Evening star. [volume], June 18, 1932, Page A-4, Image 4

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

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THE EVENING STAR
With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
SATURDAY. ...'...June 18, 1932
THEODORE W. NOYES-Editor
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* Victory in Defeat.
In the manner of their acceptance of
the defeat of the bonus bill, admin
istered with such decisive finality by a
heavy coalition majority of the Senate
yesterday, the veterans who beseiged the
Capitol in a dramatic show of strength
won a great victory. Their victory was
one that results from good discipline,
and good discipline is only possible
among good soldiers. There was a deep
murmur that grew as it spread through
the ranks after announcement of the
vote from the steps of the Capitol. But
a moment later heads were bared and
the soldiers sang “America.” Within a
few minutes the straggling columns
were moving from the Capitol grounds,
back to camp across the river. Nothing
quite like it has ever happened in
America These men wrote a new chap
ter on patriotism of which their coun
trymen may well be proud.
But now, what? Will these men con
solidate the gains they have made, reap
the full benefit of their splendid and
dignified conduct In battle under a fire
that has been more galling, more trying
to the nerves, more heartrending than j
a sudden burst of shot and shell?
Their leaders now, those within their
ranks whom they have chosen and those
in Congress who fought for their cause,
bear a heavy responsibility. They should
strive together to turn these men toward
the homes they left to come here.
While there is time and while the op
portunity yet remains to tum a moral
victory to best account cool heads
should take control of the situation and
bring about the only appropriate con
clusion of this remarkable demonstra
tion. That conclusion would be an;
exodus from the city as orderly and as
dramatic as the gathering of the army
In the beginning.
if they go now, every hand will be
turned to help them. Their return
will be likened to the return of an army
from a battle, where honor has been
won. Their march on Washington has
Won many friends from erstwhile foes.
No demonstration could have more
itrongiy emphasized the tragic error
that would have been made in pay
ment of the bonus. No demonstration
could more clearly have pointed out
the fact that in dealing with the dis
tress and suffering of this period no
class can be singled out for special
favor. For every one of these men
who have assembled in Washington
there are tens of thousands of other
men at home whose condition is no
better than theirs. For every one of
the veterans, clamoring for the dollars
that would be paid through the bonus,
there are tens of thousands of others
whose need is as great. To have sur
rendered to the claim of these misled
men would have been to deny to their
comrades at home the promise of what
relief now may be given through one
or more of the measures sure to be
enacted before the adjournment of
Congress.
But the mo6t significant demonstra
tion of all has been that while these
men may be ex-soldiers, while they may
Xeel that they have an extraordinary
claim for aid upon the Government
for which they offered their lives, they
are first of ail Americans. They have
made a fine record here, and they
ahould preserve it for history', unstained.
A moratorium is often considered de
llrable in affording time to develop
polite excuses for no payment at all.
i Speedy Justice in Sweden.
Sweden moves more rapidly in its
Judicial proceedings than some other
countries, notably the United States.
Yesterday a court at Stockholm passed
sentence of nine months’ hard labor
and a fine of $162,000 upon Bror Bred
berg. a director in the enterprises of
the late Ivar Kreuger, the so-called
match king, who took his own life in
Paris March 12. Bredberg Is one of
six associates of Kreuger who are ac
cused of fraud in connection with the
manipulation of the accounts of the
corporations that comprised the great
Kreuger combination. It is not unfair
to say that If this situation had de
veloped in America probably three
years rather than months would have
elapsed between the disclosure of Irreg
ularities in the management involving
heavy losses to investors and the con
viction and sentence of a participant
In the fraud. Of course, the prompt
ness of the punitive proceedings in
Sweden will not effect the restoration
of a dollar to those who lost in the
Kreuger enterprise. But the moral ef
fect of this speedy justice as a warn
ing and deterrent is assured.
