Evening Star Newspaper, April 21, 1929, Page 30

THE EVENING STAR —_ With Sunday Morning Edition. _ WASHINGTON, D, C. BUNDAY.........April 21, 1820 THEODORF W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 110 8t S Senroranta Ave. New York Office: 1 t 42nd | ice: 110 Eas! . e PR Gty Blie Eneiand Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evening Star. ... .45¢ per month #dd Bunday Star .80¢ per month ¢ end of each month. t in by mall or telephone v only . Sunday only . All Other States and Canada. Dally and & 1. $12.00: 1 ly only . unday only Member of the Associated Press. sociated Press Is cxclusively entitled he use for republication of ell news dis- itches credited to it Or not otherwise cred- tad in this paper news 4 and also the local oublished herein. All rights of publication of epecial dispatches herein are also reserved. - Tax Money Here Not Wasted. Senator Caraway of Arkansas has been quoted in the public print as say- ing that one-third of the money paid in taxes here is wasted. If Senator Caraway has been mis- quoted, he should publicly call attention to that fact, and the columns of The Star are open to him for such a pur- pose. If Senator Caraway actually made that statement, as quoted, he should in fairness to the taxpayers and to Con- gress show how and where the taxes are “wasted.” Congress has been shown, time and again, that we have here in the Nation’s Capital not only one of the most beauti- ful cities in the world, albeit an unfairly large percentage of the cost of maintain- ing and embellishing is paid by the home-owners of this small District, but also one of the most economically ad- ministered municipalities, entirely out of debt, on a strictly cash basis and free from graft. Let any municipality throughout the length and breadth of the entire United States show a cleaner record. Chairman Simmons of the subcom- mittee that handles the District appro- priation bill, although differing from us widely on the amount that the PFederal Government should pay toward support of the Capital City, knows bet- ter than his colleagues how true is the statement that the District taxpayers come nearer to getting one hundred cents’ worth of service for every dollar paid in taxes than do taxpayers in any other place. Chairman Simmons, by his careful scrutiny of all items of appropri- ation for the District, is helping to maintain this enviable record for the City of Washington. He is as jealous as are the leading citizens and taxpayers of this well earned record for economy and efficiency in expenditure of District funds. & Congressional investigations—the lat- est by the Gibson subcommittee and the United States Bureau of Efficiency ~—confirm this record. If Senator Cara- way has any evidence to the contrary, not only the Washington taxpayers but also his own colleagues in Congress are interested to know what it is. Each year there is drawn a chart showing just how the dollar paild in taxes is divided—about one-third for education, approximately one-sev- enth for protection of life and prop- erty, nearly one-eighth for charities and corrections, one-tenth for highways, one-tenth for health and sanitation, ete. Nowhere in the country is a municipal administration under more careful, even hypercritical scrutiny. It is under the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress, and the vast majority of Congressmen have learned to be suspicious of waste of funds or graft in municipal adminis- tration. When they have really studied the situation here, they are amazed to find such one hundred per cent proper use of tax moneys. The Gibson subcommittee has made recommendations which have effected considerable saving in public funds; but these recommendations, for the most part, called for new laws to change the expressed directions of Congress itself. Time itself brings opportunities’ for greater economies through adoption of more efficient business practice, and from time to time relatively slight change in the business administration and adjustments must be made—as re- cently at the suggestion of the Gibson subcommittee and the Bureau of Effi- clency. But there has not been any “waste”. of District funds, and any intimation of “graft” is absolutely unjust. P It would surely be well for all farm leaders to work in complete harmony. Yet the D. A, R. has again demon- strated that a certain amount of ear- nest argument may lead to important’ and satisfactory conclusions. Many bootleggers have gone out of business. The new penalties may not always be easy to apply, but they make the risk too great to make the enter- prise seem profitable, except in financial desperation. Police Equipment. ‘The tragic death of Motor Cycle Po- liceman W. 8. Buchanan on Thursday . night in & crash with an automobile while answering an emergency call ' stresses again the need of high-powered -\'girens for the machines of the motor * cycle squad. Buchanan was going to ' the aid of & woman who had phoned +the precinct station that she was being | threatened with a revolver by her hus- band. The officer was undoubtedly ; traveling at & high rate of speed. At ) the intersection of Seventh street and | .whether two wheeled or four, Which | st be used for emergency runs should ticularly expensive, and their installa- tion would not necessarily mean that runs. Thursday night's accident points clearly to the fact that immediate ac- tion is needed. And while on the subject of police equipment and policemen on motor cycles unable to give sufficient warning of their presence, it might be well to point out that many serious accidents have occurred to traffic policemen st night because of their lack of visibility. Some eight years ago