Evening Star Newspaper, May 25, 1929, Page 8

|] THE EVENING STAR. WASHINGTON, SATURDAY. MAY 25, 1929. +THE EVENING STAR l tion regards the drinking habits of the 3 With Sunday | distinguished foreigners who tarry S e S officially in the District of Columbia as WASHINGTON, D. C. | xciusively their own affair. They are BATURDAY. ...May 25, 1920 “at home” here, because officially they e e are living on their own sofl—a fiction . Editor | long recognized among nations and one EERETL T which the United States, as far as its The Evening Star Newspaper Company | legations and embassies abroad are con- I T I RiAYS. | cerned, has always maintained. Chlenun Oes sk Micean Biilams. | It IS the business of foreign envoys European Ofice, 14 Regent St London. |to be obliging and courteous to the | peoples and governments to which they are accredited. But corresponding obli- | 3ations rest upon those peoples and 60c per month | governments. One of them, it seems to #5¢ per month | be felt in responsible Washington quar- 4 Sc per copy | ai'ihe end of ceh menth, | ters, 15 to let the envoys be masters in THEODORE W. NOYES... City. Rate by Carrier Within th rer month The Evening Star The Evening and Sinday Star Orders may be sent in by mi Main 5000, Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. ally and Sunday 3. $10.00: aile only . ; Sundas only All Other Dails and Sund: Datls onlv Sunday only Member of the Associated Press. The Acsoclated Press is exclusively entitled tn the ‘Ute for repuolication of ¢l Tews G atches credited tw Lt or not other¥ise cre ted in this paper and also the loc ne published herein. All riehts of oublicsrion o special dispatches herein are also reserved. f Farm Bill Deadlock. The special session of Congress called by President Hoover to deal with farm relief and tariff revision has alreadv run six weeks. Despite the fact that the farm relief problem had been atudied for vears. and the fact that the administration’s program had been well understood, n@ farm relief bill has yet been finally passed and sent to the President for his approval. Indeed, the farm relief bill, complicated by the in- elusion of the so-called export debenture plan, tnserted by the Senate, has reached a stage of deadlock in the conference eommittee. and there s no way of tell- ing how soon it will go to the White Houge, Threats are made by stiff- necked Senatore that the bill will be allowed to die before ther will give in The Republican party is pledged to en- act farm relief legislation. In the situ- ation which has arisen the Democrats may well find satisfaction. The Demo- erats would be delighted if the Repub- | lieans are unable to obtain the enact- ment of any farm legislation. Once again the farmers are held up by politi- eal maneuvering. A combination of Democrats and in- surgent RepublicAnt in the Senate forced into the farm relief bill the de- benture clause, which is opposed by | President Hoover. The action showed & woeful lack of party responsibility among Republican members of the Sen- ate. Several of them are hard and fast Republicans when it comes to elec- tion time and when they themselves are running for office. Once elected, however. as Republicans they seem in- different to the responsibility which ‘has been placed upon them and lightly ‘wear the party yoke. This may be very well for the individuals, but is not so ®ood for the party. Furthermore, as in this instance, it makes a farce of party platforms and party pledges. No one who can read or reason can find any- ‘where in the Republican platform of Iast year a pledge to adopt the so-called debenture plan, which is a subsidy from | the Treasury of the United States to all intents and purposes, and which is economically unsound. Nowhere was the debenture ever discussed by the leading speakers of the campaign. The country, in the election of Mr. Hoover, flatly turned its back on such nostrums. Yet the insistence of the Democrats upon the debenture plan, aided and abetted by a dozen or more Republican Senators, has successfully tied up farm relief legislation. Unless a measure of reason returns to the Senate, the farm- ers may see another Summer drag by without any machinery set up to aid them—a Federal machinery which was distinctly promised by both parties during the campaign. Farming the farmers is not new, however, in the halls of Congress. The Senate group supporting the de- benture plan is now insisting that the all of Lelepndne | their own houses, especially as regards ! habits, customs and privileges that are rooted in a century and more of inter- national comity. It is not the use, but the hurtful abuse | of this privilege which has on certain " 3109 00CAloNs given reasonable cause of unkempt. limp painfully from town to ;:r | compiaint, S < No Elevator Regulation? The community is less interested in | the fine legal points involved in the de- | cision of Police Court Judge Schuldt, :holdmg invalid regulations pertaining | to the safe operation of elevators in the | District, than it is in what the Distriet ! authorities now propose to do about it. The public enjovs none of the delicious ecstasy aroused among members of the legal profession over the opportunity that is presented to talk about whether ,the law means this, that or the other thing. The public is merely aware of the simple and understandable fact | that Congress, as far back as 1878, au- | thorized the Commissioners to promul- ! gate safety regulations to protect the { public in building operations, and that in 1887 it particularly authorized the Commissioners to see to it that elevators | meet certain standards of safety. It is | confusing to a lay public now to find | | that the laws are so intricate that forty- | two years later the regulatiops pre- scribed under the laws are illegal; that safety to the public is relegated in favor ‘of a legal point. test case, which will submit the argu- | ment of Judge Schuldt to further ex- amination, and the authorities may swell with pride if they find that they are right and Judge Schuldt is wrong. But what about safety in the operation | regulations in the meantime? | a fact that has been emphasized before, that is, that while the District requires safety standards and the latest equip- ment to protect the life and limb of elevator passengers riding on elevators in privately owned buildings, it does not enforce its own regulations at the Municipal Building, and that the other public buildings do not come within the purview of these regulations. Congress specifically exempted them, which Congress did not do, the elevator regulations should be