Evening Star Newspaper, November 8, 1931, Page 32

1 . N OVEMBER 8, 1931—PART TWO. THE EVENING STAR With Sundsy Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. November 8, 1931 THEODORE W. NOYES. Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 11t e, DSiDgS Office 8t. id Pennsylvania Ave. New ok Offce: 110 East iand Bt Chicago : Lake Michigan Bull epent' B, Lo Ensian Flishen Ofice Rate by Carrier Within the City. .. .45¢ per month 60¢ per month 68¢ per month . Sc_per copy the end of each mont) in by mail or teleohone Ev (when 5 Bundays) Sunday Star jection made at Sl o0n ™ Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Bily sap svneercdan A e e junday only . I1yr. $4.00: 1 mo.. 40c All Other States and Canada. 1. 81200: 1mo. ¥ 1500 1 m: .00; 1 mo.. 1 & Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclysively entitied i iz Biication of all - Facehen eredtied To 1t oF mo: otherwise cred- TM in this paper .le tllo the local ll.l'i Slished heretn. - ALl riehts of publication of Eoecistdispatches Rorels are siso 1eserved. ‘What Christmas Buying Means. Christmas giving this year takes on 2 new significance that already has been recognized by the National Retail Dry Goods Assoclation in fostering a Nation-wide campaign on the part of producers and distributors to stimulate ) buying. A successful campaign, it 1s pointed out, would increase the normal five-billion-dollar trade that falls within the four weeks before Christmas by no work a white man can do for sup- port between ships.” Again this cau- tion is given regarding Tsingtao, China: “Alcoholic drinks are likely to be of dangerous quality here; safest beverage is beer, where bottle is opened in pres- enc of drinker.” “Seamen should not accept occupation on shore” at Yoko- hama, warns the handbook, “without advice of consul; this applies particu- larly to offers of employment with box- ing or wrestling concerns.” Much ma- terial is packed into the small compass of this handy volume, which might profitably be used, indeed, by others than sailors for their efficient guidance. A point of interest about this work is that its scope, dictated by knowledge of the needs of American sailors on going ashore, reveals the extent to which the Stars and Stripes is now borne about the world. —_————————— Russia Feels the Pinch. In the news columns of The Star two weeks ago categorical hints were given that the fomenters of the Russian Sov- jet economic system, founded on the Communistic theory of domestic all- sufficiency, were at last beginning to discover that in this interlocking uni- verse no nation can go it quite alone. German authorities, who are in close touch with business developments in Russia, had heard that the Soviet was considering the ignominioys recourse of having to ask hated “capitalism” abroad for an extension of some of its heavy obligations. Due to the suspension of the gold standard in Great Britain, where Rus- sia has its most favorable trade bal- ance, and to the general shrinkage in commodity prices all over the world, more than a billion dollars, and this business would, in turn, demand the employment of some six hundred thou- sand additional store employes and heavy replacements of stocks for im- mediate or future needs, not to men- tion the increased employment oppor- tunities in freight, mail and express services. It is a worthwhile objective. A successful season by a store or any other large enterprise does not mean the mere increase of profits to manage- ment or ownership. ' It plays an im- mensely important part in the welfare and comfort of hundreds of men and women whose livelihood depends upon regular employment. The National Retail Dry Goods Asso- clation recognizes at the outset that Christmas buying must share the stage with the demand for relief of the suf- fering. There is no Teason why there ghould be a conflict between the two appeals. It is s duty to give willingly and generously to the rellef of the needy through the organizations that have been established for that purpose. It is an economic necessity, at the same time, that healthy trade and commerce be maintained and that advantage be taken of the Christmas season, with its gift-exchange custom, to inject a stim- ulant that may close up the narrow margin between “hard times” and “good times.” ©One of the interesting indications of the potential purchasing power that lies 4n the hands of the consuming public now is the impressive showing made by the annual statements of the Christmas savings sceounts. In Chi- cago the Assoclation of Mutus! Savings Banks estimates an increase in Christ- mas savings of more than a million dollars—and this organization, of course, speaks for a relatively small proportion of the savings banks of the Nation. _Here in Washington it is estimated that Wi have “subscribed” a tofal of $8,484,410 to Christmas savings clubs this year, as against $7,835,350 last year—a gain of more than $600,000. ‘The club members have increased more than six thousand over last year's en- yollment of some ninety-two thousand. “The average deposit per member for the the Red czars at Moscow are faced witn the iron realization that their Utopian scheme of finance is all right as far as it reaches, but that it does not reach quite far enough when it comes in con- tact with disorganized and abnormal economic conditions abroad. Now comes graphic confirmation of the indications that the Communist ex- periment 1is slowly approaching & financial crisis. American business con- cerns that have ventured dealings with the Soviet government are being warned by the Department of Commerce, in effect, to require cash or equivalent in goods as collateral for sales to Russia. The deduction drawn from this signifi- cant admenition is that the Communists may presently be required to modify the basis on which they planned to pile up a trade balance convertible into gold exchange for purchsse of raw ma- terials and machinery required to com- plete the Five-Year Plan. As Russia is buying vastly more in this country than she is selling to us— her $10,500,000 purchases in September <t this year having been more than double her purchases in September, 1930, against only $1,500,000 of exports to the United States in September, 