Evening Star Newspaper, February 7, 1929, Page 8

MHE EVENING STAR g ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY....February 7, 1020 THEODORF W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 11th 8t. and . rpdet S TR Rate by Carrier Within the City. r.(kmmmm: r.m per month nda €3 per month y 5 3 T C oolection made o {hy anid of ncgm%rm. rders may be sent in by mall or telephone Main 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Vir‘!lnll. 10.80: 1 ::; i3 34 Daily and Sunday. Daily only, Sunday only 1 B: 1.00 aily only 8¢ Sundsy only . Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled o the use for republization of all news dis- atches credited to it or not othersise cred ted in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. = The Chest Is Filled. Washington's first Community Chest is not only filled on time. It over- flows. And the community which filled 1t has given renewed demonstration of the pride, the loyalty and the unity of purpose which exist in this city of more than half a million disfranchised Americans, deprived of the means of self-expression enjoyed by fellow Amer- icans elsewhere, ‘The victory won is unique. Politically the famous colonnades. Though title in this land passes to the Pope, the Italian government will be intrusted with its maintenance, while the Vatican, on its part, has the right to close St. Peter's Square to the public at will. Officially the new papal territory will be known as the “Vatican City” or the “Vatican State.” Pius XI and his successors may set up and operate their own railway sta- tion and telegraph, telephone, postal and wireless services. They may, if the princes of the church care to be so modern, establish a papal airport, and will be privileged to mint money, print currency and postage and exercise vir- tually all the other prerogatives of a sovereign state. No mention is heard of the right to an army and navy, al- though presumably the historic Swiss guard at the Vatican will remain under arms amid all its picturesque splendor. ‘The “Vatican State” is already widely recognized abroad. The Holy See main- tains diplomatic relations with Aus- tria, Bavaria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hun- gary, Japan, Jugoslavia, Latvia, Lithu- ania, Monaco, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Spain, Switzerland and all of the American republics ex- cept the United States, Cuba, Mexico and Uruguay. The world’s escimated Roman Catholic population is 334,704,- 791, of whom the overwhelming bulk acknowledges fealty to the Church of Rome. Census figures for 1926 fixed the church’s membership in the United States at 18,605,003. They and their co-religionists throughout the world are bound to look with profound satis- faction upon the historic triumph which the Vatican has just wrung from the Italian dictatorship. . unorganized, but bound together in pur- suit of a goal representing spiritual as well 2s practical attainment, Washing- ton has established what may be a record in response to its first Com- munity Chest appeal. That this re- sponse surprised even those who were close to the inner workings of the cam- paign machinery is attested by some two thousand letters, addressed and sealed and waiting to go into the mails today, asking the chest workers to con- tinue their efforts until the full amount sought has been obtained. Those let- ters will never be mailed. Last night's final report showed that the task of meeting the deficit which seemed threatened was not only accomplished, but about five per cent of the total sought was poured into the chest as & surplus, These workers who_have given gen- erously of their time, and the com- munity which has answered their ap- peal by filling the chest, are to be con- gratulated. - They have assured the con- Sinuation through the coming year of the labor of fifty-seven organizations ministering to the wants of the needy. They have created a fund which will 80 to meet emergencies in the budgets of these organizations. They have again put Washington on the map as a city ‘which meets generously, with heart and soul, the obligations of practical patri- otism and citizenship. ‘The Community Chest is filled. Wash- Ington's duty is to keep it filled. The gold that overflows now will soon find its way into those channels which lead to the alleviation of suffering, the re- habilitation of broken lives, the sub- stitution of bright, new opportunity and promise for bitter hopelessness and distress. Those who have worked tire- lessly and faithfully to fill Washing- ton’s chest with this gold can never Test on the laurels won. Next year the chest will be empty again. Next year it Snust be filled again. Once done, it can and will be done again. Those who have performed this labor of love must never grow weary. ————— A collector of quaint statistics points out that Lindbergh was not the first to achieve a non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The assertion is proved by reference to the numerous pilots and passengers in dirigibles. As in the case of many startling statements, there was ® “catch” in it. Lindbergh flew in un- protected solitude by airplane. —————— Farmers in Italy rally to the support ©f Mussolini, feeling the need of strong- &rm work in government as well as in agriculture. ———— Before retirement on March 5, Gen. Lejeune will have several weeks of ac- tion. Any service at all by Lejeune is always active. B e The New Papal State. Not often do the European cables bring us tidings of the transcendent dmport implied by today's dispatches from Rome describing the imminent signature of the agreement between the Italian government and the Vatican. Next Sunday a treaty settling the his- toric “Roman question” will be signed by Premier Mussolini and Cardinal Gas- parri, papal secretary of state. It constitutes the first part of a con- cordat regulating all future relations between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See. In particular it sets up a full-panoplied papal state, with recog- nion of canon law. “Canon law” is a ccfilecuon of statutes or rules compiled from canons of Roman Catholic Church councils, papal decrees and decretals and other rules of discipline. The Ttalian government henceforward binds itself to secure their enforcement throughout the country. ‘There is no parallel for this conces- #ion in any existing state. Signor Cor- tesi, the seasoned correspondent of the Assoclated Press at Rome, shrewdly fore- shadows that “the chief interest of per- sons outside of Italy” is likely to be “focused on this experiment.” At the Vatican the establishment of canon law is hailed as an epoch-making victory. Unquestionably it is an episode of im- measurable consequences. For more than a thousand years the Popes have tried in vain to secure the Tecognition of the church's code by the recurring governments of Italy. To Pius XI has been given by Mussolini what the pontiffs through the centuries were denied. The Vatican has not retrieved its one-time vast domain of 16,000 square miles stretching across mid-Italy {rom sea to sea, wiich was incorporated in the Kingdom of Italy in 1871, during the reign of Plus IX. But in a variety of other directions the territory, the power, the authority and the prestige of the church are extended. The new papal state embraces im- Mr. Root's Mission. Elihu Root, the Nestor of American statesmen, will seek in Europe an un- derstanding with its governments which will bring about the entry of the United States into the World Court, with the reservations attached by the Senate. The former Secretary of State is to sail soon as an unofficial emissary of this Government, with the backing of the administration in his efforts to N THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON. D. C. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1929. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, Tucker, of eighteen hours and fifty- sight minutes, For twelve hours they fGew “blind,” being unable to see the ground or estimate their position ac- curately because of stormy weather. Yet thirty-seven minutes ahead of the record they landed in New York. Both Lindbergh and Hawks have made notable contributions to this fast- moving world. To link Central America and North America by air for mail and passengers is an epochal feat. To span the United States in non-stop flight at an average of one hundred and fifty miles an hour through wind and sleet and darkness and light is an achieve- ment which will take its place in' the annals of aviation. The flight to Pan- ama and the flight across the continent may be made in speedier time, but the fact remains that Lindbergh and Hawks have set the pace and it is up to the others to follow in man’s never-ending 2ffort to make distance a matter of no soncern to the world's population. ————————— Belief in witchcraft is more prevalent than many persoas supposed. It is founded on an adverse streak in human nature. Very many* find more pleasure in the idea of “hexing” an enemy than in that of rewarding a fricnd. — e In arranging a presiidential inaugura- tion the enthusiasm of the public has to be considered. However inclined to modest simplicity a successful candidate may be, the assembled throngs insist on expressing their feelings ———————_ Standard Oil used to be unkindly re- ferred to as an “octopus.” The Indiana tentacle is creating as strange an inci- dent as might be expected if three- headed Cerberus were to engage in a family dog fight. —————__ Voters remain attentive to their elec- tlon responsibilities, and are no doubt relieved to find that they are not ex- pected to cast ballots to decide matters of social precedence. —— . ‘Writings of Nietsache, referring to “will to power,” are still raising a lit- erary question as to whether the world has not been taking its “best sellers™ too seriously. straighten out the tangle in which the adherence of the United States to the World Court has become involved. He goes with the approval, it is understood, of President Coolidge, who has been anxious to consummate the adherence of this country to the Court of Inter- national Justice, as it is more properly called. He goes, too, following & con- ference with President-elect Herbert Hoover, although it has not been dis- closed what subjects Mr. Root took up with the next President at the time he visited him here. ‘To no more able hands could such a mission be intrusted. Mr. Root has the knowledge and experience, coupled with the sense and poise required. The stumbling block which has so far pre- vented the final entry of this country into the court as a member nation has been reservation number five, adopted by the Senate when that body put through the resolution of ratification at the behest of President Coolidge. This reservation would prevent the World Oourt from handing down ad- visory opinions for the benefit of the League of Nations in matters in which the United States has or claims to have a special interest, without the consent of the United States. The Senate stood firm for this reservation, although it was argued that it was not neces- sary at the time of its adoption. There is no indication. now, it is said, that the Senate will yield its earlier opinion. Mr. Root’s mission is to make the powers already members of the World Court understand that this reservation of the United States is really no bar to its participation in the World Court, an end which has been desired abroad as well as in this country. ‘The belief is expressed that Mr. Root, under the circumstances, has an excel- lent chance of being successful in his mission. The United States along with the other nations of the world is en- tering upon an agreement renouncing war as a means of settling international disputes. It is obvious that there must be some substitute, with perfected ma- chinery, for handling disputes between nations if there is to be no resort to arms, The Permanent Court of Inter- national Justice presents such a means and the perfected machinery. 1t is now three years since the Sen- ate ratified the World Court protocol, with reservations. Only a few of the nations that are members of the court have agreed to adherence by the United States with these reservations. The more important powers have balked. If Mr. Root is successful in his mission it will be another triumph for the veteran statesman. —————————— Auto accidents in 1928 caused a startling loss of life and property. There is no cowardice in American make-up. The average citizen still says “Who is afraid?” and welcomes the high-power salesman. — et ————— The cost of cruiser building is re- garded by many economists as a sort of premium on insurance against “an- other war.” ——— e Faster, Ever Faster. Little by little is distance being an- Statisticians do not hesitate to call at- tention to the fact that in Navy building the question of upkeep demands consid- eration no less than that of original in- vestment. ————— ‘Whether or not J. P. Morgan figures personally in world conferences, he will probably be permitted a few influential remarks on the administration of world money. — e What President Coolidge will do after the Fourth of March is a topic of spec- ulation. What he may do before that date is a subject of still greater con- cern. R Night gayeties' are. rendered newly dangerous by the type of adventuress who carries & marriage license in blank along with her purse and powder puff. —_————— Any influential statesman who seeks “another war” will at least refrain from the pretense that he is trying “to give the public what it wants.” Cabinet forecasters generally admit that President-elect Hoover is not an especially easy subject for mind read- A few “lame ducks” do not hesitate to assert that they are still in the politi- cal swim. