Evening Star Newspaper, July 5, 1931, Page 18

THE EVENING STAR ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY...........July 5, 1831 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evening Star ... -45¢ per month Ve X ia The z\enmgum:vsnmu s e ibath) w! . "as‘r per mog‘rs e Sunday Star o Sc_per c de at the end of ‘each month. Ofdere may Be went in by mail of telephons NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dailv and Su; 1 ¥r., $10.00: lmn-gzg hday "oh 3900 1o 66e % 13rh unday only i All Other States and Canada. 4 Sunday...] yr.,$1200:1mo. $1.00 nday’ only Member of the Associated Press. sociated Press is exclusively entitled otk A Gor Tepublication of all news dis- Atihes eredited o it or mot otherwise cred- Bl this paper and also the local rews Dblished. hereth. - Al rights of publication ot Eeeial “Gispatches herein are also reserved. —_— Tied Up by Tracks. Controller General McCarl's ruling that the Treasury has no funds with which to compensate the ownership of the Mount Vernon, Alexandria and ‘Washington Railway for the loss of its privileges and tangible property in the area soon to be utilized for new gov- ernmental structures should serve to hasten decision on a matter that has apparently kept the responsible building program officials in a state of nervous uncertainty over which way to turn. The decision will probably come in the form of judicial disposition of a peti- tion for injunction, filed by the rail- road, seeking to Testrain the Govern- ment from removing the tracks. Hear- 4ngs on this petition, postponed from time to time through agreement by counsel, should now proceed. ‘The history of this case presents somé of the complications that now are de- laying demolition work in the section of the Government triangle lying be- tween Twelfth and Thirteenth streets, C street and Constitution avenue. The failure to arrive at a decision over what to do with the tracks has already resulted in a change of plans and & ewitching of contracts. There should obviously be no such delay. The public’s notice was first drawn to the situation when a bill emerged from the corporation counsel's office to pay the railroad some $200,000, half of which was to be furnished by the Dis- trict, for loss of its privileges in the triangle. That bill was so obviously 1llogical that 1t was immediately placed by the Commissioners in whatever re-| ceptacle there is in the District ‘Build- ing for the preservation of unique papers. Inquiry revealed that it was drawn after a conference between the railroad interests, the Treasury officials and the District’s legal officers. One of its curious features was the fact that the railroad, bought at a receiver's sale, would probably stand to make more money by losing its privileges than by keeping them. After the death of the bill there was more palaver, and the railroad sought an injunction. At the same time the controller general was asked for an opinion as to whether the Government had any money to pay the railroad. Mr. McCarl at first declined to give the ruling, possibly on the ground that the matter was before the court. But he later consented, and his ruling now is that the Government has no money %0 pay the railroad. As it comes into court, the matter will probably hinge on whether the Government is liable for the loss of the railroad’s privileges of maintaining a terminal, tracks, etc. One of the com- plications is that the officlals do not want to grant the railroad another terminal site in the congested district. ‘There is no place for it. But it has- been supposed that such privileges, once conferred in the form of a franchise, can be taken away at any time. And as the railroad paid nothing for the franchise in the first place, why should it be paid for its loss now? As for the rallroad’'s physical property, such as tracks, that was presumably developed at the railroad's own risk. ‘The matter has assumed an im- portance that relegates to second place e question of how long the building gram will be delayed. Em————— One of the signs of the times is the slow but steady elimination of roadside signs. S Comparative Naval Expenditure. Prime Minister MacDonald on Mon- day of this week delivered what is de- scribed as one of the greatest speeches in his long political career and as one of the most important utterances heard in the House of Commons for years. It was devoted to expenditure on arma- ment, and resembled the appeal Presi- dent Hoover made to the International Chamber of Commerce at Washington in May—a call to the nations to leave nc stone unturned to make the 1932 G:=neva conference a success. When it adjourns, Mr. MacDonald said, he hoped that the world will have gained from it *mot merely piety and principles, but scales and standards by which each country can see to it that the obliga- tions undertaken by all other countries gre actually fulfilled.” Another portion of the prime min- fMseer's address was in the nature of a glorification of the lead Great Britain das taken in reduction of expenditure on arms, both naval and military. His figures purport to show that while ‘Great Britain has been cutting down her bill, the United States has been Weavily increasing its outlay. in 1814 the total United Kingdom expenditures for naval purposes was $250,805,000, or, celculated in terms of ‘present-day currency, $370,000,000. In 1924 they were $272,720,000, and in 1930, $255,188,000. Thus, according to Mr. MacDonald, there has been a reduction of some $114,900,000 since 1914 and some $17,500,000 since 1924. In 1914, 1924 and 1930-31 the United States, the prime minister alleged, spent about $210.000.000 in the present currency; in 1924, $350,000,000, and this past year, $390,000,000. Thus Uncle Sam is de- picted as increasing his naval budget $180,000,000 over 1914 and $40,000,000 over 1924, Dm‘ or two simple statements ex« plain America’s apparent_extravagance at sea, as compared to Britain's econ- omy. In 1914 John Bull was arming to the teeth egainst the menace of the ! Kalser's bid for naval supremacy. By 1924 that menace had evaporated. Britain thenceforward could afford to spend vastly less on her “sure shield.” Between 1914 and 1924, America’s World War fleet took form. Naturally its de- velopment and upkeep made it neces- sary to foot a considerably higher bill than had to be paid ten years previ- ously. It was within that same span of years, and even more so during the seven yeirs between 1924 and 1931, too, that the United States Government set up, and more or less resolutely pur- sued, its program of achieving parity with the British fleet. Finally, it needs to be borne in mind that as a purely budgetary proposition even a parity fleet would cost the Amer- ican people more than such a Tleet costs Britain. Our