Evening Star Newspaper, February 6, 1933, Page 8

o THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASBHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY.......February 6, 1033 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 1itn_ 8t "abd- Pengeyivant nnsylvania Ave. New york Offce 119 East unfi"r ice: Lake Michigan Buildine. European Offce: 14 Regent St., London, Englan Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Erening Star, per month The Eveniny .60¢ per month (when 4 ays) . The Evening and Su; (when 5 Sundays) 8¢ per month The Sunday Sta per copy Collection made at the end of each month. Orders may be sent in by mail or telephone National 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday....1yr.$10 Daily only i Bunday only . 1y 1mo.. 85 iy 1mo.. 80c Daily and Sunds Daily only Sunday only . Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled o the use for republication of all news dis- atcnes credited to it or not otherwise cred- ights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Local Surplus and the Taxpayer. The Budget Bureau cut into the estimates for 1934 submitted by the District Commissioners to such an| extcnt that if these estimates were enacted into Jaw the District would have | & surplus in general revenues at the end of the fiscal year 193¢ amounting to about $3,366,000, according to the testimony of Auditor Donovan before the House Subcommittee on District Appropriations. The Budget Bureau practiced economy with a vengeance. But such economy might be altogether warranted if it meant a reduction in the taxes now paid by the heavily burdened real estate owner. Other cities are also paring their local budgets to bring about re- duced local taxation. There is every reason that the same thing should be done here. The $3,366,000 estimated as | surplus at the end of the next fiscal year, on the basis of Budget Bureau estimates, is exclusive of the $1,600,000 already appropriated and expected to be appropriated for emergency local relief. The surplus would provide, or should provide, enough money to be applied toward a reduction in the high real estate tax, the shrinkage of revenue from which indicates the hard-pressed condition of local taxpayers, and ought to enable the Commissioners to set aside money to be applied to additional public relief, If the House Committee now con- sldering these estimates is fair to the District taxpayer it will seek to use this estimated surplus for local real estate tax reduction. And if surplus water funds are not to be used for improve- ments, spreading opportunities for local employment, this surplus should like- wise be used to reduce water taxes. Yet, these are not the only surpluses ©f local revenues anticipated. Under the Budget Bureau estimutes there is a proposed expenditure of $2,321,350 for street construction and repair, a large increase over current expenditures. Even with this large expenditure there would remain an estimated surplus in gas tax revenues of $700,000. In view of this latter estimated surplus, and the surplus in the general fund, the bill reported from the Senate District Committee Saturday for an increase in the gasoline tax is all the more illogical. The gas-tax increase would place an additional million-dollar burden on the shoulders of local auto- mobile owners. And, although the Budget Bureau showed how the general revenues could be trimmed to yield a surplus of more than three millions in 1934, this additional yield from the gasoline tax is proposed to relieve the general fund of certain expenditures which it heretofore has borne. This proposed relief of the general taxpayer, at the expense of the auto- mobile owner, would be made by put- ting all park roads repair and im- provement, all bridge maintenance, re- pair and even bridge construction, all salaries of street and bridge divisions of the highway department, all salaries of the traffic directors’ office, all sal- aries of policemen assigned to the Traf- fic Bureau and all salaries of crossing policemen—heretofore borne by the street car companies—on the gasoline tax funds. Under this proposal the iniquitous tendency to overburden 8 productive and easily-collected tax until it begins to stagger under the Joad, placing an inequitable and un- Justified proportion of cost on a spe- cial class of taxpayers, is manifested. And in Washington the proposed in- crease is extraordinarily inequitable because it relieves the Federal Gov- ernment, which planned and laid out the streets, parks and bridges and is a generous user of them all, of a justified share of thc expense. The Federal Government pays no gasoline tax. But if the increased gasoline tax would serve to relieve the general tax- payer of & part of his burden by re- ducing general property taxes, such a transfer of burdens would in a sense be justified. The real estate taxpayer is in need of relief, even if it must come from automobile owners. The danger that confronts Washington taxpayers now is that they will receive no relief by local economies and resultant sur- pluses of tax money, but that these surplus revenues will be put forward as £n excuse for reducing the Federal con- tribution as has been done before. The local taxpayer depends upon the fair- ness of the House Committee to prevent this danger. 1mo. 1yr, $5.00;i 1mo. B0c ————————— Many Filipino citizens believe in in- dependence as a political ideal, but do ot think it ought & be forced on them. e Thoughtful Study Required. The Federation of Citizens’ Associa- tions might with propriety call a spe- clal session in the near future, urging full attendance by the 126 delegates who constitute its membership, to hear & discussion of the grave problem in emergency relief with which this com- munity is faced. The federation would do well to lend & hand and to co-op- erate, as one of the city's valued organ- 4zations, in facing the facts and taking an active part in finding & solution. The action of the federation Saturday night of declining, by & vote of twenty- three to slx, to accept the report from missioners to borrow relief funds from the Reconstruction Finance Corpora- tlon, if necessity for such borrowing arose, might be erroneously interpreted as putting the federation on record against this legislation. It s to be doubted if the feleration wishes to be placed in such a position. The legislation now pending is not to be regarded as