Evening Star Newspaper, May 9, 1930, Page 8

A—8 THE THE EVENING STAR |besin their study of the 1932 needs as|a difficult task. For in the translitera- With Sunday Morning Fdition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY...........May 9, 1830 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor N Comj il o el hin the City. The BTy ere TN e 60c per month 65¢ per month 50 per he end of each mon! Sunday St " Toay by mall or telephoné Collection made at i Orders may be sent in NAtional 6000, Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, Beliy and Sunday.....1yr. $10.00:1 aly only . 36.00: 1 Sunday only mo., 88¢ {ly and Sunday. aily only unday only Member of the .associated Press. ™ i« exciusively entitied 4o the ‘Use for Tepudlication of il news dis- Patches credited fo it or not otherwise cred Dibiished Herene: Al Sighte of publication o iblished ‘herein. SPecial ‘dispatchés herel are aiso The Naval Program. Representative Fred Britten, chair- man of the House naval affairs commit- tee, and Representative Burton L. French of Idaho, chairman of the House naval appropriations subcommittee, are about to lock horns over the proper na- val building program for the United States under the new London naval treaty. Mr, Britten is introducing in the House today a bill proposing a pro- gram, which, he declares, is necessary if the United States is to have “parity” with Greay Britain, as provided in the treaty. It contemplates an expenditure of nearly half a billion dollars, which taken in conjunction with construction already authorized will bring the expend- itures up to little less than a billion dollars in the next ten years, Mr. Prench, who handles the money bags, does not believe that such a large ex- penditure is required at this time. In fact, Mr. French is reported to hold that about one-third of the construction pro- posed by Mr. Britten in the next six years is all that is necessary. He favors a more conservative program. Mr. Britten has been one of the critics of the London treaty. In fact, Mr. Britten has been aligned with the “big Navy” group which is more intent upon building up the Navy than it is inter- ested in agreements for limitation of naval armament. And now Mr. Brit- ten is coming forward with a proposal calling for an expenditure which nec- essarily will give many Americans cause to wipe their eyes and ask themselves whether, after all, the London treaty 1s a desirable pact. “Beware the Greeks bearing gifts” may, however, be trans- posed to “Beware the big Navy group seeking to carry out the naval agree- ment.” Mr. Britten and some of his friends may have in mind the old adage which holds there are more ways than one to kill a cat. A cat, it was said, may be choked to death with cream. 1t looks very much as though this was the plan in the back of Mr. Britten's head when it comes to dealing with the London naval treaty. The London treaty provides for par- ity with Great Britain. That is as it should be. But it is folly for Mr. Britten to urge that this country should undertake to bring about such parity within a brief period when the neces- sary expenditures would cause a deficit, in all probability, in the Treasury and cause an increase in the Federal taxa- tion. The object of the London Naval Conference was to help in bringing about a lessening of the tax burdens on the people by reducing expenditures for the Navy. The United States notori- ously has been letting naval construce tion slide since 1922, when the Wash- ington treaty was written. It has lagged in naval construction behind Great Britain and Japan. To bring the American Navy to a parity with that of Great Britain immediately would entail huge expenditures. Mr. French’s more conservative idea, looking to gradual upbuilding of the Navy until parity is reached, is more appealing. PFurther- more, there is the chance that by 1936 there may be a new agreement reached looking to still further reduction of the navies. Americans have demanded naval parity with Great Britain. It is likely to be a costly proposition at best. For Britain relies upon its navy to safe- guard its national life, Under present world conditions no one will blame the British for this attitude. But surely, if slowly, the peoples of the world are looking with more and more favor upon the substitution of peaceful settlement of international differences for war. And eventually the seed which has been sowed in the Washington and London Naval Conferences is likely to bring a much greater reduction in naval arma- ment. With this in view, the more conservative plans for naval construc- tion advanced by Mr. French are likely to find favor with millions of Americans. ——e—. There are certain immutable customs in United States politics. Various Btates are already beginning to put favorite sons in line for consideration for the presidency. — Mother Jones, labor agitator, has had a long life—much longer in fact than some of the people who have been agitated. The 1032 Estimates. ‘The Commissioners’ endeavor to re- ceive the preliminary estimates from department heads a month earlier than usual this year is complicated by the uncertainty as to the fate of the cur- rent appropriation bill. For the de- partment heads are confronted with a lack of definite assurance as to the final treatment of their items in the bill that the Senate is about to send to conference, and upon the treatment of these items depends the size and char- acter of the tentative suggestions to be incorporated in the 1932 lists. The school estimates, completed yesterday, were based on the bill as it was re- ported to the Senate and not as it passed the House. The estimates are greater than the total allowed by the Senate appropriations committee in the current bill, but this is usually the case in tentative estimates that are to be pruned in the process of sending them to Congress. It is well for the Comumissioners to early as possible. The procedure is new to the present occupants of the offices, and they cannot devote too much time to studying the make-up of the budget as well as the relative im- portance of the different requests. They cannot pass judgment on the size of their next year's budget until the cur- rent bill is out of the way. For they should govern their decision on 1932 needs entirely upon,what Congress does to the 1931 bill. Budgets have a re- markable propensity to increase in size. But it will be the duty of the Com- missioners to overcome that tendency and begin to retrench, unless Congress is willing to take care of an equitable proportion of the increased demands for revenue. The deficit between