Evening Star Newspaper, July 14, 1929, Page 30

Al 2 THE EVENING STAR ____With Sunday Morning Editlon. WASHINGTON, D. C SUNDAY.....s....July 14, 1920 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 116 8. e Benivents Ave. n New York Sfce: 110 d o hi 0 Office: Lake Michigan Building. uropean Ofce; u'ulm . Rondon. Engiand. - : Rate by Carrier Within the City. Collection méde Orders may be sent in NAtional 5000. ¢ Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. - Maryland and Virginia. Datly and Sunda: aily only . unday only Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Assoclated Press is exclusively ertitled to the use for republication of all i ews dis- paten credited to it or not otherwise cred- ted in this pape: also the local news published herein. All rizhts of publication of special dispatches herein are also resarved. = e The Gas Company Case. ‘The Public Utilities Commission and Corporation Counsel Bride are showing commendable = thoroughness in their efforts to get at the root of the transac- tion by which the Washington Gas Light Company has passed from local control. Good judgment prevents their being enticed off the trail they are following by contemplating in advance the pos- sible benefits to consumers that may resuit from projected changes of policy and revision of rate structure by the new owners. Anticipating such bznefits is premature until the point at issue, the legality of the transfer transaction, has been settled in a manner that removes all doubts concerning violation of the anti-merger act. Corporation Counsel Bride intimates that the statement of ownership sub- mitted by the new owners does not close ‘the case. He will certainly be supported by public opinion in his determination to identify and reveal the full connections of those involved. The inherent dangers that lie in loss of local control of an important local utility are obvious. They justify the continued examination of the deal that Mr. Bride and the Public Utilities Commission hawe in mind. People’s Counsel Fleharty believes that the new owners may be expected to give gas consumers in the District better service at lower rates, which is, of course, highly desirable. After the new owners have satisfled the author- ities that the anti-merger act does not debar them here, an outline of new policies and new rates will be ex- pectantly awaited. Some of these will doubtless depend upon the outcome of the pending valuation case now before Justice Gordon, or a statement from the new owners regarding their attitude toward the valuation of 1916 and the revaluation which was begun and left unfinished by the Public Utilities Com- mission. But there is certainly room for improvement in the present rate structure. Existing rafes for commer- cial consumers of gas are based on a theory containing inequalities easily demonstrated. Unlike the telephone and electric company, which charge accord- ing to quantity and class of service, lowering the rates as the quantity in- creases, but charging for actual con- sumption, the gas company penalizes the commercial consumer for failure to use more than he actually needs. The rates of $1 a thousand cubic feet for those using less than 50,000 cubic feet; 95 cents for those using between 50,000 and 500,000 cubic feet; 90 cents for those using between 500,000 and 800,000 cubic feet and 85 cents for those using more than 800,000 feet, show rather glaring -inequalities. The man who uses 495,000 cubic feet a month will have a higher bill than one who uses 510,000 cubic feet a month, thus mak- ing it profitable for him to turn on the jets full blast gnd allow several thou- sand cubic feet to go up the chimney in order to lower his bill. The actual inequalities have been lessened by the company’s informal practice of adjust- ing bills, so that consumers near the border line of rate change are given the advantage of the lower rate. But the system of eharges should be revised in accordance with accepted practice in other utilities. ‘The new owners are understood to be considering an effort to popularize the use of gas for heating end other do- mestic_purposes and in 5o doing would naturally revise the scale of rates for quantity consumption. There may be renewed agitation for lowering the B. T. U. requirement, or the heating quality, of gas in Washington. Such a change would obviously be accompanied by downward revision of rates, as the higher the B. T. U. the less the quan- tity of gas used, but it should be per- mitted only upon the favorable testi- mony of experts after impartial investi- gation. * Another change in contempla- tion 1§ the institution of s minimum Tate charge, a practice existing in about 90 per cent of other cities and used here by the telephone and electric light companies, more evenly to distribute among consumers the cost of service, ‘These ‘matters 'may be taken up in due ,time, provided the right of the new owners to operate is established beyond reasonable doubt. —_— - The aviator who remains in the air 246 hours‘makes the man who sits at Sloane Coffin, president of the Union Theological Seminary, declared at the annual convocation of the Columbia University Summer session Friday. It has been quite efficient, he declared, in passing on formulae from genera- tion to generation, but it has furnished neither the groundwork nor the in- centive for thinking. Consequently American opinions are stereotyped. There is little curiosity as to funda- mentals. What America needs, Dr. Coffin dald, is a citizenry which “challenges existing arrangsments in politics, industry, education, morals and religion.” Obviously there is a continuous need for the revising of