Evening Star Newspaper, June 9, 1937, Page 10

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY June 9, 1937 THEODORE W. NOYES The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th St andsPennsylvania Ave. New Yo~k Office: 110 East 42nd 8t Ohicago Office: 435 North Michizan Ave. Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban. Regular Edition. The unday Star Evenine anc g oY onth or 150 per week The Evening Star e ddne The Sunday Star -5¢ per copy Night Final Edition, 70¢ per month 55¢ per month Collection made at the end ch month or each weer. Orders may be sent by mail or tele~ phone Natloral 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, Dally and Sunaay Duily ‘only Sunday All Gther States a gfl! and Sanday. 1 yr., $12.00; 1 mo.. $1.00 ily “only_. 1 3r. T S$R.005 1 mo. 78¢ Sunday onlv222122 1 yril $5.00i 1 mo.. 80c Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Assoctated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication uf all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. — End This Triple Threat. It has been amply demonstrated in hearings on the King bill to ban nuisance Industries from the District that the proposed slaughter house and rendering plant in Northeast Washington falls within that classification. Leading au- thorities on the planning and develop- ment of Washington have testified, with- out a dissenting voice, in favor of prompt enactment of the bill, not merely to prevent construction of this slaughter house, but to establish a necessary bar- rier against all such industries within the limited area of the District. Since the recess of the hearings on the King bill there have been two other important developments which bear di- rectly on the operation of the proposed slaughter house and which add addi- tional reasons for preventing it. One is the action of the Zoning Com- mission in zoning as residential a large area of land, comprising about sixty- five acres, which lies within a few hun- dred yards of the proposed location of the slaughter house. The property has been zoned previously as residential, commercial and industrial. It has now been given the partial protection of resi- dential zoning because of the imminent plans of the owner for a residential development. But this development, like the P. W. A. low-cost housing de- velopment not far away, will be placed in jeopardy should the slaughter house and rendering plant be permitted to operate. ‘The other development is in the form of the warning from Surgeon General Thomas Parran of the United States Public Health Service that operation of the proposed slaughter house will place s load on the capacity of the sewage treatment plant—now nearing comple- tion at a cost to District taxpayers of more than $4,000,000—which will prob- ably require the immediate construction of a secondary treatment plant, at further cost to local taxpayers. That comes as sweet news indeed to local taxpayers, who are about to be burdened to the tune of six or seven million dol- lars through the new tax proposals now pending in Congress. Any other city council, responsive to the wishes of local taxpayers, would spend possibly as much as fifteen min- utes in ending this triple threat from an unwanted slaughter house, blight- ing the area where it will be located, providing a new drain on the sources of local revenue and offering another barrier to development of Washington as the Capital City. Will Congress need- lessly postpone granting the same pro- tection to the Nation's City—protection Which is inevitable anyhow and which should be granted immediately in the face of existing dangers? —_— e Well, there is one thing about Al Bmith as an author—his pronunciation, a5 far as his public goes, will be *poifect.” S Premier Blum’s Year. When Leon Blum became premier in June, 1936, prediction was widespread at home and abroad that his cabinet was doomed to an even more ephemeral career than is generally the fate of French governments. The Popular Front coalition seemed a particularly fragile combination, destined to be blown over by almost the first parliamentary wind that struck it. Twelve months have elapsed and the Blum regime is still at the helm, more strongly established than ever. The anniversary is a notable event in French politics. M. Blum is not only the first Socialist to become premier, but also the first premier since 1929 to survive a full year. Within that period he has established himself as one of Europe's foremost statesmen, en- dowed with all those qualities of courage, resourcefulness and determination which are the ingredients of political leader- ship. In an address to party adherents, Pre- mier Blum gives a modest account of his stewardship. He claims as his gov- ernment’s paramount achievement the demonstration that “in a world where autocracies rule, it was found possible %o effect a rapid change in the country’s social life without ruining its democratice institutions.” While maintaining these intact, the government brought about an economic revival, averted a