Evening Star Newspaper, March 28, 1935, Page 10

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Moruing Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY. ...March 28, 183! THEODORE W. NOYES. . . Editor PSSR The Evening Star Newspaper Company ‘Business Office: ekt BBt S, T gt dana 3 : icago Office: Lake Michigan Building. European Office; 14 Regent 8.. London. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Regular Edition, SUAT ... - xs 45 Der mon! e Sinday Blan, o m &l! month . -6¢ Der copY Editien. t Star 70 Do Mont o o580 800, Sat "o . Ord ma gl?;r?nn- Nations] 3000 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland lln(l :’llixlnh..mo e 1ly and Sunday. .1 yr., $10.00; 3 23 1y $6.00 80c ily and Sunday 1 3T §:n€ only . 1yr jundav only.....1¥r. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively en. titled to the use for republication of al news dispatches credited to it or not other- jise .redited in this paper and iso thy local news oublished hereln A1l rights o publication of special dispatches hereln are also rererved : 1 mo.. $4.00: 1 mo Japan and the League. Two statutory years having elapsed since Japan stalked out of the League of Nations in resentment over con- demnation of her procedure in Man- churia, she has now formally and finally withdrawn from Geneva. To one advantage of its former associa- tion with the world organization the | Tokio government clings tenaciously. | Japan will not relax her grip on the | islands in the Pacific Ocean mandated | to her by the League. | They are held to be an inseparable | portion of the Japanese empire be- cause of their strategic value in any struggle for naval mastery of the Pacific. The territory in question— | Commissioners. Other schoot nceds,] the Carolines, the Marshalls and the Ladrones—scattered over forty degrees ontd | measurable extent. quire for expression the devising of some new fiscal term. If the planners are looking for a big undertaking to absorb the idle working force, surely 5 | this is one worth considering. Physicists may demur to the propo- sition, even as economists have de- nied some of the exXpedients of relief through the distribution of the money of the taxpayers. They might be disposed to question whether the dumping of ten or a hundred times the volume of the material comprising the Rocky Mountains into the At- th | lantic would raise its level to any Somebody with s taste for mathematical research might compute the small fraction of & foot to which the ocean level would be raised, if any. And then, again, some may be disposed to ask why go to all this trouble and expense to obviate the necessity of maintaining the Panama Canal, which is function- ing well enough to meet the needs of commerce. But these again are querulous points of objection, considering the eco- nomic fantasies that have actually been put into the form of law and administrative planning. The sus- picion grows that Senator Vanden- berg's correspondent, whose name really ought to be given to the world, is in truth just another cynical com- mentator upon the trend of planned economy. Branch Library Expansion. There is hope here and elsewhere that some of the long-deferred and greatly neded projects in public school and public library construction may be met through the use of funds to | be made shortly available for work | relief under the measure now in con- ference at the Capitol. School needs, as they relate to construction of ad- ditional school building facilities, have already been prepared by the school authorities and laid before the represented in an adequate building program of branch libraries, have of longitude and twenty degrees of | been placed before the Commission- Iatitude just north of the Equator, has been declared by her admirals to be Japan’s “life line” in the Pacific, just | ers by the Public Library trustees. In today’s Star a map and article are printed in explanation of the pro- as Manchuria is the army's “life line” | Posed building program of branch on the Asiatic mainland. To the islands, as well as to the “Empire of Manchoukuo,” Nippon is determined to hold fast. There is little occasion for Tokio's super-nationalists to thunder that Japan is ready to defend by force of arms her possession of the islands against either League members or any other states that might seek to dislodge her from them. No more inclination to undertake such an adventure is likely than there has been to embark upon a campaign to drive the Jap- anese out of Manchuria. The sole concession Tokio makes to the League with respect to the mandates is that Japan will continue to make annual reports of her administration of them. Her basic claim is that she took the islands in war from Germany and that they were pledged to her in full sovereignty by the allies. The world might as well write them off as a closed incident. Of larger interest is the future of the League, now that Japan is def- initely out of it. along with the United States, and Germany’s return has become more doubtful than ever. | Geneva is reported to be bearing up philosophically amid these blows to | the League's fortunes. It is said to | hold that the defection of Japan and Germany is offset by the enthusiastic adherence of Soviet Russia. The League faces its supreme test | in connection with German rearma- | ment and such Nazi demands as Sir John Simon encountered at Berlin, including the cession of certain Czechoslovakian territory and re- patriation of 3,500,000 German resi- dents in it, as well as an economic union with Austria. If the French press their claim for disciplinary or punitive action against the Reich for its violation of the treaty of Versailles, and Geneva does not or cannot do anything to bring Hlder to reason, the League will advertise to the world a final confession of its uselessness, even as an arbiter of purely European | destinies, from which it is extremely unlikely that it could ever hope