Evening Star Newspaper, October 23, 1931, Page 6

A—6 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FBRIDAY........October 23, 1931 .Editor THEODORE W. NOYES. . The lmh'!st.,r Newspaper Company usine: : nnsvivants Ave. y o Yok SHce. 110 En . én« gé&" Lake Michisan Bullding. n Office: 14 Regent M. London, Rate by Carrier Within the City. 48¢ per month 80c per month tar ..65¢c per montk Sc_per copy ect h f ‘each month. in by mail or telephone | ST o Rate by ‘Mail—Payable in Advance. g Maryland and Virginia. . $10.00: 1 mo., 85c | fi’i’ mla!'.“nd‘ };;< $6.00: lmo.Sflr“ a3 only 1yr. $4.00:1mo. All Other States and Canada. 1yr.81200: Safy Bunder il 3] day "only REi Member of the Associated Press. 18 exelusively entitled o8 cr n of all thi lited to it gr riuz O'EheYkls! cred- 78 paper and. sito ed heretn: él Sieht Gispatches herein mo.$100 | 1mas i) mo. 80c | he local news of publication of | Also reserved “Organized Security.” Until M. Laval brings himself to specity either his purposes or his hopes in ‘Washington, the public statements following his arrival on American soil gesterdsy remain the sole indication of what is at the back cf the French statesman’s head. He used at New York A phrase that is unmistakably illumi- nating. “France is peace-loving" said M Laval “But we set great store by our security. Governments and peoples should understand that security eannot be expressed merely in words of hope. It should be organized." Then he sup- plemented: “If France and the United States can agree and unite in an ever- incressing co-operation, we may look forward to better things.” "In stressing the necessity of not merely hoping for security M. Laval paraphrases a thought once uttered by ‘Wil H. Hays while Republican national cHalrman. “In politics” said that master machinist, “things don't just happen. They have to be brought! about” 8o, contends M. Laval, it is| with security. It will not do for France | simply to aspire to security. Something has to be done about it. It “should be organized.” declares our distinguished guest from the Seine. | From that general statement it seems plainly to be inferred that M. Laval will propose American participation in “organized security.” It is persistently reported, though not as yet with any sanction from M. Laval, that he would be satisfied with the much-discussed consultative pact—a pledge by this country to ait in counsel with other governments and consider methods for preservation of peace whenever or wherever it is threatened. Since he left Paris still another form of consultative agreement has been attributed to M Laval. According to this scheme, the Tols of the United States would be amplified to include withholding sinews of war from any nation adjudged guilty of breaching the peace. What the French want most of all is no secret. They would like an outright | guarantee by powerful countries such as the United States and Great Britain to rush to France's assistance in the case she is attacked. President Wilson forought home from Paris in 1919 a tri- | partite treaty to this categorical effect. | The Senate scorned it. Great Britain * had made it & condition of her ad- herence that the United States should | first, ratify the treaty. As a practical idealist, M. Laval knows there is as little. possibility of that kind of “or- ganized security” today as there was twelve years ago, as far as America is | concerned. The consultative pact is evidently the one sort of peace-keeping American co- operation which M. Laval believes to be within the aphere of attainment. At & certain period of the 1930 London Naval Conference, when the French were demanding & comsultative ar- rangement as the price of concessions to Italy on parity, Secretary Stimson | was not averse to the idea. It was only | when the cables from Washington | flashed senatorial resentment of such a | device that it was serapped. M. Laval is aware of President Hoover's eager- ness for disarmament and of his desre | .to promote world economic welfare. | ‘Therefore it is not a very wild guess to | hazard that when M. Laval got dovwn | to business in Washington today his| position in & nutshell was: “Give us a | consultative pact and France is ready to talk disarmament, reparations re- | ducticn and all the rest of it.” M. Laval has one argument with which to counter possible American ob- jeetions to consultation. He is able to recall that two years ago the United States consulted with Europe and Japan to prevent a Russian-Chinese war in Manchuria. This very month America 1s consulting with Europe for the pur- | pose of preventing a Sino-Japanese war | in the same region. President Hoover { in specified commodities would be gifts to the roads that are in straits. The desire of the rail executives is to find a method of pooling that will be on the ‘basis of loans rather than gifts. : A stip- ulation may be insisted upon that in the event of the pooling of the added revenues, for loan to the weaker lines, no borrower shall be allowed to pay dividends on its stock until it has first repaid the borrowed money. The reso- lution adopted by the association states that the commission’s project “will be undertaken with the understanding that the plan should be based as far as pos- sible on the principle of self-help, through the organization ®f théir own agencies to administer the proceeds of the increased rates.' ‘The commi; roads shall return before December with & plan to put the pooling arrangement into effect. It is expected that in good season such a plan will be formulated, | probably along the lines of regarding !the advances as loans necessary to go to Congress for legis- lation, on either the pooling plan or upon some method of meeting the heavy there will be time to prepare the case for presentation to the legislative bo The public is not immediately con- cerned with the details of any pooling plan that may be devised, whether as a direct gift or on a loan basis. It does, however, expect the roads and the commission to get together in some manner to effect the relief required for those lines that are unable to et their fixed” charges. And it does em. phatically approve the commission’s refusal of a flat increase in rates. Fur. thermore, it hopes that the roads will tion by drastic reductions in the wage scale, save as a last rescrt to prevent further losses If business revives generally through- out the country, the railroads will share in the increase of prosperity. Rate in- creases on the flat basis, regardless of commodities, and wage cuts on a broad scale will not serve to that end. Emer- gency measures should be devised with the view of contributing to the restora- tion