American judicial procedure is slow
to the point o' virtual denial of jus
tice to the public. Cases are pre
pared for trial with deliberation on
the part of both the prosecution and
the defendant. Calendars are congested
and trial dates are set months after In
dictment. Trials are protracted by
the multiplication of testimony, by
elaborate examination, by profuse ar
guments. After verdict is rendered, in
some instances three and four months
after the beginning of the testimony,
long lapses occur in the preparations
for appeal in case of conviction, and
when the appeal is finally presented to
the upper court arguments are begun
only after further delay and the higher
court takes weeks and in some cases
months for consideration and decision.
Therj U always a chance of i|versal
on some technicality which Involves re
trial, with further time spent In a rep
etition of the process.
So persistent Is this course of de
liberate and protracted judicial proceed
ing In the United States that the public
has come to expect It and to look for
ward to the lapse of two or three years
between discovery of an offense and, In
the event of conviction, the beginning
of penalty. Impatience with this long
process of law enforcement has been
manifested for years. Some advance
has been made toward expedition by the
clearing of the calendars of the higher
courts, but no steps have been taken
toward expedition of the Initial trials
either in the shortening of time be
tween accusation and examination or
in the period of the trials themselves.
Occasionally when a particularly shock
ing crime has been committed, arousing
public indignation to a high pitch, grand
juries act promptly and trial courts press !
through to exceptionally quick conclu
sions. These exceptions, however, only
occur when an emotional public urge
demands speed. The average of time
required to apply the law to the point
of punishment remains undiminished.
Reform in this matter of judicial
procedure to the end of greater expedi
tion has been demanded so often with- 1
out effect that hope of a betterment of
conditions has ebbed to a low point.
The problem is being studied by emi
nent persons both in and out of the
legal profession, and yet with so little
result that it seems to have become
rather an academic question than a
matter of urgent public necessity.
The French Gold Withdrawal.
With the purchase in New York of
$55,000,000 of gold by the Banque de
France, an element of uncertainty for
tlie American bankers and the Federal
Reserve has new been removed. Since
last September, the foreign banks of
issue, and especially the Banque de
France, the Belgian, the Netherland,
and the Swiss national banks have been
withdrawing their gold from the United
States. Speculation was rife in Europe
as to when the United States, unable to
stand the pressure of gold withdrawal,
would follow Great Britain’s example
and go off the gold standard. The
platonic speculation of the European
financial experts was followed by the
actual speculation of many European
bankers and brokers who, on the as
sumption that, the United States would
abandon the gold standard not later
than this Fall, had sold the dollar short
in the hope of reaping as rich a harvest
as in the case of Great Britain.
The New York bankers and the Fed
eral Reserve Bank, although confident
that the withdrawal of gold from this
country would be ultimately beneficial
to all concerned, were nervous, not be
ing able to gauge the moral effect on
the people of the United States.
The final liqu*»*«on of the foreign
gold occurred on <bu» 14. Out of some
$3,000,000,000 of tcrvlglt money depos
ited or invested in this country in 1929
only some $700,000,000 Is left. This
amount is. however, as good as non
existent, as far as the Federal Reserve
is concerned, because It is all earmarked
for export abroad In the form of gold
bullion.
Until September, 1931, the pound
sterling was Uia yardstick which meas
ured all lntemnjcnal money transac
tions. When fte pound became un
stable as a consequence of Britain hav
ing given up the gold standard, France
had hoped to take her place on the
assumption that America would follow
Britain's example, under the pressure
of the gold withdrawal and its in
ability to ielance the budget by new
taxes on *he eve of the presidential
elections
The reasoning of the European
financiers and speculators was wrong;
the foreign gold has been withdrawn in
full, the budget is being balanced, and
the dollar has remained the only stable
currency in the international market.
The effect of the liquidation of
foreign deposits in this country has
been to stabilize the dollar at its exact
value in the foreign money markets; to
ease the credit situation in the United
States, where bankers need no longer
worry over the necessity of having j
liquid money to meet any call from
abroad; to put an end to the world
speculation in foreign currencies, and
to Increase the gold reserves of the
various European banks of issue, thus
enabling them to use their surplus of
gold for the needs of their commerce
and industry.
