Evening Star Newspaper, January 27, 1937, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. ‘WEDNESDAY._. --January 27, 1937 THEODOKE W. NOYES -Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 1ta St and Pennsylvanla Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t Chicago Office: 435 North Michigan Ave. Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban, Regular Edition, ‘The Eveninz and Sunday Star 65¢ per month or 15¢ per week The Evening Star 45¢ per The Su ‘day Star. i Night Final Edition. 70c per month Star __. __ . ¢ per month Collection made at the end of each month or each week. Orders may be sent by mail or tele- vhone National 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virsinia. Daily and Sunday. Daily only ___. ¥ 6.00; 1 mo., ble Sunday only__Z yo. $4.00; 1 mo. 40c All Other States and Canada. Buly and Suncgy..l sr. $12.00; 1 mo., $1.00 aily only_.. 13r, "§¥00: 1 mol " se Sunday only- 1 yrl $5.00i 1 mol The Assoclated Press 15 exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispaiches credited to 1t or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All Tights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. nth or 10c per week = ¢ per copy 1 mo,, 85c Two Mistakes. General Motors executives made a mistake in refusing to attend Secretary Perkins’ conference. They may have lacked, and with very good reason, faith in the Secretary of Labor’s ability to accomplish anything by the conference. The Secretary of Labor's ability to accomplish much by conferences has not been demonstrated. That, however, is not the point. Gen- eral Motors executives had just seen John L. Lewis, by his inept statements, put himself neatly in a hole. They plainly enjoyed the advantage of a public sentiment which resented Mr. Lewis’ bombastic attempt to bulldoze the Presi- dent. But instead of using that ad- vantage for their own ends, General Motors executives neatly pulled Mr, Lewis out of the hole and put them- selves in, That is where they are for the time being. ‘The American people are not as much interested in the demands of the labor organizers and the rights of the auto- mobile manufacturers as they are in getting this strike settled through peace- able and reasonably fair agreement. Such agreement can only come through conference. And the attitude that no conferences will be possible until the other side has made certain concessions is not conducive to any settlement, In the meantime, Secretary Perkins has not covered herself with glory in her tacit condonation of that newly imported French novelty—the sit-down strike. This weapon is new in the United States under the name it now bears. But it has been known in the past as trespass. And trespass has not, in the past, been condoned by the Federal Government. In stating that the “legal- ity of the sit-down strike has yet to be | determined,” coupling that opinion with others which indicate that, like other forms of strike and picketing, it will become legal, Secretary Perkins has shown a partisan attitude which can not be helpful and may prove to be dangerous. It is true that the sit-down strike’s legality is yet to be tested. Public author- ities have been slow to act in interference with the sit-down strikers. Public senti- ment has not crystallized in its appraisal of this particular form of force. People are reserving judgment until they know more about what is behind the sit-down strike and what may be its potential uses. But when the sit-down strike is tested in the courts, it is difficult to believe that the decision will be anything but that it is not only illegal but highly unfair and | dangerous to the public interest. As flood disasters startle the country there comes a crisis which nobody can ignore. The Nation sets aside selfish controversy and listens for the call of duty. In the Ohio valley crisis every citizen will be on tiptoe for action. There cannot be even the shadow of a suggestion of a sit-down strike. Absolutely no constructive criticism has been expected from Trotzky, whose peculiar methods evidently avail to re- duce even so orderly a procedure as a press conference to a state of confusion. ——————_ Nobody cares about length of working hours when genuine human emergency arises. Jews in Poland. Anti-Semitism is no phenomenon in Poland. Intermittently since foundation of the republic at the end of the World War, the plight of the Jews there has been a distressing one. Recurring War- saw governments, well-intentioned for the most part toward citizens of Jewish faith, have never been able fully to re- press widespread popular and political prejudice against them. With the in- filtration of Nazi influence acress the border after the advent of Hitlerism in Germany, the country has witnessed a progressively rising tide of anti-Semitism, which now has reached proportions that threaten to engulf not only Polish Jews, but co-religionists throughout Eastern Europe, in the merciless fate that has be- fallen the race in the Reich. To their credit, the present authorities at Warsaw have refused resolutely to deprive Jews of their rights as equal citizens, despite the clamor of their