Evening Star Newspaper, June 26, 1932, Page 24

'HE EVENING STAR T With Sendsy Morning Edftion. ; WASHINGTON, D. C. BUNDAY .cuontmces - June 26, 1932 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor Fhe Evening Star Newspaper Company 1 m“ng:nw 'e:lfll Ave. | ok Shce. 110 Bast 4204 8t Englan i i Rate by Carrier Within the City. g esuies +4: . -48¢ per menth B By S sisay e (when mdays) . o The G ave . 80¢ per month n:é lusuglys\ : 2‘ de at [Ation 8000 .YW per month Rate by Mall—Payable in Advance. Maryla i Sc ger copy end ‘of ‘each month 3 mail of telephons nd and Virginia. g:fly ang Sunday.....}yr. $10.0; 1 mo. g inday only E 0% H e 40 All Other States and Canada. 1y and Sunday...] ¥7. $1200: 1 mo., ally only 13 $8.000 1 mi Emd'-y“onxy 1y 8 1Ee: Member of the Associated Press. fated Press s exclusively cntitle 1l news dis. $1.00 8¢ Al riehts of publication of published herein also reserved. Special dispatches herein are A Bolt Brewing in Chicago. The makings of & party bolt are pres- ent in the Chicago convention situation on the eve of the meeting of the Demo- crats tomorrow. The conditions are somewhat suggestivé of those which pre- vailed in the same way twenty years ago, when the Republicans assembled to name their ticket for the 1912 cam- paign. President Taft was then the outstanding candidate for the nomina- tion, having a majority of the regularly accredited delegates. Theodore Roose- velt, who had been persuaded to enter the race by the appeal of seven Repub- lican Governors, had, however, secured & large majority of the delegates chosen at primaries. In some of the conven- tion States bolting Roosevelt delegations ‘were named to contest admission to the national meeting. The Taft supporters had control of the organization and with few exceptions seated the Taft claimants. On the fifth day of the convention, which had been protracted by factional disputations, announcement was made, just before the adoption cf the platform, by a Roosevelt supporter that inasmuch as the convention no longer yepresented the Republican party the Roosevelt delegates would refuse to vote. Many of them left the hall, those who remained taking no pert in the pro- ceedings. The bolters held a rump convention and informally nominated Roosevelt, who addressed the meeting and asked that a more formal cor.ven- tion be held at a later date. Such & meeting was held on the 5th of August at Chicago and Roosevelt was nomi- nated by acclamation. The result was & complete split in the Republican party and the election of Woodrow Wilscn as President. Today st Chicago the uprising is against “steam roller” methods of pro- cedure just as was the protest of the Roosevelt faction in 1912. The steam Toller operated by the manager of the campaign of Franklin Roosevelt Is threatening to crush, not oppositien delegations, but & ‘traditional rule of the Democratic party, adopted one hun- dred years ago, providing that nomi- nations be made by & vote of two- thirds of the delegates. Though no specific threats are uttered of a bolt there is plainly evident a disposition to denounce the nominee if he is se- lected through the abrogation of the two-thirds rule. A round robin has been drawn up and is being signed pledging the signers not to support any candidate who does not Teceive two- thirds of the vote in the convention. Some of the most prominent and influ- ential members of the party are lining up against the procedure of revision of the rules to affect this present conven- tion after the election of the delegates on the assumption that the century- old rule would prevail. Mere talk of bolting uttered in the heat of indignation over the eleventh- | hour proposal of a change of rule to| permit the nomination of Roosevelt by{ a majority vote does not, of course, | necessarily pledge the supporters of the two-thirds rale to secession. But it| unmistakably evinces hostility certain to have s damaging if not disastrous effect upon the nominee if thus chosen. Some of the Democratic leaders opposel to Roosevelt and some who are friendly to him who have taken the same posi- tion have gone very far toward a pledge | of non-support. ‘There is talk of “tainted” nomination, of “dlmaged‘\ goods,” of “betrayal” .Such words are not easily forgotten and are not readily recanted. It was undoubtedly a grave tactical blunder for the Roosevelt management nearly four days before the opening of the convention, with a clear majority of the delegates in hand and with two- thirds closely approached, thus to at- tack the one fundamental rule ol‘ Democratic procedure that has remained unchanged for a century. If it was not » confession that two-thirds could not be gained, it was at least an avowal of apprehension. It was poQr psychology in any event, and the wonder is that the candidate himself did not imme- diately repudiate it and proclaim his intention to accept ro nomination that | was not made in accordance with the | traditional rule of the party. | | | legislature. | ty and disquieting possibilities. It will be a truce, rather than a peage. H Chancellor von Papen came forward ; & day or two ago with a dramatic pro- posal. He offered to make a German military pact with France. Nothing else, he argued, would so effectually benish French fears of an armed at- tack by the traditional foe or guaran- tee France that security which her statesmen incessantly describe as the essential which must precede disarma- ment. Probably the German plan is doomed to remain a gesture, and the pending negotiations for an economic al- liance will enter the sphere of a more debatable proposition, from the French standpoint. To that end the responsible states- men, from Paris and Berlin, are now concentrating on such practical issues as tariffs, finance, reconstruction prob- lems, budget deficits, and, of course, above all else, reparations. Germany on her part is bent upon convincing the French that the Reich's plight is of the most necessitous character and utteriy devoid of desire to escape con- tractual obligations. Prance, revealing a commendable spirit of conciliation, appears ready to examine the German case on its demonstrated merits. Out of such a spirit as these common sense negotiations reflect should come a marked improvement in European politi- co-economic conditions. It cannot be repeated too often that the chances of further hélp from the United States in the task of European recovery are cer- tain to be enhanced by progressively determined ‘effort on Europe's part to help herself. Nothing can concelvably advance matters in that direction more definitely than the early burial of the Franco-German hatchet. ————r————— Legislating for the District. The following verbatim extract from the Congressional Record for Friday contains an enlightening commentary en the business of legislating for the District of Columbia: The bill (S. 3053) to promote safety on the streets and highways of the District of Columbia by providing for the financial responsibility of owners and operators of motor vehicles on the public highways in the District of Co- lumbia; to prescribe penalties for the violation of the provisions of this act, and for other purposes, was announced as_next in order. Mr. Blaine. Let that go over. Mr. Kean. Mr. President, I hope the Senator will withhold his objec- tion for a moment. This bill seems to me to be a very important measure. Almost every day when we take up the newspapers we see where children and other people are killed in the District of Columbia as a result of accidents invalving automobiles, and it a| to me that for the protection of the citizens of the District of Columbia the bill should be passed. Mr. Blaine. Mr. President, a great many of the provisions of the bill ought to receive considerable and serious at- tention, and it is very obvious that we have not the time to give that con- sideration this morning. I ask that the bill may go over. Mr. Kean. Mr. President, the bill has the approval of all the public offi- cials of the District of Columbia. Mr. La Follette. Regular order. The President pro tempore. The bill will go over. And some time later: ‘The joint resolution (H. J. Res. 154) to authorize the merger of street rail- ‘way corporations operating in the Dis- trict' of Columbia and for other pur- poses, was announced as next in order. Mr. Blaine. Let that go over. The President pro tempore. ‘The joint resolution be passed over. Everybody will concede the impos- sibility of having such measures passed on the unanimous consent calendar, as well as the right and the duty of Sen- ators who have some well-founded ob- jection to prevent their passage. The thing works both ways. Generally con- demned bills are prevented from hasty passage as well as generally approved bills. ‘The point is that when local legisla- tion, relatively unimportant to the Nation at large, but tremendously im- portant to the local community, is left to take its turn with the run-of-the- mill matter that passes through the congressional hoppers in a busy ses- sion it is passed over and continues to be passed over indefinitely. The merger resolution affords a striking example of the practical futility of expecting any expeditious treatment of local legislation by Congress. Senator Blaine's objections to that resolution, in which he is joined by Senator Cap- per, are admittedly sound. These Sen- ators should object when failure to object means surrender of a point of view that deserves careful considera- tion. But the Senate has little time to give to discussion and debate of a mere local bill enabling two trolley lines to merge their operations. When there are objections, their existence is enough to doom the bill. Yet everybody will agree that a merger of some sort, fully protecting the interests of the car- riders as well as the corporations, should long since have been authorized by Congress. And the reason that it has failed to get that authorization is that Congress does not have the time to give it adequate consideration. So it is with the automobile financial responsibility bill and with countless other bills. They fail because there! was no time to study them. Legislating for one municipality by | a National Congress is an unwieldy process at best, and becomes a physical impossibility when Congress is unwilling to conceive itself, even for only a few; hours in a long session, as & local; - r———— | The edge of any reference to the| army of officeholders under Republican control is somewhat dulled by the Gov ernment wage cuts and other economies calculated to diminish enthusiasm. - France and Germany. Last week was marked by develow; ments of paramount importance for | world peace, including, as the most | significant of them all, President Hoo- | ver's proposal of a horizontal cut of one-third in existing military and naval establishments, High place among Eu- ropean statesmen's efforts to put their chaotic house in order must be given to the current attempt to bring about & Pranco-German entente. The new political rulers of the two ocountries, Premier Herriot and Chan- cellor von Papen, are collaborating to that end in Lausanne along lines which, if good will should continue to characterize them, presage results of immediate and lasting benefit. No sin- gle issue in Europe or the world out- strips in importance the ancient rivalry Calling the New York Stock Exchange “America’s Monte Carlo” flatters the exchange, which is wickeder in some respects and not nearly so beautiful. —————— Chicago’s Racketeers. A law enforcement official in Chi- cago advances the theory that “the next rattle of gangland’s machine guns may also be the death rattle of the gigantic crime syndicate built by Al Capone.” As he spoke he had before him a diagram of the branches of this vast empire of crime from which the jailed | gangster derived his princely income, that income on which he failed to pay Federal taxes, a lapse that landed him in the penitentiary. Here is an fllustration of the im- potency of the law against organized crime in certain centers of population in this country. The men who are engaged in these illegal enterprises, ranging through minor forms to the most serious, are known personally, their affiliations are known, their en- mities are known. Yet they cannot between the great nations on either eide of the Rhine. Until Franco-Ger- suspicions and antagonisms are iterated peace is conds to smaain an ideal, fraught with be caught by the law and punished as THE SUNDAY it is expected that Capone’s mortal enemy, George Moran, whose followers Capone's men were tal in “removing” in the St. Valentine's day massacre of 1928, will be the. one to set the spark that will cause the ex- plosion to rid the city finally of the gangsters. A thug named Barker was slain last week and was buried in splendor. Capone’s lieutenants bore his casket to the grave. Seventeen auto loads of flowers followed him to his last resting place. This man's am- bition was to control everything in Chicago that moved on wheels. He was credited with being the author of twenty-eight separate rackets. Every- body seems to have known of his enter- | prises, but the hand of the law did not reach him. It remained for a rival gangster to put him on the spot, to| hire a squad of assassins to remove; him a few days after one of his lieu- tenants had been peppered with eight- een bullets, ‘What a situation! What a travesty upon American law! If gangland could be relied upon to exterminate itself, there might be some cheer for the law- abiding citizens. But the very feuds, however decimating they may be, breed new organizations to replace those that have been mowed down in the war of rivalry. Meanwhile the victims of the rackets, merchants