Evening Star Newspaper, November 8, 1935, Page 10

THE EVENING STAR ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. —_— e WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY . ..November 8, 1935 THEODORE W. NOYES.... oot it i adt e e, The Evening Star Newspaper Company. offce: Bustness :e A New Y Of : 110 Ea: 2 D¢ 3 Sfice: Lake Michigan Building. Purcooe Sm i Kesent Bt London. Engisnd. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Regular Edition, The Evening Star. -45c per month -80¢ per month ! -65c per month The Su day Star. -3¢ per copy Night Final Edition, g ight Final and Sunday Sta 0c per mont \ght Final Star-. - “55c per month Collection made at T each month. ©Orders may be sent by mail or telephone Na- tional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. n: 00: 0., 85¢ 1 ye SO0 T Mor oe $4.00; 1 mo., 40c All Other States and Canads. .. $12.00; 1 mo. $1.00 §:§}’ o et 1500 1 Mo S 3ne unday only- $5.00; 1 mo. Member of the Associated Press. ssociated Press is exclusively entitled to the e To Tepublication of all news dispatches eredited to it or not otherwise credited in tHis Paper and also the local news published herein. RiPFights of vublication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. -— = Everybody’s Privilege. No individual of normal intellectual end spiritual development would wish to add to the troubles of mankind. By the same logic, every citizen of a civilized nation instinctively must feel a desire to do his personal part to relieve the sufferings of humanity. And the right to help less fortunate neighbors is also at orice a duty and a privilege. Even in a society highly regimented and rigidly formalized the power to exercise the natural impulse to help the distressed should be preserved. By some it is con- sidered philanthropic, by others ethically obligatory and by still others a sacred opportunity. y Granted that the state on occasion may assume the burden, there probably are many who will wonder if an institu- tion, however great and strong, can serve all the purposes represented. The imme- diate or expedient ends of an emer- gency effort, of course, mayg)e accom- plished; but what of the larger aspects of the case? Charity ought not to be a mere casual accommodation. Rather, it ghould possess something of that “quality of mercy” of which Shakespeare wrote: It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. The element of personal interest, it would seem, never should be eliminated from an enterprise of human fellowship. Rather, it is vitally important that it be maintained and gradually expanded. A physician wants to make his own con- tribution to the alleviation of disease and the increased enjoyment of health; a lawyer aims to perform his own share of the labor of establishing and democra- tizing justice, and a teacher spends his energies to justify his own responsibility for the dissemination of knowledge in the world. Let any of these be robbed of freedom to obey the demands of the light which burns in his soul and the whole race will be hurt by the theft. And a like principle applies in the {nstance of the average man or woman as regards good deeds. Deny to the generality of people the chance to express the love they feel for their kind, and the effect will be that of dehumanizing them. But the trend, incredible as it may appear, is in that direction. The United Btates, like the several countries of Europe, probably would have Govern- ment control of social service of every necessary variety if it were not for one single bulwark—the Community Chests of different towns and cities. That fact is worth remembering at the moment when the annual Washing- ton campaign for funds opens. Should the drive fail, the District of Columbia might have nothing of neighborliness left save that of the mockery constituted by a cruel impersonal machine built up hurriedly, inefficiently and expensively to take the place of co-operative existing agencies whose walues are known and appreciated by thousands. The Chest is evenybody's affair. It gignifies everybody's privilege of giving and should be protected accordingly. ——re—————— Investigation may be hindered by a tendency to attach individual blame for a situation that has inevitably arisen in the course cf evolution. ——re—s The Pilgrim Fathers went out and shot their own turkeys. Thanksgiving dinner might be easier if more and better game laws had been earlier enforced. Horse Sense. Governor Alf A. Landon of Kansas be- lieves that a dose of “horse sense” would help the country. Horse sense, of the Landon variety, means cutting Govern- ment costs, cutting taxes the people must pay, and cutting Government debts. It means being guided by experience, “that greatest teacher of all.” In more or less homely and simple phrase the Kansas Governor pointed out that “if the winds rip the roof off a house out in our coun- try, we don't tear down the walls also and abandon the whole structure. We put on a new and better roof.” Governor Landon is serving his second term as chief executive of Kansas. Ap- parently he has used “horse sense.” For in his recent address to the Chamber of