Evening Star Newspaper, January 19, 1930, Page 30

2 THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., JANUARY 19, 1930—PART TWO. —_—— e — SFRICTIONLESS LIVING” BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D, LL. D., Bishop of Washington. THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editien. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY.......January 19, 1830 THEODORE W. NOYES. ...Editor The Evening 11th St nts Ave., Star News) Comj i e Ovepuny by Carrier Within the City. 4548 ver wonth 60c per month per month y this wrid of each monih bsaed orutibore Prtinfig S Rate IH Mall—Payable in Advance. aryland and Virginia, Datly and Sindas.....1 .00 Sindayonly Member of the Associated Press. The Assoclated Press iy exclusively entit to the use for repuslication of sl patches credited to it or not ethelw! ted' in_this y Dper and uiso published hereia. Al rights the tecal news 3 of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. The Cramton Park Bill. “It is our national ambition to make '@ great and effective city for the seat of our Government, with a dignity, charac- ter and symbolism truly representative of America. As a Nation we have re- ‘solved that it shall be accomplished.” ‘Thus wrote President Hoover in his letter read at the great meeting Friday night in Constitution Hall, where a dis- " tinguished company had gathered in the Interest of the Washington of the future. One of the steps that Congress can take immediately in pursuance of the fine objective outlined by the President * is to pass the Cramton park bill. The machinery now exists to carry to com- pletion some of the great plans already drawn for Washington and its environs. The Cramton bill supplies the money. This bill, which was passed last year by the House, but reached the Senate * too late for action there, has been dis- cussed pro and con and its purposes are by now generally known. It provides an appropriation of $23,000,000. Part of the money would be used in Maryland and Virginia for extensions to the Cap- ital's park and parkway system. Part of it would be used to develop and to ,.complete the proposed George Wash- - ington Memorial Parkway from Mount Vernon to Great Falls along the Vir- ginia shores of the Potomac and from Fort Washington to Great Falls along -1he Maryland side of the river, includ- +ing the,acquisition and safeguarding of 919. Now Mr. Moore announces defi- nitely his decision to retire at the end of his present term, March 4, 1931, In the course of his decade and more of duty in the House, Representative Moore has rendered especially valuable service to his own district and also to the National Capital, in whose welfare he has always been deeply concerned. His exceptional qualities have been won for him important committee as- signments. With a broad vision of the public interests, he has been at all times helpful in the promotion of projects of importance to the two com- munities which comprise his extended district of representation, and has at the same time participated in legisla- tion of a national character in a man- ner to win for him the high esteem of all his colleagues. His departure from active service as legislator will be the oceasion of deep regret in the District of Columbia and Virginia, and in Con- gress, Chicago’s Bankruptey. If any business establishment ran its affairs on the same principles and with the same unhappy results as the City of Chicago, to which reference was made in these columns the other day, it would go into bankruptcy. Re- ceivership would be required, to effect & straightening out of conditions, the balancing of assets with liabilities if possible. But a municipality cannot very well be placed in the hands of a receiver, nof can a State or & national government. Short of extraordinary measures it must work out its own sal- vation. ‘The trouble in Chicago started with a temporary shortage of revenues. The budget had not been exactly balanced. Municipal budgets of the size of Chi- cago's rarely do balance precisely. The city borrowed on its prospect of reve- nues, somewhat as the prospective heir to a fortune borrows on the strength of the money that will be his if, as and when he inherits. But here the &ue inprovidence of the municipality came into play. Instead of writing off an equivalent amount from expenditures for the next period, covered by the in- come to be, the budget makers went ahead and wrote their requisitions in even larger amounts. And the next season the process was repeated, with the result of creating an unauthorized public debt, for the payment of which there was no funding provision. The demoralising effect of this ir- regular method of running a city has now been manifested. Utter confusion prevails. Questioned assessments have tied up tax collections. The whole tax recognized by his colleagues and hnve, prevention. this great project will have taken form sufficiently to work results in flood con- trol. Unhapplly the Middle West is still as dangerously exposed to the menace of the waters today as before the flood of 1927, e - Coolidge, Master of Condensation. Calvin Coolidge, now rated as one of the highest paid American writers, is to contribute a literary composition to history without compensation. He has accepted an invitation from the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Associa~ tion to write a history of the United States to be inscribed upon a tablet eighty feet high and one hundred and twenty feet wide on the side of Mount Rushmore, in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This “history” is to be kept within five hundred words, as befits the “publication.” It is to form a part of & great sculpture by Gutzon Borglum, who has now under way the carving of figures of Washington and Jefferson on a gigantic scale on the mountainside. It will be interesting to observe how successfully Mr. Coolidge manages to condense the history of the United States into half a thousand words. His own brevity of oral expression, which became a national tradition during his term as President, is not characteristic of his literary style, which is fluent and free. ‘The task of condensing the story of the United States into 50 nar- Tow & compass is not a small one. Indeed, the commission given Mr. Cool- idge by the Memorial Association is severe and exacting. If he manages to get the story of this great ccun- try boiled down to the compass of the proposed tablet in letters large enough to be read from many miles away, he will have accomplished a literary mar- vel. He has an opportunity in this task to rival Lincoln's Gettysburg address for eloquent brevity. — e ‘When literary censorship asserts pro- tection of the proprieties it is