Evening Star Newspaper, September 11, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. ‘WEDNESDAY, September 11, 1928 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Sta: Newspaper Company ‘Business m?c- & N A ast 42nd St Chicago Office:” Lake Michigan Building. European Office: 14 Regent St., London, Englan Rate by Carrier Within the City. ‘The Evening Star... ..45c per month The Evening and 8ui T (when 4 Sundays) . .60c per month The Evening and Sui r (when 5 Sundays). 65¢ per month « The Sunday Star . Sc_per copy Collection made a ach rionth, Orders may be sent in r telephone NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. 1 yr., $10.00: 1 me 1 yr. $6.00: 1 me 1yr 34.00: 1 me o by mail o All Other States dnd Canada. Baily and Sunday..1 yr. $1200: 1 inday only”" $5.00: 1 Sunday only ...ll0 mo. 50c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press 15 exclusively entitlea to the use fer republication of .all news als- patches credited to it or not otherwise cred- ited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. - The Gallinger Investigation. As the Board of Public Welfare was investigating itself when it investigated Gallinger, its report exonerating the hospital of the rather indefinite charges implied in criticism of the institution will be accepted in prejudiced minds as | a “whitewash.’ But the Board of Public Welfare has been wise enough to foresee this and fair enough to in- vite another investigation by a disin- terested committee composed of rep- resentatives of the medical branches of | the Army and Navy, the Public Health Service and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. Such an investigation may be helpful to the Board of Public Welfare and may result in suggestions for improv- ing the service rendered the municipal- ity by Gallinger. As the aim of all con- cerned is to remedy any faults that may be found at Gallinger, and not to give it a reputation as a house of hor- rors, this second investigation may be valuable, ‘The Board of Public Welfare's own report on its investigation at Gallinger reaches conclusions that were antici-| pated by those who followed the nature of testimony introduced during the hearings. The most serious charges were those made against the hospital by Judge Sellers of Juvenile Court. As, Judge Sellers could not qualify as an expert witness regarding medical pro- cedure and as she declined to testify | on the ground that what she had to say would be hearsay evidence, her ecriti- cism was confined to her publicly an- nounced refusal to commit any more charges to Gallinger and to her letter to the board. In connection with Judge Sellers' Ietter, the Board of Public Welfare could do nothing but develop in a pub- lic hearing the hospital's side of the story. This it did. The facts indicate that the death of the patient in ques- tion was due to circumstances which could and should have been prevented. If any one could be held responsible, the Board of Public Welfare would be anxious to fix the blame. Unfortunate- ly, similar tragedies are written in every hospital. It is not always possi- ble to hold any one person responsible. If Judge Sellers or any other critic can suggest further action in this case, the Board of Public Welfare would naturally welcome the suggestion. Now that much of the smoke and dust raised over Gallinger has settled, temporarily at least, and the public is satisfied that razor blades are not fed the patients as a staple diet, Judge| Sellers can render a real public service by using her position in co-operation with the board to remedy any faults that may exist at the hospital and to improve the negessary service that the institution renders the city. Judge Sell- ers is in a position to know and to hear complaints. Her refusal to send any charges to Gallinger will not be of material benefit to Gallinger nor to the municipality. If she can assist the Board of Public Welfare by helping to run down and to investigate complaints against the hospital, she should do so. If conditions at the hospital are so bad that she cannot accept responsi- bility for sending cases there, her duty to the municipality is to prove the ex- istence of such conditions. If such proof is lacking Gallinger must be freed from the stigma that Judge Sellers has placed upon it. No doubts should be allowed to remain in anybody's mind concerning Gallinger, which is a munie- ipal institution, paid for and supported by the municipality. - o One of the hopes to be cherished by America is that after Henry Ford has | the shipbuilding concerns should be forth the cruiser tonnage totals re- spectively “demanded” by the United States and Great Britain, it is a fact that so far not a single digit of these tabulations has the stamp of either ‘Washington or London authority, They amount to nothing more nor less than shrewd analyses of what the Hoover “yardstick” of cruiser relativity prob- ably represents. But they are guesses, pure and simple, for all that, It is on such a flimsy foundation that the prophets of gloom and doom are fore- shadowing the breakdown of the pa- tient and palpably painstaking efforts of the President and the premier. ‘The best technical brains and the profoundest statesmanship at the dis- posal of the two English-speaking democracies are now being pooled in an endeavor to evolve a naval limitation and reduction agreement. They are functioning much as the boards of di- rectors of a couple of great corporations operate in the molding of company pol- icy. The time comes when the directors must report back to the stockholders. The peoples of the United States and the British Empire are the stockholders here in question. They have every rea- son to rest assured until their respective and trusted legders submit their direc- torial findings. Those once on the table, the hourfor approval or rejection will be at hand. Until then nothing but harm, however unintended, is ac- complished by interpreting the reticence of the high contracting parties as an omen of imperiding failure. The Propaganda Probe. The charges that shipping interests in this country sought to break down | the naval limitation conference at Geneva, through the aid of William B. Shearer, are to be investigated by the Senate naval affairs committee. The shipbuilding concerns have admitted employment of Shearer. They insist, however, that he represented them at Geneva merely as an observer, and that whatever work as & propagandist he carried on there he did “on his own.” Mr. Shearer says that he has received in the neighborhood of $50,000 from these companies, but that he is entitled to $250,000 more under his contracts