Evening Star Newspaper, February 7, 1930, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR —__ With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, N. C. FRIDAY... THEODORE W. NOYES ...Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 11y s Na B e e £ New York e [ e KL X T opean Ofice, 14 Rexent 8t.. London. Rate by = Carrier Within the City. 45¢ ver month Star .. _60c oer munth Star gt Bedtt sl of (8 B NAtional 5000. T e venine Star. and Sun undavs) . and Sun ndavs) Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dally and Sunday.... 1y Dally only mo.. 85c v ‘o Sunday only 2 : 1 mo.. 5%¢ 1vrl 1 ma.. 40c Al Other States and Canada. Baily and Sunday 13r.91200: 1 mo.. 31,00 v r iy on} : 1mol 8¢ 8ol ey 1yr] $500: 1mo. 50 £4.00° Member of ‘he Associated Press. The Associated Press is cxclusively entitled to the nse for republication of all news dis- Patches credited to it or not otherwise cred- special dispatches herein are also reserved —_— Slandering Washington. 1t is rather unfortunate that in con- nection with the proposal to name a military officer, soon to retire from ac- tive dity, as Commissioner of the Dis- trict the statement was made that it | was deemed desirable to appoint such a man, as a guarantee that the Capital of the Nation shall be free of organized crime. This statement has gone forth to spread the impression that Washington is today the scene of an exceptional de- gree of crime of all sorts, that lawless- ness is openly prevalent. Yesterday in the Senate, when this matter was under discussion—without the slightest reference to the subject matter of the debate—the following language was used: ‘There are more murders, more crimes of rape and the like, more heinous of- fenses that have been committed in this city which are still in the dark and un- solved, and more of those who have committed the crimes who have never been apprehended, than I believe is the situation in any other city in America. Why should not the President of the United States have 2 military man here in charge of the police affairs of the District and try at least to give us a de- cent city in which we may live? ©One of the easiest things in the world | is to make a sweeping comparative statement, without the slightest basis in fact. One of the most difficult things is to cite comparative crime and punish- ment statistics. In the first place there is “no such critter” as statistics of crime and punishment in the United States. The National Crime Commission discovered that fact a couple of years ago when it undertock to make a Nation-wide survey of lawbreaking and its causes and penalties. In not one of the forty-eight States is an accurate record kept of court proceedings. The city figures of crime and punishments are loose and susceptible of misinter- pretation. ‘To say that Washington has more un- solved and unpunished crime than any other city in the United States is simply to make a gesture of condemnation without the slightest proof. Perhaps the memories of present-day critics of the, District’s police organization and courts do not run back to the time of Dorsey Foultz, the slayer, who many years ago escaped justice by flight and who was never found. So unusual was such a happening that Dorsey Foultz became a by-word, a protracted, horrible, isolated example of the faillure of justice. In later _times, with a much-increased populaticn and a relatively diminished police force, and likewise relatively diminished court facilities, crime has somewhat increased, and there has been a perhaps slightly larger number of un- solved crime mysteries and unpunished violations of the law. The blame for such a condition, if blame must be placed, lies upon Congress for its fail- ure to make adequate provision for the necessary increase in both police force .February 7, 1930 there were no sheets to cover the cots provided for these children, and the medical devices, supposed to have been provided, had not been delivered. To- day there are only five cots for fifteen pupils in the Magruder School. The pupils share the cots at intervals to obtain the necessary rest and relaxa- tion. Ten days before the Christmas holi- days the Magruder School was closed. An old heating plant, similar to the one in the Weightman School, refused to function, and while a white-hot fire roared in the furnace the school rooms remained unheated. Although the plant had been inspected and pronounced in good order during the Summer, the necessary repairs deprived the children of school. All of the medical equip- ment ordered for the schools has not yet been put in place. While the 1 school children are brought to class in busses, the District apparently lacks money to buy them the milk and other nourishment they need during the school day. There have been cases where teachers bought food for the | children out of their own earnings. ‘Washington's first schools for cripples have not been marked with any great success. An ipteresting coincidence in connec- tion with the fire in the Weightman School gosterday lies in the fact that the inadequacy of the heating plant was emphasized in the final article of a series on the schools that appeared in The Star the day before. “It is heated by four old-fashioned hot-air furnace: said this article. “The heat is very un- even. Sometimes parts of the building are too hot or too cold. Frequently the air in the class rooms is blue with smoke and the teachers and pupils find difficulty in breathing.” articles have mentioned similar condi- tions in other schools. It would not be amiss to order a thorough program of renovation in Washington's antiquated school structures to accompany the con- struction of fine new buildings now go- ing forward. o America’s Naval Proposal. Secretary Stimson’s statement of the American position on naval limitation at the London Conference signalizes a real step forward. The American delegation, in 1ts discussions with the British and the Japanese, has been able to come within striking distance of agreement The announcemert of Mr. Stimson, therefore, is received in this country as an indication that real progress is being made in London. From Mr. Stimson's own statement and from the interpretative reports of observers now in London, it is clear that the vexed cruiser problem, which has done more than anything else to keep the United States and Great Brit- ain apart on a naval agreement, has finally been adjusted. It looks to ab- solute parity between the two countries in cruiser strength, either through a superiority on the part of the United States in cruisers of the 10,000-ton type carrying 8-inch guns and a superi- ority on the part of Great Britain in cruisers