Evening Star Newspaper, March 15, 1931, Page 36

L} THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Merning Edition. ‘WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY.,......March 15, 1831 THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Edito The Evening Star Newspaper Company Chicago Office: European Office: England. Rate by Carrler Withim the City. E' E::ml i T r“c per month Cenen 4 Bundays) - .80¢ per month Tre Evening and Sun T {when 65¢ per month "8, . T The Sunday Star Sc_per col Collection made at the end of each h. Orders may be sent in by mail or telephons NAtional 5000, Rate by Mall—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Sunday only 4.00; 1 mo, 40¢ All Other States and Canada. gflfly and Sunday...] yr., $12.00: 1 mo., $1.00 lflgl i} only . 8¢ Bunday only 50c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled all news dis- d to it or not otherwise cred- s and also the local news 11 richts of publication o erein are also reserved. — “Cleaning Up” the City. Whether or not the unemployment situation would be affected much one way or the other, the District govern- ment could accomplish a great deal by joining the householders of the com- munity in the “clean-up campaign” planned for this Spring. The average property holder is jealous of the ap- peargnce of his own lawn, his residence and the garden plot in the back. But the domain over which he is lord and master ends with the sidewalk. Across the sidewalk there begins a No Man's Land which for years has suffered from neglect. If the municipal government could enter the lists this Spring as a crusading clean-up advocate, deter- mined to make its own property be- tween the sidewalks and curbs as at- tractive as it might be, anxious to re- pair ugly terraces, bare of grass and torn by storm, and bent on removing the sore spots that are made by un- suthorized dumping, some real results ‘would be apparent at the end of “Clean- up” week. In some sections of the city the spaces between curb and sidewalk are as bare of grass as the Sahara Desert. The neglect of some of the tiny parks at street intersections is well known. Terraces leading from the sidewalk to the streets below, over which property owners have no jurisdiction, are_often bare walls of clay. And the “home owner who discovers that the alley in the rear has been made the dumping place for a cartload of old automobile parts, several bushels of oyster shells and a bale of waste paper knows from the experience the rather complicated task shead of him if he seeks their removal and the accompanying assur- ance that such things will not happen again. ' The municipal government, if it wanted to clean up the property over ‘which it has control in the District, has & job ahead of it that would outlast the campaign planned for this Spring. ‘The funds for & good job may be lack- ing. If there are avallable funds they could be well spent. More than & thousand persons have registered at the District Building as applicants for work during the clean-up campaign in April. The householders ‘who depend upon outside help may find Jobs for some of them. There would be Jobs aplenty for all of the able-bodied if the city government could undertake the work that really ought to be done. A number of New York officials wish they could follow the example of Mayor Walker, by following the rule of the political game: “When in doubt, take a ‘vacation.” ‘Tammany Hall has given many an sble young statesman a start, but has seldom provided any reliable guarantee 88 to how he would finish, — The German Republic. ‘What may be regarded as an acid test of the stability of the German Republic is impending in the state which is the Reich’s principal copstituent. Prussia, which accounts for 112,628 of Ger- many's 181,720 square miles, and some 40,000,000 of the country’s 65,000,000 population, will shortly hold a referen- dum to decide whether or not the ex- isting Landtag (state Parliament) should be abolished. On the ground that the Landtag, as mow constituted, is no longer repre- sentative of public sentiment, the Hit- lerite National Socialists called for a referendum on the subject. The Prus- sian minister of the interior, a member of the “Welmar Coalitios which founded the republic and now con- trols the present Landtag, acquiesced in the proposal with little hesitation. His decision indicates that the Conserv- atives and Moderates of all parties in Germany are confident that the repub- lic is safe and that its cause may safely be risked at the Prussian polls A few days ago, Brunswick, a small but influential Reich state, held local elections which were not unsymptomatic. ‘The Hitlerites were loud in their claims that at the first important trial of electoral strength since the September Reichstag landslide, they would emerge even more triumphant. only trifiing gains in Brunswick. Bocial Democrats, still Germany's larg- est party and supporters of the repub- The Com- munists, who hate both Hitlerism and the republic, made the only substan- tial gains. Most German commentators from the Brunswick results that the Hitlerites have reached the crest of their strength, and, in another le, suffered some losses. deduced Reich-wide election, would probably fall far below their September peak of 100- odd Reichstag seats. The Bruening government at Berlin has survived a number of onslaughts and shocks. The theatrical tactics of the Hitler faction in “walking out” of Reichstag sessions and abstaining from They made ‘The voting on critical occasions caused only derision and contempt in the country. ‘Their action was not only ineffective, but generally looked upon as childish. In the realm of foreign policy, Chan- cellor Bruening and Foreign Minister Curtius have maintained a strong hand, oblivious to the assaults and obstruc- tions of the Hitler wrecking crew. No Germax government can close its eass to the popular demand for revision ' man activity. There was no derogatory'p.o;m the Columbus Ohio of the Versailies treaty, a scaling down meaning attached. Later, propaganda The bumper of reggrations and European disarma~- ment