Evening Star Newspaper, June 27, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C THURSDAY.......June 27, 1020 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newsnaper Company Business Office: 11th St. end Pennsyivania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office: Lake Michigan Buildne. European Office; 14 Regent St., London, England. Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evening Star, 452 per month 60c per month 65¢ per month ! T y Star .5c per copy Collection made at the end of each month. Orders mav be sent in by mail or telephone NAtional 5000. Rate bv Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryvland 2nd Virginia. Dally and Sunday Dally only .. Sunday only ....00 All Other Si 5c * 50c mo’, 40c ..1 1, 31000: 1 mo.. 8 111 yr. $6.00: 1 mo.. 5 1 yrl 54.00; 1 tates and Canada. .1 yr., $12.00; 1 mo., $1.00 Daily only \ $8.00: 1 mo., iS¢ Suncay only Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively ertitled | o the use for republication of gil ) ews dis- patches credited to it or not otherwise cre {ted 2 this paper and also the iocal news published herein. All rizhts of publication of special dispatches hevein are also reserved. America and the Young Plan. Made by Americans, as it mainly was, the Young plan, it now appears, is to be effectuated and administered with- out any semblance of official American participation. Yesterday'’s announce- ment by Secretary Stimson seems to leave no doubt on that score. Following within twenty-four hours of the visit which Messrs. Young, Morgan, Lamont * Perkins paid at the White House, nouncement assumes special sig- | ce. four American reparations com- cners, laurel-crowned after their 2t activities in Paris, are under- | 4 to have been particularly anxious | the representation of the Federal Reserve system on the directorate of the new international bank. The bank created by the Young plan is to be the pivot around which all of Ger- many's payments and their transfer to | her European creditors will revolve. Secretary Stimson reaffirms that the United States will not take part in the collection of reparations, nor is the Federal Reserve to contribute directors to the international bank.. President Hoover, whose influence, it goes without saying, was paramount in this decision, thus adheres to the policy steadfastly maintained by two preceding adminis- trations, viz, that reparations are ex- clusively the business of Germany and the allied governments. As to the in- ternational bank, Col. Stimson points out that the Federal Reserve system, being so closely bound to the Govern- ment, will not be permitted to name directors, because. inevitably they would constitute at least semi-official Ameri- can participation in" the international institution’s operations. All this puts the record straight. But the fact remains that the United States is already indissolubly linked with the whole broad question of reparations. Senator Borah, commenting on Secre- tary Stimson’s statement, makes tacit . $5.00; 1 mo., 50c | profects is already scheduled, and to the promotion of practically all of them he is formally committed. The Presi- dent is signing the Boulder Dam bill today. That great water power enter- prise will run the Treasury into raany tens of millions before its beneficent blessings are ready for bestowal upon Mr. Hoover's own home territory. There is the $500,000,000 revolving credit of the new agricultural market- ing act. There are the immeasurable millions which Mississippi flood control will call for. Congress has authorized 0. Th: Great Lakes-St. Lawrence being, if the Engineer-President can {have his way. It will be a gigantic i scheme, jn dollars as well as dredging. When Mr. Hoover & year ago was aceepting the Republican nomination | for the presidency, he advocated super- | liberal drafts cn the Treasury for farm | relfef. His argument was that a coun- try as fabulously rich as the United States should not, and need not, cavil at the ccst, even if it entailed several undred millions of Treasury funds. | There was the courage of the pioneer in that pronunciamento and the people ratified it overwhelmingly at the polls. Distressed agriculture is about to cash in on it. American taxpayers want economy in government, They are assured Mr. Hoover will seé that it is maintained, though perhaps not always on the unreleniing Vermont scale. But they are also persuaded that in th> man now at the helm the country has a President who takes no stock i the theory that economy at all costs is the best policy. | e Coalition. The stage hes now been set for a bit- ter contest in Virginia for governor. 1h2 Republicans of the Old Dominion meating in convention at Richmond last night' nominated as their candidate for governor Dr. Willlam Moseley Brown, the choice also of the anti-Smith Dem- ocrats for that office. It is a coalition similar to that which carried the State for President Hoover last November against Alfred E. Smith, the Democratic nominee for President. In the coming campaign, however, the coalition of Re- publican and independent Democrats will support a Democrat for office, as Dr. Brown has always been a Democrat. until he broke away from the party last year and opposed the election of former Gov. Smith, How the coalition will function it is too early to predict. 