Evening Star Newspaper, January 9, 1931, Page 8

‘A8 THE EVENING STAR __With Sunday Morning Edition. _ WASHINGTON, D. C FRIDAY........January 9, 1931 THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business ice: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St, ghlcllo Office: Lake Michigan Bullding. juropean omcelu,m ent St.. London, Al Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evenine Star... 45c per month r 60c per month far e + 8¢ Collection made at the end of each morti. Orders may be sent in by mail or telephone NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virginia. Daily ard Sinday.....1yr.s 5 Daily only 1y $6.00: 1 mo.. 50c Sunday only 1yr. $4.00; 1mo., 40¢ All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday..1sr.$i2.00: 1 mo.. £1.00 Daily oniv U011 Vi $8.00 1 3¢ Sunday only 1 mo. $5.00; 1mo.. 80c is exclusive ation of 1 atches credited to it or not otharwise ted in ikis paper and also the local rLews Dublished herein. ALl rights of pubiication of &necial dispatches herein are also 1oser e use for repul What Is a “Benefit"? What is the benefit to a property owner when a street in front of his home is improved by paving and em- bellished with gutters and curbs? Any one who could answer the ques- tion could defend the indefensible Bor- land Jaw. But can any one answer the question? shape of the property that must be| considered, and any answer is condi- tioned on circumstances. ‘Take the case of a property .owner who has invested heavily in a lot and home facing cn an adequately paved macadam street. tively quiet, excellently suited to his own needs and those of his neighbors, and for years he has been paying taxes which went into the general fund for street improvement. Along come some traffic experts and highway engineers who are looking for a shorter or more direct route for automobiles. The street is paved, gutters and curbing are added, | and the abutting property owners are assessed one-half the cost of the job, provided the street is no wider than forty feet. Almost immediately condi- tions in the neighborhood change. The erstwhile quiet street becomes a much- traveled highway. The noise of auto- mobiles and trucks, the stench of gaso- line and burned oil and the menace of the traffic to his children represent very | tangible handicaps to peace and com- | fort, but under the Borland law they are translated into a direct property benefit. The citizen gives up in disgust, sells his home and moves to a newly opened | subdivision. A roadway has been dedi- cated and opened in front of his prop- erty, but it remains unpaved. In Win- ter the mud sucks his automobile wheels to the hub or freezes and breaks the automobile springs. In Summer the roadway is inches deep in dust, which likewise covers everything in the vicin- ity. When the Highway Department appears with men and machines and paves the roadway he is a thankful citizen, indeed, and cheerfully pays an assessment which to him represents a tangible benefit to his property. In the meantime he has invested his savings in a lot on a quiet subur- ban road, awaiting future development for residences. Nearby there is located & Government airport. There is much traffic to and from the airport. So the roadway is paved and widened. Under the proposed new Borland act the prop- erty owner could be mssessed 20 per cent of the value of his tot—one-fifth of his savings—to help pay for the paving of the roadway, though the roadway is being built to give greater access to the airport and not to benefit | As in the first instance, | his property. cited above, the value of the lot. for residential purposes stands to suffer rather than gain by the so-called im- provement. There are cases in this city where, under the old Borland law, the front- 100t assessment for “benefits” might equal or exceed the value of the lot. Yet the benefit is for the community at large and not the property owner who must foot such an exorbitant pro- portion of the bill. The District has been trying to ‘widen and pave Benning road for years. Condemnation juries have property benefits, not under the Bor- land statute, but under another law.| It might be considered fair to leave the value of the property benefit in the hands of a jury. But the Benning road case has become historic, so many have been the protests and so prolonged been the litigation brought by protest- ing citizens who refuse to interpret the highway, improvement as bencfiting them. The Conduit road widening and mprovement project promises to be- come as well known, if not more so Already involved as proestants are about 2,000 property owners, represented by some 400 a vs, who will con- test the assessmel When assessment for benefits by juries of citizens brings such contro- versy over the value of the benefit, how can the District expect to make head- way With & measure such as the re- vamped Borland law, which arbitrar assesses for benefits according to the front foot, with certain limitations in- serted to get around judicial objection to notoriously discriminatory features? Why waste more time with a method that is bastcally discriminatory and arbitrary, whether or not speeific cases of discrimination may have been re- moved? What provision has been made for| executive and to remain on the ground reassessing the property, assessments|in Louis on which, under the old Borland 1aW,| ingion untii he will have been able 1o And | pring about the election of a successor if such property is not reassessed under: to himself as Governor who will con- | the proposed new Borland law, is not!ynye the Long policies and incidentally l““‘"‘;“nll e Long organization there, against property owners who will be have been voided by the courts? the new law in itself a disci forced to pay new assessments? e - H The “five-year” plan is beginning to 1 ook to & few of the Sovietists like the greatest creation in the way Of &l.me time in 1932, after the present “numbers” game ever evolved. — oo Carpentier's Courage. Georges Carpentier, one-time pugilist, | pires with the close of the present Con- champion of France and, but for a mis- | gress. adventure with the eminent just demonstrated that heroism is not . matter of standing up and taking!first regular session next December, hel sounds so much like good preachin’ and will still be among the absent. ¥ pic- punishment. The other night & lady friend, coadjutor in mo | quest. Probably no, because there! are many factors other than size and | The street is rela- | ‘!01' the Chinese. A China with wage- assessed | has | John | special session this Spring, Mr., Long Dempsey, champion of the world, has|will be among the absent. {ture art, Were