Evening Star Newspaper, April 23, 1933, Page 22

THE. EVENING STAR ms-mzmwm WASHINGTON, D. C. director general of the war-time United States Railroad Administration, has been entrusted the fundamental task of making a general economic survey BUNDAY.........April 28, 1933 of Turkey. Collaborating with him in THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor Rate by Ct:-:let Within the City. = 48¢ per month 60¢ per month 8¢ per month ;-Bc_per copy i tn by mail of tel Rate by Mall—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. 1yr..510.00: 1 mo., 88c Dally only 7 6.00: 1 mo., $0¢ Bundsy only . 4.00: 1 mo.. 40c ! e w) e (w en Sunday Star Tottection e may Ational 5000. All Other States and Canada. s and Sunda indey onty’ Member of the Assoclated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitied %0 the use for republication of all news dis- atches credited to it or not otherwise ered- ted in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein sre also reserved. 1yl 131, $5.00; 1mo. The Lewis-Wagner Bill. Were it not for a rather curious parliamentary tangle, resulting from House jealousy of its constitutionally- derived prerogatives in the matter of nitiating “money legislation,” the Fed- eral Government would this day have been embarked, for better or for worse, on its first major experiment in reliev- ing suffering by outright gifts to those in distress, As it is, the House passed the Lewis-Wagner relief bill yesterday in almost the same form that it was previously passed by the Senate. But to Kkeep the record straight and allow the House to start the ball rolling the Senate must again pass the bill it already has approved. Because of the farm bill and inflation amendment, now occupying attention in the Senate, final enactment of the relief bill, one of the ‘evmponent parts of the President’s pro- gram, may be further delayed. Two changes were made in the House bill from the form in which the meas- ure was originally approved by the Presi- dent, Instead of making $200,000,000 available for direct grants to the States —and to the District of Columbia—and the remaining $300,000,000 available for R. P. C. loans to the States—and the District of Columbia—the House cut the _ total sum into two equal parts, making $3250,000,000 available for direct grants, the remainder available for loans. The other change was perhaps more impor- tant, and indicative of some of the political complications attendant upon any measure which hands out Federal funds. The staff of Federal administra- tors who will direct parcelling out of this money was removed by a shouting House from the civil service require- ments. Thus a bill providing relief for the destitute becomes in addition a bill to provide relief for the victors, to whom belong the spoils. This is unfortunate. If the relief bill is to accomplish what its sponsors hope it will accomplish, it should be strictly removed from the realm of pol- ftics. The money should be used only after the need for it has been scien- tifically determined without regard to partisanship. The jobs in connec- tion with administering the bill should be given to those whose experience in social work, rather than political cam- paign work, has fitted them for the task. This is espectally true of the relief ad- ministrator, who is to be chosen by the President. An able and experienced man in that job may be able to offset in some degree the disadvantages in- herent in a staff chosen on principles of political patronage, rather than merit and experience. ‘The task facing those who will ad- minister this fund is greater than the mere allocation of money to States and cities, The force gained by power to make grants of Federal money should ‘e utilized in saving what is left of the machinery established through the years by private charity and welfare organizations. Some atlempt should be made—and it is absolutely essential that the effort be made here in the District ~—to draw the line between the work of public and private relief, and to as- sign to each a definite program.! Every- where the private agencies have been swamped down by being forced to as- sume the burden of direct relief to those whose difficulties are directly traceable to unemployment. Their only salvation now is that this responsibility will be taken over by publicly financed mgencies, enabling private charities ta resume functions in character building and family welfare and public health for which they were created. Relief work, in the minds of too larg> & part of the public, has come to mean handing out bread and meat. There 15 equally important relief necessary— more so in these dark days. than ever before. If what is known as direct re- Yef is recognized as a burden to be borne by public revenues, greater em- phasis may now be placed on the prob- Jem of meeting, through private cor.- tributions, the obligations of private charity. - Hitler is now regarded by many sin- cere German statesmen as a progressive of the type that, on finding a bad situa- tion, proceeds industriously to make it ‘worse, —_—————————— Americanizing Turkey. Elsewhere in The Sunday Star is un- folded a tale which is designed to con- vince certain doubting Thomases here at home that whatever they may now- adays think of the so-called demon- strated incapecity of American econ- omists, engineers and industrialists, ‘such lugubrious opinions are not shared universally abroad, at least not in [Turkey. President Mustafa Kemal, enlightened head of the republic reared on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, has de- cided to effect the complete economic modernization of the old land of the sultans with the aid of American brains. Eight or nine eminent authori- ties in the respective fields of railroad transportation, gold mining, copper production, cotton growing, viticulturc and taniff structure have been engaged by the Gazi to advise him how most effectively anc juaiciously to set new Turkey on the road to twentieth cen- tury national progress. ‘Fo Walker D. Hines, well and favor- Bbly remembered st Washington o8 “ i diversified flelds will be three Wash- ingtonians who have won distinctions in their various vocations—Charles E.