to recover. ———— The Nobel prize winners are worthy of all honor, but the plans for making the world peaceful and happy have not been much more successful than if the big brain lottery had concen- trated on a prize for the best Christ- mas carol. ———————— Although Hitler and Sir John 8imon paused for luncheon, the repast did not permit the formality of prolonged after-dinner speaking. “And the Mountains Shall Fall.” “Plans” for relieving the depression are being devised at a rate that indi- cates that whatever has happened to the American people their imagination has not been dulled by the adversities of the past few years. Senator Van- denberg of Michigan makes the fol- lowing announcement: . T have received a very interesting suggestion from a man who indicated 1t would make more work and accom- plish relief better if the administra- tion would remove the Rocky Moun- tains and dump the soil in the Atlantic Ocean, which would, in turn, raise the Atlantic to the level of the Pacific and do away with the necessity of the Panama Canal. Ignoring for the moment the sug- gestion that the Senator's corre- spondent may be a humorist, it is in order to observe that this project is about as sound in its physics as some of the “plans” of the New Deal are in their economics. The idea of excavating the Rocky Mountains and hauling the material across the con- tinent to strew it into the Atlantic— probably by a short haul to the Guif of Mexico, which would serve as well as anywhere else—commends itself at least on the score of making work for multitudes now idle. The job libraries. One of the advantages of the program as drawn lies in the fact that the sites for the new libraries are already available, as far as public ownership is concerned, and that the | short time he has been in office he | long delay usually anticipated in site selection and purchase Wwol this case be encountered. Two of the sites, in Petworth and at Wisconsin avenue and Albermarle street, would be transferred under arrangement with the Board of Education; the | three other sites—for ®a branch on the National Capital Park and Plan- ning Commission or by the Munici- pal government, and no difficulty is expected in arrangements for their dedication for library branches. ‘The public library system of the District was created as “a supplement of the public education system of said District,” and is rightly to be con- sidered in any program designed to improve the service rendered by the public schools. There is an addi- tional factor which Dr. Bowerman, the public librarian, mentions in con- nection with the project now under consideration, which is that the needs | for branch library expansion have been greatly increased by reason of new school construction. There are sections of the school community of ‘Washington which are lacking in adequate branch library facilities. The public library system is not fulfilling its great responsibility to the schools and to the community at large when it lags behind their natural growth and development. One of the important purposes out- lined for the great expenditures under the work-relief measure is to provide employment on useful projects. The libraries, along with the schools they serve, take high rank in such a category. ————— In Berlin it was mentioned that there is a difference between conver- sations and negotiations. The distinc- tion has often been made clear in our own American politics. —_——— In mentioning disarmament, Ger- many has taken the precaution to speak as one who really has arms to be laid down. ————,—— ‘The problem under consideration is the very ancient one of discovering some kind of tax to which no one will seriously object. Orchestra Campaign and Business. The time limit of the current cam- paign in aid of the National Symphony Orchestra has been extended, and s new appeal has been issued to the music-lovers of the community and their friends to subscribe to the hun- dred-thousand-dollar fund required to guarantee the organization’s continued existence. But little can be added to the obvi- ous argument for the success of the drive. Its esthetic aspects have been urged repeatedly and convincingly, and it safely may be presumed that the public at large is reasonably sym- pathetic in its attitude toward the orchestra as a valuable institution in the Captital's cultural life. One phase of the matter, however, may be worthy of further emphasis— the frankly commercial significance of it. The orchestra, as it happens, is “good for business.” It stimulates trade. The musicians, having employ- ment, are earning money which they spend for shelter, food, clothing and all the other necessities of survival. ‘Were they disbanded, they might join the already over-swollen army of the idle, be potential candidates for Fed- eral relief, constitute liabilities rather than assets to the mercantile estal lishments of Washington. Granted that such misfortune might be a relatively minor variety would last a good many years, perhaps fifty and indeed even a hundred. The amount of money expended on this ‘made-work project would perhaps re- / 5 of accident, it should be remembered that it would have a larger effect in that it would interferé with the rou- tintoflpcnd!uifid:fizlm THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTO ——m % ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS practices. Attending a concert in- volves & certain correlative expense. ‘The shops and stores of the city may not realize it, but in sober fact they profit both directly and indirectly through catering to the orchestra’s patrons. It may be asserted with con- fidence that every business house in the District of Columbia—including the street car, taxi, electric power and telephone companies—has been advantaged by the demands for goods and services which the National Symphony has stimulated. It follows that the business inter- ests of the Capital should be generous in