Evening Star Newspaper, March 31, 1935, Page 40

" THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editlen. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY.......March 31, 1035 THEODORE W. NOYES. . .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: Alth 8t. and Pennsylvania Ave, New York Office Hdtns. . Londoa. East e SAG ke kit 9 Engiand. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Regular Edition. Night Final Edition. ~ Nieht Final and Sunday Star . 70c per mont fight Tpal g, suncay star. 702 per monyt Sollection mad the “end of each month. Orders may be sent by mail or telephone National 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. 1ly and Sunday. .1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo. 88¢ Lie....13r. $6.00:1mo.. 50c Sinday onky: 20017 84,001 Bo: 408 All Other States and Canada. Baily anaSunday 1 yr. $1200: 1 mo. $1,00 1y only. 1yr. $8.00: 1mo. 78¢ Sindasomiv.. 211 e $800: 1 mo. B¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Assoclated Press is exclusively en: titled to the use for republication of al news dispatches credited to it or not other- wise .redited in th 3 also the local news published herein All rights of bublication of spectal dispatches herein are also recerved. A Fair Deal for the District. The thorough and able presentation of the case for the District of Colum- bia by Edward F. Colladay, in his dual capacity as spokesman for the Citizens' Joint Committee on Fiscal Relations Between the United States and the District of Columbia and as chairman of the Municipal Finance Committee of the Board of Trade, came appropriately as the closing ar- gument on the 1936 appropriation bill before the Senate Subcommittee on District Appropriations. The committee had devoted many wearisome days to a close examination of the District bill, and to testimony by the municipal officials and groups of citizens interested in specific pro- visions of the bill as it passed the House or in items which they felt should be included in the bill. The case presented by Mr. Colladay on behalf of representative organiza- tions of citizens in the District was addressed to broad principles rather than to specific items of proposed appropriations. Those principles, in brief, are that citizens of the District favor retention of the wise system of sharing the expenses for District maintenance and development ac- cording to the fixed ratio system laid down by unrepealed substantive law; that % long as substantive law is evaded by the year-to-year sub- stitute practice of lump-sum appro- priations, this lump sum should be increased. And, in anticipation of the question whether the proposed increase should not come from the District, rather than from the larger lump sum, the citizens' argument showed that the District is fully and adequately taxed at the present time and that such a showing is backed by statistical comparisons made with present and past tax figures. In keeping with what has become accepted as a Senate tradition, the Senators were not only sympathetic | but warmly appreciative of the man- ner in which the citizens’ case was presented. But Senator Thomas has become convinced, and has persuaded | other Senators to his point of view, that the great difficulty faced by the District in what Senator Cope- land termed the “education” of mem- bers of Congress lies in the practice in the District, in accordance with law, of coupling a low tax rate with & 100 per cent standard of assessment. This is in contrast with the prevailing practice elsewhere with which mem- bers of Congress are familiar, of coupling & high tax rate with an as- sessment practice (even in States whose laws require one hundred per cent assessment) under which prop- erty has been assessed as low as 25 per cent. Some of the Senators have felt that as long as this condition prevails the misconception of the District’s tax burden in the minds of many members of Congress will continue to result in injustice to the District. The only remedy, of course, lies with Congress. It is not within the power of the voteless taxpayers of the District, or of their municipal officials, to change the law, or even, perhaps, to make a radical change in construing the law to conform to the actual practice in the States. Con- gress may some day become as con- vinced as Senator Thomas and his committee colleagues are now con- vinced as to the desirability of a change in assessment practice. But in the meantime? Surely the admission of an error which may be rectified only by Congress cannot be permitted to stand as the Senate’s only contribution toward correcting some of the long-standing sources of inequity in appropriations for the Dis- trict. One immediate step which lies within the power of the Senate now, without change of law, is the restora- tion of important items eliminated from the District bill because of a lack of revenue, when the lack of revenue, in turn, is due to continued, arbitrary reductions of the national lump sum. And the accompanying step is to increase the lump sum to the point, at least, that the Commissioners recom- mended in suggesting a figure repre- senting an average of the past ten year's lump-sum appropriations— something over $8,000,000. As Washington has grown, as its taxable area has been diminished, as the needs of the Federal Government have increased in the past ten years, the lump sum which is supposed to represent the Government's obliga- tions has been diminished. But the Governments obligations have not diminished—they have in- creased. And in keeping with these Increased obligations the lump sum should be increased. It les within L ~ the power of the Senate to make that increase and to insist upon its reten- tion. That would represent a fair deal to the District. The Senators have expressed themselves repeatedly in favor of a fair deal for the District. The New N. R. A, Stormed at by industry and labor, shelled