Evening Star Newspaper, December 30, 1928, Page 22

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY......December 30, 1928 THEODORZ W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 1ith St: and Pennsyvivania Ave. New York Office: 110 East +2nd g0 _Office: Tower Building Shica European Office 14 Regent St.. London, England Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evening Star... . ..45c per month The Evening and Sunday Star (when 4 Sundars) 80c per month ‘The Evening and Sunday Star (when $ Sundass) A The Sunday Star . . Sc per ccpy Cellection made at'the of each montn Orders may be sent in by mall cr telephone Main 5000 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Datly and Sunday....1 yr., $10.00; } mo.. 85c Daily only . yr., $6.00: 1 mo.. £0¢ Sunday only 1 yrl $400; 1 mo. Afl Other States and Canada. Daily end Sunds mo., $1.00 Daily only mo., i8¢ Sunday only 50¢ Member of the Associated Press. ntitled 3 dis- patcres credited to it or not ot ited in this paper and also the local rews oublished nereins All rights of publication of special dispatcnes herein are also reserved. —_—————————— Criticism Easily Removed. Last Thursday's Star carried an in- teresting statement by Representative Cramton of Michigan upon the bill he has introduced for the acquisition of land and creation of the George Wash- ington Memorial Parkway; for addi- tions to the park, parkway and play- ground system of Washington and for the extension of the Capital's park sys- tem into adjacent Maryland. In this statement Mr. Cramton not only shows commendable enthusiasm for the project ‘which he fathers, an enthusiasm readily shared by those who are working for proper development of the Nation's Capital, but he emphasizes the reasons why his bill should be considered as an “emergency measure,” requiring imme- diate attention. ™ With his declarations that beautiful areas in Washington and the border States are endangered by the march of commercial development, and, there- fore, should be acquired immediately, ‘The Star is in thorough accord. With his statements concerning the benc- ficial results to the Nation and to Wash- ingten in properly carrying to comple- tion the park plans of the Capital and its environs, The Star heartily agrees. And The Star sympathizes with Mr. Cramton and joins with him in his con- clusion that the only ground for criti- cism of the measure lies in its financial provisions. But The Star believes that this criti- cism from local taxpayers is easily avoided, and in fairness to the unrepra- sented citizens of the District, should be avoided. Mr. Cramton points out that his bill removes that inequitable pro- vision of the original Park and Plan- ning Commission legislation which au- thorized the use of District revenue for the acquisition of land in Maryland and Virginia. In the correction of this evil the District rejoices. Mr. Cramton further points out that “Whether these lands (in the District) are bought under terms of the present law or under the pending bill, the payment is from Dis- trict revenues and the Federal Treasury, the same as other expenses of the Dis- trict, whether the Federal contribution for the particular year be on a lump sum or percentage basis.” And it is this paragraph which explains the source of criticism mentioned by Mr. Cramton. The Star contends that this criticism is easily removable. Mr. Cramton's measure might remain written as it is, and there would be no ground for criti- cism, provided remedial steps were taken in other legislation. These remedial steps might lie, (1) in increasing the Federal Government’s basic lump sum payment specifically in proportion to national or semi-national projects in- cluded in the District appropriation bill, thus allowing for adequate and equi- table sharing by the Federal Govern- ment in the expense of undertakings which the Federal Government alone plans, or (2) by excluding these national or semi-national projects from the Dis- trict bill and financing them in some other supply bill, so wording the items thus excluded as to set forth the exact methods of financing in relation to the amounts of contribution by Nation and Capital that is thought to be just. The District does not criticize Mr. Cramton’s bill, but every year finds ad- ditional ground for criticism of the sys- tem under which Mr. Cramtons bill would divide the cost of national or semi-national projects between the Dis- trict and Federal Government. Change this system completely, or revise it to meet the growing needs of a growing Capital, and there will be found noth- ing but praise for Mr. Cramton's meas- ure and for the patriotic spirit that prompts it. ——— New York's new Metropolitan Opera House will make something of a de- parture by providing to accommodate earnest students of music as well as fashionable society. ———- Senators will have just about time enough to exchange “Happy New Year” greetings before the real hostilities be- gin. ———— Curtis to Remain. Senator Charles Curtis of Kansas. Vice President-elect, has determined that it is his duty to remain in the Senate until the close of this Con- gress, March 4. It is a wise decision and a happy one. Senator Curtis is the Republican leader of the Senate. He has had long experience in dealing with legislation and with the difficult situations which arise in short sessions of Congress. His guiding hand is need- ed now in the upper house. Important measures are awaiting ac- tion before the close of the Congress, among them the Kellogg treaty re- nouncing war and the Navy cruiser bill, both of which have opposition and both of which might be subject to delay by filibusters. The annual appropria- tion hills are still, in the main, to be considered by the Senate. It is an old saying that it is a bad practice to swap horses in the middle of a stream. To change Senate lead- ers at this stage of the present session of Congress might result in halting the flow of legislation. It might bring on & Tow among the Republican gnembers of the Senate, although it ap) THE. SUNDAY STAR. WASHINGTO 30. 