Evening Star Newspaper, December 6, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1929. e e e e e i THE EVENING STAR |They utilise the figures to show that|ing to that little body of deathless lit- With Sunday M Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY.......December 6, 18929, | THEODORE W. NOYES... .Mltor’ The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11th 8t an s Ave. d_Pennsyl New York Office. 110 East 42nd Bt. icago Office: Lake Michigan Building. ‘obean Office: 14 Regent 8t Londons England. Rate by Carrier Within the City. R‘ Evenine Star..... .. .45c Ler month je Evening and Sunday Star, (when 4 Sundavs) ... 80c per month The Evening and Sunday Star (when § Sundass) . 65¢ per month ‘The Sunday Star ......... c_per copy Collection made at the end of each month. ders may be sent in by mail or telephone Ational 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland a Virginia. Efii}fl‘ Sunday. only . All Other E:II}Y gy;lldy Sundi das onty Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Associated Press Is exclusively entitled use for republication of all news or All righ herein ted in this pa published herein. apecial dispatchi lso reserved. Tax Rate and Budgets. Emphasis upon the fact that the Bu- reau of the Budget has forwarded to Congress the largest District of Co- lumbia budget in history naturally gives rise to conjecture concerning the size of subsequent budgets and whether or not the existing tax rate of $1.70 can support them. For budgets usually in- crease. They have been growing stead- 1ly, as far as the District is concerned. Larger budgets would threaten an in- creased tax rate. It is to be remembered, however, that this year’s budget is unusually large by reason of the inclusion as available revenue of a substantial portion of the District’s surplus that has already been collected from tax-paying residents of the District. Furthermore, the size of the 1931 budget approximates the amount set down by Auditor Donovan last March when he drew up a sug- gested five-year financial program for the District. The Budget Bureau rec- ommended to Congress a budget of $47,880,000. Auditor Donovan's rough estimate was for a budget totaling $48,965,000. That there would be some difference between Auditor Donovan’s figures and those to be approved by the Bureau of the Budget was, of course, understood, and the difference is not importent. ‘The important thing to remember is that while this year's budget is large, next year's budget, according to the five-year financial program, will de- crease by nearly four million dollars. ‘The year following there will be an increase of about a million dollars and & like increase for the fiscal year 1934, the fifth year of the five-year program. Auditor Donovan has based his sug- gested financial program on a tax rate of $1.70. “It is proposed,” he wrote, “to finance the expenditure of these large appropriations by maintaining the existing tax rate of $1.70 and by the United States continuing to pay the District of Columbia no more than its | present snnual contribution of $9,-| 000,000." As long as the five-year program is adhered to generally by the Commis- sloners and the Budget Bureau, it can be financed on the existing tax rate. The question is whether the five-year program will be followed. The five-year program lists a number of needed im- provem=nts, but it does not contemplate others. If others are included, there must be additional revenue to pay for them. But this additional revenue should not come from an increased tax rate. ‘The balance between available local revenue, under the existing tax rate, and that amount needed fully to finance capital expenditures for the District should be met by increasing the already inadequate lump sum. Thought should be given as to ways and means for reducing the District's tax rate. Tax reduction, not increased taxes, is the trend now. Those argu- ments for reducing taxes, so ably sounded recently by the President and congressional leaders, apply as well to the non-voting District of Columbia as to the fully Americanized residents of the States. | ———————— Perhaps it is as well for his peace of mind that the eminent optimist who invented the formula “Every day, in every we are getting better and better,” did not survive to get acquaint- ed with the proceedings of present-day grand juries. ) ““Wars, Past and Future.” With characteristic desire to enable the average man and woman to grasp! the intricacies of government, President | Hoover has just issued a vest pocket| edition of the 1930-31 budget. In four | graphic “groups” are set down all the| essential figures the taxpayer needs to know to permit easy comprehension of | the manner in which the Government spends its money. | Once upon & time Speaker “Crar”| Reed drawled his famous epigram that “this 15 & billion-dollar country.” The | occasion was & Representative’s com-| plaint about the size of the budxn.‘i President Hoover’s first budget shows that we are now nearly a four-billion- | dollar country, for the Federal expense account is only $170,000,000 short of | that figure. During the current fiscal | year it is only $24,000,000 below $4,000,- 000,000. | Obviously, because of the President’s | hope for retrenchment in expenditure on national defense and because it is far and away the heaviest item in the: budget, he brackets it alongside the public debt in Group T of his digest. Mr. Hoover does not himself make the anglysis, but others have been quick to figure out that “seventy-two per cent” of Federal expenditure in 1930-31 will be spert for “wars. past and future.” This percentage is represented by $759,709,895 payable to veterans of for- mer wars and $719,089,388 allocated to present military and naval needs, and by the principal and interest of the pub- lie debt, which totals $1,254,324,000. The heavy percentage of the budget annually devoted to the purposes just named is periodically pounced upon by professional’ enemies of preparedness. They eagerly exploit it for their own purposes, which aim at progressive weakening of the Naticn's defense es- < | sible American military authorities now e | that again will American soldiérs and sailors be called upon to fight in & state of organized unreadiness. President that Congress “consider earnestly how by prudent action” the defense bud- get can be curtailed. Action which re- sulted in imprudent curtailment can have but one resuit. some day our budget for *“wars, past and future” may run not to seventy- two but to a still higher per cent