Evening Star Newspaper, September 27, 1936, Page 30

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SEPTEMBER 27, 1936—PART TWO LOOKING FOR LEADERSHIP BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D, LL. D, D.C. L, BISHOP OF WASHINGTON. THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editien. ‘WASHINGTON, D. C. Y. September 27, 1936 —_— e THEODORE W. NOYES..........Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Bustness Offce: and Pennsylvania Ave. cn’.'" York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t icago European g “Building. “Smon 44 Kevont bi. London Ensiand. Rate by Carrier Within the City. d,..fiu,;du er month e S _-60c per month 11th 8t 1ght Final and Sund; ight Final St s Collection msde af the f Orders may be sent by mai) or telephone Na- tional 5000 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Ma, All O States and §-uy and Sunday. . $12 a only. - Jun only.. Member of the Associated Press. The Assoctated Press i3 exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches a e news o E' Fights of ‘publication” of special dispatches erein are also reserved. For Peace and Prosperity. For the great masses of the people of the three countries concerned, the im- portance of the monetary triple alliance into which France, Great Britain and the United States have just entered lies in its broad international implications rather than in any merely fiscal results it may produce. That is the aspect of the agreement that far outstrips any immediate influence upon the franc, the gold standard or even the co-related status of the dollar and the pound sterling. In announcing the plan, Secretary Morgenthau is at pains to stress its true inwardness. He terms it nothing less than “the turning point for general peace in the world.” Stabilization of world currencies, he points out, “is a founda- tion that had first to be built before we could look forward to lasting peace and real recovery in world trade.” Apart from the fundamental currency questions involved, the prospect that the “gentle- men’'s agreement” will lead to gradual relaxation of trade quotas and exchange controls is not its least commendable feature. Throughout the post-war pe- riod these artificial barriers to the flow of international commerce have not only seriously hampered business everywhere, but aggravated political relations and played an appreciable part in fostering war psychology. The French, British and American governments have therefore struck a powerful blow alike for pros- perity and peace. There is yet another phase of the transaction which clothes it with vast significance. It is a deal among the world's outstanding democracies, as well as among its three wealthiest nations. It 1s consummated at a moment which finds dictatorships riding at high tide as the result of recent conquests in many fields, both diplomatic and military. There is, of course, not the slightest suggestion that France, Great Britain and the United States are pooling their resources or planning common action for aggres- sive purposes of any sort. What they have formed is first and last nothing but a defensive alliance against mone- tary and economic dangers that may threaten from any quarter. Notwith- standing the non-political character of the understanding—which, as Mr. Mor- genthau emphasizes, gains rather than loses through the fact that its under- takings are rooted exclusively in mutual faith—the agreement serves notice that the world's pre-eminent democracies stand shoulder to shoulder for the safe- guarding of vital common interests. That 1s a demonstration not likely to be under- estimated or misunderstood in either Fascist Rome or Nazi Berlin. From the purely American standpoint, this remains to be said. The agreement, in the first place, makes practical, if tardy, amends for our failure to co- operate in world stabilization in 1933. In the second place, the United States reveals in substantial fashion its readi- ness to pull its mighty weight in the international economic boat. Charges of “isolation” and self-centeredness, so tenaciously leveled against this country across the Atlantic, are now robbed of tnuch, if not all, of their justification. —————— A system of reciprocity can hardly be ®ccepted that will avert excessive profits one way or the other by providing that there shall be no profits. There are fears of impractical results when too much business calculation is undertaken with minor signs and ciphers. Red Cross Roll Call. The Star deems it a privilege to com- mend to the attention of its readers the fact that the annual roll call of the Dis- trict of Columbia division of the Amer- ican Red Cross opens today. Obviously, the time when it was necessary to argue the merits of organized mercy has passed. The public is familiar with the humani- tarian values represented in the work founded by Clara Barton and carried on since her death by others proud of the opportunity to follow her example. All that should be required in the circum- stances is the announcement that old members are invited to renew their alle- giance and new members are urged to subscribe. But perhaps it may not be amiss to add one single thought—namely, that the Red Cross will be effective in its labors in direct ratio with the degree of public support accorded it. like the national institution of which it is part, draws its resources from the