Commerce of Ohio he told his audience that general property taxes in Kansas, since 1929, have been reduced over 32 per cent; that the cost of State government had been cut 22 per cent for the years 1933-3¢ below the cost of the years 1931-32; that from 1932 to 1934 there had been a net reduction of $17,000,000 of bonded indebtedness in the counties and communities; that the per capita cost of State and local governments in Kansas in 1929 was $71, and in 1935 it will be $51, a reduction of more than 26 per cent. What a record! At the same time Kansas has done its share in relieving distress. It has produced 30.6 per cent of the relief burden, furnished chiefly by county and local governments. This ranks Kansas fifteenth in the list of A THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. States in per cent of non-Federal funds used for relief. Twenty-seven States contributed less than 25 per cent of their relief funds. This is the State and this the Governor that were targets of the prince of spend- ers, Harry L. Hopkins. Mr. Hopkins as- serted that Kansas had not come through with a “thin dime” in the matter of relief, and that he had never heard of Governor Landon’s starting anything for relief. Mr. Hopkins was taking a pot shgt at the man who has been prominently men- tioned as the Republican standard bearer against the Roosevelt New Deal. Just why it is necessary for the Federal relief administrator to attack either one of the sovereign States or its Governor is not explained. However, Mr. Hopkins has had his answer. It may occur to some of the people that if Governor Landon, through the use of horse sense, has been able to reduce tax burdens and at the same time help the destitute, something of that kind might be done for the United States. Some of them might even arrive at the conclusion that Landon himself could do the job. The Kansas Governor in his first ap- pearance in the “East” made it quite clear that he believes the duty rests upon the Government to do all in its power to prevent suffering among the less fortu- nate. He added: “There is no reason, however, why we should not attempt to accomplish this, as far as possible, on a pay-as-you-go basis. We will then pay for our own mistakes, which is right and as it should be.” What an honest idea! B Germany and Sanctions. Ever since the League came to grips with the question of imposing sanctions against Italy Geneva's nightmare has been the fear that the two great non- League countries, the United States and Germany, would exercise their rights to continue trade with Mussolini. Should he be able to tap the unlimited supplies obtainable from those quarters, the boy- cott declared against the Italians would be largely, if not wholly, ineffective. Fears on this score were particularly acute with reference to Germany. It was thought that Hitler might not only welcome an opportunity to thwart the League, but also to curry favor with I Duce for their joint purposes in Central and Southeastern Europe. More than once since its Ethiopian conflict began to threaten general complications, the suspicion has arisen that somehow the dictators of Rome and Berlin would find it possible and profitable to join hands. It comes, therefore, as an agreeable surprise to learn that while Germany has no intention of formally identifying herself with sanctions, she has taken steps which in effect align her with League policy in vital respects. Berlin discloses that it decreed an embargo on shipment of arms and munitions to Ethiopia and Italy immediately after the opening of hostilities. That action virtually paralleled and coincided with the steps taken by the United States. In addition, Germany now announces that she will take prompt measures to prevent “war profiteering,” especially in foodstuffs. Anything savoring of specu- lation in such commodities for export purposes will be vigorously suppressed. The same prohibition applies to certain basic raw materials. Activities designed to permit resales to belligerents at large profits have already been detected. While the Reich government is at pains to indicate that it is not adhering to the sanctions and is guided, in the measures just proclaimed, by domestic economic necessities, Germany's action in its broad implications brings her into line with the world-wide restrictions to which Italy is about to be subjected. It must be clear to Rome that the Germans are at least not minded to facilitate Italy's re- quirements on any extraordinary scale, for the Berlin decree stresses that trade is only to proceed on normal lines. Its volume does not faintly approximate Fascist needs under present burdensome conditions. Whatever Germany’s motives—whether they represent g desire to promote peace or spring from the food necessities of her own people and the raw material de- mands of the Nazi rearmament pro- gram—the shutting off of the Reich as a source of unhampered replenishment for Mussolini’s war machine is a highly im= portant development in the collective ef- fort to rebuke and suppress international lawlessness. ——————————— Royal marriages in Europe have al- ways been the more interesting