If the political situation in Europe
improves in the course of this year,
the increased gold deposits will be an
important factor for the revival of
economic life in Europe. Should the
political sky remain overcast there Is
a. serious danger that the private in
vestors will again let their gold emi
grate to the United States in spite of
the desire of the Federal Reserve and
the Wall Street bankers to avoid the
renewal of such an occurence.
A race with results as securely pre
dicted as the recent one in Chicago
may go a long way in reform by dis
couraging gambling. There were a few
speakeasies, but no handbookmakers.
, Mtr -
The Late Mayor Walker.
It would seem that the mayor of
New York, now under accusation as
negligent of his duties, would be scru
pulously careful to keep his official en
gagements and try to correct the habit of
tardiness which has earned for him the
ribald title of the "late” Jimmy Walker.
But evidently the habit of tardiness is
too firmly fixed to permit him to meet
his engagements on time. An illustra
tive case occurred yesterday. The
United States has just bought from the
| municipality a site for a new Federal
j court house. The transaction was some
what complicated, involving certain ex
changes of territory. It finally worked
out to the point where the United States
owed the city of New York $2,440,640
in immediate payment. A Treasury
check for that amount was drawn and
arrangements were made to turn it over
to Mayor Walker at City Hall yesterday
at 12:35 p.m. The United States attor
ney for the New York district and a
representative of the Treasury Depart
ment presented themselves at municipal
headquarters promptly at that time.
The mayor was absent. The mayor’s
secretary was consulted and explained
that the mayor must have been held up
by traffic. He suggested that the bearers
of the check return at 2:30. They went
away and presumably had luncheon, and
at the postponed hour reached the City
Hall, and there they met the mayor,
who had just arrived. The check was
formally turned over to him, the usual
flashlight photographs were taken, the
mayor beamed In acknowledgment of
the check and handed the deed to the
site to the Federal ofllclals. The Inci
dent was closed. No explanation has
yet been vouchsafed as to why the
mayor kept the United States waiting
for two hours to pay the city about
two and a half million dollars. New
York got the money, the United States
got Its deed, and It was all In the day's
work. What Is time to a mayor, any
way?
Long and Coxey Proposed.
Owing to a mlx-up over the eligibility
of the nominee of the Farmer-Labor
party for President, selected at a con
vention held In Omaha, a new ticket
may be named by that organization.
The chairman of the National Executive
Committee at Council Bluffs, Iowa, has
taken the matter in hand, and without
bothering to call another convention,
has written a ticket that pleases him,
whether it satisfies the rank and file I
of the party or not. He has invited
Senator Huey P. Long of Louisiana to
be the party’s candidate for President
and Jacob S. Coxey of Ohio, now mayor
of Massilon, to run for Vice President.
"General” Coxey has, it Is now reported,
accepted the honor, but thus far no
response has come from Senator Long.
It is really to be hoped that he will
take the nomination. The ticket of
Long and Coxey would be an Interest
ing one. Senator Long would make
a lively campaigner for himself and
“General Coxey” Is never at a loss for
words. Both are national figures. Both
are believers In peculiar doctrines of
Government. Senator Long is an adept
at office holding, has proved his abil
ity to hold two offices at once. These
are strange times and strange things
may happen. He might be elected
President on the Farmer-Labor ticket
and he would then have a chance to
bifurcate himself again and occupy the
presidential chair and a senatorial seat
simultaneously. The experiment might
be worth trying.
If restoration of the brewery as a
raiser of public revenue should by any
means prove a success some reminis
cent economist is pretty sure to recall
the old custom of lotteries to help the
State financially. Even the old Louisi
ana lottery was never accused of being
as precarious as some of the stock ex
change speculations.
It is reported that Chicago night
clubs and dance- halls were disappoint
ed by the scant patronage by conven
tion delegates. They were all previous
ly informed about the perils of a me
tropolis. The most remote hamlet now
lias its motion picture theater.
Objection to any interference with
Hawaii's present political system was
expressed in the Republican platform.
This averts another incidental topic
calculated to Interfere with a discus
sion of debts and collections in lucid
terminology.
