Evening Star Newspaper, March 26, 1929, Page 8

{THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY.......March 26, 1920 - THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor he Evening Star Newspaper Company Business ice: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42n igan Building. Chicago Office: Lake_Micl European Office: 14 Regent St.. London. England. Rate by Carrler Within the City. he Evening Star_ 43¢ per month and 8§ t undays) . .80c per month and Sundsy Star 85¢ per month Sc per copy indays) Collection made each menth. X' Orders may be seat in by mall or.telephone Main 5000. Bunday only i All Other States and Canada. Dally #nd Sunday..l yr.. $12.00; 1 me Daily only . 17yr, $800; Bunday only { Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press 18 exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all rews ais- flichcl crecited to it or not otherwi o ted in this paper and also the iocal news published herein. All rights of publication ot special dispatches herela are also reserved. Se————————————————===3 The I'm Alone Affair. Dispassionate review of the full facts will be required before considered judg- ment can be passed on the affair of the I'm Alone sinking by & United States Coast Guard cutter. For the moment the position of this country is clear and well founded. The Canadian- British schooner, as Secretary Mellon's statement makes indubitably plain, is 8 notorious rum-runner, built for the high seas bootlegging trade, and when | Eent to the bottem of the Guif of Mex- jco was loaded to the gunwales with Riquor. The nature of the I'm Alone’s cargo #s not disputed by her pugnacious skip- per. Its intended destination is not hard to guess. Even the manner of its proposed delivery is dramatically hinted &t in the narrative Capt. Randall sup- plied to the Federal authorities at New Orleans when describing some of his earlier exploits in the smuggling traffic ©off American shores. 3 ‘What remains to be determined by tarefud investigation is whether our Coast Guard was strictly within its rights in firing at the British rum- funner far beyond the so-called “treaty waters.” Those waters were defined in the special liquor treaty entered into between the United States and Great Britain in 1924 for the purpose of en- #bling this country more effectually to tontrol smuggling operations adjacent fto our coasts. * The treaty extends the ordinary twelve-mile limit to a distance equal %o, the radius which a suspect ship Wwould be able to traverse in one hour’s Bteaming or sailing. The British agreed o that extension in return for certain boncessions by the United States with Fespect to liquor aboard British ships temporarily in American harbors be- fween voyages. Canada, because of the I'm Alone's Canadian registry, is understood to be by way of identifying herself with any Betion the British government may eventually institute at Washington. Pending ascertainment of the facts, no Hiplomatic action of any kind is to be expected. When these are in hand we Bhall know whether our Coast Guard cutter’s guns went off in full accord with our treaty rights, or whether the fum-runner, even though she was sent o Davy Jones' locker liquor-laden, was entitled to the refuge of the high seas, | with chronic offenders whose “repeater” | Prominent portions of the anatomy, faving in fact committed no actual of- | records are sensational, but it might | TUERt Work wonders in dislodging a fense against our smuggling laws. Meantime alarmist suggestions of grave complications with Great Britain, or with Canada, can be put aside. If it should turn out that the Dominion government is to bear the brunt of any ensuing diplomatic conflict, that would of itself be s sign that the incident is fess tragically taken in Great Britain than the “scare” headlines in London mewspapers would seem to indicate. Downing Street will, of course, loy- flly support Ottawa, but an American- Canadian controversy would obviously e far less redolent of gunpowder than B controversy with Britannia over a guestion grandiloquently described by the rum-runner’s skipper as involving fhe “freedom of the seas.” ———smor—. Officially, Mount Weather is off the fmep and the yacht Mayflower is off the waves. It is a new administration by fand and see. EAS e T A fight in Tammany Hall looks bigger to a real New Yorker than any con- troversy in Congress. —— e Scouts Triumphant. Those small but highly regarded per- gons, the Boy Scouts, have been in the limelight lately, both in a tragic and theroic and in a sentimental sense. Four Scouts ranging in age from twelve to fourteen years occupied the posts of honor guard around the bier of the fgreatest of modern soldiers. Instead of plumed cuirassiers or Republican guards- gen, Foch, the happy warrior if ever there were one, chose instead these alert lads who are garbed the same no mat- ter what their nationality. All Sunday, $unday night and today, with frequent feliefs, these representatives of the founger generation stood at attention around the body of the map who saved France. So much for solemn pageantry. Al- fmost simultaneously down in flood- stricken Tennessee the Boy Scout code survived the fury of the waters, even though the swirling torrent claimed the fives of a number of the party involved. *To such advantage did these American Scouts utilize the lessons they had jearned from their manual and from their leaders that when the bungalow §n which they were camping was swept from its precarious perch they were able first to signal legibly for help and, sec- ond, to swim for their lives with a large measure of success. The death toll in a party of just plain untrained boys would without doubt have been much larger. It was not so long ago that the term #Boy Scout” was used with a tinge of @erision—often as an outright gibe. It was not much longer ago that no one had ever seen or heard of one. Today they form one of the reasons why the world is growing steadily better. Napo- Jeon Bonaparte, when the man-power ©f his glorious but already rickety em- pire was fast ebbing, formed boys’ bri- gades distinctly for that training which 10 8 year or b ef-. e of Mayor Hague tp answer. B ficient cannon fodder. But the Scouts of today are not being trained primarily for military purposes, no matter how loudly ill-informed and prejudiced paci- fists may yelp to the contrary. They are trained solely to be better citizens of whatever country in which they may happen to be born. If successful sol- diering later proves an essential of that citizenship the Scouts are so much the better off. equa! to those accorded a crops whose histery and whose uniform dates back to the First