Evening Star Newspaper, January 29, 1931, Page 8

. - MHE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY .vv.January 20, 1931 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor E mllh: N'wm?- Company G Pt A - d 8t ke Michigan Bullding. 8., London, Rate by Carrier Within the City. Frenine Star 5c per month ai when & Bundaye) 60c per month and Sunday Star (o n‘fl.;m o5 per month TRARARN made at thie enid of ‘exch month, jers may be sent in by mall or telephone {Ational 8000. Rate by Mall—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Ffli and Sunda) only . junday only All Other States and Canada. tly and Sundar...1vr. $1200: 1mo. 51,00 E'd' Ohly rveerse.d ¥, 38.00: 1mo inday’only "1II1II1 ¥ T8 00; 1 mo.; 50c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled the use for republication of all news dis- B e eedited To 1t or ot otherwise cred- Bied "% ShS Daver and also the local news published herein. special dispatches herein are also reserve: Congress and the Red Cross. The storm of criticism which burst sbout the head of Chairman John Bar- ton Payne following his announcement that the Red Cross declined to ac- cept the administration of funds pro- vided for in the Senate's $25,000,000 *relief bill” will prove, in the long run, to have been an ineffectual political shower. Chairman Payne is right. The Cén- tral Committee of the Red Cross is right. President Hoover is right. The relief of national distress in the United BStates is a national obligation. It is, and must not be permitted to be made, & governmental obligation. Two factors in the debate have not been made adequately clear to the pub- He. The first is that the Red Cross s seeking only to raise funds for relief in the drought-stricken areas of our oountry as distinct from the unem- ployment areas. The second is that what is wise and equitable in the mat- fer of international relief may be and is in this instance basic folly if applied within our own borders. Take these points in sequence: Drought—as a flood, an earthquake, @ pestilence—is an act of God. In $he proportions it assumed in 1930 in America it was an unforseeable emer- the precise type for which the chartered and equipped Red Cross, with such has on hand avallable for the purpose, has announced that with 10,000,000 additional it can care for this problem. And all the fulminating of anti-administration, self-appointed, self-styled philanthropists on Oapitol Hill will not persuade an intelligent eitizenry that Herbert Hoover and the . Red Cross do not know more about the human relief than any hostile political alliance in ocongres- #onal circles. y The President and the Red Cross hold #hat unemployment relief is a matter of ! Btate and community responsibility ‘gather than being the governmental some now seek to make of it. ©f course it is. Of course, the $25,000,~ Senate would not the relief problem unemployed men gnd woren in the Nation. Of eourse, it Le the precursor to bills aggre- ten times that amount in & brief ©Of course, once the pernicious un-American system of unemployed from the saddled on the Ameri- organ- our National Treasury $100,000,000 to feed a starving and bankrupt Europe Sfter the World War. The discontinu- snce was simple once Europe regained its feet. It is quite another thing to eppropriate funds from that same Treasury to feed our own citizens, liv- the neighborhood of those it to extend the traditional hand of friendship and eom- Quite another thing is that tinuance would be impossible un- political system for a genera- longer. leither The Star nor any thoughtful #merican minimizes the seriousness of #he unemployment status in certain freas of the Nation. But The Star and vest majority of thoughtful citizens $ssert that the States and the com- founities in which these conditions exist ean and will see their own citizens the crisis without recourse to i only the gentlemen on will desist, whatever may ves prompting them, from ting to them that they need not ald, Hill mots proposal to pauperize the Amer- workingman, temporarily out of is un-American. The proposal to American philanthropy by bstituting therefor a fantastic sysm ‘whimsical Federal subsidization is ‘There is more important, if politically luscious, work to be done By the Seventy-first Congress. —_— e ‘The books of a successful racketeer {pever threaten to disclose a deficit, Whatever those of the U, 8. Treasury nay do. The Laval-Tardieu Cabinet. A rose by any other name, it is said, Would smell as sweet. Some such pnalogy is suggested by the composi- #on of the new French cabinet. t called into being this week #0 succeed the dethroned cabinet of Jules Theodore Steeg, which reigned @ bare six weeks, is headed by Plerre wval. But almost all of the principal fnembers of the recent government of Tardieu are included in it rance will be governed in the imme- =|clusion of the Radical Left. on wheat in order to assure the domestic grower better prices and curtail im- ports. ‘That is a species of politics with which we of America are not alto- gether unfamiliar, With Aristide Briand retaining the foreign secretaryship, Andre Maginot reassigned the war portfollo, Paul Rey- {naud as minister for the colonies, Plerre Etienne Flandin made minister of finance, Francols Petri named budget minister, Louis Rollin given the minis- tership of commerce, Francois Poncet restored to the undersecretaryship of national economy, and Tardieu himself heading -the department of agriculture, France has a regime containing no fewer than eight members of the 1930 ‘Tardieu government. That ghis octet will dominate the Laval cabinet can hardly be doubted. That, because of that personnel, it will be a militantly c | nationalist government seems equally certain. Prance had expected “a coalition of conciliation.” But M. Laval determined to stake his parliamentary fate, which is bound to be precarious, amid the tortuous conditions which eternally sur- round the Chamber of Deputies, on a ministerial make-up drawn from the Right and Center, to the complete ex- Messrs. Laval and Tardieu cannot be uncon- scious of the winds they are sowing by this deliberate program of political ostracism. With the kaleidoscopic fluctuations of