Evening Star Newspaper, December 9, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY......December 9, 1029 THEODORE W. NOYES. ...Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company ‘Business Office: 11th St. and Penns)‘l\‘:r‘!l\ Ave Rate by Carrier Within the City. e Evenine St 45c Ler month e Evenin days) 60c per month The Evening And. Suniday Siar e Evening And Sunday Sis (Shen 5 Aundays) . 65¢ per month L3¢ per copy o nd of eacl Orde be sent in by mail or tel NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virgirgs, ally and Sunday.....1yr. $10 0U: 1 mo. iy only .. $8.60: 1 m junday only 1yr. 1yr. $4.00: 1 mo All Other States an Dally and Sunday..lyr.s #1y only 1vr unday only d Canada. 12.00; 1. Member of the Associated Press. “The Associated Press Is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news cis- patches credited to it or not otherwise cred. d in this paper and aiso .he local news iblished herein. All rights of publication of al dispatches herein are also reserven. The World Court. President Hoover has authorized the American charge d'affaires in Switzer- land to affix the signature of the United States Government to the protocol of the World Court. Ratification by the Senate will be required formally and finally to effectuate our entry into the court. Mr. Hoover's action was fore- shadowed in his message to Congress last week, though it ensues sooner than expected. The President intimated that he would seek Senate confirmation of his proposal at “some convenient moment.” The ratifying vote will bs on the now celebrated “Root formula,” modifying the reservations attacked by the Senate on January 27, 1926. By the over- whelming vote of 76 to 17, the Senate approved American adhesion to the court under conditions guaranteeing the United States, on the one hand, against League of Nations comniitments, and, on the other, against subjection to ad- visory opinions on disputes of American concern. It was Senate reservation No, 5, de- barring the court from rendering opinions on issues “in which the United States has or claims an interest,” at which other court members demurred. ‘Thereupon, with the full knowledge and assent of the State Department under the Coolidge administration, negotia- tions were initiated at Geneva, from which finally emerged the “Root for- mula.” The kernel of the fcrmula, for which the veteran American statesman-jurist and former Secretary of State and of War is primarily responsible, is regarded by the Washington Government as an irrevocable safeguard of every American interest that can conceivably be affect- ed by World Court procedure. “If the ‘United States is involved in any dispute or controversy to whateyer degree with another country,” Secretary Stimson points out in his letter to President Hoover unreservedly recommending the action to be taken this day, “that mat- ter cannot be brought before the World Court without the consent of the United States, even for the purpose of obtain- ing an advisory opinion.” America, in short, retains a cast-iron veto power on any and all occasions. We can take our causes into the court or not, wholly as we please. We cannot by any rule, whim or order of the court be brought into it against our sovereign will. We remain, after joining the court on our own terms, What we are today, master indisputable in our own house. ‘To read any other possibility, contin~ gency or danger into the steps Presi- dent Hoover has directed is to build & purely imaginary bogey. That scare- crow was reared by our irreconcilables nearly seven years ago, when President Harding and Secretary Hughes first proposed American adherence to the ! service to the larger transatlantic liners 80 that in favorable conditions conver- sations can be carried on between land stations and staterooms of ships 1,500 miles distant from shore, or about two and a half days’ sailing from New York. The rate for this service will be from $7 to $11 a minute, according to the location of the shore station. This telephonic connection is but an extension of the radio service, which has already permitted constant and intimate communication between ships at sea and shere stations. The modern traveler with the radio has been enabled to keep in close touch with his business affairs while crossing the ocean. Now he can do even better. | He can actually direct detailed trans- actions by word of mouth, giving his orders and receiving his acknowledg- | ments with assurance of privacy. This present service is to extend only to 1,500 miles, but there is no reason to conclude, that such will remain the limit of actual telephonic operation. Every development in communication has steadily progressed beyond initial boundaries of distance, and it may he assumed that with successive improve- | ments in the mechanism, resulting from the incessant experiments that are con- ducted in laboratories, the limit will be extended until a steamship can be reached by phone at any point in its voyage, until it actually touches the farther shore. ' ——————— Pennsylvania Politics. William 8. Vare, Republican boss of Philadelphia, has again demonstrated his political sagacity. The veteran was never slow to see an opening. His announcement, made immediately after his rejection by the Senate and upon his return to Philadelphia, that he would make another fight for the Senate, has backed the Mellon-Fisher- Grundy organization up against the ropes momentarily, it appears. Gov. Fisher of Pennsylvania must realime that whomever he appoints to fill the vacancy in the Senate caused by the refusal of the Senate to seat Vare must face a real fight in the primary next May if Mr. Vare goes through with his threat. With Gifford Pinchot, former governor, reported to be ready to go into a three-cornered senatorial pri- mary, with Vare and the selection of | the Mellon-Fisher-Grundy organization as his opponents, the situation becomes | all the more serious. Many of the reports from Harrisburg assert that.Joseph R. Grundy is to be named by Gov. Fisher to the vacant Senate seat. Mr. Grundy, president of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Asso- clation, is a dominant figure in the State's politics and has been for years. He has been a power behind the throne. He has raised millions of dollars to be used in political campaigns over a long period of years. How good a vote getter Mr, Grundy will prove to be remains to be seen. If the organization backs him solidly he is likely to slide along to vic- tory. But a three-cornered race