Evening Star Newspaper, March 27, 1931, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY.........March 27, 1831| 1 THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor | The Evening Star Newspaper Company Busingss OMce: 85, Ave, uropean Office: l chigan ’gflug‘nl. cnt .. Londos: Rate by Carrier Withim the City. 4" Buaday diart 07 o0 ... 60¢ per month y [ lock. Yesterday's Police Court escape Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. {ly and Sun: Bl nt All Other States and Canada. Datls and Sund; B y only Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Associnted Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all dis- atches eredite it or not utherwise cred- in_ this paper and also the local news published herein All rizhts of publication of special dispaiches herein sre also reserved. — = = The Plight of the Car Lines. ‘The able executives of the street car eorporations can always be counted upon to furnish convincing testimony regarding the bleak outlook confront- ing their lines. They are experts in the art of describing hair shiris and pointing to what is commonly known as the brink of disaster. The state- ment from the Capital Traction Co. replying to the Public Utilities Com- mission’s suggestion that other meth- ods than boosting fares might be tried to scotch dwindling revenues is a case in point. The Capital Traction Co., with skiliful marshaling of facts and figures, declares that higher fares have not caused diminished patronage, but that the blame rests on such factors as taxicab competition, industrial de- pression, low school fares and other conditions that are not confined to Washington, but have made themselves felt on the street car industry as a ‘whole, ‘These facts are doubtless true. It is also true that the street ear companies in ‘Washington have never shown any great interest in any method of staving off ruin except the kpedient of boosting fares. The loss of patronage, whatever causes it, is the wolf on the doorstep of the car lines today. But back In 1918, when Washington was jammed with war workers and the strest cars were so smothered with riders that Senator Norris was advocating removal of seats as unnecessary obstacles to straphangers, there was another but as oitiful & story as we hear 'today. At that time the street cars were on the brink of disaster because of higher operating costs. Wages had| been raised, materials were scarce and costly and steel was welded into shells, bombs and battleships, instead of into plows and ralls. The companies were asking for a straight five-cent fare as an emergent rescue device and solemnly sbjuring the Public Uf ‘Commission not to get their petition for higher fares mixed up with such fantastic proposals as universal transfers, which was s bridge that could be crossed when it was reached. They got their five-cent fare and the Public Utilities Commission ex- pressed the pleasant thought that it ‘would serve to increase revenues, and permit the companies to improve service and possibly grant free transfers. But it did not. Soon the car lines were back again, with figures drenched in tears mcre bitter than those which bathed their petitions the year before. Higher operating costs had been met eonly partially by the latest fare boost and, of course, the matter of Iree| transfers was so absurd that it could not be discussed in any gathering of intelligent men. This time the peti- tions were based in part on the fact that the flood of war workers, which had placed such a strain on the oper- ating costs, was receding. Population data were discussed at length. The five-cent fare was wholly inadequate. Another emergency must be met and st once and by the only method known to man, which is to raise the fare. If it has not been increased operating costs, it has been lack of patronage. If it has not been lack of patronage, it has been something else. And at no time have the companies been willing to threaten the success of their nicely worded higher fare petitions by such extraneous discussions as merger of the lines, universal transfers, zone systems or other methods that might attract more customers. “The sad thing about the polemical discussion between the Public Utllities Commission and the street car cor- porations is that it promises to '"I nowhere. Both sides are right, in their arguments and their figures. But what 1s going to be the end of it? To blame | the taxicabs for loss of patronage is! perfectly natural, but nobody ever pald ' much attention to the walls of the buggy manufacturers when automo- blles increased. The street car lines have new conditions to face, and noth- ing is to be galned from crying about them. They are either going forward, ! r they are going out. If they are los- | ing popularity, they will not increase | it by making the service more expen- | sive. Every time the fare ls raised,! the gap seems to widen between what' they need and what taey get. Throw- ing more pennles into the cash box 1s throwing good money after bad. No- body seen.: to profit. The street car conipaniss know how to fight. They have won many a good battle for higher fares. ‘Such energy directed into the unexplored field of popularizing street car service ought to show results. If it does not, the car companies will soon be writing vale- dictories, instead of petitions for higher fare. ———— ‘When novelists quarrel they are likely to show more talent for vigorous dia- logue than is disclosed in their books, — o e The Way to Freedom. The old adage about locking the stable door after the horse is stolen will probably apply to the Police Court, ‘where doubtless strict orders are now in force to insure the secure fastening of lJocks on cell doors, the need of which was demonstrated yesterday when s prisoner awaiting trial for a second charge after having been convicted on ane count turned the knob of the door | Secondly, 'and Austria, America stands only to and walked out of the pen in which he was being held. This has happened be- { fore. Escapes have occurred in eircum- stances of similar laxity on past occa- sions. 