Evening Star Newspaper, May 24, 1933, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C ‘WEDNESDAY.....May 24, 1933 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 11th_St. '"Hn%fi:-m Ave. . an . New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. e Do 14 ‘megent Bi. Londons Rate arrier the City. e Wi 4“‘!}6! gflnth 60c per month T +++..65¢ per month 4 per copy month. ephone Orders ma: NAtional Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virgima. 10.00; 1 mo.. 85¢ Bally shy SomieT 08 1me: Sunday only . 34.00; 1mo.. 40c All Other States and Canada. Dally and Sunday...1 7. $1200: Daday oy 1yr. 35.00; Member of the Associated Press. e Associated Press is exclusively entitled 10 ime it ToF Tepublication of sli news dis- tches credited to it or not otherwise cred- ted in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of Special dispatches herein are aiso reserved = imo. S0c The Securities Bill. For ten years or more there has been & rather persistent effort to obtain leg- jslation for the District of Columbia, comparable to the “blue sky” or fraud laws of many other jurisdictions, offer- ing the purchaser of securities some protection against the cat and dog fssues and those of doubtful merit that have found a happy hunting ground in Washington. The need for such legislation has been unusually pressing here, because the surrounding States have protective laws. This fact alone served to make possible the sale of worthless securities in Wasbington that could not have been offered to the investing public in other localities. There are two kinds of laws regulat- ing the sale of securities. One of them, commonly known as a “blue sky” law, aims to require what amounts to tacit approval of the issues by some regula- tory agency before they can be sold, while the other, the fraud law, requires licensing of salesmen, permits the sale of any security, but gives the district attorney authority to obtain an injunc- tion stopping such sales when evidence has been obtained casting suspicion on the issue. In Washington there has been & division of effort, one group fa- steel and stone, and many of them are longer and higher. in some manner indebted to the genius of John A. and Washington Roebling, of what a contemporary orator called itself.” they are the creation of co-operating, Peiping, which was reached by the/ in human apnals. Granted that much of the alteration has been questionably wise and that much of it has been ephemeral, enough authentic gain has been registered to justify the tribute implied in the phrase “fifty years of progress.” The Nation, even in a sea- son of depression, is vastly richer now | than it was in 1883; cultural develop- ment has prospered,, mechanical science has expanded beyond all visionary an- ticipation, and there has been a spir- itual growth among the people meas- urably adequate in the circumstances. The river and the bridge remain. Over them pass federated millions in the | long parade out of the past into the | future. Like Walt Whitman, perhaps they “hear America marching.” Other bridges have been constructed | since the Brooklyn span was framed of | But each has been father and son, who, against a back- ground of Hegel and Emerson, con- ceived the Gothic towers and reaches “g durable monument to democracy Such fabrics, it is obvious, may be erected only by and between friends; friendly minds. BoWviewed, they are symbolic of the mutual interest, the neighborliness, the liberality and the rationality which are inherent in the best ideals of civilizajion. ——— Japan and Peiping. In case Japan occupies Peiping, as| now seems imminent, a peculiar and difficult situation will arise in respect to the foreign representations there established. For diplomatic purposes Peiping is the capital of China. When the political or administrative capital was removed to Nanking, some half a dozen years ago, the foreign powers elected to maintain their legations where they had been located for many years previously. The reason for this was that greater security was assured in the northern city, which is more easily reached from the sea than Nanking. The experiences of 1900, when the Boxer rebellion occurred and the legations were beseiged for many weeks, with severe losses, were too vividly remembered to perniit transfer of the diplomatic establishments to a place where succor, in case of need, would be more difficult than even at| international expeditionary force only in the nick of time to prevent a whole- voring the blue sky type of legislation while another has wanted the fraud law. This may have been the principal reason why legislation failed, although Congress had suthority to enact any sort of law it chose. In the States it has been found that either type is ef- fective 1f it is properly enforced. Where the laws have been shown to be futile the blame has rested primarily on the enforcing agency. The national security law, just agreed to in conference and sent to the Presi- dent, contains a provision which has the effect of enacting & separate law for the District. The security bill as it passed the House established Federal control of issues in interstate commerce, but the Benate inserted a provision ap- plying specifically to those sold within the District of Columbia, which was contained in the measure agreed to in conference, The District is thus doubly protected against sale of fraudulent " The new law now awaiting the Presi- dent’s signature. is a combination of some of the features both of blue sky and fraud legislation. agency is the Federal Trade Commis- sion. Before the securities to which the ect is applicable may be sold, informa- tlon relating to the issue must be reg- istered with the commission, and if ihat information appears incomplete or misleading, the commission may require its proper amendment before the regis- The regulating tration is complete. After registration, the commission has authority to call on those offering the securities to produce evidence refuting the commission’s sus- picions or complaints, or the commis- slon may bring action in the courts to enjoin further sales of the securities. There are stiff penalties provided against those who violate the provisions of the law or the commission's regula- tions for its