Evening Star Newspaper, June 26, 1936, Page 10

A-10 THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. O, FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 1936 - THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. {THE EVENING STAR “ With Sunday Morning Edition. D. C. June 26, 1936 THEODORE W. NOYES... Evening Star Newspaper Company. | Business Offce: : g s Tl BurSpess Smoe: 14 Jrent b fondon Enslana. Rate by Carrier Within tke City. H Regular Edition L Th Evenine and Sunday star (when 4 Sundays) The Evening_and Sun (when 5 Sundays). The Sunday 45¢ per month 60c per month 65¢c_per month” -Bc Der copy rsuccton"made5i e s may be sent by tional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virsinis. Bl sxg odir— o ot 4 2 e 6. ay only. ;i,cn: 1 mo. All Other States and Canada. Member of the Associated Press. e Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the e tor ebublication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this r and also the local news pubished herein Tights of Publication of special dispatches hereir, are also reserved. Help From Philadelphia. Recognition by the Democratic Na- tional Convention at Philadelphia of the case for District representation resulted from the persistent efforts of Commis- sioner Allen, Representative Mary Nor- ton, Secretary Roper, George P. Marshall and others loyally associated with them in what many seemed to regard as a hopeless task. That fact alone increases the community’s gratitude. The form of recognition—adoption of a resolution calling on Congress for study and a report “on granting to the residents of the District of Columbia the right of suffrage”—should be of as much practical value as incorporation of a plank in the national platform, which had been the first objective. The car- rying out of a platform pledge, like response to the spirit of the resolution, would depend on Congress under any conditions. And Congress would nat- urally pave the way for its future action by thorough study of the subject, which 1t is now petitioned to undertake. Such studies, in the form of hearings on various proposals for District suffrage, have been made before, but in only one case—the Senate District Committee in 1922—have the studies been complete and followed by report. The over- whelmingly favorable report of the Jones District Committee in 1922 was made on the proposed amendment to the Con- stitution, sponsored by the Citizens’ Joint Committee on National Represen- tation, which has been reintroduced in practically the same form in succeeding Congresses. Commissioner Allen, a member of the Executive Committee of the Citizens’ Joint Committee, was spe= cifically delegated to the task of work- ing for national representation at Phil- adelphia. The achievement of Commissioner Allen and his associates is not confined to the convention’s passage of the reso- lution. Of great value to the District's case has been its advertisement through speeches before the Resolutions Commit- tee, the widespread distribution of liter- ature on the subject, and the picturesque demonstrations in the form of Mr. Allen’s Indians and “Boston tea parties.” As Mr. O'Mahoney said in a radio speech from Philadelphia, the movement for national representation suffers from “general indifference,” not in the Dis- trict, but out in the country, where only a small proportion of the people know anything about the disfranchisement of their fellow citizens in Washington. Those who took part in the efforts at Philadelphia, iike those who worked for the same ends at Cleveland, have done much to give helpful publicity to a sit- uation that must be known and under- stood before it can be remedied. —_————— A rumor to the effect that Al Smith will be invited to address the crowd at Philadelphia may stimulate campaign poets to a new version of “will you walk into my parlor, said the spider to the fly.” Betting calculations may be upset in pugilism, but there is no spider-fly match on record in which the spider, with a well webbed frame up, did not emerge the victor. Radio Ballyhoo. It is to be hoped that before the next series of national political conventions occurs an improvement will be made in the manner of delivery of the news and bulletin broadcasters on duty at those meetings for the radio chains. There is room for great improvement. During the Cleveland and thus far the Phila- delphia conventions the services ren- dered by these agile, eager young men have, with few exceptions, been such as to rasp the nerves and din the ears of the millions of listeners. They have seemed to be guided by the principle that it is necessary to be hectic and ex- clamatory in their deliverances, under the impression, maybe, that their un- seen hearers require or want to be pepped up to the spirit of the occasion. By an ingenious technique of manifold con- nections and traveling microphones they have been able to broadcast the hap- penings from the very floors of the meeting halls, describing scenes and in- cidents with breathless enthusiasm, ejaculatory, hortatory and altogether tiresome. :Some of the doings of these an- nouncers have been highly amusing, when not exasperating. They have haled to the