difficult to understand why so much current material is neglected in order to go away back to Voltaire. ————— . Statesmen revive discussion of repeal of the eighteenth amendment on the theory, perhaps, that it helps to make conversation and assist in developing talents for oratory. ————— Among the “good old days” worthy of mention are those when the average po- liceman felt safe in going on patrol without any more formidable weapon than his trusty nightstick, ——————— Firemen have no thought of social precedence and attend an alarm sent and expenditure system is tangled up *the gorge of the Potomac and that por- ~.tion of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal|,any committee has been formed, with- |after & blaze in the White House. :lying within the territory specified. Sixteen millions of the fund appro- priated would be advanced for expendi- Silas H. Strawn, who is one of Chi-|SDOW is considered appropriate holiday cago’s most useful citizens, often called | Veather; and there are a number of ture by the National Capital Park and - Planning Commission in acquiring and _devcloping parks and playgrounds in . Washington. Maryland and Virginia would share one-half the cost of the projects in one ? case, and would pay two-thirds the cost in another, but the Federal Government, would advance all the necessary funds, to be repaid without interest by the end of five years. In the case of the $16,000,000 ad- ‘vanced to the District, the money would “be repaid without interest in annual|“*¢K Will be in arrears of salaries are | . 0 into a veritable Gordian knot. A citi- out official authority, to find a plan for financial relief. It is headed by upon to perform civic duties outside of the range of politics. He has now stated that even if the taxes for 1928 and 1929 were all collected the city would still be in debt $27,641,600. ‘This is a simple, plain case of living beyond the means. Nobody will ever know perhaps how much of the excess of expenditures over income has gone in graft or municipal “racketeering.” The 45,844 municipal employes who this installments of $1,000,000 each, The |1t concerned about the cause of the Government's share would be repre- . sented by & fraction of the annual Fed- eral contribution to the District appro- priation bills, from which the $1,000,000 . will be taken, and by the interest rep- " resented, but unpaid, on the loan of the $16,000,000. On the grounds of economy, and be- cause the bill removes certain formid- able barriers that have blocked proper park development in the past, The Star has previously placed itself on record as - approving the prineiple of this measure, and again urges that it should be passed. At the same time The Star emphasizes again the fact that the bill as drawn is " contrary to the original conception of _the Nation's responsibility in Capital building expressed in the act creating the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, wherein it was stipulated that the funds expended should be ap- propriated on the basis of 1 cent for every inhabitant of the United States. Instead of permitting this Nation- wide participation in developing the Federal park system of the National Capital, the original park and planning legislation was amended, drawing the funds from local appropriation meas- ures, putting the major burden on tax- payers of the Capital community. The Cramton bill continues this in- equity. It does not increase the cost of developing Federal parks in and around Washington, for it does not in- crease the annual appropriations for this purpose now carried. But it means taking from the central community a disproportionate amount of local funds, needed for local uses, to carry out the Federal scheme of Federal city develop- ment. The purpose of the Cramton bill is unquestionably sound. 1t is economically feasible. But it continues the unfair and narrow-minded system of dividing expenditures between the Capital and +the Nation in a manner that burdens the former and enables the latter to shirk its fair share of the cost. It is true that the remedy for this condition should be applied elsewhere than in the Cramton bill. The remedy lies in a return to the lawfully provided 60—40 system of appropriating for the Capital, or in increasing the lump sum to an amount approximating the 40 per cent that the Federal Government is morally and lawfully bound to con- tribute. . ; ‘The Cramton park bill merely di- £ vides the cost for park acquisition and development according to the division of cost specified in the annual appro- * priation bills. Correct the inequalities expressed shortage. They want their money, and there is no money to pay them. Now comes the worst feature of the situation. Bonds and tax anticipation ‘warrants have been offered for sale by the city as an extraordinary means of providing immediate cash. Not one of the Chicago banks will take this “paper.” In other words, Chicago has not only lost its capital, but it has lost its credit, for the reason that there is no faith in the Integrity of the muni- cipal administration, no confidence in the abllity of the mayor and the councils, granting their willingness, to repay debts incurred to meet this emergency. In these circumstances it would seem to be within the power and to be the duty of the Governor of the State of Illinois to name a receiver or a commission of receivership for what is 50 clearly s case of municipal bank- ruptcy, one of the most shameful ex- hibitions of administrative incom- petence in history. Intimation that the final responsibil- ity for world disarmament plans must rest with this country is in line with a frequent inclination to put the burden of world negotiations squarely on the shoulders of Uncle Sam. (L R Collectors of historic relics may one day look the world over for an old bat- tleship to be put in & museum along with the original B, & O. locomotive, Floods and Bitter Cold. A desperate situation has developed in the Middle West, where rivers are overflowing their banks, inundating large areas. The flood itself has been the cause of heavy losses and keen suffering on the part of the people, several thousand of whom are more or less affected. Now comes a bitter tem- perature to render the plight of the flood sufferers even more serious. A cold wave swept in a few hours ago upon the region of high waters, going to zero and below in short order. Flood- ed flelds were frozen. Streams were banked with ice. Temporary shelters to which the people had fled along the center of the area of flooding were inadequate to afford protection from the rigors of the blizzard. | There is no knowledge of the extent to which this situation spreads or the numbers affected. It