enforcement. It might be said that passage of the law at this time constitutes an iron- ical locking of the stable after the horse has gone. But the Better Busi- ness Bureau is authority for the state- ment that the depression has not halted the sale of worthless and fraud- ulent securities in Washington and that within the past year or so thou- sands of dollars have been invested here in paper that has no real back- | ing. Aside from all that, there is dis-| tinct advantage in having the law's safeguards as protection for future in- vestors. The next boom may be only | a couple of corners away. | ——————— The next international debt payment s scheduled for June 15, the same day | as that set for the income tax install- ment. Concerning the latter there is| no thought of default or even of an argument. | e Inventions for war purposes are no | longer greatly admired. Scientific intel- | ligence is applying itself to finding | more ways to feed people rather than | mere ways to kill them. ———————— { It is at least the privilege of Tom | Mooney to reflect that while his im- | prisonment has been prolonged, it has had very few lonely or uninteresting | moments. ———— Brooklyn Bridge Jubilee. Fifty years ago today Brooklyn Bridge was opened to service. One of the structural wonders of the modern | world, its induction was reported at| detailed length in The Star of May 25, 1883. Inspection of the yellowed pages of a bound file of the paper, | carefully preserved, calls up the scene in the imagination. President Arthur attended the dedication, and included in the list of others present was Gov. Cleveland, shortly to be Mr. Arthur’s successor as Chief Executive of the United States. The bridge, no less than these eminent men, symbolized the era. ‘The half century which has passed since the two communities, New York been that of change. T, has witnessed |his time and place, to do # justioe. | jars the wearing .‘"cwmam of pace unprecedented sale slaughter of the foreign represent- atives and their proteges. Certain| changes were effected in the immediate surroundings of the “legation city,” where the diplomats are located, a large space being cleared away on three sides of the quadrangle, with the great Tartar wall standing as & bulwark on the south. In the event of the Japanese oc-| cupation of Peiping the anomaly will be presented of the diplomatic capital of China held by the forces of one of the powers with which China has now no official relations. While it is likely that Japan will be scrupulously careful to protect the legations of the other powers and hold open the lines of com- munication between them and Nanking, to which the foreign representatives are formally accredited, the effect will be of the maintenance of the legations at the sufferance of Japan, which alone of the powers will have no relations with Nanking. ‘Throughout the troubled years of the civil wars which followed the change of the capital from Peiping to Nanking the forelgn legations in the former city, which was at times closely beset by the rebel troops, suffered no great inconvenience and were exposed to no particular danger. The ‘“war lords” were careful not to trespass upon the international area or to expose it to the stress of battle. The words “Lest We Forget,” significantly painted on a fragment of the wall that bounded the British legation compound during the | Boxer siege, were well understood by the Chinese authorities, both govern- ment and insurgent. Japan was herself a sufferer in the siege of 1900, and no doubt the memory of that bifter experience has been kept alive at Tokio. Yet however careful the Japanese may be to preserve the privileges of the - foreign representa- tives at the northesn capital of China, the fact will remain in the event of occupation that the legaticns will stand on what is for the time being alien tertitory, e ———— Occasionally a man with a reputation as a plain business executive spoils the impression he has created by a seeming effort to be movie-dramatic. “The world | is a stage,” but it becomes even more complicated when contemplated as a scenario. ———— Communists are said to be planning another march to the Nation's Capital next July. That month is far enough off to make conditions possible which | will make even a Communist prefer work to walking. e The Time of Roses. Now is the time of roses, and the gardens of Washington are bright and | fragrant with millions of them. Each | is a miracle of nature, a marvel of loveliness and grace. Man, with all his skill in science, stands wondering, questioning, before the spectacle of such beauty, drawn up from dark earth and down from the ruddy sun to con- stitute living jewels breathing perfume on thorny briars. But the question is beyond an answer. The blossom which most nearly approaches architectural perfection, which most truly approxi- mates mathematical precision, defies explanation, symbolizing in itself the eternal mystery of creation. The philos- opher, however, reads the riddle when he discerns that the seeming contradic- tion, the presumptive puzzle, is really no problem at all, is actually only another restatement of the everlast- ing truth. Ralph Hodgson, in his poem, “The Mystery,” summed up the thought |y ceq’ in the lines: I did mot pray Him to lay bare ‘The mystery to me, Enough the rose as Heaven to smell, And His own face to see. But no bard ever has sung the rose with complete satisfaction. A thousand |shirt, have felt its charm, but words are not competent to tell its glory. Chaucer, Marlowe and Shakespeare, loving: the THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTOY, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. mund Waller and Isaac Watts took up the challenge with but partial success. Pope, Scott, Wordsworth, Tennyson, Swinburne, Francis Thompson, Thom- as Hood, Thomas Mocre, George Eliot, the Brownings, Bryant, Bayard Taylor and Willlam Butler Yeats in turn did their best, but how could they hope for the laurels which Keats and Shel- ey, with their magnificent romantic gifts, had falled to win? Even the great Greek singers of the shadowed past had tuned their harps in vain. Painters, too, sculptors, engravers, legion in number, have been no more fortunate than their literary brethren. No