ene- mies for discriminatory treatment. The government’s attitude is maintained with difficulty. It faces the opposition both of the National Democratic party and of growing numbers among its own sup- porters. At the moment, the cabinet is concentrating upon resistance to a cru- sade designed to bring about wholesale evacuation of Jews, At one time Jewish leaders favored such a project, and were planning a systematic migration to the French colonies, but such an exodus is no longer feasible because of the necessity to confine available financial aid to help- ing Germany’s destitute Jews. As a result, the anti-Semitic movement is gaining momentum in Poland. It is A THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, now taking the form of an organized drive to destroy Jewish shopkeepers by boycott. Already all Jews have been forced to leave certain townships. Jewish attendance at universities has been re- duced about sixty per cent. Refusal by the minister of education to approve the segregation of Jewish students is a con= stant source of riots and strikes. An in- teresting aspect of the controversy is the attitude of the Socialist party, which alone among important political groups openly opposes anti-Semitism. Socialists insist there would be no Jewish question in Poland if the national economy were reconstructed so as to permit peasants to earn a respectable livelihood. By and large, there is regrettably cumulative evidence that Polish Jews face conditions as oppressive as those under which their German brethren are suffering. The situation, with its peril of spread- ing to other sections of the Old World, lends special interest to the approaching meeting in Washington of American Jews associated with the United Palestine Ap- peal. Among its leading participants will be Dr. Chaim Weizmann, who, as president of the World Zionist Organiza- tion, has rendered such eminent service in making the national homeland a haven for persecuted Jews from many lands, Guffey on the Court. It is difficult to take seriously the resolution offered by Senator Guffey call- ing for an investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee of charges made against justices of the Supreme Court in the beok entitled “The Nine Old Men.” If the charges were true, they would amount to impeachable offenses. The Senate, under the Constitution, sits as a court in impeachment trials, and the prosecution is undertaken by the House of Representatives. What Senator Guf- fey proposes is that the Senate, through its Judiciary Committee, become the pri- mary agent of prosecution. If the charges were proven, then the Senate would sit as judges. It is possible that Senater Guffey overlooked the provision of the Constitution regarding impeach- ment, ‘That, however, is only one angle. An- other is that he uses the Senate as a forum to launch a new attack upon the Supreme Court of the United States as now constituted. That is, the court itself. It is another effort to undermine the court in the minds of the American people; to make them lose faith in the judiciary. Senator Guffey, addressing the Senate, said: “Every Senator understands the general feeling of the people of the coun- try that the attitude of the Supreme Court toward congressional legislation is the most serious problem ahead of Con- gress if it is to carry out the mandate given the administration by the people at the recent election.” This is putting the cart before the horse. If Congress, in enacting legislation, would give thought and study to the provisions of the Con- stitution and keep within its bounds, there would be no occasion for opinions of the court holding the acts of Congress unconstitutional. If there is something wrong with the Constitution, if it needs amendment, the means is within the hands of the mem- bers of Congress and of the States to rectify the situation through amend- ment to the Constitution. That, how- ever, does not seem to be the desire of the administration, of which Senator Guffey is an ardent follower in the Senate. What the administration de- sires, and apparently Senator Guffey as well, is that the court shall interpret the fundamental law of the land as the administration wishes it interpreted. The present barrage laid down against the Supreme Court is intended to make the | court understand that it is unpopular with the American people—and to make the court unpopular with the people. Attacks upon the Supreme Court are not new. They have been made in other administrations and in other ways. The court has weathered those attacks. It probably will weather those now in prog- ress. The court is not above criticism any more than is the President of the United States or the Congress. If in- dividual members of the court have been guilty of improper conduct, there is always the trial by impeachment, and if they are found guilty they are subject to dismissal, and may be tried later for their misdeeds and punished. Whether a failure to interpret the Constitution as Senator Guffey, for example, would have it interpreted constitutes a misdeed is decidedly a question. A generous and conflicting attitude in matters of finance