Evening Star Newspaper, September 20, 1936, Page 34

TfiE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., SEPTEMBER 20, 1936—PART TWO. ____________.‘_____—_——-————L———*—_____—_—_*__ HEEDING THE VOICES BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. . . BISHOP OF WASHINGTON, " 1+ P D- C-Lv THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editien. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY. September 20, 1936 THEODORE W. NOYES....e.0... Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th '};'flnflng:Ml Ave. New York Office: 110 42nd 8t. e S P S e e Rate by Carrier Within the City. Regular Edition, g oo o2t ection ms: tional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. lly flf:nmm;'._i‘.;? ;;é c“:‘:fl. 51"02 i i 808 Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for m:l%ll&lt all news dupl.ua:h- erwise credited in this mo. mo.. I it or not e ;‘%l? also the local news ublished herein. cx.f" ights of publication of special dispatches erein are aiso reserved. Another School Year. Another record in opening day enroll- ment in the public schools is expected tomorrow, when some 95,000 pupils nre expected to register. Before the end of the school year an enrollment peak of about 103,000 is anticipated, repre- senting an increase over last year's fig- ures of between three and four thousand. The schools were crowded last year. But as the provision of new facilities, in the form of new class rooms, is far short of the increased enrollment the schools are facing one of the most crowded years in their history. ‘The largest appropriation for schools, in funds for maintenance and construc- tion, was in the fiscal year 1931, when the total amounted to $13,875990. That Fall saw an opening day registration of about 70,000 pupils. This year the total appropriations for schools amount to $12,494,960—which is the largest, by the way, since the fiscal year 1932. But the opening day’'s enrollment tomorrow is expected to be about 95000. The schools, in other words, are expected to accommodate about 25,000 more pupils than six years ago, and are operating on less money, for maintenance and im- provement, than they received six years ago. In specific figures, with 25,000 more pupils, the public schools have exactly $940,670 more for maintenance and $2,321,700 less for improvements. That indicates the nature of the school problem this year, but it does not tell the whole story. The significant figures are revealed in the expenditures for improvement since the fiscal year 1031. In the #ix years previous to and including the fiscal year 1931 a total of $14,105,113 was appropriated for con- struction—an average annual expendi- ture of $2,850,852. In the past six fiscal years, including the current appropria- tions, the total for construction has fallen to $9,627,221, or an average annual expenditure of $1,604,536 during a period when there has been an unprecedented increase in the demands on the schools because of the rapid growth in school population. If the six years previous to and including the fiscal year 1932 could be regarded as normal, the community has fallen behind in normal improve- ments to the extent of more than $7,000,- 000—not including the extraordinary amount of construction which the extraordinary growth in school popula- tion would demand. The school problem is indicative of the whole financial problem facing the community as the result of lean appro- priations during the depression years and the reduction of the Federal appro- priation. Beginning with the next fiscal Yyear, there should be greatly increased appropriations for schools. But the esti- mates of available revenue for the next fiscal year, with the lump sum carried as $5,000,000, point to a shortage of funds even in maintenance, permitting nothing for improvement. The fate of the schools, along with that of other necessary community functions and undertakings, depends in large measure on the fair solution of the fiscal relations issue. It is by far the most important issue confronting the community. —_————— When Grover Cleveland is mentioned & wish is immediately suggested that many trifies that have been magnified into terrors will be so managed as to permit them to retire into innocuous desuitude, Subversive Influences. A ringing challenge to pleasure-loving parents who, by their indifference to the problems of youth, are allowing crime and subversive influences to breed to an alarming degree among the younger gen- eration, was sounded yesterday by J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Addressing the Holy Name Society convention in New York City, Mr. Hoover—who is in an excellent position to know whereof he speaks—issued a sharp warning designed to awaken thoughtless parents to their responsibili- ties. Declaring that more than 700,000 boys and girls are enlisted in' America’s “army of crime,” the head of the G-men said there “is no suitable explanation which the fathers and mothers of Amer- ica can make for this outrageous situa- tion.” “Discipline must be re-established in the American home,” he said. “The fdther who thinks too much about golf t6 care what his son is doing; the mother who is so eager for bridge that sfie_pretends to believe that her daugh- ter in a parked car beside the roadway 1s merely indulging in a bit