obligating the Dis- trict in any way. The thought behind the legislation is that the uncertainty existing now as to the future extent of unemployment in Washington, together with the curtallment of Community Chest funds, requires that the com- munity prepare itself against the emer- gency to be created by financial inability to relieve those in distress. The federation does not need to be told of the dangers inherent in any such emer- gency. And if the emergency could be | averted by borrowing from the Recon- struction Finance Corporation, an act which in effect would merely be obtain- ing future appropriations in advance, it is only common sense to be prepared with the necessary authorization per- mitting such loans. PSS ARSI The Fleet in the Pacific. Out on the bosom of the Pacific, ranging over a grand area of more than | 2,500,000 square miles, the might and | majesty of the United States fleet are about to unfold themselves in a two weeks’ test of American sea power. Battleships, 10,000-ton cruisers, modern destroyers, ocean-going submarines, auxiliary surface vessels and the two great aircraft carriers, Lexington and Saratoga, with their swarms of scout- ing and bombing planes primed to leap into action from their sprawling decks, are ready for a “war game” which engages the energies all told of nearly one hundred and forty fighting ships, 34,200 men and three hundred and twenty-five aircraft. Divided Into a “black” attacking force which will sally forth from the Hawailan Islands and & “blue” de- fending force based on the California coast, Uncle Sam’s armada is bent upon solving a vital problem in naval tactics. It is sought to determine whether a mobile fleet of fast, light ships with a marked superiority in air power can overcome heavily gunned battleships and a strong flotilla of submarines. To the battleships and “subs,” theoreti- cally guarding the Pacific Coast, is as- signed the protective task. This “blue” force has the initial duty of scouting for and destroying the “black” raiders before they can reach the Golden Gate and points north and south. The ‘“black” enemy, having at his disposal all of the new 10,000-ton cruisers and both aircraft carriers, is expected to demonstrate the efficacy, or otherwise, of such a combination of surface and sky craft for naval offensive purpases, especiaily of surprise nature. The “blue” squadrons of heavy-gunned monster battleships, sup- plemented by submarines on their part, will have the chance to show what “floating fortresses” can do in the fleld of defensive operations against a re- sourceful and swift invader. Pacifists and little navyites habitually decry these grand-scale naval maneu- vers, sometimes ongrounds of economy, sometimes because it is claimed that such operations are “provocative” and alarming to foreign countries. A razor allowed to go dull becomes useless. As long as the American people re- main sensible enough to maintain & Navy commensurate with the Re- public’s requirements and responsi- bilities, it must be kept an effi- clent Navy. Maneuvers and battle prac- tice, such as the United States fleet is about to have in the Pacific, are in- dispensable to that end. Every dollar spent in carrying them out is money wisely spent. There is, of course, only one country that might object to extensive Ameri- can naval maneuvers in the Pacific. But it so happens that she herself, a mighty sea power, is at the moment by way of executing her own annual training maneuvers at sea. The cir- cumstance that the operations will take place within waters more or less con- tiguous to the Philippines causes no whit of anxiety or resentment in the United States. ‘What should arouse far more indig- nation in this country is the incredible fact that the United States Army forces in Hawaii, which were invited to take part in the fleet maneuvers and would thereby have performed a valuable co- related military task, had to decline because of lack of funds. It would be diffieult to conceive of a more classic penny-wise pound-foolish illustration. — e A sergeant at arms may as well un- derstand that anybody frequenting Congress may expect some kind of em- barrassment sooner or later. —————— Tax-Free Securities. Justification of tax-free securities has always been vague. this day and age and state of the country there seems no justification whatever. The fact that Senator Cordell Hull of Ten- nessee, recognized as a power in the Democratic party, and who probably is to be a member of the Roosevelt cab- | inet, is going seriously into the pro- posal of enacting legislation, even to the extent of a constitutional amendment if that be necessary, to make it impossi- ble to issue any more tax-free bonds, Federal, State or municipal, is dis- tinctly encouraging. The danger to such a proposal, eminently sound though 1t be, lies in the fact that already many billions of dollars have found refuge from taxation in these public securities and will seek to continue this refuge. Doubtless holders of such securities will urge other reasons on the surface for retention of a system that is vicious in more ways than one. First, it is unfair that from twenty to thirty billions of dollars, and prob- ably much more, should be tax free when the rest of the wealth of the country, including the incomes of the poor or moderately well off, are being highly taxed. The tax-free public se: curities system has, too, a way of mul- tiplying itself. It leads to governmental extravagance from the very fact that it makes it easier for Federal, State and municipal governments to raise money by bond issues. The country today is suffering from a huge burden of taxa- tion, Federal, State and municipal, and a great part of it is due to the tre- mendous expenditures made because it was easy to raise money through these tax-free securities. fts committee favoring pending legis- Wtion which would suthorize the Com- system of tax-free public securities has mickel” Yor years the unsoundness of the THE EVENING been agitated, and by some of the most Wwise men in public life. Senator Car- ter Glass of Virginia, when Secretary of the Treasury in the Wilson administra- tion, warned against the evils likely to grow from this system. Other Secre- taries of the Treasury including Andrew W. Mellon, took & similar view. When the Harding administration came into office, & drive was made to put through a constitutional amendment giving