Evening Star Newspaper, February 26, 1931, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. P S St S D. C. WASHINGTON, THURSDAY . ..February 26, 1931‘ THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company usiaess Off 11th St "and Penns: A ylvania Ave New York Ofice: 110 East 43nd St ghicazo Office’ 'Lake Michizan Building ‘g, Regent AL ropean Office ‘London. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Evening Siar 43¢ per month | e Evening and Sundey S.ar ! v 60c per month Sundays ) ing ana Sunday Siaf ' e 5 Buders) " 6se per mortth e Sunda: £ Se ver ¢ ollection made at the ‘snd of ‘each month | Orders mev be senl in by mail or telephone ‘NAtional 5000. Rate ty Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Sunaay only mo., 85c 15r. 5400 1mo. 40c All Other States and Canada. Datly and Sunday 51200 1Mo 81 00 Ry, onls 1 sa.00: 1mo. 8¢ inday oniy ¢ $5.00: 1 mo.. 50¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Associoied Press i3 exclusivels ortiled #o the vse for ycpubliczudon of Ail news fis- | Paiebes credited Lo it o not rWise te The Model City of Dreams. The District Comm ttee of the House 1s to be congratulated on the adoptic the resolution outlining its fine hopes | for meking Washington “unsurpassed | by any othar community, in oroviding ' conditions of education and environ- | ment conduzive to the highest ultimate | development of child life, if it is within the power of Congress to provide | such surroundings.” The r:solution, di- recting the Commissioners to ¢o what is | commonly called “drafting a plan,” is A much more sensible way of appreach- | ing solution of the problem of underfed | and unhealthy children in the public #chools than the passage of a bill giving | the health officer $40.000 to buy food. But what does it all amount to?| Suppose the Commissioners present a plan to Congress outlining the necessary | steps in a real program for maternal and child health and welfare work in the District of Columbia. What will be necessary to carry out such a program? Money, of course. And can the commit- | tee which legislates fcr the District of Columbia be counted on to imbue with its own enthusiasm the committee | which appropriatcs for the District of Golumbia? : In 1927 the Bureau of Efficiency, | working in collaboration with a sub- | committee of this same House District | Committee on ways and means to im- prove general conditions in the Dis- trict, requested the United States Pub- lic Health Service to draw up a thor- ough plan for improving public health | administration in the District of Co- | lumbia. The report was prepared by! the late Dr. Paul Preble of the Public Health Service. It was later printed as & public document of 151 pages and represented the most thorough analysis of public health work in the District ever made. It may have contained rec- ‘ommendations that would not be gener- ally acceptable, but no one could dis- sent from the significant econclusion reached in the report that the District of Columbia is not spending enough money in public heaith work. For the flscal year 1926 total Health Depart- ment expenditures in the District amounted to 1.15 per cent of the mu- nicipal budget, and, excluding four ac- tivities thst should not properly be eharged to public health, the ratio was reduced to .98 per cent, as compared to an average of 1.78 per cent reported by 100 large cities. “With a meager allotment of less than 60 cents per cap- ita,” said the report, “those responsible for the promotion and protection of public health in the District cannot hope to provide a health service ap- proaching adequacy or one that is a credit to the Nation’s Capital and a model of excellence for all other cities.” ‘There nas been no great increase in Health Department appropriations or ac- tivities since 1926. Dr. Preble recom- mended the annual expenditure of $653,520 for five years. The appropri- atlon for the Health Department in 1930 was $345,674. It certainly lies within the power of | Congress, and no one else, to reach the ®oal outlined by the District Commit~ tee of the House, which has probably forgotten the Preble report by this time. ‘The question is whether the commend- #ble enthustasm displayed in the resolu- tion will live through the Summer and kindle the necessary action by the new Congress next December, or whether the resolution is merely another resolution, Just as the Preble report was merely an- other report. SR Interiocking directorates have been the subject of economic objection. The | idea assumes a new aspect when it is discovered that a financial institution under investigation in New York City has three of its stockholders on the | grand jur, e —e——— ! Interpretation of the law is expected | 1o be deliberate. It may be that the New Jersey court which attempted by | one decision to wipe out the eighteenth amendment as unconstitutional was try- ing to work entirely too fast. = et o The Alexandria Car Tracks. The withdrawal by the Commission- | ers of the bill which had been pre- | pared for introduction in Congress providing for payments to the Alex- andria Electric Rallway Co. by the District, the Federal Government and the Washington Railway & Electric Co. as compensation for the abandon- ment of tracks in this city incident 10 the Government construction work, leaves the matter just where it should rest. The owner of the line announces that he will seek relief in court. He plans, however, to ask for an injunction against the removal of the tracks uptil Congress provides for compensation, which raises another question. This form of procedure is not to be commended. The claim of one in- terest should not operate to hold up the entire project of construction. If Inm,lurmmolwmuthu | has | provement can proceed pending a final | test street have been assessed, while their been assessed, Thirty-seventh street run as low as $2, street to be widened are benefited 100 and faster traffic has ceased to benefit | to be named as an independent factor | session there is urgent need to permit the immedizte starting of the already overdelayed work of consiruetion, pro- vides for the taking of title in such) cases upon the return of condemna- tion findings. leaving the former owne the rigint of appeal after the fact of possession. If the meesure in question is en- | acted at this session the rallroad tracks | will be subject to condemnation, pro- vided 1t is held that they are a prop- eity right, and to immediate possession | and removal by the Government upcn the rendering cf an award. But it is not wholly clear that they are such & pioperty right, in the sense of being ! &n asset berond the mere value of the materials, as o yicld the owner a com- pensation if taken for a, public purpose. That