The Indianapolis times. [volume], January 16, 1930, Home Edition, Page PAGE 4, Image 4

About The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965

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PAGE 4
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The Parrot Disease
The press announces that the “parrot disease” is
spreading to America. This malady is a subtle and
mysterious fever which may be contracted from these
birds by human beings. Two persons are believed to
have died from it and about a dozen are reported to
be suffering from the disorder.
We well may hope that American medical science
will be able to cope with the parrot fever and check
the spread of contagion. But we doubt if the worst
possible ravages of parrot fever could prove as dis
astrous to us as the intellectual mortality produced
by another form of parrot disease which afflicts well
nigh the whole of humanity.
The real parrot disease is the tendency of mankind
to follow the parrot in imitating and repeating phrases
and dogmas, with little or no comprehension of their
meaning or significance. This type of parrot disease
produces the phrase-mill which gives us everything
from the prosperity rhetoric of Mr. Hoover to the
comrade talk of the Bolshevik. It is our great
modem substitute for hard-thinking and patient
The Karol yl fiasco in its whole history affords an
admirable illustration of the effects of the parrot dis
ease. American conservatives, including some state
department officials, were frightened at the parroted
"red” epithets hurled at Karolyi and kept him out of
the country.
More liberal officials allowed him to enter. Then
the radicals fell prey to the parrot disorder, and in the
battle over the phrases and labels which divide the
various camps of Socialists they wrecked the counts
Initial appearance in the country.
The parrot fever may decimate the parrots in
America and carry off a few parrot fanciers. The
parrot disease which paralyzes the operation of the
human intellect well may ruin human civilization.
Prohibition After Ten Years
After ten years of constitutional prohibition,
liquor remains plentiful throughout the country. This
is perhaps the outstanding fact In viewing Americas
decade of socalled dryness.
The licensed and regulated saloon is gone, but in
its place myriad speakeasies and bootleggers operate.
Usually the stuff they dispense is more harmful than
that once sold by the saloons.
The federal government's expenditures for en
forcement have amounted to about a quarter billion
in the ten years. They are steadily increasing and
for next year will reach nearly forty-five millions.
The handful of agents with which the government
started has grown into an army numbering thou
sands, operating in every state, along the borders,
and in what has come to be a veritable dry navy.
There is demand for harsher laws and more
agents. The current controversy among leaders in
the capital Is evidence of dissatisfaction, and in it
self a confession by those who fastened prohibition
on the country that enforcement, thus far at least,
has failed.
As to whether prohibition has benefited the
country, it is doubtful if any one definitely can say.
Sincere and competent critics on both sides of the
controversy differ widely.
There seems to be more nearly general agree
ment on the contention that prohibition has festered
crime, and that bootlegging is responsible for much
of the gang warfare that has grown up. It is contended
that the universal disrespect for the prohibition law
has bred disrespect for all law.
One phase of this question is measurable. Sta
tistics show that prohibition has multiplied arrests,
brought hopeless congestion to federal and many
state courts, and filled prisons to overflowing. It also
is clear that violence in connection with enforcement
is growing, and community complaints against
methods of federal agents are becoming more com
mon.
Nor is there any doubt that enforcement has
brought a disregard for long-cherished personal rights
and liberties of citizens, supposedly guaranteed them
by the federal and state Constitutions. Search and
seizure without warrant have become common.
Buch devices as wire-tapping have become legalized.
Espionage of the most repugnant sort has become
accepted practice. Citizens have been encouraged to
spy and inform on their neighbors.
There are two sets o? opinion on the question of
the effect of prohibition on public health and morals.
One group asserts that the race is healthier; another
that diseases growing out of the use of alcohol have
increased vastly, in part because of the kind of stuff
people now drink.
It is contended on one side that vice has dimin
ished and that all classes of people are better be
haved; on the other that drinking has spread to
classes which heretofore had been abstemious, par
ticularly the young.
Whatever the answer to some of these moot ques
tions, certain facts are clear.
