Evening Star Newspaper, April 15, 1937, Page 12

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editien, WASHINGTON, D. C. April 15, 1937 Editor THEODORE W. NOYES__ The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th St and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t, Chicago Office: 435 North Michizan Ave. Rate by Carrier-~City and Suburban. Regular Edition. ‘The Evening and Sunday Ster 85c per month or 150 per week ‘The Evening Star o ae b The Sunday Star bc per copy Night F ht Fnal and Sund: 70¢ per month Night it B Sunds ~55¢ per month 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 Virglnia, Dally and Bunday_. 1 yr. $10.00; 1 mo., 85c Daily only __. 1 yr. $6.00; 1 mo., 80c Sunday only__. $4.00; 1 mo.. 40c All Other States and Canada, Daily ang Sunday. 1 yr. $12.00; lyic 1 yr., 880 Daily on! Ir., . 1 m Sunday only 1 yr. $5.00i 1 mo., Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein, All righ.s of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Local Income Tax. Because so many of the States (thirty-four) have adopted the local income tax to increase their revenues, the pressure has increased in recent years for the levy of such a tax in the District as a substitute for the intan- gibles tax. It is proposed now as one of the new taxes. As objectionable as the intangibles tax may be, there is danger of jumping from the frying pan into the fire by substituting an income tax, especially if the local income tax pro- posal receives merely the superficial con- sideration that it has so far been given. The District intangibles tax has been no slouch as a revenue raiser, and its potentialities in this respect have been increased by the green slip provisions of the Federal income tax law. While the income tax might produce more reve enue, the complications attending its administration under the population conditions peculiar to the District of Columbia may cut down the yield of what seems, at first glance, a rich source. Some of these complications will be discussed in The Star articles beginning today and continuing for several days, which analyze the income tax proposal and reveal the curious cases of dis- crimination and duplicate taxation— not to mention doubtful validity—which are suggested by the bill's provisions. But today's article is concerned with an equally important principle, which is the propriety of repeating in the District of Columbia exactly that evil which the Federal Government, through its spokesmen and agencies, has con- demned in the States. The whole pattern of taxation in the United States is a hodge-podge of duplicate, overlapping taxation, with the Federal Government entering tax flelds hitherto reserved to the States and with the States attempting to take their cut from taxes in the past reserved for the Federal Government. The in- come tax furnishes one of the glaring examples of the sort of injustice which results from failure to co-ordinate the taxing powers of the Federal and State Governments. Many of the duplicate tax evils which exist in the States would be magnified and aggravated in the District of Columbia, as The Star articles of this series will show. The Federal Government, as is gen- erally known, has almost squeezed the income tax dry. Only two sources of new taxation, in fact, remain for the Federal Government in case of neces- sity for substantial increases in revenue. One source is the politically dangerous broadening of the base of the income tax, reaching down into the lower in- come brackets. The other is a sales tax, the proposal of which at the outset of his administration “horrified” the President. Although the public gener- ally regards the Federal income tax as & great source of revenue, the total personal income tax yield in the fiscal year 1936 failed by over $300,000,000 to produce the revenue received from liquor & tobacco taxes alone. Even with the higher rates now effective, personal in- come tax revenues will do no more than equal tobacco and liquor taxes. It is to be doubted if the people of the United States would ever have sanc- tioned the income tax amendment had they realized the tremendous increase that would take place in the rates of taxation. Surtaxes that did not exist on incomes up to $20,000 in the first income tax act after ratification of the amend- ment are now from four to fifteen per cent. One per cent surtax rates have be- come 30 per cent. Two per cent and three per cent surtax rates have become 40 and 58 per cent, and six per cent sur- taxes, the highest in 1913, have become 75 per cent. The rates have moved upward, and onward, and have perhaps reached their limit in the upper brackets. But a local income tax, if disappoint- ing in its original yield, would present new worlds for tax-boosters to conquer. Up would go the rates, and down would go the exemptions. And the brake on the tax-raising proclivities of Congress, applied through the ballot box else- where, would not be present here. Be- fore leaping at an income tax as a substitute form of