Evening Star Newspaper, January 23, 1933, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY......January 28, 1838 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company ‘Business Office: and Pennsylvania Ave. Office: 110 Epst 42nd 8t. ake Michigan Buflding. 14 Regent 8L, London, Encland. by Carrier Within the City. nz‘:v‘e‘n‘m’( Bar sy Biar 0P month Evening an a; T rhen 4 Bundays) d il month T o SaRdave) . .85 per month ...l .5c per copy he end of each month. in by mail or telephone 11th_ St York icago Office: European Office: Orders may be NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunda: ¥yr., $10.00; 1 me ily only .. yr., $6.00: 1m Binday "only yr., $4.00; 1m sent 0c 0c All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday...1yr. $12.00; 1 mo. $1.00 Daily only . [1yr. $800: 1mo. 7S¢ Bunday only . yr., $5.00; 1mo. e Troaxs I].te:lm entitled Assoclated Press is exclusivi to the se for republication of all news dis- patehes credited 1 It or mot otherwise creq. angg, ai s Dioiished herein TAll Tights of publication of special dispaiches herein are also reserved An Anchor to Windward. 1In preparing a bill that would enable $he District of Columbia to borrow money for rellef from the Reconstruc- tion Finance Corporation, the District Commissioners and the local citizens urging them to take this step are not asking for a loan at this time. The situation that confronts them now is this: The funds raised by the Community Chest are not enough to guarantee continuance at present standards of the work of all Chest agencies throughout fe year now be- ginning; the funds already appropri- ated out of District revenues for emer- gency public relief, and those which, it is anticipated, will be appropriated In the next District of Columbia appro- priation bill, are not enough to cover the needs adequately of the men, women and children now dependent upon public relief, to meet the ex- pected increase in demand from those seeking relief or to relieve of the‘ private charitable and welfgge agencies of that part of their burden which must be cut when their budgets are | cut. Unless appropriations for public relief are increased above the $1.- 250,000—which is the figure previously recommended by the Commissioners— the District is apt to face a deficit in relief funds, and when a deficit means hunger and starvation no deficit can be allowed to remain. Should the deficit occur, therefore, the District must be in position to meet it. Congress, however, holds the purse strings and not a cent of Dis- | ard, flowing strongly and steadily for many months, is to bring to immediate trial and send to prompt punishment those who”are caught and are known to be guilty. The long protraction of the process of justice is an encouragement to crime. The swift administration of the penalties warranted by the law is a deterrent. When the facts are as plain as in these recent cases the blockade of jus- tice by ingenious pleas and procrastina- tions permitted by the rules of procedure makes a travesty of the law. It is the reverse of justice to allow technicalities to obscure the vital‘issues of fact and to protract the process of determining guilt or innocence. It is an incitation to demoralizing and criminal enterprise to permit evidently guilty defendants, through their counsel, to confuse the question by hair-splitting and delay. ‘The present rules of the courts give an undue advantage to the robber and murderer, caught redhanded or taken in circumstances definitely to indicate guilt. They should be modified. To do s0 ‘may require legislation, to secure which may be a protracted process. But meanwhile the courts themselves may by denial of delaying motions and by quick action in review in case of ap- peal, go far toward that expedition which is demanded in the interest of public security and the effective admin- istration of justice in the most solemn warning against crime of which the law is capable. ————— Inflation. ‘Without producing any definite plan of action Senator Borah has made his contribution to the increasing conver- sation about the need of “inflation.” Although the Idaho Senator did not say that he believed the printing presses should be speeded up and money turncd out with nothing back of it except the impress of the Government of the United States, his statement urging reflation, made public today, insists that some- thing must be done about the currency. The Senator calls attention to the fact that the other important nations of the world have gone off the gold stand- except France; that with their cheaper currency these nations are threatening the industries of the United States. The implication is that the United States, too, must go off gold. The alternative would be to prevail | upon the other nations to resume the | gold standard. Much the wiser course. What this country needs today is r.ot more currency, but more currency in circulation. The currency today in the United States, including that in hoard- ing, is within striking distance as great as the currency which was in use in| the boom prosperity days of 1928 and | early 1929. To gplace more money in | circulation there must be more busi- trict revenue can be spent until Con- | gress approves the expenditure and by | formal legislative process orders it. | Suppose the deficit should occur when | Congress is not in session? | That is the situation which t.he‘K Commissioners and interested citizens | feel should be anticipated and taken care of in advance by congressional action to permit the Commissioners to | apply to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for a relief loan, should necessity demand such action on their part. This permission to borrow | would be an anchor to windward. It | might not have to be used. But it | would be there in an emergency. ; The law now permits Governors of Btates and Territories to apply for re- | lief loans from the Reconstruction FPinance Corporation, the wrpqrntxon'sf board