of confidence. The railroad execu- tives have now acted in conformity with this hypothesis in their acceptance of the principle of the commission’s plan. ————— Competition Must Be Fair. The hearings on the taxicab situation have served chiefly to emphasize the serfousress of the blow that this form of competition has dealt the street rail lines. The contrast has been drawn between the fixed financia! burdens of the street ratiway lines, such as the four per cent franchite tax on gross re- ceipts, the payment of salaries to cross- ing policemen, the smente for street paving, the assumption of finan- cial responsibility for safety of passen- gers and property, etc., and the virtuaily unregulated status of the taxicabs, where there is nothing to require the assumption of any important or fixed responsibilities. The picture in black and red had been drawn to show the effects of this unregulated competition, with the taxicabs taking away some sion orders that the rail- | Should it be | bond labilities that will soon mature, | not undertake to reduce costs of opera- | THE EVENING lorder to get the most out of their cars, while we are trying to tell them to go a little slower in order to avold acei- dents,” sald Morgan T. Ryan, registrar of motor vehicles in Massachusetts. And George R. Wellington, Rhode Island motor vehicle commissioner, expressed himself in this manner: “I lay s great part of the aceident problem at the door of the manufacturers because they are stressirg speed.” The .administrators are unquestion- ably right. If an advertisement states that th& Thistledown Eight will do seventy miles an hour, it is only natural that the buyer will at the first op- portunity make a test of this clalm. If an ol company advertises that fts product: will increase the speed of an automobile, the same thing is likely to happen, and the spectacle is presented of motorists racing against time on the highways .of the United States. Speed of itself, that is reasonable | speed according to circumstances of traffic and romd, is not the cause of | accidents. In other words, on an open road with no intersections and light traffic, a speed of fifty miles an hour in a well conditioned car is not neces- sarily hazardous. On a crowded or slippery highway it would not only be dangerous but should rightly be con- | sidered reckless driving. State after State is removing speed restrictions or increasing speed limits, depending on the all-inclusive “reckless driving” pro- | vision to teach motorists the value of reasonable speed according to the con- ! ditions encountered. A motorist can be | just as reckless at twenty miles an hour in a congested street as he will be at | fifty on the highway under similar circumstances. So it is the psychological effect of motor car advertisements that is being attacked by the administrators. Few persons can probably resist the lure of “seeing what she can do” after they lare told that they are operating & | particularly fast car, and ft is this i reaction that breeds a large percentage ‘0( accidents. Motor car manufacturers | should take notice of this condition 'and eliminate all propaganda which tends to create a group of “wide-open” drivers, Ty s, The Navy Band is to remain a feature | among the attractions of Washington, |D. C. along with the other bands so favorably identified with United States | official life. A new symphony orchestra | has been established. As the number of working hours is lessened in the Na- tion’s industrial system, the desirability of rendering available in lejsure hours the best that music has to offer cannot 1 be overlooked. i S T Steamship lines as as raflway lines arrange mergers Air ship routes are already o we) eharted and tematized that theg easily do ltkewlss In spite of tendencies to.resent new | restraints, the era is one of organization | and discipline. R, The stock market inevitably shows variations as it progresees toward steady conditions. It is misleading to refer to every rise in prices as a “boom” or to| every temporary recession as a “slump.” | | have been shown 23,000,000 passengers a year from the e i traction companies and contributing to It was naturally to be assumed that the sustained and increasing loss of there were impetuous and ill-informed revenues that is putting the car com- persons in Manchuria who would imsist panies in the hole. on fighting without waiting for the On the other side of the fence we League of Nations to get the situation the effect of the properly in hand. cheap taxicab on the transportation habits of the public. The taxicab has been popular, as shown by the increas- ing patronage it is enjoying. The rates have been acceptable. The conveniencs and the advantages of the taxicab have found a ready reeponse from the riding public. And the operation of a taxicab has provided an employment outlet for hundreds of men who otherwise might be pounding the pavement in search of a job. Turning again to the street cars, thelr method of making up for losses s U ORRURPS Boviet Russia is reported by travelers [0 be st far benind the living condi- tions which permit use of the line “all modern improvements” in a “for rent” ad. ——r—— Diplomats the world over have de- cided to leave prohibition to offictal custom and avoid introducing it as an element of possible complication in more important matters. s T The rule of the old debating society. | *A motion to adjourn is always in order.” of revenue in the past has been con- has an element of appeal even to 8o fined, as far as the public knows, to august a body as the League of Nations. asking for higher fares and putting into — el effect certain economies that make this | SHOOTING STARS. form of transportation more unpopular, | e whereas the effort of the taxicabs has | been to reduce rates and to make every possible bid toward satisfying and catering to the wishes of the public And, whereas the street car companies have always been the powerful, vested interests, enjoying the advantages as well as what have come to be some of the disadvantages of protectei monop- olies, the taxicabs are in many cases owned and are operated by the men who are trying to make a bare living and are willing to work night and day to do it. According to the figures submitted yesterday by Mr. Bachman, the Public Utilities Commission accountant, they are not succeeding. But if the taxicabs are driving the street cars to the wall, and the figures certainly indicate that such is the case, | the city is confronting a condition that requires the best efforts of the authori- ties to forestall. The street cars are a | basic necessity in the life of the city. It is impossible to