Evening Star Newspaper, January 31, 1931, Page 6

A—0 = KNLIN p 2 ) b! SATUKDAY, JANUAKY »l, 1v. I THE LIBRARY TABLE THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WABHINGTON, D. C. BATURDAY....January 31, 1031 THEODORE W. NOYES. ... Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company o Stk TR "East 4apd at. Rate by Carrler Within the City. ... .45¢c per month Bunday ‘Sar 5 g’n :' o ‘V.L““ .80c per month %&W T i oty %’ 'T-J' inb .lg‘:. cflii'fi-’ LT A My Rate by Mafl—Payable in Advance. :lfflln‘ and Virginia “ All Other States and Canada, ly lfl? ‘Sunda: 1yr.$12.00: ,mov. 41,00 oy 37,3500 1 mon Mise day only *: 8% 1me: &% ‘Member of the Associated Press, Press is exclusively entitled 0 e Ao e puiication of i Rews dix- s eredited [0 1t of Mot otherwise cred- RASS FhIS Paper and also the 1o cal ews iblish herein 1l rights of publication of Thecial “dispaiches herein are sito reserved. The Democratic Ultimatum. The Democratic leadership in the Senate “has gone and done it.” It has formally notified the House, the Presi- dent and the country that unless it can have the kind of relief legisla- tion which it wants a special session of the new Congress will be forced, even it the Democrats have to filibuster the appropriation bills to death in order to bring about such a session. The ultimatum issued by these Democratic Senators leaves them in the position, if their wishes are not complied with, of forcing upon the country something for which it has no liking, a special session of the next Congress. Try as they may the Senate Democrats will be unable, having lssued such an ultimatum. to eonvince the country that they are not the responsible parties. The onus will be pinned on them, and justly so. That it will react against the party, if | the special session becomes a reality, is the view of some of the Democrats themselves. Particularly is this true in the House. These House Democrats do not wish a special session of the next Congress and they take the position that the Senate Democratic leadership 48 forcing something on -them which they do not want. § In its effort to “put something over” on the Republican administration, to obtain some immediate supposed ad- vantage, it looks as though the Senate Democratic * leadership had simply blundered again. It has put the party, 80 far as the Senate is concerned, in & position where it must either go through with the threat to force s special ses- sion of the Congress, which will be an unpopular move no matter what a handful of these Senators may contend, or it must back down. ‘The immediate response of the House of Representatives to the Senate Demo- eratic ultimatum that the proposed $25,000,000 Federal fund for food for distressed persons throughout the coun- try must pass or there would be & spe- elal session of Congress was to vote by a large majority to reject the Senate proposal. The vote came on & Demo- eratic motion in the House to concur in the Senate amendment to the In- terior Department appropriation bill for the fund. While it is true that a score of Republicans supported this proposal, it was also true that half a dozen Democrats voted against it. And it is reported that some of the Democrats who voted yesterday for the motion really did not have their hearts in the matter. They do not wish either to force a special session of Congress on the country nor do they like the idea of meking a Government “dole” an fssue in the coming campaign between thelr party and the G. O. P. Having issued its ultimatum, the Democratic leadership of the Senate must find some way out of the situation, if it can. Doubtless many statements will be made to the effect that the House by its position is forcing the special session. But the country knows that it is only in the Senate, because of its rule of unlimited debate, that ap- propriation bills can be filibustered to death. And the country will hold the Senators responsible if that happens. ——————————— Having had trouble before, Smedley Butler is evidently prepared to take an- other degree in the exercises of the *“Deon't Worry Club.” . ——— School Building Policy. In increasing the funds recommended by the Budget Bureau for school con- struction, the House Subcommittee on District Appropriations felt that the re- sult is an unbelanced budg<t and warns that the generous allotment to the sehools must not be considered as a precedent, But the crime of throwing the budget off balance is amply jus- tified. With the funds available the eommittee hopes to end the disgraceiul congestion in the schools now repre- sented by continued use of a large num- ber of portables in part-tim: and in oversize classes. The committee is to be congratulated on creating precedent 88 regards the size of schooi construc- tion funds, whether or not it is willing to regard it as precedent. There are many items that can afford cuts far easier than the appropriations ‘or school eonstruction, ‘Whether the school bulldings author- faed, built or building will enable the sehool system to catch up in the pro- vislon of proper facilities depends & great deal on the amount of increase in enrollment in the next few years and in the trend of city growth. Coupled with the provision of generous funds for school building this year, the com- mittee has outlined the policy it ex- peets to follow in future in this respect. the necessary school sites and buildings will win the approval of the various bodies that have a finger in the ple. A few years of anticipating the needs of normal city growth, and providing for them by the appropriation of funds that are as relatively if not actually as generous as those recommended this year, should be a part of the school bullding policy adopted by the com- mittee. ———————— Protection From Loss. The general need for definite protec- tion for the public in its participation in real estate and realty securities in- vestments has become a matter of agree- ment among interested legislators, com- petent civic leaders and, indeed, also, among outstanding leaders and a large body of those engaged in this form of business. Experiences here and elsewhere have shown that, no matter how honest or how conservative the majority of the operators mn any fleld of business en- deavor may be, there is always the pos- sibility of mistakes or fraudulent deal- ings on the part of the incompetent or the unscrupulous. The scandals and investigations, which have resulted in some cases in prosecutions by the Gov- ernment, that have been visited in suc- cession upon Washington in the past several years, have been shocking and damaging to those investors and deal- érs who know that investments in real estate and realty securitics can