Evening Star Newspaper, April 8, 1933, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASBHINGTON, D. C BATURDAY.......April 8, 1933 THEODORE W. NOYES....Edito: The Evening Star Newspaper Company ce: Bate by Carrier Within the City. gn Evening Star P el month ing and Sundsy’ (o 4 Sundys) 60c per month (when 4 Sund: ‘when .85¢ per month The Sunday Collection made at the end of each Orders may be sent {n by mail of telephone NAtional Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dally and Sunday....1yr. $10 Daily only .. . -Sunday only All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday...1yr. $12.00; 1mo. $1.00 Dadly only . > yr. $8.00: 1mo. T5¢ Sunday only . $5.00; 1mo. 80c Member of the Associated Press. e Associated Press is exclusively entitled u":’r’u use for republication of, all news dis- patches credited to it or not otherwise cred- ited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication o special dispatches herein sre wlso reserved. e 4 i The New Deal Goes Abroad. The New Deal has spread its wings. | It has extended its activities to the| demain of international relations, Presi- | The sort of “reflationary” steps ap- parently in view now are exemplified in the enlistment of men to work on reforestation projects, which will cost the Government something in excess 1 $250,000,000—but which represents a | mere drop in the bucket. That first move, however, would be followed by launching great public works schemes, to hive millions of men and by paying them to start money circulating again. | The money to pay the men must be borrowed from the public, which means additional bond issues. And the ob- jective of these work-creating programs, to offset the effect of defationary | steps taken in the name of economy, is| to increase the “velocity” of money in | circulation, or the rapfdity with lhich; it changes hands, rather than merely to | add to the number of dollars that lre; in circulation. On top of these steps | is the farm bill, which may be described as an instrument designed to tax a| group of eonsumers in order to supply fuel to the machinery which, it is hoped, will raise the prices that these | same consumers must pay for basic | commodities in food and clothing. These various programs, which are merely taking cloudy shape, but have not assumed any concrete form, might | be called inflation. But they will be called “reflation,” to get away from the popular conception of inflation. Their success in starting a price rise and dent Roosevelt has invited the heads u(‘ the principal nine governments of Eu- | rope, South America and Asia to confer | separately with him at the White House on questions relating to a general betterment of world conditions. His action, formally announced at the| State Department last night, follows the notification given earlier in the week that Prime Minister MacDonald had been asked to come to Washington for dis- cussion of disarmament, the World Economic Conference and co-related 1ssues. ‘What the President in effect is doinz is to convene another nine-power con- ference at Washington, similar to the one which met here in the Winter o(i 1921-22 and concluded a naval hmfl.l-‘ tion agreement among five powers, -nclv the pact covering Far Eastern and Pacific questions among nine powers. Mr. Roosevelt thus essays a stroke of | spectacular boldness of the same electri-{ fying character as his successive thrusts | in the domain of purely American affairs. In addition to bidding Mr. MacDon= ald to sojourn on the Potomac banks, the President asks Premier Daladier of France, Premier Mussolini of Italy and Chancellor Hitler of Germany to honor him with their respective pres- ences. To the A, B, C republics of South America—Argentina, Brazil and Chile—similar invitations have been extended. That the proposed White House conferences shall be truly world- wide in their ramifications—as are the | Interlocking world problems to be| tackled—Mr. Roosevelt has not omitted | the Far East. He dispatched to Jipan | and China equally cordial invitations | to take up with him at Washington | those phases of the international sit- | uation in which the other side of the globe, mutually with the United States, | 1is interested. The American people will earnestly | hope that their President's initiative | will bear prompt and effective fruit. | His move, Rooseveltian and dramatic, | undoubtedly will have behind it as wholehearted national support as his constructive domestic programs have evoked. There is plenty of evidencei that the disordered world is as ready | for a new deal as this country is. If! that proves to be the case, and the | powers’ acceptance of his invitation will be a token of it, Franklin D. Roose- velt is obviously the man to conduct it. A war-weary, peace-craving, de- | Ppression-sated universe will wish him | Godspeed in the effort. —————r—e—————— Belief is expressed that investigation will make it possible to build a dirigible that is reasonably reliable. It must be | admitted, considering the pace at whick investigations usually proceed, that this ! i | | | mature spirit has been deleterious, that | administration deliberately strike an- restoring purchasing power will be the President’s chief weapon in holding off the Simon-pure currency inflationists. —————— Making the Children Pay. It is an axiom of civilization that| children, “the tomorrow of society,” must be guarded, protected and culti- | vated to assume the burdens of the fu- ture. In emergencies ihey customarily are spared in the interests of the Nation | and the race. As individual parents will suffer without complaint in a time of cistress rather than permit their small sons and daughters to know the blight- ing influence of hardship, so legislators and administrators, representing the people, ordinarily avoid policies which are apt to imply danger to the welfare of the country’s youth. Because all this is so patently true and sound and sane the fathers and mothers of the District of Columbia have difficulty in under- standing the motives and purposes of those who appear to believe that the doctrine of economy may be arbitrarily stretched to- include retrenchment in vitally necessary and useful institutions like schools, libraries and playgrounds. They concede the wisdom of decreasing the cost of government, but they are amazed at the prospect that their chil- dren should be made to pay & large part of the price of that reduction. They are doubtful of the necessity, but even ‘were they to grant that it is