with them. Judging from the demand made by Shearer, he must consider that his services to the shipbuilding companies were extremely valuable, and that they must have gone further than the mere duties of an observer. ‘The public and the Senate committee will be desirous of knowing just why willing to pay Shearer $25,000, the amount admitted by them, for services as an observer at the Geneva confer- ence. It might have been expected that the shipbuilding concerns would have full information regarding the progress of the international conference involving this country, Great Brltumi and Japan for naval limitation, along with the rest of the world. President Hoover, in a statement to the press yesterday, asserted that “the disclosures of interference with and propaganda against the efforts of the! Government in its negotiations of in- | ternational agreement for the reduction of naval armament are already so evi- dent as to require that these matters should be gone into to the very bot- | tom.” Senator Borah, chairman of the | foreign relations committee, insists that these efforts amount to “a criminal conspiracy against the people and the | Government of the United States.” ‘r ‘The right of American citizens who | belleve in being prepared for war to urge upon Congress and the country the need for & great Navy is undeniable. But efforts by any interests or persons | to prevent the consummation of an in- ternational agreement sought by the Government of the United States for the limitation of naval armament has a different aspect. When private Amer- ican interests and individuals, with a selfish and money interest of their own to serve, undertake to prevent the car- rying out of such a policy, they are treading on dangerous ground. President Hoover has moved promptly in an effort to prevent the use of secret methods and propaganda to break down the negotiations which are now being conducted by this Government with Great Britain and others, looking to naval limitation. It is probable that his denunciation of such methods will go far to halt them., Monkeying with the Government of the United States is a serious pastime. Usually it is suffi- cient to bring into the light the efforts of propagandists to clip their claws. The Senate committee, with its broad powers of investigation which have recently been upheld by the courts, is in a posi- tion to deal with propagandists effec- tively, merely by showing them up to the country. Adequate military and naval pre- paregness is one thing. It is desirable and to be desired by all patriotic citi- zens. But a race for supremacy in manufactured in Europe for a while he ‘will become homesick. ———— A few literary men attain high office. All high officials become literary men. 3 —e—— Mr. MacDonald's Visit. Against the possibility that develop- ments may make it feasible for him to reach Washington during the first wesk of October, Premier MacDonald appears, like the sagacious Scotsman he is, to have booked a provisional steam- ship reservation for passage to America, His principal private secretary, Sir Rob- ert Vansittart, who was recently in ‘Washington, is reported to have se- cured accommodations designed to effect Mr. MacDonald's arrival in the United States on October 4. Sir Robert is supposed to have mapped out the prime minister’s various engagements while on our hospitable soil, and presumably to have taken such precautions as are possible to prevent Mr. MacDonald from being killed by kindness. ‘The tentative character of the pre- mier’s plans shows them to be good. They evidence his eagerness to come to grips with the complicated Anglo-American naval problem at close range. They have a special value at this juncture, for nothing could be better designed to explode the theory, which is being ped- dled with some persistency this week, that the Hoover-MacDonald negotia- tions have reached an impasse tanta- mount to a wreckage of them. Wishes on occasions like these are frequently the fathers to thoughts. They are what might be called psychological propa- ganda. The Senate naval affairs com- mittee is about to deal with a specific species of it. Though column after column of fig- ures is being printed, presuming. to set naval armament, rather than a reason- able agreement for limitation, leaving the country still amply prepared, is still another. Efforts to defeat the lat- ter may well be scrutinized carefully to determine just what reasons are back of them, oo In discussing general affairs it fre- quently becomes difficult to convince a man who has been designated as a propagandist. o Foot Ball in Mexico. President Gil of Mexico, who & few days ago set up a new fashion in polit- ical aspirations when he proclaimed his desire to retire at the end of his pres- ent provisional term, now proposes the development of the game of foot ball as a substitute for revolution. Attend- ing a spirited game between two Mexi- can teams, he was impressed by the possibility of the sport and is quoted as speaking as follows: 50 meyc:vnfl.l :lou:th?v? uvolug:;.l.m{: contains marvelous lessons for the Mex- ican youth, teaching valor, self-control and co-operation. President Gil then had a conference with the American coach of one of the two teams and asked him 'to arrange a game in November between his own University of Mexico eleven and an American college team. He hopes to popularize foot ball in the republic. Passing over the suggestion that foot ball is encouraged in this country as a counter-irritant or sedative or whatnot to prevent revolutions, much may be said in favor of the Mexican President’s analysis of the sport, especially as it is w conducted on ‘American grid- was. as con the Time ‘when was destructive of - average Mexican revolution. But that condition has passed with the amend- ment of the rules and methods of play. 1t is now even less injurious than the American celebration of Independence: day used to be. . As a moral factor, foot ball cannof be too highly extolled. It is cértainly a character builder or developer, pro- vided it is properly played, under right auspices, If Mexican youth get as much out of the game as the American youth has derived, the estab- lishment of this sport as a national pastime south of the Rio Grande may be the making of a new Mexico of progress and culture and peace, .o Splitting Hydrogen, Every time a sclentific society gets together in annual convention some- thing wonderful may be expected in the way of announcement and demon- stration. For science is progressing in research and discovery at a high pace in these years, and it is a poor season when half a dozen or so -astonishing revelations are