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THE _EVENING STAR, WASHINGTO . , MARCH 27, 1935 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editien. WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY..March 27, 1935 ——————————— THEODORE W. NOYES. .. Editor e e The Evening Star Newspaper Company Busingss Office’ 11th 8t. and Pennsy] s A e EROTER Lichse Buldine icago Office: Lake : Siiobean Office, 14 Regent St.. London. England Rate by Carrier Within the City. Rerular Edition. The Evenine 'Star ‘450 per month e Evenine and Sunday Star (whea ¢ Sundays 606 per month o EaRUIE A1 SIDCAY 81 e per montn The Sundzy Star ‘5o Der copy 550 per month £ th d of each '-i:ouaw.'enfnny Toail or Sunday only. All Other States ally and Sunday 1 yr..§ unday onl i B0 Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press Is exciusively en; titled to the use I’.al‘)ubll:lllen ot al news dispatches credited fo it or not other- wise .redited 1n this Daper and aiso the Jocal hews published herein _All rights o publication of speclal dispatches hereln . 150 reserves d Canada. 1 mo.. $1.00 1 mo. 1 mo. A Futile Mission. Sir John Simon's “exploratory” mis- sion to Berlin has come to & futile end. The British foreign secretary’s efforts to persuade the German gov- ernment to join in concrete measures to insure the peace of Europe found Hitler unyielding. He will hear noth- ing of an “Eastern Locarno.” He will not tie his hands with reference to the future of Austria. He will not pledge the Reich’s readiness to re- turn‘to the League of Nations. He de- clines to enter into any commitments as to the extent of German-arma- ments on land or sea or in the air. Except for repeated assertions of Ger- man claims to equality in the field of | arms and all other respects, Sir John | Simon's “explorations” in Berlin | netted no results whatever. By no | stretch of the imagination can it be argued that the cause of peace has | mathematics and astronomy, and cor- responding with scholars and common folk throughout the world as it then was known. But his inquiring genius reached out to embrace Aristotle, and it was one of his objectives to reconcile Talmudic doctrines with Greek ideals. In the end he congfituted in himself & focal point for thé richest and most vigor- ous thought of three different civili- zations—Hebraic, Arabic and Hellenic. Naturally enough, the scholars of the next succeeding era found him useful in their search for philosophi¢ truth. St. Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus and Albertus Magnus quoted from him. And their spiritual de- scendants likewise reproduced the golden values of his teachings, grad- uelly refining them in the light of their increasing knowledge until all the inevitable dross of the twelfth century had been cleared away. Even Spinoza, the so-called “heretic,” pre- served his reverence for Maimonides when conscience led him to reject the primitive doctrines of less liberal He- brew sages, e The Airport Report. ‘There are only two practical meth- ods of settling the long dispute over location and development of an ade- quate airport for Washington, One of these is for Congress to | exercise its undisputed authority in the matter, take the initiative that circumstances demand, select a site and appropriate, in a manner fair to the District, the funds necessary for its development. The other is for Congress to delegate such authority to an independent com- | mission, furnish the commission with the necessary funds and give the com- | mission a free hand. ‘The report of the subcommittee of the House District Committee which has conducted a lengthy investigation of the airport problem is fair and practical up to a certain point. It creates a commission which is given authority to spend money appropri- ated on a basis that would doubtless be considered fair to the District and within the financial resources of the power, they will inevitably forge into' being & grouping of counter force which will have the effect of reduc- ing the Reich to continuous inferi- ority. Nazl purposes Wwill thus be completely nullified. It is only regarding Soviet Russia that the Hitler-Simon talks appear to have achieved any positive defl- niteness. The Germans refuse to con- | sider any agreement which would | obligate them to come to the Com- munist state’s assistance in the event | of aggression against it, or to accept for the Reich any Soviet aid in a| German emergency. Thus the only air accord in which Hitler evinces interest would have to be confined to | Western Europe. At the same time, it | appears, the Fuehrer disavows Ger- man intention of ever attacking Rus- sia. But he is distinctly unwilling to renounce all German ambitions in the East, and circumstantially re« ported Nazi demands for a navy capa- ble of “controlling” the Baltic tell their own story of Nazi hopes, leav- ing Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lith- uania to fear the worst. Nor, plainly, is Hitler willing to sign away Ger- many's aspiration some day to incor- porate Austria within the Nazi Reich. Sir John Simon can have been left in no doubt on that score. Next month Britain, France and Italy will confer on the situation that has been created by Germany's de- filance of the military clauses of the treaty of Versailles. The Western powers know now, if they were not sufficiently aware of it before, that they face not only the accomplished fact of German rearmament, but are confronted by & Reich determined to bluff things through to the utter- most limit. The allled governments are not thinking in terms of & war to bring Hitler to terms. Their re- spective peoples are even less inclined to seek an amelioration of the Euro- pean problem through another resort to force. As things stand at present, there