Evening Star Newspaper, January 25, 1935, Page 10

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY......January 25, 1935 THEODORE W. NOYES. . . Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11th 8t. and Pennsylvania Ave, New York Office: 110 East 42n¢ Chicago Office: Lake Michigan Building European Office. 14 Regent St.. London. ngland. * Rate by Carrier Within the City. Regular Edition. The Evenine Star. ~'a50 per month The Evening and Sunday Star (when Sundays) . 60c per month The Evening and Sunday Star (when b Sundays) . 65c_per month The Sunday Star. .. ""’sc per copy Night Final Edition. gl':ht Final and Sunday Star. 70c per month ight Pinal Star. ... 5! 4 5¢ per month Collection ‘made &t {he end of each month. Orcers may be sent by mail or telephone Nation: al 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dally and Sunday. .1 yr.. $10.00; 1 mo.. Daily only 1 . $6.00: 1 mo., Sunday only’ . $400i 1 mo All Other States and Canada. Dally an? Sunday .1 yr., & : Daily only......1yr Sunday only.....15r. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively en- itled to the use for republication of all ews dispatches credited to it or not other- wise' credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. _All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved — . 85¢ . 50c The President’s Program Wins. President Roosevelt's leadership in the fight against unemployment was given firm support once again by the House yesterday. By a vote of 329 to 78 that body passed the $4,000,000,000 work relief bill, to which had been attached items- transferring an addi- tional item of $880,000,000 from former appropriations with the understanding that this money will be used for direct relief until the works program gets fully under way. This total of nearly five thousand millions of dollars is to be used by the President as he sees fit for the relief of unemployment, the relief of “economic maladjustments,” the alleviation of distress and the “im- provement of living and working con- ditions.” The President asked for a lump-sum appropriation so that the purposes of the act might more quickly and efficiently be attained. The House gave it to him. It is now up to the Senate, and there seems little doubt that that body will follow in the foot- steps of the House, although it may be a little more deliberate about it. "The revolt, so called, of Democrats in the House against the President's work relief bill petered out. It is true that some amendments were writ- ten into the bill to appease several of the members. But they did not change the essential feature of the bill, which continues to grant to the President this great sum of money to be used for such purposes as he finds to fit in with the relief program. He is to administer the fund in any way he desires, either creating new agencies or making use of existing governmental agencies, In the final vote on the measure, which delegates to the Presi- dent all the power of allocating and spending this money, only ten Demo- crats were found voting against. To offset this loss, twenty-six Republi- cans, seven Wisconsin Progressives and three Farmer-Laborites voted for the passage of the bill. It was in vain that the Republican minority pressed for amendment after | amendment. The Democratic machine turned out to be in good working order. Not a single one of the pro- posals sponsored by the G. O. P. mem- bers was adopted. One of these Re- publican proposals which might well have commended itself to the House provided that none of the money should be used for any project which would put the Government unwar- rantably into competition with private business and industry, and that as far as possible the work should be done by private contract. The Republicans made no attempt to change the lump sum appropriation feature of the bill. What they sought was to set up rules and limitations in the administration of the fund, one of which would have provided that there should be no “political test or qualification” imposed on any one seeking work on relief projects. The administration’s program to speed recovery through the stimulus of Government spending is apparently to be maintained. With it is to go actual relief of unemployed workers on a large scale. The President aims to take 3,500,000 of the people off the dole and put them to work on public projects of one kind or another. A Democrat, Representative Connery of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Labor Committee, sought in vain to amend the bill so that the wages paid on these relief projects would be at the “prevailing rates” for private employment of similar char- acter in the immediate neighborhood. The President has indicated that the wages to be paid for this relief work will be adequate for decent living for the workers and their families, but that they are not to be so high as to encourage men and women to stay on the Government pay roll when private employment offers. ‘The Connery amendment commanded a good-sized vote but failed of a ma- Jjority in the committee of the whole House. e Weather prophets make occasional mistakes, but the general reminder that heavy snow may be expected about this time of year is still reliable. The Duce’s Cabinet. There are cabinet changes in Italy occasionally, but never anything that could be dignified as a cabinet crisis. On Thursday in Rome there was a grand shift in portfolios, Whereby Premier Mussolini ousted six minis- ters in order to give as many new Fascist figures their chance at govern- ment, but I Duce remains the major- ity in his cabinet. He holds seven of its posts, including the key min- istries of foreign affairs, the army, the navy, aviation, colonies, interior and reconstruction. The six posts which the Fascist chieftain sees fit to intrust to subordinates are the minis- tries of public works, agriculture, edu- cation, justice, finance and communi- cations. They are important dep:hr:; ments of the mafmnnt. 