Evening Star Newspaper, December 28, 1931, Page 8

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1931 A—8 THE NING STAR, WASHINGTO THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY. ....December 28, 1831 THEODORE W. NOYES The Evening Star Business Of and Peonsylvania Ave. St 716 st 42nd Bt thin the City. 45¢ per.month * star Sfindey Biar ) +_89c per month and Sunday Siar | ¥8) 85¢ pes month | Sc_yer copy | FAtional 5000 | Rate by Mail—Payzble in Advance, Maryland and Virginia. i Sunday $10.00: 1 mo . 85 | $6.00: 1 mo . 80c $400: 1 mo | 40¢ ally ar 15t oafly onl 13r Bundar 1yr t:s and Canada, n: 1mo 8.00: 1 mo 3.00: 1 mo Dat € 3 Dail Runday only 13r. 8 Member of the Associated Press. Henry leader of the House. pc business of e of bills to aid in of the country, of way, and that e2ond fid'e for a while Mr. Rainey. in a siatement ls- sued through the Demoeratic National | Committee, announces that the policy of the Democratic organization in the House is to expedite as rapidly as pos- | sible the program of the administration. | He does not indicate that the program will be accepted without change. In-| deed, he makes it clear that the Demo- crats intend to modify the administra- tion's tax-revision program in important particulars. But he declares that the House is to legislate rather than talk at | this present juncture. He says € far &s I am con>:raed personally, 1 do not propese to make on the floos | a singie specch which might be called | political untli the teconsiruciion bills intended to alleviate the present un- paralleled depression in thii country #nd in the world, have pesced the Lover House of Congress. When that has been eccompli-hed commenrce making gometimes callad political spacches, and 1 expect to charge up the neceseity for the unparalleled taxing burdens made necessary st this sescion to the policies in force eince the Wilson administra- tion If Mr. Rainey and his fellow Demo- erats are able to carry through this program of action, even though it in- volves great self-restraint, they will have proved to the country that the Democratic party is eble to assume re- soonsibility. No one expects Mr Rainey and his fellow Democrats to ac- complish the impossible and to banish politics from the cebates of the Con- gress, or that they wil give approval to all the measures which the adminis- tration advances, without seeking some amendments or substitutions of their own. But the country does expect the members of Congress not to fritter away valuable time in talk when legisiation is necessary. The House, generally speaking, has usually been able to put through legislaticn with promptness. A different end unusual situation, how- ever, presents itself in the House now with a political party in control of that body which is hostile to the adminis- tration Mr. Rainey's assurance that the business of legislation is to be ex- pedited is timely. He has been able, already, to refer to quick action on important measures cf the reconstruc- tion program in the House. If the Democrats in the Senate are able to follow up the program of business laid down by their Democratic colieagues of the House, so much the better for their party. But sometimes in the Senate it appears that the members have eome to believe that, after all, talk is the principal activity and end of all human existence. Mr. Rainey has promised his Demo- cratic friends in the House, however, that they shall have full opportunity to flay the administration and the Re- publican party as soon as the recon- struction bills are all cut of the way. Indeed, he intends to take a lead in this pastime so pleasing to Democrats. But that is what the Republicans must expect, In this country there is never & political moratorium. Polities is like the sea, constantly in motion, and like- ly to kick up a storm at any time. Lk the House, the pass: the economic shall heve the righ politics shell play racove —r—— ‘Tokio has been “warned” again, this time by three nations. The trouble seems to be that the warnings are adorned with Christmas seals instead of a “black hand.” B The Neval Hospital. A conflict of considerations develops in the matter of the emplacement of the new Naval Hospital in this city. Artist sideratic held by the Commission of Fine Arts, urge that 1t | isewhere than the present | the Lincoln Memorial and on Memorial Bridge. Senti- mental considerations, held by the Navy Department, dictate that it be erected on the site now occupled, close to those structures. The department maintains that the land so used at present and proposed for the hospital has been in the occupancy of naval establishments for many years, first as the site of the observatory and later for the hospital, } which first used the old observatory | buildings and then spread to temporary quarters erccted during the Great War. The Commission of Fine Arts holds that an estiblishment of this character should not occupy space in the imme- diate area of monumental structures, at Jeast unless it is itself designed In keep- ing with the artistic environment. In other words, if the hospital is so placed it should be harmonious to the general scene that is now approaching final @evelopment Coupled with this discussion is the question of the emplacement of the Wavy and War Department buildings, Pntatively allocated to spaces north of Constitution avenue and west of Eighteenth street. Naval authorities favor that site, as do the War Depart- ment officials for the new home of that establishment. Opposition has arisen to this allocation of ground on the score ewspaper Company | 'but a breathing spell in which Europe | pose its political bickerings. the decision &s to site. however, be no delay in the construc tion of the new Naval Hospital, which is urgently needed. The present estab- lishment is lamentably inadequate in size and in appointments There are so many factors in the case | that de'ay may ensue despite this con- | sideration. Between the Public Build- ings Commission, the Commission of Fine Aris end the tw> departments in- | volved there is an erea that may becom! those com- | such as have in y procrastination. | Compr:mise for the sake of immediate | acticn is not desirable. The decisicn | should b> made to accord most effec-| tively with the general plan of Capital' deve'cpment which s now under way. Eurspe Must Act First. In an Arsoclated Press statement, whi~h bear: cvery evidence of authority, | the at.itude of the United States Gov c:nment toward the forthzoming Euro. 1 confereace on reparations and | debis s set