1In police stations, as well as in the court and in prisons also, safe- guards against escape have been weak- ened and persons accused of crime and misconduct have vanished. Some of them have never been recaptured. In one case, in this city, a highly im- portant prisoner, wanted in other cities as well as held here for a grave crime, got away through some mysterious means. Bribery was suspected, but never clearly proved. However, it might have béen a case of & poorly managed was fortunately soon followed by the recapture of the fugitive. But that does not lessen the gravity of the of- fense committed by some one responsi- ble for the safekeeping of prisoners in the failure to secure the cell door. The hope is that some system of checking, and even double checking, will be adopted to insure that the door lockers actually lock the doors when they close them upon persons held for trial or awaiting transfer to jail. —_— rae—————— Killer Burke in the Toils. If the law is as slow in punishing as it has been in catching Fred Burke, the killer, who was captured yesterday in Missouri after & long hunt, he will sur- vive many of those who have for the past eight years been searching for him. ‘Taken at the point of a gun as he lay in bed in a farm house where he has been in hiding for several months, he expressed relief when he found that his captors were 8fficers and not gangsters come “to take him for a ride” in re- venge. He also declared his perfect willingness to return to Chicago for trial. The suggestion that he is confi- dent of escaping penalty at the hands of the law does not arise from any doubt of his identity, for he has been positively recognized and indeed he freely admits that he is the man who has been sought. It is just a reflex of the public disbelief in the effectiveness of judicisl procedure in these times. Many charges are pending against Burke, in several cities. Detroit, Cad- fllac, Mich.; Toledo, Peru, Ind.; Jeffer- son, Wis; Chicago, Louisville, St. Joseph, Mo., all want him for murder. They and other cities also want him for Tobberles. 1In the present situation | Chjcago will probably have the call for | the killer, on the score of the so-called St. Valentine day murders in that city, the slaying of seven gangsters by ma- chine gun fire in a garage. This has been definitely accredited to Burke through the discovery of the weapon used, which has been traced to his own- ership. Should that charge fail there are the others that could be pressed with virtual certainty of conviction, for, as in the slaying of & policeman at St. Joseph, the killer was positively identi- fled. ‘This man is an abnormality, yet there is not the least suggestion of mania in his case. He is just a cold-blooded brute, utterly unmoral, ruthless; one of the most dangerous men, indeed, the country has known. A lust for slaughter seems to have marked his course. The Chicago gang massacre was typical of this trait. killing of the St. Joseph policeman an instance. In this Burke has been somewhat less than the great criminal, such as some of the highwaymen of the past, who never took life but relied upon their skill and wit to effect escape. With Burke the gun served as his first aid in any dim- culty. It is to be hoped that there will be swift and sure justice in this case. A protracted trial would be prejudicial to the public security, while a mistrial or an acquittal would be a calamity, - ——— Not only have the astronomers pointed out that Spring is here, but the base ball fans have demonstrated the en- thusiasm which is one of the unmis- takable signs of the season. The song of the base ball fan is really more re- liable as an indication than that of the early robin. ‘Washington, D. C., will reorganize its police force. One of the best-behaved cities in the world, this Nation's Capital will not be content to rest on present attainment, but will continue to strive for further improvement. America and Customs Union. Becretary Stimson is turning the State Department X-rays on the pro- posed Austro-German customs union, Students of the proposition, be it noted In passing, are not yet confronted by an accomplished fact. The two high contracting parties announce that a year of pre-readjustment of their re- spective tariffs to the contemplated free trade reciprocity will be neces- sary before it can come into effect. the arrangement, as now planned, is to be for three years only. ‘The United States Government, less interested than Europe in the po- litical implications of the Austro-Ger- man scheme, is concerned primarily with its purely commercial aspect. We have a most-favored-nation tariff treaty with Germany. A similar con- vention with Austria remains un- validated because Vienna has not rati- fled it. Secretary Stimson intends to assure himself that nothing in the projected customs Zweibund prejudices the rights guaranteed us under the treaty with Germany. On the face of things, as far as the world has been permitted to know them, there is no indication that these rights are in the | remotest jeopardy. If the deal results |in enhancing prosperity in Germany gain in those markets through re- | sultant Increase in their consuming ca- | pacity, It Austria sells sutomobiles, agricul- | tural machinery, textiles or whatnot to | Germany, and the Germans admit them | duty-free, then, ipso facto, American | automobiles, agricultural machinery and textiles would cross the Reich’s customs borders on precisely the same terms | Identical conditions would prevail with respect to our exports to Austria, pro- vided, as is probable, we eventually come to & most-favored-nation agree- ment with the emacisted remains of ' the Hapsburg empire that now consti- ! tute the Austrian state. The imports |of either German or Austrian goods {1t looks as if Berlin and Vienna had . THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. €, FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1931. jolned with the other nations of the world in urging the breaking down of arificlal and arbitrary tariff barriers that hamper the natural flow of trade. Europe’s five thousand miles of eco- nomic barbed wire were particularly in the conference's mind. Germany and Austria have taken a bold, dramatic initiative in converting theory into practice. They have, so to speak, called M. Briand’s bluff about & “United States of Europe,” whose fun- damental purpose was to effectuate com- monsense fiscal relations in the Old| World. Germany and Austria, in full | exercise of their sovereign rights, have elected to set Europe a concrete ex- ample. While foreign offices “over there” are busily