of directors reserving the author- i ity to examine and pass upon the merits | of each application. There is no such‘ provision for the District of Columbia. ‘The Governors of States and Territo- ries must certify to the necessity for such loans and, in the language of the law, show that “the resources of the State or Territory, including moneys then available and which can be msdt} available by the State or Territory, its | political subdivisions and private con- tributions are inadequate to meet its Telief needs.” Under the proposed amendment the | District Commissioners would be given | the privilege now possessed by the Gov- | ernors, but the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, as in the case of the States, would grant the relief asked when its own inquiry affirmed the necessity. The money loaned to the States bears inter- est at three per cent a year and must be reimbursed beginning with the fiscal | year 1935. Reimbursements may be | made either by deductions from the | regular apportionments from Federal | 8id, for highways and post roads, or they can be made by other arrangement . entered into between the States and the R.F.C Congress, as the Distri2t's only legis- lature, would do well to appropriate enough money from local revenue to assure adequate relief until it meets again. But as long as there is any dif- ference of opinion regarding the amount that may be necessary, it should provide the District with the necessary author- ity to borrow in case an emergency Tequires such action. —_——— e Japan intends to pacify Manchuria. This determination is one which ap- parently takes precedence over the efforts of the League of Nations to soothe Japan. — e Russian plans to create a society without class will hardly go so far as to create any doubt in Joseph Stalin’s mind as to who is boss. Speed Trials and Penalties! Speed in the prosecution of the men who were taken last week in connection with the shooting of two paymasters, one of them fatally, is assured by the district attorney. This case is to be presented to the grand jury at once and indictments are virtually certain to be returned in view of the fact that confessions have been obtained from most of the members of the gang. Their trial should follow as quickly as possible, and if convictions are had, which seems likely, sentences should be executed with the least delay. In the same way the process of in- dictment and trial should be expedited in the case of the man captured yes- terday shortly after the killing of a watchman—taken, indeed, even before the body of the victim had been dis- covered. ‘This case, it would seem, offers little chance for delay if the cir- ness. And to have more business, there must be more courage and a greater use of the credit facilities which have been provided so generously through | the aid of the Congress and the Chief Executive in the last year or so. There | is money and there is credit. The! great difficulty has been that they have not been used as they should. The money powers have shut up shop, to a | large extent, not realizing that such re- | ductién of the circulation of money is dangerous to the whole structure, in- cluding themselves. Nothing could be of greater benefit today than ihe in- creased use cf sound money. Probably nothing could be more harmful than | the issuance of fiat money—money with nothing back of it. Senator Borah states that the in- comes of the country have shrunk and shrunk. It is true and it is most un- fortunate. But that is not because there is a lack of currency, but because there is a lack of employment of the money and credit that exist. He is exercised because the country is flooded with cheap foreign products, which he says are ruining the industries in America. Senator Reed of Pennsylvania has demanded again and again that this situation be examined, particularly when there has been a roar against the Republican protective tariff on the ground that it is too high. The Pennsylvania Senator, of course, be- lieves that the tariffis should not be reduced, but rather that they may need increasing under such circumstances. ‘The Idaho Senator insists that prices of commodities must be increased; that it is idle to talk about balancing the Government’s budget until the budgets of the individual Americans can be balanced. One of the reasons that the individual's budget cannot be balanced now lies in the fact that the Govern- ment does not balance its own budget, but continues to spend money which it does not have until it takes it from the pockets of the individual citizen. If Mr. Borah proposes to increase com- modity prices through issuance of more and more currency, he will find that soon money is so cheap that many com- modities—things of value—which now have value will have none. He does not appear to take into consideration the millions of persons in this country whose extremely moderate competences would be so reduced in value as no longer to provide a lvelihood should there be a great inflation of the currency. That is the other side of the inflation picture. Other nations, Germany in particular, have tried inflating the currency in retent years with the aid of the print- ing presses. There is no record, how- ever, that there is less suffering in those countries, that standards of liv- ing approach those in America even today. ——————— Inroads on street car receipts by taxicab service show an indifference to safety first. It is perfectly well known that bandits and hi-jackers never undertake to operate with a high- power street car. George Moore. Obviously, there may be two views of the work of George Moore, the Irish novelist and critic, who died, at eighty, on Saturday last. Those who admire stark exposition of the troubles and difficulties of human existence, penned in vigorous language, will think of him as a competent successor to Voltaire, Nietzsche and Zola, a prober of life, an historian of the foibles of mankind. Those who prefer