Evening Star Newspaper, May 20, 1931, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR ‘With Sunday Morning Editien. WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY......May 20, 1831 - PHEODORE W. NOYES....Editor * 'he Evening Star Newspaper Company ia_Ave. Bindine. London, : . N Te"Repent 8., England. Rate by Carrier Within the City. 45¢ per month o ’(.r.fll per month 65¢ per month 5c per copy Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. 1yr.) $4.00: 1 mol, 40c All Other States and Canada. v...137. 81200 1 mo. $1.00 7 anf, Sundero e g i mo. ik y only .. 1yr, $5.00. 1 mo. 50c Member of the Associated Press. (ated Press iy exclusively entit] to 7 Au‘;lotffi" republiication flf‘l'll news i B OF Mot otherwise r e his. paper And_ also the local news pablished hereth. ALl rishts of Bblication of Poeclal “dispatches herein ars also reserved. . Concerning Building Inspectors. Progress thus far in the inquest into the death of & workman on the Stuart Junior High School construction serves agaln to raise the question of the duties and responsibilities of the Dis- triot's bullding inspectors and what course 1s left for the building inspector ‘whaee instructions are not obeyed. The same question, with the attendant con- fusion in the public mind as to the ability of the District's officials to make sure that all specifications are rigorously fulfilled by contractors and subcontractors, is at the bottom of the demand for & congressional investiga- tiom of school construction work which Senator Capper has taken under ad- ‘Yisement. ‘The District Cbde, sectlon 173, states that. “The inspector of bulldings of the District shall have authority and control over and supervision of the construction and repairs of all school bulldings if the Commissioners deem Pest to delegate the same to him,” and this power the Commissioners have deemed best to delegate. Section 471 of the Code provides that if “any build- 3ng or part of = building. staging, or other structure, or anything attached t0 or connected with any building or “ any other structure” be reported un- eafe, the bullding inspector can cause ihe same to be made safe. The time in which the repairs must be made & | Jimited %o 12 o'clock noon of the day following the inspector's warning. Under certain conditions, the inspector | of buildings, with his own crew, can make the repairs and charge the bill S0 the owner. . ‘Testimony before the coroner’s jury 48 to the effect that on the Thursday the accident on the high achool job. the superintendent of the work was warned by the inspector on the premises of an salleged weakness in & scaffold, which, it is stated caused #he accident. The warning was re- peated twice on Friday morning. The accident occurred sbout noon. If this reported sequence of events e true, was the District's inspector waiting wntil the fatal hour of noon on Priday before taking final steps to see that his order to repair the weak- ‘ness was complied with? If the struc- ture was unsafe on Thursday, was there Aany sense in permitting its use until Friday? Did the building inspector, ‘with two recent cases of construction wmecidents in mind, notify his superior that his orders were not being com- plied with? In other words, what under #he sun is an inspector supposed to do? The liability of the employer in eon- struction work is a matter between the employer and the employes and the eourts. But when steelwork ecrumpies in s windstorm, concrete molds col- lapse and workmen plunge through sllegedly faulty scaffolding on three separate public school jobs within a reiatively short time, all of them in the course of erection under the super- vislon of District inspectors, the pub- lio ia justified in demandng to know what opportunities exist for siipshod work that, except for accldents, would not be immediately revealed. And this the District suthorities so far have unfortunately falled to make known. v ———— No country is wealthy enough to bufld highways wide enough for & cer- fain type of automobile driver. —— e A Happy Selection. Tt ¥ announced at Geneva that the | Douncil of the League of Nations has | selected Arthur Henderson, British sec- retary of state for forelgn affairs, to | preside over the 1932 disarmament con- ference. It is & happy choice. Wash- ington will no doubt consider it even » fortultous selection, for it definitely obvistes what might have been an em- barrassing alternative for the Hoover sdministration, saying yes or 1o to & propasal that some distinguished American should be chalrman at Geneva next year. For months it has been rumored that the President would be asked to assent to the sppointment of Ambessador Dawes, Chief Justice Hughes or Senator Morrow. The world's principal naval powers, Oreat Britain and the United States 1t happens, sre the two smallest military powers among the Jeading na- tions. Our own Jand establishment is considersbly less that that of the Britsh. We are going to Geneva, but siready it is assured that the Ameri- can role there will be confined largely to that of exerting good offices. Like the British, we have mothing in the way of armies that can be reduced. “The United States has more policemen { than soldlers ” President Hoover is fond ‘of pointing out. %7 | ister record in Washington. Crime fol- 4 |and adopting the methods of the West- { pull over to? herself of armed strength, Mr. Hender- son's place on the Geneva Tostrum in 1932 will have special significance. Yesterday, in the League Councll, the British statesman identified himself wholeheartedly with President Hoover’ recent plea for disarmament. But he took occasion to remark, undoubtedly also with this country in mind, that, when all is said and done, excessively high tariffs, rather than armaments, are the root of the world economic crisis, and, until revised, will continue to re- tard international trade recovery. \ May’s Crime Record to Date. ‘The month of May is making & sin- lows crime in & sequence so persistent