Evening Star Newspaper, January 8, 1935, Page 8

A—8 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY.....January 8, 1935 THEODORE W. NOYES. . .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company ‘Business Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania_Ave. cag 5 ng. Buropean Ofice; 14 Regent St.. London. Englanc. Rate by Carrier Regular The Evening S The Evening and Sun T - 60c per month 5¢ per month ight Pinal and Sunday Star. 70c per mouth ight “Final Star. . .5bc per month Collection ~made 'af "ihe "end of each month. Orders may be sent by mail or telephone National 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, aily and Sunda ¥r., $10.00; 1 mo., 85¢ aily “only. . . "$6.00 1 mo.. 50¢ Bunday only. . $4.00; 1 mo.. 40c All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday. 1 yr., $12.00; Daily only. ..... R0 Sunday only. T 1 Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively en- titied to the use for republication of all Dews dispatches credited to it or not other- Wise credited in this paper and dlso the local news published herein. Al rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Keep Politics Out of the Schools. Dr. Hayden Johnson, president of the Board of Education, is correct in viewing with apprehension any move Wwhich might lead to the injection of THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1935. v ing examples and models, if in no| Itallan relations, but questions in- more definite fashion. Prof. Baker’s career was not in itself exceptionally colorful. He summed up his record briefly, saying simply that he had been an “instructor” in Haven. His success he attributed to the development of a single idea— namely, that the arts of the theater should be included in university pro- grams and that the method adopted should be practical in character. The commercial stage, he believed, was in distress for lack of a genius of production on the one hand and a genius of appreciation on the other. Almost alone, he created both; and in the process he made himself cele- brated, loved and feared. But no outline of his endeavers would be complete if it omitted men- tion of his personal endowment. Prof. Baker loved the theater, responded to it like an unspoiled child. Not even at the end had he lost the power to see it in a glamorous light. It was mysterious, full of potential miracles which he could cause to happen. Sur- rounded by his “47” family, he had glorious fun with his box of toys. And the whole public was benefited to a greater extent than he ever had dreamed. An American, Prof. Baker’s influ- ence had something to do with re- straining alien attempts at domina- tion. He was, in effect, the native answer to the continental drive of twenty years ago. He made the writing politics and the accompanying evils of political patronage into the public school system. His temperate letter to the Commissioners, in which he dis- cusses points in reference to the bill prepared for the Commissioners’ study by Corporation Counsel Prettyman, is timely and effective. The bill will doubtless be subjected to further criti- cal analysis at the meeting of the board tomorrow, and the Commission- ers have wisely announced an open hearing for January 16, at which other interested citizens will be invited to express their views. The fundamental idea in placing school affairs in the hands of a citizens’ board is to put the school system beyond the influence of changing municipal administrations and the political pressure which tra- ditionally accompanies such changes. Our public school system is already under the power of the Com- missioners, as far as the important matters of estimate and budget are concerned. The principal change to be expected by the Prettyman bill— aside from the appointive power over the board—relates to the Commission- ers’ control of personnel. And that is where the danger of political pressure, and resulting patronage considera- tions, come into the picture. ‘The superintendent of schools is chosen by the Board of Education. With veto and directional power over the board lodged with the Commis- sioners, the position would in effect, be one for them to fill. But, in addition to the superintendent, and to the many minor positions in the schools, of plays fashionable, the production of worthy plays popular. And the host of imitators he cultivated will keep his name alive—proudly and grate- fully. s ————— “Hot 0il.” The Supreme Court has served no- tice that Congress must still continue to do the legislating for the American people. Laws must still be made in conformity with the Constitution and not by the Chief Executive or any of the agencies of the Executive which may be set up. The opinion of the court in the oil cases is salutary. It comes at & time of widespread belief that Congress had delegated, and probably would continue to delegate, many of its powers to the Executive, including its law-making powers. An executive authority that also legislates smacks of dictatorship. “We are concerned,” said the court in its opinion, handed down by Chief Justice Hughes and concurred in by seven other members of the highest tribunal, with only a single dissenter, “with the question of the delegation of legislative power.” And further the court said: “The question whether such a delegation of power is permitted by the Constitution is not answered by the argument that it should be assumed that the President has acted, and will act, for what he believes to be the public good. The point is not one of motives, but of constitutional authority, for which the best of mo- | tives is not a substitute.” The Constitution is definite. The the original selection of teachers is now made by a board of examiners, set up by the School Board within the school system; recommendations for appointment are made by the superin- tendent and the actual appointments are made by the Board of Education. The merit system goverds such selections. Now, suppose we have a superintendent selected by the Com- sioners—with the Board of Education acting as a rubber stamp—and in practical