financial crisis and, above all, preserved peace. ‘When M. Blum took office France was plunged in industrial unrest, marked by some of the world’s earliest sit-down strikes, which threatened the nation with economic paralysis. He came boldly and effectually to grips with that men- ace, only to see France confronted by the international crisis provoked by the Bpanish civil war and the insistence of his radical supporters that French aid be placed at the disposal of the Loyalists. Conscious that this would set alight the long-feared European conflagration, M. Blum’s influence Irclt‘a\ the outset was N THE EVENING resolutely cast on the side of non-inter- vention, even though he was under per- sistent pressure to join Soviet Russia in drastic measures to crush the Fascist threat beyond the Pyrenees. Peace has not been broken. Today finds France by no means out of the economic woods, but in sub- stantially better position than a year ago. In the realm of foreign relations, there has been progressive improvement. Italo- German efforts signally failed to under- mine the alliance with Russia. The pre-war Anglo-French entente is re- stored to old-time solidarity. The ties with the Little Entente and Poland have been tightened. Altogether, France en- ters upon her second year of Popular Front government with every reason to expect that Leon Blum's leadership assures the republic continued tran- quility, stability and prosperity. A Moral Question? Is taxation a legal or a moral ques- tion? Is there any reason, moral or otherwise, why a citizen of the United States must so arrange his affairs that the highest amount of taxes may be collected and paid into the Treasury? Or conversely, is there any reason why he should not so arrange his affairs that he should pay the lowest tax— under the law? This is tax avoidance— not evasion—and it has been recognized as entirely legal by the courts for many years. In 1916 the late Mr. Justice Holmes of the Supreme Court of the United States handed down an opinion in the case of Bullen vs. Wisconsin, in which he said: “We do not speak of evasion, because, when the law draws a line, a case is on one side of it or the other, and if on the safe side it is none the worse legally that a person has availed himself to the full of what the law permits. When an act is condemned as an evasion, what is meant is that it is on the wrong side of the line indicated by the policy, if not by the mere letter of the law.” Again and again the courts have held that a citizen may resort to “any legal methods” available to him to diminish the amount of his tax liability. In the case of the Iowa Bridge Company vs. Commissioner it was held by the court “that even though the transaction is a device to avoid the burden of taxation or to lessen that burden, it is not for that reason alone illegal.” A moral question is certainly involved if a citizen conceals his income in order to evade the payment of taxes imposed by law. But if a citizen discloses his income and at the same time so ar- ranges his affairs that under the law certain exemptions from the tax are per- mitted, there is a very different situa- tion. There is no legal reason why he should put his business or his affairs generally into such shape that he will be compelled to turn over to the Treas- ury the maximum tax. Congress, in its tax laws, has worked a number of injustices. The citizen, however, is compelled by law to submit to these injustices. If the citizen, on the other hand, takes advantage of the law to pay no more taxes than the law de- mands, is he subject to criticism? How many citizens, out of pure patriotism, insist upon paying the maximum taxes that may be imposed upon them? If such is the expected attitude, consider the regulations under the tax law of 1936. Article 22 (a) (3) of regulation 49, relating to the income tax, contains the | provision that “if a person receives as income for services rendered a salary and in addition thereto living quarters, the value to such person of the quarters furnished constitutes income subject to tax.” This provision supplements another in the same regulation which says: “If services are paid for with something other than money, the fair market value of the thing taken in pay- ment is the amount to be included as income.” Has the President of the United States, unwittingly, failed to include in his income tax the value to him of the residence provided by the Government, which pays him his salary? Under these regulations it would appear that even the automobiles and the yachts provided by the Government should be considered in making out an income tax return. There is no publication of income taxes and therefore the public is not informed as to whether the high officials of the Government who are provided with res- idences, as some are, or with automo- biles, as many of them are, take these things into consideration in reporting their income taxes. It would scarcely be an argument to say that residence provided for a public official is not part of his pay. Cabinet officers, for