question is to be argued in court. The whole cace, however, should go to court as a’ claim for property that ctually been taken and rights that have been actually extinguished, so thet the important work of public im- | adjudization and financial scttlement. ———— Protesting "Benefit” Assessments. The rezson so many property owners | 1 the District feel called unon to pro- | so-called bencfit ascessments in | street widening projects is that they | cannot see any scnse In the assessments. ©of The emount of the assessment is often | in o small that it would pay the pro- | txstant, in the end, to w:ite his check and forget about it. But the prnciple involved is so contrary to that nece: sary eiement of any law, which is com- mon sense, that the citizen will fight to the last ditch to cscape payment of | a tax that may not exceed ten dollars. ‘The Burieith Citizens' Association has decided to protest assessments levied against residents of that community for the widening of Reservoir road. a highway that runs from Wisconsin avenuc to Conduit road. This highway is the southern boundary of a block of Burleith lying to the west of Thirty- seventh sueet. It is the main traffic artery serving Foxall Village and the Conduit rcad secticn to the west anc is used by many persons who live in Vir- ginia, acress Chain Bridge, or beyond tie District line on Conduit road. It is seldom used by residents of Burleith. As far ss they are individually con- cerned, the road might be abandoned altogsther. But they have been assessed for a part of the widening jcb, and the method of assessment is, in the belief of the citizens, discriminatory. For in- stance, some residents on R street. a block north of Reservoir 1oad who live west of Thirty-sixth street have been assessed $20 each. Those who live to the east of Thirty-sixth street have es- caped any assessment. Those who live on S street and on T street have been assessed. for the most part, ten dollars each. Some residents on Thirty-seventh neighbors across the street have not and asssessments on thus setting up the theory that resi- dents who live a block away from the per cent more than those who live two blocks away from the street, and tnat while one resident has received two dol- lars' werth of special benefit for a street-widening project three and a half blocks away, his next-door neighbor has not been benefited a penny’s worth. These assessments were fixed by a jury of fair and impartial citizens, who obviously sought to spread the burden of special taxation as equitably as pos- sible. Yet the jury’s findings are bring- ing protests not only from Burleith, which does not use Reservoir road, but from Foxall Village, which must de- pend upon Reservoir road to get in and out of town. ‘The truth of the matter is that wid- ening a highway to accommodate more the surrounding property. Such & traf- fic highway often becomes a lability instead of an asset to adjacent prop- erty. And the widening jobs are seldom undertaken to benefit adjacent or sur- rounding property. They are initiated because of the demands of through traffic. They are benefits to the com- munity as a whole and not to the resi- dents who happen to live nearby. Protests of this sort have held up the widening of Benning road for many years. Clouds of protests are hovering over the Conduit road widening project: The protests from Burleith and !buu] Village are merely additional barriers that may delay realization of a project that modern traffic and growth of the city demand. Citizens do not protest for the fun of the thing. They feel they have a real grievance. Some sensi- ble scheme of financing these road im- provements should be developed to end the grievances They seriously hamper ‘The New York World may, in the course of business transactions, cease in American journalism. Joseph Pulitzer will nevertheless be remembered not only as & genius himself but as a dis- coverer of genius. ——v— Interstate Murder. In all the fantasmagoria of crime there has perhaps been no murder quite like that which is just now under inquiry in several States and is appar- ently brought to solution. Happily Washington has no part in the grue- some affair, which for a brief period seemed likely to involve this jurisdic- tion in some aspeot of it. Fiast came the discovery of the body of a woman in a thicket in Virginia, evidently dragged there after death and mutilation and torn by birds until recognition was next to impossible. Then came the dis- closure that a woman had disappeared from her home in New Jersey. The husband went to the scene of the dis- covery of the body in Virginia and iden- tified it as his missing wife. Next came revelation that & man living in the same New Jersey city had, after a pro- longed intrigue with this woman, lit- erally “taken her for a ride” slaying her in his motor car and then carrying the body around in the machine for there is an equity in the case favora- ble to the corporation the courts can be relied upon to determine and assure it. The matter of compensation for several hours, showing it to a relative, confessing to his wife that he had com- | singular ccmbination of courage. craft, | Wall Street because of an upward turn | sional NING credence of a reader of fiction—a slayer traveling ebout with the corpse of his victim, showing it, then mutilating it and finally dragging it nude into the woods in a distant region and leaving it on the chance of its non-discovery until it was beyond the possibility of reccgnition. Analyzed. it indicates a cowardice and bestiality. There \'asl really no chance of escape, even if the bedy had not been quickly identified. The confession in New Jersey to cousin and wife would suirely have in time set the no'ice on the trail of the slayer and led to his eventual arrest if alive. The K38 : THE EV STAR. WASHINGTOY, D. W ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Why do clerks and others who give lay the coins down “tails up"? It is seldom that you will receive a quarter, for instance, with Lady Liberty facing you. Nine out of ten times it will| the be the eagle. If any one doubts this, just let him keep track of the matter for a few days. ‘There seems to be some strange con- spiracy afoot gmong cashlers, clerks and unusual in the appearance or acts of | change at counters almost invariably | others, and, what is more to the pres- ent point, he will never hesitate a second to speak about it. | " Some peopie call this frankness, as ey but really it is nothing but | lack of “bringing up.” In the old days, now seemingly gone beyond recall, poor | people vied with rich people, and ‘mo erately well-off folks with moderatcly well-off folks, in rearing their children, v | &ll others who hand out change