formulae. What is true for one generation is not neces- sarily true for the next and what is true for one man may be false for his neighbor. . An education which teaches formulae by rote'is a second-rate edu- cation, “It is not the business of education,” Dr. Coffin said, “to provide ready-made answers. That would be fatal to the inquisitiveness which we have striven to arouse. Education cannot afford not to try to develop out of the crude ma- terials in the interior lives of students’ insight, vision and spiritual perception which shall enable them to arrive for themselves at an interpretation of life’s significance.” In other words, education must be far more than merely the accumulation of certain orderly arrangements of facts. It must provide the background and the inspiration for challenging both the arrangements and the facts them- selves. In this way only lies progress, Maryland Stop Signs. The State of Maryland hes enhanced its fine highway and motoring reputa- tion this Summer by the installation of stop signs on all roads interseeting with main high-speed arteries. Long noted for its good road system and for the wisdom and reasonableness of its traffic regulations, Maryland, by this step, takes rank with States which lead in progressive traffic thought. Good high- ways and good regulations are the in- gredients for a successful handling of the perplexing problem of moving large volumes of traffic safely and quickly and with the new yellow signs installed | Maryland need admit no superior. * In the past, Washington motorists going West have enjoyed traveling over Maryland's fine roads, but with the forty-mile-an-hour speed limit have been apprehensive lest a car should suddenly emerge onto the main high- way from an obscure side road. As soon as Maryland was left behind this feeling vanished, as Ohio, Indiana, II- linois,- Missouri, Kansas and other States protected the high-speed motor traveler by giving him absolute right of way on the main highways. Sim- ilarly, on the return trip the motorist felt secure from interference on high- speed roads - until Maryland was reached. Then he would blow his horn regularly on approaching the side roads as a measure of caution. Everything is different now, however. The motorist drives in Maryland with the same sense of protection that he does in other States. > Only one thing remains now to be accomplished on Maryland's highways. Stopped vehicles on the pavement should be prohibited. This regulation is in effect in many States, and is based on the theory that a menacing situation arises when two lines of traffic traveling at forty miles an hour or more meet at 8 point where half the road is blocked by a stationary machine. “Do not stop the top of & flagpole look like “a small- . The Herd Instinct. Thinking is hard work and, in the ordinary. affairs of life, almost unneces- sary. The general tendency is to accept sions of neighbors &nd ancestors on vital problems—simply because it is too difficult to work out an individual so- Jution, > - There are formulae for ‘sll aspects 6f human relationship. In politics, re- ligion and’, philosophy these formulas ere drummed into our heads-fram in- fancy. ‘The only" intellectus! .exertion Zies in the’ applicatiori of them to in- dividial problems, . There is very lit- tle inclination to arrive at our” own of the.apinions, of others, sRight 1] American education on the pavement” is therefore a com- mon sign along main highways in many States. It would seem logical that Maryland could with profit consider a regulation that imposes no hardship on the motorist, inasmuch as it is & com- paratively easy matter to find a stop- ping place off the road, and at the same time provides a measure of safety the impartance of which cannot be chal- lenged. ————t————— Aviation has become familiar and new figures have developsd. But popular imagination still regards the ace as the hero of heroes. ——eoe— China has advanced in many ways, | yet it retains many of its ancient tra- ditions concerning mysterious disap- pearances and summary retributions. e Liberty’s Brighter Torch. It is eminently fitting that the colos- | sal Statue of Liberty lighting the world | should be equippgd with a more power- ful beacon in celebration of the golden | Jubilee of the electric light. As the influence of the United States, the ploneer Nation in establishing hu- man liberty as-the basis of govern- ment, reaches farther and farther as & guiding light to the nations, the light on this emblematic monument should, as a token, become stronger and more | The change just made is the third in intensifying the light on this beacon. It was originally of metal, lighted by ‘a2 lantern. Then the ordinary clear elec- tric lights were installed in 1916. Now there have been installed 14 incandes- cent lights with a new lighthouse lens within the flame.of the torch. A 1,500- watt light replaces the 1,000-watt light, and 750-watt bulbs replace the 500- bulbs. ‘The new light can be seen three times farther than the one it replaces. It is an emblem of American progress and leadership in lighting the way of self- government and proper regard for the inherent rights of individuals to life, | lamp; | provided its position does not seriously { | area. liberty and the pursuit of happiness among men and nations. ————— Another Epic of the Air, A stanch engine and two gallent war veteran aviators have come un- shattered out of perhaps the most rigorous test ever made of humen and mechanical endurance. (“Pete”) Reinhart have written their names into the history of seronautical development. They went aloft “broke” and came. to earth 246 hours, 43 minutes and 33 seconds later rich