Evening Star Newspaper, December 14, 1931, Page 8

A8 THE EVENING STAR ‘With Sunday Mornln‘_E(llllon. WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY.....December 14, 1831 Editor THEODORE W. NOYES.. The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office :r St and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t Chicaro Office: Lake Michigan Building. European Office: 14 Regent ., London, nglan Rate by Carrier Within the City. e !vl'n'\nl !llrfi' Hav s(..yl.’lc per month inda ':"l Fi‘vr:‘“ ":u. days) S 60c per month The Evening and Sunday ar (w 5 nd: ) 65c per month & Eiday Bt Ter copy 5c Cotlection made at the end of each month Quders may be gent in by mail or telephone NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable In Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Datly and Sunday.....1yr.$10.00: 1 mo. 85c Bindas ony 1A 3ee 4000 1 mo. doc All Other States and Cammda. 7...1yr. 31200 1 mo.. 1yr.. $800; 1mo. $5.00: 1 mo.. aily and Sunday g isc aily only sl y Bunday 1y 80c only Member of the Associated Press. The Acsociated Press is exclusively ertitled o the ‘use fo: republication of all news d:s- atches credited 1o it or not otherwise cred- ted in this paper and also the local news ublished herein Ebecial dispatchies hereln are also reserved. pe= == The Moratorium Delay. When President Hoover succecded in bringing about a year's suspension of intergovernmental debt payments I Summer in an effort to prevent a finan cial debacle it was realized that the American Congress, convening Decem- ber 7, would probably not put through legislation making the moratorium ef- fective in this country by December 15, the date on which interest payments are due. The fecling that the Congress would not act within that limited time has been justified. The result will be that the foreign governments owing the United States debts growing out of the World War will be technically in de- fault if they do not make interest pay- ments tomorrow. It is not expected that these governments will make the pay- ments. And President Hoover either has informed these governments, or will do so0, that they should not be subject to riticism under all the circumstances. In view of the world-wide acceptance of the moratorium last Summer, and the haste with which America acclaimed the plan advanced by President Hoover, it would, indeed, be strange if the United States now should undertake to| level a finger of scorn at Great Britain, France and other debtor nations if the; do not come forward with interest pay- at this time. dent Hoover went ahead with rium suggestion after he ha with leading Democrats and Re- ans in Congress and had as- surances from them that he would have their support in the matter. A few voices were raised in protest, among them that of Representative Garner of Texas, now Speaker of the House; Senator Hiram Johnson of California and Senator McKellar of Tennessee. But it was generally agreed that the moratorium plan was excellent and calculated to relieve a desperate sit-: uat ongress is entitled to the facts and all information obtainable for guidance in its action on any legislation. It should have all the facts rcgarding the moratorium before it puts through the resclution. It will have them, as in- deed, the country has had most of them for a long time. The Congress is entitled to a reasonable time in which to act upon important matters such as this. But delay for delay’s sake on a measure in the United States is a different propo- sition. Even delay for the sake of polities under such a set of circum- stancss is not desirable. morat m legislation ted by leaders of both parties at the is to go through. i Capitol, the of critics vehicle of attack upon Hoover administration. Instead promptly, administration waste time declaiming about the failure | of the President to call Congress to gether earlier in order to act on th moratorium. Congress can act quickly | when it wishes, but not when a political | point is to be made against the Exccutive. Predictions have been made by House and Senate leaders that the meratorium resolution will be disposed of perhaps by the close of the next week. The House, under its rules, can act quickly once a mcasure is reported. In the Senate, the situation s vastly different, with a rule of unlimited debate. e ‘The Frince of Wales is to be formally and urgently invited to the approacl ing Olympic games and the British- American dual meet which will follow. Most people will be surprised at the extreme moderation and lack of enter- prise of the Los Angeles boosters. Why not ask all four of King George's sons to run as a relay team? - Japan Goes Off Gold. Taking a leaf, almost exactly three months later, from the book which Great, Britain opened to an astonished 1yr. $600: 1 mo.. 80c | All rights of publication of | . trict Committee are significant. olving the good faith of | it is pre- | But ap- | parently the measure is to be made the ! acting | will | paralysis, and that the outlook for il future is gloomy in the extreme. It will be interesting to observe whether the Inukal government will conclude that the pulling in of Japan's imperialistic horns in Manchuria should be & consistent accompaniment of the island empire's economic retrench- ment. There is slender hope of this in the Tokio report that the successors of the Wakatsuki-Shidehara cabinet are bent upon ‘consolidating Japan’s posi- tion” in the occupied region of China. There are even suggestions that as soon as the flurry incidental to the abandon- ment of the gold standard is over fresh {military maneuvers in Manchuria, aimed at driving Chang's army out of Chinchow, will be set in motion. Per- haps there will be an outery in Japan against expensive militaristic adventures while the nation's economics are so gravely awry. v A Frank Statement. It is with real regret that the retire- ment of Senator Vandenberg of Michigan from the Senate District Committee is noted, for the Senator has shown him- self to be a sympathetic and energetic worker for the residents of this com- munity. The unrepresented taxpayers of the Capital need such men on the |committees to which are intrusted ! measures directly affecting thelr welfare. The reasons prempting Senator ndenberg’s retirement from the Dis- “I have | requested release from the committee because of my inability to find time in the midst of my other responsibilities,” he writes, “to give affairs of the District | the attention they deserve. Without going into the question whether the District ought to have complete autonomy, at least the Commissioners ' ought to have an autonomy that would | take care of all purely administrative | functions.” The Senator is to be commended