from as they called the process, to be God- finding of the body merely hastened the | behind little desks, through windows | fearing. decent men and women solution But if the body had perma- nently disappeared the solution of the | crime vouvld have been incomplete. The | extreme difficulty of disposing of the body is one of the heaviest handicaps upon both the murderer who plots his crime and the one who slays in a mo- ment of passion. A lcgal question arises in this case, which may not b answered unless the slayer confestes and tells the whole grim story. Just where did the killing take place? Upon the answer to that query rests the jurisdiction over the crime. The woman may have been killed in New Jersey or in New York The finding of the hody in Virginia or the arrest cf the killer in North Caro- | lina does not constitute jurisdiction those States, any more than the transit of the killer and his dead victim through the District in the search for a suitable place of dizposition laid upon this community the responsibility for trial | R— General rejoicing is reporied from | in the stock market. No one has ever been able to guess how far prices will | go in either direction. An improvement | in business corditions helps the country. But the ancient and perfunctory advice, “Don't gamble,” still holds good. A bomb placed in the palace of Presi- dent Machado did no harm. An oeca- | explosion has in some lands come to be regarded more or less as al perfunctory tribute to conspicuous authority. - “Vagrant' is a word that offends Al Capone. An underworld chieftain is not very sensitive. But he prefers to super- vise the gang vocabulary and for the sake of discipline to choose his own epithets. e . Lame ducks are creating more anxiety than the wise birds that have so man- aged themselves as to be able to paddle their way to success in other waters than those of politics. ———— Naval equipment is the great subject’ of discussion among nations. Yet many | authorities continue to assert that in the event of a crucial test alreraft will have the last word. Having studied Shakespeare, it may occur to Mr. Gene Tunney that if he wants a fight that will last & lifetime | he can get into literature with a defense of the Baconian theory Even the old authors who have culti- vated gruesomeness would be a little startled if they could read the reports of homicidal horrors day by day. BN AN SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON Decrease in Numbers. A census taker made his way To get statistics day by day. Sald he, “You will be glad to know ‘The population's thus and so.” A gangman said, “When did you get The list which you before us set>” The answer was that this display ‘Was gathered only yesterday. The gangman's voice grew loud and strong. Said he, “Your figures are all wrong. Since yesterday, think what a lot Of folks have been put on the spot!” Impolite Politics. “Didn't our rough friend tell you that his local campaign was all over but the shouting?” “I misunderstood him,” admitted | Senator Sorghum. “What he said was that it was all over but the shooting.” Jud Tunkins says some folks appear to prefer quiet weddings jes' for the fun of havin’' a noisy divorce. A Statesman Fain Would Fishing Go. ‘The statesman now is wishin’ For the sparkling river's brink. He says he’s goin’ fishin’, But he wants a chance to think. He will not be dejected 1f his score shows only naughts. Though no fish may be collected, He'll at least collect his thoughts. ‘These Gossip Days. “Why don't you write & book?" “For two reasons” answered Miss Miss Cayenne: “If I wrote one that didn't sell, I'd be disappointed, and if I wrote one that did sell, I'd be ashamed.” Winning in a Walk. To win our admiration true What different things men have to do! Now Charlie Chaplin views the crowd Competitive for honors proud. Some sweetly sing. Some wisely talk. But Charlie merely has to walk. “After hearing both sides of & story,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “you may find yoursell compelled to yawn because the story wasn't worth telling in the first place.” Prize Winners. | mean the way we act with A generous man surmises He can aid some worthy elf. He gives many famous prizes But cannot win one himself. “I don’'t belleve in ghos'es,” said Uncle Eben. “Even if dar iy any, T never heard of deir bein’ any help to anybody. ——— o A Missed Chance From the Fort Worth ~Telegram. Perhaps the ,Senate has overlooked mitted the murder, and then driving the abandonment of the tracks within | off with the horrible relic of his crime | SSsolition and then Feteirin the strategy of ratifying the adherence "m then nlemn{hm own e World the proposed building area is to this|with the intention of concealing it.| Court. extent upon all fours with the taking of land. Unfortunately, the law does mot permit the taking of sites when condemnation awards have been made, appeals from those awards operating ' North Carclina, where he was pausing W'l P %8 a stay pending final judicial re- uw A bill now pendivg 1 Coe His acknowledgments to his relative and his wife came 1o the ears of the police after the finding of the body in Vir. ginia, and his arrest on suspicion in in his flight, followed. Buch & faniastle jale Mould tax the o umblers. Prom the Haverhill Evening Gazetie. airplanes that will have lgeed is worth while. 't something similar be done for human belngs who allp or stud thein toea? = e and over counters. They conceal Lincoln's noble head. the likeness of the official Indian, and give us insiead tHe equallv official buf- falo and the eagle and the mace or a large V. - wow o We know an astute Washingtonian who refuses to receive his change in this manner. Before he will pick it up he invariably turns each coin over. When asked why he does this he replies: “I am not superstitious, but simply prefer to receive my change heads up. If it can be handed to me heads down. I do not see why 1 cannot turn it heads up.” And so he does. This original gentleman is also one who clanks his mug of coffee twice on the table belween each sip. When asked to explain this eccen- tricity he was not so explicit. It was simply a nervous habit, he asserted which should have been a matter of no comment to any one In fact, he said, he wondered why any of his companions should notice so trivial a habit * o oxox g If he had been more of a student of the human race he would have known that nothing so attracis the attention of human beings as difference. Variation is the one thing that animals cannot stand. They resent it and ordinarily will not forgive it. Men and women, as animals primarily, par- ticipate in this trait, although often it is covered up. Good breeding altogether. One of the easiest ways to detect lack