pigment ever was made delicate enough to represent the soft sheen of the petals of the rose; no pencil ever was at once sharp and gentle enough to sketch its luxurious lines. som, like the verity it signifies, is be- yond the grasp of art. But it is not beyond universal appreciation. Since time tmmemorial it has been cultivated and treasured, protected and enjoyed. Its name appears in all languages, old and new, and it everywhere denotes the same idea—the central flower of the | whole wide world; creation’s floral mas- terpiece. Late May and early June, in the vicinity of Washington, is the xoae'll heyday. But the genius of professional gardeners has expanded the season until, in conservatories at least, it circles the year. Indeed, it might be said that it runs the full span of human life. ‘There are the roses of infancy and childhood, the roses of youth and the roses of age. All are fair, all are sweet to know. — e ‘Work is said to be the best cure for sorrow, and as a practical and expert aviator, Col. Lindbergh has an abun- dance of useful occupation before him in making aeronautics an increasing factor in world economics. — e Business is certain to go on in spite of the tendency to interrupt it from time to time with conferences looking to a simplification of the rules of the game. -———— The Morgan financlers insist that they are comfortable and prosperous, but they will be obliged to have a con- sultation of business doctors just the same, ——aor—s- Prophecies are sometimes strangely fulfilled after a lapse of time. The man who sald the effect of the incame tax would prove inquisitorial was right. | - — e Hints are offered that after the Japa nese have taken the old town the Rus- sians may decide to come along and change its name to “Peipinggrad.” vt 1n spite of his aversion to the camera, Mr. Morgan demonstrates that he can think quickly, even while being photo- graphed. ——or—s. Several great financiers are remind- | ing the public that when they paint “Private” on the office door the word means something. oo Economy is recognized as a world obligation, and the reminder is po- litely offered that war is something nobody can afford. et SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Behind the Scenes. How often, as from day to day The world puts drama on display, I've wondered as to what it means And longed to look behind the scenes. The loud majestic battle song— The melodies that move the throng— Their singers admiration strike. I long to see just what theyire like. From where I sit the shcw proceeds On lines that seem to meet our need, While palaces or forests rise "Neath tranquil or tempestuous skies. Yet well T know that speeches grand Are learned with patience at command, And that the trees and castles. tall It jostled probably will fall. Behind the scenes I long to be, The wonder-working there to see. Yet my illusions still I clutch. It's better not to see too much! “Thar’s Gold in That Thar Mud.” “Isn't theré a suspicion of financial mud-slinging in this big investigation you are conducting?” “Perhaps,” answered Senator Sorghum. “But it's a glorified sort of mud—a mix- ture of gold dust and water.” Jud Tunkins says the man who uses profanity may be tremendously in earnest, but he isn't explaining what about. Superdictatorship. It is a dream of modest mirth My gentle fancy now invents. Let governments own all the earth— And let me own the governments. Belief. “To succeed,” said the earnest youth, | “a man must believe in himself.” “Yes,” answered Miss Cayenne, “but you mustn’t be too credulous.” “History,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is often generous toward those who make mistakes, provided the mistakes are sufficlently large and mag- nificent.” Adjournment. When a vacation time draws nigh ‘The Congressman will grab it— Unless he’s worked so long in high ‘That it is now a habit. “Tain't right,” said Uncle Eben, “foh a bandit dat holds up a grocery store to be able to claim even mare politeness dan a regular customer.” —— . New Shoes an Agent For Rehabilitation To the Editor of The Star: Sunday just past you published an editorial on “New Shoes.” New shoes have always been my hobby. During the 20 years I have been president of the Prisoners’ Relief ‘So- clety we have given away to needy re- ex-convicts more than 50,000 pairs of new shoes, and I am glad to join you in saying that new shoes do more than almost anything else to en- able a discouraged man or woman to square shoulders, brace up and make a supreme effort to regain lost estate. | jof Next to shoes is a hat, then a clean , collar and tie. A charitable institution can buy re- jects in new shoes at a very low and they serve in this connection as well as & shoe that has no scratches. flower, tried again and again, each in John Milton and Gearge Herbert, Ed- A reject in a shoe means the slightest ection and as & rule does not E. E, DUDDING, ‘The blos- | .| dates in June. Gardeners have their factions, too. One set is composed of those who be- lieve in much pruning, and those who go in for as little trimming as possible. Another set of opposing factions com- prises those who grow flowers to cut for interior decoration, and those who dis- like to cut 'a single blossom. Seemingly, there is no reconciling these evidenced opinions, * X ok x | It will be realized at once, however, | that these are not necessarily hard-and- | lfit beliefs, never violated on either side. The man who may believe in as little | shrub pruning as possible, nevertheless is willing to admit that there are times when shrubs do need some attention. He who likes to cut and slash, never- theless may fecl, at times, that he does too much of it, especially when he dis- covers that his snowberries, cut severely, require a complete year to look decent again, Even the gardener who preférs to leave' every single blossom on its plant will cut a bouquet upon occasion; he who wants to snip a flower from its stalk the moment it appears will be willing at times to let them be. * Kk % A vast reasonableness must imbue the man or woman who wants to get the most out of gardening. The same might be said of any activ- {ity, but it seems particularly true of | this one. And it is a very pleasant thing to say, and to believe, that no one pf these