of our annual disbursements. special commissions to deal with gov- ernmental problems and problems that affect the individual citizen. He believes in having all the information possible peace-loving old Uncle Sam is, in fact, an addict to war—that he has squan- dered his substance on “past wars” and is continuing to waste it in getting ready for “future wars.” Nothing could be more unjust or misleading than such an interpretation. ‘To begin with, & $719,080,388 budget for existing national defense works out at roundly six dollars per capita of the Republic's 120,000,000 men, women and children. National defense is often, and quite appropriately, called national life insurance. It will hardly be con- tended that six dollars a head is an inordinate premium for the country to pay for insurance against damage or destruction by potential foes—either erature which bursts the bonds of Ianguage and becomes one of the price- less possessions of all tongues and all nations. It suffered in translation. It was characteristically German. Then came war and defeat, with its strange stirring of the springs of in- spiration. The German mind turned inwards to find refuge in its own inmost depths, and In doing so explored those cavernous paths in the German souw which led them to the soul of humanity. From this introspective process Mann emerged with “The Magic Mountain,” surely one of the outstanding produc- tions of modern literature—the embodi- ment of one of those rare fundamental Ideas in literature each of which con- from within or from without. There is another side to the “past and future wars” medal. All respon- alive, from Gen. Pershing down, and historians of the past as well, agree the United States has been plunged into all of its wars, from the Revolution to the World War, hideously unprepared. It is the joint judgment stitutes the nucleus of great masses of literature, In a sense “The Magic Mountain” hardly is & novel at all, but a work of philosophy. The framework is as sim- ple as could be imagined. A young German contracts tuberculosis and is sent to a sanitarium in the Alps, where he takes part in the conversations, amusements, hopes and despairs of of all these authorities that our wars were unnecessarily prolonged and corre- spondingly costlier in both life and treasure, because the Government was unable to wage them more effectively. The $759,799,805 earmarked in Pres- ident Hoover's budget digest for “vet- erans of former wars” tells its own tragic story, just as it depicts our grati- tude to the men who perpetuated the Union and their progeny who “kept it safe for democracy” eleven years ago. The way to guard against the future steady increase in pensions to “veterans of former wars,” is to see that never The people sympathize cordially with Hoover's recommendation It will mean that o Commissions. President Hoover is recommending fellow victims of this dreaded discase from all creeds, classes and walks of life, For seven years he lives in an atmosphere of physical and mental deterioration. Then he recovers and goes to war. The novel gets under way slow! ‘The very bulk of it sometimes proves discouraging to the reader. But once caught in that torrential stream of sclence and philosophy which sweeps across the cloud-washed moun- tain top, once acclimated to that strange relativity of time where years and moments become indistinguishable, there is no laying down the book until the end. One walks through haunted depths of the souls of men, beyond illusion, beyond space and beyond time. Far along the path Einstein has moved in science, Mann has gone in art and philosophy. These two names may well be paired as the great intel- lectual giants of post-war Germany, R Royalty's Autograph. A few days ago the Prince of Wales visited a high school in an English city and when he greeted the students of one of the classes a lad of fifteen asked him for his autograph. The prince patted the boy on his back and said: “I am very sorry, old man, I can't do it, because if I do I shall have to do it for the rest of the school.” Now this boy, who is a scholarship student of clearly in hand, to aid the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the Government in performing their func- tions, In some quarters this predilection of the President for the appointment of commissions has been criticized on the ground that it sets up a large number of new governmental agencies when the Government already has become com- plex and when Government depart- ments and commissions are overlapping in their work now. But the eriticism is not justified. The comunissions which President Hoover has appointed and those whose appointment he now rec- ommends are not in any sense executive agencies. They are merely for the gath- ering of information which is to be submitted either to the President or to Congress or to both for what action the circumstances may demand. This is & vastly different thing from setting up an independent commission with au- thority to act in either an executive or a judicial capacity. It is against the enlargement of the number of such commissions that President Hoover and other men in public life have frequently inveighed. The list of these commis- sions, created by law, is long. Mr. Hoover, in his message tc Con- gress at the opening of its session this week, recommends the appointment of & number of new commissions. most all instances, however, these com- missions are to be temporary, appointed to perform & certain task, to formulate their recommendations and report, and then pass out of existence, be the commissions which he recom- In al- Such would mends for the study of the country's banking laws, for the study of the Hal- tian problem and to dispose of Muscle Shoals. He is frankly opposad to the setting up of further independent and permanent governmental commissions or new Government departments. Certainly, in the President’s opinion, no new permanent Government agen- cles should be created until after there shall have been a reorganization of the present agencies, with duties and func- tions distributed among them in more orderly fashion. One of the President's most important recommendations to Congress in his message dealt with such & reorganization. Two principles, the President sald, should govern a reor- ganization: First, all administrative ac- tivities of the same major purpose should be grouped under a single ex- ecutive head. Second, all executive and administrative functions should be removed from boards and commissions and placed under individual