which is not confined to Germany. Nor is the Bruening cabinet deaf to the fact that chronic economic depression and unemployment are water on the mill of discontent, upon which Hitlerism and Communism batten. But Herr Bruening and his associates are con- scious that Germany can best right what she considers to be wrongs by faithfully fulfilling her contractual in- ternational obligations until legitimate ways and means can be evolved for re- lieving the Reich of unjust burdens. Georg Bernhard, former editor of the Vossische Zeltung at Berlin, writes in the March number of Current History that “Germany's future will depend on whether the attempt to untangle the economic situation succeeds” and adds that' “the cardinal problem of the im- mediate future is the creation of a market for German goods in order to pay reparations, or else the revision of the reparations agreements which will s0 reduce the burdens that they can I be borne, even with a reduced export ! trade.” Herr Bernhard touches a vital | point when he concludes with the query, { “How long are the different European countries to remain cut off from each other by ever higher tariff walls?” Many authorities, inside and outside Germany, believe that her future, at least during the years that lie imme- diately ahead, can be guaranteed no more surely than by a second term for President Hindenburg. Elected in 1925 for seven years, he is due to retire in 1932. The soldier-statesman, who commands the love of all Germans and the respect of the whole world, is prob- ably the Reich's most stabilizing influ- ence. It will be a sad day for the republic and for Europe at large if, old as he is, Hindenburg cannot be pre- vailed upon to remain at the presi- dential helm. o Maryland’s Park Plans. The bill now before the Maryland Legislature, authorizing bond issues to E organization, and finally it took on.an added meaning, becoming the “scheme” by which principles are propagated. Today the Progressives so-called de- nounce the “propaganda” of the con- servatives, who they say are the mere mouthpieces of the big “Interests.” They do not credit the conservatives with a desire for the public good, nor do they admit that the conservatives have a legitimate right to their own opinions. The conservatives, on the other hand, denounce the Progressives as ‘“dema- gogues,” and decry the Progressive “propaganda” designed to put the Pro- gressives in power, and in the opinion of the conservatives, to bring the coun- try to ruin, The national committees of the two major political parties have equipped themselves with expensive publicity bu- reaus. A publicity bureau, like an Army or a Navy, must be used, must be given a chance to be heard and to have its work observed, or the publicity bureau soon becomes outworn. The Progressive group, responsible for the recent Pro- gressive Conference here, is not without its publicity resources. It, too, will function during the coming year almost as frequently as will the publicity bu- reaus of the G. O. P. and the Demo- cratic party. If out of this mass of publicity or propaganda, which is to be thrown upon the American public by the ton, some grains of truth are obtained, probably the efforts of the publicity bureaus will not have been in vain, The people may have a terrible task separating the truth from the whole mass of statements and counter statements now about to be hurled into space. But there seems to be no way to limit the production of these bureaus. And in the great mass of their production will not be found one atom of tolerance. Each will de- clare the virtue of its own “proper gander,” and denounce that of the op- position. ———— Partisan politics reveals the tendency furnish park purchase and development revenues in Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties, is expected to be passed at this session. Its passage would constitute one of the most im- portant and progressive steps yet tak~n | to assure the development of the metropolitan area along the lizes laid down by the planners, and would do more than anything else to increase the value, for residential purposes, of the already attractive and popular Mary- land suburbs. So far there have been no commit- ments from either Maryland or Vir- ginia that would warrant the advance of the PFederal loans provided in the Capper-Cramton park law for the pur- chase of park lands outside the boundaries of the District. The bill be- fore the Maryland Legislature is the first guarantee from Maryland that it would accept and repay, under the terms of the Capper-Cramton law, the interest-free loans, money for which is now available in the Treasury for im- mediate use. The bill provides that Montgomery County may bond itself for $1,200,000; Prince Georges County, if the county commissioners approve, for $800,000, but the bonds need not be issued nor any interest paid until 1940. In the meantime, should the bill be enacted, the Federal Government will make immediately available the two- thirds contribution expected from the counties, to be covered by the subse- quent issue of bonds, and, in addition, its own contribution of athird. If the State of Maryland appropriated an ad- ditional $1,000,000 as its part of the cost, & total fund of $4,500,000 would be available for the purchase and de- velopment of land for parks. Proponents of the bill, who are in the majority, believe that in the eight years intervening between now and the time the counties would issue their bends the assessment base in the metropolitan area would be at least doubled. That is based upon a predic- tion of growing property values, to which park development would of course contribute, and upon an esti- mated growth of population. The higher assessment base would permit of a lower taxation burden spread among the communities benefiting by the im- provements. There is some d.fference | of opinion as to the extent of this growth in property values, but the rapid development of the Maryland suburban area in the last ten years is an indication of the growth expected in the next decade. The trend of popula- tion movement is from