Evening Star Newspaper, August 16, 1929, Page 8

8 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY........August 16, 1929 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor Chicago Office: European Office: n Lake Michigan Building. , Regent 8. ondons Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evening Star.. 45¢ per month ‘The Evening and Sun (when 4 Sundays) . 60c per month 65¢ per month The Evening and Suni (when 5 Sundays) ‘The Sunday c per copy onth. de at ach month. Orders may be sent in by mail oF telephose NAtlonal 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dally and Sunday....1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo. Daily only . 1 Sunday only Star . Colle« tion ma All Other States and Canada. Dally and Sunday..l Daily only . 1 Sunday only ‘Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled news dis The Budget Tangle. Eliminating two millions from the Commissioners’ estimated needs of about $48,000,000 for the next fiscal year, the Bureau of the Budget again lays down a policy that in past years has restrict- ed the Commissioners in their recom- mendations of how available revenue can be spent, and has helped to create an unnecessary surplus of idle money in the Treasury without the compen- sating rellef to local taxpayers in the form of a reduced tax rate. The Budget Bureau is not in the habit of offering extended explanations of its policies. But in the case of the District the process of cutting down the Com- missioners’ annual estimates is evident- 1y not based upon the hope of lessen- ing the local taxpayers’ burden, but rests upon a difference of opinion be- tween the Commissioners and the Bud- get Bureau over how best to spend revenues that will be raised. Last year this disagreement over what items should go into the estimates was not settled. The estimates went to the Capitol calling for the expendi- ture of less revenue than there was available, The result was an additional surplus, which the Commissioners this ygar have taken into consideration in preparing their new estimates. But these again have been pared down by the Budget Bureau, and the Commis- sioners are again invited to submit a list of supplementals to replace the jtems eliminated. It is to be hoped that the Commissioners and the Budget Bureau can reach an agreement, and that money available will be spent. In 1923 Congress foresaw the possible ereation of surplus revenues, but pro- vided that such revenues should be con- sidered available for expenditure the year following its creation. Congress wrote into the appropriation act for 1923 the following provisions, which doubtless will be given the considera- tion by the Budget Bureau that they deserve: “s « * if, for any fiscal year after June 30, 1927, the District of Columbla should raise and deposit in the Treasury to its credit as herein provided more money derived from taxation, privileges and other sources authorized herein than may be necessary for the purposes herein set out, such excesses shall be available the succeeding year, in the discretion of the Commissioners, either for the purpose of meeting the ex- penses chargeable to the District of Co- lumbia or for the purpose of enabling the Commissioners to fix a lower rate of taxation for the year following the one in which said excess accrued than they might otherwise be able to do.” “s » * and that hereafter the Com- missioners of the District of Columbia shall not be restricted in submitting to the Bureau of the Budget their esti- mate of the needs of the District, but they shall, as near as may be, bring them within the probable aggregate of the fixed proportionate appropriations to be paid by the United States and the District of Columbia.” { That language is clear enough and explicit enough to satisfy anybody. The substitution by Congress of the lump sum for the fixed appropriation does not alter the meaning. Congress did not want the Commissioners “restricted” in submitting their needs to the Budget Bureau. But if the revenue excerded these needs, the result was to be a re- duction of taxation, not another sur- plus. It remains for the Commissioners and the Budget Bureau, in fajrness to the taxpayers, to settle their differences of opinion over how available money is to be spent. If there can be no ezree- ment the only reasonable alternative is a reduction in the tax rate. et —— All the good publicity is going to California. Florida cannot be blamed if she feels a bit neglected. ——————————— ‘When a sixty-year-old aviator flops, age and experience do not appear to count in the air world. — tmt——— ‘Wall Street Takes to Sea. 8S. Ile de France, pride of the French mercantile marine, is en route from Havre this week With the world's first ocean-going brokerage office. Connected by wireless arrangements with the New York Stock Exchange, which are entire- 1y independent of the ship's radio equip- ment, this floating ticker and blackboard salon will supply a continuous stream of quotations on one hundred select- ed stocks, comprising the most active issues of the list. Three radio chan- nels will be utilized, one to receive quo- tations, one to transmit orders’to New York and one to receive executions. For speed in transmission of prices, the ship brokerage shop will use a special “teletype relay.” ‘The installation aboard the Ile de France fs about to be duplicated on the Berengaria and the Leviathan, with their French, British and American rivals catering to the speculative passions of the globe-trot- ting fraternity. The Germans are not likely to wait long before following suit. Queen Bremen is sure to be in touch with Wall Street soon, too. What will the Federal Reserve Board have to say to all this? It has just raised the New York rediscount rate one per tent in the hope of checking the stock-buying craze of the American public, and now come along the great oceanic steamship companies with se- ductive schemes to make playing the market as easy on the high seas as playing shuffieboard. Probably Gov. Young and his vigi- lant coadjutors are powerless to clip the wings of voyaging Americans with & weakness for flyers in industrials, utilities and rails. But another Gov- ernment agency, the United States Public Health Service, may decide that it has a license to intervene. Physiclans since time immemorial have prescribed a week or ten days on the ocean blue as a sure-fire antidote to jaded or shai- tered nerves. Of what physical virtue henceforward