held up in the course of & motor drive in the Bronx, New York, and robbed. They were, in fact, first kidnaped, according to the modern custom of the knights of the road, car- ried off & way and there divested of their valuables. Carpentier, who is still, despite the passing of years, quite clever with his fists, made no defense. When chided on the subject of his supine be- havior in such a ecrisis he remarked, “Do you think I am crazy? They had guns pointed at my heart. Who could fight with a gun pointed at his heart?” Which shows that Carpentier is really a hero. It take$ heroic stuff to enable a man to meet such a crisis with com- | mon sense. A real hero is not neces- sarily a rash person, one of those who rush in where even angels fear to tread, who defy the mechanism of modern |crime. He is one who accepts an im- | perative fact without turmoil of mind and wih judgment. Once in a while a persen, suddenly confronted with a { deadly weapon, himself unarmed, flames |into resistance and attack, only to fig- ure a little later as the subject of an in- There is no heroism in that sort of thing. | * Carpentier, alive today and explain- {ing why he submitted to robbery, Is a| much better man than Carpentier dead, with the papers full of his obituary and with praises for his courage and his instinctive resort to the weapons of his | former profession, his fists. It is better |to take a little chaffing z%3® than much | praise dead. | o ‘World Aid for China. One of the most grandiose interna- | ; tional relief projects ever proposed—a scheme which aims at nothing shart of putting China’s teeming milnos on their feet—is now engaging the attn- | tion of a subcommittee of the Senasz | | Committee on Foreign Relations. It | | has the double purpose of bringing prosperity and peace to war-racked China and ameliorating wcrld-wide eco- nomic depression. In a nutshell, the plan calls for a heavy loan of silver to the Chinese Nationalist government by the Ameri can, British and Canadian governments in particular, but in active association | with the governments of France and {Japan. A resolution authorizing the President of the United States to enter into appropriate negotiations with other interested powers is expected shortly to emerge from the Foreign Relations Committee. If its prospectively broad | terms, looking to “financial and ad- visory aid to China,” are ever carried out, international support for the re- habilitation of that vast realm would be contemplated on a prodigious scale. Canada appears % have been taking the lead in this unprecedented relief program. The new Bennett govern- ment at Ottawa is credited with having in mind a $1,000,000,000 world loan to | Nanking, the object being to restore | the value of silver, as well as effecting general economic recovery. Canada ! also proposes the shipment of 100,000,~ 000 bushels of wheat to China. Both the United States and British India have a special interest in an attempt to bring back the normal purchasing power of silver. The enterprise includes far- flung arrangements for public improve- ments in China, Senator Pittman's subcommittee, | which has been quietly, but thoroughly, exploring the wide ramifications of this extraordinary undertaking, has heard testimony which throws a graphic light on conditions in China. President Chiang-Kai-Shek and his government, | it is represented, are required to divert | their attention incessantly to suppres- sion of civil war because the National- ist regime has failed to provide work earning employment is set forth not | only as a peaceful China, but a China | capable of becoming a rich market for foreign produce of all descriptions. The theory underlying any international aid on the gigantic lines proposed is, there- fore, that in helping China the outside world will be helping itself. It goes without saying that there are many bridges to cross. First of all, the American, British, Canadian Bnd} French governments will want to be | | well assured that money invested in | China relief is not money squandered {As to Nanking, a Natlonalist govern- | ment which seized power largely on the | issue of abolishing “foreign control” of China will, on its part, also demand | assurances. It is altogether unlikely that its present rulers would even con- sent to such “advisory” or “supervisor; | co-operation in the ordering of China’s destinics as was in vogue in the old days of treaty ports and spheres of in- | terest. —r—————— Aviation eliminates terror from the | human mind. tricate, but th: more than the others is the defiant in- | quiry, “Who's afraid?" B The Senator-Elect Governor. Gov. Hue {intend to t €at in the Senate { clected November 4 last. As he naively | explains, the law of the State of | Louistana does not permit him to be | both Governor and Senator at the same {time. The tmplication is that if this | were possible the picturesque Governor to which he was 1932 May, | The explanation given for Gov. Long's | the Governor's | | reluctance to abandon chair at this time is that the Lieuten- ant Governor, politic hostile and | belonging to the faction which Go! ! Long defeated in the recent senatori: election, would not continue his (Gov. ! Long's) policies. The Governor, it ap- { pears, is anxious to hold on as chief na instead of coming to Wash- Unless Gov. Long changes his mind and decides to come to Washington and take his seat at an earlier date than he now plans, Louisiana must get along with one Senator instead of two until session of Congress expires March 4 Long was elected to the seat now held by Senator Ransdell, whose term ex- It the new Congress meets in And if the | ment | march of improvement, The examination is in- | uestion which counts | P. Long does not at present | until early in 1932 the | of Louisiana would fill both positions | | until his term as Governor expires in | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., FRIDAY. JA: LAARY 9 1981 ganization of the Senate and to cast his vote for Democratic candidates for President pro Tempore of the Senate and for chairmen of the standing com- mittees. The political complexion of the Senate in the next Congress is 48 RepuMlicans, 47 Democrats, including Mr. Long, and 1 Farmer-Labor Sena- tor. It is conceivable that the Demo- crats, with a defection or two among the Republican Progressives from the @. O. P. leadership, might have a chance to organize the Senate. Mr. Long's absence, however, makes it more cer- tain that the Republicans will organize. As Mr. Long has pointed out, there are precedents for his clinging to the office of Governor after the day has ar- rived when as Senator-elect ne is en- titled to assume the