Evening Star Newspaper, November 25, 1934, Page 33

CONSERVATIVES IN SENATE COULD HALT LEFT SWING Roosevelt, However, Has Congress Dis- posed to Follow His Lead Blindly, Observer Points Out. BY MARK SULLIVAN. O ANALYZE the poliitcal com- plexion of the Congress that will meet in January is less useful than is ordinarily the case. For the outstanding condition of the coming Congress is that it will be disposed to follow the leadership of the President to a de- gree that has not before existed in recent years. It seems safe to say that no President has ever had such dominance as Mr. Roosevelt is likely to have over Congress as it is now composed after the elections of No- vember 6. A majority of individuals in this Congress may prefer that the President go this way or go that— but, 50 far as can now be seen, they will follow wherever he leads. In the Senate there will be 25 Re- publicans. Of these, several are Re- publicans in not much more than the | sense that the letter “R” comes after | their names in the Congressional Di- rectory. Five are men whose views on public affairs are typified to the pub- lic mind by Mr. Norris of Nebraska | and Mr. Frazier of North Dakota, for example. By and large, these would be more apt to support radical parts of the New Deal than to oppose them. TFour more belong to the left of the| center of the spectrum of political | thought—such Senators as Hiram Johnson of California and Couzens of | Michigan. This leaves only 16 out of 96 Senators who can be described as Republican in the sense that. for ex- ample, Senator David Reed of Penn- sylvania is a Republican. Leadership Fades. Indeed it is doubtful if the number is as large as 16. Of these several are inert in conviction and not vocal in debate. Almost it could be said that there are not in the Senate 10 men whom the country would think of as Republican Senators in the con- servative sense that term has meant in the past. With Mr. Reed of Penn- sylvania defeated, they are deprived of the best intellectual leadership they had in the recent Congress, and now have no one equal to Mr. Reed to head them in debate. Thus we can dispose of the Republicans as a force in the Senate It is an odd condition: The Repub- lcans, in this month's election, seem to have cast more than 12,000,000 votes to the Democrats’ 15,000.000. That is, the Republicans cast more than 46 per cent of the combined vote—but in the Senate will have lit- tle more than 25 per cent of the body. In the electorate, 12.000.000 votes is & formidable minority. 69 Democrats. As between Republicans and Demo- crats in the Senate there are 25 of the former and 69 of the latter. (There is one Farmer-Labor Senator, | Mr. Shipstead of Minnesota, and one Senator labeled “Progressive,” Mr. La Follette, who has given that name | to the party he has recently organized in Wisconsin.) As between Republi- cans and Democrats, then, the Demo- crats are in enormous majority. But the names of the two old parties have come to have little meaning. | ‘The real division is between con- servative and the opposite of con- servative, between political right and | Ppolitical left. Of the 69 Democratic Senators, about 14 are fairly to be called radi- cals, some of them extreme radicals, some of them merely eccentrics. ‘These include Senator Huey Long of Louisiana, who thinks of himself as a potential “man on horseback” of almost the French revolution type; Theodore G. Bilbo of Mississippi, & somewhat less forceful and less re- | sourceful Huey Long: Lewis B. Schwel- lenbach of Washington, who seems to be more Upton Sinclair than Sinclair himself; Rush Holt of West Virginia, whom the conservative Democrats of that State think of as a Socialist, and #0 on. To say there are 14 Demo- crats in this category of radicals and eccentrics is probably an exaggera- tion. Fifty-five Conservatives. Fully 55 of the Democrats are what everybody understands by the classification “conservative” — such men, to mention a few typical ex- amples, as Walsh and Coolidge of Massachusetts; the new Senator Guf- fey of Pennsylvania, who will be as thoroughgoing an upholder of the right of private property and of busi ness conducted for the profit motive as the Republican Senator David Reed whom he defeated; Glass and Byrd of Virginia, both so conservative that they have vigorously and forthrightly criticized some parts of the New Deal; George of Georgia, who is as staunch a supporter of the Constitution as any man in either party who ever sat in the Senate. Some of these 55 con- servative Democrats are eminent law- yers, like Senator George. or men long distinguished in public life. like Sena- tor Glass. A considerable number, comparatively unknown to the public, have the type of mind of men who, in smaller communities, become county judges. All are conservative in the sense that they have a traditional re- gard for the Constitution, complete belief in the right of citizens to ac- quire property and be protected in the possession of it, thoroughgoing sup- port of the theory of an industrial system based on profit as a motive, These 55 conservative Democrats added to, let us say, 15 conservative Republicans make 70 reasonably con- servative Senators out of a total of 96. Conservative Defined. I have describe some 70 Senators as being conservative in the sense