The Star sug- gested that Washington should adopt the Boston plan of requiring policemen to wear a white harness resembling a Sam Browne belt. This harness, easy to put on and easy to take off, un- doubtedly has saved the Jives of many policemen who are compelled to direct trafic from the middle of the street at busy intersections. ‘The officers are easily visible to motorists, and there is no poesible excuse for a driver to fall to see them when so attired. So ef- fective has been the Boston plan that other cities, notably Baltimore, have adopted it. Unquestionably, sirens on motor cycles and white belts on traffic policemen at night wowld lessen the dangers faced by the guardians of the law. Both arti- cles of equipment are inexpensive and should speedily be brought into use in the National Capital. A —— e reees The Reparations Crisis. Unless something akin to a miracle epsues during the week end the Paris Conference on Revision of the Dawes Plan is definitely headed for the rocks. There is every indication that the crash has already occurred and that the wreck is even now complete. The Germans propose terms pro- nounced utterly unacceptable by the allied and American experts. As both sides present adamant fronts, an im- passe has arrived, which apparently leaves reparations where they have been for the ten years since Versailles— a controversial issue incessantly fraught with danger to the amity, if not the peace, of Europe. A plenary session of the Paris delegates is scheduled for Monday. Only slender hope lingers that it will disclose an eleventh-hour possi- bility of avoiding a formal and final fallure to reach an agreement. ‘The figure on which the reparation experts eventually split was the German offer of an average annuity of 1,650,- 000,000 gold marks (about $396,000,000) for thirty-seven years, inclusive of all demands on Germany. The present value of these payments was estimated to aggregate, roundly, 24,000,000,000 marks (about $5,760,000,000), of which the Germans were willing to commer- clalige—cover in a government bond 1ssue—16,000,000,000 marks ($3,840,000,~ 000) at five per cent interest. ‘This amount deducted from the total present value would leave 8,000,000,000 marks to pay in annulties of 1,650,000,- 000, plus 800,000,000 interest, or a total annuity, including interest, of 2,450,- 000,000 marks (about $588,000,000) for five years and only 800,000,000 (about $1902,000,000) for the remaining thirty- two years. e In other words, the Germans would get rid of the bulk of their reparations payments in excess of the commerclal- ized debt in five years and then would have only to pay interest of 800,000,000 and a sinking fund of 160,000,000 for the remaining years of the arrangement they propose. ‘The allled demands began with an annuity of 1,850,000,000 marks, gradu- ally rising to 2,400,000,000, with an aver- age of about 2,200,000,000 and & present value of 40,000,000,000 marks (about $9,600,000,000). It is not easy for the lay mind to grasp these Brobdingnagian figures. The essentlal thing is that Germany and her creditors are some $4,000,000,000 apart in their conceptions of what the Ger- mans are to pay altogether and more than $150,000,000 apart in their views as to how much Germany should pay, on the average, a year. The experts evi- dently consider those discrepancies un- susceptible of compromise. They are in mood to call quits and acknowledge their inability to get together. Apart from the gold billions which separate them, the debtor and creditor negotiators at Paris seem to be at log- gerheads on certain “political ques- tions” raised by Germany. Reichsbank President Dr. Schacht’s “memorandum,” not yet officially revealed, is understood to hint at restoration of Upper Silesia, the Saar, and even German colonies. This converts revision of reparations at & swoop into revision of the treaty of Versallles, At that point the allied and American experts have balked. Their stand is irrefutably justified. ‘Wall Street absorbs & great deal df the careless money. But there is al- ‘ways enough to encourage private pro- moters of fake investment schemes. Paving Streets on Schedule. Submission for publication and ex- amination of the list of streets to be repaired or paved this Summer, to- gether with the dates upon which such work is-expected to begin, marks & new departure at the District Buflding which promises much toward the elim- ination of wasted effort and incon- venience. The work of paving and re- pair is arranged according to the amount of underground work to be done by the Sewer Department, Water Department or the public utilitles cor- have been completed before, With the whole program of repair work known in advance, the office of the director of tramc and the Police Department should be able to plan for the smooth flow of iraffic around" torn-up areas without resorting to the Chinese pusele system of detours with which harassed sutomobile drivers became so familiar last Summer. A good deal of time and effort have been expended in arranging this sched- ule and Washington will watch with interest the degree of success which | marks its execution. The Great Grape Mystery. Commissioner Doran of the Prohibi- tion Bureau has disclaimed any inten- tion of putting the Federal Government on record as being unduly interested in the fate of grape juice fallen into the hands of private individuals. His inten- tion to investigate the disposition of large quantities of California grape juice, however, is but natural. One of the interesting phenomena of prohibi- tion has been the effect of the law ca the California grape crop. Nothing, ap- parently, was so much needed as pro- hibition to increase the production