Evening Star Newspaper, January 12, 1931, Page 8

(THE . With Sunday Morning Edition.. WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY......January 12, 1831 THEODORE W. NOYES. ...Editor officials’ efforts to clip the Board of Trade's wings. ‘The argument in extenuation of per- mitting the “pit” to continue to be the romping-place of the bulls and the bears is that the Board of Trade is a __ | better friend of the farmers than any The Evening Star Ne per Company Business ice: Rate by Carrier Within the City. Evening £aa"sunday ‘Star (when P8) " oa.o l’m per month Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. ily and Sunday.....1sr. $10.00; 1 mo. only . iy only All Other States and Canada. y and Sunday 2.00: 1 mo.. $1.00 only .. 1yrl $8.00° 1mo. d3¢ lay only llTll1yr. $5.00; 1 mo. Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Assoctated Press is exclusively entitled to use for republication of il news dis- ‘atches credited (o it or not otharwise c1ed ted in ibis paper and aiso the local Le he; All rights of publication '« ‘herein 150 reserve Futility. Senator Walsh of Montana, leader in the fight to bring about reconsideration of the power commissioners’ nomina- | 1ast Summer getting it up; and they do tions, admits that for the Senate now to preceed to “reject” the nominations | ernment. of the commissioners would be “entirely futile,” the President having failed to |fiscal inquiry stated that “the United comply with the request of the Senate | States Bureau of Efficlency may be re- to send back to the Senate its notifica- |imbursed from any allotment made for tion that it had advised and consented to the appointment of these officials. Nevertheless, the Montana Senator has insisted, and the Senate coalition has so woted, that the names of the commis- sioners be restored to the executive cal- endar of the Senate, which contains the names of all those nominated by the President for appointment to Fed- eral office, whose nominations the Sen- ate must confirm before appointment is - actually made. So is futility piled upon tutility. Senator Walsh must have known in the beginning that no President of the United States would have complied with the demand of the Senate for a re- turn of notification papers, transmitted to him in regular order by the Senate, | IS the Bureau of Efficiency to be reim- upon which the President had already | bursed for the money expended on com- acted to appoint and commission Fed- | Piling the report? eral officers. The vote of reconsidera- tion of the nominations by the Senate |Of its experience, should pass along a under such conditions was merely a de- marketing agency created by Uncle Sam has yet turned out to be. All that Chairman Legge and Secretary Hyde and company can do, lament Chi- cagoans, as they metaphorically burn speculative incense before their lofty a5 rer month | 8TAIN goddess, even if they succeed in destroying the Board of Trade, “is to drive an international market out of the United States.” There is unmis- takable soundness in the theory that some day the farmers will have to look somewhere else than the United States Treasury for the financial power requi- site for the buying of their produce on the large scale. Hitherto the private operators have been the geese that laid these golden eggs for agriculture, R AT i Who Will Pay for It? ‘The Bureau of Efficiency’s “embar- rassing” report of 1930 must have cost | somebody some money. Twenty-two pages of intricate tabular matter and thirty-nine pages of typewritten text, as well as the postage used on correspond- ence with the officials of fourteen cities, would indicate that. And some of the bureau’s experts were kept pretty busy not donate their services to the Gov- The resolution authorizing the House carrying out the purposes of this reso- lution to the extent of actual expendi- tures made by such bureau for investi- gations made at the request of the But in the House last Friday members of the Fiscal Inquiry Committee stated that no one asked the bureau to make its report. “I am satisfled the commit- tee was in no way responsible for it,” said Mr. Frear. One, perforce, received the impression on reading the debate that the Bureau of Efficlency broke open the doors to the committee room and crammed its report down the throats of the members. Yet the report was not placed before the committee until it was asked for. The Bureau of Efficiency, in the light word of caution to its successor in the Vice, as the President has pointed out,| ‘4sk of gathering “the facts” relating to encroach upon the authority of the | {0 Washington’s tax burden. Ten thou- Executive branch of the Government,|380d dollars has been authorized for relating to dismissals from the public | the hire of an expert, who will gather service. And knowing this, Senator |SUch data. But the expert should ask Walsh's original motion to reconsider | *hether the payment of his salary is the nominations and request the return | °°ntingent upon the nature of his re- of the notification papers to the Senate | PO In other words, if his report must be copsidered a futile thing, yet that futility has occupied the attention of the Senat to the exclusion of busi- | OPe 18 forced in this case to define ness of great importance for a week. It has become clear that the effort of | Si#s the unvarnished facts regarding the Senate coalition has had another | ‘N inadequate support of the Federal Pirpose. That, purpose i t make the | GOVETmEDt to the city which it gov- sssue of the power interests versus the | 5 nd controls. The truth should public interests, with Mr. Hoover pic- tured as taking the side of the power interests, if it can be done. This pur- pose of the Senate coalition and its leaders not only has manifested itself,| Bobby Jones, whose fame as a golfer but has been called to the attention of | has consoled his fellow-Atlantans al- the public by the President, who re- most to the point of forgetting about pelled the issue vigorously and pro-|the census enumerator who did not claimed it & “false issue.” That is a|8ive them all they thought they ought matter the people will perhaps be able | 10 have in the way of population, has to judge for themselves. ‘The coalitionists, intent upon keeping | time ago. the this “false issue” alive, are now consid- | Emperor of the Links decided that the ering the advisability of attempting to | time was ripe to add to the family keep out of the appropriation bill for | bank account. independent offices of the Government | that it was possible to win in the way