Evening Star Newspaper, May 4, 1930, Page 38

M'HE EVENING- STAR With Sunday ‘M Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C 'PUNDAY...........May 4, 1830 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor Star Ne Business il g ey, ent St.. London, Xhe Evening Teako O Rade by Carrler Within the City. Star..... .45¢ per month C: on made a §iders maz be sent in by m NAtional, 5000, Rate by Hnll—dPlylhle in Advance. 0.00: 1 mo., 8¢ iR " Al Other States and Canada. e i 1 mo.s The Ascociated Press is exclusively ents se for republication of all news dis grpdited to it or not otherwise ered- inis paper and siso the local news All rjsbts of publication ef reservi a Ed 8] ublis erein. fah dupetches Hersis ere Blao wec atches * Loss of Taxable Areas, Elsewhere in the news columns of The Star today appears & statement from the District assessor, Mr. Rich- prds, recently inserted by Representa- 8ive Simmons in the Congressional [Record. In this statement Mr. Rich- prds champions the bizarre theory that Wransfers of land areas from the faxable to the exempt list do not fend to reduce the revenue-producing papacity of the District, but in reality {trenigthen it. Mr, Richards’ conclusions are faulty (1) because they are based upon condi- $lons that are immediate and temporary pnd ignore the really significant results that are final and permanent; (2) be- cause they take into account primarily the government tax-collector’s interest pnd point of view and ignore partly or entirely the loss or gain and distinct and differing interest of the Distriet taxpayers, and (3) because they ove ook the difference in conditions be- $ween Washington with its rigidly lm- #ted taxable areas which cannot be in- ereased as in other citles by extensive ecquisitions of adjacent territory in the same State. Similar extensions by the Capital are into the adjacent sections of Virginia and Maryland, where the taxes Bre lost to the District. Thus one flaw in Mr. Richards' rea- goning results from overlooking the fact ghat enly & Nimited and rigidly defined smount of land is available for the de- welopment of tax-producing areas in the wevenue than the whole would produce, & subjected to the same process of de- welopment.. What ‘is the immediate ect of purchase or condemnation of land for government use? If, as Mr. Richards contends, it increases values in taxable wreas and therefore assessments and Gherefore faxes, the practical result i simply an increased burden of taxation thrown' on a decreasing ares, which is the result expected and predicted. Value may be increased for sale, but to those not wishing to sell and holding their residence or business property for private use, the result is only the greater tax burden that would naturally Sollow, with no guarantee that higher Bssessments necessarily connote an se- eompanying increpse in purchasing power of the community or of business for the enterprise affected. It is not oonvincing to show that the municipal government in some instances collects smmediately more taxes from the re- duced taxable area. The point of view = not that of the tax-collecting govern- ment, either national or municipal, but ©of the real estate taxpayers of the Dis- grict. Mr. Richards mentions the Southern Rallway Bullding transfer as a case in support of his argument, in which wvalues around Fifteenth and K streets increased when the new structure, re- placing the old bullding taken over by the Government, was erected. He does not mention the equally resultant loss of 1,200 officers and employes, with their families, who were moved from the Washington headquarters to the Atlanta headquarters, nor that the ousted railroad for & time was con- sidering withdrawing its headquarters from Washington bodily in response to ®ttractive bids from other cities. Mr. Richards will doubtless admit, al- though his statement does not mention 1t, that there is a distinct difference be- tween the immediate effect of an iso- lated transfer® such as the Southern Bullding (or even of all the transfers brought about by the triangle condem- pations) and the permanent results of the continuation for an indefinite period ©f the Government policy of withdraw- ing from taxation large slices of the eity’s taxable land. Such a deep and Sundamentally important question can- ot be answered merely by showing that for the time being the new part is more productive of _revenue than the old ‘whole. 4 More than half the area of Washing- ton City, as originally planned, was re- tmoved from taxation and dedicated as fixests, & greater peroentage of sirest THE SUNDAY area then existed at the time in any|ern armies, it is understood, have no t other city in the world. Parks and public bullding areas, increased by suc- cessive condemnations and purchases, have 80 reduced the total avallable tax- able area of the District that a warn- ing may well be sounded. ‘There is sound foundation for the District’s petition that, in financing the great pubile improvement program n the Capital, Congress, representing the Nation, should give careful considera* tion to the equity involved in appor- tioning the share of expense to be borne by local taxpayers in their part of Capital maintenance and improve- ment, and should also recognize that 7 | one of the items to be considered in this connection is the effect upon the Dis- trict's future and permanent tax-pro- ducing capacity of successive transfers by the Federal Government of tax-pro- ducing land to the exempt list. In this connection it is to be re- membered that the national tax ex- penditures do not come exclusively from contributions of taxpayers outside the District of Columbia. District tax- payers participate in national tax con- tled | tributions on precisely the same basis as the national taxpayers of the States. Their contributions are relatively heavy, being greater in the fiscal year 1029 than those of any one of twenty-five States and greater than those of nine States combined. The District taxpayers