Evening Star Newspaper, October 9, 1931, Page 8

- A8 THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1931 THE EVENING STAR Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY . .October 9, 1831 THEOD The Evenl ORE W. NOYES....Editor ing Star Newspaper Company Business Office: St. and Peuns; O 110 e Mo egen land. ylvania Ave East 42nd Bt gan Bullding. ce: 14 ¢ £, London, Engl Rate by Carrler Within the City. The Evening Star . .45¢ per month and ar . .60c per month Siar (wl +...65¢ p The Sunday . 4o o Colleciion made i the end rders may be sent in by ma Ational 5000, o or telephone by Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virgnia. ally and Sunday.....1yr.$19.00: 1 mo. 86 §‘"§ only 00: 1 mo.. 30¢ unday only $4.00; 1 mo, 40¢ All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday...1yr.$12.00: 1mo., aily only ... 1yr., $8.06: 1 mo., hinday only $5.00; 1 mo., Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusi to the use for republicetion of il Buckling Down to the Job. That America, with the rest of the world, faces conditions gravely menacing the industrial, financial and economic systems of today is a fact which the Natfon must by now reccgnize. Despite unimpaired and more than adequite na- tional resources; despite a general recognition that the deflation of the past two years has been carried to ex- cess; despite a financial pre-cminence rever before achieved by any nation—a crisis of vastly greater significance than cyclical depression must be faced. That crisis involves every leading nation in the world. International credits are dislocated. International trade is stag- nant. These world-wide conditions have reflected themselves in internal weak- nesses in America as in other countries. The dumping of American securities upon a falling market by foreign hold- | ers and the depreciation in value of American-held foreign bonds have placed a severe strain upon the finan- cial structure of our country. The bank- ing institutions have perforce in turn unloaded securities held in their vaults as collateral against the weakest loans to their customers, and this process has necessarily tended to depreciate the value of other collateral held by them, constituting a dangerous progression. ‘With credit curtailed and demand for goods low, our national industries have naturally shortened their commitments. With a majority of our industrial units slowed up, the purchasing power and in- clinatian of the average American citi- wzen has fallen. With that condition established the picture as it exists to- day is drawn. It is a picture which should not be concealed from any American citizen. The Nation as a whole should know that a world erisis, involving the United States as fundamentally as any other country in the world, must be met. And it should know, too, that the men- tractiveness as a contest and as a spec- tacle none has approached the standard promised for the battle in Griffith Stadium tomorrow between teams rep- resenting the United States Naval Academy and the University of Mary- land. Both are splendid teams, and with every incentive to put forth their best efforts thelr contest should nct be| wanting in thrills, but where it vlfll{ differ to advantage from other impor- tant games Washington has wiinaossed | is in the brilliance and color of its set. ting. Twenty-two hundred midship-} men, comprising one of the best drilled | and most colcrful cheering sections |n‘ | the land, will present a thrilling show | in themselves, and Maryland promises | to give the Middies a battle in that re-| speet, as well as on the fleld. The Natien's Capital herctofore has been held to be apathetic toward foot ' ball games that other citles would go | for in a blg way. The truth is that| { Washington has scldom, and not at all {in the era of great sport throngs, been! glven opportunity to show its aitiiude| {toward a major gridiron attraction. | .For that reason the Maryland-Navy The Deal Is Closed. The Southwest Farmers’ Market deal has apparently been closed. A parcel of ground originally offered to the Dis- | trict by the Terminal Refrigerating & Warehousing Corporation for $69,640 has been reduced in price to $18,000. | Another parcel of ground offered for ' 1 $26,000 and condemned by a jury which (awarded the same owners $32,000, will | b sold for $5,000. Still another plot, |appraised by District witnesses at $6,500, | {appraised by the property owner at | $12,640, and condemned by a jury which awarded $4,558, will be sold later when | ‘Ithe property owner's appeal from the condemnation award is heard. And whatever difference there is between the final award and $4.558 will be paid, | in effect, by the Terminal Refrigerating & Warehousing Corporation, which will make a proportionate reduction in the price fixed for the land it is selling the District. ‘The District is left with about $30,000 out of an appropriation of $300,000, and it will utilize this balance to construct the sheds for the befriended farmers and others. | Prom this deal it may be construed ! | that the District has been saved ap- proximately $78,640—the difference be- tween the original asking prices and the final agreed prices for the purchase of land from the Terminal Refrigerat- ing & Warehousing Corporation. Or, looking at it another way, the Terminal Refrigerating & Warehousing Corpora- tion has sacrificed about $78.640 in order to assure the development of the wholesale farmers' market. But no matter how one regards this transaction, it certainly reflects no glory on the Congress which hastily committed the District to spending the money for the market in the face of objections from the taxpayers. And it | reflects no glory on the District offi- clals who were willing to spend $32,000 | for land they will finally buy for $5,000 | and, before publicity brought the mat- {a few have the manual dexterity and ' ace to every institution upon which we | ter to the attention of Controller Gen- have founded our country is today more | eral McCarl, were planning to go as grave than in any foreign war we have far as they could on the market .prop- ever fought in the past. For only by osition with what money they had and, knowing these facts and facing their full | after waiting for two years, were going significance can that unanimity of pur- | back to Congress and ask for more. pose and action essential to the task which lies ahead of us be achieved. The response of the citizenship of | our Nation to awareness that a national crisis in every grave sense of the phrase The taxp:yers of the District, un- represented in the Congress which ap- propriates their money and fixes their taxes