for his candor. Everybody realizes | the heavy responsibilities that fall to | the members of Congress as the repre- sentatives of the constituents who send them here, and as members of the |legiclative body directing national {policy in national affairs. There cfin! ibe no complaint against the member | who states with Senator Vandenberg's, frankness that these responsibilities and | the press of duties they incur prevent their attention to the District of Co- | mbia. The real complaint is against | those members of Congress who feel | what Senator Vandenberg has been, honest enough to admit, but who con- tinue to go through the motions of |giving “affairs of the District the at-| tention they deserve” without really | loing it “The affairs of the District are far too important to be a mere by-product of the spare time of a Senator or Rep- | | resentative,” says Senator Vandenberg But he, and everybody else, knows that unfortunately that is what they ! have come to be. With a few such' notable exceptions as Senator Capper, to whom Senator Vandenberg pays a just tribute for his faithfulness to his dutles as chairman of the Senate Dis- | trict Committee, the large majority of | | members of both houses of Congress| treat District affairs as a rather tire- some detail, to be considered when and if there is spare time afforded by an interlude in the consideration of other | matters. And there is also the small minority that chooses to seek promi- | nence by adoption of petty and bully- | ragging tactics toward the politically impotent members of the District com- munity, an attitude that is possible for those who have been given a tempo- | rary position of authoriiy, and who are | notably unfitted to gain any other sort | of prominence. A partial remedy may lie in giving' to the Commissioners more authority | for the transaction of routine adminis- | trative duties. Their lack of such au- therity is absurd. But even possessing such authority, there is no guarantee that the relief from routine thereby provided for the legislators at the| | Capitol would gain for the people of the District any tangible benefit. Cer- | tainly a partial transfer or delegation f authority in minor matters from the | Congress to the Commissioners would | serve as no substitute for the right of the Americans who live and pay taxes in the District of Columbia to be rep- resented, according to the American tradition, in the councils of their rulers. v When the Yale varsity squad hu‘ | its annual picture taken another player | will substitute tor ailing Capt. A]ber'.l | Booth and hold the ball. Later a view {of “Alble’s” head will be superimposed. | 1t is probable that scme excellent cap- tains of punk teams would view this | | substitution stunt with favor, and without any subsequent changes. | ) — Santa Claus Up-to-Date. | “1 am glad to give a blanket assur- | ance that Santa Claus is just as warm of heart as ever, and I believe the chil- | dren will find that he is becoming some- what less muddle-headed.” This state- | ment is made by Theodore S. Dowst, ! the president of the Toy Manufacturers of the U. 8. A, Inc. The members of | this association are the manufacturing , agents of Santa Claus. The dear old | | Va THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., MONDAY. DECEMBER 14, 1931. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, able for Santa Claus’ distribution & few nights hence, stands as & sclentific product calculated to give the greatest Joy. All that remains is to see that Sants Claus is fully equipped, to be- stow his blessed bounty upon every child, and especially upon the children who are in greatest need of such at- tention, those whose parents, caught in the stress of the prevailing depression, cannot act as proxy for the driver of the reindeers. B — Put on Your Tags. The District Commissioners have acted wisely in their recent decision to allow the motorists of Washington to place their 1932 license tags upon their automobiles as soon as they obtain them. There was no reason for any delay, and the appearance of these new markers upon the street will stimulate other motorists to act quickly in pro- curing them. The order of the Commissioners fol- lows two previous edicts of the Traffic Department. At first it was stated that the tags could not be used until the first of the year. The envelopes con- taining the new tags now bear that di- rection. Later, but not in time to change the printing on the envelopes, an order was issued that the license plates would be legal on and after De- cember 15, Maryland permits the affixing of the new tags December 15 and Virginia January 1. So the District of Columbia takes the lead. The 1931 licenses may | be used by automobile owners during the month of January provided that a certificate of title has been obtained. No 1932 tag may be obtained without & title of ownership. it It was thought that America had been high-hatted by British lecturers, but the national chapeau is off to a Prof. Solomon Kwartkin, who told Manhattan, en masse: “If you have the education of a normal youth you should be able to understand the Ein- stein theory.” Possibly he takes his own first name too seriously. STt Eu A colored preacher down in Georgia, disappointed at the collection, whipped out a big revolver and passed the plate azain, with results highly gratifying to himself. Probably many a pastor of a great and prominent church has at one time or another thought longingly of similar technique. S e SR A New York giant professionsl foot ball player is said to be able to tear a pack ot playing cards into sixteenths with his bare hands. There will be a job for him around the Hotel Chatham before the bridge tourney is concluded, according to present indications. e vee Former Mayor “Bossy” Gillis of New- buryport, Mass, now seems happily headed for that limbo which houses “Coal Oil Johmny,” “Butch McDevitt" and “The Man Who Struck Billy Patterson.” s In recent years Speakers of the House have been “Jack,” “Nick.” “Joe," “Tom," ete. ever called Henry Clay “Hen." “Hank” or e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Thoughtless Intrusions. My Uncle Jim's a wonder in his own especial line. He has a way o talkin' that's excep- tionally fine; But folks is disappointed when they call around his way An' ask him if he thinks that it's a-goin’ to rain today. Of course he could inform 'em if he really cared to try, An' interrupt his train o’ thought by lookin' at the sky. But his mind is allus busy with a na- tion’s discomtent. His specialty is tellin’ how to run the government. It's queer how people seek to use— they never hesitate— An' intellect like his fur questions of such trifiin’ weight. They