Empire is as significant as it is gratifying. That a group of Scouts In deadly peril can act calmly as a unit in- stead of as a panic-stricken group of inefficient individuals more than justi- fies their existence and any and all sup- port and encouragement that their eld- ers may give them. —— e Life's Driftwood. An astonishing and pathetic picture is provided by the jail records of the District of Columbia. They show that the city has a constant and increasing population of “repeaters’—men and women who serve from eight to twelve jail sentences a year and who repeat this record year after year. Some have as many as seventy “tricks” to their credit in Washington alone, to say nothing of the number of times they | may have been picked up by the police | of Baltimore. They are released at the expiration of one sentence, arrested two or three days later and sentenced to from ten to ninety days, and the | same process is repeated. Many of these, of course, are chronic | alcoholics without money—and probably | without much desire—for .treatment. | Jail is “home” from which they take a few forced vacations every year. It is likely that some fundamental char- | acter defects are behind the chronic | aleoholism. They are inadequate to cope with the world. They are bound to go under in the struggle for existence. Drunkenness with them is little more than a subconscious mask of this inadequacy. But the fact remains that, under the present system, they hardly get a fight- ing chance to stay out of jail, even if they treasure liberty. They are taken from Occoquan to Washington and set free at the Seventh street station. Usually they are penniless, friendless and home- | less. They have nowhere to go. There is nobody to whom they can turn for work, food or bed. They are driven by the unmasterable craving for alcohol. Consequently they beg passersby for money to get supper, finally are given a few cents, and expend it immediately on some cheap form of alcohol, such as bay rum. That same night the re- leased prisoner is again in the hands of the police and two or three days | later is back at his old job in the work- house. He never had a chance, even if he wanted one. A bill for presentation to the forth- coming special session of Congress now is being drawn up by the Board of Pub- lic Welfare which is designed to rem- edy the worst features of this situa- tion. Judge Michael M. Doyle, mem- ber of the Board of Public Welfare, who is writing the proposed measure, is studying previous proposals in the same direction. The bill, Judge Doyle expects, will make some provision for an inde- ‘That Marshal Foch gave them honors | (the other while “It” tries to touch it, THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, tions put to him will not in the end militate against him. The advice of his counsel is to the effect that he does not have to answer questions’ dealing with his private and personal affairs. This may be entirely correct, but the declina- tion of the mayor to reply to questions which it is declared may well have bearing on his conduct as a public of- ficial is not likely to sit any better with the public than did his refusal to ap- pear before the Case committee last Oc- tober. The charges have been bruited abroad that Mayor Hague has profited to @ greater extent than would be pos- sible from his salary alome, although he has denied that he has been engaged in other business. State Senator McAllister, head of the investigating committee, said during the hearing yesterday, when Mayor Hague declined to answer the. question put to him, that he preferred to let the public be the jury and pass upon the mayor's declination to answer. The public usual- 1y becomes the court of last resort, after all. | ) “Bull in the Ring.” Benjamin Harrison used to walk to get his fresh air, exercise and recrca- tion. Grover Cleveland was an invet- erate fisherman. Theodore Roosevelt played tennis, rode horseback, boxed and wrestled with Congress. Willlam How- ard Taft played golf, and so did Wood- row Wilson. Warren Harding was an- other golfer and did a little horseback riding. Calvin Coolidge walked, and sometimes, during the early days of his administration, the whir and the clatter of the electric horse could be heard in- side the White House. And now Presi- dent Herbert Hoover has taken up medicine ball, or “bull in the ring,” as they call it in the Navy, and has ap- pointed his medicine ball cabinet. President Hoover probably learned the game in the Navy, for he played it on the battleship Utah returning fram South America and seemed to enjoy it. The game, as played in the Navy, has few rules and is simplicity itself. But there is fun and exercise in it. The man who is “I” takes his place in the center of the ring of participants, and they pass the ball swiftly from one to When the ball is touched “It” takes his place in the circle and the thrower whose toss was interrupted becomes “qtr ‘It is permissible to sing during the game, and if one chooses one may war- ble “The Farmer in the Dell,” “Yankee Doodle” or “The Sidewalks of New York.” If one does not want to sing one may whistle. But the game is founded on the broad principle of live and let live, and neither whistling nor singing is necessary. The main point is to keep “It” from getting the ball, and this oft- en requires great muscular activity it “It” makes any pretenses at agility and speed. Who knows what this game will de- velop? President Coolidge found that congressional hearts often melted un- der platters of buckwheat cakes and maple sirup. President Hoover may find that exercise will limber stiff back- bones and drive away the legislative blues, and any day now some doubtful member of Congress may receive an in- vitation to call around and spend a ses- sion with the medicine ball cabinet, with terminate sentence with 'considerable discretionary powers vested in a parole board, and will ask for the establish- ment of a receiving home in Wash- ington where released prisoners may go voluntarily until a job can be found for them. This might not be very effective save some from being launched into a career of continual convictions, The indeterminate sentence is a dif- ficult provision to write into a law, al- though some States have done so with apparent success. It violates the popu- lar notion that one who breaks one of the rules of soclety pays a fixed price for the violation, after which his record is clear again. It lays emphasis on the concept that the purpose of im- prisonment is to protect soclety and redeem the prisoner, rather than pun- ishment for itself. ———ree— New territory has been found in Antarctic regions. It is in the hands