Evening Star Newspaper, July 15, 1930, Page 8

j i3 ' TUESDAY. JULY 15. 1930 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUESDAY........July 15, 1930 THEODORE W. NOYES. ... Editor TR AR e T The Evening Star Newspaper Company l;ntln Office: Offce: A5 Regent B.. London: Eogland. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Ty Evenine Suar 45¢ rer month o and Sunday Star undays) 60c per month d Sunday Star (i undays) ... 85¢ per month | The Sunday Star Sc yer copy Collection made at the erid of each morth grdeu may be sent fn by mall or telephone | Ational’ 5000 | Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. aily and Sunday T $10.00: 1 me iy only 6 y only Il 1 mo.. 80c | 34.00: 1 mo. 40¢ All Other States and Canada. Iy and Sunday..1yr. 312 ily enly " unday only 5 0., R5c | Patehes ted” in Publish soecial credited to inis paver and siso © erein. Al rights of e R he dimaicnes local publicaty n are also Massachusett's Tercentenary. Massachusetts, there she stands— three-hundred-year-old exemplar of con- stitutional government in North America, | predestined, desp! her foundation | Wwithin the framework of an empire, to | become the model for liberty under law throughout a vast continent. It is fit- | ting that the Old Bay Colony should ! foregather in its myriads on Boston | Common this anniversary day to com- | memoraté events which had their in-| ception on the bleak shores of New England in 1630. Massachusetts claims the day for her own. The Nation at large shares in its glories and imperish- able memories. Of special appropriateness are the appearance at the celebration of a dis- | tinguished Englishman as orator of the | day and the attendance of the British | Ambassador to the United States. For, | though three centuries of Masgachusetts | have accustomed us to think of her in exclusively American terms, it neds to | be remembered that the charter by which the self-governing Commonwealth came into existence was conceived, signed, sealed and delivered in England. It was strongly tinctured with the iodine of Runnymede. Its terms ran in favor of Englishmen, who were origi- nally mere partners in a trading com- pany. James Truslow Adams, in his “Founding of New England,” reminds us that “the rulers of this Common- wealth treated the charter as if it were the constitution of an independent state.” Doubtfully legal as such an in- terpretation was, Mr. Adams adds, “It was & completely new departure, which, n its far-reaching consequences, Was one of the most important events in the development of the British colonies.” B0 under Charles I were planted in this . soil the seeds of a movement which was to fructify into the War of the Revolu- tion and the foundation of the United Stass of America. ‘Under the governorship of John Win- throp and the deputy governorship of John Humphrey, a band of between 900 and 1,000 immigrants landed in America 1n the early Summer of 1630 and settled what were Jater known as the towns of Charlestown, Boston, Medford, Water- town, Roxbury, Lynn and Dorchester. Hardships almost unendurable ensued as the architects of American independence literally pitched their wind-swept tents on terrain that soon became freezingly inhospitable. Often conditions of cold and famine caused Winthrop and his eomrades to consider the abandonment ©f “the noble experiment” of that pri- meval day. Political differences began to manifest themselves in the “church- state,” springing mainly from the fact that among a community of 2,000 per- gons, all political rights were limited to “a tiny self-perpetuating oligarchial group of not more than a dozen citi- gens.” Ninety-nine and one-half per cent of the population was thus unen- franchised and unrepresented. It was even denied the right of appeal to the higher authorities in England. As the cultured Dr. Fisher of Oxford and Sir Ronald Lindsay stand on Bos- ton Commons today, and let their minds travel back to those early hours of “con- stitutionalism” in Americg, they will realize how far the conception of gov- ernment has progressed since Win-iiom are now returning to Washington It was none other than| throp’s day. that intrepid pioneer himself who wrote that “democracy, amongst civil nations, s accounted the meanest and worst of all forms of government.” * Much water has run beneath the bridges of the Charles since that strange sentiment found utterance. Massachu- setts, on this, her natal day as a free State, may not feel that democracy un- der the American system has flowered into a perfect plant. But under univer- sal suffrage—except in the de-Ameri- canized District of Columbia—and & Federal Constitution which has with- stood the shock of nearly a century and & half of experience, our form of gov- ernment typifies today a fiber of quality which reduces Winthrop's bigoted con- , eception of democracy to an historical absurdity, He sowed better than he knew. - The trade situation between Soviet Russia and the United States gets into terrible snarls, due to allegations of convict labor, etc.; but up to the present there have, thank heaven, been the pleasantest of relations between Uncle $am and the Mrs. Sturgeon that sends us caviar, — e It is true that the far-off regions get the fruit fly, the cyclones and the grass- hoppers, but then they seem to get all ghe gasoline wars also. Compulsory Automobile Inspection. As one of the main features of & “Save-a-Life” campaign in New Eng- land, Massachusetts is about to begin compulsory inspection of equipment on every automobile in the State. It ex- perimented last Summer by a crusade gor voluntary inspection and about 50 per cent of all motorists had their cars systematically checked and faulty equipment put in working order. The success of the volunfary campaign has led to adoption of the compulsory regu- Iation, the details of which are pretty once a year all cars are inspected, with a view to making their equipment meet the tests required by law. In Massa- chusetts, as in Maryland, each automo- bile owner is required to visit an au- thorized service station and obtain a certificate to the effect that brakes, lights, horn, mirror, windshield wiper and other essential safety devices are in good order. Last Summer the vol- untary test of equipment brought out an amazingly large proportion of de- fective automobiles in Massachusetts. The compulsory examination will re- veal many more, judging from Mary- land’s experiment. The plan brings no hardship to the motorist, and the expense of remedy- ing faulty equipment is necessary as a safety measure. There are admittedly hundreds of automobiles on the streets today with defective