of California grapes. In 1920 the California growers pro- duced about’ one million, two hundred and seventy-three thousand tons of fresh grapes. The year following the production fell off by a little more than one. hundred thousand tons, But in 1922 things began to look up. Produc- tion increased over 1920 by some four hundred thousand tons. In 1923 pro- duction went to two million and thirty thousand tons. In the next two years there was a decline, but in 1926 produc- tion went to two million, one hundred and fourteen thousand tons. In 1927 | the production was nearly two and a half million tons, and the estimated production for 1028, the exact figures not being available, is about two million, three hundred and thirty-one thousand tons, . ‘The country will await with interest the reports to Commissioner Doran on why the people of the United States are eating so many more grapes or why they have grown so fond of grape juice. ‘The story of tracing the grape, not to its source but to its destination, will provide an absorbing mystery tale that should rank as s best seller. s Though willing to discuss economic questions, Alfred E. Smith is evidently disinclined to get excited about Tam- many merely for the sake of being in the thick of a good old fight. e George Bernard Shaw, who once wrote & play about & prize fighter, is to be the guest of Gene Tunney. A new and highly interesting literary alliance may be in prospect. o Baltimore’s new afrport will require 80 much acreage that for s time it will interest the realtors almost as much as the aviators. —_— et German statesmanship continues to cherish the assumption that it is never too late to start a bargain all over again. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOKNSON. Merry Young Springtime. In the merry young Springtime we once were 30 gay, 3 ‘When sunshine was chasing the shad- ows away— Spring poets were held: up to scorn in my youth, And doubtless because they did not tell the truth, The blossoms may wither away in a night, As a frost makes the garden a desolate sight, Oh, the future seems tough and the going is rough, When the merry young Springtime proves only & bluff! Not Exacting Proofs. “Do you believe in prohibition?” “Yes,” answered Uncle Bill Bottletop. “I'm not one of these bigoted persons who refuse to believe in anything they can't see.” Jud Tunkins says the size of our am- bitions don't cut so much figure. Some of the worst quarrels he ever saw started in penny-ante poker, Plaudits of the Throng. ‘We find & hero and we cheer ‘Whenever he is drawing near— Is this affection true, or no? Or is he something like a show? Seholarship. ; “Are your young folks fond of school?” “Yes,” answered Mr. Meekton, wea- rily—“dancing school.” “T6 have power without knowing how to use it,” sald Hi Ho, the ‘sage of Chinatown, “is to have a stove and skillet with no ability in cookery.” Enviable A ‘The fat ones to be thin would like, ‘The thin long to be fat. An average why can't we strike And let it go at that? “Dar is s0 much domestic trouble,” sald Uncle Eben, “dat I begins to won- der” how ‘Home, Sweet Home,' holds its reputation foh bein’ a good song.” ‘Well, That’s Something. Prom the Beattle Dally Times. * Off® ‘peculiarity of the Federal - mu-hm?lthum;wm move an unemotional lord to tears. ———————— And Medicine Balls, Too. From the Kalamazoo Gasette. Well, & country which has been saved the of & tial* ht mh:xr.um keep Mr. The ing rods and bait. That’s Worth Considering. Prom the New London Day. ; R g e Sen v g Do it ol et contempt of court. ‘Bui R A Little Horse Sense. ~ EVERYDAY + BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES Bishop of “Thou wilt shew me the rth of life; in Thy presence is jullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are gv‘lcm")ru fiw evermore” (Psalms, “The Joy of Life.”’ Religion and joy in the minds of most people are wholly incompatible, W bave inherited from our Puritan fore- fathers some conceptions of religion that are out of consonance with the teach- ings of Jesus Christ. There is a concep- tion of belief and practice that is somber and forbidding. It does violence to everything the Master taught. He came to men declaring that He was the author of “the more abundant life ” His whole attitude toward life was helpful, stimulating and inspiring. For the first demonstration of His miraculous power sought out a wedding company in Cana of Galllee. So marked was the contrast between Him and -John, the Forerunner, that his critics declared, while John was an ascetic, & man of lonely and detached habits of living, Jesus sought out the fellowship of men, and they called him “a gluttonous man and a wine bibber.” ‘That He was called “a man of sorrows and acquaintance with grief” is quite true. it He was burdened with his great commission and that at the end of the way He saw a lonely cross is equally true, but. on the other hand. His con- tacts with men and His interpretation of life and its larger possibilities were marked by cheerfulness and hopefulness, ‘That He sought to make men take life seriously and to see its great purpose and end is clearly evident, but in the fulfilling of the scheme as He saw it the element of joy was not forgotten. It was enriched and enhanced. ‘There have been periods in the course of the church's life where' the very bulldings in which its public services were held were repellently cold, formal and uninviting. Even the services them- selves were overcast with shadows and lent nothing of exhilaration or profit to life. Any study of the youth of our day discloses the abnormal conceptions they hold of the meaning and pu! RELIGION E. FREEMAN, D, D, LL. D, Washington ing it places upon them restrictions that | to inhibit -their natural impulses and places large limitations upon their con- sistent freedom of action. The path of life that the Psalmist seeks is one that leads to “fulness of joy” and * for evermore.” “wild joy of Mving.” We wonder whether he .not have in mind that kind of living where a vital and vitalizing Christian faith is its chief inspiration, as v{ell as 4ts most appealing adorn- ment. Some years ago we visited one of the notable cathedrals in England and were shown walls’ whereon beautiful frescoes were once displayed, lending color and beauty to the temple, that had been covered over with plaster by the rude hands of those who felt that the Chris- tian religion esuld not be interpreted save in dark and somber tones.