of harmless petting, must recast their ideas or realize that they are unable to govern the human beings for whose existence they are responsible.” Parental indifference, Mr. Hoover charged, is tending “to create a weak- ening even of our political structure.” Instigators of _subversive activities .3 against our form of Government, he pointed out, recruit their army of revolt from the ranks of youth. “And they win these tragic, misguided young zealots,” he asserted, “because parents have been too lazy or too ignorant of existing conditions or too enamored of false philosophies to attack teachings foreign to our ideals and re- pugnant to the solid American wisdom and common sense which should exist in every home.” Mr. Hoover's words are especially timely, in view of recent disturbances with which he has been confronted as a result of his efforts to keep his organi- zation free of a type of employes char- acterized frankly by their own defender as “trouble-makers.” There is no room in the home or in Government for subversive influences. The Alcazar, Nothing more dramatic or at the same time more terribly tragie has occurred during the whole of Spain’s_fratricidal ordeal than the blowing up of the his- toric citadel of Alcazar at Toledo. It had held out as a rebel stronghold for exactly nine weeks, sheltering not only a thousand-odd brave and tenacious de- fenders, but several hundred of their women and children who suffered the privations and dangers of the siege along with the troops and refused to the last to desert them even when offered safe conduct to the Loyalist lines. The faith- fulness of this band of trapped hon- combatants is not the least heroic note in what will come to be known as the epic of the Alcazar. The insurgent forces occupying the ancient castle-fortress astride the heights of Toledo were warned a week ago that if .they persisted in their defiant dec- lination to surrender, the government’s investing army would blow the Alcazar to bits, even if it meant burying in its ruins many of the troops and civilians fighting or finding refuge within its walls. Neutral efforts, through foreign diplomatic channels, to obtain the evacuation of mothers, wives, sisters and children fell on deaf rebel ears. There- upon, in pursuance of the threat to re- duce the citadel to smoking and crum- bling ruins, Madrid ordered mines laid beneath the doomed area and early on Friday morning they were set off. At least two tons of TNT, it is estimated, were exploded, wreaking terrific de- struction in all directions and incalcu- lable loss of life and physical property. The Alcazar was turned into a shambles. So perished not only most of its gallant defenders, but a beautiful and massive monument which for centuries had in- carnated the glory of Spain and with- stood all previous attempts at oblitera- tion. The world is bereft of another of its priceless and history hallowed objects. Devastating as the first explosions were, they did not suffice entirely to subdue the rebel garrison, whose surviving units actually contrived to drive off Loyalist forces which sought to bring the whole Alcazar region under their control. They planted the republican flag over the shattered fortress, but isolated groups of defenders, apparently still equipped with guns and ammunition, continued literally to hold the fort. The govern- ment is ready to explode two more mines if it becomes necessary to blast the In- surgent bitter-enders into submission. General Franco's troops are not far from Toledo and it is to be assumed that in grim retaliation for the Alcazar the rebels will make a desperate attack on the city as soon as conditions permit. Capture of Toledo, despite demolition of the fortress, would be of inestimable moral and strategic advantage to the enemies of the government. There is unhappily no sign that the waves of blood which are drenching Spain will soon recede. —————————— At a time when specialized scholarship assumes so much civic responsibility the’ business branch of the Democratic cam- paign should be encouraged in intellec- tual demonstrations. A meeting of the alumni of the Packard Commercial School of New York City would be & notable event if General James A. Farley would consent to grace the occasion as orator in chief. Welcome, G. A. R. The Nation's Capital was an obvious choice for the seventieth national en- campment of the Grand Army of the Republic and its five affiliated societies. No other city had equal claim as an assembly place for what should prove the most impressive convention the vet- erans ever have held. Here, in the Federal District, the Government which these survivors of the struggle of 1861 to 1865 defended is centered; here, too, are the principal symbols of their patri- otic idealism—the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial and, just over the river, Arling- ton and its meaningful monuments to the unforgotten dead. Of course, the War between the Btates is a matter of history, receding hour by hour into the past. New generations of Americans look back upon it with won- derment and incredulity. It seems im- possible that the fate of the Union ever should have been dependent upon the chances of a field upon which brothers sought to shed each other’s blood. Only by the exercise of imagination is it feas- ible