equipment, men- acing to their owners as well as to others. Compulsory inspection of these machines would reveal the weaknesses, and if they were not repaired they would be denied the right to operate. No one begrudges the owner’s right to! operate an ancient and rickety auto- mobile &s long as he can stop it with good brakes and otherwise keep it un- der control. Casual observation, how- ever, reveals the number who cannot or will not. The regulations requiring workable equipment on automobiles should be stringently enforced. The Maryland and Massachusetts plans for enforcement are reasonable and sensi- tle. i - - Expediting the Treaty. The Norris reservation to the London naval treaty, declaring that the Senate ratifies the treaty with the understand- ing that no secret agresments have been entered into by the signatories, in mod- ified form is to be adopted by, the friends of the treaty themselves, It is perfectly obvious that if there are no secret agreements—and President Hoo- ver and tie members of the American delegation attending the London Con- ference have assured the country and the Senate there are not—the Norris reservation is non-effective and mean- ingless. Under such eircumstances it is immaterial whether the reservation be adopted or rejected. Senator Borah of .Idaho, chairman of the Foreign Re- lations Committee and in charge of the treaty in the Senate, however, has per- suaded the President and other sup- porters of the treaty that the adoption of the Norris reservation, with the pre- amble stricken out, means quicker ac- tion on the treaty itself, and, further, that it means a number of votes for ratification which might otherwise be cast against the treaty. Senator Norris, on the theory that the reservation is just as effective without the preamble, which recites the fact that President Hoover has declined to send all the confidential correspondence relating to the treaty negotiation to the Senate, is now prepared not to resist the striking out of the preamble. The preamble adds nothing to the effect of the reservation, it is quite clear. But it has been construed as an affront to ‘President Hoover and to the members of the American delegation, two of them Senators of the United States, since they have all assured the Senate that no secret agreements have been entered into. The preamble should be stricken out. The Nebraska Senator is one of those who have been counted in favor of the treaty when the vote is taken on rati- fication. The submission of his reserva- tion followed the fight over the Mc- Kellar resolution calling for all the confidential correspondence in regard to treaty negotiation and the Presi- dent’s refusal to send the papers. In addition to Senator Norris, it developed that other Senators who will vote for the treaty with the reservation were inclined to vote against it without the reservation. The decision to accept the reservation now made by the friends of. the treaty is construed as a blow for the opposition, which hoped to profit by the flat rejection of the reservation. Furthermore, acceptance of the Norris reservation promises to speed final action on the treaty. Doubtless other reservations will be offered by opponents of the treaty, who are seeking by every possible means to | delay or to defeat favorable action on the naval pact. The supporters of the treaty, however, have been encouraged by the manner in whicH absent Sena- for the special session. A half dozen who hitherto have been absent from the session came to.Washington yesterday and more are reported to be on the way. ‘The hopes of the opposition to force an adjournment of the special session of the Senate, leaving the treaty high in the air, through lack of a quorum, are at a low ebb. The nub of the whole question of ratification, however, lies in maintaining not only a quorum, but a substantial vote for the treaty at all times in Washington until this fight is over. There i8 no reason to believe that the adoption of the Norris reservation will cause the failure of the treaty through obfction to the reservation by the other signatories to the pact, After all, the only effect of the reservation is to state on the part of the Senate a fact which has already been stated effectively by the President and the men who negotiated the treaty. e Peace conferences of all sorts and sizes spring up like a variety of weeds in a meadow. Then one big war, like a scythe, mows them all dow, S “World Power or Downfall.” Germany's notorious war prophet, Gen. Friedrick von Bernhardi, is the latest figure to disappear from the stage of world events between 1914 and 1918, He was best known in the United States as the author of “Germany's Next War —World Power or Downfall” An un- blushing apologist for imperial aggran- dizement by blood and iron, he was doomed to live through the sanguinary times he craved and prophesied. Argu- ing that the Hohenzollern empire must achieve widened world dominion or “fall down,” he saw it make the thrust —and go under. It cannot be said of Von Bernhardl that he was an armchair warrior. As & young Prussian subaltern in the war with France in 1870, he was in the forefront of the German troops which entered Paris in 1871. Onme of the well known in Washington, as Maryland tried it last Summer and will repeat it this year. One wonders how long it will be be- fore the District adopts this method of enforcing regulations alreafly qn the There Lieut. von Bernhardi waited Aount Ararat, cherished legends of Prussian militarism for the rest of the Prussian Army. It is probably near the spot where today rests the tomb of Prance's Unknown Soldier—revered symbol of the Re- public’s conquest of its ancient foe be- yond the Rhine. When Von Bernhardi’s “next war” came to Germany, he blossomed out as an apostle of Schrecklichkeit—fright- fulness—the program of ruthless war- fare to which the German military lords were driven to subscribe, both on land and sea and in the alf. Von Bernhardi, day in and day out, preached the gospel of poison gas, air attacks an civilian communities and unrestricted submarine operations. It was the latter, as Secretary Stimson publicly reminded the London Naval Confer- ence, which directly led to American entry into the war. Von Bernhardi's| conception of war was that which has been attributed to Bismarck—that an enemy should be Jeft nothing except eyes to weep with. To the credit of post-war democratic Germany, be it said that it resented and repudited all that Von Bernhardi persenified. The Associated Press re- ports that his fame has slumped so completely during the past ten years that only a single Berlin