any money for salaries due to the three | Of major ehamplonships and wisely de- power commissioners. Another futility, | ¢ided to “make hay while the sun ‘The Senator from Montana announces to the Senate that there is no way, so far | United States Golf Association that he 85 he has been able to ascertain, of bring- ing the issue between the President and | Pictures, an action which automatically the Senate arising over the nominations | P8Tred him from amateur competition, into the courts for determination. This| On last Saturday Bobby definitely is fortunate for the Senate. The Bu- |Severed the bonds that have bound him preme Court would not undertake to |0 amateur golf for so many years, but break down the constitutional limita- | D€ did it in the same straightforward tions set upon authority granted under | Manner which marked his definite re- the basic law to the separate branches | tirement from amateur play. of the Government at the behest of the | "-8lection to the Executive Comm.:tce Semate. And w0 the Senate would be|of the U. 8. G. A. and knowing that left before the country in worse than ever if the matter could be judi- | !0 his eligibility or as to the fitness of clally adjudicated. The public cannot reasonably Rope for more than that the power com- missioners will realize predictions that | 4roPPed from consideration. they will prove as capable as they are famous. o The Temple of Ceres. Chicago is taking time off from gangs, gunmen and its impending mayoralty conflict to consider the fate of the Windy City's famed Board of ‘Trade. From a trio of quarters, Chair- man Legge of the Pederal Parm Board, Becretary of Agriculture Hyde and the Pproves “embarrassing,” does he or does he not recelve compensation? an “embarrassing report” as one which gratify and enlighten, never embarrass, those who set out to find it, An Appropriate Act. again done the appropriate thing. Some twenty-eight-year-old He had won everyhing shin Accordingly, he notified the signed a contract to make moving Up Zor: there might well be some question as the governing body of golf harbori: within its ranks one who had WA&:‘: aside his amateur status, Bobby, in a telegram, asked that his name be And so a great golfer, probably the greatest who ever lived, has passed out of the amateur field. Of course, to the layman it is all quite difficult to under- stand. Why, for instance, should Jones as a moving picture golfer be any more of a “professional” than he was as a ewspaper and magazine golfer-writer? Why should he be barred for accepting some hundred thousand dollars or more for his movie contract when he was not American Farm Bureau Pederation, | P27 fOr accepting possibly half that come demands for further regulation of [ *T°UNt for his newspaper and mag- the “pit.” The Capper-Dickinson bill Incorporates many of the proposed plans azine writings? he ‘Why, especially should be classed as a non-amateur for supervision of marketing agencies, | I°F MaKIng 2 little money for himself For one thing, it is suggested that the when for years he has been the one- Secretary of Agriculture shall have the man attraction for the golf association, right to veto the Board of Trade's rules, | (¢ Magnet which drew thousands to It is also projected that the right to | ©OUrnaments, with the consequent ad- buy and sell grain for speculative pur- | 4ition of thousands of dollars to the poses shall be curbed. Still another proposal is that the Government shall coffers of the U. §. G. A.? It is all quite difficuls to understand, retain a firm control of all trading by | P4t If that is the way it is to be there licensed operators. Dose of these measures would be to lib- erate the farmer from so-called ex- ploitation by the commission men and | d€r 8t such inconsistencies while it stabilize grain prices on a basis more | foots the bill. truly governed by non-speculative con- siderations. The general pur- |8PParently is nothing for the public, which pays and pays and pays, to do wbout it. It can only sit back and won- —— Awarding the Nobel prize takes on Chicago has just erected a bigger and | 5°Me ©f the aspect of a sporting event, better Board of Trade Building, rearing with more or less disposition to quarrel its skyscraper head for more than forty stories at the foot of eaverncus La Salle street and surmounted by a massive statue of Ceres, the goddess of the| The death in New York yesterday grain fields. Chicagoans, as the Tribune | 0f Nathan Straus marks the final pass- hhas just remarked, decline to admit that | ing of & remarkable generation. He “the Board of Trade is the villain of the | Was the last survivor of three brothers, plece.” All that it does “is to register [sons of a German immigrant driven the counterplay of supply and demand.” | from his native country by political Chicago insists that such & measuring | conditions and seeking in America a device as the Board of Trade must be | home and an opportunity for his fam- maintained somewhere, If it is not|lly. First came a struggling success located in Chicago or in some other|in a small Southern city, then the dis- American city, it would have to be set | aster of the Civil War, which ruined up in Liverpool, Winnipeg, Hamburg or | the family fortunes again, and then somewhere else. Out there on the wind- | migration to New York, where, with swept shores of Lake Michigan, with!the slightest of beginnings in business, with the umpire. N The Last of Three Brothers. written large in the reeords of finan- clal accomplishment, of philanthropy, of constructive political activity. Isidor died in the Titanic disaster in 1912, Oscar died a few years later, and now passes Nathan, long since @tired from active engagement in business and for the latter part of his life devoted to works of benevolence. All three of these brothers won rec- ognition by their merits. They were sound business men of the strictest integrity. They were interested in the welfare of others, and contributed rich- 1y to charitles and institutions of succor and development. Nathan Straus was especially concerned about the matter of insuring wholesome food for chil- dren. He established a laboratory and a distribution system to provide the poor with milk of assured purity. To this enterprise may be attributed the saving of many thousands of lives. From his American beginning in this work Mr. Straus carried the enterprise far afield and built similar plants in distant lands, operating them with his own means until they were firmly es- tablished. The record of the achievements of Nathan Straus in