Evening Star Newspaper, July 5, 1937, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY...________________Julys, 1937 THEODORE W. NOYES The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th St and Pennsylvania Ave New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. ©Chicago Office: 435 North Michigan Ave. Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban, Regular Edition. The Evening and Sunday Star 65c per month or 15¢ per week The Evening Star The Sunday St Night Final Edition. Night Final and Sunday Star—-__70c per month Night Final Star.. __T”__55c per month Collection made at the end of each month or each week. Orders may be sent by mall or tele~ phone National 5000 c per month or 10c per week == -5¢ Der copy Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Vireinia, yr. $10.00: 1 yri 86005 1 34.00; mo., 85¢ mo., &0c 1 mo., 40c All Other States and Canada, Daily and Sunday. 4 yr., $12.00; 1 m Daily only__ 1 yr., " $8.00; Bunday only” $5.00; 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 ited in this and also the local news published herein. 1l rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also rved. _— The Court Compromise. Five months ago today President Roosevelt sent to Congress his bill to reorganize and increase the member- ship of the Supreme Court. Tomorrow the administration leader, Senator Rob- inson of Arkansas, intends to call the bill up in the Senate. It is not his pur- pose, however, to press for consideration of the President's ogiginal bill, which was reported adversely to the Senate by the Judiciary Committee. Rather is it his plan to ask for favorable action on the substitute which he and Senator Logan of Kentucky and others have worked out. So much for the past his- tory of this unpalatable legislation, which is a clear attempt on the part of the Executive to dominate and coerce the judicial branch of the Government. Tomorrow begins a debate in the Senate which will indicate whether that body is willing to compromise a vital principle. That principle is the inde- pendence of the courts. It is true that the compromise advanced by Senator Robinson, Senator Logan and others is ar-coated pill, designed to make the swallowing easier. But the un- American dose is still there. It pro- poses to give the President authority to appoint additional justices of the Su- preme Court for each member who has reached the age of seventy-five years and has failed to retire. The President is limited, in making such appointments, to one in each calendar year. The original bill. which the President and his supporters have so strongly urged in the past, gave the President authority to appoint one additional jus- tice for each member of the Supreme Court who had reached the age of seventy and one-half years and failed to retire, with a limit of fifteen members of the court. As the court was then made up, six new justices could have been added immediately had the bill passed. Since that time, one of the Justices, Associate Justice Van Devanter, has retired, leaving five justices over seventy years of age and four over seventy-five. If the compromise bill passes, the President within a few months will be able to add two additional justices to the Supreme Court, one for 1937 “and one for 1938 after the new year has begun, unless all four of the justices seventy-five years of age or more retire. In that event he will have the appoint- ment of four new justices, including a Chief Justice. If two should retire and two remain on the bench, the President would have the appointment of four new justices, two to replace the retiring Justices and two to add to the court, making a court of eleven members. The President already has the appointment of one new Jjustice to make—which he has not made—to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement more than a month ago of Mr. Justice Van Devanter. Clearly the compromise is a court-pack- ing proposal. It is designed to give the President power at this particular junc- ture to place men on the bench who will give him the kind of opinions he desires. Time and again it has been admitted and clearly shown that the real purpose back of the court bill has been to obtain certain interpretations of the Constitu- tion which will fit in with the legislation demanded by the President. Once that kind of judicial functioning has been in operation there is no limit to the dis- tance it may go. The public now looks upon the compromise bill either as a face-saving device to protect the President or as the President’s bill merely in another form, with the packing power intact. The administration will insist that the new measure is no face-saving proposition, merely. Obviously it regards the com- promise as calculated to achieve the very end for which the original bill was intended. Senators who have opposed the original bill as a matter of principle €annot support the compromise without compromising with principle. ———. God Speed the Search. Nothing could equal in its high dra- matic qualities the search for Amelia Earhart and her navigator. A