'The Democrats still have to name their candidate at their primary on August 6. The reg- ulars insist that the issue which car- ried the State for Hoover and against Smith last year is a dead issue; that the Democrats will not be divided over prohibition and religion as they were in 1928. The regulars also are count- ing on the race issue to consolidate the Democratic forces again this year. They believe, too, that the recent pub- | lication of stock deals engaged in by Bishop James Cannon, jr., a leader cf the anti-Smith Democrats, will have an effect adverse to the coalition can- recognition of that circumstance. Con- gress, the Senate forelgn relations chair- man predicts, will not object to the fices in order to contribute to the eco- nomic stability which the reparations settlement is expected to establish.” The Idahoan, in saying that, speaks with the voice of the statesman, When Senator Borah mentions “economic sta~ bility,” he envisions the world that in- cludes the United States. In these days * of interlocking commercial and financial interests, we can no more expect to isolate ourselves from the factors mak- ing for world economic stability than we &n hope to escape the rays of the sun which shines down upon the rest of mankind. The extent of the “sacrifices” the American people will sanction to bring about this stabllity is another question. If there should be an attempt to floit 2 huge bond issue in the United States’ money market—thus transierring the reparations burden from the shoulders of German taxpayers to those of Amer- ican investors—that would be a horse of a different color, and one that it might not be too easy to trade at Wash- ington. ———————— Income tax returns reach large fig- ures. The fact that the Nation is prospercus may encourage a tendency to dispute over soctal and economic Cetalls. Prosperity promotes leisure and leisure demands conversation. ——————— Hoover Economy. For the five and a half years of the preceding White House regime, the country became familiar with a phrase that was virtually a national slogan— *Coolidge economy.” It appears that ‘we are on the verge of & new era of the same sort, to be known as “Hoover economy.” Hardly any other construc- tion can be placed on the announce- ment just issued by the acting director of the budget, Mr. R. O. Kloeber, in the President’s name. Mr. Hoover, the communique sets forth, will allow no| increase in the Federal budget for 1931 above the amount appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1930. A total of $3,736,000,000, is the estimated “ cost of operating the ship of state during the business twelvemorfth about t set in. Beyond that figure the President is determined not to go. Herbert Hoover is an engineer. Keeping costs down is of his professional bone and sinew. But he is also a builder, and building, in Government as well as in other flelds, calls for ex- penditure. Mr. Hoover has always rated, in and out of office, as a man who looks upon wise expenditure as the sanest form of economy and upon parsimonious retrenchment as the rankest extrava- gance. The inspiring Federal building yprogram, of which he has always been an ardent supporter, is a case in point, ‘The President believes that it is a far more economical principle for Uncle BSam to house himself in adequate premises of his own than to camp out here, there and everywhere in quarters didate. The decision of the Republicans to support the independent anti-Smith “| election of Dr. Brown as governor, should it happen, would be a much more severe blow to'the Democratic organization of the State than was the defeat of the Democratic Smith electors last year. Furthermore, it would em- phasize still further the split which has come in the Democratic party of Vir- ginia as a result of the nomination cf Alfred E. Smith at Houston a year ago. There would be little talk then of a return of the anti-Smith Democrats to the old party fold. Rather the result would be a permanent coalition with the Republicans. Distinctly this should inure to the benefit of the G. O. P. in Virginia, for under such conditions the tendency in the end would be for the independent. Democrats to become Re- publicans rather than for the Republi- cans to become independent Democrats. In their platforms and in their con- vention speeches the Republicans and the anti-Smith Democrats have at- tacked without gloves the administra- tion of affairs in Virginia under Demo- cratic rule. They have both adopted as a slogan “Smash the machine!” Both charge excessive expenditures of the tax- payers’ money, inefficiency and machine rule. Altogether the prospects are for a lively campaign. ————— ‘The old alchemists who sought to transmute all metals into gold were scarcely more ambitious than Mr. Slemp when he seeks to convert Vir- ginia dry Democrats into genuine ele- ments of the G. O. P. B Citizens’ Advice on Zoning. While the Zoning Commission will continue to bear the responsibility in whatever decision it finally reaches in regard to amending the zoning regula- tions to permit location of fire engine houses, police stations, playgrounds, rec- reation centers and public swimming pools in residentially zoned areas, the commission has taken a sensible step in seeking the advice of a committee of citizens before making that decision. The commission is confronted with the necessity, on the one hand, of stra- tegically placing fire engine houses and 2olice stations where they will best serve the largest number of citizens and in some instances the recommended lo- cations have been in residential areas. On the other hand, the placing of such institutions in residential areas in ef- fect means the introduction of nui- sances that will destroy the value of surrounding property for residential purposes. Representatives of the Board of Trade, the Real Estate Board, the Federation of Citizens’ Associations, Operative Builders’ Association and the National Capital Park and Planning Commission will form a ‘special com- mittee to investigate the general prob- lem and to advise the Zoning Com- mission on the best solution. which are not only inadequate, but expensive to lease, ‘besides. The $17,000,000 palace of the Department | pla; of Commerce, of which Mr. Hoover “ercial areas, and that is & situstion the laying down of fifteen modern cruisers, to cost $25,000,000 apicce, or | | waterway will some day spring into, to change portions of residentially zoned areas to commercial. Owners of residen- tially zoned property are entitled to all the protection that such zoning affords. If they lose this protection, they should be given. the compensating advantage { of the rise in land value usually follow- | ing 1f not accompanying a change from | résidential to commercial use. i — ot The New Dawes, Plan. Despite first impressions, it should be clear that there is no connection, save | that of approximate synchronization jand direct effect, between the recent “dry” announcements of the British | Ambassador to Washington and the American Ambassador to London. The | respective positions taken by Sir Esme Howard and Gen. Dawes disclose dia- { metrically opposed viewpoints on am- | bassadorial