behalf of humanity is a long one, and yet the published story of these endeavors is not complete. For he did much for the sake of the un- fortunates that did not bec.m> known. It was natural that he should be espe- cially interested in the welfare of his Jewish fellows, and he became and con- tinued throughout the remainder of his life an active and liberally contributing member of the organization for the establishment of & homeland in Pales- tine. Numerous welfare works in that lahd have had their origin in his specific gifts dnd endowments. Isidor, Oscar and now Nathan Straus have passed, leaving the richest heritage men can bestow upon their survivors, records of high-minded living, of clean records, of valuable contributions to the industrial life of their adopted land, of important public services, of wise philanthropic works. Nathan, the last to go, was permitted to hear the tributes paid to his brothers. Now he in turn is deeply mourned. e Demands for theater censorship are still heard. The playgoing public can exercise & power of censorship sure to command respect by remaining away from bed plays. Bad plays have be- come unusually “bad” in the theatric sense of the word. Popular objection to them 1is remorseless when it is found that they are not only de- moralizing, but dull. ——— Announcements are not made of what became of the Russian conspira- tors who told their stories of guilt by radlo. They showed talents for air declamation and are probably required to supplement their technical sentences with additional work at the micro- phone. EVENING STAR Mhmmmnm,wuumm —_————— After having had to serve on a few of the modern coroners’ juries a citizen is very likely to get the im- pression that what is known in some circles as “a gay life” may prove to be as serious a form of existence as could be imagined. e In his relations with the United States Senate a President occasionally feels called upon to remember certain admonitions of his youth and “learn to say ‘ne —_———— Unfortunately the police of all the larger citles are kept so busy with af- fairs of their own that they have very little time to help one another out. ——— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Essential Farmer. Good Farmer Priend, in days gone by 1 echoed oft the idle jest Which to attain a laugh would try By picturing you with rural xest Performing duties which supply Our various wants the long year through And doing work we dare not try— Which we could never learn to do. Good Parmer Friend, our mood has “changed. We now salute your courage bold Which through the seasons oft has ranged, To meet our needs as they unfold. In spite of all our varied arts ‘The humblest task grows greatest yet. We take this lesson to our hearts Kince you adversity have met. Election Requirements, “It will take a strong man to lead our Jocal forces on election day.” “If hostilities break out again,” an- swered Senator Sorghum, “it will take & man who is not only strong, but who is handy with his fists,” Jud Tunkins says many men go into politics because they are natural specch makers and poor listeners, Learning by Experience. They told me that experience Would as & teacher prove immense, The ways of wealth I tried to learr And in the market took a turn. Experience brought sad surprise. I must admit it made me wise, But often my regrets are such I wish I did not know so much. ‘War Prophecy. “Do you think there will be another war?” “Yes,” answered Miss Cayenne. “Of course I don't assume any opinion as to a world war. I merely have reference to the fact that father, who has just recently been divorced, shows unmis- ' takable signs of getting married again.” “Poets have written much of love,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, without understanding the subject themselves or enabling their readers to do so0.” Same Old Question. The copper from his ancient task Can hope for no release And the old question that we ask 1s, “Where are the police?” “One o' dese days,” said Uncle Eben, “I hope to own & farm an’ & mule, de purpose of de mule bein’ to save me de trouble even of kickin' 'bout how de farm’s doin’ So Long As They Have Them. Prom the Cineinnati Times:Star. BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, Letters continue to come into this column approving our mild strictures on fresh air in unwise quantities. The latest to come to our desk asks, “If it & €Uy & cure-all, why do we have more sickness than ever before? Colds,ston- sils, flu, pneumonia and operations for one and all. Also, they say, all diseases start with a cold, and, I would like to add as the result of impaired circula- tion due to cold air from the open windows day and night.” ‘The ffesh air “craze” vas one taken over by the medical prof :ssion from the untaught but superer -husiastic ath- leticism which began ir this country in the early 80s. Empir'.s all, these first fresh air fans found it benefited them, so did not hesitate to jump to the con- clusion and to announce that fresh air in unlimited quantities would help every one. So the United States had a vogue for “sleeping porches,” and no home was built for many years without its porch devoted to the cult of fresh air. It is significant, perhaps, that few homes, except in rows. are built with them any more. While part of this restriction may be due to the general trend toward the abolition of the porch in any form now that trafic has made such sitting unpleasant in many neigh- borhoods, much of it is due to a de- cline in the interest in fresh air as a The value of good, pure air no one would question. The value of too much cold air any one may bring into dispute for himself. The success of an un- limited quantity of fresh air in the open in the cure for consumption has led to the usual enthusiastic acceptance by the people of this country, prone to overdo anything which they accept. ‘Witness our “modernistic” Fourth of July, which begins in most city neigh- borhoods now about June 4, and never lets up until days afterward. Witness the keeping of faded, brown Christmas wreaths in windows weeks after they should be removed. * ok ok % Common sense seems to point to the simple truth that about the time open air began to be used as a therapeutic means in the treatment of the great white plague every other hygienic de- vice began to be used with might and main. In similar vein it is difficult for those who advocate vaccination to prove that this means alone is responsible for the decline in a dread disease, be- cause all other modern methods of sanitation have