personnel is the highest peid in the world. The standards of living in our naval service, ashore and afloat, are notably higher, and corre- spondingly costlier, than in other serv- ices. Labor and material costs, too, are probably heavier, on the average, in this country than elsewhere. Almost anything can be done with statistics. To portray the United States as setting the world a reckless example in naval expenditure can easily be shown to be a fallaclous undertaking, although no one in this country will suggest that Mr. MacDonald had any ulterior purpose in indulging in the Anglo-American comparison he has just made. — vt The Rotary Left Turn Passes. A happy and satisfactory solution of a troublesome problem has been reached with the approval by the Dis- trict Commissioners of the recom- mendation of Willlam A. Van Duzer, newly installed director of the Depart- ment of Vehicles and Traffic, abolish- ing the rotary left-hand turn and re- storing the turn provided for in the National Code on Street and Highway Safety, cften called the Hoover Munici- pal Code. This action is in line with the recommendation of the Commis- sioners' Advisory Committee, Which | pasced on the matter last Summer. The change in the traffic regulations will not become effective until Septem- ber 15. This postponement will give plenty of time for all motorists to be- come acquainted with the substituted method. The new turn is really the |old one in Washington, for it was in { use here for many years until a former {director of traffic saw fit to make the change. t Washington now takes its place with | all but one of the other large cities in |the interest of uniformity, that one| still retalning the rotary rule. Not |only is the National Capital in step | | with the rest of the Nation, but, what is quite as important, it is in step with | | itselt. There are approximately 3,000 inter- sections here. About 300 of them are controlled by traffic lights or police- men. It is only on this ten per cent that the rotary turn is in operation. The 2,700 other street intersections call { for the center lane turn. Contusion has constantly been caused |at the intersections which sometimes are controlled by policemen and some- times are uncontrolled. Unless the | motorist is a good gusser, he does not | know which way to proceed when he is some distance back from the inter- | section and in a line of heavy traffic. | The turn effective in September does | not mean that the driver can suddenly | swing out to the left in the pathway ! of & continuous stream of moving traf- fic. He must wait until the way is cleared before completing his turn Careful observance of this requirement will not only avoid violation of the reg- 'ulltions. but will make the intersec- tions safe. Careful consideration must at all times be paid to pedestrians. It is thus assured that the National Capital will share in national left-turn uniformity during the George Wash- ington Bicentennial, when so many out- of-town visitcrs will visit this city. SR i In spite of the eminent political thinkers who venture careful comment, the rule is rapidly asserting itself, “When in doubt, quote G. Bernard ! Shaw." The case of Mr. Shaw is not | the only one revealing a man as a! humorist in life and eventually accord- | ing him serious respect as a sage. S e Annual apprehensions of damage by | the Japanese beetle are revived. It is hoped that birds will aid materially in | their destruction. Agriculture is not as a rule poetic, but the birds will now be esteemed if not for their song, for their appetite. Some of France's money experts in- sist that they have nothing to learn even from a man with Andrew Mellon’s world reputation for intimate and prac- tical knowledge of finance. e Germans to the Front. Well, there is quite obviously no need for Germany to declare a moratorium for the prowess of her flaming youth. On the same day—last Friday — her sturdlest son, 25-year old Max Schme- ling, successfully defended his title to the heavyweight championship of the world, while an even more youthful fraulein, Cissi Aussem, captured for the Fatherland, at Wimbledon, for the first time in history a world tennis championship. She today wears the wemen's singles crown that formerly adorned the head of our own Helen ‘Wills, long since passed to more emi- nent honors at the net. In conquering “Young Stribling,” pride of Dixie, in the fifteen-round fight at Cleveland, Schmeling clinched beyond all possibility of doubt his right to championship of the “heavies.” The German's victory was remarkable in many ways. He had not fought since Sharkey’s foul gave him the title by default a year ago. The wiseacres of the caulifiower industry held—many of them until the eve of hostilities at Cleveland on July 3—that Max's pugilistic capacity was confined to an ability to absorb punishment without any power to give it. They predicted that Willie Stribling of Georgia would | esteem, Stalin or Mussolini. | historic rivalries. promptly explode Schmeling's claims to championship class. By one of those ironies of fate whiclr| overtake experts ever and anon, the fight dopesters were condemned to see the exact opposite happen. It was the German who demonstrated that the “class” of the occaslon was in his THE SUNDAY corner of the ring. Stribling was de- cisively and overwhelmingly defeated. In the presence of the cleanly won victories of Max Schmeling and Cissi Aussem, it is plain that the world from now on has to reckon with Ger- many in that realm of international sport in which, hitherto, she has not shone with any particular effulgence. ——e— George 8. Graham. ‘Washington deeply sorrows at the death of Representative George 8. Graham of Pennsylvania, which occur- red yesterday. He had been ill for some time, but his affiiction was not considered a grave one and despite his advanced age it was hoped that he would recover and resume his post in the House of Representatives upan the reassembling of Congress in December. For nine consecutive terms he head been a member of the House. He was dean of the Pennsylvania delegation and in point of age the eldest member of the House since the death of Rep- resentative Henry A. Cooper of Wis- consin. His service throughout his congressional career was marked with brilliant achievement. He was an indefatigable worker and conscientious in the discharge of the least as well as the most important dutles. The District had in Representative Graham a champion in its endeavor to secure political equity from Congress in the form of an amendment to the Constitution permitting Congress to en- franchise the Washingtonian as a vot- ing citizen, giving him Tepresentatiog in the National Legislature and in the electoral college. As chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary before which the District's plea for the pro- posal of an amendment to the Constiz tution was heard in the House of Representatives, he was uniformly con- siderate and helpful whenever the case was heard. He believed in the District's cause and did his utmost to advance it to the point of favorable report and enactjent. Washington regrets that he could not survive to see the triumph of the enfranchised Capital that its own faith holds as eventually assured. — An old-time statesman was expected to face audiences as he demonstrated his eloquence. At present he must face the microphone and remain unaware of the public's attitude untll he reads the newspaper comment. Radio elimi- nates an element of possible advantage. Many a speaker has grasped the oppor- tunity to modify his remarks with extempore discretion when his audience, under immediate cbservation, made it evident that he was slipping away from the popular key. e ———— Professional jealousies are possible in all flelds of endeavor, especially likely to arise when a career includes need of impressing the popular imagination. It may yet be deemed desirable to con- duct some kind of unofficial contest to determine which ranks higher in public his recognized sphere of greatness. Yet human discontent has made compari- sons more trivial than this a cause of o = Ideal German statesmanship is will- ing to come strictly practical life and forget for a while the philosophies of Nietsche or the calculations of Einstein. As an intellectual authority, the expert ac- countant now claims close attention. i . “What will keep grass from growing on a tennis court?” writes a corre- spondent of an informakon bureau. Did he ever try to make a grass court? B The total mass of the sun, a noted scientist declares, is being diminished at the rate of 250,000,090 tons a min- ute. Long or short tons? e Another contribution made by Bos- ton, her natal city, to the rehabilitated U. 8. 8. Constitution: An ample sup- ply of safety razors. — . SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. A Burning Question. Of all human queries ‘We're puzzled by one That leads the whole series “Oh, what's to be done!” | When the climate is torrid We struggle to shun The heat ray so horrid— But what's to be done? There are times when all knowledge Its limit has run. You can’t learn from college ‘What is to be done. Of self each is ruler. Let's laugh with the sun, Till his temper grows cooler— ‘What else can be done? An Approval. “Do you approve of the classics?” “I do,” replied Senator Sorghum. “The classics should be studied, the same as campaign platforms. They have their improving influence, even if you don’t manage to remember much of what was in ‘'em.” Jud Tunkins says & man who never makes a mistake has to die fearfully young to avoid spoilifig his record. The Ship of State. The Ship of State securely thrives, Although, to keep the craft afloat, Some have to paddle for their lives, ‘While others merely rock the boat. A Case for Silence. “Josh,” sald Farmer Corntossel, “did you tell the new Summer boarders there are no mcsquitoes worth mentioning?” “Yes. The language that has been used about those mosquitoes has got so free that the less they are mentioned the better.” Physical Culture. “Do you believe in corporal punish- ment?” “Certainly not,” replied Miss Cayenne. “After a boy reaches a certain age cor- poral punishment ceases to be discipline and becomes an athletic event.” Veracity. The weather man doth view the sky. His news is seldom good. He says, “I cannot tell a lie.” Sometimes we wish he would. “De difference between a mno 'count man an’ a no ’count mule,” said Uncle Fben, “is dat you kin wallop gde mule wifout nobody havin on youst | He was conten: Each has | STAR, WASHINGTO 10) LA I g 1931 This Generation’s Responsibility BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D., LL. D. Bishop of Washington. “God sent me Ddefore to pre- serve you a posterity in the earth; it was not you that sent me hither, but God.”—Genesis, zlv.7-8. “The expulsive J;ower of a great con- viction” is the title given by a notable preacher to an equally notable sermon. hat the most dyna- mic thing in life strong conviction that drives & man on in pursuit of the thing to which, in a peculiar sense, he believes he is sent. When we come to measure the world's true leaders in any riod we inevitably find that they mve been the men and women who were possessed of an idea or an ideal that compelled them to action. Some obsessions prove disastrous, especially where they are obsessions that grow out of unreasoned and undigested conclusions. On the other hand, it is demonstrably true that it is the man or woman whose mind and heart have become inflamed as with a passion for some great cause that moves their fel- lows to action and ushers in far-reach- lnf changes in the social, political or religious order. Frequently these over- ous people irritate us and we speak of them as being possessed with but one idea, but when we come to reckon with the factors that have to do with our individual and corporate wellbeing we have to take account of these peo- ple. After all, it is the man who is able to say: “This one thing I do,” who ulti- mately arrives at his goal. To be dis- cursive may prove for the while fasci- nating, but it rarely leads us to any definite objective. ‘When we come to regard an anni- versary such as that which marks the birth of the Republic, if we are honest with ourselves, we are compelled to think more seriously of our relation to and responsibility for the Nation of which we are citizens. We are per- fectly clear that we have inherited a great estate and that in ways beyond our powers to understand God has made and preserved us a Nation. We have passed through crises that threat- ened our very integrity and security, yet at the present time we stand among fhe nations of the world in a position that is at once commanding and en- viable. Those of the present generation are the heirs of all that has gone be- fore, and upon them are imposed re- sponsibilities that may not bewignored or neglected. There is a touch of fine patriotism in the words of Joseph as recorded in the text, in which he ex- resses the conviction that to him n committed the high obligation of Eruervln' to posterity the gifts and lessings he himself was privileged to enjoy. He conceived of his strangely checkered life as designed for specific ends. To his mind it was no accident that he was given the opportunity of contributing to the security and per- manence of his people. ‘To our present generation, especially to the youth, is given the privilege and | ononunuy of so ordes the affairs of our domestic, social and political life as to Insure to posterity the rich privileges we