men. “The Wright Whirlwind motor proved its dependability and strength in a fashion that cannot but contribute to public confidence in America’s rapidly developing commercial aviation. It was the fabrication of the tall group®on the second-hand ' Angeleno THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JULY 14, 1929—PART 2. Growth Through Fellowship level for refueling. Engine and aviators were still functioning smoothly. A new endurance flight record has been set—72 hours, 42 minutes, 33 seconds better than any previous attempt. And the, true significince of that event is greater even than the triumph which those .who have made the record justly enjoy. For the spirit which lies bshind the steady progress of the civilized world—progress to which America has ever contributed much—-1s here typified. We who have seen the electric light gleam forth to replace the kerosene who have seen the telephone come as an indispensable adjunct of business; who have seen radio com- municatiot uncannily span messureless distances; who have seen the develop- ment of the new science of aerial transportation already transcending all | forecasts—can look forward confidently to even more wonderful achievements by our children and our children’s 7 children. ‘The world moves forward. —————————— Double-Parking Rules. The revised regulation on . double parking will serve the purpose of legal- | {zing an illegal practice of long stand- ing. The old rule required a driver to remain with a double-parked commer- BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES * Bishop of fn,ll&t“:) Iz’:’.’ ucotmmnu um”ml b::: 0 ) n vine.~St. John, zv.4. The text sets forth an obvious fact. ‘The Master used it for the purpose of emphasizing a fundamental principle, namely, that the Christian disciple could mnot bear fruit abiding fellowship with When we come to study life it is remarkable how utterly interdependent it appears to be. re js no such thing possible as wholly independent living. Some one has well said that “no individual bscomes great -by own individuality, he reaches great- ness through the life of another.” This does not imply - the insufficiency of genius; it does imply the absolute need of co-operation in life's accomplish- ments. A Robinson Crusoe kind of life has no appeal in it, even though it may be characterized by adventures and extraore happe: ings. Surveying the record of his life, Thomas Jefferson, rich in accomplish- ments and weighted with responsibili- tles, maintained that he owed much of his success to an obscure and humble professor in a small Southern univer- sity, namely, Willlam Small. To this traced the tion except he had|To Chrfitl Himself. his | strength and power, ‘worshiy L E. FREEMAN, D. D, LL. D, Washington which Christian practice demands. is inconceivable that the pursuif should render us insular. To good by ourselves and to feel our independence of the goodness of others is to conceive of a state of virtue that is unappealing and unattractive. Prof. Royce of Harvard conceived of the church as “the blessed community.” his mind the Christian religion in its highest e: ion was communal and not individual. To abide in the commonwealth of Christian believers means on the one hand to contribute o its greater enrichment, and on the other to draw from it increasing There is a type of iper, - singularly. devout but grossly selfish, who thinks of his de- votions in terms of his own advantage. Now and a‘win we find a church whose self-consciousness is so pronounced that it esteems its privile as ex- clusive and its responsibilities as per- taining only to its own class and type. The social habits of Jesus were pro- nounced and conspicuous. While He began His ministry in the wilderness, He lived the major portion of His active service in towns and villages. The streets of Jerusalem with t| Seated one evening on a hill overlooking It of of | Jerusalem, He wept over those who had clal vehicle diring the process of load- | 3% ing and unioading. But the drivers did not remain with the vehicles, for the most part, and when the regulation was enforced the merchants protested vigorously against the additional burden of manning their trucks with two men where one served the purpose before. The changed regulation permits = driverless vehicle to remain double- parked during loading or unloading, impede or interfere with trafc. The change is reasonable in view of the parking conditions in the downtown ‘When the curbs are solidly blocked with parked vehicles, business must go ahead as usual, and if double parking were in all cases forbiddén the only alternative would be to revise the whole practice of loading and unloading commercial automobiles, with the hard- ship thus incurred falling upon the merchants. But the new rule can only be viewed as a necessary expedient, and iz by no means a permanent or happy solu- tion of the parking prcblem faced by commercial or private vehicles. The tendency will be for the drivers to take advantage of the regulation, with en- tangling results to other trafic. To off- set this tendency, the merchants and owners of delivery wagons should seek to preserve the advantage gained through the changed regulation by rigidly guarding against its abuse. X they view the privilege of double park- ing as one to be used in cases of ex- treme emergency alone, there will be| no great difficulty. If the drivers in- terpret it as letting down the bars entirely, thus allowing them to park anywhere at any time, the resulting confusion will sound the death knell of the special privilege. ———— It is &0 easy to steal money that theft would be more commen, if discov~ ery and punishment were not, in