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A—S8 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. * MONDAY._ January 25, 1937 THEODORE W. NOYES. The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 41tn St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New ¥ock Office: 110 East 42nd 8t. Chicago Office: 435 North Michizan Ave. Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban. Regular Edition. day Star Toe/Rventie '“é’nfi“é‘" Tnonth or 16¢ ver week The Eventng Star 43¢ ver month or 10¢ per week Tre Su day Star Sc’per copy Night Final Edition. ta Misht Einal gnd Sunasy S 56 Der montn Collection made at the end of each month or each week, Orders may be sent by mail or tele phone National 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. 3r. $10.00: 1 mo. 880 T, "$6.00: 1 mo. 50c Jo 3985; 1 me 868 Dally and Sunday. Dail; Sinda er and ai . pA‘liln :li'ma of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Politics Is Business. If any one ever doubted that politics ts business, the discussion of finances in the meeting of the Democratic National Committee would effectually remove that doubt. Furthermore, it is big business. For, under the proposal of W. Forbes Morgan, treasurer of the committee, it is planned to go ahead and raise $10,000,000 to be expended by the Democratic Na- tional Committee during the next four years, particularly in the last of the four years, when the Democrats will again seck to elect & President. A million dollars will be needed this year, according to Mr. Morgan. Of this $500,000 would be used to pay off the committee’s deficit and the remainder to carry on the activi- ties of the national organization, with particular emphasis on keeping the State organizations in good running order. The gross receipts of the campaign of 1936 were almost $4,000,000, including $335,000 of borrowed money, Mr. Morgan reported to the committee. But this was not_enough to conduct the campaign. The Democratic treasurer believes that In time of peace—the off political years— it is wise to build up the war chest for future campaigns. If he has his way, the committee will have on hand suffi- cient funds always to keep out of the red. Admittedly keeping out of the red 1s both wise and desirable. At the same time, the Democrats are planning to do quite a bit of spending during 1937—half & million dollars—when their party is sit- ting on top of the world. Economy does not seem to be the watchword, although of all times, the coming year might be considered a safe time in which to economize. When it comes to raising money, the Democratic National Committee is both businesslike and versatile. It gives din- ners, to which the faithful are asked to subscribe, and it sells books and other things. The national committee is plan- ning now a series of “victory dinners” to be given the night of March 4, the anni- versary of President Roosevelt's first in- auguration. The price of a plate at the main dinner in Washington is to be $100, of which the committee hopes to realize nearly $95. It has already sold about 850 copies of & de luxe edition of the Demo- cratic Convention Book and the Demo- cratic Book of 1936, autographed by the President, at $100 per copy. Now it pro- poses to sell 1,500 more copies at $250 a copy. The faithfu! probably can see what 13 coming to them. There are three sources of revenue for the national committee. The first is from the disinterested citizens who sincerely and earnestly believe in Presi- dent Roosevelt. The second is from those who have Government jobs and the third is from those who hope to have Govern- ment jobs. No attempt is made here to give the proportions of the contributions made by each group. However, a bit of conversation at the recent national committee meeting may be enlightening. ‘The Democratic national committeeman from Michigan, Edmund C. Shields, is reported to have said that “when people contribute (to the campaign funds) they want recognition from the powérs they think exist, politically. You would be surprised how happy contributors were to get those receipts and to carry them and show them to us whenever they wanted something.” This, as Chairman James A. Farley ad- mitted, was “pretty frank.” —_————— Conferences at which no politics is dis- cussed are frequently mentioned, al- though there are doubts whether such an assumption can be correct, even for a casual tea party. . | Many microphones were brandished, but only in a good neighborly spirit. Not & blow was struck. Radio at Its Best. ‘The practical utility of wireless com- munication has been demonstrated many times and in many different ways, but never more notably than last even- ing, when the stricken Ohio Valley dramatized its plight to the world over the ether. Probably millions “listened in” while towns in the flooded areas told the story of their experience with mid-Winter disaster. The tale was har- rowing, yet fascinating. It brought the tragedy of thousands of families into the homes of their neighbors every- where. But the broadcasts from Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis, etc., were