French politics the world at large is lit- tle concerned. Its chief interest is in France's foreign policy. That succeed- ing prime ministers seem addicted to the habit of handing over its conduct to Aristide Briand makes for a con- tinuity of policy that is definitely re- assuring—reassuring because, despite the occasional jingoistic manifestations forthcoming from super-nationalist gey- sers in France, Briand is s consistent man of peace and sleepless in its pres- ervation. S Inexcusable Carelessness. When an assistant United States at- torney, with all the resources of his office at his command, moves dismissal of six important gambling cases in Po- lice Court because his own witnesses fail to show up, there is something radically wrong with procedure in such cases. When the witnesses happen to be members of the metropolitan police force, subject to orders, the thing looks worse than ever. When, it devel- ops that the witnesses were waiting across the street for appearance in an- ! other court, it is obvious that the wires in the United States attorney's office have become badly crossed. And when the witnesses declare that they notified the authorities as to their whereabouts, it is plain that somehody fell down on his job, and the United States attorney should take the proper steps to find out who fell down and place him in a po- sition where future slips will not defeat the ends of justice. It is a strange state of affairs, in- deed, when one arm of the Government spends money and time in securing the evidence and arresting defendants and properly charging them with the com- mission of a crime, only to have the defendants go scot-free without trial because another arm of the Government falls to function. The picture that re- sults is the Police Department shoving defendants into court and the United States attorney's office shoving them out. It is highly questionable whether the prosecutor is properly fulfilling his duties when he moves for dismissal of Government cases, unless circumstances have arisen that make such steps the Pproper ones in behalf of justice. Cer- tainly there should be some compelling reason, and careful consideration given the circumstances. The prosecutor's is to prosecute and not to find rea- ns why he should not prosecute, and his hands are tled because of faflure the Police Department to co-operate, behooves him to find out why there a lack of co-operation and to notify the proper officlals and the public. If there is an.alleged failure to co-operate on five separate occasions, ending with the dismissal of the cases, the United States attorney's office has not taken the proper steps to remedy the fallure or the Police Department is guilty of rank and inexcusable carelessness that might easily be interpreted as something much worse. United States Attorney Rover and the Police Department will doubtless co- operate in finding out what is wrong and follow up their discovery by appro- priate and decisive action. ————— Lavel has organized a new cabinet, which President Doumergue thinks will be able to remain on duty longer than its predecessors have done. Most of its members have succeeded in avoiding & state of affairs which makes a resig- nation rumor almost coincident with the appointment. ———vee. Changes at Niagara. Any apprehensions that may be felt by lovers of scenic beauty and grandeur lest the Niagara Falls, which have just been changed slightly in contour by the fall of rock from the parapet, are doomed to early extinction or diminu- tion to & mere cascade are quite un- warranted. It is true that the falls are receding bit by bit as the years pass, slowly for long periods and then, as by this latest change, in a considerable degree. But it is quite unlikely that there will be any greatly transforming changes in the line of the cataract within the lifetime of any persons now living. The rock fall that has just occurred has made an appreciable alteration in the line of the American falls, which now assumes an 8-shape in a compound curve from the main American shore at Prospect Point to Luna Island. There are some indications that another fall may some day occur immediately to the east of Luna Island, somewhat broad- ening and perhaps deepening the west- erly sweep of this curve. This would, in fact, establish a definite “horseshoe” on the western side of the American falls. There are evidences of weaknesses in the rock structure at this point, above A—8 THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, —_— = from the river above the falls for power purposes, that water being passed by tunnels to discharge into the river be- low the falls. It iy, therefore, quite possible that the rate of recession at present is not as great as that previous to the establishment of power plants at Niagara. Indeed, all calculations are only ap- proximate, in dealing with such forces as the Niagara River. There are wide differences in the rock structure that forms the bed of the stream. There are climatic changes with variations in the amount of ice forming above in the Great Lakes and passing over the falls. Nobody knows the condition of the foundations of the islands that now stand in the midst of the current at or | g near the brink of the falls. Goat Island is assuredly in part undermined on the falls side. A very large fall of rock may occur there some day to make, perhaps, the greatest change in all history in the contour of the cata- ract. Such falls may occur at any time. This latest break may be only a fore- runner of others, or it may have sufficed to effect a new stability assur~ ing against further change for a long period. O Canon City, Colo., is ready for a triple hanging. The Far West is not so free in using the rope as when men were hanged for stealing horses. The men under sentence robbed a bank and shot a sheriff, which in these modern times is considered even worse than horse stealing. . e Questions of social precedence assist in taking the minds of the public off more serious things. There is appar- ently great relaxation in critical con~ sideration of whether some society per- sonage 1s a good or a bad actor. e Radio will assist in catching crooks. The mysterious machinery