conceive their re- placement, at this stage of the game, by taxicabs. The city cannot get along terms all this “mobilization of world | opinion” Premier Laval may plead | that it is just another name for con- ! sultation. i ——ons. Wage controversies have always, existed. It is unreasonable to assume, that prosperity will have to wait on &, settlement of such differences for all. time to come. i o | : Rail Heads Accept in Principle. | After & préliminary reaction of disap- of the Interstete Commerce Commission’s proposal of a plan of re- E; for the railroads by co-operative united effort, in substitution for a | t freight rate increase, which had | ‘Peen asked by the carriers, the Asso- ¢lation of Railway Executives has moved #n the direction of such a measure. At & meeting held yesterday at Atlantic City the association appointed a com- | mittee, to suggest to the commuslonl modifications of the plan for a pooling of revenues accruing from increased rates on specified commodities-for the mssistance of the roads that are unable to meet their fixed charges. This ac- tion is d as an acceptance in rinciple of the commission's decision, eaving the way open for the rail execu- tives and the comrmission to get together on & practicable and legal plan for put- ting the pooling arrangement into effect. ‘The chief objection to the commis- slon'’s appears to be that the in- creased revenues from a change of rates without street cars, but if unregulated competition is permitted to exist indefi- nitely, it must either get along without street cars or take over their operation. ‘The taxicab should be recognized as a new form of competition, definitely established, no matter what its effect will be on other agencies. But its as- sumption of an important place on the transportation map requires that it be placed under the same sort of regula- tion and control that now apply to the street car companies or other common carriers. Competition must be reduced to something that approaches a fair basis at the start. Somebody, of course, will be hurt. The authorities will have to direct their efforts toward arriving at action that will serve the greatest con- venience of the majority. r——— A salute fired in honor of a distin- guished visitor will impress a war-weary world as the best use to which guns can be put at the present time. O e e e Advertisements of Speed. Severely criticizing automobile manu- facturers who stress speed of their products in advertisirg, speakers at the annual Eastern Conference of Motor Vehicle Administrators, now in session in New York, expressed themselves as confident that if this form of advertis- ing were abolished the accident and fatality toll would show a sharp decline. “The ofl and &uto companies are trying to tell people to go a littie faster in BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Weeds. | By-products. once in slight esteem, Become important in the scheme Of modern progress when they find The magic of the chemist's mind. Even the weeds out in the fleld A usefulness are made to yleld, ! And cure our {lls er help along The travels of the hurrring throng. The man who but an idler seems May turn to truths his splendid dreams And aid us in our joys and needs. | Do not despise what folks call “weeds.” Avolding Undue Familiarity. “Genuine statesmanship always re- | spects the truth,” declared the idealist. | ‘Always,” agreed Senator Sorghum. “Some of us stateemen have so much | respect for the truth that we lock it up for safekeeping and bring it out only on the most formal occasions.” { Jud Tunkins says circumstances have STAR WASHINGTON Ol D. C, FRIDAY, "TOBER THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E, TRACEWELL, ‘We never go into & hookalore where authora are for aale in thelr original languages without feeling A sense of ‘ol read any one of them fluently enough to enjoy them Some Americans have the mistaken | otie to bo able to| idea that it is speak and read Engliah only. foolishness. Knowledge never hurt any one. A whole new world o poks would be opened to the booklover if -he could read Prench, for instance ‘This column has always held the thesis that a good translation is a great deal better than none at all, and that the best of the world's literature may become part of every reader’s mental and spiritual equipment through the medium of sympathetic translations. This does not mitigate against plain fact, however. such as Zola's “L stance, must necessarily be better in the original. Every great book, whether fiction or otherwise, has a spirit of its own. This spirit is a sort of mental flavor, as it were, a flavor which the mind savors and which sets it apart from every other book in the world. No other novel of Zola's, for instance, is quite like the “Assommoir.” Those who have liked it well enough to read it in several translations know well what can be done with a book by leav- ing out a bit here, pruning the lan- guage there. There is one translation of this book which so deletes the latter half of it that the swift descent of the principal characters is much too swift, leaving something artificial about the whole which the author never intended and never wrote Another is so complete, indeed. that certain words in it will needlessly fend an Anglo-Saxon. The story would be just as good a story, just as com- pelling, with these frank epithets left out. Another translation, of condensation (something which should never be undertaken in the case of a masterpiece), has so slashed and hacked the body of the narrative that & competely lopsided version fis the result. The account of the great banquet scene is so pruned that those familiar with the true version feel indignant that any one should so dare to tamper with a masterpiece. Surely the original Prench version would prove more satisfactory than any one or all of the transiations—pro- vided one could read it as a native reads Stumbling around over words, in- ability to swiftly comprehend idioms, and the like, renders the average “read- ing” of a foreign tongue by a non- native & rather painful process, one utterly lacking in interest or jov. * Nk Therefore, we would advise any young man or woman, now in second- ary schools, or even in college. who is “taking” a foreign language, to study it for all they are worth, or to give it up entirely It has been said that the average American is not gifted in the study of languages. He, as a member of & na- tion, has not been under the daily ne- cessity -of understanding natives of other nations using different tongues Hence there has grown up in this country a sort of stubborness in learn- ing foreign languages, & mulishness which is in