Evening Star Newspaper, August 15, 1937, Page 30

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editien. WASHINGTON. D. C. August 15, 1937 The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th St and Pennsylvania Ave New Ynrk Offce: 110 East 42nd 8t ©Onicago Office: 433 North Michigan Ave. Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban. Regular Edition. oo Evenine and Sunty S8t or 150 er woek The Evenine Star 450 per month of 1 The Sunday Star - Night Finsl Edition. tght Final and Sunday Star-...70¢ per month ight Final Sta 54 35¢ per month Collection ma end ch month or each week, Orders may be sent by mall or tele- Bhone National 5000 c per week C Der copy Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and mo., 85¢ mo., 80c $10. 1y 1 1 mo.. 40c T oyr $400; mo.. $1.00 mo., 75¢ mo.. 50¢ Putly an aLly Y Sundi $12.00; $5.00; $5.00: 1 Member of the Associated Press. The Assoclated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All ts of publication of special dispatches bere: T® also reserved e In the Twilight Zone. If the Senate should confirm the nomi- nation of Senator Black to be an asso- ciate justice of the Supreme Court, de- spite the fact that his eligibility to that office is questioned on the ground of his participation in an increase in emolu- ments of an office existing during his term as Senator, the question would perhaps arise whether the Supreme Court itself in its capacity of interpreter of the statutes will accept him as a member. The court has never rejected one who has presented himself with credentials of appointment to that bench. It is not by the Constitution specifically empow- ered, as Congress is, to judge the quali- fications of its own members. Never- theless it might conceivably take cogni- zance of the undisputed fact that Sen- ator Black was a member of the Senate and took part in the legislation which raised the retirement pay of jus- tices and during that same term of his office as Senator he was—if such should be the case—confirmed by the Senate as an associate justice. The Supreme Court as interpreter of the laws does not initiate proceedings. It passes upon questions that have been | raised first in the lower courts and have | been brought to it through the stages | of appeal. No lower court could enter- tain such a question, having no direct | jurisdiction. No “citizen’s suit” could be | instituted for the purpose of bringing guch a matter to an issue. There is no | provision in the law against a member of the highest court sitting in judgment upon the validity of laws in the enact- ment of which he has participated as a member of the House of Representatives or of the Senate, though on some occa- sions justices have refrained from so participating. 1f the Supreme Court should upon its own initiative reject the credentials of a newly named member on the ground that his participation in legislation increasing the emoluments of the office to which he has been named—even though he did not personally participate, but was simply a member of Congress at the time of the legislation—there would be no appeal from its action, for there is no higher court to which such appeal could be carried. On the other hand, should the Supreme Court accept such a member there would be no appeal from its action, for there is no place where the validity of decisions participated in by a justice &0 appointed could be taken. Therefore, if the Senate should con- firm this nominee and he should present himself to the Supreme Court and he | should be accepted as a member regard- | less of his participation in the legisla- tion increasing the emoluments of the office. this question would be definitely gettled, such acceptance standing as a precedent for all time. It is this finality which makes important the considera- tion by the Senate now, in passing upon the nomination which has been sent to it and by the court itself if the nomi- nation should be confirmed, of a ques- tion which, relatively unimportant as re- spects the particular issue involved, is nevertheless decidedly important in re- gard to the propriety of a nomination of this character. In this connection the signification of the word “emoluments” has an impor- tant bearing. The increase of compen- sation voted by Congress did not relate to the salaries of justices during their active service, but to their retirement pay. Thus, as affects a justice serving on active duty there is no increase in emoluments. To enjoy the increase thus voted, he must resign or retire. It is upon this differentiation that the in- formal opinion of the Attorney General has been given, and upon it also rests the argument of those favoring the confirma- tion of this present appointee. Possibly this contention brings the matter into that twilight zone within which so many of the acts of Congress have been passed that the Supreme Court has been kept busily engaged for decades in inter- - pretation. ot There is no timekeeper to say just when a “new deal” is getting old enough to look like an old example of force re- " quiring a show-down of inferior cards. The Armory Site. The President’s recommendation for an immediate appropriation of funds necessary to acquire land at the end of East Capitol street as the site for a “ National Guard Armory will, it is hoped, " bring the necessary action by Congress - before the end of the session. The site has been reserved, in the plans of the city planners, for many years for “a development