of lesser tonnage, or on exact duplication of the two nations of each other's cruiser fleet. The Americans have held out for the larger type cruisers, belleving they fitted American needs for defense better than the smaller cruisers, while the British have urged the need of the smaller cruisers. Under the arrangement now proposed by the American delegation at the conference, the United States is to have eighteen of these 10,000-ton cruisers to fifteen for Britain, and the latter is to have a preponderance in the smaller cruiser tonnage, although an excess of only 12,000 tons over American total cruiser tonnage. The proposal set forth by the United | States provides naval limitation rather | than naval reduction, although it con- templates an early reduction of battle- ships of the British and American navies to fifteen each. The thought is ad- vanced, however, that once an agree- ment for limitation has actually be- come effective, with parity established and courts. Washington does not relish the repute that for forensic display or for personal exploitation is given to it of being the most debased, most criminal, most un- safe city in the United States. Yet it has no power to prevent this sort of abuse. It can enter its protest, can con- tinue to plead for more peacekeeping agencies, more means for the prompt administration of justice. It wants to be the cleanest, safest city in the United States. It cheerfully pays far more than its equitable share of the cost of administration to the end of a faithful enforcement of the laws. And it hopes that the loose talk of its critics, such as that quoted from the Sencte debate, will not be accepted by the country as gospel truth. ————r——————— Ground Hog day is introduced by popular superstition as a reminder of the fact that February and March are not to be relied on for favorable weather. —_————— A Tragedy Averted. With the vision before them of what might have happened yesterday at the Welghtman School for Cripples, school authorities should take the obvious pre- caution of ordering a thorough inspec- tion of all the gratings in schools heated by hot-air furnaces, making sure that such trash and sweepings as those that burst into flame and endangered the Weightman School yesterday are re- moved. Fifty or sixty of the Washing- ton elementary schools are heated hy hot-air plants similar to those at the Weightman. The same conditions that caused the fire vesterdzy possibly exist elsewhere. Swift and cnergetic meas- ures should be taken to eliminate them. The blaze at the Weightman School was not serious. But the tragedy that was threatened is fearful to contem- plate. Given a few minutes more, the fire sc quickly extinguished might have gained such headway that the ancient building, housing forty crippled chil- dren as well as 140 normal children on the upper floors, would have been a blazing furnace. As far as the fire at the Weightman 8chool for Cripples is concerned, the in- cident is merely another misfortune in a list of those that have attended ‘Washington's first attempt to provide | educational facilities for the city's crip- ples. The two schools, the Weightman for- white children and the Magruder between this country and Britain and a ratio acceptable to Japan, reduction | will follow. Owing to the failure of the United States to build cruisers this country fell far behind Britain in that type of vessels and the 5—3 ratio with Japan, so far as cruisers are concerned, had Hecome a mere myth. ‘Mr. Stimson has said that the Amer- ican propesal to the Japanese “would produce an overall satisfactory to us and, we hope, to them.” This proposal does not rest upon the same ratio in every class of ship, but that is not a departure from the past relations be- tween this country and Japan. It is reported that Japan would have twelve 10,000-ton cruisers under the proposal of the American delegation, or sixty per cent of the American strength. The Japanese have contended in the past for seventy per cent, but there is reason to believe that the delegations in Lon- don have been able to reach a basis which may make possible an agreement based on the Stimson proposal. ‘The American delegation, while it has informed the French and the Italian delegations of its proposals to the Brit- ish and the Japanese, has not made so far any proposals to them, feel- ing that those nations have prob- lems of their own which they must solve. Indeed, these problems are of vital interest in connection with the final decision of the British in the matter of naval armament, and unless these problems can be solved satisfactorily it may not be possible for the proposals now advanced by the American delegation to be finally agreed to. The world will await with increased interest the progress of negotiations affecting the Prench, Italian and Brit- ish problems in the Mediterranean Sea. —— e From this time onward the climate represents an argument between the ground hog and the early robin. P s An 0dd Twist. An odd twist has been given & grade- crossing accident, in which fortunately no one was hurt, by the railroad com- pany charging the motorist with reck- less driving, haling him to court and securing his conviction. The “offend- ing” driver was fined five dollars, but he probably paid with pleasure in view of the fact that he is one of the few survivors of the “war” at grade cross- ings between automobiles and trains. A for colored, were not opened until November, although their opening had been scheduled for the beginning of the five-dollar fine and the loss of & car is a small price to pay for an escape of this kind. There is still, however, one The Star's| of actual tonnage figures as a basis | The rallroad company having prose- cuted this case so severely, even to the extent of securing extradition, may not be content to let the “survivor” alone, but may seek to charge him for the damage done railroad equipment by the collision, Regardless of the merits of this or any,other controversy in respect to re- sponsibility for crossing accidents, the time should soon come when they are eliminated entirely, There is only one method of elimination, and that is the removal of all crossings. It has been reiterated time and again that at any point Where road and raf! intersect on the same level accidents are bound to occur. Some are unquestionably due to railroad negligence, others, however, are just as undeniably due to motorist | carelessness. Cases are on record where engineers have failed to sound a warn- ,mg as they approached a crossing or of a watchman falling asleep on duty, but likewise on record are cases of | motorists driving through lowered gates {or of hitting