Evening Star Newspaper, December 6, 1936, Page 44

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. Y. THEODORE W. NOYES The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th 8t. and Pennsylvanis Ave H 4ond Bt IS A T Rate by Carrier Within the City. ening Star. - --45C per month e Evening and Sunday Star Sundays) (when dazs -60c per month The E"nlnl and Su 'when 5 Sundays) 6Bc per month fl(o Sunday Star..... _-Bc per copy Night Pinal Edition. t Pinal and Sunday Stal Right Final 8t 207 856 per month Collection made at the e each month. &dnt.rll Bw be sent by mail or telephone Na= 70c pér month Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virsinis. 1 yr. $10.00; 1 mo. 85¢ g: 1 yr.. $6.00; 1 mo. &0c unday o r. 1 mo., 40c All Other States and Canada. and Sundey..1 yr. $12.00: 1 mo.$1.00 1 yr. $8.00; 1 mo. 78¢ ;6,00: 1 mo., b60c yr, 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 credited in this Daper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. —_— Germany’s Opportunity ? Because of the British Empire’s globe- girdling ramifications and potent inter- national influence, it is natural that the constitutional crisis in Great Britain should produce repercussions far beyond her shores. The implications involved are as immense as they are obvious, espe- clally from the standpoint of the oppor- tunity provided to certain nations not averse to fishing in troubled waters. On that score, nothing more disquieting has 8o far manifested itself than word from Berlin that if King Edward’s conflict with his government is prolonged some new German move can be expected with certainty. With France torn by domestic strife and the United Kingdom suddenly plunged into even more acute turmoil, both of the great Western democracies are viewed in the Reich as crippled in their international initiative. Their frowns and protests, according to Nazi reasoning, can therefore be taken less seriously, while dictatorial regimes, like those in Berlin and Rome, which know what they want and are not hampered by local quarrels, can proceed with a relatively free hand toward any chosen objective. Throughout the Italo-Ethiopian con- troversy, with its chronic peril of Euro- pean complications, as well as during the Spanish civil war, with its continuing menace to the Old World, Great Britain ranked as the chief stabilizing factor. ‘Upon her attitude and actions has mainly depended the question of peace or war. ‘The Baldwin government does not con- ceal the fact that its policy. continues to be guided by devotion to peace at almost any price, even if it involves, as it did in the case of Mussolini’s bluff in the Mediterranean, a grievous blow to British prestige. John Bull is apparently determined to muddle through somehow, Inspired singly and always by the para- mount purpose of preventing war. Berlin reports crediting Hitler with readiness to take advantage of the Brit- ish upheaval are ominously reminiscent of the European conditions which pre- eipitated the great gamble of the Kaiser's government in 1914. Then, too, both Britain and France were immersed in domestic preoccupations that seemed to absorb and shackle their energies to the exclusion of any and all international concerns. Revolution loomed in Ireland and the French feared catastrophic con- sequences from the Caillaux affair. In Just which direction the Germans might now seek to make hay while the British sun is in eclipse, can only be a matter of speculation. They might think the time ripe to end the fiction of Austrian independence or to provoke hostilities with Soviet Russia in gratification of Nazi longings for expansion in Eastern Europe. Again, General Franco's vicissi- tudes at the gates of Madrid may sug- gest that Germany should no longer wait, either in co-operation with Italy or single-handed, to go to the aid of the Spanish rebels. Finally, because it is John Bull who principally stands in the way of Germany's recovery of her former ooloniés, she may consider that events across the North Sea present an ideal occasion for some vigorous demonstra- tion looking to overseas aggrandizement for the Reich. ————— ‘There are to be no reprisals. The idea is fraught with holiday cheer in which Chairman Farley may join with pro- priety. His prominence and authority during the campaign have necessarily brought him numerous enmities. No Need for Leniency. Commissioner Hazen has selected a committee to study possible modifica- tions of the present system under which drivers’ permits are suspended or re- ‘voked. It goes without saying that there should be no modification in the direc- tion of leniency if it would tend to weaken a system that has demonstrated its effectiveness. Exceeding the speed limit may be relatively trivial in itself. But as speed is a common cause of auto- mobile accidents, breaking the speed limit must be regarded as a serious offense and the penalties should be sure and certain. Possibly the soundest objection to the present system lies in the fact that the automatic suspension or revocation of a permit after conviction in court for a specified speeding offense inflicts a much more severe penalty on some persons than on