1931—her most unfavorable trade bal- ance is here. To alter such balances as far 2s possible in Russia’s favor the Soviet has pursued a wholesale policy of dumping goods, regardless of pro- duction costs. The result has been the unsettling of many world markets, in- cluding notably American wheat ex- changes. The iron factors in the inter- national situation now compel the Com- munists to ccnsider the abandonment of the dumping system and the bringing of Soviet practice more into consonance with those economic methods which Stalin and his comrades profess to hold in such withering contempt. So despite Bolshevist economic theories and gloatings, Soviet Russia is feeling the pinch of depression which has struck the despised capitalistic uni- verse. Events are showing, to the Communists’ undoubted chagrin, that the Pive-Year Plan is to a wholly un- expected degree dependent on the out- side and non-Communist world. Mos- cow is reluctantly awakening to the Christmas clubs this year is $86, as|fact that capitalist-made trade laws are pgainst last year'’s $84—a mos: favor-|not so inherently unsound as Bolshe- able comparison, by the way, with the| visim preaches. average deposit per member for ihe| This is what Leon Trotsky always in- country at large, which is $52.60. sisted would be the case when he op- ‘These figures are mere additional evi- | posed Stalin on this issue. Trotsky ‘dence of the recognized facts concern- | said: “You can't build Sovietism in one ing the enormous funds that now lie| country alone. You can ‘plan’ all you in savings deposits. The release of & | please within Russia, but it will lead ‘healthy portion of such funds depends| to nothing if you have to plan in a upon a return of the confidence that even now is manifesting itself. To the normal amount of pleasure and satisfaction that goes into the vurchase of gifts for others at Christmas time there can be added, this yeay, the knowledge that every additional dollar spent means that much more toward restoration of normal business and all that normal business implies in the everyday life and welfare of the Nation. e Having revived the monetary ratio of silver as a subject of discussion, economists of days gone by may study the hopes of the grain market with expectation that dollar wheat will again assert itself as a standard of value. o When Jack Goes Ashore. Seamen who leave their ships at strange ports or sometimes at familiar ones often suffer from their inexperi- ence with the customs of these places of “visitation. They have difficulty in finding their way about. They are the vietims of sharpers and charlatans. They are bled by false guides. Some- times they overstay their shore leave and are stranded. If they become {ll they are at a loss to find succor. If out of funds they suffer seriously from need. To guide them whenever they cross the gangplank, to keep them out of trouble of all kinds and to make their time ashore as interesting and pofitable as possible a little guidebook has been compiled by Mrs. Henry Howard, who is the president of the American Merchant Ma~ine Library Association, a book that deserves wide attention and faithful use. This, the fourth edition of the “Seamen’s Hand- book for Shore Leave,” has just ap- peared, bringing all the data up to the latest possible point of completeness and sccuracy. It gives a list of the hotels at several hundred ports, Amer- ican and foreign; it contains informs- tion about seamen's institutes and ' homes and about banks and seamen's agencies, unions, legal aid, pnysicians, hospitals, clinics, amusements. briefly notes the points of interest and possible excursions within the scope of the sallor's opportunity. stances it offers advice, such as the fol- lowing in respect to Nagasaki, Japan, hostile capitalistic environment. You ‘must have at least one other highly in- dustrialized country within the Soviet system if you are going to build Sovietism on a lasting economic basis.” It was from this premise that Trotsky came out for his doctrine of “perma- nent revolution,” carried from one. country to another, as essential to any enduring program of building Bolshe- vism and the accomplishment of "world revolution,” R It is in legal expression that Mabel Willebrandt's literary talent asserts itself. The old custom which encour- aged distinguished woman to sponsor cook books is not for her. Some of her recipes are too highly seasoned to give universal satisfaction. i W G It is not remarkable that the French people should acclaim M. Laval, He could hardly be expected to report his results in terms calculated to arouse the indignation of his constituents. e Enlarging on discussion shows little prospect of exerting influence that will increase the size of the Navy, ey Germany’'s Economic Stress. Now that French Premier Laval is back in Paris after his momentous con- versations in Washington, events seem likely to move rapidly toward that re- adjustment of reparations and war debts for which the way has been paved. Within a few hours after his return to the Quai d'Orsay last week, M. Laval was in consultation with Herr von Hoesch, the German Ambassador to France, and explained to him the brosd outlines of the Washington srrange- Government in the realization of that aspiration. On November 5 Chancellor Bruening, addressing the executive board of his own Centrist party, declared that “it is now necessary to open fully the books of German economy to the world.” The Reich is required to do that when it comes, cap in hand, asking for further favors in the form of more time to pay reparations. That Germany will avail herself of that privilege, which 1is vouchsafed her by the Young plan at | least as far as conditional reparations are concerned, is hardly in doubt. It 15, at all events, very considerably less in doubt than the American end of the bargain into which President Hoover entered with Premier Laval, whereby the administration will ask Congress to remit war debts owed us by Europe in proportion to such remissions as Ger- | good many secures from her European creditors. The White House can pro- pose action zlong these lines to Con- gress and has pledged itself to do so. Congress will dispose and, according to various straws, may strenuously