Evening Star Newspaper, May 24, 1937, Page 10

A—10 . THE EVENING STAR | With Sunday Morning Editien, WASHINGTON, D. C. May 24, 1937 3 110 East 42nd 8t. Ohicago Ofce: 435 North Michigan Ave. Rate by Carrler—City and Suburban. Regular Edition. The day St Evenlng A monih or 150 Der week The Evening Star 45c per month or 10 per week ‘The Sunday Star b¢ per copy Night Final Edition. 70¢ per month ght ight Final Star.. ____. 55¢ per month H"cmm:um: made ut the end of each month of oach week, Orcers may be sent by mail or tele- phone Natloral 5000 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, 1 yr. $10.00; 1 mo., 8¢ . $6.00 1 mo., b0c $4.00; 1 mo.. 40c Member of the Associated Press. “ o, The Associated Press 15 exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this Daper and alto the iocal news published heréin, gll Tigh's of publication of special dispatches erein are also reserved, More Miraclés Needed. When Senator Byrd of Virginia told Becretary Wallace some time ago that he planned to protest against the allo- cation of Federal funds to a resettle- ment project in Virginia, the Secre- tary's skeptical answer was that the day of miracles had not yet come. For, while there are many members of Con- gress devout in their allegiance to economy a8 a principle, economy ceases to be a virtue when it strikes too close to home. The allocation of funds for the re- settlement project affects not only Vir- ginia, which is the alleged beneficiary, but a district which is close to Senator Byrd's own home. That is one reason he speaks with such manifest authority »in condemning the “inexcusable waste” involved in a plan to house in a model community the ruggedly individualistic Virginia mountaineers selected for this homestead experiment. Senator Byrd's letter indicates his familiarity with the impracticability of the financial part of the undertaking and the impossibility of the Government's ever collecting in rental from the ten-acre homesteads the money to pay off its investment. But the Senator also knows the Virginia mountaineer, and the absurdity of an attempt to regiment his mode of life “In defiance of all the traditions, habits &nd experience of these splendid people.” To Senator Byrd the resettlement scheme reeks with mismanagement, in- efficiency and waste, in addition to being based on a misconception of the charac- ter of the people whom it is intended to benefit. As he points out, good farms of considerable acreage, on which houses have already been built, could be pur- chased for less than the cost of the individual ten-acre plots on which it is proposed to transplant the mountaineers. What he is opposing, Senator Byrd says, 18 not the help to the families ousted from their homes in the Shenandoah National Park, but the waste involved in extending that help along the lines chosen by the theoretical planners in ‘Washington. The “miracle” that Sen- ator Byrd has performed, however, lies in the fact that he is publicly protesting the expenditure of Federal funds in his own home State. That is almost in- comprehensible, for the usual protest over waste concerns the waste in some- body else’'s State. “As the Government is still spending $2 for every $1 we take in,” the Senator writes, “I think the time has come for Senators and Congressmen to protest against extravagance in their respective States.” Senator Byrd has worked a miracle. But not as wonderful a miracle as would be represented if other Sena- tors and Representatives followed his precedent. —————— Mr. Roosevelt is belng asked whether 8ix judges are not too many to look for in a bunch when there is liable to be difficulty in satisfying critics when they are chosen one at a time at long inter- vals. Judges are not easily found for service covering so wide a range of Xknowledge. ——ee—s John D. Rockefeller. Now that the man himself has drawn his final breath, the legend which has been developed around the career of John D. Rockefeller also should die. In many of its aspects it has been a monstrous myth—a vicious libel, created by jealousy and malice, kept current by professional promoters of class strife; its purpose was deliberate traduction, its object a conscious attempt at character assassination. But the pity of it is that the propaganda has succeeded. Thou- sands of his countrymen have been gul- lible enough to accept the misrepresen- tation which radical polemists have sponsored for the most generous phi- lanthropist the world ever has known. Mr. Rockefeller, theoretically richer than Croesus, was, in sober truth, a symbol of the so-called “capitalist sys- tem.” Processes over which he at no time exercised complete control brought him wealth beyond the dreams of Midas. Hence, it was supposed that he must be eriminally responsible for the chain of accidents—the invention of the gasoline motor, for instance—which resulted in the piling up of his tremendous for- tune. It was alleged that “no honest man actually could earn a million dol- lars.” Logically then, the head of the