stationary trains. Grade crossings cannot be made safe iand this fact has been learned at an enormous cost in human life. Despite the commendable progress that has been made in crossing removal by means of bridges or underpasses, the {work has not progressed nearly fast | enough. Admittedly, it is an expensive process, but the expense is justified | There should be no let-up until grade crossings are placed in the limbo of [ forgotten things. Political Crime in Mexico. | Persistent questioning by the Mexican | police has failed to elfcit from the youth {who the other day shot and severely wounded President Rubio any informa- tion as to his motive or association in the plot to murder. Members of his family and others, to the number of twenty, have been arrested and are being held under inquisition, but so far without any re- sult in the way of disclosure of the true nature of the crime. Meanwhile the incoming and outgoing mayors of a small city near Tampico have been slain in circumstances to suggest a political plot. dication of a connection between the crimes there and in Mexico City. President Rubio escaped death by the slenderest of margins, That his death was sought, just as Gen. Obregon was slain on the eve of his inauguration, is obvious. Threats to kill him had been uttered. A conspiracy to that end had been discovered and those party to it had been arrested. Yet despite all precautions the assassin reached him and but for the barest chance of mis- direction, though wounding him in a possibly vital place, he failed of his purpose. It was believed that Obregon’s as- sassin was prompted by religious emo- tion to take the life of the President- elect. In the case of Rubio it is indi- cated that his assailant is the agent of political enemies just as in the case of the killings near Tampico. Attempts to organize a revolution following the election of Rublo as President, which were plainly indicated, by partisans of the defeated candidate have failed. An organized revolt, however disturbing and costly, is preferable to assassina- tion. If political reprisals in Mexico are to take the form of murder, then indeed is Mexico in a lamentable condition. N phone improvements in Maryland and Virginia. Political experts say that the news going over the wires will require an extraordinary increase of facilities this year. ———————— Porto Rico is recovering from the 1928 hurricane and is looking forward to a happy ending for as relentless a hard- luck story as a patient and beautiful island ever experienced. ———— ‘Thanks to the mysterious animal now at large, hunters do not have to retire to the distant woods in order to shoot one another by accident. —_— s Finances of the local government cause Chicago to fear that in some way the racketeers have come into posses- sion of most of the money. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Robin the Optimist. The early robin came along. He didn't pause to sing a song, But cowered in the bitter blast And sighed, “How long will Winter last? In hopefulness I still persist, Because I am an optimist. “Sometimes I wish that I had stayed In warmer regions, undismayed. And yet I like to make it clear I know that Spring will soon draw near, With blossoming by sunshine kissed. I'm shivering—but an optimist!” Talking Business. “I hear that you wouldn't permit Mr. Dustin Stax to contribute to your cam- palgn fund.” “That is true” Sorghum. “He was ready with big money.” “Yes. But he is first of all a business man. I want to be fair and I don’t see how my services could pay dividends on 50 heavy a capitalizatio answered Senator Jud Tunkins says he once knew a moonshiey, but he never got rich enough fC move in the same soclety with a bootlegger. Fellow Poet. St. Valentine’s a friend of mine. He has his gentle say. His poetry is not so fine— And yet he makes it pay. Psychology in Traffic. “You have a new car.” “Yes,” answered Miss Cayenne. “Drive it yourself?” “I feel compelled to. It attracts the attention of every traffic cop. And in a difficult moment a smile from me will get much more courtesy than a grin from a professional chauffeur.” “He who would take care of himself,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “must so live as to deserve friends who, in emergency, will take care of him.” Peace. ‘The joyous hope we still pursue ‘That all will come out right, ‘When all mankind has work to do And no one wants to fight. “Evolution,” said Uncle Eben, “works when & man gets popular backward school session. On the opetng day fiy in the ointment for the motorist. makin' a monkey of hisself.” ‘There is no present in- | Large sums are to be spent for tele- | ‘There would seem to be little con- | nection, offhand, between “Weather- | goose-Woo!” a book of Virginia moun- | taineer stories told in dialect, and “The Testament of Beauty,” by Robert Bridges, England’s poet laureate. Yei what distinguishes both of these books, so unlike in most ways, is the utterably natural phraseology. Ninety- nine out of a hundred readers of the 85-year-old poet’s major work ( no doubt posterity will " rank it) find themselves dumfounded at first at the combination of slightly archaic usage and “simplified spelling.” After reading a few hundred lines, however, a discriminating reader comes to thank Heaven that one man, at least, has had the courage of his convictions in the matter of writing what he wants | to write in the way he wants to write it. | Even above the beauty of thought, | the intensely modern attitude of the | {ancient bard, and the loveliness of poetic conception found in the four books of “The Testament of Beauty.” {the reader finds himself rejoicing at the phraseclogy. Here he finds *“clomb” instead of “climbed.” A writer has written as he wanted to write, let us remember. Many other examples might be given, but they would but reiterate the point. The tales of the Virginia moun- tainecrs_please, as astonishing as it | may seem. for exactly the same reason, although at first glance there seems no connection between the ungrammatical language used in “Weathergoose-Woo! and the highly poetic diction of “The Testament of Beauty.” WA e THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. | 500 years ago, While we would make no plea for | the ungrammatical, the strange or [hl*‘ | uncouth, we must express our belief | writing_should not be hampered by | rules. There are no rules in breathing. | If it be objected that the latter is an | unconscious response, whereas the former are learned, through the use of | the faculties of the concious mind, we | reply that, even though so much is granted, the results are on a par in so | far as essence is concerned. Writing and