effect responsible to the Commissioners. The Commissioners, in turn, are often forced to dispense local patronage for influential mem- bers of Congress. Under such an ar- rangement the teaching staff of the public schools would offer a rich field for the cultivation of patronage seek- ers, and the protection of the merit system against politics could easily be destroyed. That in itself is enough to arouse grave doubts as to the wisdom of placing the Board of Education com- pletely under the control of the Com- missioners, as proposed in this bill. ‘The appointment of the board by the Commissioners is another matter which might be considered separately— if paragraph b of section 16, giving the Commissioners power to appoint the members of “any and all depart- mental boards within the District gov- ernment,” applies to the Board of Education. But if the appointment of the board by the Commissioners, instead of by the judges of the District Supreme Court, is deemed wise, that does not remove the mani- fest objections to making the Board of Education and other boards of citizens subject to the will of the Commis- sioners, to the extent provided in the Prettyman bill, The Commissioners and the un- represented taxpayers of the District will do well to study this bill thor- oughly before giving it their approval. It contains many good, desirable points. Whatever additional powers of legislation by municipal regulations Congress may transfer from itself to the Commissioners, the effect of such transfer promises to be beneficial to the community in expediting minor legislation and as a time-saver to Con- gress itself. But there are some pro- posals of the bill which wisely should be eliminated or radically modified, and complete control over citizens' boards is one of them. George Pierce Baker. ‘The passing of George Pierce Baker is a grievous loss to the American theater as a cultural institution. But the influence of his life will persist. 1t is, in fact, indelible. Through his labors in “English 47" at Harvard and “Drama 47” at Yale he produced & small army of followers who already have lifted the stage toward authentic esthetic significance and who in decades yet to come will continue the work so well begun. Eugene O'Neill, Sidney Howard, Robert Edmond Jones and Lee Simonson are but a few of those he set upon the road to achieve- ment and fame. And they in their turn are helping others—by furnish- A first sentence of section 1, article I, says: “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.” There is no exception, no provision for delegation of such power to the Executive. In its opinion the Supreme Court held that the Congress could place in the hands of the Executive authority to carry out provisions of the laws it en- acted; that merely to enact a law and let it stand with definite enforcing power would be the acme of futility. But to turn over a law-making au- thority to the Executive is beyond the power of the Congress. Under the “New Deal” there has grown up in the country more and more of an opinion that the Executive, imbued with the fullest concept of the public good, should take command, and that the powers of the Executive, in the name of the public good, as the Executive sees it, are practically unlimited. This point of view seem= ingly has found its way into the law- making body itself, until the Supreme Court has had occasion to call the at- tention of Congress to its powers and duties, which it may not delegate; to stiffen up, perhaps, the legislative backbone. The opinion of the Supreme Court in the oil cases stands, of course, apart from other opinions which the court may make in other cases rest- ing on New Deal laws, even the N. I. R. A, the administration of one section of which the court has now held unconstitutional. The ques- tion which quickly arises in the pub- lic mind is whether the codes of fair competition and their operation in industry may not be held unconsti- tutional. The court will decide all these matters on the facts and the merits if and when they come before it. The court, it is pointed out in N. R. A. cireles, did not pass on the constitutionality of the petroleum code itself in its opinion yesterday. But the test of that code is likely to be the next step. Many of the rules and regulations that are in effect as legislation have been written for industry under the operation of the national industry recovery act. Whether Congress has been sufficiently specific in its delinea- tion of what these legislative rules and regulations should be, in writing the original law, remains to be seen. ‘The monotonous Q. A. in court pro- cedure make the initials abundantly employed in Government seem cheer- ful by comparison. The Franco-Italian Accord. Peace in Europe has a new and sturdy bulwark in the accord reached at Rome on Monday between France and Italy. After three days of nego- tiation, preceded by weeks of pre- liminary discussion, Foreign Minister Laval and Premier Mussolini formally concluded an agreement whereby long-standing differences between the two great Latin nations are brought to & mutually satisfactory end. The pact comprehends not only issues which have gravely embittered Franco~ A volving half & dozen ether countries in Central and Southeastern Europe. ‘The accord provides, first, for col- laboration between the Paris. and | Rome governments in preserving peace and influence in Northern Africs, where her colonial interests and do-. mains parallel those of France. The European aspect of the entente mainly concerns the status of Austria. The two powers pledge themselves in effect to preserve Austrian indepen- dence—to prevent, primarily, the ab- sorption of that country by Germany through the medium of Anschluss ‘union). In addition, France and Italy become the chief factors in a pact of non-interference,- in which Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslovia—and Germany, if she is willing—will join for the purpose of guaranteeing that none of the signa- tory powers will intervene in the in- ternal affairs of any of the others. On its face, this