may suggest a policy of waiting for something to turn up, instead of an effort to mold conditions with subtle skill. Anybody will prefer a Micawber to a Machiavelli. Mississippi Flood Problem. Once again we pay the price of agri- cultural greed and neglected reforesta- tion in the great areas of the United States drained by the Ohio and Mis- sissippi Rivers. For nearly 30 years the United States Engineering Corps has built the levees higher and higher while timber cutters destroyed the natural watersheds and reclamation projects drained the vast swamps which provided a natural over- flow for the lower Mississippi. In that time there have been four major floods, but the residents of the river cities rarely passed & Spring without fear of inun- dation. Of course, the primary cause of the present disaster is the open Winter, which allowed the heavy rains to flood all the small streams where the moisture usually is frostbound until Spring. But had the trees cut from riverlands during this 30-year period been replaced and the drained swamplands, good only for an occasional crop, been opened again as natural overflow the now ever-present danger of flood might be averted. There is a vast area adjacent to the banks of the Mississippi between Cairo, I, and Memphis, Tenn., once known as the “Southeast Missouri” section, ex- tending well into Northern Arkansas. ‘Thirty years ago it was a veritable ever= glade of swampland and the scene of vast timber operations. Soon after the best of the lumber was gone the great reclamation dredges were biting their way into the area, along their self-cut ditches, draining the swamp waters into the river and erecting levees to raise fine crops of corn. Losses were frequent from the overflows, but prices were good and the land was so fertile that farmers could afford to take the chance. Then came the great floods of 1912-13. Strangely enough, the floods seem to come in consecutive years. The waters again poured through this whole area and the residents huddled on railroad embank- ments and lived in freight cars until the Red Cross could get them back to their lands. During the past few years farm- ing has not been so profitable in this area, and it is here that the Army Engineers expect this perhaps greatest of all Ohio-Mississippi floods again to pour into its natural spillway and re- lieve the weakened levees. It is the first real test of their plan and if successful will encourage extension of the spillway system. But in the final analysis until there is some definite policy of reforesting the watersheds and “reclaiming” drained swamp lands for the rivers, the race of levee builders against the floods probably will continue and Congress will be asked to pour additional millions into the lower Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. ———— o Business is undoubtedly improving This fact is fully demonstrated, regard- less of stock quotations, by the cash available for investment in the enter- prise of relieving human distress. ————— Austria has witnessed so many turns in world affairs that the “Blue Danube Waltz” takes on a tinge of international significance. Soil conservation and forestation in- telligently carried on are recognized as essential. More and better “boondog- gling” might have prevented a flood. —————— Contrasts assert themselves. Cincin- nati, often among the gayest of cities, becomes one of the saddest, Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Aggressive Benefactor. Each mortal that you meet As you travel down the street Will tell you he is busy with a plan ‘Which, he hasn't any doubt, Will in course of time work out In ways to benefit his fellow man. It may be a weapon neat For warriors when they meet. He'll present it to his own special clan. Great good he means to do, Even though he kills a few. It’s all to benefit his fellow man. Not Interested in Echoes. “Some of the things you have said,” remarked the admiring friend, “will go echoing down the corridors of time.” “Those echoes are too distant end have too little present influence. What I want is unlimited time on a nation- wide radio hook-up right now!” Thought and Sound. “Why do you play the violin?” “Because,” answered the thoughtful person, “I am a philosopher.” “And also a musician?” “No. If I were a true musician and not a philosopher, the best I could do with a fiddle would probably distress me terribly.” Cruel Attack. The radio singer struck high C And those who heard assert That when she struck it there could be No doubt that it had hurt. Jud Tunkins says he went to see a show that he disapproved of so strongly that he warned his neighbors against it; and they all bought tickets. “No loneliness,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is so deep as that of a man whose power is so great that all men seek to be only his servant and none aspires to be an unselfish friend.” Cost of Intellect. The statesman labors late at night And has to use electric light. The old ones were content to toil At less expense with midnight ofl; And intellect a price commands, Like other things, tiat still expands. “Good sense,” said Uncle Eben, “is what we admires, but