Good judgment would lead Chinese
and Japanese to suspend any warlike
demonstrations during a presidential
campaign which would prevent the
American public from paying much at
tention to anything else.
There were many decorative toy bal
loons In the big convention hall, but
none of them attracted as much atten
tion as former Senator France's ora
torical parachute which failed to open.
A number of weeks of campaigning
must intervene before the radio can go
back to George Washington's Bicen
tennial.
SHOOTING STARS.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
Truth.
My Uncle Jim, he says, says he
"The Good Book's never wrong;
In it the simple truth we’ll see
In phrases clear and strong.
The Truth as Golden Apples stands
With Sliver Pictures Framing.”
This statement in far ancient lands
Our faith anew is claiming.
The sounding brass, the base alloy,
Will make a showing brave,
But are not what we must employ
In a transaction grave.
And in our business, small or great,
In friendship or in quarrels,
Relations we must regulate
With bimetallic morals.
Lofty Observation.
"Where do you stand on prohibi
tion?" asked the lady with a note-book.
"I'm not sure,” answered Senator
Sorghum, "that I'm standing at all.”
“Yet you are inevitably prominent in
the discussion.”
"Prominent, but powerless. It has
gotten me so much in the air that I
feel like a pole-sitter.”
Jud Tunkins says It’s a fine feeling to
be having your own way, but you're lost
if you pick the wrong direction.
Tonic Specialist.
When In his youth he misbehaved
Gambrinus went to college.
In grim seclusion there he slaved
To gain superior knowledge.
When economic pains arise
And symptoms new entwine us,
Some of us think it might we wise
To send for Doc Gambrinus.
—
Recipe.
“What do you think of the sugges
tions regarding the eighteenth amend
* ment?”
“Some of them,” responded Uncle Bill
I Bottletop, "remind me of an old-fash
I ioned mint julep—a measured amount
| of alcohol, along with ice water, with
, discretion; vegetation to encourage the
! farmer, and political sweetenin’ accord
1 ing to taste.”
“A philosopher with a great idea,”
1 said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is
like my ancestor who invented gun
powder, but had no conception of the
possibilities of its practical application.
So he was satisfied to amuse himself
with the explosion and made firecrack
ers of it.”
Reminiscence Acclaimed.
The orator great heights would reach.
His effort had a punch.
] It was no after-dinner speech, *
But just about free lunch.
‘ De best music to my ear,” said Uncle
Eben, “is de p’litical jazz dat kin make
three cheers harmonize wif de dinner
ben.” v
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
What looks better In a lawn than
some clover?
Yet many home owners profess to de
test It.
Perhaps they are the same people
who claim to like the dark meat of
turkey better than the white.
Nothing bo sets ofT the true grasses
In a lawn as patches of some small
clover, such as the so-called Dutch,
with Its dark green leaves.
Even the blossoms, rightly viewed, are
aids, not detriments.
Too much clover of course, with the
white blossoms permitted to remain on
their stalks until faded, would not par
ticularly beautify a yard.
The weekly cutting with the mower,
however, will remove most of the stalks
and flower heads, and these may be
raked up. The flowers are soon gone,
but the leaves linger on.
* * * *
Seedsmen, as well as home owners,
differ in their liking for clover in a
lawn grass mixture.
Some use it, some do not.
The claims made against it are main
ly two-fold, that it is unsightly, and
that it tends to die out at the wrong
time of the year.
In its favor it is said that It helps
make a mat of roots, preventing lawn
surfaces from washing out, particularly
on terraces; that Its beneficial action
on the sell Is very large; and that It
keeps places green which otherwise
might be bare in the height of Summer.
So take your choice.
We happen to be a cloverlte, and are
always glad to see it listed in the com
ponent seeds of any grass mixture. If
necessary, we go to the extent of pur
chasing a pound or so to sow on bare
spots.
* * * a
There is not a pound of anything,
not even butter, which the householder
may purchase more advantageously
than a sack of Dutch white clover,
Trifolium repens.