is, however, evi- dent that a great muititude will be exposed to disease and perhaps to death by freezing. Fortunately the heaviest inundation has occurred sufficlently far south in "since 1925 in the annual appropriation bills, and there can remain no logical wbjection to the Cramton park bill. —— et Representative Moore to Retire. For some time past Representative R. ‘Waltgn Moore of the eighth district of Virginia has been contemplating retire- ment from political life. This prospect , has given concern to the people of this - community, who regard Mr. Moore as _ virtually one of their own number, and the Mississippl Valley to be beyond the range of the freezing temperatures incl- dent to this most untimely cold wave. Yet, the flood itself is doing heavy damage in that region and causing the keenest suffering to untold numbers. Nearly three years ago this country suffered from one of the most extensive and costly floods in its history through- out the Mississippi Valley. An exhaus- tive Government survey was made and plans were adopted and provision was made for the redemption of the low- from the home of any citizen as promptly and courageously as they look —————— A low temperature with flurries of holidays still to come. ———————— It is contended that polsonous alco- hol, while not as rapid in getting re- sults as an infernal machine, is farther reaching in its devastation. ——oe—. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. ‘Truthful Terror. dmire the candid man ‘With free, courageous thought. ‘We know he does the best he can ‘To say just what he ought. And sometimes he will bring a smile ‘With observation kind. More frequently we fear the style ©Of one who speaks his mind. He doesn't tell you of your worth. He doesn't always say, In tones unvarying in mirth, “How well you look today!™ He spoils the egotistic glee ‘To which you are inclined. ‘You feel like running when you see ‘The man who speaks his mind! Consistency. “Are you annoyed by the people who want you to assist them in getting sal- aried positions?™ “No,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I mustn't be inconsistent. I have for many years been asking the people to do the same thing for me.” Jud Tunkins says he's always willing to lend an umbrella and never sorry if it's not returned. The umbrella test is one of the cheapest possible ways of de- tecting a false friend. North and South. Kre long the signs of Spring we'll know By joyous word of mouth, Which tells of birds that Northward go, While base ball men go South. Raral Development. “Is your boy Josh trying to develop the old homestead?” “Yes,” answered Farmer Corntossel. “He has some big ideas. He thinks we ought to quit plowin’ up the old place and interest capital in the-idea of turnin’ it into & golf course.” “We could be happy.” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “if it were not so easy to forget a friend and so hard to forget an enemy. Advice Handled With Care. The statement said, “My fate is queer, Even when good advice I hear, I cut the giver from my list— Perhaps he is a lobbyist!" “*Tain't much use findin’ fault wif de Government,” said Uncle Eben. '8 satisfied to mind de regulations an' keep de Government f'um findin’ fault wif me.” —— vt And Who Shot the Hunter? Prom the Lansing State Journsl. Now that it is being proj that deer be hunted with bow and arrow in- stead of , one will be able by identifying the arrow to tell who shot Tragedies Intensified. Prom the Charleston Daily Mail. With music tones visible by means of s new device which transforms sound into light, some alleged music will no doubt present a horrifying sight. ———t————— And a “School” of F; oo ine Omale Werd-Metsld. leet” of locomotive There Is Light Ahead. lands of the valley from the flood threat. From the Toledo Blade. In another season or two| Text, Isaiah lzi. 3: “The oil of joy Jor mourning.” In our little message of last week we urged the importance of recognizing the indispensableness of securing to ourselves those essential lubricants that save the human machine from impair- ment and guarantee to it efficiency. Nothing is more evident than that the wear and ®ear of life are due, not so much to our work, hard and strenuous as that may be, as to those harassing cares and worries tha’ destroy poise and issue in unhlrplnesa and lost peace of mind. How frequently some one says, “It isn't my work that is wearing me, it is the petty worries that harass me day by day.” We recall the tragio' story of one who was carrying large responsibilities and was seemingly fit, who broke like a plpe stem under the strain of a domestic worry, that in itself seemed inconsequential. He stood without flinching the heavy strain of adminis- tering great corporate interests; he could not stand the friction that burned out the bearings, rendering them in- capable of normal service. If we could remove from our lives things that in themselves seem ru,v and small—in a word, if we could get rid of the sand and grit that now and again retard our free motion, mental and physical—we should find ourselves capable of a heavier strain than we now carry. There are men and women who are so con- stituted mentally ti their poise is un- disturbed by petty annoyances, and yet e::.x; these come uitimately to show the strain. Some one recently asked the pertinent question, “Can the world get on without religion?” From study and observation, he answered in the negative. Another has asked the question, “What is it that we want from religion and get from religion? Viewing religion in the large, the answer is perfectly plain: the religious experience gives men added strength of life.” In other words, our Christian life and our devotional habit do have a definite and determining effect upon our daily life. The indul- gence in a weekly service with our friends and neighbors in a church, if rightly recognized, serves to ease the tension and to give a kind of refresh- ment that nothing else affords. A dis- tinguished literary man called me on the telephone one Sunday after the morning service and said: “I feel that I ought to tell you that the service this morning rejuvenated me. I hardly felt fit to worship when I went to church, as 1 was tired, jaded and worn by an excessively hard week. I came away feeling greatly relaxed and much prof- ited, mentally and spiritually.” It was the practical point of view of a prac- tical man expressed in a simple and homely way. The late Chief Justice Fuller said to me many years ago, as I joined him on a Sunday afternoon: “Well! you see I am following the injunction of this morning’s sermon; Iam finding refresh- ment in a fresh peruse! of the Bible.” 