Evening Star Newspaper, November 17, 1931, Page 8

THE EVENING With Sunday Merning Editien. — WASHINGTON, D, C. YURBSDAY....November 17, 183 ' ORI YTHEODORE W. NOYES.. 1 Editor Whe Evening Star Newspaper Company Busing ce: nia Ave. %and st n Butlding Londor Rate by Carrier Within the City. R; ening Star 45c per month Sta haa i gig;80C Ber month i Wl :nbn!undl ) n. .’4 65¢ per month . Fmdu !lxl 5¢ JeeTion made at thie enid of ‘ekch mon jers may e sent in by mail or telephone | [Atianal 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. . $10.00: 1 mo.. 83¢ 7 sof, Sonder-:-13n: tie et e 88t s omy 200 d i $4.00: 1 me. doe All Other States and Canada. di 1 yr.. $12.00: 1 mo., $1.00 iy Shfy 500711 35 Pi00 1 mo. ik II’ only 1 $5.00: 1 mo., 80¢ Member of the Associated Press. Assoctated Press s exclusively entitled | o The v Gor Fepubfication of Al Jews cis | atches credited fo it or not otherwise cred- | B 06 paper Apd, aiso the iocal neve | ublished herein. = All rights of publication of | Boeelal “Gispatchee herein are aiso 1eserved. | Exit—the Consent Decree. ! The District Supreme Court has up- | theld the contention of People's Counsel | Richmond B. Keech that the so-called onsent decree can in effect be scrapped | by the Public Utilities Commission in | the pursuance of its duty to fix proper rates for electricity. “Neither a court | decree nor an agreement can deprive | the commission of that power (to fix | proper rates) or absolve it from that duty,” sald Justice Wheat, who rendered | the opinion. | And it is well thet this question has “been disposed of. It would have been | rather preposterous to assume that & | consent decree entered into as a com- promise six years ago would forever bind the decisions of the regulatory body set up by Congress for the purpose of es- tablishing equitable rates for electricity. The business of establishing fair rates 15, 85 the court points out, “a continuing problem, to be solved from time to time @ it arises. 80 is the power of the commission to solve it a continuing power, to be exercised from time to | time gccording to the need.” The decision can therefore be re- garded as a victory for the commis- ( sion, But the tangible results of such | a victory, and the benefits accruing to the .consumers of electricity, remain fo be demonstrated. The circumstances under which the consent decree came into existence must be recalled to un- derstand the doubtful nature of the commission’s victory. When the com- mission decided to cut rates for elec- tricity from ten to seven and one half cents in 1917 the company fought the order in the courts, and the difference between rates charged by the company and the rates ordered by the commis- sion was impounded annually for seven years until the fund so held reached about six million dollars. The consent decree, entered in 1925, marked a com- promise between the utilities commis- sion and the power company, under which the impounded fund was divided between consumers and power company and s sliding scale for rates established,, the rates for each year being fixed ac- cording to the profits made and the ‘business done by the company in the preceding year. Under this arrangement the average price for electricity paid by the consumer decreased from ten cents to its present price of 4.2 cents. In the meantime the profits of the company increased. ‘The Public Utilities Commission, de- eiding that the company’s profits have been “excessive,” has substituted for the consent decree & new sliding scale ar- rangement of rates which will become effective on the first of the year, pro- vided these new rates are upheld by the courts. That proviso is the fly in the ointment now. For the consent decree not only reduced rates for electricity, but avolded the endless litigation that in Washington has become the inevita- ble accompaniment of orders promul- gated by the Public Utilitles Commis- sion. Now that the consent decree has been done away with, each succeeding order by the commission relating to rates for electricity may be subject to attack in the courts. And in the present case the commission must center its attack in the claim that the company 1s making too much money, rather than in an sttempt to show that the rates charged are excessive and unreasonable. The real test of the commission’s ef- fort to bring about still greater reduc- tiéns in the price of electricity will come when the new rates ordered by the | commission are passed upon by the eourts. ——e—a One of his earliest studies of this ccountry’s problems was directed by Min- | sster Grandl to the very important sub- Ject of transportation. | o The Navy's interests are at least guar- mnteed against the possibility of suffer- | ing through any lack of publicity. B Criminal Sabotage. Pve men were arrested yesterday in New York and are held on a charge| of conspiracy to destroy a number of barges at Port Reading, N. J., as their part in the “movement for the de- struction of capitalistic properties. The police also seized a quantity of dynamite, fuses and caps with which this destruction was to be effected. ‘This material had been stolen from a| quarry and some of it had been checked for several days at a parcel stand in @& subway station at Union Square. These seizures were the result of an fnvestigation of an attempt on election day to blow up a coal derrick moored in the Esst River. All the men held are Communists, members of groups of that order, and also of an independeat boatmen’s union which, once conserva- tive, is mow entirely in the hands of Communists. Search is now’ being made for & Communist party worker who is | money to meet the regular expenses of | of the federation is overwhelmingly an- tagonistic to radicalism. The “boring from within” efforts of the Communists have failed to affect the policles and practices of organized labor. Notwithstanding the fact that they are in a decided minority, the radical groups of labor, mostly independent and competitive to federation units, are a serious menace. This latest man- ifestation of violent hostility is signifi- cant in its intention rather than in its accomplishment. The purpose of destruction will persist despite the im- mediate failure. It will, however, be weakened if those now caught red- handed, as it were—luckily before the destruction was effected—are