accordingly, have a right to expect a vigilant and alert guardianship of is upon us can be one of two things, just as in the case of a smaller and more indivicualized crisis. One can turn yel- | low. Or one can rise to grapple with the danger. ! Courage, in the face of the problem before tne Natfon today, is imperative to its solution. There must be cour- ageous leadership in government, in in- dustry, dn banking, in the press, and courageous following from the mass of our people. Cowardice should be spat upon. Treachery, in the form of the imperiling of national security and pros- | perity for political, financial or other | advantage, should be dealt with as| treachery is dealt with in times of a their interests at the Municipal Build- ing. It is to be hoped that the sheds to be erected at the market site will be ade- quate to protect the farmers and their cabbages from the sun in Summer and the rain and sleet in Winter; that the Terminal Refrigerating & Warehousing Corporation and the Pennsylvania Rail- road will prosper, and that the tax- payers, who furnish the $300,000, will learn in time why they were called upon to make the investment. ——————————— A Saga in the Rough. Paul Bunyan is the legendary hero | of the North woods, whose keen ax | simildr national emergency—war. UntY | could fell great trees at & blow. John and solidarity behind the plans of thoe | Henry is the glant whose feats with a charged with the supreme responsibili- ten_poung maul driving railroad spikes ties of leadership must be afforded. The Nation must recognize that henceforth to the time when security and pros- perity are restored to America and the world it must set aside partisan and political contentions; cut free from sec- tional or party or class concelts; aban- don antiquated persuasions in interna- tional relationships and adjust our indi. vidualistic national aspirations an theories to fit with those similarly ad- Justed of other nations involved in the present crisis, The leadership of America is in sound hands. Certain of the steps essential to the hour have been already initiated. Others, fully as essential, wiil be taken after due consideration. Some of these will indubitably involve certain sacri- fices on the part of America in order that larger national advantages may be gained. Whether in order to render America and the world secure and pros- perous again a further postponement of intergovernmental debts is essential; whether mutual and substantial dis- wrmament seems wise; whether a lower- ing of our tariff barriers is expedient— these and all other similar international problems must be left to the competent and accredited leaders in charge. Steps have already been taken to ease American financial disorders and ex- cellent results have been achieved. These can and must be supplemented by a revival of internationa! trade and a stabilization of international credit. With this achieved and the tension in banking circles relaxed by a liquefaction of credits and an expansion of redis- count facilities, American industry can be counted upon to speed up. Employ- ment will be normalized—pocketbooks arow fatter—smiles come back to our Taces—and the job will be done. But that job is still in the doing to- @s3. Let us buckle down to it. - ‘Uncertainty is shown in some Japanese circles as to whether a battle with Chinese should be classified as war or merely as rough but entertaining sport. ot A Foot Ball Classic. For the first time in years, Washing- ton tomorrow will be the scene of a truly big foot ball show. In recent times many games have been played on Capitf gridirons that brough! it all ihe and fine foot ball most. Gsitical could ask, but for all-round at- business, he became an expert in ma- ‘em, de faster and with bales of cotton on the levees of the Mississippi have’ been sung in song and story. And there are, of course, Casey Jones, and, more appro- priate still, just plain Casey. But now | we have the interesting spectacle of a legendary hero in the making, none other than the current idol of the bleachers, Mr. Pepper Martin of the t. Louis Cardinals. The legend makers are already ac- cumulating their data. Those who “knew him when” recall that Mr. Mar- tin, before he joined the Cardinals, used to go out on the Texas prairies ‘after rabbits. Martin would run along beside a rabbit, lean down to feel the rabbit's ribs, and if the rabbit was thin and scrawny, let him go. If the rab- bit was fat and husky, Martin would pick him up and stow him in his bag as he ran. Of course, that tale is rela- tively tame, compared to what Mr. Mar- tin has done at the bat and on the base paths in the world series. And twenty years hence Martin will be credited with other wondrous things —aunless! The prospect is too awful to contemplate, but just supposing that the Athletics were to fill the bases in the ninth inning, that with two out Mr. Simmons of Philadelphia were to swat one on the nose and send it hard and high toward center field and that | Mr. Pepper Martin, racing as he races | after rabbits on the Texas prairies, | leaped high and caught that ball as it started to clear the fence—and dropped it! That is not a dream. That is a nightmare. g —————— Banking has progressed in dignity and responsibility. First it was an ad- | Junct of trade. It became a profession; then an art. Now it demands studious attention as a science. e A Master of Magic. It is not often that men's hobbies are put to such good use and ends as that of Josh- W. Mayer, who has just! died in New York, where for mnnyi years he has been at the head of a large and prosperous jewelry manufac- | ' turing business. Mr. Mayer’s hobby was | magic, the art of legerdemain. As a young man he became interested in this fascinating pastime, and, applying him- {long about which should be first | nipulation. It s said that he could at | any time have gone upon thé stage with | as much.success as any of the masters | of magic who have amused and fooled and mystified millions of people. But he remained, first of all, a jeweler and kept his hobby in the secondary place ing his life. Yet it became an impor- tant factor In his career, for he used it to the delight of great numbers of children, inmates of institutions, pa- tients in hospitals, little folks with few pleasures. Estimate has been made that | he performed annually before no less} than 50,000 youngsters. He took mno' fees for these shows, though occasion- | ally he would consent to give enter- tainments for the benefit of charitable institutions, turning over all receipts| to their funds. His home was a ver- itable museum of the paraphernalia of the magician’s art, and