Evening Star Newspaper, December 15, 1929, Page 44

b "THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. BUNDAY......December 15, 1920 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: d_8t. n Butldine. chi uropean 8t.. London, Rate by City. The g:"'" Within the o ] Sc 1 er mont] Frenine sta al Cwnen 4 Bundays) The Evening and Su ndavs) per month c per copy per t the end of each mon’ ction mai ci t n by mail or telephor R Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. i1 and_ Sund i1 §:"X npga 1 mo.. s0¢ junday only . e : 1m All Other States and Ca y and Sunday. 12.00: sy only 0., 0. 0. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press s exclusively entitl %0 the Use for Tepublication of all news cis- patches cradited fo i e not ‘otferwize cred. published herein. - All giehts of bul he local news blication of apecial dispatches herein are also reserved. More Policemen! Another Senate traffic investigation has been completed and the report of the subcommittee submitted to the Dis- trict committee. Intended originally as a study of the parking problem in Washington, the subcommittee’s work has been carried into all aspects of this important problem. The subcommit- tee's findings are exactly what might have been foreseen. Drastic and far- flung changes in traffic control in the | District were not expected to be con- tained in the report despite the fact that one witness testified that he would do away with all automatic lights, and another that he would change the sys- tem for a new basis of timing. Accord- ingly, the subcommittee did all that it was expected to do, praised Traffic Di- rector Harland and urged the need of an addition to the police force. ‘Washington is gratified that Director Harland has received deserved praise for his efforts. He has performed a thankless job well. Washington is like- wise gratfied that the need of addi- tional policemen is recognized by the subcommittee. This recognition is rapidly reaching the unanimous stage since subcommittees, committees, com- missions and, in fact, most all persons in the National Capital have at one time or another admitted the pressing necessity for more policemen. So it assistance have so improved the quality and the quantity of what the consumer receives that.the demand for aquatic products has of late vastly increased. For example, more than 65,000,000 pounds of packaged fresh and frozen fish, or three and one-half times the production of 1926, and valued at $10,000,000, were marketed in 1928. This increased demand leads, in turn, to an intensification of fishing opera- tions, which, in turn, leads often to & dire threat to the future supply. Next, from numerous sources goes to the bureau another call for help. More and greater demands are made upon it for accurate knowledge concerning both actual conditions and those needful re- strictions which may insure the con- tinuance of the large-scale operations demanded by the public appetite. Al- most every State, in planning wise con- servation laws, looks to the bureau to make the necessary preliminary inves- tigation. A case in point, which comes close to the National Capital, is the de- | plorable depletion of the natural oyster bottoms of the Potomac, discovered by the bureau at the urgent request of the Maryland fish commissioner, the report of which was accompanied with scien- tifically founded recommendations for their rehabilitation. The result of the situation is that the more work the Bureau of Fisheries does, the more it finds on hand to do, and in a steadily increasing ratio. But, with adequate co-operation and recognition from other governmental branches—more especially the legisia- tive branch, which may make generous financial appropriations—there is no doubt that it can continue cheerfully and competently to “swing the job.” —r———— Communications. A Secretary of Communications, with a place in the President’s cabinet, is the recommendation of Gen. James G. Harbord, president of the Radio Cor- poration of America, who appeared the other day before the Senate interstate commerce committee. Gen. Harbord believes firmly that the importance of communications warrants a place in the cabinet for the man who is to deal with communications on the part of the Government. He believes, too, that the best interests of the country will be served by having a single authority exercise control over communications for the Government, rather than leave such administration to a commission. And, finally, Gen. Harbord is firmly convinced that there should be & uni- fled system of communications, includ- ing cables, land wires and radio. No one will gainsay the fact that must be s0. Washington does need ad- ditional traffic officers and the subcom- mittee’s action is calculated to bring the city closer to the ideal of an ade- quate force, Now that everybody is agreed on the matter, it would seem to be time to replace words with action. Washing- ton’s small traffic force is doing valiant duty in the face of heavy handicaps. Crossing men are well trained and do their best to avoid the dreaded conges- tion of motor vehicles, but there are too few of them and many of the crossings are manned only for a small portion of the day. With Washington's concep- tion of how a left-hand turn shouid be made, this fact makes it difficult for the motorist to reach the proper lane of traffic for the maneuver. Nor are there enough policemen to supplement the trafic officer’s control of a busy intersection. In probably no other city but Washington is the officer at the semaphore left unaided at con- rested points. One, two and sometimes four policemen are generally on duty to assist in synchronizing pedestrian and motor traffic. - Even when the District experimented in its enforcement of the pedestrian regulation which still takes up space in the traffic code, only four men could be spared in the downtown section, ‘Thirty-two motor cycle men operate out of the Trafic Bureau augmented by about ten more on speedy bicycles— that is, speedy if the lung power of the policeman is functioning well. Imagine it! A city of nearly six hundred thou- aand persons with more than a hun- dred and twenty-five thousand motor- ists controlled by a handful of motor cycle and bicycle policemen! Washington will indeed be grateful to the men in Congress who, realizing the state of affairs, will push for action. The subcommittee members or commit- tee members or individuals in the Sen- ate or House would be doing the Dis- trict a distinct service if they urged At the present session that a reform be assured by proper appropriations, The time to talk and make recom- mendations has long since passed. The time for action has arrived, ———s “Bungling” is now mentioned as a gerious and formal charge. It is one Which