the city to the suburbs, and this trend will be more, not less, marked in the next few years. Maryland's policy of home rule ac- counts for a difference between the terms of the bill as they apply to Montgomery and Prince Georges Coun- tles. In the case of Montgomery the loan is authorized, without strings tied to it. In Prince Georges the acceptance of the loan depends upon the approval of the county commissioners. Their attitude now is doubtful. But Prince Georges’ holding back will mean the county’s loss. When the possibilities of park development are realized by the taxpayers, there should be no hesitancy in going forward with projects that will fully repay the initial investment. D Ohio has been called the mother of Presidents. There are favorite sons from other States who hope there will be a change that will prevent them children. - “Propaganda.” With the Congress in adjournment, and with the national campaign only the publicity bureaus of the national political parties, the publicity bureaus of wet and dry organizations, of farm organizations and scores of other na- tional organizations which have axes to grind are unlimbering. The number of interviews on all kinds of subjects hav- ing, it is supposed, a public interest will run into the hundreds of thousands. | The public press, the radio and the screen will be called into service to spread the doctrines of this group and that. The party or the group which spon- sors statements, interviews and speeches dealing with public issues in accordance with the views of that party or group will proclaim the mass of material thus set free a “campaign of education.” The opposing party or groups will dismiss it as “propaganda.” In days long past propaganda was an organization to put from feeling a little like neglected step- | a matter of a year and a half away,; of questions of alcoholic thirst to depart from the old consideration of individual morals and to arrange themselves in accordance with certain patterns of geographic alignment. —————— A million-dollar gem theft calls at- tention to the fact that Florida has progressed to a point where some of its most remarkable values are no longer measured solely by real estate. ———— e With so many presidential band wagons available, the presidential aspir- ant is likely to be confused by strange chauffeurs whose intentions may be merely “to take him for a ride.” Matrimony is more successful when a charming bride does not decide to trans- fer her interest from curling irons to shooting irons. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Life Beautiful. A lady shot her husband dear. A husband shot his wife. And all the wondering crowd drew near And said, “How strange is life!” A lady ran away and left Her husband far behind. A husband's wife is now bereft Because he changed his mind. Now every week and every day Brings forth assurance sad That human nature has a way Of going to the bad. In spite of much that's surely wrong, ‘The poet keeps his pull; And still he sings his little song— “Is not life beautif Leadership. “What you should do is to assert yourself as a leader in affairs.” “I'm a little discouraged about that line of glory,” answered Senator Sorghum. “By whom?” “By my wife. She scoffs at the idea of my being a great leader in anythin, She says I don't even know how to lead in a card game.” Jud Tunkins says his idea of an easy job is to be game warden in one of these counties where there isn’t any game left. Liquid Luggage. The trunk inspector with a troubled mind Exclaimed, “What fills my intellect with care Is that while I with ease locate the key, I cannot find the corkscrew any- where.” Fortunate. “You have been exceedingly fortunate with the stock market.” “I have,” admitted Mr. Dustin Stax. “I was fortunate in inheriting a fortune and I have never speculated with a cent of it.” “An idol can confer good luck in these irreverent days,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “only in case it is suffi- ciently rare to command a high price from a museum.” Hindrance to Growth. The farmer, in bad shape About his seeds, Remarked that this red tape Is worse than weeds. ! “De smartest man in dis neighbor- hood,” sald Uncle Eben, “don't have much to say 'bout politics. He claims dat a year or so after election a heap o’ folks claims dey voted wrong; an’ what's de use takin’ de 'sponsibility?” —— v H Walkies Not Talkies. { Prom the Charlotte News. | Charlie Chaplin refuses to make talk- ing moving pictures. The public might ! ada a touch of novelty, however, by re- ferring to the Chaplin comedies as the walkies. R The Key To Situation. From the Port Wayne News-Sentinel. Up at Michigan, none of the fr ternity keys seems to fit the prohibition padlocks. T Supremacy of Man. From the Akron Beacon Journa! Woman may be man’s equal in many ways, but she can't read on placidly while the phone continues to ring. — et Poetry by the Car. From the Hamilton (Ohio) Evening Journsl. Britisher who says America has no poets never studied the names of our sleeping cars. forward certain principles, whether of Government or some other form of hu~ became propagated by sn R Harvest Time Is Always. Jourpal. crop nowldgvn eonsists of pedestrians SUNDAY STAR WASHINGTON, ARCH 15, A POOR EXCHANGE BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D, LL. D, Bishop of A Poor Exchange. “For my ple have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” ~—Jeremiah i.13. ‘What an age this is for substitutes! On every hand we are bidden to ex- change the old for the new. We change our conventions and our habits and practices as readily as we change our fgshions. Let some modern teach- er with a novel theory of life present it in an engaging way and immediately he draws to his side a group of curious men and women. We are not unlike those Athenians of whom the apostle spoke, who are ever running about seeking to find some new thing. No matter how long tried and tested and proved the theories of life may be, there is always some one with a later and a more fantastic scheme. It is age of substitutes. No one wishes to stop the wheels of progress