even his place of business held quantities of the ap-| pliances that he used in his programs. Probably everybody who has ever seen a stage magiclan do his tricks has| wished to be able to do as well. Only| the patience and the peculiar capacity for visual deception permitting this line of tricks. “Magic” sets are sold in great numbers to ambitious young people, who acquire & few parlor stunts merely to find that the role of the true ma-| gician may be filled only by dint of | incessant practice, and by a gifted few at that. Mr. Mayer persisted and the children of his world for at least two generations past have been made the | happier in consequence. - o The life of Lindbergh has been a re- | markably happy one, but no man, how- ever favored by fortune, is permitted to enjoy only triumphant happiness. It | is something worth while to deserve | the universal sympathy now accorded the great aviator and his devotedly courageous wife. o o As a good reporter Calvin Coolidge does not undertake to antagonize au- thority in political publicity. He has studied in a school of practical journal- ism that enables him to understand the cares of a campaign managing editor and to respect his responsibili- ties. - Don Jaime, the pretender, and Al- fonso, the recent exile, were on terms of mutual esteem before the death of the former. As the Handy Book of Quota- tions has it, “A fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind.” S Stock market calculations are com- plicated and brain fagging, which may | explain why some prominent Wall Street worker likes to go to one European re- sort or another, for the sake of a little plain ordinary gambling. PR e 7 7% It is confidently expected that the | warm wave threat will be definitely dis- | posed of in time to give the usugl op- A‘Donun)!y for the early holiday shopper to assert himself reliably as a favorable business influence. S e ‘Warnings are seldom heeded. Ex- plosions of gas tanks, in time of peace, have no value as reminders on a very ’lma]l scale of what might happen should “another war” actually arrive. 2 —e——— A President of the United States en- | joys the privilege of selecting from the best of everything, especially when ad- vice on public affairs is readily avail- able. R T ‘The career of Edison will extend far beyond the limitations of his life. His laboratory is a treasure house filled with ideas still to be perfected in form for human benefit. ——ra—————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. | The Racketeer. Why does the Ruthless Racketeer Arise tb power grand, And make his name a word to fear Throughcut a generous land? It is because the toady small, When some great frog he'll see, Will bow and for his favor call And sing, “Al, you know me!” _ So many a group to him will troop For gains beyond their worth, And let their morals loop the loop While they stay safe on earth. The Racketeer's a liberal boss. ‘They want him for a pal. And so their caps in air they toss Seeking Rellef. “I assume that you are thinking hard about farm relief?"” “‘Thinking hard’ is the correct phrase,” answered Senator Sorghum. “Always unselfishly, I hope?” “Not always. Farmers are unspar- ing in criticism. I'm going to have trouble with my political career if I don’t round up some farm relief on my own account.” Jud Tunkins says there’s no limit to the intellectual possibilities of our |splendid youth if everybody grows up | “Hoover year.” to know as much about things in gen- eral as he does about base ball, Extra Added Vacation. October holds an atmosphere Of Summer laziness profound And makes a joyous time seem near ‘When men can loaf the whole year ‘round. Misplaced Boasting. “Horrors!” exclaimed Miss Gertie Graboff, the irresistible film star. “What has happened?” asked the faithful attendant. “I have just talked to a strange man.” “What did he say?” “Nothing much. The things I said are what scare me. We were talking about my marvelous earning capacity. I thought he was a press agent. He turns out to be an income tax collector.” “Two proud men,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “once. argued so to cross a bridge that the stream carried the bridge away and left them standing to- gether in disappointment.” Glass of Ambition. Ambition is & glass, they say, Reflecting mortal hope or fear. Sometimes it's Fashion’s mirror gay, Sometimes it's just & glass of beer. “Sometimes,” sald Uncle Eben, “you gotta try and forgit yoh troubles. Jes' de same:you gotta remember dat trou-' ., self to it as diligently as he did to his bles is like weeds. De moré you neglect as his dey grows,” THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. “The less judgment pecple have, the more they d\lflk they are right,” the gentleman was grumbling, as he passed along the street with a companton. “Sometimes it seems that way,” re- plied the other. Then the two were soon lost in the crowd, and it was im- possible ever to know what specific in- stance of bigotry they were referring to. It made no difference. The general outlines of the subject are far more worthy of being considered by the aver- age person. It seems as if most men and women find it necessary to bolster up opinions, which they- instinctively recognize as weak, with very positive statements. ‘Thus one hears a woman reader going counter to prevailing critical opinion cn the subject of the merits of some “best reller.” She has neither the background nor experience to set herself at variance with the thousands who have read and loved the book. but that does not prevent her for a second from saying that it is horrible, nevertheless. * ok ok ok “Oh, T will admit,” she will declare, loftily, “that it is well written.” Terrivly, terribly out of the bag is that cat! 1f & book is well written, it must be good, since good writing is the very backbone of literature. But how s she in a position to know whether it is well written or not, if she insists that this specifice volume, | the delight of many thousands, is not so very good, after all? The best critical opinion has so oui- | voted her, wesk after week, now year after year, that her precious opinion is taciily thrown into the discard. “The waste paper baskst, for vour opinfon, Babe!" says old Critical Opin- ion himself. o Making any concessions at all is one | of the basic mistakes of those who profgss positive opinions, especially when they are opposed to good general opinion. It must be recognized that thers is | good general opinion and poor general | opinion, as well as quite mediocre gen- cral opinicn. The likes and dislikes of the mass of the people are susceptible to the same lack of discrimination, taste