that the thought is induced that per- haps the Chicago racketeers and gang- sters have shifted operations to this city. Some of the happenings are strongly suggestive of Capone methods. Of course, it may be that the gunmen and hold-up performers who are keep- ing the police cars on the hop in this| city are only borrowing the technique | 1 ern metropolis. However that may be, there is certainly an undue amount of misbehavior, with tragic results, in ‘Washington just at present. Early in the month two men robbed the branch post office at Sixth street and Pennsylvania avenue and got away with $500, without inflicting physical injuries; they have not been identified or caught, to date. A few days later two men were caught while attempting to rob a Wisconsin avenue filling sta- tion; they were suspected of having been engaged in other depredations, but without definite proof. A lone bandit tried to rob a telegraph branch office and a suspect was captured. Thieves invaded the premises of & foreign lega- tion and got away with a gquantity of “diplomatic” liquor and inflicted serious injuries upon the person of the charge d’'affaires. Two men were caught while engaged in attempting to open a safe at an automobile supply shop. Four were arrested in oonsequence of a melee which police believe to have been caused by & quarrel between rival beer gangsters. A man was mortally wounded in a fight in a speakeasy, presumably in consequence of a dispute over gambling losses, the victim dying soon afterward. A motion picture theater manager and his aide were held up in the office by one man and cash was taken. A man who has had some connection with the underworld was “put on the spot” in an alley near his residence, in the towntown section of the city, and was mortally wounded. Such have been the principal events in Washington in what may be only a sporadic outbreak of hold-up crime end racketeering. In addition there was a shocking triple shcoting at a popular resort in the heart of town, the result being a dead policeman, & possibly fatally wounded resort man- ager and a dead pistol user, who took his own life. This tragedy had no relationship to the series cf other crimes, but gave & sinister accompani- ment to them, to stir the community deeply. Washington is now equipped with a system of radio motor patrols, permit- ting speedy response to calls for help snd reports of crime. The police force is probably at its most efficient in point of rapidity of action. In some of the cases already cited as forming the May record to date this swift gerv- ice has perhaps worked to the point of catching the law-breakers in the act or in attempting escape. In point of public losses the record is & light one. Only & few hundred doliars of money and s small consignment of liquor have been stolen. If the Cap- ital has been selected as a fleid of operations by gangsters of experience other cases will undoubtedly occur, with heavier losses, and perhaps greater casuaities. —s e General Robert Dunlap. Obeying an instinctive impulse o(’ succor, General Robert Dunlap, gallant officer of the American Mariaes, wen: | 1o his death yesterday in France in an effort to save a woman from peril. There was not an instants hesitation on his part when he saw the danger of the gaping earth and the crumbiing wall of an oid structure weakened by | time and the subsidence of the soil.| With him went the woman's husband, quick to answer her cries for help. The | wall fell and all three were buried. | This morning the bodies of the two | men were brought out snd the woman was found to be living, though| desperately injured. Washington is deeply grieved at this | tragedy, for Robert Dunlap was a native of this city and intimately known here. | service and had won many honors. He | was rated a5 & spiendid example of the American soldier. He was in Prance for special study in the language, and it & an infinite pity that he should have been taken by such a mischance just when he was at the point of his greatest usefulness to his service, ‘When one of those future aerial traf- fic cops accosts a too-exuberant fiyer just where will he order him, or her, to v The Wheat Conference. The major wheat exporting coun- ttes, through their representatives, are struggling in London this week to ar- | rive at some solution of the problem | of overproduction. The peoples of the United States, Argentina, Russia, Australia, Canada, Bulgaria, Rumania, Hungary, are among those particularly affected by the situation which has arisen due to the overexpansion of wheat production. The great exporters of wheat find the market glutted, with prices for wheat on the world market lower than they have been for years Having no extensive military estab- | lishment of its own, Great Britain, too, will be tn position to enact the role of honest broker at Geneva. In “Uncle Arthur” Henderson, the conference gains , conservative and seasoned e is, moreover, a confirmed in disarmement, provided al- ways that stacking of arms is in full keeping with & country’s irreducible se- curity and defense necessities. Hender- son, & plilar of the British Labor party, 15 respected especially in Germany. As the Reich is determined to hold the al- lied powers to strict accountability for their fallure to proceed toward disarma- ment, in accordance with their pledge vhen Germamy weas ordered to strip | ] and threatening to become lower. Here in the United States efforts have been made by the Government to come to the aid of the wheat farmers. In 1929 and again in 1930 the Federal Farm Board through the stabilisation cor- poration entered the market and bought up wheat in an effort to maintain s stable price for the grain. Although no official announcement has been made of the actual amount of the holdings of wheat s0 purchased, it has been reported that they are somewkbere in the neighborhood of 300,000,000 busheis. It became obvious that the Government could not go on in- definitely buying and storing wheat