to vision the picture of & land torn asunder by partisan violence and knit together again by force of arms. Yet the aged men who gather today to com- memorate those great events can testify from their own hwwud‘n that they really happened. Little else remains to remind the Na- tion of the saddest and most sorrowful of its experiences. The Republic has been healed as well as preserved. Yet it would be the rankest ingratitude if it were not remembered that it is to the Union soldiers and sailors of seven decades ago that America owes her sur- vival and continuance. Had they not served and suffered, the United Btates must have perished at Gettysburg. But the tide of rebellion ebbed to an in- evitable surrender, and, by grace of an all-loving Providence, Gray and Blue, South and North, have- joined in s single N fraternal effort to restore the shaken commonwealth and to re-establish its flag. The riew covenant was sealed at San Juan Hill and still more eonvinc- ingly at Belleau Wood, where there was no Mason and Dixon line. ‘The Star, then, greets the G. A. R. as & voice privileged to speak for a whole people. - It presumes to say to the vet- erans, their relatives and friends, that they are welcome to Washington, the city which an immortally reborn Amer- ica calls its home, Better Co-Ordination. Chief value in assignment of an as- sistant United States attorney to police headquarters, to take part in criminal investigations, and especially in the in- vestigation of homicide, would lie in adequate preparation of the case for trial. The solution of a crime and the arrest of the criminal are one thing, but trial and punishment are another. Sometimes a case that the police regard as airtight and as simple as A B C turns out to be incapable of effective prosecution in court because of the na- ture of the evidence gathered by police. Participation of a lawyer in investigation should be of value both to the police and to the United States Attorney. As Major Brown says in his letter to Mr. Garnett, the plan has worked suc- cessfully in other jurisdictions and there is no reason why it should not be tried here. The objective, of course, is better co-ordination between the police and the prosecutor. It should not be neces- sary at this time, it would seem, to as- sign an assistant regularly to police headquarters, as the same end would be achieved by having assistants in the prosecutor’s office available for such as- signment when the need arises. There is no disposition, or there should be none, to regard the suggestion as in the nature of criticism or fault finding. It relates to an obvious method of im- proving the system. If Mr. Garnett does not feel inclined to adopt the sug- gestion, he will doubtless explain what appear to him to be its disadvantages. —_—————— Scientists engage in speculation on conditions that will prevail a million years hence. In Europe at present in- telligent attention is largely concen- trated on what may happen in the next ‘ten minutes. —_———————— Now and then some brain worker sighs for a lodge in a wilderness where he can find repose. The wish is vain. Even if he finds the lodge the hired man will insist on putting up a radio set in the woodshed. ———————— If athletic champions continue to make good in vaudeville it might be con- sidered desirable for Major Bowes to introduce a prize ring into his amateur nights. —_——————————— Blowing up the Alcazar was impres- sive demonstration, but no one, whatever his political faith, can contend that it was any argument. —_—ee—————— Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Around the Clock. About our Working Hours we talk, In language loud and strong. We're frequently inclined to balk Because they seem too long. Of Cocktail Hours some folk are proud, And yet they bring dismay When anybody tries to crowd Too many in a day. Of Daylight Saving we've been told, And sometimes missed a train, Yet other saving we behold That teachers should explain. Before we hope to reach a state Of usefulness sublime, Our clocks we ought to regulate For Night Club Saving time. Uplift. “What do you think of Government housing plans?” asked the inquiring constituent. “They're all right,” replied Senator Sorghum, “if your motto is ‘More power to the Government.” When the Govern- ment gets tired of raising taxes it can raise the rent.” Charm of the Unbelievable. My radio! My radio! Listen in with care. Bometimes great wisdom you will show ’Mid music in the air. Your logic often will deceive, Your statements are untrue. You tell things I need not believe— At least, I hope you do. Relaxation. “Do you enjoy foot ball?” “Very much,” said Miss Cayenne. “It's s vivid and rudimentary form of dis- cussion that doesn’t trouble your mind with any argument as to how you are going to vote this Fall.” “To imitate another,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is to call attention to some one who is great enough to cast a shadow in which idlers may seek re- » pose.’ Incidental Romance, The covers are gay On the new magazines; ‘We find on display Many wonderful scenes. Yet, as we admire All the life in & whirl, ‘We want to inquire, \ “Does the man get his girl?” ‘Through political creeds And through rumors of strife The citizen reads Of the wonders of life. ' Yet whatever the task That great thinkers may plan, We are pausing to ask, “Does the girl get her man?” *“A political rally,” sald Uncle Eben, “would be almost as good as a camp meetin’ if de leaders could learn to sing a8 well as dey shout.” 