not mere news programs. Instead, they were exchanges of information, advice and help. They were put on the air for the service of the populations of the in- undated territories and with little re- gard for the entertainment value they might have for bystanders in parts of the country not affected directly. Per- haps it is not too much to say that the victims of the flood were organized for mutual aid by the radio networks. The morale of the people certainly was strengthened by the n!auel dispatched THE EVEN to them through the air. Coincidentally, the Nation at large was educated in the meaning of their predicament. Of course, the appeal of the Red Cross for funds to meet the demands of the emergency was repeated again and again. It was natural that it should be so, but it llkewise was in- spiring. Many Americans must have rejoiced in the knowledge that an ef- ficient agency is available to grapple with the problem instantly. To render the labors of its representatives easy must be the duty now of all who are not dead to pity for their afficted coun- trymen. Money is a small thing to give, comparatively; but it is wanted in quantities and’' The Star counts it a privilege to endorse yesterday’s plea for voluntary contributions. For once noth- ing requires to be added to the petition for assistance. Radio at its best has done the work with credit to itself and its patrons throughout the land. Italo-German Unity. Gen. Goering has left Rome after a week of conferences with Premier Musso- lini and Foreign Minister Ciano. Every external indication suggests that the re- sult of these confabulations is a strength- ening of Italo-German unity not only with respect to Spain, the immediate common interest of both countries, but regarding European problems in general, especially communism, as typified by Soviet Russia. The Fascist dictatorships are plainly prepared to stand shoulder to shoulder in support of Gen. Franco until the insurgent cause is triumphant. The tortuous ways of diplomacy thus far have prevented non-intervention from being anything but a convenient fiction. By the time it is hammered into some- thing more than that, Rome and Berlin clearly intend to keep on supplying the rebels with volunteers and such other aid as will seal the doom of Loyalist hopes and any chance of a communist state on Spanish soil. The Italians and the Germans insist that they are doing no more for Franco than the Soviet and France are doing for Madrid and Valen- cia. As long as this viewpoint and the actual movement of armed aild into Spain persist, the prospect of early cessa- tion of strife is bleak to the point of hopelessness. Of wider omen than the Italo-German attitude toward the Spanish conflict is the effect of the dictators’ entente on the European situation. Automatically it re-creates the bloc system by driving Great Britain and France into each other’'s arms. Foreign Secretary Eden and Premier Blum both took occasion, while Mussolini and Hitler were plight- ing their troth anew, to proclaim that Anglo-French relations were never more cordial. Incidentally, Mr. Eden leveled his finger pointedly at Germany as the greatest potential danger to peace. Both the British and the Frencle re- putedly stand ready to make the Reich substantial economic and perhaps even territorial concessions in return for Nazi pledges to abandon aggressive rearma- ment and renounce designs on the Euro- pean status quo. Hitler will have oppor- tunity this week, when he delivers a speech celebrating his accession to power, to indicate his choice. The anni- versary falls in the midst of a Winter of grave want and discontent in Ger- many. The world walts anxiously to see whether, bulwarked by the regalvanized understanding with Il Duce, der Fuhrer elects to pursue the tactics of the past or the path that leads to pacification. He is confronted by rival schools of advis- ers—on one side the party hotheads who want no surrender of Nazi plans for a Greater Germany by conquest, if it can- not be achieved by bluff, and, on the other, by the business interests, personi- fled by Dr.- Schacht, and the army, both of which groups know that the Reich is not yet ready for a supreme war gamble, isolated, as it is, except for the ties with Italy and with a Japan as poor in food and raw materials as Germany and torn asunder by internal political strife. The preservation of Lenin’s mortal remains is remarkable. The preservation of Trotzky's political remains is even more 80. Joe Louis says he does not hate even those whom he fights. In most of his battles he has occasion to feel sorry for them. “Sit down strikers” have a hard rou- tine to follow. Few tasks are harder than enforced idleness. Practical Memorials. Occasionally the question is raised as to the desirability of practical memorials. Yet it would seem that every effort of mankind to commemorate the lives and services of its heroes should have some pragmatic significance. The fashion in such things has changed in modern times—changed for the better, presum- ably, in tune with