enforced in public as well as private buildings. ‘While plans are being carefully laid to throw a test case into the legal hop- per and to stand back and see what happens to it and what it looks like when it comes out, the community | would welcome a firm declaration from the District authorities as to what will be done to protect the public during itho interlude. If the regulations are | why not base them immediately upon one that does? If the regulations are discriminatory, what stands in the way of removing that discrimination imme- diately? No builder or owner of an ele- vator will intentionally risk the lives of elevator passengers because of a legal controversy that might lessen his re- sponsibility in the matter. But a dif- ference of opinion as to the extent of such responsibility invites carelessness. Not only the elevator-riding public, but the owners of elevator-equipped | buildings, should be told immediately where they stand. Then the fun of | arguing a point of law can proceed without danger of being marred by The District authorities may plan a | {of elevators? , What about enforcing | Judge Schuldt has called attention to | Unless | based on a statute that does not apply, | House take what they call a direct vote on the debenture plan. They suggest that if the House would do that and defeat the debenture, they would be willing to recede and permit the bill to %o through. They are engaged. espe- cially the Democrats, in the pleasing pastime of attempting to make political capital. What the Democrats hope “'longcd Summer session. A remarkably to put certain Republican Representa- | coo) Spring. unusually far extended, may tives from Western districts in & hole | nave something to do with this spirit of by compelling them to vote against a | fortitud. proposal which the Democrats know | = cannot become law, but which they | hope to sell to the voters in these dis- | tricts in the congressional campaign | next year. ————————— the money of those who ignore the oft- repeated adage that thrift with six per cent interest compounded is the most reliable way to financial comfort. o Statesmen speak bravely of a pro- e — Our Decadent Youth. Two Washington high school boys during the past year have buflt for | themselves six-inch reflector telescopes [out of material garnered from a junk- i pile. They demonstrated a mechanical in- | genuity approaching genius in patch- im; together from & crank case and - = some brake bands the delicate mount- Diplomats and Their Liquor. | ing required for such an instrument. The perennial problem of diplomatic| They displayed infinite patience in Yquor immunity is current again in|grinding the reflectars from six-inch consequence of an intimation by Sir |glass disks obtaine@ from ship port- Esme Howard, the British Ambassador |holes—grinding which in its final and dean of the diplomatic corps. He stages required an exactness as great as has written a private letter to a Vir-|one-hundred-thousandth of an inch. ginia prohibitionist, suggesting British embassy's readiness to take to scope mechanics. the water wagon in case & Tequest to| Best of all, the instruments are serv- that effect were to be forthcoming from | iceable. Through them the boys can the American Government. His Virginia | look upon the starry heavens in a new correspondent has forwarded Sir Esme's i and more fascinating aspect. They can communication to President Hoover and | see the face of the moon covered with called for a correspondingly arid move } deep valleys and lofty mountains. They on the part of the White House. {can behold Mercury as a moonlike Readers of The Star may recall that | crescent rather than as a barely visible the circumstances now galvanized with | point of light. They ean see Saturn in fresh life were dealt with in detail in|all the glory of its luminous rings. its news columns early in April. A Many a night they spend in their roof- well known Washington host and |top observatory watching the constantly —— e Nobody tells how many fish the Presi- dent catches. This is one case in which the executive session idea works out to s finish. e The stock market continues to absorb | the | This taxes the ability of the ablest tele- | hostess had just set the example to | changing celestial phenomena. local society of serving & bone-dry | Easter breakfast party. One of The Star's special writers inquired in author- itative diplomatic quarters whether ‘Washington's corps of ambassadors and ministers would be inclined to {o)low‘ that Saharan trail. He was told that| if & hint to do 8o were to be given in an exalted American quarter—by which ‘wax meant the President or the Secre- tary of State—the diplomats, or at least many of them, would undoubtedly and unhesitatingly Volsteadize their estab- lishments. ‘The Star’s contributor pursued his fnquiries into exalted quarters. He dis- covered there an unmistakable reluc- tance to give the “hint” referred to. It bechpae APPAKGRL WAL W Adpinkiler This is merely by way of commentary | on the oft-repeated assertion that mod- ern youth is going to the bow-wows. The claim has been made so often that many persons believe it who should know better. Doubtless many incidents similar to this could be found among ;me thousands of high school boys in Washington. They would demonstrate rather conclusively that youth of today is fundamentally as sound, earnest and ambitious as it ever was. The trouble is that these exploits seldom come to the surface. Whenever a high school boy is involved in a drunken party and gets into the courts everybody hears all about the incident. We never suffer from a dearth of in- lormatign about e, SKIOHRR B0 SRR machem | per. Thus the whole picture 1s seen tn ! | false colors. | Perhaps vouth is changing. Perhaps |it 15 best with a restless nervousness. a | | dissatisfaction with the slowness of its elders, an overactive imagination. But such qualities do not manifest them- selves altogether in dissipation. Their effect in the upposite direction probably is even more marked, if we could know about it Whenever we hear of this decadent generation we shall be inclined fo recall the picture of these boys looking into | the sky from the summit of their me- chanfcal triumph. Then we shall re- serve judgment. | o 2 The Peanut-Pusher. With the American people already | edified by such spectacular “athletic” contests as dance marathons lasting a week or 50 and eross-country foot races in which the entrants, unshaven and | town, it would be supposed that a one- | man peanut pushing race against time | | up Pikes Peak would attract little or | no attention. And