Nation watches its progress with the breath- less intensity of high hope; hope that springs from real affection and admira- tion, but which, for the moment, hangs by nothing more tangible than the sound of faint voices in the air. Are the voices those of Miss Earhart and of her navigator, or merely frag- ments of the unintelligible jargon of some errant waves that fill the ether? Is she alive, floating somewhere on the limitless expanse of the broad Pacific in a plane kept above the surface by empty gas tanks? Is her plane stranded somewhere on a tiny reef, hanging there at the mercy of tides and winds? Or, is all this great search in vain? ‘The Navy is putting into action the devout wishes that the whole country feels for the rescue and the safe return “ of Miss Earhart and her navigator. If there is a bare chance—and it is nothing more than a bare chance at best—the Navy is overlooking nothing that might be done, and that is as it should be. The stout little Coast Guard cutter, the Itasca, already short of fuel, scours the sea in a ceaseless effort to get over and beyond a taunting horizon that hides the lost plane. From naval bases at San Pedro and Honolulu battleships, plane carriers and their escorts of destroyers, with seaplanes straining at the leash, are hurrying to join the search. No matter what the distance, no matter what the strain on throbbing engines racing under forced draught— if they can only get there in time!—in time to release their man-made hunting falcons that will cover more territory in an hour of swift flight than lumber- ing surface ships can do in a day. Worth while? Nothing could be more worth while than this soul-stirring ef- fort at rescue of a gallant lady in dis- tress. She has outdone death so many times. If courage and hope can help, she will do it yet again, e Soviet Church Purge. Hitler’s crusade against the churches seems to have inspired his fellow- dictator, Stalin, also to make war on them as “enemies of the state.” The Soviet Union is now the scene of a wide- spread drive against all the principal faiths—Protestant, Catholic and Rus- sian Orthodox alike. In a sweeping in- dictment the churches are pilloried as partners in an unholy alliance with fas- cism and capitalism, “which masks spies and wreckers in clerical garb.” Many of these alleged miscreants were recently “liquidated,” the euphemism commonly employed in Germany and Russia to describe the fatc meted out by guillotines and firing squads. In one of those broad, proofless claims which emanate from the Kremlin on periodical purge occasions men of the cloth are accused of complicity in “spy plots” for Ger- many, Japan, Poland and Estonia and of having been active in both the Far East and Europe. From Khabarovsk, scene of last week's Russo-Japanese clash on the Amur, it is reported that 131 execu- tions, including those of several con- demned ministers of the gospel, have recently taken place. Another official announcement proclaims that “the world clergy is trying to stretch its paws over the U. 8. S. R, and maintains institu- tions for training preachers to be sent to Russia.” One particularly weird alle- gation states that the Polish and Japa- nese intelligence services have used Catholic priests to form groups for the purpose of crippling military railways on the outbreak of war. “Baptists from the Unifed States” are said to have “operated” in White Russia in 1929. Fevered charges of this caliber closely resemble those leveled against the civil- ian and military personages who were lately the objects of treason prosecutions, especially the eight prominent generals secretly tried, convicted and executed in June. The accusations of which the churches are now targets are significant, from several standpoints. They are fresh evidence of the panic and alarm which fill the Red dictatorship. They constitute one more confession that the Soviet Union is honeycombed with terror and revolt and that Stalinism is coming to be a house resting on founda- tions of sand. The newest purge goes far to support the belief that com- munism is synonymous with Godlessness and to prove that Moscow adheres to the doctrine that “religion is opium for the people.” vt The present brings a reminder that the Fourth of July was the inspiration of many things America is proud to remem- ber, and it will be celebrated each year with deeper recollection of the ideals it will realize, with the beauty of passing display as a reminder but not as a hazard. e In order to know what is going on it is necessary to read the police news and to seek a correction of the faults it dis- closes with the patience that may be called for by greater enterprises. . W. P. A. Slash. Administrator Harry L. Hopkins has announced “the most drastic shake-up in W. P. A. since Uncle Sam went into the work-relief business.” Between one and two million names are to be slashed from the boondoggling pay roll. Of course, some such retrenchment was inevitable. President Roosevelt re- peatedly has promised that it would be undertaken as soon as it might be feasible. Indeed, there