4 A Republicans Must Change Their Methods of Attack BY OWEN L. SCOTT, CHICAGO, September 19.—One con- clusion is impressing itself upon the Republican high command after a sur- vey of opinion in the vital States of the Middle West. That conclusion is: Much more than the anti-Roosevelt vote is going to be needed to capture the electoral votes of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Iowa— all of which are essential to victory in November. Only a vigorous attack and & positive outline of policies to be ap- plied in the event of victory can be ex- pected to turn the trick. ‘Two factors recently became apparent to Republican strategists as they had become apparent to all observers of the political trend in the Middle West. They were: P First, that Gov. Landon in his in- itial appearances failed to capture the imagination of the great bulk of un- decided voters in the Middle West whose inal decision will determine the elec- tion outcome in their States. Second, that President Roosevelt, with his non-political political campaign, was playing a skillful game that operated positively to turn the drift in his di- rection. As a result tactics are being shifted, with emphasis from now on to be placed on a more vigorous, fighting type of appeal, designed to attract the support of the wavering groups. * X X ¥ Talks with many business men reveal that the American people are incapable of hating hard for any very extended period. Republicans misjudged on that score. They had counted on an emo- tional opposition to Mr. Roosevelt to become contagious. Employers, almost as a unit, will vote against the President, but it now is ap- parent that the excitement and bitter- ness that prevailed a few months ago are dying down. President Roosevelt, by keeping rela- tively quiet, making no new attacks on “economic royalists,” promising that present taxes are all that will be needed, meeting with insurance executives, sur- veying drought conditions and allow- ing business improvement to get in its tempering effect, seems to be overcom- ing the violent antagonism of his most bitter opponents. The effect of rising profits and expanding business volume is soothing. ‘Thus the President has gains to show for his negative campaign efforts. Until his trip to Maine, this can hard- ly be said for Gov. Landon. On that occasion he gambled heavily, threw him- self into the fight, and came out with definite gains. Now the Republican nominee is being urged to apply the same methods to his whole campaign. Much more positive performance is in sight for the remainder of the pre-elec- tion fight. But difficulties grow out of attacks that are too positive. There is the chance to emphasize the high cost of living issue. Yet to do so could lead to an opposition charge that the Repub- licans favored low farm prices. Spend- ing is a wide-open target. Still, if a prescription is given for cutting down on outgo the votes of groups now get- ting bounties out of the Treasury might be lost. Much the same problem sur- rounds attack on other issues. - x ok % President Roosevelt has readily recog- nized the Republican difficulty and has shaped his plans accordingly. At first he intended to make a vigorous cross- country campaign. Gov. Landon ex- pected that from the Roosevelt speeches would come issues that could be debated to form the basis of the campaign. But the President reversed his field, refused to permit himself to be put on the defensive, and kept pushing further into the future the time when he would take the stump. Now reports are that he intends to make only two major cam- paign addresses, contenting himself with allowing the record to speak for itself. At the same time something of a muzzle has been placed on ranking Gov- ernment officials. Dr. Rexford Tugwell is in the background. Harry Hopkins is out on an inspection tour. Henry Wallace has refrained from frankly po- litical talks. Only Harold Ickes has been used to do much attacking. The result is that up until this time the people out in the country have had little over which to get excited. The task of Gov. Landon seems to be to get them excited enough to fire the pres- ent administration and to give him the Jjob of building a new administration. What is it, then, that people are talk- ing about out in the Middle West? Are they showing signs of the sort of excite- ment that would lead to a real desire for change? Actually, much of the political talk is about Gov. Landon himself. Whether Justified or not, people have not been impressed by his appearance in the newsreels or on the air. Often they say that a man should not be judged by his public speaking ability or his per- sonal magnetism, yet they say that it is hard not to be influenced. * X ® Even among Middle Western business men there is wonder about the influence of Eastern bankers and industrialists with the Republican nominee. Many questions revolve around that point. The line of talk suggests that Gov. Landon could do much to strengthen his cause by more vigorous campaigning methods and by forthright statements about business controls and his own attitude toward