Evening Star Newspaper, September 9, 1931, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR Wi Sunéey Morning Bdicon. WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY . .September 9, 1831 THEODORE W. NOYES. Whe Evening Star Newspaper Company lunn‘:'l Office 11ty 8t and nnsyivania rA"»q. d iy L N T o Pl Rate by Carrier Within the City. ening Star 43¢ per month Berint 28 sundss @ B o "¢ Bundasg . o 80c per month nd Bunday @ar bty X fib‘fl ?.ldt ot the f each mon '11‘ sent in b: or telepnone JAtions| Rate by Mail—Parable In Advance. Maryland and Vieginia. > v, L34 1mo. 885 g oundar- 1 3r A | mo. doc ¥ only 1 $4.00. 1 mo.. 40c end 5 i T AN Other States and Canada. a' IflfY Bundar ‘l"mfin‘.y aes Member of the Associated Press. Arsociated exclusivals ert e 1 $12.00 1 mo. 800 1mo. £.00. 1 mo.. 1sr 00| 1ari | [ s0c | jed on of all news dis- o publica 5 o i : Grnerice crad- This paper and also “he 1 publighied herein Al rix ! H Wecia! Aispaches herein by ved. | A Voice From the South. Semator Caraway of Arkansas fs au- thority for the statement trat “Gov. ‘RMooserelt iz the ouly man running in; the Bouth” for the Democratic presi-| dentis] nomination. His asseriion was' roade on his return to Washington from the Southwest. and is in line with the views of the presidential situation ex- pressed by other Democratic Senators from the Southern States. If these political leaders are correct in their wiews the Southern States are not likely %0 go forward in the next Demociatic National Convention with “{avorite son” candidates. 1If the State delegations; are not instructed. at least the delegates will be chosen with the understanding they favor Roosevelt. If they are tn-]‘ structed for a “favorite son” candidate 18 will be no last-ditch affair, but with the understanding they will switch, per- haps on the first ballot, to the New York Governor. The Southern Demo- ! crats, if these political leaders are col ract, intend to have a good deal to say about the nomination of the Democratic ecandidate for President nexi year. In 1928 the Southern delegates agreed to the nomination of Alfred E. Smith, then | Gowernor of New York, with much re- | Juctance. They agreed because of & de- | sirp for barmony wilh the North and Mast and also because there was no ocaididate to whom they could rally with & resl hope of preventing the nomina- ton of Swith. The sentiment in the South for | Roosevelt, which, according to Senator | Oaraway and other leaders, has grown to such large proportions, is aciusted | by two strong motives at least. The | first of these is the derire on the part | of the Democrals to win the next elec- uop. The New York Goveinor, who! oarried hig own State & year ago by, upward of 700.000 votes, is regarded | By the Demncrats as a probsble winner | ever the Repubiican nominee sscond motive actuating the Scuthern ! Democrats is to forestall any possibl renominstion of Alired E. Smith. It is ebvious that if they stick to the present | Govemor of New York, throwing him | mearly one-third of the total votes of | the eonvention, the chances for the | renomination of Smith grow more and | more dim. i Gertain dry leaders in the South are protesting vigorously against the nomi- | natlon of Gov. Roosevelt on the ground | thet he s & wet. They go so far as! to say that the dry Democrats of the South will revolt against such a nomi- | mation, Intimating that they will go sgain to the Republican nomince for| Pregident if the New York Governer b the Democratic standard bearer. Fhe auggestions that such is the case scarcely ring true in view of the over- ‘whelming sentiment among the Demo- ezgtic politicians for Roosevelt in Dixie Land. The Democratic party in several of the Southern States was split wide open m the Jast national campaign. Four of these Biates were actually carried by President Hoover. The Democratic lead- ers are not anxious 1o bring about an- ather such occurrence. They do not wish the voters of the Sputh to become ac- enstomed to voiing for a Republican Bresidential candidate. But in spite of the danger of the wet-and-dry question Shey are content to go into the next] eampaign with Roosevelt as their na- tionsl cendidate. Many of them have privately admiited that the Democrats | must nominate & wet. if they are (o win ‘4n the big States of the North and East, anrd In Illinois and Wisconsin. Roose- | welt, they have determined, is the least effensive of the wets. One advantage that a gangster can- mot compel, either by insidious threst | @ active coercion, is a reduced rate on { ® life insurance policy | - | | < e In order to be right the D. C. mo- farist will now take lessons in turning o the left. S The Legion and the Bonus. | All Toads lead to Detroit this month ! for the annual convention of the| American Legien. And all eves will ®m to Detrolt to watch & test of | lesdership in the Legion that, in some | respects, will determine that organiza- #lan's future. The news that many of | the Btate delegations to the ccnvenidon | ore heading for Detroit wilh instrue- siems to work for legislation for the payment of the full face value of out- | wtanding bonus certificates, and that ' enly two State delegations have re- | eeived instruction to oppose sueh a meve, naturally makes the Legion's at- titude on the bonus a question of paramount public interest and im-| portance. | ©Gaol and deliberate appraisal of the | Nation's conditicn at this time, with the Treasury's difficuities in making both ends meet, would surely mean that whatever resolution is presented in Detroit for a further raid on the Treas- ury in the name of patrio‘ism would | most with quick and decisive defent. But will any cool and deliberate ap- praisal of the situation play any im- pertant part in the Legion’s decision? “Was there anything cool and deliberat about the precipitate action of Con- wrons, swaved the soldier vote. fn veslpy the bonus parment in the last oeealon ? Only !\h' conservative elements of the [of | streets, I mote speed in airplanes, proved that Lin | threat to the 266-mile-an-hour straight- | aircraft. Legion and a wise leadership can pre vent action at Detroit this month de- manding further bonus payments. And if such leadership fails, it means gn- other bonus drive an the new Congress. It mey mean much more. The Legion heretofore has been victorious. It en- jovs the prestige of the victor. Tts sue- cess in the past has given it an extraor- dinary power and. fortunately for the Nation. it has been. as a rule. wise In the exercise of this pawer. I it launches anather bonus fight it risks more than mere defeat of a bonus measure. It risks the loss of its influence snd public esteem. Staztesmen may find that even the American Legion can be defied and no thund It will strike. = v & Benefits and Condemnation. District Surveyor Hazen raises an in- teresting point in his implied eriticiem the numerous condemnation pre- ceedings instituted by the municipality for the acguisition of land, when the land so acquired will lie idle for many years. 