- These mistaken zealots had a “zeal of God, but not according to knowledge” They would subtract from life that which is colorful, appealing and refining. If our religious habit and practice do not mean refreshment and a finer interpre- tation of the deep and lasting joys of life, we have a conception of it not warranted by the teachings and exam- ple of Jesus. I like the phrase of Robert Louls Stevenson, “The Bible for the most part is a cheerful book. It is only our little tracts and sermons that are dull and dowie.” He, himself, was the exemplar of joyous, Christian living. Beaten physically by & malady that sapped his vitality and ultimately ended his career, he betrayed in all his writing, notably his verse, “the wild joy of living.” If our preaching were more winsome, more refreshing and stimulating, if all our services had in them a note of joy, we should have fewer empty churches. The very tones of our voices when we speak of the Christian faith betray our lack of appreciation of its deep and wholésome significance. Let us teach our children in our homes and exem- plify to our friends wherever our activi- tles lead us that kind of Christian belief that is in consonance with the life of Him who could say in spite of the cross, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the purpose of the Christian religion. To their think- Debenture Plan’s Intricacies Keep Capital BY WILLIAM HARD. ‘The ‘“‘export debenture” is at this week end the talk-topic of the town. It even makes some progress in com- petition with Mrs. Gann. Some people claimed to understand the ultimate consequences of Mrs. Gann. Fewer are willing to picture the ultimate conse- quences of the “export debenture”; and many are heard to complain that it seems rather unfair of the farmers, after obliging Washington last year to try to understand the ‘“equalization fee,” 10 come along this year with the even stiffer mental exercise of the “export debenture.” It is said that this may be farm re- llef, but that it is no rellef to the mental strain of the National Capital. All, nevertheless, are struggling with it and are getting hourly bulletins, as it were, from National Grange circles :lnd from the circles of the administra- lon. ] ‘The National Grange officially denles that the “export debenture” is a “sub- sidy.” The tariff on wheat is 42 cents a bushel. The exporter of a bushel of wheat will get an “export debenture” of 21 cents. He probably is not himself el ed in importing, let us say, Scotch tweeds. He, accordingly, sells his “ex- debenture” to a broker. This ker, residing perhaps in a seacoast city where the exports are large, but where the imports are small, puts the “export debenture” into the malls and sends it to perhaps Baltimore or New York. There it is bought by another broker who presumably is in close touch with importing business groups. ‘This second broker resells it to a third broker or perhaps succeeds in selling it to an importer who is in the act o l'n‘lgortln( something. The im- porter es it to the customhouse where he is awaiting the ship which | is bringing him his consignment of | Scotch tweeds or German canaries or | Czechoslovakian chinaware. He ryl the duty on the cons!gnment: and, as part of the payment, he hands to the customhouse officers the “export de- benture” which he has bought from the broker. * k k% It is worth 21 cents at the custom- house. The importer bought it for less. If he had not been able to buy it for less he would not have bought it at all. Instead of buying it he would simply have paid the customhouse 21 cents out of gls own pocket. It is clear, there- fore, that he bought it from the broker for less than its face value of 21 cents; and it is also clear that the broker bought it from the preceding broker for still less; because otherwise he could have made no profit upon it. Follow- ing this chain of sales and purchases of the “export debenture” backward, it 1s clear again that the original ex- porter of the bushel of wheat must have sold the ‘“export -debenture” to broker for less than 21 cents by a certain distinct margin. In other words, the “export deben- ture,” though it has a face value of 21 cents, can never have heen worth 21 cents to the original exporter and, there- world.” Mentally Alert on the fact, however, that the “export debenture” takes no money out of the Treasury. The money, under the “ex- port debenture” plan, simply never ar- rives in the Treasury. It is stopped be- fore it gets there. Therefore, says the grange, the ‘“export debenture” is 1i- beled when it is called a subsidy. On this point the grange officially quotes the economic scholar, Prof. C. L. Stewart of the University of Illinols. Prof. Stewart points out that “export debentures avoid both appropriations and special taxes”—that is, the money is never appropriated because it never gets to the Treasury to be appropriated, and no special taxes are levied to re- coup the Treasury for