legitimately called for, they still would deplore cut- ting the appropriations for the main- tenance of the cultural machinery which has been developed over a long period of time for the endowment of the younger generaticn, Perhaps the impression exists that school, library and playground costs may be slashed without harm resulting. If so, the notion is baseless and false. An abbreviated budget means abbrevi- ated service. The luxuries, embroid- eries and “do-dads” have already been trimmed away. Whatever cutting is now | insisted upon must be at the expense | of the efficiency of the elemental arma- ture of the school, library and play- ground structure. Buildings must be closed, services discontinued—there is | no other way to meet the mistaken de- mand. The whole business constitutes a’pitiful spectacle. Penalizing children is what it signifies, The budget engi- neers are “selling short” the helpless boys and girls of the community. Psychologists say that the effect of the world-wide slump upon the im- young lives already have been saddened by its restrictions and losses. Will the other, an unnecessary, blow at the de- fenscless youngsters of the District? Those who know the children best— THE EVENING derstood in connection with what hap- | room of these predecessors the circum- pened in Germany after the World War. | stance is not unnatural. Perhaps it may be worth while to re- mind the critics that the medium of Shakespeare and Bacon, Carlyle and Ruskin, Morris and Pater is not a strange interloper properly to be feared as a heathenish alien. English is Latin and Greek redivivus. Dr. Ralph V. D. Magoffin of New York University says: “Nearly seventy-five per cent of all the words we use in conversation are derived from Latin and Greek; | more than sixty per cent are Latin.” It follows. that & cultivated South Sea islander, skilled in the classics, will dis- cover in English nothing more unfa- miliar than he would find in French or Italian, not to mention German or Portuguese, while the Hindu nabob or the Zulu chieftain, graduated at Ox- ford or Harvard, will have no more trouble with the vernacular of the non-academic environments of those institutions than he would encounter with the patois of French peasants or the jargon of the commonalty of Italy or Spain. Eng- lish is as truly descended from the great languages of antiquity as any other modern tongue. To demonstrate its principal source, | Dean Andrew Fleming West of Prince- ton University once printed the begin- ning of the Declaration of Independ- ence with the word “blank” whenever the word in the famous manifesto was a Latin derivative. It read: ‘When in the blank of blank blank it becomes blank for one blank to blank the blank bands which have blank them with another and to blank among the blank of the earth the blank and blank blank to which the laws of blank and of blank God blank them, a blank | ——————————— Copyright credit is no longer de- manded by radio singers. Some. of the songs border on lines of expression which should render both author and publisher content to remain anonymous. —— e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. No Conversation Shortage. We've had much conversation Our opinions to assert On the business of the Nation— And a little more won't hurt, If thorough and judicial, ‘With all consciences alert, Or if only superficial— ‘Well, a little more won't hurt. In discussions of a question, Comment, though a trifle pert, May evolve some good suggestion— And a little more won’t hurt. No Stable Equilibriam. “How do you regard the prospect of balancing the budget?” asked the con- stituent. ~ “It's fine,” ghum. “And then we'll all be happy?” “No. Some one will thrill the people with some ambitious plan for unbalanc- answered Senator Sor- will"involve considerable delay in con- their parents, their teachers, their :ldet‘ ing it again.” struction. e Hoarding 1s deprecated, and steps will | be taken to bring hidden gold out of the brothers and sisters—cannot believe it. They plead against it. e It needed five bandits to take $8,000 Jud Tunkins says when an airship worth millions, not counting human life, crashes, it makes plain old real stocking. Revival of the brewing in- | from a jocal bank. If there is enough | cStte speculation seem pretty safe by dustry is expected to assist the Treas- ury by bringing concealed taxes out of the bootleg. R “Reflationary” Steps. It is becoming more apparent that the administration is reaching the point where it must meet the inflationists and fight it out along that line if it takes &l Summer. In the past month events have taken place which added to de-| flation. The banks that failed to open after the holiday have for the time| out of trade channels, and the various moves for economy are, of course, di- rected toward saving money for the Government, but at the same time throwing people out of work and Te- ducing the salaries of those who are left—which means further reduction of purchasing power and more deflation. These things tend to make the weary patient turn more hopefully to the set of doctors who have from the first been preaching inflation as the cure of all earthly ills, and it is building & psychol- ogy represented in thé state of mind willing to try anything—if only some- thing will be done. honor among thieves to insure a square divide, the share of each amounted to | { | fairly competent lawyer in case of arrest. | —_— A five-day week cannot obviate the | fact that there are still seven days in a | week. How the remaining two days| shall be employed presents an economic problem not to be ignored. | S English From Latin and Greek. Individual critics who care aboul complain that the English language is conquering the world. They note with disapproval that in academic circles in Germany and Japan a knowledge of English is required of students, and they are aware of the tendency of col- | loquial English to penetrate to even the far, obscure corners of the earth in the train of traders, explorers and tourists from Great Britain and the United States. They blame the movies and the fiction magazines for contributing to the problem. C. Villalobos Domin- | guez, writing in & magazine published at Buenos Alres, says: “Everything | points to the ultimate predominance of One defense against the evils “‘-‘Ex\glbh. :’:‘"°“"‘ffr"m'“°f“"l‘l‘:‘t“€l‘2 on | "But suppose this theoretical worst s e currency 15 that the Inflatlon'sts| i e; 1s it so very deplorable as it are divided into warring camps them- | o e es