responsi- bility, while all quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial functions and advisory functions should be taken from indi- vidual authority and placed under boards and commissions. These are sound principles, designed to bring about better administration of the Gov- ernment, ‘Whether Congress will agree with the President that the executive should go ahead with a reorganization of the Gov- ernment departments and agencles along the lines suggested remains to be seen. Mr, Hoover is ready to tackle the task, with the 2id of a joint committee of Congress, or under certain reserva- tions of power of revision laid down by the Congress. Congress itself has so far failed to deal with the matter for many reasons, although for a score of years it has been apparent that some- thing should be done. o When & public leader commends “Work" as a solution of economic prob- lems, it is not necessarily to be assumed that he refers invariably to Dr. Hubert. | — e | Thomas Mann, There will be little criticism of the | award of this year's Nobel prize in t- | erature to Thomas Mann. Nor will this recognition add greatly to the fame of the author of “The Magic Mountain,” | the outstanding intellectual and artistic | figure of that remarkable renaissance of letters which has been a phenomenon of the post-war psychology of Germany. Mann's previous work, such as “Bud- denbrooks,” placed him in the fore- front of contemporary novelists. It high standing, has been suspended from the school for what the headmaster characterizes as “a gross breach of discipline and a grave impropriety to his royal highness.” The boy says that he had been dared by his classmates to ask for the autograph. His father has written to the Prince of Wales, ask- ing him to inform the headmaster whether or not he was annoyed by the incident. In all likelihood Albert Edward was not annoyed and will so state to the headmaster of the school and will re- quest the reinstatement of the boy in his classes. He probably does not look upon the respectful request of the lad as a “grave impropriety.” And it is impossible for us on this side of the Atlantic to see anything wrong in the act of this young Briton. An American schoolboy would assuredly not be dis- ciplined for asking the President of the United States for his autograph. In- deed, autograph hunting is one of the chief American pastimes, especially among the young. —————— ‘Work 1s essential to the maintenance of a sound business structure. Care should be taken to avoid the kind of activity that overworks the stock ticker. o The King of Italy visited the Pope of Rome. Meanwhile “This is my busy day!” continued its regular service as the motto of Mussolini. S Members of the Byrd Antarctic ex- pedition are having a superabundance of Christmas scenery, but only a limited share of the season’s festivities, —_—eeies ‘The Soviets having discovered a new kind of trouble insist on & sort of pro- prietary right to manage it in their own way. . SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNEON. ‘Woes of Others. My sorTows cause me grief intense; I wonder at their size immense, 1 magnify each pain or ache, And every loss I have to take, Of sympathy I need a lot— My troubles cannot be forgot, 1 say, as cruel Fate I blame, “This life is an infernal shame!” But when another would profess His wrath at life's unloveliness, And show its record so replete With thefts and fires and deep deceit, I try to tell him it's a joke To be half sick and wholly broke, I sald, “We know it's just too bad— But smile, my friend, and don't be sad!"” Common Error, “Your constituents expect a great deal of you.” “A very great deal,” Senator Sorghum replied sadly. “They appear to think that ‘Senator’ is dnother name for Santa Claus.” | Jud Tunkins says maybe fashions | cause divorces by changing appearances 50 often that & man is constantly com- pelled to get acquainted all over again. Natural Product, ‘The icy bough in bright array Puts frozen rainbows on display— The Wintry scene prepares with glee To decorate a Christmas tree, Endurance. “You heard me sing over the radio?" “Yes,” answered Miss Cayenne, “that microphone is & wonderful instrument. It looks so fragile and yet is able to stand so much!” “It is better sometimes to laugh,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “and so avoid the responsibilities of serious speech.” Another of Those Accidents. The soda water tank gave way, And, just as it exploded, I heard the salesman sadly say, “I didn't know ‘twas loaded!" “De way & lucky gambler struts,’ id THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. ‘The Order of Screen Slammers has ld%;umed for the Winter. ost of the screen doors have come down, to be brushed free from dirt and dust and placed away in basement or_attic. Enough of them remain, however, to cause the sound of their slamming to be heard in the city. ‘The Order of Screen Slammers has no handclasp, as have other groups of dear brothers in the various and assort- ed_bonds of fellowship. Nor has it any jeweled pins. No whistle has it, nor flower, nor banner with mystic letters written large thereon. All it has is a sound, but what a sound! * ok ok x Is there any noise more excruciat- ing than the lusty whanging of & back door screen in the hands of a deter- mined man, woman or small boy? It is not so much the noise thereof as_the inevitableness of it. Some whole families make a specialty of slamming the screen door. ‘There even are children who run persistently from front to rear doors, manfully slamming the screens “just for fun,” and then gallop back in re- verse order, giving the door a push each time and each way. Most people who belong to this Order, however, slam screens because it is a part of their inner nature to do so. The mystic end of the matter we leave to the experts. There are many persons who somehow get more truth out of a thought when they have a funny-looking hat on than when they merely read it in a book in their own study. These folk are able to explain the mystic, We deal with facts, and, so dealing, assert and declare that members of the Order of Screen Slammers merrily slam screens all Spring and Summer long because it is a part of their vital por- tion to do so. ¢ * o ok Nothing so sets them up for any task they have to do as the whang-bang of a good solid screen smacking back against the door framing. It is impossible for these people to ease a door to, so that it comes softly to rest. “Ease” and “softly” are not only not in their vocabularies, but not even thought of. If a person knew about quiet ways, he might sometime come to make some use of them, but if they are utterly out- side the scope of his brain he will do nothing but slam things. Thus we see people crashing auto- mobile doors, honking horns, turning on radio sets so that the loud speakers rattle and blare, yelling and whooping at all hours, even talking so loudly that all the families in the neighborhood know what they are going to have for dinner, and why that last pair of shoes Was a size too small, and how the clerk was told they were too small, but would not listen, ‘There are just three degrees in the Order of Screen Slammers, but the trio is enough. 