Prohibition today is as much of an issue as it was
ten years ago. It has not been accepted by the
country.
Enforcement conditions are satisfactory to neither
wets nor drys.
Liquor is plentiful. Drinking is common.
The government, with all its lavish use of money
und its great resources, has not been able to make
the country dry.
The present situation is an intolerable menace and
must be corrected.
Kow to correct it? Drys would give us more of
what we have had. Wets would have modification.
Out of all the tumult and the shouting one thing
is inevitable. If with enlarged resources and redoubled
energy the present program can not be made effec
tive —as many believe—a new one will have to be de
vised.
Burning the House to Warm the Baby
Shall We remake the Constitution to Enforce one
amendment of it? That issue arrived the day prohi
bition arrived. It is the essence of the first report
of the national commission on law enforcement, ten
years later.
Deep in our national life is the right of trial by
jury. Equally deep is the right to be secure in our
person, houses, papers and effects.
We of this generation didn't create those rights.
We Inherited them. Others that went before gained
them for us—fought for them through centuries ol
time and rivers of blood. To us merely falls the task
of keeping them—if we want to keep them.
Boiled down and stripped of all its verbiage, the
commission's report says: "If we really want this
l-* , *
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elation. Newspaper Information Service and Audit Burean of Circulations.
“Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way”
thing called prohibition, we've got to start hacking at
the foundation.”
The first words of the report contain that warn
ing. Those words about “the views of the American
people with respect to statutes governing their con
duct,” the “attitude of the pioneer toward such
things,” the ‘ Puritans' objection to administration,”
the “conception ol natural rights, classical in our
policies.” the “democratic tradition of individual par
ticipation in sovereignty”—they were something more i
than mere language.
The commission had an assignment, and a tough j
one. Tlie assignment was how to enforce the hitherto i
unenforceable. The commission reported on that as- <
signment, and. considering the short period of its ex
istence, reported well.
“Conception of natural rights, classical in our
policies”—that’s where the clash comes. The com
mission points it out and then goes on with the as
signment.
Those “classical rights” call for trial by jury, but
if we're going to enforce prohibition we're going to
have to whittle away at that natural right. We've
got to throw boulders in the way of trial by jury—
to make it hard to find those twelve good men
and true.
And we're going to have to strengthen the pad
lock process. Which in itself is another way of cir
cumventing the irritating delays of jury trial.
The same “classical rights” call for security of
person, houses, papers and effects, but we’ve got to
do something about that, too, if we’re going to go
the limit.
We’re going to have to stop a person on the road
and go through his effects, and if by chance liquor
is found among them, seize them and arrest the
person—or if not found, let him go.
Os course that's contrary to the spirit of an
amendment other and older than the eighteenth,
but the “founding fathers” in their “classical con
ception of natural rights” never dreamed of pro
hibition.
So if we're going to enforce it, we'll have to plant'
a few thistles on their graves. And so it goes, and
if those and other endeavors don’t work, we’ll have
to hack some more at some other parts of the
foundation.
We ll take a crack at habeas corpus, and freedom
of speech, and the right of petition and the seizure
of property without due process of law and quarter
a few troops in times of peace in a few private
apartments just to make it modern.
Oh, there are a lot of things we can do yet in
this noble and far-reaching experiment of making
the tail wag the dog.
Michigan’s Hysteria Ends
By his commutation of the life sentences of five
Michigan prisoners to lesser terms, Governor Fred
Green celebrates, at this tenth anniversary of na
tional prohibition, one of the first definite steps by
legal authority away from the hysteria of the first
prohibition decade.
One of these prisoners was a woman. The prohi
bition officer who prosecuted the case against another
since has asserted that the evidence was “framed.”
The state legislature has modified these laws and
no longer will Michigan deprive a man or woman
of liberty for life for possession of a pint of gin.
The department of labor says 500,000 Americans
have moved to foreign lands in the last twelve years.
That's a broad statement. And it's one case where
it wasn’t cheaper than paying rent.