rev- enue avallability and revenue needs is not to be wiped out by raising the local tax rate. If there is a definite maxi- mum of Government contribution, there should be a definite maximum for the local contribution. The Commissioners will only be exercising their preroga- tives in keeping the local contribution within the sum to be raised by the existing tax rate e The Remedy for Lawlessness. Denunciation of the present methods of dealing with offenders against the laws of the country by Mr. George W. Wickersham, chairman of the Law En- | forcement Commission, in the course of an address before the American Law Institute, does not advance solution of the problem that is now causing grave troubles in the United States. It is rather self-evident that the process of administering the laws and punishing those who break them is not effective, it efficiency is measured by the preva- | lence of crime. The question of real importance is what is to be done in cure of the conditions, Perhaps the com- mission of which Mr, Wickersham is the head will in the course of time pre- sent specific recommendations, looking to changes in the judicial system, or in the laws, or in the punitive measures and practices in vogue, Obviously, judging from the frequency of prison riots, revolts and tragedies, the penal system is inadequate. The equip- ment is plainly insufficient. The meas- ures of discipline are not effective, Does the remedy for that condition lie in the provision of larger jails and Penitentiaries, or in more efficient and dependable administration, or in a less- ening of the number of inmates through the exercise of greater leniency in the imposition of penalties? Or, to approach the matter from another angle, does the remedy for the prevalent lawlessness lie in a modifica- tion of the penal statutes, in the re- duction of felonies to misdemeanors, or the abatement altogether of penalties for infractions of certain laws? In other words, does the remedy lie in fewer “crimes” by change of definition? Study of the records of crime in this country, as far as records are available, leads to the conclusion that the laws s they stand are not enforced in terms of even the minimum punishments in a great percentage of cases. What with ordinary delays ‘due to court con- gestion, to delays due to the shrewd maneuvering of counsel who, though in theory officers of the court, are in fact in a great many cases active agents for the defeat of the law, with mistrials occasioned by lapses in language, or by technicalities, or by the stupidity and incompetence of jurors, many felons in fact escape being felons in law and the suffering of penalties. The percentage of convictions and pun- ishments for the crime of murder in New York City, for example, is esti- mated at less than twenty-five. per cent. Again, shall the definitions be changed, shall the scale of felonies be amended in the interest of greater leniency of treatment in the almost rare event of conviction? Or shall the prac- tices of the courts be amended to insure speedier trials and surer punishments, and shall the prisons be increased and enlarged and administered so that those Wwho have forfeited their liberty shall be treated in accordance with their of- fenses and with regard for their pos- sible reformation and eventuai reunion with soclety as docile, law-abiding citi- 2zens? Perhaps the iteration of denunciations of the present condition will serve to advance the reform that mustcome about, in laws, in practices and in penal meth- ods. The country must be aroused to a realization that through indifference, or ignorance, or stubborn prejudice against change it is failing to maintain the standard of civilized soclety in respect to the public security. r——— Even 50 stern an autocrat as Musso- lini proves only human as he takes de- light in adding social brilliance to politi- cal power. In his affairs he permits no questions of precedence to arise. ——— Campaigning in Pennsylvania will enable both Senator Grundy and Secre- tary Davis to show how a man may have a great deal of money and still remain very vital in politics. ———— Basic stock values are not disturbed by the fact that the ticker registers extremes in price any more than agri- cultural yields are permanently affected by vagaries of the thermometer, —_— et War Starts in China. Military operations have begun in China between the Nanking and north- ern armies, representing respectively the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek and the newly formed Peking government of Yen Hsi-shan. Nanking troops have gone up into the northwest- ern corner of Kiangsu Province, to con- trol the railroad junction at Suchow, and Pekingese troops have met them and have, it is reported, cut around behind them and severed the railroad line to the south. An engagement in some force has occurred, with heavy casualties. Chiang Kai-shek, on his way to the “front,” has halted at Pengpu, where the railroad crosses the Hwaiho, about @ hundred miles northwest of Nanking, lest the cutting of the rail- road might cause him grave embarrass- ment. This is the opening chapter in the re- newed serial of Chinese conflict. Nobody can foretell how many more chapters will be written. It may be a short in- stallment, or a protracted one. In the telling of it to Western readers the dis- tion of titles numgrous confusing re- semblances appear. Slight differences in terminals or in vowel placements may cause errors of location amounting to scores, even hundreds of miles. Take for an instance the name of the city mentioned as the concentration point of the Nationalist forces, Suchow. There are three places of generally this same name within & radius of 150 miles of Nanking. On a map which is sold In China to tourists for their guidance, a British publication approved by Chi- nese authorities, they aré spelled “Soo- chow,” “Suchow” and “Suchowfu.” The dispatches locate the place, however, as in Northern Kiangsu and this un- doubtedly indicates uchowfu,” the final “fu” of the name being a tradi- tional designation of an earlier distinc- tion as the seat of a local authority. Plain “Suchow” is about thirty miles to on the railroad line, while is a large city in Southern Kiangsu, about fifty miles west of Shag- hai. Take again the matter of the names of provinces. This present fighting is in Kiangsu, which lies along the shore of the Yellow Sea north of Shanghai. To the southwest of Shanghai is the province of Kiangsi, scene recently of savage bandit raids and Communistic outbreaks, while a little farther south- west is the province of Kwangsi. Then in the north are the adjoining