seems no prospect of anything but an unrestricted and ruinously costly competition in armaments. It is a flimsy enough foundation for peace, but until there is a change of heart in Berlin, Europe apparently has no course open to it except to erect impregnable defensive barriers against the menace which the Nazis decline to remove. O 4 e Maimonides. ‘The name of Maimonides, it safely may be presumed, is familiar to thou- sands of students of history, literature and philosophy. He was the greatest Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages, and the influence of his life and work still is operative in the minds of men. But it is good that the Library of Congress is to share in the octocenten- nial celebration of his birth. The books and manuscripts which Dr. Herbert Putnam, lbrarian, and Dr. Israel Schapiro, head of the Semitic division, have selected for exhibition are fascinating in themselves and doubtless will attract a large public. Maimonides, as it happens, trans- eended the ordinary boundaries of his profession, place and time. He was, indeed, & universal character. A na- tive of Cordova, Spain, he spent his better years at Cairo serving as phy- | does not dispose of the Gravelly Polnt been advanced by the Anglo-German Cuteriations. in which e Mast | District. But it unfortunately destroys Fuehrer seems almost to have enacted the role of a dictator laying down terms. In the midst of Hitler's truculent declarations he did learn from his visitor that the British people are deeply concerned over present-hour tendencies in Germany, and that un- less there is marked change in the Reich’s international attitude some system of general European security must be evolved that Germany may find to her serious disadvantage. That is a polite way of saying that if the Nazis continue to menace their neighbors by wholesale rearmament approaching Germany's pre-war 1 | the advantageous principles represent- !ed in the selection of an independent commission by eliminating from the commission’s choice of sites the pro- | posed Gravelly Point development, for | reasons that are not altogether eap- | vincing and on grounds that remain highly controversial. ~ Futhermore, | there is eliminated from membership | on the commission the agency which | naturally should possess a strong voice | in solution of the airport problem— the National Oapital Park and Plan- ning Commission. The fact that the | Park and Planning Commission has favored Gravelly Point in 'he past should not bar it from membership. But the only reasonable interpreta- tion of its having been ignored is | because of its conviction that Gravelly | Point is the best available site. It is unfortunate, therefore, that the subcommittee did not carry out in full the independent commission prin- ciple, make its membership adequately | representative of all the agencies con- | cerned and leave to the commission the full and unprejudiced choice of | the site. If the Park and Planning Commission were outvoted by disin- | interested opinion, the Gravelly Point | issue would be settled. One fears, that the nature of the report and proposed legislation accompanying it issue. Could not the legislation be amend- ed to remove these objections? The committee finds that: “The need for proper airport serving the District of | Columbia is immediate. An airport is required that can be developed in the least possible time for the least cost, having in mind safety, proximity to the center of Washington, and adequate technical facilities.” With these statements there is no disagree- ment. But while the Washington Air- port could doubtless be enlarged, as the committee suggests, more rapidly than Gravelly Point could be devel- oped, it {s by no means certain that the unfortunate and continued delay which has dogged development of an appropiate site will not be continued by the unnecessaty elements of con- troversy that the committee has in- jected into an otherwise good report. Early this month Frederic A. Delano, chairman of the Natlonal Oapital Park and Planning Commission, wrote to Chairman Randolph of the sub- committee: Your committes may inquire why, with such repeated indorsements of the Gravelly Point site, ng action has as yet been obtained. answer is simple. Whenever legislation for Grav- elly Point is before a committee of Congress and its many obvious advantages have been presented those desiring to sell other sites to the Government intervene, request inspec- tion of their sites and have on several on the course of treatment. The pro gressive doctors, however, insist that the patient must be carefully guarded from the ministrations of the con- servative physiclans, What the G. O. P. needs is an issue which will appeal to a lot of people more than it needs a leader, although the potential leaders may not agree to this. It needs an issue that is easy of demonstration, an issue about which millions of people have become, or are capable of becoming, angry. That is about all the Spring tonic that the party needs. Whether it 18 fully developed this Spring or next does not matter so much, provid=d the issue is well urder way by May or June of 1936. It needs an issue against the party in power, the New Dealers. It must be able to show the people that the New Deal is a flop or that it is & raw deal, making life more complex and more difficult. If the Republicans, under the lead- ership of some of the progressives, un= dertake to shape up the G. O. P. a8 a kind of glorified new deal, where will they get? In the first place, the Democratic New Deal is a going concern and the people are likely to ask, “Why swep horses?” There are Republican Progressives—Senator Nor~ ris of Nebraska and Senator Hiram Johnson of California, for example— who appear to be entirely