enjoy. Highly concelved civic duty has concerns and responsi- bilities other than those which rela to our immediate interests. It is con- celvable that & man may be a good father and home provider and yet miserably fail in his obligations a3 a citizen of the state. No one who is honest, is disposed to hold to the dic- tum “America, right or wrong.” s is an expression of loyalty unworthy of high-thinking men and women. We want America right and we want to keep it from that which is wrong, but we may only accomplish this through the strong conviction that what this Republic stands for and represents is worthy of being maintained and pre- served at any and every cost. That kind of citizenship that holds lightly the strong elements that distinguish us s a Nation from other nations, and that seeks to subordinate American princi- les and ideals to a nebulous concep n_of internationalism, makes no contribution to our present wellbeing or to our future stability. It is well to remind ourselves at such a time as this that fundamentally our love of country, expressed in terms of true pa- triotism, is related to our reverence for God and things holy. We need citi- 2ens today who believe in America, who love America, who are ready with Joseph to say, as they survey the fu- ture: “God sent me before you to pre- serve you a posterity in the earth.” A lukewarm or diluted loyalty, or of stability and devotion to those ideals that are liar to our American life, is an exhibition of irresponsibility that bodes ill for the future of the com- ‘monwealth. Hoover’s Debt Proposals May Lead to World-Wide Recovery From Depression BY WILLIAM HARD, President Hoover at this week end faces the real beginning of his ultimate efforts to hasten the restoration of prosperity in the United States. The | essence of these efforts is clearly du-’ tined to be the release of idle capital into new enterprises and employmenu.‘ This is true whether we 100k at for- | eign affairs or at domestic. | ‘The President’s whole German move | is developing toward providing a fieid | " for fresh American investments Europe. If we and the French come | to an agreement regarding reparations | and debts, our bankers will be found extending long-term credits to Ger- | many in order to prevent its financial structure from again experiencing a crisis of disintegration. ey will also be found extending temporary credits | to various smaller European countries | temporarily disadvantaged by the Hoo- ver reparations and debts moratorium. * ok ox % | On the other hand, if we and the! French fail to arrive at an agreement | and if the moratorium plan—as a grand total—collapses, then numerous parts of it will be achieved plecemeal and | the extensions of American credit to %o s lieonsiRerutian ot Europe will be just as great and prob- | ably ultimately much greater. This is for the following reasons: | If France refuses to come to terms | with the United States the Germans will have achieved, anyway, their first | aim. That aim always to have | ample justification in the eyes of the | world for exercising their legal treaty right under the Young plan to post- | pone the “conditional” part of their | reparations payments. This justifica- | tion the obduracy of France in its negotiations with the United States will abundantly give them. They will post- pone their “conditional” payments amid almost um\'elu‘l world applause. * % % That postponement, however, will upset the financial arrangements upon which numerous European powers have relied. New financing will be needed. France will be both unwilling and un- able to furnish it. The United States and Britain and Germany and Italy, together with Germany's ex-allies, Austria and Hungary and Bulgaria, will be thrown into an alignment opposite to that of France. The French allgn- ment, comprising France itself and Poland and Czechoslovakia and Jugo- slavia and Rumania, is held together largely by French political finance. Certain units in it are highly restive under what they regard as excessive French political domination. They con- sent to that domination only because they need money and get it from Prance. In circumstances of security they would shake that domination off if they could get their needed money m other sources. * ok ox ok It will inevitably become the polic; of the United States and Brlmlnpulni Germany and Italy to try to restore security and prosperity to Central and Eastern Europe ~without France if France decides to isolate itself from the Hoover reconstruction program. The Great War will be completely over. The partnership of the “allied and associated powers” will have come wholly to an end. The line toward the most of Europe's future will run not and Fari "t ety raspington , buf u London, Rome and Berin, | o 250 Washington will lead, in the realistic economic sense, because the United States will be the origin of the financial resources for the success of the new alignment. American capital ultimately, and across all transitory obstacles, will flow to the resuscitation of Central and Eastern Europe for the sufficient com- peum; reason that the failure of the world’s capitalism to alleviate miseries of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe would bring Com- ::l“pl;‘:t'ln t:llestvlll‘d to the Rhine and e prosper: L prosperity of capitalism * ok ox % Therefore, no matter wh present Hoover debts and rfi:’:fl:’: offer encounters French acceptance or French rejection, it is the beginning of a new expanded era of employment. to;‘e Agl;:{clnx::plul overseas. That is u Ve e q revolutionary meaning In domestic affairs the President’ mind is known to turn toward mln; devices for stimulating new activities by capital now inadequately and un- fruitfully employed. The President is seen to be more interested in acceler- ating the flow of business than in build- ing dams in it even to protect some of the wheat farmers. His supposed cour-~ age in offering help to Europe, while almost the whole world approved, was nothing in comparison with his actual courage last week in sustaining the ;‘h:;l mw’:l‘l‘d:; o’l the Federal Board e e farme of the wheat belt disap) m SR The board continues its intention of selling considerable amounts of wheat | 287iC during the next 12 months out of stores of its Grain Stabilization e{: s ration. It concluded that a refusal to sell would congest the storage facilities and block the outlets of farmers in the Middle and Far Northwest. It con- vinced the President of the soundness of that view. Sound or not, it pre- vailed. The Farm Board will keep on selling wheat in moderate but not negli- gible qulnm.ies.. RN ‘This may be taken as the last gasp of any, former supposed purpose by, she jeven to emulate the Federal Government to segregate agri- culture through