Evening Star Newspaper, March 9, 1937, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. March 9, 1937 THEODORE W. NOYES. The Evening Star Newspaper Company. litn 8t and Pennsyivania Ave New York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t. Chicaro Offce: 0‘33 North Michigan Ave. Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban. Regular Edition. a_Sunday Sta: The Evenine and 3uninY onth or 15¢ Per Week The Evening Star 45¢ per month or lfle pfl‘ week The Sunday Star _ T coDy Night Final Edition. i 70 per month ight Final Star 55¢ per month Gollection made at the ach month or each wi Breess may be sent by mall or tele- $hone Natlonal 5000; Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginla, fly and sundu 1 I s;n .00: l mo., R8¢ aily “only mo., 80c Sinday oniy 175 3%80i 1 e &8¢ All Other States and Canada. h-uv y and ¢ aundu. s $12 1 mo. $1.00 Duily § mo., "~ 75¢ aday’omsTooos 1 yen 8 0; 1 mo.. blc Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Assoclated Press :3 exclusively entitled to tte use for republication of all news dispatches gredited to it of not otherwise credited in this Daper and also the locai news published herein. fi" rights of nubllcmon of special dispatches erein are also reserved. Cracking Down. A new yardstick is about to be adopted to measure the fidelity of Democrats. That yardstick is the support given to President Roosevelt in his effort to re- ‘make the Supreme Court of the United States. What will happen to Democratic Senators and Democratic members of the House who fail to measure up has not yet been fully disclosed. The chair- man of the Democratic National Com- mittee, however, that dispenser of Dem- ocratic patronage, is speaking today at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in support of the President’s court bill. It happens that North Carolina possesses a recal- citrant Democratic Senator on the sub- Jject of the Supreme Court, one who be- lieves in the independence of that tri- bunal from executive or legislative at- tack, Senator Josiah W. Bailey. Senator _Bailey was re-elected for a six-year term last November. He seems, therefore, rea- sonably safe from any reprisals that might be made in an early party primary. How he will fare henceforth in the mat- ter of “patronage” is another matter. Cracking down on Democrats who do not see eye to eye with the President is not entirely new. It has happened in the past. In view of the very consider- able number of Democrats in the present Congress who do not propose to abandon their own ideas of the independent posi- tion which the judiciary should main- ‘tain, the administration may be under- taking a very considerable job. That is, if the administration endeavors to drive these Democrats into line. The President himself, in his victory dinner speech last week, called upon all Democrats to rally in support of the court bill. His Postmaster General, Mr. Farley, is on the stump today, urging the same thing. Secretary of the In- terior Harold Ickes is to speak later in North Carolina, presumably with the full acquiescence of the administration, on the subject of the Supreme Court, if reports be accurate. Mr. Ickes’ appear- ance will be at a delayed victory dinner, a substitute for that which was held in Raleigh last Friday. At the first dinner Senator Tydings of Maryland, another of the Senate “recalcitrants,” was the guest \speaker, at the particular suggestion and invitation of Senator Bailey. The speech which Tydings made was old- fashioned democracy, with a special plea that the country continue its traditional spolicy of three independent branches of government, especially an independent judicial branch. It irritated the admin- istration. It certainly sounded a note quite different from that sounded by the President in Washington. Senator Tydings is up for re-election in Maryland next year. So are twenty- six other Democratic Senators, and some of them, like Tydings and Bailey, are in open and vehement disagreement with the President on the Supreme Court issue. What is to be the attitude of the administration, of the party organiza- tion, toward them when the dates of the primaries roll around? ‘The Supreme Court issue is funda- mental. It rises entirely above party politics, although administration sup- porters apparently think differently. If they have their way, all Democrats must toe the line, or else! This may be the part of wisdom, from the Democratic point of view, or it may not. It raises a question, at least, to which the Roose- velt high command might give study. The country today is witnessing an unusual campaign, a campaign of great magnitude, staged by supporters of the President’s plan to remake the Supreme Court so as to obtain decisions favorable to legislation which the New Dealers desire. The real aim of the President has been frankly stated by him. There is no longer any pretense that it is the age of justices of the Supreme Court or that the work of the court is behind that makes the proposed legislation nec- ‘essary. There is but one major purpose —to obtain decisions that satisfy the administration. This