which utilizes light so wonderfully may yet assist the reason in bringing illumination to the multitudinous clues which remain in darkness. . The Wickersham Commission has gained an extraordinary amount of public attention. If it has not precisely settled the subject under consideration, it has at least concentrated many eager minds upon it. - Billboard art is not inspiring, and protests against it indicate a wholesome tendency which may eventually cause opposition to an indiscriminate display of bad pictures so freely tolerated. P O R Naming & man for a responsible po- sition is regarded by several Senators as an experiment which may or may not work ‘out. R Homicide cases turn up what are ex- pected to be clues, which prove only harrowing details calculated to gratify ia morbid taste. e Mussolint's authority s such that he can put a stop even to idle gossip such as is inevitably repeated concerning a man in his exalted station. R SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. ‘Wreckage by Words. Some speech, by reminiscence clad, In meaning proves exceeding sad And many a man with prospects bright On winged words saw hopes take flight. I once beheld a statesman grave ‘Whose speech would often misbehave. His grim refrain your heart would touch— “I've talked too much! much!” I've thlked too The learned man who gives his life To hours of sclentific strife And vainly for applause will walt Where Ridicule crowns the debate Will scan at last in dull regret Some frivolous flings he'd fain forget And say, “Too oft my fate is such. I've talked too much! I've talked too much!” ¥ Men who are rated rather wise May make too bold to criticize. Philosophers and artists, too, And even soldiers we may view Along with those whose grief is strong Because prospectuses went wWrong. They cry, and for excuses clutch— “I've talked too much. I've talked too much!” Test of Efficiency. “Are you sure your statistics are ab- solutely all right?” “I had them specially prepared,” an- swered Senator Sorghum. “Don’t they fully support my side of the argument?” “They seem to do 50.” “Then they are absolutely all right.” | ! Jud Tunkins says times are already improving. Some of the best automo- biles can be bought for less than ever before. And every automobile requires enough care to go a long way toward solving unemployment problems. William Surpassed, Old Pennsylvania was a State ‘Where once were joys inebriate. Its Governor now will make its men Much dryer than could William Penn. Agricultural Uncertainty. “There’s no way of telling how crops and the market will be going from one year to the next.” “Yet the farm is interesting.” “Yes,” agreed Farmer Corntossel. “But it's no longer what I call a farm. It's a guessing contest.” “Severity of speech,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is wasted energy. A truth pleasantly told is remembered most easily and held in affection as well as in respect.” Letting Gandhi Perform. Said wise John Bull, “An argument Is often scant of breath And many a one has been content ‘To talk itself to death!” “Dis wQeld,” said Uncle Eben, “is a place wheag Jou is supposed to git ready foh heaven, but de conditions ’pears to make it harder every year to qualify.” ——vor—s. Mutual. From the Worcester Daily Telegram. The Prince of Wales would choose urnalism as a career if he couldn’t Prince of Wales. T:.blyufi‘;t-; erage newspaper man, if he couldn’ # newspaper man, would choose to be Prince of Wales. —at e Saving It. Prom the New Orleans Times-Picayune. . Sol have such a respect for free use of if, BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. It is almost impossible to read & novel which does not contain at least one character which the reader does not_like. Usually this dislike is due not so much to any trait of ¢he character him- self as some which he is made to do by the writer. Quite often he rubs the reader the wrong way because of dialect or some form of speaking which is irritating. # It is curious at first blush why al- most all novelists seem to have their own pets in any given story. Take this comic character, for in- tance. Now, he is not half as funny to the reader as he seems to the writer. But the author never loses a chance to exploit him. Often his monologues fill two or three consecutive pages. Every time the reader sees what is coming he has an involuntary shrink- ing inside of him. is really more physi- This shrinking cal than mental. It is the old reaction to too-much-of- a-good-thing. * Kk ¥ Jane Austen, whose quiet stories are the perennial delight of quiet people, has a female character in one of her books who 1is forever rushing on and on with her words. As we recall, the old lady talks in- cessantly and never for less than two pages at a time. Now, two pages of solid chatter is something! Not every reader, of course, will have exactly the same reaction. One will be able to stand these over- done passages, whereas the next will shrink from them; and, on the other hand, the second will read something else without resentment, whereas the frst will dislike it. > Every reader of the novel will have his pet aversions, not only in regard to speech, but in regard to characters. ‘There are many readers who ‘“cannot stand” Sidney Carton, hero of Dickens’ “Tale of Two Citles.” Some way or other, he strikes them as very tgo- much-of-a-good-thing. A long list of such characters might be compiled, but it would be of little use, for it varies to some extent with every reader. Dialect is one of the real stumbling blocks. The fact that certain great stories have secured world-wide fame despite dialect is no argument for its use. It is a question whether they would not have been even more without 1t. ‘The masterpieces of this type of lit- erature have been restrained in their use of dialect. Mark Twain's “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn” use the dialect of their place and era with great restraint, never at any point ruf- fling the feathers of those who never heard such pronunciations in real life. These stories are as popular in England as they are in America. They would gm be if the dialect form were over- one. Even so fine a thing as Joel Chandler Harris’ “Uncle Remus” is made trouble- some to many readers by the Negro dialect involved. It cannot be sald in any sense to spoil the narrative, but only to make it bothersome, * ok x % It will be discovered by most readers that their resentment against long mges of monologue as given by particu- characters is rather more due to the slowing up of the action than dis- like of the characters themselves. Novel action may be slow, moderate or quick, tempo, and ‘which hinders this pace is a detriment in the eyes of the reader who desires to read right along. The “action” of a story does not necessarily mean physical action. It may be emtirely mental or even spirit- ual, but whatever it is it must be it- self. So much is fundamental. ‘There is no good reader who is not able to point out in almost any novel he reads, no matter by what master, which scenes could be cut with 3 which long speeches removed, which characters and scenes omitted. ‘The stage is not the only place where revision is necessary. Every of course, what the “talkies” (it used to be the “movies”) can do to a novel when they put it on the screen. A recent example is that of Burnett's “Little Caesar,” in which the screen version followed the novel to a great extent, but differed in a great man detalls. Those familiar with the bool were often quite puzzled for the reasons behind certain changes and omissions. ‘The stage (and in this grouping we include the films) has the ivan of close touch with the audience. Ob- servers in the auditorium and behind the curtain can tell more or less ex- actly the reactions of the public. This is a benefit which the written word must lack. The only revision which a work of fiction receives is that which may be ordered by the publisher or suggested by him before the novel is published. Once between covers a novel has taken on definite shape forever. Even readers will rise to its defense in case a condensed version is put on the mar- ket. “It is a desecration of & great work,” they say, heatedly. Eh ks The truth is that many a celebrated novel might be revised to its benefit, especially in regard to the flow of ac- tion, which, after all, must continue to be the chief cause for being. Fiction is story telling, let us never forget that. Whereas it is no longer customary for a teller of tales to speak them before a crowd of persons, it has become common all over the world for writers to tell their tales in books, magazines and newspapers. All the world loves a story, whether it be a true story or a tale based on imagination. And what it loves chiefly in all of them is the action, the move- ment, the sense of something happen- ing which so many thousands of per- sons miss in their own dalily lives. Man was born to action, but civiliza- tion often subdues him to a dull round of commonplace activities which can scarcely be called such. The novel permits him to move out of his accustomed spheres for the actual duration of the book. He no longer is a clerk; he becomes one with a rover or sits in the seats of the daring. Anything which hinders him is just so much waste. Characters which irk him, long speeches which make him wish he did not have to listen to them, are just so much let and hindrance. Skip them, then? Never! He who skips is lost. Every novel should have the benefit of criticism by sensitive readers and of proper revision by au- thors. After all, not very much would have to be done, but it would mean a great deal. Highlights on the Wide World Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands pressed with the appearance of those South Australian rubies that he is sending home a bottleful to England. Mr. Butters is doing this to ascertain the value of the precious gems per ton. If they come up to e , we intend to order & hundredweight ourselves. Perhaps it is now hardly remembered that years and years ago somebody found a lump of rock-crystal at Mudgee and palmed it off on Butters as a gigantic diamond. Mr. Butters really believed that he had a new Kohinoor, and exhibited it as such in the window of a fashionable Collins street jeweler. And when the bubble burst, the wicked confectioners of Bourke street—irreverent scoffers who in olden times would have been gobbled up by bears—mockingly showgd in their windows big hunks of candy labeled “Butters’ Diamonds.” * % ok % Use of Gas Favored For Executions. Cologne Gazette—A form of legal execution which might well be adopted in Germany is that by gas, which has been used in the United States since 1921, chiefly in Nevada. In that year Gee John, a Chinaman, was the first to suffer capital punishment by this method. The second to die in the same manner was Stanko Jukich, and the third instance of gas execution was that of Robert White on June 2, 1930. ‘White's case is especially interesting, inasmuch as it was the first event of the kind that was sclentifically ob- served. It was consummated in & stone chamber 9 feet long, 8 feet wide and 7 feet high. (A foot is equal to 30.4 centimeters.) The chamber was con- structed lally for this purpose, air- tight, fitted with glazed windows through which the witnesses, in this instance 53 persons, could view the operation. White was placed upon a hair in this small room. On the ground before him was placed & bowl containing a quart (1.13 liters) of sul- phuric acid and a gallon of water (4.5 liters). A box holding a dozen 1-ounce tablets of cyanalkine was so placed that when a cord was pulled the tablets fell into the acid in bowl and im- mediately began to generate the fatal gas. This impregnation of the atmos- phere in the death chamber, which be- gan at 4:37'; am., rendered White completely unconscious within half a minute, though the execution was not officially concluded for a period of nine minutes more. Through a stethoscope and other instruments adjusted to White's body and connected by wires to the exterior of the cell, Dr. Edward C. Hamer, the chief official surgeon of Nevada, was able to determine to the second when animation had ceased. In countries where capital punish- ment is still enforced, we believe this method of execution is the most instan- taneous and merciful, and far superior to any method yet used upon the Euro- pran continent. There is too great a risk in the employment of human hands, nervous at such a time, despite their adroitness, and in the use of faulty and cumbersome apparatus. Cer- tainly the Nevada method is superior to the headsman, the relic of a barbarous past, and a dreadful minion of, the law not long obsoleted, even in Germany. * ok kK American Philosophy Seen in Song. El Comercio, Lima.