Evening Star Newspaper, September 13, 1936, Page 32

" D=2 THE EVENING STAR With Supday Morning Edition. - WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY. Sep! THEODORE W. NOYES..........Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 1100 8 Sad Pennivivants New York Office: 110 Ave. ast 42nd Bt. e e, O ok MM By, Rate by Carrier Within the City. Regular Editien. Thy ight Pinal and Star___70c per mon Fu ;’l{::-l a'tnnr Sy o ,obtbc .:;r u-:&? ?18:‘1 .emgg Sent by sl ‘or teleDhone Na< moa ional” 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. & Canada, mo.. $1.00 mo.. land d Vi s, tly ang P o K E:"l ‘on mo. o mo., junday on! E-ny -ndullm?a aily onl junday on! Member of the Associated Press. Agsoctated Press 1s exclust titled to the e for TepubLCation. of a1l news dispatencs Biper andaiso.the JoshT Bews publithed hercin, TP Fichts of nug ication of ‘special dispatohes erein are also reserved. What Germany Wants. Addressing his Nazi Congress, Chan- ttellor Hitler spoke only in general terms of Germany's demand for colonies. The first detailed information of what Hitler wants is disclosed in one of Mr. Con- stantine Brown's {lluminating European dispatches to The Star, published on the very day the Fuehrer projected his pro- gram for regaining the Reich’s place in the sun. Mr. Brown reveals that the Germans claim a vast and rich section of West Africa, extending from Liberia to the Belgian Congo. It embraces not only independent Liberia itself, but also the Ivory Coast, a French colony, the Gold Coast, a British colony, Kamerun and Togoland, formerly German and how mandated territory, and the immense British colony of Nigeria. Altogether the “slice” of Africa on which Nazi eyes ‘are riveted aggregates more than 900,000 square miles, which does not fall far short of the gross domain of which the Germans were despoiled at Versailles. Kamerun and Nigeria alone, with re- spective areas of more than 300,000 square miles, are each almost as large as the Ethiopian booty which has fallen into Mussolini’s hands. Enormous as the coveted territory is, Reichsbank Presi- dent Dr. Schacht, who is goading Hitler into the colonial adventure as a means of guaranteeing independent German sources of raw materials, contends it represents less than the value of the lost colonies. In view of the comparative ease with which Japan obtained Manchuria and Italy gobbled up Hafle Selassie’s king- dom, Hitler can hardly be blamed for thinking that his imperialist designs, Yoo, can eventually be realized without serious opposition. There is no reason to suspect that the Nazis would risk war to gratify colonial ambitions. They may rather be expected to use the moral influence of their military, naval and air power as a club with which .to browbeat Great Britain and France into Tecognizing the desirability of satiating the Reich. Mr. Brown tells of German overtures already made to the London and Parls governments, based on their notorious eagerness to curb growing Nazi imight. That Berlin's hopes on this score are not unfounded is reflected in the Lon- don Times' comment on Hitler's recent utterance. “Some day, perhaps,” it says, “the system of mandates may be widely extended, but meantime British public opinion, even in so far as it is theo- retically sympathetic with German claims, would never seriously consider them except in relation to a general settlement and in return for practical renunciation of war as an instrument of German policy. At present war men- tality is being fostered in Germany. To take concessions to it today would merely be to invite larger demands to- morrow.” Unless the Nazi anti-Com- munist complex leads to war with the Boviet and German expansion in the direction of the great Russian grain and mineral regions—designs bluntly sug- gested by Hitler at Nuremberg on Bat- urday—Hitlerite territorial policy s plainly pointed toward West Africa. It conjures up the prospect of augmented {nternational fear and unrest. “Alf, keep away from those fool Advisers!” This is the advice of Ed Howe, the veteran Kansas philosopher, known as the sage of potato hill. It is good advice, representing the hardest lesson a politician has to learn, Signed or Sealed? Professor Edward Samuel Corwin's eriticism of the designs on the doors of the new Supreme Court Building prob- ably will serve several useful purposes. ‘The wide publicity accorded his charges may be relied upon to create an interest in the panels which otherwise never might have developed. People who ordi- narily would have passed by without a glance at the bas-reliefs now will be apt to pause to examine them. The gain is obvious. But Professor Corwin also has raised the question: Was the Magna Charta, basic charter of British liberties, signed or sealed? His own bellef is that the immortal document was formally authen- ticated in the latter manner. King John; he suggests, was incapable of writing his name. Yet Lippincott's Biographical Dictionary says the sovereign “signed,” and Pitzhugh's Concise Biographical