Evening Star Newspaper, April 21, 1932, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY April 21, 1932 THEODORE W. NOYES. . The Evening Star Newspaper Company Jusiness Office 11th St. and Pennsvivania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t. hicago Office: Lake Michigan Bullding. uropean Offce. 14 Regent ndon. Englan Rate by Carrfer Within the City. The Evening Star 5c per month The Evening and Sunday Star avs ». . 60c per month Sunday &ia days) ..........85¢ per month The Bunday Star ¢ per copy Collect‘on made st the end of each month Orders may be sent ip by mail or telephone KAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. and Sundas.....1yr. $10.00: 1 mo only ... 1¥r. $6.00 only " All Other States and Canada. Dally and Sunday...]yr.$1200 1 mo. 1yr. §8.00; 1 mo. Daily only 3 Bunday only 1:l $5.00; 1 mo.. $1.00 5, 50¢ e & Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Associated Press fs exclusi to the use for repul patches credited to it or not o ited in this paper and also t published herein. Al rizhts of publication ¢ special dispatches hes are also reserved. Chaotic Economy. The conferences between the Presi- dent or his representatives and the House Economy Committee promised for a time to bring some semblance of order out of chaotic attempts to bal- ance the Frderal budget by drastic and 1ll-considered slashes in pay and gov- | ernmental functions. ‘There is danger now that these con- ferences will come to nothing. There is a deplorable lack of that careful co-ordination between legislative and | administrative branches of the Gov- ernment that must exist if grave in- Jjustices to Federal workers and a seri- ous and harmful curtailment of gov- ernmental functions are §o be pre- vented. The administrative braneh of the| Government fears, and rightly so, that the policy of reducing departmental appropriations by a flat ten per cent cut will create havoc in the depart- ments, resulting in the outright dis-| charge of thousands of faithful and | efficient public servants upon whom the Govrrnment depends for the daily transaciion of necessary business and will serve to cripple the Federal ma- chinery. These fears are voiced in the letter sent by Secretary of the Treasury ! Mills—who is probably more directly concerned with wise budget ballncing' than any single officer of the Govern- ment—to Senator Oddie. They are presented by Secretary of the Interfor Wilbur and by Postmaster General Brown. Such fears cannot be pro- nounced groundless by partisan critics, for these men speak with the authority of responsibility. But one has only to realize that this ten per cent cut plan has been adopted by the Senate without any considera- tion either of the economy plans recom- mended by the President or under oon- sideration by the House Economy Com- mittee to understand the utter lack of considerate planning it represents. It is to be borne in mind that both the Budget Bureau and the depart- ment heads cut the estimates to the bone before sending them to the House. A superficial study of the difference between the estimates and the appro- priations voted by the House is enough to convince any one that the House did not permit the expenditure of a single penny that could be saved. But, on reaching the Senate, the bills have been cut another ten per cent—the cuts being made to achieve an arbi- trarily set reduction. And on Monday, by a process that eliminated dissent and precluded any consideration, the House machine approved the Senate cut and shot the Interior Department bill to the White House. That is only a part of the picture. ‘Without any consideration of the steps being taken by the Senate, the House Economy Committee is hard at work on other drastic measures. With the Senate agreeing to arbitrary slashes that will mean, unless modified, the outright dismissal of thousands of Fed- eral employes not only in Washington but throughout the country, the House Economy Committee is still weighing the relative merits of enforced fur- loughs and straight salary cuts. And while the Speaker of the House deplores the lack of “intelligent aid” from the administration, which bas gone to the extent of writing an economy bill down to the last details, and criticizes Secre- tary Wilbur for doing nothing in the name of economy—“hocus pocus or otherwise"—the House Economy Com- mittee proceeds to eliminate two ad- ministration proposals that would save about $28,000,000 in aid to veterans, and continues to discuss the burning { question whether to give the President | the authority he has asked to effect Teorganization economies, when no one else has been willing to effect them. Secretary Mills, Postmaster General Brown and Secretary Wilbur have pointed out the actual results of apply- ing the Senate's ten per cent cut plan. In one case Mr. Mills shows that the Federal Government would throw some thirteen hundred deputy collectors of internal revenue out of work in order to save their salaries, but through such ac- tion would fail to collect an estimated $50,000,000 in taxes. In order to save $3,716 in annual salary of a revenue agent, the Government would sacrifice & possible $105,000 in collections. The same principle of false economy under the ten per cent cut holds true in other departments. The ten per cent flat re- duction in departmental appropriations is not economy—it is utter waste. falure to co-ordinate the forces work- ing for Government economy threatens to degenerate into a pitiable spectacle of leaderless Government. ——— Both Mr. Smith and Mr. Roosevelt have demonstrated that either can be of oratorical value to the other in case the nomination goes to New York. ————— Practical Automobile Tags. In announcing that automobile tags for 1933 will be the reverse of the 1932 colors, that is, yellow on black, instead of black on yellow, the Com- missioners have evidently decided to have nothing to do with the recent recommendation of their official Traf- fic Advisory Council for a red. white and blue liccnse plate for next year, on which would be embossed the shield | of the National Capital. Disappointing ¢ @s their decision may be to some of the artists who have labored tg devise P Editor | 2 |good intentions would make & mockery | ¢ |baked bean would decorate the Massa- | plaining that this implies no change in The | the city of Washington, it 1 based on | practical reasoning and is a distinct contribution to the uniformity of traf- fic practices throughout the United States. An automobile license is for identifica- tion only. To serve its true purpose it ! must possess high degree of visibility. | The numerals must be large enough to | be