be, and should be, both safe and profitable to the dealer and investor alike. Washington looks to Congress, &s it must, for constructive action which will set up needed forms of protection of & reasonable character, which wil. assure the privats investor of a square deal. Such type of protection also will pro- vide a square deal for the operators who conduct their business along competent, sound and honest lines. Committees of Congress for the past five or six years have had before them for consideration a number of proposals directed to this end. Hearings have been held on several types of proposed legislation. Investigations have been made, sometimes under the compulsion of subpoenas, which have brought to light facts particularly emphasizing the need for corstructive, corrective legisla- tion. None of the facts disclosed has served as a blanket indictment of the business of real estate or realty securi- ties. This is an honorable and produc- tive and fundamental business. Millions of purchasers of dwellings and millions of investors in mortgage bond issues here and in cities throughout the coun- try have found their holdings satisfying and profitable. The evidences of mis- adventures and misdemeanors and fail- ures here ond there have brought to mind time and again, however, that the ‘Government should set up protection for the public. Otherwise, confidence in what could be a “gilt-edge” type of business may decline to an extent dam- aging to public welfare. Reasonable regulation is justified because the pri- vate investor makes possible realty de- velopments both large and small. Congress, under authority of the Federal Constitution, is the legislative body for the District, which now has only the privilege of petition regarding its needs. Local residents, through various organizations, have, petitioned time and again for such protection. Congress, through numerous hearings condueted by its committees, has been informed of the needs. The time has come for constructive action. Just what forms of regulation are required is a matter for the discretion and judgment of Congress. One pro- posed law provides for the licensing of local real estate brokers and sales- men along ‘lines of a model law now in effect in twenty-five States of this country. Under this law any broker or salesman found guilty of unethical acts, fraudulent practices or gross misrep- resentation could be barred from activi- ties here. Organized real estate men likewise have msked that this type of regulation be imposed upon them- selves. This proposal has been before Congress for five or six years. The Senate has passed such a bill, but the House has not yet voted on the matter. For a number of years the Better Business Bureau and other agencies have urged the adoption of some form of regulation of the sale of securities. As yet no affirmative action has been taken by Congress. One type of law would set up a “Blue Sky” Commission to pass upon securitles before they could be sold. Another type of regu- lation, known as a fraud law, would provide for licensing and bonding of agents selling securities, give the United States attorney additional pow- ers of investigation and an injunction power to stop fraudulent dealings. ‘There is & growing feeling, also, that mortgage banking firms, handling mil- lions of dollars of the funds of private | investors, should be placed under some form of Government supervision com- parable to the supervision now main- tained by the Government over na- tional banks, savings banks and build- ing and loan associations. Such su- pervision has served to protect the cus- tomers of such institutions. Such su- pervision, instead of raising question as to the integrity of the banks and building and loan associations, has stimulated public confidence in them. ‘There are responsible folk who be- lieve the extension of such supervision over the affairs of mortgage banks would prove helpful to the public and in no wise damaging to the mortgage houses. It is to be hoped that Congress, despite its many other cares and re- | sponsibilities, will consider these ques- tions and act in the protection of the public of Washington. r———— A loyal Californian talks about the glories of its climate. The motion picture industry has the greatest pub- licity experts on earth and will take care of itself. Construction hereafter will be, the com- mittee states in its report on the bill, “first, to meet the need shown by normal city growth as that need de- velops; second, to complete bulidings now built by addition of such auxiliary structures as auditorium and gym- ‘ nastum rooms, beginning with the larger schools; and third, replacement of older and less adequate buildings with new and better structures.” It such a policy is followed con- sistently it would naturally represent the wisest procedure. But to follow it consistently there must be ample appro- priations, and in the past there has al- some unfortunate difference 88 to whether “needs shown e Civil Rule in Virgin Islands. President Hoover announces the transfer of governmental rule in the Virgin Islands, our 1917 purchase in the Carfbbean from Denmark, from the Navy to the Interior Department. The ohange involves no semblance of dis- satisfaction with the sallors’ regime at St. Thomas, the Navy, in fact, having asked to be relieved of further ad- ministrative duties. Capt. Waldo E. Evans, U. 8. N, with a highly credit- able record as governor of the islands, s to be succeeded by Dr. Paul M. Pearson of Swarthmore, Pa., whose nomination to the new civilian post was made known at the White House Y. Mr. Hoover explains that “we have undertaken to reorganize the govern- ‘ment of the Virgin Islands.” Evidently their economic and cultural needs are henceforward to be stressed more than in the past. Mr. Herbert D. Brown, chief of the Federal Bureau of EM- clency, visited the jslands in 1929, and plans for their future administration are based upon his findings and recom- mendations. The director of the budget will co-operate with the new governor in executing some of the projects urged by Mr. Brown for the island folk’s betterment. Although the Virgin group contains & population of under 40,000, it is con- sidered to have possibilities worthy of Uncle S8am's systematic care and de- velopment. We hit the islands a body blow when through prohibition we blotted out their profitable rum trade with the United States. Since then another form of drought—the one from which twenty-one American States are still suffering—did even greater damage to the islands’ crops, mostly sugar. The Brown plan calls for diversified farm- ing, & scheme to which Cuba, brought to the verge of economic ruin