because of their tendency to put romance into politics. Republican leaders see new elephants at every turn of events. But Chairman Farley continues to protest that they are only pink ones. Train Robbery. A train robbery in the good old style, plus modern tools of execution, is the lat- est sensation in the field of crime. The train, bound from Cleveland to Pitts- burgh, halted for a regular stop at Gar- rettsville, a town of between one and two thousand inhabitants, and five ban- dits, armed with machine guns, held up the crew and cleaned out the mail car, getting away with pouches containing $34,000 in cash and $12,450 in securities. ‘They worked swiftly and precisely, indi- cating that the hold-up had been care= fully planned and rehearsed. The leader of the gang wore a mask, the others par- tially concealing their features with dark glasses, They made a clean getaway, although the number on their car was noted and warning was given by tele- phone so that pursuit was at once insti- tuted. Such a crime plainly indicates collusive work between the shipping agencies and the thieves. Some one inside of the or- ganization from which the cash and se- curities were forwarded must have given the information that enabled the gang to hold up the right train at the most effective point on the run.’ A small town was more suitable for this purpose than a larger center of population. Knowledge of the time and the train and A the schedule of that train gave the thieves their working basis for the job. Short of the arming of every train hand, with a protective plan of opera= tions at every stop, on the assumptiog that each place of halt may be the scene of a raid, it would seem to be impossible to prevent such desperate and adroit operations. If there are venal bank clerks to sell information to the crooks the hold-up game can be played with in- itial safety and success. It is not, how- ever, assured that the getaway can be completed. The cAr number can be changed, but so efficient are the pursuers nowadays that the chances are against the thief making a clean escape. In the old days of train robberies the bandits usually had advance informa- tion of plunder to be had. They mostly held up their quarry by blocking the roads or the rails in isolated places so that there were few witnesses and little chance of identification. Those were horseback days in the main, the motor car being the highwayman’s comparatively late means of escape. In one respect the leader of the band at Garrettsville fol- lowed the old tradition by wearing a mask, so that modern highway crime retains some of the romantic features of the past. 2 ———————— Billy Sunday had a host of admir- ers, whom he taught to believe that it is possible to be good and at the same time cheerful. Even more than Judge Landis, he succeeded in linking base ball to life’s serious and helpful thought. B ——— A London physician boasts of having taken life to relieve suffering. This is what a dictator does when he decides that his philanthropic igtentions require that somebody be shot at sunrise, —_—————— As a czar of the movies, Mr. Will Hays inspired an abundance of phraseology with nothing to equal the key word of the Harding campaign, “normalcy.” e Naval power may assert itself by trad- ing off big boats in the Mediterranean instead of allowing anybody to introduce bombing planes. ——re——— New York knows when to surrender the spotlight. When the balloting is mentioned it turns the glow of publicity on Kentucky. ——— e ‘The Red Cross is strong in its appeal for support, considering only the allevi- ation of human sorrow without effort to locate the blame. —_— e Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Hatchery. A little thought went fluttering Upon a Summer day, Although it seemed a fragile thing It traveled on its way. Somebody with a blunderbus At it would take a shot And try to toss it, wounded thus, Out in a vacant lot. But soon it spread its wings anew In seriousness or mirth; Some tried to catch it as it flew And bring it back to earth. It settled in a garden patch Where no one could intrude, And managed now and then to hatch Of other thoughts a brood. And thoughts, at first but little feared, Nobody now disdains. We often find a flock they've reared Of fighting aeroplanes. Relief. “What did you think of the elections?” “They were a great relief,” said Sen- ator Sorghum. “We need the rest that comes from change of mental activity. Many homes were made happier by fig- ures pertaining to politics instead of foot ball.” Jud Tunkins says every man makes mistakes, but mistakes might not be so numerous if everybody had to pay for his own. ‘Holding. “What is a holding compan-ee?” Said little Robert Reed. “The answer isn’t hard to see,” Said teacher, “No, indeed! As we with care proceed, my son, Investigations show, A holding company is one That never will let go.” From the Rear. “Mesa Bill is a leading citizen of the Gulch.” “Bill never leads,” said Piute Pete. “When a mob starts he gets in behind with & machine gun and keeps it moving.” “Clever men speak well,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. “Men still