| Bell, traffic analyst; Matthew van Siclen, mining engineer, and Sidney Paige, geologist. All three of these gentlemen at one time or another were in the Federal service. To assist in reorganizing the Turkish customs sys- tem, yef®another former United States official, Robert H. Vorfeld, a one-time attache of the Tariff Commission, is already at work in Ankara, the new capital of regenerated Turkey. Even primary education is to experience the American touch, for Dr. Beryl Parker of New York City is now engaged in perfecting & system of kindergarten schools for the youngest of the young ‘Turks. Three post-war American diplomatic representatives in Mustafa Kemal's realm, Admiral Bristol, Ambassador Grew and the now retiring Ambassador Sherrill, have attested in turn the Gazl's determination to convert Turkey into & modern state in the highest sense of the term. The American people are complimented by his selection of com- patriots of theirs as coadjutors in this task. It is, of course, & circumstance well designed to assure our abiding in- terest in the prosperous development of ‘Turkey. e Youth and Crime. A report from the Department of Justice indicates that young people are responsible for approximately forty per cent of all the crime in the United States. That, in any case, is the easy, superficial view of the results of a study which the department’s bureau of investigation has been making of the records of 80,785 arrests between January 31 and March 31 this year. But further consideration suggests a series of reservations which it may be proper to entertain in the circumstances. In the first place, it is fair to disre- gard arrests for vagrancy. A homeless boy may be a social danger, but it does not invariably follow that” he is al- ready a criminal. Just now, because of the world-wide depression, there are literally thousands of lads who have no permanent sheiter. They wander ! about the land in search of opportuni- | ties of employment. Granted that they may be ripe for conflict with the law, it also must be conceded that their availability is their major offense in States where new recruits for the chain gang are being sought by officers somewhat too sealous in their search for free labor. { Again, it must be remembered that be arrested than old professionals.” The inexperienced lawbreaker technique for deception and escape which the confirmed criminal has de- veloped. He does not know how to “cover” or to perform his “get-away.” vtten, too, he is merely a tool, prompted to crime by & stronger nature than his own and then in an emergency delib- erately abandoned. Recently in a town i# Pennsylvania two boys were arrested for participating in an attempted hold- up. Investigation disclosed that they were but the younger pair in a quartet of which the other half consisted of a man of Aifty-four years and one of forty- seven, both of whom successfully “ran out” on their junior partners. In such a case which individuals should be held most directly responsible? Obviously, justice would punish those mature enough to know better father than those unwise in the world's ways, unde- veloped in power of discrimination be- tween good and evil. But the boys went to jail, and the modern Fagins who inspired their wrongdoing re- mained free to‘find new pupils. Finally, it should be noted that young criminals are largely the result of a process of mis-education for which so- ciety in general is to blame. If adults unhesitatingly take chances with the law. it is inevitable that adolescent boys and girls will be guided by their ex- ample. Adults cannot pick and choose as to which laws they will obey and which ignore without young people do- ing likewise. The children of a nation cannot be expected to practice a higher standard of morals than their parents. It is an axiom of sociology that many so-called “bad” sons and daughters have had that kind of fathers and mothers. Complaints against youth, then, are in effect complaints aghinst the homes from which they come. Good home conditions produce good citizens. If there is an occasional ex- ception, the fault usually can be traced to the contagion of companions care- lessly chosen, themselves the victims of imperfect training. Young criminals, certainly, deserve no apology, nor will they be accorded any. But before the entire youth of the country is indicted for anarchy it would be well for its critics to examine with scrupulous care the background against which the misdemeanors occur and from which, in some portion at least, the bulk of them derive. Crime does not simply happen by accident; it is not spontane- ously generated. On the contrary, it has promoting causes which too fre- quently lie deeply hidden in social character. r————————— While shorter hours are easily ar- ranged for ordinary working schedules, what the President’s advisers would welcome is some wonder worker who could endow time with an elasticity to permit a twenty-four-hour day to pro- duce the equivalent of forty-eight hours’ work. ———ret— The Congressional Record. In the course of public discussion re- garding ways and means of reducing the cost of Government, in the interest of the balancing of the budget, there has been much comment upon the ex- travagance of Congress itself in the ex- penditure of public funds for the com- fort and convenience of members of the two Houses. The matter of mileage has been brought forward, to the point of showing that large sums are pald on this account in excess of the actual cost of transportation in travel to and from the sessions of the National Legislature. Some observers have also noted that the cost of “investigations” into various subjects has mounted to great figures, disproportionate to the results achieved. Other possible economies have been pointed out, aggregating & very con- siderable amount of meney. Now a congressional critic of the cost young amateurs are much more apt to | lacks the | THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHI he computes wotlld cut off about $4,000 a day for each session. Representative Cannon of Wisconsin has introduced & bl to reduce the edition of the Con- gressional Record by limiting its free distribution. At present this gratuitous printing of the Record amounts to no less than 31,000 coples of eich issue, each Senator getting eighty-eight copies and each Representative sixty for “franking” through the mails, while Government ageucies are also served free to a great number. Under Mr. ‘Cannon’s schedule of distribution esch Senator would get seven coples dally for his or her own use and for free mailing and each e Répresentative six if the free distribution of the Record were thus limited to a small number there would be less demand for space in its appe~-"'~3 for the printing of “ex- tension ol remarks.” These appended | matters, privileged of publication under | “leave to print” speeches and docu- ments not presented in speech before