Evening Star Newspaper, January 8, 1932, Page 8

A—8 THE EVENING STAR U WASHINGTON, D. C. January 8, 1832 The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office. 5d Penniyivania Ave ce. Lake Mic ropean Office: 14 Englan: Rate by Carrier Within the City. ¢ Evening Star ... 45¢ per month ¢ Evenig and Sunday Biar Uxhen 4 Bundays) The Evening and Sunday Sar (when 5 Bundeys) 65c per month e Bunday Star Sc per copy ollection made at the end of each month re De sent in by mail o telephone 60c per month Rate by Mail—Payable In Advance. Maryland and Virginia. ily and Sunday +$10.00; 1 mo., 88¢ ily only ... nday only 4 5% 1y 3400 1 mo., 40c All Other States and Canada. {ly and Sunday...1yr.$12.00: 1 mo., $1,00 | fly only ~.........1yr. $8.00:1mo.. 7c| nday only . 1yr 35000 1 mo. 50c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of ull rews dis- | atehes credited fo it or not othe wise cred- | fied in this paper and glso the local rews published herein. = All rights of publication of pecial dispatches herein are also icserved —_— Evasion of the Fized Ratio Law. The injustice of evading the fixed ratio provisions of substantive law by methods initiated in the House and forced through the Senate by the ne- cessities of expediency is doubly appar- ent wien one studies the process of | such evasion. For, as set forth in the | concluding article today of The Star's series on the history of fiscal relations, such a process is founded not only upon & rule set up by the House for its own guidance, but bf® an interpretation of the application of that rule. Legisla- tion on an appropriation bill, by the so-called Holman rule, is in order when its purpose is to reduce the expenditure under the bill. But as the expenditures under the District appropriation bill have been increasing steadily from year to year, the Holman rule means, as here applied, that the ‘legislative rider is in order when it reduces the Federal ex- penditure, even though such reduction i more than offset by the increase in the total of the bill. No such interpretation of & rule can be justified on any equitable or reason- able grounds, especially When one takes into consideration the fact that the ap- propriations are for the Capital of the United States and that, under condi- tions existing when the rule has been applied, the purpose has been to repudi- ate the controlling partner’s terms of « bargain, all of which are written by this controlling partner. Nor was the resort to the Holman rule the natural method of revoking such terms. In & Congress that divides its Jegislative powers between two Houses, the act of repeal should follow the same processes that led to original enactment of a statute. It is significant that it ‘ia only when the natural processes of formal, legisiative repeal met defeal because of resistance by the Senate, that the fixed ratio provisions were tempo- rarily but annuslly annulled by means of applying & contestable interpretation of & contestable parliamentary rule, Today the House is again putting the eart before the horse, It is again at- tempting to repeal, by formal legislative action, & statute that has already been evaded and which, under the plans recommended to the House, would be more flagrantly violated than ever be- fore, regardless of how formal repeal will fare. To those members of Congress who believe the Federal Government that established, planned and exclusively controls the Federal City Is in any de- gree financially responsible for its up- keep and should in some degree state those responsibilities in terms that will prevent the injustice and evil conse- quences of vacillation and caprice in appropriating Federal funds and in taxing the unrepresented citizens of this community, attention is invited to the carefully selected language of the Mapes bill to repeal the fixed propor- tionate system. s * such expenses of the Dis- trict of Columbia as Congress may ap- propriate for shall be paid out of the revenues of the District of Columbia, except that the United States shall make such contributions toward defray- ing such expenses as may be provided in the acts making appropriations therefor.” There is comfort sssurance that Congress what it “may” appropriate. LEoTE S o sorry” does not help much in healing the bruises and cuts on Consul Chamberlain’s person. Nor is it much eomfort to future diplomatic and con- sular runners of the same risk which he innocently hazarded. ———————— Ritchie's Hat in the Ring. Gov. Albert C. Ritchie of Maryland has formally announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nom- fnalfon. His is & candidacy which should and undoubtedly will receive serious consideration by the members of his party. He has been elected four times Governor of Maryland, an honor never before conferred by the people of Maryland on any man. He has proved himself an able executive. Ever since 1924 Gov. Ritchie has been prom- tnently mentioned for the presidential nomination of his party. He was bal- loted for in the national convention of that year, and in 1928 he would also have becn & candidate had he not with- drawn from the race early in the pre- convention campaign and thrown his support to Alfred E. Smith. The Gov- emnor’s friends say that he is clearly entitled not only to serious considera- tion this year but to the nomination stself In his address delivered last night at the Concord Club in Baltimore Gov. Ritchie said: “Of course I would like to be President; who would not?” His frankness is admirable. Too many pres- idential candidates are unwilling to admit their true position with regard to that great office. They back and A1l jockeying for position, leaving their friends to bear the brunt of the pre- convention campaign. The time has arrived for entire frank- mess with regard to the presidential nominations this year. Under-cover stuff, with trades here and trades there, end usually with the consummation of & presidential nomination unexpected by the voters and perhaps unwelcome to tham. Gov. Ritchie has set the bell of course, in the “shall” pay £6.00: 1 mo., 50c | | to Tokio and Nanking. rolling. Others prominently mentioned ! for nomination should declare either their willingness to accept or their un- willingness. This wouid help to clear the atmosphere considerably. The Governor of Maryland has also taken his position on those issues which confront the country today, in making his announcement that he is a candi- date for the presidential nomination. For years he has made it distinctly plain that he is opposed to the central- ization of government in Washington and that he favors State control of many