microphones numerous per- sonages of more or less importance— mostly less—to give their impressions and to express their sensatiens, and for the most part these presumably willing victims of their enterprise have contrib- uted nothing but banalities altogether out of keeping with the real character of ese gatherings, the serious purpose of thich has been seemingly forgotten in e mistaken notion that they have been chiefly as spectacles of public tertainment. True it is that these interjections and ‘dadml have occurred mostly while z N the conventions have been waiting for the “regular business” of the gatherings. It may be that it is regarded as neces- sary to keep the listeners’ ears filled with sound lest they lapse into inattention while the multiudes are dinning the ether with their demonstrations or while the conventions are idling in awaiting the reports of committees or the arrival of participants. Perhaps it is needful to some. But to the multitude sitting in homes and halls throughout the country the ballyhoo is simply tiresome and ob- jectionable. And it must be said that even if it is necessary to keep up the hullaballoo it be done with more regard for the standards of good speech and with less obviously artificial simulation of intense excitement over what are often very commonplace situations and occurrences. ——————e— Clearing Skies. One swallow does not make a Sum- mer, and it will take more than the single pronouncement of foreign policy by the new French government to scat- ter the storm clouds that overshadow the European horizon. This week’s declara- tions in Parliament by Premier Blum and Foreign Minister Delbos have never- theless promptly cleared the skies in several promising directions. At Lon- don, Berlin and Rome alike the olive branches extended from Paris are wel- comed as gestures calculated to smooth the way to a better understanding than has prevailed at any time since the Italo- Ethiopian conflict divided Europe into hostile camps. All indications now fore- shadow a friendly atmosphere for the impending Council and Assembly meet- ings of the League, convened to liquidate sanctions and co-related issues. Britain and France, no longer at loggerheads on the subject, will join in proposing aboli- tion of the measures imposed upon Italy. On both sides of the channel the dis- appearance of that controversy is ex- pected to go far toward re-establishing the Anglo-French entente cordiale. Its disruption was responsible in large de- gree for latter-day Old World chaos and tension. Besides being a substan- tial augury for peace, the reunion de- notes a readiness to pool plans for a “reformed” League of Nations on work=- able lines. Germany warmly greets Premier Blum's conciliatory sentiments and his expression of willingness to give adequate consideration to Chancellor Hitler’s peace proposals. The Wilhelmstrasse is agree- ably surprised that the new Popular Front government on the Quai d'Orsay, despite its strong SocialistyCommunist leavening, reveals itself as devoid of any arbitrary hostility to the Nazi regime. It is hinted that the Fuehrer will take early occasion to reply to M. Blum's over- tures in corresponding tones of candor and accommodation. Italy is likewise gratified to discover that the Leftist powers which have come into control at Paris are ready to live in harmony with all states, regardless of their forms of government. French So- cialists and Communists have never con- cealed their bitter opposition to the things that Hitler and Mussolini repre- sent. But Rome is now persuaded that Premier Blum and his colleagues, as “good Europeans,” will not shrink from far-reaching steps to effect mutually satisfactory working arrangements with both the German and Italian dictator- ships. With lifting of the League boy- cott on Italy, Mussolini's return to Geneva and full-fledged collaboration in maintaining the European status quo are confidently expected. France’s active role in removal of sanctions is designed to reknit the Franco-Italian ties which were broken by the Ethiopian affair, Altogether, the stage seems to have been set by the Blum cabinet for more stable trans-Atlantic times tiran have been known for many months. The Briand ideal of a “United States of Europe,” which was revived during the recent discussion of foreign policy in the French Parliament, is doubtless still a remote vision. But current develop- ments are fabricating the stuff of which such dreams are made and from which some day what now seems a mere mirage may come within the scope of reality. —_—————————— A radio address by J. Edgar Hoover conveys not only good moral advice, but a hint in pronunciation. Not since the world was surprised by authentic infor- mation that Al Capone pronounced his name as if it had some rhyming rela- tionship to “corn pone” has there been so much interest in names that make news as that aroused by the disclosure that in “Dillinger” the “g” is hard as in “grand” or “goshallhemlock.” Another Tradition Gone. The Democratic convention’s abroga- tion of the two-thirds rule is in keeping with the spirit of the times which moves this convention. Other traditions as- sociated with the Democratic party