big business. Almost every one—even those on the jobs—has something critical to say about W. P. A. There is a general feel- ing that the relief workers are not earn- ing their money. Along with this sentiment goes an expression of fear over the size of the national debt and concern over future taxes. Without a doubt Gov. Landon can capitalize this issue much more ef- fectively than he has done up to the present time. When it is discovered that farmers—who pay almost no direct Fed- eral taxes and draw heavily from the Federal Treasury—are being influenced by spending and tax arguments, the ex- tent of the Republican opportunity is evident. People in the smaller cities and in the towns are busy talking about individuals they know who have landed well-paid Federal jobs. It seems that W. P. A. has become a catch-all for worn-out politicians, local political lame ducks and community. ne’er-do-wells. Voters see individuals - that they know drawing down more money than they are able to make and react accordingly. x x x X Considerable interest, but diminishing in its effect, surrounds the imports of farm products. Few arguments can be stirred up about the administration soil conservation program, since the oppo- sition indorses much the same thing. The constitutional issue has failed to click with the voters and now scarcely is heard out in the country. Likewise, people show little excitement over charges that the new dollar isn't much good and that bank deposits and in- surance policies are worth less than they might otherwise be. .- Gov. Landon, judged by the attitude ©of the general run of voters, can make The world is not saved through its own conceits of power or its gifts of excelling genius. It is saved through heeding the voices of those who in other and difficult days have guided with wisdom its course of action. We cannot with assurance project ourselves into the future or be confident of our security without reckoning with the wisdom that has been transmitted to us from the days of the past. It is this that Jesus had in mind in the parable of Dives and Lazarus ns recorded in sixteenth chapter of St. Luke’s gospel. This parable was spoken in response to the -boasts of the self- assured religionists of His day who stressed unduly their cherished tradi- tions. They had proudly affirmed: “Abra- ham is our father,” and “We were never in bondage to any man.” The Master rebuked them, saying: “You are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts.” In the parable Jesus sought to dis- close their folly by showing them how unresponsive and disobedient they had been to those seers and prophets whom they claimed as their own. In the story Jesus speaks of Dives suffering anguish for his misdeeds and crying out to Father Abraham, saying, “Have Mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may assuage my pain,” to which he added a further petition: “I pray thee therefore, Father, that Thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” To this the answer is given: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” In response to the further importunate appeal of Dives, the answer is given: “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” ‘There is a weighty significance in this parable, and it is pertinent to some of the conditions we face today. In all the phases of our life we are reluctant to turn to the men of wisdom of other days. We are so strongly modern that we would dispense with the old ideals and old standards and systems that have proved their worth, and substitute } for them our own conceits and what we conceive to be our modern methods. In fine, we declare our independence by refusing to be influenced by the “dead hand of the past.” A wise leader of the people expressed it in striking phrase: “We have dispensed with the old titular dignities and the trappings for which they stood; let us see to it that we do not_dispense with the ideals for which they stood.” Along with our efforts to be modern we attempt to substitute for the sanc- tions of religion new schools of thought, new systems of ethics. Of all the prophets whose mighty teachings still hold the place of pre-eminence, Jesus of Nazareth is foremost. It is His teachings more than all others that are challenged today. So true is this that a world statesman has maintained that “the two dominant philosophies of life that are today in mortal conflict are Christi- anity and communism.” Beyond all our efforts to restore our economic stability and our industrial order we are com- pelled to address ourselves to those things that enter deeply into our indi- vidual and corporate life, and those things have to do with our moral and religious well being. They transcend all the questions that have engaged our interest. Sooner or later, notwithstand- ing all our boasted cleverness and in- genuity, we shall once again turn our faces to the great prophets whose voices we once heeded. Socrer or later, with our conceits of wisdom and so-called clever statesmanship, we shall come to listen to the voices of those whose wis- dom guided us in other days. Sooner or later, with our apostasy and indiffer- ence to the high claims of Christ, we shall come to realize that His teachings have to do with the most vital concerns of our domestic, social and industrial life. One of