1f we are to enjoy fricti nless living, we must look for refreshment in other thlnrl than golf, the theater and the movies. These may all have their proper place pursuant to the old adage, all work and no play creates dullness. The great Master was not using figura- tive language when He said, “Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Say what we will, there is a kind of rest and refreshment, a kind of mental and spiritual stimulation that Procuds from a consistent indulgence in religious habits and practices. We do not sufficiently recognize this in our conception of the economy of life. Our home life, our business life, our social life, are all affected by what we hold of religious belief and what we practice pursuant to this belief. rightly administered, should be to us & spiritual power house. Every service and every act of devotion, consistently indulged in, should afford us mental re- laxation, physical refreshment and the deepening and quickening of our spir- itual aspirations: in fine, save us from an excess of friction and help us to un- derstand more fully the real joy of liv- ing. Let us substitute the “oll of joy for mourning.’ U. S. Delegates to London Conference Have Given No Ultimatums in Advance BY WILLIAM HARD. Special Radio Dispatch. LONDON, January 18.—The Ameri- can delegation enters the Naval Con- ference full of confident hope. It be- lieves a complete five-power agreement is altogether possible. It realizes that bad luck or bad management might prevent such agreement. It anticipates, nevertheless, that good management will occur and that good luck may follow. It sees nothing in the French or Italian or Japanese or British an- nounced policies and positions to jus- tify the belief that a five-power agren- ment has been rendered unlikely. It thinks that all the contradictions and conflicts so far disclosed can be har- monized by patient negotiations. It is to such negotiations, considerate and accommodating, that the Ameri- can delegation' intends to give itself. The Americans enter the conference with fewer detalled commitments and fewer published professions and prefer- ences than any of the other delega- tions here present. That is precis their diplomatic strength and advan- tage in the situation. ‘They have delivered virtually no ulti- matums. They have occupied no trenches from which it might be neces- sary later to retire. They have sent up no trial balloons to discover the ef- fect of them upon the public or upon their fellow diplomats in the confer- ences from other countries. They have cnly one unbreakable policy, and that policy is already accepted by all con- cerned. It is American naval parity with Great Britain. For the rest and in respect of all the details of all the treaties that may be suggested at Lon- don, the American delegation is - ing with an open mind and a free hand to a degree almost unprecedented on such an occasion. * ok ok ok ‘The result is thought certain to be that the American delegation will he peculiarly fitted to try to conciliate and reconcile the varying and oppos- ing suggestions and demands already put forward so_profusely by other dele- gations. The Japanese insistence upon the No. 7 in place of No. 6 in their ratio, the Itall idea of parity with France, the French idea of a treaty of mutual guarantee of security, and the British notion of abolition of the bat- tleship—all these tendencles will need abatement end reinterpretation if a five-power agreement is to be reached. And it has already become clear that the delegates who are best prepared to undertake and accomplish that delicate task are the delegates from the United States. ‘They intend at the same time to show the utmost circumspection in ap- proaching each of the successive differ- ences that the task involves. They are far from proposing, for instance, to set themselves up as the arbiters of the European political projects, such as the special peace pact which the French desire in the region of the Mediterranean. That pact stands out at this moment as perhaps the very first problem the conference must face and solve. Until the French have what they call se- curity, through a political or consulta- tional or armed agreement of some sort in the Mediterranean, they will hardly know what they may want in the way of naval vessels. Nor will the Italians. * ok kX Until, however, the French and the Italians are able to state their naval requirements, the British will not be able to state fully theirs. The Ameri- cans meanwhile must await the British specifications of their naval needs be- fore they can completely discuss with the British the details of American- British parity. From this point of view it would now seem likely that much of the time of the conference during its early days will be consumed mainly by the Medi- terranean negotiations, in which_the Italians and the French and the Brit- ish will be the principals, and in which the Americans and the Japanese will be onlookers and consultants. Among the Americans there is some thought to the effect that the United States could safely become a party to a Mediterranean peace pact or Atlantic peace pact or any other peace pact, provided it included no pledge in any circumstance to preserve peace by armed force, and provided further that the consultations proposed by the pact among the signatories to it at times of threatened war would not in any way bind the United States to follow the courses of subsequent action adopt- ed by other signatories. On the other hand, there is also among the Americans a contrary view which dislikes and repels the idea of any consultational agreements whatso- ever in connection with the present naval negotiations. It would seem man- ifest. that the American delegation on this point is without any instruction tying it to any one precise, arbitrary attitude toward all unforeseeable pro- posals which may arise out of the Medi- terranean pact discussion. * ko ¥ ‘When that discussion has been ter- minated, it will still devolve upon the Italians and the French and the Brit- ish to arrive at some understanding among themselves of their relative al needs. The conference, even at thi tage, will continue to be a- rily & ropean conference, with the Americans and the Japanese serving as benevolently minded neutral advisers. ‘The interest of the Americans in the European details debated will be in. direct and yet also genuine and sin- cere. The Americans will want to see that the process of establishing final and complete parity between the Ameri- can and British fleets may be as in- expensive as possible for the United States and may fill the world as little as possible with the uproar of con- tending mighty armaments. ‘Two duties then, in sum, confront the American delegation. The first is