the long run, so sure. ————— - There is no earthly perfection. A tariff that will please everybody cannot be hoped for this side of Heaven and there no tariff is needed. —— China has in the course of its history experimented with every form of gov- ernment. It is not likely that Soviet promoters will be able to show the wise Orientals any new tricks. SR SHOOTING STARS. i BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Hemoteness. ‘When you read the disputations about various relations— You feel alone—all alone! When the scientists get at us, you sus- pect you have no status . That can strictly be construed as quite your own. Researches telescopic misanthropic When you learn of worlds in spactal _ depths unknown. In the midst of cosmic chatter that in- volves both mind and matter You feel alone—all alone! ‘When the insect pest is coming with its unrelenting humming— You feel alone—all alone! There is something almost comic in the theories atomic ‘That make a molecule a busy zone. And whether in your daring, with a planet you're comparing, Or with germs a small existence of your ‘own; You will find that as a guesser 'm the greater or the lesser You are alone—all alone! Popular. Habits. “Do you think we should all quit smoking cigarettes?” “No,” answered Senator Sorghum. “Advertisements should not influence us too- much. It is'no more necessary leave us ‘very dri to concede to fads in tobacco than it is to cultivate eccentricities in under- wear.” Jud Tunkins says he has got so lone- some that he is glad to ses 'most any- body who comes around trying to sell him something. Smaller Money. The dollar bill is smaller now. With deference we ask it Ang say, not raising any row, . “So is the market basket!” A Lesson Learned. “What did you say to the traffic cop?” {proposed duties on Southern and West- course. When ew. egle was at the head of the steel industry of this country he declared at the opening of the Pittshurgh Institute, of which he was the donor, that the vast wealth that had come to him was the result of many forces and many personalities. “I started the machinery going, but it was the many hands and brains that effected the resulf Those who attain to any degree of excellence or proficiency in life, in large places and small, inevitably rec- ognize that they owe what they are and have to what they gained through intimate association with others, whose gifts and c}uuluu they made in part their own. It was said at the beginning, “It is not good for man to live alone.” From the cradle to the grave the suc- cess, happiness and security of life re- side in our fellowship one with another. There is no form of social habit that calls for more of the spirit of inter- communion and comradeship than that many repelled Him and who were incapable of the values of a ministry that sought not only the betterment of the individual but of society. He began His active service by gal to side peasant disciples. He yearned for companions. He counseled with them concerning the deep of His min- istry. The loneliest hour in His life was in the of Gethsemane, and one of the saddest words he ever utrered was 'f these same disciples when He ¥ Iresnened sraphass amon the vales of mp! upon value o Christian fellowship. We are emphas:: ing too much the brands of our church- manship and the shibboleths of our cults. It is unthinkable that we should recognize the sovereignty and Savior- hood of Christ, be the recipients of His gifts and promises, and be unresponsive to that community of interests that binds together those who acknowledge Him as and Master. “We are members one of another,” and if we would draw from the practice of our de- votions freshened courage and strength, ‘we must. , first, the intimacy of our relati p with Christ, and sec- ond, the in of our relationship one with another. Battle Over Tariff Rates May Drive Greed From Bill BY WILLIAM HARD. This new tariff bill certainly seems at this week end to be getting cracked on the head from every angle. The Democrats and the Republican agricultural “insurgents” in the Senate having done their best to shatter the moral reputations of the proposed duties on such Eastern industrial prod- ucts as brick and cement, the regular Republicans are now prepared to direct a storm of ‘moral indignation upon the ern products dear to Democratic and “Insurgent” legislators. Rem‘l;'l‘lm' irrl'u‘;“l tarift reformers, 'publican ars o) to nounce, for instance, t] Ewefln‘ alti- tude of the tariff on peanuts. This tariff, as enacted by the House of Rep- Tesentatives and as transmitted to the Senate, is one of the half dozen most skyscraping structures in the whole bill. It works out—on shelled peanuts—to the equivalent of approximately 129 per cent. It riles the regular Republicans to hear complaints about h duties from Democratic Senators from Virginia, North Carolina or Geor; when the peanut, which has its favorite habltat in' thelr Btates, 1s gosring to unrebuked tariff heights. The position of the regular Republicans is emphati- cally on its way now toward being as follows: “If the Southern Democratic Sena- the de- tors will not vote for a duty of 6212 |the per cent on New England’s velveteens, we will not vote for a duty of 129 per cent on the South’s peanuts.” Drastle Advance Demand. ‘They add that neither in such elr- cumstances will they vote .for l"llfln’ the duty on graphite, which is one of the prouds of Alabama, which the spokesmen for Alabama in the House of Representatives succeeded in Mvnneln, from 20 to 25 per cent ad valorem on its crystalline Jump variety. ‘Those spokesmen are not satisfled with that slender triumph and demand a much more drastic