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNESON. Guessing Contest. The greatest reverence we find Accorded to the human mind That causes us, in solemn doubt, To guess what some one's thinking "bout. Of problems strange we often hear, ‘Which charm the eye or soothe the ear, As puzzles new a brain brings out, With “Guess what I am thinking ‘bout!” A man may have a brain not high; And yet, if he will wisely try, He may persuade the world to shout, “We wonder what he’s thinking 'bout!” Moves. “I suppose you know all the political moves?” “On the contrary,” answered Sena- tor Sorghum, “I am at present like a man on a checkerboard, not knowing whether I am to be shoved into the king row or jumped at any moment.” Jud Tunkins says he'd be more in favor of a five-day working week if everybody with a liftle extra spare time didn’t want to write poetry. Refrigerated Bloom. 8till beauty finds protecting care As frosty days unfold. A snowflake's like 2 flower fair Preserved by Winter cold. Guidance. “How did you come to ride away past your corner?” “Henrletta wasn't with me,” answered Mr. Meekton. “Even on the street cars T have gotten into the habit of depend- ing on her to tell me exactly where I get oft.” nihilated by modern invention and by modern methods of travel. Yesterday the Nation’s flying idol, Lindbergh, com- pleted an unhurried flight of three days from Miami, Fla, to Cristobal, in the Canal Zone, with the United States meil, thereby cutting in half the slapsed time for ordinary boat con- veyance. The day before Capt. Frank M. Hawks swooped down on Roosevelt PField, New York, finishing a twenty- seven-hundred-mile non-stop flight from Los Angeles in eighteen hours and twenty-one minutes and setting a new and impressive record for spanning the continent. Lindbergh's trip marked the opening of a regular mail schedule from the United States to Panama, later to be 2xpanded into a mail and passenger route to South America. When he reached Cristobal he had covered sev- enteen hundred miles, and, as is the Lindbergh custom, he set his ship down at his destination within three minutes of the time he was booked to arrive. Capt. Hawks and his mechanic, in a four-hundred-horsepower, one-hundred- Footgear. “Why are shoes so terribly dear?” “I dunno,” said Uncle Bill Bottletop, “unless it has something to do with the wear and tear incident to bootlegging.” “It is hard,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “to serve a master who re- gards an effort to be helpful as an at- tempt to assert superior wisdom.” Color Scheme. The classical musician views The jazz band with much dread; And every time they play a “Blues” It leaves him “Seeing Red.” “Luck,” sald Uncle Eben, “is what de lite stranger wif de loaded dice de- g:nd; on, not to get diskivored.” — e —r—————————— Safety in Surveys. From the Columbus Ohio State Journal. The powers of evil probably never feel safer than when a fact-finding commission is appolited to make a survey of them. e Grounds for Appeal. From the Albany Evening News. and - eighty - five - mile - an - hour ship, memorial St. Peter's Square, including the capacious plot of ground on the started out from Los Angeles to break . the record held Mgfly by Col. A Brooklyn man was sentenced by a court to kiss his mother-in-law. We ‘ t ‘The “home town” paper, which comes to thousands of Government workers every week, contains both instruction and amusement. In its columns the “exile” may renew old acquaintances and old times; the small paper is the one link between him and the place of his birth. Mostly these fruits of country jour- nalism are weeklies, with “special cor- respondence” from villages and nearby communities bccupying prominent place. Recently we unfolded one of these papers, published in a community of particular interest to us, and spent a pleasaut hour reading all about the doings of the home folks. Gme of the featured articles was an address by Dr. Stanley Coulter, dean emeritus of Purdue University, who spoke before the luncheon club of the town where this paper is published. Dr. Coulter “spoke hr&fly on the trend of modern times and the part that individuals and organizations could and should play in solving the prob- lems that confront this generation.” It is with pleasure that we quote, be- cause Dr. Coulter, who perhaps is bet- ter known in the Middle West than in the East, said “a mouthful,” as the vernacular has it: “Dr. Coulter paid a glowing tribute to the youth of this generation when he said that they were no worse and no different from the youth of past generations, but were only doing the same things that their ancestors did, but using modern methods and means in doing it. “He laid the ills of this age, not to the youth, but to the adults because of their many evasions of law and au- thority and their ‘standardless’ method of living. “‘Unless_history fails to repeat it- self’ said Dr. Coulter, ‘this age of law evasion and standardless living pref- aces a period of serious crisis for this NHHT’I. and it is only when the adult popalation becomes conscious stricken and sets up high standards of conduct and reflects them to the communi- ties through their organizations that a remedy can be expected.’” Well, well, welll It would seem, then, that all the pow-wow thrown up during the past decade about the viclousness of modern youth was all a “smoke screen” to throw everybody off the track, to keep the youngsters from ‘suspecting where the trouble really lay! All the learned articles about “pet- ting parties” and “necking,” the dia- tribes about flasks and joy-rides, in reality were on a par with the outburst of the guilty party who makes a coun- ter accusation before the innocent vic- tim can get in his legitimate Kkick! Personally, we believe Dean Coulter is exactly right. * K ok ok Here we have an item concerning nine members of one family in the