that will be in keeping . with its importance. Many suggestions - have been made for its use, but the com- * bined armory and stadium has appealed . to many as the most logical. The city needs both and the site has been con- - sidered ideal, providing the opportunity for development of an area which can Be utilized for aquatic, as well as land, THE SUN sports; & greatly needed drill fleld for the National Guard and an armory that can easily be made a part of the stadium. As the message from the Budget Bu- reau indicates, the plans of private de- velopers for this area, held in abeyance up to this time, may interfere with or make much more expensive future acquisition of land unless the purchase ts made in the near future. That point of view is gratifying to those in Wash- ington who have witnessed the ex- pensive results of delayed land purchases in other locations. The District may not be able to contribute, for some time to come, its share of the cost of an armory or stadium. But the purchase of the land now, to be held pending the time when construction is feasible, will repre- sent an economical stitch in time, e Rule by a Minori A minority group, constituting a bal- ance of power, has oftentimes in the history of organized society legitimately exercised its influence as an effective means of defense against evils growing out of the unscrupulous use of the au- thority automatically accompanying numerical strength. Minority influence, however, is not always beneficial, and when it is operated on the basis of each fellow for himself it invariably leads to a situation which demands drastic counter-action by the majority. A self-interested minority, gradually exerting its influence by first taking small privileges and then demanding larger ones until it virtually gains control of a community, is an unwholesome thing. Yet that is what has happened in Wash- ington, and it is now plainly evident that drastic majority action must be re- sorted to if a proper balance of rights and privileges is ever to be restored. Washington is not the only city in this country that has eventually come face to face with the bald fact that the drivers and owners of motor cars “have the situation under control,” and that protest against prevailing conditions re- sults merely in reassurance of the already painfully acquired knowledge that gaso- line is mightier in an argument than an unprotected citizen. But Washington is the only city of its size in the country that has allowed its motor car popula- tion to steal the show and get safely away with it. Many of the factors contributing to the appalling strength of Washington's free- will autocracy on wheels were trivial in the beginning—small privileges taken without asking and granted without question. But inconsequential favors, granted without check to a small group, soon grow to mountainous proportions as the ranks of such a privileged class in- crease in numbers. Other large cities, realizing the danger of permitting a self- interested minority to gain the upper hand, called a halt on the exercise of free-will license and took steps to pre- serve the legitimate rights of the majority. Washington, dozing at the post, and failing to start at the drop of the flag, ranks with the “also rans.” It is now evident that it will remain in that status until a drastic movement of some sort ! succeeds in making it plain that the city’s majority population is not on wheels and | that it demands and is determined to reclaim its lost rights. e Juvenile Court Bill. Tt is highly gratifving to many ‘Watgh- ingtonians who have worked in behalf | of the Juvenile Court bill that the Senate | found time, in its crowded hours yes- terday, to pass the measure and send it along for conference adjustment with the House. The bill passed the House earlier in the session, received extensive examination at the hands of the Senate District Committee, and, with proper co- operation on the part of the members of the District Committee in the House, there is every prospect that the bill will be enacted at this session. It is difficult to recall any other local measure which has been so plainly needed for such a long time, or which has re- ceived more thorough study at the hands of congressional committees, assisted by authorities on Juvenile Court procedure. The delay in getting the measure through the Senate was due wholly to the legis- lative situation which denies to all but the most nationally important bills any Senate discussion on merits. A single ob- jection has been enough, at any time, to postpone action. vy It is not believed that the amendments added to the bill will seriously affect the bill's fundamental objective, which is to emphasize the prevention and cure of juvenile delinquency rather than the punishment of juvenile offenders. Chinese military authorities are still uncertain as to how many defeats they may have to experience before they are convinced that they are engaged in actual war, B — It is a surprise to note the number of Americans who linger in China and take chances on which army will be held re- sponsible for injuries they may suffer. oo Telephone Manners. The New York Telephone Company has issued a booklet describing good tele- phone usage. Such a guide, obviously enough, has been wanted for a long time. It should help to solve some of the problems involved in more than sixty- five million calls a day. But it may be wondered if the authors have been forthright to