of every grade and their patrons and customers, who must pay the cost through higher prices, are the real sufferers from this breakdown of law. No one cares how many gang- sters are murdered, but it is a matter of deep public concern that the vicious system of unchecked racketeering con- tinues, | ot e Hammering away at statistics, the wets have the opportunity to claim they have clearer heads for calculations in big figures than the drys. According to the original calculations, the wets would by this time be extinct or hopelessly befuddled. R A cynical proverb has it that it is cheaper to move than to pay rent. A few of the Anacostia campers merely refer to the fact that they are paying no rent and have no place to move to, anyhow. ey Numerous aspirants to the presi- dential nomination are so fiercely in earnest that a sure way to provoke deep indignation would be to suggest any prominent Democrat as the vice presi- dential choice. BRGSO, Effort is being made to find a con- genial occupation for Gaston B. Means. rs | To leave him with a mind unoccupied would be dangerous. The amount of mischief he could figure out in so many years of idleness would be unthinkable. ———— Movers for a third party may be per- suaded to desist when it is pointed out to them that the public is already spending more money on its politics than it can reasonably afford. ————— While the mutual opinions of Raichle and Pitts are important to themselves, their expression is of no value to a pub- lic that has made no bets one way or the other. /Calling on him to referee a Tam- muny-promoted political contest would give Mr. Baker the best opportunity he has had to show his mettle as a pacifist. ———atee SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Brevity. The Positive must have its say, ‘The Negative no less. And there are others, in the way, ‘Who simply wait and guess. But some one in the mighty plan Of years that come and go Must claim our deference, as the man ‘Who just says “Yes” or “No.” ‘Though in our intellectual pride Fine words are flung afar; By some approved, by some denied, ‘They leave us as we are. ‘The most that we can hope to learn, As problems come and go, Is brought by one who does his turn, And just says “Yes” or “No.” Old Recipe. “What is to be done with the Pruits of Victory?” asked the ardent cam- paigner. “That’s another of these new prob- lems,” sanswered Senator Sorghum. “Some of the old timers still insist that we ought to cook ’em up with dough afid serve 'em at the pie counter.” Jud Tunkins says one way to make sure delegates put in the amount of cheerin’ expected of 'em is to have a convention fitted out with time clocks. Finance. A golden dollar is a circle yellow, Which goes around so fast That it leaves many a poor benighted fellow In dizzines:s at last. Measured Glee. “So you're going to the big conven- tion,” said Lariat Bill “Yes,” answered Cactus Joe. “What's the idea?” “Philanthropic. I'm going to dress up comic and mingle scatterin’ merry sunshine for all.” “But that's a mighty serious occasion. It be hard to make folks see any rea- son to laugh.” “Serfous is no word for it. Those boys will be so disciplined they won't expect lnny reason to laugh. All theyll want| is permission.” “To accept honors you have not de- served,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of China- town, “may doom you to forget your true self and live in perpetual disguise.” Superiority. Roses blossoming in June! Bees that hum the same old tune! Men that gloriously orate As to the affairs of state; Seeking to effect a way To establish human sway. When we're gone—and that seems queer— Bees and blossoms will be here In their generous endeavor, With no thought of man whatever. “Tellin’ a man de plain truth” said Uncle Eben, “is liable to make him wonder whether you ain’ so much a friend as a natural born detective.” — s they deserve. Their eradication must be left to their own murderous jeal- ousies and reprisals. In this present situation in Chicago Spreading. From the Detroit News. m‘:\cco“r.fl; to the 1932 swim suits, ra-! rays are extending their Jurisdict tion into a lot of new territory. of Federal prohibition and that no po- STAR, WASHINGTON, Text: Revelation, iv:10, 11—"“They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.” In his vision of the final consumma- ticn of all thngs, the seer of Patmos en- visions the ultimate recognition of the utter sovereignty of God. Before Him all distinctions and powers lay down their crowns. It is the abdication of all forms of human power and great- ness in the presence of the Supreme Sovereign of Life. It is a great vision, and a fascinating one. The crown has ever been the symbol of achievement and power. Men have prized it above all else; they have sought for it, striven for it and made incalculable sacrifices to attain it. The story of the search for that which the efforts legitimate and illegitimate, of edy, gross selfishness and lust. The suggestion which this remarkable vision of the seer sets forth is that life comes to its highest attainment when it abdi- cates to a power greater and mightier than it knows or possesses. It is un- thinkable that we should reccgnize the soverelgnty of God in all the concerns of life unless we are willing to vield to Him those conceits and ambitions that selfish satisfaction. There are three crowns for which we commonly strive that must be yielded before we can recognize and enjoy & sense of fellow- ship wWith the Eternal Father. The first of these is the ‘Tennyson declares: “Qur wills are ours, we know not why, Our wills are ours, to make them thine.” Possibly no surrender that we maffe is more difficult than this, the subordi- nation of our wills to the sovereign will. Nothing is more difficult in our domestic crown expresses is one that speaks of | worthiness and unworthiness, of trag- | are characteristic of our search for | crown of the will. | D. C, JUNE 26, ATTAINING LIFE’S ULTIMATE BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D, LL. D, Bishop of Washington. | life tharrthe bending of the wills of our | children to the will of parental control |and discipline. The only thing that hindered and thwarted the ministry of | Jesus was the unbending wills of thcse to whom He sought to minister. Speak- ing of the deep significance of His teaching, He said: “If any man willeth to do My will, he shall know of my teaching.” He sought to substitute His finer, nobler ‘will and purpose for those that were less worthy. Nothing so re- veals or makes possible the will of Jesus as the subordination of our wills to His. | A second crown that we must sur- render to Him is the crcwn of selfish desire. It is irreconcilable that we | should hold to our unrestrained and un- | regulated passions and desires and ex- pect to have fellowship with Him. The Apostle Paul speaks of “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Many of us seek to fulfill without regulation or discipline our selfish desires and at the same time to profess allegiance to Christ. Obviously, such a course meets with inevitable failure. A third crown that we must lay at His feet is that of our intellectual co ceits. Kepler, the great German scien- tist, once said: “I find within me the God whom I find everyhwere about me.” Robert Louls Stevenson, in physical and mental anguish, affirmed, “There is a manifest God in the world for those who care to look for Him.” Tt is con- ceivable that we may recognize a mani- fest God and yet fail by reason of our intellectual conceits to honor and obey Him. If we would know the peace and sat- |isfaction that issues from an unchang- ing faith; if we would attain ultimately the crown of everlasting life, we must surrender our wills, our selfish desires and our concelts to Him who is worthy to receive glory and honor and power. BY WILLIAM HARD. CHICAGO, June 25.