same hospital. “The Lem Duncan family, who live on the Neal farm near Henryville, are all at home again, after having been in the Methodist Hospital at Center- town for several weeks, “The last four of the family returned home Sunday. Mr. and Mrs. Duncan and their seven children were taken to the hospital on December 26 suffering with severe cases of the flu, and the father and mother were both in serious conditions with pneumonia and it was feared they could not survive; two others also developed pneumonia. The parents and three children left the hos- ital 10 daj " p'l‘here t:»neys h:go“flu" in wholesale lots. What a Christmas that family must e i The beginning of a new public policy toward the ra is seen by news- paper observers in the Interstate Com- merce Commission's approval of leases through which the New York Central simplifies relations with two important links in its system, the Michigan Cen- tral and the Big Four. It is recognized, however, that much remains to be done before the way igopened for the com- prehensive cor dations of which railroad financiers and operators dream. “Obviously the day of the small rail- road s passing,” the Louisville Courier- Journal declares. “Only here and there can short lines survive, and then only as integral parts of larger systems. A vast economic necessity makes these consolidations imperative. Small, run- down railroads cannot compete with the bus, the truck, the private passen- ger automobile and the airplane. Only the prosperous carrier is able to offer luxuries, refinements of service, speedy travel. * * * The railroads must form themselves into compact units, aban- doning every unnecessary mile of track and forcing every piece of rolling stock ;o do more work than it has done be- fore.” The effect of the decision on the general situation is considered by the Utica Observer-Dispatch, with the con- clusion that “it cannot be said that approval by the commission of this simple merger goes far toward paving the way for any general railroad con- solidations plan.” As to the New York Central, however, that paper says, “With the necessity removed of keeping income and outgo, for the different lines, separate, the Central will be able to effect economies not only in account- ing, but also in more unified use of the physical properties than has been pos- sible under stock control alone.” Emphasizing the point that the gen- eral plan for American rail consolida- tions “still hangs fire,” the New York Evening World makes the comment: “The commission continues to wait on Congress for needed changes and Con- Eress still fails to act. The present step forward, but subject to future amend- ment. It will enable the Central further to unify its system and reduce overhead costs. But it leaves most of the tribu- tary short lines out in the cold and it was a primary purpose of the consoli- dations plan to combine the weak roads in a given territory with the strong, that all might live and prosper equally. Con- solidation still awaits a real beginning.” “Prom the difficulties being encoun- tered, it is clear that realization of Congress’ idea for a complete grouping of all the railroads into a comparatively few systems is something for the still distant future,” declares the St. Paul Ploneer Press, with the comment on the conditions aside from the case of New York Central: “This case does not seem to furnish any index to the action the commission will take in the pending application of the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern and the Burlington to unify. The question of unification in the case of the Northerns is complicated by factors which were not present in the New York Central plan or had only insignificant bearing. Among such considerations most im- portant are maintenance of utmost possible competition among the carriers of a given territory, and precaution against grouping all the strongest lines together, leaving the weaker ones to shift for themselves.” ‘“Competition is supposed to be the life of trade,” replies the Ann Arbor Daily News to those who so argue, “but it has worked out badly for some rail- and as a consequence the travel- public has suffered. ara not nl!—nu&porb- cted to provide the ing and shipph For railroads that ing cannot be e: maximum of service or convenience for their patrons. It 1s questionable whether one vast rallway system would be a desirable development. Neverthe- less, it is time some of the loose strings were gathered together and a great variety of inconsistencies and duplica- tions removed.” “An idea has developed during the last several years, and perhaps not wiwthkout Ioundltlé) ,’ have had! But everything seems all right now, and the reader will hope that none of the nine will get careless in convalescence and catch cold all over again. Nine in the hospital at once is enough. We note that the Square Grove School hack, driven by Jim O'Neal, went through a railing and down an em- bankment and turned over near the overhead bridge west of Henryville about noon Monday. “Mr. O'Neal was the only passenger and he was not seriously injured, al- though he suffered cuts and bruises.” The kids were playing in luck that day. £k kk Under the head of “Surprise Pastor” the special correspondent at Viewfair gives the following: “Rev. and Mrs. George Gerard, pastor of the Church of God, were very pleas- antly surprised Friday night when the members of the men's Bible class and the Uplifters’ class went to the Gerard home to spend the evening, which was spent in a social way with plenty of homemade candy and popcorn.” We always liked evenings spent in a social way, especially when there was plenty of candy and popcorn. Social reformers please take note: Not every home in the world today specializes on raw liquor; there 1is plenty left where nothing more noxious than candy and popcorn reign. After all, what taste can exactly take the place of popcorn, hot from the popper, with plenty of good melted butter and salt? Yum, yum! One's mouth waters at the thought of all the snowy popcorn consumed by the friends of the Rev. and Mrs. Gerard. We know those people back there; they like to eat, and 1o one can blame them, because they have the best things to eat in the world. A special from Mayville tells of some musical goings-on: “Misses Eva Jannings and Vilma Chapman, Ralph Smith and Earl Mil- ler spent the week end with the for- mer's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Guy Jan- nings, and attended services at the Methodist Church Sunday morning. “Miss Chapman gave a very beautiful