the great statesmen of Europe said recently: “What we are facing today is not an economic or po- litical crisis, but a moral crisis” He further maintained that much of our disillusionment and disappointment was the product of our own folly and our refusal to recognize God in the economy of life. It was a solemn word that Jesus uttered: “If they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be per- suaded though one rose from the dead.” Fifty Years Ago In The Star Fifty years ago an accident occurred at the Aqueduct Bridge, spanning the Poto- - z mac just above Big Leak in the the present site Aqueduct Bridge. of the Key Bridge, and con- structed in part to carry boats across the river from the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. ‘The Star of September 21, 1886, says: “One of the large braces supporting the trough, with the beams supporting the floor, gave way and the floor fell out, making an opening of twenty feet wide in the bottom of the trough. A clerk in the canal office who was looking out of the window at the time saw the timbers fly and the water rush out by the new- born Niagara into the river. The clerk at once gave the alarm and men were started out to close the gates at the ends of the bridge troughs. The one at the Virginia end was closed, but the gate at the District end, over which a great torrent of water was roaring, would not close. The gate lies on the floor of the trough and closes upward, like a door. The men, after working for a few minutes, went for help. and while they were gone the force of the water brought the gate up itself. Still it did not close completely and a reduced stream of water continued to run through and pour out into the river. Before the gate was closed the water in the Georgetown level of the canal was reduced two feet. A canal boat was lying near the bridge and it began to drift toward the trough. The captain was away, but the captain’'s wife and baby were there. The captain's wife, filled with alarm, with a shriek, seized her baby and leaped to shore.” - * *“The accident to the floor of the Aque- duct yesterday,” says The Star editorially September 21, 1886, Need for New “girects atfention Bridge Urged. afresh to the immi- nent need of a new bridge to connect Washington with the Virginia shore, The act which passed Congress last session gave six months as the term within which the Government was to acquire title to the old bridge property if at all. Three of those months expire today and, so far as the public are aware, not a step has been taken. The Secretary of War was severely criti- cized in some quarters for his inaction, but the blame probably lies rather with the Department of Justice in settling— or failing to settle—complications of title preliminary to a valid transfer of the property. It is possible that the discus- sion of lateral projects, such as that of a memorial bridge, has tended to make the Department of Justice slower than it would otherwise have been, on the ground that the people would prefer waiting to see whether more money could not be obtained from Congress. This is not as it should be. The first thing needed is a bridge, and a free bridge. Whether it be a memorial struc- ture or one devoid of sentimental asso- ciations is & secondary consideration. “The public have lost all patience with the years of delay in providing this needed bridge. They are in no mood to wait another long series of years for a possible grand memorial bridge. The construction of a bridge on the present plers would doubtless supply the need in quickest time. The present Acqueduct Bridge has as fine a set of piers as the art of engineering can provide, and they are firmly enough founded to support a substantial causeway. The owners, when they can be ascertained, will be very foolish to refuse a fair offer; for the alternative proposed in the act of last session—the building of a new bridge at s point a trifie higher up the river— would render their property practically valueless. This is a subject in which every citizen of the District and of the adjacent country in Virginia has a per- sonal interest; for whatever makes the District market more accessible to the raiser of farm produce cheapens living for the District and increases the profits of the husbandman. Between the sev- eral parties concerned, it seems as if sufficient pressure could be brought to bear upon the law officers of the Govern- ment to hasten their movements.” P S G OSSR his deepest impression by a skiliful at- tack directed at President !lte:ougyelt: accompan! ting the Federal problems. The impression gathered in the Middle West is that the Democrats are much Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. Attorney General Homer Cummings recently took a trip into the highlands of Virginia “to enjoy the magic view of mountain and valley that makes of the Skyland Drive an unquestioned rival of anything to be seen in Switzerland or in the Pyrenees.” He visited the small stone monument which marks the point at which Sir Alexander Spotswood, Co- lonial Governor of Virginia, with his adventurous band' of cavaliers, called Knights of the Golden Horseshoe, first caught sight of the Shenandoah Valley. The date was 1716. The Attorney Gen- eral, recalling his experience and emo- tions, says: “At that time there