Btandard Oil trust deserved to be prose- cuted as an outlaw. The facilities of the Federal courts were enlisted to that end. But the facts were simple enough to be understood by any unprejudiced in- quirer. Mr. Rockefeller was merely one of a considerable number of captains of industry who, sensibly enough, believed in the principles of organized efficiency. He did what the authors of the N. R. A. vainly attempted in 1833; he brought order out of chaos, stabilized the pe- . troleum trade by persuading producers to co-operate, lowered prices to the public by saving money in refining and shipping. His critics complained that his methods were ruthless, forgetting perhaps that the law of mathematics never is sentimentally amerciful. To know Mr. Rockefeller, however, was to appreciate both his motives and his policies. He was a rationalist; it was the habit of his mind to think problems through to a sane solution. Also, he was by temperament kindly and gen- erous. If he ever desired power it was in the interest of service that he sought it. To comprehend him it must be re- membered that he believed in a per- sonal deity who demands an accounts ing of every soul. Likewise, he was pos- sessed of infinite faith in humanity. Even when rioters stormed his home at Tarrytown he did not waver in his con- fidence in the generality of his fellow- creatures. He gave his benefactions to all nations, all classes, all creeds, all conditions of people—because it was his conviction that it was his duty not to discriminate. Of course, the influence of such charity is immeasurable. Washington has in the Folger Shakespeare Library a beautiful example of its power. It was universal during Mr. Rockefeller's lifetime, and it will remain so for gen- erations to come. Posterity, therefore, should join with his contemporaries in honoring the memory of a citizen who, though often misjudged, was consistently loyal to the loftiest ideals of civilization —a builder whose works immortally will testify for him in terms of practical help for the poor, the sick and the ignorant among men, For a Spanish Peace. At no period of Spain’s civil war has there been a more heartening project for ending that tragic conflict than the plan under discussion in the 27-nation Non-Intervention Committee at London today. It looks to a purely Spanish peace rather than one dictated by foreign powers whose armed forces or sym- pathies are ranged on one side or the other of the strife. Concretely, the idea is to halt hostilities while all alien troops are removed from the country. During the armistice, international efforts would be pressed to persuade both the new Negrin Loyalist government and General Franco to enter into peace negotiations— negotiations exclusively between Span iards, to stop a war which long since outgrew the dimensions of a national struggle and became a grim contest for supremacy between rival external “ideol- ogies,” personified chiefly by TItalo- German Fascism and Russian Com- munism. Mid-coronation conferences of Euro- pean statesmen, in which British influ- ence predominated, paved the way toward a localized peace. The proposal gained instant momentum from indica- tions of German support. France, Bel- gium and the Vatican heartily approve it. The week end brought assurances that Poland and Norway, as strictly neutral and friendly states, are ready to promote armistice pleas. The French government, by a notably tactful act designed to impress both the insurgents and their Fascist allles, is seeking to prevent the execution of two German aviators in Bilbao for ruthless bombing exploits of which the Basque civilian population has recently been the victim. A Spanish peace for Spain can, of course, only be obtained if both sides assent to the evacuation of the outside elements which alone have made it possible to prolong the sanguinary cam- paign. Early insurgent reaction to armistice suggestions is hostile. Another ominous development is the report that Spain’s chief “economic royalist,” Juan Worch, reputed financial backer of the rebellion, is urging Mussolini to maintain Italian support of the rebel cause. It is more than doubtful whether Rome’s en- thusiasm for the peninsular adventure persists. Berlin’s interest in it has steadily flagged. Apart from the dem- onstrated failure of Italian and German “volunteers” to turn the tide of battle against combined Loyalist patriotism and military effectiveness, the Fascist dic- tatorships are now thoroughly aware that Great Britain, France and Russia could and would prevent an insurgent victory from being exploited for Italo- German political or territorial aggran- dizement. Il Duce and der Fuehrer must be cognizant, in other words, that the Spanish game is no longer worth the candle. It would be natural, as well as internationally gratifying, if they at length agree to take such steps as will either induce the Spaniards to make peace or permit them henceforth to fight their own war to that standstill which can hardly be long deferred amid