good luck is what we truly envies.” Advocates a Later Date for The Inaugural Procession To the Editor of The Star: The letter published in The Star headed “Hold the Inauguration Festival in May or June,” written by Mr. Fowler, is a most sensible one and desefving of serious consideration by those with legislative authority. It seems that we learn very slowly how to do things in a sensible way. Why should we hold in- augural ceremonies in a season of such dangerous weather as is usual in the Winter months? It was on the 30th of April, 1789, that George Washington took the oath of office and instituted the first inaugural ceremony. I suggest that the oath of office be taken as provided by the Constitution in January, but that the parade be post- poned till April 30, the anniversary of the inauguration of George Washington. If that is too early for the ceremony, I suggest June 14—Flag day—which would be a fitting occasion for the ceremonies. RUSSELL ROOKS. Undismayed. From the Omaha World-Herald. Calendar makers are never disturbed bytor:euumzthewoflduoommcw an end. Florida’s See-Saw. Prom the Miami Herald. It has been Florida’s experience that when stocks go up, Winter visitors come f S Paint Is No Protection At the “Safety Zones” To the Editor of The Star: After reading an account in Saturday’s Star of a young woman being severely injured when struck by an automobile while standing in a Wisconsin avenue safety zone, I am convinced that your paper can render a great service by im- pressing upon the Public Service Com- mission and other District officials that it is more imperative to protect human lives than snow-removing equipment. The excuse that the turtle-back but- tons, which should protect every safety zone, were temporarily removed to facili- tate removal of snow and eliminate dam- age to plows, seems indeed ridiculous. Furthermore, spreading a little yellow paint to designate a safety zone is no protection to those unfortunate souls who depend on street cars for transpor- tation. Last October I was practically a wit- ness to an accident when a mother was killed and her small son severely in- jured by an automobile driven through the safety zone at Woodley road and Wisconsin avenue, This accident like- wise occurred at & zone having no turtle- back markers. Shortly after this tragedy turtle-back markers were installed, but recently they were taken up again. Since their re- moval I have observed that invariably many motorists pay no attention to the yellow lines marking the zone. Last night, while standing in front of our apament at 3206 Wisconsin avenue, I noticed that about every other car drove directly through the zone. Unless proper steps are taken to correct this condition further loss of life or serious injuries will occur to more innocent people. After all, persons holding public office are nothing more than salaried employes of the people. Therefore we must look to them to put a stop to this slaughter and injury of human lives. If it takes turtle-back button markers or additional traffic patrolmen or the in- stallation of more traffic signals, then the people are entitled to such protective measures, L. G. EMMERT, ——o——————— Bus Driver Takes Exception To Editorial in The Star To the Editor of The Star: In The Star of January 19 there ap- peared an editorial under the headline of “Roasting in a Bus.” In my opinion, it was & general slam at all city bus opera- tors. This is certainly unwarranted. ‘We operators are governed by a set of strict rules and regulations, which are put out by the P. U. C. and the Capital Transit Co. Naturally, all of these are not obeyed 100 per cent. No person, com- pany or corporation is perfect. There- fore we must look for and expect mis- takes, especially when the local transit company has had to make so many changes. There are always two sides to a ques- tion. Not so long ago the cry was for more heat and more ventilation. The latter was to come from sources other than the windows. Now they have both and the nature of the latest cry was clearly expressed in the editorial men- tioned. Some people are cold-blooded, some hot-blooded and the others are just moderate. Some dress in wool, some in silk and satin, some wear over- coats, some wear topcoats and others wear none. The moral that it is im- possible to please every one, learned from the story of the man, boy and mule, would serve well in this case. If some were to have their way they would probably do as follows: Inclose each seat and have private heaters and ventilators which would be regulated by a porter upon request of the rider. This is not & slur or slam, but I just want some to find out how their own medicine tastes. I think the transit patrons of Wash- ington are, as a whole, polite and very patient. But in ironing out your diffi- culties please be considerate. I am will- ing to take my share of the blame. ARTHUR GILCHRIST. e Statement as to a Lapse in The Presidency Corrected To the Editor of The Star: May I take issue with the statement in The Star of January 21 that “the United States apparently had three Presidents yesterday in the-short period between noon and 12:29 p.m.”