1In the interval ween the levying and payment of benefit assess- ments and the improvement of the land the citizen so assessed has besn taxed for & benefit that does not exist. He loses the use of hix money during that interval without the compensation that is legally supposed to lie in the benefits accruing from improvement. The time eonsumed in th: condem- nation cases is traditional. The courts have not been able to make great head- way in disposing of the sgcumulation of cases in the last few years, the nor- mal congestion having been aggravated by the Federal Government's building program. 1In the last year Mr. Hazen points out that there were sixty-five condemnation cases on the court docket, twenty-eight of which weie filed dur- ing the year. Twenty-five jury awards were confimed by the condemnation court, which shows that the business is far from being current. After the land is condemned there ix a delay before the project is completd Some of the condemnation jobs have required ten yvears and mare. Some of the property owners may never live to witness the benefits for which | they have been assessed. And there are other projects that even now prom- | ise to become #s nolorious. Mr. Hazen believes that the District | should undertake condemnation only | when it is certain that the improve- ment of streets and alleys will follow within a reasonahle time, or only in such cases when delay in the Inaugu- | ration of proceedings will mean that the final cost is going ta be Increased This latter threat is doubtless always present. When the municipal authori- ties delay their acquisition of land through direct purchase or through condemnation, they run the risk of | paying for the delay through the in- creesed price of property. They some- times must choose between a~quiring the land long before it can be im- proved or in paying much more in the end. The greatest evil in connection with the condemnation of land for the opening of streets existed in the law, changed & few years ago, which com- The | pelled the Distriet to find benefits and | levy assessments therefor to equal the cases of sallevs and minof although it no longer applies in the case of major thoroughfares The practice st present is tp leave the finding of benefits to the jury that awards the damages, the District mak- ing up the balance out of its general | fund. Assessments made regardiess of the amount of the | in the for benefits should be | : il | The scorn is nothing at all like the oak, And the grub from the moth differs far. T looked on him once as a bit of a joke How sadly mistaken we are! I envy his earnestness. also his mirth, And I know that he thinks 1 am due | To make room for him and get off the earth! | damages awarded. And while there is | a recognized benefit accruing to the owners cf property by the opening and improvement of new roads and allevs in & new subdivision, it s not at all established that the mere widening or improvement of s road constiiutes a special benefit to the owners of adjoin- | ing property alone. It is, rather, a ben- efit to the community as & whole. In gonnection with Mr. Hazen's views, ii is difficult to understand why the collection of benefit assessments should not be delayed until the benefits are actually conferred. There is no equitable justification in collecting for benefits many long vears in advance of the improvement. o The Thompson Air Race. | In winning the Thompsom Trophy race at Cléveland Monday, Lowell Bayles, the recent addition to the smail group of men who are seeking to pro- he net only possesses the fastest I-mp‘ the United States, but is & reai away mark held by “Al' Williams Bayles' time in the event was 236 mil>s | an hour, more than 35 miles an hour faster than the mark of & year ago. And when the record in period can b raised to such a degrec it 1s & heartening sign to ihose who want the United States to catch up with others in the matter of speed of that shert | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, comprise the book which might not be explained to samse purpose. “The Testament of Beauty” is not easy reading. The “‘new spelling” In which it is written somewhat eompli- cates it for most readers. Yet there probably are few who take it up who do not feel that it is. that it must be, 8 great wark. Shakespeare has glosses, Bible many a commentary. It speaks volumes for “The Testament Beautr.” which was Bridges' last testa- ment of the spirit te humanity. that thare {5 to be an explanatory volume so soon. The years to come may see scores of volumes written in explanation of this ane thin book of verse. They will not mean that the book so much needs them as that it is much to its credit that it shall have them. Shakespeare's plays are none the less great because entire libraries revalve around them. - e - Many Europeans say that American temperament {s hard to understand. An impression apparently exists that one sure way to keep a distinguished Amer- ican abundantly entertained is to give him plenty of opportunities to make after-dinner zpeeches. and the e - Europeans are making disparaging jokes about Americans. They have been following this practice for many years and will continue to do so as long a5 Americans continue to pay with good-natured liberality for this particu- lar styie of humor. = . It is generally ad ritted that aviation will take & dominant part in war, if war eventually becomes inevitable Chilean operations in bombing the na- tion’s fleet finds the airplane impet- uously inclined to get shead of its own story. - - number of special the Atlantic coast is Rum-running rumors indicate ‘The along duced. liteguards that the old Coast Guard will have more | | businass to attend to than ever. - ‘When a gossip book appears the first question asked is “Wha wrote 1t>" The question that follows a short period of | curlosity is “Why should anybody have written 112" - e Opposition to ciple that finds a universal indorsement 1o the extent that the possessor of an | income. grest or