Evening Star Newspaper, November 26, 1932, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR ___With Sunday Morning Edition. _ WASHINGTON, D. C. S@RURDAY. .. November 26, 1932 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11th_8t. and Pennsylvania Ave. New ‘York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t. o0 OfC pariand. ‘ by Carrier Within the City. Evening Star. .45c per month ing and Sin T Ben 4 Sundave .80c per month 2. 88¢ per month cop ..8¢c per copy of each month; Orders may be sent in by mail or telephone NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virj Batly and Sunday. 0 81 .11, $10. 1yr., 36 All Other States and C: .1yr., $12.00; Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled o the use for republication of all news dis- atches credited to it or not otherwise cred- Red in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of Special dispatches herein are also reserved. Abuse of a Constitutional Right. The right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Gov- ernment for a redress of their griev- ances is guaranteed by the first article of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States, proposed two years after the adoption of that instrument by the Constitutional Convention and ratified within two years thereafter by | the States. That right has been often exercised, and lately has been greatly abused. Within the past few years a fashion has developed for groups of people, intent upon securing special advantages through legislation, to “as- semble” in Washington, at the doors of Congress and the Executive Man- slon, and persist in the voicing of their demands against plainly evident rea- sons to the contrary. “Picketing” be- came the vogue in 1913, when the ad- vocates of woman suffrage sought by sensational methods to coerce the adoption of & Constitutional amend- ment extending the franchise to all citizens regardless of sex. From time to time since then other special in- terests have sought by similar mass measures to secure legislative or execu- tive remedies for their ills and answers to their demands. The latest of these movements was that of & few months ago when several thousands of veterans of the Great War gathered in Washing- ton to demand immediate payment of the bonus due in 1945, failing in their sttempt at coercion with lamentable consequences. Now comes a group of children, marshaled by recognized | personal income and irregular advan- | . | Van Dyke because he is an excellent reled,” since both were members of the same political party. Herein is to be discerned & significant limitation of the concept of the all-powerful political leader of Italy of American affairs. To be members of the same party, accord- ing to Mussolini, it would seem, is to be united in all matters relating to gov- ernment. Indeed, there can be only one party, according to the standpoint of the Italian leader. The idea that the mayor of the largest American city should be at odds with the Governor of his State is altogether bizarre. Prob- ably Il Duce knows nothing of the Sea- bury inquiry and but little of the hear- ings at Albany on the question of re- | moval. Could not the chief executive | of the State make the mayor of the metropolis behave? Would not Musso- lini himself make the mayor of Rome conform to the standards of integrity established at grand headquarters? The idea of a protracted cross-examina- tlon of a recalcitrant mayor by the great chief of the realm on questions of | tages is altogether foreign to the Musso- lini concept of government. Perfect | subordination and discipline should be | expected. This disclosure of the pre- | mier'’s limitation of understanding of | American politics suggests that Il Duce | really ought to cross the sea and spend a little time in the United States, to | observe and study American conditions. | He would meet many pleasant people | and would learn a great deal about the | way—the strange way—in which poli- | ties and personalities combine on this side of the Atlantic. The newest Italian ships are crossing the sea so speedily that the premier could well af- ford to take a little time off from his | multiple duties as head of nearly half of the Italian administrative depart- ments to enlarge his understanding of the workings of the greatest of the re- publics. oo Mr. MacDonald's Position. Late reports from London disclose a situation of which little has been heard in the United States respecting the po- sition of Prime Minister MacDonald. It| appears that periodical warnings by his | physicians that he must spare his eyes | and conserve his strength and energy | have been seized upon by political ene- mies as & signal that he might soon be eliminated. Even some of the devoted friends of Yhe former head of the Brit- ish Labor party seem to feel that the time has come to end the fiction that Great Britain is ruled by a non-partisan government simply because its head is & one-time Socialist who has been re- pudiated by his own party and no longer has any personal political following left. Any one who would have said, say, three years ago, when Ramsay Mac- Donald became for the second time the chief of & Labor government in Down- THE friends are not fll-advised when they | congratulate and applaud him. Scientists have estimated the normal span-of human existence to be a full | | century, not the threescore and ten years of the prophet. Montaigne and a thousand of his echoes have declared that po individual dies a natural death short of that time. They speak of all who die young as having committed suicide—by overeating, principally, That there is value in their notion is ex- emplified in statistics compiled in Eng- lind and the United States. In 1854 the expectation of life for men in Britain was 30.9 years; in 1922 it was 556; years. In America it was 51.49 years in 1910 and 55.3 years in 1920. The race is living at a faster pace in the twentieth century than ever before, but it is living more carefully. If the ac- cident rate were cut, as, of course, it should be, the present tendency would be accelerated. Bernard Shaw, in “Back to Methuselah,” discussed the whole problem at great length. It is pleasant to cite the case of Dr. example of a man whose life has been crowded with activity. He has been a clergyman, author, diplomat and teach- er. Some authorities would say that he has reached eighty because he has been so consistently occupied with work. William Morris told Theodore Watts- Dunton: “It is