duties of Senator of the United States. The late David B. Hill, a Democratic Senator from New York, was elected to the Senate January 1, 1891, for the term begin- ning March 4, 1891, but did not take his seat in the Senate until January 7, 1892. Mr. Hill had presidential aspira- ns. He did not wish to leave the Governor's chair, his political oppo- nents sald, because he feared that some of his friends in New York might lose important party positions if he came to the Senate. In the end, however, he made the leap into the Senate, but faded out of the picture as a presiden- tial aspirant. Senator Hiram Johnson of California was another who held on as Governor after the beginning of his term of office as Senator, but not for | long. Senator Johnson was elected to | the Scnate November 7, 1916, for the | term beginning March 4, 1917, and con- tinued as Governor until March 16, when he assumed his senatorial dutles. R Bootleg liquor is being treated by | the authorities in an odoriferous way | which would warrant a moonshiner in need of farm relief in requesting at least that contents of the still be sprinkled on the soil to see whether it is of any value as fertilizer. ———— Theaters that are doomed to be torn down to make way for the Govern- are merely yielding to the Some of the shows have been not very good, but bad shows are as likely to keep a thea- ter going as to destroy it. r———_ The famous trial involving the ques- | ing at matters from their own view- | not even consider taking it, as we say. tion of Simian ancestry apparently left Mr. Scopes with a large amount of publicity which would have been val- | uable in expert hands, but which he evidently did not know how to manage. In order to end unemployment, busi- ness doctors who professed an ability to find something for everybody to do should be promptly placed under ob- | servation to ascertain whether they can live up to thelr claims. e An immense amount of re-employ- ment is reported by railroads and big industrial concerns. It may b(-cnme’ suitable to shift the dates around a| little 50 as to make Washington’s birth- day a day of general rejoicing. —_— e, Every man has his day. It is doubt- 1ul whether Theodore Roosevelt would in this era of combinations command the same old enthusiasm by references to trust busting and malefactors of great wealth, r——— A homicide sensation usually brings to notice some notoriety. A question | which remains unanswered is what a | man will do with his notoriety after he | get it. P — SHOOTING STARS. - BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Bigger and Better Investigation. Let us investigate each day And reach results as best we may, Let us look into every cause And give our views on nature's laws. Let us investigate the rules Observed in various kinds of schools, Let us inspect the government And learn what causes discontent, Nor fail to find a reason clear When drought makes harsh the atmos- phere. Let us endeavor to explain What planets wait with new domain When this we leave. Let's go into th sky And learn how stars move on and why In short, since knowledge is at last | So accurate and still so vast From billions which the bankers lend To fences neighbors ought to mend, Let’s bid our Seers—we might do worse— Investigate the Universe! Polite Politics. “I have heard it said you would never intentionally hurt the feelings of a friend.” “That's correct,” answered ' Senator Sorghum. “I'm willng to state my views, but I don’t know of any worse | politics than uc dlessly hurtin’ any- body's feelin Jud Tunkins says he never argues | with his wife. He listens respectfully | to everything she says; but “you can't call that arguing. =i { Life Has Become a Serious Matter, | I much deplore the hours that I misplace In studying ads that might improve my face. I know I'd nearly perish with regret If the wrong tooth paste I should | chance to get, And break into an agonizing scr-am If I went wrong in buying shaving cream! | A Delicate Competition. “Didn’t Crimson Guich take up the idea, just for novelty, of offering a prize for the toughest-looking man?” “Yes,” answered Cactus Joe. “But the enterprise fell through. There wasn't anybody who would have had | nerve enough to face men who was| ! maybe jest logkin' for trouble and | formally announce to one of them that he had won the prize.” “He who knows when to say nothing, said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, as one who by adding a cipher to 1,000 may increase its value tenfold.” Seriousness and Frivolity, Sometimes the news of real griet "Mid jest is broke. Just now the farmer needs relief— And That's No Joke, tInew Congress does not meet until its will not be on hand to ke pars in the o |for the past year and a half. Mr.| THIS AN BY CHARLES E. Never give good advice. The better it is, the more it is re- sented. ‘This is one of those generalities, of course, against which we recently in- veighed, but it will be found to fit be- tween 60 and 75 per cent of all cases. ‘The trouble with giving advice is that no one wants it, not even when he asks for it. All he wants is to clarify his own mind. He is thinking aloud, and you become the buffer. Just why he resents your advice, however, is not altogether clear, unless it hinges upon the fact that the aver- age person does not care to be a beggar. Advice which costs money comes i nary garden variety, such as almost any one can receive in large quantities for the mere asking. Probably what irks the average man as much as anything about such ad- vice is that it is seldom based on any real desire on the part of the other to look at the matter from the standpoint of the one asking for help. Scarcely ever is any real attempt made by the donor of advice to put himself into one's shoes and regard the proposition from the only viewpoint | which counts, that of the person in- | volved, At first one is inclined to be eritical and feel that the advice giver has gone | back on one, until a calmer moment permits one to see the truth, which | simply is that no one can get out of | This which we ask of the advice | giver, that he see things from our | standpoint, is impossible, for most often | we are both unable and unwilling to | put him in possession of all the facts. | We “hold out” on him and then look | askance at him for “holding out” on us, | But in the nature of things we should expect nothing else. * ok * % Then, too, he is attempting the im. possible, to work up in a few moments the same interest which you, as the | asker, have incorporated in your own heart and mind after many hours, or even days, weeks and years, of vital interest. | “Dherefore the wise man or woman | seldom