Evening Star Newspaper, February 19, 1931, Page 8

ING STAR orning Edition. THE EVE: With Sunday WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY...February 19, 1931 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company ‘Business Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t. ghicago Office: Lake Michisan Bullding. European Office:_ 14 Regent .. London. Rate by Carrier Within the City. ening Star............45cper month e Evening and ‘Sunday Stai oot 4 Sundary) To0c per monta ; 53 Sun Cenen 5 Bunaass) - 5¢ per month The Sunday Star . B Der copY Tollestion made at thie enid of each month. Orders may be sent in by mail of telephone NAtional 5000, Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Baily and Sunday.... 1yr.31000:1 aily only ... v, f unday only .. Dlyr $4.00; 1 mo.. 85¢ mo., 50¢ mo.. 40¢ All Other States and Canada. fly and Sunday...1yr. $12.00: 1 mo., $1.00 aily only - 1y nday only {1yr. $8.00: 1 mol, 75¢ J1sr. $5.00i 1mo. 50c Member of the Associated Press. the ws il .~ All rights of publication of pecial dispatches herein are also reserved. -— An Emergency. Tt is most unfortunate that the pres- ent session of Congress is so far ad- vanced that there is little time in which to act upon the report of the Senate committee, filed yesterday by its chairman, Senator Blaine, which for a number of months has been investiga ing the conditions respecting the con- duct of real estate transactions in the District of Columbia. Recent happen- ings in the District have perhaps been the cause of the hastening of this re- port. The conclusions which are pre- sented, however, might easily have been reached earlier, save for the labor of detailed and painstaking inquiry, with- out the demonstrations of urgent ne- oessity which these happenings have afforded. The committee urges the enactment of a law to license and regulate real estate brokers and salesmen, the cre- ation of a “blue sky” commission to regulate the issuance of real estate se- curities prior to sale, and revision of the mortgage foreclosure system, setting up greater protection for the mortgagor or borrower. The most pointedly spe- cific recommendation is for the enact- ment of legislation that will prohibit the release of mortgages until proof is adduced that the funds loaned have been actually repaid to the holders of mortgage notes. A difference of judgment respecting the precise form of regulation to be adopted in the shape of new legislation affecting real estate and other financial projects in the District has delayed enactment for so long that the Capital has been left unprotected and heavy losses have resulted to residents of this community through fraud and misman- agement. Had Congress acted more promptly in the enactment of a regu- latory law, much of this loss would probably have been prevented. Now that disaster has occurred, there is preparatory action, but so late in the session that the chances of enact- ment before noon on the fourth of March are slender. Revelations respecting the methods employed in the handling of large real estate deals and developments in some instances in Washington, resulting from failures and prosecutions for fraud, have proved conclusively that the cure for the evil lies in legislation that will set up a protective system of official super- vision over financing plans, over the marketing of securities and over the methods of real estate and security of- fering financial organizations—just as official supervision is exercised over banks and building associations—and correct the evident fault of the present system of mortgage recording and re- leasing. Prosecutions for fraudulent practices, after the fact, will not effect the res- toration of losses to security purchasers who have been mulcted in dishonest transactions. What is needed, regard- less of whatever the courts may do to punish fraud and breach of trust, is a | system of protection, under which the District cannot be made the field of deals and bargains and traffic in worth- less or weak or speculative securities. In the circumstances the Senate and House would be warranted in considering this an emergency conditica justifyir and even requiring the expodiiion these legislative proposals to the point of enactment at this session. The Dis- trict has been hard hit by the dis- honest and mecompetent conduct of one of its major industries, the buying and selling of real estate and the market- ing of the securities issued in the pro- motion of development projects. Delay until the next Congress may mean further losses to investors. Will there not be a realization in Congress of the urgency of this need? ————— At least there can hardly be com- plaint that an increased loan on Gov- ernment obligations to the soldiers rep- resents money advanced on anything but the best of security. e Art and a Broken Nose. ‘When Louis Wolheim broke his nose in a foot ball serimmage at college, he suffered severely in body and mind. For a young man thus to be defaced is & misfortune. He is handicapped. Wol- heim, thinking that he might as well “die for an old sheep as a lamb," kept on playing and broke his nose again, and for a third time he went into a melee on the gridiron and emerged with his nose flattened. By that time he ‘was hardened to his lot. He found that he possessed a talent for instruction, and on graduation went back to his alma mater and taught for a number of years with high success. Then one day an actor friend advised him to go on the stage and capitalize his disfigured ocountenance. The drama, he urged, offered a field for such a “mug.” which required no make-up for the imper- sonation of realistic villainy. 8o Wol- heim yielded to the temptation and changed his profession, taking a step of some peril to his fortunes. It proved to be s winning step, for that triply broken nose won for him international fame and rich financial rewards. He and grease paint a competent actor can 1 transform a normal countenance into a caricature not at all resembling the original it is somewhat strange that ‘Wolheim’s nose commanded such a high price in the spoken drama and later in the movies and their immediate suc- cessor the “talkies.” There must have been something else than a broken nasal organ. Wolheim must have had that “it” that makes the actor, that indefin- able something that marks the differ- ence between just another member of the cast and an outstanding feature of the show. He certainly, in all the work he did in the heavier line, was quite distinctly the type of the brute, the ruthless man, coarse and regardless of others. Yet in his own character he was not at all of that type. Lon Chaney had the art of self-trans- formation to_an extraordinary degree, and some of his impersonations