is not pleasant to contemplate, with Pinchot, militant dry, in one corner and “Bill” Vare, as militantly wet, with the Phila- delphia organization back of him and friends even in Pittsburgh, the Melion stronghold, in another. Had Mr. Vare let the days roll by without any announcement that he pro- posed to enter the lists again he would have gradually disappeared from thc picture. It would have been taken for granted that the appointee of the gov- ernor would have clear sailing in th: Republican senatorial primary next year His immediate declaration, however, h: inspired his own organization with fighting spirit and has served to force him prominently into the limelight again. If he does not intend to go through with his plan to seek renomina- tion and re-election at the hands of the voters next Spring he is nevertheless left in & position where he may trade to advantage with the other Pennsyl- vania leaders and may have a voice in the selection of the candidates, includ- ing the candidate for governor to suc- ceed Fisher. The gubernatorial elec- tion is far more important in Pennsyl- court. It reared its head and flapped | its empty sleeves in the internationa wind throughout the regime of Pre dent Coolidge and Secretary Kello who, in turn, espoused the Hardings Hughes proposal. Probably the familigs and fatuous old bugbear will be ted out on Capitol Hill again bef the irreconcilable group is reconciled & The Senate minority, which stili quakes at the mere mention of ‘World Court, is far from symptomati¢.6 Americal¥ sentiment as a whole—thag 5 to say, the country, beyond the shadow of a doubt, overwhelmingly favors the par- ticipation of the United States in the tribunal. At this moment only four other countries are non-participants— Albania, Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Lithuania. Secretary Stimson stresses that “for over half a century this coun- try has taken a leading part in promot- ing the judicial settlement of interna- tional disputes.” In the era of the Kellogg-Briand pact, at the hour of the proclamation of the Hoover doctrine for mobilization of world opinion for peace when war ls threatened—in such an cra and at such an hour the Ameri- can Republic has no right any longer to abstain from fellowship with its sis- ter nations of the earth in the one practical, “going concern” yet evolved for administering international justice. B T ‘The recent crash in the stock market 15 referred to in the language of expert finance as “a passing episode.” Some of those who felt the blow may get over it, but their bank accounts will never look the same. oo Small investors are again taking an interest in Wall Street. As usual, the stock ticker will find it impossible to say “Happy New Year” to everybody. L - - Hello, Neptune! Now comes the extension of the telephone service from shore stations to ships at sea. This latest “marvel of | communication” was inzugurated yes- terday with an elaborate demonstration in which a number of guests of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in succession talked from New York with Comdr. Cunningham of the Leviathan, two hundred miles out toward Europe. The transmission was perfect, every word being clearly under- stood, and the quality of voices was 8o perfectly preserved that identities were discovered by the ship's master, regard- Jess of a,scheduled program. It is stated that arrangements are to be made for the extension of the phone ! ™ against him and in favor of former @54 Senator Pepper. Pinchot was a candi- P¥8¥ date then, as he may be next year, 1 making it a three-cornered race. vania eyes than the senatorial. Mr. Vare won the senatorial nom- ination in 1926, with the Mellon- Fisher-Grundy organization aligned Since that time Mr. Vare has suffered a stroke of paralysis and has so far re- covered as to be able to appear in the Senate in his own defense. Mr. Grundy, if he is to be Vare's opponent, has been largely in the limelight be- cause of the Senate lobby investigation While his statements to the Senate committee doubtless may make friends | for him with the manufacturers, it is doubtful that the political philosophy enunclated by Mr. Grundy will mak: him any support among the independ- | ently-minded voters in Pennsylvania, | of whom there are a considerable num- | ber. All of which demonstrates that the ! Mellon-Fisher-Grundy organization must }nu early in the morning if they are to | outplay the Philadelphia boss at the { game of politics, | 1 PR In order to make Washington, D. C., | more than persuade those who have {come from elsewhere to adopt the law- | abiding methods of residents of long | standing. - — ———— Our Latin American Diplomacy. In the review of foreign relations in his message to Congress, President Hoover makes no more significant statement than his reference to the subject of diplomatic personnel in Latin America. In unemotional but meaningful words, the President sig- nals a revolution in the method of manning our missions south of the Rio Grande. Mr. Hoover hopes, he a model, it will be necessary to do little | : THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1929. "THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. and, in the case of Brail, Portuguese speaking—representatives of the Colos- sus of the North were essential to the knitting of genuinely close pan-Amer- ican tles. Mr. Hoover learned something else on his good will tour of the far south- land. It finds expression in the brief, but to the point, allusion to Latin America in his message. The Presi- dent-elect discovered, if I'e did not know before, that our Latin American friends are sticklers for punctilio. They lay great store by form, preciseness and the unconsidered niceties and pro- prieties of international intercourse. Yankee “diplomats” unversed in those arts are capable of doing far more harm than good among people who rank politeness and correctness high. Given the man who speaks the lan- guage of a Latin American country and who, besides, is a past master in the etiquette of the diplomatic code, and you have the ideal envoy. European governments have long filled their posts in Central and South Amer- ica with envoys who measure up w these standards, The American foreign service possesses many members no less qualified, especially among the younger “career men.” Upon these it is Pres:- dent Hoover's now proclaimed inten- tion to draw in pursuance of his “ae- sire to establish more firmly our un- derstanding and relationships with the Latin American