read with ease and the colors so {aid rather than retard identification. Tags are designed to serve practical rather then artistic or advertising pur- | poses. All automobile tags should be | uniform in siz> and not, as proposed by the Advisory Council, in different meas- urements according to the number of | digits used | The National Capital would be set- ting a bad example to the States if in order to display a distinctive tag on {its cars it threw open the problem of | identification, which is a difficult one 2t best, to the fancies and vagaries of artists and advertisers who despite their | out of the sole purpose of an automobile | license plate. It is not hard to imagine that if the various States were given full rein to do as they please, a Boston chusetts tags. an orange those of Florida, a piece of coal on those of| Pennsylvania, a miniature automobile | cn Michigan plates, an artistic picture of wonderful weather on those of Cali- fornia and a stockyard scene on the tags carried by cars from Illinois, So there should be little dissatisfac- tion with the Commissioners' ruling. — e The British Debt. Chancellor of the Exchequer Cham- | berlain’s failure to refer to the $171.- 0,000 of British war debt annuity due | the United States during the coming year naturally excites wonder as to whether Great Britain thus is preparing us for repudiation of her obligation. Such a conclusion is at least premature. When presenting his first budget to the House of Commons this week, Mr. Chamberlain specifically announced his decision to hold “in suspense” both rep- aration receipts and debt payments, ex- | the government’s policy. The chancel- lor of the exchequer categorically stated that when the Lausanne reparation con- ference is over this Summer he will submit to Parliament “whatever pro- posals may be necessary” to effectuate the measures there agreed upon. If Lausanne, as is generally expected, grants Germany an extended mora- torium on reparations, the policy of the | British government, as to which Mr. Chamberlain says no change is implied, presumsbly will be to adhere to the celebrated “Balfour memorandum.” This sets forth that Great Britain will de- mand from her war debtors no more than she is called upon to pay her cred- ilors. ‘Transposed, this means that if John Bull gets nothing from the coun- tries which owe him money, he will not pay anything to countries to which he is himself indebted. This is a roundabout way of saying that the British look upon reparations and war debts as inseparable entities. The temper of the United States Con- gress, as presently reflected by bi- partisan authorities like Senator Borah, Republican, and Senator Harrison, Democrat, is to challenge that view—to regard reparations as a purely E@ropean problem wholly remote from our con- siderations and war debts as a purely European - American problem which should not and must be confused with extraneous matters like inter-Buropean obligations. The trouble with that argument, which the United States Government itself once tenaciously supported, is that we ourselves, acting first on the President’s initiative and then with congressional approval, “married” rep- arations to debts when we agreed to an all-around intergovernmental morator- fum in July, 1931. We identified our- selves, in other words, with the Euro- pean thesis of the interrelationship of reparations and war obligations. An about-face on that principle will be required if Burope, when the time comes, asks us for a fresh period of grace. Meantime to impute discourtesy and impending default to Great Britain is ungracious and unjustified. It will be time enough to do that if and when she crosses the bridge of repudiation. The exchequer is on plausible and busi- nesslike ground in counting no outgo chickens before income birds are hatched. Budgeting is budgeting, as we | are finding out in Washington these days. The British want to know what they are going to have to pay out before planning to pay it. They are a legendary creditor nation. The sun never sets on the money that is owing to ik from the four quarters of the borrowing globe. Britain ig bound to think twice and thrice before setting an example in the realm of interna- tional finance which might come dis- agreeably home to her. The cost in| damaged prestige and lost income from countries themselves thus encouraged | to default would be a heavy price for the British to pay for any gain flowing from repudiation of the American debt | | annuity. ——r———— Daughters of the Revolution continue | to declare with emphasis that the his-é toric battle of the Colonists could not have been a success if pacifism had been the prevailing sentiment. ————— Mount Vernon. Although no definite action was taken by the House Committee on Public Lands at the conclusion of a hearing just held on the Treadway resolution looking to the purchase of Mount Vernon by the Government, it |is quite evident that the measure will not be reported favorably to the House. This is gratifying. The resolution is not a direct proposal for the acquisi- tion of the shrine, but merely an in- struction to the Secretary of the In- terior to determine on what terms and conditions Mount Vernon might be ac- quired. Its adoption, however, would be tantamount to an expression by Congress that this end should be ac- complished. It is best that any move in this direction should e averted. Mount Vernon stands today virtually as it stood when George Washington occupled it. This is the result of the devoted services of a group of women representing all the States who have not only maintained it intact, but have from time to time recovered pieces of the original furnishings and restored them to their setting. They have, with the funds supplied by the small fees charged for admission to the grounds, restored the mansion, replaced worn | should be opened on Suncay, when the |To smile with the blossoms that THE EVENING parts, strengthened the structure to| withstand the severe strains incident | to its crowding by visitors, installed fireproofing and established fire-fight- ing measures, maintained the grounds in beauty and otherwise rendered the| historic establishment an object o() perpetual interest and a source of m-l spiration to the American people. It is by no means assured that under [ prominent and so simple that they wili | Government ownership and control—if ¢, eple of great reforms in and of | that could be effected, which is dorbt- ful in viw of the terms of the proser:! title of the Mount Vernon Lac Association, even with the assent of the association—Mount Vernon would be maintained in the manner in which it