their support of the orchestra en- terprise. Some of shem probably have recognized their obligation, but what of the others—have they done their duty? If not, the opportunity still is open and certainly ought not to be neglected. ——or—s A New Health Program. Additionel funds sought by Dr. George C. Ruhland, health officer, from the Scnate subcommittee on Dis- trict appropriations represent a rel- atively mocest request for greater public health protection in the Dis- trict of Columbia. Wita the approx- | imately $90.000 requested, Dr. Ruhland would exvand the public nursing service, increase the school inspection service and co-ordinate, under a full- time director, all of the city's agencies engaged in anti-tuberculosis work. All of these undertakings might be classed as preventive measures, and while the sum now sought does not cover the cost of an adequate public health pro- gram such as Dr. Ruhland and others | interested in public health would like to see for Washington, the money would enable the Healtn Department to take the essential steps in the direction of such a program. The Commissioners took extraordi- ‘ nary measures to obtain for Washing- ton a health officer who would meet the high standards outlined by an advisory committee of distinguished | physicians and public health experts. | The Commissioners are backed to the | fullest extent by the local community |in their desire to place the local ! health department on a par with the | health departments of other progres- sive cities of the country, and Dr. Ruhland accepted” the position here with the understanding that such was to be his assignment. In the i | | has discovered the weaker spots in uld 0ot in [ g city's defenses against disease and | is now asking Congress to exercise its exclusive authority in making funds available with which to strengthen them. The result of his preliminary re- | quests will be awaited with interest. | Conduit road. for a branch near How- | p; Runland’s task is not to convince | |ard University and for a branch in | gccociates in public health work of | | Southwest Washington—are held bY | ¢ne merits of the needs he has out- | lined, but to persuade the small group | strings for the District that his pro- fessional judgment of the situation is jcorrect. Certainly there are few safeguarding the public health; cer- | tainly in these days of vast expendi- | tures the amount now sought for pre- | cautionary measures is small indeed. } —_—————— The question of wnat constitutes a { “snub™ arises from time to time in social circles. It can be settled with- out the intervention of a congressional | investigation. ! ————— Police investigations should be brief ’nnd to the point in order to, prevent | interruption of the important duty of crime detection. H e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Deostination. “I am a stranger here” Says the oid hymn. Often a sudden fear Threatens so grim. But as through tangled ways Sadly we roam Gently resounds the phrase, “Heaven is your home.” “I am a stranger here”— Strangers get stung. Something sounds kind o’ queer When scngs are sung. ‘When we discourse of war And jts disgrace Maybe we're headed for Some other place. Ideal “Are you an idealist?" s “I am.,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “I favor a new deal, but in my community I want the deal to be distinctly witk the accent on the I.” Raising. Munitions makers make us stare ‘When nations disagree, And keep us singing “Over There,” ‘Though 1astly off the key. They send out wickedness on wings And make the world turn pale When folks should just be raising things Like pork and beans and kale. Soothing Influence. “Do you think 'it's wrong to play lotteries?” “No,” answered Miss Cayenne. “They help to keep us convinced that prosperity may be just around the corner.” “We used to frighten people with dragons,” seid Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “and were they not, after all, better than bombing planes?” Aerial Erosion. The wind ccmes down and grabs the soll And blows it 'round the map. It leaves the farmer, set for toil, A disappointed chap. If soil goes fluttering through the air And leaves an arid space, We ought tc plant more crops with care ‘To hold the stuff in place. . “I used to be afraid of ghos'es,” said ‘Uncle Eben, “but now I feels kind o’ triendly to 'em foh not carryin' guns / | of legislators who hold the purse | | municipal activities so important as| ._C, THURSDAY, MARCH 2 THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Plant life in this vicinity is recover- ing from the setback it received Win- ter before last, not last Winter. Despite last Winter's cold, flowers and shrubs of all kinds are from two to three weeks earlier this Spring than last. This means that they are becoming accustomed to seasonal cold of an ex- treme type they did not have to con- tend with for many years. It will be interesting to watch the growth of privet hedges, for instance, from now on, to see if they make up for the damage done them in the ‘Winter of 1933-4. Those that survived went through the season just past without further damage, evidently. * ok ko Bulbs of various types have their leaves far up, and some of them are in bloom, including the narcissus. Typical wild flowers are doing well at this writing. Those who may have planted this material last Fall should not expect too much of it this Spring. Perhaps it will require all Summer and another Winter to put them in good trim. Establishing wild flowers in new homes, no matter how carefully the transplanting is done, is far from an easy matter. No doubt this accounts for the plain fact that a great many otherwise ardent gardeners will not bother with them. A curious fact is that one cannot be precisely sure what sort of mate- rial one is getting, no matter how much is paid for it. Therefore it will seem to some planters that they will do as well by themselves and their