may or it may not ‘be & worthy purpose. If it is attained, any semblance of independence on the part of the judiciary vanishes. There will be nothing to prevent, no moral scruple against future additions to the eourt, if the Executive and Congress find that even the new court fails them. Those Who Listen. ‘This evening millions of his fellow eitizens will listen to President Roose- velt’s “fireside chat.” He has indicated that it is his purpose to discuss his proposal for the “reorganization” of the Federal judiciary—an issue which he Insists represents “a great crisis” in- ‘volving the fate of the Nation and, co- incidentally, that of the people at large. If forecasts are fulfilled, he will argue for the passage of his plan as he has outlined it in his message to Congress. Tonight’s speech is the second “follow- up” prepared in support of the demand of the executive branch of the Govern- ent for action on the part of the v T legislative to control the judicial. Such, in effect, is its significance. 1 And Mr. Roosevelt is entitled to & re- spectful hearing. It is his privilege and his duty to express the thought that is in his mind, the aspiration that is in his heart. Likewise, it is the obligation of the public to evaluate his doctrine of change, his theory of reform. Nothing more important than the current debate could be imagined at the present time. The President recognizes that fact, and his audience surely understands it. Hence his recourse to the microphone and resort of the “listeners-in” to the lo\,\d.spenker. Mr. Roosevelt will consult the Nation; then the Nation should record its response. In other words, the people will sit as a jury and the President will appear in the role of a “special pleader,” advocat- ing a particular policy of procedure toward the goal of immediate correction of alleged faults in the governmental system of the United States. Mr. Roose: velt will wish to be informed of the public reaction; his opponents also will desire to be advised. Therefore this evening’s broadcast may be regarded as an appeal for & mandate. So far as the administration is concerned, it is a direct request for a vote of confidence. The President seems to be willing to discount the results of the recent election. He seeks the opinion of the electorate again. Thus, those who listen to his address have license to write at once to their Senators and Representatives, convey- ing to them their views of the prevailing question. Patriots will not fail to meet the challenge of the responsibility. —r—e———————— Canada Arms, Too. Among subjects of mutual interest which Prime Minister Mackenzie King and President Roosevelt undoubtedly found occasion to discuss in Washing- ton is the modest rearmament program upon which Canada has embarked. It goes without saying that our friends to the north do not contemplate any reck- less participation in the world-wide arms race, or propose any change along those famous 3,000 miles of unfortified border which for more than a century has been a shining example of how great nations can live next door to each other without arming to the teeth. ‘With a foreign commerce greater than that of Japan and a territory larger than the United States, the Dominion is probably the least protected nation of importance in the whole world. Per capita defense expenditure last year was only $1.77, as compared with $5.28 for Australia and $19.50 for Switzerland. In 1937 the Dominion plans to increase its army, navy and air budget to about $45,- 000,000. The money will be spent in part on squadrons of high-speed planes available for instant service in any part of Canada. Land forces are to be mech= anized, increasing mobility and firing power to an extent permitting reduc- tion of the army from 135,000 men to 90,000. A complement of thirty-six cave alry regiments will be reduced {9 sixteen, supplemented by armored car, artillery, tank and engineer units of highly mo- torized character. Batteries of modern guns will augment coast defenses in British Columbia and Quebec. Government spokesmen recently in- dicated that a self-respecting Canada could not be content to take shelter perpetually behind the Monroe Doctrine, even though President Roosevelt has proclaimed that Uncle Sam will defend “his neighborhood.” Nor are Canadians minded to depend on the military and naval resources of the mother country, which, in case of war, would in any event require to be concentrated on the other side of the Atlantic. The Dominion has no disposition to become embroiled in international conflicts of no direct concern to itself—a policy which parallels that of the United States. But in & spirit of nationhood and self-reliance born of inherent strength, Canada means to be prepared for any emergency men- acing her security. Her gallant sons proved on the battlefields of France that the Dominion produces manpower for war purposes of a fiber second to none. The demonstrated impotence of the League of Nations, to which Canada loyally adheres, left her the choice of three possible bulwarks of national de- fense—Great Britain, the United States and her own virile