has been preserved during the long period of its present management. The spirit of the women who, through more than two generations, have discharged this trist could not be replaced by Federal egencies, hired under annual appropriations. Mount Vernon is to- day the place of beaufy, the authentic souvenir of the personality and the character of George Washington and the inspiring token of his life and the scene of his death because of the man- {ner in which the association has dis- | charged fts trust. ‘The small fee charged for admission is & trifle compared with the privilege which is afforded at Mount Vernon to! great numbers of people to stand in the place where Washington lived and where he died. It is not a burden. It is gladly pald by those who make the pilgrimage to the shrine. It causes those who pass through the gates to feel that they are participating in the upkeep of the mansion and the grounds. The only point that may be press:d | with propriety is whether the gates greatest number of persons are able to| make the journey to Mount Vernon. Against such an opening it is urged that, with all the safeguards that have been adopted, the mansion is even now taxed severely by the crowds that enter it, and the addition of the great num- bers who would flock to it on Sundays might prove dangerous to it. That is an engineering matter, which may eventually be determined by examina- tion and tests. If the structure is capable of withstanding the additional burden of many thousand more visi- tors it might with propriety be opened at the week end for their accommo- dation, S Humor persists in human conscious- ness, however adversely it may be criti- cized by severely responsible thought. It cannot be forgotten that Abraham Lincoln cherished an affection for humorists along with the rest of man- kind. He frankly admitted that he en- Joyed reading Artemus Ward. e r———— Having been asked whether he will wear the usual attire of an Ambassador | at court, Mr. Mellon said he would do what seemed proper. He met one of the tests of a true diplomat, that of an- swering foolish questions without loss of temper. —— Senators who still favor a sales tax are inclined to stress the old idea that | one of the most important duties of the Senate is to give the House an oppor- tunity to think things over. ———————_ Japan and China are in the delicate position when what was meant to be only a brawl may easily develop into | fighting serious enough to be called a battle. | N While only an imaginative quantity, four per cent beer is capable of produc- ing what might be called “an oratorical kick.” ———- The Honolulu tragedy cannot always remain in public attention. Its sinister effects will nevertheless reach far into the future. r——— Every now and then a perfectly good dark horse becomes so eager and rest- less as to spoil the camouflage. ——— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, Genuine, It seems a bit gay and light-hearted, I know, graciously grow, But counterfelt money appears here and there And counterfeit sentiment’s not at all Tare. There are counterfeit jewels to dazzle the throng And counterfeit friendships that put you in wrong. But there's always a garden for you and for me, ‘Where the flowers are honest as honest can be, Accessibility. “The great Shakespeare Library will be very convenient to the Capitol.” “And that's a good idea,” commented Benator Sorghum. “Every time I find it hard to be original I quote Shake- speare and I never fail to get letters informing me that the quotation was the best part of my speech.” Jud Tunkins says a man who always tries to see both sides of every question is liable to become mentally cross-eyed. Advice. Advice is plentifully had And some of it is good; And some of it is very bad Or else misunderstood. ‘What pleases you, you'll often find, Improvement does not make, While the advice that's truly kind Is rather hard to take. The Night Club. “Is that place where we dined last night what you call a cafeteria?” asked the rural relation. “No,” answered Miss Cayenne. what we call a racketeeria.” “Extravagance,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is often popular in a prince, because it implies august ap- proval of what the poor man would permit himself if he had the oppor- tunity.” “It's Bad to Worse. The old saloon has proved to be An obvious disgrace. Zhe new speakeasy now we see A most unpleasant place. Which shows that alcohol's a curse And always leads from bad to worse. “Too mucl: anxiety to be boss,” said Uncle Eben, “is liable to git you nuffin’ in de end but de 'sponsibility foh bad joln" STAR. WASHINGTON, D. C. THIS AN BY CHARLES E. It knowledge does not seem to get the world anywhere, despite its wide diffusion, it may be because it is in- itself, or it may be that it is in tho possession of so few human beings, after ail. What comes in one ear goes out the other, and men and women often seem to rejoice in igncrance. The spirit of banter which suffuses civilization is ons of the greatest brakes upon Pprogress, and especially upon the acquisition of genuine learning. Men take pride, almost, in laughing at what they know nothing about. Somehow this procedure makes them easier in their minds., They feel more at home witn themselves when they give knowledge, in any of its branches, a swift kick to windward., Two gentlemen were talking about something of which they knew nothing, not even the terms prope:ly. Said one, as he got up from a chair’ in shine behind a closed window: sun'ight will tan me if I sit here long enough.” “Some of thcse infra-red rays” Te- plied the other, with a sneer. “You ought to get yourself a machine.” Here were two mistakes in as many sentences. In the first place. it is not the infra-red in sunlight which tans, but the ultra-violet, or actinic ray The infra-red are the heat rays. The tanning rays are invisible. These are the same rays which act upon the censitive emulsion of a photographic film . The second mistake was in thinking |that one can get tanned behind ordi- Un! window nary window glass processed, under paning is especially ne or more trade names, it admits practically none of the ultra-violet Only the fact that a film is of extreme sensitiveness permits a photograph to be taken indoors. ‘The tanning quality is almost totally lacking. One might lie in the sun be- hind ordinary window glass for days on end without receiving & bit of sun- burn. A third error, which the gentle- men did not set farth in words, but| which they touches upon by connota- tion, atleast. was the assumption that there is enough ultra-violet strength in sunshine in this latitude at this time of vear to