by the courts, attacked by prominent members of Congress, the N. R. A, despite the insistence of President Roosevelt that it be given another two years' lease of life, has seemed much in need of the oxygen tent. On Priday the adminisiration forces were galvanized into action. Senator Pat Harrison of Mississippi, chairman of the Finance Committee of the Senate, rushed forward with an announcement that legislation for the N. R. A. continuance is to be speeded up; that it is all a mistake that the skids are under the Blue Eagle. At the same time he introduced in the Senate and handed to the public the administration Dbill to extend the N. R. A, with modifications, until June 16, 1937. The administration has clearly be- come alarmed over the prospect of N. R, A. legislation. Unless a new bill becomes law by June 16 next, the whole act setting up the N. R. A. goes out of the window. Its experi- ence with the first big measure on the present legislative program, the work relief bill, which has hung fire for practically three months and is still to become a law, has not been encouraging. The forces in Congress and out aligned against N. R. A. threaten a long fight. Only two months and a half remain before the date of expirafion of the present law. Without waiting to complete its in- vestigation into the operation of the N. R. A. and its codes, under the Nye-McCarran resolution of inquiry, the Senate Finance Committee authorized its chairman to introduce the bill in tentative form. The in- vestigation, which has been running on for days, is to be quickened. The administration, in the mean- time, is declining a test in the Su- preme Court of the constitutionality of the N. R. A. and its codes. The Department of Justice has announced its intention of moving to dismiss the Government appeal in the Belcher case, involving the lumber code. It is unwilling, apparently, to have the Supreme Court pass on the constitu- tionai questions involved while Con- gress is in the throes of writing a new law to extend the N. R. A. Yet members of Congress seem at least entitled to the opinion of the court before they finally draft a new meas- ure for the N. R. A. ‘The draft of the administration bill seeks to get away from the ques- tion of constitutionality by making a new definition of “interstate com- merce” and seeking to limit the opera~- tion of the law to interstate commerce as distinct from intrastate commerce. Section 7-A, providing for, collective | bargaining, remains unchanged. Labor, however, is given permission to sue for back wages, if it can be proved that employers have violated the code provision for wages. There is pro- vision for “limited codes.” which may be set up by the President, govern- ing reasonable wages and hours of labor, for industries that do not come under the more extended codes of fair competition. The bill attempts to bring within the provisions of the interstate com- merce clause of the Constitution for the purpose of Federal regulation all those businesses which may affect irterstate commerce as well as those directly engaged in the shipment or sale of goods in interstate commerce. The demand that something be done to prevent extension of monopolies under the N. R. A. has been given consideration. It is provided that the codes must not be calculated to pro- mote or sanction the creation of ‘monopolies. Already critics of the N. R. A, among them Senator Borah of Idaho, have their hammers out for the new bill. However, as explained by Sen- stor Harrison, the measure is only in tentative form and has not been considered by the committee. It may be vitally amended before it reaches the Senate. The purpose of the launch- ing of the measure at this time wasto prevent a collapse in the morale of the N, R. A. —————— “Names make news,” the introduc- tion of new names for old territories does not prevent some of the war news from sounding familiar to the point of monotony. ———————— The Lure of the Blossoms. Today Washington is the scene of a great gathering of people. They have come and throughout the day will continue to come by the thousands, some from long distances. The oc- casion for their journey to the Capi- tal is not official, not ceremonial. The cherry blossoms in Potomac Park have brought them. Annually, for a long period, this spectacle has drawn large numbers. And it is worth while coming to view. Nowhere else in this part of the world, nowhere else indeed anywhere, is there such a scene. In Japan, where these trees were cultivated and from which they came, there are many displays of great beauty, and the people there, to whom the blossoms have a specific meaning beyond their loveliness, make pilgrimages, and in some places en- gage in festivals and rites. Here the cherry trees, alien in origin, separated from their native settings, are simply objects of beauty when their buds open in flower. ‘The setting of the trees is unique. Those that bloom first are planted around a body of water that adds to their attractiveness by the reflections, with glimpses of splendid buildings to betoken the national character of the city. The giant obelisk erected in memory of the beloved first Presi- dent dominates the scene, and through the trees appears the memorial to another President for whom the American people have a deep and abiding affection. To those who come to Washington L] THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MARCH 31, 1935—PART TWO. to view the cherry blossoms the city itself offers a rare treat. At present it is somewhat in disarray, owing to the unfinished state of the great proj- ect of public building construction. But withal it is unique in its glory, and even though the cherry trees were not in bloom it would be, as always, worth visiting. ‘Washington welcomes these visitors and wishes them a happy day and hopes that they will have so agreeable an impression of the Capital that they will wish to return, perhaps