Evening Star Newspaper, December 9, 1930, Page 8

With Sunday Morning Edition. — WASHINGTON, D. C * SUBSDAY December 9, 1930 THEODORE W. NOYES. ... Editor ‘The Evening Star Company Business 1 Pt undays) 60c per month i 5 and Sunday’ Siar s .88¢ per month ‘Bundass) ihe end of each month. e Suncay Star T i viads o rs may be sent in by mail or telephone tional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. ..1¥r.. $10.00; 1 mo., 1yr. 56.00: 1 m ¥ 34.00; 1 mo.. 40c Member of the Associated Press. | e Associated Press is exclusively entitled | to the use for republication of all ews dis- i Patches credited to it or not otherwise cred- ted in thi s bl erein. " All_rights of publicasion dispatches herein are also 1eserved. —_— | apprepriated by the Federal Govern- The Burean's Report. As an answer to the ctntention that the Federal lump sum is an excessive contribution to Capital City expenses end as refutation of the repeate: slate- | ments by uninformed members of the | House that the tax burdea here is rela- | tively low, the report by the Bireau of ' Efficiency speaks for itscif, as follows: | The amount of the Federal Governs | ment’s contribution toward the support' of the District of Columbia fcr the _scal | year 1932, dctermined cn the Dasis Tecommended in this rep-:t is * ¢ * $10,183,391. Comparisons of the burden of real perty taxes in diffcrent cities cannot - made by using the tex rates alone. uch comparisons are meaningless un- less it can be established that the bases ©f assessed valuations are the same. Furihermore, it is manifestly unfair to compare tax rates and tax revenues in “Washington with those in other cities l:lrge 2 mfi“h“x‘&- of the m% property hol Government which are exempt from taxation. * * * Therefore, in spite of the fact that Washington had the lowest and personal property tax rates of all fourteen citics (with a single exception in the case of personal property), its high assessment, considered in - tion with the Federal Government's i of the other cities. * * ¢ It will be noted that only one eity—Roc’iesier, N. Y.—shows a higher ntage of increase than does Wash- (This is in relation to increase in assessment between 1913 and 1928— Rochester’s increase, 251 cent; Washington's increase, 229 per cent.) * * * Therefore, though Washing- fon has a lower tax rate than any of these cities, ‘;'lhc L;:t\r‘ :;vxwm adjusted on the basis of 's @ssessed valuetion per capita, Federal included, as rty holcings being 1 should be, Washingten's tax rate cities. | | ' i i is actually higher than the justed tax rate for the other ‘ashington .1and the London Conference of 1930, compares favor- sbly with the average tax burden in & group of fourteen comparable cities. » nhevldmunnunl:-d person and property, for high- ways, for charities, hospitals and cor- rections, and fer recreation vwhmg: ‘m‘; ut the following headings: 1 gov .~ comservation of and sanitation, and education. General ¥ clth It is unnecessary to comment further on the findings. The report represents Jong and careful research. It is emi- pently fair to the United States and, 88 far as it goes, to the District of Columbia. The only merited criticism, from the standpoint of the District of | Columbia, is that it does not go far, enough. The report mentions State taxes and payments on interes: and bonded in-| debtedness as being included in the tax| burdens for the other cities, although! Bo comparable levics are made in the' District of Columbia. But it does not deduct such taxes. It is contended by the Disirict that such taxes should be deducted for purpcses of comparison, #s Washingicn does not receive the benefits that accompany State citizen- ship. Washingion does nct enjoy the benefits in capital improvements repre-| senting the expenditure of borrowed | money; therefore, the payments of in-| terest and sinking fund payments that eontribute to the tax burdens of other eities should be deduicted in compari-| sons with Washington's tax burden. other cities are living beyond their means, as the bureau report emphasizes, | their extravagance should not be util-| ized in making comparisons with debt- free Washington. ng the Federal obligation on account of “the extraordinary expenditures oc- ecasioned by the fact that Washington 8 the National Capital,” the bureau earefully computes this sum on the | | radio announcets is too valuable to be ' basis of parks, parkway and playground development alone. Of course, there #hould be other things taken into con- sideration. The street system, such undertakings ®8 the Municipel Center, the whole broad development of a city “caiculated for the magnificent Capital of a great Nation,” as a Senat: committee reported mearly s hundred years ago, “but op- ¢ in that peculiar way which the world | | side of his bed, enables Cora to mount "l | Institution to take its place among his- of the Fezeral Government's intangibles, when it was forced to make use of & theory and a supposition. If there are errors, they are those of omission. It has given the HMouse Fiscal Inquiry Committee a sound foundation upon which to bwild fair conclusions con- cerning the just amount that should be ment to its Capital, and it Las per- formed a real public service, and per- formed it well. ———————. The Dicarmament Dream. Yesterday at Gen:va six years of fervent but futile efforts came to am end with the final session of the League of Nations’ Preparatory Disarmament Commission. Since 1924 the commis- sion has m:t periodically, debated protractedly and achieved nothing. Perhaps that is not quite a fair de- scription of its labors. ¥t did accom- plish something. That was to deter- mine with disconcerting