to facilitate a Europe agreement to- ward naval moderation; the second is to translate that possible moderation and reduction into British-American parity. ‘The careful and deliberate failure of the American delegation to express a lot of opinions beforehand will now enable it to attack the first of these duties with some special chance of success. (Copyright, 1930.) ——on—. Rods Going Into Pickle To Balk Customs Crooks BY HARDEN COLFAX. If Congress adopts plans which are being drafted in the Treasury Depart- ment, the already pitted path of the customs crook is going to follow a much shorter line to the penal door. ‘These plans have no relation to eighteenth amendment or its enforce- ment laws, which form quite another story. The fact is that commercial smuggling of merchandise, as well as fraudulent undervaluations, constitute a problem which carries its own. burden for officialdom, although the spotlight of publicity may throw its rays in quite another direction. ‘The Treasury Department appropria- tion bill, with which the House has been concerning itself last week, gives a hint of what is forthccming, for it contains items increasing the regular personnel of the Customs Bureau and also in- creasing the fund for payment of re- wards to informers. A survey has been made of the per- sonnel needs of the bureau which, with other requirements to bring about re- organization on a basis of higher effi- clency to protect the revenues of the Government at the ports, will be sent to Congress in some form within a few weeks. * ok ok % ‘The bill now on its way toward en- actment will provide money for the employment of 24 'additional employes in the Customs Bureau headquarters in Washington and 228 in the fleld, the latter being distributed among 24 differ- ent districts, with the major number, 74, assigned to New York. Commissioner Frank X. A. Eble esti- mates that if it were possible to admin- ister the customs laws with full effi- clency there would be an increase of fully one-fourth in the amount of rev- enue collected, or from the approxi- mately $600,000,000 now collected an- aually to around $750,000,000. This does not mean that the difference is due wholly to smuggling in its various forms, or to fraud of any nature; much of it may be charged to errors caused by lack of sufficlent personnel to handle all cases perfectly. b That deliberate smuggling is a matter of major moment, however, is not to be doubted in the face of plain evidence, There were 9,890 seizures last year for violations of the customs laws, apart from those concerning liquor. The year immediately preceding there were 6,705 chandise seized last year was $3,896,000, an increase of nearly $2,000,000. How much got by that was subject to seizure is a matter of conjecture. Jewelry and precious stones valued at $623,000, laces and embroideries ap- praised at $671,000, silks and other tex- tiles worth $198,000, furs valued at $36,- 000, and perfumery and toilet articles assessed at $17,000 were among the seizures made last year. The list of comrmodities which “professionals and amateurs attempted to get by without glving Uncle Sam his legal dues is far too lengthy to include in this space. ok ok X For many years there has been a pro- vision in the tariff acts by which any person informing the Federal Govern- i ment of a customs fraud shall be paid one-fourth of the money recovered after the recovery actually has been convert- ed into the Treasury. For the last few years the appropriation for this re- ward money has been $150.000 annually. The amount for the next fiscal year has been raised to $250,000 and a similar total will be required for the current fiscal year, apparently, and a deficiency appropriation will be sought to thus increase the $150,000 available for the purpose. The jewelers of the United States maintain a highly organized detective bureau to help Uncle Sam guard against smuggling, of precious stones in par- ticular. It is probable that much of the expense of this bureau is covered by the rewards received from the Gov- ernment. It is to be remembered that the smuggling of diamonds became so general, and on such a commercial scale, that in the pending tariff bill the Senate finance committee proposes to remove the duty from diamonds and other preclous stones in the rough and to reduce it by half if they are cut, a concession intended to remove the in- centive for smuggling such valuables, * % ok % Diamond smuggling became so prev- alent two years ago Congress author- ized a special customs squad to handle this activity alone, giving an appropria- tion of $103,000 a year. This squad Every chureh, |, seizures. The appraised value of mer- . Capital Sidelights BY WILL P, KENNEDY. An inspiring example for the Gov- ernment employe is Representative Ad- dison T. Smith of Idaho, who has for many years been their champion, even when, with a wife and child to sup- port, he resigned from the service in protest because an outsider was brought into his division for a $1,600 job, thus thwarting six expected promotions within the division. He is now a member of the House civil service com- mittee and can always be depended upon to support legislation for the benefit of the Federal employes. By a strange coincidence Representa= tive Smith, who is now serving his sev- enteenth consecutive year in Congress, when visiting an office of the Budget Bureau recently conferred there with the man who was appointed to the $1,600 position causing Mr. Smith to resign in disgust from the Federal serv- ice because he saw no chance of pro- motion ahead. While in the employ- ment of the Government Mr. Smith completed his law course at the Na- tional Law School in Washington. He comes of fighting stock; his father and eldest brother served in the Civil War and his own two sons served in the World War. * % ¥ ¥ One of the greatest satisfactions in | a Congressman’s life is to ‘be able to help some deserving young man to ad- vance himself in life. Daily each mem- | ber of Congress has this satisfaction. | For example, Representative Allen T. Treadway, dean of the Massachusetts delegation, has just received letter of appreciation from Fort Hamilton, N. Y. It is from a young man, Charles L. Murray, staff sergeant in the Ord- nance Department, who was a recruit- sergeant in Pittsfield, and who ap- pealed to Mr. Treadway, seeking as- sistance to enter the ordnance school at Raritan Arsenal, N. J. He entered that school on January 17, 1929, and graduated with honor. There were 62 service men in his class from all parts of the United States when he took his final examination, on April 15, to obtain the grade of staff sergeant. Out of this entire number he won sixth place_on the list. In his letter