it probably would Jne';, except for one reason, the reason | being the appearance in the East of |a photograph of this “brave” and “courageous” man in the very act of propelling the peanut to its destination. No one observing this grotesque picture, | with its “hero” on all fours, signs| plastered over his back., the “pusher” attached to hiz head and nose and ex- { tending out some two or three feet in | tront of him. could fail to be revolted | or help wondering what plan is to be hatched next in the seeminly never- ending attempt to capture publicity. News dispatches relate that the en- trant in this Pikes Peak derby is a plasterer, that after successfully coax- ing a peanut for some eleven miles last | Summer he acclaimed himself the pea- nut-pushing champion of the world, and that his latest exploit is the re- sult of a bet that he cannot negotiate the twenty-two miles to the summit in twenty-two days. It may be of course that this “champion” is being well paid | by the nut industry for his enterprise, but considering the fact that a peanut is not a particularly attractive object after being pushed a mile or so over| a highway it is probable that he can claim entire credit for the scheme—that | is. such credit as would naturally acerue | from a stunt of this nature. ———— | Statesmen who fear that they can- ! not neglect legislative business may take | comfort from the fact that there are | few better places to play golf than | those made accessible by Washington, D. C. —————— Reparations mathematics becomes so bafing that it might be reasonable for Dr. Schacht to ask for a consultation and call in Dr. Einstein. ——o— It has long been an axiom among reporters that the term “executive session” only serves to make some item a little more interesting. - Russian politics has not outgrown the idea that grave differences of opinion may be settled by a simple order to shoot at sunrise. D Perhaps Al Capone is happier in jail. | “Safety first” is & motto that has sig- | unificance even in the underworld. — Henry Ford likes to buy antiques. Some of those old-time flivvers are no less picturesque than furniture. —————————— When Senate and House confer with- out result there may be some excuse for world conferences that laj ot ‘That old phrase “pitiless publicity still endeavors to holds its own in affairs. — e SHOOTING STARS. i BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Pathway. There is a pathway I have made ‘Twixt Rest and Toil, from day to day, | ‘With perfume sweet and pleasant shade To cheer the slowly beaten w It leads me unto Duty's call. And yet, what seems by far the best, I know this pathway, after all, Will guide my footsteps unto rest. No Telitale. “Did you ever tell what happened in an executive session?” “Never,” answered Senator Sorghum. “All T ever did was to give the reporter one guess and refrain from contradict- ing when he had the right answer.” Jud Tunkins says he believes in evo- | lution because it gives a sort of excuse for the instinct that seems to lead some men to make monkeys of theirselves. Historic Figure. ‘We frequently deplore— Grief can't diminish— ‘The man who started more ‘Than he could finish. Progress. “How did your boy Josh get along at college?” “Pine,” answered Farmer Corntossel. | “He knows more than the perfessors; only he can’t convince 'em.” “Give a philosopher wealth,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “and he seeks money more and wisdom less, and 80 becomes, like most of us, only a gambler.” Sugar. They sing about the sugar cane— 1 really should not care, if They did not sing such songs They bother me 'bout, Tariff. ain. “De man dat is puffickly satisfled wif hisself,” sald Uncle Eben, “is mos' allus good company, because he ain' so very hard to please. R ] That Shows | From the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Two Missouri candidates for county office were tied in the voting. They tossed a coin, and the Republican won. That will dispose of those who think Republicans don't have a chance in Missouri. S Or the Makings. From the Colorado Springs Gazette and Telegraph. Doctor says men v it smoke are liable to have everything. We say e\g.rythtnl THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. 1t is getting to be a real distinction the interaction of the two sorts, ab- nowadays not to do what every one|surdly disproportioned. comes what does | the world sets its heart on. Often it Is the only sort of distinc- ey tion open to the average man. i The world s 20 full of people that!| Tois tadic, for instance. e you sometimes it seems a hopeless task 10| come to think of H. (hai so. many B B ey « anq Millions of persons have foliowed the One reads in the newspapers and ' jeader in installing receiving sets in magazines of men and women WO (heir homes -mude ‘good” in & ‘big w | You might think offhand that some et the reader knows down in hiS|one would have the courage to say to heart that he by no means will ever | pi® MOUE RAve the, colrege Ko S vdls be able to do likewise. He lacks the extra something which | {0F every time I hear one it is whang- {them have to be distinctive is to fall | cannot puts the other over. which enables him to get in the news and earn ten- fold what most men get for doing| much the same thing. It was Charles Dickens who, on one of his trips to America, sald that | newspaper writing was so good that it was a pity is was not just a little bit_better. The same thing may be sald with even greater justice about the so- called average man or woman. whose abilities often lack just a trifle of being great. or which through some | quirk or other fail to make the grand appeal. A Standardization_of habits, purchases | and amusements has made the Ameri- can people so alike that sometimes it seems that the only way most of the crowd does. | “different” is standard | craving of the human heart, let those dispute it who will. The verv run- ning after the same things shows this desire in full cry. Every one wants a big car because every one has seen {every one else in one. and has rec- ognized the “set-apartness.” if one | may so call it, of the set-up. Our universal aping of one another in all that we do and think and like is simply our expressed desire to be out in front of the pack. Even in a luxurious, prosperous age, such as this, the mass of the people recognize the fact that there are still millions who or do not ride in cars block long.” There are certain thought habits which through mass attack on the mind have built up for themselves mighty tracks. Sports, for instance, have the ascendancy: it is almost