people of the community. It is a volun- teer enterprise, democratic in character. No arbitrary boundaries of race or class or creed handicap its activities. Its doctrine is service, and its method of procedure is sheer practical altruism generously, quickly and helpfully ex- tended. Without trespassing in the flelds of other social agencies, it justi- fles its existence whenever and wherever The local chapter, record alone is & monumental example of its utility and its efficiency. Some observers have such faith in it that they repeatedly have urged that it might be placed in charge of the Government’s philanthropic experiments. But it has preferred, wisely enough, to continue in- dependent. There is a distinct advan- tage to the Nation in its freedom from political affiliations. Indeed, it is a pity that the same cannoi be said for Federal charity—the Works Progress Adminis- tration, for example. Be that as it may, however, the Red Cross is too widely appreciated for any individual to be deaf to its summons. The claim which it has on every heart may be summarized in the story of the little child who asked an adult friend: “Won't you please join?” No better answer could have been returned than that which was given: “I would be ashamed not to!” The Final Drive. The President has been partly in earnest, partly facetious, in his talks to reporters about when he would begin his “political” campaign. He was serious in deprecating attempts to link his efforts in drought relief, including his trip to Des Moines, with politics. But when newspaper men recently pressed him for some commitment as to when he would really take up politics he made some laughing reference to the early part of January, when Congress convenes. From now until the election, however, it will be Simon-pure politics, as far as the President’s itinerary and speaking engagements are concerned. Dams may need dedicating, corner stones may be laid, a bottle of sparkling words may be broken across the prow of some W. P. A. project about to be launched—but such vehicles will be used principally to carry the President on a campaign trip. An- nouncement of that trip came Friday, following an imposing conference of the Farley general staff at Hyde Park. The President is going to deliver his hardest blows in the industrial centers east of the Mississippi, with one short dash as far west as Denver. He is presumably giving up any thought of a trip to the West Coast. Starting Tuesday the President will speak to the Democratic State Conven- tion at Syracuse. Two days later he will speak at Elkins, W. Va, and at Pitts- burgh. The day following he will attend a world series game at New York. His trip West, a few days later, will include speeches in Chicago, Detroit, Denver, Omaha, and on his way back he will stop either in Worcester or Springfield for a message to New England. His plans are now to wind up the campaign with a speech in Madison Square Garden. To have confined a political campaign for re-election to a trip of this sort would have been a rather bold, if confident, gesture. But, of course, the President's campaign started long ago and that phase which begins this week is merely the final drive. The President has been active politically in word as well as deed all Summer. He has covered a lot of territory—more than his opponent. His visit to the centennial exposition in Texas took him to Little Rock, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, with briefer stops in half a dozen States on his way home. His inspection of the flood control work in Pennsylvania and New England gave him the chance to talk to thousands, and in his drought inspection tour he visited ten of the Northwestern and Middle Western States. His desire to see the Great Smokies brought him, happily enough, to Charlotte, where he led a Democratic rally through the green pastures, beside the still waters. The President is making his final drive in the territory which probably holds his fate as candidate for re-election—Penn- sylvania, Michigan, Illinois, New York and the Northeast. If up to this time he has been active as a President who is also & candidate, from now on he may be regarded as a candidate who is also the President. —_———— Kansas contributes a Secretary of War. Political conditions being as they are, Mr. Woodring will hardy be expected to include a sunflower among the Army insignia in honor of Landon. Japan has made another gesture indi- cating an abiding sense of fear that China will insist on persecuting her. Defense Highway. “The inadequacies of the Defense High- way approach to the Capital City have long been a source of irritation and hazards to local motorists. In ugly con- trast to the wide sweep of the Mount Vernon Highway are the 26 miles of winding, narrow road which link Wash- ington and Annapolis. Many are the District drivers who have been caught in the impasse of automo- biles blocking traffic at this end of the thoroughfare, where the Defense High- way line of cars must intercept the heavy flow on the Washington-Baltimore Boulevard at the Bladensburg Peace Cross. Chafing at the delay as they literally inch their homeward way from Annapolis and Chesapeake Bay resorts in Spring, Summer and Fall, Washingto- nians have fumed in vain. The inter- section is in Maryland territory. Only the State Roads Commission can solve the problem. Expressed during a recent conference with Keystone Automobile Club officials, the attitude of Nathan Smith, chief engineer of the commission, has given Capital motorists a new hope. He is now considering a Keystone plan to construct traffic islands at the Peace Cross, a pro- posal which promises to hasten car movement through that troublesome in- tersection. The project would cost the State of Maryland only an estimated $7,120. 