definiteness that Europe and Asia are not disarma- ment-minded in the present troublous state of the world. v ‘The commission came to one positive decision. It arrang>d to convene & general disarmament conference in 1982. Viscount Cecfl, invincible millenarian, | predicting that the conference will Jast | a year, opines for it “even mor: im- the Eaglet, he startled the world a few months later by zooming over the same route by plane in a triffe more than twelve hours. And, having “got the bit in his teeth,” 80 to speak, he has pro- ceeded to smash practically every speed record between cities in the United States. Twenty minutes from Philadelphia to New York! Fifty<three minutes from Washington to New York! Eight hours from New York to Havana! Detroit to NeWw York, a distance of six hundred and forty miles, in two hours and forty- one minutes! What a record to conjure with, and what does it all mean? It means simply that Capt. Hawks has probably done more than any fiyer to make the American public realize the speed potentialities of the airplane, and this realization will do much to bring about faster transportation. Airports of necessity must be situated some dis- tance from congested centers of popu- lation, and it follows that the time lost in reaching landing fields must be made up in the air. No better illustration was probably ever given of this fact than Capt. Hawks' fifty-three-minute flight from Washington to the Newark terminal. It took the fiyer stxty-three minutes to reach his hotel in New York after he landed. portant and far-reaching” consequerices than those which followed the, Paris | Feace Confecrence. Befor: stacking arms at Leagus head- , the Preparatory Commission drew up a draft treaty which proposes . to lay before the conference two years | hence an admiitedly scanty progrem out of which, it is hop-d, some kind of disarmament scheme can be evoived. League members are groping to give form and subsiance to Article VAIL of | the Covenant, which impores upon th m the obligation to turn swords Into It is not the least significant result the Preparstory Commission’s six conversation that it is now the “Commission for' Limita- Reduction of Armaments As; Poesible.” The Einst:inian of velativity thus has entered into the picture. Evidently the discur- sive era 1924-1930 has taught Viscount Cecil and his co’leagues at Gen-va that no eountry considers debatable at this 1 il thme the question of any considerable | new-found method of defying the laws demobilization of its defensive estab- lishment. Perhaps in the two years now to intervene before a gencral conferenee | statesmen amd nations will have it' driven hom: to them that until causes'fense of Judge Lindsey. Darrow can SIOWs up the veriest trifie, or who in | for war are eradicated, wcapons for waging wars cannot be dispensed with, Possibly in that interval, too, the system of the limited disarmament confer- ence—limited in both the number of participants and the nature of #s business—wil recommend itself to the world. Since the World War there have be:n two armament conferences which got somewhere. For both of them the United States was mainly r:sponsible— the Washington Conference of 1921-22, which effected capital-ship limitation, which brought about a three-power Hmitation of all other class:s of fight. ing craft. If at either Washington « London any attempt had been mad¢ to deal with “general disarmament,” the result unquestionably would have been- 88 barr:n as these six years of talk at Geneva. A Princely Christmas Story. Many have been the stories told of the Prince of Wales which have en- deared him to the peoples of the world, and his wife have of taking to their hearts personable young men the world around. No story, however, has been any more charming than the latest which comes from London concerning the Prince’s favorite dog, Cors, a Caim terrier. Since her youth Cora has en- Joyed the privilege of sleeping on the Prince’s bed. All those who love dogs and who may have had dogs of their own to sleep on their own beds feel a wave of fellowship with the royal young man when they read of Cora's snuggling down at the foot of*her master’s couch. Now comes the crowning touch. Re- cently the Prince noticed that Cora was suffering from rheumatism and was having some difficulty in getting to her favorite perch. So what did the Prince of Wales do but have a small flight of steps con- structed, which, leaned =against the | to her snug roost as easily as ever! And there is the Prince's Christmas story to the world, a tale of love for animals which will not go unheeded, which will be read to little children, and will blossom forth in their own lives in deeds ot k'ndness. Not every one, of course, can have & dog to butld steps for, but every one can be kindyto them, and help them as much es possible. And this pity, ex- tending to horses, and to cats, and to | the other creatures, scems particularly appropriate at this time of the year. One of the benefits of Christmas fis that it makes even the least sentimental | Tecognize the ctutch of the helpless | | upon the heartstrings of humanity, In arriving at the amount xeprmm.