1928—PART 2. the leadership mantle is to fall on the shoulders of Senator Watson of In- diana, the present assistant leader. There is another question which is agitating Washington at present. It is whether farm legislation is to be put through at the present session of Con- gress or is to be taken up at a special session of the new Congress after March 4. It is quite clear that if the farm bill is to go through the Senate and the House before the close of the pres- ent session, it will require prompt con- sideration and much negotiation with certain elements in Congress in order to get it through. No man in the Senate has to a greater extent the respect and affection of his colleagues than has Senator Curtis. He has won a reputation not only as a hard worker, a man of his word at sll times, but as a mediator, able to bring about agreements on leg- islation when agreement has seemed well nigh impossible. His retirement from the Senate now would be a real blow to the administration’s legisla- tive program. - The Cause of Peace. Prospects of world peace are bright, Senator Borah, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, said in a | Christmas eve statement. The Senator from Idaho takes great hope from the attitude of the peoples themselves. The cause of peace,” he said, “will | advance just in proportion as the peo- ! ple are vigilant in watching their rrpv: resentatives and diplomats who have | to do with the making of peace or war.” | Certainly the world is becoming bet- ter educated to peace and its advan- | tages. The “open diplomacy” so ear- nestly advocated by the late President Wilson is widening constantly. The people are more fully informed. They know with greater ease the working of their foreign offices. Peace is the sub- ject more constantly in their minds | than in the old days, when war and conquest were the order of the day and when the more powerful nations were | seeking always “new worlds to con- quer.” Now and then a discordant note | is heard, but in the main the great cause of world peace is ever to the front. The chairman of the foreign relations committee, like President Coolidge and Secretary Kellogg of the State Depart- ment, is wedded to the idea of the new multilateral treaty renouncing war and providing for the peaceful settle- | ment of international disputes. In some quarters the treaty is criticized as a mere “gesture.” But behind the treaty lies a great moral force, a driv- ing force that has won many battles for peace as well as in war in the ages. The world has grown weary of war. It has been weary in the past of battles and sieges and pestilence and destruc- tion, which are the camp followers of war. But it has lacked the intelligent understanding of ‘the causes which | bring open conflict—an understanding which in these days of better commu- nications has come to take the place of ignorance and hostility and hatred. The United States, through its Chief Executive, has advanced the cause of peace in this new multilateral treaty. The Senate will soon be called upon to ratify the treaty, and the expectation is that the resolution of ratification will be adopted almost unanimously. It will be ratified here and in other countries because of the great demand of the people back of it. It is beyond the expectations of every one that the treaty renouncing war will at once bring about disarmament. There are other steps which must be ! taken before the nations are willing to | forego their present huge expenditures for national defense. But slowly the world is wakening to the fact that| peace is the order of the day—peace and | good will; that wars for the aggran- dizement of men who sit behind the lines and send thousands of others into the field to die are not heroic or useful. e Friendship on the part of the United States for England remains beyond doubt when America’s tense, sympa- thetic interest in King George's illness is considered. | e Swift methods of communication make close relationships with foreign nations inevitable. But foreign rela- tionships are not necessarily foreign en- tanglements. e Farm relief and naval construction call on Senators to decide whether it is to be a land battle or a sea fight. o ————— The Wild Boy. More than one hundred thousand persons have visited the three-year- old gorilla at the Washington Zoo in the past ten days. They are witnessing something which few of .them ever have seen before or are likely to see again. The most man- Iike of dumb creatures seldom is cap- tured alive. Ordinarily it does not live in captivity—although there is reason to hope that the little fellow now in Washington may prove a notable ex- ception to this rule. In‘any private exhibit where admis- sion could be charged, N'gi would have more than paid for himself in the past ten days. At the National Zoo the ex- ceptional crowds which have flocked to his cage merely have caused an addi- tional strain on the slender resources of the institution. But there is every reason to believe that he will pay for himself in another way—in the un- rivaled opportunity for psychologists, anthropologists and biologists to study him. The superficial observer, who has been regaled with tales of the manlike behavior of the gorilla, may be disap- pointed in watching this animal. On the surface he looks and acts very much like a nondescript black monkey. It would be easy enough to dress him up and teach him tricks so that he would look more like a little black boy. He has not been taught any tricks and Dr. William M. Mann, Zoo director, does not intend to teach him any. Once he be- gan to behave like a man instead of a gorilla much of his scientific value would be lost—and very likely his life wnald be shortened. He might be made a better entertainer—but the function of the National Zoo is to provide edu- cation and not entertainment. It is a public school, not a circus. N'gi is not a little boy. He is a little gorilla and Dr. Mann wants him to act like a little gorilla. In order to differentiate the ordinary behavior of N'gi from a monkey and that discern those ways in which it ap- wif nobody payin’ proaches man, it is necessary first to understand how the behavior of a hu- man being differs from that of a monkey. What does a man do that a monkey does not? With this understanding clearly in mind, every movement of the little fel- low will be full of significance. It will reveal the paths by which men have come to act differently from monkeys, for his is an intermediate position. He is not going to speak a verse or sing a song. He is going to display, in his ordinary play, a capacity to think out problems and a curiosity which cannot be found below him in the animal scale. He is going to show an emotional life on a igher plane, He can be taught to smoke cigars or to wear clothes and tie his necktie But there is no particular reason why a gorilla should smoke cigars or tie neck- ties. Such actions would mean very little, So far as mentality is concern- ed, the same acts mignt be taught to a dog or a cat. But when N'gi leans over and watches a cockroach for several minutes—ap- parently out of pure curiosity, for he made no effort to catch the insect or to play with it—the act indicates some- thing of far greater interest to the in- formed observer. e Heidelberg. There hardly could be a more appro- priate