Dhilosophers selves. There are the printing press v o L boys who conceive the depression fn |DAVE argued for an international me terms of a shortage of paper money and would like to give everybody a hundred dollars and a mule, the advo- cates of free silver and the advocates of reducing the amount of gold in the dollar. ‘There seem to be as many meanings to the word “inflation” us there are plans to Inflate, unud us long ©XPedicnts to serve the need, and the as these Tun counter to the expressed ffst of these has been employed with determination by the administration to | Certaln measure of success. More protect “sound money” they may get | likely to be generally accepted, however, Bownere. |is a living language already in vigorous But the administration is represented | use. Time was in the anclent past ow as feeling that there must be| When Greek predominated. Later something to offset the continued de- |Latin was accepted throughout both flation, and some of its hichest officials| Roman and barbarian territories. Both men might use. From time to time at- tempts have been made to construct to order such an escape from the curse of the Tower of Babel. Esperanto, Vola- buk and Ro were designed as artificial —borrowing a page from chapters writ- } still are utilized by scholars in their | ten during the past four years—while | professional correspondence. In the frowning on the dangerous word “in-| Middle Ages Arabic and then Italan fiation” are willing to talk about “re-‘ flation,” which implies an effort m; eounteract the effects of deflation with- | out resorting to i~f-~''-n ~f the cur-| Tency as that term hcs come to be un- were common to the populations of the | distant extremes of Europe and North- ern Africa. French long wes called th- ~ternationa] lenguage of diplemac:. 4 Englih now is to funciicn in the dium of conversational and literary ex- change, a universal tongue which all | | comparison. Undeserved Companionship. | $1,600, scarcely enough to retain & When some one, ignorant or rash, Earns censure for some cruel crash, | Why should it be his mission grim To take 50 many down with him? Silenced Authority. “Do you enjoy listening to the radio.” “Yes,” answered Mr. Meekton; “espe- clally if Henrietta is by my- side. It is a pleasure to find a number of per- ¢ Sons expressing opinions with which I being taken an estimated four billions French, German, Italian and Spanish | agree without her being able to ulk{ back.” “To seek power,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is worthy or un- worthy according to whether your motives are philanthropic or vengeful.” It Always Comes to This. When politicians gather 'round With flow'rs or battle axes The question usually found ' Is “how about the taxes?” In music, literature and art Our interest relaxes. ‘The matter closest to each heart Is how about the taxes? world in general” said Uncle Eben, “seems purty much de same like it is around here. Now and then a time is bound to come when every- body has to quit talkin' politics and go to work.” “De S Russian Dentistry. Prom the Los Angeles Times. Russia needs the gold, so has decreed teeth of steel for those in need of the synthetic molar. They should come in handy for gratifying ihe desire to bite nails in two. s Dangerous Ground. Prom the Loulsville Times, Pighting a duel now is legal in Ba- varia, but is hardly as dangerous as getting into an argument in Kentucky. S el The Supreme Truth. Prom the Santa Fe New Mexican One fisherman states that the only time a fisherman tells the truth is when ke calls another fisherman a liar. e Expert, From the Jacksonville (Ta.) Times-Union belteved that eny Wail Streel can go to slep e=cily by count- ig shecp, STAR. WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURD.\Y, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Templeton Jones had a secret, which he had never told to any one. He believed that he was the tauch- stone of success for others. As others treated him, so were they successful and nappy or failures and | urhappy. A touchstone, in ancient times, was a plece of jasper used for testing the alloys of gold. In a figurative sense, the standard, or criterion. How or when Jones came into pos- session of this idea, he never knew, nor did it make much difference. Probably it was born with him, as Napoleon’s belief in his star. X K K Kk At any rate, Templeton Jones had a | simple and naive faith in himself, that as he was treated so would it be to those who treated him. There was, as far as he could see, neither mysticism nor religion in this. It was simply a matter of observation. Perhaps many another man had har- bored much the same belief, after watching the way life had worked itself out for those with whom he came in contact. It was, in a sense, an ennobling idea, enabling him who possessed it to feel ruther & Dbit more at ease in a mon- strous universe. Psychologists might have said that it was & very old subterfuge, to build up cue’s ego. ‘This scarce could have been, however, for Jones never once mentioned the idea to a single person in the world. * K % % No doubt it was an idea which could not have arisen except in a bland and childlike mind. There are more of these in the world at any one time than is commonly reckoned. If it were not so, the world of men would be a collection of ravening brutes, and noth- ing more. It would need more than the apologies of the best minds. It would need such men as Jones and his like. ‘We have often marveled at Jones— how, in a world where shrewdness is often very desirable, he is so blissfully innocent of the elementary steps toward self-protection. He i3 so transparently honest, at times, that people commonly suspect him of deep-laid plans. If they stop to reason about it at all, they feel that no one could wear his heart quite so on_his sleeve. It they feel that way, of course, it { will be because they do not understand Jones and his kind, and never will. * % % % Perhaps Jones doesn't understand himself very well. Few do. ‘The difference between him and others is that he tries to. | It was while engaged in this survey | that he stumbled, so he says, upon the | realization that there seemed to be| some connection between himself and | others. ‘Those who treated him as he liked to be treated—he noticed that they made real successes of themselves In life. ‘Those who made no attempt to con- ceal their sneers—he discovered that disaster, small or great, finally overtook them. * K X * The inherent modesty of this strange character—and are not all men strange, | after all?