3 Mr. Smith declared that he was “hope- ful” the plan would be adopted. Al- though technically only an agent of the board, he is an expert on highway prob- lems and it is known that his opinions are highly regarded by the commission- weight in the board’s consideration of any matter. His advocacy of the sug- gestion would be tantamount to its adop- tion by thé commission. If Mr. Smith is sincere in an avowed desire to “co-operate” with Washington in the development of Maryland-District highway links, his attitude may signify the dawning of a brighter day for Cap- ital motorists. Keystone figures show that more than 70 per cent of the auto- mobiles traversing the five-mile stretch from Lanham to Bladensburg during peak hours bear District license plates. They also reveal that more than an hour must be consumed in covering that dis- tance when the traffic load is heaviest. Improvement of conditions there is vital to Washingtonians, The measure would at least partially remedy a situa- tion created by the mechanical limita- tions of the entire Defense Highway. The strongest point of the proposal is the low cost involved. The resultant safety and comfort of Washington and Maryland motorists certainly justify that expense, It is earnestly hoped that Mr. Smith’s attitude will be transmitted to the commission and transformed into immediate action by that body. The Case of Steve. Mrs. Roosevelt’s intercession in behalf of Steve Vasilakos, whose peanut and popcorn wagon happens to constitute a traffic menace on East Executive avenue and Pennsylvania avenue, is easy enough to understand. There is some- thing appealing about a peanut and popcorn vender, and there is something particularly appealing about Steve. He has become a landmark and around him a tradition is rapidly building. Once he was known as the man who sold an occasional bag of peanuts to a President. Now he is known as the man who used to chat with President Coolidge. Pretty soon he will be pointed out as the phi- losopher, adviser and friend of Presi- dents, who made it a habit to consult Steve before arriving at momentous de- cisions affecting the future of the Na- tion. So when the police try to remove Steve because he is a traffic menace they always run into a stone wall of senti- ment. Steve may be the popcorn vender who sells peanuts to Presidents, but he happens also to be just one of the 1,287 licensed venders in Washington. If the regulations are not to be enforced in the case of Steve, they should also be waived in the case of Steve's brethren, who must keep on the move, park in specially reserved areas or go to Police Court. Intercession from high authority in the case of Steve strengthens Steve. But it weakens the police and leaves the law- enforcing authorities pretty far out on & limb. ————— Some one once mentioned “sons of wild jackasses.” The political relations of wild elephants are now being men- tioned. ——— Press conferences are evidently seldom permitted to interrupt what the column- ists intended to write in the first place. —_———— Having taken a walk, Al Smith is ex- pected to tell a little bedtime story about where he has been all this time. —_—eee Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Everybody Campaigning. Stop! Look! Listen! Or else you may be caught By the wheels that glisten 'Neath a speedy train of thought. Keep the whistle tooting, Loudly ring the bell, Help along the rooting ‘With a husky college yell! Baby in the cradle Wants to join the fun, Has a silver ladle / And would like another‘one. Listen to his prattle That resounds enew; Baby grabs his rattle And is out campaigning, too. The State and the Home. “You have made a life study of poli- tics,” said the lady with a note book. “I have,” answered Senator Sorghum. “Well, do you think it's impoffant enough to be permitted to break up a home by running the radio up till mid- night.” Figures We Understand. Oh, why are we bothered by figures we meet, ‘When the real demand is for something to eat. Our figures grow shifty; but every time, A dollar’s a dollar; & dime is & dime, A thousand means little, a million is less. A billion is something nobody can guess. Let stay here on earth nor attempt the sublime. Here a dollar’s a dollar; a dime is a dime. Inconsiderate Affection. “Are you fond of children?” “Of course,” said Miss Cayenne. “But you never make queer noises and wild gestures to attract their attention.” “Of course not. Being.fond of chil- dren is no possible reason for trying to frighten them half to death.” “Children are most fortunate,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “when they can obey their parents with full confi- dence in parental intelligence or con- science.” 