svall, earnestly resents | its diminution. - = Metiods of expression are not exactly similar, but thzie are statements over the signature “Butler” that might re | flect the intellectual intuitions of either | Nicholas Murray or Smedley el SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. | As Time Passes. | Truth i« stranger than fction—you've heard it of vore | Tonce knew a youngster so small e | damiages. This requirement still exists | His presence I'd scarcely taken note of before, T forgot he existed st all! And now he has grown to be taller than me, i And a certain respect is his due, | Since he’s manly and honest and frank | A8 can be, It's exceedingly strange, but it's true. true! Wouldn't Wear "Em. “80 you gt Hd of your pretty pet dogs."” “Yes." replied Mrs. Plimgilt. were such They would | furs during the Summer.” i “They unfashionable little brutes No Cholece. “What is the name of that selection vour daughter sang?"” “That wasn't § selection.” replied Mr. Cumrox. "It was forced on us." The Weather Prophet. He guesses like & hero By changes undismayed At anything from zero To ninety in the shade! A Destructive Success. “What has become of that man who sald Mars is habitable?” “He made the mistake of convineing too many people. There wasn't enough skepticism to keep up & fairly inter- esting controversy.” Critical Sense, Bayles unofficially has already piloted | his trim ship at better than 286 miles an hour, 8 miles an hour more than | the world landplane reeord held by Bonnet, a Frenchman, bui still far &hart of the official seaplane r rd of 357 miles an hour. Sometime during this weck Bayles has announced that | he will seek to win net only the Ameri- can title from Willlams, but the Prench | title as well, and his efforts will be watched with interest by the entire world of aviation. c———v . Fame often forgets rapidly. A re- markable number of Nobsl prize win- ners cannst be called by name and de- scribed offhand. - ———— Explaining Greatness. A literary event awalted with some impatience by & small group is the publieation shortly of a book to eluci- date the late Robert Bridges' “The Testament of Beauty. It is not every year, nor every decade, indeed. that any volume is followed by an explenatory vclume. The compara: tively emall group of readers whieh welcomed that major poetical effort know the nece ity for some such work. Few poems ever written ssemed so | much to nsed footnotes. “The Testa- ment” was an amazing piece of work, espsciaily coming from the pen of a very old man. Scienes and invention furnished many of ita themes: there is searcely s line of the several thousand which jeat, tha way 1 Ing after the expiration ¢f the investi- “That youngest son of Bliggins seems to have the making of a true musicisn in him." “Does ke sing or play?” “No. But he eries piteausly when Bliggins tries to.” “Experience, foh some folks" Uncle Eben, “is like havin' a teeth pulled. All it teaches is dat its g'ineter hurt jes' as bad next time.” Combines Many Sounds. Fiom the New London Day. A report from Berlin tells the world that a new quintuple instrument has been invented whieh combines the grand piano. radio. harmonium, spinet and phonograph with a loud speaker. Oh, for a lodge in the wilderness. & SR = A Real Actre: From the Dayien Daily N A prominent actress has been sued by her butcher for a '$2.046 meat bill, showing that when one is a rer] actress one doesn't have to bother about geing on e Confused on Wickersham Probe. From the Des Moines Tribune-Capital ‘The Wickersham Oommission must ha lives as the proverbal 5 Teports keep Appears gating body. From the Goshen (Ind.) Daily N A Nerwegian explerer proposes to §o to the North Pole en a motor eyele. If we could only sell that idea to the fellow wl the house every night vt‘:‘fi by luw @en! of! being re- | wage-cutting is & prin-| The things that seem strangest are ! insist on shedding their | sald | 1 Templeton Jones could not help | thinking of “The Water Gypsies,” by A. | P. Herbert, when he was down at the wharf the other day purchasing himself s watermelon first-hand Many readers, including Jones, feel | that “The Water Gypsles” is quite the most dslightful book which has heen issued in several years. Its description of the English canals and barges is merely part of one of the | most natural works of fiction ever writ- ten: but it was this part. of course, | which made Templeton Jones think of | it st the wharf. | Not that there were any canal boats | there, either. | But scmehow the small schooners which had run the watermelons up from the Eastern Sho' brought to mind thase gavly painted barges. with their heatts and castles painted on the cabins. o ox o ‘The sailboats at the wharf were not spick and span. Hzuling produce is not conducive, perhaps, to that 2pple-pie order which | is the pride of all hfusewives, ashore or afloat. Jones didn't see but one lady. B8he was standing on the deck of the Ara- bella, a one-master, with a neat cabin to the rear, which tled up with a three-foot gap between the vessel and | the pler. Jones didn't know. as & matter af truth, whether it was a wharf or a pier he was pn, but it didn't maks much differcnce, after all The dark-haired woman stood on ths deck by the mast. which was painied vellow, but which the elements had split at several points The thickness of the thing rather struck Templeton Jones. It was as big around at the deck as his head and seemed as sturdy as a tree. He forgo. that some pretty storms can biow up tn Chesipeake Bay. e The woman s-emed to be helping s small boy in overalls t) corral & piec of wood floating betwcen the ship and the wharf The boy looked to Jones as if be might have stepped right out of Maik Tweln's “Tom Sawy-r” He was bare- fo ted, and his fe-t. despite thetr im- mersion in water, were very, very dirty The dirt was sireaked around ht step and heel with an almost mar like patiern, and seemed to be th-re for | keeps, since the water did not wash it | away Jones did not think the water itself looked very clean There wers vatious bits of water- melon rind floating in it there were Dieces of paper and small masses of red watermelon flesh | " There were straws and the like, such | as distinguish riversides in_ London, | Paris, Horolulu, New York, Baltimore | anywhere at all . x % Jones had become so used to the swept sireets of the city trat he hau forgatt-n these roliing siveeis «f water and tendency of flcating objecis to co | lect ag:inst the sides of plers and ships The barefooted boy in the blue