Evening Star Newspaper, August 9, 1930, Page 4

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. BATURDAY......August 9, 1930 THEODORE W. NOYES, .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: rier Within the City. 45c rer month undays) ..... 80c per month and Sunday’ Siar ..-..65¢ per month e per copy ~ach month. rders may be sent in by mail or .elephone Ational 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virgini ally and_Sunday.....1yr. $10.00: 1 mo.. 85c iy only ... 1yr. 36 junday only . 1 yrl 3600 1 mo.. 50c 1yr. $4.00; 1 mo.. 40¢ All Other States and Canad: ily and Sund.y..lyr. $12.00; 1 mo.. $1.00 iy on'y 1yr. 38.00: 1mo.. 75 unday only 175 3500 1mo. 50c Member of the Associated Press. The Assoclated Press is exclusively entitled o the use for republication of all news ¢is- aiches credited 1o it or not otherwise cred- ited in this paper and siso ‘he local :ews published herein. All_rights of publ 1 of #pecial dispatches herein are also reseried. The Report on the Drought. The President’s summary of reports on the drought, assembied by the De- partment of Agriculture, emphasizes one of the peculiar aspects of this national misfortune that should sim- Plify the work of relief. Within the area most seriously affected there are approximately a million farm families. They possess about 12 per cent of the country’s live stock. But unlike calami- ties that take form in widespread flood, fire. cyclone or earthquake, the path of jected connecting link between Rock Creek and Potomac Parks he might profitably spend a few hours in study of the parks and parkway projects of the Capital. Much of the work of the Park and Planning Commission, of which M Qotwals, as Engineer Commissioner, now becomes a member, has been and for years will be devoted to remedying mistakes of the past. One of the great mistakes was the desecration of Rock Creek Valley and other valleys leading into it. The sewage pollution of Rock Creek and of the Potomac is & shame and a disgrace. Radical measures are needed to clear these streams of polli- tion. in covering Rock Creek over to prevent the stench. That would merely invite more pollution. The Engineer Commissioner of the District who refuses to give up the prob- lem of purifying these streams as some- thing too difficult or impractical, who goes after it tooth and nail with the idea of correcting an evil that can be corrected and who gives it the serious study that formulation of an adequate program demands, will have accom- plished something worth while, It is to be trusted that Maj. Gotwals' first impression of lower Rock Creek as & sewer that needs inclosing will be succeeded, after serious study of the plans for future Washington, by & strong determination to eliminate the sewer and 1o leave the creek. ———————————— Proof of the Pudding. There has been some uncommonly sound talk about war and peace at Willismstown this week. A distinguished officer of the United States Navy, Rear Admiral A. J. Hepburn, an American naval adviser at the London Confer- ence, and Admiral Sir Herbert Rich- devastation now beaten by blistering sun and absence of rain does not repre- sent wholesale destruction and ruin. The condition of the farm families ¥aries with the crops that have been planted, with the location of farms, and with other factors that have a distinct effect in mitigating or accentuating the results of the drought. In some parts of the drought area failure of home gardens means failure of & food supply upon which the people are most de- pendent. Others, with pasturage gone, with cattle Yailing and with no pros- pects for other fecd, are pushed to the very brink of financial disaster. Still others have harvested crops that will probably bring extraordinarily high returns because of the shortage else- where. Even within the blistered areas ©f drought there are oases of Pplenty. “The situation,” says President Hoo- ver, “is one to cause a great deal of concern.” But the background of the pioture of bleak conditicns predominat- ing in certain areas is one of a Nation that overflows in the abundance of its food supply: adequately equipped witn means of quick transportation; ready with organizations for relief long since perfected to deal with emergencies far more sudden and for which there has been much less time for preparation. Individual cases of suffering and ruin are heartrending. The farmer whose herds a few months ago were sleek and fat, grazing in well watered pastures, may have seen the work of a lifetime slowly crumble before his eyes. Farm- ers have put in crops that have with- ered and died. But back of them stand neighbors who can help out, and a Nation that is putting machinery in motion to bring more permanent and adequate relief. There is no effort in any quarter to minimize the actual want or the danger of extreme suffer- ing. The comfort lies in ability to realize the tangible proportions of the disaster, and, knowing it, to proceed with the available remedies. Our Navy is to retire three battleships in advance of Japan's ratification of the Naval Treaty, “as a gesture of international conference confidence.” So Uncle Sam is beginning to concede putts. r———— Filling stations of five big oil com- panies are soon to start selling tires in addition to service, gas and oil. Right out from under the noses of the chain drug stores! o A French observer reports that Ger- many has a big a’my. They had an- other big one some years ago, but, like many a big fish, it got away. S AR “Covering Up” the Pollution. One of the purposes of the act creat- ing the National Capital Park and Planning Commission was to “preserve the flow of water in Rock Creek.” Since its creation the commission has made extensive purchases in the Piney Branch and Soapstone Valleys, and in two other valleys in the northern corner of the District, and is planning further acqui- sitions along the streams of B ach Drive, through the valley nori of Georgetown and in the valley to the south of the Bureau of Standards, thus preserving streams which feed Rock Creek and which otherwise would be converted into sewers. At onc time it was planned to turn lower Rock Creek into & sewer at & cost of about $6,000,000. This would have enabled progressive real estate dealers to Aill in parts of what used to be a beautiful valley—and still has its pos- sibilities—and sell it for lots. Instead of that the Park Commission has bought or is buying about 158 acres of Jand along lower Rock Creek at a cost of $1,900,000. The creek and its valley will be preserved to form the long- sought connecting parkway between