and body of experience as the judgments of individuals. In matters of art, however, one is more surely at home, for here the gen- eral opinion is on a great, more or less even, plane, where all participants look at each other eye to eye. And book judgments, once formed, can never be reversed. One speaks of the true judgments, of course. No doubt many_enthusiasts found very much to their liking certain old remances of the 16th century which we of today find unbearatle reading. Yet men liked Shakespeare's plays long, long ago, and they love them today. The works of the great Roman and Greek authors are immortal. It would do no good for any one, at this late date, to rise on his critical | hind Jegs, as it were. and attack them. No one with ordinary powers of dis- cretion would care much if they did, for all the outpourings of wrath in the world shall not prevail against a work of art which time has rightly called great. it Failure in critical opinion is due, in meny cases, to the feeling on the part of o many people that an instant opin- fon is demanded. One will not be considered real bright if one insists on cogitating! We are expected to snap back with an opin- fon about everything, offhand and in- stanter, on pain of being regarded as “slow.” Slowness is the modern evil, crime. It is all right to be immoral, many not answer to any form of sentence hurled in one's general direction. Perhaps we should modify the above by the substitution of the good word, “‘unmoral.” e who have no moral sense at all, and live, though human heln?. in the blind instinctive way of the brute creatures, are correctly said to_be “unmoral,” Moral character, as a topic of con- versation, has become terribly old fashioned. You must go to_church, if you want to hear morals talked about. In most polite conversation they are banned. The nicest-looking people can st talking about this one and that one until the listener realizes, some times with an inner gasp of amazement, that with the talker there is utterly no dis- crimination against one or for another. The modern polite talker plays no favorites—to a terrible point, indeed. As far as a listener can judge, such people are lacking in any sense of dis- crimination whatsoéver. What they seem to want, above all, is amusement, and the wicked person whose antics can divert sheir minds is much to be preferred to the silly old- fashioned bore who happens to believe— “how utterly absurd, my dear!"—in the difference between right and wrong. * o ok ok There is another way in which many people fail in proper critical judgments, especially in the matter of books. They don't read enough! No one can expect to know unfail- ingly a good book from a poor book, and especially from an indifferent book. if he has not read enough to know good from bad. Good and bad again! You cannot | get away from it, either in morals or | books, in people or in houses, in foot ball games or base ball games. A great body of people, such as & nation, all members living under some- what the same conditions, has a fixed body of beliefs, experiences; dreams, hopes, expectations, fears, which en ables the body of people to really use the said body of beliefs, experiences, dreams, hopes, fears. | " Since human beings are basically | alike, despite their many differences, it will be found that critical opinions in matters of taste are amazingly similar, | provided that all shall have had the same opportunities for knowing the good and bad creations of the past. | “"What 1s this but another way of say- | ing that only those shall pass judgment | who know? It is the same with busi- |ness matters. Only a comparatively |few people in the United States had | any right recently to voice an opinion | about England and the gold standard, | because only a few honestly knew any- thing about the matter. The rest of us were children in the matter, although we might handle | money every day of our lives, buy | houses, automobiles and even dabble {in stocks and bonds at times. * X % x Always be suspicious of people with | very positive opinions. The more a | man knows, the less sure he is likely |to be; the less many people know, the | more ‘determined they are to make up | for their lack by a great show of | knowledge. | It is the story of the loudly barking | dog over again. . If you watch many | dogs, you will discover that those | hounds which bark the loudest com- |monly sneak away when -danger actually comes their way, but that the | dog which says little—but means what {he says—is right there with bared teeth at the crisis. The wise man, in the heat of con- versation, seldom rushes to the de- |fense of works of art. They do not |need it! They can get along very | well, although maligned for the time | being: later, their champion may say |a good word for them in season, as he seem to feel, but distinctly out of date ' may, sure in the faith that good and to be behind the second in a ready bad are not exactly the same, after all. BY FREDERIC If the American people will picture thelr opulent Uncle Sam standing amid his $5,000,000,000 in gold and bidding them be of stout heart, because he is with them, they'll grasp what President Hoover is trying to put over at this time. His sweeping purpose is to restore confidence. He wants the country to know there is no cause for panic. He is out to slay the dragon fear. He sig- nals, in effect, that the unlimited re- sources of the United States Govern- ment will be used to save a situation that s intrinsically sound and one that can only be wrecked if the Natlon suc- cumbs to unjustified alarm. The Presi- dent hopes that the “bankers’ bank,” as Undersecretary of the Treasury Mills dubs the $500,000.000 credit corporatn now forming, will suffice to unfreeze frozen capital and put it to work all along the business line. If it alone can- not do the trick, Mr. Hoover will ask Congress to revive the War Finance Corporation, this time not to “prosecute the war” against the external foe, but to wage war against the internal foe which is paralyzing trade and com- merce. The Commander in Chief has cleared for action. He is in the field to stay. He will go. to the limit of his powers in attacking the economic enemy within the national gate. If his style is cramped, it will be Congress which applies the brakes. * k x % ‘Whatever comes out of Washington, Paris or elsewhere about moratorium extension, this can be put down with assurance—the Hoover administration will not budge in that direction until Congress has ratified the existing moratorium arrangement. It is the business of statesmen to look far ahead and contemplate the probabilities of the distant