over- al's stood n the outer rim of the deck Just outside the absurdly low rail. anc hung on with his right hand. while with bhis 1 fi he made a grab at the elusive board. Just what the value of the stick was Templeton Jones could not make out It w1s gbout two feet lang and perhaps four inches wide, a plece of drifiwood if he could judge from its appearance “You'll fall.” ecautioned the black- haired woman. WASHINGTO Concrete plans for the launching of a National Economic Council under the aegis of the United States Chamber of Commerce, to serve as & national plan- ning board, and aiming to level the peaks and valleys of industrial activity are expected ta be announced within a few weeks. This was a proposal of Chairman Julius H. Barnes at the con- | clave of business and indusirial chief- {tains in Washingion immediately fol- | lowing the 1928 stock market crash. It has been agitated ever since. Re- cently the chamber through the medi- um of a questionnaire sounded ocut sev- eral hundred of the representatives of big business on this proposition. The Chamber's Committee on Continuity of Business ard Employment met here last week and thrashed it over. Sponsors of the plan for the setting up of s permanent body as an economic coun- cil make no extrayagant claims for it as & quick or sure cure-all for present business ills. They hope. however. that in the leng run such & planning board. by the wisdom end i ¥y of its | collective judgments and advice, may justify itself and tbat its edicts m: ultimately attain by voluntary accept- ance wide force and author.ty. The Progressives in Congress want a gavern- mental planning council. That is one { of the important planks in their social program. The United States Chamber, standing for less government in busi- ness. is proposing 1o have private busi- ness set up its own planning board. di- vestad of the political aspeets inherent in a governmental agency. * ¥ x ¥ Silas H. Strawn, president of the United States Chamber of Commerce. is going abroad rext month to attend & meeting in Paris of the Council of the International Chamber, then to Germany and England as a representa- tive of American business to survey the state of European business—a sad state indeed. The Council of the Interna- tional Chamber at the Paris meeting is to consider ways and means of giving | practical effect to the declaration of { principles adopted at the Washington meeting of the International Chamber last Spring. The silver question is one af the uppermosi subjects. Experts from the world’s five greatest silver na- tions have their heads together in Paris, in advance of the Council meeting, to ! formulate, if possible, a jo'nt report on plans for removing the blight which has overtaken silver throughout the world— with ruin in its wake. Artificial arbi- trary price-fixing schemes are ruled out What is being sought is stabilization in the true sense of that much abused word—the prevention of wide fluctua- tions in silver values. 4 o Whether inaceurately or otherwise. the | official vice presidential hostess, Mrs. | Edward Everett Gann, is being quoted | across Capital dinner tables, apropos of | Brother Charlie's possible 1enunciation iof a second term as Vice President, as {follows: “T don't know what Charles ! will decide to do about the renomina- | tion, I have told him to make up his {own' mind and not to consider me or Edward (her husband) at all.” With | I respeet to the stories which have been | getting inte print lately which enher' afirm or deny that the Vice President 1s eentemplating matrimony or inversely that he is the object of matrimonial | *| contemplations, Mrs. Gann is not quoted | at all. Her silence is eloquent. | * o % | Oleveland is going to make a strong | bid for the Republican National Con- | vention. It has a mest potent advo-| cate in the ci;emm of Joseph R. Nutt,| the Cleveland banker, who is treasurer of the National Committee. One Old | Guard Senator, prominent in the party | councils in Washington. last week said | that as Mr. Nutt would have to raise| the money for the next eampaign it | seemed reasonable to let him have his way in the seleetion of the convention city. Others are said to feel that way,| teo. Chicago, staging a great Worid | Fair next year, wants both conven-| tions and offers its celebraticn as a valid argument wt& the conventions should be s ere. The Windy | city boosters will | set if they don't land one of the con- ventions st least. Detroit and San | be sadly disappointed | NESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1931. THIS AND THAT CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. “Naw, 1 won't" replied the youth, leaning still farther ev\'cr. “Here, let me help you,” she said, leaning and making a grab. All she succeeded In doing was to drj farther away. The boy re- monstrated and made a dive for the board. which he just managed to grasp. Just as he bent himself upright with it, 1t slipped from his hend. “I told you 0" said the woman, although she had said nothing of the LR At this juncture a larger and eve! dirtier boy appearad upon the scene. “Watch me get it.” he voluntecred. trailing one variegated foot in the water. But it wzs the small boy who got it, after all. and he went down intp the hold with it, probably to deposit it on the family woodpile. n There were a great many Negroes | around, as one might have suppased, at & place where there were s0 many watermelons One shining black fellow raised a fat melon in his hands and let it drop on the wharf, where it burst with the leasant sound of one these old- ashioned Chinese “hombs” made with wicker wrapping. He then proceeded to eat the frag. ments. The process struck Jones as a rather neat way of plugging a watermelon, although it wouldn't do for every- day home usage. LR Jones was there to buy a watermelon | so he gingerly | for himself, however, stepped across the chasm ontp the deck of the schooner. There was a pile of melons there, beneath a gunnysack canopy. held in place by a crude framework of boards. Jones thought to himself that if it had been his boat he would have re- frained from nailing into the side of the ship any more than he had to. The owners were not so finicky, evi- dently. Despite the protection, some of the melons appeared to be the worse for weithering. Jones flattered him- self he knew watermelans. even if he did look the picture of the successful city feller” with his neat Summer suit and his jaunty Panama hat Templeton Jones had b2en born in the wetermelon beit. It