been incorporated in the attack upon it. Every one who has kept his eyes and ears open in regard to disease, espe- cially the commoner sorts which come to most of us, knows that it is ex- tremely difficult, if not impossible, to pin down the cause to any one thing or to separate one remedy from others, and to say without qualification, “This has cured me.” Hence the value of “fresh air” an incomplete descriptive phrase, but one which every one understands, more or less, has never been proved at all. The result is that quiet common sense of the average erican family is quietly dropping it from the shelf of remedial & where it once sat enthroned. Let it be stated again that no one disapproves of fresh air, properly un- derstood and taken. We repeat again that it is an individual matter. If one is al to withstand its pulling-down effects, he may be able to get its building-up effects. But cold alr, like cold water, has certain known effects on the skin, and hence underlying organs, and if good effects are desired, in a physiol al sense, the proper reac- tions must be secured. The primary effect of cold is contraction and a send- ing away of the blood from the skin. When the reaction comes the blood is driven back into the skin. This is the well known results of s properly taken cold bath. ‘To_secure this good effect from cold air, however, the conditions must be such that the reaction can be secured. What the enthusiasts always overlooked was that all human beings are not alike. While it is true that the temperal ot the blood may be 98.6, or whatever fraction it is, in all human beings, it is also true that their powers of action and reaction vary ely, ding upon the state of being and the very construction of their underlying tis- sues, bones, organs, blood corpuscles, lymph, etc. And even their mind. . www One does not have to visit the great hospitals of the country nor study medicine to realize the amazing dif- ference there is among human beings in the matter of tolerance. Some can stand any amount of harsh factors and some cannot. The plain truth seems to be that some men are scrubs in this respect and others are as they should be—that is, as they should be for the best physical actions and reactions. We don't suppose this is very scientific, but it is what we mean and can be under- stood, which is something that cannot be said for all technical discussions. What we are getting around to is just this, that no one can pop up in public meeting and tell us that all men are allke, and therefore all men must live exactly the same way, and eat just the same way, and drink just the same way. If anybody wants to go out and break a hole in the ice in Winter and take a bath in the river, that is his affair, but it is not ours and we resent him telling us or anybody else that his method of bathing is the one and only way of keeping clean and healthy. it may or may not be significant that the modern wave of respirational diseases came immediately following a decade or so devoted to the cultivation of the “fresh air” fad. After all, there is no philosopher’s stone in the cure of disease. The nearest mankind has ever come to dis- covering the fountain of youth is the sunlamp, which even now spreads its beneficent rays upon the skin of the discerning. The rest of mankind, with its'usual surety about matters concern- ing which it knows nothing, scorns this contribution of science to the well- being of the world, and says loftily, “When I want sunshine I will go out- doors and get it.” * K X % ‘The discovery of vitamins as health factors has led searchers after—let us say, better health, not heaith—to drop their hot-footed chasing after icebergs and snowdrifts and the biting gales of Winter. These factors of growth, re- sistance to disease, well-being, etc., live nicely, thank you, in warm things as well as in cold things! It may be that heat, high heat, will destroy some of them, but we have no brief for ex- tremes of any kind, either cold or hot. Such is the very gist of this, our contention. Would it not be an amaz- ing thing to discover that the common sense of the common people has been actually in line with the best which :rho:izm science has to offer us, after ‘The peasants of Europe live in tiny houses which have one door and few windows. As a matter of fact, win- dows throughout France, either in the homes of the peasantry or others, are closed during the cold season and left that way. Nor have we ever heard that these peoples suffer any more from colds, influenzas and pneumonias than the American people. If we value the instincts of the animals, we must give some standing to the hibernation of the bear, the dens of the brute crea- tures. When they are shivering they are honest enough to admit it by going somewhere and trying to keep warm. If they have no steam-heated apart- ments, that is so much gain, but it scarcely can be used as an argument for cold Winter air, because the ani- mals are not as healthy as they seem, as every veterln-rl‘zx knowx.ud'l;t)nlerz never was a grosser lie propaga an the old saying, “Cats have nine lives” ‘They have but one, and often that one a suff one, even as among their two-footed friends. Health and disease re not just words but states of being, and one cannot be gained nor the other escaped thl'oufil enthusiastic accept- ances or rejections. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Nobody seems to know just why, but the story stubbornly persists that Wal- ter F. Brown is scheduled to quit the Postmaster Generalship in the Hoover cabinet. Gossip now has reached the point where the men in line for his succession are named. First in the run- ning is said to be Frank H. Hitchcock, who was Postmaster General in the ‘Taft administration and chairman of the Republican National Committee in the preceding presidential campaign. Hitchcock, who comes as near being & truly professional politician as America }soueuee, has not been active at his vorite game since he did some pre- convention work for Senator Hiram Johnson in 1920. In 1916 he was Mr. Hughes’ pre-convention manager. Along with Hitchcock is coupled the name of former Gov. John H. Bartlett of New Hampshire as Brown's possible successor at the Post Office Department. Bartlett | has been was an “original Hoover man.” He's now chairman of the International Joint Commission, which composes our dif- ferences with Canada. Postmaster General Brown is understood to like his job, to be as strong as ever in the President’s graces and otherwise to be snugly ensconced, yet the rumor of his impending retirement, like Old Man River, just keeps rollin’ along. * ok ok % From Connecticut comes a group of determined women bearing down on the House of Representatives to dissuade it from passing the Capper-Kelly resale price bill (8. 