was no English settlement beyond the Blue Ridge. The purpose of the expedition was not alone to discover what lay beyond but to determine whether it might be possible to establish a settle- ment that would intercept communica- tion between the French colonies in Louisiana and Canada. It was this same purpose that actuated the disastrous ex- pedition under Gen. Braddock five decades later, which cost his life and brought fame to a Virginian aide de camp named George Washington. “As I paused at the monument I thought how little that group of ad- ministrators and explorers could even guess of the future of that great area, which no white man had ever penetrated, or of the millions who would pour into it, and with the vigor, the courage and the restlessness of the pioneer press on until they had covered every space from the Blue Ridge to the Pacific.” Farther along, in Lexington, Va., the Attorney General said: “Here are the tombs of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. From . this neighborhood sprang that staunch old hero, Sam Houston, who gave Texas to the Union, and that sailor-hero, Matthew Fontaine Maury, known as the “Pathfinder of the Seas,” who came back in his old age to die in the peace and quietude of this smiling land. Nor do I forget that it was George Washington who turned over to the great Washington and Lee Univer- sity, as an endowment, the gift that came to him from the Legislature in recognition of his services in winning the independence of our country.” * x x ¥ After 14 years of continuous service in Congress, Representative Parker Corn- ing, Democrat, of Albany retires. During his entire service he has been one of the ablest but most unobtrusively modest members of the House. He is a Yale graduate, 62 years of age, with wide ex- perience as a steel and woolen manu- facturer. His advice on tariff matters has been eagerly sought and highly" valued. He is one of the veteran mem- bers who will be greatly missed. * x ok x Tllustrating that there is real oppor- tunity for earnest men and women to earn advancement in the Government service, in every department are found those who have worked their way up to important administrative positions. Take the Post Office Department, so generally in recent years presided over by a polit- ical campaign manager, whether Demo- cratic, like James A. Farley, or Repub- lican, like Walter Brown, Will Hays or Dr. Hugo Work: There is Fourth Assistant Postmaster General Smith W. Purdum, who has charge of engineering and research, lay- ing out of post office quarters, including labor-saving equipment, shipping and routing freight and supplies, selection of quarters including garages, motor vehicle service, distribution of post routes and rural delivery and parcel post zones, operation and maintenance of Federal buildings and procurement and distribu- tion of supplies. That’s a pretty sizable and important job, and Purdum, quite generally recognized by members of Con- gress as an ideal man for the job, worked his way up from a clerkship in the rail- way mail service. It will be recognized that the main- tenance branch of this service, alone, must be a man-sized job. There again you find a career man—still young enough to climb much further—Fred Cornwell. He is a native of the District, 50 he didn't get there by political influ- ence. His father was a police captain and a member of the Detective Bureau. He started as a messenger in the office of the supervising architect of the Treas- ury Department in 1912 and followed through the entire Federal huilding pro- gram. Then, when the Treasury com- pleted construction of the buildings and turned them over to the Post Office De- partment for operation, Cornwell knew the job so well he was taken over with them. The buildings will be standing - was lost. Centenary of the Death of Aaron Burr BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN, ‘There is always difference of on lb:::tthe ‘;’:I:i‘fl o(umgmum‘ To a number apoleon rep- resents the .pom":?f of A e many others he represents something akin to the anti-Christ. By the same token, it will be found that many people attribute to Aaron Burr a liberal meas- ure of greatness, while others doubtless think him nothing less than a traitor. But there is greatness about people who are admittedly evil. Lucifer him- self is not denied greatness. The fact remains that Burr was one of the tre= mendous figures of American history, and the fact that he ended his re- markable career just 100 years ago sets & milestone in our annals. That he was implicated in one of the most daring plots to carve an empire for himself and his associates. out of American territory can scarcely be doubted in the light of the evidence adduced at his trial for treascn, even though Chief Justice John Marshall practically directed an acquittal on a technicality. But it has been urged in his favor that he was not seeking to displace Americans in occupation, but to open up a new world. * x ¥ x It has been said that precocity in chile dren is a dangerous thing, and if any child ever was precocious it was Aaron Burr. One can scarcely credit so strange a story. Burr was the son of the Rev. Aaron Burr of Fairfield, Conn. His mother was the daughter of the great Jonathan Edwards, one of America's greatest colonial clerics. The elder