were even more grotesque than Louis Wol- heim’s own face. Chapey, however, possessed an uncanny power of bodily contortion that took him into a class alone in the presentation of the giue- some, the revolting and the mysterious. Wolheim had no such versatility. He was just & man with a broken nose, homeliness personified. Now both Chaney and Wolheim are dead, and the field is open for the newcomers who may aspire to win fame and reward through their physical peculiarities or deformities. The public is not especially discriminatipg and will welcome a shock. T e Such Generosity! A plan has originated in the cor- poration counsel’s office to pay the Mount Vernon, Alexandria & Washing- ton Railway Co. $200,000 in cash to get out of town, $98,000 of which would come from District revenues. That may be putting the matter rather baldly, but that is what it amounts to. It is a fantastic proposal, and it is to be pre- sumed that the Commissioners will kill it, swiftly and silently, when it reaches them for approval. This is the situation: The rallway company, with its present terminal at ‘Twelfth and D streets northwest, will be forced out of the “Avenue triangle” by the Federal building program. It has applied to the Public Utilities Commis- slon for permission to locate a ter- minal north of Pennsylvania avenue, but there is little chance that such a petition will be granted. If the terminal is located in Southwest Washington, near the Bureau of Engraving or the Highway Bridge, there will be traffic difficulties, and, in addition, the com- pany says the terminal would not be patronized. Bus service carries much of the load formerly carried by the in- terurban cars, and the ownership of the railroad and the bus service is in the hands of the same man. According to an informal understand- ing between officials and the rallway company, the best way to settle the dif- ficulty would be for Congress to pass a bill appropriating $102,000 out of Federal revenues to compensate the company for loss of its property and rights within the triangle; for the ‘Washington Railway & Electric Co. to buy the trackage on Fourteenth street between Water street and B, the use of which it now shares with the Alex- andria company owning it, and for the District of Columbia to pay the company $98,000 for the loss of its terminal facllities, in return for which the company would withdraw its ap- plication for & new terminal site and get out of town. Incidentally, the total payment to the street car line under this plan, amounting to $250,000, would be only $12,000 less than the present owner paid for it at a receivers’ sale, and the purchase price included the Mount Vernon division of the line, which subsequently was sold to the Federal Government for $150,000. Again, in- cidentally, the company's trackage be- tween the Bureau of Engraving and the Highway Bridge is in deplorable condition and the District could order it either removed or repaired. The cost of repair would be in the neigh- borhood of $100,000. The District has withheld its mandate pending a job of its own, in 1932, of repaving and widening this portion of Fourteenth | street. But these are incidentals. The main point is that the people of this com- munity do not owe the railway a penny for the loss of its terminal facilities. If there is such a debt, the Federal Gov- ernment, which condem.s the property and takes it for its own use, is the debtor, and it is presumed that the Federal Government is capable of aitending to th’s part of its own business. The mount of the damage would ordinarily be determined by & condemnation jury. The only test of the company's right to a terminal in the District is the de- mand for its services. If a terminal north of Pennsylvania avenue is con- | trary to the public interest, and the demand does not justify a terminal in Soushwest Washington, that is the com- pany’s business, not the District’s. The owner of the car line bought the property from receivers presumably in full knowledge of the Federal Govern- ment’s program and the resultany prob- lem of finding another terminal. If he did not have such knowledge, he can expect no eondolence from either the Federal Government or the people of this communfiy. And if the company has & just claim against the municipal- ity, & court is the prop:r place to press it, in which case the corporation coun- sel would be defending the municipalisy and not, as at present, suggesting such bizarre methods of relieving it of tax- payers’ money. e ARPES R <, A musical show was arrested in Chi- cago and immediately set free when it was noted how much more innocent { the dialogue was than that employed in the local campaign. e——— Excessive Gas Pressure. People’s Counsel Keech and the Pub- lic Utilities Commission are right in demanding that the gas company com- ply fully with existing pressure regu- lations, and the report of the com- mission’s engineer, revealing failures 0 to comply, should naturally be fol- lowed by other inquiries to determine whether other conditions have con- tributed to the dissatisfaction expressed by some protesting consumers over the size of their gas bills. In these steps the gas company no doubt will be THE EVENING for such reasons permitted, But the Bommission's engineer points out that “as the city has grown and consump- tion has increased the limitations of the rules have been exceeded until, during the past Winter, the excesses have been of far greater extent than heretofore.” The results of such excesses, together with improperly adjusted appliances, are enumerated by the commission's engi- neer as being the possibility of gener- ating carbon monoxide gas, which is poisonous, and inefficiency in gas con- sumption, which may lead to waste and higher bills. The new ownership bought the gas company for the legitimate purpose of making money. It reduced rates to en- courage use of appliances and waged an effective campaign for the sale of the appliances. These have increased consumption, and higher pressure has been necessary to meet the greater de- mand. The excessive pressure has been furnished through a distribution sys- tem that was not built for it. The com- pany, of course, will have to build its new business on the foundation of an adequate distribution system or curtail the business to the limitations of th2 plant. It cannot have its cake and eat it too. i R Lincoln used to laugh at the writings of Artemus Ward. 1If he could read the attempts to interpret his motives and his character on low terms, he would probably laugh again, though with a trace of sadness, for his experience taught him forbearance. It is easy to understand his enjoyment of simple fun. Artemus Ward's drollery never sought to make any man the object of