expression of American good will toward the German republic than the Christmas gift of five hundred thousand dollars turned over by Ambas- sador Schurman Monday to Heidel- berg University. Heidelberg is more than a name and a tradition on this side of the Atlan- tic. The ancient seat of learning—for nearly six hundred years a torch of cul- ture in Western Europe—has an in- timate relationship to the United States. IL has made specific and in- valuable contributions to American progress and thought, apart from the influence which it has had on this country in common with the rest of the world. Until the present century higher edu- cation was almost an unknown quan- | tity in America. Those who aspired | beyond the ordinary college curriculum and who were destined to become the | leaders of American thought were | forced to attend European universities. Graduate work in American institu- | tions of learning was in its infancy. There were no properly equipped labo- ratories or teachers of world reputa- tion. Heidelberg, with its distinguished faculty descending in an unbroken line from Melanchthon to Helmholtz, at-| tracted a large number of these Amer- ican scholars. Perhaps no other univer- sity in Europe trained as many of them. They returned to their native land to become almost immediately the leaders of its science and philosophy. They established graduate schools here which, with greater financial resources and the adolescent energy of a new land, have come to outrank Heidelberg itself. But they were Heidelberg men. They incorporated in these new schools many of the Heidelberg methods and traditions. They continued to look a bit wistfully back to the old German city on the Neckar for their inspira- tion. Heidelberg suffered during the war. Its prestige temporarily declined. It is| reviving rather as a German than as % world center of learning. The influx of American students long since has ceased. They can find better facilities at home. But today, at the dawn of what may prove a new Renaissance in America, it is new growths from seeds of Heidelberg that are bursting into blossom. e r——— President-elect Hoover is at work on his inaugural address. Few state papers have been produced that could com- mand closer public attention, owing to the economic circumstances to which it must refer. —— e By making the purchaser of illicit liquor liable to jail sentence, the law may possibly do him g favor by making it impossible to secure any more. R It is made perfectly clear the presi- dential campaign did not exhaust Sena- tor Borah's ornwri;nl enthusiasm. — [ SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Casting Up Accounts. The Christmas tree with sparkling light Brought us a happy thrill. Electric power for that night Will send an extra bill. Old Santa Claus came from afar ‘To aid the festal scene. His journey in a motor car Meant cash for gasoline, Yet, as we count what we must pay, ‘We feel no discontent. ‘The laughter of the children gay ‘Was worth it, every cent! Told in Confidence. “You have always appeared as a great leader.” “I have,” answered Senator Sorghum, “but T'll tell you privately, T have some- times felt like the drum major who had to step mighty fast in order to keep ahead of his own brass band.” Holiday Climate. And here’s another circumstance That sets our hearts aglow: Nobody had, by any chance, A call to shovel snow! Jud Tunkins says he believes in free- dom of speech, but there ought to be a law against some of the s:nging. True Congeniality. “What is your idea of a happy mar- riage?” “A husband and wife,” answered Miss Cayenne, “who can be partners in a bridge game without an unkind word.” “The historic tragedies of greatness,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “never prevent men from wishing to appear great.” True to Form. “I cannot sing the old songs.” As pensively I stood And breathed a sigh, some passerby Exclaimed, “You never could!” “De man dat talks too much,” said Uncle Eben, “ain’t gerous as he used to be. Ever: ks at once attention.” EVERYDAY RELIGION BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES Bishop of “He shall not judge after the sight of his eye, neither approve after the hearing of his ears” (Isaiah, i.3). “Behind and Before.” Our forward looks are very largely determined by our past experiences. We judge tomorrow by what has hap- pened today. We make our forecasts on the basis of what we have discov- ered of good or ill in life’s pilgrimage. Somewheres in our mental make-up we have a set of prejudices and conceits that largely determine our appraise- ment of men and things. It is curious how we reach our opinions and col clusions. There is something desper- ately illogical that marks our likes or dislikes, our favorable or unfavorable opinions, our judgments concerning men and events. A friend of mine once told me that he had a distinct preju- dice that he had long cherished con- cerning a certain man, it was a preju- dice based on what he regarded as an attempted affront. His observation in- | terested me to such an extent that I made careful inquiry of the man to whom be ailuded, only to find that he had never me$ the one who had long held him in disesteem. When I brought the two togsther the man with the long-standing Prejudice acknowledged his fault ard in a chivalrous spirit offered his epoogles. It marked the beginning of & rtrong friendship. When it comes to seeing things dis- proportionately and hearing things in- accurately, and basing conclusions thereupon, we are a wonderful people. Latterly we have been forming our opinions as the result of listening-in to voices on the air. Political prejudices and passions have been evoked and in some places bitter animosities generated, simply because what we hear constitutes the only source of our information and the inspiration of our hastily made judgments. I have frequently known men to form unfavorable prejudices against certain preachers, simply. be- cause they did not like their appear- ance, or again because some single sentence in a sermon ran counter to their preconceived notions. What a flood of opinions and convictions pour in upon us through the avenues of sight and hearing. The old adage that “seeing 1is believing” 'does mnot always hold true. Frequently to see is to dis- believe, and to hear is to misunderstand. The very finest expression of life's ideals frequently fails to make any E. FREEMAN, D. D, LL. D, Washington appeal to us because our seeing and hearing of some poor exemplar creates in us a prejudice and biases our opinion. The greatest liability that we carry is what we hold of our preconceived no- tions of life’s values. I mean the values of men and things. If