>—caused him at first to ascribe | the curious connection between him and | others to chance, or outside causes of one sort or another. blank to the blank of mankind blank that they should blank the blank which blank them to the blank. ‘The exposition is entirely convincing. It signifies that if, as the objectors fea: English is expanding, its spread implies nothing more than a new flowing of the ancient fountains of expression from which it originates. ——— e Tt is recalled that James Barrle, while in New York, sald, “What are Yon- kers?” In similar word play Artemus Ward, having seen a commercial sign, “Call & Tuttle,” entered the shop and sald, “I have called and I desire to Tuttle” In a future day, when the agitation. in Germany has been reduced from a threat of tragedy to palpable nonsense, it may be possible when Mit- ler is mentioned to venture the inquiry, “How does one Hittle?" —————————— It is mentioned that G. Bernard Shaw acquired a great deal of money from the U. 8. A. He should feel no obliga- tion on this account. The U. S. A has made many a man rich, at the same time reserving the right to make fun of him. | Only after many years did he come to the full belief that he was a touch- stone of virtue, not of grand virtues, but of just plain, ordinary virtues, such as ail of us have a chance to mani- fest in our lives. But even then he refused to con- cede, even to himself, that there was any real connection. Things just worked out that way, he told himself. It is a pleasure to be able to correct this modest man, to give a selfish world a true glimpse, if only for a moment, into the wherefore and the why of life. Maybe it is as near as one will ever come. B Our belief, based upon much obser- vation “about it and about,” is that Templeton Jones really is a touchstone. He is, because he represents, in his perfectly unpretentious person, a com- Pplsje acceptance of the moral law. ecause he is not ashamed of being good, or actually attempting to be just, nor of a real faith in the triumph of good over evil, although to mest it may seem to have failed, he has identified himself with the perféct stuff of dreams. He catches up and condenses, as it were, the dreams of all good men, the world over, and time over. Time over, and the world over, the best that has been, that is. and that aspires to be, has met together in the comprehensive mind and heart, one as much as the other, of our every day hero. * % x % He represents, therefore, although he would never say so himself, the good that is in humanity, not only the true good, but the intent toward goodness. For Jones, as all men, fails as often as any, perhaps more. Always—and this is the int—he knows wherein he fails, an thereto. In him is no smug belief that he is fooling any one, that he is “putting something over” on another person, alive or dead. He has aligned himself with righte- ousness, and is not ashamed of it. If he had not. hope and faith would be at an end, because Jones in him- self is nothing: it is only as he is rep- resentative that he is something. ‘Those who treat him il already have the seeds of disaster in their systems. It is not Jones® fault. ‘They do what they do of their own free. will, and nothing could save them—from themselves. They represent, in themselves, what Jones does not represent. fore, that in leaving him, and what he stands for, they intensify ill processes and corroding influences, already at work in themselves. * ¥ %k x ‘Those who accept Templeton Jones as he is, and give him the only things he asks of the world, kindness and a smile, reap for themselves good fortune. ‘They do this, not because they help him, although they do, but because the motions of their souls are such as to bring them, at least in the larger things of life, good fortune. ‘Thus it may be seen that Jones is as innocent as any touchstone. The virtue lies not in him, but solely in his powers of reflection. “I ask not good fortune. I myself am good fortune,” said a great sage. Such is Templeton Jones, to those | And there are able to understand. many such. Rated as the most widely known of prisoners, with the possible exception of Sacco and Vanzetti, the Californi: convict, Thomas Mooney, unique trial when he faces & new jury. Previously untried, the new case against him promises to attract country-wide attention because of persistent efforts that have been made to obtain his par- don. He is serving a life term for the Preparedness day murders in San Fran- cisco in 1916. While acquittal would not affect the original charge, it would be expected to influence the official at« titude. An important witness is dead, and there have been charges of perjury. The war psychology is now absent from | the background, but there is evidence | of a desire that the truth shall be up- held. “In few cases on record in America,” says the Cleveland News, “has there been loosed the flood of oratory, of pamphlets, of petitions and of editorial comment that marked the Mooney case. | There is no question that public opin- | jon has been honestly divided as to| Mooney’s guilt in connection with the | bombing in 1916, Ten persons lost their | lives and 40 were injured. Mooney was sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. The review of evidence on which Gov. Rolph of California recently refused to grant | Mooney a pardon seemed convincing. But the arguments in behalf of the grim, gray-haired prisoner, who has languished behind the bars for 16 years, likewise con\‘lnceg (hm‘x:l.ndl].,‘ G Recognizing that Moone: kldfl'o‘;lt radical labor on the West | Coast, and was known to be opposed to all that the Preparedness parade stood for,” the Roanoke World-News yet holds | that “unless he was guilty beyond rea- sonable doubt, the mere facts of his past | career do not justify his incarceration,’ and refers to ihe fact that “a majority of the jury that tried him thinks that the evidence was insufficient to jusmyi the verdict.” The Glendale News-Press | belleves that “if Mooney is innocent, his imprisonment has been a ghastly mis- take, but at present belief in th"innba cence is far from unanimous,” and | points out that “the law entitles him to | a full hearing even at this late date. “Mooney's _acquittal on the new | charge,” thinks the Charleston (8. C.) | Evening Post, “would of itself prove lit- tle. In the 16 years that have , | the principal State’s witness has died | and much other evidence that was avail- able to the prosecution the first