Evening Star Newspaper, January 6, 1931, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR —__With Sunday Moming Edition. _ WASHINGTON, D. C TUESDAY.......January 6, 1931 THEODORE W. NOYES. ...Editor The Evening Star Negp,er Company Business Ofice: | wew bork Sice: 10 Bust 4200 Bt offi ke Michizan Build) Mn Ogfi‘t R“‘ilnl 8t., London, Ensls by Carrier Within en| Star.. Cwhen s Bundase) ""('.n'.'n“}‘“h.‘.'-’ Tl unday llection &du at the grdert may sent in IAtional 5000. Rate Mail—Payable in Advance. ryland and Virginia. Eé.fl: and Sinday.....1yr. $10.00:1 mo. 88c | day oty - ¥rs 3400 11mo 4oc | All Other States and Canada. fiy and Sunday..lsr. 2.00; 1 mo.. $1.00 ly only .. 00 1 mo. T3¢ iday only . yrl sgl 4 Ve 3800 1hon e Member of the A: Press. h‘h’ Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dis- [tebes’credited to it or not otharwh g in, (s paver aod viio the” loca #necial dispatches herein Tos — the City. 4bc. mgvnlh i < 60c per month Sunday’ Star 5) 65¢ per month per copy end of each montt. ¥ mail or telepbone cred- rews lon of Repeal the Borland Law. The Borland amendment became law in 1914 in direct violation of all equi- table principles relating to the partner- ship between the cmmunity and the Federal Government in developing the Capital's great street system. It re- duced a direct and specific Federal responsibility by shoving a dispropor- tionate burden of street improvement cost to abutting property owners. In the sixteen years since then the courts have shot the Borland amend- ment full of holes, exposed its grossly discriminatory, arbitrary, and even con- fiscatory provisions, and feft a tattered shred of the original statute to be enforced by the Commissioners. If the forthcoming decision of the Court of ! Appeals in the so-called Dodge case is | adverse to the municipality, the Cor- poration Counsel has said frankly that it would be palpably unfair to endeavor longer to enforce what remains of the law. To all intents and purposes, the | Borland law is as dead as a doornail. | It should be given decent burial and left unresurrected. Beginning today, however, the Com- missioners are appearing before congres- sional committees with a new Borland amendment. The holes punched in it by the courts have been carefully plugged by the Corporation Counsel's office. That this new device will with- stand further assaults in the courts is not guaranteed by the most optimistic of lawyers. The sole reason for its presentation to Congress is based on one of those queer quirks of jurispru- dence so difficult for the mere layman to understand. Despite the repeated and specific invitations by Corporation Counsel for the District courts to pass Clark, whith held that the amendment was not properly ratified, and is there- fore invalid, that it might be consid- ered an adverse ruling on the latter on appeal. But it is not, and the con- flicting decisions are both on their way to the United States Supreme Court. Both decisions are generally based on constructions of the tenth amendment in its relation to Article V. But if Judge Clark was forced into the flelds of political economy, philosophy, his- torical treatises on government and lit- erature of this and other periods to support his conclusions, the Court of Appeals was able to summon a prepond- erant weight of purely legal evidence. In a nutshell, its findings might be ex- pressed in the view that the tenth amendment did not affect Article V. If it had been intended to impose spe- cific limitations upon the methods of amending the Constitution laid down in Article V, Article X would assuredly have said so, and it did not. Moreover, all the amendments have been proposed and ratified “in like manner to the eighteenth.” Granting the delegation of extraordinary powers to the Federal Government under the eighteenth amendment, can it be argued that - |after one hundred and forty years of amending the Constitution the method chosen for proposing and ratifying these amendments—chosen from two meth- ods laid down—is all wrong? And when the error is alleged to rest fundamental- 1y upon interpretations of whether “the people” means the people assembled in State constitutional conventions or in State Legislatures, even the broad path of constitutional law as written by the courts is lett for wide and free roam- ing in’ new felds. Nibbling at National Defense. During the first year of the World War, after mobile operations had set- tled down to trench warfare, “Papa” Joffre was once asked how he expected to make any progress against the in- vager. “We nibble,” sald the French generalissimo, in a phrase which forth- with became boulevard slang to describe the war of attrition upon which the al- lies so laboriously embarked. “We nibble” appears to be the slogan of those elements in this country which are bent upon undermining national defense. One of the nibbles most per- sistently and systematically kept up is that which seeks to abolish military training in schools and colleges. Slowly, but steadily, the pacifist organization maintained for this particular purpose seems to be accomplishing it. It has already seen the State Legisla- ture at Madison do away with training in national defense at the University of Wisconsin. A similar movement has been under way in Iowa. When the Federal Government many years g0 es- tablished the land-grant colleges, mili- tary training was included in the cur- riculum of every institution which de- rived aid from the United States Treas-" ury. In June, 1930, for some not clearly on the validity of the amendment; jtselt, | Understood reason, the Attorney General the courts in each instance have dodged | Tuled that military training is optional, the specific answer and the United | DOt obligatory, in land-grant colleges. States Supreme Court has refused a All and sundry of these developments Teview. The language of the opinions|3Mount to nibbling at national defense. of the lower courts would leave no|NOW comes the latest manifestation of doubt in the mind of the ordinary indi- Vvidual that the Borland law is uncon- stitutional. But until the courts of the District say that it is unconstitutional the sleepless drive to depopularize arms- bearing