activities to which the Federal Government is now committed, in- 5§ prohibition. He is against gov- ernment ownership and operation of utilities, though in favor of proper governmental regulation. He believes that industry, not the Federal Govern- ment, should undertake a system of un- employment insurance. In fact, Mr. Ritchie preaches old-fashioned Demo- cratic doctrine of the kind that Thomas Jefferson was wont to deal in. This is strangely at variance with the proposals of some modern Democrats. —— et A Warning to Japan. In a note losing nothing in forceful- ness because of its restraint, the United States Government notifies both Japan and China that it will recognize no state of affairs in Manchuria which ignores the principle of the open door, the treaty rights of this country, the nine-power treaty or the Kellogg pact. The communication is addressed jointly In main effect and obvious purpose it constitutes & warning to Japan, given at the very hour her troops, by occupying Shan-! halkwan, were carrying the invasion | beyond the Great Wall and into the domain of China proper. The emphatic statement of American refusal “to admit the legality of any situation de facto” means that while the conquest of Manchuria by the Jap- anese i an accomplished fact, this Government looks upon it as a lawless achlevement. There is no suggestion that the United States will proceed from remonstrance to action, in order to right s mow publicly proclaimed wrong. But Japan's action is at length pilloried before the world in terms the significance of which will not be lost upon her government and people. Short of war, for which, it goes without saying, there is no wisp of senti- ment in this country, Secretary Stimson has done all that can be doné to stig- matize and check Japan's aggression against the integrity of China. He has not waited for other powers to act. He seizes the initiative, in the name of the United States, just s another distin- guished Secretary of State, John Hay, grasped it thirty-four years ago, when the doctrine of the open door in China was first promulgated. It is manifestly Secretary Stimson’s bellef that the steps thus taken will be supported by our co-signatories to the nine-power treaty, to whom coples of the identical note to Japan and China were supplied. If, as must be expected, these governments join in the protest against the illegality of Japan's proce- dure, Tokio will have dinned into its ears & volume of international resent- ment that can hardly fail to impress a people as proud as the Japanese are of the place they have won in the family of nations. They cannot afford to carry forever the brand of treaty-breaker upon their national forehead. The Stimson note stresses the unwill- ingness of the United States to recog- nize treatles between Japan and China themselves respecting current events in Manchuris. What here is indicated is anticipated arrangements which will appear to give Chinese official sanction to the conquest. Such vestige of Chinese authority as is left in Manchuria is obviously not that of & free agent. The United States “does not intend to rec- ognize any situation, treaty or agree- ment,” Secretary Stimson says, “which may be brought about by means con- trary to the covenants and obligations” of the Kellogg pact. To that pact the signatures of both China and Japan are affixed. In the passage just quoted lies the kernel of the move the United Btates has just made—Secretary Stimson’s reference to the “obligations” of the Kellogg pact. The United States snnounces in 30 many words that it is required, under the provisions of the general pact for | renunciation of war, to see that it is respected. We have made the first gesture in that direction. We have | placed on record, on a specific and grave occasion, as was laid down in tke cele- brated Hoover-MacDonald communique of October, 1929, that the peace pact is secepted “not only as a declaration of good intentions, but as & positive obligation to direct national policy in accordance with its pledge.” No more solemn affirmation of America's international faith has been forthcoming in recent years than Sec- | retary Stimson's pronouncement on | Manchuria. It deserves, and will un-| questionably command, the country whole-hearted approval. e The fact that an early morning mo- torist found and captured a coyote on Sixteenth street is not so surprising as to learn that two Washingtonians have | recently lost such an snimal. And, by | the way, does, one buy a regular dog | tag for a pet wolf? o Congress as a Utilities Commission. It was an open question, until the day before yesterday, whether any con- dition could be more confused and un- certain than that which has resulted from the unsuccessful efforts of the Public Utilities Commission to “regu- late” the local taxicabs. But now, thanks be, the question has been an- swered. There is some satisfaction in that, although the answer happens to be in the affirmative. There can be & more confused condition, and it results when the House transforms itself, for the moment, into the Public Utilities Commission and takes over the duties and prerogatives of that body. The question of requiring taxicabs to install meters, instead of following, willy nilly, & zone system that exists for the most part according to the per- sonal whims and philosophies of the four or five thousand taxicab drivers, was relatively unimportant. Meter charges could be made as reasonable as zone charges. The important part of the business was the test of the Public Utilities Commission’s authority THE EVENING STAR. WASHINGTON the courts. Every important order hy[ the Public Utilities Commission event- | uslly goes into the courts. And while the case is awaiting disposition by the courts, along comes the House of Rep- resentatives and passes & Tesolution ask- ing Gen. Patrick to rescind the meter- installation order. Gen. Patrick at first replies defending the commission’s meter order, but assuring Congress that the commission will, of course, obey sny congressional mandate. Then, after a visit to the Capitol with counsel for the commission, Gen. Patrick postponed the effective date of the order for meter installation until sixty days sfter the court renders its decision—providing, of | course, that the decision backs up the Public Utllities Commission. Suppose the court backs up the Pub- lic Utilitles Commission? Will the taxi- cab operators purchase meters and g0 to the expense of installing them when they know that the House will stand behind them in their refusal to comply? Of course not! If one or both houses of Congress is to act as the