newspaper dignified his passing with special notice, Von Bernhardi was a prophet who de- serves to be without posthumous honor in his own land. ————— Not long frém now we will all be getting older, but there will be certain compensations. For instance, we will | be able to remember mounted cops, now abolished here, although kept on m New York purely for sentiment and im- pressiveness. . v ——— “Coffee is now the official beverage for the drinking of toasts in America,” solemnly announces the Brazilian- American Coffee Promotion Committee. They have, it is believed, good grounds for their assertion. ———— When the Washington Cathedral is finally completed and dedicated it would be interesting to know how many in the attendant throng had at one time made the flat assertion, “They’ll never build it.” r——— Athenians protest a possible sky- scraper amid their classic ruins. It might be best to keep the skyscrapers over here, where most of the Greeks are, at that. ———— Early arrival of a new era of sweet smells is forecast by a Colgate Univer- sity scientist. Try to improve on those of bubbling coffee and frying ham. Al Capone, at last and for the first time in his career, faces a jury trial. It was generally thought that this young man would come to no good end. — e Conan Doyle’s knowledge now tran- scends that of all the rest of us to a far greater extent than Sherlock's was su- perior to Dr. Watson'’s. Eo e el Legislation would get on faster if every statesman in the Capital could be persuaded to be as hard working as a sergeant at arms. ———————— Chinese armies continue to fight, not so much, perhaps, for principles in- volved, as to uphold a custom of the country. SR The piccolo is the highest-pitched in- | strument. However, many would like to pitch a saxophone higher, .- SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. A Hard Life. It must be very hard, indeed, ‘To be a financier; The talents you are sure to need Are manifold and queer. You've got to have a winning way, And prove with gentle art That when their cash to you men pay It's kindness on your part. You've _got to know just when to go Across the briny deep, And when it's time you have to show Strange secrets you must keep. And though ’tis hard, you must allow, | New wealth to gain each day, 'Tis harder, many people vow, To give the stuff away. Speeches, “Do you think that a man's political influence depends on his ability as a public speaker?” “Not altogether,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I have found that the speeches which sometimes counted for most were made in strictest privacy.” | A Monopolist’s Optimism. “Do you regard the future of the country with confidence?"” “Certainly,” answered Mr. Dustin Stax. “We think that this country, with its enormous resources, can be made to pay big dividends for years to come.” Hard to Identify. They speak of opportunity, And bid us grasp the prize. Alas! It always seems to be Appearing in disguise! A Theory, “Why does a woman always add a postscript to her letter?” “Well,” answered Miss Cayenne, “she probably figures out in her own mind what her letter has made you think and then tries to have the last word.” Requisites. “A college professor must know a great deal,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “and if he wants to be famous, he must also be able to express startling opinions on subjects he never studied much.” The Way of Things. The rogue a strange advantage gains. He has, we note with sorrow, A stanch umbrella when it rains, ‘While honest folk must borrow. “A heap depends on de point of view,” said Uncle Eben. “When a man keeps insistin’ on & mule's travelin,’ de mule says to hisse'f dat human bein's is pow’ful obstinate.” P No Place for Picture of Duce. From the Seattle Daily Times. ‘The British Royal Society regrets that it must refuse a recent portrait of Benito Mussolini for the reason that it has no place in which to hang it. e T is his bold leap over the chained barrier the French had stretched across the entrance to the Arc de Triomphe. Mount Ararat Up to Date. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, | nent i now, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. The making of what might be termed permanent_authors is an interesting process. During the past 20 to 30 years hundreds of men and women have produced good books, which have sold into the thousands of copies. How many of these authors and how many of their books will remain in per- manent possession of good readers? For a good reader is as essential to | an author as an author is to a reader. By “good” is meant one who picks up a book, not in a super-critical, or even captious, humor, intent on being dis- appointed, but one with the open mind desirous of being pleased. In considering the long list of American books which most of us have Tead, it is difficult to say surely that any but a few will remain the perma- heritage of the people of the United States. Mark Twain's “Tom Sawyer, ‘Huckle- berry Finn” and “The Prince and the Joel Chandler Harris' “Uncle 5" ‘stories, James Whitcomb Rile: “Poems,” especially those in dialect and relating to childhood: Booth Tarking- ton’s “Penrod” and “Penrod and Sam"; Eugene Field's “Little Boy Blue"” and other poems —here we have & list meager, yet rich The strange thing is that all of this list is devoted to the child. But per- haps this is not strange, after all. The worship of the child has risen in this country to unprecedented heights. Never before in the history of the world has the child occupied the sure place the American boy and girl occu- pies. Whatever it wants, it gets. It is the center of attraction at all meetings held, either in its parents’ home or in the homes of friends. (The parents see to that, in the former, and the children in the latter.) It is not queer, therefore, but emi- nently just, that our small list of au- thors sure to become the permanent heritage of the American reading pub- lic should place such stress upon the little ones, their deeds and sayings. They are but reflecting the spirit of the times. They looked into their hearts. and wrote, and their writings please all and will surely please in the future. *x X % X ‘The child, as it is the father of the man, must be a mighty theme, out of all proportion to its physical size, for the aspiring author, but only so when he comes to his subject naturally, from his daily life, An author who should agree with these sentiments, and sit himself down before paper, declaring, “Now I will do something on childhood,” would surely fail, because he would not enter into the spirit of the thing, except in