others. To deprive a truck driver or a taxi driver of his permit is to deprive him temporarily of a source of livelihood. To take away a permit from & driver who uses his car for his pleasure is merely to subject him to temporary inconvenience. But because the penalty is severe and rather certain it has been effective. The number of “repeaters,” for instance, has been sharply reduced this year over last. And so has the num- ber of automobile fatalities in the District. > - The source of complaint now, how- THE SUNDAY . STAR, WASHINGTON. ever, is the number of appeals to the Commissioners. Cannot this congestion be cured by some extra work? The right of appeal should, of course, always re- main. But one reason why there are 50 many appeals is that the suspension of a permit does not become effective unt{l the appeal is disposed of. An appeal is a time-gaining device of which many defendants teke advantage. The Commissioners ought to be able to devise a method of keeping abreast and preventing the accumulation of pend- ing appeals. . Until speeding is recognized by the speeders as an offense carrying with it a sure and heavy penalty there will be small progress in the effort to eliminate the speeder as a traffic menace, G. O. P. Chairman. John Hamilton, the vigorous and youthful Republican national chairman who came out of the West this year to attempt to put the Republican party back on the map, has signified his in- tion of resigning. This does not mean he is quitting. He is merely giving the members of the Republican National Committee an opportunity to retain him, with a vote of confidence, or to pick an- other chairman if they see fit. In the few: months he headed the Republican organization Hamilton put a new fighting spirit into it. It is true that when the election rolled around Hamil- ton and the Republicans suffered a dis- astrous defeat. It is true that mistakes were made during the campaign under the Hamilton management. But take it by and large, Hamilton did a good job under political and economic circum- stances adverse to the Republican party. Some seventeen million votes were cast for Governor Landon, the Republican presidential candidate. After a defeat there is usually a clamor for new leadership, whether the defeat has been suffered by Republicans or Democrats. It was to be expected that critics of Hamilton would come to the fore with demands that he be supplanted as national chairman. There have been such demands. Hamilton could have ignored these demands if he wished. There was no way in which he could have been forced to call & meeting of the na- tional committee, which must elect a chairman, except on the written demand of a sizable number of the members. He has, however, elected to put the matter of his leadership as national chairman to the test and to give his opponents an opportunity to oust him. He has gone further and proposes to submit his resig- nation when the committee meets in Chi- cago December 17. The committee will be in a position to vote him out or to decline to accept the resignation. Just what good could come from sub- stituting a new chairman for Hamilton is a conundrum. He is familiar with the set-up. He is acquainted with the party leaders in every State and county. A new man would have to begin at the be- ginning. He has learned some important political lessons during his tenure of office, which another chairman would have to learn. He has, moreover, a responsibility resting upon him — the liquidation of a deficit of more than a million dollars growing out of the cam- paign expenditures. The Republican party is by no means dead. The fact that it cast 17,000,000 votes in the election should be proof of that, despite the added fact that Presi- dent Roosevelt received between twenty- seven and twenty-eight million. Its future will depend not only upon the course which it pursues, but also upon the course of the Roosevelt administration. For the present, there seems little the G. O. P. can do beyond keeping up its organization throughout the country and making a record through the support of or opposition to legislation that comes up for consideration in Congress. If Chairman Hamilton receives a vote of confidence from the national committee, as it is expected he will, he should be in a position to do all that any chairman could for the party. ———— In the course of social evolution the voice assumes responsibilities equal to those of print and commercial wares are promoted alun} with economic policies. In the struggle for democracy the auc- tioneer has been brilliantly glorified. ———— Japan in Shantung,. Japan is fond of choosing psychologi- cal moments for fresh moves in her program for the mastery of Asia through plecemeal absorption of China. Such moments, in Tokio's opinion, are those which find the Western powers, chiefly Great Britain and the United States, immersed in domestic concerns which divert them from events as remote as the Far East. In 1931 Japanese im- perialists selected the peak of the world- wide depression for their great Man- churian adventure. They started the “Shanghai war” in 1932, while the Geneva Disarmament Conference engrossed the world'’s