promptly tried and punished to the limit of the law. AT, Increased Taxes. With the Treasury in danger of fac- ing a deficit at the close of the present | fiscal year amounting to $2,000,000,000, ! the administration and Republican members of Congress appear to have come reluctantly to a decision that an increaSe in Federal taxes is inevitable, Despite the President's efforts to re- duce the budget for the coming fiscal year and his success in lopping off be- tween $300,000,000 and $400,000,000, it has become clear there must be revision of the tax laws if the Government is not to rely upon borrowed money to meet running expenses. The pay-as- you-go plan is the sanest and soundest plan for Government and individual. | Because of unusual and serious condi- | tions it has to be abandoned at times, as, for example, during a war and more recently during a great depression of business. But a system which looks to | perpetual borrowing of large sums of | the Government threatens in the end the credit and stability of government | itself. Secretary Mellon of the Treasury already has attacked the tax system on the ground that it is incapable of raising sufficient revenue for Govern- ment expenses during periods of de- pression. With the Income tax the chief reliance of the Government for its revenues, it inevitably happens that when incomes fall off there will be great reduction in governmental reve- nue. This has been the present experi- ence of Uncle Sam. The situation may be remedied to a degree by amendment of the income tax provisions of law. The surtaxes, reaching higher incomes, may be made more drastic., The exemptions permit- ted, which now are high, may be con- siderably reduced, making the income tax fall more generally on the people. ‘Today only a few millions out of a total of more than 122,000,000 population pay income taxes. But even these changes, if a depression holds, might not meet the needs of the Government. So a different basis for part of the tax- ation at least may be advanced by the Treasury head and the administration. A general sales tax has been sug- gested by Senator David A. Reed of Pennsylvania, a close friend of Secre- tary Mellon. Such a tax is favored by other members of the Senate, in- cluding Senator Watson, Republican leader, and Senator Smoot of Utah. But it is strongly opposed in other quarters and there is grave doubt that it would be passed upon favorably by Congress. Perhaps a modification of the sales tax plan, an excise tax on essentials, may be undertaken. In the temper in which the coming Congress finds itself, however, it seems inevitable that attempts will be made to lay the burden of the increased tax- ation on the wealthy. Undoubtedly the | wealthy can best bear the burden. Wealth has & faculty, however, of find- | ing avenues of escape from taxation.| One of them has been investment in tax-exempt securities, of which bil- lions of dollars’ worth are now out- standing in this country. If it were not for these same tax-exempt securi- ties the Treasury would today have ample funds, despite the depression. A tax bill is likely also to increase the number of persons who pay income taxes, as well as to increase the tax laid upon those who now pay that! |as a deterrent which places trade with { by no other than Capt. H:pe, who per- !other day against the Naval Militia. sales or purchases of so-called non-| form of Federal tax. Increased estate taxes, gift taxes and various forms of excise taxes will be proposed. The Congress should remember that levylnl“ taxes for the sake of taxing is not the main idea, and only those taxes which | are essential should be laid upon the! people. e - Hopes are entertained by motorists that traffic officers will not be too gen- erous in leaving tickets in cars under the impression that they are suitable holiday greetings. ©Old methods do not prove useful very ! long. Gen. Dawes will not be expected | to learn to say “Helen Maria” in Japa- nese, Chinese and Russian. | ———— Russian Trade With America. Announcement is made that the Am- torg Trading Corporation, the official selling and purchasing agency of the | Russian Soviet government in this country, has given up a third of its headquarters office space in New York | City and is reducing its personnel by ' more than fifty per cent. This, it is ex- plained, is due to a sharp decline in the export and import business, in turn the result of the failure of the Soviet gov- | ernment to obtain in this country the long-term credits which have been ob- | tained in England, Germany and Italy. In the first ten months of this year orders placed in the United States by Amtorg have totaled $49,400,000, as against $102,800,000 in the correspond- ing period of 1930, a decline of ffty- two per cent. In October alone the purchases amougted to $208,000, less than 10 per cent of the orders placed in October last year. 2 A spokesman for Amtorg is quoted as saying that business and the manu- facturing concerns in the United States are unwilling to grant terms sufficiently elastic to warrant trade on the same scale as a year ago. The Soviet orders believed to have been the inspiration | have been hitherto placed on the basis of this plot. For some time past the Independent Boatmen's Union has been fighting the organizations affiliated with the Ameri- oan Federation of Labor, trying to get its members to join the radical unit. ‘The federation has for many years re- sisted the radical influences which have of one year's credit,.with initial pay- ments of from twenty-five to fifty per cent, whereas in England, Germany and Italy orders are placed on credits of from two to four years, with nq initial payments. The consequence is that manufacturers in those countries are re- placing Americans in trade with the sought to control its policies and those of the componemt unions. The late Soviets. Amtorg officials point to govern- THE - EVENING STAR |on in the same line. The membership | bestos. No meption is made by the Rus- plan bureau direciors of American prejudice against Soviet products apart from governmental restrictions, but un- doubtedly that has been a factor in the dwindling of Russian trade. ‘There may be a reason for the les- sening of this trade beyond that stated by the Soviet representatives. It is pos- sible that production has diminished to the