example, are not provided with residences by the Government. They must provide resi- dences themselves, at considerable cost. 1t is obvious, therefore, that a residence given a Government official is part of his pay. s Saint Lawrence was roasted on a grid- iron. The waterway to be named after him seems to be in a sort of fireless cooker. “Magnificent Spectacle.” Few word pictures ever have been more thrilling than that which came from Canton Island yesterday. Wash- ington scientists had journeyed there for a “box seat” view of the longest eclipse of the sun in twelve hundred years, and, providentially, they were not disappointed. Everything, it seemed, combined to set the stage perfectly. Not even a single accident was reported, though it might have been supposed that at least one small detail would escape control—just as the best of apples inevitably may be expected to show at least one speck, if only to demonstrate that it is a natural and not merely a theoretical apple. The listening public, absent yet pres- ent as it was in the eircumstances, owes a vote of gratitude to George Hicks, National Broadcasting Company broad= caster, who gave an eye-witness account of the celestial proceedings. A genius at his work, he 'found language adequate to his need without noticeable effort. His audience forgot his problem, sat spellbound as he explained: “Darkness is really coming on us. . . . We see the diamond ring, that famous circle around the moon; we see the sun streamers breaking through. . . . The sky is dark blue. Directly overhead we see a brilllant star. . . . The light of the sun itself is rcflected down along the horizon in yellow bands that are very pale, fading into lemon and then into darkness. The clouds have changed suddenly from white to dark lavender. « «« We can see those huge flames of hydrogen that leap up from the sun's surface hundreds of miles a second, fifty or sixty thousand miles in the air. . . . The sun and the moon re- main seemingly stationary in the sky. It is a magnificent spectacle.” Certainly, the listening millions thought so, too. As they reccived the story, many of Mr. Hicks’ hearers must have marveled at the magic of the whole universe, the whole miracle of existence. The mind almost literally leaps with joy at the wonder of it—this earth, glorious in itself, a tiny grain of dampened dust in a boundless ocean of cosmic space; this pulsing century, rife with action, a momentary tick of the clock in the limitless infinity of time; all the forces and powers which move the changing yet eternal kaleidoscope in which the highest mountain, the smallest sentient creature, the most ob- scure blade of grass are fractional parts! The greatest poet that ever lived could not tell the glory of it. At best he could but feel the desire so to do. Mr. Hicks, assigned to “cover” one in- cident, one scene, did pretty well. ————— It takes thirty-seven days of skilled hand embroidery to complete a Presi- dent’s flag; very much longer than that to make the complicated and ornate British royal standard. Any saphead can concoct the red banner of com- munism, or the white one of defeat, in five minutes. e e Reciprocal trade agreements, so pop- ular and efficacious between natfons, do not prevail in base ball—that is, unless & couple of diamond moguls happen to take naps at the same time. ot Is there not some way to keep those Colorado and Dakota snowstorm stories off the front page? R Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. A Terror. Have a care! It is time to be cautious and prim, Unless you are willing to yield to your fear And flee to some spot where the shadows are dim, A place where the sunlight but seldom draws near. If your coat doesn't fit or your knees are not straight, Or your facial expression is harsh in its play, Take heed, lest the world know your sorrowful state— The man with the camera's coming this way. He loves to creep up and catch unawares That grin so inane that you sometimes assume; He will wait at the foot as you tumble downstairs And snap you in transit, to lessen life's gloom For all who behold his malevolent art. Seek not to defy him; escape while you may; Don't pause for farewells. smart, you'll depart! The man with the camera's coming this way. If you're Harder Audiences. “Are you going to take a rest this Summer?” “No,” answered Senator “The hard work begins. Sorghum, It's much easier to address my colleagues in for- | mal terms than it is to make speeches to picnics and chowder parties.” Jud Tunkins says he always wanted to have enough money to keep him from worrying about the future, but he never yet saw anybody who had managed it that way. An Artist's Confession. There's just one critic whom I hold In favor. 