in the effort to aid the farmers of this THE EVENING country. It has been announced by the Farm Board that it does not intend to make purchases of the 1931 wheat crop. A campaign of education has been started, seeking to inform the farmers who grow wheat in regard to the world situation and the need of curtailment of the wheat acreage in: this country. % But the problem of wheat extends throughout the world. It cannot be solved by the United States alone or by Canada or Russla or Australia or the Argentine. The conference now as- sembling in London has been summoned to look at it from an internatéonal point of view. With a great overproduction of this commodity, the exporting nations are faced with the need of co-operative action if there is toibe a return to aby- thing like the normal situation with re: gard to wheat. Yet it is doubtful if any sgreement regarding curtailment of wheat acreage and production can be worked out. None of the exporting countries wishes to retire from the export field. The sale of their wheat is matter of vital importance to their farmers. Because of this situation, the difficulty attending any plan for the allotment of the export market to the nations seems insurmountable. And yet, if nothing is done, if the nations must continue to engage in this wheat war, it is impos- sible to measure the extent of the harm which may result. The wheat situation is attributable, in large part, to the World War. In the war period Russia and the wheat- producing countries of Central Europe ceased to export wheat. Other na- tions, among them the United States, Argentina, Canada and Australia, ex- panded their production of wheat enormously. Importing countries also turned to. wheat production. But with Russia back again as the biggest produc- ing nation of all, and Central Europe exporting more and more wheat, the situation has become constantly more serious. The sole answer seems to be the production of less wheat the world over, But the big question is, Where is the curtailment to be made and how? ‘What nation is willing to relinquish, in part, its production? The American wheat farmers, for example, regard ad- vice to curtail their acreage as an effort to interfere with their business. And, furthermore, how is the individual farmer to be made to conform to any plan for the reduction of the acreage sown in wheat? Efforts may properly be made to in- crease the consumption of wheat which 1t is reported has been more and more restricted for one reason or another, But a campaign of such a character will not meet the situation completely. With the United States producing something like 200,000,000 bushels of wheat & year on the average in excess of domestic wants, and with the ex- portable surplus of Russia prébably 250,000,000 bushels or more this year, | and still other nations turning out vast | quantities for the world market, the power to consume would have to be expanded beyond human limits to take care of the surplus wheat. — The American Institute of Architects has been asked to give its aid toward making public buildings more accessible for the 300,000 cripples of the country. There are & couple of large public buildings here in the Capital already far too easy of access for lame ducks. ———— George Bernard Shaw and Wil Rogers are compared as the respective leading humorists of the two great branches of the English-speaking race. This is somewhat like trying to com- pare a very sour pickle with & plece of toothsome peanut taffy. e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Interruption. When you're tryin’ to be cheerful; When you're doin’ of your best To avold all topics tearful An’ to give your nerves a rest, When you seck to ease your labor With a joyousness refined— You are sure to meet the neighbor ‘Who has something on his mind. “Oh, the tariff is a terro:!” And “the banks will get in wrong!" “Taxing incomes is an error!” And “our commerce isn't strong!” When your mood grows gently mellow And to mirth you are inclined, Oh, why must you meet the fellow Who has something on his mind? Otherwise Employed. “Are you going to do any fence mend- ing at home this Bummer?” asked the fellow statesman. “No,” replied Senator Sorghum. busy burning my bridges behind me.” Trying to Explain. “Why do so many young men leave the farm?” “Well,” replied Farmer Corntossel, “in | .. most of the cases I have observed it ‘was because they couldn’t earn their salt 85 farm hands an’ wasn't fixed to pay Mental Reservations. And still we are left to conjecture On what the great nations will do! Though & statesman consented to lecture, He didn't tell all that he knew. Sense of Rivalry. “Your photographs all look very un- natural!” | He had a brilliant career in the Marine | have to stay in Washington and keep | “I know it," replied Miss Cayenne. | “Whenever 1 sit before a camera 1 can't help trying for & portrait that will look as picturesque and important as the photographer's signature.” Trying to Please. “Which do you think are more im- portant, the rights of property or the rights of man?” “Neither are of any consequence,” replied Mr. Meekton, “compared to the rights of women.” The Trifler. Full many & man there is who likes to skip The chance to do & little honest g0od, And on his shoulder always wears a chip Instead of carrying in a load of ‘wood. “De trouble about bein’ & good loser,” sald Uncle Eben, “is dat too many folks is lable to git In de habit of wantin’ to see you peiform.” 4 STAR, WASHINGTON, D. £ THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. “Nolse is any undesired sound,” says the Acoustical Bociety of America, de- fining the word scientifically for the first time. Webster may not be quite so scien- | tific, but it has some pretty good defini- tions: 1. Loud, confused, shouting or outery; uproar of persons. 