do any good, anyway. There is not. Even the sun at noonday re- quires many hours' exposure for its addicts before they get results in the “suntan” way. As Spring wears on, and the revolutions of the heavenly bodies change, the amount of heat and light in the sunshine increases, so that by midsummer the power of the sun in re- snect to ultra-violet reaches its peak in this climate, The fourth assumption of ignorance in this cese, was that there is some- thing to joke about in regard to the modern sun lamp. It is always the butt of most joking on the part of persons who know the least about it. Some way the subject appeals to them as an ex- cellent opportunity to cast mild asper- sions upon some man or woman Wwho, being of a more mentally daring type. has had the ambition and mental energy to investigate one of the real contributions of science to the welfare of the average person. ‘The proper sort ¢f sun lamp, used with discretion and some knowledge of its powers and limitations, enables one to receive more and better sunlight in Winter and early Spring than it is possible for cne to get from outdoor exercise. On snowy, sleety Winter mornings, when there is no ray of the real sun 2t all, the little sun in a lamp may be turned on and the modern sun worshiper bask in rays as beneficial as any, Many of science’s wonderful inven»‘ tions are not available t> the layman. | This one is. For that reason it con- stitutes one of the most practical and amazing of discoveries. More than that, however, it is a test cf the progress of the individual. Those who receive word of it with interest and become intrigued enough to look into it for themselves may feel certain that they have forward-looking minds; that they ere not held back from something good by the ignorant banter of another type of mind. Those who instantly reject something of which they kncw nothing and find in it merely food for “poking fun” at some other human being should D THAT # . TRACEWELL. realize that they are giving themselves away thereby: that they are behind the times and, what is worse, unwilling to learn. Unwillingness to leern! What is it but a form of jealousy which says as plainly as words: “What! You know something of which I have not heard? Impossible! You can't do it. I won't let you do it!” It is this latter phase cf the matter which the average person becomes in- volved in when he thoughtessly—not always with any real malice—succumbs to the temptation to make a joking sub- ject out of a worthwhile, although to him strange, piece of knowledge. Egotism, that terrible wart on the spirit of man, is at the bottom of this perversity, which has done mcre to block the spread of true knowledge than all the other inimical forces in the worid. What is the use of universal ecucation, of little red school houses cn every hill, of millions of children forced to bow their heads before standardized knowledge, if the divine curicsity which is at the root of all learning is to be | withered in the bud, blasted by a crude laugh, the braying of a fool? Mankind's glorious ~intelligence, the very flower of life, is based upon unceasing curiosity. Why? ~What? Where? When? Man wants fo know and he finds cut. Parents sometimes smile at the ceaseless questions of chil- dren, but they are on the right track. That is the way to find out. It is & striking fact that no question is t00 small for a child to ask. It is another siriking thing that never once does he put on the sneer when asking a ques- tion. He has not yet learned to hide lack of knowledge by making jokes about the matter. Ncr has he reached the point in life when he fears to ask a qu-tion because it may reveal his lack of knowledge. Fear, in one of its many disguises, Is seen at the bottom of the pit. Ignor- ance is the result of fear. in any one of its many forms. Relative ignorance, of course, because the wisest man is ignor- ant, and knows it. No one can take knowledge, in some form, away from him. Not to know, he realizes, is a sort of knowledge. To knew one does not know—often that is the highest knowledge. What does the josher fesr, when he makes a joke out of anything which has engaged the attention of intelligent men, and which has been solved to a point of usefulness and satisfaction for them, if not for him? He is afraid, no doubt, that he will be asked to discuss something about which he knows noth- ing. Instinctively he feels that the best way out of this possible and unwanted denouement is to pretend a distaste for the whole matter. Thus at one blow he rids himself of the necessity for further discussion and aims a blow at the knowledge of another, preferably one whose intelligence he has reason to suspect is of more forward-looking na- ure than his own. It is this aspect of intelligence which has no place in the curriculum, but which must have a prominent position before education can ever take its rightful place in the world of men. The serious mind, as such, must be recognized definitely as the true means of progress of the universal intelligence which girds the globe of life, When it comes into its own, the “kidder” and the “joker” will be removed from the educational channels, as hindrances to the more steady souls, and these latter will be permitted to receive the entire benefits which now, unfortunately, are partly wasted on those who get little good from them. Educators and select scholars alike will benefit from this procedure. from the goats. longer waste its precious learning, culled in a universe which seems to have no conscious knowledge of its own knowl- edge, upon those who find in it food for laughter. The test for admittance will be changed from memory to desire. Education will not be & great water wheel, endlesly going ‘round and ‘round, and never getting anywhere; it will be a sun, warming into life the bodies | and minds and spirits of men; it will do good with every particle of energy of its rays. not permitting much to drip awa s the old wheel did. Universal educ tion is only a few hundred years old, in our sense; a glorious future stretches before it, in the course of which it will achieve unheard-of results, but even then it will suffer from the laugh of ignorance. Highlighfgl_] the Ele World Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands Each candidate in the election campaign, it is estimated. must spend more than 10,000 yen. This seems unreasonable, espe- cially in a country which has manhood suffrage. Not many individuals in Ja-| pan possess as much as 10,000 yen, | which the law allows to be spent. As| a matter of fact, more than the legal | amount must be spent by or for each candidate. It is well known that the election expenses of the two large parties run between 20,000,000 and 30.