or to halt the forward move- ment of the race, and there are doubt- less newer and better ways to be dis- closed as the world progresses. Not- withstanding this, we need to be re- minded that there are some old and tested ways that, unlike the timetable, are not “subject to change.” There are some things that concern our do- mestic, social, economic and religious life that have reasonable fixity. It is pretty hard to improve on the old, wholesome ways that conserve the fine and high things of home life. It may be that the new ideas concerning the upbris of children have meas- urable ue. We are being told that it is impossible to maintain the ideals of home life that some of us of an older generation have come to regard as constituting the genesis of every- thing we have attained or accom- plished. Behaviorism, which is seeking to effect a new cult, would remind us that our whole habit in life is gov- erned by impulses and that rules and ideals are old-fashioned and out of place. We can readily see where this dictum would land us in our intimate domestic relations, so far as the de- cencies and time-honored conventions of social practice are concerned. An- Washington. other school would have us believe that self-expression must be regarded as the determining factor. In such a conception there are no improprieties and hence no amenities. The libertine stands on the same level with the vir- tuous and the only sine qua non of fitness is a modicum of respectability and culture. So far as religious con- cepts and theories are concerned, the ultra-modernist would have us believe that the old ways and practices of devotional life and spiritual -culture have been dispensed with and ereeds and formularies that constituted the stron{\ bulwarks of character in the past have been abrogated. There is a reversion to the old poet’s dictum, “For modes of faith, let gracelets zealots fight; His can't be wrong whose life is in the right.” Such a conception means forsaking the old foundations whence for count- less generations men have drawn their strength and refreshment and ubstituting therefor fragile manmade systems that disintegrate with the pass- ing of time. It is reasonable to think that in some respects we have a finer understanding of the ancient words of Holy Writ than we once had, and we are beginning to appraise at a higher value thedlowinl words of the great Master, this is to our advantage, but it is a dangerous business for our social order to be off with the old and on with the new to such an extent as to believe that we can abandon those time-honored ways and practices that find their authority and inspiration, not only in the sublime teachings of the Bible, but in the experience of men through countless generations. The ethics of the New Testament are as indispensable to our well-being today as Lhedv were to the generations that lived and died by them. Modern agencles and mechanisms may have greatly ac- celerated the movement of life and lent to it a charm and fascination that is irresistible, but when it comes to those matters that concern the making and stabilizing of character we are com- pelled to turn to the ancient cisterns whence we draw those living waters that afford us refreshment and renewal. Prgressives’ Economic Council Plan Seen Their Most Vital Act BY WILLIAM HARD. ‘The most vital thing that emerged from the Progressive Conference here last week is thought by many to be found in a certain sentence in the re- port made to the conference by its Com- mittee on Unemployment and Industrial Stabilization, headed by Senator La Follette of Wisconsin. This sentence has to be considered in connection with certain projects already undertaken here by the American Engineering Council and the United States Chamber of Commerce. The sentence is: “In weighing the contributing factors that are responsible for the present de- pression and that under present con- tinuing conditions will repeat this de- fon in the future, it is the com- mittee’s conclusion that the only sound approach to the problem of unemploy- ment and industrial instability is the creation of the necessary public ma- chinery of planning and control.” To carry forward the intention of this sentence Senator La Follette's committee will appoint a subcommittee to study “the problems involved in planning for stabilized industry.” The subcommittee presumably will suggest legislation for consideration in the next Congress. This lTsllMon might be a development of & bill introduced by Senator La Follette in the last Congress for the establish- ment of a “National Economic Council.” Senator La Follette is thus on a trail which in very different ways the Ameri- can Engineering Council and the United States Chamber of Commerce are al- ready also following. Last week in New York Julius H. Barnes, chairman of the Board of Di- rectors of the United States Chamber of Commerce, inaugurated a “Business Balance Committee” under the cham- ber's auspices. The chairman of the committee will be Henry I. Harriman, chairman of the board of the New Eng- land Power Association of Boston. Other members of the committee will be Willis H. Booth, vice president of the Guaranty Trust Co. of New York City; P. W. Litchfield, president of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. of Akron, Ohio; Paul Shoup, president of the Southern Pacific Railway Co. of San Francisco, and Walter J. Kohler, presi- dent of the Kohler Co. of Kohler, Wis., and Ex-Governor of Wisconsin. ‘The function of this committee will be precisely to stimulate private in- dustry to accomplish for itself by its own efforts the things which Senator La Follette might otherwise press upon industry through a publicly govern- mentally appointed “National Economic Council.” Under Senator La Follette’s bill his “National Economic Council” of 15 mem- bers, appointed by the President upon recommendation by industrial and financial and agricultural and trans- portational and labor elements, would have the following duties: To keep advised regarding general economic conditions and problems. To formulate proposals looking to the