Dictionary employs the same phrase without qualification. Those authorities, - moreover, have the support of the Amer- icana and Nelson's Encyclopaedia, the Library of Universal History, the Cen- tury Dictionary, Ploetz’s Epitome of Uni- versal History, West's Story of Man's Early Progress, Wells' Outline of His- _tory, and, most particularly, Green's Short History of the English People. A diametrically contrary position, ~however, is taken by Appleton's Amer- ican Cyclopaedia, which reports: “It (the — THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. §SPTEMBER 13, 1936—PART TWO. LEARNING A LESSON BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D, LL.D,D.C. L, BISHOP OF WASHINGTON, Charter) bears the seal of the King and of a large number of " as well as by Johnson’s Universal Cyelopaedia, Webster's Early European History, Harding’s New Medieval and Modern History, Hammerton and Barnes’ Illus- trated World History and Swift’s How We Got Our Liberties, all of which refer to the monarch as signifying his consent by affixing his seal. Meanwhile, the text of the copies of the Magna Charta preserved in the British Museum shows that it conforms to the custom of the age which brought it forth. The opening lines are: “John, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, Count of Anjou, to the arch- bishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciars, foresters, sheriffs, reeves, serv- ants and all bailiffs and his faithful people, greeting.” At the close, there appear the words: “Given by our .hand and in the meadow which is called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the Fifteenth Day of June, in the seventeenth year of our reign.” Possibly, then, the original manuscript —long since lost—was both signed and sealed. To many, the problem is aca- demic. What matters is that the spirit of the Charter still survives and that men still wish to be their own free and independent masters. The Magna Charta is commemorated on the doors of the highest tribunal of the United States for no other reason. A New Deal Paradox. Governor Louis J. Brann, hope of the Democratic New Dealers in Maine, has declared on the eve of the election there “the New Deal is not in the campaign.” Here is a paradox that may need some explaining if Brann should win in his contest with Senator Wallace White, Re- publican, for the latter's seat in the upper house. Brann has been clearly afraid to make the Roosevelt New Deal an issue in the campaign. He has been critical of New Dealers and New Deal policies. And yet Brann entered the race for Senator at the behest of the New Deal’s political generalissimo, Demo- cratic Chairman James A. Farley, prob- ably with the full acquiescence of Presi- dent Roosevelt himself. Should Brann be elected no one will more quickly hail his victory as a New Deal victory than the New Dealers he has denied. They are not squeamish that way. Yet Brann has played for the senatorship almost exclusively on the ground that he is personally popular with many of the voters. On the other hand, if he is defeated, the New Dealers may find a little, a very little, satisfac- tion in the announcement made by Brann that “the New Deal 15 not in the campaign.” The office for which Brann is con- testing is not, in the national political sense, a State office. Brann's assertion, therefore, that the New Deal is not in this campaign is a misstatement of -the fact. There are to be elected in Maine tomorrow, in addition to a Senator, three members of the national House of Representatives. The political com- plexion of the House and Senate is a matter of very vital interest in hational politics and national affairs. Furthermore, Governor Alf M. Landon | of Kansas, the Republican nominee for President, last night declared in a tpeech in Portland, Me., that the Maine elec- tion has a national aspect; that the whole Nation is watching to see how the Pine Tree State goes, pro-New Deal or anti-New Deal. The Republican presidential candidate, more confident of the result in Maine than the New Deal's hand-picked candidate for Ben- ator, has not fafled to point out the clear implication of the Maine election. Brann, on the other hand, has backed away from fit. —_———— Communism is for the moment trium- phant in Spain. Its historical expres- sion has been turbulence and cruelty. The demonstration is worthy to be studied from a distahce in an unpreju- diced, scientific spirit. Economists are scrutinizing the New Deal to ascertain whether it has suc- ceeded only in placing more middle men between the producer and the con- sumer. Revising History. The causes of the World War of 1914- 1918 probably will continue to be & mat- ter of controversy for generations to come. But without regard to any final verdict which may be rendered centuries hence it is interesting to note that his- tory already is being revised in line with a more liberal concept of justice toward all the nations and peoples involved. For example, it now is commonly and universally conceded that