Burr became president of what now is Prince= ton University. Before Aaron Burr was 3 years old these remarkable parents died, but left him heir to a considerable estate. He received some private tutoring and, at the age of 13 years he entered Princeton —not as & raw freshman. He was able to enter at that tender age at the sophomore year. At 16 he had graduated {from that school—an age when only the brightest students are usually entering. Soon the Revolutionary War broke and the young Burr enlisted as a private. He volunteered for the expedition against Quebec and for brilliant serv- ices there was made a major. He was engaged in the defense of New York as aide-de-camp to Gen. Putnam, and when but 21 years old was made lieu- tenant colonel and placed in command of a regiment. He went through the Winter at Valley Forge. At the important battle of Mon= mouth Court House this youngster com= manded a brigade in Lord Stirling’s Di« vision. Then followed what might be cone ceived to adumbrate the then dim fu- ture. For he conceived a dislike for Gen. Washington and indeed belittled his military talents. He joined the Lee and Gates anti-Washington faction and then, in 1778, resigned his commission. * % % x ‘The war over, Burr went to Albany, where, at 26, he was admitted to the bar. He soon went to New York City and, with amazing speed, established a highe ly lucrative law practice. Also he ene tered politics, as most lawyers of that day did. He was elected to the New York Legislature, then became attorney general of the State, then went to the United States Senate. Burr was cleverly active in the 1800 presidential campaign and gained such prominence that he became a candi- date. He and Thomas Jefferson received an equal number of votes and the elece tion was thrown into the House of Rep= resentatives. On the thirty-sixth ballot Jefferson was elected President, Burr becoming Vice President of the United States. At the end of his term he was a candidate for Governor of New York, but had made too many enemies to suce This contest was so bitter that it led to the famous duel with Alexander Hamilton, in which the latter fell. This lost him much popularity. He removed to New Jersey and soon began his plot to found his southwest empire, a scheme which was to include conquest of then Spanish territory west of the Louisiana Purchase and in old Mexico. On a trip through the Ohio country and through Kentucky and Tennessee, the evidence later showed, he plotted with leaders. Also, in the East, he had tried to involve the British and Span- ish ministers in the plot, as well as some Eastern Americans. Burr was & man of infinite personal charm and, it is said, even the doughty Andrew Jacke son, whom he encountered in Tennessee, did not suspect his motives. Joseph Hamilton Daviess of Franke fort, Ky., appears to have been the first to report the conspiracy to President Jefferson. He made charges against Burr in a newspaper he published and brought Burr into court. He also im- plicated Gen. James Wilkinson, then commanding American troops in the West. Henry Clay acted as Daviess' at- torney in the case, but the court was hostile, so popular had Burr become, and Daviess lost his case. Harman Blennerhassett, an Irishman who had emigrated to America, owned an island in the Ohio River, and this became the headquarters of the conspiracy. Blen= nerhassett assisted in financing supplies. * x x % The West, often politically at odds with the Eastern Seaboard, found en= thusiasm for the scheme and men bee gan enlisting. Boats were built on the Ohio, and the conspiracy was rapidly taking form. Continued reports came to Jefferson, but he delayed action. The President had sent emissaries through the affected country and they, coming back with substantial confirmation of the reports, he sent orders to military commanders in the territorv to appree hend all suspects. Meantime Gen. Wile kinson, who unquestionably had been in the plot, turned traitor to Burr. Communications were slow and Burr was sure of himself. The expedition started down the Ohio, but upon reach- ing Natchez fgund that the plot was known and then Burr knew his cause He escaped across the river disguised as a boatman, but was ar- rested by Lieut. Gaines only a few miles from Spanish territory and safety. Burr was taken to Richmond, where he was jailed pending trial. His popu- larity was still so great that he received a constant stream of admiring visitors. The trial is one of the most famous. Luther Mariin, the great Maryland counsel, was head of his defense, and the Government had such counsel as Edmund Randolph, Charles Lee and Willlam Wirt. A curious incident was that an attempt was made to subpoena President Jefferson. The trial ended when Chief Justice Marshall held the point well taken that Burr’s actions did not come within the constitutional def- inition of treason, because he was not physically present at the setting out of ::Il;l expedition, although it later caught Although acquitted he was ruined and discredited. He went to Europe, where he wandered for several years, then re- turned to resume the practice of the law at New York. Now his ‘was gone. His later years were consoled by a marriage to the famous and wealthy Mme. Jumel, and he lived to the ripe age of 80, outlasting nearly all of his 4 [}