we could do with our minds what we do with our ac- counts at the beginning of a new year— namely, start with a fresh book—what a different world this would be. I have just laid aside my diary for the past year, and I am beginning the clean pages of a new diary. The old one tells the story of activities and in- terests that are now a matter of his- tory, the new one lies open before me beckoning me on to new endeavors and increasing service. There are many incidents and events in the old that I do not care to remember, there have been many happenings registered in the past year that it were well to for- get. Shall I cumber the pages of the new with the liabilities of the old? Shall I make my plans for future days governed solely by what I have ex- perienced of disappointment or failure in the past? Shall I view the future with an eye that has been accustomed to being critical, or an ear that has been -accustomed to being skeptical? Surely not if I expect to make progress. Memory is one of our finest faculties, but if memory is simply the means ol stirring up old prejudices and conceits, if it recalls the worst and forgets the best, if it fixes the future by a retro- spect of the. past, then it is a liability and not an' asset. A great preacher once delivered a sermon on the theme, “Progress Through Oblivion of the Past.” His text was, “Forgetting the Things That Are Behind, and Reaching Forth Unto the Things That Are Before.” It had in it a great appeal, it was the appeal of hopeful expectant living. It is the kind of appeal we need as we face the new year. Let us enter these new days praying that God may clarify our vision, rendering us more responsive to that which is noble and of good report; yes, let us enter them hoping that He will make our hearing more discriminating and our judgment more kindly, enter them be- lieving and expecting that they are to furnish fresh revelations not only of His goodness and mercy but fresh revelations of the finer impulses and motives that govern those with whom we have to do, and a better under- standing of life's purpose, which is growth and enrichment in the fine things of character. Hoover Will Make Own Plans In Studious BY WILLIAM HARD. It is going to be a fine comedy that will start in this town just as soon as Herbert ‘Hoover sets foot in it on Jan- uary 7 next. A lot of politicians here seem to have picked Hoover out to be the gaping goof who will get his face all plastered with custard pies. Hoover is going to be asked to put his | countenance in between the White House and the Congress on the subject of whether or not a farm bill should be passed in this session. He is going to be asked to jay-walk in between the colliding forces of Speaker Longworth and Senator Borah on the subject of whether or not there should be an extra session of Congress next. Summer. A few other splendid lines already written for him by the black magic crystal gazers of Washington in this approaching masterpiece of comic art are as follows: Hoover will immediately announce a whole cabinet, chosen for him princi- pally by political probhets who were against his nomination at Kansas City and who were skeptical of his prospects in the election. A He will also proceed in effect to ab- dicate from one of his principal func- tions as Chief Magistrate of the Gov- ernment of the United States and will hand over all the Federal patronage for spontaneous distribution by Hubert ‘Work, chairman of the Republican na- tional committee. In the midst of these and other sim- flar majestic altitudinous flights of dramatic motion picture politics, let us consider for a flattening moment the cautious pedestrian habits of our hero, the President-elect, who, being a miner, works always by preference underground rather than up in the air, where he can be shot at, and let us additionally, in the name of prose and in defiance of poetry, think for a calming instant of the merely natural and automatic | tasks which actually confront him in| ‘Washington. Hoover has to talk with everybody of any importance in Re- publican national politics in order to find out just what has happened while he has been away and in order to find out just where he himself is at in the center of it all now. He can talk with a statesman and get the conversation concluded and ac- complished in 15 minutes in Washing- ton, whereas, if the statesman had to go to Florida, the length of the trip would make him feel that the time was wasted unless the conversation with Hoover lasted about three hours. Moreover, there are some lofty states- men—such as, particularly and most eminently, Willlam Edgar Borah—who probably would not leave their high duties in Washington and proceed to Florida or to any other spot anywhere at_ the demand or request of any earthly dignitary, potentate, monarch or,_monarch-elect, whatsoever. . Such is the simple reason why Hoover is coming to Washington. He is com- ing -to converse. He is coming to do it where the conversing can be readiest and shortest. He is coming to talk— and then, and then only—to act, in his | own time and in his own way. In most ways he has lots of time stretching before him. In the matter of the cabinet, for instance, he can settle down into his famous deep low padded chair in the study of his house on S street and sink his head over his chest in his much marked meditative manner and ponder all he likes for many weeks to eome, if he wants to. This is because there is a certain fact about the cabinet | that 1s seldom recognized or remem- | bered. ‘There is just one member of the cabi- net whose term seems necessarily to expire in March of next year. That member is the Pestmaster General. The United States Code says about him: “The term of the Postmaster General shall be for and during the term of the President by whom he is appoin‘ed, and for one month thereafter, unless sooner removed.” Hoover, therefore, must nominate a new Postmaster General, or renomi- nate the present one, and send the nomination to the Senate, if the Senate is tn session, by April 4. ‘With all other members of the cabi- net the situation seems to be cuite aif- ferent. In reference to the Secretary of the Treasury, for instance, the code says simply: “There shall be at the seat of Gov- ernment an executive department to be known as the Department of the Treas- uary, and a Secretary of the Treasury, who shall be the head thereof.” And there the pertinent portion of the code seems to stop. And what does that mean? ‘The meaning is being diligently in- vestigated by competent lawyers, but there are already many learned Sena- tors who hold that the meaning is as follows: Mr. Mellon, by custom and courtesy, will resign as Mr. Hoover