any ‘“stabilization” process from -the general impacts of general conditions. The other “co- operative” processes used by the Farm Board remain in operation. They are designed to give agriculture a normal, tead of a subnormal, share in the general situation, whatever that gen- eral situation may be. They are not designed—and, in the opinion of the 'arm Board, they cannot be success- fully designed—to exempt sagriculture wholly from the depressing influences which weigh today upon virtually all basic primary commodities. Wheat, according to the last report on wholesale prices by the Labor De- partment, was down to 50 per cent of its 1926 price level, Copper was down to 63 per cent. Zinc was down to 47 per cent. Lead was down to 45 per cent. Silver was down to 44 per cent. Tin was down to 35 per cent. Rubber was down to 14 per cent. Mr. Carl Williams of the Federal Farm Board makes a comparison be- teen the course of wheat prices and the course of the prices of industrial stocks in the New York Stock Market tween September, 1929, and May, 1931. Wheat in that period declined 41 per cent. The prices of industrial stocks, averaged out, declined 63 per cent. * o ox x In the opinion of the administration the farmer needs two special things, but he needs a third and general thing even more. The two special things are (a) the restricting of the acreage of ex- cessively unremunerative crops, and (b) the formation by himself of such a “co- operative” control over his own products as will enable him, perhaps, some day “co-operative” control whereby the producers of iron ore on our Northwestern ranges are today keeping the price of their prod- uct actually above the 1926 level. The general thing, however, that the farmer needs, In the opinion of the adminis- tration, is simply and overwhelmingly importantly the thing that everybody else needs—more activity by capital in the creation of goods and therefore in the creation of markets. = ‘The President is known to have made determined efforts toward assembling the financial resources and toward erecting the financial arrangements which would facllitate a great new development in the creation of new supplies of that greatest of consump- tion goods—residential buildings. One of his well known commissions has long been engaged in studying that problem. The board of directors of the National Association of Rea} Es- tate Boards has submitted to him a lving it through the forma- a “central residential mortgage which through its subsidiaries | would accomplish the financing of new | tyral homes up to 75 per cent of their value. * ok % x It would be a singularly odd devel- opment if new activities by our Amer- ican capital in Europe should give it momenfum and encouragement toward new activities at home. It is in any case certain that our prospective ad- ventures for Europe have galvanized our capitalists into more interest in the President’s plans for adventures in their own United States. (Copyright, 1931.) o Farm Board’sWheatPlans Quieted Apprehensions BY HARDEN COLFAX. ‘The American wheat problem today the | has become distinctly one of marketing rather than production. Therefore, the announcement that the Farm Board would limit its sales of Government- owned wheat in the country to a maxi- mum of 60,000,000 bushels did much to clear up the situation and quiet appre- hensions on the part of wheat pro- ducers. President Hoover, in response to a flood of urgent requests from argicul- tural interests, suggested that the board consider a more definite policy, and that particularly it arrange to hold the wheat in its possession off the market for periods varying from four months to a year. Western producers, whose opin- ions are voiced largely by Senator Cap- per of Kansas, wanted the board to hold the old wheat entirely off the market. However, when the board’s state- ‘ment was made, Senator Capper, whose State is so pre-eminent in wheat pro- duction, expressed gratification. at the limitation of sales. Generally speak- ing, Amerlc;n u'_:hfll wod“cfirl. as represented by their co-operative as- sogmlons, have concurred in the bureau’s policy. * kK X It seems to be the general opinion among those who are interested in ultural conditions in the wheat mofd not have that tig board States tha Dot _hav made any other kind TDO- | Just like any other business concirn, it must sell. However, it must sell “within the fleld of cy.” ‘While the Farm advice to curtail wheat acreage has not been received as generally, and acted upon as fully, by the American farmer as might have been hoped, it now seems likely that this year there will be a substantial decrease in the production of wheat in the world, including this of Agriculture S Siated tpt from advices his dae had | A. Lindbergh. be- | me. PART TWO. Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY, tative Ernest R. Ackerman with him nearly half a century. For instance, the New Jersey Representa- tive did not take along his historic um- brella when he flew with Col. Charles In any event, an um- brella does not make much of a para- chute, he confided. But Mr. Ackerman did take a treas- ured possession up in the air with him. Even before he acquired what has be- come his, remarkable umbrella, the New Jersey Representative had begun to cole lect stamps. Some years ago he obtained in Philadelphia an envelope which brought a letter from Russia. The post- age was paid by several sheets of Rus- sian stamps, 100 in each sheet, which when folded together, back to back, made a double strip of stamps 154 feet in length, or, counting each side, a strip 6 inches wide and 31 feet long. As the strip was folded and refolded to con- form to the size of the letter, the whole made a package which bears @ strik- ing resemblance to an accordion. * x ok % Tt was this philatelic oddity instead of his umbrella that Mr. Ackerman took with him when he flew with Lind- bergh. In all, the postage on the letter was pald by 1,625 stamps, each of denomination of 250 rubles, making a total face value of 406,250 rubles. Be- fore the World War this number of rubles would have equaled $207,137.50 in United States currency. However, at the time the letter was sent they were only sufficient to pay the equivalent of 15 cents worth of , and Mr. Akerman used the exhibit in one of his campalgns for re-election several years 8go as a horrible example of what hap- pens when a government starts up the g;lnof’l‘{lrcu I;:;ind!ffl to turn o‘uz l:nn!y with ng reserve in t| to back up the iuue. st It was the request of an employe of the Plainfield post office to Mr. Acker- man's father for some of the bright stamps of the 70s that made a phila- telist of the son. If the post office em- ploye wanted to save some of the stamps, Ernest R. Ackerman decided that he