240, H. R. 11). The op- position to the measure, which is ripe for enactment, has been intrusted to the Nutmeg ladies, it appears, be- | cause two Connecticut House members, Republican Leader Tilson of New Ha- ven and Representative Merritt of Stam- ford, are in “strategic position.” Tilson helps steer the steam-roller and Mer- Titt is chairman of the subcommittee of the Interstate Commerce Committee which recently reported the bill out. H. R. 11 is assailed on the ground that it provides for “price-fixing by law.” Mrs. Helena Hill Weed of Norwalk, claiming to speak for “Connecticut housewives,” deposes and says these are not the times for Uncle Sam to pro- hibit cut-rate and bargain sales. Mrs. Weed, a dynamic daughter of the late Representative Ebenezer J, Hill of Con- necticut, was recently honored by the Nation as one of the three women who did most for the country in 1930. "Dis- tinguished public service” was named as her merit. * ok ok x M. Jules Jusserand, long-time French Ambassador at Washington, enters a |demurrer to the suggestion apparently contained in the recently published bi- ography of Henry White, famous Amer- ican diplomat, that Jusserand was anti- English. The book refers to a letter from White to Theodore Roosevelt de- scribing Jusserand as “extremely preju- ! dicial against Englan In rebuttal of that charge, the veteran French envoy, who is now living in retirement, writes from Paris that he “was the butt of much obloquy, of newspaper attack, etc., in my own country for being so intensely pro-English.” Once upon & time Jusserand explains that he jok- ly said that, “unable to live in peace either in England or in France, would have to settle midway in the Channel Islands.” ¥ * ok ok x America’s two vigorous women's po- ltical phalanxes, National League of Women Voters and the National Woman's Party have just locked horns in annual combat over the ‘“equal rights” (Susan B. Anthony) amend- ment so hotly sponsored by the second- named organization, which Mrs. O. H. t issue of the Woman’s Party. ‘equal rights” amendment was effective,” “un- A ," “backward-look- ing” and a lot of other names. Miss Rose Schneiderman, president of the National Women's Trade Union League, introduced the opponents in Senator Norris’ court room. She declared that “the amendment would not bring equal rights to working women, but would defeat _that very purpose, meaning longer hours and lower pay for the very women who work the longest, are paid the least and are therefore farthest from an equal footing with men.” * k% % Word reaches his old-time Senate cloak room cronies that “Jim” Reed of Missouri has just cashed in handsomely on the latest big deal in oil. For years the fighting Kansas City Democrat counsel for the Universal Oil Products Co.,, owners of the patented “‘eracking” process whereby petroleum e could be split into a number of by- | I products like gasoline, kerosene, etc. The Standard Oil and Royal Shell Cos. last week paid Universal $25,000,~ 000, more or less, for its property. Reed was potent in the court proceedings brought to defend the “cracking” pat- ents. In Kansas City his friends say that “Jim"” is about to draw down a fee of $750,000. * K kX President Hoover's appointment of George Z. Medalie as United States dis- trict attorney for the New York City area—the most important in the country —winds up one of the hottest patronage squabbles the White House has ever had to settle. Mr. Hoover, much to its joy, went along with the 'Republican Siate organization in naming Mr. Medalie and rejected the recommendations of Un- dersecretary Ogden L. Mills of the Treasury Department and of Repre- sentative Ruth Pratt, Republican, of New York. Mr. Mills and Mrs. Pratt were for the appointment of Alan Fox and boosted him ngtnst Keyes Winter, who was the Manhattan G. O. P. or- ganization's choice. Winter might have landed the coveted job except for the Mills-Pratt opposition. Finally the or- ganization O. K'd Medalie, who has won out. * ok ok % It is a signal honor that the Presi- dent, by execytive order, has just be- stowed ~ upon bert Peet Skinner, American Minister to Greece, whereby that veteran and distinguished officer of the Foreign Service is to be retained, though he will reach retirement age (65) on Feburary 24, 1931. It is or- dered that Mr. Skinner may be kept on active duty “not in excess of five years.” Mr. Skinner was brought into the con- sular service by President McKinley in 1897. He was a young newspaper edi- tor in Massillon, Ohio, and still claims that his proudest journalistic achieve- ent was press-agenting Coxey’s “army.” Mr. Skinner has to his credit consular service at strategic points like Marseille, Hamburg, Berlin, London and Paris. He has been our envoy at Athens since 1926. (Copyright. 1931) o Secret Yearnings. | prom the Hamilton Spectator. ‘There may be those who yearn for an old-fashioned Winter, with snow drifted all over the place, but inquiry will likely reveal they are in the coal business. PSRN Absentmindedness, Prom the Ann Arbor Daily News. ‘That Chicago man who put his um- brella to bed and slept in the bathtub a ‘The drive is on to make water power —the power trust—the great issue ‘:t nal the coming national campaign. - hind the drive are first of all the Pro- gressives, both among the Republicans fonerally King to make It appear gen are seeking e it appear that the G. O. P, is aligned with the power interests, or, as they put it, with the power trust. The ve Re- pyblicans are raising the issue and seeking to smear Mr. Hoover with the power trust label in order to defeat the President for renomination at the next Republican Nl!