a suMicient degree in their formulation of rules. For ex- ample, what penalty have they devised for the telephone gossip who plagues friends and strangers alike by endless talk for the sake of talking? A polite call should be brief. Adequate punish- ment, something exquisitely painful, is needed for the pest who chatters until his unwilling victim hangs up in tardy but wrathful protest against te tnsult to his ear drums. Again, what correction have the spon- sors of the pamphlet invented for the telephone clown who opens his invasion of decent privacy by demanding: “Guess who this {s?” The medieval rack might be revived for the proper stretching of human monkeys who think it funny to “kid” a helpless listener. People who resort to the telephone for entertainment at unseasonable hours also ought to be disciplined for their crime. The inebriate who disturbs his acquaintances at , midnight deserves nothing better than an introduction to the water cure. And a similar ordeal might be recommended for shouters and mumblers, debaters and quibblers, so- licitors and dunners who make a toy or an unworthy convenience of wire facili- ties regardless of the anger of those they annoy. The telephone at best is rude. It can interrupt anything, halt anything. The insistent clamor of its ringing commands attention to the exclusion of every other business, every other duty. One Wash- ington citizen not long ago engaged a leisure moment to record this footnote to history in his diary: “My bath, my breakfast, my luncheon, an important conference with my boss, even my bed- time blessing to my daughter was spoiled by that infernal machine designed by Alexander Graham Bell to be an asset to mankind, but so consistently misused as to be a curse to the species.” ——ra— One of the forms of kind words com- monly utilized concerning the new judi- ciary nomination relates to the fact that a man often learns to think differently about things after he has been appointed, confirmed and almost forgotten, except perhaps as in the case of Mr. Hughes, for distinctions earned in entirely differ- ent fields. » r———— A comet in the northern sky is claim- ing widespread attention among people who know nothing concerning it beyond the fact that it is there. In this respect it seems to imitate human destiny and assert an importance which is entirely independent of its practical influence. e There are New York moments when Mr. Grover Whalen seems to wish he could concentrate his unreserved energies on making a success of a fair without attracting attention to brilliant person- alities who figure incidentally in the big city’s local politics. —— e There {s no use of complaining that Mr. Roosevelt said nothing before elec- tion about plans concerning the Supreme Court. Surprises like these are some- times depended on to make politics gen- uinely interesting. —_— et Boys now claim to make parachute jumps in order to pay college expenses and assume the power to dazzle the pro- fessor whether they understand instruc- tions or not. The life of a college pro- fessor grows more exacting every year. R Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Unrest. “Why are we not happy?” philosophers ask. Invention stands ready to lighten each task Regardless of steam and despite elec- tricity, We fail to arrive at a state of fecility. “Why are we not happy?"” is old. We are not content to tame hunger and cold. The question To questions we turn all uncertain and | tentative And long for the thrill of a life argu- mentative, Slogans. “The motto of the old statesman was ‘Give me liberty or give me death!'" “Times change,” replied Senator Sor- ghum. “The great motto of the present day is ‘Safety first.’” Jud Tunkins says even the truth will get & man in bad if he insists on saying the right thing at the wrong time. Easy. It's easy to overturn the bench On which you sat serene. It's easy to toss the monkey wrench That breaks the old machine. It's easy to speak the reckless word That hinders big affairs— But, brother, it's mighty hard, we've heard, ‘When it's time to make repairs. Daily Routine. “Did you try daylight saving in Crim- son Gulch?” “Yep,” replied Cactus Joe. “But it didn't make much difference. We went to work at sunup an’ started the poker game at sundown jest the same.” “Do not trust your philosopher when he says experience is the best teacher,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. “Few things are more disappointing than learning law by litigation or medicine by {llness.” Credence. I don't believe the half I hear, Though I may seem a skeptic queer. I don't believe the folks that say This world of ours has gone astray. But I believe the birds who sing About the coming of the 8pring; And I believe the blossoms, too, ‘Who promise a fruition new. I don't believe what psople say Of dark disaster and dismay. But I believe the promise clear That Nature offers, far and near. “Most of our enemies,” said Uncle Eben, “might have been our friends if we hadn’t misunderstood each other.” —————————— Plenty of Frontier. Prom the Macon Telexraph. The American “King of the Arectic,” who is looking for another place to live because “Alaska has become too -civil- ized,” might find a suitable looation somewhere in our strike sone. Present Problem Is Who Will Pay BY OWEN L. SCOTT. President Roosevelt is learning all of & sudden that he started something in 1933 neither he nor anybody else seems able to stop. What he did was to sell the idea that