thought. Today finds the powers primarily interested in Asiatic develop- ments riveting their gaze and energies in other directions. Great Britain is preocqupled with the supreme crisis pro- voked by the conflict between King Edward VIII and his government over the monarch’s matrimonial plans. The United States is devoting most of its attention momentarily to the inter- American conference at Buenos Aires and its effect upon the future of the Western Hemisphere. To what extent Japan just now has these conditions in mind it is, of course, impossible to know. The fact remains that she finds this week a propitious hour for provoking with China another territorial incident which may lead to the gravest consequences. The one-time German port of Tsingtao, in Shantung Province, has been occupied by Japanese marines in connection with labor diffi- culties in Japanese-owned textile mills. One thousand bluejackets raided Na- tionalist party headquarters, seized im- portant documents and arrested three prominent Chinese. The Nanking gov- .| ernment has demanded immediate with- drawal of the Japanese troops and A prompt amends for the other violations of Chinese sovereignty. Following so closely upon develop- ments in Sulyuan Province, where for & fortnight Chinese troops have offered successful resistance to Japanese-led ir- regular Manchukuan-Mongolian forces attempting to invade Inner Mongolia from adjacent Chahar Province, the Shantung affair may prove the proverbial last straw in breaking China's patience and precipitate the long-threatened state of war with the island empire. Mean- time, Nanking will terminate all negotia- tions with Tokio looking to & general adjustment of Sino-Japanese relations until the Tsingtao situation is regulated and the Japanese abandon their partici- pation in military operations against Suiyuan. Ever since the Japanese were re- quired at Washington in 1922 to restore Shantung to China, after assignment of the province to them at the Paris Peace Conference, Tokio militarists and naval- ists, abetted by an aggressive indus- trialist element, have never removed covetous eyes from the rich territory which constituted Germany’s pre-war place in the Far Eastern sun. Shantung Province has not only immense economic importance, but also ancient sentimental interest, for the Chinese. It 1s easy to conceive, especially in light of the in- cessent provocations latterly suffered at Japan’s hands in North and Central China, that they might look upon this newest affont at Tsingtao as a legitimate occasion for a final reckoning with the oppressor. Pictures fortify Stanley Baldwin's repu- tation for severe conservatism by reveal- ing him in an old-fashioned stiff collar so unusual at present that his personal popularity might be- tested in some degree by the extent to which he is able to set the styles in the street. That famous old institution the Cin- cinnati Conservatory of Music is assert- ing itself on the air. A great many music lovers will welcome it, with a wish that the Saengerbund might be swept into a restoration of its old prominence. Humor has become so universal as to be measured by commercial standards. George B. Shaw, appreciating the value of contrast, takes advantage of every opportunity to be ostentatiously unfunny. —_— rate—————— If Theodore Roosevelt could be heard from across the depths of eternity he would probably have some modernized comment on the subject of “muck- rakers.” ——————————— Many a conservative citizen is wishing the society news could hold its usual columns and not break into headlines on the first page. Stanley Baldwin has stepped into the spotlight and historians may find his biography as interesting as that of royal- ty itself. —_———————— Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Sunshine in December. Sunshine comes a-gleamin’ From December skies, Though a flow'r is dreamin’ ‘Where each dead leaf lies. Shadows dark draw round us, Yet the genial ray Of the sun has found us Somewhere through the day. Maybe it's the brightness From a sky so clear; Maybe with its lightness Memory draws near, With a bit of play day Where the shadows meet— Just a glimpse of May day In loveliness complete! A Shade of Envy. “How does it feel to be unquestionably an idol of the populace?” “How should I know?” rejoined Sen- ator Sorghum. “I haven't had the training to e a foot ball player, and I'm too old, anyhow.” Not Impressed. “He said he would lay the earth at my feet,” said the sentimental girl. “Yes,” answered Miss Cayenne. “It ‘sounds good, but it is not practical. You already have the earth at your feet. What you want is a three or four story house over your head.” Sufficiency of Hostilities. Since first man trod this blossaming earth He fought for all that he was worth, And reckless warriors risked their lives, Sometimes for gold, sometimes for wives. For centuries this has gone on Since Reason first began to dawn, And now by Reason we're advised To be a bit more civilized, Seeking from strife a glad release And making this a world of Peace. Though Reason often fills the mind With doubts that bring & mood unkind, On this point still she lays great stress— Pighting is just Plain Foolishness. 