provinces of Shansi and Shensi. Numerous other close resemblance in provincial and town and city names occur, the differences in spelling and in pronunciation being so slight that to the Western eye and the ear they are virtually identical, though of course plainly different to the Chinese. — S After the accidental dismemberment of a Maine salmon presented to the White House, and the efforts to re- store it to proper symmetry, it may oceur to enthusiastic contributors that President Hoover is perfectly competent to catch his own fish, S e The distinguished editor, Van Lear Black, will soon be at home in Balti- more, after a world tour by airplane. If he can consent to chain himself to & typewriter, he will disclose a wealth of impressions calculated to excite the envy of every hard-working columnist in the country. e - Prisoners are expected to think over their offenses and repent. Conditions such as prevail in the Ohio Penitentiary are entirely too exciting to permit a proper spirit of remorseful contempla- tion. s It has been the privilege of Judge J. J. Parker to assert himself in the United States Capitol as an even more perplexing problem than the tariff itself, N Meny conferences are likely to be required and it might be a humane policy to select for foreign delibera- tions men who can show that they are immune to seasickness. ——— Science accomplishes marvels, but no hope is entertained that the law of averages may be asserted so as to pre- vent the climate from offering frost one day and a sunstroke the next. —————. Clues are numerous in every homi- cide mystery. Unfortunately the clues are in conspicuous excess of the solutions. . Wall Street by day and Broadway by night still stand out as the most exciting of New York's thoroughfares. ————— Chicago has so many gang men that the comparatively few who are taken for rides are never missed. When a night club is padlocked, the music moves on. There is no sflencer for the jazz band. . SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOMNSON. Illumination. I see Orion in the sky And others of celestial fame— The movie thoroughfare nearby Shows many a resplendent name. And high and low we see a show To educate or to refine, The most of which is in the glow ©Of an illuminated sign. The starry figures we observe Are mostly myths that we admire Because each night they have the nerve To advertise and never tire, Computations. “Your constituents support you as if they were one man.” “Don't let that idea get around,” said Senator Sorghum. “What a man in my position needs is a whole lot of men.” Jud Tunkins says we somehow respect big eriminals, which is why we admire pirates and have a contempt for chicken thigves. Genius Born Too Soon, There was a man named Uncle Ned. He played the old banjo. In poverty his life he led, For that was long ago. If Uncle Ned were here today, To do his little part, He'd surely get a chance to play. In jazzatorial art. Costumes. “Have you ever played Hamlet in a dress suit?” “No,” answered Stormington Barnes. “We have to depend on our good, old- fashioned collection of costumes, The only dress suit is owned by the manager, who stands in front of the house along- side of the ticket taker.” “We boast of our ancestors,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “and imag- ine that we are the grand results for which they worked or fought.” Where and Why. The reason that some things must be In conversation whizzes: “Where-ases” frequently we see, But seldom the “why-ises.” “Gamblin's wrong,” said Uncle Eben, “but a man can't realize it when he patches will contain some puzzles that can be solved only by those very spe- cifically informed as to Chinese geogra- phy and place names. To attempt to follow the campaign on the maps avail- able here and with the westernized glossary of geographical terms, will be happens to be guessin’ right.” = - Rad Talker Good and Fast. Prom the Detrolt News. This Floyd Gibbons on the radio is the fastest talker we've listened to since the last canvasser got his foot caught in the does, EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Now there are people who are willing to believe what other people tell them, and there are people who are not. We refer not, in the first category, to those who are gullible, but simply to those men and women who accept what another tells them, if they trust him. The second group contains all those unhappy persons who are suspicious, who are argumentative, who firmly be- lieve that any positive statement by another shows that he “thinks he knows it all.” We call these persons unhappy, be- cause they are, even though they do not know it themselves. And even worse is the fact t they tend to make those they talk with unhappy. There are more cases of mild “blues” caused by these unfortunates than from any one source whatever, in our opinion. ¥ ‘The conduct of life, as Emerson called it, involves no more simple yet complex relationship than this, if a paradox may be pardoned. It is simple, because when honestly made statements are accepted by others in the same spirit of good will there is no subterfuge involved. It is complex, because when such honesty is met with mistrust there is no telling what will be the result. Per- haps more than one entire nation has gone to its doom since history began because some one man in it, highly placed, was unable to be simple, direct and above all intellectually honest with some other man, maybe of another nation. * A # ‘The ordinary relationships of human beings fortunately involve no states- manship or diplomatic pow-wow, but simply a fair give and take, an even exchange of verbal and mental values. The “square deal,” once so widely talked about by a master publicist, is really the heart of this matter. No one gives another man a square deal unless he is willing o believe what the other tells him, This does not mean that he cannot accept it with a grain of salt, as the saying it, but it does mean that he must not openly show that he is think- ing about his slight doubt. It is only when the doubt is per- mitted to show itself, either by tone of voice, argument or positive con- tradiction, that the poorer phases of this matter become involved. * ‘Who is more unsatisfactory to talk to in this world than the man or woman—and particularly the woman— who is forever arguing about every- thing that one says? I you sgy that, of two houses, one stone’ and “one brick, you think the stone is the more artistic, she imme- diately pops forth with: “Oh, I don't think so at all! is by far the most artistic.” Knowing the lady from old, of course, you realize that if you