is a ferry across the her- ring pond going to be if each feverish gyration on the New York Stock Ex- change’ is to be wafted into midocean, j to bring gloom to bull or bear, as the case may be? The world and his wife who hanker | for novelty may rejoice that they have S | scored again with this transatlantic in- novation, but many will be inclined to think that nothing has happened ex- cept the addition of a new terror to the perils of the deep. Mal-de-mer nowadays may arise from other causes than an uncontrollable inner man and rough seas. —————————— The Census and Politics. Are Democratic World War veterans to be excluded from employment in taking the census of the United States— excluded because they.are Democrats? This is the question which Representa- tive Louis Ludlow, Indiana Democrat, has propounded in a letter to Secre- tary Lamont of the Department of Commerce, which includes the Bureau of the Census. Mr. Ludlow points out that 573 supervisors and about 100,000 enumerators will be required to take the census next year. Whenever pos- sible, he says, veterans of the wars will be given preference in picking these employes. ‘The preference is granted beecause of their service in the wars. What Mr. Ludlow wants to know is whether war service is to count in this matter or membership in the Repub- lican party. When Government jobs are not placed under the strict regulations of the civil service by law, they usually go to members of the political party in power. This applies whether Repub- licans or Democrats are in power. “To the victor belong the spoils” has been recognized in politics for many years. To safeguard employes in the service of the Government the civil service rules and regulations have been estab- lished. Otherwise, there might be a tremendous turnover of Government employment whenever one party goes out of power and another comes in. But the law providing for taking the census was passed deliberately by Con- gress without placing the census enu- merators under civil service and provid- ing for the passage of examinations, etc. The employment is temporary. A census of the population of the United States is demanded by the Constitu- tion only once every ten years. As a matter of fact, it will be twenty years since the last census was taken when the new is begun, owing to a derelic- tion of duty by Congress. Under these circumstances it has been expected that the census jobs would be passed out to “deserving Republicans” just as they would have gone to “deserving Democrats” had a Democratic President been in the White House, Mr. Ludlow, however, has raised a nice question that should re- quire some consideration. If it is the purpose of the Government to reward military service by awarding census jobs to veterans, it seems hard that the man who risked life in the trenches should be barred from this employment just because he is a Democrat. Yet Mr, Ludlow, in his letter to Secretary Lamont, declares that his information is exactly to that effect and thumbs are to be turned down on Democrats whether they are war veterans or mnot. In support of such practice it may be pointed out that if two veterans of the World War were candidates for the office of United States attorney, for example, and one was a Republican and the other a Democrat, the Repub- lican would be expected to get the job under a Republican administration. Even were the Republican candidate not a veteran of the war he would still receive the appointment over a Democratic war veteran. Mr. Ludlow proposes to Secretary La- mont that the following rule be laid down: “In choosing enumerators there shall be no discrimination against any vet- erans, their wives or widows on ac- count of political beliefs.” To do otherwise in the distribution of the huge number of enumerator jobs, Mr. Ludlow insists, would show “the Government taking sides with one group of veterans and ignoring another group in distributing the rewards of military service and sacrifice.” Trotsky keeps writing, but continues to lack the services of an aggressive and up-to-date publisher. — e New motors cause a demand for new and improved ambulances. l g l , The Horseshoe Epidemic. ‘The measles never broke out with more abandon than has the horseshoe- pitching epidemie that lately hit Wash- ington and its neighbor towns and villages. For this The Star must plead guilty. It flung the germ carelessly into nearly every nook and niche of 200-odd com- munities of the Capital and Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland by handing a surprised public its first an- nual metropolitan district champion- ship tournament. It is quite remarkable that within six weeks the old barnyard game has come from near extinction to a place among the leading sports of this part of the country. It is certainly a fact that the shoe has become more important than the horse. When that faithful animal was gasolined into a soft life the game engendered by its brogans emulated a perforated tire. But the sport has been reborn, as it were, and by the use of specially made shoes, uniform rules and organized promotion it has been booted out of the barnyard. It is surprising that a sport with so many attractions remained dormant for long. Expense, space and time, draw- backs of many other sports, are com- paratively insignificant in horseshoe pitching. As an exercise it is ideal and as recreation it is fascinating. A 1ist of its physical benefits would smack of patent medicine ballyhoo. It is a particularly healthful weight THE EVENING reducer. A portly participant in The Star’s tournament reported the other day he’d shrunk thirteen pounds in a week; another that he'd shed nine pounds in nine days—mostly amidships! More horseshoe flinging and bigger and better tournaments, says the Wash- ington public. For playing the game an hour a day will keep, the doctor away, maybe, and the satisfaction of seeing a double ringer settle down on the peg can make one go to sleep with a smile, even on nights like these. ——,——— Dr. George P. Merrill. A useful life, devoted to increasing scientific knowledge, came to a close yesterday with the death of George P. Merrill, for many years head curator of the department of geology, United States National Museum. Dr. Merrill belonged to that group of studious men who come to the National Capital from all parts of the country to devote the greater part of their lives to delving into the problems of science in the Government bureaus, adding stead- ily to the world’s fund of information on the various subjects in which they speclalize. The work of such men is seldom per- formed in the limelight of public at- tention, but their accomplishments are of & lasting nature that live on and grow in importance for many years after they have passed away. Dr. Merrill was the author of many scientific treatises on geology and sim- flar subjects that remain as monuments to his labors. ——.