—The Republi- cans having had two fights at their convention, the Democrats are going to have five at theirs. That's a superiority of three, anyway. The Republican fights were on the adoption of a prohibition plank and on the nomination of a Vice President. The Democratic bouts will be as fol- lows: A.'Shall the two-thirds rule for nominating a Democratic candidate for the presidency be replaced by a ma- jority rule? And, if so, at what stage in_the proceedings? B. Shall Jouett Shouse of Kansas and of Washington, D. C., or shall Thomas J. Walsh of Montana and of Washing- ton, D. C., be permanent chairman of the convention? C. Shall the Democratic party de- opportunity for the repeal of the eight- eenth amendment or also in favor of the social desirability of the repeal? D. Shall Roosevelt or Smith or Gar- Murray or Traylor or White or Lewis or one of the “dark horses” (Cox, Baker, Bulkley, Young) be nominated for President? E. Who in the world- shall be nominated for * k% country— ce President? but they will be devised as the conven- tion goes along. It is sometimes be- lieved that the bitter words at Demo- cratic conventions are responsible for the frequent subsequent defeats of the Democratic party at the polls. The truth cof .this analysis of the matter Herbert Hoover at the Republican con- vention of 1928 were as bitter as any ever uttered at any Democratic gath- ering. Hoover, nevertheless, was elected by a vote that indicated that the hurl- ers of the bitter words remained Re- publicans. ‘The chief cause of Demo- cratic defeats is simply that regular Democrats are fewer than regular Re- publicans and have to make more con- verts in order to win. e Bout one in the approaching Demo- cratic cohvention—the bout regarding the hopes and by the fears of the ad- herents of Reosevelt. The Rooseveltians have been playing & bandwagon game. They have been claiming delegates in flocks and predicting victory by 9 o'clock in the morning on the day of the hattle. They have built up a_psychology of easy and quick triumph accordingly that their soldiers may get discouraged and may begin to fall away tuate, as scheduled. foreboding at the tedious trench war- fare necessary in order to carry their candidate to success under the historic rule requiring the acquisition of two- thirds of the delegate votes. ‘They accordingly are willing to incur the enmities which may result from an effort to change the rule requiring two- thirds to a new rule requiring only a majority for nominations. The enmities will spring from the fact that a certain number of delegates not hostile to Roosevelt personally will be distressed by the thought that the ancient leis- urely habits of the party are to be changed into a system of so-called “steam-roller action” not on any fore- seen general principle, but for the in- stant advantage of a given candidate The hostility which may thus arise the Rooseveltians are willing to face because they have a suspicion that they must win promptly or not at all. k x % Bout two—regarding the permanent chgirmanship—springs from a similar state of mind. The Rooseveltians wish to take no chances. They hesitate to put the permanent gavel of the con- vention into the hands of Jouett Shouse, who is not of their faction. It is un- deniably true that they at one time in effect committed themselves to Mr. Shouse for the permanent chairman- ship post. They now exercise their right to change their views. That change will expose them to further enmities in the convention. A certain number of delegates possessed of no personal hatred of Roosevelt are feeling that Mr. Shouse has not been treated with entire fairness. is aroused in their breasts. From them the cry of “dictatorial tactics” begins to be heard. The Rooseveltians listen to the ery with composure. They are willing to offend some delegates in order to insure themselves a rapid result, and they expect that whatever hard feelings are produced will be dissipated before next November. x Kk x x Bout three—on the nature of the prohibition plank of the party—will de- velop the main point of distinction this year between Republican and Demo- cratic principles. In the Republican convention there was a strong sentiment to the effect that the liquor traffic is & national problem, Tequiring some meas- ure of national cognizance and control. In the Democratic convention that sen- timent is not strong but feeble. Most Democratic delegates who so far have graced Chicago with their presence are eloquent defenders of the idea that the personal habits of citizens are matters to be controlled not from Washington, D. C, but from the capitals of the States. That is, they defend that idea if they are wets; and there are enough wets in the convention to force some action in the general direction of their philosophy. combat with any vigor against the pro- posal for congressional submission of & constitutional amendment for Federal prohibition repeal. They will earnestly ¢o combat egainst any declaration to the effect that the States, through their Legislatures or conventions, ought to ratify such a repeal. R ‘The drys point out that a declaration to that effect would be a condemnation clare merely in favor of a constitutional | ner or Byrd or Ritchie or Reed or| There may be also other struggles, | may be doubted. The words against| the two-thirds rule—is dictated both by | They fear | if the triumph does not rapidly even- | They look with | Some_sympathy | The drys in the convention will not do | Democrats to Have Five Distinct Fights At Chicago Nominating Convention litical convention of either major party has hitherto condemned Federal pro- hibition—or advocated it—in and of it- | sel The most that the Anti-Saloon League ever demanded of a major po- litical party was that it should promise loyalty to the eighteenth amendment as part of the