2. General, or common, cussion; rumor; report. or senseless clamor; din or talk or dis- 3. Sound or a sound of any sort, h whether loud or harsh, or low, pl ant or melodious; al tively: as, the city and its noise. The concise Oxford says: Noise— loud outery, clamor, shouting, din of voices and movements; any sound, espe- cially loud or harsh one. * ok o % The definition of the Acoustical So- clety shifts the meaning by putting the definition, in reality, in the hands of the listener. The greatest symphony orchestr: the world might become a noise, this definition, to & man who was try- ing to sleep in a building next door. A student studying for the bar might easily enough construe the words of a great orator as a noise, pure and simple. 1f undesired by him, it would be a noise, according to this definition. ¥ kW Now this is what every one has sus- pected for himself, and the Acoustical Society of America is doing no more than upholding the general opinion, after all, Citles the world over are full of noise. American cities, especially in the crowded areas, are good places for all to find undesirable noises. Every man makes his own definition, to suit himself, as, indeed, every person has always done. Arthur Schopen- hauer, the German philosopher, years ago wrote an essay “Against the Orack- ing of Whips. Whips no but modern cities have radios, perhaps, are a great deal worse, is one man's music is another man's noise. Schopenhauer, who was generally ac counted & queer cuss, could see no rea- son in the world why carters should Jonger bother mankind, which, spend s0 much time and energy crack- ln{)thflr long whips, ncounted thousands of persons throughout America today can see no earthly reason why so many other un- counted thousands should run their radios night and day, as Joud as they | can make them bias * % ox % A noise is mostly the way you feel about it. Even the man in a small row com- munity, who is madly trying to go to sleep, realizes that the Sapleighs across the alley are ing a good time at their so-called ild party.” He admits to himself, between curses, that he might find aspects of enjoy- ment in the affair himself, if he were there in person, as the radio announc- ers insist on saying (although why, not even the announcers themselves know). Surely he would find Mattle, who s half-soused, and insists on telling the world she is at least once every min- ute, & diverting creature. It is fun to Mattie, but something else to the listener, and, if he is a wise man, he moves away to & better- bred neighborhood. % o % Inventors have attempted to devise “ear muffiers” for noise-sensitive per- in: nolses’ collec- | What | sons, but few of them have been any good. The psychology of the Acoustical Bociety definition is acute,- “Noise is any undesired sound.” The mind of the listener has as much to do with it, then, as his ears, if not | more so. Those who do not happen to | be sensitive to the particular noise yug on looks of loftiness declare, “You & | 'Will power has little, if anything, to | do with it. The mind of the listener, ing gathered in the sound, or noise, sists on keeping it What the critic does not realize is | that the mind will build this nolse up, for itself, if the noise insists on abating. “ * kX % | Nothing less than complete extinction will satisfy the human mind, in the case of noises, cr undesirable sounds. The ticking of a clock may be an undesirable sound. Go get an electric one, then. Herbert Spencer, the English philos- opher, got so wrought up by extraneous noises that he invented for himself & | pair of ear muffs, which it is said he even wore to the thester, that he might sleep in peace there. It may be said definitely of the man | who is annoyed by nolses that his pow- ers of concentration are not what they ought to be, perhaps, and that he does not possess the instant sleeping powers of a farm hand. 2 The man who boasts that “he can sleep anywhere” should thank Nature for an excellent constitution. The joke | is that a year from now he may be com- plaining about something or other. You never can be sure; that is why it pays to be fair and square with others, and, above all, decent in the matter of | notses, * ok ox o If Fritz Kreisler should move into your neighborhood and insist on prac- ticing from 11 p.m. to 2 or 3 am, we are afraid that the sounds from his glorious violin would become noise to you, sooner or later. Particularly later! ‘The famous bandsman who learned his chlef instrument by blowing the same note for four hours a day, day after day, through every note in every scale, no doubt brought ories of muf- fled anguish to scores of neighbors. 80 we see that we have come & long way from the French word “noise’ meaning & quarrel or brawh * o ox % “What’s that noise?” one says to one's self, waking in the night. Even the bravest soul is glad at times for noise, for without it there would be no warning. Under primitive conditions noises are elther friendly or unfriendly. The ani- mals, for all they live among us, still live under those conditions. They will start at every noise and prick up their ears, but will lie down lllirl\1 if the nolse is an accustomed sound. If it is friendly, it will mean nothing to_them. Man, under elvilization, tends to bring in his own personality, until the Acoustical Soclety boldly and honestly glves the world the definition, “Noise |15 any undesired sound.” don't like, don’t want to hear. It is an intruder in your symphony of life. Every man his own lexicographer! | Such is the precedent set by the Acous- tical Society of America. It is a step forward up the Jadder called the rights of man, WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC Hugh Gibson, American Ambassador to Belgium, who is in Washington this week, is in reality Uncle Sam's Foreign Minister for Disarmament Affairs, He spends far more of his time in Brussels in keeping his eyes on the ‘rest of Eu rope than in attending' to our diplo matic business in Belglum. Gibson has been acting for the United States at various Geneva disarmament pow-wows ever since they set in eight or nine years ago. Once upon a time he was