solo, accompanied by Mrs. Elmer Gear- ing at the ghno. Mr. Smith gave two beautiful whistling solos, ‘Rock of Ages’ and ‘Onward, Christian Soldier,” during the song service, which were greatly enjoyed.” One notes that the 5 and 10 cent store announces that a complete line of beautiful Valentine greetings has just arrived, prices from 1 cent to 25 cents. “Come in and buy while the stock is yet complete.” Somebody is going to get a Valentine! The county shipping association wants every one to know: “The packer buyer pays a fair price for top hogs. For other hogs they pay less than market prices and dump them on the open market, which depresses the market. “The association will ship hogs Tues- day, Thursday and Saturday of each week. Also will ship calves and sheep or buy them. Notify manager if you have any cattle to ship or sell.” ‘This is a great corn and hog country. Corn and hog prices and prices on baby chicks mean more to these kind- 1y and neighborly people than the lat- est_musical shows and books. The local condensed milk company advertises lyrically in large black type: “If Corn is King ‘The Dairy Cow is Queen. Sweet Cream, 48 cents ‘This week.” New York Central Leases Sh(;-v New Attitude Toward Mergers to find fault and that it did not wish really to see consolidations take place. Its latest decision will do much to re- move this impression and to convince the public that it wishes to get ahead with the job in a businesslike man- ner.” The Lansing State Journal sug- gests, “The fact that the commission has had this matter before it and has guud upon it without raising the least utter in Michigan is symptomatic of how the public attitude has veered in recent years.” ‘The Baltimore Sun holds that “it has been apparent for many months that if action is to be expedited, Con- gree will have to eliminate certain ob- stacles to progress which it only is empowered to remove.” The Sun states that “according to general understand- ing, the commission could not approve various plans submitted owing to their effect on ultimate rearrangement of the entire rail map, which the com- mission is directed to prepare, but has declared it is unable to do.” “In_recent rulings,” observes the Erie Dispatch-Herald, “the commission has acted to safeguard minority rights and the framers of a proposed meas- ure in Congress may believe it can still afford them the necessary protec- tion. Railroad consolidation " is most desirable. But it must be effected with due regard for the interests of honest investors and of the general public.” As three members of the commission dissented on the New York Central case, the uncertainty indicated is considered by the Indianapolis News, with the statement, “The effect of what has been done is far from certain, but one consequence is sure to be a stimulation of discussion about railroad affairs in general.” The Newark Evening News argues that “there is force to the con- tention of a dissenting commissioner that some 66 other subordinate roads, not included in the present plans, but not seeking to be included, should be embraced now, since they may have to be in the rémote future. It is rather far-flung to expect the commission to compel what nobody at interest, even the patrons of the lines referred to, seems to desire. Six months are al- lowed for the plan’s completion, in which period presumably any of the omitted short lines have time to make any claims that have merit,” concludes the News. ——or—s. Intellectual Stock-Taking. From the Chicago Dally News. What is the state of the Western world intellectually? The American Philosophical Society, the oldest of the scientific organizations functioning in this country, has appointed a committee to conduct a survey by way of answer- ing this rather tremendous question. ‘The committee is composed of 42 per- sons of eminence, including representa- tives of abstract science, of scientific re- search, of invention and applied science, of business and the liberal professions. Politics at Large By G. Gould Lincoln, There is a strong movement abroad to recapture the Democratic party for the the South, which was split wide open by the candidacy of former Gov. Alfred E. Smith of New York for President last year. But the hope of the Anti-Saloon League and others is that the Democrats will be sick of the wet end of the argu- ment, even in the North, by the time another national election rolls round. When Senator Harris of Georgia introduced his amendment to the defi- clency appropriation bill, providing an additional $24,000,000 for prohibition enforcement, and the Republican ad- ministration, lead by Secretary Mellon and President Coolidge, came out in opposition to the amendment, the stage was set for a demonstration, with the Democratic Senators and Representa- tives from the South leaping on the water wagon amendment. It is- quite true that the Harris amendment had the support of a number of Republican Senators, who had not the slightest desire to help rehabilitate the Demo- cratic party in the South, or anywhere else. But it is equally true that since the matter has been ventilated in the House, where the Republicaa leaders, some of them leading drys, did not hesitate to declare that the Harris amendment was designed principally to give the Democrats in Congress from Southern States a chance to get back into the good graces of their dry con- stituents, some of these Republican Senators are backing away from their support of the Harris amendment and are not likely to vote for it again, if it comes before them. * K ok % The House Republican leaders were faced with a real problem when the Harris amendment was sent over to the House along with the deficiency bill. They had to defeat this proposal, which had the approval of the Anti- Saloon League, or else have the admin- istration placed in an_embarrassing position, and, perhaps, President-elect Hoover, too, since the amendment pro- [ S. M. posed to leave the spending of these millions largely in the hands of the Chief Executive. Their best chance ap- peared to be to give the Harris amend- ment a political, rather than a dry complexion. They did a real job of it during the debate in the House, and strong drys, like Cramton of Michigan, Cooper of Ohio, Hersey of Maine, ali denounced the amendment as the work of the Democrats, who, they said, were seeking to gain favor again after their support of Gov. Smith, their wet can- didate for President. * ok k% ‘The Anti-Saloon League, through its general superintendent, J. Scott Mc- Bride, and other officials, came out in favor of