exploring the possibil- ity that Berlin and Vienna may have, by the same token, paved the way to forbidden Anschluss, the fact cannot be blinked that it has fallen to the lot of the Central Powers to set the pace for European economic peace. “The water's fine. Come in!” they say to the rest of tariff-ridden Europe. If Europe does not come in, it is e: tremely likely to subject itself to the suspicion that its longings for customs understandings are purely platonic. From this remote transatlantic angle invited Europe to fish or cut bait, —_— . By dispensing with conversation Charlie Chaplin is credited with doing s great work in preserving the films from danger of an epidemic of bad elo- cution. He is welcomed with dignity and it may not be entirely beyond the hope of his artistic and literary sponsors to find him eventually elevated to the right to be known as “Sir Charles Chap- lin.” Imagination is not compelled to set any limitations in estimating the possibilities of so remarkable a career. e ‘Threats are said to have been made by Al Capone that he would go into politics. An impression has existed that one of the embarrassments inci- dental to some political areas lies in the fact that Al has already asserted him- self as a “big shot.” He could un- doubtedly command & show of enthu- siasm by allowing it to be understood that any one who failed to give three cheers when his name was mentioned might expect to be “put on the spot.” The career of Gandhl has developed rapidly. Almost immediately after hearing expressions of the fullest confi- dence, his people let him understand that he has a mutiny on his hands. India remains true to the descriptions often given of it as a mysterious land where great events take place suddenly. ———— Political rumors have quieted down, but matrimonial rumors continue to give this District of Columbia a social charm all its own, Both styles of gossip are often suspected of possessing an element of romantic fiction. ——— President Hoover will be back at work on Monday. Absence of Congress may make the old office grind seem a little easler than it was before he took his vacation trip. —de SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNBON. Modern Symonym. To “wisecrack” is & modern gift ‘Which will the weary soul uplift. In politics it plays & part, And also in dramatic art. The word was not in shape to quote When Solomon his proverbs wrote, Although he mightghave met the test And claimed to “wisecrack” with the best. ” ‘The Bard of Avon has seen fit To offer much in timely wit. All of the poets, now and then, “Wisecracked” to cheer their fellow men. | And even sclentists so grave Credit as humorists will crave. So let's be’géherous and take heart And hail “wisecracking” as an art! Rival Candidates. “How do you expect to convince the public that you are right in all your contentions?” “I don't expect to do anything of the answered Senator Sorghum. “It is years since I have been heralded out home as the peerless leader. Differences of opinion have become so bitter and estimates of character so low that of Jate I have merely had luck in being chosen as the less of two evils.” Jud Tunkins says to a good many folks 'most any place seems cheerful, so long as it ain't home, Science and Frivolity. My Radio! My Radio! You tell us things we ought to know. And yet the chaps who can be funny Are those who take the real money. Oh, how could Science let you grow 8o frivolous, my Radio! Josh the Genlus. “8o your boy Josh is a genius.” “I'm inclined to think s0,” answered FParmer Corntossel. “But geniuses seldom get rich or fa- mous while they live.” “Well, I'm afraid that's pretty much how it is goin’ to be with Josh.” “A woman who is unbsautiful,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “should not despair. Heaven has been generous in distributing through the world many men who are both well-to-do and near- sighted.” Anything for a Change. In framing traffic rules quite new, 1 really think The coppers’ ticket should be blue Instead of pink. “A balky mule,” said Uncle Eben, “has one advantage over a fllvver. When he picks a parkin' place, de police ain’ g'ineter move him till he gits ready.” et 'Grand Old Man"? From the Little Rock Arkansas Democrat. Whatever eise may have Leen bad about our editorfal tribute to Mr. Jus- tice Holmes, we didn't say he was “ninety years young." e Charon’s Little Helpers. Prom the New Bedford Evening Standard. People who know anything about vice conditions in New York hac better keep their mouths shut. The death rate into the United States are not affected, one way or the other, by the proposed customs union. At the Geneva Economic Conference of 1927, in which this country was ably represented by s delegation headed by Tpjs Dr, Julius Kleln, the United States Al them shows that in this field & little ledge is a dangerous thing. "o Double Conservation. Prom the Loulsville Courler-Journal, ‘The Connecticut Legislature jected & bill for an open season act of conservation nmulflh{a toward saving the lives of hun! w ¥ 1% far has re- on deer. ' national THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. Next to whanging your car into some- body else's car, the favorite Spring sport is to clean up the yard. ‘There are as many methods of raking the lawn as there are men to rake 'em. There are even more, as & matter of fact, for thousands of women take their ‘t’um at this necessary and pleasant uty. Few household chores are entered into with more spirit and gusto. Patching the cement driveway may be approached reluctantly, for no one can ever be sure whether the new con- crete will bind with the old. House painting, with s buckets of paint, its brushes, ladders, its possibili- ties of tumbles and resulting broken legs, is something to cause the unwary to be wary. * x % % Cleaning up the yard in the Spring, however, is an alt:gether delightful ac- tivity, if one does not rush the matter, and takes elementary precaution against the weather. Now is the appointed time. Early-bird gardeners, in fact, have completed the task; but those who have not yet done so will find many pleasant days waiting for them. There are, in the main, three classes of yard cleaners, those who “rush the season” with a vengeance, those who seize the first real davs of Spring, and those who put off the task until as late as_possible. i ‘The first have put up with rawly cold days, and just what their reward will be only they know. It ought to be, and one may trust that it will be, consider- able, for they have endured much. Yet the crocus has been in bloom for a month, and when the crocus blooms, an ambitious homeowner may begin to clean up the yard. It is questionable whether the grass seed he planted two or three weeks ago has taken the siightest step toward germination, but, on the other hand, n:thing ill has hap- penad to it: there it is in the ground, as there it has been for half a month, ready at all times, twenty-four hours & day, to receive the benign influences of slightly warmer air, sunshine, and rain. * x ok x ‘Those who seize the first real days of Spring are following the well known | Golden Mean, which enjoins modera- | tion on its followers. Moderation, in | yard cleaning, means to wait until now. | Now is the appointed time. One has not been ahead of the season, on the one hand, nor will one be behind it. One will be just right, alw | satisfactory feeling, in & world roughly to be divided into two great classes of | men, the sneerers and others. If one| is right, one will not always be sneered at, even by the best sneerers. Now there is a great satisfaction in that. Easily to go through the world, and, easily die—this is the great unspoken, unwritten wish of millions of human beings. They ask no more of life. Theirs is not the temperament of re- former or martyr. Such crowns as they may wear must come softly, and will be worn gently. He who cleans up the yard now will be scceptable to millions of his fel- low human beings who are doing the same thing at the same time. The fact that all are doing it gives each one strength of his convictions. He takes courage from the sight of his ne bor, moiling and toiling away at the accumulation of leaves and small | debris which clutters up shrubbery at the corners of the houses and by the fences, and hedges, and down In the small hollows. e * Although there is no time ltke the | present. any day between now and June will do. The grass will be grow- | ing beneath the leaves, below the Win- ter mulch, whether it is raked off or| TRACEWELL. not. ‘The blades will have a difficult time tp get through, in all likelihood, but they will appear. Neither time nor tide nor leaves can hold back the grass blades, once Nature starts them again’ on their upward course. The mystery of thelr progress is the mys- tery of life, which no man has an- swered, even after centuries of articu- e striving. Some think that the hy” of life should go into the dis- card, and that sclentific curiosity and determination should replace it. One may wonder. To know the “why” sscms to be justifiable; as long as man can wonder, he will wonder over life and living. and always his mind and heart will go back home to the jhsatiable uestion, Why? Surely he who suf- fers most of all created things, be- cause he knows, has a right to know this, in the end. * Kk X % ‘The simple pleasure of cleaning up the yard brings into play the simple virtues of the home. There is more of housekeeping in it than gardening, if one gets down to definition of terms. Gathering up the curious mulch is more truly sweeping than raking, and many homeowners are turnin called broom rakes. in whicl like sweeping motion replac drawing stroke of the hand rake. It is a curious and amazing aggre- gation of leaves, twigs, old blossoms and whatnot which the gardener rakes or _sweeps off his yard. The amount of it always astound3 im. Before he is fairly startad he has a pile of it large enough to mulch all the flower beds on his domain. ‘This valuable detritus mostly burned, whereas it had better is be saved, to be composted with a bit of | lime at Intervals, to be twrned by Na= ture’s chemistry into most valuable material, i * X ox X Old Winter mulches, placed on beds to keep in the Winter freezes (not to keep them out, as often supposed), need to be removed at this time, if the task has not already been done. It may be accomplished as a part of the yard-cleaning process. Pruning of rosebushas and certain other shrubs—yes, roses are shrubs, at bottom—is also a part of the yard< cleaning job, an essential part, one which should have been done ‘earlier in the month, but which is better done now than never. Many homeowners are afraid of the pruning shears, as’ well they may be, if they do not use elemetary cau- tion and if they will not go to the trouble to study their plants, ‘The elementary division of roses is easy—bushes, which should be prured back to not over a foot high, and climbers, which should not be pruned at all at this time. The former grow their blooms on new wood, whereas the climbers grow them on old. There- fore, if climbing roses are pruned now, the chances are that they will bear no roses at all. * x kA ‘This is a good time to look over the place, as a place, and to decide what changes shall be made, if any. The earlier one comes to a determination, the sooner it will be when the change becomes an accomplished fact. After all, a gardener must be a bit impatient; he must want to see ol7 , which he has decided shall bl turned back into grass, flourish as | Jawn. There is no particular pleasure in the halfway state, when they are neither flowers nor grass. To decide quickly, and to plant grass seed at once, in order to take ad- vantage of every day of growing weather, is to get & real jump on the season and to make yard cleaning something more than a mere raking of leaves. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Senator McNary, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, thinks there is a possibflity that drought re- lef may be an issue in Congress again next Winter. He hopes to be able to find out for sure by a personal inspec tion of the recently stricken areas. The Governors and Legislatures of several of the drought States have invited Mc- | Nary to tour those regions. As head of | the Senate committee charged with re- | lief measures, such as the $65,000,000 the Iate Congress appropriated, the Oregonian | believes he ought to look conditions in | the face. It is Senator McNary's pres- | ent intention to return to his own State | a little later in the Spring, through the Southwest, where the drought was the worst, and survey existing conditions. | Senator Joe Robinson of Arkansas, in dedicating the new Dixie network of the Columbia Broadcasting System the other night, said that “the effects of | the drought of 1930 are being rapidly | overcome.” He added: “The processes of rehabllitation, quickened and re- inforced by generous assistance from the country as a whole, are réstoring confidence and stimulating enterprise. | The Red Cross is discontinuing its helpful activities with the return of conditions approaching the normal.” * % %% Everybody in Washington is wonder- ing how former Representative Louls C. Cramton of Michigan is going to cope with the wide-open and wild and woolly ways which the State of Nevada has just legalized. The distinguished ‘Wolverine lame duck, who was dryest of the drys while he adorned the lower branch of Congress, has been appointed by Secretary of the Interior Wilbur to take charge of leases for residential and business property in Boulder City, Nev. This is the community which is to be mushroomed into_existence out in the gebrush as a habitat for the con- st tors- of Boulder Dam and their families. Mr. Cramton is not expected to look with a complacent eye upon the dens of frivolity which Nevada's laws nov not only validate but encourage. Perhaps the lately dethroned darling of the prohibition gods intends to make Boulder City a desert among the Ne- vada oases. * * % x One of the best groomed members of the United States Senate—he has not yet left Washington—was complimented at a recent dinner party on the im- maculate appearance of his dress suit, “My weight is 155 pounds, hasn't varied an ounce in all that time, apd this outfit is still comfortable.” A retired Army officer not long ago re- turned to Washingion to live after an absence of & quarter of @ century. At his first reappearance in soclety a spin- ster of advancing vintage addressed the colonel familiarly by his first name. He apologetically explained that he couldn't recall her. “But surely,” she said, “you remember —" The old soldier ‘rejoined: “Sorry I _don't, but the gotwn seems familiar.” The Senator one of these days may be recognized by his glad rags. * ok ¥ % Dr. von Prittwitz und Gaffron, the German Ambassador at Washington, went Rotarian this week when he ad- dressed the Rotary Club of Harrisburg, Pa. He disclosed during his remarks that there are 18 Rotary organizations in Germany. The first one claims dis- tinguished paternity, for it was founded at Hamburg in October, 1927, by Dr. Cuno, former chancellor of the Reich and now president of the Hamburg-Amer- ican Line. When Dr. Cuno visited the, United States in July, 1928, to att'na the International Rotary meeting at Minneapolis, he praised its ideals as peculiarly useful in a world of economic suffering. Ambassador von Prittwitz did not discuss at Harrisburg the Eu- ropean question of the hour—the pro- posed customs union between Germany and Austria—but did say that there can only be “a better organizstion of the world if it is based on a synthesis of aims and international nec:s- sities.” That seems to be the leitmotif | palgns successfully carried out. . Secretary Stimson is now looking with eagle eyes. * % % % President Hoover's trip to Porto Rico recalls that one of Washington's native sons—Col. Balley K. Ashford, Medical Corps, U. S. A—has done as much for that fair island as any one now living, having reduced its death rate by 90 per cent. In “Our Times,” Mark Sullivan heads a chapter on Asbford, “A Hero of Medicine,” ranking him with Gorgas and Walter Reed. Ordered to Porto Rico for duty with American troops during the Spanish-American War, Ashford determined the cause of the anemia that afflicted the agricultural classes in Porto Rico, later proclaimed as “hookworm.” Col. Ashford’s work was of the greatest importance not only to Porto Rico, but to the United States. It led to the discovery of the hookworm disease in the Southern States, and formed the basis for extensive l:lll‘;- Ash- ford received his doctor of medicine and doctor of science degrees from George- town University. Having retired from |the Army, he now heads the School of | Tropical Medicine under the auspices of Columbia University, at San Juan, ‘where he has built & home. * K X % Here's something that Mussolini really ought to look into, too. The American macaroni and spaghetti in- dustry is growing by leaps and bounds. Not only is the annual volume now more than 500,000,000 pounds, but cer- tain European countries are actually importing macaroni from this country in preference to the Italian article. This s hitting Fascism in a vital spot: Macaroni and spaghetti are being pro- duced in this country out of a species of wheat called durum, the basic product being semolina. The durum wheats are Spring varieties, grown principally in the and Mon- tana. On from five to six million acres farmers have been producing 50,000,000 to 100,000,000 bushels an- nually. Durum has only been grown in the United States during the past 30 years, having been introduced from Southern Russ and the Mediter- ranean region. The milling of durum is concentrated around Minneapolis and Duluth. & * An eminent New York architect, re- cently a visitor to Washington, was asked his cpinion of the magnificent and mammoth new Department of Commerce Building. “A beautiful, but disquieting, example of the growth of. bureaucracy in our Government,” he (Copyright, 1931 ——— How About In-Laws. From the Hamilton (Ontario) Specta‘or. Solomon, says an authority, had 1,000 wives and wrote 1,005 lyrics. Our office cynic wonders what the five other grievances were. Smtdd T Made Real Speed. Prom the Duluth Herald. One reason for believing the earth was created in six days is that at that time there were no efficlency experts to interfere with the work. v Just Give Him Time. From the Milwaukee Sentinel. Al Capone says he wants to retire rmanently. Well, the courts seem to doing their best to help him. oo A Comforting Note. Prom the Buffalo Evening News. ‘You get your money's worth in a taxi, if only from the comforting reflection | that they aren’t your fenders. r———— Or Perhaps a Seesaw. “rom the Ann Astor Dally News. What the Deuocrats need is & plank lake and Progressive Nominee Udged for President To the Editor of The Star: Ever since the holding of the Repub- {lican - Democratic - Progressive Confer- ence, journalists and many newspaper editors