by its one-crop system, is now giving close attention, Dr. Pearson, now named governor of the Virgin Islands, is a college professor, a famous Chautauqua leader, a man of deep humanitarian instincts and un- derstood to be filled with an evangelical enthusiasm for the post President Hoover has just assigned him. The islands are a tiny proposition, compared to our other insular possessions like | the Philippines, Hawall and Porto Rico. But there is a “white man's burden” to be shouldered there, and Dr. Pearson and carry it effectively. e Mrs. Henderson's Offer. For the second time Mrs. John B. Henderson has offered to the Govern- ment, “free of encumbrance of any kind,” a magnificent dwelling to be used as the home of the Vice President of the United States. It was while Mr, Coolidge was Vice President that Mrs. Henderson made her first offer, but at that time no attempt was made, as there will be now, to have Congress appropriate funds for furnishing and | maintaining it. The cost of the new | mansion has been estimated at three hundred thousand dollars, and if this generous gift is accepted Congress will be asked to appropriate thirty thousand dollars to furnish it and twenty-five thousand dollars annually for mainte- nance, ; Mrs, Henderson has made many large gifts to the Government, notable among them being Meridian Park, which over- looks the city, but probably none of them is more generous than her offer to supply the Vice President with & mansion befitting the dignity of the office. The desire to have a permanent home for Vice Presidents of the United States is evidently cherished by Mrs. Henderson, else she would not have repeated her offer. It would appear that the Government will be doing it- self a favor by accepting her gift, ——————— As a careful Secretary of the Treas- ury, Mr. Mellon evidently feels it his duty to go over the books and see that the Treasury is continuing to operate on sound business principles. ————— The racketeer does not care about the alcoholic percentage of beer so long as the percentage of profit is at least 100. e ‘The Coast Guard is occasionally compelled in duty to action the result of which does not entitle anybody to & life-saving medal. —— -t Prohibition is & compelling topic of discussion. For the present, Senator Robinson is evidently willing to let the drink alone while he discusses the food. —————————— A $90,000 loss at a faro game in Chi- | cago proves that, in spite of unemploy- ment and urgent human necessity, there [has all the qualifications to hoist it is still money to waste. e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. “Get Out and Walk.” How do you move along this earth In quest of knowledge or of mirth? | Do you observe the motor show | And from it in contentment go | In comfort and resplendent pride? Are you 'mongst those who smoothly ride? | Do you on ships sail out afar Or journey in a raillway car, | Or in an airplane cruise the sky Swifter than clouds that lightly fiy? Do you ride on in bliss complete And cultivate two useless feet While life is just a merry song? | It seems that way, but not for long. | You'll have to face the Doctor wise | Who says, “You need more exercise.” | For you the engines speed in vain. You find it useless to complain, As you obey the tyrant's talk. The Doctor says, “Get out and walk!” Pursuit of the Incomprehensible. | “Have you studied relativity?” | “No need to do so,” answered Senator | Sorghum. “I can come across enough things I don’t understand in the course of one of our usual investigations.” Jud Tunkins says you gotta be careful what you say and if you take enough time to find out what you are talkin’ 'bout, maybe you won't say it at all. No More Homicide News. | T know that in some future state Reports will bring me comfort great, | When I can read the news and say, ;"Nobody has been killed today!" l A Sense of Reduetion. “Are you an agriculturist?” “No,” answered Farmer Corntossel. “Everything about the place is so shriv- eled up that there is no use of my pre- tending to feel like a word of five syl- lables,” | “To be great in history,” said Hi Ho, | the sage of Chinatown, “a man must be wise enough to recognize an cpportu- lnlty and shrewd enough sometimes to let it alone.” Learning and Sociability.. “Go.” stands for “Company,” And there is information. ‘That “company” the most will be Of the “Co-education.” THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. If you can imagine Charles Dickens ‘writing a French novel, you have “Angel Pavement” and “The Companions,” both by a young Englishman named J. B. Priestley. What the “J. B.” stands for we don't know, but do not believe it is “John Buil.” A lady whose opinion as to books we value highly met our opening pleas- antry above with the retort, “I can't imagine such a thing!” No—or should it be yes?—it is rather difficult to imagine the great Dickens ever doing anything so different from himself as writing & novel in the typi- cal French manner. One thing is certain—he never did. It remained for this young Priestley to do it for him. The great Charles was a hearty writer of the hearty school. His sentences were long, his images were rich, his sentiment was vast, his plots were complicated, his devotion of hun- dreds of pages to one group of char- acters and his reversions to them later —all this was delightful to many, con- fusing to others. S ‘The result was that even today the world of readers is divided into two| g, sharp camps—the Dickens lovers and the anti-Dickensians. You like him or you don't. It is possible, however, to admire his novels for the good points they have and to forgive them for their weak- nesses. If one might put it that way, it is possible to say that Mr. Priestley has at last reconciled the faults with the merits. And created better work than Dickens? ‘We do not know and we do not be- lieve any one else does, either. are too close to the writers of their age to risk predictions. Prophecy is mostly the bunk, anyway. All it is possible to say fairly at this time is that J. B. Priestley has done something rich and entertaining in these two novels, which we here and now recommend to every reader. We are not concerned here with being “up to the moment” on books. A good book 13 always & good book, and here are two of them, * o % % “Angel Pavement” is the better of the pair, if any one asks us, chiefly because it lives up to our idea of being & Dick- ensian piece in the French manner. We will explain what we mean. The typical French novel has a flavor all its own, and it is chiefly distinguished taking life as it is. Here is how it is: Every one knows how in times of prosperity everything in life seems fixed. Entire