ask him how to run a farm; they really git that bold: An how to tell when crops kin be most profitably sold. If Uncle Jim had keered to notice all that sort o' thing. He'd have a farm himself an’ all the profit it might bring. But if you want to git a talk that's truly eloquent, Jes' step around an’ ask him how to run the government. Price of Politeness. “Politeness costs nothing.” “I don't know about that.” replied Senator Sorghum. “The way one of the most unpopular men in my district insists on giving three cheers for me is likely to cost me a lot of votes.” Already Knew Some of It. “Johnny,” said the small boy's mother, “I want you to stay home all afterncon and learn the Declaration of Independence by heart.” “I'll have to if you insist. But the idea doesn't lipe up with my ideas of world ir September. Japan has NOW | gentleman has had to go in for mass' life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- abandoned gold as a basis for her cur- rency. As in Great Britain, the govern- ment’s action—the first step taken by the new Inukai cebinet—is frankly a mrasure of urgent necessity, dictated by the country's desperate economic c on. Behind the screen of more spectacular events in Manchuria, Japanese finances | have been drifting steadily from bad to worse. To prevent crisis from becoming dicaster, the government suspend the gold standard, impose an embargo on export, of the precious metal and close the country’s stock exchanges temporarily. The Inukai ministry evi- ~ently expects that its sudden and @rastic action will stem the economi~ tide before a more catastrophic situation is precpitated. Japan lifted her embargo on gold exports on November 1, 1930, appar- ently feeling that the worst was over. But since then 510,000,000 ven, or approx mately $255.000.000, has left the coun- try. More than half of it disappea during the past two and a half month ‘The drain obviously was assuming per- ilous proportions. The government de- cree aboliching the gold stendard dces not mince words. It sets forth that Japan's economic affairs are at an un- precedented impasse; that revenue has diminished to a dangerous point: that the budget is now unbalanced; that InG@try s suffering from creeping decided to ' s | production in recent years, and now he | has done the up-to-date thing by hav- ing the children of his far-flung realm !pub through an unconscious examina- | tion with regard to their tastes and standards. An organized “toy project” was instituted, involving a year's study of the reacticns of children to the play- things with which they were provided. Quite in line with the modern methods of investigation, this was a scientific re- rch into the ps_chology of the child | in relation to its toys. Quantities of | playthings were taken from the shelves of a great departinent store and were actually sent to school, where, under the walchful eyes of experts, the chil- dren examined their toys and by their preferences and uses of them estab- lished standards and classifications and ratin-s of everylhing from blocks to compi.cated mechanisms, It was learned, for example, that there is a progressive ccler preicience among growing chil- iren. starting with yellow in infancy ond passing through red at the age of ! four to blue at six. This enalysis has guided the manu- fa:turers In providing Santa Claus with a stancar., wkich is es neary as piss.bie swiiad to mect the tartes of all ages of children &nd to give them th> maximum of wholesome impetus in constructive amusement. The children, in short, have been psychoanalyzed, as it were, and today's toys and playthings, avail- | | nes: Diversions. As we travel life's road long and hilly We wonder why under the sun Ancther man's fun seems so silly While our own silly pastimes seem fun. Appreciation of a Prodigy. “Bliggins is still talking about the bright things his boysays.” “Well, I envy him. It must be great to have a boy who entertains himself thinking of bright things instead of banging on the cellar door with a board or experimenting with a shotgun.” — A Reminder. “A baby reminds mie of poetry,” said the sentimentalist. “Yes," answered the man of family. “It reminds me of poetry, too; espe- cially when it is inclined to be bad end you have to walk the floor com- posing it.” Forbeararnice. The hunter spares the tiny bird, But not because his song is sweet. 5 real reason, we have heard, Is that it isn't good to eat. ‘“Talkin’ ‘bout de silver linin’ in dec clrud,” suid Uncle Eben, “ain’ g'ineter be much comfort to ce man dat’s han- kerin’ foh & few mo' thicknesses in his overconk” . It is a bet that no one| ‘What the countryside needs is a good snow. Nature has never been able to beat her snow for putting a great deal of Wwater into the soil. Even the hardest rains often will not do it. The harder it rains the more water runs off. If it happens that the soll is baked, almost all of a severe rainfall will sluice away down sewers or into natursl run- ways. It takes a good snow, a foot or so deep, to really put much water into dry ground, such as now prevails. Those interested in things horticul- tural realize that a drought has existed for at least four months, and that na- ture has done very little to relieve the | situation Th earth is dry all the way down. The “water table,” as the underlying Mmolsture content of the soil is called, has never been replenished since the drought of 1930. The prevailing shorter (and less pub- licized drought) in reality is the same dry spell, broken by a strange interlude of rainfall during the Spring and early Summer. | weather. * oK K % Now, nothing will make up for it like a good, deep snow. Whether this is advisable from an economic standpoint has nothing to do with it. Nature knows nothing of eco- nomics. To her, curious mother, a starving man is no different from a well fed one. Nor does she seem to care much whether her horticultural offspring fare well or {ll. Her rains and snows are inot sent because of them, seemingly. | Nor are her droughts directed against them. There is no moral government of the universe from the viewpoint of plants. (Plants have no viewpoint? Who says they haven't?) They know nothing and are nothing except in relation to the earth in which they live. Without soll and moisture around their roots hey tend to expire, but they must take the sofl as they find it. We, mobile plants, must take life as it is, too; but we do a great deal of protesting. Perhaps the plant is fortunate, per- haps it isn't; but, anyway, it takes life as it comes. A tree just stands there in the earth, solidly rooted, and if the wind blows it bends its branches and waits for the wind to pass. Or the wind blows its branches ani passes, as one