the growing social instinot of the people. George Wash- ington, for example, is honored by one generation in an obelisk; by another in a bridge over the Hudson River. Both structures keep his name alive, but the latter performs that duty in larger forms of utility than the former. The beau- tiful Greek temple in tribute to Abraham Lincoln similarly constitutes a noble homage to the Emancipator, but the highway constructed from New York to San Francisco—three thousand three hundred and thirty-one miles of boule- vard linking the East and the West for the convenience of millions of citizens— is perhaps an equally inspiring monu- ment. Of course, there are those who argue that beauty should be useless. That view formerly was immensely popular, and it has been defended passionately by able apologists. Nothing, however, in the career of the Father of His Country nor in that of the Saviour of the Union could be exhibited to prove that they would have objected to being remembered as practical personalities. Both were devoted to the common good; both, then, wouldgave applauded improved facilities of travel. The bridge builders and the roadmakers stand in need of no defense, Likewise, the philosophy which sug- gests a great auditorium in the Nation's Capital as a memorial to Thomas Jeffer- son is a good philosophy. The third President was one of the world’s most courageous libeftarians. He believed, as Secretary of the Interior Harold i. Ickes has said, in free speech. It was part of his doctrine of democracy that the masses should be educated and trained to unhampered expression of their ideals. The open forum concept of public dis- cussion was precious to him not merely in theoretical form, but just as truly in practical application. Reading the story of his struggles with oppression, the average individual cannot fail to be moved by the rational logic of his case for an enfranchised Republic. A marble statue, certainly, may be appreciated by many who enjoy the sculptor’s art, but the leader who wanted to be celebrated for the part he took in establishing the University of Virginia and for his share in framing the Virginia statute of re- ligious freedom and the Declaration of Independence might be counted upon to Indorse the auditorium plan. The building could be a magnificent work of architectural genius. Indeed, it would be a contradiction if it were not. And Jefferson’s effigy could and should grace its entrance and appear in the murals painted on its interior walls. The complaint that such a structure might be rented out as a skating rink or for pugilistic purposes is unworthy of notice. —_———— “Old Man River” asserts himself with ruthless and relentless energy on his own account, entirely apart from the senti- mentality that manages to hold over among song writers from Uncle Tom's Cabin days. ——— Efforts to teach are dependent on in- telligent study. Library facilities neces- sarily expand in proportion to the de- mands of a civilization which, without abandoning old ethical standards, must adjust itself to new physical conditions. ————— It would be easy enough to postpone the public rejoicing over an election until cherry blossom time if there were an assurance that harmonious co-opera- tion in political circles can be made to last that long. Compliments fly just after an inaugu- ration and Mr. Farley's no-reprisal policy finds him re-established in the Post Office just at a time when he may be needed to help pass along the valentines. Photography works wonders, but no camera, scanning a scene of social gayety, can make a motion picture mag- nate look as handsome in evening clothes as a regular film star. Some valuable suggestions were given by Gifford Pinchot about forestation and flood control. Like other valuable suggestions they may have gotten into political entanglements. ——————— Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Ground Hog Composes. Said the ground hog so gay: “I am hiding away, Composing my next salutation. If my shadow you see, ©Oh, be careful of me— For that sunshine foretells consternation! “That shadow so strong Puts the season in wrong. But I'm trying to be ‘a good fella.’ An attempt might be made To stay safe in the shade If you lend me a spreading umbrella. “I'll be ready with song When that day comes along. The folks who draw near—I will show ’em A sorrowing lay About Winter's delay— And maybe I'll have a Spring Poem.” In the Publicity Tide. “A man of your position should be careful about his associations.” “As careful as possible,” agreed Sen- ator Sorghum. “But you cant always decide that kind of a matter for your- self. In order to have your picture in the paper at all, it may be necessary to let it appear along with a display of 1llustrations relating to proceedings of a coroner’s jury.” Jud Tunkins says daylight is growing longer, so that staying up all night to have a good time maybe won't be quite as exhausting as formerly. Optieal Ilusion. Philosophers have methods deep Which keep us others blinking. They may look wise, ¢hough fast asleep, And make us think theyre