of breeding in any one, no matter how well clothed he s or what his pre- tensions, is to put him in a situation where he has an opportunity to note something out of the usual *owowow The way he reacts to such a situa- tion will mark him for what he is Manners, as the world uses the word, e another. especially with so-called social equals. True manners, we like to believe, carry over as far as th:y may with all types of human beings, not with equals only. ‘There are. of course, many branches to this interesting study. A great deal of fun has been poked at “etiquette” books during recent years, but thou- sands of persons would be better off for the study of them. One of the ways in which this good breeding shows itself is a willingness 1o overlook any variation. and especial- 1y to avoid any pointed or covert com- ment upon it ‘The well bred man or woman, it may be said without any snobbery, does not purposely hurt the feelings of any one. This is primary, but it must be stated for our purpose. * oo % The man lacking in essential breed- ing will never fail to note anything Highlights on t often conceals it Excerpts From Newsy ESTADO DE SAO PAULO, Sao Paulo.~The National Exposi- tion of Architecture, Decora- tion and Construction will be held at Sao Paulo under the direction of the Sao Paulo Institute of Architects. One section will be used 1o display the minerals, methods and ac- cessorles necessary for all varieties of interior and exterior embellishments, This exposition will stress both the ma. terial and artistic features of every sort of construction, and gold and silver med:1s will be awarded for the best ex- emplifications of both *x o w Accept With Good Grace Little Adversities of Life. Le Soleil, Quebec—Do you wish to knc 7 the best means of protecting yourself against the depressions and ill humors to which you are no doubt sub- Jject, like every other mortal? It is to accept with a good grace all the little adversities of life. 1In other words, “Smile at pin-pricks!” ances are the common lot, and no one should let himself be incensed by them When we become impatient and ex asperated at every little difficulty and inconvenience, we work ourselves into a chronic state of ineptitude and dissatisfaction which makes it impossi- ble for us to meet with courage and composure the sterner realities of hu- man existence. We lose first that price- less ssion, a calm serenity of soul, Wwhich is the chief fabric of every happy life, and then as we continue to yield to every irascible impulse, we sink still deeper into a perpetual malcontent which fills each hour with care instead of joy. Nor is it, indeed, the token of any light and frivolous character to be able to sustain with patience and good humor the “thousand little jabs of the needle” which each one of us must sub- mit to in the course of the day. But the greater the uncomplaining acquies- cence with which we greet these troubles the more we are strengthened and de- veloped, until eventually we become able to face the real crises of life with fortitude and energy. The best victories of this world are those over our own weak wills and hasty temperaments. * ok k¥ Russian University To Teach Collective Farming. Soviet Economic Review, Leningrad. —A new university, devoted to the study of collective farming, was recently opened in Odessa. This institution will have 35 experimental stations or- ganized in the neighborhood of Odessa. The students will be recruited from among the poorer peasants and mem- bers of collecttve and socialistic farms, * Rk % Bottom Falls Out of Chinese War Picture Market. The China Weekly Review, Shang hai—For several years a group of en- terprising _young “men " i Shanghai, most of them newspaper men, have been able to earn a little extra money by selling Chinese war pictures to newspapers and picture agencies in America and Europe. But the market for pictures depicting the Chinese civil warfare has been spolled by overpro- duction, somewhat like the wheat and silver markets, 1t hasn’t happened all at once; the market has been falling off gradually for a considerable period, but China’s last civil war, the strug- gle between the government forces and the so-called Northern Rebel Coalition, was a complete flop from a picture andpoint. Early last July a number American and British correspond- ents visited the front in Honan and, of course, they were armed with the usual battery of cameras. Pictures were snapped by the dozens and upon the return of the correspondents to Shanghai the prints were hurriedly de- vel 'd and rushed away on the earliest available steamers and trains for Amer- ican and pean newspaper offices. But the pictures didn’'t sell. As a matter of fact, only one American newspaper made a feature of the pic- tures in one of its Sunday issues. The other newspaper offices turned them down. Recently the representative in Shanghai for a London picture agency received a letter from his home office reading as follows: “For some time now papers, more especially the picture-side of the papers, have not e e e wars have been gol e ars editors long naw that some of Trivial annoy- | up | | “Bringing up” was not a matter of | money at all. Thousands of men and women totally without education, espe- clally with little or no money, some- ! how managed to learn the essentials of good conduct If their children pointed o a cripple 4nd made any comment. such parents were ashamed, and heartily reproved their offspring for their “lack of . manner: S .. If mankind wishs to hide its animal heritage. as sometimes it seems bent on doing, there is no better beginning than to refrain carefully from noting and | commenting on variations and differ- ences. This is toleration taken out of theory and put squarely into practice, In an interesting new book, “The Island of the Penguins.” by Cherry Kearton (McBride). it is pointed out that penguns, those amazing dr | suited " fellows ' of the polar stretches spend hours In persecuting the few of their kind whose markings show the slightest variation from the normal It is the abnormal. then, even the slightest variation, which the animal world rasents. Mothers of other breeds have been known to kill their offspring because they were not of the right color, or were crippled, etc. * o ox ok Fven in civilizaticn. if vou dare to turn over a coin before you pick it up, you will find some bright-eyed person | whom the action has not escaped. He, mighty normal one, takes up his coins without bothering which way they lle. As far as he knows, the “emainder of the world. legally sane. is glad to pick up its change in any manner what- soever, Therefore, he who dares to pick 2nd choose, as it were, not only is abnormal, but he is, at the sam: time, fouting the