A New Jersey farmhand hung to the tail of an air
plane during an eight-minute flight. The first aerial
passenger we have heard of riding the rods.
The trouble with law enforcement in this country is
that private citizens are beginning to think they can
do the same things officeholders get away with.
A three-gun man was arrested in New York the
other day. Probably another result of the modern
merger trend.
A couple more raises for Henry’ Ford’s employes
and they'll be able to buy Lincolns.
REASON
IT strikes us that the Washington critics of prohi
bition enforcement are far ffom being fair since
on one day the senate rocks with Senator Borah’s
denunciation of the feebleness of enforcement and
on another day the house of representatives rocks
with Representative La Guardia’s denunciation of
the violence and fanaticism of enforcement.
i
u a
It would appear, so far as our statesmen of differ- 1
mg degrees of aridity and humidity are concerned, i
that Uncle Sam is up against the proposition of being j
damned if he does and being damned if he doesn’t, !
an attitude which reflects neither honor nor dignity
upon those whom we employ to make laws for the
rest of us.
n a a
Borah’s criticism was justified, for all who have
not been embalmed know that the enforcement arm
of the government reeks and drips with rottenness
and a great many suspect that under Secretary Mel
lon. who used to be a very successful distiller of
whisky, the dry’ law never had an honest chance.
LA GUARDIA'S outburst, however, had a different
provocation, he being aroused to the disgorging
of much oratorical lava because the coast guard shot
into a rum runner and killed three smugglers.
There are some phases of law enforcement which
arouse the resentment of honest people, but the en
forcement of the law against smugglers is not one
of these.
808
Even though it be against the law for one to make
wine in his own home for his own use or to give the
sick some spirits after being advised to do so by the
family doctor, these violations do not arouse the aver*
age man, but it is a vastly different matter when we
come to the operations of those who defy the govern
ment for the money there is in it.
B B B
THOSE who form the paid army of law defiance
are entitled to anything that may come their
way. whether it be crockery, clubs or lead. They are
playing a desperate game because the stakes are high
and if the time ever comes when we shed any tears
for smugglers we hope some kind friend will take
appropriate action.
BBS
The smuggler is a rat. a pirate, a sea snake: he
has been despised and beheaded whenever caught
throughout the centuries and those who now heap
denunciation upon the coast guard because it did
its duty are poor Americans.
Alongside the sea smuggler, the bandit is romantic.
FREDERICK
By LANDIS
. THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES
M. E. Tracy
SAYS:
Our Indifference to the Con
stantly Increasing Number
of Automobile Victims Is
Amazing.
THE most significant comment
regarding the pope’s recent en
cyclical comes from his own official
organ, Osservatore Romano, which
takes the* Italian press to task for
giving it such scant attention.
“Some Roman newspapers pub
lished only a few lines,” says the
Osservatore. “Others even ignored
the encyclical entirely. Only one
paper had as much as half a col
umn.” But what the Osservatore
finds more humiliating Mian all
else is “the excessive importance
given local news, from prize fight to
police court news, or police raids on
questionable houses.”
a 8 8
Unless Republican leaders of New
York are willing to support state
development of the St. Lawrence wa
ter power project, they have made
a mess for themselves.
It is quite true that the bill which
they have framed, and which Gov
ernor Roosevelt has accepted, does
not order the investigating com
mission it creates to deal exclu
sively with such plan.
But the bill authorizes the Gov
ernor to name the investigating
commission, and Who imagines that
he will neglect to name men fa
vorable to the plan?
Republican leaders profess sur
prise at the Governor’s action.
Evidently they thought he would
seize on the few jokers they incor
porated in the bill as an excuse to
reject it.
He didn’t take the bait, and now
there is nothing for it but to let him
run the show.
b n n
Auto Toll Terrific
FIGURES just made public by the
National Safety Council show
that 21,500 persons were killed by
automobiles in thirty-one states
during 1929.
That is more than one-half the
number of Americans killed in
France during the war.
It is also more than twenty times
the number killed as a result of ef
forts to enforce the prohibition law
during the last ten years, according
to the highest estimate.