thinking. “Affection may be cruel,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. “Even a musi- clan has to torture the tune he loves before he learns to play it.” The Great Inspiration. I wonder what a motion picture star ‘Would be just like If the press agencies, both near and far, All went on strike. Agricultural Uncertainty. “There’s no way of telling how crops and the market will be, going from one year to the next.” “Yet the farm is interesting.” “Yes,” agreed Farmer Corntossel. “But it'’s no longer what I call a farm. It's a guessing contest.” Terrors of Crime. I keep my conscience clear indeed. And yet I yield to fright. The murder mysteries that I read Keep me awake all night! “Dis world,” said Uncle Eben, “is a place where you is supposed to git ready foh heaven, but de conditions ‘pears to mwu.mmwm.‘a THE POLITICAL MILL BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. The demand by John L. Lewis, chair- man of the Committee for Industrial Organization, that President Roosevelt take up the cudgels for the striking automobile workers is filled with polit- ical possibilities. He coupled with the demand the assertion that organized labor turned the trick for the President in the recent national election. Putting pressure on the President of the United States, openly and boldly, is something new. The President made it clear at his last press conference, without directly referring to Lewis, that he resented it. By veleing his demand on a quid pro quo basis the labor leader has made it rather difficult for the President to take the side of the strikers—if he wishes to do so—in the contest with the General Motors Corp. without the charge being made that he has yielded to the pressure sought to be applied. Just what im- pelled Mr. Lewis to make the demand at the time he did, and as he did, is not quite clear. The President has shown himself particularly friendly to organ- ized labor in the past. It was to be pre- sumed that he would continue to be friendly. LR A settlement of the automobile strike, which has thrown thousands of men out of work—many more thausands than the strikers themselves—necessarily must be earnestly desired by both the workers and the corporation. The great stum- bling blocks in the way apparently have been the insistence of the automobile workers’ union that it be the agency to represent all employes in collective bar- gaining with the employers, and the refusal of its leaders—and Mr. Lewis— to withdraw the “sit down” strikers from the corporation’s plants. The corpora- tion has taken the stand that it has other employes outside the union with whom it should deal, and that it will not deal with the union at all until the strikers have been withdrawn from the plants. If reports from Michigan and New York are correct, the corporation is preparing to go ahead in a legal way to get the strikers out of its plants. * X % ok This question of permitting men who quit work to take over the property of the company for which they work through the “sit down” strike has raised & serious question. Whether the Govern- ment i{s going to condone this kind of practice, by labor or any one else, is looming as a big issue. The union leaders are quoted as saying that to withdraw from the plants is to disarm themselves in the controversy now under way. Nevertheless, taking anoth- er’s property by strong-arm methods is something that has not been permitted by the Government in the past. * k% % If the President does not go along with Mr. Lewis in this automobile strike, are Mr. Lewis and his followers going along with the President in the next political campaign? Of course, this question may not arise at all. The strike may be settled in a way which is satisfactory to the workers and to the leader of the C. I. O. This whole matter—as between the President and Mr. Lewis—may blow over. If it does not, then impetus may be given to the formation of a new party—a labor party which may seek to include the farmers—which has been agitated for some months. With a third political party of that character in the field, the next national election may take any kind of a twist. It is much too far in advance to make any prediction about it. Labor and the farmers, by and large, gave the great majority of their votes to President Roosevelt, the Democratic candidate, in the November election. Subtract a large proportion of this vote from the Democrats four years hence, and a different picture would be pre- sented. How many of the November followers of President Roosevelt would desert his leadership and follow that of Lewis in November, 1940, is decidely a question. For, despite the fact that organized labor did give its support to the President last year, it is equally true that a vast number of voters outside of organized labor, and outside of the ranks of labor, organized or not, voted for the President’s re-election. Furthermore, it has been the traditional policy of the American Federation of Labor, with which Lewis and the C. I. O. are now at outs, to stay away from any labor political party as such. g * Xk ok % President