Evening Star Newspaper, February 25, 1931, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. ‘WEDNESDAY. .February 25, 1931 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office 11th St and v New York Office gmcln Office: La! uropean Office:_ 14 Eng!: i 5. lichigan Building. efint B, London, Rate by Carrier Within the City. 2o Bvening Sta: - 45¢ per month e and & ) ... . .80 per month day ‘Star h ... 85 per month Y P c_per c Teories ot the end of esch mo Orders mav be sent in by mail or telephon NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. {Iv and Sundas.....1sr. $1000: 1 mo, 88 ily only . L.1yr, $6.00: 1 mo., 50¢ junday only ... 1yr., $4.00; 1mo., 40¢ All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday...l yr, §12.00: 1 mo.. $1.00 Daily only 1yr, $800; 1 mo, 75¢ Aunday only 1yr, $5.00;1mo. 50c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively ertitied #0 the use for republication of al mtches credited to it or mot otherwiss cred- Ry {hES baper and aico the local news published herein. All rizhts of publication of special cispatches herein are aiso reserved A Rebuke to the Litigious. No other decision on the constitu- tionality of the eighteenth amendment than that which was rendered yester- day by the Supreme Court was to have been expected. No other decision was possible. That court could not con- ceivably have ruled in favor of the fantastic judgment of the court below, which itself transgressed the ve: stitution. It has been indicated that the appellate judge who rendered the opinion that the amendment was in- valid because it had not been ratified by conventions in the States instead of the Legislatures, &s the resolution of Congress prescribed, did not himself expect his judgment to be affirmed It is the belief of many that he gave that opinion, not because he believed it | justified by the Constitution, but be- cause he saw in the plea presented 1o him the last remaining hope of setting aside the eighteenth amendinent It was doubtless due only to ihe Dovelty of the plea, that the principles of *“political sclence,” the “political thought of the times” and a “scientific approach to the vroblem of Govern- ment” required the convention method of ratification, even though the Con- stitution permitted of vise, that the decislon delivered yesterday was of such length. The case was so simple that it reculred only a very brief re without analysis. Vet it is as w ths coust, in the persen of its youngest member, presented the finding in 2 reasoning that made specifically plain the absurdity of the claim that Congrese erred in its prescription of the legisla- tive method of ratification. Spring, for instance, neither the mlbo done for a hero or a doer of great of Trade nor the Merchants and Manu- facturers’ Association considered it worth while to continue reports or recommendations on the budget. ‘The members of the Advisory Council have done everything within their small power to make the undertaking a success. If the citizens decide that the council should be abandoned, the experiment should not be considered a total failure. It has served as a splendid example of ! such grants of artificial ' to the citizens of this community he gzovernment of their own affairs. Such representation is not to be cbtained by friendly gestures from | Commissioners, who are to bs succeeded by other Com ers, nor does such representation exist in any “advisory” council, no matter how sincere and painstaking are its members. The Federation of Citizens' Associs tions has always been one of the city splendid agencies for making known the wants and protecting the intercsts of the taxpayers. Its good work will con- tinue, no matter what may be the fate of the Advisory Council. “Lame Duck” Reform Nearer. A constitutional amendment doing away with “lame duck” sessions of Con- gress appears to be appreciably nearer consummation today. The House yes- | terday by a vote of 290 to 93, far more than the necessary two-thirds for the adoption of a resolution proposing &! constitutional amendment, agreed to the Norris “lame duck” resolution after striking out the language of the Norris resolution and substituting its own. But while the action of the House | yesterday hi me duck” sessions of the Congress, sessions in which Rep- resentatives and Senators who have been defeated at the polls for re-election con- tinue to serve and pass upon legislation, it merely substitutes one “short” ses- sion of Congress for another. The evils of the present system of “short” ses- sions of Congress have been demon- strated every two years with unfailing regularity. The House adopted an amendment offered by Speaker Long- worth, proposing that the second regular session of each Congress should end on May 4. It the Senate agrees to this Proposal, then & short session of four months will have been substituted for a short session of three mouths. There T y Touse wh t the nower of the the Congress into spec t belng the case, it might be poss) bie for the President, after the cicse of the second session o in sp er, whether the needs of the country warranted such a session. Senator Norris of Nebraska, who has fought for the last ten years to have “The Constitution was written to be wunderstood by the voters,” remarks the court. “Its words and phrases were used in their normal and ordinary meaning as distinguished from tech- nical meaning. Where the intention is clear there i no room for construc- tion and no excuse for interpolation or addition.” ‘Were this truth fully and definitely recognized there would be less litigation, and more justice. The courts are con- gested with cases arising out of the disputation of counsel, intent upon making ground for litiglous action rather than upon arriving at the mean- ing of the law. The raising of fantastic points of interpretation, the evasion of the plain sense of the statutes and the creation of hyperbolical hypotheses mark the practice before the courts, of all grades. Therein lies one of the causes of the comparative breakdown of law in this country. Given an honest intention to arrive st the meaning and intention of the law, those who seek the