Evening star. [volume], September 30, 1924, Page 19, Image 19

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
PUBLIC OWNERSHIP DESTRUCTIVE
TO DEMOCRACY, SAYS HOOVER
(Continued from First Page.)
Government employes never can yield
that spirit of accommodation that em
ployes of private enterprise must
furnish in order to maintain the re
pute of their competitive enterprise
and its standing in the community.
“A much larger Issue lies in the in
equality with which facilities will be
provided over this continent 3.000
miles wide. It is mightly important
to have cars and kilowatts when they
are needed. The economic life of
somebody is stifled every time they
are not available. Every tit of na
tional economy will cause them to fall
behind future need. Every district
and group of the politically weak will
have to do without some measure of
their need. Today there is no temedy
for failure in service; there is no rem
edy against the Government."
“With ownership of public utilities
vested in the Government, every tax
payer would pay every loss of capi
tal. directly or indirectly, from taxes
or rales, whether he liked it or not,"
Mr. Hoover added, asserting that
"when individuals enter upon a fool
ish project they pay for It. but if
the Government does the same thing
both the foolish and the wise must
pay for it. Today the combined util
ities contribute about $600,000,000 in
taxes to the Federal and local Gov
ernments. It is unlikely that in gov
ernment operation our Federal Gov
ernment will pay taxes to the States
or the; Stales to counties out of util
ity rates. Thus the local govern
ments would need to find other
sources of rc venue. If the customers
of these utilities and tiie taxpayers
"ere identical in their participaDon
it would not matter, but it happens
that utilities have a larger ratio of
investment and taxes in the farming
districts than they have in the big
cities. It would damage the farmer
of Massachusetts but 3 or 4 per cent*
to denude the State of utility taxes,
but it would increase taxes 40 per
cent in many agricultural counties in
other States. And, above all, if the
history of other governments oper
ating utilities counts, the inefficiency
in government would not be taken up
in rate increase, by which the actual
ust r pays, but by lumping it onto the
taxpayer.
Effect on Labor.
“The next question to examine is
whether the employes would benelit
by being incorporated into the Gov
ernment service. The first and fore
most result of such an operation
would be a dispute over the right to
strike. It is by no means certain that
a Government can continue as a Gov
ernment and admit the right of Gov
ernment employes in vital services to
strike against it. N'or can legislative
bodies delegate the right to settle
v ages and salaries to tiny commis
sion. or they will have delegated their
ontrol over expenditures, which is
tuie basis of democracy. In any event,
under Government ownership em
ployes must in final analysis bargain
" ith legislative bodies, and bargain
ing will rest not upon economic, need
or economic strength, but on political
potence. The present Federal em
ployes, denying themselves the right
to strike, have just now, after eight
years, succeeded in getting some of
their deserved increase in pay. The
public utility employes have had them
already for years. Their wages are
today the highest real wage in the
world
Hy this vast venture that is pro
posed to us we would at once increase
tin total of national and local office
holders up to about 5.01i0.000. The
rightful interest of ibis group is in
higher pay. constantly better condi
tions of si rvice ai.il better standards
of living. The rightful public inter
est will be to huld down rates and
taxes. *1 hese interests will clash and
i heir clash must light itself out not
on grounds of economic bargaining
between labor and employer, but in
the political arena. The voting
strength of this mass of office hold
ers, their wives and dependents, will
tie over 25 per cent of the whole. It
is the balance of political power be
tween parties in every district. Either
every member of the legislative bodies
" ill lie elected to do the bidding of
tliis bureaucracy or will be elected by
a public in rebellion against it.
I.one Democracy in Storm.
"So commission or any body of ad
ministrators can carry on these vast
operations efficiently in this political
maelstrom. We shall lose most of our
democracy in the storm.
"Some have assumed that the polit
ical strength of this gi eat mass of
employes will enable them to dictate
the -election of legislative-me-mbers
and thus secure their desires. This
means the creation of another bloc,
the arraying of class against class,
perhaps the most dangerous tendency in
our politics today.
‘‘lt substitutes internal pull and ex
ternal politics for individual endeavor.