among American youth. The War Department budget for the fiscal year 1932 contemplates & material cut the Commissioners have decided that|in the appropriation for retired Army their duty is to enforce it. Hence the|Officers on active duty, patched instrument that they now pre- sent to Congress. But, as spokesmen for this unrepre- sented community, are they taking the right course? Their patched Borland | amendment is the same amendment, For two years in succession nibbling ”nthhlpeclflcdflrecuonhnbenln progress. In the fiscal year 1930, the item was $174,500. For 1931 it was re- duced to $168,650, while the estimates for 1932 slash it to $131,132. There are under the gkin, despite the conscientious | "W one hundred and forty former of- and skillful efforts of the Corporation|ficers on active duty, of whom one hun- Counsel's office. It has removed some!dred and eleven are instructors at of the more glaring inequalities invali- | 5chools and colleges. dated by the courts. It has sought—in some instances by -rather intricate mathematical formylae—to equalize the assessment burden on property owners, regardless of the shape, size and loca- tion of the lots. It has given the Com- missioners much-needed discretion to eliminate, reduce, rebate or adjust as- | sessmenis that, being benefit assess- ments, can never be arbitrarily fixed by blanket statute. The Corporation Coun- sel’s office has done what it was told to do, and has done it well. But the patched Borland law con- tinues the inequitable principle of plac- | ing upon abutting property owners a burden that is disproportionately large under the conditions peculiar to this Capital City. It continues to compute the amount of benefit on an arbitrary front-foot basis, with limitations as to area, value and location, in deference| to court decisions. It continues, with exceptions, to measure a benefit by the cost of the job. It continues to ease the street-planning, street-using, street- owning United States out of a fair assumption of the cost, when the United States has already reduced, by evasion of unrepealed law and by im- position of additional taxes to which it does not contribute, the amount 1t owes | to street improvement over and above the Borland law collections. There is direct benefit to abutting| property from street improvement. The benefit is especially emphasized in the case of new subdivisions. And there are cases where the linear footage basis of assessment is the most convenient, fair and practical. But there are cases ‘where the property benefit is more gen- eral than specific. And there is no ground whatever for relieving the United States, as the Borland law does, of, its special and extraordinary obligations in the improvement and maintenance of the streets of the National Capital. ‘The Commissioners would be doing better by this community to seek the out-and-out repeal of the Borland law, with its viclous underlying principles, and to work out a system for the levy- ing of fair benefit assessments against abutting property owners actually bene- fited and to the extent they are bene- general fund of the District, and to urge &t the same time that the United States the teenth amendment 0 which wWas based Judge William 1t appropriations are cut for 1932 to 75 per cent of the 1930 figure, the re- duction, it is almost certain, will be {from the ranks of the school and col- lege instructors. The retired officers now on instruction duty have under their training, it is conservatively esti- mated, a total of 45,276 students. I is plain that without provision for instructors the whole institution of military training in schools and col- leges is threatened. This is precisely what pacifists want. It is one of the first trenches their propaganda army seeks to capture in the campaign against national defense. Having achieved the overthrow of the military training system for the youth of the land, the next objective would natu- rally be the National Guard, the Re- serve Corps, and then the Army of the United States itself. . Here in Washington, where the high school cadets have for more than a generation beenone of the community’s cherished prides, the latest nibble of the anti-defense forces merits special at- tention. The District of Columbia hopes that Congress will see to it that military training in American schools and colleges is not nibbled out of ex- istence. —————— It will be testified by Mr. Deneen that Ruth H. McCormick does not easily forget. This is the hour of triumph for J. Hamilton Lewis, but he may as well be aware that any fortune teller will advise him to take care to pay par- ticular attention when a resolute-look- ing woman crosses his path. - Business as Usual. The Senate lived up to expectations at its opening session after the Christ- mas holidays; It put through without delay the House joint resolution appro- priating $45,000,000 for the relief of the drought-stricken areas of the coun- try and added another $15,000,000 to it, thus renewing the old fight between the administration and the House on the one side and the Senate on the other over the amount needed for this relief work. It tackled one of the annual supply measures—the Interior Depart- ment bill—but struck a snag, and after several hours of debate the Senate turned its attention to “executive busi- THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 193% i T require at this time something above $3,000,000,000. This proposal has been attacked by Secretary Mellon. Altogether, the Senate seems to have started on its final two months of the present session in & mood that does not make for speed. Before the motion to reconsider the votes by which the power commissioners had been con- firmed, Vice President Curtis ruled that & resolution asking the return of the nominations to the Senate by the Presi- dent must be voted on “without debate.” The Senate did not agree with the pre- siding officer, and by a vote of 50 to 4 decided to debate the question. Who- ever heard of the Senate’s voting down & proposal for debate? In this in- stance a reading of the rules seemed to uphold the contention that debate is permitted on the resolution seeking re- call of nominations sent to the