forth with welcome clarity. This couniry dces not expect o take part in such a conferenve. Its and decicions, it goes ag. will be closely observed ashinzion, but “Europe’s willing- to solie her own troubles without tomporizing and delay seems cly now to beome the yardstick which will measure future proflers of | plicated disp the pasi cou elncidaiicn of Ame there is to be read a plaia e : Untted Siates’ impa- {ience wih the prolongation of crisis and chaos in Europe, at least so far as its purely financial woes are con- cerned. When President Hoover insti- tuted the cne-year moratorium last June he had something more in mind than the relief of a situation which was rushing to catastrophe. He in- tended the debt holiday to be & period of grace not only In an economic sense, as applied to intergovernmental debts, would make a herculeen effort to com- It has long been the Fresident's view ti.at ties ontinual suspicious and con- flicts are the basic excuse for tue main- tenance of heavy armaments; tiat the | cost of these armements lies at the| root of Europe’s economic distress, and | thet unuil tae vicious cirile b:oken woere it begins res.orciion of confi- dence and siability cannot bz expected. President Hoover and the American people look at Europe at this turn of the year, a full six months after the in- ception of the moratorium, and what do they see? They see a continent still hopelessly divided against iself. They see intransigeance everywhere. They see the Franco-German feud entering upon another twelvemonth of apparen. insoiubility. They see lialy and France &5 far apart on naval agreement us when they agreed to disagree at the London Conterence in March, 1930. They see Poland and Germany at con- tinung loggerheads - over the Polish Corricgor and East Prussia. They see Jugoslavia and Italy viewing each other with anxious uncertainty. 'Ihey see the Pranco-Italian colonial situation in North Africa bristling with peril. They see a Germany Strugglng against bank- ruptcy and all but iormally demanding cancellation of reparations. They see virtually the rest of Europe ciamoring that if reparations disappear, all war debts must be w:ped out, including the billions owing to the United States Treasury. These are the views of Europe which the President of the United States and its citizens envisage as they scan the world that lles beyond the Atlantic. It is not a pretty pic- ture that presents itself to American gaze. It harmonizes not at all with the spirit of good will toward men that traditionally marks this holiday season. But by that law of self-preservation which governs nations as well as na- ture, the United States cannot in con- science or self-respect intrude anew its powerful helpfulness to a Europe disin- clined or incapable of setting its own house in reasonable order. The American Congress will shortly reassemble after the holidays in much the same mood in which it adjourned —a& mood of almost sullen indifference to the turmoils and tantrums of Europe. House and Senate undoubtedly reflect- ed widespread popular sentiment in the “anti-abroad” exhibition they recently staged. Only Europe can change this mood. And only performance, not protestation, can work & change that will compel a readjustment of Ameri- ca's attitude. If a jocularity in so grave a situation is permissible, Americans, as to Europe, are all “from Missourl.” They are waiting to be “shown.” ——— America's Christmas fatalities are recorded at 200. Rather a high price to p2y for the good cheer that accom- panies the festival of peace on ecarth and good will to men. ——————————— Government Pay and ‘Home Folks. Opposition to a general cut in the salaries of Government employes, as a measure of administrative economy, is rapidly developing in Congress. From one angle of the question this is quite a reasonable outcome of the mat- ter. For it is a well established fact that the workers for the Government, especially here in Washington, are contributing largely to the tupport of families and relatives “back home.” No compilation of these donations has been made, nor can one be made, short of & canvass of all the cxecutive de- partments in this city; and even such complete account of the semi-monthly contributions, for these gifts are private matters and may not be revealed in full. If the pay of the Government work- ers were reduced by 10 per cent, which is the minimum economy proposal, the curtailment would most seriously affect those in the States who are being assisted now out of the already slender compensation of the Federal forces. There is a small margin at present be- tween the actual pressing needs of the Government employes and their sal- arfes. Even in good times, when the home folks are in funds and require no assistance from thelr Washington relatives, the latter are just about able T There should, | exceptions, | eome person in cne cf the States. | elsewhere. {in Ceo! | ment workers in Washington are the a canvass would probably not yield a| their pay would fall first upon those elsewhere who are dependent upon them. Every dollar taken from the pay en- | velope or the check of the Government worker in Washington, with very few would be a dollar taken pitifully small income of This | would make a material addition to| | the burden of charity meintenance In D-laware, in Oklahoma, | ka, in Michigan, in Iliinots, | in virtually every State the effect would be felt. | If the average pay of the Govern- | ment worker In Washington were | higher than the compensation of cor- responding workers elsewhere there might be some basis for & proposal to reduce the scale. But it is not. In- deed, it only now compares with the scale that prevafls in the States for similar seivices, taking into accoun the reductions effected there, incident to the dcpression adjustments. There was no general increasc in Government pay dur.ng the years of affluence when | scale from the in Neb: cales in the indu‘tries and in busi- | ness were advanced. The Government | clerks alone of all the employed classes in the United States remained upon the pre-prosperity basis. Reduc- tion now would set them back even further behind the average. The great majority of the Govern- consiituents of the legisiators. Their iamilies and relaiites back home whom the, ar2 aidizg o this pariod of dis- tress are lisc constituents. There i5 go.d rasca, tieecte, for the de- Vioplileny 6i opp.s.ich in Congress to ny measure c. ho:zontal or stalrstep | re.uctions in the pay scale of the Fed- eral service. This is in addition to the opposition