next year when the trees will be even finer than they are today, and when Wash- ington will be more fully advanced toward the ideal of the Capital makers. ——————— Four Years After. Bryan Untiedt on Tuesday last made a momentary reappearance in the news. The fourth anniversary of his debut brought him out again. Reporters, remembering one of the best stories of the recent past, had the genius to look him up at his father's farm near Denver. They found him older, almost a man; and they made photographs of him in his working clothes—a tall, gangling youth, plainly commonplace and un- assuming. But no change accomplished by time or circumstance ever will alter a boy of Bryan's type. He may ma- ture, his mind may expand with in- creasing experience, his soul may grow under the influence of toil, suc- cess or failure. Yet there can be no fundamental metamorphosis in his character or temperament. It hap- pens that he has what simple folk, wise in their own peculiar fashion, call the “right stuff” in him. Only recognition of that fact can explain the celebrity he attained in 1931 when he saved the lives of a group of school children trapped in a blizzard and, by way of reward, was invited to the Natlon’s Capital as the guest of President Hoover. The thing he did was an expression of the person he was and is—it was elemental, nat- ural, instinctive, and for those reasons genuine and sincere, because Bryan innately possesses those qualities. It follows that the occasional pessi- mist might discover a medicine for doubts and skepticisms in recalling his case. He symbolizes the human values upon which America was built. Fate may assign him to oblivion; he may go through the remainder of his life unnoticed and unacclaimed. But the mysterious spiritual power which made him a hero, yet left him unspoiled, will remain a personal asset as it is a na- tional force—an endowment of un- selfish love which providentially he shares with millions of his country- men, old and young, humble and great. ———— Conversations are most appreciated when they relate to reminiscences of comradeship and not to possibility of future war. —_———— ‘The profit motive is hard to eradi- cate. It persists as the foundation even of so popular a sport as horse racing. —_——————— No great nation likes to admit start- ing a war. The polite custom is to make some minor disorder for the purposes of an alibi. Farmers do not like air ports owing to a Quixotic inclination of students to mistake the buildings for giant enemies. ————— e Old Man o' War is a good horse, whose family pride is worth more to him than all the money he earned. o SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. War Goddess. Bellona, goddess of the spear That knows no brother (Nor do your sisters, we must fear, Know one another). You are perhaps more bold than wise, You are no charmer ‘When, more than silken garb, you prize Cast iron armor. ° Bellona, when your task is done ©Of fear promoting, Perhaps you'll tolerate a pun 'Midst frivolous quoting. We cherish still romantic dreams ‘They may prove phony, When modernized, your title seems Like plain “Balony.” Philosopher, but No Mathematician. “Do you still,respect the maxims of old Ben Franklin?” “Not literally,” said Senator Sorg- hum, “when he said a ‘penny saved, is a penny earned,’ he did not figure accurately on variations that may arise in basic valuation of currency.” Jud Tunkins says he has gotten discouraged. It's no use now-a-days to keep on sayin’ things unless you can afford radio time. Deluge. The farmer, in an arid scene, Amidst once fertile spaces Declares he finds no joy serene In grammar’s glorious graces. He still protests, though oft in vain The situation warrants A prayer for more old-fashioned rain ‘Than oratoric torrents. Just Out of Sight. “What do you think of all this in- vestigation?” “It makes me kind o' nervous,” answered Mr. Dustin Stax. “Prosper- ity is just around the corner, But so's & policeman.” Curative. Our health authorities aspire ‘To shield dyspeptics And guard the friends whom they admire With antiseptics. Some foreign doctors advertize, As an old era passes, Instead of pills, we would be wise, ‘To take to bombs and gasses. “A drunken driver,” said Uncle Eben. “can’t be called Public Enemy No. 1, owin’ to de big figures on his license plate.” * “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” This ‘was the searching question that Jesus asked of His disciples after setting before them certain principles that should govern them in their habit and practice. He had lald before them certain definite rules that were indispensable to right conduct, among them: “As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise,” “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged,” “Give and it shall be given unto you; * * * for with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” He also reminded them that “A good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit.” These fundamental rules of conduct for the Christian disciple, along with many others, He urged, bringing His weighty admonitions to a close with the words: “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” He follows this by saying to His disciples: “Whosoever cometh to me and heareth my sayings and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like 8 man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock, and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.” Jesus definitely states that the test of discipleship is not in profession but in practice. He insists that to build Christian character the regulation of life by His standards is indispensable. ‘To make practice square with profes- sion is not an easy thing; it is hard and costly, but the Master demands nothing less. On another occasion He said: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Much, too much, of our religious habit is profession, the acknowledg- ment in some