could be applied to many things that go wrong, either on a large or | small scale. ————— Fish Farming, “The harvest of the sea” is a phrase eften, and with propriety, used in de- scribing the produce of the briny deep. Certain basic conditions affecting both farming and fisheries, salt and fresh ‘Water alike, are specified in the recently published annual report of the com- misoner of fisheries. Fisheries, it points out, like agriculture, are divided into a large number of small operating units, largely lacking in the capital necessary to conduct that fundamental technical research which has been the " ifoundation for the huge and hugely [ ‘profitable expansion in the industrial fleld. These conditions have retarded the development of fisheries both at home and abroad and have made them a subject of logical national concern | and national aid. . Marked economic improvement, how- ‘ever, is noted of recent years; and this point brings out a curfous situation as Tegards the Bureau of Fisheries, one wherein that important, although not slways well advertised, Federal agency finds itself in what amounts to a sort ‘_of treadmill. The situation is some- . thing like this: The bureau, it is gen- erally admitted, is entitled to an ap- preciable amount of the credit for the improvement noted. It has given vast assistance to the solution of various fisheries problems, running all the way from intricate biological questions to the -best preservative for the meshes of gill- communications have come to play a part of vast importance in the life of the American people and in the life of the entire world. Whether, however, Congress would be warranted in set- ting up s separate department of the Government, with a cabinet officer at its head, to deal with these wire and wireless systems of communication, is & matter which should be given care- ful consideration before a decision is reached. ° ‘There is already & great department of the Government dealing with com- munications—the Post Office Depart- ment. That department now looks after a huge business, which is car- ried on entirely by the Government. It is not Gen. Harbord's proposal that the Government shall take over the cable, telegraph and radio business and operate these lines of communication. His plan is that they shall be unified into one great system and that the Government shall exercise regulatory powers over it through a cabinet offi- cer. If such a plan is to be worked out, an additional Assistant Postmaster General, to deal with wire and wire- less communications, might be provided for by law, and thus the necessity of creating s new, separate department, with additional costs to the Govern- ment, would be avoided. Hitherto the proposal has been made that a governmental commission should deal with radio communications. But Gen. Harbord is not a believer in com- missions where there are executive and administrative duties to be performed. He regards them “as a device for the avoidance of all responsibility.” Presi- dent Hoover, in his recent message to Congress, discussing reorganization of the Government made no such harsh criticism of governmental commissions. He did, however, propose that all ad- ministrative duties be taken from com- missions and placed under single au- thority, and that all quasi-legisiative and quasi-judicial functions should be taken from individual authority and placed in the hands of commissions. This division of labor recommended by the President is a common sense pro- posal. An administrative head, with an advisory board, to deal with problems arising, appears to be & wise arrange- ment for any business, whether it be private or governmental. The ples of Gen. Harbord for & uni- fied system of communications, embrac- ing cables, land wires and radio, has much to commend it. Such communi- cations are after all a public utility, and the public is better served and more cheaply, as a rule, through a single public utility system, under proper gov- ernmental regulation. The postal serv- ice of the country, if it were conducted by several individual concerns, for ex- ample, would lose both in efficiency and in economy. The development of the radio in re~ cent years has brought new problems, which are international as well as na- tional in scope. They are problems with which the United States should deal as promptly as possible. Nature, as Gen. Harbord pointed out, has limited the number of channels by which radio communication can be carried out. For that reason it behooves this Government to mct in the interests of the American people to see that these channels are not pre-empted. o oo Science, by isolating the influenza germ, did one plece of detective work that is really worth while. ———r—o————— Noblesse Oblige. A curious item of news emanates from London, one that will surprise and puzzle many Americans. It seems that George Bernard Shaw got himself a good hissing at a boxing show neld in London the other night for charity This was due to the fact that, when a messenger from the party of the Prince of Wales went over and spoke into nets, and including the training of technologists who later graduate into the industry at considerably increased emoluments. On the other hand, the ' developments reculting from this very Shaw's ear, that old but sprightly gen- tleman shook his head—and beard— emphatically, The incident was repeated twice, whereupon many members of the audi- THE SUNDAY STAR. WASHI ence leaped to the conclusion that the famed man of letters was refusing, or declining, to meet the heir to the' throne. ‘Then came the hisses, plenty of them and loud ones. Later it was learned that ‘'what Shaw was refusing was & request from the Prince that he relieve the [atter of the duty of presenting prize| to the winning boxers. This is a pecliliar state of affairs. It has been thought on this side of the Atlantic that when & Toyal prince requests a subject complies, but apparently this is not always so, even when the request bears the compliment of substituting for royaity. The Prince of Wales has been to this country and on that occasion made a universal impression whereby it is un- likely that any American, no matter what his political prejudices, and even including Mayor Thompson himself, would be pleased and proud promptly to do any reasonable thing the young gentleman asked. The Prince never spares himself in doing any reasonable thing asked of him, and Mr. Shaw's public conduct would appear as blame- worthy as it is inexplicable. Albert Edward's request was doubtless prompted by innate modesty; Mr. Shaw's declination was certainly not prompted by any such thing. “Noblesse Oblige” ought to work both ways; if you have a first-class prince, treat him right. Shaw deserved the hisses. ————— Remove This Danger Point! ©One of the