contribute on both sides of the account, as national and as local taxpayers, Ap- propriation of national funds for Na- tional Capital maintenance and de- velopment is thus not & gift to the Dis- trict, but an expenditure by the Na- tion upon the Nation's Capital to which the District taxpayer has contributed. It is further “to be considered, in financing these - extraordinary “mu- nicipal” improvements that are so largely national in character and the expenditures upon which are so much greater than they would be in the case of any other eity than the National Capital, whether the appropriation from the national funds of even the 40 per ocent required by substantive law would not be too little, and whether the con- tribution of only approximately 31.5 per cent under the lump sum appropris- tion practice 13 not obviously and grossly inadequate. It is to be consid- ered whether in the condemnations in question the Washington taxpayers are not paying heavily in national taxes and too heavily in municipal taxes in order to reduce forever the District taxable areas and to increase perma- nently the burden imposed upon the areas that remain subject to taxation. ‘Washington taxpayers are in hearty sympathy with the development of Washington as the Federal Oity. They do not oppose the acquisition of taxable land for Federal Government use. They ask merely that such acquisitions be considered as to their ultimate effect upon the local tax burden, and not painted in roseate hues to beguile the local taxpayer into the belief that the Government in these condemnations s conferring & benefit and not taking something away. s eand Oandidates who enter the great game of politics with too large s supply of blue ‘chips are in danger of meeting Teproaches which may . introduce “Is I Blue?” as an appropriate feature of § Y ————— Even in the extrsordinary change which have taken place because pos- sibly of immense modern improvement n bullding and cultivation, Kansas occasionally reverts to s historie past and has & good old-fashioned cyclone. ————— Estimates of the cost of Boulder Dam work run far up into the millions. Americs is rapidly becoming s nation of expert accountants. Big figures long 8go lost their popular terror. Bvents at the Ohlo Penitentiary eall attention to the fact that proper man- agement of criminals requires the fire department as well as the police, Revolt in China. ‘Though there have been no military operations in China apart from en- counters between bandits and govern- ment troops, on & small scale, & revo- lution has actually taken place in that oountry, according to & dispatch from Peking. Yen Hsi-shan, Governor of Shansi Province and leader of - the northern revolt, has called a “people's congress” to meet in Peking during this current month to establish a new gov- ernment, of which Yen will be the head and Marshal Feng Yu-hsiang will be the commander of the military forces, ‘This new regime is to take the name “Nationalist Government of China,” a titls which has heretofore been given to the government at Nanking headed by Chiang Kai-shek, an organization which the northerners regard as illegal. Incidentally, this announcement of the holding of the “people's congress,” which it s expected will represent four- teen of the twenty provinces of China proper, is the statement that the cap- ital of the new government will be Peking, the restored name of the for- mer capital replacing “Peiping,” which was given to the city coincident with the removal of the government of Chiang Kal-shek to Nanking. Despite the removal of the administrative organization to the Southern capital, the diplomatic establishments in China have remained in Peking, and this fact may have an important bearing upon the international status of the new Northern government. Certainly it will be an anomalous situation for the diplo- mats at Peking, to be accredited to one government and to be situated within the immediate jurisdiction of another. ‘There is no likelihood of the removal of the legations to Nanking simply be- cause of the establishment of a new “Nationalist government of China,” with its headquarters just outside of the legation walls. Chiang Kai-shek can hardly afford to permit Gov. Yen to hold his con- gress and establish his rival Nationalist government without some measure of protest and opposition. Marshal Feng has, it is estimated, about 250,000 men, well armed, with the exception of aerial equipment. The Nanking government has some bombing planes which are likely to be of high efficiency against the Northern army, according to previ- ous happenings in the East. Chinese soldiers have no relish whatever for attacks from the air. In Manchuria during the short-lived Russo-Chinese war, Russian planes caused utter de- moralization among the ground forces of China, evedl by dropping bags of soot anti-aircraft guns. A factor of importance in Chins's mew crisls is the development of & rampant Communist spirit in the Southern provinces, recently manifested in the area between Canton and Shang- hai and marked by some shocking man- ifestations of fanatioal brutality. The Nationalist government at Nanking may find itself between two fires, that of the Northern revolt and that of the Commuriist uprising in the South. Chiang Kal-shek will have to act quick- ly and vigorously with his well armed, German-trained army, if he is to save his organization and retain its recog- nition by the foreign powers as the government of China. e e—ee s Gasoline vs. Beauty? To stimulate, rather than stifie, the public’s love of touring is obviously one of the major objects of the ofl industry. After all has been sald, Lure-of-the- Open-Road—the reslly open road—is the greatest salesman of that gigantic industry. How blind, how monstrous, how stu- pid, therefore, is the Springtime com- petition which leading oil concerns are now entering upon to desecrate every pleasant highway with their blatant billboards and to shut off every dainty woodland with their crude