8o, let us cease the customs rough And say at last, “We've Had Enough!” Jud Tunkins says you learn to take the world as you find it after thinking the matter over and realizing that there’s no choice, this being the only world any of us has actually succeeded in finding. “He who views the future with hope, instead of fear,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is at least getting hap- piness out of the present.” - Disbelief. ‘We learn there is no Santa Claus. The truth, we must receive it. And yet we're happier because ‘We do not quite believe it. L “It’s best fo mind yoh behavior,” said Uncle Eben. “So long as you may have to depend on de laws foh yoh own per tection, it's only fair to do yoh best to _pertect de laws.” s A President Studying Post-Election Plans - \ BY OWEN L. SCOTT. ‘With Mr. Roosevelt on his way back to Washington and a second term, the big question becomes: Where now will the President direct his abundant en- ergies and his flair for dramatic action? He has allowed the country to cool off since election while turning his attention to Pan-American problems. But now what? Congress is coming; there are election promises to fulfill; the Supreme Court still is on the job, and Europe ap- pears at the brink of a blow-up. Does all of that mean a new wave of reform at home? Or is there a chance that President Roosevelt will shift his major attention to world affairs, while depending upon recovery to solve most domestic problems? * % ok * Signs of an answer are becoming ap- parent. They suggest a combination of reform at home and insulation against trouble from abroad. The plan seems to be: First, to throw what moral influence this country can exert to the side of democracies in Europe and in this hemi- sphere during the period when the dic- tators are in a demanding mood. At the same time to try to build a definite policy of neutrality for use in case the present arguments result in a European war. Second, to maneuver early Supreme Court tests of remaining New Deal laws to determine whether some sort of con- stitutional change will be required to ful- fill campaign promises and to make it possible to build an effective plan of neutrality. The situation confronting Mr. Roose- velt is found to resemble in many ways that which faced-President Wilson at the end of his first term. * K ok * Back in 1916 the country had gone through a period of reform and was pre- pared to consolidate its advance when European affairs crashed into the picture to turn White House attention from domestic problems to World War prob- lems. Today one more period of reform has occurred, with the President in- terested in consolidating his position and pushing ahead with further reforms at home. Again foreign developments crowd in to threaten his plans. President Roosevelt recently has given evidence of his concern on that score. His South American trip served as & means of letting the dictators know that the influence of this country would not be on their side. His approval of the currency agreement with France and England was evidence of the community of economic interests among the three powers. His reference to the dangers of “hot money,” temporarily lodged in this country by foreigners, served at the same time to warn that if, in spite of diplo- matic maneuvers, trouble did develop, then the United States would try to pull in on itself. * % % X Actually, the President sees a very favorable business situation at home threatened by the prospect of trouble abroad. He is endeavoring, if possible, to ward off that trouble. But how would trouble in Europe react adversely in the United States? Wouldn't it really help business through the en- larged demand for goods? The point is that the New Deal thinks business already has had enough help through Government spending and that now the problem is to hold in check any runaway expansion. Plans are laid to end Government borrowing, to tighten controls over speculation and to regulate credit money supplies in an effort to demonstrate that booms as well as de- pressions can be leveled off. Now if, in the midst of this demonstra- tion, European nations should plunge into war, the whole experiment could quickly be destroyed. Then the “hot money” owned by foreigners might quick- ly be turned into cotton and steel and chemicals and other commodities and manufactured products for war use. The result could readily be an uncontrollable boom. But the amount of this foreign money is limited. Once it was used up the United States would face the neces- sity of lending more money to the foreigners so that they could continue to buy, or of plunging into a new depression. * % K % Mr. Roosevelt is determined, if possible, to keep such a situation from developing. He has expressed a desire to find means of controlling the large amount of foreign money now over here. His plans call for a stronger neutrality law, aimed at re- moving some of the points of pressure that lead to war entanglements. Yet right at that point the Supreme Court and the Constitution enter to pose the really big immediate problem. If this country is to insulate itself from the