was a long time ago. of course. but Jones that no true watermelon man ever forgoc his melons. * %% The captain evid didn't put much faith in Jones' ability to pick a geod un The first one he brought up out of the hold had & white streak in it an inch wi “Look &t with his best vhat streak” blind as a ba “Bring up another ane"” countered Janes The owner sighed weariedly did not exactly jibe with his huge muscles, but. neverihe slowly went below, on the short la and pres- entlv emeiged with a melon Sweet as sugar” said plumping it down on Jones eved it critica “Still got & white sireak.” he said but not so succinctly this time. Plug it fer ye' replied the man. And he cut and said: “See?” Jones saw. and what he saw didn't loak bad, but he wouldn't have ad- mitted it for the world “All right, T'll take it." he said to the man; but to himself he said. “I'll bet it isn't any good.” And if ypu want to know whether his opiimism or his pessimism was rewarded, you will have to ask Templeton Jones. that streak.” said Jones, business succinctness asked the captain, as which the deck OBSERVATIONS Francisco are eager. t0o. The $150.000 cash bid of Atlantic City for the Repub- lican convention will undoubtedly be felt ' sailor, | Prosperity Dependent n Service of Dollar To the Bditar of The 8t Many sppear to think that wars mean prosperous times. How absurd. It is not war that does this, but rather the free and lavish expenditure of pub- He funds incidental therewith. It is surely not necessary to wage war in order to spend money. There are many ways to make money circuiate rapidly and thoreughly without wholesale ma sacre and ma’erial destruction of hu- yman efforts represented by civilization to date. Money is not made to hoard. Tt is meant to circulate freely among the peo- ple. Mere hoarding and permanent segre- gation in big hanks and trust com-| panies do not add to presperity, but are a direct cause of depression. We | have already gone too far in the de- | velopment of penuriousness, due to post- | war propaganda, injudiclously applied. | | We can have what we will. Shall| | we continue to increase the depression | | by encouraging Wealth to tie itself up ! |In a knot and go to sieep in bank | | vaults or shall we as a prople order | wealth to come out and work for us? | We are now working and slaving for wealth, and the harder we work ti poorer we will get. Wealth is made labor, it is true, but it must be well paid labor or it brings to the Ma- tion more of curse than of blessing. | European nations are penny-pinching, and the more they “economize” the poorer they get. Economy does not | bring prosperity, it rather drives it way. I we had no spendthrifts we | would be in much worse condition than | we are. During the war we spent | money like water. That meant pro: perity. That is what money is mic for, to spend. The weaith increases when people spend freely, but it must be the people at large and not just a few at th op among whom money | must _civeul % insure permanent prosperity. | When “economy” results in throwing millions out of work it is economically unsound, and events are proving 1 every day. Dis¢harge people from Fed- eral, State and piivate employment (as we have been doing the past year) and we automatically and effectively reduce the purchasing power of the people jus that much. If the people have not the money fo spend because they are out of work. how can they spend monev. re gardiess of reduced prices? The pur- chasing power of the Nation is being 1uined thiough the ever ove:ly-cau 1 big bankers who are always afr. | their own financial shadows. They ma think they know about international { finance, but plainly thev know nothir of practical common-sense eccnom They are forcing generous-minded busi- ness men to restrict emplovment, jusi | s they wied 40 do in the 1920 deflation | period. Only they are succeeding better {than they did then. hence 1931 is worse {ior the Nation than was the 1920 de- flation. Our Government, if it expects to func- | | tion properly, must be fearless. W should nat hesitate to confiscate the incomes of all the taxdodgers. no matter how rich they may be. If the local and Fed- eral taxgatherers properly collect the taxes from the rich it will not be nec: saly to increase taxation in this Na- tion. The trouble is that the wealthy have too many,avenues of escape, while | the poor man always geis pinched Chicago alone now finds that the itorous. selfish scoundrels’on the Goid | Coast and elscwhere have been dodging taxable personal wealth on over $2,000.- | 900.000. " Think of it! What does that | mean the Nation aver? How many bil- | Hons_in New York and Philiadelphia ind Pittsburgh and Washinglon are al<o uding taxation? Confiscate such wealth for the Federal Government by levying 4 100 per ceni penalty tax for each and every vear the tax has been evaded. and | the effect will be to draw billions of | dollars from iheir hiding places and putting them %o work. An idle dollar is of no use ta the Nation. You cannot put people to work without putting dollars to work. S. R. RANDELL, { 13-Month ‘ Year Held Economically Sound To the Editor of The Star Advccates of the 12 months equal- ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ‘The resources of our free Informa: tion Bureau are at your service. You you please. It is being maintained sole- ly to serve you. Whi uestion can we answer for you? There i3 no charge at all except 2 cents in coin or stamps for retuin postage. Address your letter to The Evening Star Information Bu- reau. Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Q. Has any ‘)erlun taken the place of Walter Camp In selecting all-American foot. ball elevens?—C. F. A. The foot ball fraternity and public regard those selected by Grantland Rice as the quasi-official continuation of Walter Camp's teams. Walter Camp of Yale invented the all-America idea and selected a team each year until his death, in 1925. A Q. Where are the dogs that went on the Byrd expedition>—W. B. A. Most oi the dogs vhich were used ith the Byrd expedition to the Sputh Pole are now on the farm of Mr. Arthur T, Walden, at Wonalancet, N. H Q. Who was our first civil Governor of the Philippines?—M. D. A. Willlam Howard Taft. In 1900 President McKinley chose him to head & commission to establish civil govern- ment in tne Philippines, and on July 4. 1901, he became the first civil Gov- ernor. Q When did the great checker player, James Wryllie, live?—M. T A. He was born at Pierskill Barracks. rear Edinburgh. Scotland. July 6. 