the House and Senate, becoming thereby “public documents,” may be sent free through the mails as pamphlets, printed at a low .cost, which the legislators pay—sometimes with the bill paid by others who get thelr materials thus into print—at “cost price.” The Gov- ernment Printing Office bill does not fully represent the expense to the Gov- ernment, which must carry these docu- ments free through the mails, A strict limitation of the Congres- sional Record to the matters which are spoken in the course of the debates in ' the two Houses would greatly reduce | its volume and consequently its cost. It is Representative Cannon's thought that if the free circulation of thé Rec- ord were limited according to the schedule he proposes there would be less demand for “leave to print.” That may be so, but if the purpose is to re- duce the bulk as well as the edition of the Record & more direct and effec- tive means would be to curtail the “leave to print” privilege, and to con- fine the Record to matters actually spoken in the debates and proceedings. If that were done and if all speeches were printed as delivered, and currently, the Congressional Record would be in fact, as it is in theory, a transcript of the session-to-session doings of House and Senate and not, as now, an incomplete dccount of happenings, with a scrap- book appendix which often exceeds in volume the actual report of events. And the annual bill for Government orinting would be materially reduced. ——— Compliments by G. Bernard Shaw to Montague Norman for admitting that he did not know what it was all about are enhanced by the fact that Mr. Shaw consumed two precious hours of Ameri- can radio in saying practically the same thing. — e ee———— Organized labor, it i announced, will | | demand an immediate increase of wages | to restore the buying power of the masses. On second thought this may be the ultimate object which statesmen | are seeking to arrive at from different | | angles of approach. —————— It has been generously admitted by Congress that the District of Columbia has its poor to be taken care of even though they may belong to the humble | element of U. 8. A. citizenship that is denied the right to vote. A scientist revives the theory that the brain is composed of minute electric| cells. If carried far enough, it may account for the fact that some thoughts are so positively shocking and others s0 negatively inane. ———vee—. Postmaster General Farley is not hurrying along the news, good or bad, concerning post office appointments. Work done elsewhere may be regarded as sufficient speed record demonstra- tions. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Next Summer. | There's lots o' business to be done ‘When Summer comes anew, But nothing like the former fun In nineteen thirty-two. We will not hear the organ play, Nor hear the mighty roar Of crowds with banners on display, As in the days of yore. Spellbinders will not charm the ear And seek to soothe the mind. No chairman with a voice so clear Will chide the unrefined. To intellectual heights we'll climb, Yet find a thought of praise For quaintness mixed with the sublime In those convention days. | Lobby. “Do you know any lobbyists?” asked the student of politics. “I'm sure I do,” answered Senator Sorghum. “Anybody who advocates some big idea which will incidentally promise him personal advantage is likely at one time or another to drift into the lobby class.” Jud Tunkins says hero worship looks Representative Cannon believes that i ! lution of the Rights of Man will touch | the heart of France. | Europe— “Made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.” One of the earliest of the world's greatest writers asked the question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” Itisa question that has been asked by every age and by every people, and the only answer that has come with any degree of authority and finality was given by Him who declared: “I am the resurrec- tion and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he = ‘Thinkers and philosophers have sought by the most careful study of na- ture and the human mind to give an answer that would adequately. meet man's hope of a future life. The heav- ens have been swept by the practiced eye of the seer and the astronomer, and the language of the stars has been in- terpreted by them, but they give no sat- isfying answer. The earth, with its storehouse of wonders, has been trav- ersed from pole to pole in a vain search after that which would reveal, not only the character of its Divine Architect, but His eternal purpose con- cerning life beyond the grave. Guesses at truth are not truth, not matter how apparently accurate they may pe. To assume - the immortality of life does not establish it as a fact. All the rea- soning of Plato and Aristotle and Socra- tes will not and cannot satisfy. We may say with Addison: “It must be so; Plato, thou reasonest well, else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, this longing after immortality?” It is unsatistying comfort that the great American orator gave, as he stood by the open grave of his beloved brother: “From the voiceless lips of the unre- plying dead, there comes no word, but in the night of death hope sees a star and listening love can hear the rustle of an angel's wing.” The affirmation of Jesus Christ is the only word spoken with certainty. His whole ministry was an illumination of the theme of the resurrection. He came to revive the despairing yearnings of men. He came to lift man’s vision to a loftier conception of life here and to D. C, APRIL 23, 1933—PART TWO. IMMORTALITY BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D, LL. D, Bishop of Washington. guarded His empty tomb declared: “He is not here; He is risen, as He said.” Shall we not believe, as we stand by the sealed sepulchre of our ‘loved ones, that once again the angels of the resurrec- tion, His messengers to men, declare concerning our sacred dead: “They are not here; they are risen.” ‘Were we to seek to find a fine expo- sition of the antithesis suggested in the text, we should discover it in two not- able poets, the one the poet of pessi- mism, the poet, shall we say, of gloom, fascinating, dramatic, compelling, and yet not in consonance with the spirit of that to which this Easter season g:rs witness. These are the words of ar: “One thing is certain and the rest is les; ‘The flower that once has blown for- eyer dies.” ‘That is a theory of life that is ut- terly repugnant to the spirit of this season; but let us turn to another great interpreter of