Rock Creek Park and Potomac Park. It comes as a disappointing surprise, therefore, to hear from the District’s new Engineer Commissioner, Maj. Got- ‘wals, of a plan to put & roof over Rock Creek from a point near the Q Street Bridge all the way down to the Po- tomac. Surveying the “chasm between two ash dumps” that now beautifies this section, and which will grace a part of the connecting parkway, Maj. Golwals is quoted as being unable to see why anybody “would want 1o travel down there.” But “if the demand for this boulevard” persists, the major believes that Rock Creek might sulll be covered up and & road built along the “roof” of the creek, possibly to serve the whims and the fancies of the eccentric motor- ists who will want to drive down there. If one of the purposes of the Park and Planning Commission act was to “preserve the flow of water in Rock Creek” there is not much sense in pre- serving the flow and then covering it up, where nobody will see it. If Maj. Gotwals does not understand why any €2 sbould want to drive ever the pro- 3 mond, K. C. B, former president of the British Royal Navy War College at Greenwich, initiated a discussion on the eternal question of armaments. They stressed the point that anti-war arrangements like the Kellogg pact have Visibly falled to damp the world's de- termination to keep its powder dry and its swords sharp. As evidence of such = policy, Admiral Hepburn instanced the United States’ insistence upon naval parity with Great Britain and Britain's irreducible minimum of a two-power naval standard, vis-a-vis Europe. Ad- miral Richmond called attention to the fortifications at Gibraltar and the Pan- ama Canal as steel-and-concrete facts “which do not express a very great de- gree of faith on the part of at least two countries that war is abolished for all time.” ‘The thought, energy and millions which the two English-speak- Ing powers are devoting upon outlying “key” defenses are indubitably the proof of the pudding—the pudding which flads expression in the familiar adage that self-preservation is the first law of Nature or in another equally well known axiom that God helps those who help themselves. Admiral Hepburn pleads for the edu- cation of an American public opinion which will not fail to demand the con- struction of the “treaty Navy.” Unless We proceed to build the London fleet, he declares that the United States will suffer a loss of prestige in the eyes of other sea powers. Admiral Hep- burn is unquestionably right. He is no less right when he adds that if Amer- ica does not enter the 1936 Naval Con- ference with a strong Navy in hand we shall not prove a very potent bar- gainer when we seek further limita- tion. The United States was able to talk turkey at Washington in 1921-22, because we had ships to trade with— bullt or projected. Americans who think the road to peace lies down the path leading to steady reduction: of naval strength will be well advised not to obstruct the building of the treaty fleet, If they hamper its construction, it should be made plain to them that they are tacking in the wrong direction toward the goal which they would sail. A definite American naval building pro- gram, backed by a solid public opinion, is the surest guarantee, not only of adequate national defense at sea, but of progressive naval limitation, e —e— e One wonders just what is the official duty of prominent citizens, like Admiral Byrd, whom the Governor of Kentucky appoints 1o his staff with the title of “Admiral of the Mississippi.” 1t may turn out to be helping the executive hoid & levee, ——————— While ex-President of Mexico Calles was being married his haclenda work- men were unloading & truckload of wood not many feet away. Most grooms have heard noises like this, but it was just the pounding in their ears. e This Skeptic World. Somebody is always wanting to know things that are really the private busi- ness of folks—wanting to know and ask- ing impertinent questions with unpleas- ant implications. * For example, both the Federal and the local prosecuting attor- neys for the Greater New York area are asking some awkward questions of & group of people regarding certain financial transactions of three years ago. Such a nulsance! Such impolite curiosity! ‘There was & Vacancy on one of the local New York benchés. Mr. Ewaid fancied the job and allowed as how he would be giad to get the appointment. Mrs. Ewald had some capiial, having been engaged with her father in the management of & motion picture thea- ter, Mr. Healy, Tammany leader of the district, aspired to buy himself a hand- some home on Long Island. Learning of the aspiration of Mr. Ewald, he sent for Mr. Tommaney, chief clerk in the office of the sheriff, and disclosed his desire for a suburban home and his hope that perhaps Mrs. Ewald would loan him the cash for the first pay- ment. S0 Mr. Tommaney went to Mrs. Ewald and asked her for a loan for Mr. Healy. It 50 happened—matters fall out precisely so fortunately now and then—that she had just received some $5,000 in cash from her father and had another $5.000 in bank. She really in- tended this money to buy hersell & home big enough for her own family and her parents, but Mr. Healy's wish for a long Island home was of course, paramount. So she loaned $10,000, not directly to Mr. Healy, but to Mr. Tommaney. And Mr. Tommaney gave her his note to run for three years, without interest. And the money passed, and shortly there. after Mr. Ewald got his heart's desire and became a judge, and Mr. Healy bought himself a Long Island house, ‘with the Ewald-by-Tommaney money as pire must Such remedies are not to be found | THE EVENING too unfortunate for words. She lost Mr. Tommaney'’s note—lost it beyond discovery. And 30 when folks began to ask annoying questions about the mat- ter she could not produce this com- pletely exonerating bit of paper. Life is like that, often, double-cross- ing and distressing. People have such base thoughts about motives. They get beset with the notion that somebody is trying to get something wrongfully. They put the meanest possible inter- pretations upon innocent actions. But the distress of the Ewalds and Mr. Tommaney and Mr. Healy, due to the pestiferous inquisitiveness of the dis- trict attorneys, is at least cause of. some compehsating public amusement, inas- much as for some reason the stories they have told about the loan and the fnnocently coincidental judicial ap- pointment are regarded in a playful spirit, and there is much laughter in even Tammany circles, while the non- political community is rocking with mirth, Human nature