obligations. Sir Esme's | determination to place British diplomats in this country upon the water wagen— in so far as his unwillingness to make further application for importation per- mits can achieve thgt end—is pre- sumably based upon his personal theory | that diplomatic courtery to 'a nation | attempting to prohibit the use of al- cohol for beverage purposes within its borders called for such action. The general's position, on the other hand, would seem to be that the habits oli those who dine in London have no relationship to dinners at the American embassy, and that inasmuch as the nation he represents is dry and this | fits in with his personal habits, no good reason exists for continuing the prac- tice of serving wine or liquor upon the | cmbassy tables. That he and Sir Esme | do not see cye to eye is patent. A sufficient period has elapsed since the pronouncement at the British em- bassy to indicate that there is little or | no disposition on the part of other diplomatic representatives to this coun- try to follow Sir Esme's lead. What the reaction on the part of President Hoover's representatives in other for- eign capitals to the Gen. Dawes innova- tion may be remains to be seen. But interesting possibilities in the matter of adherence to national and individ- ualistic proclivities suggest themselves. And not the least of these is the pos- sible solution of that sporadically burning question of the allegedly nec- essary relationship of private incomes to. the holding of diplomatic, posts by cricans abroad. moral effect of the General's ruling may be, it will doubtless have a happy sig- nificance to numbers of our potential diplomats whose purses are leaner than their ambitions, and who by following the example now set will be able to go farther if less high on Canada Dry than ever they could on Paul Roget. Budgets for entertaining on the new Daves plan offer admirable opportunity for retrenchment, and it is even pos- sible that on the indicated basis there will not be any entertaining to be done. e Helen Wills wore stockings as she played tennis in the presence of the Queen of England. Brevity of skirt no longey matters. . Some covering f0r the knees is still requested, except for the hardy . Highlander. ¥ ——————— Lindbergh says more work is neces- sary before across-ocean flying can b2 regarded as safe. Even Lindbergh does not insist on making a second trip, just for the sport of it. A bank for international settlements suggests an expanded sphere of finance which will make Wall Street feel as if it had been engaged merely in count- ing small change. AT A -A safe and sane Fourth of July should Tequire persons who conduct pistol fusillades in the streets to lay off for at least one day. oot ‘There are stlil men Mussolini is com- pelied to fear—the medical doctor and the surgeon, ———————————— A breach of promise suit often creates a suspiefon of overvaluation, —— e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, Egoism. A lack of knowledge makes us brave, As lives their ways pursue, And any task seems easy, save ‘The one you ought to do. If I a billionaire could be I'd make the world content— And yet it oft seems hard for me Even to pay the rent. I'm sure I could write essays wise If I but had the time; And poems that would claim a prize In blank verse or in rhyme. Whatever the achievements are, I feel a sense of pride. I'm sure I'd have done better far If I had only tried. Therefore, I find a frequent thrill, I think, while pulses throb, ©Of how much better I could fill Another fellow’s job! Factions. “Your party appears to be dividing into two factions. “You can't provide offices for all,” answered Senator Sorghum. “There are bound to be two factions—satisfactions and dissatisfactions.” Jud Tunkins says the way some of ‘em talk makes him wonder whether what they call “farm relief” won't turn out to be some new kind of farm worry. Chief Considerations. Friend diplomat, your usefulness Depends on wisdom, more or less; And not on what you cat or drink, But only on the things you think. The O1d Duel Superseded. “At least we have gbtten rid of duel- ing.” For whatever the L Heat and noise are Summer birds of a feather which flock together with a vengeance. Come obscure relationship between the two increases the noise level of a community in proportion to the rise in the thermometer. Undoubtedly that is one way of handling the heat from a purely per- sonal standpoint. In this matter there are two distinct lines of action open to the individual. The first is to be as quiet as possi- ble, in the hope that one will thus become as cool as may be. The second is to make as much noise as the law allows (or doesn't allow), in the persistent hope that one will “forget the heat.” Devotees of each method swear that their way is the only way to hot weather salvation, and in this they are not unlike most enthusiasts. The man who owns one brand of {motor car often declares that all other makes are tin, and he who is the proud possessor of an apartment does not vnderstand why any one would desire to own an individual residence. Such little disagreements make the world go round, so they say. At any rate, they tend to make it livelier. and thus noisler, or more noisy, whichever it is. WA If one cannot sleep on & hot night, the best thing to do is to make the best of it. This is such a simple remedy that most people never think of it. They fret and fume and mentally curse the heat, although such a line of action but makes them the hotter. If they would begin a little game which we shall explain to them, the world would appear cooler at once, since whatever tends to amuse also works to lower temperatures. This is a dis- covery which has not yet found its way into books of science, but no .doubt will when the effects of the human mind on bodily heat are thoroughly probed. The game is simply this: Listen for all the noises which waft in and out, instead of accepting them as they come. In other words, put everybody's noise to work for you. This will be cooling in itself, since it takes the mind off the heat and puts it on noises. Ordinarily a noise has no tempera- ture. We do not ask if a neighbor’s radio is hot or cold, but whether it is loud or soft, whether it is low-pitched