courts can obtain decisions that form dependable guides to conduct and performance, Un- happily a large percentage of the pleas end appeals to the law in court are on the contrary to secure warrant for illegal actions or to effect delay, in the hope of eventual escape from responsi- bility and penalty for infractions. e r———— 15 Mussclini is, it may be assumed, wise €nough (o know that & man cannot ar- rive at such fame as his without being talked about by adverse critics as well as by admirers. B The Advisory Council. ‘The Federation of Citizens' Associa- tions is concerned over the value of its Advisory Council. Discussion Saturday evening indicated the sentiment within the federation for abandoning an ex- periment of questionable worth and ebolishing the council altogether. This is not surprising. Developments in the last few years have already raised the question whether it is worth while to| continue the life of an advisory body | that has been placed in the position of volunteering advice on questions of local importance with no assurances from any source that its advice was either wanted or would be considered seriously in the decisions to follow. The council has not met since last June, when its members completed their con- sideration of the estimates. Since that time the officials at the District Build- ing have considered a number of ques- tions of interest to the taxpayers of the municipality. As far as known, the council has not once been called into |King. conference with the Commissioners or other officials to obtain its views on pending proposals. The council, representing only the two Pederations of Citizens’ Associations, could not be considered as representing the community as a whole. It became a sort of executive committee of the citizens’ associations, thus duplicating to some extent the work of the two federations. Its functions were never clearly established and it was not given any official status. ‘The individual members of the council worked hard and faithfully on such matters as the size and allotment of budgetary esti- mates, but their work in this connection was duplicated by the independent the Constitution amended so as to do away with the “lame duck” séssions of Congress, admittedly does not ap- prove of the Longworth amendment. However, he has not shut the door. It is possible that the differences between the two houses may be ironed out in conference, if the Senate does not ac- cept finally the House proposal. The way is opened to such a conference by the substitution of the Gifford or House language for the Senate language in the resolution. Under the provisions of the proposed constitutional amendment the terms of the President and Vice President would begin in the January following their elec- tion instead of in March, and the Con- gress would meet also in each year on January 4. There are provisions also for the selection of President and Vice President in the event of contingencies arising, due to death, which are not now cared for in the Constitution. Ratification of the proposed amendment by the States seems assured once it runs the gantlet of congressional ap- proval. "There is no good reason why members of Congress who have been defeated at the polls should be permitted to con- tinue to legislate for the country. There are many reasons why they should not. : R — - It did not take the United States Supreme Court long to remind the New Jersey Court, which declared the elght- eenth amendment unconstitutional, thdt ingenuity of reasoning while i admired 15 not necescanly NP, Bome hard thinking is being done by thiz country’s statesmen. Many of them are looking forward to research and publicity work that will, after congres- sional adjournment, leave considerably less time than usual for golf. ———— An election in Chicago might prompt some radio songster to revive for the night program that old song entitled “Mother, Is the Battle Over?” A New Knight and Near Knight. England has a happy way of honor- ing persons who distinguish themselves in any fleld of endeavor. It has just been demonstrated in the case of Capt. Malcolm Campbell, who recently es- | tablished a new world speed record for motor cars by his phenomenal performance at Daytona Beach. He is to be invested with & title and hence- forth will be known as “Sir Malcolm,” for the reception of which honor he is about to present himself before the 1t is somewhat of a coincidence that at the same time a report circulates that knighthood will be bestowed upon none other a person than Charles Chaplin, film star, who is just now in England, his homeland, on a visit. “Charlie” has been on the point of re- turning to his native country for a number of years. But he is a timid person, truly and remarkably shy of demonstrations, and he had dreaded facing the crowds that it was inevitable would greet him on His appearance in the land where his pictures are re- garded as the cream of cinema art. At length he overcame this feeling and crossed the sea, and now he is in Lon- don, having the time of his life, soon to be guest of the Prime Minister at efforts of such agencies as the Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Trade and the Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association, and could as well be performed by a committee of the federation. And there has not been any indication that the advice from such agencies had any effect on the decision made by the Commissibners or by the Bureau of the Budget, not to mention the Appropriations Subcom- Mittees of the House and Senate. Last “Checkers” and, rumor whispers, shortly to be given the accolade in recognition of his art. It is not definitely stated whether Chaplin is a British subject or an American citizen. He may, how- ever, be knighted in England even if he has taken out his papers in this country, for Great Britain does not acknowledge a surrender of “citizen- ship” by & Briton. Here in America the best that can deeds or a conspicuous success in his line of work is to grant him & medal of honor, s6metimes the Congressional Medal, which is the highest token of esteem. here is not and there never will