—— The Kalser is rated as one of the richest men in the world. There are so many rich men in public affairs that he may be inclined to regard the distinction, assigned to him as rather slight. vt A television expert makes a bad landing and leaves it clear that his television was mnot reliable in showing him how he was going to alight on the air field. e Presidential preference clings to fish- ing and hunting lands near ‘Washing- ton, D. C., despite the magnificent allurements of press agents for the California coast. e British sense of humor remains se- cure in contemplation of Ambassador Dawes with an eccentric pipe and long trousers at court. ————te— Many Hollywood screen stars are slated to lose their jobs. The public likes old favorites and may not wel- come the efforts at change. ————— In European relationships Owen Young appears to have let himself in for a great deal of hard work, with rather little reward of personal glory. ——————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Headlines. ‘You can't be sure of what they'll say, ‘These Headlintes printed every day. Warriors may seek the world to rule ‘Who really need a language school ‘To help them to a clear command Of words they scarcely understand. And politicians bravely strive To show the poor man how to thrive. The aviator boldly hops And then pathetically flops. The market tells how values range, ‘With small excuse for every change. ‘The blimp sails in the Arctic air JAnd only sights a Polar Bear. So, in dissatisfied dismay, ‘We Read the Headlines every day! Bulls. “Did you ever attend a bullfight?” “No,” answered Senator Sorghum, “I have never personally attended the New York Stock Exchange.” Jud Tunkins says he is still waiting for some efficiency expert who will show how to make the old farm pay up in- terest on the mortgage. Stampeded Morals. ‘The Novelist is impolite. The Readers take a look And wonder, still, if it was right For them to buy the book. Primeval Thirst. “Are you a wet or a dry?” “I play no favorites,” sald Cactus Joe. “I never saw a wet who could not get & drink if he wanted it, nor a dry who could not refuse one if so disposed.” “Our ancestors,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “taught us many things we must reverently forget, along with firecrackers and kite flying.” Dauntless Years. The Aviator who is ever bold Explores the distant sky And no one intimates he 1s too old _ To undertake to fly. ‘The Aviator cracks! In discontent ‘Youth’s rashness we deplore, Until we learn he is a fine old gent * Of Seventy-Three or Four. “Dar ain’ nobody I has ever seen,” sald Uncle Eben, “whose high nforal principles kin carry over f'um one camp- meetin’ to de next.” Necessity’s Child. From the Sioux Falls Daily Argus-Leader. Dieting is puauuhr in Los Angeles, a dispatch from t city says. Judging from the unemployment reports of that t’c:rmmunlty, some of it may be involun- y. — r———————— Neighbors Thought So.: #1om the Dayton Dally News. A sclentist announces that noise does not disturb sleepers and our neighbors have been operating on that theory for some time. ——re Seems to Be a Dispute. From the Little Rock Arkansas Democrat. ‘Thousands of families are two-car families—that is, if you can call that other one a car. —_—e————— Mosquito Tactics. From the Toledo Blade. RO A sturdy attack is concede the best defense, but where did the mosquito learn it? . !Em of “Shoo Fly.” Fr A mmmnmm?;ed m“nmme automo= biles are to be made ests a time pedestrians back. when will swal Some Are Worth 6 Cents. Prom the Dayton Daily News. ‘You never realize how valuable some people are until they filg suits after an auto accidents STAR, WASHINGTON D. C., FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1929. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL., ‘Word comes from the Frozen South that books continue to be the solace of Comdr. Byrd and his men, camped amid the snow. Most of us left behind in civilization imagine that if we were on the scene of such exciting adventures we would not spend much time in reading. It is good for us to hear that the men there on the job find books to occupy exactly the same place in their lives tl’u:]t books do with men placed differ- ently. There is no place in the world, evi- dently, where a man is not the better for a good book. Sometimes we tend to forget this, in the flow of events in civilization, No doubt there is much more to dis- tract the attention in civilization than in many a weary waste of the Arctic or_Antarctic. Hemmed in as those men are, it is no wonder, some one may say, that they turn books, for there is not much else for them to do at this time. The interesting point, however, is that they do read. Idle men are never so great readers as busy men, men who do things, and who seem to always have their hands full. In business life the observant know that it is always the man who seems to be doing.all that he can who invari- bly finds time to do something else. If you want to get something done, some one has said, pick a man who already has his hands full. e ‘The happy thing is that one does not have to go to the polar regions to be_able to read. Books are more plentiful in civiliza- tion, for one thing, and no doubt the opportunity to browse in them is greater, everything else being equal. The desire to read is the keynote of the matter and this desire usually comes in childhood. The boy or girl who early gets a taste for books usually keeps it. That #s why it is important for parents, teachers and others who come into contact with children to be booklovers themselves. There is a tendency today on the| part of some people to minimize the importance of books in the daily life. They sece thousands of men prospering without the aid of Books. They see thousands “making good” without re- course to literature. “Why should one read?” is their un- spoken question. They forget that one reads, first and foremost, because he wants to read. That he reads, in the second place, because reading interests him. That he reads, in the third