Evening Star Newspaper, October 29, 1937, Page 10

THE EVENING STAR, ASHINGTON; D. C, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1937. A—10 ! THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition THEODORE W. NOYES, Editor WASHINGTON, D. C. October 29, 1937 The Evening Star Newspaper Company Main Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St Chicago Office: 435 North Michigan Ave. Delivered by Carrier—City and Suburban Regular Edition Evening and Sunday, 656¢ per mo, or 15¢ per weex Tho Evening Star.. 45¢ per mo. or 10 per week The Bunday Star. B¢ per copy Nisht Final Edition Night Pinal and Sunday Star-_..70c per month Night Final Star-. 55 per month ollection made at the end of each month or each week. Orders may be sent by mail or tele- phone National 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance Maryland and Virginia Dally and Sunday. yr.. $10.00; 1 mo., All Other States and Canada Daily and Sunday- 1 yr. $12.00; 1 mo. $1.00 $5.00; 1_mo. - Member of the Associated Press The Associated Press is exclusively entitied to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to 1t or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published nerein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein also are reserved. Not an Exact Science. Regulating the stock market, so as to prevent sudden leaps and dips, is still an unattained objective of the present administration. The powers that be— in Washington—have pointed with pride to the 8. E. C,, the Securities Exchange Commission. This commission was set up to regulate the issue of securities and the operation of the stock exchange. It has been established for several years. The recent gyrations of the stock ex- change, however, are rather conclusive evidence that the S. E. C. is anything but & panacea. The bottom dropped out of the market with shocking suddenness and the drop was quite as injurious to investors and to business as have been other drops in the days before the New Deal took command. Indeed, the S. E. C. and its regulations have been charged—and in expert quar- ters—with causing a good bit of the trouble on the exchange of causing a “thin” market by its regulations. Prob- ably the recent plunge of the stock mar- ket was due to a combination of causes, with the 8. E. C. regulations only one of them. A growing recession of busi- ness, the uncertainty of private enter- prise as to the program of the Gov- ernment, the fear of increased taxes and increased regulation, not to mention the failure to balance the Federal budget, all contributed to the disturbance on the stock market. Now that the damage, or most of it, has been done, the S. E. C. comes for- ward with a modification of the margin rule for buyers on the exchange, cutting the percentage from 55 to 40, and estab- lishing a 50 per cent margin for short sales. In New York the new move has been hailed with enthusiasm, in the hope that it will bolster up a faltering market. The fact that the administra- tion has been inclined at last to listen to some of the criticisms of business men may be a hopeful sign. While the S. E. C. has provided margin regulation for the buyers, it has not hitherto attempted to fix a margin for short sales, leaving that to the exchange governing board. The margin for short sales was 10 per cent. To the layman, such a margin looks almost like an invitation to sell the mar- ket short. How much a wave of short selling had to do with the recent col- lapse of stock prices has not yet been determined. It does appear, however, that there is considerable justification for the 8. E. C.’s present demand for a 50 per cent margin on short sales. The administration has been warned again and again that attempts to regu- late business rigidly, to place the Gov- ernment in competition with private business, plus an ever-increasing public debt, would halt recovery. If recovery is halted, the administration will have & good deal of explaining to do. It can- not go back to the days of the Hoover regime for the causes of a new depres- sion. Stock market crashes today will be charged to those who are now in power. In the meantime, governmental regulation of the stock market is not yet an exact science. America always welcomes a new musi- eal season, with consistent appreciation of tonal finesse and no endeavor to give it a significance in national patriotic thought. oot Among those bombed in Asia were a few sight-seers. Sincere grief restrains the flippant expression which might arise when the innocent bystander in- sists on getting in the way. —ee. Policemen are encouraged to work early in getting to terms of dignified understanding with the small boy. The good policeman is the one who has naturally the ability to be a good friend. Foreign Minister Koht. Washington is privileged to welcome s distinguished Scandinavian statesman in the person of Dr. Haldvan Koht, foreign minister of Norway, who has ocome to the United States to deliver a series of lectures at Harvard and Co- lumbia. In addition to being the lead- ing Norwegian