great herd of the sacred and the sar Wherefore, he who accepis his coins as they come is very eager to inquire into the strange, ridiculous and absurd abnormality presented by the man who happens to have noted, with much in- | terest, relish and amusement, that most | colns ‘are presented in change talls i Tapping a coffee cup on a table twice between sips—why, the man is a can- | didate for the insane asylum, not be- | cause his action hurts any one. but be- cause we, mighty and perfect coffee rinkers, do not do it! | , us and company, the herd mass, t people, with us. Be careful, therefore, all ve innocent persons, of whataver persuasion, who |would fondly hope to go tarough life minding your own business and hoping that others will mind theirs. They will not, and if you can be sute of nothing else. you can be sure of that It you want fo be a happy penguin among the other penguins, be sure that you look. walk and talk exactly as all other penguins look, walk and talk. he Wide World rapers of Other Lands the and surely wisdom will die | make fun of it when the pictures from | Unless | | China are submitted fo them | something very unusual or big happens I am afraid we shall not be able to make very much more use of Chinese | war pictures.” This statement by the | manager of a picture agency in Lon- ‘}don is significant of the general feeling that prevails abroad regarding Chinese warfare. Newspapers, which depend | upon the public taste for their sales, naturally are quick to sense a change in the public'’s news appetite. Chinese | war pictures, “unless something big or unusual” occurs, are no longer news, hence the papers will not purchase them. This indicates a significant change in public opinion abroad upon which many _interpretations may be placed, but the most logical interpre- tation is that the outside world is more or less “fed up” on news regarding warfare in China and has turned to something else more interesting. * x ok % Maiden Lady Discovers Easy Road to Great Wealth. Daily Mail, London.—In times of eneral depression special interest at- of quickly amassing great wealth. Such a discovery has just been made whose solicitors_recently in due form summoned the Daily Mail to appear in the High Court to defend a suit for $50,000 (as a first instaliment, pre- sumably!). |, This considerable sum is claimed as the penalty, or part of the penaity, | due to any common informer who will | sue for it on proof that the defendant |is guilty of “advertising or causing to be advertised any public entertainment or amusement * * * “on the Lord's day, to which persons are fto be ad- mitied by the payment of money or by tickets sold for money.” So runs clause 3 of the Sunday Observance Act, 1780, by which the English Sabbath is protected, as a re- cent judicial decision has reminded us, from " profanation by the opening of those “disorderly houses” called cinema theaters, Much as it would distress us to appear in the white sheet of Sabbath- breaking implety, we have to confess | that there are some formidable pro- visions in this high-minded, if slightly | dog-eared statute. Indeed, we can only express, in all humility, our gratitude %o the pious plaintiff for her Christian forbearance in claiming so small a sum as $50.000. | B Too Much Hokum in Radio. From the Champaign Nedws-(jta‘zel\z. e Unless radio broadeasting stations throughout the country heed the hand- | writing on the wall they are doomed | fo suffer the wrath of an aroused pub- Jic. Unless they adhere more closely to their fundamental purposes of pro- viding clean and wholesome entertain- ment and the spread of general knowl- edge, their usefulness will be so greatly impaired that the public will Teturn to the phonograph for home entertain- ment. It will be the only means of escaping the unwelcome features that are now forced upon them. Lee De Forest, radio engineer and executive, a pioneer in wireless and a man with the welfare of broadcasting at heart, has publicly sounded the warning that has been voiced by ob- scure individuals. Listen to his indict- ment against conditions which threaten the very life of an industry to which he has given yvears and years of thought and effort. He says: A “A radio menace, steadily growing greater, more ruthless, more deserving of suspicion and more generally de- tested, is the use of the broadcast for direct and blatant advertising in larger and longer doses.” De Forest would have the radio in- dustry, that came out of his dreams, continue to grow and become more useful with the years. He would have it become a necessary part of present- day life and filling a need in the chain of modern communication. He is look- ing at the situation as an engineer, hoping and working for further im- provements, and as an executive, in- terested in the radio as an industry adding wealth to the world. His opinion must, therefore, be considered ; unbiased and a sincere expression THURSDAY. FEBRUARY he mob constitute God's chos»n | taches to the discovery of any method by a maiden lady of South Hackney, | 26, 1931 | The Political Mill By G. Gould Lincoln. Ol is causing th» Republican party leaders trouble again. The Western Re- publicans from ofl-producing States are demanding an embargo on the importa- {tion of ofl, or a partial embargo. The oil business, they say, has been disas- trously hit by hugs importation of oil | from Venezuela and other countries There is no tariff on oil, although a bitter fight was waged when the Smoot- Hawley tariff bill was up for considera- tion in an effort to levy a tariff duty. The Republicans from the Eastorn States, particularly in New England, are declaring that if the G. O. P. stands for an embargo on oll. forcing up the prices of that commodity and its by- products, among them gasoline. the consuming public will rend the party in the next - lection - * There have becn threats to drag the row over oil into the Republican caucus of the House tonight. when it is planned to pick the G. O. P. candi- dates for Speaker, majority leader, etc. Some of the Republican members from the West have declared they will re- main out of the caucus and not pledge themselves to vote for the re-election |of Speaker Longworth. because the present leadership of the House has | opposed, or at least has not favored strongly enough, embaigo legislation On the other hand, the New England group has intimated that if oil legisla- tion is to be put through, they, too, !may do a little boiting of their own. Notwithstanding the row. however, it is expected that Speaker Longworth will | be the choice of the Republicans to | | succesd himself and Majority Leader | Tilson of Connecticut will be picked to i succeed himself as floor leader of the | Republicans in the House. So