and contra- dictory gasoline claims! Is this the return motorists are to get for the billlons which they spend an- nually? Between them and a glimpse of some green bit of fresh-leafed fairyland must there always stand the huge high- hued blurb of some oil company, forget- ful of the interests of its customers? Is this really a “good will” campaign, or has some one's nightmare been carried over into daylight and made s matter of hideous record in the great out-of- doors? Is the man who buys gasoline— Everyman—made friendly by gasoline advertisements that take away half of his pleasure in motoring? Must he remain content with the fash of en oo- casional tree between gasoline signs? s 1t enough if, with outstretched neck, in traversing long lanes of advertising, he oeccasionally glimpses & blue and va- grant eloud or sees the dance of sun- light on some unhidden tree-top? 8o furious and foolish has this com- petitive ugljness become that along one of the most beautiful roads out of Wash- ington, destined to be & part of the magnificent national park system, gor- geous, irreplaceable trees are being cut down to give a better “reveal” to the gasoline billboards. Ple upon you, gentlemen of the oll business! A truce in your warfare for ugliness! Have you not already pun- ished your customers sufficlently? 1Is it not enough to shut off the trees? Must you also cut down those few graceful spirits that stand close to the road try- ing to mitigate somewhat the horrors of your “art”? ‘The next forward step in the gasoline industry will be the initiation by some leading company of & policy of alding the motorist and nature to become closer friends. There is no more logical friendship, and no interest stands to benefit financially by it more than the oll industry. Such a policy of selling gasoline by making its use more enjoyable would win the approval of everybody, whereas the present policy of competitive des- ecration is certain to react againstthe industry by decreasing the delights of motoring and by in g the public resentment toward systematized and un- necessary ugliness, A prohibition leader sometimes arises in Prance. Few of his fellow citizens are persuaded to take him more seri- ously than to regard him as conducting | thre & rather feeble bear movement in the —————ie ‘When 1t comes to confirming en ap- pointee to the United States Supreme Court, some of the Senators insist on discussing an employment problem in practical and unsympathetic terms. ————————— Homicide mysteries continue to pro- vide unlimited material for the journal- ist who delights in inhuman interest. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Untamable. Machinery I much admire; A motor ear is eute, Yet I et, while I admire, I tame the brute. An aeroplane is wondrous fine; A submarine's great in its line; Even & trolley car brings pride As I stand up to get s ride. ‘The marvels of the telephone Like those of radio I own. Each great invention makes a hit, ‘Wrought by some mind astute— And stil]l in sorrowing I admit 1 cannot tame the brute. Confusion in Alignment, “What are your polities?” confused in mind” feel sure whether I am & Wetublican or & Drymoerat.” Jud Tunkins says, after all, polar ex- plorers are a little like us ordinary folks. ‘The most they find to talk about is the | min weather. A Consistent Record. On speculation still I frown. Stocks have embittered oft my cup. The stocks I purchase all go down And those I let alone go up. A Slight Element of Cheer. “You seem to admire the trafic officer.” “My wife drives from the back seat,” sald Mr. Chuggins, “I can't help en- Joying having her meet somebody who is sure of getting the last word.” Undesirable. “You have had many opportunities to marry.” “Not opportunities,” answered Miss Cayenne. “Narrow escapes.” " said Hi Ho, the Solving a Seareity. The fruit crops often fail, 'tis true. ‘Yet markets always bring advice. There will be frult, good friend, for you— Provided you can get the price. “Somebody done stole my Bible,” said Uncle Eben, “and I'm waitfh’ foh him to get enough religion f'um it to make and cabbages upon them. The North- him bring # back.” STAR, WASHINGTO: D _C, MAY “REMINDED OF GOD” BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D, LL. D, Bishop of Washington. Every perception we have is an avenue through which God seeks to enter our life. Th® world in which we live is an open book that rehearses dally befors our vision the evidences of His power and His love. “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” Thus the shepherd poet in his lonely night watches caught visions of the Eternal Father. The capacity and aptitude of man’s mind to comprehend and realize God is one of the extraordi- nary things of our nature. It is inter- esting to note in what strange ways men and women of varying tempera- ments come to have a consciousness of God's presence in His world. The man with a poetic and sensitive nature lit- erally feels Him in all that he sees and hears in & world of manifold creations. He hears Him speaking in the rustling winds; he sees His might in the crash- ing thunder; he feels His power in the surging seas; he witnesses His glory in the golden sunset and the starry vault of night. The artist finds Him revealed in every human face, in every graceful and symmetrical form; he lifts up his eyes to the towering hills and from them he gets inspiration for his genius. The student of the deep things of human nature finds in the human mind the marvels of creative genius. He discovers here elements and quali- tles so superior, so capable of infinite development and expansion that they bewilder him. Those of us whose minds are less penetrative and whose sensibilities are less acute find in the world through which we move intima- tions of the divine. It does mot seem reasonable, however simple our tastes or unsusceptible our mental capacities, that we should walk among men in the world through which we. move without receiving that which spéaks of God. It is little wonder that the poet cries out in his bewilderment, “When I con- sider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the sun and the moon which Thou hast ordained, what is man that Thou art mindful of him?” So vast were the infinite spaces, so incompre- hensible the glory of them, that comparison the life of man seems in- consequential and unworthy. When Joyce Kilmer, the war poet, walked through the woods he wrote: “Poems are made by men like me, But only God can make & tree.” The sheer beauty of the woodland compelled his thoughts to God.: A distinguished lawyer friend of mine, & man of profound thought and un- usual literary genius, has written a charming little book in which he dis- 1930—PART _TWO. Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. Encouraged by the issuance of the special tercentenary stamp commemo- Tative of the arrival of the ship Arbella in the harbor of Salem, Mass., bringing to Gov. Winthrop the charter for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and by the elaborate plans being worked out by in | direction of Congress for a Nation- wide celebration of the bicentennial of the birth of Gen. George Washington, Representative Emanuel Celler of New York has just proposed that as an ad- vance feature of the bicentennial ob- servance & special commemorative stamp be issued in honor of Gen. Wash- ington's inspector general. He points out that September 17, 1930, will be the 200th anniversary of the birth of Baron Frederick William von Steuben, and that it is the unani- mous_ verdict of American historians that Baron von Steuben rendered ines- closes highest thinking about God and life as the result of companionship with his little grandehild. He tells how each the !l“:mm'u life of t«h, child ga im jer pert ons of & God who Nad invested child life with s0_much beauty and wisdom. Maltble Babcock, the poet preacher, traveling on an ocean steamer, saw in the infinite expanse of the seas that which provoked his deeper thlnlln, and wve him & larger conception of vastness and immeasurableness of God's wer. poA distinguished sclentist, Dr. Michael 1. Pupin, tells us in his ripe maturity of thought that all the disclosures of the laboratory and the deeper study of mighty and dynamic forces have been as & mirror reflecting the omnipotence, mfl' and majesty of thelr Creater. us, men come to find wherever they look the evidences of Him whom they come to Wvflhlg, Not until the Great Master came did the straying and unformed conceptions of God find clear- er expression and definition. taught men the tenderness and solici- tude of the Great Father. He defined Him as & “God of Love,” in whose com- ehensive embrace all men may find Efim satisfaction and the realization of their highest horu. Here we have the ultimate authority for ell that we have learned of God as revealed in His world. timable services to this Nation when he :flh:blhhed o;uer and discipline in the tered and disorganized Continental Militia. He is credited with ha created an army that outmarched an outmaneuvered and beat the British. ‘Within three months after his arrival in the colonies Washington made him mcm%v general of t.;)edg:lud States Ly, n's judgment of and confidence in Baron von Steuben were ins; l'ror lgen' eir plows, placed in their hands bayonets and muskets and made them an army that won the Revolution. “This lan-born drillmaster of the first American Army,” says Repre- sentative Celler, “is responsible also for the founding of the United States Mili- tary Academy at West Point. “His greatest service to Washington was rendered at Valley Forge, which marked the lowest ebb of adversity for the American Army. To Washington he appeared as sent from God at & time when he was most needed, for he trans- formed into real soldiers mutinous militia. In the this day, he ‘pepped up’ “He collaborated with M Wayne in the u‘:mn of Stony Point on the Hudson, without the firing of & single shot, by the use of the bayonet o nly. “In offering his services to the Con- in writing on De- Congress Is Considering Two Measures | bt o35 i wr e Affecting the Country’s Power Interests BY WILLIAM HARD. ‘The most damental and far- reaching thing in Washington is now proceeding quietly and unobtrusively h hearings before the interstate and foreign commerce committee of the House of Representalives and through deliberations of the interstate commerce committee of the Senate. It is the re- organization of the Federal Power Com- mission and the extenslon of its author- ity into various features of the fleld occupied in interstate commerce by elec- tric light and power companies. Such companies now represent an in- vestment which by some calculations comes to eleven billion dollars and they constitute a political problem which even conservative Senators and Repre- sentatives regard as approaching the prvgofl.hns exhibited by the railroad problem a generation ago, when the Interstate Commerce Commission was brought into being. It seems probable that the Hoover admiuistration will be notable for two of the greatest and most revolutionary recent. _enllr,emenu of Federal governmental authority over the opportunities of the States and over the affairs of business. LY One of these enlargements is in agri- culture, where the Federal Farm Board is obliged by law not only to finance agricultural organizations for the mar- keting ofs farm produets, but also ‘in consequence incidentally to_upset and remake the whole business lives of the rivate commerelal organizations which itherto have dominated the travels of farm produets from the originator to the consumer. The other enlargement is in public utilities, where municipal control and State control, sometimes in practice meaning little or no effec- tive control, is now about to be supple- mented by Federal control in the course tof a1 tive development of irresisti- ble political strength. In that development both political parties are implicated. It is directly ou h the efforts of Senator Walsh of