can be positively mean At times. Our American Minister to Greece de- clared that golf, far from originating with the Scots, or in Holland whence they borrowed it. goes back to anclent Greece, as evidenced by archaic monu- ments. He is only part way back to the source. It undoubledly began when A couple of prehistoric guys began knocking around with their war clubs the skull of some deceased enemy. —————— . Jig-saw puzsles are said to provide a constant means of amusement and re- laxation for the President and his guests AL his Rapidan camp. Wood- working In general and the existence of all presidential timber seem closely n- tertwined. There are cabinet making, fence repairing, wood sawing and log l I rolling, to say nothing of constant. deal- ing with blockheads. e —e————— There s something wrong with the recipe somewhere. The communal vil- lage In Belgium, where each head of & family is free from taxes, may get his fuel from a community forest, and is paid a bonus for each child, has not increased in population in ten years. Is It possible that human nature may have something to do with this failure? e Rocks up in Montana are said by geologisis to duplicate those In the African Transvaal. However, spades, rather than diamonds, -appear to be their long suit. it DS It is rumored that the fool-killer is equipping himself with a set of climbing frons. s SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Old Acquaintances. I wonder if the robin sings up in the apple tree; I wonder if his song's the same as what it used to be; And if, far down the dusty road upon & Summer day, There's anybody wishing when he sees & Juad of hay. T wonder if the willow bends above the swimming pool The way it did one day when I forgot to go to school: And if the honeysuckle sends abroad its perfume sweet ‘Where berry briars Jurk to wound some boy with shoeless feet. ‘The men I know are good and true; the men that men should be; And yet there’s something lacking in their worth, it seems to me— For they could never trudge or romp or climb the whole day through And fill the world with joyous shouts like friends whom once I knew. The Art of Illusion. “Remember,” sald the earnest citizen, “that the eyes of the public are upon you. “That condition is provided for answered Senator Sorghum. “In politi- cal prestidigitation the handout must always be quicker than the eyesight.” The Rural Railway. “Aren’t these trains rather slow?” asked the impatient traveler. “Slow,” answered the conductor, scornfully; “why, they go 50 fast we have to make two trips & day, when we might Just as well slow down and pick up all the passengers on one run.” Enjoyment. "Tis not the man who occuples ‘The place of prominence Who feels the joy of living In its most emphatic sense. ‘The man up in the grandstand seat Of fun oft finds a dearth. But the fellows in the bleachers Always get thelr money's worth, Not med. “Didn’t you adveriise ‘no mosqul- toes’?” asked the indignant guest. - answered the Summer landlord. “But I guess the mosquitoes didu't read Lhe advertisement.” On the Links. “Does that man pay you much for being his caddy?"” asked cne boy. “No,” answered the other. “He only gives me some small change for being caddie, but he gives me two dollars for not telling what he says when he misses the ball." A Dull Prospect. 1f man to error were not linked, And wisdom banished care and strife, Reformers would become extinct; And that would mean a lonely life. “Some men,” sald Uncle Eben, “specks you to do mo' work findin’ a job dat’ll exactly sult deir tas'e dan dey'd have to do holdin' down de job.” e i Ideal Cool Spot. From the Little Rock Arkansas Gas ‘The South provides ideal Summer climate, if you go as far south as Admiral Byrd did. * v - Maybe They Ran Out of Fuel. From the Asheville Times. Senator Hiram Johnson and his comrades must have attacked the Lon- don naval treaty with smaller than 6- inch guns. ] Next Winter May Speed Solution From the Teledo Blade. At this writing it is not definitely knewn how many millions of years it will be before the sun loses its heat. Umpires Must Be Deaf. Prom the Toledo Blads. like & tician, 8 base um- Unl polt ase bail sees and ® starter, Then M. Bwaid was fust mothing that be beam, STAR, WASHINGTON, D. T, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Dmitri Merejkowski's “Romance of Leonardo da Vinci” is a book which appeals to more different types of readers than almost any we know. Here is a novel which is at once an unforgettable character study, an in- comparable picture of the Middle Ages and a moving narrative, Its greatest charm is as a study of buman nature, because it is an honest| attempt to look a man in the face and understand him. ‘When one stops to consider the thou- sands of difficulties which stand i the| way of character comprehension, even of those one knows in dally life, it will be realized that the job is difficult when applied to a man gone several hundre | years ago. It was the poet Browning who called upon mankind to see life through and see it whole, but most men and women, now as always, prefer to see iv in part, rather as & collection of wishes than actunlities. It is the exceptional man or woman who is able to accept another human being asshe is without fear or favor, and particularly without asking that he change or be changed, or change to suit them, We are unable to say to those we| meet, “I do mnot like you. but you interest me.” Too often the silent comment of the majority is, “I do not| like your nose, therefore I hate you, or “I find your views do not agree with | mine, 50 kindly refrain from speaking. x ook % The special glory of “The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci” is that the Rus- sian novelist has taken a man and put him on paper that even the most intolerant reader is willing 1o accept him —as he is. This seems to me an incomparable feat. One will have to plow through| hundreds of works to find one to equal it in this respect. . Here the reader finds the dual per- sonalily of Leonardo pictured by the clever devices of giving impressions of him, first by one of his disciples who worshiped him, and, second, by one who hated him. All the time the queer warfare which went on in Leonardo’s own mind and souls as it must go on in the mind and soul of ‘every person worth while, is pictured in its entirety: = It s set forth by = writer who has much in common with his subject. Merejkowski has had a hard fight in the literary world, but the increasing yearly success of such works as “The Death of the Gods” and the one under consideration shows him