be any such institution ds a rank of titles, ranging from knighthood to the peerage. public appreciation suffices. iisiiapte Chicago’s Sad Prospect. Such hopes as the friends of Chicago may have had of a betterment of the municipal conditions resulting from the 1931 mayoralty elections vanished even before primary day. They were dimmed, indeed, when at the outset of the cam- paign the race for the nomination by | the locally dominant party became a disgraceful scramble, and they were utterly quenched when the race got under way and the several candidates for nomination engaged in a scurrilous barrage of vituperation. The judge who descended from the bench to contest the nomination with Mayor Thompson at the same time descended to his level. He at once alienated the sympathies and forfeited the confidence of the people who were earnestly desirous of finding a municipal executive of high character and courage and capacity. That he was beaten by a considerable | margin was doubtless due to his re: to the very tactics that have Thompson anathema to the law-abid- ing. self-respecting residents of Chicago election will take place April 7. Thompson wil be faced by a Demo- cratic candidate, Anton J. Cermak, now president of the Cook County Board, Who appears to be himself a profes- sional municipal officeholder, and by Herman N. Buhdesen, now coroner of the county, running as an independent. Thompson's victory is predicted, in con- rt sequence of yesterday's triumph over | his three Republican rivals primary. Tt is believed that many Demo- cratic votes were cast for him, Tt is likewise expected that many such voe will be given to him in April. For Appears Lo be precisely the man who 1s wauled by the political machines and the semi-professional politicians among the citizens. That he is favored by the gangs is clear enough from the events of the past few years of his con tinuous mayoraity. It has b in the by en said that peor A scrubbing suggested statue of Freedom, which stands cn of the Capitol dot with tobacco leaves, In honor of the product that once figured as a standard of value in commercial exchange. There would be little to complain of on the score of statuesque neatness if, even in this day of extravagant smoking, the discolorations were limited to nicotine instead of to coal soot. ———— top Russians have been described as a docile people. This implies no guaran- tee that they will not be aggressive when aroused. A rather similar de- scription was applied abroad to U. S citizens before the World War. . <o Europe sometimes honors American actors and authors without taking the trouble to learn whether America her- self really takes them seriously. Even If there is no March blizzard the income tax will provide its annual chill, ) SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JQHNSON. How many a poet, day by da: Has sought to soothe each troubled mind By singing the familiar lay, “Let us be gentle, good and kind.” Yel gangsters And have a k fuu, Greal minds predict another war le humbler folk inguire, **What for?” fears to nurse W town to run, for try ling Just ce points onut, our Explosion the While on earth again men ask For death to cne who totes a flas A hired historian will cast A patriot to the dust at last. We need this little song they sing The poets and the birds of Spring. through universe; here Let us not falter on the way Nor sneer when we again shall find A generous and simple lay Which tells us life is not unkind. Parking Spaces. “Perquisites are no longer regarded as a ‘statesman’s privilege.” “No,” answered Senator Sorghum, “I'll be grateful if T can get a special courtesy tag for the family automobile I do not seck any perquisite. All T ask now is a park-quisite.” Jud Tunkins says a prizefighter is wiser than many of us. He never looks for trouble unless he thinks he can make it pay. Safety First. Perhaps an inadvertent word 1 may let fall some luckless day. Let my apology be heard For anything that I may say. Although to be discreet I try, It is not well to take a chance. T'll meet the situation by Apologizing in advance. Still a Cowboy. “Have you given up being a cowboy’ “No,” answered Cactus Joe. “I don't have much success on & ranch. But I'm still keeping in touch with the movie directors who might fancy my style for a hero of western drama.” “Lack of occupation,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “does not bring con- tent even when it is disguised by such words as ‘success in life’ and ‘well earned leisure.’ Modern Fascination. My Radio! My Radio! I feel your spell too soon. Aside my Shakespeake I will throw ‘To hear somebody “croon.” “When de preacher tells me what T ought to do,” said Uncle Eben, “he means well, but he ain’ got near as much first-hand info'mation on de sub- ject as my immeejit fam’ly” A made | amented | l | i | | | | grade expert and prevails | | | THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Nine hundred and ninety-nine readers ‘Somchow the acclaim of | Out of every thousand will come away incoin, the Man,” by E with an exalted regard dent. from gar Lee for the be pretty tough on Mr.| course, because he wrote the opposite intention. not ses how the result can be_avoided This is our opinion after finishing the 5 interesting work. No may think of it, we do oW any one can helo celling it interesting. It takes a certain amount of moral irage, surely, tn attempt to prove that the great majority of mankind is wrong about anything. especially about opin- fons of greafness Not, only had Mr. Masters, a poet by nature, to fight this mass opinion, now crystallized, as he admits, beyond hope of change, but undoubtedly he had to overcome first his own ideas. Surely he might, write one of the most interesting magazine articles imaginable. showing just how he came to do this book, after having penned the laudatory bit about Ann Rutledge in “The Spoon River Anthology.” It is probably true that mo one im- mediately after the Civil War dared to write such a book as is here encom- passed. He would have been put in a “Lincoln, the Man,” is a book which scems to incarnate the spirit of some old fierce State-righter