gardens by sticking to local material as much as | possible. Claims are made for North- | ern-grown plants, and no doubt these | claims are well founded, but always the planter farther South must real- ize that conditions are vastly different here. The strength to stand subzero tem- peratures is heipful to any plant, but transplanting calls for a different sort of strength. It means that as little time as pos- | sible ought to intervene between one | position and another in the earth. * % ¥ % ‘The question of failure is always in the gardening mind. The real guestion, however, is just how to regard failure. Some plants will die every Winter, others will not do well, others may drag along for years without being a satisfaction to their owner or them- selves. | | | | 1 good.” as they say. One ought to learn to expect a cer- tain amount of failure. Out of every dozen rosebushes, for instance, one may die. | Just what this percentage of fail- | ure is going to be, in any given case, is impossible to state, for too much | depends upon the gardener and his | soil. The position he chooses for one shrub, for instance, may seem to him to be exactly the same as that for “ another, but actually the soil may be | entirely different and the amount of sunshine vastly less. STARS, MEN { | Laboratory | Some of the steps of earth's creation | are being duplicated ai the Geophys- ical Laboratory of the Carnegie In- stitution of Washington. By reproducing temperatures and pressures comparable to those which iohtslned in nature while the primary rocks were in process of formation, it has been possible to produce some of them synthetically. The process was described by Dr. Norman L. Bowen of the laboratory staff the other night. engaged upon this problem for many years. It concerns especially the origins of the so-called igneous rocks —the primary material of the planet. Once the giobe, Dr. Bowen explains, cooled and solidified. It emerged from the cooling period a ball of barren stone. From this everything else has been derived. The “igneous rocks” resulting from the cooling, and from the subsequent cooling of molten lava in some places, underwent various metamorphoses. They were cut down by water and wind and sedimentation Iset in. The sediment upset balances, | was subjected to enormous pressures | and became the sedimentary, or sec- ondary, rock within which is preserved the fossil record of the past. Further- more, in the terrific stresses and strains which the planet’s surface has undergone through the ages both igneous and sedimentary rocks have been subjected to heats and pressures which completely chabged their na- ture, resulting in still & third type— metamorphic rocks. Said Dr. Bowen: “When igneous rocks, deep-seated or volcanic, are ex- Immed in detail they are found to exhibit a great diversity of physical, chemical and mincralogical charac- | ters. They have been classified into hundreds of different types as a result of detailed study of their chemical and physical characters. The origin of this diversity is the fundamental problem. It is possible, of course, to assume that different rock types have come into being through special acts of creation or that they have always existed as distinct entities since the beginning of time. But petrological studies show that different rock types found in association with each other show certain mineral characters in common that point to a family rela- tionship and distinguish them from other associations that show other pe- culiarities. “The neutral conclusion is that the| individual members of any one group have come from a common source, and that source is believed to be the common parental magma. From it they have been derived through the operation of several physical and physico-chemical processes.” * ok % Down in the depths of the sea there is an unearthly blue light. But one is conscious only of the strange light itself. with it. William Beebe, the natural- ist, reports this light as far down as 1,900 feet in accounts of his deep-sea explorations. At 2,000 feet there is no sensation of light at all. One is in perpetual darkness. What is the nature of this transi- tion zone from ever-weakening Nght, with which one .can see more and more dimly, and the vivid light of the transition zone to utter which' does not enable-one to see any- Dr. E. O. Hulbul;’:f‘lzl' Naval Research Laboratory an explanation of the phenomena this week’s Science. Some enthusfasts put too much | stress on specimens that do not “do | He has been | was & molten, liquid mass. Slowly it | Often the house projection will cut off the sun for just enough time to makeé the difference between success and failure, vl et » It is & curious fact that a great many persons who take up the good outdoor sport of home gardening *just’ for the fun of it” sometimes fail to :let much pleasure from the occupa- on, Sometimes they deliberately cut themselves off from the best enjoy- ment of gardening on a small scale because they insist on expecting a 100 per cent return. This, of course, is simply foolish. There are few things in life that turn out 100 per cent perfect, and the garden certainly is not going to be one, on account of the varying condi- tions and unknown factors. ‘These factors persist despite the individual planter'’s experience and knowledge. He may think he knows a greal deal about roses, but from time to time some specimen will do very poorly, for no apparent cause, as far as he can see. The same with lilacs, those loveli- est and often most disappointing of the major shrubs. One home owner sends away for & dozen fine specimens. When they come they look as good as he ex- pected. He plants them according to his best knowledge and waits for them to bloom. ‘They never do. He inquires among his friends and finds that theirs seldom bloom, either. He reads all he can find about lilacs. One says to strip all the leaves off in August, that this will make