50 1 signor Mussolini, after al, is not en- tirely unwilling to share responsibility for Italy's destinies. While in general no significance is attached to Il Duce's latest moves on his cabinet chessboard, the removal of Signor Guido Jung from the min- istry of finance attracts some atten- tion. It was that Italian statesman who conferred with President Roose- velt in Washington in 1933, when European government spokesmen came to this country to discuss the impend- ing London Economic Conference, of ill-starred fame. Signor Jung has favored the stabilization of the lira at the present rate of excnange and urged the balancing of the budget. His retirement from office would in- dicate that Mussolini does not think the time is ripe for either of those recourses. But whoever comes or goes in the Roman cabinet, the dominating figure and personality of Il Duce remain “ueber alles,” invincible and unchal- lengeable, in the “corporative” state into which he has now converted Italy. Fascism is completing its thirteenth year., There is no indication what- ever that the anniversary carries with it any of the ominous significance commonly associated with that num- ber. As far as Italy is concerned, there seems, on the contrary, to be cumula- tive evidence of the soundness of Mus- solini’s boast that “the world of doc- trines against which Fascism rose is now far away and obliterated even in memory.” T Rock Creek Pollution. The interest manifested by the Sen- ate District Committee in the elim- ination of pollution from Rock Creek is gratifying and the Commissioners will, of course, follow the committee’s informal suggestion of sounding out the Public Works Administration on the possibility of aid in undertaking this desirable project. Progress has already been made, through Secretary Ickes' grant of $25,000, in beginning an engineering survey of the problem which will pro- duce estimates of cost and other de- tails. The engineers now engaged in this work have already been furnished data gathered in the past by the local authorities, as well as by the engineers who made the survey for the sewage disposal plant. This latter survey pointed out that “Rock Creek and Piney Branch are objectionably pol- luted,” and that the source of pollu- tion is found within the District— through discharge of storm sewage —and through the sewage continuously discharged into Rock Creek from Maryland. “Much of the valley is a beautiful national park and such pol- lution is highly objectionable,” said the report. ‘There is some irony in the fact that | the District has borrowed money to| build a disposal plant which will| properly treat sewage flowing into the Potomac and partially remove poliu- tion of the river below. Washington, while the even more objectionable conditions caused Wwithin the District | by pollution of Rock Creek and Piney Branch are permitted to remain. The removal of pollution from the Poto- mac should be an ultimate objective, | of course, and completion of the dis- | posal plant now to be built with bor- rowed money is a preliminary step in that direction that will have to be taken some day. But the Rock Creek purification is even more important. The existing pollution of a stream which is one of the most valuable as- sets of Rock Creek Park, making it unfit even for wading, is more than objectionable. It is little short of dis- graceful. The Senate committee’s suggestion was that removing the pollution in Rock Creek might appropriately ac- company the construction of the river sewage disposal plant. The cost of the latter has been cut in half, and the District has not been granted the full extent of loans which Congress au- thorized from the P. W. A. A large part of the cost of sewer work in Rock Creek could be done with money saved through modifications of the original plans for the disposal plant. What- ever financlal arrangements might be made, however, would, of course, recognize the joint responsibility of the National Government in the un- dertaking. e The Federal Emergency Relief Ad- ministration has regulated cooks and may attempt further consideration of remedies for indigestion. —_—— “Arlington House.” There appears a welcome by-product of the campaign now under way and, it is hoped, fast approaching success- ful culmination to restore Stratford Hall, ancestral home of the Lee family in Westmoreland County, Va., as a debt-free memorial to the great Con- federate leader. In news accounts of the various stages of the drive there oceur in both text and headlines fre- quent and proper use of the phrases the “Lee Mansion,” the “old Lee home- stead” and similar descriptive titles. This usage, it is hoped and expected, will put an end to erroneous references to “Arlington House,” just across the Potomac from Washington, as the “Lee Mansion.” This ancient and honorable planta- tion manor house was never that. It was begun and named “Arlington House” before Robert E. Lee was born, It is Arlington House today and was never properly anything else. It was inherited as life tenant by Mary Ann Randolph Custis Lee, wife of Col. Rob- ert E. Lee, U. 8. A, from her father, George Washington Parke Curtis. ‘True, her distinguished husband re- sided there from time to time during and in the intervals between his tours of duty before the Civil War. It was perfectly natural that this should be so. His father-in-law’s and, later, his wife's commodious home was a splen- did place to rear his growing family. But it no more became the “Lee Man- sion” when he married its subsequent owner than Windsor Castle became Wettin Castle when Queen Victoria married her consort. ’ Governmental agencies having to do |with the restoration of Aslington House, long neglected, following au- thorization thereof by Congress in 1925, soon called attention to its proper name and requested its use. A mistake of long standing is not easily or quickly corrected. However, more frequent references and more frequent visits to the real “Lee Man- sion,” farther down the Potomac, will go far to straighten