Constitution. Why nowshould the wets wish to go beyond the Anti- Saloon League and demand that the Democratic party bind its members on the merits—or demerits—of the Federal prohibition principle as a principle? | Why should they not be satisfled with | committing the Democratic party to give the people an opportunity to pass a new verdict upon the principle? Such | are the contentions of the drys in the | Chicago Democratic assembiage; and the bout thus produced may be an ex- tremely lively one. * * ok ok ‘The bouts on the presidential and vice presidential nominations cannot be ac- curately predicted till the exact pro- | spective behavior of Alfred Emanuel Smith of New York is known. If he persists in believing that he himself should be and can be nominated, the course of events will have a strongly Rooseveltian color from the start. If— as is prophesied by many—he stands up before the convention and rejects the presidential nomination for himself and then tears Roosevelt to tatters or tries to—in a speech sublimely dedicated to party welfore, the Rooseveltian current may be muddled and checked at the very outset. It would be hazardous to do any for- tune telling on the outcomes of the Democratic presidential and vice presi- dential mass maneuvers till the in- ;irtlvldll’ml mtfimgma in the head under e brown derby are more adequat X-rayed. vy (Copyright, 1932.) Advanced for Jobs BY HARDEN COLFAX. For the benefit of the jobless who are willing to work with their hands, the Department of Commerce Commit- tee on Wood Utilization has been con- ducting an extensive investigation of the making of simple articles in gen- eral demand which can be sold at a profit without coming into competition too keenly with mass production. Since the depression began the com- mittee has collected hundreds of ideas demonstrating what the average handy man can make out of wood and other materials. It has published some of its experiences from time to time and is now planning to bring out a new report containing many original ideas. Already the committee's suggestions have resulted in home industrial ac- tivities all over the country. Unem- ployment units and relief organizations are alding in spreading the idea. Local merchants are co-operating in the dis- | tribution of the articles made and home ‘imiiustrlea are receiving a notable im- | petus. * ok ok K | Here are & few examples of what is | being done in_ response to the sugges- | tions. From New Jersey come reports |of a man who is making dog houses for his community and building up quite a trade. In California another is | making new kinds of trash bags which use both wood and cotton. In Nebraska |a mechanic reports that he is making | profit from his folding tables for auto- | mobile picnics. In Hawaii an ex-Navy |man is running a small home factory ‘[urmng out all sorts of handy things of wood, while his wife attends to the sale of the articles. | Here in" Washington an inventive | genius is making attractive signs bear- | ing house numbers on a background of | wood in natural finish. In the horti- cultural sections of Delaware another worker is making nursery signs. Two enterprising young men in St. Louis | cart around Tich earth in 100-pound | sacks for which they receive 50 cents a sack. In Portland, Oreg., a professional man has turned to toy airplane making. Rk W Other reports from various parts of the country tell how men and women are using practical suggestions in mak- | ing household, garden and farm equip- ment and incorporating certain im- provements that the mass production factories have not found it possible or profitable to apply. Looking into import figures, one of | the officfals of the Department Commit- | tee expresses the opinion that millions of dollars’ worth of products of home craft, which are now imported from for- eign countries, could be easily replaced if our American home industry, such as | the kind mentioned here, might be de- | veloped. Thus, the committeeman points out, would be provided both an | outlet for the products of farm wood | lots and profitable occupation for farm | labor during the slack Winter months. Helpful suggestions as to the kind of | material to be used for different articles, | as well as hints as to marketing, will be | made by the committee to those who | inquire. As to the sources of supply for | those who have not any growing trees at their command, the committee re- minds_the ambitious out of work that every lumber yard has an accumulation of odds and ends, short lengths or slow sellers, and that retailers are usually willing to cut wood approximately to sizes desired by the customer, (Copyright, 1932.) ———. Independence. From the Lynchburg News. ‘The trouble with independence is that 50 many persons construe it as meaning to do the wrong thing just because somebody suggests doing the right thing. — Dodge Faster, Of Course. From the Springfield (Mass.) Union. An autoist is going to put gun sights on his car to steer'by. What will poor pedestrian do now? | 1932 | they loaned PART TWO Bad Financing Cause ' Of Excessive Rents To the Editor of The Star: It must have been with great satis- faction that the thousands of tenants in Washington read in a recent issue of The Star the story of Senator Cap- per's interest in the rental situation here. It appears that a very thorough and comprehensive investigation is being made, and those renting here may look forward to relief f the unfair burden placed upon them landlords. Senator Capper mentioned that some of the letters coming in to him charge those owning or managing properties with combining to keep up rents in the City of Washington. In my opinion there's no doubt but what that charge is absolutely correct. However, T don't believe the rentals are being artificially | held up merely for the sake of getting all the tenant will bear. The reason lies much deeper than this. I would hazard the guess many landlords would willingly lower rents to proper levels if by so doing they did not endanger their investment. The crux of the situation s the financing of these real estate invest- ments. Real estate values on properties are dependent upon incomes derived from those properties The amount of money loaned on mortgage is based on the forced sale value—with fixed as- sessment for taxation as a guide. Many of the apartment buildings in Washing- ton were erected during building boom periods, when construction loans and refinancing were easily taken care of. As a matter of fact, construction loan money was so freely available that builders went ahead in leaps and bounds, putting up building after build- ing, with no apparent thought on the very serious subject of supply and de- mand. The point is that they built and sold greatly overvalued and over- { financed structures, and it was up to the new landlord to make money on his investment. With