Evening Star Newspaper, September 23, 1936, Page 10

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTO NESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1936 ‘AW THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 18. . THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. Septem! THEODORE W. NOYES. «. Editor e e The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Bustness : 11th 8t and Pennsylva New York Office: 110 Rate by ‘“arrier Within the City. Regular Edition. 60c per month per month ber 23, 1936 omce: cn ko A1 ?Eié:fifn 3 o 3 Burcposn Omee: 4 Revent Bt Enstans. _—_4Bc ver month -65¢ —— Orders may tional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryiand and Virsink Oth Canada, e T{On: 1 mo. $1.00 8.00: 1 mo. 75 Daily only_.. Boe Sunday onl. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise ci in this paper and also the local news pul All rights of publication of D herein are also reserved. “Finney” on the Taxpayer. ‘There is an ancient code among small boys the country over expressed in the declaration “finny” or “finnie” or “fins” or “finnies” on this, that or the other thing. The words are various cor- ruptions of “fen,” which is in turn a corruption of “fend,” and the meaning is that the claimant to an article or a privilege—such as occu- pying the front seat during an auto- mobile ride—may establish his previous right of possession by saying “finney” on whatever the prize may be. Homorable boys with high standards of ethics usually regard the claimant’s xght, &0 established, as irrevocable. The progress of the campaign sug- gests the advisability of adopting some such procedure among the candidates. It would avoid a certain amount of con- fusion among the voters and would pro- duce and maintain a wide-awake, alert attitude by all candidates on all public questions. For instance: When Gov- ernor Landon sent his famous telegram to the Republican National Convention on his interpretation of a merit system plank he might have opened it with the caviat: Finney on putting the postmas- ters under civil service! That would have forestalled the President, about & month later, from covering all postmas- ters into the civil service—with thought- ful reservations—and stealing Gov- ernor Landon’s thunder in that respect. Again, when the President began his tour of the drought States and made public the recommendations of the Drought Committee, including the con- struction of small ponds, etc., for water conservation, Governor Landon, instead of making public his 193¢ recommenda- tions could, in a perfectly dignified way, have issued a short statement declaring that he had finney on the same water conservation plans two years ago. The crop insurance project now pre- sents a very serious case in point. Who had finney on crop insurance? Last month, on August 20, to be exact, Louis J. Taber, master of the National Grange, visited the President at Hyde Park and later said he had discussed the subject of crop insurance and found the Presi- dent sympathetic to the plan. He said the development of the crop insurance idea was a matter of years, and that it presented some rather knotty constitu- tional questions, in addition to the actuarial problems, but it was some- thing that the country would have to consider. His statement was compli- cated by his admission that he had dis- cussed the same thing with Governor Landon, who was also sympathetic. An unbiased observer might have concluded that Mr, Taber had finney on ecrop control. But not so. Monday morning Gov- ernor Landon made public two para- graphs of his last night's speech, written several days ago, plainly showing that he had thought favorably of crop insur- ance before the President suddenly an- nounced, on Sunday night, the appoint- ment of a committee, with Becretary Wallace as chairman, to draft crop in- surance legislation for the next Congress. The Department of Agriculture has been studying crop insurance for several months. But Governor Landon says Republican farm leaders have been in- terested in it for a long fime. Who had finney on crop insurance? Prob- ably the farmer. As Governor Landon and President Roosevelt both indicate, the farmer has finney on about every- thing. He is in the happy position of the man who cannot lose, no matter who is elected. But in this respect he is unlike the average taxpayer. Listening to the tall schemes of both parties, the taxpayer is beginning to feel that no matter who wins, he is bound to lose. Modern ideas of government have finney on the tax- payer. And let there be no mistake, or future misunderstandings, about that. —_—————————— No denial is offered by Governor Lan- don of the necessity of relief. He insists, however, on close and accurate cash register supervision. Smith vs. Roosevelt. Al Smith, the idol of the democracy in 1928, is going on the air October 1 to oppose the re-election of President Roosevelt. He will speak, it is an- nounced, in Carnegie Hall in New York under the auspices