the state of near-exhaustion in which both belligerents find themselves after nearly a year of combat. ————— There are so many points of possible objection to a Supreme Court candidate at present that some time may elapse as to the confirmation even of one instead of six. —oe—s. l.Vlake It a Substitute. In view of the fact that the existing emergent need for more revenue lies in the general fund, and not in the highway fund, the Commissioners have been wise in their final recommendation not to segregate the proceeds of & proposed automobile weight tax and, as in the case of a gasoline tax, make them applicable only to highway and trafic needs. But to make the. principle consistent, the original proposal of the weight tax as & substitute for the existing personal property tax on automobiles should be followed. It is inequitable to tax the owner of an automobile both on the basis of property value and the weight of his automobile. It is wrong in prin- ciple to pyramid separate taxes on the same property when such duplication can be avoided. And, as the Com- missioners ought to know better than any one else, there is constant pres- sure to raise taxes. The automobile owner will become subject to this pres- THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. (., MONDAY, MAY 24, 1937. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. sure in two directions. An increase in the personal property rates will hit him once, while the tendency will be to jack up the rates on the weight of his automobile, Personal property taxes on automo- biles now yield about $700,000 a year. The Commissioners’ moderate scale of welght taxes is estimated to yield about $1,500,000. The total of these two taxes— $2,200,000—is to be compared with the original Collins proposal of a substitute weight tax yielding $3,500,000. A fair compromise might be a scale of weight taxes lying somewhere between the Commissioners’ tentative proposal and the Collins proposal, with the weight tax a substitute and not an additional tax. Low weight taxes on automobiles, coupled, as proposed, with continuation of the existing personal property tax, will merely leave the District open to the same old charge that it is escaping the burden—in this form—imposed by many of the States. The tendency will be to increase the weight tax. And as in the case of the gasoline tax, originally proposed as a substitute for the per- sonal property tax and then enacted as an additional tax, the District will as usual emerge from the little end of the horn, paying the top rates on all the taxes. ————— Psychiatrists will give special atten- tion to the Vermont boy, aged 10, who killed a 15-year-old playmate by holding her under water until she was dead. Science should be served and the sub- Ject of psychiatry and kindred topics affords a remarkable amount of new material to be dealt with in such con- nections. A less talkative popular atti~ tude in such matters might stimulate serious and proper research, ——— Aviation has lost in the indiscriminate enthusiasm which proposed to clear air- ways first and allow questions of methods and right of way to follow in orderly fashion. Aviation will progress, but it will go forward with the benefit of counsel by sane and prudent men, ——————— July the 4th will celebrate one great event in the Nation this year just after Justice Van Devanter's farewell. The fireworks will, of course, be more numer- ous, but the memorable words may be worth cherishing, e Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. How Often! How often, oh, how often You pay a swagger fee To sit somewhere Out in the glare For other folks to see! How often, oh, how often You force yourself to eat, Likewise to drink, Because you think It is your turn to treat! How often, oh, how often Your bank roll runs to seed Because you pay For “con” display Instead of things you need. How often, oh, how often A bluff you make anew And learn that those For whom you pose Are mostly bluffing, too. Next Question. “What is the next question to be pro- pounded in this investigation?” “Same as usual, I suppose,” answered Senator Sorghum, “What are we going to do about it?” The Lucky Ones. “Have you attended the races?” “Yes,” answered Miss Cayenne. “With & man who knows all about horses.” .