are indications that a beginning should have been made long ago. Many reputable students of economic philosophy agree that the Gov- ernment ought never to have “made jobs” for anybody. A wiser policy, it seems, would have been to devote money to the stimulation of normal industry. But it has been the practice of the New Deal to prefer the masses to the classes. In the interest of political power, if for no other-reason, it has catered to the mob. Coincidentally, it has persecuted what it has been pleased to call “the economic royalists.” The President has chosen to continue the depression emergency of 1933. That, apparently, he believed to be necessary in his campaign for “the more abundant life.” Only by maintaining the panic psychology of the early months of his administration could he hope to succeed in his plan to lift the lowest one-third of the population to the level of the other two-thirds. The Nation, frankly, would not tolerate his reforms in a time when it was not scared half to death. Meanwhile, an army of men and wom- en have been taught to depend upon the Government for bread and butter. Mr. Hopkins’ announcement, therefore, fills them with terror. They realize that sooner of later they again will be obliged to adjust themselves to the old technique of labor for wages. In other words, their holiday is over. Not even the C. I. O. can protect them from the operation of the inescapable law of “quid pro que” —service in return for sustenance. The * THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, New Deal, 30 far as they are concerned, has failed. It was, in effect, a dream which has become a nightmare. 8ympathy for its victims, certainly, will be universal. But the quicker they wake up to xe\umy, the better for everybody. Christmas Trees. . In supposed refutation of a recently uttered congressional charge that he uses his losses on his farm near Hyde Park es a deduction on his income tax,- President Roosevelt has conducted a tour of his estate in company with a large squad of reporters to demonstrate that he is not really a farmer, but a forester. He has four tenants who do & little farming on their own account, but he uses hig land exclusively himself for the growth of timber. Two kinds of timber crops are grown on the 560 acres—not 1000 as frequently stated in mistake—first a continuous timber growth which is sold for firewood, with some larches, oaks and black walnuts, which are carefully cut and sold for posts. The other erop consists of Christ- mas trees, of which there are now some 22,000. The first of these trees were cut last year and were sent to market. Here, then, is the real fact about the President’s farming. He is a Christmas tree grower and not an agriculturist. And this is quite in order and in keeping with the present and the immediately prospective trend of his administration. Christmas trees represent gifts. As yet uncounted numbers of people—for there has never been an accurate census of the unemployed, or the employed, for that matter—are receiving Christmas gifts from the generous hand of the Chief Executive, through various agencies of Government. There is, of course, no dole, in the European sense of the word, but there are bounties, nevertheless, in the form of jobs that mean little or ndthing in the economic equation save the distribution of wealth supplied by the taxpayers, and some- times pastimes that are styled Jobs. 1t is really of relatively small moment whether the President makes money on his estate at Hyde Park. Nor is it of moment what he does with his crops, Wwhether they are foodstuffs or trees. But it is nevertheless interesting and perhaps significant that he is a large and increasing contributor to the Christ- mas tree market. —————s Some of our favorite picture stars say they are going away and not coming back. They may find America most generous, after all, to their talent as events develop elsewhere. There is no country in which talents will be more | liberally recognized than here, and as for gains collected for previous display, there is no place where they will be eventually better rewarded. = When he gets through with his wed- ding trip young Mr. Roosevelt will take up the study of law, but in the mean- time he will follow the destinies of the individual and perhaps arrive at im- portant conclusions of his own affecting a world that is learning much by ex- perience. Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON Honey Bees. Every year the honey bees, With interest intense, Get together 'neath the trees And hold a conference. Every year they seem to take A discontented fling, And threaten now and then to make A general move to sting. They cast aside the drones who shirk And air each discontent About condition of their work And rules of government. 