part a provinciai disdain for the unknown and in part a real mental clumsiness in the acquisition of such material There can be no doubt of the latter inabili Every one who has attended secondary school or college or both has had personal arquaintance with scores of cases. . Many adults in the That 1a he in the interest that we are unable to| tUniled Ftates today have “taken” from 4 fo A years In achool to learn exsotly nothing about the French or German Iangiage During the time they were making & protense (o these languages | they no doubt. read several books, such as “Colomba” and “La Tullpe Noire,” and at the time fondly deluded them- selves into the belief that they kne French ! | 'What they really did, of course, was to shoulder their ‘'way through several delightful narratives with pick and | shovel. They managed to get the meaning, but they lost the spirit, and the meaning of words is nothing with- out the spirit. The spirit of words s their life. Without that apirit,” that tang of life in them, words are more inert than stones, for rocks mcy have atoms at eternal play within them, but words have nothing at all, but only 1, mean what the reader puts in them, after the writer has marshaled them in a cemain order. * o % ¥ Meaning is not all there is to words, however. Above the meaning, even, lies the spirit. With certain master- pieces of fiction, such as the book men- tioned, and Cervantes’ “Don Quixof for instance, there is the outlook of an entire race. Somehow one knows the French people better. by delving into their literature than he would from any number of journeys. One may say this | without fear of contradiction, because it is a personal matter, after all; if another disputes it, it makes no differ- ence in the least; the book is to the reader, and comes back jnost to him; what he makes of it is all there is to i This may not explain the thing satis factorily, because there 18 no explain. ing, in the last analysis, the intangible quality in translation. it is there, but the hand cannot touch it, and even the mind cannot point it out to the mind, especially to another mind. It is be- cause of this intangible in translating that many critics have been induced to say that no translation, no matter how good, can equal the original. No doubt that is true in this peculiar sense. It in a sense is the same as saying that a copy is not as as the original, not because it may not bulk as large, or have colors any different, but because the man who made it in the first place put something into it which the copyist, with the best will in the world, failed to put into it. Consider again the “Assommoir,” a monument, seen by t0o few moderns, alas. Considered with “Nana,” it is & colcssal piciurization of the life of a family of the very poor. Out of that family came the beautiful but perverted creature whose name became the “talk of all Paris” The latter half of “L'Assommolr” is used by the- author to picture the degraded childhood ¢f Na: as a result of which she could not have been anything other than what she turned out to be. Zola had in mind what he wanted to do. That sense is over the entire book A translat'r, with the best will in the world, is not so_interested in the com- plete picture. He fails to enter into the spirit of the two books, as one, but confines himself to the one brok, as one. Hence the translation may (and in one Instance does) lose t fine sense of balance which a literary creator puts into his- best work. This balance is the sanity of fiction Withcut it, novelists would be wasting their time and that of, their readers. Novelists who lackthis essential sanity do, indeed. wast> the time of their readers. Bmt those gen (and a few women) who are artists, who somehow understand, as it is not given to the majority to understand, keep a balance of mind, heart and hand, which forever puts the novel among the real artistic | creations of the &pirit of man. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS v BY FREDERIC Pierre Laval is an embodiment of the fact that big men sometimes come in small packages. The president of the French council of ministers is what you would call under medium size. But he radiates poise, shrewdness and wis- dom with every glance and gesture. His swarthy color and physiognomy suggest a little of Vice President Curtis. Laval has plercing brown eyes which he half closes now and then as he sizes up sn interrogator or ponders a reply to s leading question. He smokes cigarettes incessantly. He has uncommonly small feet, which he always keeps on the ground. He can turn on & winning smile. He bore himself with invincible patience Iast night as the Washington press corps peppered him with demands for something pewsier than glittering generalities about international collaboration—and didn’t get it. You have the impression that Laval would be a tough customer in a poker game. He has come up from behind in French politics with meteoric speed. Three years ago hard- Iy any one outside of his native Auvergne had ever heard of him. In 1930 he becaame minister of labor in the second Tardieu cabinet and before the year was over was the head of the government. He is addressed like our own chief magistrate—‘Mr. President.” * o owox Andre Tardieu is widely considered in Europe to be the man behind the Laval throne. He occupies the rela- tively minor position of minister of agriculture in the present cabinet, but his_power far outstrips the supervision of France's vineyards and farms. The militant nationalist trend of the Laval government reflects the Tardieu in- fiuence. Aristide Briand's eclipse in the Parisian political heavens is an other manifestation of the Tardieu hand. For the better part of the past year the old eagle of the Quai d'Orsay has functioned with clipped wings and claws. Today he is the executor rather than the designer of French foreign policy. _Laval (plus Tardleu) is: the boss. Briand’s sun was setting long before the German-Austrian tariff An- schluss affair dimmed its luster. France finally had her way on Anschluss, when ;l lot to do with innocence or mischief. You never can tell in advance whether | an orchard is going to hand out apple- sauce or hard cider. Big Card. i'rhe racketeer wore jewels rare On buckles and most everywhere. We said, “With such embellishing, You should be happy as a king." Sald he, “No monarch’s rank I claim. The bower oft controls the game. My boast is one you can't deny. ‘The knave of Diamonds am I1.” Crashers. “I have decided to be a society man,” ramarked the confident youth. “Which kind?"” asked Miss Cayenne. “Is there a distinction?" “Oh, yes. One kind gets invitations to more parties than