not made at these meet- ings. The latest sensation is reported from the meeting of the American Chemical Society at Minneapolis. It is called the ‘“greatest scientific discovery of 1929,” being an announcement that Dr. K. F. Bohnhoeffer has split hydro- gen gas into two parts. Hydrogen be- ing a supposedly indivisible element, the conversion of it into a gas with a dif- ferent effect is rated as a revolutionary achievement. Dr. Hugh S. Taylor of Princeton, chairman of the session, says that it means that text books on physi- cal chemistry will have to be rewritten. The actual discovery consists, it seems, of the conversion of ordinary hydrogen gas into a new form called para-hydrogen, by passing it over char- coal chilled to the intense cold of liquid air, Demonstration of its difference of nature from the parent gas, if that may he so called, was effected by pumping it over a hot wire where it interfered ‘with the flow of heat through the wire, this interference being indicated by a spot of light cast upon the wall. When the para-hydrogen was then converted back into ordinary hydrogen and passed over the hot wire the spot of light changed its position, thus demonstrat- ing that the two gases are physically different. The discovery has no present com- mercial value., It has, however, a de- cided scientific value, opening up limit- less fields of research, the possibilities of which are incalculable. Dr. Bohn- hoeffer's achievement may lead to amazing changes in industrial chemistry in the near future. ———ate— A gentle effort is being made to | posed. demonstrate to Mr. Shearer that there are limits beyond which the most capable press agent cannot discreetly venture. —_——t———————— Friends of Al Smith are giving him so many opulent opportunities that they may leave him convinced that there is no further need for worrying about politics. Y Propaganda has changed the vocab- ulary of persuasive influence. There are no longer any old-fashioned “lobby- ists.” ———————— “Talkies” depend on searching the pigeonholes for plays nearly forgotten. The dialogue is, after all, the same old talk. e While the League of Nations has not carried everything before it, there re- mains abundant evidence that it is still doing business at the old stand. Important affairs in politics and finance are necessarily held in abey- ance until the real boss gets back from his Summer vacation. N A man who has the ear of the people is influential. Some day a radio broad- caster will break loose and say exactly what he thinks. SHOOTING STA: BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Great Guessing Contest., Talkin' ‘bout the troubles some of which are not our own. You either hold a meetin’ or you grab the telephone! This good old world seems always just a little out o fix And most of all the fun we get is talkin’ politics! It's just a guessin’ contest, in which everybody quotes The line of talk that he believes will serve to win the votes. ‘We learn of losses and of gains in many a strange report And talkin’ politics remains the public’s favorite sport. In Abeyance. “Did you tell your constituents how you are going to vote on the tariff?” “How could I teil 'em that,” replied Senator Sorghum, “when I don't yet know for sure, myself.” Jud Tunkins says he never yet met a professional reformer who would admit that he was in possible need of any re- form whatever. Temperature, The weather has continued hot With wonderful assurance, The old thermom has shown a lot Of wonderful endurance! ‘Worth, “They say you are worth millions!” “It's & mistake,” answered Mr. Dustin Stax. “The wealth I have had thrust upon me represents very large sums of money. But as to my personal worth I still feel it proper to assume a certain degree of modesty.” “He who offends a kindly neighbor,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “de- clares himself a fool as well as an enemy.” Jawbone Potency. Those Philistines old Samson slew, And made a brand-new rule; X An ass’s jawbone can outdo ‘The hind kick of a mule. “I often wishes I was a policeman,” said Uncle Eben, “so I could jine a com- fortable crap shootin’ party wifout dan- THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Interesting are the threads by which the National Capital is being bound to some of the new books appearing at_this time. This 1= no new thing for Washing- ton, of course, which has been appear- ing in the news of the Nation since the foundation of the city, and nat- urally has found its way into books and magazine articles. Nor would one seek to make capital of the fact, in the manner of those booming the home town, except in re- lation to the lack of literary conscious- ness of the city. ‘The average Washingtonian is the last person in the world to stop to realize that there are published here two magazines of tremendous Nation- wide circulation. These magazines, each of which has a circulation in excess of a_ million coples each issue, are the National Geographic Magazine, a monthly, and the Pathfinder, a weekly, which claims to have been the first news magazine. ‘The latter in January celebrated its thirty-fifth successful year, and this Summer has come out with its first newsstand issue, after functioning in an unpretentious manner for so long. If there is any one in the United States who has not heard of the Na- tional Geographic Magazine he should | Peo] look up a copy at once. Probably he will find the latest, containing an ex- cellent article and scores of {llustra- tions, written and taken by Dr. Brandes of the Department of Agriculture, con- cerning his adventures with savages on the other slde* of the world, * ok Kk ‘The first two installments of “Grand- mother Brown's Hundred Years,” by Harriet Connor Brown, wife of the chief of the United States Bureau of Efficiency, have appeared in the his- toric Atlantic Monthly. The second installment, in the September issue, is now on the stands. Here is a Washington woman (at least by adoption) who has turned out the Atlantic prize biography of the year. Perusal of the two issues of the magazine prove to the reader that the award was merited. In supple, flowing prose Mrs. Brown is making a real woman live before the eyes of her readers. i ‘The quiet, dignified account of Grandmother Brown of the old days in the great West gives a picture as in- teresting as sincerity always is when it embodies the power to entertain. Mrs. Brown, the author, appears to be standing out of the way of her sub- ject, in permitting Grandmother Brown to talk, but in reality she is directing the gladsome, wholesome drama, for such these articles are. ‘Those interested in the genuine gen- fus and spirit of America, free from the sordid, superficial trends which of late years work to clog our national and community life, will rejoice at the vivid paragraphs showing what man- ner of men and women they were who made this Nation what it is today. It is not such a far jump from a work of this type to “Hide in the Dark,” by Frances Noyes Hart, an- other Washingtonian, as might be sup- . This new detective story, latest selection of the Crime Club, one of the new-type bookselling organizations, is built solidly on the same power of creating reader interest. The author, daughter of & promi- nent Washington family, after writing a score of excellent short stories, came into her first booklength with “The Bellamy Cuse,” based on a prominent criminal trial. The real feat in this book was in making readers interested again in something which had been hashed over at such great length in the newspapers. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. No branch of the Hoover administra- tion has more nuts to crack during this sweltering September than the Depart- ment of State. Secretary Stimson is correspondingly about the busiest cabi- net officer in Washington. The world for him nowadays is like a many-ringed circus. He must keep his eyes peeled in half a’dozen different directions at once. In Europe it is, of course, the critical negotiations with Great Britain which mainly absorb his attention, but with the hatching of the “United Stales of Europe” Col. Stimson has a new issue that calls for his vigilance, even if it does not yet arouse his anxiety. In the Near East there is Palestine, with its explosive possibilities and with rival groups of American. citizens in this country—Jews and Arabs—compet- ing for Uncle Sam’s favor and influence in the Holy Land controversy. As if all these worries were not enough, Secre- tary Stimson must now divert his gaze to Manchuria, where Russia and China are staging a very lifelike imitation of a war. The sun never sets on Amer- ica’s foreign affairs. * ok k% Claudius H. Huston, the new Repub- lican national chairman, was born on the famous banks of the Wabash in Boone Township, Harrison =County, Southern Indiana—a fact which his proud fellow Hooslers are determined shall not be overlooked amid the claims that the “new Republican South” has been recognized by the G. O. P. in the election of a “Southern” party leader. Huston's mother was a native of North Carolina and that helps him out with his Dixie political merits. The chairman now owns the Indiana farm on which he was born, sentiment having prompted its purchase some years ago. Like President Hoover, | Huston worked his way through college, earning his board and room by ringing the school bell at Valparaiso (Indiana) University, known as the “poor boy's college.” The Republican generalissimo’s first venture in life was a small business college, He ranks as a millionaire ay. * K K X Senator Walter E. Edge's vote on the tariff bill is so essential to the Repub- lican regulars that he has deferred his departure for the ambassadorship to France until the fate of the Hawley- Smoot bill is decided. Whether that will be some time this year or not, no- body knows. The Jersey statesman is meantime putting in hard licks on the Frenth language, with which he has something more a nodding acduaintance, and on French history, with a library of which he supplied himself several months ago when it was intimated that he would be sent to the Paris embassy. Ever since de Lesseps conceived the idca of the Panama Canal the French have been interested in all and sundry connected with the waterway situation in Central America, s0 Senator Elgg.. the author o; ':’lflvrg; posed new raguan Canal, able to talk with them authoritatively on that theme;t A Former Senator and Republican Na- Pont of Delaware. ha Témnld“ 1t o 3 the use of his voice and is obliged to depend on the expert services of a young woman lip reader, who is able to understand practically everything seeks to articulate. The Diamond State politician’s hearing being in no way impaired, he is able, with the co-opera- tion of his helpmate, to carry on con- versation with friends amid compara- uvel{ little difficulty. Not long ago received President ver, Huston and other disting aboard_the du ry | eyes telling of * k¥ ‘The National Woman's Party is about to take the air—though not in the way its favorite enemy, the National of Women it Nould, ‘The miltant sisters, who have B to ost | survive such tests and shocks as it he | the old order—not to Hohenzollern rule, ts | region of the Fatherland marched along e In considering the so-called “detec- tive story,” the critical reader is con- fronted with a facet of modern Ameri- can reading habits. There always huve been detective stories, and there always have been distinguished readers of them, but it is only within the past 5 years, or about that length of time, that the numfxidot readers has been increased manifold. Exzactly the same thing has taken place in regard to biography. There always has been biography, and always its quota of discriminating readers, but during the past 10 years this form of writing has become popular, in the best sense. Just how much universal education has contributed to this happy result it is difficult to say, but there can be little doubt that nowadays men and women by the thousands are enjoying books which a few years ago only the wise ones read. Thus it is possible to say, not that the level of apprecia- tion is higher, but that it is more widespread. Democracy and its uni- versal education are bearing fruit in the only possible way. Maybe the world is no happler or better because more pepole can write acceptably and read appreciatively, but surely it is more interesting to the great mass of the ple. ‘The National Capital has had, for many ye , one of the most successful of woman writers of the detective story. Miss Natalle Lincoln’s crooks and de- tectives have appeared in a score of books. Her storles mostly have been issued first in serialized form in one or the other of the weekly magazines devoted to this type of fiction. It re- mained for the author of “The Bellamy Case” to crash the gates of a periodical of general circulation, the Saturday Evening Post. i Echoes of past Washington appear in Fulton Oursler’s “The World's Delight,” a novel based on the real career of Dolores McCord, afterward known as Adah Menken, famous throughout the world just before the Civil War as Mazeppa. The dolorous life of this se- ductive creature ended in_Paris, but just before she died Mrs. Eliza Riggs, “wife of a Washington banker,” took an interest in the girl's