Public Utilities Commis- sion and issue crders or countermand commission orders without investigation, public hearings or arguments on the merits of issues, why not abolish the Public Utilities Commission? Why con- tinue the expense of maintalning a Public Utllities Commission when Con- gress chooses to take over its functions? The texicabs should be required to respond to the same sort of regulation that now extends to other common car- riers in the District, and Congress should make it its business to see that there is legisiation to enforce such regulations through the Public Utilities Commis- sion or some other body to which it may delegate its powers. —— The height of ingratitude: A Los Angeles business man married & for- elgn dancer who came here under an immigration permit good for only six months in order that she could fill out her fat contract. Now she has accused him of “improper conduct.” e Connecticut in the old days used to sccept Indian wampum in tax pay- ments. If the Federal Government of today were but willing to accept cotton, wheat, etc., for the same purpose, this would be & tremendous step in some direction or other. R A “cycloglyph,” it seems, is some- thing in stone equivalent to & pano- ramsa in painting. And, no matter how one chooses to pronounce this harsh word, it just seems to fit that dingus that runs around the old Pension Office Building. -t “Britons never, never shall be slaves,” runs one of the popular anthems of their country. Yet, under their present staggering load of taxation, & lot of them must sing the song these days somewhat quaveringly. ——— Traffic authorities must wish they could get title and tag patrons to flock in as early, as enthusiastically and in a8 large numbers as do prospective purchasers of new special stamp issues for their collections. ————————— The Sahara Desert, it is estimated, is nearly three times as large as the so- called Great American Desert. Aha! but we have more oases. ——r——— ‘The ungrateful Japanese! Think of their beating up one of our consular representatives after we have given them the best thing we had—base ball! e r—————————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Gentle Germ. Or, gentle Germ! We feared you years ago And fear you still, but not so much as then. ‘Though you are bad, we have been made to know That worse than you can threaten mortal men. Oh, Germ! When you attack us and lay low. Our happiness and spoil our sleep and food, You do s0 not in wrath nor pompous show But in your dull, unthinking habi- tude. But man, when he assalls with brain: and arm His fellow man in rage—then, we affirm, Compared to him, with all his hurt and harm, You seem a perfect gentleman, oh, Germ! Easier. “Don’t you want to be a leader of the | people?” “It'’s hard work to be a real leader,” commented Senator Sorghum. “It's usually easier to get along by jollying the crowd.” A Loafer. The busy bee is often made To serve as an example fair To folk whose toll may be delayed By passing pleasures, here and there. And yet the bee sn idler dwells, Excepting in the Summer glow, And dozes 'mongst his honey cells And never has to shovel snow! Borrowing Unnecessary. “There’s no use borrowing trouble,” said the philosophic citizen. “You don't have to borrow it,” replied Mr. Growcher. “Somebody is always willing to come along and hand it to you gratis.” Permanence. The morning light is cold and gray As night is followed by the dawn; In turn the daytime faces away— And still the arguments go on. The snow gives place to gentle showers, The blossoms smile and soon are gone, The fruit succeeds the glorious flowers— And still the arguments go on. Empires arose to tax and fight; ‘The student, to their ruins drawn, Brings ancient records to the light— Still the old arguments go on. “Experience is de best teacher,” said Uncle Eben, “but gittin’ arrested ain’ no way to study law.” —.—————— D. C., FRIDAY, THIS AND THAT / BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. That was a queer mixture which Emerson jotted down in his journal in the year 1847, when he was 43 years old. *Health, South wind, books, old trees, a boat, & friend.” ‘The second component was used, sev- eral years ago, as the title of a novel. At least, Norman Douglas, its author, called it & novel. It is, rather, a dis- cussion among friends. Tt is & curious fact that mankind has attributed health to the South wind, while severely refusing it .to & wind from the East. The peoples of almost all nations have & superstition—it is scarcely pos- sible to call it anything else—that the East wind is an_ unhealthy wind. The interested reader will find a jingle to that effect in Mother Goose. * ox K K The South wind has been the favor- ite breeze of Washingtonians since the foundation of the District of Columbia. Right up the river, of aeurse. The Washington Chanmel runs di- rectly North and South. Get out your map, and look it up, | and you will see that the river, after it widens out, runs due North, and that Connecticut avenue, beginning at Chevy Chase Circle, and hence into Maryland, does the same. Many people have superstitions about the way they sleep. Perhaps it makes no_ difference at all. Many, however, refuse to sleep with their head to the South, but prefer to point North, as it were, like & compass. For those who are finicky about | which way they point when asleep it may be suggested that they purchase a house whose corners lie to the points of the compass. and thus they will point North by East, and so on. %k There can be little doubt that the East wind got its unenviable reputation, at least in many localities, because it | is the rarest of all the winds. And the | unknown is feared. The wind from the North blows 10 times as often. During Winter, in Washingtoy, the West wind is probably the prevailig one. ‘The East wind, too, most often brings rain, and falling water is not conducive to the health, niot so much in and of itself, but more because so many human beings will not take the trouble to pro- tect themselves from it. The third element of Emerson’s half dozen random thoughts was that magic one, books. These need no introduction. Books are old friends to most people. They solace the quiet hour, bring new horizons, help pass time, soothe sick- ness, help in time of need. More books are printed today than at any time in the history of printing. Whether that helps matters any is mat- ter for debate. The book business itself has its doubts. It seems to many & | friend of books that far too many people who have no right to be at- tempting books are doing it, or trying | to do it. We read, or tried to read, not long ago, & biography of & great woman writer. The author did not know how to write. She had gathered her mate- rial, but it should have been turned over to_some one else. Those who have the most respéct for books feel that something more than | a mere ability to gather material | should go into them. A book, prop- erly speaking, should be the highest attainment of those who write. As it is today, too often a book is trash. | man, so-called, got “Qld trees” says Emerson. in the continuation of his hodge-podge jotting. 