rust that kills men, not wozk. Look at Gladstone, look at those wise owls your chancellors and judges. Don't they all live longer for work?” Of course, mere length of days, mere longevity, signifies little in itself. What really matters is the use to which the| time is put. Living nobly, as well as living long and living fully, is impor- tant. History brims with the names of men who remained serviceably active to extreme old age: The painters, Giovanni Bellini, Michelangelo and | Titlan; the philosophers, Voltatre and | Goethe; the writers, Anatole Prance | and Frederick Harrison, all were cre- atively busy to the end. They consti- tute an inspiration toward emulation. e France is reported to have wine ready for shipment to this country. Cali- fornia, however, intimates that we have no need to go so far for the beverage unless we are buying labels on the bottle rather than the contents. —————— Desire of Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler for moratorium will be so graciously re- ceived by some of the gift seekers that they may be tempted to offer the sea- sonable compliment of referring to him as “St. Nicholas.” ——— If some of the European nations are as impoverished as represented, it would be unreasonable to expect them to buy much from the U. S. A, even under free trade conditions. ——————— EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. BY CHARLES E. “I'll be seeing ya.” ‘This is an old phrase which seems to have come into renewed usage on the streets of the National Capital. In a recent stroll for a dozen blocks in the downtown section we heard this sentence half a dozen times, by actual count. Here was & young lady. announcing in dulcet tones that she would be seeing o A young fellow about 20 years old | told a comrade the same thing. “Ya,” according to our observation, makes no reply in kind. All “ya” is supposed to do, evidently, is to wave a hand in friendly parting. * % * Such a saying may have any one of three effects on a listening human being. It may leave him indifferent. It may please him. It may rub him the wrong way. - The majority of human beings pay no attention to such utterances, which is just as well for them, since typical colloquialisms are not worth bothering about, after all, If it pleases one, then its mission is fulfilled. But if it “rubs you the wrong way,” feel sure that you are much too sensi- tive for the happiest sort of living for yourself. ot He who resents such usage, of course, will no doubt have a higher regard for our mother tongue than he who uses su‘(’:‘l!“?1 sentences without thought or mis- iving. Let_him beware, however, of giving himself too much credit in this respect. The vigor of English came about, at least in part, through the very intro- duction of such words and sayings into the common stream of the language. Street words and phrases, and thought, and ideas—these in time come to be accepted by highly literate per- sons. What is regarded at first as a vulgar- ism, and nothing more, at last becomes an_accepted P-n of the language. The so-called “common people” have done more than the scholars in making English a virile language, one respected around the world, not because it is not full of oddities and unparalleled forms of unlogical formation, but largely be- cause of those very things. English is what it is because it has never hesitated to canonize, as it were, the good, strong words and phrases which have been born in lowly places. Since all nations and languages have contributed to this happy result, it is not surprising that many students re- gard this mother tongue, of ours as sur- passing all others in the elements of strength. ‘This is just another way of saying that in English one has a better chance of making the other fellow understand what one is talking about. = French may have more clarity, in a way, a more precise quality, in a sense, but English, properly used, leaves no doubt in any reader’s or hearer’s mind as to what the aim and intent of the user is. EE A . Often enough this good is not se- cured, simply because the user fails to | make use of the best words for his pur- TRACEWELL. which no one, not even the master| writers and speakers ever thinks of usin g Any one who will spend an hour one of the larger dic- the idea of finding un- be amazed at the| going thra tionaries with usual words will number of them. | They are all good words, in special cases, but they have been consigned, by the common consent of English- | speaking peoples everywhere, to the source book. To say “I do not choose” to do any- thing, when one can say something more definite as easily, is poor English. To use the secondary me2ning of “traverse” as a synonym for “go over” or “discuss” is not good English. * K % % Where such usage falls down is not in being incorrect, but in detracting the rc~der or hearer from the chief issue io a distinctly minor one. It may be objected that the reader or hearer should not be made the judge und jury, in such a case, and that the writer or speaker who happens to know & certain shade of meaning ought to be able to use it, if he wants to and if he thinks it fills the bill better. - Certainly! | Nevertheless and however, if it does result in disputation over the word, rather than over the thought, it has failed as English, no matter how good as entertainment it may prove. . %k x x Language is primarily for thought's ke ake. Nothing which stands between the meeting of the minds should be tol- erated. It is for this reason, and perhaps for no other, that such phrases as “I'll be seeing you” are~permissible, if not always acceptable to the cultivated taste. ‘They “put themselves over.” He who uses such a phrase, as well as he who accepts it without wonder, always understands exactly what means by it. There is no chance of anybody mis- understanding anything. And this, too, constitutes good usage, at least from one standpoint. E e ok One who secretly dislikes slang words and sayings of all kinds must forever be on his guard against taking them too seriously. The language is large, it “holds mul- titudes,” as Whitman said in another connection. It is not just the slight vocabulary of the average man, measuring only a few hundred words, or even of the average highly literate person, measuring into the thousands, but a highly diversified and amazing collection of attempts. Each word in our tongue, as in all tongues, is an attempt to say some- thing, and not only to say it, but to say it so that another person can under- stand what is being said. Words are only attempts, after all paths to thoughts. If words suggest anything, they do a great_deal. If they do not suggest, the fault may lie in the word, or in the user, or in the | listener. For one's words may be ever.