have been gradually taking a back seat, and this relic, which never had much to de- fend it except the once solid South’s Jjealousy of its veto power, never really exercised, has been tossed overboard with more ease than would have been possible in any convention less subject to the com- plete domination of the party chieftains. The quid pro quo promise to consider a possible reapportionment of delegates four years hence, perhaps increasing the representation of Southern States, doubt- less facilitated abrogation. The two-thirds rule might be credited, with having influenced the course of history, for without it Champ Clark might have been called to the presi- dency instead of Woodrow Wilson. Its champions might also defend it on the ground that two-thirds is a more con- vincing test of unanimity of choice than a mere majority. But in a nation which governs itself largely through majority rule the two-thirds requirement had no lqgical excuse in a political convention. Certainly this convention was the time to get rid of it. There is only one can- didate, which would have made the ap- plication of the rule now a meaningless rite. Under other circumstances, any move toward its elimination would have been construed as benefiting one of sev- eral candidates. And while the next convention will make its own rules, establishment of the precedent at Phila- delphia is done with an eye to the future. While the two-thirds rule is eliminated, the unit rule—binding State delegations to the decision of the State majority— is retained. That gives the incumbent administration, with its control over the office-holders who constitute most of the delegates, the inside track in dictating the nomination of the candidste four years hence. If an administration can- not control a majority of State dele- gations, its influence will have sunk to such a level that the choice of any succeeding candidate, is apt to be a more or less helpless gesture anyway. Queer World. Dancing in the streets or in the public parks to the tune of W. P. A. music may be good boondoggling and fine for those who like that sort of thing. As long as the fiddler is being paid he should be allowed to fiddle, and there may be something to be said for dancing in the streets on a hot Summer evening, even if it is difficult to remember what it is. Nevertheless, there is something so utterly inconsistent about providing dance music at public expense for adults in the evening and at the same time locking up the school playgrounds during the day and forcing children to the streets that W. P. A. music will sound a discord faintly suggestive of Nero’s fiddle. Of course, the comparison is unfair, and all that sort of thing. Of course, the mioney for W. P. A. music is supplied not to enable people to dance, but to help needy musicians. Of course, the funds for playground maintenance and the funds for W P. A. are two separate and distinct things. But, all the same, the picture remains: Playgrounds barred with lock and key during the day, forcing children to the streets—some of them to their death— while the grown-ups dance at eventide in the streets or in the parks to Gov- ernment music. ——————— Some of the impetuous politicians may try to undermine the United States Con- stitution, but nobody will have the bold- ness to challenge the spirit of religious freedom which led to the foundation ot this government. Should fanaticism in- trude, even religious freedom may require a referee, ———— General Farley says thousands of Democrats will answer Al Smith. That wizard of the thousand and one amateur nights, Major Bowes, might offer some suggestions as to whether there is that much radio time in the world. ————— It is unfortunate that the old Liberty Bell is cracked and cannot be used as a gong to terminate a tedious oratorical act. oo Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Oratorical Oracle. Our Uncle Jim speaks long and loud. We point to him with pride. " His eloquence stoops from a cloud k& And takes us for a ride. “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” he sings, In accents clear and strong; An old bandwagon then he brings To illustrate the song. My Uncle Jim is stout of lung, He doesn't try to croon. From old Kentuck’ State he sprung, The same as Dan’l Boone. The hosses nibble mint leaves there, | As corn and colonels thrive, And eloquence will fill the air While Uncle Jim’s alive! He has an audience rehearsed. When he steps out to speak All opposition is dispersed Or rendered dumbly meek. His voice might call for an “Amen”] But that's too tame for him; We just shout “Hallelujah!” when We hear from Uncle Jim, Rudely Rudimentary. “Do you expect to satisfy all your con- stituents?” “Never,” answered Senator Sorghum. “Every one I have recently met uses both threats and entreaties to convince me that the country can’t be saved unless I keep him somewhere on the Government pay roll.” Forgetting Nothing. There in the pandemonium ‘We heard a lady cry “All delegates must surely come ‘To luncheon, by and by!” While brains are busily beset For bread and meat to scheme, The housewife warbles “Don’t forget The cookies and ice cream.” High Audibility. “Did you make your voice