most dangerous highway hazards in the vicinity of Washington lies at the junction of the Fort Humphreys and Mount Vernon roads, a few miles below Alexandria. A tradi- tion among the State police assigned to patrolling this locality has it that there is always at least one patient in the Alexandria Hospital suffering from injuries received at this spot. The State Roads Commission should elimi- nate the death-inviting conditions at the earliest possible moment. At the junction southbound traffic descends & hill around a curve to pass over & narrow bridge. Northbound traffic descends another hill to round & turn and eross the bridge, while trafc coming from Mount Vernon must turn rather blindly intn the main highway and cross the bridge. Traffic is always heavy on these roads and the usual complications attending the descent of & hill on & wet day when the concrete is slippery are increased by the fact that automobile drivers reach the bridge without being able to see far ahead on any of the converging roads. As a result there are smash-ups and collisions almost every day. ‘The Fort Humphreys road, built during the war by the Government and later turned over to Virginia, takes care of the main stream of traffic between the north and the south. It is too im- portant as a highway to contain such bottle-necks and blind curves as those at the junction. The State Roads Com- mission has promised to remedy condi- tions at Gum Springs, & little north of the junction, where there is a sharp curve. It should undertake the two projects at the same time. — e Even in congressional communities social considerations may intrude. The banquet board is not the only scene of discriminations relating to prece- dences and eligibilities. —_——————— Even the question of what kind' of ship & Government official may sail on comes up for a technical ruling. No matter what happens, every day is a busy day for Controller General McCarl. ————— Reference to the recent excitement in Wall Street as an “upheaval” seems incorrect. Wall Street is still there and 50 are the basic values of securi- ties, ——————— Professional Jobbying has not reached & point where regular market quota- tions can be issued on values relating |to assumptions of particular friend- ships. — It was Mr. Grundy's privilege to refrain from vociferous demonstra- tion, content for awhile, at least, to be more talked about than talki SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Racketeer’s Christmas Tree. ‘The racketeer in gentle phrase Made mention of the holidays. ““These things,” said he, “I'd like to see On the forthcoming Christmas tree: A hip flask—and just but of view ‘The means of filling it anew— A blackjack and a sawed-off gun, A gas bomb just to help the fun; A jimmy and a crowbar stout, With drugs all scattered round about— I shall not fear a lack of cheer If, as the holidays draw near, I feel that I am sure to see ‘These gifts upon my Christmas tree!” Embarrassing Scrap Book. ‘Do you keep a scrap book?” “No,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I started one, but it contained so much that was impolite I couldn't take it home without having it expurgated.” Jud Tunkins says his daughter shall never marry for wealth uhtil he makes sure the money wasn't obtained by bootlegging. When Fame Goes Wrong. ‘We oft reward the men who shirk. Philosophers have said it— ‘The postman does the real work And Santa gets the creditl Friends and Faulis, “You ought to take no notice of the faults of a friend.” “And yet,” answered Miss Cayenne, “the fact that I regard a dog as & friend does not prevent me from ob- jecting to fleas.” “The law of averages provides,” said HI Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “that he who speaks in anger may be compelled to listen in humility. Motorist's Plea. ' I shiver in the Wintry gust; My fears are growing greater. Oh, Prost King, smite me If you must, But spare yon radiator. “Gamblin’ i dangerous,” said Uncle Eben, “unless de game is big enough to advertisa" A ul i golrd. ‘The fight now being made upon THE GREAT HUNGER BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES Bishop of Text: “Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?”—St, John, vi.5. “Man shall not live by bread alone”— St. Luke, iv4. ‘The bread problem is universal to the race. Life is largely characterized by a search for material things. From the crying infant seeking satisfaction for its hunger to the aged man reaching forth thin hands for food, the quest goes on. In one form or another our gearch is for satisfaction. Reduced tc simplest terms, it is bodily and physical demands that constitute the impelling and compelling motive of life. Jean Valjean goes to the galley for a loaf of bread to feed starving ones at home; a king pol his brother to gain his crown and faithless wife; Alexander, dying at 33, sighs for more worlds to conquer. A man sells his honor and his soul and brings shame to his house- hold that he may gain a little more of this world's goods, a little more of dis- tinction and praise of men, only to find at the end of his way dissatisfaction and disillusion. A whole nation loses its poise because a period of uncertainty and panic seizes the stock market, and, irrespective of real values and stable industrial conditions, a situation is pre- cipitated bordering on hysteria. Trac- ing all these to their legitimate source, we discover the same old pressed in the query of ““Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?” The form of its expression changes, the cause or motive largely re- mains the same. Jesus was by no means blind or in- different to man’s physical needs. Re- peatedly He gave demonstration of His concern for bodies. Indeed, the major rt of His ministry was to those who d suffered misfortune of one kind or another in the ‘battle of life. At one time, speaking of the comprehensiveness of the Eternal Father's love, He sald concerning man's physical needs, “Your Heavenly Pather knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” There is nothing in the Christian philosophy of life that disparages man’s reasonable quest for the satisfaction of his legiti- mate appetites. What He did insist uron was that the mere satisfaction of desire, however it might express it- E. FREEMAN, D. D, LL. D, Washington g self, was not the sole end of existence. He reckoned with men’s bodies and their needs; He reckoned also with their souls and their higher aspirations. In His own search for the highest expres- sion of His ministry He would not ap- pease His hunger by meeting the claims of the tempter. On another occasion He declared to His disciples, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” He revealed to men the qualities of their finer nature and evoked yearnings and aspirations