to Mr. Treadway this young man says, “I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all you have done in the past for me, and feel satisfled if I had not received your assistance I still would be just a recruiting ser- geant in Pittsfleld.” Representative Treadway says that it is such letters as this that make his job in Congress most worthwhile. Recently Representative Underhill of Massachusetts called attention in the House to very large economies that could be made in the cost of printing the Congressional Record containing the proceedings of the House, including the privilege of extension of remarks by printing in an appendix speeches not- actually delivered on the floor. The high cost of congressional oratory was again emphasized in the annual report of the public printer, who points out that the Government does not bear the expense of reprinting members’ speeches for personal distribution, and that such pamphlets now generally bear the state- ment “Not Printed at Government EX- pense.” Members of Congress paid $66,490.67 out of their personal funds for reprint- ing 16,296,050 copies of speeches an extracts from the Congressional Record. Franked envelopes for the free mail- ing of congressional speeches and Gov- ernment publications are furnished without charge to Senators and House members. The cost, including printing of the 22,280,925 franked envelopes so supplied in the last fiscal year, was ,950.96. cost of 27,466,950 franked envelopes for congressional use the year before was $66,813.17. So that while the members of Congress En.y from their own pocket for the reprinting of their speeches, as a matter of fact they dre able to distribute them wholesale throughout their districts at even less than one-half the price that any individ- ual citizen would have to pay for the same job. * ok ok X Congress is the largest customer at Uncle Sam'’s big printing establishment, which is the largest printing shop in the world. ‘The total charge against Con- gress last year was $2.487,436.88, which was an increase of $26,820.80 over the cost of congressional work the year be- fore. Among the important items in- cluded were 4,408,694 copies of con- gressional publications, 7,171,017 copies of various bills and resolutions, 4,154,- 804 copies of the daily Congressional Record, and 82,140 volumes of the Per- manent Record. The charge on the Congressional Record alone last year was $580,289.31. During the Seventieth Congress, 24,- 695 bills and resolutions were printed for the Senate and House, which were only a few less than the record-breaking total for the Sixty-ninth Congress. Nine omnibus pension bills enacted by the Seventieth Congress were con- solidation of 7,620 private bills, and constituted the largest number of pen- sion bill* ever enacted by any Congress. One of these omnibus pension bills was the largest ever printed, making 563 pages. The House report accompanying this bill was also a record-breaker with 962 pages, * ok ok The Post Office Department is second only to Congress as the largest cus- tomer at the Government Printing Office. 1Its bills last year amounted to $2.113,061.95, which was an increase of $81.466.24 over the preceding year. ‘The largest part of the work done for the Post Office Department by the Government Printing Office is in the production of post cards. ‘Three bij presses are kept running 8 hours an Sometimes 16 hours daily throughout the year. Each press, with 80 plates, is capable of zln'.ll?, cutting and counting in packs of 25 or 50 at the rate of 6,400 cards per minute, or 384,- 000 per hour. The United States Patent Office ranks third in the amount of printing ordered annually at the Government Printing Office. In fact, last year, the expendi- ture of $1,047,902.85 for printing patent specifications and the Patent Gazette was the largest sum spent by any one bureau office. These charges were $70,693.44 more than for the preceding py for patent specifications pre- sents the most difficult task in Gov- ernment printing, which George H. Car- lhi,pllblll: printer, “t};s is :uemw of proper preparation by the Patent Office for &e usual method of typesetting and proofreading.” The Government Printing Office also is a good purchaser of its own products The superintendent of documents paid the public printer $642,784.55 to print bublications for sale and depository library distribution during the fiscal year 1029, is was an increase of $23.756.84 over the preceding year, The Department of Justice has taken the lead in recent years in rush orders at the Government Printing Office. The extra charge to the Department of Jus- tice last year for such ‘“rush work” Wwas $6,984.57. B Why Bring That Up? From the New York Sun. Hunter College students have de- bated the question, “Is the average golluchn an asset to the community?” ut where is the politician who would admit that he was average? whereas before its creation the recov- eres ran around $100,000 a year. not alone because of 1oss of reve- nue to itself that the Government is concerned with merchandise smuggling, but because successful efforts to ev the customs, especially those on & com- mercial scale such as many involving precious stones, laces, furs and other commodities of high value, create con- ditions of unfair competition for hon- est merchants who sell such wares. unscrupulous dealer, hAndlln: Smug- led goods, obviously can afford to price is wares lower than those of the hon- | The Saving Habits of Americans BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ‘The wave of speculation which has swept over the American people during the last two or three years has caused economists and other thoughtful peo- ple to peer into the fund which the public has saved and to determine what it amounts to. That it is enor- mous goes without saying. Now that the end of the year has been passed and books have been balanced, it is possible to gauge what has happened. Savings have dropped. ‘The savings bank accounts which in- dividuals laboriously built up show a diminution. Doubtless many have been utterly depleted, while others have been sliced in order to protect stocks carried on margin. That speculation is the cause can scarcely be doubted because the drop in new savings is co- incident with the orgy of speculation and also with prosperous times and good employment generally. If there is any truth in averages, nothing else {is to be blamed. The story of American savings is a fascinating one. The American Bank- ers’ Association has compiled as com- plete figures as it has been possible to compile from 1911 onward. In 1911 savings deposits in all banks amounted to approximately $8,000,000,000. In 1929 they amounted to $28,000,000,000. Studying these