clev- erer know when to be silent.” Abrupt Demand. Our weary heads are growing gray. When we for homely food or sup In simple duty seek to pay Some one is drawing near to say, “Stick 'em up!” And so, when taxes we must pay, Life brings indeed a bitter cup. When gratitudes should still be gay We hear some grim collector say, “Stick ’em up!” “A politician is & good talker,” said Uncle Eben, “but so’s de preacher whose aims is less personal and more lofty.” ———ra—————— One Urgent Need. urier-Journal. rmWhAm m: ‘:fl‘,‘,"flf“fi“m need.;, observes one indignant male, is a Society for the Pre- vention of Tuesday Ladies' Bridge Club's Consumption of Husbands' Cigarettes. e ———rw———————— Scholastic Test. . Prom the Detroit News. - A New York school teacher has lost her job because she is overweight. We had always thought the idea was to instruct little Willle, not to &it on him. ” v V4 Some Facts Resulting From the Farm Policy To the Editor of The Star: Permit me to pass on to your many readers some interesting but very dis- concerting facts contained in a letter from a friend of mine. As to their trust- worthiness I may say he is the author of many books, on archeology, ancient astronomy, ancient mathematics and a work on government, economics and finance. He says, among other things: “Kansas received checks for $52,000,000 during the last fiscal year for not raising wheat and is now importing wheat from Canada, paying a tariff on it. Three hun- dred thousand sows killed, which, when farrowed, equals 3,000,000 pigs, and in addition 3,000,000 pigs killed, a total of 6,000,000. Sixteen million head of cattle killed, 80 per cent of which were burned and buried. Restrictions of wheat produc- tion 16,000,000 acres. The same percent- age applies to oats, barley, rice and to- bacco. Restriction of cotton production, 18,000,000 acres, and of corn production, 10,000,000 acres. During the past year the United States is importing more corn, wheat, hogs than ever before in the his- tory of the Nation. Cattle and beef are being imported from Mexico and Argen- tina, also corn at the rate of 1,000,000 bushels a day. During the month of No- vember, 1934, 30,000,000 pounds of cotton- seed oil were imported, and the rate of importations has not diminished. The South has lost more than 40 per cent of its export cotton trade, never to be re- gained, inasmuch as Japan, India, Egypt, Equatorial Africa, Argentina, Peru and Mexico have increased their cotton pro- duction three to four fold. The same thing applies to tobacco in Equatorial Africa. “Who of normal mind believes that abundance is produced by scarcity? Hun- dreds of millions of dollars are being wasted in the purchase of sub-marginal and swamp lands as a refuge for wild fowls and other impractical purposes. The evil to be deplored is the process tax. Meat, corn and wheat products are 200 to 300 per cent higher, yet farmers are paid not to produce these foods.” This is a most extraordinary and alarm- ing condition of affairs for potentially the most productive and self-contained natjon on earth. ALEXANDER SIDNEY LANIER. ———e—- Correcting an Error in “Answers to Questions” To the Editor of The Star: It is not often that Mr. Haskin misses one, but in his column last Thursday evening he did. The question was, “What is the translation of hari-kari, the Jap- anese method of official suicide?” An- swer: “It means happy dispatch.” Says who? In the first place, there is no such word or expression as “hari-kari” in the Japanese language. What the questioner had in mind was the word “hara-kiri.” The meaning of har: ri is “belly cutting.” This word “hawa-kiri” comes from the word “hara,” belly or abdomen, and the verb “kiru,” to cut. It is a word much used by writers of the English language, especially the comic opera writers and novelists, but is rarely heard in Japan, especially by the better classes, as it is considered col- loquial or vulgar. 2 The Japanese, being as one might say specialists in the act of committing sui- side, have a number of terms for the act. The one used to designate the formal suicide, generally as a protest or sign of disagreement, act of fealty, or to call attention to some wrong, violation of Japanese customs, or act of renuncia- tion, is called “seppuku.” This means exactly the same as “hara-kiri,” but is a more elegant word. It is a more refined expression. The real Japanese word for suicide is “jisatsu,” also “jigai” and “jisai.” *“Ji” meaning oneself and “satsu suru” to kill, thus to kill oneself. Because of the Japanese family sys- tem and their social customs lovers sel- dom are able to marry and live together. Therefore many commit double suicide 50 as to enable them to live together in the next world. They take their re- ligious beliefs seriously. For this'act of double suicide they have three expres- sions, “aitaijini,” “shinju” and “joshi.” These words all have the same meaning and are used only in speaking of lovers who die together. Thus we have no less than eight dif- ferent words than can be translated into the English word suicide, and in no in- stance are they translated “happy dis- patch.” There is no question