the Government has a painless way to solve each individual's problem of making a living. It works in this way: A farmer finds cotton prices or corn prices do not sat- isfy. He joins with other cotton farmers or corn farmers to howl loudly and long enough for Congress to hear. Govern- ment then jumps to the rescue with rigged prices and cash subsidies. Or wages in some industries may be lower and hours longer than anybody would consider reasonable. So Government is called upon to step in and push them up and down, respectively. Maybe a city worker's income is not large enough to permit him to rent a de- cent place in which to live. Govern- ment magic is called upon to subsidize construction of homes that will rent at prices low-income workers can afford. Or & farmer may only be a tenant when he wants to be a farm owner. So the Govern- ment decides to lend him enough money to buy a farm of his own. If a man loses his job and faces desti- tution, Government makes a job for him paying an hourly wage as high as, or higher than, he could get elsewhere. If a farmer objects to paying 5 or 6 per cent interest called for by a mortgage against his farm, the Government cuts the interest to 3's per cent and shoul- ders the cost of this subsidy. If a com- munity thinks it needs a new school building or & municipal electric plant or most any improvement, and does not want to pay the cost, the Federal Gov- ernment can be induced to provide a subsidy. This is the “Roosevelt revolution.” That revolution—really only speeded up by the present administration—involves govern- ment by subsidy. It is undergoing a burst of new life during the closing days of the present Congress. At one time a majority of the Supreme Court appeared to have the Roosevelt revolution on the run. Senators were going to be brave and put on a revolt of their own against the revolution. But the court changed its mind a bit after November, 1936, and the Senators, prod- ded by the folks back home, are whoop- ing it up for bigger and better subsidies. Only there is another side to the pic- ture. * ok x X Up to now the sensation of government by subsidy has been rather pleasant; much the same as that enjoved by the prodigal while he lives through the fam- ily inheritance. This sensation can con- tinue as long as the easy money holds out. So far, money has come easily and cheaply. But a day of reckoning always arrives. President Roosevelt called attention to that fact when Senators asked him to revive the guarantee of a price-fixing Government loan to cotton farmers. All right, the President said in effect, but if we make the loans we must have a voice in the business of the cotton farmer who borrows to protect his income. Here the plot thickens. If there are going to be continued farm subsidies, involving price control or in- come control, then there must be Gov- ernment control over farming itself, with farmers told what they can grow, when and how much of a crop then can sell and how they must treat their soil. Otherwise, Mr. Roosevelt emphasized, the Treasury soon would go busted. Or if Government is going to have a voice in fixing minimum wages and max- imum hours in industry, it will need next to apply other controls so that employ- ers, in a period of stress, will be able to pay the wages established and maintain the Government-protected standards of work. And if Government is going to provide A man with a farm, then that Govern- ment 1s going to demand a voice in the management of the farm in order to protect its investment. Also, if Govern- ment is to provide interest subsidies to farmers, city people can hardly be de- nied the same sort of subsidies; or if farmers are to be set up on farms, city people can be expected to demand that Government fix them up with grocery stores or radio shops or one of a multi- tude of business enterprises; and if some people with low incomes are to be given living quarters built at taxpayer ex- pense, politicians may find it difficult not to provide rent subsidies for those with not-quite-such-low incomes. . %X %X %X Until now, Government has jumped jauntily into one field of subsidy after another by using borrowed money. The pay roll contributions of 25,000,000 work- ers are opening a huge new money source. . Only one day there will come & period of reckoning. Insistence on the part of President Rooseveit that continued sub- sidies are going to be accompanied by Government controls, shows that he has become aware of the fact that a subsidy barrel can have a bottom. Controls mean that the Federal Government would encroach more and more directly into the private lives of its citizens. Yet, in the face of realization of that fact, important groups of citizens are demanding that the Government go ahead with its revolution. As a graphic example: American farmers seldom have been as prosperous as this year. They will have more money available for spending on things they want to buy than at any time since 1925 and will be able to buy more with the dollars they have than at any time since the boom year of 1919. Farmers are known as the great American individualists. Their one big desire, presumably, is to be let alone. But in the midst of prosperity, made more enjoyable by a half-billion-dollar subsidy from city taxpayers, the mere sight of declining prices of some com- modities, due to the prospect of big crops, has caused farmers to rush to Washing- ton with a cry for help. Congress sud- denly is in a dither. Senators