of the Independent Coalition of American Women. Further- more, he will make several more speeches during the remainder of the campaign, probably in Boston, Chicago and one or two other key cities, The night that Mr. Smith opens his anti-Roosevelt campaign in New York President Roosevelt is to speak in Pitts- burgh. And it is reported that Mr. Roosevelt’s address will go on the air at the same hour as that of Mr. Smith. Here will be a choice, indeed, for the radio audience. Two former Governors of the Empire State, one a former Demo- cratic nominee for the presidency and the other a Democratic President seek- ing re-election, will compete in this air race. Will Roosevelt blanket Smith, or Smith Roosevelt? Roosevelt Democrats pooh-pooh any suggestion that an anti-Roosevelt cam- paign by Al Smith will be at all formid- able. They insist that the former New York Governor and former Democratic national stendard bearer is now devoid of political influence. That, however, is a matter that remains to be demon- strated. Mr. Smith is & hard-hitting opponent. He speaks to the people in language which they can easily under- stand. He is a caustic and discerning critic. He has been a critic of the Roosevelt New Deal since early in the Roosevelt administration when he first attacked the Roosevelt brain trust and pictured the American people as a lot of guinea pigs, upon whom the New Dealers were experimenting. . The effort of the Roosevelt Democrats has been to align Al Smith with the “economic royalists,” the Du Ponts in particular, and to picture him as having foresaken the common man. Mr. Smith may have something to say about the “royal economists” who have been run- ning the Government in & manner which might properly be described as high- handed. It is obvious that a lifelong Democrat would dislike to break with a Democratic national administration. Mr. Smith must be governed by strong conscientious scruples when he makes war on the re- election of the nominee of his party. That such would finally be his attitude, however, seemed inevitable after he had signed and sent to the members of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last June a strong indict- ment of Roosevelt as no true Democrat. That indictment, which was signed also by other lifelong Democrats of high position in the past, pointed the way to the coming attack on Roosevelt. The Last Parade. ‘What the people of the Nation's Cap- ital saw on Pennsylvania avenue this morning was not just a few old soldiers. It was, in sober truth, American char- acter that marched in the “final” parade of the Grand Army of the Republic. The faces of the veterans reflected the spiritual values which have made their country great and rich and strong, and which, by charity of Providence, will keep it so. Any little child, seeing the procession, would have comprehended its meaning. It was a manifestation of the soul of a people deserving to survive. These men —remnant of the forces that saved the Union more than seven decades ago—would not have followed an Alexander to the conquest of an empire. Nor would they have acknowl- edged the leadership of a Caesar am- bitious to rule the whole wide earth. Napoleon would have called to them in vain. Theirs, rather, was the instinct of the citizen who has ‘resort to arms only when freedom is threatened by assault. Perhaps they might have held the bridge with Horatius or the pass of Thermopylae with Leonidas. But they would have risen with still more ardent enthusiasm to the summons of William Tell or Arnold von Winkelried. In their veins, as it happens, flows the blood of stern campaigners who took the field with Cromwell. Their fathers marched with Washington, their sons with Pershing. And their particular allegiance was—indeed, continues to be—to Lincoln and Grant, a railsplitter and a tanner who, having failed at everything else, saw to it that the Commonwealth was preserved. Of course, no single individual ever personifies a multitude. All human crea- tures differ in mind and heart as in physical appearance. Yet the last relics of the Grand Army are of a single type—the finest and noblest Western civilization ever has produced since its history began. The throng that paid homage to the marchers this morning appreciates and will remember that. God be kind to them as the sunset fades and the night comes on. Their work is finished; all is well with their flag. Nothing remains but the sleep, serene and happy, they have earned and the example, forever immortal, they have set for a morrow whose prosperity and peace will be their monument. Everybody thinks that something ought to be done about taxes, even President Fleming of the American Bankers’ Asso- ciation. Banking is in need of popular education that will assist in the elimina- tion of class consciousness, which fails to appreciate responsibility and service in money management. A free press provides reporters well trained in the discovery and analysis of fact. There are times when professional