a sneer. — Events of startling significance in public affairs do muot prevent the ‘Weather Bureau from issuing the items of news that are most genuinely im- pressive. The month of February has already delivered enough rain to enable the farmers to feel that they will be able to do more than was at first ex- pected in lending a hand to maintain the country’s business prosperity. R, The purchaser of a loaf of bread does not care how little the farmer receives for his wheat nor does the farmer care how much the purchaser has to pay for bread: It may be a long time before the principles of mutual interest can be understood between producers and con- sumers as well as it is among the re- sponsible persons n more highly organ- ized business. —_— e — New York has contributed a successful bullfighter to Spain. What King Al- fonso would doubtless like to see is some American who would come over and take his organization in hand, showing it how to take the political bull by the horns. ———— The Pennsylvania Railroad will, in & few years, run trains between Washing- ton, D. C., and New York by electricity. Further improvements may be expected. The rallway business, even after so many years of service, may be regarded like air traffic, as still in its infancy. e Many things have changed in Italy. ‘The situation of the Pope is different, as he speaks directly fo the world. But his ideas of human propriety and of spiritual responsibility are exactly the same as before. - Wall Street stock tickers puzzle the speculator because there is no way to persuade them to go on forever telling the same story. ——— Some of the statesmen of the present generation specialize on the study of methods of making a piece of legisla- tion veto-proof. e Chicago’s political campaigns may be disappointing in some respects, but it can always be guaranteed that there will be no apathy. -—or—s. —S‘HOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Backward, Turn Backward. I wish that we were back In dear old days of sweet simplicity; When no one tried to stack The cards, with motives of duplicity; When we would work six days And then on picnics view the scenery; When no one thought of ways Of making music by machinery. I'm longing to return Unto the plain old-fashioned jolly days When we would toil and learn And only seldom think of holidays. I shun rough prose and rhymes And also theorles didactical. 1 sigh for good old times When human thought was far more practical. No Vacancies for a Life of Ease. “Did you receive my letter?” asked the caller. “Yes" answered Senator Sorghum, “I read it with great care. You want to work for the Government.” “I do. T want to serve Uncle Sam.” “My friend, I'd like to place you in a position where you will never have to worry about your wages. But with the subject of Government economy be- ing continually brought up by ene Con- gressman or another, you're liable to find you haven't time to do anything Jud Tunkins says some men who say they want to help humanity never get further than helping themselves. Privilege of Expression. The statesman ought to have his say— If his authority grows greater Than this, he may on some fine day Be criticized as a Dictator. Unfinished Enterprise. “I have discovered a new planet,” ex- aimed the enthusiastic astronomer. ‘That's not the hard part,” com- mented the woman with a chilly voice. ‘Now go ahead and discover something to do with it.” “Poets and historians,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “write 5o beau- tifully of a great man’s misfortunes that a common person learns to forget his own happiness and to envy sorrow.” TIn Darkest Russia. Russia is a mysterious land anxious to co-operate. possessed & certain amount of thespidn ebility, trained himself quickly for his mew part in life and made good, and role after role in the spoken drams was assigned to him because he “looked 1t 1s considered that with putty Exceeding the maximum permissible pressure, one gathers, is not a crime that would ordinarily call for more than & word of warning from the Public Util- ities Commission. It has been done before, and it is probable that it will be done again and a certain leeway is ‘With people hard to understand. ‘We wonder if those Soviet elves All fully understand themselves. “We don't know whether dar is sho'-nuff gold at de end of a rainbow, said Uncle Eben. “After de drought STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. “Dear Sir: I always enjoy reading your articles, and particularly those which deal with human nature and the modern trend of events. “I have read ‘Les Miserables’ and also ‘Elmer Gantry.’ It occurred to me, after reading some of your dissertations on the subject of realism as evidenced in some literature of the present day, that I would tell you my impressions after reading each of the above. “There may be everything to be said in favor of depicting life ‘as is,’ but I can- not help thinking that the particular manner in which it is done, and the moral that is pointed, is a matter of overwhelming significance. “It seems to me that an entirely dif- ferent picture in the mind—or taste in the mouth, if you will—is left after digesting the respective literary works heretofore referred to. However realistic the one may be, it does not portray vice as a virtue. On the other hand, & story of the ‘Elmer Gantry’ type could not by any stretch of the imagination be accused of a desire to unlift hu- manity in portraying, as it does, the weaknesses of an emissary of the gos- pel and his rise to the pinnacle of suc- cess in the face thereof. Aside from which, if we are to be taught to look askance at those upon whom we rely for spiritual guidance, what then of constructive humanity? “Ideals are wonderful things to have. We turn from the realities of every- ay life to our books, and plays, and pictures for rejuvenation and to glimpse the beautiful things of life. If we are to be told that there is nothing really beautiful in life, I cannot see how that is going to help us. I would fo so far as to say that the French author is constructive and that our modernists are merely engaged in the process of tearing down. No matter how close to the actual realities of life we may ap- | proach in the printed word that is placed before the public, the story of vice triumphant cannot be other than destructive, and it is contrary to all the standards of a great civilization. “Very truly yours, J.J W * %k x Certainly, the particular manner in which life is depicted in a novel is a matter of overwhelming significance. Whether a work of fiction must point a moral is something else again. Many of the finest modern novels point no moral whatever. Priestley’s “Angel Pavement,” referred to at length here recently, hasn't & sign of a moral anywhere in its 500 or so pages. Yet the manner in which it depicts life makes it an eminently moral work, if one must have his morals. ‘The finest of the great French nov- els make little point of adducing a moral. Behind them, with certain ex- ceptions, lies only a desire to give the reader life as it is lived. 