or_high-pitched. If it is loud, we curse him, and if it is low. we bless him, especially if it is after 10 o'clock. The nearer the hands of the clock approach to midnight the more moot the state of his receiver becomes. Noises have no temperature. That is why their contemplation cools the one who contemplates, And not only does such meditation remove the mind from a consideration of hot and cold, as such, but it gives the mind something to work on. In other words, when the mind is considering noise it is not considering heat, and when the mind is off heat the silly body doesn't really know how hot it is. So much for the mastery of mind over matter! e AU Listen to Irene. the village queen, sewing away on her sewing machine. No doubt it is commendable in Irene The story is told that a taxi man became worried a few days ago, when he carried two strangers to the entrance of the United States Treasury and was requested to wait while they went into the building. After waiting an hour for his passengers, he nervously tele- &hkoned back to the hotel where he had en them on, to inquire if they had paid their hotel bill. He feared that they were going to do him out of his fare, but he was comforted when he learned that one of them was the banker, J. P. Morgan, and the other was Owen Young; they had just re- turned from settling the debt of Ger- many and planning for that country to pay about half a billion dollars annually to the allies. And then, maybe, the allies will pay what they owe us. * ok ok K But how much would that taxi man have felt relieved if he had been told that his passenger, Mr. Morgan, was even then plotting to invest half a bil- lion dollars in the food distribution of the United States, and thereafter to dictate what the chauffeur's meals would cost, over and above his total day's fares? And how we, the public, shiver and shudder at the prospective famine that must result when grim monopoly- padlocks our food, and de- mands its own unlimited price? This new food trust will take over the yeast which starts the dough, the vinegar which seasons the salad, the soup and baking powder, and, not the cattle which make the meat, but the malt feed which makes the cattle, all the postum grape nuts and the cheese, and even the ld dust which the twins use to the dishes. Half & billion dollars, and we must ea! out of the hand of this monstrous monopoly! Why, we would have paid the taxi's fare ourselves and let his res” walk back to their hotel, rather than let this monopoly succeed in choking us all, * ok K X As James Whitcomb Riley said in his poem about the man in tle bain, rescued, after he had been’ wounded, and while he was being carried off the field on the back of a comrade, a can- non ball came along and carried off his head without the knowledge of his burdened rescuer, who complained later, “that's not the worst of it,” so even with' the monopolizing of & whole meal, from soup to cheese, “that's not the worst of it.”” Wall Street declares that the Morgan food trust, which is the greatest investor in railroads in Amer- ica, is buying up grain elevators, so that, with its~ yeast, vinegar and baking powder monopoly, there will follow a mighty bread trust. “That’s mot the worst of it!” With other hundreds of millions, it will monopolize all water- wer between Maine and the Potomac golaln. and since it already controls the steel trust, that must include even the basin too. And the{vmnu getting EHDB on ofl; it will be possible to bake bread, or even cake, without their con- sent and rake-off, whether we use elec- STty 0% 2. oty of His Tty ke driver thot only of fare in Jeo“p‘lrfl ! ““without vision, the Nation perhhz: !: . That is one way of looking at the situation; ther phases not included in ictures. of these is that the whole trend of modern methods in business is toward consolidation, mass production and gmbthly ml':_sfll distribution under-cen- ralized 3 Is therce:‘ao mnnm‘l’c ’"’“f‘:s,‘,’fi-ofl t centralizing and mas: V'Ill‘l:nt is it that farmers have been com- “We have,” answered Uncle Bill Bot- tletop. “But there is a lot of bullet- work still going on between bootlegg and prohibition agents.” “A woman rules the home so easily,” sald Hi He, the Sage of Chinatown, “that she is tempted to expand her powers and undertake to direct public government.” To worriment gnd Work. “Love nimm." said Eben, laining about, lo, these many years, 2nd crglnz for relief from? It is that the myrisd, of middlemen in distri- bution of farm products constituted a waste most costly to both producer and consumer. 8o, within the last few days. Congress has authorized, and the President has ratified, the use of half & billion dollars for farm relief. Again that magic sum, “half a billion, half @ billion, half a billion onward"—the bankers, is it not? All'it has to do is pay verything. 3 THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. to make her own clothing, but isn't it 2 trifie odd to begin to sew at mid- night? Irene must have forgotten to give her sewing machine any oil for the past decade. because it makes a con- founded racket. It rasps and wheezes, sounding for all the world like an ancient model of flivver. In the still, sultry night comes a sound of toll as Irene bends daintily over her work. She is making a “sun- back” dress, in which she will appear to great advantage. Perhaps the poor creature couldn't get around to it until this hour, and now must labor far, far into the night in order that she may display her shoulder blades to an admiring world. If she would sew continuously, one wouldn’t mind it; but no, she stops every now and then. Blessful peace settles over the community. He who believes in taking a hot night quietly sighs with relie’ is . Irene sews away on her sewing machine until it groans end creaks in every cog and fiber. Irene intends to sew until the cows {come home—or until the milkman comes around, a more metropolitan phrase undoubtedly. ‘Whir-r-r-r- T! One wouldn' h Irene any hard luck, of course, but if the thing would only blow up what fun it would be! * ok ok No sooner “has Irene laid her sewing machine away to a well deserved rest than the bachelor girls tune up. They are entertaining a prized male on the back porch, and he has such a