form of words, a creed, expressive of our allegiance to the person and teachings of Christ. Fre- quently we are admonished that re- ligion is a thing apart from the practical concerns of life itself; it RELIEF AND CONDUCT BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D, LL. D, D.C.L, Bishop of Washington, is a form of indulgence which we call worship and its fleld of occupation is largely restricted to the area of the church itself. “You cannot mix business with religion,” is an expres- sion with which we are made familiar. The implication of this is that our profession of loyalty to Christ and His teachings does not and cannot affect our habits and practice in our dally contacts with our fellows. It is this superficial and wholly inac- curate view that has brought our religious profession into disrepute and has made it unappealing ‘o great numbers of people, especially the youth. The severest condemnation that Christ ever administered to the people of His day was because of this superficial or artificial expression of religious belief. It was a form of Phariseeism, of an external display of righteousness that had nothing of worth or value, against which He inveighed and that called forth His oft-repeated condemnation. To make clean the outside was a sham and 8 deceit when within was all manner of uncleanness. The test of the value of our re- ligious profession both to ourselves and the world about us is determined by the effect it has upon our daily habits and prectices. Well does Emerson say: “What you are speaks 50 loud I cannot hear what you say.” The whole, indeed the sole purpose, of worship is not only to pay tribute to Him whom we profess to serve, but to gain strength the better to fit us for the practice of His precepts in our domestic, social and occupational life. In fine, there are no areas of life in which our religious beliefs do not find their proper field of occupation. A profession of faith that does not demonstrate its value in home, shop and office, becomes the “opiate of the people,” and it is this superficial ex- pression of religious conviction that our modern world sternly criticizes and roundly condemns. Jesus con- tends that the superstructure of char- acter is stabilized and secured by the kind of foundation on which it rests. If that foundation is His life and teachings, then the inevitable evi- dence must be disclosed in & stable, Christian character that is governed in all its action by loyal adherance to Him whom it purposes to serve and obediently follow. “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? President’s Heavy Task Has Become Complex in Administration of New Deal BY OWEN L. SCOTT. Since the assassination of William McKinley all Presidents have taken orders from their secret service guards. Now they are forced to bow to another boss—their doctors. The reason? A concentration of responsi- bility and of duties in the White House for which the executive ma- chinery has not been geared. Out of that situation comes a bur- dent on a present-day President greater than he can be expected to bear, day in and day out. Mr. Roose- velt is under orders of the White House physician to get away from Washington at regular intervals. And out of that situation also is coming talk of the urgent need for radical revamping of the executive arm of the Government. Henry Wal- lace, Secretary of Agriculture, is the first cabinet officer to comment openly about the matter, but other officials privately voice their views. Today when the President leaves Washington the so-called ship of state is rudderless. Guidance de- pends largely on the personality and ability of one man. And the doctors now say that this job of gulding, in all its details, has become too much for one man. * % % X Even as recently as 1928, when Cal- vin Coolidge was President, the Na- tion’s Chief Executive could take a pleasant afternoon nap. He was able to perform his official duties in a few hours each day. But all was changed when Herbert Hoover encountered the depression. Suddenly the weight of the country’s troubles descended on the White House. Mr. Hoover tried to decen- tralize those troubles and shunt them back on the States, but finally he was forced to shoulder them himself. One term just about broke his health. Mr. Roosevelt, confronted with this change, deliberately adopted a philosophical attitude. He accepted problems as they came, made his de- cisions, refused to worry. The most trying situations seldom made him petulant. He recognized that one man can accomplish only so much, and, while he is a dynamo for work, he has learned to throw off the cares of office and relax, as his doctors in- sist Presidents must do. . A glance at the nature of the tasks that crowd in on the White House today illustrates the problem. * * * % Congress needs to be coddled. Party leaders in Congress, up against trouble, carry their woes to the White House. The President must cheer them up, straighten out the tangles, decide strategy, instil enthusiasm into men who are opposed by conviction to many of the legislative measures they must sponsor. He must keep in touch with myriad details of legis- lation. Labor is in a huff. Off to the White House it goes. Again dickering, soothed nerves and a probable bar- gain. Graft is uncovered in local relief. An attack, if made, would be politi- cally dangerous. Should it be made? Mr. Roosevelt must decide in the course of the day’s work. N. R. A. is in dire trouble. Courts are shooting one alphabetical cre- ation after another out from under the New Dealers. What to do? The President must figure out the answer. Dozens, scores, even hundreds of executive orders call for presidential consideration and signature. Many of them directly affect the lives of large number of citizens. Yet there frequently is not even time for read- ing them before the name is signed that makes themlaw. A $5,000,000,000 fund is to be