to be winning out. Yet before this eventuality he must | have known pain and sorrow, disap- pointment, conflicts of good and bad in the inner nature, Of this every reader may be sure from the masterful way in which he has handled the documents of Leo-| nardo, in which that great figure of the Renaissance left to posterity his in- most thoughts. * oK R % In the average hands those sentences taken verbatim from the collected writ- ings of the poet, inventor, scientist, writer, artist, builder, who was Leo- nardo, would have amounted to nothing more than words. They may be found, as words, in many & work on Leonardo. But the Russian plays such magic with them that in his book, without any special effort, they become true character revealers. ow, why is this? How is it possible for written words to be merely woras with some, but re- vealers of character with others. The explanation, one may believe, lies in the handling of such material with sympathetic insight. Sympathy is & quality far trauscending kindli- ness. Sometimes sympathy may seem even cruel, but -analysis will reveal it to be # character builder—that is, such aid comes as the knife of the surgeon, cutting away something superfluous so that strength aid, health may follow. Leonardo the Florentine is made to live again In this ‘matchless book. (An excellent translation, by the way, may be secured for 95 cents in the Modern Library.) He lives because the reader, as the result of true sympathetic ihterpreta- tion of materials, is put in possession of the many sides of a many-sided character. The dreamer and the practical man were exceptionally blended in Leo- nardo. He is all things to all men, PEvery one can see something of him- sell in bim, * ok As a picture of humanity in the so- called Middle Ages, the “Romance” is of exceptional interest. There is per- haps no other work in general circula- tion which contains such a mass of material as this book. ‘The muthor has searched endlessly nd musty rolls, books falling art galleries, curious docu- mighty tomes, i The rich yield of this toil is paintéd in a series of word pictures. The dis- cerning reader, especially he who has had any personal experience with re- search, will applaud the toil while he is admiring the result. ‘The alchemists live again, Here come to life the strange doings in the name of holy religion, little peeps into the lives of human beings--rich, great, paor, unknown. Somehow those years just on the threshold of modernity are a formless | void to most of us, although we may have studied “Medieyal History,” as h,hflr be able to give dates glibly ugh. Those of us who are honest know that in the background of our minds we have no real conception of the states of mind of human beings in those days, &nd we equally know, or think we do, which is the same thing, that unless one actually realizes such states of mind we can by no means enter into the literary heaven set before us. ‘The glory of our author is that he is able, with basic material open to everybody, to create lifelike men and women, placed amid & mass of detail which lends lifelike qualities to them separate from their gwn personalities. ‘Who has not read some historical novel in which & small number of characters live excitedly over a vast range of country? Yet was there not & feellng, even as one read, that some- how the thing was unreal, because theve were no pictures of the crowds, no little incidents which brought out the huge background? In recent. years there have been some attempts on the part of American authors to correct this faulty canvas without background by telling a story by the expedient of giving a tremen- dous assortment of “pictures” snatched at_random from the national life. But it will not do. The thing is too disjointed. The only artistic treat- ment is the one employed by Merej- and the only reason that more do not use it is that they are unwilling or perhaps unable to put in the necessary research to get enough widespread basic material. We can recommend “The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci” to any reader, of any age. It grows tiresome at times, but so does life, does it not? And in that, too, our author scores. Woodcbck’s Dry Law System " Makes Impression on Public Efforts to reach the larger sources of bootleg liquor and less spectacular methods of prohibition enforcement, as announced by Prohibition Director ‘Woodcock, have created an impréssion of sincerity which the public declares has not always been seen in the Gov- ernment’s approach to this problem. There is substantial doubt as to com- plete success, but improvement 1s widely forecast. “One of Woodcock's reliances,” accord- ing to the Newark Evening News, “is the cultivation of a more favorable public_attitude toward it. That is es- sential, yet a Herculean task with & large part of the population opposed to the principle of prohibition, Results al- ready are @ppareni, even though probably not based directly on the Woodcock program. Raids in Brooklyn and the capture of 8 New York garbage scow laden with liquors have struck hard blows at the contraband traffic. Such schievements have immensely more effect than a dozen minor cap- tures in night clubs and speakeasies and muke apparent that the promised ‘steady pressure’ against law violation already is more than & promise. & The aim of “lawful steady pressure, as viewed by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “ought to get somewhere if anything can,” while the Milwaukee Journal holds | t “is apparently a | that “more (hl':)] any of his predecessors, he seems to Understand what has been wrong with enforcement in the past and he pro- poses to correct the evils which he has | n. “Should the bureau succeed in put- un.B N sliicit wholesale distributors out of business,” in the opinion of the San Antonlo Express, “that virtually would do away with the small boot- leggers' traffic by shutting off their supply. And so far as the new cam- paign shall reduce the ‘blg’ men's operations, the petty traffickers will find themselves handicapped. This scheme is 0 obviously sensible the only wonder is that it was not adopted at the out- set.” “One of the most significant features of the formal statement issued by me\’ prohibition director,” says the Pitts-| burgh Post-Gazette, “is the absence of | a lecture to the public on criticism of dry agents.” That paper finds that Mr. Woodcock “is credited with showing ® disposition to discharge his difficult duties in & brogdened spirit.” The Lincoln State Journal feels that “if he has any success at all he will win for prohibition