narrow | is the margn of the Republicans in | excess of the Democrats in the next Congress that a deadlock might be brought about in the selection of a Speaker. if even a few Republicans left the reservation and put up an inde- pendent candidate for Speaker. * x ox % Republicans from oil-producing States | in the West, among them Kansas, | | Oklahoma and California, are taking |a gloomy view of the situation. They say that if the Republicans do not take | some action locking to the relief of | the oil producers and the thousands of | | farmers who have leased their land for | | oil development. the G. O. P. will have | trouble carrying these States and electing_members of Congress there- | |from. ~The picture they paint, with | thousands of workers in" the oil fields |out of jobs and farmers shut off from | {revenue from their properties derived {from oil, is a dark one. Furthermore, | they say that the Republicans promised during ‘the last two campaigns to do | something for the oil producers and that they have not come through Oklahoma 1s regarded as already gone | from the Republican list of States in | the next election and Kansas is wob- ! {bling. The oil production of Kansas | is in excess in value of the wheat crcp {in that State. The trouble in the Re- | publican ranks of the House was ac-| centuated the other day when the Ways and Means Committee voted | down the embargo proposal and it was | | found that only one Republican was | listed as supporting it. ik Efforts are under way today to bring about some kind of a compromise on the embargo plan which can be hurried into the House and to the Senate be-| fore Congress adjourns March 4. Even if it passed the House, however, oppo- | sition in the Senate might easily block a vote there. It looks as though the matter will have to go over until the | next Congress meets, when further ef- | forts will be made to give the oil-pro- | ducing States of the West some relief. | | *ox ok % ! “Big Bill" Thompson has been re-| nominated by the Republicans for | | mayor of Chicago. This was expected. | The opposition had been split, with two | well backed candidates for a third can: |didate with little backing in the pri- mary race against “Big Bill.” It was the "old game of dividing the enemy, s0 familiar in the politics of this coun- try. The one hope of the Thompson | opposition today lies in a straightout fight between the mayor and “Tony” Cermack, the Democratic nominee and | leader in Chicago. Scarcely had the results of the primary been published, | however, when a ‘“People’s Non-Pa: tisan” nomination for mayor was suj gested, and the name of Herman N. Bundesen, coroner of Cook County, was filed as the candidate for mayor. Such a ticket would be playing right into! | the hands of “Big Bill." Robert Isham Randolph, president of the Chicago As- sociation ~ of Commerce, immediately issued an appeal to Bundesen not to run on the ground that the only hope of defeating Thompson for re-election was not to split his opposition in the election. Bundesen said he would withdraw and not be a candidate. * o ox % “Big Bill's” re-clection as mayor will mean he is top dog in Republican poli- tics in Chicago. He will certainly strive to be the State leader as well. By playing the game during the last year, the mayor has succeeded in dumping first his old enemy, Senator Deneen, and then Mrs. Ruth Hanna McCormick, Wwho was nominated for the Senate on the Republican ticket with the aid of the Thompson forces. The only hope of eliminating the mayor appears to lie in the chances of electing Cermack. Cermack is another hard-boiled poli- ticlan, president of the Cook County Board. ~There are plenty of Republi- can voters in Chicago, however, who would be willing to vote for Cermack if they were sure by so doing they could get rid of Thompson. Chicago turned in a big vote for Senator-elect James Hamilton Lewis, Democrat, in the senalorial election last Fall. Of course, many of these voters were Thompson adherents, out to defeat Mrs. McCormick. Nevertheless, Chi- cago has elected Democratic mayors in the past: the last one, Dever, defeated | Thompson. | | b The Nye Senate Campaign Investi- gating Committee is on the verge of making a report to the Senate on the senatorial and primary elections in Pennsylvania and Nebraska, it is re- ported today. It has been on the verge of doing so for weeks. But there is a definite plan on foot to bring about a report on the Pennsylvania election or else & motion to discharge the commit- tee from further consideration of that matter, it is understood. Senator James J. Davis of Pennsylvania, Republican, was seated when the present session of Congress opened. At the time it was urged by Chairman Nye that Pavis step aside and permit the committée to wind up its report on his election first. It looks as though Senator Davis and his friends were wise in insisting that he take his seat when he did. Otherwise in | ‘0 | votes in the two houses of Congress | wise will. | World-Herald, “that half the number BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ‘The resources of our free Informa- tion Bureau are at your service. You are invited to call upon it as often as you please. It is being maintained solely 1o serve you. What question can we answer for you? There is no| charge at all except 2 cenis in coin or | stamps for return postage. Address your letter to The Evening Star Infor-| mation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, di- | rector, Washington, D. C | Q. How are the old silent movies | made over with sound? I undersiand | “The Birth of a Nation” now has sound --D. E. | A. Usually when sound is added t silent pictures they are remade. Dia- | Jogue is written for them and they ai re-enacted. “The Birth of a Nation’ is an exception. Sound effects, not dialogue, were prepared and added to the film or put on disks which are synchronized with the film Q. How does the per capita cost of | running our Government now com- pare with its cost in the early days? —s. M A. Randolph Leigh, in a current article on “The American Constitu- tion.” says that for the first year the Government was organized—1789—the per capita cost was approximately 20 | cents, while at present it is about $38 per inhabitant. Does Easter ever come the 21st of March?—G. E. H A It does not. The date for the observance of Easter Sunday was de- cided by the Council of Nicaea in 325 as a_movable feast. occurring the first Sunday after the first full moon fol- lowing the vernal equinox, which oc- curs on or about the 21st of March. before Q How old is the plot of “Hamlet"? ~R. S A. “Hamlet” is based on a crude story told by the thirteenth century Saxo Grammatious, a Danish_chronicler, in his “Historia Danica,” first printed in 1514, which found a place in Pierre de Belleforest's “Histoires Tragiques” (1570). a French miscellany of trans- | lated legend and romance. Q. How did we acquire Wake Island, Midway fslands, Baker Island and Howland Island?