5 They seem in such a state of mind As may upset the game. But every years, we're glad to find, There’s honey just the same. Privilege of a Prospectus. “Aren't your ideas of government a trifie Utopian?” “Perhaps,” replied Senator Sorghum. “But when you are writing a prospectus you're naturally expected to make it as alluring as possible.” Jud Tunkins says the man who be- lieves everything he sees in print is ter- ribly likely to take counterfeit money. Peace. We must have Peace, and vet it starts The symptoms of a row, When each arises and imparts Opinions ;as to how. Unconvincing Object Lesson. “You are encouraging your boy Josh to leave home?” “Yep,” replied Farmer Corntossel. “I reckon that 'ud be fur the best.” “Can’t you persuade him tor work?” “No. I do my best to persuade him that hard work and economy is the makin’ of & young man. Then he jes' looks at me in & way that makes me feel like I wasn't nothin’ in his eyes but a bad example.” “Would you encourage your wife to attend a prize fight?” “No,” replied Mr. Meekton. “I'm pretty successful in dodging a rolling- pin. I shouldn’t like Henrietta to get too scientific in her ideas. In Agreement. Now Science says it's wrong to die— At least, before you're eighty, And every citizen will try To heed the precepts weighty. Though Science bids dissensions grow, In this case none will flout it, For every mortal here below Feels just that way about it. “Power an’ position,” said Uncle Eben, “agserts deirself at a grade crossin’ same as elsewhere. An automobile horn can't hope foh as much respeck as a locomotive whistle.” A > D. C Urges Worship of Tax Paying Descendants To the Editor of The Star: Senator Robinson recently said he couldn’t “laugh” at thirty-six billion dollars—America’s deepest plunge into the sea of debt. Thinking of this sum of money stag- gered me 50 that I at first looked backe ward and thought of the ancestor- worshiping Chinese, who believe in do- ing as their ancestors did. But I'm looking forward now. It is high time for us to reverse this Chinese belief and announce to the world a new religion—decendant worship; we believe in doing as our descendants will do. And as we know they will pay the greater part of this debt we should show that we can practice what we preach by beginning at once to pay our share, Which is all of it, for we made it. We Westerners reject ancestor wor- ship. We believe it sufficient to “honor” our parents according to the fifth com- mandment—the only promissory one of them all. It promises longevity for obedience. I've often wondered why there is a commandment to honor our parents but nothing as to what should be our attitude toward our children. The Mormans say that neither the Bible nor their own Book of Morman is God's final and complete word; there will be other revelations in the future. And there certainly ought to be! If Christ or Moses or any chosen man of God were here today watching us impose such a staggering debt onto future generations a new ahd penalizing commandment would be given us at once. It would read, probably, like this: “Enslave not they children nor thy grandchildren with thine obligations, else thy days be short upon the land which the devil hath net given thee.” TROY G. KNIFFIN, Kansas City, Mo. ———————___ Interesting Ancestry of Archbishop Sapieha To the Editor of The 8tar: Prince Archbishop Sapiecha of Cracow, Poland, has apparently stirred up quite & commotion in that country. So a Star editorial has {t. The transfer of the remains of Marshal Pilsudski from the crypt of the cathedral to another place— at his orders—is the cause. The Sapie- has, by the way, are a most ancient and illustrious house. Descending from Gedimin, grand duke of Lithuania, the family branched out into several “lines,” one being the famous Sobieskis. It was John III Sobieski, elected King of Poland, who rode to the relief of Vienna (1683) and who fought the Turks on many a field. This intrepid leader in person ad- vanced up to the tent where the Grand Vizier's janizaries laid down their lives in the defense of the “sacred standard of the Prophet.” The emblem became his booty, and the King sent it on to the Pope. His holiness responded by solemnly blessing the golden image of a dove (the Holy Spirit). This he con- signed to the champion of the faith. Such gestures meant much in that rev- erent age. One of John's granddaughters became the spouse of James III (Stuart), the “Old Pretender.” Other members of the clan loomed large in their time and day as staro: crown marshals and grand hetmans. It was one of the Sapieha branch, Lew Sapieha, who drew up a code of laws for Lithuania (Cracow, 1614) and who arranged for a proper system of administration. As to the Sobieskis, the last descendant, so I note, Maximilian Johann Sobieski, “died in Covington, North America” (1875). No doubt Cov- ington, Kentucky. And so what? Oh, nothing much. Ex- cept that in the olden days Latin was the everyday language of the Polish nobility and gentry. But their pro- nunciation was not always quite up to the mark. Once a Polish grandee, on being taken to task by some foreigner, merely remarked: “Nos Poloni non seguamur quantitatem syllabum” (Oh, we Poles need not care a hang about how we talk.) In short: “Mind vour manners.” Don't try to convert your host's speech. It isn't done. FRED VETTER. R = Inquire Into