Presi- dent. 5 ‘Whether or not the Senate votes actu- ally to recall these nominations and re- consider the vote by which they were confirmed, there still remains the ques- tion whether President Hoover will see it to send the nominations back to the Senate if the Upper House does demand them. If he declines to return the nomi- nations, on the ground that the com- missions have been issued to the ap- pointees and they have become members of the Federal Power Commission, hav- ing taken oaths of office, at the first blush there does not appear to be much that the Senate can do about the matter. It is true that a rule of the Senate gives ®at body the right to reconsider its votes on nominations in the two “ex- ecutive” sessions following action. But a rule of the Senate is one thing and a law of the land is another. So far no law has been enacted that would re- quire the President to send the nomina- tions back if he believes that it is not in the public interest to do so. Should a conflict arise between the President and the Senate over this matter, it promises to be a bitter one. —————— Popularity is the great asset of a man who goes to Congress, yet it is sel- dom to be relied on as a universal com- pliment. Congress is necessarily the scene of differences, being made up of favorite sons from various parts of the country. ————————————— Soviet Russia’s five-year plan rep- resents & large financial transaction. Five years is a long time to take over stupendous sums in taxation and great values in natural resources with the security that was offered and accepted. Great enterprises take time. It was expected that ere this Muscle Shoals would be a center of industry. Nobody doubts, however, that the material for enormous development is still there. —————————— Congress miay transact business rap- idly and reach an early adjournment. These are days when records are made in all fields of endeavor, by what is not done as well as by what is accomplished. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. . Differences of Speech. In fitting phrase I strove to turn ‘The words which I to her addressed. Such classic lore as I could learn I offered with a fervent zest. I studied very hard indeed To speak in English that was goofl; In silence she would often heed As if with care she understood. She laid aside her magazine, ‘Whose style of speech was very smart; She turned on me her eyes serene— ‘They gleamed with futuristic art. To speech she paused to condescend. She murmured, “Us two don't connect, You seem & good scout and w friend, But I don’t get your dialect!” Sense of Duty. “Did your father encourage you to go | into politics?” | “In a way,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “T used to listen to father talk a great deal, and he was so dead wrong about most of it that it seemed to me | like it was my duty to get out and work as hard as I could for the other side.” Jud Tunkins says the store at the crossroads has another of these business problems owin’ to the number of folks that sits an’ listens to the radio without bnying anything. The Hindered Get-away. A robber went to rob a bank, With tools he was equipped in plenty. He had explosives in a tank And crowbars, too, 19 or 20. He had mechanical finesse, And yet he lingered heavy-hearted. Great was his danger and distress— He couldn't get his motor started. A Sensitation Suspected. “Do any of the girls you know smoke cigarettes?” asked Miss Cayenne. “Yes. Why ¢n you ask?” “I'm looking for selfish information. All the cigarettes I have been able to buy have become terrible in flavor, and I want to find out whether there is any- thing unusual about the cigarettes or whether I have gotten something like hay fever.” “A sunset,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is more beautiful thun any painting. And is it not the more beau- tiful because it seeks to copy nothing that . has often made life burdensome, such as people and their dwelling places?” There’s no excuse for being blue! If advertising that we see, Witty, artistic, is all true, How happy life henceforth will be! “When you tells de chillun allus to go to Sunday school,” said Uncle Eben, “it's only natural curiosity foh 'em to peek around a little to make sure you was at church.’ ————————————— Cling to the Label. ness,” with Senator Walsh of Montana three of the Federal power commission- ‘ers who have incurred the wrath of Progressive members of the Senate be- cause of their declaring vacant two offices held by men whom the Progres- sives wish kept on the job. No deci- sion was reached on the Walsh motion to reconsider, and the prospect is for a long debate on the subject. In addition, a motion was made to discharge the Senate Finance Commit- tee from further consideration of the Caraway bill to pay the veterans of the War for their adjusted compensation certificates, which would moving to reconsider the nominations of | rega Prom the Oakland Tribune. To mehwhld&lg:muen:rk# insurgents who retain th led, witness are ready to fight to Republican. Tiny Tallies. Prom the Buffalo Evening News. 1o & certain contemporary: Teen iavented, you ought to- ses: scores. 1t yeu our Idle Equines. Prom the Cleveland News. Public-spiri of Augusta, Ga., gave a Christmas party m ted citizens said to be on the with the au- an flfim THIS AND THAT - BY CHARLES E, TRACEWELL. thm along co"unlry ldfl“ ‘have recompense at this time of year for the bitter winds which blow along them. It was the cynical Duke de la Roche- foucauld who said that “virtue has its recompense, but being virtuous is only our desire to gain the recompense.” ‘Whether one agrees with that as a general proposition or not, he must find something of merit in it as applied to Winter rambles along the country road. Such roads are not what they once were, of course. The automobile, with its speedy danger, threatening life and limb, has taken away the greater part of the charm of the roadside walking. It is questionable whether Whitman would have written his magnificent “Song of the Open Road” in the pres- ent age. ‘When he penned those memorable lines, known alas! to too few readers, he knew only dusty thoroughfares lead- ing between long rows of meadows