who had vowed to battle the New Deal and to drive the President into political exile are rushing to the White House asking for favors in the form of new subsidies for their constituents. It is much the same story all down the line. Government has given important groups of the population a taste of the subsidies and the controls it is able to dispense. There have been income guar- antees for farmers, wage guarantees for industrial workers, subsidies for home owners and wages for those left idle by industry. Of late there had been signs return- ing prosperity would wean the subsidized groups away from their subsidies. Con- gress appeared ready to go back to the good old days when there was no need for haste and when the folks back home were rather easily satisfied. But the minute President Roosevelt tried to stop one subsidy in the form of a low-interest rate on loans to prosper- ous farmers, both houses of Congress quickly overrode his veto. And just the moment that the price of cotton started to decline, Senators began parking on the White House doorstep in quest of new Government protections and new Government controls, machinery of government in . DAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., AUGUST 15, 1937—PART TWO. THE CHRISTIAN AND THE STATE BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEM D.D,LL.D,D.C.L, BISHOP OF WASHINGTON. There has long been a question as to the propriety of the church, as an tnati-"| tution, indulging in questions and dis- cussions that concern the State. A min- istry engaged in political matters has not been accorded by the general public A place either acceptable or consistent. ‘We have largely shared this point of view and we still hold to the conviction that the church, as an institution, loses its unique place and distinction when it indulges in party and purely political concerns. The church has to do with principles rather than policies. On the other hand, we may hot forget that in- sistence upon principles sometimes leads to the discussion of policies. The recent Supreme Court issue is & case in point. During the Revolutionary period the church took its proper and consistent stand in seeking to free the colonies from the overbearing rule of a foreign monarch. It joined with other agencles of the State in maintaining that taxa- tion without representation was in- equitable and unjust. On the question of slavery, the church might have taken a very much more conspicuous stand under those leaders who believed in its abolition. There have been other occasions where weighty issues were before the State and Nation where it might have inured to the lasting benefit of the church if it had afirmed with all its power its convictions and reasoned position. We submit that fine discrimi- nation should exercise the church's judgment in all matters that concern political action. On the other hand, a too conservative and passive course may issue in bringing the church into disre- pute with great masses of our people. 8uch a question as “world order and peace” is more than a political question, and the church cannot with consistency yield to the supremacy of diplomats and chancellories for decisions that affect the lives of vast numbers of people. We believe it was Lloyd George who affirmed that if another world war ensued the responsibility for it would largely be with the churches. Certainly there is sufficient in the teaching of Jesus that warrants the exercise of strong Christian convictions where great principles are at stake in proposed political action. Re- ligious freedom, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, while they are po- litical concepts and a part of our proud inheritance as a people, are also the deep concern of the church as an insti- tution. We are witneasing the violation of these in certain nations of the world today, hence their maintenance under our American system is & matter that vitally concerns Christian men and women, It is evident that the time has come again in our life where the admonition of another day needs to be heeded: “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” In one of the most dramatic incidents in the life of Jesus, an attempt was made by His arch-enemies, the Pharisees, to confuse and embarrass Him by raising the question as to whether it were proper to pay tribute to Caesar. His enemies well knew that the yoke that Caesar and Rome had laid upon His country was wholly repugnant. In answer to this query Jesus called for a Roman coin, and noting on it a relief portrait of Caesar, He answered, saying: ‘“‘Whose image and superscription is this?” When His enemies responded, “Caesar’s,” Jesus replied in definite words: “Render the fore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's d unto God the things that are God's. He refused to be trapped by their subtle question. His answer makes evident His mind that duty to the State and duty to God are one and inseparable. Civic and social responsi- bility, with reverence for and obedience to God go together. He would not separate His followers from their re- sponsibility and obligation to the world in which they were placed. There was nothing of the monastic about the teach- ing of Jesus. He did not live apart from, but with men. He conceived of His teaching as being immediately and prac- tically related to human concerns. In His great prayer for His followers, He sald: “Not out of the world, but keep them from the evil in the