who has never given up the ship, and who never will give it up. As such, it remain of perpetual interest to those who value the Tight of a writer to say | what he pleases in the way he pleases. - Mr. Masters has succeeded in making Abraham Lincoln, in this book, the underdog, and, such, Lincoln will imntediately receive the sympathy of those nine hundred and ninety-nine readers out of every thousand who read it. “Houest blography indeed difficuity underd Abe” emerges froni this A5 & magnificent underdog. any one reading here has in imagining Lincoln as an let hin read this book t find o how 4t can be done Mr. Masters 1s o lulrigued by his idea putling Lincoln to rights i il of winds that he has made The great 0 with single-track It of st ming lie has overdone it Whole 500 pages has he a word of e for his Nothing Ancoln was, or did, said, 1t worth much Where he was ang, accordin subject or seems, not 1o entirely Mr. Ma in 1 the he e, admits that turn out a He merely wants 0 t good of his own soul, and the souls of such readers as may read him fairly, that Lincoln, the man, was not the same as the colossus shat sits in bronze in the magnificent temple on the Po- | tomac, or who resides in the hearts and minds of the great mass of the American people. * ook % It s curious to reflect that he might have succeeded in making maybe five hundred out of every thousand readers is splendid. and mu.\v‘ Scarcely once in | that | believe in his thesis, if he had ant gone at it in such a heavy-handed manncr He overdid it. | The average reader’s reactions |to this book (and we believe that we fre an average reader) will be one of indigna- | tion at the end of the first 100|pages. | of amusement at the end of the fecond | hundred, of menz dcubts by the | 300th page, of calm reflsction At the | 400th, "and complete disbelief df | thems at the end of the boo | Mr. Masters, for this sam reader, will have fatled to have hié thesis. Many a reader no will be disgusted, many become |indig- nant, many throw the book dowr|. per- haps, before it is finished. The |latter will be the logers, for the last chapter is the best in the book, and one|to be {read and pondered, no matter whether one agrees with it or not. It is 4n in- | dictment _of materialism which dnly a | poet could have written, and uinl_v a poet with an indignant mind. | Mr. Masters always was | | handed. Well can we recall his * River Anthology,” written, as wa in 1913. We read it through, an spite the fact that book-money ittle, solemnly dropped the volum, a waste basket. It is the only bo | ever so treated. Often since the | have wondered if we were fair Masters or to ourself. It would teresting, no doubt, to get ar copy, and see if our judgment of| | coincided with that of 1913. We it would not, eavy- poon recall, I, de- was P into Dk we n_we P Mr. e in- other 1931 hope ERE Recently we read anotk Masters' books, “Lichee Nuts,” a fmall ilection of Chinese-American phems, illed with biting sarcasm and himo It is a perfect prelude for *Lirjcc the Man.” Mr. Masters is no author for ybu it you do not believe in permittitg a writer or speaker to say what he tiinks It you have & mind which believes ihai there are things better lett| un- said, or if you resent too deeply ¢pin- ions which are different from your or it you believe that there 1s nc I golug buck over the past and ring up old wounds,” then Edgar JMu\hl.‘. had better be lelt out of i 1 of| 5 on the other hand, it you like a fight, 1f you find something 1 1 the beliefs of men who differ |ron you, it you are iuclined, out of a spiric | ot iairness, as you like to think, to|give them & tull and fair hearing, aod| are Willing to save your Ted face for|the | manifest crueitles and nastinesses of the real life atound you, then you will|find Lincoln, the Man" &0 iiteresfing honest sort of book, no matter What you think of it hed 1 a great deal mor y were bern late enoy, 1vi] 8 h w blesome times, times which tried my | souls, indeed. The wonder is, not mistakes were made, but that |the United States came through as well as it did. Mr. Masters admits our great buildings, emblems of materialistic | prosperity, but doubts that there is any- thing in them worth while to the spirit of man. Well, that is a matter of opin- fon, and it is doubtful if any liVing man can know the truth. All that we can say ab this time is that surely they are fine buildings! | WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS - Gone 1s the last vestige of hope, or fear, us case may be, of any speclal session of new Congress, Excepting ouly the second deficiency bill, pur- posely held back for last-minute in- clusion of needed funds, all appropria- tion bills have passed both the House and Senate. All save the naval ap- propriation bill have reached actual enactment. Eleventh-hour filibusters, if any start now, can jeopardize no es- sential money bills. Gone, therefore, is the weapon of the insurgents where- by they said they could if they would force Mr. Hoover'’s hand and compel an extra session. The events confirm the original diagnosls last December that every one in Congress is talking an extra session. Nobody really wants an extra session and nobody really expects an extra session. The residium of legislative accomplishment of the final session of the Seventy-first Con- gress, as viewed by the White House, represents measurable attainment of the administration’s objectives which were not aimed too high, and Mr. Hoover, with a sigh of satisfaction and relief, intends to go South next week for that long-longed-tor fshilug ex roa +o» Arthur A. Ballatine of New York who succeeds Walter Hope as Assistant Secretary of Treasury, in charge of fi cal affairs, is one more cxample of the Hoover penchant for going after a top g g porarily put aside large and lu- private affairs and enter the service. The new Mellon a law partnership with to tem: crati Government, aide leaves | Elinu Root to return to Washington, where he served a valuable apprentice- ship in_Treasury Department affairs Guring the crucial war years, when bil- | lions in bonds and_ billions in taxes were _spouting forth like an oil