had said the exact opposite, she would have taken the precisely opposite standpoint, and, instead of an advocate of brick, would have come out as a hot defender of stone. What can one do with such people, except to leave them alone? ®*nw ‘Then there is the argumentative fel- low to whom nothing that one says can by any possibility be right. It might seem that once a year one might hit upon some topic that would win approval, but no, there is no pleas- ing this fellow. I think the brick one | He must hate one? Not a bit of it! Hatred often de- mands deepness of nature, and there is no depth to this sad fool. He is so shallow that nothing that one says makes any impression upon him. You are a heating engineer, for in- stance. Say you are a heating engi- neer; it makes no difference really. You venture a statement as to the adequacy of a certain boiler and radiator system. Does the fact that you are supposed to know your business, and are making a nice living out of it, thank you, weigh in the scale of his mind? Not at all. He knows you are wrong on general principle: whatever you say, he says the opposite. By no means will he admit you are right— even if he knows you are. * ok ok ok It is more profitable, in considering this type, which has the widest dis- tribution, and is well known to all peoples and races, to study its opposite. ‘The open-minded man has nothing up his sleeve. nor does he suspect that you have. I® you give him your opin- ion of some other person, for instance, he does uot mentally draw back, fear- ing that you have some underlying reason for misrepresenting the fellow. On the contrary, he believes you im- plicitly, because he has observed you in action before, and knows that he can put trust in your opinion. Thus he saves himself a great deal of need- less experimentation, perhaps some heartache, and is the gainer all around, simply because he is willing to believe | what others tell him. * ok Kk ok As we have sald, this state of mind is entirely different from gullibility, the tendency to swallow anything that any oue says. Gullibility involves the desire of human beings to believe what they want to belleve, even though their in- telligence tells them that they eare Wrong. Men and women are often swayed by their emotions to the exclusion of any- thing else; just what proportion of hu- man beings are so affected one would hesitate to say, but it is very large. Nor is there anything inimical in this; we are not sure that the heart, after all, is not a better guide than the brain, especially in hundreds of matters wherein heart and mind are insepa- rably woven. In such cases probably more tears are shed when the head | takes the lead than when the heart dictates; we do not know, for sure; it is a large question, ‘The point is that the guillible person swallows anything; the good man or woman of whom we write is willing to believe others until they find them wrong. Such a person is the gainer, from every standpoint, one may well belicve, although the suspicious may call them fools, and point to a money loss here or there. After all, money is just money, but the integrity of one's disposition, if it may be put that way, is beyond price, and must suffer when one con- tradicts, argues, says “no” all the time. From these aspects one had bet- ter be a ‘“yes-yes” man, than go through life perpetually refusing to be- lieve what others tell him, and thus suffering from hardening of the mental arteries and coarsening of the heart chords. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Naturally the White House is gloom- encircled as the result of the President’s rebuff on the Parker Supreme Court nomination. But' Mr. Hoover is far from convinced that he has suffered any loss of prestige with the country at large. The Senate has earned such a reputation for obstruction and oppo- sition that the President’s friends be- lieve the people will look upon its re- Jjection of Judge Parker as just one bit more of its characteristic and incurable cantankerousness. Another aspect of the late unpleasantness is that it may prove a blessing in disguise for Mr. Hoover by generating popular sympathy for him. The Parker reverse is the newest of a pitilessly long list of “breaks” which have gone against the President. The country is altogether likely to feel, administrationists argue, that Hoover has had more than his share of hard luck during his maiden months in office and is now entitled to bouquets rather than bricks. * ok ok ok Those close to the Chief Engineer assert it's not the bad “breaks” he's had, but his sensitiveness over them, which really upsets him. Long as Mr. Hoover has now been in public life, he has never acquired a thick skin. He is tem- peramentally inclined to look upon: everything that goes wrong as more or less of a personal affront. He is so consclentiously convinced that he's on the right track that if matters take a different course his pride is hurt, The President’s professional past and back- ground have a good deal to do with this psychology of his. - Practically up till the time he entered the White House, Herbert Hoover was in jobs which clothed him with autocratic poy Those around and under him had but to do and die; theirs not to reason why. When he became President of the Unit- ed States and head of a great poiitical party he found things different. He could no longer give orders with assur- ance that they'd be unquestioningly obeyed. s * K % % The Senate soon laughed out of court the suggestion that the admin- istration had offered patronage bribes in return for Parker votes. But it is an open secret that in nearly every other direction the Capitol never knew such mad pressure as was exerted to win confirmation support. The President threw into the fight on the North Caro- linian’s behalf every atom of persuasion, influence and argument at the White House's command. Official G. O. P. leadership was called upon to go to bat for Hoover as on mo other single occasion since he took office. “Jim” Watson had his coat off and sleeves rolled up till the last minute, in the ef- fort to stave off impending defeat. He planned to wind up the debate in a hell-fire speech designed to riddle the enemy’'s main position. Just before he was ready to do it, Vice President Curtis, in a whispered aside, notified “Jim” that so many minutes had just been consumed by the ovation to “Dave"” Reed that all the time left belonged to the opposition. Watson thinks he might have averted the disaster if he'd got the floor. * % Senators Robinson and Reed, the Senate’s representatives at the London conference, are the envy of their col- leagues