Roosevelt sent to the Senate on Friday the nomination of James A. Farley of New York to be Postmaster General, a reappointment. This was ex- pected. Under the law, a Postmaster General’s term of office is co-extensive with the term of the President appoint- ing him. The law does not apply to other members of the cabinet, but only to the Postmaster General. Mr. Farley is cast- ing about for an opening to go into private business, feeling the need to build up a competence for himself and his family. He has made it clear, how- ever, that he will not make a move until the right kind of opportunity has presented itself. That being the case his tenure of his present office is uncertain. It may run for a month or for many months, Postmaster General Farley is also chairman of the Democratic National Committee and chairman of the Demo- cratic State Committee of New York. It has been rumored many times that he might like the Democratic nomination for Governor of the Empire State, and even that he has ambitions that way. If, however, he lands in a private busi- ness such as he desires, he may give over an ambition to be Governor—if he has such an ambition. The same reason that is impelling him to leave the cabinet would keep him from taking other public office, presumably. EE ‘The present salary of cabinet officers— $15,000 a year—can scarcely be considered exorbitant. In fact, it is a modest salary, and a cabinet officer living in ‘Washington must have private means if he is to break even. The President in his recent recommendations to Congress urged that salaries of Government offi- cials, particularly those in the higher positions, be increased. Running one of the major departments of the Govern- ment is a big job, and the man at the head is entitled to adequate pay for the work and responsibility. ., The Senate confirmed the nomination of Postmaster General Farley the day it was received from the President, with- out debate. This also was expected. The President is generally accorded the right to pick the members of his official family without opposition on the part of the Senate. One exception to this rule stands out in recent years. Calvin Cool- idge, after he had been inaugurated for his elective term in 1925, sent to the Senate the nomination of Charles ‘Warren of Michigan to be Attorney Gen- eral. A group of Republicah progressives, joining with the Democrats, attacked the nomination. The vote was a tie—in the absence of Vice President Dawes—and so the nomination was rejected. If there were any Senators present on Friday when the Farley nomination was taken up who objected to having the chairman of a political party serve as a member of the cabinet, at least they did not ralse their volces in protestygdt prob- NG STAR, \VASHINGTbN, D. C, MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 1937. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Zinnia plants were coming up on in- auguration day, from seed sown a few weeks previous as an experiment. ‘The succession of Springlike days made the gardenér think of seeds and growing things in the yard, and the temptation to put a few in the ground was great. As an experiment, several dozen seeds from an old package of zinnias, favorite annuals of the millions, were put in. Conditions were “just right,” with plenty of warmth, comparatively speak- ing, and more than a plenty of rain. A tour through the garden on inau- guration day revealed a good stand of zinnia seedlings! Practically every seed had germinated. The seedlings were plainly visible, and seemed in the best of condition. * k x % What should be done with them? That was the question which con= fronted the hurry-up gardener. They might have been lifted, of course, and placed in boxes indoors, with what success the weeks might have shown. It was decided, however, to leave them where they were, care being taken to mulch them high with leaves, the theory being that too much protection under the circumstances would be much better than a little too little. That they will’ thrive—and grow—de- pends entirely upon the weather. It might be an extreme possibility for them to live through the Winter, and begin real growth in April, even March, pro- vided the latter month should turn out to be warm. One can never tell, with such essentially silly weather as we have been having. EE After all, January is almost over. That leaves February and March as bad weather possibilities. Sixty days, more or less, and it will be Spring! That is a pleasant thought for mil- lions of people, especially for those interested in flower and vegetable growing. As a matter of possible fact, the period of waiting may be shorter, for sometimes the month of February here- abouts is warm and sometimes even March is not so bad from & garden standpoint. 