Congress the power to tax all public securities, including State and munici- pal bonds. The resolution once passed the House by the necessary two-thirds vote. It might have been put through and sent‘to the States for ratification | had not & “lame duck” session of the | Senate, with its legislative jam, failed to vote on it. In the next Congress the House failed by a mere handful of votes to adopt the resolution anew. ‘When times were good and incomes | high in this country, the evils of hav- ing half the wealth of the country tax free did not impress itself so strongly on the people. That part of the wealth of the country which was not tax free could better afford to meet the tax burden. Today, however, the picture is reversed. Taxes are high and likely to become higher. The Federal Treasury is facing a deficit of more than a billion dollars, which must be balanced. Under these circumstances, why, Mr. Hull asks, should billions of dollars, some of it owned by the wealthiest per- sons in the country, be tax free? If the Roosevelt administration backs the Hull proposal, it should be possible to put it through promptly in the first session of the new Congress, slated for the coming Spring. The Democrats will have large majorities in both houses, and if they support a consti- tutional amendment to eliminate tax- exempt securities, it is belleved they will have the support of many Re- publican members. Villagers are preparing to flee from Vesuvius. They will return as soon as the eruption is over. The slogan “Safe- ty fisst” apparently has no reliable sig- nificance. Humanity at heart loves dan- ger, and, as circus performers can prove, even the appearance of it. Where profit is concerned the promise is always more effectual than the threat. —re. ‘Wage dissensions in connection with inauguration grand stands will have to be handled tactfully. When conscien- tious arrangements are made for & pleasant time to be had by all, no one will want to assume responsibility for throwing even a tack hammer into the machinery. Henry and Edsel Ford eluded sub- poena servers by using a high-powered car. High financial society has its motor adventures as well as the under- world, but avoid such a breach of high- way etiquette as the carrying of ma- chine guns. = Mussolini is perfectly willing to ex- plain his method as a dictator, but no pupils have achieved distinction. His ability is evidently a natural gift. Dic- tators, like poets, are born and not made. Asking Senators and Representatives | to reduce their own salaries is & bold move. Fortunately the mechanism of the Government is such that it cannot be arbitrarily undertaken in a manner that might risk a statesmen’s strike. —————————— Some Japanese economists are won- dering where their nation is to get the money for unlimited warfare, so long as Uncle Sam is no longer in a position to lend unlimited money. ————————— In some of the States a tax sale, once & sad ordeal, has become a social | occasion, effectual in renewing neigh- borly understanding. ——————— Lame ducks will retire from promi- nence, but this fact will not prevent them from laying political eggs for future reference. ————————— Prussia is to face the idea that a city council can be dissolved as easily as a cabinet. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Safe Writing. Every man in politics Is good and free from guile._ Tradesmen never play us tricks In an ungenerous style. Bill collectors never claim A cent that wasn't due. There is nothing you can blame In shows calley “burlycue.” All of this is rather flat, Yet it ought to suit, Showing not a sentence that Could bring & libel suit. Woodcraft. “You eloquent colleague appears to have a chip on his shoulder.” “He has gone in for a bigger idea than that,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “At present he's engaged in log rolling.” Jud Tunkins says there’s this to be sald in favor of billboards. They're more pictorial than magazines and never contain anything libelous. Advisory Excess. ‘The chauffeur was both wise and bold, He's missed from the survivors. Political machines may hold Too many back seat drivers. Making a Joke of Father. “You never hear any more about the mother-in-law joke.” “No,” answered Miss Cayenne. “The nearest to it arises when a smart night club singer marries a rich man's son and creates a father-in-law joke.” “To speak well of every man,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “may imply no more than that your friend- ship is so easily won that it is not worth having.” Political Ple. The cook to bake a ple is sent, With care he will complete it. Then, only get a compliment From those who gaily eat it. For when the pie the waiters bring ‘The banquet shows no shirker, There's no time for remembering The faithful campaign worker. “Exposin’ deceit,” sald Uncle Eben, “is liable to git no gratitude. No hun- pushin' de lead out of his plugged ‘ gry man is gineter thank you foh |kl STAR, WASHINGTON, D. THIS AND THAT i BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. ‘The need for sunshine on and in the | home aquarium, as advocated in this column recently, is based not alone on the necessity for plenty of oxygen, even for tropical fishes. ‘There are several other good reasons why nothing in the management of the amateur fish tank is more essential than plenty of sunlight. Sun makes plants grow, and these in turn give forth the life-giving gas needed by all breathing creatures, but that is not all it does. In the first place, sunshine directly applied to the very body of the finny animal increases its spirits, its very zest for living. ‘This happy effect it shares with the human family, whose addiction to the open air of the seashore is a testimo- nial to the happiness and pleasure to be derived from exposure of the body to_the effects of sunshine. There is no more reason to deny the tiny prisoners of the aquarium this b:n‘:flt than to deprive human beings of it. In either case there is a distinct loss. Something has been made of the idea that fishes, in Nature, do not live in glass houses, as it were, and that the sunlight in their native Haunts has no chance of penetrating the waters in which they live, at least in such strength as through a tank 8 or 10 inches in width. Some persons even have gone to the extent of advocating a complete cover- age of the back and sides of the home aquarium with opaque paper, usually