countries.” It is a step, and & long step, in the right direction. B ) Christmas Card Critique. This is the season of the year when the average American family is faced with one of life's grim problems—the stark necessity of selecting Christmas cards. The issue is the more fearful because it is inevitable. There is no escape—that is, there i§ no honorable escape. The alternative is to refuse to send Christmas cards and thereby brand one’s self as piker and poltroon. The brave thing to do is to go ahead and select the cards. It is also patriotic. Remember the postal deficit! ‘The most casual survey of this year’s Christmas cards gives rather definite proof that the Christmas card industry has been placed in the hands of the same gentlemen who write Mother’s day and other greetings for the telegraph companies, at so much per greeting. ‘The rarest thing on the Christmas card counter is a simple card that states with unequivocal frankness “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” The desideratum of the Christm: greeting writers is to put something snappy into it. “Jolly” is substituted for “Merry” and “Fulsome” for “Happy.” The prodigal use of the superlative is breath-taking. “We wish you the very merriest of Christmases and the hap- plest of New Years.” A great many of the cards express such intimate senti- ments that one confuses them with lacy valentines, while the use of the vulgar abbreviation of “Xmas” and the less offensive “Yule” leads to a belief that some former headline writer is now ex- ercising his talents in the greeting game. The voluptuously upholstered envelopes this year are in keeping with the effervescence of the inclosures. Some one is going to make a fortune in this country some day by composing a Christmas card that says “Merry Christmas—Happy New Year,” and by spelling it “M-e-r-r-y,” mnot “M-e-r- r-i-e,” meanwhile cutting down the number of decorative seraphim, reduc- ing the camels and easing up on the snowfall. But tastes differ, as the old lady said when she kissed the cow and then went downtown and selected some Christmas cards. ———— A street railway merger with no in- crease of fare for two years at least indicates a willingness not to be pre- cipitate about cashing in. ——— ‘The assumption by Soviets that they know all about government is another illustration of the overconfidence so frequently to be found in the novice. SIS e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Sword and Carving Knife, Although the turkey we release, ‘When banquet cheer is stirred, We all declare the Dove of Peace Is still our favorite bird. Yet sounds of battle still we hear, And anger rages free, Until we find that we must fear For our friend D. O. P. Lest we in apprehension starve, Our motto ought to be, “The turkey we'll draw near to carve, And not the D. O. P.” Brevity. “What do you regard as the most suc- cessful speech you ever made?” “The one in reply to the first com- mittee that asked me to go into pol- ities.” “Was it long?" very short. All T said was Jud Tunkins says gangsters are so generally illegal that a little thing like a law against weapon carrying doesn't mean a thing to them, Meeting As Strangers. A man with vision of short range Complained that fashions swiftly change, And leaVe his wife, to his surprise, In what amounts to a disguise. Quite frequently, it will occur, He is afraid to speak to her, Until he finds a fricnd so warm To introduce them In good form. Gentle Sarcasm. “I understand,” said Mr. Chuggins, “that Edison has perfected a process for making auto tires out of golden rod.” “How nice!” answered the belle of the back s 11 he has to do is to make tells us, “to secure men long experi- enced in our diplomatic service, whu speak the languages of the peoples to whom they are accredited,” as Am- bassadors and Ministers to the re- spective sister republics of Central ana South America and to other Latin countries like Cuba and Panama. Here is a constructive advance in our relations with nations and gov- ernments which, geographically and n other respects, are less “foreign” than most other countries. We will not be far wrong in assuming that the Hoover diplomatie personnel policy is the direct outgrowth of the then President-elect’s visit to the Southtern Hemisphere a year ago.. On all hands he had it dinned into his ears that Spanish-speaking— a motor of ox-eyed daisles in order to let us go into the field and gather our jown flivvers.” “The time spent in gambling,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is more valuable than the money that may pass. Gaming should be only for those of leisure who have so much wealth that they do not need to win.” Commander Byrd will happy be, And not complain because Much Christmas scenery has he, But not much Santa Claus! “De gangsters is so bad in my neigh- Why does any one want to “under- and women"? ‘Their peculiarities, as men insist on calling them, are to be liked or for- given, as the case may be. That's what women do with men. To investigate the feminine character, as if it were mysterious to the point of the supernatural, is to invade the laboratory. Yet thousands of men fret about not being able to “understand women.” Writers become famous through their ability to “understand” them. ‘The problems, as well as the solutions, looked into critically, are seen to be molehills rather than the mountains that such writers and readers would make them. L “And I learned about women from her,” sang one of Kipling's characters. ‘Women are pictured all the way from vampires to angels, without common :ense ever once stepping into the ple- ure. So persistent has been this tradition that women themselves to a great ex- tent become victims of it. But we are convinced that their “mysterious” smiles, upon occasion, are nothing but good-natured raillery. * kK * The supposed great “difficulty” about understanding women lies in the mys- tery complex. Let us admit that women are mys- terious. So are men. So are children. So are lady bugs, horses, dogs, cats, antelopes, bears and ants. There isn't a thing that has life that isn't more or less mysterious. No one can read any one of the diverting books about ants, for instance, or bees, wit D’ut coming face to face with the myste- rious. A woman is no harder to understand than the course of history. We defy any one to do more than marshal words together who would “explain” the so- called Dark Ages. Look up to the galaxies in the night, and see mystery enthroned. Life or lifeless, there is no getting away from