The fact that most, if not all,
these persons were killed without
malice or intent is of small conso
lation. They are just as dead as
they would have been if auto drivers
had run them down deliberately.
8 8 8
Considering how excited we can
get over the shooting of three rum
runners and a couple of deaths from
parrot fever, our indifference to the
constantly increasing number of
auto victims is amazing.
It is hard to escape the conclu
sion that our cries for protection
harmonize with our prejudices, and
that we find death much more
shocking when it interferes with a
drink than when it interferes with
a joy ride.
Also, -we find it much easier to
make excuses for a reckless or in
competent driver than a dumb guard
who merely is obeying orders.
8 8 8
Still Bargaining
IF the truth must be told, we are
worrying more over what Euro
pean tariffs may do to the auto
mobile export trade than what the
autos themselves are doing to us.
France, Germany, Italy, Belgium,
Austria and Czechoslovakia have
formed a tentative agreement to
break American competition.
France is leading off with a tariff
bill which would make it virtually
impossible not only to sell American
cars in that country, but tlie needed
accessories for American cars al
ready sold.
While some of the others,
especially Germany, shy at such
drastic step, they are ready to join
the fracas.
Low tariff advocates in this coun
try will argue that we are getting no
more than we deserve because of the
unreasonable duties we have imposed
on certain European exports. .
Maybe so, but the chances are
that European countries would be
just as eager to keep our autos out
of the local market if we had left
our own doors wide open.
This is still a hard-boiled, bar
gaining world, with most everybody
ready to take all the traffic will
bear, and with most nations dancing
to the tune of big business.
It is not the people of France,
Germany, or the other nations who
want to keep out American autos,
but the manufacturers.
Incidentally, it is not the people
of this country w'ho maintain the
tariff lobbies at Washington. About
all the people do, whether here or in
Europe, is pay the tax.
rf&sqqzpfssss!*,
—rdoAV' ife'THe-
EIGHTEENTH AMENDMENT
January 16
ON Jan. 16, 1920, the eighteenth
amendment to the United
States Constitution went into effect.
The amendment provided, in part,
that:
“The manufacture, sale or trans
portation of intoxicating liquors
within, the importation thereof
into, or the exportation thereof
from the United States and terri
tory subject to the jurisdiction
thereof for beverage purposes is
hereby prohibited. The congress
and the several states shall have
concurrent power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.”
Today, also, is the anniversary of
the recognition, by France, of the
independence of the United States,
on Jan. 16, 1778.
On Jan. 16, 1872. congress passed
a general amnesty law.
And on- Jan. 16, 1754, George
Washington returned to Virginia
after a trip to Lake Erie as envoy
for Governor Dinwiddle.
What is the meaning of the
“C’est la guerre”?
It is a French expression meaning
“It is war.”
* ■;* :.|k ’ f/hiy
mm
—DAILY HEALTH SERVICE
Emotional Troubles Are Harmful
BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN
Editor Journal of the American Medical
Association and of Hygeia. the
Health Magazine.
IN our public schools today, as
pointed out by Dr. James L. Mc-
Cartney, there are about 400,000
children so handicapped mentally
that they could not possibly follow
the ordinary courses of study.
Nevertheless, w r e have not yet
elaborated a system that would de
tect these cases before they begin
school, so that both time and
that of the teachers and other pu
pils could be saved.
It generally is recognized that there
are a half million feeble-minded
people in this country demanding
the constant care and attention of
those whose mental states approach
more nearly what is called the nor
mal.
Tine, these defectives constitute a
great problem, but in many ways
they are not so difficult of control
as those with good mentality but
with emotional instability.
Think of the hundreds of thou-
IT SEEMS TO ME
PRESIDENT HOOVER appointed
a law enforcement commission
to study, among other things, the
defects in the administration of the
Volstead act. That commission has
made a preliminary report, and pre
sumably the President would have
all good citizens digest the findings
of the selected wise men, and re
spect their recommendations.