-l et o The Soviet commuted sentences from death to imprisonment of the conspira- tors who stood befcre the microphgne and confessed. Russia is highly appre- clative of talent and a group of good ! lost permanently. e Capt. Hawks’ Glider. It was an impressive ceremony yes- | terday when Capt. Frank Hawks' Eaglet glider was presented to the Smithsonian So it behooves plane bullders to work out better streamlining for their ships |and engin: buflders to develop motors of greater horsepower but less weight. The radial air-cooled motor marked a great advance in design, but even this tvpe of engine, which carried Lind- bergh to Paris, Byrd to the North and South Poles and practically all ether fiyers on thelr record-breaking jaunts {through the sky, must be perfected, |MaNy peop Its frontal area is so great that speed is materially cut down. Both motors and plane structure have been brought to a high state of reltability, but the cry is for speed and more ‘speed. Cowl- ings have been put over the air-cooled motor and approximately 20 miles an hour added to s plane’s capability. “Pants” have been developed to cover landing gear wheels and five miles an - hour more has been added. These, how- ever, are not enough. Other ways, more fundamental in character, must be found. The pace of civilization is ever on the increase. Aviation, man's ©of nature, must keep up with it. Word was sent by Clarence Darrow that he has retired from practice when it was suggested that he appear in de- now debate in & manner that entertains without putting himself to the necessity of further profound study er nervous Xte strain, ] As & patient and consclentious man | President Hoover refrains from any pro- test when a recognized student of affairs decides that it is necessary for the public good to submit another ad- dition to the already great supply of statistics. —a— In order to attend a wedding in his family, Al Capone may risk making his whereabouts known to the police. Life in gangland is fierce; and yet it has its sentiments. ————e— Uncle 8am is regarded in some Eu- ropean circles as a severe’creditor. Yet no creditor has ever labored harder to enable a debtor to meet his obligations with the least inconvenience. ——— Drought is a problem that political- minded men cannot solve. following drought demand the most at- tentive consideration from economists. —e—. Much is written deploring possibilities of censorship. Neither the books mor the plays currently offered show any rigid restraint. ———— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Sunshine in December. Sundhine comes a-gleamin’ From December skies, Though a flow’r is dreamin’ Where each dead leaf lies. Bhadows dark draw round us, Yet the genial ray Of the sun has found us Somewhere through the day. Maybe it's the brightness From a sky so clear; Maybe with its lightness Memory draws near, With a bit of .play day Where the shadows meet— Just a glimpse of Mayday In loveliness complete! Slumberproof. “You say you sat up half the night writing that speech?” asked Miss Cay- enne, “Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum. puiting you to s'eep in twenty min- utes.” Jud Tunkins says it's lucky for every- body that ro motor car is as flerce and relentless as its horn makes it sound. Ode to J. Hamilton Lewis. We'll hail you as the coming man And greet you with a gmile If you will show us that you can Bring whiskers back in style. The Big Moment. P “You found the night club interest- ing?” % “Very. The music and dancing were not so much. But the fight when the police arrived was genuinely thrilling. I n. “How did he manage to get in debt to 50 many people?” torical objects. And while the tiny glider can probably never compare in “He imposed on Crimson Guich's pressive from its very dimensions and | interest with the plane of Prof. Langléy | credulity,” answered Cactus Joe. “He arTangements to' the inhabitants, if 1ts | and Col. Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, Made us beleve that he was related execution to any considerable extent is | it will mark for the generations to come . by marriage to one of our leading rack- 10 be thrown upon them,” must b taken |2 new and highly successful study of | eteers.” nto consideration as well as the devel- opment of a park sysiem, which is only |the air by mankind. When Capt. Hawks was towed from San Diego to U “Men who complain of ingratitude,” one small feature' and there is the New York in the Eaglet, the first apa “2!d Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, obligation that follows exclusive con- trol, which transcends in importance demonsirated that the small motorless only trip of its kind ever to be made, it | “USU21ly appear to be making a bargain | over some'hing they first proffered as end in significance, if not in actual craft possesced afrworthy qualities of o |® BUI." dollars and cents, the obligations of the United States as & mere municipal tax- | veteran of the skies should take its| we payer and park developer. Some of these burdens, however, do not lend themsclves to the computa- tions of those dealing with statistical! dats alone. In addition, thé buresu's report sanfined . high degree, and it is fitting that this place in the Museum, Additional interest was given the cere- mony by the presence of Capt. Hawks himself, who, at the present time, is the undisputed spsed ¢hamplon of avia- for one fiscal year, It has fion. While it took the well known' de only sure winner. He. iteelf to actual figures, except fiyer six and one-half days to cover ma’ board paid whethér be Always the O'her Feliow. find, when all is said and done— The precept ne’er relaxes— ‘The other fellow is the one Who ought to pay the taxes. Lflh}l rent of nott” The effects ' “I don't see how you kept it from | “ WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, DEC THE - EVENING STAR! 2 2 == ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL., ‘The woman in street made a horrible face at the 3 ‘The driver and .his two passengers grinned. “What a face!” exclaimed the driver. “ was scaved,” said the man. pening, scarcely worthy that it !Mfl:im:l problem of the pe- destrian to