such a flagrant disregard for the maintenance of sound and sensible values on the part of those responsible for such an orgy of building, is it sur- prising that we have witnessed in the last two years such & long list of fore- closures on properties? As real estate values receded to near their true level equities that represented nothing more than bloated supervalues were wiped out and secondary mortgages suddenly had to take over the suffering proper- ties. In many cases where there existed a second trust that, too, was carried away in the wreckage. It is here, I believe, that the tenants’ trouble can be traced. Under such conditions, where often 25 per cent of the former value was in the equity and that was wiped out through foreclosure, it would seem obvious that corresponding reduc- tions in rentals should be in order. Un- fortunately, the tenant in such a situ- ation is the victim of a viclous circle. If the landlord lowers the rents his property produces less income, and in the eyes of the finance and big insur- ance companies if it produces less in- come its value is lowered, and as a direct consequence of this the mortgage in- vestment is proportionately endangered. It is my firm belief that the finance companies, having no desire to forced to take over title to and man- agement of these properties, on which perhaps an abnormal amount of money on mortgage, and with the desperate intention of protect- ing their investment, have combined to artificially maintain real estate values by holding up rents far above their true present level. T venture to suggest that in the com- niercial building fleld the real estate financing is worse than in the apart- ment and residential fields. I know of many cases of merchants, uget:hlly around the center of the city, who find it practically impossible to keep “out of the red,” and not because there is no volume of business, but because they have a silent partner in the business who takes an abnormally large percent- age of the gross income, yet assumes none of the responsibilities. usually in- cumbent upon. &, partper. This silent partner is, of course, landlord. The old saying, “to err is human, to forgive divine,” seems to take the power out of our hands to forgive these land- lords and fingnclers for the mistakes in judgmentsthey made in the real estate investment fleld.. However, there's no reason why the tenants of Wasbington should have to bear the financial bur- den they now do in order to protect real estate and mo investments of others. The ds should take their medicine, must, and not attempt througl and scheming means to foist upon the thousands of renters of Washington un- fair and inequitable burdens for the sole purpose of protecting their own in- terests. It is to be sincerely hoped that much will be accomplished K Senator Cap- per's committee. If e blanket pay cut of Government employes becomes law it will be absolutely imperative to cut rents here. That is the most im- mediate help that can be rendered, but I hope the committee will go deeply into the matter of recommending some form of legislation to curb wild orgies of overbuilding that not only answer no real demand, but, what is worse, de- preciate all existing real estate’ and throw things into the bad muddle tbey now are in. I hope that a permanent solution will be offered for this per- plexing problem. JOHN THORNTON. —————————— National Policies Govern In Disarmament Issue BY WILLIAM BIRD. PARIS, June 25.—President Hoover's manifesto for a reduction of armaments is interpreted in almost all the countries of Europe as chiefly intended for cam- paign consumption, but the reaction each nation is necessarily determin by national policy. The French, as usual, have rushed in where the bullets are thickest and will no doubt agaig take the bulk of - the blame for the plan's failure. For no- Rody supposes it can succeed. England, for example, certainly will not agree to reducing the number of battleships, and this point alone is enough to reduce the plan to zero. But the British admiralty prefers to let the French bear the odiom of killing it. e ‘The whole problem of many little ships versus a few big cnes was threshed out in the London Conference of 1930. The British, with many convenient naval bases, need many ships, and do not care how small, so long as nobody else has bigger ones. The United States, with few bases but long communica- tions, needs big ships capable of carry- ing a large supply of fuel, but can get along with comparatively few, having fewer overseas possessions to defend. It is extremely difficult to see any pos- sible basis for compromise. ‘This does not necessarily mean that all disarmament is impossible. The French are now working on another plan, wherein they hope to couple dis- armament with reparations. Tq is sur- prising how admirably the German Jjunker chancellor, Franz von Papen, and the French idealist, Premier Ed- ouard Herriot, are getting along. * 0w % Herriot's only objeet so far as repara- tions is concerned is to save the prin- ciple of the thing and insure that Germany shall not later enrich herself at France’s expense. Perhaps some agreement is possible whereby French |Dim. industry will receive aid from Germany in lieu of cash reparations payments, thus starting practical co-operation be- tween nch and German industries which uffimately would appreciably les- sen war risks and fender armament re- ductions possible. ‘The of these tions 1s progress negotia being_watched with a skeptical eye by |dispose the British. resembling a Franco-German entente threatens pri- marily Britain's privileged position as arbiter of continental quarrels, and un- questi to that extent menaces British security. In a smaller degree American policy is rather against such an entente, as it would by combining French capital with German machine resources greatly favor the competition the of European goods with American. (Copyright, 1932.) the | | | | be | Constitute only one-third of the total | Most U. S. Employes Not Federal BY FREDER.C For several months the attention of the country has been fixed on the Fed-| eral employe and he has been laden with a large shere of the blame for heavy Pederal expenditure. Radio or- ators and orators before legislative as- semblies have declared that the geople are sustaining a bureaucracy of highly paid civil servants while miliions of | the public are out of jobs. The idea of Government employe has come to mean, in the minds of a large majority of the American population, Federal employe. The precise truth of the matter is that Federal employes are very much in the minority in the total number of American Government employes. The overwhelming majority consists of em- ployes of the city, county, and State governments. Approximately 2,000,000 Americans are Government employes. Yet of this huge total only 