Unfortunately, Herbert Hoover
has set the rest of us a bad exam
ple in this respect, for in his own
perusal of the document he seems
to have skipped entirely one im
portant finding.
In transmitting the commission's
report to congress, the President
added a message of his own. In
this message he said, “While some
sections of the American people
may disagree upon the merits of
some of the questions involved,
every responsible citizen supports
the fundamental principle that the
law of the land must be enforced.”
0 0 0
Dissent
BUT upon that same point Hoo
ver’s own commission reports:
“As to observance —it is impossi
ble wholly to set off observance of
the prohibition act, from the large
question of the views and habits of
the American people with respect
to private judgment as to statutes
and regulations affecting their con
duct.
“To reach conclusions of any
value we must go into deep ques
tions of public opinion and the
criminal law.
“We must look into the several
factors in the attitude of the peo
ple, both generally and in particu
lar localities, toward laws in gen
eral and toward specific regulations.
“We must note the attitude of the
pioneer toward such things. We
must bear in mind the Puritans’
objection to ac'jiiinistration, the
Whig tradition of a ‘right to revo
lution,’ the conception of natural
rights, classical in our sovereignty—
we must not forget the many his
torical examples of large-scale pub
lic disregard for laws in our past,
"To give proper weight to these
things in connection with the social
and economic effects of the prohi
bition law, is not a matter of a few
months.”
Did President Hoover read this
part of the report submitted by his
own commission? If so, he has
chosen utterly to ignore it.
000
Cards Stacked
ALREADY there has been a dis
position to believe that the in
quiry would be less than impartial.
Senator Jones made public an
nouncement of the fact that he had
buttonholed the investigators in
advance, and persuaded them that
they should voice no opinions as to
the merit of the prohibition amend
ment itself.
Seemingly, they managed to slip
a nip of mild dissect under the
eagle eye of the dry despot But
President Hoover seems prepared to
correct that oversight.
In other words, the great non-
Ten Years Is a Long Time!
sands of people who react too
strenuously to simple little situ
ations in everyday life.
Think of the boy, tied to his
mother’s apron strings in youth,
shoved out into a cold, unfeeling
world to make his own way.
Again and again in great indus
tries he is peen hanging like a para
site on the decisions of some
motherly executive, male or female,
whose pity has been aroused.
3ee the woman in industry who
stays home every two or three weeks
with headaches and dizzy spells be
cause she has learned to avoid the
difficulties of life by illness.
Then there is the man who comes
down to w’ork disturbed by some
domestic trial that Is not known to
those w’ith whom he works. If he
Is an executive, the workers under
him suffer for the pettiness that he
has been made to feel at home.
If he is a worker far down in the
ranks, he plods hopelessly and with
out inspiration at Iris work because
he feels that he is getting nowhere.
Tho human being, as has been
partisan commission of which we
heard so much during the last elec
tion is to be reduced to the estate of
a sort of yes-men’s minstrel show'.
Obviously, the President’ll message
and the paragraphs from the com
mission’s report are not to be recon
ciled. Herbert Hoover says that
every responsible citizen supports
the theory that the law of the land
must be enforced.
Some very distinguished citizens
have argued against this conception
of democracy and the law’. Clarence
Darrow says that the right to let
a law’ die is as fundamental as the
right of repeal.
8 8 8
Irresponsibles?
MUST Mr. Wickersham, Dean
Pound, Judge Kenyon and the
other members of the commission
now be added to the roll of irre
sponsibles?
To be sure, the commission did
not applaud the fact there are many
historical examples of large-scale
public disregard for laws.
If pressed, the commission might
Questions
and Answers
Is an uncanceled stamp worth
more to a collector than a canceled
one?
Some canceled stamps are more
valuable than uncanceled stamps,
and vice versa. To the collector of
postage stamps, the value is meas
ured by its rarity; in some issues
canceled stamps are more rare and
with some other issues uncanceled
specimens are more rare and their
value varies proportionately.
Who was the first to sign the Dec
laration of Independence?
John Hancock.