talking are for ideas, not ideas for writing and talking. These two pleasantries of mankind, which bring him so much happiness, as weil as some misery, upon occasion, exist to form the medium for the expression of thought. Human thought cames first. Rhetoric, grammar, good usage, have arisen around conversation and writing, in or- der to give the substance a tangible | form. They are the rules of the game But ever and always it must be remem- bered that the thoughts, the ideas, come first, Without ideas to express, there would be no expression. This idea must be iterated and re- iterated constantly, lest men bow down too low to the idols of Diction, Usage, Grammar. These are helpful gods, in their way, but above them is the one | god of the thinking, talking, writing world—the great god Idea. All the little fellows are but aids to him. If he comes, in essence, the re- mainder may be forgotten; they are but asides, valuable in their way, but now no longer necessary. ‘This is why, it would seem, stories of children make such a universal ap- peal. The child never is bothered by the way of expression, but simply by the idea he is trying to express. A child just blurts out what is in its mind, and every one knows how delight- ful the expression so often is. Is it not significant that the child's language nearly always is ungram- matical? Surely this ought to give us a tip, as 1t were, a precise hint that here the child has stumbled upon an eternal truf The Caraway Senate lobby probe committee has concluded, for the time being at least, its inquiry into tariff lobbles, and is now tralning its guns on Muscle Shoals. The committee's investigators are reported to be digging around in various letter files and sun- | dry sensations are darkly hinted. An exposure of “some of the folks who have lived off the Muscle Shoals ques- tion for the past 10 years,” to quote Senator Caraway, has been one of his particular objectives ever since the investigation got under way. How far the Muscle Shoals probe will go, how long it will take, and what it will un- cover, is as yet a matter of conjecture, Meantime there is an apparent dis- position on the part of the leaders in both branches of Congress, and in both parties, to make a new and determined effort “to solve the Muscle Shoals problem” at this session of Congress, and to start the legislative ball a-rolling on this subject as soon as the tariff bill is out of the way in the Senate. * ok kK ‘The President will rely on the radio to keep him in close touch with de- velopments at the London Naval Parley while he is taking his well earned holi- day aboard Jeremiah Milbank’s private yacht, the Saunterer, in Florida waters this coming week. This is the same boat and the same fishing grounds off Long Key below Miami which Mr. Hoover enjoyed so much just a year ago. The President will leave Congress to its own devices for a few days and, judging from current cable reports from London, nothing is likely to happen there in the immediate future to re- quire instantaneous decision at this end. * ok ok % In the comment on the return of Charles Evans Hughes to the Supreme bench, frequent reference is made to the fact a'mt he resigned from the Coolidge cabinet in 1926 upon the plea that he must return to the practice of law to recoup his personal fortunes, and it is suggested that his acceptance of the chief justiceship entails heavy financial sacrifice. Since Mr. Hughes professional income during the past four years is reliably reported to have | exceeded a million dollars a year, an the salary of the Chief Justice is $20,500, it is self-evident that Mr. Hughes does, indeed, relinquish large financial emolu- ments for high honors and a crowning glory of a long life of public service, but since he now has a prii te fortune more than sufficient for every need the talk of financial sacrifice in this connection seems a little far-fetched. * kK ok ‘The seventy-sixth birthday of Senator Furnifold McLende! Simmons of North Carolina the middle of last month was the occasion of eulogies and encomiums. A member of the Senate for nearly 30 years, the Southern Democratic leader, who bolted his party in the 1928 presi- dential election, is now all set for a triumphant re-election next November for another six-year term in the Senate. ‘The Methodist Board of Prohibition, commending the intelligence of the citizens of North Carolina for putting no obstacles in the path of their Sen- ator, says: “Senator Simmons is a | statesman of the first order, whose courageous and _conscientious devotion to duty has reflected credit upon the entire State.” * K Kk K rs. Donald MacRae of Council Bluffs, Jowa, national president of the American Legion Auxiliary, is the newly elected chairman of the Women's Pa- triotic Conference on National Defense, which held its fifth annual meeting in Washington last week. The American Auxiliary, with an_enrollment of 300,000 women, is the largest unit the conference. Mrs. MacRae has a threefold claim, for both her hus- band and her son were in the American e litionary forces overseas and re- celved the D. 8. C, and her son-in- law was a prisoner of war in Germany. The new chairman and some of the other women participating in the con- ference are dist the wnfl:r'ence adopted. Many of the women voted for the resolution upon | that such natural things as talking and | j WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS Who that has ever read them wil | forget Joel Chandler Harris' “Uncle Remus” stories? ' Or Cohen’s delight- ful stories of Negro life in the Satur- day Evening Post? Who that hears “Amos 'n’ Andy” but knows the charm inherent in r:s;uralnte:s? “I'se regusted” is the popular expres- slon of the day. Although it is u‘nl?lbl!. from a linguistic and grammatical standpoint, it seems perfectly pat. It is heard on every tongue now, not be- cause it is correct, but because it is so overwhelmingly natural. We are brought back at once to the origin of language. The truth seems to be that many of our most used and ap- preciated words are guttersnipes, or worse, All of us today use words which 100 years ago, or 200, or maybe Were not permissible emong cultured people. Sweet women sometimes use words and expressions which have passed into the language, their original meanings happily forgotten, and no one is any the worse for it. 