gusher. Mr. Ballatine served as advisory coun- sel to the Treasury on taxation mat ters and later as solicitor of the In- ternal Revenue Bureau. He is a spe- cialist in the taxation field of the law, whose rise in his profession since his graduation from Harvard, 25 years ago, has been notable. A son of Ohio, he practiced law in Boston for a dozen vea New York field. ek The complete collapse of the loudly proclaimed drive to unseat Pennsylva- nia’s junior Senator, James J. Davis, h left Senator Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota, chairman of the Sena- torial Hundred -Thousand - Dollar - Ex- pense-Account Committee which has been investigating campaigns here and there through the country for neatly a year, King in the nursery rhyme who marched his army up the hill, then marched them down again. Chairman Nye's ommittee will this week lay before the Senate the results of its labors in its highly publicized Pennsylvania election inquiry, but without affirmative recom- mendation and thereafter wash its hands of the business. From the standpoint of Senator Davis and the Republicans in the Senate, all is well that ends well. * % % * President Hoover told the four hun- dred diners at the annual banquet of the White House Correspondents Asso- ciation at the Willard Hotel last Satur- day night that it was a real pleasure to meet newspaper men when they were not “in interrogative mood.” The guests could have inferred from the tenor of some of the skits thal the White House newsmen when on interrogation bent had not often found the President “in responsive mood.” The Hoover press conference injunction “this is for back- ground purposes only” was parcdied as the successor to the departed “White House spokesman” line of the Coolidge days. Incidentally the dinner provided the opportunity for the New York broker who to win 2 wager must dine with President Hoover, motor with the Prince of Wales and golf with John D. Rocke- feller and Bobby Jones, all within a twelve month, to accomplish the first of his four-ply hazard. Kk x Reference was made recently in this column to the parlor game of “Murder," introduced in Washington by Su Wul- upon him | ¢ s_or so until he moved to richer | in the same predicament as the | mott Lewls. Cable dispatches from I4n- don over the week end say this game |15 all the rage in the English capital |and “is particularly favored by those in love,” and the cable adds “curiously |enough a_somewhat similar game was | played at Versailles in the days of Marie | Antoinette called decampativos.” ‘ * ¥ %k x |, According to Hollywood press agerits | the filming of a forthcoming ‘“Naby | romance” talkie will take place aboatd {the U. 8. S. Colorado. *The dread- mought, anchored with the Pacific | Coast_battle fleet in San Pedro Har- | bor, will serve as a floating sound | stage for the film company for the | next two weeks through the courtesy | of the Navy Department” is ‘the way |they put it. Secretary of Nayy | Adams was ever famed for his courtesy | and Mr. Hoover's slogan has ever be “co-operation.” Tn this instance surely |is & highly practical application of | both precepts. . | # Honorable amends due to Sam | Galbert Bratton, the popular red- Leaded Senator from New Mexico, tur | erroneously publicizing him us child | less. The biographical section of the | Congressional Directory abounds with | the names of the children,and the grandchildren of members of ‘Congres: their names and thei 1w Lhe ex, and the sons-in-law and the daugi ter law, their wives and their moth in-law. and so on through the fam- y tree on both sides, but Henator | Bratton with supermodesty omits from his biography any mention of his off~ spring. 'This omission is herewith sup- plied. He has three children, Emma Lee, already in the subdeb ranks; a second daughter, Sammie, just enferd ing her teens, and a boy, Howard, aged 7. are W { Prisons and Reforestation. From the Morgantown Dominion-News. Legislation now pending before Con- gress designed to protect American labor by prohibiting the importation of products of convict, forced or indentured workmen serves to lend added interest to a movement sponsored by the Asso- clated General Contractors of America to protect American free labor further by having domestic prison labor with- drawn from all competitive fields and its energies directed toward the rehabil- itation of the natural resources of the | country. | The plan was suggested at the an- nual convention of the association, held recently at San Francisco. It is pro- | posed to promote the use of convicts in the rehabilitation of worn-out farm- lands and the reforestation of barren | timberlands and thus to withdraw | prison labor from all competition with | free labor. With this purpose in view, the association hopes to gain the sup- port of the American Association of Prison Officials and all manufacturers affected by prison competition. The Contractors’ Association is espe- cially interested in the problem pre- sented by the use of convict labor be: cause of the wide use of such labor in highway maintenance and construction. While it objects to this practice, the association realizes that some form of useful employment of the large prison population must be found, and the members have therefore proposed this plan, which they claim will build [up Primense national resources for vears to come and which will in no way bd a menace to private industry and free labor. ‘The suggestion seems to be one| of the most practical yet offered to sqlve this ever-increasing problem. The ha- ture of the work should be conducive to the rehabilitation of the prisoners them- selves, so that the plan offers a mlui}lon (Copyright, 1931.) e of both the humanitarian and econormic problems involved in penology. In many sections where fires and wasteful methods of timbering have taken & heavy toll the hum of ths saw- mill has been stilled. Perhaps herpin may lie at least a partial solution| to West Virginia’s problem of what lo/do with its excess prison labor, Mr. | RY 25 INnv _Bill’s Failure Lets the Country Down To (hie Editor of The Star: I compliment you on your editorial in The Evening