oppose the procedure outlined to Premier Laval. Chancellor Bruening says that an ultimate bearable solution of the repa- ration and debt problem is required. He foreshadows that 1932, even without reparation payments, will be the worst for both federal and state finances in Germany, though he indicates that the Reich is now on the right road to eco- nomic recovery and will continue to travel it if Germans return to sound pre-war business principles. The Ber- lin government has set its face like flint | against any experiments of an infla- tionary nature, realizing that such re- courses would only postpone the process of re-establishing Germany's interna- tional credit. The fundamentals of business in the Fatherland are sound. German export during the Hoover moratorium year has boomed along and resulted in favorable trade balances in various parts of the world, including Great Britain. The country’s greatest commercial concerns, despite intensive foreign competition, have weathered the struggle. “The knife of the surgeon,” says Chancellor Bruen- ing, “will be radically applied to the public household and private business, to eliminate the sores that remain.” If the German people, he adds, “don’t lose their heads and give up,” the Reich should be able, with the amelioration in sight under the Young plan, to emerge, if painfully and with long continuing sacrifice, from the economic gloom presently encircling it. vt Broadeasting will enable auditors to enjoy Metropolitan Opera performances without arousing any inquisitiveness as to whether or mot they are wearing diamonds. ——r——t Even men in the Capitol inclined to defer tc the President’s desire for a cessation of partisan politics will in some cases find it hard to depart from the habits of a lifetime. e Texas is showing a tendency to re- vert to the old days when the only politics it would have anything to do with was strictly Democratic. —————————— Having tried the great capitals of Europe, Mayor Jimmy Walker is evi- dently convinced that the place for a man to enjoy himself is New York City. —ee—e SHOOTING STARS. ¥ BY PHILANDER JOHNSOR. Thankfulness. Thanksgiving day is on the way With simple quietude And not a thought that brings dismay Permitted to intrude. The busy brain will not complain Of tasks it's due to find. Even the statesman may attain A tranquil state of mind. For once we'll see all men agree Completely, come what may, Since earnest gratitude must be The business of the day. Though doubts abound and threats re- sound, Our faith cannot grow less. There's always something to be found To claim our thankfulness. Initiative Not Required. “It is always a mistake to start a quarrel,” remarked the.¢autious friend. “You don't have to start quarrels answered Senator Sorghum, “You ean always find one ready made whenever you feel like mixing in.” Jud Tunkins says he has quit readin’ the paper while he eats. The tears he sheds over the bad news is liable to make the coffee taste as if it had salt in it. Inevitable Smash. Although I humbly trudge my way And keep on walking a 'a Jay, Quite happy to be safe and sane Because I shun the aeroplane, All unexpectedly I find I am obliged to change my mind. A motor car gets in the game And I must erack up just the same. No Moonshine. “Any moonshiners around Crimson Guleh?" “No,” answered Cactus Joe. “There's no use foolin’ with the licker racket unless you have paid for enough pro- tection so that you can work in broad daylight.” “Flattery, said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “does not deceive one ac- customed to it. Instead of being a sign of admiration, it is only an evi- dence of fear.” Aboriginality. Mythology has faded out. As classic music, we recall, The banjo sound with rhythm stout. The Orphean lyre hangs on the wall. ment. For Berlin the basic feature of it is that the Germans must buckle down, no matter how reluctantly, to redogni- tion of the fact that the Young plan is the framework within which they must seek relief from the burdens therein undertaken. The fact has not been emphasized, either here or abroad, but perhaps the outstanding result of the It | Laval-Hoover conference was the tacit acknowledgment by the United States that this country, too, looks upon the In some in-|Young plan as the ironbound economic law of Wurope. Germany, because she considers it an onerous and unjust law, for example: “Seamen should take care | would revise it, if she cannot repudiate o a ing left here or in other put- ports it. But it does not look as if she ean The Pipes of Pan of yore so sweet To Tinpan Alley are unknown. Their notes no dreamer hopes to meet, For now we have the saxophone. “I knows a kind-hearted gamblin’ man,” sald Uncle Eben, “dat would lend you his last dollar if he could ever hold on to it long enough.’ e An Ideal Place. From the Port Wayne News-Sentinel. A hay fever epidemic in Eastern Asia 1s said to be centered around Kwan- chantze. It seems an ideal place for it. En———— Easily Misled. Orient; there is absolygely expect any support from the American are essily misled by An Armistice Day Suggestion BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FRLEMAN, D. D, LL. D, Bishop of Washinzon. We are entering Armistice week. Thirteen years ago on November 11 at 11 o'clock on a long battle front the guns were siienced and the long, titanic struggle was brought to its climax. The | silencing of the guns was designed to Testore order and peace to a war-torn | world. For 13 years now nations have been struggling out of the wreck and ruin and endeavoring to establish them. selves upon newer and firmer founda- tions. dce treaties and pacts have been growing in number. A League of Nations has been set up at Geneva and more than ever before in human history statesmen and diplomats are effecting new and better terms of comity and will. There are signs on the horizon, in spite of all that is said to the contrary, that the new machinery is effecting better relations and serving jarger ends than secret diplomacy ylelded through the preceding genera- tions. The very fact that the world, through modern agencies and mech: nisms, has been so compacted that inte) course can be had without respect of space makes more urgent and necessary