5 There was a February about 12 years ago which was so warm here that many Spring flowers came into bloom. Persons who stayed at home were warmer than those who went to Florida. * k% % Gardeners hereabouts need scarcely expect another such Winter, but at the same time they can hope for a more open cne than last! No doubt of it, local gardeners were rather spoiled by many years of com- paratively mild Winters, so that the zero and even subzero Winters of the gae:g three years seemed very bad in- 1t is a legitimate hope, no doubt, that we will have no more Winters of that character, for the damage they do to roses and hedges and many other plants is extreme. The one good effect of such Winters is to make the home gardener think more about the need for protection for his plants. Yet there should be no undue cover- ing, no matter what the prospects may be. So far we have had in the main an open Winter, so that mulching of most plants has been entirely unnecessary. If real cold descends upon the garden, with freezing, some mulch should be put around. One theory of mulching is to keep the freeze in, rather than to keep it out entirely, in the belief that it is the successive freezing and semi- thawing which is bad for plants. An- other group of garden enthusiasts dis- pute this, and operate on the theory that the muich should be put on before the freezing sets in. Fortunately for most gardens, Nal has endowed her plant children with more tolerance than many a human gives them and her credit for possessing. ‘Thus the resulting safety of most plants is rather due to Nature than to anything that we do, whether we mulch one way or another. Our theories, in other words, and our operations, prob- ably only soothe our own minds, rather than do the plants any serious good or harm, one way or another. LR Healthy, hardy trees, shrubs, peren- nial and biennial plants can stand the most severe weather, whereas those with weak roots, poor fiber and other inimical characteristics are the first to feel the effects of cold. We call this “resistance” in human beings, and it is the same in plants. ‘Whether or not they possess the power to pull through a season of severe weather depends on many factors, some within the province of the planter, others only within the control of Nature. And she operates on seemingly ruthless lines. There 1s no appeal. What happens is her verdict. The strong plant survives, the weak one does not, and that is that. The sensitive gardener—and there are many such—often looks out his window in Winter and shivers for the health of his plants. He is wasting his time. They live in a different world than ours, in a sense. (Any one who does not believe this let him or her read “The Garden in the Making,” that ex- cellent book.) There is no triumph or tears in that world, no rejoicing or lamenting. What happens depends on everything else that happens; when a subject dies it is just so much fertilizer in the end for the others. * ok k % Aside from giving some mulch to such plants as experience has shown need it, the gardener can do very little for his plants in Winter. Fortunately for him, they do not need any other help, but are dormant, and thus, in a sense, half dead, although at the same time are very much alive. If any one doubts this latter state- ment, as he looks at a bare, apparently browned and withered stalk, let him cut through a section about 2 inches from the tip. Usually it will be “Winter killed,” as gardeners say, back that far, but the rest of it will show a beautiful and healthy green. This is the green of life, in plants, roughly equivalent to the red blood of life in animals. Even if you never make another trip to the garden in Winter, make this one, and snip off a piece of bark, in order to see “the garden in the making” for here it is, as nice and green, in its way, as you will see in May or June. Leave and flowers are but expansions of this universal plant green, which clothes our visible world in a beautiful dress when warmth and water combine at last to give us what we call Spring, whose very name is lovely to our eyes and ears, and whose very meaning is to leap, to bound. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Despite widespread belief that the New Deal would enter upon its second cycle with important personnel changes, Skipper Roosevelt has decided, at least for the indefinite future, to run the ship of state with the same crew. Custom, not law—except in the case of the re- quired reappointment of the Postmaster General—calls for submission of resig- nations by high appointive officials, in- cluding the cabinet and diplomatic service, when one administration ends and another begins. If there was any wholesale desire to leave the Roosevelt reservation on January 20, it has not come to light. So the President will not only “carry on” with his economic and social policies, but do so, until further notice, with the lieutenants who fought the good recovery fight with Him. This is the situation as of today. What it will be six months or a year hence, or when the Federal reorganization scheme takes form, is a horse of another color. Crea- tion of two new executive departments may bring some shifts in the existing cabinet and among the chief independ- ent agencies. Few authorities believe that the trend to better-paid jobs in private life, to which notable New Deal- ers have