that had hitherto been in- articulate. He made even those who had been contaminated by sinful indul- gence feel the call of their hitherto unrecognized spiritual natures. He took weak men, who thought of life in terms of acquisition, and gave them new impulses and new purposes and new ambitions. All along the way of human history, even in the face of a grossly material world, we have dem- onstrations of the survival of the lglrllull in man. It would be a sorry thing for art and music and litera- ture were this not so. There are fine and noble qualities in all of us, fre- quently undiscovered, that respond to the appeal of things spiritual. Difficult as it may be to define them, it is de- monstrably true that man cannot live by bread alone. In spite of all his evil propensities, in the face of all his in- satiable thirst for the satisfaction of his passions, his desires and his appe- tites, there is something in man, call it soul or spirit or what you will, that cries out for satisfaction. elas, the Abyssinian prince, found the restricted area of his dwelling that seemed to meet every physical need un- appealing and unsatisfying. There was something within him that demanded expression, something that called for that which his rich estate did not af- ford. It was the hunger of his soul. It matters not whether it be the man of wealth, environed with the things that luxurious tastes command and afford, or the laborer to whom such adva tages are denied, the yearning is the same, Whether we acknowledge it or deny it, we have a dual nature, the Rhyslc-l and the spiritual, and he lives is life to the largest and highest ends who_recognizes at once the claims of the body and the claims of the soul. Tide of Agricultural Sentiment Turns in Favor of Farm Board BY WILLIAM HARD. ‘The outstanding political event nation- ally of the past week has been the mounting wave of agricultural senti- ment in favor of the Federal Farm Board's present efforts, particularly in reference to grain, and in favor of a quick passage of the tariff bill with its present schedules as more or less determined—principally more—by the coalition of I""micrats and of Republi- can in s in the Senate. This| doub ¢ ¢ velopment begins to put a new face on the farm problem and indicates strongly that possibly within the next few months the country will pass out of the period of agricultural agitation for new legislation into a period marked by the carrying of that legislation into practical constructive effort. The immediate origin of the sudden surge of farm feeling on behalf of the Federal Farm Board has been due to outcries against the board in certain quarters in the private grain trade. Numerous grain dealers have thought themselves threatened in the very exist- ence of their businesses by the board's operations. In & degree their fears have been fully justified. The Federal Farm Board, under the chairmanship of Alex- ander Legge, formerly president of the International Harvester Co., is setting up a co-operative farmer-controlled wheat organization which undoubtedly will do a considerable part of the work of buy and selling formerly done by private enterprise. In fact, it can probably safely be said that no such drastic competition under governmental auspices against the private businesses | of private citizens has ever before hap- | pened in American history. * oK ok ok It is true that members of the Federal Farm Board do not think that this com- petition will annihilate the private grain dealers. Ex-Gov. McKelvie of Nebraska, a member of the board, expresses to this writer the view that the co- operative organization set up by the board anc financed by the board will be able within the immediate future to control not more than 50 per cent of the wheat marketed. Large room will be left, in ex-Gov. McKelvie's opinion, for sound and serviceable private grain firms. Mr. McKelvie also thinks that the increased stability given to the grain market by the Federal Farm Board's operations and by the farmer-controlled ‘ative wheat pool will be of posi- tive advantage to such grain dealers as are engaged not in mere speculation but in the actual merchandising of wheat. ‘The consoling thoughts, however, from Mr. McKelvie and from other members of the board do not suffice to aliay the anxiety of grain dealers who see be- fore them an undoubted diminution of the need for their activities and who realize that a certain number of them, at any rate, may presently be obliged to seek other occupations. They thereupon have had the hardinood to express fears as to the wisdom of the present policy of the Government toward their means of livelihood. ‘This attitude on their part was appar- ently all that was needed to convince multitudes of farmers that the Federal Farm Board must be moving in the right direction. If it was going to hurt the grain dealers, the board must be “the farmers’ friend.” Convinced by that reasoning, the agricultural interest has begun to overwhelm the board with protestations of its approval and sup- * kK X Y Senator Nye of North Dakota has been the first Republican insurgent to launch his boat on the new tide. In the Senate he has made a protracted speech, of which the gist is that last: May he was a skeptic regarding the Federal Farm Board, but that now, in | view of the behavior of the private grain trade toward the board, his senti- ments are as follows: “The board has taken the side of the | farmer in no uncertain manner. I feel quite assured today of the honesty of | rpose of Chairman Legge and of the | the Farm Board by influences which have built up a little world of their | own in the grain marketing field is| the best possible indication of the sym- pathetic administration now being given | to the farm bill.” It can be accurately stated, in sum, that at this week end the organized farmers of the United States, through | most of thelr societies, such as (notably) | the American Parm Bureau Federation | and the National Grange and the | Farmers' Union, have at length rallied definitely to the Farm Board as the immediate forum through which they | have their ,best hope of working out | their problem to a solution. ‘This change of spirit is fortified and | complemented by a precisely parallel | change of spirit in reference, to the tariff bill. A few months ago the at- titude of the Western farmers to the tariff bill seemed to be one almost en- tirely of resistance and negation. The Eastern powers of evil were thought to be in control of tariff legislation and the principal effort of the West was expended in fighting the East. That was the stage of obstruction. * ok ok x ‘We now in the tariff matter seem to have come into the stage of achieve- ment. The coalition of Democrats and of Republican insurgents in the Senate has rewritten