comes into office. Mr. Hoover, if he cares to do s0, may refuse to accept the resigna- tion. Mr. Mellon then, if he so chooses, may simply remain in office and Mr. not have to send eny'ing and Quiet Way name at all to the Senate for the posi- tion of Secretary of the Treasury, If this contention is correct, there can be no Democratic and insurgent Republican attack upon the confirma- | tion of Mr. Mellon as Secretary of the ‘Treasury in the Senate; because no con- firmation, if Mr. Hoover wishes to con- tinue Mr. Mellon as Secretary of the | Treasury, will be needed. ‘The same legal situation, on the sur- face of the statutes, seems to exist re- garding all other places in the cabinet, except that of the Postmaster General. ‘The conclusion would be that Mr. Hoo- ver does not have to be in any precip- itate hurry about cabinet appointments. Even, however, if he should want to make them all before March 4, he has “plenty of time ahead of him, and he is normally accustomed to taking all the time that the law allows. It is ade- quately known that he had distributed no cabinet posts when he left Cali- fornia for Latin America. It is wholly out of harmony with his character that he should have distributed many of them since by open throbs of public ether-waves, even in code, from the top of the Andes. Hoover likes personal, private conference and he is not given to tipping his hand hurriedly or jn the middle of a game, (Copyright, 1928.) ————— Tariff Act Revision Called Complicated | BY HARDEN COLFAX. Revision of the tariff act, in prepara- tion for which hearings are scheduled to start before the ways and means committee & week from Monday, is & much more complicated task than mere- ly jacking up & few score rates of im- port duty and slashing down others. Rates are importani clal and administrative sections of a tar- iff act. It is proposed, in the forthcom- ing revision of the tariff, to pay par- ticular attention to matters other than figures of customs duties to be levied against imports. Just as in the income tax provisions of a revenue act the arrangement of the brackets is fully as important as the rates written therein, S0 in a tariff act the administrative provisions vitally affect the amouht of revenue to be collected. It is a huge task which the ways and means committee faces in rewriting the tariff act. Yet it is not as heavy as that involved in the tariff revision which brought forth.the present law in 1922. In the latter case, the problem was one of translating a “‘competitive” bill, or a tariff for revenue only, written by the Democrats in 1913, into a protective tariff of Republican complexion. In the prospective revision, the basis upon which work will begin already is pro- tective and the problem resolves itself into one of changes in figures and lan- guage to ‘meet new conditions which have arisen since 1922. But even a slight change in the figures of rates, up or down, is no child's play. There are more than 4,000 commodities specially mentioned in the present tariff act. In more than half of these cases {to change the duty on one commodity will necessitate changes in a dozen or more of others of reiated character, just as a pebble tossed into a pool causes ripples in every direction. Take wool, for example. If the rate of duty on raw wool were to be changed, it would necessitate changes in every sin- gle item of the schedule following the raw material, to translate the protec- tive duty given wool into a compen- satory duty in every article made of wool. The protective duty on the fabri- cated merchandise—that 1s, the duty considered sufficlent to make up the differences in labor and processing costs here and abroad—might be sufficient, but the change in the raw material rate would necessitate an alteration of the compensatory duty, or_the schedule would be out of line. If the duty on butter is to be changed, so must be that on cream. And tnere are 1342 rates in the present tariff act, some covering a number of items. It required 10 months to legislate on the 1922 tariff act. As the compen- satory differences are known factors, and the new bill will be of the same protective character as the old, the ap- proaching task will be more simple. Added to which is the important fact that the two major political parties now are much more close to the same point of view toward fariff policy than they Were seven year: ago. Many of the administrative provi- sions of the tariff act are obsolete. Court rulings have affected others; ex- perience has brought the Customs Bu- reau to a desire for change in more. For one unn?. the Treasury officials will ask that the drawback provision be changed In the revision. By this sec- tion there is a refund of 99 per cent of the import duties when foreign com- modities brought here for manufacture are exported. In sugar, for illustration, this runs into alarge sum-—$5,777,000 last year. Total drawbacks run about $15,000,000 annually. The Treasury wants a limitation of three years dur- which -may- be kept but so are the spe- | Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. While people of the country seem to think that members of Congress have been having an easy time during the lay-off over the Christmas-New Year holidays, they are really far from the mark. The writer dropped into the of- fice of Representative Treadway of | Massachusetts .the other day and was | amazed to find him hard at work be- hind a fortification of thick volumes !'and stacks of pamphlets. Investigation | showed that these were the hearings on the last tariff bill and that the Congressman was giving special study to the schedules covering cotton and woolen textiles, silks, and paper, which are produced largely in his district. He also was fortified with scores of reports | from the Department of Commerce showing the exports and imports and production of the muitifarious items covered in the tariff bill. Representative Treadwaywas refreshing in the hearings and getting his data up | to date on production, exports and im- parts, all preliminary to hearings on bill, so as to be able to ask intelli- gently and informatively while the witnesses are before the 16 subcom- mittees which will conduct the hear- | ings. This gives some idea of the great volume of detailed work that members | of the ways and means committee must perform in connection with the whip- ping of a tariff bill into shape for pres- | entation to the House. s And this is true not only of members of the ways and means committee that drafts the tariff bill. Practically every member of the House, especially those from industrial districts, are engaged in an intensive study of the schedules that affect the industries in their