1t is not to be wondered at that this wise man, doing something which was rare with him—that is, simply slinging thoughts together without connectives— should have hit upon old trees next. Somehow, old trees and old books go together. One likes to think of a fine old library, with cases running to the ceiling, filled with books. while outside some great oaks cast pleasant shadows over the windows. Yet how carelessly old trees are treated! It is no rare sight to go down a residence street, and see where tree | butchers have done what they call | “topping.” In such cases this topping is rather “two-thirdsing.” If the tree lives and grows again, it will be due entirely to the grace of God. There kas come to be, however, on the part of all sensible people, & mucl better appreciation of the part good trees play in the city beautiful. De- spite the ravages of those Who insist on “progress,” as they call it, at the expense of everything else, young and old trees today are appreciated at their true worth, especially in and around the city. In the National Capi- tal, in particular, the cult of the tree has grown, aithough much atill, re- mains to be done in fostering proper planting, especially of trees of sufi- clent size to make themselves seen. * * “And a boat” said Emerson. Perhaps the philosopher never owned a boat, but that made no difference. He knew better than most the hold which a boat has upon the imagina- tions of the children of men. ‘The first boat was discovered when a cave- thrown into the water, there seized upon a float- and ing log. gj\'ex‘ since then the dreams of men have gone forth in boats when their physical bodies have not been able to . Because & man does not possess a boat, Is no reason at all why he ca not and does not love the idea of & boat, the theme of & boat, the picture of a boat, the sight of & boat. No man could be a philosopher of the stature of Ralph Waldo Emerson with- out thinking a great deal of boats of all sorts, and making them a part of the invisible philosophy which he jots down, perhaps incoherently, from time to time. * X KX “A friend” said he. as if summing up the hall dozen of his own selec- tion. ‘Are we to think that he had some- thing definite in mind, that he was displaying the successive ingredients of a picnic, or something? Taking along a friend and some old books, ull possessed of good health, they went forth in a boat, when the South wind was blowing, and slid down the river between great trees growing on the banks. ‘Well, maybe, but it is not likely that Emerson wanted to paint such a pic- ture, as pleasant as it would be. He seldom indulged in just pictures, We prefer to think that he merely tted down a half dozen pleasant leas which came to him. He dealt in ideas, rather than in pictures. The idea of health, the idea of the South wind, the ideas of books, and old trees, of a boat, and of a friend— these came to him one after the other and he let them stand. And we let them stand. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. ‘There is no occasion for malicious joy | in the Republican camp over the pro- | hibition feud within the -Democratic party. For every Raskob who would | commit the Democrats to repeal or ref- erendum there is & Republican coun- | terpart. The issue conjures up no whit | more of embarrassment for the Demo- | crats in their 1932 National Convention than it does for the G. O. P. when it gets down to platform writing at Chi- cago. All of his supporters understand, of course, that Mr. Hoover—unless he undergoes & drastic change of heart be- tween now and next June—will sccept renomination only as an uncompro- mising dry. But the Nicholas Murray Butlers, the Hiram Binghams, the A. Piatt Andrewses, the George H. Tinkhams, the James W. Wadsworths, the James M Becks and the Pauline M. Sabinses will not see the forthcoming Republican platform adopted without a bitter fight to equip it with a wet plank. If the Democrats see justification for moisten- ing their platform in the recent Quar- tet of Democratic wet victories in spe- | cial congressional elections, Republican anti-prohibitionists find in them no less support for their position, * X oK % Hardly at any time within the living political generation have Democratic politicians ‘converged upon Washington in such a spirit of impending victory | as marks this week’s gathering of their clans for Jackson day and the National Committee meeting. Every mother's son and daughter of them is convinced | that triumph—which is, they say, more than can be said of prosperity—is just around the corner. By every law of political precedent, Democratic hopes | are no idle delusions. The almost axiomatic law that the party which loses the off-year congressional election is headed for defeat in the ensuing presidential election has just operated in the Democrats' favor. = Times con- tinue to be bad. President Hoovers stock is still the victim of as deadly | a bear market as ever depressed the fortunes of & White House occupant seeking _re-election. Two “hunger | marches” have reached Washington within_a month, clamoring for Fed- eral relief of the unemployment crisis. Congress is about to ring with demands for Treasury help despite the adminis tration’s claim that the voluntary sys tem is coping with the situation.” Tt is amid these conditions that Democrats gird for the 1932 fray. They do not | see how they can be denied next November. | L B | Democratic_chieftains here from East | and West, North and South, reflect the undoubted lead Gov. Roosevelt at | present has for their party's presiden- tial nomination. On all lips is the thought that if tonight's Jackson day dinner were the National Convention the Governor would probably be put over on the first ballot. With that ex- pression there is the unuttered senti-| ment that there's plenty of time dur- ing the next six months for a stop- Roosevelt movement to get into deadly motion. But who's to be the stopper? There's the tub. The aphorism that you can’t stop somebody with nobody is old as the hills and applies_exactly to the Roosevelt situation. Will Al Smith show