Evening Star Newspaper, December 29, 1930, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. _ WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDA' THEODORE W. NOYES. ...Editor Rate by Carrier Within nine Star.... and Bin the City. .45 per month 1) ;m ‘per month each month. lection thi or telephone rders may be sent in ngDhlI 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. land and Virginia. 1yr. $16.00 131 $600: 1vel $4.00. b5 el 1 mo.. B¢ : 1 mo.. 50c 1mo.. 40c All Other Stat fly and Sunday. dly only . junday only Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to th for republication news dis: dited to it es and Canada. 1¥r.§12.00. 1 mo.. $1.00 17, $3.00: 1 mo.. 75¢c 1 §5.00: 1 mo.. 50 news ) jon of 50 tese ot <0 1 therwise he local of pun Europe Looks to America. From two wholly independent and highly qualified sources—one Europ:a the other American—came yesterday | assurances with meaning for the! international economic outlock. Sir | Josiah Stamp, a go—crnor of the of England, and one of Britain's repre- sentatives on the Dawes Reparations| Commission, ard Dr. Julius Klein,! Assistant S tary of the Department of Commerce, both broadcast end-of-| the-year messages of almost identical import. They were to the effect that in | American finencial and industrial sta- | bility Europe s the surest guarantee of world stability. Dr. Klein has just returned from a two-months personal survey of conditions on the other side. | Sir Josiah Stamp, at liberty to speak | more freely in the realm of prophecy:| than the Assistant Secretary of Com- | merce, expressed the view that v.he“ United States will be the first country to recover from the present Wl)rld-wldcl depression. The British financier acclaims the policy of American bank- ers, as recently exemplified by the New | York Federal Reserve Bank's reduction | of its rediscount rate, in “maintaining | cheap money.” He advocates strict, governmental economy and balanced | budgets, an anti-depression policy which President Hoover right now l.s: doing his best to pursue, in the teeth | of pressure that has more of politics | than sound economics as its motive. | Bir America will lead the world in business recovery, though he does not look for sunshine for another year, calls upon his countrymen, and Europeans gen-| erally, to keep their houses in order so that when the pendulum does begin to swing from across the Atlantic in their own directiop they will be “ready for action as the movement gains momen- tum.” There could hardly be a more significant tribute to the United States’ “key” position as an economic power than this thoughtful word from London. Dr. Klein, discussing European opin- fon of America, strikes the same note. Countries in the old world, he declares on the basis of his recent first-hand contacts “over there,” now hold a deep- ening appreciation that in the eco- nomic strength and well-being of the United States “lies the greatest single | hope for world recovery today.” That oracular observation of his impels the accomplished director in chief of our foreign trade activities to annihilate the theory that Europeans’ favorite bedtime story is a hymn of anti-Ameri- can hate, “Save for bitterness existing in one country”—Dr. Klein does not specify which it is—he scouts as “a figment of superheated imagination” the widespread belief that our war debts, immigration and tariff policies have generated chronic animosity toward the United States across the Atlantic. The assertions of Sir Josiah Stamp end Dr. Klein are welcome &4nd agree- able at the close of a year which an economically sorely afflicted universe ‘wants to forget as soon as possible. An American wit has recently said that we | are suffering from “overprediction” as well as overproduction. Prophecy may be futile, but hope and confidence %have | their uses. Americans are justified by the views of level-headed authorities | like Stamp and Klein in renewing their faith in the future, gradual as the re- turn of normal times may be. ——rcgtu A Communist demonstration consists ©of a series of speeches and a’ procession, all of which have been heard and seen before. One objection to communistic ideas is that they always assume to be something new and r.ever are. e Financial complications are perhaps not so difficult for juries and legislative committees as they used to be. The studies and calculations required by the income tax have put at least one expert accountant into every home. . Borah Wants No Third Party. Senator Borah of Idaho, like Senator Norris of Nebraska, has rejected the idea of a third political party. The Idaho Senator has frequently been men- tioned in the past as a possible head of a new political party. He has, however, remaincd a Republican and, according to the statement issued by him yester- day, he intends to remain in the Re- publican party. One by one the Pro- gressive Republicans who have been at outs with the Hoover administration are announcing their irm determination not to abandon the G. O. P. for some new party allegiance, Presumably this means, too, that they will not support Democratic candidates in the 1932 elec- tion, The Idaho Senator apparently sees no possibility of the successful establish- ment of a rew political party at this time. He says quite plainly that there are at least four or five vital issues be- fore the American people, and that a +++..Décember 20, 1030 rved. | Josiah Stamp, belleving thatrpe made far ahead of the time that farm relief te and National ts, respect'vely, with reference problems.” The back of political leaders, members the Senate and House, cannot agree on these matters. are too many Democrats who and too many who are wet, opinion of the Idaho Senator, for the party to commit itself for or against national prohibition. There are too many Republicans divided on that sub- ject and also too many Progressives who might form a third party. How long the prople are to be satis- fied with parties which are not willing to take definite stands on vital issues remains to be seen* Perhaps one or both of the old parties will find courage in the end to make such issues in their campaigns and not seek to straddle. If cne of the two parties adopts such a | course, it 1s likely to compel its ad- | versary to take the opposing side in | these issues. In the r are dry in the antime, the people must | K a warfare within | been going on within the Republica ranks -in the for some y Such wa accomplished Jit: n | a5 i | There | THE EV England there will be much opposition. In those hills and along those rugged coasts the early town meetings were attended by men