a less pessimistic at- titude, who feel that the world really is not such a dreadful place, and that men and women really are not such fools and knaves as he thought, will deplore his deficiency of compassion and re- member him as an artist whose gifts ces are as now reported. way to check theZurrent ] 8 Washington, which has beea were destructively employed. Possibly, nelther opinion i entirely fust or scien- THE EVENING tific, for Moore’s work i mixed and various, but the generality of readers, nevertheless, will be apt to classify him under either the one or the other head. Balzac was his model, but he went beyond him in his irony. Perhaps it was natural that he should, for he came later and was affected by the whole of Balzac's endeavor as of course the author of the “Human Comedy” himself was nol. Also he moved in a sterner environment, He shoild have appeared in the eighteenth, not the nineteenth century. The Victorian era agitated him excessively. The “anclent regime” would have been s better tar- get for the arrows of his sarcasm. But Moore is not undeserving of praise. He was entirely sincere, and from first to last was militantly faithful to his task of unshackling the mind of the British middle classes—the assign- ment he gave himself in his youth. He was courageous, too, in his struggle with the conventions—and there can be no doubt about his need for a stout heart as well as an agile mind in the circumstances. Finally, he was a con- scious artist, thoroughly honest, utterly devoted, in his effort to use the Eng- lish tongue creatively, artistically. No man of his time had greater success in that respect. His style is positively magnetic. He draws with words as Durer drew with a pencil. That, surely, is one of the reasong @y his influence has been so widely effective. Moore will not be forgotten. Dis- trust his thought, as people may, he will survive for the genius which he mani- fested in his manner of writing, if for that alone His labor was not wasted; he did not live in vain. e - Dr. Lorenz, the great Austrian physi- clan who straightens limbs by hand instead of by instruments, is quoted as saying that he wishes there were a means of straightening out the brains | SPin: of men. If he possessed such a gift there would possibly be a gigantic peti- tion for him to take out naturalization papers. —r—————— Huey Long has made such an impres- sion on the humor-loving public that some enterprising publisher should hasten to present him with the intro- ductory line, “The Kingfish says:". —_———————— There will be another George Wash- ington celebration next month, which, though more brief than the Bicenten- nial event, will be none the less sincere. e Russia proposes to get rid of its un- employed and otherwise undesirable population. “And how?” is the ques- tion that still remains to be answered. ——e—t It is true to some extent that names make news, yet forgetfulness works fast. However handsome it may be, tHere is no news on a tombstone. T Scolding the United States Senate coes no good. The members of that august assemblage accept that manner of address as a usual experience. Occasionally reconstruction finance has to protect itself from interpreta- tions of motive which involve miscon- struction. N SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Report of the Business Doctor. Dear Auntie Business Has had us worried some, She felt a certain dizziness, ‘That made the doctors glum. They'd feed a polysyllable At intervals each day, But Auntie is non-killable— At least it looks that way. Once a bit delirious— She makes a little bow And seems not quite so serious, 8he'’s feeling better now. Mental Relief. “What do you think of technocracy?” “It's a good thing,” answered Sena- tor Sorghum. “It ehables & man to study the dictionary instead of study- ing the red ink pages of the ledger.” Jud Tunkins says one of the heroes who don't get mentioned i{s the man who is censcientiously trying to be happy in spite of the obvious facts in the case. News Relief. “Society,” what would we do, Excepting for the news from you? When all the world is full of care With red ink splashing everywhere, A bit of sad romance you show Prom towns where the divorces grow. Or else your message brightly tells About banquets and wedding bells, ‘When shots are fired along the road And reputations proud explode ‘Without the hopeful news from you, “Society,” what would we do? Determined Solicitude. “I'm goin’ to keep on sendin’ my boy Josh, to college,” sald Farmer Corn- tassle. “You think he has exceptional in- telligence?"” “No. Confidentially, I don't think he has a great deal of sense. I'm goin’ to put him in the way of learnin’ a lot of long words so's maybe he can. fool people.” “To admit discouragement,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is but to confess that you have grown in- dolent.” 8. 0. 8. from Good Ship Civil Service. The spollsman stood on the pay roll deck, His eye was cold and steady As he glanced at the chap who con- trols the check, And said, “You may fire when ready!” “Depression can’t last forever,” said Uncle Eben. “Even now de days are gettin’ longer an’ de hens are beginnin’ to lay.” —_——————— The Collection Plate. Prom the Chicago Daily News. It has been suggested barrassment to some worshipers to abolish the church collection. In that event, what would the congregation do with its surplus buttons? Grave O ions. Daily News. lookec the latest developments in con- tract bridge, a fact which gvill discount the value of its report for studious STAR, WASHINGTON D. C., MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 1933. BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Food is wme?.hln’ caf dictate, however dictatorial his dis- position may be. One person likes one thing, another prefers another thing. " This is 8o universally recognized that centuries ago there arose a popular proverb, that “one man’'s meat is an- other man’s poison.” Honey does not irritate our