detectives only confuge efforts to en- lighten. Japan Sails Inland. Hitherto “penetration” of China by Japan, inaugurated five years ago this week with operations that culminated in occupation of Manchuria, has been the task of the army, Now the Japanese Navy is taking a hand in the game. Utilizing as a pretext the murder of five Japanese subjects within the past two months and the refusal or inability of Chinese authorities to deal deter- minedly with such outrages, the Tokio navy department has ordered s strong force to take up its station at Hankow. To that important inland commercial metropolis a fleet of Japanese destroyers is now proceeding six hundred miles up the Yangtze River. The communique announcing these measures, which provide for disembarka- tion of formidable landing parties of marines, justifies them on the ground that “anti-Japanese terrorism has ex- tended across Chinese territory and is becoming worse” It is affirmed, in further extenuation, that until now “the navy has remained calm, out of con- sideration for Sino-Japanese relations, but existing conditions no longer permit Japan to rely upon China to suppress anti-Japanese outbursts.” Besides dis- patch of destroyers and marines into the Yangtze Valley, Japan's fleet in Chinese waters is to be heavily reinforced, Suppression of deadly excesses against Japanese nationals throughout China is not the only motive for these moves. The Tokio government cannot fruit- lessly haggle with Nanking while “mur- derous attacks” on Japanese become epidemic, unless it wishes to risk the serious displeasure of the fighting estab- lishments. These, army and navy alike, demand action, not diplomacy, as the one means of bringing China to its “senses,” which means surrender to Japanese territorial and political de- mands, Matters were hastening to a point at which the generals and the admirals were prepared to charge the civilian regime with laxity in defending Japanese life and “rights” in China. Thus the Yangtze invasion is intended to impress home opinion as much as the Chinese, and particularly to mollify the rising temper of the military and naval hotspurs. Even the Kwantung army, the huge Japanese occupying force in Manchukuo, is restless. Its commander has just proclaimed that “peace in East Asia is threatened with ruin, and stabilization of North China is absolutely necessary.” His forces expect to achieve that end, “whatever the cost may be.” Unquestionably Japan’s latest action augments the danger of tragically ex- plosive reactions in China. The navy's sudden aggressiveness is ominous. Jeal- ousy between the two armed services is rampant. The sailors apparently see in the Yangtze expedition, which they have been able to engineer, an oppor- tunity to prove that they, rather than the soldiers, are the force on which Japan must rely to realize her ambition to master China. Current events denote that Nippon is preparing to strike forcibly to tighten her grip on the Chinese. There is little sign that they can long stave off doom. —— e In a number of homes children assert themselves as the only peace-making influence. Honor to father and mother inspires a good “commandment.” There are moments, however, when parents would do well to obey their children. ————e———————— After “walking out” Al Smith will give a procession of his own, at the risk, how- ever, of seeming to travel now and then in step with paraders with whom he has no economic sympathy. ——————————— One way to destroy a hopeful market for the products of labor abroad would be to insist on intriguing this U. S. A. into the impoverishment of a state of war. —_—ee—————— There may have been greater actors in the pre-cinema days, but none of them ever achieved such an enormous printing press mileage of unqualified compliment. —————————— Spain has many art works and castles that should attract numerous tipping tourists. Combined with erratic politics is an obvious example of poor showman- ship. Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Abeyance. Be careful what you eat and drink And' what you say or even think, And where you walk or where you run; Be careful of both shade and sun, For who shall calculate the il To be sustained from heat or chill! And have the greatest care, indeed, Concerning what you choose to read. Exciting storles you will find Extremely trying to the mind. Let Caution guide each step you take, Just be content to stay awake. ‘When you have slept or dozed away ‘The better portion of each day. So let the days melt, one by one, Until the mild September sun. Upon the scene consents to smile And living seems again worth whilel Cold Crificism. “Do you consider him a great orator?” “No,” answered Senator Sorghum, “he is one of those men who get reputations as orators simply because they happen to have a few easy audiences.” Preference. “Which do you prefer,” said the ar- tistic young woman, “music or poetry?” “Poetry,” answered Miss Cayenne. “You can keep poetry shut up in a book. You don't