- | 000,000 ven. Success is almost impos-| sible without large expenses. The re- | sult is that the voters are unable to send ideal representatives to the Diet. Few of the candidates represent popu- lar will. | All the evils surrounding a general election originate in the expenditure of enormous amounts of money. To reme- dy this evil sundry measures have been adopted, but the country is still with- | out adequate remedies. Unless some- thing is done the dignity of the Diet | can hardly be upheld. Though a cer- tain amount of money may be necessary for campaign expenses, the amount now permitted and utilized is absurdly large. Money decides the popular will. The character and ability of candidates are ignored. * Meals Arranged For Eucharistic Congress. Irish Independent, Dublin—The con- tract for supplying three meals a day to the 13,000 visitors for whom the Eucharistic Congress Executive Com- mittee has taken responsibility during congress week has been undertaken by Jury's Hotel Co., Ltd. It is the largest contract ever undertaken by an Irish firm, and will necessitate the serving of 336,000 meals during the week and the | employment of a staff of 1,183, which | has been already engaged. Cattle to the number of 190 have been purchased, together with 500 sheep, which are now being fattened in County Meath. There will be four camps for the accommodation of the visitors—Marino, Clonliffe College St. Mary’s College grounds . Bush Barracks, where 45 large marquees will be erected. * % * Voices Opposition To World Police Force, Voelkerbund, Geneva—Prof. Dr. Hans | Wehberg of Geneva has contributed to our columns a vigorous article relative to the problem of an international po- lice force. This we Teproduce for its important bearing upon the questions at issue before the Disarmament Con- ference. He writes: “The problem of a strong League of Nations executive body has constantly | been discussed by friends of the League of Nations. In principle there can be no doubt that a real League of Nations must be in a position to demand respect for its decislons. Yet a close observa- | tion of the Manchurian conflict shows | that the powerlessness of the League of | Nations is by no means due to the lack of a permanent police force. The League would have had ample time to bring together and dispatch the nec- * * % |1t HE Japan Advertiser, Tokio—|if it had only been determined, in co- | operation with the United States of America, to apply economic and finan- cial measures against Japan. “The question can, raised in all seriousness whether the provisions of the League covenant are adequate. In reality, Article 16 places the necessary means of coercion at the disposal of the League, if the powers behind it are really desirous of gaining respect for the covenant. Article 16 already involves a legal obligation for the members of the League of Nations to take action against an aggressor, not only with economic, but also with mili- tary means. It should, therefore, be considered sufficient te apply and de- velop provisions of the covenant a ready existing. Not that the League of Nations, to possess sufficient strength against all violators of the law, would have to be backed by an enormous po- lice force, which strange idea has been seriously proposed by parties in favor of a League army. Such an army would simply substitute League mili- tarism for the militarism of individual states, and the League of Nations would have to be really strong to use A weak League of Nations would soon find its army, if it had one, in the power of exterior military forces. “But, though the object of the League of Nations must be to carry on its work without military means of coercion, that ultimate object may not be lost were | a League army to be mobilized for the sake of alleged immediate advantages, remembering that military sanctions are at best only temporary expedients, and that the best international secur- ity rests upon the reform of political and moral conditions within the League. If it cannot be considered aiming at tranquillity by putting a world police- man over an unjustly regulated order of things, at any rate it can be justi- fied by the contemporary inability of the nations to agree in political, eco- nomic and military spheres. “What the League of Nations re- quires, then, is really not a permanent | international police force, but a rein- forcement of its political and moral foundations, so that provisions of the covenant already existing may be strengthened and applied. The crea- tion of & permanent police force, how- ever, would be equivalent to the doubt that humanity can ever attain to the ideals of international harmony and brotherhood without coercive warfare.” * X X % Famine Conditions Revealed in Dalmatia. La Macedoine, Geneva (Exterrito- rial anti-governmental publications) : The Croatian organ Domobran an- nounces that famine reigns in Dalma- tia and that, in spite of the stocks of wheat existing in Jugoslavia, bread costs five dinars a loaf (9 cents), while in Italy, which is not a wheat-producing country, in comparison with the crop of Jugoslavia, & large loaf is sold for two dinars (314 cents). Because of this difference in the cost of bread, reports the Domobran, several Croatian peasants decided to cross the frontier to buy bread in Italy. This excursion, however, cost some of the peasants their lives, for upon their return home ps. | to Jugoslavia they were fired upon by the frontier guards without first receiv- Hmm%mmm- THURSDAY, | especially if he is to be the Democratic | ! nominee for President this year. The sheep will be separated | The world will no | therefore, be! APRIL 21, 1932. The Political Mil) By G. Gould Lincoln, The leading Democratic candidate for the presidential nomination, Goy. 1 “anklin D. Roosevelt of NewYork, ad- iaits that he is seeking “harmony” for | the Democratic party. He might have | i%, but probably no at the price of his | own nomination, according to Demo- | crats who are opposing Roosevelt for tie | presidency. The bitter-enders agiinst | Roosevelt insist that harmony can be had only by the elimination of Roose- velt from the presidential picture. And many of these opponents of Roosevelt are just as willing to have Al Smith iout of the race, too.s Gov. Roosevelt's | speech in St. Paul Monday night. he | says, was a bid for party harmony. He's quite right to seek party harmony, Gov. Roosevelt's speech in St. Paul, which had been hearalded as a fighting reply to Al Smith’s attack on the Governor as a demagogue, turned out to be a mild sort of an affair. His