life, and an interpretation of life, be it said, that came as the result of years of terrible sorrow and struggle. For 17 years Tennyson wrought out his conception of what life is, of what life must be, and, strangely enough, the first stanza of poem, “In Memoriam,” was the last one he wrote, it contains the affirmation of an inspiring faith: “Strong Son of God, immortal Love, ‘Whom we, that have not seen Thy face, By faith, and faith alone, embrace, Belleving where we cannot prove.” Mr. Blaine in closing a great utter- ance delivered before the Congress of the United States, on the martyred Garfleld, used these memorable words, as he described the dying sufferer: “Let us belleve that in the silence of the re- ceding world, he heard the great waves breaking on a farther shore and felt already upon his wasted brow the breath of the eternal morning.” This is the sublime expression of man's hope, but we submit that today, perhaps as never before, we need to hear anew the reas- suring_and inspiring message of the touch it with the splendor of a life that should know no ending. The angels that risen Christ: “Because I live, yet shall live also.” ’ Report of a Possible First Conversation Between Roosevelt, BY WILLIAM HARD. From the utterances of our statesmen in Washington and from the interna- tional reports of the utterances of statesmen abroad it may be imagina- tively surmised that the first conversa- tion next week between President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Prime Minister James Ramsay MacDonald and ex-Prime Minister Bdouard Herriot will proceed more or less as follows: Mr. Roosevelt—We are here, gentle- men, as I said in my cable to my dear friend MacDonald, to do something for God. But that is a Scotch way of look- ing at it perhaps; and so for your bene- fit. my dear Herriot, I'll also say that we're here to do something for the world's liberty, equality and fraternity. Mr. Herriot—My dear Mr. President, | your gallant quotation from the im- | mortal memories of the glorious revo- | Today the great | surviving democracies of the world— France, Britain, the United States—find themselves encircled by the growth of other forms of government. I am glad indeed that we are assembled here to take counsel together for the perpetua- tion of democratic institutions through- out the earth and particularly in Fu- rope. Now the political situation of P Mr. Roosevelt—Just a moment. Just a moment. I don't see any reference | to the political situation of Europe ir the annotated draft agenda of the In- ternational Monetary and Economic Conference which we are met to dis- cuss. Our purpose here, my dear Her- riot, is strictly economic. Mr. MacDonald—But, my dear Roase- velt, what could be mare economic—or | economical—than a reduction of debts? 1 suggest that we begin our economic deliberations with an exchange of views regarding debts, inter-govern- mental debts. On that point— Mr. Roosevelt—Debts, I should say, my dear MacDonald, are not so much economic or even monetary as fiscal. Yes. Fiscal. They have to do with the revenues and disbursements of gov- ernmental treasuries. They are not in- cluded. I beg of you to note, in the In- ternational Economic and Monetary Conference program. Mr. MacDonald—I move then that we refer the subject to a committee of experts. As my representative on that committee I name Sir Frederick Leith- Ross. Mr. Herriot+I name, as the repre- sentative of the highest and noblest traditions of French finance, Mr. Charles Rist.” Mr. Roosevelt—I suppose I'll name Ray Moley. But, remember, we aren’t discussing debts. * X * % Mr. MacDonald—Very well. Now let's get on to the main point. Mr. Herriot—Certainly. The organ- ization of international and military se- curity. Mr. MacDonald—No. of disarmament. Mr. Roosevelt—No. No. The revival of international economic intercourse Mr. Herriot—How can we trade with one another when we are in fear of one another? Mr. MacDonald—How can we cease to be in fear of one another when we are all of us armed to the teeth against one another? Mr. Roosevelt—How can we arrive at the good will which will produce dis- armament and security unless we trade with one another? 5 Mr. MacDonald—I suggest that those questions be referred to a committee of experts with orders to arrange them in a vicious circle and then break it. Mr. Herriot—I name Charles Rist Mr. MacDonald—I neame Sir Fred erick Leith-Ross. Mr. Roosevelt—Ray Moley. he promotion to him as if it was mostly carried on by people who don’t care how much a hero may be worried or annoyed, so long as he can be made an excuse for giving a party. The Geing and the Gone. Good roads we need. Yet we take heed Of people wham we know ‘Who have gone broke with such great speed, They've no place else to go. Harking From the Tombs. “Does that comedian employ a ghost writer?” asked Miss Cayenne. “That question hes not been investi- gated. Why do you ask?™ “If he does, I wish he'd get into com- munication with one that had not been dead 50 long.” “Music,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “does not convey a thought with accuracy. It can only suggest emo- tions as the distilled perfume suggests the flowers.” Low Ambition. A dizzy course hell run And face some loss, ‘Who, merely seeks the fun Of being boss. “It sounds to me,” said Uncle Eben, “like money gits habits an’ dat its hard Mr. Herriot—Now. The future of democracy on the earth and the con- Emed protection of it against— * X X ¥ Mr. MacDonald—My dear Herriot, I regret to see you so fixed upon one principle. Myself, & Socialist, I repre- sent a King. I wish I could you, my dear Herriot, to see the beauties of the British Constitution, beauties monarchial, aristocratic, democratic, authoritarian, libertarian, Socialistic and capitalistic. How can you ask a representative of Britain to enter into an agreement for the concerted pro- tecticn of one principle? Mr. Herriot—There must be a princi- ple. Or why France? Mr. Roosevelt—The principle is to reduce tariff duties. Mr. MacDonald—Within the frame- | States Congress. MacDonald, Herriot Mr. Herriot—Europe is getting divided into two camps. A conflict between & basic principle of life on the one side and a basic different prineiple of life on the other is threatening to lay Europe and civilization in ruins. Myself, I am known to be a man of accommodation, a man of understandings and of agree- ments. I dare to recall to you the ac- ceptance of the plan of Dawes, the furthering of the preliminaries of Lo- carno, the sacrifices and the appease- ments of