spent. has to promise that he will guide its use. Housewives revolt against the high cost of living; Southerners won- der about the future of cotton; an- other drought raises its head. All these problems reach the White House. * k k% Next year is an election year. Un- less that election is won, the New Deal will turn out to be just a flash in the pan. Political complications As if there were not enough trouble at home, with millions unemployed, farmers restless, housewives angry, business men worried, and labor dis- satiafled, Europe threatens & currency war and & military war. Either of which would gravely affect the Ameri- can situation. The President must determine this country's policy and its program. * x % x ‘Who are the aides surrounding Mr. Roosevelt? First there are his secretaries. Of these, Louis McHenry Howe, a former newspaper man and closest adviser for years, has handled political problems. He has been closest to the presidential ear during the last two years. His gift has been in sensing popular senti- ment. Marvin McIntyre, also a for- mer newspaper man, is the official greeter and syphoner of callers into the President’s office. Stephen Early, another former newspaper man, deals with the press. Then comes the cabinet. This group grew up naturally out of conferences of department heads in the first ad- ministration of George Washington. It has continued to be a round-table discussion group. Most of its mem- | bers are chosen for their political affiliations and accomplishments rath- er than for ability to deal with mod- ern economic problems. Cabinet meetings under the New Deal are not the ponderous confer- ences on fundamental national issues that many may imagine. They are twice weekly gatherings, lasting about two hours, during which much chat- ting ocurs, and during which an op- portunity is given Mr. Roosevelt to talk over individual problems with specific members of the group. But cabinet meetings did not bring into conference the heads of New Deal alphabetical creations, so there was created the National Emergency | Council to serve as a broader ad- |visory group. It meets every two weeks, on Tuesdays. This gathering is even more cumbersome than the cabinet meeting and is not noted for results. * k% X When it became clear that none of these agencies was functioning to co-ordinate the widespread Federal activities, Mr. Roosevelt appointed and co-ordinator. Now Mr. Richberg has worked himself out of that job and back into the job of trying to run the N. R. A. He found extreme difficulties in the path of any co- ordinator. The upshot of it all is that the New Deal has developed into a bevy of separate shows, run by a group of rugged individualists, with Mr. Roose- velt depending on his personal grasp of governmental and economic prob- lems to keep the machine functioning. At that point, officials studying the problem of administering the huge Federal machine believe that some new administrative structure will need to be built sooner or later. They say that the original “brain trust,” brought to Washington by Mr. Roosevelt, was intended to fit in be- tween the cabinet and the Presi- dent. This group of advisers pre- sumably was to supply the President with expert analysis of the questions that reached him for decision. It was to be non-political to a degree, and above all to endeavor to work all the experiments into a logical pattern. But brain-trust advice was not al- ways easy to accept. Brain trusters soon were in trouble with politicians. This group is now scattered and in- effective, except for a few individuals. * K x % Now Henry Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture, would insert into the Government, alongside the President, an_economic council® functioning to make broad decisions on economic policy, which the President and the Congress would adhere to in guiding their own actions. Others believe the United States has reached the point where it must create a permanent secretariat, such as Lloyd George created in other, and responsible for effective administration. There is agreement that the pres- ent hit-and-miss system, built for government in the days when Presi- dents could nap and be assured that all was well with the country, does not function effectively at a time when Presidents almost dally are called upon to make decisions affect- ing directly the lives of the mass citizens. Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. other Rules (policy) Committee, Represen- tative John J, O'Connor of New York —which has attracted Nation-wide attention and brought Mr. O'Connor much commendation for forceful lead- ership. He gave the House an inspira- tional talk on upholding its own dig- nity and integrity of independent action. “The House of Representatives may well take pride in the fact that it can legislate orderly and expeditiously. I for one do not intend to match demagogy against demagogy. The House can legislate without the fear of any one man whether he came by railroad train or airplane, or without fear of any one group. We legislate in the House by majority and that majority can always express the will of the House. No rule from the Rules Committee can ever deprive the House of that right. “I for one am willing to match the method of procedure in this body against another body (referring to the Senate). We do not rush things through to get under the wire before somebody returns to town. When we are faced with amendments put on a House bill that are not put on with sincerity, or with any hope or expecta- tion that they would stick in the bill, we, as a parliamentary body, are com- pelled to face that situation, and not be swept off our foundations by any one man or by any minority. “We have been told here today that if we pass this rule there will be a filibuster in another body, which will occupy weeks. Why, there has been an unwarranted and a disgraceful fili- buster there already for