individual tummy in the least; we just do not like the taste of the stuff. ‘They say, too, there is no accpunting for taste. Some people actually like spinach. Think of that! How any human being could honestly like this green mass is beyond him to whom the very sight of the stuff is on. Pew persons there are who have not, At some time or other, made a heroic resolve in rd to spinach. “I ought eat it,” he has said to himself, with a grimace. “I must eat it,” he has continued, with two grimaces. “I will and shall eat it!” triumph- antly he concluded. But not with three grimaces. Ha! we have the dear reader there. Never would this writer, who person- ally dislikes both honey and spinach, permit a character to indulge in three grimaces;” in such a situation. The correct number would be five or six. The very t of spinach in a bowl is enough to on an entire series of finfl, is & word in the dictionary which was invented, one may feel sure, tor:ifi specific purpose of describing “Flaccd” is the sdjective, from the Latin flaccus, dus, meaning y. Listen to this neat description of spinach, as commonly served: ‘Hanging loose or wrinkled; limp, flabby; = relaxed, s vigor, feeble. Henoe, flaccidity.” The flaccidity of spinach is beyond ‘com| pare. It lles in a dish like a long-lost hope, never to be found again. Its green is not a good green, nor a bad green, but just a green in between, a perfect spinach green. The common manner of garnishing it with Honey color in the other plate at least has some character of its own, whether it be the darker or the paler variety. Honey s, 100, an interest to the flower lovef, since it comes com- pletely from flowers. Its amber tones, backgrounded against a plate, are compelling, but whether they in any whit are superior in this respect to good maple sirup is a question for connoisseurs. One’s personal kick against honey may be that one simply likes maple sirup better. But, as far as that goes, nothing “goes” quite so well with waffles, pan- hard-bolled egg creates a mas- | terpiece at which the sensitive shudder. cakes, and the like, as butter. may::lrmnm fit for the , mister. We take our stand firmly on butter, when it comes to hot breads of all kinds, pancakes, waffles, soda biscuits. In our gustatory time we, teo, have tried 'em all, and while able to relish ‘em, have always gone back to butter as_the foundation garnishment. Butter even makes spinach edible. Yes, it is occasionally possible for the person who dislikes spinach to eat spinach. ‘There is only one created food which he who does not like it cannot eat for the life of him. That is the onion, of course. Entire nations dote “on onions. France and Italy are partial to 'em. Perhaps all those millions and mil- lions cannot be wrong, but they are very wrong as far as we are concerned. Every time we approach our fat face (some might say head) to within a foot of an onion we give up without trying. Human nature can do no more. g‘:‘t were not for that smell. 1 “0. O.” as the ads might say. (On- on Odor.) It is too much for us. It goes into the Outer Darkness whereunto each individual consigns things and persons he does not like. Whole persons go into that Outer Darkness, too, but the stramge thing is that the very person cast out by one is the same person who is feted and ap- plauded by the next, and ranked as an ornament to his life. Nothing much is shown by this selec- tion for Outer Darkness, on anybody’s part, except that human nature is basically silly, and not much to be trusted. Individual choice means little or nothing. In most matters the individual is not even in the happy boat of the gentle- man who lectured the renowned Dr. Fell in the following explosive language: “I do.not like thee, Dr. Fell, The reason why I cannot tell, But I do not like thee, Dr. Fell.” No “yes-man” there. Good, honest he-man talk, straight from the shoulder. He didn’t like him because he didn't like him, and that was enough for him, and probably enough for Fell, too. It is much the same with things, with “eats.” Good things to eat. Everything is good to som other, in the round of this world. Man is omniverous. If there is anything which, by any possible stretch of the imagination, or the arm, or the mouth, can be eaten, some one somewhere will eat it at last. Grotesque ways have been evolved to attain certaln gastronomic ends, such as pate de fois gras, which is secured by overfeeding geese until their livers become badly diseased. (It is this dis- eased organ, of course, which is the pate de fois gras, like it or not.) Honey is a sweet, viscid yellow fluid, the dictionary says, the nectar of flow- ers collected by bees and other insects. Most People forget about the bees, and tend to regard honey merely as a Sweetening which they like on their hot biscuits. Perhaps the day will come, if it is not here already, when city chil- d;en ‘“{‘5 ny,uflk asked about it, that “honey a sticky stuff which out of a tmtue."y i WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. President-elect Roosevelt left assur- ances with Democratic leaders in Wash- ington that he would not announce his cabinet until late in February, and per- haps (on the Woodrow Wilson model) not until the eve of inauguration on March 4. 