Lausanne. From those efforts to weave again the fabric of interna- tional security I was at least not ab- sent. It is not I that would precipitate nternational struggle. But it is not you, I hor. that would deny the possi- bility of it and that would fail to ar- range a common stand against that possibility. Mr. MacDonald—Let us reduce the number of effectives in our armies. « Mr. Roosevelt—Let us reduce, 1 say, all budgetary costs. Mr. Herriot—I am among Anglo- Saxons. A Scotch Celtic Anglo-Saxon and a Hudson River Dutch Anglo- Saxon. But Anglo-Saxons. I talk of a principle and of an international conflict in the souls of men, and they talk about effectives and budgets. My dear Roosevelt, my dear MacDonald, if you insist upon talking in that way about it, I name Charles Rist. Mr. MacDonald—Leith-Ross. Mr. Roosevelt—Ray. o Mr. MacDonald—I may say to you, my dear Herriot, that Leith-Ross in the committee will represent a country which is protectionist and devoted to free trade. Mr. Roosevelt—And Mr. Moley will represent a country which is raising tariff duties in the farm relief bill and will lower them in the International Monetary and Economic Conference in London in June. * % X * Mr. Herriot—And in your own mood of banter, my dear Roosevelt and my dear MacDonald, I may say that Mr. Rist will represent a country which needs both its eves to watch the duality of the Anglo-Saxon mind. Mr. Roosevelt—Well! We must now abandon our little jests. We must come down to the ultimate business of the meeting. Mr. Herriot and Mr. MacDonald— What is it? Mr. Roosevelt—It's the Rooseveltin- ization of the International Monetary and Economic Conference. A Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Herriot— Yes? Mr. Roosevelt—Yes. You've got to treat it just the way I treat the United If I gave our Con- gressmen one bill, they would talk about it. I gave them 50 bills, each pleasing to some one element. and they pass the lot. They can't resist the rush. Same way with the conference. You've got your ideas, my dear MacDonald. And you've got yours, my dear Herriot. And T've got mine. Well! Well put them into 200 treaties and run them through the conference before the con- ference can think, and the whole world will applaud, and a lot of good may be done, and certainly no harm; because we'll put it into each treaty—just as I'm putting it into each new law here— that we can apply it or not apply it, as we like. See? Mr. MacDonald—See? It's blinding. Leith-Ross. Mr. Herriot—Epatant. Rist. Mr. Roosevelt—Moley. I'll tell them to have 20 or 30 of the treaties ready for us when we meet again tomorrow. en! G (Copyright, 1933.) B Business World Looks to TheEconomicConference BY HARDEN COLFAX. TIrritated and puzzled by the many and constantly increasing number of trade barriers, the commer- cial world is looking forward as its only he to the coming Werld Eco- nomic ference. From practically every foreign capital representatives of the Departments of State and Com- merce are sending in reports of grow- ing uncertainty among business men and pnmung.out that, unless something is done to halt the procession of high tariffs, embargoes, exchange controls and quota and contingent systems, business cannot possibly revive. The extent to which “nervous na- tionalism” has been carried by govern- ‘ments of the Old World is shown by the rapid spread of the complicated sys- tem of so-called compensation agree- ments. Government representatives in foreign countries describe these as work, of course, of the agreements at Ottawa. Mr. Herriot—And within the frame- work of a restored and stabilized British “pound and a restored and stabilized American dollar. Mr. Roosevelt—If we reduce tariffs and begin to exchange goods with one another, we can get back to a stabilized international monetary standard. Mr. Herriot—Until I know the stabil- ized value of the pound and of the dol- lar in tevms of francs in French customs houses, I shall not agree to the stabiliz- ing of French tariff duties against British and American imports. Mr. MacDonald—Until I know that cur goods are going to get through your e abilng ot the pound: oo e stal of the poun Mr. Roosevelt—I name Ray Moley. to spin s crooked dollar along de straight AR’ DATIOW Pald. il largely the result of efforts to equalize ports with particularly in , Caechoslovakia, ey are endeavoring realized from with other countries or the exchange of rticular classes of . Frequent- fy‘uflc becomes practically direct bar- . Starting out with the necessity of - Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. ‘The Senate has always been most careful about preserving its records, ‘even though some of the most im- portant have not been filled in such a Way that they could be readily found. Scarcely any of the Senators now in service have even the remotest idea of the wealth of most interesting original handwritten documents to which they have access—which are signed by the Nation’s leaders, including George ‘Washington. . There are two veteran employes of the Senate, however, who have devoted their entire lives since they were ‘boys and put their very hearts into the work and traditions of the Senate, who are now engaged on the important task of preperly filing these most valuable «documents in fireprosf containers, ade- quately indexed, where they can be promptly located and preserved for the edification of future generations. These two men went to work in the Senate press gallery at approximately the same time, one in March and the other in June, 1897. One is Col. Edwin A. Hal- sey, secretary of the Senate, and the first man ever to work his way up from a page to that high office; the other is James D. Preston, now the Senate librarian. They are contemplating pro- posing to the Senate to have a display of the most interesting of these old documents in cases under amber glass in the wide corridor on either side of the main entrance to the Senate. ‘The quarters occupled by the Senate Library and its flle room today are exactly as charted on the Latrobe plans in 1817 for rebuilding the Capitol after it was gutted by fire set by the British. But there are two rooms which have survived without structural change since the original Capitol Building was first occupled by Congress in 1801. One 1| of these rooms 1s now comfortably fit- ted up as a private reading and re- search room for Senators, and this was originally the office of the clerk of the House. The other is Daniel Webe ster's committee room, of bee-hive shape with a large round window over- looking the main east front