'Yet if a curious per- son starts to investigate them, he| pauses to marvel at the cleansing ef- fects of time and customs. One school of philology holds that the very sinew and backbone of the Eng- lish language comes from the coarse, expressive words which finally crept into house and castle from the stable | and the street. These words and expressions, redolent of the soil, mother of man, arose natu- rally from the minds and hearts of un- refined human beings when they at- tempted to express what was bubbling in heart and mind. They knew nothing of grammar, and cared less, but they wanted terribly to y what they wanted to say. Is not that life? And if somehow a miracle needed, and the miracle involves a rd that does not exist, is not he a miracle worker who reaches into thin air and brings it down for our personal inspection? * K Kk Yet we of today have been brought up so very carefully in the matter of words. sentence structure and so on that our first instinctive reaction is against the' new, the unusual, and especially against what we knowingly call the ungrammatical. ‘The wrong tense, coming unguardedly from a companion, cuts us like a knife, 50 that often we leap to the defensc of sacred Grammar, as if she were utterably unable to take care of herself, and as if somehow upon this slight conversation between us, almost without merit, there hung the destiny of nations. ‘This instinctive rosentment. we are convinced, is one of the greatest foes of thought. Unless we fight it we come to think first and foremost of the letter of the law and not of the law itself. ‘We ought rather to delight in the odd, the queer, the ungrammatical, and look closely to see if there is not some aspect of the thing which in a measure is working or will ultimately work toward the betterment of human ideals and ideas and their appropriate expres- sion in talk or words. After all, there is something entirely fetching about “I clomb the hill” or “We clomb the hill together” and simi- lar usages, which by the strictly lettered herd are held to be pedantic, archaic, poetic or simply “nutty.” For all our self-satisfaction with our careful rules of grammar, the “man in the street” goes right ahead talking as he wants to talk, expressing himself as he thinks best, because by so doing he gets closest to his own thought, comes nearer to his own heart and bosom, makes others understand him better. What he says on the street today will be heard in the office tomor-~ row and in the home next week. the express understanding that it did not necessarily put them on record as opposed to American adherence to the World Court. Opinion on this trou- blesome issue was sharply divided, and the resolution was carefully phrased to straddle the question. >k R ‘The successor to the late Representa- tive William W. Griest of the tenth Pennsylvania district arrived in Wash- ington this week. He is John Roland Kinzer. In a mimeographed state- ment, distributed to the press gallery, he informs the Washington correspond- ents that he was born on the Kinzer family farm in East Earl Townshi Lancaster County, Pa. The farm em- braces 110 acres and has belonged to five generations of the Kinzer family, and a member of Congress in the latter part of the eighteenth century once oc- cupled the farm house. Mr. Kinzer, besides being a “dirt farmer,” in small letters, is a “Prominent Attorney,” in capital letters, according to the state- ment. His wife’s family and his own two brothers and a sister are all well known and prominent residents of Lancaster County. Mr. Kinzer was for 20 years treasurer of his local lodge of Elks. * Kk x * ‘The American diplomatic service suf- fers another real loss in the retirement of Dr. Arthur J. Pearson, who has held the post of Minister to Finland since 1925 and previously had been appointed by President Coolidge as Minister to Poland. Dr. Pearson was a native of Sweden who came to the United States in infancy. He attained notable rank as an educator and is rated as the fore- most Scandinavian scholar and linguist in this country. Prior to his entry into the diplomatic service he was a profes- sor at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, He is replaced at Poland by E ward Everett Brodie, newspaper pub- lisher of Oregon City, Oreg., who once served as Minister to Siam under Hard- ing and who lists himself in the current edition of Who's Who in America as “diplomat.” & (Copyrizht, 1930.) Other Than Volstead Law | Enforcement Is Needed, “To the Editor of The Star: Speaking of law enforcement, is it not about time to offer a gentle reminder that there are other laws besides the Volstead act to whose enforcement it might be well to give a little consider- ation unless we have so lost all sense of proportion as to think that there is only one law in the land? Please let me give a few illustrations. ‘Walking up Pennsylvania avenue re cently I saw an apartment house chim- ney emitting without cessation .dense clouds of thick black smoke. The nui- sance was in djrect range of vision of the traffic policeman at the corner whom I addressed. “Are you interested in reporting law violations, officer?” “Yes, ma'am, what is it?” “Do you see that chimney, which is violating the anti-smoke ordinance?” “Yes, ma'am,” was the mild reply, “that is bad, isn’t it? And it's been doing that way all day, too!” Another {llustration. In virtually every well populated block of Washington can be seen liter~ ally dozens of frozen “dead” automo- biles, some of which have stood in the same spot, for days and even weeks at a time. Often they block entrance to one’s own front door. Most of them are violating the 18-hour parking regula- tion. In order that streets be thus used for free garages we have allowed our beautiful and valuable trees to be ruthlessly and stupidly slaughtered. One more {llustration. ‘There have been very few days this Winter in which one could walk along the sidewalks without floundering in slush, due to the fact that the snow- {in the blood of American marty: jand I cannot see how adverse and 6figin of Nation’s Song i Not Cited Against It| To the Editor of The Star: ‘ I read with considerable regret and equal surprise the account, which ap- | peared in your Sunday morning’s papcr‘ entitled “Star Spangled Banner Held by Foes to Be Drinking Sofg,” and desire | to state that I was present during the entire hearing before the judiciary com- | mittee last Friday and I heard no such | criticism from any one, nor does the | report, as contained in your paper, Mr. Celler's remarks, correctly state | what he said or his position. | At the conclusion of his remarks Chairman Dyer of the committee laugh. ingly remarked that there was at lea one member of the committee in favo of the bill and the report of what Mr Celler said, as published in your paper, would indicate, to my mind, the con. t rary. Nzh.hcr did I hear Miss Cheatham say that the song could not be sung but, on the contrary, proved that it could be sung by singing it, and rendered it very