nearly two months. We are always able to handle filibusters in this body. We are proud of that fact. “This rule is a test of not yielding to another body (the Senate) and not yielding to one man or a group of men in another body. We have not lost that dignity. We are maintaining our dignity and maintaining the right to conduct our parliamentary deliberations in an orderly, respectable and dignified manner.” His colleagues applauded this firm stand by Mr. O'Connor, who recently was the outstanding contender for House leader and by a vote of 265 to 108 supported the rule he was cham- ploning. The applause was really for his non-spoken “Declaration of In- dependence.” * * %k % Unique credit is being given these days in cloak room gossip to Repre- sentative John J. Boylan of New York —and incidentally to The Washington Star, which was the only paper to print a carefully prepared statement from Boylan regarding his bill to re- store full basic salaries to the Govern. ment employes. When Senator Mc- Carran offered an amendment to an | urgent deficiency appropriation bill in the Senate restoring the salaries, he took the language which Repre- sentative Boylan had prepared by the legislative . drafting clerk for the original Boylan bill to restore salaries. Then, when it came to Controller General McCarl for his decision there was no report, no hearings, no docu- ment of any sort to show the intent of Congress or what the language really meant. Finally, it was disclosed that in The Sunday Star of a certain date there was a two-column article, quoting Representative Boylan regard- ing what the pay restoration bill meant, in detail. So there was the only record for the controller general to peruse in making his determina. tions. Now his colleagues are hail- ing Mr. Boylan as “both the law and the prophets.” Britain Is Bothered by Currency Muddle BY. A. G. GARDINER. LONDON, March 30.—There is one clear lesson to be drawn from the recent slump in the pound. While this has now been checked by the downward movement of the gold-bloc currencies, the rapid fluctuations and uncertainty continue in the exchanges and there can be no real security until some basis of stability is reached. In a sense the recent flight from sterling hit the continent harder than it hit the English public. And this for a very obvious reason. This coun- try is by far the largest buyer in the world’s markets and has a dominating influence in fixing the world price of commodities. Commodity prices in London, therefore, did not reflect the depreciation of sterling, while on the continent that depreciation confronted buyers with a serious deflation in price levels. In France, moreover, the fall in sterling constituted another blow to commerce and especially to the al- rel‘dny seriously impoverished tourist c. Donald Richberg to be his chief aide | tra! The causes of the flight from ster- ling were variously diagnosed. Mainly it was due to the hurrled withdrawal on heavy scale of foreign-owned bal- ances. This withdrawal was at- tributed, first, to the disclosure of certain financial operations for rais- ing the prices of commodities like pepper, peanuts and tin, and, sec- ondly, to political alarms, foreshadow- ing an early election and the prob- able return of a Labor government with a highly predatory program. * ok x % But there was also an internal rea- son for the decline of sterling. Its weakness was largely due to the difficulties which great business con- cerns engaged in world-wide opera- tions encounter in carrying out their transactions on a fluctuating ex- change. To overcome these difficul- tles, these traders tend to convert their resources from sterling into gold as the only means of protecting them- selves against the vagaries of paper currencies. ¥ There is an increasing volume of criticism of thé government policy of maintaining the detachment of sterl- ing from gold. It is pursued in the interests of the export trade, but it is argued that what is gained on the swings is lost on the roundabouts. If we can export more cheaply, we are compelled to buy more dearly; and since we are the greatest of importing nations it is more than questionable whether British trade gains on bal- ance, even directly. * *k x % ‘The critics of the government ask how long the economic recovery of the world is to be delayed while the gold bloc and sterling bloc are maneuver- e g g : g reduced to bankruptey. (Copyright. 1935.) Weakness. R ———eee it SOBDAY BLAN JEASIINCTOR, D O NARCH M, 008 PR T i — Green Girdles for American Cities BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN, Hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured out through the Federal Public Works Administration and by the States and are yet to be poured out in the creation of lasting im- provements as a part of the compre- hensive national program to create employment and restore national prosperity. The fact that the source of s0 much of the money is Federal makes planning on a huge scale more practicable than in ordinary times and improves the opportunities to provide the best direction. One of the plans which has met with approval has been that for the creation of belts of green open spaces around the cities of America. The advantages of such a scheme are many, and it is expected that city planners, in co-operation with the Federal planners, will go far toward beautifying the municipalities of the United States and improving them in other respects. Foreigners visiting America are almost invariably impressed by the squalid approaches to some of the most famous cities in the land. The centers may be beautiful once the visitor fully arrives but, in order to arrive, 50 many dismal and dispirit- ing suburbs have to be traversed that the visitor is under the necessity of overcoming an adverse first impres- | sion. There are many reasons for the appearance of so many American suburbs. Most of the cities have grown