of a green shade, with only the front wall left free for Jooking purposes. This, we are solemnly assured, is “du- plicating Nature.” If one will look at a modern aqua- rium, however, one will see at once that, in a sense, it is not very natural, after all, in that it is but a segment of Na- ture, lacking the vitality of the outdoors and the movement of native places. Even the best balanced aquarium is a body of practically non-moving Water, a condition which is seldyn found in Nature, especially in the places where most of the so-called “tropicals” thrive. This fact alone takes the aquarium completely out of the class of natural objects, at least in so far as whether sunshine is beneficial or not. If a home tank were “natural” and completely so, some such arrangement as hooded sides and back might be de- sirable, but since it is only an imita- tion of nature, even if a very charm- ing and successful one, it requires actual sunshine to keep it in good condition. Just “strong light” won't do, at least not as well, according to our observa- tions, extended over some 10 months. Strong light is better than dull light, but it cannot take the place of the actual rays of the sun itself, penetrat- ing and flooding everything with which they come in touch. ‘What human being would be content to lie all the time under & big umbrella at the beach, when he might bake him- self in the sunshine? ‘The fact that the sunshine “fad,” as some call it, may be abused, is nothing against it. Perhaps the first effect (even before burning) is a certain elation of the spirits. Every one who has ever been on a beach is familiar with this phe- nomenon. It is all very well to “explain” it with large words about “vitamin,” and so on, but behind all that there is the effect, and this is a mixture of things physical .??t psychic, there can be little doubt of it. Metabolism is increased. This is another of the secondary effects upon aquarium fishes. This means that the life processes of the inmates function better, with increased vigor, and espe- cially with zest. No one who has watched a beautiful aquarium containing really contented fishes would attempt to deny that these | small creatures have spirit, and are f,z‘pfixble of happiness and an enjoyment e. “Poor fish” are only such to those who have never watched for any con- siderable time such an establishment, which, though unnatural in & sense, in guite another sense is eminently natural, since the creatures thrive and are at home, despite their apparent limita- tions. Right here it may be well to say that the adjusted aquarium, (perhaps a bet- ter term than “balanced aquarium”) is less of a prison than any othet place in_which animals are kept penned up. ‘The amount of space in all aquariums except the too small “fish bowls” is surprisingly large, in comparison with the size of the creatures themselves, and, above all, they find a real slice of thejr old habitats, such as is denied the lions in their cages at the zoos. If one will contrast the bare boards of the Winter quarters of lions with the sand, plants, and so on of the adjusted aquarium, he will see at once that the fishes are much the better off. Direct sunshine, not just strong light, increases metabolism, causing certain subtle changes in the blood stream, which are beneficial to the fishes, espe- cially the tropicals. Even at a depth, in their native waters, the sun is so much brighter, and so much more con- stant, that they must get a full equiva- lent of ultra-violet and other essential rays. . The nearest approach we can get to those conditions is reached when we place the "aquarium in full sunlight. One must use discretion, of course. There must be a balance hetween the heat of the home and the heat of the sunshine, or between the heat of the artifiolal heater built into the tank and thst of the sun itself. Nothing, therefore, will take the place of an accurate thermometer for keep- ing track of the water temperature. ‘While this may be kept in the tank, such constancy is not necessary; but it is wise to test the water at least twice a day, at convenient times, per- haps at 6 a.m. and around 4 p.m. One shortly discovers the right conditio “Too much of anything is bad” — even of sunshine. Some observation will be necessary, in every case, to determine with some accuracy the precise dosage. When it is discovered, the fishes in that tank will not only have more oxy- gen, but increased spirits, resulting in more piscatorial happiness, they will en- Jjoy their food more, and as a result will eat more of it, and benefit from it. Above all, a certain antiseptic action will prevail, not only throughout the sand, the plants and fishes, but through- out the establishment as a whole. This is something outside and above the effects previously mentioned. it is rather a feeling, as it were, of antiseptic action, a cleansing impression made on a human mind because some- how the appearance of everything is so good that there is a sheer delight in watching it. ‘This is the anstiseptic action of winds, in the great outdoors, of cleans- ing rains which sweep down over a dusty city and in half an hour freshen the tree and the grass and the flowers and sidewalks and houses. Nothing but sunlight, we are con- vinced, will have such an action in the home aquarium. It has this effect for both explained and unexplained reasons. Perhaps the latter are more than the average person suspects. During the past 10 years or so scientists through- out the world have made intensive studies of sunshine, without in any re- spect exhausting its mysteries. Despite the advances, far larger than is com- monly realized, we have a great deal yet to learn about this wonderful light ‘which bathes the world. Maybe out of some home aquarium yet will come dis- coveries beneficial to mankind s well as to little fishes. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Prominence of State Governors at the Roosevelt inauguration will have more than formal significance. It will be a symbol of the incoming President’s intention to establish a closer working connection between the White House and the chief executives of the States than has ever hitherto existed. To this observer, at Albany last Summer, Gov. Roosevelt imparted his views on that subject. He expressed himself with some vehemence about President Hoover's “studied negleet” of the Gov- ernors, coupling that thought with the view that if there had been something approaching a liaison between the Fed- eral and State Governments, matters might have been remedied in various directions during the depression era. Gov. Roosevelt believed, in particular, that it might have been possible to cope with unemployment relief had ‘Washington not stood so aloof from the States. Evidently he intends a new deal on this score, too. Former Director of the Mint Ray Baker is in charge of the reception of Governors at the inauguration. * K K K During his four years as Governor of New York, “F. D. R.” used the radio at regular intervals to commune with the people of the Empire State, follow- ing a practice first instituted by Al Smith when he was enthroned at|haq Albany. On various vital occasions, when the Legiclature opposed their pro- grams, the respective Governors went straight to the citizenry over the air, and generally contrived to arouse public opinion sufficlently to carry their points. The President-elect has given no intimation that he plans to convert the White House into an occasional broadcasting studio, as he did the Executive Mansion at Albany, but, with the experience he's had with the air as a political ally, it wouldn't be sur- prising if he takes to it habitually at Washington. As the country discovered during the campaign, the Governor has a pleasing “radio style.” Out in the corn belt they at first didn’t like his Harvard pronunciation of farmer as “fah-mah,” but it didn’t seem to count against him on election day. * Kk X Senator Hiram Bingham of Connecti- cut is undergoing the same experience with his Socialist son Alfred, who re- cently advocated revolution before the Yale Socialist Club, as Stanley Baldwin of Great Britain has had with his heir, Oliver R. Baldwin. The former prime minister, as all the world knows, is a rock-ribbed Conservative, a Tory of | Tories. His son joined the British Labor party after serving as a soldier in France and_ three years ago was | elected to the House of Commons in | the landslide that gave Labor control | of the government for the second time. Young Baldwin, who is 34, lists “So- cialist propaganda” among his “recrea- tions,” in a British Who's Who auto- biography. * ok K K President Hoover, who will broadcast to the country probably for the iast time in his present capacity when he delivers a Lincoln day address in New York on February 13, thinks his severest radio critic is his granddaughter, Peggy Ann Hoover. When the President was at Palo Alto over election time last No- vember, that pert and pretty young lady said: “Granddaddy, you broadcast | sc often, but you never once have ended up saying, ‘Good night, Peggy e William Green’s inclusion in the Roosevelt cabinet as Secretary of Labor —if that is to be—will signify several things. First of all, it would mean that the respective partisans of Francis Per- Ins New York (the President- elect’s first choice) and Dan Tobin, dent of the Teamsters’ Union, plumped for a plague on both their houses, and decided to look elsewhere. A Green appointment, too, would estab- lish definitely the ascendency of the American Federation of Labor in the administration’s good graces, with cor- responding demotion of the railroad brotherhoods. President Hoover and the A. F. of L. went to the mat in No- vember, 1930, when Mr. Hoover chal- lenged the organization’s right to “dic- tate” who should fill the Labor port- folio, thereupon awarded to the present incumbent, William N. Doak, of the Trainmen’s Union. The federation and the brotherhoods are on speaking, but not kissing, terms. Secretary Doak long since was taken into the former’s fqld. It gave him a rousing welcome at the Tecent Cincinnati convention. President Green's accession to the cabinet would not be an omen of recognition of Russia, which he bitterly opposes. * ok ok ok Nobody in the vountry will take a livelier interest in Senator Cordell Hull's bill to abolish tax-exempt se- curities than his plutocratic Michigan colleague, Senator James Couzens. Dur- ing the torrid controversy he had with Secretary Mellon three or four years ago Couzens vallantly rejected the Mel- lon taunt that heavy investors in tax- exempt bonds, 1f, were largely responsible for lean Treasury receipts. The Wolverine Senator began buying tax-free obligations while he was mayor of Detroit, at a time when few others sufficient faith in the city’s finances to do so. The motor metropo- lis holds no grievance against Senator Couzens for putting his money in in- vestments which produce no tax revenue for Uncle Sam. Ever since Couzens sold out his vast holdings in Ford motor stock he has been Michigan's most lavish philanthropist. In 1932, in ad- dition to his $200,000 Community Chest contribution, he gave $1,000,000 for De- troit unemployment relief—a prety good record for a “tax dodger.” * ok ok ok Labor, the rail workers’ vigilant and virile weekly organ published in Wash- ington, says there's good reason to be- lieve that Jim Farley has asked Joseph C. O'Mahoney of Cheyenne, Wyo., to become his chief lieutenant as First Assistant Postmaster General. O’Maho- ney is n{.:.‘ apblgéom:g lwyedr. described as “a re: essive,” and ve! E ular with organized labor in W;{: DOP. One of his claims to fame is that w] on a vacation in the West he discovered that Harry F. Sinclair and others were after the naval oil reserves and car- ried the friends in Washington. says Labor, “is history.” * ok ok ok Such time as he can spare from the chamber floor these days Senator Jim | Watson, disappearing Republican ma- jority leader, is spending in his office on the gallery floor, sitting for his por- | trait in oil. The artist is Miss Helen Coolidge, daughter of the junior Sena- tor from Massachusetts, at whose re- quest the painting is being made. It proi s to be an artistic likeness of the Hoosler sage, who on Saturday night over the radio let down a dev: g::-::e ox; 'fize l)exzmcl-nlt tgc leadership e Of e 's ten forgotten man, o st (Copyright, 1083.) ————e— Which is the Less Evil? From the Yakima Daily Republic. An exchange says that private owner- ship of property is in peril. So far as owners are concerned, the peril of dis- possession can't be much worse than the peril of paying taxes on the stuff. —_— e 3 Moving Mountain. Prom the San Antonio Express. Colorado’s Carbon Mountain has gone upon another spree. Geologists estimate m!:'t" 15 lglny thousm'glye:{;fl old. At