and fields, adown which not more than a dozen wagons passed all day long. ‘Today the once deserted country road has been converted into a boulevard, or does duty as & short-cut across country to more heavily traveled roads. One still may walk it, however, if extremely careful to go on the same side as approaching cars, and warily give them plenty of room as they ap- roach. Nor is it bad policy to occa- sionally look behind and keep an eye on the cars coming from that direction. -l ‘The green has left the countryside, the beautiful color of grass and shrubs. Sometimes one is constrained to believe that Providence meant the sky to be pale green, too, as it sometimes is at sunset. Maybe the blue is an after- thought, an improvement, in the mind of the Creator. But a e, apple- green sky would not be bad, now would it? blue, there is also coldness in it. Green would remind us of Spring, and of pea- soup, perhaps. If the road no longer presents us with greenery, it makes up for it by permitting its homes to stand forth more visibly. Passengers in flying cars know nothing of this. They go so fast they can do nothing more than mur- mur, “Pretty along here, isn't it?” We see what makes it pretty. These old houses, painted white, with their green blinds and shutters, and their old trees, standing bare in the majesty of Winter, are not like peas in the pod. Every one is different, and if we can- not,_agree that every one is charming, architecturally , Wwe can call them interesting. After all, architecture is not all there is to a home. There are architect’s houses, and there are carpenter’s houses, and then there are houses built by one knows not whom. Often the home which shows plainly the efforts of some am- bitious carpenter achieves a solidity and hominess which the palatial effort of the trained architect fails of attain- ing. The passerby likes to see a house look as if human beings lived in it. The radio aerial, if not too conspicuous, gives a touch of home important in these days. Here is a neat stucco, facing the road, but at an angle. The back porch is close, and we can look in at the child’s dinner set against the house wall. Across the way stands a huge house o: wth:e siding, with a tall red chimney. I chimneys, recognizing h their utility If there is peace and solace in |ougl passerby h.pg&m to admire? and their beauty, he will realize that this is an expensive one. The fireplace at its bottom works splendidly, he can tell that from the plunie of smoke issuing from fits top. This splendid chimney of brick is surmounted with a cap of concrete to keep away the ef- fects of weathering. Farther along the road we come across an old house whose chimney }:lslnly shows the effects of disregard or chimney topping. No cap was placed on this one, and now its topmost bricks are split and cracked, under the influ- ence' of rains and snows, freezes and thaws, and the everlasting sun. L) Thank God for the sun! There is no home along this road, no matter how well built, which is not warmed up by it in the afternoon. e is no telling how much coal, oil and gas are NEW BOOKS common ticular and individual attention. This rather daunting body of correspond- ence turns out to be the letters of ons man, one around whom general in- terest has grown in the course of not S0 many years, one in whom a wide and deep friendship has centered. Letters, sent the world around out saved home owners of the nations be- | han cause the sun shines. And when it does not every home owner knows how much more heat it takes to keep a house snug and comfortable. ‘The road winds here past a house, deep-seated #n its yard, before which hangs a bell over a gate. One wonders who they are who pass here and i$ they invariably ring the bell. Its clapper stands at attention, waiting for the im- ulse to send a tinkle over the neigh- rhood. One wonders if it tinkles, after all, for it has something of the appear- ance of a cowbell. Up the road farther is a home with its number, plainly marked on a carven | tact heart, dangling from a crossbar. Here is an idea for bridge hounds. Four | homes, one after the other, might put forth their numbers on a 'heart, dia- mond, spade and club, or the golf en- thusiast suspend his from a club, im- printed on a rather large golf ball. A small horse might mark the home of a horseman and a dog a dogman, Surely, if “horseman” is a good word, dogman ht to be. The world of men has long paid tribute to the dog, yet has continued, strangely enough, to accept the epithet “dog” as one of the worst. The horse, by reason of its anclent usage to man, has escaped somehow the ignominy of being converted into an oal ith. The wild life of the road is not so plentiful now as it was a month or so 8go. Perhaps the chill Winter, accom- panying the ’prevnmng drought, has got in some of its evil work and removed from the scene many of the older squir- rels and rabbits. The birds are few and far between. Recently we saw a dozen or so0 blue jays quarreling among them- selves. But few squirrels dart across this narrow strip of asphalt dedicated to the automobile and its uses. They have more sense. Dogs occasionally trot along, seeming to pay no attention to approaching cars, but no doubt they have their eyes on them all the time. Occasionally one will see, with a start, some poor fellow who was too slow in the crossing. Now he stretches cold and stiff in his con- gealed blood. Or here lies poor Tom, his gray coat covered with frost, only a bloody front paw, curiously red on the b(‘)tmm. to0 show what struck him in the night. Keep your eye on the cars ahead and your ears open for those behind. Leap to the left if they swing too near as they roar by. Jump for your life, dogs, cats, man! This is a phenomenon of the road outside the wild ylwplngmt:f Walt Whitman. He knew nothing about it. This is our modern country road, offspring of the age, typical of us as we are, like it or not. Highlights on the Wide World Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands L MERCURIO, Santiago.