have to listen to it unless you choose.” Exchange of Compliments. Each year a friend draws near to say How Summer stress must pass away, And so, though nations raise a shout While each day brings another doubt, I'll pause to welcome with good cheer That song of frost that will draw near. To_ you, in leafy shadow hid, My compliments, friend katydid! Jud Tunkins says he’s still hopin’ for the kind of relief thatll make corn more profitable by the bushel then it is by the pint. Talking and Thinking. The general mind must now be led Unto confusion’s brink. There is 30 much that must be said, We haven't time to think, “Ambition,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “climbs the mountain and then gagzes with envy on the fertile flelds below.” Time and Money. Time may be money, as you say. Experience says, “No, sir!” You can't take time off without pay And spend it with the grocer. “When s man thinks it's up to him to show his wife who is boss,” said Uncle Eben, “dat's s sure sign dat he ain't.” NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM BY MARGARET GERMOND. Less than fourteen months ago the people of the United States were deeply moved by the death, through accident, of a fellow citizen for whom they held an affection seldom bestowed upon an individual. Rich and poor, learned and illiterate, aristocrat and plebeian loved him, not for any remarkably heroic act which had brought him universal fame, but because he was a homely, sincere human being whose wit was as whole- some as it was keen, and whose phi- losophy was expressed in terms as under- standable to the unlearned day laborer as to the scholar. Will Rogers, who in the whole of his exceptionally varied pro- fessional career had never allowed a questionable word or act to mark his work, had been touring the Pacific Coast centers in his first endeavor in legitimate drama. “Ah, Wilderness” had met with immediate success and would undoubt- edly have been received with whole- hearted enthusiasm throughout the country had he ignored the criticism of a perhaps good-intentioned religious fanatic and continued the play. But ac- cording to the introductory of a little volume just published, a letter from a Pasadena minister who, after witnessing the scene in which the father in the play mildly lectures his son upon the dangers of beer hall entertainment, in- formed Will Rogers that he was unable to look his daughter in the face, caused the famous philosopher-actor to refuse to appear in the play again. This abrupt stoppage of work afforded time for an unexpected vacation, which he decided to spend on a flying trip with his friend, Wiley Post. They never came back. The people of this and many other lands mourned the loss of a friend and counselor upon whom they had come to depend for wholesome entertainment and for direct, clean-cut truth in the interpretation of the vital issues of the day. But neither the man nor his influence is entirely lost, for he lives on in the film world, and in the numerous compilations of his brief comments, writings and sayings, which have been preserved and are gradually receiving publication in book form. The latest of these is a pictorial publi- cation, entitled “Wit and Wisdom,” com- piled by Jack Lait, whose friendship for Rogers spanned a quarter of a century. The 'book is published by the Frederick A. Stokes Co. and is scheduled for release tomorrow. The volume is pocket size, with thirty-two full-page illustra- tions from photographs and prefaced with a portrait which has become the favorite of those who knew him best. It is dedicated to Shirley Temple, who was allowed to pal around with Rogers in the movie colony and to whom was accorded the privilege of unveiling the plaque of him in Hollywood's Rogers Memorial Hall. * ok k% TRENT'S OWN CASE. By E. C. Bentley and H. Warner Allen. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Twenty-three years ago Mr. Bentley's now famous murder mystery, “Trent’s Last Case,” made its appearance. Many outstanding critics proclaimed it at the time as a great detective novel and predicted that it would enjoy a long life. It is still popular, both in this country and in many other lands, which is something of a record in view of the fact that no companion, or sequel, or later case requiring the services of Phil Trent has since come from the pen of his creator until now. “Trent’s Own Case” is one which de- velops after a period of retirement from his activities in the field of criminology, and his interest in the affair is aroused only because those involved in the cir- cumstantial evidence surrounding the murder of a wealthy man happen to be his own friends. James Randolph is anything but a likable man, for all his wealth and the large-scale philanthropies with which he has bought his way to esteem in other countries than his own. In England he has been able to make little headway, but buying honors from other national governments through questionable gifts has at least given him the