them bloom surely the next year. Another says to dig in old shoes and garbage, because lilacs, for ail their lovely blossoms, are gross feeders. Another says to pour the wash water on them every evening. (No doubt the small amount of potash in this is supposed to be helpful, in addition to the constant watering.) After several seasons there stand the lilacs as bloomless as ever. x x x Well, what shall be done about it? ‘There is much moan in the world today without adding to it all because bloom. ‘The shrubs looked all right when they were put in the ground; they have leafed out ever since in good style; they have grown some—but they haven't bloomed. Something is wrong, but what? Let the owner refuse to worry about it. Has he not good leaves; has he not some of the loveliness of lilacs? Let him not worry, therefore, but regard their non-blooming as a prob- lem to be solved some day. He should not be in tco great a hurry about it. Hurry and worry—these must be left out of every worth-while garden. And if they are left at the gate, no matter how little of a garden it may be, or how few its blooms, to the evidently, dens, one which the owner of the greatest estate well might envy. The garden without perfection is, nevertheless, perfection itself, if it lacks hurry and worry, those two friends of the outside world. AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. | the only light getting through is the | ultra-violet, which is invisible. But, | 'aboratory experiments show, this | ultra-violet lght striking the eye | produces a fluerescence of blue light. | It is the same phenomenon as occurs | when rocks are irradiated with ultra- | violet light. They proceed to emit lights of their own and change color | uccordingly. Whites become pinks | and browns vivid reds. So specific is | the reaction that it can be used in | rough chemical analysis. The human eye acts just as do the rocks. But one sees an object by the light reflected from it. The only light re- flected from objects in the great | depths is the ultra-violet, to which the human retina is insensitive. Con- sequently nothing can be seen. But one is sensitive to light fluorescence— in this case blue—which is coming from the eye itself. T e% Alchemy, the effort to transmute other metals into gold from which much of modern chemistry ordinarily is associated with Middle Ages. But it once flourished in America and, curiously enough, on the present site of Wall street. has been resurrected from old rec- ords by Dr. C. A. Browne of the Bu reau of Chemistry and Soils of th Department of Agriculture. Dr. Browne is one of the foremost au- thorities on the history of chemistry in America. Chief among these American al- chemists was a German, Jan Max- Lichenstein, who had been a financial adviser to the Russian court, had lost his position through his addiction to alchemy and gambling, and had been aided in emigrating to America by the American Minister to St. Petersburg. Here “he carefully hoarded his earnings until he was able to pur- chase a small tenement in Wall street, where he erected a furnace with a triple chimney and renewed his search for the arcanum magnum. Every day he was occupled for two hours in the morning in a counting room. Then he was seen walking in Broadway, after which he shut himself in his laboratory untii dusk, when he issued forth to resume his solitary walk.” Meanwhile Wall street was chang- ing from a street of dwellings to the Nation's financial center. The al- chemist was no nearer the secret of making gold. But suddenly, in a most unexpected manner, he suc- ceeded. His lot had become a desir- able site for a newly-chartered bank. One day while Lichenstein was busied over his furnace there came a mes- senger from the president of this bank. It was the first time he ever had been disturbed at his work and he was furious. The messenger offered him $25,000 for his lot. He had paid $350 for it and had no idea, so absorbed had he, been in his experiments, that it was increasing in value. He was so as- tounded he could not speak. The messenger took his speechiessness for refusal and left. The next morning an agent of a rival bank was on hand offering him $30,000. By this time the alchemist began to suspect something. Before the day was over he had sold the lot for $33,000. But with his new-found competency he moved to the country and devoted the rest of his lffe fruitlessly to his slchemical experiments. Already Shared. Prom the Asheville (N. C.) Times. An economist rises to say that the T Dublle might rotess that. It has 'l'om its duty in this respect, willingly. =/ a dozen llacs stubbornly refuse to| casual eye, it will be a garden of gar- | arose, | the The strange story | The Political Mill By G. Gould Lincoln. A Midwest Republican convention in Kansas City is the latest proposal to save the G. O. P. While the mat- ter is still somewhat nebulous, it is supposed thaf* this convention will draft a platform which will lift the Republican party out of the doldrums. Gov. Alf M. Landon of Kansas, who has been in Washington for several cays, started the talk about the Mid- west convention. Gov. Landon has been mentioned as a presidential pos- sibility for the Republicans next year. He was one of the few Republicans who won anything in the campaign of 1934 and it has heen generally pre- dicted that he would have the sup- port of delegations from Missourd, Kansas and several other nearby States when the Republican National Convention comes along. However, it is asserted by Gov. Landon and others interested in this Midwest convention of Republicans that it is not the pur- pose to put any candidates forward for Presidént. The purpose is merely | to bring about a rebirth of the Re- publican party with a return to the principles of Lincoln. . * % % % William Allen White, veteran Kan- sas editor, has been credited in the | gossip about the coming Midwest Re- pubilican convention with being