only an unofficial observer. Later, when Uncle S8am essayed & more formal role, Gibson became our official spokes- man. He astutely led the American delegation at the abortive “Coolidge conference” in 1927, which tried to settle the cruiser controversy. At the five-power naval conference in 1930 Gibson was overshadowed by the galaxy of United States Senators, cabinet offi- cers et al. whom President Hoover sent to London, but the shrewdest of our career diplomats was always the power behind the delegation throne because of his unique and complete knowledge of the questions at issue. Gibson is in position to give the Presi- dent, his long-time personal friend, the “low down” on the European situation, and tell Mr. Hoover chances are of leading the Old World horse to the disarmament trough and making him drink. *x xw Nobody is a tithe as keen over the great maneuvers of the Army Air Corps as the man who is their daddy—F. Tru- bee Davison, Assistant Secretary of War | in charge of aviation. Ever since he went to the War Department in July, 1926, Davison has concentrated on the progressive development of the Army's five-year air plan. If the United States is on the way to an effective sky de- fense, the credit is largely due to him. Davison has worked like a beaver for the betier part of a year to bring about the first divisional exercises of the Army | Air Corps. Oppositicn confronted him at many stages, both from within and without the service. But he stuck to it valiantly. The armada soon to dot the | District of Columbia heavens is the re- sult of Davison’s driving persistence. Talk about the “perils” invo.ved in the | maneuvers is particularly tiresome to the man who still wears and bears the cars of an almost fatal airplane accl- dent when he was tratning for war service on Long Island in 1917. o ok % Even a popular comedian, it would appear, is not without honor, save in his own home. Al Jolson was recently visiting his aged parents in Washington. After supper one evening he sat down at the piano and reeied off for the family's benefit the song-hits from his latest Broadway show. The original patentee of the “Mammy"” lullaby found himseif interrupted by some loud speakxing. To his consternation Al discovered that his father had tuned in cn the radio enter- tainment number which disiocates the country’s life at & certain early evening | hour, - x Borls Bakhmeteff, “Kerensky Ambassa- dor” from Russia in Washington during the years 1917-1922, has just joined the faculty of Columbia University at New York. A hydraulic engineer by profes- sion, M. Bakhmeteff will ill the chair of civil engineer! at Dr. Nicholas Mur- ray Butler's richly endowed institution on Morningside Heights. Before Ke- rensky sent Bakhmeteff to the United States the latter was a professor in the Polytechnic Institute of St. Peter in St. Petersburg. He is a native of Tiflis, Russia. In 1904, as a young graduate engineer, young Bakhmeteft worked on the New York State Barge Canal. Dip- lomats at Washington credited the “Kerensky Ambassador” with hnvlng had much to do with shaping the 192¢ Colby policy of non-recognition of So- viet Russia, which remains the Ameri- can program, unalloyed, 11 years after. * oxox % Col. Woodcock, director of prohibi- tion, has decreed that the enforcement authorities don’t want Federal dockets clogged up with minor violation cases. These, the colonel thinks, should be dealt with on the spot—though not in & gangster sense. To Woodcock's atten- tion has been brought a yarn which in- dicates that his instructions were taken ot only literally, but wittily, by a po- liceman in a Northern city. The cop just what the | WILLIAM WILE. saw @ man entering his own house | about 3 a.m. with a mysteriously cylin- drical package under his arm. “What's in that?” asked the policeman. “Some sugar for my tea,” was the reply. Thereupon the cop cracked the house- holder over the cranium and said, | “Well, here's two lumps for your coco!” *x xx Elmer Roberts, dean of American newspaper correspondents in Europe, is a visitor to Was| . He was re- cently retired with full honors from the | service of the Associated Press, which he represented successively at London, Ber- lin and Paris over & period of 30 years. No American alive has been more inti- mately behind the scenes of Old World affairs during that epochal span of in- ternational history. A native of In- diana, like 80 many notable knights of the portable typewriter, Roberts no | makes his nome in Paris, his last “A. P. | post, but is flirting with the idea of im- | migrating to Washington. He is back in | this country to attend the forty*fifth re- | union of his class at the De Pauw Uni- | Ambassador | versity, whire he was a classmate of the | | late “Albert J. Beveridge. While in Washington, Roberts pald a visit of | homage to the tomb of his old chlef, Melville E. Stone, in the National Ca- | thedral, | R Washington in mid-May 1s at its su- preme lovelié:t, absence of cherry blos- | soms to the contrary notwithstanding. | The Capital's tree-bowered avenues | | and circles, Rock Creek Park, the Po- tomac Speedway and & score of other | points and parts are now ablaze with Springtime beauty and challenge the admiration of all visitors | comparable nighttime vista, this ob- server recommends s glimpse of the shimmering dome of the Capitol through the trees from the broad front steps of the Library of Congress, * ok ox % Representative Ruth Bryan Owen, Democrat, of Florida is looking for a title for her recently completed book on the art of public speaking. Some- | body whom she consulted for advice | on the subject recalled the experience & budding authoress had with the late Willlam Dean Howells. She'd asked that famous novelist to christen her first masterplece after reading 750 pages of manuscript. “That won't be | ! . “Just tell me if | in_your book about | fifes and drums.” Astounded, she re- plied: “Not a syllable.” Whereupon | Howells rejoined: “Well, call it ‘With- | out Fifes or Drums.' " | (Copyright, 1931.) r—.