—"“Cantando bajo la Lluvia” (Singing in the Rain) has long been a popular air in the United States. And we believe that the title of this song contains in epitome all the philosophy and indomitability of the North American Republic. It is a country that is never disheartened by reverses nor made morose by defeat. True, its defeats have been few, for whatever America set about to do she generally eccomplished, but it cannot be denied that the will to press on, no matter how dark the outlook, or how formidable the opposition, and the hunger for eternal effort are the fac- tors which have made her so amazing ss and achieve- unlimited natural resources and a vast domain, diffusedly ulated with the energetic and am- mom strains of other lands, have been the f all American industrial, scientific and HE BULLETIN, Sydney.—J. S. Butters of Melbourne is so im- financial triumphs, WMMRmuuv&mwnflv been ready to pour out her money for philanthropy and her blood for a principle. ‘These characteristics account, no doubt, for the fact that while the United States has necessarily suffered, and suffered keenly, the deprivations and hardships of the current universal depression, she has never reached the extremes of misery and penury now so evident in practically all other coun- trles. America is singing, even “in the rain.” * ok ok % Government Saves Through Handling of Salvage. El Universal, Mexico, D. F.—Five hundred and sixteen thousand pesos have been saved by the central de- meem of the federal district In a ittle over two months. This depart- ment includes. principally the cap- ital and its immediate suburbs, and the economies referred to have been in the more careful utilization of ma- terials and in the salvaging of equip- ment formerly discarded or destroyed. These savings have been accomplished without the dismissal of any employes, who now, through their exercise of carefulness and efficiency, have become assets rather than llabilitles for their various bureaus. * Kk % Fascist Methods with Malcontents Scored. Italia, Geneva—In the seventeenth century, when the pestilence was raging at Milan, the authorities tried to catch and segregate the infected. In Fascist Italy, when discontent with conditions grows greater, they wish to hang the destitute and unemployed. It is Carlo Delcroix, president of the Association of Fascist Disabled War Veterans, who is the pseudo-patriotic demagogue— such a man as Pletro Gobetti denomi- nated a “moral abortion”—that has been called to the aid of the state in its activities against these forlorn ele- ments. Behold, then, how the Corriere delle Sera, under date of September 5, laud- ed the efforts of Delcroix and de- nounced with extreme vigor “the timid poltroons who relinquish every effort and evade all hardship, instead of endeavoring to remedy the fatigues and discéuragements with which the coun- try has to contend.” “This malady,” continues Corriere delle Sera, “is very contagious (just like the pes- tilence above referred to) and requires the exercise of vigorous preventive measures. These murmurs of dissatis- faction are affecting both the high and the low. The heat of Summer has ac- centuated the epidemic until it re- quires the control of a mew discipline. This half-concedled disapproval of the national program is undermining both finance and economy; the whispered calumnies of these disloyal subjects are compromising our prestige and attack- ing our statesmen. These people pre- tend to forget that the present crisis is universal: that our neighbors, even those countries more powerful than ourselves, are suffering even more than we, and unjustly lay the blame for all our discomforts at the door of Fascism. This is a behavior well-nigh unpar- donable, for if it were not for the criticisms and complaints of these mal- contents, our parliamentary form of government would be able much more quickly te apply remedies than the ex- ternal regimes of centralized authority.” Thus the Fascists catalogue those whose burdens and griefs have become 8o intolerable that they cannot sup- press their sighs and protestations! * ok ok % Diversified Farming Relieves Overproduction. La Voz Del Interior, Cordoba.—Suf- fering from an overproduction of que- bracho (grain) in _recent years, Province of Cordoba has been in & very unsatisfactory state economically, until the last season, when the I proprietors parceled out their land but in any case it has ita|f; one knows, | v THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 1931. opinion of other Democratic Senators a failure to grasp the situation which confronts the Democrats. How, say these other Democrats, can the party hope to carry New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Tilinois and Ohio in the next election if they nominate a dry candidate for President? * K ok x Of course, the retort courteous to this nt of the Democrats who favor nomination of -"et o?:dla ©Ohio out of this group of States men- tioned. Without Ohio, he would have been sunk in 1916 and Mr. Hughes would have been in the White House. Furthermore, in that election Mr. Wil- son carried Wi n and Montana, both of which have gone wet, judging the first by the platforms adopted by the two parties in congressional elections last Fall and the second by several referenda on the subject of liquor. It is true, as the drys will say, that Montana re-elected Senator Thom- as J. Walsh by a greater majority than he ever received before, and Senator Walsh has always been rated a dry. But Senator Walsh had said that he would be guided by his State in voting on the resubmission of the eighteenth amend- ment, and also he is one of those who declare that the liquor question did not cut a figure in his campalgn against Judge Galen, the Republican nominee for the Senate, in the recent election. And