| so full of meaning, they will fall on deaf ears if the listemer be ignorant or unwilling or plain stubborn. Since all words are attempts, often | Think he | land brought tea, tobacco and French | BY SARAH G. BOWERMAN. Agnes Repplier's new volume of de- lightful essays on tea drinking, “To of Tea,” seems the logical suc- cessor of “The Autocrat of the Break- fast Table” and “Over the Teacups.” Conversational nm:f delicately nutnc as all Miss Reppli lefllfilfl. ho in this volume are also pl tly .1 formative. She tells of the first .- pearance of tea in England, wherc it found such a warm and lasting wel- | come, of its early lovers and early opponents, of the little unpleasantness about it in the American Colonies, of its place as an English institution and in English literature. To read the book makes one hunger for a cup of good | Ceylon or China tea, with cream or | without eream, and all the neatly sliced | bread and butter, toast, and tea cakes which go with it. Dr. Johnson gave | 1666 as the year in which tea came to | England in Dutch ships, but “Pepys drank his first cup of tea in 1660; there are records of sales at 6 guineas a pound in 1657; while in the region of disputed dates we find 1610 and 1571 claiming, without evidence, the earliest importations.” Early handbills adver- | tising tea made much of its power to keep drinkers from “superflucus sleep” and to enable them to pass their nights in study, also to clear a dull head after too much eating of flesh. Miss Rap- plier comments: “It is pleasant to turn from the modern plaint of insomnia, from men and women alarmed by the comely presence of a tea pot, begging for a cup of hot water with a slice of lemon in it, and nervously protesting that if they drank tea they would lie awake ’'til morning; and go back ip| spicit to the brave days when sleep | | the re~1 business of a scholar, as of a saint, was to keep himeelf awake.” * k x x In the reign of Willlam and Mary began hgavy taxation of tea, and at about J: same time intensive smug- gling began also. Cutters from Hol- brandy; anchored off the English coast | and waited for night, when a fleet of little boats came out silently to receive their Joads. Dwellers along the coast,; including clergymen, sympathized with | the smugglers, aided and patronized | them. Bales and kegs from the little | | boats were stored in caves, cellars and | | churches until they could be safely re- | | moved to their markets. “Officials who | supported the tariff (on tea) had no more hesitation in buying smuggled goods than Americans who support pro- | hibition have hesitation in buying boot- |legged whisky.” Tea parties (fre- | quently with smuggled tea) early be- came the fashion in England. Gossip |and scandal-mongering were popularly associated with them. Swift, a most disagrecable man, expressed violently his opinions concerning the silly and malicious talk of feminine tea drinkers. We wonder about the talk of the male patrons of the coffee houses. Blue- stocking tca drinkers often combined their potations with letter writing. | Fanny * Burney was addicted almost | equally to tea drinking and letter writ- | ing, as were Mrs. Montagu and Miss Anna Seward, the “Swan of Litchfield.” e English literature, especially its prose, is full of the praise of tea drinking, and most English literary men and! women have been tea drinkers. Per- | free information service. | might be had for the asking, and when | W. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Few Americans realize how much their Government does for them. Read- ers of The Evening Star can draw on all Government activities through our The world's greatest libraries, laboratories and ex- perimental stations are at their com- man Ask any question of fact and it will be answered, free, by mail direct to you. Inclose 3 cents in coin or stamps for reply postage. Do not use post cards. Address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Prederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Q. What is the longest jump made on skiis?—J. A. A. The record was made by an ama- teur at Davos, Switzerland, in 1931 Sigmund Ruud of Norway jumped 265.74 feet. Q. What were the eight horses which | Woodrow Wilson once said “draw the | triumphal chariot of every ruler and | leader of free men”?—J. W. D. | A. The eight horses of triumph are force of character, readiness of re- sources, clearness of vision, grasp of ntellect, courage of conviction, earnest- | ness of purpose, instinct and capacity | Ior leadership. Q._Are there too many the United States?—S. M. A. A survey estimates that about 135 | hysicians are needed to meet the| ds of an average population group | of 100,000. There are now about 126 physicians to 100,000 inhabitants in the | United States. Q. What is the farmers’ holiday | which is discussed in the newspapers?— . N. A. It refers to the voluntary agree- ment of large groups of farmers to stop raising produce for the market. Its purpose.is to create a shortage which will raise prices which farmers now declare are below the cost of produc- tion. | | | | physicians in Q. Of what composition are un- breakable dolls made?—A. B. A. All dolls of domestic manufacture are today made of an unbreakable com- position which is entirely separate and distinct from the bisque dolls which are still imported, although to a very much lesser extent, into this country. This composition has wood flour, corn- starch and glue as its principal in- gredients. The composition is placed in molds which are subjected to heat and in this fashion the doll head, body, arm, leg, or other part, is formed. It is then dipped in a special flesh enamel, with the final finish of lacquer enamel being applied through an air brush. Q. What college has an Institute of Human Relations?>—H. B. A. The Institute of Human Relations was established at Yale University in 1929. It is devoted principally to the study of biology, sociology, psychiatry and psychology. Q. Which contains more vitamin A, cod liver or halibut . liver?—D. V. but liver oil is 100 times as rich in vitamin A as cod liver oil. because there was a shortage of small coins in the country?