Star of Monday, Febru- 23, entitled “Letting the Navy ‘The only criticism I should make of it is that it should be entitled Letting the Nation Down,” for, after all, if the Navy is let down, where does the country stand? s senile decay Republican va: obscured a not 1 think I recollect plank, hewn at Kansas Oity. ot altogether faded from of a few million who are il alive, and hich expressed the general i the party heartily concurred in the ful- filling of any and all rights and obliga- tions whieh the United States might cither through intelligence or inference in after the Naval Conference of This platform, pledge or pre- verication still lingers in the memory of voters who regard the security their country as the prime object of a Government—as the first law of nature and of nations. In our innocence and trustfulness we have relied upon Con- gress to provide for the national se- curity and defense, and Congress has failed. Where then can we look for se- curity? Must it be to the League of Nations? Heaven forbid, for there would be no se y there! I was part rested in your mention of the American Legion. I | have been a Legionnaire over a period of years and have followed its activities with Interest. I have noted the Legion’s {interest in the bonus and many other things, but during these crucial months, with rot, revolution and unrest run- ning rampant, with communism_and in hand, I am e vet to see a statement, or national body of the { Legion—or by those Senators most fa- miliar and most concerned with the matter, ss of party—which h: considéred the securily and nonor our country above and beyond the small claims of sects or sections. PORTER ADAMS ‘- s Bill Prompted By Political Mol To the Editor of The Siar The statements made in your edito- Expense Be Damned! Lhe bonus bill expre the sentiment of Al least 90 per cent of the American people, including the members of Con ¥Tess who almost broke ther necks fall over each Gther to vote for the Ll It has been many a day the country has witnes past, but unl lorn hope in completely action by the Bon 1o got 1 zed that it very vet- e il | bor . being 4t cussed the only reason advanced in favor of some legislation was to aid those veterans actually in need, but the Speaker of the House, being quick to recognize the political significance of the situation, determined to make ce: tain his re-election to the office he now holds in the next Congress. This po- litical sense which all of the members possess quickly spread, and before it was over the country was forced to read many of the speeches fashioned on pa- triotism which were all concocted for home consumption, and in an effort to hide_the real reason back of the vote on the measure. Had the bill provided for the aid only of those who are in need, uot a voice in this country would have been lifted against 1t. But as to those veterans who are not in need and who are in no sense entitled to more _consideration than the millions of other American citizens who were either too young or too old to serve in the war, not one word can Be said in support of the bill. When_the President vetoes the bill, the thinking American people expect and hope he will do, and when Congress has extended its political antics by over- riding the veto, the President showld promptly call an extra session and force Congress to provide 'the funds with which to meet the bill which it so reck- lessly and without due consideration dumped on the taxpayer. This action would of course prolong the recovery of the distressing depression, but it would also mean the finish of those politicians |in Congress. W. T. PARROTT, Country Calls for a National Anthem Law | To thie Eaitor of The Star ow, Is the time for all good men 10 come to Lhe ald” of the Star Span- gled Banner legislation. The bill ask- ing for offi recognition of our N tional anthem by the Senate is now before that body, having passed the House recently. Unless the Senate acts at this session the bill will be 1o Al the veterans of all our wars are calling tn the Senate now to put stamp upon this sagred s inspired them to do or die for the “la of {he free and the home of the brave Millions of citizens are asking also. A cart-load of petitions now at the Capi- tol ask this action. The voices of these petitioners are calling upon the patriots of the Senate; from every part of our country, every city, every town, every roadside hamlet, come these voices pleading for this legislation now. The following patriotic organizations e calling, having voted in delegated sessions in the past year. Veterans of 1l our wars, the Women's Patriotic Conference on National Defense, 2,000, 000 voters represented in this one body, National Patriotic Council. On Febru- ary 18, 1931, the American Coalition of Patriotic Societies, over 2,000,000 mem- bers; D. A. R., 180,000 members; S. A. R., and many other organizations called for action. Admiral Dewey said to me personally in 1915: “There will never be any other National anthem. The Star Spangled Banner is too sacredly enshrined in American hearts.” Admiral Dewey said this before the World War. The use of the National anthem during that con- flict_endeared it to us myre than ever. Congress has preserved Fort McHenry as a patriotic shrine becaude of its as- sociation with the writing ofthe Star Spangled Banner. Official action of the United States Congress named; the Francis Scott Key Bridge, this 1aag- nificent structure crossing the Potomac, as a memorial to the writer of our Na- tional anthem. How can we consistent- ly have any other National anthem? MAUD L. GREENAWALT. \ e Needless. From the Dayton Daily News. Now that the well dressed man re- quires a $5,000 wardrobe it won't be necessary for his trousers to have pockets. - American Letter Writers. From the Haverhill Evening Gazette. Mcre mail is sent abroad than is re- ceived from abroad, a fact indicating that the power to purchase postage stamps is greater in the United States. — e Fatal Succes From the San Antonio Express. The Soviets’ five-year ‘“‘expansion” plan may cure Russia’s economic ills like the surgeon in the story: The pa- tient died. ———— Reciprocal. From