beautifully. Now permit me a word with refer. ence to adverse criticism: v For over a hundred years “The Star| Spangled Banner” has been, by the ac- claim of the American people, the national anthem. It has been played by United States | naval bands as such in every port of | the civilized world and is known to all nations as the national anthem of America. It has also been played and acknowl- edged as such on all state occasions | within the confines of the United State. for the past hundred years and, by | executive proclamation, declared to be the national anthem, and is played as such on all Army posts and v 1s of the Navy. Furthermore, by the acquiescence of the American people, all stand when- ever its strains arec heard and this tribute is paid to no other American | song. The reason why such respect is | shown is obvi namely, it commem- orates a gallant victory of American arms; the patriotism of early American patriots Who gave their lives in defense | of the country and hence is sanctified | In addition to christening the flag “The Star Spangled Banner," it chris- | tened America as “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” and it is not saying too much perhaps to sa that the small flags placed at the head: of the graves of American soldiers, who gave their lives in defense of their | country, are more often regarded as “The Star Spangled Banner” than as the American flag when looked upon by passers-by and those visiting the soldiers’ graves, and finally, the song is one of the least warlike of any na- tional anthem of any nation, in that, while it does not disparage war in a Just cause, it breathes a spirit of re- ligious fervor, praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for the delivery, of those fighting in a just cause, from tyranny and oppression. At the time the music was adopted as the tune for the words, this music had previously been adopted for an- other old American song entitled “Adams and Liberty,” and it was as the tune of “Adams and Liberty” that it was adopted as the tune of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Now, what is, is unjust criticism is at all praiseworthy or available for any purpose. If the origin of the music is not liked, in accordance with American principle and practice, it should be forgotten. In America, origin counts for little. If it was used to condemn things, how many of the great men of America | would have ever been great, including | Abraham Lincoln and the last Demo- | cratic nominee for the presidency of the United States, not to mention the Great Commoner and many others who might be mentioned, or the fact that the National Capital, Washington City, was originally an unhealthy swamp? ‘we are going to drag up origi why not drag up the origin of th National Capital and no longer endeav. or to improve the city because it origi- | nated in a swamp? The tune to America’s national an- | them has been for a hundred and fif- | teen years the tune of this song and this song alone and has become long | ago Americanized and reincarnated the same as the wonderful principles of lib- erty contained in the Declaration of Independence of the American people, which were but the doctrines of the Frenchman, Rousseau. Shall we con- demn these principles of our Declara- tion of Independence, because they did | not originate in America? ! The passage of this act, officially | recognizing by Congress that which | already exists, would be, as Congress- | man Celler said in his remarks, but a | declaratory law of a fact which already has existed for a hundred years and | carries not one cent of expenditure of public funds to put it into effect. Every patriotic society in America was represented at the hearing last | Friday and they all arose and said that their societies unanimously recommend- | ed the passage of the bill. In addition I to this there was a petition, containing over six million names, presented, | among them the present governors of twenty-five American States, or more | than half of the total number of the Union. Has not the majority of the Ameri- can people a right to protection from | adverse and, in many instances, un-| justifiable and ignominious criticism ot that which they hold dear and have | held dear for a hundred years, by the | passage of legislation which will ac-| knowledge officially the fact that “The | Star Spangled Banner” has been for a hundred years the national anthem of the American people and is known throughout the civilized world as such? F. 8. KEY-SMITH. ————————— Business Heads Prove U. S. Opportunity Land |§ From the Portland Oregon Daily Journal. | Among the 50 foremost business men | in the country, 24 were born poor, B. C. Forbes finds. Seventeen were born in moderate cir- | gllmhnlnca and only nine were born | ich. Fourteen began thelr business careers | as store clerks. Five began as bank clerks. Four began as grocery boys. Forty of the fifty were born in the | United States. Now they are heading | many of the big businesses of the country. Every day in a hundred ways it Is| proven that there are few limits to what | the young men of America can reach | who possess ability, purpose, industry | and the will to win. | ——e— Horn Can’t Change Lights. From the Detroit Free Press. | We suppose there are people who | never will learn that tooting a horn does not make a signal light turn from red to green. ———————— Defining Fountain Pen. From the Detrolt News. A fountain pen is that small, cylin- drical object which you shovel into the furnace along with ‘your watch. why the police force shouid be em- powered with the right of search and seizure, as has been advocated, to de- tect hypothetical violations of the iquor law and should remain blind or ndifferent to violations of other laws which are plain as day before any one’s eyes? Please let me offer one concluding observation. It seems not of the slightest interest or importance to me as an individual or as a citizen whether the alcoholic content of my neighbor’s table bever- age be 215 or 4% per cent. It is of direct im ce to the health and welfare of the entire community that shoveling ordinance has not been en- forced. ‘Without desiring to become contro- ve on the Ifi;flh or demerits of “the noble experment” itself, would 1t not be pertiner at this time to ask sidewalks be cleaned, that streets be kept free for traffic instead of being used for storage rposes and that property be mm&‘;l from the dam- aging grime of law-violating chimneys. ' MRS. CHARLES EDWARD RUSSELL. | airplane WERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN! The answers to questions printed here each day are specimens picked from the mass of inquiries handled by our great Information Bureau maintained in Washington, D. C. This valuable service is for the free use of the publi Ask any question of fact you may wan: to know, and -you will get an immc diate reply. Write plainly, inclose cents in coin or stamps for return postage, and address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Q. What company is the largest pri- vate business in the world?