3 Disappointing Doctor. T called the doctor in alarm Across the telephone. His voice has a peculiar charm With language all his own. * His message did not help a lot. In spite of all the din And in the end I simply got An earache listening in. “De truth is easy to tell,” said Uncle Eben, “but some folks seems jes' too naturally lasy to find it out befo’ dey memunncy«?lm. Its flood relief | ers. lhruml-r-nh ‘lrhhllh‘." \ Next President’s Job to Be ; No Bed of Roses. BY OWEN L. SCOTT. ‘The old White House custom of an afternoon nap for the President is not to be revived during the next four years, re, of the election outcome. A return to normality, either in the nature of presidential problems or in the trend of national affairs, is not in the cards. Even today the calendar is crowded with new business that will confront the next Chief Executive. The problems in- volved promise to be more wearing on the reputation and more exacting in their test of political and administrative skill that those of the last four years. Napless afternoons and even some sleep- less nights are in store as a result. It formerly was said by critics of Her- bert Hoover, intent upon disparaging his European war relief activities, that any- body could give away a billion dollars. The first four years of the Roosevelt administration have been smoothed by the opportunity to pour out huge sums of money in a way to make various im- portant sections of the people feel bet- ter. Success often was gauged by the size of the bounties. * x x % But the next President, whether Roosevelt or Landon, will have neither the same opportunity nor the same re- sources to use in dealing with the job that lies ahead. This time, success or failure will de- pend more directly on the quality of administration; less directly on the quantity of money to be handed out. A Government that already has out- grown the physical facilities of Wash- ington in an amazing expansion is going to make necessary some drastic admin- istrative adjustment. Before that, however, tax and farm and relief and social security problems will crowd in, with legislative and labor and electric power and neutrality and legal problems not far behind. In January the National Government starts the stupendous task of forcing 26,000,000 individual American workers to save against a rainy day and to force between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 employers to augment those savings. ‘The promise is of security in old age. But responsible officials express grave doubts over the workability of this understanding as it now is outlined in law. * % Skill and understanding will be re- quired of the next President as he seeks to work this new and complicated sys- tem of social security into the business and governmental structure of the coun- try. The job promises to be more dif- ficult than any yet undertaken. While tangled with old-age insurance and unemployment insurance problems, the new President will have to try to find an answer to the question: What's wrong with the relief situation? This country today is confronted with the anomoly of rapidly rising industrial employment and rapidly rising relief rolls. President Roosevelt says that 6,000,000 persons have gone back to work since March, 1933. Yet W. P. A. rolls are increasing, and 3,427,000 are at work on Federal works projects, with 1,800,000 other destitute cared for by States and localities. The total of 5,277,000 is near the depression peak. After seven years of depression the Federal Government is attempting to deal with unemployment without know- ing anything very definite about the unemployed—who they are, why they are, how many of them there are. A new President will need almost at once to find answers to those basic questions and to revamp relief on the basis of the findings. * % x % Both candidates are seeking to guar- antee the American farmer against de- pression, drought and high interest rates. Either one, in power, probably will have trouble delivering before another four years have elapsed. The trouble is that the farm problem runs deeper than crop insurance, or tenant relief, or conservation of soil, and can hardly be solved by bounties, however large. Essentially, as most officials will admit when not thinking in terms of politics, there are about 40 per cent more farmers than are needed to produce goods for the available market. Agriculture Sec- retary Wallace called the attention of newspaper men the other day to the fact that, if there had been average weather this year, farmers would have produced nearly 1,000,000,000 bushels of wheat—or more than 300,000,000 bushels above market needs. ‘The hard facts of the'farm problem —if weather is normal—will be borne in on the next President to cause a major official headache. More troubles are wrapped up in the now overgrown Federal establishment. Water will need to be squeezed out of a pay roll that has expanded every month for three years, and now is not far from 850,000. ‘There are half a dozen organizations dealing with housing, another half a dozen helping the farmers, still another batch extending relief to the unem- ployed, an even larger assortment con- cerned with soil erosion. Jurisdictional disputes are becoming a common prob- lem of Government departments. 