taxation, taxpayers of the District—though they have nothing to say about it—would do well to look carefully at the landing place. Guide Book. The Federal Writers’ Project guide to the District of Columbia and adjacent Maryland and Virginia, published under the title, “Washington: City and Cap- ital,” may not be an unprecedented -classic; but this much certainly may be and should be said—it is an honest ef- fort in the right direction. Integrity of ’_purpose is plainly evident in the text. /The directors of the work apparently were abundantly mindful of their re- ‘sponsibility, and the staff that gathered A the necessary material likewise merits commendation. Of course, a practical guide was wanted. There is a perennial demand for such a book. Habitual residents as well as numerous visitors have occasion to seek information about the so-called “sights” of the city. The present volume was designed to supply the lack natural- ly indicated. But an ideal Baedeker must be kept up-to-date, and the Writ- ers’ Project editors appear to have been aware of the limitation of the circum- stance of time under which they labored. It was wise of them to face the issue squarely. Their enterprise re- flects the scene as it is today. As the picture changes much of the task will have to be undertaken anew. Meanwhile, a credit should be entered in the ledger of history for the Works Progress Administration. The guide is an agreeable surprise—infinitely superior to what critics had expected. A pattern, anyway, has been established. If the Government is to continue to endow job- less literary people, it could do far worse with them and for them than to insure the periodical amendment and correction of a book which, especially if it be made available less ponderously, should prove durably useful to the people of the entire Nation. Washington ought to be better and more accurately known to the whole world. The guide now of- fered by the Federal writers is a service toward that end. The Bulldog’s Bark. It would be difficult to imagine a more vivid demonstration of Great Britain's invincible passion for peace— at almost any price—than the amazing situation at Bilbao, the Basque Capital now under starvation siege by the Spanish insurgent forces. After recur- Ting rebel attacks on British warcraft and shipping, the Baldwin government roared that it would not tolerate inter- ference with British rights at sea. Re- cently, when four merchantmen carrying food set sail for beleaguered Bilbao, it was taken for granted that they would have the protection of the mighty Brit- ish fleet. To General Franco's truculent declaration that they would not be permitted to reach destination Britain replied by sending warships into the Bay of Biscay headed by the battle cruiser Hood, the most powerful fighting vessel in the world. Suddenly this week Prime Minister Baldwin, speaking in Parliament, warned British ships that, because of “conditions now prevailing in the neighborhood of Bilbao, they should not, for practical reasons; and in view of the risks against which it is at present impossible to protect them, ap- proach that dangerous region.” This supine recognition of Franco's pseudo- blockade is, of course, vastly encourag- ing to the rebels and correspondingly depressing to the Basque Loyalists, who see their hopes of relief from fatal food shortage completely dashed. The Brit- ish vessels have made no attempt to reaci Bilbao. Under the circumstances, Franco seems fully justified in concluding that the bulldog’s bark is worse than his bite. The Baldwin cabinet is unmoved by charges of “un-British” cowardice, hurled at it by the Labor opposition and in other quarters. Reluctance to supply armed convoy of food ships even up to the three-mile limit of Spain’s territorial waters, where they would be brought within the protecting range of Loyalist shore batteries, is inexplicable except on the single ground that the British, fearing international compli- cations, hesitate to thwart Franco's “blockade.” It is not a very edifying attitude. The Baldwinites in consequence find themselves under the same sort of fire they drew when they succumbed to Mussolini’s Mediterranean bluff dur- ing the Ethiopian crisis. It may be that British side-stepping at Bilbao is not unrelated to the prospect of fresh trouble with Italy, which might feel that it was at liberty to challenge the Loyalist “blockade” of rebel-held Malaga. The Fascist press meanwhile is having a grand time in taunting John Bull for his reluctance to protect his own ships and openly urging ‘Franco to attack them. It is, of course, absurd to suggest that the British fleet shrinks from a brush with Franco's inconsequential naval forces. The true significance of Britain's inaction is to be found in her willingness to risk even ignominy rather than any move capable of turning the “little world war” in Spain into a genuine European conflict. But the spectacle of FEurope's strongest sea power backing down in the teeth of Spanish insurgent deflance is far from an