of the scientists and not yet interesting to the realtors, ——————— In Mexican politics there is still a lingering tradition which enables a firing squad to cast the deciding ballot. —— Mayor Hague Declines. Mayor Frank Hague of Jersey City, Democratic boss of his State as well as of Hudson County and a vice chairman of the Democratic national committee, has finally appeared before a legislative committee for examination. The first day of his testimony apparently pro- duced little but a refusal by Mayor Hague to answer whether in 1919 he had an account in bank amounting to $100,000, or to discuss in any way his personal affairs. The inquiry is to con- tinue today with Mayor Hague on the stand. ‘The mayor of Jersey City, who has ruled his Democratic organization with an iron hand, has been on the pay roll of the city since 1895, and is now draw- ing a salary of $8,000 a year. Jersey City, which in type of population is much like parts of New York, has been strongly Democratic. Mayor Hague and others have insisted that the legislative inquiry directed last year by the Case committee and now by the McAllister committee was instigated purely for political reasons. ‘The mayor declined to appear before the Case committee and evaded arrest y habeas corpus proceedings last Fall shortly before the election, saying that he did not propose to appear at a time when it was obvious that the Republicans were seeking to make capi- tal. He intimated, however, that he would have appeared earlier or that he would appear after the election was over. His declination to appear last Fall did not sit well in Jersey. Some of the strongest Democratic newspapers dis- tinctly disapproved his course. In fact, Mayor Hague was not particularly popu- lar among his Democratic associates either in Jersey or in the national or- ganization just at that time. Jersey was one of the States which earlier in the year the Democrats had been counting on carrying for Smith in the presiden- tial election. 1t is now & question whether the fall- the proviso, of course, that the new member has to be “It” until he proves himself worthy to take his place in the charmed circle. A medicine ball is a heavy weapon df skillfully handled. A blow from a medicine ball, aimed at D. C, TUESDAY, M fARCH 26, 1929. Spring sales of rosebushes and other plants bring out some striking con- { trasts. There was the young lady, for rosebush from a rake if the former hadn’t been labeled. How sweetly she stood by the big bins! Her hair was marcelled to per- fection, her stockings were of the very latest “suntan” shade. her smile was broad and willing, but would-be pur- | chasers realized that she knew nothing about flowers. She was an “extra” who had been taken on to help in the S g rush. And thus she pointed squai to the most interesting features of ‘such sales, the customers themselves. If the little girls who do not know a rosebush from a hole in the ground are interesting, what may be said of the eager purchasers who want to beau- tify their grounds and who think they know it all? It is amusing to watch them, as they examine the wrapped plants carefully, as if sitting in judgment, when all the time the chances are 10 to 1 that they do not know the horticultural points to look for. One imposing lady picked up a specimen of shrub and pointed to the branches, long and bare. “You say this will bloom?” she asked, with huge doubt in her voice. It was the pretty girl who answered. Of course, she didn't know a snow- berry from a calycanthus, but she was placed there to sell ‘em. “Oh, yes, surely it will bloom!"” said she, in her sweetest tones, holding the plant by the burlap around its voots. and looking at it critically, as if peint- ing out visibly the blooming qualities. S kY People are so pathetically intent on getting. good plants, but that is a matter which must be left to the growers and the dispensers. There is really no way of telling from the ap- pearance of dormant plants how they will bloom. Much depends upon factors beyond the control of growers and sellers. The purchaser, alas, has a great deal to do with it! He or she—we insist on she— may put a shrub which demands sun on the north side of the house, where shade is what it will get most. ‘Then when it refuses to do well the purchaser will “kick” about it, but the fault lies squarely at home. On the other hand, one naturally runs some chance of getting a poor specimen. In seeds germination tests may be applied, and the seller may be able to tell the customer what per cent of germination per 1,000 seeds he buys he will receive, but with dormant plants this is not feasible. It is unfortunately true that among every hundred plants there will always be a few which will do no good, no matter how well planted and tended. It the purchaser is so unlucky as to draw one of these, he will have no suc- cess, or & half-success, which is almost worse than complete failure. Perhaps this is one of the charms of the early Spring plant sales, which draw forth so many aspiring gardeners and foundation planters. They sense the fact that this selling and buying is bl:methlng in the way of a natural grab- g. You buy a plant, and you put it in the ground, but the roots may not be as good as they should be, or your planting may be faulty, or for some other reason it will not do as well as you expected. Well, you must expect that. After all, bushes and plants do not cost a fortune, and you surely will get your mclr]aey's worth from those which do well. * ok % % Everything else being equal—and we hope they are—it is good advice to buy instance, who wouldn't have known a | | gardening, the best plants possible. In other words, concentraie on quality rather than quantity. This is one of the most difficult points to drive through a be- ginning gardener’s head, but if he will not receive it from admonitions he will have to earn it through experience, and sometimes such experience is bit- | ter, although always profitable. ‘Too many aspiring home gardeners, for instance, want a hundred rose- bushes—yes, sir, nothing less than a hundred will do—instead of being sat- They search through the catalogues and order one-year plants, which come rather cheaply. When the bushes ar- rive they are a trifle disappointed with | their size, but they have heard that rosebushes are prolific growers, and so_they put them all in the ground. There are so many of them that they fail to dig up the bed properly, and they become tired and so fail to roots, thereby leaving air pockets in| which the roots wither away. Then the Spring and Summer goes by and the bushes haven't grown much, and they complain, and maybe it is two or even three years