seeks advice except of those | closest and nearest. And he is charv‘ of giving it, no matter how good and | to_the point he knows it to be, | Suppos: him to be the exceptional | person, the father-confessor type, to whom others turn instinctively be- cause they know that he will' do a| rather better than average job of look- point. Even then he hesitates to give a vice, because he knows that the bett it is the more likelthood there is that it will be repudiated. He draws back | from the responsibility, not so much because he dislikes the repudiation, but that he knows his advice will do no| good. Even in so simple a matter as ad-| vising another upon a book to read, he knows from experience that his very! enthusiasm causes the invisible mental hairs of the other to bristle. | How easy it is to rub human beings the wrong way! | us, the world of men would now be | centuries in advance of itself. But all through the ages no one has been able | to advise another except at the cost of | misunderstanding, heartache and often disaster, | Of course, the President wasn't talk- | ing politics or even making predictions —on which thumbs are severcly turned down 'in_Washington nowadays—when | he telephoned a little speech to (hf‘“ National Automobile Chamber of Com- merce in New York the other night. Just the same, there was more in it than meets the eye. Confidence in the eco- nomic future is not taboo, even if prophecy is. What Mr. Hoover did not refrain from indicating to the motor magnat:s is that he is decidedly a bull on the business outlook. That’s where | his little homily links up with politic: Although | President shrinks from seeking a second | term on account of the state of the | times, the thought is occasionally en- countcred that he will not choose to run in 1932 if the times are not immeas- urably better. Mr. Hoover's observations about new cars and new roads, “which are certainly not heading for the poor | house,” reflect the faith that is in him | and are a transparent hint that the | Calitornian envisages the next two yea without anxiety either for his own fo tunes or those of the country at large. * x X * 1f, as the politicians say, vou can't beat somebody with nobody, wham would the Republicans have to pit against the President at the next G. O. P. national convention if he should face opposition? To begin with, it’s always easy as pie for an_incumbent Chief Executive to | bring about his own renomination. Old hands have said that as soon as a new President takes the oath of office on March 4, and recovers from the rigors of the inaugural parade, he immediately sets about to arrange for an eight-year lease 6f the White House. Party ma- chinery is freely a his disposal for the purpose. It may creak here and ther a bolt may jar loo: i this or that | section of the country. But, for all es- sentials, the national organization is the President’s, to have and to hold. Unless one can imagine the almost un- thinkable—say, the stampeding of the convention for Calvin Coolidge or Dwight Morrow, on some platform wet- ter than Herbert Hoover would care 1o stand on—the President's renomination is in the bag. * % % % Everybody knows that the presidency has brought Mr. Hoover much of dis- | illusionment. It has taken a visible physical toll out of him. The politicians of his own party have given him only grudging support. On numerous occa- sions the President has had to demand from Republican leaders in Congress a | species of militant loyalty which he| had reason to expect as a matter of course. That of itself would be suffi- cient to sour the spirit of the tituls head of any party. On top of his pu political disappointments have come the business depression and the merciless succession of bad breaks which have dogged the administration’s footsteps Hoover, in moments of communicative- | ness within his own circle, does not nceal his emotions, which are those | ven a less sensitive man would -have under similarly depressing _circum- | stances. The thing is that the President is far from bowed down. Anybody, in-| side or outside the G. O. P., who thinks he is, and is_making corresponding 1932 plans, is off on the wrong foot. e e When Dr. Wilhelm Miklas, President of Austria, broadcasts to America_over the Columbia’s transoceanic circuit on | Sunday next, he will set two records at |once. 1t will be the first direct radio | | transmission_from Vienna to Amerjca and Dr. Miklas will be the first Pr dent of a European republic to be heard on the Yankee air. He became Au tria’s chief magistrate about the s: time Herbert Hoover was elected Presi- dent of the United States. The Austrian | presidential election was held in De- cember, 1928. Dr. Miklas is also, like Hoover, in the midst of a four-yea term. ‘The Austrian Minister in W: ington, Edgar Prochnik, who will in- troduce his President, has been on duty in this country far longer than any other member ‘of the local diplomatic corps except Viscount d'Alte, perennial Portuguese Minister. Herr Prochnik en- “De radio,” said Uncle Eben “often dat T don't feel right cause dar ain’ nobody ~5 de contribution plate.” tered the Austrian foreign service 26 years ago, and 22 years of that time his_own skin, |s | spit out at once, an If it were not for this trait in all of | WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. few authorities believe the | { always deemed ocbnoxious | Mr. D THAT . TRACEWELL. And these are large prices to .pay for words. The depths of misunderstanding are as much deeper than the sea than the human mind is higher than the moun- tains of Asia. All the old suspicions of the race live in each one of us, al- though we may possess the finest pos- sible veneer and utterly refuse to rec- ognize them. “What!"” we say, with hauteur. “We will_admit some relationship with the animals, but there is a wide, wide gulf, brother, and we must remind you of it, in case you dare to forge But the very fact that we bristle at the very thought of ancient kinship shows the honest mind that we know very well what is behind these sudden wellings of anger, these crass enthu- siasms when mixed with the crowd, these petty suspicions which overtake us even when some one is trying his best, even if it is a poor best, to help us. T Advice is seldom asked except when the asker is in a quandary, and doubt proclaims a conflict of interests, a lack of surety in what one has done, or thinks, or knows. Often enough good advice must plain- 1y show up some lack, some wrong line of conduct, judged from the best— and most honest—standpoints Young people instinctively dislike the advice of their parents and other elders because they realize, even if they will