trial will not be available now. The fact that the State cannot prove its case after 16 | vears will not conclusively demonstrate | that it did not have a case when Mooney was convicted. The district attorney admits in advance that a prosecuting officer would not be justified in asking a conviction on the evidence now avail- able, and points out that the outcome of the proposed trial cannot in any way |affect the sentence Mooney is now serv- |ing. That District Attorney Brady does not protest against the procedure from | | prejudice against the prisoner is shown | from his statement that he has re- | peatedly urged governors to pardon the | defendant on the ground that the for- | mer_ conviction was unjustified.” | “So strong is the showing that the defense has made " declares the Omaha World-Herald, “that many influential people, not at all in sympathy with radical agitation, have been interested in furthering the fight for Mooney's vindication. They believe it to be es- sential to good government that even a bad citizen be as fairly and impartially dealt with in the courts as one whose reputation is not under a cloud. For this reason it will be a satisfartion to lovers of government, based on reason and justice, to know that Mooney is now to have an opportunity to establish him claim of innocence.” “The case :hould be fully aired in the endeavor to find the facts.” advises the Rock Island Argus. with the hope that “this new trial will leave no room for doubt,” while the Birmingham Age- Herald declares the need of “this be- lated and circuitous move.” The H.":k. p : “Prank Oxman, principal witnesses against Mooney, is dead. Oxman is the witness who tes- tified that he saw Mooney ahd Warren lings place the suitcase containing bombs in the path of the parade. whout COxmaas testimony Mooney Mooney Trial Promises>Nfizw Phase in Legal Complications could not have been convicted. After the Mooney trial and conviction it was learned that Oxman was 90 miles away at the time the bomb exploded. That disclosure was then and is now one of the great factors in persuading millions of persons of Mooney’s innocence.” Satisfaction at the new proceedings i expressed by the Akron Beacon-Journal and the Scranton Times. The Youngs- town Vindicator recalls that “the Wick- ersham Commission felt that Moocney, was tried in such an atmosphere that he could not have been given a fair trial.” On the other hand, the Spring- fleld (Mass.) Union argues that “had there been any actual miscarriage of Justice in this case, it would seem that it must surely have come to light in at least one of the many reviews the case has undergone in the last 17 years.” The Baltimore Sun argues: “As a means of establishing the truth, this trial can do little mcre than establish the shaki- ness of such witnesses as survive and can be found. Oxman, the principal supporter of the State’s case so far as the suitcase theory of the explosion is concerned, is dead. Most of the others have, at one time or another, admitted lying in the original trial. Prosecutor Brady is quite right in declaring that the new trial would be absurd. But it might be useful g:;x!c” time, the absurdity of the first ———— Business Perks Up. From the Charlotte Observer. That business is showing symptoms | of perking up lles plainly on the surface of the reports. Not that there is any particular rea- son to become unduly excited or opti- mistic over the situation, but enough imptmvem:nr. wlu revealed during the past week to lend encouragement to those Jooking for signs to break througk of a better prospect. Bright spots appeared all over the country through the reports of Federal Reserve districts, both Dun’s and Brad- street’s reporting that “the curve of | retail trade jumped sharply.” No question lingers as to the happler mt.lllook g;x llccolljn:‘ of the inauguration of new fiscal policies outlined by Presi- sim Roosevelt. f e whole world, moreover, has seemed to catch the cantagion of his deter- mined and hopeful attitude, and that is not among the least of the first steps to be taken for a healthy recovery. v And Another Thing— Prom the Baltimore Evening Sun, The National House of Representa- tives has been stampeded into passing & censorship bill far exceeding any- thing of the kind ever imposed on the country in time of peace. It forbids the publication not merely of stolen information, but of any information not authorized, if it refers to Govern- ment affairs. Naturally, the first thing that occurs to most people is the way in which such a law would protect crooked and incompetent jobholders. Under such a Jaw it would be a crim- inal offense to expose the crookedness or incompetence of Government offi- clals, and this aspect of the matter s what has aroused most indignation. But there is another uspect which is worthy of consideration, especlally by high officers of the Government. Un- der such a law any information pub- lished would necessarily be authorized information. This means that the | Government will have to stand behind whatever is given out. ‘There will be no more of the familiar practice of sending up “trial balloons,” that is to say, statements which y be re- pudiated if they are unfavorably re- ceived. Nor can responsibility for the indiscretions minor officials any longer be evaded. In short, the Gov- ernment hereafter will be responsible for whatever it says. When one remembers the endless | dificulties into which we were ph unged after the State Department adopted the policy of passing on foreign bond issues, this factor assumes much im- porience. Perhaps the censorship wouli nct be nltogeth~r a happy thing for the Government iiself. sorrows | It is not to be wondered at, there- | in revealing, after this | Not only America, but | APRIL 8, 1933. THE LIBRARY TABLE BY SARAH G. BOWERMAN. FIGHTING THE INSECTS: The Story of an Entomologist. By L. O. Howard. New York: The Macmillan Co. Sitting within a tightly screened porch, it is a pleasure to watch good-sized mos- quitoes, flles, wasps and occasional dragon flies crawling around on the out- side of the screen looking for an entry and to know that one is safe from the insect world, unless, perchance, it is midge season in the woods, when the insect wins in spite of all screens. To the entomologist, insects are far more than personal nuisances; they are in- teresting beings in themselves, some malevolent, some beneficent, and have great significance in their relation to agriculture. Dr. Howard, for many years chief of the Bureau of Entomology