heard?” “I didn’t try,” answered the delegate. “But I was not inaudible. I'm the fellow who stood in a far corner and blew a horn.” “My ancestors,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “created many compli- cations because each political leader as he came into power developed ambi- tions to rank historically as the author of some new kind of a new deal.” Unholy Smoke. It may be in a “smoke-filled room” That delegates defy the gloom, ‘Where pipes or big cigars create Clouds that are filled with wonders great. Oft in such clouds in mortal stress We look for demigodliness. Honest tobacco greets us fair, The crown on Freedom’s statue, there Upon the Capitol’s great dome, Where reverent pilgrims often roam. But there are weeds that dull the sense— We hope no recklessness intense May smuggle in, to bring regret A marijuana cigarette. “I likes » brass band,” said Uncle Eben. “I can listen by the hour without no fear dat it's goin' to start & plitical argument.” x Neglected Facts About The Deportation Bills To the Editor of The Star: Some of the press in commenting on bills and resolutions that failed in the last Congress grossly misrepresented the facts about the Kerr-Coolidge alien de- portation bills. It was even sald that the bill if enacted would deport 20,000 additional alien criminals the fisst year and 3,000 additional annually thereafter. Six of its thirteen sections could be made by law enforcement officers in sympathy with executing the law to increase the deportation of alien lawbreakers, but the seven other sections, ccntaining three major and four minor discretions to ab- solutely nullify existing deportation statutes, could be used by temperamental sentimentalists, so-called “humanitari- ans,” or anti-restrictionists, who happen to be in authority, to absolutely scuttle existing inadequate immigration restric- tion and inadequqate alien deportation. statutes. Representative Smith of Virginia, a member of the House Rules Committee when Chairman Dickstein, Commissioner MacCormack and other proponents of the Kerr-Coolidge bill were before the Rules Committee seeking unsuccessfully a rule for the consideration of the Kerr- Coolidge bill, urged that the obnoxious discretions be separated from the six other sections and two bills be made of the bill, inasmuch as there were no objec- tions of consequence to the six sections and the bill containing those provisions would be immediately passed by Con- gress. The commissisner and chairman objected, afid showed what they wanted was not really increased deportations and more effective deportation laws, but decreased deportations through admin- istrative discretions. The gist of the Kerr-Coolidge bill, namely, administration discretions to nullify restriction and deportation laws, has been before Congress for three con- secutive years, reaching a vote once, on June 15, 1934, in the House, when only 92 votes could be mustered for it after several hours’ debate, and when it was decisively defeated by over 2 to 1. The bill pending on the calendar at the close of this Congress last Saturday was the tenth revised version of that atrocious legislative proposal, every previous draft, as that one, meeting with unanswerable objections and causing a new revised version. For the bill on the Senate cal- endar (S. 2969) there was offered in the name of the Senate committee, but pre- pared by the Department of Labor, an elevenith and another completely new re- vised version, which contained the same old obnoxious, objectionable three major and four minor discreticns, but in an- other and modified form. There was absolutely new objectionable matter in this eleventh draft, such as the absurd, monstrous provision that neither this Congress nor any future Congress should legislate any “further” hardship relief. Of course, such a measure ceuld no more stand analysis and consideration than any of the previous drafts, and a poll of the Senate by administration leaders revealed that two-thirds of the Senate would vote against the latest revision. Consequently the department then prepared another draft in the form of a joint resolution, that Senator Schwellenbach tried to have substituted after the enacting clause of the Kerr- Coolidge bill last Saturday, only to be refused even consideration of the pro- posal. But this last and twelfth draft is interesting, because it does not con- tain a single one of the six sections to which no one objects and that would strengthen existing deportation statutes and would tend to increase the deporta- tions of alien criminals. The last draft, or so-called joint resolution, would, if passed, have made oaths of office ridicu- lous and government by law under the Constitution a farce, because by it Con- gress would have approved the deliberate and premeditated refusal of adminis- trators to carry out mandatory deporta- tion statutes. And may I say that the statements that the 2,862 aliens whose deportations have been stayed are law-abiding, non- criminal persons of good morals has been conclusively disproved by unimpeachable evidence presented to the Senate by Sen- ator Reynolds on April 3 and 4, and to the House by Representative Starnes on April 9, after