a| prime mover in the plan. Indeed, it | was Mr. White's idea, it was said. And furthermore, Mr. White was to have much to do with the drafting of the platform. Mr. White, with consider- able modesty, disclaims knowing any- thing about the proposed convention, except what he has read in the news- papers. However, he sees possibilities | | in the plan and insists that the Re- | publican party must “guarantee the | | common man something specific in | | the unmistakable terms of a covenant.” Denouncing the New Deal of the | Roosevelt Democrats is not enough, in his opinion. Mr. White wants the Republican party to promise the peo- ple “economic security” He wants the G. O. P. to enact laws to insure the people against the uncertainties of ill health, the poverty of old age | and the degradation of unemployment. It all sounds like the economic | | security plans advanced by President Roosevelt and the Democratjc New Dealers. Perhaps Mr. White and the | Mid-West Republicans will be able | to convince the people that their | panaceas are more efficacious, more | ! palatable than the Democratic rem- | edies. Mr. White's plan for an “iron- | | clad covenant with the people to do| | certain definite possible things which | will relieve the pressure of want and the fear of approaching poverty” is | quite a chunk to bite off. | A lot is being said about the pro- tection of the liberties of the people | along with social security. The kind | of social security that is run by a | Government bureau has more to do| with political handouts than with | liberties. The enactment of proper laws to safeguard the people and | to make it possible for them to pro- | vide their social seeurity is quite | another thing. . * % k% Last Summer the Republicans met | in Chicago for a “rebirth,” “rejuvena~ tion” or whatéver it is desired to call it. That meeting was of the elected representatives of the G. O. P, mel Republican National Committee. The | meeting, of course, was of representa- tives of all parts of the country. The m:’ represented by Charles D. Hilles of New York, John J. Roraback of | Connecticut and other stalwarts of | the party, took the Middle West for a | ride at this meeting. There was a struggle between the Hilles-Roraback | faction and the faction headed by | Walter Brown of Ohio, Mark L. Requa of California and others who have | stood with former President Hoover. ! The result was more or less of a dog fall, although the Hilles-Roraback faction was unable to put across its | candidate for chairman. But the Mid- | west and more progressive Republican group was pinched between these two | factions. So the Midwest is going to (run a show of its own this coming | Summer. The East and the Pacific | | Coast, apparently, need not apply. Up | to date there has been a chorus of | | polite approval of the Midwest con- | vention from Eastern Republicans | |and from those of the Far West. What comes out of the convention, | however, will be considered on its | merits later on. However, Republic- | ans from any part of the country | naturally consider that a Republican gathering in Kansas City would stir national interest in the Republican { party, and that is desirable. k% % While the Republicans are stewing | | | the Democrats seem in & fair way to American people must pay, one way | r another. At present the Govern- ment is handing this money out for | all kinds of projects and for relief. ‘The Democratic administration, has | just put through a $5,000,000,000 ap- propriation bill—it is still in the con- ference stage. to be sure, but there seems no doubt about the sum of money which will be appropriated. | There is no indication whatever that the administration is going to bring an end to the spending orgy. Rather, things point to more and more ap- propriations, all of which must come out of the people's pockets in the shape of excise or special sales taxes and in income taxes. There is to be another demand for more money when tfie social security legislation is put through. That is going to cost much more than appears on the sur- face. Maybe the Republicans will be wise enough to take advantage of this issue of money spending when it gathers force. LI Democrats are nursing_along the | idea that progressive Republicans should. instead of denouncing the New Deal and attacking the great expendi. tures of money by the administration, provide “intelligent co-operation.” For example, Representative Hildebrant of South Dakota, Democrat, in a state- ment denouncing former President Herbert Hoover's recent blast and in- dictment of the New Deal adminis- tration, said among other things; “It is gratifying that there are so many progressive Republicans who, instead of clinging to policies that belong to the dead past, have joined hands with progressive Democrats, members of the Farmer-Labor party, of the Progres- sive party and even of the Socialist party. It is always disappointing to see men of talent and influence per- | too sist in defending what Undersecretary of Agriculture Tugwell has so well characterized ‘economic cannibalism.’ * ® koK Every now and then the American people get up on their hind legs and roar. The repeal of the pink slip publicity clause of the income tax laws, which seems all set to pass the Senate as it has the House, has gained strength because the man of small means does not like the idea of pub- licising his private affairs, his income. lot of rich men would and spending, in spite of an unbalanced BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN. A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The | Washington Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. How much do poio ponies cost?—J. M. A. A string of six good polo ponies costs about $20,000. Q. How much gasoline was used in the United States last year?—G. M. A. According to preliminary figures prepared by the American Petroleum | Institute, gasoline consumption in the | United States in 1934 amounted to | 16,617,050,000 gallons. Q. Who invented the French style of telephone?