that arises from a sense of fair play for the Government workers, who have never been raised to the point of proportionate return for their faith- ful, valuable services. e Mayor Walker of New York, it is! declared, may be asked to serve as supreme arbiter of the Cuban govern- mental dispute that has kept that is- land in a turmoil for years. Just how efiicacious an arbiirator Mayor James can te 15 not definitely known, but one thing Is ceriain if he accepts: The Pearl of the Antilles will add im- measurably to her stock of funny stori e — Former Secrelary Newton D. Baker ' announces that he is anxjous to carry a banner in the “fight for revived liberalitm and refreshed idealism.” That sounds rather fine, but it does not mean what the optimistic “wet” may, at first glance, be tempted to think it does. Uncle Sam is to roll up his sleeves right aftar New Year to tackle the tre- | mendous job of moving into the great new Department of Commerce Building. “Easy with those statistics, boys!” — An average of seventy pounds of live fish produces forty-eight pounds of eatable salmon. With fish stories it is Jjust the other way around. r——— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Self-Saerifice. There was a philosopher, lorig, long ago, Who felt it his duty the publie to show Just how it should manage its various | cares In home life as well as in public affairs. He told what to eat And what we should drink; Just how we should speak And what we should think; Just how we should spell And how we should sing; Just how we should vote (That's the principal thing); Just when we should smile And when we should frown; Just what we should read 'Mongst the prints of the town; Just when we should work And when we should sleep; How much we should spend And how much we should keep. Such numberless duties before him arose That he found he had never an hour for repose, Nor eating, nor singing, nor thinking, nor play, Nor sleeping, except in the hastiest way. And we hailed him a great man indeed when 'twas known What generous goodness of heart he had shown In attending to every one’s needs save his own. Musical Impressions. “You don't seem fond of music.” “Well,” replied Senator Sorghum, “I try not to harbor resentments. But whenever I hear music I can't help being reminded of the campaign funds that are wasted in employing brass bands in some elections.” Commercial Courtesies. “So you think the system of taxation is unbusinesslike?” “Absolutely,” replied Mr. Dustin Stax. “The idea of the Government's refusing to give a big influential customer like me & liberal discount for cash.” Time’s Easy Flight. Time flies, and mocks at man's control. Just why is plainly seen. Time never has to stop for coal | Or ofl or gasoline. l Achievement. “Christmas a success with you?” “I suppose I may call it a success,” {replied Mr. Growcher. “I managed to ! hang holly all over the house without breaking any of the bric-a-brac.” Music and Fires. “Some men are as careless and indif- ferent as Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned,” said the neighbor. “Well,” replied Mrs. Corntossel, “I dunno's I've got anything against Nero. My trouble has been with men folks that sit playin' the accordion an’ let the fire go out.” Social Diversion. To dancing we are all inclined, And conversation is no more. | essential, even in one’s reading habits. | enough. in pert of the cost of the sites. No decision is immediately in view. It is indicated that owing to the condition of the Treasury appropriations for these to maintain themselves decently and perhaps effect small savings in pro- vision for the rainy day or in anticipe- tion ef the time of compulsory Tetire- You do not need a polished mind 80 long as there's & polished floor. debt er dishomesty THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. “With me,” she said, “reading is an entertainment, but with you it is an The art of reading lies in getting th> most entertainment out of it is the most artictic reader who manages to get the most enjoy ont from his book To b2 a good reader one muct forget e old Puritan ban on pleasure The early y of the century saw people everywhere still under the cloud of ages which scmehow found wickad- ness not only in wicked things, but even in wholesome things. The succeeding years, however, saw thousands of human beings escaping from the too-strengly placed emphas It would not have been quite t thing, for instance, for any one the ho to | have admitted then that he read books for sheer enterta'nment A certain amount of hypocrisy was tended to enefit to Thcrefore, read mc one’s immortal soul “Light fictfon” was read for enjoy- ment, but even the novel succumbed to the prevailing traits and became & form of fiction attempting to solve a “problem." All this time the man with a mind of his own continued to read to please himself. Whatever his profit, whatever help he got from any sort of work, the sheer pleesure of reading & book was domi- nant What a divine pleasure it is! w the booklover fe:ls rorry for on, Tich or poor, old 1: ng not know this sublim» pleas- every one for profit, pre or b who do: ure. ot held back by any nts of a false belicf in the necessity cading for profit only, the booklover is abl~ 1o read with open mind and heart, because he has nothing else on his mind. No book, to him, is a stolen pleasure. Every book, so long as its author has a purpose in view, and attains it, is worthwhile. The canons of good taste, of course, prevail. The reader who believes in possessing the instints of a gentleman, in so far as he is humanly able, will not be willing to dispsnse with them in his reading. In reading, even more than in life, good taste stands in the way of the pruriently evil, of the foolishly inane and of the imaginatively wicked. The real boklover will not enjoy, and will not permit hims-If to be rnter- tained, by the sort of book, unplecantly popular, which roils vice around as a dainty morsel. Such a b~ok he has no use for. and dees not read, for it is not art, and has no wav of entertaining him, as long ¢ he will not 1t it. He s not “advanced thank heaven, to lose his dis- crimination. With this one exception, all that is written is grist in his reading mill. The booklover will never forget the re- mark of one ultra “movie” flend, who said to him: “What, you do not go to the movies? Then how do you entertain yourself?" ‘The fri>nd of books might have re- plied. with equal silliness: “What, vou do not read books? Then you do rot enjov life. poor fellow!" es It takes all sorts of