future. But the President, fully aware of the touchiness of Congress on debt cancellation or reduction, is not committing himself at this time with respect to any prolongation of the It goes without saying that the moratorium will be on almost every conversational menu of which M. Laval partakes in Washington. The point is that whenever that particular course is served, President Hoover, with one eye cocked toward Capitol Hill, will remind the Gallic guest that until Con- gress has disposed of moratorium No. 1, moratorium No. 2 is undebatable. Laval has expressed a desire for a heart-to- heart talk with Borah. If the Idahoan doesn't weaken, the Frenchman will get an earful. * K K X Paris dispatches narrate that the premier threw something resembling a fit when word was flashed from Wash- ington that Mr. Hoover was about to propose a moratorium extension to congressional leaders at the White House conference. A long-distance telephone conversation, with Secretary Stimson at the American end of the wire, soon set things straight. The French statesman was informed that no moratorium proposal of any sort would be made prior to Mr. Hoover's confabs with M. Laval. France still nurses three different grievances based on alleged cold-shouldering by the United States. The first occasion was in 1921, when Paris accused Secretary Hughes and Lord Balfour of patching up the Washington conference pro- gram behind French backs. The sec- ond was in 1929, when France charged President Hoover and Premier Mac- Donald with sitting on a Rapidan log and arranging the London Naval Con- ference regardless of Paris. The third and most recent ground of FrencH um- brage was the Hoover moratorium bombshell in June of this year, which was sprung on France (so she con- tended) by surprise. M. Laval does not mundwbeu;l‘l;ta‘flilhnlrdlllln. Frederick M. Feiker, who, like Calvin of the Buresu of Foreign and Domestic WILLIAM WILE. | Commerce in the Department of Com- | merce. Previous to his appointment, | Mr. Feiker used to spend a good deal |of time touring the country on behalf |of a group of big industrial journals. | His main job was to make speeches be- | fore boards of trade, chambers of com- {merce and the like. On his last spell- binding expedition, Mr. Feiker was ac- | companied by his 15-year-old boy. | When they reached home, the Ilad’s | mother asked one day: “Well, just | what did dad do out West, son?” The | youngster replicd: “Nothing but eat |and talk.” * k% Lloyd B. Wilson, president of the | Washington Telephone Co., has discov- |ered that the long-distance system is | being successfully used by at least one | industry for direct business-getting pur- | poses. The manager of a local hotel | Teports that at an expense of $300 for | long-distance calls, he has contrived | within a year to grab $30,600 worth of patronage. His plan is to keep his ears open for any suggestion that either an individual or a group from out of town is about to hit the Capital trail. Then | he gets busy on, the long-distance phone, | sings the praises of his establishment, | quotes seductive rates and bags the business. Recently a $7 call landed a | party of Minneapolis folks, who spent $5,000 at the hotel. * ok oK % Joseph P. Tumulty, who lives in Washington, but votes in New Jersey, is being boosted by friends in the State | for the Democratic nomination for the | United States Senate in 1932. The seat | then to be filled is the one just vi ated by the death of Dwight Morrow. ‘“Joe” is & canny and cagey pelitician. If he tempts fate, it will be a safe indica- tion that the Democrats sniff victory |in Jersey. Tumulty would adorn the | Senate. “He would bring to debate in | that stodgy atmosphere a touch of cul- ture, wit and sentiment that do not often illumine its dreary discussions. Poetry would be sure to fill the Congres- sional Record, too, for Woodrow Wil- son’s most trusted lieutenant can quote it by the yard and with a dramatic flourish worthy of a Barrymore or & Hampden. At present Tumulty is busy making money in Washington, practic- ing law and administering receiverships. He began public life as a legislator—in the New Jersey Assembly, in which he served from 1907 to 1910. * K X K Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune, United States Marines, retired, now superin- tendent of the Virginia Military Institute, is going to lead his glay-clad cadet corps to Yorktown on October 19 to partici- pate in the celebration of the Corn- wallis surrender anniversary. The V. M. I contingent will travel' by special train and be quartered at Yorktown with Regular Army and Virginia Na- tional Guard troo) Bascom Slem] alma mater is all het up over the pros- pect of strutting its stuff before the President of the United States, Marsha} Petain of France and the other digni- tarles who will throng Yorktown 10 days hence. Cok kK KL Mrs. Hoover will christen on Monda: at the Naval Air Station in Anacostia the American Clipper, the largest afrplane ever constructed in the United States. It will carry 50 passengers, and is the 102d transport plane of ‘the Pgn-* American Airways System's fleet. The American cu%pe ., worthy ethereal namesake of the dashing craft which won renown for the Yankee merchant marine 100 years ago on the high seas, will soon fly the international trade Proposals for Relief Of American Distress To the Editor of The Star: The calamity howlers of cur coun- try seldom, if ever, stop to count our blessings and seldom advance a con- structive idea. Was ever any country before blessed with both a surplus and a deficit at the same time? Is not the | greatest blessing at the present time, with several million unemployed people, the fact that with a dollar you can buy, almost anywhere in the United States, a 49-pound sack of flour? The fact of a surplus in this country will, I believe, very largely take care of it- self. Just one year of drought or poor crops would wipe the whole thing off the slate. Many things, T belleve, could be done with proper legislation to better pres- ent conditions. Why buy many millions of burlap sacks and yards of burlap from Calcutta, India, when our” own surplus of cotton would furnish better sacks which are of value and can be utilized at the consumers’ end? ‘Why cannot our Government's pur- chase of 200,000,000 bushels of wheat be sold in the form of flour, furnishing work for our laboring men and all sacked in cotton sacks of our cwn pro- duction? ‘Why cannot this Government flour be furnished to all National, State and County institutions, thus saving the public money and giving the taxpayers a break? Why cannot several million bushels of this Government