way with him, Every few minutes one or the other of the girls lets out a shriek of merriment which travels over the moon. It is no wonder then, since their laughter possesses such bounding qualities, that it bores its way into a hundred pairs of sleeping ears and causes strong men to wake with a start. It is now 1 a.m., The ordinary noises have ceased; even the bachelor girls have stopped laughing. Now one can sleep peacefully. But from experience one realizes that some honest, whole- some noise may crop up at any minute. It is a hot night, and there is always some one whose idea of combating heat is to do it with noise, in much the same way that savages beat upon drums and implore rain with much din. ‘Who will it be? What sort of noise will they make? The curious investi- gator of human nature as it is waits patiently for some noise to begin. Is he to be disappointed? Is quiet to reign? No, he is not to be disappointed, nor are peace and quiet to reign. Some musical persons begin a piano. and violin duet. Thelr performance is cred- itable, too, but the appreciative faculty of the listener is asleep if none of the rest of him is. He would not relish Kreisler at such an hour. He wonders if Irene and her sewing machine were not preferable, after all. She at least was doing something useful in the world. Yes, Irene and her sewing ‘machine make a prettier music at midnight, if music there must be, than Drdla’s “Serenade.” Such noisy comparisons help make- the hot night cooler, and if they do not bring sleep at legst tend to amuse the ‘waking mind. BACKGROUND. OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. tion methods of today, whether in the making of shoes or automobiles or any- else that is manufactured. It would require a limitless forest of spreading chestnut trees to shade the village blacksmiths and woodworkers and painters making in a year the au- tomobiles turned out every day by any of our great motor factories. To go back to the former methods of making shoes would be inconceivable, notwith- standing the faulty argument that it would give employment to more me- chanics. So the argument against chain stores and department stores that they put out of employment so many men and women is unsupport- able, since the primary object of all organized business is not to furnish jobs for employes, but to serve cus- tomers effectually and economically. Any method which falls short of that service to the public must be displaced by modern scientific organization. Im- proved labor-saving machinery which throws employes out of their old jobs almost always betters even their con- dition, eventually. What linotype operator would go back to hand com- position of straight matter? Compare his wages! * ok ok It does not inevitably follow that all chain stores or all department stores give better service or make more than individual, independent stores in cerf environment and other con- ditlons. ‘The problems are different and much depends, in both cases, on skilled management under actual con- ditions. Al a recent conference of merchants at the headquarters of the United States Chamber of Commerce, the manager of a certain line of chain stores made & most emphatic statement that his advantage over independent stores did not consist so much in mass buying as in internal operations and economies. The necessity of intrusting responsibil- ities to branch store managers and other employes eats up the savings in mass or wholesale buying of stock. This presentation is flatly denied by others, however, and is tangibly contradicted by the persistent increase of chain and large department stores. The United States Department of Commerce is now making a survey study of this subject, taking Louisvilie stores for its clinic of management. * K ok % It, finds in that city, where “30 g}"lg?:“u go DI:G of tle:ux;:lela & month,” great waste through ignorant methods, such as the ul::u f:’r‘ one grocer who had held a certain brand of peaches four years, d storage on them and failed to sell them. It found that wholesalers were spending $7.50 & day in seeking the trn:: of a er whose own trade amounted to only $10 a day. A count of callers at one re- tail establishment showed fewer cus- tomers than salesmen. [ All such waste is “salvaged” in a scientifically managed department or chain store, 2 ‘'We need more thought to ‘not ing'” says Henry Ford, “than claiming . what is’ wasted.” An expert of an industrial counsel declares: “When industry takes this view of waste elimination it will*save :flul:flnl (not millions) of dollars an- y.” That is the hope of the if that saving is adequately, though not wholly, passed on to the public, the public ‘will not be damned nor will it damn mergers and big busi- ness. Abuses of power will be dealt with by proper, not demagogic, legis- lation, for this is “a Government by the people.” * K ok K * The increase of mergers, year after year, is shown by the Federhl Reserve Board reports covering from 1919 to 1927: In 1919, 80 mergers; 1920, 17; 1921, 104, and each year increasing thereafter, to 1927, 250 mergers. In addition to open mergers, the tendenc: has heen for one company to absor rival companies, making practically the same consolidation as in & merger. In 1920, the oil interests merged, and the public was excited about that tend- ency, but, later, , and the s, and last wast- to re- s, and' 'Cayiml Punishment Assailed as Murder To the Editer of The Star: I have read with interest the remarks of one Mr. Hooper relative to capital punishment. While his letter will have no widespread effect and my reply will | be equally futile, yet I cannot let his| remarks go unchalleng:d. Some un- thinking person may have a bad idea | confirmed. Drawing solely upon legal and court experience acquired in the last sev- eral years, I can think of any number of reasons for the assertion that capi- tal punishment is utterly futile and wholly without merit as a remedy, or curative of criminal conditions. It has not been a crime deterrent and it never will be. You cannot strike fear into the heart of a man who fears nothing. A murderer cares no more for his life than for that of his victim. He is not a sensitive creature. Life and death mean nothing to him, not even when his own