, lying on his stomach in the world’s first airplane, flew 12 seconds,” says the Evening Post, lungs would let ‘Wrights fought the obstacles of ground- . | xlrdg acclaim of man’s conquest of the e ) “The small beginning,” remarks the 'Chl!mnwn Times, “has resulted in & development powerful in war, useful in the pursuits of peace and adaptable to the ends of pleasure. And the end of the development of the flying machine is not yet. The next 25 years may bring improvements that will’ dwarf the progress of the last quarter of a cen= mw#xg t Coolidge rtion e 'S asse! that throu this new industry “the nations will be drawn more closely to= lev.h;{n in mdpso( amity and un:e; standing,” o T P that “of itself that prediction is inspire ing to those who depregate war and feel the sweet influence of the ol maaguiion st 1ast accorded len al L acco! to the Wrights gives satisfaction to the Waterbury Republican, while the Co- lumbia remarks that “it's a far cry from bleak sand dunes and public Jeers in 1903 to fame's eternal camping ground in 1928, but Mr. Wright has made the . The Tulsa World be- lleves that “it is altogether probable that had the Wright brothers been citi- zens of any other country they woul have been given an ample government subsidy to carry on their experimen and perfect their marvelous once they had demonstratec its feasis bilitys” 4