historian and a biograph- er of note, Dr. Koht is an active Socialist and potent figure in the Oslo govern- ment, which his party now dominates. While tarrying in the Capital, the foreign minister is embracing the op- portunity to initiate preliminary dis- cussions with Secretary Hull, looking to negotiation of a reciprocal trade agree- ment. Commercial relations between Norway and the United States lend themselves ideally to reciprocity. Thelr trade is nearly in balance. The Nor- wegians sold us last year about $20,000,- 000 worth of goods and bought from us some $22,750,000 worth. They take our eotton, tobaceo, hickory, oak, apples and sutomobiles, and we take their famous sardines, cod liver oll, nitrate mixtures and wood pulp. Dr, Koht's liberal government has been so conspicuous in the works of European conciliation and in the realms of both political and economic peace that the name of its capital city, Oslo, has come to symbolize the group of northern countries, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and the lowland nations of Holland and Belgium—democracies all—which in and out of the League of Nations form a sturdy bulwark against the growing encroachments of dicta- torial rule, in whatever “ism” guise it raises its reactionary head. Men of the Norwegian statesman's Viking blood have played, and still play, a yeoman role in the history and affairs of our country. The American people are proud to extend the cordial hand of greeting to this cultured scion of the land of Ibsen, Bjornson, Nansen and Amundsen, and to recognize that their country, though small in size, is today playing a great and influential part in the laborious cause of peace and inter- national understanding. +atn— Nazis’ Place in the Sun. Hitler now has his “receipt,” as the Teutonic idiom has it, for the glamor- ous welcome extended to Mussolini in Berlin and Berchtesgaden last month. Yesterday, as the seven hills of Rome reverberated with the pomp and bom- bast of Fascism's fifteenth anniversary, Il Duce digressed in his paean of self- glorification to say something designed to warm the heart of the brother dic- tator in Germany. That country, Mussolini thundered before 100,000 Black Shirts assembled to do him honor and obeisance, must be restored to its “place in the African sun.” Certain clauses of the World War treaties need to be revised, he de- clared, because “it is necessary that a great people, the German people, have once more that colonial position to which they are entitled and which they once possessed.” The Tiberian auto- crat intimated that Italy, having cre- ated “her empire” with her own blood and resources “without touching a sin- gle corner of the empires of others” (page Emperor Haile Selassie!), is colo- nially appeased. It is now another un- satisfied Fascist community, the Reich, for which I1 Duce’s heart bleeds in com- passion and “helpfulness. Whether this touching assurance of Italian support will now impel Germany to launch a formal drive for her former colonies will doubtless soon manifest itself. Hitler, at successive Nurembergs and on other occasions, has voiced such a demand with varying vociferation. How genuine that clamor is open to question. Little less questionable is the validity of the stock argument that the Reich needs “a place in the sun” as an outlet for surplus population and a source of raw materials. In 1913, after nearly thirty years of colonial owner- ship, there were fewer than 25,000 whites in all the 950,000 square miles of Ger- man colonies, and this figure included officials, soldiers, police, missionaries, and even the Japanese in German New Guinea. Claims that colonies are indispensable because of rawstufl needs are almost as specious. Considering the vast subsidies which the pre-war Reich squandered on administration of her overseas posses- sions, it would pay the Nazis hand- somely to buy cotton, copper and pe- troleum fyom “have” countries eager to provide such commodities as long as Germany and other “have nots” possess the wherewithal. Aeons before the Hitler dispensation, German critics of the Bismarckian “show-window” policy of acquiring colonies pilloried them as “graveyards for subsidies.” In “Mein Kampf,” the Nazi Koran, Der Fuehrer discusses with disarming candor the Reich’s “wrong continental policy before the war.” He deplores the fact that instead of “a sound European territorial policy,” Germany resorted to “colonial and trade policy.” The right thing, even then, he adds, “would have _been the strengthening of continental power through the acquisition of terri- tory in Europe. Exactly thereby later expansion in the form of colonial areas would have appeared in the course of natural possibilities.” Hitler concedes that such a policy would have been feas- ible only ‘in “alliance with England” or at the cost of prodigious military effort. Here seems telltale corroboration of reports long current in Europe and America that Hitler’s colonial demands are sheer bluff; that his purpose is to blackmail Britain and France, not into