the masses nowhere were responsible for the out- break of Armageddon. Their part in the tragedy was merely that of cannon fodder—they fought and died as pawns in a cruel game of chess whose players were men they never saw, whose very names were unknown to them. And the helpless victims of the contest, for that Teason if for none other, will be exon- erated in the final assignment of blame, Indeed, even today it is clear that they were innocent. A similar conviction with respect to many leaders on both sides of the cata- clysmic struggle also is growing up in the minds of those who have studied the record of the strife. The “World History,” recently published by Sir John Hammerton and Dr. Harry Elmer Barnes, tells in cold and candid prose the tale of the machinations of the Russian Foreign Minister Izvolski, the unproclaimed sponsor of a policy de- signed consciously and deliberately to solve Europe’s problems on a fleld of battle. He was the proposer of Austris's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, & trick whose fruit was the assassina- tion of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand at Sarajevo, June 28, 1914; he “pur- chased” Raymond Poincare’s election to the presidency of !'nno‘o and thus won s free hand for the Csar, unhappy Nicholas II, in the Balksns. Under his ) 7 take steps which inevitably led to war.” He openly boasted: v But what about Emperor of. Germany? ! that it was he who, in the language of Elbert Hubbard, “lifted the lid off Hell.” Much evidence certainly would be needed to change a conviction enter- tained by millions long schooled to esti- mate character by performance, Yet Hammerton and Barnes say: “The _JKaiser's rapid and definite effort to hold up the Russian general mobilization stands out in sharp contrast to the com- plete absence of any such attempt on the part of Poincare. Also the admitted perturbation, if not dismay, of the Kaiser in signing the war order was something far different from the exuber- ance and enthusiasm of Izvolski and of Poincare and his associates when they recognized that the war was on at last. ® * * And France and Russia refused Grey's proposal to submit the Austro- Russian dispute to mediation. Germany actually accepted and promoted Grey’s two latest proposals which he admitted were better than his original conference plan. It would appear that the imme- diate responsibility for the war has to be assigned to Serbis, though her action in producing the assassination of the Arch- duke would have had little European significance without the aggressive inter- vention of Russia encouraged by Poincare.” The heresy of views so radical may be demonstrated by citation of the fact that their authors would have gone to Jail for them had they been uttered in 1017. Less than two decades later they are largely unchallenged. Passions have declined, knowledge has been enhanced and eventually the whole terrible inci- dent may be seen in a light totally at variance with that in which it was beheld by those it affected most sorrowfully. ——— Sleuths have other sleuths to watch them. A G-man operating with candid courage must take into account some other agent who has been s0 close to the underworld that he is photographed with the faclal expression of one who tries not to let the left-hand corner of his mouth know what the right-hand corner is saying. —————— It remained for the A. F. of L. to discover that the future of American labor depends on a somewhat technical distinction between craft and industrial organization. ————— Fearlessness is necessary to the char- acter of a dictator. The idea of being loved for the enemies he has made leads him, logically, to make as many enemies as possible, —_————— Instead of being flerce as Postmaster General Farley predicted, radio politics often becames as mild and sentimental as a broadcast of “Relief for the Love- lorn.” ——ee—s. Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Trailers. Band wagon playing In innocent mirth. Trailers are straying All over the earth. Time we're improving Without any loss. No longer we're moving By buggy and hoss! The pace—we have struck it O’er mountain and dell, To the moss-covered bucket That hangs in the well! The figures are mounting, They're easy to hote— Is any one counting The tourist camp vote? Money Question. “Have you studied the money ques- tion?” “Some,” answered Senator Borghum. “It sounds pretty much as it always did ~—how are we going to save enough out of the rent and grocery bill in order to pay the taxes?” Hats and Pocketbooks. As we behold the campaign show That travels on its way, The good old signs we used to know Again are on display. And s0 we take another look On words which tell us that A man must guard his pocketbook And also watch his hat. Mechanistic Peril. “We are far beyond the horse and buggy days,” said the economist. “No doubt of that,” replied the plain citizen. . “What do you regard as the greatest problem of this mechanistic era?” “Dodging automobiles.” “My ancestors feared idols who sat in benign ailence,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. “We now fear strange voices that come out of a box dedicated to your radio joss.” Guessing Again, Election just a few weeks off! Some folks will cheer and some will scoff. We’ll know, with feeling going strong, Just who guessed right and who guessed wrong. We'll pause, when this election’s through To cheer, a8 patriots ought to do. “Nobody mu-wT,"uu Uncle Eben, “but dar is still enough folks willin’ to Evidences of Recovery Confuse Campaigners BY OWEN L. SCOTT. CHICAGO, September 132.