8o rapidly has the personnel of the Government grown that Washington is without space to provide offices even after an immense Federal building pro- gram. Houses, hotels, warehouses, city auditoriums, former department stores and office buildings have been turned into Government offices, and yet there isn’t room to house all of the workers, * x k% Mr. Roosevelt, if re-elected, will need to adjust and amend his revolutionary new tax on the undistributed portion of corporation income. That tax, as hastily put together and jammed through Con- gress, to force changes in pol- icies of corporation management and to create injustices severe enough to cause the Treasury even now to consider amendments. This tax, coupled with rising corpora- tion and individual income, and with pay roll taxes, is counted on by Presi- dent Roosevelt to give the next admin- istration enough money to get the budget under control. Gov. Landon, however, has promised to repeal the tax on un- distributed corporation . That would leave him with the problem of finding about $600,000,000 in additional revenue. Labor leaders are actlve, working on the widely held belief of workers in in- dustry that they did not get a proper cut out of the prosperity of the past. They hold out the promise that, through organization, there will be increased in- come and shorter houts of work. Shrewd and able men are directing organization work now under way in major industries. If the country is to run into a wave of strikes in mass production industries there will be plenty of problems in statesmanship to test the skill of & new President. One more problem in statesmanship lies in the use to be made of the electric power developed at the big dams being constructed in various sections of the country. The Federal Government might find itself with a vast amount of power available to sell and no available buyers. In that case it could go into the business power distribution . acale in competition with private B Sitting in with a group of young col- lege men who evidenced much concern about the present world situation, I was deeply impressed by their confusion of mind and their desire for leadership in & world that has undergone vast and far-reaching changes. These young men were not pessimistic in their out- look, but were earnestly seeking for light on pathways that seemed obscure to their vision. They felt that on most of the great issues that most deeply con- cern them there was a lack of leader- ship that would give direction to their thinking and fixity to their convictions. Their main concern was for the mainte- nance of world order and peace. There was nothing of cowardice or a lack of loyalty to national ideals in what they said, but they felt deeply the failure of the world’s leaders to profit by the tragic experiences of the great war. ‘They were loath to believe that any large and lasting values had accrued to this great conflict, but that it had issued in confusion worse confounded and left the world in a condition bordering on chaos. What impressed me above all else in their conversation was their desire to see the church, as a corporate body, and as a legitimate leader, take some definite and precise action, and that in a time when leadership was sadly lacking. ‘They were reminded that in the last great conflict the church was militant and aggressive in pressing the claims of war propaganda. It was evident that this course had somewhat shattered their confidence in its leadership. “We shall be glad and ready to follow the leadership of the church when its voice speaks with no uncertain sound on mat- ters that concern an orderly and peace- ful world,” thus spoke one of the most thoughtful of these youths. “We believe that the church is the one single agency that has the power and the right to give direction to the youth in an is- sue so critical and important, and when this direction comes it will reawaken and reaffirm the loyalty and devotion of & great body of young men and women who, today, are regarding the church critically and possibly ungenerously.” It was evident from the expressed mind of these young men that they felt that the church of their day was giving forth an uncertain sound, not only on this but on other matters that have to do with their most immediate interests. They fully recognize that the voice of the united church, Jewish, Catholic #hd Protestant, would prove ir- resistible in its influence and potential- ity. The impression I gleaned from listening to these reflective and open- minded young men was that they rep- resent a large and increasing group, especially of young people, who today are seeking leadership and direction. These young people are not extreme pacifists, nor are they disloyal in any degree to national ideals, but they con- sistently demand that the institution that they respect and reverence shall give them some affirmation of its con- viction. § The Master spoke of sheep without & shepherd and repeatedly in His ministry He spoke with authority and finality on those great issues that concern human happiness and peace. The church which represents Him in the world of today must reaffirm both His authority and His leadership in all that concerns the interests of His children. Wherever we turn in the world today we find a sit- uation, especially among the youth, that discloses uncertainty on matters that are vital to its largest and best in- terests. That the church may be the conserver of all those things that have to do with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the high ends for which all men strive, is demonstrably true, but its leadership will not be recognized until its ranks are consolidated about standards and ideals that are unchal- lenged and unchallengable and that give it the right to