1818 He died at his home. at 75 Thistle treet, Glasgow, Scotland, April, 1899. Q. How many more men than women are there in the United States? How many in England?—H. C A. There are 1499114 more men women in the United States. In Fngland and Wales the situation s re- veroed, and there are 1,670,243 more women than men. Q What is the figure called that is put on the fiont of a vessel>—M. G. C A If the image is & figure projecting from the stem of the vessel. it is called figurehead. If it is an ornament in the form of an embossed shield that does not project in any way, it is called a bow ornament Q What are called the “Three Pil- of the British Constitution”>—B. P. AT agna Charta. the Petition of Rights and the Bill of Rights have been o called. Q Do the roots of trees continue to @iow afier the trees are cut down? D. A The roots do continue to grow. Q When were prunes first raised in this country?—D. W. A The prune industry was started in the Eastern United States in 1854. tut failed because the climatic conditions were not f e for the production of the desired qualities. About 1863 the industry started in California and grew rapidly. In 1910 the annual output was 150.000.000 pounds. of which nearly half ted. Before the industry grew nia France was the chief pro- nation of the world. Oregon. 2ton and Idaho also grow geod do Serbis, Bosnia. Germany, Spa.n, Australia and South Africa. Q. Did Ellen Terry belong o & the- cal family?—C. D, A Both of her parents were actors and she went on the stage at the age of 8. at Mortgaging Armed Forces Lacks Support of America Some Americans look upon the pro- posal of Joseph Paul-Boncour that the matched or bettered by her rival cities | 126d quarters plan of calendar reform | Council of the League of Nations be before the decision is made. L of Congress have been at their wits' end to devise some means of distinguishing their autos in such a way &s to clearly advertise their im- portance and,positively insure their im- munity from any interference by offi- cious traffic policemen. First they shared with the executive departments and the diplomats number plates, run- ning from 1 to 1,000 without the letter prefix, which is the usual feature of District of Columbia auto tags. That did not work. Too many highly placed millionaires and too many highly fa- vored blond secretaries somehow or other obtained unlettered tags. Then coincident with the large increase in the feet of White House aulos the un- lettered series af tags was increased to 10000 and its selectivity utterly de- stroved. Then they tried adding a marker with the legend “Congres- sional” These markers got into gen- eral circulation. too. So. at the last Membe! session Congress adopied a new and! with ! hard-to-beat plan. Beginning 1932 tag: members of Congress will have their own exclusive red, white and blue auto plates. numbered from 1 up prefixed with “Congress” in large red letters, * % * ® The one-man campaign for the presi- dency on the Republican ticket recently launched by Dr. Jcseph Irwin France of Maryland in his own behalf is now | in full swing. He is going (o stump tte country in more senses than one imbued with the same intrepid spirit which animated the man who coined the slogan “Pike's Peak or Bust.” He is a versatile gentleman, too. He fore- sook medicine early in his career for “business and finance’—then one term in the United States Senate and & senatorial observation trip to Russia and he entered “international trade Business in that line is notariously poor now and Dr. France volunteers to take over Mr. Hoover's job. * w % x Besides the red hot contest in the Longworth district in OFlo aver the va- cant congressional seat there. two others out of the eignt special elec- tions already called to fill House va- cancies offer veal speculative possibili- ties. there will be a close race. liam Palmer went to Congress from that district in 1928 by a plurality of 6.000. He was defeated last year by 2.500 votes. The Democratic victor has died and Mr. Palmer is going to the polls again in the special election as the Republican nominee. The Democrats have nomi- nated Robert D. Johnson. Both sides are claiming vietory. In the eighth Michigan district the situation is re versed. There the defedted Democratic candidate of last year, Michael J. Hart of Saginaw. is reported planning to run | again. A dozen Rgpublicans are com- peting for the nomination. Repre- sentative Vineent. whese derth neces- sitated the special election. defeated Hart by 20,000 last Fall, yet the Demo- crats are sanguine. (Copyright, 1931.) b Cranedom Flappers At Washingten Zoo To the Editor of The Star: Passing through the Zoological Gar- dens & eougle of days ago I was amused to watch the Siberian crane, after eye- ing his neighbor, the little brown crane, carefully for some moments, suddenly begin to jump in the air, flapping his wings the while, in the direction of his neighbor and first picking ug‘ha piece of dried weed with his beak. e little brown crane began to reciprocate. but did not keep it up as long as the other. Wander if these were full-fledged flappers in cranedom! Not far away, an axis deer was try- ing determinedly to push out of his in- closure with his antlers a wooden box. whieh seemed to worry him conside: bily. He was not successful, | he tried to toss it over several times, H. E. BROOKWAY, In the seventh Missouri district | John Wil- | . althqugh might thin taking and those who oppose ahy kind of cal- | endar reform criticize that 13 equal | months plan by saying that it is not | { economicaily sound. ~ They contend | that a 13-month year would add one- | | twelfth to the labor and cost of the present monthly statement system i _ That is to say. because profit and lcss accounts, sales Y?YOI’L!. cosL reports. trade statements, bills. premiums, in | staliment notices, meter readings, etc.. | would have to be prepared 13 times a vear instead of 12, the cost of doing Eusiness would be that much more ex- pensive. Thearetically this criticism sounds | all right, but it is a theory not support- | ed by econamic experience. It is equiv- | | alent to saying that the present system of preparing statements every month is | not economically sound. There was & time in business practice when business statements were most commonly pre- | pared every three months. The use of | the monthiy statement was not general | Most reports and bills were quarterly. | | With the expansion of economic life, ! more frequent time check on its ac- | tivities was needed. Also it became evi- | dent that a sharter interval for a turn- | over of money required less working capital. Hence, the development of the | monthly statement system, 12 state- | ments & year instead of 4. Who will| say ‘that this change was net econom- ieally sound, or that the additional labor and cost involved was not worth it In | | seme businesses certain statements are | | now made every week, or 52 times a | | vear. | It is the verv fact that we have | adopted the monthly statement sysicm | | that has chiefly created the demand | that the months be equal and com- | mensurate with the weeks. 