for the new toggery with which they've returned to Washington. the Arkansan and the Pennsylvanian seem to have come home with a dazzling array of what men are wearing in Bond street and Piccadilly. The dark blue shirts with collars to match, which each of them is now sporting, are the particular objects of admiration. Dur- ing the crowded days of the Parker debate, many gallery occupants, spying “Joe"” 'Robinson's spats for the first time, concluded he'd gone English in that respect, too. The fact is that the Democratic leader has worn spats a long time. s i il Mrs. Gifford Pinchot, who lives in Washington when the family isn't run- ning for office in Pennsylvania, is stump- ing the Keystone State on behalf of her husband’s primary gubernatorial cam- ign. She’s addressing herself especial- nr.to woman voters, Mrs, Pinchot doesn't confine herself to acclaiming Gifford's political virtues. She’s putling on a show, in addition. It consists of a series of moving pictures illustrating the re- Both | cent Pinchot scientific expedition to the South Seas. The governor's lady trav- els with & considerable motor caravan. By primary day, May 20, she will have covered practically every county in| Pennsylvania. Mrs. Dwight W. Mor- row is also taking a hand in friend hus- band’s political affairs. She's giving informal talks before New Jersey wom- en's clubs on ‘“Sidelights and Per- sonalities at the London Naval Confer- ence.” * K K % James M. Cox of Ohio and Florida, who ran for President on the Demo- cratic ticket against Warren G. Harding in 1920, is about to return to the politi- cal arena. Whether he’s doing so with an eye to 1932 is causing a good deal of speculation at Washington. On June 5 Ohio Democrats are going to hold a State-wide rally at Columbus. It will be brought to a close with a “victory dinner,” at which Cox has agreed to preside. A few months ago he declined to let his name be used as a possibl candidate for the United States Sen: torship from Ohio, indicating he was out of politics. Now his friends are waiting to see what “Jim” may have to say on the subject next month. Jouett Shouse, Democratic national executive | chairman, will speak at the Columbus | lovefeast, too. * Kok K From the Navy to Wall Street is the jump just made by two men who con- stitute the New York Stock Exchange's most recently organized brokerage firm, D. M. Collins & Co. Mr. Collins was graduated from Annapolis in 1914, He served on the presidential yacht May- flower and later was aide to the com- mandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Collins is a son-in-law of L. F. Loree, president of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad. His partner is the former Lieut. Comdr. Paul Pitzsimmons, An- napolis ‘13. Fitzsimmons served in the Navy several years as a destroyer of- cer. Both Collins and Fitzsimmons were Navy foot ball teammates of Rear Admiral “Dick” Byrd. * K K K Lumbago is the latest of ancient in- stitutions to succumb to radio. The scene of its surrender is the sick bed of Dr. Jullus Klein, Assistant Secretary of Commerce. Dr. Klein has been laid up for a fortnight with some annoying aches and pains in the back, but de- clined to let them keep him from his weekly engagement on the air. So he |arranged with Station WMAL, Wash- ington station of the Columbia Broad- casting System, to talk straight from his pillow. WMAL installed a_ tem- DOrary transmitting outfit alongside Dr. Klein's bed, strung a goose-neck mi- crophone across it, and made it possible for Uncle Sam's 'go-getting expert on foreign and domestic commerce to broadcast as comfortably as if he were at his work desk. (Copyright, 1930.) .o American Invasion Of Sports Renewed | From the Atlanta Journal. ‘The annual drive of the American sports royalty toward foreign honors is now in full swing. When Bobby Jones and his Walker Cup defenders land in England a few days hence the formi- dable line-up representing the United States will be complete. Chiefly, there will be Bobby, his prowess at peak, lead- ing a team of brilllant American golfers against the challengers of Britain, who have considerable pluck but little ap- parent chance of victory in the struggle for the Walker Cup for another year. Also, Atlanta’s golf king will have at the major titles of the United King- dom, both the amateur and the open, with' several competent fellow country- men ready to carry on against the stars of other nations, should the greatest of them all run afoul of that whimsical tyrant of the links, Old Man Par, Helen Wills Moody is turning her magical rackets for a tilt at various tennis laurels in England and France and Glenna Collett is guiding a team of feminine golfers in their encounters with the best among the ladies of the British Isles. Being given to interna- tional sports, England doubtless ap- preciates this enthusiastic competition from American men and women upon the links and courts. Certainly it would be no {un to have big C, FRIDAY, MAY 9 , 1930. Pleads for Specific Veteran Aid Action To the Editor of The Star: Legislation pending and proposed in the veterans' interest should be favor- ably enacted at this session of Con- ' gress, as no doubt of the Government's intention to quickly relieve the needs of World War veterans as the neces- sity arises should be remotely enter- tained, The opportunity is presented to Con- gress to act upon the ex-soldiers’ cash bonus measure; remove the unfair tech- | nicality in the veterans’' act of 1924 that deprives compensation to a dis- abled veteran on proofs of disability shown after 1924, and a change t will erase the unusually drastic and harsh strictures in the system that per- mits war veterans to be confined in in- stitutions for the rest of their days on evidence that they had a mental or nervous disability, Legislation that will effect the great- est benefit to the greatest number of the men who fought in the late war should be the alm of Congress at the present time for reasons that are economical and just, It would be a measure of economy in an administration of veterans' af- ‘airs. already overloaded with a heavy overhead cost, to liberate veterans per- manently confined institutions and put them on compensation. The cost of maintaining veterans that have come under this classification is adding un- necessary expense that could be avoided. The passage of the Johnson-Rankin bill, now under consideration by the finance committee in the Senate, will compensate veterans suffering from any form of nervous ailments, as well as alding many tubercular veterans now deprived of Government, relief, and will be the means of