proclaim in new and certain terms the consistency of its position, a position sustained and but- tressed by the example and teaching of its supreme Lord and Master. Fifty Years Ago In The Star “Praise rather than blame,” says The Star of September 27, 1886, “is due to s the commissioner of Nepotism and patents for his refusal Civil Service. to retain upon his clerical force those in- competents whose sole claim to position consists in a remote relationship to some historic American hero. ‘The ingrati- tude of republics’ is a phrase notorious for its misuse. No ingratitude is shown, surely, to the fathers of this Republic by refusing to allow the work of the Government they founded to be badly done. On the contrary, such refusal is an evidence that the present generation is not unappreciative of the blessings handed down to it by its ancestors. The theory that the Federal departments are mere charitable institutions for the subsistence of the progeny of the war- riors or statesmen has not even the virtue of a sane sentimentalism. It is a pre- posterous idea at the outset. “The revolutionary era in this country was one in which large families were the rule rather than the exception. Al- lowing to each signer of the Declaration of Independence, for example, the mod- est average of five children, the whole body would furnish a total of 275 de- scendants in the first generation. Mul- tiply these again by five and we have 1,375 grandchildren. Multiply still again by five and we get nearly 7,000 as the number of great-grandchildren. But the Continental Congress of 1776 contained a mere handful of the patriots who made sacrifices for liberty’s sake in those try- ing times. There were thousands of poor soldiers who tramped barefoot over icy fields and lived on acorns and raw grain for the privilege of fighting against the tyranny of the King, and plenty of wom- en who fired their crops or poisoned their herds in order that the British in- vaders should be left without subsistence. The services of these patriots are as de- serving of recognition as the services of the authors of the Declaration and the men who succeeded them in office; yet if we were to carry our national grati- tude to the extent of providing places in the Government employ for the great- grandchildren to each of them, there would not be work enough to go around. “The whole basis of the theory is false. The hero who has done well by his country should be taken care of, if such care is necessary to save him from want. The wife dependent upon him and robbed by his death or disability of her chief means of support should not be allowed to suffer. So much is dic- tated by reason and right feeling, both. But at that point the Government must draw a line. If a citizen's remote an- cestry—his relation to persons with whom he never came in contact and who never knew of his existence—is to assure him of especial consideration, we Amer- icans had better give up our professed democracy altogether and adopt the po-- litico-social system of England, for in- stance, where certain families are today enjoying titles and estates for no better cause than that their first ancestors came over with William the Conqueror and that no member of the line has done anything worth speaking of since.” * - “It was scarcely necessary,” says The Star of September 29, 1xm b:l make a formal denial,of the Unfounded report sent out of Scandal. Washington by corre- spondents in search of a sensation that the President accepted his country home as a gift from a syh- dicate of real estate speculators. In the first place, Mr. Cleveland is not in the habit of accepting gratuities of specu- lators or anybody else; and in the second place, certain circumstances attending the purchase and known at the.time to every one who had occasion to watch the negotiations preceding it leave no doubt that the story was made out of whole cloth—perhaps not by the corre- spondents—but by parties interested in discrediting the genuineness of the re- ported sale for cash.” there might be a Basis of compromise. President Roosevelt now is seeking such a compromise in the Tennessee Valley. Or, again, in all of these cases, the Supreme Court during the next four years might find that social security laws, farm laws, the new tax law, the labor relations law, the utility regulation law and even W. P. A, have been enact- ed illegally. In other words, the job ahead of the next President is to be no sinecure. There is every chance that the tests of statesmanship in meeting domestic prob- lems will be even more severe than those last four years, owing to the many experiments Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. ‘The reorganization of the administra- tive branch of the Government, contem- plated and spasmodically studied for more than 25 years, and now under in- tensive survey by special committees representing the President, the Senate and the House—harks back to the foun- dation of the Government nearly 150 years ago. Failure to reorganize has marked sporadic efforts under the ad- ministrations of Taft and Wilson, Hard- ing and Coolidge, with a congressional veto on Hoover's plan. There are almost insurmountable obstacles to a business- like reorganization—“the price of po- litical freedom,” as Donald Richberg, former chairman of the National Emer- gency Council, referred to the “enormous waste of money and human