1If there were any more the police would come in. These three de- grees are the Ordinary, the Happy and the Angry. Slamming in Ordinary is what John- ny d Johnny is merely & neophyte, or whatever one is when he is initiated. Johnny “belongs,” because he slams with a right good will on each and every occasion. John wins membership because he never once fails. The true Slammer never fails to slam. By that slam you shall know him. If but once a year some one,” he would be bounced from the Order. EE John is merely & youngster, after all, so he must wait to “grow up” before he can be put through the second and third degrees. The Happy Degree is just what its name indicates. Only those cross the hot desert to the imperial throne who, man or woman, can slam screen doors as happlly as children. ‘That i8 how it gets its name. If Brother J. Lammington Mitts in- variably permits the screen door to close with a crash, he is sought out and in- v;wg to partake in the mysteries of the “and. If Sister Olympia Mitts never fails to do the same with the screen at the back door, every time she carries out the garbage, or goes to the garage— how strange that only one small “b” makes the difference!—she becomes one of the elect. * % k% It is only in the third, or Angry De- gree, that the full virtues of the Order shine forth, however, ‘Then, if ever, come mighty slams. To receive this crown, one must not only slam with a will, as Johnny does, and with persistence, as do Mr. and Mrs. Mitts, but the candidate must show that he means business. He must be mad, in other words. Nothing so conduces to good screen door slamming as anger. If a house- wife can work up a good grudge against her husband, or her neighbors, she can put real feeling into the most inert screen, The acme of slamming comes when a couple will not speak. This once was a common phenomenon in the small towns of America. There wasn't a town of 1,500 population that did not have at least two or three households in which the inmates never spoke to each other at all. One might cook the meals for the other, but neither spoke. They ate in silence, slept in silence, lived in silence. They slammed well. * Xk X % ‘Today life has taken on merrier aspects. People, more sophisticated, do not go to such extremes. But still men and women become angry, and when they do the screen doors rejoice. Slamming must be the Paradise of screens. Any well bullt door would r“helrthbe slammed to than carefully noise in the world, one may sure. Listen to them rattle back and forth for & few times, as if reluctant to cease. Although most doors are down for the Winter, many are left up by the wise. Thece are the scorners of the Order of Screen Slammers. They “do not belong.” Members say they are jealous. The outsiders declare that they leave them up to keep out canvassers, and that to be effective a screen door in Winter must be kept locked or hooked. Then when the agent grabs the handle and starts to step in, a blank look comes over his face. No doubt he is annoyed, because he is & Screen Slammer at home, WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Plans for American recognition of Soviet Russia have probably been knocked into a cocked hat by Moscow's “rebuke” of the Hoover administra: tion’s attempts to mobilize the Kellogg- Briand co-signatories on behalf of peace in China. Neither Moscow's lan in accusing the United States of “an unfriendly act” nor Washington's re- Jjoinder that this country intends to “shape its own policy” is the kind of compliment exchanged between govern- ments about to kiss and make up. For many weeks past there have been more or less circumstantial indications that resumption of Russo-American diplo- matic relations was in the offing. Had Russia met Washington's peace over- tures half way, instead of offensively rejecting them, it's just possible that Soviet stock on the Potomac would have gone up with a boom. Instead, it's had a slump which compares favorably witih a Wall Street crash. If Secretary Stim- son ever did have any notion of re- nouncing the Russian boycott consist- ently maintained by Secretaries Colby, Hughes and Kellogg, it's altogether like- ly that his heart is beating in the other direction now. * k% % Mabel Walker Willebrandt's book “The Inside of Prohibition” is just off the press. Nothing in it will "attract more attention than this passage in the preface: I have been portrayed as a bigot who incited Protestants to vote against Gov. Smith, a Catholle, because of his religious belief. * * * The now famous address at Springfield, Ohlo, which came to be known as “The Speech to the Methodists” * * contained no attack on any religion, or any church, or any candidate be- cause of his religion or church, nor did it have a statement containing the remotest suspicion of such a thing. Furthermore, I made the speech at the request of the Repub- lican national committee—and not as a free-lance. In fact, I wired the committee asking twice to be ex- cused from speaking. But I was urged by the committee in two tele- grams (which I still have in my files) to fill the engagement, as Gov. Smith had made prohibition so im- portant aw issue of the campaign. The week before the speech was de- livered every word of it was care- fully edited at_headquarters by James Francis Burke, a Catholic and counsel of the Republican na- tional committee. ok ok % At this witching hour in Far Eastern affairs there is in Washington one of the world's great authorities on that tortuous subject—an American, Thomas F. P. Millard, adviser to the Chinese Nationalist government. Mr. Millard has lived in the Orient for many years. He is best known as the founder and editor of the China Press, at Shanghai, and later as the founder of Millard's Review there. Millard’s activities in China followed a long and brilliant ca- reer as a Wwar correspondent all over the world. He was an unofficial