prefers. Dry weather or wet weather, plant suffers or expands. nothing , but it knows | Those who love the growing things in the soil, whether trees or potatoe: evergreens or orchids, believe that they rejoice after some fashion in a wet day It is happiness to such people to sit |in a window and look cut at the yard | bathed in mist. Remaining greens look greener, tree bark is darker, sofl colors are richer. Dirt is not dirt now; it is the life blood of this teeming vege- jtation which clothes the world. | What an odd thought of God plants are, to be sure. Even in the wildest creams of imaginatite writers have not appeared anything 5o fantastic as a weeping willow tree. The young poet trled hard to put this idea into verse, and despite the dulling of the poem's beauty by repetition one may think that he succreded. A willow, still green, waves its de- clining tendrils in the slight wind of First Winter. The raindrops ruffle them still more. This is that recently rare thing, a rainy cay. and the one at the window is happy for it. the 1t knows everything. BY FREDERIC Men can be heard saying that if Herbert Hoover only had the 7heo- | dore Roosevelt temperament, he would have the country cheering him and | backing him up 100 per cent at this | troubled hour. They don't mean that Mr. Hoover should be out on Pennsyl- vania avenue brandishing the big | stick and generally raising the devil | Men have rather in mind the Presi- dent's lack of emotional power, his ignorance of showmanship and his reliance upon cold facts to win causes In other words, the White House need of the hour is a little drama with a reasonable accompaniment of red fire. Well, Mr. Hoover simply isnt bullt that way. His policy is to state his g0 at that. It is not his method to step out in front and plead persua- sively. Besides, he knows he is not gifted with the silver tongue that such |gram for winding up depression—a convincing tabulation of the measures the administration has already insti- tuted or is now recommending. Only a biated critic of the President can claim it is not a constructive, concrete and comprehensive plan. It would easily lend itself to spectacular pro- | motion. But Herbert Hoover seems satisfied to let it speak for itself. In the din reverberating through Wash- 12 points need to be thundered to be heard. Rt vy Senator Moses, who is about to suffer the experience of wisecracking himself out of a job, is declared by his friends to be the victim of men who owe him much. Progressives, the vanishing President pro tem.'s admirers point out, are, like republics, an ungrateful lot. Senator Moses served twice as chair- man of the Senatorial Campaign Com- mittee. His job in successive cam- palgns was to keep the Senate safe for IRepubHcanL\m. In pursuance of that i “wild jackass” country doing every- thing he could to re-elect men who wore the official G. O. P. label, no matter how Progressive they were. Even Brookhart, whose name blacklisted grateful memories of what Moses did for him in a critical hour. Moses doesn't claim that any of the Western | Progressives particularly owe their elec- them. But he does contend that he always played their game, practically without exception. and usually in de- fianee minagement's preferences, * K kX Joe Tumulty, who may become a United States Senator from New Jer- sey if he isn't careful, loves practical jckes. The Washington law office of ! Woodrow Wilson's right-hand man is | the rendezvous of fellow Democrats, who gather to lick their chops over the impending collapse of the Repub- lican party and other things they see when they are crystal gazing. Not long ago Senators Pat Harrison of Missis- sippi and Burton Wheeler of Montana dropped in for a visit. Tumulty's sec- retary announced that “Mr. Tumulty is in conference with Mr. Baker." Presently Joe emerged from his pri- vate office, and, affecting an air of gravity, said: “Excuse me just a min- vte, boys. I've got Baker in here.” Al agog over a supposedly weighty 1932 presidential pow-wow, Harrison end Wheeler waited for Tumulty's re- apnearance. A moment later he came ont and presented his crony Ray Baker of Nevada, former director of the mint! * ok % Guests at the recent White House diplomat’c reception were particularly interested in a handsome couple ob- served dancing in the east room after the presidential party had taken its departure and the bzll was on. The couple consisted of Col. Ulysses S. Grant, 3d, and Representative Ruth Bryan Owen — grandson of a former President of the United States and daughter of a man thrice nominated for that office. Tall, good looking and graceful, they were & striking twain. | In short, we are behind in wet | case, emphasize its strong points, in- | vite consiceration of them, and let it | tactics require. Take his 12-point pro- | ington and the coun'ry just now the | duty. Moses coursed up and down the like | Norris. Borah, Johnson, Frazier. Nye, Norbeck, Couzens, Howell, McNary and cvery other candidate for the Senate| among Republican stalwarts, cherishes | tions to_what his committee did for of the stand-pat Republican | | | Were the trees and the bushes and the shrubs and the perennials glad be- cause of the recent slight snow, which melted away almost immediately into the ground? They should have been. If a tree had a brain, if a shrub had eyes, if a bush had ears, each and every one of them would rejoice when rain drips down through their branches. Rain is & bath and a dinner at one and the same time for the growing things with roots in the ground. Every twig is washed clean of dust g0 that it can breathe again. The dust of the Summer is awe’fl: away and the old bark once more is & condition to function. ‘What if the Winter is at hand, when the precious green matter has with- drawn into the recesses and the precious yellow matter has come to the front and the precious red matter is long lost in the leaves which have fallen? The tree and the shrub must remem- ber, if they can remember (and let us not be too sure that they cannot) that they are wise with the wisdom of the ages, that 8pring will come again and convert them once more to greenness and luscious burgeoning. * ook A big, slushy snow which melted slowly but not too tardily would be just the thing for the entire countryside. What a word—"countryside”! 