enforcement much greater respect than it has hitherto enjoyed.” “The policy of warfare the prohibi- tion enforcement heads are starting out to wage,” according to the Charlott: Observer, “will be & drive on the com- | mercial violators to be carried on from | every angle, but chiefly through aid of | groups of special agents made up of | trained experts. Allen violators will be searched out and deported. There will be an expansion of the field forces of the Federal anti-liquor squads by at least 500 men, while there will be an increase in the forces handling alcohol permits, * * * With effort concen- trated on the commercial liquor corpo- rations and minor offenses ignored, the new administration not only expects to make enforcement more effective but to remove the poplilar antagonism to the operation of the law. “The methods he lays down, if ad- hered t,” in the judgment of the San Francisco Chronicle, “will at least be a salutary example of Government respect for its own mandates. And it is a reminder that should not be lost upon the various branches of authority under the police power that are sometimes templed to step over the line." That a larger force of dry agents is needed or is ressonable is agreed by the Grand Rapids Press and the Flint Daily Journal. The Savannah Morning News is impressed by the fact that “he realizes what his job is,” and the Akron Beacon-Journal, recalling the method of the lesser offenders, while the commercial lawbreal ean.bribe their. way. ho | prepared to give him economies provided, undisturbed,” avers, “If Director Wood- cock can reverse this abuse of the pro- hibition law’s application he will “After all, remarks the New York Times, holding that “all citizens must approve ‘the fair, honest, earnest and lawful enforcement’ of the prohibition act.” The Baltimore Sun states, “While applauding Mr. ‘Woodcock's zeal and industry, there will be those who will remember other new brooms and stifle a yawn.” ‘Taking up the proposed research by which the enforcement bureau “will compile its own data and will draw its own conclusions,” the Hartford Courant comments: “Should Mr. Woodcock suc- ceed he would deserve ‘many thanks. Of tables, compendiums and figures pre- pared by partisans and proving irrecon- cilable points concerning the effect of prohibition, the public is weary. It would welcome impartial data ‘from any soutce, but it will remember when Mr. Woodeock issues his frst statement that the Department of Prohibition may not be wholly an unprejudiced agency. With the best intentions, those in chaige may not be wholly immune to the temptation 0 make it appear that enforcement 1s succeeding, that they are performing their duties well, Only | the most Rullible will expect that an agency charged with enforcing a law will uldlize its own resources o demon- strate that the law Is not being enforced.” The survey idea is described by the Lynchbuig Advance as “sane” because | of the delects in propaganda from both sides of the liquor gquestion, and the Advance voices the thought that “half truths are freqwently more misleading than out-and-out untruths.” ‘The “vigorous and relentless drive on | the commercial aspects of the unlawful traffic” is commended by the Morgan- town Dominion-News with the siate- ment: “He is hilting at a phase of enforcement that has been largely ignored in the fight upon petty retail- ing and the intevmediate tratic in dis- tibution as typited by the organized liquor rings in the urben eenters. Bul sound us 15 Mr. Woodcoek’s ides of the proper Federal approach, it is doubtful whether he can hope W0 accompisi more than temporary improvement. ‘rne liquor racket extends from one end of this country to the other. It has come to take its toll in Tuthless gang murder with siriking regularity. it is the parent racket of many others that have sprung up under its lawless wings and are directiy or indirectly connected with 1t." Ri hts of Consumer In Food Marts Urged From the Philadelphia Bulletin. To the extent that the operation of the so-called “packers’ consent decree,” which prohibits the packing companies from selling meat at retail, bears op- pressively on the consumers, it s! be _modified. The public is entitled to purchase its meat supplies at the lowest possible prices, and elimination of superfluous middlemen Is one step toward that end. Spread of profits and prices brtween the farmer as producer of the cattle and the packer is notoriously high. ‘There is further inordinate spread be: tween the packer.and the housewife. It has been pointed out repeatedly that the high cost of living in_the United States is due chiefly to the h){h cost of distribution. The only way which the actual producer can get due anl the consumer not be burdened to & degree that will diminish the capacity of consumption and demand is by seel 'ng maximum efficiency in the interspace of distribution. In these days of steadily expanding chain store enterprise, justified by the maintenance of lowered prices, the packers have sound reason for main- taining their right to direct retailing. But if they plead that right in the name of the consumer, they must be the benefit of the w SATURDAY, 'AUGUST 9., 1930. THE LIBRARY TABLE By the Booklover A sympathetic but not altogether un- critical view of Jefferson Davis is given in Allen Tate's “Jefferson Davis; His Rise and Fall.” Mr. Tate finds the chief elements of strength in the Pres- ident of the Confederacy to have been strict unrightness, broad knowledge of political theory, general educa- tion and special military education (he was a Wesl Point graduate), power in debate, courage in devotion o & cause, slowness in recognizing defeat. He says of him: “Davis, the ablest debater for Southern rights since Calhoun, was for reasons thai we shall see emotionally bound to the Union” (at the beginning of the Civil War), and “Davis became well grounded in the classics, especially Latin, and formed the habit of omniv- orous reading; so that he became the best informed, possibly the best educa ed, man in the United States Senate. His chief elements of weakness, 8s Mr. Tate sees them, were his lack of prac- tical political acumen, his poor judg- ment of men, his lack of social affabil- ity, his inabiiity to see a point of view other than his own, his theoretical view of life, and the fact that he was always & nervous dyspeptic. With regard to his unpractical view of life, Mr. Tate says: “Davis, to the end of his life, be- lleved that men” would improve under the joint influence of Christianity and science, and he had no suspicion that he was ever the