decades may pass away, and have passed away, in which life became a sort of dream, with every- thing static. He who dared to venture & protest was called a calamity howler. But afterward things began to happen. (And are still happening.) Mankind operated on a false psy- chology, stuck its head in the sand, and pretended that nothing could ever change. But life showed humanity, Now, the writers of the typical French school (and by that we mean | the main guys, the chiefs, the best; for there are others, of course) never have any false sense of security in life. They know life for what it is—a ame, & struggle, whose essence is the nowledge that naked we came into this world and naked we will go out again. Their honesty and integrity of expression and outlook makes many an English, many an American, novel look cheap, superficial. We defy any Dickens lover to devote Readers | & year, two years, flve years, to study of Prench fiction and then to go back to the novels, great in their way, of Charles Dickens. He will see then. It is an interestin, experiment in r tastes, He wil find the great Victorian redundant, ver- bose and everything else along that line. Much of it will strike him as bombastic almost, at least “fine writ- ing.” as it is called. ticular distaste He will have no for Dickens, hut will find his former enthusiasm tempered at last by the inevitable tempering which must come when & mind of discrimination finds something done better. * X % X Young Priestley in “Angel Pavement” takes an everyday group of Londoners, young and old, and presents them to the reader in a way which would do credit to the detached observation of Guy de Maupassant, the terrible hon- esty of Zola, the romance of Flaubert, the keen insight of Balzac. ‘The reader of “Angel Pavement” will end the book with a sense of dissatis- tion perhaps until he stops to realize that this is the way life is. We plan a birthday party for a friend and on the morning of the great day we receive a telephone call to the effect that he has fallen down & flight of stairs and is in hospital, Priestley writes coplously, as Dickens did, with much the same wealth of ready humor and fllustration. At times odd sentences will aimost tend to make the reader feel that he purposely imi- tates Dickens. But some twist at the end invariably makes him realize that e has done the writer an Injustice. It is like Dickens undoubtedly, but not Dickens. The entire purpose behind the work is different. Priestley, no less than Sinclair Lewis or Ernest Heming- way, is & realist, but—well, not quite so horribly real. He likes to give the reader life as it is, and life whole, but not sad life to the oblivion of humor- ous life, “Angel Pavement,” published in 1930, is a better novel than“The Good Com- panions,” written in 1929, because it carries its realism to a more complete finish. It is not staged, as the other is. The elaborate gathering of the char- acters, one by one, which consumes the first third of “The Good Com- panions,” s a purely literary, not life- like, trick; and the book suffers in this respect from the old familiar too-much- of-a-good thing. “Angel Pavement,” on the other hand, starts, goes right ahead, ends, and when you put the book down you know you have seen a slice of real life right out of the mind of a man who has been able to strain it through his heart. That way a great novel les. A greater than Dickens? We would like to think so. In many ways Priestley is greater, but he lacks indignation. His stories have no great moral purpose behind them. Indignation is what makes & novel great, or at least helps to make a writer s0. Without it we have great work, but not the greatest. J. B, Priestley in these two novels is almost too good to be true. He has achieved something which Charles Dickens never did, and yet he had man- aged to be as good Dickens in a sense as Dickens ever thought of being. And this, we submit, is, as Amos 'n’ Andy—you remember them?—say—well, we won't say it; we will write it prop- erly: Positively, Com- Something. A great deal. as Jollifant says in “The Good panions.” Fish Report on Communism In America Starts Debate ‘There is substantial agreement with the Pish congressional committee in- vestigating Communist activities in the United States that subversive doctrines should not be tolerated in the Republic, but equally strong is the belief that there should be no repression of & na- ture to place illogical emphasis on & group, largely alien, which is infini- tesimal In its size and in the influence exerted by its propaganda. The New York Evening Post advises that “the recommendations of the Fish committee be disregarded by Congress,” and that “we certainly should not ac- cept the spying, tyrannous recommen- dations.” On the other hand, the Cin- cinnati Enquirer holds to the view that “perhaps the most significant part of the report, this emphasis on the con- centration of Communist activity among aliens and foreign-born, naturally marks our immigration and deportation poli- cles as the proper points at which to Institute corrective measures.” “When it is pointed out that for- eigners are often leaders of gangs in large American cities,” says the Oak- land Tribune, “it should also be men- tioned that politics in those cities has been responsible for conditions in which gangs may thrive. While it is to be hoped support will be given the plan to deport the undesirables, including those who have been smuggled in, the pro- gram will not be complete until our cities cease to provide tempting flelds for the criminals of this and other lands.” “It would be utter folly,” declares the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, “to ignore this danger and to do nothing to pro- tect the country from its destructive tendencies. It is well that the Fish committee realizes the seriousness of the Communistic activities, and Con- gress can hardly fail to be deeply im- pressed by its disclosures and conclu- sions.” L “There is no occasion for hysteria,” thinks the Rockford Register-Republic, “but the warning calls for earnest study. Strong immigration and deportation laws will go a long way to make im- potent the sinister plans of the enemies of this much too indulgent Government. A gratifying feature of the report is the earnest praise given the American Fed- eration of Labor for its incessant war on Communism. There has been a dis- position to make light of the commit- tee’s inquiry. This feeling perhaps finds its origin in l:he lcl‘:ntymvnle ‘wlleg‘el::y the Communist party various - tions. The committee looks beyond this and finds a condition calling for prompt remedial measures.” “The report sets before the thinking men and women