his hand before the week is over? Anybody who has the answer to that riddie of the Democratic uni- verse probably knows whether the Roosevelt boom is doomed to become & bubble. | XK Countess Laszlo Szechenyi, wife of the Hungarian Minister to the United | States, is an American—the former | Gladys Vanderbilt of New York—but she's had lots of trouble during her nine years at Washington in getting salespeople in the stores to understand and spell her name. Long 0 she gave up trying and resorted to & prac- tical method of sparing the nerves of all concerned. When the countess makes & purchase in & shop and wants it delivered she usually produces a little rubber stamp and pad from her bag and imprints Ler name on the pur- c(hlse lalllg oS!. plx.)er’. It's pronounced as if spelle y-chainy, with on the first syllable. Shescs * X % x Believe it or not, this observer has Chicago Employes in Dilemma. Prom the Milwaukee Sentinel. to require the taxicabs to do anything, and that test was wrapped up in the requirement to install meters. Ths jest, of course, has gone into Chicago city employes no doubt often muse on the question of whether it is better to be unpaid and -than unpaid | just survived the following experience. He was remarking to the wife n;‘w. Gov- ernment official that within a month he will be broadcasting to the United over this country?” she asked. That is the big idea, it was explained. “Well"” the dear lady wanted to know, “won’t you have to talk terribly loud to be heard all the way across the ocean?” And Secretary Wilbur wants us to be- lieve that Uncle Sam spent $3,200,000,- 000 on education in 1931! x K X * Maj. Gen. Frank R. McCoy, U. S. A, who is to represent America on the neutral commission of inquiry in Man- churia, is coming to be the Govern- ment’s handy man. He was drafted in 1928 to supervise the Nicaraguan elec- tions, and when that job was creditably performed Gen. McCoy was assigned to preside over the Paraguayan-Bolivian arbitration at Washington. He's no stranger to the Far East. Many years of service in the Philippines stand to his credit. The general should be par- ticularly acceptable to Japan on the present occasion because he commanded the American relief commission to that country during the great earthquake of 1923, McCoy at the time being assistant to Gov. Gen. Leonard Wood at Manila. In 1919 he was chief of staff to the American military mission to Armenia. Xk Dr. Mary Emma Woolley, world wom- ankind's representative at the Geneva Disarmament Conference, will make her first public utterance on the subject since President Hoover appointed her an Amerjcan delegate in Washington next Sunday. The occasion will be the na- tional disarmament mass meeting or- ganized by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. An- other speaker of distinction will be Ruth Nichols, aviatrix. R It required no fewer than 13 liners to carry American tourists on cruises to Bermuda and West Indies over the re- cent holidays. A sailor who describes himself as one of the 700 men recently laic off from the Leviathan bemoans the fact that not one ship of the tourist fleet flew the American flag. Five were Eritish, two Dutch, two French, two German, one Italian and one Swedish. The unemployed seaman wants to know why it is that 350,000 tons of shipping found it profitable and possible to sail merrily out past Sandy Hook, with the flags of half a dozen European countries flapping gayly astern” while American liners are laid up at Hoboken. Is it possibly because the European liners operate bars? Perish the thirsty thought! (Copyrisht, 1932.) — e e—— First Public Concert Held 200 Years Ago To the Editor of The Btar: Your readers may be interested in the following, which records the first public concert in America, 200 years 2go. In December, 1731, the Boston News Letter carrled the following: “On Thursday the thirtieth of this instant December, there will be per- formed a concert of music on sundry instruments at Mr. Pelham’s great room, being the house of the late Dr. Noyes near Sun Tavern. “Tickets to be delivered at the place of performance at five shillings each. The concert to begin at 6 o'clock, and no tickets will be delivered after 5 the day of the performance. “N. B. There will be no admittance after 6" Peter Pelham, in whose room the concert was held, was & dancing master, manager of the subscription assembly, boarding school keeper, instructor in writing, reading, painting on glass, an engraver and dealer in the “best Vir- ginia tobacco.” EDWIN N. C. BARNES. B Deadly Kansas Music. Prom the Roandke Times. A Kansas small town brass band scared a mule to death. That's all we want to know about the kind of bands they have out in Kansas. ——— Competence. From the Milwaukee Sentinel. Some researchers have decided that a man becomes unfit to drive a motor car when he attains the age of 50. Our to com- States {rom the Genev; - Iz e e Neval Gonfer- b0 be 40 own idea is that a motorist who lives established & | & member of the Czechoslovak Parlia- | ous panhandler who approached him JANUARY 8, 1932. |Former Minister Pergler Replies to Envoy’s Letter To the Bditor of The Star: The letter of Mr. Veverks, Czecho- slovak Minister, in The Star of Janu- ary 6, is as unfortunate as it is dis- ingenuous. The one allegation of fact which Mr. Veverka makes, as distin- guished from his generalities and in- sinuations, is directly contrary to what actually occurred. Mr. Veverke alleges that I was re- lieved of my diplomatic post on “unani- mous advice of the competent min-| isterial commission.” It is only chari- table to assume that Mr. Veverka says this because the law requires such & commission, and without such a com- mission any removal of s state official 1s illegal. But the fact is that such & commission never sat. On the con- trary, I came to the United States in 1922 on a leave of absence formally granted by the ministry of foreign af- fairs and learned of my retirement from the newspapers. Of the reasons I have been never notified officially. The matter is still pending before the highest administrative court on appeal, | and has been pending there for years. It is true that Minister Benes later made an attack on me in Parliament, but in 1926 he admitted to Rev. Zlamal, & Catholic clergyman of Cleveland, that he was misled and that he would make proper amends. This he never did. It 18 equally true that in 1928, in a confi- dential memorandum to Dr. Karel Kramar, the first Czechoslovak prime minister, Mr. Benes admitted he was wrong. These are now matters of public record, and Mr. Veverka cannot be ignorant of them. It is disingenuous