portion of the Franco-Italian agreement would indi- cate that Mussolini has been won over | to the French attitude of opposition to revision of the World War peace trea- ties, including rectification of fron- tiers. Hungary, hitherto with Italy's tacit support, has been foremost in the drive for revision, which was resolutely combated by the Little Entente states, which were the chief beneficiaries of the partition of the old Hapsburg realm. Yet another significant result of the Rome accord is the easing of the bitter Italo-Yugoslavian situation, i & development for which the Belgrade | government has to thank its powerful French ally. In the colonial sphere France makes Italy various coveted and substantial concessions, The 100,000 Italians resi- dent in Tunis are granted extended rights, while certain strips of territory in adjacent French colonies and pro- tectorates are ceded to Italy for in- corporation henceforward in Libya and Italian Somaliland. A port and some important railway privileges are said to be included in these arrangements. Full details are lacking, but the African settlement is understood also to pro- vide for French acquiescence in Italy’s expansion plans in Abyssinia, a project that at the moment is the object of vigorous Abyssinian protest at Geneva. How the French and Italians reconcile their private “deal” affecting the ter- ritory of a fellow-member of the League with their joint obligations un- der the Covenant is somewhat obscure. With prospective improvement in Franco-German relations as a result of the Saar plebiscite and the compre- hensive Franco-Italian understanding, the new year opens with the most fa- vorable outlook for peace that Europe | has faced in a decade. It is a con- summation which the whole world greets with gratification and strength- ened hope. ——.— Reference to Huey Long as “in the dog house” causes curiosity as to whether a man is trying to bite & watch dog of the Treasury. ————r—————— After Attorney Reilly’s questioning Betty Gow fainted. There are many kinds of “third degree.” The New Deal will not be permitted to mistake itself for the same old dole. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. ‘Worth-Whileness. “I should have been a greater man,” Said Hezekiah Bings. “Lost opportunities I scan That promised brilliant things. I might have been a pirate bold And massed a glittering pile. But pirates have been hanged, I'm told— It wouldn't be worth while, “I might have had a voice inspired To elevate mankind, And fed to lions much admired For martyrdom inclined, ‘When glorious sunset skies are shown I rest, and maybe smile; The splendors that I might have known, Perhaps, were not worth while.” Responses. “You have heard many presidential messages.” “Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum. “A presidential message always affects me in one of two ways. It either puts me to sleep for an hour or it gives me insomnia for weeks.” Jud Tunkins says he wishes the underworld wouldn't keep so busy that when he gets through reading the crime testimony he’s too tired to pay proper attention to Supreme Court decisions. Geometricals. A deal that's square seems only fair, ‘The triangle we dread, ‘Which often brings domestic care Till happiness has fled. A new deal brings us joy intense, Yet theories we've found May look like circles all immense That just go 'round and 'round. Peace. “Do you think there will be peace on earth as Christmas promised?” “May be,” said Miss Cayenne. “But the sailors and fiyers didn’t promise anything for the sky and the ocean.” “Much sorrow is caused,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “by my neighbor, Hi Hat, who makes others miserable in order that he may seem happy by comparison.” Point Neglected. How does he wear his collar, How does he wear his tie; How does he spend a dollar When an audience is nigh. A statesman is inspected For what he eats or drinks; One question is neglected, None asks of what he thinks, “Economy,” said Ppcle Eben, “is sumpin’ dat & man thinks other folk ought to practice so that he won't be ’bliged to stint hisself.” THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, English for thirty-six years at Cam- ' in Europe, and, secondly, for appeasing| Are city people different? bridge and for eight years at Newhmy‘. claims for expanded terrtory| There are some who think they are, and one of the differences is this: ‘They always want to do what they want to do, just the way they want to do it, and especially at the time they want to do it. Some observers of the urban scene insist that this is a typieal city atti- tude. Maybe it helps account for the prevalent traffic situation. No doubt it is purely a state of mind. The city: separates us, and gets us into thinking mostly of our- selves. Then when we think of some- thing, we can see no reason why the other fellow will not genuinely accept | the plan. EEE The truth is that most humans need a little time to make up their minds. Especially in the city they do not like to have the plans of others thrust upon them for immediate acquies- cence. They want to be consulted. This idea of consultation is & defl- nite city idea, too. It differs from the ancient state of acceptance of what happens (just as it happens) which holds sway in country districts. Even in such a small matter as that of “dropping in” on a neighbor. The city person is more inclined to d_o this without phoning first than his country cousin. Despite the tremendous number of telephone calls made in the modern metropolis, very few of them are in regard to calling on others. It is mostly a case of “let's get in the car and take & ride” and then when that ride happens to take them past & certain home, in they come, whether it suits the convenience of those within or not. * % X X It is just a small instance of the plain fact that city people prefer to do what they want to do just when they want to do it, without particu- lar reference to others. Let us put up a plea for a little regard for these others, their mani- fest likes and dislikes, their reasons for such preferences. Surely