Evening Star Newspaper, July 14, 1937, Page 10

A—10 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editien. WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY. .. __________July 14, 1937 THEODORE W. NOYES. The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th 8t and Pennsylvanis Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t. ©Onicago Office: 435 North Michigan Ave. Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban, Regular Edition. Pvening nd Sunday Star s snonth ox 150 per week, Whe Evenine Star 45¢ per month or 10c per week The Eunday Sta ¢ per copy Night Final Editien, Night Final and Sunday 8f 70¢ per mont, Night Final Star__ ~Kbc per mont Collection made at the end of each month or each week. Orders may be sent by mail or tele- phone National 5000. Rate by M M Dailv and Sund: Daily only _ Sunday only_. l—Payable in Advance, and and Vieginia, $10.00: 1 mo, R8¢ $6.000 1 mo.. B0c $4.00; 1 mo.. 40c nd Canada, $12.00: 1 mo.. $1.00 $8.00: 1 mo., %3¢ Bunday only. $5.00; 1 mo., 50c Member of the Associated Press. The Assaciated Press is exclusively entitied to #the use for republication of sll news dispatches eredited 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. ——— Constitutional Amendment. With the Senate deadlocked over the Bupreme Court program of President Roosevelt. attention is now given to the advisability of submitting a constitu- tional amendment to the people. It is the course, if any, which should have been taken in the first place. Do the people want & change in the composition of the highest court or in its interpre- tations of the law and the Constitution? The only way to find the answer is the &ubmission of an amendment to the fundamental law. Speciously the supporters of legislation designed to change the Constitution through new interpretations and which would make the judiclary subservient argue that because Congress has the power to change the membership of the Supreme Court and fix the number of Justices at fifteen or twenty-five or even more, it should do so. There is no differentiation in their minds between the spirit and the letter af the law. Tt $& certainly against the spirit of the Constitution to “pack” the Supreme Court—no matter what administration seeks to do it. But the administration nrges that there is nothing in its bill which violates the letter of the Con- &titution. Tt would be within the letter of the faw for Congress not to appropriate for the salaries of the President and of Justices of the Supreme Court. For to Congress is left, under the Constitution, the duty of making all appropriations for Government expenditures. Without its action on these appropriations there would be no way for the President or the court to draw pav. It would cer- tainly be in violation of the spirit of the law and the Constitution if Congress took anv such position, even though 1t might not like what the President or the rourt was doing. If the Nation believes that members of the Supreme Court should retire when they have reached the age of seventy or seventy-five years, then the Constitution which now pro- vides for life tenure of office should be amended. An amendment providing for rompulsory retirement at seventy-five and voluntary retirement after the age of seventy could be submitted to the people and acted upon probably within a vear. Such an amendment properly could fix the xize of the Supreme Court., And once fixed by the Constitution, there could be no further effort on the part of a President or a Congress to “‘pack” the Supreme Court through the ex- pedient. of increasing the size of the eourt by legislation. That would be ended. After a century and more of experience, it should be possible to de- termine the size of the highest tribunal at which it works with greatest effi- eiency. The bugaboo about the length of time needed to obtain a eonstitu- tional amendment has been exploded. If the people want a change in their Constitution, they get it within a com- paratively brief time. The eighteenth amendment was repealed, for example, within & vear. It had been written into the Constitution in a little over a year. Why not substitute a proposed con- atitutional amendment for the hodge- vodge compromise court bill, so called? Tt can be done by the Senate. It cer- tainly should be done in preference to the passage of the pending legislation. ———————— Ax voters look back on the time when the election was being held, some of them naturally ask how all these questions eoncerning the United States Supreme Court are now allowed to take precedence over everything else. s Career Values. Prof. Harold F. Clark of Columbia University has announced the results of eight vears' investigation of occupational incomes. His inquiry was designed to discover the economic values of sixteen different professional classifications. “How much is a budding physician, law- ver or architect worth as an invest- ment?” was the question, and “What- ever he can earn in the span of his working life” is the answer, But, of course, earning capacity is difficult to ascertain. Prof. Clark and a troop of research associates studied no less than forty-four hundred maga- vines and several