It will not be a large sack—these
small, round seeds are very heavy.
They will go a long way, however. A
pound will be enough.
A few dropped into bare spots, at al
most any tune of. the year, will grow
readily into sturdy, flat clover plants.
The browning of the blossoms, after
all. Is a very small matter.
The big thing to keep in mind Is the
ameliorization of the soil.
* * * *
It Is not for nothing that modem
agriculture, with its rotation of crops,
Is built solidly around clover and Its ac
tion in the earth.
Nitrogen-bearing bacteria on its roots
do what man, unaided, scarce can do.
This co-operation of bacteria and
certain plants, chiefly the Legumi
nosae (peas, beans, clovers, etc.) results
in the restoration of nitrogen to the j
soil.
And nitrogen is the one element
which the growing things in the earth
must have.
Various cultures may be secured, to
put upon legume seeds, in order that j
their growth may be the greater, owing 1
to their Increase in this power of creat
ing nitrogen.
* * * *
Who is there so unfortunate as not
to remember some field of red clover
through which he wandered as a youth?
The scent was delightful, even to
childish nostrils. Then there was a large
form of white clover which grew thick
and delicious.
Some of the more cultivated forms of
red clover long ago eser.ped to home
lawns. There were few yards in the
small towns of America which did not
have at least a few clumps of red clover
growing in them.
There is something utterly clean about
the smell of clover; few other plants
can equal it in this respect. There Is
nothing cloying about it, although It is
strong enough.
All clovers belong to the genus
Trifollum, which means three-leafed.
As every one knows, the discovery
of a clover plant with the leaves grow
ing In fours, known as a four-leaf
clover, Is held by the world to be par
ticularly fortunate.
Only this year the Washington ball
team, after losing several games, was
sent an envelope of four-leaf clovers,
with the Instructions from the “fan"
who sent It to place one In the shoe
of each member of the team.
One man held out, and the team
began to lose. When he at last placed
his clover “as per directions" the team
won the game.
So went the story, at any rate, and
those who have since ancient times be
lieved in this superstition will be able
to see nothing unusual about It.
* * * *
There are about 300 species of
leguminous plants, most of them used
for fodder, either animal or human.
The seeds are what mankind eats,
notably in peas, beans and lentils. The
latter are mentioned often in the Bible,
but are not much used in America for
food.
Veterinarians advise a mixture of
beef and lentils for house cats. Some
of these animals often prove very fond
of this, but mostly In time tend to shy
away from It.
The word "legume" comes from the
Latin legere, to pick, quite understand
able in the case of our peas and beans.
Our word "legerdemain" posslbly
comes from the same root, through the
French "leger de main," light of hand.
* * * *
In the home lawn one Is not so much
Interested in clover secrets as in clover
results.
What one aims at. in planting it, Is
a better lawn, one which tends to look
greener the year around.
Since Dutch white,clover Is a peren
nial, It will not go back on one, In most
cases, especially if the grass, as a whole,
is fed certain plant foods.
If clover Is used In apy appreciable
quantities, it is necessary to see to it
that the soil has plenty of lime, phos
phorus and potash. The last two are
supplied by most commercial fertilizers.
Some of them use lime as a basis for
the incorporation of these elements in
an integral fertilizer.
Clover should be sown, therefore,
only on those lawns seeded In accord
ance with what may be called old-time
methods, which depend upon an alka
line soil, rather than In tune with the
newer idea of a slightly acid soil.
The use of hydrated or agricultural
lime on the lawn Is not to be under
taken offhand, even by the most care
less person; lime is not a material to
scatter heedlessly any place. Rightly
understood, and correctly used, It is
beneficial to soils and to many plants.
* * * *
German iris, for instance, treated
with lime in early Spring, as early as
February or March, will respond with
splendid blossoms. But Japanese Iris
should not have it.
If lime is to be used on lawns, it
should be placed out not later than
February, and permitted to become
thoroughly incorporated with the soil
through the action of the rains.