1>“ y each month having ex- actly 4 weeks, Thirteen monthly statements not | { anly will provide & closer time check on business activities and further re- | duce the amount needed for working | capital, but the uniform time basis for | such statements makes for efficiency that will actually save labor and ex- | pense, strange as it may seem to some. There is ample testimony that this is o from business concerns which are actually using the 13-month vear. Advocates of the 12 monihs equalized quarters plans have yet to show that it would confer an ‘economic benest sufficient to justify itg adoption. The | best that can be said for the scheme | of merely revising the present 12 months is that it equalizes the quarters of the year. It does not equalize the months nor does it remove the economic inconveniences of broken weeks at the beginning and end of months. Claims that its 30 and 31 day months would be comparable in the number of their week-day working di if not in the actual number of days, do not stand up, because some of these working days in_every month belong to fifth weeks. This ‘revised 12 months system has never been tried. and naturally so be- | cause its arrangement of months and | weeks offers no advantages over that | of the presant calendar. On the other iand, the 13 months system has been tried and proven a success, subject to the handicaps®which the regular calen- dar causes in its use. To ask the world to adjust itself to a_change in the months without bein; able to show that any substantia benefits would acciue is unreasonabl MEREDITH N. STILES. -y Making Jobs for Plowmen. | Prom the:Cleveland News. | Reducing cotton production by plow- | ing under every third row might have th> merit of making more employment for the plowman. e Welcomers Beware! From the Worcester Daily Telegram. | When Messrs. Herndon and Pang-, born return home we must be careful not ta welcome them too wildly. Japan k we were cheering them for ing those photographs of Japanese fortifications. i | mittee {or decision is not satisfactory. authorized to use the armed forces of the member cquntries in preventing aggressive war as merely & counter- suggestion to the charge that France is opposed to disarmament. It is not generally conceded that France expects favorable action by other countries. but it is suggested that the plan presented by the head of the Foreign Affairs Com- of the French Chamber of Deputics is intended as a possible means of retreat at the disarmament confer- ence. American participation is con- sidered an mpossibility. “It is & patent effort,” says the Louis- ville Courier-Journal. “io _extricate Prance from its position of militaristic isolation. and to escape the blame for the failure of next year's disarmament conference.” That paper argues: “The proposal is not made witii the idea that it will be accepted. but that it will be rejected. France has no intention of reducing s army and navy, but it would like to avoid the onus of being the sole nation opposing & reduction.” ‘The Courier-Journal advises that “dis- t and suspicion are to rife for such millennial schemes.” and contends that “France itself would mot accept the plan unless it could control the gue of Nations.” “It is outside of the policy and the sen- timent of the times.” remarks the Oak- land Tribune. “for any nation to assert anyihing but friendliness to an arms limitation program. Expressions of wil- | jare invited to call upon it as often as C. P. | minion-News, lingness. however, may be coupled with | provisions and detailed programs, thay a way for a graceful exit may be pre- pared in case the conference discussion e a spokesman for France is for an arms limitation which must reco nize certain conditions. He is on rec- ord that he may favor or refuse any plan_which comes out of the confer- ence.” * E Kk % | rifle.” The | | ‘The key provision of France's mili- according to the Hart- “has been that she must if not in terms of inter- national guarantee. then by means of her own armed establishment Since her fears are almost wrolly with tary program ford Times, have security | regard to Germany and Italy, the se- curity offered by the pooled armies and | navies of the world weuld be quite am- ple. To state the suggestion is to de- feat it, as far as American support of it is concerned.” The Port Huron Times-Herald states: “France has made an effective gesture of its desire to work with neighbor nations to maintain the national status quo. Of course, the statesmen in France are wise enough to know that in the present situation it can be nothing more than a gesture.” ‘The suggestions are contained in & memorandum which is receiving atten- tion throughout the world, and particu- in Europe,” records the San An- %og.0 Express. “Though the Prench goverrment’s spokesmen state that it cannot aeccpt responsibility for the ut- terances, doubtless it will study the re- action to them at home and abrosd.” The Asbury Park Press calls tbe plan “as sensible as it is Utopian.” and con- cludes, “Whether the world is ready for the progressive step that he suggests is doubtful. At least, it has been shown the way.” “It is wholly impracticable” avers the New York Herald Tribune. “O! ficial France, of course, knows this well y one else, and it is obvious BY FREDERIC I. HASKIN. Q. Should a fork or be used to eat watermeion and muskmelon? —E. A. Tt is customary to eat cantaloupe ;rmk-. & spoon and watermelon with a ork. Q. How many hottles of soft drinks nr;‘cnn:\émvd yearly in this country? A It is estimated that the number is above five billion. Q Who made the first oulja board? -W. D T A. It wes originally manufactured as a toy by Willlam Fuld of Baltimore. Q. What eolor is the 17-year locust? e X % A. The periodical cicada. popularly known as the 17-year locust, although it is not a locust, is bright green in color when just mature and then grad- ually becomes a dark brownish red in color. The 17-vear variety often ap- pears in the same year and in the same territory as the 13-year variety. and when large numbers of both these broods appear together there is a veritable epidemic, such as there was Q. Wps the author of Robert’s “Rules of Order” distinguished in sny other an as a parliamenterian?