the Harris amendment. In this they followed Bishop James Can- non, jr, of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, who organized the anti- Smith Democrats to help elect Hoover in the last campaign. The determina- tion of the Anti-Saloon League officials to favor the Harris amendment ap- pears good politics. It is not ‘difficult to understand that the Anti-Saloon League desires to see both the majof political parties firmly ranged on the dry side. Here was an opportunity to put the Democrats of the South in line, and with the backing of the Anti- Saloon League. The Republicans are committed to the dry cause. If enough of the Democrats also are committed to that cause, the likelihood of either of the parties putting a wet in the fleld for President in 1932 would be exceed- ingly small. So, although the league apparently has taken a licking in the House, it may work to the advantage of the drys in the end. LIE B ‘The congressional election in the sixteenth Missouri district has been a pleasing affair so far as the Republicans are concerned. This district in the days hbefore 1920 was consistently Democratic by as large a margin sometimes as 16,000. - The late Representative Foust, a Republican, rode into the House from that district on the Harding landslide in European participation in the survey is assured, In a sense, intellectual stock-taking never ceases. Books are published every year on the progress of science, philos- ophy and civilization, and on the rela- tion that exists, or should exist, between thought and practical affairs. A few weeks ago a stimulating volume entitled “Whither Mankind?” was published in this country with the central idea of appraising dominant tendencies in the intellectual world and indicating the drift of human thought in the light of history and theoretical evolution. De- spite such related activities, however, the el :‘r&flu of the Philosophical So- clety s likely to yleld valuable results. ‘The committee may not agree upon a report or rf series of reports; majority and minority opinions may have to be presented; but the public will form its own judgments upon disputed points. The questions to be answered by the survey have not been precisely formu- lated as yet, but it is understood that they will cover such subjects as the ef- remarks the New | st commission fects of ever-increasing specialization, the attitude of science toward human- 5 meibods of PopUAHSIng knowiedge. and me of popul ‘The importance of such 1920. He won at first by a few scant hundreds of votes. Gradually he in- creased his majority until he won the last time by some 6,000 votes. It came to be looked upon as a “Foust district,” and the Republicans, after Mr., Foust died, feared that perhaps without his personal popularity to bank on the dis- trict might backslide and become Demo- cratic. This has not been the case. In the election just held the Republic- an nominee won handily by a less ma- Jority than that of Mr. Foust, it is true, but by 2,700 votes. The Democrats put forward a strong candidate, the mayor of St. Joe, but the Republican forces were too strong. The election, too, was held in a section of the State where the anti-Smith sentfment among Demo- crats had been very strong, which may have had something to do with the congressional election, too. The newly elected member from the sixteenth dis- trict is David W. Hopkins. He defeated Mayor Louis V. Stigall. * Kk ok ok Senator Fred Hale of Maine, chair- man of the Senate committee on naval affairs, has put the cruiser bill through the Senate to the tune of 68 to 12. For weeks Senator Hale has been the butt of both supporters and opponents of the measure, who believed they knew more than he did about getting the bill through the Senate. Supporters of the bill girded at him because he permitted the Kellogg treaty renouncing war to come to a vote in the Senate ahead of the cruiser bill. Opponents of the measure laughed in their sleeves, as- serting that the cruiser bill would be talked to death in the remainder of the short session. It is Senator Hale's turn to laugh now. He neither lost by per- mitting the treaty to take precedence in the Senate, nor was he stampeded by the suggestion that his bill would be filibustered to death. He knew at all times there were sufficient votes in the Senate to pass the bill by an over- whelming majority. Once the bill had been made the unfinished business of the Senate—at the same time that the treaty became the unfinished business “in executive session,” the fight was al- most as good as ended. It is true that it was necessary to keep the cruiser bill always in readiness for consideration and that Senator Hale attended to. When the opposition became convinced that it would be impossible to talk the bill to death—for sheer lack of breath— before March 4, it permitted a limit to be set on the debate. b L Down in the Old Dominion, anti- Smith democracy is feeling its oats. Meeting at Lynchburg, leaders of this faction of the democracy have deter- mined to hold a State-wide meeting in the near future to determine whether it shall put a ticket in the primary fight for nomination for governor and other State officers. An alternative would be to join again wita the Republicans, as they did in 1928 in the presidential election, to defeat the Democratic ma- chine which gave its support to Gov. Al Smith last Fall. The question which is agitating not only the Democrats who remained “regular” last Fall, but also some of the anti-Smith Democrats themselves, is whether a large block of these “bolters” will shift over to the Re- publican party and stay there. During the last campaign it was said frequently that on election day these anti-Smith Democrats would step right up to the voting booths and cast their ballots for the Democratic ticket. But they didn’t. Hard on Methuselah. From the Fort Worth Record-Telegram. What we have long wanted to know is—at what age did Methuselah's teeth begin to go bad on him? Can you imagine anybody having pyorrhea for 300 years? “drys.” It is taking form particularly in | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ‘What do you need to know? Is there some point about your business or per- sonal life that puzzles you? Is there something you want to know without delay? Submit your question to Frederic J. Haskin, director of our Washington Information Bureau. He is employed to help you. Address your inquiry to The Evening Star Informa- tion Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, direc- tor, Washington, D. C., and inclose 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Q. What is the nationality of Young Stribling, the prize fighter?