wheat, made into flour, be sacked in Govern- ment-branded cotton sacks with penal- ties for any sale of same, and furnished to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army or any other charitable associa- tions where desirable, to be given free of cost and without red tape or delay where there are hungry children or elderly people in destitute circum- stances? ‘To help cur national deficit why not put a Government tax of 10 cents per barrel on all crude oil products pro- duced from the ground. also on all that might be shipped into our country? This would raise a very large sum without excessive burden. ‘Why not put a Government tax of s to ! cent per bushel on all saley of grain for future delivery? This, I believe, would be beneficial in two ways —raising & large revenue for our Gov- ernment_and curbing to some degree the gambling that goes on in our coun- try's products—which, all should agree, would be desirable. This should not apply to cash transactions for immedi- ate delivery. ‘Why not have a tax of 5 to 10 cents on each share of stock or bonds sold on margin, which@would also check gambling and sales for the purpose of gex&reuln[ or inflating our stock mar- ets? Why not increase the revenue tax on cigarettes and tobacco 25 per cent? Why not put a tax of 25 cents per can on malt. which. I believe, is mostly sold for unlawful purposes? Also put a tax on grape bricks? Why not give the taxpayer a break and let him spend a little of his money in his own way by reducing the expenses of our Government? During and since the war, in all lines of our National, | State, county and city governments, wages of nearly all officials were in- creased from time to tim> to meet the higher ost of living. The farmer's products also for some time were in- creased in value and he was able to meet these additional taxes with good prices recelved. In the mcanwhile, let us all be as laws of this the best Government on earth—if we do right we will be right— and remembering there is a God above { Who sees all. J. E. WINSHIP. Arlington, Calif. B —— Volstead Act Chang Held Up to Congress To the Editor of The Star: The editorial appearing in The Star of the twenty-ninth regarding the de- mand now being mde for a modification of the Volstead act to permit the sale of light wines and beer is hardly up to the gtandard expected by the many read®rs of The Star. In the first place, Congress, which passed the Volst act, defining the alcoholic content at cne-half of one per cent, unquestionably has the authority to change that law and to decrease or increase the present content as fixed by the Volstead act. ‘The editorial was therefore misleading to the extent that it strongly indicated that such a change is beyond the pow- er of Congress. Assuming that Congress might have the right to modify the Volstead act, the editorial goes on to predict that Congress would hesitate to enact such legislation because it wculd be a nulli- fication of the Constitution. The pres- ent provision fixes the alcoholic content at one-half of one per cent. Had the Congress criginally fixed the content at three or four per cent, no question would have arisen as to its authority to do so. The exact point at which a beverage becomes intoxicating may be a debatable questicn, but if the matter were ever to be contested in the courts, common sense at once shows that the overwhelming weight of orinion would be to the effect that three or four per ":;nt alcoholic content is not intoxicat- g. The editorial finally concludes that should Congress modify the Volstead act as suggested the proponents of the change would encounter a hopeless tasi in their inability to prove to the Supreme ' Court that the content fixed by Congress was non-intoxicating. This statement is also misleading because it presupposes what the lower courts would hold and wrongly presumes that the burden of proof would rest upon the proponents of the modified act. The case must first be tried by a lower court and in such a proceeding the burden of proving that the content fixed in the modified law is intoxicating would rest upon those who brought the proceeding —those opposed to the modification. Should the lower courts sustain the Congress and the case be appealed to the Supreme Court, there would be no shifting there of the party on which the burden of roof rested. Moreover, the Supreme Court is not a fact-finding body. Its decisions are based and rendered on the weight of evidence ad- duced in the lower courts. W. T. PARROTT. ———— Chicago Must Limit Convention Prices From the Rock Island Argus. Chicago is making sirenuous efforts to secure both the Democratic and Re- publican Nationz! Conventions. Mayor Cermak is asking 200 mayors of cities of more than 50,000 population to sup- rt Chicago's itions. It cannot be denied that Chicaso has every possible facility: for bandling conventions. However, there are some who hold it against Chicago that when the Repub- lican National Convention met there in 1920 exorbitant prices were charged for food and lodging. When Chicago sought the Republican National Con- ventions of 1924 and 1928 it was not successful mostly because of the high hotel and restaurant charges of 1920. If Chicago wants the convention of either or both political parties in 1932 # must be able to convince the committees that prices will not be in- creased and that no visitor to the city will be. overcharged. Tilinols people outside of Chicago would be glad to have Chicago ated as the convention city of one or both parties, and in that event "'they would visit Chicago by the thou- sands if such a designation was made. 1t devolves upon Chicago business men to guarantee that prices of entertain- ment will be “right” and the hotel and restaurant proprietors must enter into finite and ironclad agreement not to inflict excessively high charges upon Both Cleveland and Kansas themselves so creditably good citizens as possible, cbeying the | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ‘The answers to questions printed here each day are specimens picked from the mass of inquiries handled by our great Information Bureau main- tained in Washington, D. C. This val- uable service is for the free use of the public. Ask any question of fact you may want to know and you will get an immediate reply. Write plainly, inclose | 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage, and address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Has- kin, Director, Washington, D. C. Q. Can a motion picture be taken of & motion picture?