Montana, Democrat, that the Fed- eral e Commission is now engaged in taking thousands upon thousands of of testimony regarding the alle bad methods and morals and of public utility executives and lobbyists. It is through the spec- tacular public manifestoes of Gov. PFranklin D. Roosevelt of New York, Democrat, that the “valuation” of pub- lic utility properties for the purpose of fixing public utility rates and charges to industries and to householders has been made into a first-rank politica national issue. koo Meanwhile, the Republicans, though trailing the Democrats, have not been entirely inclined to be left sleeping at the starting post. President Hoover, in his annual message to Congress, recom- mended certain changes in the structure and in_the authority of the Federal Power Commission and his recommen- dations are now embodied in H. R. 11408, a bill introduced into the House of Representatives by James S. Parker of New York, Republican chairman of its interstate and foreign commerce committee. ‘This bill may be taken as the mini- mum that is going to happen Federally to our fellow citizens who have under- taken to provide the Nation with elec- tric light and power. The Federal Power Commission is now a feeble ama- teur body, consisting of three cabinet members, the Becretaries of War and of Agriculture and of the Interior, who are too busy with their departments to give any proper amount of time to their Pederal Power Commission duties. Mr. Parker’s bill would dismiss them from their Federal Power Commission jobs and put in their places three full-time commissioners, who would have nothing but electric light and power before them for the busying of their minds and tal- ents. This change in itself creates grave apprehension among public utility rep- resentatives here, who naturally would rather be contemplated by three com- missioners who look at them once a fortnight than by three commissioners who look at them all time. Mr. Parker’s bill, however, promises them a further woe. It provides that the 10 per cent (or so) of electric en- ergy which now goes across State lines for consumption shall enjoy or endure a new Federal intervention in the matter of prices at which it should be sold. There are to be “joint boards” of the States immediately concerned, and from these boards an appeal may lle to the Federal Power Commission in Washing- ton, which thus will become the ulti- mate arbiter of the rates and charges of a certain not negligible fraction of the electric light .mf power business. * %% }’! is thought that possibly the true polic; people would be to get behind the Par- ker bill and push into the statute books before & worse fate accumulates itself to fall upon them. In the Sen- ate, exemplifying that. worse fate, are two bills by Senator Couzens of Michi- gan, a Republican by affiliation and a Progressive by temperament. As chairman of the Senate's inter- state commerce committee, Mr. Couzins is in a position to promote his bills by means of official pressure, and, as him- self, he will do so with unbounding personal vigor. The chances today are that some at least of the Couzens ideas, and Krhapa a good many of them, will finally find their way into lej lative enactment and administrative practice, %% The first Couzens bill, eolloquially here called the “little one,” provides sim- gly for the reorganization of the Federal 'ower Commission from three amateur members to three professional members in essentially the same manner as is set forth in the Parker bill. This first Couzens bill is even now on the calen- dar of the Senate and may soon go to, 5 '.rl'lh'm“]. ;o'go bill, eolloquiall; e secont ugens bill, colloquially denominated the “big one,” is now fully completed and is definitely before the Senate’s Interstate commerce committee 1 | for study and revision. It is one of the most ambitious and one of the most in- [ 0085 genious bills ever devised for ther] new fish into th ater e Federal net. Its master stroke is that it includes within “inter- state commerce” not only companies sending -or receiving electrical energy across State lines, but also all companies controlling or managing or_technically advising such compantes. It then or- dains that the Federal Power Commis- sion shall supervise all “interstate com- merce” electrical energy companies in Tespect of their accounts, in respect of their rates to consumers, in res) of the “valuation” of their properties for rate-making pul and in respect of their issuing of stocks and bonds. It is estimated that thus the bulk of the whole publie utility investment of the United States would, in one way or another, directly or indirectly, be brought to Federal scrutiny. The local scrutiny in most States has been general admittedly weak; and the sum of the comment here is that once more the country ohserves the spectacle of local default succeeded by Federal vengeance. (Copyright, 1930.) International Congress Is to Deal With Matters of Thinking BY THOMAS R. HENRY. ‘A‘n'!! Nature's only blemish is the “For there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” These two pearls of Shakespeare's wisdom, the more obvious the more we reflect upon them, might well be the texts for the meetings of the first inter- national congress of mental hygiene here this week. Orime, war, madness and all miserics are matters of thinking. Love, aspira- tion, aocomplishment and all happiness are matters of thinking. All human be- havior is a matter of thinking, except the birth that begins it and the death that ends it. Without the mind there could be no consclousness of good or ill, pleasure or pain, in anything. The billions of nerve cells making up the cortex of the human brain are the most fundamental entities in crea- tion, so far as man is concerned. With- out them he could not know even that he existed. It is fruitless here to con- sider whether this brain is something superimposed upon the human organism by Omnipotence or whether the mar- velously delicate mechanism was