in knee breeches, steeple hats and buckled shoes. Thither later came men in oflskins and mack- inaws; there was seen, and perhaps may still be, that sartorfally unique combination affected by the mountain= farmer for special occasions, namely, cutaway coat, . cowhide boots and yachting cap, not to mention many other quaint forms of dress and undress. There old scores were scttled and old feuds healed or reopened. There I the south end of the “town” got square { with the north end which had erected {all the iron bridges up toward its way. | Thete friends and even relatives, too busy through the Summer months or {too hampered by the Winter drifts even to see one another, foregathered | The raggedness of the unemployed has its appeal, no doubt about that. There i8 many a man in immaculate suit and hat who would give a great deal to be able to wear such carefree, comfortable clothes. The only time they get to do so now is in the Summer, when they go away to camp for a few weeks, or when coming home on an ocean Iiner irom Europe. Then they let their beards grow, and have a fine time lounging around. The unemployed, however, possess the right to dress as they please, with- out comment, and that is a great deal in such a world as this. Probably the exigencies of their case demand some care, even, to a rough appearance: but surely their garments in most instances scem warm and land made a day of it, socially as well as politically. Many a pithy speech | {and many a pungent speech-shattering | single remark were made, to be; chuckled over for months afterward ! around red-hot stov 1t was, and| today still is, more than just a form ! of government; it was an Event. £s has |Where once the participants bumped | do or glided along over rutty roads pped in great buffalo hides, today | flivvers stuffed wjth | e le. : 1 | SN oo School Building Delays. An article in yesiorday's Star de- cribed scme of the causcs for delay in hool botween the tim that school officials first request funds | for purchase of a site and the time that the new building is opcned. 'rnv\% delay runs as long as six years in some | ca. That is inexcusably slow. especially 50 in view of the cbligation on the part of school officials to justify their original request for school sites In other words, the justification for the site must be based on necessity. But when the necessity arises the building | should have been ready. The needs of | the school system should be antici- | construction pated. Instead, the nccessity must al- ready be apparent when the request for site purchase is made, thus meaning that the necessity cannot be met until several years have passed. It is impossible to place the blame on individuals in the school system or in Congress. The fau't lies in the method. If the officials ccncerned are to be criticized. it is on the ground that there have been no serious and con- nt attempts to correct the m The five-year building program may | have been a stab in that direction. But | it failed to strike home. It ought to be obvious to everybody that the purchase of school sites should | the site will actually be needed for the | building. Economy alone should jus- tify the practice. The Park and Plan- ning Commission has recommended, in this connection, that the District be given a five-million-dollar Treasury advance for purchase of school and library sites, the loan to be repaid in annual installments approximating in size the annual appropriations . now made for such purposes. That is a good suggestion that should be consid- ered during the school hearings this year. The year-to-year plan of school site purchase and building construc- tion now followed does not anticipate the needs of the schools far enough ahead, but represents at best a futile effort to catch up with the necessities. The disgraceful congestion at Western and at some other schools is the result. Had it been possible to expedite the enlargement of the Gordon Junior High School when the necessity for such enlargement became apparent the congestion would have been prevented. Even after the site is obtained and the appropriation for the school build- ing becomes available, another interval of delay ensues while the plans for the building are being prepared. The plans cannot be drawn until the site is se- lected and bought or until the school building appropriation is in hand. Why would it not be possible to prevent this delay by setting aside a special fund for the preparation in advahce of} school plans? They would not be used, of course, until the building was ap- propriated for. But once the appro- priation was made, the bids could be| advertised, contract let and by the be- ginning of the new fiscal year, when the cash is in hand, construction could begin. While the plans depend upon the | amount of money Congress is willing to appropriate, there is no reason to be- lieve that Congress would not follow the advice of the experts. There is nothing to be gained by seeking to blame individuals for delay in scheol construction. Much is to be gained by concerted action to revise the system and prevent delay. Every-| body agrees that it should be done. There is no reason why it should- not | be done. ey A hope that optimism and enterprise | will distinguish the year 1921 is ex- pressed by Ramsay MocDonald in his message for the New Year. The hope is one that wiil echo all the way around the world. e r——— A great deal of interest is manifest in the question of whether the Wicker- sham Commission will fully indorse the 1931 model as the ideal water wagon without attempting ay new ideas. vt | | — | Stock Exchange men are not allowed to play “numbers” This restriction does not go very far toward eradicating the danger of speculation, but it helps a little. e Townships and Town Meetings. Reaction of a number ‘of different parts of the country, and especially New England, toward the plan to eliminate the township as a unit of |government and_ the old-fashioned town meeting as political fixture is cause_for speculation Economists de- clare t this long-established method of government hes entirely outlived its functions in this day when one can drive clear across a State in the time it used to take to reach town meeting ! new party could not agree on all of them any more than the old parties can agree on them. If Mr. Borah is right, the country will have to struggle along with these issues cutting across the political lines of both old political | abolition will be advanced for approval parties. The only issue dividing the parties, under such conditions, will be | necessary expenses of government and which