—W. L. A. At two periods since the Nation A. Prof. H. N. Holmes says that hali- | 20. Q. When have tokens been issued | began to coin money, there has arisen | coins gave rise to an enormous issus of such tokens, at that time again in the module of the current bronze ome- cent piece. Q. What color is the celebrated Portland vase?—A. N. A. This cinerary urn, now in the British Museum, is formed of glass of a dark-blue color, and is ornamented with relieved figures in white enamel, representing the marriage of Peleus and Thetis. .It is 10 inches high, 7 tn diameter at the broadest part, and is furnished with a handle on each side. Q. What is the most Eastern pos- session of the United States?—L. P. A. The Virgin Islands. Q. Is March the windiest month of the year in Canada?—H. 8. A. A record kept in Ottawa, Canada, showed that April was the windiest, fol- lowed in order by March, December, November, February, October, May, September, August, June, January and July. Q. What stamps other than postage stamps bear the portrait of George Washington>—L. R. K. A. The Bureau of Internal Revenue says that there are two stamps in use bearing the portrait of Washington. One is a $100 documentary stamp, and the other a gooo stock transfer stamp. During 1930, 29,640 of the documen! stamps were sold and 13,600 s transfer stamps. Q. Do the winners in the Olympics receive cash prizes?—S. G. A. They recelve awards symbolie of thelr success. They do not receive money, 8s only amateurs are allowed to participate in the games, and, there- fore, money could not be accepted. Q. Where was a direct primary first held?—R. P. A. The early system of direct selec- tion of candidates was the Crawford County system used in Pennsylvania in the 1860s. Minnesota adopted the direct primary for Hennepin County in 1899, but Wisconsin was the first State :g mgt this method for all nominees Q. When was “The Star Spangled Blnng" made the National anthem? A. It was made the National anthem of the United States by act of Con- ‘““;.SIHN“ by the President, March 3 1 Q. Please give the signs of the Zo- diac and the time they are supposed to rule?—S. 8. W. A. Ari March 21-April 19; Tau- rus, April 20-May 20; Gemini, May 21 June 20; Cancer, June 21-July 22; Leo, July 23-August 22; Virgo, August 23- September 22; Libra, September 23-Oc= tober 22; Scorpio, Oct 23-Noveme ber 22; Sagittarius, November 22-De= cember 21; Capricorn, December 23« January 19; Aquarius, January 20-Feb- ruary 18; Pisces, February 19-March Q. What does plastering mean as used in wine making?—J. 8. A. Wine is treated with plaster of Paris to improve the color and keeping qualities. 5 Q. How does an ex-convict recover his civil rights?—M. J. C. ing street, that he today would be at the head of a government sustained in office by an overwhelming Conservative majority in the House of Commons would have been looked upon as being of something more than merely unsound political judgment. The “national gov- ernment” brought into power in the early Fall of 1931 to grapple with the situation precipitated by the departure from the gold standard has carried on glorious attempts, to say something, one may go softly in rebuking the latest at- tempts along the same line. a stringency of small coins, which made it necessary for business firms to supply their wants by the issue of copper tokens redeemable in legal money by the firms which issued them. The first period to witness such an issue came in 1837, when many business houses had inrepared for their use copper tokm._srgr reason for his tea excesses seems w{:yh;;j,&oé,;h: ::{sfum ‘3:,”“‘” :;m.“ye have been that he loved alcoholic| were of two principal classes, the one g{l‘,’l""a-n;‘m‘"‘”ided‘h" they harmed | strongly political with devices and in- prevented work, and turned | seriptions giving vivid expression to to tea instead. Cowper, so often the|the partisan of the day, while It is reported that James J. Walker lost 1,000 francs at Monte Carlo, which is not much. He could have made much more by remaining at home and betting on the election. haps this is only saying that they | are typically English. Dr. Johnson A slang word which is a vulgarism | Dever allowed his tea kettle to cool, today in time may come to be the pet | drank tea at all hours and often com- of the elite, and be found in all the | Dletely exhausted his hostess by the best books, snd in the air everywhere, | RUmber of cups he obliged her to pour To some of the apparently worst types | for him. Twelve cups, 25 cups at a of phrases the critic might say, not un- | time are mentioned by Boswell. The truthfully, “I'll be seeing ya!™ pose. One of the commonest faults, in this Tespect, is the selection of words which are just unusual enough, in a certain usage, to throw the average person off a consideration of the meaning to a consideration of the word selected. Consider such a word as “normalcy.” It is in the dictionary, of course, but then so are 400,000 others, most of sgents of a movement for the sub- version of the American Government, to present a petition for the relief of “child misery” in this country. In & few days 2 “hunger march” on the Capital will be manifest in the arrival of squads of unemployed, also organized by the same seditious agencles, to de- mand a dole for the relief of imme- diate sufferings. A. If citl hts are forfeited by confinement in a leral prison, the President of the United States would have to restore them. If conviction in a State institution carried this penalty, the restoration would have to come from the Governor of the State. Q. What was the object of the Colo- nial Exposition held in France last A. It was, like other expositions of this kind, commercial propaganda. No system of reasoning seems suf- ficlent to convince “marchers” that hunger is no more easily borne in Washington, D. C. than elsewhere. o There is no law to prevent the as- semblage of these petitioners at the Capital. Congress cannot enact such & law, which the Constitution specifically prohibits. The definition of “peaceable assembly” has not been strictly drawn, but by no conception can it be devised in a manner to bar the meeting of pe- titioners at the seat of Government, even though they may come from every State, over long distances, and though they may be assembled and aided by | organizations which are known to be working for the overthrow of the pres- ent system. The Commissioners of the District of Columbia, intent upon the preservation of the peace and security of the Capital community, have asked the authorities in the States to do all that is