last, but not least, Mr. Wilson car- ried California in 1916, the actual meas- ure of his victory in that year. Now California, in its most recent contest, has put in & wet Governor. * % ok % ‘The Democrats are wild to win this next presidential race. If some of their leaders, and among them are drys the South, are to be credited, next Democratic National Convention will be a hard-boiled affaiy. It will seek to pick the candidate w) win. That must be his first qualifi- cation—the ability to win. They do not see how a dry candidate, com- mitted” to the eighteenth amendment and no revision, can win. They do not see why they should jeopardize their chances for victory by turning their backs on_ some of the big industrial States where the wet sentiment is strong. Southern drys in Congress who privately take this practical view of | the the situation say they have not the slightest doubt that the solid South will remain solidly Democratic in 1932 if a wet Democrat is nominated for President. ‘There is just one “possi- bility—the nomination of Alfred E. Smith—which might cause some of the Southern States to desert again their allegiance to the Democratic standard in 1932. But they insist that Mr. Smith,| is not going to be the nominee, al- though they admit that he has today the support of e considerable number of Democrats for renomination. * koK K . Gov. Roosevelt of New. York, despite his lameness and his Tammany con- nection, is still held\to be the best bet of the Democrats mentioned for the idential nomination by these practical Democrats. If by any chance Roosevelt should not across, then they look to Ohio and Bulkley Newton D. Baker, they many things against bim, among them his fondness for the l‘lm of Nations and the fact ‘thlt he " on y WI‘:‘; od’ryh‘m blican opponent, n 3 McCulloch, last .. Bulkley is com- mitted to repeal or revision of the eight- eenth amendment. Ohlo is a big State, a pivotal State, mother of many Presi- dents in the past. * ok kK The Benate is the propagating gar- den of presidential booms, not to men- tion vice presidential booms. It won't be long now before these booms will begin to crop up in this political acre, the most political in the country. Rob- inson of Arkansas, Bulkley of Ohlo, Walsh of Montana, George of Georgia, Hull of Tennessee, a Senatar-elect; Glass of Virginia, are all likely to have their State delegations for them at the next Democratic national convention, if they desire. On the Republican side, with President Hoover looming as the probable candidate of the Republicans to succeed himself, crop of pres- idential booms may not be so large. However, Morrow of New Jersey, who wants a change in the system of liquor control, is mentioned frequently as a possible contender for the Republican nomination. Then Indiana usually comes forward with a delegation sup- porting “Jim” Watson, the Republican leader of the Senate, and, moving to the Progressive West, there is Norris of Nebraska and Borah of Idaho, whose State delegations are likely to be for them. They may have other State delegations, too, in the Northwest and Middle West. ‘The Democrats turned in 1928 to the Senate for a vice presidential candidate and so did the Republicans. Senator Robinson of Arkansas, leader of his party in the Upper House, was the cheice of the Democrats and Vice Presi- dent Curtis, Republican leader, was nominated by the G. O. P. and elected. Senators Robinson, Dill of Washington, Bulkley of Ohio, Barkley of Kentucky and Copeland of New York may be in the Democratic vice presidential picture next year, depending’ upon the geo- graphical location of the presidential nominee. Two of them, Robinson and Bulkley, are talked of, it is true, for the presidential nomination. * ok k% In many quarters it has been as- sumed that if President Hoover is a candidate to succeed himself on the G. O. P. ticket, Vice President Curtis will be his running mate. It is & logical conclusion. Mr. Curtis would add strength to the ticket. However, there are politiclans out in Kansas who be- lieve that the Vice President may de- clare himself a candidate for his old seat in the Senate next year, a seat which was held for a few months by Henry Allen under appointment of the Governor, and to which McGill, a Dem- ocrat, was elected 1. Mr. McGill has to stand for re-election in 1932. It is generally belleved that Vice President Curtis could win back his old seat in the Senate next year if he wishes to do 80. So far the Vice President is saying nothing. Why id he? The sena- torial primary does not take place until August, 1932. o w soldiers’ bonus is taking its in was in 1924 that Calvin Coolidge vetoed the bonus bill, only to have it passed lace over his veto by more than two-thirds | the vote in each House. BSecretary Mellon was opposed to the bonus then and he is today. President Hoover is likely to veto a cash bonus bill if it goes to him now, just as Mr. Coolidge vetoed the bonus bill providing the adjusted com- pensation certificates which the veter- ans, or some of them, are asking to convert into cash today. Members of Congress frankly admit when talking privately that they see no way of stop- ping the cash bonus proposition now, ch it believes can | ¢ politics of the Congress again. It | f ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS Infe Bureau, in, director, Washing- Q. Did Herbert Hoover receive both Republican and Democratic votes in the Mic! presidential preference pri- 1920?—H. l‘! an He recelved 52,503 Republican votes and 24,046 Democratic votes. Q. How many business are conducted by Negroes?—B. G. A. The National Negro Business League says that there are 6,000 Negro sicians, 67 insurance companies, 35 ks and 270 newspapers. Negroes conduct 70,000 business enterprises of 196 different classes. Q. What States use whipping posts g straps for moralizing criminals?—J. L H. A. The National Society of Penal In- formation says: ‘“Delaware is the only State in the Union where the whipping post is used for moralizing criminals. It is the belief of those who have come in direct contact with this form of pums, ishment that it is exceedingly ineffec-' tive. Warden Leach of the New Castle ‘Wilmington, BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. How large will the telescope be at the University of Toronto?