savings year by year, it is found that there has been a steady annual increase, with never a drop, until June, 1929, when withdrawals, presumably and almost certainly on account of stock market speculation, broke the chain. Each year has seen a tremendous increment due to new savings until 1929. That year shows a loss of $1,190,000,000. Thousands of persons, certain that the Santa Claus stock market would continue to drive its reindeer over their roofs and keep their stocks rising in value, drew money from their accounts in the first place to buy more in order to lime the twig that would bring great fortune. In the second place, when the Autumn came they drew still more to protect the margins on which they were car- rying their precarious investments. Thirdly, many emptied their accounts to pay losses to their brokers. So the story went, and more than a billion dbgn;n vanished from savings bank oks. Savings Not Strictly Segregated. It is dificult to ascertain with ab- solute certainty just what the savings fund of the American people is. The accounts in savings banks do not ac- count for the whole of the bank sav- ings, by any means. A t many peo- ple, intent upon saving but at the same time anxious to have every cent of their money instantly available, merely de- posit it in open checking accounts. The time without notice. accounts which have definitely been designated as savings accounts or time deposits. Any one who knows human nature knows that such are b in the Midnight Bell, describes bank ac- d | counts perhaps better than they ever have been described before. He observes that the depositor does not have a given amount of money in the bank. He has deposited it, to be sure, but it has l&nzer 1s there. He merely thinks it is ere. against it, all that hlgp!n! is no dimi- nution of the money, interest is much lower—usually, in fact, no interest is paid on such accounts— but the money can be withdrawn at any Statistics are compiled from the bank | ¥ figure y no means complete. Patrick Hamilton, gone into channels of trade and no So, when he draws a check ut diminution of the thought of how much he has in the bank. Contrariwise, money on an open checking account, if one is determined to save, is hoarded wealth even though & tgm not so appear on the statistical es. ‘There has been in this period between 1911 and now a big increase in the number of depositors. In 1911 there were 17,200,000 individuals who had money on deposit in savings banks. In 1929 the number had grown to 52,- 700,000, The figures are admittedly mislead- ng. There are a great many duplica- tions included in them. In some New England States, where the mutual type | of savings bank is most numerous, is & $1,000 limit on the amount which any one individual may deposit. Other banks have limits to their savings ae- | counts and the United States Govern- ment’s own postal savings system has & limit. This quite naturally results in one individual who has acquired the habit of saving and kept it up over a | term of years opening savings accounts |in more than one bank. He will deposit to the fixed limit in one bank and then start anew at another. So the number of depositors, statistically given, is mis- leading. Static Wealth Has Increased. Even apart from savings bank limi+ tations there are to be found many duplications, as any banker can attest, Certain individuals have a passion for orderly precision in money matters, They will open separate savings ace counts for the accumulation of funds to He will decide, perhaps, that only certain percentage of his earnings will go into that fund. Instead of content- ing himself with a paper memorandum he will put the money in a separate bank aceount. Then he will have & fund for a new car. Perhaps he will tart accumulating another one to buy a house. Classification by source also is known to bankers. A man will start a savings account into which nothing shall go save his winnings at poker, bridge or golf. These idiosyncrasies a count for a great deal of the duplica- tion in savings bank accounts. It is a method of making the bank do one's boo:finpm(, ‘The bank does not mind at _all. However, the fact that it is impos- sible to untangle the statistics throws conclusions out of the realm of pre- cision. The figures show that the sav- ings per capita have grown from $85 in 1911 to $235 in 1929. Whether they have or not is impessible to determine. But the error of such a figure is on the optimistic side—that is to say, that if there are a great many separate ac- counts actually owned by the same in- dividuals, the per capita figure neces- sarily is increased. In any event it cannot be smaller than $235. This per capita figure, of course, is for the num- ber of depositors of record and not for the population as a whole. Looking at it in any light, it is seen has been an enormous gain in the static wealth, created h e e T b B B draw. The saving hal - No better unmphl; the school sat volved are not , but, aggregate, they constitute s substantial addition to the wealth of the country. For nxumvlue. in 0}! t.h'go ‘were -m‘mfzu.- 651 separate sc! savings In 1929 this number had grown to 4,222.935. The rate at which interest ents make this fund grow is almost fan- tastic. Allowing interest at only 3l3 per cent, the annual increment to the American depozitors in uvlr& banks amounted in 1929 to $995,000,000. Back in 1913, the last pre-war year, savings were so much smaller in volume that the interest increment at the same rate amounted to only $294,000,000. In & little more than 10 years it has trebled. Socialists Gunning for Reichsbank President BY DR. GUSTAV STOLPER, Noted German Editor and Economist.' Special Radio Dispatch. u BERLIN, January 18.