'Tis myself so free In criticizing critics bold ‘Who have been criticizing me. Source of Satisfaction. “What did you think of the new mo- tion picture?” “It was & means of great pleasure,” answered Miss Cayenne. “I cannot de- scribe the relief I felt on stepping out into the world where life is real and not nearly so terrible.” “A monument,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is a reminder of great- ness, and also, too often, of the fickle- ness of fashion in art.” Gratitudes. ‘When Congress to adjourn prepares We may in turn forget our cares. And. some attention we will give To hope that cheaper we may live. In drug stores golf clubs may we buy Which brightly fascinate the eye. ‘The golf balls, many experts say, Cost less than in a previous day. There will be days from work quite free, ‘When all may join in rustic glee. Inquiries will involve no more Than questioning as to what's the score. Although we’ll have much on our minds About taxation of all kinds, Let us our gratitude employ On benefits we now enjoy. “It's often surprisin’,” said Uncle Eben, “to see how a man dat keeps talkin’ at de top of his voice gits further an’ W’l’um de bottom facts.” STAR, WASHINGTON, D e, NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM BY MARGARET GERMOND. BLIND MAN'S YEAR. Deeping. New York: Knopf. “Compassion and the spring and wounded youth” tumble out of the sky into the solitude of Knoll Farm and chart new courses in the careers of two people for whom life has been for the most part an experiment in the realm of loneliness that is peculiar to those possessing natures too sensitive to find happiness in free association with their fellow beings. As subject material for the building of a novel the theme of misfits in the pattern of social relationships is not a new one, and Mr. Deeping does not resort to any of the familiar tricks so frequently employed by fictionists to hide a threadbare fabric beneath a surface of artificial loading. He simply presents as his leading charac= ters two victims of incurable affiictions and tells the story of their remade lives in a narrative that exemplifies patience, compassion and devotion as the virtues through which human happiness may be attained. By Warwick Alfred A. LR Rosamund Gerard is a recluse by choice. Nature had been unkind to her at birth by indelibly disfiguring one side of her face. As old Will, the gardener at Knoll Farm, expresses it: “Look at her one side and she’s a pretty woman, look at her t'other——! Nature do play queer tricks on we mortals.” Ever since she can remember, Rosa- mund has been trying to forgive her parents for the port-wine mark on the left side of her face, “like a splotch of purple paint laid on flat.” With full knowledge that their younger daughter would inevitably be a spinster, Rosa- mund's parents made sure that she would never lack the necessities and comforts of life, but they also made sure that no man would ever make a fool of her for her money. An adequate inheritance had made possible the con- version of the farm estate on the Sus- sex coast into a secret sanctuary, within the boundaries of which she had made her own life and kept aloof from the pitying, if unintentional stares, of un- thinking people. She had become a suc- cessful writer and had accrued a con- siderable fortune from the sale of her books. As Douglas Gerard she had ac- quired fame and fortune as an author, but life had robbed her of happiness until Clive Strange crashed from the sky into a clump of trees on the Knoll Farm estate. The young aviator had also belonged to the separative class, not because of physical deformity, but because of the natural inclination of the orphan who must make his own way to rely upon his own resources and to fight shy of social contacts. At the time of the accident he was flying an empty freight plane from Le Bourget and in a dense fog crashed into the trees and wrecked himself as well as the plane. It is with this background of the two who rebuild their lives on a new foundation that the story begins. Miss Gerard is about thirty-five years old and Clive Strange isat least ten years younger when on a fog-bound morning his badly smashed body is carried by old Will and Jane into the secluded home of Rosamund. Her physician believes that the young man cannot survive his injuries and that he will never regain consciousness. A few days later, how- ever, it is evident that he will live, but that both of his eyes have been de- stroyed. * ok ok X Wide gaps in the matter ot age make little difference when two people need each other. The step from compassion to love is invariably a short one, and the circumstances separating the help- less young man and the lonely woman from the normal contacts of life soon bring both of them to the realization that despite. the disparity in their ages happinegs lies only along a road that they can travel together. They are married and new interests occupy their minds as they face the struggle of defeating the terror of eternal dark- ness. Kindness is not a quality possessed by either of Rosamund's more fortunate sisters. Married, invariably in need of money, selfish and thoughtless, they are surprised that any one would marry their disfigured sister, and they derive a malicious satisfaction when they learn that Clive Strange is blind. A few family disruptions occur to mar the complete