—F. S A. Wake Island was acquired by the United States in 1398, as a result of the Spanish-American War, and was ceded to this country by Spain under the treaty of Paris, which ended the Country ~Reveal | ed States in 1857 war. Midway Islands are now a part of the Hawailan group, and under the jurisdiction of the Hawaiian govern- ment. They were discovered by Capt. U. C. Brooks in the ship Gambler on July 5, 1859, and officially taken pos- session of in the name of the United States on August 28, 1867, by Capt. Reynolds of the U. 8. 8. Lackawanna. Baker 1sland was taken possession of in the name of the Unite States in 1839 by an American named Michacl Baker. who first discovered it in 1832. Howland Island was discovered hy George E. Netcher in 1842, and of- cially possessed in the name of the Unit- Q. What countries were represented at the first meeting of the peace con- ference’—K. M. G. A. The first meeting was held In the Salle de la Paix, formerly known as the Salle de Horologie (or Hall of Mirrors), and the following countries were represented: France, Great Britain, United States, Japan, Brazil, Belgium, Serbla, Greece, Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, China, Hedjaz, Canada, Australia, South Africa, India, Siam, New Zealand and Portugal. Is it cruel to shoe horses?—R. M A. It is not. In fact, to use unshod horses for heavy work is very cruel An unshod horse doing much walking ?r heavy work may become seriously ame. Q. 1Is there such a place as Grau- stark?— B. B. A. There is not pality novelist Q. The little prinei- was created by an American Q. When wili the Hoover Dam be fin- ished?>—C. T A. It is estimated that it will take six and a half years to complete it. When | finished, it will store enough water to | eover the State of New York to a depth of 1 foot. Q. Why are doctors’ written in Latin?—S. 8. L. A. It is because for many centuries Latin was the language of learning. At the present time, due to this fact, it is the one language which is universally studied by those engaged in the legal, medical and many other learned oro- fessions Consequently a French dnc tor would understand the terms of prescription equally well as a Czecho- slovakian doctor. s Comliise prescriptions As to Finances of Bonus Bill Discussion of the soldier bonus bill, raising the loan value of certificates to 50 per cent of the face value, reveals differences of opinion as to the effect of the expected total on the economic condition of the country, There is un- certainty as to the number of ex-service men that would take advantage of the opportunity and as to the ease with which the payments could be met by the Treasury. Some opponents of the measure contend that overwhelming represented the influence of a minorit among citizens, although others empha- its soldiers. 5 Viewing the relation of the payments to war among the nations, the St. Louis Times states: “War has become a business and a bad one. It is eco- nomically unsound and insensible. Now that we are recognizing these simple but long-obscured facts, we should also be fair to the men who do the Nation's work in carrying out that Nation's un- And as soon as this or any other country pays each cf its soldiers what his time and risk are worth it will find that war is far more expensive than has hitherto been shown; too costly for the meager gains that show in the balance sheet of history.” Referring to action in Congress “in spite_of Secretary Mellon's warning,” the Chattanocga News doubts that “the loans to veterans will disturb the situa- tion,” and is convinced that “the com- promise is a happy solution.” ' The Kalamazoo Gazette believes that “while political considerations invariably play their part in the treatment of veterans’ aid proposals, it seems quite possible that in this case the Representatives have weighed Mr. Mellon's arguments carefully and fcund them wanting.” That paper adds: “If the veterans were to make no more use of the new loan value than they have made of the present privilege, the outstanding loans would be increased by only about $430,- 000,000. And that sum is but slightly more than the Treasury is already obligated to make. “It is evident,” thinks the Omaha of veterans in the country prefer to hold their certificates as endowment policies, and of the remainder e large number have negotiated only temporary loans, and those somewhat below the maximum allowed. It is reasonable to suppose that an increase in the loan value will not greatly increase the total number of borrowers or the amount of loans to only temporary borrowers.” The Richmond Times-Dis- patch quotes fiscal experts as saying that “this will mean an increase in taxes,” but adds: “Congress was in a humor to grant in full the value of the certificates; half of that amount in loans, they thought, was getting the Government off easy. In any event, the bill seems good in law,” concludes the Times-Dispatch. ¥k “We believe,” says the St. Louis Post- Dispatch, “Mr. Hoover unduly exagger- ated the effect that this bill will have on the country. He speaks of what the Government would have to raise for the veterans as & ‘liability.” This liability was assumed when the adjusted com- pensation act was passed in 1924. The money then allocated to ex-soldiers is & Government obligation. The present bill creates no new obligation. It does not propose giving away anything tha has not been given away before. All it does is to make it possible for the ex- soldiers to borrow more money on rea- sonable terms; in other words, it does for them what the Government has al- ready done for the farmers. The Gov- :rnment cannot lose by the transac- ion.” ‘The measure has been supported, “‘against the warning of the President,” according to the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, “in the belief that the Amer- ican Legion and the force of public opinion will restrain an unnecessary de- mand upon the Federal Treasury and that the service men will once more evidence their patriotism by restraining a ruinous rald on Government finances, The measure can be supported, in the Pennsylvania might have gone on in- definitely without its second Senator. The report on the Davis campaign, it is said, will not contain recommendations, but will submit the facts as developed in the inquiry of the committee. It has even been suggested that a motion to declare the Davis seat vacant because of the large expenditures made for the Davis-Brown ticket in the primary will be postponed until the next session