satisfied with the author of the New Deal, President Roosevelt. Would they shift allegiance to a Republican presidential candidate 2ven if he were a Borah or a Nye? ‘The latest emanation from Repub- lican sources is & plan to have the G. O. P. revived in Kansas City, with a convention of delegates from ten Midwestern cities. It seems a bit fanciful to exclude the Republicans of the East and the Pacific Coast from this interesting’ political ac- couchement. They, concelvably, might not care for the result. All this political planning has something - in common with the planned economy of the New Deal | projects. The Republican party, if it is | going to oust the Democrats from control, must have something more | | than plans. It must have an aroused electorate to work upon. If the people | are satisfied with their condition, and i business and employment pick up | during the coming twelve months, it | is going to take more than pians to | | turn out the Democrats. e A Baltimore philosopher says that | the world. By inference he doubtless | | means to include all sections of Balti- | more itself. et The violent oratory transmitted by radio is calculated to make the aver- age listener-in feel like a member of a small town jury. o Much that Herbert Hoover pre- dicted has come to pass. But little of it however, is real “cheerio stuff” for any radio announcer. ———— There is a tendency to relax the re- straint on lotteries before the Irish English will become the language of | b Sweepstakes arrives at a world mo- nopoly. oo Prance by forbidding export of war materials sets an example of isolation | which is quite likely to be quoted with | diplomatic authority. R So much has been said in the radio | wrangle that what promised to be a stormy campaign may already have spent its fury. ———ee A gambler says he got a “tip off” | out of the air. Even a crime wave can be tuned in on. -t SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. ‘Nother Slogan. We used to say that cigarettes ‘Would bring us to despair. The present pace that Fashion sets Displays them everywhere. We used to put them on the spot Along with cards and rum. We now declare that they are not As bad as chewing gum. It's in the window curtain fold, It's in the baby's hair, It makes cement when it is cold On dear grandfather's chair. Another war cry let us ind ‘To add unto the sum, Let's shout, with energies combined, Away with chewing gum! Alert Supervision. “Here's a picture,” said the art ex- pert, “that cost the artist the price of his daily bread for paint, brushes and canvas. Now it's worth many thou- sands of dollars.” “Humph!” exclaimed Senator Sor- ghum. “We finance regulators shotld see about this. It's obviously another occasions asked for a special commis- sion to investigate and report later. Before the committee can make these inspections and complete hearings Congress is adjourned. That 18 unfortunately true. The House District Committee is now in & position, however, to go forward with legisiation on the basis of its sub- committee's report, but to include the National Capital Park and Planning Commission on the proposed Wash- ington airport commission and give to that commission a free hand in mak- ing the final selection of whatever site such a commission finds after. thorough inquiry to be best. Spring Fancie In the Springtime Republican fancy lightly turns to thoughts of party rejuvenation, particularly in the Springtime of 1935. It seems to be pretty generally agreed by the pro- gressive wing and the conservative wing of the party alike that there must be a rebirth of the G. O. P. The Republican party was born a long time ago. It has had its ups and downs, largely due to intraparty strife. But up to the present day it has never been officially dead. What it needs, therefore, is not & rebirth but a good sician to Saladin and as leader of the Jewry of Egypt, pursuing researches in the sacred writings of his race, in < Bpring tonic, something to build it up. The progressive and conservative doc- mhnunmm_\mbunl f. case of reckless speculation.” The Necessary Myth. I heard the other night Of the Valkyries' flight, And presently they sung Of QGotterdammerung. Such phrases make me grieve, T'd rather still believe, ‘With as much proper cause, In good old Santa Claus. Time Saving. “Do you favor a lottery for Crimson Gulch?” . “No,” answered OCactus Joe. “If anybody happens around with some loose change, we can take it away from him faster in & poker game.” “We must study paradoxes respect- fully,” said Hi Ho, the sage of China- town, “striving mid disappointments to learn how to be content though dis- satisfled.” Softer Manners, The feot ball player's uniform Is bulky and a trifie warm, It is, should play prove rather rough, The proper thing to overstuff. In sports let joy be unconfined And still with youthful zest combined. Let’s have, ere we say “Nighty night,” One good old-fashioned pillow fight. “If monkeys could talk,” sald Uncle Eben, “dey'd rest up by soundin’ fool- ish 'stid of actin’ dat way." THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES B. TRACEWELL. The secret of happiness has en- geged the attention of mankind for & long time. Today more than ever we ought to study this problem, before the bombs and gases so widely predicted by the experts get us all. On the brink of possible disaster, we ought, nevertheless, to study hap- piness. If there is no catastrophe, we may go ahehd; If the crisis comes, we are no worse off, certainly. Happiness is not something to the- orize about, but to secure, as the great Emperor said in his golden book: “The thing to do is not to talk about what & good man should be, but to be such. * ok ok % ‘There have been many strivings for happiness. The best general picture was writ- ten many