place, to be entertained. And only lastly, because he wants to be instructed, to be inspired, to helped. Now no pedagogue would ad- mit the validity of our placings. It would be unethical for him to tell children that instruetion, inspiration, help come last in the list, Yet it is true as every person knows who thinks a bit about the matter. The men on Byrd's expedition prove it. Nobody makes them read. No one forces them to read. They read simply because, in the first place, they want to read. They read, in the second. place, be- cause books interest them. No one stands around in his fur suit think- | ing, “Now I must read while I have the time because it will be good for me.” No, if he thinks of self-help he would be more inclined to grab himself a big piece of blubber or Whatever it is that | explorers eat nowadays. * % %k Above all, explorers, in their hours of ease, read to be entertained. Such inspiration, help, instruction as they ‘WASHINGTON The Federal Radio Commission fis| likely to get a further lease of life. As the law now stands the commission is due to relinquish its primary control of the air and to expire as an admin- istrative body on December 31. But Representative ~ Wallace White of Maine, co-author of the radio law and House spokesman on air matters, has announced that he will sponsor a re- solve to extend the commission for another 12 months at least, pending'food supply. the creation of some form of perma- | communications commission to | shad family are under the bureau’s care nent which radio_control may be relegated. He foresees little substantial opposition to such a resolution. He estimates that all concerned will favor preserving the status quo of radio administration until Congress finally evolves a communica- tions commission. It seems to be widely assumed that it is going to require sev- eral years to accomplish that. Mr. White does not yet indorse the Couzens bills on this subject, but subscribes in principle to the Couzens objective. White’s resolution continuing the pres- ent Radio Commission probably will pro- vide for elimination of the requirement that commission memberships must be geographically distributed. * K Kk ok The congressional wets, who are said to intend to open fire on the President's request for $5.000,000 for additional Federal prison facilities and to contend that this expense be charged to the cost of prohibition enforcement, better study the figures which classify as to offense, the present population of the Federal penitentiaries, before they proceed far with this argument. According to the latest available report of the 3,081 in- mates at Atlanta, 444 were listed as serving a sentence imposed under the prohibition act, 405 were there for auto- mobile theft, convicted under the Dyer act, and 1,010 were there as “narcotic” offenders, under the Harrison act. From comprised 30 per cent of the whole and that prohibition offenders were only about 15 per cent. The figures at Leavenworth are parallel: Prohibition, 549; automobile theft, 541; narcotics, 1,079, out of a total of 3,905. * ok kK Reports come to the Capital from Tllinois that Ruth Hanna McCormick and Senator Deneen and their respec- tive adherents are hard at work, day and night, up and down the State, fight- ing with hammer and tongs for a sena- torial nomination which is still eight months off. It would a rasl prophet who would pick the winner at this stage of the battle. All that can be sald now is that it is a real battle, with no quarter asked or given, and that the 1 in the case asks nothing on account of her gentle sex and is show- ing that she knows how to play a man’s game. * ok kK ‘The White House fleet of automobiles has reached a point where observers have lost count of the total. Mr. Hoover plays no favorites and Plerce- Arrows, Cadillacs, Lincolns and Pacl ards, open and closed, are all plentifully represented; some with official num- ber plates and the glittering seal of the United States, and several without in- signia and with non-identifying num- ber plates. The Vice President and his offi hostess must still content them- selves with a single official car, but it is a very elegant black Cadillac lim- ousine bearing,number plate one-one- one. The United States seal is em- blazoned on the doors, but distinguished from the Hoover cars by a tiny V. P. lettered beneath the seal. * kK ok ‘When Mr. Coolidge returned to Northampton he left behind his fellow townsman Edward T. Clark, who had served him so_faithfully at the White House as confidential secretary. Th latter takes with tghllfls(!phw calm his retirement from the limelight. He is happily_ situated with a fine office in one of newest and -d-working, efficent and unas- | becos Ted” who started his Wash- h | water powers. shall meet along the way are added in- ducements; surely no one would mini- mize them. Placing them behind does not relegate them to inferior pesitions. It merely attempts to place them in their true positions, in order that those of us left in civilization will not put tife accent where it does not belong. ‘The reasons for reading at home are Jjust the same as in the snow and ice of the waste places thousands of milas away. Let us do away with the hokum of reading, the childish desire to keep up with the new books, the futile am- bition to discuss the “latest” with our {riends, or even the wholesome longing to be helped by what we read. No one by taking thought can add a cubit to his stature, nor can he become a manager or even assistant manager by the book route alone. Tomorrow's bea: tiful hostess will not smile at you be- cause today you read the famous, worthy five-foot shelf. Read but a one-foot shelf because you want to, the chances are large that if you do tdlk about it you will talk convincingly. Of course, the chances are 100 to 1 that you will never taik about it at all. Tomorrow’s beautiful hostess will speak only of automobiles, fashions and music, and books will be left severely alone. Read, therefore, because you want to read. That way true happiness lies. A book is something between two minds. As far as the minds of author and reader are concerned, all the thousands or millions of other minds which may meet, there do not count at all. It is in- teresting to know that a book is a “best seller,” but, after all, it really has noth- ing to do with what the author wrote | and what you read, has it? * ok ok K He who must have recourse per- petually to outside authority for his