life is at stake. He is too ignorant, too dull to under. stand. If it were not so, he would not kill. Furthermore, crime, law breaking and indifference to authority is a con- stant soclal factor; as constant as the rising and setting of the sun. It can be controlled, but it cannot be eradicated. It occurs to me, further, that capital punishment provides defense attorneys with any number of arguments for ac- quitals, inspires them to use every pos- sible loophole and technicality in their client’s behalf, and renders veniremen reluctant to serve on a jury sitting in judgment over the fate of a criminal subject to such law. Thus are trials delayed and judicial process retarded. This is not to be wondered at, for the average man does not want to take | ! his grave. But does it change the character of his act if the average man acts collectively with his fello hiding behind the cloak of what we might call soclety? Moreover, there is always present the Iikelihood of executing & wholly inno- cent person in place of the real mur- derer. Such instances, while not com- mon, have occurred, and I say that any law wherein such a tragic and un- pardonable possibility lurks in the dark | recesses of its provisigns is totally de- vold of any merit. Even though it may send 500 men to their death: it right that one out of this number should die without ever having com- | mitted a crime? For the sake of space, I have omit- ted going into detail, but I firmly be- leve the weight of reason is behind | the arguments against capital punish- ment. In general, I would emphasize that it is wrong in principle and direct- ly opposed to civilized standards. It is the unintelligent way of dealing with a situation demanding intelligent reme- dies applied in the light of present-day | standards. Capital punishment is the | outgrowth of the base passion for re- venge, encouraged and developed by a basely passionate world thousands of years ago. Either we must admit we are not sufficiently advanced intellectually to properly treat criminals, or admit that this barbaric, heartless and -stupid method, developed and used in the dark ages by an ignorant, impulsive and g:smmne world, still is a proper and telligent treatment for criminals. It is true, a murderer is not entitled to the benefits of our society. He has proven his inability to live with us, but whether he should die is not for us to I maintain that life and death e peculiarly within the jurisdiction of God, and it cannot be said God is act- ing on the criminal, through us, if we deliberately plan and provide for his death. Is this not collective murder? Is not soclety the murderer of the cri inal? JAMES A. TAWNEY. PRGN R All-Night Parking Ban Is Held Advantageous To the Editor of The Star* To -ban all-night parking in Wash- ton will have many advantages. ‘willhelp to e the number of accidents, There will be fewer cats stolen. More stolen cars will be re- covered and in shorter time. There will be less work for the Police Department. Many “wrecks” now on the streets will be sent to the junk pile, Clearing the streets of cars at night also will help to keep them more clear in the daytime, as many users will permit their cars to remain in the garage until such time as they are actually needed. Thus, with the streets mere free from parked cars, daytime f.rnfllé will be improved. Children and others will not be so liable to dart from the sidewalks-between a line of closely parked machines. All-night guktng is an invitation to the car-stealer and the joy-rider. Both are a menace to the safety of the £ in a reckless manner. With less work for the theft department of the police, the officers of t! department can be used to advantage for other traffic pur- poses. There are hundreds of cars of such little value &nd in such a deplorable profit | condition for operation with safety that their owners would not be justified in spending money for garage facilities. Such cars would likely be disposad of or junked and thus Washington streets would be freed of machines that are about ready to fall to pieces, having poor brakes, bad lights, dangerous steer- ing apparatus, etc. ‘There would be less noise at night and in the early morning, especially in front of apartment houses. Cars parked in garages would be started in garages. Garage facilities can be provided for every automobile in Weshington. The large public garage would come into use in neighborhood sections where there is little room for the small, private garage. The present large number of small garages in alleys, now vacant, would be easily rented and more would be built in every available space. Other large cities have long cared for their garage problems. Washington will be able to do the same. There are more advantages to bhe gained from banning all-night parking in Washington than there are objec- tions to be found against it. E. T. CLARE. ———— . School Prohibition “Propaganda” Is Hit To_the Editor of The 2 I have read with amazement of the latest move in the prohibition problem.. Are the citlzéns of 1t country to believe, after reading of this latest move by the dry forces, that the schools are to be made a political play- und? Are our children to be forced nto an attitude of war by a con- troversial Congress? Why should they, perforce, be arra; against each other because their elders cannot agree? There is no normal place in the school curriculum for a wet or a dry question. For law enforcement—yes. There is no controversy there, and every child should be taught to respect the laws of his country. As a citizen and a taxpayer I pro- test against the use of the schools for political propaganda of any 'kind. MAUD H. HANSCOM. panies absorbed was 22 and in 1926 and 1927 about 1.oo.n iscg y:n. Acgording to an expert of the Depart- of Commerce, as set forth in a public address: “It has been estimated that the ap- proximately $41,000,000,000 annual trade of the United States in 1928 was dis- tributed as follows: Chain stores, 15 per cent; mall-order houses, 315 per m: partment the responsibility of sending another to |, community, as they operate motor cars |- t: | prob! ground of underl&n:d ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. v ‘The resources of our free informa- tion bureau are at your service. You are invited to call upon it as often as you please. It is being maintained solely to serve you. What question can we answer for you? There is no charge at all except 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Address your letter to The Evening Star Information Bu- reau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Wash- | ington, D. C. Q. In what denominations above $100 did the Confederate States issue paper_money?