its losses at the customhouses because it is believed that the Treasury is so full that it will not need recouping. Therefore, thinks Prof. Stewart, the Treasury need feel no concern and the taxpayer similarly need feel no concern, and, as he ex- presses it: “Export debentures are means of ad- justing the comparative position of ag- ricultural exports with other preducts in trade, but without subsidy.” * kKK ‘This being 50, and since a loss to the Government, according to Prof. Stew- art, is no cost to the Government, it seems clear to most of Washington that we are now embarked upon an adven- ture which happily has no limitations, o Census Bill Concerns 120,000 Seeking Jobs BY HARDEN COLFAX. Some 120,000 men and women have & direct and personal interest in the census bill, which is slated for early consideration in the Senate, for ap-; proximately that number of extra em- ployes will be required to count the population and perform the other func- tions involved in the measure, But the 123,000,000 other inhabitants of the country need have no fear that these 120,000 added Federal employes will milk the Treasury dry by becoming permanent officeholders. The fact is that | 110,000 of them will be on the pay roll | only from two weeks to one month. The enumerators, forming the largest class of census employes, must com- plete their work in urban centers in two weeks and in rural communities within a month. ‘The scramble for these appointments, reflected in a deluge of letters to mem- bers of Congress and other persons of influence, appears out of all proportion to the personal return involved when it is considered that, being paid on & per capita basis, which differs as be- tween city and rural districts, the enumerators will receive only $70 to $120 each for their total work. About 500 Supervisors. There will be approximately 500 su- pervisors to be named, with a basic fore, never could have justified the original exporter in adding the whole 21 cents to his bid on the purchase of the bushel of wheat from the farmer. ‘The farmer, it is beyond dispute, can never get the whole of the 21 cents. A considerable part of it will have to necessarily to the maintenance of {ge charges and profits of the “export debenture” brokerage market. 1t is also beyond doubt, it is pointed out here on all hands, that the ‘“ex- port debenture” of 21 cents on a bushel of wheat will convey fewer and fewer cents to the farmer as the plan goes farther and farther into operation. This is because the plan will stimulate ex. ports into the foreign world. That re. sult is so thoroughly admitted by the g:mouu of the plan that in their t bill for it they provided that the plan should be stopped and discarded if and when the increase of exports roge to be as much as 15 per cent. The increase of exports, however, will naturally depress the world ice. ‘Thereupon the exporter, facing abroad, will be obliged to offer a rom ywer price on export wheat at home, and the number of cents going to the farmer out of the 21 cents of the face | Flo ue of the ‘“export debenture” will ll again get diminished. * X kX ¢ It is calculated here by optimists that the farmer at the end of a few get! 18 or 17 of the calculated by - mists that he mlxbr;t be getting only 10. ‘The “export debenture,” nevertheless, bearing on its face the figures 2! be worth 21 cents at any cus- Hoover in fish- | hend ywer | Col salary of $2,000 each, plus additional compensation according to population and the number of farms in each dis- trict, and they will have stenographers and clerks. These are the appoint- ments most eagerly sought, naturally. The job lasts langer. too. There may be as many as 7,000 extra employes required at the uarters in Wash- ington; but these will come from civil service lists, and some of them will work three years, The estimated compensation to be paid enumerators—that large group which actually makes the count and whose jobs are brief—for the popula- tion and agricultural censuses com- bined, based upon an estimated total population of 123,283,000 and an esti- m;fin of 6,371,000 farms, follows by State. Alabama Arizona . Arkansas California lorado Connectic Delaware . District of define it, it 9 "pleasure ‘The poet speaks of the | nirg Prdlm it Tecogn! leading fight for adequate hospitai~ Ization for the veterans, and has been instrumental in getting increased ap- ropriations for the Department of mmerce so that New England in- dustries could be benefited. Today, Mrs. Rogers is flying by plane to Detroit, Mich,, to urge upon the airplane indusf the opportunities nite signs of being h| that Enlarging, the Federal | Distriet BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. After 139 years of service as the seat of the National Government, the Dis- trict of Columbia is showing such defi- ite in size to restore the Vir- of the District to Federal control has been revived. The original District of Columbia lay on both sides parent use for the part which was given by Virginia, Congress gave it back, and it became Arlington County, Va. Now the City of Washington is pouring over the edges of the District of Columbia at a dozen places, and the citizens of Arlington County are talking about getting their area back into the District of Columbia, A great part of Arling County, Va., is used by the United States Gov- ernment as it is. Arlington National for manufacture of airplanes and sc- cessories in New England, and especially in Massachusetts. She was recently instrumental in having an airplane fac- tory located in her home city of Lowell, 50 that she now speaks from personal acquaintance when she recommends to the industry that they can secure ready markets and high-grade