What Ls the highest denomina
tion postage stamp?
The flve-dollar 6tamp.
How can mst stains be removed
from white fabric?
Try covering the stain with ordi
nary table salt and sprinkling it
liberally with lemon Juice. Place in
the sun.
How many hospitals for the treat
ment of tuberculosis are there in
the United States and what is their
bed capacity?
The latest United States census
The latest United States census
the United States for the treatment
of tuberculosis Estate and private)
with a bed capacity of 63,170.
Daily Thought
O give thanks unto the God of
heaven; for his mercy endureth
forever.—Psalm 136:26.
B B B
We hand folks over to God’s
mercy, and show none ourselves.—
George Eliot,
emphasized again and again in
these columns, is a composite of a
mind and a body.
In his daily life the reactions of
his mind are far more frequent and
disturbing than the reactions of his
body. How many people have been
taught consciously to rationalize
themselves out of their emotional
conflicts?
And yet in the great storms and
stresses of life, such rationaliza
tion is probably just as important,
if not more important, than the
ability to relieve an obstructed in
testinal tract by a suitable laxa
tive, or to cure a crop of boils by
the right antiseptics.
Hours and hours of sleep are lost,
particularly to people beyond mid
dle age, who carry great responsi
bilities because they never have
learned to say to themselves con
vincingly that tomorrow is another
day, and because they never have
studied enough of life and of his
tory, to know that the great biologic
mechanism of life moves steadily
onward in repetitious cycles.
„ HEYWOOD
y BROUN
declare roundly that the famous
men who refused to accept the
provisions of the fugitive slave act
were scoff-laws, whose mental atti
tude and actions endangered the
whole fabric of the American Con
stitution.
I doubt if the commission would
care to say just that, but there’s no
telling where a dry will go if you
put him in a hole. He’s very likely
to dig his way clear through to
China.
But along comes President Hoo
ver’s commission to report that his
tory contains many examples of
similar large-scale public disregard
for existing federal statutes.
In the past, such coldness often
has resulted in the enfeeblement or
death of the unpopular law.
Specifically, does anybody believe
that a sincere and wholesale effort
ls being made to enforce the pre
cise provisions of the Mann act
against private offenders? But,
though thi3 law is now winked at,
save in the case of actual white
slavers, the Constitution still stands,
and the United States survives.
Indeed, there have been adminis
trations in which the Sherman
anti-trust law was regarded but
lightly. Even so, life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness went on
about as usual.
a a a
Laws Ignored
FIND me a single southern dry
who believes that forgetting the
fourteenth and fifteenth amend
ments has increased crime and im
paired the safety of the republic.
Find me one, and I’ll never more
drink cocktails or Tom Collinses.
The commission itself speaks of
"natural rights” as “classical in our
sovereignty.” Hoover chooses to
take no cognizance of them.
It is not the modificationists, but
the drys. who are departing from
time-honored American tradition in
insisting that every citizen must
respect even those laws which seem
to him abominable.
(Copyright. J 930. by The Time*)
Waterproofing Cellars
Many householders are troubled with cellars that Bre not water
proof. Our Washington bureau has prepared, from official sources,
a bulletin of practical suggestions on construction methods for mak
ing a cellar dry in anew house, and for various methods that may
be adopted for waterproofing an old cellar that is damp and wet. If
you have a problem of this kind, fill out the coupon below and send
for the bulletin:
CLIP COUPON HERE-
CONSTRUCTION EDITOR, Washington Bureau,
The Indianapolis Times,
1322 New York avenue. Washington, D. C.
I want a copy of the bulletin. WATERPROOFING CELLARS,
and inclose herewith 5 cents in coin, or loose, uncanceled, United
States postage stamps, to cover return postage and handling costs
NAME
STREET AND NUMBER
CITY STATE
I am a reader of The Indianapolis Times.
Ideals and opinions expressed
In th’s column are those of
one of America’s most Inter
esting writers and are pre
sented without regard to the:'
agreement or disagreement
with the editorial altitude of
this paper.—The Editor.