splits of opinion ever leads to overt acts, as so often similar differences do in al- most all other activities of life. The quietness of the garden carries over into the mental activity connect- ed with it. There is no rancor, no hate, no uneemly passion, but all is, or at least ought to be, calmness and “quiet breathing,” as the poet said. Every one here has his own ideas, but he is perfectly willing to let the other man have his, nor call him a fool for them. * ko ‘The other man may be right, after all. hAs ds‘tflrlnginlt; it m‘t‘;: seem. the man who differs ou, be Fight: ¥e & garden, may It is an unheard-of act in other walks of this devious life, for any one to ever admit the possibility of error on his own part. He may be willing to believe others wrong, but scarcely himself; somehow he is protected from the common la- bility toward error; he moves in a su- preme aura of rightness forever. _ Happily the home gardener is able to live and let live. It is his biggest stock in trade, in the philosophical way. * ok ok | He sees that there is an element of | truth in every wrong, and an element of fallacy in every truth. Too far one way springs the balance in the other direction. the saw and pruning shears is right, up ! to a certain point. He who does not believe in unneces- sary pruning is right—up to a certain point. He who grows flowers only for the ! garden perhaps is as far off the center jas he who incessantly clips them one by one as they bloom. : * .k % % Nowhere is a golden mean more de- sirable, and few places, one may feel | sure, is it more certainly attained than in_the home garden. Everybody's garden plans are as good as any, in theory at least. That is, they If anything more were needed to clinch speedy repeal of the eighteenth amendment it seems to be provided in the proposed inclusion in the new in- dustry control-public works tax bill of explicit direction that the additional taZes now to be levied shall be annulled the moment that prohibition repeal be oficially proclaimed. Thus a rich money prize in the form of tax relief is dangled before the Nation as an added inducement for prompt aban- donment of the noble experiment. Meantime, the three-billion-dollar boon in the guise of public works expendi- tures is dangled before the Nation as an Inducement for the country’s ac- ceptance of stiff increases in Federal taxes. The revenue section of the present combination bill looms largest in the congressional picture this week. The House will sign on the dotted line, but a tax storm seems to be brewing in the Senate. And if, as is now fore- cast, Mr. Roosevelt tosses a tariff resolution, as well, into the legislative mill there will be the makings of pro- longed controversy. From time im- memorial tariff and taxes have been the hardest hurdles for Congress to take, * K K ¥ ‘The senatorial stock market investi- Wall Street's great private banking firms on the grill, may make headlines for several months to come, irrespective of the fld{u}nment of Congress. The commitiee inquisitor-in-chief, Ferdi- | nand Pecora, estimates that the J. P. Morgan Co. hearings will occupy at least two weeks. After that comes Kuhn, Loeb & Co. and then Dillon, Read & Co. The partners in these two firms are under subpoena for various Albert H. Wiggin, for- mer head of the Chase National Bank and the Chase Securities Corporation, was served with a summons just before he embarked for Europe last week. His subpoena is returnable July 14. The Chase National Bank was under scru- tiny by the committee's investigators last Autumn. With the retirement of Mr. Wiggin and the reorganization of the bank under Winthrop Aldrich, and with the promised severance of the bank and its security affiliate and its retirement from the securities business, reports had become current here that the Senate Committee would forego public inquiry of Mr. Wiggin’s adminis- tration. In the light of the present subpoena upon Mr. Wiggin these reports that he was to escape questioning ap- pear to be premature to say the least. * Kk K x ‘There 'is a general agreement on Capitol Hill that Ferdinand Pecora is the best counsel and committee in- vestigator the Senate has had in many years. Mr. Pecora has insisted that he is “not head-hunting but fact- finding.” He does not fit the popular conception of a demon prosecutor. Short of stature, of swarthy skin, be- speaking his Italian origin; calm, col- lected and incisive in his method, he refrains from any playing to the galleries, but he is more than a match for any witness or any opposing counsel. He was born in a little hill town in Sicily 51 years ago. He was reared amid poverty on the sidewalks of New York and forced, as a boy, to work in sweatshops to aid in the support of his parents, studying law after working hours. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1909. His first adventure in politics was as a supporter of Theo- dore Roosevelt in the Bull Moose cam- paign in 1912. He backed Woodrow Wilson in 1916 and since then has been a full-fledged Democrat. He made his mark as a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office in New York City, where he served for a dozen years, first as an assistant and later as chief deputy. He led & successful crusade against New York bucket shops. The name Pecors in Italian means sheep, thority of the Senate Banking Com- mittee may find that a wolf in sheep's thing is pursuing them. * X k% ‘The bonus expeditionary army of 1933 has now evacuated Washington, without riot or bloodshed. Their 10-day en- nt, indeed, was devoid of thrill or excitement campmel shelter and ‘The man who believes in the use of | gation, now come to life again with | ., D. C, WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 1933 satisfy him, and if that is so, who else is there to please? Certainly not one whose ideas are dif- ferent. After all, whose garden is it? Here is the gardener who believes in round flower beds liberally sprinkled around. He likes 'em. Now comes this other fellow, who does not like them. The weight of garden authority, he declares, is against them. He is right, of course—but is he right for the man who likes 'em? * ok ok % In other words, it would seem much better to garden as one pleases, no matter if wrong, according