the duties in the bill to such an extent that Senator Nye, al- himself on the Senate floor to the fol- lowing proposition: “This bill is clearly being made into the best tariff bill that has ever been written by the Congress of the United States.” Being _Interpreted, this statement means that in Senator Nye's opinion the bill now contains more new advan- tages for farmers and fewer new ad- vantages for industrialists than in any former instance of congressional tariff action. It is natural thereupon that a paper editors should have affixed their names to the recent famous newspaper advertisement demanding that the Con- gress now pass the bill as rapidly as possible. ‘The best judges here at this moment absolutely are confident .that the new urgent_agricultural demand for quick tariff legislation will presently give us a tariff bill that can be passed and that can be signed. This prospect is emphasized by the fagt that the sort of tariff rate revision desired by the farmers and effected by the Senate coalition is in fact substantially pre- cisely the same sort of tariff rate re- vision, except in minor particulars, that is desired by President Hoover and by Speaker Longworth of the House of Representatives. With the farmers wanting their tariff victory put now into the statute books and with Pre: dent Hoover and Mr. Longworth esse; tially concurring, it would seem reaso: able to anticipate that a tariff enact- ment may happen in the not too distant future, Putting together the new Farm Board situation and the new tariff situation, one may say that the farmer for a long time has been saddling a horse Ifid is now just about to get on it and ride. (Copyrisht, 1929.) —— emee Farmers to Get More Reliable Statistics BY HARDEN COLFAX. Uncle Sam is going to search the re- mote corners of the world and in- tensify his efforts here at home to supply statistical and interpretative information for American farmers. Spurred en Federal Farm Board and encouraged by the House appropriations committee, the Depa! ments of Agriculture, Commerce State are making plans to compile ana distribute data in the field of agri- culture on a scale never attempted before. Industry and trade have bullt up dur- ing the present decade & system of statistical information, with the s of the Departments of Commerce ana State, in an effort to make it pos- sible for business men to interpret the signs of the times. The Department of Commerce has been given funds for this purpose generously by Congress. Results have been beneficial to the ob- ject of straightening out the old curves in manufacturing and merchandising, a brilliant example of this fact being the relatively little disturbance ot basic business by the recent recession in stock market activities; the stu- tistical position of the basis was known to be sound. * ok K K A major effort now will be to build up for agriculture a system to sup- plant guesses with facts, just as has been done in the field of business ana industry. In this movement, however, the Federal Government will be called upon to play an even greater part than it has in the former, because agr- culture, as a whole, lacks the organiza- | tion which marks commerce and trade, in which field eficient trade associa- tions do much for their own members | along these lines. The Department of Agriculture has been doing much for the farmers in supplying statistical and interpretative information, mostly here at home, but some abroad, and the foreign agencies of the Department of Commerce ana the Department of State have been helpful in this direction also, but much stronger emphasis is to be placed on this work in the coming year than hereto- fore. Whatever is accomplished can be brought about only with additional funds to be supplied by Congress, ana the House appropriations committee already has gone on record in favor of strengthening this service to agri- culture, and no substantial opposition is anticipated in either branch of tn: legislative body. ¥ R As a start in that direction, the De- partment of Agriculture appropriation bill for the next fiscal year, which was rmorted to the House Friday, contalns :'ms to enlarge the activities of the «epartment in crop and live stock esti- mates, both here and abroad, and in its Market News Service. Uncle Sam will spend considerably more than $2,000,000 directly in this work in the approaching year, and aid will be given from other appropriations, so that the sum total is difficult to cal- culate. ‘The n?proprlnthn bill carries an in- crease of $40,000 in the item for main- tenance of the foreign service of the Department of Agriculture, which al- ready is spending $113,000 fo' that pur- pose. Six agents and a number of clerical assistants now are maintained abroad by this department. It is pro- posed, with the addition to the appro- priation, to add one expert to the Lon. ways alert to catch all the new drifts of things, has been willing to commit don office, to send a fruit specialist to the office in the Orient, to add a live large number of Northwestern news- | 8T D. €., DECEMBER 15, 1929—PART TWO. Capital Sidelights BY ‘WILL P, KENNEDY. Oliver Optic, Horatio Alger and all other heralds of the boys who work and win, who elimb upward and onward by their devotion to their jobs when spurred on by laudable ambition to achieve a position of distinction in life would find a_ fertile field for authentic chron- icling of the youth who are earning promotion in Uncle Sam’s service. In ly every department and bureau of the Federal service there are officials holding high executive tions today who have worked their way up from office boys, and in private in- dustry some of the most successful “captains of industry” and business ad- ministration started in as messenger boys for Uncle Sam. A very present tense illustration is Wilson C. Flake, formerly office for Herbert Hoover when the latter Secretary of Commerce, and who on January 8 salls from New York for Bombay, India, as assistant trace com- missioner. When jotng Flak» had somewhat outgrown the office boy stage and had proved himself deserving of advancement, officials of the dcpart- ‘ment planned to give him his chance in some commodity division. “Because I knew something about cotton produc- tion, from having plowed in the cotton fields of North Carolina, I was allo- cated to the extile section,” Mr. Flake naively remarks. That was nine years ago. Since then his advancement has been steady. He was for a time a valued aid in the New York office. He left the Washington office on Sat- urday to make a tour of the States par- ticularly interested in textiles, and will conclude his itinerary at Boston and Lowell, Mass., 80 as to fortify himself from conferences with leaders in the textile industry in this country as to how