before the bushes be- come established and take hold properly. How much better off they would have been, as amateur rosarians, if they had purchased 10 or a dozen two-year- | old bushes, or even three-year-olds, if they could get them! Then they would have had some real blooms the first | season, and the next Spring the bush- es would be “all sot to go.” ‘The same principle applies, although not so theatrically, perhaps, to ever- greens, shrubs of all kinds, and vari- ous plants and vines. It is interesting to note that practically all the stores| specializing in these offer only the| largest and best; thus they help the| amateur despite himself. | e Sometimes one is inclined to wonder | what becomes of all the bushes, shrubs, | evergreens, etc., which are sold in the | National Capifal every Spring. The purchasers flock forth to buy them at the first touch of warm weather, and you will see any number of beautiful ladies wagging homeward with large bundles of them in their arms. And still properties seem bare, and back yards too often ugly. Of course, a large city takes hundreds of thousands, and one might say even millions, of plants to make a show. Then there en- ter the speculations which we have con- sidered. A family lovingly plants and cares for them, and then moves away, and the next family which moves in cares nothing for roses, but digs them up to make way for a garage, Despite these drawbacks, plant lovers go right ahead planting, and tending, and reaping the harvest which comes | from horticultural work, no matter | how poorly done, for there is something | about playing around in the soil which | supplies a want of the human being better than any amount of gadding around to “wild parties,” unlimited bridge and poker. Happy are those who know this, and who do not permit themselves to be led far astray by the propaganda of the restless ones of this earth. The spectacle of thousands of city people rushing up to the plant sales every Spring is encouraging, because it shows that fundamentally the hearts and minds of the people are sound, caring for the calm, beautiful processes of Nature, and deriving mental and spiritual, to say nothing of physical, | benefits from the pleasing work of Therefore, it is an inspir- ing sight, after all, to watch the little flappers selling rogebushes, and to see how eagerly the people rush from their homes to the stores to carry away with them armloads of beauty in the making. A sustained battle between the new and the old Tammany is foreseen by the press in interpreting the resignation of George W. Olvany as chief of the conviction, or changing a point of view. — e Next Summer’'s beauty contests are already in preparation. There may be problems of farm relief, but there will) be no chorus girl shortage. ———————————— ‘The typical German pipe is an elabo- rate affair. The simple stubby smoke apparatus favored by Mr. Dawes may suggest valuable economy. ——te Every President is expected to be an enthusiastic fisherman. The poor fish remains the universal object of com- miseration. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Great Holiday. Lazy Day is drawin’ nigh. Happy New Year passes by. Valentine and April Fool Follow up the annual rule, When the sun dispels the gloom And Porsythia is in bloom, We'll go fishing’, down the bay, Celebratin’ Lazy Day. Belief. “Do you believe everything you see in print?” “Sure,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I'm a busy man and have only time to read my biography in the Congres- sional Directory.” Jud Tunkins says a “beauty contest” often looks to him like a sad, shivering reminder of the old song, “Out in the Cold World, Out in the Street.” ey Riotous Rhythm. I heard a bird sing in the tree, As happy as a bird could be, To send, with notes of .jazzy cheer, The music of the passing year. The birds revise the same old songs ‘With skill, which to their art belongs. And, with the frogs, sound forth each tone, From bass up to the saxophone. Mileage. ¢ “How many miles can you travel on a gallon?” “Can’t say, exactly,” sald Mr. Chug- gins. “I am unable to figure the dis- tance I have to cover to the next filling station when I run out of gas.” “He who is wise,” said Hl Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “may often find unmolested content in appearing to be foolish,” *Rural Autocrat. The farmer still some favor begs, Although his hopes grow dim. If you don't want cold storage eggs, You've got to go to him. “par would be many a Sunday dinner New York Democratic organization. “Neither Tammany nor the Demo- cratic party can afford to have the forces of old Tammany regain control,” advises the Newark Evening News (in- dependent), and that paper also feels that “the old Tammany could not have made such a campaign as the new Tammany made under the banner of Mr. Smith”; that “the 15,000,000 votes cast for Mr. Smith are evidence of | the progress in Tammany Hall.” “Judge Olvany has been a very mild figure, not able to keep up the tradi- tions of the place,” in the opinion of | the Boston Daily Globe (independent), which sees a change “in the boss prob- lem,” and suggests that “it may be that the talents which used to raise their owners to a position of extra-political control are no longer being developed.” ‘The Bellingham Herald (independent Republican) believes that “the Tam- many tiger has been curried, barbered and taflored to suit the times, bus it still is a tiger down to the last stripe, and the test of leadership is resuits.” Referring to Olvany's failure to de- liver enough votes to Gov. Smith to win the State in the national election, the Scranton Times (Democratic) adds that “there is some talk, too, that Olvany's leadership has not sized up in other respects, that patronage grabs were be- coming too prevalent as well as too obvious for good of the organiza- tion.” N ‘The Ithaca Journal-News (independ- ent) comments: “One wonders whether the change is a change in the spirit of the organization or merely the reflection of one influential personality whose public standards have been higher than those of most Tammany men. Not that it is very likely that, in any circum- stances, we shall go back to the days of Tweed. * * * But there is a real question whether the attitude of Mr. Smith reflects a lasting change in the Democratic machine of New York.” “It 18 too early to envision what will develop for or within the Democratic party nationally in the next three years,” says the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch (independent Democratic), which thinks that “the leadership of Tammany Hall may be & turning point in its history.” ‘The Charleston Evening Post (inde- pendent Democratic) offers its explana- tion of the present strife: “Judge Olvany was bestowed on the organiza- tion by its ‘savemlnz board, but he had not won his way through the lower strata. He has given a_very good ad- ministration, but he has not been accepted fully by the rank and file.” L “As far as Olvany was concerned, he was & new_type of leader,” says the Flint Daily Journal (independent). “He did his best to make Tammany respect- able and he succeeded to a considerab! degree. The old Tammany did not con- cern itself with trying to appear respect- able. * * * The consensus is that Olvany would have been more successful as a loyal lieutenant than as a leader.” The Trenton Evening Times (independ- ent) argues that “a strong, honest, pro- gressive leader of the Al 8mith school is what the wigwam needs.” many and a discussion of the future the New York Times (independent) makes the statement: “Having put many excellent judges on the bench, detached itself from the police force, officially frowned on underworld graft and projected men like Smith, Foley, ‘Wagner, McAvoy and Mahoney into ublic life, Tammany is being urged spoiled,” said Uncle Eben, “if chickens could be crossed wif parrots an’ learnt 108 gt 10 K" s g e Gt WRICR New and Old Influences at War Inside of Tammany !'to” Germany, ’s Wigwam working organization. Everything de- pends on how strongly the leaven of the ‘new Tammany’ is workin; * Kok ok “Smith is still a power in Democratic circles in New York, but his personal following in Tammany Hall is by no means what it once was,” avers the Roanoke Times (independent Demo- aratic). The Hartford Times (independ- ent Democratic) voices the judgment: “The renomination of Mayor James J. Walker seems to have been taken for granted under the Tammany leadership of George W. Olvany, but with his resig- nation, induced, it is surmised, by in- creasing dissatisfaction with the Walker regime, the question of the next head of Democratic city ticket has been thrown wide open, many believe. . In this situation the leadership of ex-Gov. Smith looms large. Apostle of good govemmem, the former governor, with s tremendous hold upon the popula- tion of America’s leading city, is in a powerful position to influence the con- duct of New York's Democracy.” Replying to. those who would find significance in the result of the national election, the Syracuse Herald (independ- ent) argues: “The fact is that in 1928 Gov. Smith ran relatively very much better in his home city than in any other populous center or State in the country, with the single exception of Boston and Massachusetts, If any Tammany politiclan thinks differently he has a lot to learn about the com- parative analysis of election returns.” Rumors of Smith being slated for United States Senator as a result of the present situation are commented upon. “He would add to the august traditions of the Senate a keen vision, an alert mentality, good character, a strong personality and many lovable qualities,” says the Springfield, TIl., State Register (independent), and the Chatta- nooga Times (independent Democratic) thinks his membership in that body “would greatly hearten the loyal Demo- crats of the Nation.” —on—s Plan to Lift Channe] | Area From Sea Urged BY E. E. FREE, PH, D. 'To restore to Europe the geography of a half-million years ago, when Stone Age cavemen wandered at will across broad meadows where the English Channel now rolls; to make England once more a part of Europe in fact as well as in name; to add more than 50,000 square miles of fertile farm land Holland, England and Denmark; to lengthen the Rhine, the Elbe and other rivers by scores of miles and to leave many busy European ports, including the great port of Hamburg, a hundred miles or mfore inland, as though Albany replaced the port of New York—these are a few of the changes which would be brought about by the most_ambitious plan of continental re- modeling ever suggested by practical en- | gineers; a scheme recently proposed | anonymously in a leading Berlin news- paper and which has attracted much | attention among engineers. In a review of the record of Tam- | The plan is to dam and drain the | larger part of the North Sea between i England, Germany and Denmark, in much the same way that smaller areas have bcen diked end drained in Hol- land. ‘The southern two-thirds of the North Sea is seldom over a hundred feet | deep. | Running eastward from the River | Humber on the east coast of England to 'the northern tip of Denmark is a sub- merged cliff, once the coastline of | Europe_when the sea was lower than {now. The plan is to build a dike along ithis anclent coastline, to place another isfied with 10 really first-class plants. | state papers concerning international wash the water down around all the{ Western Hemisphere, is of a nature to NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM LG M NABOTH'S VINEYARD. The Duminl-" can Republic: 1844-1924. Sumner Welles. Payson & Clarke, Ltd. Government service offered occasion | {and provided foundation for “Nabo Vineyard.” Chief of the Latin Ame: can division of the State Department, Sumner Weiles was also, for the three vears ending with 1925, American com- }ml&i\nnr‘r to the Dominican Republic. | The first of these offictal positions spened to Mr. Welles the full body of | negotiations between the United States and one or another of the Latin Ameri- can countries. Here is a store of origi- nal material, documentary in substance, | covering the measure to which the countries represented came in each case to understandings and agreements, or fell short of these. Such material, authentic, complete and covering many lines of interest common to the entire serve each of these countries as its best expositor and its truest interpreter. At | least, so Mr. Welles appears to have decided. And upon such assumption he acted in the production of this study of the island republic to the South. As American commissioner to this republic, Mr. Welles came into a new relationship with its people and its af- fairs. Here eye and ear were gathering views, impressions, not only by way of official Toutine, but along a| thousand sidelines as well. Here he| saw a people behind whom stretched a canvas of suggestive history. Here a racial blend, significant in source and potential in promise, Here were nat- ural resources, abundant and useful, as | yet but scantily developed as stable and | profitable industry, as homes and edu- | cation, as a social content of sound aim | and progressive habit. Here were ideas | of government working into practice. Here was a positive ideal of seif-gov ernment. Here were leaders and many | who would be leaders. But it was the | people, always the people, who engaged | the deep interest of this American | commissioner, Through those three years of public service Mr. Welles must have done a fine job of looking and | listening, in the between-whiles of purely official activity. Then he came home, his kit bulging with facts and ideas concerning the people of the island where he had been. He must have said that with this material and that available from the archives of the State Department nothing short of a book on the subject of the Dominican Republic would round his service both to the people of this country and to the Latin Americans as well. * koK K And here is “Naboth's Vineyard"—| two big volumes, summing to more than a thousand pages—in answer to such wise decision on the part of Sum- ner Welles. 