“How did you come out?” “Same as usual. The bookmakers had some wonderfully narrow escapes.” Getting Too Wise. We brave indigestions Great knowledge to clutch. If you never ask questions You'll never know much. But wisdom works queerly. You soon know a lot That, speaking sincerely, You wish you did not. Jud Tunkins says he does not believe half he hears, but he wishes the half he does believe didn’t so often happen to be the worse half. “A truly courageous man,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is never afraid; not even of the mistakes he might make while doing his best.” Dignity. Our dignity must make a hit And be preserved with pride. But too much worry over it May be a bit undignified. “Whenever some one says he’s ginter tell me sumpin’ foh my own good, ’cause he’s a friend,” remarked Uncle Eben, “I allus braces myself foh a hard slap.” Safety for Strollers in Washington’s Parks Urged To the Editor of The Btar: On May 20 I was & pedestrian around Hains Point. At the midway I paused to drink from the fountain. Straightening up to continue walking, I was struck by a cyclist and knocked two feet from my position. It would seem that it is high time for the National Park Service, vested with authority over these areas, to adopt regu- lations which would insure safety to the stroller. One cannot walk on the road- way without danger to life; now, one seemingly cannot walk on the cement pathway without peril to limb. Why not white-streak & section of the highway, it being & one-way road, for the use of those who seek the pleasure of cycling, thus giving the pedestrian a “break” in safety. Once I inquired, “What are pe- destrian rights?” The answer came “Funeral rights.” LOUIS V. WOULFE, I Doctrine Makes the Rich Poor and the Poor Poorer To the Editor of The Star: A prominent prelate is urging in a series of radio addresses that the capital of the “haves” be appropriated for the benefit of the unemployed and so-called “have nots.” If we once accept that doctrine as a proper one, it is clear that the extent to which it is applied will be limited only by the cupidity of the politicians and the ease with which they will yield to the ever increasing demands of the “have nots.” That policy is urged as a means of affording relief to the unem- ployed. As a matter of fact, it will create the very condition which its proponents desire to cure. We have only to look at what hap- pened in Westchester County, New York, in 1930 and 1931, for example. That county is reputed to be the richest in the United States. It contained many very large and fine estates, employing many hundreds of gardeners, chauffeurs, maids, butlers, housekeepers and other well paid domestic help. At the height of the depression many of these large estates were boarded up. These well paid domestics were dismissed and many of them had to be supported upon the rellef rolls. I would like to have these fine theorists, who are so ready to be generous with other people’s money, to tell us how they are going to prevent a vast increase in unemployment if they once start the appropriation of capital, allegedly for the benefit of the unemployed. Any one who knows anything about the frightful waste that has accompanied the admin- istration of relief in this country in the last few years, knows that for every dollar which ultimately filters down to the person in need, many other dollars are absorbed for the maintenance of a horde of administrative, politically ap- pointed, office holders. Place the capital of the producing and working element of the population at the mercy of the politicians, and we shall very quickly find that the market for the wares of many highly paid artisans will vanish. Cut the yearly income of all of the well to do people below a certain point, and what will become of the artists who paint high priced pictures, of the artisans who weave expensive rugs, of the diamond cutters, the jewelers, the builders of pleasure boats and yachts and the crews of such boats, and the manu- facturers of the thousand and one lux- uries which people can do without if they have to? Are all of these to be added to the relief rolls and supported upon the backs of the tax payers? That will be the certain result of the application of this foolish proposal. The whole point is that the average man will decrease the expenses of his establishment as his resources decrease, and this will in- evitably mean the laying off of many people now profitably employed. F. G. CAMPBELL. Daylight Saving Would Be Hardship on Majority To the Editor of The Star: The writer is frankly amazed at the efforts of a publicity seeking gentleman from the banks of the Schuylkill to es- tablish the daylight saving rule in the District of Columbia. There will be no saving in electric bills. In fact, there will be heavier light bills for those who can least afford to pay more—the poorer people of the city who for occu- pational reasons are forced to rise at already unusually early hours. “The greatest good for the greatest number” is an axiom that may well be applied to what has turned out to be a very con- troversial matter. ‘Why in the name of all that is just should thousands of people be annoyed in their husinesses and be disturbed in their domestic lives at & time when the country has broken the shackles of de- pression? It is true that in localities situated in the higher altitudes there is considerable merit for the advance- ment of the hour ahead; but any one knows who has lived in this locality that during June, July and August most of the golfers play off at the nineteenth hole. Retail stores, transportation com- panies and small business men will be affected adversely if this insidious bill is passed. There will be a general exodus from