of this country too big a subject for thought to leave any ex- cuse for misunderstanding its mean- ing.” declares the Buffalo Evening News, while the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, advising against “a hysterical cam- paign,” concludes that “there must be a strengthening of our system of super- vising immigration,” and that “it is just as well to keep an eye on all undesirable aliens.” “Communism is & pernicious and un- healthy plant that must be weeded out from American soil” in the judgment of the Springfield (Mass) Union, and the Chicago Daily News voices the opinfon: “It is the part of wisdom for Ameri lawmakers to prevent incur- sions by alien Communist agitators, who, under instructions from Moscow and with Soviet money in their pockets, preach bloody class war. The commit- tee's recommendation t allen revo- lutionists be excluded and that those now in this country be denied naturali- zation and deported, that the Com- munist party be declared an illegal or- ganization, and that other restrictive measures be adopted to curb subversive propaganda should receive open-minded consideration by House and Senate.” * % & ok “To the report of the committee rec- ommending that the Communist party in the United States be outlawed and urging the imposition of all sorts of re- strictions upon free speech.” ‘Youngstown Vindicator, and women will take exception. The “If you's gineter be a weather proph- et,” said Uncle Eben, “you'll git mo’ credit in de community if you reads out de favorable predictions an’ lets de bad news alone.” @ way to spread wrong ideas is to suppress them and persecute who hold them. Bring them into the open, per- mit them to be freely discussed, and they are stripped of half their fascina- tion. The Pish committee would merely increase the harm it is trying to pre- vent. But there is little likelihood that COPI(I'EII ‘would adopt the policy it pro- “When the Fish committee went forth last Summer,” recalls the Newark Eve- ning News, “it announced the United States was infested with reds. The verdict remains. The commission’s re- port does not fasten upon Communism in America any of the major crimes for which it is indicied. These crimes, it will be remembered, were three—selling wheat short in the Chicago pit to de- moralize American prices, maintenance in the commercial commission known as ‘Amtorg’ of a spy and propaganda bureau, and the dumping of convict- labor products on the American market. To all of these the commission answers with reluctance ‘Not proved.'” The Evening News also comments: “With some of the recommendations of the committee there is no quarrel. Depor- tation of convicted alien violators of our criminal code is one way of reduc- ing our troubles, but deportation should be for physical criminality, not political theories. No new laws are needed for disposition of such theories.” ““The history of persecutions,” it 1s pointed out by the Morgantown Domin- | fon-News, “shows that such groups thrive on that kind of fare. Nothing | tends to make a man more fanatically loyal to his cause than the conscious- ness that he is something of a martyr. It seems, therefore, that the recom- mendations of the Fish committee, which conducted an inquiry into Communism in this country, that swift and ruth- less suppression methods be employed to stamp out those holding Commu- nistic beliefs should not be adopted. Such a program would undoubtedly result in eventual strengthening of Communistic organizations, although they might for the moment appear to be wiped out.” s ao— The Kitchen Survives. From the Atlanta Journal. Moralists who have despaired of American city life on the fearsome ground that it is drifting into a kitch- enless state should take heart from reports on s recent survey conducted by the National Association of Real Estate Boards. In only two cities of the many canvassed, it appears, were there found apartment houses having neither kitchen nor kitchenette, and these con- stituted_one-fifth of 1 per cent of the total. Moreover, the present trend is away from the kitchenette, if by that term is meant one of those appallingly efficlent places in which there is room, for everything except the cook. “In another “ten years,” predicts one au- thority, “this, no doubt, will be regarded as an antique, and the occupant of an apartment possessing one will proudly exhibit it as the relic of an era. The effort now is to provide every apartment with an adequate space for preparing foods—real kitchens.” Thus vanishes, if the realtors are right, another specter of the American home which, as some prophets of the hour would have it, is tottering toward extinction. Homes have flourished in such a diversity of environments and have weathered through the ages so many of the follies and frailties and ills of human nature that we can hardly fancy them going to smash on & kitch- enetie or fading away because of auto- mobles and bobbed hair. Nevertheless, it is reassuring to know that the charmed circle of the teakettle and the skillet 1s widening again. i Seasonable. From the Detroit News. “Well, well,” snapped the office crab, “almost cold enough today to look for- ward to a visit from the window washers. e The Altruist. Prom the Rutland Herald. The happlest man is the one who has reconciled himself rukn New Year resolutions for his fel- lows. - Honor for All Prom the Pittsburgh Post-Garette. A statue to the carrier pigeons of the World War may be erected in Paris. Some day, even u:hn police may be to his habits and |t Carl Van Doren's “Swift” is not an exhaustive work of scholarship, nor a masterpiece of psychological analysis, nor & piece of valuable criticism of Swift's works; but it does give a vital impression of personality. The events of Swift's life were not many or strik- ing. His erratic, abnormal personality, reflected in his writings, is what has made him of interest during his own time and through the years since. His boyhood and youth were passed in pov- eriy, and he tasted the bitterness of de- pendence—dependence upon uncles, who accepted their duty without great will- ingness. With considerable difficulty he managed to become educ: uate of Trinity College, Dublin. His secretaryship to Sir Willlam Temple of Moor Park, Surrey, during two different. periods was an important factor in his career, for it was in the quiet of the daily life at Moor Park that he found & helpful environment for his writing. It was there also that he met Esther Johngon, daughter of a steward at Moor Park, and established with her the rela- tlon of teacher and pupil. Whether or not this meeting was & happy event for either or both of them is & question which has never been