not admit i, that the chances are that it is correct, and, being right, in- antly rebuffs their wrong, their in- experience, their ignorance. Good advice, the better the more surely, ruthlessly uncovers old sores, and shows to the waiting mind the scars of past mistakes. And what human being, we ask, cares for such revealing? Our pride is hurt, our precious pride in the mythical man we have built up out of hopes and aspirations. Him, we fondly tell ourself, few know and fewer appreciate, Only we, in the depth of our own secret heart and mind, know him as he likes to think of himself, and understand what a wonderful fel~ low he is, after all. Good advice, so called, has a nasty habit of stripping him bare and show- ing him for his true self, a bow-legged underling forever complaining about fate and his stars, and vastly unwilling to listen to the good advice given Bru- tus, , if one must give advice, let it be advice, the worse the better, be- t will be understood at once to be indeed, and the other will bad ause very poor Good advice is often too bitter medi~ But bad advice we ithout making any pretense of swallo~ing it. The good adviser, therefore, s he who is wise enough to give bad advice, or rather, shall we sa), clumsy advice, com- posed of words which will show the other that we do not understand his case and_therefore are unable to help him at all. Then he will gron down into his own heart and soul ana do the best for him- self that he can which, after all, no matter what we peetend to believe, is all ny human being can do. ‘We realize that much can be sald on the other side of vhis, our thesis, but we are stubborn enough to believe that we are right in ending as we began. Never give good advice. The better it is the more certain it is to be resented. cine for us to take. ~Wal-ns Aéainst Advance Of Methods of Warfare To the Editor of The Star: Practically all mankind has MNstened to speech and music in the air. Either now travels around the globe in eight minutes, For some years past physi- cists have been hunting a method of spreading death and destruction as widely and effectually as we now spread speech and music. From Britain comes the latest news. Last November the British Association of Chemists were told at Liverpool that “an efficient death ray is no mere fig- ment of the imagination. Researches are being carried out with invisibie rays of such power that they would be capable of exterminating whole pop- ulations.” Three years ago the best (or worst) they could do was to incin- erate one man 3 miles distant, but we are advancing in knowledgs and wer. O osscTie), curs dliensiate) Have. Hean equally busy and successful, for Prof. Lewis writes me that his gas, Lewisite, 15 about thrice (2.9) as deadly as any used in the late war to end war, When one realizes that the United States Arsenal at Edgewood was nearly ready to turn out 13,000 tons of poison gas a month, and the number and size of airplanes now available to disperse the stuff, it is not difficult to realize that all the talk of “security” is simply mis- leading chattef, unless all nations agree to really outlaw war, as they are pledged in honor to do, and to settle all differ- ences by justice, to administer which an International World Court has been established. EDWARD BERWICK, r—.— Auto Tag Distribution Plan Seen Thieves’ Aid To the Editor of The Star: Doesn't the present system of issuing automobile license tags materially help thieves and unscrupulous persons? 1went to the District Bullding Tuesday and purchased my tags. No proof of the ownership of a car is required. Any one ¢an buy as many tags as they want by merely filling out the application blank. A thief would receive tags and regisiration cards for any number of cars he had in his possession. Out-of- town thieves could send in to the Dis- trict and get as many tags as they wished and the registration card would bear the correct engine number on it, With the dishonest owner's name also thereon. This would beggdecided help to them in disposing of Tolen cars. It is a serious thing to all other States that are working against motor thieves. I am told that most States require some proof of ownership. Last year here in Washington we were required to show the previous year's registration card to establish proof of ownership. Why this slipshod method for the District of Columbia? F. GEORGE CLENDANIEL, - o Calls Safety Zones Death Traps Instead To the Editor of The Star: ‘Washington's “murder zones,” mis- named “safety zones,” place thousands of citizens “on the spot” dally. The Star is to be congratulated on its New Year day editorial calling at- tention to the dangers of so-called “safety zones.” ‘The responsibility for the inadequate protection given passengers boarding or alighting from street cars on Connecti- cut avenue is about equally divided between Congress and the Public Serv- ice Commission. The Traffic Bureau started to build safe “safety zones” of concrete, raised above the street level, but Congress in its infinite wisdom debarred further progress by deciding that District funds could not be used for that purpose. To Congress, Wash- ington citizens might say with the gladiators of ancient Rome, “Morituri te salutamus”-—"“We who are about to die salute you.” His wife is an American, the former Gretchen Sterling James of Boston. * X X *x Edward F. Colladay, Republican na- tional committeeman for the District of Columbia, is bending bencath the felicitations of his legal brethren for his successful argument of the Go-Bart Importing Co. case hefore the Supreme Court. The court’s verdict is a smash- ing_defens the right of a citizen against unreasonable searches and seizures. The case involved a search, without a warrant, of the company’s in New York City and the of yarious records belonging The Go-Bart interests failed in their efforts to retrieve their records through an order of the lower Federal courts. ‘The case was then taken to the Supreme ~Court, where it was argued for the Government by So- licitor General Thacher and for the petitioners by Mr. . In ren- dering the Supreme Court's opinion Justice Butler said that “the need of protection against general searches, to funda- mental principles of liberty, is attested alike by history and present condi- tions.” ~ The court directed that the United States attorney be enjoined | from using the seized papers and re- quired to return them to their owners. % % A well known Washingtonian was recently the reciplent of distinguished honors. He says that his are heaping so much con- gratulatory hospitality upon him that he can hardly keep his head above | alcohol. L is occasioned by the of Representative