have kept before American voters the question: Who will be the Republican and Democratic nominees for President in 1932? This question may seem & far-off cry, more than & year in advance of the conventions, yet it is front-paged almost every day in papers all over our_country, "There is no question that the Repub- lican - Democratic - Progressive Confer- ence, its verbal pronouncements and commitige reports, made and to be made, Muve attracted Nation-wide at- tention, notwithstanding attempts in some quarters to belittle the confer- ence, its proceedings, its work done and yet to be done and reported upon. ‘The bigcny Progressives do not favor a third party at this time, but are willing to wait and see who the Republican and Democratic nominees for President will be in 1932. If Presi- dent Hoover becom®s the nominee of the Republicans in 1932, Alfred E. Smith should be the Democratic nomi- nee. If President Hoover is not re- nominated in 1932, then, if the Re- publicans are politically wise, they will nominate William E. Borah or George ‘W. Norris, or Robert M. La Follette, or Smith W. Brookhart, or Hiram W. Johnson, or Arthur Capper, or John J. Blaine, or Henrik Shipstead, or Ernest W. Gibson of Vermont. Against any one of the above named, the Democrats, to have a ghost of a show of electing their nominee for President in 1932, {James A. Reed, or Pranklin D. Roose- | velt, or Alfred E. Smith, or Gov. Ritchie, or Royal S. Copeland, or David 1. Walsh, or Robert J, Bulkley, or Alben W. Barkley, or Henry P. Ashurst. ‘The nomination of any one of either party whom I have named will be to return to the Lincoln and Jefferson phi- lm’phy of the peopls’s, the Nation's ;vel “e and honest, good government orall. I am of the political bellef the voters of these United States realiz: there is something deeply wrong in our gov- ernment. 1 do not believe any straddle, stand- patter or international banking candi- date of either party can be, or will be, elected, if nominated, President of the United States in 1932, g W. E. RYAN. U. S. Contract Holders HitforLowPaytoWorkers To the Editor of The Star: ! The Government has called for bids to raze three squares between Pennsyl- vania avenue and Constitution avenue and Ninth and Tenth streets northwest, i | the $10,000,000 Department of Justice Bulilding, receiving 11 bids, 4 of which local. The lowest bid, $12,750, I understand they are paying 256 and 30 cents an hour for work. on the Center Market razing for the Archives Building. It seems unfair for our rich Government to allow such low wages to be paid, even by contractors, for men, but they foster such action by giving the contract to the lowest re- sponsible bidder, as required by another blundering law. Compare Congress- men's $10,000-a-year salary for often only three months' alleged “work” with the stipend these poor creatures earn, and a temporary job at that, and you will not be surprised at the increase in crime, and this on an alleged “Justice” Department, and this cer- tainly is & rank injustice. G. T. McCONVEY. ————— e West Point Land Need Prom the New York Sun. There is surprise among informed men at the declaration made by Representa- tive Hamilton Fish before the Military Affairs Committee in tioh to the bill to buy 15,135 acres needed for the milif reservatiion at West Point. “No one,” he sald “holds the Military Academy in highcr esteem than 1.” Anyboay reading cver the manner in which Mr. Figh for some time has been opposing thé authorities at West Point would be inclined to the lines of Kemble:, . “Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love, . But—why did you kick me down stairs?” Ever since the breach of foot ball re- lations between Annapolis and West Point Mr. Fish has done everything in kis power to compe! the Military Acad- emy to accept terms for restoration of these contests. le has not hesitated to g0 over the head of the superintendent of the Military Academy; he Fas even visited the President of the United States. In 1929 he did introduce a bill for purchase of the additioral creage now desired by the school at West Point. At that time it was supposed he was making amends for the way in which he had wounded the feelings ¢f cadets and their officers. Now, however, at the very last minute, he opposes a project accepted by the Ecnate, indorsed by the President and director of the budget and favorably reported by the Military Af- fairs Committee. He refuses to acquiesce in it unless certain river-front property badly needed for aviation training pur- poses is left out of the purchasr. ‘The river-front strip, he s in- cludes estates which pay large taxes to the village of Highland Falls. And he adds: “West Point does not need it at this time, although the War Department insists it is required for an aviation fleld. Certainly there is no nced for an viation field which 1s so pressing that we should ruin the principal source of Income of Highlani ¥alls.” There is one thing that would do far more to impalr the prosperity of High- land Falls—removal of the acade: to some other place. Pressure for such removal would become exceedingly strong in Congress if the notiun became current throughouvt the Nation that Highland Falls, the Congressman of the district and other influentia: persons should nominate | known as squares 380, 381 and 382, for | nr. P. Upheld Against Fish by 1re opposi-1 gi were allowing local interest to cramp the usefulriess of West Point. Purthermore, the War Department is conceivably a better authority than Mr. Fish on what facilities ofor ~avistion training are needed Te. o Arkansas Sufferers Are “One-Croppers” From the Houston Post-Dispateh. An investigator returning from a sur- vey of conditions in Arkansas reports that in some of the sections visited there was not & sign of a garden ever having existed on the places of some of those the Red Cross is feeding. Which is another way of saving that these particular drought sufferers were one-croppers. If a complete check-up of those who are being fed in the rural districts of Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma could be made, it probably would be found that most of them have been neglecting to produce much of their own living on their places. They have remained ad- dicted to the staple crop of cotton, growing perhaps a few other field erops on a small scale, but neglecting grow- ing of vegetables, production of their meat requirements and giving little or no_attention to poultry. 