out this one. A Good Job. The Commissioners and the com- munity have good reason to be pleased with the thorough job in snow re- moval accomplished in the past two days. The snowstorm this year was worse than any of those last year, but the city has experienced far less in- convenience. One explanation is that laboring men on the relief rolls were given work which the storm would ! otherwise have prevented. Another lies in the careful plans made under the direction of Sanitary Engineer Gordon. And there will be general agreement with Commissioner Hazen's | statement that the elimination of all- | night parking on the main highways has already justified itself as a part of any snow-removal plan. Snow was pushed by the ploughs all the way to the curb, and on some of the busier streets remarkable progress was made in hauling it away. Hitherto the great difficulty has been that the snow was piled only as far as the line of parked | cars and there left in drifts, which narrowed the traffic lanes. The gratifying part of the business was the advance planning at the Dis- trict Building and the fact that the authorities knew what they were to do and did it, in happy contrast with some of the uncertainties and lack of action in the past. ———— When a secret was disclosed, it used to be said that “a little bird told it.” It might be fancifully suggested that the plank from Hauptmann's floor came from a tree poetically de- | scribed as having robins nesting in its hair. —_— vt So much Japanese business is being | done on adjacent dry land that the | need for immediate anxiety about a naval ratio seems superfluous. Any kind of battleship is sufficient to de- feat a fleet of Chinese junks. . There will be at least enough op- | position to entrance in the World Court to prevent Uncle Sam from as- | suming the appearance of one who has crashed the gate. ————ree— An effort may be made to soothe anxiety by figuring that currency de- valuation has made a mammoth ap- propriation only about half as large as it seems. ——————___ Japan’s method of discipline may cause the Chinese to wish for the old- fashioned missionaries who tried so faithfully to reform their music by teaching them revival hymns. e Some of the Representatives may favor limiting amendments in fear that some colleague might want to make the relief fund eight or ten billions instead of only four or five. oot Much interest is attached to the | question of whether the Hauptmann defense testimony will corroborate the’ ample and explicit outlines of it printed | in advance. | o SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, New Enchantment. Baby wants a pretty story That reveals a novel glory. Doesn’t care for wolves who reared | Infants who as kings appeared. Not a laugh does she disclose At those quaint Two Dromios. Science a new pace has set Since the stork brought a quintet. Some time maybe we shall see Children five at mother’s knee. Babies want a pretty story— Tell 'em ‘bout the Laboratory. Quick. “Are you an expert mathema- tician?” “Well,” answered Senator Sorghum, “I'll say I'm quick at figures. I can add up several billions in the time it takes to vote ‘aye.’” Discouraging a Brain Trust. Philosophers are good and great, Their wants could not be slighter. They study and they sit up late To make this old world brighter. Yet when they see Earth’s reckless | way And find they cannot swerve it They cease their toil and simply say “These fool folks don't deserve it!” Education. “What are you doing now?” “Studying music,” answered Mr. Dustin Stax. “If they keep inviting me to luncheons I've simply got to be able to join in the chorus of ‘He's & Jolly Good Fellow’ and ‘Auld Lang Syne.’” “Speak cautiously of your troubles,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “unless you cherish a generous wish to amuse your enemies.” Glimpse Into the Past. Time backward turned Where snow was white And soon we learned With keen delight ©Of joys of yore ‘That were so gay— We saw once more A hoss and sleigh. The motor car Was blowing steam. We gazed afar As in a dream. “How much,” we moan, “We'd gladly pay, If we could own A hoss and sleigh!” “Hope is a fine thing,” said Uncle Eben, “if it cheers you on to work, but it’s no good if it encourages you to keep bettin’ og\ho-s." ¥ THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. The long-winded story-teller is in a class by himself. Unfortunately, it is a large class. A few words and details are never as good to its members as many words and many details. ‘They know nothing of the art of concise presentation, the little tale from the every-day life which is told and over with. They wani to string it out. It is this process of elaboration which tends to bore the listener. With the best will in the world, the latter begins to fidget. Will the man never get to the point? * ok ok % Give us the very short story, such as the one an enthusiast sprung upon a few the other morning. “The civil service asked the fol- lowing question,” he asserted. The question was: “Name 11 ani- mals of the Arctic circle.” The answer, supposed to have been given by an acute and aspiring candi- date for a job, was as follows: “Six polar bears and five wolves.” He had answered the question. Now, that is a good little story, of the every-day variety, with sufficient point to it, better in the telling than the reading. Its chief charm, however, is that it is soon over. * k¥ % Stories which require too much elaboration never hit the spot as well. There is not one average story-teller in ten, however, who confines his out- put to the short ones. No, when he gets something of a reputation as a teller of tales, of “stories,” as they are vaguely. designated, he finds it in- cumbent upon him to stretch them out. This is the usual procedure. Every one has encountered the semi-pro- fessional joker, the wag who appreci- ates a good story, and who rather fancies that he can tell it just a lit- tle better than the next man. Often enough this is true. He does