he can possibly | attend and the other kind attends more he could possibly get invi- the World Court smashed it up, but Briand's fortunes had flagged to the point of frretrievability. Nationalist France, which is now in the saddle, deprecated what was considered his in- judicious conciliation of Germany. The Laval-Tardieu government is for peace and amity with the Teutonic brother, but at a cost the Germans are not pre- pared to pay. * ook When M. Laval and President Hoover get down to brass tacks on disarma- ment, the premier will not wait long before tl.lkh’ls about the “French Em- pire.” Nowadays by “France” French- men mean not merely France in Eu- rope, but Prance in Africa, France in Asia and France in the Americas. Col. A. Grasset, a distinguished French offi- cer, in a recent article in L'Tllustra- - tion observes that the French colonial policy is to “encourage and assist evo- lution: political processes among the native ‘This makes for “a certain ferment of change and progress which sometimes necessitates the check of authority.” France claims not to be able to dispatch effective forces quickly to the scene of a colonidl rebellion ory disorder, but must depend on native " said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “to restrain our admiration forces. Within France itself is a spe- cial expeditionary force of 70,000 men which, Col. Grasset contends, cannot be reckoned as part of the home de- of what is ancient. In an old quarrel | fense uubl;;}sxggfit overse‘als m:ce 4 " | embraces 5,250, square miles an there iz neither dignity nor advantage. Cdiation of 60.000.000. A strong r serve of troops is required for mandate urposes in Syria. The net of all t the claim that France’s colonial army cannot legitimately come within the scope of any dinu:m:m:m scheme. Adjusting the Farmer. The farmer raised a bounteous crop. We had to tell him when to stop. Later we'll try with might and main To show him how to start again. “Another trouble ‘'bout unemploy- ment,” said Uncle Eben, “is dat it leaves too many able-bodied folks 'Wif nuffin’ to do 'ceppin’ tryin’ to play de banjo.” . K] In a public address this week Leo A. Rover, United States attorney for the District of Columbia, took a ood-natured slam at the new set-up the Washington Police ment. ‘Between the Cavalry and the Artil: WILLIAM WILE. lery,” he ‘wisecracked, “the appréhen- sion of criminals hereabouts. ought her.cefol d to be fraught with fewer difficulties.” Mr. Rover was referring to the fact that Police Commissioner Crosby is a retired Cavalryman and that ~ Police Superintendent - to - be Glassford is & retired Pield Artillery- man of the United States Army. o ox While Democratic leaders concede that Gov: Roosevelt is still far out in front for their 1932 presidential nomi- | nation, it's felt that current events are taking a good deal of the curse off the Newton D. Baker randidacy. Baker's so-called ineligibility is always said mainly to be his Nations attitude. But now that Hoo- ver and Stimson have contracted a morganatic marriage with Geneva, the Republicans have a considerably less effective anti-Baker talking point than before the Manchurian fracas. * ok ox % There was trundled unobtrusively into Washington this week the most valuable cargo of books that ever crossed the District line. It came down from New York in a heavily armored car manned by five armed guards and consisted of 350 of the priceless volumes to be lodged in the new Shakespeare Library, soon of Congress. The building and collec- tionl are the gift to the Nation of the late Henry C. Folger, one-time presi- dent of the Standard Oil Co. The Fol- ger Shakespeariana, the finest extant, | has a value of $4,265000. In his will Folger set aside $10,000,000 for mainte- |nance of the collection. Among the books now stored in the Library vaults are the first printed work of Shake- speare, “Titus Andronicus”; a - collecs on of first-edition poems, including | “Venus and Adonis.” and the Vincent rst folio of 1623, which Folger called |“the most precious book in the world.” * ok ¥ |, Harvard men have sccorded one Jof | their prized honcrs to a Washingtonian, | Col. Frederic A. Delano, who has just been elected president of the Harvard Alumni Association. Col. Delano was | graduated with the elass of '85. He happens first to have seen the light of day at Hongkong, China, though his | parents were both born in Massachu- | setts. Delano began life as an appren- | tice machinist at Chicago and achieved fame as a railroad consulting engineer. | Washington has a Harvard alumni | 8Toup of nearly a thousand men. They are scattered all over the Federal land- | scape. Enough are in the State Depart- | ment to have a club of their own. Col. | Delano is a former member of the Harvard Board of Overseers. ok ox ok | Dr. Otto H. F. Vollbehr of Germany, | who sold his famous collection of books,, including the Gutenberg Bible, to the | Library of Congress for $1,500.000, con- | tinues” to reside in Washington. He chose the mcment of the French premier’s arrival this week to issue & six-paged blast on the subject of repa- | rations and the other burdens laid upon | his native land. The upshot of his | spectal pleading is that Germany “has already paid not only once, but at least twice,” and possibly three times, the full amount of 32 billion dollars which the treaty of Versailles " Dr. Vollbehr strongly hints that unless the Young plan is lifted from the Reich's bended back, Communism or something worse is certain to overtake Germany, to };fle unutterable Icss of the whole world. (Copyright, 1931.) e Tip for Farm Board. his | From the Ashland, Ky., Daily Independent. The Farm Board could get rid of that 200,000,000 bushels of wheat tem- porarily. by planting it. e e How Old West Got Results. | Prom the Buftalo Evening News. ‘The reason the old West got results | was that it suspended the bad man in- stead of the sentence. pro-League of | to be “unveiled,” adjacent to the Library | that you have taken up the battle on behelf of the Bhildren who have been hunted, when. . from ‘one hospital another to find. bne where they could at last rest in peace their few remain- ln* living hours. 