‘ionul Convention, * K * The people make the issues in po- litical campaigns, not the leaders. This has been proved a fact again and again, This does not mean that the power issue ought not to be an issue. It merely raises the question whether the people are interested or will be inter- ested in that issue in the coming cam- paign. Most of them to date know little or nothing about the issue of the power trust, so called, and its efforts to mo- nopolize the power business in this country, as charged by the Progressives. The Progressives are saying that the power issue played a big part in the recent senatorial and congressional elec~ tions. Senator Dill of Washington, Democrat, is sure that the power issue had its part in the Montana election, where Senator Walsh was returned to office; that the power issue was a major issue in the Nebraska campaign, where Norris, another Progressive, was re- elected to the Senate, and in Colorado, where Costigan, a one-time Eull Mooser, but this year a Democrat, was elected also to the Senate over his Republican rival. Senator Dill sees water power as an issue in New York's gubernatorial campaign last Fall, where Gov. Roose= velt was overwhelmingly re-elected. ‘The issue, he says, played its part in Tennessee, when Representative Carroll Reece, Republican, was defeated by an independent Republican. * K K * Being a Democrat, Senator Dill visualizes his part as the opponent of the octopus power trust and the savior of the people. He points out that there are officials of the Republican National Committee who, in his mind at least, are hooked up with the power trust, among them Executive Director Rob- ert H. Lucas and the treasurer, Joseph R. Nutt. Lucas, Dill says, must belon, to the power trust because he Oppose the relection of Norris in Nebraska. Nutt, he says, is chairman of a board of the Fort Worth Power & Light Co., although Mr, Nutt insisted he was not financially interested in power when he was before the Senate Investigating Committee. But more still to Mr. Dill's liking. is the fact that President Hoover has not ousted the three mem- bers of the new Federal Power Com- mission who “gave the gate” to Charles A. Russell and William V. King, em- ployes of the oid Power Commission, who were the icular pets of the Progressives ln‘l : s‘en:te. President Hoover, decning to return to the Senate the nominations of the three Federal power commissioners, where the stage was set to make a Roman holiday and tear the commis- sioners limb from limb, or at least from their offices, asserts that the Senate, meaning the Progressive Republicans and the Democrats, has sought to raise a “false issue,” the power issue, which he insists does not come into this mat- ter except in the minds of the Progres- sives and the Democrats, However, the Progressives are all set to smear Mr. Hoover with the power trust if they can do it. It is a question, however, wheth- er they can make the people take stock in this issue. Senator Norris of Ne- braska, when he came out for Al Smith in 1928 against Mr. Hoover, raised this power question, but in that year other issues were in the people’s minds and the State went overwhelmingly for Hoover. If the Dill and Norris argu- ment were applied, it must appear that the .people of Nebraska after all were on the side of the power trust, which does not seem :t'fll‘ n‘uonble. As a matter of fact, the big issues in the 1930 campaign—and this goss for Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, Tennessee, etc, as well as for the rest of the country—were hard times and prohibi- tion, hard times in all of the country and the liquor question in & very considerable number of States and congressional districts. If it had not been for hard times, many a victorious Democrat would not have won. If the Democrats are to win in 1932 in the national elcction, it will be on account of the disgruntlement of the people over hard times, Hard times and prohibition are things that the man on the street feels and knows about. The water wer issue is something more intangi- le. It will be the subject of thousands of speeches by the spellbinders. But hard times or good tim:s will, in all probability, win the election no matter what is said about water power. * Kk X Up in New Hampshire it is expected that the new Governor, Winant, re- garded as a “progrissive” in that con- servative State, will be a candidate for the Senate in 1932, That is the year that Senator George H. Moses comes up for re-election. Winant is a Repub- lican, too, and must make the race in the primaries against Senator Moses. t has been rumored many times that Senator Moses will not run for the Senate; that he has a business offer carrying with it a $75,000 salary and a contract for a term of years, which may take him out of public life. Sen- ator Moses himself has so far said nothing about his plans. If it is his determination not to run again, but to accept the lucrative offer to enter private life reported to have been made him, it may be that he wiil take it on without much further delay. On the other hand, public life and the Senate are not without their allure and the Senator from New Hampshire, for so many years the dominanf political figure in his State, may decide to con- tinue in the Senate. If he does, it probably will mean a real fight in the primary next year. Winant is young, aggressive and wealthy. He won the Governorship this year over the opposi- tion of Senator Moses and the faction with which Mr. Moses trains. But whether he could def-at Senator Moses himseyf is something else. In the organ- ization of the State Legislature, recently completed, the Governor sought to have men of his choice in key positions, but he failed and men of the Moses faction were chosen for those positions. = ¥ ‘The attempt of Republican insurgents in Massachusetts to gain the upper hand in the State organization has fallen fisl. When the State Committee picked its chairman the other day Amos L. Tay- lor was re-elected, with only a single vote cast against him. The opponents of Taylor are in many instances follow- ers of Eben L. Draper in the last sena- torial primary, when Draper was de- feated, though only by a few thousand votes, by for Senator William Butler, Butler was later defeated in the general election by Marcus A. Coolidge, Demo- crat, and the Democrats elected also their candidate for Governor, Joseph B. Ely. It looked to the “new life” or in- surgent Republicans like a good oppor- tunity to upset the old guard and take charge of things, with the Republicans down in the dumps. But apparently the insurrection failed miserably. * k * K Getting back to water power and Senator Dill, it is said that the Sena- tor from Washington would not be averse to running as a Democratic candidate for Vice President on a ticket with Gov. Roosevelt of New York as the party candidate for President. It is even reported that such a.ticket has been to the New York Gov- ernor, 'velt has been dubbed by Senator Norris the man nearest right on_the &vwer question of any man in public life. Dill believes with Gov. Roosevelt on the power issue. There are a lot of Democrats who would like to see water power substituted as an issue | in the national campaign for prohibi tion. If Roosevelt is the party nomi- nee, prohibition will' be to the fore, ANSWERS TO QUESTION BY FREDERIC This bureau does not give advice, but it gives free information on any sub- Ject. Often to be accurately informed is to be beyond the need of advice, and information is always valuable, whereas advice may not be. In using this serv- ice be sure to write clearly, state your inquiry briefly, and inclose 2-cent stamp for reply postage. Address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Q. Are lotteries forbidden in some foreign countries?