to others, than to worry one’s self with an at- tempt to keep up with the “weight of opinion.” Such opinion, no matter how good, is very apt to be weighty, indeed. It pos- sesses a certain heaviness to be found in all masses of opinion forced on a reluctant mind. Freedom of opinion must be prized, in the garden as elsewhere. It is not something to be given up lightly, just because some ‘“expert,” probably self- appointed at that, announces a judg- ment. Intellectual does not come about through the mere acceptance of opinions, but rather through the build- ing up of an opinion of one’s own. * K ok x Not even intellectual studies, we be- lieve. can manifest this better than the garden. % The more one delves, the more surely he arrives al conclusion like or ap- proaching that of the real experts, the men and women who, equipped with good minds and appreciation of beauty, have arrived at conclusions, too. It is amazing how persons of similar equipment and opportunities, working on problems, come to much the same conclusions. Every one knows how often inventors, in" various lines, have made practically the same discoveries independently, as it is called. They may live half the world apart and never have seen or even heard of each other, yet in the main arrive at pre- cisely the same conclusions, which re- Thus have arisen most of the disputes about priority in the world of inven- tion, as attested by numerous lawsuits. * K K X “The little world of the garden is big enough, after all, to occupy any one a lifetime, and more if he had it. Good taste reigns there, and is amazingly the same, now and forever. If one starts with certain units and adds others to them in an attempt to arrive at beauty and its satisfactions through the things of the garden, the chances are very large that he will bulld much the same as similar cre-- ators of beauty have builded before him, and as they are building else- where, and as they will build hereafter. One need not be a great authority, |in any generally accepted sense, to be able to find his own opinions in these matters coinciding with the better opinions of the real experts, whoever they are. He will read in a book, or elsewhere, words which show him that he does not knock in vain on the door of gar- den beauty. He has profited, he knows, from using his eyes and his head. He is guided by taste, that glorious, in- tangible tangible. He is aided by com- mcen sense and his sound belief in the golden mean of “not too much of any- thing.” l WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS | a generous Government. Most of them | accepted enrollment in the Civilian Conservation Corps, and those who re- fused got a railroad ticket home and a godspeed from the Roosevelt adminis- tration. Meantime the day when the veterans' bonus certificates will be paid in full in cash is enither nearer nor further away than before. EE Progressive deflation of the Recon- struction Finance Corporation seems to be the order of the day. By executive order, the President transferred to his administrator of farm relief, Mr. Mor- genthau, all of the varied agricultural credit activities of the R. F. C. The Wagner $500,000,000 direct relief bill transferred from the R. F. C. to the new Federal Emergency Relief administrator the business of = distributing Federal funds to the States for unemployment relief. The control of industry bill, now | before Congress, takes away from the R. F. C. the business of loans for self- liquidating projects. This leaves the R. F. C. with the business of bank loans, insurance loans and railroad loans, with a rapidly diminishing volume in all three of these categories. The time | looks to be not far off when the R. F. C. will be relegated to the position of | merely a liquidating agent of the two billion dollars of loans already on its * X ok * “Hoover After Dinner” is now off the press in a de luxe edition at $5 and a popular edition at $2, a com- pilation of eight hitherto unpublished addresses made by the former Presi- dent at Gridiron Club dinners, plus a few others, notably one to Boy Scouts, one on fishing and one on Mr. Hoover’s own boyhood. The compiler was Theo- dore Joslin, who contributes a prefa- tory foreword; the publisher Scribner Sons Co. of New York. Mr. Hoover not only sanctioned the publication, but, according to ex-Secretary Joslin, it was his “chief’s” wish that these informal but humah and self-revealing utterances be preserved for posterity in book form. “Herbert Hoover has a gift of humor and a vein of whimsicality of which scarcely a hint has ever ap- peared,” observes Mr. Joslin in his in- troduction, “yet between the covers of u[us“book (144 pages) is ample proof of it * kX % ‘The untimely death of French Stro- ther, Mr. Hoover's literary secretary disrupted well-laid plans of Mr. Hoo- ver's associates for the early prepara- tion and publication of a book review- Mr. Hoover's four years in the ite House and presenting a new picture of our only living ex-President and the titular leader of the Republican party. Plans for such a book are mere- ly postponed, not abandoned. Mean- time, the collection and editing of all of the Hoover state papers and their preparation for publication is making rapid progress under the direction of Mr. Hoover's loyal lieutenant, Larry | Richey. . (Copyright, 1 ———— |More Facilities for Tennis Players Asked To the Editor of The Star. ‘Through the columns of your paper may I, as a tennis enthusiast, have the privilege to ask the Welfare and Recrea- tional Assoclation of Public Buildings and Grounds, Inc., if there is & way to increase the number of tennis courts in the National Capital? Every year I find that those who love the sport are increasing and that the present number of courts m‘x': the and those who come within the au-|Taising ? | charge sult in almost the same inventiom.