that they believe in the familiar American traditions about social and industrial organization. The words “conservative” and “rad- feal” are used, however, in a second sense, the sense having to do with fiscal matters. As respects inflation, as respects large appropriations for public works or for relief of unem- ployment, as respects early balancing of the budget, the ratio between con- servatives and radicals in the Senate would not be the same. Probably a little more than half the Senate would be willing to vote for certain types of inflation—though this would depend on whether business recovery is long postponed, and the temptation to in- flate therefore continues. Probably considerably more than half would vote for the soldiers’ bonus. Prob- ably many more than half would vote for large appropriations for public works or for relief of unemployment —this, again, is dependent on whether business recovery is long postponed and the reason for relief and public works continues. A majority of the Senate would vote for unorthodox fiscal measures, but not two-thirds. And the distinction between a simple majority and two- thirds brings us to the fundamental fact of all. The Senate as a whole, more than it will do anything else, will follow the President. If the Pres- ident sets his face against inflation and other fiscally unorthodox meas- ures, if he vetoes such measures or will veto them—in that event the Senate will not enact them. It takes two-thirds to enact inflation or the bonus or any other measure over the President’s veto. and there will hardly be two-thirds to override President Roosevelt on any ineasure whatever. Recapitulation. ‘To sum up: Some 70 out of 96 Sen- ators are conservative on matters in- volving radical departure in form of | Government or of social organization. | As to radical fiscal measures, probably half or slightly more of the Senate would be radical if, when the Senate is in session, business recovery is still postponed and the temptation to rad- ical fiscal measures therefore exists. But under hardly any conditions would there be the two-thirds majority that | would be necessary to overcome a veto by the President. As to every- | thing the Senate may do. every sort of measure, fiscal or social, this gen- eralization can be made, the Senate is likely to follow the President. If the President leans toward the con- servative or middle-ground course, the Senate will follow him, and be happy to follow him. If the President should take the radical course, the Senate would still follow him, though less happily, with greater violence to the Senators’ individual consciences. Since the Senate, and Congress as a whole, is likely to follow the President whatever way he leads, the question becomes, Which direction will the President take? As to that, one seeks refuge in the familiar phrase of baffle- ment—it remains to be seen. If the President should gontinue on his pres- ent course, we can know where he will be going when Congress is in sesgion, Now in Middle. For the past three or four weeks Mr. Roosevelt has been taking a middle-ground course. He has pretty clearly been disturbed by the con- sequences of a rather extremely “left” course he followed for the first 16 months of his administration. Dur- ing that early period he went on the principle, vigorously proclaimed by Prof. Tugwell and others who then were close to him as advisers, that reform must come first and business recovery could wait. More | lately he was told by his moderate advisers, and now he seems to realize, that the postponement of business recovery, the giving of right of way | to an enormous program of reforms, contained risk that too long a post- ponement of business recovery might bring wreck to his reforms. to busi- ness and to everything else. In the very recent past the President’s course has been one which seemed to say. in effect. what, if put in words, would be something like this: “We will en- courage business recovery; for the present we will give business re- covery right of way; we will not abandon our reforms; sooner or later we will enact them all: but during the near future we will try to get business recovery under way and thereafter we will adopt our pro- gram of reforms as rapidly as a growing and smoothly working busi- ness structure can absorb them.” If this is a fair summary of the President’s present position, and if he maintains it, he will have a com- fortable time with Congress, and the country should have a sufficiently | comfortable time with both/President | and Congress. | If, in the alternative, the Presi- dent should go back to the rather extreme “leftward” course he fol- lowed during the last Congress: if he should again press on Congress a large program of reform, regardless of business recovery—in that event | also perhaps Congress would follow | him, but would do so less willingly. Senate Different. | Yet this is not certain. The Dem- ocrats in the lower house probably | would follow the President any- where—because all come up for re- \fler-tlon in two years, and it would take a brave Democratic Representa- |I|ve who, looking back to the re- | markable demonstration of Mr. Roose- | velt's prestige this month, and then | looking forward two years to his own effort to get another nomination from the Democratic party locally— |it