—T. C. H. A. Lotteries were suppressed in Bel- glum in 1830, In Sweden in 1841, in Switzerland in 1865, but they are still common in many Continental countries, Usually, however, the lotteries are su- pervised by the government officials. Q. What is the “empennage” of an airplane?—B. P, A. The term is applied to the tail group of an airplane—the rudder, sta- bilizers and elevators. Q. Why did Rudy Vallee call his or- fihsm “the Connecticut Yankees"?— M. A. Probably because the orchestra was organized while he was attending Yale University, at New Haven, Conn. Q. Does grayity affect birds while they are flying?—T. B. A. Certainly. Birds would fall to earth unless they exert themselves against the pull of gravity by flying or | taking advantage of upward currents of air, Q. Please give me some information about truffies—B. J. H. A. Truffles range from the size of a filbert to that of a potato. Although white truffies are somewhat in demand, it is the black, or queen, truffics of England and France which are in most demand, those of Perigord being con- sidered the finest. These are of varying size, and have a gray or seal-brown or nearly black skin, which is pebbled or warty, with small angular protuber- ances. The firm interior, with such a texture as has an immature puff-ball, is dark brown, somewhat mottled by reason of its chambered structure, and rcticulated with the white films of hyphae. Truffies are practically never cultivated, in spite of various attempts, but are occasionally cared for in situ. ‘They thrive best in limestone soils, and in such light, moist, but well drained woodlands as are frequented by the various species of trees near which the truffies prefer to exist, ibly on their decaying roots. The tubers are entirely subterranean, occurring either deep in the ground or close to the surface, ripen in Winter, and are dug out, either labo- riously by unaided man with a sharp spud or by the aid of dogs and pigs. Q. Is the Vatican City to have mod- ern improvements?—N. T. A. A powerful radio station is under construction, electric power and tele- phone equipment is being installed. Q. What animal is the most intelli- gent?—J. C. A. Albert Payson Terhune says that the dog is, although he admits that horses are often highly intelligent. Va- rious explorers report that many wild animals show remarkable intelligence. Q. Which highway is traveled the most?—J. K. A. It depends upon what is meant. Generally mfimfi for transcontinental routes the Lincoln Highway and the National Old ls road have the most traffic. The latter probably has the greatest, as it is more or less of an all- the-year-round highway, and can be traveleed almost any time of the year A J. HASKIN. A It was Fingall Wills Wilde. For the last few years be- fore his death he lived on the Continent under the name Sebastian Melmoth. Q. When was the word “mugwump” coined?—A. T. . A. It cannot be said to have been ¢coined. It is an Indian word, meaning leader or big chief. Eliot used it in translating the Bible into an Indian tongue. it beccame a political term in the 1884 elections. Q. When did Kin Hubbard create “Abe Martin"?—B. M. C. A. This dally cartoon appeared first in the Indianapolls News in 1904, Frank McKinney Hubbard died Decem- | ber 26, 1930, at the age of 62. Q. When and where did the seedless pink grapefruit originate?—L. L. K. A. The Foster is the best known va- riety of the seedless pink grapefruit. It was a spert of the Walter variety. It was introduced in the Winter of 1908 and 1907 by Mr. Foster at Monte Vists, Fla. but it was not introduced into trade until in 1914. . Q. Why were prisoners put in stripes and their heads shaved?—O. A. A. Stripes were formerly character istic of prison dress, partly because they. were believed to contribute to the de- terrent effect of prison and also to make it more difficult for & prisoner to escape. In most prisons, however, stripes have been done away with en- tirely or reserved for third-grade pris- omers. Shaving the prisoner's ir is partly for sanitary reasons and also partly for identifying purposes. Q. Who was Napoleon II?—J, 8. L. A. Napoleon II is the name of the young son of the Emperor Napoleon. The child was named Francois Charles Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte. title was Due de Reichstadt. The child was born in Paris March 20, 1811, His mother was the Empress Marie Lousia. ;lalllgilzth occurred at Schonbrunn July Q. Why are snowflakes sometimes large and sometimes small?—R. W. R. A. If the temperature is low, the snowflakes are small, flat and regular. If the temperature is neac the freezing point, particularly in the lower layers of the atmosphere, the flakes often mat together and form large clots. If the temperature is still higher, the flakes are often incomplefe, as parts are melted off. Q. Is platinum much more expensive than gold?>—H. L. A. Platinum sells for more than five times the price of gold. Q. Should raw meat be covered when put in the refrigerator?—A. D. A. Meat should be unwrapped at once and put in the coolest place in the re- frigerator. A loose sheet of waxed paper may be laid over it. Q. What form of execution is used in France?—M. C. A. The guillotine is still in use. Q. Which branch of engineering do the most students in colleges of the United States take?—R. P. A. More of them study electrical en- gineering than any other one kind. Q. Does the ncw Emperor of ‘Al sinia speak any language except own?