Status of Social Security Experts To the Editor of The Star 5 On page B-16 of The Star July 1 there were printed the names of 62 persons employed under the Social Security Board as experts and attorneys nomi- nated by the President for confirmation by the Senate. It will be noted that of the 62 nomi- nated 13 are from New York and 6 from Massachusetts and that comparatively few States were recognized when it came to passing out these “patronage Juicy jobs.” I suggest, through The Star, that members of the Senate make careful investigation for the purpose of de- termining: (1) The exerience each nominee had prior to employment by the board; (2) when and on whose rec- ommendation each nominee was orig- inally employed by the board and at what salary and in what capacity; (3) exact nature and importance of service rendered by each nominee; (4) time each nominee actually devotes to rendering service to the board; (5) who of the nominees has a wife, husband, father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter also employed in the Government serv- ice and in what capacity, etc., and (6) who of the nominees is related by blood or by marriage to one or more “higher- ups” in the administration. It is believed that few if any of the 62 nominees ever before earned as much as $5,000 per annum and could not pos- sibly find employment at such salary outside of the Social Security Board. No wonder that the Senate Appropria- tions Committee was “irked” by the personnel methods of the board and in- sisted on amending the independent offices bill for weeks until the House would agree to the Senate amendment. SILAS B. WRIGHT. R Seeks Letters From the Late Jesse Isidor Straus To the Editor of The Star: 8Should any of your readers have letters from the late Jesse Isidor Straus, recently American Ambassador to France, or other data connected with his career, I shall much appreciate the loan of such material and permission to copy and make use of it in a biography of Mr. Straus upon which I am working. Anything sent me will be given good care and speedily returned to the owners. REGINALD WRIGHT KAUFFMAN. “Rockytop,” Sebasco Estates, Via Bath, Maine. R Acme of Youth Movement From the New Haven Journal-Courler. “Nine-Month-Old Child to Be Ruler of Tibet, Roof of World.”—headline. Youth movement at new high? ———— r =t Another World. From the Omaha World-Herald. At the rate instruments of warfare are being devised and manufactured, if we have another war we'll need another world, A MONDAY, JULY THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Over in England they do some things much better than we manage them in this country. Dog training, for instance. It is said that a barking dog on the streets of London is so unusual that people turn around to look at it. Barking is bad form, that is all. Even their pets must observe the proprieties. It is needless to say that British dogs are just the same dogs as are found elsewhere; what is different is their training. “Your First Dog” is an English, book, Jjust reprinted in this country, which aims to tell children how to take care of pets. Many an elder might read it with profit, too, for it does not appear that most people, no matter how well bred or kindly in intention, have any real idea of the care of dogs or cats, the most popular pet animals. * % % x On this subject we received a letter the other day from a Washingtonian who believes that something should be done about it. He says: “Dear 8ir: You can help if you will, and I'm sure you will, as I know from being a constant reader of your articles. Please, won't you help bring to the attention of people the helplessness of so-called pets and the cruelty they have to endure through indifference, both on the part of grown-ups who don't have sense enough to realize these creatures have feelings the same as we do, or have sense enough to teach any humane ideas to their children. “So many people let their little chil- dren have pets and don't see, or care, how much they mistreat them. And consider the difference in size, how can they defend themselves? If one should pick up courage to speak to the parents they would more than likely be very huffy about it. To bring it to the attention of the humane soclety they want you to swear out a warrant, and that means trouble with neighbors. The worst of it, the majority of cases we have noticed, are with people who con- sider themselves highly educated. “Yesterday I stopped to try to reason with a small boy who was mistreating a kitten shamefully. He only laughed and said he was ‘learning it to swim.’ I tried to tell him how it would hurt if some one treated him that way and pulled his legs like that, but it made no impression on him. He is four or five years old, probably too young to realize much, but little ones should be taught how to treat a pet or not be allowed to have them until they are capable of decent care. There is also the neglect of the ani- mals by folks who go away sto enjoy themselves, not caring whether the pet has food or water, whether it runs the streets to get hurt. or maybe is tied up to tangle itself up to distraction, and through hunger or loneliness howls all evening to its own misery and the worry of the neighborhood. “Maybe repeated drives through pic- tures or articles might bring it to the attention of some of these people who are so callous. The old lesson of ‘Do unto others as you would be done by’ should be applied to animals as well as to our fellow man. These are not just my opinions or observations. You can see similar cases all over the city. Re- spectfully yours, W. W.” * X % ¥ It takes some money, more work and real intelligence to take care of any sort of life properly. Man’s inhumanity to man is not nearly so bad as his inhumanity to the animals. This cruelty is such an accepted part of civilization that mostly people forget ~bout it, but all one has to do is visit & slaughter house. Read about the way baby lambs are handled. See their pic- tures. Find out how many millions of rabbits are used in felt. Think of chickens. If universal slaughter of the dumb creatures is a veritable basis of the life of humanity, perhaps it is too much to expect many persons to regard them as worthy of having the Golden Rule ap- plied to them. Life is a matter of interests; it is easy enough to understand how a person who becomes interested in certain phases of scientific research comes to see noth- ing at all cruel or even unusual in the tortures of rats and other “laboratory animals.” Life must go on. Tt has always been a world in which the dominant form of life does what it pleases. Rationalization of all acts soon makes even the most terrible things tolerabl sensitive persons come in time to save their old minds and hearts by the simple expedient of avoiding spch things, as much as they can, and réfusing to think about them any more than they must. * ok ox % ‘That is why highly educated persons are, indeed, as our correspondent points out, among the worst keepers of pet animals. Their minds are better trained, and this training includes not seeing what they do not want to see. Many of them refuse to believe that handling a dog requires money, labor and intelligence. Not interested, partic- ularly, and not wishing to make these expenditures, they shut their eves and g0 along on the easy theory that animals are tough anyway. Some of them are, of course. But only people who have followed their way- ward courses through the vale of this world know just how many of them get sores on their legs, through neglect, and are carted off to be “put to sleep,” a nasty euphemism for plain “to kill,” or | are starved to death or put into an im- possibly bad temper by teasing and then killed for being “vicious,” as if anybody or thing wouldn't be, under the circum- stances; or left locked up in an attic (actual case), so hungry that bird seed tasted good when finally released. * ok ok x The book referred to above is very much needed, and it is too bad that its price is rather high for so few pages, because training of adults in this matter is just as much needed as of children. Only when the two trainings go together can the best results be attained It is realized by the English author aforementioned that the poorly trained | dog (or other animal) not only means a lost opportunity to train better men and women, but above all that such animals always give a bad name to their tribes. Every ill-bred dog., every dog which is permitted to bark at people, is a slander which could and ought to be avoided. Whether it will be is entirely another matter. The forces of civilization are notoriously weak at this hour, and per- haps it is too much to expect people standing on the brink of the abyss to pay much attention to the weak and voiceless, WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. From a constituent of Washington Observations comes a timely contribu- tion to the third term controversy, which is destined by all the signs of the polit- ical zodiac to dominate public discus- sion until President Roosevelt removes the question from the fleld of specula- tion by some unequivocal pronounce- ment. The tip wigwagged this way is that the first Democratic National Con- vention F. D. R. is said to have attended —while a young New York State Sen- ator—was the Baltimore conclave of 1912, which nominated Woodrow Wilson. The platform, according to the writer's informant, pledged the party standard- bearer to work for a constitutional amendment limiting the President of the United States to one term, thus making him ineligible to succeed him- self even for another four years, to say nothing of a third term. While such an injunction is not binding on the party today or on Mr. Roosevelt, it does indi- cate that the Jeffersonians, as long as a quarter of a century ago, were deeply stirred by the third term idea and re- pudiated it. The reputed Baltimore reso- lution, as history was to show, had no restraining effect upon Wilson's readi- ness to prolong his tenure beyond a single term. * k% X Despite the ironical rebuke admin- istered to third term questioners at the last press conference