p~ople to make up | such a vory large world as this one fs. Not every wholesame enjoyment can be for every man. | And reading is at once the cloanest |and most wholesome pleasure in the | world. | It is the one thing which unites the sailor on his ship with the landlubber |in his library. It is the tie that binds the athlete to | the student, the outdoor man io the | indoor chap, the little fellow to the big | tellow. | There is positively no harm which any one can get from a book, so long | as he 15 careful to let the bad sort alone. | The real booklover, at any age, will | know this type at a glance. Even young | readers seldom make a mistake in this regard. | It may be necessary, at this point, to |give & hint to aunts and others, Who, | not being what is called well read, in- |sist_on seelng something evil in great works with which they are unfamiliar. The truly great writers of the world have managed to handle the facts of | life without gloves, but in a way which | makes good things good, cvil things | evil. Even the youngest reader s not | drawn toward wickedness by them, al- | though they may write of matters which |are not ordinarily used for conversa- | tonal purposes, Yet many an older person, brought up |in the strait-laced ways of the past, | erroneously. thinks that young Johnnie | should not read Plutarch’s chapter on | the Spartans. The old Gresk was pret- |ty outspoken, in places, but he is as | clean rs the wind. | "Great books are often great pretisely | for that very quality, that thay deal| openly with what every man knows, but many of the groat baoks of lit-rature, | particularly the great novels, lies in their intimacy. It would be a terrible thing, would it | not, for the average honest person to go through life without once having seen discussed in print the many interesting phases of life and living which he sees and knows about, but which he is ret- icent about? The greatest fiction of all lands at- tained that high rank in part because its writers were unafraid of a possible voice of hypoerisy which would pretend to be shocked. No better course for honesty of thought, for integrity of intelligence, is to be recommended to any one than the genuinely great works of fiction. Written in every tongue, gathered in all lands wnere men love great books, these stand hign in moral as well as in | entertainment value. The intellectually honest reader finds himself at home when he reads such a | book. Its very outspokenness is enter- | taining. | He reads best who reads to be enter- | tained, knowing that the proper enjoy- ment of the good things of life, among which number are books, s to be com- mended. The art of good reading of good books comes in securing the greatest enter- tainment from them, at the same time one gives the best that is in him, in mind and heart, and spirit, if you lease, to the reading. 5 Just as the greatest joy of Christ- mas comes with the giving, and not in the getting, so the real entertainm~nt of reading is the work of the reader, not the writer, as strange as that may seem. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC Holiday calm pervades political Wash- ington, but it is the calm that precedes the storm. The tempest over the mora- torium, which ushered in the recess of Congress, will be succeeded by other atmospheric disturbances when House and Senate reassemble on January 4. The campaign year cf 1932 will at length have arrived. That will be the signal for no quarter in both parties. The truce for the public good is far more likely to be honored in the breach than in the observance. President Hoover's program for economic Tehabilitation seems headed for eventual adoption, but not without fierce opposition every inch of the way. Battle will be joined promptly over the $500,000,000 Federal Reconstruction Credit Corporation. The administration's plans for liberalizing Federal Reserve System banking rules will be bitterly fought, though the scheme for extending the facilities of the Farm Loan Banks will probably meet with little obstruction. There is no unanimity of sentiment in Congress, either, for the Hoover idea of home loan discount banks. Weeks of debate on all of these propositions are in sight. The opportunity to play politics will be wide open and irresistible. kxR One of the things for which the| in White House, figuratively, is down on its knees and uttering thankfulness is that Winter is nearly half over, find- ing no absolute destitution abroad in the land. All reports reaching the President’s Committee on Unemploy- ment is that the States, counties and clties are effectually looking after their own needs, extensive are they are in most communities. r Winter of extreme severity, with corre- sponding_suffering from cold and star- vation, the drive behind a dole might have been too strong to be warded off at Washington. Senator Bob La Fol- lette long has been credited with a far-reaching unemployment Treasury benefit program. Many members of Congress toncede that if the voluntary relief system were to break down, dole legislation undoubtedly could be ram- med through over night. What grati- fles President Hoover is that in all probability the country will survive the Winter without disaster. * X X X To this observer comes the assurance that it was the “peace caravan’ con- ducted by women's organizations in Oc- tober that directly paved the way to Mary Emma Woolley's appointment as an American delegate to the Geneva Dis- armament Conterence. When the cara- ven reached Washington and its lead ers were received at the White House, Helen Taft Manning, one of thelr 5 women, specifically urged Mr. oover to name a “humanitarian” on the Geneva mission. The argument was that it would be a mistake, from the standpoint of woman peace advo- cates, to send to the conference persons who merely stood for expert knowledge in military and naval affairs, interna- tional law and statecraft. Miss Woolley is exactly the type of womanhood the members of the “peace caravan” had in mind. ‘The president of Mount Holyoke has a reputation for getting things done in an unspectacular way. Once a reporer asked Miss Woolley about a “startling” statement she was supposed to have made in a speech.