heroic picture. —————————— New labor rulings may favor men for employment and finally suppress that cynical old ballad, “Everybody Works but Father.” ] Administration Arithmetic. Roosevelt administration leaders, sup- porting the President’s plan to increase the Supreme Court to a maximum of fifteen members, are making the point that the five-to-four decisions in the Wagner act cases leave the Nation at the mercy of a single justice. Senator Robinson of Arkansas, the majority leader of ‘the upper house, maintains that the necessity for legislation—the President’s bill—“cannot be suspended by the variableness of an opinion of a single justice.” And yet there is nothing in the President’s bill which would pre- vent a single justice from determining the constitutionality of an act of Con- gress or of a State law. The only dif- ference would be that eight-to-seven de- cisions could and doubtless would pre- vail in the future instead of five-to-four decisions. Whether the people of America would prefer to have the highest court uphold or turn down a law as constitutional or unconstitutional by a vote split eight to seven rather than a vote of five to four is merely & mathematical problem. There has been nothing to indicate that they would prefer such decisions from the Supreme Court. But the adminis- THE EVENING tration mathematicians apparently can see no reason why the eight-to-seven decisions should be a deterrent to the passage of the President's bill. It is quite plain that they do not expect any such decisions, if the President is per- mitted to pick the new members of the | court, as of course he will be if the legis- lation is enacted into law. The pre- sumption is that for a time at least the court would overwhelmingly support ad- ministration measures. This in itself is an admission that the court is to be “packed.” The opponents of the President’s court bill, as it affects the Supreme Court, have consistently argued that the meas- ure is designed to “pack” the court, and that it presents no permanent remedy. They insist that if the President really wants a flow of new blood into the Judiciary, and particularly the Supreme bench, there should be a constitutional amendment which would make com- pulsory retirement of justices at a given age, either seventy or seventy-five. The President, they say, has made the point that the present Supreme Court has among its members men who, by reason of their age, no longer have contact with the people, their needs and their demands. The Supreme Court, by its five-to- four decisions in the Wagner act cases, has upset the calculations of the pro- ponents of the President’s court bill. Decisions by the court holding the law invalid would have played into their hands, to the extent they would have been able to tell labor the court was entirely unfavorable to the working man. In their search for arguments that the Wagner act decisions mean little or nothing, and that the bill to increase the court must go through, they have hit upon the fact that a single justice, had he voted the other way, could have overturned the Wagner act. It is an idle argument, in the light of the fact that under the President’s bill the same thing could happen in an eight-to-seven decision. , Management of reputations in Wash- ington becomes a serious posthumous re- sponsibility. The memory of Thomas Jefferson is cherished in affection and it would be a melancholy demonstration if he were to be held inferentially respon- sible for such a vandalism as the destruc- tion of the Japanese cherry blossoms. , ————— In some respects the orderly tendency of the American people is obviously ad- vancing. It is possible to give lessons in contract bridge without staging per- sonal fights in order to make them seem almost as interesting as boxing or wrestling. ———————— Many States are identified in popular reference by their flora and fauna. Ari- zona produces a highly decorated lizard called the gila monster, whose technique is simply to clamp down his jaws and hold on. —————— The immortal Dogberry is revived in attention by some prominent figures in debate. He demanded to be written down and did not much care what was written so long as he was getting proper publicity. e Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Sufficiency. How cften have the poets told That sorrow makes the heart more bold, And sad experience belongs To heroes who inspire the songs. Those who must write and those who read, Like heroes, discipline will need. But now men say, “This training'’s tough! We’ve had enough! We've had enough!” “The Wintry days were dark and chill. The sun oft loitered 'neath the hill. The speeches that folks would rehearse Were often bad. The songs were worse. And yet men never have denied That souls must frequently be tried. But trials have become too rough. We ask, ‘Have we not had enough?’” Patience and Retribution. “Do you get angry when you do not have your own way?” “No,” answered Senator Sorghum. “If I'm sure I'm right, I remain quiet and feel sorry for the