held by the President before he went te Hyde Park, it's pretty safe to guess that sooner or later he’ll again be cross-examined on the delicate subject. Whether his news- paper friends will have any better luck next time is another question. In view of the displeasure and criticism aroused in reportorial quarters by the President’s suggestion that his interrogators put on dunce caps, it's thought possible Mr. Roosevelt, because of his keen evalua- tion of cordial press relations, will him- self reopen the discussion in some form, though perhaps not by way of any brass-tacks third-term revelation. What- ever betides, the issue has been pitch- forked plump into the middle of the political arena. It will stay there until taken out by the one man who can do the trick. * ok ok % Although the original court-packing program is as dead as mutton and ap- proval of a compromise is highly prob- lematical, many authorities contend Mr. Roosevelt will not emerge from the judi- cial war with his colors entirely drooping. ‘Their argument is that Van Devanter's retirement enables the appointment of at least one justice, while the court’s latest decisions were overwhelmingly along New Deal lines. Thus, even should the President not obtain an en- larged tribunal, history may record that the underlying Rooseveltian objective of a “liberalized” court was nevertheless attained. Such philosophical reflections ‘will not restrain administration leaders from making herculean efforts {o pass the Logan-Hatch-Ashurst substitute. Its supporters hold that nothing short of the amended measure’s enactment can rescue White House prestige. As the battle swings into the decisive stage, they claim 53 votes, four more than a Senate majority. Compromise opponents, Verdun-inspired, retort: “Even thou shalt not pass.” * ok k¥ Retirement age discussion is still the order of the day. Supreme Court reform proponents now recall that Nathaniel Macon of North Carolins, who served [y in the House through 12 successive Con- gresses, from 1791 to 1815, and was Speaker from 1801 to 1807, resigned his later Senate seat, after serving two terms, | when he reached 70. Senator Macon had once announced he always consid- ered the traditional three score years and ten applicable to usefulness in the public service. In 1823, in the midst of his 7lIst vear, he suited his action to the thought by relinquishing his toga. The North Caroiinian received 24 electoral votes for Vice President in 1825. He twice refused offers of the postmaster generalship in Jefferson's cabinet. * ox ok % Transfer of Wilbur J. Carr, foreign service veteran, from an assistant secre- taryship of state to the ministership to Czechoslovakia removes one of the pillars of the State Deartment. Carr entered the department exactly 45 vears ago as & $1,000 clerk when James G. Blaine was Secretafy of State. His efforts in recent years were devoted to two particular fields—development of the career service and departmental budget affairs. For the better part of two decades he was a familiar figure at congressional hear- ings as a persuasive advocate of adequate appropriations for Uncle Sam'’s “Depart- ment of Peace.” Latterly, Carr has been the storm center of some pretty bitter inter-service squabbles, having been .identified by certain critics with the so- called old guard faction, as distinguished from so-called progressives, in the per- sonnel and administrative branches of the Hull bailiwick. Mr. Carr was due to retire on account of age in 1934, but because of his long and meritorious record was granted a five-vear extension of duty by executive order of President Roosevelt. No man has done more to bring the foreign service to its present pinnacle of efficiency. * ok Kk Asked for his outstanding impression of Washington, the average Boy Scout now enlivening the khaki-thronged scene tells you it's the courtesy encountered on every hand. Another widespread jam- boree sentiment is agreeable surprise over the performances of the Washing- ton climate. The Scouts anticipated tropical weather. * ok ok X Next Thursday at Grand Rapids, the International Society of Christian En- deavor and the World's Christian En- deavor Union will present “International Youth's Distinguished Service Citation” to Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, U. S. N, retired. The citation reads: “Adhering to an iron code and in the interest of science, he withstood five months of stark solitude, of unbroken darkness and bitter cold, at the world's southernmost outpost. Stricken des- perately {11, when survival seemed impos- sible, he deliberately chose to die rather than tap out an S O 8§ that would endanger the lives of his comrades. His achievements, his courage and character are an heritage that we, the vouth of the world, shall forever cherish.” * k% % Representative Culkin, Republican, of New Yark thinks “the average House member is too modest a personality.” Speaking on the rivers and harbors bill, the gentleman from Oswego said: “When it comes to matters involving his own district, our average colleague is, of course, rather aggressive; but when it comes to asserting his share in the larger affairs of government, he is too retiring” Addressing the Democrats, Mr. Culkin observed: “In this House there are » hundred technicians in their | | grounds directly in 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. When was the first agitation against outdoor advertising?