employes in her home State. With Mrs. Rogers at the Detroit gath- ering will be Miss Amelia Earhart, Mary Heath, David S. Ingalls, Assistant Becretary of the Navy for Aeronautics, and many others prominent in the fleld of transportation. Mrs. Ruth Hanna McCormick of Il- linois is one of the woman members who is most prominent in the b- lican party couneils, where her father was & dominant factor. She was a member of the committee of 25 selected by Ogden Mills, Undersecretary of the ‘Treasury, to confer on the proposed or- ganization of a National Republican Club, with headquarters in Washington,’ and she has been selected as a member of the important subcommittee which is to confer with Dr. Hubert Work on plans and policy for the new national organization. EREE A Most of the people throughout the country do not seem to realize as yet how different this session of Congress is from the usual session. The people are agerly scanning their home town papers each night for the news from ‘Washington of particular significance to them, and the Washington corre- spondents are driven frantic trying to find “locals” for home consumption. Of course, there are the usual raft of bills introduced, but they are not to receive consideration until the Decem- ber session. This extraordinary session is called, and proposes to stick to that job, for the purpose of passing just two bills— farm relief and the tariff. ,Of course, that statement is trite, but it is just beginning to sink in how much of a difference that restriction makes. Compared with that goal of two laws, the last (Seventieth) Congress put lfi'{xzxz hs'l’x'ton lm:h statute books, the preceding ( y-ninth) Congress 1,423, and the Congress before lh:t“um. In the present session. only four com- mittees are organized and only two of them have bills referred to them, whereas the usual session has all com- mittees at work. For example, in the Seventieth Congress there were 17,334 bills introduced, 435 joint resolutions, 351 simple resolutions and 60 House con- current resolutions, making a total of | 18,180 bills and resolutions considered by committees. During the Seventieth Congress the House passed 1.584 House bills and reso- lutions and 736 Senate bills and resolu- tions. The House passed 559 House bills, 20 House joint resolutions and 19 Sen- | ate bills and joint resolutions which did not become laws. * There were introduced in the Sen. ate 5903 bills, 224 joint resolutions, 38 concurrent resolutions and 351 simple resolutions. - The Senate passed 941 bills and 79 joint resolutions. The Senate committees made 2,074 reports. The Senate passed 301 bills and resolutions which did not become law. Of the 945 House bills which became laws there were included eight omnibus pension bills, which, added to one Sen- ate omnibus - pension bill, contained 7,620 private bills which were enacted. ‘This made the grand total of laws, including those enacted in omnibus pension bills, 9,333, The President transmitted to the House 103 messages in the last Con- gress, executive departments transmitted 876 communications and 13,617 peti- tions were filed. And yet some people wonder what Congress finds to do and others protest that Congress does so little. And the present extraordinary ses- slon is going to have plenty to do to pass just the two measures that Presi- dent Hoover urged them to act upon. * K K % ‘With the iron framework of the In- ternal Revenue and Commerce Depart- ment Buildings attracting the atten- tion of the great throngs of visitors to ‘Washington, there is timely interest in the fact stated at the Caplol yesterday by Chairman Richard N. Elliott of the House committee on public buildings and grounds, who is also a member of the eral Public Buildings Commis- sion, that for these two _struc- tures alone 2,300 carloads of Indiana limestone are being haule into Wash- ington. Most people would be inclined to think that amounted to tearing the heart out of the State of Indiana. ‘These two structures are to cost, to- gether, nearly $25,000,000. Here concrete evidence that while the City of Washington gets the monumental buildings to house Government activi- ties, the actual cold cash that comes out of the Federal Treasury to pay for them goes into other States. * K KK ‘The phyfrauna movement started in Boston by Joseph Lee less than a quar- ter of a century has sprei over the world, as the-Children's Bu- reau of the Federal Government testi- fles. In 1926, through the generosity of rs. Bertha Guggenheim, a playground furnished with American equipment and under the charge of a trained di- rector was established under the wall of the old City of Jerusalem, just within Zion Gate. Here 600 boys and girls of many races, religions and classes are learning to play together. Another phy;round is planned for the new part of Jerusalem, outside the walls, and one for Tel Aviv, & wholly new Jewish city, founded in 1910. Urgent requests Cemetery occuples a’big section of it, and the Department of Agriculture takes another section with its experi- mental farm. Fort Myer, the Army post of the National Capital, is also in the Virginia county. Now Washington wants a big, first-class airport, and has cast desirous eyes on a big tract in Arlington County, along the river front. There are only 30 square miles of land to Arlington County, and if the Government iakes much more of it there will be very little left in private hands which the county can levy taxes u‘pon. There are two or three good sized suburban towns in the county, most of whose inhabitants work (’;1 Washington. There are a lot of paved roads coming into Washington through Arlington County, which Washington uses and the county keeps in repair. The