8o the guessing contest has at least another five or six weeks to go. On what purports to be the Governor's authority, only three things at this wTiting can be put down as certainties— 1) at he is urging Owen D. Young to take the secretaryship of state; (2) that similar pressure is being_applied to Carter Glass to accept the Treasury portfolio, and (3) that Jim Farley wiil be Postmaster General. Almost as defi- nite assurance is forthcoming that Senator Walsh of Montana has the re- fusal of a cabinet place, probably the State Department, in case Young yields to the entreaties of his business asso- ciates not to take his hand from the General Electric helm and its affiliates. Norman Davis, hitherto rumor's rank- ing favorite for Secretary of State, now figures mostly in the gossip as Ambas- sador to Great Britain, with a roving European assignment. Republican Progressives seem to have been awarded the secretaryship of the interfor as the reward for their bolt from Hoover to Roosevelt. Up to the President-elect'’s recent sojourn in ‘Washington, Senator Hiram Johnson appeared to be the anointed one. Now Senator Bronson Cutting of New Mexico looms as the prospective beneficiary of | Coi F. D. R's. gratitude to the group that helped to landslide the agricultural and mining West into the Democratic column. Though Cutting halls from the wild and woolly spaces where men are men, he's really of the same aristo- cratic Eastern background as Gov. Roosevelt himself. The Bayard Cuttings and the Roosevelts long have been con- temporary New York blue bloods. Senator Cutting was at Harvard only four or five years later than the Presi- dent-elect. Now and then, because of his Groton, Harvard and Phi Beta Kappa pedigree, Cutting is dubbed Henry Cabot Lodge’s successor as the scholar in politics. He followed Horace Greeley’s advice and went West im- mediately after leaving Cambridge, in 1910. L Dr. Alfred Sze, newly-appointed Chinese Minister to the United States, has just received interesting news about his eldest son in England. Young Sze recently was appointed casualty officer and resident physician at London's famous St. Thomas' Hospital, the first Asiatic in its history ever so to be honored. He was educated at Win- chester, Britain’s swagger prep school, and took his pre-medical work st Cambridge University. * X kX Asaron Sapiro, New York and Chicago lawyer who bearded Henry Ford in a appeared in support of designated to make funds of the n- struction Finance n svailable for edmmimlu 1 r';lhl Sapiro desig- nated as the * oulmm honluw:clnrtl of Chicago o ot o) ns. He is a familiar figure thltlnthuem cessfully exploited by Phineas T. Bar- | bum. who aléb conducted a circus, that it's far better to be reviled than ignored. The most deadly machine to feed m | 8alomaniacs out for personal glory dis- guised as public service is to y no | attention to them. Another antidote to | their passion for the limelight is, when- | ever necessity requires them to be no- ticed, to call them by their actual names instead of the nicknames they use as advertising trademarks. * * ok ok |, Not everybody realizes that depression business is'so good that the Reconstruc- tion Finance Corporation is now work- ing three shifts a day, including an all-night staff. The latter is accupied for the most part with bookkeeping and | checking-up activities, in order that Chairman Pomerene, President Miller and their co-directors may know at the opening of busi%es each morning exactly what the R. ¥. C. balance sheet discloses. The regular working shifts are from 9 a.m. to 4:30 pm., and from |15 pm. to midnight. The bookkeeping force labors from 1 to 8 a.m. Except for occasional emergency shifts at the Veterans’ Bureau and all-night sessions at the Government Printing Office, the R. F. C. is the only Federal shop that ital sleeps. * X k x of Columbla Corporaticn unsel “Bill” Bride is proud of the fame that's come to Lynn Fontanne, brilliant English actress who has just played in Washington with her co-star and husband. Alfred Lunt. About 18 fell'l 2go, when Bride was returning rom England on a legal mission in con- nection with war-time shipping matters, & British friend introduced him aboard ship to a young woman about to seek District - | her fortune on the American stage. The Briton asked the Washington lawyer to look after her and help her realize her ambition to make the bright lights of Broadway some day. She was Lynn Fontanne. Mr. and Mrs. Bride were her guests in Washington during the Noel Coward play’s run last week. (Copyrisht. 1933.) High Garage Rents Cause Of Parking in Streets To the Editor of The Star: Who are all these people who are incessantly criticizing all-night parking on the streets of Washington? True, they have all signed their names to their correspondence, but that does not distinguish them among ' a quarter million inhabitants in so far as their right to criticize is concerned. It appears to many of us car owners that such critics are among the blessed few who are not rendered ex- tremely economical by severe and serious reductions in their salaries or, as in & vast number of cases, complete lack of any income whatsoever, due to unemployment. For those able to afford the high garage rents or having garages of their own, there is little excuse, but for those in other ci: the ront of their own homes constitutes a great saving, at the present exorbi- tant garage re“x;:;. It wouid seem the owners are sel g their gara ‘““' ing from the rentals m O en suc - muu-uowednm.m,ma-&rm the leniency and freedom extended to her motorist citizens in their choice of ‘wea their y. Moreover, I personally contradict the critic who speaks of “old wrecks lined < far as one can see,” and venture to st2de yhat the cars to be seen parked &mlny:oodunuwwun keeps going while the rest of the Cap- | yflvnete of parking their own cars in | the The Political Mill By G. Gould Lincoln. ‘The twentieth amendment of the da; i ’:fld.:l the final .n’l , perhaps : approval ulymgu;zropml of SBenator George W. Norris of Nebraska to do away with the “lame duck” sessions of and to place a newly-elected Chief Executive in the White House in Jan- uary instead of in March may be Thirty-five States, through their latures, had approved the amendment up to Saturday night and it requires only 36. The speed with which the twentieth amendment is being written into-the basic law of the land indicates that the Constitution can be amended and quickly when the object desired is and has reason for support. the It is less than a year since “lame duck” amendment was sub- mitted to the Bn& !ox'-‘ rlttflflmt:on by the Congress. wets are hoping for similar speed if and when they get their prohibition