advance. Particu- larly or also on the additional variety known as crystalline flake. They have 8 strong case for their contentions, if the ordinary Republican methods of tariff augmentation are to be adopted; but the Republican regulars are now beginning to be determined that those methods shall not be adopted for South- ern products if the Southern Demo- cratic Senators persist in denying their validity for the products of the indus- trial East. The Republican regulars note with satisfaction that a glimmer of their views and purposes was able to secure an entrance into the thoughts of Sen- ator Heflin of Alabama when on the i|ital the ongst | that pri passage of duties on specialties as watches and clocks. Representatives, who will soon be one of the men of outstanding recognized influence in the Senate, has distributed on Capitol Hill a neat, cute, little jar of preserved figs com; by his Texas figs in the present tariff bill, as passed by the House, were advanced from 35 per cent to 40 per cent ad valorem. They lg- pear in the agricultural schedules. Republican ars will now maintain nevertheless tural snd Gl preserved. fgs, z‘vln: been subjected to factur- “ ”» deemed ‘Nothing,” answered Mr. Chuggins. | “I learned long ago that a street cross- A = ing is no place to try to start an ora- without -much questioning the conclu-|{ Loren W. Mendell and Roland B.|torical contest.” = “Our’ ancestors teach us to be wise,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “yet. we are compelled to learn that in some respects our ancestors Were a trifie foolish.” ¢ dig an Americen canal down the St. Lawrence River? What are those Capital Sidelights # BY WILL P. KENNEDY. ‘The scenes about the Senate Office | Bullding ‘while the Senate finance -‘eommnm has been laboring with the + Hawley-Smoot tariff bill reminds vet- eran onlookers of the description of late canny Swede, Senator Knute Nel- son, conservative Republican Minnesota, who apropos of the hearing on the Fordney-McCumber tariff act in 1922 said: “I never in all my life saw such a swarm of men as were around the finance committee while they had this bill before them. Day after day they ceme with their hafdbags. They swarmed in the corridors, and the bill uml:lc-u- that they got their work in well” e Members of the Georgia delegation in Congress are telling the romance of & “Grandfather’s Clock,” taken a5 2 trophy of war from the plantation of 2 former member of Congress d the Civil War, which has just: been lo- cated only about 100 miles from his birthplace in Massachusetts and which is to be restored to his granddaughters. The record of Thomas Butler King stands out in history, his public serv- ice having spanned the continent and covered more than twoscore years, He was born in Palmer, Mass,, in 1800 and attended Westfield Academy. He be- gan the practice of law in Philadelphia when he was 22 years old. He settled on Retreat plantation, St. Simons Island, Ga., in 1826. After four terms in the State Senate he came to Con- gress, where he served 10 terms: In 1850 he was appointed collector of the port of San Francisco by President Filimore, served two years and later went again to the Georgia State Sen- ate. He was sent to Europs by Geor- | {11 s a speciel trade envoy in 1861 and |for three years served in Europe as commissioner of the Confederacy. Recently at an auction in East Mans- field, Mass.. an eight-day clock was bought by the former police chief of Attleboro, who is now inspector of mo- tor vehicles in Representative Martin's home balliwick. In cleaning up the clock the purchaser found this record written on the inside: “Taken from the plantation home of Hon. Thomas B. King, St. Simons Island, St. Simons Sound, Ga. U. S. 8. Ethan Allen, on blockade, Jan. 10, 1863." Investigation disclosed that the fs- land home of the late Representative King was vacated during the war days when he was in Europe as agent of the Confederacy and his sons were in the Confederate . The blockading fleet sent a landing party to investigate the vacant home and a large cotton warehouse on the shore of the plantation. Three granddaughters of the former Representative are now living on the old plantation and the old clock is go- ing to be sent back home to Georgia from Massachusetts after having been | one of the spolls of war for more than duties? They are overwhelmingly ag- ricultural.” Many Blows to Canada. That last statement is true enough. Canada is hit on a muiltitude of its by proj in- creases in the present bill on cattle, on beef, on sheep, on wool, on mutton, on lamb, on hides, on bacon, on hams, on maple sugar, on potatoes, on milk, on cream. on butter, on cheese, on clover seed, on flaxseed, on . ud:he Republican regulars intend to “In the names of Senator Harrison of Mississippl and Senator Norris of Ne- braska and international good will, we demand that this %mcul of alienating our friendliest neighbor and of disrupt- ing the peace of the Western Hem- isphere be Meanwhile, the regular Republicans are themselves scared enough by the excesses of their own constituents in industrial districts to be disposed toward moderation on their own account. Au- tomobiles are by no means the only industrial product on which duties seem likely to be lowered instead of raised. Many items in the metals schedule and many items in the earths and earthen- ware schedules are to go down instead of up. Senator Reed of Pennsylvania and Senator Edge of New Jersey, regu- lar Republicans, in charge, respectively, of the two schedules mentioned. which are y among the most pirat- ical of all schedules, are today in a mood to repel rather than to encourage tariff mountain-climbers, whose only watchword is “Excelsior.” The approaching situation is that all three elements in the Senate—the reg- ular Republicans, the insurgent Repub- licans and the Demog:u—wdfll n’o:u:e telling on one another an out ohe anothers favorite tarll ban: ditries, and the ultimate outcome seems d | likely to be a tariff bill which by joint exposure of universal greed will be not l:p:r‘eedymrlu. (Copyright. 