1t is this alm which has been seized upon by many a modern author, and worked to the point of disgust. These writers—but we do not include Sinclair Lewis in the list—have forgotten “the particular manner” for which our cor- respondent pleads. We might name, if we chose, & num- | ber of modern novels which really have no excuse for being. They do not belong to the small group of filthy stories ped- dled in smoking cars, but come as near to that type as they can without vio- lating the postal regulations. On the other hand, no reader has any particular right in demanding that an author have a desire to uplift humanity. “Uplifting” is something which comes natural to only a few persons in the world at any given time, and some peo- ple have their doubts whether they are to be called angels or something else. All that one can fairly ask & novelist to do is to tell a story. If, in telling it, he is spurred on by a private well of in- dignation, such as Dickens had, and Zola had, his stories will benefit from it, provided that he can tell a story in the first place. Interest is what we demand of him. If he can interest us, he wins. The point is, as we see it, that he cannot interest us if his work is vile, if it de- presses us, if it contains persons and pictures which we may know about but do not choose to read about. ‘Thus it all gets back to the personal reaction. The reader is the judge. Upon him depends, not that bad books shall not be printed, but that he shall read only the gcod, the decent ones. These decent, good books are fine, straightfor- ward books. Among them are the world’s best. It does no reader good to fume about the other type. They always have been written, and no doubt they always will. Publishers will be found to publish them, readers to read them. In New York there are two or three publishers who specialize on books which verge on indecency. The “boctlegging” of lewd books goes on in every great city, Yet this form of traffic_never bothers the person who takes books sericusly and is determined to read the best things. He finds that the greatest writers, with few exceptions, have been mindful of their obligations to the race. They have recognized the civilization of which they find themselves part, have | understood the mighty fight which man- kind has made over the centurles to make itself as decent and clean as it can; they have willingly bowed them- “ves before the high endeavor of their | eodamon humanity. Trat not every one of them has been able to see life in exactly the same light is not to be wondered at, of course. One writer has “moral fervor,” and his books “go big” in his generation. The next finds them somewhat namby-pamby. But the 4%cerning realize his high pur- | pose, anl are willing to overlook what they do not like for what they may | praise and admire, * % % % ‘The methods of Sinclair Lewis and Ernest Hemingway differ widely from those of Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, Walter Scott. Yet they are no less sincere. These | moderns—and they are representative {of one group—picture life as they see it. If they do not see it as you, the reader, sees it, they offer you the privi- lege of letting them alone. It will be found that their work is not without its moral value, too, through sheer contrast—that is, if they picture a certain type of clergyman, for instance, he not only stands out himself, but he makes the great majority of hard-working, earnest, fine men engaged in the work of the Master stand out, too. Contrast is what does it. Thus, some- times what is not in a book becomes |of more importance than what is. We would like to be able to conduct a school of appreciation for many read- ers who manage to get the poing slant |on meading and who demand of their gthors, especially novelists, that they write “with a purpose.” Interest is the main thing, but it must be kept in mind that no author |can interest a decent réder with in- | decent work. Here every reader must be his own judge amd jury. This is | why we incessantly speak up for the integrity of the reader and ask that he choose his on booke to suit trimself. No person’s opinion is worth a whoop | except that of the reader, and his opin- ion, of course, may be worth nething except to himself. But as long as he is honest, and tries to be fair, and uses common sense and his divine sense of humor, he may feel assured that a story even of vice triumphant may en- |noble him by making him lean more fervently toward virtue, just as one may ‘nhrmk from things harmful and resolve not to be caught that way again. Debunker Viewed as Victim Of His Own Attack on Lincoln Fdgar Lée Masters’ attack on Lin- coln as “a slick, crafty politician,” made ublic just before the observance of the atter's birthday anniversary, is held in the bulk of the comment through the country to have reflected more on the author of this “debunking” than on its intended object. Shining through it 21l is evidence that the American peo- ple_are proud of the human qualities of Lincoln, of his struggle and grow and of the personality that gives im- mortality to his Gettysburg address. “All of the charges that Mr. Masters | prefers have been made before,” de- | clares the Anniston Star, “but they have been obscured in the bright light of the | halo around the head of the great war President.” Referring to the leadership of Lincoln, that paper continues: “It is true, of course, that Lincoln would ave been politically assassinated had Jobn Wilkes Booth failed in his plot to send a bullet through his body. In that event his stature in history would have been less. He is greater in the eyes of posterity by reason of his martyrdom. But, in spite of all that Mr. Masters and his school can dig up out of the earlier record, it will be difficult to make the American people cease to be- lieve that Abraham Lincoln was a great soul and to make the intelligent people of the South belleve that his death was other than a great tragedy for this sec- tion.” “It seems to be the fate of all great national figures, Lincoln, though he received plenty of abuse in his lifetime, has, for the past generation, been minor sniping. Now comes Edgar Lee Masters with a Lincoln biography ap- parently timed to appear close to Lin- coln’s birthday and calls the Great Emancipator nothing more than a sleek and crafty politician.’ He is the first to make a major attack on Lincoln, if Masters can be called of importance enough to make such an attack. Mas- ters is best known, not as a historian, but as the author of the ‘Spoon River | Anthology,’ which, it appeared, was keen satire in a new manner and as such was justly recognized. It was trick work rather than literature, cartooning rather than characterization. His suc- cess in that fleld seems to have led him astray. Either that or he has decided to be a sensationalist and cash in on such a scandal book as there seems to be a large market for among the so- called intelligentsia. If the latter is the case he has bartered his literary reputation for a sour mess of pottage.” * x x “When he wrote ‘finis’ to his diatribe on Abraham Lincoln” says the Ro ford Register-Republic, “and turned it over to the publishers, he probably told himself that he would get some white- hot responses from Illinols. Therefore, he cannot be at all astonished that the remonstrance has set in. As a matter of fact, it is more than a remonstrance —it is a fire of indignation that is sweeping across the State like one of the prairie conflagrations of the pionerr days.” The Harrisburg Telegraph re- marks: ne of the difficulties the de- bunkers usually encounter is that they get themselves well besmeared with the targets of their invective. they come out of such controversies much smaller in public estimation than when they went in. It is to be hoped Mr. Masters, whose clever verse has en- deared him to millions, will not find himself in this unenviable position, but it is feared he will.” Maintaining that “the harm that is in it is small,” the Columbus Ohio State Journal thinks it “may even maki stronger Lincoln’s position in history. The Chicago Daily News responds with the estimate: “Lincoln grew with his responsibilities and opportunities. He made no rash decisions and he rejected responsible advice without weighing lack of merit. His in firmness in adhering worries we'll be satisfied foh de present to resolutions deliberately formed was but of devo- wif jes' de rainbew.” not & mark of arrogance, according to the Los | Angeles Times, “to attract detractors. | immune except for | | tion to principle. but the essence of wise statesmansbip that was exemplified by Lincoln in war and in peace.” Studying the evidence of the martyr President’s own time, the Topeka Daily Capital offers the comment on the po- sition that he held: “With all allow- ances made for his defects, Lincoln to- day remains a hero and worthy of his place in the hero-worship in which peo- ple commonly delight. Stanton’s often- quoted tribute in the solemn hour of Lincoln's death, ‘Now he belongs to the ages,' stands as the judiclous estimate of a man of high ability and character with exceptional opportunities for meas- uring Lincoln’s greatness, who had been not many years earlier one of his most contemptuous detractors.” e Quoting former President Coolidge’s statement as to Washington, “I see the | Monument still stand: the Pasadena Star-News concludes: “So one might look. at that noble Memorial to Abra- ham Lincoln over there on the banks of the Potomac and exclaim, ‘I see the Lincoln Memorial still stands!” And so it will stand and will be a national shrine—a retreat for venerating this il- lustrious American long after Edgar Lee Masters is forgotten.” “Could a petty politician, a mere pet- tifogging lawyer,” asks the Janesville Gazette, “have made the Cooper Union speech that brought to Lincoln’s sup- port the cultured minds of the East? Could he have written that first inau- gural address or the Gettysburg speech? The oration of that Gettysburg day, de- livered by one of the most profound orators of the times, Edward Everett, has long ago been forgotten, but that masterly piece of English language, de- | livered by a tired and harassed Presi- | dent, will live as long as this language | is spoken.” | “He has become a symbol of the average | man's hopes for a day when all will be well with the world,” holds the Lit- tle Rock Arkansas Democrat, while the | Passaic Herald asserts that “he rose, as few men might have risen, to meet re- | sponsibility,” and the South Bend | Tribune sees “his enshrinement in the American heart.” The Cincinnati Times- | Star thinks “he won his place in his- | tory and in the affections of mankind by his keen understanding, his clear vision, his inexhaustible patience, his tenderness, his gift of laughter and tears, his humanity and his humility.” “If he never did anything but ntter the Gettysburg speech,” argues the Chattanooga News, “his life would not | have been in vain. Masters.admits that he did compose the Gettysburg speech poetically, although claiming that the ideas were borrowed. It will do Lincoln there were clay feet is undeniable. But it is fmportant that it also be remem- bered that there was more to Lincoln than clay feet. There was real ability to keep the Union safe.” . “We should be glad,” suggests the Dayton Dally News, “to be brought back to the ground with the great Lincoln that really was, not a superman to ‘whom everything comes easy, but a man like the rest of us, weak and erring, but possessed of a sense of truth and a persistency of courage which led him to the goal which proved his tness. There is more inspiration in the strug- gling, blundering, persevering Lincoln of reality than in the most monumental Lincoln of our myths.” Aboriginal. Prom the Rochester Times-Union, Soviet Russia will draft all women as laborers—an old American (Indian) custom. A Social Error. Prom the Oakland Tribume. ople who live 1 upper Sats should Tssues come and go, | never changes. The one right way of | dealing with public questions is the way | good to have his clay feet exposed. That | 1931. The Political Mill By G. Gould Lincoln. A Senator, who shall be nameless, was asked whether he proposed to “add luster” to his record of service by vot- ing against the soldiers’ bonus bill, now on the verge of being jammed through the Senate. With a smile he replied that he proposed for the present to be “guided by expediency”; that after he had been longer in the Senate he would give his allegiance to “statesmanship™; that, in fact, he intended to vote for the passage of the bonus bill. Perhaps the Senator was speaking in jest. But frequently a jest gives point to very real situations. “Expediency” today is accounting for its share of the votes cast for the bonus bill. The first duty of a man in political life, to himself, is to see that he makes as many votes as he can for himself, and coupled with this is his duty to obtain re-election, as a cynical observer has remarked. The popular belief in Congress today is that to vote against the soldiers’ bonus bill is & measure of political suicide. Even some of those members who have the