effects of major foreign dis- turbances, then, most officials are agreed, there will need to be strong Federal Government controls in the fleld of in- dustry, agriculture and finance. Mr. Roosevelt feels that a demand for these controls, if meeded, was voiced by a majority of voters in the November elec- tion. k%% Right now studies are being made of & plan for Federal Government licensing and incorporation of industry in a man- ner much more drastic than applied by the N. R. A. Further studies are being made of plans to tighten up the soil conservation act into a Federal program of farm control fully as effective as the voluntary pro- gram of the original A. A. A. But there is a high degree of uncer- tainty concerning the prospect of Su- preme Court approval for rénewed con- trols in a field that a majority of the court holds to be outside the scope of Federal power. The chances admittedly are that at least five out of nine mem- bers of the present court would rule against the right of the National Gov- ernment to exercise control over prob- lems growing out of either industrial or agricultural production. To make sure of the court attitude since the election, Government plans call for a speedy test of cases involving the scope of Federal power. * k% % Some comfort was obtained from the 4-to-4 tie vote of eight Supreme Court Justices, resulting in legal approval for the New York State unemployment in- surance act. That decision represented a sharp reversal of position since the court, by a 5-to-4 decision, ruled that & Federal system of old-age retirement for railroad workers was outside the power of the National Government. But it did not give any definite clue to the Supreme Court majority attitude toward the re- mainder of the President’s social security program. The Government’s attorneys think the court will approve P. W. A. loans to local governments for use in building power plants. They are less optimistic about the fate of the national labor relations act and the utilities holding company act. Best information is that the President intends to allow the remainder of his to pass in review before the O, .DECEMBER 6, 1936—PART._TWO. THE BOOK OF HOPE BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D, LL. D, D.C. L, BISHOP OF WASHINGTON, striking came from the gifted pen Stevenson he said that the Bible, in the main, is a cheerful book, that it is only were marked by pain and suffering, he turned to the Bible as the one book that A:!ulg give him serenity and peace of N In one of his letters to the church in Rome, St. Paul declares: “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were writ- ten for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” In this memorable letter he speaks of the “God of patience and consolation.” Many people, without an actual knowledge of what the Bible, and more particularly the New Testa- ment, contains, think of it as a book that restricts and narrows life, the reading of which is designed to render it gray and uninf . This is not true. The Gospel itself begins with the message: “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” ‘Throughout the ministry of Jesus, as we have it in the Gospel narrative, He repeatedly afirms that the purpose of His ministry was to broaden and enrich life. He declared: “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” and again, “In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The Gospel itself might very appropriately be described as the book of good cheer. The whole teaching and ministry of Jesus were designed to give a right interpretation to life and to make more real its logical objective and destiny. Any consistent reading of the Gospel narrative confirms this. Now and again there may be passages whose meaning seems somewhat obscure, but take the Bible as a whole, containing as it does some 66 books—39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New ~—it is an interpretation of life and its teachings that transcends anything the world contains. It is interesting to note how large an influence this book has played in the lives of strong men, and how largely it has entered into the art and literature of the world. It has been the inspiration of the noblest music and the finest art the world has known. Its philosophy of life has affected seers and statesmen alike, and its influence upon the progress of the race has been & determining factor. We call the complex system under which we life “Christian civilization.” Upon the teachings of this book a world- wide church has been built and the ex- ponents of its truths are found in every land. One wonders what the loss of the Bible would mean to the world! However we may fail to read and study its precepts, however men may neglect to give it its rightful place in their daily habit and practice, it still holds its central place as the world’s greatest book, its deepest source of hope and inspiration. To begin each day with a reflective and reverent study of its pages; to appropriate to common use its lofty precepts; to spend* a brief space in the companionship of the Mastér whom it portrays, means to give to life refreshment and renewal and to equip it