solution of such problems. To submit those proposals to the President and to the Congress. This is in line substantially in some ways with another bill which was in- troduced by Senator La Follette's col- league, Senator Blaine of Wisconsin, for the establishment of a “Federal in- dustrial commission.” This latter bill was drafted and is being pushed by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, which has a long record of legislation successfully mpu into enactment. Under th bills a governmentally appointed body would intervene by its recom- mendations into the general conduct of business and would presumably en- deavor to make that conduct less dis- orderly and chaotic and more collective and controlled. Against this prospect Mr. Barnes of the United States Chamber of Com- merce lifts a warning hand, but he lifts 1t only to urge private business to hurry forward toward the same goal of or- ganized collective responsibility and to get there first. On the very day when the Progressive Conference assembled here in Washington Mr. Barnes in New York was saying to his new “Business Balance Committee”: “Manifestly the quickest method to restore the orderly living of innumer- able wage earners would be to make them assured of their continued future and employment and possessed of some regular current income. Manifestly, as well, if the great forces in industry are hesitant because of a distrust of Gov- ernment, the immediate remedy would be to show that there are other ways to make remedies effective than by ap- pealing to law and public authority.” Mr. Barnes went on specifically to suggest: “We find that, fortunately, America has developed, as nowhere else in the world, great national trade assoclations for mutual counsel and common action. Such associations, spreading their risks throughout an entire web of Nation- wide units, could contemplate making assurances of employment too large to be faced by the individual units of an industry alone. Certainly, if great trade associations could make effective such assurances of continuity of earning power as would lift the fear of unem- ployment from at least the armies of men in the key industries of America, they would rightfully establish them- selves in public confidence.” In other words, Mr. Barnes is shoot- ing with two barrels at a double ob- Jective, as follows: In order to escape from the ntalized “unem- would install 'mployment as- surance. 2. In order to escape from the pros- 't of governmentalized organizings of iness into collective responsible groups, he would take the groups al- ready existing—namely, the trade asso- clations—and would have them perform overcome some of the suspicion now di- rected at them and would help to get D pproval for their trade prac- tices. By the time the next Congress con- venes there should be a considerable race in between Mr. Barnes’ “Business lance Committee” Senator La Follette's subcommittee for studying “the problems involved in planning for stabilized industry.” Meanwhile the American Engineer- ing Council is promoting a series of studies on the topic of “Balance. of these is on the “balance” should exist between ‘“man power” on | the one hand and roduction and | distribution demands” on the other. These studies are likely to have a per- suasive influence upon legislation in view of the fact t the American neering Council is a clearing house of thought on public affairs for some 60,000 engineers of high standing in numerous national specialized engineer- the Ammm: and ltmmenun Institute of trical eers. The American Engineering Council has let it be known that it supposes that out of such studles as it is now un there would ultimately de- velop an “economic council” or “in- dustrial strategy board” of some sort. It not indicated whether in its opifion such a council or board should be lodged in the Government or in wholly private hands. Some I g engineers think that the council or board should grow out of public and private enterprise both. It is beginning to be believed here that this depression in business will have for the United States its great- est historical importance in the impetus which it will have given to business co-operation and integration for pro- ducing continuity of employment and of prosperity. (Copyright, 1831.) Wheat Seen Drawing Europe Into Union BY HARDEN COLFAX. What Premier Briand of France has not yet been able to do politically—that is, bring about a United States of Eu- 0 wheat has begun to do economi- T}l:mt is what observers here see as the chief significance of the propbsed world-wide agreement on grain pre- sented last week to the representatives of some 24 countries now meeting in Paris. ‘The immediate object of the gather- ing at Paris is to try to find a way of disposing of the huge excess of wheat and other grains now in the storehouses of the five principal producing states of Eastern Europe, Poland, Rumania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Jugoslavia. ‘This desire was referred to by Andre Francols-Poncet, the French economist presiding over the conference, as a de- velopment of great importance to any movement for European union, since it marks the beginning of a new kind of collaboration. In spite of the fact that Europe as a whole does not produce enough wheat for her own needs, there are huge sur- pluses of wheat and other grains in the storehouses of the flve countries men- tioned. Something, obviously, must be done to adjust production to ccnsump- tion. The delegates at Paris, tnerefore, seek to bring about some arrangement by which the countries of Westero Europé which export manufactured goods can ald the Eastern peoples and relieve them of their surplus grain in exchange for manufactured articles. ‘The United Kingdom holds aloof from any agreement looking toward curtail- ment, because she is not willing to les- sen purchases from her own dominions. Several of these countries depend upon the export of grain for the maintenance of their trade balances. Unless they have ready money, they cannot buy the manufactured goods of the countries which need to sell and which, at the