>—J. V. C. A. Willlam L. Stribling was born in Bainbridge, Ga., December 26, 1904. He is an American. Q. What was the last trophy pre- sented to Lindbergh?—M. P. A. The last trophy received by Col. Lindbergh was the Lafayette Escadrille Harmon trophy given by the Interna- tional League of Aviators at the time of the international aeronautical con- vention held at Washington, D. C., December 13, 1928. Q. Why were brown derbies used in the Democratic campaign?—G. McC. A. A brown derby has for years been a.favdrite form of headgear of former Gov. Al Smith. Q. Has the cat a keen sense of smell? —C. H. A. The sense of smell is fairly de- veloped, but is inferior to that of the dog and various other animals. Q. What is the largest inland body of water in the world?>—W. S. T. A. The Caspian Sea is the largest. It extends about 700 miles in a north-and- south direction and varles in width from 100 to 300 miles. Its area is es- timated at 168,765 square miles. This sea is becoming saltier as time passes, having now a salinity less than half that of the ocean. Q. Why is “cannibalism” so called?— 'A. The word is derived from “Caniba,” a variant of “Carib,” the name of the West Indian tribe among whom the sp(:mlsh discoverers first noticed the who represent daily newspapers .or newspaper assoclations requiring tele- graphic service. The press galleries are * under control of a standing committee of correspondents, subject to the ap- proval and supervision of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate committee on rules. Q. Who was called the “Singing Duse”?—V. L. A. Emma_Calve's extraordinary dra- matic ability gained for her this title. Q. When is an English king crowned? —J. M. A. The coronation of a king takes place shortly after the period of mourn- ing for the predecessor has closed. Generally it is about a year. Q. Where is the Cascade Tunnel?— A "A. 1t is located between Berne and Scenic, Washington. on the Great Northern Railway. Its length is 7.79 miles. . Why was a bust of Andrew Car- negie receitly presented to the Pan- American Union to be placed in the Hall of the Nations?—J. W. A. Mr. Carnegie made it possible for the beautiful Pan-American Union Building to be constructed. In 1907 he donated $750,000 to be used for this purpose. Later this amount was raised to $850,000. and the govern- ments of the American republics con- tributed $250,000. Q. What State uses lethal gas in dispatching criminals?—J. R. A. It is the form of capital punish- ment ‘used in Nevada. Q. What parts of “Little Women" are true?>—M. F. A. Miss Alcott said that her family really lived most of it. “Facts in the stories that are true, though often changed as to time and place: ‘Little ‘Women'—the early plays and experi- ences; Babb's dentt:: Jo's ;}lter_ar!:’{l ;r;g Amy's artistic experiences; Meg's happy hgx‘:e: John Brooke and his death: Dennis character. Mr. Marche did not go to war, but Jo did. Mrs. March is all true, only not half good enough. custom. Q. What ns are eligible to the press galleries at the Capitol?—C. W. F. A. The occupation of the galleries is confined to bona fide correspondents of reputable standing in their business, Laurie is not an American boy, though every lad I ever knew claimed the char- acter. He was a Polish boy met abroad in 1865. Mr. Lawrence is my grand- father, Col. Joseph May. Aunt March is no one.” BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. Almost a riot was caused yesterday in the art department of the Library of Congress when a visitor demanded, “What Is art?” He had just read a two-column ac- count of a half-million-dollar lawsuit against a well known art critic who had declared that a certain painting was not a Da Vincl and thereby prevented its sale for a quarter of a million dol- lars. He beuexed that t.l:en%l::e:,n vfifi‘ only a copy. CcOpy Wi - nblz as vgxe price asked; an original would be worth three or four millions. Why? Liatuie “What is art?”—especially when ex- perts disagree as to whether one plece original or a copy. st'?m ?fl. a picture do to make life “look like a million dollars"—to give a multimillion-dollar thrill, to feed the hungry or warm the chilled? “What is art?” The innocent question brought panic to the attendants in the art section of the library and they flew to fetch arm- loads of books to answer it. But the books disagreed and set up such a jangle of sounds that they created a Tenaissance of the Tower of Babel. Can any picture be worth ‘millions of dollars as & plece of art? No; such values measure not art, but historic interest, just as “first editions” held worth thousands of dollars, are not literature, but curiosity. * kX K More than a century ago, Coleridge, nwnrdmm.mmmexphm;:‘.nlti; sald, the mind’s judging it to be but in the remission of the judgment that it ’?m n(;f. I- forest.” How simple That explains even modern art. A local authority, trying to bring out the beauty of the raw colors of a certain canvas, bade the onlooker to shut his ayes, for he could appreciate its color better that way. That is a brilliant idea, needing only ¢ blindfolding band- age on top of the eyelids to make the palette ring with glorious tones. ‘That's the way the painter does while in the perpetration of the ‘“creative” crime. His work proves it. To indicate that he doesn't go halfway he eliminates half- tones and atmosphere. * ok ok ok The particular lawsuit which has oc- casioned this research and dissertation is 2gainst one of the best-known art critics in the world, Sir Joseph Duveen >f New York. He got his title in Eng- land because he could spot a chromo across the street in a London fog, with his eyes shut. In June, 1920—too soon after the World War—Sir Joseph de- clared that a painting of La Belle Fer- roniere, owned by Mrs, Andree Ladoux and offered for sale at a paltry quarter >f a million dollars—60-cent dollars at that!