surrendering the ex-German colonies now held by them under League man- date, but into acceding to the Reich’s real program of expansion at the ex- pense of Austria, Czechosloyakia and the Russian Ukraine. ————————————— Question as to the morrow is still being asked by the motion picture stars with a confident assurance that the answers will continue to be registered with crit- ical confidence at the cashier’s window. The financial future is still being written in a variety of terms. A Chinese “Lost Battalion.” If there could be any valid proof that the conflict now raging at S8hanghai is not actually a “war”—because it has not been so declared by either of the con- testants—it might be adduced from s situation that has just developed in Chapei, the northern suburb of the city. There a battalion of Chinese troops has been marooned in a warehouse, holding that position heroically to stem the Japanese tide. Their situation is vir- tually hopeless. They have, it would seem, dedicated themselves to death for the sake of their comrades who are seek~ ing to maintain a position farther re- moved. 8o close are these Chinese forces to the International Settlement that the action can be readily observed by the foreigners. According to one dispatch from Shanghal ‘the spectacle of this seemingly hopeless defense has drawn g great numbers of spectators. The dis- patch runs: Thousands of foreigners during the day flocked to the south bank of the creek west of Thibet road to catch a glimpse of the “suicide” battalion. Some carried biscuits, cakes, oranges and other food supplies, which the donors hoped to smuggle across the creek to the ma- rooned Chinese. By early afternoon the motor cavalcade had assumed such pro- portions that the police had to clear the vlh;!l: neighborhood s0 as not to impede traffic. Maybe, after all, this is only “shadow fighting” that is going on in China. Perhaps it is just a large-scale motion= picture production. Casualties? Of course, there are some, perhaps many. Presumably the whole battalion will be wiped out of existence. But, meanwhile, the public will have had its thrill, whether the supplies tendered get to their objectives or not. Japanese au- thorities may cite this interesting inci- dent as proof that there is really no war going on in China. e — A dozen or so of men may be led to execution without understanding what situation the demonstration may be ex- pected to influence. Even science is baffled by the efforts to show a reason for the death rate either by disease or by direct killing. In the meantime, journalism can tell the truth, shocking as it may be, and plead for simple jus- tice in the relations of mankind. —_————————— It is unfortunate that the Japanese method of communicating & conclusion should so frequently adopt a decisive manner that would seem conclusive if there were not so many things to be considered. Many persons are inclined to question the correctness of the late Mr. Kipling in analyzing the relations of East and West. ——r—e—————— The young gentleman to whom Presi- dent Roosevelt will turn for information as to secretarial details will be an agree- able factor in his plans and purposes, although it may be necessary for youth to demonstrate awareness of some things concerning which maturity has not been able to inform itself. ————————— Colleges have in various instances ar- ranged strange dances, but they do not have quite the interest of those which relate directly to the social develop- ment of a primitive race. The stories to be told in rhythm still relate with in- terest to the daily life of a people. —r———————— The wise Mr. Einstein is visited by a son who is described as having advanced ideas and excellent moral principles. Inquiry is likely to suggest itself as to why the young gentleman should not be given a Government job. ——————— Japanese flyers so frequently do dam- age that they did not anticipate that they may be expected to make a practi- cal study of targets and directions be- fore permitting explosive events to take their course. ———————————— It becomes more and more evident that while sensational reports must be studiously considered, it is not possible to give them practical status in running a navy. 1t was a matter of personal choice that led Secretary Ickes to make his home in nearby Maryland. He cannot miss becoming aware of problems that must be listed as public responsibilities. e Hawall reveals new romances, but must leave them to study for their native poetry and not to examination as indications of a political destiny. Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Golf, A man found loneliness complete When to the links he came. He sighed, “What sorrow here I meet! 1 do not know the game! “The sky is blue, the grass is green, The squirrels there seem tame. I may not wander through the scene. I cannot play the game, “Oh, learn your golf, my son, as you Your scheme of living frame. For disappointment you are due Unless you play the game.,” 3 Reticence. *Why don’t you get out and talk to your constituents?” “What's the use?” rejoined Senator Sorghum. “Every time I use the radio I'm afraid I have made myself unpopu- lar by interrupting some dance pro- Jud Tunkins says a “quitter” is usually & man who never honestly began. Effectual Regulations. This earth keeps going night and morn, And we in safety ride. It needs no lights or horn to warn Strange worlds that might collide. The law of gravitation stops The threat of bad or worse. We do.not need the traffic cops To run the universe, Disguises. “It is becoming difficult to know your friends.” “There should be some way,” answered Miss Cayenne, “to prevent a woman from changing Ler make-up.” “He who loves the sound of his own voice,” said Hi Ho, the sage of China- town, “is often s musician, but seldom & thinker.” Privacy Impossible. ‘The oyster is a gentle brute. Bequestered life his taste would suit. We drag him out in socisl pride, On exhibition, stewed or fried. “Trouble,” said Uncle Eben, "i§ 80 easy to make dat it never brings s profit to nobody.” A 2 K BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. The proposal for a Republican Na- tional Convention or conference next year is marching on. Some of those who have been inclined to oppose the national gathering idea have reached the conclu- sion it is going to happen. Herbert Hoover’s address in Boston, nationally broadcast, helped to clear the atmos- phere and to make it clear he is not seeking a personally conducted conven- tion for his own particular interest. Former Gov. Alf M. Landon, in Topeka, soft-pedaled opposition to the conven- tion idea, though he stuck to his demands that the delegates be chosen to represent the rank and file of Repub- lican voters and all groups. * x x ¥ Holdouts from the national convention idea among the Republicans in Congress are beginning to pipe down—not all of them—but some of them. The predic- tion that many of the Republicans in House and Senate will give the confer- ence plan their support eventually seems sound enough. The Republican National Committee will pass on the proposed plan officially at a meeting in Chicago a week from today. Reports are to the effect that the committee will approve. Former President Hoover told the country on Tuesday that he did not want any public office. That should lay the ghost of the story of his ambition for the presidential nomination in 1940. Probably it will not in some quarters. And, indeed, Mr. Hoover has enthusiastic friends who may yet endeavor to push him forward as the Republican standard bearer. Mr. Hoover may turn a cold shoulder, just as Calvin Coolidge did when the late Senator Fess of Ohio and others sought to boost him for President after he had issued his “I do not choose to run” statement. For the present, he seems to have done all he can in reason and good taste. Any man who steps out and says “I will not take a presidential nomination under any circumstances,” when it has not been offered to him, is presuming a lot, any way you look at it. " x ¥ x More and more Senator Arthur Van- denberg of Michigan has come to be looked upon as a principal spokesman of the Republican party in Congress. This is due not to any official position he holds in the party organization, but to the fact he is able and willing to speak. He is not the Republican leader of the Senate—an office held by Senator McNary of Oregon. He is not chairman of the Republican Senatorial Commit- tee. He is just Vandenberg. But the Michigan Senator has been a thorn in the New Deal side on many occasions in the last year. He has come forward, moreover, wWith concrete legislative pro- posals which made some of the New Deal laws and methods look quite sick. And he has lifted his voice again; this time at a meeting in his home city, Grand Rapids. His speech came a few days after those delivered by Landon and Hoover. * ¥ ¥ % The Vandenberg speech undertook to tell just why American business is fal- tering now under the New Deal admin- istration, and why jobs are not plentiful enough to give employment to all. Predi- cating his remarks on “the creation of unlimited central power which follows no consistent pattern,” the Michigan Senator said that American business has “vertigo on a merry-go-round that never stops.” It does not know the value of money because the President can change the value of the dollar at any time; it cannot anticipate a reasonably reliable price range because the President can manipulate the price index through his inflationary control of money; it does not know at what moment the Government will enter into destructive commercial competition against it because the Presi- dent may himself, alone, wipe out the protection if he sees fit; it does not know whether to expect peace or war because the President himself, alone, is handling that; it cannot know whether there is to be labor war or labor peace “because an inconclusive, unilateral Wagner Act fails to create a mutually reliable pros- pectus”; it is at the mercy of a thousand big and little bureaucrats “who strut their pompous stuff,” and “it cannot escape the