adviser to the Chinese delegation at the Paris | Peace Conference in 1919, and subse- uently at League of Nations meetings o "Geneva. " Tast Spring Nationalist China engaged Millard as its official adviser. He has spent most of his time since then in the United States and Enrope. Recently he accompanied Dr. Wu, Chinese Minister at Washington, to the League Assembly in Switzerland, * * Uncle Sam is about to extend an of- ficlal welcome at the water's edge to the distinguished statesmen who will principally represent Japan at the Lon- don naval conference—Messrs. Wakat- suki and Tekarabe., They are due at Seattle within a_ week. for arrival in Washington on December 16. At the Pacific's shore Nippon's envoys will be met by Joseph W. Ballantine of the Far Eastern division of the State De- partment, who has been specially depu- tized by Secretary Stimson to escort Messrs. Wakatsuki and Takarabe across the continent. High officials of the Navy Department will be at Seattle to greet M. Takarabe, Japan's naval min- ister. Mr. Ballantine for several years was “Japanese secretary” of the Ameri- can embassy in Tokio—that is, the Japa- | nese-speaking attache. He will be able to chaperon Messrs, Wakatsuki and Uncle Eben, “looks like he was tryin’ to take credit for sumpin’ accidentally tablishment afield, afloat and aloft. was, however, still far short of attain- done by de dica" Takaral Washington State and Washington City with conversational charm and fluency thelr own tongue. Ballantine was age | t across the open Spaces ‘twixt | born in India of American parents. He's an Amherst mnn.‘ _— * Mrs. Hoover gove a graphic illustra- tion of her democratic and unassuming ways at a public function in Washing- on this week. The occasion was the opening matinee of Mrs. Lawrence ‘Townsend's musical season. A box was reserved for the First Lady of the Land, but she arrived at the concert just be- fore it began, took a modest place with & woman companion in almost the rear- most Tow of the large hall, and insisted on remaining there until end. Then Mrs, Hoover slipped away quietly. There was no more simply clad woman in the whole audience of the Capital's femi- nine and fashionable elite. Both Mrs. Hoover and the President are cultured music lovers, * x X Ambassador Dwight Morrow's 1030 campaign for the Republican senatorial nomination in New Jersey promises to introduce a brand-new note into the primary politics of the Mosquito State. His distinction and popularity in Jersey are such, his friends say, that he can afford the innovation of a wholly inex- pensive contest—especially if Son-in-law “Lindy” flles him to his meetings. “Cheap” campaigns are something of a novelty in New Jersey. Ordinarily dollars roll generously when one of its Republicans hankers for a senatorial toga. Last year's primary’scrap among a trio of Jersey millionaires—Kean, Frelinghuysen and Stokes—was far from being a piker's affair. At one time it interested the Senate campaign funds Investigating committee. If former Sen~ ator “Joe” Frolinfiluysrn. who will go to the mat with Morrow, cares to say it with dollars he can go the limit of the l]aw—and then some, for the ruddy- faced glant of distinguished Dutch- American ancestry is sald to be worth upward of $10,000,000. * Rk K Senator Arthur Capper, Republican, of Kansas has become a current events broadcaster. He now takes the air regularly Tuesday forenoons from sta- tion WMAL at Washington, the Na- tlonal Capital link of the Columbia Broadcasting System, to discuss matters of the moment. Capper owns a big broadcasting station of his own at To- Eekm He has mastered the art of being imself before the microphone and “gets across” to the radio audience by refraining from any attempts at spell- binding. “Timely Topics” is the title of the Kansas statesman's Tuesday tintinnabulations. (Copyright, 1929.) s German Resort Junks Trolleys for Busses From the St. Louls Post-Dispatch. Wiesbaden, famous German health | resort city, population 90,000, scrapped its street car system last April and sub- stituted motor busses. Although the minimum fare is 15 pfennigs (about 4 cents), cheaper by 5 pfennigs than the 1 fare in the neighboring cities of Frank- | fort and Mainz, the first six months of operation shows a net profit of approxi- mately $50,000. In addition to other superiorities, the Wiesbaden bus line has a total length more than twice that of the junked street car system. Wiesbaden, like Wolverhampton, Eng- land, and other medium-sized cities, is writing new. lrlmrortnlnn history. Because of the smaller volume of pas- sengers it is relatively simple for cities of 200,000 or less to take the step that must sooner or later be taken by larger cities—that is, to remove from crowded streets traffic running on fixed ralls. As Le Corbusier, the French architect, points out, “The surface car has no right to exist in the heart of the modern | city.” There simply isn't room for it. e One-Horse * Advantage. | Prom the New Castle News. 0Old Dobbin had it over the motor car in this particular: If he was stolen, thieves couldn't obliterate his engine number. -vons. Foot Ball Rules Stiffer. | From the Buftalo Evening News. In view of the changes made this year in the foot ball rules, it takes some { degree of intelligence, if not of scholar- ip, to play the game., Traffic Rules Not Fully | Enforced in Washington To the Editor of The Star: An article in Monday's Star attributes Washington's relatively low street and highway fatality rate in large measure to enforcement of the traffic regulations. How long is The Star going to be a party to the fiction that our traffic lations are well enforced? |he were to think, “This may annoy | bod; reasonably familiar with our regulations knows that there is scarcely any en- {grcement whatever of a large part of e code. Yes, the police bear down hard on the intoxicated driver and the hit-and- run man, who have few friends. They make abortive attempts to enforce an unenforceable and unreasonable abso~ lute speed limit that is contrary to all modern thought in speed restrictions. They flit about é)\ltflnfl chalk marks on car wheels, and some of the knights of the chalk have so little conception of the purpose of parking rules that they have been seen chalking cars parked on crosswalks and cars parked directly un- der signs indicating that any parking at that spot and moment is unlawful. But how many persons are convicted in a year, or brought to trial even, for double parking, parking on crosswalks, in bus stops, near hydrants or in other