awgechan- ical, clumsy fashion. The child theme i appeal, not only because e been a child, but largely because of their rather comical reflection of the good and bad points of their elders. In the child, futurity looms large. It is not so much what he is as what he may be which appeals. Perhaps that is why Tom Sawyer is perpetually inter- esting. After he grew up, and became Mr. Thomas Sawyer, he was just—well, Mr. Thomas Sawyer, that is all. But as Tom, the buddy of Huck Finn a rascal if there ever was one, he in stantly becomes one with the genius o the race, and enters into the life of every reader, No doubt these “bad boys” of fiction are very easy reading. The late Gov. Peck had a “bad boy” who had no name at all, as far as we know, but was known through _several volumes merely as “Peck’s Bad Boy.” As fictional “bad boys” go, that of Peck's was & good one, but somehow he seemed to lack the vitality of Tom and Highlights on the Wide World Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands Tow at the squalid conditions of housing in a part of Chel- sea known as the “World's End Passage” has given impetus to a ANCHESTER GUARDIAN. — ‘The Queen’s expression of sor- & slum clearance scheme taken in hand | by the Chelsea Housing Improvement Society, Ltd. The present inhabitants of the area are to be offered accom- modation in new model tenements, erected on the site of their old houses. * ok kX Tobacco Raising Takes Year-Around Care. Bulgarian British Review, Sofia.— Owing to the great interest taken i Bulgarian tobaccos, we give some par- ticulars on this product which may in- terest our readers. One of th main characteristics in the culti vation of tobacco is that it is nec essary also to “cultivate great patience and great care as regards planting, growing and preparing it for the mar- ket, In the growing of tobacco, there is no pause, or off season, such as in cereal culture, which, after sowing its seeds, waits for the crop to germinate, sprout and ripen before harvesting, after which the yields are placed in the granaries, and the troubles of the grower finished. In the growing of tobacco, there are no seasons, The year is one long sea- son, and during its final stages of preparation great care and patience must be exercised. Its manipulation, grading and baling require constant supervision, especially at the stage of manipulation, or preparation, in order that it does not become either too moist or too desiccated. All this re- flects upon the final appearance and grading of the products offered to buyers, The great interest and patience which Bulgarian tobacco growers exercise is due to the general overproduction of tobacco in the Near East countries and the resultant competition, especially for the higher grades. During the last few years, buyers desired to purchase only higher qualities of well manipulated and preserved tobaccos. The tobacco co- operative societies, following in their steps, now do not accept in their ware- houses tobaccos which are not up to high standard, nor well preserved. Exports of tobacco leaf dropped 4,027 tons in 1929, as compared with 1928, which vividly illustrates the necessity for improving the quality, * K K X Britishers Laugh At Accent in U, S. Films. Weekly Herald, Glasgow.—The Brit- ish nation has not taken kindly to the American accent in the talkies. But we don't mind—in fact, we keenly ap- preciate the dialect of English, which America has every right to use. How- ever, in settings which are English, and when English people are supposed to be speaking, the accent of the States simply makes us roar! The French characters in “Innocents of Paris” are to us incredible for the same reason. They don't “click.” In “General Crack,” again, there will always be a titter at the abrupt change of accent which hits us when “Wil you give me the letter?” becomes “Willya gimmie de ledder?" * K K K Trousers Possibly To Blame for Student Debts. Falastin, Jnfln.——nndm’ our ex- changes, we see that Oxford under- graduates are indebted to the amount of 250,000 pounds sterling. It rather exceeds what small states like Afgha istan would be able to borrow today ‘This huge sum cannot be for “wine, women and whist” and we doubt if it is for books. Have the generous dimen- sions of the trouser associated with the name of the university anything to dc with it? * ok % % Protest Red bombe.on 150,005 Savargente, hiding o8 on 150, urgen on Noah wouldn't know the Yooks and guaranteeing thaf, 86 least mlone, lthes heimeted and mummed Alem, old Rlsco nesk . e ] Penciling of Censors. Madrid.—Among the mat- or topics amenable to the censor- ters ship are not included artistic tendencic: | Huck, of Penrod and Vermin. Can there be another reason for this than that he was not taken seriously? His author | was too busy in the realms of state- craft to give his whole energy to his |“boy.” The result is that even his name is unknown. But Tom Sawyer is real. i We do not mean to insinuate that our | very brief list of authors are all who will live. Any one can make his own list, and only the years will prove who | is right. Let no one declare, in right- | eous indignation, that “The Rise of Silas Lapham” is destined for immor- tality, too. It probably is. What we attempted to do was to select the sure things.” And when we had done 50, we were amazed to discover that, | without any _forethought, we | picked books about children, almost to |the exclusion of others. They just came out that way. | Perhaps the next chooser would make an entirely different list, and probabiy Ibe as correct in it as we hope we are |in ours. But the things we have se- |lected seem sure. One cannot enyisicn |an America which will not know and love Tom Sawyer. One may be sure that as long as sorrow obrudes its head in the midst of happiness “Little Boy Blue” will be sadly loved for its melancholy sweetness. And those poems of Riley's, dyed in the very spirit of the great Middle | West, and thence, since its people have | spread to all parts of the country, in the essense of the whole people of the | United States! the last of the Riley may be American poets. Who can say? The! modern pace, flowering in excesses of | speed, and 50 on, has'little room in it | for the pure poet, the man or woman | who keeps alive the traditions of the | singers with words. Those who love poetry will refuse o | believe that America will produce no | more great poets. Whatever they be- |lieve, however, they will place James | Whitcomb Riley in the list, not be- | cause he was supremely great, but more | because he was greatly human, o The super-production of books of all kinds since the