they must have reasons! If such are not plain, let us try to reason about it and give the folks credit for knowing what they are about. Perhaps they are not eccentrics at all, but simply persons with good common sense, who do know a thing or two, after all. |¢_Here is the garden enthusiast, who knows exactly when his garden is at its height, and plainly indicates that he would prefer to have you call to see it some Sunday afternoon, when it looks its best in the sunshine. Why not give the fellow credit for knowing his own garden, and when it looks best? He is a critical chap— surely if it looks good to him, at a certain time, it will look good to the rest of us. But what do the callers do? Do they not, invariably, appear upon the scene after the prize blooms are with- ered, and almost always at times of the day when the light is not right at all? Every one with a garden to display has had this experience. Sometimes it seems that visitors will wait pa- tiently for weeks, until the perfect moment for viewing the blooms at their very worst. Such persons would resent loudly the implication that they had done any such thing, but the facts in the case against them. 4 ‘The truth is that their crime, if such it may be called, mainly of consulting their own wishes, rather than the evident desires of others. It is the city complex, as it might be called with much truth. x * % kX Few of us are free from it, owing to the fact that we live at some distance from our friends, in most cases, and do noi have them present with us at all times. ‘This is the surface explanation. The deeper reason is seated in the mind itself, that scarcely-to-be explored depth. Human beings seldom prefer to consult the preferences of others, if they can get out of doing it. City life simply makes the path easy. The fault, if it is such, must be placed on humanity, not on urban living. It is a growth of modern life. There were always persons who acted mostly as they pleased, with little reference to the wishes of others. The city makes that way easier for the average per- son. ‘The problem is recognized with all its implications in large affairs, but seldom put down on a simple basis. Putting it on such a basis brings it home to heart and bosom, as Bacon phrased it. The inclination of the strictly mod- ern mind is to regard affairs as large, momentous, weighty, rather than to think of anything as trivial, inconse- quential, simple. " This view is an offshoot of high- pressure salesmanship, as selling by making a nuisance of yourself was called. The phrase, “high-pressure salesmanship,” was itself a proof of what we here say. It was, in essence, an attempt, and & successful one for a time, to boost nuisance-selling into more public esteem. It would be better to impress the customer with a high-sounding phrase than ever to permit him to see that such & form of salesmanship was as simple as discourtesy often makes itself. No man would feel as offended at being the butt of “high-pressure salesman- ship” as of plain boorishness of ap- proach. * Xk % % Selfishness might dictate heeding the desires of other persons. It ought to be evident that if a friend plainly indicates that a cer- tain time is best for a certain viewing, such as the garden, he may know what he is talking about. If he does, the time he indicates will give the visitor the most pleasure, everything taken into consideration. It may even outweigh convenience! Just plain selfishness, then, ought to come into this' matter. Heaven knows it comes into other matters; there is no good reason why it should be_kept out of this one. Is it kept out, as a matter of fact? But the selfishness which tells one to do what he wants to do, at exactly the time he desires, without reference to the desires of others, is peculiarly urban in its implications. It means that the convenience of others is never consulted for an in- stant. Its penalty is that one may not be as welcome as if the other had been consulted. Use the telephone more, That is what it is for. Headway To the Editor of The Star: In last Friday's papers I noticed the statement that on January, 3, 1935, one hundred and thirty people were tried for traffic violations and fined $1,500. That statement should be so discreditable to the good name of the city that no one would publish it. The idea is given in the article, how- ever, that this indicates a real effort to stop the killing of people on the streets of the District. There have been even more “suc- cessful days” for the Traffic Bureau and traffic squads of the Police De- partment within the last few months, for I recall that one day the state- ment was made that $2,500 in fines were assessed. Again, what a dis- creditable thing for the District of Columbia! ‘The arrest of the average law-abid- ing citizen for a slight violation of some parking regulation (or similar, and in most cases accidental, viola- tion of driving rules and regulations 80 numerous that no human being can Temember them all) has just as much effect on stopping the killing of people on our streets as if the Department of Justice proudly recorded arresting & thousand drunks, petty thieves and similar minor offenders in an attempt to show that they were putting down the racketeer, the kidnaper and the No. 1 or 2 public enemies that have murdered their half dozen or dozen. ,The Department of Justice is making headway, not by numerous arrests, but by arresting the killer or killing the killer, ‘When the District of Columbia goes to the root of the trouble and stops the violators of the law who brought about, directly or indirectly, the one hundred and thirty-five deaths in 1934, the District of Columbia will begin to make some headway in re- ducing the death rate, * K x % Recently eleven rules were published by which the city apparently proposed to decrease the terrible death toll from automobiles. Of the eleven, not one will have an iota of effect, ex- cepting possibly the one compelling the examination of the brakes of all cars twice a year. But how many people are killed in the District each year through the failure