|o The Spoils System Is Back in Full Force To the Editor of The Star. | ‘The historian Bassett, In speaking of the spoils system which disgraced the Jacksenian administration, says: “Most of Jackson's appointees were inexperi- enced men, many of them were incom- petent, and a few proved dishonest.” It i ‘would be well if the Democratic leaders | insugurating the same system in 1933 | would read the history of the former period. For, very quietly, but deliberately, the present administration is carrying forth its plans for filling thousands of sitions with Democrats, regardless of | ability, efficiency, or services already rendered the Government. ‘The first move was in the wide dis- semination of a published list of all positions not under Civil Service, a | publication which sold for high prices | in_such stores as managed to obtain it. The second step was the authority for “remodeling” the Government de- partments, the results of which are 10| become public shortly when thousands | of experienced, capable employes, | previously selected on a merit, and not | a party system, will be discharged. | An attempt was made to discharge all employes of thiry years' service, but the pained astonishment of millions of voters who questioned the practical re- sult has apparently mitigated this, ai- though the actual result remains to ve | observed. An attempt was then made to dis- employes cominf from those | States whose Civil Service quota was | over the requisite number allowed such | States, no consideration being given the | fact that such employes were put in office because other States, at the time their services were needed, could not fill jtheir quota, It is to the additional glory of a certain Democrat, who to save his soul refused a place on the cabinet, that this attempt may be de%:ltfid. i, e the Government departments are being “reorganized on the one hand,” and thousands of employes dropped, with a great deal of publicity being given to “balancing the budget,” on the other hand a great deal of so- called “emergency legislation” is being put through, the expenditures of which, for some mysterious reason, are not to }?e considered as belonging to the budget,” and the employes of which are not to be selected through tne meritorious Civil Service system, open Democrats, Republicans and other parties, but the appointments are to be made entirely of Democrats, backed by the statements of the State Democratic committeemen, and are to be “awards for services rendered.” ‘The holding off of the awarding of the patronage has been very cleverly conceived. Even the Democratic Sen- ators themselves failed to understand the country-wide machinery designed for their assistance and were becoming indignant at what they considered the usual rights in awarding a certain amount of patronage, 20 per cent of Government appointments having un- :fl’r}'flfl, escaped Civil Service qualifica- An indignation meeting was held of these Democratic Representatives and Senators, at which Mr. Farley was pres- ent, and those who had gathered to pro- test, emerged, not only minus protests, but if one may use a vulger term, de- scended perbaps from an anclent pork barrel, licking their chops. Until that nitude of the spoils system developed before their very eyes. yMr. Farley had evidently made it perfectly clear. It is respectfully submitted that it might at this stage be just as well to abolish the Civil Service Commission, since it will be practically inactive dur- ing the next four years—no additions to any except those bureaus created for pflnc,:qu legislation” being contem- - Secretary Wallace of the Department of Agriculture, realizing that the use of inexperienced political appointees would result in no relief for the farmer, announced that his policy in connection with the Farm Loan Bureau, organized for emergency relief, would be to speed actual rellef by using experienced em- ployes already in the Department of Agriculture, who otherwise would be by the reorganization plan. His purpose, he stated, was to relieve the farmer, and that in the most effi- clent and the quickest-way possible, and such relief did not bear the waiting to i break into work individuals not familiar with Government procedure and select- ed on only a political basis, Whereupon a representative of the House, a member of the unofficial Houss Patronage Committee, directed a protest against such action on the part of the Secretary of Agriculture, declaring that the Agriculture Department had an- nounced its intention to select personnel from the Civil Service workers now in Washington, “irrespective of what the 'D:;Intofnu on this side of the House The results of th pointed out: e Tstem may be| “Emergency legislation” | Will cost a great deal and reufve a ‘X)enw' Democrats only; the budget will not be balanced. P. T. GREEN. r——— {Work in Progress fo-r Old-Age Pension Law To _the Editor of The Star. Your story “Home From the Poor- house” in Sunday’s Star might be sup- plemented by announcing that while we have no old-age pension law for the District of Columbia, fully half a dozen bills of that nature have been intro- duced in the Senate and House of Rep- resentatives during the past few years, but none of them seems to have gotten very far toward adoption. Last year a committee was formed {rom the various civic organizations of the District to consider and sift these bills and to produce one especially ap- plicable to Washington City and one that would meet the approval of all of our citizens and be worth pushing to- ward favorable action in Congress. Washington is peculiarly situated as to needs for the poor and aged. In the first place, a large number of Washing- tonians are Government clerks and will be provided for in the future by Uncle Sam. Secondly, we will have to contend with the large fioating element that drifts into Washington as an easy place to beg a living. Thirdly, our laboring population is comparatively small, as compared with other cities or States, so flcI:L ;.:11: c‘?