would be rare if such a Democrat would take a chance on becoming | known to his district as a forthright | opponent of the President. | But as respects the Senate the story is lightly different. We may see | shortly the virtue of giving Senators | terms of six years each. In the Sen- ate are 69 Democrats; 19 of them | come up for renomination and re- election two years from now. These, like Democrats in the Lower House, would think long before going forth- rightly counter to the Persident, knowing they must run for re-election with him two years from now. But 50 of the Democratic Senators have terms which do not expire until four years and six years from now. These 50 would be less under the psychological ~compulsion of this month’s election, more ready to take a chance that in four years or six vears things might change. Conservative Ma jority. Of the 50 Democratic Senators | whose terms do not expire for four or | six years fully 40 are conservatives. | These 40, added to 15 conservative | Republicans, would make a majority of the Senate. It is not certain, therefore, that the Senate would sure- ly follow the President in any radical course whatever. Many of the Demo- cratic Senators were restless in the recent Congress. They voted for the New Deal measures, but dic so on the understanding that the measures were emergency and temporary. In short, there is, among the Democratic Sen- ators, 2 majority of the party who are thoroughly conservative and who might balk if the President's leader- ship in the coming Congress should be as left-ward as it was in the past. Anyhow the present probability is | that the President himself in the | coming Congress will furnish a lead- | ership much less left-ward than in | the recent one. (Copyright. 1934. New York Tribune.) | Biography to Answer Charge Against Haig LONDON.—A scathing indictment of Earl Haig, commander of Eng- land’s forces in the World War, made by Lloyd George, the country's war- time prime minister, in the fourth volume of his “Memoirs,” will not go unanswered. ‘Trustees of the late commander in chief have announced that his biog- raphy will be published within a year and that it will contain stinging rebuttal of Lloyd George's charges that Lord Haig uselessly slaughtered 400,000 men at the Battle of Passchen- daele. Lord Haig stipulated that his war diaries should not be published until 1950, unless it was considered neces- lets it be known in advance that he|sary in the interests of truth. ] THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C.. NOVEMBER 25, 1934—PART TWO: - - Arizona’s Threat to War Secession One of State’s Ideas—Here’s the Inside Story of Upheaval Over Colorado River. BY IDA M. TARBELL, Famous American Author. F THE Federal Government is never again to hear talk of seces- sion in these States it must take care never again to put over such an outrageous injustice as that which the bill authorizing the Hoover Dam appears to inflict on Arizona. Congress seems to have thought that because Arizona was weak in num- bers there would be no comeback. She failed to reckon how great the State is in spirit. She also failed to reckon with the kind of women you find in Arizona. I first heard talk of secession in Arizona three years ago—a hint dark- ly dropped at a dinner table, but laughed off. Inquiring into it later, I was told, “It may be too late to stop the big dam, but they will never put one through at Parker. Nellie won't stand for it!” “And who was Nellie?" I asked. 1 soon had my answer. The Legis- lature was in session &t that moment. and I was reading the animated re- ports of its doings in the Tucson Press. | Nellie—Mrs. Nellie Bush. to be more | formal—appeared frequently in those reports and always to her credit. You were not long in finding out that she was & person to be reckoned with, no | matter how big her opponent, even | # he were Uncle Sam himself—that | is, providing she thought he was at- | tempting to swindle. Arizona. Mrs. Bush, I found, was one of | seven women in the Legislature at that time—the dean of them—then in her sixth term. Officially she was the lady from Yuma. Now Yuma is a huge territory at the southwest corner of the State. It is separated from California by the | Colorado River, and it is on this river at the town called Parker that Nellie Bush lives, and it is there that for many years she has run a ferry. It is there that “war” between the United States and Arizona was re- cently threatened. Mrs. Bush's de- votion to this ferry and the profits thereof are well enough known to all Arizonians, and there was very gen- uine admiration expressed for her when she came out in the Legislature, the time that I was following it, with a bill to put a bridge across the river at Parker. Now that bridge would have done away with her ferry, but as she argued, “Travel across the river has become too great to be properly | taken care of by a ferry, therefore we must have a bridge.” Why Bill Passed. The bill was passed because. as one of the legislators said. “I admired her | for fighting for her people at her own | expense.” As fine as this was, Nellie Bush soon | did ething that was still finer in my y of looking at it, something that really touched me very much. For. finding that there was not money enough on hand in the State to build | her