satisfaction of parading before his own countrymen the favors bestowed by foreigners. Trent has been asked by Randolph to reproduce a portrait which the old man has been induced to hang in one of his pet institutions. But Randolph and a writer of some degree of fame have both been annoying Eunice wviell, actress and devoted friend of Trent's Aunt Judith. Trent has an appointment with Randolph, which he intends to keep for the joint purpose of declining to paint the portrait and to threaten the old man with exposure of a nasty scandal if he does not drop his atten- tions to Miss Faviell. Meanwhile Bryan Fairman, physician in one of Randolph’s hospitals, has been fired without cause or warning, and he feels sure that the contemptible benefactor is at the bottom of it. Crushed and dazed by the sudden- ness of his dismissal, he decides to go to France, but to stop and see Randolph first. When Randolph's body is discovered and Inspector Bligh begins an investi- gation, it is discovered that Miss Favieil has lunched with Randolph on the day of his murder. A man servant is able to furnish a reasonably good alibi and Randolph’s secretary and manager of a number of the philanthropies reads of the murder in the newspapers. All other connections with the murdered man are checked and some remote associations have a suspicious tinge. But when Trent’s warm and valued friend returns from France, attempts suicide before the boat docks and after mailing a con- fession to the London police, then the detective begins work in earnest in an effort to learn the truth and to save Dr. Fairman from arrest and comviction of a crime which Trent believes he could not have committed. The story moves along at & lively pace despite the many checks and disappoint- ments encountered in search for the murderer. Motives abound, for every one who ever had any contact with James Randolph has reason to hate him. The method of search is not extraordinary, and the climax may not be a startling surprise, but the method of bringing that climax about is exceptionally clever and somewhat astounding in its effect. Unnnecessary. Prom the Pittsburgh Post-Gasette. Thirty-seven thousand persons were killed in traffic aceidents in this country last year. The United States gdoesn't need a war. . Happy Ignorance. Prom the Grand Rapids Press. An Idaho hermit, 90 years old, has never seen an automobile. He doesn't know what's missing him. Remedies. Eat an apple That ladies didn’t garden so much this year is one of the facts which distin- guished the 1936 outdoor season. Every one will have a different ex- planation for this, but no doubt the weather had much to do with it. Msrch was a beautiful month, but that was just a little early for working outdoors. ‘When April came around, the weather had reverted to its former inclemency; the temperature was low and the air wet and raw. So many women enthusiasts, who, after all, are the real backbone of home gardening, failed to do much work. By this time they had gotten out of the notion of gardening. The flowers could—and did—take care of themselves. * ¥ Xk ¥ This minimum care, much to every one's surprise, resulted in some of the best gardens in years. Which brings us to a second fact as to the 1936 gardening season: Its lush greenery. Seldom does Nature bring forth so much foliage. Everywhere green has predominated. Trees have been covered with foliage, shrubs have grown taller and wider, flowers were taller and greener than ever, No doubt this lushness, which prac- tically hid homes in all the outlying sections, was an attempt on the part of Nature to make up for the inclem- ency of her Winter. * x kX Also it was an endeavor, on her part, to give her 17-year locusts, properly cicadas, plenty of end branches to work on. In these two attempts Mother Nature more than justified herself to her children. She was eminently successful. If her trees, shrubs, plants were to prosper, they had to do something to make up for the loss which so ‘many of their brother and sister plants experi- enced as the result of an unusually hard Winter, following fast on the heels of two former severe Winters, at least for this locality. So Nature did something. She put a force behind growth that few plants had known. It was extra special. That was why, among other reasons, the home gardeners didn't have to get out so early, or do much work later. * ¥ X X As for the cicadas, they must be writ- ten down as a plain asset of the 1936 garden season. 