650,000, or less than| one-third, are employes of the Federal Government, Moreover, nearly half of the Federal Government employes are attached to the postal service, & branch of the Government which is largely self- | supporting. This is a new light in which to view the Government employe situation, but-it is a light which has| been obscured by failure of the loca! Government employes themselves to re- | alize their position. A county school teacher is likely to speak of Government employes as persons in a remote class. Yet she is one of them. A traffic police- | man In Sioux City often forgets he is a | Government employe. New figures quoted are based on a/ careful calculation made from statistics gathered from official sources and com- piled by three of the foremost analyticrl | organizations in the world. They are the National Bureau of Economic Re-| search, the National Industrial Confer- ence Board, and the International La- bour Office. Another famillar mistake made by the average citizen is that Washington, the National Capital, is a haven of persons who would be indigent were it not for the easy jobs they hold and the | rich pay they receive from the Federal Government. Washington is looked | upon as a remote and desirable center of luxury surrounded by a desert of | unfortunate taxpayers. Some speakers have gone so far as to compare Wash- | ington to Paris on the eve of the French Revolution. The real situation is quite otherwise, according to these| new comptilations. Federal Employes Widely Distributed. It is found that nine-tenths of all Federal employes live in the 48 States of the Union and are not concentrated at Washington at all. They live in these several States and pay taxes there in addition to whatever income and other taxes they pay to the United States. Only one-tenth of all the Federal em- | ployes live in Washington. Inasmuch as the Federal employes | Government employes of the Nation, | and inasmuch as only one-tenth of | the Federal employes live in Washing- | ton, it will be seen that, instead of being | the concentration point of such work- ers, only one-thirtieth of American ]. HASKIN. Government employes dwell in the Na= tional Capital. Taxes are levied by the District of Columbia in the same manner that States, counties, and cities levy taxes. Although the residents of the have no vote,” they must contribute to these District taxes. In addition, must pay the Federal Government in- come and other taxes. This applies to one-thirtieth of all Government,em- ployes. The twenty-nine other thir- tieths pay their taxes to the varjous | jurisdictions throughout the Jength and breadth of the land where they reside. The money spent on Federal Govern- ment employes is distributed _widely through the States in the same manner that the money paid to local Govern- ment employes is distributed. As a matter of faot the Federal Gov= | ernment’s chief function might be de- scribed- as distributing money to the Test of the country. At one time in American history direct dividends were paid out of Treasury surplus into the treasuries of the several States. Today the distribution is directly into the pockets of the citizens. Treasury Disbursements Cover Country. Of the total Federal tax receipts, 72 per cent, according to the composite | calculations of the three organizations named, goes for war purposes directly or indirectly. The veterans of American military forces received hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Checks go out from the Veterans' Administration at Washington, falling like confetti over the entire country. This largess is con- stant, goes on year in and vear out. No other government in the history of the world ever was S0 generous to its vet- erans. These recipients perform no present service for their money. The men in the military service have not been included in the numbers of employes dealt with above. Their pay is small, but it adds to the sums dis- tributed thrpughout the country. Almost all of them are outside of Washington. No garrison whatever is maintained at the National Capital save a sort of cor- poral's guard at the Marine Barracks and a few hands at the Navy Yard. When a distinguished foreigner is to be re- ceived in state with a military escort it is necessary to send over to Fort Myer, in Virginia, to get the men. The interest on the public di AD- other war expenditure, goes almost wholly outside the National Capital. This year the Treasury will make in- terest payments on United States bonds to approximately 3,000,000 private cred- itors scattered throughout the United States. In sum, here is how the cost of Fed- eral employes and Federal Government compares with the cost of local govern- ment_employes and local government. The Federal tax bill is approximately $4,000,000,000. Of this about $3,000,- 000,000 goes for war and pension pur- poses for the benefit of the entire Na- tion. Only $1,000,000,000 goes to other activities. The State and local bill is $10,700,000,000. Inasmuch as nothing, save a small sum for the National Guard, is spent for national defense, all this y{:st sun’h:: spent by the local com- munities on their own people, their own government employes. Fifty Years Ago In The Star On Monday, the 19th of June, 1882, | Justice Bradley of the United States . : Supreme Court Guiteau Is Denied Ll . i¢e. Plication for a Writ and Respite. § {0 0 % | corpus in behalf of Charles J. Guiteau, assassin of President Garfield. ended all court procedure in behalf of the convicted man, whose execution was set for June 30. At a special cab- inet meeting held on the evening of June 23 decision was made by the President and his official advisers to deny a request for a respite. The Star of June 24 thus summarized the case: “Public opinion has quite generally decided against any interposition of power to delay the execution of the assassin Guiteau. The demand that the law shall take its course, without interruption, does not proceed from any clamor for vengeance. It is the calm judgment of the country, based upon an intimate knowledge of every fact and detail connected with the as- sassin’s crime. The eleventh-hour ap- peal for executive clemency represents mainly only a few who are interested in the scientific study of insanity. They have interested themselves in | Guiteau’s fate for professional reasons. | Their request for a respite has been | urged upon the ground that there is | not sufficient time left before the day fixed for the execution for a thorough and scientific inquiry as to the condi- tion of the assassin’s mind. It might be answered, with a force that could not be combated, that there was noth- ing to hinder those who wanted a com- mission of inquiry from asking for it long ago. They could have made the application several months ago, and the fact that they deferred it warrants the suspicion