heresy to speak against them. Any one who dares say that he does not care for an automobile is looked upon as a plain liar, or else a mighty queer person. How is it possible for any one not to want a car? * ok % % Yet mothing is easier for a person who once gets the idea that following the crowd is merely one good way of | losing his own individuality. There are many methods s man may follow to become sunk irreme diably in the herd, sunk so deep that | he never even values the sunshine be- cause it is so far away he does not t. individualist, however. will cling tight to his individuality. and not permit himself to be dispossessed because some one clamors at him for his_faith. Despite the plain fact that indi- vidualism has Jed the race to such heights of happiness. love and plenty as it possesses, millions still believe that it is co-operation which has done the achieving. ‘Without co-operation what indi- vidualism brings into being could not be spread to the masses, but without the solitary thinker and doer in the first place there would be nothing for co-operative action to chew on. After the individualist does his| work the mass does its work. and from ing away on some absurd so-called ‘popular song.’ I could stand them playing it, perhaps, but when the tenor insists on singing the chorus it is too much for me.” For me! A mawkish, slushy ballad. with silly words, might not be too much for you. but it might be for me. I might not care for it. I might rather prefer to hear Kreisier play his violin once a year than listen to the jazz orchestras forever. Take the theater. ‘The drama is old, and one would speak against it in vain, so no one would think of speaking against it, of course. There are many persons, how- ever, who do not go to plays, not be- cause they do not respect the art. but because they would rather do something else, or have found the entertainment | to pall upon them. It will be seen that having and doing are the two essentials in which one who pines to be intensely individualistic may satisfy himself. It should be stated, in passing, that such individualism is a failure if it comes about through much taking thought. It can be a success only when the individual comes to it through honest dislike of the ways of the crowd. He may have sat, for in- stance, at the ball park recently and heard the crowd booing “Goose” Gos- lin for his failure to hit as well this year as last, when he led the league Such unsportsmanlike conduct on the part of so many of the “fans” may have disgusted him, as it did hundreds who remembered. He felt an inclina- tion to turn away from being in crowds where fairness and common sense could be 50 easily overlooked, and where the worst traits of human beings come to the surface. Such an individualist will feel in- clined to pass up ball games, where such things can happen. He will be distinguished—at least in his own mind —by keeping out of all crowds. He will find himself passing up the “best sell- ers” among books, and looking for the less favorably received volumes. Some- times he will overlook a genuine fine work, but often enough he will discover a great book before the mob is told about it. He will look for the best ways of ac- tion in all lines of activity, and thus have a warm spot in his heart and mind for the unorthodox, the different thing. the individualisti Such a line of action and liking may lead him into fads, but if his judgments are half-way true they will lead him out of them be- fore long. Such a man must expect to be called eccentric, and to be branded everything from & socialist, no longer the term of reproach it once was, to bolshevik. He knows better, of course. He is no crank, but simply one who wants to satisfy his own ideals as to distinction, the one constant ideal of every human be- ing. If he can be distinguished in no other way. he will be so by not doing and thinking and saying what every one else does and th and says. Through & negative virtue he hopes to arrive at positive result: Indignant Comment Here on British Vestris Revelations Probing deeply into the ghastly Ves- tris tragedy of last November, the Board of Trade in London has unearthed im- portant facts which were not brough out in the American investigation. Some of the disclosures have aroused indig- nation on this side of the ter, es- pecially the confession of & surviving officer of the ship that he lied at the New York hearing and the evidence that representatives of the owners knew that the ship was overloaded. “The amazing testimony brought to light in London at the hearings con- ducted into the sinking of the Vestris, that the ill-fated vessel was overloaded on her last voyage,” says the Columbus Ohio State Journal, reveals that ‘not only was she loaded with more than she could safely carry, but the evidence seems to be that this fact was known to at least some of those responsible for her operation.” Continuing, this journal declares that “the important thing now is to make certain that no repetition of the Vestris disaster occurs to any vessels coming in any degree under American jurisdiction.” As to who was to blame for the over- loading the Morgantown New Dominion states its opinion: “If the Vestris left New York Harbar improperly loaded or overloaded, the fault was with the com- pany entirely. Regardless of how suc- cessful it may be in placing the blame on the dead captain, the loss of life on the Vestris was directly due to the in- eMclency, neglect and ignorance of the officials of that company in New York. * ok ok K Concurring in this view, the Madison Wisconsin State Journal says: “Here is direct. testimony of what to us seems to | be a criminal culpability on the part of | the ship owners in the overloading of | the vessel. The hearing in America should be reopened,” declares this pa- per, “and if the charges are sustained those responsible for the sinking of the Vestris should be brought to book.” On the question of responsibility, the Flint Daily Journal observes: “The interest- ing point of how far a sea captain should go in following out the orders of his employers is involved. He had his orders to take the ship to sea. He must have known the actual conditions. Should he have followed the orders of the shipping company or should he have refused to take the ship out? An inter- esting point of sea law and tradition is involved there,” concludes this journal. “Greed dictated the overloading of the Vestris.” declares the Houston Chronicle. “A callous disregard for the safety of the passengers was shown, be- cause the officers of the ship felt they must. be ‘loyal to the company.’ Faith- ful to the corporation which employed them, they were faithless to the code of the sea, which puts safety above profits. ‘Women and children last!” It comes with a shock of surprise to many who are not familiar with mari- time legislation that the United States has no law now in force prohibiting the overloading of oceangoing ships, because the law passed the last ses- sion of Congress fixing “load lines” for such vessels and naming penalties for overloading does not go into effect until September, 1930. sengers from our ports is needed. Under present regulations these ships may sail under conditions as adverse to safety as did the Vestris. The question is of too great importance to be allowed to lag.” In the opinion of the Los Angeles Evening Express, “unless the British Board of Trade investigation * * * shall lead to such revision of the rules of navigation as to give greater safety at sea, so far as concerns the public, the investigation might as well never have been held.” The Norfolk Ledger- Dispatch insists that “‘vital amendments to American and international shipping laws are essential.” Once again is brought to the tront the question of the relation between human life and property values. As to ships, the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader be- lieves “out of this comes a lesson. It teaches the necessity for careful super- vision of nger vessels. The pas- sengers, W] lives are in the care of the captain and the ship’s owners, de- serve first mnlldfil‘lfl:n‘lt all times.” * % ‘The Des Moines Tribune-Capital ex- claims: “Well, over 100 lives were lost in the sinking of the Vestris! It was quite & price to pay for the greed that sent out a poorly inspected ship with an overload of freight,” and the Asbury long_list of dead who went down with the Vestris demands that efforts to pre- vent, future tragedies of this kind be continued. And the prosecution of the chief officer for perjury and of the own. ers for permitting their craft to be over- loaded would now seem in line with this demand.” ‘The reference to perjury is connected with the American hearings, when the fact that the vessel was overloaded was concealed by & witness because the truth would create “a lot of trouble.” The St. Paul Ploneer Press concludes that it was “a deliberate and skillful concealment of the overloading by the owners’ attorneys and the surviving officers of the ship.” ———r——— Mixed Ears Show Different Heredities BY E. E. FREE, PH. D. Persons with unlike ears—one shape on one side of their heads and another shape on the other side—are being sought by British students of human heredity. the Eugenics Society in London Dr. C. J. Bond of the Industrial Fatigue Re- search Board showed a photograph of one such case, and described its simi- larity to the biological make-up of the not unusual cows which have one horn pointed downward and the other up- ward. Up-and-down cows and people with_unsymmetrical ears are resuits, Mr. Bond believes, of cross-breeding be- tween different parental strains, Such instances are especially interesting to students of heredity because of expected clues concerning what happens when the tiny heredity-determining granules inside the living cells of father and mother are different from each other. It sometimes happens, Mr. Bond pointed out, that a man with large. heavy-lobed Park Evening Press insists that “the | During a recent talk before; On this subject the Manchester Union says, however: “It is true that our steamship laws contain no regulation regarding load line, so that inspectors may disclaim any responsibility for al- lowing a ship to leave port overloaded. This claim, however, will scarcely stand scrutiny, for the task of the inspector is to determine that a ship is seaworthy, a judgment that can hardly be made if 'she is overloaded to the extent of | eight inches below her mark. | viduals who have two kinds of ears, * X ok Xk just as cows, similarly mixed, have two In the opinion of the Rochester kinds of horns—one inherited from the Times-Union, “if it appears that legis- | mother's side of the family, the other lation on this side gives unscrupulous | from the father's. own:ulor omoenzmowng ttge M"I :n —————r e — selfish impulses a o safety i of the human cargo, then the loss of Now Unanimous. From the Detroit Free Press. the Vestris should assuredly lead to cor- recting that condition.” So also the ‘The discovery that the Einstein theory contains deficiencies will be a relief to Columbus Dispatch, which says: “A far ! more efficient system of inspection for | those who have despaired of finding T ; wos SRS AR ears marries a woman with small ears, or vice versa. In most of these in- stances the children’s ears are either of one kind or the other. Sometimes, however, one side of the child’s body seems to have been inherited from the father, the other side from the mother. The child is a kind of double hal twin, the two sides of its body having, | ! The John Newbery Medal awarded | annually by the children’s librarians’ section of the American Library Associ- ation for the most distinguished | children's book of the past year was lp nted last week in Washington to Eric P. Kelly, a professor in Dartmouth | College. for his book “The Trumpeter of | Krakow.” The medal is named i1 honor of John Newbery, an eighteenth century publisher and bookseller, who was one | of the first publishers to devote at- | tention to children’s books. It is the gift of Frederic G. Melchor of New York City. Only citizens or residents of the United States are eligible to receive it | The scene of the “Trumpeter of Krakow” is laid in the ancient city of Krakow in Poland. In Krakow, as far back as man can remember, a trumpet | signal has been blown every hour from | the lofty parish church of St. Mary the | ! Virgin. Making his hero a trumpeter | | on St. Mary's tower in about 1462, Prof. ! Kelly has very ingeniously contrived to interweave the hero's personal fortunes with the most momentous issues in Poland’s politics of the time. The plot of the book was written when “the author, at the invitation of Koscluszko Foundation, was studying and teaching at the University of Krakow. THE LIBRARY TABLE By the Booklover * ok % % ‘The awards of the John Newbery Medal in previous vears have been as | follows: For the year 1921, to Hendrik {W. Van Loon for “The Story of Man- | kind,” an outline historv which is no | mere record of dry facts but a story of i the world's age-long development: for | 1922 to Hugh Lofting. for “Doctor Doo- | little,” one of the best-loved nonsense | tales of the present day: for 1923 to Charles Boardman Hawes, for “Dark Frigate,” pirate adventures in the days of King Charles; for 1924 to Charles J. Finger, for “Tales from Silver Lands,” folk tales gathered by the author in: South America; for 1925 to Arthur B. Chrisman, for “Shen of the Sea," ! original fairy tales of China; for 1926 | to Will James. for “Smoky.” the story | of a real cowboy and his cowhorse, and for 1927 to Dhan Gopal Mukerji. for | "Gray-Neck,” the story of a carrier | pigeon. | * % ok ow As a retort courteous to the Wnanv | criticisms of her hook “Mother India.” | Katherine Mavo, in writing her second book on India, “Slaves of the Gods." has fortified herself with excelient authorities, both English and Hindu. In her first chapter she quotes from a letter to her from the Right Rev. Henry Whitehead. for 23 years Lord Bishop of the Indian Diocese of Madras: “It T may venture to make one small criticism | {of vour book (‘Mother India'), it is/ | that, though the connection of the evils you describe with Hindu religious ideas is mentioned, it might be more strongly emphasized.” From Bhagat Ram, in the “Indian Witness,” she quotes something which should be of | | interest to many persons in our Jarge ! | Am-rican cities: “In theory of Hinduism. as propounded by sleek- looking. immaculately dressed ‘Swamis’ to Western women with an abundance of moncy and leisure and a paucity of common sense, an outcaste can become a Brahmin by developing and refining his character: but the teaching is care- fully withheld from the outcaste him- self, and in actual practice the outcaste who would aspire to become a Brahmin would hear talk that differs as widely as the poles are apart from the Swami gentle and uplifting philosophy. spe- cially made for the Western widow's drawing, room.” There are many other interesting evidential extracts to sup- port the truth of the 12 narratives ggldfh"mlke up the book “Slaves of the ; * ok k% Ttaly -has her literary prizes for encoureging young writers and nation- alistic literature. The Bagutta priz> was originated by a group of young authors in Milan and was named from a street on which was located a restau- rant popular with them. For 1927 the prize was awarded to G. B. Angioletti for his * of Judgment” (Il giorno del giudizio™), and for 1928 to Giovanni Comisso for his “Sea Folk” (“Gente di mare”). * ok ok k “England and_the Octopus.” by Clough Williams-Ellis, tells a story al- ready known to everv one who has| traveled in England since the World War. For some years bsfore that the process of what one reviewer calls “the uglification of England” had been go- ing on, but the war speeded it up, as it did many other undesirable things. What were once charming little villages, with their commons, spreading trees and thatched cottages, are now smoky factory towns, with long rows of slate- gray workmen's houses. And when so many of the workmen are among the unemployed and so many of the fac- tories have ceased to smoke. one regrets all the more the lovely villages which were once there. English roads which used to wind between blossoming hedges are often now disfigured by ugly filling stations, inartistic bungalows and blatant billboards, and the picturesque | old English taverns are being replaced by utilitarian roadhouses., built to meet the motorist's needs. The author of this book is an architect, who lives in Wales. The destruction of the beauty | of the scenery and the building of | monstrosities of villas. tea shops and garages almost equally drive him to denunciation. A unique part of the book is a “Devil'’s Dictionary.” which gives a list of the worst crimes against the English countryside and suggests. not hopefully, some possible preventives and cures. | | i | *x % X Mrs. Danlel Chester French. in her “Memories of a Sculptor's Wife." tells how. when Daniel Chester French, at the age of 21. made the statue of the Minute Man at Concord. his inexperi- ence made him considerable trouble. ‘When the plaster model was done, he | and his father stood it on its head and poured the molten metal in. To their discomfiture it ran out through an un- discovered hole in the head. At the time when the young sculptor received the commission for the Minute Man he had little over a month's tralning. * % x % ‘The contradiction between theory and practice in Soviet Russia is commented upon by Mrs. Anne O'Hare McCormick in her book, “The Hammer and the Scythe.” She says: “The Communists constantly advocate in practice a puri- tanism they deny in principle; the re- motest village is plastered with posters distributed by the government to warn the people against taking advantage of the laws enacted by the government. Unregistered marriages have been legal- ized, but in these posters registration is strongly advocated. * * * Casual sex relationships are legitimatized, yet no- where is there a franker and more widespread propaganda against prof- ligacy as the cause of the widely preva- lent venereal Vodka, made and sold by the te, is the most profitable of all the government monop- olies, and the crusade against vodka, | led by the official Communist organ. the Prada, is in the most vehement | tradition of the Anti-Saloon League. In these reversals and contradictions you perceive how confused and abnormal is the moral atmosphere.” * ok ok x Lion personality, both generic and individual, 1 dl.‘fu sed by Martin John- son in “Li n very close proximity, Mr. Johnson and his intrepid wife, Osa, have photographed lions in all their varied moods. They find that lions are sometimes surly, sometimes silly, often sleepy and pacific when digesting a good meal, pugnacious when disturbed in a quest for food, courageous but not treacherous, Jacking in humor. By putting pepper on the slaughtered vic- tim of one lion, they caused the lord- ly murderer sneeze before the camera. * kK ok “Hello, Towns!” by Sherwood Ander- son, is a collection of articles written for two newspapers. one Republican, one Democratic, owned by Mr, Ander- | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERI This newspaper puts at your disposal a corps of trained researchers in Wash ington_who will answer questio you. They have access to the Govern- ment departments, the libraries. mu- seums, galleries and public buildings and to the numerous associations which maintain headquarters in the Nation's Capital. If they can be of assistance to you. write vour question plainly and send with 2 cents in coin or stamps to | The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic_J. Haskin, director, Washing- ton, D. C Q. How long has the length of the for | C J. HASKIN. | dialects of the English spoken in the | lowlands of Scotland. Q. How much does the temperature at the South Pole differ from that =t the North Pole?