put together bit by bit, through the long centuries when life struggled in dark- ness, by the master hand of evolution. We know only that it is the sole ele- ment of life of any consequence what- soever. Without it life would be star- dust strewn by the winds through form- less nothingness. * % ok ‘Two elements enter into all behavior, whether it be the behavior of embattled nations or crawling infants. One is the mind of man. The other is the environ- ment that acts upon it, sending nerve currents through it which result in ac- tlon. Into these two elements the his- tory of the race can be resolved. They are complementary to each other. Now, mankind has given almost its whole attention to the manipulation of only one of these elements—the envi- ronment. The whole pageant of hu- manity, from beetle-browed pithecan- thropus to the present, has been con- cerned with altering the environment. Every step in the ess of clviliza- tion has been concerned with changing the environment. This is the purpose of engineering and surgery, of art and statecraft. Even education and religion have sought to do little more than in- troduce intangible efforts into this en- YRR ume the t time mind itself has been neglected. One-half the whole— and perhaps the most essential half— has been tfiond 88 if it did not exist. There has been no technique for manip- ulating the mind itself, except as it was accidental and incidental to other ac- tivities. Only within recent years has such a possibility been recognized. The application has been almost entirely to the abnormal, so that it has become somewhat tainted in the popular mind by its association with insanity. It is a matter of adjusting the mind to environment rather than environ- ment to the mind and of determin the actual effects of any envtronmen% change. Until more is known of this complicated subject it is purely guess- work whether any human change is good or bad, progressive or degenerative. * % ok % ‘The science of the mind still s infancy. There are conflicting lcl:l‘o(l)g of thought. None of them has made more than the merest beginning. Some have presented hypotheses which seem fantastic and shocking, because they are so foreign' to the concepts of a world thinking traditionally only in terms of externais. For centuries there have been inter- of the electric light and power | gon, My nnll ambition is ':flhnll ’o;u.r.d.nu. 3 m.npenn‘ x of y o bl ‘the honor of ha: name n’mneo:d'm those «'fif-o‘a fenders of your e Wm Steuben involves the German immigrants, who, lifetime of our Nation, have streaming into our land, for he typifies the essence of the great German con- tributions to the weal and welfare of the United States of America. This special stamp will eommemorate wur recognition of that contribution.” * ok k% ‘The interesting story of the “Maine Stein Song,” which has recently become 80 ular over the radio and which has caught the public fancy, is told by Senator Dill of Washington, who em- phasizes that the redio has been able to take a song of which not a single copy had been sold in many vears and enur‘ the sale of 260,000 copies in two weeks. Coupled with this, Senator Dill tells the of the song itself. In 1902 Prof. A. W. Spi of the music de- partment of the University of Maine adapted a march, “Ople,” composed by Bandmaster Fenstad of the United States Army, for the use of the stu- dents. Lincoln H. Coleord of the class of 1904, who has since come into na- al prominence, wrote the words. This marching song was played by the University Band and was extremely Yo lar locally. When the 3d Maine nfantry of the State National Guard went to the Mexican border in 1916 it was used and attracted quite wide at- tention. Later this company became the 103d Infantry, 26th Division, in France, Wwhere band, composed ly of former Maine University stu- dents, played this same marching so: nth great spirit. “Thess bandsmen act- as stretcher bearers at the Battle of Belleau Wood; several of them were killed and many injured. Because of this, the “Maine Stein Song” becam sacred to the veterans of the oid 103d Infantry. ‘The new 103d has adopted this same “Maine Stein " as its regimenta. march, and it will again be played at Camp Devens, when that regiment goes into Summer encampment. The National Broadcasting Co. de- cided to make a test to show how strong the radio is as a song salesman. When several _music concerns were merged to the Radio Music Corporation, & search of the old catalogues revealed that not & single copy of old “Maine Stein Song” had been sold for 20 years. A modern orchestration was made and Rudy Vallee was engaged to make the demonstration. ‘The old marching tune swept the country from coast to t, and_within two weeks the sale exceeded 250,000 coples. PR “The North Carolina flag represents upon its folds & glorious star encircled by two sacred dates—" 20, 1775, the first declaration of independence in America at Mecklenburg, and ‘April 12, 1776, when at Halifax the people of our colony in thelr representative ca- pacity voted and sanctioned, befare any other colony in America, independence from Great Britain,” Representative Abernethy has just called to the at- tention of the Congress. “Recently,” Representative Aber- nethy said, “when we secured from Congress national recognition of the great historical pageant at New Bern, I took occasion to go fully into the his- torical significance of the date of ‘April 12, 1776, as it conoerned North in | Carolina from a national standpoint. I was able to_show by such great his- torians as Bancroft, Nevins, Bassett and our own R. D. W. Connor and oth- | ers that it was at Halifax on this da the people of North Carolina were the first in America to vote an explicit sanction to independence when our delegates to the ntinental Congress at Philadelohia were cted cur with the delegates of the other colonies in declaring independence.” Proofs From Detroiter. Prom the Hamilton Spectator. That Detroit man who had 12 Ontario liquor permits proved two things—that it is easy to get more than one script and hard to evade detection. — framed political pacts. They have start- ed and ;’:ded wars. They have speeded trans; tion. They have adopted uni- form physical measurements. 