perfection. If one is afraid, then one is afraid, that is all, but it is a fact that many motorists fail to keep in mind. There is too large a tendency on the part of all of us to lump human beings off into two main masses in this mat- ter and call one ‘“pedestrians” and the other “motorists.” All pedestrians are motorists at some time, however, and all car drivers are upon pccasion’ pedestrians, so that there i no occasion for one forgetting the state of the other. Just as mileage is the chief commod- ity of the automobile, so speed is the desire of every rider. There can be no getting away from it. The pedestrian wants safety. * ok K % The main desire of the two bus pas- sengers of our homely story of the every | day was to get Gown to their offices as | speedily as possible. Each had paid two and a half times the street car fare (for this was a so-called “de Juxe” bus) and-each wanted to get his money’s worth, But neither could see any occasion for the bus driver to scare a fellow | human being to do it. Nor was he to blame. The lady in question had a spleen againct all automobilists, and | against rivers in as e do. When she got to the intersection she cxpected the big vehicle to crush her | to atoms, if she got oo far into the street, She did not comprehend that here | was one driver who was willing to slow up for her. She was as safe in that street, with that driver, as if she nad remained on the curb. He slowed up, when she started across, and had his bus so well in hand that he could have stopped instantly, cular, there been any The lestrian, however, did not know , and when she got well t, | out of harm's way, she turned her sideways and made a tremendously ugly but instantly effective face at the driver, with the result aforementioned. | * ok ko Almost every one who has ridden in a motor car, either as driver or pas- senger, has remarked upon the strange | transformation of character which seems to overtake s in cars. Sweet women will yell and swear— yes, some of them do—at every driver who happens to croes their path, or who |any way hampers their progress. Speed is what every one wants, and every driver puts the brakes, to some | nt, upon every cther driver. ‘This leaves the pedestrian out on a Hmb, as it were, for nobody is going to | | watch out for him, except the driver Excerpts From Newsp: A_NACION, Buenos Aires—The Department of Public Instruc- ¥ tion has lately had under con- | | sideration the matter of corpo- ral punishment and whether or | {not it should be administered in the | | national schools. The president of the Schoolmasters’ Association, Prof. Arturo | Marcos Pita, and the vice president, | Senor Jose Guillermo Torres, are both |of the opinion that corporal punish- | ment should not be entirely abolished, but reserved for infiiction in extreme cases, though never for deficiencies in the courses of instruction. Only a light rod should be employed and never the clenched or open hand. Subjects for such correction should in all cases be sent to the superior teacher in the school and the penalty thus made an official and extraordinary one. Under these conditions, corporal punishment, even rarely administered, will be a valuable influence in main- taining necessary scholastic discipline. * ok ok % Chinese War Lords Obstruct Constructive Program. Chinese Weekly Affairs, Naoking.— Despite the completion of the National revolution and the inauguration of the National government in China, the suf- ferings of the people continue unabated. The reason is not far to seek. The war lords, Yen Hsi-shan and Fen Yu- hsing, have always been doing their utmost to obstruct and frustrate any constructive program of the govern- ment. They regard the territory of the state as their private property, the rev- enue of the government as their own wealth and the doldiers of the country as their feudal serfs. Due to their sub- versive activities, not only has the gov- | ernment been prevented from earrying | out fts constructive projects, but the people have also found it extremely difficult to carry on their peaceful pur- suits, It cannot be too strongly empha- sized that the only remedy for the present situation is national unifica- tion. As long as China is under the | rule of regional war lords, so long will the sorrows of the people continue and the three peoples’ principles fail of realization. Concerted effort of the en- tire nation to bring the Northern rebels to bay alone can achieve national uni- fication and the benefits of republican | reform. | *r e Weapons With Modern Ammaunition Barred in Italian Homes. : | La Nazione, Florence.—The govern- ment has announced its intention of examining collections of arms to insure | | that none ‘are retained in private resi- | | dences which sre capable of being used with modern ammunition without the | official nmm&-km of the duly consti- | tuted 1s. While such weapons of | older models and antique designs are ge-erved nominally only as curiosities, have been occasions the ex- perience of the police where the owners, at moments of passion or excitement, used them for ulterior purposes. The confiscation of all weapons still tal potentialities for crime, ining they are adaptable to contemporary charges and projectiles, will be author- ized under the new regulations. There a}: be no interference, however, with - rms or any non-ex- | plosive weapons of offense. ko x | Glasgow Probes Use And Abuse of Instaliment Plan. Even! Times, Glasgow.