is to hold public office and spend | consequent decreases in property taxes. ‘This is ret particularly uplifting or exciting as!cettled States the question will en issue, except to the prlitizians and viowed from a matter-of-fact, hard ' chcose foh de present, but I'd advise' the money of the taxpayers. their Jangers-on. on foot, on horseback or in the pung behind the old gray mare. At the coming Midwinter meeting of the National Association of Real Estate Boards at St. Petersburg, Fla, this as tending toward a reduction in un- Doubtless in some of the more newly | bard to abolish. horse-blankets. But the old spirit is the same and now that the ladi God biess them, also participate and not only vole but swap gossip and recipes, ‘the town meeting of old may prove an institution gosh-aluighty r—om The Hit-and Runner. tically every published list of | s dents will*be found mention ble type of automo- the hit-and-runner. And casunlties on E s is M0 ex- ception. Four persons standing in a safety zone on Conneclicut avenue were ruthlessly run down, all of them in- jured, and the driver who did the dam- age proceeded on his way without so| much as a backward look. 1t'is this sort of thing that makes the blood of all decent citizens boil. ! Penalties for hitting and running are sev but, u tunately, justice is oftentimes delayed and thercby becomes | inefizctive. There is one penalty, how- ever, that can be inflicted immediately | and one that will have permanent re- sults. The permit of the offender to | drive can, when he is caught, be re- voked for all time, 5o that regardless of delay in court action he will no more menace human life and property. | T fortune tellers are sald to be predicting a prosperous 1931. Their words are not as con- vincing as those of money experts, but | they may as well make the opinion | unanimous. —————— It was not in time of war that Joffre suffered his most severe wound. The irony of fate asserts itself among the men who go into battle as well as among those who follov the ways of peace. ————— Statesmen wish one another a happy New Year, even though silently con- vinced that a colleaguc’s happincss will depend on his ability to change his views. —— SHOOTING STARS. Songs and Sighs. So swiftly th» weeks scem to hasten along, There is scarcely the space for a sigh or a song And Fate will seem kind if with care they draw nigh With enough of the song to outbalance | the sigh. We've seen Merry Christmas and shown how our skill Is suffici-nt to conquer the Wintertime “Happy New Year's” at hand, and the birthdays draw near To turn us toward memories that we hold dear 8 And then for a change we shall see, by and by, The splenders aflame of the Fourth of July. And s0, as together we journey- along, Let's forget every sigh and remember the song. e For, as well as glad days to the calendar known, It is not at all hard to make some of our own, Woman in Politics. “I have always said that women have a right to be in politics,” sald the young man of claborate manners. “No doubt about it,” answered Sena- tor Sorghum. “And the fact that your presence on the Government pay roll is due to maternal affection reminds me of that other great principle of cconomic science, ‘A boy's best friend”is his mother. “Jud Tunkins says he can remember a lot of advice that he wishes he had taken. But things even up. He can remember just as much advice that he's glad he let alone. A Terrible Poss The crook is presuming To show so much authority To voice, he'll be assuming The will of the majority. ity. Subtle Flattery. “The tip is out that you are going to be taken for a ride and put on the | spot.” | “Don't try to get me worried ebout nothing,” answered Bill the Burg. “I never did anything worth being noticed. Every now and then some fool friend in Chicago will start some rumor just in the hope of getting you flattered up and making you feel important.” | “A man may have knowledge of how to make his country prosperous,” sald Hi Ho the sage of Chinatown, “and still lack the knowledge of how to convince his fellow men.” Logical Warfare, “Them as want war,” said Cactus Joe, “Should try our way and simply go Out in the open, without doubt, And shoot their differences out.” “Well, chillun,” said Uncle Ebep, “dar | this | P comforteble, fortable which are well worn. Well worn clothes make a special ap- peal to some natures. The reason for is twofold. 1In the first place, me men—we speak only of men— dislike new garments on general prin- ciples. The new suit or the new overcoat presents them with & strain which they not like. They feel ill at ease in it, and would much rather be wearing some old article full of wrinkles and creeses. This is a trait which has nothing at all to do with money. Some wealthy men fall into this category. Such men Iways are forgiven their “idissyncrasy s it is called. If they feel better in 14 clothes, well, that is their right! * K K ‘Those who may happen to be neither wealthy nor famous find well pressed more in keeping with their the mediocrity of good ufacturers have con- G to impress upon the American mind that to be well dressed gives one a_ “successful air,” and there is prob- ome truth in the assertion. ‘The claim receives an awful jolt, however, if the suspicious one happens to mnotice that office boys, as a class, are tremendously well dressed. The other reason for like of old clothes approaches néarer to a man's bosom. Old clothes are comfortable. Th kinks in a_ man's frame, they bend where they should bend, and, alas, often stay bent when they should not. Hence it comes about that those strait-laced persons Who have swal- ved, hook, line and sinker, the good the garment makers, kance upon their associates be well pressed. often look as who refuse The lat “dress better,” but when it comes down to an actual reform they find so much | philosophy on_their side that in- variably they hesitate to disturb the 1 worn nature of their clothing. This old slouch hat, which had seen the storms of several Winters, reminds them of the noble words of that great heathen, Walt Whitman. “I wear my hat as I please, indoors and out,” said he. There is a favorite photo of Walt, as a young man, with his trousers baggy at the knees, his shirt unbuttoned at the neck, his felt hat tilted at a mag- nificent angle. You will find the pic- ture, in most editions, illustrating the poem, “Song of Myself.” * ok v To discover the fundamental differ- ence between the svelte dressers and the careless you will have to do more as all clothes are com-| ¢ have adapted themselves to the | may admit they should | VDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1930. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. based upon a Frefzrence for creature comforts. It will be discovered that the man who wears old clothes, by prefer- ence, not necessity, would like to g0 around in none at all, if conventions permitted. Short of that, nothing suits him quite As well as an old coat and trousers, | old hat, old shoss. Such things appeal | to his mind as well as to his body. In them he fesls more at ease, more at one with hims:Ilf. This sartor philosopher is willing to admit the lure of bright, new things. Sometimes, amid a group of the perfect, | he is inclined to feel slightly il at ease, not bocause of his old clothes, he likes to think, but simply because he realizes that the others place s) much ,ixlrcss on externals, as clothes literal- ly_are. | _Yet the man who likes his clothing old usually has built up for himself a certain species of resistance, which is able to come to his rescue in times of need, and represent to him the ab- surdity of wilting in respect to his likes and dislikes. He knows that criticism today has | usurped for itself a spec:al place: it is not so much criticism as fault-finding, | and that, in the last analysis, it means nothing, or scarcely more than a de- | sira on the part of the others to keep | eriticism off themselves by first level- ing it at others. Cd ‘Those who naturally prefer old clothes to new will be found, in most cases, to be men of intense loyalty, which | extends not only to human beings, but also to their material possessions. | “such types are more easily isolated |in the country districts. There is no Jownship in the United States which di not possess one or more farmers | who have outlived their families, friends and acquaintances, and yet in their old age will not desert the old home. There they live year after year by themselves, happy in their way, liking | the feel of the old door handle, pre- | ferring the laborious “drum stoves” to | the latest form of centralized heating, | perhaps even sticking steadfastly to coal-oil J]amps in lieu of the electricity which they might easily have. To suchemen their houses are old garments, which fit them easily and render them comfortable. Perhaps in- to do with it. In any event, if they are happy, perhaps that is all that matters. In the cities the man who prefers old things, who is loyal to an old hat, is not so easily picked out. Some call him careless or untidy or indifferent, and maybe he is open to these charges, but at bottom he will be found to be a man of the loyal type we have pre- sented, one who cannot be measured by ordinary standards. ‘There is with, him no posing, al- though he may be accused of such, be- cause one ordinarily does not care to pose in old clothes. How wonderful if among the scores of unemployed who dot our corners in old clothes there £hould chance to be one or more Walt Whitmans of the future who, out of hard times and its experience,” will some day prasent the world with new “Leaves of Grass"! “I exist as I am—that is enough; If no other in the world be aware, I sit content; And if each and all be aware, I sit content. One world is aware, and by far the largest to me, and that is myself; And whether I come to my own today or in ten thousand or ten million than Japse into invectives against the latter. The difference is a state of mind, years, I can cheerfully take it now or with equal cheerfulness I can wait.” WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WIELIAM WILE. Capt. Albert W. Johnson, U. S. N, chairman of the American Electoral Mission, has just made a personal re- port to Presidsnt Hoover on the recent suceessfully conducted clections in Nica- . While four SBouth American re- publics were settling their political dif- fersnces by the bullet, Nicaragua set- tled hers by the ballot. The country for- merly the most turbulent little state in ever held. Only a few ere fired by bandits to scare the or possibly to advertise San- dino, who scems completely to have petered out. The Liberals captured both ouses of Congress by a comfortable majority and elected Gen. Moncada president by an equally substantial margin. In his inaugural address on December 15, President Moncada lauded the impartiality of Capt. Johnson and his colleagues in glowing terms. Nica- ragua seems to have turned her back once for all on the revolutionary method of changing governments. R Gradual withdrawal of United States Marines from Niciragua during the past fetv. years has reduced their number from something like 5,000 to a scant 1,000. Responsibility for the anti-bandit campaign has been transferred to the Guardia Nacional, an efficient body of native troops created under the Stimson agreement of 1927. It is carrying on an energetic campaign in the Nicaraguan Jjungle. . Throughout the inhabited com- munities, where the late pollings took place,. Capt. Johnson’s force of Ameri- can military, maval and marine officers and .500 sailors and merines served as the national supervisory body. An en- listed man sat as chairman of the local election board at each voting place, assisted by a representative of each of the Nicaraguan political parties. In every case, this trio worked together without friction. The fine conduct and shots w " fairness of the Yankee sailors and ma- | rines impressed the people s> favorably that in a few of the smaller towns, the voters invited them to remain in the country and run for mayor! * * x % Here's a bit of unrecorded history of Gen. Pershing’s World War memoirs, about to be published in The Washing- ton Star and other leading newspapers throughout the country. Pershing and his stafl salled for Europe on the famous trip of the S. 8. Baltic in June, 1917. Every one of his 80 asso- ciates and subordinates was a personally picked and trusted selection of the commander in chief. The last night at sea, just before Pershing’s outfit landed in England, it was agreed that the only diary of the great adventure upon which he and his staff were about to enter should be that kept by the general him- self. From its pages has now eventu- ated the gripping story of the A. E. F. in Prance. . ‘Washington's gossipy tongue is still wagging over the recent $50,000 debut of an oil magnate’s daughter. Even Senator Norris has breezed into the dis- cussion with the suggestion that found expression on many less notable lips. He thinks it was a waste of money to pend $50.000 on launching a girl in soclety. If the Nebraska nemesis of all evil doers would think, on this occasion, nd the end of his Progressive nose, menage lives a youhg couple whose views on Volsteadism