other fellow when his ideas go wrong.” Fatalist. st “Does the airplane impress you as an improvement on the locomotive?” “Decidedly,” answered Miss Cayenne. “It gets you where you happen to be going faster, whether it is in this world or the next.” Encore! Springtime goes happily Forth on her way, Tossing us snappily One more bouquet. Though we grow weary; oh, ‘Wherefore complain? Let’s heed the cheerio And try again! Jud Tunkins says we are going for- ward so fast that we don’t have time to make sure that where we're going to arrive is where we started for. “Tomorrow promises happiness,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “but we find with the sunrise that the day has changed its name and the promise is worthless.” Consultation. The conferences still draw nigh, It is & busy season. ‘We’'ll have things settled by and by; If not, we’ll know the reason. If this big world goes on to fret In general irritation, More doctors we can always get For a new consultation. “Money,” sald Uncle Eben, “is a little like religion. Nobody’s got so much dat he wouldn't feel benefited by more.” . ! STAR, WASHINGTON, Jay Franklin’s Statements On Puerto Rico Disputed To the Editor of The Star: In your edition of April 3 there ap- peared an article, “We, the People,” by Jay Franklin, in which he charges Gen. Blanton Winship and Dr. Ernest Cruening with failure in Puerto Rico and expresses the opinion that they should resign at once. With all due respect to Mr. Franklin, I feel that he has been grossly unfair to both Gov. Winship and Dr. Gruening. The present regime, in Washington and Puerto Rico, is not responsible for present conditions in Puerto Rico. On the contrary, both the Federal Govern- ment and the island administration have been untiring in their efforts to improve financial and social conditions. The unfortunate affair in Ponce is one more outcome of what has gone before, I feel that any unrest now exist- ing in Puerto Rico is the result of the lack of consistent and constructive pro- cedure on the part of all the Federal administrations up to that of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The American people had no experi=- ence in colonial government and never, to my knowledge, was there an effort made to study the problem from all angles and to adopt a plan outlining what the future of Puerto Rico was to be. Puerto Rico still is today unincorpo- rated territory and only in 1917 was American citizenship granted the people. Had these things been done in the early days after the signing of the treaty of Paris, and especially if the ultimate political status of the island had been made known, the basis for most of the agitation and discontent would have been removed. Mr. Franklin states that “since then, treat them rough has been the Winship, Gruening policy.” This is an erroneous statement. Until the arrival of Gov. Winship, certain turbulent elements did practically as they wished, to the detri- ment of the vast majority of law-abiding citizens. Since Gov. Winship's arrival the lawless element has been given to understand that the forces of law and order must be respected. If my contention is correct that pres- ent difficulties date back to the begin- ning of the American occupation, then Mr. Franklin's charges fall flat unless he can show an aggravation of symptoms, instead of, as most of us believe, an improvement. Other statements made by Mr. Franklin can be answered, but I ask for no more space than necessary to a refutation of his major charge. A residence of 30 years in Puerto Rico and careful observation of progress made qualifies me, I think, to express an opinion on the problems of our island. In conclusion permit me to say that it would be difficult to find two men who have the interests of Puerto Rico at heart more completely and intelligently than Gov. Winship and Dr. Gruening, or who devote more time and energy to the proposition of inducing the Con- gress to concede Puerto Rico the bene- fits of all legislation to the same extent that it is granted to the various States (legislation such as Home Owners Loan Corp., Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., social security act, were not applicable to Puerto Rico when originally approved; the Federal Reserve act still does not apply, the Costigan-Jones sugar act discriminated unjustly against both Hawali and Puerto Rico), a condition which T feel should always have existed and the lack of which has provided certain justification for the belief that Puerto Rico occupied an inferior status in the Nation. ADA F. COCHRAN. San Juan, P. R. Inconsistency Has Been Only Consistent Feature To the Editor of The Star: To the utmost limits of approval, en- thusiasm and thankfulness, all right- minded Americans should commend your editorial comment of April 1, under the caption of “Contradictions.” In the argot of the hour, it “rings the bell” on every devious, squirming twist of the Roosevelt regime, for inconsistency has | been its only consistent feature, just as “alarmists” and “opportunists” have been its leaders. More specifically, why must intelli- gent people and the youth of the land have to listen to such snarled logic and twisted truth as filled the discourse of Senator Robinson? Some of our great States should lose their national voice if they do not exercise greater care in selecting their representatives in Con- gress. Robinson’s remarks about the Supreme Court must be some of the left over “campaign wind” Farley mentioned as being ready. . Every thinking man and woman can see the vicious possibilities of this tam- pering with the independence of the court, with the hydra-headed beast of autocratic power that lurks back of the ‘“reorganization” scheme. Must we be=- lieve that the supporters of such une American ideals think more of their own pockets and political life than they do of the freedom of their country and the welfare of their progeny? Or must we believe it is colossal ignorance? “God of our Fathers be with them vet— Lest they forget.” MRS. C. E. COATES. Good Road or Auditorium Is Preferable to Memorial To the Editor of The Star: Why not have an auditorium or a decent No. 1 Highway from here to Philadelphia instead of a memorial? Do you realize that Washington does not have a single place in which to hold fairs, automobile shows, or where speeches may be delivered with a large audience? No. 1 Highway from here to Philadel- phia is a disgrace to the Nation! In Baltimore it has taken the outrageous time of 35 minutes to get across a railroad track. Can’t something be done about this? Call this road “Jefferson Memorial Highway” if you wish. Cer- tainly Jefferson would want to have something for the good of the country named after him! Washington has so many places of public interest that it takes at least a week for a visitor to see them all. Do we need to spend four million dollars for another one? If we must have it, why spoil the only Japanese cherry blossoms in the United States? It is not only the cherry blossoms that will be lost, but their beautiful setting also will be lost. Let us have something that is of some use to the people of these United States! ELAINE J. WASSON. Sitting Down Not Quite All From the Ann Arbor News. “Labor makes plea for housing action,” says headline, and yet we had been led to believe that living conditions in the automobile factories were quite satisfactory. The Next Big Fight. From the Worcester Gasette, . A Cornell' professor predicts that the next general war will come in 1961. That is, of course, if the nations haven’t killed each other off on the Spanish front befors that time. x D. C, THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 1937. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Wild rabbits made their appearance in the garden the other day, after a Win- ter's absence. Among the animals nothing looks better in a yard than a bunny. The flowers they eat, the grass they consume, are a small price for the friend of animals who likes to watch them. The yard becomes, then, that much- discussed thing, native habitat. For- tunately for this rodent, everywhere is home to him and her. The burrow is usually in a tangled, overgrown lot, where honeysuckle runs riot. Let no one say that wild honey- suckle is a nuisance. The rabbits love it. If a yard has a semi-wild place in it, preferably near the rear, the rabbits will make that home. Dogs may scent their nest, and be seen pawing around there, or barking vigorously, but in the main the rabbit family is perfectly safe. o x % Spring days brought them out at last. They seemed very sleek, even fat. A typical wild bunny is a very fine animal, though perhaps its coat is in- habited by both lice and fleas, unpleas- ant thought, but much more unpleasant to the animals themselves, without a doubt. Two bunnies were spotted in the late afternoon, hunched up contentedly near two evergreens at the rear of the garden. They were not eating. Some gardeners will call that in their favor. Popularly they are supposed to devour an entire bed of seedling petunias in a single night. Actually they seldom do, for they like fresh grass better. Perhaps their worst devastations occur in rock gardens. Typical alpines are small, and usually expensive, so that the loss of a dozen or more makes a real hole in a rock garden. At their worst bunnies are worth all the plants they eat. A fellow must live. * ok kK Our friends were seated near ever- greens, looking at the world with wise, wide-open eyes. How wide open is a rabbit's eye? Perhaps no other four-legged animal has such a wide angle of vision. One may believe that a rabbit can see com- pletely around in a circle. This is his biggest protection. Powers of flight popularly are held to be ac- countable for his comparative safety in a world in which all living things are his enemies, but it may be believed that his powers of vision are much more re- sponsible. Evidently he can see behind him just as well as in front of him. The eyes bulge out widely to the side and are so placed on the head that this sideways