—J. K. | A. The so-called French phone, or | handset, is not of French origin, as| supposed, but early American. This type of telephone was first developed | by Robert G. Brown, chief engineer | of the Gold & Stock Telegraph Co. of New York, in 1878, and was used search of L. Bamberger & Co Newark, N. J,, conducted a t:ues!.\ol':E naire to determine the most promi- nent business women in the United States. The result is as follows: Jog- ephine L. Roche, Assistant Secret: of the Treasury; Elizabeth Arden, cos- metics manufacturer; Mary Dillon, president of the Brooklyn Borough Gas Co.; Nell Donnelly Reed, dress manufacturer; Dorothy Shaver, vice president of Lord & Taylor; Alice Foote MacDougall, restaurant chain owner; Dr. Lillian Gilbreth, engineer- ing expert; Mrs. Ogden Mills Reid, vice president of the New York Herald Tribune; Mrs. Stanley Resor, adver- tising executive. Q. How much of New York State’s area is in lakes?—F. M. A. One-sixty-fifth, or nearly 1,000, 000 acres, of the area of New York | 1s in lakes and® ponds. Q. Has Stratford, the Lee home | in Virginia, been furnished?>—L. F. A. The Robert E. Lee Memorial by operators until 1884, when it was abandoned, as the more efficient tele- | phone transmitter at that time could not be uesd on it. Mr. Brown was engaged as electrical engineer in Paris shortly after he developed the handset and brought with him the patent. Q. How long has it been since John D. Rockefeller played golf>—R. C. A. Mr. Rockefeller gave up golf in| 1932. | Q. To what church did Mary Baker | Eddy belong before she founded Christian Science?—D. A. P. A. She was a member of the Con- | gregational Church, as were her parents. Q. in New York City last?>—D. M. A. The International Flower Show | at the Grand Central Palace, New York, was held from March 18 to 23. Q. What surnames are most com- mon in the United States>—J. E. S. | A. Basing a reply on telephone | directories of 1932, the names which appeared most frequently were Smith, Johnson, Brown. Jones, Williams, Miller, Davis, Anderson, Wilson and Moore. Q. Where does the Indian River of Florida rise?>—M. E. P. . The Indian River along coast of Florida is really an arm of the sea inclosed by a string of long, narrow islands and a long, narrow peninsula. It stretches along the At- lantic Seaboard from the northern extremity of Brevard County to north Martin County, a distance of 110 or 115 miles, Q. Can a person, standing in front of a mirror, take his own picture?— M. B. A. This can be done. Q. Please describe Colleen Moore's doll house.—A. F. A. The house weighs a ton, is 9 feet high and contains 6,000 indi- vidual pieces. It was built at a cost of $500,000 and its construction took nine years. The doors and windows open and shut, it has real carpets, 400 tiny electric lights, water and gas heat. Miss Moore is sending the 'house on a tour of the world. The | receipts will be turned over to hos- pitals and charitable organizations. Q. Has France issued a medal of President Roosevelt?>—L. W. M. A. The French government mint has issued & it medal of the President in high relief by the Eng- lish medalist, Theodore Spicer-Sim- son. Q. Please give a list of the most important business women in the country.—F. W. C. A. The Bureau of Economic Re- How long did the flower show | Foundation, which is restoring Strat- ford, has announced plans for install- | ing furnishings of the eighteenth cen- tury in the home. Mrs. Robert Worth | Bingham, chairman of the House Fur- | nishing Committee, is engaged in re- | search at the public record office in | London for inventories of consign- | ments of furniture sent to Stratford in the early 1700s. In this way it is hoped to get minute descriptions of the fittings of the home, so that the reproductions may be exact. Q. Why is South Carolina ealled the Iodine State?—B. C. A. It is because of the fact that its fruits, vegetables and milk natu Icumam sufficient iodine to provi :ror the requirements of nutrition. Q. Is liquor smuggling carried on to any extent now?—E. A, M. A. Last vear liquor smugglers cost the Government more than $30,00,- 000 in lost internal revenue taxes and customs duties. It is estimated that illicit alcohol is entering the country at the rate of more than 2,225,000 gallons a year. Q. Has the number of horses de- creased?—T. W. A. There are only 12,000,000 horses on farms and ranches of the United States. This is the lowest number in 40 years. Q. How much does it cost grocers to make deliveries?—R. M. K. A. According to a Department of Commerce survey, it was estimated that 20 per cent of a clerk’s time or of all clerks’ time in grocery stores is spent in delivering packages. The cost varies materially by the individual stores and may range from 1.11 cents to 5.52 cents per §1 sales. Q. Who started the system of using letters for regiments of the Army? Why was “j” omitted?—A. 8. R. A. Col. Charles K. Gardner, who is the author of the system of using | letters for the troops and regiments of the Army, ol cause at that “i” and “j" we itted the letter “j” be- time (1816) the letter written alike. Q. How broad is the Mississippi River at its widest point?—J. R. K. A. The widest point at bankfull stage is 77 miles below Cairo, IIl, where the river is 14.420 feet wide. Q. Is the Basque language related to any other language?—G. McL. A. The Basque language is abso- lutely isolated from other European linguistic families. The. Basques are possibly the descendants of the ancient Iberri, who occupied Spain before the Celts, but this question has not been decided by ethnologists. Q. Why were certain Baptists called Hardshell?