leader of a profoundly anti-scientific society. - He was, like his contemporaries, a debating politician, not & philosopher. The anomaly of his position in history never struck him. Routine political ~habits were conse- quently to become the bugbear of his life.” It was & noble mistake, this over- estimating of human ndture, but it was costly for Davis, : 2, R o It is easy to criticize policies and tactics which have failed, and the cause of Jefferson Davis was lost. Yet, in spite of ultimate failure, historians have been able to find few things to criticize in the character and career of Robert E. Lee. He was not only the idol of the Confederacy but he has been admired by those of all political faiths as a great soldier and a man of simple, great g;.rneur. Mr. Tate says of him: “The uth at the end of 1864 had a great leader whom the people would have fol- lowed to the death—Robert E. Lee. The previous agitation to make him dictator now rose to & clamor and now it reached Congress. There is a_ story, perhaps no more than a legend, that Rives of Virginia, representing a junta of the Congress, secretly approached Lee with the offer to make him dictator. He was now the real head of the people, acting as & subordinate to a government which the people did not recognize. But he was not the legal head, and, of course, if the offer ever came to him he turned it down.” Jefferson Davfs did not command this worship from the people of the Confederacy, but he re- tained their loyalty. There were, of course, deserters of the cause and plot- ters against Davis, but they were a small minority. “Edmund Rhett, voic- ing the general dissatisfaction with the passive policy of Davis (in 1861) and with Davis’ contempt, for public opinion, sald, ‘Jeff Davis is conceited, wrong- headed, wranglesome, obstinate, & traitor.” He was none of these things. He would take advice—if it were sugar- coated with deference; he was obstinate only in the face of unjust criticism— and yet a politician must expect in- Justice; he was wranglesome, but only because he expected men like Gov. Joe Brown to bs moved by facts and logic; he expected them to accept his logic while he dealt hard with their vanity and self-esteem.” He was too honest, too little subtle, for practical politics. X oKk ‘The story of the refusal of Jefferson Davis to believe in the defeat of the Confederacy, of his final flight and capture, is one of the most pathetic in Ameri history. On_ April 2, 1865, while Davis was attending church at St. Paul's, Richmond, & message was brought to him from Lee, reporting that Grant had broken the Cosfederate lines a few miles away and that Richmond must be evacuated. Sunday afternoon was spent in packing government pa- pers and in notifying cabinet officers, and toward night Davis departed for Danville, Va., which became for six days the seat of the Confederate gov- ernment. Then, April 9, came news of the surrender of Lee. Every one else realized that the end had come, but Davis would not admit it. A day or so before the surrender his hostess at Danville asked him, “Mr. Davis would Lee's surrender end the war?” He re- plied: “By no means. We'll fight it out to the Mississippi River." Greens- boro, N. C., was-the next retreat of the Confederate government. met Gen. Johnston and Gen, ure- gard. “The President surveyed the gathering with a calm, unhurried eye, and seemed unmoved by the strange- ness of his situation. He began with some remarks having no relation to the critical moment, He still seemed to see himself as the head of & powerful gov- ernment, backed by immense resources, perfectly secure, unpressed by time. At last he looked at Gen. Johnston and sald: ‘Our late disasters have been ter- rible, but I do not think we should re- gurd them as fatal. I think we can whip the enemy yet, if our people turn out. . . . Whatever can be done must be done at once. We have not a day to lose,’ Johnston said nothing, and finally the President said, “We should like to hear your views, Gen. Johnston.' The general spoke quickly, intensely, as if he were in anger: ‘My views are, sir, that our people are tired of the war, feel themselves whipped, and will not fight. . . . We cannot place another large army in the field. , . . My men are daily deserting in large numbers, . . . Since Lee's defeat they regard the war at an end. . I shall expect to re- tain no man beyond the by-road or cow- path that leads to his house. We may perhaps obtain ter hat we ought to accept’ During this speech Mr. Davis sat with his eyes fixed upon & scrap of paper on the table before him, which he was folding and refold- ing with careful abstraction, even after Johnston had ceased. He suddenly looked at Beauregard, “What do you say, Gen. Beauregard®” His voice was low and measured. Beauregard replied, “I concur in all Gen. Johnston has said” On April 16 Davis and his dwindling cabinet continued their flight southward, with & stop at Char- lotte, where in his iast speech as Presi- dent he sald, "I cannot feel like a beaten man.” Through South Carolina into Georgia the hopeless retreat went on, with Federal cavalry now in pursu Near Irwinsville, Ga. he joined Mr Davis and their children, and th rode along together until May 10, when they were overtaken by Union troopers and Davis surrendered. Of one of the time-worn stories of the capture Mr. Tate says: “It was said that Jefferson Davis had on his wife's hoops when he was caprured, trying to escape in dis- guise. Thousands believed it then and doubtless thousands belleve it still. * ok ok The author of *Visitors to Hugo,” Alice Grant Rosman, has written a new romance in which a white onyx intaglio ring and a statuette of an Eng- ster play influential parts. The rs In the story, “The Young and Secret,” are Jeremy Swithin and his titled wife, Lady Aunne Challice; the spluster, Marfori Swithin; a young sculptor, ‘Tony Corcoran, and Una Swithin, daughter of Jeremy and Lady Anne. * ok * x ‘When Sir James Barrie was recently made & freeman of his native Kirrie- ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC This is a special department devoted | solely to the dling of queries. This | paper puts at your eisposal the services | of an extensive organization in Wash- ington to serve you in any capacity that relates to information. This serv- ice is free. Your obligation is only 2 cents in coin or stamps inclosed with | your inquiry for direct reply. Address | The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, am. Washing- | ton, D. C. 1‘ Q. Is Milton J. Cross & musiclan?