forbidden places, for running through safety zones, for making right turns against stop signals, for falling to grant the right of way to pedestrians on cross- walks, for continuing after the red light comes on and starting before it goes off —“jumping the lights"? Yet all of these things are going on con- stantly, often under the very noses of officers. And because operators are able to get away with such obvious vio- lations, they indulge in numerous less easily detected but dangerous violations, fuch as overtaking on the right, crowd= ing out other operators oyertaken, fail- ing to give hand signals—in short, mak- ing it a gamble whether the law-abid- ing citizen awheel or afoot will reach his destination alive. Last Summer for two months we hed some real enforcement, with overem- phasis on speed, and motoring Wash~ ington developed the closest approxi- mation to respect for the law that has been in evidence for years. They have lonfi since seen that this drive was a flash in the pan and have torn up their coples of the traffic regulations. ‘Washington's relatively low death rate can probably be ascribed mainly to two things—wide streets with open view and the comparative absence of industrial trucking. The record is really nothing to brag about, since every one of the 70 or 80 fatalities per year, and of the thousands of serious injuries not men- tioned in your article, was probabl; preventable. Such as the record is, venture the belief that it could be cut | rious in half with real enforcement. CHARLES W. STARK. Give the Squirrels Something to Eat To the Editor of The Star: Now that the starling is recelving rough treatment from the citizens of the District of Columbia, may I make a plea for the squirrels of the city. We have all stopped at one time or another to give a peanut or other bits of food to these small rodents, and ad- mire their grace and beauty. There is not an animal of the District so well known and admired by these bushy- tailed creatures. But do we sto] think of the struggle they put forth to obtain a living? Nature has not been kind to the squirrels this season, as there are few acorns, or other nuts upon which they may feed. The passerby in a park may give an occasional nut to a squirrel, but this ration is irregular. This situation is alarming to the citizens, as well as to our small animal friends. They may migrate to the tall timber, and find the same conditions, and probably perith. Cannot something be done in the food line for these little fellows? Will it not be possible for groups, asscciations and individuals to scatter at regular intervals & goodly food supply through- out our many beautiful parks? We do not want to lose them, and a little effort may help. MALCOLM DAVIS. Asks Ballou to Give Free Text Book Data To _the Bditor of The Star: In view of the fact that it seems like- ly that that bill for free high chool text books will be passed at this session of Congress, would it not be well for the Board of Education or for Mr. Ballou to explain publicly just what they ex- 't to accomplish by furnishing free Xt books? ‘They have asked for a considerable sum of money for this purpose, and be- fore it is appropriated it seems to me that the un&-y.n should be informed of the possible return on the invest- ment. ‘Will some one kindly explain the urgent need for this investment? B. J. COLLINS. South Carolina Wants To See ““Cheap Money” From the Charleston, 8. C., Evening Post. er's up public works in an effort to the wheels of business turning. of them have in the past few yeas entered upon highway programs e: ceeding anything in their previous his- tory. Besides road bullding there is not much they can do to comply with the presidential request, but the road- building program in itself should be sufficient to satisfy any expectations Mr. Hoover has of this group of States. Alabama is spending $50,000,000 on highways, Arkansas $15,000,000, Ken- tucky $28,000,000, Tennessee $25,000,- 000, Louisiana $5,000,000, Virginia $13,~ 000,000, South Carolina $65,000,000—a total of $201,000,000 for the seven States named. Twenty years ago a prediction that this group of States would be spending two hundred millions on high- ways now would have been called ab- surd, with the prize for extravagant imagination given to the man who said South Carolina would be leading all the States with $65,000,000. In the midst of all the satisfaction over the showing, however, it will be well to inquire whether the assurances of official and unofficlal wise men that this is the time of times for construc- tion work because much cheap money is available for it are borne out by the facts. If they are, South Carolina will be duly grateful. As matters now stand, the prospects are that this State will not get cheap money for its high- way work. The prospects are, moreover, that the issuance of great quantities of highway bonds by this State will unduly depress the price of its outstanding bonds, to the heavy loss of the at number of South Carolina individuals and institutions that have invested in ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Any reader can get the answer to any question by to our Infor- mation Bureau in Washington, D. C. This offer applies strictly to informa- tion. The bureau cannot give advice on legal, medical and financial matters. It does not attempt to settle domestic troubles nor undertake exhaustive re- search on any subject. Write your question glnlnly and briefly. Give full name and address and inclose 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. The reply is sent direct to the inquirer. Address The Evening Btar Information Bureau, Prederic J. ‘Washington, D. C. Q. How long has the Marine Band been broadcasting?-—-M. E. T. A. It _has been broad ing since 1023, It now broadcasts twice weekly. Q. Is_swordfish becoming & popular food fish?>—C. N. b A. In New England this fish is par- ticularly popular, These fish weigh from 200 to 700 pounds. The fish is cut into steaks which are usually broil- ed or fried. Q. How deep do sponge divers in the Mediterranean and pearl divers off Australis work?—L. V. 8, A. The sponge divers work at s maxi- mum depth of 150 feet, with short stays at the bottom. The pearl divers work at depths of about 120 feet. Q. What is the difference between mo- hair “tnd velours in upholstery? — L.EM. A. Mohair is made from the hair of Angora goats, with wool sometimes added. Velours may be a mixture of cotton and wool, cotton and silk or all ‘wool. The pile of mohair is longer and stiffer and the material has better wearing qualities. Q. Please explain the ing on the n?