to resist and overcome the trials and adversities that beset it. The major truths that it contains are simply and clearly stated. Jesus himself speaks a language that is easily understood, and the profound truths He utters bear vitally upon the common needs and experiences of everyday life. He gives to men a way of life that is designed to give it meaning, zest and satisfaction. He affirms, as no other voice ever has, that life is a sacred thing, that it is possessed of qualities and potentialities that make it capable of surviving all misfortunes and disasters. He declares that the end of the road is not a dead-end, but a gateway into a larger, fuller life. He is the world's triumphant teacher and His Gospel is the book of glad tidings. As a tonic to freshened activity, as a guide to happy, satisfying living, as a light on the darkened pathways of life, the Bible is the world’s greatest and most enduring book. It is the book of hope! Fifty Years Ago In The Star The annual report of the District Commissioners submitted 50 years ago evoked the following comment in The Star of December 6, 1836: “Among the commendable suggestions Recommendations of O he, Commis- sioners’ report Commissioners. are those calling for a better sys- tem of lighting the streets, dispensing with the village practice of depending upon the moon when the almanac pledges it to the performance of its full duty; for the increase of school facilities to correspond with the growth of the populatiion, and for the improvement of the police system. Under this last head, two requirements are especially urgent. The force must be strengthened in num- ber and in capacity. The restriction of membership to men with a record in the Army or Navy of the United States is a bit of buncombe, the last excuse for whose existence is fading away, and which has now become positively and dangerously burdensome. What the force requires is not old blood with a record made, but new blood with some ambition to make one.” * ¥ % % ‘The building known as Lincoln Hall, at the corner of Ninth and D streets, erected in 1869 as headquarters for the Y. M. C. A. and used as a place of public gath- £ erings, was destroyed Lincoln Hall by fire on Sunday Burned Down. morning, December 5, 1886. The Star of December 6 says: “Now that Lincoln Hall has finally burned down, the people of Washington will take a breath of relief. It was doubtless the worst planned building for exhibition purposes that ever was con- structed, and had a fire or panic occurred while an entertainment was in progress it would have been almost, if not wholly, impossible for a dozen persons to escape from it alive. As it seems to be the fate of places of amusement to be burned some time, the existence of such a death trap is a constant menace, an ever- present cause of apprehension to thoughtful people. Those who are losers by "the fire are, of course, entitled to and have the full sympathy of the com- munity, but they. equally with others, have cause for thankfulness that the result is no more disastrous. If there is any authority to prevent it no such struc- ture ought to be allowed in the city again.” * k¥ X “According to the statement in yes- terday’s Star.” says The Star of Decem- ber 11, 1886, “the Washington and Georgetown Railway Co. says it proposes - to make some radical Street Railway changes in the op- Improvements. erating of its lines, P by the substitution of a cable for horses, as soon as the neces- sary authority for the contemplated im- provements shall be granted by Congress. This authority may or may not be given and the changes proposed may or may not be a good thing—though it is diffi- cult to conceive how any change that can be made in the general street rail- way service for the city would not be for the better. Meantime, it is within the power of the company to make one important improvement in the interest of its patrons without the intervention of the lawmaking power and without the outlay of any considerable amount of . It is to keep decently clean and dry the street crossings -at its transfer points at the intersections of Fifteenth street and New York avenue be given power, by a two-thirds House, to re-enact a law Supreme Court. court a veto power the President, but the absolute power two-thirds majority and the President. outlook for this country The President 1s reported to be con- vinced that he can obtain a cash balance in the Federal budget during the fiscal year beginning next July 1. Industry Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. The Smiths still have it—leading in the nomenclature of the incoming House, with one new member, making them five, compared with four of that name in the Congress whose term ends on January 4. The Smith standard bearers are: J. Joseph Smith, Democrat. of Connecti- cut; Clyde H. Smith, Republican, of Maine; Howard W. Smith, Democrat, of Virginia; Martin F. Smith, Democrat, of Washington, and Joe L. Smith, Demo- crat, of West Virginia. The Allens and the Johnsons are tied for second place, each with four inem- bers, but the Allens are gaining ground. They had only one member in the pres- ent House and incoming they have four. The