'his heartlessness of hospital attend- ants and doctors and their cold com- mercialism is almost unbelievable—but 1 have found it to be widespread. The agony of parents and their help- lessness in such emergencies tears at all hearts, except those who should allevi- ate the suffering of the unfortunate and assistthe parents in caring for those who ‘are more dear than life itself. Money, contagion, excuses should. never enter into it. The public expects mercy and the best aid—not the attitude so frequently encountered. Doctors and hospital staffs are notori- ous at whitewashing their mistakes and cruelties and at hidinz behind silly reg- ulations and pleading helplessness. To obtain redress is impossible—it is but- ting against & stone wall of “ethics, “judgment” and all the pettifogging of those who delight in regarding tragedies as mere “cases. Keep up the work. I am sure the public is behind you. Clean up this source of terrible cruelty. Let us all feel that in times of emergency we can find | sympathetic help at the nearest hos- pital and that when death approaches our loved ones they will not be pain- fully shifted from hospital to hospital. Let them spend their last moments in peace and quiet. Give those who love them that assurance. It is so little. WM. E. MALLOY. .- U. S. Ability to Meet Crises Shown in Past | To the Editor of The Btar: The history of the American people has been written largely in terms of our | ability as a Nation to meet crises. | Prom the time the United Btates Gov- | ernment_began to function under our Constitution to the present moment there has been one crisis after another in our affairs. We have been beset by dangers and obstacle: by depressions and by wars and by internal strife of the greatest bitterness. We have weath- ered every storm. The guiding star of America has remained bright. Every emergency has been Ca ously met. Each crisis, safely past, seen us grow stronger and greater. Are there some who have lost faith that they fear America will not recover from this depression? Do they think this Nation has reached the end of the road marked out fof it by destiny? They are of little faith, indeed | The preserit depression is but a pause in the onward march of our country.| It is & time for us to take stock of our resources and to dedicate ourselves to | unselfish lovalty to America and united | effort for her. | The United States will not only| | emerge from this experience a stronger | Nation, she will lead the rest of the| | world to recovery and to a_higher plane | of human affair: H. R. LEE. S | Applicant Hits Auto Title System in D. C. | I have just finished reading the szec- | (ond of vour editorfals in which Traffic | | Director van Duzer blames the motor- | ing public for the delay in titling auto- ! mobiles. I am going to relate to you | {my experience in trying to get my car |titled. I bought & new car April 27, 11931, I had this car titled in Mar: land. On July 20, 1931, my application for title, accompanied by Maryland {title, was taken by my wife to the De- | partment of Vehicles and Traffic and | accepted. She has a witness to prove this. After waiting until September I {ried to find out why my car was not being titled. To #ll of my inquiries they would say, “Don't worry, you will get vour title in a few days." After four unsuccessful sttempts I finally found out that they didn't know, and didn't have any record of my application ever being filed. They do not keep a record of applications. Can you imagine this? Handling important records so care- lessly. What do they care? If I don't get my title I'am the only one ‘who will suffer. They have ‘misplaced, lost or destroyed my application. with val- uable records end 1 have no recou:se. Now they tell me to file a new appli- cation after meking ~me _wait three months. Now you can judge for your- self whether the delay is all caused by the public. H. M. KAISER. R To the Glory Of the British Navy Prom the Toronto Daily Star. Early in June the British submarine Poseidon collided with a Japanese| merchant vessel in Chinese waters near | Weihaiwei. The Poseidon was new, and, for that type of boat, of considerable size. Nevertheless the thock sent her to_the bottom. Fortunately many of the crew had just come on deck, and these jumped overboard to safety. But 24 went down with the ship; went down with it to its resting- place in 120 feet of water.| What happened to the majority of | these men, in what way they met their end, and with what suddenness or what | fortitude they died, will never now be known, for the Poseidon has sunk deeper and deeper into the ocean slime. | But the story of six of them has been told. It has been told to the British| House of Commons by the first lord | of ‘the admiralty, and it will ring; around the world as other storie§ of the{ sea and of British courage have done these many years. It is & story of men who were literal ly buried alive.' There is probably no more horrifying thought than the thought of keing buried thus, and burial under water is as terrible in its l.n“x‘]. cations as burial under earth. happened was that in an attempt to save the ship, six men in the fore com- partment closed the door upon them- selves, only to find that it was all in| vain, and/that the vessel was sinking hy the bow. T! - lights went out. The men koelt in i ayer. It seemed that the end had ccme. */* * After being for over two -hours in their living tomb, the water reached their knees, the hatch was opened, and two of the men shot upward to the sur- face. Then the door closed again on the others. The water within had to be allowed to rise higher. It rose to their necks. ‘At last, after another hour of agonized waiting, Willis and his three remaining comrades managed to open their upward the hatch and start on journey. Of the six men -who thus escaped, five survived. One of the first to make the exit died before reaching the sur- face, but his companion, brave to the end, risked his own life by supporting the dead man in the water until a boal picked them up. It fs a story of un- selfish courage and sustained self-con- trol which ranks with the best that the British navy has given to the world. Yet if any one had met these men, had met them just before the emergency tested them as it is given to few men to be tested, he would probably have found them no different from the men ho are met with everywhere and every with no particular mark of cour- age upon them for the eye to see or even for the mind to sense. The fact is that there are potential heroes all about us—heroes who require only some. crisis to bring their qualities into the light of day. on—s Ganna Is Soloist. From the Omaha World-Herald. In brief, Harold F. McCormick charged that Ganna was a soloist, and not good in a duet. gt et SO . ' Sign of Mild Winter. From the Toledo Blade. No matter how thick the cornhusks, if Gandhi is coming to the United %mumuu-mu-ma T, ERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ~ ANSW Pew Americans realize how. much| R ‘Why 85 &4 their ,Government dves . for . then.|system consfdered - Readers of The Washington Star ean | style?