happiness of Rosamund and Clive, but these difficulties also are faced with courage and determination and eventually settled. The story spans a year in the life of a blind man, a year devoted to the problem of overcoming helplessness and learning to be independent and useful as well. In the working out of this phase of the story Mr. Deeping has gone deeply into the subject and has produced technical, mental and spiritual lessons which reveal a profound study of the problems of blindness, on the side of those who have never known the sense of sight as well as on the side of those whose eyes have beheld the beauty of the world and who have in maturity suffered the tragic destruction of their vision. * Kk ok %k Perhaps the story is too well regulated to offer many surprises or many com- plex situations in domestic life to rank it as a dramatic or a thrilling piece of work. Fortunately it happens to need neither of these adjuncts to add strength to its appeal to the sensitively human qualities which respond to the sympathetic treatment of the problems which afflict and terture mortal man during his brief journey upon the earth, and which make or break him accorg- ing to the measure of his fortitude. Splendid types of sincere manhood and womanhood, endowed with fine, sensitive natures, are the two personali- ties herewith blended in a story of courageous and unselfish devotion to service and to the creation of a spiritual nobleness that is perhaps beyond the ability of unafflicted and untortured mankind to experience. As the central figures in a novel Rosamund and Clive may seem a bit too perfect to be true. Yet truth has a habit of proving that life i filled with adventures more strangthan the most fantastic imagin- ings ot fiction. And who can say with the conviction of knowledge that such perfection of understanding as exempli- fled in Mr. Deeping's characters does not exist between many of the un- heralded and unsung heroes in the daily drama of human existence? o e Works Both Ways. From the Illinois State Journal. “Bishop George C. Stewart of Chicago says strip tease shows are “training grounds for the moronic type.” That goes for the audience as well as the performers. One Exception. From the Battle Creek Enquirer-News. Eighty per cent of tornadoes, so 'tis said, occur between noon and 6 pm. Excluding those that father cuts loose when daughter arrives home at 2 am. l ) WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 1937. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. The vogue for dark glasses to shield the eyes from the rays of the sun is an interesting one, based about one-half on imitation, one-fourth or: necessity and one-fourth on sheer hokum. The human eye is a marvelous mech- anism, perfectly equipped to protect itself, aided slightly by the common sense—if any—of the owner. There is a triple shield, made and patented by Maw Nature. First, there is the position of the eye itself, back under jutting eyebrows. It is as if Nature had given the eye a nice awning. Then there is the eyelash, not to be despised, but far overshadowed by the lids themselves, with their marvelous self-closing device, whereby they may be narrowed or opened at will, and sometimes by sheer instinctive move- ments. A third magnificent protective device is the eye opening, which may be ex- panded or made smaller, according to the nature and intensity of the light. We all know how impossible it is to see at first when stepping from the lighted street into a darkened theater. Shortly the eye adjusts itself by mak- ing the aperture larger. Conversely, on going out into the sun again, we find the opening must make itself smaller. * X X X These actions and protective devices ought to be enough, if their owner uses Jjust a little bit of common sense,’and the fact that millions of persons have not succumbed to the lure of blinders for Summer proves the thing perfectly, it would seem. Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of persons throughout the United States have taken to glasses tinted amber, dark green, horrible brown and smoke. This vogue—it is really nothing more, in its larger aspects—spread from Cali- fornia, where perhaps there is some real need for glasses. It must be remembered that their famous sunshine is far more intense than ours. The full charge of sun rays of various types pours down upon that land. The motion picture stars properly wear blinders, perhaps, although even there Nature provides them with the same set of protective devices given all of us. It may be imagined, however, that even in sunny California the lure of such goggles lies partly in the idea that they give the wearer the appear- ance of a “femme-fatale” in disguise. * K X X The East, however, is not California. Even at noon in Summer our sun possessts no such actinic ray strength. Too, we have definitely more shade. The idea that the eve needs protec- tion from our sun is mildly ridiculous, except, of course, in such cases as really demand protection. That is for an oculist to decide. Most of us, might be deemed weak in the average sense, probably need no such protec- tion, but rather a more wholesome and understanding use of our eyes. Light and dark the same picture. It is well that fishes and other creatures living always in dark caves come to lose their eyesight almost entirely. Even mules, it is said, which spend their lives down in the mines shrink from the light and are unable to see at all if suddenly hoisted into the sun- shine after years of confinement. even with eyes which | are two sides of | known | It is natural to have sunshine on the face. The sunken position of the eyes does yeoman service in shielding them. 