— Impres- sions crowd in on the Washington news- paper man leaving .the self-centered Capital to travel into the Middle West by motor car. There are the unmistakable evidences that this country, economically, is on the way out. Politically the signs are almost as revealing, even if a bit more obscure in their real significance. But obviously politics this year is not slow= ing up business. The story all along the way is that the roads never have carried so many tourists. Cars shoot by from nearly every Btate of the Union—crossing State lines with scarcely so much as a marker to tell their occupants of the change of sovereignties, New cars are strikingly apparent. everywhere, on the road, in the farm- yards, in the cities. Only an occasional model “T” Ford serves as a reminder of the . One, bearing a South Da- kota license, was spotted chugging along a Pennsylvania highway. Pittsburgh again is hidden in a haze of smoke from steel mills that three years ago had most of their fires banked. Streets are crowded and all signs of the 8pring flood have long since been removed. RN 3 Everywhere across the country barns are being painted. Now and then a new barn or a new farmhouse is under con- struction. Even in small towns houses are going up. People obviously are tak- ing & more hopeful view of the future. One reason may be that in Ohio and Indiana and Illinols and Wisconsin small grain crops have been good, corn is far from a failure and prices are at prosperity levels. Another is that fac- tory chimneys in towns all along the way are pouring out smoke. In Gary, Ind., among the hardest hit of cities during the depression, due to its dependence on steel, business is hum- ming. More men are working in the mills, drawing higher wages than ever before. The city’s street cars are carryihg more passengers than in 1929. Where houses and apartments had been a drug on the market as late as two years ago, they now are at a premium, with rents rising and new building started. Neither in Pittsburgh nor Gary is much heard about the organizing activ- ities of John L. Lewis and his C. I. O. Attempted unionization of the steel in- dustry is proceeding slowly and under cover. *x ok x ‘The Nation’s principal industrial area centers around Gary and Chicago. To- day it is a hive of activity. Long freight trains again block the roads. Lake freighters that had been tied up, rusting at their docks, are back in service. An idle factory is hard to find. The impression given by Chicago is that of a boom city. La Salle street, financial center of the Middle West, is a beehive of activity, in sharp contrast to its condition a few years ago. De- partment stores are handling a daily rush of customers that suggests Christ- mas crowds of the past. The stores are unable in important cases to give ade- quate service and are having to remodel their facilities. At rush hours down- town traffic is of unprecedented propor- tions. If any large city would reflect re- verses due to the drought, Chicago, as the heart of the Middle Western farm belt, should be the one. Actually, the indices here are heading higher. Com- plaint is heard that competent labor is becoming hard to find. Still, in the face of what looks like approaching prosperity, the relief load everywhere continues high. The rea- son constitutes the big mystery of this depression. *x % When it comes to politics, discovery is made that the excitement this year is confined to business groups. Everywhere there is bitterness toward President Roosevelt among business men. They feel that he is going to penalize them to provide for other groups in the population. Among farm- ers and workers and the general run of people there apparently is less than the usual amount of election excitement. ‘This may be due to the fact that Gov. Alf Landon, the Republican nominee, has refrained thus far from waging a vigorous, fighting sort of campaign, and President Roosevelt, taking the cue, is delaying the start of his own direct ap- peal to the voters. To the ordinary person outside of Washington budget problems, spending, political maneuvers and political phil- osophies become strangely remote. Gov. Landon, to succeed, apparently will have to do more than he has done to date if he is to dramatize his story and con- vince the general public that it should oust the present administration. * kX % You learn that Democratic party or- ganizations are taking polls twice a month, with results that provide