what age does a mountain sowing acttlecdown?, such & feud that the Governor | wild cats and MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1933. The Political Mill By G. Gould Lincoln. Will President - elect Pranklin D. Roosevelt stick to the idea of having a woman in his cabinet? The only place so far with which a woman's name has been widely mentioned in the office of Secretary of Labor. Miss Frances Perkins of New York, who has been for several years a commissioner of the New York State Industrial Commission, it has been claimed would be the selec- tion of Mr. Roosevelt for this place, the first woman to break into the charmed circles of the cabinet as an actual cabi- net officer. Mr. Roosevelt has been re- ported as definitely and firmly positive that he would give the women of the country this recognition. Furthermore, he is reported as belleving that Miss Perkins can fill the place of Secretary of Labor acceptably and with ability. * k * X Organized labor in this country, how- ever, has not taken kindly to the pro- posal to place a woman at the head of the Department of Labor. Some of their leaders have protested vigorously to Mr. Roosevelt. Democratic Senators have told Mr. Roosevelt that he would make 8 mistake if he named even a woman of Miss Perkins’ attainments to head the Department of Labor and thereby established a precedent that might give that post in the future to women. Nothing, they have said, could make the labor leaders sorer at a time when the new administration may need the real support of labor. With condi- tions in this country as they are, un- employment great and wages declining, the Federal Department of Labor and its head may have to play an extremely important part in the next year or two. Those who are opposing a woman for the job of Secretary of Labor say that it is no time now to make experiments to determine how effective & woman may be in the cabinet or to make the leaders of organized labor angry. * K R % At least two men have been strongly urged upon Mr. Roosevelt for appoint- ment as head of the Labor Depart- ment. One of them is Daniel J. Tobin, president of the Teamsters and Chauf- feurs’ Union, an American Federation of Labor candidate for the plage, and the cther is Edward Keating, publisher of Labor, the official organ of the railroad brotherhoods. Now it is reported that Mr. Roosevelt may tender the post to William Green, president of the Amer- ican Federation of Labor. Whether this has been done, or whether Mr. Green would accept, has not been disclosed. Mr. Green at the time of Mr. Roose- velt’s last visit to Washington called upon the President-elect and declared that the American Federation of Labor “has but one candidate,” Mr. Tobin. Mr. Tobin, however, has not been con- sidered particularly fitted for the post by & number of the Roosevelt advisers. Supporters of Mr. Keating say that he is eminently fitted for the office of Secretary of Labor, and that if he were appointed and the President-elect should appoint as it Secretary of Labor an outstan American Fed- eration of Labor mén, he would bring about & harmonious adjustment of the wrangle which has arisen over filling this If Miss Perl the mination of Mr. Roosevelt himself to give this office to a woman, to have a woman in the cabinet. Miss Perkins is a native of Boston and has fevoted her life to the study of sociology and labor problems. She married Paul Wil- son and has one daughter, * k &k # Members of the Houss of Representa- tives on Saturday made it clear that they do not intend to reduce their own salaries—$9,000 per annum. There may be a wide difference of opinion regarding what the size of the salary of members of the Senate and House should be, but it is difficult to see how members of Congress can demand a further reduction of the salaries of the Government employes—which are so much smaller than their own that it is no joke—without at least agreeing to & cut in their own pay. If the cost of living has gone down, and if it is necessary to have the Government economize, then the argument which demands & reduction for the employes of the Federal Government applies with the same force to the members of Con- gress. In Great Britain there are two houses of Parliament, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The members of the Upper House of the British Parliament receive no salary. The members of the House of Com- mons are paid at the rate of 400 pounds a year, plus their traveling expenses. This used to amount in salary to about $2,000 a year, but since the British pound has depreciated in value , the salaries have depreciated, too. * ok ok x Those who og;:ose the reduction of salaries of members of the House and Senate in this country insist that it would be to make a rich man’s club of the Congress. Well, in the British House of Commons there are plenty of members of moderate means, and the Labor party has had a very con- siderable percentage of the member- ship; indeed, for a time the Labor party dominated the government. It is true that members of the British House of Commons may not be so con- tinuously in session in London as the Congress is in Washington. But if the opinion was taken generally it might be found that the people of this coun- try would welcome shorter sessions of the National Legislature. The maxi- mum duration of a Parliament in Great Britain is five years. Congress in the United States is elected every two years —that is, the entire membership of the House and one-third of the Senate m ip. In Great Britain, if the party in power falls, then a new election is held for the House of Commons without delay. * ok ok X ‘The House finally passed the inde- pendent offices- appropriation bill with & cut in the item for the Federal Trade Commission so wide as to make that organization almost ineffective if the cut is not remedied in the Senate. The enemies of the Trade they are considerable in number—suc- ceeded in reversing the action of the ttee of the whole in the House, which voted to restore to the bill $301, 000 of the $509,500 by Which the Ap- grwmuom Committee reduced t! udget estimates for the commission. They won out by a mere handful of votes, however, and a change of nine votes would have given the victory to the friends of the commission. While & great many of the Republican mem- bers of the House voted against the commission, there were a lot of Demo- crats who took