'y have even come to international agreements on the study of heavenly bodies. These conferences seem superficially to have changed the world a great deal, especially in the last century. Yet there really have not changed it at all since fhe instrument upon which all changes must register has remained ghe same. “Human nature can't be changed” is a latitude. And if human nature cannot e changed then fundamentally nothing else can be changed. * K K ¥ ‘This the first world conference WIS does ot have to do_ with the environment. It is concerned with the mind itself—the other half of creation u) which rests the responsibility for all shame and all glory, all happiness and all misery, all degeneration and all exaltation. "This conference is only a beginning. take advan of whatever foothold it can find. Only through understanding of the abnormal can come understand- of the normal. ut this beginning may mark a very important step indeed in human o tory. The potentialities are so tre- mendous that one hesitates to speak of with a juent loss of te | which mmn counterl to con- | in remains a haunting feeling that they Pheir More Merchant BY FREDERIC Whatever the result of the Naval Disarmament Conference at Longdon finally proves to be, it is certain that the maritime nations of the world are engaged in a merchant marine con- struction program unequaled in mag- nitude since before the war, save for the brief post-war boom, centered about 1923, when an effort was made to re- place some of the tonnage lost by sinkings. Shipyards sre resounding to the clang of plates and the waters are troubled by the initial plunges of ves- sels large and small. In this industry unemployment has been cut down ma- terially, for thrr:mhout the entire world merchant shipbuilding™is exceeding the pre-war level. The United States shipyards sre tak- ing an important role in this burst of activity among shipwrights. After a teady rise which has been in process some time, American shipyards in he last of 19290 moved into third place in the volume of new shi Em‘ on the ways. Great Britain s olds its premier position, as it has for generations. The shipways along the s for 1l Ships on Ways J. BASKIN. Loss of her place in rank of current shipbullding probably is not permanent. Italy has shown steady progress since the war in bullding up her merchant . and this yesr finds that she has moved up from tenth place to sev- enth. Her new lines to the United States, as well as South American con- nections, call for new construction. Italy, in' taking seventh place, displaces Russia, which had held that m{fi Sweden stands ninth in pos! an Denmark is tenth. Shipbuilding has been dull for sev- eral years in most maritime nations, and the first quarter of 1930 showed increases all around. Natlons increas- ing their tonn: include Great Brit- ain, the United States, France, Italy, Russia, Sweden and Denmark. Con- struction went ahead faster in some of these countries than in others, but ad- vanced in all of them. The greatest lonate l& was registered by W er hand, production . On_the actually declined in Germany, Nether] and Japan. Orders Increasing. ‘To make & world comparison between the new tonnage now buil and that Clyde are » hive of indusiry and great passenger _liners, inesslike cargo steamers and trim yachts are being put into commission in & steady stream. The t yards at Belfast in Ireland contribute very hrleg to the Ebunumo! leadership occupled by Great ho-mlimy Sl holds second place. that ace sharp By i Talted States. ~For quarter of 1930 Germany's new tonnage on the ways was only 8,000 tons—the size of one small steamer—ahead of new American bulldlngi ‘The speed with which the United Stages has come up from behind is of special interest. In the last year this country has moved up from place to 'd and, unless Germany maintains her rate of building and increases it, the next quarter mna see the United Btates second only to Great Britain in new merchant ships in course of construction. place. France, too, has tion of seamanship, and of the great na powers, while her merchant marine is a formidable one. e ¢ liners bullt in Japan and owned by Japanese interests are among the most splendid on the seas. More Workers to Have Vatations Than Ever BY HARDEN COLFAX. More workers in the United States will receive vacations with pay in 1930 e | than ever before. This applies to the men and women in industrial jobs as well as those in the “white collar” positions. A very decisive trend in this direction has made itself apparent in recent years, according te Govern- ment officlals. “The increase in the number of em- seem vorable effect on the morale and stability of the sources,” said day. this im) it in morale, along with other factors, which is in- fluencing employers. They are not en- tirely altruistic in granting vacations with pay. They are coming to view the matter from a broader standpoint. It is now acknowledged pretty gener- ally that the best customers & produ can have are his own workmen. Em- ployers feel that vacations insure in- creased effi« ement, in l:rurr profits, an im good and ity and s better mental outlook on part of the worker. The vacation policy unquestionably has cut down labor turnover, which still costs American industries billions of dollars a year. * k% * It is estimated also that {1l health which might be prevented costs the Na- tion $15,000,000 annually. En:&lz‘yem have come to believe that vacal give a needed rest period and are beneficial to the health of the workers, Falilure to provide vacations, they say, results in absence of workers for a day or 8o at & time throughout the year, roduction o period salary pald d the vacal 5 Mr. Stewart points out that the cost of vacations, either to employers or employes, cannot