repeal amendment through both Houses of Congress and before the States. * x k% Not many men in this country have their names attached to an amendment of the Constitution. Senator Norris fought for years to put through the “lame duck” amendment. His col- leagues in the Senate, a decade ago, came to the conclusion that his pro- 1 was sound, and five or six times g:‘zuoluum passed the Senate before it could be put through the House. The late Speaker Nicholas Longworth strongly opposed the amendment, as did others of the Republican group which dominated the House. But in the end even that wall was breached. And surely there never has been a better or more conclusive object lesson, show- ing the advisqbility of the projected change in the Constitution than the present “lame duck” session of the Congress, impotent at a time when the country has demanded new laws and when it has clearly expressed its wish at the polls. d the Norris amend- ment been in effect, the new Congress | would have met here on January 3, and the President-elect, Mr. Roosevelt, would have been inaugurated last| Friday. * % % x The Nebraska Senator is a sticker. When he sets his teeth in a proposal they stay set. He is what a lot of | other “progressives” not—constructive. now as though he would prevail at long last in his fight to have the Gov- ernment operate the Muscle Shoals power and fertilizer plants, which he and President-elect Roosevelt *have just been visiting. Twice Senator Norris | got his Muscle Shoals bill through, but | both times to be checked by refusal of the Chief Executive to approve it—the late President Coolidge once and more recently, President Hoover. If Mr.| Roosevelt gives Senator Nowris this | piece of legislation, he will have repaid him for the Nebraskan's interest in his | candidacy, both for the Democratic nomination and for the election to the | presidency. The veteran progressive | will be satisfled—he will want neither | a cabinet job nor high committee as- | signments in the Senate. * * % x ‘The President-elect, however, is to| honor the progressive Republicans who | supported him by giving one of their | number a place in his Cabinet, accord- | ing to recent reports. The two pro- | gressive Republican Senators whose | names are most frequently mentioned | in this connection are Senator Hiram | Johnson of California and Senator Bronson Cutting of New Mexico. Sen- | ator Johnson's name has been men- Attorney General and Senator Cutting has been assigned in the gossip to the office of Secretary of the Interior. | Senator Cutting, like the Presidelfl-i elect, is a Harvard man. He entered that university about a year after | Franklin D. Roosevelt had left it, and | graduated in 1910. He was a Bull| Mooser in 1912, supporting the late ! Col. Theodore Roosevelt for President and last year he came to the support finally of Franklin D., the President- | elect. He has had a big following in New Mexico among the Democratic voters of the State. * x % * The promptness with which Senator | Borah, chairman of the Senate Foreign ! Relations Committee, came to the de- fense of the President-elect and his proposal to receive the representaiives of Great Britain to discuss the wer| debts and the economic situation in the world, is worthy of notice. Senator Borah has so often opposed tke Re- | publican administration in its foreign | policies that the statement now ap-| proving the Roosevelt plan for ap- proaching the debt problem is almcst | startling. It came, too, soon after Sen- ator Arthur Robinson of Indiana, a Republican member of the Foreign Re- lations Committee, had attacked the Roosevelt plan in the Senate on the ground that it was a plain invitation to the British to demand a reduction | or cancellation of the debt owed this country. The Roosevelt administra- tion, when it takes command, wili doubtless find itself under fire if it assumes to bring about a reduction or cancellation of the foreign debts due the United States, unless the debtor nations give something of value to the American people in order to have their debts cancelled. Senator Borah appar- ently sees in the Roosevell move a chance to do business with the foreign countries on the question of diserma- ment or trade relations. Unless there is some quid pro quo, cancellation of the debts owed this country by Great Britain, France and other foreign na- tions is likely to raise a howl in Amer- ica, and Senator Robinson’s speech, whether it be merely an attempt to embarrass the incoming administra- tion or not, is only a forerunner of what may be expected if cancellation or reduction is brought about. * ok kX The Glass reform bill, sponsored by the distinguished Senator from Vir- A i ury may ye 1. the Senate, despite the filibuster mh con- tinued threats of more filibuster. It has been amended so as to eliminate the branch banking authoriza t in States which specifically per- t branch . The “voice of the people” has been heard—though if the truth were known it is probably the voice of selfish interests that e very little for the people. The G! bill contains very many other features of value, however, intended to restrict the mol business in "}l'l’lwh h-n? of de- may engage. e great trouble With the banking system in this coun- b to men high in the Gov- ernment today, lies in the fact that banks whiéh actept money for deposit with the understanding that e | measure,” it returned to """‘{:}"fififl that kind ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. & special nt devoted the handling of r{ueflefi. ‘This n.s: your the services ven. | Pr’ are entitled. Your obligation is only 3 cents In coin or stamps inclosed with your inquiry for direct reply. Do not use post cards. Address, The Eve- ning Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. T, Washington, D. C. Q. Please rank Sharkey, Sullivan, Johnson, Jeffries, Willard and Tunney ona of pure strength.