thousand books in their quest for accurate figures. In the end they decided that a medical prac- titioner has an average working life span of forty-two years and the present value of his average earnings for that period £hould be one hundred and eight thou- sand dollars. An attorney works one vear longer and earns three thousand dollars less. Findings for dentists were reported as forty-five years, mnezy-flyg thousand four hundred dollars; en- gineers, forty-three years, ninety-five thousand three hundred dollars; ar- ehiteots, forty-three years, eighty-two thousand five hundred dollars; college, teachers, forty-four years, sixty-nine thousand three hundred dollars; social werkers, forty-five years, fifty-one thou- b sand dollars, d journalists, forty-six years, forty-one thousand five hundred dollars. Prof. Clark’s estimate for farm labor- ers, concluding the list, is fifty-one years and only ten thousand four hundred dollars. But the tolling agriculturist, it seems, is possessed of certain advan- tages which do not appear to have been taken into account. For example, the Government does not require him to share the profit of his industry. Neither is he expected to “keep up a front” as the doctor and the lawyer must. Also, he is closer to his “source of supplies'—he is not dependent upon somebody else for food and fuel, both of which he may take from his own land without handling and transportation cost. And, finally, he has little trouble collecting his hire. The doctor and the lawyer habitually spend time and energy in enterprises for which they never are paid. Such intangible but very real factors ought to be noticed in any judgment formed on Prof. Clark's statistics. He himself, naturally, agrees that they are not final. o European Jitters. While the issue of peace or war in the Far East hangs in the balance, and Spain is about to mark the first anni- versary of eivil strife, Europe remains in a state of tension on a variety of scores. Nothing so graphically illustrates her jittery condition as a question pro- pounded in the House of Commons Mon- day. Foreign Secretary Eden was asked whether the government knows that Germany has fortified the Spanish coast line held by the insurgenss and is in a position to ‘dominate Gibraltar and imperil British communications to Egypt, Palestine and India.” Mr. Eden replied guardedly that he understands General Franco has set up coast bat- teries adjacent to Gibraltar, but London has no information that German experts assisted in mounting them. The reports which caused the parliamentary inquiry allege that under German supervision three 12-inch howitzers had been in- stalled at Algeciras, capable of destroy- ing Gibraltar Harbor within one hour, while sheltered behind hills bevond the reach of the “Gib's” own guns. It is understood that after protest to General Pranco, Britain was assured that the weapons would be dismantled if the rebels won the revolution. Further evidence of European “nerves” is London’s fear that Germany is stealth- ily planning some drastic move in Aus- tria, and possibly in Caechoslovakia, as well. British unrest is heightened by realization that France's political and financial crisis debars her from opposing Nazi enterprizes in Central Europe. It is certain that the British themselves would do nothing more to thwart them than they did when Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland. Of more immediate concern to an anxious Europe is the consequence of French action in suspending interna- tional arms and troops control on the Pyrenees frontier, following collapse of the international naval control of Spain's coasts and Portugal’s failure to close her border against supplies to Franco's army. The 27-power “non-intervention” pro- gram, with its supposed embargo on war sinews for either Lovalists or rebels, has so long been honored in the breach rather than in the observance that France's decision is not designed seri- ously to alter the situation that has prevailed throughout the conflict. Bri- tain is still seeking a formula to preserve the fiction of non-intervention, but there seems small prospect that the course of Spain's tragedy will be materfally af- fected by any steps now likely to be taken by the outside powers incurably divided by their rival sympathies with the belligerents. e Several distinguished motion picture producers threaten to quit this country. There will always be more to take their places even if there is a eall for gentler types of picturization, o Nobody wants to give up the search for Amelia Earhart, no matter what it costs. Money is something to talk about at one time and to forget about at an- other, Yauvenargues. Probably not one American in ten thousand ever has heard of Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues. He has been dead all but a decade of two hundred years, and it is natural that his influence upon the thought of a chang- ing world should have declined. Yet a glance over his “Reflections and Maxims” is & stimulating experience. The reader Sees at once why he deserves the title of “moral philosopher” and why he mer- ited the friendship of the great Voltaire. Something of the genius