bridge—which you must remem- | ber was a real feather in her cap with her constituents—and at the | same time to take care of what wes | called “The Barefoot Boy Bill"—a bill | extending opportunities for vocational | training—she told the legislators: | “You have just voted me $75.000 for my bridge, but something for the hildren is more important. If we can't | have both T'll give up the bridge.” Now that is the kind of a person she is and that is what makes her stand today against the United States building a dam across the Colorado River at Parker so worth attention. If she were for herself first, or for ‘Yuma first, she probably would be for the dam; new big local developments generally dazzle those of narrow views and flabby consciences; but Nellie Bush is not that kind. She is for Arizona first. But why were they all so stirred up about the possibility of the United States building a dam across the Colo- rado River at Parker? Why were they all so indignant that the United States should be building the Boulder Dam? I conld not understand until I foliowed the advice of one intelligent woman to look at the map and form my own ideas of what the United States was doing. ‘Well, a little study of the map of the Colorado River from source to mouth made me entirely sympathetic with Arizona’s anger and not a little curious about the political procedure which had “convinced” Congress. Look at the map yourself, and see if you | do not share my sympathy with Ari- zona—also my curiosity about the deal! ‘There are seven States “on the Colo- rado,” that is, seven States which rightly have something to say about its waters: ‘Three of them, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, because they furnish it water; ‘Two, California and Nevada, because it separates sections of their eastern boundaries from Arizona—they give the river little water and no part of it lies within their territory; One, Utah, becayse the river is formed in her territory by the union there of two of her largest rivers, the Green and the Grand, also because some 150 miles of the river, as the crow flies, is within her territory; One, Arizona, for all three reasons— she furnishes more water to the Colo- rado River, it is claimed, than any other State—the river forms her west- ern boundary for some 500 miles, and also, most important, 350 miles of it are entirely within the State—350 miles along which are, I am told, sev- eral possible sites for dams, Now Arizona has alwayr looked on | A | United States investors, recently were | described by Jose Tercero, Mexican | in’ return '$16,000,000, thus giving it MRS, NELLIE BUSH, WHO HAS LED THE CAMPAIGN OPPOSING THE NEW DAM. —PHOTOGRAPH the Colorado as her greatest future | natural resource. The river would be | there to irrigate her deserts and give her power long after her mines were exhausted. She hoped to develop the sites along the Colorado River within the State. a series of dams, as the Salt River has been developed. The famous Roosevelt Dam, one of the two greatest in the country. first impounds the waters of the Salt River. Below it are three more dams using the same water for power, and this water, when it finally runs out, is used to irrigate the Great Valley. in which the city of Phoenix stands. “That is the way we must develop the Colorado,” said long-headed Arizonians. But some 14 years ago California began to fear that the Colorado River | might, in case of an exceptional flood, | overflow and destroy the portion of the | Imperial Valley which the Govern- | ment had made fertile by irrigation. | It was by no means an unreasonable | | fear, since the river carries awful vol- umes of water at times and since the Imperial Valley lies below the river | level and in its track in case of over- flow. To ask Congress to dam the | waters that this danger would be averted was proper enough. I never | { could do the BY CHARLES PHELPS CUSHING. control, although I have heard more than one declare the danger was greatly exaggerated and hint that the upshot of the matter proves that flood control was an excuse rather than a reason. However, if I were raising vegetables for a living in the Imperial Valley I'd certainly feel safer if the Colorado were on a leash! California had not been long at the problem of protecting the Imperial Valley from floods when she began to figure how she might use the river | to develop power to light Los Angeles and vicinity—how she might still further use it to irrigate still more land in the Imperial Valley. She first if she built a di- version dam at Parker, Ariz: she could do the second if she built still another diversion dam at Yuma, Ariz. The upshot of the matter was, to be brief, the passage of a bill by Con- gress, the Swing-Johnson bill. which appropriated $165,000.000 to build a dam, not in the upper reaches of the Coloradoe River, thus leaving op- portunity for a succession of dams (Arizona’s plan and a plan by which | floods could be perfectly controlled); | but at the lowest point, a point on | the border of Nevada and Arizona, a dam which will flood back in such heard any Arizonian objecting to flood ! TREACHERY BEHIND LOSS ON LATIN AMERICA BONDS Market Stimulated Promoters as Southern Republics’ Politicians Misrepresent Conditions. BY GASTON NERVAL. IRCUMSTANCES which led to default on foreign