? This statement is followed by a para- graph to the effect that “because of the fallure of President Roosevelt to take the oath of office at noon, as prescribed by the twentieth amendment to the Con- stitution, considerable confusion has arisén between parliamentarians of the House and Senate as to who actually was the head of the Government in the 29- minute period.” It is suggested that both Vice President Garner and Secre- tary of State Hull were the Nation's chieftains in this period. I do not see how any confusion can arise. It is true that the Constitution in the twentieth amendment provides that the terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th of January, and that such terms ended at noon last Wednesday is beyond ques- tion. The Constitution, however, ex- pressly guards against there being any hiatus in the office of President, for it provides that “if the President-elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President-elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified.” When the President-elect failed to qualify at noon last Wednesday, the Vice President-elect was authorized by the Constitution to act as President until & President shall have qualified. There is nothing in the Constitution which de- mands that the Vice President-elect shall himself qualify in order to act as Fresident, but the mere fact that he is the Vice President-elect automatically empowers him to act as President until the President-elect shall have qualified. HENRY LITCHFIELD WEST. Mr. Jurney Was a Graduate . . Of Georgetown University To the Editor of The Star: In The Sunday Star, January 24, 1937, T read with interest an article “Police Power of Senate Is Held by Former Secretary.” The article gives the facts in the career of Chesley W. Jurney, sergeant at arms in the' Senate. In this article it was stated that he was a graduate from the law department of George Wash- ington University. This is an error. Mr. Jurney was graduated with the class of 1908 from Georgetown University School of Law, as appears from the offi- cial records of the Law School. This fact was verified also by me when I called Mr. Jurney’s office at the Capitol. The Star is widely read, and the Law School will be very grateful if you will correct _the error in an early number of The Star. HUGH J. FEGAN, Assistant Dean. Still Walking. Prom the Lowell Leader. Manufacture of shoes in the Boston area is said to be at the highest point in the history of the industry. Which sug- gests that, despite the popularity of the :l.lwmobfle. a good deal of walking must 4l WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1937. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. ‘That most typical of all Spring sounds, the cheerful call of the cardinal, or red- bird, rang out high over the tips of the tall oaks. It was January, but a January, in which coplous rains and high tempera- tures had combined to make Spring seem at hand. It was the same all over the country, a terrible season of unusual weather, with growers in some sections being forced to keep fires burning in their orchards, in others compelling to ice branches in order to prevent them from bursting into bloom. Out in our neck of the woods the birds thought it was Spring, and no one could blame them a bit. The cardinal, in par- ticular, was sure of it. Great masses of black clouds loomed to the South at 7 o'clock that morning. Going along the sidewalk, the pedes- trian might have thought it dusk, for precisely the same sort of half-light prevailed. Automobiles were hurling themselves forward along the black, glistening, slip- pery avenue as if great animals of de- struction in their own right, without a so-called “master mind” of some human being compelling them to it in each and every case. To a walker on the sidewalk in the half-light, carefully trying to wait & safe opportunity to cross the boulevard, each car seemed a monster incarnate, trying its best to catch the pedestrian before he could get across. It was almost with a gasp that the pedestrian realized that not a one of these drivers, human beings even like unto himself, was giving a single thought to the possibility that he, the walker, might slip in the middle of the street. There was something familiar in the situation. Standing there on the curb, he wondered what it was. Then it came to him. Months ago, at about the same hour on a clear, sunny morning in real Spring, he had watched two squirrels in amorous dalliance, chasing each other across the avenue. A car bore down on them from a block away. If the driver had intended to catch the hindmost of the pair beneath his right wheel, just before it escaped to safety, as its mate had, he could not have achieved his fell purpose any better. The animal jerked twice, three times, and then lay still on the macadam. The pedestrian went over and picked up the dead creature. He placed it on the parking. There was a drop of blood on its mouth, but otherwise it appeared unhurt. ‘That was months ago, but the pedes- trian had not forgotten the happening, because it had seemed to him so utterly unnecessary. If the driver had slowed up, just