poetical abil- ity. This is just a flash, a small but interesting one, illuminating past days through the medium of a Washington traveler. ‘The National Capital is the locale of Claude Bowers’ “The Tragic Era,” just published. This work deals with the | Johnson administration and places | many famous characters in new lights. | The reader of Republican persuasions | will feel that Mr. Bowers (he who made the keynote speech at the last Demo- | | cratic convention) is not entirely free from the tinge of bias. The book will | create _some excitement among the poltically minded, but probably will | leave the rest of the reading public perfectly composed. For one thing, the title is none too good. It is a trifle | oratorical, too much so for the best effect. These are but a few notes on the re- lation of Washington to the literary world of the moment. It can be seen | that the city and its people creep into | books in the most interesting ways, and | it can be predicted that this will occur more and more as the National Capital | wakes up to itself in this respect. New | York has been book-conscious for dec- | ades, largely because it has so many | | publishing houses, but partly because | the people there have largely realized | that books are something. more than things to be sold. More and more the | people here must come to the realiza- I tion that books are the symbols of | wide-awake America. augurate early in October a program of weekly radio talks over a coast-to-coast | network. Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont, the | president of the party, will be the | opening speaker. She is coming home {from France for that special purpose. | Among others, Senator Nye of North Dakota will speak later on the equal rights amendment: Senator Capper of Kansas, on “Women's Place in Rural Life”; C. Bascom Slemp of Virginia, on “Opportunities for Women in Govern- ment”; Raymond Clapper of the United Press, on “The Growing Importance of Women in the News,” and Mrs. Harvey W. Wiley of Washington, on “Women as Home-Makers.” * K K K Observers of events of rural interest in Washington are impressed by the | variety of angles from which the farmers’ problems are being attacked by the present administration. They see the Federal Farm Board, heeled with | a half-billion dollars of credit for farm marketing co-operative groups, blazing a trail that they hope will lead farmers out of the wilderness of disorderly marketing. They foresee enactment of i | a tariff bill carrying the highest duties on farm products in American history. And they observe with satisfaction the unusual spectacle of representatives of 31 national farm and industrial organi- zations informally banding themselves together in behalf of more adequate funds for research in the Department of Agriculture. ‘When this group started two years ago to increase the research fund of the department, a goal of $10,000,000 was set. To date about half of this has been obtained. This week, Col. J. C. Roop, the new director of the budget, was formally requested to o. k. the balance of $5,000,000. * ok ok ok ‘There's to be another political party in the U. S. A. Steps to form it have just been taken under the leadership of Prof. John Dewey of Columbia Uni- versity. Its purpose is to oppose the: Republican and Democratic parties, and it will be called the League for In- dependent _Political Action. The fol- lowing officials have already been elected: James Maurer, president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor, vice president; Zona Gale, author, of Wisconsin, vice president; Paul Douglas, professor of industrial rela: tions, University of Chicago, vice presi- dent; W. E. B. Du Bois, Negro educa- tor, of New York, vice president; Devere Allen, editor of the World Tomorrow, chairman of the executive committee, and Howard Y. Williams, clergyman, executive secretary. The manifesto of ghe proposed organization declares that the only hope of Liberals in this coun- iry lies in slowly building up a new party which will compare with the British Labor party.” (Copyright, 1929.) German Democracy Proved in Celebration | From the Atlanta Journal. l Who would have predicted a decade ago that the- German Republic wo;::g experienced? The prevalent opinion then was that a people so steeped in monarchist traditions would revert to gerhapu not to any form of absolutism, n:xt zurely to a non-democratic govern- ient. Yet, at the 1ecent celebration of the tenth’anniversary of the Weimar con- stitution, 150,000 stanch sons and daughters of the republic from every the Unter den Linden, the light in their the loyalty in their hearts. The storms which the new regime has weathered have been of the sort that try men’s souls. The onsets, and, much more, the subtle strategy of the monarchists; the demoralization of the currency; the French incursions in the Ruhr; the differences fice.! by I Politics at Large By G. Gould Lincoln, Al Smith’s “Up to Now,” an autoblog- raphy_running in the snurdnybllvo‘ ning Post, is intensely interesting, part- ly because of the light it sheds on past political events. “From Now On,” if and whpn it may be written, however, will not show the former Governor of New York as a candidate again for the office of President, Mr. Smith’s closest friends and advisers are now insisting. Many of them do not see Mr. Smith in the picture of the future, except per- haps 8s an advisory assistant. They take seriously the statement made by Mr. Smith the day after election last year, when he said, “I do not expect to be again a candidate for public of- e.” They read into it a statement e former Democratic candida‘e for the presidency that he “will not be a candidate for office” ever again. In- deed, party leaders who have been th2 closest to Gov. Smith, including Chair- man John J. Raskob, take the view that he will not seek the presidential nomination in 1932 or 1936, and that he would not take it if it were offered to him. Before the next Democratic national convention is held, however, it may be necessary for Mr. Smith to make another and even more definite statement to this effect. Otherwise there is likely to be a considerable block in the convention which will look hopefully to the former Governor of New York. * K ok X ‘The Democratic “From Now On" re- quires not a little consideration by the leaders of the party. Some of the publican national committeemen who have just been in Washington, electing their new national chairman, Claudius H. Huston of Tennessee, assert that if the Democrats do not nominate Mr. Smith three years hence, there will be a dis- gruntled group of Smith followers in many of the Eastern