possible to prevent these “marchers” from pass- ing through their territories toward ‘Washington. From none of them have come responses indieative of either de- sire or disposition to invoke the law or to exercise executive authority to bar the way to Washington. Nobody seems to know how many are on the way and nobody, apparently, expects that they will be stayed or discouraged or per- suaded to return to their homes. Cer- tainly nobody expects that their petition will be effective. The District Commissioners havzi made it plain that no means will be | provided for the care and housing and feeding of these “marchers” if and when they reach Washington, in what- ever numbers. Assurances have been given by some of the leaders that the “army” will disperse as soon as the pe- titions are presented. For that there | will be general thanksgiving, for this | community is in no position to main- tain a hungry horde of strangers. It| 1s even now in the course of a desper- ate endeavor to supply means for the | care of its own unfortunates during the coming Winter and the suhsequem} months of privation. | ‘The framers of the Constitution had no concept of the mischievous lengths to which the privilege of peaceable as- sembly for the redress of grievances would be put in the after days of easy, safe and speedy transportation. Else the initial article of the Bill of Rights, as the first group of amendments were under Mr. MacDonald’s premiership with falrly all-around satisfactory re- sults. But now criticism is beginning to be hurled at it, or rather at Mr. MacDonald personally, because of in- effectual results attained by him, es- pecially in the field of foreign rela- tions. The Geneva Disarmament Confer- ence has proved abortive thus far. Britain’s role in the Manchurian crisis has been nebulous. The debts nego- tiations with the United States, as cur- rent events are proving, brought no benefits, from the standpoint of the British people. imperial realm the MacDonald “na- tional government” has garnered no | Even in the domestic | laurels, unless the much-maligned Ottawa conference is considered a | feather in its cap. India remains a dilemma that is apparently insurmount- | livered an address at Oxford that is in terpreted as & body thrust at Mr. Mac- | | tioned. The address was entitled “The | Machinery of Government.” It dealt chiefly with the physical and mental| stralns imposed upon ministers, par-§ ticularly prime ministers, in modern | times. One passage has been seized upon at London as being too ruthlessly accurate a description of Mr. MacDon- ald for it to apply to any one else. Said Lord Cecil: B Even when the actual health of the ministers has not been affected, too many of them have appeared to lose the faculty of decision. That seems to be one of the faculties that wear out soonest. ‘To decide makes a consider- able strain on the nervous force and the strain increases with apprehended unpopularity of the decision. Then ensues a search for some means to avoid effort. Postponement in its various forms is welcomed. Some so-called compromise is adopted which leaves all difficulties unsolved. Or a royal com- mission is appointed. Or the state of | business in the House of Commons is declared to make action impossible. Or the matter is simply adjourned. e In getting back to the old days it is| | only natural to re-establish the ancient | custom of perfodically announcing that Europe is on the verge of war. e styled, would doubtless have been writ ten in different terms, confining the right of assembly to the States of the petitioners. Had that been done the present pernicious, even dangerous, practice of “marching on Washington” | whenever some agitator against the ex- isting order of government sees an op- | portunity for sensational exploitation | would have been impossible. —— “Get together and get somewhere” is & good slogan. The Democratic voters acted on it without waiting for special permission from Gen. Dawes. Mussolini Fails to Understand. Police Commissioner Mulrooney of New York is in Rome on a visit and the other day he was granted an audience with Benito Mussolini, the premier of Italy. They talked about many things during the twenty minutes of the in- terview, and Il Duca expressed a par- ticular interest in the status of former Mayor James J. Walker, who was re- cently in that country and has returned to its borders, on the Riviera. Musso- Uni, according to a report of the con- versation, said that he failed to under- Credit for Length of Days. Dr. Henry Van Dyke, attaining the | age of eighty, declares that a man| | deserves no credit for having lived so| long. Length of time, he suggests, is a mere accident and there is no special | merit in surviving. His view of longev- llty is neither new nor novel. It has| been expressed again and 2gain by thinkers anclent and modern. But is it sclentific? Is it true that an indi- vidual is powerless to prolong his ex- istence? Observation prompts the idea that Dr. Van Dyke is mistaken. Length of days cannot be utterly fortuitous. The human body and the human mind must be subject to the same laws which govern other things used and spent. A life lived rationally and cautiously should last longer than a life lived ex- travagantly and carelessly. If this be not true, what is the sense of the com- mon proverb about the candle burning &t both ends? Granted that there may be exceptions to the rule, it would seem that enduring the wear and tear, the shocks and sorrows, of this world for eight strenuous decades is no - small achievement. A man who performs the feat is entitled to some decent measure of appreciation. Remember- stand why Gov. Roosevelt and the for- mer. mayor, whose personality /he de- Wrtied as “most pleasing.” hada‘qyare Retural enemies he has vanquished, his months, ing the handicaps he has overcome, the Chinese accuse Japanese of killing children in Manchuria on the theory, perhaps, that brigandage is being taught in the kindergartens. ‘Trotsky carries no concealed weapons, but his typewriter is as much feared by many as if it were a machine gun. ——— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Transformation. How merrily the I. O. U. At first will circulate, An evidence of friendship true ‘Which time could not abate. ‘What transformation we behold As time goes hurrying by! A creditor may not be bold. The creditor says he's shy. ‘What once brought joy brings discontent, As natlons must agree. An 1. O. U. is different When changed to U. O. Me. ‘Uncheered. “Did you tell that Western farmer that prosperity is just around the cor- ner?” asked the private secretary. Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum. “Was he encouraged?” “No. He says he lives out in a prairie where they don’t have any corners.” Jud Tunkins says it's no use to tell a friend not to take any counterfeit money. People just now are grabbing anything that even slightly resembles currency. Psychological Influence of Tempera- mental Exhilaration on Commer- cial Interchange. Perhaps Prosperity will hear At last our serenadin’, And folks to whom the vote brought cheer Will smile and start in tradin’. Toiler of Great Wealth. “What do you think of this idea of job sharing?” asked the traveling sales- man. “It appeals to me,” answered Farmer Corntossel, “if T could take my pick.” “Whose job would you like to share?” “Henry Ford’s.” “Many holidays,” said Hi Ho, the sage | of Chinatown, “when working days are needed, bring us not repose, but anxiety.” The Season of Wonderland. Old Santa Claus has never failed, ‘Whatever might befall. He filled the stockings that were nailed Unto the chimney wall; Or through the radiator he Gets by with many a twist. ‘Young friends agree that he must be A fine contortionict. “De chillun tells me dey was happler,” sald Uncle Eben, “when Santa Claus came in a sleigh, 'cause a few Christ- mases has seemed like he got a flat tire or was held up by a traffic cop.” ——at———— Scare or Solace? From the Roanoke Times. “The next fire may be yours, an insurance company's advertisement. Trying to frighten folks or cheer them up? No Urban Pasture. Prom the Minneapolis Journal. One thing seems to be assured, name- Stability in Germany Rests On United Action of Parties Observers in this country emphasize the need of unity and stability as the only means of restoring conditions in Germany, while the ideals of the re- public are believed to have been threat- ened by recent events. The one figure which is seen as unchanging in purpose and support is that of Hindenburg, and his dismissal of the claims of Hitler is viewed as one thing that was inevitable. Subsequent events are subjects of specu- lntéon. . ommenting upon the resignation of IChancellor von Papen, the Birmingham Age-Herald states that his government “did not succeed in obtaining popular support for its remodeling of the Ger- man political system,” and that “to that extent the republic is unshaken.” Pointing out that “the Hitlerites are the sworn foes of the republic,” the Hartford Times holds that under pres- ent conditions President von Hinden- burg “‘once more becomes the sole stabi- lizing force in the nation.” The Hous- ton Chronicle remarks that “the Ger- man government still lives, and should galn new strength from the fact that the scheming of the Hitlerites and the blunderings of the French have so far not yet driven the majority of the Ger- man people to a repudiation of the re- public.” “The President’s objective,” in the opinion of the New York Herald-Trib- une, “undoubtedly remains that of getting constitutional sanction for gov- ernment that will be out of reach of the electorate’s fancy for Germany's mul- tiple and volatile parties,” while the In- dianapolis News refers to the head of the nation as “an important unifying force, a symbol of national unity and of state ideals to which various partisans profess an allegiance higher than any personal ambition.” The Atlanta Jour- nal voices the hope “for the discovery of a chancellor who will bring stability and assurance to the important coun- cils of international effect, now in ses- slon or pending.” That paper refers to the difficulties that have been faced by Von Hindenburg with the statement: “His long and stressful career has found him in few postiions more ominous than he occuples today, with the Von Papen cabinet defunct, and many conflicting forces swirling about him, as he seeks to chart a safe course for his govern- ment through the shoals of partisan ealousy.” It is agreed by the Schenectady Ga- zette that “Germany’s main culty in obtaining governmental stabllity lies in the fact that the populace can roughly be divided into three nearly equal groups—the extreme Right, con- taining the most powerful single party, the Hitlerites or Fascists; the Mod- erates and the Left, dominated by the Communists.” The Gazette concludes that “their views are so antagonistic that their only basis for common action is a readiness to wreck any ministry that can be formed” and holds that “they are destructive and not con- structive.” Nevertheless, the Roanoke | Times points out that leaders “cannot | hope to govern except through a coali- tion,” while the Boise Idaho Statesman advises that “the parties must get together and agree on a man and a program,” and the Youngstown Vindi- cator is of the opinion that “what Ger- many needs more than anything else is a government in which the various parties will sink their differences and work together for their country’s good.” “What Germany needs now,” thinks the Providence Bulletin, “is a ‘concen- tration’ government—that is, a national government of the .aporiant parties such as came to t": front in England during & crisis. Wether this grouping can be made is a question, because of the intensity of j'rty feeling in the land and the differ_nt political philoso- phies of the major parties. But a stable government in Germany that has the confidence of a majority of the people and has authority arising from the do considerable to elsewhere in Europe.” t “the burden of gov- trying days falls upon the aged President Hindenburg and that he ly acc ‘willing] the bility,” the Clevelan that “the ly, that no grass will grow in the streets up way for"the next six News remarks prevented the impasse which has litical elements of the new republic X&n pulling together is one which may be overcome by an appeal tougltflotlsm." ‘The Louisville Courier-Joufnal points out that failure of other elements to function success- fully means “a non-partisan regime set up by the President and not responsible to the Reichstag.” The North Adams Transcript believes that “present prin- ciples and methods and policies may be expected to survive,” while the Newark Evening News voices the view of the Hitler incident as “postponing the re- turn of regular parliamentary pro- cedure and a continuance of what is fiuguy & Von Hindenburg distactor- “Von Hindenburg has tried a re- actionary government and it has failed,” declares the