the unsolvable. Little strange things come running from beneath upturned stones; greenish creatures that seem plants, yet are ani- mals, swarm in brackish pools; where grass won't grow, moss will; bacilliof a beneficent or ill nature fill the human intestines. All is m{sury, and woman & part of it. To call her “mysterious” in a par- tial sense is to misuse the general ap- plication. In her mysterious nature the universe has & share. e ‘The sex of the creature no doubt has most to do with it. Man, the masterful—or so he thought himself through so many centuries— evolved & neat way of solving his prob- lems. He blinked them. Unable to solve the mystery of sex, he chose (In his masterful way) to blink it. X Unwilling to recognize the majesty of life and birth, except upon special oc- casions, he preferred to make it less. He transferred the legitimate wonder to a less tenable mystification. Instead of worshiping the good in the creature, he fell to speculating about the evil, " e evil, This permitted him to mistreat her. He was happy on all scores, now, be- cause he had refused to face the ulti- mate mystery, and had made himself a “rag and a bone and a hank of hair,” to worry about. * K ok Even today we have men “why women act as they do. ‘The modern freedom of woman has not saved her from being criticized by h;:‘ husband after he gets down to the office. ‘Why she lured him on to make a cer- tein remark, and then jumped upon him “with both feet” because he said it— this is held to be a great mystery. “Nobody can understand them,” he says, with a great shake of his puzzled ead. If she refrains from reminding him that the wedding anniversary is at hand, woe to him if he forgets! ‘Why she weeps become a “mystery. * koK These things, and scores of similar ones, are but a different placement of the .accent. The accents of life are what make it interesting. He who places no accents lives like a hog, and dies like one, but the man- ager of the accents becomes a maj ‘Women have different accents, be- cause they are different. The mistake comes, we belleve, in thinking that difference constitutes mysteriousness. Difference is difference. ‘Through thousands of years mighty man, the muscular, took control of af- fairs, and forced women to live such different lives that they have never gotten over it. ‘The question is, Will they ever get over it? v.vw.mderlnz L T Aside from certain little perculiarities of character, which are no more pe- cullar on their side than the certain lit- tle peculiarities of men, women are not a whit more difficult to understand than men. It was man, and not woman, who ansformed the ideal of the Good epherd into the idea of saving sin- ful souls by means of the rack, fire and hanging. If one is searching for some- thing difficult to understand, let him try his mind on that. It was man, not woman, who shouted “Peace on earth!” through 2,000 years of war and bloodshed. That is some- thing difficult to understand, too. In the monotonous round of every- day life men need not be so eager to find women hard to understand. There are enough problems without setting up ones that scarcely exist. A writer who comes to a fortune by posing as “a man who understands women” is merely working the old game of supplying them with what they want. He might have done better by making chewing gum. Chewing gum, at least, has the merit of being an honest product. Men who make such a pow-wow about women ing “difficult to understand” are pur- posely obliterating her essential mys- terious dignity. Whether they do it from envy or obtuseness we leave to women to decide. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Dictates of self-preservation, as well as of moral rectitude inspired many a senatorial vote—especially on‘the Re- publican side—when “Bill” Vare's fate was decided on December 6. The fates of more than one “Newberry Senator” at the 1924 elections were in the minds of members when the roll was called on the Norris resolution to cast the Phila- delphia_boss into the outer darkness. Something r a full one-third of the present Senate comes up . for re-elec- tion in 1930. Among the Republicans who were determined to have clean bills of health on the Vare issue, should it rise to torment them next year, are Borah of Idaho, Capper of Kansas, Couzens of Michigan, McCulloch of Ohlo, McMaster of South Dakota, Mc- Nary of Oregon, Metcalf of Rhode Is- land, Norris of Nebraska and Sackett of Kentucky. Among the 22 Republican pro-Vare Senators were two whose terms are about to expire and who do not rank as candidates to succeed themselves. They include Gillett of Massachusetts and Gould of Maine. G. O. P. Senators, who will tempt fate in 1931 as “Vare Sena- tors” are Hastings of Delaware, Keyes of New Hampshire, Phipps of Colorado, Pine of Oklahoma and Schall of Min- nesota. . o At least one of the Senators who voted “right” (Le., against Vare) and whose present terms ends on March 4, 1931, will aspire to re-election only in the event he isn't offered a_ place on the Supreme Caurt bench. He hails from beyond the Mississippi and has well known ambitions to adorn the Federal tribunal of highest resqrt, notwithstand- ing his present eminence in the Senate and the assurance of even higher hon- ors there if he remains in the chamber. The Winter of 1929-30 opens with the perennial “Holmes resignation” rumor. The Nestor of the Supreme bench will be 89 years old next March. The Holmes story, & hardy annual, is ac- companied this time by the ‘“report” that President Hoover will have two Su- preme Court vacancles to fill in 1930. % % % Capitol Hill, especially its wetter slopes, is reveling in the recently pub- lished correspondence between the Fed- eral Council of Churches and Christian Heurich, millionaire former Washing- ton brewer and one of the city's oldest and most respected inhabitants. Not long ago the Federal Council invited Heurich to become one of its “benefac: tors” or “sustaining associates.” He returned the following reply: In reply to yours of yesterday, I beg to state that I was reared in a Christian atmosphere and Spirit, and T am living in that same atmosphere and Spirit to this day. But my ex- perfence teaches me that a great many Councils and Christian Asso- clations use the name of Christian, but do not act in the same spirit as our Savior Christ himself did. I am roud to state that I was engaged n the beer-brewing business for a great many vears and claim that I have done more good for humanity than a great many so-called Chris- tians