—W. B. W. A. One of the finest astronomical observatories in the world is to be built in Toronto for the University of To- ronto. In this observatory there will be a mammoth reflecting telescope 74 inches in diameter. It will be exceeded in the size of the aperture only by the one on Mount Wilson, Calif. The in- strument for Toronto is now being made in England. Q. Who were the last living veterans of the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Mexican War?—L. P, A. Daniel C. Dakeman was the last pensioner of the RevolutionaryWar. He died 86 years after uhe close of the war at the age of 109 years, 8 months and 8 days, on April 5, 1869. Hiram Cronk was the last surviving pensioner of the War of 1812. He died on May 13, 1905, at the age of 105 years and 16 days. Owen Thomas Edgar, last sur- viving pensioner of the Mexican War, glefl 2];1 ‘Washington, D. C,, September Q. When and where were the first the United States?—J. O. M. A. New York claims three sawmills were built there by the Dutch West India Co. in 1623. York, Me, claims that a mill was bulit there the same year. Good evidence exists that a saw- mill was bullt at South Berwick, Me., in 1631 or 1632. Among the earliest of steam sawmilly was one built in 1830 at Newark Valley, Tioga County, N. Y. Electric power was used in gnwmilis about 1900, . What are the largest cities in Africa?—P. H. 8. whose duty it is to apply the lash, firmly convinced that it should be abol- ished. He has stated on numerous oc- casions, both publicly and privately, that he has on several occasions been com- pelled to whip a man a number of times. In the States of Virginia, Ala- bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas the strap is used as & means of punishment for violation of the rules while serving sentence. This method of punishment is gradually coming into disuse. In the States where this punishment has been barred in re- cent years, such as Florida and North arolina, officials have stated that it has resulted in better discipline.” Q. What can be done for chickens that pick at one another?—K. G. K. A. The trait whereby chickens constantly mnn; at one another called cannibalism. Once they have taste of blood it is almost impossible to stop them. About the only solution in treatment of this condition is to put 'm out on range. Q. Why did the English decide to colonize in America?—L. M. T. A. Walker'’s “Essentials in English History” says: lish colonization is due to the states- manship of Walter Raleigh. Although erratic and vision in many respects, Raleigh saw clearly that attacks on|the svml f flabg;'l Bpl.ll:l “Ho appears me o g . He appears to have been the first to conceive the idea of opposing Spain b{ufir:v-dl.n' her l‘pecd ial d°m.m’ &I;Amer meccmflnefl;. and _erec e agal Spanis| dominance a lasting bulwark by plant- ing a series of colonies along its coast. Drake might plunder and burn, but Raleigh ferred to In 1585 sent Sir Ricl to Roanoke Island with & colony of 100 persons; in 1587 he sent John White with 150 more, and although both these attempts failed, yet they led in the next reign to the more lasting work of the Virginia Co.” “The beginning of Eng- | He A. Cairo is the largest, having 790,- 939 inhabitants; Alexandria second, with 444,617, Mozambique is third, with 382,754; then Johannesburg, 288,13 Cape Town, 207,404, and Alglers, 206,59 Q. Please publish names of the peo- le who have been buried in the Wash- gton Cathedral—F. A. C. A. Many years ago Congress passed a .wd.l act authorizing the authorities of Washington Cathedral to have four burials a year in the Gothic edifice now rising on Mount St. Alban. Since the foundation stone of the Cathedral was lald by President Roosevelt in 1907 there have been 14 burials in the crypts —Right Rev. Thomas John Claggett, first Bishop of M: and first soil, and Mt Gantt Cltmtnn &Am:fl'cl‘!n 5 ary e their were transplanted tion taken by the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church); George Dewey, Admiral of the Navy and trustee ]g: the Cathedral Foundation , journalist, editor and publisher, noted for his service to the public; Rev. Walden Myer, Canon of W n_Cathedral and trustee of Cathedral Foundation; Rev. J. Townsend Russell, Canon of Washing- ton Cathedral; Right Rev. Henry Yates Satterlee, first Bishop of Wasl and Jane Lawrence Satterlee, his Henry Vaughan, first architect of Wash. Cathe H oodrow Wilson, ington edral; Wi N twenty-eighth President of the United States; Henry White, former Ambassa- dor to Prance, disti ed diplomat inguishe . and trustee of the Cathedral Founda- tion, and Melville E. Stone, journalist, a founder of the Associated Press. Q. What is athlete’s foot?—G. T. N. A. This term originated with Dr. Charles F. Pabst to designate ringworm of the foot. Rock Fall at Niag ara Stirs Interest in Treaty Efforts A break in the crest of Niagara Falls which tore off a great segment of rock which formed the rim has aroused in- terest in the proposed treaty between this country and Canada provide measures for the preservation of this great natural wonder of the continent. ‘While knowledge of tie event was dis- closed after the wholesale erosion had passed into history, it has impressed the public, which thinks of the ages during which gradual erosion has been in progress. The conclusion that the change has not affected the maghifi- cence of the Falls is generally accej Advice that the Senate should “ratify | the at once the pending treaty with Can-|the ada” is given by the Buffalo Evening News, which states that the measure has been “indorsed by the Niagara Board of Control, an international body created for the pul&&e of conserving the scenic beauty of the cataracts.” The News advises that “the time has come to take the problem of Niagara out of the hands of unqualified practitioners who have for so long given it absent treatment and turn it over to the en- gineers.” Recalling that the provisions of the treaty would “preserve the beauty of the Falls and incidentally provide for & greater diversion of water for power purposes,” the Jackson Citizen-Patriot