effecting a reduction in the personnel of the Veterans' Bu- reau in departments now employed in contesting veterans’ claims. The suc- cessful passage of this bill in the in- terest of disabled veterans should fe speeded through Congress. The con- sideration that medical experts cannot agree in the matter of time when a veteran’s disability commenced should be & guiding factor of the finance com- mittee in removing the time limit set in the act of 1924, and extend the time of service connection for all disabilities to 1930. The pledge to pay the ex-service men the bonus was made at the conclusion of the war. The insurance plan of the Government passed in 1925 that makes this bonus payable in 1945, is not quite just to the former service men. At the time thousands of unemployed ex- service men who would be aided by the cash bonus are living without the bare necessities of life. The country is now going through an industrial depression that is creating an exceptional hard- ship to the.former service man who came out of the service showing the physical effects of the grind they en- dured during the war-time service. ‘The fact that a very few wounded or diseased veterans will live to 1945 to enjoy the bonus money the people of this Nation intended every man should have who served the country in the late war, should actuate Congress in pass- ing the ex-soldiers’ cash bonus at this session of Congress. JOHN JONES, ———— Courage Acknowledged Back of Canadian Town From the Ottawa Journal, We have been reading with the great- est interest a delightful publication about the town of Canora which is singularly reminiscent of the Western boom days of before the war. Then was a time, as many people have good reason to recall, when every town was an embryonic metropolis, when every | cross-roads was designed by a benev- | olent Providence as the perfect site of an inevitable city, when optimistic gentlemen could market a suburban farm in a 30-foot lot through prop- erties consisting of a pair of stone pillars and a set of street signs. There are, alas, cases where wheat still is raised on the plot set apart for the city hall and the sound of the tractor and the binder echoes through vacant avenues and imaginary parks. But Canora is different. Canora, on the authority of its promoters—an American company—is new gateway to the sea,” and i “marked for a tremendous growth,” | because “significant world forces” are converging upon it and forcing the issue. Canora has about 2,200 in- habitants today, but for tomorrow it is “privileged to name anything within reason,” because it is about to func- tion “as the junction point between the new Hudson Bay Railway to Port Churchill and the nearest of the three | great arteries of transcanadian traffic.” ‘This Saskatchewan town furthermore is to be “the turnstile through which the trade of a rich and growing territory must pass”; there are basic reasons why Canora “must become the pivotal point in the handling of Canada’s grain crops and inevitably huge elevators will clus- ter around the freight yards”; Canora, in fact, “must prosper.” Canora must grow. Regina had 2,249 people in 1901 and has 60,000 today. Saskatoon has jumped from 118 to 45,000 in the same period. ~Are there limits to Canora when the North, in the graphic words of the writer of the Jxrmm pamphlet, “is thus being cracked open”? It is a glowing prospect—and pros- pectus—and we trust it all comes true. Certainly there is faith and courage born of the prairies invincible op- timism behind such a venture. e Reversal of Prices Seen Eventual Good From the New York World. ‘The slight decline in wholesale com- modity prices shown by Dun's and Bradstreet’s index numbers at the be- ginning of this month caused some busi- ness commentators to conclude that the long-hoped-for arrest of price recessions had come at last. It now seems that this decision was premature. The index of the Federal Bureau of Labor Statis- ties, which is based on 550 commodities and is therefore the most representative of all the composite price series, shows a further decline of 1.4 per cent in the average during March. During_the current month there has been no indication of a reversal of this trend. Cotton, wheat, silk, rubber, co- coa and sugar have all showed a tend- ency toward softness. Still more im- portant was the slash of 4 cents in the price of copper. Whatever may be the effects of the decline in the prices of other basic commodities, this readjust- ment of the price of copper appears certain to be wholesome. For exactly a year the price of copper had been pegged at 18 cents in defiance of economic law and eventually to the injury of the cop- per industry. In the opinion of some buyers the present price of 14 cents is still too high, in view of the decline of about 7 per cent in the general price level since the price of copper was pegged 12 months ago. ‘There is no doubt that cheaper copper will stimu- late many business projects which have been held back in anticipation of a re- vision of the price of this essential ma- terial. This should help the employ- ‘ment situation, and in fact should serve as a tonic to business all along the line. ‘There are still many who believe that rising prices are essential to prosperity. Yet the period from 1925 to 1929 is generally regarded as one of the most prosperous in our history, and it was also & period of declining prices. In March, 1925, the index of the Bureau of Labor Statistics stood at 104.4; by March, 1929, it had dropped to 97.5. ‘The decline in prices in recent months appears to be a symptom rather than a use of business depression. ents at which important cups ':e“r:n.l:‘lre]y pashed from one British hand to another, Still, it looks as if the American threat in sports is attaining alarming proportions. Seldom have so many of our celebrities been upon Brit- ish soll simultaneously, all of them bent earnestly upon wresting some manner of prize from their hosts. The thing assumes the aspect of a gigantic con- spiracy and we could hardly blame the British i they confessed to a secret willingness for fewer American names n tournament lists, upon their ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC “There is no other agency in the world that can answer as many legitimate questions as our free Information Bureau Washington, D. C. This highly or- nized institution has been built up and is under the personal direction of Frederic J. Haskin. By keeping in con- stant touch with Federal bureaus and | other educational enterprises, it is in | a position to pass on to you authorita- tive information of the highest order. Submit your queries to the staff of ex- perts, whose 4gvices are put at your free disposal. ‘Chere is no charge ex- cept 2 cents in coin or stamps for re- turn postage. Address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Q. Where did the Priendship land on its flight across the ocean?