with a rapidity utterly un- known in older lands. As wealth has accumulated, the heart of the city has been cleaned up and beau- tified. This increases values and, thereby raises rents. There is always & centrifugal force throwing poorer elements outward. Park Space Ventilates City. ‘The green girdle of open parkland around a city has the effect of pro- ducing a pleasant strip, making a de- lightful approach to the city proper. But it also has the effect of raising the quality of the nearer suburbs on the outer side of the belt. Slum clear- ance movements are forward in most cities and where it has not been prac- ticable quickly to eradicate slums, whether urban or suburban, many of them can be, by zoning ordinances, confined to specified areas. The re- sult is the approach to a city is first through a pleasing residential section and thence across a tree-dotteed belt of open green space. It may be com- pared to & beautiful entrance to a house. But there are other considerations. Specialists have reported that the growth of automobile traffic has re- sulted in a constant filling of the atmosphere with the reek of gaso- line fumes. Where a belt of fac- tories, placed hit or miss, surrounds a city there is an encompasing nim- bus of smoke which imprisons the automobile fumes and adds to them. The open green girdle ventilates the city by admitting fresh currents of air. The green belt has the effect of opening & window in a smoke-filled room. Merely as a health measure, the green belt is recommended by ex- perts. The city of London is working on such a plan now, the London County Council, the adjacent county boroughs and the London Regional Plan- ning Committee co-operating on the scheme. The property would, of course, be purchased by the public, much, doubtless, being condemned by right of eminent domain. But there is an additional plan for bearing the expense of acquiring and improving the green belt. It is calculated that the property owners on the outer edge of the belt would have the value of their holdings advanced by from 14 to 16 years. As a city grows outward, it takes time to remove and improve and raise to a higher value each block of the progress. Here, in one proj- ect, the advance of the width of the belt would be accomplished in a stride. ‘Theiefore, in the light of the sud- deniy increased values, the assess- ments on the outer edge property could be raised or a special improve- ment tax levied on the property owners. This would raise a huge sum in short order, the taxpayers imme- diately receiving a return not only by finding themselves in a better neighborhood but by finding their property greatly enhanced in worth. There is scarcely a city which would not find that large sections of its green girdle were already pro- vided by existing park systems. The task would be greatly simplified by merely connecting the sections in order to create one continuous girdle. Where streams flow through cities they can often be included in the green belt plan. The same is true in a measure of cemeteries, Progress in National Capital. For many years the National Capi- tal has been working on such & plan With the co-operation, especially of Maryland, the suburbs of Washing- ton have undergone steady improve- ment. The task is far from finished, but long strides have been made. Congress created the National Capi- tal Park and Planning Commission and the State of Maryland created the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. This is an especially interesting example of co-operation of more than one po- litical division in carrying out the green belt idea. Not many cities would encounter the task of bridging Jurisdictions. What is called the Suburban Sanitary District was ere- ated by Maryland. It is a broad belt abutting on parts of three sides of the District of Columbia. The re- mainder of the District border is con- stibuted by the Potomac River, itself providing an open space, with Vir- ginia on the other shore. This entire suburban belt is not parked. There are suburban resi- dential districts occupying much of the territory, but it is all zoned and a surprising area of it actually is parked, the Federal, District and Maryland, as well as the Maryland counties within the belt, contributing to the cost. The Federal Government is carrying on, in co-operation with the District government, an exten- sive scheme of slum and alley clear- ance within the National Capital itself. The combination of these im- provements is steadily advancing not only the civic beauty, but the health standards of the community. As a part of such public works im- provements, everything must be done, where there are rivers, to overcome stream pollution from factory waste and sewage, because polluted streams would do much to offset the advan- tages of the municipal green girdle. Delegations are Urged to Get Foreign Trade BY HARDEN COLFAX. Government delegations and groups | of business men are traveling about the world on commercial missions in increasing numbers these days. Some | of them are bent on financial mis- | sions, some come from governments with authority to negotiate commer- | cial treaties, while others are seeking | trade by making offers or showing samples of merchandise. As was pointed out by a cabinet officer in Washington this past week, | the depression has forced our manu- | facturers and exporters, interested in foreign markets, to stay at home. Their places as visitors in world trade centers have been largely taken by our foreign competitors, who, appar- ently, find that a personal call ac- | complishes better results than a postage stamp. During recent weeks Canadian lum- ber exporters, benefiting by provincial government grants, began an ex- tensive program of visits to Latin- American countries to gain new mal kets. A delegation of outstanding Canadian business men and govern- ment experts returned from South Africa recently and, according