little county on the Virginia hills has numerous reasons for wishing that the Federal Government would take it back into the District of Columbia and pay its bills. The original District of Columbia, as located by President Washington “be- tween Georgetown and the ,Eastern Branch,” included the present 60 square miles of Maryland soil, the 30 square miles of Virginia, and 10 square miles of water in the Potomac River and the Eastern Branch, now called the Anacos- tia River. This 100 square miles, exact- 1y 10 miles square, was the maximum size for the Pederal District as provided for by Congress in the act of 1790, nly the insistence of George Wash- ington kept for the Government the full 100 square miles in the first place. Jef- ferson thought the Federal city would need only part of it, and other officials belleved about a quarter of it would be more than enough for all future needs. They pointed out that the great city of Philadelphia, then the seat of govern- ment and a metropolis of trade, occu- pled a site 2 miles by 3. How could any city ever cover 10 miles by 10? Washington stood pat for the whole area allowed by Congress. Later on the one-third given by Virginia was given back, and right now' the wisdom and foresight of the first President is evident in the movement to get that d | Virginia third back into the District of Columbia. Original Locating of District. When Washington located the Fed- eral District, as it was first called, he was limited both as to size and in other ways. The city must be on the Mary- land shore of the Potomac, and it must be located somewhere between the Imouth of the Conococheague and that of the Eastern Branch, or Anacostia River. The Conococheague empties into the Potomac at Williamsport, Md., 7 | miles southwest of Hagerstown. Wash- ington traveled carefully over the 67 by Congress before he officially desig- nated the site for the District. Towns- people and settlers all along the river made ardent proposals to get the Capital near their localities. The correspond- ence of Washington and of the Com- missioners whom he named to survey the site and buy up the land indicates that he had the site between George- town and the Eastern Branch pretty well in mind from the start. It was the only place within the limits set by Congress where deep-water shipping could reach, as the Little Falls and then above Georgetown. President Washington was & shrewd miles of river between the limits fixed | the Great Falls of the Potomac are just | trader, however, and he wanted the landowners on the chosen site to get Brices: Hie conducted o large purs of eondu & large of the negotiations himself, and mv- eral occasions called groups of land- owners together at Georgetown and argued forcefully with them about the of the Potomac River. Having no ap- | heed tage ering figure that would make certain getting the C:flflal on their site. Washington knew all about land values of the farms which made up the new District and the villages of Carrolistown and Ham- burg which were mere clusters of a few houses located more or less where the Capitol and White House now are. He also knew the owners, and he saw to it that his desire to locate the Na- tional Capital city on the Potomac was not upset by the greed of any land- holder. In that connection it is worth re- calling that Philadelphia did not re- linquish the Capital with a good grace, but fought vigorously to retain it, even after the decision for a Potomac site had been made. The State of Penn- sylvania built a fine house for the Presi- dent to occupy, but Washington refused to move in and continued to rent his house in Pmlndg“llphh while he was President. He would not give the Penn- sylvanians any claim on him for the Capital. Potomae Bridges Change Situation. ‘Many a heart-break! problem arose in building the Capl City. There were disputes without end as to where the legislative buildings should stand and where the President’s Palace, as the en- gineer L'Enfant, called it. The loca- tion of the Capitol and White House raore than & mile apart was done large- 1y to please landowners in various sec- tions in and around the new District. Georgetown did not want the city put away off on Jenkins' Hill—where the Capitol stands—a location quite inac- cessible in those days. Jefferson, who as Secretary of State carried out many details of the planning of the city, had suggested a public park between the legisiative and executive bulldings when it was planned to have them fairly close together. When they were set a mile and quarter apart, the Jeffersonian idea of “public walks” was retained, and thus was created the Mall, a great blessing, as it saved a lot of fine open through the middle of the city. ‘There were no bridges across the Potomac when the Pederal city was located, and the area on the Virginia side which Washington included in the District seemed as far away as Balti- more. No wonder it was given back to Virginia! Today three bridges cross the Potomac in this area, with ti great Arlington Memorial Bridge, fines: and widest of boulevard bridges, near- ing completion. Prom the end of new bridge in Virginia will start * new Mount Vernon Memorial Highwa the Lee Highway and other man thoroughfares. Times have changed and the vision of Washington has be- come fully justified. but now a scer of legal problems impede the idea bringing the Virginia lands back in' the Federal District. Arlington County lies entirely inside of the original Fairfax County, frem which it was carved to present it to the Federal Government in 1791. In- side Arlington County again lies the | Independent city of Alexandria, one of the numerous Virginia cities which are separate from the