World War led to a great confusion of values in the public mind. | Words deluged the reading world, until |1t was with difficulty that even astute | eritics, such as the late Prof. Sherman, kept their intellectual feet in the flow. | How was the average reader, then, to | know what was good, what mediocre? He had a hundred “experts” telling him |how good So-and-So was, yet often | when he sampled the mighty So-and- | So, somehow he was left cold, unre- | sponsive. ‘The passage of only a few years has kpru\'(-d to this average reader that in many cases he was right and the “ex- ort” was wrong. It is one thing to call a ew book “tremendous.” quite an- | other for it to live up to that adjective. It is interesting to note that solid | merit often fails to make a book of last- |ing merit. As & matter of fact, neither author nor publisher, nor yet reader, | can be sure of the verdict of posterity. | Often slight things, which in their day created no unheaval, will continue to be printed and reprinted, whereas splendid works of vast merit will go own to_oblivion. The few books which we have selected as sure are mot slight. They | are vastly meritorious, and mostly | bulky enough to give the solid satis- | faction which length alone can give a reader. ;. We commend the making of such lists | to readers. Tt enables each to trans- | form hims:lf into a ‘“critic” overnight, | and there is something very soothing in the process. And one may be right, |after all. jand opinions. But, for all that, there certainly exist censors still eager to |red pencil paintings and sculptures which do not coincide with their pre- dilections in* patriotic or historical reminiscence. We think that works of art, at least, should be inviolable re- gardless of the suggestion of these masterpicces. We have recorded heretofore how the censorship elided the publication of critical essays on the Roman emperors, | because the fiscal theories of some of them were not in harmony with the governmental edicts of today. We have even known of one enthusiastic censor who red-penciled out of proof some observations on the principle of rela- |tivity in a scientific article on the ground that it upset established mathe- atical axioms. Much encouragement such arbitrary condemnation to those who would form the vanguard of a new advancement in thinking and behavior! ‘An exasperating license, in which the censors did not abide even by their own rules, is exemplified in a case r ported to us by Senor Tormo of Madrid. He recently received through the mail a copy of “Minena” (an international review of public instruction methods), which had been mutilated in three or four places. It transpired that these hiatuses were caused by official objec- tions to some allegorical representations painted on the walls of the salon|in the offices of the ministry of public educa- tion. One of these depictions had to do with a recent coup d'etat; another was resented because the colors of the Spanish flag were not accurately repro- duced. Such are the follies of the absurdly prejudiced pencil! - The Felon Turnover. From the Toledo Blade. Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War in the Wilson cabinet and member of President Hoover's Law Enforcement Commission, advocates shorter prison terms for criminals. He says sentences should be one-fifth as long as those now imposed by the courts in order that prison crowding may be overcome, In Ohio many criminals are sent to the penitentiary and to the State re- formatory to serve indeterminate sen- tences, duration of incarceration de- pending upon previous reputation of the convict, his conduct in prison and the jtidgment of the Governor and the parole board. Ascertaining the number of years, months and days comprising one-fifth of an indeterminate sentence would be more difficult than finding the unknown | quantity in an algebra problem, but it might be approximated. That objection |to Mr. Baker's’ plan, therefore, is can- celed. Shorter sentences will relieve prison crowding. That is obvious. Prisoners would be more comfortable and ward- ens’ jobs would be easier, but no im- portant public purpose would be solved by that alone. Criminologists agree that there are more—many more—criminals at large than there are in confinement. When, and not until, more of them are arrested, when loopholes of the law are closed, when acquittals are less easily obtained on ridiculous technicalities, ‘individual criminals and organized gangsters will be in greater jeopardy and soclety will be safer. When criminals’ sentences are surer it may be that they also can safely be | made shorter. Certainty of relentless | pursuit and swift punishment is more effective crime deterrent than the re- mote possibility of long conflnement. The pages of hlalm? bristle with proofs of the soundness of that theory, but if | prison sentences are chopped 80 per cent and nothing is done to make the sentences more certain, the underworld will say out of the side of its mouth: :'E;fl.y soft, bo; let's hold up another bank.” - Competing With Breakers. From the Oakland Tribune. Some of the resorts h inshe. NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM L G. M. THE UNKNOWN WASHINGTON: Bi- ographic Origins of the Republic. John Corbin: Charles Scribner's 5. ‘The innumerable over-writings of George Washington have served both hands, right and left. In this one is fact, authentic. basic in substance, ex- panding consistently through the inter- play of character and circumstance to the approach and fulfillmeat of & unique political experiment in the New World—that of a government by the people. Here, only, may Washington, man and statesman, be found. In the other hand is fact also. Here, however, fact is thinned by rumor and hearsay, discolored by loose observa- tion and looser comment, distorted by interpretations alien to the subject, but sourced rather in biased political op- ponents. Washington has suffered here, moreover, through Puritanic imposi- tions of educational inten:, wherein paragons and patterns were the chief concern, Legend is in the making, you see. With this hand. The mind of man is. however, partial to legend, myth, miracle. It to be. Some- wnere in marvel and wonder must hide the answer to his fears, his hopes. So, generally, the fable wins where the straight tale loses. Such alliance be- tween myth-maker and the credulous common mind has caused more than one gre#t figure in history to depart wholly from himself under the blight of a superimposed and dehumanizing per- fection. In our own time and place no other great one has so completely re- tired behind his own artificial