1t brings up plctures of rail fences, and long curving roads, and flelcs with stubble in them, and ice covering the rudimentary gutters, country gutters unworthy of cities, but doing very well where they are, thank you. ‘The countryside is a slice of the great | earth, brought down to our little di- | mensions. There are too many houses | in the city to see the world. It is diffi- cult to see the world, even when one is |out in the country. In the city the | thing is impossible. The street lamps | are in the way of the sky and the gice- | walks of the earth. One cannot tell if the earth curves or not, because the lines of the curbs are so straight. In the country all that is changed On an open road in the Autumn it is as easy to belleve that the world is shaped like an orange as it is to hold firmly to the conviction in the back rt of one’'s mind that it surely is flat, after all. * o ok % It the Winter is wet, as many hope it will be, no one should be irritated, no one should repine, no one should be sulky about it. If Winter comes soggy and damp, there are millions of living things which will be benefited. A uple of deep snows would do the ter table” great deal of goo:. ‘The amateur horticulturist ,likes to think of the underlying water table, as the meteor-logists call it, as a rich banquet board spread for all plant life. At first blush one might ba inclined to think of it as a cupboard, where the plants get their nourishment, but in reality it is a table, spread there for the benefit of those things which must take up their food in soluticn. A plant does not eat chemical ele- ments, but rather drinks them. With- | out water all the fertlity in the whole world would be useless to a single grow- ing thing. Surface water is supremely better than none at all, but it is upon the water table that the plants must draw in the last resource, as these under- lying strata of moisture are drawn up, Tepeating the ceaseless cycle of evap- oration and condensation A big snow—yes, a big snow—is what | the countryside needs. | WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS WILLIAM WILE. When the District Women's Organization P.ohibition Reform stages its rally in Washington Wednesday night, it will hear from one of the new darlings of the wet bloc in the House. He is Rep- resentative Ralph A. Horr of Wash- ington. who captured the Seattle dis- trict in 1930 as an out-and-out Re- publican foe of prohibition. Mr. Horr tempted fate by running in Senator Wesley A Jones' home constituency., but carried it by 11.500 majority. He's a young World War veteran, having served with the Army of Occupation in Germany. Once upon a time he was graduate manager of athletics at the University of Washington, which breeds glant oarsmen as its sports specialty. * oxoxox Council of the for National Former Senator Joseph E. Ransdell of Louisiana, for 13 yaars president of the National Rivers and Harbors Con- gress. has just been ousted from that Job His undoing has just been accom- nlished at Washington by a group led P}' James M. Thompson of New Or- leans (Champ Clark's son-in-law) and a group of Chicagoans. Representative Frank R. Reid of Illinois was elected to succeed Ransdell, who is now presi- | dent emeritus of the congress, dubbed | by the irreverent in times past as cus- todlan in chief of the pork barrel. Mr. Ransdell was completely surprised by his dethronement. The veteran legis- lator was persuaded a year ag> to re- tain the presidency, when his own pref- | erence was {o devote himself to the National Institute of Health. of which be is the head When Ransdell learnad there was a fight to put him out of the Rivers and Harbors presidency he re- fused to dodge it by voluntary retire- ment. The ostensible reason for elect- ing Reid in his place was that a Northerner, a younger man and a Re- publican is needed. ok ok W. Thornton, Indiana-born ht and president of the Canadian Natlonal Railways, has just been in Washington. He came to pay an annual call of respects upon the Interstate Commerce Commission, The C.N. R. is under the I. C. C.'s Jjurisdic- tion to the extent of several hundred miles of road which the Canadian line owns in the Northern United States, Thornton, who stands 6 feet 5 inches in his stocking feet, and was once a glant foot ball guard at the University of Pennsylvania, recently told the Ameri- can railway executives some plain truths at their annual meeting in At- lantic City. He evidently doesn't think the plight of the railroads in the United States is wholly due to the depression. | (Copyrizht, 1031) o Sir Henry British knig] |Gold Abandonment by U. S. Held Impossible To the Editor of The Star: Referring to the bear rumors in New York that the United States will 20 off the gold standard. let me ask how it is possible for this to take place when the United States on August 31, 1931 had $628,843,708 more gold coin and bullion_than all its paper currency put together, including gold notes, stlver notes. national bank and reserve notes and greenbacks, with half dollars, quar- ters, dimes and pennies thrown in for good measure? To get off the gold standard we would have to sink or give away a billion or two of gold. JEREMIAH JOHNSON. o Not Invincible. From the Worcester Dsfly Telegram. With apologies to Lincoln, it can be truthfu'ly said that a top-notch foot ball team can beat some of its op- ponents all cf the time, and all of its opponents some of the time, but it cannot beat all of its opponents all of the time. —— v e Poets at the Mike. From the Columbus Ohio State Journal. Most of the men who read poetry over the radio always adop! dropping tone of voice as though a. away, al parently The Political Mill By G. Gould Lincoln. ‘The Republican National Committee tomorrow will select a city for the next Republican National Convention and determine the date of the convention. The Executive Committes meets this afternoon to hear reports of the execu- tive director, Robert H. Lucas, and probably of ‘the treasurer, Joseph R. Nutt of Cleveland. The Republican leaders, many of whom have already arrived in Wash- ington, realize that they have a stiff proposition befare them to carry the country next mear. They admit that there has been a great deal of dissatis- faction of one kind or another. within the ranks of the G. O. P. itself, dis- satisfaction which is traceable to the busine:: depression which has held the country in its grip for more than two years. Up to the present, they have no Pprogram for removing this dissatisfac- tion. But they hope that when the campaign - actually gets under way mlnqs will brighten up for the party. That's about as far as any of them 80 in their private conversations in the way of hopeful comment. For pub- lication they talk more boldly of carry- ing the country. * X% % At present it looks as though the G. O. P. was rather badly dilor:lnlnd and needed a lot of tightening up in the lines if its to get anywhere next year. Too many of the party leaders, as they are called, are groping arcund, hoping for something to turn up. Some of them talk of the possibility of Presi- dent Hoover gracefully