a little bit—— * ok % % “And here and now,” he told himself, on the gloomy morning in January, when the cardinals were singing true Spring songs— “Here and now, they will serve me exactly the same way, just as if I were a squirrel, without slowing up even a second!” This was what was familiar. Even as “they” would serve four-legged animals, so they would serve humans, without slowing up for a second, without one thought or care that the pedestrian crossing the street might slip. It took some of the joy out of Spring in January, but not all of it. The cardinals still were singing to eukl: other over the tops of the highest oaks. They managed to get along in their flying without smacking into each other, without running down any smaller birds. One wondered why human beings, with their superior intelligence, couldn't manage to do the same thing achieved by these other two-legged creatures. Maybe—such was the suspicion—the machines had really gotten out of his control? Maybe the machines had taken control themselves and were dashing along highways of their own free will, which, because it was a perfectly mechanical will, was utterly devoid of sympathy, prudence, thought of others. Maybe these things which came roar- ing at him out of the semi-dark really were bent on maming, killing him. He had better be careful, in any event. * ok x K What kept coming back and knocking at his heart and mind, time after time, was the thought? “But why won't they give me a chance? “When they see me trying to cross on such a wet, slippery morning, they know perfectly well that I am a fallible human being as themselves. “They know that I might slip, or I nlx;:ht start to think about something else— . “If they, as fellow humans, had any regard, in the abstract, for their fellow human beings in a tight place, surely they would slow down just a trifle. “That trifie would permit me to make the curb easily.” He wondered if it followed that the great average human being behind a wheel really lost his regard for other human beings, in the abstract. Placed face to face with any pedes- trian any motorist would have at least an abstract regard for him to a certain extent, as worked out over the cen- turies. It is in the very blood and bone and mental fiber of men of good will, at least. But in a car he seems to lose this good abstraction. And one wonders why. Can it be that machines make might right? * ok kX It was more refreshing, undoubtedly better, to think about the cardinal birds, singing their Spring song in January, when they had no business singing it, but how glad it made the morning seem, and how free from the danger of wheels and steel and gasoline! The modern trinity—steel and wheel and gasoline. “And the gobblins will git yu, if yu don’t watch out!” Safe in the trees the birds sing away, answering the lure of rain and warmth together. Sweeter than gasoline is rain, safer than spark-plug the warmth of the day. Storm clouds bank up in the South. Another rain is coming! Safe on the other curb at last, the pedestrian uses what little breath he has left to sing with the cardinals. As we walked that way, we thought we caught a strain of his song: “Didn’t get me that time! I am not old enough yet. They prefer their vic- tims to be 60 years and up, preferably | erived fror the estates of the Gove 3 score and 10.” WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Not only will advance calculations re- specting relief appropriations probably be thrown out of gear by the necessity to provide generous Federal funds for flood sufferers in the Ohio Valley, but far-reaching new budget arrangements for future flood prevention are also in prospect. Economy-minded as both President Roosevelt and Congress may be at this juncture, there is no inclina- tion either at the White House or at the Capitol to cheesepare in presence of the major disaster which has over- taken Louisville, Cincinnati and numer- ous other communities throughout the submerged area. Despite the thought, energy and money devoted by Uncle Sam over a period of many years to the problem of flood control, it is painfully evident that ways and means have not yet been discovered whereby Mother Na- ture, in the form of swollen rivers, can be effectually combated. Current events make certain that methods of attaining this objective will engage the intensified attention of all branches of the Govern- ment. It is, of course, beyond the power of man utterly to exclude the possibility of such catastrophes as the rampage of the turbulent Ohio, but maximum pre- cautionary effort is assured from now on. That the country is ready to pay the cost, whatever it may be, is nol doubted in any quarter at Washington. xx % . One of the effects of the floods is the holding up of gold consignments to the great new Treasury vaults at Fort Knox, Ky. Shipments will be indefinitely sus- pended, pending alleviation of conditions in the neighborhood of Louisville. Al- though it is still possible to reach Fort Knox by train, the Assay Office authori- ties in New York feel it advisable to postpone further transport of gold until the flood waters have subsided. The fu- ture repository