of the United States Department of Agri- culture, presents himself in this auto- biography as an entomologist from the age of 7, when he began collecting co- coons, moths and butterflies, near his home in Ithaca, N. Y. After an under- graduate course at Cornell and a year of graduate study in natural history, he was offered a post as assistant entomolo- gist in the Deprtment of Agriculture at $100 & month. Friepds of the family thought science offered none of the ma- terial rewards of life and discouraged him, but one of his professors gave the advice which coincided with his own feeling, “that naturalists, es a rule, did not care at all about money, and not es- peclally about comfort; that naturalists were born and not made, and that he thought on the whole that I was a born naturalist. And so I accepted.” This was the beginning of his lifelong work in the Department of Agriculture. To know that Dr. Howard never re- gretted his decision one has only to read this book, written with such zest, about a life of continuous keen enjoyment. No amount of morfey and luxury could have compensated a man like Dr. How- ard for his contentment and joy in his chosen work, An interesting comment on the cost of living for a $1,200 man in 1878 is that restaurants served good dinners for 25 cents. In speaking of Government patronage versus Civil Serv- ice, Dr. Howard says: “During my whole 53 years I never knew of a single case in which a scientific man lost his posi- tion for any reason other than incom- petency. As a matter of fact, their Ppolitics were never asked.” Of course, Dr. Howard's book is full of insects— army worms, mosquitoes, boll weevils, gypsy moths, hop plant lice, house flies, rice stem borers, tsetse flies and many others with imposing Latin names. As early as 1880 Dr. Howard became in- terested in parasites as a means of de- stroying harmful insects. By this means many valuable plant industries have been saved, among them the citrus in- dustry of Hawali, the copra industry of Fiji and the silk industry of Italy. The story of the successes and failures in experimentation with insect - fighting ru-uita- has been told by Dr. Howard n his books, “History of Applied Ent mology” and “The Insect Menace.” While chief of the service, he wrote, with the assistance of colleagues, a com- prehensive bulletin on household in- sects. His research in connection with various species of mosquitoes contrib- uted much to the anti-yellow fever wol of Dr, Walter Reed in Cuba. The criti- cism of some scientific research that it is theoretical, doctrinaire and inapplicable to practical affairs could not be made, intelligently, of Dr. Howard's studies and experiments, whose results have all directly advanced human welfare. * K ok % THE CHALLENGE OF EUROPE. By Sherwiood Eddy. rar & Reinhart. Sherwood Eddy, traveler and student, has already written about “The Chal- lenge of Russia” and “The Challenge of the East.” He shows that the chal- lenge of Europe to us is the challenge | of an older civilization to a newer one. “America presents a challenge to Eu- rope by its more efficient mechaniza- tion while Europe challenges America by its more advanced socialization. The United States has developed the ma- chine; Europe has made more provision for the human factor. America has created wealth; Europe has provided security. America has gone ahead in production; Europe in distribution.” These are ideas similar to those of the French writer Andre Siegfried. Perhaps they are sound, but they cause one to raise the question: What of the “hu- man factor” in the low wage scales of Europe? What of American public ed- ucation as compared with that of most European countries? What of European “security” today, when further limi- tation of armament is always blocked by fear for national security, and the | security of the masses is sacrificed by armament? Dr. Eddy’s ideas are, how- ever, most stimulating to reflection, and some of them, instead of arousing questions, immediately impress one as profoundly true. For example: “Eu- rope, as the Old World, is more experi- enced in adversity if not in prosperity, | confronted with some of the that are relatively new to us. * % % ok THE GEOGRAPHIC FACTOR: ITS ROLE IN LIFE AND CIVILIZA- TION. By Ray H. Whitbeck and Olive J. Thomas. New York: The Century Co. Henry Thomas Buckle, soclal his- toriam of the first half of the nine- teenth century, wrote a “History of Civilization in England,” which was to have been only one volume of & colossal history of world civilization. This ani one other volume made something of a sensation at the time of their appear- ance, chiefly because of Buckle'’s theory of the great influence of physical con- ditions, such as climate, sofl and geo- graphic location, on the history of coun- tries. Buckle's blaze of fame has long since died down to embers, but his basic idea has been recognized by many other writers, among them the authors of “The Geographic Factor.” R. H. Whitbeck is professor of geography and Olive J. Thomas is instructor in geog- raphy at the University of Wisconsin. They apply to their subject all the findings of modern science and eco- nomics and do not see with merely near-sighted geographic eyes. They emphasize that “geographical environ- ment is passive or permissive, not man- datory; that man’s doings are influ- enced, not determined, by his geo- graphical environment.” "With this moderate conception, they discuss such practical subjects as “Man’s Adjustment to His Planet,” “The Four ‘Spheres’ of the Geographic Environment” (the at- mosphere, water, rock and organic life), “Climate and Man,” “Climate and Its Economie- Relationships,” “The Importance of Geographical Location With Special Reference to Cities,” “The Revolutionizing Influence of Coal,” “The International Importance of the Location of Petroleum Pields,” “Rivers and Valleys and Their Service to Man,” “Man’s Adjustment to Plains,” “Island Life and Insularity” and “Geographical Influence in the Forming of American National Character.” * Kk ¥ In his latest book, “My Friendly Con- temporaries,” Hamlin Garland tells a story of Sir James Barrie and tobacco. Noticing & tobacco jar on Barrie’s desk, Garland said: “I suppose that is the ‘Arcadian mixture’? I hope you made & great deal of money out of its sale.” , problems » Barrie admitted that the name and the mixture were his fictional invention, and said that he had never smoked at all until he wrote “My Lady Nicotine,” but was led to begin by the fascination of his own description of the joys of tobacco. His exelnunun was accom- panied by a t1 le of the eye. * ok ok * “After Five O'Clock,” by Corbett, shows the life of a working woman after the working day is over, when personal life begins. The st her wor'. Fleanor Adams Js the residence in Washington of more than | dustry of California, the sugar cane in- | New York: Far- i heavier and heavier taxation for that | and has for a much longer time been | ends her business day and turns to tory | amusement. does not introduce one whose personal| architect, with whom she fears she is life and pleasure are found chiefly in h1’:&‘1n“ ‘1:1 10! % with whem heroine, o her early thirties, a success- in love. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS Many readers send In questions signed only with initials, asking that the answers appear in the newspaper. The space is limited and would not ac- commodate & fraction of such requests. The answers published are ones that may interest many readers, rather than the one who asks the question only. All questions should be accompanied by the writer's name and address and 3 cents in coin or stamps for reply. Do not use post cards. Send your question to | The Star Information Bureau, Frederic | J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. | s | | | | | . When was the self-starter first used on automobiles?—J. S. K. A. The first successful electric self- starters were put on cars in 1911. | Q. What is meant by solfeggio sing- ing?—O. B. A. It is the singing of musical ex- ercises to the syllables do, re, mi, etc. Q. How can beer be tested to be sure {that the alcoholic contént is 3.27 F.E E A. It can be ascertained by chem- ical analysis or by using a juerstebulli- ometer—an instrument which will d termine the alcoholic content in bev- erages. e | Q. Where is there a statue of Abra- | ham Lincoln as a young man?—G. D. A. In Fort Wayne, Ind. This bronze statue, executed by Paul Manship, was dedicated September 16, 1932. It rep- resents Lincoln at the age of 21. Q. What religi Canada?>—R. C. B. A. The largest single religious de- nomination is Roman Catholic, with | 4,285,388 members. The United Church is second with 2,017,375 members; Anglican, third, with 1,635,615; then Presbyterian, 870,728; Baptist, 443,341; Lutheran, 394,194, and many other de- nominations with smaller membership. Q. How many tourist camps are there in the United States?—T. V. A. It is estimated that there are about 30,000. Of these there are 10,000 camps of six or more cottages. Q. What is the Gaelic name for Dublin?—C. D. A. The official Gaelic name is Baile | Atha Cliath. Q. Why is some china called bone china?—M. M. 8. A. Bone china is the porcelain in which bone ash is an important con- stituent. It is made almost entirely in England. Bone ash is a white friable substance obtained by burning bones, which is composed mainly of calcium phosphate. Q. Is Queen Wilhelmina's mother living?—G. C. L. A. The Queen Mother Emma of the Netherlands is still living. Q. Are genaniums native of Amer- ica?—S. N. | A. They were brought to this coun- |try. They are natives of Southern Africa. | | Q. Who was Black Douglas?—H. B. A. The name was applied to Sir James Douglas, a Scottish nobleman, |who was also known as Good Sir James. He was killed in Spain in 1330. Q. What language does the present Pope speak?—J. 8. A. The present of Rome speaks French and Italian fluently, English quite well, and German very little. He is, of course, a master of the dead languages, Latin and Greek. Q. How much does an Ahgors goat weigh?—M. S. A. The Angora goat is small, weigh- | | | Excerpts From Newsp. RISH_INDEPENDENT, Dublin.—To the Editor: I have read the article in the Irish Independent by Dr. | Frederick Graves about tobacco and influenza, Influenza is chiefly | caused by overloading the system with | s0-called food and drink. The doctor | refers to an old man of 100 years who | used to smoke a clay pipe. That old | man was bred from former strong and | healthy generations. He was fed on milk, oatmeal, porridge, brown home- : made bread, eggs, potatoes, bacon, cab- bage, turnips and greens. He worked | from dawn till dark six days of the week in all sorts of weather and had thews and sinews like whalebone and leather. weed he used to smoke was mostly ab- sorbed into the bowl of the clay pipe. The present generation is | exist on tea, “fags,” thrills and cushions. | They have not in general half the size, substance and endurance of those of | 40 years ago. 3 AN’ * | Theaters Suftering Slump in Paris. Le Soir, Brussels—Along with the hotels, shops, restaurants and billiard | parlors of Paris, the theaters there, too, as is natural in such a universal de. | bacle, are afflicted with drastic reduc. tions both in patronage and income. This state of affairs, discouraging and paralyzing as it is, has been accom- | panied by other phenomena even more objectionable. the proprietors are not making any money, the actors and the stage hands are in a like predica- ment. A poverty little less than epochal and complete has spread through the whole fabric of the show business, and car- ried its contagion even to those only indirectly connected with such ven- tures. The saddest aspect of the whole development is that some of these peo- ple, not fully comprehending the de- gree, nature or prevalence of the eco- nomic decline take personal umbrage and resolve, if they cannot collect in wages, at least to be recompensed with some sort of unjustified and unworthy retaliation. We related the other day how in the carpenter shop of “L'Opera” a serious fire broke out which the sub- sequent investigation attributed to a short-circuit in the electric wiring. But yesterday a similar incident occurred in the Comedie-Francaise. which those | whose duty it is to examine into such | events, now ordinarily try to make ap- pear of little gravity or significance. In fact, we understand that a polcy of silence has been recommended in official circles, but the public is badly resigned. When the exact character and extent of the episode are not made known, then the immediate tendency is to make things out much worse than they really are. In this perticular in- stance the assumption has been that some unknown malefactor had cut, with blows of a hatchet, the lead pipes from which an auxiliary supply of water was to be derived in case of fire. Inquiry was made, of course; but there was no result of it. The report merely asserted that the fire protection re- sources seemed adequate for any