_JAN. 16, 1930
SCIENCE
By DAVID DIETZ
Mysterious Puzzle Known as
Wave Mechanism Brought
to Fore by SI,OOO Prize
Award.
A WARD of the annual SI,OOO
prize of the American Associa
tion for the Advancement of
Science to Professor A. J. Dempster
of the University of Chicago, focuses
attention on one of the most inter
esting fields of modem science—the
mysterious puzzle known as "wave
mechanics.”
Professor Dempster received the
prize for an experiment which he
performed in this-fascinating field.
A few months ago the famous No
bel prize in physics was awarded to
the French scientist,. Prince De
Broglie, the man who started wave
mechanics.
In many ways wave mechanics is
more puzzling than the quantum
theory. In other ways less, be
cause it throws light on the quan
tum theory. Perhaps the worst fea
ture from the viewpoint of the lay
man Ls that both are united in a
puzzle worse than either alone.
Thirty years ago scientists had
a view of the universe which was
far simpler than that held today.
In general, there was considered to
be a sharp distinction between the
nature of matter and the nature of
light.
Matter consisted of particles called
atoms. Light consisted of waves. By
1900, it was known that the atoms
were composed of electrons, but
these were merly regarded as smaller
particles.
8 8 8
Tie Score
BUT in 1900. Max Planck, famous
German physicist,, announced a
theory to account for certain phe
nomena, which had not been ex
plained up to that time.
The way in which energy was ra
diated from heated bodies did not
follow’ the simple rule which the
wave theory’ of light required.
Asa result, Planck suggested the
theory that the energy could be
given off only in certain definite
amounts or quantities. These he
called quanta and the theory be
came known as the quantum theory.
Then the fun began, with Pro
fessor Albert Einstein, destined later
to be famous for the relativity the
ory which he was then beginning to
! fashion, taking a major role.
In 1905 Einstein counseled the
1 world of physics to go ahead boldly
on the assumption that the quanta
' w’hich Planck had suggested w’ere
actually particles. This revived an
1 earlier theory that light consisted of
| corpuscles or particles and not
' waves
| More and more evidence was
amassed from that time on, all
tending to show that light consisted
of little particles, little blulets of ra
diation. And yet no one could dis
cover the experiments which seemed
to show that light consisted of
waves.
A few years ago, Dr. Arthur
Compton, famous American physi
| cist, received the Nobel prize for im
-1 portant experiments he had per
i formed in the field of the quantum
| theory.
And yet, the most Compton was
i willing to say about the conflict
j between the wave theory and the
| quantum theory of light was that
"the score was tie and the ball in
the middle of the field.”
ana
De Broglie
THE quantum theory led Dr.
Neils Bohr, the great Danish
physician, to his theory of the atom.
This theory held that the atom
consisted of a nucleus around which
electrons were rotating.
According to the Bohr theory, the
jump of an electron from one orbit
to another resulted in the release
of a quantum of energy. This the
ory was a geat advance in theoret
ical physics, but it left one impor
tant feature which could not be
explained.
The theory necessitated the belief
that the electrons could revolve in
certain well-defined orbits only. This
was an unexpected situation, which
could not be explained on the basis
of classical physics.
It was an attempt to explain that
which led to wave mechanics. De
Broglie suggested that each electron
had associated with it a train of
waves. The possible orbits for elec
trons were determined then bv the
size of their wave-trains.
Schrodinger. the German physi
cist, went De Broglie one better and
carried wave mechanics to its log
ical conclusion, by suggesting that
the electron be considered as noth
ing but a wave.
In other words, while the quan
tum theory would consider light as
particles and not waves, wave me
chanics would consider the matter
as waves and not particles.
The experiment which Professor
Dempster performed and which won
him the prize, tends to support this
extreme view of Sclmodlnger.
In the experiment, electrons were
-.-effected from the surface of a
calcite crystal. Dempster showed
that the reflected electrons were dis
ributed in waves and not reflected
’n the way that one would expect
particles to be reflected.