Rutland Herald, with the belief that there may be trial of one of a more radical character, while the | teq Omaha World-Herald offers the judg- ment of the present situation: “The Jjunkers probably came nearer the Pres- ident’s idea of how Germany should be governed than any other party; cer- tainly nearer than Hitler. Therefore, it is a testimonial to his patriotic devo- tion that he should call for a govern- ment more acceptable to the people. There is satisfaction in knowing that such a man is ruling Germany. But Germany, like Italy, must suffer from the effects of a ‘strong man’ govern- ment. Both nations must inevitably come to depend so much upon the strong man that his death will be a devastating blow. When Mussolini dies an outburst of the rampant and pug- nacious nationalism, which he alone can foster without burning the coun- try's fingers in international affairs, is to be expected. And when Von ;Hin- denburg dies a chaotic war befween Communists, Fascists and Soclalists is likely to follo ———— Presidents—Both. From the Akron Beacon Journal. There will be general commendation of President Hoover's action in wiring President-elect Roosevelt: “I am loath to proceed with recommendations to the Congress until I have an oppor- tunity to confer with you personally at some convenient date in the near future.” In forwarding to Albany copies of all notes concerning the in- ternational debt situation, Mr. Hoover is following the excellent precedent set by William Howard Taft who supplied Woodrow Wilson with confidential in- formation bearing on Mexican mat- ers. But in arranging to go into per- sonal conference with Mr. Roosevelt, he is going a step farther. And that flep may result in good for the coun- ry. Taft, refraining from committing the country to any decisive Mexican policy, left this to the man who would carry the burden. And that was as it should have been. In the present case Mr. Hoover has to consider postponement of payments due from debtor nations December 15—a matter which must be decided before that date—and the larger question of debt revision in gen- eral, decision on which could be but should not be delayed until after the March inauguration. With President and President-elect getting together, there is no reason why the White House | incumbent should not proceed with such moves as Mr. Roosevelt can assure him will not be embarrassing to the incom- ing administration. And that would be an even more desirable result than was attained in the Mexican instance for it would save four months of mark- time. ‘The Nation hopes for such working agreement and for Hoover-Roosevelt threshing out of world economic and disarmament conference matters. Any- thing the two can achieve in this way will add substantially to the stature of both men in the public regard. ———————— Cause for Glee. Prom the Goshen Daily News-Times. Gov. Roosevelt, say the experts, will have a more important role than Pres- ident Hoover in the next short session of Congress. Maybe) that's the reason victim of fears and mental depres- sion, found in the closed room, with curtains drawg and fire burning | brightly, and the cups of tea that “cheer but not inebriate,” rest and pes~e for his ‘abnormal nerves. “Hazlitt's love | of tea was strengthened by his solitary habits. Lamb's love of tea was weak- ened by the social habits of his sister, Which too often compelled him to drink | it in company with literary ladies who | Iretted and depressed him, who fed him on macaroons, which have no proper association with tea, and talked to him about books which he had not read.” Opium was de Quincey’s enemy, but tea was “his faithful friend and ally.” Carlyle was emphatic in his demand for black tea and brewed his own at home before going to any social gather- ing where he thought green tea would be served. “Carlyle’s recipe for content was of the simplest. A room of one’s| own, & book to read, water to wash in, tea to drink, and—if one were a man— tobacco to smoke.” English statesmen have been supported in their labors by . Cobden said that “the pump and the teapot carried him through life” and Palmerston drank tea copiously during night sessions of Parliament. Gladstone boasted that he “drank more | tea between midnight and 4 am. than any other member of the House of Commons.” Two chapters in Miss Rep- plier’s volume are labeled “digressions” —“On the Banishing of Tea From the English Colonies of America” and “On the Drirking of Tea in the East.” The last chapter is a fitting copclusion— “On the Drinking of Tea Today.” * ok k% “Darling of Misfortune: Edwin | Booth” is a fitting caption for the story of the life of the great actor who was as tragic a figure as any in the trage- dies he acted. The blography is by | Richard Lockridge, who considers that | Booth was a real Hamlet, off the stage as well as on. One of the peaks of | tragedy in the life of Booth was the murder of Lincoln, by his brother, John Wilkes Booth. Another was the bank- ruptcy and loss of his theater in the panic of 1873, leaving him with a burden of debt. He died before he was 60, a worn-out man. * ok ok ok Arthur Welgall, historian of the times of Caesar, Marc Antony and Cleopatra, and of Nero, has dug out from scraps of ancient history and lit- erature all that it is apparently pos- sible to find about the life of Sappho and has written “Sappho of Lesbos.” If we do not feel sure that he has re- constructed the real Sappho, at least she harmonizes very well with our ideas | of her. The famous woman poet of | Greece lived only a few centuries after Homer and was one of the originators of lyric poetry, with its varied meters. Only scattered fragments of her poetry remain today. As Mr. Weigall describes her, she was a small, swarthy, black- haired woman, an aristocrat of Mity- lene, on the island of Lesbos, & political plotter, wife of a wealthy merchant of Syracuse, the Greek colony in Sicily, a passionate lover. At 55, she fell in love with the sailor Phaon, who, unap- preciative of the honor she paid him, deserted her, whereupon she committed suicide by casting herself from the Leucadian tufl*into the sea. xx % ‘The title of the book “Naked Faquir” shows that the writer, Robert Bernays, is not a Gandhi worshiper, He does not, nevertheless, underestimate the in- fluence of the emaciated little old man who has recently been received at Buckingham Palace and sat in confer- ence with England’s leading statesmen. At his first meeung with Gandhi, he thought him the ugliest man he had ever seen. “He seemed to be all spec- tacles as the Cheshire cat was all grin. * * * He is so emaciated that he re- minded me of those grizzly pictorial advertisements for the ‘Save the Chil- dren’ fund after the war * * * Alto- gether it was like seeing a half-naked gnome in spectacles. * * * It wasrather having an interview with a statue of the Lord Buddha. He has extraor- dinary dignity.” Mr. Bernays seems to have a mind divided between repulsion at the physical insignificance and gro- tesqueness of Gandhi and admiration for his dignity and obvious sincerity. He finds irony, however, in the necessity for negotiation with this “half-naked the other bore simply the advertise- in 1863, the dearth of small is chief of staff of the tes Army?