but that there have been some happy dispatches, not only in Japan, but in the United State of America as well. But the trans- lator who can get “happy dispatch” out of belly cutting, or the more refined abdomen incising, or just plain Killing oneself, or the romantic dying for love can get more out of the Japanese lan- guage than the Japanese can get them- selves. S. G. JACQUES. Move Against Vile Books Must Be From the Source To the Editor of The Star: The chief postal inspector. of the United States, K. P. Aldrich, is an official whose public has never been “bethump’'d with words.” He speaks so seldom that he might be classed as reticent. Yet a few days ago, impelled probably by force of a wider knowledge of the subject than is possessed by most of his fellow citi- zens, Mr. Aldrich wrote a letter to The Star earnestly commending it for its efforts to mold public opinion against the growing evil of unclean books. What this informed and competent witness had to say about the effect of vile books and pictures on the youth of the country, and on the weak-minded adults as well, was of the nature of an amazing revelation. Here, indeed, is & condition of long standing and ever-increasing seriousness, What isgoing to be done about it? Mr. Aldrich knows only too well, and doubt- less is irked by the circumstance, that it is an evil which largely has removed itself from jurisdiction of the postal laws. The Stateg, with their wide policing powers, where responsibility immediately rests, seem hopelessly unequal to the task of handling the matter. For the Federal Government to take adequate steps would be to wound the sensibilities of groups of our people who think man was made for the Constitution and not the Constitution for man. ‘The churches and other organized moral influences have been fighting the evil valiantly, and may be depended on to continue their efforts. But such a fight as these can make it circumscribed and does not get to the seat of the trou- ble. - It deals more with the effect than the cause. Meanwhile the situation is a practical stalemate. Who or what is going to break it? My humble judgment is that nothing will be done until squeamish- ness is set aside and accountability is established at the source of the evil. FREDERICK W. STECKMAN. ———rw————————— Temporary Madness. Prom the New York Sun. Doctors experimenting with a new medicine say that they will be able to cure insanity with it in five years. Pests will then be able to drive folks crazy, but not to make it stick. A FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1935. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, In many years of listening to radio and the keeping of cats we have never noticed but one reaction, a very pointed dislike of the harmonica. Symphony, soprano, bass, jazz band— these and many others leave the feline world cold, but not the harmonica. The harmonica band stirs them to evident displeasure. Usually they meow, then look rather fixedly at one as if quite sure that the listener has something to do with the noise. Then if the set is not turned off they will come over and climb on the lap, hoping to mollify one into dispensing with the sounds. If no attention still is paid they begin to purr. Those not familiar with house cats be- lieve that the purr, unique soind pro- duced by all members of the cat tribe, is solely a sign of pleasure. Often, as in the present case, it is one of entreaty. “Be a good fellow,” the purr says, under such circumstances. “Turn the thing off, won't you?” *x X X * Many cats are peculiarly susceptible to the higher notes, particularly the harmonics, of the violin. Often they will meow in most piteous accents at a real violin played in the same room with them or even in another part of the house. We have never noticed this dislike, however, for violinists over the radio. Perhaps the keen intensity of the pitch is taken out of the strings for the cat ear by the timbre of the loudspeaker. Dogs howl at certain notes struck on a piano. Often the family pup is said to “sing” when he throws back his head and emits a blood-curdling yowl. It must not be thought that when either dog or cat gets as close as possible to the source of the high-pitched sound that he does so because he likes it. What the creature is trying to do is to prevail on the one he supposes to be the originator to stop, cease and desist. * ¥ % x No doubt there are some cats which evince a real liking for some particular type of music, but we have never seen one. £ Even the vibration of the dynamic speaker causes no response. Music, as humanity knows it, has been a total loss to the various cats of our acquaintance. They show no interest in it whatever, just as usually they do not see them- selves in a mirror. Only one cat out of several score we have known really looked at herself in a looking glass. There could be no doubt about her. She would sit and peer intently, look away, then look back. Animal sounds, made by no less an authority than Ernest Seton, evolved no response from cats. These sounds, on & phonograph disk, included the blood-curdling cries of the timber wolf, by all odds our favorite, and also many bird cries. Yet not a cat of several who have lis- tened to this record ever displayed the slightest evidence of having any natural feline interest in it. The interest of caty in birds, it scarce need be said, is entirely natural. Those bird lovers— WASHINGTON and who is not?