possess the faculty, not given to every one, of offering a nar- rative, usually ending with the fa- mous point, so that it takes on some of the quality of a well-written tale. ERE Where the written story so often differs from the oral is in the number of words required to get to the afore- mentioned *point.” It is so easy in conversation to use a great many more words than are necessary, so that the mind of the listener begins to waver long before | the story is over. The expert, of course, can do a great deal, in himself, to keep the at- tention. ‘There are “natural tellers,” seldom women, born story- most often men, who have the knack of keeping | the attention of listeners. It will be found that most of them are not rapid-fire talkers, by any| means, but usually placid-speaking men who have an air of authority | about them. No doubt it is this latter which makes their lengthy narratives worth listening to, even when they bore some or all of the audience. e The spoken narrative, less than the written, can stand a superfluity of detail. When a reader is going along with a writer he will forgive a few extra words if they flow along both in thought and construction. —Brevity WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. BY If co-optimism is co-operation, business and the New Deal have teamed up. At any rate, that’s indi- cated by the sunny forecast of pros- pects for 1935 just made by Henry I Harriman, oresident of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, in an address at Pittsburgh. “Either because of or in spite of what the ad- ministration at Washington has done,” he said, “we are just now en=- tering upon the era of better times.” The 15 per cent rise in retail sales last year, a $1,500,000,000 boost in farm income and the increase in divi- dend payments are cited as unmis- takable signs of the economic up- swing. Mr. Harriman told the Pitts- burghers that Americans are still rugged individuzlists, but also have their fill of ruthless individualism. “Some measure of social control,” he proceeded to explain, “is imperative to maintain and insure orderly de- velopment, and it follows that this control can best be exercised by the | Government.” Mr. Harriman states there are about 7,000,000 unemployed at present, 2,000,000 fewer than in January, 1934—figures which fall considerably short of American Fed- eration of Labor estimates, £k x Senator Elbert D. Thomas, Demo- crat, of Utah made one of the most thoughtful contributions to the Sen- ate debate on the World Court. He told of an amusing experience at the League of Nations Assembly in 1926, about the time the Senate was dis- cussing court reservations. “Euro- pean statesmen were unable to un- derstand our processes here,” Senator Thomas said. “They could not see why all the poetry about the sun, | moon and stars should find place in our discussion about the World Court, or why statistics about our national parks, and so on, should be dragged in. I replied that if they understood what a congressional filibuster was everything would be clear. That led to more confusion than ever, ‘What was a filibuster?” I tried to explain by suggesting that a filibuster is something that is full of bluster.” Senator Thomas ranks as the Foreign Relations Committee’s outstanding authority on Far Eastern questions. He was a Mormon missionary in Japan for five years. R President Roosevelt has seldom been more iron-jawed than when he voiced, at his press conference this week, his uncompromising opposition to the Nor- rig reservation which would require a two-thirds Senate vote for submission of American questions to the World Court. F. D. R. minced no words in branding the proposal as an intoler- able infringement of the executive prerogative. Unless a treaty is in- volved or the disbursement of funds— like the $50,000-odd Uncle Sam is about to pay Canada for sinking the rum runner I'm Alone—Mr. Roosevelt wants all concerned distinctly to un- derstand that the conduct of our for- eign relations is exclusively the busi- ness of the President of the United States. & * ok k% During her two-year term of office, Mrs. Russell William Magna, who re- tires in April as president general of the Daughters of the American Revo- lution, is proud of having flown across every State in the Union on D. A. R. business. For the past nine years Mrs. Magna has been chairman of the Daughters’ Finance Committee. Dur- ing that period all but $250,000 of the $2,000,000 Constitution Hall building fund has raised, may be the soul of wit, but it is sel- dom the soul of writing. Elaboration is, indeed, its soul. One has but to think of the masterpieces of the world's literature to realize that more often than not length has a great deal to do with their success. The biggest “best seller” of last year, for instance, was more than half a million words in length. In the typical “story,” however, things are different. While the word covers a multitude of sins as well as good points, it is fairly well under- | stood by every one, in conversation. ‘The “point” is the thing, and as long as a story has a good one, as we say, most listeners are willing to put up with a great deal. * ok ¥k There is no need for boring the audience, on the other hand; that is what the tiresome speaker does by insisting on too much elaboration. Bince he s, too, a sort of actor, often he tries to incorporate too much stage | business of his own. He insists on waving his hands, putting in fateful pauses, as if to fool his auditors into laughing at the wrong place. Some- times he does. He overreaches him- self, as it were, and has to make the best of a bad situation. Then when he comes to the climax of his tale the | effect is likely to be cold and flat, : when it would have been warm enough if he had not tried for a double effect when one would have been sufficient. This is but one bad effect of the tiresome speaker. Even worse is his tendency to be too precise, especially if he ‘has any personal interest in the thing