thousands of years ago in the book in the Bible called Eccle- sinates, No one can add much to that pic- ture, although many have tried since. “Vanity of vanities” said the preacher, although what he meant was futility of futilities. ‘The individual approach is the one open to each human being. One point stands out: ‘That he is happler who s inter- ested in the things of Nature than he whose main interests must be the things made by man, = x %% If we look at yonder man, to catch the secret of his evident happiness, we see that it is because he is inter- ested in the plants and animals, the birds and the bees, all the innumer- able things, great and small, which God hath made. If we look at this other, to find what makes him plainly unhappy, as evinced by the entire face, which never lies, we see easily enough that he has to do mainly with man-made things. He sells machines, of one sort or another, and though he knows they may be faulty, yet he must swear each day that they are the most superb things of their kind ever seen in the world. How can he help being unhappy? ER Yet it is not fair, nor is it the truth. to say that occupations alone can have these effects, else we would | | expect to see the salesman of electric ' refrigerators supremely unhappy, and | the man who deals with bees, for instance, atrociously happy. Every one knows that the thing is not as simple as that. Where it must lle, if it lies at all along this line, is in the underlying interest. | If the salesman of man-made things, for instance, still finds his greatest recreation in birds and flow- he will possess an inner light| which helps make him appear happy | to other people. If the motorman who deals all| day long with the man-made per- plexities of street cars and traffic finds | a long jaunt with his old dog on Sundey the high spot of the week, surely there is a man who will help others be happy, as well as himself. * X X ¥ If we insist on looking at it in | this light, we will see easily enough that happiness is something which transcends money. 8 All too often the average attitude has been to center the attention on “how much he makes,” with the implication that if he makes enough he is bound to be happy. Every one knows ‘that isn't exactly true, either. Practical people will say that a certain amount of money i8 necessary, at the least, and they are about right, too, but the matter evidently doesn’t stop there. Every one has seen & m'llionaire with drawn, knit brow: every one knows some poor fellow who never- ltlr;elc‘u manages to ‘“see the fun in e’ “Many very serious problems” we say of the first, to explain his ap- parent unhappiness. “A fool,” we mmy say of the other. * ook ok Basic happiness is deeper than that. It runs back to whether or not one is mainly interested in the things not made by hands. Thus it runs to the very founda- tions of the world. It runs to the beginnings of life, “\:n emergence in the murky pools of time. Whitman expressed it when he said: “Immense have been the preparations for me, Faithful and friendly the arms that have helped me. “Qycles ferried my cradle, rowing and rowing like cheerful boatmen; For room to me stars kept aside in their own rings; Tbey sent influences to look after ‘what was to hold me; Before I was born, generations guided me; My embryo has never been torpid— nothing could overlay it. “For it the nebula cohere to an orb, The long slow strata plled to rest it on, Vast vegetables gave it sustenance, Monstrous sauroids transported it in their mouths and deposited it with eare. “All forces have been steadily em- ployed to complete and delight me; Now on this spot I stand with my robust soul.” * x ® & ‘Was not that a strange happiness, my friends, to come out of a Gov- ernment department? Yet we know, and 8o do you, many men and women in the departments now who possess equally with Whit- man the one big secret, if there is one, of worldly happiness. They go about their work, what- ever it may oe, with & light in their eyes, because cehind their work, the work of auman hands, for human ends, stands the unending interest of their lives in the little and great proc- esses of Nature. It may be birds, it may be fish, it may be ants, it may be flowers, or trees, or shrubs, or walking in the mountains, or ontemplation of “what hath God wrought”; whatever it is, it 18 something great, something mad in the beginning, and yet shail be, as it is today. ¢ These are the happy people, whether in peace or in ~ar, at home or abroad. One such had a rendezvous with death, but remembered the kLumble flower growing in the dust. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Present congressional conditions are astonishingly like those which existed | at the same period in 1934, when Pres- ident Roosevelt hied himself away for a Florida fishing holiday. Then, now, confusion and controversy pre- vailed. ‘The House had overridden F. D. R's veto of the veterans’ pen- | sion bill, even as it has just enacted | the $2.000,000,000 bonus in the teeth of his opposition. A huge portion of his legislative program remained un- enacted, exactly as it does today. After his battles with the barracuda and the tarpon, the President returned to Washington in April, 1934, like & giant refreshed and manifestly in trim for s fight. By mid-June he saw written onto the statute books the iion's share of what he wanted ac- complished—a formidable program. House and Senate leaders sped the President southward this week with the assurance that he might safely count upon history repeating itself. Social security, holding companies legislation, two-year extension of N. R. A, the Federal Reserve banking bill and more Home Owners’ Loan Corporation funds are the main issues on which Mr. Roosevelt expects affir- mative action. His