It puts a damper on achievement, a
premium on wire pulling. It penal
mv. —■ ii.._ii _ imi- irr
1 '©bilipjsbcrn D
J THE OUTER K GARMENT SHOP. E
3 606 TO 614 ELEVENTH STREET.
| Presenting the Season's Smartest Modes in
3 Evening Slippers e
OF SILVER BROCADE CLOTH
f Ivina V
S Silver brocade, silver
T trim. Spanish heeis [T
\ and Caoan heels. -
Opera' \ 1:i
Silver fcroc&de, Span
rg.so
Cotillion ''l
k “Cotillion”
Silver Brocade, Span-
J / ish ee l ß ’ Cuban heels,
T * /jjffi low one-inch heels, ;
1 1 1
J Straight lines and gorgeous fabrics is the fashion S
-* theme of fall’s smartest evening dresses—and here
= are presented evening slippers of satin, plain or bro
caded, in tones to harmonize with lovely shades for
evening wear. Nor should we fail to emphasize the
good quality and trim fit of these slippers for both are
of great importance.
Si" -inr= " ini — ~~in
izes wholp hearted devotion to work."
Mr. Hover quoted from the remarks
of Samuel Gompers, president of the
American Federation of I.abor, in a
speech at Montreal in 1920, in which
Gompers said, "If I were In a minority
of one In this convention, I would
want to cast my vote so that the
men of labor shall‘not willingly en
slave themselves to government
authority In their industrial effort for
freedom."
Destroy Incentive to Invention.
Government ownership would de
stroy all competition in invention and
mechanical progress in utility fields,
Mr. Hoover said. “The essence of
progress is that we shall have new
mechanical invention, new ideas in
administration, new developments in
service. By this operation we de
stroy the competitive market for now
invention and new ideas, for their
value is determined by competitive
bidding. A must sell his invention to
the highest bidder. If H demonstrates
unusual administrative ability he has
an enlarged market .or his services
with competitors. The C railway ex
periments on a new improvement to
attract customers. Neither Congress
nor administrators can appraise the
value of these things.
"America has made the most mar
velous advance in the history of man
in the technology and administration
of transportation and applied elec
tricity. Can any one believe that
this invention, this courage, this ap
plication, this stimulation to genius
that our nation has brought forth
would ever have developed under a
board of directors of 5-.0 members
of Congress and hundreds of mem
bers of State Legislatures? Govern
ment utilities in other parts of the
world get their technology from us.
So far as 1 am aware, no single
Vital Invention has ever come out of
government-owned utilities. Science
is only at the threshold of its house
of wonders. It may even solve
methods of transportation that would
cause the abandonment of railways
to the taxpayer as It would have
done to nationalization of the stage
coach.
Experiment ,\«t Worth Gamble.
The experiment of Government
ownership is not worth the gamble
unless the Federal and local govern
ments can give the public lower
rates" Mr. Hoover declared. “If the
Government is to reduce rates it must
do so either by the saving of private
profits or by reducing operating ex
pense or lumping them on the tax
payer. During the past four years
the railroads have on an average
earned less than 4 per cent on the In
terstate Commerce Commission val
uation. Even if this value were re
duced by 25 per cent, they would
have earned only 5 per cent. Our
electrical utilities are regulated at
earnings between 6 and S per cent on
their invested capital. The Govern
ment could not borrow the huge sums
necessary at less than 5 per cent.-
"In a sale to the Government the
constitutional requirements would for
various legal reasons probably re
sult in a much larger sum than the
$40,000,000,000 of present valuations
by commissions and others.
Moreover, the wasteful distribution
of the hundred and fifty million of capi
tal invested annually in the post office,
reclamation service. Shipping Board,
rivers and harbors and roads, would
not be a patch on the waste in appro
priations when our legislative bodies
get a chance to handle two billions
per annum of new capital outlay.
For all these reasons I am convinced
that interest charges alone to the
Government would be larger than the
present utility profits, and no econ
omy lies there. Bather the way of
the prodigal.
Economy Must Decrease,
Nor can the Government operate as
economically as private enterprise.
If we take over nearly three million
new employes into public service we
must put them under an airtight civil
service, to be hired by a separate
commission and promoted by senior
ity aod at once we have created a bu
reaucracy. Otherwise, we would hax e
nearly three million jobs to be given
out and a political debauchery un
paralleled in ail historv.