bonds by all but three of the Latin American countries, with consequent heavy loss to economist, before George Washing- ton University's seminar in current Hispanic American affairs. According to Sénor Tercero, un- scrupulous United States promoters and corrupt Latin American poli- ticians combined to misrepresent financial conditions in the Latin American countries in order to create and stimulate a market for foreign bonds. He cited in this connection the example of a certain Caribbean republicc. The agents floating its bonds pointed out that that country sold to the world in the period of a year $32,000,000 in goods and bought a $16,000,000 favorable trade bal- ance—an ideal situation for guar- anteeing & bond issue. What the promoters failed to mention was that the $32,000.000 export figure repre- sented -wealth controlled entirely by foreign interests, whereas the $16,- 000,000 of imports were paid for out of the pockets of the peaple. The “favorable trade balance,” therefore, 'was entirely fictitious, and the country in reality was in no condition to guarantee a large foreign loan. Simi- lar conditions obtained in most of the Latin American republics during the period when huge bond issues were floated. Obviously, these things will have to be avoided in the future, if pan-Amer- icanism is to succeed. But how to avoid them? Those who listened to Senor Tercero probably were remind- ed of the method advised some time ago by Senator Hiram Johnson at the conclusion of his sensational in- | formation to be filed with the Com- vestigation of Latin American debts. by Unscrupulous Senator Johnson introduced three bills | to regulate the flotation of foreign bonds. The first required full pub- licity for all proposed loans, the in- merce Department. The second pro- vided for the establishment of a Fed- eral Foreign Loan Board with power | to scrutinize all foreign-loan proposals and reject them at its own discretion. The third imposed stiff penalties for any one floating the bonds of a for- eign country already in default to the Unitéd States. Senator Johnson, as he himself told the Senate, “would make the Govern- ment the arbiter in the offering of foreign securities.” This hardly seems the proper cure if one considers the dangers and the political complica- tions which it might involve. It may be a cure even more dangerous than the disease. In the first place, the charges of “Yankee imperialism” and “dollar diplomacy,” which have been so fre- quent in the past, would find encour- agement in the power given the State Department to say the final word on loans and credits to Latin American governments. Would not private foreign finances appear thus supervised in this coun- try by the Washington authorities? On the other hand, would the states- men at the White House and the State Department be able to convince the world that they were completely immune to the influence of the Wall Street magnates, whose financial oper- ations abroad they had to pass upon? ‘Who could deny the perils of such close interrelation between politics and finance? Let us only mention two typical and opposite examples. Let us suppose that there is a Latin, | American government which trf | United States does not recognize, 1 view of e treaty provisions. Let us suppose that such a govern- (Continued on Fourth Page.) | schemes, THE PROPOSED —THE IMMEDIATE ZONA'S “WAR.” SITE OF PARKER DAM CAUSE OF AR a way, so engineers tell me, as to de- stroy all, or at least the best, sites in Arizona, making it impossible for her ever to use the water of the 350 miles of river running within her borders. Why should Congress have con- sented to such an arrangement and . 1 sup- | to the diversion dams as well? pose that it was because California had the trading power to get what she wanted, at least, the bill which provides for the Hoover Dam makes | arrangements for giving some 66 per cent of the power generated to South- ern California and also allows $36.- 000,000 to build a canal from near Yuma to the Imperial Valley, “an all- American canal” for the present i rigating canal taps the Colorado River | in Old Mexico below Yuma and flows through a part of Old Mexico before | it reaches the Imperial Valley. This new canal. 75 miles long and in places nearly 300 feet deep. cuts through tremendous sand dunes. It will redeem the desert to produce more vegetables, although the Im- perial Valley hasn't a market for all she raises now. Another of our “eco- nomic monstrosities”—developments to produce what can't be used—an- other surplus factory. At least that is what irate Arizonians say. However, Arizona is going to have her chance to dispute the “all-Ameri- can canal” as she is disputing the one at Parker, for its eastern half will have to be in her territory. It looks now as if the negotiations nec- essary will be stormy, whether by that time Arizona is in or out of the Union! There is another side to it. The United States is spending $35,000.000 | on the theory that the Imperial Val- ley will pay it back. It doesn't seem probable, so say the Arizonians. sinee the Imperial Valley irrigation district hasn’'t yet been able to pay interest on its outstanding bonds. In the judgment of not & few sober and in- formed observers of our big irrigation they never will pay the charges and eventually the