Johnsons picked up one new mem- ber. The four Allens are: William F. Allen, Democrat, of Delaware; Leo E. Allen, Republican, of Illinois; A. Leonard Allen, Democrat, of Louisiana; Robert G. Allen, Democrat, of Pennsylvania. The four Johnsons are: Dewey W. Johnson, Farmer-Labor, of Minnesota; George W. Johnson, Democrat, of West Virginia; Luther A. Johnson, Democrat, of Texas, and Jed Johnson, Democrat, of Okla- homa. The Hills and Taylors still retain their tied rank in third place with three mem- bers each. There are two each of the following: Cannon, Clark, Coffee, Cole, Ford, Gray, Hancock. Kelly, Kennedy, Lewis, Mahon, Martin, Mitchell, Mur- dock, O'Brien, -O'Connell, O'Connor, O'Neal, Patterson. Reed, Robinson, Rogers, Thomas, Vinson and White, * % ok In connection with the 100th anni- versary of the American patent system, which has just been observed in the Capital and throughout the Nation, Rep- resentative Jennings Randolph, Demo- crat, of West Virginia calls attention that the first patent issued by the United States Government was in the form of a certificate to James Rumsey, who suc- cessfully demonstrated his invention of a steamboat at what is now Berkeley Springs, W. Va,, in 1784. In a letter to Secretary of Commerce Daniel C. Roper, Representative Ran- dolph writes: “I believe that Mr. Rum- sey was the inventor of the first suc- cessful steamboat At that time there ‘were no general patent laws in force, each State regulating for itself the rights and franchises granted to inventors. Both Maryland and Virginia, in 1784, granted patent rights to Rumsey, and on September 7 George Washington issued a certificate of patent which I believe to be the initial step -taken for such pur- pose. “Rumsey's successful trial of a boat propelled by steam took place at Bath, now Berkeley Springs, W. Va,, early in 1784. Only a short time later he dem- onstrated to Washington a model of his steamboat and it was at this time Wash- ington issued the certificate, following the success of the exposition. It is note- worthy to quote from Washington’s let- ter to Hugh Williamson under date of March 15, 1785, in which he stated: ‘Rumsey’s newly invented boat is con- sonant to my ideas and warranted by the principles: upon which it acts. I am not at liberty to explain muyself, but if a model or thing in miniature 1s a just representation of a greater ob- ject in practice, there is no doubt of the utility of the invention—all my doubts are satisfled.’ ‘I believe this shows that the very first patent came to Rum- sey and also that George Washington was most anxious to encourage inven- tive genius in America.” * % x % How a couple of old-home-town boys have made good in the big outside world of national politics was emphasized at Lynchburg, Va., recently when Col. Edwin A. Halsey, secretary of the Senate and an employe of the Senate for 39 years, presented the first silver half- dollar, commemorating the sesqui- centennial of Lynchburg to Senator Carter Glass, who has been politically Secretary of the Treasury in Wilson's cabinet and offered the same post in System and his initiative and co-opera- tion in enactment of banking laws, so that stabilized currency has become uni- versal. Col. Halsey emphasized that this is “the only time in the history of our country that any single living citizen has been thus distinguished.” Senator Glass and Col. Halsey have worked together for more than 35 years. The Senator has been a leader not only Working Conditions On U. S. Ships BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Periodically there occurs a strike or other labor disturbance in the American shipping industry, and nearly always it is marked by vidlence. Grave disruption of commerce is an inevitabie result, and direct and indirect losses are heavy. There have been various causes for thess strikes, but the chief reasons have been wage rates and working conditions. . That marine strikes are usually violent is not surprising. The men who work on ships and along shore are usually a hard-bitten lot. The work is arduous. It requires a hardy man. It is not main- tained that longshoremen and ships’ crews are innately vicious as compared with other labor groups, but the nature of their work and the life they live are calculated to make them especially formidable. In view of the labor disturbances which have been occurring on all Amer- ican coasts, former Federal co-ordinator of transportation, Joseph B. Eastman, has just made a study of wage and working conditions in the domestic water-transportation industry. An ex- amination of what was revealed in this study may supply a basis for a clearer understanding of what the labor diffi- culties are about. There are some 10,000 vessels of all sorts engaged in the domestic industry, ‘They aggregate 8,500,000 tons. These figures do not include vachts, fishing boats, barges and miscellaneous small craft, nor are the ships engaged in the foreign trade included. The vessels which are included are those plying the Great Lakes, the inland waterways, and those engaged in the intercoastal and coastwise trade. About one-fourth of the total of domestic shipping is found on the Great