—a [Alaskan Bears Saved | g 2 | By Presidential Decree | | From the Oakland Tribune. | President Hoover's proclamation in- creasing the area of the Katmai Na- tlonal Monument in' Alasks to 2,697,59 size, 15| d| | | | acres, almost double its present €00d news to the glant brown bear an 10 all who see the prospect of the vas! | wonderland becoming a great tourist and recreation asset of the Pacific Coast. The brown bear has been dis- appearing. He is the largest of the bear species, attaining a weight up to 1,200 pounds, and he is one over whom a bitter battie has been waged. ble pressure had been brought in Alaska for the extermination of this unique es as dangerous to sheep and to settlers. A campaign by the magazine, Outdoor Life, effectively exploded the legend of the brown bear’s carnivorous ferocity. It was shown tha the “brownie” was primarily vegetarian and attacked human beings only when wounded or in defense of its cubs. Dogs are effective in protecting sheep herds from the occasional animal that goes on a meat diet. Alaska stands to gain more than she loses by this ac- tion, for hunting expeditions and tour- ists will be attracted to the northern outpest. California has long regretted the extinction of her grizzlies, and the President’s proclamation saves the Alaska bear from a similar fate. — oo Sidewall k Tax in Order. From the Lexington Leader. But it the gasoline tax should build highways, why not tax on shoes to | bulld sidewalks? WEDNESDAY Noise, in other words, is & sound you | For an in- | | rather than statesmanlike effort to up- good | basis of valuation would be the price MAY 20, 1931, ' heorizing Held Vain In Solving Problems been sul plan proposed at any of the numerous conferences so far held. It is obvious that none of the conferees is qualified by education or rience to do that particular Jjob, withstanding that they are each marvelously efficient in his own particular line. Henry Ford is probably the most advanced, but there is one aspect on which he has never touched—the most important of all—and it is the aspect that he never would see, even if he saw the general adoption of his ideas followed by & still worse depression and greater un- employment, such as would certainly come. These men's mental vision is so0 centered on what touches them indi- vidually that they cannot see anything outside of that fleld. A mere practi- ticner mever discovers the new and better that makes for p: . That is done by a totally different type of people. And every one of these con- ferees is & mere practitioner. Here is how the problem may be can be solved: Some unknown student finds the prime cause. He tells it to others. And 50 that fact becomes known to still others. The average citizen, ' however, cannot see the connection, although it is very simple. And so progress to- ward solution is checked. But another student then realizes that, while the crdinary mind cannot see the connec- tlon, it can be made to see how one is injured by it. He points that out to others. Thal reads. Mr. Average Citizen then grows indignant; he be- gins to blame certain others for his troubles. Revolt is imminent. ‘Then another student points out that it is not others that are responsible, but the prime cause, and that the prime cause must be removed, and that that can only be done by law, and that enough must organize to compel the legislators to enact the law that will remove the| prime cause. Then comes a race be- tween revolt and reconstruction. Revolt rapidly grows, in the form of crime increase. Stupldity tries to meet that with more police and more jails. That, of course, fails. The only conference that ean help 1in any way to solve the problem is one in which all who choose may be heard every conference so far all were fool- ish), to be given the widest publicity in the press, and then the public will have a chance to decide which i~ wise | and which is foolish, and each may be enlightened and come to feel his | or her own responsibility and vote, not | for a political party, but to elect a candidate who would remove the prime cause or defeat one who had falled to [ try to remove the prime cause. C. B. HEMINGWAY. Militarism Denounced As Threat to Peace i To the Editor of The Star: Several days ago The Star printed an encouraging and enlightening article by Viscount Robert Cecil. in which this distinguished and able British states- men discussed the purposes and work of the League of Nations. Among cther observations, Viscount Cecil said he discerned among the lead- ing nations of the Europesn Continent signs of the “rejection of everything except armed strength as the basis of national statecraft,” and that in France, in Italy, in Germany, and even in Eng- land, there is found in some quarters the same reversion to what is “real politics” which he defines as s return to the “sge-long tradition that nationsl safety depends on the army He terms this frrational system? It is, in fact, no system at all, nor can it ever be. It is a biind refusal to existence of an international society, and it flles in the face of all requirements of con- science, reason, and the manifest de- velopments of ‘economic and financial life. It is blind because, in consider- ing the force supposéd to be necessary to advance the interests of a particu- lar natian, it ignores not only the rights of others, but the inevitable reactions which this selfish development of force is likely’ to produce in others, For two can and will play at this game of force.” Coming from such & h and With the authoritative source that merits profound respect. waning of remembrance of the horrors of the World War, there is too great a probability of a renewal of that insane debacle, and yet it is amasing, incom- prehensible that the chief nations of the earth should take any steps or | favor any measures in the least likely to bring again such a curse upon the world. But the fact remains that there