front, behind his own effigy, as has George ‘Washington. Early education, the great public scheol in its passion for precept and example has done yeoman work in the extinction of this great man. The lad, conning his history book, says, “Oh. shucks!" He's too good to be true!” and turns away from the “Father of His Country to the more interestingly prank- ish boys and girls around him. ‘The older schoolmasters had not learned that the young heart must be stirred before the mind allows itself to be caught in the toils of mere learning. Maybe they know better now. A cold. correct, honest, uninspiring, dull, dead man—George Washington, save when galvanized into motion by memorial celebrations of quasi-patriotic character. A few years ago there was a reaction against such false and artificial con- struction and interpretation of one who had once been alive. But this reaction was too violent. It went as far to the other side as the zealous saint-maker had gone on his. Somewhere in be- tween these two groups of expositors was the real man himself, waiting to carry on'in service to his country and his countrymen as he had done in the long ago and more vivid past. Around this one, piled high, were volimes, man- uscripts, journals, letters—all the writ- ten whatnot which men leave in rather pathetic gesture toward their own con- tl’mfltlon in long-accustomed roles of useful ‘service, Other volumes have been added to these original ones. Both right and left hands of successors have multiplied enormously the early liter- ature of Washington. But, even so and vet, the great man remains deplorably unreal, lamentably defunct. Here is John Corbin. Obviously a scholar, having learned many things from books—biology, psychology, philos- ophy, history, biography, literature as such. Still, and in despite thereof, may- be, one who has held fast to the more open reactions of high intelligence. as well as to the mental spade work of sheer common sense. Equipment both full and unusual for an undertaking like the one he has chosen in this case. The enterprise is nothing less than the rec- reation of George Washington to his own day and work, to the forward mov- ing of the man and his time up into the present. This union to effect a continuing and combined force right now and in all the years to come while free governments endure. With such adventure in view, John Corbin sur- rounds himself with the volume and weight of material that have grown up around the subject. Not forgetting, mind you, the personal equation, a richly equipped John Corbin, who, out of the mass is to bring a living man, George Washington. Out of the effort —let us say it at once—Washington does come alive, indubitably and imme- diately alive. A wide and deep un- derstanding coupled with creative imag- ination—these the.tools of this distinct achievement. Searching and researching—such the Jiteral process—mulling over the heavy bulk of ready-to-wear literary stuff at hand; choosing, discarding, amplifying here in the interest of clarity, condens- ing there for the sake of pith and point; setting in order, binding together in coherent progression; vitalizing with incident, pieturing with description, con- vineing with proof and argument: suf- fusing the whole with the glow of in- sight, with the warmth of understand- ing—such, sketchily, is the way of this writer in the biographic study of George Washington in his service to the young Republic. The search for truth is an exacting, a ruthless adventure. It is here. In its pursuit this author has run counter— not habitually, of course, but in many cases has he run counter to the find- ings in more than one “Life of Wash- ington.” And low grumblings have been heard from a critic here and there, from an author over yonder rub- bing his sore shin. Yet a scrutiny of any difference between this writer and another on the subject in hand falls to disclose anything but the single pur- pose, to get close to Washington him- self—heart-and-soul close to the man and the momentous purpose of his life and service, the union of the Colonies for the formation of the Republic. If another has projected errors, these are merely pointed out and set aside. No animus whatever is manifest. Nothing save the scientific measure of truth is accepted in the study. The effect of !Y‘ch purpose, steadfastly maintained, on the part of John Corbin, is as near a complete revitalization of that particu- lar period and its outstanding repre- sentative as can be conceived. ‘The supreme problem of that time was to hold the young Republic together. The Colonies were at fierce odds with Dnfi ancther. Jealousy was the domi- nant emotion. Trade jealousies were, just as they are today, the real potencies of disunion, the real enemy to those ac- comodations that must characterize all collective operations. The South was jealous of the commercial North. This basic animosity worked out in all the aspects of settling war debts, of in- augurating new enterprises, of legisla- tive representation in the new Congress. No part of the national idea was free from the most human animosities of the Colonials, each group clamorous for ad- vantages to its own reach of domain. In this fundamental flaw of human na- ture, jealousy of each against all the others, we come to see, through the in- sight and skill of John Corbin, that even the revolution of 1800 had its source in this fact. That here the seed of State rights against the Federal plan took to the soil and sprouted the later Jeffersonian flora of “pure democracy.” To Washington—to Washington alone— it secins, this natural source of so much of rancor and deep danger to the Re- public was clear, Never a man of spec- tacular posturings, always a man of un- ready speech, Washington neither made gestures nor orations of political ex- diency. Realizing that man is rather pitifully close to his mortal self and his material needs, Washington quietly set about the plans for expansion into the West along the Southern way, along the run of the Potomac. Why did he do just thi moment of com- plete political turmotl, of very real po- litical danger? One historian will tell you at this point of the wide vision of the man, foreseeing a vast future. Noth- ing of the kind. This was simply a common=sense plan to stimulate produc- tion and commerce to the Southern suuu;;l eltr"_r gxl; c‘."":'.?"’"