self. The Dominion has proudly decided to paddle its own canoe. Some of the large wage earners are young screen and radio stars, who find evident pleasure in demonstrating that child labor has its good points when in- telligently and sympathetically managed. American Archeology. The restoration of Williamsburg, Va., undertaken several years ago by John D. Rockefeller, jr,, and now practically com- pleted, has been a work of historical im- portance. It has resulted in the virtual reproduction of one of the earliest Amer- ican cities and in addition to affording great pleasure to multitudes of visitors has stimulated study of the period of Colonial settlement in this country. Now it is announced that a similar work is projected for the restoration of St. Augustine, Fla. A national commit- tee, including officials of the Carnegie Institution, the National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution, has been formed and is now working on the preliminary phase of this enterprise. St. Augustine is the oldest city in America. It was settled in 1565 by Spaniards under Pedro Menendez de Aviles, having been visited several dec- ades earlier by Ponce de Leon. It re- mained under Spanish rule for two cen- turies, becoming a British possession in 1763 and after twenty years returning to Spanish sovereignty. In 1821 it was ceded to the United States. In the course of the nearly three and three-quarters centuries of this city's existence, it has, naturally, been greatly changed. But there remain relics of its early days which have in recent years been the object of careful preservation, HE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, though much has been lost in the course of the development and growth of the community. It may be possible, under a carefully considered plan, to restore some of those- earlier structures, though prob- ably no specific plans will be found avail- able for the guidance of such a work as was the case at Williamsburg, where in two notable instances, the capitol and the Governor's palace, new structures have been erected in very close approxi- mation to the originals. It is stated in a news report from 8t. Augustine that at present no particular phase of the city’s long past has been selected for development, but that build- ings of the early Spanish, the British and the territorial periods will be re- stored. A fire which swept St. Augustine several years ago destroyed some of the older buildings, but these may possibly be reproduced. Excavations are now in progress on the sites of ancient edifices, a veritable archeological research much like that which has been carried on at ‘Williamsburg. 8t. Augustine is so located as to be in the line of heavy travel. Many thou- sands of people pass through it annually on their way to and from the Florida Winter resorts, and it is itself an agree- able and interesting place of visitation. ‘Thus restoration work conducted there with care and thoroughness will be viewed by great numbers and will un- doubtedly stimulate study of the earliest days of the occupation of America from other lands. It is gratifying that this enterprise should have been undertaken in the spirit of careful and thorough re- search and the agencles of study and preparation are such as to assure thor- oughness and fidelity in planning and execution. While it is unfortunate that this work was not undertaken long ago, sufficient material is nevertheless now available to effect an approximate resto- ration of the first American city. A sit-down strike is the same in effect as any other kind, more unfortunate as it threatens to subject the purchasing and producing public with something re- sembling a hunger strike. ——————— It may be necessary for the District of Columbia to pay more taxes although it has been for many years paying more than enough to demonstrate fully its right to representation in Congress. —ra——— All industry might be relieved if the name “Pinkerton” could be held between the covers of old dime novels and kept out of the ledgers. v “Efficlency” was a word much exploited by Herbert Hoover, who never went so far as to try to spell it with magical words of three letters. As & responsible figure in & molasses concern Mr. Tugwell suggests genial per- sonification as a figure in an old-fash- ioned candy pulling. —_—a——————— “Safety drives” can hardly be satis- factory until they are conducted by the year instead of by the week. —_— rate——— An old question is being revived; can any autobiography be uncompromisingly veracious. Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Contradiction. Men whisper of “another war.” The whispering should cease ‘When everybody clamors for An Everlasting Peace. You hear the lesson in a church, You hear it in the achool— “Old Mars we must leave in the lurch And strive that Peace may rule.” Yet in each courtly corridor Strange rumors find release. They whisper of “another war” And talk out loud for Peace. Leadership, . “What you should do is to assert yourself as a leader in affairs.” “I'm & little discouraged about that line of glory,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “By whom?” “By my wife. She scoffs at the idea of my being & great leader in anything. She says I don't even know how to lead in a card game.” No Ovation Desired. “We are going to give you s grand ovation the next time you come to Crimson Gulch. Everybody will stand around and gaze at you and wait for you to say a few words.” “Don’t do it,” protested Cactus Joe. “I know {t7l all be meant in friendship. But the last man I saw treated that way was & feller that had been caught stealin’ hosses.” Relative Publicities. On an expression very wise I sometimes look with sad surprise. In print a little space it finds, Then swiftly fades from all our minds. But on the other hand youll see A homicide in ghostly glee, That to disturb your reading seeks And haunts that old front page for weeks. Jud Tunkins says the new ides of & fine modern street consists of two lines of automobiles with buildings partly visible just across the sidewalks. “An idol can confer good luck in these frreverent days,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “only in case it is suffi- clently rare to command & high price from a museum.” Investigations. The quizzes are going their way. There are few that we care to recall. They found out so much, truth to say, That no one can remember it all. “A sho’ 'nuff good dog,” said Uncle Eben, “very seldom finds an owner iIn dis neighborhood dat’s worthy of him.” ”~ 4 THE POLITICAL MILL BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. The contest, over President Roosevelt's bill to increase the membership of the Supreme Court has been conducted generally through the air up to the present. The Nation has listened to many speeches delivered by the President and his supporters in favor of the court bill and to as many speeches against it. ‘This has been merely a warming-up gallop for the fight which is to come in the legislative halls. Tomorrow morning the Senate Judiciary Committee, some five weeks after the President sent the measure to Congress, will open hearings on the bill. During this five-week period both sides have endeavored to line up public opinion. At the outset there was a burst of disapproval. It was apparent that the administration must work hard or the fight would be over before it had begun, members of Congress who first gave support to the President’s plan—as they do to all of his recommendations— began to get fidgety, and some of them even slipped over to the other side. LR RER On the eve of the opening of the hearings President Roosevelt himself is going on the air again in a “fireside” chat to the people. It is expected that this talk will supplement his Victory Dinner address and will give the details of his plan for the court and also will endeavor to make the people understand that he does not seek to dominate the court. His opponents charge that if he did not wish to control the court and its opinions there would be no purpose in his asking for power to increase the size of the court. And the President himself has admitted that what he wishes and what the country needs are more liberal opinions of the Supreme Court, so that such acts as the N. R. A. and the A, A. A. may be upheld. The fight starts in the Senate over this proposed legislation. It is there that the administration is expected to meet its stoutest opposition. The claim of the opposition leaders that 42 or 43 Senators will speak and vote against the bill, made two weeks ago, has been increased. Some of them are now saying that when and if & vote comes on the President’s original proposal, a majority will be found against it. What the opposition believes, and fears in a measure, is that an adroit effort at compromise will be made by the administration Senators which will change the battle lines. They are fairly confident that they can defeat the President’s plan if it is allowed to remain in its original form. Meanwhile, in the House the opposition is making some gains, although it is not claimed that the bill could be voted down in taat body. There are, however, many mem- bers of the House who hope they will never have to vote on it, and who are looking to the Senate to give them a way out. * x ¥ * James Truslow Adams, winner of the Pulitzer prize for the best history of the United States, has taken up the cudgels for the Supreme Court. In a radio ad- dress Mr. Adams insisted that the issue was and should be entirely non-partisan; that he would be making the same ob- servations had Landon, the Republican presidential nominee last year, been in the White House and had submitted recommendations similar to those made by President Roosevell. With that preface, the historian attacked the court bill with skill. He said, among other things: “No one can constitutionally change our fundamental law but ourselves. But what is that law? It is the Constitution, and in any complex state there must be somebody which is the umpire when the problem arises as to what is constitu- tional and what is not. Who will the umpire be? If the President tries to take away our freedom of speech, if a Congress takes away our property un- lawfully, if