he can best serve the interests of the American industry. x k% % The youngest page in the United States Senate is Phil Bassford, who en- tered upon his duties on his twelfth birthday. He is the smallest as well as the youngest page, so his associates have nicknamed him ‘“Peewee.” | It is quite natural that this young man should feel at home around the Capital, because he has spent a large part of his life there, and was born into that life. His father, Wallace Bass- ford, was for many years secretary to the late “warhorse” of Democracy and former Speaker—Champ Clark. “Peewee” Bassford is keeping abreast of his class in junior h school on exactly three hours’ tutoring per week, with no home study. The Senate pages have just organized a Boy Scout troop, with Senators Couzens of Michigan and Brock of Ten- nessee as patrons. The former Senator has agreed to supply them with a Sum- mer camp. Lo ‘The state papers of Calvin Coolidge, carefully arranged by his former secre- tary, Edward T. Clark, have been de- posited with the Library of Congress in the division of manuscripts. They fill 50 steel transfer files, and are accom- panied by a card index, filling another such file. Herbert Putnam, the librarian of Con- ess, says that these Coolidge papers “will be a rich mine of information for the future students of the history of Mr. Coolidge’s administration. They are at present under his control in re- spect to access or consultation.” * kK Ok ‘Worthington C. Ford, formerly hief of the division of manuscripts in the Library of Congress and for the it 20 years editor of the Massachusetts His- torical Society, a veteran in the quest, discrimination and treatment of such material, has been selected to succeed Prof. Samuel F. Bemis of the George ‘Washington University faculty, whose { two-year leave of absence has expired, !in organizing and directing the work abroad under the John D. Rockefeller gift to the National Library for the acquisition of source material in Amer- ican history. * ok * Records covering the early history of the National Capital have recently been placed for safekeeping for posterity in largely to the extinct municipality of Georgetown. They include 36 manu- seript volumes, among which are the Georgetown Journal, 1751-1801; the journals of the Board of Aldermen for almost all the years from 1805 to 1865; those of the Common Council for almost the whole period from 1807 to 1861, and journals of corporation meetings from 1801 to 1869. * Kk ok ok Research students have found an in- teresting_treasure trove in the recent gift to the Library of Congress of sev- eral hundred letters, social invitations, illustrating the diplomatic ‘and social life of George Bancroft and his wife in London and Berlin, together with much correspondence of Mrs. Bancroft's son, Col. Alexander Bliss, illustrative of quartermaster service in the Civil War. The presentation was made by Miss Elizabeth B. Bliss, granddaughter of Mrs. Bancroft. S of a portion of Wakefield, the birthplace of George Washington, in Westmoreland County, Va. based on a survey by Joseph Berry in August, 1742, has just by Gabriel Wells of New York. There is also a description of the survey, a second copy of the same map, and the indenture which was the occasion of the survey. It is dated December 3, 1742, and re- corded April 12, 1743, and is concerned with certain lands belonging to Augus- tine Washington, the father of the President, and Jobn Washington, his uncle. The signature of the uncle, at- tached to the indenture, is belleved to be the only autograph of John Wash- ington which has been preserved. * ok ok X% A staff of six specialists is being maintained in the Library of Congress to gather and verify data used in the preparation of a very important con- tribution to bibliographical research in preparation of the Dictionary of Amer- ican Bibliography, under auspices of the American Council of Learned So- cleties and the editorship of Prof. Allen Johnson of Yale University. stock specialist and a grain specialist to the staff in continental Europe and to open an office in South America, probably by re-establishing the one for- merly at Buenos Alres, which was closed several years ago because of lack of funds. R Companion bills have been introduced in the House and Senate to give recog- nition and official status to the foreign service of the Department of Agricul- ture. Under the terms of the measure, which will be pressed for early action, the principal agents would have diplo- matic status. - Whenu(:la bill is enacted 1nlt; law tll: expected a special appropriation Wi be sought to enlarge by considerable proportions the foreign staff of the de- partment, the Federal Farm Board hav- ing recommended an additional appro- priation of $334,000 for the Department of Agriculture for this expansion. The Farm Board is charged by the agricultural marketing act with the duty of keeping advised and making re- ports as to crop prices, experiences, prospects, supply and demand at home and abroad, and it has asked the De- partment of Agriculture to take charge of the service of getting such informa- tion. In a resolution adopted two months ago the board emphasized this need and pointed out that in many for- eign countries the crop, live stock and market-reporting services are inade- quate for its purpose of keeping abreast with the world situation. Arrangements have been made for closer co-operation by the far-flun, foreign agencies of the Department o! Commerce, which already have been re- porting on some phases of agriculture, and a liaison committee has been es- tablished by the two departments. The State Department's numerous copsuls also will join the movement. (Copyright, 1920.) Y | 43| preparation of enforcement machinery, the Library of Congress. They rater‘ | newspaper clippings and visiting cards A photostat copy of the original map been presented to the National Library ESTABLISHING A PLIMSOLL LINE BY FREDERI ‘The Bureau of Navigation of the De- partment of Commerce is preparing to take on a new duty during the current year, that of supervising the placing of Plimsoll marks, or loadlines, on ocean- going vessels of American registry and drawing regulations for the enforce- ment of this measure of protection to life and property. Last March 2 Con- gress passed an act to establish load- lines, but its effective date was set 18 months in the future. Inasmuch as the | act requires the marking of vessels, the formulation of regulations and the this interim was deemed necessary. A loadline is a line placed on the hull of a vessel, which must never be sub- ! merged in the water as the result of the weight of a cargo. The proper capacity of a vessel is accurately asceitained in relation to its general seaworthiness and the loadline then fixed. This