| She assured him that she never says “startling things.” ‘Washington': y sists for the most part of the several hundred English, Scotch, Welsh and Irish men and women who are in do- mestic service in the Capital’s swagger households. They now boast of their own club and club house, known as the British United Athletic and Sccial Club. The establishment is situated in the midst of the fashionable Northwest residential section on N street and stands cheek by jowl with the premises of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. The members of the “British United” are butlers, chauffeurs, cooks, maics, footmen and, in & few cases, persons employed in other occupations. A ore-time British subject v’ho has be- come a naturalized American is eligible to membership. The club holds bridge parties, dances and dinner celebrations of the King's birthday anniversary and main several athletic teams for foot ball, soccer and cricket. Had there been a | WILLIAM WILE. ‘Muscle Shoals, 1931 It contains a plan for the utilization of Uncle Sara's eat power plant on the Tennestee | River by private industry “for the | manufacture of fertilizers and other | useful products” The plan is pre- | sented by the Muscle Shoals Commis- | slon created at President Hoover's sug- | gestion and representing __ Alabama Tennessee and the United States. Th: commission “has detarmined the eco- nomic soundness and general feasibility of its plap, and earnestly commends it as a propsr application of the property to the service of agriculture and in the best interest of the people in the Ten- nessec Valley and of the country at large.” The chairman of the Muscle Shoals Commission is S. F. Hobbs of Selma, Ala. Col. Max C. Tyler, U. 8. A, who was a West Point class- mate of Col. U. 8. Grant, 3d, and Col. Qempbell Hodges, President Hoover's military aide, is technical adviser of the commission. The book containing the plan is handsomely illustrated in colors with photographs, charts and diagrams. *x “To increase the efficiency of the Air Corps” is the title of a bill intro- duced in the House by Representatve James, Republican, of Michigan, rank- Republican member of the Military airs Committee. The bill calls upon the Secretary of War to prepare an Air Corps promotion list, on which would be placed the names of all offl- cers of the ccrps of the Regular Army below the grade of colonel. These names would be arranged in the same relative order that they now have on the Army promotion list and be re- moved from the Army promotion list. No officer whose name appears on the original Air Corps promotion list shall be considered as having less commis- | sioned service than any officer whose | name is below his on’ this list. The James bill provides that when a flying | officer reaches the age of 54 he shall | on application, be eligible for retire- | ment. Sixty-four is the general Army and Navy officer retirement age. * x ok ¥ Theodore Marriner, Ph. D., who will be chief State Daperatment adviser at the Geneya Disarmament Conference, made some enlightening references to foreign affairs when addressing the | Chicago Council on Foreign Relations | just before Christmas. He dwelt par- | tieularly on the causes and effects of the American visits of Prime Ministers | MacDonald and Laval and Foreign | Minister Grandi, _and of Secretary | Stimson’s visit to Europe last Summer. ‘Questions have been raised.” said Mr. Marriner, “as to the accomplishments | of such visits. Talks of this character between responsible heads of states do not bring about immediate —results. They are without agenda and do not result in treaties. The mutual under- standing of the position and of the various countries, which comes from face-to-face conversation, has its effect upon the subsequent courss of olicy between nations, and these ef- Fecu only become manifest as a solution of the different problems between them becomes necessary.” P Uncle Sam loses with the end of the year one of his finest Civil Service em- ployes with the resignation of Maleolm McDowell, secretary of the Board of Indian Commissioners. _He has been drafted by Frank H. Knox of New Hampshire, the new owner of the Chicago Daily News, for special editorial service. Cal. been close friends ever since Knox be- came a member of the Indian Board 10 w) ago. Was itizens a) created in 1869, u’:’un ted by the President. to inspect various branches o pihe dndhan rer i opimton'. con- nt. _an = cerning Indian affairs. Mr. McDowell in going back to Chi and the Daily News returns both to his old home town and his first newspaper love. Onoe upon a time he was the star political writer of the Middle West. Charley Dawes per- suaded him to leave journalism for banking 25 years ago. (Copyright, 1831.) ———— - And Congress No Longer Amazes Prom the San Francisco Chroniele. And s civilization has about reached bottom when the Government's ability Knox and McDowell have [ Sena hose | the The Political Mill By G. Gould Lincoln. This is the dl{ of political rumors, many of them silly. The campaign is istill in the making. Hats are still to be pitched formally in the ring for the presidential nomination. In a couple of months all this will have been changed and the lines of strife will have been drawn. Now anything might hippen. For example, on the front page of one leading New York dally is found yester- day a political story to the effect that Al Bmith may seek a seat in the Senate, possibly that now kept warm by Sen- ator Copeland of New York, when Cope- land's term is drawing to a close, in {1934. Today is published on the front page of the same newspaper a story which places Smith in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. No one knows for certain whether the former New York Governor has any desire to run for either Senator or President. But these matters are sub- ! jects for speculation. * ok ox % Up to the present time Gov. Franklin D. Rooscvelt has been making a rua- yaway race for the Democratic presi- { dential nomination. Unless something happens soon to halt the progress of the Roosevelt band wagon, it may be too late to halt it at all. For that rea- son it is natural to assume that the Roosevelt opposition will be very active, more active indeed than ever, during the next few weeks. Baker of Ohio has been trotted out as a candidate; so has Ritchie, Baker has shied away, but the Maryland Governor does not shy at all when the White House is mentioned. And now it is the redoubtable Al Smith himself, who Chairman Raskob and others close to the former Governor and the Democratic National Committee \ have insisted for months as not really d-siring to seek another nomination at all. Perhaps this bringing forward of Gov. Smith as a potential candidate for the nomination is an indication of the straits to which the Roosevelt opposi- tion has been put. No one doubts the strong hold *which Gov. Smith