—W. A, C. A. The denominations of Confederate notes above $100 were $500 and $1,000. Q. What is meant by Samvat?— M. R P, A. Samvat !s an abbreviation of the | Sanskrit word “Samvatsara.” which | means “year.” Samvat is the method of reckoning_time used generally in India, save in Bengal. Christian dates arc reduced to Samvat by adding 57 to the | Christian year. Q. Did George Washington ever live | in the City of Washington?—G. R. A. Tle had much to do with the| selection of the site for the city, and | bought some property here, but mever resided in Washington. Q. When was candy first made?— | K. A. The carliest use of candy was to disguise the unpleasant taste of medi- cine and it was made chiefly by physi- cians and apothecarics. The great development of the use of candy dates | from the beginning of the nineteenth | century, in England. In the United | States, there were 20 candy factories in Philadelphia as early as 1816. How many tribes of gyp: there in the United States?—B. ' A It is estimated that there about 5,000. Q. Where is Starved Rock?—T. M. A. Starved Rock is a high pinnacle on the south side of the Valley of the Illinois River, between Utica and Ottawa, where the fort, St. Louis, was erected by LaSalle in 1682. Its name indicates the tate of the last of the Tilini Indians who were besieged by the Iroquols. The rock is almost perpen- | dicular, rising 130 feet above the river. | Q. How much is the paper worth | that is taken out by perforating stamps so that they will separate easily?— M. W are | | A. 1f the paper were sold for a whole vear at the present contract price the Government would receive $4,500 for this paper. Q. How many members of the 4-H Club are there in th2 United States?— W. H.D. A. Ths Department of Agriculture says that there are in round numbers 663,000 members in the United States and Hawali. The members are usually from 10 to 20 years of age and the outstanding characteristic work is that each member conducts a substantial piece of work designed to show some hetter practice on the farm or in the home or community, keeps a record of results, -explains the work to others, and makes a final report on the work. Q. What United States officer was in more World War engagements than any other?—G. B. A. Brig. Gen. William Mitchell. Q. Can airplane pilots get life insur-, ance?—s. F. A. They are now considered good risks and are eligible for protection. Q. What is an interlocking direc- torate?—G. E. L. A. The term is generally used to designate the method by which interests | of many companies normally in compe- | tition are controlled by the election to | their directorates of a few men, who act in the interest of the combination to which they belong. The system is now largely discredited since the dlug; or of a tompany is s 5 X devoted absolutely to theum:?hh particular company. The device of interlocking directorates was employed extensively in the field of transporta- tion as a means of securing a unity of policy. - Thus, directors. of the United States Steel Corporation estab- ished themselves as directors in rafl- road companies and steamship com- panies, street railway comvanies, and in a number of industrial companies consuming steel. The great financial houses made a practice of being repre- sented in the directorates of other banking houses and in those of railway and industrial companies that required their services in stock and bond flota- tlons. The Clayion trust bill of 1914 sought to check the evil of interlocking directorates, Q. Has a comet ever been known to ercss the face of the sun?>—G. P. A. The Nawval Observatory says that Halley’s comet crossed the face of the suh May 18, 1910. This is known only by the computed positions of the comet the transit was observed on the sun's disk. Q. In a non-stop run is it meant that the atutomobile does not stop or ti the engine does nhot stop?—G. H. 8. A. The contest board of the A. A. A. says that a non-stop run means a run where the car does not stop. If a tire blows out or is punctured, the run is finished and it is necessdry for the person” who is making the record to make a new start. Q. What is the usual temperature in Cuba on July 17—D. K. A. The mean temperature in Cuba - on July 1 is 96 degrees Fahrenheit. Q. When were condensed and un- aweet;ned evaporated milk first made? A. According to Hunziker's “Con- densed Milk and Milk Powder,” sweet- ened condensed milk was first made 17 Gail Borden at Walcottville, Conn., in 1856. This factery failed, but was later re-established at Wassaic, N. Y, in 1860. This company later became the Borden Condensed Milk Co. Unsweet- ened evaporated milk was first made commereizally in 1885 by the Helvetia Milk Condensing Co. at Highland, Ill. Q. What is the salary of the head of. the Church of England?—A. S. A. The primate of all England is the ‘Archbishop of Canterbury, He recelves £15,000 a year. y Q. How much damage is caused by tornadoes in one year in the United States?—N. A. L. A. The Weather Bureau says that more than a hundred tornadoes per year on the average reported to the . bureau result in about $12,000,000 dam- age. Some years are more serlous than . others, Q. Where is the headquarters of the French Foreign Legion?—D. E. B. A. There are four regiments in the French Foreign Legion, and the head- quarters are’ at the following places: Sidi-Bel-Abbes, Algeria; Meknes, Mo- rocco; Fez, Morocco, and Marrakech, Moroeco, Q. How much does gasoline expand ; and contract?—N. P. 8. s 1 A. Gasoline expands or contracts‘sp- | proximately 1 per cent of its yohime for every 17 degrees Fahrenheit increase or decrease of temperature, Q. Why is the boundary between - North Carolina and Virginia so irregu: lar>—W. K. H. A. The boundary between North Carolina and Virginia was upon by the governors of the two. States, and the line irregularly placed in order - to accommodate people living on the jand who wished to be residents of one State or the other. Qi" Véhy is a kelvinator so named?