'The eyelasher, the ilds themselves and the narrowing device of the lens do more. If only we refuse to look directly at the sun, the chances are that our eyes will be all right. Think of the sailors who never wore shaded glasses. Think of the men on farms and on the prairies, in beach patrols and the like. If they needed protection from glare, they found it by wearing a wide- brimmed hat. Such usage was common sense in action. Tightly fitting dark glasses are not the same, by any means. These cut off too much light; they make the con- trast between the light outside and the amount inside the lens entirely too great. * X K X Of course, there always will be per- sons who, at least at times, need to wear dark glasses. Such sensitivity to glare is part of certain eye diseases. We are not sure but what such sensitivity may be in part inherited. No doubt some of it is mental, a sort of psychopathic fear. It is easy enough to feel that “some- thing is wrong” with the eyes every time the lids get red. Maybe there is, but perhaps at times such signs are only reflexes of certain greater hidden troubles with the body. High blood pressure, for instance, will do things to the eyes. Many other diseases and changed bodily conditions no doubt / a large part in creating eye troubles It is questionable, at least, whether proper use of eyes ever hurt eyes. If bad functioning comes, it is either through structural defects or improper usage. * K % x Use of the eyes under the light of the sun is entirely proper. Up until this Hollywood business, no | one ever thought of wearing “blinders” on a beach. Oldsters and youngsters galloped around playing games, swimming, run- ning, without recourse to dimmed vision Come to think of it, those Hollywood women had good reason to take to dark glasses. They wanted to disguise themselves from their too ardent admirers. But what does a Washington girl think she is doing when she defaces herself with a monstrous pair of bhiliot brown things hitched to her eyes by white shafts? * ok o X Modern America is propaganda-ridden at every turn. We like it. The latest urge, it seems, is eyewear, as some call it. People are wearing glasses of all sorts because they think they look stylish, or mature, not only because they may need them. Many men wear mustaches for the same reason. By slightly closing the evelids and holding the head down a bit, the equiva- lent of tinted glass protection is secured without the bother of goggles. Nature made eyes for light and dark, if only we give them a chance to func- tion. Perhaps the way of living of too | many persons is wrong—too much time | indoors, no proper balance attained. Part of this is economic., a by-product of the machine age. t least let us think about it before we pamper our precious eyes into semi-invalidism. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. J. Pierpont Morgan's attitude toward income tax “evasion"—that it's up to Congress to plug loopholes and that citizens are not transgressors, simply be- cause they take advantage of legal op- portunities—is expected to be the gen- eral line adopted by those plutocratic | persons haled before the joint congres- sional committee about to look into those matters. Such tactics are not likely to prevent the inquisitorial searchlight be- ing turned relentlessly upon the prac- tices denounced by President Roosevelt and those suspected of indulging in them. It is, of course, not news that some of the Nation's rich men have in recent years systematically escaped in- come tax contributions. Ample evidence on that score was forthcoming during the 1933 Senate Banking and Currency Committee investigation. But the Mor- gan pronouncement apparently reveals the defensive strategy to which owners of great fortunes are preparing to resort in order to ward off public odium and possibly legal prosecution. The New York banker's thrust at the New Deal program will doubtless fill both Con- gress and the Treasury with enhanced determinat#on to go gunning for alleged top-flight tax-dodgers. The outlook for Midsummer fireworks is correspondingly brighter. * k X % John L. Lewis has found at least one issue on which he agrees with Willlam Green. The C. I. O. boss, in testifying at the joint committee hearings on the Black-Connery bill, identified himself broadly with the A. F. of L. chief in opposing Government interference with collective bargaining arrangements. Lewis seems