—was not really the work of Leo- nardo da Vinci, and that if it were not a mere copy it would be worth, not $250,000, but between $3,000,000 and $4,000,000. This thing of cutting prices of art must be stopped! Who wants cheap art in chain drug stores, two masterpieces for the price of one, plus one cent? Yet, after all, is not Coleridge rather “archaic” as an art connoisseur? Art is not “an illusion of a forest” nor any other illusion. Art, according to mod- ernists, which deludes the beholder into thinking it represents anything, is quite out of style, of course. So Leonardo da Vinci is “passe,” and there is not a single one of his old-fashioned “ar- chaic” paintings in Washington; in fact, there are no more in the world than there are fingers on one hand, and what there are hang in public galleries. Homes today have none of them. Our fash- ionable modern parlors have the mas- terpieces of “decorators,” which means that they are paneled in such a way as to bar hanging of any paintings: or else they require only “patterns,” rather than “illusions” or “remissions of illu- sions.” * ok kK Art critics—do they really know art technique? “Jamais de la vie!" Here is an extract from Sir Joseph's testi- mony, by which he is going to sidestep the accusation that his remark about that Da Vincl canvas was based on} either art knowledge or malice: Mrs. Hahn's ‘counsel inquired at length into the factors which determined Sir Joseph's opinion about a painting. Q. Do you think knowledge of the technique of painting and of pigments is necessary to an expert? A. No. Q. Then what is left? A. The beauty—the art of the picture. Q. What do you call the asé of the picture? A. The life of the picture. Q. What is the life of the picture? A. What the artist puts into it. Q Isit aomel;.tl:;l you can see with a magnifying g! A. No, but you can see it with the eye. Q. How dces an artist put life into t2 'A. An artist draws a portrait lrom' life. That is why a person sits. Other- ) Suggests Job for Duce. From the Nashville Banner. vav.mc Mwl}lau wla'l do ll';:‘: ever stops runn! more than we know, but he has ideal on wiss an artist could copy it from a photograph. _ That the difference between the real picture and a copy. person who can tell an original painting from a copy.” * kK X But there are millions of “originals” which are not art. Sir Joseph's defi- nition, therefore, is no more satistying than that of Coleridge. Art is not an “jllusion” any more than an imitation. And originality either in fiction or painting is damnable in itself. The common “compliment” offered by the uninformed that a picture is so realistic that it “stands right out from the can- vas” is no compliment at all to a real * ok ok * “What is art?” Half a century agn the answer might have been that ¢ picture should tell its story—“Breakinz Home Ties,” for example—today that i proof that it is not art but “literature.” The distinction is as apt as was M Dooley's explanation about Mr. Car- negie’s donations of libraries when the donations were restricted to buildings. without books; for Mr. Dooley told Hinnessy that that was not “literatoor but architectoor.” So “anecdotal art” is not art, as testified by all critics to- day, but might rather supply what Mr. Carnegie denied. And so we now learn from Sir Joseph Duveen that an art critic need not know anything about art technique. * Kk x Ages ago a certain newspaper corre- spondent, then living in Paris and cabling stuff to America, visited the studio of Meissonier, announcing to that whimsical artist that he had come to ask him some questions about art, in connection with the opening of the salon. Meissonier poked his long gray beard out through a crevice of his door and with all seriousness replied: “Art? Art? 1 know nothing about art. You must go to the art critics for that—not me!” And now the leading art critic tells us that he is in the same predicament as was Meissonier. So, what is art? Easier it is to comprehend Einstein than modern art ideals, when some modernists paint cubes, pied, and an- nounce that that means ‘“the abstract in art.” Maybe iz is the soul of aspir- ing ideality seeking to fathom the un- fathomable of lif>'s most abstruse prob- lems and giving perspective to four di- mensions at once. Maybe it is a small boy after eating green apples, Not even art critics can agree as to what is “ex- pressed,” but it must be beautiful, what- ever it is. If not beauty, what have you, O artist? * ok ok % ‘The figure of 2 woman may have a neck several inches too long, but if the outlines rhyme with the outlines of the dress, that proves art. A painted boat upon a painted ccean (in this Volstead age “with not 4 drop to drink”) may stand out like a Coleridge “illusion,” and its relief may be caused by a daub of “pure color” all around it, like a halo, but does that not indicate “self-expres- sion” of the modern artist? What is art but abstruse “self-expression” independ- ent of the rules of grammar or the poetry of the sentiment expressed? * K K K There is an art writer, Horace Shipp, who in his book entitled “The New Art” makes it all as clear as Einstein relativity; he explains as follows: “We no longer need to assert the existence of things by representing them; art serves the deeper purpose of revealing the elements which go to their formation, and their spatial and other relationships of the human mind. Great art, says Walter Pater, approximates to the condition of music. We do not ask that a musical composition sound like anything outside of itself. Its ap- peal is not to the comparative of the conscious intellect, but to the super- lative of the subconscious emotions.” Mm!—Just that! Surely that bars Da Vinci's “Last Supper,” and all of Angelo's and Raphael's “illusions.” To illustrate this answer to “What Is Art2” there is a picture of one of Law- rence Atkinson's sculptures—a cross between a Sphinx and a gob of candy such as a candymaker tosses across a big hook while he is working it white. What does it artistically express? Quien sal Also, to show in painting “What Is Art2” there is a mass of wreckage as of a tailspun airplane crashed to earth— which means anything or nothing, ac- cording to the state of exhilaration of the critic. For the author assures us that “great artists neither accept rules conslousiy, nor break them consciously.” Nor do idiots. Again: “Abstract art claims to be the Inevitable symbol of this deeper world. The fact that it lacks superficlal mean< is a guarantee that the mind can- ression”—a clear case of Canadian goo evading the frontier guards. Is it any wonder that Sir Joseph Du- veen disclaims any necessity to know modern technique, in order to qualify as an art expert? “Abstract art is a channel to the in- finite, not a cul-de-sac_of the genses,” sag's 'Aulhor Shipp. Whoopee! Also whew! J Now bring on your Einstein for recre- ation! Some day even the Manche will * koK Ok From such a dialoss2, a limiting of an ex emerged. ek he.8 =2 ASommimte 400 xR s SMRED be tunneled; then we'll know “What is art?” It's now the “Chapnel” that mmiyl and mekes mal-de-mer, O In- ing not be arrested on the frontiers of ex- . /