— A. The kelvinator was named for the father of refrigeration, Lord Kelvin, in -England. He applied to refrigersa. tion the principle that liquids in chang- | ing to ges absorb heat, Q. How thany have lost their lives t_n:'tnl u‘;v cross the Atlantic by airplane? ! A. Up to the present time 19 Hves have been lost in such attempts. Q. Does the Depariment of Agricul. | ture pay the e: of the girls who are t0.go to nual encampment of the 4-H Club’ ‘Washington>—T. W. T. The A, expenses of each member on" ul‘:i) trip n:enplld -étfil::r by the local club, some city. or e organization, | such as bankers’ associations, manufac- turers’ associations, or women's clubs. The Department of has contact with the various cl the local county agents and State agri- cultural colleges. Q. How many h&% and ladder com- ganslcsfllu &he!? Ig )_wantWt- “A. The New York City fire depart- ment " of ‘6,278 men. There more than 200 engine companies in the city and more than 100 hook and ladder ‘companies. Q. What part of the United States is l:e(s:t ;d-ptec to the growing of olives?: A. The region in which the olive may be successfully grown for the commer- cial production of fruit in the United States is not as great as for most frost- hardy fruits, and has been confined to portions of California and Arizona, al- though the trees will live and bear some. fruit in portions of all of the southern tier of States of this country. O. In what way is Miss Helen Keller %nexudsvlfil the Robert E. Lee fam- A. Miss Keller's grandmother on her father's side was a second cousin of Robert, E. Lee H . Lee. She was a granddaugh ter of Alexander Spottiswood, an early in its orbit, as no evidencz whatever of Herald New Er A new era in British and American relations and in world diplomacy is forecast with evident satisfaction by the American press in discussing the recent speeches by Ambessador Dawes and Premier MacDonald, which are accepted as the beginning of negotiations for naval limitation. “The nations are invited to join in a new rivalry—a race to disarm.” says the Omaha World-Herald. “The old naval rivalry, in which one nation built battleships and cruisers and submarines, unit for unit, against another'sgeach in a mad attempt to outstrip the rest, was one of the factors, we now know, that led to the World War. * * *. The best omen for future peace is the fact that statesmen are now actively work- ing for it and aggressively seeking to do away with the causes of war. This may yet prove to be the beginning of an international era of good feeling, when warfare will have become as impossible between nations as dueling is between friends.” “It seems almost %0 good to be true, but there are signs ©f a new era in diplomacy and international under- standing,” declares the Flint Daily Journal, while the Seattle Daily Times thinks that these two addresses “gave notice to the world in general, and to other naval powers in particular, that England and America are committed to the policy of limiting the strength of sea establishments.” “All the world, we are confident,” says the Great Falls Tribune, “will find much to commend in the simultaneous addresses of Ambassador Dawes and Prime Minister MacDonald; and 'the Hoover ‘yardstick’ idea should, and we believe it will, catch and hold the in- terest of the common people every- where."” * K Kk “With the two nations standing close together in friendship and united in international policy,” in the opinion of the OCharlestort Evening Post, “much will have been done to insure world ace "in the coming generation. If resident Hoover and Premier Mac- Donald can meet and agree on a for- mula for naval policy, ihe{' will have done a. great work, not only for their own countries but for the world at large.” The Dall: Journal states, “The friendly warmth of the words that were spoken and the sound suggestions | fr! naval new for a workable ap) proach to.the lem point 1) 5 colonial Governor of Virginia. Dawes and MacDonald Speeches a of Diplomacy “If the British really want reduction, as the election seemed to say,” accord- ing to the New York Evening Post, “Mr, MacDonald will have political strength’ enough for a long effort, and he and the representatives of ‘the other big naval powers must eventually attain some constructive settlement, as they ‘Dawes plan’ is to separal e from the diplomats and from the op- posing experts and then let the states- men go ahead and settle things. It is a good idea. It ought to eut down very decidedly the outfloweof pessimism.” Xk ox ¥ ‘The effect of an announcement by the Premier of Japan “that his country is ready to support any measure lopk- ing to further reduction of armaments, that it wants peace and lessened expend< iture for war purposes,” is taken up by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette with: the conclusion that “the promptness with which Japan has declared its position should have great effect in enlisting the co-operation of other nations.” On this point the Providence Journal says: “The unanimity of favorable opinion in all the leading countries of * helps to pave the way to ultimate ac- coniplishment of the purpose of Presi- dent Hoover, as indeed of Prime Min- ister MacDonald. * * * It is en- couraging to know that the general diplomatic and public atmosphere of the Continent is conducive to an event- ful successful conclusion of the naval armaments issue.” “The three it obstacles to peace in Europe,” in the opinion of the Louls- ville Courier-Journal, “are reparations, armament and minorities. The first two have been settled or are being set~ tled by frankness and directness:: The same methods have not been applied to the last, yet these methods are perhaps the alternative to passible future war.” In this connection the - R cites conditlons. in- the former Hungarian Empire, in Alsace, in and other parts of Burope as se 3, g 7 . Newark Evening News with the conclusion that the purpose is chief points of difference between E e rring L 5 1yvhhh the two nations can attain hold as Britain and the United States and the League el ¥ ] 4