he is telling. He goes into the most elaborate presentation, pinning | everything down to its precise date, | as if it made any difference to the | listener. What he has forgotten, you | see, is the listener. The latter is not at all interested in whether the thing took place on Monday or Tuesday. What difference does it make to him? * X X x ‘The long-winded oral story-teller ought to realize that such details are | really of no interest to him, even, any | longer. He merely thinks they are. He is “reminiscing” aloud, and lets his tongue run on. He should stop it, for the better approach to the point of his narrative. It is true that there are some types of stories which need plenty of this sort of elaboration, but this is only true when the listener has some special interest in the same subject. Then he will be able to| stand a great deal of detail of the sort which, to the casual listener, is worse than a waste of words. The casual listener wants move- | story. ment. That is what he is after. He wants the story to get along, to build } | itself up as rapidly as possible, just | 50 the essentials are put in. Nothing | is more tiresome, if the truth were | known, to the average person in the | daily life than the story told with too | much attention to the niceties of the | case. Striving for effect is bad, espe- | clally in the short anecdote, which | mostly demands of the teller a swift | approach” to the essentials. In the old days of vast oratorical efforts, last- ing for two or three hours at a stretch, duty kept many a listener at it. Po- | liteness often prevents a yawn in the | face of the long-winded story-teller | who insists on being £oo precise in the | telling of his latest, or his oldest, anecdote. He must remember that the little last detail which is so pre- cious to him is of no particular inter- lest to the one he buttonholes. The story’s the thing, and let him stick to it closely. | Recent events in the House of Rep- resentatives, disclosing militant Dem- | ocratic insurgency in connection with the $4,880,000,000 work relief bill, re- | veal a condition which the New Deal !leadership has long apprehended— | that its unwieldy House majority | | might easily prove an cmbnrnbsm:m.i of riches and churn up exactly such a situation as the one that just gave | Speaker Byrns, Appropriations Chair- man Buchanan and other leaders a few new gray hairs. The wrangle over work relief is a foretaste of what may happen when social security, bonus, inflation and other measures become actual bones of contention. There are plenty of party dependables and parliamentary recourses at the leadership’s disposal to keep the sit- uation in -hand on critical occasions, |but it’s now evident that there’s no lack of independence and combative- ness among House Democrats and that impressive numbers of them are ready to show their teeth in an emergency. * ok ¥k Over at the State Department there’s a clerk named George Thomas who has earned the reputation of being a wizard because of his un- | at home. canny ability to remember the details of public documents, the originals of which are stored in the law sec- tion of Secretary Hull's bailiwick. About three months ago Mr. Thomas was put in special charge of execu- tive orders, then piling out of the White House at a record-breaking rate. He was told that his job was to learn and remember all there was to know about them—to become, in other words, a walking file. Today he has at his tongue’s tip the con- tents of 400 executive orders. If you give him the number of an order he can tell you what it’s about. If you tell him what it's about he can give you the number—all with- out relying upon anything but his card-index memory. X X Xk X Charles P. Taft of Cincinnati, who scampered around the White House as a boy when his father, William Howard Taft, was President, has taken the warpath against the New Deal patronage system. Addressing | the National Republican Club the other night in New York, he raised the question whether the *political employment policy” is going to govern the spending of the Roosevelt $4,000,- 000,000 work relief fund and whether “the spoils system is to provide se- curity for the Democratic party.” Young Mr. Taft, who made a political reputation in Cincinnati through his successful fight against G. O. P. bosses and job holders, receives grow- ing consideration as one of the com- ing hopefuls of the Republican party. He's still on the sunny side of 40. * x * % When Gen. John J. Pershing was American military attache at Tokio in 1905-06 he had in his service a bright young Japanese, who volun- teered, in return for a modest stipend and the opportunity to learn English, to make himself generally useful to the American officer. His name was Koki Hirota, and he is now foreign minister of Japan. (Copyright, 1935.) ———te— Ruled Out. From the Sioux Palls (8, D.) Argus-Leader. Strange that the Liars’ Club didn't award its first prize to a politician. But this class may have been ruled out on & basis of professionalism, 1935. What Would Be Effect of | Inflation on Annuities? To the Editor of The Star: If this/ country were to enter & period of inflation what would be the effect upon insurance and bank an- nuities? This is a very proper question. K Income from annuity or life in- surance contracts: In both cases pay- ments must be made from guaranty funds, commonly called reserves, built up over a long period of years for that particular purpose. Unless wise investments are made by building up e guaranty fund (re- serve) consisting of securities which produce income, contracts cannot be paid in full. Inflation produces a rise in prices and this in turn makes money less valuable. One of our economists has put it clearly as follows: If prices rise so that the owner of an investment (und' has to pay twice as much for goods; and services which he wishes to buy, his fund is worth half as much as it would have been had the rise in prices not taken place. He is in precisely the same