the basis for the President's obvious con- fidence over the November outcome. In Chicago you discover that employes of the Chicago Daily News, published by Col. Frank Knox, Republican vice pres- idential nominee, are almost solidly fol- lowing the paper's columnist, Howard Vincent O'Brien, into the Roosevelt ranks. Landon buttons predominate in the cities, with hardly a sign of a Roosevelt label. But again, most of the display is found in the business districts rather than in the working quarters, where voters are concentrated. * ¥ ¥ X The principal complaint everywhere concerns spending. People want to know where all the money can come from to pay the bills now being created. More than a suspicion that they are go- ing to be called on to provide the money causes a large part of the bitterness on the part of those who have sizeable in- comes and accumulations of wealth. Republicans have their best story here, and they have made an impression in telling it. S8till, they apparently haven't convinced the general run of people of the danger that lies in a persistently un- balanced budget. It remained for a Wisconsin business man to suggest that President Roosevelt aetually was the choice of big business in this country and that the attack on subterfuge. H:S point business has reaped a rich ler the New Deal, while the ess .man, of which he was At the unveiling of the beautiful monu- ment erected on Vimy Ridge, where thousands of Canadian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice, the King of Great Britain and outstanding Canadian offi- clals sought to give expression to the weighty lessous that the tragedies of the World War were designed to teach. The King declared: “Around us here today there is peace and the rebuilding of hope.” The prime minister of Canada urged that “the nations of Europe strive to obliterate whatever makes for war and for death.” Possibly the most notable address was delivered by Mr. Ians Mac- kenzie, Canadian minister of national defense, He said: “We are gathered here not only in commemoration of those who died, but for the rededication of the nations here represented to the sacred cause of peace.” His final word was one that must have searched the hearts of those who were assembled on this his- toric spot. “Is it not time,” he said, “for a /weary, doubt-torn, tempest-tossed world to turn its face to the cross and find in Christian brotherhood and the spirit of good will the tranquil calm that never can Qe found in futile and de- structive strife?” It was fit that, on this field of struggle and strife an effort should be made to recover what seem to be the lost lessons of the Great War. It was the Prince of Peace who, in one of His most significant words, said: “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!” He was seeking to accentuate the urgent need of gathering from the experiences of life its great and impressive lessons. The tragedies that we experience in our in- dividual and corporate life come from our unwillingness to understand and ap- preciate their significance. For over 19 centuries of the Christian era the world has witnessed the folly and wickedness of war, and still it per- sists, growing in violence with each new conflict. We have yet to “find in Chris- tian brotherhood and the spirit of good will the tranquil calm that never can be found in futile and destructive strife.” Despite the afirmation of the cynic that human nature cannot be changed and that the combative spirit cannot be curbed, we are compelled to believe as we observe the later expressions that proceed from leaders of the people that progress is being made and that the spirit of the Prince of Peace is coming more and more to dominate the minds and the wills of men the world over. The world has reached a stage in its development where it must recognize and follow the leadership of the man on _horseback or the Man on the Cross, if it would know the things which belong unto its peace. The Master affirmed that to recognize His ideal or philosophy of life—the abundant life which He came to bring—could not be enjoined by those who were unwilling to recognize His soverelgnty in the realm of moral ideals. He reckoned with the tendencies of man’s nature that made him impulsive and combative. He also recognized that these tendencies could not be resisted or overcome unless supplanted by ideals sustained and motivated by utter devo- tion to His will. Men have employed many substitutes and pursued many methods to gain that which He sought to give through a finer understanding of life and its pur- pose. It is clearly evident that all our man-made plans and mechanisms have fajled us and failed us repeatedly in tfmes of crisis. Man's search for peace is yet to be satisfled, and an ordered and orderly world is still to be attained. We proudly vaunt our desire to be “good neighbors,” but we have a conceit that this can be attained through the genius and cunning of diplomacy. The only thing that can validate our pacts and treaties is a fresh