to hark back to occurences of 10 years ago when the fact is that abroad for 10 years I have kept silent and have resorted to inter- national publicity only as a result of my experiences of the last two years as ment. .. The Caechoslovak censorship is not in the interest of morals and public order.” The censw< recently sup- pressed an official veport of the United States Department of Commerce dis- clolinf the budgetary condition of the republic. In this morning’s mail I have information that the censor in the weekly Narodni Liga suppressed an article on Danton the French revolution. A constitution may be democratic on paper and as to real democracy mean exactly nothing. Even parliamentary speeches may be and have been sup- pressed in Czechoslovakia. Mr. Veverka's letter is in the nature of a personal attack. In this I shall not follow him. Looking upon the gov- ernment of Czechoslovakia, as it func- tions today, as & disguised oligarchy of illegal methods, without indulging in pelemics of this nature I shall continue to exercise the right of telling the truth as I see it, always submitting proof and facts. After all, my posi- tion is no different from that of other political emigres. I have the approval of an authority higher than Mr. Veverka, a member of the same political party as Mr. Benes —the National Socialist party. In the Prague municipal election of 1926 the movement I have the honor to belong to polled 12,000 votes. In the Sep- tember municipal election of 1931 I headed the party’s ticket and received 50,000 votes. That represents the opinion of my fellow countrymen of my recent activities abroad, for during the campalgn I could not be present. No more need be sald. CHARLES PERGLER. JRSSE——— Police Chief Draws Satire With Exploit To the Editor of The Star. It was with considerable gratification that I read, on the first page of The Star's 5:30 Pinal for Tuesday, January 5, an article describing Brig. Gen. Pel- ham D. Glassford’s important step in what promises to be a vigorous cam- paign against lawlessness in Washing- ton. The new chief of police cannot be too highly commended for his good beginning in office, when he succeeded in getting a 30-day sentence for a pan- handler who accosted him in Judiciary Square. Several features of Gen. Glass- ford's good beginning merit the atten- tion of citizens whose safety has re- cently been Intrusted to his care. First: The police chief made his good beginning not in & conventional and spectacular rald on speakeasy or gamhun(bhnuse. nor in an equally spec- tacular but quite unconventional cap- ture of one of Washington’s elusive murderers, but by quietly arresting and carrying off to the first preqinct single- handed, except for the assistance of a patrol wagon and its crew, a_danger- and asked for a dime for a bite to eat. Second: When the general made the unusual arrest, he did not have the pro- tection of a uniform, being dressed un- ostentatiously in civilian clothes, and appearing to the unwary no different from the average passerby. But how different he really was from the average sserby! How superior the decision of is actions when he heard the alms seeker’s forthwith request. Without any spineless doubt that perhaps the fellow was hungry, without any weakly senti- mental thought of the approaching Twelfth Night, the general sald in the unmistakable accents of authority “Come along with me.” Third: The general was taking per- sonal risk when he made the arrest, for his prisoner was armed with deadly weapons—a Tazor and 8 cake of soRp. ‘When these weapons were discovered at the precinct, they caused ponderous dis- cussion. The razor, it was agreed, could have been used only for the intimida- tion of those who did not readily hand over dimes; but regarding the soap there there were two schools of thought, the one maintaining that it was used by the prisoner in the side line of safe blowing, the other arguing with equal reasonableness that it was used in a lathery state to blind his victims’' eyes. ‘The prisoner, however, did not make an attempt to use either weapon on his captor, probably perceiving that he was up against & most unusual type of man. Fourth: The general, once deter- mined upon & mode of action, once launched into combat, no matter how one-sided and difficult, does not give in until he has accomplished his purpose. Doggedly he turned his prisoner in at the station house, patiently he bided his time until the prisoner’'s case came be- fore Judge Schuldt the next day, un- falteringly he gave his testimony: The man had said “How about a dime for a bite to eat, buddy?” and the general had led him firmly to a convenient patrol box and called the wagon. Fifth: The conduct of our new chief of police was most becoming through- out the little comedy. He finished his testimony before Judge Schuldt, and stood quietly by while the prisoner, now safely razor and soap-less, attempted ! to excuse himself by saying that hunger drove him to beg, and was given his choice of $25 fine or 30 days in jail. The man insisted that he had no money and chose the jail term. CATHERINE E. HAYES, e Jailing of Hungry Man Is Protested To the Editor of The Star: I have read of nothing so inhuman as fining a man $25, and, if unable to pay it, to serve 30 days in jail for beg- ging 10 cents for a “bite to eat.” If we have any laws which sanction such treament, they should be repealed in the interest of humanity. MARIA W. CARTER. - Long Range Heaters, From the Dayton Daily News. Having invented & device that will de- tect the heat of & candle 30 miles away, some scientist has earned the undying gratitude of apartment house janitors. R Hop to It! From the Louisville Courier-Journal. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Have we had the pleasure of serving you through our Washington Informa- tion Bureau? Can't we be of some help to you in your problems? Our business is to furnish you with authori- tative information, and we invite you to ask us any question of fact in which you are interested. Send your inquiry to The Evening Star Information Bureau, Prederic J. Haskin, Director, Washing- ton, D. C. Inclose two cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Q. _What is the difference between the British pound and the guinea?— W. T. K. A. The pound sterling is & unit of 20 shillings and the guinea of 21 shillings. There are no paper guineas, Both are in use and it is customary for a Brit- ish tradesman to quote & price in guineas to a man known to be wealthy or of high position, while quoting the same number of pounds as the price to a poorer and humbler purchaser. Thus the man who is charged 10 guineas for a purchase pays 210 shillings, while he who is charged 10 pounds pays 200 schillings. Q. What is the manpower of the machines now employed in the United States?