differ rad- ically from those of their official neigh- bor. So occasionally, following an out- door cocktail party, an ‘“anonymous” empty container is tossed over the wall, to land with a thud or a crash on the g:sn walks or carefully kept flower * ok ok Representative Ruth Bryan Owen, Democrat, of Florida, who is spending the holidays in Jamaica—her one-f home—with her ‘younger children, tar- ried in New York en route to her ship long enough'to see her elde. son John play in professional drama. He has become a member of Pritz Leiber's Bkakespearean Repertory Players, who have just begun a cycle of the Avon bard’s plays in Manhattan. Last week the talented grandson of William Jen- nings Bryan was seen in “Hamlet” and this week he has roles in “The Mer- chant of Venice” and “King Lear.” The lad, who's in his middle 20s, learned his elocution from his mother, who was once at the head of the Department of Public Speaking in the University of Miami. . o The whole American press early this month carried a yarn from Rome tell- ing of a reception tendered Mussolini by the American Ambassador and Mrs. John W. Garrett. Il Duce, it appeared, had done our accomplished envoy a signal honor in cbming to Palazzo Ros- pigliosi, which the Garretts inhabit. In recognition of the compliment (so ran the story), the Ambassador turned the embassy into an armed camp for the premier's protection. The other day the New York Times, which pub- lished the original account, cabled Mr. Garrett about it. The following reply was returned: “Except for six-shooters, risks and secretaries and servants lurk- ing behind potted palms and in stra- tegic corners, the article is a tissue of truth. Merry Christmas. John and Alice Garrett.” X * * * The “Bill” Borah of the German Reichstag is a Hitlerite named Frick, which sounds Pittsburgerish. Herr Frick is chairman of the Reichstag Committee on Foreign Relations. It's one of the blue-ribbon assignments which fall to the German Fascists be- cause of their new numerical impor- tance in Parliament. (Copyright. 1930.) s Proof of the Pudding. From the Baltimore Sun. An unusual tribute to the value of zoning is given in the National Munici- pal Review by one of the leading real estate men of New York, who attributes the beauty of the skyscrapers of the city to regulation of uses of property. Nothing comparable to the charm and artistic perfection of these great modern structures is to be found elsewhere in such profusion, and it is highly credit- able to American architects that, under the necessity imposed upon them by zoning restrictions, which, among other things, compelled setbacks of buildings in relation to height, they developed a type of architecture which, the writ of the article says, “will go down in hi; tory as an enduring monument to the men who created the New York zoning he’'d realize that such festivities are |law. exactly the sort of thing designed to remedy the economic evil over which Norris et al. now have bleeding hearts. ‘They put money in circulation. They start dollars to rolling in countless use- ful directions. They give employment to butchers, bakers and candlestick- makers. They provide work for cooks, waiters, dish washers, taxi drivers, flor- ists, dressmakers id a dozen other categories of labor. And, in the instance which arouses Norris’ indignation, the dough is pried loose from precisely the quarter he thinks it ought te be taken—i. e, pub- lic utilities! * One of the Federal officials highly charged with prohibition enforcement 2in’ ‘g'ineter be no Christmas foh an- be common sense standpoint. But up in otarr year, 50 you kin blieve whut you you to git back to y old way o' the vital fscuss mentioned by the hills and valleys of rural New (thinking’ ‘long ‘bout lovember,” duties inhabits a sylvan home in the rection of Washington. 2 * d tive and not defensive purposes his property includes a walled- in ger lite many establishments in that particular rege®1. Not far from the y for Furthermore, it should relieve the anxiety of those who have been appre- hensive that zoning would retard prog- ress of the city to hear the same au- thority declare that the New York law “has been of incalculable benefit to real estate values” and that “its main pur- pose, to provide logically for the growth of the city and to protect property values, bee) that we simply take it for granted.” New York was the first American city to adopt zoning. Its sixteen years’ ex- perience with the plan, under conditions which make equitable control of prop- erty uses far more difficult than in a smaller city, is proof of the wisdom of properly drafted zoning laws. e A Better Commission. Prom the Lynchburg News. Better than a flemunent. disarma- ment commission is a for permanent herited traits of thrift have something | ] The Political Mill By G. Gould Lincoln. ‘The prohibition issue, which has been in eclipse for the last 10 days or more, due to the fact that the row between Senator Norris of Nebraska and other Progressive Republican Senators, on the one hand and Robert H. Lucas, director of the Republican National Committee; Representative Will Wood, chairman of the Republican Congressional Commit- tee, and other “regulars,” on the other, has held the spotlight, 1s likely to bob up again within a short time. The Wickersham Commission, as President Hoover's Commission on Law Observ- ance and Enforcement, has come to be called, is expected to hand its report to the Chief Executive within another two we: By the Chief Executive, the report and such recommendations as it makes are expected to be forwarded to the Congress. o ‘The report of the commission in all probability will be made an occasion for another outburst over the wet and dry question, with both sides to the issue firing broadsides. The issue still cuts sharply across both political par- tics, The wets, however, seem to have the bulge in the Democratic organiza- tion, while the Republicans, if Chair- man Fess of the Republican National Committee is to be credited ‘with sizing up the situation, must support the eighteenth amendment. All kinds of speculations have been published con- cerning the probable character of the report of the Wickersham Commission. Some of them have asserted that the commission would recommend some kind of modification—and that the Hoover administration would seize on the report as a pretext for gotting away from the ultra-dry side of the question. Still other reports insist that the commission will recommend another five or ten year period of experimenia- tion with national prohibition any changs is suggested. The truth of the matter is that