the Capital during this period by those who represent the real purchasing power of the community, leaving less fortunate workers to the mercy of “old Sol's rage.” As a long time reader of your estimable paper, I wish to register my protests to any change in time. JOHN Q. TAYLOR. Takes Exception to . PR Statement in Editorial To the Editor of The Star: This is directed to a single sentence of your editorial “Congress Waits” in The Star of May 18. You say, referring to President Roosevelt, “His T. V. A. leg- islation has stood the test of the courts, and if he wishes other power authori- ties of that kind doubtless he can have them without a conflict with the Con- stitution.” Far from having stood the test of the courts, the Government has been fight- ing tooth and nail to prevent the ques- tion of constitutionality of the T. V. A. power program from reaching the Supreme Court. Your comment was doubtless predicated upon the court’s decision in the so-called Ashwander case, but if you will read the majority opinion by Chief Justice Hughes in that case you will find these comments: “We agree with the Circuit Court of Appeals that the question to be de- termined is limited to the validity of the contract of January 4, 1934” (between the T. V. A. and the Alabama Power Co.) “* * = the questions that are properly before us relate to the constitutional au- thority for the construction of the Wilson dam and for the disposition, as provided in the contract, of the electric energy there generated.” “The Wilson dam and its power plant must be taken to have been constructed in the exercise of the constitutional functions (improvement of navigation and the national defense) of the Gov- ernment.” Construction of this dam and power plant was begun in 1917 for war purposes. “* » * the question of the constitutional right of the Government to acquire or operate local or urban distribution sys- tems is not involved. We express no opinion on the validity of such an effort, as to the status of any other dam or power development in the Tennessee Valley, whether connected with or apart from the Wilson dam, or as to the validity of the Tennessee Valley Author- ity Act or of the claims made in the pro- nouncement and program of the author- ity apart from the questions we have discussed in relation to the particular provisions of the contract of January 4, 1934, affecting the Alabama Power Co.” GEORGE E. DOYING. Contests, Prom the Worceater Gasette. Maybe there is a perpetual contest between the “haves” and the “have-nots,” as various people keep saying, but it's nothing compared to the epdless battle betw:en the “works’* and the “worke nots, Whence these spells of dissatisfaction, boredom, unhappiness, which come to the best and most successful people at times? We do not mean the “blues,” as the triumphant phrase was a few years ago. There is no title, surely, for the state indicated, in which it is impossible to put a plain finger on the seat of the trouble. Attempts have been made, from time to time, to locate it. The stomach, of course, is often selected as the cuiprit. “Your stomach s out of order” some one says, or “You have indigestion.” Dispepsia no longer has any standing, either with doctors or laymen. It is one with neurasthenia, in which nobody seems to take stock any more. * K Xk Perhaps there is not much use in searching for causes, in most such cases. ‘What is needed, rather, is a change in the state of mind. Whatever the fundamental cause, physical or mental, in most instances the person is low because he permits himself to be. This is one case in which the most doubting person can prove to himself the power of applied intelligence to straighten out many of the kinks which beset life as we go along. Let us keep in mind that life as we go along is something rather different from life in the abstract. In theory, a great many unpleasant things ought to be perfectly standable, but actually every one finds that many factors irk the mind, soul and body in the everyday life. These inimical factors differ so largely that they helped give rise to the old aphorism “What is one man’s meat is another man’s poison.” ‘What may irk you immensely may not disturb me in the least, and 8o on; what is standable for one is absolutely not to be borne by another. * k k ¥ It comes about, then, that a humorous outlook is the one best medicine for all this group of everyday mis-eases, as we would call them, not dis-eases. The person with the justly famous sense of humor has by far the best chance of getting through this world in reasonably good shape, and of coming out of it, if not alive, at least with eternal credit to himself. A sense of humor makes almost every- thing bearable. Especially so, one may think, when it comes to the thousand and one mental ills, intellectual mala- dies which beset us all from time to time, A shouting arises on the air. Strong men fight and women weep, Just because somebody, some place, ad- vanced an idea many years ago. There are hundreds of these