reading has yet to know the joy of plunging forth, amid books, as Byrd's men do in snow. One may be an explorer at home, too. One must read because books interest him. Some outside assistance may be accepted, but, in the main, interest is the secret, of this as of many other af- fairs. Without genuine inside interest in books, as books, as reading, one merely puts up a bluff. Lastly, the home explorer in the vast territories of bookdom should do his ex- ploring for entertainment. He should put aside his old Puritanic fears of en- tertainment, per se, and welcome it with open arms. Few books ever have been written for any other reason than because the writer wanted to. Interest in some subject was at the bottom of his book. The author afterward built up for himself, in all innocence, a variety of fine rea- sons why he wrote. He wanted to help mankind. He desired to right a wrong, or uplift the downtrodden, or throw light on a dark path. ‘The curious thing is that all of his reasons are true enough, but behind them all stands the one great reason: He wrote because he couldn’t help riting. He was interested in his sub- Jject. He wrote primarily because he wanted to write, because his subject interested him, because the writing was a species of entertainment for him. Hero worship on the part of the read- ing public led, in many cases, to a building up of a literary tradition. It was_fashionable to picture poets, wild of hair and eye, their right hands thrust beneath a flowing tie, declaim- ing in rapture to high-flying clouds. The truth is that a poet, as any writer, composes because he wants to, because it amuses Mim to do so, because the subject interests him. To know poets or other writers it is necessary to read in the same way. OBSERVATIONS ington career many years ago in the office of the late Senator Lodge. * X K ¥ ‘The Bureau of Fisherles in the De- partment of Commerce is doing noble work in populating the streams which fisherman Presidents and followers of Tke Walton of lesser estate love to ex- plore. But furnishing fish for anglers is but incidental to the bureau’s major objective to multiply the Nation's fish Seventy-six million eu- genic babies of the famed Potomac this year to later grace the dinner tables of a million homes, in the great- est shad rehabilitation project in the bureau’s history. Operations at the fish hatchery at the Fort Humphreys, Va., station on the Potomac River this year have set a new world record. S New honors in the field of interna- tional law have just come to Dr. James G. Brown Scott, who, it is announced, | has been named as president of the commission on conciliation between Poland and Denmark. Dr. Scott has represented the United States in many international conferences during the past decade. He is at present the American representative on the arbi- tration commission between the United States and Norway. He is president of the conciliation commission between Switzerland and Belgium and a mem- ber of the arbitral commission of Guatemala.” He recently succeeded Charles Evans Hughes as president of the American Society of International Law and is chairman of the interna- \ional law section of the American Bar Association. Dr. Scott is professor of international law at Georgetown Uni- versity when he isn't engaged in medi- ating international disputes. (Copyright, 1929.) e |Ontario Forges Ahead this it would appear that the narcotics | In Power Developments | From the Buffalo Evening News. Ontario forges steadily ahead with power developments. The Hydro-Elec- tric Commission of the province has re- cently acquired from private interests sites on the Madawaska and Missis- sippi Rivers in Eastern Ontario that will make available 85,000 additional horse- power, Always the commission is mov- ing to make the province secure against a power shortage. Ontario still has many unharnessed The chief remaining sources of supply are the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa Rivers. From the in- ternational section of the St. Lawrence the province expects to get 1,000,000 horsepower and from the Ottawa about 500,000. Then there is the probability of additional power from the Niagara. Inasmuch as the Madawaska and the Mississippl developments will take care of only one year’s increased demand, the province will not be content to delay for long developments on the St. Lawrence. Plans have been made for power works on the boundary river at Morris- burg. If an agreement is not soon reached by Washington and Albany with regard to American power rights there, Ontario is likely to proceed independent- ly. Mere talk of an international en- gagement for the development of the St. Lawrence to afford passage for ocean-going ships to the Great Lakes is not going to hold up indefinitely On- tario power enterprises on the river. ————————— Optimism Personified. From the Plttsbirgh Post-Gasette. ‘The most optimistic manufacturer in America exported macaroni and s %LtAl in the amount of $25 to It‘:.!';' As It Should Be. From the Terre Haute Sunday Star. A veterinarian says lapdogs are short- lived, which seems to be one of the best wm&uwummtmeot Tragic Monotony. Prom the Dayton Datly News, ‘Wealthy bachelor is a suicide. Life ‘when you have 1 U. S. Is Urged to Cancel Debts for World Peace To the Editor of The Star: The question of the war debts owed America appears to be finally answered, but is, of course, always oml for favorable reconsideration by creditor nation. The terms alrehdy granted by the United States are generous in the ex- treme; but, nevertheless, I am con- vinced that, at some not very distant date, the Government at Washington will consider it diplomatically desirable to completely annul its claims, in order to re-establish the peace of the world, and render possible the solemn pledges of -the Kellogg pact. By a cancellation of these debts, the reparations question would cease to exist, and the Rhineland would be automatically evacuated. The Gordian knot would be cut. By this magnificent act of generosity, America would justly earn the esteem and friendship of the world, and would know that it had efficiently served the cause of reconciliation and peace. BERTRAND SHADWELL. Ousting of Franco Held “Absurd Nationalism” From the New Bedford Evening Standard. Nationalism can be so intense as to be absurd. Take the case of Maj. Ra- mon Franco, the most celebrated of Spanish aviators. Recently he made an attempt to fly to New York; like all other