—D, M. A. It is not possible, so far as we can find out, actually to make a real movie of another movie. Light would be necessary and consequently the movie being photographed would not be visible and could not register on the film. The experts say that, of course, through double exposure the effect of a movie of a movie could and has been given or that the same thing might be done through pen or wash drawings, In other words, an advanced form of animated cartoon: Q. What is & jump-shift in contract bridge?—N. L. A. It is a raice or shift made by a bid higher than needed merely to overcall the last preceding bid. Q. What is the daily average for passengers carried by he B.-M. T. in New York?—J. D. E. A. The rapid transit lincs (elevated and subway) of the Brooklyn-Man- hattan Transit System coliect daily ap- proximately two million fares. Q. What pronunciation of Latin did the Pope use when he broadcast during the opening exercises of the Vatican City radio station?—C. W. C. Q. How was the Labor party formed in England’—R. S. A. Agitation for bibor representation in the British Parliament commenced as early as 1856. In 1874 two Labor members were returned, Alexander McDowell and Thomas Burt. The the present Labor party sprang origi- nated in a conference in Memorial Hall, London, February 27, 1901, composed of trade unionists and sociaiist bodies, in consequence of a resolution passed by the Trade Union Congress the previous September to form a labor represen tien committee. The organization was not known as the Labor party until 1906, when 29 members were returned. The party received great impetus in 1908 through the adherence of th miners' organizations. By 1917 it had become truly national and in 1924 the first Labor government took office. Q. What is knife money?—C. B. A. It is & form of bronze currency long in usc in China. Money knives were highly ornamented and bore char- |acters on the blades indicating their | value in the money market. The han- dles were usually in the form of a disk vith a hole in the center so that the knives could be strung on 2 cord with other such meney. Q. What is meant by a neologist in religion*—G. B. A. One who introduces or supports new doctrines. The name was applied tc certain rationalists or free thinkers in Germany in the 18th century. Q. Who coined the name malted milk?—C. H. A. It was coined by William Horlick A. He used the Italian pronunciation. | labor representation group from which | about 1886, and the product was intro- duced under this name to the medical profession at the meeting of the Amer- ican Medical Association in Chicago in June, 1887. Q. What is the altitude record for a | glider? Who holds it?>—V. M. | " 'A. The zititude record of 1,500 feet | above the point of take-off is held by~ | W. Hawley Bowlus | Q. When was the old Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D. C., built?—E. H. | " A. The permit was issued in Septem- Der, 1892. Q In the Order of B'nai Brrith, what do the last words mean?—W. C. C. 'A. They mean Sons of the Cove- nant. The order is the oldest of the Jewish fraternities. Q When was the American Tele- | phone & Telegraph Co. formed?—B. M. | A It was incorporated in 1885 to | carry on the long-distance toll business of the American Bell Telephone Co., | and all of the stock of the American | Telephone & Telegraph Co. was | oFmed by the American Bell Telephone | Co. until 1900, when the stock of the | latter was turned into the company in | exchange for stock of the American | Telephone & Telegraph Co. | Q. Wwhat is the name of the 12- | year-old boy who has been appointed | professor of the violin by Mussolini?— A. He is Willi Cornides von Krein- | rach. He was appointed as professor | of the violin at the new Juvenile | Academy of Music in Rome, Italy. Q. What does -3, ¥. D A. 1t'is a slang expression usually ac- | cepted as the equivalent of “what it | takes,” whether energy, pluck or even | money—whatever is necessary to cope | with a given situation. ‘spizzerincktum” mean? Q. How many people in the United States are engaged in business on their own account?—W. E. L. A. National Income and Its Pur- | chasing Power says that in 1927 there were 148,000 individuals in manufactur- | ing industries and 1,499,000 in mercan- | tile concerns. | Q@ Did the Sandwich gless house | make the first pressed glass?—M. W. P. | A. The Sandwich glass house was the | first to adopt and perfect a method of ‘maniuulaung glass by pressure instead of by blowing. It is customary to credit | this factory with_the invention of the | pressing process, but pressing is almost | 25 ancient as biowing. The specimens in which collectors are most interested | are the ones turned out during the first 25 or 30 years of the company's exist- ence. Practically every conceivable de- sign and color was used in the manu- facture of this glass. Q. Who owns the Union_Station in Washington, D. C.>—E. E. S. A. It is the property of the Washing- ton Terminal Co. wWhich s owned jointly by the Bsliimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania Raijroads. Q. How many toll bridges are there |in the United States’—F. M. | A. There are about 300. They are | privately owned and fees are only sup- posed to be assessed until the costs of the bridges are defrayed. The Govern- ment has the power to fix the fees, but only interferes when the fee charged | by the owner is excessive. Patrons of the Intelligen Art Defend‘ ce of Whistlers Whistling as a fine art or merely as tailment of whistling producti a pastime has too many classic prece- an jmprovement in the quality dents to let the derision heaped upon| “A great many persons do whistle to it by the widely quoted comment of | keep their courage up—so many that a New York University professor pass|the expression has become a proverb.” on and but it holds unnoticed. Indignation is aroused by the pedagogue’s crabbed edict that only morons whistle, and poet and historian are invoked to confound the critic. “There is ground for believing that King Canute intended, if he succeeded in imposing his will on the sea, stop whistling throughout the kingdom theorizes the New York Sun. While that paper believes that “whistling is a form of self-entertainment, like twiddling the thumbs, or keeping time with the feet, or wiggling the ears,” it denies that a “thumb wiggler can be set down as & moron just for that. “Let the boys whistle, professo of course, not in office hours,” the San Francisco Chronicle. Recalling that “Whittier found the ‘merry whis- tling tune’ one of the chief charms of his barefoot boy,” the ‘Chronicle adds, “The homely whistle of sweet music's strain’ won the heart of ome lyricist, while ‘the plowboy's whistle’ was matched with the ‘milkmaid’s song’ as a figure of rural