ideas being born every day, and some of them will set brother against brother in the future. ‘Without a doubt they will. Then, centuries later, men will turn over the pages of books. and see how essentially silly that “big idea” was after all. It will be seen then, but not now, not to have been worth all the fuss, the blood and tears shed over it. Neverthe- less, and that is the point, how like Eternal Truth it seemed at the time! * ok k% 1In every age people are torn by douhts and laid low by thoughts, and all the time the masters of living were laugh- ing up their sleeves. They were sitting comfortably on their front porches—they used ’em, then— letting the rest get high blood pressure over other people’s ideas. The successful man of the past has been he who could induce a certain proportion of his fellow men to accept his ideas as their own. Will it always be so? * ok ok % ‘Whether it does or not, the semi-wise person will continue to snicker up his sleeve, and to laugh outright when he dares, He will catch the flickers of wisdom as they flicker, deftly permitting most of them to escape with his snickers, as vulgar as they may seem to the elect. He will know that really wise persons come only once in a million years, that to be a semi-wise person is as much as most of us can hope to be, that all that glitters is not gold, truly, and that real humor is more akin to love than cruelty. We would not enter into a discussion of the difference between wit and humor, fun and satire, sarcasm, invective, irony, cynicism, the sardonic. These are mat- ters for Prof. Fowler in his “Modern English Usage,” which see. A sense of humor, one may feel, is so universal that little definition is needed. ‘While your idea of a sense of humor may not be exactly mine, there is little doubt thai the two will come nearer coalescing than most other ideas. Probably this holds true of most people, and is the one big reason why people seldom discuss the great funda- mental sense of humor, but simply accept it at face value. * K ok K To have a sense of humor is to be able to see fun in the most solemn affair—if it is really there. Not 1f it isn't. That is the real difference between a real sense of humor and the pseudo- humor which sometimes tries to mas- querade in its place. Really nobody is fooled. The good sense of humor—we have tried to point out that there is no other kind—is one of life's great safety valves. When one feels low, especially in the morning, and is unable to check exactly on the cause of the trouble, a sense of humor comes in mighty handy. It takes the kinks out better than anything else, because it is instantly available. One doesn’t even have to pull a book off the shelf. The material is always at hand, be- cause it is impossible to look around without seeing something humorous, or hearing it. The pomposity of the aver- age human is food for the gods of humor. It deserves. and often gets, a pin stuck In its midriff. That these surgical operations do no real harm but ultimately good may be scored up in favor of good clean fun. A sense of humor takes life as it finds it, but insists on seeing what is not sup- posed to be there. but which actually is. Hence the humorist, in everyday life, is the true realist, he who laughs because somebody else failed to. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. With a prolonged session of Congress in sight—pessimists speak of September adjournment—other fields of controversy than the Supreme Court issue bound into the picture. Battle lines are drawn around all three projects next closest to President Roosevelt's heart—his $1,500,- 000,000 relief program, maximum hours and minimum wages legislation, and government reorganization. Hostilities will be flerce and long drawn out on relief and reorganization. Labor laws, which would in effect set up an attenu- ated N. R. A, will not be approved with- out a struggle, but administration leaders expect far less opposition to F. D. R.'s industrial reform scheme than to the two other measures. The relief battle, scheduled to be fought out first, will smash party lines about as violently as the judiciary feud has done. Economy advocates will put up the stiffest kind of contest in the Senate, now that the House has finally indicated its readiness to go along with the President on relief. Independence has become the congres- sional order of the day, since the court- packing program was sprung. In both branches there is now manifest a de- termination, conspicuous by its ab- sence during the New Deal, to disregard presidential leading strings and tackle things strictly on their merits. Roose- velt managers are conscious that rubber stamp days are no more. * ok ok X Senator Robinson's Supreme Court boom has so much momentum behind it that it may turn into a boomerang. That facetious White House press conference inquiry—“Mr. President, do you plan to confirm the Senate’s nomination of Sen- ator Robinson?”