batting .average with the Seventy-fourth Congress will be pretty high if he can chalk up that record. * ok ok ok It was the amazing improvement in Col. Howe's condition and certain pessage of the $4,880,000,000 work- Teliet bil that jointly caused the President’s sudden decislon to cut loose from White House work and worries and head without further de- lay for the waters where the game fish play. Although Mr, velt had to compromise in spots on work-re- lief, he gets about everything he wants and is thoroughly content with the way the long fight turned out. No ruler in history was ever equipped with the gigantic financial power Congress is about to repose in his hands. By using it to put 7,000,000 persons to work, directly or indi- rectly, the President is con- vinced that he will break the back of the depression. Republican politicians bave developed a high state of agita- tion over the fear that work-relief billions are going to constitute a Dem- ocratic campaign fund that bodes no good for G. O. P. hopes in 1936. : £ x %% Resumption of the Johnson-Long- Coughlin redio war is scheduled for the coming week end. Gen. Johnson is to broadcast Saturday evening. Father Coughlin will be heard during his usual Sunday afternoon hour next day, and Sunday night Senator Long will burst forth. There is, of course, no concerted plan of action among the three gladiators, and whether their talks will partake of the nature of attack and rejoinder, as was the case when the general, the Senator and the priest went to the mat earlier in the month, remains to be seen. Gen. “It 18 not my inten- tion to deal further in personalities, but, rather, to correct misstatements made by Benator Long and Father Coughlin and to discuss certain of . It is my hope that this broadcast will definitely con- clude this controversy, so far as I &m responsible for its continuance.” ® % x X One of Herbert Hoover's principal engagements in the East next month is to attend the eleventh annual re- choose that occasion for some indi- cation of his polifical plans, if any. xx 2% That day in these times doesn't amount to much which fails to churn up some new Republican presidential “possibility” for 1936. By general consent, it's Huey Long's third party threat that has caused the bull market in G. O. P. booms. Without any re- gard to order of precedence as far as availability is concerned, the follow- ing is a roster of names that nowada encounter honorable mention, to-wit: Herbert Hoover, Senator Vandenberg of Michigan, Col. Frank Knox of Illinols, Senator Borah of Idaho, Rep- resentatives Wadsworth, Snell and Fish of New York, Gov. Landon of Kansas, Gov. Hoffman of New Jersey, Senator McNary of Oregon, Gov. Mer- riam of California, Ogden L. Mills of New York, Patrick J. Hurley of Okla- homa, Hanford MacNider of Iowa, Gov. Buck of Delaware, Senator Dickinson of Iowa, former Gov. Winant of New Hampshire, Senator Nye of North Dakota and President Glenn Prank of Wistonsin. The game is young and the list ia bound to grow. Former Democratic Representative Meyer Jacobstein of New York, now a Rochester newspaper publisher, re- visited old haunts and friends in both wings of the Capitol this week. He was particularly interested in the fortunes and fate of N. R. A, of which he is one of the authentic godfathers, dating from the time the original idea was born in Washington in March, 1933, under the auspices of a select group in which Senator Wagner, Democrat, of New York was a lead- ing spirit. Dr. Jacobstein, famed in congressional days as one of the real economic brains of the House, calls the Brookings Institution at Wash- ington the “nursery” of the Blue Eagle. ok % X Undeterred by President Roosevelt's blistering attack on their “propa- ganda” actlvities, the public utilities are strenuously continuing their cam- paign of education of Congress and the country in general with respect to the Rayburn-Wheeler holding com- panies bill. From headquarters in a Washington hotel the committee of public utility executives now issues periodically a news sheet entitled The Utilities Inquiry, consisting of the facts being developed before the House Committee on Interstate Commerce. ‘The committee’s latest publication, emanating from its New York offices, is & 45-page pamphlet entitled “What the Publie Utility Act of 1935 Means to Electric Operating Utilities.” * K ox % Hitler says he wants a navy only to keep the Baltic safe for the Nazis. American sailor men, naturally inter- ested in Germany’s ambitions to rearm at sea, are wondering if the Reich might some day develop a fraternal terest in several hundred thousand German “colonists” settled in Braail, in pursuit of the program to unite sons of the fatherland everywhere in that “Greater Germany” of which the Nasis dream. Onoe upon time, in Keiser di and when Th Roosevelt was president, the Germans and other interested European powers were dis- suaded from embarking upon a Ven- esuelan debt-collecting expedition by 'T. R.'s action in mobilizing the United States fleet in the Caribbean and placing Admiral Dewey in commapd. (Copyright. 1038.) ————————— Economic Surgery Needed. Prom the Philadelphia Inauirer. nl:w that an upside-down stomach T o) some _ i, e, & mista, NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM Margaret Germond. FORGET IF YOU CAN. By John Erskine. Indianapolis: The Bobbs- Merrill Co. Is it possible for men and women to forget the past and reshape their lives to conform to the hypothesis that the depth of the foundation upon which their future happiness is to depend measures no deeper than from the moment of their conscious awareness of each other? That is the question which Mr. Erskine undertakes to answer in this extraordinary story of a man and & woman who believed they could forget. ©Of Lattimer Morton and Marguerite Laval the author writes that they were friends of his, who told their stories separately. 