of the people of his native Provence is manifest' in his approach to the problems of life. He was born in beautiful Aix, and the at- mosphere of that romantic yet richly realistic city warms his style, so that he says even bitter verities attractively and without offense. For example, Vauvenargues discusses public opinion in this manner: “Until some one has lighted on the secret of making men's minds more accurate, all the progress that can be made in the discovery of truth will not prevent their reasoning falsely; and the further any one attempts to speed them beyond the common notions, the more he will lay them open to error.” Latter-day critics have regisiered the same observation, noting with ‘a certain sorrowful dismay that it is not invariably safe to trust the theory that humanity at large de- velops its own instinctive acience of logic unhelped and unaided. But Vauvenargues also takes leaders into account. “Most great characters in history,” he declares, “have been the most eloquent men of their time. The founders of the noblest creeds, the cap- tains of sects and factions, those who in every age have had the most effect upon the minds of nations, owe the best part of their triumphs solely to the quick and native eloquence of their & THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. hearts.” Talk, plainly, rules the race—a self-evident principle of government. Vauvenargues, however, is frank in warning the orators. “Great persons,” he insists, “are mistaken if they suppose that it is no matter how they scatter broadcast their words and their promises. Men are very loath to be deprived of what they have in some sort made their own by hoping. They are not deceived a8 to their interests, and they hate nothing so much as to be gulled. For this reason it is seldom that cheating succeeds; even in order to decoy men you must have some sincerity and straightforwardness. Those who have led nations astray in regard to some general interest are loyal to individuals; their skill consisted in capturing men's minds with real advantages. Those who know men thoroughly and desire to use them for their own ends do not rely on such trifling bait as that of apeeches and promises. * * * To be able to fool people shows a middling sort of capacity.” In their quest for similar material suitable to quote, contemporary states- men could do worse than examine the whole realm of cogitation in which Vau- venargues, now generally forgotten, once ruled with distinction. George Washing- ton and Thomas Jefferson were ac- quainted with his book. e Senator Robinson. Under any circumstances the death of Senator Robinson would be counted a5 a loss to the Nation. Under the present circumstances, in the midst of the historic Senate debate over the court plan, his death comes as { an appalling, dramatic shock. He died, as the saying goes, “with his boots on.” And it is his death that will bring to a close that “‘day” in legislative time which was to be prolonged indefinitely through his energetic leadership. ‘Who can say but that it was the strain of his recent activities, dictated by his unswerving loyalty to his party leaders, which brought this untimely end to a career which held such great promise of continued value? As the leader of the administration forces in the Senate, Senator Robinson had encountered in the past and was fac- ing now stiff opposition within and with- out the Senate, based on principle. But no such opposition to the Senator's leadership ever rested for a moment on personal grounds. He was a popular man, respected for his qualities of cour- age and lovalty. He went down fight- ing. And, in any cause, that is a good way to die. oo A feeling of strong sentiment will be cherished for George Gershwin whether or not his strange melodies were the natural expression of extraordinary genius or whether they were the re- sult of a saddening effect of personal misfortune. Gershwin was at least dif- ferent, and to be different is to claim an exceptional distinction. et China and Japan may decide on a war, but the extent to which they can make it interesting to this Nation is a ques- tion to be considered. The problem of bringing peace into the Mediterranean remains one of the urgent demands of the present. +—one. After going home for a while, John Nance Garner permits himself to re- member some of the striking things he said which put him well in line with current events without demanding a thorough analysis on his part. Every now and. then Senator Ashurst lets it be known that he is for a revision of the United States Supreme Court, but that he can be relied on to retain a genial disposition no matter what may take place in the Nation's history. e Boy Scout visitars left behind some remembrances. It will be no trouble to clear the scene after~them and bear in mind many a good idea they left to be considered in future years. r———— = Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Too Much Kindness. Be kind to the hornet; be kind to the fiy; Be kind to the ant that creeps into the ple. ‘When a reckless mosquito comes buszing, keep cool; Be patient in all your remarks to a mule. ' Don't cherish a grudge toward a mouse or