Clyde Kelly, an, of Pennsyl master General Br E raise the letter postal rate from 2 to 21, cents hasn’t a Chinaman's chance. ly is one of the potent members of | the House Committee on Post Office and Post Roads. He's the particular guardian of postal employes’ welfare. The Postmaster General's proposal evoked no enthusiasm in either branch of Congress, and still less in the coun- try at large. No one has introduced & bill to give effect to it. The proposition fell flat as soon as it emerged from Brown’s annual report, nor did it achieve popularity as the result of | his speeches advocating it. Repre- sentative Kelly enunciates a theory generally held in Washington when he describes the post office as a public service institution, like the Army or and not as & money-maker for ¢ Sam. (Copyright, 1931.) ——on— North Carolina Stays Rural. From the Charlotte (N. C.) News. The statistical facts show that North Carolina continues rural in its popula- tion no matter what may be happening to other sections of the country. According to data_disclosed by the 1930 census on April 1, 1930, there were 809,847 people living in North Carolina | cities and towns of upward of 2,500 population. At the same time there 0429 people living in. the rural sections of the State. Only two States, Pennsylyania and more people living in_ the than has North Carolina, There are 3,097,139 Pennsylvanians liv- ing in the country and 3,435,367 Texans similarly located. Since' the drift of the population from the farms cityward is viewed with mis- givings by sociologists, North Carolina should have no alarm from this source, since nearly three times as many of her | people live in the country as live in the {cities. The State is still strongly agri- | cultural. The Public Service Commission, by approving too frequent and unprotected stops for street cars, with no regard for safety, igaugurated the er z:mes.” Each. member of the Public Service Comm! n should be asked to try out the “murder zones” on Con- necticut avenue during the rush hours. Congressmen might get a thrill in the sime way. Each evening, when I alight from the street car on Connecticut avenue with a dozen fast-moving electric headlights glaring at me, two or three speedy, trackless locomotives headed directly for me, and when I stand in a four- foot space between 30-mile-an-hour motor vehicles passing on either side, I merely wonder which one is going to hit me. It is a sporting proposition —one calculated to increase alertness; be quick, or be dead. Why worry—who wants to live forever? It is death a la mode, for it is fashionable to get hit by an automobile. One is not modern who wastes time reading about gangsters being placed “on the spot”; just try one of the “spots” devised by Congress and the Public Service Commission and get a real thrill. I sincerely hope that The Star will continue its campaign to have safe safety zones provided, for without them death and destruction is rampant. C. R. THOMAS. o New York Sets Example. From the Newark Evening News. One of the foremost local events of the decade now closing will be the uni- fication of New York’s subways and ele- vated lines, if the bargain struck by negotiators for the cities and the com- panies is approved. It will pull together the greatest transportation system of any city in the world, a system that runs into all the five boroughs of Great- er New York, except Staten Island, which will be included whenever the tunnel under the Narrows becomes a reality. Whatever may be sald in criti- cism-of New York, it knows how to set up a co-ordination of service in the several communities that make up the community of Greater New York. This unification may fairly be spoken of as a local event because, as the New York Times pleasantly recognizes, New Jersey is facile princeps among the commuter zones furnishing New York a big part of its work-day population. It sends forth nearly three times as many travelers to Manhattan’s offices and shops as Westchester and Long Is- land, It is the source of a large part of the patrons of New York's subways and elevated lines. For that reason it is all the more a shortcoming that New Jersey has no such unifying set-up as New York. ‘Transportation in Northern Jersey is unified in a roundabout way, and unifi- cation is moving toward completion. But the need for rapid transit transpor- tation is not being anticipated. Sugges- tions, such as Mayor Congleton made a year ago for a subway to Irvington, re- main only suggestions and will untii co- operation by the several communities affected is organized. The initiative in this matter should come from the com- munities which aspire to be the leaders in co-ordinated effort. ‘They should lead in the awakening of Northern Jer- sey to the treatment of large areas as regions with common interests that transcend their political _insularity. Transportation is only one of these in- terests. Others are just as vital. They cannot be properly attended to unless the several communities unite in com- mon effort. It has taken New York a long while to reach the unification agreement— nearly 10 years; all the more reason why these Jersey communities should be organizing themselves to accomplish But that in itself is suggestive of an- other problem—the problem of such social, economic and legislative adjust- ments as will bring the greatest benefit to the greatest number in the occupa- tion_in_which this greatest number is involved. What North Carolina needs— and for that matter what the whole country needs—is agricultural redemp- tion, .o Santa’s Mechanics, From the Hamilton Spectator. have been spent in the United States— before the war as & consular officer and since 1935 s epvoy st Washington If all the mechanical toys Santa Claie left were Iaid end Yo emd, it e’ ve | prscible te lod =05 el Lk here what New York has achieved. ~e Will the Ducks Crow? From the Des Moines Tribune-Capital. Who said environment didn’t count? A Seattle rooster placed with ducks has learned to take a dally swim. Wasted Energy. From the Bogtan Transcript, A.cgm indoor sports of a hard a it of telling the world how w—vpm depressions ‘may nereater be L ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. 7 Have we had the pleasure of setv-| ing you through our Washington In-| formation Bureau? Can't we be of | some help to you in your problems? | Our business is to furnish you with| authoritative information, and we in-| vite you to ask us any question of fact in which you are interested. Send your inquiry to The Evening Star In- formation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, | director, Washington, D. C. Inclose 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. t . How does the popularity of golf compare with base ball>—T. P. | A~ Golfdom says that last year the attendance at major league ball games was about 11,000,000, while at least 15,000,000 games of golf were played in the territory covered by these leagues. Q. What were the draft ages in the | Civil War?