hostile specifically to the throwing of any monkey wrenches into satisfactory wage and hour agreements already brought about through negotia- tions between employers and labor or- ganizations. Obviously, both Lewis and Green view with alarm the enactment of Federal statutes which would under- mine the time-honored exclusive prerog- ative of trade unions to treat with man- agement for better working conditions. Ever since the Black-Connery act was projected there has been a widespread impression that in bestowing upon a five-man Federal board the right to regulate hours and wages, the Govern- ment proposes in effect to take from organized labor the fundamental excuse for its existence. * Xk ok X Undersecretary of the Treasury Ros- well Magill, who receives chief credit for organizing the crusade against multi- millionaire tax “evaders” and “avoiders,” is the son of Hugh S. Magill, president of the American Federation of Investors. That organization has been zealous throughout the New Deal in safeguard- ing the interests of citizens whose secur- ity investments are menaced by the avalanche of reform legislation enacted since 1933. The federation first cleared for action in connection with the utility holding company law. Since then, Mr. Magill and his associates have interested themselves in developments growing out of T. V. A. and kindred Federal proj- ects. The federation’s purpose generally is to hold watch and ward at Washing- ton ovér all matters, legislative and ad- ministrative, that impinge upon people’s invested savings. In 1926 Mr. Magill was an independent candidate for the Senate in Illinois, where he was affili- ated with groups in which Harold L. 1 | cent reorganization of Secretary Ickes, then a militant progressive, was once active. * ok ok ok Diplomatic quarters hear that one of Uncle Sam’s seasoned foreign service career men, Hugh R. Wilson, American Minister to Switzerland, is favorab. the running for the assistant secre ship of state made available by the re- Hull's departmental higher-ups. Wilson is cele- brating his silver jubilee in the diplo- matic service, having entered it in 1912 as secretary of legation in Guatemala. He has spent the past 10 years as envoy at Berne and become a well-known internatianal figure at the League of Nations and its long succession of world conferences. Through his assignment to Switzerland, Mr. Wilson rates as the United States’ more or less permanent, though unofficial, spokesman at Geneva whenever it is necessary for Washing- ton to make its voice or influence felt at the League. Wilson, Illinoisan and Yale man, has held many posts of im- portance both in the State Department and the field. * ok ok X Political issues are not among the topics formally discussed by the Japanese business leaders visiting Washington this week. There is one non-commercial question, nevertheless, which is in the minds of most of them and will doubt- less be conspicuously so while here. That is the thorny issue of our immigration laws, which exclude Japanese from en- tering this country on the same pro- portional basis as non-Orientals. While successive Tokio governments, since enactment of the obnoxious legislation 14 years ago, have never made it the basis of formal protest, exclusion re- mains a thorn in the Japanese side as an enduring reflection on Nippon's national honor. The island empire would undoubtedly welcome the granting of immigration quota privileges as tangible evidence of American good will. It is estimated that a quota would permit fewer than 150 Japanese a year to enter the United States. Pacific Coast opinion is understood no longer to be as anti- quota as formerly. . * ok ok %k Lieut. Comdr. Leland P. Loveite, newly appointed press officer at the Navy De- partment, has had an unusually versatile career afloat and ashore. Graduated from Annapolis in 1917 just in time to get into the World War, his maiden assignment was to command the first submarine chaser constructed on the West Coast. Later he was navigator of a destroyer operating in the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel. The Peace Conference found Lovette on duty in Paris. Then came several years of service in the Far East. High spots in Lovette's record include the occasion when he was relieved as commander of the gunboat Pampanga, in China, by Comdr. Spencer, first husband of the Duchess of Windsor. In 1927 Lovette was a first lieutenant aboard the U. S. S. Memphis, which brought Col. Lindbergh to Washington. Lovette is looked upon by Washington scribes as one of their own, because he is the author of a book entitled “Navy Customs, Tradi- tions and Usage,” while in 1928 he won the Naval Institute's Gold Medal essay competition. * K K K Full measure of the slump in Roose- veltian congressional fortunes is the cir- cumstance that this week—four months after introduction of the measure—finds administration Senate leaders at their wits' ends to discover ways and means ¢ 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 freight cars are loaded daily in the United States?