—T. R draw on all Government activitiés| -A. Three- advantages are claimed through our free information service. for the trackless trolley. Fimt, con- The world's greatest libraries, labora- | struction costs are only about a tenth tories and experimental stations are at | of that of a track system: second, the their command. Ask any question of cost of operation is less than that ef fact and it will be answered, free, by | the standard car or gasoline bus, and mail direct to you. Inclose 2-cent third, the trackless trolley can pull up kiess trolley ear than the old stamp for reply postage and address the Washington Star Information Bu- reau, FPrederic J. Haskin, Director, ‘Washington, D. . Has a world series ever had a no-hit-ro-run game?—E. I A. It has not. Q. By what authority can the Presi- dent of the United States call an extra session of Congress?—T. C. A. The Constitution provides for this. Article 11, section 3, says: “* * * he may, on extraordinary occasions, con- vene Houses, or either of them. * ¢ What is meant by a killer in re- ]-nqnn l‘o”',sllmp Cancellation?—E. W. B. A. 14 is the name applied to & for- mer hand stamp used to cancel stamps which made some kind of & dot or black mark on the stamp. Q. What school has the F. C. Austin endowment?—W. B. A. Northwestern University. Fred- erick C. Austin was born at Skaneateles, N. Y., June 2, 1853. He was the orig- inator of the first all-steel reversible blade road machine. He is a financier and donor of $3,000,000 to the F. C. Austin Building of Northwestern Uni- versity as an endowment for the train- ing of special students as business executives. Q. What atr pressure is there on a | human being?—C. D. A. The air pressure at ea level is 15 pounds to the kquare inch. A man of average size, living at sea level is exposed to & total pressure of about 34,000 pounds, or more than 15 tons Q. How long have political speakers been “heckled”?—S. D. F. A. The practice speakers with pertinent or impertinent questions probably has been going on since the first political speech, and the | date of that is not of record. The word | “heckle” was first used in that connec- tion, 1t is believed, in the London pub- lication Punch, in 1880. Q. How much perfume is imported into this country>—H. B A. Imports of perfumery, bay rum and toilet water in 1929 amounted to $1,503,000. Imports of perfume ma- terfals amounted to $3,206.000. . @ 1Is the Great Wall of China kept in repair?—N. M. I A. It has never yet been completely surveyed. Up to the l4tn century. it was kept in fair repair. but since 1644 and the accession of the Manchu, 5 wall has been allowed to fall into dec: except in parts used as protection of customs. It was cut through a few years ago near Kalzan to admit the | ralway from Peiping Q. What was the Bonnie Blue Flag? -V. C. Al Tt was a flag of the South. Tt had & white field with & magnolia tree in the center, a blue canton cn which was depicted a star. and finished with a red border and fringe. It is said that the display of this flag in the hall on the night the vote on the secession ordinance was taken in Mississippi inspired Harry McCarthy, an Irish comedian, to write the song of tae same name 50 | of interrupting | to the curb for passengers | around other traffi | Q. How many members of the Eagl Order are there?—K. C. i A. The Fraternal Order of le: has about 600,000 mempere, 1 To5" Q. Where was the grand opera built?—C. A A._In Venice in 1637. It was named the Teatro di San Cassaino, and can go first theater for . N, Q. How many buildings wers de- :;z.rm'-d in the famous Chicago fire?- . Seventeen thousand f n- dred thirty. g Q. How much electric ecurrent doe: llf lAakg to kill the average person A. It usually takes a tenth of an | ampere through the vital organs to | Kill a man, but under some conditions A current only one-quarter as strong will do so. There is a w tion in the amount of curre necessary to kill for different indivicuals. To electrocute jcriminals 4,000 voits are used. If the skin is wet. a much lower voltage may have this effect. Many cases are known in which 110 volts applied to the wet skin, so as to produce a current through the vital organs, have caused death. Q. If a widow is drawing a pension will it be stopped if she remarries?— wil gt | Dppe Temarries? A. The Pension Office savs that re- marriage of a widow bars her from a pension on account of her former husband's service. It does not depriv minor children or invalid children from receiving the pension on account of their father’s service. Q. How many black walnuts, hulled are there in a bushel?—P. F. A. | A. About 1,200, | Q Why was the body of Admiral Dewey removed from Arlington to Mount | St. Alban’s Cathedral’>—M. D. | _A. ‘The Nation desired to pay to Ad- | miral Dewey a tribute of gratitude and | honor. The Cathedral at St. Albans is | designed to be the repository of the Nation's great dead. similar to West- minster Abbey in England. |, Q. Please explain the difference be- | tween Persian lamb and caracul—N. D. | A. Persian lamb is the commercial | name of the skin from young sheep of a | variety whose native habitat is Bokhara Afghanistan and Persia. Persian lamb is nearly always black, though occa- sionally a_gray or dark brown skin ap- pears. . The best Persian lamb from Bokhara is silky and.very tight in curl Caracul (aiso spelled karakul) and astrakhan are two names for the same fur. This is taken from another type of sheep which inhabits the region in Central Asia around Tashkent, and |also farther east-in China and Mon- golia. Tashkent caraculs have the | highest luster and the finest moire | markings. The color varies from brown | black, brown and black, to brown and white and white Q. Why is rice showered on newly married couples?