world.” It is undoubtedly true that we best exemplify our loyalty to Christ and His teaching by a just and consistent recog- nitlon of our civic, social and industrial responsibilities. Fifty Years Ago In The Star Fifty years ago a site for the new Naval Observatory, the old one then standing N Naval where the Naval Hos- ew Nava pital is now, was Oblerntary, chosen on the line of A possible extension of Massachusetts avenue. The Star of Au- gust 11, 1887, savs: “Captain Pythian, the superintendent of the Naval Observatory, has recently returned from New York, where he went to look over the plans which are being prepared by Mr. Richard M. Hunt, the architect. The plans, he says, will be completed by the 1st of October and at that time the proposals for contracts will be made. Between 30 and 40 s will be necessary to let the contracts and the foundations will then be begun if the weather is favorable. “Captain Pythian says that the style of the building will be severe and impos- ing, of characteristic architecture, so that it will be recognized for what it is when seen from a distance and not be mis- taken for a country villa. It will be sit- uated so that it can be seen plainly from™ that part of the city near the Capitol and will look well from various points. Speak- ing of the Massachusetts avenue exten- sion interferring with the observatory, Captain Pythian said that to have the avenue go where the Commissioners pro- posed would greatly endanger the observ- atory and that he had no idea that they would ever be permitted to make the extension in that way. The District Commissioners had unofficially suggested that they might make a curve in the line of the avenue o0 as to take it 1.000 feet awayv, but in doing this they wanted to locate the observatory at a point not considered desirable by the observatory officials.” * ok o* & The following letter printed in The Star of August 13, 1887, signed “C. E. D.” . treats of the ques- Observations on tion of “water- Water-Witching. Witching”: “In The Star of August 6, under heading of ‘Common Er- rors Corrected,’ I notice that ‘the locali- zation of water by means ef a forked stick’ is given as one of ‘the thousand vagaries that gain credence.’ Having had some experience in ‘water-witching" I desire to say a few words in its favor. About fifteen years ago a very dry Sum- mer caused a great scarcity of water in that part of Illinois known as the Great Half-Moon prairie. John Wallace, a prominent stock raiser of Woodford County and one of my neighbors, was one of the first to need more water, but before digging he sent a conveyance some twenty miles after a water wizard to locate the proposed well. The man came, found a suitable vein of water and told its approximate depth. Mr. Wallace dug at the indicated spot and found plenty of water and at the depth foretold. This fact so interested me that I inquired into the man's method, tried it on two wells on my father's farm and did some water hunting for a number of neighbors. The method was very simple. Get a green peach switch of less than one year's growth, strip off leaves and grasp by the smalier end at such place as when the smaller end is held vertically the larger end will bend over and lie horizontally across the path of the operator. Then walk about, holding the switch as steadily as possible. On approaching an under- ground stream the switch will be drawn toward it. When over the water the switch will be depressed and, on going beyond the water it will swing backward.” ‘Washington is supposed to have the magic formula for solving all problems. Or, as one of the older and more astute New Deal officials explained it: “Many of the brilliant young men who came to the Capital in 1933 expecting to have a hand in the execution of great reforms, recently have been leaving, dis- {llusioned and disappointed. They fig- ured that the New Deal inaugurated by President Roosevelt had been wrecked by the courts and by Congress. “Theirs is a superficial conclusion. What the President has done is to place agriculture on something akin to & so0- cialized basis. He also has established the principle that Government must pro- vide work for those able to work and not able to fitd jobs in industry. “Experience of the last few days shows there is going to be no return to the old Laissez-Faire system in agriculture. Farmers obviously are sold on the idea of Government control over their industry. There cannot be control over an industry 80 basic as that of agriculture without a gradual extension of control over other industries as well. Maybe Mr. Roosevelt really has started more than he realizes.” In other words: The Roosevelt revolu- tion is still under way. But the question of who is going to pay for it remains un- answered. Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. With the House passing the bill to create a new Department of Welfare, on the eve of the second anniversary of establishing social security, Repre- sentative Albert J. Engel, Republican, of Michigan, who by a single speech blasted the Townsend plan and was amazed at the popular demand for 600,000 copies of that speech, now gives fnteresting data on the security legislation. He says: “History will record this law as the most colossal success or the most colossal fail- ure of the age. President Roosevelt sees it the most outstanding accomplishment of his administration. His enemies see in 1t nothing but socialism and radicalism and predict its dismal failure. The worker sees in it security for himself and his family, and hopes it will banish poverty which he knows will come with old age. Some believe in it blindly and hope for its Utopian success; others, pro- fessing friendship, would secretly give it the ‘Kiss of Death'.” Engel himself has worked for social security legislation for sixteen years. He wants to see it succeed, but confesses “a growing, haunting fear that it is being mired slowly but surely in a political bog.” He proposes to secure just about an even half of the tremendous cost of social security (including a $46,641,100.000 reserve fund) from the people engaged in productive enterprise. He has submitted to his colleagues for constructive criti- cism his plan with a summary of twelve points of comparison between his plan and the present law, asking for a careful study during the recess of Congress. - x o ox The passage by the House of the bill to create a new Federal department is a reminder that there are now in Con- gress nine men who voted on the legis- lation which created the last previous new department—the Department of Labor, now so prominent in public re- gard. Four of these are in the Senate— and one of them was in both the House and Senate during final action on this measure—Senator Morris Sheppard of Texas. The others in the Senate are Borah, Idaho; Smith, South Carolina, and Ashurst, Arizona. Pittman, Nevada, and Norris, Nebraska, however, were sworn in as Senators before Secretary William B. Wilson took over the office of Secretary of Labor, and the present Senate leader, Barkley, had just come nto the House. The others who voted in establishing the Department of Labor and who are now in the House are Rep- resentatives David J. Lewis, Maryland; ‘William A. Ashbrook, Ohio: Adolph J. Sabath, Illinois; Edward T. Taylor, Colo- rado, and Robert L. Doughton, North Carolina. Both Lewis and Ashbrook were out of Congress for many years, but re- cently returned. Seven of the nine who voted to set up the Labor Department have served continuously — Senators Sheppard, Borah, Smith and Ashurst; Representatives Sabath, Taylor and Doughton. Verily time moves on with a whirligig of changes, but some of the old stalwarts are still hanging on. * % % % Some families have been outstanding in public affairs and law making. Henry Middleton presided over the Continental Congress in 1774 and 1775, and received the thanks of Congress for his services in the cause of liberty. His son, Arthur Middleton, was a mem- ber of the Continental Congress (1776- 1783), served in the Revolution and signed the Declaration of Independence. His son, grandson of Henry Middleton, also named Henry, was Governor of South Carolina, served in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Congresses, and was Minister to Russia, 1820 to 1830. The records of political preferment by families, “nepotism” if you will, is so voluminous that it cannot be printed here, but some of the names are sug- gestive: The Adams family of Massa- chusetts, Aldrich, Rhode Island; Bayard, Delaware; Bouligny, Louisiana; Candler, Mississippi; Clay, Kentucky; Condict and Cutler, New Jersey; Dillingham, Vermont; Findlay, Pennsylvania; Gris- wold, Pennsylvania; Grinnell, New York; Halsey, New York; Hampton, 8outh Carolina; Harlan, Ohio; the Harrisons of Virginia, Ohio and Indiana; Hen- dricks, Indiana and Pennsylvania; Jack- son, Maryland; the Kennedys, Maryland; the Kings of Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania; Lassiter, Virginia; Law, Indiana; Lee, Virginia; Mudd, Maryland; Mercer, Virginia; Meriwether, Virginia and Georgia; Merrick, Mary- land; Miller, Pennsylvania, California, Washington; Moore, Va; Morgan, New York; Morris, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania; Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania; Murray, New York and Pennsylvania; Mulkey, Oregon; Mutchler, Pennsylvania; Olin, Vermont; Otero, New Mexico, and Otis, Massachusetts. Miscellaneous North American Republics BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Every sovereign State in the American Union is, in a technical sense, a republic, but citizens of the United States have come to think of themselves s belong- ing only to the Federal republic except when States’ rights become predominant or when treaties are made between SepA- rate Btates. The history of the country, however, shows that there have been several republics on what now is United States territory which were not a part of our present political entity. One of the most interesting of thess was the Republic of Florida. No State in the present Union has a more fasci- nating history. Florida can claim a re- markable distinction in that it was the one territory not sought in search of gold. The purpose of the expedition, headed by Ponce de Leon in 1512-13, was to dis- cover what elderly men declare is more precious than gold—youth. Rumor that the fabulous Isle of Bimini contained a fountaln, the waters of which held prop- erties of rejuvenation, had reached the Spaniards, seitled in the West Indies, Without thought of the glitter of gold, the expedition sought the more ephemeral treasure. %% % De Leon landed on the Florida coast and thought he had found Bimini. Fln- rida Chambers of Commerce and hotel hosts to this day assert that the Foun- tain of Youth is in Florida, but the Spaniard found only fountains of death, for the Indians proved not only hostils but remarkably capable of displaving