aviators attempting the west- ward passage, he came to grief. Forced to alight on the water, near the Azores, the plane kept afloat until Franco and his companion were picked up by a British vessel. On his return to Spain the people gave him a great ovation at Gibraltar and Madrid. He was guest of honor at a luncheon given by Queen Victoria. The Spanish Aero Club organized a celebration in his honor. The failure of his flight did not, in the public estimation, detract from the gallantry of his attempt or dim a reputation es- tablished by a previous successful flight to Brazil. _Yet Primo de Rivera has dismissed Franco from the air service because he flew in an ItaMan plane after having received weather reports of French_origin. His flight was to have been an all- Spanish affair, but the plane built for him developed defects that would have made it foolhardy to take off in it. The Italian eraft Franco made use of was one in which he had confidence, and it at least kept him afloat until help came. It is a wonder there was not & third count in the indictment against the Spanish flyer, to the effect that he was rescued by a British ship. For all we know, there was. — e Boa That Swallowed Blanket to Be Pitied From the Presno Bee. - One deeply sympathizes with the boa constrictor in a Cincinnati zoo, which swallowed an Army blanket and has a bad pain in consequence. But the pain is just what the beast might have expected if he had known anything about Army blankets. An Army blanket always produces pain, whether it is taken internally or used externally. In the latter case it is too rough to lie on or under with any comfort. It is too thin for cold weather and too thick for hot weather. Regulations forbid its being used as a floor covering, and it is too small and far too much like a board to be pressed into emergency service as a bathrobe. And on other occasions the Army blanket has characteristics, best passed over hastily, which render it absolutely unfit for human association. It is obviously impossible that such an article could prove edible, even by a boa constrictor, or that, if inad- vertently eaten, the consequences could be_any but the gravest. Indeed, one can think of but one use to which an Army blanket might sat- isfactorily be put. It could be chopped fine and mixed with concrete, and the mixture used to pave roads. Such a road ought to last practically forever, | and the suggestion is hereby offered to the State highway department without demand for royalties. ———or—. Can Opener Is Keynote In Present Day Cooking “King Can Opener” is a title not un- expected in view of recent Department of Agriculture reports on the progress made in the art of canning foods for the home. And the can opener, long holding an humble station in th kitchen, is coming into its own. Suspicion of canned foods has been allayed, and rightly so, in view of the care taken by the Government in hav- ing expert inspectors present at all points where extensive canning is in progress. The department finds grow- ing confidence on the part of house- wives and the additional realization that she can buy satisfactory canned s at a cost frequently lower than when she puts them up herself—taking into consideration the elements of labor and time. The gradual passing of home canning to factory canning, bringing low unit cost for products of standardized nature, without breaking up happy homes, ruin- ing American cooking or generally play- ing havoc with cuisine traditions, is noted in the report. Another important factor is that the canned foods come from all parts of the world to be consumed anywhere, any time, dependable in purity, quality and fyll measure. 'Consequently, the can opener is the key to the situation. A deft flip of the instrument and immediate access is had to dishes often beyond the hope of pur- chase on the local market. The cream of a given crop heeds the lure of the trusty opener, and diets are varied with facility made possible by this growing science.—Atlanta Journal. ———— Radio for Contented Bovines in Michigan From the Columbus, Ohlo, Dispatch. No doubt one never will know from the expressions on their faces what the cows in that Mount Clemens, Mich., dairy think of the radio, cows’ faces be- ing particularly unexpressive, but their owners claim, now that they have determined the right sort of programs for dairy presentation, that the im- proved quality of the milk is proof enough that bovines have an appre- ciation of music. Sedate and dignified melodies seem to appeal most to the cows. “Love's Old Sweet Song” is an especially fine milk producer, according to the reporter who brought this dairy to the attention of a waiting world. ‘The effect of music on animals long has been the subject of interesting study. A recent band program at the Philadelphia Zoo demonstrated the widely different reactions produced on the various species there. What was the monkey’s meat proved the camel’s poison, and versa. However, it was shown that none of the animals was fudifferent to music. If these Mount Clemens cows prick up their ears and chew their cuds in unison to the strains of radio music, and then give more and better milk, perhaps a new era is about to draw in the dairy business. However, we will have to see this process at close hand Yefore being thoroughly convinced. Also, we would like to know the effect of a Paul Whiteman jazz program on these cows. Surely not an undignified sway- ing of bovine hips—and butte: ] Our credulity is- strained. — —————— Not a Repair Bill From the Loulsville Times. A motor cycle cop doesn’t charge a 1 "y mnythlnt’ or war):mmnl your car, —— e New Prison Fad, From the Indianapolls News. A prison that hasn’t had lkely to lose social standing. Bt a riot s -|lican), which suggests: “One thing is ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. " BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ‘What do you need to know? Is there some point about your business or per- sonal life that puzzles you? Is there something you want to know without delay? Submit your question to Fred- eric J. Haskin, director of our Wash- ington Information Bureau. He is em- ployed to help you. Address your in- quiry to The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C., and inclose 2 cents | in coin or stamps for return postage. Q. Why has the crooning style of singing become so popular over the radio?—R. G, A. This modulation of the voice is efféctive over the radio and less dan- gerous to delicate radio tubes. Q.. In how many wars has the United States been engaged?