a State Legislature, as in the recent case of Louisiana under the dic- tatorship of Huey Long, takes away the freedom of the press, who is to save us except the courts? The Anglo-Saxon race in the British Empire and the United States has been the most success- ful in the difficult art of self-government, and everywhere it has given this power of interpreting the Constitution to a Supreme Court. Canada and Australia each has a Supreme Court which per- forms the same function as ours. The Judiciary Committee of the Privy Council in England acts as the same sort of Supreme Court for the empire, and has only lately declared certain Canadian acts unconstititional. Our written Constitution and our Supreme Court are not peculiar to the United States. They have been found essential in every federal union. Such a government needs an umpire somewhere just as much as base ball does. It is obvious that an umpire must be impartial. What good would an umpire in a ball game be if he were to be bought by one side or the other, or physically threatened, or told that if he did not give the desired de- cision he would be chucked out in the middle of the game, or that two other umpires would be put in to vote with him who would give the decision as ordered?” Having won the political campaign of 1936, some of the Democratic key men are stepping out into private business. W. Forbes Morgan, treasurer of the Democratic National Committee, has be- come czar of the liquor traffic, and now Emil Hurja, who has been an assistant chairman of the National Committee, is leaving to take a position with a finan- cial house in New York. There have been others who occupied lesser positions in the organization to leave also. The generalissimo, Chairman James A. Far- ley, stays on. Indeed, he not only con- tinues to hold his job as national chairman, but he also remains a member of the President’s cabinet. For three years or more, predictions have been made that Mr. Farley was about to leave* the cabinet—or the job of national chair- man. More recently, and since the last election, it has been stated with much emphasis that Farley wants to get out of the cabinet in order to make money. He will not leave, however, until he finds the kind of work and business that suits him. According to gossip, he was the selection of the liquor interests for the job which went to Morgan, but turned it down. Hurja won for himself a name as & prognosticator of election results. He was able to make the predictions be- cause of the careful system he built up for tapping the sentiment of the voters, rather than because of clairvoyance. For some time now he has had under consideration leaving the National Com- mittee lnd mun; into business. He insists he will remain out of politics. Once in politics, however, it 1s difficult to relinquish the interest in that form of human endeavor entirely. * k¥ % ‘While the Democnht: are shaking up by contributions, the bulk of them five or ten dollars, which are He announced thl “We are now receiving 75 to 100 con- tributions daily of $25 and less. Most of them are $5 or $10 donations,” Mr. Hamilton sald, “Such s large number ¢ TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 1937. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. ‘Ten years ago it became impossible for an average book lover to rzad all the new books. Before that it had been a ponihle. although not always feasible, mve years ago the book lover found that he could no longer even read all about the new books. There were s0 many of them that one could not find time for all the reviews about them! Today the publishers, in their turn, seem put to it to find advertising space for all they publish. Books which a few years ago would have been given half a page now come in for only a line or two, a bare.an- nouncement of title, author and price, usually. Perhaps a few lines may be used to give the possible reader a hint as to contents. This throws the dear reader back en- tirely on his own likes. It it is impossible for him any longer to read all the new books, or even read about them, or to find more than & brief mention of some very fine ones, he must do just one of two things, in regard to all the new ones pouring from the presses! He must abide by the decisions of others, such as are handed down month- 1y by the book clubs, or he must rely solely on his own likes and dislikes. LR fIl l;ot this latter choice best for many of us While we may applaud the efforts of the clubs, especially among persons who are not sure of their own likes, we must remain true to our own reading selves. ‘This means more than may show on the surface. After all, each person must ask him- self, what am I interested in? (Let us hope that he does not say, “in what am I interested.”) ‘There is such a plethora of books, let him keep in mind that, try as hard as he might, he could never read all the new ones, or half of them. Still there remain all the works of the past, some of them coming down from ancient Rome and Greece, which he has promised himself to read sometime. Time marches on, indeed, and often tends to diminish this good