States who will| g, be decidedly lukewarm to any other candidate the next Democratic national convention may nominate. But that is the way of the Republicans. They never can see anything bright ahead of their Democratic opponents. * ok x * ‘With Smith out of the picture, as his most intimate friends and political fol- lowers now insist he is, where will the Democrats turn for leadership? Will they advance Senator “Joe” Robinson, the party leader in the Senate for many years and their candidate for Vice Pres- ident last year, and make him the standardbearer next year? Some of them are strongy in favor of such a program, believing that the Arkansas Senator, because of his long services to the party, is entitled to the step-up? Will the Democrats take a wet or a dry? Will he be a man of the Middle West. of | the Far West, of the South or the North and East? The South has been the backbone of the Democratic party for years. It has produced the great bulk of the electoral votes cast for Demo- cratic nominees for President. The problem has been for a number of years whether the South shall cast its lot in with the agricultural West or with the industrial East. It does not appear able to make common cause with both. Woodrow Wilson carried the country in 1916 against Charles Evans Hughes, al- though he lost the great State of New York. His victory was won in the West for reasons that have been told many times. It was the South plus the Mid- dle West and the West which re-elected him. Perhaps the Democrats will swing | to a dyed-in-the-wool Wilson Democrat for their next candidate. Newton D.! Baker of Ohio, former Secretary of War, ! might fill the bill. * X ok X At the present time, however, both the old political parties are giving more attention to the campaign of 1930 for the election of a new Congress than they are to 1932. The Republicans have reached the conclusion that President Hoover will be the next candidate. There was a chorus of approval of Mr. Hoover and his administration from the committeemen from all sections of the country who gathered here this week. It was insisted that Mr. Hoover, for example, is 150,000 votes stronger today in Tllinois than he was when he carried that State by an overwhelming vote last, November. This from Roy O. Woast, former Secretary of the Interior and present Republican national commit- teeman for Illinols. The Democrats prefer one war at a time, and are giving their attention to building up an or- ganization which will upset the Re- publican control of Congress. They have become unusually active for this length of time before an election, under the leadership of Jouett Shouse of Kansas, now chairman of the executive committee. He has been traveling about the country, seeking to impress upon the iocal Democrats the need of perma- nent and persistent organization, He goes to Boston to talk to the Massa- chusetts Democrats the end of this week. gk The Republicans will stage several hot primary campaigns next year for senatorial nominations. This will be the case in Iowa and Illinois, for ex- ample. One of the Iowa seats in the Senate is held by a Democrat, Senator Steck. The Republicans regard this seat as certain to be won by their party. Hence the scramble for the nomination. Gov. Hammill appears at present to have the inside track. Rep- resentative Dickinson of Iowa, long a prominent member of the House and a leader in the fight for farm relief, how- ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. This is a special department devoted solely to the handling of queries. This paper puts at your disposal the-serv- ices of an extensive organization in ‘Washington to serve you in any ca- pacity that relates to information. This service is free. Failure to make use of it deprives you of benefits to which you are entitled. Your obligation is only 2 cents in coin or stamps in- closed x'l;.::r ym'x;h mzqulry‘n flss dlrlect reply. ess The Evening Star In- lo;g- fon_Bureau, Frederic J. E..un director, Washington, D. C. . What airports do the greatest dally business?>—P, A. L. A. The Department of Commerce has no definite figures but says that among them would be Le Bourget, France; Tempelhof, Germany: Croydon, Eng- land; Cleveland Municipal Airport, and Chicago Municipal Airport, United States. Q. How old is Walter Hagen, the golf champion?—C. T. A. Walter Hagen is almost 38 years old. He was born in Rochester, N. Y., October 21, 1891. Q. What is the radio trust>—M. N. A. According to the charges made at the hearings of the Couzens commit- , the so-called “radio trust” is made up of the Radio Corporation of America, the General Electric Co., the Westinghouse Electric & Manu- facturing Co., the United Pruit Co., and the American Telephone & Tele- graph Co., who have pooled about 3,500 radio patents and are accused of try- ing to monopolize the radio industry. The companies contend that the Fed- eral anti-trust laws do not apply to such a patent pool. A. In Greece and Rome the dim. smoky lamp made its appearance at a fairly early date. It was a shallow dish, round or oval in shape, with a handle at one end and a spout for the wick at the other. It was made of baked earth or metal, and the wick was made of tow or cloth. These lamps, used chiefly by students and teachers, are the traditional lamps of quently made. Q. What is the name of Soviet Rus- sia’s printing plant>—B. T. A., The state publishing plant for Soviet Russia is called Gosizdat. It is located in Moscow and is one of the largest printing plants in the’ world. . How much acreage is usually allowed for forage crops of the ani- Q. What are lamps of learning?— | P. learning to which reference is Ire-i M. A. Beckwith, who has prepared a set of tables on all the famyus “largest in the world” trees, figures from the diam- e';t gx J‘!;emnmle Ire;i. where it is brokb. :I“y off af , tnat it once rose 320 Tect high. o Q. At what period in life does the brain grow fastest?>—K. F. A. According to Dr, Daniel J. Mc- Carthy, professor of medical = dence 'in the University of - vania, the brain grows 10 times as fast during the first five years of life as during any later period. Q. What States have ol - sm:s?;hc. L. H. ey . e States having old - ixlol;.u = Clzll;ornll, Eotorader” Rene ucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Mont Nevada, Utah, Wisconsin t'x;t W m The Territory of Alaska also has an ol age pension law. Q. How many cars go through the Holland Tunnel in a day?—W. B. A. The tunnel was calculated to ac- commodate 46,000 vehicles & day. The first day there were 51,649 cars (No- vember 11, 1927), and this record was broken on May 11, 1929, when 52,184 cars passed through the tunnel. Q. How many of the high executives of the Boy Scouts of America organiza- tion receive salaries?