a shot at the agency, which was one of the prides of the Wilson administration, * k ko ‘The total amount left to the Federal ‘Trade Commission in the appropriation bill passed by the House was a little more than $500,000, or less than one- half of the budget estimates. This will doubtless give great joy to those in- terests in the country on whose toes the mednl ‘Trade Commiss| rtments and independ- executive branch of the Government, and that the Trade to be made one of the the Department of Commerce, and that, therefore, it would be wise not to make a) lons for the commission in the sum estimated by the Bureau of the Budget. If the Trade Commission weremm:de merelyt‘ thlemtd"jlungfm of a Fede: nt, wi e litical mm that carries with 1t, the usefulness of the commission as an independent, non-partisan commis- son, to business and to the people, would be largely eradicated. already there is post. kins gets office, it will be because of the deter- | jap i [as well to settle the Commission is bureaus of the Department of Justice or | Fran B comm:zm . Take advantage of this free service. If you are one of the thousands who have patronized the bureau, write us again. If you have never used the service, begin mnow. It is maintained for your benefit. Be sure to send your name and ad- dress with your question and inclose 3 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Do not use post cards. Ar- dress The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, ‘Washington, D. C. Q. Of what does the memorial to Hobey Baker, famous Princeton athlete, consist>—R. L. B. A. The memory of the late Hobart Amory Hare Baker, Princeton, 1914, is rpetuated on the university campus y the Baker Memorial Rink, a well equipped skating rink which is exten- sively used each Winter by Princeton's varsity and frestmen hockey teams. This is an unusually appropriate me- morial, as Baker was an outstanding hockey player, in addition to being a star in several other sports. Q. How did Sloppy Joe's place in Havana get its name?—F. A. A. Tt was established 2ad developed by Jose Abeal Otero, a Spaniard, who was 50 negligent in his personal habits that he was nicknamed Sloppy Joe. In April, 1930, Joe sold a three-quarter interest in his place to several rela- tives and returned to his old home in Spain. Phe price he received for a three-quarter interest in his celebrated bar was $45,000. Q. How many banks are there in the United States?>—R. P. K. A. At the present time there are about 19,500 Q. Is there a hospital in the United | States exclusively operated by wom- en?--M. P. A. The Woman's Hospital in Phila- delphia is entirely operated by women, and is the only one so listed. Q. How many miles of No. 8 white sewing thread will one 500-pound bale of cotion make, with no allowance for waste?>—S. H. L. A. Without allowance for waste or tare, it will spin 1,909 1-10 miles of No. 8 white sewing thread. Q. When does the city of Suffuriyeh first appear in history?—S. S. A. It first appears in history as a Jewish center and already so strongly defended that Alexander Janneus (105-79 B.C.) was able to hold out there against the enemy Ptolemy of Egypt. As early as 56 B.C. one of the five Sanhedrin was located there. How- ever, an uprisiig by the inhabitants against Rome in 4 AD, resulted in its capture and destruction. The city was burned to the ground and the in- habitants mgde slaves. This occurred during the ' childhood of Jesus of Nazareth. The city was restored within the following decade by Herod Antipas and on such a splendid scale that it was called the “ornament of all Galilee.” It was the most important seat of Jewish learning in the second century. rrect pronunciation of the little word “ ?—R. C. A. The “w” is silent. The word is pronounced as if spelled, tord, or to- erd, with the accent on the first syl- e. Q. What is the Q. Where does the Vice President live while he is in office?—R. C. A. The Vice President of the United States does not have a residence which corresponds to the White House. Some Vice Presidents have maintained private homes, but in recent administrations they have lived in the lar hotels. | Vice President Curtis main! a suite |at the Mayflower Hotel. Q. When were letters of marque issued by the United States for the last time?—M. E. B, \ A. During the War of 1812. In 1807, at The Hague Convention, the United ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. States signed a treaty to sbolish the use of letters of marque. . Is Obenmmer;:u worth visiting lneyeus ‘when the n is not given?—D. C. K A. Tt is a quaint and int vil- lage and its citizens are glad to the theater and describe th who take part in the decennial Passion Play. Since many of the villagers take part in the Passion Play, they may be seen going about thelr ordinary 3 Q. Was_Brooklyn Bridge ever & toll | bridge?—R. K. A. Brooklyn Bridge was ed in May, 1883, as a toll bridge—10 ts for \c;cn vehicle—and so it remained until | 1912, . Q. How much money does the Gov- ernment realize from the sale of cigars and cigarettes?—N. H. A. In the calendar year 1932. the in- ternal revenue receipts from cigars were $12,562,288.12; from cigarettes, $310,~ s, $62,137.418 88 rette ours snuffs, $62,737,419.88; and tubes, etc., $: 'l,'l?'fi?} mnm total of $387,271,269.01, Q. When was the first American col- lege fraternity organized?—T. S. A. The first of which there is record was organized at the College of William and Mary in Willlamsburg, Va., in 1750. It was known as the Flat Hat Club. It was secret, literary and social, and ex- isted until 1772, Thomas Jefferson and Edmund Randolph were m Q. Where is Tannu Tuva?—B. B. A. It is a district in Mcngolia which is nominally a part of the Chinese Re= public, but which has recently come under Soviet influence, Q. When did New Orleans have it first Mardl Gras parade?—G. D. A. In 1827 & number of young recently returned from Paris, the first grand street of In 1837 and 1839 more pretentious parades were staged, and New Orleans carnival, with its mag= nificent spectacles, was evolved. | . Q What were the twelve tablés?