afirmation of our willingness to obey the will of Him who came to make men of one mind in the house. Fifty Years Ago In The Star The White House has had many re- furbishings, but none more extensive than - that fifty years ago, White House when Grover Cleve- Refurbished. land was the presi- dential occupant. The Star of September 15, 1886, says: “There is no probability of the Presi- dent’s returning to Washington this week, but he is expected back early next week. His cottage in the country will not be ready fQr occupancy for a month or six weeks, But the White House will be in complete readiness and will be in better condition throughout than any time since it received the extensive improvements under President Arthur. The work of renovating and painting in the house will be completed Saturday night, but improvements in the conserva- tory will not be finished for a couple of weeks. The interior of the White House has been well painted and presents a very attractive appearance. The car- pets are all down in the various rooms. The east room has been repainted and reguilded with the exception of the ceil- ing, and the woodwork in all the rooms on the first floor has been painted. “It was found that the color on the walls of the blue parlor had become | somewhat faded by sunlight, so that in repainting the woodwork the shade was changed to match the walls. Colonel Wilson has had made a skylight in the private corridor on the second floor near the President’s office so that this hall, which was always dark and gloomy on the brightest days, is now light and cheery. The opening through the ceil- ing is six feet by eight and at the top the skylight is four feet by six. The light comes through beautifully tinted glass. “An additional gas meter has been placed in the basement and there is now connection with the gas main that runs between the White House and the Navy Department and that between the White House and the Treasury. Although gas is supplied from both mains, no more will be burned, as there is but one supply pipe to the house. In case, however, it should ever be necessary to shut off the gas from one of the mains, there will be the usual supply from the other and the White House will probably never be without gas. The crystal chandeliers have all been cleaned, but it was found that about twenty of the glass pendants were missing and had to be replaced. Relic hunters are anxious, evidently, to secure any trifie from the White House.” * **x ¥ “The splendid trait of self-reliance on which we Americans vaunt ourselves,” says The Star of Sep- Charleston tember 17, 1886, “is Recovering. showing forth at its best in the case of shocked and battered Charleston. The earthquake which shook half the city to pleces occurred scarcely more than a fortnight ago and other tremors have followed since; yet already the task of rebuilding has been undertaken. The people did not sit down with their hands in their laps, like the people of cities similarly stricken in the Old World, and cried to the powers that be for help. With the aid which began at once to pour in upon them unasked from the fuller purses of their fellow citizens of the United States, they have sustained themselves merely long enough to look about them and lay plans for the work of restoration. Even though the dis- aster to Charleston has its multitude of darker phases, it has at least one bright one in its exhibition to all the world of the recuperative power of an American city smitten with an, appalling form of misfortune hitherto almost unknown to the United States.” Wasted Campaign Funds. From the Albuquerque Journal. The objection we have to the 1936 campaign expenditure is that too little of the $17,000,000 goes into cigars, and too much into publicity pamphlets that clutter up our waste baskets. Progressive party and the Democratic party—each one well organized—while the Republicans must work with a well- Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. With Capital visitors focusing atten- tion this SBummer on the new United States Supreme Court Building, guides have been besieged with questions re- garding other places where the Supreme Court met. Before the court occupied its own building it had temporarily eat in 12 other quarters. February 1, 1790—Met in Royal Ex- change at foot of Broad street, New York, for one term. February, 1791—At new City Hall, Philadelphia, which stood east of Inde- pendence Hall. February 4, 1801-1806—Met in mar- shal's office, United States Capitol Building. 1809-1811—Met in clerk’s office, United States Capitol, during remodeling of the Senate chamber. 1812-1814—Met in law library, United States Capitol. August 24, 1814—Capitol burned—after fire court met at 204-206 Pennsylvania avenue southeast for 1815-16. This building recently torn down to make way for new Annex to the Library of Con- gress. 1817-18—Terms held in north wing, United States Capitol. 