an examination of the original files of these cases in the De- partment of Labor. To enact any one of the twelve drafts of this proposed alien deportation legislation would have placed aliens who have committed per- jury and forgery, whu have peddled dope, who have murdered their fellow man and who have practiced prostitution in a favored class, while no excuse of any family obligation saves a citizen from criminal prosecution for like offenses. Existing law makes illegal or fraudulent alien entries 4 felony, punishable by jail sentence of five years and a fine of $10,000, and requires the Secretary of Labor “to take into custody and to de- port.” There is absolutely no authority anywhere in any law authorizing any ad- ministration officer “to stay” deportae tions. The deportation statutes are mandatory, as they should be. They have been evaded, ignored and flagrantly defled for three years. Any congressional indorsement of any such acts is unthitk- able. Deportation is not imprisonment. Deportation is merely the returning of an alien to his or her native land, where the right kind of an alien ought to have the most friends and be able to get along the best in these times of depression and struggle. J. D. MASON, Political Debate Sinks To New Low Level To the Bditor of The Star: To the disfranchised resident of Wash- ington the speechmaking at our two great conventions will bring some measure of resignation. The privilege of voting for either party seems hardly worth fighting for. At the beginning of his great experiment Mr. Roosevelt de- clared his willingness to admit failure whenever he encountered it, and most of the few surviving Republicans gave him a hand. Now we are assured by Democratic spellbinders that he has done and can do nothing wrong; while Republican orators forget that he ever did anything right. And high-powered wisecrackers are employed at handsome salaries to think up nasty things to fling at the enemy. Whatever the truth may be about graft and incompetence, it seems clear that political debate was never at a lower intellectual level. R. D. MILLER. Music and Surgery. Prom the Jackson (Mich.) Citizen-Patriot. A Florida hospital employs music dur- ing its operations. A crooning record seems just the thing for a patient who fights the ether. All Amateurs. Prom the Glendale News-Press. Sportsmen plan a turf “Olympiad” for 1938. Every horse we ever bet on should be eligible. All of them proved strictly amateurs. Ignorant. Prom the Chicago Daily News. “Third of Ethiopia Still Free, Declares Haile," says & headline. They haven't x ‘Mussolini’s emancipation proclama- A Blooming in the garden right now is a small but charming plant which comes as near as any to living up to the allur- ing designation of “everbloomer.” 1t is the Feverfew, whose finely divided leaves and small heads of white daisy- like flowers add & touch of distinction to any horder. Although a perennial, it will bloom the first year if the seeds are put into the ground the Fall before or if started indoors in February. This habit permits the Feverfew to straddle the flower fence, and be both annual, in effect, and perennial in its habit of blooming year after year. Its scientific name is chrysanthemum parthenium, which shows its relation- ship to a great group of flowers. A long history lies behind the Fever- few, as its common name would suggest to those who realize that many of our garden favorites have been used in folk medicine for centuries. The very name, Feverfew, is derived from the word “febrifuge,” or that which has the power of lessening a fever. In addition, it is said that a strong brew of the Feverfew flowers will help keep mosquitoes away, if rubbed on the skin and permitted to dry. * k ok % ‘The dainty foliage, the upright habit, and the pretty little flower in such pro- fusion, together with ease of culture and surety of growth, make the Feverfew a general favorite in gardens, especially the woman's garden. There perhaps is no garden mostly taken care of by a woman which does not contain this very fine little plant and flower. ‘There is something about it, evidently, which particularly appeals to the fem- inine mind. The average male gardener will want something more showy, some- thing calculated to “knock the eye out” of visitors as they wander around. ‘Women are satisfied with smaller flow- ers, such as the sweet Eglantine, whose white blossoms, like wild roses, send forth their fragrance in sudden gusts which catch you by surprise. A man wants a rosebush with big roses on it, so he can teil everybody how much work it is, what with spraying and fertilizing and pruning, but a woman demands little more of a flower than it be what it is supposed to be. Hence women, in the main, are the best gardeners, precisely because they are more willing to experiment with plants, to shelter and take care of them, and to see something good in the least of them., * % k¥ This is & particularly good plant be- cause of its large number of small white blossoms. White is a necessary garden color, if one may be permitted to call white a color. As far as garden work is concerned, white surely is a color, and one of the very best. In most back yards