—who tend to feel that the domestic cat’s interest in birds is a sort of perverse instinct, which the creature works up for himself out of thin air, ought to keep well in mind the relationship of such animals as dogs and cats to the universal nature of which all living things are children. Intellec- tually, the cat cannot be blamed for his desire to catch birds. Nature put it in him and Nature alone can take it out. And she will not because her cat might need it, when and where, who knows? Consider the house cat preparing to lie down in city apartment or house. The room is free from hindrance to him. All is smooth on the hardwood floor or rug, but does he just lie down? He does not. Millions of years of instinct keep in him the understanding of preparing his own bed in the reeds, rushes or grass of his native Egypt, the home land of our common cats. So he turns around twice, thrice, in order to smooth himself a neat place to sleep. If you have ever watched a cat do that when there is no need for it, and seen the same cat never fail to do it, you will have a better understanding of these instincts of oufs which we share with all our animal kindred. There is no need to be ashamed of them, as some persons are; they are great, in their way, and stand us in good stead in those few seconds of our civilized lives when we may be in need of them. See yonder man stepping up from the street to the curb. His foot slips and he is precipitated on the sidewalk. But does he necessarily hurt himself? Although he is a sedentary fellow, evi- dently, with no claim to athletic ability, his fall is as graceful and well managed as if he were the famous young man on the flying trapeze. His right hand shoots forward without him knowing what he is doing. He lands on part of his under fore- ‘arm, which acts as a sort of spring for all the rest of him. Except for his hand and his feet and a few inches of his arm, not a part of him touches the pavement. Even his precious nose, which almost touches, fails by a quarter of an inch. He jumps up as if nothing had hap- pened, and nothing really had happened, thanks to instinct. If he had had time to think, however, he might have killed himself. * x X % Perhaps every human has some pet dislike in music. With many persons it is the soprano, especially when she insists on running scales and the like. Our personal pet peeve is the tenor. Even the great Caruso gave us a pain. Such dislikes, however, are personal and mean little. It is not so much a case of knowledge, or lack thereof, as perhaps a fault in one’s hearing equip- ment. Just as the dog yowls at certain notes on the piano, and the cat resents the harmonica on any note, so your average human listener has his weakness. He need not yowl, however. With the radio it is easy. All he has to do is turn a knob. OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC W Although detailed analysis, State by State, does not justify the claim that the New Deal met its Waterloo on No- vember 5, it was heavily jolted in in- numerable localities. The psychological effect that Rooseveltism underwent a reverse and repudiation has undoubtedly been created on a wide scale. Loss of the New York State Assembly is the thing which mainly roots that important impression, and it is likely to stick. There’s an inclination to pin the blame for this particular State of affairs on Jim Farley. He it was who accepted the G. O. P. challenge to make the Empire State campaign a New Deal test. The circumstance that the lower branch at Albany has been recaptured by the Re- publicans will not be obliterated in the public mind by the fact that the popular vote shows a big Democratic majority, thus indicating that had Mr. Roosevelt been a candidate, he probably would have carried the State. By and large, the re- sult in the President’s home Common- wealth has a symbolical value that will be capitalized by the Republicans for all it is worth in spreading the gospel that the New Deal has lost caste. From now on the elephant will trumpet lustily that as Rhode Island went in August and New York and a host of other places in November, so the industrial and financial East will go as soon as it gets a chance—in November, 1936. * X Xk % Unquestionably, New Dealers face the future with tempered cocksureness. One of their bitterest heartburns is the failure to elect a Democratic mayor of Phila- delphia, to round out the gubernatorial and senatorial triumphs of 1934. Hence- forward there’ll be less sunny talk about taking the 36 Keystone electoral votes into next year's Roosevelt and Garner column. . Victory of “Happy” Chandler in the Kentucky feud is the true bit of cheer in the Democratic cup. The net of the late unpleasantness, in the esti- mation of politicians capable of thinking impartially, is that while there’s no lack of evidence hither