—J. A. | A. The Winter temperature in the | Antarctic is not as a whole much lower | than that in the Arctic. The absolute minimums of —73° and —177° have been recorded on the ice barrier, but there are no Winter records for the high plateau at the South Pole. In the | Arctic, Nares experienced a minimum Greely —62° F. and De- In the Antarctic —67° Kentucky Derby bzen 1'; miles?>—D. D. | A. It was changed to 1', miles in From 1875 to 1895 it was 11> Q. In what State: cur last year?—H. R Of the 11 persons lynched last year 5 were in Mississippi. 2 in Texas, 2 in Louisiana. 1 in Missouri and 1 in New Mexico. Through vigilance. 24 at- tempted lynchings were prevented—3 in Northern and 21 in Southern States. Q. In what countries is the stock of the Canadian Pacific Railway held?— 's did lynchings oc- the | F. M. "A. The following are the stock hold- ings of the Canadian Pacific in 1927: In the United Kingdom, 48.84 per cent: in Canada, 18.02 per cent: in the United | States. 26.20 per cent; in other coun- | tries, 6.94 per cent. Q. Should an intimate friend ask the privilege of being maid of honor at a wedding or does a bride select her at- tendant?>—H. M. S. A. The bride asks her maid of honor and bridesmaid. Priends do not ask for this privilege. Q. Are there any military Masonic lodges within the United States?>—P. H. A. The grand secretary of the Ma- sonic Temrle, Washington, D. C., says that American Masonry does not at the present time follow the policy of the | Grand Lodge of England in permitting organized military lodges to be incor- | porated within the regiments or in_the naval servict During the Civil War one or two lodges were organized within the Army following the troops as is the f | English custom. but. these passed out | existence nd there are not at the pr ent time any left. Q. Is_there a Scotch language?— R. G. B. A. The name “Scotch language” is often applied to the Celtic speech of the Scotch Highlanders, also known as “Gaelic.” It also refers to the dialect or on August 13, 1911. Q. How long was Peking the capital of China before it was changed to Nanking?—J. J. A. Peking was the capital from 1409 to 1928. Q. When was the umbrella first used in England to keep off the rain? A. The umbrella was originally used in hot climates as a sunshade. By the seventeenth century it was in use n | England as a protector against rain. Tt is said that Jonas Hanway was the first. Englishman who habitually carried an umbrella. Q. Which of the national parks was the first to be reserved by the Govern- ment?—N. O. L. A. In 1832 the Hot Springs and four sections of land surrounding them were set. aside by act of Congress, thus mak- ing the ‘first national park reservation. In 1921 the name was changed from Hot Springs Reservation to Hot Springs | National Park. It contains 924 acres, | and includes Hot Springs Mountain, North Mountain, West Mountain, Sugar Loaf Mountain and Whittington Lake Park. The springs are grouped about | the base of Hot Springs Mountain, and | their aggregate flow is 851,308 gallons & | day. Q. Why did France give the United States the Statue of Liberty?—A. T. A. It was designed to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of American independence. but it was not finished until 1885. It was dedicated October 23, 1886. Q. What makes the bones of canned salmon so soft?>—P. G. M. | A. The bones of salmon are rendered soft in the canning process when thev | are cooked under pressure. The bones of other fish are rendered soft in the ame manner. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. “That fine Italian hand"—not by a native Italian emulating the strong ad: ministration of law_by Mussolini—not he—but our own Richard Washburn Child, late Ambassador to Italy, born in America about the time when Presi- dent Lincoln was making his Gettys- burg appeal for support of the Consti- tution. He it is who now President’s Hoover's National Crime Commission, and he gives his sage ad- vice that the commission of eminent lawyers and patriots should differentiate between enforcement of all the acts of our duly constituted Congress, elected by the people to give ripe consideration to law enactment, and the selected laws which happen to suit the minority. He calls such laws the expression of i “the social will.” Only such laws should be enforced: others should be nullified. “And a little Child shall lead them!” * ok k% President Hoover speaking: “A sur- prising number of our people, otherwise of responsibility in the community, have drifted into the extraordinary notion that laws are made for those who choose | to obey them.” “T reiterate my belief.” responds ex- Ambassador Child. “that a ‘distinction should be made between law on the muks and social will as it is found fact.” “Murder is a more popular divelsicn! in the United States than in any other civilized nation. Do you refer, then, to the Jaw against murder as orposed to our ‘social will’?” is asked of the wise A‘znblmflor. He ignores the applica- tion. “The President who :ppointed :our commission,” writes Mr. Child to Mr. Wickersham, chairman of tke crime commission and former Attorney 7en- eral of the United States. 8 mar .igh in legal knowledge—"has had r uch ex- perience in the value of social will as distinguished from written law. By invoking a social will as to limitation of meat, sugar and gasoline, during the war. he obtained a unity of action and a rigor of enforcement which no police force ever could attain.” * % % x writes to | | comments President Hoover, “let me say at once that while violations of the law have been increased by inclusion of crimes under the eighteenth amend- ment, and by the vast sums that are poured into the hands of the criminal | classes by the patronage of illicit liquor | by otherwise responsible citizens, yet this is but one segment of our problem. I have purposely cited the extent of murder. burglary, Tobbery, forgery and | embezzlement, for but & small percent- age of these can be attributed to the eighteenth amendment. In fact, of the | total number of convictions for felony last year, less than 8 per cent came | from that source. It is therefore but | & sector of the invasion of lawlessness. What we are facing today is something ar larger and more fundamental—the possibility that respect for law is fading from the sensibilities of our people. Whatever the value of any law may be, the enforcement of that law is not, in my mind, a debatable