point at which American orders cannot be met, The five-year plan is not working out to the satisfaction of the Moscow commissars, Russian-made machinery on American models have not performed according to require- ments. Russian workmanship is not as efficient &s was expected. The reluctance of American concerns to grant long- term payments, however, is the most significant feature of the situation. ‘While there is a strong incentive to meet the Russian orders for goods, in thig time of American business depres- sion, ' the possibllity of default stands the Soviets upon a speculative basis. ——ee— An Exciting Foot Ball Game. Next Sunday will be a field day for the foot ball team at Sing Sing Prison. They are to have a go at their natural enemies, the police. What a battle it should be! The Sing Singers are led formed so valorously in the game the Capt. Hope has only fifty-nine more years of his term to serve. The police contest on Sunday will be against the Port Jervis department, avhich at first blush seems to be taking an awful chance. There are only eight men in the police department and no good foot ball team can function with that num- ber. The Sing Singers have over three thousand men to draw from and if they had thelr way they would prob- ably put all cf them in the game at once against the eight policemen. Warden Laws of the penitentiary believes that foot ball is a great char- acter builder and that is why he has inaugurated an ambitious Fall program for his wards. In the game with the Naval Militia only two of the latter were carried out on stretchers, but if the advice of the convict audience, which consisted of such delicate sug- gestions as “Kick him in the head,” “Take a bit out of his arm” and “Push them guys out of the way,” had been heeded, the casualty list might have assumed greater proportions. As it! was, the Sing Singers won by a score of 33 to 0, all of the scoring being made | during the first half, and it has been| facetiously remarked that ‘the reason they did not score in the second half was that they were not running toward the goal post nearest the entrance gate of the institution. Yes, it should be a great game; but it is a certainty that the police will have a very tough battle on their hands. ————————— Clouds prevented scientists at Pasa- dena from studying the November me- teor showers. The abundance of stellar phenomena at Hollywood does not in- terest the scientific mind, with possibly the exception of that of the genial and adaptable Einstein. e ——— J As a presidential possibility, Gov. Ritchie makes work a little easier for his supporters, who will not have to use valusble time in explaining exactly where he stands on the wet and dry issue. ———— As working hours are shortened the New York theater takes steps to pro- vide something to occupy the extra leisure by producing plays to last from early afternoon to midnight. ———— Large cities ‘confess to disappointment at the discovery that the underworld has an efficiency of its own that enables crime to go on even while Capone takes an enforced holiday. r—————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Conversation’s Power, Just talking.things over By night and by day— We'll all be in clover At last in that way. A luncheon so hearty; Perhaps a cigar; A neat little party And friends, there you are! Por men and for nations ‘There’s nothing in life Like plain conversations ‘To keep us from strife. No more a swift rover ‘The Peace Dove will roam. Just talking things over Wl keep her af, home. A Case for Calmness. “What ideas have you for hastening prosperity?” “I don't believe,” saild Senator Sor- ghum, “that there is any way of arti- ficially hurrying prosperity. It's like a chicken in the evening that l’m(urlllyl wants to come home if you don't scare | it off into the tall trees by tryin’ too hard to drive it.” Jud Tunkins says the man who is al- ways talkin’ ’bout good old times is never consistent enough to insist on carrying in coal for a fire or reading the paper by & kerosene lamp. Common Humanity, Everybody wants to be A personage of high degree; { Everybody wants a store Of wealth and maybe then some more; Everybody wants his say, - Sometimes sad and sometimes gay. Everybody will. we're told, A difference from others hold. And yet, when simple truth you strike, ‘We all seem pretty much alike, Fashions for Men, “Old fashions are coming in again.” “I have heard s0,” said Uncle Bill Bottletop. “But I don’t believe they’ll ever bring back those trousers that were so tight they couldn’t make room for a hip flask.” bk 22 “Respect for our ancestors,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “should not g0 80 far as to convince us that they have provided all the wisdom and morals tors, of which the world has need.” Supplementary Menu. Our hearts will be joyously stirred ‘When carving the Thanksgiving bird, And next we will anxiously sigh, “Who'll pass the political pie?” “It jes' shows you," sald Uncle Eben, Samuel Gompers made this the chief | mental barriers in America which have! “how oppertunity ain't equally divided principle of his administration, and his caused a shayp falling off in American when dar lsn' mo' dan William Gieen, has carried imports of Mimber, pulpwood and sa- four o five hunters. . Tabbit to STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, NG THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Ugliness is most easily offended on the side of beauty. Dumbness, on the side of brains. Intelligence, as to physique. What every person iacks, and knows he lacks, there will his weak point be. Any mention of the lack, in any con- nection whatsoever, will jnsult him be- yond redemption. If you want to offend any one prop- erly, as if done by an expert, select his weak ‘side, and make some remark about it. He never will forgive you. * * ¥* The best use of this knowledge, fow- ever, lids in the fleld of avoiding the unnecessary insult, rather than deliver- ing the necessary one. It seems that the great ambition of many lives today is to live without friction. ¥ Well, this is every one's business, of course. If & man minds his own business, and is m good citizen, perhaps no more can be_expected of him. 1t he will not take sides, even when honor and the ends of justice demand it of him, he may be permitted o use his intelligence