—M. C. A. According to & survey by Joseph W. Roe, professor of industrial en- gineering at New York University, it would require 12,000,000,000 servants to do the work that machinery performs each day in the United States, It is estimated that for every man, woman and child in this country there is gen- erated power equal to that of 100 servants. > Q. Will there be stamps to com- | memorate the Olympic games this year?—C. A. A. The Post Office Department says that their program calls for this issue, but details are not yet available. Q. Which is harder to digest, hot bread or cold bread?>—M. J. M. A. The Public Health Service says that as to which is considered the hard- er to digest, hot or cold bread, is a point upon which scientists disagree. Many contend that hot breads are in- jurious, while others point to the fact that many persons eat hot bread throughout their entire lifetime with- out ill results, There are, no doubt, many factors entering into the matter— the health of the'individual concerned, the character of the bread and perhaps the occupation of the individual or his activities. Q. Does South Africa have Royal Mounted Police?—I. N. A. The South African legation says that there is no police organization in that dominion called the Royal Mounted Police. There is a mounted division of the South African police, with head- quarters at Pretoria, the capital of the Union of South Africa. Q. What is the population of the world?—O. D. A. The International Statistical In- stitute of the League of Nations esti- mates the world’s population at about 2,000,000,000. Q. What is a basilica?>—P. O. J. A. Originally, at Athens, it was a portico on the agora in which the archon basileus dispensed justice. Later, in Rome, it was a rectangular hall divided into nave and aisies by ranges of columns, and with a raised platform, called the tribune, at one end. It was used as a hall of justice and adopted as the type for the earliest buildings of Christian worship. The world is now applied to & church of this time or to one to which the Pope has given the title. Q. When were modern lead pencils first used?—P. 8. A. The first allusion to the use of pencils in the modern sense of a solid rod of marking material used for writ- ing and drawing, either incased in |wood or inclosed in some form of | holder, 1s in the treatise on fossils by Conrad Gesner of Zurich, Switzerland, in 1565. This writer describes an | article for writing formed of wood and a plece of lead, or, as he believed, an artificial composition called English antimony, The famous Borrowdale mine, in Cumberland, having been. dis- covered about that time, it is probable that we have here the first allusion | to that great find of graphite. While the suppiy of the Cumberland mine | lasted the material for English pencils consisted simply of the native graphite as taken from the mine. | pie | Q. What is spindrift>—E. T. Spindrift, or spoondrift, is the spray blown from the crests of waves. Q. When did the traffic in slaves from Africa cease in the United | States?—C. W. | _A. According to Elson's “History of the United States,” “A of one of the compromises of the Constitution | was that Congress must not interfere {Wflh the slave trade before 1808. Long | before this time, however, the South- ern States put an end to the traffc, each within its own bounds. But n 1804 South Carolina reopened it (after it had been closed in that State for |15 years), and in the remaining four vears imported about 40,000 Negroes. In 1807 Congress passed a law to take effect January 1, 1808, prohibiting the trade, under severe penalties. In 1820 an additional act made the traffic piracy punishable by death. But, in spite of all vigilance of the Govern- | ment, aided by the British government, | there continued a smuggling trade up | to the Civil War. In all this period there was but one execution for smug- gling Negroes and that after the open- ing of the Civil War.” Q. What mean?—J. P. A. It is a Latin word coun- cil of elders. St Q. When was the Gorgas Lal deiica#‘:%-.&. D. R. i . e Gorgas Laboratory of Trop- ical Research was dedicated on April 2 1929, in the City of Panama. The cost of maintenance is to be borne for five years by the United States within a limit of $50,000 per annum. Q. What kind of targets are used in archery tournaments?—J. J. R. A. Regulation archery targets are the | only ones used in the large tournaments. | They are 4 feet in diameter and weigh from 50 to 60 pounds. They are made of light straw, carefully sewn, with | bright painted faces. [} Q. How many chain stores mAuw’g?ne]d States?—V. F. R‘." kg < e latest authoritative figures showed a total of 4,280 chains with é}:{fifls stores in 30 lines of merchan- 8. ‘ Q. What were the Mulligan let- ters?—S. T. W. A. Certain letters written by James G. Blaine to his private buslne’u part- ner, Warren Fisher. They were ob. tained in some way by James Mulligan, a clerk of Fisher’s, and the insinua made that they showed corruption on Blaine’s part in the legislation affecting certain Western railroads. Mulligan appeared before a congressional com- mittee investigating Blaine, but Blaine himself .regained possession of the let- ters and read them to Congress in June, 1876. The letters were the subject of much campaign controversy. Q. Does the alligator make any other noise besides hissing?—D. B. A. The alligator is noted for its pro- nounced roaring or bellowing noise which it makes when angered or dis- turbed. This is remarkable, since it is the only. saurian or reptile of the alli- gator group which is known to'make & distinctive noise. does the word senate Economy in State Finances Held to Be PFigures from the Census Bureau showing an increase of several hun- dred per cent in the per capita debts of numerous States have aroused citi- zens to the need of checking such in- creases and seeking a safer basis for State finances. It is observed that much of the increase has been since the war period, and is believed to re- flect the tendency toward large expendi- tures developed at that time. One obstacle to_improvement is seen by the Omaha World-Herald in the fact that while “general deflation of the functions and activities of govern- ment from top to bottom,” is desirable, “the public reluctance to recognize and to accept that way out is greater even than the public irritation over paying taxes.” Quoting Jefferson’s statement that the best government ‘governs