—N. A. A. Spike Webb, boxing coach at the United States Naval Academy, says that the following is about right: Jef- srr{:kwxun:, Johnson, Sullivan, Tom rkey and Tunney. Jack Dempsey, without a doubt, is the hardest puncher the prize ring has ever known. Q. Please give the automobile pro- duction in this country for 1931, 1930 and 1929—L. H. A. Automobile production in the United States totaled approximately | 2,350,000 cars in 1931, as compared with 3,356,000 in 1930, and the record high of 5,358,000 cars in 1929. Q. How many lame ducks are there in this sessicn of Congress?—A. G. W. A. There are 11 in the Senate and 122 in the House of Representatives. Q. What significance has a cluster of oak leaves when it accompanies the Order of the Purple Heart decoration? —H. C. H. A. The oak leaf cluster is not peculiar to the Order of the Purple Heart. This cluster is given as an additional award to show that the individual has twice been eligible to receive the original or- der or decoration. In other words, if a particular person has received the Order of the Purple Heart and an oak | leaf cluster, it means that he has twice been entitled to recelve the Order of the Purple Heart, but instead of award- ing this twice to him he is given the order and the oak leaf cluster. Q. Is “Ten Nights in & Bar Room” a song?—@. 8. A. It is a melodrama. The well known song from it began “Father, | dear father, come home with me now.” Q. Which country uses the greatest proportion of silver in its coins?—J. D. A. It is likely that the United States has the richest standard silver dollars. For example, here is one comparative table which shows that the United States coined silver dollars to the face value of $8,590,000 using silver worth $3.332,000. On the same price basis Germany coined 78.269.000 reichsmarks using silver worth only 3.373,000 reichs- | marks. Ttaly coined 237.016.000 lira with silver worth 3412 lira. The Netherlands coined '47.500,000 florins | with silver worth 5,896,000 florins. Great Britain's coinage has been tradi- tionally rich, but has been debased. In China there is wide variation in sec- tions and even in mintage. Q. How old_is the former Kaiser Wilhelm?—T. P. A. He was born January 27. 1859, so0 | will be 74 on his approaching birthday. Q. What is the origin of the term “ham” as applied to second-rate actors? —3L T T A. It is said that every actor at some stage of his career has nursed an ambi- tion to play Hamlet. The first-rate actors usually get the opportunity. The tioned in connection with the office of | second-rate ones only talk about their | ambitions and become such bores on the subject that they are called by the nick- name, Ham, in derision. Q. How is coffee prepared for ship- ment?>—N. F. L. 558 o A. Coffee is picked by men, women and children who carry baskets into which they put the fruit. When the baskets are full the coffee 1s dumped in heaps, then loaded on wagons and carted to the drying stations. A'ter the beans are thoroughly washed they are spread in the sun to dry, either in large shallow wooden trays, or on modern terraced concrete drying yards. Every morning after the dew has dis~ appeared the coffee is raked over to insure & thorough sunning. After the coffee has been properly dried or “cured,” it is repeatedly run through hulling and fanning machines, which clean it and remove the tough hull, Then the coffee is ready for shipment. Q. In what part of the United States is borax found?—T. B. A. In California, Nevada, Oregon, and Texas. Q. How much did the United States Government owe when it was first or- ganized>—W. B. V. A. The public debt of the United States in 1790 amounted to some $54,- 000,000 of which $12,000,000 was due foreign creditors, chiefly in France. The State debts amounted to over $21,= 000,000 and these also were assumed by the Pederal Government, By 1837 these debts had been satisfied. Q. Why are magnets painted?—M. 8. A. There is no reason for painting magnets other than for the sake of ap- pearance, ? Q. Does a given quantity of water change its weight in the process of freezing?—J. P. A. While water expands approxi- mately one-eleventh of its own bulk on freezing, the weight does not increase. For instance, 1 cubic foot of water at freezing point weighs 62.418 pounds. One cubic foot of water on freezing produces 1.0855 cubic feet of ice which weighs 62.418 pounds. Q. Have all pa: esidents had their pictures on issues of postage stamps?— L J. B A. Portraits of only 17 have been used to the present time. They are: George Washington, Thomas Jef- ferson, James Monroe, James Madison, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Abra~ | ham Lincoln, U. S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley. Benjamin | Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt, Warren G. Harding, Woodrow Wilson, and Wil- liam H. Taft. Q. Is there money awaiting the heirs of Robert Morris in the Federal Treasury?—F. H. A. The Department of the Treasury says that many inquiries have been re- ceived in the past from persons claiming to be descendants of Robert Morris, in- quiring whether they were entitled to share in a distribution of money said to be cue the Morris estate for moneys | advanced by him to the Government | during the Revolutionary War. Such | persons have been informed that there is no basis for the Robert Morris claim 50 far as it relates to a sum of money being held in the Treasury of the United States awaiting distribution. The Con- gress of 1790, in which Morris served as United States Senator from the State of Pennsylvania, passed an act provid- ing for the assumption by the Governe ment of the United States of the debts of the Continental Congress, and if the Government owed him any money he had abundant opportunity to assert a claim, but there is no evidence in the Treasury Department tending to show that the United States was indebted to | Robert Morris in any sum. nor does it appear that he ever claimed that the Government was indebted to him for moneys advanced. Q. When did steamboats reach their greatest popula: on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers?>—W. C. B A. Steamboat trade on the Mississippi reached its highest peak in the 50s |and on the Missouri between the years | 1855 and 1860. Fifty-nine steamboats | were operating on the lower Missouri in | 1858. Before the Civil War most boats paid for themselves and yelded good profits as there wes practically no | competition. The whole aspect was changed by the war. Many boats were taken over by military authorities and | the war activities on the river interfered | with trade. Later the building of the | railroads took away most of the river | traffic and after 1887 steamboats were practically useless. Amended Farm Aid Measure Appraised as Experimental Agricultural States of the country maintain th position that prices must be supported by national legislation, and are prepared, according to some comments, to undertake the experi- ment that is involved in the amended farm-aid measure. Under the allot- ment or parity plan, as voted by the House, it is seen that the broad pow- ers are conferred on the Secretary of Agriculture, while the number of prod- | ucts to be aided has increased. Critics emphasize the bureaucratic require- | ments, and fear that constitutional questions may be involved. “Amendments should seek to restore the measure to the principles and pro- cedure first proposed by the plan's sponsors,” advises the Chicago Daily News, with the belief that “all attempts at direct price fixing should be aban- doned.” That paper states !ficiflc&lly. “The processing tax should limited to export surplus crops, whose prices are determined by world conditions, and the amount of the tax should correspond to the ineffective tariff duty which now prevails. Insistence on the levy as a tariff offset would automati- cally exclude dairy products, peanuts and other commodities that are pro- duced for the domestic market, and therefore are protected by the tariff. Those changes would leave wheat, corn in the form of hogs, cotton, tobacco and rice as the bill's beneficiaries. They would make it unnecessary to invest the Becretary of Agriculture with the broad powers now proposed.” The Daily News holds that “with changes the bill might regain some of the lost commendation which greeted the original program.” “Fundamentally,” says the Mobile Register, “there is no great difference in principle between this farm relief tax measure and the tariff, which has been levied for the benefit of American in- . However, there is strong op- position to the use of the taxing power of the Government for these purposes, and ‘this farm relief measure will meet some of it.” The El Paso Times feels that “it would be a hardship, tempo- rarily, on consumers, but there has to be & stert somewhere to elevate prices and give 40,000,000 people dependent on agriculture a purchasing power, and Mtlm & wave of recovery all along the e wish. But when tariff a sales tax at the same time. in'proad national policy, | tariff should be made effective for farm products,” the Minneapolis Journal | comments: “The addition of butter fat |and rice and the tentative addition of | peanuts illustrates the tendency of Congress, in order to meet the demands of various farm interests, to make the measure too top-heavy. The original idea was to test out the plan by apply- ing it to wheat, tobacco, cotton and hogs only. If it worked, other farm products could be brought in. But, naturally, their raisers ‘want in' now. They don’t see how they can wait.” The experimental nature of the bill is attested by the Newark Evening News, while the Cleveland News states: “If the domestic allotment bill, which has seemed the best remedy in the emerg- ency for farm ills, is to be saved and made workable non-essentials must be stripped from it and any move to add more amendments to it must be stopped.” The Dayton Daily News holds that “on its face it looks like the most stupendous pork barrel in_ancient or modern history.” The Indianapolis News finds “doubts of its worthiness or the chances of making it equitably ‘workable.” The Youngstown Vindicator calls it “merely a gesture to make the farmer believe something is being done for him,” and the Abilene Reporter says s to cotton that it “might destroy the | export market.” The Rockford Register- Republic sees in it “just another ‘noble experiment.’” The Appleton Post- Crescent declares: “The main idea to keep in mind is that the allotment bili was created for the benefit of the farmer and not, in turn, to create a huge bureaucracy which could not help | but consume a large share of the income | created by the measure. If we are not | careful by the time the funds get to the farmer there won't be enough left to feed a calf.” “If the lame duck session,” according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “wants a subject with which to keep the country controversially entertained during the next 50 days we presume the ‘allotment value’ plan will do as ‘well as any other, but when the Demo- cratic party assumes control of the administrative and legislative branches | of the Government there will be a de- | mand for Simon-pure Democratic prin- ciples which will give the country the gales tax.” The Birmingham News : | believes that “business can scarcely be revived by taking money out of one account and putting it into another. The Greenville (S. C.) Daily News charges that “this scheme is thoroughly rotten,” while the Asheville Times calls it “grotesque legislation.” The Seattle Times concludes: “As a matter of assistance of ‘ready money’ crop producers may be the Jutifiable, but the country’s experience to of this, the entire tariff torn down along with it.” “There are many u‘lolmtlccn Times, “who honestly feel make bad matters worse. There are opponents of this|ing in various lines strongly supports the conclusion that their difficulties have been prolonged by the very agencies congt{leu erected with the view to help- o