in the avoidance of quarrels and hard fesling. One of the simplest and best ways, then, is to take thought of what of- fends other people. * ok ¥ At first thought it might seem that folks would be most easily jnsulted on the point of their faults. Nothing is farther from the truth. Call a liar & liar, and in all prob- ability he will not only nct resent it, but be rather proud of the fact, unless one calls his attention to it in public, when custom makes it necessary for | him to fight. In publc, the more | scoundrel & man is, the more honor he | usually has to defend. Call a lame man lame, and he will admit it, without anything more than a momentary resentment against him who so far forgot ordinary politeness. The real resentments are cajled up | by those who reveal that they have | knowledge of certain lacks which a | man hopes are concsaled from the world. On this score is a human being touchiest. Every man carries one or more of these mental chips upon his shoulders, and woe to the fellow who knocks them off, either openly or in- advertently. * ok %X No doubt this is the well known in- | ferjority complex, functioning in all its | vigor and even splendor. | Yes, the inferiority has a certain | splendor, because it is this “complex,” | as the psycholcgists say, which makes us all human beings, | “Human,” we say, and that explained a great deal and demands that we for- give much. It is not commonly realized, perhaps not_even by psychologists, engrossed in | their wordy symbols for unexplained factors, that the humanness of human beings ‘arises largely from the workings of the so-called inferjority complex. This defensive mechanism, hitting on all four cylinders, is responsible for | many of the traits which are most lova- ble in human nature, and in response which many of the Christian virtues ave their greatest cpportunity to shine in light and beauty. Without the inferiority complex most men would be boors, scarcely more, fit | for nothing except to be hog drivers of human cattle. * oK K K Let us examine a few of ‘these chips which people so carefully balance on their shoulders, in the fond belief that no one sees them there. s Mostly they have to do with one's work in life and the personal attitude | which one takes in regard to it. ‘The elevator operator, for instance, will realize that his work does not re- quire a large amount of brain power and therefore he is likely to be sensi- tive on the side of the use of intelli- gence in the daily task. He will be forever looking for insults on the point of the use of the brain in the daily work. Especially will he have his search- light turned on the man or woman who evidently earns a living by the daily use of the old bean, as the brain is sometimes i{rreverently called. * % Ary remark which the other makes in relaticn to brain power in a personal way as a slap at the | honest work of running an elevator, If the truth were known, the man who has to make his brain perform curlous, one might even say astound- ing, evolutions in his daily task, has always rather hankered to be an ele- vator operator. He regards elevator operating as an essential work in modern civil life. Without the men and women who op- erate the “lifts” daily business in great cities would come to an abrupt halt. There are hundreds of daily tasks in civilization which require a certain combination of what may be termed crdinary intelligence, with & proper co- ordination of muscles. It is unfortunately true that many of these persons suffer from an in- feriority complex, brought about in part by the accent which American civiliza- tion placed on the “learned professions” for so many years. The very last men to sneer at manual workers of any type are the members of those and sllied professions. No one ever caught Ralph Waldo Emerson pok- | ing fun at the man who wielded the ax | or guided the plow. * e ‘The point of our discourse is, how- ever, simply this: ‘That any reference to brains, or es- pecially lack of knowledge, by such a person in the hearing of the manual worker s very likely to be taken by the latter as a covered and personal in- sult to hi ‘Therefore, it behooves the wise man, if he wishes to avoid offense, {o think twice before he makes any sort of re- mark in the presence of others which twits them, as it were, on their sore point. How shall & man know these sore points in others? By using his common sense, his in- tuition as it were; by carefully avoiding topics which touch on the weaknesses of humanity. . o It will remain a question, of course, whether the objective is worth all this trouble. Probably not, except for the man or woman who wishes to avoid resentments at any cost. In this matter the cost is large. It presupposes that one not only has his own pet inferiority complex, but that he busy himself with the pet iacks of other human beings, and that he handle them at all times with softly padded gloves. Now is a burden. Even the most kindly man in time will come o the point where he shrugs his shoulders snd says to himself, “What's the use?” Life is to be used, not to be. kept swathed in cotton. The buffets we all receive in the daily life are as much a part of life as anything else. Highlights on the Wide World Excerpls From Newspapers of Other Lands A INDUSTRALIZASIU, Moscow.— That in our march toward Com- munist civilization Russia is far too little soap, com- w’:fi with the pro rata con- sumption in other countrles, is very evi- dent. The United States, for instance, consumes 10 kilograms (22 pounds) an- nually per person. ritain and Germany use 8.5 kilograms, Prance 7.9 kilograms, Belgium 5.9 kilograms (12 ounds), Norway 4.9 kilograms, while ussia is at the bof of the list with only 1.2 kilograms Per individual con- sumed each year. In conjunction with the five-year plan, the Supreme Economic Council should draw up plans to increase the produc- tion and consumption of soap, so that the U 8. S. R. may eventually equal, or even exceed, the quantities of soap used in the foreign capitalistic countries. P Denies Cruelty In Disposing of Stray Dogs. El Universal, Mexico, D. F.