a rat; ~ Be gentle unto the vociferous cat. Be kind to the weasel; be kind to the bear; To the chicken hawk fierce and the lynx in his lair, If I've got to be kind to all these, I will say, I'll never get into the 8. P. C. A. Only Patience Required. July ere long, with sultry glow, In August will be lost, And then another month or so ‘Will bring around the frost. Professionally Speaking. “Do you think it pays to go through college?” “Shouldn't be surprised,” replied Bill the Burg. “Some colleges have a lot of money these days.” “Do not despise laughter,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. “When men employ it to conceal sorrow, laughter becomes a heroic hypocrisy.” A Midnight Ples. ©Oh, burglar, when you're on the track, A ruthless depredator, Although the safe you boldly erack, Spare the refrigerator! “Kind words may mean more dan money,” said Urcle Eben, “excep’ when you's gittin’ ‘em f'um one o’ dese high- power salesmen.” . 1 A NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM BY MARGARET GERMOND. THE WRONG BODY. By V. A. Van Sickle. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Mike Mascarenas, convicted of murder and sentenced to die, i “ted as the human subject for an ent which an eminent medical i “v has suc- cessfully performed on n __.keys. Mike is not gullty of the crime for which he is to pay the extreme penalty, but Dr. Boxton is not in the least concerned about the possible miscarriage of jus- tice. His experiments in the laboratory have developed to the point where a human specimen is required to prove or disprove his theory. He has repeatedly petitioned the Governor of the State for permission to use the convict whose day of execution is first on the calendar, but has consistently been denied that priv- ilege. But Governor Blake Parshall goes off on a motor trip and Dr. Boxton, who knows his politics about as well as he knows his science, appeals to the lleutenant governor. Permission is granted and on the day Mike is sen- tenced to die he is escorted to the labora- tory. The agreement is that if Mike survives the experiment he is to be granted complete freedom. Dr. Boxton’s experiment is based upon the theory that man has no soul and that human life is purely a matter of biochemistry. He has successfully put monkeys to death with monoxide gas and brought them back to life through a process of temporary substitution in the circulatory system while the blood is thoroughly cleansed. The blood is then reintroduced into the body, the chemical reactions again set in motion, and the patient returns to life. Mike is to die anyway, so if he does not survive the experiment the State has nothing to lose. Governor Parshall learns that permis- sion for the experiment has been granted in his absence and makes a dramatic effort to return to the State in time to prevent it. It is bitter cold and just as Mike is being prepared for death word is received that the Governor has died of monoxide gas generated by the heating apparatus in his motor car. , His body is rushed to the laboratory. where Mike has already been put to death, and the process of bringing the two of them back to life is undertaken. Both men survive the operation. but A slip in the laboratory results in an exchange of blood, which in turn results in an exchange of personalities that spells near tragedy to both men. Mike returns to life in the body of Blake Parshall and thereby takes up the duties of Governor of the State just where Parshall left off. Parshall, in the body of Gangster Mike, Is a pitiable char- acter, Such a story could not. of course, hang together unless woven around the po- litical rottenness which infests State government, with a dash of romance thrown In to give it a truly human touch. The former gangster in the role of Governor is ideal for such a part, with the lovely girl to whom Parshall is engaged as the prize. Extraordinary things happen in the days that follow, with an outcome that proclaims itself from the beginning of the mix-up as the onlv logical conclusion—provided anv logic could be brought to bear upon so improbable a situation. For all of its improbability. however, the story is suff- ciently readable and exciting to make allowances for the strangeness of its plot and the weakness of its structure. * %k * ¥ Q 39. By Michael Banner, Alfred A. Knopf. This story, beginning with an auto- mobile race in England and ending on the groundg of a secret aerodrome in the middle of Europe, is a tale of interna- tional intrigue involving theft. The con- niving thieves are not making off with secret papers, plans, blueprints. photo- graphs or any of the usual hidable things that spies are expected to filch, but air- planes. Archie Lumsden, central figure of the sleuthing outfit, tells the story himself in a style that throws modesty to the winds as he mops up almost the whole of Europe in his capacity as unofficial representative of the British foreign office. Archie's part in the spy round- up begins with the motor race, when he finds hiding in his car an old friend who hands him a mysterious package which at the risk of his life he must deliver to room Q 39 at the foreign office. Exciting