—The invitation of the sponsors of the International Exposition, to be held in Chicago in’ 1933, artists, manufacturers and ex- hibitors of France, instead of eliciting the cordial acceptance from these per- sons expected, has rather.provoked a frank hostility to the whole project. A prominent publicist, M. Yvanhoe Rambossom, wrif in the paper Co- moedia (Comedie), does not hesitate to urge that the French people hold themselves aloof from the exposition al- together., He makes this recommenda~ tion upon the repetition of the old charge that the Americans copy every- thing and give nobody the credit. Un- able to produce anything original them- selves, they steal the ideas of foreign manufacturers, industrialists and in- ventors, when exemplified in these ex- hibitions, and reap all the advantages of them without expense or labor. In this regard, says M. Rambosson: “Why should we cross the ocean again for a revival of this censurable practice? Why should we transport our superior merchandise and manufactures to America, at our own expense, for that Nation to imitate and all for the sake of a few medals?” M. Rambosson also said it is clearly the duty of the United States Govern- ment to make clear its intentions as regards the purpose of foreign exhibits, inasmuch as they failed to ratify the agreement entered into by all other na- tions at the Bern Convention, protect- ing the prior rights of all originators against infringements abroad. Not hav- ing obtained the approval of the Quai d’Orsay, M. Rambosson proposes a cam- paign among all the leading exponents of French industry, art, manufacture and styles, to the end that these inter- ests may refrain, at least to some con- siderable extent, in the support given the Chicago Exposition. Thus that enterprise has already sus- tained a rude shock, even though the French government does not officially deny its people the right to participate. Nevertheless it is likely the Americans wilighave an even more superb exposi- titd than the triumph of 1893, which kas never been equaled in the 40 years since passed. * kX Triple Mission Aim Ot Argentina Government. La Naclon, Buenos Aires—The new provisional government has a triple mis- sion. It desires to bring about ameliora- tions political, economic and humanita- rian. It has already achieved the first of its ambitions, for in a republic, or in almost any other form of government, it does no harm to make drastic changes in the personnel of the executive de- rtment at frequent intervals, This knowledge that they may at any time be called from office is effective in main- taining higher standards of service on the part of the incumbents, and when one set of officeholders is violently dis- of its posts as occurred in our recent retrieval of the government, there is generally sufficient reason for the re- pudiation. Regarding economic benefits, these will include improved methods of oper- ation for railroads, lighting and water supplies, and all other public utilities. ‘The department. of agriculture is studying how it can best improve the condition of the planter and cattle raiser, and guarantee him profitable markets at home and abroad. Revisions will be made in the compo- sition of the federal army. There will be a saving reduction in the number of men enlisted, and the periods of military instruction and service will be abbre- viated. ‘The system of public education will also be extended and improved, with better pay for teachers, and modern buildings and equipment for the classes. ‘The ent of hygiene will also enhnedfg.nn: and function in the interests of other ral public and its will be launched in the simj of the legal costs of poor le can aff to e X courts of as well as the rich, and mercenary la , obliged to conform to these nm rates, ean no longer secial justice will prevail to a ter extent than it. has ever done fore. Litigants will get just decisions, and save both time and money. * % % % Neglect to Mention Number of Woman Cooks. El Tiempo, Bogota—The census, which we publish in detail upon an- other page, shows that Colombia now has a total of 7,851,461 inhabitants. The rural population is 5,413,152 and the urban, 2,438,309. For each thou- sand men there are 993 women. In 1918 the women outnumbered the men by 71 in every thousand. Undoubtedly we are better off now, and the balance better preserved, but there still lack seven women, or perhaps we shauld say “six,” for the chronicier hereof voluntarily re- rounces, in the interests of public peace, the lady appertaining to him in the thousand in which he is included. ‘The same statistics report that 26.68 per cent of our masculine element can read, and 24.89 cent of the women. Data are lacking, Rowever, on a matter of far more importance. They tell us the proportion of women who know how to read, but omit all mention of the proportion thnt‘know how to cook. * ok x Culprits Prevent Re-erection of Hibernian Hall. Northern Whig, Belfast.—Evary lover of peace and order must deplore the persistent attempts to interfere with the re-erection of the Hibernian Hall at hugh, County Armagh. Conduct of this kind is as senseless as it is criminal. If the motive is to injure the Hibernian Society (the A. O. H.), it en- tirely misses the mark, because the only parties injured are the unfortunate resi- dents of the district, who have to pay smartly in_damages for these acts of wanton ruffanism. We earnestly hope that the authorities will see to it that every effort is made to discover and bring to justice the perpetrators of an act which has disgraced a peaceful and crderly district. It ought not to be im- possible to trace at least some of the persons involved, for by all accounts a large number of Orangemen partici- pated in the affair. The constabulary— the regular, as well as the special force —should be spurred to effort, regard- less of their personal religious senti- ments, by the fact that their credit is concerned in the identification of the oftenders. Knowledge of the Bible. From the New York Times. ‘The Rev. Dr. Dahl, Yale’s professor of Old Testament literature, finds that too many men who have taken biblical courses have “sketchy, inexact and con- fused” conceptions of what they have read. Fifty of a class of sixty students desiring admission to the Yale Divinity School recently contributed such in- formation as that Palestine is a flat country, watered