the commissioners have been particularly close-mouthed in regard to their report. . . The liquor question holds as many pitfalls for the Republican party, it seems, as does (e water-power issue, raised in particular by the Progressives, including Senator Norris of Nebraska, Senator Couzens of Michigan and Gov.: elect Gifford Pinchot of Pennsylval The Progressive Republicans themselvc are not a unit at all on the liquor ques- tion. For example, here is Senator Norris declaring himself a friend of prohibi- tion, and Brookhart of Iowa, Borah of Idaho and Pinchot also on the dry side, while Blaine and La Follette of Wis- consin and Couzens of Michigan are against prohibition as now practiced and favor beer, at least, as a substitute for national aridity. e The wets do not intend, if they can help it, to have their pet issue sub- and irregular Republicans. that if the Republicans fall out among themselves, 1932 may bring the election of a Democrat for President. And the Democrat is likely t> be against the continuance of the eighteenth amend- ment. It would not be a surprise, there- fore, if the Association Against the Pro- hibition Amendment and its officers should prod the Republicans when they find it convenient, to keep them flying at cach other’s throats. The association has many Republican members and many of them wealthy in its ranks, But it also has had with it John J. Raskob, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, while the chair- man of the Republican National Coms mittee is Senator Simecn D. Fess of Ohio, who has been a member of vari- ous boards of dry‘orslr:uuons. * Senator Norris of Nebraska, having turned thumbs down on_the proposal of Prof. John Dewey of Columbia Univer- sity for the establishment of a new liberal political party with himself at its head, has nevertheless left it an open question as to what he will do if Presi- dent Hoover is rencminated by the Re- publicans in 1932. Senator Norris has not said he will leap the political fence once more and vote for the Democratic nominee, unless he happened to be Owen D. Young or some other Democrat whom Norris would consider friendly to the water-pBwer trust. Supposing that Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York were the Democratic nominee for Presi- dent, Senator Norris might seek to carry Nebraska for him—and h: might suc- ceed. There would be no religious issue raised such as was raised against Sena- { tor Norgis’ candidate for President in 1928, Allred E. Smith. Senator Norris denies flatly that he is committed to the candidacy of Gov. Roosevelt. Just where the rest of the Republican Progressives in the Senate would wind up in a contest between President Hoo- ver and Gov. Roosevelt remains to be scen. All of them, with the exception of Blaine of Wisconsin, followed Hoover in 1928 and opposed Smith. Howell of Nebraska has remained a consistent though a Progressive Republican. Would he vote for the Democratic nominee for President against Mr. Hoover? Mr. Howell was for many years a member of the Republican National Committee. And Mr. Borah, would he get out and stump for Gov. Roosevelt against Mr. Hoover? Brookhart of Iowa has already indicated that he is off the Democrats. ‘They are not active enough to suit him against “Mellonism.” Mr. Borah does not like the wetness of Gov. Roosevelt any more than he did the wetness of Gov. Smith in 1928. L Senator Norris, incidentally, did quite a bit to boost the presidential boom for Gov. Roosevelt when he declared his admiration for him. Even though Nor- ris sald that he did not agree with Gov. Roosevelt on the prohibition question, he indicated that he considered the water poweg issue the paramount issue in the country today and said that he considered Roosevelt right on that issue. B F RN Another row between the Senate and the Chief Executive looms, should the Senate undertake to vote reconsider- ation of its approval of the nominations of the three members of the Federal Power Commission who recently “let out” Secretary Bonner and two other principal employes of the old Water Power Commission. The Senate, hav- ing ratified these nominations, the Pres- ident was formally notified of ac- tion and issued commissions to the power commissioners and they were sworn in: Under the circumstances the President might well .reply to the Senate that he would not send back the nominations, even if the vote by which they were confirmed were re- considered. He might not even answer the Senate at all. There seems to be no way in which the Senate could make the Chief Executive accede to its re- quest, to send back the nominations. ‘The row over the power commissioners has started because two of the officials let out were supposed to be friends “people” and opposed to the water power interests, while Bonner was held to be too friendly to the power interests. | The new commissioners made a clean sweep by declaring all three positions vacant. The law itself seems to give them this power. It does not seem likely now that the Senate will go on record as making it & requisite of con- firming nominations to a Federal com- mission that this or that minor official of the Government shall be retained in . Such would be held to be an effort to encroach upon the rights and powers of the executive branch of the Government. An effort to rescind its confirmation of the g::ner commission- ers after they had commissioned and gone to work might be compared i n so admirable fulfilled | to an effort to recall confirmation of a | NS ustice of the Supreme Court use e handed down a decision which a majority of the Senate did not like. However, it is expscted that the Sezate will have a good deal to say when it reconvenes on the subject of the new power commissioners, Incidentally, there is another com- mission to be ed. The nomina- tions of the United States tariff com- missicners, anpo'nted bv the President be c;lled up ;flt ::ticn in the !:n'.h': on January 9. agains! sl S IPLEEE merged in any row between the regular ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC Many readers send in questions sign- ed ol with initials, asking that the answers appear in the newspaper. The space is limited and would not accom- modate a fraction of such requests. The answers published are ones that may interest many readers, rather than the one who asks the question only. All questions shculd be accompanied by the writer's name and address and 2 cents in coin or stamps for reply. Send your question to The Evening Star In- formation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Q. What length skis should a person get?