charm. Undoubtedly Shakespeare himself whistled on the banks of Avon and developed that love for the concord of sweet sounds that marks a man as unfit for treason, stratagems and spoils.” “We can't prove it” remarks the Rock Island Argus, “but we register our conviction that Abraham Lincoln in- dulged in whistling, and also Theodore Roosevelt. and cheerful individuals who Whistle, and some very pronounced morons who never whistle. We know some very mel- encholy, pessimistic individuals who would be better off for whistling.” * K X % “What if one of these days somebody arose to remark that only morons gen- eralize?” asks the Worcester Telegram, which suggests that “perhaps Dr. Shaw is too used to addressing audiences who cannot talk back.” and offers the par- allel thought: “Dr. Shaw might say that only mocrons eat apple pie. Few would care to reply to him. Contre- version would label one as a ple-eating moron in the eyes of Dr. Shaw.” “We agree heartil: Worth Star-Telegram, whistlers who need major operations for the physical defect. But we do not feel justified in joining the professor in his generalization.” That paper also comments on the value of whistling: “People who live within hearing dis- tance of persons who whistle with a vehemence which appears to have robbed the whistler’s ear for music in themselves in the army of the professor. Those Who possess musical natures and who exude music through the whistling mechanism will feel themselves ag- grieved—and justly so. There are peo- ple who simply must burst forth in melody occasionally—or even more re- currently than that. They perfoym the of a rhocking bird on an alley telephone pole while his missus is busy with the family domesticities. A few of them are 50 good at it that they reach either ple whose whistlings should be treated at least as misdemeanors. There are others who add a touch of cheer to their surroundings by gladdening their own souls. * Kk ko “Whistlers are probably of all sorts and degrees as to mentality, energy and morality,” concludes the Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail, with the thought that “a whistler generally strikes one as being of a cheerful di ition.” The Providence Journal mal the com- ment: “Of course, there are whistlers and whistlers. The underlying causes of whistling are various end sundry. It is an old,-old story that whistling is often resorted to as & means of keeping up one'’s courage. But we have known some valiant men who were confirmed whistlers, and we have even heard whistling that might definitely be ascribed to a superiority co::gl; There are many men, and an occ itors | woman, who whistle instinctively as an are the .; does not show ture of it. r, but, vises | We know some very sane | states the Fort | “that there are | order to acquire volume will easily find | feat with all the naivete and sangfroid | the stage or the studio. There are peo- | | agrees the Lynchburg Ne that “the professor’s trouble seems to | be in generalizing too much,” and that “had he made his remarks less sweep- ing, he would hive been nearer the truth.” The Rochester Times-Union, however, voices the suspicion: all, we doubt if Prof. Shaw took his | charge as seriously as did his students. | We rather imagine he was emulating | the little boy who was scolded by his | Sunday school teacher for whistling in | church. ‘Well,’ said the boy by way of | explanation of his conduct, ‘I was just | trying to make Sunday school a little more interesting | “It is possible.” says the Milwaukee Sentinel, “that it is easier to think to | & fiddle or to & phonograph than to a | whistle. Perhaps the doctor had traffic | policemen in mind. Some persons must find it easier to think to music. All | such persons cannct play musical in- | struments; indeed. playing the fiddle while they think will interfere with the earning of their living. A paperhanger, | for instance, canont play the fddle while he works, and yet he may be | thinking sprightly thoughts which ecry | for the accompaniment of music. Wil | Dr. Shaw deny his intellectual power if | he’ whistles?” | N ws Reel Called Caricature of Finland the Editor of The Star: In one of the leading motion pic- ture theaters in Washington there has been running for the last two weeks a picture concerning Finland, which, | to say the least, is somewhat one-sided |In this picture a news-reeler under- takes to figure out the reason for the | international successes of Finnish ath- letes, and arrives at the highly original conclusion that athletics flourish in Finland because conditions there are such as to render athletics entirely impossible; in other words, that life in Finland is so terribly hard that the struggle for existence—and a very mis- erable existence at that—requires all the time and energy of the people, which, apparently, is the reason wi they have such splendid opportunit! for training for the Olympic games Following up this theory, the news- Teeler proceeds to show certain scenes of Finnish life, chosen with a view to depicting it as primitive and full of hardships as possible, and ostensibly being typical of the country at large. Suppose somebody were to show a film of the United States on which were seen (a) a hut in a snowstorm in Alaska, (b) some fishermen on the coast of Maine in Midwinter, (c) and« glimpse of a modern hotel said to be a baronial castle built centuries ago, which three items, together with the additional in- formation that the Great Lakes are frozen during nine months of the year, snd that the complications of modern life seem as far away.as Mars, were expected to explain the fact that Americans are the greatest athletes in the world, and, besides, to give an accurate idea of the country. Every- body, all over the world, would take it as a grotesque joke, and I am sure that not many of even those who do not happen to know much about Fin- land have taken this Finnish film too serlously. ~The truth is, of course, ex- actly the reverse of what we sre sgown and told. Finland is not covered with eternal snow and ice, exce&tml the farthest north; the climate corre- sponds to that of New England, with fairly lognlnd often very warm Sum- mers. land is not inhabited by people resembling Lapps and Es- kimo, but is a country with an old and solid cultural and economic back- ground, with a concomitant amount of ease and lelsure, without which no | To WOl imaginable; most of the famous Finnish athletes, in fact, hail from the cities, where life is as comfortable and up-to-date as in American cities. The complications of modern life are just the same as in any other civilized country. Finland, The film but & eariea~