—The cruel proceedings employed by the “perreros” (dog-catchers) of the Department of Health have come in for a great dea! of censure by the public. Universal has recefvcd complaints all that the methods of capturing and disposing of the dogs are a disgrace to civilization and have no counterpart save in the mythical annals of the Capitaline prison. Dr. Ulises Valdes of the department of health naturally resents these accu- sations, and state in rebuttal that vig: orous measures against the jeopardies of rabies are not to be considered as ufiduly cruel or drastic when it is con- sidered that during the first menths of this year no less than 1,026 have been {iven treatment against rables, while two of these have died as the result of dog bites. In all, 38,181 persons have been given anti-hydro- phobic treatments since the department of health turned its attention, a few decades ago, to these measures of pre- caution. This year so far 20,520 pre- gnhév. injections have been adminis- red. o Such expense and effort cannot be sald to justify mild methcds of control, such, for instance as are employed in the cooler climate of the Unil States where everybody tolerates ca- nines without recourse to muzzle or net. In Mexico all dogs at large must be muzzled, and the safety of human life demands this precaution. The fact that 68 per cent have died cf rabies in Mexico City since 1888 is sufficient jus- tification for vigorous contsol of this terrible danger. So far this year, of 1,027 unmuzzle dogs picked up on the streets whic. died while under observation, 53 were | found to be rabid—sufficient reas-n for | the vigorous campaign against the ca- nine species. . * ok ok K Marshal Chang’'s Recovery Restores Confidence in Medicine. Peking, Peking.—The recovery of Marshal Chang Hsiao-llang, son of the | ill-fated Chang Tso-lin, from a serious attack of typhoid fever contracted while on a trip to Nanking, has done much to add to the repute of modern medical practice in China. There can be no doubt that so impressicnable a people as the Chinese will be more Wi now to trust their ailments to Western- trained doctors than they have hereo- fore. The plight of the Western-trained doctor in China is not an easy one. Un- fortunately, he usually is ccnfronted with two aiternatives: He has to select the lesser of two evils. He must hang his shingle out in the foreignized cities, where there already are numerous doc- , or else must go into the interior, where he will be forced to abandon and his contact better than by being practiced in the interior towns and villages of China. The modern doctor in the interior not only faces a superstitious distrust of his methods, but finds it slmost impos- sible to persuade his patients that he should be paid for what he knows in- stead of merely for the amount of time spent on an individual case. A Chinese student finds it very ex- pensive to obtain a training for the medical profession and consequently is extremely ch: about entering into a ractice where income would hardly ample to permit him to live in the necessary sanitary fashion. Under these circumstances, official as well as unofficial encouragement should be given to Chinese doctors to persuade them to leave the treaty ports and other comfortable locatjons and to go into the interior, which, after all, is more representative bf China than the fringe of land along the coast. * ok k¥ Urges Englishmen To Cease Foreign Purchases. Daily Mail, London.—Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland, Minister of Labor in the last rvative government, in a hmdg:t talk recently sald that our trade ‘balance could be put right only by exporting more or by importing less. “Daon’t spend a penny if you can pos- sibly help it on goods produced outside this country,” he said. “For every person in the kingdom about £20 is spent every year on im- gxud articles. If £2 only—just one- ri of foreign produce, the trade balance would b:'n nt right There is no excuse whatever for buying foreign luxuries.” * ok ok % Prison Board Refuses to Pay for Gold Teeth. Honolulu Advertiser —Gold teeth for inmates at Oahu Prison may be all right, but they are not going to be paid for by the Boarg of Prison In- spectors, it was deciaed unanimously at a meeting of that board. matter was referred to the board by Joseph Ordenstein, executive secre- tary, in the form of a bill for $75 for one }old crown he placed on a tooth for Jacob B. Wolf, who is serving a sentence at the prison for robbery. Members of the board were em- phatic in the stand that the bill is not [ pmger charge against the institution, and Ordenstein said that Dr. Cary un- doubtedly would come to some personal agreement with Wolf for payment. —e—e— Farmers and Billboards. From the Des Moines Reglster, An encouraging factor in the war on billboards is in the changing attitude of the farmers. Within the last year or two, the granges have been takin up the war on roadside ugliness, an there are indications that other farm- ers have begun to resent the despoil- ing of the appearance of their farms and of their roads to town. In the , farmers have been more or less friendly towsrd the billposters and their products. Sometimes the side of a barn would be painted free if it could be used to advertise pills. Some- times the family could acquire circus tickets by lending e for gaudy posters. Or there might be an annual rental fee for a series of big billboprds. But now the money value of a farm depends in at least a slight degree on its appearance. and there is more loss than gain in havi the most obvious 'flhmrum.nnawmh;hn men, will find it difficult to obtain a reason- able fee for his B The modern-trained Chinese doctor who is willing to be pioneer enough to 0 into the vast interior of the’ coun- Ty at the present disadvantageous time is a patrict indeed. A few have been willing to do so, but they do not even constitute a drop in the bucket. The spirit of service, which should be the underlying metive of the physician’s life, gcan demonsirate its nce no services. ————— Appropriate Celebration. From the Lowell Evenjng Leader. And doubtless sary of the syj on the straps { is taken | Ji v.iuBER 17, 1931 NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM LG M JAPAN'S SPECIAL POSITION IN MANCHURIJA. By C. Walter Young, M. A, Ph.D. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press. ‘The newspaper serves as index of de- sirable current studies, wider in scope, deeper in probe, than its own estab- lished purpose of news reporting can permit. An immediate case in point, among many, is Manchuria, Every day front- page headlincs advertise fighting in that region between China and Japan. And this, despite the great war to end war. Despite a Peace League, en- shrined, at Geneva. Where is Manchuria? What is it? What has it that China possesses, that wants, that Russia sniffs around, prowling and desirous? C. Walter Young is a university man three times over. Northwestern, Min- nesota, Johns Hopkins. A career of in- tensive study that might, easily, have encased the man in a coat of academic ice. Happlly, it had no such effect. Instead, it appcars to have whittled him to a keen eage of curlosity in re- spect to the Far Bast. Curlosity toward the essential toundations of current Oriental life within a certain zone. To- ward the political structure rising out of its own beginnings, rising out of the vicissitudes of time and circumstance and change. . And so Dr. Young went to . churia. Five times, from 1923 forward, he made resident studies there. These studies are now embodied in three vol- umes of political science derived from the present and the immediate past of that region. The book in hand is the first. The third one is left open, so to speak, in welcome to a fourth, issue of another period oi study, undertaken as Trepresentative for the Far East of the Institute of Current World Affairs, New York. “« ¥ %o Sounds heavy, doesn't it? A shade too erudite for the newspaper reader secking direction along the road of worthwhile study. But it is not heavy. As delighted a5 surprised are we to find ourselves in the midst of live stuff, human stuff, making its way, cris-cross and roundabout, much as man has had to do since he set up in the big busi- ness of being human at all. The average student’s first encourage- ment to go ahead here is that this study is not history. That helps. His- tory is too far away, too dead. Better fitted to the meditations of philosophic savant than to the current uses of the majority. Now and then Dr. Young | does turn on a fiashlight out of the \past for spectal illumination and ':::;xl,‘atlcm But he turns it right off Instead of digging up an immemorial {past, he does something like this: | Looks Manchuria over to see what the great turmoil of occupation, -of posses- son ‘even, can be abcut. Finds, under ground, iron, coal, oil and other min- erals. Upon the surface, soll and cli- | mate, timber growths and waterways. Potentials, these, of fooa and furnish- ings, of shelter and clothing. A largesse of nature’s fecundity for the use of needy millions. Laud of great economic resource. A region to invite enterprise —industry, business. To call out com- petition and exploitation, twin sup- porters of material success. Right here ‘Politics steps in. That system of sharp practice, of juggling for positions of tage. Num“:l was whe'n;l:d e was Tot upon rinciples. ‘Not any more. For in enrypo d sharp practice is 1ts stamp, its mode of action. Therefore, naturai re- sources in the hands of enterprise and pnlm:‘ m&l’:’ pcssednh:‘n—lln large part took and ille ossession— of Manchuria, SR And when the matter and pressing enough to of national seope, then diplomacy took :n ::n;:;d. "Ez: "l“.:l‘ %’u nations was sum- 3 o) eements” be- came the order of the l‘lgrnr. e Diplomacy, teo, like business and itics, has its system of sha: prac- ice. Beneath the suave and el te :le’:em'oexélrnel: of ggbl&n du“wmm'nmiluan “‘undersf ngs,” privi “ententes” and the like. ¥ ikl The prime working tnstrument of diplomacy is the “treaty.” And so Japan secured a treaty with China by way of whose grovulom that amazin| islander mlflt “ut‘l:; l“r.:lfl:ay th.rurxgE churia. insure a fine . ‘ew big enough melnltuaagn 1y But in alt :uunu"h men n a amo; human element is pngnt. m:‘;: here that element was yery human and clearly paramount. Not so many years before Japan had, without truth, tram- pled the sleeping’ yellow dragon, to its pain and un! etting. The bruises of that rough-shod passage had grown to open_wres that" literally waked the leeper into life, remembering and re- sentful. And not so long before that this Lilliputian Nipponese warrior had beaten the Russian bear back into its den, growling with pain and hatred. Oh, no, there was no welcoming cele- bration for Japan's entrance to any Bt oo ol Bt reminds Bie readers. Gl apanese workmen were sent the Manchurian railroad. 'rhc:‘: bt‘l‘m‘elg came in contact with Chinese laborers. And, just as it is the world over, so it was here. Il feeling and enmity run deeper with the ignorant than with the more fortunate, the schooled and tralned. Indeed, it is the ulace that supports strife, to its own ull ite undoing. However, over in Manchuria, along that railway line, rancor move into action with frequent clashes and, finally, with armed conflict. Protesta- tions upon one side ana the other, run- ning to the tune of “treaty violations,” involved the authorities and moved gradually toward the status of war it- self. And the “Peace League” is in- voked to justify this side and that. Or, at least, to construe the action of hoth gm;fmmen:.:mumwuhln the law of nations, within the peace the league. ST Here is a most unscholarly sketch of a profound and scholarly series of books on the subject of political science, based as p‘onucal ‘;cm;co m'xin }:e upon eco- nomics, trade, domestic law, B nnga:‘jurhdlnnon. m{‘h 50 on. il ut, you see, we, the majori not students. et it is xmpérr.a;yi, in- deed vital, that average readers should know what “all the fighting is abcut” since we, the people, have, in the lon; run, to bear the brunt of the slaughtef- ing that goes on, seemingly without much abatement, in a world that has, in pride, civilized itself to a surpassing measure of high intent and universal good will. What makes war? What is making that war over in Manchuria? What are the forces behind it? It is the business of intelligence to know. Rumor, half-truth, _excitement, par- uiflnsgzpa l“!?.