by the Nile; that Abraham wrote Genesis; that the Flood is an_example of an apocalypse, and that Hezekiah was the King in Deu- teronomy. These surprising discoveries naturally caused Dr. Dahl’s soul anguish. But he need turn only to the classic ex- periences at Oxford to persuade him- self that foggy conceptions about the Bible are not confined- to American divinity students. ‘There is the tale of the Oxonian who was asked to name the major and minor prophets. Politely he declined, saying that it was not for him to set up “in- vidious distinctions” between “these holy men.” Another, asked about “works of supererogation,” wrote on his paper that opinions differed, but that of them wouldn't do any harm.” Still another—but perhaps not at Oxford— Jost in a mist between physics and divinity, testified that “a vacuum is a }lflm, empty + place where the Pope ves.” ‘The conditions described bm. Dahl are a sad reflection on the ing of college men. But deans in other courses could give examples fully as depressing —or amusing. R No Home Supply. Prom the Atlanta Constitution. Al The safes: way for Chicago to get & listen| roed = would ks {2 hu exploit cicher the iica or the poor and |cie ivai ... And what, pray, is this man’s job wita these old letters? Nothing less than to re-create their T, James Whit. comb Riley, by way of them. Nothing save to re-eml the man in person- ality, character, work, and the effect these upon that day when he passed through, upon the days that have followed after. Named editor, a worker in such ma- terial and under such purpose becomes more than that. You will realize this in reading the book. Here, in effect, is an actual lengthening of life by way of these letters. Here are fresh con- ts thousands following upon the literal period projected by them. Here is a positive continuation of ex- istence through this organized and co- ordinated correspondence. Trying to see how it came about, to See how ‘William Lyon Phelps achieved this vivid re-embodiment, one finds that selection played the primary role—the basic art of selection in every enterprise, ma- terial or esthetic. Selection and order have here brought ‘Og life the early days of young Riley, the questioning and somewhat terminate growing fruits of maturity. letters, either in substance or spirit, give out such formality of effect. Any- thing but that. Yet, under the easy flow of their humor good humor, Dr. Phelps has held them to their proper order in time and fact, so that the development of the man becomes patent by way of such good holding and restraint. An uncommonly rich book from more than one point of view. Primarily here is a man made for friendship. He liked people. People liked him. Not so com- mon as you may assume, that gift of making friends, of being a friend. Therefore, as Riley, author and lecturer, became better known, friends of every stripe gathered about him. Here are letters, most interesting, from authors, artists and just lol‘ki. 1}:‘;let;n'lunuy'..hma :& is going to read the e Way of its making. Time and mood take that in hand. So, one looks over the long list, not at random—not by any means. Rather by special personal leaning, or by the mood of the moment. Rudyard Kipling, “Ny Riley's best beloved friend, Joel Chandler Harris; Weir Mitchell, Mark Twain, William DPean Howells, Sir Henry Irving—and hosts besides, many of them known by many not so well known. But, in el case, the writer himself is ever and unalterably James Whitcomb Riley. In these letters much is said about writing—about American litera- ture and about the overlong time that this country has been willing to follow the tracks of England, putting out, in effect, just some more English litera- ture. The element of dialect in Ameri- can writing is, in part, a contribution to the new realism, in part & protest inst the indolent persistence of America in following the English pattern. Some very interesting, and inf discussions of dialect come rpose is sound for the new 3 e not an oddity is American and not a mere s to attract atf It this is a incident of Sinclair Lewis with the Nobel award du2, in certain part, to the fact that Lewis dle“llmgI withmafi Minnesota - Wisconsin - Iowa worked honestly and realistically with the Norse element that is so largely settled in that locality, thereby address- ing the Nordics oversea in characters and personalities that were clear to them under the thin scale of & new home site, & new surface behavior? A rt, this Lewis spirit, of the one that ?r:rmngh Riley, Harris, Twain, Hamlin. Sandberg and others is putting up an honest and capable and laudable fight for American literature? No, I'm not running away from the book in hand. For, within it, beside a body of enjoy- able acquaintances and a bulk of de- lightful reading, you will find & sturdy stand for America as & bountiful and worthy o] ity for the hopes and purposes of any American writer, How- ever, the book is not so much to in- e ot Tnducace. of - James to_ the influent o Whitcomb Riley and his host of friends. * kK K S OF NATURE AND WILD P?..'i’PM'E By Edmund J. Sawyer, Park Naturalist of Yellowstone National Park, 1924-1928. Ilustrated. Book Number, 208. it it A charming book, prod T con- ditions clearly surpassing. I'm pretty certain that there will be no dissent from any reader of the in hand. Imagine, if you can, being left in Yel- lowstone Park with the wild life of the place and the superb natural pageantry that, the year round, moves from month to month, unheralded. There, if any- where, or so it seems to me, one could sing things in his heart. There, if any- where, one could be & poet. Edmund Sawyer is a case in point. The proof, if you be of that stripe, is this book of verse. One guesses that months went by before the man began to sing. Months of intimacy with the animal tribes living in such sanctuary. ds innumerable. Birds unafraid and sociable, carrying on their own domestic economy, free and unabashed. Amazing—to one with much less of opportunity than this lucky Ed- mund Sawyer had—to realize how much these “lower” things know. As much, indeed, within the circle of their needs, as the self-exalted human knows, or so it seems to me But, getting back