steps of the Capitol, which is now used as a file room. space between these two originally overlooked the “grand stair case” of Capitol, which has been floored over and is now occupled by a double tier of files. The Senate Library has had s steady development since 1870, when a resolu- tion was adopted authorizing the sec- retary of the Senate to assemble in his office books for handy reference by Sen- ators, and preservation of the journals, annals, etc. The library is now the “right arm” of the Senate, and “Jim” Preston has for many years been the Senate’s right hand man. Among the historic documents which it is proposed to have exhibited are: The resolution of the first session of the Pirst Congress submitting the first 12 amendments to the Constitution to the several States, 10 of which were adopted. These documents are dated September 24 and 26, 1789. The notices of ratification by the States are also preserved. “The report of Charles Thompson, who was sent from New York to Mount Ver- non to notify Washington of his elec- tion, which includes Thompson's ad- dress to Washington and Washington's reply, on April 24, 1789. ‘The resolution in which the Senate and House recommended to President Washington that he set aside a day of Thanksgiving. dated September 25, 1789. ‘The reports from the States to Con- gress on the election of George Wash- ington. For example, the General As- sembly of New Hampshire under date of January, 1789, signed by Samuel Huntington as Governor and command- er in chief and George Wyllys, secretary, shows Weshington received seven votes John Adams five and Samuel Hunting- ton two. The report of the State of Pennsylvania was on vellum and showed Washington received 10 votes, Adams eight and John Hancock two. Various messages in original hand- writing signed by George Washington. One of these on Beptember 29, 1789, “to the gentlemen of the Senate”. an- nouneing the death of the Dauphin of France. Another dated February 22, 1791, is on the subject of the ransom of American prisoners at Algiers, in which Washington spoke of the Con- gress as “Legislature.” One dated Feb- ruary 18, 1791, nominated David Humphreys as “minister resident to her most feithful majesty, the Queen of Portugal.” There are tons upon tons of old pe- titions on important questions in the history of American legislation—as for example, those for abolition of slavery, some of which were so offensive to members from the South that they were returned. The petitions protesting against war are voluminous and numer- ous. There were some 25,000 to 30,000 petitions regarding the charge of po- ligamy in the famous case of Senator Smoot of Utah. The women's suffrige petitions make another mountainous record. At the end of each session all papers in the custody of clerks to committees are turned over to the secretary of the Senate for filing and preservation, and here again is a tremendous volume to be properly kept for the records. And they are frequently consulted by attor- neys mdfuwr interested parties. Expert flle clerks are now working on an accumulation of records that have been stored in huge chests in the base- ment of the Capital for a half century or more, giving them their proper place, udequately marked in steel filing cabi- nets. This vast task includes the elec- toral votes cast in presidential elec- tions—in the famous Tilden-Hayes con- test, for Lincoln in 1877, Cleveland, Harrison, Garfield, McKinley, Taft—to mention only a few that have already been handled by the filing clerks. In addition to all is, Librarian Preston is having an index prepared of every name which appeared at a hear- ing, whether of a governmental official or re%x;uemxng private interests, which will of incalculable value to the many who daily consult the records of hearings in the Senate Library. in such policies in some of the coun- tries, official support has been given to the establishment of private organiza- tions to aid merchants in their com- mercial relations with other countries where freedom of trade is restricted by artificlal barriers. In some cases it is stated that the aim of the board of di- rectors of the private company is to see that the functioning of the enter- prise “does not lose its social character and become too much engrossed in profit-making.” ‘The growth of this so-called com- pensation trade has been rapid in Cen- tral and Eastern Europe. Where, as in the case of Poland, the trade bal- ance with the United States ha8 been heavily against the European country, our merchants seem to be in danger of becoming the chief sufferers from the movement to “buy only from those who buy from us.” ‘The Csechs have made much the same sort of arrangement with the Hungarians, based on what is called a general lump-sum contingent. Czech im] i i o et pa licensing authorities for lnxon per- mits and, in both coyntries, the proper authorities control and adjust the ex- change of products, up to the limit of the contingents. This is the general principle—no import permits to be granted unless export permits are first Ppresented. Meanwhile repercussions from these and other restrictions on The Charm of Old Houses BY FREDERIC ]J. HASKIN. John Howard Payne would never in the world have written “Home, Sweet Home" about a new house. This is be- cause it is practically impossible for a new house to be & e. Houses take a good deal of living in before attaining that position in _the human heart. No new house can' achieve the complete charm of an old one. But Americans have come to place a high value on the conveniences of life and insist upon modern equipment in such matters as plumbing, refrigeration, ventilation and labor-saving devices re- quiring gas and electrical tallations. The only sure method of obtaining the advantages of an old house’s charm and also the advantages of all modern conveniences is to modernize an old house. This has been done here and there for many years. In the last two or three years it has taken on increased impetus and bas reached the propor- tiohs of v vement as well as an artistic revivai. Skillful architects in designing resi- de.: > structures often adapt or copy out-ight the lines of old houses. The work of the Brothers Adam, of Sir Christoph-r Wren, of Roger Pratt, of Sir William Kent, as well as that of Le Notre and de 1'Orme, is constantly copied by American architects for the reason that an appearance of age can be simulated by employing an old de- sign. Some builders go so far as to use second-hand brick, old millstones and flagstones and timbers in constructing