to our government reports from Canadian centers, the results have been striking. Canada has certain kinds of wood which also are found in the United States and with which American producers have been competing with Canadians in South Africa, as well as in markets in other parts of the world. Apparently, however, this trade delegation from the Dominion has succeeded in convincing South African consumers of wood products that they ought to patronize Canadian merchants. Consequently, important concessions have been promised in freight rates, as well as an agree- ment to give preference to Canadian products in certain specifications. * ok ko It has just been announced that a Japanese financial and commercial mission will sail for Rio de Janeiro early next month with the intention of fostering trade in Brazil and ex- tending markets in the interior coun- tries of the Continent. A Japanese business plan, with government aid (according to reports from the De- partment of Commerce representative in Tokio), is intending to make Para- guay the center of Japanese-South American commercial policies. There is to be a Japanese colony established in that country and its commercial needs must be met. Last week, the National Export In- stitute of Italy let it be known that Italian missions would go to Latin America in the near future and that the government at Rome is setting up an extensive barter or clearing-house system for foreign trade outside the regular quota system. Business in Latin America particularly is sought. Trade delegations from other Euro- pean countries, notably France, Hol- land and Belgium, are reported to be planned for Latin America and the Far East. Entire ships loaded with samples of all kinds will be shipped to acquaint merchants with the ex- porters’ products and arrange for the purchase of such raw materials as Latin America and the Far East can supply. While the American business world is not at present engaged in any such the Federal Government is en- iprocal trade agreements, which, it is hoped, will be influential in breaking the ring of embargoes, quotas, contingents, and other trade barriers which now are interfering with the flow of world trade. Three of these treaties have been negotiated—with Cuba, Brazl and Belgium—and more than a score of others are in processof consideration. missions of the foreign countries con- cerned have been visiting Washington Fifty Years Ago In The Star “Whether it be true or not, as has tly. % ths same sme, proposais have been published,” says The Star of March 28, 1885, “that the President and his private secretary recently Public Grounds fg“"(fik,“‘f"s;‘;‘.’i i stroll through the and Harriers. public groumds south of the Executive inclosure seriously interfered with and finally thwarted entirely by encountering locked gates on every hand, it is to be hoped the powers that now be will give orders for the immediate removal of these unsightly and un- necessary obstacles. They not only serve no good purpose, either to the eye or in fact, but they exist with- out lawful right. Especially is this true of the White Lot gates on Fifteenth and Seventeenth streets. ‘The original official plan of the city calls for an open thoroughfare be- tween those two streets south of the | White House and formerly it was a much traveled roadway between the eastern and western parts of the city. A desire to extend the private grounds of the Executive Mansion led, how- ever, to changing its course from a nearly straight to a deeply curved line. This action, followed by ma- terial obstructions to travel on that route, caused by the storage there of building material for the new Treas- ury and State Departments, eventu- ally led to its practical abandonment as a thoroughfare. The result has been a serious depreciation in prop- erty values on both sides of the reservatton. slow and triffling im- provements in the neighborhood and the congregation of an undesirable population in a once favorite locality. It does not appear that any formal protests were made against this in- vasion of popular rights, or, if made, that they were heeded. Those in charge for the time being. therefore, felt encouraged to go a step farther and set up the massive and costly barricades now existing at the several points, so that the public might at will be excluded from the grounds altogether. “Whether this was the purpose in view, or whether the real object was merely to provide temporary work and afterward permanent places, as watch- men, etc., for an army of subordinates is not clear; but it is certain that the money thus spent was wasted and, as is believed, without warrant of law. But whether the gates in ques- tion exist by proper authority or not, they are not needed. That much is self-evident. There is nothing in the space thus inclosed to be stolen or carried away by visitors, and further- more, there is no disposition to re- move or destroy public property, as is abundantly demonstrated by the daily experience of all the small reservations scattered throughout the city, many of which have not even the semblance of a low fence about them for protection. “There is no reason to suppose that the whole stretch of park reaching from Seventeenth street to the Capitol grounds would not “fare equally well at the hands of the public. The grounds embraced therein are not a royal or private park, in any meaning of those terms. They the people, and the people should at all times have free access Let all the gates accordingly kept open or, still better, let them removed altogether.” ——— been made in Congress to send out trade delegations to recapture our for- eign markets, and this idea is meet- ing with growing approval on the part of private business. Department of Commerce representatives through- out the world have been instructed to examine anew the possibilities for in- creasing not only our export, but our import trade. (Copyright, 1085.) L 1