are now more armed forces than be- fore the World War. More money is being shoveled into the red throat of war preparation than ever before in all peace-time history, and this, too, in the face of the worst industrial stalemate and depression ever known. And here in our own land, in these United States of America, if one lifts his voice in protest, striving to avert this bloodthirsty and suicidal tendency, he is immediately and contemptuously | branded a ‘“pacifist.” Now, if to be & pacifist & man means peace, friendship and progress among all nations; if it | means a readiness to bear and forbear; |if it means a controlling, irresistible impulse to do anything. eve: pos: sible to,avert the future siaughter of the flower of our Nation, then the man so termed may rightly be proud of the distinction. No so-called *pacifist,” as far as the writer knows, objects to an Army and Navy adequate for the protection of our citizenry and our land. What is objectionable is the exagger- ated and persistent emphasis given to war propaganda and war preparation build the structure of peace and will throughout the world. In this view it is mote honorable to be called a pacifist than to be labeled with the blood-streaked term of militarist. ‘What can be done in this emergency? ‘We can at least do this much: speak boldly against the terrible pe version of reason, common sense and morality, as President Hoover and Mr. Cecil have done. And let it never be can be patriotic with- the housetops, Wi can prove our patriotism better by sav ing the world, along with our native land, from ruin and degradation than by drumming our breasts as 100 per cent Americans, or by beating drums to call the youth of our Nation into agony and death under the hurricane of machine gun fire or suffocation in the torture of mustard Ostentatious patriotism is as much to be condemned as osten- tatious religion. Phariseelsm can be displayed in bombastic patriotism just as easily and i\ut as contemptibly as in the spiritual field. It s as offen- .ll\i: undx ’l in one as luufll’e other. In both its turgid parade is nauseating. This is ot patriotism which old Samuel Johnson had in mind when he sald “patriotism is the last ref of the scoundrel.” ‘While that enn‘:giion is too severe for the purpose of this letter, yet it contains a moral that may be co! profit- ably in this day, when the crass insanity of bigoted nationalism is lauded as & cardinal virture while the of & radiant and comprehensive humanity are cast into the unfathomable pit of ::urmlnlu and unspeakable bar- Too often the excuse is offered that wars will come as long as the world exists. Even if that be true, and no one can predict the future, it does not | lessen our duty and relw!blll!!‘ to opposs thelr repetition. en Chan- ning said, “War will never yleld but to then [for & tax on British estates is viewed + | upon as political rather than [ have aroused criticism, many recalling ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. What is the liquid which drops from the exhaust pipe on an automo- solved, and the only way in which it = the exhaust as a vapor, which is sometimes condensed again into drops of water. Q. How did the expression, y hat is in the ring,” originate?—B. D. R. A. It is said to refer to an early cus- tom when persons participating in Spanish bullfights cast their hats into the ring before entering the arena. Q. How much money do the of the United States spend for - ture each year?—G. H. Y. A. The annual expenditure for fur- niture, according to the National Com- mittee on Wood Utilization, is about | $2,000,000,000. Q. When was Nicholas Longworth flrs)v.‘ x;x‘ude Speaker of the House?— A. The late Nicholas Longworth first elected Speaker of the House that body in 1925 and served as such in the Sixty-! was by —the foolish as well as the wise (in|anq Q. In what countries do fewest moth- ers die in childbirth?—E. K. C. A, Of the countries which kee] ords Denmark and Italy load world. The United BStates has highest mortality. Q. How much does it cost to cha: & motion picture studio so it duce talkies?—P. T. A. George Kent, change, says that it than $250,000. Q. Did Justice Oliver Wendéll Holmes fight in the Civil War>—H. D. A. Justice Holmes was just out of college at the time of the Civil War and answered the call was wounded four times in battle. £ What 1 meant by ideology?— ‘A. It is the sclence which treats of the history and evolution of human ideas. It is also & branch of linguistics, to arms. He M. treating of the relation of ideas o Jan- guage. . e scribed as “a half egg.” The is 1,175 feet between center lines of door tracks; its width, 325 feet, center to center of arch pins, and its height, 19715 feet from center of lower to cen- floor area yet bullt. proximately 55,000,000 cubic feet. Q. What vegetables will v AA 25, "‘! grow in e growing of hardier vegetadme has been demonstrated hout moss of Alaska south of the Arctic Circle. mustard, volume 18 ap- ot o e e ew 3 Ash- LN o usetts presided convention which in 1860 nom- Lincoln. Q. What ix the area of the Chic-c- stockyards?—E. T. A. They cover about 500 acres. Q. Just what does the slang term S ey | . to denote personality, | attractiveness and sex -we-ple ? | _Q Is it true that each star in ou fiag stends for an individual State?— ‘The stars the 48 States of | te. which was les at Stone Moun- 3 the standard width of newspaper columns?—A. W. A. The standard widih of newspaper columns is 13 ems. Twelve and one- half ems is & narrow column. However, half to ‘:fl mm-fl\nl:: lnfl":l‘!