into the Park. There was the perfect free- dom of animal companionship, of the long and blessed silences; there was the thrill of the many weathers. Of course a man, shut in there, would be a poet. No help for it if help were needed. And the poetry as it comes out in this little book suits the hours and days of seclu- sion. Some new shade of intimacy with a hermit thrush or a song sparrow, with a coyote or a mountain sheep, with a skunk—exactly and a poem going along in celebration of it—with a beaver, a marten, a cony. Everybody tending to his own business—all harmless and most interesting. Now an ode to a skunk will, to the average, pass as “the limif Reading it, however, one learns that, with so much of courage and ingenuity and competency, this little animal has just one defense—which it uses when out of these letters to indicate m.:u;: Me! it must. The sincerity of the ode, and its quality, go far to stir at least some thought on _the 'lfi fter all, that these natural things have for their own defense. In more generally acceptable vein this makes pictures of some bit of scenery, “Haunts of the Lark,” a stretch wher:h the l:vulh‘}lo‘r Mi:'c h: “Ranger on the Trail” “Trees Rain,” “Ruffed Grouse in Flight,” “Goldenrod and Butterflies,” and so on, in innumerable pictures and visions, thoughts and dreams, that the great lonely place inyites and cherishes Sim- le in structure, as they should be, are hese verses of wild life. Musical, in & soft and plaintive way, as they would be, with this poet who is in a measure tuned to both the loveliness and the cruelty of nature. ‘The pictures are beautiful and abun- some of them. Bkzwh&w thers. A few lines, and & wood clump - ing, on a bare tree branch. Here, etched agiinst the sunget, a royol Lovls and toere a fow dois, T "al ° ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Thousands of Government experts tor, Washington, D. C. .- Did Betty Nuthall defeat Helen Wills Moody for the tennis champion- ship of the United States?—S. E. A. Helen Wills Moody did not play in our national tournament, so Miss Nut- hall won the United States champion- ship without meeting Mrs. Moody on the courts. Mrs. Moody retained her title at Wimbledon. Q. Why is champagne cooled before drinking?—W. M. B. A. For the same reason that our soft drinks are. It makes it more pal- atable. The chilling decreases the gases in l:tmmxlx! they were h::t chul:i betomré using, verage, when opened, Wo be greatly wum' y explosion. Q. How_does a person arrange to travel in Europe by motor cycle from country to country?—F. A. Y. A. The American Automobile Associ- ation informs us that there are prac tically the same regulations for travel- ing in a foreign country with a motor cycle as with an automobile. It is nec- essary to have an international driver's license. A “carnmet de passage en douans,” issued by the American Au- tomobile Assoeiation, is honored in 24 countries. Q. Was Santelmann leader of the Marine Band as long as Sousa was?y— A. Sousa led the band for about 12 years, while Santelmann was appointed leader in 1898 and served until he re- tired in 1927, a period of over 29 years. - Q. What form of government has Liechtenstein?—R. D. A. Liechtenstein is an independent principality. From 1866 it was prac- tically a dependency of Austria, but on November 7, 1918, the Diet declared its complete independence. By treaty with Switzerland in 1921 that country ad- ministers its posts and telegraphs and is included in the Swiss Customs Union. The ruler is Prince Franeis I, who suc- ceeded February 11, 1929, on the death of his brother. He is now 77 years of age. Q. Is it true that exactly the same of the moon is always visible from the earth?—I. L. A. The moon rotates on its axis in exactly the same period in which it re- volves around the earth—namely, ap- proximately 27Y; days. The statement that the moon always has the same side turned toward the earth is not true in the strictest sense. It would be true if the planes of its orbit and of its equator were the same and if it moved at a perfectly uniform angular velocity in its orbit. Thus at certain times the observer is able to see farther around the illuminated side than at others, and that there is only 41 per cent of its surface which is never seen, while 41 per cent is always in it 18 per cent is sometimes sometimes invisible. The Passing of . How much do strawberries, black- heem-md weigh to the quart?—J. A. M. A. They average 1)z pounds to the fajence, _acid-res enamels and such materials. i Q. In what State in this there a town named 'mmnma?g-nx?yw. A. There is a Toronto in Iowa, Kan- sas, Missourl, Ohio and South Dakota. Q. When did Oklahoma become & power in the ofl industry?—R. B. 8. A. Several small oil flelds existed in what was then known as Indian Terri- tory, but it was not until the Bartles- ville field was devel in 1903-4 and the building of the Oil & Gas Co. mg:m"m into this distriet—fol- lowed ediately by extension of the line to Chicago, Ili—that Oklahoma began to have a marked eflect in oil production. Q. How many copyright books were added to the Library Congress last year?—C. T. A. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1930, there was a total of 27~ 970 yright books added to the per- manent ns of the Library. Q. Which State has the densest pop- ulation?—W. T. A. Rhode Island leads, with 566.4 Persons to the square mile. Massachu- setts is second. No State compares in density of population with the District of Columbia, with 7,292.9 persons to the square mile. Q. How many students has the Naval Academy?—E. E. 8. A. At the present time there are en- rolled at the Naval Academy 2,044 students. N Q. Who invented the device which is said to enable air pilots to follow the beam of broadcasting stations?—W. K. A. Geodfray Kruesi, a research o neer of the Western Air Express s has developed an instrument that per- mits aviators to navigate a course by following the beam of a radio program. In a test conducted between Los An- geles and San Francisco, an air followed the radio beam of an nd broadcasting station throughout the 400~ mile flight with the device. Q. What were the British “Wrens” during the World War?