—F. C. A. The length of skis is usually the distance the wearer can reach upward with his hand, that for the average man being about 7 feet 6 inches. Q. If autcmoblile accidents were not A. Public Safety says that accidents taken as a whole have decreased 5 per cent since 1913. If automombile accidents cent decrease in accidents in the last 18 years, Q. How can fingerprints be taken?— A. L. L A. Ordinary printer's ink is used in making fingerprint impressions. The ink is first distributed on an inking slab and rolled into a thin film and then transferred by a roller to the inking plate, where it should be distributed degree of pressure exeried in the fingerprint is important in obtain- ing a clear impression and can be de- termined best Dy experience and obser- vation. The subject should be asked to relax the fingers completely and not attempt to assist by exerting pressure on tha inking surface. Fingerprints do bafore | ot change materially during the life~ time of an individual. Q. About wlhiat per cent of the Terri- tory of Alaska is visited by tourists?— A. Gre:ley's “Handbook of Alaska says that the Alaska known to the tourist is @& strip of coast and fringe of islands of about 425 miles by 100 miles, ex- tending _from Ketchikan north to Mount St. Elias—in fact, about one- twelfth of Alaska. Q. What is the usual per cent of A. The usual percentage of metal in brown iron ore is 40-50 per cent, and that of black is 55-65 per cent. Q. Has Niagara Falls been entircly dry within the last 25 years?—S. J. B. A. The Geological Survey says that Niagara has never been completely dry. The Winter of 1847-48 was extraordi- narily severe in this country. Heavy ice formed in Lake Erfe. When it was broken up during the latter part of March, the winds swept the ice into [the entrance of the Niagara River at Buffalo, where it jammed in a solid mass, completely choking the outlet of Lake Erie, with the result that on May 29, 1848, the fslls of Niagara were prac- tically dry. Similar conditions pre- vailed during the Winter 1925-26. Q. What does four-square mean?— "A. Having four equal sides or angles; hence, figuratively, strong like a stone tower; immovable. Q. Is it possifle for a submarine to cruise at a depth of 300 feet?—F. P. A. Submarines are tested to cruise at that depth. counted, would it be found that the | accident hazar4s had decreasd?—C. C. | were excluded, we would show a 30 per | to cover the entire surface evenly. The | taking | metal in brown and black iron ore?— | W.P.P. J. HASKIN. Q. Who coined the expression, “the survival of the fittest"?—M. B. A. Herbert Spencer is said to have coined it in reference to the Darwinian theory of evolution through netural selection. Q. I understend that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is being reinforced with braces or pliing. Why has 1t stood all these years?—R. L. A. The fact that the Leaning Tower of Pisa stands depends on the law of statics, which insures the stability of a leaning building whose parts are firmly bound together and whose cen- ter of gravity does not project bevond the limits of the supporting foundation. The leaning tower has a spiral stairway within, which is built with increased height on the sides of the lean and decreased height on the sides opposite the lean, thus throwing a greater weight of magonry on the side opposed to the lean. Q. What is pragmatism?-—-B. D. A. It is the philosophical doctrine that the only test of the truth of hu- man cognitions or philosophical prin- ciples is their practical results; that is, their workableness. The word was in- troduced in this connection about 1875 by the American logician, C. S. Pierce, and was popularized by Willlam Tames, whose “Pragmatism™ was publis. od in 1907. Q. Wes Halloween ever considered the last day of the vear?—H. G. A. In the old Celtic calendar Octo- ber 31 was the last day of the year, its night being the time that witches were abroad. On the introduction of Chris- tianity, it became the eve of All Hallows or All Saints. Q. Please describe an Indlan arrow. —J. B. A. A complete Indian arrow is made | up of six parts: Head, shaft, foreshaft, | shaftment, feathering and neck. These differ in material, form, measurement, | decoration and assemblage according 1o locality and tribe, Arrowheads have three parts: Body, tang and barbs. There are two kinds of arrowheads, blunt and sharp. In the Southwest a sharpened foreshaft of hardwood serves for the head Arctic and Northwest Coagt arrows have heads of ivory, bone, wood or_copper, as well as stone; else- where they are more generally of stone, chipped of polished. The head is at- tached to the shaft or foreshaft b lashing with sinew, by riveting or witl gum. Q. Should I leave my piano in an unheated _room through the Winter? —G. H. B. A. Do not shut your piano off in & cold room, as this will cause all metal parts to frost, and then when the room is heated to sweat and rust. As a rule, when a piano has rusted, this is what has caused it. If it must be left in a cold room or house, throw over it several blankets, quilts or anything to keep out the cold. Excessive dampness will cause veneer checks, o will ex- cessive heat or cold, and then the only remedy is refinishing. However, exe treme heat is even more injurious, The temperature of the room contain- ing a piano should be kept as normal and as even as pnislble all the year round. Q. What was Stalin's name origi- naily?—A. W. L. § A. It was Joseph Djugashvili. He was born in_Georgia, down near the Casnlan end Black Seas. The nickname of his youth was Soso. Declaration by a Califorian who is a member of the American Legion that Dr. Albert Einstein should be .barred from that State because of a statement favorable to pacifism arouses little sym- thy the country. The great mathematician’s polilical theories, un- palatable or not, are considered unim- portant in so far as his welcome as a scientist is concerned. “The Einstein visit to California re- mains important,” says the Oakland ‘Tribune, “Here he will be in the con- genial company of men who speak his language. Drs. Milliken and Michelson and the others who will receive him in their laboratories will contribute stimu- lating contact and experience. A wel- come of that kind, if it can be kept free from vociferous sideplay and the im- portunities of publicity seekers and freaks, is the kind which the scientist's wellwishers would prefer to have the country tender him.” “His idea that pacifists should in- dividually refuse to serve in armies, either 'in war time or peace,” remarks the Houston Chronicle, “seems to most of us a direct bid for anarchy, a way to