- one ters o the standard width. There is no set rule for this. Q. Can the age of a rattlesnake be muwmm.numb«uunm A. Not accurately. A new rattle de- velops each time a rattlesnake sheds, which, during the first year or so of its life, amounts to four or five times. Dreaks oft 1 rettle when crawling o oray over Tough undergrowth. British Land Tax Appraised As Political, Not Economic While Chancellor Snowden's budget by Americans as revolutionary in prin- ciple, the hievement of the goal 18 It is looked economic and intended to win su] from the Liberal party. It is predicted that the Conservatives will be aroused to action. Snowden’s statement on the subject is the direction of offering merely sn future election with of the issues. “It is seldom that the financier of the British Labor government falls to see things as they are,” says the Akron Beacon Journal, “but in his land tax the chancellor has gotten off on wrong foot. , he tells ln!llnd this tax’s ull aim ing less than nationalizing all land, and if he had there, could not have g with his posi- tion. However, when he begins to talk about land as belonging to all the peo- le and which therefore should be the eminent Briton abdicates the high place he has held as a statesman and aligns himself with those sentimental- ists who are always cocksure that they have up their sleeves s panacea for all of the ilis of the world * % x “There is little doubt,” in the opinion of the St. Louls Globe-Democrat, “that the scheme will have the support of the Liberal party as well as the Labor party, though this impression may be modified when the full details of the plan are published. It is certain that the Con- servative party will bitterly oppose it. Indeed, 3t is not improbable that they will welcome the proposal as one that will reveal the government in its true colors and give them the opportunity to overthrow it for which they have been patiently waiting. At any rate, it will be several years before it can be put into effect and there will be plenty of time for public opinion to become ac- quainted with the consequences of such revolutionary legislation.” Directing attention to the fact that it “would require a preliminary valuation program so vast &s to put the famous Doomsday Book of Willlam the Con- queror completely in the shade,” the St. Paul Dispatch comments: “The new the land brings without build! It is estimated that the survey w cost, $7,000,000. Furthermore, there are over 10,000,000 different parcels of land and the plan is to repeat the process every five years. Such costly preliminaries that the revenue derived from one of Lloyd George's land tax schemes during the nine years it was in operation was only one-fifth'of the cost of valuation. Snowden's Doomsday Book may spell the doom of his land tax proposal.” “The land tax in conservative Britain contains much dynamite,” avers the Cleveland News, viewing it as the issue “Mr., it nationslizing the But thus far about all he has in view is another source of rev- The Des Clearly to 't higher income taxes, the capital lsy:fl tax will be cheered.” The Providence Bulletin offers the judgment that the “‘made stronger the Labor-Libe: al- liance,” and that “it will give the Labor- ites & strong issue upon which to go be- fore the people in a general election.” The Flint Daily Journal believes that “Mr. Snowden’s method is entirely sen- sible and shows his cleverness as a poli- ticlan and financier.” The Hartford Courant argues that the chancellor “probably has lengthened the life of the ministry in which he sits.” Against these_estimates is the econ- clusion of the Buffalo Evening News: “It would be easy to make a plausible Pplea for the abolition of almost any tax it governments could be maintained without revenue. It is easy for appeals to self-interest alone to persuade almost any one that his taxes should be abol- ished and that some group or class to which he does not belong should sup- Fianalin of souna philosophy” pawerer or sound p! y, however, in that kind of agitation. The conspic- uous part that it plays in Socialist rea- soning is one of the weaknesses of the movement which would lay the founda- tion for fallure of Socialist systems, if put in practice.” ‘The Toronto Dafly Star declares: “It is sald by some that Mr. Snowden will not get very far in this matter, as it wil take two years to make the neces- sary valuation of the land and within that time the Conservatives will be back in office. This may be so. But the fact must not be overlooked that this land tax 1, being an Ve meas- upon which the Labor pre: fall. ‘The Baltimore 8 i pears as the most toward the Left which tl ernment has insugurated since it came into power,” and the pa) comments: “The Liberal party, by whose sufferance the Labor government remains in office, committed itself to & policy of land na- tionalization five years ago. ‘The espou- sal of this policy on the part of the MacDonald government creates a new bond between the Labor and Liberal parties and will tend to promote co- operation between the two groups in the :fpell to the electorate, toward which Il political parties in England are look- ing forward.” SR “Taxes and taxes. Everybody is talk- Ing about taxes! exclaims the Raleigh the principles of justice and love, and these have no sure root but in the re- " he did not in- e that war was ‘- ble. On the sentence states war because it {lluminates follow. PS. lm#c s ry and ntrary, that glo the argument against preseribes the remedy the path civilization sho JOHN A of course. is that there yments, aggressi est public attention, attract popular support and will in much of the approval of the Liberal party, If the land tax should be thrown out by the peers, Labor would go into & general election armed with issue and wil & popular t'l‘unr”ault would by no means be cer- What a Shock! Prom the Boston Evening Transcript. ‘The earthquake can now hold its head with the 111 wind. A‘;oo-nt 2!&"-‘ Quake in rolled & golf ball into the cup and gave a hfir. on.tormqn;:m na'.”"’. ————————— Long Traffic Wait. Prom the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Population will begin to decline after 30 years, an But that's & warns. long time to walt for a traffic jam to clear up. o Installment Babies. Prom the Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator. Bables may be had on the installme: plan in a Chicago hospital, | m’: no to the