7 Thousands of gardeners will never see their like again. It is a solemn thought, but need not be too solemn, after all. It is much to have seen and heard them, to have had some acquaintance with these curious creatures. While they much resembled the an- nual cicadas, which yearly whirr in our trees, their life cycle of 17 years sets them apart. Their different noise, or song, as some called it, including the writer here, was such an unusual sound that all lovers of the unusual are glad they heard it. Many persons, of course, do not wel- come the unusual, and amateur garden- ers are no exception. Some of them growled mightily at the locusts. One would have thought their gardens were going to be ruined. As it turned out, all the damage done hereabouts, at least, was the ends of branches, which later were blown to earth, so the larvae could crawl out. Some of these end branches are coming down yet. The fringes of the recent hurricane brought down many. * % ¥ ¥ Another high point of the 1936 season has been the good condition of lawns, as a whole. Although the season has been one of drought, or at least near-drought, grass everywhere looks surprisingly good. It has gone into Fall in better condi- tion than usual, which is something to write home about, for there is nothing better than a nice lawn. Try as the home gardener will to minimize the lawn and its work, there is no way of doing it, for lawns have a way of growing up and requiring cutting, of dying out in spots, of failing to come up to expectations. It has been, in general, & season of capricious weather conditions. Thus the plants have been subjected to many changes, as they grew, which perhaps were good for them, on the theory that change in temperature and the like makes for hardiness. * *x X X It has not been a good rose year. Part of this is due to the fact that too many home gardeners are per- sistently trying to grow roses in soil not suited to them. There can be little doubt that clay soil is the best for roses, and that full sun suits most varieties better than part sun. Yet many gardeners living in suburban communities built on old farm lands try to grow roses where even an expert could not grow them with success. Nor was it a good tulip year. That was due to the set-back they received in April, after a comparatively warm March. February had been a terrible month, as some will remember, but March was warm and generally nice, which sent the tulips up steadily. Then came a return to cold and raw days. The result was that tulips in many yards did not bloom up to former stand- ards. Narcissus, on the other hand, came through with flying colors. o All in all, it has been an interesting garden year. It taught many householders that the yard will get along very well with a minimum of attention, if it has to. After all, the yard is merely a slice of Nature, cultivated, it is true, but per- fectly willing to go it wild for a time. Thus the value of trees and shrubs, along with such things as peonies and iris, which more or less take care of themselves, was accented. There are many times when the ordinary work of the garden cannot be performed. It is well, then, to have a garden which, if necessary, will more or less take care of itself. No doubt there come times in every individual gardener’s life, as well as times. which seem to have a mass effect, when one has other things to do, and had rather not garden than garden. If this seems garden heresy, it is not, but a plain statement of fact. Perhaps 1936 was such a time for many, more than usual. That gardens everywhere are in excellent shape shows very plainly just what Nature can do if you will let her alone! WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. ‘Whether so designed or not, President Roosevelt’s invitation to power leaders to confer with Government representa- tives on September 30 has the earmarks of an astute and timely campaign gesture. Coming on the heels of the recent White House conference with life insurance executives, the impression arises that F. D. R. is animated by a logical desire to rub the fur of big business the right way at this strategic hour. The utilities people, which have no overweening affection for the New Deal, are apparently hopeful that the President’s proposed “pooling” of public and private hydroelectric operations in the T. V. A. region and elsewhere will work out to the general advantage, in- cluding the consuming public. Leaders of the industry were seriously upset by Mr. Roosevelt’s reference at the recent World Power Congress to the “vicious circle that we must continue to break and which wise public policy will help to break.” That observation was forti- fled by the statement that if Federal projects already undertaken are insuffi- cient, “the influence of additional meri- torious projects awaiting development can always be added.” That struck some power magnates as a declaration of more or less eternal war. For all these reasons the forthcoming pow-wow be- tween Government and private opera- tors assumes the aspect of a peace con- ference, with prospects of happier days for all concerned. g R Norman Thomas, Socialist nominee for the presidency, told his big National Press Club audience yesterday, in answer to a leading question, that, a€ he sees things, Roosevelt is likely to win “handily” in November. In an ad- dress brilliantly sandwiching Socialist philosophy between wisecracks at both the Democrats and Republicans and their respective presidential candidates, Mr. Thomas