looking is accentuated. * o ok % Ever at his favorite sport of eating grass, Mr. Bunny is safe from intrusion from any direction. This makes him willing to trust him- self in situations from which timid well- wishers hope he will flee instantly. Mr. Bunny does not worry. Perhaps his life is continual worry; maybe he is used to it. Life is all worry to him. He is an expert! fact that a terrier is coming down the driveway. Run, bunny, run! “Woof! Woof!” cries the dog, in his best bay, as he slinks his belly to the ground, after the immemorial pattern of his kind after rabbits. With a bound the rabbit is away and through the fence. The dog barks and circles helplessly. He has been out- witted again. He tosses a deflant last bark into the afr. “Watch out,” he seems to say. time will come.” * % *x X No truer words ever were tossed in bunny’s direction. Life is incessant pursuit for wild rabbits. That is why the householder with a fenced yard may be glad, for his yard and fence give these wild creatures a few moments of peace and an easy method of egress in time of peril. We are not to think, however, that the wild rabbit’s life is a sad one. He knows nothing better. Maybe man, in his pride, really has nothing much better. Our brief interludes of peace are merely rests in the green grass destined to be stained red. “My * K X X Rabbits are among the most pleasing of all forms of animal life to the eye. Something there is very symmetrical about both the shape and coloration of these wild forms, with their soft mixture of browns, dark and light, a bit of gray mixed in, and that white tuft of cotton for a tail In their general color scheme must be included those dark brown, almost black eyes, which jut out from the head, which seem to take in, as no doubt they do, everything in every direction. The ears are the climax, the very cap, of every bunny. A rabbit without ears would be like the famous “Hamlet” without the Dane, only more so. No rabbit keeps them perpetually aloft, however. Often they are laid back so closely that the creature seems to have no ears at all. This is when he is at comparative peace with his environ- ment, Let a sound be heard—and his ears function equally well in any position, evidently—they come aloft on the in- stant. These flexible ears are well worth watching, especially these sudden tran- sitions to the super-erect. That is a bunny at its bunny-est. * Xk kK ¥ Those who wish to do particularly well by the wild rabbits in their yard may purchase them some of the excellent mixed food which is sold by shops which deal in such things. This food comes in the form of pellets and is supposed to contain plenty of lalkmlfa meal, among other things rabbits ike. There can be little doubt about the alfalfa content. It is easily recognizable by its fragrant, sweetly-bitter smell. Alfalfa, by the way, is known among the Arabs as “the father of all foods.” Herbalists class Sativa medicago as of high value, both as tonic and nutrient, and insist that it is much more than cattle fodder, claiming that its roots go down to amazing depths, and bring up to the herb a greater calcium content Calmly he eats away, regardless of the | than that of any other plant. STARS, MEN AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. The Mormon cricket—wingess, long- horned grasshopper which sometimes travels in close-packed bands a square mile or more in area—is due to descend upon the crops of the Rocky Mountain area this Summer, according to warn- ings issued by Department of Agriculture entomologists. An advance of millions of these insects, devouring every green thing in their path, is perhaps the most striking phe- nomenon of insect life in America. It was first noted in 1848, when the early Mormon settlements in Utah found themselves threatened with total loss of their food supply by such an invasion. At that time there was nothing the settlers could do to save their flelds— except pray. Prayer proved sumcienf, for suddenly the despairing pioneers saw great flocks of sea gulls flying over the mountains. The birds devoured the grass= hoppers by the millions and may have been responsible for saving the lives of the people. It seemed like a miraculous intervention, in direct answer to their supplications. A monument in the temple grounds at Salt Lake City commemorates the service of these birds. Since then much has been learned about the habits of the grasshoppers and man relies upon directer methods of com= bating them. The Department of Agri- culture has a $300,000 appropriation to make war upon them with sodium ar- senate fired from dust guns. This is described as a “two-way” poison. The crickets eat some from their legs and antennae., They also breathe the dust. In 1848 the sudden appearance of such a vast army of bugs might well have seemed an intervention of satan in the normal ways of nature. Entomologists now know that it is an entirely natural phenomenon. Normally the grasshoppers live in the mountains, feeding on the natural vegetation and doing little