adventures befall him before he reaches his destination, and simultaneously a powerful airplane, invented by the father of a friend, is stolen from its hangar and piloted to an unknown destination. The foreign office, of course, engages Archie to trace the plane and to find the missing agent, and he embarks on a circuitous and hazardous journey. He soon learns that other planes, supposedly secret inventions intended for sale to the great nations of Europe, are being stolen and presumably hidden in a vast aerodrome located in one of the smaller countries where plots are eternally being hatched for war against an oppressive or dangerous neighbor. Spiritual seances enter into the plot and a handsome woman, wife of a wealthy man believed to be financing the theft scheme, does a dramatic bit to trap Archie in an abandoned dungeon. Mi- raculous escapes from all sorts of traps keep the intrepid young spy-hound breathless from start to finish, as a mat- ter of fact, though for all of the speed and excitement the story is a bit tire- some and heavy in spots. Archie, of course, identifies the members of the ring and finds the stolen planes, and the story climbs to a dramatic climax on the last page and flops into banality with the speed of a crashing plane. * % Xk % MURDER-ON-HUDSON. By Jennifer Jones. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co. The author of this story has had a very remarkable career and her achieve- ments include the writing of several books. It is therefore disappointing to find a splendid mystery plot spoiled by too much enthusiasm and not enough groundwork. A dead man, discovered in the abandoned house on an oid estate on the Hudson, makes a good start. The follow-up promises genuine mystery fun, but, unfortunately, the story peters out in the telling. The story is told by a woman real estate dealer who is prospecting for available property to be sold to wealthy families. She is interested in the old Tompkins place and decides to investi- gate it. When she breaks into the house she finds the Body of the president of the Reuterskill Bank. She rushes from the house, finds a doctor and sends for the police chief and they return to the house. When they arrive the body has disappeared, and specific word has reached the bank that its president has gone to Albany for a few days. The real estate lady is thereby placed in an embarrassing position, but she is positive that she saw the body and that she identified it. She searches the place on her own and with the help of & lawyer and an old man-of-all-work she discovers the body of Sam Small. He undoubtedly has been murdered, and the search for the criminal divides itself into two camps. While the police chief follows hunches and unsubstantial clues, Daisy Jane Mott does her own sleuthing. Her mistake is in the style of narrative, which is too chatty to earry conviction. A C., WEDNESDAY, JULY 14 New York: | 1937 THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES K. TRACEWELL. Keeping the eat in is more difficult than belling the animal. Yet it can be done, and its doing saves the lives of baby birds. Takoma Park, Md, is the first com- munity to come forward with the an- nouncemen; of one householder to the effect that the family cat is being kept shut up during the nesting season. “Dear 8ir: We have a cat who per- sists in catching birds, in spite of bells and other punishments, and we are now confining him to the house for the remainder of the season. “Last week he caught & downv wood- pecker, and on its leg was a metal band bearing the number 37 on the top line and beneath the numbers 156834, “Can you tell me who puts on these bands and if they wish it reported? “Thanking you for your interesting articles on This and That, I am, Yours sincerely, L. C. B.” * X ok ¥ There are many difficulties, physical as well as psychological, in the way of keeping a favorite pet in the house. These are well-known and under- stood by the friends of this curious and interesting animal, whose history extends into the mists of antiquity and always as a friend of man. The dog has taken that title from him, but nevertheless the cat remains one of the two other creatures which has a genuine affection for our race. This being 30, as is known beyond doubt by those who like them, makes it all the more difficult to keep them pent up. The truth seems to be, however, that the domestic cat is almost as well off in_the house as in the outdoors. Provided, that it is given handfuls of long grass blades, such as rye, from time to time, and adequate provision made for its sanitation, it exists very comfortably without exercise. Every one knows this to be true, as | proved by countless store cats. which for years have been in excellent health on not much more exercise than the lions and tigers get at the zoo. * %ok o Tt seems that ‘“exercise,” as such, is some thing devised by the mind of man. Muscular movement in Nature by no means attains the pitch of impor- | tance which is given to it by mankind. Provided the creature has a good mus- culature to begin with, it seems to be able to keep it over the years without | going through the contortions called “setting-up’ exercises. A