home dis- tricts. For example, Mrs. Edith N. Rogers did not go to her home in Lowell, Mass.,, for the holidays, but stayed in Washington, holding frequent conferences with officials of the Depart- ment of Commerce regarding such schedules as cotton and woolen fabrics, boots and shoes and hides and leathers, so as to be prepared to represent the interests of her home industries at the hearings which start immediately after the House reassembles. So also, Representative “Joe™” Martin of North Attleboro, Mass., was making a zealous study of the jewelry manufac- turing business and its countless rami- fications because he is going to take charge of arguing for proper protection of this industry at the hearings, this schedule coming before a subcommittee of which Representative Aldrich of Rhode Island is chairman. Representative Andrews of Gloucester, Mass., formerly a professor of economics at Harvard, where he took a Ph.D. de- gree, is now making a post-graduate re- search into the practical economics of adjusting tariff rates to the industries of his district, and he has sought the advice of the leaders in organized labor and of the shoe manufacturers and tan- neries of his home district. Nice little care-free #vacation, what? * Kk K Members of Congress are much in- terested in the way in which angry na- ture mistreated the fis hat flew over the House Office Building, where the members have their offices. When com- plaint was made during the heavy wind and rain storm that there was no flag flying over the building, Lieut. H. P. Warner of the Capitol police force went to the roof of the building and brought down the flag that had been whipped to streamers by the wind. It was soak- ing wet, and the shreds had been so tightly braided and knotted that they cannot be loosened. It was practically a new flag before the storm. Now the braids and knots made by the wind are being viewed daily by members of Con- gress who are amazed that such work could be done by the shifting wind. * ok ok X House members are now gefting the corrected officlal election returns so as to use the exact figures in their bio- | graphical sketches in the new Con- | gressional Directory, just going to press. iIn view of the fact that the first con- gressional district of Massachusetts is widely scattered, comprising all of Berkshire and parts of Frariklin, Hamp- den and Hampshire counties, and in view of the fact that with the wide range of local candidates it has been difficult to make comparisons, Repre- ysis made of the unprecedentedly large vote cast in the recent election. This shows that while Treadway received 10,575 majority, Hoover's majority was only 1,899; that of Allen for governor. was 6,639 and that of Walsh, Democrat, | for Senator was 3,326. * oK kK Representative Treadway has just re- ceived a beautifully embeilished parch- ment certificate addressing him as “Illustrious Notable” and notifying him that he has been elected an honorary member of Almas Temple in Washing- ton, with the conclusion, “May Allah Bless Him.” * ok oK K Proteges of Congressmcn who are serving as pages or messenger boys in either House or Senale are now enjoy- ing a new privilege. A school for the pages has been opened in the Capitol Building through the initiative of Bert W. Kennedy, veteran doorkeeper of the page more than 40 years ago. There are 30 pages in this school, which is taught by professors from the Devitt Preparatory School, which specializes in training young men for the Annapolis and West Point exami- nations. Many of the peges in Con- gress are promised appointments to either the Military or Naval Academy as soon as they are eligible and can pass the stiff examinations. The school for pages is in session daily from 9 to 11:30, and the pages aiso get three nights a week in the Devitt school be- sides. They are paying $15 a month from their salaries for this instruction. Members of Congress are striving to have the costs of this schooling paid out of the contingent funds and thus relieve the pages of this tuition fee. The school occupies a historic room on the terrace side of the Capitol, which was for many years occupied by the committee on merchant marine and fisheries, with the famous Gen. Charles H. Grosvenor of Ohiq as chairman, and in more recent vears presided over by the late “Uncle Billy” Green, formerly an auctioneer of Fall River, Mass. e They Do A Fast Fade-out. From the Haverhill Evening Gazette. A Russian gouple were married and divorced in 40 minutes the other day. Great movie talent! ‘here before being exported with benefit of drawback. Changes will be sought by various interests also in the country-of-origin markings section, which requires that imported goods be marked with the name of the country where produced. Organized labor, and many manufac- turers, are particularly eager to have this section retained and strengthened, and opposite views will be presented by others. J Various changes in the flexible tariff provisions, by which rates may be changed without congressional action, will be sought. One of the outstanding battles in this forthcoming revision of the tariff prom- ises to be a fundamental one involv- ing the basis of assessing dutles where ad valorem rates are provided. The resent law, with a few rare exceptions, es ad valorem rates on foreign value of the merchandise. posals to change this to the value of similar domestic goods, sold in the home mar- ket, or the value of similar imported goods sold here, will be made. A change to either of the last two plans would do away with the firritation caused in some for countries by the activities of Uni States customs agents in inquiring Into values there. But a similar change was p) for the 1922 act, but was rejected by the Senate after the House had accepted it. ACopyrishts 1038.). his memory about what was testified the various schedules of the new tariff | sentative Treadway had a special anal- | House, who came to Washington as a | Every capital of the world has its peculiar beauties. The outstanding edi- fices and places by token of which great cities are famed are nearly | always public in character, built by | governments for government and for | rblic use. Washington bows to no | capital in the matter of the beauty | of its public buildings and parks, but it has the added distinction of being among the most elegant cities in the | world from the point of view of resi- dences and privately owned structures. This fact has just been most ex- pressively emphasized in a report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which finds that more money is spent on| dwellings at the National Capital than in any other American city of metro- politan proportions. While