darkening menace of an ever- unbalanced Federal budget, which threatens every value in the land.” * ok k *x “Only “specific and direct profit shar- ing” can be the ultimate relationship between capital and labor,” Vandenberg insisted. He continued: “We talk of ‘partnership’ between capital and labor, but there is no ‘partnership’ worthy the name which stops at the moment when the final profits from a mutual under- taking are to be divided—the final profits after both labor and capital have been adequately pdid.” Socialism or collectivism, hee said, would approach such a problem by pass- ing laws which would assume to dictate & uniform profit-sharing rule to all industry. This, he insisted, would not work because of the impossibility of finda ing a standard formula that would work for all industry. Vandenberg’s solution would be the enactment of a tax law under which tax exemptions and tax rewards would be offered for whatever portion of an annual profit any employer voluntarily and in his own way “may dedicate to profit sharing with his employes.” “Today we have punitive taxation,” he said. “I venture the prediction that the exact opposite—incentive taxation— will one day make a vast contribution to the economic stability and happiness of the United States.” PEER Senator Vandenberg is a foremost apostle of the “coalition” idea to fight the Roosevelt New Deal. He has on several occasions in the past ad- vanced the proposal that the Republic- ans and anti-New Deal Democrats get to- gether. In his most recent speech he said, “I am prepared to support any party— old, fused or new—which gives depend- able promise of a brave program to save America, to serve the common welfare of our whole people, and to give prosper- ity a chance.” He said that the court fight, won in the Senate, which pre- served the constitutional form of Govern- ment, was not a “partisan” fight on the part of the President’s opponents. It was the kind of a fight that must be repeated again and again. * x % X Well, the session of Congress that is to open November 15 will give plenty of opportunity for “coalition” action be- tween Republicans and anti-New Deal Democrats. There are plenty of Demo- cratic members of the House and Senate who do not believe in the President’s program, with its wages-and-hours bill and a Federal commission to make it work, and its crop-control measure, and with its seven T. V. As. There are plenty of Democrats who are wondering how much more of a burden of taxation and higher prices the people can stand. It is clear that the crop-control bill is going to bring more and new taxes and higher prices for foodstuffs. It is clear that business will feel the added burden of the cost of production when the wages-and-hours bill becomes law. And it is equally clear that if half a dozen more T. V. As are set up, the public utilities—s great industry in this coun- } The culprit was discovered. ‘The real reason the neighborhood had few birds was plain at last. It wasn’t building going on, or cats, but a great owl. As long as this creature is around, there will be few song birds, for they know their enemies better than their human friends do. Mrs. Hyte, bantam hen, nearly lost her life, but she put the owl on record for the scoundrel he is in the bird world. A nice meal of chicken he thought her, but Mrs. Hyte, alded by her friends, managed to outwit him for'the time being. LI No doubt the hen thought she was safe roosting beneath the porch. Thought, that is, if hens can be said to think at all. Some observers would deny them any brains, but others will feel sure they do have enough to come in out of the rain. It was a clear, frosty night, that she selected the roost beneath the porch, closed in on three sides by a lattice. A mere human observer would think she took thought about it, to make sure that an enemy could come at her from one side only. . Her mate, Mr. Hyte himself, had chosen an apple tree in the yard. * ok k% Mrs. Hyte was dozing nicely. It was about 1:30 am. There was silence everywhere, except for the bark of a dog in the distance. But the owl was on the prowl. Few persons had seen him, but the birds which usually congregate in the neighborhood knew he was around. You cannot fool a bird. Often when several hundred of them are patronizing a feeding station, they suddenly will vanish in a few seconds, every single last bird. The bird friend, looking around, at last will discover some small species of hawk in a nearby tree. The birds always see him first, and lose no time in leaving the vicinity. Often it is an hour or more before they will return, ok X X It is probable that the owl does not live in the neighborhood, but visits it at night. No doubt the smell of chicken was overpowering to him. . Once before, but that time after day- light, he had chased Mr. and Mrs. Hyte (as related here several months ago). But that time he saw Tigey, the cat, and was scared away. The chickens saw him, however, and lost no time in making for home as rapidly as they could. More than a month had gone by. No