1In specific purpose this study centers upon the history of the Dominican Re- public as such. But nothing stands alone. Nothing leaps full-powered into being. There are approaches toward such fulfillment. There are recessions, and new trials, many of them, before the finally accomplished end. And all of these bear upon the nature of any issue. So it is here. Therefore the au- thor goes back into the earlier years of Santo Domingo, back into those years when the Eurcpean Ahabs— Spanish, French, English—under many a spe- cious claim reached covetous hands to- ward this little island vineyard of Naboth. * So, somewhat despoiled by encroach- ments from without, and certainly marred in the trustful outlook ofits people upon the rest of the world, the | republic enters upon its career of self- government. This career becomes the prime concern of Mr. Welles. He ex- amines it in an intelligence which knows exactly where it is going and which along the way shirks no degree | of painstaking nor neglects to make use of his own special equipment for the work in hand. 8et down in detail here, the story of the Dominican Republic is one of storm and stress. The racial blood is hot and tempestuous in its sudden outbursts. Rebellions against tyranny have worked for instability of political purpose and action. Here are leaders, some of them | fine, some of them self-seeking. To both sorts Mr. Welles gives full atten- tion, paying high tribute where it is due and delivering adverse judgment where this, too, is due. To & new peo- ple, unschooled in the collective self- control needed for a republican form of | government, much depends upon the good substance and quality of the lead- | ers. So it does here. And to this fact the author pays full attention, as he does to every other considerable ele- ment entering into the Santo Domingo ; experiment. Just as in old Bible times, external covetousness directed upon the country appears to be the evil genius of this new people. A new sort of Ahab comes speedily to the front in these later days. This is a righteous Ahab, not come to | take possession of this new Naboth's | vineyard, but to take possession of Na- | both himself, directing his every act for his own good, in the true Puritan way. This new interferer is none other than the United States itself. And here, in effect at least, the story shifts front. While all the time it holds to the per- sonal history of the republic, it does this by a study of our own country in its bearing and in its actions toward the Dominican Republic, and, by im- plication, to all of Latin America. At this point Mr. Welles reviews a most important chapter of our own his- tory—a chapter likely to be forgotten by the general reader. This goes back to the day of Jefferson, Adams, Madi- son, Monroe and Henry Clay, all zealous for some measure of protection for the whole Western Hemisphere from Furo- péan ambition. Monroe Doctrine, with this object as its only aim. Then less statesmanly men came to the front. And slowly there came talk of annexation. With one President it was the annexation of this very island that stirred the gainful streak in the Nation. Under such a view there came to the countries to the south that distrust which is still alive and that reinterpretation of the Mon- roe Doctrine as an instrument pointed against .them and not for them. From this point Mr. Welles devotes himself vigorously and forthrightly to the imperial policy bequeathed to the United States by virtue of the Spanish- American War. Granting by and large that this country is not inimical, not possessed of ulterior motive in respect to its outlylng dependencies, Mr. Welles cites by name and attitude and act one and another of those in power who have, by official action, created both distrust and hatred toward this country by a large part of Latin America. No. he does not assign to these imperial designs. Not at all. Instead they are of the kidney of the Puritan, certain of their elect standing, sure that they— or we, this country—are of the perfect pattern that makes for long life and erfection. Rather a temperamental ailing than one inhering in the office of Secretary of State or other high source of decision and action. Set off against these—only a handful of them— Mr. Welles points with pride and enthusiasm to the statesmanship of Elihu Root and Charles Evans Hughes in their understanding of international righteousness, a thing that has nothing at all to do with personal plety. The crest of Sumner Welles' work comes with this turning upon us, upon this country, in our attitude toward our neighbors. Comes here for the reason that here we may each get in touch with a business that is clearly the busi- ness of every one in a country whose political persuasion is like that of our own. And the first step in that busi- ness is to know, to have definite and exact information on the subject that dike across the English Channel and | to pump out the sea water from the area thus inclosed. Ralsed double dikes, rom within to keep on going forward. [ like levees, would carry the Elbe and | ligent. is under discussion. Here is one of those subjects. Here is a treatment that is both informed and highly intel- Here is a spirit that is direct # + « It may be that a combination | other rivers across this lowland to the!and straight-dealing. And, again, here will epresent the . sea & way of portrayal, of di on, of | He was rescued by Crilley. | was born before the United States had Out of it came the|s upon an important, even upon & vital, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN. This is a special department de-, voted to the handling of inquiries. You| have at your disposal an extensive| organization in Washington to serve you in any capacity that relates to information. Write your question, your name and your address clearly, and in- close 2 cents in coin or stamps fsr J. reply. Send to The Evening Star Infor mation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, di- rector, Washington, D. C. Q. What is the shortest time in which air mail has been transported be- tween New York and San Francisco? | —B. C. P. A. The 2,680-mile route has been flown in 16 hours and 36 minutes. Five pllots flew in relays and the mail air- planes average 156 miles an hour. Q. How —C. B. B. A. There is a space of 4 inches be- | tween men and a distance between ranks of 40 inches. far apart do soldiers march? Q. How can index cards be cleaned that are dirty on the edges from han- dling?