lambasted them impartially for failing to grapple with the “real” problems facing the American people. The result, he alleges, is a ‘“campaign of blah.” The Socialist standard bearer finds neither of the dominant national political organizations tackling in forth- right fashion the fundamental issues conjured up by modern capitalism. He holds that until the Nation is “edu- cated” to appreciate that salvation lies only in the co-operative commonwealth advocated by socialism, there is slender hope of ameliorating conditions. Thomas urgently admonishes Americans, ‘while yet immune from the menace of war hanging over the rest of the world, to employ that period of grace in studious consideration of the dangers that con- front them and make their choice while there is still time. The Soclalist leader is definitely convinced that nothing of- fered by either Roosevelt or Landon is designed to “take us out of the woods.” * ok X X% Washington was host this week to Jiuji G. Kasal, American-educated mem- ber of the Japanese Diet, who is on his way home after attending the In- terparliamentary Union Conference at Budapest. Mr. Kasal, an alumnus of both the University of Chicago and Har- vard, has specialized in international economic relations and represented Japan on labor and financial missions at Washington and London. The Tokio deputy confesses that at one time he thought Japan’s militarists were artifi- cially creating a Russian war scare in the Far East for their own purposes, but is feverishly making. In Europe this Summer the Japanese statesman was gravely impressed by the omnipresence of war psychology and preparations. With the Old World in bellicose and explosive mood, Mr. Kasai thinks it more vital than ever that Japan and the United States should exhaust their energies in preserving peace in the Pacific. * 4% If Senator James Hamilton Lewis, Democrat, of Illinois has his way, he and Senator Vandenberg, Republican, of Michigan will mix it up on the hustings, to determine whether or not Congress, under Mr. Roosevelt’s spur, enacted “knowingly unconstitutional” measures. Lewis has challenged Vandenberg to a joint debate on that subject, in con- sequence of recent public charges by the Michigan Senator that Congress, under administration influence, delib- erately passed measures which “violate the very fundamentals of constitutional government.” Vanderberg, pleading speaking engagements until the end of October, indicates it might be possible to tangle with his Illinois colleague at the finish of the campaign. * ok x x Democratic leaders are overjoyed by the plans of James M. Cox of Ohio, who headed the 1920 presidential ticket on which Franklin D. Roosevelt had second place, to speak for the New Deal at Dayton on September 28. Mr. Cox’s ad- dress will, it is hoped, serve considerably to offset Al Smith's anti-Roosevelt blast on October 1. For a while reports were current that Gov. Cox would take a walk with Smith. As things now stand, they leave only one former Democratic presidential nominee unaccounted for— John W. Davis, who succumbed to Calvin Coolidge in 1924. As an executive com- mitteeman of the American Liberty League and an affiliate of “economic royalists,” the silver-tongued New York- er rates as definitely anti-New Deal, but there is no sign that he will take the stump. * %k X ¥ In diplomatic quarters the view. is encountered that as a result of the fresh emphasis placed upon the Communist issue by the Roosevelt-Hearst imbroglio the administration may be in no hurry to fill the vacant American ambassador- ship at Moscow. Since Mr. Bullitt’s de- parture, Loy Wesley Henderson, young foreign service career man, has been Charge d’Affaires, with the recently as- signed rank of first secretary. He hails from Arkansas and entered the State Department in 1922, following Red Cross duty in Western Russia, the Baltic states and Germany. * k% X One of Washington's keen political analysts opines that the most reliable election night method of how to gauge the way things are going will be to keep a sharp eye on returns from Illinois. Down-State results there, he declares, will “key” how nearly all the pivotal Midwestern farm States are voting, while Chicago will “key” the trend throughout the contiguous industrial regions of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. R Miss Amelia Earhart (Mrs. George P. Putnam in her non-flying incarnatipn) announces she is supporting Mr. Roose- vent for re-election, During spare mo- ments on the ground she will take part in a political campaign for the first time and work actively for both the President (Copyright, 1036.) ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN., A reader can get the answer to eny ! question of fact by writing The Evening | Star Information Bureau, Frederie J. | Haskin, Director, Washington, D, C. | Please inclose stamp for renly. ] Q. Which harms the paint on an auto= mobile more, night air or sunshine? ~—D. E. D. A. The National Bureau of Standards says that sunshine is far more harmful to paint than night air. ‘Therefore, during the day, the car should be kept underneath a covered shed or parked in a shady spot. Q. How many acres are planted In commercial truck crops?