the Little Rock Arkansas Democrat. Genius- is not only an infinite c¢ pacity for taking pains, but quite often it is an infinite ability to give other folks palns, of | regarding | ANSWERS TO QUESTION BY FREDERI: Any reader can get the answer to any question by writing to our Infa mation Bureau in Washington, D. C This offer applies strictly to informa- tion. The bureau cannot give advice on legal, medical and financial mat- 1t does not attempt to settle do- or undertake ex! subject inly and briefly 24, an tamps for return post- ply is Address The rmaticn Bureau, Frede ington, Q. How can T Jearn to play golf when 1 have np friends who play> T, A. You should go to a golf coy engage the services of the professional for preliminary instructions. Give close 2 Q. How much does 1t cost to learn to be an airplane pllot? -N. M A. The cost of training courses in aviation is a matter of primary im- portance to the student. A recent sur- vey of the approved schools conducted by the Acronautics Branch, Department of Commerce, showed that the average costs of the different courses are as follows: Private pilots, $550: limited commercial pilot, $1.207; transport pilot $4.255. The prices of the training courses range from $345 to $650 for p vate pilots, $1.050 to $1,500 for limited commercial pilot, apd $3075 to $4.620 for transport pilot. These prices do not include room and board, the average cost of which is reported to proximately $12 per week. Wi the approved schools adhere to standard of minimum Tequirements cs- tablished by the Department of Com- merce, there are many that go abc and beyond these requirements, which explains in 1 instances the greater tuition charges of some schools Q. What is bran?—C. B A. Br is made from the brc eed of wheat, rye or’ o! parated from the flou ng or bolting. siftd Q. What poem contains the lines et them sweating and steaming a y aud @ half behind"? C. B. B A. ‘The quotation is from-*The of the Mary Gloster.” by Kiplng: copled il they could follow, but the could not copy my mind, and | Ballad They v 1 left themn sweAllug Al sTeaming a year and . "alf behind.” | @ How long a period does medieval | histary cover?--F. J A. Usually it is considerad to ocover the tume fiom the year § 10 1452 wodern history dating from the covery of America matior school by Sumn; ner dent Herbert Hoover Commuzity School was built upon pri- vately owned land, wiich was dorated for the purpose of erecting the school. The money was g by President Hoo 2 . It was equipped by Mr. and Mrs. Hoover with the mi dozated by them and thair frie Twenty-fve students are now enxa! in the schocl. Miss Vest is the teack T It is located at Criglers- Q. What is sage brush?—T. D. H. A. The term is loosely applied to sev- eral kinds of closely related plants. The West has the largest variety. It ranges from 3 to 5 feet high and in stream channels will grow as high as from 5 to 8 feet, of the shrub next to the ground is Lt € J. HASKIN. |sometimes from 5 to 6 iaches, but this is not like a tree trunk, but is made of several branches clustered to- her. Q. Where is the Irgest industrial museum in the world?—“H. E. A. The American that the ClJ:f is eum inLondon. Ther useums in Eur © 'y. Our largl tence and Indust- ), although ¢e have a large com museum at{Philadeiphia. 1}rlm:xa pottery fir lustrous pottery wa produced Grgece from about fifth to the thijd century B.C. Ir stead of being cofered with a true glaze it possessed a_ luftrous surface, the ex- act nature of $hich is not definitel known. Glazedf pottery was produced in Egypt, Babflonia, Persia and ti countries bordefing the Mediterranean Sea. Various fnethods were employed producing tife In Spain the art of ss was practiced to some k ury this mercial Q. When was made’- E. R A. Varnished ox re probak m Pesia. Lead ient, the Near E Hurope and the pottery was made { the Han Dynasty which was the of which used in the ughout AD. lead kno Q. If paper tight contain when exposed %o the ai G. A A would not unless some deterio- ratiy s been included within I we have noney is kept in an air it disintegrate con Q. Is the process thic me in all the State A. Naturalization procedu ame i Stdtes. Each Si ver, has its owB laws in regard to requirements 1ur voting of 1 ization R. W is made the famo Potocka? J Lol portrait Of W fainous cne 50 fatiilise throuxh s Pepr UON &5 & BIiug 18 portrait of L miade by ety An Q. How thick s t matter which compos A In scme plages it an iach thick, . while parts it s but ope layer of ga the brain?—C. M iz & quarter of in the thinner -tenth of an inch How the Girecks celébrate vic- 2s2—R. T. A. A. To celebrate d victory the Greeks placed iaurel wreagas on the browsy of and erected Small winged led Victories to commemorate some great event. / ' naterial for ure_ should be hin for an hour. If ollefl; 1t would never therefore, it would bapdages that have are the bandage. | become steriliz e better to byl The diameter | The passage of the Wagner bill, creating an “Employment Stabilization Board,” to be made up of four cabinet officers, whose duty it will be to keep the President advised as to business trends, is welcomed as an imj t step in the direction of dealing with periods of depression, though not re- garded at all in the light of g cure-all, ‘Senator Wagner has been one of the administration's severest critics, particularly on the score of unemploy- ment, relief legislation,” says the New York Times, which remarks that “in signing the Senator’s stabilization bill President Hoover heaped coals of fire on his head,” especially in the words, “Senator Wagner and Representative Graham have worked out an admira- ble measure.” Tt is the opihion of the Times that the legislation “is indeed an Interesting experiment in political economics, significant, both for the Fed: eral policy it enunciates and the ex- ample it may t to the States and municipalities.” The Rocli er Times sted in the fact that “it is rather un- usual Jfor a Republican President. to praise a Democrat’s bill,” and considers that “it would W helpful i Repub. | licans and Democrats eould find more to praise in each other. Too often the policy is to