dam- age. Periodically the numbers increase to the point where there is not enough food and the insects descend upon the cultivated flelds. This is particularly true in times of drought. Such an out- break may last from two to six years until stopped by the weather, natural enemies or man. The present one started in 1932 and, with a succession of dry years, has increased ever since. This year is expected to be the worst on record. Last year the sea gulls appeared again, as in 1848, and were of considerable aid in fighting back the pest. In some un- known way the birds sense a great abun- dance of food over the hills. In an advancing band there are from 40 to 50 crickets to the square foot. Sometimes the bands are so close to- gether that they merge into an enrmous horde covering thousands of acres. A migrating horde gives the ground the appearance of moving. The bands move continuously through the day. Unless disturbed they travel straight ahead. They never go around an obstacle, but hurdle it, or attempt to do so. Any sudden noise frightens them and their solid front eddies off into side waves as they scurry for cover. Fortunately, the death rate of a Mor- mon cricket band is high. They attack and devour their fellows that, through injury or weakness, are unable to defend themselves. They are so large and clumsy that they are an easy prey to natural enemies. Great numbers of birds always follow the cricket bands. Chickens and turkeys gorge themselves upon them. Migrating crickets, the Agriculture De- partment entomologists have found, make an excellent target for dust guns, Dense bands are dusted as they move. Strag- glers are herded together by barriers 10 to 18 inches high and caught in pits A or killed by poison along these barriers. A survey of the eggs left by last year’s crickets indicates that the bands will soon spread over about 500,000 acres in six States. Last year the grasshoppers did about $200,000 damage on the great Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, but in | Utah, Nevada and Idaho, where rigorous control methods were used, the damage was slight. Xk ok % Department of Agriculture entomolog- ists have just reported a curious case of robber parasitism in the insect world. In Kansas grain fields they found beetles, adults of the false wireworm, robbing small red ants of the seeds they collect over a wide area. Gathered in large numbers on the mounds of the mound-building harvester ant in Western Kansas, the beetles ate seeds that the ants had dropped here and there. Occasionally several beetles set upon a home-going ant. An ant thus attacked promptly dropped her load of seeds and defended herself by biting the beetle's legs. * * kX A really sweet “sweet clover” is being observed by forage specialists of the Department of Agriculture. “Sweet clover” applied to the commion varieties of the United States is a misnomer, since they all contain a bitter substance known as coumarin, which may poison live stock when hay is im- properly cured. The new clover was found in China by Department of Agri- cultgre explorers. It contains no cou- marin and live stock prefer it to the native varieties. —ee—. Diversion of Gasoline Tax Not Inequitable To the Editor of The Star: The numerous articles appearing in The Star pertaining to tax diversion as applied to gasoline taxes have been very interesting. However, it seems to me that it is now time that the public be enlightened on this subject and told why the word “diversion” has been used so extensively in taxation as applied to gasoline but to no other taxes. Real estate has borne at least 90 per cent of the tax load in the cities of the United States. Real estate owners, how- ever, have never insisted that all taxes levied on real estate be utilized solely for the benefit of the real estate owners. In fact, real estate taxes are used for every conceivable civic expense. A large proportion of the residents, however, pay practically no taxes what- ever, and this is particularly true in the District of Columbia, where the floating population forms such a large propor- tion and where this type of resident moves from apartment to apartment without ever paying taxes. There is no more reason why gasoline or automobile taxes should not be uti- lized for general purposes than those from any other source, and eertainly automobile owners as a class should be able to afford to pay them. WALTER K. BACHRACH. Plan for Reorganization of Supreme Court Proposed To the Editor of The Star Long ago, in my thinking, I revised the -old adage of “two” sides to every ques- tion and made it “three”; your side, mine and the right side. Certain wise and sincere men think our court should be modified in vital ts. Others, also wise and sincere, continue in the old belief that the court 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 inclose stamp for reply. Q. Has President Roosevelt an auto- mobile which he drives himself?—R. W, A. He has a car with the mechanism of the gear shift and brakes so ar- ranged that it can be operated from the instrument board. Q. When was the first School Safety Patrol organized?