—J. P. A. The custom comes from India rice being with the Hindus an emblem of fecundity. Navy Brudget Cuts Ex“p‘ectt;d To Produce Congress Fight President Hoover's policy of economy | it now is. and where it is fast heading. in Government expenditures is com- | this country will not be able to bring mended by the country, but the budget | the best influence to bear on the other of the Navy Department, as prepared by | nations at the parlev. The United Secretary Adamsin response to the Ex- | States has woefully fallen down on th ccutive’s statement of "his progragn..is i program to_place SAd keep the Nav received with varyiog opinions. is Lat the figure agreed fUpon at the Lon- declared that the .reductions propesed don Conference, “an “:uw this latest will be likely to produce debate in Con={move will do more that ever to under- gress. The assumption that certain mme what-little in@usnce this coun- naval stations will be affected is ac- | try to bring “about true disarma- companied by predictions of protests ment. o 5 because of local conditions. | _“The full force of public opinion " The reduction is disfussed by the thinks the Providence Journal. “should Oakland Tribune in the light of the| be mustered for the support of Pres: comins conference at Geneva, and that dent Hoover's fresh drive for economy. paper suggests that “when the United That paper, however, holds that “it is States, with a program for 1833 of regrettable that the Navy Department $340,000,000, announces it will withhold | was selected,” and that “probably no plans for spending $61,000.000 in addi- "Federal department -can make a tion. and does so with the conference in mind, it cannot be accused of scut- tling the Navy.” The Tribune adds that “less than one-sixth of a contemplated program for two'years hence is being held back until there {s a world expres- f intention.” stronger appeal to public sentiment against any program that curtails its activities than can the naval establish- ment.” * oo ox In view of rumors affecting the navy sion o vards at Boston and Charleston, S. C.. “The big Navy group, of course, pro- the Worcester Telegram finds cause tests,” says the Buffalo Evening News. for predicting vigorous controversies “but the weight of public opinion It declares: “About 1,600 men are em- strongly_approves this measure of econ- ploved at Boston, it is estimated. In v.” The Evening News believes that these days, when every city is so jeal- nited States, as the richest coun- ously guarding its pay T it is un- that the lopping off of so many the list of emploved will go un- ent's program, which calls for | challenged. Then, too, Boston will a slack-ning of pace in armament con- | want to know why New York is more struction.” The Louisville Courier- | important, even as a base. And Char- Journal, observing that “flush times are jeston may ask why Portsmouth should over” and “extravagance is a thing of be kept in preference to the Carolina the past,” advises, “The present calls yard. In th days, a navy vard is for readjustment. Whether or not Eng- no mean assst to a city. The alarm land has a larger navy than the United which Boston and Charleston will ex- States is not the question. The Gov- | press now—as they have in the past— ernment must be put on a business at the prospect of losing such assets basis, and. this can be done onl ¥ | will be genuine and highly articulate. strict economy or crushing taxation. The subject is bound to be something F s &% more than a military issue. Politics Pointing out that the reduced naval has protected navy yards before; it budget “is at present but tentative”; | undoubtedly will be invoked to their that it is to be considered “under the protection again. law of necessity,” and that “the cuts | “The Charleston yard.” comments the are justified only as enforced econom: Charleston Evening Post, “is the only Philgdelphia Evening Bulletin | first-class naval station on the whole states: “It is possible that.some of |coast line of the United States from these cuts may not be enforced when | the Virginia capes to the mouth of the the budget finally shall’ be made up.|Rio Grande. It ought to be one of the But this. naval program of necessity last navy yards either abandoned or is an instructive exhibit to put before | its activity reduced. That. no doubt, is the people at this time, to impress on about what Sehator Byrnes told the the public mind what need and ade- Secretary of the Navy when.he talked quate economy mean.” | with him about the Charleston navy Holding that the national defense vyard.” must be considered, the South Bend| “To keep in operation more yards Tribune argues: “If the United States and stations than are necessary had been strengthening its permanent | the opinion of the Roanoke Time: s defenses in the 15 or 20 years, the an unjustifiable waste. Political angles people who believe they have practical | should not be allowed to prevail in ma- grounds for opposition to expansion in | tional councils when it comes to a the next 15 or 20 years would be in a | matter of saving and waste, although stronger position. Instead, pacifism, |they do all too frequently. If closing carelessness and short memory have of some of these stations is recom- kept. American defenses far short of | mended they ought to be shut down adequacy. * * * World economic lead- | over any protests of vote-seeking Con- ership has come to the United States, | gressmen. i and that increases American defense obligations.” The Danbury Evening News contends: “Whatever we do, it is certain we should not further cut down our Navy. You cannot improvise a navy. You cannot make a compe- tent sallor within a few hours. The only sure way to take adequate care of our shores is to maintain an e cient, alert, ably-manned Navy. | ‘Warning as to the cost of unpre- paredness is given by the San Antonio Express, with the statement: “The United States should not allow its Navy again to become an array of anti- quated vessels. Its position as the wealthiest nation demands that it keep abreast of the times in warship con- struction, as in naval and military aviation, ordnance and general equip- ment for ground troops. There is no omy. “the U try in the world, has opportunity to ' likely set the world an example by adopting from the Pre ) A Name Maker. From the Chariotte (N. C) News George Mortimer Pullman was »arn 100 years ago. Mr. Pullman was known | for his invention of the sleeping ear and for his outstanding contribution v | nomepclature. e Postponed. From the Toledo Blade. Now comes a prophet to declare the world will not come to an end until 1988. So Wilbur Glenn Voliva, too, bas lbeehm beating the gun across the starting .- Akron’s Coming Out Party. danger that the United States will pile up great armaments which would menace any other powe It always has been unaggressive, and every war in which it has engaged has found it unprepared - for immediate action. Those costly more than a century — should about a consistent n: program be_effectuated steadily. ‘The possible effect on the scheduled conference is considered by the New London Day, and that paper voices the inion: “With the naval situation in Et United States at the point where bring to experiences — covering | Prom the Charlotte News. The Akron has left its hangar to make its debut in the air. This is con- fidently expected to break all previous {lecm'd‘ for the cost of coming-out par- les. r——— Something Like Suicide. From the Plorence (Ala.) Herald. A motor cycle exploded and did no ?fi?"&:{"‘" hu:“wnek itself. Per- us more losions like that. b LY