retiring from the race and making it possible for the G. O. P. to nominate another candi- date, one who has been under fire less since the depression set in. Others are wondering who they could nominate in such circumstances and suggest it might be ible to draft former President Coolidge And still others are discuss- ing the wet and dry problem, which threatens to split the Republican party as well as the Democratic. What the Republican Progressives of the West are BOINE to do in the nex another PULZIC gelticampsiengls oo The sanest advice which given the Republicans is that get Sbout their differences a WOrk to present a solfd f believes that it fons fight over the is being they for- nd get to No one meigar(l,:' fnsages in a presidential nomina there will be the slightest chlnceu%? electing a President in 1932, Mr. Hoover has given no indication that he lnuflds to issue an "I do not choose to run” statement, despite the fact that the possibility of such a statement is !n:]:‘:d{hlbgu} The Democrats seem to e the bulge today in th - tional election. i bl T wide open over the presidential nomi- nation, the victory of the Democrats will be assured, acccrding to the Re- publican leaders who have given the matter a lot of thought k54 * tional convention of a party since 1920 when the G. O. P. met there and nominated the late President Harding, is favored by many of the Republican nationa] committee: men for the convention city. The Windy City has a powerfu] argument in its -contest for the convention, hard cash to offer. These are lean da for campaign chests. An offer of § 000, which it is expected will be made by Chicago, with no strings etiached, may turn the trick. FPurihermore, a lot of the | committee men and womcen beleve that Chicago offers the best place for the convention, gecgraphically and from the point of view of accommodaticns, _The Republican National Conven- tions have been in the habit of meet- ing in the first half of June. with the Democrats assembling a week or so later. It is expected therefore, that G. O. P. hosts will be called together as usual bofore June 15, next year., to :n]);nn‘;lte lh};;r candidates for President T ce President an platform, S ARG * ok ok X approaching when presi- acies vill have to come In the early Spring | The time dential cand into tha open | presidential prefes i begin Frankl has refused to admit for publicatio, lhax_ he is a candidate for ?hehx)zt:n: cratic presidential nomination, insist. ing that he is interestod only in one . thing. the handling of the executive | business of the State of New York { None of the other presidential pos- stbilities on the Democratic side have formally announced their intentions re- | garding the nomination Al Smith is as sphinxlike as a Vice President of | the United States when presiding over | that body. One man on the Republican side has spoke out, Vice President | Curtls, who has said’ that he will run | for Vice President again if the nomina. | tion 15 tendered him, and that he will [not be a candidate for the senatorial | nomination in Kansas. That's that and it is taken to indicate that Mr. |Curtis has no doubt whatever that President Hoover is to be to succeed himself. o e lican, former Senator land, has declared hi; for the G. O. P. pry | tion against Mr. Hoo headquarters , doing what he | faction with “ administration. by Republicans | munition 1n the | France of Mary- mself a candidate esidential nomina- ver. He has opcned in Washington and is € can to stir up dissatis- the President and his It is such movements which place added am- | e hands of the Demo- crats. the Hoover supporters say. Some | Of the Progressives have been angling to get Senator Hiram Johnson of Cali- fornia to throw his hat in the ring ggl;,!ge nomination. But Senator J~an- 1 as not vet seizey et w d the bait dangled H * % xw The boom for the nomination for President of former Secretary of War Newton D. Baker is continuing among { Democrats. The Richmond, Va., News. Leader is out today with strong edi- | torfal under the heading: “Newton D. Ig;:{le"r: %T’r:)?.s il;)p; and Expecta- i e News-Leader ins | Mr. Baker ca N o the office of Chief Executive of the United States, and that he must an- swer the call whether it is what he personally wants to do or not. He is to be the Moses, the editorial asserts, to lead the country at this time of emergency. The editorial says, in part: “America has learned, in spite of Henry Cabot Lodge. that it cannot live alone. The ship is on fire, and no act of Congress can limit that fire to the forecastle. The passengers in the state cabins aft will not be saved from the deveuring flames by the fact that they paid more for their tickets than the one but a madman would attempt to deal with sueh a situation by doing nothing! “For many years, by the slow and cer- tain process of elimination, one man has emerged as pre-eminently fitted to time, Baker. “The issue is not one of partisan profit, but of national security. The re- turn to power of Democratic office- holders will not of itself correct the deep and deadly ills that now affect our Government and our people. It is not as a Democrat, but as a phophet and leader that Mr. Baker is called. He has no conception of the hosts of faithful citizens who, though nominally Republican, are turning to him and his and that man is Newton D. present despair. The magnitude of this crisis is emphasized as only once or twice before in our national history by the instinctive appeal of multitudes of unselfish Americans to a man who 'stag;{s above party for unselfish lead- ership.” How far this Baker boom will go it is impossible now to estimate. The South hes been considered a happy hunting ground for delegates to the next Democratic National Convention ready to support Gov. Rooscvelt. This voice from Virginia is raised now, not to support former Gov. Harry Flood Byrd out for a son of Ohlo. The Democrats It the Republicans split | Chicago, which has not had a na- | major political | Another Repub- | “has been called” to tike | unfortunates in the steerage, and no| be the servant of the Nation at this| leadership as the only solution for our } ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ‘This bureau does not give advice, but it gives free information on An{ sub- . Often to be accurately informed to be beyond the need of advice, and information is always valuable, whereas advice may not be. In using this serv- ice be sure to write clearly, state your | inquiry briefly, and inclose 2-cent stamp “or reply ponlfe Address The Evening I:tlr Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Q. Does any well known tennis player jump for service?