courage to vote their convictions and oppose the bonus bill have chills run- ning up and down their backs. How- ever, the end is not yet. The organized veteran vote, if it is organized, which is exceedingly doubtful, like the or- ganized dry vote or the organized wet vote, is doubtless powerful. holding a balance of power. That is what the members of Congress are afraid of. * ok o x Not all the veterans of the World War are in favor of this proposed bonus bill, which permits the veterans to borrow up to 50 per cent of the face value of their adjusted compen- sation certificates. The bill as it stands is something of a “gold brick” any way you look at it. The veteran must pay 4'; per cent on his loans. If he does not pay back the loans, and comparatively few of them will do so. the interest will accumulate against him, so that when his bonus certificates become due and payable in 1945 there will be little left for the veteran to coilect. The bonus was established by law back in 1924 for the benefit of all the veterans of the World War on the theory that while they were at war the Test of the country was making high wages. Hence the name adjusted compensation certificates. President Coolidge, then in office and on the eve of a presidential election, vetoed the original bonus bill. It was passed over his veto. It is not clear, however, that President Coolidge ever lost the regard of the veterans as a general proposi- tion because of his stand against the bonus. Certainly he was elected Presi- dent with the votes of a great many of the veterans in the Fall of 1924. Ky 2 In the House when the bonus bill came to a vote on Monday, 39 mem- bers raised their voices in opposition to the measure. Among them was Rep- resentative Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts. No member of Con- gress has done more for the veterans of the World War than has Mrs. Rogers, and probably no other has done as much. There is not the slightest doubt that Mrs. Rogers was thinking of the veterans and their real interests and the interests of their wives and chil- dren when she cast her vote in opposi- tion to the bonus bill. Mrs. Rogers served with the American Red Cross in the care of the disabled soldiers, from | the thme of the entry of this country | into the World War until its close. In 1922 she was appointed by President | Harding as his personal representative in the care of the disabled veterans, and later she was similarly appointed by President Coolidge. She is today a member of the Veterans' Committee of the House and chairman of a subcom- mittee on hospitalization of the vet- erans. How many thousands of these veterans ol‘el:omethlng to Mrs. Rogers for her interest in their welfare and their comfort is a mere conjecture, but the figure is exceedingly high. It ap- pears that Mrs. Rogers was thinking of something beyond mere “expediency” when she voted against the bomus bill. She was thinking of the disabled vet- erans of the war, to whom the first duty of the country must flow. And, too, she was thinking of the interests of the veterans sound in wind and limb, whose bonus certificates are, apparently, about to be reduced in value through the loan route, for the sake of “ex- pediency.” The Massachusetts Con- gresswoman has the courage of her con- victions, * ok ok o The flocking of members of the House and the Senate to the support | of the House Ways and Means Com- mittee nus bill is “band wagon” stuff very largely. There are ex- ceptions to this rule, of course. There are members of Congress who believe that it is possible to ‘“make bricks without straw.” Sooner or later, how- ever, the straw, in the shape of in- creased taxes at & time when business is depressed enough, or governmental financing that may well halt a returrff of business to normal, must be pro- duced. Some of the supporters of the bonus bill today are criticizing the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Mellon, because he went ahead and reduced the public debt by several billions of | dollars when times were flush. If these billions had been pald out in cash to the veterans for their bonus instead, how much of their bonus would the veterans have today? The country, on the other hand, would have had a big- | ger debt on its hands. ok President Hoover, it now appears be- yond & possibility of a doubt, will veto | the House bonus bill—that is, the | measure the Senate is bent upon pass- |ing. His opponents say that he will | lose personal popularity and lose votes because of such a veto. It would look | s though they hoped to gain the votes they expect Mr. Hoover to lose. How- | ever, the future alone can tell whether | Mr." Hoover will gain or lose by his | stand against the present lgsss bill. | He was attacked because he declined to be stampeded into a Federal dole, a distribution of free food to the unem- ployed, paid for out of the Federal Treasury, and stood firm for the American plan of voluntary ‘aid through' the Red Cross and the myriad of other local and State organizations which help the needy in this country. But in the end the gain will not be to his opponents in this matter. His stand against the bonus bill will be applauded by & lot of the veterans themselves. * X X x ‘The World War veterans, it has been ‘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 Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Q. What amount was cleared by the Army-Navy foot ball game for charity? —E. E. T. A. The net receipts from the Army and Navy game for unemployment were $607,400 — $600,000 was given to the Salvation Army unemployment fund. Q. Are some of our commercial cigarettes rolled by hand?—J. C. T. A. Havana cigarettes are made from the small broken pieces of leaf from the cigarmakers’ benches. These cigarettes are rolled by hand. However, fore cigarettes have almost entirely been supplanted by domestic brands. All the cigarettes made in this country are wrapped by machinery. Some recently devised machines can turn out over 50,000 cigarettes per hour. Q. How many of bought on credit are repossessed?