—J. P. W. A- Only one is a salaried man. The others are volunteer workers and have no salaries, but contribute generously to the support of the work. Q. Are there any planetari | the United States? k. 7 T s A. At present there are no plane- | tariums in the United States. Within the year, however, Chicago and Phil- adelphia will have the distinction of being the first American cities to have these mechanical marvels. Max Adler, a_former Sears-Roebuck official, gave Chicago $500,000 to purchase a Zeiss planetarium for that city. It will be on an island near the Field Museum. Samuel S. Fels, philanthropist, has pro- vided a planetarium for Philadelphia as a part of the new Science Museum of the Franklin Institute, Q. Please give the origin of the prune?—A. L. D. A. Louis Pellier, a Frenchman, went to California in search of gold. Miss- ing the delicious plum called the Prune d'Agens, he sent tp France for seeds |and cuttings. These he grafted with | certain varieties of the wild plum in | the California hills. His experiments were highly successful and the thriving | family now numbers more than 7.000,- 000 trees in the Santa Clara Valley mals on a farm?—W. H. A. The Department of Akflcul:.urrl says that at least 5 acres per animal shiuld be allowed to provide food the year round. Q. Who invented flat relief called tiacclato?—A. A. ¢ A. Donatello was undoubtedly the in- ventor. alone. This Fall, California will pay | tribute to the founder of a great in- | dustry by erecting a monument to the memory of Pellier in San Jose. The ceremony will celebrate the seventy- | fifth anniversary of the American prune. | @ Who invented basket ball, and how old a game is it>—K. D. B, Q. What is meant by guerrilla?— E.T.R. A. As an_ adjective it is applied to irregular, although often legitimate warfare = conducted by _independent bands. As a noun it is applied to one who carried on such warfare. . What is the valuation of the farm lands in the United States>—W. B. A. The estimated value of United States farm lands is $37,721,088,222. Q. When was the first practical ma- chine gun made?—A. G. A. The first modern practical ma- chine gun was invented by Dr. Gatling of Chicago in 1862, and it was put into general use about 1870. Q. What is the size of the Boole tree?—F. P. A. The following are the dimensions of the Boole tree, which is said to be the largest tree in the world: Diameter at the ground slanting, 35 feet: diam- eter at right angles to the tree and level with the upper side, 31 feet; diameter above knots, swells or bulges at 16 feet high, 25 feet: diameter at first limb, 156 feet (at 14 feet); height, 261'% feet. A. The game basket ball was in- | vented and developed by Dr. James Naismith, for many years athletic di- rector of the University of Kansas. In | 1891, when he was an assistant athletic director at Springfield, Mass., it was | suggested to Dr. Naismith that there | should be a game suitable for the in- | door development of athletes who had played foot ball all Fall. Basket ball was the result and by 1893 there was a of rules and competition was being | developed. | Q Who was the originator of the preservation of foods?—S. G. H. A. It is claimed that Nicolas Appert, a Frenchman born in 1750 at Chalons- | sur-Marne, was the first to preserve | food through sterilization by heat. Food | had previously been preserved by the | use of spices or the salt method, but Avpert proved to the world the loss of | food value by the old methods and how | the method he proposed not only retain- |ed food value, but also was more at- | tractive and palatable. He experiment- | ed with meat, fish and all sorts of | vegetables and fruits, delighting in the | ditferent combinations and forms in 1 which they could be preserved. Linked With S In contemplating the loss of the steamer San Juan, sent to the bottom with 70 of her passengers and crew when rammed off the California coast {by a Standard Oil tanker, the press recalls disclosures following the Vestris tragedy and deplores conditions which make such disasters possible. “The tragedy leaves us appalled,” ex- claims the San Francisco Chronicle. “In this age of progress in transport and communication it seems incredible that so many should fail of rescue from disaster almost at our very gates. * * It goes without saying that there must be a searching investigatior: of the circumstances surrounding the dis- aster, to the end that the causes may be made fully known and measures added, if possible, for the safety of those at sea.” “It has been many years, according ever, has thrown his hat in the ring twice. But along comes a popular de- mand for the nomination of Federal Judge William 8. Kenyon, who former- Iy was Senator. Judge Kenyon is keep- ing quiet. It seems almost a foregone conclusion he could have the nomins- tion if he would lift his hand. He is very popular in the State. Just th® other day the Webster City Freeman Journal, published in Mr. Dickinson's own district, came out editorially for the drafting of Judge Kenyon for the Senate nomination. The Democrats are not hurrying to the husti the senatorial nomination. It ex- pected they will insist upon Senator Steck’s making the race to succeed him- self. * K K % Mrs. Ruth Hanna McCormick, Rep- resentative at large from Illinois, has been campaigning actively in Illinois this Summer, while Senator Charles S. Deneen, to whose seat she aspires, has been compelled to be on the job here in Washington as a member of tha Senate finance committee handling th-~ tariff bill. Mrs. McCormick has not finally burned her bridges behind her. She may yet decide that it is better to be re-elected to the House than to seek to enter the Senate against such a well intrenched leader as Senator Deneen. The latter has a strong or- ganization in Cook County and down State. Before long this organization will be considerably augmented and will begin to function with great activ- ity. The Illinois primary comes early in the election year—in ril, to be exact. The Republicans in Kansas seem to be well satisfied with the present ad- ministration and with the fact they have Charles Curtis in the Vice Presi- dent’s chair. There has been talk of opposition to Senator Henry J. Allen, serving_ under appointment by Gov. Clyde Reed, but up to the present no opposition candidates for the nomina- tion have come fol ly. Sen- ator Allen got in the first lick several when he went home and his and Senator Capper, who comes up for re- election, will ride in on a wave of pop- ular approval. * ok K X