settled. Most of the evidence seems to be in the nega- tive. She became the “Stella” of the “Journal to Stells and is buried be- side Swift in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin; but no biographers have been able to tell whether or not she was secretly married to him. She lived near Swift with a companion, saw much of him, refused other offers to marry and admired him even when he was most vehemently execrated by others. When she died Swift mourned her deeply, and rapldly sank into the lonely existence which ended only with his insanity and death, When we consider the char- acter of Swift as it is portrayed by his biographers we are likely to think that 1 if Esther Johnson refused to marry him she was wise, and if he refused to marry her she was lucky. He was a misanthrope, and hated humanity, though he loved, sfter his fashion, cer- tain people. He feared woinen and thelr influence and hated the idea of mar- riage. * ok ok ox All his life Swift was handicapped and tortured, according to Van Doren, by a defec. of the m mbranes of the ear which permitted a leakage of blood into the labyrinth of the ear. caused a continual roaring and tumult, with giddiness, so that his nerves were always harrowed. There must have been also other allments, and as he grew older he settled into a profound melancholy, interrupled only at inter- vals when a few friends came to his house to share his meager fare. His { friendship with the irascible Pope was one of the happiest relations of his later years, though each found the other very irritating, and the chief enjoyment of the association seems to have been their correspondence, not their per- sonal visits. Feeling himself to be buried in Ireland and to be kept by un- friendly politicians from the important positions which he ceserved, Swift was always a bitter man, and his old age was not of the mellow type described by Browning in “Rabbi Ben Ezra” when he says “The best is yet to be. Arro- t, pugnacious, avariclous, seething with hatreds, Swift was not exactly a lovable figure when five years before his death his mind became completely clouded. Yet at the end he was like a quiet child. “He had still five years, two of torture and three of a dreadful peace (after he was paralysed), in which to keep on outliving his friencs. He made his will. Accustomed to giv- ing a third of his income to charity, he now became more avaricious than ever to have more money to give. He shut out the world. His house was his dungeon. His deafness was almost com- plete, his giddiness almost unceasing. * * * He fell like a tower, first a rush of warning stones, then a vast collapse. In March guardians were assigned to him by the Court of Chancery. In Au- gust & commission inquired into his san- ity and.found that he was ‘of unsound' mind ;and memory and not capable of ' taking care of his p:crson or fortune, and that he hath been so since the 20th day of May last past” From being irri- table he became violent. He raged if anybody besides his servants looked at him. ‘He walked 10 hours a day,’ his cousin said; ‘would not eat or drigk if bis servant stayed in the room. . His meat was served up ready cut, and sometimes it would lie an hour on the table before he would touch it, and then ate it walking.’ * * ¢ Paralysis brought him the relief of apathy. Swift had submitted. It took him three years to die, but he lived without rebellion. no longer paced his cage. He would hardly leave his chair. * * * His face lost its wrinkles. His expression was now benign or childlike.” * o ox % “The Babe's Bed” is the title chosen by Glenway Wescott for his latest work of fictional reflection on American life, more especially life in Wisconsin; his native State. The book may be called & novel probably, because nearly any- thing not strictly fact is called a novel nowadays, but it has little plot and very slight characterization. A year-old child lies in 1:s bed in the second story of a poor house, while below in the dining room sit the child’s father and mother, grandfather and grandmother and a young uncle who has come home to Wisconsin on & visit. The child is bound in its bed by & contrivance made from a pair of old suspenders. It cries loudly, and so causes a dispute among the people at the table below. The mother insists that the child must learn to go to sleep without rocking; the father, a weak, unsuccessful man, dis- likes the idea of a child crying upstairs alone. PFrom this situation Glenway Wescott weaves an allegory, and appar- ently expresses lils own thoughts in the words of the visiting young man: “Al- ways in an ephemeral Western town, in himself, in his mind, under as hum- ble a room, and, as it were, amid dis- united, frustrated elders, there would be the babe Weeping, ungratified, bound in its bed, for its own good.” * X ox ok H. H. Munro, who wrote stories under the name of “Saki,” was killed in the World War. His stories have been col- lected in one volume, “The Short Stories of Saki” with an introduction by Christopher Morley. The stories de- scribe a world of light-minded people who have no such thing as social con- sclence but delight in idleness and fri- volity, and are much concerned with domestic problems. There are & num- ber of enfants terribles, badly brought up, incorrigible children, who are very interesting to read about. The style of “Baki” is clever, pungent, epigrammatic. His plots do not seem to matter, yet there are plots, sometimes very neatly twisted ones. Critics are assigning to H. H. Munro a real, if limited, place in literaturs * * % % Storm Jameson, author of “The Lovely Ship” and “The Voyage Home,” family novels of the shipping industry of North Britain in earlier days, has joined Henry Adams and Hilaire Belloc and other medievalists who have found or are finding modern industrial life less joyous and individual than they believe the past to have been. In “The Decline of Merry England” Storm Jameson holds that with the coming of the Puritans and the passing of the Elizabethans England lost her claim to be called “merry.” say:! “To the Puritan ideal many of the ills of modern so- clety are to be directly traced. % ox ¥ n volume to “Everybody’s llustrated by E. H. Shepard, ublished. It is “Every- bod: Boswell,” also ({llustrated by Shepard, and edited by Prank V. Mor- ley. One of the best pictures, on page 393, might have been called “The Pic- f Oath.” E. H. Shepard American reputation by his illustrations for “When We Were Very Young.” A com) ————————— Giving Good Dogs a Bad Name. Prom the Toledo Blade. Nero must not have been as bad as the Many noble dogs consulted, tradition painted him. have been named in ated—a grad-| W. ‘This | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ‘This bureau does not give advice, but it gives free information on any subject. Often, to be accurately informed is to be beyond the need of advice, and in- formation 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 Eve- ning Star Information Bureau, Fred- grie J. Haskin, director, Washington, Q. How long is the Nation-wide cele- bration of the anniversary of the birth year of George Washington to last?