urge. The determined man or woman, the honest book lover, will not permit harsh time to do any such thing to his old loves. Read them one must, in time, if one’s eyes hold out. The eye, too, is another mighty fine reason for reading only what really in- terests one, and not permitting the judg- ments of others, often far too freely given, to over much influence one. “Middle-age sight,” some one has called it. Young people know nothing about it. (They will, in all probability, unless they are careful.) Too often the eyes compel even the most ardent reader, the most determined book lover, to “go easy” for the rest of his life on the sheer amount of print he may read. * X ¥ % It becomes all the more necessary, therefore, for many to be extremely careful in their choice of new books. Old familiar faces, among the books, are calling as of old. Somehow one has not got 'round to them, but hopes to, some day. f As for the new books, even their pub- lishers cannot advertise them properly —what hope has a friend of books of finding what he wants and needs out of this mass? He only can do 50, he he makes pretty sure nut what he nndl is what he wants to read His wants, then, include his needs. ‘Those persons who resent such words as “duty” and “need,” feeling that some- how such ideas, as represented by words, are old-fashioned, that they are, above all, words which connote “preaching,” and that nothing in the world is quite 80 horrible as being “preached at,” may rest easy, for wants and needs, when it comes to bookdom, are synonomous. What a person wants to read, no doubt, is what he needs to read, at any given time. Here we get. into the ques- tion of morals, and when we talk about morals in regard to books we get into a terrible tangle, indeed. % x The honest book lover will not bother about such words and definitions. There is no tangle at all for him, if he sticks to what he wants to read, at the time he wants to read it. Make mistakes? Of course! He who says he has never made mis- takes, in his choice of reading matter, is a liar, or a fool, or both. It is precisely because one has made his mistakes that he realizes the prob- lem before the modern book reader, and the necessity for going slow in making his choices. He will save himself a great deal of waste motion, when every book he reads must count for something in his reading life. It will be useful in many ways, but especially in regard to the books one proposes to read, to know just exactly what one likes. Many persons have gone their whole life through without once stopping to think what the personal likes really were. They were subjected to so much pres- sure, from other persons, from groups, from the dead hands of authority of the past, that they went along never really daring to think about the matter. At times, if questions arose, they ruth- lessly shoved them down out of sight again. It is one of the glories of an otherwise inglorious age that more and more peo- ple are coming to look themselves in the face and see what they really look like. * ok % ‘What one likes, in books, is one’s real reflection, in life. Show me a man's bookcases, in his own home, and I will know the man past dispute. Not just one book shows anything, for there are always mistakes, but many books show many things. As his interests, so is he, and so will remain. Books, better than other things, reflect the mind and heart. One may realize this and still not find it easy to select from the huge lists of “best sellers” and not so-best sellers. Look inward, then, determine just what you are interested in and select books about these interests. Read the lists, with this idea in mind, and before long you will be able to make abler selections from the new books. STARS, MEN AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. ‘The passing of Dr. Willlam A. White, for 34 years superintendent of St. Eliza- beth’s Hospital, leaves many gates ajar. Few Americans have won more out- standing successes in diverse fields. He was an eminent administrator. As a practical man of affairs he built up and managed one of the best and largest institutions for the care of the insane in the world. He was an eminent edu- cator. Because of his presence here ‘Washington became a mecca for students of psychiatry the world over. He was the author of some of the most widely used medical text books. He was an eminent physician. Some of the prac- tices which he adopted and introduced have been of revolutionary import. But it will not be as any of these that Dr. White will be longest remembered. It was not as such that he would have wished to be remembered. He was somsthing far rarer and greater than administrator, educator or physician. He was a great poet and philosopher. It was the fate of Dr. White to walk in a strange, scarcely explored shadowland that lies between the body and the mind. His true kinship was with Shakespeare and Milton and Browning, with Schopen- hauer and Von Hartmann and Bergson. It was to these that he turned for his inspiration. It was these in whose foot- steps he followed. Dr. White entered the practice of psychiatry when