1t is nothing uncommon for a tenant farmer in the South not to have a cow, & hog or a chicken on the place and to have no vegetable garden. Those who advocate the cow, the sow and the hen on the farm are sometimes ridiculed, | J but it stands to reason that the farmer who produces & large share of what he and family eat is better prepared to meet the vicissitudes that 'come to the markets for the lu‘rle fleld crops than is the farmer who depends for his 1 :'um he can get for & few ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. y capacit; ‘i formation. Wfit‘e‘m question, your name and your clearly and in- close 2 cents in coin or stemps for reply. Send to The Evening Star In- formation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Q. Are there tournaments for golf- lrlc'l'!m play on public golf links?— A. There are more than 200 public golf courses, and, beginning in 1922, there has been a national tourhament each year. The trophies are the Stand- ish Cup and the Harding Trophy. Q. Where is Mount Wilson Observ- atory?—H. B. J. A. The Mount Wilson, in California, where the well known observatory i located, is in the San Gabriel Moun- tains, overlooking the city of Pasa- dena, in Los les County. Q. What do the endowments amount 1o in the following colleges: Harvard, Yale and Columbia?—E A. R. A. Harvard University has an endow- ment of $86,702,843; Columbia Univer- a‘zl:. $63,579,416; Yale University, $58,- Q. Will the gas in carbonated water escape if left in open tanks?—V. B. A. Most of it will. A small propor- tion will stay, however. The amount which remains depends ul)on the tem- perature of the air, a eool temperature being preferable. Q. When did Gen. Grant . A. pre Q. How much damage is caused by rats? What food do they prefer?— G. A. M. A. A few years ago the Biological Survey made an estimate that rats de- stroyed annually $200,000,000 worth of 3 products in the . Grant assumed the su- ommand on March 17, 1864. may be carnivorous or vegetarian. Q. Have any States = old-age Q. How did hellum get its name?— A. In 1868, Jannsen, lpec{'rum ol:h‘em‘m sun, Franklin and -Lockyef, Bril the line , & liow line in the an eclipse. tish sclentists, running?—B. M. “i."m startings of the average auto- assum: gymmnnfl of all the Federal forces’— | pre: Prench astron- s the mobile engine require as much s running 20 miles. g Q. Where do tropical cyclones origle nate?—J. L. M. A i A. The Weather Bureau says that the details of how hurricanes, or tropical cyclones, are started are not definitely known. It is known, however, that the; start in the region of the “doldrums, or calms over the tropical seas, some 8 to 15 degrees or thereabouts from the fi;‘t&r.l#nny of ;)ur k;gfl:‘ln"!’s origi- e general Cape Verde Islands, e = Q. Is the Louvre in Paris overcrowded with art treasures?—A. 8. A. Because of overcrowding in the Louvre, plan to spend $1,200,000 in Tearr: ng the galleries is reported from Paris. Forty-five new gaileries, apart from the Pavillon de Flore and the Marine Museum, will be provided. Q. Did France pay any special tribute to George Washington at the time of his death?—L. P. F, A. Two months after Wash! 's death elaborate memorial services in Ms honor were held in the Champ de Mars and for 10 days every flag and standa in France was hung with black crape. Q. Who are the tallest motion pigture actresses?—H. M. J. A. The tallest motion picture actresses in Hollywood are Gertrude Astor, Char- lotte Greenwood and Marie Dressler. Miss Astor is 5 feet 7' inches tall and Marie Dressler is approximately the same height. Charlotte Greenwood, re- | centlv recruited from the stage, is nearly 6 feet tall. Q. When was “The Star Spangled ?nnu" made the national anthem?— . D. A. It was made the national anthem of the United States by act of Congress, signed by the President, March 3, 1931. ey Q. Can you tell me something about the famous cloud called the “Table- cloth”? T think it is in Africa—J. G. F. A. The “Tablecloth” is a cloud that occasionally covers the flat top of Table Mountain _in South Africa. Charles Fitzhugh Talman of the United States Weather Bureau, in his book “The Realm of the Alr,” says it is probably the most famous individual cloud in the world, and in describing it adds: “It consists of a dense cloud sheet, formed when warm moisture-bea winds are forced up the steep slope of the mountain, especially in Summer. The cloud often pours over the brow of the mountain, like a mighty cata- ract, :dndb is dissolved um'.h;e wind is warmed by compréssion scel to & lower level. The effects pmm by this rolling mass of vapor are some- times indescribably grand, and the phe- nomenon is all the more striking be- Is over ,,‘Tablecloth® overspreads the Q. Are birds increasing or decreasing in this country?—C. H. A. The mo{oglnl Survey says that the number of small birds in the United States is increasing while the number of large birds is decreasing. Large birds have been hunted more than small ones, and they suffer more when woods and forests are cleared. Q. Have the Elks a national home for old members?—D. T. . The Order of Elks maintains the Elks’ National Home at Bedford, Va., as a residence for aged and indigent members. 'Opinion of Country Divi;ied In Capital Movements in Kansas, Michigan and other States in the direction of more diastic treatment of erime, especially the revival of the death penalty, have been productive E Supporters of capital punishment are moved by evidence ofysinister influences om gangland, while those who oppose the w%’ Kansas and the Legislature of that State, the St. Paul Dispatch says: “The Governor of Kansas, no doubt, feels the emergency of the crime situation as keenly as the lawmakers. But apart from humanitarian and other similar objections to capital punish- ment, there is the plain practical ob- jection that the machinery of justice is not. faltering - for lack of severity in penalities for crime. The present crime emergency, if such it is, demands not harsher laws but better enforce- ment of the law, noi more severe penal- ties but swifter and more certain ad- ministratiop of them. The hangman’s noose or &n electric chair would 'not of themselves solve the crime of Kansas or any other State.” Charging