18189—Returned to law library, United States Capitol. December, 1860—Removed to court room, United States Capitol. November 6, 1898—Due to fire, court met in District of Columbia Committee room, United States Capitol, for one week. 1901—For three to four weeks court was held in Judiciary Committee room, United States Capitol. * % ¥ ¥ There are four men in Congress—all seeking re-election—who first entered upon their legislative duties nearly 30 years ago, on March 4, 1907. They are Senator William E. Borah of Idaho and Representative Adolph J. Sabath of Illi- nois, both of whom have served consecu- tively ever since; Representative Benja- min K. Focht of Pennsylvania, who has been an in-and-outer, serving in the Sixtieth to the Sixty-second, Sixty- fourth to Sixty-seventh and the Seventy- third and Seventy-fourth Congresses, and Representative William A. Ashbrook of Ohio, who served from the Bixtieth to the Sixty-seventh Congresses, and then after an absence of 16 years came back in the Seventy-fourth. * k %k x ‘The American people give away 3 per cent of their income, save 12 per cent and spend 85 per cent, Representative Benjamin K. Focht, Republican, of Pennsylvania points out and interest- ingly quotes Arnaud C. Marts, acting president of Bucknell University, to show how far the 3 per cent goes to- ward acquiring “the deep satisfaction of soul which comes from sacrificing selfish desires in order to serve God and uplift humanity to higher levels of character. intelligence and refinement.” From the 3 per cent which we give away voluntarily to the Nation's cul- tural agencies, he emphasizes, we draw our richest satisfactions: With this 3 per cent we maintain America’s 832 voluntary colleges and uni- versities, providing the means by which some 550,000 young people each year widen the horizon of their lives and grow in capacity to serve their fellow men. Out of the 3 per cent we maintain 2700 voluntary hospitals, we train 1,000,000 Boy Scouts, 350,000 Girl Scouts, hundreds of thousands of boys and girls enrolled in other character-forming groups—Y. M. and Y. W. C. A, Y. M. and Y, W. H. A, and Catholic Youth Clubs. * ok ok ¥ As an official observer for the Amer- ican voters in the great quadrennial game of politics, there is a quiet little man in a hidden-away office in the Capitol keeping an official record of the candidates for the law-making body— Leroy D. Brandon, who came to Wash- ington in 1900 from Iowa to work for Uncle Sam. For 10 years he has been handling these official lists of candi- dates—he used to work with George Ellis, attached to the office of the clerk of the House. He was detailed to duty at the Capitol from the Government Printing Office in 1919. He was made journal clerk in the Sixth-eighth Con- gress, and when the Democrats came into control and appointed some one else to his job he went back to the G. P. O. But he was promptly detailed back to the Capitol, where he officially supervises the preparation of the House Journal, which is the only official record of proceedings. He also supervises the work of the enrolling clerk. “Corn Fed” Now a Compliment. Prom the Kansas City Star. '!‘lmvuwhenunkm‘ttmm complimentary to s of & young woman as reyorn udp.? But that was before corn got to selling above a dollar, muses Philosophical Al Birth and Mortality in Business BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN., A great many people are inquiring as to the extent of business mortality through faflure and insolvency in recent years, especially as a result of the great depression which followed the 1929 col- lapse. Every year sees changes in the business structure. There are, to be sure, some small towns where the same handful of little stores has been run- ning for a generation or even several generations without appreciable change. In New England, for instance, and in the South, one can find country stores Which have been run by successive generations of the same family. Over the country at large, however, and especially in the cities, there is a constant ebb and flow of business. Fail- ures occur, but new enterprises are started and so the cycle keeps on. In good times there is normally an expan- sfon of the total number in business and in lean times a contraction. Always the rule is change. The best way to obtain a comprehen- sive view is to take the figures covering two depressions, one of brief duration and one long. In 1919 the country was booming. This was the silk shirt era. Farmers had been receiving unprece- dented prices for their wheat and other produce and the wages of labor were good. Employment was full and prices ruled high. It was a grand period for the storekeeper. 