—An in- th‘ngeimheldma - o w to con- sider the uses and abuses of the “hire- rchace system” (installment plan). idence is being submitted both fromi the financiers ‘and the purchasers. With the charging of interest on un- paid balances the stock of the United Domintons Trust, handling these trans- actions, have become so valuable in recent years that the Bank of Englahd has taken over 250,000 £2 shares in the busincss. To & great extent unreasonable terms have been inserted in hire-purchase agreements due to the fact that those extending credit have accepted businss that was unsound, and wish this fur- ther protection. In many cases, h these projects have been financed by third parties who, being interested only, in the financial of the question, could not be considered to have any in- terest_in maintaining the amicable re- lationship between retailer and hirer which is of paramount im; ce. | | courtesy has never been made who remembers it he, s My that too, is & pe- siow, of course, there are thousands who do remember, and it is lucky far humanity that this is so, elve traffiic ac- cidents would be multiplied & thousand- fold. There is no one who has not ridden with a humanitarian driver of an au- tomobile. Such a man or womsn will slow up to give children, dogs, cats and squirrels, and the occasional bunny, a chance to get acress the road. Such a driver will always slow down for the pedestrian, and even come to a complete halt to enable him to get over the way, even when the other glares at him in misunderstanding at such un- expected courtesy. * Xk x Truly courtesy is the only solution of the whole automobile problem. We can have traffic lights until the streets and avenues blink like Christ- mas trees on Christmas morning. We can have traffic rules until the Police Manual takes on the appearance of the Postal Laws and Regulations. (And if you have ever seen a copy of that book you will understand.) ‘We can put up “stop” signs until we are blue in the face, as they say out where we come from, bu‘:mr,he acci- dents will keep on happening. We can increase ds one place and decrease them another, but so long as we, as @ Nation, have no courtesy, we will continue to kill and maim with our automobiles. L A courtesy program may sound rather Utopian, and we rather think it is ourself, but it is not a bad idea, is it? Maybe we will have to amend human nature to do it, but it would be worth trying. A real attempt at universal America. For too long we have had the idea thet pcMtepess was for Europeans, not for us. We are to be bold, brusque, elbowing, but never charming, polite, courteous, except when we are at aft- ‘What we need in this country is not, as the mesvxee P’r!;ilazgg %fxll;m} said, a good 5-cent cigar, a of Nation-wide politeness, * % x As & ple we have always put our best toor;’arwud, 28 we say. Most of us display more courtesy to strangers than we do to the home folks. If we bump into some one on the sidewalk we apologize mightily, but if we bump into him with a motor car we say 1t Is his fault. Polite enough, as & general rule, when on show and display, why do we fall down 5o hard when on’ whesls? It is a national mystery, cf course, but perhaps not indigenous to this country. Read Alexandre Dumas’ “Ball of Snow” and learn about the Tartar horsemen, who loved to ride over peo- ple on fair days. .ernoon teas and such like. ut this glorious state of national politeness. We are not a commission, and do not know how to bring in a repecrt. But we do insist that National Cour- tesy day, or week, or year, would be a good thing. Highlights on the Wide World apers of Other Lands ing a cheap graphophone on install- ments. hased the instrument for £2 17s 6d. On January 5 he paid the 5s deposit and on January 21 the first installment of 2s 6d. Since then he served the 56 days in Glasgow Prison because he would not deliver the graph- ophone on which several payments were due. * ok k¥ Return of Antigua Fire Signaling Urged. El Comercio, Lima.—We believe it would be practice to relurn to the tiquated system of signaling in cases fire, used when the guardians of the public peace communicated from one post to another the breaking out of a conflagration. The telegraphic signals which have been installed for some years are inadequate and unreliable. The recent fire in the Calle de Bil- linghurst is an impressive example of the defects of the present system. What ‘was a small affair at first, and easy to extinguish, became a serious and costly event because the corps of firemen did not get information in time. The per- son who first disco--red the blaze could not immediately locate a key to unlock the firebox, and when one was procured the fact that the apparatus was sit- uated upon a pole some distance from | the scene and upon the side of the pole shadowed from the street light in- creased the delay. When Los Bomberos (the pumpmen) | finally aid arrive, the flames had spread | to adjoining bufldings, After all, the personal definite signal is than any message con 3 the engine houses by faulty and un-| ceriain mechanism, and instead of rely- ing upon a contrivance which may or may not convey the alarm, and which even when reporting does not indicate the locality with any degree of precise- ness, the police should be again equip- ped with fire-whistles or anything else that is necessary to relay the alarm from one of these Hlant to another. A code could easily be devised to acquaint the firemen with the situ- ation of the p'ace where their gervices are needed. In such mattors the hu- man factor is much more trustworthy | than communication by an insenstble instrument, which, due to deterforation from exposure and the meddling of street idlers, can never be depended upon in emergencies. fire-whistles The restoration of to | the municipal guardians will save both lives and property in Lima. P Sy v Farm