—N. T. A. The three-motored seaplane Friendship took off from 'n'ep-.sug, Newfoundland, at 9:51 a.m., June 17, 1928, and landed on the Loughor estuary at Burry Port, South Wales, soon after noon of June 18, having been in the air about 21 hours. Wil- mer Stutz was pilot: Amelia Earhart, co-pilot, and Lou Gordon, mechanician. ‘What causes acne and blackheads o pear on young boys’ and girls’ faces?—N. O. A. * A. Faulty diet is to blame to some extent, but lack of care in cleansing the skin is one of the chief causes. The Public Health Service says that in order to avoid blackheads and acne, the first essential as far as local con- ditlons are concerned is cleanliness. Scrub the face with soap and water and use good soap. Do not be afraid that the skin will be injured by rub- bing hard with a face cloth. Dry the face and apply cold cream. Then, after this application, rub the cold cream off with a rough cloth. This wet cleaning and dry cleaning process should take place at least twice a day. Q. If another league wishes to buy a base ball player, can the club which has bought his services sell if it chooses?—F. K. A. The manager of the club to which J. HASKIN. the Treasury and some of the leading Jewelry organizations. Q. Who first thought of erecting & monument to Christopher Columbus?— . W A. Nearly 80 years ago Santo Domin- ican Don Antonio Deimonte y Tejada conceived the idea of a fitting memorial to Columbus. His proposal was: “Let us erect in the most visible and notable place in America, in a central point and where it may be visited by travelers as they approach her shores, the statue that his greatness and remembrance de- mand. Let this statue be a colossus like | that of Rhodes, and let it be designed by the best scuiptor available and with funds raised by popular subscription in all the cities of Europe and America, and let this statue have its arms ex- tended and pointing to one and the other of the American continents.” Q. Are United States sailors who die on shipboard buried at sea?—T. A. F. A. The Department of the Navy savs that there have been few burials at sea during recent years. All large ships are suppiied with apparatus for embalming the bodies of men who die on shipboard. Q. How old must furniture be to be called antique?>—M. E. T. A. The most general definition of an- tique furniture is any iurniture 100 years old and at least 90 per cent original. Q. Where and when did Benedict Arnold die?—R. J. A. Benedict Arnold died in London, England, June 14, 1801, Q. How was the name “Journey’s End” chosen for the play with that title?>—B. W. A. R. O. Sherriff, author, while searching for a title, was reminded of a dugout on the Western front on the walls of which had been crudely scrawled, “Journey's End.” He decided that this was the title for which he had been groping. Q. How many people are employed in hotels?—I. K. W. A. More than 600,000 workers are the player belongs must secure a waiver from each club in his league. If no club within the league wishes to take the player, the deal may be made with an outside club, Q. Was the Byrd expedition of excep- tional size>—E. G. A. The Byrd expedition to the South Pole sailed in a fleet of four shi the City of New York, the Eleanor Bolling, the Sir James Clark Ross and the C. A. Larsen. It was the most elaborately equipped expedition that has ever un- dertaken polar research. More than a million dollars was spent in outfitting. Q. To whom was Lady Astor married before she married Waldorf Astor?— B2 A. She was first married to Robert Gfluldd. Shaw of Boston, whom she di- vorces Q. Where was the Hammurabi Code of the Babylonians found?—R. W. G. A. The only fairly complere text of the Hammurabi Code was found at E:ls}:, inscribed on a diorite stele 8 feet igh. plunder by invaders. Fragments of the code were recovered at Nippur and an Assyrian copy of the seventh century at Nineveh, Q. Is there a standard by. which dia- monds are weighed in the United States?—H. L. P. A. All precious stones are weighed by what is known as the metric carat of 200 milligrams. This was brought about July 1, 1913, by Dr. George F. Kunz, who obtained the co-operation of the Bureau of Standards, Secretary of It had been taken to Elam as | employed in the 26,000 hotels of this country. some informati Witiame Q. Please give about the Wythe House in burg, Va.—H. W. A. This fine colonial mansion was the home of George Wythe, one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde pendence. He was the first professor of law in America, teaching at the College of William and Mary. Among his pupils were John Marshall, Thomas Jeflerson and James Monroe. 1t was in the George Wythe House that George Washington, with Lafayette and Ro- chambeau, planned the Battle of Yorke town, Q. How many oarsmen did it take to man a trireme?—H. J. A. This vessel had three banks of oars and was often manned by over 200 men, Q. What was the fur eap called which was worn by some of the Amer- can soldiers in the Revolution? It was made of a squirrel skin with the tail | left on—H. T. M, A. Such a cap was called a squirrel- tail and the soldiers wearing such head- gear were called squirrcltails, Q. What is a person called who fears Russia, its influence or its policy?—J. H. A. He is called a Russophobe or Russophobist. Q. What city has the largest number of Phi Beta Kappas?