call bad what the other do and to oppose il The pub- lic often suflers lows i such practice: thiz paper concludes So favorably, impressed by the bill 15 the Springfield (Mass.) Republican it advises editorially that “a State plan- ning system, like that established by the Wagner bill, should be set up in each of the States of the Union as a cushion _against future employment crises.” ‘This journal explains the func- tion of the new board: “To adjust Federal construction programs for pub- lic works from time to™ time, in co respondence ,with the condition of in- dustry. It i3 a preparedness measure,” it says. “Each department is required to keep in readiness construction plans Union is inte | ther, and “it must suggest to the Pre ident that the public-works program be expanded whenever it concludes that an industrial depression is imminent.” * X K x “This is highly interesting. The task will be exacting,” says the New Castle News, which suggests that “the work of 'keeping statistics will have to be done with great care, and even then it be in building or in other lines of activity.” This paper is pleased that the “new bureau will be under the di- rection of the Secretary of Commerce. thus increasing the importance of a de- partment of the Government which has steadily grown in power and usefulness since Mr. Hoover became its head.” The Dalias Journal states that “adequate advance planning by Nation, States and cities would make it possible to carry on with needed improvements more surely and more intensively at a time when men are in need of employment. To delay planning until emergency is at hand is to delay relief of the emer- gency, this paper insists, and the opinion that “so simple and logical is the principle of this bill that the won- der is it has not long existed in statu- ! tory form.” 4 Directing attention to the fact thay| “the basic plan of the Wagner act first was advanced at the President’s Cont ference on Unemployment in Septembet, | 1921,” and that it was also ‘“recom- | mended for adoption in the report which | the Committee on Unemployment &nd Business Cycles submitted in April, 1923,” the San Antonio Express sug- gests that “had Congress adopted’ the suggestion then, the present unemploy- ment situation largely might hava been prevented. Certainly it could have been alleviated.” The St. Paul Pioneei Press also asserts: “Had it been passed five yment might have the cu sizable n man the end of his nose” cojcludes this ¥ paper. * k¥ “It is to be hoped that it wi e many | - Efiploymeni Sifibiiiza ioy Measure Widely ¢ upported for six years ahead,” it explains fur-| ~4of Washingon | commend The will take the best kind of good judg- | ment to predict what the future is to | Haverhill Evening Gazette is of the |’ i n | vears before tHe Unitell States callides | 50 pathetically Jand neefilessly with eco- nomic fa njarks the Rock- | tar, “buf if the collision er ‘the prain runs past e and tdrpedo and flare ere will|at least be an tal train|in readiness to he casualties,” it avers. Post-Dispatch not_only e present| bill. but urges appropriation pf money Congress for the financing fof the first Wagner bill, passed at theflast session of Congress, providing “forf the colledtion of Federal statistics on ynemployment”: and sup- ports the thifd bill, which has passed the Senate, sefting up “a system of free ent officef.” d, subversive rot, which cted.” is the description er Federal Employment Service bill diven by the Fort Wayne | News-Sentine]. with the = declaration |that it indufes “the Slate to accept Federal aid if return for the surrender of its own pofice authority over an ex | clusively iutgnal question of policy The News-Seftinel also suys i ils com- ments on the latter memsure: “In its | appeal for pajsage of thi Wagner Fed- mployngnt Service! bill the Amer Associat] ¢ Labor Legislation ding plture crence thal the bill, a existing docs ho more {han propoce gencies nundpr the difection of the director genefal of employment. The bill goes mudh farther than that T¢ provides Fedgral aid, finder a 50-50 principle, to hll States which, through | their chisla?ucs, accept certain rules and regulations prescritled by this Fed- eral director| general las the general plan of their pperation.|’ —ee— every semaph on the line, economic hos take care of ,should be re] of the Wagl | ican | drawn, co-ord agenct | Generosity to Corporation | While the Taxpayer Pays | To the Editor of The sta At the suggestion of several taxpayer: I'm writing this to star Ifor its editort! under the caption “Such Generosity."” protesting ppyment by the District to the Alexandfia car line for vacating the | streets, I | "“The’ city fof Washington is particu- |larly fortugfate in having a newspaper so clean, fo fearless, 'so_independent | and “so inorruptible 'as The Evening Star. It is tofbe hoped that the gentlemen | who diregt the policy of the corpora- | tion coufisel's office will peruse care- fully the unansweraple logic of the editoriaJ referred to above. We chnnot help contrasting the gen- erosity/of the corporation_counsel’s of- fice refative to the Mount Vernon, Alex- | andrig & Washington Railway Co. and its phlicy toward the taxpayers who were/ coerced into paying assessments undgr the unlawful Borland law. e presume generosity toward a cor- poghtion is more meritorious than gen- | ergsity toward an individual. Inferences arp odious and we refrain from drawing | any. DANIEL J. DIXON. : Save His Smile. from the Toledo Blade. Edward Albert, otherwise the Prince of Wales and traveling salesman for Great Britain, carries no samples. e A Congressional Luxury From the Albany Evening News. It costs $758.693 to publish the Con- gressional Record each year. And there’s too much free advertising in it to make it a successful publication. PR Past Tense in Crime. From the Bostorn: Evening Transcript. ‘The rate of mortality in gangdom suggests that its own bopk of biogra- phies would be entitled “Who Was Whao. s Wicked Work. From the Milwaukee Sentinel. We expect momentarily fo learn that the sudden cave-in at Niagara Falls was _brought about by the fient machinations of the power trush,