an understanding sympathy and good will as between nation and nation. An jdeal situation has not as yet been Yeached, but the drift is in the right direction. Proud jsolation is no longer {uflble and it may be that we are at he dawn of a new and better age whete the settlement of disputes may be effected without recourse to armed con- flict. While we register all this with grateful hearts, we are conscious of con- ditions in the present world situation that need our most careful and serious consideration and demand our best efforts for their easement and solution. There are shadows that must be dispelled, crooked paths that must be made straight and rough places that must be made smooth. Here within our own borders the President in eloquent words has recently reminded us that there is a responsibility Jald upon us at this time to which we must give serious heed and to which we must respond with generosity. Millions of our people are affected by industrial dislocation with all its accompaniments of enforced idleness and stern privation. We are called upon now, perhaps as never be- fore, to recognize the fact that the ills and burdens of one group must be readily shared by those who are more fortunate. 1In every hamlet and village and city an appeal is being registered for a fresh expression of brotherly kind- ness and good will. It was said of old that “The whole body fitly joined to- | 8% gether and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body.” This is only another way of saying that a building, whether of men or brick and stone, grows in stability and symmetry and orderliness only in so far as each séveral part assumes its ade- quate place and strain. This literally means that nothing is unimportant or inconsequential. Unwillingness to do our bit, whatever that bit may be, and to do it gladly and readily, affects the whole structure of soclety. It is only in times of that we come to real- ize that “no man liveth to himself,” and that the maintenance of an ordered and orderly world is conditioned by the willingness of every individual to con- tribute to the weal and happiness of | C° his fellows. Of late we have grown a bit insular and have recognized too widely the old fallacious dictum, “Every man for him- self.” It is only as we lend our aid and support according to our means and opportunity that we shall effect better and more wholesome conditions. It is conceded that we have both the genius and the resources in this country to rectify the situation that now confronts us, it is largely a question whether we have the will and the courage to do s0. It must be clearly evident to all Christian men and women that the opportunity is at hand to give practical demonstration of the value of that which they profess to believe. Congress Un]ikely to Be ‘World-Minded’ In Himdling Difficult BY WILLIAM HARD. International naval holidays and peace moves in Manchuria and inter- governmental debt moratoriums and lack of Federal money for public works for the employment of the unemployed are topics which now seem likely to tie themselves all up together into one big endless snarl as soon as the Con- gress reconvenes. The politicians on Capitol Hill are getting back here generally in an ex- tremely anti-foreign state of mind. They have been among the voters, and most of them report that the voters have turned very sour on foreign ad- ventures. Thus the makings become apparent of a cleavage and a conflict precisely of the sort that tore the coun- try into violent factions under Wood- row Wilson in 1919 and 1920. * K ok K ‘The White House, now as then, is deeply impressed by the international- istic petitions of organized church groups and of associations dedicated to a specialized interest in world peace. In 1919 and 1920 these petitions were for the League of Nations. Now they are for reductiongof intergovernmental debts and for extensions of naval holi- days and for efforts to impose the ob- ligations of the Kellogg-Briand peace pact upon the nations of the Orient. Now, as then, the White House gains its knowledge of public sentiment largely through manifestations brought to it in print or in person by bodies of con- scientious and convinced and convincing enthusiasts. They constitute the only organized public sentiment in the United States regarding foreign affairs. The White House hears from them co: tinuously. They are ‘“worid-minded,” and the White House tends, under bombardment from them. to think the | country “world-minded.” It was so| under Woodrow Wilson and it is so | under Herbert Hoover. * K K K Members of the Congress, on the other hand, instead of residing continuously in Wuhmmn.(rn back home and en- counter a great deal of unorganized and unilluminated public sentiment. The White House hears from “the leaders of thought.” Members of the Congress talk with voters who attend no dem- onstrations, sign no manifestoes, con- vey no petitions to Washington and | have no appointments with the Presi- dent to inform him of their views. Thereupon members of the Congress, now as in 1919 and 1920, get back to| Washington with an estimate of the public mind that varies greatly from the President's estimate of it. Putting the present variance roughly, one might say that it stands as follows: The White House inclines to think that a great and grand role by the United States in Europe and in Asia will be backed by the people. The Co gress is due to incline to think that sue a role by the United States will ultimate- 1y be repudiated by the people. * % x x It is at this point that the Navy League has a certain sympathy from Congressmen who are opposed to a large Navy. They think that our at- titude toward Japanese activity in Manchuria is preposterous in view of our apparent naval willingness to con- cede to the Japanese a complete dom- inance of Oriental waters. The Navy League has wholly falled to prove that President Hoover and Prime Minister MacDonald on the Rap- idan River entered into a secret which they have not divulged. How the Navy League ever expected to prove the ex- istence of a plot of which the existence Wwas never confided to anybody remains a mystery even to the most hardened of Washington journalists. The Navy League has also wholly failed