the bu- reau's statistics cover only the United | States, it may safely be assumed that Washington also would stand at the | head of a world list, for American standards are admittedly the highest. To begin with, Washington has no extensive slums. There are poor sec- tions of the city, to be sure, but no areas wherein one may go for block after block through squalid and in-/| sanitary surroundings. Such small islands” of poor and unsightly dwell- ings as have survived rapidly are being displaced by better building=. The new program of building whereby a mile- long strip just south of Pennsylvania javenue will be adorned with public buildings to house the Government | departments, is wiping out scores of un- sightly old structures. The Fine Arts Commission must pass | on the architectural acceptability of all | public buildings, monuments and the | like, and a zoning law of the District | of Columbia governs to some extent the placing and design—especially as to height—of private structures. More- over, civic pride is strong in Washiag- ton and business houses vie with each other in planning handsome buildings, | be they stores, office buildings, theaters or apartment houses. Residences Are Beautiful. But it is the residence itself which holds such a high standard of taste. In recent years there has been a tre- mendous improvement in architectural | design and, what the Bureau of Labor Statistics especially emphasizes, extent of money outlay on dwellings. The average cost of a dwelling in Wash- ington is higher than in any other city. The same is true of apartment houses. Washington began with good models, and there are still many survivals of perfect Colonial ~architecture. —Like every other American city, the Capital passed through its architectural dark ages, during which hideous buildings were erected, but most of them have been done away with or have had their facades lifted. The tree-lined streets and avenues of the Capital Citv fur- nish in themselves an incentive to at- tractive building. There is variety in type of dwellings in Washington. Many one-family dwellings are constructed. Quite a number of two-family houses are bullt and many apartment houses of varying sizes, some quite enormous. The figures given by the bureau are cost figures and must not be mistaken for price figures. What the house pur- chaser pays for a dwelling is somewhat more. Nor do these figures include either the cost or the selling price of the land on which the structures are | erectes Builder's profit and land value | must dded. i During the first six months of 1928. statistics for which period have just been completed, the average cost of a one-family dwelling in the District of Columbia was $8.534. In that period 745 such houses were ‘built. The lowest cost recorded was in Buffalo, where the figure was only $3.619 and where 934 | | } | well over a century, Housing Situation in Washington BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. houses were built. Baltimore is only 40 miles from Washington, but houses the first six months of 1928 cost less than half as much to build in the former city. The figure for Baltimore is $4,001. Now, a reason can be advanced for the lower cost of dwellings in Los Ange- les, for which a figure of $3,847 (much Jess .than half the Washington cost) is given. In Los Angeles houses need not have elaborate heating plants to meet cold Winters, which they must in Wash- ll;K'OI'L ‘They can be more flimsily built also. Perhaps more talk is heard aboiit the high cost of building in New York than anywhere else and yet 1t is below the Washington cost. No one- family houses were built in the Borough of Manhattan in the first half of this year, but 742 such houses were built in the residential Bronx. Their average cost was $6,939, more than $1,500 less than the average Washing- ton cost. In the outlying Boroughs of Queens and Richmond costs drop 50 per cent. Capital Rentals Not High. Cost of apartment houses, too, Is high in Washington, being second only to Manhattan Island costs, and well above costs in all other boroughs of Greater New York; about $2,000 higher on an average than Bronx, Brooklyn, Richmond and Queens costs.. The cost of apartment houses, allocated by the number of separate apartments to give the cost per family, in Manhattan was $7,014 in the first six months of 1928 and $5,597 in Washington. The lowest cost per family of apartment building was in St. Louis, for which the figure $2,063 is given. While the apartment house figure in Manhattan is above that for Washing- ton, it must be remembered that only very expensive apartment houses are being built in Manhattan and on very expensive and highly taxed land. It the City of New York is taken as a whole and the cost averaged it is found that Washington leads the entire coun- try in cost*of housing. The Department of Labor has com- piled no figures on rentals paid for dwellings in general. It has only cov- eréd workingmen's dwellings. But ref- erence to newspaper advertisements reveal that, in spite of the lower cost of housing in New York than in Wash- ington, rentals are generally higher in the Metropolis than in the Capital. The newcomer to Washington will not have difficulty in finding satisfac- tory places to live as the supply is equal to the demand and the variety adequate. In the last decade there has been a marked exodus to the sub- urbs of Washington which have been beautifully developed. On the out- skirts of the City of Washington in the District of Columbia and, over the State line into Maryland on the one hand and across the Potomac River into Virginia on the other, are to be found ulous communities. ~ There are thousands of artistically designed le family dwellings and also far into tl suburbs there are large apartment houses. Avenues and boulevards connect these suburbs with the center of the city. There are many street car lines ?