—sheds subtle light on the situation. It discloses an impression that the Senate is trying to high-pressure Robinson’s appointment to the Van De- vanter vacancy. Those who know Mr. Roosevelt’s deep dislike of that sort of tactics therefore fear that too much senatorial protesting on the Arkansan’s behalf can easily defeat the aspirations of his zealous friends. Talk is heard, too, that the campaign for the 65-year- old majority leader is inspired ir part by the Machiavellian desire of some court bill opponents to take the wind out of the presidential contention that “young blood” is indispensable on the high bench. Nevertheless and notwithstand- ing, and despite stubborn silence at No. 1600 Pennsylvania avenue, Robinson continues to rank as the topflight prob- ability for the first Roosevelt Supreme Court appointment. Although the Sen- ator’s confirmation wouid be a foregone conclusion, starry-eyed New Dealers would probably attempt to stage some opposition on the ground of his “con- servatism.” * k k& % There was just the glimmer of a sug- gestion, in a passing observation by Mr. Roosevelt, that at least one of rumor’s favorite candidates for the Supreme Court—James M. Landis—is not under consideration. The President was asked if he expects to reappoint the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman for an extended period after expiration of his current term early in June. Mr. Roosevelt replied that he hoped Landis would remain on the job as long as pos- sible before going to Harvard Law School to become dean. There seemed to be a slight intimation in that casual remark that the President has no thought of doing anything that would prevent Landis from entering upon his duties at Cambridge next Fall. L Congress can save money, when it wants to, even though it works such wonders in homeopathic doses. Some time ago the Senate authorized - ture of $10,000, to enable the United States Marine Band to attend the Con- federate reunion at Jackson, Miss., on June 9, 10, 11 and 12. The House cut down the appropriation to $6,000. Last week, on motion of Senator Pat Harri- son of Mississippi, chairman of the finance committee, the Senate concurred in the House curtailment. So the na- ;ionnl debt of $35,000,000,000 is $4,000 ess. * ok ok X Latest bulletin from the recovery and prosperity front reports that sales of life insurance in the United States last month, amounting to $692.062.000, were the highest for any month since 1931. The figures represent an increase of 16 per cent over April, 1936. Yet another indication of the country’s augmented spending capacity is the Department of Commerce announcement that sales of confectionery and competitive chocolate products so far this year total $84,500,000, compared to $76,500,000 sweet-tooth ex- penditure during the corresponding four months of last year. * K ok % Veto of the $5000000 New York World's Fair bill gave President Roose- velt an opportunity not only to practice the economy he preaches, but to take a little retaliatory crack at Congress for the frequent charge that New Dealers are addicted to usurpation of legislative functions. At the executive offices it's indicated that the principal reason the veto ax was swung is that the bill clothes the Fair Commission with both admin- istrative and disbursing powers, which under the Constitution are vested ex- clusively in the executive branch. Some- body asked the President how much money Grover Whalen, head man of the New York show, asked for when he was in Washington the other day. “He wants all he can get,” was the reply, with the added reminder that the matter is up to Congress. Manhattan is now said to aspire to $3,000,000 of Federal cash, a figure likely to receive presidential ap- proval, * Kok X Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf and Crown Princess Louise of Sweden will revisit the United States in June, 1938. They were here two or three years ago to participate in the unveiling of the Erics- son memorial on the banks of the Po- tomac in Washington, winning friends everywhere by their uncommonly demo- cratic bearing. The Stockholm royalties are coming here next year to take part in the celebration of the 300th anni- versary of the first Swedish colony in America. Besides Washington they are expected to visit various communities " throughout the country in which the Swedish element is prominent, notably in the Scandinavian provinces of the northwest, P Dr. Thomas Parran, jr., surgeon gen= eral of the United States Public Health Service, recently completed his book, called “Shadow on the Land.” It is scheduled for early publication. The work deals with the fight against syphilis that Dr. Parran and other Amer- ican medical authorities are now leading. It will discuss in detail the recent im- portant national conference on the sub- Jject in Washington and the comprehen- sive plans there formulated for com- bating the disease. (Copyright, 1037.) ot English Journalists. Prom the Bloomington Pantagraph, About the most humiliating thing that could happen to an English newspaper man today would be to find himself working for one of the three papers that are not excluded from Mussolini’s Italy for telling the unpleasant truth. R ) 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. How many tourists from the United States visited Canada last year?