points out that “the flow on the Ameri- can side would be increased and made even more by a series of underwater dams,” and argues that “if the project has all the merits claimed for it and if the Parliament of our Northern neigh- bor saw fit to accept it, probably the members of the Senate committee had personal reasons for obstructing action.” “The Niagara rock slide, which leaves most of us agape and adds incalculably to the problem of ‘preserving’ the Falls, appears to the geological mind as mere incident in an epic that Nature writing countless thousands of years ago,” remarks the Atlanta Jour- nal, and that paper observes that mod- ern means of meeting the situation are adopted, as “the first thought of au- thorities seems to have been the need of an aerial survey,” and that the air- plane is “modern man’s trump card in any game.” The Journal gives force to the slide with the comment that “Nature performed swiftly and without anes- thetic a magnificent if somewhat inex- plicable feat of surgery.” * Kk ok ok t may be considered in the light of an esthetic catastrophe,” according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, while the New York Evening Post calls it “a ajor event in Niagara’s history,” for a few hours as much rock was torn away from the brink of the world’s most celebrated cataract as normal erosion would have removed in 4,000 years.” The Milwaukee Sentinel says: “Insen- sate water can wear away great ram- parts of rock as time takes its course. Consider what man, directing his ef- forts with his intelligence, may accom- plish in the course of the ages in which the water is engaged in gnawing away rock from Luna Island to Buffalo poured over its precipice stone year after year, age after age,” says the Dayton Dedly News. “An inch of the wall wears away in the course of a year. Finally a section of the wall scores of feet thick falls away, and the eternal Falls of Sunday evening were something else on Monday morning.” ‘The Minneapolis Star adds: “The cave- in is an epochal event in Niagara's his- tory. The fact that it is the first to ican side,” and that “the surface layer of rock is harder than that which sup- ports it, and when the latter is suffi- clently washed out sections of the shelf break down through their own weight and that of the water which they port.” The Allentown Morning Call gives assurance that “even though there was a great,slide the volume of moved was infinitesimal compared with the volume of rock that Niagara has cmmtofthe'xfir‘emmfl’\eymof its flowing.” Altoona Mirror hopes that “for the sake of lovers of great natural wonders Niagara may continue tion of glhn world as long as earth endures.’ “Little of the beauty which annually draws hundreds of thousands to the vicinity was marred by the loss,” ac- cording to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, while the Boston Transcript expresses gratification that “Niagara, our most wonderful natural spectacle, is destined to remain such while many future gen- erations waste and wear away as the cataract {tself does.”” The Rachester ‘Times-Union is convinced that the “dif- Xue};rc‘:ybnfill n‘;t! be ll:ltefll o & ly mediate steps will be taken,” in the opinion of the San An- tonio Express, “to retard the erosion on both portions of Niagara engi- neering works designed to eq: the flow to the greatest possible degree. The Canadian and United States gov- ernments doubtless will come to an early understanding in the matter. The international boundary traverses the Horseshoe Falls, but the American fall is wholly within the United States.” “It represents all those great scenic assets of this country which the people are more and more appreciating, and which must be preserved from exploita~ tion and destruction,” says the Lexing- ton Leader, while the Grand Rapids Press holds that “Nature alone, even by such alterations as this landslide, could not have begun to wreak such harm as was caused by the choice of architec- ture—or lack of it—in utility buildi along the Niagara Falls, Ontario, side of the gorge.” The Dallas Journal thinks “it may be doubted that what has been lost will ever be restored, either by man or the sometimes kindly processes of nature. If that be true, it is a grievous loss indeed.” Helpful Course. From the San Antonio Evening News. Problem of cotton acreage reduction would solve itself if the South would feed itself, asserted Carl Williams of Oklahoma-—Federal Farm Board mem- ber for cotton—in addressing the South- ern Association of State Commissioners of ' Agriculture, convened at Memphis. That official body is pladged to seek means of reducing cotton production and increasing comsumption. Unless that cah be accomplished, growers probably will continue piling surplus upon unsalable surplus. Mr. Williams said that a 12,000,000-bale crop for 1931 would be ample, and that 10,000,- 000 bales would be still better. He re- minded Southern farmers that they now must compete with Egypt and India in markets which they monopolized until a few years ago. Besides, Russia is be- coming a factor in the cotton market. American growers still have this ad- vantage, however: They can produce a better quality cotton than most com- peting countries. About the only sensi- ble course left open to them is to re- occur since the white man first saw the bserve despite the fact that it would create|Fal a huge deficit in the Treasury. have elections coming on next ‘They colonizing families who had moved into | the r&\}mfiun d‘s“n;'ju 1% gverercwdul cities. By cultivating and vege- tables, instead of grain and cereals, ums:. ‘:Ie'xcomm have not onl; :lllod support_themselves, but they mfln%ve been able to sell much of the produce, which found a much iter demand in kets than year. | surr vie of the cave-in Nlummem hold h " or so, more public miere.’ If duce acreage and improve the staple. If at the same time they would adopt Dean Kyle's balanced-farming program, could face the future with con- ce. Needs to Be a Contortionist. From the Minneapolis Star. 1If you think politicians have an easy graft, try on a-fence and keep- ing one ear on the ground:-. Dollars Down—Not Wind OQut. From the 8t. Louls Times. YotV must D% . oy