and Christlan Associations, etc. I enclose herewith the last address I made to the stockholders of my brewing company, which speaks for itself. According to this, you will not be surprised that I do not see my way to contribute to the Federal Council of Churches or to become an Associate. B One of “the other Hoovers” in the present administration, J. Edgar Hoover, chief of the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investitgation, has just ren- dered his annual report. It's an ex- traordinarily convincin : tale of activit, in the observance, pursuit and appre h.nsion of the Nation’s criminals, es- pecially of the professional and fugitive class. The bureau's work is along the lines of the practical, constructive pro- gram which President Hoover recently recommended to Congress as vital to the checking of crime. Uncle Sam's young Sherlock Holmes features “the remark- able growth and more efficient operation of the National Division of Identifica- tion and Information” as one of the Bureau of Investigation's real achieve- ments. The division now has 1,745,151 fingerprints in its possession. For the fiscal year 1929 it made 86,965 identifi- cetions, It has 2,624,944 Individual criminal records in its card-index. Nab- bing of fugitives from justice is one of Chief Hoover's specialties. His men ran down 1,334 In year under review, including 496 “wanted” for automobile | 'hurhood." sald Uncle Eben, “dat 1s in favor of makin' 'm pay a license an' wear & number, same as other hunters,” A thefts; 144, escaped from Federal pris- ons; 95, dodging bankruptcy prosecu- tions; 68 prohibition violators and 63 desoxters, ‘Well, the “Boy Scouts” are about to be formally organized, and in the Senate, too. It happens they're not the Hoover Boy Scouts of Senator Moses' wise~ crack fashioning, but the 15 or 16 pages of the Upper House. These blueclad messengers have just decided to form the “Senate Pages Scout Troop.” Also they've induced an eminent member of the chamber to become scoutmaster of the organization—Senator James Couz- ens, Republican, of Michigan, whose in- terest in youth is famed. Whether the muitimillionaire Detroiter intends turn- ing up at the Capitol in khakl shorts, bandanna, sombrero and the rest of the Scout kit hasn't been disclosed. * k% % Secretary Stimson has had the ad- vantage during the recent ruction with Russia of the experience and advice of | & Foreign Service official, David B. Mac~ gowan, secretary of the American lega- tion in Latvia, now in America on |leave. While Macgowan left Europe long_before the Russo-Chinese border | hostilities in Manchuria, he knows the Soviet situation from A to Z, as the re- sult of his duties at Riga, Uncle Sam’s closest observation post for listening in on Russian affairs. Macgowan is an | pld-time newspaper man and a Ten- nessean by birth, For many years be- fore the World War he was on journal- istic service in Germany and Russia. He speaks the Muscovite language like a native. Macgowan's son-in-law, Rol- lin R. Winslow, now in the Western European division of the State Depart- iment, is one of the rising youngsters of the foreign service. He wooed and won Miss Macgowan when her father was consul at Viadivostok. * k x % Few more beautiful and books have left the press recently tha “Washington, Past and Present," the work _of Charles Moore, chairman of the Federal Commission of Fine Arts. The story of the National Capital which dips into the future, too, is ex- quisitely fllustrated with e _etchin of E. H. Suydam. No Yankee heart can help beating faster as Moore's epic of Washington is read and Suydam'’s draw- ings are glimpsed. The author calls Washington “the barometer of the Na- tion. recording the temperament of the people of the United States.” He says |that “unity, orderliness and beauty have once more become its watch- words.” (Copyright, 1929.) o San Gabriel Dam Under Ban. From the Santa Barbara Daily News. In the first decision issued under the new law providing for State con- trol of dams, State Engineer Hyatt has denied Los Angeles County flood con- | trol district authority to build a high | dam at the proposed site on the San | Gabriel River. It was planned to erect at the se- lected site a dam about 500 feet nigh which would impound a vast store of water in the canyon. The declsion, which 's jased on find- | ings of eminent geologists and studies by expert engineers, icclares that the geological formation in San Gabriel Canyon is so badly broken and un- stable as to-make he proposed dam a menace to residents of the district farther down the valley. In the territory under the proposed dam site is a wonderfully rich and populous farming country, and in ad- dition, & number of towns lie down the valley. The report of the experts shows that |a great dam at the place suggested would be a menace to every one living below that site. While this is a matter that chieflly concerns the people of the San Gabriel Valley and Los Angeles County, the precedent that has been set is of in- terest to the entire Sgate. Hereafter, dams will not be construct- ed on the hit or miss plan, at sites selected by municipal or corporation engineers. State engineers and geolo- gists will have ‘ho final word to say in the bullding of such works. No precautions can be too great if they will make impossible tragedies like that of the St. Francis dam, which spread death and ruin through fertile lands in Ventura County. B In the Course of Nature. From the Cleveland News. Federal authorities are deporting a oung man to Italy on the ground that Ke acquired moral turpitude in Chicago. \;l]hll else could they expect him to get there? inspiring | [Fmds Judges Wrong In Spelling of “Wye” To the Bditor of The Star: According to the article in The Star of December 5, the judges in the Dis- trict spelling contest, held at the Mount Pleasant Library, appear to be a little off in the spelling of the word “wye.” “Y” is an abbreviation of the werd “wye” and represents the shape of an object. In a spelling contest a word should be spelled out, unless the ab- breviation or symbol is asked for. The article in The Star used the small lef- ter “y" several times; when the let- ter “Y” is used to represent the shape of an object it should always be a capital letter. GEORGE A. BIRDSALL. S e Scotch “Home Rule” Fight Is Held Absurd From the Ottawa Journal. A correspondent of Scottish ancestry upbraids us for “being lukewarm about home rule for Scotland, though you always champloned it for Ireland.” Our" correspondent is