would like to do so also. His father was a patent attorney, and stamps on letters from the Patent Office were a bright vermillion. Those of the War Department were red and of the Navy Department blue, and Ernest went to the post office to . matl, get his father's * * % % It was small wonder, then, that the lad had an album in 1873. At 15 he was conducting a stamp business, and it proved such a profitable venture that five Yel:l later he sold his good-will and list of customers for $1,000. The sale, however. did not terminate his in- terest in philately. On the contrary, experience fastened the “fever” upon him to such an extent that he has never been able to shake it off. His acquisitions of 50 years place him in the front rank of collectors, not only in the United States, but of the entire world. The medals and trophies awarded to him for his stamp displays at exhibi- tions include many of the most eagerly sought and hotly contested for because of their significance, merit and Pprestige. * x5 % Representative Joshua A. Giddings of Ohio, in 1842, after having bern.'fx- pelled frcm the House for an expres- sion of his views on the subject of slavery, was promptly returned to his seat by his constituents. In a subse- quent speech he said: “I will not speak of the time when Dawson of Louisia; drew a bowie knife for my assassina- tion. I was afterward speaking with regard to a certain transacticn in which Negroes were concerned in Geor- gla, when Mr. Black of Georgia, rais- ing his bludgeon, and standing in front of my seat, said to me: ‘If you repeat that language again, I will knock you down.’ It was a solemn moment for I had never been knocked down, and having some curlosity on that subject, I repeated the language. Then Mr. Dawson of Louisiana, the same who had drawn the bowie knife, placed his hand in his pocket and said, with an oath which I will not repeat, that he would shoot me, at the same time cocking his pistol, so that all around me could hear the click.” * xR % ‘When the compromise measures were under discussion in April. 1850, Sen- ators Foote and Benton showed their temper. In the course of a speech, Fcote was making allusions to Benton. The latter rose hastily from his seat, pushed his chair violently from him, and without remark or gesture moved up the aisle toward Foote, who was about 20 feet distant. Benton had no| weapon in his hand or upon his person. | Foote, perceiving Benton's movements, advanced to meet him, drawing d cocking a five-chambered revolver. Members _intervened and order was re- stored. Benton said a pistol had been hought to assassinate him. F Te- plied he had bought it only for self- defense. Benton replied that was ways the pretext of the assassin. partment has received it is evident that the world’s output of wheat dur- ing the coming year will be at least 350,000,000 bushels short of that of last season. This includes the Rus- sian crop. Canada will be short, ac- cording to reports from field offices of the Department of Commerce. Argen- tina is turning to flax, and Australia has reduced her acreage by 40 per cent. Finally, the Bureau of Agricul- Economics announced that the Danube Basin, the great wheat reser- voir of Europe, has now a carry-over of only some 7,000,000 bushels,” gom- pared with more than 28,000,000 bush- | els on August 1 last year. ) * ok ko In its announcement the Farm Board, through its chairman, James €. Stone, declined to state just how much ‘wheat it now holds or to promise to re- tain it all for any specified time. Mr. Stone did say, however, that the Grain Stabilization Corporation will limit its sales of wheat during the year just be- gun to a ‘“cumulative maximum of 5.000,000 bushels per month.” This limitation, however, will “not apply to sales to foreign governments or their agencies which are now being con- sidered.” Chairman Stone also repeated the in- tention of the board so to arrange its sales program as ‘“not to depress the world movement in prices.” If any sales are made within the limits of the United States “for the purpose of clearing trade channels or for other efficient merchandising purposes,” he declared, these will be promptly re- placed by equal quantities of wheat from the new crop. Such transactions, moreover, “will not be considered as a part of the sales program.” It is the View of the board, said Chairman Stone, that. taking into consideration the world situation at present, “sales of such moderate amounts as 5,000,000 bushels a month can be made without interference in the general market.” * * ok X eat exports are normally heaviest in July, August and September, and shipments to Europe from the United States probably must now come from the holdings of the board. Domestic millers need Spring wulu!)roh-.bly 8lso come to the Grain G gfi: ization Corporation for their sup- In this connection it is interesting to note the fact that, with the prices of all farm products now the lowest since 1910, farming interests all over the country are obj: to the in- crease in freight rates demanded by the railroads, a demand now under tion by the Interstate Com- merce Commission. Last week the standing committee named by the World Wheat Oonference which met in London in May to consider any further action on ‘a world scale, re- ported that it had agreed upon an organization for the interchange of formation concerning ins, particu- larly wheat, and "that sl;mg the sec- ond week in the present month it would meet to consider th World Wheat &7 sl second added ALL RUSSIA BEGINS TO READ BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ‘Were it not for the stern political cen- sorship and the industrial backwardness which limits the supply of paper, Rus- sia would be the world's paradise for the writer and the publisher of news- papers, periodicals and books. As mat- ters stand, phenomenal strides have been made in the publishing business since the revolution. Practically 100,000,000 Russians of reading age are intensely eager to find out what is going on in the world. After centuries of educational darkness these millions are learning to read and ere, within prescribed limits, permitted to do so. The demand for reading matter created by such a condition has produced a situation comparable to the rosiest dreams of American or European publishers, promoters and circulation managers anxious to distribute their printed matter. Before the revolution only one man in three and only one woman in eight could read. For the past six years schools have been multiplied and at- tended not only by children but by adults, and the number of readers has tremendously increased. The difficulty is to supply them with books, maga- zines and newspapers. obstacle is the offcial ‘The first great Russien censorship. It is a flagitious