position as if the price level had not changed and he had lost half his fund. The value of an investment fund to its owner depends upon its pur- chasing power, and inflation, by rais- ing prices, destroys purchasing power. The investment problem presented by the possibility of inflation is an extremely difficult one for most in- | vestors to handle. It is an attack from the source to which the in- vestor is accustomed to look for pro- tection, the State. The process is a deceptive one because it is a slow one and its effects et first appear slight. The development of inflation | is usually marked by temporary halts which deceive many into the belief | that it is ended. It is a slow-burn-| ing disease, but in the end it may destroy the investor. All holders of either bank or in-| surance annuity contracts are vitally | interested in the purchasing power of | their annuities. This means they are vitally interested in inflation. ‘The | devastating effects of inflation in Ger- | many and Austria after the war are matters of record and tell their own | The story is tragic in the extreme. I quote the following from one of the most prominent of American economists, Prof. Edwin W. Kem-| merer of Princeton: | “Federal Reserve Bank notes (un- | der the emergency banking act of March, 1933) are inconvertible and | there is no maximum limit placed upon their issue. Since the law places no limit upon the amount of Gov-| ernment debt which the National| Government may issue and sell to Federal Reserve Banks for these Fed- | eral Reserve Bank notes, there is no measurable limit to the possible issue | of these notes.” . All things considered. these Federal | Reserve Bank notes are probably the weakest 1ink in our monetary chain. CHARLES HENRY CUTLER. e T Mr. Lappin’s Letter on Ireland Is Answered! To the Editor of The Star: | In order to enlighten your corre- spondent, R. Lappin, and any of your readers that may be misinformed, the | Irish Free State government receives no part of sweepstakes money. After | deduction of expenses 75 per cent goes for prizes, the remainder is given to the hospitals. The other statements of Mr. Lappin are as far from true. If Irish calves are selling at 25 cents each, as he asserts, here at last is an oppertunity for your correspondent and other benevolent Englishmen to chip in and buy a few thousand and | give at least one square meal to the| thousands of hungry wretches in Lon- | don and other English cities who have not had a decent meal since 1918, when America stopped feeding them. It seems that even with great-hearted English statesmen charity should begin Strange that an Irishman with a calf for sale excites greater sympathy in their breasts than a Cockney with only stale bread and| weak tea for breakfast, dinner and supper. Veal, perhaps, is lacking in| vitamin Z. The Free State government is to be | severely censored in refusing to pay annuities never owed. It vaguely re- minds one of a certain great empire, upon which the sun never sets, which refuses to pay anything on a debt solemnly incurred when the imperial crown was about to be kicked into the Thames and the “tight little isle” to become a German coaling station. | SEAN O'DOHERTY. To the Editor of The Star: Judging from R. Lappin’s letter of the | 22nd, it is no wonder that “Irishmen | have for centuries distrusted English- | men,” as he infers, taking his state- | ments as they are: 1. “The Irish government takes to itself the money from the sweep- stakes.” Certainly, but it is used as revenue for the maintenance of the Irish hospitals. 2. “The Irish government doesn’t represent the people.” Consequently, always, benevolent England takes pity on the Irish farmer and lets down the trade barriers. Does it misrepresent? “So does our own Government, which is it patterned after and is representative of far more | democracy than any Englishman can boast of living under. As to England | pitying the Irish farmer, or any other farmer for that matter, every nation in the world, including our own, can testify to the contrary being more possible. Lastly, his awkward analogy of the small dog barking at the large one needs no comment as it only indicates his sympathy is never with the under dog and will invariably favor the big one if it happens to be a bull. J. SWEENEY. Millions for Subway Aud for Auto Garages To the Editor of The Star: The other day I read an article in your splendid paper where a certain member is introducing a bill in Con- gress for many millions for a subway to be built in Washington to solve the traffic problems, Then the next day I read where a Congresswoman is introducing a bill to spend scme more millions for the Government to build garages to store cars at a rea- sonable rate. There are plenty of garages in Washington for these cars if only they would pass a law and make them put their cars into ga- rages. Then sce how many cars are left to be put up and perhaps build more garages. The garage where I store my car must hold at least 100 or more cars and the manager told ‘me he has only 45 cars in it and that this snowstorm did not bring him in one extra car for storage. In front of my home there haye been cars parked for three days and some cars on other streets have been parked there since Saturday. We have an 18-hour parking law. Please, why don’t the city do something about this parking on the streets as what is the use of paying taxes for a home and storage for a garage when you can never get near your own home to park your car for an hour or two. What is the matter with our city officials? Do the good people of this city have to contend with this horrible abuse of the pavements ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN, A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Evening Star Information Bu- reau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D, C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. In the accidents which are col- lisions between automobiles and rail- way trains what proportion of them are situations in which the automobile runs into the side of the train?