1929.) ‘Would Place Statues In Memorial Building To the Editor 6f The Star. On July 10 you published a story under the heading “Statuary Hall as Junk Shop Foreseen by Sculptor,” quoting F. W. Ruckstull, noted sculptor, as advocating changes in Statuary Hall 80 that each State could have its two representatives shown under ideal con- ditions and where small busts and pic- tures might be placed. *According to Mr. Ruckstull's state- ment, $100,000,000 would not be too much of an expenditure by the Gov- ernment in order to.give the statues proper display. Within the next two years there is to be erected here in the Nation's Cap- ‘Washin, Me 1 Building on at Sixth and B streets at a cost for each State ang. aside for their exclusive use. the rovides for rooms Tegen! more a] te. The satues, two could be placed on eitner side of the from each State, e State's permanent building. Provision for & spa- Somebody Must Be H 3 i s e By Among the Possibilities. reading how an turn, contrary to air and went directly through of the Zeppelin. Hhad M i T 1] i i Mall of $10.000,000. The | tional 65 years. * K k% Attention has just been called to the fact that our senior ex-President, Chief Justice Taft, now on vacation, some 17 years ago sounded the call that brought the Chamber of Commerce of the United States into existence. Thus by official invitation from the Chief Executive the agency of crganized in- dustry is voicing the reasoned convic- tions of American business on national problems. And now President Hoover is steelnf up a Federal Farm Board to spe similarly for the great basic industry of anaculture.' FENHEN Official friends of Secretary Charles Prancis Adams, elated over his victory the other day in the yacht race in Penobscot Bay, the seventh successive victory of the Vanitie over the - lute, are hajling him with new respect and expressing the hope that next vear he may have an opportunity to cele- brate the decennial of his victory as the skipper who in 1920 successfully defended the America’s Cup by out- sailing Sir Thomas_Lipton’s Shamrock V. It was with the Resolute that Sccre- tary Adams, after losing the first two races, defeated the Shamrock IV. Our Secretary of the Navy has certainly proved that though great changes may have come during the last 15 years in naval _construction—since the Vanitie and Resolute were built for the cup race, that were to have been sailed in 1914, but for the World War—his sea- mlnshli'x has kfgt pace with progress in_yacht designing. I{‘woum be a real triumph for the American Natfon if its Secretary of the Navy, in open competition, should earn the right to sail the cup defender race. EE ‘Wood that grew in the Southland and for 112 years stood in the White House is being ed in the ehape of a humidor stand and has ben formally presented to the Southern Pine Asso- ciation by Wilson Compton, secretary and manager of the National Lumber Manufacturers’ Association. A plate on the humidor stand records the fact that it is of the stand used in the White House in the early nineteenth century, and was made from long-leaf yellow pine timber installed in the White House roof in 1815 during Presi- dent Madison’s administration, and re- moved in 1927 1.11 3":”: condition. laims against the United States tng.li.nl ‘many mundreds of millions of dollars are being defended in and Germany by George R. Farnum, Assistant Attorney General. One of the most famous of these suits was brought by the British Public Trustee against the Allen Property Custodian and the Tre involv- dollars. a similar throng some years ago by the | be: from | a “Joe” | 18 d | pealable d | Now what did she do with those kit- ‘This | as many millions of .l?n‘: rro"yl out of the conflicting seiz- ures of shares of stock in American wned by German na- in Great Britain at . The certifi- to be set o Custodian made m‘n“the b:oks of the corporations in the United States. ‘Whil ship claims which is now handling for the United States before the arbiter appointed under the settlement of war claims act These claims total approxi- shi] were seized by the United sngs at the outbreak of the war and operated by this Government until recently, when they were ae)d t?n the United States Lines Operations, Inc. 2 The week previous to Mr. Farnum's departure he passed upon approximately $1,400,000 vm‘nh gz flfiu“tg land to be scquired for Government purposes mm.u“ hout the United States. Speeding Up Supreme Court Decisions BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ‘The Supreme Ceourt of the United States, tribunal in the land, now is in recess after completing an unusu- ally busy term which began last Octo- hout the ing long-established custom it han down decisions on most Mondays, never on any other day of the week. At Christmas and at Easter there are re- cesses so far as decision days are con- cerned, several being omitted. This does not mean that the justices are idle. These recesses are necessary to enable the justices to catch up with the vast amount of reading and study of cases at bar, which must be accom- plished before a fair fi ent can be reached on the points of law on a; before the Supreme bench. Itisa which ‘must be more than ordinarily sure of the gustlu of its findings, be- cause from it there is no appeal. Chief