—E. M A. In 1929 64 per cent of the passen- ger_cars were sold on installments and 49.5 per cent of the commercial cars. Of the passenger cars, new cars with down payments of 3313 per cent, 2.9 per cent were repossessed; commercial cars, 2.8; passenger new cars with down pay- ments of 25 per cent, 5.1 per cent Te- possessed; commercial, 3 per cent: pas- senger used cars, down payment of- 40 Der cent, 5.3 per cent repossessed; com- mercial, 5.4 passenger used cars, down payment of 35 per cent or less, 9 per cent repossessed; commercial, 7.8. Per- sons absconding per 1,000 transactions Pascenger cars, 5.2 per cent; commercial cars, 3.5 per cent. Q. How does the number of murders committed in Chicago or New York Comnlv:"e ;'H.h the number in England? A. In 1929 there were 425 murders in New York and 401 in Chicago. In Eng- land and Wales there were 136 murders committed in 1928, THE AMERICAN BY RANDO! Note: This is one of a series of articles dealing with the making and ezpansion of the Constitution and designed to aid participants in securing a_background for their work “n the National Oratorical Contest. The Father of Prophets. It has been stated that the framers of the Constitution, living in a primi- tive society and but dimly foreseeing the future, devised a broad and general of government, not merely because they were in an audacious frame of mind, but also because they were so uncertain as to the future that they dared not.be too specific in providing for it. The fathers may have been modest as to their foresight, but they, nevertheless, revealed it to an astound- ing degree in their almost unbelieyably frank debates. There is hardly a major issue or development in American poli- tics which was not foretold by on: or more speakers during the convention. The following quotations show the vision of those men: As to America as a World Power.— “Mr. Morris flattered himself that he came here in some degree as a repre- sentative of the whole human race; for ‘whole human race will be. affected by the proceedings of this convention.” ‘Western Development.—Mr. Randolph said that in time the Western people would outnumber the Atlantic States.” ¢ ¢ “Mr. Mason did not know but that they, in time, would be more nu- merous and more wealthy than their Atlantic brethren.” Civil War.—“Mr. Morris sald this country must be genutnely united. If persuasion does not unite it, the sword will. * * * Suppose that some States are outvoted? They will declare that they will not abide by the result. This may happen to Vifginia and other | States. Of what avail, then, will be what is on paper? State attachments and State importance have been the bane of this country.” * * ¢ “Mr. Pinckney said there is a real distinction between Northern and Southern inter- ests.” ‘“Mr. King stated that the differ- epce of interests did not lie between the great and small States, but between the Southern and Eastern.” Abolition.—Mr. Ellsworth said that if it was to be considered in a moral light, we oueat to go further and free the slaves ai.cady in the country.” *** “Mr. Mason said slavery will bring the judgment of Heaven on a country. Providence punishes national sins by national calamities.” * * * “Mr. Morris will submit himself to a tax for paying for all the Negroes in the United States.” * * ¢ “Mr. Butler said the security the Southern States want is that their Negroes may not be taken away from them, which some gentle- men within or without doors have a very good mind to do.” Foreign Entanglements—“Mr. Morris was not solicitous to multiply and facilitate treaties. He wished none to be made with Great Britain till she should be at war. So with other foreign powers.” Preparedness.—“Gen. Pinckney asked whether no troops were ever to be raisad until an attack should be made on us?” The British Bogey.—“Mr. Mason said that the great houses of British mer- chants would spare no pains to insinu- ate the instruments of their views into the Gevernment. * * * This in- fernal (slave) traffic originated in the avarice of British merchants.” Rich and Poar.—“Mr. Madison said that in future times m great majority of our people will pot enly be without land, but withoat &€ny other sort of property. These will combine.” * * * “Dr. Franklin said that some of the greatest rogues he was ever acquainted with were the richest rogues.”” * * * “Mr. Morris said that life and liberty charged again and again, were the vic- tims of a heartless citizenry who put national prohibition across in this country while the soldiers were away at war, If the World War veterans are united in their opposition to national prohibition, how does it happen that the members of Congress have not hastened in recent years to undo this prohibition tangle and return the con- trol of liquor traffic to the States? The truth of the matter appears to be that the veterans are divided in their views on prohibition, or if not, that they are not so potential politically as they are supposed to be. Frdv Ak Democratic National Committeeman Morrison of North Carolina, who is also Senatbr from his State in the place of the late Senator Overman, will be in a position to kick up quite' s row when the Democratic National Committee ‘were generally said to be of more value than property. An accurate view of the matter would, nevertheless, prove that property was the main object of society. The savage state was more favorable to liberty than the civilized; and suffi- clently so for life, It was preferred by all men who had not acquired a taste for property; it was only renounced for the sake of ‘property, which could only be secured by the restraints of regular government. * * * 'As to aristocracy. his creed was that there never was, nor ever will be, a civilized society with- out an aristocracy.” Salary Increases—“Mr. Sherman moved that $5 per day be paid the leg- islators.” “Dr. Franklin approved ren- dering salaries as fixed as possible, but disliked the word ‘liberal” He would prefer the word ‘moderate,’ if it was necessary to substitute ‘any other. Though we may set out with moderate salaries, we shall find that such will not meets here March 5, at the call of Chairman John J. Raskob, if he desires to do so. In the Senate Mr. Morrison has attacked Mr. Raskob and declared that he is Alfred E. Smith's “monu- mental mistake.” If Mr. Morrison lingers in Washington after March 4, the close of the present session of Con- ss, to attend the meeting called by §ir. "Raskob, he will have an opportu- nity to repeat his warnings that if the Democratic party does not break with Mr. Raskob and nominate a dry Demo- crat for President in 1932, it is lost. ‘The call for meeting sent out by Mr. Raskob declared for a discussion of policies and plans for the for the next 15 months. This was the door issue. to s be of long continuance. Reasons will never be wanting for proposed augmen- tations.” lelmm-I by wet Democrats or ‘ery‘,‘ mP:r. aps it woul approj or Senator ll.l&a cuss this issue. ‘which sees a) for his ty to face, in the automobiles | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. What is the name of the sacred snake of India?--J. V. U, A. What is generally considered to be the sacred snake of India is the hooded cobra. This is a slender-bodied, nervous and active serpent, with a maximum length of about 48 inches. The bite of this species is very deadly and, whether wholly guilty or not, in India it is deb- ited annually with the deaths of be- tween 18,000 and 22,000 persons. Q. Where is the Government school for weather forecastors?