has on his party, particularly in the North and East. Democrats in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and other New England States continue to insist that Al Smith can have their allegiance for the presi- dency if he wants it. But that the next Democratic National Convention can be brought to nominate Gov. Smith, even if there is deadlock, is exceedingly doubtful. There is exceedingly strong opposition among Democrats to a re- nomination of the former Governor of New York. That very oppasition to Smith is perhaps making the path easier for Gov. Roosevelt. S The Democrats still cling to the two- thirds rule for the nomination of pres- Icentical candidates. This rule makes it far easier to “stop” a leading candidate for the nomination than it would be if only a majority was required, as in the case of the Republican National Con- vention. The two-thirds rule is the hope of the anti-Roosevelt Democrats. It ruined the chances of Willlam Gibbs McAdoo, back in 1924 and of the late Champ Clark in 1912, when the Demo- crats assembled in Baltimore and chose Woodrow Wilson after a deadlocked convention ‘The Democratic National Committee is to meet here January 9 to pick a | convention city and set the time for the national gathering next year. But the meeting of these leading Democrats from all parts of the country, with their interchanges of views on the availability of the various candidates mentioned for the presidential nomination, may shed a lot of light on the situation, now somewhat beclouded by rumors. Gov. Roosevelt is not coming to the Jackson day dinner, the banquet of Democrats which is to be held here on the eve of the meeting of the National Commit- tee. In some quarters a good deal has been made of the declination of the Governor to come to the dinner at this time. It has been said that Gov. Roose- velt does not wish to come here because of the hostility of the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Mr. Raskob, to the Roosevelt candidacy; that the atmosphere of the dinner will, generally speaking, be anti-Roosevelt. But that is much to be doubted. Gov. Roosevelt is to attend a “Victory Din- ner” in New York on January 14, and is to be one of the speakers at that dinner, when Raskob and Smith and other Democrats who are sald to be leagued against the Governor in the ];;:slddentinl race are to sit at the same rd. * X k¥ The drive to get Newton D. Baker into the presidential race continues, de- spite the fact that he has told impor- tant Democrats in his own State that he does not intend to be a candidate and does not wish to be. A good deal is being made of a letter which Mr. Baker recently wrote to a North Caro- lina editor in which he said that he was prepared to earry a banner or march in the ranks in the fight for the restora- tion of lberallsm and jdealism in this country. This is interpreted as Mr. Baker’s idea of a Democratic campaign for the presidency. The truth of the matter appears to be that Mr. Baker does not wish to be a candidate for President; that he is very happy right where he is in Cleveland, practicing law. * o K % One presidential boom, that for Gov. “Alfalfa Bill” Murray of Oklahoma, seems to have flattened out consider- ably. His candidacy, it was predicted, would sweep across the Western prairies like wildfire. But a week ago his pro- gram of tax reform and legislation for Oklahoma was disastrously defeated in & referendum vote in his own State. A candidate who does not have the sup- port of his own State is not likely to get very far in next year's Democratic national convention. That convention is out to pick a winner. The idea is being spread that the Democrats can lick the Republicans in 1932 no matter whom they nominate for President. But the party leaders are taking no chances, not yet anyway, * K % % Roosevelt, the leading candidate for the presidential nomination by the Democrats today, does not face what President Hoover, the leading candidate for the Republican nomination in 1928, faced in the close of 1927—a senatorial coalition. In the Senate today there is just one Democrat who is at all prominently mentioned for the presi- dential nomination — Senator “Joe” Robinson of Arkansas, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1928. It has been hinted in some quarters that Senator Copeland of New York has presidential aspirations; that as a candidate for Senator he has carried the Empire State in overwhelming style. Bulkeley of Ohlo has been mentioned, But, generally speaking, there is no group of presidential possibilities among the Democrats of the Senate as there was among the Republicans three and a half years ago. Then there wos Curtis of Kansas, Willis of Ohio, Wat- son of Indiana, Norris of Nebraska ana others who might have State delega- tions bound to them, all engaged in the stop Hoover campaign. Roosevelt's opposition today comes from Democrats outside the Senate. Indeed, a very large percentage of the Democratic tors have expressed their approval of the Roosevelt candidacy. Some of them were among the first to launch Roosevelt boom, cularly Demo- like Wheeler of Montana _and Dill of Washington. Senator talked of for years as a presidential candidate, but he, too, has declared himself in favor of the nomination of the New York Governor. ERE A Hoover Republicans in the fifteenth Pennsylvania congressional district are looking around for a candidate to run against Representative Louis T. Mc- Fadden, who recently in the House charged that Mr. Hoover had “sold out” to the Germans in proposing his one- year moratorium of intergovernmental and reparal Mrs. Gifford Pinchot, wife of the Governor, has al- ready announced herself s candidate for Any reader can get the answer to any question by writing to our information bureau in Washington, D. C. This of- fer applies strictly to information. The bureau cannot give advice on legal, medical and financial matters. It does not attempt to settle domegtic troubles or undertake exhaustive research on any subject. Write your question plain- ly and briefly. Give full name and ad- dress and inclcse 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. The reply is sent direct to the inquirer. Address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washing- ton, D. C. Q. How many feature films are pro- duced in the United States each { year?—G. M. A. About 600. From 2500 to 3,000 short plays are also made annually. Q. What colors do little children pre- fer’—P. A. T. A. Babies are usually first attracted by yellow. Red supersedes yellow at the age of 3, with green second. At the age of 5 blue seems to be the favorite color. Q. How old and how tall is Little Jack Little?