—W. M. A. In 1935 the acreage was 7,5%000. This year it was about 7,335,000, Q. How many members has the Amere ican Association for the Advancement of Atheism?—W. L. A. The organization has 1,500 members, Q. What proportion of the freshmen in high schools and colleges complete the course?—S. P. A. The office of education says that about half of them are graduated. Q. How old is the son of the late Wallace Reid?—J. G. . A. The motion picture star's son, William Wallace Reid, is 19 years old. Q. Where, in Washington, D. C., are the trees planted in honor of Shakee speare?—OC. J. A. On April 23, 1935, the anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, trees presented by the Governors of various States were planted in a corner of the rose garden in West Potomac Park, as the nucleus of a Shakespeare Garden. Trees planted include a tulip tree contributed by Ten= nessee, an ash by Massachusetts, moun« tain ashes by New Hampshire and New York, pines by Michigan and Virginia, elms by Nebraska, Maine and Arizona; oaks by South Carolina and Illinois, a cypress by Maryland, cherry trees by Kansas and California, persimmon trees by Florida and Delaware, an olive tree by South Dakota and a magnolia by Louisiana. Q. At what time of year does the flow of water in the Nile increase?—S. 8. A. In Egypt, it begins to increase in June, attains its peak in three months, then gradually subsides. Q. Where is the Palisades Park?—J. G. A. The Palisades Interstate Park is a chain of parks that lies along the west bank of the Hudson River, beginning at Fort Lee in New Jersey, embracing the Palisades, a large part of the Highlands of the Hudson, and terminating at New- burgh in New York. Q. What is meant by astrological houses?—A. N. A. In judicial astrology, the whole heaven is divided into 12 parts by means of great circles crossing the north and south points of the horizecn. Heavenly bodies pass through these every 24 hours, Each of these divisions is called a house. Q. How many eggs are eaten in the United States in a year?—R. H. P. A. The yearly consumption of eggs in the United States is about 832,000,000 dozen. Q. How old is the Wee Kirk o’ the Heather Church in Hollywood?—E. W. A. The church was built in 1929 after a little church in Glencairn, Dumfriese shire, Scotland, where Annie Laurie wore shiped. - It is located in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. Q. How tall is Margaret Mitchell, author of “Gone With the Wind"?—N. T. A. She is 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighs about 100 pounds. Q. How did it happen that Sir Isaac Newton was a member of Parliament? -L. W A. He sat for the University of Came bridge. Q. Who wrote the song beginning, “Sylvia’s hair is like the night"?>—R. R. A. The words are by Clinton Scollard and the music by Oley Speaks. Q. Why is nicotine so named?—L. L. A. It is named for Jean Nicot who introduced the tobacco plant into France. Q. How large was the first issue of The Evening Star, Washington, D. C.? —J. F. A. The Evening Star was first regu- larly issued on December 16, 1852, as & five-column, four-page paper, about the size of two standard letterheads placed side to side. The first edition was 800 copies, done on a hand press. Q. Where were the earliest blue laws in force in this country?—K. R. G. A. The title Blue Laws seems to have attached to the earliest code of the colony of New Haven about 1640. The list of 45 such laws published in 1781 in a “History of Connecticut,” by S. A. Peters, a fugitive Tory clergyman, was compiled mostly from the codes of va- rious New England colonies and did not represent the laws of Connecticut. ——ree— Doubling Up. From the Battle Creek Enquirer-News. Real estate trends have shifted again. A while ago families were moving in together because of the depression. Now they're moving in together because they can't find a house. Swiss Gas. Prom the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader. Gasoline costs about 80 cents a gallon in Switzerland. That price should eliminate any worries about traffic con- gestion. A Rhyme at Twilight Gertrude B:oke Hamilton Sequestered. Twilight has let her curtains slowly fall— And all of Nature’s offspring know with- drawal Into dusk privacy; ‘The %:‘euu close their petals to the s Dark shadows throw the softly whisper- ing trees Into obscurity; Tall grasses intermingle, heart to heart; A rank weed sighs, and as it draws apart Dreams in its solitude Of star-eyed daisies, weedy, too, yet fair, And far too much beloved ever to care For a growth dull shd rude; A woodland stream sings in the semi- dark That once its waters bathed a pauln’ lark ‘With voice like ringing chimes. Had we the ears to hear, the eyes to see, And could invade twilight privacy, How beautiful our rhymes! ¢