—A. B. L. A. In proportion to population Prince- ton, N. J, has the largest number of members of Phi Beta Kappa in the country. ;Unemplo ment Believed Possible benefits are seen by many in the passage by the Senate of two out of three measures for the relief of unemployment, introduced by Senator Wagner of New York. One of these provides for a revolving fund of $150,- 000,000 to be used by a planning board for public works where needed. The second bill would establish a system of statistics on jobs and job hunters. The third bill, pending, is intended to deal with employment activities. ‘The Wagner bills are described by the Rochester Times-Union as “the first combination of the kind ever to come before Congress,” and that paper be- lieves that “their worth will endure for years.” The Lowell Evening Leader records that the principles involved in the two bills approved in the Senate “are precisely the same as those on which President Hoover based his pro- gram for rellef,” and suggests that “the Senator’s mind and that of the Presi- dent have evidently been moving in the same channels.” * x % “Essentially sound” is the .verdict of the Houston Chronicle on “the plan to encourage the construction of public works in times of economic depression,” and that paper concludes: tion of the worker's income must be accomplished, else we will have State social insurance on a scale hitherto un- dreamed of. This' Nation will be bur- dened with unemployment insurance old age insurance, burdens which will place us in the same class with Eng- land, whose dole to unemployed workers is such a drain upon her resources. Many great manufacturing concerns in America have stabilized their dividends. In lean years or good, the man who owns shares in the company gets his return on his investment. American in- dustry will have to take from its surplus funds in the good times so that the workers can be alded in times that are bad. Unless some such system is put into effect, this preliminary $150,000,- 000 voted by the United States Senate Wwill be but the beginning of a succes- sion of Government ‘doles’ which must b: filld ultimately by us all in the shape o igher taxes.” Expressing the hope that the House e Cleveland Plain will give approval Dealer comments: “The unemployment situation is serious; it involves millions of persons and hundreds of thousands of families. The Federal Government cannot afford to be oblivious of it any longer.” * X k % Calling the proposal “a weak scheme,” the Milwaukee Journal explains that “big cut though the $150,000,000 is into Federal revenue, it is a trifling sum when unemployment mounts.” The Journal contends that ‘“better plans have been put in practice in many private enterprises,” and advises: “It is possible to study the consumption habits of the public—in some cases even to change the consumption habits; in others to use cold storage, as in the case of such perishable products as dates; in others to change merchandis- ing policy, with the result of keeping employment on a fairly even keel. Here is the intelligent way of attacking un- employment, the profitable field for study by Federal and State governments and individual industries. We have long known that the coal industry needed such constructive study. It is fairly clear that the great steel industry does also, and the automotive industry. For we can either do it by adjustments within industries or we can, by at- tempting to unload the problem on private charity and on government, Teally assume it ourselves in its most discouraging and least constructive form.” * ok x ¥ “Few economists believe,” according to the Chicago Daily News, “that these measures would prove adequate for the purpose intended, since the unemploy- ment Fmblem Is exceedingly complex Caretully prepared construction pro- “Stabiliza- | Legislation Practical Effort municipalities should have their con- structive programs as well, all ‘being effectively co-ordinated. Undue de- pendence on the National Government is unsafe and unwholsome. The best way to prevent unemployment, how=- ever, is, of course, to encourage legiti~ mate private enterprise, promote foi eign trade, enforce wise economy in all varieties and departments of govern- ment and thereby eliminate wasteful taxation.” 4 Convinced that “any measure that would contribute to the stabilization of conditions in an off-year through the creation of opportunities for useful and | sustaining employment has somethi; to commend it the Dallas .loumlx turns to other possible results with the comment: *“Just what relation unem- ployment may bear to recurrent crime waves might not be wholly determined. That it is provocative cannot doubted. Any sound stabilization meas- use, whether this one or some better one, might contribute not only to the progress of the Nation, but to the elim- ination of crime.” “Support for these proposals,” states the Kansas City Times, “has come from labor organizations, students of indus- | try and employment and from social workers who have had contact with the | conditions affecting families that have been made victims of the existing sys- tem. There has been an evident desire to move intelligently in an effort toward rellef, Any plan devised, of course, would need to be supplemented by sim- ilarly directed endeavor on the part of State and local authorities and of private industry.” “The public is somewhat wary of plans which might lead to the creation of additional bureaucratic organiza- tions at the Capital,” thinks the Terre Haute Star, with the further conclu- sion that the public “must be convinced that the desired co-operation cannot be provided by agencies already in ex- istence.” The Chicago Daily Tribune offers the criticisms: “Because of lack of aggressive action in Congress, Gov- ernment projects, the need of which is manifest and the money for whi has been voted, are still to be started. % In the face of an emergency Congress is devoting its attention to planning for future emergencies. It is no criticlsm of the long-time program, but a serious reflection upon Congressmen to say that Congress is putting last things first.” Mrs. McCormick Not the First Woman Candidate To the Editor of The Star: In connection with Mrs. Ruth Hanna McCormick's successful candidacy for the United States Senate in the re- cent Illinois primary, I have several j times seen the statement that she is the first and only woman who has* won a primary election as such ca didate. In the interest of the facts, I want to correct that statement. 1In the primary of 1922, Mrs. Ben Hooper of Oshkosh, Wis., who is now recording secretary of the Conference on the Cause and Cure of War, won the nom- ination to the United States Senate on the Democratic ticket, but lost in the election where she was opposed on the Republican ticket by the elder Robert M. La Follette. At that time it was a foregone conclusion that neither man nor woman could defeat Mr. La Fol- lette, However, in the election Mrs. Hooper had the satisfaction of polling 27,000 more votes in the State than the man who ran for governor on her ticket, and 5,000 more votes than he in_the city of Milwaukee. In that same year, Mrs. Olson of Minnesota was also a candidate for election to the United States Senate,/ but the details of her candidacy are not known to me. I would not wish to detract in the grams are desirable, and President Hoover is one of the foremost cham. g;:m of that partial but sound remedy un . But States apnd. smallest degree from Mrs. McCormick's ictory, and I feel sure that no one more anxious to flve credit for the first attempt where it is due than she.