—G. N. A. It depends upon the definition of war. The Department of War numbers its calls to active service at more than 100. Q. Is there a town in Mississippl the goié)ulatlon of which is entirely Negro? | O. A. Mound Bayou is such a town. The | entire popylation, including mayor and | other officials, is black. It is said that the city jail is offered for sale, the town having no use for it. Q. How does the modern locomotive | compare in size with the first ones| made?—R. B. | A. The giant Mallet type is about| 3 times as long and 20 times as power- | ful as the early type. Q. What was the size of the meteor | which fell in Siberia about 20 years| ago?—C. L. C. A. According to a news article, in the early morning of July 30, 1908, a, 40,000-ton mass of iron shot down out of the sky and struck the earth a blow which was felt a thousand miles away. This great meteorite fortunately fell in the wilderness of Siberia. | Q. How much does the French Cit- | roen automobile cost?—H. S. F. | A. Four and six cylinder cars are manufactured. The price of an open four-cylinder car is 22,600 francs, and of a closed four-cylinder, 25,600 francs; | of an open six-cylinder, 31,000 francs, | and of a closed six-cylinder car, 32,600 | francs, Since the franc is worth about 4 cents, the prices range from about | $900 to $1,300. 1 Q What_does the name Canada | mean?—J. F. C. | A. It is derived from the Indian | word, “Kanada,” which means a cabin. | Q. Was Dr. Auguste Marie successful in finding a serum which would prevent botulism?>—W. H. M. | A. Dr. Auguste Marie of the Pastcur | Institute died in a search for a serum which would annihilate the bacillus | botulinus which produces the fatal disease known as botulism. While ex- | perimenting, his left eye was touched by a drop of liquid containing bacilli hotulini. Knowing that he was doomed. he set about recording a complete story of the progress of the disease. Within a fortnight after the accident, in his laboratory he dictated the last word. | He was posthumously awarded the | Medaille d’'Honneur des Epidemies. as a victim of devotion to the cause of hu- manity. | Q. Are there as many companies manufacturing airplanes as there are making automobiles?>—W. S. A. There are about six times &s many airplane companies. The automo- | bile industry has become organized into a few big, strong concerns. The air- plane industry finds mergers and changes taking place constanuly. Q- What does the word “Bible” mean? A It is from a Greek word meaning papyrus plant. Q. Where was the first English settle- ment made in New England?—H. D. A, The first English settlement was made at the mouth of the Kennebec River by the Popham colony in 1607. A storehouse and fortification called Fort St. George were built. Popham was elected president of the colony, but died the following year and the colo- nists, becoming disheartened by the severity of the Winters, abandoned the settlement. Q. How are pineapples propagated?— T D8 A. These plants are propagated by means of crowns, slips, suckers and ratoons. Plants are raised from seeds only for breeding purposes. Q. What place is known as “Pearl of the Antilles”?>—P. D. A. The name is applied to the Island of Cuba. Q. Of what country Friml a native?—N. L. G. A. Charles Rudolf Friml! was born in Prague, Bohemia, December 7, 1881. Q. How many people lost their live in the earthquake of 1923 in Japan?— is the musician G. |0. O. ‘A. It cost about 103,000 people their lives. Q. Why is the Roman numeral for 4 written' IV instead of IIII?—L.J.L. A. It may be written either way. The shorter form is preferred, since, at best, Roman numerals take a great deal of space. Q. Is the birth rate the world over increasing or decreasing?—J. G. A. The birth rate quite generally has decreased in the past quarter century. Q. When was the Women's Bureau organized?—H. D. A. It was organized in July, 1918, as a war service and made a permanent bureau in June, 1920. Its staff is com- posed entirely of women. Its task is to formulate standards and policies for wage-earning women. Its aim is to safeguard the interests of working women who are homemakers and mothers as well as wage earners and to make their service effective for the national good. . What is belleek porcelain?—L. 8. A. Tt is an extremely thin ware,dec- orated with a pearly luster laid aver the glaze, suggesting the interior of shells. It derived its name from Bel- leck, Ireland, where it was originally made. Q. Please tell something of the origin of the wholesale grocery busi- ness—F. T. C. A. The ecarly history of the whole- sale grocery business is confined prin- cipally to England. The immediate forerunner of the grocer was the pep- perer, or spicer, whose trade was well established in London by 1180. The earliest use of the word *grocer” occurs in 1310 in the city record report of Lon- don. During the Middle Ages all trades were formed into guilds, and therefore the Grocers’ Co. of London was founded in 1345. From this time the growth of the trade was rapid. Mrs. Mabel Walker Willebrandt's charge, in the course of her series of | articles dealing with her experience in | prohibition enforcement, that the Re- | publican national committee approved | a speech she delivered to a gathering of churchmen in Springfield, Ohio, pro-| | duces varying opinions. The fact.that) she appealed to a religious gathering to | support the Republican candidate is | widely interpreted as introducing re-| ligion into the campaign. Her state- | | ment as to party approval is accepted | as establishing an entirely new situa- tion. Some comments hold that such approval exonerates her from any blame, while others Woul?m still hold her : responsible for the speech. X:m her protest against making the | speech, the Worcester Telegram (inde- | pendent), argues: “The speech was i either fair, proper and wise, or the speech was not fair, proper and wise. If it was fair, proper and wise, Mrs. Willebrandt object to making it? Why did she write to the Republican national committee to protest against making a speech which was fair, proper and wise? f proper and. wise, why did Mrs. ‘Wille- brandt finally consent to make it? ‘Why did she not have sufficient firmness to refuse to make a speech which was not fair, proper and wise? If the speech was fair, proper and wise, Mrs. ‘Willebrandt was in error in protesting to the com- mittee against delivering