wrong. All that we say is that we can't for the Jife of us see what there is left for Scotsmen to rule in Scotland or England or even Wales. ' If Ireland had given England four prime ministers within a genera- tion, and if southern Celts had been everything and then instead of sympathizing with Par- nell and John Redmond and the rest of them we'd have sald that they were mad. ‘That is what the Scotch have been doing. In the past 30 years there have been seven prime ministers in Britain. Two of them were Englishmen, one & Welshman, four from the land of Burns. Balfour was a Scotsman; so was Campbell-Bannerman; so was Bonar Law; and there is Ramsay Macdon: Asquith, somehow, was an Englishman, a Yorkshireman like Philip Snowden, but all his life he sat for a Scottish con- stituency. Scotsmen don’t merely run England’s governments; they lay down_the law and they run_the church. Loreburn, Haldane and Finlay, all lord chancel- lors, were Scotsmen, and so are the archbishops of Canterbury and York. You can’t beat a Scotsman at making the best of both worlds, s What is there left? If Scotsmen are ruling England, and Scotland, t0o, boss= ing governments and banks and the church and the courts, what more can they get? Or is it that this home rule for Scotland movement is just a dis- guised generous movement to do some- thing for poor old England? e Mussolini Is Called Legislative Debui From the Springfield, TIL, Re ‘With all his bombast, there are many things about Mussolini which red- blooded he-folks admire. Of course, his | legislature is hand-picked, but what he says to it has a meaning which those of us who have closely observed many State and National political gatherings, sessions of State Legislaturés and of Congress anpreciate. “The chamber will please bear in mind,” says Mussolini, “that the gov- ernment does not want any eulogles or serenades. Let the speeches be to the point, loyal and intelligent. Both I and the government hate fiattery and violin- {l.ke speeches. We like rude, frank 1k.” If that policy were followed in our national conventions they could meet and adjourn the same afternoon. If it were followed in Springfield and Wash- ington—"‘but why bring that up?” If Mussolini can teach the world how to debunk political and legislative ses- sions he will more than richly deserve all of the powers he has conferred upon himself. er ter. o Fruits of Censorship. From the Montana Record-Herald. Censorship, like all things, res sows. Italy, Spain, Russia and Jugo-| slavia, the four European countries where censorship has been at its worst are discovering this to their dismay. ‘The governments of these four coun- tries are bringing every sort of pressure on visiting and resident journalists to send out favorable, or, as the dictators term it, “constructive,” news. The at- tempt is futile, and nobody except a despot is so blind to the fact. No reader with ordinary intelligence, knowing that a system of news censor- ship is maintained, can be other than suspicious of whatever comes from a 80 carefilly guarded country. The result is that he discredits the truth with the untruth. America has had very little experi- ence with the suppression of news re- lating to the Government, and there never has been a check on the writing hand of foreign observers, but there is a certain type of newngnper common in the United States which brings home the dire lesson of censorship. It is the bitterly partisan journal whose hard and fast policy is never to tell the truth about the enemy if it is favorable and never to tell the truth about its own party if it hurts. All such a near- sighted policy accomplishes for the pa- per is loss of public confidence. Censorship is a silly business, and dic- tatorships which now seek to justify themselves against hidden criticisms are resenting the very thing they invited when they abused their power by cen- soring news and opinion. e The Greatest Executive. From the Loutsville Times. The Secretary of Labor, Mr. Davis, declaring the working man's wife the greatest business executive in the world, pays tribute where tribute is due. The Times publishes today a car- toon by J. N. Darling, in which the executive in the swivel chalr, with his stenographer taking dictation and his golf sticks by his desk, is represented as an exponent of the sort of work that enables a man to retire at 60. The woman at the washtub is pre- sented as the worker whose utmost ef- forts never result in rellef from daily work. Something, the cartoonist holds, is wrong. ‘The working man’s wife must com- bine the executive capacity of the man in the swivel chair with the capacity for daily work which makes the woman at the washboard a constructive factor in human affairs without giving her much recompense. For although the working man's wife may send the family wash to the steam laundry, or elsewhere, her executive duties are only part of her work. And the economic miracles she accomplishes are forever a puzzle to the well-to-do. “She may not be a saint, a queen or a goddess. Sometimes she gets tired and cross,” says Mr. Davis. “Why not consider the load on her shoulders? Let us add up the list of her occupa- tions—wife, mother, nurse, bookkeeper, cook, laundress, seamstress, shopper. financer, master of every trade.” And the peer of the working m it the term “working man in a restricted sense—is the wife of the vhite-collar boy so-called, who may be 8 bookkeeper, a bank clerk, a shop salesman, an educator or a mem- ber of the 100 callings in which white- collar pay is such that keen executive ability is required to make it serve the needs of a family. For the man who “works all day and comes home at night tired"—as he expresses it—Ileaves the greater part of the executive work to his wife, ) it Till Next Year! From the Oakland Tribune. Now the real work begins for the coaches. They have to wrestle with next year's schedules and think up new rules to make the fans mad. —— et The Physician’s Calisthenics. From the Sauta Barbara Daily News. Work you don't get paid for is called exercise. Yet, according to that, the gnctor frequenily gets up for exercise at am, aps as it! 1 | should be potent in ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Many readers send in questions signed only with initials, asking that the an- swers 8] in the newspaper. The space is ited and would not modate a fraction of such requests. The answers published are ones that may in- terest many readers, Tather than the one who asks the questioh only. All questions should be accompanied by the writer's name and address and 2 cents in coin or stamps for reply. Send your question to The Evening Star Informa- | tion Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, direc- tor, Washington, D. €. Q. How_ many colleges are broad- casting?