—W. A. Bowls is a game played upon & smooth plece of turf. The players ar- range themselves in sides usually of three or four each and each man is provided with two bowls. The bowls are made of lignumvitae wood of - fl' of bowl- :, Q. Why is K street in Washington, D. O, so much wider than the other lettered ?—W. M. A. In 1792 or 1763 a bridge was con- structed across Rock Creek extending from K street, and the theory of making K street as wide as Pennsylvania ave- nue was that a great de-.lfln! Q. Are silkworms kept on mulberry trees or are the worms merely fed on mulberry leaves?—P. O, A. They are carefully kept within confined areas and are fed on cut mul- berry leaves. Q. Which Presidents were elected by * the House of Representatives?—H. D. A. Two Presidents have been electe by the House of Representatives— Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and John %ilncy Adams in 1824, The Hayes- den controversy was decided by an electoral commission. Q. When was Tryggvesson King of Norway?—M. R. A. Olay I ‘.rrx was King of Norway from 989-1000. He began his career in exile, fought for the Emperor Otho III and frequently raided the coast of France and the British Isles until he became converted to Christianity. He went to N and was accepted as, King in 995. He immediatel; an to convert the country to Christianity. , Olav was defeated in battle by the com- bined Swedish and Danish fleets. He fought to the last on his great ship known as the Long Snake, and finally leaped overboard and was seen no more. After his death he became the hero of his people who constantly looked for his return. . What companies in this coun- anulutunp:lll‘encm for guns?— L L. H. A. Silencers for firearms are no longer manufactured in this country. Q. When ’6 faa :en time to plant A the Departient of Agriculture Vary: ing size and weight, nearly round and with a bias to one side. A smaller bowl, generally s perfect sphere and white, is placed at one end of the bowling green. This is termed the jack | ha: and the aim of the Phgrl who stand at the other end of the green is to send their bowls so that they lie as near as ble to the jack. The side whose bowls are nearest reckons one point for each bowl 80 placed. Va- scores make the game, g to mutual agreement beforehand. Q. How many weeks will the calendar have wmg‘ Russia proposes to adopt? —D. M. B. A. The Russian government, accord- ing to late dispatches, i8 considering a new calendar which shall consist of 73 ‘weeks of five days each. Q. Are Negroes admitted to the uni- versities abroad?—M. G. The European universities draw that the Fall season is desirable ;:r’.l transplanting or starting evergreens. Q. What places in the United States ve form of government?— G. R. B, A. Certaln incorporated villages be- low the rank of cities in four States are known as boroughs. The States are Connecticut, New Jersey, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, A further extension of the term * h” was made by the New York ure in 1897 in ref- erence to the city of ‘Greater New York, which has the five boroughs of Man- hattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Richmond. the contents disturbed and some plun- dering done. This happened not more than 15 years after the original burial no color line in admitting students who are otherwise qualified. Q. In what way was Anneke Jans re- lated to Dutch royalty?—L. I. S. A. The maiden name of Anneke Jans was Anneke Webber. Willilam the Bilent %01 is traditionally credited with & clandes- tin® marriage by which he had two children, whom he christened Wolfert and Sarah Webber. Wolfert Webber married Catherine Jonas, by whom he had three children, one of whom was Anneke, She first married Jan Roeloft duced in Alaska a»\:‘:ce we acquired the id produced in Alaska 'm%mber“;, 1928, was valued at Q. What university first offered ex- tension courses?—E. F. W. . When Dr. Willlam R. Ha be- came president of Chicago University in 1891 he arranged for such & division. It offered courses conducted by regular members of the faculty, who planned Jansen; her second husband was Ever- ardus Bogardus. the lessons, graded the papers and as- signed credit for the work done. The luster of romance in Richard Byrd's achievements naturally outshines, in the eye of most observers, the more serious phases of his South Pole flight and other explorations, but along with the hero's tributes there is a generous share of deeply appreciative comment of the contribution to science. “No famous military leader,” accord- ing to the New York Times, “ever planned more carefully a critical battle than did Byrd his fight with ice and cold and storm and darkness, waiting for the day when the crown of his en- deavor would be within his grasp. Make no mistake about this. We have not the record of a sudden, haphazard dash for the South Pole, but the nicely cal- culated reaching of an end fore- seen and set out for in the cool spirit of a scientist. It was adventure, to be sure, but adventure deliberately worked :})’ut in advance and timed to the very our.” “‘He has earned the title of ‘knight of the air,” the ice and the snow,’” de- clares the Albany Evening News, with the tribute that “Byrd and his com- panions have the gratitude of all na- tions and they will be given full honor through all time.” The St. Louis Post- Dispatch points out that “it was an in- finitely _greater achievement than his North Pole flight, for the farthest north int is in a frozen sea, while the South ole is on a plateau 10,000 feet high, with jagged mountains much higher to menace the daring aviator.” e He ton Chronicle exclaims: “Gallant fig- ures, Byrd and his friends of high ad- venture, pressing chilled faces against the cabin windows of their sky cruiser, looking out over the cold land which lies on the roof of the world, death ever at their elbow in country uninhabited by human or beast!™ “It was as if these four men of the twentieth century,” suggests the New York Evening Post, “had been thrown back into the ice age. To them, from on high, was given a sight of earth as it must have looked before the fair green lands had -merffl. Range upon range of unnamed, unknown, unreason- able mountains; tumbled glaciers and snow flelds; mist and storm; eternal cold; hopeless, inhuman conditions such as the moon or Mars may hold today; these were the things revealed to them as their plane thrummed its stopless journey.” The Asheville Times remarks that “such leaders as Byrd in all the ages have lifted the human spirit above the ordinary levels of initiative and filled the souls of men with insatiable hunger for great deeds in all the flelds [of human enterprise”; that “if the time ever comes when there are no Colum- buses, Galileos, Pearys, Luthers, Byrds and Edisons, this planet, for all the urposes of high and adventurous live ing, may as well fly off its orbit and lose its inhabitants in the shoreless ocean of space.” “No_romance left in life?