"There are certain inherent qualities of I
bureaucracy in its deliberative action,
the necessity to maintain joint responsi
bility, its enlargement of "rod tape” de
signed to prevent error in judgment and
conduct, all of which arc perhaps an
advantage in pure y governing func
tions. bat they become disaster ' whe-n
■pplicd to the - vapidity of movement
/ital to business and service. Numbers
increase for every task. The alterna
tive is political favoritism. And at the
top. where exceptional talent and genius
must be had, neither seniority nor com
petitive examination nor politics will
sei ure or find it. It is one thing to
choose a postmaster, but another to
choose a railway president.
THE EVENING STAR. WASHINGTON, D. C.. TUESDAY; SEPTEMBER 30. 1924.
AMUSEMENTS
(Continued from Eighteenth Page.)
Absent from the stage, the attraction
lapses into mediocrity.
This Miss Arnold, of which there
are two in the cast, yields not one
iota to any one in pulchritude, vivac
ity, execution. A mere lass with un
shorn locks, she presents an interest
ing study in contrasts. Versatility is
another of her assets as she sings,
dances, plays the violin, saxophone—
ail commendably.
Aside from Miss Arnold. ‘‘Bound the
Town” is simply a burlesque which
E*r ®l)!ll|SbOrtt L r
T I*ss] JR 60S to 614 A. ELEVENTH ST. Washington
of Courtesy -
A Supreme Event
An Offering of
] Charming Frocks
'X M arked at the special j
25
There are only about 300 in the collection—
Os most engaging moces and effective de |
f 'I \ w'JolCaMon Faille
't' —— Georgette Silk Brocades
\ 11 i Velva Broche Lace
J — in the newest of the fall shades—Rust, Brown.
jpf Black, Ascot Blue. Navy, Penny. Rosewood, etc.
* ■ - f Women’s and Misses’ sizes
11 ..=]Bl==jGEi'., „ -■■L.jLjgLaJß*-' 1 g|]]i—=l □[==="
People who like good CANDY
slice Oh Henry!
for Teas and Informal Affairs
flHfl A few bars of Oh Henry! thinly sliced
■pUlk and daintily served on a bonbon dish
f\ f lend a charming novelty to the tea-
JyfoLJ wagon’s cargo of goodies. It’s a new
taste in candy. . . . and a new way of
Stv Xjh serving a fine candy at home. A bar
slices into 8 or 10 dainty wafers!
for Bridge and M ah Jongg Parties
n And the convenience of being able to slice up a
A few bars of Oh Henry! and have instantly a deli
rffTTJ* A T cious candy for your afternoon Bridge parties,
VX-X / or for folks who drop in evenings to play Mah
Jongg or to visit, has given this new way of
xr serving Oh Henry! a wonderful popularity. .
for the Children
A * 1 And many mothers, knowing the parity ,
, and the fine quality of Oh Henry!, keep
a dish of Oh Henry! sliced all of the '
/ CV time so that when the children want
k i sweets, they can always have a slice of
this delicious, pure candy. Your children
y V will just love Oh Henry! »
. and for a QOOD CANDY to have handy at home!
Economical, too! For remember Imagine a rich butter cream,
that Oh Henry! isn’t a “bar dipped in a luscious chewy cara
candy,” but & fine candy made mel, rolled in crispy, crackling All /^\
in the size of a bar to sell at 10c nutmeata and then given a thick j] I /W I
for the convenience of people overcoating of milk chocolate! 3
who don’t want much candy at That’s Oh Henry! As fine m <rV I
a time. .. . but do want GOOD candy as you ever tasted! Try ■ | Job"
i candy I alidngit. 10c a bar everywhere. q-JR rtnUr
possibly approaches vulgarity at
times. The comedians are only fair,
and the show boasts no strong male
character. Female headliners carry
the score. Misses Russell. Jackson, Lew
and Lucia Arnold being better than the
average.
Added attractions are scheduled for
the waning nights, including wres
tling, amateur night and auction
night, in the order named.
Strand—‘Venetian Masque
raders.
The Strand has an unusually clever
dance and song act as the headliner
this week. Olga Boehm, the statu
esque prima donna, who leads the
company, has a sympathetic voice,
which Is shown to advantage In her
vocal selections. The dancing Is full
of pep. Both setting and costumes
are attractive,
A unique animal act, I.ady Alice’s
Pets, Is the opening number of the
bill and will have, wide appeal for
children, especially. Currier and Mc-
Williams give a skit entitled “The
Act Different" that Is well thought
out and popular. Most of the comedy
of the bill is presented by two teams,
Marie Sabbot and George Brooks. In
“A Terpsichorean Cocktail," and
Harry W'ard and Harriet Raymond,
who call themselves "mirthologlsts,"
and, apparently, not without reason
from the response of audiences early
this week.