>—F. T. A. Little Jack Little was born in Lon- don in 1900. He stands but 5 feet 4 inches and weighs 130 pounds. Q. When was the income tax amend- ment to the United States Constitution adopted?—8. D. C. A. The sixteenth amendment, pro- viding for a Federal income tax, was proclaimed by the Secretary of State on Pebruary 25, 1913, having been ratified by 38 of the 48 states. Q. What is a good rule to follow in | stud poker as to whether to stay in the pot and draw cards?—J. H. A. Conservative players say that one should not draw unless his buried card is at least as high as any exposed card of the others players, or unless he has ;| world for its beneficial service.” a pair. Like most rules for playing winning poker, however, this rule is more honored in the breach than in the observance. Q. What are the 15, 20, 25 and 35 cent special delivery stamps for? —M. O. H. A. The 10-cent special delivery is the basic stamp for first-class mail and is used upon articles up to 2 pounds in weight. The 20-cent special delivery stamp is used on articles weighing 2 pounds and not exceeding 10 pounds. There is also a 25-cent special delivery stamp for articles over 10 pounds. The special delivery stamps for second, third and fourth class mail are 15 cents, 25 ! cents and 35 cents. Q. Did President Washington always r a wig?—K. M. L. A. He never wore a wig. He wore his own hair long and powdered. Q. Does the United States produce more electricity than any other coun- try?—J. D. B. A. It produces almost three times the amount of electricity produced by any other country, or about 66,000,000,000 kilowstt hours annually. Germany is second with the production of 22,000, 000,000 kilowatt hours. Great Britain produces 11,000,000,000 kilowatt hours. The next largest producers are Canadas, France, Italy, Japan and Norway. Q. When were the Packard, Peerless, Pierce-Arrow, Cadillac, Buick and Stuts automobiles first made?—S8. G. A. Packard, 1900; Peerless, 1900; Pierce-Arrow, 1901; Cadillac, 1902; Buick, 1904; Stutz, 1911. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. | Q Are the night-hawk and_whipe poorwill the same bird?>—B. E. T. A. In spite of their similarity in ap- pearance and habits, the night-hawk and the whippoorwill are two distinct | species of birds. The night-hawk, | Chordeiles virginianus, has no call and | appears chiefly st sunset, while the | whippoorwill, ~Arfirostomus vociferus, whose peculiar cell is so well known, | likes to fiy after dusk. | @ 1Is the District of Columbia con- | sidered a State?—C. G. | ""A. 1t has no status either as a State | or Territory. It is simply at present & Federal district with nearly 600,000 | people, most of whom have no political rights or representation. | Q. Where in the sky are the planets | Neptune and Uranus during Decem- | ber>—a. R. | A, Neptune is a morning star in | central Leo. Uranus is an evening star in southern Pisces. Q. Please tell something of Vergils parentage —W. K. A. The poet's parents were obscure and humble. One story describes his father as & hired assistant of a certain Magius, a viator or official courier of the magistrates. By his industry he gained the favor of his master,” who gave him his daughter Magia Poilia in marriage. To increase his income he spplied himself to the culture of bees. ‘ergll in his Georgics dwells on bee culture. Q. What proportion of deaths occur at night to those that occur in the daytime?—S. D. F. A. Observations made recently by a | Prench scientist showed that 120 deaths occurred between 7 o'clock in the eve- ning and 6 o'clock -in the morning, while only 68 deaths occurred during the daytime in the same period. Q. Can all_snakes swim?—T. B. A. While all snakes are not natural- ly aquatic. they all have the power of swimming, and swim if forced into the water. Q. When was Richard Harding Davis’ “Soldiers of Fortune” published?— T. R. G. A. In 1897. Q. Hes the Manchurian territory now in dispute between China and Japan any substantial natural re- sources?—P. T. A. Manchuria has various natural resources some of which hav; scarcely been touched, but, in a metal age, her reserves of iron ore are regarded as of special importance. It is estimated that Manchuria has deposits of 738, 000,000 metric tons of iron ore, having an actual iron content of 259,000,000 tons, in the ground. A good quality of coking coal also is available in the region, the two resources combining to furnish the potentialities of a steel industry. Meny Japanese long-term soncessions are held, and the importance of protecting these figures is the Japanese attitude in the present embroglio. Q. How large a dam can be built successfully without using concrete or stone, just earth?—T. F. The Saluda Dam near Columbia, 8. C., is said to be the largest earthen dam in the world. It is nearly a mile and a half in length and is 108 feet high. Whether a larger dirt dam could be built is a problem for engineers. Q. There is a reference to “The Immortal Tinker” in an article I have just read. Who is meant by that? D R. E A. John Bunyan. McFadden Attack on Hoover Inspires Demand for Rebuke Bitterness in the attack on President Hoover by Representative Louis T. Mc- Fadden of Pennsylvania is matched by the sharpness of the demand from many quarters that the Congressman be rebuked. had the right to oppose the debt mor- atorium, he went beyond his legisla- tive privilege in assailing the motives of the Executive. “American voters,” declares the Minneapolis Journal, “should look upon their Congress as a body existing to attend to the public business, rather than a body existing to entertain them |with a free and exciting show.” The Jeurnal feels that “from the abuse of congressional immunity, not only of- fice holders, not only political op- ponents, but private citizens suffer, and suffer grievously.” ‘The _ Rochester Times-Union charges that Representa- tive McFadden ‘“seeks to sacrifice American honor upon the cheap altar of petty politics,” while the Jersey City Journal ~volces the that the President “will ignore stupid at- tack.” The Connellsville Daily Courier believes that “the incident shows the very great importance of moderation in speech.” “One of the most disgraceful inci- dents in the history of Congress” is seen by the San Jose Mercury-Herald, which adds that “while the President is tirelessly working to overcome our economic ills, his critics are playing politics for personal