Board’s Wheat Policy Raises Hopes Prom the Topeka Daily Capital. Everybody in this part of the country hopes Chatrman Legge, is right in hold- ing that by the Farm Board’s interven- tion the price of wheat can be heid around the present figure (poor as that i) of 76 cents at Chicago, 20 cents sbove Liverpool. Mr. Legge is ap. parently convinced that with feeding wheat to live stock the gap between the aggregate crop and human consump- tion at home will be closed. If this proves to be the case the price can be maintained. since the tariff of 42 cents will keep imports out at that figure. But with this conceded, in the long run, or over six or 12 months, what benefit would stabilizing purchases have? The price of wheat will be determined by economic demand and supply. That is one of those certainties that nobody can dispute, and when that is granted, ther> is no room left normally for stabilizing purchases. There is a goknz. however, for emerg- ency stabilizing :urchr ‘es, which throws demand and supply out alto- gether, and that was probably the con- sideration the corporat‘on en. tered the market at the two times it came in. That point is that mergency situations may occur when the market {or one cause or another has gone com- pletely out of hand. Such occasions t be times of actual panic. Supply and demand as stabilizers are then mo- mentarily paralyzed and do not cperate. Such oceasions offer special opportuni- ties of manipulation. It is conceivable that both in the Fall of 1929 and thid month the stabilization corporation was put into the market on just that the- ory, that supply and demand wer: not ating. 80, events did not bear As to the grosser abuses of the sys- , one man reported that he ys in prison as the resul of e S the judgment a year ago, for thers no 8 disturbed equili. buf % continued ‘q fall in | himself became & t H. G. WELLS. Geoffrey West. New York: W. W. Co. ‘The adventure was about over before I saw him at all. bt that am t:.mwmel The early part of Mr. West's stu fails to reveal the H. G. Wells whoz readers know. For the very good reason that this boy and man are in retreat, el in the hateful business going to school and, later, in the' it_you all this— There he Futile schools, ideas of education, superficial in their purposes, inade- quate in every respect. Wells hated it he start. He would. Yet, Hke millions of others along the way, he eacher because this offered the nearest open door to & ca- re!l:i fofln ltlvel)hood even. effect, the first scction of this study, “The Man in the Making,” is the education of the day set out in the terms of young Wells" engagement with i, in the terms of his yrotes'. against ft. To be sure, glimpses of the lad and the youth appear, as they must, but these only dimly embody the H. G. Wells that vt Wi bo nother word about education. It is interesting that many years later Mr. Weélls deliberately produced a text book on history. This, clearly, in a spirit of num;, of nsc':e Having won title public homage as an idealist in politics, as an indefatigable student, as a !cl!nltln of no mean measure, as a novelist of uncommon originality and power, his mind went | back, naturally, to those early days of scholastic vacuit; He said, as we all do, the children must be taught reali- ties about the world, about its Journey through time, about its failures and its triumphs—these brought together in their true relations, one continuing ex- periment in existence. So he made his book for the schools, and for every- , “The Outline of History,” did the pedagogue rush out gladly to receive this book of fine substance? He did not. Doubtless he tinkled a bell somewhers. And forthwith the schoolmasters all came running, each armed with a pencil sharpened to its crucifying point. They certainly had the time of th:ir lives lining up bodies of “errata, fits over the learned in | S is quite beautifully unaware of the val- ues of praise, of the technic of prome- tion. He said that when he went to bed “The Outline of History” was an educational reformer. When he got up it was a best seller. So it is. So it | should be, | However, one must get along in a matter that is of bew.'deiing richness. Beyond these eagly yeers ihe going is | faster. For everybody has rels H. G Wells. Even s0, th: man is of such | energy, such variety, such vitality, of | such remarkable achievement as to welcome the competent leadership of Geofirey West through the mazes of a real genius. And here we hear that | Wells slipped out of the bondage of teaching into the career of novelist by | way of journalism, that best of all | routes for the virfle, the capable, the | independent adventurer to take among | the powers and ways of words. ‘Then comes Wells, the novelist, using material drawn pretty evenly from life as it is on the one hand, from life as it might so well be on the other. The novelist of life here, the novelist of ideas | there—as Mr. West designates him. | Science leads him to far imaginings, | sometimes to superficially frantic effects. Politics leads him, through one school and another, to idealistic prophecies of a better world, envisaged in this ro- | mance or that ome. Then there are just novels—love and all that. Each of these, and groups of these, Mr. West Dri ir respective sources, in the spark that fired each and the plan that carried it onward, in its sc- ceptance, or rejection, by heated claim 2nd counter cla'm. An indifferent recep- tion is unknown to H, G. Wells, It is all one way, or the other. Obvion order is Heaven's first law. Otherwise, he would never have undertaken so multifarious a subject as Wells. As it is, however, the reader finds the novel- ist and the novels given over t0.him in | a lucidity of arra ent and m a' deference to ions that set the man and his work out as a single en- flery center, sending out bril- liantly from one point of surface to| another. 