of Uncle Sam’s billions of bullion is fairly remote from any pos- sibility of danger resultant from over- flowed rivers, but transit facilities to the world’s greatest strong box lie close to the Blue Grass sections now under water, * koK % Political, military and naval develop- ments in Japan always rivet the atten- tion of Washington diplomats, soldiers and sailors. The present upheaval, which will decide whether militarists or civilians are to run the government show at Tokio, is being watched with special interest. There’s much curiosity as to what lies behind the role being played by Admiral Osami Nagano, naval min- ister in the deposed Hirota cabinet and former Japanese naval attache in the United States. Nagano's sudden sup- port of the political parties against the army arouses suspicion that the admirals aspire to supplant the generals as the ruling force in the impending revision of the governmental set-up, with a bigger and better Japanese Navy as the eventual objective. o With appointment of Dr. Roswell Ma- gill as Undersecretary of the Treasury, evidence is forthcoming that academic talent still commands New Deal favor. Although he has had two terms of service in the Treasury Department, Dr. Magill has been a professor of law at Columbia University, incubator of the original brain trust, since 1927, teaching courses in taxation and civil procedure. At the University of Chicago he studied law under Herman Oliphant, Secretary Mor- genthau’s general counsel. Dr. Magill, registered Democrat, is the son of Hugh Stewart Magill, Independent Re- publican candidate for the Senate from Tllinois in 1926 and now president of the American Federation of Investors, Un- dersecretary Magill's wife was & class- mate at Chicago and they were married while fellow students. Mrs. Magill has also been admitted to the bar. The Treasury’s new No. 2 man served under Secretary Mellon in connection with the 1924 revenue act and under Secretary Morgenthau in connection with the 1934 law and an investigation of the British tax system. His recently published book, “Taxable Income,” is considered by some authorities as revealing Dr. Magill's lack of sympathy with the 1934 tax scheme. Apart from his scholastic duties, he has been mainly active as a “lawyer’s lawyer” in tax cases and corporate affairs in | which taxability is of importance. * ¥ % % Current visits of prominent British financiers are associated, among other matters, with defaulted foreign bonds held by British and American investors, especially Latin American issues. Over- seas securities in arrears are now the special care of the American Foreign Bondholders' Protective Council, of which the older British Council of For- eign Bondholders is a sister organization. The latter regularly lists in its annual report the obligations of certain Amer- ican Southern States, which have been in default since the Civil War and be- fore. The Britishers are exploring the possibility of Anglo-American co-opera- tion in protection of mutual interests threatened by bond defaulters. Repudi- ated war debts to Uncle Sam are not on the agenda. * ok x % Probably no. tears are shed in the neighborhood of the American Federa- tion of Labor over the repercussions from John L. Lewis’ call upon President Roose- velt for quid-pro-quo intervention in the automobile strike. Should the C. I. ©O. leader lose caste at the White House, or in the labor world as a consequence of defeat by General Motors, the stock of his arch-foe, William Green, presi- dent of the A. F. of L., would almost automatically rise. Authorities think that the temporarily latent conflict be- tween the federation and the Committee for Industrial Organization is bound to be decisively affected by the outcome of strife in the automobile field and its acid test of Lewis’ leadership. Mean- time, Mr. Roosevelt’s sharp disapproval of General Motors President Sloan's re- fusal to confer in Washington goes far to take the curse off the recent White House “rebuke” of Lewis’ appeal for administration support. * ok ok % James V. Bennett, new director of the Bureau of Prisons, comes close to being Uncle Sam’s typical “career” civil servant. He began at the old Bureau of Efficiency in 1919, later being detailed to study office procedure and policies in the ex- ecutive departments. Eventually he be- came secretary of the Personnel Classi- fication Board. In 1925 Mr. Bennett was assigned to the select committee of the House appointed to investigate condi- tions in Federal prisons. His association with the Department of Justice dates from 1929, when he was appointed as- sistant director under Sanford Bates, whom he now succeeds as head of the prisons bureau. It was primarily under Bennett's direction that the present sys- tem of industrial operations in Federal penal institutions was adopted. Soft- spoken native Rhode Islander and forty= ish, Mr. Bennett is a Brown University man, took his law degree at George Washington and was in the air service during the World War. His speedy ap- pointment to the Bates vacancy was designed to head off some purely deserve ing Democrat in search of a $10,000 job. (Copyright, 1037.) ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Areader can get the answer to any quetion of fact by writing The Evening Sta) Information Bureau, Frederic J. Hagin, Director, Washington, D. C. Plase inclose stamp for reply. @ Who is the sportsmen’s saint? —HW. A Bt. Hubert. G Which of the States had the first wrilen constitution?—N. L. A Connecticut framed the first writ- tenconstitution. G How early did Clyde Beatty start traning animals?—W. F. A When Mr. Beatty was 5 years old he Jegan training cats and dogs in the bag yard of his home at Chillicothe, ©Oh). At 15 he left home to join a circus as 4ge boy. Q What is the average time that a patint with tuberculosis stays in a sana- torim?—T. F. A.A little less than six months. It may e pointed out that the death rate for tberculosis, whether hospitalized or not, Lonly 56.6 per 100,000 population in the Uited States. Q. that debutantes of recent years have Ad the most expensive parties? —E. L. A. he cost of the debut of Miss Joan Peabay, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter A. B.¥idener of Philadelphia, was esti- mate(at $100,000. Miss Barbara Field, daugler of Mrs. E. Marshall Field of Chicgo, had a lavish debut, the cost of whiclwas estimated at over $50,000. A few ¢her debuts that ran into that fig- ure ‘ere those of Annie May Henry, daugter of Huntington Henry of Chi- cagoZatherine Bond Johnson, daughter of Rhard Newton Johnson of Baltimore, and hrbara Kahn, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. amuel Kahn of San Francisco. In 1929 ;he debut of Helen Lee Eames Dohey in Washington, D. C., was said to hae cost $50,000, while Natalie Coe's comig out party in New York City the samerear was equally elaborate. Q. That famous soldier was known as LittleMac?—E. H. A. his nickname was applied by the soldis of the Union Army during the Civil Jar to Gen. George B. McClellan. Q. re the seasonal temperatures in the Scthern Hemisphere higher or lower than iey are in the Northern Hemi- sphere—H. W. A. A. Tis true that the earth is nearest the suiwhen it is Winter in the North- ern Hnisphere and Summer in the Southey Hemisphere. The difference in distace is such a small fraction of the tot: distance that there is no sig- nificantiifference in the corresponding seasons 1 the two hemispheres. Q. Arehere any flour mills in Alaska? —S. L. A. Thetis one flour mill in Alaska at Fairbanksput this mill is not now in operation. Q. Why: the Bowery in New York so called?—, G. A. Its origal name, the Bouwerie, was ernor, Peter tuyvesant, whose farm and orchards, emracdng the region lying about the uper part, were called the Great Bouweri, Q. Was the plt € “Romeo and Juliet” used before Shalesgare wrote the play? A. The theme ofthe play is traced to one of the oldes ‘orks of Greek prose fiction, “The Epheica,” or “The Loves of Anthia and Abregnas,” by Xenophon of Ephesus, who is)dieved to have lived about A.D. 150. Q. Are there floang masses of weeds in the White Nile?<>, H, A. Sudd is the nae which is given to floating masses of rater weeds which ¢o form obstructionin the White Nile. Sometimes these wels consolidate into blocks a mile long ansome 20 feet thick. Q. Who received tl medal for out- standing service to chiren for the year? —W. H. A. This medal, awaled annually by the Parents Magazine, as presented to Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe. Q. Has Italy a theate exclusively for the working class?>—F. G A. The Theater Saturdr was designed by the government to rovide opera, plays and musical comediegt low prices. Ten cents is the top pric and 2 cents the minimum. No one is mitted who earns more than $40 a mor,, Q. Please give some inforgtion about the Circassians as a race.—| M. R. A. This name is applied tipeople in- habiting the northwestern yrt of the Caucasus. Their name forihemselves is Adighe; the Turks and Risians call them Tcherkasses or brigandsBoth Cir- cassian men and women are\oted for physical beauty and many Circajan girls enter Turkish harems. After Ye Rus- sian conquest of their territorym 1864, several hundred thousand of tiw emi- grated. Among the upper class Mo- hammedanism is the chief religion Q. Where is the Ponce de Leon Camva to be held?—S. G. A. The festival will be held in Puer\ Rico from January 30 to February 14. —ees Good Suggestion. Prom the San Antonio News. For their art’s sake, if not as a matter of retribution, cartoonists who have been hanging things upon the donor for 15 years past should be specially invited to work in the Mellon National Gallery. e A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton A Definition. What is to love? To hear your voice while knowing That you are far away, deep seas dividing; To feel that should you need me I'd be going On a winged flight to where you are abiding. Apart, to read the books we loved to dive in And see your face in pages conned together; Seek out your friends, the ones who used to drive in And chat beside your fire in bleak weather. If Fate so wills it that we must be I left in lone estate, you afar roving, Then to accept the mandate, broken- hearted, And live in thoughts of you. Is mot this loving?