—I. W. P, A. The soldiers drafted into the| Union Army were between the ages of 18 and 45. The first draft law of the Confederate States, 1862, gave the age | limits as 18-35—this was later increased to 45. The act of 1864 drafted into military service all white men between | 17 and 50, those between 17 and 18 and 45 and 50 to constitute a reserve. Q. Is George Gershwin an Amer- ican?—A., J. | A. He was born in New York City. Q. What will keep sleet from freez- ing on the windshield of an auto--| mobile>—€. C. D. A. Tt is suggested in a recent bul- letin that the rear hook of the engine | hood be unfastened and the hood raised | slightly so the heat from the engine | will strike the windshield. If the | wind is blowing across the car, the use of a pasteboard box to carry the | heat closer to the glass is recommended. For vehicles having inside heaters, the | suggestion is made that a piece of tire tubing be carried and used to carry the heat directly to the lower side of the | windshield. A small bag of salt fastened to the upper end of the wind- | shield wiper is said to afford some re- | lief, but the melted sait forms a smear | that may require the use of alcohol for removal. . Which star 15 the and which is the nearest?—H. G. | A. The farthest known star is Are- | turus, whose estimated distance is 950 | trillion miles or 160 light years. The nearest star so far as we know is Alpha Centauri, which is about 26 trillion | miles distant. Q Where is Patagonia?—E. A. L. A. Patagonia is a name now gen- erally applied to an indefinite region lying east of the Andes and south of Rio Negro. It was formerly applied farthest away | ?—H. G, South American Continent. Q. What is the word for causing the death by scientific means of people who are hopelessly 111>—R. M. A. The term is “euthanasia” It is less, happy death. Q. Did England send a governor general to America before the Revolu- tion‘.‘Tr(g. M. A. lere Was no governor neral before the Revolution. Each gv:eulony had a separate governor paid by the crown. Q. What part of the United States has the heaviest snowfall>—C. K. C. A. The heaviest snowfalls in the United States occur in the central portions .of the Sierra Nevada of to the whole southern portion of the | of Greek derivation and means a pain- | the exact locality” Having the heaviest snowfall, but accounts for & single season of above 700 inches have been reported from the station at Summit on the line of the Southern Pacific Rail- yoad, running Calif,, and Re fest snowfall in the Winter of inches, . Q. If a man walking could main- tain a pace of 1 meter per second, how m‘:n)l'a m(l:lcs would he’walk inia A. If he walked the full 24 hours he would cover 53.686 miles, Q. What are the advantagés and disadvantages of a vapor heating sys- tem?—D. E. J. A. Experts list the advantages Bs small consumption of fael, no dust, changes temperature quickly and all rooms are casily heated, while the dis- advantages are high cost of installa- tion, no ventilation and the space taken up by the radiators. occurred 80 and was 783 Q. Can you inform me as to what is meant when it is said of & couple ka they were married over a broom- Stick? G. A. To marry over the broomstick means to go through a mock marrisge ceremony in which both parties jump over a broomstick. Q‘., V;{'h(-rr are the Roaring Forties?— A. In modern siang the term is used to designate Broadway and con- tiguous territory from Fortieth to Fif- tieth streets. In the nautical sense it refers to the storm region of the North Atlantic between degrees 40 and 80, and is sometimes used with reference to the same zone in the South Atlantic. Q. What is meant by “a monkey” in speaking of a sum of money?—A. W. . A “monkey” is used to mean §00 pounds sterling, or, sometimes, $500. Q. How are telephones on trafns operated’—A. K. S. ¢ B. | A, Telephoning from a moving train is made possible by use of the limes of the telegraph wires that parallel all railroad tracks. The conversation ' is broadcast to them, runs along the wires to a cen station and is then trans- ferred to ordinary telephone wires, The instrument looks not unlike a radio broadcaster, An ordinary telephone' is used and the voice transmitted by the breadcaster to the telegraph wire. The process involves the disintegration and reassembling of the human voice, for the words spoken into the telephone or the train vanish into high frequency cycles and are precipitated from the train to the carrier current telegraph wires. At the pick-up stations the voice is reassembled and so transmitted further. How often is there a change of ministry in England?—H. M. C. A. It is seven years unless interrupted. Frequently on & major proposal a mem- ber of the opposition will move a vote of “No confidence” or of censure. In the event of this motion being carried, a general election will;be held through- out the country, and the result will de- termine whether the present minister remains in power or whether the King will call some one from the opposition side to form a cabinet. Q. How much money has thls coun- %y ’;pt‘Ent in enforcing prohibition?— A. The United States has spent $86,- 409,778.21 for the enforcement of pro- California. It is impossible to state hibition since 1920. Indorsement by rail exeeutives of & proposed grouping of Eastern Tatlroads into four main systems is received with much approval by the public. Consoli- dation efforts have been so slow in achieving results that the present de- velopment is classed as genuine prog- Tess toward solution of the rail problem. Presidert Hoover's efforts in the mat- ter, while opposed by Senator Couzens, are upheld in various comments. A factor in the situation js the predicted effect on business conditions, while the increased competition from other forms of transportation is ‘believed to have contributed to the agreement. “Aside from the employment that may be furnished by new construction to make the proposed consolidations most effective,” says the New York Sun, “the country will benefit from the mer- gers by their businesslike administra- tion.” The Cleveland Plain Dealer feels that “it is well within the facts to say that the proposed merger in the trunk- line territory is born of depression”; that “it is probably not too much to say that it is born of the necessity of self-preservation.” The Champaign News-Gazette