to prove several other allegations of a more or less political variety. PR Nevertheless its statistics regarding the American and Japanese fleets have been shown to be essentially in strict accordance with official governmental figures. The trick in the compilation of those figures is in the admission or omission of ‘“overage” vessels. The Navy League omits them. It justifies itself by remarking that the Londecn naval limitation treaty of last year re- gards such vessels as obsolete and un- serviceable and allows for their replace- ment. The Navy League then calculates the present tonnages of the United States and of Japan in “underage” serv- iceable aircraft carriers, cruisers, de- stroyers and submarines. For the United States the total combined tonnage of those classes of ships, built and build- ing, is now 456,050. For Japan it is 455985, Thus Japan in those classes stands to us now in the ratio not of 7 to 10, but of approximately 10 to 10. % k¥ The Navy League then calculates the consequences for the United States and for Japan of the one-year naval-build- ing holiday which presumably goes into effect this month. During that year, according to the league, our tonnage be- coming “overage” in the classes men- tioned will be 64,470. The Japanese tonnage simultaneously becoming “over- age” will be only 14,884. This is be- cause of the relative youth of the Japa- nese ships and the relative senility of ours, At the end, then, of the holiday year the tonnages of the two fleets in all the American Problems ti\e Philippines modernistic and effec- tive. * ok % % In these circumstances many of the most pro-peace and anti-Navy Con- gressmen are dubious of the value of having our Government get stern and mandatory with the Japanese govern- ment regarding the transport of troops from Japan to Manchuria. Such Congressmen have taken the relative shrinkage of our naval power in the Far East as a token of our com- ing abstention from political interven- tion in that region of the world. They Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. ington is known the world over as a city which pays unequaled tribute to the Nation's heroes in bronze. Public squares are adorned by statues, many of them equestrian, of great sol- diers. Nearest to the Capitol is the monster Grant Memorial situated in the old Botanic Garden, but which will soon have an elaborate setting facing the new Unién Square and a vista down the Mall to Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. Close by, look- ing down Maryland avenue is the Gar- field statue, erected with $25,000 raised by the Army of the Cumberland, with a contribution of $30,000 made by Con- ess. It was unveiled May 12, 1887. At the foot of the Capitol Hill, on Pennsylvania avenue, where the great parades begin, and facing west toward the White House, is what is known as ths “Peace Monument.” It was erected with contributions made by soldiers and sailors of the United States and some civilians, aided by an appropriation &y Congress. The sculpture work was dore in Rome by Franklin Simmons, of Car- rara marble. It was unveiled without ceremonies in 1877. In the square at Connecticut avenue and I street stands the statue of Ad- miral Farragut. It is of bronze and fashioned from the propeller of the old Hartford, Admiral Farragut's flag ship. It was designed by Mrs. Vinnle Ream Hoxie and was cast at the Wash- unveiled April 25, 1881, with a great military and naval display. In the square at the intersection of Vermont avenue and th street is the ufiut.run statue of Gen. James B. McPherson. The money for the statue itself was contributed by the Army of the Tennessee, while Congress appropriated for the pedestal. The statue was unvelled during the tenth annual reunion of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, on October 18, 1876. The late Gen. John A. Logan was orator of the occasion, Gen. Thomas, hero of Chickamauga, is remembered with an equestrian statue of bronze ‘in the circle at the inter- section of Massachusetts avenue, Vers mont avenue and Fourteenth street. This statue cost $40,000 and was erect- ed by the Army of the Cumberland. It was modeled by J. Q. A. Ward. There was an impressive military demonstra- tion on the day it was unveiled, No- vember 19, 1879. Stanley Matthews delivered the oration. At the intersection of Connecticut avenue, Massachusetts avenue and Nineteenth street was erected the bronze figure of Rear Admiral Franc Dupont, unveiled December 20, 1884. It was designed by Launt Thompson of Philadelphia, and with its pedestal cost $19,800, appropriated by Congress. Senator Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware delivered the oration. The gallant Gen. John A. Rawlins, Grant's chief of staff and secretary dur- ing the campaign that ended at Appo- mattox, and who was serving as Secretary of War when he died in 1869, is com- memoriated in bronze with a figure 8 feet high representing this great soldier in move more and more now toward de- claring: “We've got out of there with the Navy. Let's get out of there with the State Department.” This resurgence of “isolationism” among ordinary Capitol Hill politicians shows equally regarding the affairs of Europe. They note, with the help of the Navy League, that Prance at this moment has more naval tonnage building than any other country anywhere has. Tonnage building for the United States is 87,600. Tonnage building for France is 104,804. Included in that French tonnage are 41‘ new submarines. ey A fact which particularly strikes the pocketbook nerve of the Federal legis- lators is that the new French cruisers and destroyers and submarines began emerging from the French dockyards immediately after the conclusion of the treaty, whereby the French debt to the United States was reduced more than 50 pes‘cent and whereby the an- nual interest on the residue was cut down to less than 2 per cent. Capitol Hill now understands that it has been tentatively agreed between the State Department and the French for- eign office that there will probably be a further downward adjustment of the French debt in case there is a dqwn- ward adjustment of German repara- tions. It is possible that such a pro- posal might have been readily accepted by