of the brakes on a car? I have not the details of the accidents, and I am told by those who have tried to get them that they can- not be obtained. My guess is that comparatively few people are killed by cars with faulty brakes or under conditions where the condition of the brakes had anything to do with the fatal accident. Parking overtime, even improper parking, kills no people, and yet the law-abiding public of the District of Columbia is gouged out of tens of thou- sands of dollars per year Because inad- vertently they have violated some parking regulation. Of course, it is easy to keep tab on cars parking over- time, or to watch to see if some person parks a car two minutes before 9:30 am. or leaves his car five minutes after 4 pm. on streets where there are signs forbidding such traffic vio- lations, and yet 90 per cent of the time when a good citizen is fined under these conditions there is not the least inconvnience in the world occa- sioned by the parking before 9:30 or the parking after 4. But, then, they are the easiest people to get. The greatest difficulty of the traffic situation in the District of Columbia is lack of planning and building ahead. Until the traffic situation in |his the District of Columbia is directed by an able engineer of wide experience, who will organize & group and plan the development of streets inside the District and, working with Maryland authorities, the development of en- trances outside the District, traffic conjestion will get worse and worse, A Impossible Against Traffic Death Rate Till Lawless Driving Ceases There should be today—in fact, should have been 10 years ago—plans for the widening of streets, the open- ing of new thoroughfares and the study of the approaches to the city for 15 years hence, 25 years hence and 50 years hence. Instead of such plan- ning we find a condition where when some accident takes place either an- other traffic light is stuck up or a few more signs nailed to our trees or electric light or telephone poles, or another traffic regulation written. And the effect is to pile confusion upon confusion. Today the traffic signs are beginning to rival the leaves of the trees in numbers. I have always believed in being specific. If the Police Department and the Traffic Department have kept the records they should keep, they know who are causing the killings. They know the types and conditions of the cars, the light trucks and the taxicabs. They know the ages, sex, color and other facts concerning the drivers. Without all such facts care- fully gathered, the average citizen must depend upon his own observation, and 40 years of work have shown me that careful observation is most of the time better than the poorly or- ganized records kept by many organi- zations. * Kk X Nearly 15 years of continuous driv- ing on the streets of the District, many thousands of miles per year, in all conditions of traffic and weath- er, to which should be added a rather careful reading of traffie accidents, as recorded in the daily papers, in- dicates to me clearly that the great- est traffic violators are the taxicab drivers. It would seem to me that 85 per cent of all the traffic violations I have observed are caused by the said taxi drivers. For their numbers, the drivers of light trucks and delivery wagons are equally guilty, and one should not overlook the drivers of mail wagons. These classes of drivers, especially the light truck and delivery drivers and the taxi drivers, invariably start on & red light instead of waiting for the green; they cut around all other drivers at stop lights and everywhere else; they hurl themselves into a traffic line to scare the civilian driver out of his place; they drive at high speed when they have a passenger and loiter at low speed when they have none. To get passengers they stop everywhere and anywhere sud- denly and without warning; they whirl in the streets, take corners at high speed and in every way endanger traffic. Just how many accidents they are involved in I would not attempt to say. They are generally expert drivers, but their influence on the less expert driver who, exhausted, tries to get a decent break while driving among them is the cause of probably as many accidents, almost, as the taxi drivers are involved in themseives. All this could be stopped if & con- centrated drive were made by the Police and Traffic Bureaus at first one street intersection after another and with a proper campaign of publicity. Now I have every sympathy with the taxi driver, who must earn a living, just as I have every sympathy with the policeman who must en- force the law, yet good sense would teach that taxi driver that proper obedience to the law would save him time and money, because every ac- cident, however slight, costs the taxi man time and perhaps injury to his car, both of which are money out of t. I have remarked that the taxi driver an expert driver. I made that re- mark to an insurance man of this city who drives perhaps & couple of thousand miles ness and who ance business for thirty years in this city, and bis reply to r; Great Improvement oIn the Botanic Garden To the Edltor of The Star: Several months sgo I resd a letter ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN, den of Washington and at that time| A reader can get the answer to) Q. Why is the Volta Bureau for the fully agreed with it. It is about four years since I visited the old Botanic Garden and at that unu!lt vx‘l:: credit to Wasl act, not deserve thzxmnm. Last week the local branch of the National Association of Gardeners visited the gardens and I, as a member of that body, was with them. It was one of; the most pleasant surprises of my life and judging from the comments I was not the only one. Most of these men have been gardeners in different parts of the world and have seen the finest botanic gardens in Europe, but it was hard to convince them that the plants they were looking at were the same as they had seen a year or two before. Even taking into consideration the advantages of modern engineering with its heat control, ventilation sys- tem and