only men- tion of Mr. Smith was a complimentary one in connection with the water- power question S ! * % Doubtless Gov. Roosevelt was litically wise when he put the pedal on his speech replying to his| critics, including Smith. = At least it| does not make it impossible for Smith and his other critics to support Roose- velt if he be nominated at the Chi- cago convention. A slashing attack on Smith by the New York Governor would have thrown the fat in the fire with a vengeance. It remains to be seen, however, just how long the New York Governor can continue to turn the other cheek. At present he is riding on top of the Demc tic heap. | | If he should suffer 1 s in Massa- . ! chusetts and Pennsyivania primarie. Roosevelt would have become mor: aggressive. The chan® - gre, however that he will get at least wa even break in those primaries, winning in Penn- sylvania, even if he loses in Massa- chusetts. po- | soft | | EIEE O If harmony is threatened in the Democratic National Convention, it is pretty well conceded today that har- mony will prevail in the Republican national gathering in Chicago, except for the prohibition issue, and even on ihat question the Republicans are seek- ing a way out satisfactory to all. Pres- ident Hoover, it has been definitely de- termined by this time in the minds of practically all the Republican leaders, is to have no real opposition for re- nomination. Furthermore, some of the Republicans who were expressing a hope that something or some one would turn up to take the nomination away from the President are changing their tune. They are expressing the opinion that perhaps, after all, Mr. Hoover will make the strongest candidate the party can put forward. It has become in- { creasingly evident that the Republican ! campaign this year will bear down hard fon the Democrats because they have net advanced a “consiructive program” to help the country out of the morass of business depression. President Hoo- ver, the Republicans will urge, is the only leader to put forward a real pro- gram, and, furthermore, the Democrats in Congress have followed his leader- ship. In this way, the Republicans be- lieve, they can answer the Democratic charge that there has been no leader- ship evinced by the Hoover adminis- tration. So far as the vice presidential ncmination s concerncd, it looks as though, in the final showdown, Vice President Curtis will have no more real | opposition than President Hoover. | & W The drys keep on threatening the Republicans with 21l kinds of dire happenings if the Republican National | s to write m‘\ol y plank that may | be deemed wet. The drys in New Yor'z! State are particularly vocal in ti matter. Mrs. Leigh Colvin of Nrv York, attending the meetinz i dry women here this week, insis.s t the dry women will sel un 2 party if the G. O. P. underiakes to £ a wet plank in its platiorm. Monr of the drys hold a resubmiscion cr rel erendum plank “wet.” The dry publicans in New York State have made good in past elections their threats against wet Republicans. They refer with pride to the way they ditched former Senator James W. Wadsworth because he came out for repeal of the eighteenth amendment back in 1926. And they take credit to themselves also for the defeat of Tuttle, the Republican candidate for Governor in 1930, who lost to Roose- velt by 725,000 votes. Tuttle came out wet in his eampaign for election. Hun- dreds of thousands of Republican | voiers, many of them dry, stayed away from the polls in that election, or, at least, did not vote in tie gubernatorial clection. Two hundred thousand drys voted for the dry independent candi- date. | | | | | * kK K The Democrats have won a presi- dential election without carrying New York State. They turned the trick in 1916. But it does not seem possible for the Republicans to win without New York in the coming national election. What the G. O. P. does about prohibi- tion in its platform, therefore, is going to make a lot of difference. There are many Republican wets in the Empire State, it is true, but they are less can- tankerous, it appears, than the drys. The problem would be solved for the G. O. P. if the dry leaders in the party could be persuaded to stand for a refer- endum plank. So far they have given little sign of any such compliance with the demands of the wets and the moists for such a plank. ¥ r e There is considerable speculation as to whether Senator Willlam E. Borah of Idaho will attend the Republican Na- tional Convention. He has been an in-and-outer as an attendant on these national gatherings. He went to the conventions in 1920 and in 1928, but he missed those in 1916 and 1924. In 1920 Borah was an ardent supporter of Sen- ator Hiram Johnson of California for the Republican presidential nomination, and in 1928 he came out for President Hoover, another Californian, for the presidential nomination after he got to Kansas City. The Idaho Senator is an | ardent opponent of efforts to place the G. O. P. in opposition to the eighteenth amendment without the substitution of some better plan of liquor control. So far he has seen n@ better plan pre- sented, He says. If he goes to the na- tional convention this year, the drys are hoping that he will strenuously oppose any referendum or other wet al for the platform. He would be a tower of strength around whom the drys could rally. In some quarters it has been suggested that perhaps Mr. Borah may try his hand at a substitute for the eighteenth amendment himself, although he has said nothing about it. He is still considering, he says, whether he shall go to the Chicago Convention. ¥ oW Whatever Al Smith may have done to Roosevelt in his Jefferson day din- ner address here, it is believed he has not helped himself toward the Demo- cratic presidential nomination, but Tather has lost ground. His proposal| for a twenty-year moraterium of the foreign debts owed the United States has met the criticism of Senator Borah, the Foreign Relations Committee, and of a Democratic can- didate for the presidential nomination, Senator James Hamilton Lewis of Illi- nois. Both these Senators insisted that Smith's plan could have an appeal for only one class of Americans, the so- calied international bankers. Lewis went so far as to declare that the pres- ent proposals for suspension or cancel- lation of the foreign debts are part of a new propaganda to “do” the Ameri- can taxpayer in the interest of the in- ternational banker snd the European taxpayer. He charged a conspiracy on the part of the proponents to brow- beat America into debt cancellation with the threat of no more prosperity until the debts are canceled. Smith's | debt suspension and cancellation plan was given wide publicity. But outside | of New York it seems to have received no and has the fi for him in Massachusetts and ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Thousands of Government experts are working constantly for the bznefit of all citizens of the United States. They will work directly for you if you will use our wlumn{‘wngurkzu.w'r:x:: news employs Mr. Hasl ey '::rem. ‘for its readers. He will take your matter to the proper au- thority. State your inquiry briefly, write clearly and, inclosing 2-cent stamp for a personal letter in reply. address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Q. Please descmibe the bobsleds used in the Winter Olympic games.