one had seen the owl, in fact, most had forgotten about him. * x * x All species of wild birds, however, knew about him—knew so0 well that they refused to come, even when the best seeds were placed out for them. This was something unusual, worried all friends of birds. and THIS AND THAT , BY CHARLES B. TRACEWELL. Building operations were going on, but the gardens were protected. As many as 300 birds in past seasons had feasted all day long in one yard where four feeding stations were in operation, and this despite one tiger cat which pructicaliy lived on the back porch. This cat liked to watch the songsters, but never made a move toward them, during one entire winter. He sat with paws folded under him, interested in the fiyers, but never mak- ing any “passes” at them. * X ¥ % . The worst enemies of birds are men, hawks and owls. Rifles and their dangerous cousin, the air gun, scare away birds from any neighbood. The observer always should suspect & hawk, if birds which have been feeding peacefully suddenly desert a station. If the songsters do not come to a neighborhood at all, where previously they have been plentiful, the observer should suspect an owl. * ok ¥ X Mrs. Hyte was sleeping peacefully, when suddenly she felt the presence of a shadow. ‘The shadow came closer— * It pounced— The hen let out a terrific scream, almost as if a fox had seized her. Next to a fox, an owl is the most frightening to a chicken. Feathers began to fly, and so did Mrs. Hyte, but she could not get away, for the lattice barred her. She flew first one way, then another, but never managed to hit the exist, which was just as well, for in the open the great owl would have seized her and flown away with her. A flashlight which suddenly {llumi- nated the scene showed the creature to have a wing spread of at least three feet, * ¥ * X The light and shouts of humans were more reassliring to Mrs. Hyte than to the intruder, for he was away almost in- stantly, quick enough to elude the stick thrown at him. There was a wild sweep of wings, and the marauder was gone, beating the air with powerful pinions. This wild invasion in the night showed what birds and even fowls must face in nature. This owl had his eyes on Mr. and Mrs. Hyte for considerably more than a month. Probably he had managed to keep an eye on them all that time, bidirg his time until he found them separated. Had Mr. Hyte been present, no doubnt his strong wings might have put fear into the invader’s heart. Hyte's spe- cialty is flopping those wings with mighty beats, bringing consternation to his enemies. The crafty owl waited its time, then attacked the hen, although the rooster was easier to get at. “A nice chicken dinner,” said the owl, blinking his great eyes, “would not be bad at all” It .failed, however, and went back to tts roost in Rock Creek Park, but no doubt still has those big eves open wide. In the meantime, there are few birds. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Certain New Dealers, especially those whose interests, past, present or future, happen to be concerned with develop- ments in Wall Street, are skeptical over the results, marketwise, of Federal Re- serve action in reducing margin require- ments. A shining light in the adminis- tration inner circle subscribes to the view that the effect will be temporary. He's persuaded that only the “fundamentals” in the situation count and will ultimately determine whether the slump is to be short-lived or not. Pressed for elucida- tion of what these “fundamentals” are, the authority in question opines that “to answer that one would be a long story.” He concedes the immediate milk in the coconut is probably what happens in Congress during the special session, and after. The impression conveyed is that until high finance, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Average Man, including the rank and file of the business world, are wiser as to what the future holds respecting such things as the budget, taxation, farm legislation, and wages and hours, un- certainty will keep the securities mar- ket on the anxious seat, though perhaps not in the state of jitters to which it has succumbed in recent weeks. * x X x Ii will soon be exactly 30 years ago that Theodore Roosevelt made history by sending the United States Fleet around the world for the purpose of giving Japan an object lesson, at the time of the California immigration, school and land law excitement. The fleet left Hampton Roads on Decem- ber 16, 1907, anchored at Yokohama from October 17 to 25, 1908, and returned to home waters on February 22, 1909. William Hard, Washington political ob- server, now & member of the Republican National Committee high command, once asked T. R. what the latter con- sidered to be the most important act of his entire public career. Unhesitat- ingly, Roosevelt replied: “Sending Bob Evans and the fleet to the Far East!” ‘The former President went on to explain that the showing of our flag in force on the other side of the globe had in his opinion produced respect for America’s potency as & world power at & moment when the demonstration undoubtedly served the cause of pesg. President Roosevelt was always profoundly im- pressed by the writings of Admiral Al- fred T. Mahan, U. 8. N,, author of “The Influence of Sea Power Upon History.” Both during his presidency and after, T. R. was in intimate contact with Mahan, and, with respect to foreign policy, as affected by navies, is believed to have been guided largely by the teachings of that renowned sailor- statesman. L Secretary Wallace was asked one day this week by a brother New Dealer of rank “how long it would be before a man could afford to invite a fellow to eat a beefsteak.” The Department of Agriculture chief is evidently an opti- mist, for he replied: “It won't be lang now!” It seems that the 1937 bumper corn crop should enable cattle raisers to fatten up stock for slaughter at rela- tively moderate cost, and sell it to the packers at correspondingly low figures. Whether the middle men who, rather than the farmers, in Wallace’s judg- ment, are getting the choicest cuts from fancy meat prices, will permit these to recede to normalcy, is & matter on which the Iowan would rather write history than prophecy. * %k X % Rank and file of organized Ilabor, whether partial t0 C.1.O.or A. F.of L., are reliably reported to wish “a plague on both your houses,” Lewis-Green foud is concerned. During try—will have a worse case of litters than it now has. Already expansion of public utilities has been reduced 2 minimum because the business is afraid of what the Government, is to do in the way of direct competition. to af golng this week’s abortive Washlagton peace conference, rival leaders heard, pre- sumably to their dismay, that the men and women who pay the brass hats’ salaries in the form of union dues are sick and tired of the politics and hair- pulling which keep labor a house divided against itself. The impression prevails that certain highly placed nabobs in the movement—both wings of it—are more interested in preserving their jobs, power and prestige than in lighting the pipes of peace. An authority whose business it is to keep impartial tab risks the view that if the whole scrap could be left to the boys in overalls, who carry din- ner pails and live on pay envelopes, the vendetta could be ended in 24 hours. * x % x Although word drifts down from Man- hattan Island that inside betting odds are 7 to 1 on La Guardia’s re-election and even money that he will have as good as 300,000 majority, plenty of Wash- ington New Dealers are convinced that Mahoney is going to win. Their con- fidence apparently springs from Far- ley’s support of the Democratic can- didate. Sunny Jim isn’t accustomed to back the wrong horse, although he did so during the preceding three-cornered New York mayoralty race. This time, with a straight-out, single Democrat in the field, the Postmaster General, a regular of regulars, would be wholly out of character except as a supporter of the party nominee. Tammany's real- ization that one more siege in the wilder- ness would almost doom the Tiger to extinction, plus New York's normally gigantic Democratic vote, heartens mem- bers of the President’s party to believe that, New Dealer though he be, La Guardia is on the way out. * ok ¥ ox Telling figures redolent of recovery brighten the annual national automobile show in Gotham this week. According to the American Petroleum Industries Committee, every third family of the 30,000,000 families in the United States will have purchased an automobile, new or used, during 1937. Sales of new cars are expected to reach about 4.300,000, while used sales, which for 10 years have greatly exceeded those of new ma- chines, are expected to top 7,000,000, totaling approximately 11,500,000 trans- actions for the ye: & gain of about 1,000,000 sales over 1936. To bring American highways up to the require- ments of current traffic, over 22,000 miles of modern roads were completed with Federal money during the latest fiscal year. The total is somewhat higher than the 1934 peak and considerably above 1936. Uncle Sam spent $337,000,000 on highway building in 1936-7. * ok K K Impending arrival of the remains of “Ted” Marriner, American Consul Gen- eral in Syria, recently murdered at his post, recalls that one of the earliest United States foreign servite officers to die under heroic or tragic circumstances was Joel Barlow of Connecticut, ap- pointed Minister to France in 1811. In- vited by Napoleon, then in the midst of his Russian campaign, to meet him at Wilna to discuss *a proposed Franco- American tréaty, Barlow arrived there to find the French army in reireat from Moscow. Becoming involved in that chaotic movement, the Minister died of cold and privation on December 26, 1812, at Zarnowice. * k * % “My Son Jimmie” Roosevelt is a chip of the old block as a collector. Instead of going in for stamps, like Papa, F. D. R.’s son has chosen manuscripts for his hobby, and Woodrow Wilson letters and documents as a specialty. (Copyrisht, 1987.) — Hilarious Hats. Prom n Hawkeye Gazstte. Anm ‘1;;211-':1!