1In recording the prob- lems of these two, who were old enough to have acquired a more profound wisdom than either displayed in the crisis which they hoped, perhaps even believed, their intense love for each other would avert, Mr. Erskine admits the possibility of betraying a con- fidence, but he believes that in telling the story exactly as it was told to him its principals, in accordance with the law of human averages, will not recognize themselves, their actions or their words. If by chance they should, in the opinion of this hum)le scribe, they should be grateful for having given to modern mankind, through the able craftsmanship of a master novelist, an intensely human story, told with a sympathetic understanding of the blind madness that follow: unleashing of unknown powers gen- erated in the stress of overwhelming emotions. Lattimer is not an unusual type, according to Mr. Erskine, though any man who has in these modern times maintained from childhood to man- hood the beautiful relationship which exists between him and his son would be considered extraordinary at least in that degree. A wise and prudent man in his profession, and essentially & gentleman in his social life, he is nevertheless one of the millions of men befogged by inhibitions as deeply rooted as the conventions can make them. Marguerite would once have been considered most unusual. In New York, or anywhere else, in the year 1935, however, she is one of many thousands of women who through necessity or choice have chosen to be self-supporting and free from the slavery which for generations has held women in its bonds. Lattimer’s in- fatuation for her is swift and com. plete. Their acquaintance takes place in her shop, where he comes to buy a fur coat. Had the woman for | whom the coat was purchased been | pleased matters might have been dif- ferent. But the lady happened to want a leopard skin! A &mall item indeed to change the course of so many lives! But upon the episode of the leopard skin coat complications | of unbelievable proportions cast rea- son and wisdom into the discard. Love, deep and enduring, is born between these two whose experience has made them the sane, dependable and attractive pair that they are. Neither of them, in the accepted code | of modern conduct, has transgressed too far beyond the prevailing conven- tions of & quarter of & century ago. Yet the unaccountable and ungovern- able combination of doubt and jeal- ousy leads steadily toward the crisis which even the deep and superior love of those who have outlived the great enough to prevent. Of the two, Marguerite is the wiser. understanding of human nature than the average man seems to have the capacity to acquire. But, then, man is the more aggressive and the more possessive of the sexes, individual opinions to the contrary notwithstand- ing. Lattimer wants Marguerite more than anything he has ever before de- ! sired. He accepts her | though in his heart | lieve in it. She knows that he can- | not forget, and that jealousy will some day get the better of him, but she loves him against her will. They are married. They are happy for a while, but what agony they both suffer until | the fires which sear their souls are quenched in the true revelation of themselves to each other! Almost, Mr. Erskine answers the question which the title suggests. There are really three answers, and the story of Lattimer and Marguerite gives them all. Less compelling, but equally as con- vincing, is the story of Lattimer’s son and his love for a girl who is too young to accept the transgression of his father, and who just as blindly ac- cepts with unswerving devotion the same transgression on the part of Marguerite. Somehow this challenge to “Forget If You Can” makes one feel that this is_unquestionably the most powerful and the best novel that Mr. Erskine has produced. Books Received | dOLD AND PRICES. By George F. Warren, Ph. D. and Frank A. Pearton, Ph. D. New York: John Wiley & Sons. A volume in the Price Series, by ‘Warren and Pearson, including much of the materjal which appeared in “Prices,” witl many new chapters. ‘The authors are, respectively, pro- | fessor of agricultural economics and farm management and professor of prices and statistics at Cornell Univer- sity. Their names are well known in connection with theories of the com- modity dollar and inflation. ‘THE PIPE DREAM OF PEACE. The Story of the Collapse of Disarma- ment. By John W. Wheeler-Ben- nett. New York: William Mor- row & Co. THE NATURE OF CAPITALIST CRISIS. By John Strachey. New York: Covici-Friede. GOVERNMENT IN A PLANNED DE- MOCRACY. By A. N. Holcombe, professor of government, Harvard University. New York: W. W. Norton & Co. THE TABORS. A Footnote of West- ern History, New York: The Press of the Pioneers. A chapter of Colorado ploneer his- tory. CHORUS FOR SURVIVAL (Verse). By Horace Gregory. New York: Covici-Friede. WEEP NOT FOR THE DEAD. By Michel Matveev. New York: Al- ~fred A. Knopf. ILLYRIA, LADY. By Constance But- ler. Boston: Houghton Miffiin Co. THE CROCK OF GOLD. By James Stephens. New York: The Mac- millan VOYAGE IN THE DARK. By Jean Rhys. New York: William Mor- row & Co. SHADOW OF DOUBT. By Arthur Somers Roche, New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. SHOULDER THE SKY. By James Gray. New York: G.P.Putnam’s Sons. “NATIONAL VELVET.” By BEnid New VYork: Willlam Morrow & Co. LIGHT FROM ARCTURUS. By Mil- dred Walker. New York: Har- aourt, Brace & Co, )z the | unreasonable passions of youth is not | A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Washington Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Hasken, Director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. When did the Barnum & Balley gireoul stop having street parades?