and yon that New Deal stock has slumped, it would be rash to jump to the conclusion that the Presi- dent’s re-election fortunes are already sunk without trace. The consensus re- mains that the New Deal’s fate depends on the State of the times a year hence and has not been remotely determined by the recent scattered balloting on issues which were overwhelmingly local. * * % % President Roosevelt is becoming almost as insatiable a traveler as his wife. He made straightaway for Hyde Park after his recent vacation cruise in the Pacific. Later this month he’s going to Georgia for his annual Thanksgiving sojourn at Warm Springs, which will include an important political visit to Atlanta on November 29. On his way home from Dixie Mr. Roosevelt will address the annual meeting of the American Farm Bureau Federation at Chicago on De- cember 9. At the end of May, 1936, F. D. R. will attend the Texas Centennial Exhibition, tarrying en route at Vin- cennes, Ind, to dedicate the George Rogers Clark Memorial. In June some authorities think Mr. Roosevelt may duplicate his famous 1932 feat and jour- ney to the Democratic National Conven- tion, provided it isn't too far away from ‘Washington, and accept renomination in person. In August or September, it is expected, the President will make a political swing around the circle. Strenu- ous travel agrees with the chief New Dealer. As a campaigner, he is inde- fatigability itself and generally the least frazzled member of his entourage, no matter how hard the going. * ok k% ‘Washingtonians who listened by radio to Gov. Landon's keynote speech &t £ ILLIAM WILE. Cleveland were more impressed by the matter than the manner of his maiden effort as a presidential aspirant. Elo- quence is evidently not the Kansan's long suit, but he has a gift for sim- plicity and directness of statement, which | many people prefer to political spell- binding. The Topeka “Coolidge” cer- tainly knows his budget onions and how to deal with them in common-sense, un- derstandable terms. If opposition to New Deal expenditure is, to be para- mount in '36, Landon is well equipped to personify it. any new farm program is surprising. It suggests that the Governor agrees with | his fellow Jayhawker, Senator Capper, that it will be unwise for the G. O. P. to attack Triple A. * K ok X Doubtless during Prime Minister Mackenzie King's visit in Washington this week he will indicate who is to be the Dominion’s new envoy to the United States. It is understood the post has been offered to John W. Dafoe, editor of the Winnipeg Free Press and an in- fluential supporter of the prime min- ister’s Liberal party. Mr. Dafoe, a cousin of the famed medical guardian of the Dionne quintuplets, is well known in Washington, which he visits pe- riodically for news-gathering purposes. A giant of a man and journalistic mata- dor of the old school, Mr. Dafoe is an aggressive apostle of Canadian-American fraternity. Friends doubt whether he could be persuaded to surrender his edi- torial chair for the fleshpots of diplomacy. * X ok % One of the phenomena of the G. O. P. presidential free-for-all is that two prominent contenders—Knox of Illinois and Vandenberg of Michigan, not only are both newspaper men by profession, but grew up on the same paper, the Grand Rapids Herald. Knox was suc- cessively reporter, city editor and circu- lation manager. Vandenberg was editor later and for 22 years before coming to the Senate in 1928. Both are native ‘Wolverines. * ok ok % “Congress, the Constitution and the Supreme Court” is the title of a book just off the press under the authorship of Charles Warren of the District of Columbia bar, distinguished authority on constitutionalism. The closing chapter summarizes the 53 decisions of the Su- preme <Court holding acts of Congress unconstitutional, from 1789 to June, 1924. Since the latter date and to June, 1935, there have been 18 decisions ruling an act of Congress or its application uncon- stitutional. Of the various cases set forth by Mr. Warren, 10 were cases in which the act of Congress itself was not held invalid, but in which a valid act was applied by Federal officials to a matter or in a manner which violated provisions of the Constitution. The author deals with his subject in terms understandable by laymen as w21l as Jawyers, * Kk x X As the 1936 campaign approaches more is likely to be heard of Walton H. Hamil- ton, recently appointed President Roose- velt’'s adviser on consumer problems. Formerly chief of the N. R. A. Advisory Council, Mr. Hamilton came into the New Deal from the Yale law faculty. Previously he had taught economics at Michigan, Chicago, Amherst and the Brookings School in Washington. He is a Tennesseean and acknowledged authority on living costs. (Copyright, 1935.) — e Informality. Prom the Albuquerque (N. M.) Journal, As near as can be ascertained, the war in Ethiopias is purely informal, nobody having declared war. The fellows who got shot up probably liked the purely informal manner in which they were - LS His failure to project | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS By Frederic J. Haskin. A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Washing~ ton Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washing- ton, D.C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. How many words a minute does President Roosevelt average when he is making a speech?