Lakes. The report says that some 300,000 men are engaged in the industry. About 114,000 are employed aboard ship, about 110,000 as longshoremen, while the re- mainder have other shore jobs. It will readily be realized that a concerted action on the part of so large a number of men could spell serious consequences. * ¥ ¥ % Employment in the shipping industry is far different from usual land occu- pations. The compensation of workers on ships takes two forms: There are the money wages and then board and lodg- ing aboard ship. The money wages look rather small, but it must be remembered that the money is net. The investigation shows that 70 out of every 100 unli- censed crew members on intercoastal carriers received less than $50 a month in cash. Fifty-nine out of every 100 on Atlantic and Gulf coastwise ships re- ceived $50 or less, while 42 per cent of the unlicensed personnel on Atlantic coastwise ships received $50 a month or less. In the Pacific coastwise service, 37 per cent received $50 or less, and for the Great Lakes the figure is 39 per cent. On the barge lines on the Mississippi, more than half the men were paid be= tween $25 and $50 a month. Conditions are far better than they were a few years ago. There has been a strong advance in unionization, and wage rates now are almost entirely fixed by collective bargaining. Wage stand- ardization also has extended to the lie censed personnel, the officers. The Ma- rine Engineers’ Beneficial Association is the chief bargaining agency for the engine room officers, and wages have been standardized for chiefs at from $250 to $375 a month. A sliding scale obtains which is based on the power tonnage of a ship. First assistants get from $165 to $250, and thirds from $125 to $170. * ook ok Similarly, the National Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots has made agreements with operators for Pacific and intercoastal services. Masters are not covered, but the scale for first mates is $165 to $195 a month, for second mates $140 to $170, and third mates $125 to $155. There are some variations in the wage scales. For example, in the Pacific off- shore trade able seamen get $62.50 a month and ordinary seamen $45. On Pacific steam schooners able seamen are paid $70. The best pay is in the Alaska trade, where an able seaman gets $75 a month and an ordinary seaman $60. ‘The Lake Carriers’ Association makes bargains with the shipping employes in lake service. Here masters have a scale ranging from $348 to $606 a month. First mates are paid from $150 to $290, seconds from $126 to $216, chief engineers from $216 to $420, first assistants from $150 to $258, deck hands $72, wheelsmen $99, firemen and oilers $96, coal passers $67.50 and chief cooks from $135 to $150. Peculiar conditions apply to longshore= men. In the first place, employment is not regular. It is not continuous. When a ship comes in its cargo must be dis- charged and the new cargo laden, but often there are protracted spells between jobs. When the carrying trade is brisk the crews may be fairly busy most of the time, but in slack periods days may pass with no work to be done. * ok % K Wages are based on an hourly scale, with overtime if the work falls outside the scope of specified hours. Inasmuch as demurrage and port dues run into considerable sums if a ship is tied up too long. often crews will work all night loading or discharging cargo. There is the widest variation in wages per hour. At Charleston, 8. C., the men are paid only 36 cents an hour. Most of them are Negroes. On the Pacific Coast the scale calls for 75 cents an hour, while it goes as high as 85 cents at the port of New York. Overtime rates also vary, reaching as high as $1.40 an hour. The length of a standard day is not the same at all ports. On the Pacific Coast there is a six-hour day. The eight-hour day prevails on the Atlantic Coast. At a few ports a 12-hour day is worked before overtime oegins. * ok %k Seamen stand watches in the usyal manner, there being the usual divisions of four-hour watches. Each man stands two every 24 hours, thus giving him an eight-hour day. In emergencies, of course, all hands must stand by. The stewards’ department comes nearer to land service than any other branch of shipping industry labor. The duties of stewards conform to the periods when passengers and crew require their serv- ices. The work is generally comparable to hotel work. * The investigation did not go so thoroughly into the question of living conditions aboard ship as into wages and hours, but the report does say that there is evidence that living conditions are not satisfactory. Quarters are cramped and often are insanitary and poorly ventilat- ed. The food, it is said, is usually abun- dant, but the quality is decidedly rough on most ships. The shipping industry has so many ramifications and there are so many di- vergencies from conditions of work ashore that long and patient study is re- quired to master all the details. It is possible that the new Maritime Commis- sion will go further into the matter than any official authorities have heretofors, with the result that longer periods of peace will prevail in the industry. , g