8o if you are more interested ! in one of these radiations than an- other—why, here it is, in its right place, properly cireumstanced, wisely assayed within the Wells output, and measured, likewise, by the works of comparable writers roundabout. Besides, there is here the homely thing, an index, so : :f gxe reaae;y n;ld nu.a:m 0 Tequently forgotten by the writer, par- ticularly if this expositor himseif lay genius. In that case, he despises the index, while the student yearns 101'&0.. A little point of excellence in Mr. West's generally sur- g work which is made use of to prod careless writers to a sense of their full duty. A knowing critic, in whom 1 ht and understanding serve here to give readers the whole 6f H. G. Wells, man and writer. A friend, besides; and this gives an intimacy of reveletion that dis- closes Mr. Wells at his best and, once in a while, at a little below his best.!| And that is one of the elsments calcu- lated to project a falr study with a finely critical survey of this outstanding | genfus. Most interesting reading, as well. Indeed, this is an exciting adven- | ture—just sitting under the lamp in a | vicarfous partaking of the performances of a shooting star, or a meteor, or any otber of the skyey vagabonds. And out of it there emerges a man whose passion is hard work. That in itself is genius. Grilling work, hourl upon hour and year upon year. Health of little account, and at times of no ae- ! count at all, save as menace and barri- cade against the next effort. Yet, this schoolteacher, journalist, novelist in al-! most every form and dsgree of protest against things as they are, this sclen- e skeptic who must be shown the truth of things, this whimsical, witty, original thinker turns out, again and again, writings that have delighted us all and will delight us again. Oh, nof all of us! That would be fatal to him. Mr. Wells pains deeply the writers who are conspicuously “art-conscious,” “the James-Conrad-Hueffer” circle. And of mself says many plain_an things. .ood-nnuredry. For &h&a is°a friendly man winn! his way pretty much all alike through the sential kindness of his nature. he “art-conscious” writer Wells : “Literature is not jewellery, other aims than perfection, the more one thinks of ‘how it is done’ the less one gets it done. These critical indulgences lead a path, away from every natural toward a preposterous emptiness of technical effort, a monstrous egotism of artistry of which the later work of Henry James Is a monumenta! warni : e sub or the thought, long since ta(.. amaz- mandate of the League of Natior usly, Geoffrey West knows that the ¢ OPPpression. BY FREDERIC gz <4 i g7 5z Star | absolute zero of it, and the entrance on to prevent this. The old of | Treasury Bullding Is still standing. Q. Does ind B e England govern Palestine? A. Palestine administered - by a Q. How much radium is there now in the world?—E. R. C. A. There may be 8 to 10 ounces of radium world today, but there figures. Q. Who bullt the Benson Foot Bri on the Columbia River Highway .d:; WhAlt fllg it cost?—G. W. C. . The Benson Foot Bridge at Multnomah Falls on the Columbia River Highway in Multnomah County, Oreg., was constructed in 1914 by Mr. S. Benson, a prominent citizen of Portland, Oreg,, at his own expense, and presented to Multnomah County. For this ':l}mm are no figures available on the Q. How long have chimneys bee: g " Y it : are of th modern orfgin. Ancient Rome d.ldm know them. The modern chimney was first used in Europe in the fourteenth century. The oldest certain account is of one in Venice in 1347, Q. Where is the U. 8. 8. Lexington statiened?—B. R. A. Ii s at present in the Py Sound Navy Yard, Washington. s Q. How is the word “imbroglio” pro- ncunced?—K. J. A. It is pronounced as if spelled im-brol-yo. Both o's are long. i Q. How many kinds of humming birds are thore?—J, A, E, | A. What humming birds lack in size | they try to make up in number. There are nearly 500 species and they are found only in the New World. They are tropical, but in warm weather and the | season of flowe's they migrate as far north as Alaska and as far south as Patagonla. Our country makes an Q. Why is 1t believed there is no lite mA'.heAn moon?—O, H. L. . eTS &l of A og ronom re the opinion ing vegetable or animal form. It is an fact that the moon has no atmosphere, and since the acceptable Summer home for about 16 | word speci H-an" J. BASKIN, above 100 degrees centigrade the dark side extreme cold, temperature. also known to be lacking. s ow 1it, either or impossible. In Q were established for ci States?—D. M. B, A. In the United States deliberate providing of area for P ounds was begun e e ot 5 in dl!“. when yellow sand were placed in the yards of ¢ the Children's Mission” in Boston. TI")): next year the soclety established 11 sand plles. In 1893 two Summer playgrounds Were started by philanthropic le in Philadelphia. "The Children's Associa- tion started sand gardens in Pro 2wxr.'-lln ‘1“':. hAhnul the Private playgrounds were in New York City, The movmmg not really get under way until 1898, when the association established 20 sand first 8 AQ, How did Key West get ita namer— A “West” of the h bone, word signify rock in the l:.'"