same time, need the grain which their Eastern neighbors desire to get rid of. ‘The question of price is a vital one and wheat from the Danubian countries is still high. In the Paris discussions it has been agreed that, unless such prices are reduced, the wheat imperters of ‘Western Europe probably will stick to their old sources of supply—Canada, Argentina and the United States. They may, moreover, take advantage of the same quality but lower-priced Russian product. As a matter of fact, during the first few days of March, shipments of Russian wheat and oats, by way of the Danube, arrived in Vienna. The matter is one of ever-widening concern. Several European countries, notably France, have established by law certain contingents—prescribing the ex- act proportion of foreign wheat which may be used in baking. Some exclude foreign wheat entirely. Only last week, Mexico, which has enough for her own needs, put an embargo on all wheat from abroad. ‘The Paris conference, which after general sessions is acting through com- mittees, agreed that. without the pro- ducing states overseas, no permanent solution of Europe’s grain problem can be reached. Hence the plans for an- other inf wi ‘conference, to | A Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. Uncle Sam, through various Govern- ment agencles, is endeavoring to pro- tect the American people from becom- ing gullible victims of financial sharp- shooters. For example, the Post Office Department for many years has had as one of the important branches of its work an entire bureau devoted to detection and denying the use of the mails to hundreds of concerns endeav- oring to defraud the public. Another such protective agency is the Food and Drug Division of the United States Department of Agriculture, and a third is tne Federal Trade Commis- sion. In fact, almost every department or bureau of the Federal Government is vigilant every day in the year to pre- vent the investing, the purchasing, the consuming and the ailing public from being duped. . ‘The letter files of nearly every mem- ber of C contain many letters from constituents who have been “stung” or who have been fortunate enough to dodge the wiles and snares of the un- scrupulous fake advertisers. wEgik In their zeal to shield the health and well-being of the le, Government scientists are oftenfimes misunderstood and accused of taking the joy out of life or of not belngu sympathetic with the pleasures of childhood. For ex- ample, the great Department of Agri- culture, on the recommendation of some of its scientists, has just warned against “dangerous dolls.” Here is the explana- tion: Mexican dolls, like American dolls, are supposed to be innocent, but when they are made from the husks and silk from Mexican corn, they may be & source of danger to the agriculture of the United States. Plant quarantine inspectors of the Federal department, charged with preventing the entry from Mexico of borers and other pests of the corn plant, recently examined a doll found in hand luggage about to cross the border into the United States. Al- a social service which, he hopes, would | the though they found no borer in the doll's husk skirts or silk hair, they did find a fungus that causes the brown spot dis- ease of corn. This disease is ject of plants from Southeastern Asia and the adjacent islands. * ok ok * One of the “innovations” recently set urb!cmnulwuwmuumu!wuu old custom of setting apart some par- ticular day for memorial exercises at ‘which some particular deceased member ‘would be euln’ued. and having such memorial days frequently occurring, the new custom of having a joint memorial service in commemoration of all the members who die during a session. Then, in addition to the definitely ar- ranged program for such memorial cx- ercises, each member is allowed the privilege of “extending” his remarks in e Record to say what his heart prompts about any col e. ‘There has just been printed a spe- cial issue of the Congressional Record which contains the report of the “me- morial exercises” on Thursday, February 19, commemoration of Senators Overman, North Carolina, and Greene, Vermont, and Representatives Porter, | the Pennsylvania; Lampert, Wisconsin; Kless, Pennsylvania; Stedman, North Carolina; Hammer, North Carolin: Curry, California; Wingo, Arkansas Quayle, New York, and O’Connell, New York. Included in this program is the brief official tribute penned by William ‘Tyler Page, clerk of the House, and the set addresses made by chosen speakers from each of the States which had lost & member by death, This special Rec- ord contains also more than 100 speech- es of various lengths prepared by appre- clative colleagues. For any one interested in this sort of literature the Record of Friday, March 13, is well worth preserving. ik ie One of the new statues of famous enerals who hold a high place in the !u.twry of this Nation, which it is ex- pected will be placed ltfluflulghiln the Capital City development wil the mmw that it may be a feature of the Washington Bicentennial celebration and inspire the countless tomorrow: Colonies at beginning of the War of Independence. It is proposed that this monument shall be Lfllmd in a special reservation facing the American Uni- versity. Representative Robert Luce of Massa- chusetts, chairman of the House Com- mittee on the Library, which has juris- diction over such monuments, has been trying for several years to get this mon- ument properly pl 5 e Bicenten- nial year of 1932 is considered especially appropriate since Gen. Artemas Ward not only was first to command the Rev- olutionary Army, but was second to Washington, served usefully in the Continental Congress and two of our earliest Federal Congresses and gave the active years of his life to the serv- ice of his country. Representative Luce has several times made stirring statements to his col- leagues in Congress regarding the debt this Natlon owes to Gen. Ward. A colonel of Massachusetts militia who had gained experience and won promo- tion in the Ticonderoga campaign against the French in 1758, he was removed by Gov. Bernard in 1766 because