that the delay was for the | purpose of affording a pretext for a | respite. But the history of the as- | sassin’s trial and the life, character and conduct of the man himself, as devel- oped since he murdered the late Presi- dent, furnish & complete answer to all the pleas made in his behalf and justify the public demand that he shall pay | the penalty of his crime, as the law has decreed. ’ “When this effort to save Guiteau !'from the gallows, on the plea that he is | Posals insane, is considered In the light of his trial and the subsequent legal proceed- ings in his behalf it is plain that it has nothing but a sentiment, prompted by professional or scientific interest, to | rest upon. The yery plea that is now | set up was at the bar of the criminal court—insanity. It was the condition of the assassin’s mind which was the subject of the long trial before | Judge Cox, and certainiy no favored | criminal ever enjoyed more advantages or facilities than were pe- tted to this | one. All the witnesses desired were | summoned at the expense of the Gov- | ernment, and after weeks of patient in- quiry the jury rendered a verdict of guilty, which was in effect that the as- sassin was mentally responsible for his act. His own conduct did as much to impress the country with his mental | soundness as the evidence. He dis- | played the keenest perception as to all | points bearing upon his case and fre- quently advised his counsel, persisting | all along in his right to assist in his | own defense. “But the verdict which sends him to the gallows does not rest upon the pro- | ceedings in the Criminal Court alone. Every tribunal that has appellate juris- | diction has reviewed those proceedings and approved the result. Even a judge of the United States Supreme bench Hoover’s Message Broke The Windows at Geneva BY A. G. GARDINER. LONDON, June 25—“Nothing ‘will be done at Geneva until some one breaks the windows,” said an eminent public man to me on Tuesday. - Presi- dent Hoover's stone next day broke the windows and shook the conference to its foundations. The meeting of Ambassador Hugh S. ‘This | Gibson afid Premler Edousrd Herriot g Morges had prepared the public for some developmient on the part of the United States, but no one expected the dramatic challénge which followed. Until Hoover's intervention, sleeping sickness had seized the conference and the general feeling prevailed that it was doomed ‘to flicker out in futility. Now it has been shocl info life, wheiher it is a temporary spasm or a real réssurrection remains to be seen. ¥ Public opinion “here is en stirred and press approval is m ly unanimous, ‘the widely view being ‘that Heover’s pi are comparable with the late President Wilson’s insistence that the League of Nations should form a part of the peace treaty of Versailles. > *x The importance of the Hoover move is that it 'is an attempt to shift the issue from technical and material con- sideratiops to moral alms, from .the desolating; wrangle of military to a problem of world statesmanship. The question whether, as the Paris critics allege, Hoover’s challenge is a move in the electoral struggle is ir- relevant. The conference should not be concerned with Hoover's domestic motives, but with the wisdom or un- wisdom of his proposals. It is pertinent in this conection to recall that Presi- dent Hoover’s action a year ago, which saved Europe from immediate financial catastrophe and which Prance nearly sandbagged, was not an electoral maneuver. Enthusiastic reception - of the pro- posals by Italy, Germany and Russia were welcomed here as more representa- tive of British feeling than Sir John Simon’s studiously cautious ommen- dation, and much disquiet is expressed in regard to Simon's apparent assump- ion of the perpetuation of capital ships in face of the fact that the Hoover pro- point definitely to the abolition of all construction of ships exceeding 10,000 .ton o ER On the other hand, Foreign Minister Simon was justified in reminding the conference that Britain stood for the total abolition of submarines or, fail- ing that, for a maximum of 250 tons, whereas the American plan permitted a maximum of 1,200. Accommodation between the British |and American views, however, should not be difficult. The serious opposition comes from France, whose press has adopted a hostile attitude toward the Hoover scheme and countered it with ‘he threadbare cry of security. Joseph Paul-Boncour raises the ques- sion of the attitude of America in the svent of a breach of the Kellogg pact. [n regard to this, it is pertinent to re- call that the Republican convention in Chicago declared for an immediate in- ternational consultation, with the par- ticipation of or even the initiative bef taken by the United States, in case such a breach. The disturbing fact is that French resistance is likely to be fortified by Japanese support. But whatever the result, the windows have been at Geneva and a breath of fresh air let into the conference whicn. & seemed moribund, has been beck to life and realities. has passed upon the verdict and found PR, it a righteous one. Nothing in law or justice can be found to warrant Ex- ecutive clemency, and to accord it would have an injurious moral effect. | Should Guiteau escape from the doom | which justice has pronounced upon | , the effect would be to encourage | criminals of his class and caliber to | execute vengeance upon those Wwho | thwart or disappoint them. The plea of insanity and inspiration would be in- | voked to justify malicious murder. The | only safe course is to let the law, into | whose hands the assassin was delivered | on the day he committed his crime, | of him as it has decreed. To | snatch the assassin from the gallows | would gratify a few experts as a tri- | umph of their theory, and still fewer | who are interested from ties of blood. | But it would disappoint the great mass | of the people, who beljeve that justice can only be satisfled in the assassin's execution.” with the semtence proneunced upon i sentence ounced upon ;h‘zt‘lymhnwnonmdny..lmso. Repercussions of this fact upon Lau- sanne are important in view of the intimation from Washington that u! Europe drastically disarms, it is look to the United States for help nn;lhw dbe,bu drnnce tl‘:n wsh- on the subject of reparations. now faces realities and probably will accept a settlement which she would have re- fused to discuss #ix months ago. Premier Ramsay M Xorald's as negotiator exercised it mgw and paved the way for ‘momentous meeting between Herriot and Chancel- lor Pranz von Papen of on Priday afternoon. In this matter ain has given a strong lead to the con- ference. Neville Chamberiain’s declara- tion in favor of complete cancellation of reparations and war debts, in spite of the fact that Britain-has paid America £200,000,000 more than it -has received (Copyright, 1933.)