of Congress, leaving the junior Senator from Pennsylvania to wait for nine long months before the issue can be joined. Davis and his friends are strongly op- posed to such a procedure. In the meantime, the Senate Lobby Committee, headed by Senator Caraway, is now en- gaged in looking into charges that Sen- ator Davis “lobbied” for the Celotex Co. while he was Secretary of Labor in the interest of & tariff on sugar. * ok % % The report of the Nye committee on Nebraska is likely to be “hot,” if ru- mors are trye. It will not in any way affect the status of Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska, who was re-elected. But it is likely to widen the split in Re- publican ranks, because of what it says o8 ¢zeguiar® Bepublls face of the figures presented by the President, only in the belief that it will be used for needed relief and n bused in a general rush to ‘cash in. Possibility that business will be bene- fited by the bonus distribution. is sug- cans to defeat the “progressive” Repub- lican Senator. * X K % ‘The program laid down by Senator Norris and other progressive Republi- cans at the outset of the present ses- sion of Congress as a sine qua non if an extra session of the new Congress after March 4 was to be avoided has come along surprisingly. Muscle Shoals 1I'A}:stbee;: voted &po- and put in a m’rfi at pleases the progressives. me duck” constitutional amendment resolution of Senator Norris has been voted in the House with certain amend- ments, and be a size the obligation of the country to, | gested by the Wheeling Intelligencer and | the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader. The Meridian Star “is glad to see the veter- ans get ‘a break’ " and offers the com- ment, “Everybody, seemingly, has reap- ed some benefit from the great world madness save the boys who bared their breasts to sacrifice and death” The Allentown Morning Call holds that the measure is “better than existing relief and is expected to take care of the most needy cases.” The Lynchburg News de- clares that “hosts of the men to whom the obligation is due are in sore need of money with which to support themselves and their families. Quoting the President’s objections to aid for “those who can their own efforts support themselves,” and to mak- ing avallable “the largest part of the huge sum for those who are not in dis- tress," the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot con- cludes that “as statements of principle and fact, those objections are unanswer- able.” The Hartford Times holds that the great vote for the measure “does not reflect the public judgment” and that “it cannot be beneficial in any quarter.” :l'he Rl'ihmolnfl Ne'l!m Leader calls it ‘economic folly”: e Birmingham News, “opening the Treasury to de- mands that it could not bear without extremely serious co; uences to the country.” The News s of the merit in Owen D. Young’s proposed restriction to those in need. * Kk % ok “Provision should be made for larger lcans to veterans in distress; but there is no need to make additional loans available to all who might care to have them regardless of necessity,” says the Kansas City Star, while the New York Times remarks: used to be, ‘Uncle Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm.’ Certainly he must be rich enough today to give us all & pension.” | ly in for a rude awakening from these golden dreams, but till now Congress seems 1o believe that it still has the Midas touch.” That political considerations and vote getting or fear of votes governed the action by Congress is the contention of the Akron Beacon Journal, the New York World and the Chattanooga Times. The Jersey City Journal avers that ssts. Hoover and Mellon are fighting powerful combination of politicians who are afraid to vote against anything the organized veterans stand for.” The Hartford Courant calls the measure “wholly political,” and the New York Evening Post suggests, “Against this direct impact of minority strength the Senate used to have a barrier h the election of Senators by the State Legislatures * * * but the railroaded vote for this disastrous pension raid shows that Senators can scuttle as rapidly as Representatives.” “'Congress need not expect the coun- fry to believe even a majority of the House or Senate thinks this issound or helpful legislation,” asserts the Newark Evening News, with the conclusion, “Let it take its orderly course, so that those who are determined to surrender to the veterans may have no excuse Wwhen the country voices its feeling.” The Morgantown Dominion-News feels ihat “the worst part of it is that there is no way of telling which of the Repre- sentatives voted ‘yes’ sincerely.” The measure is condemned by the St. Paul !P}l:‘l‘;eer‘::e;, tlne Springfield (Mass.) n, rovidence Bulletin and the South Bend Tribune. e “Most of it will be spent within a year or two,” maintains the Charleston (S. C) Evening Post, “and then the veterans will be back for more in one form or another. All the safeguards against a tremendous pension burden which were erected at the beginning of the World War have gone for naught The country will be paying pensions for the World War to the end of the cen- tury in which it was fought—if another and another war leave anything with which to pay them. ‘The Dayton Daily News agrees that “‘doubtless history will repeat itself time after time as new demands arise.” As to the economic effects, it is recognized by the Davenport Democrat, the Cleve- land Plain Dealer, the Indianapolis Star and Rock Island Argus that there are uncertainties and differences of cpinion as to the working out of the financial features. "What the economic reactions will be,” states the Fort Worth Record-Tele- gram, “will come to the public sooner or later. But the political reactions are already arrived. the measure accom- plishes nothing else, it demonstrates the total disorganization of the two political parties. * * * = Whatever vet- erans’ loan bill does to the economics of the country, the fact of its having been the rock upon which party politics split for reassembly on the two sides of the prohi n question "next year makes it the beginning of a new epoch. There are no political parties in ex- istence in the United States today.” Hope that, in the distribution of the bonus, claims will be limited to those who are in need of the money, notwith- standing the obligation of the country to those' who fought in the war, is S \#:ller bills deal. of unemployment been put through. One demand, that for pas- 8ag: of the bill limiting the use of the injunction in labor disputes. with Pployess, has beea l voiced by the San rdino Sun and the Cleveland News. The Commercial in the no-| the \ ’ Al But the Times adds, “We are apparent- ¢ i