United States will cancel the debts. Still another possibility in the Hoo- ver Dam which gives irate Arizonians satisfaction is that by the time it is finished Los Angeles and vicinity will be getting cheaper power by using natural gas. That is. they argue that while in 1920, when California made its coup. hydroelectric power had an advantage. practically all that advan- tage is already wiped out in the Los Angeles area. and they sigh with con- tent as they tell you: “There is good ground to believe that the Government will never be repaid for the cost of the Hoover Dam. After all is said and done, it means simply that the Government is building a municipal waterworks and a municipal power plant for Los Angeles, while the ‘all - canal’ is being built for the advan- tage of real estate speculators who hope to unload thousands of acres of desert land on a gullible public.” Sour grapes? Time will tell. But who can wonder at Arizona? Congress has arranged to spend an immense sum of public money to give to California at least 66 per cent of the water of the Colorado River, leav- ing Arizona about 18 per cent and the rest to Nevada. Look at your map and call it just if you can. Appeal to Supreme Court. Arizona was “mad” — properly enough—after Mr. Hoover signed the Dbill in 1929, and she appealed to the Supreme Court. “Congress should be forbidden to go ahead with Boulder Hoover Dam,” she contended. “It meant taking from Arizona something which be- longed to her. Was it not unconsti- tutional for a Congress to take the wealth of one State to give to an- other?” But the Supreme Court held that Congress did have a right to build the dam, but—most important—Ari- zona also had a right to her share of the water of the iiver. “Will the State secede?” I asked the editor of the Arizona Star after the decision was announced. “No, no,” he answered, “Arizona has submitted to the inevitability of the Hoover Dam. She has lost that battle. The dam will be built. In the future she will battle for a more equitable distribution of the water. She will never accept the present di- vision. She feels that the Colorado River is her greatest potential asset and that the water and the revenue from its development means much to her citizens a generation in the fu- ture. Arizona will be in a strong position to get an equitable division of the water because Los Angeles can- not take a drop of it for the cities of the Los Angeles basin until she se- cures permission from Arizona to build a diversion dam at Parker.” Well, the day has come when the United States is ready to build the diversion dam at Parker which is to furnish power and light to Los Angeles and vicinity, and Arizona is in arms—a woman commanding its fleet of ferryboats! No dam will be built until the State makes sure that she has what the Supreme Court calls her “share of the water of the river.” Is it possible to give that to her if a dam is built at Parker in the inter- ests of Los Angeles and another at Yuma in the interests of the Im- perial Valley? I don’t see how. It looks as if there was nothing for Ari- zona and Nellie Bush to do but just what they propose to do—fight for their rights. £ American | and Customs i This is the thirtieth of a series of weekly articles on_interesting persons and events in the National | Capital during the 80s, by Frank G. Carpenter, world-famous author and traveler The next chapter in | the series will be published mext | Sunday in The Stor. CHAPTER XXX. BY FRANK G. CARPENTER. HE New Year reception at the | White House this year was very | large and unusually gorgeous. | The diplomatic corps shone | resplendent in their court | dresses of gold lace and feathered hats. | and to my mind the costume of the| Japanese was the prettiest one pres-| Modest, and with pmuloom; ilization, the Japanese vanced wonderfully within the past few years, and they now form one of the most cultured elements of the Capital. The Chinese came out in their flow- | ing silks and their almond-shaped eyes. They passed from person to person of their acquaintance, after they had greeted the President with an exceptionally low bow. I noticed cially under the smiles of the Amer- ican ladies. The Chinese diplomats here are fond of society, and they go almost constantly. ‘The President looked very well, in- deed, as he stood for three hours and shook hands with all classes, from the prince to the beggar. He wore a close-fitting Prince Albert coat, with a red rose in his buttonhole. Presi- dent Arthur is in his element at a r ception of any kind, and he has done | the honors of the White House better | than any President since the days of | James Buchanan. His form helps him to make & good appearance. He is fully 6 feet tall, and his frame is symmetrically filled out. He stands as straight as a Norwegian pine, and | his long connection with society en- ! ables him to move his hands and feet | as thought they belonged to him. He | leaves Washington popular in social | circles. his administration will be | long remembered for its brilliancy and ease. t George Bowie. A story I heard last night related to George Bowie. the inventor of the Bowie knife, or “the Arkansaw tooth- | pick,” as it is also called. It is said that Bowie was as gentle and chival- rous as he was brave and regardless of human life. One night