counties in which they lie, a sort of free city idea peculiar to that State. To shift a city and a county from their State and into the District of Columbia is such a problem that the success of the new movement is far from assured. It certainly will not be accomplished in a hurry. Meny people in Arlington County oppose it as_vigorously as others favor it. Meanwhile the Capltal City pours over its borders into Maryland, and while this involves some odd problems of administration, with the District sometimes paving one side of a street while a Maryland township paves and polices the other side, each problem is worked out amicably as the city grows, and Congress extends occasional special benefits to adjoining lands in Maryland and Virginia over which the surplus of ithe Federal city is spreading. This and That By Charles E. Tracewell. The names given to Mrs. Blackie's kittens were Alexandre Dumas, D'Artag- nan, Porthos, Athos and Aramis. It is needless to say that D'Artagnan but such a chance must always be g&:‘w those who insist on naming As & matter of fact, when the minia- ture cats got their eyes open their names underwent a slight revision, one name being discarded and others being transferred. In the beginning the largest and most vigorous of the kittens was named after the beloved French romancer, the Edgar Wallace of his day, who thought no more of wriling & novel than most of us do a letter, ‘The peppy little black and white fel- low was named Alexandre Dumas, and subsequent days have added to the truth of the name. Alexandre is forever pushing his nose up over the rim of his soap box home, anxious to get out into the great world and see what it is all about. Once he is placed outside the box, however, he sets up & lusty meowing to get back in again, * x %% The dark tiger kitten was named all | D'Artagnan, after the hero of Dumas’ most famous series, but was soon re- named Little Nipper III, being so like its predecessors. Little Nipper II, it may be stated, is now enjoying life in Cleveland Park, ridding the neighborhood of mice and moll Little Nipper I has never been seen or heard since he left Jack Spratt’s home several years ago. He was a roamer by nature; his friends hope he is well and happy. seems every reason to believe that Nip- per III is a direct descendant of Nip- for pl:{troundx have also been received from Halfa and Tiberias. ) 1t's Like “Whoopee.” From the Boston Transcript. Cotemporary which seeks to “define jazz" ought to know that if you can isn't jaze. Porthos. 12390| ""The light tiger striped D' the H St the supervisors and their office ants; and further expenditures census of distribution, which taken for the first time, and biennial census of manufactures, “$500.000 outaids tter. ok { 3 E? 5 per IL His mother, Mrs. Blackie, runs with head lowered as Nippie does, has exactly the same meow, and makes a peculiar meowing grunt when she jumps down from an elevated place. His markings and coat in general ex- actly resemble Nipper. ‘This left four names to be given three kittens, so one name was necessarily eliminated. Aramis was the one decided upon. Every one will remember him as the crafty abbe, whose one good fea- ture was the tear he wept over the death of his old comrade, the great ‘Thas pure maltese Ei’ g may turn out to be Miss D'Artagnan, | It is interesting to note that there | preak Fifty Years Ago In The Star Washington is now witnessing & demonstration on a large scale of me- chanical “labor” Machinery industriously at work in the econ- ‘nd x'n Pow@r. struction of the big office buildings which will house Uncle Sam’s business and at the same time beautify the National Capital. In the light of this display of efficiency and facility in these operations it is interesting to note the following in The Star of April 14, 1879: “The discussion concerning the in- fluence of labor-saving machinery upon the interests of the working man has led to the expression of the opinion that machinery as a social disorganizer has done its work and that future'in- ventions will apply in large measure only to minor details and embellish- ments. It is pointed out that in the item of agricultural implements a single generation has replaced the scythe by the self-binding harvester end this later machine is thought to represent a limit. But if it be conceded that the saving of labor has reached the limit in & certain agricultural process it by no means follows that in- vention has exhausted itself or that merely improvement in the details or in the beautifying capacities of ma- chinery is now possible. “There are thousands of possible ap- plications of the motive powers already known and partly under control which only need the appropriate machinery to become practicable. The discovery of & new motive power, or the invention of a means of further controlling some of the unruly forces of nature that now the bonds by means of which man would subdue them to his pur- poses, may be expected to give life to numberless connected inventions, even i we can imagine & time when, under present conditions, invention must come to a standstill for lack of new worlds to conquer. Electricity, the Samson among nature's forces, now breaks the withes, but it will not be long before he is shorn of all strength for re- nlx::‘;\i: lnté mm “n;:‘: nmu.lerul servant vast st will be employed in obedience to the command mgr ’hl.l master. Then all the inventors of the world must search for opportunities of utilizing this wonderful servant, for 1o burden will be too heavy for him, no been | operation too delicate. “If the invention of machinery be an working classes the chap- ter of damages is not ended. But the :;1:. each case are only i | ¢ '