— . V. A. It is planned to have it begin on his birthday, February 22, 1932, and ‘c’lou on the following Thanksgiving ay. Q. When were newspapers first printed in America?—E. B. A. The history of the printing of pewspapers in America properly begins on September 25, 1690, for it was upon that date that Richard Pierce issued ihe first number of what was to have been a periodi was, however, Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domes- tic. The first newspaper which con- tinued publication was the Boston News Letter, first issued on April 24, 1704. What color is easiest on the 9 American investigators, Ferree and Rand, have found that there was less fatigue to the eye for yellow light than -for red, blue and green. ey also found that visual acuity and speed of vision—and, in fact, all the visual functions—were at their best un- der yellow light. RufTe: German in- vestigator, has recently found the same thing. He found that visual acuity and speed of vision are greater for yellow light than for green, red, white or blue. He is of the opinion that blue d red lights are the colors most fa- uing to the eye, Other German in- vestigators have obtained the same re- sults. Q. What is the standard height for a piano bench?—K. B. M. A. It is 20 inches. Q. What does et ux. mean; also et a'.7—E. E. A. These are legal abbreviations. Et ux. means “and wife,” while et al. means “and others concerned.” Q. What is the Hexateuch?—G. W. A. This is the name given to the first six bcoks of the Bible which cover ithe period historically from the crea- tion to the conquest of Palestine. Q. Who owns Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington?—M. P. V. A. Mount Vernon is the property of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Q. How did the Black Watch start? C. B. N. A. The origin of the Black Watch | dates from 1729, when a number of loyal Highlanders were embodied form- ing six independent companies and con- stituted a part of the regular army. ‘They wore the dress of their country, a tarten of dark color, which gained | for them the Gaelic appellation of | Freicudan Du—that is, Black Watch, in contradistinction to regular troops who wore scarlet coats and were called Seidaran Dearag or Red Soldiers. Muehlacker broadcasting station is ready for operation. This in- stallation is far more efficient the Deutschlandsender— (the German national station)—former=- 1y the most powerful in range and scope in Germany, or even in Europe. Two new stations were recently projected, one at Muehlacker, and the other at Hellsberg. Th-.first of these will soon be put in operation, and will evidence all that is newest and most effective in the science of radiography. The Deutschlandsender at Koenigs- wusterhausen will appear almost primi- tive in comparison. The station at Muehlacker will function upon a wave length of 360.1 meters, and the sim- plest and most elementary receiving sets can easily pick up its programs. The situation of the apparatus, half. tween Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, es possible to brozdcast with full intensity from either point by telephonic connec- tion. A new departure in the construction of the device is that the masts are built entirely of wood No metal whatever is used in anything except the essential operating equipment, and the impulses carry an inherent power of some 75 kilowatts, a generation of electrical en- ergy so intense that each wave of sound dispatched, if applied directly to the iron and glass construction of the nary supports, would fuse them instant- ly into a molten mass. The wooden masts conserve power, and avert the perils latent in this concentration of voltage. = ok k% Police and Universities Wink at Dueling Clubs. Morning Post, London.—Despite the fact that stucdents’ duels in German; are verboten by the criminal code, bot! the police and the university authorities continue to wink at the existence of fighting clubs where young men m slice bits of cach other to prove ir manhood. When fatal accidents do happen, as at Munich recently, the cul- prit is sent to a fortress more as a mat- ter of form than as a punishment. After all, serlous accidents occur in the best-regulated sports, and if Young Germany prefers to risk facial disfigure- ment by sword-slash rather than broken bones in a Rugby scrum it is no affair of ours. Democracy with its sports has ousted feudalism and its ceremonial tourneys. But England has perhaps been demo- cratized a little more thoroughly than either Germany or France. When a Frenchman or & German feels that his personal honor has suffered outrage his BIRL!NIR TAGEBLATT. — The first impulse is to lodge a challenge. It hes becn said that the prevalence of dueling in the sixteenth and seven- teenth centuries was due to the “bar- barous custom of wearing swords as a part of domestic dress.” Perhaps the twientieth century, with its “barl custom of carrying umbrellas,” m Witness a revival of the practice. * ok ok Only Most Skilled Surgeon Should Be Consulted for Cancer. El Telegrafo, Guayaquil.—The doctor, Jose de la Cuadra, of the Sanitary Commission, has issued a warning to all those afflicted with cancer in its various fors as well as those who may suspect that they are victims of this disease, but have no positive confirma- ion of the fact. The physician states that there are many professing to be practitioners in the city who undertake to cure this malady, but instead variably aggravate the condition. So anxious are those afflicted with this growth to escape its desperate malig- nancy they will believe in any cure that is promised and resort to the insanest methods of correcting the development. Dr. de la Cuadra has pointed out in his newspaper statement that only the services of a skilled surgeon are of any avail in a case of cancer, and even treatments are not always successful. ‘When the tumor is of comparatively re- cent origin, a surgical operation some- times remo the peril, but when it fails no other method is of any benefit. Many people have paid large sums for fraudul enwflgm of ent, which are promi @t least to te the evil, and in most cases to cure I there is any reason to fear the - ence of such a morbid affection, ly most skilled in surgery should , mot any empiric charlal P § loud in Q. Where is the largest artificial lake in the world>—0. A. L. A. It is the lake formed by the con- struction of the new Martin Dam at Cherokee Bluffs on the Tallapoosa River in Eastern Alabama, completed in 1926, and has an area of square miles. The rtin feet high and the lake formed by it has about 700 miles of lake shore and a storage capacity of 448,370,000 gallons. Q. What race of people were the first to practice medicine or the art of healing?