power sprayers, the Washing- ton Botanic Garden is something of which any city or country might be proud. Any one who would like to forget these cold Winter days just step into this tropical garden and they will see something which is beautiful, edu- cational and a credit to all concerned in its construction. @HUGH MCcRAE. Americans Should Not Vote in Other Countries To the Editor of The Star: I very heartily agree with E. T. Smith’s letter in your columns, in ref- | erence to the German-Americans who have gone back to Germany to vote in the Saar election: It is an insult to all patriotic Americans for these hyphenated Amer- jcans to be allowed to vote in two countries. There is something sadly lacking in our officials when they per- mit such a thing to happen. That something lacking happens to be honor and patriotism. If we have no such paragraph in our -immigration laws it is high time we inserted one to the effect that no one should be allowed 1o vote here until he took oath of cit- izenship, and after taking such oath should keep out of the political mire and intrigue of any foreign country. I agree with Mr. Grossman that we should let European gangster nations stew in their own gore. Any person with brains and education enough to read, knows that 90 per cent of Europe is not worth one minute of an American’s time, i While tens of thousands of Colonial stock Americans are on relief rolls, these hyphenated Americans and a half million smuggled aliens are on the best of jobs here. When are we going to clean it out? What are we waiting for? PERD L. CAIN, Use Waste Lands for Homes for Workers To the Editor of The Star: The veterans as well as other citizens are a symbol of a serious problem in this country that has not been solved by Congress, the churches, the Associated Charities or the Com- munity Chest. They are Americans and represent millions who can not get work and who suffer for the necessities of life in this country of vast wealth. Handing out doles in the form of money, food, clothes, etc., does not solve the problem. ¥ There are many million acres of waste land in this country. Why cannot the Government, either Fed- eral, State, or both, build homes for workers on this waste land and have the land planted for future forests or crops. The workers could pay for| the homes out of the money they re- ceive for work. A tree crop is too slow a crop for an individual to depend upon for livelihood, but it would be an | investment for the United States or | any individual State to transform | waste land into magnificent forests. A constructive Nation-wide move- ment of this kind would furnish work for people along all lines and result in permanent wealth and beauty for the United States. BLANCHE C. HOWLETT. “You should see the terrific sums the insurance companies are paying out for traffic accidents among taxicabs.” I have referred to the inspection of brakes, and yet my -suspicion is that the vast majority of all deaths are caused by cars in good condition. In other words, it is the driver and not the car that is at fault. Nearly every writer on traffic acci- dents winds up by saying that statis- tics show, or the traffic people claim or indicate, that liquor has nothing to do with the figures in traffic acci- dents. The one who writes that is either ignorant of the effects of liquor or else is tickling himself under the seventh rib and trying to fool the public for reasons of his own. Of course, they will say that there are comparatively few drunks driving cars. I will admit that. But the man that is really drunk is not the dangerous driver of a car. The liquor causes the accidents. When the man has two or three or four drinks, who is far and away from drunk and who can probably walk straight and talk fairly straight, yet every one knows who has studied the question, that that man’s reflexes—otherwise his ability to “per- ceive critical situations quickly and act instantly”—are dulled. A car moving at twenty miles an hour is going thirty feet a second; at thirty miles, forty-five feet a sec- ond. In other words, each mile per hour adds nearly one and a half feet per second to the speed. As the speed goes up, & fraction of a second delay in applying the brakes or in steering a car away from a pedestrian means the difference between life and death, and I maintain that the man with a few drinks who thinks he is not drunk and who pr to show the world he is not drunk is a far greater men- ace than the man who is so drunk he can hardly steer a car. Now my object in writing all of this is to get down to the one thing. Traf- fic fatalities in the District of Colum- bia and elsewhere in the United States are not going to come down until Traffic Bureaus and those in charge of them go back to fundamentals, such as the proper extensions and improve- ment of highways and streets, and next going after the oonstant law violator, and then by proper publicity, showing up the kind of improper driv- ing that brings disaster. A man or woman blithely smoking & cigarette held between the fingers of the left hand and steering through street traffic with the other ought to be stopped from driving until they have sense enough not to do that sort of thing. When business men will try to. it accidents by hiring none but competent drivers instead of depending upon insurance to pay for their accidents, the accidents in the city will decreasé. When the taxi driver and the driver of delivery vehicles is forced to obey regulaticns. accidents will decrease, and when the police quit harassing good citizens by spending their time spotting psrked cars and get after the Dillingers and the Pretty Boy Evanses of street and highway traffic, then will the District of Columbia have some chance to step down from its baneful position of being one of the most deadly cities in the United States, so far as auto- mobile traffic is concerned. any question of fact by writing The Washington Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. What is the cost of the new lighting system in the Metropolitan Opera House?