—E. N. A. Art gum is often used for this purpose. A number of cards may be held together firmly and the gum rub- bed over them. Q. How long did the divers stay down when salvaging the F-4>—A.P. D, A. Neilson, Crilley, Dreillishack and Laughman descended to 308 feet when salvaging the F-4, Honolulu. They usually remained under water about 20 minutes at a time. However, Laugh- man became entangled on the bottom and remained there for three hours. Q. What is an Enoch Arden law? | R. R. | Al Tt is a law providing that when | sists of 1.260 acres. a husband has been absent a specified number of years, the wife may remarry without the formality of divorce, the death of her husband being assumed. Please name some foods easily obtainable that contain vitamin D.— . H. 8. A. Egg yolk, milk and cod liver oil | are good sources of vitamin D. Q. What is the Jerusalem artichoke used for?—I. V. D. A. It can be used for human food, stock feed, alcohol manufacture and as a weed eradicator. Q. What is the oldest railway in England which is still operating?—T. P. A. The Mumbles Railvay has this distinction. It runs about five and a half miles along the shore of Swansea Bay. It began as a line upon which trucks were horse-drawn, then steam was employed, and now electricity is contemplated. Q. I had a passport to go to Eng- land seven years ago. Can it be used again or must I get a new one?— J. McC. A. A new passport will be necessary. Q. What is the motto of France? —E 8. A. ‘The coat of arms of France Is prinited in blue, white end red. and at the bottom are the words, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternil Q. Where is Hoover's Calffornia farm?—R. D. A. The farm is situated in the San aquin Valley, Californta, and con- In the height of the season as many as 600 men are employed. It is co-operative. President Hoover being the largest stockowner. Its value is assessed at $1,000,000. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. There is an English expression which uttered its Declaration of Independ- ence: “The glorious uncertainty of the law!” That may be the basis of prosperity of a certain class of hard workers, called lawyers—from ambulance chasers to diplomats—but it has been also the basis of wars and rumors of Wars, from time immemorial. If it were not for the ludicrous dis- parity of size and strength—to say nothing of the multilateral treaty—“the glorious uncertainty” of international law might now be leading to a war be- tween the land of twins and the land of dry “Shylocks” over the recent cap- ture, arrest and restraint of a lorry of contraband drink, destined for ~the Siam legation, which was halted be- Wween Baltimore and Washington. * x X * ‘What a picture is suggested by that alleged invasion of the diplomatic im- munity of Siam! “Oh, East Is East” etc., but when it met with an “effi- cient” Occidental policeman. all the prophecy of Kipling went a-glimmering. Does not every constable know that the King and Ministers Plenipotentiary and envoys extraordinary can do no wrong, in the face of the Volstead and Jones acts? What would be the outcome in diplomacy if now the Minister from Siam were to receive the Jones penalty in spite of his immunity! * Kk ok First, of course, the policeman who arrested the driver of a truckload of intoxicating liquor must be hung and quartered, for ignorance of diplomatic identity excuses no man. Where was his natural instinct which should dif- ferentiate between Yankee citizens and | “furriners” who are above the law? * x ¥ % A fictional attorney for Siam ad- dresses the law: “May it please the court, I would call your honor's attention to the estab- lished rule of international law, as laid down by Moore, volume IV, page 634: * ‘Ignorance of the official character of a person entitled to diplomatic im- munity does not excuse an officer Who violates such immunities by arresting | the person possessing them.’ “Your honor will easily recognize the | | I reasonableness of such a law, in_this age when clairvoyants cut such a figure in police doings. Any officer who is not able to spot a diplomat in the colored gentleman who drives a lorry s fit for treasons. stratagems and spoils. “Furthermore—I mean Moore, with- out intending a vile pun—the principle is expanded as follows: ““The statutes of the United States provide severe punishment for all such violations of diplomatic immunities of the representatives of foreign states; and the courts of the United States, acting in harmony with the principles of public law, as recognized by the Government, have, in more than one instance, held that the law does not make knowledge an ingredient in an offense against diplomatic immunity.” So argues the learned counsel. * ok ok Kk The argument of the eloquent ficti- tious counsel to the effect that law does not assume the existence of knowledge is supererogatory. For has it not been demonstrated and proved to unnum- bered juries. beyond a reasonable doubt? That is_“the glorious uncertainly of law?” If the law were certain and plain, why lawyers? Let the counsel proceed: “Your Honor wil bear with me— “Object, Your Honor. “Objection overruled. Proceed, Coun- “Your Honor will bear with me in citing a precedent which illuminates this contention that where ignorance is legal, it's rank folly to be knowledgeful, even for a policeman. In July, 1892, an attache of the Swiss legation in Wash- ington was arrested at Bay Ridge, Md., on the verbal complaint of a woman who had lost her pocketbook and suspected this stranger of having taken {t—not knowing the difference between a diplomat and—that kind of a fellow. “The efficient deputy locked up his prisoner and refused to transmit a tele- gram to the Department of State seek- ing identification and release. The deputy searched the pockets of the diplomat and heaped obloquy, or some- thing, all over him. “Eventually, the State Department apologized to Switzerland, and then the Governor of Maryland apologized to Switzerland and fired that ignorant deputy. “What could be a closer precedent