ends, to the in- jury of their country.” The Buffalo Evening News declares that “the con- ditions of the times cannot tolerate the type of peliticians who are cblivious of any considerations of national interest beyond the promotion of their personal egotism.” The Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail offers the judgment that “the indignation and resentment caus- ed among members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, was a fine tribute to their sense of justice and of fair play.” The Youngstown Vindicator avers that “the best answer to McFad- den is the approval which Congress glves the President’s action.” As to the subject of the speech, the Baltimore Sun declares: “The need for temporary relief alang the lines Mr. Hoover has arran is too 1&plrent for re- sponsible legislators overlook it.” “President Hoover's judgment and his methods,” advised the Ann Arbor Daily News, “constitute legitimate po- litical bones of contention, but his mo- tives fall into a different category. Any man attacking them should be required to furnish proof, in Congress or out, as the gentleman from Illinois has chal- lenged the member from Pennsylvania to do.” Lynchburg News contends “it is obvious that Representative Me- Fadden deserves disciplining,” though that paper concedes that “it is difficult to envisage some of his fellow Repub- licans as quite so indignant and af- ronted as their talk of reprisals would indicate.” “Congressman McFadden,” thinks the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, “has brought upon his head the denuncia- tion of the whole people, without re- gard to party lines. Republican lead- ership in Pennsylvania, as represented by Senators Reed and Davis, has read him out of the party, so far as in their power, and he is getting only what he has invited. He disregarded the obli- gations of party loyalty and the due of pal support of an act of the President that earned the commenda- tion of the Nation and of the whole ‘Among lvania Representatives in Congress,” says the Harrisburg Tele- fi‘ h, “there is a feeling that unless c;odden can prove his charges, he should recant or suffer the econse- quence.” The Manchester Union finds that “most Republicans will sympathize with the steps that are reported to have been taken by party leaders to discipline him.” and the Springfield (Mass.) Republican holds that “a way to punish him that he will not forget P i ministration. With Mr. McFadden and Mrs, Pinchot splitting the Hoover sition among the Republicans, an candidate more fal It is held that although he | is to deprive him of his high com- mittee places.” The Omaha World-Herald takes the position that “the better spirit of Amer- ica should trample on the heads of the ‘McFaddens wherever they are found, in Congress or outside it.” The Omaha paper also says: “In an effort to ecope with the situation in Germany the government has adopted dictatorial measures. Freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, have heen taken ay. Arbitrary govermental orders have slashed wages, rents, interest charges, prices of goods and commod- ities. Germany is fighting in the last ditch for the preservation of an orderly civilization. Representative McFadden and others like him would add to her woes; pour the oil of demagogy on the flames that are enveloping her social and economic life.” As to the proposed punishment of the Pennsylvanian, the Charlotte Observer makes the comment: “What was Mc- Fadden’s offense? Nothing more than a rather bitter attack on President Hoover and his moratorium proposition. The word is thus passed out to Republican Congressmen that they must stand by the administration or suffer the pen- alties, The surprise, however, is that Mr. Hoover allowed himself to be party to a partisan program of the kind.” “It is significant,” according to the Morgantown Dominion-News, “that Representative McFadden has been throughout his congressional career an ‘old guard’ Republican, & staunch sup- porter of the administration. To find him, then, on his feet in the House of Representatives delivering a vitriolic at- tack on President Hoover, an attack whose ferocity has been matched few times in the history of Presidents, can- not but be regarded as an example of the extent to which support even among his own party has been withdrawn from President Hoover.” “Within the last three weeks there has been a mighty crystallization of senti- ment throughout the Nation against any further gratuity to Europe in the mat- ter of wiping out the post-war debts,” asserts the Akron Beacon-Journal, and the St. Louis Times suggests that “it will be shown that the administration has, indeed, gone far in extending a helping hand to lands across the sea, that billions have been tossed into for- elgn hoppers, especially that of Ger- y. “Has not the ublican party leaned over a lttle toonfa,}." asks the Altoona Mirror, “when it undertakes to deny him the courtesy of naming the Federal office holders in Jeis district?” . Plea for U. S. Entry In Court Is Scored From the Worcester Telegram. Many are the reasons for American adherence to the World Court under the Root formula. There is no strong reason for rejecting this plan. But the supporters of the court are making a mistake which may be damaging to their cause. They are overstating their case. In 1926 the Senate voted to adhere to the court, with five reservations. The fifth reservation was not accepted by other nations adhering to the court. So there was a deadlock. The fifth reservation enable America to prevent the court from g an ad- visory opinion. Under the Root formula the court would be able to give an advisory .ml.m, in the face of Amer- ican obj until America had been fully to present her views, Root formula probably in most cases would serve as a veto power for ::éerlem Bu: the R!oot formula does specifically grant any such v Do;le: to America. y e et many prominent supporters of the court insist that the Root formula means an absolute acceptance of the Senate’s original Aifth reservation. That is the wrong way to go about the busi- ness. It means a depar.ure from strict accuracy, and it will therefore give the opponents of the court a chance to score a point. Friends of -the court should promptly reverse their attitude in this particular. The Root de- on its o of 1t is wvorable to Mr, ver the nomination against But t alip in. The is B T e ik e f e B two somstructions will not be made at ment upon the pittances permitted by mfi&fi u“mnmwnun 0a tow ¢ 80 pux Dot of iha an el S LA