years ago | he was riding in a stage, going west toward Ohio. on the old National Pike. A poorly clad woman and her little boy of about 10 years were the only passengers. Bowie did not speak to them, but wrapping himself up in his coat, slept as well as he could under the jolting of the stage. An hour later a big, burly German entered the coach at a way station. and immediately took out a clay pipe, which smelled as though it had been smoked constantly since the days of Sir Walter Raleigh. He filled it with | tobacco of the vilest byand and began to puff away. The stage was soon | filled with his exhalations, and the | smoke began to make the woman sick. She opened the window, seek- ing relief from the fresh air which poured in. But the weather was bit- ter cold, and she soon had to close it. She then asked the boy to beg the man to stop smoking. This he did, but the German loudly said: “If the | old woman don't like it. she can get out. I paid my passage and I will smoke as I please.” | In the meantime George Bowle had | been awakened, had seen the whole procedure. As the German uttered these words, Bowie put his hand at the back of his neck, and drawing out one of the famous bowies, said | coolly: “You are mistaken about your | smoking. You will put out that pipe at once and keep your mouth shut or by the Eternal I will run you through the heart! I would have you understand I am George Bowie, and George Bowie means what he ‘With that he slowly began to ad- vance his knife toward the German's stomach., and the man frantically threw his pipe out of the door and begged for his life. During the next half hour the German said nothing. but he looked pale. As Bowie thought | over his action and noted the sick- ness of the woman, he grew still more angry. At the next station he forced the smoker to get out of the stage and ride with the driver for the rest of the journey. i The Social Season. ‘The weather here for the past week has been more like June than Jan- uary. The grass is green in the parks and men are going about the streets without their overcoats. full of people, and the social season is in full blast. Every afternoon Penn- syivania avenue is crowded with car- | riages with drivers in livery and on the fashionable streets of the north- western part of the city, the Presi- dent, members of his cabinet, and others of the elite of Washington may be seen daily. The President has a stylish turnout. His livery is a light drab with big buttons; he has a coachman, who wears a big plug hat, 1 man with a smaller plug who sits on a seat at the back of him. The Pres- ident is thus sandwiched in between his two servants, and as far as the style of dressing is concerned the servants look the more gorgeous of the two. and his turnouts will compare favor- ably with those of any of his predeces. sors. A look at the one he rode in yesterday recalled to my mind the story they tell of John Tyler, who, it will be remembered came to the White House through the death of a President, elected by the people. Tyler was fond of a fine turnout, but his pocket was not deep enough to cor- respond to his tastes. One day a lead- ing member of the diplomatic circle was recalled from Washington, and his magnificent establishment had to be sold. An important part of this was his carriage, which was at the time by all odds the finest in Wash- ington. Tyler had looked at it many times with longing eyes as its owner had driven it up and down Pennsyl- vania avenue and as it stood now and then in front of the White House. He feared. however, the criticism which was sure to attend the buying of any- thing by the President at auction and called his coachman, with whom he regard to it. The coachman liked the carriage, was anxious that Mr. ‘Tyler should buy it. “But Pat,” said ‘Tyler, “what will the world say at the President riding in a second-hand car- riage?” “they will say nothing about it at all, at all. You know, you are a second- hand President, anyway, and it scems to me nothing could be more fit.” Whether the President bought the car- riage or not the report fails to state. K] that they enjoyed themselves, espe-| The city is | to drive his barouche; and a little foot- | President Arthur has good carriages, | was familiar, to advise with him in | “Och! your Honor,” was the reply. | D3 ISOCIETY IN WASHINGTON DURING THE EIGHTIES Carpenter Describes Social Manners n the Nation’s Capital Fifty Years Ago. A curious office-seeking letter was sent to the Hon. Samuel 8. Cox of New York this morning. It was with- out punctuation marks and its writing is crude and hard-fisted. It reads as follows: New York Jan'y 7 1885 Hon 8 8 Cox Dear Sir In 1869 or 1870 I was a pupil in a Grammar school in W 17th St and in_an old-fashioned spelling match I won the first prize which was presented by you the prize was your book “a search for Winter sunbeams” presuming on that ine cident I ask you to use your influ- ence to get me an appointment in the Railway Mail Service I am an ex-Letter Carrier therefore have some knowledge of the business By your kindly conferring the above favor You will oblige Your humble servant XYZ This is but a sample of thousancs of queer letters which come to Wash- ington daily. If Bill Nye, Josh Bil- lings, or M. Quad could have access to the congressional correspondence they