work is to be done under the direct super- vision of the American Bureau of Ship- ping, known as the American Lloyd's. The organization is primarily a marine insurance company, just as Lloyd's in London, but in connection with this service it has become the authority on the proper loading of vessels, their sea- worthiness and all other matters per- taining to ocean shipping having to do with safety of life and property. In- asmuch as the American Bureau of Shipping is not a Government organi- zation, the Secretary of Commerce, un- der the new law, may, upon the insist- ence of a shipowner, have some other ‘marine insurance company or properly qualified body or Government officer establish the loadline for his ships. This proviso is included in the law to avold | the color of giving a private concern a monopoly. It is not likely to be availed of, as the American Bureau of Shipping | stands alone in its fleld. “The story of Plimsoll marks, or load- lines, is a fascinating one. It is some- thing of a reflection on the American Congress that not until this year has it seen fit to give to mariners, passengers and cargo owners this measure of pro- tection which Great Britain provided for her ships more than. half a cen- tury ago. Why the Name Was Given. The story of the Plimsoll mark is in | a large sense the story of Samuel Plim- soll. gllmsoll ‘was an Englishman born in 1824, who soon after starting his busi- | ness career failed and was reduced to | complete destitution. In this state he came to understand the sufferings of the poor, and, in hanging around the water front, learned particularly of the | dangers which mariners faced in signing | on unseaworthy ships. He recognized, of course, that all seafaring has its dan- gers, but_he was especially revolted by the knowledge he acquired of how - owners, in order to earn more freight money, grossly overloaded their vessels and sent them to sea. If they came safe to port, & rich freight charge was col- lected; if they foundered, they were heavily insured. Indeed, Plimsoll learn- ed that in many cases owners of old, un- seaworthy ships, which it was known could not last much longer in any event and which had no sale value, load! them down with cheap, but heavy cargo, then plastered them with insurance and sent them out in the full expactation that they would sink and pay a hand- some profit through the m>dium of the | insurance money. Plimsoll noted that In no case was any thought whatever given to the men who manned the ships. Ship and cargo were insured, but no special precautions C J. HASKIN. were taken to safeguard the lives of the men. Of course, on such ships no pas- sengers were taken. The lives of the men mattered not at all to the ship- owners; their sole interest was in col- lecting profits either in the form of high freight rates or insurance. Rudyard Kipling has celebrated these ffin ships” as they were known among the seamen in his “Ballad of the Bollvar.” The famous ballad tells how such a ship was loaded down with steel ralls and started out across the bay with scarcely enough coal to take her there. She ran into a storm, but, by some extraordinary stroke of luck, the crew proved equal to the unexpected miracle of actually bringing the vessel to port, to the great disgust of the owners. As Kipling describes it: “Just a pack of rotten plates, Puttied up with tar, In we came and time enough, 'Cross Bilboa Bar. Overloaded, undermanned, Meant to founder, we Euchred God’s almighty storm, Bluffed the eternal sea.” Puts the Bill Through Parliament. Better times came for Plimsoll when he went into the brewing business, and eventually he got into Parliament. From the very beginning of his public career he agitated the need for the protection of ships and men by the reg. ulation of shiploads. He entered Par- liament in 1868, but, despite the most persistent efforts, could get no serious attention for the measures he proposed. ‘Then he turned to the public by pub- lishing, in 1872, a book entitled “Our Seamen.”: It told the story of the “cof- fin ships” and the avarice of the ship- owners. A profound impression was created, the British public taking pride in their merchant marine and having been ignorant theretofore of the true conditions. So salutary was the public impression created by Plimsoll's book that in 1873 Parliament adopted his resolution providing for the appoint- ment of a royal commission to look into the matter. This commission investi- gated and drew a bill, which, although inadequate in Plimsoll's view, was the best he could expect to start with. The bill was introduced in Parliament. ‘Then we see how at all times lobbies operate in legislative bddies. A powerful lobby representing the shipowners im- mediately set up a strong opposition to the loadline bill. This proved so ef- fegtive that the prime minister, Dis- raell, announced in the Commons that the measure would be dropped. A spir- ited scene followed, in the course of which Plimsoll shook his fist in the Speaker’s face—an act for which he subsequently apologized. There was more delay, but public indignation had by that time reached such a pitch that the government found it expedient to put the bill through. Plimsoll's Name Perpetuated. ‘The act was passed giving the British Board of Trade power of regulation over loadings. Loadlines were estab- lished and immediately became known as Plimsoll marks, as they still are Samuel Plimsoll became something of a popular hero in England. Upon his re-election to Parliament in 1880 he re- signed his seat to Sir W. Harcourt, be- cause Harcourt was home secretary, and Plimsoll believed that he would do more to advance the interests of seamen. ‘When his action became known, no less than 30 -constituencies offered to elect ed | him—a proceeding comparable to one in which 30 congressional districts in the United States would offer to send a man to Congress, no matter where he hailed from. Now that, after more than half & century, the ~American Congress has followed the British example, loadlines will be plainly marked on American ocean-going ships and there can be no possibility of overloading. Fifty Years Ago In The Star It was many & year after the adoj { tion of the Constitution that the “i | terstate commerce i Interstate clause uln it T taken advantage of by Con- Commerce. for the enactment of laws regulating the practices of com- mon carriers. In The Star of December 9, 1879, is the following: “The power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce is not questioned and under this right Congressman Reagan of Texas proposes to have the Government_establish some regulations over railroad traffic. Mr. Reagan's bill the House in the Forty-fifth ngress, but was buried in the Senate | committee. It was fought at every step by the railroad owners and officers who are always opposed to any law, except such as they make themselves, for the government of railway matters, The Reagan bill forbids unjust discrimina- tions by railroads in freight charges, requires that uniform rates shall be charged for long and short distances and prohibits all poolings and rebates. The people who patronize and support rallroad lines, as well as build them, to a very great extent, have proved power: less against their extortions. Compel ing lines combine with rivals and exces. sive rates are established and main- tained. Another bill pending before the House proposes to accomplish substan- tially the same end as the Reagan bill, but by a different method: It was in- troduced by Mr. Sapp of Iowa, and pro- vides for the appointment of a commis- sion which shall establish rates and regulations for railway traffic. * * % “The rushing enterprise of English journalism,” says The Star of December e 11, 1879, “was forcibly British News m;gum by & cm.m;. 