&‘ sake of sooth- ing ward the prosperous North in the interests of eoqp’penul-. intexest of saxing She new Uniao. BY FREDERIC ‘The resources of our free informa- tion bureau are at your service. You are invited to call upon it as often as you please. It is being maintained sole- ly to serve you What question can we answer for you? There is no charge at all except 2 cents in coin or stamps for returh postage. Address your letter 1o The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washing- ion, D. C. Q. Where was the first union railway station in this country?—L. K. A. In Indianapolis Q. Do all ocean-going vessels have to cerry radio equipment?—A. E. A. Vessels traveling 200 miles or more and carrying 50 passengers or nore ere required to carry radios. Q. What was the origin of the werd caucus?—O. L. K. A. The word caucus was first used in Boston in the early part of the eight- senth century as the name of a politi- cal club, the “Caucus” or “Caucus Club,” where public questions were di: cussed and arrangements made for I elections. The word is said to have been derived from an Indian word, kaw-kaw-was, meaning to talk. Q. When was Sheffield plate first manufactured in this country?—T. W. New Yerk City, says that the date of the first manufacture of Sh?@eld plate in the Colonie: is uncertain. Q. When was the great Indian mu- iiny?—F. H. R A. In 1857, Q. Are therc any cheetahs in South America?—K. L. is a native of Africa and Asia. If any are found in South America they have been importec. Q. How many airplanes did Elliott ;er}ngl bring down during the war?— "A. He & credited officially with 12. Q. Please name some of the early missionaries tc Central Africa—H. M. A. Robert Moffat and Mary Moffat, his wife; David Livingstone, William C. Oswell, Mungo Murray and Bishcp C. F. Mackenzie were pioneer mis- sionaries in Central Africa. Q. When did Clara Barton die?—M. S. 8. ‘A, Clara Barton, founder of the America Red Cross, died at Glen Echo, Md., April 12, 1912. Q. How long have there been Negro Infantry and Cavalry regiments?— H. R. L. ‘A. There are four colored regiments which have been in® existence since | shortly after the Civil War—the 24th and 25th Infantry and the 9th’ and 10th Cavalry. Q. Has_civilized man always used | chairs?—D. C. B. A. Chairs did not come into general use until the sixteenth century. Prior to that the chest, the bench and the stool were the seats of everyday life. Q. How many railway mail clerks are appointed in a year?—C. A. C. A. There were at the end of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1929, 21,229 railway A. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, | A. The cheetah, or hunting leopard. J. HASKIN. mail clerks in the United States. TIn 1929 there were 523 positions filled. The average for each vear is around 600, the number depenging upon vacancies which occur. | Q. How large is the lava lake of | Kilauea?—L. G. M. | A Except for occasional flows over the floor of the main pit, visible activ: ity has, for several decades, been con- ned to an oval inner pit, Halemaumau, | 3,000 by 3,500 feet, across and 1,300 feet | deep in 1928, Just before the last drop- | out, in 1924, the lake of boiling molten ,1ava_covered about 50 acres and when | the lava fills the present enlarged caldera | it will cover about 190 acres. | How many trade schools is Henry | Ford to build>—J. R. | A. The April, 1930, School Review says Henry Ford has announced that he | will build schools in various parts of | the country, and while he did not know their exact number or location. he said the nucleus would be the Edison Insti- tute of Technology, founded last vear at Dearborn, Mich.,’ during the celebra~ | tion of the golden anniversary of the electric light. There is an apprentice school at Detroit, Mich., known as the | Henry Ford Training School. | Q. What is classical music>—G. F. B. A It is defined as standard music; music of first rank, written by com- | posers of the highest order. Music | whose form and style has been accepted a3 suitable for a model to composers. Q. How many Popes have been named Innocent?—P. G. A. Thirteen. Q. When were incubators first used for babies?>—B. N. C. | A. The first incubator designed for | rearing children too weak to survive un- | der normal conditions, or those prema- |‘turely born, was that of Dr. Tarnier, | constructed in 1880, and first used af the Paris Maternity Hospital, Q. What _did the name Ptolemy mean?—S. B. R. | . It meant warrior. Q. What species of maple yields in greatest quantity the sap which is made into maple sugar?—E. C. B, | A. The acer saccharinum. Q. Will the Gold Star Fathers be sent | to France?—R. B. E. _A. No such action has been taken or is seriously contemplated at present. Q. Should a formal acceptance of an invitation be dated?>—O. G. | A It should not be dated. Be care- ful to includ® in the reply the time given in the invitation. Q. In what form is the Wal Memorial, at Yale>—C. D. N. A. A massive gateway leading to the Yale Bowl and athletic flelds is the memorial given by American colleges and schools, uniting with graduates of Yale, to honor Walter Camp and the traditions of college sport which he exemplified. bee, How(': wide should a mourning band A. It is from 315 to 415 inches wide, It is of dull broadcloth on overcoats or Winter clothing and of serge on Sum- mer clothing. Iter Camp members of the Hunter family of Illi- nois are considered a lesson to the world as two of the brothers, John and Ken- neth Hunter, conclude their record- breaking endurance flight in their plane City of Chicago above the Illinois city. The mark of 553 hours, 41 minutes and 30 seconds is, believed likely to stand for some time, though there are predictions that it will be passed by other fyers. “Epoch-making” is the term applied by the Cleveland News to “a new and | brilliant _chapter in the hlswrx of aviation.” That paper also says: “The world doffs its hat to the courageous fiyers who won' a great victory of the air; to Albert and Walter Hunter, the intrepid brothers who were their allies; to Irene Hunter, devoted sister, who did the cooking and sent their meals aloft in the refueling plane, and to others who aided in the historic fight.” The New London Day proclaims record in brotherly love,” explaining that “no two pairs of brothers ever lived so closely”; that “for more than three weeks they were inseparable—the broth- ers in the air and two refueling brothers who were partly in the air and partly on the ground.” The Day observes that “they stuck it out and history cannot record that they had so much as one serious controversy.” “It would be hard to say,” according to the Atlanta Journal, “which is the more interesting side of the Hunter brothers’ exploit—that of the men or of the machine. The former, with its perseverance and self-control and iron will and its colorful background of plowboys mounting to world fame in the air, takes grip of the imagination. LR In compassing _this . adyenture John and Kenneth Hunter make us marvel at the sinews of the human frame and still more at those of human char- acter. The tr\umgh is shared by their brothers Albert and Walter, whose steadi- ness in refueling and provisioning the aircraft throughout the ordeal is re- markable. Their mother well described the mettle of the family when she said, ‘Whatever they start they finish.’ So it is that the record for the longest sustained flight in the world's history is held today by aeronauts who mastered their art over a cow pasture.” * Kk Adding to its tribute that the flight “was a great demonstration of the progress of aviation” and that “as a stunt it was extremely spectacular,” the Omaha World-Herald declares: “The victory of the Hunter family was even more grand and glorious, It was a demonstration of what four-square humanity can achieve, thrilling tri- umph of human loyalties.” The World- Herald believes that “the things lacking in modernistic conceptions of family and home life are the intangibles of sentiment. Love and tenderness and sympathy and loyalty—these are the cement of true family life. These the Hunters have, and theirs is a con- spicuous example of success in family life. They stick together. They are a unit in all problems. They give to the world & united front. They are strong ‘Tidewater was tobacco poor, labor poor, plantation life poor. So tidewater wouldn't play with her Northern neigh- bors, not even for a picayune Union. Here the patient man was the man of the hour, the silent man, the practical man, the unoratorical man, the seer. Here Washington carried on according to his nature, his vision, his knowledge of men_ This is but one point in many where John Corbin brings the truth of nistory in this particular period into co- operation with the powers and capabil- itles of one outstanding man, and does it in & way of simple and wise account- ing of the human according to his powers in his reactions to the environ- ment of which he is a part. Every stage of Washington's life—young man, sur- veyor, soldier, commander, President, Jandholder and private citizen—is pre- sented here in equal fidelity to the| nature of the man himself and to the medium through which he was from time to time called to work. Here in | the highest competency of effort and | the most substantial and enduring of | effects there will come to you by way of this book the cause, wholly human | reasons, of the lasting and living fame | of George Washington. Readable and | convincing from the first word to the | last one. Hom to &nhn Corbin !o; such a suj acceptable an plausible i Loyalty and co-operation among the Triumph of Hunter Family Viewed as Lesson in Loyalty for each other, all ‘the time, in every crisis.” re must come a stage,” remarks the Ottawa Canada Journal, ‘‘when even brothers will grow utterly sick of the sight of one another; when the most devoted sister will be soundly abused for sending up fried chicken when anybody would know strawberry shortcake was wanted; when only the thought of the golden reward from sundry enterprises can make endurable another hour in the restricted com- panionship of Brother Kenneth or Brother John. And yet there are com= pensations, at and manifest compen- sations.” he Terre Haute Star re- calls that the fiyers did “drop one little hint” about the food, though “they didn’t complain, it should be under- stood.” 5 “It is a cause for pride to realize that America produces such families,” says the Jackson Citizen Patriot, with a tribute to the entire family, “which toiled and sacrificed in this venture with a determination which was truly out of the ordinary.” That paper holds that “the brothers who operated the faithful refueling ship are entitled to vast credit for the efficient aid they rendered.” “Not for nothing do these lads come from a place named Sparta,” avers the Cincinnati Times-Star, referring to their Illinois home, and the Cincinnati | paper, describing the flight as culiar in being a family affair,” while it represented “co-operation of a very high order,” concludes that “they re- mained, like Wordsworth's skylark, ‘true to the kindred points of heaven and home.'” “There = is _something fascinating,” thinks the Zanesville Signal, “about two young men staying off the earth for upwards of 23 days. We may be used it, but it is a sort of miracle, none the less. No living human being ever did it before. Even to have dreamed of {such a thing a century ago would have marked a man as being in league with the devil. They crammed quarts of black coffee to keep awake, and drove their plane around through the dark- ness while they fought off fatigue, tired muscles and frayed nerves. There are, perhaps, very few of us who would even dare think of walking along the narrow cat-walk several thousand feet in the air to make motor repairs.” ‘The aviators kept their machines handling its customary load for perhaps more than 40,000 miles without a stop, without & second’s relief for the motor, without any repairs that could not be made in the air. That's something!" exclaims the Savannah Morning News, while the Akron Beacon Journal credits them with having “given final proof of the safety and efficiency that are being | built into modern airplanes,” and the |Ann Arbor Daily News agrees that “the stamina of airplane machinery has been strikingly demonstrated. “They have accomplished a feat which is nothing short of marvelous,” | says the St. Louis Times, and the Pasa- dena Star-News = concludes: “Long- distance flights: overseas flights; en- durance flights; parachute jumps from | high altitudes: flying at great heights: | these are a few of the by-products, as it were, of aviation as it is being de- veloped in phenomenal manner. e Wanted—Good Athletes, From the Roancke Times. Washington and Lee now has a new president, and if the school can get a couple of good halfbacks, a tackle and an end, the prospects for next year wiil | be bright indeed. C——— Why Oratory Is Waning. | From the New Castle News. Possibly oratory is no longer effec- tive because, as they say, to teach a dog anything you must know more than the dog. —————————— A Good Lesson, If Learned. From the Sioux City Journal. In Ohio a man lit a cigarette and a gas well at the same time, and although severely burned it is not likely th: l‘. will know better next time. s et Looking at U Prohibition. From the San Antonio Evening News. Hungarians are told that prohibition in the United States “cures crime and empties the hospitals.” That's all righ it —=0 long a8 no news from % 7S