the Congress in the midst of the burst of world panic excitement last June. Today it must be realistically re- corded that no such proposal has the slightest chance of going through the Congress unless it is coupled with dras- | tic French armament reduction engage- ments. * K ok ok The outlook, then, for what is com- monly called “beneficent participation” by the United States in world prob- lems is not, if the truth is told, bright. The Congress is going to convene in a | r mood dominantly both anti-fore! and anti-administration. The quxe‘:: Nfin IJDDQHHM:1 in its mind will not “"How can we help the world?” on the contrary, be: e “Why is it that we are so rich we can forgive foreign debts and clo P"::: that we have to add thousands of American Federal employes to the ranks of the unemployed?” That is the question that will pro- duce the bitterest of all fights on Cap- itol Hill next month, (Copyrisht, 1931.) ——— Conference to Help Builders of Homes BY HARDEN COLFAX. Plans of the Government to give small homeowners and prm‘pec‘!’:vfi owners the aid of the country'’s most expert financiers and city planning and construction authorities are taking final shape. TWwo of the committees cf ex- perts who will make up the President's Conferencs: on Home Bullding and Home Owning to meet next month an- nounced today the results of their pre- paratory work for the ccnference, Dividing the country into sections based on climate or other pertinent factors, the Committee on Fundamental Equipment has determined what shall be the costs of the heating, plumbin and local equipment for the typical ‘small home"—assumed to be one rang- ing in cost from $2,000 to $10,000. Al sorts of data have been collected on fl::c e‘?:garlr:etfi and systems for heating g on sanitation, Teftigeration. 3hd” Loaiing’ This committee is under the chairman- :kgll:.h:rcg;{:l. Ctal"n! P. Bliss, dean ge of York University, ik R The problem of securing stability for gxn::‘{?e has gcon dealt wx:x?“b'}y the ce on City Planning an - ing, Feaded by Frecerio A° Delana of New York, director of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the moving spirit in some of the most comprehensive city surveys yet made in this country. In the summary of the report which thisscommittee wiil present at the conference the opinion is expressed that from the human point of view such stabilization will rate melo::u':olrlm;‘nne ‘o;d the tragedies of s g period, which was that neighborhoods became run down and the people who had striven, often at great sacrifice, to pay for homes for thelr old age, found them unsatisfac- tory because surrounded by undesirable conditicns through stability.” gh lack of community * % % % recommendations of the Plan- ning and Zoning C:mmittee cover such non-battleship categories put together will be: Japan—441,101. United States—391,580. Thus Japan will then actually ex- ceed the United States in the fleet cate- ,Mmm %hn dr the‘ quick modernistic of naval warfare. Additionally we are barred by the Washington naval limitation treaty of 1922 from making the fortifications of subjects as the regulati e open spaces, school sites, playgrounds and legislation affecting city planning and zoning. The ccmmittee stron urges stabilization of values throug proper building of individual residences. Since land and buildings used for dwellings constitute volume and value than land mf""’ used for any other purpose in our the the uniform of his rank, standing in the fleld. It was erected in 1874 on the south side of Pennsylvania avenue near Ninth street, where it stood for many years until it was recently removed to make way for the new Archives Build- ing, and has been relocated in a park named in honor of Gen. Rawlins, on the line of New York avenue, between Eighteenth and’ Nineteenth streets. Winfield Scott is memorialized in an equestrian statue erected in the circle at the intersection of Sixteenth and N lme:u, Mullchucmh and Rhode Is- land avenues. ongress appropriated $45,000 for this monument, which was unveiled in 1874. ‘The bronze equestrian statue to the memory of Gen. Winfleld Scott Han. cock at Pennsylvania avenue and Seventh street, was unveiled in May, 1895. ‘Tt cost about $49,000. There was a notable military demonstration when it was unveiled, in' command of Gen. Nelson A. Miles. President Cleveland and Senator, F-lmer of Illinois made speeches. - * o ox % With the hisorical and other value able records ef the United sm:a Gov= ernment about te'be overbauled and restored for proper preservation in the vew Archives Building, which is to be one of the most attractive features of the entire ‘Federal building program, the wretched condition of deterioratior in which many of the Government rece ords are found through lack of proper care in the past has been emphasized, As a result, the United States Bureau of Standards has been making a _special study, and Director George K. Burgess reports that satisfactory progress is be- i Ing made for the preservation of writ- ten and printed records. Thorough tests of the relative per- manence of the current commercial writing and printing papers have been completed. These indicate that there are papers made from both rag and wood fibers which are suitable for any uired degree permanence, pro- vided the papers are stored under fa- vorable conditions. A classification of papers relative’ to the varying degree of permanence required is suggested, the grading being in accordance with their degree of cellulosic and non-cel- lulosic purity. is is apparently the significant factor in respect to deteri- STikety sleo ave'ba ‘ests a ave been made of than 1,000 old publications that ::5: be;m nm’?b l!