it. If the speech was not fair, proper and wise, both the committee and Mrs. Wille- brandt were to blame; the committee | was to blame for urging her to deliver | it, and she was to blame for yielding to | its wishes” i A more positive attitude on the sub- ject is taken by the El Paso Herald (independent), which makes the state- | ment that “she is intense in her repudi- ation of any charge of bigotry” and that | her statement “would seem to clear Mrs. willebrandt.” Her review of political history is welcomed by the Des Moines Tribune-Capital (independent Repub- certain: The whole situation is _going | to be clearer when she is done. It will| be & case of getting inside facts from | one who concededly knows them and | has before her the letter and page of the official record.” \ Lok K KK “Mrs. Willebrandt, being & lawyer of experience,” assumes the Chicago Daily News (independent), “knows better than to make such charges unless she is pre- pared to prove them. Her post-cam- paign revelations indicate that the Re- publican national committee, acting in opposition to the wishes of the party's presidential candidate, sought to gain votes by inviting a religious alliance and then allowed its agents to be the scape- goa# when strong protests arose in many quarters. Such conduct must be re- garded as distinctly unsavory. Voters should be armed against tolerance of similar tactics in another campaign!” The Charleston (S. C.) Evening Post (in- dependent Democratic) is convinced that her statement “stamps the Republican party as deliberately promoting reli- glous antagonism and brings the cam- paign of bigotry which was rampant last year to the chief pundits of Re- publicanism.” “Denying implications of bigotry and fanaticism, and stating that she was not even a practicing prohibitionist un- til the law was passed,” says the Phila- delphia Evening Bulletin (independent Republican), “Mrs. Willebrandt reveals that she was not a volunteer crusader in the Hoover-Smith c: p“fi:fl The speech that put her in the elight early in that contest was delivered at the solicitation of the Republican na- tional committee. The inference is that her party did not subsequently re- gard her as an embarrassing liability; and the encomiums bestowed upon her by the President and the Attorney General at the time of her resignation were not polite political platitudes, but sincere :ammt:a gt :xe; services.” “She is going to cause & mighty flut- ter in official circles before she gets through,” _predicts the Texarkana Gazette (Democratic), and the Man- chester Union (independent Republi- can), ref to the demand of Sen- {added thought that Tt the speech was not_fair, ;"““’"‘“‘ Willebrandt Debate Centers In Responsibility for Speech paign oratory, the public no doubt would be ready for full information on the speech as delivered, as printed, and as interpreted, on all the hands through which the draft of the address passed and what they did to it, if anything. For that matter, though, it is quite possible to learn all this without resort to the process of a senatorial inquiry.” “Mrs. Willebrandt is apparently tired of being made the goat,” concludes the Rock Island Argus (independent), & be- lief which is shared by the Lansing State Journal (independent), with the “past campaign strategy, even though classified not above a trick, may be as honorably told months afterward as the strategy of a war.” The Scranton Times (Demo- cratic) feels that “it is fairly apparent that she was used for a purpose far from laudable, left to shoulder the re- proach, and not only unrewarded, but | 2 | made 1t Vi Vi why: did | made to feel that her services were no longer desirable.” * ok x x “1t is hard to escape the conclusion.” says the Omaha World-Herald (inde- “that the effect of Mrs. Wil- plea to the clergymen was not foreseen and that the committee lebrand | desired the benefit of it without having to shoulder the blame. Moreover, it does little credit to the intelligence of Mrs. Willebrandt to believe that she didn't, know what would be the reaction to her marriage of politics and religion by the Springfield speech.” “The effect of the speech,” according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (independ- ent), “was to emphasize the role of re- ligion in. the campaign. This was de- plorable in the extreme. and it matters little whether Mrs. Willebrandt acted on her own initiative or otherwise. Fortunately for the Republican party and for the country there were other issues involved in the contest, and the verdict rendered at the election was so overwhelming as to lessen the bitter- ness that would have followed & close vote.” very line of her articles simply radiates sincerity,” says the Little Rock Arkansas Democrat (Democratic); and the Waterloo Tribune (independent progressive) holds that “instead of a hard-boiled reformer Mrs. Willebrandt appears as a regular woman.” — e Chicago’s “Pineapple” Crop Shows Increase From the El Paso Herald. The Chicago crop of pineapples seems to be growing. They are not the lus- clous fruit grown in Hawaii, but the cute little bombs used by racketeers to persuade business men that it is safer and cheaper to buy “protection.” During the first six months of last year there were 36 pineapple bombings. But for the first six months of 1929 the number of bombings increased to 60, according to Thomas Beesley, an investigator for the Chicago Employers’ Association. Bombers are growing more efficient. The average damage done on each occasion last year was $960, while this vear it was $1,428. The really amazing feature of Bees- ley's report is that he states that the perpetrators of all this year's bombings have escaped prosecution. John A. Swanson, State attorney, in his campaign promised war on racket- eers. He was elected and a special fi::nket court was established to help Swanson and his court do not seem to have met much success. Twenty- five cases were referred to the courts. Nine persons: were indicted, but none convicted. Chicago often complains that an in- justice is done in referring to it as a “crime city.” The utter failure to bring any of these eriminals to justice seems to justify criticisms. This Ought to Get a Prize. Prom the Arkansas Democrat. Another thing that the world needs is an alarm clock that knows whether ator King of h for a senatorial in- vestigation, declares: “In view of the yenewed interest in that plece of cam- the boss will be in t! u o< be in the office. when yoi