—S. A. A. He averages about 150 words a minute, Q. How many families were on relief inB Sle;pmmber in the United States? A. During that month there were 8,263,199 families receiving emergency reliéf under the general relief program. Q. In how many languages does the Sa‘l‘ngon Army now preach the gospel? ATt is preached in 75 languages and extends into 84 countries and colonies. Q. How much does it cost to maintain & convict in prison and how much on parole?—C. C. M. A. The estimated annual cost of main- taining a convict in prison is $435.19. The estimated cost of supervising a convict on parole is estimated to be $46.81. Q. How many women air pilots are there in the United States?—C. P. A. Holders of active Department of S;:)mmerce pilot-licenses now number Q. When and where was the Armistice signed?—P. J. M. A. The records of the War Department show that the Armistice was signed in a railroad car at Rethondes Station in the forest of Compiegne on the Com- piegne Soisson line, at 5 am., French time, November 11, 1918, effective at 11 a.m. the same date, at which latter time hostilities were to cease. Q. Is the poison of a black widow spider as deadly as that of a rattle- snake?—E. K. A. An equal amount . black widow venom is regarded as more deadly than rattlesnake poison. The two cannot be compared readily, however, because of the much greater amount of venom in- jected by the rattlesnake, Q. How many States require teachers to take an oath of allegiance to the Constitution?—A. R. A. Twenty States are now enforcing statutes which require teachers to sub- scribe to such an oath. Q. Where is the mountain called Loma Tina?—M. B. A. It is the highest mountain in the West Indies, located on Haiti. in the south central part of the Dominican Republic. Q. How did Zasu Pitts get her first name?—J. H A. Her father had two sisters, one named Eliza and the other Susan. Her mother decided to take the last syllable of one name and the first of the other and give it to the child. Q. Please give some information abcut a furniture maker named Gillow —O. N, A. Robert Gillow was an English fur- niture manufacturer and designer, founder of the leading firm of cabinet= makers of his time. They produced the present type billiard table, a telescoping dining table and the davenport desk. Sheraton, Heppelwhite and Adam dee signed for them. Gillow died in 1773. Q. What is the origin of the word Piccadilly?—E. M. A. The street’s name is believed to be derived from certain collar of the seventeenth century made by a fashione able tailor who called his home Picca« dilly Hall. Q. What is asafetida?—H. W. A. An ill-smelling gum resin exuded from the stem and roots of the genus ferula. It is used as a tincture in 70 per cent alcohol and when greatly die luted as a perfume and flavoring matee rial. The gum contains sulphides which impart the evil odor. In doses of 5 to 15 grains it is an intestinal stimulant. Q. Where is the Black Country?— H. A. It is the highly industrialized region mostly in Staffordshire and partly in Worcestershire and Warwickshire, Eng- land. The site of innumerable coal mines, furnaces, ironworks and laborers' dwellings, it is an unlovely and poverty- ridden region. It furnishes the back« ground for a number of England’s mod- ern realistic novels. Q. Please give a biography of Paul Green, author of “In Abraham's Bosom.” —J. C. A. Paul Eliot Green was born at Lill- ington, N. C., in 1894. He graduated at the University of North Carolina, where in 1923 he became assistant pro- fessor of philosophy. In plays, short stories and a novel he has depicted realistically the folk life of the South, especially of Negroes, the tenant white class and those close to the soil. Among his plays are “The Lord’s Will.” “Lone- some Road,” “The Field God,” “The House of Connelly,” and “In Abraham’s Bosom,” which won the Pulitzer Prizc for 1927. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton Taxi, Sir? What say, sir?>—The Million Dollar Bridge? Open both windows for air, sir? Sure, Not ill, sir?—Feeling a bit off edge. Damp drizzle. Yet once dusk worked a cure: I was all in when I lost my kid— Ever hear Jolson sing “Sonny Boy"? All the world to me. My wife—she hid Him because I was out of employ. You know how he saved me from the jump?— Made his way ’‘cross town to me at dark, In a dusk like this; the little hump Came, finding his way thru street and park, Came straight back to me when I was ditched; Pulled me up to my job. What say, sit? He loved me? Sure. And he kept me hitched. It's good to be loved by kid or cur. Drive to the street past the bridge? Okay. Your home block? Sure! I'm glad, sir. You see, : ‘Your eyes in my mirror gave you away— You were going to jump, sir, just like me. ‘You'd lost your grip. It's dismal weather. Sorry I gabbed so. What say? That's right— Nobs and cabmen can chin together. Here'’s your nu::bu, sir. Thank you. A 1