‘; D:)bll:hllbnr]z! for va- rying per! uring the past 100 years. These tests, like those of the eurrny::p‘ ers, reveal the importance of fiber pur- ity. Papers containing crude fibers, such as ground wood and unbleached fibers, were generally brittle and yellow, while those containing fibers well purified by chemical treatment were generally in gog% eondlt!l':n, . e results of a survey of 33 Iibraries and similar depmlto\{nel &“‘t’l‘:: United States indicate that acid pollu- tion of the atmosphere is the chief ex- ternal deteriorating influence. Sulphur gases from combustion of fuels, hi temperatures, variations in l'.muphe’r‘lg humidity, light and dust are among the principal causes. Laboratory stud- les of these influences have been ini- tiated. [Exposure of papers to an at- mosphere containing sulphur dioxid has shown this gas (which is & product of ordinary combustion) to be a very potent deteriorating agent. Rosin siz- ing materials used in paper manufac- ture were discolored on exposure to light, which is further evidence that they are one cause of discoloration of paper. e e SIS report says, “it would seem good busi- ness to conserve the enormous invest- ment of the American people, through the application of zoning, by prevent- ing the economic waste which accom- panies unregulated use cr land and bllfldlnfis for dwellings.” Another ccmmittee of the conference is expected to urge home repairs as a means of stimulating employment. The low costs of materials and the availability of skilled labor make the present time particularly ravcrable for South America’s Independence BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ‘The republics of South America are ted to display an especially lively interest in the George Wash- ington Bicentennial celebration, lasting throughout 1932, because the tap root of their republicanism reaches down to the personality and inspiration of the great American rebel and revolu- tionary. The personal contact between Fran- cisco Miranda and George Washington and their joint bearing of arms in the war of American independence is re- vealed by an inquisitive examination of their careers. The irresistible con- clusion is that Washington not on! was the Father of His Country, but, indirectly, of the South American republics as well, Don Francisco was born at Caracas, then a royal colony of Spain, in 1754 or 1756, authorities differing on the date. Through the influence of his wealthy family he entered the Spanish ermy, but was not in sympathy with the harsh royal rule in the colonies. He was much of a student, especially 2{ political science and of social ques- ons, In those days news traveled slowly between the American colonies of Eng- land and the Spanish colonies, for | England and Spain had been traditional | 3y enemies since before the days of the Armada. But by some mun’: he did hear rumblings of unrest in the North and, finally, word reached him of the Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Original Colonies in North A pochat e] action stirred all his political fervor and, failing to find as speedy passage to North America as to Europe, he salled for France. There he met and was fired by Benjamin Franklin, at that time in Paris nego- tiating for French aid. He obtained a place in the small expeditionary force which France dispatched to America to assist in winning American independence. Alert, cultured and skilled in political and military science, he soon won his way to personal contact with Gen. ‘Washington and had raised to its high- mlm the enthusiasm stirred by lin. For two years—until Amer- lutionary troops. In power back and forth among factions the Prench Miranda became involved in_intrigue and fled to England. Even in those distant days wealthy colonial families sent their sons to Eng- land to be educated. In London Don Miranda found a little coterie of South American students all intensely inter- ested in the politics of the day. They had watched with the keenest interest the struggle of the American colonies for independence and their sympathies were emgaged. Miran of a group of these students. years older than they, a veteran of !mm wars, his words were listened to avidly. ‘With a handful of ardent followers, including some Americans who remem- bered his Revolutionary War services and even some English adventurers, he returned to Venezuela and led & revolt. | This was in 1805 and while the coup. | was momentarily successful, the su- perior forces of the Spamsn garrisons | put down the republic which had been | proclaimed and the rebels fied. Ii-Luck Marks Dictatorship. Don Miranda was no¢ dismayed. He bided his time. It came in 1810. it the United States, was written. He was named dictator for a transition period. Venezuelan independence was formally declared on July 5, 1811. Then one of the most curious events | in history occurred. From July on for months the new republic gained strength. But in the Spring of 1812, the people, Roman Catnolics wholly, celebiated = Easter _with accustomed pomp. On March 26, Holy Thursday, the populace was gathered the cathedral, when, with sudden fury, a great tropical storm broke and sim taneously a severe earthquake rent the Buil earth ican independence had be the ] e fi“ 'en won—Don arms in the War American Revolution, el An Embarrassing Situation. After the peace he brooded upon the position of his own native colony and began efforts to enlist the aid of the merican republic in gaining in- dependence for Caracas. _Although in full sympathy with Don Miranda’s as- pirations, the United States was con- fronted by an embarrassing dilemma. ‘Washington . himself already had be- come convinced of the danger of for- eign entanglements, especially for a nation so new and weak. ‘While not an active ally, Spain had at least kept hands off in the struggle T tra- ers thought a certain treachery would be involved should the United States now turn upon Spain. Such would be the effect of aid to & Spanish colony attempting revolt. Matters became so distressing that it was ni 1o sug- gest to Don Miranda that he leave the country for whose independence he had fought. He went to France, then in the throes of revolutionary struggles, and obtained command of a brigade of French revo- Fifty Years Ago In The Star Just 10 days before the trial of Attorney General m‘wk Put on the Carpet. The Star of November 4, 1881: Charles J. Guiteay for the murder of ident this news item was printed In t leaders in a spasm of Miranda was taken. uly, the French national holiday, which celebrates the fall of the Bastille, just such a gesture toward republican government which Don Miranda himself martyr. British Post-Election Problems Are Difficult BY A. G. GARDINER. “It is learned from good authority| Sent that President Arthur is seriously con- sidering