—H. D, L. A. It is said that the American Tele- phone & Telegraph Co. is the largest single private enterp! ty v at_Dayton, pleted? : lenn., ever been com, —8, A yet completed. A $250,000 administra- tion building is now in process of ccn- | struction on the 80-acre campus. In or- der that the college may open next Sep- tember the Board of Education of Rhea County has let the high school building to the Memorial Association to be used temporarily, and a new building will be erected for use of the high school. Q. What is the grea Erie?—R. W. A. Lake Erie has a maximum depth of 210 feet. Q. Are the Dolomites especially won- derful?>—M. C. L. A. The Dolomite Mountains are noted for their jagged outlines and isolated peaks. Q When was the sickle first used to reap grain?—W. A. A, A. The grain sickle appears in some of the earliest hieroglyphics, or picture writing, and is known to have been in- cluded in a rude form in the earliest im- plements used by man, Q. When will the Illinois deep water- way project be constructed?—H. F. A. The Illinois decp waterway is now in the process of construction. It is being dore by the State of Illinois, Q. What is the past tense of “dive”? D. t . The past tense s “dived.” “Dove" | is a preterite sometimes used colloquially in the United States. Q. When did Col. Mitchell leave the Air Service?—E. M. W. A. He left the service June 30, 1920. Q. Does the astronomical day begin at noon or at midnight?—Ww. S. A. Astronomers formerly began the day at noon, but recently it was decided advisable for the sake of uniformity to use the same day in astronomical work as is used in civil life, and commencing | with 1925, all the national almanacs began the day at midnight. Q. Please give the losses in the Bat- tle of Antietam.—A. H. 8. A. In the Battle of Antietam the Federal forces lost 12,500 killed, wound- ed and missing and the Confederate forces lost 11,000 killed, wounded and missing. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. More men were killed on September 17, 1862, than z{gfi;ny other one day between 1861 and Q What kind of toys were used by Egyptian and Roman children in an- cient times?—L. 8. A. Jointed wooden dolls and croco- Bryan Memorial University is not | depth in Lake ¢ tdiles with movable jaws were among the toys of Egyptian children of an- cient days. The Roman children Ellyld with tops and hoops and probably at hariot racing, with improvised chariots. Q. What or who is a kibitzer?>—M. C. A. Kibitzer is a word of uncertain derivation. It is applied to an indi- vidual who is always ready to give ad- vice to others on ‘any known subject, regardless of the fact that he may not know anything about it himself. Q. What is necessary to change a tri-weekly rural mail route to a six-day | service?—D. M. B. | A. In order to be eligible for a six- | day service there must be delivered and | collected 150 pieces of mail per month | per mile on the route. Q. How long will | magnetism?—D., S. D. A. The Bureau of Standards says | that properly hardened and aged mag- jnet steel will hold its magnetism in- | definitely unless subject to excessive temperature, mechanical shocks or the | influence of magnetic flelds. Q. What is the difference in food value between white shell eggs and those of a yellow or brownish sheil?— a magnet hold B. M. A. There is no difference, Q. What are phocbes?—P, H. A. The phoebes are a species of birds among the first to arrive in the North as a herald of Spring. They live al- most entirely upon insects—click beetles, May beetles and weevils, Q. Is the trout fishing good in | Switzerland?—G. G. S. | A. The lakes and mountain streams | of Switzerland abound in trout, espe- | cially in the Upper Engandine. Q. What does N. B. C. do with mail | sent to people who broadcast for them? —F. L. A. At the N. B, C. each broadcast | artist’s mail 1s sent to him or her direct | without being opengd. However, the | organization maintains a large private post office and mail addressed to the | network or stations and mentioning individual artists is forwarded. to the artist afier being read and contents noted for future reference. and 2nnouncers make it a | though there is no rule that they should, to return the most interesting of their letters to the private post office {pr the information J program execu- ives. Q. What was done with Carrie Nation's famous hatchet?—N. A. A. After her death, Mrs. Nation's portrait and a hatchet which the police had taken from her were placed in the archives of the Kansas State Histori- cal Society at Topeka, and a memorial fountain was erected on the spot where he was first arrested in Topeka. Q. Does the average European train travel as fast as the average American train?—E. R. A. A. The average speed in is from 25 to 30 miles per hour. The average speed in this country is from 30 to 40 miles per hour. Q. When did Czerny, who wrote the Etudc}s{ 5o often used by students, live? m?-; He was born in 1791 and died in Flying Hurt More Than Helped By Hiding Airplane Wreckage Alleged governmental sanction for he removal of wreckage after a recent airplane crash is severely criticized by the press. The advantages gained by the study of accidents will do far more to stimulate public participation in flying than sight or record of catas- trophes can do harm, in the opinion of those who comment. The discus- sion seems entirely motivated by a de- sire to further sympathy and interest in_aviation. In connection with the tragedy at Kansas City, involving the loss of five lives, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch em- phasizes the failure to obey the orders of a deputy coroner that the wreckage was not to be destroyed. An inspector of the Department of Commerce is quoted as to the need of clearing up the wreck, in the words, “We are try- ing to sell aviation to the public and the wreckage of a plane lying around for people to gaze at has a bad ef- fect.” The Post-Dispatch comments: “Such zealous friends of commercial aviation are its worst enemies. The public understands that occasional ac- cidents are the price of aviation prog- ress, but it will not tolerate efforts to prevent a full and free analysis of them.” * ok ok X ‘The “inexcusable action” at Kansas City, as viewed by the Atlanta Consti~ tution, “should receive the attention of the proper authorities, so that such steps can be taken as to prevent in future any such willful disregard of the public’s rights. Official examination of the remains of this wrecked plang should have been welcomed, if for no other reason than the lesson that might have been learncd by the pos sible discovery of the cause of the ac- cident. In "addition, nothing could give passenger aviation a blacker eye than efforts such as this,” concludes the Constitution. “Whatever light can be thrown on an accident,” says the Chicago Daily News, “should be furnished as a mat- ter of course to the proper authorities d to the public. Any other policy turally engenders suspicion, fear and gross exaggeration. The destruction of evidence likely to contribute even remotely to the solution of a problem made acute by the fatal crash of an |1 should be probthited and penalized. Senator Allen of Kansas very properly condemns the action of the aviation company. That action, according to the Senator, ‘did more harm to the future of aviation than 20 major accidents’ Manifestly avi- ation laws must not tolerate secrecy in such cases and must provide fit punish- ment for the suppression of -evidence bearing upon accidents to airplanes. lsuflll( evid(‘ncc] is (»samtrilnl to the in- €grity as well as to the progress aviation. L ol * kR “Public confidence in air transpor- tation,” declares the Philadelphia ESe- ning Bulletin, “can be established and maintained only by making clear the reasons for occasional failure of per- sonnel or equipment. To obviate danger we must have exact information as to its nature. Disclosurc of flaws in planes or piloting is ‘the best assurance of remedy. Maj. Young, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics, | points out that the inquiries conducted under his auspices are infarmal, no hearings being held and no witnesses being subpoenaed, The wreckage 1§ ex- amined, such data as may be available are gathered, and experts endeavor to reconstruct the picture and arrive at conclusions. He hints that if the con- clusions thus reached should be made inadmissible in civil suits by law, dif- ficulties in the way of publicity would be removed, but courts and juries are capable of assessing the weight of such evidence.” “The public must be taken into full confidence,” contends the Salina Jour- nal, “and when it is, it will quickly realize that tremendous strides have as “the silliest imitation of the ostrich hiding his head in the sand,” and that paper concludes: “The proper cue for commercial aviation is not to put itself in the position of seeming’to conceal facts, but to place all the evidence at inspectors’ disposal in a sincere effort to discover the disaster’s cause and pre- vent repetition. Aviation will have to take the public's side if it expects the | public to side with it. There's no use | copying the ostrich.” | “There is nothing but good sense and | sound reasoning,” argues the Danbury News, “in Senator Bingham's demand for full publicity for every air accident that takes place. Nothing is to be | gained from hiding the facts. Every | crash must carry some lesson. If the accident is due to fault of the plane, this should be made known, must be made known before it can be remedied. If the accident be due to a mistake on the part of the pilot, then the nature of the mistake should be broadcast, for the guidance of other pilots. As Sen- ator Bingham so well says, ‘Airplane crashes should be taken out the realm of unexplained mysteries. Hasty action of the sort described at Kansas City is held by the New York Evening Post to be ‘“essentially short- | sighted and of no help to aviation,” and | that paper refers to official figures as | showing that “during the first half of | 1929 scheduled air transport more than doubled the mileage of the same period in 1928, while the accident rate de- | clined from one fatel accident for 896, | 922 miles to one in 1,022,371 miles. In the whole field of commercial aviation | the changes were even more marked,” adds that paper, asserting that “in | dealing with these vital problems there should be no evasion of the facts or any excess of zeal in destroying or con- cealing whatever evidence may con- tribute to a solution.” Mrs. Owen Is Pictured As Victim of Injustice To the Editor of The Star: Ruth Bryan Owen's case will interest every woman reader who believes in jus- tice and every man, too, who believes in fair play for his mother, wife or sisters. There is before the Congress no more important case notwithstanding that the House is judge of its own election. Here seems to be a case that needs the advice of the Supreme Court. It is true that the Constitution says that a member must have been a citizen seven years, but it does not say that the years shall | be consecutive. It is a mere guess for a | man on the Hill to say that it is or it isn't. ‘Therefore, until the Supreme Court decides the matter there is no precedent as a guide for action, It is amazing that the American re- | public should ever have had a law so unfair and absurd. To have made Ruth Bryan Owen a British subject without her consent or approval without having ever stepped a foot in Britain! It must be that this law was a rag of the Code Napoleon, but Napoleon was not the only { man in the world who considered women | as property. Most of the time that Mrs. Owen was abroad was war time and she was work- ing in the Red Cross for the American Army. ‘Therefore, wherever she was doing that work, that was extraterri- toriality. As a matter of law, it was American soil. After the war, when Ruth Bryan Owen brought her invalid husband tc Miami and earned the i for him | and his four children, it must have been | hard enough without the handicap of | being unwillingly a British subject, It |15 said that woman was created from a {man's rib. In this case it must have been made in air safety, and that the | been his backbone. Besides all .. safety of an air trip, where efficlent planes and competent pilots are used, is accepted as just as matter-of-fact as the journey by a train might be. If there is mnot investigation, and publishing of the results, suspicion is aroused. Suspicion is the hardest thing of all against which to battle.” A * kK Kk Attitud® of air officials as disclosed s described by the Grand Raplds Press it good sportsmanship to weak? And there are still a great many men who believe that women are the weaker sex. The law regarding women's nation- ality always was absurd and it seems to take a long time to teach the world that woman is a unit and that she exception to all biol 1s the “weaker sex" sions of the dark dges. CARRIE