—C. L. N. A. The Federal Radio Commission says there are 63 colleges and universi- ties in the United States which arc broadcasting at the present time. Q. Is the Michigan-Canada Bridge at Detroit completed?—M. B. A._The Ambassador Bridge, connect- ing Detroit and Canada, is now com- pleted and open to traffic. It is the longest suspen-ion bridge in this coun- try. . What is the highest temperaturc rcec;rd!ed within the Arctic Circle?— A. The maximum record is that of Fort Yukon, where an extreme tempera- ture of 100 degrees F. has been re- corded. Q. What are the cheapest seats in the Chicago Civic Opera House?—T. W. A. The top gallery in the new Chi- cago Civic Opera House will have seats at 25 cents. SA :h&l carol is the oldest known? A. The Etude says that the oldest carol in existence is in Norman French in a thirteenth century manuscript. It is a song of festivity urging the lords of the castle to drink in honor of Christmas. In 1521 Wynken de Worde m’lnbl:d the first known set of Christmas carols, Q. Does the Victoria Cross carry with it any monetary reward?—D. H. 8. A. A special annuity of 10 pounds & year is granted to every recipient of the Victoria Cross below commissioned rank, with an additional 5 pounds a year for every bar. In the event of the annuitant’s being unable to obtain a livelihood on leaving the service the amount of the annuity may be increased to 50 pounds. Q. When was the name Fifth avenue, New York City, given to that street? A. The name Fifth avenue first ap- pears on what is known as the Com- "w'm‘mfi;:hx'gy of New York, which as pu liam Bridges and dated March 22, 1811. i 5 Q. What causes windows to steam?— A. One of the main causes of the steaming of windows is lack of proper ventilation. The main thing is to in- sure a circulation of afr. The applica- tion of gelatin is often helpful. Wipe down the windows with a rag squeezed out of gelatin, or use a soft potash soap to which sufficient glycerin is added to make & thin paste. When a thin film of either of these is applied to the glass the condensed moisture Tgcrem‘ - of‘lx:: todl film n;“d does not col- e drops, which cause th dimming of glass, 3 that the safest chemical for invisible ink is ammonium chloride, often called sal ammoniac. A solution made by dis- solving the salt in five times its weight of water can be used for writing with a pen. It is developed by heat. Q. How much alcohol does it take to makea man drunk?—G. D. A. The amount of alcohol it would take to intoxicate a person would de- pend entirely upon the individual. Q. Who was the first head of the medical department of the troops which ;fou%hl in the American Revolution?— A. Dr. Andrew Craigle of Cambridge, Mass., was the first apothecary general ‘ol the Colonial Army. Q. Which noted French officer was a Basque?’—A. R. 8. A. Foch and Joffre were both Basques and born within a few miles of each other. Joffre was born at Rive- saltes Pyrenees, January 4, 1852, and Foch was born at Tarbes, department of Hautes-Pyrenees, October 2, 1851, Q. Please describe the flag of the Oilympic games.—G. H. A. The flag used for the Olympic games has an arrangement of five cir- cles on & white or neutral background. The three upper circles, blue, black and red, do not touch, but they are joined by the two lower circles of yellow and green, which in turn do not touch each other. The blue circle represents Europe; the black, Africa; the red, America; the yellow, Asia, and the green, Australasia. l'dQ' How“m-‘ny ntr;llmfls are Kh:lh(cr- annually for the meat ers of Nashville, Tenn.?—W. F. T. Br A. Nashyille is the largest meat- packing center of the South. Local x’:mh' slaughter 400,000 animals an- ually, Q. Is “Journey’s End” to be pro- duced in the movies?—G. L. V. A. There is to be an all-talking screen version of this popular play. Colin Clive, seen as Capt. Stanhope in * the original production, will play this role in the picture. . What is the oldest town in Mas~ sachusetts?—V. 8, A. Plymouth is the oldest, and Salem comes next. Q. What were the princi cttles of Philistia?—G. R. Pt . In ancient geography this coun~ try lay to the southwest of Palestine, along "the Mediterranean, The - cipal cities were Ascalon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron. Q. Was the present Lord Waldorf Astor born in America? 1If so, when did_he become a British citizen?— E.AF. 1‘}4{. B . He was born in New York Cit; before his father became a British f\lb! ject. He was, therefore, born in Amer~ ica. His father became naturalized in Great Britain in 1899, when the present viscount was 20 years of age. Since ?:th‘!,l&s ltfl: I"rnl?‘ol’, the fact of his 's_naturalization also made hi; a British subject. = Q. How many American . to Pags for the ’érenmnken‘ mw A “The number varies with the fm- portance of the openings. The ‘Pl:l:- ruary and August openings usually ate Ql: How can invisible ink be made?— A. The Bureau of Standards says tract about 1,200. ot, quite so many view the collections t! Mgy hat are shown in Suggested Control of War By Indus Interesting comments come from the country in response to the suggestion from Edward N. Hurley, war-time head of the Shipping Board, that peace in the | 4, world could be assured by the co-opera- tion of leaders in the industrial world, who could withhold war materials from belligerents. Some Americans are will- ing to debate the subject, but the pre- | ponderance of national opinion is that the Government would, or control such matters. S * t!” exclaime the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and that paper continues: n'h & large order. Hurléy knows it. He's a practical business man. \The fact that he believes in this peace plan influencis business men, © * '+ 1t he_can ‘son vince them that another war would bring losses that might overbalance the profits, if he can convince them that ::::.herh:ll;mm;'ght carry all away in 3 ave a "‘{;‘n H' ’l.: e good chance of *Mr. Hurley correctly declares,” con- {hoedq -the Worcester Telegram, “that e ‘will to peace’ is now so manifest and so widespread that the issue of Peace versus war is no longer discussed extensively, and that most of the de- . He al - ltlll‘fl oA e 50 correctly de s & most striking proof that the na- tions have made ubstantial advance