current theories of the psychoses and neuroses were not far from superstitions. Physicians, even at the turn of the century, were not quite rid of the idea that the treatment for an insane person was to “beat out the devils.” They no longer practiced it, but they had no valid substitute for it. Schoolmasters still followed the system with vigor and good will. Judges and jail wardens were convinced that in some mystical way harsh treatment would make & man good—and many still enter- tain this fantastic notion in spite of Dr. ‘White. Treatment of the insane consisted in restraining them from injuring them- selves or others, trying to keep them in as good physical shape as possible and hoping that the clouded minds would clear up somehow. Sometimes they did. If so it wasn’t the doctor’s fault. Nothing was known of glandular secretions and their effects on behavior. Nothing was known of the architectonics of the mind. At about this time, however, came the dawn of a great enlightenment. When Dr. White came to Washington a small group of philosopher-physicians in Eu- rope—Sigmund Freud in Vienna is the namely chiefly associated with the move- ment—evolved a concept of cause and effect in mental disorder. Thinking was not & discrete, unconnected process. The strange ideas of the insane did not come out of the thin air. If John Smith thought he was Napoleon Bonaparte, persistently and in the face of the most conclusive evidence to the contrary, he probably had arrived at the opinion by a logical far his logic mlxhc be from that of the world in gen- eral. All the padded cells in the world wouldn’t change that opinion, unless one could get at the unfortunate man’s premises. At the same time other physicians were of small gifts from wage earners and small-salaried men and women indicates better than anything else, I think, that memknndnhnlmmllmvit_flb was the first contributor this year, Mr. Hamilton disclosed, sending his check for $1,000, - $ learning more of the complicated physi- cal workings of the nervous system it- self, of the effects on the mind of varia- tions in blood chemistry, of the almost unbelievable results of endocrine secre- tions. Diverse schools grew up. They waged bitter battles with each other. Relentlessly, as scientists should, they demolished each other’s thought struc- tures. Between these two groups Dr. ‘White emerged as the great synthesizer. Both, of course, stood directly opposed to plain common sense, as it seemed to the lay public and most physicians. There was little inclination to recognize cause and effect, either physical or men- tal, in human behavior, or to seek out any such sequences. To educate out of the delusions of common sense, often distinguishable from the delusions of the insane only because more persons hold to them, was the task of a poet, a philosopher and evangelist. Dr. White was all of these. To this task he set himself. He accomplished much. Not only do the mentally afflicted the world over owe him an unpayable debt. He is directly responsible for far-reaching reforms in criminology and in education. There is nobody to take his place—no- body who can speak with his authority, his eloquence, his poetic vision. He often acknowledged, modestly enough, this kinship with the poets. To Dr. White the successful direction of a great mental hospital was a little thing—important in itself largely be- cause it provided such abundant and excellent material for the study ef the laws of human behavior. The behavior of the insane is seldom more than an exaggeration of the behavior trends of mankind in general. But this very ex- aggeration makes them stand out in sharp relief, where they can be studied. And, as has so often been said, “the world is all right; it’s only the people in it” What men think precedes and gov- erns what they do. The way to any now imaginable Utopia lies through the mind. Dr. White opened the gates a little way. He saw brief, confused visions of a far world of universal human brotherhood. His dying leaves the gates ajar—with no man in sight who may open them further. A British Precedent for Packing the Court To the Editor of The Star. In England about 100 years ago (1832) King William IV had to “pack” the House of Lords in order to bring about a just reform. Prompted by William Cobbett, economist, Lord Russell brought in a bill extending the franchise. It was twice rejected by the majority of the House of Lords, including the great Duke of Wellington. Riots followed and the “Iron Duke” had his windows smashed for his pains. Then Willlam created new peers, and, due to their votes, the bill became law. In short, the King “packed the lords.” And so the President might as well “pack” the Supreme bench with a view of having much needed measures ap- proved. FRED VETTER. No Loitering. Prom the Salem (Mass.) News, They say civilization is at the cross- roads, not knowing which way to turn. But as civilization is usually in such & hurry to get somewhere that it never stops to read any guideboard, it won't probably linger around the very long. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Evening Star Information Bureau, .Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Please inclosc stamp for reply. Q. Of what does' modern police educa- tion consist?—T. L. A. “Modern Criminal Investigation,” a new book on this subject, says: “Modern police science may be said to have three phases. The first phase embraces the identification of living and dead persons. ‘The second embraces the field work car- ried out by specially trained detectives at the scene of the crime. The third embraces methods used in the police laboratory to examine and analyze clues and traces discovered in the course of the investigation.” Q. When did concerts spirituels origi- nate?—H. D. A. They originated in France in 1725. These recitals were given on the 24 re- ligious holidays during the year. They were discontinued in 1791, at the time of the French Revolution. In 1805 they were resumed, with programs made up entirely of sacred music and presented only during holy week. Q. Whose votes elect a Congressman at large?—A. G. A. He is elected by the voters of the entire State. Q. Please tell me what is done with the beautiful costumes worn by movie actresses after the picture is finished? —B. M. B. A. The gorgeous costumes worn by many of the motion picture stars are the property of the motion picture studios and do not belong to the actresses. When a production is completed the costumes are returned to the studio and the ward- robe mistress and her assistants make over and change the costumes so that they may be used in other productions. In some instances a motion picture star is presented with a particular costume, but that is at the discretion of the execu- tives of the company. Q. If an artist makes a copy of one of his own pictures, is it called a copy or an original?>—H. P. A. It is called a repetition or a replica. In French it is called a doublette. Q. What nation consumes the most fish?—W. B. A. Japan with an average annual con- sumption of 55 pounds per capita. Q. On a scale showing the distance of the earth to the sun as one inch, how far away would the nearest star be? —M. W. A. It would be 4!z miles away. Q. How many words are there in the Bible?>—W. M. A. There are 773,692 words. Q. Has Hawaii a national flower? —E. W, A. A bill has been passed by the Ha- waiian Legislature making the hibiscus the official flower. Q. What were Rev. Robert McBurney's contributions to the Y. M. C. A. move- ment?—R. F. W. A. His outstanding contributions to the movement were the conviction that the work should be carried on by young men, for young men; the creation of varied programs, gymnasiums, etc.; the organi- zation of a national council which trains for leadership, and the creation and de- velopment of the general secretaryship. Q. Is there a barkless dog?—J. H. A. At the recent dog show in London 10 Basenjis from Central Africa were exhibited. They do mot bark and arch their backs like cats when they are angry. Q. Is plaid a pattern or a material? —W. A. Xt is both. It is also a large square of such material worn as a garment by Scots Highlanders. Q. How old is the making of puns? —T. B. A. It is an ancient form of wit. Arise tophanes and Cicero employed it. Q. Why was the Latin Quarter of Paris so called?—P. W. A. It contained many schools in the early days and was so called because Latin was the language of medieval scholasticism. Q. What were the first words recorded by Thomas A. Edison on a phonograph cylinder?>—M. McK. A. They were those of the poem, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Q. How much land is occupied by the New York Botanical Garden?—F. M. A. The New York Botanical Garden consists of 400 acres of land in the north- ern and western parts of Bronx Park. Q. Has the name of St. Thomas, cap- ital of the Virgin Islands, been changed? —W. H. A. The Virgin Islands, through an ordinance passed by their Colonial Coun= cil, signed by Gov. Lawrence W. Cramer, have readopted the old Danish name, Charlotte Amalie, for their capital. Q. How long has Hawk Mountain Sanctuary been established?—H. N. A. It was established in the Fall of 1934. This was the first sanctuary in the world established for birds of prey. Q. What spring in the United States has the largest flow of water?>—E. G. A. Silver Springs at Ocala, Fla., has what is probably the largest flow of any spring in the world, 22,134,780 gallons per hour. ——— The Real Marvel. Prom the Columbus Dispatch. The microphone, according to an article on broadcasting, is the most re- markable adjunct of radio. Maybe so, but the handiest and most beneficial is that little knob used to tune a program out. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton Dawn The slow and magical spread of light, A fresh scent in the air, The rolling up of the shades of night, Dark lifting everywhere, The gates of morning coming ajar, Crescent moon pale and spent, The fading out of a lingering star— Then the prolonged ascent Of roseate colors in the sky, Stretching from East to West, And the Sun, his chariot riding high, Greets day with golden crest. 8o it has been thru each century: If earth should vanish, so it would be 7