—S. D. W. A. Ras Tafarl was educated by French tutors and speaks French flu= successfully. ently. Joffre Still Hero of Marne As Death Ends Controversy. Americans who share in the sorrow of the world at the passing of Marshal Joseph Joffre laud him as the hero of the battle of the Marne, despite the controversy over the saving of France in the World War. They see in the French warrior the qualities that were needed to turn the tide of battle, just as in his last days he met the final struggle. “As the man of the hour in an emer- gancy he looms as a tower of strength,” declares the Ann Arbor Daily News, with the tribute: “The Rock of the Marne has crumbled. With the same tenacity that featured his defense at the Marne and Verdun, Marshal Joffre fought death. The spirit was as strong, cal infirmities were f;l‘\c handi- the legend which grew up about Mar- shal Joffre in the early days of the war was ever dimmed, it was made vivid again in the last days of his own life, when he fought the encroachments of disease and the onward march of death with the same unyielding stubbornness that saved Paris in 1914.” “He knew what to do and how to do it, and as & result his name is entitled to a place among the ,"” avers the Shreveport Journal, while the Kan- sas City Star, observing that “he gave inspiration to his own volatile people to hold firm in the crisis,” concludes that “it was this quality that gave him a Jovian aspect at & time of gloom and fear The Seattle Dally Times views the victory on the Marne as ‘“ the decisive battles of history,” and testifies that “America holds Marshal Joffre in affectionate memory.” The Geneva Daily Times feels that “people of the opposing nations likewise recog- nized his abilities and patriotism and join in regret over his death.” * K K X “France may have Foch for her great commander, but Joffre remains her World War hero,” according to the Lincoln State Journal, while the Al- toona Mirror maintains that his fame is secure and that “his name will al- ways be honored, his deeds perpetuated by the historic muse.” The Detroit News states that “his fame will rest on the great events in which he had a part and not on the part he had in them,” but the San Antonio Express asserts that he “will live in history as a great commander whose only ambi- tion was service to his country.” “For 10 years afier the war” says the Rochester Times-Union, “the con- troversy over who won the battle o(] the Marne raged in Paris. And Joffre's | silence was taken by some to be a tacit admission_that Gen. Gallieni was the hero. Joffre’s only reply was that he had answered the ‘damnable charges’ in his ‘Memoirs,’ which would be pub- lished after his death. Whatever his “Memoirs' reveal, however, the glory| that has been Joffre's remains his in death.” “The simplicity, the personal charm of manner, that is always a conspicu- ous trait of greatness,” it is pointed out by the Portland Oregon Journal, “was notable in Joffre. This was out- standing in his visit to the United States. On May 9, 1920, New York gave Joffre such a welcome as had greeted no other man on Manhattan Island. Like demonstrations greeted him throughout his tour of the United States, where he was universally hailed as the hero of the first Marne, who met e however, because he opposes the eight- eenth amendment. Here is another suggestion for reor- ganization of the Republican National Committee. F sources so far un- revealed o H. Hif the Germans in their first onrush dove them back 30 miles with that for a time were on the point reeling and falling back.” * ¥ X ¥ “Perhaps the best beloved of allied generals in the World War” is the tribute of the Haverhill Gazette, while the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern holds that "no'.hln* can dim the glory of his achievement,” and the Hamilton (Oh'ka Evening Journal believes that “he ever be regarded as one of the greatest of military leaders.” The Hamilton (On- tario) Spectator says, “Nothing suc- cecds lke success, and the world in paying grateful tribute to the deceased marshal looks back to those anxious days when the brilliant strategy of the commander turned a retreat into an attack and reversed the tide of fortune. “What estimate history may place upon Joffre’s military talents,” remarks f| the New Orleans Times-Picayune, “nons can as yet predict, but we do not be- lieve it ever will be possible for time to take from him that intense admiration won for him when in her greatest mo- ment of peril France experienced what was perhaps the most sensational rescue in military annals.” The New Castle News states that “if the victory at the Marne was a ‘miracle’ the miracle woarker was Marshal Joffre.” * ok ok % “The part played by Marshal Gallieni, military governor of Paris, in the ‘mir- acle of the Marne, ccording to the Charleston (S. C.) News and Courler, “prought him posthumous honors, but as the generalissimo of the French forces the glory was hea upon Joffre. He became a military fig- ure of almost legendary proportions. He caught the imagination of France and her allies. When the United States en= tered the war against Germany ‘Papa” Joffre came with Rene Viviani, French Minister of Justice, to this country to advise with American leaders mp'ct.lx.\x American participation in the allied cause. Americans greeted the ‘hero of the Marne’ with emotional enthusiasm. They listened to his simple statements of what the French were doing. They were impressed by the soldier who had been in supreme command of the French armies. Thirteen years ago Joffre ‘was indeed a name fo conjure Witho “It was the stolid mountain of a man in command of the Prench armies at that time who symbolized the victory,” declares the Lynchburg News, while the Youngstown Vindicator recalls: ‘“The order that Marshal Joffre gave on the eve of the battle of the Marne will be remembered when some future Plutarch writes his life. On September 6, 1914, he sent this general order to his army: ‘At this moment, when a battle is about to commence upon the result of which the salvation of our country depends, no one must look behind. All must unite to attack and repel the enemy. Any troop finding itseli unable to mu= vance farther must hold the ground st all cost and must fight until death. No retreat.’ Stirring words that had their effect at the moment and will he an inspiration for all time.” “When Marshal Joffre, Viviani, Bal- four and other distinguished men of Britain and France came to Washing- ton in the Spring of 1917,” states the Raleigh News and Observer, “most of them stressed the essential need of money and supplies and munitions, say- ing that if these were accorded at cnce there need not be much haste in send- l.nf over great armies. But Joffre, great soldier it he was, urged Secretary Baker to send over at least a few thou- of oons American on the firing line would hearten French soldiers and be notice to the millions who were to follow, Joffre was wiser than the statesmen.” Too Strong for a Beginning. From the Toronto Dafly Star. In a row after a sovcer game at killed, and | Peru, fi five persans were 1,