—W. 8. A. Members of the Woman's Royal Naval Service. Q. When was the systematic planting of trees begun on Washington, D. C., streets?—8. M. A. It was commenced in the Fall of 1872, when the city was under the ad- ministration of Gov. Alexander R. Shep- e Q. Who was the author of the phrase about plucking dead lons by the beard?—J. H. G. A. The expression is found in Shake- speare’s “King John,” act II, scene 1. Q. What is a light year?—sS. W. ©. AAAllmymuthaduhncetm; and | light travels in a year, 6,000,000,000,000 miles. Abe Martin Kéenly Felt by All Americans Thrusts _at “the homely folbles of human nature by a friendly be missed by the ), ted those whom they were ed, are treasured with the contri- buf of America's greatest humorists. “When a man can e thousands smile every day for 26 years he has in him the spark of genius,” says the Mil- waukee Sentinel, pointing out that “300 mm hich hlm I:h!:ed wf}.gg wl ve the mouth of Abe Martin since was created in 1904 for the polis News.” The Park Evening Press feels that “perhaps his immor- talization of the bucolic Abe Martin is unrivaled am distinctive.” L ’ is the only Declaring word that adequately describes Hub- bard’s gift of humor,” the Little Rock Arkansas Democrat holds that “at all times it kept abreast of the times,” while current events, “not only ” in a vein ;g”c)'\q added to joy of reading.” e New 'Castle News iuu his daily contribution “one of the t newspaper features,” and the Janesville Gazette remarks sorrowfully, “It is a sunset in Bl Center, a brilliant and glorious sunset, with purple and orange and silver glowing for Abe Martin, who comes no more.” , Abe Martin is getting restless on his barbed-wire fence, “states the Richmond News-Leader. “He will for- sake it forever, to hllnchn? his ap- pointed cracker barrel around the stove at Fiddlers Green, where Bill Nye and Josh Billings will make room for him. And, while Artemus Ward passes the tobacco jar to Mark Twain, Abe will G I makes it unanimous,’ W] umbrella mender driving an automo- bile.” * X XX ired contributor to the b tribute: , from their into an ex- divided be- “An _insp brand of humor recognized as American® s mourned by Louis Post-! 5 “His lery chara birth 1904, had gro rural unif and i kS bl;lu against sadly missed.” "chpnmtlvaly few people knew McKinney Hubbard by that name,” says the Dayton Daily News, “but one would go a long way before encountering a person _who had never heard of Abe Martin. Will Rogers once spotted Kin Hubbard in a Follies audi- ence at New York, and pointed him out to those present. . There was hardly a ripple of recognition, but when Rogers explained that Hubbard was the creator of Martin, there was a concerted volley of applause. Abe Martin was as much a by-word in the metropolis as at the cross-roads. Human nature, it has been said times without number, is the same the world over; Kin Hubbard un- derstood it thoroughly, hence he spoke & universal e. “‘His passing will leave a void among his personal friends, especially those sociated with him in his daily work, cording to the Indi lis Star, which declares that “in his relationship every- where, he was as frank and lovable as the characters he created.” The Fort Worth Record-Telegram avers that “he benefited millions of people and injured bunk will- be birds, wake to life and action a little patch of . p every- wild |, On Prom d al;er has not one,” while the Birmingham News, cong that “he cannot be 4 ,” as they ht;;:dtgum' and he thor- ol lowshi] M ex- tended m“‘ ) * * » “He sUll lives,” asserts the South § ith Bend a up to 1930, by Americans who did not know him personally. Thus ‘Kin’ Hubbard the writer, is not in the ‘K’ Hubbard the man. He will write no more, but his writings have not lost effectiveness, although the hand that zu:ilde‘d the pencil is motionless for all e.” “This Hoosler ‘humorist and philoso- made folks think with his eryp- quotations,” according to the Har- risburg Patriot, and the New Orleans Item credits him with “a shrewd com- mon sense, a profound distrust of the ‘high-falutin,’ ‘a keep-both-feet-on-the- ground philosophy, which we cannot lslpj:m rru:m tcl'u‘:r national life” Of creations, Ann Arbor Daily News !;gendtbe mflmh';e,u“such ve done good e world, for they have made folks smile, and have ?ruched Wwords of wisdom, as jokes ” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that e e ute to the Il'ldT’l:\lna:r :‘i ‘K‘ln‘ l;\lbbnrd." - “The death of a humorist like Hub- bard,” thinks the Minneapolis Star, “isa loss to humanity. There are plenty of funny e in the world you m: laugh at, but far too few you can éw‘ with.” ~ The Rochester Times-Union &ng: lr’lr‘lzud;wrk A"claln. d;y. rural wit,” “friendly thrusts at human foibles of the present day.” ¥ A Fight on Feminism. Prom the New York World. Albert E. Pillsbury, who died in New- ton, Mass. on December 23, was & for- mer attorney general of the State and a prominent lawyer, possessing the establishment of lectureships or other means to combat the “modern feminist movement (which) tends to take woman out of the home and put her in politics, Government or busi~ ness’ imperilment of family life. U this peril the lecturers are to — elop sound public opinion and ac- The instructions accompanying the bequest may prove embarrassing 'a'fl:r- vard and Columbia, which have affili- ated women’s colleges. They would be difficult in any college. The anti- feminist lecturers could be found, though they might not meet a very re- spectful hearing; but what “action” - could promote we fail to see, Politfeal action—anti-feminist amend- ments or statutes—would be taboo to mfllrrulmdnm whao have learned to respect the women's vote. Public opin- ion, 100 mightily for four lectureships w’slflut, sets in favor of modern femi- nism, And public opinion has a way of bei often if not generally right. womh:xln are in business because they need the money and do the work. They are in government as yet infrequently but with an encouraging proportion of suecess. In politics—not the practical tics of patronage but the “mzfinfl p;mailglel and policies—many o Salitary Scholarship. Prom the Louisville Times. ‘The ho 1t e 1 1 BIass by Birnott 1o & cor’ school pupil Day Makes No Summer.