houses, all for the sake of giving the appearance of age. Never- theless, there is nothing which can take the place of age itself. Similar Houses Given Individuality. In the period of active construction which followed the World War great numbers of old houses were pulled down and tens of thousands of new strucfures were run up almost over- night. For the most part they were | endlessly allkke. Row after row of houses appeared in suburban areas, looking like kernels of corn on a cob. A man must know his number and look for it to find his own dwelling. Noth- ing about the house itself differentiated it from thousands of others. It is diffi- cult to make a home out of such mate- rial. ‘The depression has luced many reactions. People whose incomes have been lowered are staying at home more than at any previous time in this gener- ation. They have made the discovery that few have homes. They dwell in living machines exactly like the ma- chines lived in by their neighbors. ‘Their houses do not reflect their own personalities. This has produced a strong reaction and a renaissance. People again are beginning to appreciate the charm of old houses, with the result that the‘ modernizing of structures 10 to 200 years old has taken on amazing pro- portions in the United States. If a man has been fortunate enough to oc- cupy an old house, he has set about modernizing it. If he has been living in a machine-made dwelling, he is in- |clined to look around for some mel- }ower abode which he can mold to his own liking. Old residences, which in many cases have been vacant for half are finding & market, and ch “have been continuously occupied are finding themselves the ob- ject' of & new and solicitous attentien. The Department of Commerce at Washington has interested itself in what is op and has found that in some 70 cities $55,000,000 was spent in modernizing old houses in a period of one year. It is found that 50 per cent of expenditures in this kind of work goes into the wages of labor. This is an especially high percentage as compared with new construction. In new construction a large amount must go for material. Millions go for profit paid to manufacturer or dealer. In re- modeling and modernizing, the chief job is re-working the material already on hand. Gives Unemployment Relief. It is necessary, often, to buy plumbing fixtures, new heating and lighting equipment, and many ap- pliances now available, but the install- ation work is the big end. Wage work- ers derive the greatest benefit at a time when they are most in need. How direct a benefit this has proved is shown by the fact that in cities which have con- ducted modernizing campaigns under direct civic or organization auspices, the sums required for unemployment relief have been cut in half. There are about 20,000,000 residences in the United States with an average age between 13 and 15 years. Hun- dreds of thousands are much older, in the East some running to a century or two. About 16,000,000 homes are wired for electricity, but a good deal of the wiring is old and a short-circuit fire danger, while the fixtures are often obsolete. While America is the home of the bathtub, there are some 12,000,- 000 people living in cities and towns of 10,000 population and over who lack these conveniences. In the rural sec- tions, in spite of the advances madesin self-contained waterworks, bathtubs are even scarcer. Great advances have been made in kitchen furniture and fix- tures. Yet there is a tremendous deficit in_kitchen modernization. Realizing that a community which, by making carefully planned repairs in accordance with good designs has & higher real estate value and that there is an advance in the common wealth through such improvements, campaigns are being conducted to induce hause- holders to modernize. Chambers of commerce, leading newspapers, civic organizations and clubs have joined in campaigns to encourage citizens to im- prove their properties. Of large Ym- portance is the circumstance that banks in many cities have announced their willingness to lend liberally to finance improvements. = Bankers know that a few hundred dollars spent in modern- izing a house usually adds to the value of the property anywhere from 2 to 10 times the cost of the work. The market- ability of the property is increased and the whole tone of the neighborhood raised. The banker knows that his se- curity is greater when improvements are made. Perhaps more important even than the creation of thousands of days’ work, of a new buying movement and an upturn in building activity is the re- newal given by the modernizing move- ment of interest in the home. Amer- icans built their Nation around the in- stitution of the home and the family, and this renaissance bids fair to give that institution a new birth. new Britain’s Reaction to U. S. Gold Decision BY A. G. GARDINER. LONDON, _ April 22. — President Roosevelt's bolt from the blue, coming on the same day as the culmination of the Moscow espionage trial of Brit- ish engineers, has bewildered press and Public alike in England. The shock caused by America’s aban- donment of the gold standard was wholly ~ unexpected, although - the strength of the inflationary movement in the United States was recognized. It was commonly supposed, and it is still believed in banking circles here, that America's holdings of free gold were amply sufficient to withstand the sudden rush of withdrawals consequent upon the recent wave of distrust. On Tuesday, as the London Daily Telegraph remarks, when the Wash- ington Government gave licenses for the export of $10,000,000 of gold to France, it seemed likely that President Roosevelt and his colleagues took this view. Financial compulsion is there- fore ruled out as the motive for the | action in abandoning the gold basis. * % x % When Great Britain went off gold the fact was criticized on the ground that it was premature, but the Finan- clal News points out that Britain had no alternative sincé a run on the Bank | of England from abroad had reduced the gold reserve almost to the vanish- ing point, while America still has more than half of the gold currency of the world and has recovered since March 4 many millions of hoarded gold. Since the motive was not financial compulsion, it is assumed that it has political and economic s icance. Adoption of this policy on the brink of important negotiations with Premier MacDonald of Britain and Edouard Her- riot of France suggests that President Roosevelt believes, as the London Eve- ning News remarks. that the discus- sions are more likely to