it should be found more than it is. Nothing ties the various colors together as well as white. Blue has been used largely for this purpose, but cannot equal white. Another good point of the white flow- ers is that they show up nicely after dark and in the gloaming, when so many people like to sit in the garden and watch the fireflies. Fireflies are accent points in the pic- ture. The real garden glow of the dusk is contributed by the Feverfew, the Nicotiana, the pale Regal lilies. For this purpose a slight admixture of pale green, or pale pink, is permissible. Buch flowers are white enough for all prac- tical purposes. * % k% White flowers do their work subtly. While beautiful in themselves, their main purpose is to act as relief to other and more striking colorations, such as are found in almost every garden, and espe- cially, in the newcomer or beginner's garden He especially needs white, here and there throughout his borders, to re- lieve too close plantings of colors which had best be separated. White is the natural -vay to insure this separation, which really is more mental than phys- ical, after all, since Nature herseif splashes colors together in a most in- discriminate but beautiful fashion. * % x % ‘The only care which must be taken with white flowers is not to overdo them. While an all-white garden would be in- teresting, most people would not be sat- isfled with it, after they had achieved it, but would pine for the pinks, blues, yellows, lavenders and other shades and tints which go to make up the pallette of the flower garden. In this listing of colors the good green of trees, shrubs and grass must not be omitted, for it is at one time and place the background for all the rest and one of the most satis- fying colors. An all-green garden, now, is some- thing else! Many persons achieve it, witout realizing it. Sometimes they are foolish enough to lament it, when they have something very much worthwhile, really. What is a garden in which most or many of the flowers have been fail- ures, except a green garden? Let no one be too sorry, therefore, if the season or the seeds or laziness or any other factor has caused floral failure, in the ordinary sense. Sometimes this will happen, even with the best and most enthusiastic home gardeners. All he has to do, in most cases, is to look around him, to see a green garden of good pro- portions, if he has kept his grass reason- ably well, his shrubs and evergreens in condition, his trees trimmed and in good foliage. Nature has seen fit this season to send more branch and leaf to most shrubs and trees, and to build up a background of greenery not always seen. Whatever the reason for this (we believe it was to accommodate the 17-year lo- custs) the happy fact is that not within memory has the suburban area of Wash- ington, in particular, been so lushly green. * x * *x ‘While the reader is looking around his garden, trying to determine where to put more white flowers, and we hope the Feverfew, let him keep a sharp lookout for caterpillar web. These will be found in Wiegelia bushes, in particular, in fruit trees, and other places. Rest assured that wherever found they are doing no good, and should be destroyed. One method which can- not be recommended is to burn them out. There is always danger in this, both to the operator and to his tree or shrub specimens, to say nothing of the possibility of the fire getting entirely out of hand. Fire, like modern traffic, is a great and dangerous thing and ought to be respected as such. Caterpillar webs may be torn out care- fully, or as much of the shrub pruned back as will enable the operator to carry away the entire nest. All such webs should be burned later or otherwise de- stroyed, no matter whether any worms are visible or not, for the powers gf such structures for future mischief are un- limited. While looking for webs, keep a sharp eye open for insects of various sorts, whether known or unknown makes little difference. In the garden there is no choice between insects now that the lo- custs are gone; none is good, and all should be ended, to the present and future well-being of the growing things. The market is deluged with insecticides and fungicides, most of them good. Where the average gardener falls down is not using them soon enough, and thoroughly enough. A poor spray prop- erly used is better than a good one used inefficiently and skimpily. This is the time of year a garden ought to begin to take care of itself, to some degree, if ever a yard can be said to do that. It can, almost, if the green back- ground is in good shape, and there are plenty, but not too many, white flowers, such as the Feverfew, to blend the colors of the other flowers and help make them stand out as individuals yet thoroughly part of the general creagion. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. With his gift for direct statement, Chairman Farley hit the nail squarely on the head when he opened the Phila- delphia convention by striking the actual keynote of that carnival of racket and joy—that the 1936 issue is simply whether the New Deal shall be con- tinued. The Democratic generalissimo might have gone farther and remained within the truth if he had said the issue is whether Mr. Roosevelt is to be given another lease of power. For a long time it has been tacitly admitted on both sides that the electorate in November will vote not so much for principles as “for” or “against” F. D. R. Senator Vandenberg sounded the battle-cry from the Republican standpoint when he de- clared at Cleveland that the G. O. P. objective is to “stop Roosevelt.” That's what all the shooting and shouting will be about, to the exclusion of virtually everything else. The country will, of course, have in mind the things for which the President stands, including his record in relief, recovery and reform, and will make up its mind whether it’' wants any more of it. But overwhelmingly con- spicuous in voters’ thoughts will be Mr. Roosevelt in person. He undoubtedly is the issue. Democrats say they're eager to accept such a challenge, believing they could have no better issue, * X X % Radio listeners think Senator Joe Rob- inson, permanent chairman at Phila- delphia, slipped a cog at the outset of his convention address. Paying tribute to Senator Guffey of Pennsylvania, the Arkansan seemed to refer to the Key- stone New Deal boss as “Joseph M.” Guffey, or at least that was what it sounded like over the air. The Senator’s name is “Joseph F.” Senator Hattie Caraway of Arkansas talking into a floor microphone during the Robinson wel- coming hullabaloo, sprang a brand- broadcasting salutation—“Hello, World!" That was the most territory any speaker in the Quaker City this week attempted to cover. * ok ok % Republicans speak off the record in amazingly confident tones about breaking into the solid South again this year, as they did when Hoover invaded Dixie in 1928. They claim to possess confidential information that at least three Southern States are Landon-minded and trending toward the G. O. P. electoral column. No names are mentioned by these opti- mistic sons of the elephant, but little birds whisper that the fond hopes in question are pinned on Virginia in par- | ticular and to a somewhat lesser degree on North Carolina, Florida and Texas. All four of those States broke away from ancient moorings and went Republican in 1928, * x x % True to its legal duty to play no polit- ical favorites, radio is sbout to accord full Coast-to-Coast facilities to the Com- munist party of America at its national convention in Madison Square Garden, New York City. The convention, which . opened on Wednesday, will hold its final session late Sunday afternoon. These proceedings will be broadcast by both national networks and will include the speeches of acceptance of the nominees for President and Vice President, L If the Democratic high command does not prevail upon Gov. Lehman to run again for re-election in New York State, there’s a plan, according to gossip cur- rent in Washington, to nominate Secre- tary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, jr., in his stead. The idea would be, so the story goes, thus to assure the Demo- cratic national ticket of certain special elements of vote-getting strength which Gov. Lehman commands. Word drifting down from the roaring banks of the Delaware is that New Deal leaders re- tain confidence that Mr. Lehman will yet consent to aspire to a third term. Conspicuous pressure to that end has been visible at Philadelphia. * ok x x Refusal of conservative Democrats like Senators Glass and Byrd of Virginia, Tydings of Maryland, Adams of Colo- rado and others to serve on the Resolu- tions Committee will rank as one of the most significant developments: of the tumultuous week at Philadelphia. While it’s indicated that the Senatore will sup- port the President for re-election, their unwillingness to be identified with formulation of the platform denotes un- mistakable lukewarmness toward the New Deal. To what extent this will manifest itself in the form of a dimin- ished Democratic vote is a matter of guesswork. It is nevertheless a factor that fills Republican leaders with mount- ing belief that disaffection within Demo- cratic ranks is far more widespread than Rooseveltians like to admit and is bound to redound substantially to Gov. Lan- don’s benefit. Mr. Farley’s convention warning against overconfidence suggests that Sunny Jim is not without qualms on the subject. * x ko Representative Usher L. Burdick, Re- publican, of North Dakota, who is to manage the Lemke Union party presi- dential campaign, includes among his other talents the ability to understand the Sioux language. He was raised in a Northwestern farming community bor- dering on the Fort Totten Sioux Indian reservation. Among his numerous books on Western history is a volume entitled “The Last Battle of the Sioux.” Repre- sentative and Mrs. Burdick entered the University of Minnesota together imme- diately after their marriage and were graduated in the same class in 1904. During his varsity days, Burdick played right-end on the Gopher foot ball team, including the two years in which it was Big Ten champion. Describing himself as “always independent in politics,” Representative Burdick supported Roose- velt against Hoover in 1932 EERER] 1f and when, for any reason, Joe Rob- inson relinquishes the Democratic lead- ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Evening Star Informaticn Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. Did Omaha win his English race on May 307—W. P. A. Omaha captured the Queen’s Plate, a'2-mile race, on that day. He carried top weight—130 pounds—and won by a neck from Bobsleigh carrying 123 pounds, Q. When did Canberra become the capital of Australia?