2 stance which recently Enterprise. oeeurred in the experl- ence of the London Times. Mr. Delane, the ablest and most famous editor that paper ever had, died on Saturday, No- vember 22, at Ascot, a railway station not 40 minutes from London. Yet not a line in regard to the event appeared in the Times until on the Tuesday fol- lowing. Imagine a leading American newspl?er making such an exhibition of ftself!” * * x In respect to the premature publica- tion of presidential messages to Con- i gress and other “state Jefferson's wpers” touched upon is column a weel Precedent. oo “rhe Star had the December 13, 1879: “There was no chance for ‘enterpris- ing’' journalists to get possession of and prematurely publish Presidents’ mes- sages in the early days of the Republic. Presidents Washington and Adams de- livered their messages in person to Con- sgress and Mr, Jefferson was the first to depart from this custom. He turned the annual ‘address’ into an annual message and sent it to Congress, & precedent that has been followed by all his successors. In sending his first message to Congress he wrote to the President of the Senate as follows: “‘The circumstances under which we find ourselves placed rendering incon- venient the mode heretofore yncnced‘ of making by personal address the first communication between the legislative and executive branches, I have adopted that by message, as used upon all sub- sequent occasions through the session, In doing this I have had principal regard to the convenience of the Legis- lature, to the economy of their time, to their relief from the embarrassment of immediate answers on subjects not yet fully before them, and to the benefits thence resulting to the public affairs. Trusting that procedure founded upon these motives will meet their ap- probation. I beg leave through you, sir, to communicate the inclosed message. with the documents accompanying it, to the honorable the Senate, and pray j to accept for yourself em the homage of my high respect and consid- eration.” e following further to say In its issue of | | Peace Pact Essential To Success at London BY DREW PEARSON. Out of the maze of naval details which Secretary of State Stimson has been discussing every day for two and three hours with his co-delegates to the London conference there has emerged one factor upon which success or fail- ure at London largely hangs. This is the realization that some lateral political agreement must be con- cluded at London by which the peace = reduction of naval armament. It was only by concluding an agreement of this kind in 1922—the five-power pact preserving the peace of the Pacific— that the Washington naval treaties could be signed. Some agreement for the preservation of peace in Europe is exactly what the League of Nations countries have been to get the United States into for years, and exactly what the Senate has meticulously and carefully avoided, it is for this reason that the Hoover- Stimson problem of satisfying both the Senate and Europe at London is going to be so difficult. R ‘Without some political agreement of this kind it now appears that it will be practically impossible to conclude & five-power naval treaty at London. At present France appears to be the chief stumbling block. Prench objections to the present naval negotiations plans may be summarized as follows: 1. France objects to naval parity with Italy, which is the major demand of the Italian government. 2. ‘France opposes any limitation of cruisers by ratio, arguing that this is an \l;:ll;u:ymm of measuring battle-fleet strength. 3. France opposes the abolition of the submarine, which President Hoover and Premier Macdonald have gone on record as favoring. 4. France believes that no final treaty should be at London, but that the results of the conference should be submitted to the League, of Nations for further discussion. 5. France believes that the question of naval reduction cannot be settled ex- ceplzl in connection with disarmament n on s £ (" However, it is probable that France would sacrifice all of these principles if her security on the Continent could be 1 assured. * K k% It is the K’relent policy of the Hoover administration to base the London naval treaty upon the Kellogg pact, which it belleves is sufficlent security for the peace of the world. In view of the way the Hoover admin- istration has brou-ht all its strength to bear to preserve this treaty, this lief comes very near to being true. Even before the events of last July in Manchuria the Hoover administration had accepted the Kellogg pact as one of the foundation stones of its foreign policy. ‘Then in July it issued warnings to both China and Russia in a way which even the administration of ‘Woodrow Wilson, accused of specializing in international relations, probably would not have done. ‘Then in October Mr. Hoover an® Premier Macdonald issued one of the most important statements ever maag jby the heads of two English-speaking peoples, in which the Kellogg pact was re-emghnllzd as & paramount principle | of both nations. Finally, just two weeks ago, Secretary Stimson appealed to the entire world to support the Kel pact in a manner which lett not tne sAghtest doubt that the Hoover administration would repeat this appeal whenever trouble cropped out in any other part of the world. is reason to be'leve that these ste?u were taken definitely and deliber- ately not only to su?npon the Kellogg pact, but to place it such a position of importance that Secretary Stimson could go to London and convince his colleagues from Italy, Japan, and espe- clally France, that the Kellogg pact was sufficient guarantee for their security and on this basis they could safely re- duce their naval strength. (Copyright, 1929.) of the world is assured, thus permitting_|