— A. In 1908. Many had argued that the abandonment of the parade would hurt business, but it was found that this was not true. @ When was the Atlantic Oity Steel Pier bullt?—W. C. D. A. It was started in 1897 and opened to the public in July, 1898. In 36 years the attendance has been over 44,000,000. Q. How many bees are there in an ordinary swarm?—C. E. F. A. A swarm from a modern hive ;fi& usually contain 20,000 or more Q. What is the object of the Ray- burn bill>—L. R. N. A. The object of the Rayburn bill is to do away with holding companies on the theory that holding companies are parasites. A holding company is an organization which controls an operating company or other holding companies. Q. Why do singers and speakers | often have sore throats>—I, H. A. The Public Health Service says that excessive use of the vocal chords may cause a decided irritation or | soreness of the throat; in fact, it is | 2 well-recognized condition among vanced as the hope of interesting such children in thelr school work and supervised play. Q. Has the name of Constantinople been changed?—J. B. A. The name of the Turkish city formerly called Oonstantinople has always been Istanbul in Turkish. The change was in English from the old Greek name to the modern Turkish name, Q. What does & lion's track look Hke?—A. H. A. It consists of & large circular mark made by the main part of the lion's paw called the pad, with four or five smaller and narrower marks llt one side of it made by the sheathed claws, Q. Bince Bruno Hauptmann en- tered this country illegally, is his son an American citizen?—L. V. A. The child’s status 18 not affected. Having been born in the United States he is an American citizen, Q. What perc!nt—lge— of the members of Congress are usually lawyers?— C. L. M. A. The average number of lawyers 18 70 per cent. Q. Who won the Mackay trophy in 1934?—E. L. A. It was awarded to Brig. Gen. Henry H. Arnold, Air Corps, in recog- nition of his leadership as command- ing officer of the United States Arm Alaskan flight of last year. In 197 he was the first winner of the Macke | trophy. public zpeakers and others whose oc- cupations require much use of the voice. Q. How did Gen. Hugh Johnson get | his title of general>—B. W. G. A. He was commissioned brigadier | general April 15, 1918. It is customary | to refer to & brigadier general as “general” Q. Is the artist who painted “Sep- | tember Morn” living?—A. M. A. Paul Chabas, who is now 66 years old, is living in Paris, where he is still actively engaged in portrait painting. Q. How large is Sao Paulo?—C. J. A. This city, in the heart of the coffee country of Brazil, covers about | 14 square miles and has a population of 1,006,000. Q. How many Jews hold positions on directorates of American business concerns?—A. T. H. A. The American Hebrew published & survey for 1934. About 80,000 names are listed holding about 210,000 di- rectorships. Of these 3,825 were Jews holding 9,550 directorships. These directorships are divided as follows: In industrial enterprises, 3,050: in mercantile, 1,750; in financial. 3,950; in miscellaneous concerns, 800. Q. Who built the house which | formed the nucleus for the Columbia Hospital for Women in Washington? —W. C. A. It was built by Tench Ringgold in 1812. He was a United States marshal for the District of Columbia. Q Why is Charles I called White King"?—C. B. A. Partly because of the purity of his life, and partly because at his burial his cofin was covered with snow. Q. Why do school children play hooky?—W. K. A. This problem is belng studied by New York City’'s Emergency Relief Bureau. It is believed that one-third of the truancy comes from ill-regulated Experience has given her a broader and incompetent families of low eco- | stitution. | nomic status. Usually both parents | are working and the children are ne- | glected. Individual teaching is ad- “the | Q. Can brown sugar be made fro:: beets?—T. W. A. All brown sugar is partially rec- fined cane sugar. Beet sugar made b: present processes is marketable onl; when refined. Q. What were the names of the Three Musketeers?—R. A. W, A. In Dumas’' romances they Were Athos, Porthos and Aramis. D'Artag- nan is the fourth of the group of friends and his life and exploits form the thread of the Dumas tales, Q. Can individuals or commission houses sell wild ducks in the District of Columbia?—L. N. C. A. They cannot. The City of Wash- ington is Federal territory and is now a game preserve for birds. Q. How much money is paid in ali- mony each year’—E, G. A. According to a report of the Alimony Reform League of New York City, $836,000.000 is being paid an- nually in alimony. In addition. two billion dollars & year is paid to lawyers, court clerks and others involved in divorce procedure. Q. How many drawings are held each year in the Irish Sweepstakes? —T.W.C. ) A. Three drawings are held each year—one on the Grand National Steeplechase in March, a second on the Epsom Derby in June, and a third on the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket in October. | Q Please explain the dates, nones and celends—E. A. B. A. The Roman calendar was divided into calends, nones and ides. The | calends always fell on the 1st of the month: in March, May, July and Oc- tober, the nones on the 7th and the ides on the 15th; in the remaining months the nones on the 5th and the ides on the 13th. Q. Which was the first State to join the Union?—J. D. A. Delaware was the first of the original 13 States to ratify the Con- Vermont was the first State to be admitted to the Union after the establishment of the United | States under the Constitution. 