& when we thought the “Empress Eugenie hats” were the last word {n comic headgear. { y ~ 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. What is the oldest form of college sport?—M. 8. A. Rowing was the first of the organ- 1zed college sports. Q. In the expression, pidgin English, what does pidgin mean?—C. D. A. It is a Chinese corruption of the word; business. Thus it means business English, and is a combination of Englis| words and corrupted Chinese, Portu: guese, Malay, and other terms, arranged according to Chinese idiom. It is much used in Chinese ports between foreigners and Chinese traders and servants, Q. Must tourists register at tourist camps?—P. W. A. Generally speaking, tourists are not required to register at tourist camps. Only a few States have passed laws making registration necessary. 4 Q. What is the minimum wage per day for common labor in the Ford plant? —C. K. A. The minimum wage is $6.50 a day. Q. Please give the imports and exports of the United States in dollars for. the past five years; also state what per cent of cargoes was carried in American ships—J. M. A. In 1932 the imports amounted to $1,323,000,000; exports, $1,611,000,000; 1933, imports, $1,450,000,000; exports, $1, 675,000,000. 1934, imports, $1,636,000,000 exports, $2,133,000,000; 1935, imports, $2.- ports, $2,283.000,000; 1936, imports, $2, 000,000, exports, $2455,~ 000,000. In 1932 the percentage of im= ports carried in American bottoms, 37; exports, 344; 1933, imports, 358, ex= 1934, imports, 36.5; exports, 35.8; 1935, imports, 35.8; exports, 35.8. Because of inadequate appropriation the percentage figures on the trade carried in American bottoms has not been ex=- tended beyond 1¢ Q. Who invented the diorama?—E. J. A. It was the joint invention of Lo Daguerre and Bouton. Q. What law permits the Government of the United States to withhold and conceal the existence of treaties be- tween itself and foreign powers from its citizens during the time of peace? —J. H. M. A. The United States cannot have secret treaties with other countries, Q. Why is the genus of plants to which mountain laurel belongs called Kalmia? —J. W. A. Tt is named for Peter Kalm, Swedish scientist, who traveled in America and described many of the native plants. Q. When was the Almanach de Gotha first published?—T. T. A. It first appeared in 1763. Q. What are the freezing and boiling points of mercury?—T. C. A. Tts freezing point is —37.96 degrees F., and its boiling point, 675 degrees F. Q. Can a Senator serve on more than * one Senate committee?—G. N. A. He may and usually does serve on several. It is not customary, however, for a Senator to serve as chairman of more than one Senate committee. Q. Please give the story of Theodosia Burr—H. W. R. A. Theodosia Burr was the beautiful and accomplished daughter of Aaron Burr. Educated under her father's strict and competent tutelage, she became, after her mother’s death, the admired social mistress of the Burr home at Richmond Hill. In 1801 she married Joseph Alston, a prominent South Caro- linian. She made frequent visits to her father's home in the North, and after his duel with Hamilton stood loyally by him. She smoothed the way for his return from exile in Europe, but the ship on which she sailed from Charles- ton to meet him was never again heard from. 4 Q. What are the colors of the garments in the picture, “Christ in Gethsemane,” by Hofmann?—W. G. A. The under robe worn by Christ is a deep shade of cream or light tan, the over garment a deep shade of greenish blue. The sky is very dark with one bit of light bursting through almost directly in line with Christ’s gaze. The top of the rock on which Christ leans is grav, and there is a gray shadow on the ground around Christ’s garment. Q. I have seen the list of the besf, plays of 1936-37 in your column. Plemg give 'the best plays of 1935-36.—E. G. A. Burns Mantle’s selection of the best plays of 1935-36 is as follows: “Winter- set,” “Idiot’s Delight,” “First Lady,” * of Summer,” “Victoria Regina,” a Day,” “Boy Meets Girl,” “Dead End,” “Ethan Frome” and “Pride and Preju- dice.” Parliamentary Law Simplified. This is a compilation of the establishe€ rules of order that govern the proceed- ings of all deliberate bodies. It is in the most practical, simplified form, briefed for ready reference, and clarified so that the average person will not get lost in ,a maze of technicalities. It details the correct way to form a temporary organization, and carry it on to a per- manent organization, gives model con- stitution, by-laws, and set of minutes, explains the duties of officers, and con- cludes with a glossary of parliamentary/ terms. A copy of the booklet, PARLIA- MENTARY LAW, will be mailed to any address for ten cents. Order your copy today. ' Use This Order Blank The Washington Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, ‘Washington, D. C. I inclose herewith TEN CENTS in coin (carefully wrapped) for a copy of the booklet on PARLIAMENTARY Street or Rural Route, State. (Please order by mail only.) ' «