more vioclence and destruction than war could bring, and a sure route to the ruin of civilization. We think very little of the idea, just as we should think very little of the doctor’s ideas about soap or radios or cigareties. He won fame because of his mathematical work, and because of one particular mathematical theory. Doubtless we should admire these, and bow down be- fore the brain responsible for them. We can do it with better grace, however, when we get an inkling of just what it’s about. Certainly no explanation intended to inform even the exception- ally well educated man has yet been during the recess of Congress, are tomicsioner ® given the public.. None of which, how- ever, is a reason for or against admit- ting Dr. Einstein to any town in the United States.” “What he has to say about mathe- matics, and what Thomas Edison has to say about electricity,” declares the Newark Evening News, “are important, for in these lines-the men are experts and they are scientists. But what Al- rt Einstein has to say about inter- national politics and what Thomas Edi- son has to say about prohibition are not important, because in these fields the eminent savants are not experts, not scientists. Their utterances are swayed by prejudices and emotions which would wreck their reputations if employed in their respective lines of work upon which their eminence is based.” “Probably he is a pacifist,” says the Ann Arbor Daily News. “But he is not visiting America as a pacifist. If he were, what could be the objection? People who don’t believe in war are permitted to sojourn in peaceful coun- tries. First and foremost, Einstein is a scientist. What he thinks on scientific subjects is a matter of public impor- tance. What he thinks about pacifism is his own business, even if he expresse: his opinfons in public. One pacifist can't prevent a war or make one.” “We think he is wrong about it, but have no yearning to deport him for inking as he does or saying what he thinks,” states the New Bedford Eve- Standard. The Des Moines Tribune maintains that “to try .to clamp a lid on his talk would be to turn our back on the foremost princi- ples of American freedom.” The New Orleans Item-Tribune offers the juds- ment as to the protest against the scientist: “What could the.people of the distant future learn that would ‘any effort to visiting scientist fornia would not generally. ‘There is no need for a ban,” ac- cording to the Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail, which, however, argues: “Certainly this was a bad break on the part of the German mathematician, and savors somewhat of the pre-war peace nda Germany promoted in the Unit States at the same time she was herself waging war and even threaten- by the State of Cali be rel U. S. Welcome to Einstein Unaffected by His Pacifism ing us and referring to Americans with a_contempt even greater than that which Sinclair Lewis expresses. The Einstein statement Was mot only une called for, but is one that is more like= 1y to hinder the cause of correct pacis fism than aid 1t. It is another example of the shoemaker abandoning his last to undertake something beyond his ca~ pacity. Einstein would do better to stick to his mathematics, whi only & few pretend to understand, a field which he has projected onto such a high plane that others cannot follow. To descend from his pre-eminent position to one where he is doomed to failure is something like dropping from the sub= lime to the ridiculous. The Raleigh News and Observer cons tends that “Prof. Einstein's theory of relativity is beyond the understanding of many, but it is something far bet= ter than his advocacy of refusal to obey the laws and serve one's country in time of stress.” The Lynchburg Advance comments on the Einstein proposal: “Any such plan as this would spell disaster for the United States. It would cause such chaos and disorder that the Nation would be the prey of any other power which had covetous eyes on the wealth and resources of the country. Huge armies and navies may be breeders of war, but unpreparedness has | for possible strife 15 equally as dangers ous to the peace of the world. Refusal to fight is not the solution the world is looking for.” D Display of Power of D. C. Voters Urged ‘To the Editor of The Star: ] eople o} the District of and the right to have a voice in our ‘Government—the Government that ex= ists as a Nation “of the people, by the people and for the people”? Are not we taxpayers “people”? And if we are pea- ple, cannot we in some manner display the power of our vote? A story was told a while ago about a jobless man from the Middle Wes§, but stranded here in Washington. went to the Representative from | home Stat: and asked help to get B job in the Government service. About the first thing the Representative said was: “Have you a vote at home—and do your family folks vote?” That quess tion shows the face value of the vote. After the last November election was shown, in many instances, that only a few votes one way or the other des cided the issue, and now it is an open question which party is to control t next Congress. Just a few votes mo or less might have made that opem question a closed certainty—and the votes of the District of Columbia might have decided the matter. But how can we display the power of the District of Columbla vote? An ordinary straw vote would not amount to much. But we could, by stan together; display our real strength the issues that are coming up in the next general national election. 3 of Commerce, our 3 assoriations and our public-snirited men get together, and, under the supervision of a committee and at their expense, have ballots printed to match exactiy those of the enfranchised States. and in time for the national election day, arrange to have precinct ballot booths with proper su- pervisors, guards, counters and check- ers, and conduct the whole business of voting as if the fate of the national candidates hung on our ballots and the the | votes of the District of Columbia. -If it so happened that our people were not interested enough to take the trouble to g2t to'the polls and display our collective strength it would be very discouraging. But, on the other hand, if the votes cast displayed our real (though shackled) strength it might open the eyes of our Congressmen to the votes they could hope to win to their cause when we are granted our con- stitutional rights to he a little more than a taxnaver. it attan‘ian 0o airman Flef cssard, has debat> may break ol sioners, C] The teri with mi b ALs v:hemga ‘(on:a would yete, too. L Tizhts. ave a vote at hom and cur 1 family ENQUIER