—B. B. A. More than 100,000 is the daily average. Q. Has Charles Ray, former motion picture star, retired?—E. M. A. Occasionally Mr. Ray plays bit parts on the screen. He is principally engaged in conducting a school of act- ing. Q. What is the Hour Club?—C. F. A. The Champion Hundred-Mile-zn= Hour Club is an organization composed of a select group of automobile racers who have driven the full 500 miles of an Indianapolis Speedway race at 100 miles an hour or more. The club was or= ganized two years ago, but membership was made retroactive to bring in all who had qualified in previous years. Hundred-Mile-an- Q. How many World War cemeteries has the United States in Europe? — @G P A. It has eight. Six are in France, one in Belgium and one in England. Q. When was the Bank for Interna= tional Settlements organized and who was its first president?—J. M. A. This bank was organized in May, 1930, with headquarters at Basel, Switz= erland. Gates W. McGarrah was its first president. Q. Was Tudor Place, the Peter home in Georgetown, D. C., built by George Washington?—D. T. A. It was not. It was built by Thomas Peter, husband of Martha Custis, granddaughter of Mrs. George Washing= ton. The stately mansion was designed by Dr. Willlam Thornton, and is still occupied by members of the Peter family. Q. Why do some people have one blue eye and one brown eye?-—N. M. A. At birth the amount of pigment in the iris of the eyes is small and all Caucasian children's eyes appear blue. During the first six weeks pigment | gradually appears if the eves are pre- destined to be another color. If the pigment is unevenly distributed the iris appears mottled, and in some cases one eye remains blue and the other turns brown. Q. For whom is Greenshoro, N. C, named?—E. M. A. The city is named for Gen. Na- thanael Greene, the hero of the Battle of Guilford Court House, which is memorialized by a national military park six miles to the northwest. Q. What is the origin of hussars?— K. R A. The hussars were the light cavalry troops originally raised by Matthias Corvinus in 1458 to fight against the Turks. Of the several possible origir suggested for the word, the most gen- erally accepted is that it is derived from the Magyar word, husz, meaning twenty, the troops having been raised by select- ing every twentieth man in the com- munity. Q. What is the largest liner that has gone through the Panama ganal?— R.T. S. A. The Panama Canal office says that the Empress of Britain was the largest liner to pass through the Panama Canal. It was also the liner to pay the largest fee, which was $18,941.25. Q. When was the clock known as Big Ben put on the Parliament Building? —C. G. A. The clock was made in 1854 and re- mained in the factory for five vears. It was placed in the tower in 1859 and began to go permanently the following year. Q. Who was called the lyric poet of painters?—H. W. A. Because of his delicate, romantic stvle, Corot has been styled the lyric poet among the eminent painters of the Barbizon-Fontainebleau group, which included Rousseau, Millet, Dupre and Diaz. Q. How much did a suit of armor worn by a knight weigh?—E. G. A. A medieval suit of armor weighed 50 pounds or more. Sometimes the head- piece alone weighed as much as 30 pounds. Q. Who said that men run after what is new, but are prejudiced in fgvor of what is old?>—E. W. A. Schopenhauer. the German philos- opher, said: “It is not so difficult a task to plant new truths as to root out old errors, for there is this paradox in men—they run after that which is new, but are prejudiced in favor of that which is old.” Q. Please give some information about Paul Mallon, the columnist.—F. H. M. A. Mr. Mallon was born in Mattoon, T, in 1901 and was educated at the University of Louisville and Notre Dame, He began newspaper work on the Louise ville Courier-Journal in 1918 and later joined the staff of the South Bend (Ind.) News-Times. Subsequently he was with | the United Press for twelve years, covers ing politics in New York and Washing= ton. Besides his column, “News Behind the News,” Mr. Mallon contributes to magazines. Q. Please give some facts about Lake Titicaca—M. F. A. One of the highest lakes in the world, Titicaca lies among the Andes Mountains at about 12,500 feet above the sea. The lake has no outlet and has an area of 3,200 square miles and & maximum depth of about 900 feet. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton. At Rest On some lofty and trackless mountain crest, The cumulo-nimbus around me, In tranquil oblivion I would rest ‘When the Angel of Death has found me And in shackles of silence bound me. Into the vapors and rain-clouds would fade The world I had left behind me; Of its carping cankers never a shade In the mist-shrouded heights could find me— If this sleeping place was assigned me, of avoiding outright defeat of the Presi- dent’s court-packing bill or engineering a compromise of face-saving quality. The opposition remains in militant mood, scenting victory and determined to give no ground, ’ (Co=yright, 1037,