energy” en- tailed under the present patchwork set-up. He was discussing “the checks and balances of power necessary to pre- serve self-government and to prevent the development of a centralized au- tocracy.” %% It was Alexander Hamilton who in 1789, after adoption of the Constitution, laid out the scheme of grouping the Federal activities of the same general purpose into executive departments. The first *was the ‘Department of Foreign Affairs, which soon was renamed the Department of State, with John Jay of New York the first Secretary under the confederation and continuing to act, at the request of Washington, until Thom- as Jefferson took office March 22, 1790. Later in the same year the Treasury and War Departments were created, Hamil- ton being the first Secretary of the Treasury, September 11, 1789, and Henry Knox of Massachusetts taking the oath the following day as Secretary of War. Attorney General was at first legal adviser to the President and department heads, but sat at cabinet meetings. Ed- mund Randolph of Virginia was ap- pointed to this office on September 26, 1789, and entered upon his duties Feb- ruary 2, 1790. * k%% The Attorney General was at first legal adviser to the President and de- partment heads, but sat at cabinet meetings. Edmund Randolph of Vir- ginia was appointed to this office on September 26, 1789, and entered upon his duties February 2, 1790. It was not for four score years, however, that the De- partment of Justice was established. The Postmaster General was also ap- pointed on September 26, 1789—Samuel Osgood of Massachusetts, who was suc- ceeded in August, 1791, by Timothy Pick- ering of Pennsylvania. The Postmaster General was nof given cabinet rank un- til 1829, and this did not become an ex- ecutive department until 1872. Under the administration of Adams in 1798 the fourth executive department was organized, with Benjamin Stoddert of Maryland appointed first Secretary of the Navy. He entered upon the duties June 18, 1798. Then for more than 50 years the structural organization of the executive branch of the Government remained substantially unchanged. * % x % ‘Through the administrations of Jef- ferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quihcy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Van Buren, Willlam Henry Harrison, John Tyler and Polk the departmental set-up con- tinued unaltered. Then during the re- gime of Zachary Taylor the Department of the Interior was established, with Thomas Ewing of Ohio as first Secre- tary, March 8, 1849. This marked the first important reorganization. It was given charge of all strictly domestic af- fairs coming within the scope of the Federal Government. To it were trans- ferred, from the four original depart- ments, all Government activities affect- ing patents, public buildings, pensions and accounts relating to the public lands and the Indians. 3 * ok ok % ‘The number of executive departments was increased to six in 1870, with the creation of the Department of Justice, headed by the Attorney General, and in which all of the Federal Govern- ment’s legal work was centralized. The first head of this department was Amos T. Ackerman of Georgia. Two years later the Post Office Department, headed by John A. J. Creswell of Maryland, in- creased the number of departments to seven. Both of these were under the administration of Ulysses S. Grant. * Kk ok x ¥ In the meantime—10 years earlier— the importance of agriculture had been officlally recognized by setting up an independent officc under a Commis- sioner of Agriculture. Under the ad- ministration of Grover Cleveland this was given the status of an executive de- partment (the eighth) in 1889—which has since grown so rapidly that it has 80,000 employes in 22 bureaus and oc- cupies 1,000,000,000 square feet of office space in Washington. The first Secre- tary of Agriculture was Norman J. Col- Drought Experience Has Its Value. BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. There is an ancient adage to the effect that experience keeps a dear achool, but fools will learn in no other. This state= ment is regarded as somewhat narrow, unless the dictum that all men are fools be accepted, for often it is the wise man who learns more from experience than the fool. Certainly the observers of the Departe ment of Agriculture feel that the exe perience gained by American farmers in 1934 and other recent dry years will prove of great value to them in the months to follow. With the earlier ex- perience behind them, the farmers will be far better able to cope with the prob- lems now presented. Indeed, to some extent, the department thinks, farmers can capitalize on the disaster and pluck a few plumes of victory from defeat. The Department of Agriculture has many correspondents and investigators constantly in the field and, in such an emergency period, many of them are concentrated in the emergency regions. With such contact with the men actually on the land, the department is better able to see through the dust clouds and assess probabilities. * * ¥ ¥ Droughts are not new phenomena in the United States, but the weather, run- ning in cycles, brings alternating periods of wet and dry. It is the farmer of the younger generations and the farmer who has more or less newly taken to the land to whom extensive drought seems some fresh visitation. But there are old men who remember when, in