cat would laugh at vou if vou told it that “exercis were necessary to its health and state of well-being in general. L Those who appreciate animal life in all its forms seldom show spleen toward | any living ecreature. Vindicativeness against some one form of life shows to the knowing mind that its holder is not what he pretends to be. The bird lqver, for instance, who de- mands that all English sparrows be trapped and killed is, by that very de- | mand, a faker gnd a fraud. He does not like birds—he merely WASHINGTO! likes himself. This is sufficient excuse for him, if only he would not call him- self a “bird lover.” It is natural for a member of one race of living creatures to not like the members of other races. But let no one pretend that he is something which he fsn't, Fortunately, there are many splendid bird friends who manage to keep their love of songsters without finding it necessary to advocate the destruction of some of them. Only the other day we read a most excellent work on attracting the birds to the garden. The author declared that he had found it necessary at no time to harm any other type of life, especially any birds, in keeping alive and pursuing his hobby. * X % ¥ ‘There are other ways, sometimes more difficult, of handling the many problems which come up in bird feeding and watching. This excellent recreation makes no demand upon anybody involving the destruction of any life It cats get after birds, try to reason with the animals through their stomach. Stomach reason is very good reasoning indeed. If this fails, try keeping the cats in, according to the excellent example set by our correspondent. It can be done. If pigeons make nuisances of them- selves at a feeding table, try closing up the station for a few weeks or months to throw the birds off the track. They will not remain where no food is. o ox ok At long last, if there is nothing that can be done about a nuisarce in the yard, or something one regards as a nuisance, there is always the oppor- tunity of taking the thing with a sav- ing grace of good humor. It is possible to say “Oh, there are those darn pigeons again,” and at the same time say it 5o that the vindicative- ness is left out of it. Priend squirrel, too, is a nuisance at times in the gentle art of watching the birds, but much can be done by simply tolerating him. o ox % It is remarkable how much spleen can be worked up by an otherwise gentle person who feels that all is not as he would have it. All he has to do is remind himself that the problem is not a verv large one, after all, and that time probably will work out the situation, if he will give it time, The one thing course, is time. If we stop stewing and let Nature have a chance to work. often the offend- ing cat or squirrel will take itself away of its own accord. Onlv man makes a nuisance of him- self just for the pleasure of making a nuisance of himself. The beasts and the birde do what they do because theyv are after food or other necessities. Let us tolerate them, in the name of kindness to animals, and not spoil it by mixing with it even time demands, of | one-tenth cruelty. A good way to begin is to keep your cat in during the bird nesting season and to try to induce others to do the same, OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Every hour of strife between the Sen- ate lovalists and insurgents over the court bill accentuates the bitterness and width of the Democratic split and heightens the likelthood of virulent and lasting dis- sension. Fears on that score are begin- ning to outweigh the merits of the con- troversy itself, because realignments of far-reaching consequence are inevitable, including the prospect of a brand-new political party. Opposition Senators like Wheeler, McCarran, O'Mahoney and Bailey have used language that will make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to accept Roosevelt-Farley leader- ship in future. Whether an anti-New Deal movement on the part of these men and other Democrats who share their court views will take organized form for the congressional campaign of 1938 or the presidential contest of 1940 remains to be developed. But the spirit of re- volt is rampant and rising. At this embattied and embittered hour, such a thing as Democratic harmony, on the model of '32, '34 and ’36, seems an iridescent dream. Passions are aroused to fever heat, even more so than Senate proceedings reveal. If thev keep on boil- ing. the fight will leave behind, no matter how it ends. a state of rancor and discord that may consign the donkey to the wilderness wherein he roamed so long prior to 1912. . x xR Senator McCarran brought inio the court debate a factor on which the op- position is likely to harp with mounting emphasis as the fray proceeds. He re- produced President Roosevelt's own words about judiciary reform, as follows: | “In the face of this congestion, the remedy commonly proposed is to add new judges or new courts; but it will readily be seen that if the problem is what I have stated it to be, such a so-called remedy merely aggravates the com- plaint. There are. of course. legitimate demands for additfonal judicial man- power in sections where the population