—M. M. A. The first was organized in 1921 by the Chicago Motor Club of the American Automobile Association. Q. Is Robert Wadlow, the tallest boy in the world, in the circus?—W. H. A. He is with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey. Q. Where is Cumberland Gap?—F. T. A. This is the gateway through 'the Cumberland Mountains from Eastern Kentucky on the north to East Ten- nessee on the south. The southwest corner of Virginia touches it also on the north. Q. Where is the International Peace Garden?—J. P. A. It is located on the boundary line between the United States and Canada. It contains 2,200 acres of rolling hills, fertile and wood-covered, and dotted with lakes. Part of it lies in North Dakota, part in Manitoba. The work of beautifying the garden has just begun. It will be many years before the project will be completed. Q. Did Nathan Straus ask that chluldren marry within the Jewish faith? A. Nathan Straus, philanthropist, died in 1931. In his will was the statement “It is my wish that none of my children or grandchildren shall ever marry out of the faith, and I enjoin upon them always to be and remain good Jews.” Q. Is there any standard for the num- ber of persons that can be cared for by one dentist?—C. A. P. A. The Army standard for dental care is one dentist for 500 men. Q. Is there a rodeo association?—S. H, A. The Rodeo Association of America was formed in January, 1929, and has its headquarters at Salinas, Calif. Q. Was Mary Livingstone the real name of the radio star before she mar= ried Jack Beny?—E. G A. The comedienne’s name was Sadys Marks. Q. According to Adam Smith, what are the essentials of a good tax?—M. S, A. His famous canons or maxims were : 1. The subjects of every state ought to contribute toward the support of the government as nearly as possible in pro- portion to their respective abilities, i.e., in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state. 2. The tax which each individual is bound to pay ought to be certain and not arbitrary. The time of payment, the manner of payment, the quantity to be paid, ought all to be clear and plain to the contributor and te every other person. 3. Every tax ought to be so levied at the time or in the manner in which it is most likely to be con= venient for the contributor to pay it. 4. Every tax ought to be so contrived as both to take out and keep out of the pockets of the people as little as possible over and above what it brings into the public treasury of the state. Q. Did the ancient Egyptians have funerals for cats?>—E. M. R. A. Among the Egyptians cats were embalmed. funerals were held for them, families went into mourning and there was a death penalty for any one who de- liberately killed a cat. Q. In art what is meant by a line of beauty?—C. F. A. The term is applied to a graceful curved or undulating line, which is held to be absolutely beautiful in itself. Such a line is commonly represented as a double curve, resembling an elongated letter S. Q. Who are Melungeons?—O. H. A. They are people of mixed white and Indian blood living in parts of Ten- nessee and the Carolinas. Q. Under what name does Mrs. Wil- liam Beebe write?—E. H. A. The explorer's wife uses the pen name of Elswyth Thane. Q. What is the name of the conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and how old is he?>—W. H. A. Dimitri Mitropoulos, conductor of the orchestra, is 41 years old. Q. How can rainproof labels for plants be made?—H. J. A. The ordinary wooden label may be written on with black ink, then dipped in varnish or shellac and dried. Q. Is the Hilltopper still Georgetown University's college paper?—H. K. A. The Hilltopper has been succeeded by the Hoya, a weekly newspaper. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton. An Open Book I followed a path thru the forest, By the side of a singing brook; It led me along with its merry song To a sheltered, flowery nook— Where I sat me down with a book. But my book I let fall unopened; While I studied from Nature's page The way the grass grew, every wild flower hue, Forest life in the budding stage . . . It was reading profound and sage. ——e is well constituted in its present set-up. If neither side is wholly in the right, then perhaps, also, is neither side wholly in the wrong. It is this thought that moves me to think the time is ripe for suggestions of compromise. ‘Without reflection on nine splendid old men, I conceive that it is not well that the court should be dominated by men above 75 years of age. These are my suggestions for a remedy: Let the number of the court remain nine appointments to be for a term of 18 years. Terms to be arranged so a vacancy will occur every second year. No age limit be fixed. By this arrangement any President in any one term will add new blood to the court by two appointments. And always a balance is maintained between the old and the new. This, of course, to be accomplished only by an amendment. EMORY I. IRELAND.