Down in Virginia some of the Demo- crats are passing the word around that the Republicans and anti-Smith Demo- crats spilled the beans when both of them nominated William llueh;nnmvn for governor. They are saying that this will split the vote between Repul internal among the Liberals themselves—all these the republic has withstood, while their | the people have recovered with astonish- from the conomic as well as t U War. 1| lican and anti-Smith Buch ho and make the election of the reg- Democratic nominee for chief ex- counted for him. Brown sup- sure ular ecutive will-all b to the Pasadena Star-News, “since such a horror occurred off the shores of California. This tragedy should be the object lesson and the incentive to bring about a period of greater rigidity of rules of navigation at sea, so that the equation of man's carelessness and in- competence may be eliminated.” The Saginaw Daily News hopes that the investigation “will be so conducted as to restore public confidence.” remark- ing that “this was considerably shaken by the Vestris investigation at New York, which wholly failed to clear up many points that were later made plain by the London investigation.” “The general public will be inter- ested,” declares the Kansas City Jour- nal-Post, “in how an old vessel, found no longer fit for the general chlnne]§ of trade, could have been ‘relegated’ to one of the most important of all services—that of an excursion steamer. The Sgnta Barbara Daily News agrees that “a person assumes an added haz- ard when he undertakes even coast- wise voyage on any but a large and modern vessel.” That paper feels sure that “a larger and more modernly con- structed vessel would have survived the blow which the San Juan received much longer than she did; certainly long enough to have permitted the launching of boats.” “It is to be noted,” suggests the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “that the San Juan was one of the oldest sea-going passenger boats under the American flag. It had witnessed 47 years of service. A rotten old hulk and un- speakable seamanship are thus the in- gredients of this latest tragedy of the sea, which took a toll of 70 lives. Those who are respomlhlle for it should be made to pay dearly.” “If thep'standlrd Oil tanker which sank the San Juan with the loss of these lives was running rapidly and without the proper signals, and proof of this can be adduced,” contends the Columbus, Ohio, Evening Dispatch, “the courts are almost certain to hold her owners responsible in heavy damages. hen recognized means of avoiding ac- cidents in fog are neglected, few courts will listen favorably to the plea that the accident was unavoidable. “The common law of the sea, which demands the use of extreme caution while ing through fogs or thick weatl.er, was violated,” declares the Memphis Commerical Appeal. That paper assumes that the character of the damage done “indicates that a speed was being maintained far in excess of what should have been used in thick weather,” and advises: “The day when tragedies of this sort can be glossed porters say that this is merely a trick to g\henzufim u.mmnny Disclosures of Vestris Probe an Juan Tragedy over is gone. * * * The International | Conference for Safety at Sea has | drafted a set of rules for sea safety { which, if followed, should prevent such disasters. Every nation should adopt them, but when they do there will still be no means to counteract human stupidity.” As to safeguards, the Long Beacih Press-Telegram asks: “Is steamship in- spection all that it should be? Are | aritime rules as strict as wise precau- tion for the safety of passengers and crews dictates? * * * Federal officials declare that the San Juan was sea- worthy; and perhaps it was according to accepted standards. The point is, Should these standards be raised, or should other steps be taken to prevent a repetition of these disasters?” The view that “America has no lack of competent mariners, and the Gov- ernment bureaus which survey thz coastal waters and maintain aids to navigation are efficiently administered.” is held by the Springfield, Mass., Re- publican, but that paper adds: “Neither in Congress nor among the public s there any wide understanding of the science of seamanship. The Nation has little consciousness of a marine trad tion. Few persons know, or care, whether the shipping laws are adequate or whether the inspection service satisfactory.” “During the discussion of the Vestris disaster,” recalls the New Orleans Times-Picayune, “it was developed that the American Senate never had ratified the previous sea safety convention, adopted in 1914! It is very much to be hoped that our elder statesmen will not | so long delay their ratification of the new code.” “Long years of navigation dotted here | and there with tragedies,” states the | Portland, Oreg., Journal, “have taught | mariners the need of constant vigilance | in weather whether clear, murky or {foul. In fog the whistle must sound | unremittingly to carry warning where | eyes cannct sce or lights penetrate. Yet in the collision of the San Juan and the Dodd it does not appear that visi- bility was entirely lost. * * * In a San Francisco dispatch appears this sentence: ‘Forty-two survivors were brought into this port, 18 passengers and 24 crew members.’ And ‘the death toll of the San Juan shipwreck dis- | aster stands at 74’ What were the | members of the San Juan crew, so large a proportion of whom saved themselves, doing to save the lives committed to their care? “Capt. Asplund of the San Juan,” re- cords the Texarkana Gazette, “stuck to his craft and is numbered among the casualties of what will go into history as one of the greatest tragedies of the Pacific. It was one of the queer quirks of fate that placed him aboard the ves- sel on its trip to Davy Jones' locke: This veteran of the sea had accumu- lated a competence and had retired from active service, planning to spend the rest of his life ashore, enjoying the fruits of years of labor at sea. friend wanted a vacation and the Sdn Juan's owners asked Capt. Asplund to serve As a substitute. * It was the will of fate that he should become one of the heroes of the deep who have added luster to their vocation and caused tales of maritime heroism to fascinate lands- men.” ‘The Oakland Tribune concludes with the tribute: “True to the sea’s tradi- tions, with the sad story which was sent through the air and out of the fog, there came stories of man’s heroism in time of stress- Again the average ma achieved hours of greatness, proving that fine courage and nobility which are .in the human material. A captain went down with his ship.” -