be fruitful if the question of ta reductions is not complicated by the gold standard. ‘The difficulties MacDonald and Herriot, in view of the changed situa- tion, are much commented on. It is ble now that MacDonald may be laced by Roosevelt with the formidable suggestion that Britain must return to [the gold standard as the only alterna- tive to chaotic world-wide competition in the devaluation and depreciation of currencies. Even though faced 50 grave a dilemma, says the Daily Tele- graph, MacDonald cannot promise to grant such a demand unless he re- ceives assurance that conditions under which the gold standard could work smoothly will with reasonable certainty l:‘e provided by international co-opega- jon. * x kX% It is naturally assumed that President Roosevelt, who is regarded as a sound currency man, has not taken this mo- mentous step without full consideration of the corollaries involved and as an organic part of the Washington delib- erations preliminary to the World Eco- nomic Conference. In this respect the opinion widely prevails that his action indicates not merely a domestic expedi- t but a new orientation on the part America toward world affairs. As to the effect of this policy there is & wide disparity of views. A period of bewildered confusion is anticipated and the re| ions on countries still ef- fectively the gold standard, as France, Holland and Switzerland, or nominally on the gold standard, as Germany, Belgium and Italy, are awaited with anxiety. The general im- pression is that these countries, espe- cially the former, will find it difficult to resist the pressure to follow Ameri- ca’s example. Some experts, notably the managing gloxvct?r o“c‘th:‘ eat Midland Bank, not anticipa e more gloomy con- sequences that are bem‘: forecast, but none ventures to guess where the pound Fifty Years Ago In The Star In The Star of April 16, 1883, is printed the following dispatch from Terrible Tale Fort Worth, Tex., wmch,h“;hougF it ‘was sul uently de- From Texas. Tio, o o0ty caused considerable alarm lest similar happenings might occur elsewhere: “A dispatch from Willlams' Ranch says that about 2 o'clock Sunday morn- ing a great meteor fell in the outskirts of the town, killing several head of cattle and destroying the dwelling house of Martinez Garcia, a Mexican herdsman, who, with his family, con- sisting of a wife and five children, are buried beneath the ruins. In its de- scent the meteor resembled a massive ball of fire and the shock was similar to that of an earthquake. It is still hot and steaming. It is imbedded in the earth probably one hundred feet and towers above the surface about seventy feet and covers about one acre of ground. The concussion was ter- rific, nearly every window in the town being shattered. People were hurled violently from their beds and goods in the storehouses were thrown from the shelves. No lives were lost as far as known—except the Mexican herdsman and his family, although several build- ings fell to the ground. The cattle fled in terror in every direction. The air was filled with a sulphurous gas. The wildest confusion prevailed, as it was a long time before anybody could even conjecture what it was. This is the largest meteor that has ever fallen and it has already been visited by many peo- ple and will doubtless continue to at- tract great attention for months to come. It ‘has”occasioped great ex- citement, not only here but all over the surrounding country.” The next day's Star contains the fol- lowing dispatch from Fort Worth: “Telegraphic inquiries have been made during the past twenty-four hours about the accuracy of the special re- port that a large meteor fell near here doing great damage. Careful investi- gation shows that the story was utterly baseless.” * * “An impression prevails in some quar- ters,” says The Star of April 20, 1883, Electric Wires oo ‘notiers ‘oo erty holders have On Housetops. given permission to have a telegraph, telephone or electric light wire at- tached to the roof or other portion of their premises and permitted it to re- main there for a while, it may not be removed therefrom without the con- sent of the other party interested. It is likely that corporations owning or using such wires seek to have that view prevail, but the doctrine does not stand the test of actual trial. In other words, it may be good theory for the wire own- ers, but it is not sound law. At least, it is not in Connecticut, and it is not likely to be anywhere else when once fairly tested. Not long ago the tele- phone company asked a Hartford man's permission to put its wires for a few days on his roof. He was very glad to oblige the company, but soon discov- ered that it was disposed to°repeat the ble of the camel that got its head to the tent. After a month had passed, the house owner notified the company to take off its wires, and when it neglected to do so, after waiting & further reasonable time, he took his ax and cut them away. The company sued him for malicious injury, but the judge charged the jury that the owner of the house had as much right to the use of Kis roof as to the use of his parlor, and in a very few minutes the jury brought in a verdict for the de- fendant.” war dm:w America in gold after both W] sterling and the dollar will finally stand vh’x!'rel‘a‘um each to the othe The felt in countries other | def tly affected by the il barrassed by val German efforts at self-sufficiency in the production of fats, oils and cil cakes by sharp increases in the tariff duties, to a practically prohibitive extent, on lard and seed cake The German government has thus curtailed German demand - here and in the Philippines, while at the sam: time quota restrictions have steadily re- duced dairy ucts from Denmark, Holland and Belgium. In turn, these countries, having more of their native the United States. the pound uj extensive manip- e poendity by gold p- * x k¥ is undeniable, however, that the countties have forsaken their attach- e nange Eaualzation Fund and ish Ex jual lon other holders of dollars will suffer by the depreciation of their holdings. Finally, the British prime minister on his arrival in Washington is confronted with a new situation, of which he had not the slightest inkling when he left these shores. ‘What is feared is a disorderly race in currency depreciation and further con- fusion in chaos of world affairs. Many commentators take the view that America’s action has placed & new ob- stacle in the way of summoning a world conference which will require all the resources of statesmanship ull disclosure of th