—J. A. G. A. Each four-man bob weighs 485 pounds; each two-man. 352 pounds. The four-man sleds are 11 feet 7 inches long; the two-man, 9 feet. The bobs are 10'; inches above the ground and they steer like an automobile. are engineered to the fraction of an inch and are as carefully and stoutly constructed as any racing car. The bobs cost from $500 to $600 apiece, de- pending on the size, . What color is Tony, the famous horse in the movies?—L. H. A. Tom Mix says that his horse Tony is & brown horse with white spots. . What was the value of Alaska's fur exports last year?—J. C. A. The total value of furs shipped from Alaska during the year 1931 was $1,770,324.02. Q. Does it take more skill to play kettledrums than snare or bass drums? -T. M. A. It takes higher training and skill. The tuning of the kettledrums requires great skill and a fine ear, for it often has to be done while the orchestra is playing. Q. How much of an estate did Tex Rickard leave?—A. S. A. The Rickard estate, originally appraised at $500.000, was finally val- ued at about $184,000. Q. Why is March such s windy month?—P. G. A. In March the difference in tem- perature between the southern and northern portions of the United States is greater than at any other time of the year, hence the erence in at- mospheric pressure between these re- glons is then greatest and the resulting winds strongest. Q. How many pleces of second-class mail were handled by the Post Office Department last year?—L. P. A. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1931, the total was 4.814,533,083. The revenue derived from it was $27.471,247.67. Q. What is the larges in the United States?—A. F. A. The Carnegie Corporation of New York is largest, with a capital of $159.- 860.783. is second with a capital of $147,373,921. Q. What is a necropolis’—M. R. A. It is a cemetery or burial ground, especially one of great size or one found near the-site of an ancient city. Q. Did the Indians have any knowl- edge of surgery?—A. D. A. It is evident that they did, since trepanned skulls of aborigines are still in existence. It is probable that their surgeons also performed amputations. Q. How much of New York's sub- way gmm is actually under ground? A New York City has 619 miles of subways, of which 313 miles are actual rubways. Q. How can an amateur take finger- prints>—F. P. ° A. The equipment consists of a tube of printer’s ink, and an inking slab on t _foundation P, The 'Rockefeller Foundation | | which the ink is first distributed. & roller, and an inking plate on which the fingers are inked, and possibly & card holder. The last item is not ab- solutely essential, but can be of valua- ble assistance in holding the finger- print card in place to prevent blurring. Best results can be ex from the use of black printer’s ink for it dries so rapidly that fresh work can be handied immediately with very little danger of smudging. Q. Do _Canadians drink more tea or more coffee?>—D. T. N. A. The annual imports of tea into Canada average about 40,000,000 pounds, while coffee averages only 27,000,000 pounds. Q. How many marriages and divorces are there in Nevada in a year?—M. V. A. The estimated population of the State of Nevada on July 1, 1931, was 92,000. On the basis of this estimate the number of marriages per 1000 of the population was 829 in 1931, and the number of divorces per 1,000 of the Population was 57.17. Q. How much are farms mortgaged at the present time?—E. S. A. Farm morigages now are placed at $9,360,000,000. Total value of farm land is estimated at $34,000,000,000. This would indicate that the average farm is mortgaged for less than one- third of its value. The Department of Agriculture states that only 12 per cent of American farms are mortgaged for more than 75 per cent of their value. Q. What States prohibit the preserib- ing of whisky by physicians?—R. L. A Maine, Delaware, West Virginia, North Carolina, South _ Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Indiana, North Dakota. Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and the Territory of Alaska. | Q. What was the largest amount of & bonus certificate issued to a World War veteran?—A. M. E. A. The veterans' administration says | that the maximum amount of a vet- | eran's bonus certificate was $1,592. | The $60 paid when the veteran was ]dhchlrl!d was deducted from the face l\lllue of the certificate. | Q. How much did Longfellow receive (for “The Wreck of the Hesperus"?— M. T. | _A. Twenty-five dollars. This was the poet’s own price. The editor wrots |in accepting the poem: “Your ballad 1s | grand. Enclosed are $25, the sum you | mention, for it, paid by the proprietors | of the New World, in which glorious | paper it will resplendently coruscate on Saturday next. Of all American jour- | nals, the New World is alone worthy to contain it.” Q. What is engineering?—E. R. . While the term has been vari- |ously described, its best definition is | that formulated by the Federated Amer- |ican Engineering Societies, as follows: | Engineering is the science of controlling | the forces and of utilizing the materials | of nature for the benefit of man, and the art of organizing and | human activities in connection there- ;wlm | Q. What poiscnous properties | found in tobacco moke?—M. 8. | A. Nicotine is the only one. ‘ Q. Does the Federal Government decide how wide all roads shall be?