offense to write, publish or distribute any work which in the remotest man- ner criticizes the Soviet regime. All| the old books, regarded as classics and | read by those who knew how in the Czarist days, have been suppressed. The Index Expurgatorius of the Roman Catholic Church is like a public circu- lating library in accessibility compared with_standard works under the ban of the Russian censorship. The prohibi- tion existing against them is so strict that imprisonment befalls the luckless reader caught in the act of perusing the classics. If caught with the meager. borrowed volumes to which he had access in his | log-cabin days, Abraham Lincoln would | have been jailed had his actions taken place in modern Soviet Russia. such works as “Weems' Life of Wash. ington” would be regarded as highly | subverstve. Strict Supervision Exercised. Authors whose writings reflect any | criticism of the Soviet regime, or show any praise of the “good old days,” are likely to be thrown into prison. It is permissible to write books which ridicule or draw repulsive pictures of the times before the revolution, but that is ail. A writer may make fun of the| bourgeoisie, of private property, but he | may not treat them with respect or | ascribe to them interesting or admirable | attributes. If books written in foreign countries are translated into the Rus- sian, they must be expurgated of all | o P actically no trade in Russia, capitalist_ doctrine. | No publisher or printer may, upon | pain of severe penalty, bring out a work which has not passed the rigid censor- ship. There is some bootlegging of classics and of books, uncensored or wholly forbidden, but it is as dangerous to circulate this ‘sort of work as it was dangeroiis for the Nihilists to circulate revolutionary tracts in the Czarist days. In a word, the Soviet authorities are copying the methods of the royalists to a T, but they, instead of the Russian secret police of the old days, are hold- ing the whip. But, now that people are beginning | to learn to read, there is appetite for even the emasculated pabulum allowed. Just as the man who knows how to read will, in order to while away the time, read the few words on a postage stamp or a street car transfer, if that is all that is available, so the Russians, with their new toy, delight to practice their reading on whatever is permitted them by the authorities. = Books, newspapers and magazines to the value of $250,000,006 were published in Russia in the last 12 months. The biggest item is in books—$§135,000,000. Ninety million is spent in newspaper publishing and $30,000,000 in magazines. Here is an interesting comparison. The $250,000,000 Russian total com- pares with a total for the ymeed States of $2,736,000,000, the ehiel interest ly- ing in the division between the types of printed matter. The value of Ameri- can books is $1,000.000,000, or not much more than one-third of the total. In Russia the value of the books is $135,- 000,000, or considerably more than half of the total. In the United States the money spent in newspaper and magazine publishing is $1,719,000,000, while in Russia only $120,000,000 goes into such publications. Russia permits more to be expended upon books to be kept and read over and over again because it is easler to censor the book than the ephemeral newspaper. In the United States, where freedom of the press is guaranteed by the Constitution, the fact that a paper printed this morn- ing will be cast aside by noon does not concern the authorities. Gain in Newspaper Circulation. The manner in which education has increased the extent of reading in Rus- sia is indicated by the fact that in 1926 the per apita expenditure on reading matter of all kinds was but 35 cents, while today it is 70 cents. This varies widely as between city and country. The per capita expenditure in cities is $2. while in the little villages it 15 but 20 cents. But this statement must be leavened by the interesting fact that since 1926 the increase in per capita expense for reading matter by the city dwellers has been less than 50 per cent, whereas the villages have increased their literary consumption by more than 200 per cent. The increase in the number of news- apers is phenomenal. In the davs of the Czars, Russia had a few papers in the larger cities. Total circulation was 2,700,000 throughout the whole vast em- pire. By 1928 there were 605 newspapers with aggregate circulation of 8,800,000. Now there are 1,409 papers with 30.- 800,000 circulation. This compares with an aggregate of some 54,000,000 circu~ lation for American newspapers. Tak- ing the period from 1922 to 1931, it i estimated that Russian newspaper cir- culation increased 2,500 per cent, while in the United States newspaper circu- lation increased 12.5 per cent. Some Publications Profitable. Until about a year ago Russian pub- lications could not pay their way. There there is almost no advertising revenue. Government subsidies were paid to the publications. The large subscription revenue which has been built up is re- ported now to have changed the situa- tion, and some profit is being shown by _some publications. Lack of paper has become a severe handicap. While Russia is clothed with extensive forests. the machinery for transforming them into print paper is lacking. Right now the demand is for twice as much paper as is available. Russia imports as much paper as she can afford, and efforts are being made to _increase facilities for manufacture. ‘The newspaper reader in Russia must be tolerant. however. and realize that if the weather report in his paper reads “Fair and warmer” it is by leave of the Soviet censors. and not necessarily be- cause the forecast is based on factual indications. Britain Links Moratorium | Plan With Disarmament| R | BY A. G. GARDINER. 1 LONDON, July 4.