than that, for our humble amends to glorious Siam? We may see double, it that cargo ever gets abroad over the land, but seeing double Siamese may be only a revival of the famous twins, again going to and fro on the earth like the devil once did.” (P. S—The lady found her pocket- book in her handbag, so not even a diplomat had stolen it, poor thing!) But, by apology, the Swiss navy was pre- vented from bombarding the Capital and burning the White House, as once did another little nation, to which we had failed to apologize. We must choose between plenty of apologles and mavai preparedness. Ten cruisers? A thousand, rather than ten apologies! Millions for | defense, but not one bottle for apologies! | \ putting the question, that is full of color and pith and movement. Now, if you cannot take all of this big book— and it is big—don't fail to study that part of it which discusses the United States, since tHe Spanish-American War, in respect to its attitude toward imperialism. “Monumental” is, I think, what this sort of study is called prop- . COLLINS. “Once upon a time, the Spanish Minister had occasion to complain of a breach of the privilege of immunity due the secretary of the legation, Senor Rivas y Salmon. All that that poor fish had done was to whip the son of a native American, a Mr. Kirk, and the foolish father swore out a warrant for Salmon’s assault and battery on his son. Later, the Mr. Kirk apologized and explained that he did not know that Mr. Salmon was a diplomat when he swore out the warrant, so Kirk was sentenced, but ever since then the soldier boys have hated salmon and called it ‘canned goldfish.” That's how diplomatic immunity works. Gosh, shall not a diplomat lick a native at will? Secretary of State Henry Clay thought so, and apologized to Spain, just a century and a year ago. ‘Remember the Maine!’ had not then been heard of. ‘We may whip a whole nation, but not object to an individual, diplomatic spanking from a minister plenipoten- tiary and envoy extraordinary. There is nothing so diplomatic as a personal inferiority complex by a native Amer- ican.” e g o Nevertheless, sometimes the worm will turn. Everybady knows about one Monroe Doctrine, and sometimes that has been assumed to be a chip on the shoulder of Uncle Samuel, but here is quite another Monroe Doctrine, as ex- pressed by the Department of State, December 10, 1828 “While the President is anxious that every member of the diplomatic corps should constantly enjoy all the security and immunities which are guaranteed by public law, it is no less his duty to exercise all the authority he possesses to prevent any wrongs from being com- mitted upon American citizens by any member of that corps. “Nothing can justify any functionary i of a foreign legation in taking law into his own hands and carving out the measure of his own redress. The Presi- dent, therefore, expects that you will be able to make out for Mr. Salmon (secretary of legation) a satisfactory explanation or justification of the assault and battery committed by him and of the indignity offered to the process server by tearing up the writ issued by a public magistrate, etc.” * * % % In 1855 Attorney General Cushing ruled in a case of a Minister: “If the crime committed by a public Minister affect individuals only, the | government of the country is to demand his recall; and if his government refuses to recall him, he may be expelled by force or be brought to trial, 2s no longer entitled to the immunities of a Minister. “If the crime affects the public safety of the country, its government may, for urgent causes, either seize and hold his person till the danger be passed or expel him from the country by force; for the safety of the state, which is superior to other considerations, is not to be perilled by overstrained regard for the privileges of an Ambassador.” * ok ok All diplomatic immunity is based upon the condition that it is claimed under circumstances of good faith and sin- cerity of the claimant. Diplomats must come to the White House with legally “clean hands.” It has been charged that some attaches of legations, today, are bootleggers in disguise, peddling the “immune” intoxicants to corrupt Amer- ican citizens. If such be proved, their immunity ceases. In England, some years ago, it was & common practice for debtors to secure nominal positions as attaches of lega- tions for the sole purpose of avoiding collection of their debts, by claiming immunity. Lord Mansfield records a passage covering such subterfuges, and our Attorney General Wirt, advising Secretary of State Adams, in 1818, com- mented as follows: “The mischief which Lord Mansfield points out is not ideal. As little as it might be expected from the dignity of the office, the English books abound with instances of attempts of foreign ministers to screen debtors from their creditors by the abuse of this privilege, and some of those cases are marked with an audacity equaled only by their absurdity. “Thus, in one case., 2n attempt was made to protect a debtor on the ground of his heing ostler to a foreign minister, who, it was proven, never kept horses; in another, on the ground of the de- fendant's being a coachman to a foreign minister who kept no coach; in a third of his being a cook to one who kept no kitchen nor culinary implements: in a fourth, of his being a gardener to one who had no garden; in a fifth, of his being a physician, although there was no proof that he had ever prescribed in his life; and in a sixth, on the ground of his being an English chaplain to the Ambassador from Morocco, who was a Mahometan.” It is passe now to screen debtors that way, but how about modern boot- leggers? Bert Harte may not have done justice to the Chinaman, but if he was speak- ing diplomatically— Which I wish to remark— And my language is plain— ‘That for ways that are dark, And for tricks that are vain, Some diplomats still are peculiar; Which the same I would rise explain, to * e Nevertheless, there are real problems in this diplomatie immunity. Upon the theory that an embassy or legation is “foreign soil,” over which our Govern- ment has no jurisdiction—which is not exactly true—the question was once propounded to the British Ambassador as to what would be the right jurisdie- tion in case he, the British Ambassador, were to murder the French Ambassador in front of the American Department of State. He pondered awhile over the puzzling question, but finally Rit upon erly by those using the term. However that may be, it is a triumph of work - [ a way to cut the Gordian knet by an- swering that he really had no intention to murder the French Ambassador. (Copyright, 1030 by Rauh V. Collinad