>—M. R. A. It was because of their strict and rigid tenets. Budget Warnin ¢ by Douglas Welcomed by Press Critics Critics of the administration’s mon- etary and budget policies welcome the statement from Lewis W. Douglas, for- mer director of the budget, outlining steps to strike a balance between Gov- ernment income and expenses and Inn-tastlné chaos unless the present course is checked. “His warning,” thinks the Los An- geles Times, “was not spoken lightly. | { had ever been able to escape the| than is taken in in revenue—the pen- alty being a destroyed currency and away about a rebirth of the G. O. P., ! chaos certain to result in dictatorship. | ‘The weight of econcmic forces compels develop an issue which may be of value & change in political organization. No- who has comme: to the Republicans. It has to do with body wants a dictator in,this country | 5 positive bulwar money, billions of dollars which the A ©Xcept & handful of Communists and | jngation. an equally small Fascist group: bu it will be difficult to escape one steps are not taken soon to balance the budget.” The effect of rising prices on those that he calls “America’s middle class” is deplored by the Buffalo Evening News, and that paper says of the Douglas views: “The small merchants, the professional men and women, the clerks and other ‘white-collar’ workers to whom enrollment on the relief rolls is a bitter nedessity, the school teach- ers—these bear the burden of rising prices. They did not draw huge divi- dends in 1929, they did not earn big pay checks in steel mill or on the line in an auto factory. Inflation will benefit them not at all, rather will it increase the degree of genteel pov- erty with which they are afflicted. Middle class, what now? Lewis Doug- las foresees a time when America will swing Socialist or Fascist. That time will not come so long as there is a middle class left in the country. Only after those liberal and democratic ele- ments have been ‘leveled down’ in| the social and economic scale.” “Every few days,” observes the Akron Beacon Journal, “Secretary | Roper gives bland assurance to busi-| ness interests ‘that the administration | does not contemplate new taxes at| this time’ He has just renewed this promise in @ memorandum addressed | to the 50 members of his business and advisory planning council. Quite a different expert opinion comes from Lewis Douglas, late budget director for the Federal Government. He says that | if the administration pursues its pres- ent course, if it insists upon spending | budget and heavy deficits, sooner ar later it will exhaust its borrowing ca- pacity and be forced to resort to the power to coin money for the purpose of paying its bills. Taxes would be | ey onerous to be borne. With the budget already unbalanced by $10.- 000,000,000, the country will be likely to conclude that the ex-budget director is the winner of this joint debate with “It took Mr. Douglas himself quite a while,” according to the Providence Journal, “to realize that his contact work with the general public was not nearly as essential as with the admin- istration itself. By the time Mr. Doug- las had the people well warmed up to the task, he discovered that President velt and his other aides had be- thoroughly cooled off. There not going to be any balancing of t if | omy idea, there was henceforth to be spending on a scale that no one would have believed could be possible in time of peace if it had not later been so generously demonstrated. * * * Even after all the prodigality of the past two years, it is not too late to save the day. Mr. Douglas believes that the budget could be balanced in two years if the administration really wants to accomplish it. But he also doubtless lieves that it will require more than | Douglas pointed out that no country | promises to make the two ends meet.” “Only Mr. Douglas,” concludes the 1 penalty of continually spending more | Chicago Journal of Commerce, “comes forward as a serious critic of the Treasury's application of a part of the gold-profit stabilization fund against | the public debt. Nearly every one else nted sees the step as k against uncontrolled Douglas looks at the pic- ture much as these columns did in comment the day after the action was taken. He sees the administration which took this action as a spending administration, one that may very well overstep its mark In trying to prime the industrial pump, produce political ‘pork’ and relieve destitution . Why? | Mr. Douglas was director of the budget until the New Deal made him too dizzy for comfort. He joined the | Roosevelt following in the campaign | days when it was crusading for a 25 per cent reduction of Government ex- penditures: he left it when it desert- | ed this plank of its platform and be- came the mest profligate peace-time ‘:‘én!_mstutlon the country has ever | Lawless Recognize Law. From the San Prancisco Chronicle. Another Democratic institution is on the way out—the kangaroo court, the | informal institution that prisoners in jail organize for their self-government. The Department of Justice has notified county sheriffs that no more Federal prisoners will be held in jails that tolerate the ancient institution. As the board and keep of Pederal prisoners is good picking, the sheriffs will no doubt comply. In a sense it is too bad. The kangaroo court taught its lesson. It was a striking exemplification of the instinct for organization and law. Society cannot exist without it, even in jail. When the first thing lawless men do is to organize for law and order it is a conclusive answer to the dreams of the philosophic snarchists that all law is an evil. Even the old I W. W.s couldn't stand for rugged individualism in jail—the first thing did was to form a kangaroo court for a government of law. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton Patron of Art ‘Who keeps within his soul a love of art, ‘Who finds in it a rhapsody apart Prom money gain or conquests of the heart, Who values it in skylark or in wren, budget—not right away, at least— the President. As for the econ- ”, In the creative brush or facile pen, ‘(e 1s & benefactor among men,