has grown rapidly. But it is easy to see that to apply this remedv in all cases is to add to the ages of the disease, to contribute to the confusion, and, what is profoundly important at this time, to burden still further an already seriously embarrassed taxpayer.” L Emotions of the Roosevelt administra- tion in the present phase of the Supreme Court battle are likely to be reflected next Friday night. when Attorney Gen- eral Cummings, in a coast-to-coast Co- lumbia broadcast, discusses “National Affairs.” It was Cummings’ blast over the air, immediately following submis- sion of the packing plan on February 5. which opened the national controversy that was destined to rage from that hour to this. * ok % X Within & week the House of Repre- sentatives has lost two of its veteran officials—Patrick J. Haltigan, who had 25 years of service, the last 17 in the capacity of reading clerk, and Joseph L. Rodgers, who was sergeant at arms from 1919 to 1931 and since then an honorary special clerk of the Republican minority. Haltigan's stentorian voice was not only long familiar at the Capitol, but had become a feature of Democratic National Conventions. Rodgers, a former Philadelphian, began his career as a file clerk of the House. The confidante of a generation of G. O. P. congressional leaders dating from Joe Cannon’s time, the late minority clerk was famed for his physical resembiance to the present J. P. Morgan. * * ¥ & Just about the time Mr. Roosevelt a day or two ago suggested that a sub- stantial method of Government economy would be for Federal departments and agencies to curb their passion for rush- ing inte print, there rolled from the presses of the Government Printing 2 Office five elaborate booklets, 9 by 111 inches in size and containing altogether 300 pages of detailed narration of the problems faced by the President’s Com- mittee on Administrative Management. Washington newspaper correspondents can testify. on the basis of their over- flowing wastebaskets, as to the torrential output of the printed word by Uncle Sam. Printing press and the mimeo- graph pour forth an endless stream of information and inspiration of every conceivable description. Among the pro- lific producers of official literature are the Agriculture and Interior Depart- ments and the Social Security Board. * o ox o Tt looks as if the next test of New Deal popularity would be in New Jersev and take the form of & Democratic guberna- torial primary fight. Hitherto the nomi- nation has rated as a cast-iron certainty | for Senator A. Harry Moore. who desires to renounce a congressional career for his old job at Trenton. Instead of going to Moore by default, the nomination is now to be the object of a spirited con- test launched by first-term Represent- ative Elmer H. Wene, who has the in- | fluential backing of Senator William H. Smathers. He will take the field as an out-and-out Rooseveltian in opposition to Senator Moore's anti-New Deal record at Washington. including the Supreme Court bill. Some Jersey political ob- servers think the Wene candidacy is an application of administration pressure to bring Moore into line on the pending compromise measure. As Moore is a political ally of Mayor Hague, the Wene entry appears to signal a Smathers- administration break with the Jersey Democratic boss on the court and other New Deal policies. * x % % Many politicians believe that the savior of the Republican - situation in 1940 is going to be some G. O. P. Gov- ernor who has gripped the country's imagination. Only eight States now have Republican executives—California, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota and Ver- mont. Some aitention is beginning to be centered on 45-year-old Gov. George D. Aiken of Vermont, who. like the Ver- monter of another day, Calvin Coolidge, is making a record for thrift. A school- man by origin, an authority on wild- flowers by predilection, and farmer by occupation, Gov. Aiken achieved fame not only by keeping Vermont in the Republican column last Fall, but more recently when he announced that the Green Mountain State would be willing to take a cut in its Federal relief allow- ance. A Landonesque Yankee in appear- ance, Aiken’s admirers believe he has distinctly national possibilities, * X % Watch out for Jack Garner's sudden return to Washington. If the Senate vote on the substitute court plan turns out to be as close as now indicated. the V. P.s presence may be required for tie-breaking purposes on the fateful roll call. (Copyright, 1937.) Congress Law. Prom the Pittsbureh Poat-Gasette. When men are haled before a eon- gressional committee they are presumed guilty until found innocent. oo Always a Loser. Prom the Altoona (Pa.) Mirror. Dynamiting may spread terror and dis- aster, but it has never yet won a dispute hetween labor and capital. e Definition. Prom the St. Louis Star-Times. ‘What. it costs to live is what vou have left over after supporting an automobile. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN, A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Evening Star Injormation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washirgton, D, 0, Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. Tn the consumption of electricity Increased to any appreciable extent dur- ing a big radio broadcast such as the Louis-Braddock fight?