—D. I. A. In 1933 there were 1,511 fatali- ties caused by collisions between trains and automobiles, and of these 20| per cent were caused by motor ve- hicles running into passing trains, Q. Please name the three largest high schools in tne United States.— M. 8. A. De Witt Clinton High School, New York City, enrollment, 10,05 New Utrecht High School, Brookly, 9,944 pupils; James Madison High | School, Brooklyn, 8,572 pupils. | Q. What is the line called along which the magnetic needle points di- | rectly north or south?—D. M. | A. This line of no magnetic varia- tion is called the agonic line. Q. How long has Amelia Earhart | been flying?—C. B. S. | A. Miss Earhart began her career | as a flyer in Glendale, Calif,, 1n‘l 1918, Q. What President has made the | most appointments to the Supreme | Court bench since President Washing- ton appointed the original ;udges‘.’—‘ M. C. | A. President Taft holds the record. | He appointed Justices Lurton, Hughes, Van Devanter, Lamar and Pitney and | made Associate Justice White the Chief Justice, making six appoint- | ments, all of which were confirmed. | . What was the family name of Col. Lindbergh before it was | changed?—W. E. C. A. The grandfather of Lindbergh | was named Mansson, and after coming | to America he changed his name to Lindbergh, as his brother had previ- ously done. Q. Who is considered the greatest personality on the American stage?— HJ M ! A. In a survey conducted among | Broadway producers to determine the | most famous actor or actress of con- | temporary drama Katharine Cornell | received more than one-half the votes cast and more than five times as many as her closest competitor. Q. Is lead ore more valuable than ‘ refined lead?—C. E. L. | A. Some rich lead ores are worth a great deal more than the refined | lead because of the gold and silver contained therein. | Q. What States round up range horses?—E. G. A. A. The Bureau of Animal Industry says that there are 11 States of the Union, known as Western Range States, which round up range horses— | namely, Arizona, New Mexico, Colo- | rado, Nevada, Wyoming, Oregon, Cal- ifornia. Washington, Montana, Idaho and Utah. These horses are sold at auction under State laws, Q. When were retail sales the high- est in this country%=J. C. T. A. In 1929, when they amounted to $49,115,000,000. ‘ Q. Please deseribe the Round Tow- | ers of Ireland.—C. H. W. A. The Round Towers in Ireland | are of stone, usually from 13 to 20 | feet in external diameter at base and ranging from 60 to 100 feet in height, One may be described as follows: The top is conical, the interior is divided Into six or seven stories reached by ladders from one to the other. Each story is lighted by one window, the top story usually has four. The door is placed 10 er more feet from the ground and is reached by a ladder. The doors and windows have sloping jambs. Q. What is meant Bibles?>—T. L. A. Typographical errors have crept into many editions of the Bible, and these are know as freak Bibles, these editions usually being called by the word used in error. Thus we have the Vinegar Bible, the Breeches Bible, the Beer Bible, and so on. Q. Were the ships of the Navy painted white or gray when they went by freak | on a round-the-world cruise in 1910?— R. E C. A. They were white. Battleship gray was adopted by the Navy before the World War and all ships use this color except hospital ships, which are still white, Q. Should frozen veal be thawed out before it is cooked>—T. B. A. This is not necessary. Frozen chops and steaks will cook in about the same time as the usual chilled meat. Q. How much did the United States pay Spain for islands following the Spanish-American War?>—H. L. C. A. Under the treaty of December 10, 1898, the United States paid to Spain $20,000,000 in connection with the relinquishment of all claims to Puerto Rico. Guam and the Philippine Islands, and, under a later treaty of November 7, 1900, a further payment of $10¢,000 was made to Spain for cession to the United States of any and all islands (Cagayan Jolo) of the Philippine Archipelago lying outside of the lines described in article IIT of the treaty of December 10, 1898. Q. What is the Peripatetic School? —G. L. A. This was the school or system of philcsophy founded by Aristotle, who used to walk about as he taught his disciples in the covered walk of the lyceum This colonnade was called the Peripatos. Q. How many business concerns are there in the United States?— W. B. A In round numbers there are 3,000,000. Half of them are retail establishments. Q. What was Gen. Lee's attitude toward the withdrawal of Virginia from the Union?—H. B. A. Gen. Lee testified: “That was my view, that the act of Virginia in withdrawing herself from the United States carried me along as a citizen of Virginia, and that her laws and her acts were binding on me.” Q. Was the name of the apostle Saul or Paul>—C. L. L. A. According to writers of religious history, Saul was the Hebrew name and Paul, or Paulus, the Roman name of the apostle. The name Saul of Tarsus indicates that that was the Hebrew birthplace of the apostle, who received also Roman citizenship and education. Q In using numerals for dates should the month or day come first>—L. K. A. The custom in the United States is to use the following order: Month, day, year. In some foreign countries, such as Great Britain, the order of day, month and year is followed. Saar Decision Interpreted As Evidence of German Unity ‘The overwhelming vote by the peo- | ple of the Saar in favor of return to Germany is held by American com- mentators to be a natural expression of German nationalism. Hitler's in- fluence is generally discounted on the ground that if he had not been in| power the vote to return would have been even greater than it was. Much credit is given to the League of Nations for conducting an orderly plebiscite. | “The return of the Saar to Ger- many should make for