—England has| spent an anxious week awaiting the | result of the negotiations between the | Fifty Years Ago In The Star On the morning of Saturday, July 2 United States d Prance in regard to President Hoover's moratorium pro- | posal. But officials here never lost hope, and acknowledgment was fully | made of the patience which the | American Government has exercised in | its efforts to induce France to accept | he‘ Hoover plan without serious reser- | ons. All the evidence from financial | sources here goes to strengthen the | conviction of the gravity of the Ger- man situation. There was agreement that anything like a breakdown of the Hoover proposal would make Ger- many’s position more alarming than if lm'ed proposal had never been formu- ated. * ok x ok ‘The stimulating effect of the Hoover offer upon the financial district of London largely evaporated this week under the influence of the delay in bringing France into full accord with the scheme, but the event has shown how eagerly the financial world is waiting to take advantage of any rea- sonable opportunity of escaping from the present condition of paralysis. The terms of the Washington memo- randum to the French government this week have been much discussed here, and British opinion strongly indorsed the American rejection of the French suggestions that the unconditional an- nuities be reloaned, not to the German government but to German industrial and financial firms, and that countries other than Germany should share those reloans. It was pointed out that these proposals were irrelevant to the urgent necessities out of which the Hoover scheme emerged and would vitiate and complicate the whole char- acter of that scheme. * % % % ‘The candor and directness with which Washington inted out how seriously Prance would be the loter if the Hoover plan broke down and Ger- many were driven to declare a mora- torium under the Young plan was garded as ly calculated to peal to th m sense of realities. London has had no idea that in the event of a breakdown of the Paris negotiations the Hoover plan would be scrapped, but it has been realized here that its limitation to conditional pay- ments would serjously restrict its finan- cial value, and stlil more its moral value, by leaving France in a measure isolated from the movement for Euro- pean reconstruction. * R ok ok It is impossible to dissociate the present issue from the prospects of the coming disarmament conference. The subject was discussed in the House of Commons this week, and Premier Mac- Donald, dealing with figures of pos war armaments, expressed regret that the British lead in practical disarm: ment had not been followed elsewhere. ‘Taking personnel as the only reliable test of disarmament, he stated that the figures of other countries showed they had increased in much the same pro- portion as Britain's decreased. Britain, the premier said, had gone the ex- treme limit in disarmament until the other coun 5 :Lm;fllr action. Winston Churchill, indeed. insisted that the country, in view of its vast commitments and its vuinerable food supplies, had disarmed beyond the point of safety, and criticism was ex- pressed in many quarters that, from the point of view of negotiation, this country’s policy of disarmament by example has placed it in a most dis- advantageous position for the Geneva Disarmament Conference. But informed opinion is not unhope- ful of results, especially in view of the strong moral tion America will hold as & it of her present dra- matic intervention in the affairs of ‘Europe. e reaction of this inter- vention upon the attitude of France to the disarmament parley cannot fail to be important, and the feel is widely entertained that France hesitate to go into the conference with respon- ibility for sabotaging the Hoover plan to her record on the five-power P opomiant, 1A naval 1881, President Garfield was shot in the back by Charles Jules Garfield Shot Guiteau at the Balti- 2 more & Potomac Rail- by Guiteau. road Station. at the corner of Sixth and B streets, as he, with Secretary Blaine. wag about to board the train f-r the North. Within a few minutes afterward The Star issued an extra edition and other extras followed at short intervaly throughout the day. and, indeed, for days ward. _The naturally created tremendous _exci ment in Washington as elsewhere tm the country. Crowds gathered about the White House waiting for bulletins, The Star's extra and regular editions gave the news in a sequence of publi- cations not equaled even during the Civil War or at the time of the assassi- nation of President Lincoln. In The Star of July 2, the day of the assassina- tion, is the following editorial expres- sion: “An event little less startling than the assassination of President Lincoln, and hardly less momentous in its possi- ble results, occurred in the waiting room of the Baltimore & Potomac Railway Station this morning in this city. President Garfleld had arrived there at 25 minutes past 9 o'tlock to take the limited express train, which was to leave five minutes later, for the pur- pose of joining his family at Long Branch, when he shot twice by persons standing in the crowd which usually assembles on the arrival and departure of trains. “This dreadful affair must be pro- ductive of grave and varied thoughts and suggestions. Its most start] feature is the fact that assassination has come to be a recognized mode of reaching those for the time being called to the head of our Government. Lay- ing aside its effects upon the incum- bent of that high place and those immediately connected with him, and without attaching much importance to the character or purpose of the mur- derer, the fact that two Presidents have fallen by the bullet of the raises the question whether the simple surroundings and quiet modes of life heretofore adopted by our Presidents as consistent with the genius of our insti- tutions and becoming to the head of & republican form of government are, all, wise and sufficiently safe. If the Chief Executive of the Nation is to be the target of the bullets of lunatics, disappointed aspirants office or political malcontents, it will be neces- sary to surround the office and its incumbent by more formal and efficient means of protection than have yet been devised or thought necessary. “In the case of President Garfield, as in that of President Lincoln, political disappointment appears to have been the inspiring motive of the assassin. The circumstance makes the affair the more deplorable and impressive, and it is this feature of the subject that will deserve and doubtless receive the most serious consideration. That the act in this instance was that of a single indi- vidual, probably a lunatic, doubtless without accomplices, does not take away from the situation any of its danger- ous probabilities. Indeed, t fact may be said rather to add to them. “At this writing the probable fate of the President cannot be accurately fore- told. There are, however, ample grounds for apprehending the most serious result. t this can be said: Whatever his fate may be, that dis« tinguished gentleman and his family will mv.‘f;y the r%ow':d » the dea 8 and the fervent prayers n o{ntlg: American people alone, but those of every civilized nation on the face of the earth.” 1In one of the earlier extra editions of ‘The Star was printed the following appeal to the citizens of Washington issued by rict Commission: “In view of the serious i the President of the United States in consequence of the assault upon his life and the state of public feeling, the Commissioners earnestly request all citizens and residepts to aid in the efforts of the authorities to meaintain quietness and order, and especially Tepress all noisy demonstrations o8