Justice Willlam Howard Taft is 8 reputstion which probably ‘would be given the name of slave driver if his position related to anything less dignified than the Supreme Court of the United States. Since he has been Chief Justice he has insisted upon the closest application to cases and the greatest possible expedition in handing down decisions, consonant with fairness to all parties. The court had been getting notorious- ly behind in its work. year saw the number of cases carried over to the next term increased. There was much talk among lawyers about the possible necessity of increasing the number of Jjustices or of dividing up the work in some - manner, perhaps dividing the court. This was not felt to be in har- mony with the Constitution, however. Another—in fact, two other ways were earn! | found t& make possible the bringing of | the work of the court more nearly up-| to-date. } Jurisdictional Aet Cuts Numbers. | Largely at the instance of Chief Jus- | tice Taft, Congress passed in 1925 what | known as the jurisdictional act. This act limits more narrowly than be«ore" the type of cases which can be ap- pealed to the Supreme Court. In general, any case in which there arises what is called a Federal question may be appealed on up to the highest court in the land. A Federal question means a question of right concerning which the Constitution has had some- thing to say. An outstanding example is any case involving interstate com- merce. Thus, a railroad rate case in- volving movement of persons or proper- ty wholly within a State would not in ordinary circumstances be properly ap- to the Supreme Court. But should goods or persons be trans d across a State line, the matter becomes Federal and the Federal question is injected, giving the Supreme Court ju- sisdiction. Then. too, there are many questions of inalienable rights guaran- teed by the Constitution. If it can be shown that such a right has been denied a person, he may usuaily appeal for a decision to the highest court. jwyers are very resourceful in find- ing Federal questions in almost any kind of case. For example, the clause of the Constitution guaranteeing “due rmus of law” is a highly convenient imb on which to hang many an appeal. If a lawyer can induce a Federal Court inferior to the Supreme Court to recog- nize the existence of a Federal question in a case, he can have issued the writ of certiorari, which certifies the case on to the Supreme Court. It has been whispered, from time to time, that law This and That By Charles E. Tracewell. “In’ The Sunday Star of last week you wonder how any one can hate cats,” writes M. S. of Chevy Chase, Md. “I wonder how human beings can | Jove the woolly beasts, and take them in their hands and arms. “I dislike them. “But I do not know why, and wherever T go, if there is a cat in the | house, it comes right to me, rubs| against me, or jumps on my lap. Can | you tell me the why of that? | “I love cows, horses, calves, but cats | and dogs I do not like. When I was milking our Jersey, that gave almost pure cream, I always gave the cats milk with cream, at the barn, and the cats would come to the kitchen door, but they would never come inside the house. “A few months before I left the farm one of the cats had five kittens, at the barn, and as soon as they could walk she brought them to the house. “I {mmediately carried them back to the barn. In a few hours she had them back in the house yard. I picked one of the 3 'o.lx?e'r, (I hurt myself more than I hurt the cat.) “Well, the mother immediately took them out of the . 1, of course, thought she took “them back to the barn, end expected to see them when I milked the cow in the evening. “But they were nowhere to be seen. After two weeks' time the mother re- turned to the barn without the kittens. tens? Bolve that problem, Mr. Trace- well; you know so much about cats. They were too young to take care of themselves. “1 never did anything to any four- legged animal that I felt so bad about 1 did about hitting that helpless kitten, and -always wonder what she did with mem.‘ S'mc:re*ly yours, M. 8. not only for its mother Lfi and kittens, with the mys- tery of their disa ce, but also because it shows what happens to an inherently 'kind person who inadver- tently commits & deed of cruelty, no matter how slight. Kindness to animals is a virtue in which no_one can be 100 per cent perfect. There will come regrets in the life of every such person, no mat- ter how kindly. The writer here once found a starved kitten on the street, ut regret. Do 2 Tn old cat which bit his Pand while he was rolling it over by its hind legs. The old cat ran away and never came back, and ever since we have wondered about him. These are not superniceties, but sim- yers are not averse to having litigation continued through & as many courts 15 possible and only refrain from "&‘m cases to Heaven because there fers S, i s proc seen t such ure tended seriously to and thereby Blow justice of Another important factor in the courts was the constantly increas- ing number of Federal laws enacted by Congr: Buch covering the whole country, multiplied the number of Federal questions. Prohibition, for instance, the law which has besn more fruitful of ltigation than any other of recent years, is a Federal phenome- non and every hibition case; unless specifically handled under a State pro- hibition law, can be maneuvered to the Supreme Court. Eliminate Superfluons Argument. The jurisdictional act defined more closely what cases could be brought up, with the result that this Summer finds the court’s docket in better shape than it _has been in for years. Teake the term of court held immedi- ately before the