peace in Eu- rope,” says the Buffalo Evening News, while the Springfield (alass.) Repub- lican holds that “in its effect on the relations of Germany to its neighbors it seems likely to be helpful” Gain for peace is emphasized also by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cincin- nati Times-Star and the Schenectady (N. Y.) Gazette, while the New York Times finds that “the belief is general that what was a serious threat to peace in Europe was completely re- moved,” and the Kansas City Star is convinced that “the decisive vote should remove one of the danger spots from the map of Europe.” | “The conduct of the plebiscite was | a credit to the League of Nations,” thinks the Boston Transcript, and the | New Bedford Mercury avers that “the | League has demonstrated its ability to render valuable service.” The Cleve- land News, urging that “the next question is that of sheltering the| minority opposed to Germany from | Nazi reprisals,” concedes that “the | tremendous vote piled up by German sympathizers was a surprise to the world,” and advises that “the duty of the League and of the outside world is to see that the minority gets a fair deal.” “Evidently the ties of nationality and tradition,” according to the Nash- ville (Tenn.) Banner, “were stronger in many of the voters than some stu- dents of the situation suspected.” The Asbury Park (N. J) Evening Press concludes that “there was a | natural longing to unite with the land of their fathers and return to ancient traditions.” News also emphasizes “German cus- toms and traditions,” as do the Knox- ville (Tenn.) Journal and the Scran- ton (Ohio) Vindicator observes that “they will again share the joys as well as the sorrows of those who are near and dear to them, as they are reunited for the first time since the great war,” and the Charlotte (N. C.) Observer concludes: “The people of the Saar have exhibited a very rational type of nationalism, even though they are going back to a government that, for the moment at least, is a prostitution of respectable political control.” “The only unhappy people,” accord- ing to the Detroit News, “are the 46,000 who voted for maintenance of the status quo, and who are so fearful of retaliation by the victorious Nazis, despite pledges to the contrary, that many of them are preparing to move to France, Luxemburg and other countries.” Concern for their welfare is voiced by the Danbury (Conn.) News-Times, the Birmingham (Ala.) News, the Indianapolis News, the Williamsport (Pa.) Sun, the Provi- dence Journal and the Lincoln (Nebr.) State Journal. The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch holds that “there can be no 1 with the firmness with which new group takes over the reins, provided it does not resort to ter- rorism.’ . “That Hitler has been strengthened f \ The Salt Lake Deseret | (Pa.) Times. The Youngstown is accepted without dissent,” says the Newark Evening News. The Hartford Courant, however, declares: “They cannot, in any way, be regarded as having given their confidence to Herr Hitler. On the contrary, in their hearts they remain as opposed to his regime as they always have been, and any proclamations issuing from Berlin claiming the vote in the Saar to dem= onstrate the prestige of the Nazis should be heavily discounted.” “Prior to Hitler's rise to power,” says the Portland Oregonian, “there was no question whatever as to the plebiscite vote. The people were | faithful to the Reich and wanted to return to it at the first moment. It was anticipated that when the vote came, it would be carried through without the least international com- plication. But then appeared Hitler and well-enough could not be let alone. A flood of propaganda was started that served no other purpose than to align Saarlander against Saarlander, and stir the dogs of war.” — v Income From Liquor Licenses Is Not “Net” To the Editor of The Star: Do you not think the statement in The Star of January 11, taken from that day's report of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, that the “District revenues during the past year were increased by $1.297,148.93 as & result of legalization of the sale of al- coholic beverages last January,” and also “This money went into the gen- eral revenues of the District,” are very | misleading to the public and the Dis- | trict {axpayers? No one thinks of stating the returns (of a business proposition by quoting | the money paid into its treasury and ignoring the cost of conducting the | business—including also the liabilities | arising from it! Not a word was said about the cost of maintaining the Alcoholic Beverage | Control Board—including salaries of its various members and the salaries of the inspectors who watch out for | violations of the liquor law and its regulation—of which violations there were 113 as reported by the chief in- spector (15 licenses were revoked). Neither was mention made of the cost of collecting the $561,045.69 in license fees, or the expense of investigating all applications for licenses, and also | of collecting the liquor tax of $729,- 053.24. Also the cost of the clerical force to handle this tremendous amount of business was not re- ferred to. All these expenses, and many more, connected with governmental supervi- sion of legalized liquor must be de- ducted before one can honestly say that the District’s income has been boosted by legalized liquor to the amount of $1,297,148.93. Is it not within the rights of the people in the District to ask for an itemized, sworn statement of all Gov- ernment expenses incident to legalized sale of alcoholic beverages in the Dis- | trict? Account must also be taken of in- creased police force and care of fam- ilies made destitute through alcohclic drinking, and medical attention for them. Then there is the expense to individuals injured by automobile ac- cidents resulting carelessness after just a few drinks, also the enormous loss in moral and spiritusl and physical values, which no one cam estimate. GEORGIA ROBERTSON..