— M. B. A. The tables of wood on which was engraved or painted the earliest codie fication of the Roman law. Q. What do a_captain's clearance papers s ncnuy:»—am. R. . They are the papers given the capiain showing that his ship has been “cleared” at the customs houge. This means that he has conformed to sll the customs and other that he has pald his duties and has obtalned permission the port. Q. What fee is paid a guide in Swiss Alps>—A. N. i A. The fee for guide service in the Alps depends upon the excursion, In general, 15 francs is charged for short, easy trips, but the sum reaches to as much as 200 francs for the more diffi- cult climbs. The usual charge for & first-class climb is from 60 to 80 francs. Q. Who_said, “If the mountain not go to Mohammy - 80 to_the mountain”?—E. 8. 2 A. It is accredited to Mohammed. Q. Did the percentage of automobile deaths increase or decrease last year?— . M. A. The Safe Driver says that there was a 13 per cent from the 1931 total. There was & 5 or 6 per cent drop in traffic, but the figures point to safer driving. It is the first year since the advent of the automobile that fatalities have decreased when compared with the previous year. - Q. When will the 100 ersary of Whistler’s birth be uufi‘&.mlv A. Whistler was horn S0 the 100tir wrinivesds, sion will be ceflma South American conflict over the small community of Leticia, on the headwaters of the Amazon, has been made the subject of proposals to Peru from the United States and the League of Nations, acting under the provisions of the Kellogg-Briand treaty. The setting of a precedent is seen in the concrete action on a decision that Peru has been the aggressor, because a treaty establishes the right of Colombia to the contested community. Since several nations touch the area involved, it is assumed that what appears to be a minor matter might have serious con- sequences. The hope of Brazil to serve as maker is made a part of the incident. “The peace af half of South Amer- ica,” according to the Louisville Courier-Journal, “has been threatened by the most trivial of incidents, the sel of a mud town on the upper reaches of the Amazon.” That paper observes that “the seizure was made by a mob of civilians and Peruvian sol- diers, and the Peruvian government has tacitly approved the lawlessness of its nationals, ignoring the fact that the Colombian-Peruvian treaty of 1924 defi- nitely prescribed the border between the two countries and accorded Leticia to * ok ok % ‘“There is & situation which might easily break into a sizable war,” thinks the Charleston (S C.) Evening Post, al- though it feels that, “as neither Peru nor Colombia can be classifi the great nations, they can doubtless be disciplined into respect for an inter- national treaty, if the powerful nations tations.” Th make strong represent < Evening Post adds that this disciplining “will not compensate for the failure to halt Japan, nor, it is likely, serve greatly to impress the Japanese with the power of the treaty nations.” “Although, our State Department and the League of Nations have taken cog- nizance of several other disputes and have called the attention of the qudr- reling nations to their obligations under the Briand-Kellogg and other treaties, this is the first time they have named the u?m-ar and bidden it cease its aggressions.” The News adds that B dary lines in that area are not clearly defined,” and records that “Peru protests that Colombia is controlling navigation to the detriment of Peru- vians farther up the river.” The New- ark paper concludes: “The area is one of those South American regions where title to the land is in question and which_are inciplent trouble breeders. John Barrett, who speaks with consid- erable authority on South American affairs, sees six nations, an area of 4,000,000 square miles and 50,000,000 people involved. For the headwaters of the Amazon, tapping the natural wealth of the eastern of the Andes, have vast ities. Some day these will be and it is just hts of the various interested before that es too far ad- devel x % ok x there any logic in the trouble between Bolivia and Paraguay, in wideh men by hundreds, perhaps thousands, are being killed in the Chaco.” The Chronicle zives the description: “Leticia is a mid- jungle town, but a port. Two thousand miles of mosquitoes separate Leticia from the ocean, yet it is a seaport. Leticia is a far inland burg with a maritime complex. Most of its inhabi- tants never saw the sea, yet the sea is the reason for its ence, Leticia is only 700 miles from Pacific and ed among | 1€ Adyvice to Peru on Leticia. Believed to Set Precedent steamers come up to Leticia’s Hom. T e Lty e territory of & Pacific coast mtry. but cut off Leticia from the Pacific. The Amazon joins h:r :fl:: the Atlantic.” * The case is one which, to the out- side view, should be ttled,” o easily settled,” says to Colomb ‘The Ewfleld (Mass. Republican states: “If yields to thz . persuasion of Brazil, the United States and "ht:m other some Question lends itself well to tion, for it is generally believed a settlement fair to both reached. But the tardiness of bia in agreeing to a hastily drawn frontier, and patience of the Peruvians, .who the bit of territory desired, has ated an ugly situation, wl hostilities and to real danger If peace can be estaolished makers will feel more blessed a good while past.” the comcurrence of United States with the that the Sly and Wily Sivcam. From the New York Sun. It has been bruited about often tn recent years that the Guif Stream, by shifting its course, has managed to change the climate of the Atlantic fhanout geand ce [athers or |- fathers endured. Recent m been mild, g speaking, though persons not {et ancients can remember the rigors of the Winter of 1917-1918, Mild Winters or severe ones, the Gulf Stream cannot be charged with re- §| bility. A survey carried out the officers of the British destroyer PASsage 1o the West Tadios Station mons e West es statio - firms the situation of the Gulf Strean as that indicated on the 1911 charts, Americans have previously had fre- quent assurance from thel veyors that the Gulf Stream had changed, was not changing, would not S ndomitaiie betievers in th lomitable believers the Gulf Stream may meaom the Gulf Stream, notoriously sly and wily, received advance informaf the intended survey and went back to the haunts of 1911, further to & harassed and bewildered From the Nashville Banner, A German inve; announces devised a !oolpro(fl.wcrr De has ackproof airplane. To us that indicates he does know~" some people as well as we do. g —_———— Delayed Moratorium. From the Milwaukee Sentinel. ? We regret, to report that our from the Atlantic, but it is an Mules moratorium with our tatlor ~