jurisdictional act be- came operative, the 1924-25 term. At the beginning of the term there were 462 cases on the docket, the carry-over from the preceding term of court. Dur-~ rt ving 855 cases for the fol- lowing term. In this way the left-ovar undecided cases’ had been piling up year by year for & long time. Then, with the tional sct'to aid him, Chief Justice Taft speeded up consideration of cases as far as possi- ble. Every effort was made, cohsistent with justice, to shorten the time spent in listening to argument... The Supréme Court is not encouraging to lawyers desirous of making-orations before it. The court wants terse, concise state- ments getting forth the arguments as briefly as possible. Former BSenator James Hamilton Lewis, & distinguished lawyer, has stated thet if that famous constitutional lawyer, Daniel Webster, should attempt to make some such argument as that in the celebrated Dartmouth College case before the Su- preme Court as now constituted, Chief Justice Taft would certainly admonish him to eliminate the oratory and get down to brass tacks. Bo successful was this speeding-up process that when the court met last October the number of cases on its docket had been reduced to 190. Dur- ing the 1928-29 térm of court 778 cases were docketed, but, under the regime of short arguments and quick decisions, 825 cases were: decided. ‘The “eourt recessed this year with only 143 unde- cided cases ‘on its docket, and mext year it is expected this number will be diminished. Up until now, when a case has been appealed to the Supreme Court the liti- gants have been inélined to heave ds sighs and resign themselves to it | two or three years ‘for a decision. Lawyers have had to stay on retainer. But now things are different. At the close of this term Chief Justice Taft declared: “I can say with respect to the business of the court that under the beneficent act of February 13. 1925, we have made such progress with the business of the court that I think mem= bers of the bar are beginning to be a little embarrassed by the proximity of the court to them.” In other words; the court now is in a position where quick decisions may be expected, bringing litigation in any given case to an end, for from the Supreme Court of the United States there is no appeal. Fifty Years Ago In The Star "ess. laws, Fifty years ago this month Washing< ton bese ball fans witnessed for the first time a game A Women's played by women. The Ball Game, following account of the game, printed The Star of July 10, 1879, contains no tribute to the courage or compliment to the sbility of the fair players: “The first (and, it is to be hoped, the last) game of ball played by women in this city was that yesterday after- noon at Esgle Park. The two nines are called the Red Stockings of New York snd the Blue Stockings of Philadelphia. Every car going out to the park in the afternoon was crowded with men and_ boys. ére Wwere 8t least 5,000 people present at the game. Some women were on the ground, but not many. Very few of the baldheads were absent. The crowd not only oc- cupied every seat in the. park, but formed a dense ring around the dia- mond, only a few feet from the bases. The crowd did not keep quiet by any means, but commented -very freely cn the: game and on the players. The latter did not seem to care .much, but acted as if they had got used to it. The game began shortly after 4 o'clock. “The women of both nines wore suits of the same cut, the only difference being the color—one side -being dressed in red and the other in biue. There was one exception to_this rule, how- ever: There were not blue suits enough to go around. and one of that nine had to wear red. The dresses consisted of a blouse extending a little below the knee, gathered at the waist by a belt; stockings, base ::ll s{xoes and high caps completed the costume. P is Soon as the first ball was pitched 1t became evident to the audience that they had come out to witness a-farce. The efforts of the pitchers were simply excruciating; the catchers couldn't catch, and the batters either made & feeble punch at the ball or struck downward at it. Whenever a ball was touched, no matter how .lightly, the batter was sure of her run. Not a layer could pick®up ‘the ball until she made six or seven- hysterical grabs at it; and when ‘it was picked up she was no better off than before, because to throw it over a few yards or any- where near the ?m' desired was s physical impossibility.” - The running was anothet amusing feature of the game. The players all waddled; some waddled more and some less, according to size, but they all ‘waddled. “In catching they placed the wrists ether and opened the hands like an slligator does his mouth. Sometimes the ball struck the hands, sometimes it struck elsewhere ' on the .body, but ply the normal reactions of those per- sons everywhere who are kind to dumb animals. ~ This is a special trend of mind, or heart, call it what one will. Often he or she who likes animals has no ar regard for human beings. e have never been able to feel sure tue in & human being. but that it-is. When one thinks countless cruelties of man to man, of the sick and helpless everywhere, more perfect 1<% Re g [ ki s8888 more frequently it never came within half a dozen feet of the alligator-trap. The size of the dlamond had been con- siderably reduced. - Nevertheless there were not more than four balls knocked was soon fixed again by = hairpin and one ‘or two indescribable rolls of “The captains yelled at their nines; and sometimes pretended to kick against the umpire.: The fact that the M 3ll that was being ‘patent, however, for None of 1 1 : i i g ik il T A,gég { B -