would have little trouble in maintain- ing their reputations as fun-makers. Social Standing. Washington society is a curious | medley. You meet many persons in Washington society whom you would not think of inviting to your dinner table at home. Official position to a large extent determines social stand ing, and many a family which mov in the second or third rank in the society of their own State are ele- vated to the first rank here. Some of them have been socially ostracized | for their scandalous actions in their native towns, but Washington never bothers itself about the skeletons in its inhabitants’ closets, and Lucifer | himself would be welcome here if | he would dress well. keep his hoofs hidden in patent leathers and his tail out of sight. It is curious how people go up and down in Washington society. Sena- tors and the sort of Congressmen who come here for life, if they want to, are the only ones who have any permanence. The party in power and its friends regulate the standard, 'and a change of party means an almost entire change of society. Twn years ago Mrs. Keifer was the great lady of the Capital, because of her husband's position as Speaker of the House. Now you hardly hear her name. Last year Mrs. Speaker Car- | lisle took her place and Washington snobbishness bowed to her as did the courtiers to Queen Elizabeth. Next year there will be a new lady in the White House and the short-haired of the land will rule the social world of Washington. Cleveland's sister is said to be a strong-minded woman, and. if so, Susan B. Anthony. Cady Stanton and her set will be in ths | foreground of the picture. Woman's Suffrage. Susan B. Anthony tells me that woman suffragists are not opposed to religion, as has been stated. The movement has nothing to do with either politics or reliigon. It em- braces all denominations and is in- creasing its scope every year. Espe- cially in the West is it growing and | the world may expect to soon hear of the election of a female judge in Washington Territory. Miss Leila Robinson is her name. She is a pretty Boston girl who studied law there and has gone West to practi Miss Anthony expresses herself well satisfied with the last conven- tion. She hopes to get her bill be- fore the Senate this year. I asked her if she could state any period at which she was confident woman's suffrage would prevail, but she would not commit herself. She tells me among leading friends of the move- ment in the Senate are Hoar, Palmer, Van Wyck, Blair and Masterson. The great woman's leader is look- ing well. She seems to grow younger as her years pile up. She is now 64 years old and her face is no more wrinkled than when she was 50. Her hair has a few gray strands mixed with its black and she combs it down over her ears in an artistic curve and winds it up into a good-sized waterfall at the back. Her com- plexion is dark, her face thin and its features are more like those of a man than of a woman. She ha- kindly blue eyes, a large mouth and a pleasant voice. She talks easi and is an accomplished conversa- tionalist. Susan B. Anthony puts in | her full share of work every day writing letters, seeing Congressmen | and Senators, and pushing her move- ment in every way. She is a quiet woman. There is no bluster no- | snobbishness, nor desire for notoriety {in her make-up. She believes in woman’s rights and, because sh- really believes in it, she is devotinz her life to the cause. She migh | have made a fortune on the lectur- platform or a great reputation as lawyer. For Miss Anthony has reall a great mind and she knows how tn | use it. But she prefers to devot~ { herself to woman's #ffrage, and an- | poor woman with 11 children wh ! thinks that Susan B. Anthony he an easier life than hers is mightil mistaken. Prof. Alexander Bell. Contrary to the current reports, | Prof. Alexander Graham Bell does not think that the time has ecome when telephone wires should be put underground, though he does think {that they wili eventually be so fixed. To do so will require an entirely new kind of wire and new instru- ments. Telephone stocks eontinue | to be as valuable as ever and there {are no mortgages on Milllonaire | Bell's property. | Prof. Bell has one of the finest ]hou.!u in Washington. It is situated just off Scott Circle opposite the | Windom Mansion, in which Mr, Blaine is now living, while he works |away at his book, and it is next to | the residence of Don Cameron. It | has one of the largest lawns in | Washington, having, in fact, a little | triangular park of its own. The | pressed brick of the stable on the | rear of the property is better than many of our Senators’ residences. | The whole is a valuahle piece of property. I think Mr. Bell paid $100,000 for it and it would certainly | bring as much as that under the | hammer. Prof. Bell is wealthy. It |is said that he is worth $6,000,000, {but I don't believe any one knows | the exact figure. He is & young man, | still under 50, and he has one of the prettiest women in Washington for a wife, - Mr. Bell makes deaf mutes the | chief study of his life, outside of electricity, and he has some radical .deas on their treatment. Too Close. Prom the Manchester (N. H.) Unioni Dr. Eckener says the airship will make Europe only 45 hours distant. Everything considered, that's not dise tant enough.