—P. A. Henry Martyn Robert was & man of many attainments and accomplish- ments. A West Point graduate. he later Was professor there of natural pbi- losophy and of military engineering. He was & major of Engineers in the Civil War. and later, as a major gene: planned the fortifications of New York City and Philadelphia as well as coast defenses on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasis. He designed and pervised the erection of the Galveston sea wall His rules of order, the standard au- thority on parliamentary law, was but an incident in his career. Q. How wide is the Hudson River?— oP A. It varies from !, to nearly 11; miles in width. However, it expands ershaw Bay. which is 31, miles into Tappan Sea, which is 4 Q. What is the difference between a claiming race 2nd a selling race?—V. W A. Selling race is the old name for & claiming race In such a race a horse may be claimed after the race for whatever amount is specified. provided the amount is deposited with the steward before the race. Q. What was the per capita cost of maintaining_our Government in 1860, 1890 and 19367—A A. The cost per capita of maintaining the Federal Government was $1.718 in 1860, $6.31 in 1890 and $34.81 in 1930. Q. What does “never the twain shall méet” mean?—J. M. P. A. It is a phrase borrowed from the poem “The Ballad of the East and West " by Rudyard Kipling. The significance of the expression can be gained only by reading the entife poem Isolated fiom the text the lines are interpreted as meaning “that people of the Eastern civilization. such as the Chinese and the Japanese, and those of the Western civilization. such as the Msh and the Americans. cannot affiliate upon a truly friendly basis.” Q. Where was the first public library in this country?—R. D. A. Peterboro, N. H.. claims the honor It established & tax-supported free pub- ry in 1893 sincere in their desire for ace. They do not want war; they lo not want conquest; the not even want to spend any more money on their armed forces than they have to. The difference between the French and other peoples is not one of morals, but of method and situation.” Some queries are offered by the Oo- lumbus Ohio State Journal and the Providence Bulietin. “Since the mo- tives of warring countries are kept 8o submerged and the protestations of de- fense are so positive.” asks the State Journal, “who is to determine the ag- gressor?” The Bulletin comments “Before nations agree to pool their military resources with the League they would like to know what country is going to dominate in League circles— and up to the present Prance has been most powerful in the councils, which might explain why her spokesmen are so fond of the plan. Again, by no stretch of the imagination can the United States be pictured turning over control of her land. naval and forces to another sovereignty. and with- out the Unitad States in the combine the plan falls to the ground.” * % % % “The French plan would encounter the bitterest opposition in this coun- try.” advises the Morgantown Do- with the further state- ment: “It shows that Prance is not disposed to remove herself as the principal stumbling block to Interna- tional accord. On the contrary, it makes more certain the fact that she will exact definite guarantees before she will agree even to throw away a The Lexington Leader holds that “the people of the United States would never consent to have any inter- national commission, league or alliance of any sort determine for them when any other nation goes to war for pur- poses of aggression or legitimate de- fense. Nor will they ever even consider placing their armed forcés at the dis- ion of any sueh body.” ‘His error.” in the judgment of the Worcester Evening Gazette. “lies in the assumption that the League can func- tion as a super-state in time of w @& nati of realists the French 4 to know that a European war between major powers would almost inevitably wreck the League.” The suggestion.” as interpreted by 1e Jersey City Journal. “is merely that nations cairy out the proposals made more than 13 years ago when the League was formed. In the covenant of the League of Nations it was provided that ‘in the event of a war of aggression the Council shall recommend to the several governments what military forces the members of the League shall severally contribute to the armed forces to be used to protect the covenants of the league.' The only depa:ture notice- able in M. Paul-Boncour's suggestion is that the armed forces immediately would be placed under the direction of the League. rather than remaining under the control of individual s.ates until the time of danger arices and the League sends out the eall” The Jouimal is convinced that the plan. “as much as it may benefit Europe. is not likely to be carried out just yet, because of the mutual distrust felt by the various nations ef the League—the same dis- trust which has prevented the United States from entering it.” et Nevertheless They Do. Prench a from the very language which M. Paul- | Prom the Wisconsin State Journal (Madison) { Boncour uses that his proposal is not | If there is no such thing as telepath, seriously intended as a means of se- | how does a weak tire know there isn't curing disarmament. a means of placing France's attitude upon the question in a more favorable light. ~‘Are other nations, like us, ready?’ he asks. ‘Are they willing to put their permanent a naval and land forces under the control and at the dispasition of the League cf Na- tions?’ He knows.th:t they are not. But merely by the asking of the ques- tion he shows that France's critics are tarred with the same brush which they have been applying to the French. | | It is intended as | a shade tree within a mile? r——e Lack Pedestrian’s Nerve., From the Ann Arbor Daily News. ‘We notice that aviators always go to and from their planes in automobiles. ‘They haven't the nerve a pedestri~1 requires. Poor Judgment. Others would be just as_obdurate in | Prom the Toledo Blade. resisting sacrifices which France might ask 8s Prance been in resisting sacrifices that *n ask of her. The| as Pashion autherities don't use good ent—talking of bringing II::ck the period of defiation.