holds that “if this sys- tem can weather a stormy Congress, it will kindle confidence in the future of American railroads, and should be a generally effective tonic for 1931’s busi- ness.” “The prospect of such an improve- ment must react favorably upon the country’s general business,” agrees the Jersey City Jeurnal, while the St. Louis Times voices the opinion that “if the new plan is adopted, the railroads will give a better service,” and the Cincin- nati Times-Star declares: “To the lines involved it will meam financial sta- bility. It should open way for im- provements which will betiar the unem- ployment situation, while the elimina- tion of unreasonable competition should bekcf benefit to shippers and carriers alike.” Charging that Senator Couzens’ “crit- ictsm of President Hoover’s implied sup- port of the plan agreed upon is unwar- ranted and unfair,” the Charleston (S.C.) Evening Poststates: “The Presidentpoints out that the Interstate Commerce Com- mission has no authority in itself to re- quire consolidation and that this can be brought about only by voluntary agreement of the railroad companies. That such an agreement has been reached is and should be a source of satisfaction to the President as it should be to Senator Couzens. It does not follow thav the plan is so designed that it will meet the requirements of the public interest, but it can hardly be doubted that it is a long step toward some sort of stabilization of the railroad situation, the need of which can cer- tainly not be denied even by Senator Couzens.” k. “A dream which has been indulged in by some of the country’s most saga- cious transportation experts for many years is at last in the way of being realized,” remarks the Salt Lake Deseret News, and the Chicago Daily News, pointing out that * e to be justified, if that be possible,” vises: “The question, after all, is one of fact. Not the Interstate Commerce Commission alone, but congressional committees, will demand evidence of public benefit—and of benefit to the railroads; whose executives are clamor- ing for relief—before proposed mergers are sanctioned, Doubtless the exccu- tives concerned are preparing definite statements setting forth the economies and service improvements envisaged by them as the result of the proposed con= solidation.” “The fact that executives of the four four-trunk-line plan of consolidation,” in the judgment of the Roanoke World- News, “enormously advances & project | which has been before the country in | one form or another ever since the | railroads were returned to their owners after the period of Government war- time operation.” Speaking for Peninsylvanians who are interested, the Pittsb _Post-Gazette advises that “it is plain i although rogress has been made towMgd con- systems have tentatively agreed to & | {pc: Discussion of Rail Mergérs Shows Wide Public Support . -t 4 Hoover said 1t provided for the pro- tectionrof the interests of the employes, with full consideration of the interests of communities and the protection ‘of the public interest. But labor is con- cerned about a merger of shops and ter- minals which might involve a reduc- tion of the force of employes. Sena~ tors Couzens of Michigan and Wheeler of Montana both cite the proposed Northern Pacific and Great Northern merger, saying that if the Eastern met- ger is like that they cannot support it. Senator Wheeler’s statement that ‘it is up to the railroads to prove that their plan is in the public interest and would care for the employes’ does not appear to \aaq:u;;easonnble." 8 “Whether or not the plan shall prove to be ideal and whom isfactory,” says the Philadelphia Eve- ning Bulletin, “it may be assumed that it will bring some advantages. dent Hoover is credited with an ex- pression of approval. He had wury the railroad interests to get together and work out their problem. Appar- ently, under the reported agreement, all hands get some of what they wanted.” Th: Fort Worth Star-Tele- cally seek relief legislation in Cor without first doing what they can them- selves through sound consolidation to effect economies and service improye- ment. The realization of this situation is very general among the railroads; a field where management has attained a degree of perfection not approached in any other fleld.” * ok ok ok “The desire to combine those four systems springs from the necessity of making some move that will result in more economical operation,” according to the Little Rock Arkansas Democrat, while the Terre Haute Star is im- pressed by the fact that “it will lead to economies in operation and wiil make possible progress that is not at- tainable under present conditions.” The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, referring to the transportation act of 1920, holds that “nothing in this decade has trans- pired to alter the general soundness of policy expressed in that aet” The Houston Chronicle finds satisfaction that “at last, it seems, accomplishment on this far-reaching and most impor- tant problem is under way.” In condemnation of those who would oppose the merger plan, the Buffalo Evening News maintains that “as so- clety is now organized, employment cannot be promoted unless investment of capital is encouraged by reasonable profits”; that “dishonest and excessive business profits by corporations operat- ing under Government franchises are @ proper subject of legal restraint, but it is a gross distortion of ‘this principle to treat profitmaking as if it were dis- honest in itself.” The importance pf competition from other forms of trans- portation as a means of bringing about the agreement is emphasized by the ca_Observer-Dispa ne = troit News. i D,' “That it has taken 10 years even for this preliminary step,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle, “illustrates the difficulties iri the way of the prac- tical realization of a policy to whigh the railroads are urged by their own interest, public sentiment and the man- date of Congress. That the grouping now outlined does not conform to the plan suggested by the Interstate Com- merce Commission is probably no - prise to the commission itself, w) offered its own_suggestions frankly the hope of stimulating action by the railroads. The commission presented a picture of what might. be rather n a program to be rigidly » Maybe Lipton’s Lucky Number. From the Florence (Ala.) Herald, If Sir Thomas Lipton is superstitious he will probably skip a number w] he gets to Shamrock XIII. b = ‘A Real Kick. From the Louwisvile, Times. i solidation, t features to nd Argus offers the warning: nounce-en’ of the agreement, “Mr. man who séeks soms o R 0 it e e leggings onto a healthy 4-year-old. B {