\‘:n"l thl.:l ',w;y or that, will not do.. Knowin, e that ;m}lx Snawer. : i e Ane ere, certalnly, is a knowing study. Time has gone into jt. Training and first-hand facts have bullt it. Documents of every reliable sort sup- port it. Seasoned judgment, ripe de- cisions, where there are decisions at all, recommend Dr. Young’s work—to stu- dents, of course. Those interested in the subject Will seize upon the thres books by this author that are ready for them. But I'm not this class. I'm talking about the abo aver- e. , to be sure, where they must be and should be, but, in the main, based upon the clear logic of human nature and collective human action under stress and demand. Fead- ing here will illuminate the current re- ports into something like a wider un- derstanding, not only of Manchuria and its immediate concerns. but of world contacts and accommodations, ar their opposite, everywhere. Book T in the series: clal Position in Manchuria.” Book I in the series: “The Inter- consumma £ x J' personnel lor road was bmz. "Leader, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS Y FREDERIC J. HASKIN. This is a special department devoted to the handling of inquiries. You have at your di 1 an extensive organ- ization in Washington to serve you in any capacity that relates to informa- tion. Write your question, your name, and your address clearly, and 2 cents in coin or stamps for reply. Send to The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, ‘Washington, D. C. Q. What is meant by persistence vision "in “motion pleture A. This means that the eye retsins & ingle visual impression for about one- sixteenth of a second. Motion pictur projection is therefore a series of pic: tures thrown upon the screen at inter- vals of approximately one-sixteenth of a second. Because the interval between of mately with the duration of vision, the projected motion picture gives the illusion of actual movement of appearing to the eye as a series of un- connected pictures. . Does the freezing of canned food it unfit to eat?—C. T. A. It does not. The texture of cer- tain types of food is affected, but the food value is unchanged. Vast i tities of the food taken on the Byrd Antarctic expedition were in cans, were condition. Q. What caused the drought of 1930? —C. R A. Dr. Humphreys of the Weather Bureau says that in 1930 such a large amount of cold air rushed over Europe causing unusually great rainfall there, the abnormal flow of polar air in that direction withdrew much of the pres- sure that causes currents to move down the usual American paths. Much of it was dissipated in Canada, causing & wet season there. was therefore blanketed with warm air. In many sections it was heavy with moisture, but the necessary cold air currents required to produce rain did not arrive from the north. Q. Why do some issues of paper cur- rency have stars before the serial num- | bers>—m. C. { A. Paper currency is printed and finished in sheets of 12 subjects. The finish includes imprinting the numbers in series. It occasionally ha after a serial number is imprint that the bill is discarded because of some im- perfection. Bllls discarded are replaced with a perfect bill which has been pre- pared for such an emergency and bears a number not in the regular series, but | which 1s distinguished by a star pre- | | ceding the number. Q. What kinds of wood are used by the wood carvers of Germany and 1 Switzerland?—W. G. M. A. The Forest Service says that they generally use mountain pine, walnut and basswood. g. VBVhy is a hog immune to poison? A. They are not immune to poison. ‘Their comparative immunity lies in the fact that they have very thick skins underlain by a thick layer of fat. For this reason poison often fails to pene- trate to the blood stream of a hog at- tacked by a poisonous snake or in some other way subjected to poison. Q. How does & Maxim silencer work? —G. B. A The National Rifie Association says that it works on the same prin- screwed on the muzzle of the gun: This tube consists of series of these pictures synchronizes approxi- | frozen solid for months, but were in | edible The United States Q. Who is King of Norway, of Swe= den and of Denmark?—P. E. K. A, Hsakon VII is King of Norway, Gustaf V of Sweden and Christian X of Denmark. Q. Please give description of the old —JMI pl?l RSVH packet Robert E. Lee. A. The famous Robert E. Lee was bullt by Capt. John W. Cannon. It was 300 feet long, 44 feet beam, 10-foot hold, having two engines with a 10-foot ¢ piston stroke and a cylinder of 40-inch bore. She carried eight boilers 32 T long by 42 inches, and her side wheels of 38 feet ciameter had buckets 16'y feet long. Q What hippocampus?—H. E. A. It is & small nsh, commanly known as a seahorse. Q. How was the first line put across the Niagsra Gorge to start the first lu?enswu briage:—W. 8. T. . Theodore G. Hulett, who super- vised Lhebcg:trucuon % "l:u first 1.m“:- pension_bridge across ara, relates that & premium of $10 was offered to the first boy who shoyld successfully fly over the gorge his kite string and fasten its ends to @ tree on either side. A boy named Homan Walsh, & resident of Lineoln, Nebr., was successful. The fol- lowing day a stronger line was drawa over by the kite siring and then a rope of sufiicient strength to haul over the iron cable. By means of this rope the iron cable was carried across and its ends secured to the solid rock. It g:ud the gorge 5 miles above Lewis- Q. Who first used the anesthetic calied avertin?—S. K. A. It was introduced in Germany by Willstaedter and Dinsberg in the Sum- mer of 1936, to be used alone for rectal anesthesia. Q. What is jugged hare?—C. R. A. It was criginally hare or rabbit stewed in a jug or jar. The term is now applied to & method of canning rabbit or hare. It is cooked with bacon, flour, onion, spices and water, then sealed in cans. Q. How long does it take to cut a diamond?—C. E. 8. A. A definite answer cannot be given. Diamond cutting is very laborious and requires great skill and care. The steps diamond cutting are, first, cleavage or division; second, wmn&;‘flnrd. pol- ishing. It took nine months to cut the great Cullinan diamond. Q. How many people can the Do-X carry_comfortably?—K. McG. A. This giant plane carried 169 per- sons in a test flight over Lake n- stance, Switzerland. The plane has three decks and can provide comfort- able accommodations for 100 persons. Q. When a time is given at the North or South Pole, what time is it in Lon- don cr New York?