Ohio, for ex- ample, where drought has been severe again this year, farmers cut down trees in order that live stock might graze on the still more or less green top foliage. The grass was gone and there was no other feed. ‘There are more people on farms today than ever before in the history of the country. There was a strong movement from city to farm when the great de- pression set in. People who could nhot find work in the cities thought they would try their hands at farming where, they fondly believed, they could always raise enough to eat, even though they made no cash returns. For such as these the severe aridity of 1934 was a first experience. It was something they had not taken into their calculations. They floundered and muddled and thousands upon thousands were in the most pitable distress. * % * ¥ In some manner they managed to get through the experience and the ex- perience has become an asset. “For many producers,” the Department of Agriculture says, “1934 was the first ex- perience of its kind. The experience is fresh in the minds of most farmers and it will be an asset which will not go to waste.” An illuminating observation of the department is: “Conversations with farmers who are now face to face with feed shortages turn quickly to a recital of their experience in 1934.” Feed shortage is one of the great men- aces of drought. The American live stock production constitutes one of its greatest sources of agricultural wealth. Cattle must have grass and hogs must have corn if they are to survive and be successfully marketed. Although corn is one of the three greatest American crops, but a small fraction is sold as grain. It is sold in the form of hogs. When dry weather burns the grass and kills the corn, there is no natural feed for the animals. Feed must be brought in from elsewhere. It is dismaying for a farmer to see his incidental crops burned up, but it is disastrous to see his feed crops taken by the sun. * ok ok ok The department finds that one of the outstanding lessons of the 1934 drought was in feed utilization. In some coun- ties, of course, scarcely a stalk of any- thing has been grown, but in others there have been scanty productions. The 1934 experience taught the farmers, espe- cially the new and young farmers, les- sons in preserving what little feed they were able to garner. New combinations of feed have been worked out, often with the aid of department experts. Careful rationing has been learned. In previous years of relative plenty, there was a deal of waste which now is saved and, in some mannier, utilized. The department observes: “Generally the farmers are now much more able to measure their feed resources in terms of animal units and to make better plans for the handling and marketing of live stock.” The numbers of live stock are fewer than they were in 1934 and, to that extent, the problem is contracted. Also the consumer demand is stronger. The purchasing power of the people today is much stronger than it was in 1934, Per- sons who could afford little or no meat now have wages which enable them to exert an effectuai demand. Then, too, farmers are generally in better financial shape than they were in 1934. A. A. A. benefit payments have been husbanded by not a few of them. They are in a position to import feeds from distant and better supplied places, and their credit has improved. * % ok % ‘The 1934 experience taught many to exercise greater care in carrying over larger supplies of feed, wasting nothing. As Spring neared and the promise of a new growing season appeared, some farmers were inclined to waste feed, certain of an influx of fresh supplies. They have learned not to rely too much on a new season. The year, 1935, was an improvement over 1934 and it was possible for some farmers to store feed. The severity of last Winter caused them to draw heavily on their stores, but they are in better case, for the most part, than they were after 1934. A great deal depends on the coming Winter's weather. If frosts are late, if snowfall is delayed, the situation will not be desperate. But if these weather phenomena come early, farmers will have to begin to draw on their stores, to buy feed and otherwise commence depletion of their resources. * x * X As never before, farmers are watching price trends. The experience of 1934 is remembered—how live stock was rushed to market and then how, later, prices soared when the glut was cleared. The farmers did not get those high prices. The processors did. This year, it Is found, the farmer is studying the long- range price movement. Marketing has been remarkably orderly in spite of the pressure to get live stock out of the drought regions, with the result that prices are holding steadier. The farmer, by not dumping, is getting more for his animals now and, what is of special importance, later in the year and early next year, when prices normally stiffen, he will have supplies to sell and win again. This situation is favorable, in the long run, to consumers as well. Instead of being faced in the Winter by a situa- tion in which no stock is coming to mar= ket from the farms, the consumer will have the advantage of a steady flow. Like all advance discussions, as the Department of Agriculture freely admits, such statements as these are subject to drastic revision after the event. But, on the basis of past experience and more or rm“nn.th!luw:ruuo:k._