migrated (Kennedy, Tugwell, Dickinson, Landis, Grady et al) is definitely checked. EE At both ends of Pennsylvania avenue the sensation of the hour is the prospect of a break between the White House and John L. Lewis. Whether so intended or not, F. D. R.’s comment on the C. I O. chieftain’s hints regarding the Presi- dent’s election debt to labor is almost universally interpreted as a rebuke of the bushy-haired commander of the forces arrayed against General Motors. Impartial observers at the Capitol and elsewhere are convinced that Lewis, who ordinarily measures his distance with rare skill, for once committed a strategic blunder which may cost him dearly, both as an influence among the Nation’s workers and in a political sense. There was a time when some people thought Lewis might even have aspired to Roose- velt support of his reputed presidential ambitions. But current events persuade old hands in the game of practical poli- tics that the entente cordiale has now been undermined, perhaps beyond all possibility of repair. Nobody thinks the episode will prevent the President from moving, in case of grave emergency, to bring peace in the automobile industry, but the common guess is that Lewis’ outburst will make Mr. Roosevelt ex- tremely cautious about taking any step looking as if he were leaning in the C. I. Os direction. L Secretary Hull, usually most pacific and placid of statesmen, was in two- fisted fighting mood and form when he appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee the other day in de- ably would take more than the renom- ination of Mr. Farley to make them break with the President. They prefer to remain loyal to the President than to be independent. And anyway, any effort to sidetrack Mr. Farley would have been entirely futile. He is popular with a very large majority of the Senators. The most ambitious financial program ever for a national political party, immediately following an elec- tion, is that advanced for the Demo- cratic National commxme:so.m,m fense of his reciprocal trade program. He did not pull his punches when Re- publican members quibbled and heckled. In the course of torrid exchanges with them Judge Hull, who at one time pounded the table to emphasize his views, coined a new phrase for “small pota- toes.” He denounced inconsequential questions as “chinquapins,” a species of dwarf chestnuts common in the South. ‘The Tennesseean bitterly resented “chin- quapins” in connection with a subject involving, as he said, the momentous iesue of world peace. Under the circum- stances, he had contemptuous impa- tience with figures showing “a few dollars more or less in the value of imports or exports.” As a battle-scarred Ways and Means veteran, Secretary Hull has all tariff facts at his tongue’s tip. Chairman Doughton’s committee found him eager and able to trade blows on any and all phases of the revenue problem, especially its international aspects. * k% It's now the League of Nations which is absorbing New Dealers. Geneva has just announced appointment of two former important members of the Roose- velt high command. Winfleld William Riefler, who in 1933-4-5 was the admin- istration’s “interpreting economist,” has been named a substitute American mem- ber of the League's permanent Finance Committee, while Dr. Henry F. Grady, until recently chief of the trade agree- ments division of the State Department, will join the permanent Economic Com- mittee. Mr. Riefler will take the place of Norman H. Davis, who remains a mem- ber of the Finance Committee, but has not attended a session since 1934. Two other Americans newly designated for League service are former Surg. Gen. Hugh 8. as & member of the Health Committee and Mitchell Carroll 25 & member of the Fiscal Committee. LI ‘Three opening weeks of the Seventy- fifth Congress have provided prompt and graphic evidence that smooth sailing awaits major Roosevelt measures. With- out opposition worthy of the name recommendations regarding Spanish neu- trality, dollar devaluation, the stabiliza- tion fund and renewal of the Reconstruc- tion Finance Corp.’s life were approved in rapid-fire order. Three-year exten- sion of the reciprocal trade act is sched- uled to ensue in the same expeditious fashion. The President’s first real leg- Islative hurdles will be faced when his reorganization scheme reaches the pas- sage * % %% Those big-hearted philanthropists in , who are bent upon spending another $1,000,000,000, more or_less, for relief, take fresh heart from President Roosevelt's inaugural reference to “one- third of a Nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill- nourished.” Advocates of fatter appro- priations than either the White House or Mr. Hopkins favors are sure to seize upon that contention as an alibi for their demands. ~ Republicans, on their part, probably will noi overlook the political epportunity of pointing out that if some 40,000,000 Americans are still in distress it is hardly consistent to gloat that the depression is conquered. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. A reader ~an get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. How often had the West Point cadets and Annapolis midshipmen been in the inaugural parades before this year?—J. W. F. H. A. The midshipmen had participated in the following inaugural parades in Washington, D. C.: 1901, 1905, 1913, 1917, The West Point cadets had par- ticipated in the inaugural parades of the following years: 1873, 1901, 1905, 1909, 1913, 1917, Q. At what season of the year is pneumonia most prevalent?—S. T. A. Two-thirds of the cases occur in the Winter and Spring, and one-third in the Summer and Fall. Q. At what interest rate were the Government resettlement loans made last year?—A. J. A. At 5 per cent. It was found in some localities tenant farmers had in the past paid an interest charge either directly or indirectly of from 20 to 35 per cent. Q. Who invented the treadmill used in English prisons?—J. W. A. The treadmill is the invention of Sir William Cubit and was introduced into the prisons of Great Britain about 1820. It has been generally abolished. Q. What are the two leather pouches for that are carried on either side of the saddle horn by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police?—J. R. A. The wallets are used (1) to keep grooming kit in for the horse and the other for personal belongings, important papers, if necessary, and similar articles. Q. Why was iodine so named?— M. B. G. A. It receives its name from a Greek word meaning violet light. It is so- called because of the color of its vapor. It was discovered in 1811 by Courtois. Q. What is a traveling sidewalk?— H G A. This is a system consisting of mov- aktle, parallel, continuous platforms to carry passengers from one point to another. They were first practically tested at the World's Columbian Exposi- tion in Chicago in 1893 and since then successfully installed in Berlin. The sidewalk built for the Paris Exposition in 1900 was three miles long. Q. What is the Giant's Causeway?— W. H. A. This is a line of three perpendicular cliffs on the northeastern coast of Ire- land. According to legend they were built by giants. The three cliffs are formed of vertical basalt columns and called the Little Causeway, the Middle Causeway and the Grand Causeway. The last has a width of nearly 120 feet and extends about 500 feet into the sea. Q. When was Eton College, England, founded?—R. J. A. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI. It was intended as a preparatory school fer King's College, Cambridge. Q. Who was Sojourner Truth?—E. H. A. She was a Negro lecturer, born in Ulster County, New York, about 1790. In 1827 she escaped from Michigan, where she was held as a slave, and dis- carded her real name for Sojourner Truth. Though quite illiterate she spoke with much natural talent on emancipa= tion and other reforms. Q. What is the name of the battle ground at Belleau Woods, France?—E. J. A. The battle ground was dedicated in 1923 as a permanent memorial to the Americans who fell there, and its name was changed to Bois de la Brigade de Marine. Q. Where in Pennsylvania is there a home for retired music teachers?— J. K. L. A. The Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers is in Germantown, Pa. Q. How much money has “Tobacco Road” made in its long run?—E. F. A. The play has earned its producers approximately $1,500,000. Q. Who were the leading lawn tennis players of 1936?—C. G. H. A. The United States Lawn Tennis Association lists the following as the best man players of the year: Donald Budge, Frank Parker and Bryan M. Grant. The best woman players were Alice Marble, Helen Jacobs and Sarah Palfrey Fabyan. . Q. What is the meaning of the word tycoon?—H. M. A. It is a Chinese word meaning great prince. The title was formerly conferred by foreigners on the shogun or com- mander in chief of the Japanese army. Q. How many people live in the Fiji Islands?—B. C. A. About 190,000. Of these 185,000 are natives. Q. What kind of glass is used in the windows of the dirigible Hindenburg?— E. G. "A. Plexiglas is used in the windows. It is unbreakable. Budgeless Budgets. Prom the Burlington (Towa) Hawkeye Gazette. Government budgets get so big they just can’t be budged. A Rhyme at Twilight B Gertrude Brozke Hamilton The Singer. Sometimes I dream I have been given The gift that lifts one near to Heaven. To you it always did belong— The gift of song. ‘Yet, dreaming, from my throat will flow Music that only angels know; In dulcet tones, melodious, true, I sing like you. God gave to you, and not to me, ‘The gift to make such melody; This dream voice can alone be mine In realms divine, odd who inadvertently voted Republican in November. The New Deal chairman confidently counts on keeping all 46 of the 1936 Roosevelt States safe for’the Democrats, while hoping that by more intensive effort next time even Maine and Vermont can be brought within the fold. Mr. Farley, firm believer in taking time by the forelock, doesn’t think it's a bit too soon to begin organizing congressional victory in 1938 and duplicating it in both: the congressional and presidential 1940. e °§com—um. 1037, ) y-