?l Q. What kind of a_ Jasip THe% kind of a”climate has Eng. rized by warm Win- A. It is characte) , cool Summers and a large rainfall, mem is 3 ng o uption of the Indian ;n islet, sand bank or The average annual about 48 degrees Pahrenhei Q. When was it discovered that dis- were the o Bava rather than supernatural a‘:u, Q. How do the ! thetr m”_"veopmi .ot Rouad make A. Rouad Is a very The sponges found the . e found there are very very fine, e and Q. Upon what kind of rock Mount Rushmore Memorial carve¢?—B, H, A. Mount Rushmore, in the Range, is the loftiest elevat; granite between the Atlantic Seaboard. above sea level. Q. What was the King's retort to th mous burlesque epftaph—*Here |cur Sovereign Lord the King, is being Harney 4 on of solid Rockies and th It rises 7,000 feet moon is not capable of sustain- He life in some | t; Chance for Superior Movies - Created by Court Decision - Action by the United States Supreme Court ageinst a combination of motion picture producers and distributors is “A momentous decision” Br{a:hfnflm Chronicle, which upon the future production of films and indirectly upon the eultural and moral standards {his Natio whole will this Nation as a than satisfied with the judgment of tribunal. The Sherman their . 8| law is a good law. It had and has for its pur the prevention of - oltes. - Tt encourages competition. - The so-called trusts which have been at- tacked by the Federal ks which furnished the general public with food, Hght, heat, clothing. The Attor- ney Oene::l of the United States during an lons has tried to shield the from the unceasing aggression privilege. He has sought to insure material eomfort for the many against the greed of the “The unlawful practices in restraint of trade,” according to the Worcester Evening Gazette, “will now be aban- doned. But if the producers and dis- tributors who control 98 per cent of the country’s films want to keep their stranglehold on the motion picture busi- ness they probably can some legal way to do it. And as long as the Hays group or any other group exer- cises such zontrol as that, we.entertain slight h of a ly improvement in the quality of the pictures which the public is permitted to see.” * ok % “The business, because of its highly influential place in American life,” con- cludes the Morgantown Dominjon-News, “Is on the brink of governmental regu- lation. The industry alone can keep itsell out of this status. And it ean do so onl_v' by flxmh'.l its efforts at monopoly for neial purposes an other abuses incident to centralized control. While it is expected that the industry will continue to be conducted | be primarily for profit, those in must realize that the public interest has risen to a place of equal importance and must receive equal consideration. Unless the motion picture interests do r'e:lrl)gnue bymtl;: ‘rrnct, by _th as as elr professions, they are heading toward further regulation.” It is held by the Louisville Courer- Journal that “what the art requires and the public is entitled to is a meth- od whereby the local exhibitor can ex- ereise discriminating programs, so that the millions residing in thousands of one-theater towns may see the best the studios produce, and by patronizing it encourage the artistic side of the industry.” “We hear much of racketeering now- adays,” remarks the Kansas City Star. “The term has become significant of Yet the monopoly which may very well have great effect e the decision of the court, lzhn;u l:lfll::-smflnel holds some the local exhibi| S in sele Wwhile th‘: Green B: entire structure of the film- organization” = will e 3@2‘2&%‘?,’ and that “with the omission of the fea- tures held umlawful” there be will ‘freer tition, which destrable, but essentialo 70t Y R Similar views are held n-oolhflyxmug.t tion, but ity OF the g gt Ppictures and of the industry ) by the Ohi- ubli is little likelihood,” Judgment of the Hartford Daily m‘flnfi: that the anti-trust law will be weak- ened or repealed in order to give lead- ers In industry and business greater ! lom to combine their- resources for the factors of pro- te control of doction and sale. Against e atmont mevian wou : le abuses th; arise under such freedim e’ vllblllg needs the protection of & law which will keep competition at work."” “This 1llustrates,” deciares the “not only the vital means of s public and private rights plrnud les of the people, but the fact, also, that the administration s de- termined that the Sherman act shall enforced. The Attorney General, Mr. Mitchell, s thos hly alive to the importance of istering the agains trldt. ment in the 't ———— Reason for Diversifying. From the Little Rock Arkansas Demoarat. You see it works this way: The farmer diversifies 50 he can have more markets in which there is what he is raising. i o ————— e Reckless Backing Perils. Prom the Loulsville Times. Dents in the back of s car don't that the owner is necessarily indicate & careful driver. He may be a reckless backer, s ing works; nothing remains but the way it has been ‘manipulated.’ ” “Wells had his detractors,” Geoffrey West reminds us—and then he goes on to bring to a sanely fitting close & summary of the work of Mr. Wells and of his probable place in letters for many a year to come. A tremendous undertaking, “H. G. Wells,” because of the astound man him- self. A man who in piain and bare statement is fashioned to crowd several vol & single book. With the 3 West absorbing na: comprehenst Good Dry Law Effect. Prom, the Colorado Springs Gazette and Tel- “!16 um'l; ul:!bdtnr hwhl,thn a8 luce a of dry ginger ales. . Tu‘i,:llu Won't Be Beat. - e ¢ ok on Sl 5 hour is now on the market,, but bet the taxicabs will pass it. an we How to Be Elected. X upon the author., A = S intense! X teres I scmething lus fo viigs e Oakland Tribune. e way to be elected president of the fn;ol; blll“fln'l l-o..h"ll Igglnlt: 0: &’. ue person Who a e expert. ‘ tor’ can exer- |