‘ll;il the old-age pensions act wi tly in our cif adopted. o risT The measure is covered by Senate bill No. 1578, introduced by Senator Cope- land, and House bill No. 5590, intro- duced by Representative Loring M. Black, both of them being New Yorkers, whose State was the first where legis- lation along this line was attempted, and the bills were introduced at the re- quest of the local committee. ‘The subcommittee to prepare the bill comprised Mrs. Richard Hogue, Mrs. Elizabeth T. Sullivan, Mrs. George A. Ricker, Mrs. Cherles A. Goldsmith, Lei- fur Magnusson, James F. Duhamel and Walter S. Ufford. Efforts will be immediately made to enlist the co-operation of the various civic bodies of the city in a campaign to secure a congressional hearing and early action by Congress at the coming session this Winter. JAMES F. DUHAMEL. For Government Workers To the Editor of The Star: At a recent meeting of Weather Bu- reau American Federa-. Star Thanked for Efforts|: ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. The rescurces of our free Informa- | tion Bureau are at your service. You | are invited to call upon it as often as you please. It is being maintained solely to serve vou. What guestion can we answer for you? There is no charge at all except 3 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Do not use post cards. Address your letter to The Evening Star Information Bureau, Prederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Q. Please give some information about Flag day—G. P. L. A. The original Flag day was June 14, 1777, when the act establishing flag of the United States was passed by Congress. June 14, 1851, at Hartford, Conn., was the first time Flag day was observed as such. June 14, 1877, the 100th anniversary of the original act of Congress which established the United States flag is spoken of as the first official recognition of Flag day: It has never been officially established by an act of Congress or presidential proc- lamation e¢ther than by the original act of Congress passed on that day which established the flag itself. Q. When did Wallace Reid, Rudolph Valentino and Milton Sills die?—A, A. A. Wallace Reid died January 18, 1923. Rudolph Valentino died August 23, 1926. Milton Sills died September 15, 1930. . Q. How many canaries are imported? . F. P. % I The fiscal year 103132 416,389 canaries were imported. Q. Why was Alaska purchased?— R. A. The Territory of Alaska was bought by the United States from the Russian Empire by the treaty of March 30, 1867, for $7,200,000, through the Secretary of State, W. H. Seward. There has never been any official rea- son given for the purchase other than that Russia wished to get rid of it and the United States consented to buy it because of its proximity to the North- western States. It was not realized at the time how rich in natural resources is Alaska and the price, which now seems pitifully small, then seemed too great. It was long spoken of as Sew- ard’s folly. Q. What system of stenography did = Queen Elizabeth give royal recogni- tion?—P, O. A. A system was devised by Dr. Fim- othy Bright, published in 1588 and dedicated to- Queen Elizabeth. He was rewarded with a Yorkshire living and given sole right for 15 years to publish and teach any new methods of charac- ter writing. Q. What is a hemicycle’—J. G. A. The word means half circle. It is a curved or approximately semi- circular structure, as that of some arenas of an orchestra or part of a room; hence, a wall built in that form or a painting on such a wall, as the hemicycle of the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Q. Where did the ancients get their purple dye?—W. S. A. Tt was obtained from the molluscs, urpura haemastoma and murex randaris. Q. Was_rural free delivery popular beginning?—L. P. J. time they had failed to grasp the mag- | from the '—L. A. Rura] free delivery was first sug- gested by Postmaster General Wana- maker in 1891, but it was two years before the consent of Congress was ob- tained for three experimental routes ‘which were placed in operaticn in 1896 in West Virginia. Nine months later sm;:e were 82 routes in operation in 29 es. Q. When 'does the mandate over Palestine expire>—R. E. R. A. There is no expiraticn date fixed for the British mandate over Palestine the | Ilnd the status of that country is in- d the Council leterminate, resting with of the League of Naticns. Q How is a room perfumed from & rose jar?—T. W. A. The jar should be kept closed usually, but when a room is to be per= | fumed ‘add a few drops of alcohol and leave the ccver of the jar off. | Q What is a Chinese tong?—B. B. | A. A tong is a Chinese form of se= | cret society. The word is derived from | the Chinese word meaning & hall or | private meeting place The tongs are | largely represented among the Chinese | population of America and frequently | carry on long and bitter ccnflicts. | Q. Is butter different made from dif- | ferent breeds of cows?—T. W. | A. There is no difference in the qual= |1£y of butter manufactured from the milk of two different breeds of cows, | when the diet and process of manufac~ ture have been the same. Q. What is the agaregate circulation {of all the daily papers in the United States>—C. b A. It is estimated at about 38,862,000, Q. To what church did John and | Charles Wesley belong before founding ‘the Methodist Church?—P. M. ! A. Both were formerly members of | the Church of England, which is sim= !ilar to the Episcopal Church in the United States. | e | Q. What_acid is used for dissolving | bone and flesh in manufacturing fer- illizer?>—F. 8. | . A. The Bureau of Chemistry says that sulphuric acid was formerly used considerably in the fertilizer busin in order to dissolve bone and ani flesh and convert them into super~ phosphate. Now, however, Dhate may be more cheaply ced from phosphate rock, and the bome brings a better price as bone meal in & ground condition. Q Does it waste electric current to turn an electric bulb in the socket ine stead of switching off the light?—R. E. A. It does not waste current, but is not a practicable method, since the bulb is often too hot to touch. Q. Is it possible to prepare s mae hogany-stained wooden article to be painted white, to prevent “bleeding Lhnamg of the mahogany stain?— H three coats of two or A 'Usiafi e ora.ngeahg ac over the stdin is recom= mended. Q. How large a reservation does Fort Myer occupy? Why was it given this name?—R. S. i A Fort Myer, Va, is a United States | military post, occupying a reservation of 186 acres on the western bank of the Potomac River, opposite Washing- ton, D. C. The post was named after Gen. A. J. Myer, the founder of the Signal Service of the United States Army. Q. When was King Alfonso XIII of Spain deposed?