the question of supersedingq o District Attorney Corkhill, a strong pressure having been brought to insure a change, which, it is well known, Attorney General MacVeagh has for some time favored, intimate frend of Garfield that he had that the public good chlnge, and the evening before he was shot had formally decided upon the removal of Col. Corkhill. Sul events, however post The day following, November 5, 1881, from affliations and are without a following, but taey still Tormidable debatess C are in The Star printed the remarkable news | story bearing upon the same subject of the displacement of the district at- torney: “A very important meeting of ihe Cabinet was held in President Arthur's parlor directly after his return from Yorktown. It was of unusual I and the secrecy maintained by the members and the ominous looks which followed all questions relating to the subjects discussed occasioned a good fh'?.l of comment l':‘ the udne'.‘nl;u‘m.u‘ and that er and * one consideration %fi another,’ The Star is enabled to print a tolerably accurate history of the meeting: “Every member of the Cabinet was present, the President, as soon as all were seated, stated that he had called . the members together to consider the | question of the prosecution of Guiteau; that from facts which had come to his knowledge he believed the Government to be entirely unprepared for the case. He added, with a good deal of emphasis and accompanying his,words with a clenched fist that came down with consider it pre-eminently disgraceful to the Government if in the Guiteau case, as in the star route cases, the Govern- ment should confess itself unprepared to go on and be compelled to ask a continuance. “Attorney General MacVeagh was present and gave no sign. The Presi- dent, noticing Mr. MacVeagh's silence, put the question to him directly as to the preparation of the Government to proceed in the Guiteau case. The At- torney General replied that he did not consider it any part of his business to give attenion {u criminal prosecutions. The President replied that this was a great State trial and that the whole country looked to Mr. MacVeagh to see that it was conducted properly and effi- ciently, Mr. McVeagh said there was no law or custom for the Attorney Gen- eral to appear in criminal trials and said he had been told so by Judge Jeremiah Black. “The President then quickly and somewhat angrily asked Mr. MacVeagh how it had been in the Aaron Burr trial.” h, but that was a trial for trea- son,’ Mr. MacVeagh replied. “‘Yes,' sald the President, ‘and this is a trial for murdering the Chief Magistrate of the Nation. and to my reconditioning the hcme. « ok % % In connection with the forthcomin, conference, financial aid is also to oo iven. The plan to stimulate credit for fome buumm & hope of reviving private cor ction throughout the country was discussed last White House, when a and loan association di jed on the President. Although no details are as yet available of the plan agreed uj at this meeting, it is understood t the group, under the leadership of the president of the United States Buildin, and Loan League, prc the use ol building and lo3n socizties throughout the country, aided by the Federal Land Banks, 8s & system for easing home credits. rinciple was 1ald down of mak o ak- ing the Federal Land Banks a sort of national agency to rediscoun o fitles of building and loan societies, This proposal would seem to fit in with the general plan of President Hoover to “thaw out frozen real estate assets" and thus make m! more attractive a8 (Coperisht, 1931.) mind it is the positive duty of the At- torney General to take charge of the case.’ “Mr. MacVeagh then reiterated that the law never contempated un: as any an! o might deem It his duty to he referred Mr. MacVeagh to section of the law, do so0, and the par- “By this time there was a good d of ::Iument around the Cabinet table. The lawyers of the cabinet being :E. fo, they all agreed with the Pttt “As’ Mr. MacVeagh main. tained his position that it was below the dignity of the Attorney General to appear In a crlmlnunl m!d President th ed him e one any- e o cntain counsel to assist District to obf A'.lt:‘:ncy Corkhill in the prosecution of | the MacVeagh said he had et ‘duty which be- Fimself Mr. = ag They will have abundant for creating breaches in the elephantine government majority, and doubts ere widel, ressed whether MacDonatd can d composite team gether. "He bum' i clamors of the and the constitution of new the taiff Moreover, ravit; immy . y of the ediate mwnllmt! to close on November 21, has pletely failed to T tween the Achieve in some quar- the Sallure of basis of accom- Sftionscheme ‘and 101 Mokt e Simon’ Commission's proposet some force on the table, that he would | M: fl::l”lh ;I!r Joha Simon is now a mem- ber of the government, it unlikely that they iy ground of Indian ts, that the cially in view of the f: wiser Indian uelq-t!u.u‘ e pru Sastri, are willing to accept arbitratior. * ok ok ok The third most pressing the European flnln‘:hl cmfi'fi;fllht; Kerfloua position of Germany between er huge foreign commercial debts and her reparations obligations. It is rea- vhe French secure priority for reparations 's short-term credits from foreign banks and firms will remain frozen, with consequences Which must lead not only to the eol- of Germany, but also to univer- sal disaster to the structure of world finance. The Loudon government's aim Will be to secure a prolongation of the ‘standstill” agreement until the repara- tions question is finally disposed umut the subordination of commercial claims to war obligatijus would be fatal to any hopes of financial recovery in Europe. (Copyright, 1931.) suggestion to him, and that either Mr. MacVeagh or himself was very of the law; for a to the Government should have able coun. sel and he would himself direct, if M: MacVeagh declined to do so, that Judge John K. Porter of New York and Walter Da of Wi be em- ployed as tional counsel in the greucuum of Guiteau. Mr. Mac- ‘eagh then said that if the President desired it to be done he would employ e gentlemen named. “It s said that at the close of this scene the President remarked that the Attorney General's knowledge of the law Bites office.”