—A. J. N, A. The United States Public Health Service says that the beginnings of the art of healing or medicine are lost in the mists of antiquity. The earliest available records indicate that some form of healing was practiced. Q How many paintings by Leonardo da Vinci are in the Louvre?—N. E. A. There are many attributed to him. Only two are unquestioned, says Otto Fairfield. Q. Do dikes of Holland have to be repaired frequently?—B. J. A. The effectual maintenance of the dikes is & constant anxiety and entails strenuous exertion. They stand in need of repeated repair and are completely reconstructed in the course of every four or five years, the cost of which is nearly a million dollars annually. Q. When did Congress vote pensions to men who served in the Revolutionary War?—T. O. A. On August 26, 1776, Congress of- fered pensions equal to half pay to the officers and enlisted men who were dis- abled in the Revolutionary War, with proportionate pensions in the case of partial disability. An act granting pen- sions to invalids 'was passed in 1785, but the first service pensions were granted by the act of March, 1818. Q. What is the origin of the ex- pression “base ball fan"?—P, B. A. The *expression “fan” is an ab- breviation for fanatic. It'now means an enthusiast over any sport or enter- tainment. Q Which Stafes have the greatest and the smallest per capita wealth?— J. H. A. In 1928 Nevada had the greatest per capita wealth. While its estimated wealth was only $568,000.000, this amounted to $7,338 per capita. bama had the smallest. Its estimal wealth was $3,304,000,000, but divided by its population amounted to only $1,284 per capita. Q. How many studies did Leonardo da Vinci make for Judas in “The Last Supper”?—K. A. D. A. He is sald to have made 40. Q. How many colonies of bees can one man take care of?>—A. O. F. A. One man can do practieally all of the work required for 350 or 400 col- onies, even during rush seasons. Q. What does it mean when it is said that a is buried with “full military honors”?—E. E. A. Full military honors means with the honors suitable to one's rank, and depends on the rank held by the indi- vidual at the time of his connection with the service. For example: A man in private life who has formerly been Secretary of War would be buried with military honors suitable to the rank of Secretary of War. Highlights on the Wide World Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands In most cases mdl?nphy is neces- sary before an operation can be per- formed, an essential not within the scope of, and rarely advocated by, most impostors. . Delay, above all other circumstances, is da us in the eradication of cancer, for this reason waiting for any mild medicinal therapeutic to have effect is exposure of the patient to jeopardy. While he is hoping for amelioration, the dis- ease is constantly being . Eventually the metallic element in radium will be used to combat the fatal be employed only by those able to spend vu‘l’wn’lm for their rehabilitation. * ok x Drunken Driver Should Be Treated as Potential Murderer. Evening Post, Wellington (Letter the Editor) —8Sir: Isn't it time that farce of fining men who have found -drunk in charge of motor :&d z.!izn‘P taking away their licenses n your issue I note that @ manager,” who had been con fined £25 for a similar offense a§ lington, was “find £15 and costs by E. D. Mosley, 8. M., and the aecused's license was canceled and he was proe hibited frcm obtaining a new one for 12_months.” It is not my intention to criticize Mr, Mosley, who, no doubt, is an excellent magistrate, other than to say that on this occasion he seems to have erred, and erred seriously, on the side of leniency. There may have been exten- uating circumstances, and Mr. Mosley cannot use the press to reply, but your report does not disclose them. On the contrary, it seems evident from the pub- lished facts that the punishment is ey 3 ho dris he ery person who drives a car when he hr{n such a condition, because of his overindulgence in liquor, that he is not fit to control a car, is a potential murderer and should be treated as such. I have driven a car for more than 10 and, while not a total abstainer, ve made it an invariable rule not to touch alcohol in any form for at least four hours before drivin~ I have suf- fered, both as a driver and as a pedes- trian, many narrow escapes from ace cidents through drunken drivers and feel that the time has arrived when magistrates throughout the Dominion should take a firm stand in the matter. It is my intention, should you publish this letter, to send a copy to each magis= trate in the Dominion. I am, etc., HIGH TIME. ——o— Water Power and Scenery. Prom the Tulsa Daily World. A bill in the Missourl Legislature brings squarely to the front the ques- tion of water power and hydroelectric development as it affects scenic beauty. There are several big hydroelect: projects shaping up in Missouri, Lake Taneycomo, an old enterprise, affects a large section of the White River coun- try, and now there is a a dam at Table Rock whic] fect another long stretch of the White, a lot of the Lower James and other famous streams. The Bagnell Dam, under construction, affects the Osage and several other streams and caused the moving of the county se: ther blfi projects are coming along. t is now proposed to establish an ex-officio commission to control water- power projects in behalf of the State. A specific reason is that these blg en- terprises are in the Ozark region, which is now making a strong call to all the world to come and play. Lakes and water power add to the attractions, up to a certain point. But the big de- velopments destroy many beauty spots, cover many shoals, kill great, loi ne ls and inundate many beautifui 1d, meadow or woodlot. The Ozark region counts these as assets, and natu- rally commercialization of these assets benefits comparatively few people and m— many of their accustomed de- dams, too many m, too many plants and excessive commercialization 1y spofl any country. There m a break somewhere and the States are the er -nnd:. ‘The lovers of r.ha'q:r ~ can mus up enough sentiment pu 1 control &u over in time to save ny of their most glorious S