his course as a member of the General Court had led the Governor to think him too dan- gerous a man to hold such command. Eight years later, when the break with England was appro-ching, the officers of the regiment ew up their commissions and proceeded to organize independently, with Ward as colonel. The outcome was that when the Provincial Congress chose three general officers to command the militia in the event of its being called out by the Committee of Safety, Ward was named second of them, and as the man at the head of the list never acted, Ward led the army that gathered on the outbreak of hostilities. He was ill in bed when the express rider galloped through his town of Shrewsbury, Mass., in the central part of the State, with the news of Lexing- ton and Concord. But the next morn- ing at daybreak he mounted his horse and set out for Cambridge, where he at once took command, thenceforward con- ducting the siege of Boston until the arrival of Washington, a fortnight or so after the battle of Bunker Hill. The Continental Congress had chosen Washington for the supreme command. By the testimony of John Adams it is known that Ward was the choice of “the greatest number,” but his title to | hims first place was sacrificed by the New England statesmen to meet the over- whelming necessity of uniting the col- onles, Ward was elected to second place, that of first major general. As such he was put in charge of the right wing of the besieging forces, and di- rected the fortifying of Dorchester Heights, which led to the evacuation of Boston by the British and the transfer of the seat of war to the middle col- onies. A great-grandson of the same name left to Harvard College about $4,000,000 as a fund to be known as the Gen. ‘Ward memorial fund. Large discretion- ary powers were given as to the use of the income, but part of it was to be applied to suitable commemoration of the general as a devoted and faith- ful friend of his country. There are ‘memorials to him in Cambridge, as well as Shrewsbury, where the general lived and died, Representative Luce empha- sized, but the president and fellows of Harvard College deem it riate sub- | I another quarantine against | mal €OST OF CRIME AND DISEASE BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. If the cost to the American people of two phenomena of their civilliza~ tion could be saved, the amount of that cost for a single year would pay off the National debt with a healthy balance left over. These two phenom- ena_are crime and ease. ‘The question of the degree of pre- ventability of crime and disease is to debate. Some students hold it crime in many of its aspects is a natural and inevitable concomitant of modern civilization, while others de- clare that it is abnormal and is a mark of failure of civilization. There is, perhaps, more difference of opinion on the preventability of crime than of disease. Modern medical science, and especially the development of sanita- tion, seems to indicate that much dis- ease s preventable. The total cost of crime is practically incalculable. Crime has indirect ef- fects, reaching oftentimes far into the future. The immediate cost in damage to persons and property may be esti- mated, but no table has been compiled which can assess the full ultimate cost. m‘ it might be considered as Take the cost of murder, for example. A murderous assault may the life of some individual of tremendous potential value. There is difference of opinion concerning the tion of President Lincoln, for instance. Some dispassionate observers of his— career have suggested that the Great Emanci- pator achieved his test value as a symbol by ha off at the apparent zenith of his career. Another view is that had his life been spared the huge da: sulting from the mus saved. His leadership, would have resolved elements of the post-war days, fore- stalled the organization of the Ku Kiux Klan, prevented the wholesale confisca~ tion and often wanton destruction of property in the Southern States. No man can be certain that either !:thmau of the event is the true one. the population increases the vances, because the number of increases. Losses Through Dishonesty. Surety companies’ figures furnish one good index to the extent of losses aris- ing from financial crime. Such com- panies put up bonds for charged with financial re-Eoulbulty. Such persons include bank tellers, cash- fers, postmasters, fiduciaries, oying company pays. if the employe demlu or em- bezzles the surety company pays the loss up %o the amount covered in the contract. !‘requenhv.hy. mo.‘tl:‘;mmnnee company takes cl e of ecu- tion of the defantter, e Losses due to embezzlement run to $125,000,000 a year. Of course, there are many cases in which an employe other to be covered by a bond. These losses are not made up save where, on Pprosecution, it is ible to find con- cealed ts. assets. Straight frauds in general business areof a wide variety of Stock frauds are most numerous in the United States and entail the largest losses in terms of money. The total volume of blue sky stocks soid to gullible investors varies from year to year. In prosperous years, when the ple are fully eme ployed and when farm prices are good, much larger sales are made. The Amer- ican seems to be more susceptible to the wiles of a glib-tongued stock salesman than the Eeople of other nations. Prob- ably this is due to the fact that Ameri- cans have more spare money. Anojher cause is the characteristic desir® of Americans to get rich quick. Then, too, Americans are noted for their gambling spirit, their willingness to take a chance. Cost of Fraud Appalling. Whatever the cause, in some years sales of worthless or nearly worthless securities reach as high as $500,000,000. Oil stocks probably have made up the bulk of these securities. Merchandise frauds of various types account for close to $500,000,000. Next come credit frauds. They amount to $265,000,000 a year, according to returns from the surety companies. American dealers in merchandise are notably quick to grant credit to pective cus~ tomers and, inevitably, fraud creeps in. A dishonest man will set himself “E,m business with a stock in trade obtained wholly on credit. He will make a quick turnover and disappear. he will po! of blue sky oll stock makes a better profit and usually a cleaner get-away than the safe-blower. Insurance frauds are numerous. They intrusted with funds is not covered by | the insurance of this type. ip em- bezzlements are numerous and it is the exception for one partner to require an- Fifty Years Ago In The Star Half a century ago the subject of civil service reform was one of impor- Givil Servioe B the ol of the District. Reform Needed. 