their hostility with deadly effect. The long history of Florida was made up of violence. When, under the patronage nf the great Admiral Coligny, a Huguenot expedition attempted a settlement, Span- fards came in and massacred them, not, as they asserted, because they were French, but because they were heretics, Then a French force appeared which mass ed the Spaniards not, as the: declared, because they were Spaniards, but because they were murderers and had other faults. ‘The history is so tangled that we find Florida to have been under seven flags, those of Spain, France, England, Mexico, the Republic of Florida, the United States and the Confederacy. All that intricate tale cannot be traced here. The republic was set up under curious auspices. When the Jefferson embargo of 1807 went intn effect, efforts were made to smugzle American goods out past the embargn The result was that foreign ports near the United States were crowded with shipping. Fernandina was the neares: foreign port, and it became headquar- ters for smuggling and also for British espionage. Pierre Lafitte had headquar- ters there. * o ok With the War of 1812 in the offing, President Madison, in 1811, sent confiden- tial agents to Fernandina. They roused American sympathizers and. with the support of United States gunboats. these rebels seized Fernandina and proclaimed the Republic of Florida. The republic did not last long. Spain made vociferous protests. A period of anarchy followed and there were battles, notably the Battle of Amelia. The pirate, Louis Aury, cams along and claimed Florida for Mexico. At length, in 1819, the matter was settled by the sale by Spain to the United States of the whole peninsula for $5,000,000. o oxox The Republic or Free State of Frank- lin furnishes another interesting exam- ple of American political vicissitudes. North Carolina claimed all the territory west of the present State, and there were some 10,000 settlers in that western re- gion which now is Tennessee and parts of adjoining States. North Carolina would provide them with no facilities of civili- zation, such as courts, and no protection against the hostile Indians. This state of affairs prompted the frontier citizens to call a meeting at Jonesboro, at which it was proposed to secede from North Carolina. That State became alarmed and proceeded forth- with to establish a court system for the westerners and took other desired steps It was too late—the revolt had gained momentum and had become an accom- plished fact. * ook ¥ There is much in the history of the Free State of Franklin, as these rebels called their government, which smacks of Gilbert and Sullivan. The people drew up & constitution and established courts of their own. The North Carolina militia raided the court, which had been estab- lished at Jonesboro, seized all the papers and turned the judge and counsel out of doors. Whereupon a mob of Franklinites moved over the border and copied the act, with the exception that the stage was a North Carolina court house, judge and counsel. John Sevier, who is a sort of stor: book figure of those frontier days. became President of the Free State of Franklin There was a Congress and the various| other appurtenances of state. Minister: were appointed to foreign countries, in- cluding the United States. The Presi dent's salary was paid in furs, there being| practically no money in the Free State It is stated that other public servants were paid small salaries in powder. A powder horn was more important than a purse in those days in that part of] the world. The bickering and fighting with North Carolina continued and finally John) Sevier was captured by the North Caro- lina troops and haled away to Morgan-| town to stand trial for h treason While the trial was in p: gom friends of Sevier’'s came into the court] house and made a disturbance, undey cover of which President Sevier escaped The people of North Carolina must hav come to the conclusion that John Seviel] was too much for them in the capacity o adversary, so—in true Gilbert and 8ulli-| van style—they dropped the charge off treason and elected him, instead, United States Senator for North Carolina, whici incident ended the history of the Repub lic of Franklin. Later John Sevier be came Governor of Tennessee, the Stat which had been erected in the sam region. Kk ok X & The story of the Republic of Texa makes another chapter in the book o republics, but is so well known that i needs no rehearsing here. Less wel known is the tale of the Republic o Lower California. William Walker, a 8an Francisco news paper man, slipped out of S8an Francisco without clearance, in & schooner manne: with hardy adventurers. They sailed t La Paz near the end of the peninsula o the gulf side and took the place. It wa: of course, Mexican territory. Walke: proclaimed it a republic and had him self elected President. The electoratd consisted of his handful of follower: They proceeded to reduce the country but then overreached themselves. Walk er quite probably could have held out i he had stuck to the peninsul but h invaded the mainland. That firritate Mexico and its srmy was sent aftei Walker. He and his band took refuge i an old mission. When their cartridge ran out they made cartridges, using th leaves of the mission Bibles. This sacri lege was blamed for their downfall whic! speedily followed. Walker was sent bac! to the United States, but managed escspe punishment. Later the gained fame as Nicaragua Walker.