—R. E. T. A. King Alfonso XIII was deposed | April 14, 1931, on demand of the oppo~ sition leaders, who proclaimed a re- public under the presidency of Niceto Alcala Zamora, former Lil Mon- archist. Alfonso in a manifesto said he was deliberately “suspending the exer- cise of the royal power” pending a “real expression of the collective opinion of the people.” The overwhelming muni- cipal elections of April 12 had imme- diately resulted in the resigmation on the following day of the premier, Ad- miral Juan Aznar, following which the republic was established. It was con- firmed by the election of a Cortez on me 28. The Socialists had the largest 'California Gas Rate Decision Credited With National Effect Utility rates throughout the country, according to press comment, may be affected by the decision of the United States Supreme Court, susf g a re- duction in the rate for natural gas in Los Angeles, as ordered by the State Utilities Commission. It is viewed as recognition of the fact that such rates, recently, have been high in view of other factors in business. “The decision is regarded as being of far-reaching importance,” says the Indianapolis News, and that paper makes the comment: “Apparently it puts to an end the theory that utility corporations leed a sort of charmed existence, exempt from the ordinary vicissitudes of life, and that complaint of ition’ can be successfully made in the Federal courts against any attempt to base rates on reasonable valuations of property. ‘The public has - aof. underwritten the investment,’ said ‘hief Justice Hughes in the course of the court’s opinion. This sentence may be said to contain the essence of con- futation of a theory apparently long popular among utility company attor- neys and oters. In times of rising prices and valuations it wes the prac- tice of utility companies to claim all the advantages for them then of mak- reproduction value the basis of calculation of fair returns. Now that the trend of reproduction values has taken a strong turn in the other direction, efforts of the public to have this taken into consideration have been resisted.” “The court emphasizes that it sits not as a board of revision over the judgments of regulatory commissions, but only to enforce constitutional rights,” according to the Newark Eve- ning News, and that paper presents the summary of the decisicn:. “Value for rate-making purposes is a matter of judgment, not formula; both repro- duction cost and historical cost are relevant facts. Going value is not a fanciful or conjectural percentage, but o recognition by the regulatory com- mission of an element of value over and above physical value. Rate of re- turn depends upon many factors, but, principally, should be high enough to Eermn the company to continue to do usiness. Regulatory commissions may now go ahead more definitely than they ever have in the past in fixing rates. The last word of the country's highest :})un”zivu the public none the worst “The court adheres,” says the New York Sun, “to the principles expounded in the Indianapolis water cace, where 1t asserted that the weight to be given to actual cost, to historical cost and to cost of reproduction is to be determined in the light of the facts of the particu- lar case. The court said the defermi- nation of present value was not an end in itself. Its is to afford ground for, prediction to make possible an intelligent forecast of values in order that the validity of rates for the future may be determined. Estimates for tomorrow, as the court said in the Southwestern Bell Telephone case, can- not_ignore prices of today. “The d lon forecasts a reduction in utility rates throughout the country,” in the opinion of the Santa Monica Evening Outlook, which points out that expense public - generally which have not been ~ e Danbury News-Times calls it “a victory for the ” and in har- California Commission,’ tain this profit as he did when the pro- duction costs were obviously higher Here is a discrepancy that requires ad- Jjustment.” “The court’s attitude sets a prece- dent and enunciates the principle of rate readjustment,” declares the Louis- ville Courier-Journal, while the New York Times offers the conclusion that of the beh:s used for the public;’ and have allows lt.he company fo earn a fair return on that property, the court will not inter- The Wall Street Journal sug- gests that “it is comforting to see that when State commissions know their business, they can make fair utility rates, not in spite of the courts, but | with their assistance.” With a full dis- | cussion of the proper return to the | company, the Baltimore Sun brings out the fact that “in validating a reduction in Los Angeles, predicated upon a vale uation which came within what it re- garded as permissible limits of flexi- bility, the court found it ‘impossible to hold that a return of 7 per cent is so low as to be confiscatory.’” RS, |“Hoover Dam” Change An Ungenerous Action To the Editor of The Star. I am pleased to note the letter of Mr, Marvin E. Williams in Priday’s issue. Mr. Williams voices the sentiment and indignation of millions of people when he says that the act of Mr. Ickes cannot injure the generous, fine, patri- otic spirit of Mr. Hoover and that even= tually it will not aid the Democrats. Mr. Ickes’ act is small, ungenerous and petty, and is just another of those acts of the Democratic administration which are doing it no good. And I wish to emphasize also Mr, Williams’ statement that if the Demo- crats had been one whit patriotic dur= ing the last two years, measures far, far better and much less painful would have been enacted and the country well on the upgrade toward prosperity. In- stead unemployment is appallingly on the increase, according to Mr. Green's statement in your paper the other night, and the administration is adding to it by leaps and bounds for no good reason at all, except perhaps to later re-employ their own in order to build up a political machine, | which again isn't going to aid the Dem- |ocrats. This country of ours is still for the people, by the people and of the 3 The farmers say they banks and opened the saloons; business | has gone to hell and the administra- | tion is sending America after it. WILLIAM J. PETERSEN. e “Hoover Dam” and “Roosevelt Island” { To the Editor of Thc;‘ Star. ‘A letter to the editor appeared in The S{;;’::-y ‘19. "19:3.“.“B under o'fenh“d’“ . ant af Hoover Dam,” and the writer Secretary to the g ] 3 H 5 § 3 § i P ks