emer- gency! Enormous taxes are ruining the the- atrical business in Paris. Cabarets, too, with larger patronage, and less expense, are feeling the depression to the same degree. The only exceptions to be noted are a few in the Montmartre quarter, notably “La Boite,” and “L'Ar- che de Noe,” especially patronized by foreigners with plenty of money, and relishing broad jokes. It is the more unfortunate that in such times as these the more offensive resorts are the ones which survive the longest! Far superior entertainment in the spectacles at the “Moulin de la Galette,” and at “L’Odeon” are much more sparsely at- ful interior decorator. At 5 o'clock she This includes a young and an eligible widower, on predominates in | The nicotine of the very little bit of | BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ing usually between 60 and 100 lpounfla, although “sometimes individual goats weigh 140 pounds or more. Q. Where is the National Congress of Parents and Teachers' Convention to be held this year?>—D. H. A. It is to be held in Seat May 21-26. Q. How many Negroes are there in the United States?—J. H. 5. A. The Negro population at present is about '11,891,000. Q. When is a newspaper man ranked as a columnist?—W. K. A. A columnist is one who beccmes establisned as a writer of a feature column which appears regularly in newspapers. ttle, Wash., Q. When was g first used for lighting in this country?—S. T. A. David Melville of Newport, R. I, installed in his house and in front of his house the first gas lights in 1396. England and Prance had already bsgun to illuminate with gas. Baltimore was the first city in the United States to !lx;st’lll gas lighting. This was done in 1 Q. Where was King Henry VIII buried?’—L. H. M. A. At his own request, he was buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, be- side one of his former wives, Jane Sey=- mour. Windsor is in Berkshire County, England, and is the country seat of the | royal family. Q. _Is there any manufacturing in the Philippine Islands?—O. D. A. There are many sugar and rice mills. Manufactures also include can- dies, embroideries, pearl buttons, fiber textiles, cotton textiles, tailoring, luri mats. Q. What does proletkult mean?— CH. H. A. It is a portmanteau word for proletarian culture and is practically synonymous with the phrase “independ ent working class education.” Q. What is meant by ovenized hams?>—G. E. H. A. It is & modern process used in- stead of the smokehouse treatment. ‘The hams are placed in an oven heated with steam and smudged by sawdust, This treatment produces a similar ef- fect to that formerly given by the smoking process. Qix\wm was the flint-lock gun used in England?—J. K. A. The flint-lock gun was of Span- ish origin. It was introduced into | England during the reign of Willlam II, and in one form or another was used in the British Army up to as late a period as 1840. Q What is infringement?—L. O. A. A court has sald “infringement is the unauthorized making, using, or selling for practical use, or for profit, of an invention covered by a valid claim of a patent during the life of the patent. It may involve any one of the acts of making, using, . It is therefore an in- | to make a patented machine for use or for sale, though in fact it is neither used or sold.” Q. What can be used to put a gloss on a straw hat?—E. G. preparation may be used.” Care ‘!hmutdbeukentoncunlmln,"m | con | . Q. What is the inscription on the | British memorial to the Unknown Sol= dier?—M. R. ¥ A. “A British Warrior—Who Fell— |In the Great War—1914-1918—For King—And Country—Greater Love Hath No Man—Than This.” High Lights on the Wide World apers of Other Lands tended. With a patronage largely come posed of sailors and such in the cheap~ est galleries, it is likely both these es~ tablishments will close their doors in the course of the next few days. * ¥ X % Man Who Urged Planting Of Trees Honored. Egyptian Gazette, Alexandria—If it be true, as Swift opined, that “whoever 20“3d 'mbee "wd“ of grass Wwhere one grew e e Wl put together,” how much do we owe to John Evelyn, who, ere he died, on Feb- ruary 27, 1706, could claim that he had caused Englishmen to plant millions of trees to remedy the scant which threatened our navy. Add, then, that his diary—once nearly burned as waste-paper—gives a picture beyond price of 80 eventful years, and we are indeed his debtors. Artist, scientist, competent civil ser- vant, ardent gardener—above all, a de- vout Christian: avoiding alike cant and causistry, repelled alike by Cromwell’s kill-joys and Charles’ carousals, he steers, amid extremes, a middle course. Yet he is fallible. Fear: (as we should say) a touch of 'flu while on his travels, he had the ’s daughter turned out of her bed 5o that he might go into it while it was yet warm— . cruelty punished by a dose of smallpox, fromu ;‘ chfllhe hs::un: pflM’ ;;u con- valescing. ‘He a pile money dabbling in brick-making, which he did not understand. A wise, pious gentleman, yet human like ourselves. Kind Word for Owners Of Apartment Houses To the Editor of The Star: We folks with the incised salaries should not be too hard on the poor landlords. What a double blessing are these condensed apartments. We are glad to get into one in the Fall, and thrice glad te get out iny the Spring: What cares we escape while thus domiciled! On reaching home in the evening there is not an old-fashioned chore in sight. No wood to get, no water to carry; not even a cat to put out before we go to bed. ‘There is nothing on which to expend the day’s accumulation of irritaticns except the women folks—which does not always work out so satisfactorily. Really to appreciate the modern apartment, one should have a_back- ground of country experiences. We re- call our chilly discouragement when the first snow used to find us with 40 acres of corn to shuck, wood to haul, and numerous other jobs to do . before Winter actually set in. Then we would have cheerfully accepted the middle suite in any thick-walled apartment with no outlook except the skylight. The ground hog would not have anything on us, until February 1 o4 the earliest. On recent wild March nights we listened to the rain with a supreme feeling of farm relief. On similar nights long ago there were wabbly (‘l{m to get into the barn and to as- sist in making proper connections with the parent stem. There were restless old sows to sooth into a resumption of maternal duties, and the old mare and last colt to lead back from the far side > quite willing to fall - P