—The Hague Conference ends with a new crisis re- volving around Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, president of the Reichsbank. At The Hague the new conflict between the Justed, but only outwardly. around him still rages and the ists have taken the lead in this battle. l'l;he Berli h}l:rnen" the Socialists’ main organ, daily claimed, “Away with Schach! leaders of the party in the have demanded that the government endeavor to change the Reichsbank's statutes to make possible the dismissal of Dr. Schacht. It is impossible at the moment to say what the outcome of this campaign will be. but it is certain that Dr. Schacht did not strengthen his position by the role he played at The Hague. * x x X It will be remembered that the Reichsbank published at the beginning of December a memorandum &mmina inst the “falsification” of the Young pl through the German concessions made since the Paris conference and at the same time assailing most sharply the financial inactivity of the German government. The government and the Reichstag later capitulated to him as to his financial criticism and the Reich gave up the attempt to get credits from the New York banking firm of Dillon, Read & Co., creating an amortization fund demanded by Dr. Schacht, which made it possible for the government to secure the needed credit itself at the end of December. But this did not dispose of the criti- cism of the government's reparations policles. After the government's sur- render, peace appeared to have been established betwen it and ths Reichs- bank president, especially since Finance Minister Hilferding and his state sec- retary were sacrificed to Dr. Schacht. ‘The government invited Dr. Schacht to join the German delegation to the second Hague Conference on Repara- tions, but he refused, saying that he imposed conditions which could not be accepted—the disavowal of concessions made at the first le Conference. This attitude created dissatisfaction, ! for it was felt that since he had been so critical it was now up to him to show how affairs could be better man- aged. * ok ok K It was expected at least that Dr. Schacht would be neutral. Then came surprise. Dr. Schacht had written on December 30 to Jackson E. Reynolds, chairman of the organizations commit- tee of the international bank, that the Reichsbank could not participate in that bank until the final result of The Hague Conference showed wi er & moral basis for it existed, a plain al- lusion to England's attitude regarding the liquidation of German property. The German government knew of the existence of this letter, but the public did not. Hence, the public was vastly astonished when the letter caused a conflict in the first session of the in- ternational bank's ition _com- mittee at The Hague, since Dr. Schacht still refused to participate in the inter- national bank. e lict was adjusted in a few hours, for the new finance minister, Dr. Moldenhauer, a friend of the late For- ef Minister Stresemann, is an ener- Reichsbank president and the German government was outwardly quickly ad- ‘The _battle or & week pro- | jane and the Reichstag ) ishments shall be quick and sure. Fifty Years Ago In The Star Within twe days after the murder of George Philip Hirth on P street between Warning Against the Law’s Delays. men had been with the crime. Seventeenth and Eighteenth streets, punishment. The 1880, refe to the lyne sssallant of a little girl in nearby Mary~ d, : “In view of the awful fate which be- fell the brute Peck at the hands of & mob in Poolesville last Saturday night, the murderers of young Hirth can thank their stars that their monstrous crime was committed in Washington and not in one of the rural districts of Mary- land. Had its scene been so changed, it is safe to say that these criminals would now be familiar with the mysteries of the realm beyond the grave, instead of being safely and comfortably housed in Jjail awaiting trial for their heinous of- fense, under the forms and guarantees of law. Yet it is bettdr that it should be so. And this not only so far as it affects the criminals individually, but also for the welfare and protection of soclety itself. “There are occasions and elrcum- stances which for the time being seem to justify the summary and extreme ac- tion of an assemblage of indignant and long-suffering - citizens, but such Em- eedings are always dangerous, since they sap the very foundations of law and order, and there is no telling whers precedents so established may lead. On the other hand, however, the officers of justice should see to it that they leave no ground on which such an assemblage can stand to either defend its action or set up the rgl“ that it is meuu&y. “Those charged with the execution of the laws have it in their power to large- ly reduce the percentage of crime everywhere, if they are so disposed. The swiftness and certainty of punishment have even greater terrors for the erimi- nal classes than the nature of the pen- alty prescribed for their offense. Out- laws well know that just in the propor- tion that they can secure dlhf 'v.:ery reap the benefit of loss of proofs and that lack ol"rubllc interest which al Wways comes with delay, and thereby in- crease their chances for final escape. “Those in whose hands the protec- tion of life and property is placed should therefore see to it not only that the extreme penalty of the law shall be enforced in every case, but that its pus oth- ing short of the fulfillment of these conditions will give to soclety that im- munity from lawlessness and crime to whieh it is entitled, and the community will accept nothing less from officials than that faithful and complete dis- charge of the sacred trusts committed to their hands which it has the right to demand. “Apropos of the Hirth case it may be added that it affords to the new United States district attorney an admirable opportunity to demonstrate his fitness for the important and responsible office to which he has been appointed. If he prosecutes it ’"“Hu;" ‘vigorously and successfully he will in a meas- ure justify the recommendat a e of his friends. Should he fail n either respect he will at the outset of his official career confirm the worst predictions of those who viewed his ap- ?\:‘:s'f;nemfl"m dl:hvor :}d ‘-vpre- n. He may a rate re it that his man; ‘%’nl the e will getic man. The German delegation de- cided to compel the Reichsbank by law to participate in the inte: bank, and Dr. Schacht declared he would obey the law. To this extent the af- falr is now settled, but the Reichsbank president’s authority, which was at_its zenith at the end of December, has been severely shaken, for nobody under- stands his latest step. fll“y doubt- ttle ag Nevertheless, v can be ed whether the Soclalists’ inst him can succeed, for the Socialist not fight; reparations i | Other cases in agement e case will be closely watched and freely criticized. Which the public safety or interests are involved of course, be carefully scrutinized as arise, but this one, from its nature ahd the circumstances surrounding it be l.l{:.lnyu: attract the earliest nl-xhfi non-Soclalist ;. has also distressed hjs own constituents Cin Virginia, whom he has served in Congress ably and faithfully since June, oW the Relchsang Presideny (Coprright, 1930.) hting his policy but is credit policy, which is uncomfort- able for them, 'and for this very reason the naval needs of Europe expressed | brought 158 cases last year, involving in the lowest possible terms in order |a return of'$794,000 to the Government, est merchant. (Copyright, 1930.) Little pragress, however, has been made ' The world in which a cold wave can in the actual works of reclamation and be lost in transit cannot be wholly bad.