The film, "The Man Without a
Heart,” is one of those modern so
ciety dramas with matrimonial mix
ups that are cleverly straightened
out so as to please best all con
cerned. Jane Novak and Kenneth
Harlan are featured.
>
Company Transferred.
Company C, 13th U. S. Engineers,
has been transferred from Camp Cus
ter, Mich., to Port Humphreys, Va,
The United States has one tele
phone for every nine inhabitants, and
Italy has one for every 30ft.
(^ClOcntne£i&'\
‘Why Pay more
-1405 HSt N.W. 723 14th St. N.W. |
| 604 9th St. N.W. | | F St, Cor. 12th [
Very Special Low Prices
Kolynos Tooth Paste . 19c
Lyon's Tooth Powder, Small . . 1
3 for 50c * I
Pond's Vanishing Cream, Jar, Small, 23c
Forhan's Tooth Paste, Large . . 37c I
Hair Groom . . 34c
Mavis Face Powder All Shades . 33c
/. &J. Baby Powder 1 ~
3 for 50c i ■
Resinol Soap . . 18c
Phillips Milk of Magnesia , 12 <*• 36c
Sal Hepatica. Medium .... 39c
Listenne. Large . , • 71c
Nujol, 16 Oz, . . 69c
Merck s Stearate Zinc
Powdered, 1 -Oz. Tin 13c
Borin Rouge' Ao. 1249 35c
S. & D. Lapactic Pills 23c
With every purchase of two (2) boxes of Scholl’s Corn,
Bunion or Callous Plasters at 70c, we give you FREE one
(1) can of Scholl’s Foot Powder—all for JQq
Drugs and Patent Medicines
P. & W. Boric Acid, pound 29c
Alophen Pills 49 c
Elixir I. Q. & S., pint 59 c
20 Pounds Epsom Salts SI.OO
Castor Oil, pint ' 35c
Witch Hazel, pint ' 35 c
Dobell’s Solution, pint 15 c
Turpentine, pint 20c
Aromatic Cascara, 8-oz 50 c
Bicarbonate Soda, pound 15 c
Senna Leaves, half pound 20c
Spirits Camphor, 3-oz 25c
rlycerine and Rose Water, 8-oz 25c
\romatic Spirits Ammonia 25c
Tincture lodine, 3-oz 25c
Vinol Reconstructive Tonic SI.OO
t
Toilet Articles
60c LaMay Face Powder 49c
50c Java Rice Face Powder 39c
SI.OO Azurea Face Powder 78c
85c D. & R. Gold Cream 69c
50c D. & R. Cold Cream 42c
60c Pompeian Night Cream 49c
Silox Antiseptic Dusting Powder 29c
Gloco Liquid Hair Dressing 45c
25c Williams’ Talcum 15c
25c Mennen’s Talcums 21c
35c Cutex Cuticle Remover 29c
75c Maybelline 42c
$7.50 L’Origan Extract, 2-oz $5.49
Caron’s Black Narcissus Extract, bulk, per oz $3.25
Miscellaneous
65c Kotex 49c
Hospital Absorbent Cotton, lb .' 49c
50c Elam’s Irish Lawn Stationery 29c
$2.75 qt. Thermos Bottle, No. 11 51.69
$2.00 pt. Thermos Bottle, Nb. 11 $1.19
$2.00 Goodyear Water Bottle, No. 800 98c
Lavanta Castile Soap, pound « 15c
$2.50 Premier Water Bottle $1.49
$2.50 Premier Fountain, Syringe $1.49
Chloride Lime, large 10c
Sago Sage ‘sulphur 39c
Sgi IC-O-L-D-S
Radium Compound
/j I >. —is remarkably effcc
| I \ tive in many afflic- ;
\ tions of the j
T \ A membranes, such as' •:
head cold*, nasalj
I catarrh, etc. Try a
X tube of this prepara-,j
, tion of real merit.
Removes Heir uQrmlessly price—
A wonderful new cream that
overcomes every objection ■■■
to all other methods. Vexin* hair M ■
vanishes like mi : c. Easy and
pleasant to use ;qirW.. ;nd sure; very A S X IB
economical;no smarting; no redness
45c AtAU
O'Donnell’s Stores
19