— N. 8. A. The Bureau of Public Roads says the width of State and county roads is |not a Pederal matter. The Federal Government may have something to say sbout the width of those roads using Federal aid, but the width would vary | with each road and circumstances. Finance Corporation Upheld After Attack by Roosevelt Criticism of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in a radio talk by Franklin D. Roosevelt, following a study of the relief offered by this agency of the Government, receives little support from the press. Comment is confined almost entirely to Repub- lican and independent papers, which give special attention to Mr. Roosevelt's charge that the administraton is abie “to think in terms only of the top of the social and economic structure” and his statement that the Government “sought temporary relief from the top down rather than permament relief from the bottom up.” “He knew, or should know.” accord- ing to the New York Times (inde- pendent), “that he was commennng on a plan to aid recovery which had concelved by the best financial and business brains of this country. It was designed, and it has thus far worked, for ending bank failures, preventing hoarding, enlarging credit facilities, and us preparing the way for a restora- m)n of confidenca &nd a resumption of business activity. ® * * He can hardly be ignorant of the way in which the closing of little local banks has been stayed and almost stopped. If he had Jooked into the matter at all, he would have discovered that small banks, by means of the lJoans quietly made to them, have been paying off their press- ing indebtedness, without having to sacrifice securities at depressed prices and so have obtained more funds to Joan, even to the ‘little fellow, with whom Gov. Roosevelt so deeply sym- pathizes, and even to put off the fore- closure of mortgages on farms and homes.” * % k% Referring to statements by George V. McLaughlin, a banking authority and official of the Finance Corporation, as well as a member of Mr. Roosevelt's own party, the New York Sun (inde- pendent) asserts: “Of the 858 banks and trust companies assisted by the Finance Corporation only 21 are in New vork State. No large banking institu- tion in this State Las asked for help from that source. ‘On the contrary,’ says Mr. McLaughlin, ‘through theis own facilities they have been assisting small banking institutions.’ Loans have been made by the Finance Corporation to 91 banks in Iowa. The Joint Stock Land Banks and the Agricultural Credit Corporations in other farming States have been assisted.” “The slump has been kept with us, if it was not originally caused,” in the opinon of the Ann Arbor Daily News \independent), “by industrial stagna- tion and financial upheavals: conse- quently Telief must be provided in a form that will help manufacturers and banking interests.” The Daily News holds that “it is not reasonable to be- lieve that the President’s economic pro- gram has failed to consider the ‘little | fellow’ and is intended only to help the rich get richer”” The South Bend Tribune (independent Republican) is convinced that “the benefits were de- signed to reach farmers as well as wage earners.” With a review of the entire speech, including its comments on the tariff, the ester Times-Union (inde- pendent) makes the statement: “Gov. Roosevelt is extremely careful not to advocate any drastic or radical meth- ods of creating income or jobs for the ‘infantry.’ Not only is there no gestion in the speech of direct relief to the unemployed by money grants. but the plan of a big bond issue for public works to create employment is called an ‘illusion of economic magic. On one point the Governor is specific. He directly attacks the present In this he has many, probably mast, trained economists with him. Yes. Gov. fiomflelt'l htln.‘ll llll't.hl t e sympathizes deeply with lot of the jobless worker farmer, ‘eareful | servative. by any proposals to which | they could really object.” * ok ok % “If Mr. Roosevelt would come out to | Nebraska,” suggests the Lincoln State Jurnal (independent Republican), “the farmer here, the agriculturalist about whom he appears so concerned, would tell him what is needed. He need not worry about the Nebraska farmer's debts, The Nebraska farmer would tell | him to go back and raise the price of heat to a dollar and corn to 60 cents | and the price of hogs and cattle in pro- | portion. Then he could forget the armer and the farmer would not com- | plain of neglect.” Charging that the New York Gov= ernor has employed generalizations, the Des Molnes Tribune (independent Re- publican) comments: “That the phi- Josophy sometimes attributed to Repub- licans of complete faith in the satis- toriness of passing all benefits to the top layer, believing that the benefits will seep down to everybody, is vulner- able no sane man would deny. But, |as an emergency matter now, meeting the present situation, what would Gov. Roosevelt erase of the things that have | 50 far been done? It must not be over- | looked that, just as a part at least of benefits to the top layer inevitably seep down (though it be an inadequate part), so also do the ills that may be suffered by the top layer of industry and finance seep down also to the rest (and in a more than adequate degree). "Just what would be the effect on ‘the forgotten man at the bottom of the pyramid,’ Gov. Roosevelt, if a half dozen big rallroads, for instance, went into receivership in the next few months?” ©On the tariff feature of the | the Spokane Spokesman-Review (Re- | publican) says of revision based on the | reciprocal exchange of goods: “There is nothing new in that suggestion. It | is the basis of our present tariff which admits, without the payment of a cent of tax, two-thirds of our imports, a fact |50 well understood by the Democratic party leaders in Congress that they are careful to avoid the introduction of & bill to revise the tariff schedules. They are backing a so-called ‘tariff bill’ a thing of no substance, for it merely proposes to tinker with the flexible pro- vision of the present law, by requiring the Tariff Commission to report recom- mended changes to Congress instead of to the President, and calls for an in- ternational conference on tariff legis- lation—that is, to submit our domestic policies to the criticism and pressure of foreign powers, friendly and un- | friendly.” R S0 | Billboard Eyesores Are Becoming Fewer | Prom the Dayton Daily News | Motor from Baltimore to Washington, or vice versa, and the chances are you follow Federal highway No. 1. Tourists along this popular route in 1932 will encounter about 20 per cent fewer sign- board eyesores than were visible a year ago. If this improvement may be over- looked by the casual driver, it is prog- Tess, none the less. The Ameri ——— setts with encol any description whatever are banned cn the Mount Vernon Memorial High- | way, leaving at least one approach to |the Natlon's Capital wnere natural beauty has not been ceraced. This is a cue for the rest of the country. So infested with unsightly signboards are the highways environs almost every- where that these few ciean-ups are a mere in the bucket. None the less, has been mage. Such oc- of conservationist suc-