'Ladies and Gentlemen Survive On the whole, the press is disposed to scout the suggestion of Dr. Wil- liam N. MacOracken, Vassar College | president, that ladies and gentlemen of the old school are largely extinct, Roosevelt, who challenged the edu- cator's remarks. | Dr. MacCracken is quoted as saying: “There are few gentlemen left in the world, and I know there are no ladies—in the old sense. The chiv- alrous ideal of the gentleman can be attained more easily than the old ideal of the lady.” “In our favorite ‘unabridged.’ " ob- “the definition of lady runs far and wide in the shades of meaning given, yet leaves its most lasting impres- sion of this elusive person as one ‘gracious and quiet in all things” A significant note in the discussion comes, too, in the average reaction to the word ‘womanly’ as of much deeper and more sweet meaning than that aroused by the word ‘ladylike.” The question is in reality never quite cleared up, no matter how reasonable one or another definition may seem, possibly from the fact that a few generations ago both ‘lady’ and ‘gen- tleman’ were titles of rank. as ‘lady’ still is in England, and that this confuses any definition based purely on character. The discussion goes in a circle. o of us, there remains a very definite conception of what a lady is. and for all of us a very strong conviction that there are ladies and gentlemen both still left us.” The question is raised by the New York Times as to: “why a few gen- tlemen survive after the ladies are extinct,” and that paper suggests that perhaps “the male by longer training can be of the world and remain a gentleman, while a lady ceases to be one as soon as she leaves her seclusion.” “The laity of the Nation” thinks the Kansas City Star, “on the ques- tion of those fine and exact points that constitute ladies, surely will join the opinion of Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt that there are plenty of them left (both points and ladies). It likewise will enter strong dissent to the reported view of President MacCracken. Mrs. Roosevelt feels sure that President MacCrackén had in mind ladies of the old school and not of the new, considering the age of Vassar and the ages of its stu- dents, figuratively speaking. It is conceded that the former type of lady is extinct, although it is held that gentlemen of the old school remain— ‘whichever school it is should be quick to reveal itself. But the gracious admission as to gentlemen is itself sufficlent evidence of the continued existence of ladies. 8o God bless ‘em, ‘l! we all, and the Republic still lives.” The New Orleans Times-Picayune quotes the statement of Mrs. Roose- velt: “In essentials & lady remains exactly what she always was, but as customs and times change the super- ficialities change. The essentials are kindliness of spirit and the kind of naturalness which is not dependent on birth or curcumstances surround- ing the personm, but is dependent on inner assurance that if you are doing the right and kind thing it must be the right way to act. Therefore, you ) |and to support the view of Mrs. | serves the Knoxville (Tenn.) Journal, | In the end, for the most | In Newspaper Editors’ Opinion do not worry about what people may think or whether what you do seems to them right or wrong.” The New Orleans paper continues: “So there | you are, and if, after reading the | foregoing, you are still in doubt as | to the correct definition of ‘lady,’ go |look in the dictionary, where you'll find a large number of definitions, some one of which ought to suit you. | A lot of folks will be perfectly willing | to accept the definifion set forth by Mrs, Roosevelt—some of them because it expresses their own views and others because they accept the guidance of an ‘old school' counscl; ‘Never argue with a lady.’" “Godey’s Magazine,” i?rm'idence Bulletin, “was filled with | the kind of ladies Dr. MacCracken has in mind. And so are a lot of novels that nobody reads now except for their historic interest. They were very refined, Dr. MacCracken's ladies, | But inclined to be stuffy. They put | too much emphasis on form. Pro- priety they called it. Not that form sn't a good thing. It is. We'd all be better for more of it than we display today. But too much of it becomes stifilng. It stified a lot of ladies up to the beginning of the | present century—Iladies who secretly | wanted to sit comfortably cross-legged in mixed company and laugh out loud and maybe talk politics, but | didn’t dare to.” Seeking a definition for the word, the Scranton (Pa.) Times states: | “Kindliness, gentleness and thought- fulness are among the marks of the lady. What is important to know is that these can be acquired as well as inherited. So every woman who really wants to can be a lady, of one kind or another, if not of the ‘old school,’ the new school.” ———vr— Jawing Juggernauts. FProm the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph. This newly invented talking auto- | mobile is going to add another throe to existence. Imagine being upbraid- ed and reviled by a vicious sports model that hopes to add you to its bag and misses by half an inch! recalls the Two Pessimistic Views. From the Jacksonville (Fla.) Journal. Things could be worse. Suppose, for instance the financial condition of the average business man was as poor s he reports it to his wife and the income tax office. T-hc Coming Generation. Prom the Paducah (Ky.) S8un-Democrat. Things work out. A season of ad- versity makes a rugged race, and that's the kind it takes to pay off the bonds. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton The Heavens Alight ‘The town at eventide: a soft, blue sky, ‘The afterglow of sunset in the West, No planes, only a white cloud sailing by, A fleeting moment of celestial rest. ‘Then, faint and luminous, a single star Gives promise of the myriads afar.