question. Law should be observed, and must be en- forced. until it is repealed by the proper processes of our democracy. The duty to enforce the laws rests upon every | public official, and the duty to obey it Tests upon every citizen. No individual has the right to determine what law shall be obeved and what law shall not be enforced “But the soclal will—" * k x x Not far from the National Crime Commission and the President who created that commission stood an- other gentlemen who e - self quite forcibly on the same sub- Ject. It is ex-President, and now Chief Justice, Taft. Perhaps he had read Mr. Child's message about social will to the National Crime Commission . At 8l events, Chief Justice Taft said: ‘Respect for authority can be lost by lack of discipline and can be strength- ened by iis exercise. Liberty abiding for each person is impossible unless it be ordered liberty. Without law and conformity to it, we shall have licenss and not law, and anarchy, inequality and tyranny, and not liberty. “In mo ‘respect do the lovers of 1t is this same Herbert Hoover. food | America feel A iatator Of Hhe AT TIOW BIOAIGEHE | GtIStet oF Toamer s e .ty of the United States, who appolnted this | in personal crime, but in the manifes- crime commission with the view {o!tation of the mob spirit and indiffer- studying an effective method—not prag- | ence to the enforcement of law. Why matic—for meeting today's increase of can we not surround our youth with M Child comments: “You will ve-| 52'.:5?%"5"1”{ e member that there was no dissenter | Without 1!?'populnr g;e\'!rm.n'::;ml?k ;monx its gn:r‘lder& ilhfllfiwi'dih uld trh:;‘ failure, and our constitutional system ne our efforts to ihe fields of crimes | is a hollow mockery.” against property and cersons. All, so| Chief Jusu'c,: e'r:fl seems to depre~ far as T know, supported it because of | cafe differentiating between statutory an llns(ix;:th'e rnlna%nnn that rnpe‘:g laws which are and those which are not for law roperly based upon ‘socla’| approved by Mr. b Wil Talbe i erigecased wordt | asatwly Y Sandardvet “It is our dufy not to base our ef-| “Wonder if he has never studied the ::;;; :fi:s:yl p;g:c:i‘; m;r; r::‘igxl:: e;f; | fih‘fld version of the Constitution. Here upon enforcement of laws which per-| “We, the wets of New York, in order haps cannot be enforcec. I do rot say| to form a more perfect moonshine, es- that the eighteenth amendment and its | tablish injustice, insure dogestic misery, resulting congrecsional commandments | provide for the commonest kind of of- cannot be enforced. I do sav taat fow| fenses isuch as 20 times the number persons in the Nation, wet or dry, will | of murders and 50 times the robberies fail to distineuish Letween this l"“f" capita as are committed in Eng- mdv?x::?‘:n‘ that distinetion, Mr. cmw‘ e e Sl ren ot o, 3 . ? | other crimes, and secure the curse of Is a law that is based on a constitu- | anarchy to ourseives and our posterity tional provision, adopted and supported | (if any). do ordain and establish soetal by 48 out of our 48 States. an bnormal ill as the supreme Jaw of the United a’ At makes lates of merica. N it 10 “To fllustrate.” replies Mr. Child. “4f | of all men that ‘Social Will, c'est mol nl:\ ardent dryh‘iee‘xx- gul;"h:dem:rmx * ok x K the home of riend, he telephones | e Dolise: J1£ 116 sese 8 HOGISERINEN= 1 Er it o her pa lotie Tmlle oo tering ihe home of Tis friend and|(iPliCea™s book store devoted exclie neighbor, he may telephone the police. | sjvely to the sale of anarchistic, com- but it is generally recognized that in 4 . e e dored 'a Munistic and socialistic literature. Not Schn foase u ® long ago its proprietor confided in & & ; ’ customer (the present writer), who was wh 51.:1;'“ By, whom? By bootleggers investing in " some. ot s propaganda, ‘President Hoover breaks into the con- | !N8t he hoped 1he day would coms i when all law would be abolished and O o cadstand bootleggers, bY | evarypody might do just according to "No- tndividual has the right to de- | NS 0%n ideas of right. This gentleman termine what law shall be obeyed and | has already served a 'term-perhaps whRt law ahall’ not he eniforced It -4 | moxe Lhall OUS 41 PEISCRUAS & CANgE: Taw is ‘wrong, its rigid enforcement is | OuS anarchist or traitor in time of war, the surest guaranty of its repeal. It |Dut e seems to retaln the same notion it is right, its enforcement is the AS that of the ex- bR quickest method of compelling respect | the eminent litterateur, that the Ame: for it. I have seen statements published | i¢an Constitution and statutory Ila Dlihin & fow davs encouraging citizone | Should give place to anarchistic “soclal to defy a law because that particular | Will- journal did not approve of the law itself.| “No man e'er felt the halter draw, T leave comment on such an attitude | With good opinion of the law.” to any citizen with a sense of re- o ox % sponsibility to his country.” Lest there be any accusation of ille- * ok x % |gitimately * quoting _ elther = President “The question which appears to be | Hoover. or Chief Justice Taft, or even the first that the commission should | "Social Will* Child, let it be recorded consider is whether social will, in the | that. barring the parody on the pre- sense of community and human thought | amble of the Constitution, all the words and practice, is subservient to statutory quoled above are actual expressions by law or superior to it,” declared ur.“he parties quoted, although pieced to- Child, with much pragmatic elabora- | gether here like a jig-saw picture. tion of the idea, but with mnot the | “The Government at Washington still slightest indication as to how “social | lives,” and. by the grace of God and will” should find expression outside the | President Hoover, it is going to enforce councils of statesmen duly elected as|ihe laws until they are repealed. The representatives and executives of the | President does not trifie when he notes will of the voters. that “at least 50 times as many rob- “In order to dispel certain illusions berles, in proportion to population, are in the public mind on this subject,” |committed in the United States as in Great Britain and three times as many son. The articles attempt to interpret | muen. indicated application. 5o Tobbery the small towns of the United States |ga to felony under the elghiomciy —the fowns symbolized by Winesburg. | amendment—and not one whit more, Like all the work of this highly Individ- | either case. Our laws are our rosin ualistie author. “Hello, Towns!" s large- | wijj -+ : soctal 1y autobiographic, (Copyright, 1929, by Paul V. Collins.)