—S. T. A. Over sixteen million. Over four million automobiles from this country toured in Canada during the year. Q. Do snakes bite when under water?— F.B. L. A. The water moccasin is perfectly capable of biting a person under water, and will do so if annoyed. While not so deadly as its relative, the rattlesnake, the water moccasin is nevertheless capable of inflicting a dangerous wound. Q. How far on each side of the canal does the Panama Canal Zone extend?— R.D.J. A. The Canal Zone is a strip of land extending five miles on either side of the axis of the Panama Canal, but not ine cluding the cities of Panama or Colon. The port at the Caribbean entrance formerly a part of Colon is Cristobal, and that at the Pacific entrance is Balboa, while to the east of Panama is the resi- dential town of Ancon, the location of the Governor's house. Q. What sentence was meted out to the kidnaper of Mrs. Stoll?—A. L. P. A. Thomas H. Robinson, kidnaper of Mrs. Alice Stoll, was captured in Glen- dale, Calif., in May, 1936. The kid- naping took place on October 10, 1934. Robinson pleaded guilty to the kidnaping and accepted life imprisonment without a fight rather than risk trial and prob= able hanging. He was immediately ine carcerated in Leavenworth Prison and has now been removed to Alcatraz. Q. What is the correct name for the white area of the fingernails commonly known as half-moons?—H. G. A. It is called the lunula. Q. What is the name of the blind newspaper columnist who received tha heroism award from Kate Smith?—W. R. A. Miss H. Katherine Smith, Sunday columnist of the Buffalo, N. Y., Courier- Express, received the award. As far as is Q. What was the maiden name of Sec- retary of War Woodring's wife?—H. W, A. Mrs. Woodring is the former Helen Coolidge, daughter of Senator and Mrs. Marcus A, Coolidge. Q. Did William Gillette attend college? =H. N. A. He went to Yale. He embraced a theatrical career immediately after- ward. Q. Why are cranberries so called?— H A. Cranberries are borne on slender curved stalks resembling somewhat the neck of a crane. From this comes the name crane-berry, later modified to cranberry. Q. Who said, “It is much easier to be critical than to be correct?—M. M. A. The expression was used by Ben- jamin Disraeli in the House of Commons on January 24, 1860. Q. Was Johannes Gutenberg the real name of the inventor?—W. H. A. Investigations tend to show that he changed his real name. Hans Ganzfleisch de Sulgelock, for political reasons and assumed the name of his mother's family, Gutenberg. Q. Where did canned corn originate? —H. G. A. In 1839 Isaac Winslow attempted to can corn at Portland. Me. It was nou until 1858 that the process was success- ful, at which time he applied for a patent. Q. Who was the poet who was be- queathed a legacy by John Jacob Astor? —E. W. A. Fitz-Greene Halleck was for a long period the confidential agent of John Jacob Astor. When the latter died he willed him an annuity for the rest of his life and named him one of the original trustees of the Astor Library., Q. How did hospitals start?—L. T, A. They began as adjuncts to temples of worship, later with Christian churches, Q. How long was Emma Queen of the Netherlands?—T. D. A. She became the queen of William III upon her marriage in 1880, and ruled as regent from his death in 1890 until the majority of her daughter Wilhelmina in 1898. Q. What are moonlight schools?—E. S. T. A. The name was given to evening classes held out of doors for adults on long Summer evenings in districts where families were poor and isolated. Q. When were bonded warehouses first established?—M. S. A. The system was first authorized in England by an act of George III in 1802. The excise system of warehousing dates from 1823. In 1882 the excise and customs systems were assimilated. Q. How is Death Valley supplied with water?—F. R. A. It is watered by the Amargosa River and Furnace Creek. Q. Who named the Champs-Elysees?— O. A. This celebrated boulevard in Parls was named by Louis XV. Q. What is the total length of navi- gable rivers in the United States?—T. M. A. It is now over 23,500 miles. At least forty rivers have been improved by canalization, ————— International Sweetness. From the Lowell Leader. An international sugar pact has been signed in London. It would be fine if it corrected the acidity now apparent in the relations of some of the nations represented. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton. Workable. In human nature seems to lurk A latent tendency to shirk All contact with the thing called work, Yet mundane life for every {ll Has but one remedy—to drill Through work, and work, and more work still, When a man conquers work's steep stile, Accomplishing the thing worth while, The {lis of life fade in a smile. ” IS