—T. C. A. It was built to be the capital, and the parliament met there for the first time in May, 1927. Q. When was the Authors’ League established?—M. L. A. The Authors’ League of America was founded in 1912 for the purpose of securing adequate copyright legislation and protecting the rights of such persons as create copyrightable material. Q. Has the lie detector been recognized in court trials?—L. W. A. It has been used as corroborating evidence a few times. Q. To what country does the island Nauru belong?—K. T. A. This atoll in the Pacific, 26 miles south of the Equator, is administered by Great Britain under a mandate of the League of Nations. About 2,700 people live there and the chief product is phos- phate. Q. How many people are temporarily disabled through accidents in a year? ~D. P. A. In 1935 there were 9,100,000 persons temporarily disabled, 365,000 perma- nently injured and 99,000 killed in acci- dents in the United States. Q. How many decks has the new Queen Mary?—B. B. A. 1t has 11 decks. Q. What liquids conduct electricity? —L. A. A. Under ordinary conditions pure water, kerosene and alcohol are poor conductors of electricity, whereas water solutions of salis and acids are good conductors. Q. How many people go to dude ranches in the Summer?—T. R. W. A. It is estimated that 15,000 will visit on Western ranches this Summer. This is a 25 per cent increase over last year. strawberries first in the United Q. When were planted commercially States?—F. J. A. The first commercial plantings were made about the year 1800 and were cen= tered around what were then the large est Eastern cities. Q. Who was called “the Shakespeare of the nineteenth century”?—A. T. A. Robert Browning. Q. When did Frederick Douglass estabe lish his anti-slavery paper?—E. H. M. A. In 1847 he established the North Star, afterward called Frederick Douglass’ Paper, a weekly abolition newspaper at Rochester, N. Y. Q. How many more births than deaths are there in Japan?—H. W. A. Last year births exceeded deaths by 1,028,000, Q. How large is Mount Vernon, Wash- ington’s home.—K. G. A. The area of the estate is about 470 acres. Q. How many research projects arc carried on by agricultural experiment stations?—T. R. B. A. Research projects active last year totaled more than 7.000. Q. Which of the heads carved on the Mount Rushmore Memorial in South Dakota have been completed?—K. M. A. The heads of Washington and Jef« ferson are completed. Q. What is the Civitan International? —M. K. R. A. Tt is an organization of professional and business men throughout the United States and Canada, dedicated to service to their city, county, State and Nation. On November 1, 1935, 300 clubs had been chartered. Q. How many eclipses were there last year?>—T. F. A. There were seven, the maximum possible number. Five of them were solar and two were lunar. Q. When was the mission at Crockett, Tex., built?>—P. E. M. A. The Mission San Francisco de los Tejas was built in 1690. It is near the site of the old Tejas Indian village of Mabedache. Q. When should timothy be cut?— R. M. A. The best time to cut timothy is in the early bloom stage or when most of the heads are in bloom at the tip ends. Q. What State leads in the production of salt>—H. W. A. Michigan leads in total output as well as in the production of brine salt. New York is second. Q. What has become of the boy who discovered Pluto?—R. L. A. Clyde Tombaugh was graduated this month from the University of Kansas. Q. Who was the 1935 badminton pro- fessional champion?—B. D. A. Jack Purcell of Toronto retained his world professional championship. o e ership of the Senate, it's said to be in the cards that Alben W. Barkley of Kentucky, stentorian Philadelphia key- noter, will be prominently in the run- ning for the place. Presumably in token of reward for his national convention oratorical services in both 1932 and 1936, it's supposed that the Kentuckian would carry the Rooseveltian blessing. Senator Pat Harrison of Mississippi has long ranked as a likely heir to Robinson’s leadership. His friends are sure that he, too, would enjoy favor in administra- tion quarters, should he aspire to the toga in question. R Sir Herbert Marler, newly appointed Canadian Minister to the United States, is a type commonly encountered in Brit- ish public life—the man of means and distinguished family, who goes in for politics as a career. Shortly after his appointment as Minister to Japan, early in the depression, Sir Herbert achieved Dominjon-wide fame by erecting a hand- some Canadian legation building in Tokio at his own expense, accepting re= imbursement from the Ottawa govern- ment in installments. A lawyer by pro- fession, he is of ancient Anglo-French lineage and was knighed by King George in 1935 for his services to Canada and the Empire. « 1038 [2