—R. G. V. A. No tennis player jumps for the serve, According to the rules, at no time during the delivery of the serve— that is, from the taking up of the stance to the moment of impact of the racket and ball—may both feet be off the ground simultaneously. Q. How quickly has a Navy vessel been built?>—L. B. M. A. The Harraden, a destroyer, is one of the ships completed in the shortest time. It was three months and five days from the day the keel was laid until she was launched. Q. Did George Washington have god- children?—F. R. A. In 1747 Washington “was father to a child in baptism.” In 1748 | he was godfather to his niece, Frances {Lewls; in 1751 to his nephew, Fielding Lewis; in 1760 to another nephew, Charles Lewis. Q. How does a record for electrical transcription differ from the ordinary | phoncgraph record?>—W. W. L. | A. Electrical transcriptions are -1m|»“ lar to phonograph records and are re- produced electrically in the same man- | ner as a phonograph record would be on an elecrncnlly operated phonograph. | They approximate 16 inches in diam- eter, and are rotated at a speed of 33'; | {revolutions per minute, in contrast to | the 78 revolutions per minute, the speed for the standard phonograph record. resembling the ordinary phonograph record except for aize. They difler from phonograph records, however, in the manner of recording. in that the phonograph needle is placed near the center of the rccord, and as the record rotates the needle moves outward whercas the standard phonograph rec ord operates just the reverse, starting ward the center. Electrical transcrip- tions are made especially for broadcast- ing purposes, and are not offered for sale to the public. Q Where are the Ming tombs?— |8. B. A. They are near the town of Nan- kow, in China, Q. How man cock’s tail>—W. H. A. The tall consists of 18 feathers. | Q. Which did Milton prefer—“Par: | dise_Lost” or “Paradisé Regained’?— |H. E. W. A. The poet preferred the latter. Q. How can a windshield be given a good polish?—M. C. A. Use equal parts of denatured al- cohol and ether. Apply this mixture to | the glass with a clean woolen cloth. Rub briskly, then sprinkle with a little ! feweler's rotge upon a plece of chamots skin and polish. 3 feathers are in a pea- Q. Please define the stratosphere— W.R. C. { A. It is the upper portion of the atmosphere above 11 kilometers, more or less. depending on latitude, season and weather, in which temperature changes but little with altitude and clouds of water never form, and in which there is practically no convec- tion or distribution of the atmospheric equilibrium causing winds. It is often called the isothermal region; that is, reglon of equal temperature. Q. Is a yellow diamond more valu- able than a white one’—E. J. A. A fancy canary-yellow diamond is Journalism in Los A i rential primaries will | Up to the presont time Gov. in D. Rocsevelt of New York | ‘The newspaper's share in the cevel- opment of a city is recognized in the tributes paid by the American press to tte Los Angeles Times as the publica- tion cbeertes its 50th anniversary after |a hictory which parallels the develop- | ment of Southern Califcrnia’s metrop- | olis. | ““There were 250 copies in that first issue.” recalls the Oakland Tribune. cormenting on the “small beginnings’ | of both city and newspaper, “and the | city had a population of 11,183, of which | three-fourths were Mexicans. Today | L°s Angeles is the Pacific Coast's larg- {est city. with 1,238,048 inhabitants, and | the Times, with its daily circulation of | more than 183,000, is recognized as one ! of the strongest influences for the com- munit:'s growth and progress. The paper not only grew up with its but kept consistently a little o | “Tre interval of this newsparer's | publication,” declares the Portland (Oreg.) Journal, “is a chapter so fasci- nating that it belongs to romance, a |record of achievement so great that it | belongs to history.” Observing that city {and paper “held many things in com- men, “the Journal declares that “both |ere the product of a dream Harrison ! Gray Otis, distributing the handful of | the first copies of the four-page Times, ‘dreamed of a metropolitan daily that ishould some time be. The founders of Lcs Angeles looked upon a sleepy fron- tier town edging the desert of Southern California and dreamed of a metropolis. | The dreams are today dreams come itrue. The metropolis and the metro- politan daily are each greater than the stanch hopes that carried them for- ward. The two are interwoven in the realization.” The Portland paper adds: | “The Journal, often ciffering in policy with the Times, offers its congratul tions and its recognition that this growth at one extreme of the Pacific Coast is positive stimulus to tbe other. We go along. together.” “A city may not be considered an entity,” avers the Worcester Telegram, “without consideration of its press. | Throughout the amazing history of Los | Angeles the Times has been forward in the struggle for municipal greatness. It has besn a leader in civic enterprise. Its influence is widespread in Cali- fornia and all up and down the P.cmc. Coast. That influence has been exer- cised for just half a century to the benefit of & llndb':l eat l:})gfil;t':nztxy The Times has n the ar - pression of the will which made Los Angeles great. Even before Los Angeles becamre a city of a million and more inhabitants, before Los Angeles became | the second seaport of the country, be- fcre Los Angsles had been recognized | as a phenomenon of growth—the Times | was known and respected in America. | | leasing to' kncw that the Times, | It is pleasing | which has servei Los Angeles with fidelity for 50 years, has seen its op- timism justified and can enjoy in vij orous maturity the fruits of great a compluhment."‘ * | * * ‘The paper has grown and prospered with lh:p.dty it serves,” says the Rook | Island Argus, “until today it is - | nized as one of the outstanding journals of America, to which the press of the country is \nppy and proud to exund‘ heartiest congratulations.” The Argus | holds that the Times “has provided the | community the leacership it required in ‘ order to weld together the constructive forces of the city.” As to the results, that paper offers the summary: “Fifty years ago it was frequently declared that Los Angeles, devoid of raw mate- rials_fuel. transportation or markets, | consequential local trading cenir and tourist resort. Today the Los Angeles /area has an oil production capacity of | one million barrels a day; it has cheap 35 different minerals within a radius of from the outer edge and moving to- | more valuable than a blue-white or white diamond. This is because of the rareness of the stone. Of the diamonds that are found in commercial quanti- ties the blue-white s the most valuable. Q. Who was the first Negro to be sent as re}nesemnuve of our Govern- ment in a foreign country?