be figured accurately dollars and cents because of many factors that enter into the situ- ation. Sometimes the vacations with pay do not cost the employers any- thing, since they spread out the work among those who are left. This is not always possible, and the added labor provided during the slack periods of Summer season has & decidedly beneficial effect on the communities in general and on the employment sit- ual * ok x It is not possible to estimate this early in the season just how many workers will be given vacations this year, but at least 2,000,000 public em- ployes are sure of them, and it is es- timated by labor officials that an equal number of “overall” workers will have time off with pay. Vacation expense to the workers, rding to the De- partment of Labor, will probably exceed elr normal expenditures, as many spend considerable sums on trips or in other forms of diversion and recrea- tion, The extent of the vacation period usually varies with the length of service of the employes, In some foreign countries legislation has been passed providing for paid va- cations, and in others agreements ar- rived at by collective bargaining be- tween employers and labur organiza- tions provide for such rest periods. * ok x ¥ ‘The money spent on vacations flows freely through the arteries of commerce and trade and is beneficial to b\utn; of Commerce, estimates that will spend $5,000,000,000 this year on vacations. Last year the American people spent more than $800,000,000 in foreign vel. This year the amount f:lnl to other countries will be less, it estimated, but the sum spent in the United States and Ca will be larger. At the Summer resorts, stat- isticlans estimate that between 30,000,- them. But it may be, & lon, time hence, that there will be no need for any other sort of conferences and that all the' problems of mankind will be settled by 000 and 40,000.000 Americans will be accommodated for periods longer than ding on the s just before the war, it is shown that at the end of June, 1914, the tonnage of merchant ships under construction was 3,162,000 gross tons. ‘The figure for the current quarter shows & net gain of more than 100,000 tons. American yards are responsible for but | nations ‘sho e st their riod in 1914, although well al of in- tervening years. An indication of the spurt merchant shipbuilding has taken in the last year is indicated by the fact that world con- struction today is some 325,000 gross tons greater than it was just a year ago. Moreover, new orders are crowding in and keels are being laid down as soon as ships under construction take the g ey in naval construction. The its show the . United States in s lactory lally in view O th. treinendons Tntere power of ea. . It is not likely that the ghip- 'muhkuulfliellnw'ml Tepeated. ifty Years Ago In The Star “In excavating at its base for the purpose of strengthenin t&z lg’ulndnuon o - Corner Stome of - fon Nationel ) [onument,” says the Monument. ;;helsur of April ), . “a - tion of the corner sto: was lald flmlmmm on thndtga:au July, 1848, is of white Ma: of the , Wi ceremonies Ethelbert | is visible, and no is to be seen. table which contains ds ted in the cer | 204 clency and in consequence | o reads ‘Rutherford, Washn.' and doubt- less is the name or a part of the record of the stone cutter who presented or prepared the cap. “This, we believe, is the third time the corner stone has been e d to view since the work of excavation and strengthening - the. foundation of the Monument has been going on; and after it is hidden from sight by the stone work and concrete put in place this afternoon it is not likely that it will ever be seen again by m eyes until in some far future age, when the vast structure shall have fallen to ruins with the l'::m cgy'.lme undnflemenu or been pros some e: ry con- vulsion of nature. * * * Despite the reaction from the Hayes- Tilden presidential contest of 1876, favorable to the Demo- Democratic crats, that party was in £, & low state as res) Division. the campaign of 1 the very eve of nominating conventions, owing to the development of a bitter faction fight in New York State. The Star of May 1, 1880, says: “All efforts within the State to har- monize the New York Democracy hav- ing failed, that duty now devolves upon the national convention. The Cincin- nati convention cannot escape or shun Tes) ility, however blé it may be. There will be zi':'&'?' - tions claiming F{afla kind munmto u:-mdnred. ‘The ndications now pof s recognition of Tammany and its readmission to the g.ny in full fellowship. Outside of ew York the natural desire of the Democracy is that the party in that State shall be reunited. Upon this de- pends the Democratic prospect for suc- cess in the election. The Cincinnati convention will, it is reasonable to su] pme,bemovvdbylwowuwtg; way to party success and it cannot afford to snub Tammany or reject its application for readmission to the party. The disposition to crush Tam- many is only manifested by the clique of Tilden Democrats. There i no doubt within the Democracy a wide- spread feeling that John Kelly, by his bolt last Fall, committed a grave offense and were the party in & position to dis- ;leplénu him and his followers it would lone.” ey effect on the prosperity of the Nation, according to Dr. Klein. It is quite evi- dent that hotels, restaurants, sailroads, the automobile industry, prodacers of §as, ol and other fuels and travel ac- cessories benefit directly and imme- diately. These play times, as Dr. Klein calls them, have built up a score of industries, notably those in sporting goods and sport clothing. Highway of- ficials say the present network of good roads over the country would not have developed had it not been for the cus- ¢ ts , on the one day, ang ‘they will spend at the pational conferences for.the pur) of ‘a_co-operati t) of the mind, in average of $10 per person per day. mum%mflvflmu Al this obviowsly has & tom of giving and taking vacations at ¢ some period of the year.