least,” the World-Herald concludes: “We are probably agreed that Jeffer- son was right in principle, but in prac- tice we don't believe & word of it.” “The only answer to the problem con- fronting government today is to be found in severely curtailed debt com- mitments,” thinks the Yakima Morning Herald, obcerving that “the sum of debts owed by Federal, State, County, city and other sub-units of government stands at the highest point in history, with a total of 32 billions.” The Dan- bury Evening News advises that “if 1932 is to see any substantial revival of business, all tax-imposing authorities will have to do their best mot to raise 2 tax-bogey that will prevent business from leaving the hole in which it has been hiding since 1929.” “What is needed is some such pro- cedure as was followed in North Caro- lina,” declares the Morgantown Do- minion-News, recounting: “The govern- ment of North Carolina ‘stopped the ad- vancing tax burden in its tracks i\nd’ turned the curve of taxation downward. Resort was had to various means to accomplish this desirable end. County jurisdiction over roads and schools was abolished. jurisdiction at Raleigh cut the property tax $12,000,000. Property which paid 85 per cent of the State tax in 1921 will pay 52 per cent this year. Further, it is no longer possible for a small board in a town or county to ‘confiscate the property of its citizens through unlim- ited and unr gage its future’ because of the local government act, which makes a State commisis~. the supervisor of all local financing, although the people by vote may give the approval which has been refused by the commission.” “The people in the States” advises the Charleston, W. Va., Daily Mail, “will have to find some way of checking the costs of government, or have their backs broken under taxation loads. The probability is that they will eventually find & way. If the depression hastens this accomplishment, it will have proved & public benefaction.” “Particular attention should be paid to the possibility of financing more public projects out of current revenues,” contends the Providence Journal, with the statement as to the source of the | “It is contended | present _conditions that tax exemption on State bonds greatly stimulated the market for them during the past decade, especially in the years when Federal income taxes on large incomes were so high that avenues of escape were sought, and thus acted as a contributing cause to the jssuance of such securities. That the temptation to incur debt should be steadfastly resisted, and bonds issued only by virtue of necessity, are trite statements, but they will bear repeti- tion."” “Some States” it is pointed out by the Topeka Daily Capital, “have a very high debt, such as Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island, in New England, whose Plans are being made by the Bureau of Entomology in preparation for an effort to check the ravages of grass- hoppers in the West next Summer. The buresu hopes o get the Jump on them. debt in each case is double that of Kan- sas per capita. Illinois also has more than doubie the debt per capita of this State, while South Carolina’s is consid- erebly more than twice that of Kansas. nnluhll"lmm”um The centralization of this: estrained power to mort- | i ] Great Necessity State debt than Michigan, but nearly 30 times that of Wisconsin, which, in this as in many things, is a well gov- erned State. Arkansas has five times the per capita State debt of Kansas. There is a wide variation among_ the States in the amount of debt they have contracted for one purpose or another.” “The upward turn began at the close of the war,” according to the New York Sun. “The urge for good roads and | the dollar-matching legislation of the Federal Government helped the States to increase their bond issues. In New York there was a demand for new pub- ‘llc buildings and the elimination of grade crossings. Not all the States, however, have been unwary. Neighbor Connecticut, which had a per capita debt of $9.24 in 1915, has reduced it to 78 cents. Florida owes only 12 cents & person. Nebraska's debt has been neg- ligible for many years. Kentucky owes 77 cents per capita, while its neighbor, Tennessee, has gone from $6.60 to $32.34 since 1915. Arkansas takes the medal for bond issues, its per capita debt ris- ing from $1.33 in 1925 to $65.03 in 1930. That is a load far too heavy for a poor State, but the floods and the drought are partly to blame. Vermont also had to combat floods, which ac- counts for the rise of its debt from $1.02 a head in 1915, to $26.90 in 1930." One factor in local costs which is emphasized by the Atlanta Journal is “the excessive number of counties.” That paper commends the present movement for the merging of county units, and concludes: “Surely, it is time for Georgia, with her 159 counties, the great majority of which are far from self-sustaining, to move for tax econ- | omy in this vital respect. Millions of dollars now spent on these needless | units of government can be saved by a | well considered plan of consolidation. | Every citizen who wants a lighter tax ln?d should work for this sensible reform.” Women Previously Held Key Positions | ro the Editor of The Star: | In a recent issue of The Star in the weekly communication of Mr. Frederic | William Wile, wherein he discusses the | recognition of women in this adminis- | tration by appointment to responsible positions, is the statement that women have been appointed “for the first time™ | to administrative posts in the offices | of education and Indian affairs. This statement, as far as the Indian Office is concerned, is not true, as women have been appointed to respon- sible positions to my knowledge covering a period of 30 years. Miss Estelle Reele some ' years ago held the ponuo“a superintendent of education. is8 Elsie Newton was & supervisor of home economics and & number of women were superintendents of Indian schools and Indian agencies. During my administration Miss Grey was appointed supervisor of nurses an M)ss‘ Grav;sl aupdervisor of home eco- nomics, ant understand both holding these positions. e CHAS. H. BURKE, Former Commissioner of Indian Affairs, —————— Prize for Peace Soldiers. nulr;: the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Deace has its victories as wel war, how about a Croix de Punt: :{l::eo:e:‘f;‘: ?xudld’e"mwhohm" been sit- as OU 1 happening since 19207 0 "0 "8 Ver ———— Eyes Needed for Bills. Pn:}n the Miam! Daily News, hat jeweler who says h : watch blindfolded p’;aha%l;a‘:egg:: he Mtg:““ from his eyes before tac- kiing the more. e Subspmoze, important task of mak-