1In that year there were fewer failures than there had been for a decade. The withdrawals from busi- ness numbered only 300,000 ® 8N That sounds like a large number, but this is a large country. The figures in- clude many types of business. Manu- facturers are included and so are whole- sale and retail establishments. Bankers, lawyers, and other professional men are not included. Even with so many as 300,000 failures in that year, general business looked so good that there were 308,000 new businesses established. These include all manner of businesses from large corporations to little hole- in-the-wall stores. Then fell the depression of 1920-21 It will be recalled that this was pre- cipitated in large part by what was called the buyers’ strike. Prices rose to such heights that thousands of people all over the country simply refused to buy. The overall movement was a pro- test against the prevailing high prices of clothing and it became a short-lived fad for men to go to business offices and even to evening parties in overalls. This agitation had its effect, although the price structure had grewn so tall that it was due to topple soon anyway. In 1920 346,000 business establishments failed and were forced to withdraw from business. But a very odd phenomenon of the period is that 459,000 new enter- prices were started. This is difficult to explain. With so many failures, one would not expect people to be encour- aged to begin new ventures. Perhaps most of the new ones mark reorganiza tions. In 1921 the depression had be- come intensified and 388,000 businesses failed, but the same phenomenon per- sisted and there were 483,000 new entere prises. L The country passed into a period of great prosperity after the rapid recovery from the 1920-21 depression. There was great activity in every line, and where activity is great it follows that vicissi- tudes shall be great. The year 1929 has been called the year of highest prosperity in the entire history of the United States. Certainly the national income reached its record height and wages and profits were good. Nevertheless, in the year there were 431,000 business failures. This was scarcely more than balanced by the starting of 453.000 new business enter- prises. In 1932 there were 433,000 busi« ness failures with 338,000 new ventures and in 1933 there were 387,000 failures with 345,000 new ventures. The follow« ing year saw a turn in the trends, fail- ures dropping to 360,000, while new en- terprises numbered 379,000. Losses to creditors caused by thess failures are smaller than might be ex- pected. For one thing, the numbers of failures are greatly swelled by the small stores which fail. Some of these are very short-lived. They have not been able to obtain much goods on credit or otherwise establish liability. So when they fail the losses to creditors are small whatever the losses to the small pro- prietors themselves may be. Over a 20- year period it seems that losses to cred- itors have amounted to less than 1 per cent in about half the years. * ok ok % Here are some interesting figures on the loss in number of establishments en- gaged in different lines of business as between the years 1929 and 1933. These vears give a swing from the height of the prosperity to the depth of the de- pression. There was a loss in automo- bile dealers of 5.4 per cent of the total. Such companies are likely to be fairly well financed and, often, to be backed by manufacturers who tide them over bad times. In sharp contrast may be considered dealers in clothing and fure nishings. The loss in that field was 45.3. One of the interesting facts concern- ing a serlous depression is that dealers in food products, grocers, meat men, and the like, come through in better shape than almost any one else. In this case, the loss of establishments through failures amounted to only 15.2 per cent. Taking all of the businesses in exist- ence in 1920 and comparing with the number in existence in 1933, it is found that there was a shrinkage of 25.6 per cent. Already a change has set in and a short time will show that enough new businesses have been started to make up the loss. Some wholesalers, jobbers, manufac« turers and bankers probably would be Just about as well pleased not to see the birth of so many new businesses. There always is a risk entailed in granting credit to new and perhaps unknown business men who come to a town and start an enterprise. Yet business is business and it is dificult to turn a cus- tomer away. * x % % There are a great many reasons for the failures of businesses. Dishonesty of the proprietor himself or of an em- ploye can be held responsible in a good many cases, but probably not so many as might be surmised. Inexperience and bad management are responsible for a great many business failures. An indi- vidual who is tired of a drudging job will conclude that he was cut out for a successful hardware dealer and will open a store, at first finding a great relief from bookkeeping, law practice, or what- ever he had done before. It looks easy to buy things for one price and sell them for a higher price. The chances are, however, that before long he discovers that there are mys- teries about the business that he does not understand. It is not so easy as it looks. Often in a pitifully short time he -finds himself out of business with his investment gone and in debt. e Straw Season. From the Battle Creek Enquirer-News, The dry season has been remarkably favorable for-straw votes. A » [§