—T. P. MacArthi ment of the merchant who issued them. Again, Excerpts From Newsp: L UNIVERSAL, Mexico, D. F.— ‘Two American gentlemen visit- ing in the capital, will leave for Saltillo tomorrow morning to en- gage in a snake hunt on the hacienda of the Nelke family near that city. The hunters are nominally en- gaged in business pursuits in Philadel- phia, but their avocgtion is the hunting of rare and _curious reptiles, principally serpents. The caballeros under discus- sion are respectively Senores W. S. ‘Wasserman and Jorge Howe. The for- mer is a banker and the latter an archi- tect in their native Philadelphia where, presumably, there are no snakes. With them goes another gentleman, originally a North American, but now the proprietor of a snake farm in Hon- duras. He is the Senor Douglas March. We understand they are interested in snakes as naturalists, and not commer- cially, ¢, -anting that snakes have any market value except as specimens for zoological gardens. Senor March, we are told, has been bitten 14 times by snakes and more times than that by scorpions and taran- tulas. He has a method of extracting from each snake or insect the antidote for their venom, and carries a sort of composite antitoxin for all kinds of poisonous wounds caused by fangs and the stingers of his pet subjects. It is said that the trio anticipating with pleasure and interest their hunt for snakes on this estate in Coahuila, Wwhere the scaly denizens of regi have never been thoroughly studied or classified, and they are anxious to make the acquaintance of the many strange reptilian _varieties so abundant there- about. They aspire to enrich science with minute data regarding the sizes, appearance, habits and peculiarities of types never known before. Senor March is one of the chief authorities in the world on snakes, but we do not envy him this honor and distinction. ok Inventor Disappointed By Ocean Rocket. Cologne Gazette—The giant Winkler skyrocket, with which it was hoped to whiz over the ocean in 35 minutes, has again disappointed its inventor, and all the people who had hopes that they would soon be able to make this sort of a trip. The dream is as old as hu- manity itself, and the results yesterday are sald by engineers who co-operated in its construction to be no criterion of its ultimate possibilities. The time for the experiment and all its preparations were kept secret. Finally atmospheric conditions seemed exactly suitable. In the presence only of Prof. Winkler and his assistants the rocket was duly installed on its in- clined trestle and the fuel chambers filled with liquid oxygen and methane (marsh gas). When everything was ready, the chief engineer and his accomplices tired to the bombproofs which they had wisely provided, and Prof. Winkler the contraption in its spectacular ca- reer. Strange sounds filled the al ew rapidly louder and louder, and then burst into a terrific years’ the structure upon wi X The rocket was blown into thousands of pieces, scattered over a wide area. 2 : dges few parts of the machine have been recovered that insufficient insulation of the fuel tanks, or a broken pipe line between the fuel reservoirs and the car- Rt s Pk, 1, T iceroy , cul high-minded statesman, buretor spraying nozzles may have been the cause of the violent and unforeseen disruption. * It is fortunate there were no passengefs on fight. Q. Who United Stal A, Gen. Douglas ur. High Lights on the Wide World apers of Other Lands England Prepares To Battle Crime. Irish Independent, Dublin—The great increase in the of violence committed in England of late has alarmed the authorities. The efl- ciency of the police forces is being improved, and in some quarters there is a call for sterner measures to deal with the growing evil. Questions are being asked whether sentences are adequate and whether Tortable. " Sif Heney. Dickes, Wb re- e. enry who Te- tired from the bench a few days ago, gives in the Times his opinions on crime and its punishment, based on 15 years’ experience as & judge at the Central Criminal Court. He considers the state of crime in England most alarming, because its principal charac- teristic is violence, and on account of the extreme youthfulness of those who share in it. While disposed to leniency in the case of young first oflenders, he holds that in such cases where violence has been used leniency is false senti- ment misapplied. Sir Henry thoroughly believes in the efficacy of the “cat” in cases of crime with violence. and recalls how half a century ago “garrotting” was stamped out by flogging sentences. A retired prison governor agrees with the use of the “cat,” but, curiously enough, advo- cates longer prison sentences in the early stages of a criminal’s career. This On | i5 contrary to the general view that & severe sentence on a first conviction hardens the prisoner, and instead of reclaiming him makes him a habitual criminal. The ex-prison governor com- plains of the wing amenities of prison life and the loosening of discl- pline. The recent outbreak at Dart- moor and the trouble in other jails seem to support his view. It should, however, be possible to find a mean course between treating prisoners as guests of the state and as Probation of Adults. Prom the Santa Monica Evening Outlook. ‘There are more than 8,000 adults on probation in California. Had this addi- tional number been sent to prison it would have been necessary to bulld more prisons. The upkeep of a prisoner confined at San Quentin or Folsom is $228.13 per year. Compared with the cost of probation, which is $26.65 for enough more to enal obligations incurred through act that had caused their conviction. Terms of probation are named trial court and not by & pressed the button which was to set|of