—G. M. B. A. The recently installed stage elec- tric system cost $250,000. Q. Does gold production increase steadily?—S. W. M. A. In 1860 gold production for the whole world was $134,000,000. It dropped to $91,000,000 in 1874 and rose to $455,000,000 in 1910 It drop- ped again during the 20s to around $330,000,000, but was up again in 1932 to nearly $500,000,000. Q. How did the drink called Tom and Jerry get its name?—W. T. A. In Life in London, by Plerce Egan, published in 1821, two char- acters, Corinthian Tom and Jerry Hawthorne, see life, much of it of a low and fast order. From their names low drinking shops were called Tom- and-Jerry shops, and eventually a| drink was given the name. Q. Please describe an Indian peace | pipe~T. D. A. The calumet or pipe of peace is about 2} feet long. The bowl is made of highly polished red marble and the stem of reed. The stem is decorated with eagles’ quills, women's hair and other objects. Q. What waters are classed as terri- toital?>—J. D. A. Territorial waters are those which are subject to the jurisdiction of a sovereign State. They include waters lying within a State, waters which are boundaries between States and waters upon the coast. Q. When did the first passenger train reach Victoria Falls?—H. B. A. On the 22d of June, 1904, the | first passenger train of the Cape to | Cairo Railway reached Victoria Falls. Q. Did people other than Kings and Queen have “fools” in ther reti- nues?—P. C. A. From medieval times till the seventeenth century licensed jesters or fools were usually kept at court, and frequently were included in retinues of wealthy nobles. Q. Is it correct to use the word en- thuse>—L. G. A. According to Woolley, the word is unknown to good usage. Q. Is the famous Russian fair still held>—H. W. A. The Soviet Embassy says that the great fairs formerly held in Nijni- | Novgorod, Russia, have not been held | for the past several years, Q. Was the building in which Ford's Theater was located ever a church?— | H R.J. A. The building was originally a Baptist Church and used as such for more than 15 years. It was used as a theater less than three years—from 1862 to 1865—and never as such after the assassination of President Lincoln. Q. Do hot water pipes freeze more often than cold water pipes?—H. L. M. A. Hot water pipes are reported to burst from freezing more often than cold water pipes. This is not because of a difference of freezing point of the | water, but is probably because the | water in cold water pipes contains dis- solved air which separates on freezing and forms slushy ice; while when water in a hot water pipe freezes, it is more apt to become undercooled and then freeze rather suddenly, forming compact ice free from bubbles, which is more apt to break a pipe. | and formed clubs. | employes who taught riding and driv- Deaf s0 called?>—A. A R. A. The Volta Bureau was founded and endowed in 1887 by Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the tele- phone. It takes its name from the Volta Prize, established by Napoleon, which was awarded to Dr. Bell by the Prench Government for his invention of the telephone, from which he re- ceived enough revenue to establish the Volta Bureau for the Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge Relating to the Deaf. Q. Did President Roosevelt ever make & talk in Quincy, II? What I have reference to was several years 2go, or was«t some other Roosevelt? I think he made his talk in Wash- ington Park.—S. E. C. 2 A. During the campaign preced- ing the presidential election of 1920, Franklin D. Roosevelt made a brief stop at Quincy, and spoke in Wash- ington Park, in behalf of his own candidacy for Vice President, that of James Cox for President, and others of the Democratic party. Q. When were riding academies first established in this country?— F.ER. A. Frank G. Menke says: “Drive ing academies are the outgrowth of public livery stables, which latter have existed along the Atlantic sea- board for 250 years. Folk who stabled their horses in the same place struck up friendship, went for rides, Livery stables had ing and the fancy places began to call themselves ‘riding academies’ in- stead of ‘livery stables’ I have tried various sources to ascertain which was first to call itself a ‘driving or rid- ing academy,’ but none knows the an- swer. The best guess is that it hap- pened in New York right after the Civil War. They were known prior to the first National Horse Show in 1883." Q. What is the method of fishing known as guddling?—F. K A. Guddling is the method of catching fish with the hands by grop- ing in their lurking places. Q. What is meant by a Messiah complex?—A. C. A. In psychoanalysis, it is a delusion that one is born to do great things, to be a sort of Messiah. Q. Who presented “Diana of the Tides” to the Nation?—T. A. A. This painting, by John Elliott, was given to the Nation by Mr, and Mrs. Larz Anderson. Q. Are mace and nutmeg the same spice?>—D. S. A. Mace has a more delicate flavor than the nutmeg itself, and is made of the fibrous covering that surrounds the nutmeg shell. Q. What is necessary to be eligible to the Society of the Daughters of Barons of Runnemede?—W. R. S. A. The membership is limited to women who can trace their ancestry in a direct line to a baron who in the year 12 A.D. compelled the signing of Magna Charta by King John at Runnemede. The organization is American. Q. Are there more Federal prisone ers at Atlanta or at Leavenworth?— F.J. C. A. At Leavenworth. In the Atlanta Penitentiary there are 2,243 offenders; in Leavenworth, main penitentiary, 2,993; Leavenworth annex, 1,715, Q. Were there ever any buffaloes in Virginia?