‘:d an ever increasing number of bus es. ‘There is still another t; of Wash- ington dwelling which is in it de- mand. Old houses, some dati back have been re- modeled, the smaller into modern single family dwellings and the larger man- sions into apartment houses. The re- modeling has been largely restricted to installation of modern convenienees, added baths and the like, the beauties of colonial architectural design being retained. Fifty Years Ago In The Star There was no Commission of Fine Arts fifty years ago to pass upon public Plan and Site for asel el prea the placement, Museum Building. of buildings, and no Public Build- ings Commission, consequently the de- signing and the location of structures were not supervised as closely as at present. The following in The Star of December 24, 1878, relates to a proposed construction regarding which there is now much criticism: “The proposed new building for the National Museum is, if authorized by Congress, to be situated to the east of the Smithsonian Building at the foot of Ninth street. It was proposed in the original bill to place it to the west of the Smithsonian, but the congressional committee on visiting the ground came to the opinion that if the building were placed next to the Smithsonian and between it and the Agricultural De- partment it would destroy the pleasing effect produced by the uniform distance of the two existing buildings from | Twelfth street and that a site on the other side of the Smithsonian would obviate this objection and also give a better view of the new building itself. For the erection of the latter, a fire- proof structure 300 feet square, $250.000 is asked. The model of the building bears a general resemblance to the Government building at the Centennial | Exposition. The new Museum would | have but a single floor and be entirely of brick and iron. Its 90.000 square feet of floor would be lighted by 12,000 | feet of glass equal to one-seventh of | floor space for glass. It is said that according to best authorities one-ninth of floor space for glass is required to exhibit art matter properly.” * * x “Washington harbors almost as many worthless dogs as the cur-infested city g of Constantinople,” says | A Canine The Star of December Nuisance. 24, 1878. “Some time | ago a broken-down cltizen went to the poorhouse follow.d | by no less than sixteen dogs, who had doubtless helped him on his way 1o} bankruptey. It is almost impossible to | | ride or drive through the city or out- | ! skirts without having a pack of these vile | curs burst out from some alley in full | yelp, in a way to seriously try the nerves | of a spirited horse, and some bad acci- | dents have resulted. It may be mention- | ed for the benefit of both the ownersof | the dogs and the victims that in a | recent case in Towa the Supreme Court of the State held that the bark of a dog | is as bad as its bite and made a de-) cision protecting travelers from its an- | noyance by giving the prosecutor the | damages he wanted because he was in- | | jured by jumping from his buggy after | the defendant's dog had scared his horse into running away by rushing out and barking.as the complainant drove along the highway. The court held that it was not essential that the dog should have bitten the horse, but it was enough that it ran after it and barked.” | * 58 “Now that gold is no longer at a premium and is comi(r’lg out from its | hiding places into The Troublesome circulation,” L s The Star of De-| Dollar of Gold. coryer 58" 1878, “the curious fact is presented that for convenient use the public prefer green- backs to it, and for any amount under five dollars even prefer silver. The gold dollar is objectionable on account of its minute size, rendering it constantly liable to be lost. As Falstaff had in sinking, this little coin has an alacrity for dropping from a porte-monnale or working from the bottom of a pocket. | If the gold dollar couid be made thinner i and of larger surface it would not only obviate this objection to a certain ex- tent, but it would be a much hand- somer coin. All our gold coin, in fact, compares _unfavorably with the Eu- ropean coin in appearance, for the rea- son that it is both inferiox in design | pillow, his biggest and best present, but, This and That By Charles E. Tracewell. Christmas morning found Jack Spratt, the cat, up early to survey his pres- ents. Santa Claus had made his selection with a view to the nose. What is the use cf giving a cat a present he cannot smell? The nose is the great organ of ap- prehension with which Felis domestica comprehends the visible world. To give a cat a book to read is like giving a child a beautiful new suit of underwear. A cat wants something in good odor, something with a tang to it, something he can set his teeth into. He will not be satisfied with a set of the encyelo- pedia. * kK % Jack Spratt found his Christmas very much to his liking. In the first place, there was white meat of turkey for dinner, heavily gar- nished with sprigs of catnip. ‘This is a holiday feast which may be recommended to all households which harbor cats. It will be discovered with most cats that the garnishing goes first. Cooked meat, even roast turkey, tokes second place in the estimation of the average house cat. Catnip, the favorite herb of the cat tribe, will win a cat’s heart every time, We have seen them turn down Iaw beefsteak for a few dry leaves of Nepeta cataria.” Tales of drunken revels over catnip are misleading. Cats are too dignified to become intoxicated. It is true they will roll a bit in it, after having eaten all they want, but such antics are simply good nature. T Jack’s Christmas catnip came in a neat can which once held bal 3 but which was so decorated with tissue and ribbons as to be unrecognizable. The quality of the catmint contained was unsurpassed. Catnip is a men- thaceous plant with a distinct odor of its own, but this particular batch was unusually flavorous. Jack ate of it greedily. ‘Sometimes he is very finicky about his catnip, deigning to eat only certain parts, probably the dried blossoms. A batch of Blue Ridge Mountain catnip which he received sever months age nd which was of very superior quality, had about disappeared when kind friends came to the forz with the fresh can. This Christmas catnip was even the superior_of that from the mountains. Jack offered his old friend Blackie. tramp cat, a sprig or two, and Blackie agreed with his verdict that it was the best catnip he had ever consumed. * K K X For his 4 o'clock dinner Jack Spratt had more turkey—white meat, of courze —and a quarter of a pound of raw beef- steak. After this repast Jack made for his woven rug, made to fit, and there stretched himself out. We had hoped he would seek his brand-new cedar { knowing Jack Spratt as we do, we ha little idea that he would. He did not. After giving the pillow, stuffed with sweet-smelling cedar excelsior, a few vigorous whiffs, Jack ambled over to his braided rug. Folding his white paws beneath his white chest, he gravely looked out upon the world of the living -room rug. “Merry Christmas!" fe seemed to say. “And a Happy New Year!" We joined him in sending these greetings 1o his friends. 3 Why Not All Three? From the Lansing State Journal. Can mistletoe be listed as an excuse, a provocation or a useless overhead 3 expense? and execution and s cl'msily thick in proportion to its surface. ‘Our gold dollar might almost as well be ug round, in the shape of birdshot, a8 its present Y ) -