t in some large citles the prosecutor office is “a bargain counter where crooks trade for penal- tles,” the Springfleld (Mass.) Republi- can finds a difference in less populous centers, but comments on the Kansas situation: “With capital punishment, that State would convict and a far larger proportion of those charged with grst-degree murder than New York City' Chicago does. Yet a just and uniform enforcement of such a law seems to be impossible in the United States as a whole. Owing to the emo- tionalism of the public, the emotion- alism ofjuries, the professional wiles of lawyérs for the defense, and the elaborate structure of technicalities within which justice must work—not to mention in some jurizdictions the favoritism, if not the corruption, of which &mucuun l?ncles are capable —the death penalty fails as a deterrent because it bears so little relation to ‘the certainty of punishment’ which is em- phasized by the Governor of Kansas.” * e Linking the Kansas situation with that in Michigan, where “the issue reviving the extreme penalty—after 80 years' disuse—has been submitted to referendum, set for April 6,” the San Antonio Express offers the judgment: “Evidently the people generally are con- vinced that the gallows or the electric chair speaks the only language which gangdom can understand. It is better to take a few murderers’ lives legally, they argue, than to tolerate the slaying of innocent citizens. Besides, there are crimes—Iike that of Edward Hick- man in Los Angeles a few years ago. or the recent murder of 10-year-old Vir- ginia Brooks in San Diego—for which the death penalty seems the only adequate punishment.” “The experiences of these two States,” thinks the Peoria Star, “are highly in- teresting in view of the fact that bills have been presented at Springfield abol- ishing capital punishment in Illinois. Kansas, after an experiment of 61 years, and Michigan, for 100 years, have come to the realization ti capital punish- ment is necessary for a proper handling of the crime situation. The experience of these two States should have consider- avle influence in showing Illinois legis- lators the way to vote. The crime situation is serious not only in our own State, but throughout the Nation. It is a contest for survival of soclety or of the criminal and the present is no time for temporizing with the gangster, the gunman and the desperate criminal. ‘What we need more than anything else speedier justice. in the fight is a " “With Kansas and Michigan,” records the Newark Evening News, “there are eight States which do not impose the death penalty. There are 50 crime jurisdictions in the country, of which 42 impose the dem nalty. dence 0 from organized with murder a: n resul pditry and rackel p incident, For ting | the thin line between right and wrong, Punishment Drive has been clearly apparent in it conditions, culminating in the assassination last July of ‘Jerry’ Buckley, radio announcer and leader of & movement to recall the city’s mayor. As Kansas and Michigan move to join the majority of the States in the war on ecrime, their choice is electrocution. In 14 jurisdictions hanging is approved. Utah permits shooting. In Nevada & lethal gas is used. In all others ‘the chair’ is the end of those. whom society is compelled to destroy for its protece tion.” * K X X Sup] of capital punishment is by the Buffalo Evening Ne the Altoona Mirror and the Springfiel (Mass.) Union, while the greater need of making punishment swift and cer- tain is _emphasized by the Jackson Citizen Patriot, the Kalamazoo Gazette and the Danbury News. The Topeka Daily Capital sees in the action of the Legislature in its State an accompanying conviction that re- vival of law is “no more than & gesture, since juries will not convict to the death chair.” That paper concludes that “murder and all crime have to be approached from a more rational angle than the death penalty bq.la in soclety's ing the method of execution from hang~ ing to asphyxiation in a gas chamber. Presumably, the intention is to follow the example of Nevada, the only State sthat now kills with gas. There has been much criticism of the gas method, though Nevada officials contend it is the most humane and the quickest way of ending an offensive creature that re- quired millions of years to produce. * * ¢ The desire to change from hanging by the neck to some other method, evie denced in Arizona, comes about through revulsion at_the execution of a woman in the prison of that common« wealth last year. That scene was per- haps as gruesome as restricted American audiences ever have been called upon to witness. Small wonder that Arizona people wish to end that frightful sort of thing!” % | Clearer-Worded Laws Declared Desirable From the Little Rock Arkansas Democrat. “Although it is not likely that a crim- inal will carefully consider the text of the law before he murders or steals, it is reasonable that a fair warning should be given to the world, in language that the common world will understand, of what the law intends to do if a certain line is passed. To make the warning fair, so far as possible, the line should be _clear.” ‘That paragraph comes from a dis- senting opinion of Mr. Justice Holmes, in which he held that an airplane was not & “motor vehicle” within the mean~ ing of those words as used in the Dyer act. And what a wealth of common sense there is in that brief lecture to the boys who write our laws in pon- derous words which fill tomes of great« est_value to book publishers! What the venerable jurist is declar- ing is simply that if the people are to understand the import of a law they 'Ml":‘h be able : fathom m:u phraseol- ogy. There can be no inion on that. But it runs into ‘m:‘g‘ de- plorable or whatever else you may call it: Attorneys are men of vast erudition. They belong among the anointed, like those who understand Finstein and those who can write a check for a mil- lion dollars and know the bank will m’}_:l it. us prepared they are able to im- press their clients. A heavy frown, & bulky bit of language and & prospective litigant generally becomes docile. Even a doctor with a stetho« of as the law sees such abstractions, ordi~ nary vehicles of expression are inades than two generat! had an execution un men hal Kansas has State aut ‘been quate. Hence, the much mal legal wm.wfib.uumm. will be with us,