—L. 8. ciple as an auto muffier. The is | the inside which extends ‘British Tai'i,tf Possibilities Figure in Cabinet Appraisals Americans express admiration for the caliber of the new British cabinet, and interest centers on the ts. of tariff felt islation. It is generally that in lgh matter they will “make baste slowly” and that h internal “odd:r:'t:ml conditions will make for me k. “The cal is truly national In its the members own disposition to !hlthwnflflm‘ed The Rochester tribute that the b skill and their kn work wlmen in 8 very g Times-Union pays the premier “has shown shows a broad recognat plexities of the task ahead.’ “A desire on all sides to establish a truly ‘national’ government” is recog- nized by the Worcester Telegram, with the comment on policies: “In this coun- try we believe in the principle of the protective tariff and in the iple of preparedness. But when other nations show 1 enthusiasm for these same , we are inclined to believe is _possible to overdo such . The Savannah Morning News declares: “MacDonald formed a coalition government which =~ most students of British affairs believe to be the most wonderful group of leaders known for a century in one cabinet. How long that body will work together remains to be seen. But the election itself was a protest against partisan- ship and a plea for united and unselfish political service in a crisis.” Absence of some “outstanding Con- servatives” from the personnel is ob- served by the Chattanooga Times, which adds: “Whether they were passed over because of their extreme views and un- compromising dispositions, or whether they felt they would not be at ease in a mixed cabinet the public is left to surmise.” The Toronto Daily Star finds “no evidence that the preponderance of Conservatives in Parliament has in- fluenced the bestowal of the important Dortfolios.” As to other influences, the Houston Chronicle thinks 1t possible that “some amicable arrangement can be made by which the badly scattered remnants of the oppcsition can be welded into a cohesive parliamentary unit.” 1 “The King's speech, read to the as- sembled Lords and Commons,” accord- ing to the Philadelphia Evening Bulle- tin, “is no more definite as to the actual measures which the national government proposes to sponsor than the previcus declarations of Mr. Mac- Donald. The government, having re- ceived from the electorate ‘unfettered discretion’ as to measures designed to affect economies, balance the budget, restore a favorable balance of trade and re-establish confidence in British fi- nancial stability, is studying proposals to that end which will later be sub- mitted in the form of bills.” “There is a question,” in the opinion of the Chicago Daily News, “as to what ultimately may bescome of non-Con- servative members of the cabinet who “Japan's Spe- - are unwilling to enforce Tory programs for protccugn and a strong hand in India, but for the preséent the leaders seem content with moderate policies. i :m' igh-protectionist country e anif was' o talking point “The was a for many of the candidates,” mmwge New York Herald Tribune, “but the actual task of tariff making in a ccun- try where so large a proportion of the essential raw materials is imported is bound to be a very delicate one. More- over, the conservatives are still much divided themselves on basic issues of fiscal pclicy, and as long as the country has an effective 25 per cent tariff, owing to the fall of the pound, thereis obvious wisdom in making haste slowly. This protectionist effect will, of course, diminish as internal prices tend to re- adjust themselves, but the interval could well be spent in studying its pre- cise effects. Experiment in the mean- while can confine itself to ‘anti-dump- ing measures.’ " * * % As to the effect of tariff in Great Britein, the Oakland Tribune draws the conciusion: “Presumably the raw ma- terials on which her mnulacturlnfe_u based—cotton and iron, for exam will be left on the free list or with & very light burden. But automobiles, electrical equipment, texiiles and many other manufactured goods will be given heavy dutles to encourage either British capital in enlarging its manufacturing operations or the influx of foreign capi- tal to finance such manufacturing with British labor. As, of course, no export tax will ever be part of the system, British gocds will go out as freely as they have ever done before and will only be hindered by the tariffs of other nations.” Considering the make-up of the cabi- net, the Lousville Courier-Journal sees “protection only fcr key industries, or 2 moderate revenue tariff.” The Provi- dence Bulletin observes the creation of ;l: stron cl:bm';"bgg'( n;\e whilg't has e y of estroyed over the m‘m issue.” The mlum};re Sun declares: “The new government may be duroud to go slow on tariff legislation, not only because of the general argu- ments against a protective policy for England, but also because of the par- ticularly disastrous results that might icllow the application of such a policy at @ time when Germany is still largely dependent on English trade for its eco- nomic sustenance.” Quo Teports of a proposed “recipe rocal preferential arrangement between England and the British dominions,” the Rockford Register-Republic as- serts: “It would tend to give Canada a more distinct advantag: than she now has over the United States in trade with the British Isles. Canada's stand- ing offer to England of a 10 per cent differential on present tariffs against American and other imports may be accepted, meaning that American goods entering Caneda or Great Britain would pay a 10 per cent higher duty than those frcm the preferred country. Movement of American factories to Canada would increase as a result of such an arrang=ment, it is believed in Washington, and bigger manufacturers may be expected to establish tories in the British Isles as well —_— e Wrong Vehicles. From the Miami Daily News. The trouble with so many of these police drives on crime is that they are not conducted in patrol wagons. — e Inexhaustible. From the Charleston (S. C.) Evening Post. ‘The Suwanee River may be in danger of drying up, but s0 long as the radio crooni it is in no danger Harmony or Enmity. Prom the Sioux City Journal. Yes, but if Democratic leaders suc- ceed in of harmony among party chieftains, how’s the rest of the country going to love Gov. Roose- velt for the enemies he has made? natignal Leg s Tur tung Leased Territory.” urisgletionsda the Boutt Mancharia 3 e nc! \ From the Rosnoke Times. "'flure‘l-n 40,000,000 widows in India. . 0 worder the country is in a'state of )