>—W. A. R. A. The first Negro minister from the United States to Haiti was Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett, who served from 1869 to 1877. Mr. Bassett was the first Negro to be given an appointment of this sort by the United States Govern- ment. He was a well known educator. Q. Were there clocks in Shake- speare’s time?—L. M. N, A. Centurles before Shakespeare's time clocks were in use. A clock is said to have been constructed by Pope Byl- vester VII in AD. 996. As early as 1288 a clock was installed in Westmin- ster Abbey, Q. What time did the clipper Flying Fish make in the race from New York to San Francisco?’—A. R. O. A. One of the famous California clipper races was that of the Wid Pigeon, John Gilpin, Flying Fish and Trade Wind. They sailed against time, leaving New York on different dates. Flying Fish won, making the passage from New York to San Francisco in 92 days and 4 hours from port to anchor. The Gilpin made it in 93 days from port to pilot, and Wild Pigeon in 118 days. The Trade Wind, which left some time after the others, followed, with 102 days. having taken fire and burned for eight hours on the way. Another famous race was that between Willlam H. Webb's Swordfish and Don- ald McKay's Fliing Fish. The latter salled from Boston November 5, 1851, and on the same day the Swordfish passed Sandy Hook. The Swordfish ar- Tived in San Francisco on February 10, 1852, after a passage of 90 days from Boston Q. Are there living Mars?—R. B. A. The late Prof. Lowell was a pro- ponent of the theory that Mars may be inhabited, but there are yet few astron- omers who regard it as proved. Life as we know it on earth depends on s number of special conditions, among | which are a favorable temperature and a supply of water and of oxygen. Oxy- gen and water appear to be very scarce on Mars and the temperature unsatis- | factory. Q. In Greater Chicago how many miles of beaches are there?—R A Nearly 30 miles of beaches along Lake Michigan are included in Greater Chicago. creatures on money to the parents of N. M.V A. There is no such fund Q. When will Halley'’s comet appear again?—L. T. C. e t has a period of 76 he latest appearance was in On April 19 of that year it passed within 55,000,000 miles of the sun. The velocity of the comet at this, its nearest approach to the sun, was 34 miles per second. On May 18, 1910, the comet passed within 14.000.000 miles of the earth, at whi e the tail had a 000,000 miles. It is due to return in 1986 to her divorced hus- hn Smith, how the letter? A. She should write “My Des This is a conventional phrase w no real significance Q. When does the Supreme Court of the United States sit?—R. S A. The Supreme Court meets in Oc- t-ber of cach year. and with ce recesses. which are voted by the itself. sits until the following June ngeles Called Force in (jity" Growth | reated ments. and it I States port in tke U borre traffic ments of nature wr Western me of all time." | St | “By reason of its tion. by m the Providen has risen to United States out to the Pacific and develop bor_there. Los Angeles has established At San Pedro one of the greatest ports of the United States. It has 40 miles of water front. including 12 miles of municipal whartes: more than 8000 ships arrive every year: the port cargo valuaticn is over a billion dollars; the port is first in the country in inter- | coastal tonnage. second in” exports to foreign countries and third in total | commerce: it is served by 168 steam- ship companies, including 70 ofl an< 68 lumber carriers; it is the Western term- inus of three transcontinental railroads. it serves a manufacturing district of mere than 6.000 operating plants, and it is the world's greatest oil exporting and lumber importing harbor.” ‘To increase a hundredfold in so years,” rexrarks the New York Sun, “is & remarkable record, particularly in a clty which in 1881 had no raw mate- rials. fuel. transportation or market. Now it has all these, and has e reached its arm to the sea. The Times has Pll}ed a large part in this amazing rise.” Of the founder of the paper that Jjournal says: “Harrison Gray Otis was a man whose courage shone brightly whether in war—and he served in both the Civil and the Spanish—or in his fight against the trades union tyranny l.k;at tmefl to overcome him. That cour- €. 100, was vital to the buil, Times and its city.” HETL mplish- Zustrial the growth of this one of the marvels tropolis * imate, by annexa- enterp s - Tough on the Experts. From the Cleveland News The 1931 college foot drawing to a close, leav | sporting experts of the | confounded. as they themselves are the first and most willing to admit. Bad seasons they have known before, by, the 1931 season stands forth as one in which the college teams seemed locked in_a conspiracy of frustration. There was New York University, re- garded by practiced eyes as a power on the gridiron. Away from Oregon came an unpretentious aggregation and N, Y. U. was humbled. There was Harvard, who struggled through a long, hard season, only to be beaten by Yale There was Northwestern, who looked like the gream of the Big Ten Conference until Purdue came along. Worst of all, of course, was Notre Dame, who bowed to Southern California and West Point on successive Saturdays. It is to be hoped and expected, how- ever, that the experts will pull them- selves together before next Autumn and be in shape again to outline the foot ball season somewhat in advance for the benefit of the myriad undergraduates and | old grads. Many of the latter, recalling | the old days of foot ball, less spectacular and correspondingly less dependent on the breaks of the game, will be quick to forgive such forecasting errcrs as have been made this year. Truth is that foot ball in modern dress has taker on many of the char- acteristics of bese ball, wherein a single game may be lost at any time by the very best of teems. This fact, at least, ball season, es the collected Nation entirely was forever doomed to remain an in- | seems thoroughly demonstrated. e Own Hall. His t a low,|as a favorite son candidate, but goes'rnd abundant natural gas fuel; it mines | From the Toledo Blade. Under the rules, Edison can't be ad- iting to cart th are more likely to turn, however, to & 40 miles: it grows many diversified and | mitted to the Hall of Fame for 29 years. “nd"ukgxoxn :‘ re”:u‘ louny. .'.','-' nationalist than an internationalist at higbly priced crops; it holds fifth place there llli this time, in the number of industrial establish- In the meantime a hall of fame is being bullt around him.