—C. M. A. Buffaloes were hunted by George Washington along the Kanawha River, which was then in Virginia. In his diary, November 2, 1770, he tells of the shooting of five buffaloes. Report on Mississippi Valley Regarded as Guide for Future ‘The report of the Mississippi Valley Committee of the Public Works Ad- ministration is appraised by a ma- jority of the newspapers commenting on it as an outline of vast projects which may be useful in future years. It is a voluminous report, covering conservation of water resources in the great central valley, flood control, ir- rigation and the national co-ordina- tion of power generation. Some attention is paid in the com- ments to the idea of rural electrifica- tion, which the report suggests. On this point the Rock Island Argus ob- serves: “It is apparent that in the great Mississippi Valley, including, of course, the upper river region, some Federal projects of immense scope will be carried out at some time in the future. One of those projects will be rural electrification. That is a matter to be considered in connection with industry in general. It is esti- mated that 5,000,000 farm homes are without electricity. If there is power on the farms, the standard of living will be raised and power machinery, refrigeration and illumination will be demanded. This will greatly increase the demand for industrial production. It will go to restore the balance be- tween agriculture and industry. How- ever, many of these projects are mat- ters for the future—for the next gen- eration.” “Most dramatic,” says the New Haven Journal-Courler, “is its sugges- tion that power generation be co- ordinated nationally under Federal regulation. The committee’s approach to such a conclusion is apparent. To build dams for flood control alone, while useful, might be economically unfeasible. ‘But when given multiple purposes, such as power, recreation and navigation along with flood con- trol, the economic status of such a dam may show a decided improve- ment.’ No general Federal usurpation of the power field is intended, how- ever. ‘This goal does not involve necessarily any great increase in the number of publicly owned lines,’ the report remarks, ‘especially if the pri- vate companies co-operate in effect- ing unification.’” “It is possible to visualize many ob- | stacles in the pathway of such a project; these chiefly concern our money economy,” according to the Sioux City Tribune, which, however, calls the plan “one of the new frontiers on which men are just beginning to pioneer.” The Lincoln (Nebr.) State Journal points out that “the heart of the continent is its richest part,” and that the committee “has included as necessary much that has been done, some that is being done, much more that cannot be done now, much that should be done and some that should be done soon to prevent greater waste.” The State Journal concludes with the warning: “In handing down our heritage to generations to come, we should not weight it with debts that children yet unborn will not live long enough to see paid. It is well to the old social order,” which embraces the tenant farmer or share cropper, as we know him, as with finding an intelligent and workable substitute. Inability to solve this question has been one of the prime handicaps in crop-control efforts and also in the general labor readjustment. However much it may stand to benefit from the application of the report’s largest gen- eral scheme, the lower valley also is certain to turn anxious scrutiny upon the mounting total of Federal expendi- tures and the possible national reac- tion from such an outlay. With this reservation in mind, the report be- comes an interesting and possibly in- valuable thesis, thoughtful study of which will prove helpful.” The South Bend Tribune believes that the encouragment received by the committee was “designed to stampede the private utilities into acceptance of the politicians’ conception of reason- able rates for power.” In this cone nection, the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph remarks: “We favor furnishing elec- tricity to every possible consumer at such rates that the maximum number may use it. But we do oppose any fictitious set-ups as to the cost of it, and we oppose the injustice that threatens the people who furnished the money for experiments and who furnished a service when there was no one else to do it.” “The whole plan is one for the future rather than of immediate ad- vantage,” in the opinion of the Tulsa (Okla.) World, while the Galesburg (I) Register-Mail concludes that “the report includes vast schemes em- bracing an immense region, and re- quiring time, patience and large wis- dom for consummation.” Bromides Will Not Cure the Emergency To the Editor of The Star: The impressive part of the Presi- dent's specch to Congress is its failure to consider the average man. The new powers are going to bring down the mighty “private power” and ele- vate the poor. The average man is simply one of a hundred million goats who fall for the idea. The ordinary citizen does not participate—he sim- ply hangs on for dear life and tries not to get caught in the beneficent changes that are being wrought—and pays the bills. The one glittering gem in the ad- jectivous darkness is the proposal to put ple to work. Here, of course, the great majority who are “fortu- nate” to have jobs don’t count. Of course, so simple a method as catch- ing up on forgotten projects, some started back in 1776, by manning short-handed Federal sweatships and getting out those reams and reams of back work, will not be undertaken until executives stop talking about intelligence and use some. Instead, we will have bromides and new work for the living, but we have no right to mortgage posterity.” “Such s report, dealing with our social and economic problems, as well as those which are purely physical,” advises the New Orleans Times-Pica- yune, “cannot be accepted offhand as disposing of all the complicated issues which have gone into the history of the valley, however earnest and well qualified may have been the compilers of the document. The best thought of our own region has not been con- projects every minute to meet the permanent emergency. In brief, by creating useless work we will continue to dodge civil service and expand chiselers’ paradise. Sounds like a racket to me, but maybe I'm wrong. J. H. BOYERS. Phenomenon, | From the Flint (Mich.) Journal. “Bandits Get $56,000 in Bank,” says & headline. Yes, sir, money turps up AMOS A FRIES. ! cerned a0 much with ‘stabilization of | in queer places. ’ ’