>" asks the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, “Oh, air, what can you be thinking of? A leak in the gas tank—a loss of fuel intended their State's obligations. If there is to be cheap money for construction work, the States should trade for it and get their roadbuilding funds at the lowest possible rates. The average man thinks little of the rate his government has to pay for money, but he Is the one who loses by high rates. If South Carolina issues bonds to the amount of $65,000,000, the difference between 4 per cent and 5 per cent is $650.000 a vear in interest. If, morover, the State has to pay as high as 5 per cerrw ce’:tr ,l:a a?nd money, or even 4[‘11' pel > it will probably mean that the outstanding bonds will sell to yleld simi- ll';:llyn h]'s: rl!;s. wh!c}; in '.ul’!lf :'l‘ll a Sharp drop in the price of the old State issues, held to a very large extent in South Carolina. South Caro- lina is complying handsomely with the appeal of big business for large spend- ing. It is to be ho big business will reciprocate with the cheap money it says 18 available in such vast quantities. — e Chicago Progresses. From the Plorence (Ala.) Herald Chicago will celebrate a entury of progress.” chine gun, From tomahawk to ma- for the return trip—a forced landing. Romance? Adventure? Isn't it there? A frozen magneto—quick repairs all around—engines warmed up to go on. No_adventure there? Your children and your grandchildren will ‘tell you different.” For romance is not merely something to ‘paint at full length peo- ple's wooings.’ It is & brilliant twilight- | softened borderland between things ' hoped for and things achieved. Or, as the dictionary styles it, ‘a blending of the heroic, the marvelous, the mys terfous and the imaginative in “Others may wrangle over.whether the lands explored by Byrd belong to England, or the United States, or France, or the Scandinavian countries,” says the Jersey City Journal, “but none can argue about the glory of the ad- venture itself, nor about the double crown of fame to which Byrd is now entitled as the only man who has ever flown over both the North Pole and the South Pole’ The Worcester Eve- ning Gazette states that “there is much to marvel at and much to admire in Comdr. B; nterprise”; that “plenty America Hails Comdr. Byrd Knight of Air, Ice and Snow and fur back the big majority of us.” The Asbury Park Evening Press thinks that “in its spectacular qualities the flight apparently has no equal.” “Instead of having been lost to civi- lization for weeks and months,” com. ments the Charlotte Observer, “Ex. plorer Byrd turned up in the morning pers with an expedition completed.” 'he Columbia State also el‘:ehlnl.‘l the fact that “such world-shaking events were formerly weeks or months in be- coming known,” while the Topeka Daily Capital asserts that “the success of Comdr, B{rd is hnrreulve testimony of the capabilities of the airplane,” and the Indianapolis News sees interest in the expedition “because it has not been out of touch with civilization except for short intervals since it started.” “Byrd is a ploneer, not in the old sense of breaking new ground,” advises the Springfield Republican, “but in the new sense of appl. modern methods and to old problems,” and that paper calls it “perhaps the most notable example of organized explora- tion that the world has seen.” The Charleston (8. C.) Evening Post points to the outstanding characteristics of the enterprise: “How far exploration has been advanced by the inventions of the past 26 years is {llustrated by the fact that Comdr. Byrd made the flight to and returned from the South Pole with- in less than 24 hours, and was in com- munication with New York at every stage of the voyage. Very different this from the terrific toll of Amundsen’s march to the South Pole and the long time that elapsed after his return, be- fore news of the achievement reached clvghmtlom;’ “Three , 1t seems to us,” says the Omaha Worr'f!-}'lenm. “stand a’un as F:e-omlnene features of this flight aside the exhibition of high adventure on the part of those who participated in it. It was a supreme achievement of aviation, it was a triumph of thorough- ness of preparation, and it was no less a supreme achievement of radio.” The Kansas Oity Times holds that “in the hands of Comdr. Byrd and his asso- clates, the airplane has become an in- strument of almost unlimited promise for explorations in the polar regions nmn:i xfi’rhen?'ns Journeys elsewhere about “What can Comdr. Byrd do next th: will not be an anti-climax £ what Re already has accomplished?” asks the N (Utah) Standard-Examiner, While the Ann Arbor Daily News, with the tribute that “he has never faileq to accomplish what he set out to ac- complish,” adds t) as a combination of reliability, common sense, bravery :::13 Ppower for humaln progress, he oc- les & unique position.” The Fort Worth Record-Telegram avers that he “has earned the right to a classification near the top of the list of those famous for polar exploration,” and the Pitts- bui Post-Gazette lauds “the Byra courage” as proverbial. “Dick Byrd, {Arls comrades and his lronmn can list a dozen econtributions the expedition will make to human knowledge,” declares the Richmond News Leader. “Some of these may be substantial. But if the ship came back to New York with no log and no records, there still would be hundreds Americans who would fldly volunteer to take her back to tarctica the next day. Something very deep in its nature makes youth :hullgn danger on the rim of the s Business Getting Bad. From the Indianapolis News SRR R ree n] al - tract any attention. e First One's Seldom Used. n;;-;' the Janesville Daily Gazette, 08¢ new speed cars have two < one before m?fn. the pedumnxll‘o:l;r one to honk gleefully afterward. e It's Worth Debating. YT of endurance and plenty of courage— both in uncommon measure—are easen- tial”; and that paper concludes, “The self-denial involved 18 enough to stagger Prn;‘-"ln‘:‘ Saginaw Datly Ne: e Senate might take a vote to prryd 2 decide which e §roup—if any. Q. "ow much gold has been pro- %' . ‘ )