3. §¥ Q=F%: March 11, 1881, The Star has the fol- 50 1t fithed in s counizy e accom S e a subject of ridicule. Party platforms have year after year contained stereotyped of ;’n l’Efon}I’ tl%‘ — s aspiring ians have played upon reform wu;h;“ mlvt in ‘E pealing ple for support. the n:lsv.v phu.peghe bonur.preio!'mli tice. plainly defined, French Middle Class Threatened by Crisis BY G. H. ARCHAMBAULT. PARIS, March 14.—At a time when infl of Andre Tardieu, pledges the civil service, and |lem means honest capacity and honesty as | tution. to a public position and a tenure of office as long as these quall cations continue. This is de as a colonial power. It kpt.i:e bourgeois who created that Prench Empire to by him, they re! that if, in ics, he him more efficient service whom he had appointed to effice, latter must be removed and the more useful man put in his place. “The system of civil service is the only one that offers an: worthy of imitation, and such real ef- forts at reform as have made in this country have been based upon that . In England entrance to the civil service is through competitive examination, and promotion is also based upon” examination of the offi- clals of the lower grades for their fit- ness to the higher grade. “It is maintaine that the intro- duction of this or, if it.can be devised, some other system of practical reform depends upon Congress; that Congress represents the people and makes the laws. As long as Con fails to take action upon this subject it must be inferred that the prevailing senti- ment is in favor of the system now in operation, established in the Jack- sonian era, that ‘To the victor belong the spoils.” “Practical and thorough civil service reform would open the way to Govern- ment office to men of all politics; the man who in the examination of a class. for appointment to an office proved f best fitted for it 'ourd get ‘,xg]rovlded his character was , regardless of his politics. It has been demonstrated that neither of the o establien practical retormm besed upon esf practical reform upon law. During the it 10 years ot Rervubllclm and Democrats have con- trolled Congress, and though the sub- Jecs o‘rh nlormuhnlmbeen freely and the usual p! of part; Elnt— forms have been made rogu.hrpl‘y ifil years, neither y has put its prom- ises into the ding form of law. The Democrats while in possession of legislative c:_:mnmcnt of the Govern- ment natu looked forward with hope to the time when they would control the executive department also, and '.hfl were unwilling to bar the way to the green pastures of patronage with an act of Congress. The Re- ublicans when controlling Congress ad also the Executive, and a civil service law would have cut off Aapprop! that a statue should be erected in_the | den National Capital, and out of the Gen. Artemas Ward memorial fund it will be paid for, with no expense whatever to the United States Government, which his services mad 2 e possible. be held in Rome on March 26, under the auspices of the International In- stitute of Agriculture, to which Canada and Argentina delegates and at which the United States has been urged to have a repre- sentative. (Copyright, 1981y = %y e _expected to und' Ooa!'nu to the importance of the civil service above the level of politics and indicated his entire willingness to approve a law to accom- runiiy. A maTked provement in oppo! y. A marl provement, the civil service has, however, been made in several ents, notably the Interior, and all les speak of the York City post. as conducted upof business, or refofm, principles under the, present ter General. It is it civil service reform may m n ent in way in the dif Government, but/ Perhaps the | America was hatched a himself is a leading ex- ample of the bourgeols who have made France, the class that bought ites as a matter of and civic flutfiflnt mas its investments, governed the common weal. In a trial a few days ago in Paris & bourgeois witness, reputed to be wealthy, remarked, “Most of my possessions ha: dwindled and are d steadily,’ to which the bourgeois jus replied, ith all of us to- 'd‘m'. is the case wif y Statesmen do not conceal the fact that this question is musmfmthem great con- cern, as it is of vital importance to the future of the nation. Of the three great estates that existed when democracy began to become ‘a power in this coun- try, the nobility has gone—it retains its titles, but they are empty titles—and the clergy has been disestablished. The third estate, the bourgeois, for many years was the great support of the re- gime. Now it is going, removing that all-importan! ediate stage be- g It eed o need many cabinet meetings to deal with the problem. (Copyright, 1931.) ‘The Understanding Heart. From the Hartford Daily Times. ‘That judge who says a golfer needn’t yell “Fore! ymblblg knows how it feels to knock a grounder with everybody For. Benefit of Royalty. From the Boston Evening Transcript. that new revoluu'? in !oufi Prince of Wales and brother the familiar sights of that eonfln‘:.t.d ———— Just Recreation. From the Altoons Mirror. Italy has adopted base ball as one of its natlonal sports. It seems impossible that Mll-onm ini will be able to umpire es. their all the ——eemeeiis Words Means Only Dollars. From the Akron Beacon Journal. To the masculine eye the chief dif- ference seems to be that a dress costs $9.98, a frock z_u.u and a gown $185. A Time Saver. Wrom the St. Louls Times. President Hoover it find it con- ::gent to get up An:mhnurd form for Dn-u:’t:f the "f}""‘f’”"" by Con- gmmm'n." 3 i 4