—W. M. R. A. According to the Commonwealth Edison Company, while the Louis-Brad« dock fight was in progress the eonsump- tion of electricity in Chicago increased by 65000 kilowatt hours, or about 9 per cent above normal, due to more radios and electric lights being turned on, Q. Was Hawaii & natural sugar soum- try?—N. H. A. Sugar was an artificial erop. Com- mercial fertilizer and hrigatian wers necessary, as well as the kind of laborers who would handle augar crops. A Q. How large is Jefferson National Forest?—A. D. A. This reservation now contains some 450,000 acres in Virginia and West Vir- ginia. It is hoped to acquire more acre- age until this national forest will be well over two million acres in extent, Q. What is a potomato?—G. M. A. It is a plant combination of potato and tomato. One plant is grafted on the other. If the potato is the stock and the tomato is grafted upon it, both vege= tables may be grown. Q. Do women usually live longer than men?—R. M. K. A. They do. In 1900 the average life was 48 years for men and 51 years for women. In 1930 it was 59 years for men and neagly 63 years for women. At the age of 80 there are 23,053 women to 17,221 men. These figures are for the white race. For Negroes the average life is now 47.55 years for men and 49.51 vears for women. Among the reasons for the difference are improved standards of living, labor saving inventions in the home, and advances in medicine and safety, and also the lowering of tha infant death rate. Boys take more risks than girls do and men are more likelv to be emploved in hazardous occupa- tions than are women Q. How many imported into R. H. K A. Preliminary estimate of the total number of pounds of spices imported into the United States during 1936 iz 141.- 898.046. Black unground pepper led all other spices, the estimated total being 60,345,389 pounds. pounds of spices are the United States?— Q. Has the raven ever been a aacred bird?>—L. F A. In ancient Greece and Italy the raven was sacred to Apollo. and the Roman augurs pretended to be able to forecast the future from its manner of flight. Q. Is it true that racing tirex are not filled with air?>—E. H. A. Nitrogen is used to fill racing tires because it expands less when hot and does not leak through the tire walls, Q. What English King was first ealled Defender of the Faith?—J. MeQ. A. Henry VITI. He actively espoused the cause of the Roman Catholic Chureh * and was given this tile. Later, during his reign the English church separated from the Roman see. Q. In what play did the late De Wolf Hopper make hiz first appearance? —C. R. A. His first professional appearance was in “Our Boys” in 1878, Q. How much does the news print eost used for a large paper like the New York Times?—W. H. A. At the current price of $42.50 per ton news print costs the Times $4,120,000 a year, Q. What valuable historical collection is controlled by the Colonial Dames of America?—E. G. A. The valuable collection of historical relics in the old Van Cortlandt manor house in New York City is under the control of the New York branch of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. Q. How many people attended the first Moody and Sankev revival services in Philadelphia®—W. H. A. The services were held in the old Pennsylvania station, lasted nine weeks, and were attended by 900,000 people. Q. Are more married or single per- sons admitted to insane asylums? —R. W. A. According to a survev, about 33 per cent of those admitted for a first time were married. About 35 per cent. were single, 18 per cent widowed and the remainder separated or divorced. Q. What is Juneteenth?—H. N, A. This an an expression common among colored people in the South for Emancipation day. Q. What has become of the 101 Ranch? —~W. T. A. The Government has bought 3,600 acres of the tract from creditors of the Millers and intends to settle tenant farmers from submarginal lands there. The only living Miller brother still hopes to retain the ranch house, and refinance at least a part of the property. Q. How are penguins different from all other birds?—E. G. H. A. They differ from other birds in that, their wings are modified into swimming paddles for which they are exclusively used. Q. Are topless bathing suits permissitle at Atlantic City?—H. G. A. They are not permitted st thet resort. Q. Where iz the Traipsin' Woman Cabin in Kentucky where the Ameriean Folk Song Festival was held?—T. R. A. The cabin is located on the Mayn Trail, about eighteen miles southwest of Ashland, Boyd County, Ky. o A Rhyme at Twilight Y Gertrude Brooke Hamilton. Allegiance. Bweetheart. let. us be true to one another. Though we may meet alone in dreams, And all the world about us seems Made up of rapture that belongs To those who pass us in the throngs, This same old world, sweet, is our mother. A mother grieves to see her children parted. She finds the way. or soon. or late, To overcome their hostile fate: And all her magic will employ To bring them back to love apd foy— If each to each remains true-zlnsd. A