—N. J. W. A. The Government does not conduct a school of meteorglogy anywhere, but it is interested in having those who wish to follow & meteorological career qualify for that purpose by previous study. This, however, must be carried on in the reg- ular courses at institutions or by private | study, and entrance to the Weather Bu- Teau must be secured by passing certain civil service examinations. Of course, subsequent instruction and training in the particular duties for which a per- son is employed are gained after ap- pointment. For general and station as- signments only young men between the | ages of 18 and 35 are eligible. There are special educational courses in_me- | teorology at Harvard College, Cam- | bridge, Mass.; Clark University, Worces- | ter, Mass., and to some extent at the | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. | @ How did the Indians parch corn?— N. 8. | A. The preparation of malze as food, as prepared by the Indians, involved almost numberless processes, Varying with the tribes. In general, when maize | reached the edible stage the ears were | roasted in pit ovens, and after the feast ing the surplus of roasted ears was dried | for future use. The mature grain was milled raw or parched, the meal enter- ing into various mushes, cakes, pones, | wafers and other bread. The grain was | soaked in lye obtained from wood ashes | to remove the horny envelope and was | then boiled, forming hominy; this, in | turn, was often dried, parched and ground, reparched and reground, mak- | ing a concentrated food of great nour- ishing power in small bulk, which was | consumed dry or in water as gruel. CONSTITUTION 1787 and Today” LPH LEIGH, Director National and International Oratorical Contests. Party Strife—"“Mr. Gerry said that a popular, election is radically vicious. The igndtance of the people would put it in the power of some one set of men dispersed through the Union, and ing in concert, to delude them into any ~appointment.” “Dr. Franklin asked of what kind are the men that will strive for profitable pre-eminence through all the bustle of cabal, the heat of contention, the infinite mutual abuse of parties? * * * They will not be wise and moderate, but bold and violent. * * * Their competitors, of the same spirit and from the same motives, will be perpetually endeavor- ing to distress their iministration, thwart their measures and render them odious to the people.” States Before Natlon?—“Mr. Martin said that the separation from Great Britain placed the 13 States in a state of nature toward each other.” * ¢ ¢ “Mr. Wilson would not admit that in becoming independent of Great Britain they became independent of one another. He sald that the Dec- laration of Independence showed that they becamé independs not indi- vidually, but _collectively.” * * * “Mr, Hamilton agreed with Mr. Wilson. He denied that the States were thro into a state of nature.” * * * “Mr. Madison said that the States alone are bound. Are not the States the agents? Will they not be the mem- bers? Did they not appoint this eon- vention? Are they not to ratify its proceedings? _Will not the new Can- stitution be their act?™ Revenue Bills.—"Mr. Butler said that it (giving the House sole power to originate revenue) will lead the Senate into the practice of tacking other clauses to money bills.” * * ¢ “Mr Wilson could see no concession here. If both branches were to say yes or no it wae of little consequence which should say yes or no first, which last. Where is the difference, in which branch it originates, if both must con- cur in the end?” Value of Presidential Appointive Power—“Mr. Hamilton said that the nomination to offices will give great weight to the President.” Centralization—"“Mr. Gerry said that by its general power the Legislature may make whatever laws they may please to call ‘nécessary and proper.’” € * * “under the power over com- merce monopolies ‘may be estab- lished.” * ¢ * “Mr. Martin opposed it (allowing President to send troops into a State without its request) as giving dangerous and unnecessary power. , The consent of the State ought to precede the introduction of any extraneous power whatever.” Ship Subsidy.—*“Mr. Morris said that shipping was the worst and most pre- arious kind of property and st in need of governmental patronage. Congressmen to Seek Higher Of- fices—*“Mr. Ellsworth said that am- bitious minds will serve two or more vears in the Legislature, for the sake of qualifying themselves for other office: Prohibition—"“Mr. Mason moved to enable Congress ‘to enact sumptuary government can main- unless the manners be mad consonant to it. It was objected to sumptuary laws that they were con- is was a vulgar 5 ‘Mr. Ellsworth said that as far as laws regulating eating and drinking can be reasonable, it is provided for in the power of " tion.” * * ¢ “Mr. Gerry said that the law of necessity is the best sump- tuary law. Supreme Court PFinal as to Laws.— Mr. Mercer disapproved of the doc- trine that the judges, as expositors of the Constitution, should have au- thority to declare a law void. Laws ought to be well and cautiously made and then uncontrollable.” * ¢ ¢ “Dr, Franklin related in a brief manner a Scotch mode (of choosing judges) in which the nomination proceeded from the lawyers, who always selected the ablest of the profession, in order to get rid of him and share his practice among themselves.” One or More Terms for President?— “Mr., Randolph urged making the Ex- ecutive ineligible for a second term. If he ought to be independent he should not be under a temptation to court a reappointment” * * * “Mr. King, however, thought that he who has proved himself most fit for office ought not to be excluded by the Con- stitution from holding it. More Money.—“Dr. Pranklin said that money may become plentier as the country becomes more populous.” * ¢ & “Mr. Madison flvm‘ego stabiliz- ing salaries by making the amounts payable in dollars depend upon the price of wheat and other necessary commodities.” * ¢ ¢ “Mr, Ellsworth thought this a favorable moment to shut and bar the door against paper money.” * * * “Mr. Randolph, not- withstanding his aversion to paper coutd not dkree to strike. out the words, as he eould not foresee all the conditions that might arise.” Tariff —“Gen. Pinckney said it was the true interest of the Southern States the National Committee rathi e atio Undoubtedly efforts will be made by Demoeratic leaders attending t- ing of the National Committee to gvoid open ructions. The party wants - mony, if it can have it, after a péllod of years without it. Senator Morriso attacks upon one wing of his p however, do. not app to be p