—J. H. A. A painted sign on the rocks at Niagara Falls in 1860 advertising 8t. Jacob’s Oil occasioned the New York Legislature to enact the first law re- stricting outdoor advertising. Q. What does the word liaison mean in cookery?—L. F. A. It is applied to a sauce or thick- ening,’ usually made of eggs. Q. Are Siamese twins always of the same sex?—T. C. M. A. Joined twins are always of the same sex. Q. What is a kangaroo apple?—P. W. A. This is a plant closely related to the potato, native to Peru, New Zealand and Australia. The mealy, s acid fruit is eaten raw or cooked by the natives. Q. Who owns Sea Biscuit, the race horse?—J. E. W. A. The race horse Sea Biscuit is owned by Mrs. Charles S. Howard. The horse was trained by T. Smith and is of the ‘Wheatley Stable breeding. Q. What was the original cost of Greenough's statue of Washington in the Smithsonian Institution, Washin ton, D. C2—P. P. A. The net expenditures for the sta of George Washington by Hora Greenough (1805-1852), according the “Appropriations and Expendi for the District of Columbia,” amoun to $42,170.74. Actual payments to the sculptor, $21,990.74. Additional expenses for shipping from Ttal artage from Navy Yard to the Capi after in- stallation, the cost of removal to the front of the trance, and the erection of an iron fence around statue, etc. $20,180. A later appropriation of $35,000 was made for the removal of the statue to its present location in the nithsonian Institution. The installation was com- pleted November 1908, Q. Is it illegal to use saccharin in sweetening ordinary products?- . H A. The use of saccharin in ordinary food and drink is prohibited under Federal Food and Drugs Act and by laws of many States. Q. Who owns Gardiner's the eastern end of Long 1 A. It is owned by Mi G iner. 1920 the island has been leased to Clarence H. Mackay, who maintains it as a game preserve. His lease expires in 1940. Q. How much tubul average locomotive contain? A. A modern locomo more than one and one tubular piping. piping does the Q. Who was greatest chess plaver of all time?—J. K A. Paul Morphy of New Orleans gener: conceded to be. He was borr e section of in 1837 and died ere in 1884. Hi home is preserved as a memorial. he cit Q. What States have the largest nu ber of airports and landing fields?—K A. The following States lead in n ber: California, 181; Texas. 134; M igan, 123; Florida, 116; Pennsylvar 111, and Ohio, 106. Q. Who was the firs U d States M West Point?—W. B. A. Joseph G. Swift first graduate. Swift entered the Ari in 1800 as a cad and received his diploma only a few months after the Military Academy opened in 1802. graduate of the Academy at was West Point's Q. Who the wealthiest Great Britain?>—W. H A. Joseph Rank. miller, is said to be. His fortune is estimated at from $100,- 000.000 to $125.000.000. man in Q. What percentage of the motion pictures produced are made at Culver City, Calif.?2—J. H A. Thirty per cent of all motion pic- tures are produced in Culver City. Q. How can poison ivy be eradicated from lawns?—H. W A. A solution of three pounds of com- mon salt in a on of soapy water sprayed on the leaves is effective. An- other remedy is old lubricating oil thinned with kerosene, Q. Was Robert Fulton, the inventor, an artist?>—H. W, A. Early in his boyhood he began to study painting. At the age of 22 he went to London, where he studied under Benjamin West, but after several years he abandoned art and applied himself wholly to mechanics. Q. How many kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables are available in the markets?—H. J. A. There are 137 kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables available in the course of the year. Q. How did Hollywood, Calif, derive its name?—G. H A. In 1883 Horace Henderson Wilcox, a real estate man, purchased the acreage where Hollywood boulevard and Cahu- enga avenue now intersect for a ranch. It had no name and Mrs. Wilcox sug- gested calling it Hollywood, the name of a friend’s estate in England. e A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton, Surcease. The long June day was over; Upon the tired town Mysterious, dusky shadows On Noiseless wing came down. ‘The starry lamps of Heaven 8hone through the coming dark; Slowly, as if an angel Touched each with a bright spark. And for the span of twilight, In silence hushed and deep, It seemed as if the city Had closed its eyes in sleep, own fields, who are infinitely superior in their loyalty to the public service and in splendid intelligence to many of the tyros whom our distinguished President has placed in high office. I say to you on the majority side that the fault is not in your stars. It is in yourselves, You make yourselv . »