— AT | A. Both Milton J. Cross and Graham | McNamee were r ized vocal soloists before entering the radio fleld. Mr. | Cross is a tenor and Mr. McNamee, & baritone. | Q. Why was the new Arlington race | track, near Chicago, constructed to| measure 1'3 miles?—W. H. G. A. This gives a longer finishing stretch than a mile track has, and the | consensus of opinion among racing men | is that it is the ideal length for a; track. This flattens the turns out and gives a longer straight-away. Q. T have a flexible white gold wateh bracelet which needs cleaning. Please inform me what to do.—H. H. . Fold a towel to about the size of your wrist. Slip the bracelei over the towel. Dip a fine brush In gaso- line and apply to bracelet. . How far from the home plate is the pitcher's box? Second base?—D. R. R. A. The distance from the home plate to the pitcher’s box is 60 feet 6 inches. ‘The distance from the home plate to second base is 127 feet 3% inches. Q. When did Great Britain begin to give unemployment insurance?—J. C. C. A. In 1911 Great Britain passed her first unemployment insurance act. This act covered only certain trades, but in 1916, 1918 and 1920 certain changes were made, Finally in 1921, an unem- ployment insurance act was passed which is still in operation, Q. How is fresh water secured on shipboard?—E. O. W. A. On s ship, salt water is bolled in evaporators, The steam rises through pipes to &' distiller which consists of coils with cold water running over them. ‘This condenses the steam, forming fresh water. Q. What is the National Institute of Heaith?—F. D. A. It is ' new Government project. The Ransdell bill creating it was signed by the President on May 26, 1930. The nucleus of the institute is the Hyglenic Laboratory of the Public Health Serv- ice, and it will now be known as the National Institute of Health. The site now occupled and adjoining land, to- gether with other sites as needed, will be used for the erection of suitable bulldings. Q. What is the idea in being present- ed at the Court of St. James?—A. 8. R. A. The greatest social distinction which & woman can attain, in a day when there are so few Kings occupying thrones, is gained through being pre- sented at the Court of St. James. Lit- erally one makes her low bow before Kh’:‘g George and Queen Mary of Eng- nd. Q. Are conditions good or bad at Ellis Island?—E. 5. M. A. Ellis Island is not the uninviting place it is generally thought to be. Actually, sald Mr. Hull, commissioner general of immigration, it consists of three_small islands. On these islands J. HASKIN. by detained aliens consist of large, light, well ventilated rooms, with floors and dados of Dutch or white glazed tile. A covered porch is available for rec- reation in stormy weather, while & playground supplied with equipment for games and entertainment for both chil- dren and adults is provided for use in good weather. The aliens are first registered at examination _desl and their names checked with list. furnished by the steamer on which they arrived. A medical examinatiqn is then given, immigrant inspectors then in- quire where the aliens are going and how much money they have, and they are directed to a restaurant where food may be purchased. Q. How did Watteau first support himself as a painter?—B. B. A. By painting pictures of saints by the dozen. These were sold to country customers. Q. Do the Great the Winter>—R. B. A. The Great Lakes do not freeze entirely during the Winter, but the harbors and often the connecting rivers are closed by ice. The navigabie sea- son _at Soo is about 7!; months, and at Erie somewhat longer. Lake Su- perior freezes only in the shallow water along the shore. The northern reaches of Michigan are frozen, but the solid ice stops well north of Milwaukee, does Q. How radio license?—L. F. D, A. The Federal Radio Commission says, in accordance with an act of Con- gress, one applying for a radio license | must first apply for a construction permit. After he has been permitted | to build, and his station is completed, he may apply for a broadcasting license. To be eligible to this license he must Al out an application blank for a cer- | tain_frequency upon which to operate, If this is agreeable to the commissicn he may be given a license. Q. What do the letters T. D. stand for opposite many articles in the cus- toms regulations?—A. B. A. T. D. after a customs_regulation ieans ‘Treasury decision. It signifies t the Department of the Treasury has issued a special decision on that article of the regulation. Q. What are the names of the chil- dren of Sarojini Naldu?—G. H. A. The children of the poet are named Jaya Surya, Padmaja, Ranad- heera and Lilamani. Q. What are the conditions under which money is given from the Jullus Rosenwald Fund for educational institu- tions for Negroes>—G. D. A. A condition is that the Negroes Taise a like sum or a greater one. Q. What is the most popular Amer- ican dish?—S. M. - A. An association of restaurant owners took a ballot on this and the results indicated that apple pie holds this distinction. It has been estimated that on an average the American at middle life has consumed something like 7,638 pieces of pie. Q. Who is the chairman of the United States Civil Service Commis- sion?—N. H. K. A. The chairman is Gov. Thomas E. Campbell. He has been sworn in and is fulfilling the duties of his office. Q. Can a soldier or sailor on home leave be arrested by local officers for being drunk or disorderly or any other crime?—W. A. M, A. A soldier or sailor in the United States service is liable to the ordinary criminal proceedings by civil authorities if arrested for any crime commit Lakes freeze over in . C. one get & are 27 buildings, including hospitals and power houses. The quarters occupied A UNION, Valparaiso.