from conditions under which the great majority of mankind regarded war as & natural phenomenon as inevitable as wind and wave. But when he so con- fidently describes his pian as ‘practical,’ he appears to place too little Importance on the fact that wars are waged by nations and not by private individuals and organizations. Of course, the na- tions, the governments, act usually as the people wish. But isn't it reason- | able to assume that if wars are to be :g:;‘;fi'fi Il’he":llmlnnung must be ac- s e people Ac their gnve:nr{:enr.u:?5 R “Very obvious difficulties must occur to one,” according to the New Orleans Item. “An extensive belief exists, for instance, that industrial and commercial rivalries are themselves among the most fruitful impulses to war, however their effects be ca- mouflaged. On the other hand, quite| regardless of the underlying impulses | to war, 1t Is quite questionable, once the | war hysteria is aroused in a nation, | that the leaders of its industries, wheth- er sympathizing with this or not, cou'd | stand against the popular clamor. Mr. | Hurley's suggestion seems to us, for | :.};;d nxré::ll“ih"mlek: the expression of a an the sol - s np{‘oblem." ution of a prac B a_question” in the fu of the Rochester Tlmeu-unlon,j “dwzf:le‘:}l:f er the control which these men are supposed to exercise over ‘key’ indus- tries would hold good under the strain | of war orders. We do not yet seem to have reached the point where we can separate commerce from war; they go together when they do not pursue one another. A world still suffering from the wounds of war realizes that some- thing stronger than a mere gentlemen's agreement between leading industrials is rquired as a safeguard, But Mr. Hurley's proposition is not without merit. It might very well, indeed, be used to supplement anti-war treaties be- tween governments.” “Business interests, Including muni- tion makers.” recalls the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, “have often been ac- cused of bringing on wars, although it would be difficult to show their respon- sibility for any of the major conflicts of history. But if they may be absolved | from the gullt for wars otherwise cause- | less, they should not have attributed to | them powers which they do not, and | ought mnot, to possess over the govern- ments to which they owe allegiance. To say that they could prevent war by control of the world’s natural resources is to admit they can dominate the mod- ern economic structure in every coun- try, regardless of government. Peace dependent on the benevolent despotism of international industrialists would be pracarious possession.” “Two objections to the effectiveness of Mr, Hurley's plan Immediatelv sug- gest themselves,” states the Detroit concern over methods | try Stirs Doubts News. “Even if the gentleman’s agree- ment ‘were made, what would su'a;nl belligerent nation’ from buying through 2 neutral intermediary? The agreement loes not mean that the production and sale of the strategic materials would cease; and once they are out of the hands of the producer, what would stop their flow to the belligerent nations? Then there is the urge to make money. Di- rectorates can be changed and & new board, tempted by the prospect of large profits from hard-pressed nations at war, might cancel its signature to an agreement not to deal with a belligerent. The proposed agreement has no legal standing; it is not a treaty—and trea- ties have been broken.” Assuming that the project is impos- sible, the Columbus Evening Dispatch comments: “Granted that international differences had got to the point where war was imminent, private citizens, {even if they were industrial leaders, would no longer be permitted to say | what could or could not be manufac- | tured and sold. The way to lessen the probability of war is to cultivate the idea of the peaceful settlement of in- | ternational differences before they have got to the war stage.” Revealing an open mind toward the glnn‘ the Wheeling Intelligencer says: If the basic commodities with which war is waged were denied the bel- ligerent nations, if nations contemplat- ing war knew certainly that once they started the butchery their credit in the international market would be stopped so far as these essential raw materials Were concerned, a peaceful settlement to any international controversy would be practically assured. No nation will fight if it has no hope of winning. And, whatever may be the final dis- posal of the idea advanced by Mr. Hurley, it is now, at least, still another manifestation of the universal effort that is being increasingly made to place | peace on the firmest and most reason- lbk: basis.” N assumption by the Indlanapplis News that the policy suggested w‘c‘;nd work to the disadvantage of the world is set forth in the statement: “It is probable that control of raw material might, in an international crisis, be subjected to great pressure, especially to the temptation to jump the boycott when the prospect of profits became especially bright. An attempt at & war corner of essential basic material might have a tendency to stimulate peace- time competition for control which, in itself, would be an incitement to war." The New York World feels that the idea implies much “faith in the un- selfishness of industrial leaders,” and continues: “It is interesting, too, in that it indicates that private indi- viduals are so powerful that they may determine the course of nations and governments by an agreement among themselves. It is another way of pro- claiming that big business has really become the supergovernment of the world. And that is an ominous thing, for while it is assumed to have the power to do good in the interest of humanity, it manifestly has, in that event, the power to dominate govern- ;l:_‘edl;gs_ and peoples to serve its selfish —ate Love Bugs and Tear Germs, From the Hartford Daily Times. A physiclan at Munich diagnoses love as being a disease nmbuus:lg to lerl::‘: It reminds us of the chemist who re- duced tears of joy and sorrow to just a few clements that are held i - s n a labora: A Latitudinal Difference. From the Muncie Morning Star. In this country a distinguished dele~ gation notifies a candidate that he has been clec:tcg.l Down in Mexico the ap- rance of troops notifies a candidate Rel;nvnl has been succésstul. i A Legend Verified. From the Salina Journal. Comdr. Byrd didn't find any traces Santa Claus at the South Nl{. lnnleaof ing that the old legend ‘that he lives at the North Pole must be right.