—As has been stated from time to time in these columns, we are much op- to the pending contract with the American Electric Bond & Shate Co. transferring to that en- terprise for a period of 99'gears all the electrical rights and resou! of Chile. This company, which already operates the tramways and other services in Santiago, has promised to improve the -| names of Wagner and Mendelssohn and communication between that city and Valparaiso and other cities of Chile, and also to furnish power and light for every section of the country. Such benefits are certalnly to be weicomed, that they should all be derived from & foreign syndicate, which in the last analysis is simply developing and ex- ploiting the country for the sake of its stockholders, The very fact that the contract is ir- recoverable for & period of & century is sufficient danger. If the foreign monopoly failed to carry out the provi- sions of the contract, it is doubtful whether the government, ‘even then, would have the power to revoke it, so many amendments and riders qualify the original agreements in the docu- ment. We should not lightly transfer to strange and alien hands the natural resources of our own land, or rights to provide us with the modern necessities and conveniences of life. The men from New York cannot be reproached for de- siring to get all they can for their company. That is business with them, but, unfortunately such good business for outsiders is not correspond- ingly advantageous for us, and our offi- clals and legislators who have permitted the submission of such & monopolistic contract are open to grave censure. The proposed contract is unjust to our people, and to our posterity, and is besides prejudicial to all the native business interests of Chile. We do not believe that our patriotic President, Don Carlos Ibanez, will ratify the contract in its present form. e “Jazz" Under Ban in German Circles, Cologne Gazette—There is & growing santipathy throughout Germany to what | has been called by its originators “jazz” or “ragtime” music. The “jazz band,” the staccato “slap-stick” anl cymbal uproars, Negro songs, Negro melodies, Negro dances and “minstrel shows,” are &ll under the ban of Dr. Frick, conduc~ tor of the Weimar Symphony Orchestra, ‘and as a result are no longer consid- ered “au fait” in national musical cir- cles, which are inspired by the glorious Beethoven. Barbarism in music no longer charms. s * %k % X Cyelist Invokes Letter of Law for Freedom. Neues Wiener Tagblatt, Vienna.—A man arrested by & policeman for riding a bicycle without light at night has just_succeeded in extricating himself from the consequences of his act by in- voking the letter of the law, which pro- vides penalties for “venicles” without lights. A bicycle is not a vehicle, for the bicyclist supplies his own motive power, the same as when walking, and, sitting upon & saddle, should be nio more logi- cally required to carry headlights than an equestrian, * x % Asks Restrictions On Films for Children. El Comercio, Lima—Our repre- sentative at Callao has received the fol- lowing letter with the request that it be forwarded to us: mulr (Thrums in his books) he said: “It 18 easy to make a speech anywhere else, but not here on this hill of mem- ories, to people who are more like me inside than any other people are.” ————- It Lasts 28 Days. Trom the Omaha Evening World-Herald. So this is the month of Sol, accord- ing to that new-fangled calendar. Well, the old fellow has certainly cele- brating the occasion, _. nor Corresponsal de El Comercio: “The campaign which is daily becom- ing more vigorous against screen dramas, corrupt and corrupting, de- serves the greatest support and indorse~ ment. For the sake of the children, es- peclally, restrictions should be placed | on certain sorts of films, which are any- thing but clean and uplifting in their acenes and 'stions. The old Roman Hlosophers had & maxim which is as while on home leave. Highlights on the Wide World Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands. debetur!'—'The greatest reverence 18 owed to children.’ and unless we intend to protect the children of this genera- tion from the demoralizing influences of the modern picture play, the race is sure to sustain a disiressing deterio= ration both spiritually and physically. Bad enough that an industry which could be sych a power for good prefers rather to serve man’s baser instincts for little larger gains, but to expose inno= cent children to these same malign in- fluences, by which, in their immaturity and inexperience, they cannot fail to be unhealthily impressed, is an offes which long ago shculd have felt the There Davis | but it is not to the national interest | heavy hand of the law. Some of these | baneful productions have a debasing effect even on sophisticated men and ‘women who can discount the luring and inciting insinuations of the screen with the knowledge of the true relations and values of human life. “Producers deserve no consideration when they think more of their revenues than they do of future generations. If they are not willing to eliminate crime and salacity from their dramas, at least they should be forbidden the right to exhibit these improprieties to children. Public authority should demand this re- striction. In the meantime, parents should be careful what films their off- spring are allowed to see. “A TEACHER.” T A Cigarette Boycott Is Noticed. La Opinion, Manila—The first, effects of the bovcott which the population seems to have declared against imported cigarettes are beginning to be noticed. Lacal tobacconists complain that there is no demand for foreign cigarettes, and that quantities of these products are being left on their hands. e boy- cott is noticed not only locally but in the provinces as well. One wholesaler, wi sales used to average about 3,000 pesos’ worth a week, now says he is fortunate if he can get orders for 500 pesos’ worth. Domestic cigarettes appear to have taken the place of the imported article almost exclusively. This condition is attributed to the propaganda of a certain Communist ele- ment, which has distributed leaflets urging all smokers to support local in- | dustries and to abstain from the pur- chase or use of imported goods. These crusaders insist that werful foreign | Interests are endeavoring to flood the islands with all sorts of exotic goods, and that cigarettes constitute one of the largest items. The Philippine govern- ment 1s looking into the situation to see if there has been anything improper or in restraint of trade in connection with the anti-cigarette activities de- scribed. ) Must Reverse Process. From the Haverhill Evening Gazette. Boston's superintendent of schools {says family ideals give courage. True, it takes courage these s to have either ideals or family. ———— But Why? From the New York Sun. Scientists have succeeded in produc- l.l:‘{yl'lu five days old at birth and préb- 50 blase that they would never look at a trap. SO el Or Both. Prom the Little Rock Arkansas Democrat. It's hard to say which discourages & Joung wife most—to discover that her ol “has feet of clay” or that h head of solid lvm‘)fly i AN Oklahoma and Ringside. Prom the Memphis Commercial Appeal. ‘The per capita cost of government in Oklahoma is $7.83. Much less than the price of a ringside seat. Not So Dusty. From the Milwaukee Seritinel. m-mdvlmw, hen it = ta as when it was After all, is tree-sitting more futile than going motoring on Sunday? -