Clover sown in such a soil, either
by itself, or in a certain percentage in
the grass seed mixture, will take root
Joyfully, and reward the amateur hor
ticulturist with some of those fine
patches of deep green which are like
pools and eddies in the ocean.
Strict uniformity, therefore, is lack
ing in such a lawn. Whether the home
owner will like this, or not. depends en
tirely upen his temperament. If he
does, the lawn will be more beautiful to
him with plenty of Dutch white clover
in it.
And he may rest assured that his
grasses will be In better condition, as
a result of the underground work of
the clover roots and their little aides.
Highlights on the Wide W orld
Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands
VATERLAND. Lucerne—In the
council and legislative halls,
and in the press, we hear or
read much about the question
of foreign cheese. How far
should we go in permitting importa
tions, and what mere drastic regula
tion should be enforced to see that
neither the government nor Swiss in
dustry is defrauded of its just returns
from these commodities? it is a very
illogical thing* that in a country whose
chief product, in an agricultural sense,
at least, is fme cheese, should be
injured in that very particular. No
similar product of any nation is any
better, and in our own country it
should be cheap, so cheap that there
would be no market here for inferior
grades imported from the “outland.”
It has become increasingly evident,
however, that these importations are
not intrinsically for local consumption,
but are rather designed to promote a
new commercial exploitation of our
country by foreign merchants, who re
label and repack ordinary Italian
gorgonzcla, or French roquefort and
ship it to America or to some other
country with a vitiated taste, as
genuine Swiss cheese. Even after they
have paid the duty into Switzerland,
they can still undersell real Swiss
cheese in the foreign markets and
make a handsome profit besides. Such
is the situation confronting the
Schweizerische Kueseunion (Guild of
Swiss cheese makers) and it has
already revived an agitation for stricter
vigilance and control on the part of
the government. Every deputy and
member of the council is to be made
fully cognizant of the threat to so
I important an .ncustry.
<- -X- ^
I Cairo Writer Sees
Dangers for Irish.
Egyptian Gazette, Cairo.—Eamon de
Valera has been called the world
champion hair-splitter, but there is
nothing finicky about the policy he
has advocated for some years past and
now intends to try to put into
operation. He believes in three things:
(1) Turning the English out of
Ireland
(2) The union of Ireland into one
whole.
(3» The repudiation of Ireland’s
debt under the land act.
"Turning the English out of Ire
land," means, now. nothing more nor
less than abolishing the oath of al
legiance. for the English have long
left Ireland in the sense of having
ceased to interfere in any way in her
internal affairs.
We have the late Tim Healy’s word
for it during the time he was governor
general there was never the slightest
! suspicion of an English wish to in
i teifere or give advice. If Mr. de
Valera persists in his intentions about
the oath and has a majority of the
Irish people with him, the oath will
certainly go, for England has not the
slightest intention of going to war
with Ireland about the question, nor
even of using any sort of coercive
measures.
The results to Ireland of abolish
ing the oath will be the results purely
of her own action. She will, for the
time being, become a country with
no international status, will cease to
be a member of the British Common
w'ealth of Nations and, now that
Britain is a protectionist country will
risk losing favored treatment in the
market which buys 90 per cent of her
exports. Further, the large number of
Irish citizens officially employed in
various parts of the British Empire will
have to choose between resignation and
naturalization.
Mr. de Valera’s hope for a United
Ireland is shared by the British govern
ment and during the last few years
some of the old bitter feeling between
the Free State and Ulster has
evaporated. But the time is still far
from ripe for union, and the British
government would certainly not be a
party to any pressure on Ulster In this
direction.
To repudiate Ireland's debt under
the land act would be an act of dis
honesty. The land grants were part
of the agreement between Britain and
Ireland. They were modified in 1926
In a manner which Mr. Cosgrave
described as most generous. To go back
on the obligations entered into would
be political perfidy and would show
that Mr. de Valera does not recognize
the essential requirements of friendly
relationship between civilized govern
ments.
The situation is. no doubt, as is
conveyed by Reuter's cables today, a
grave one for all concerned In Ire
land’s welfare. But it is grave chiefly
for the Irish people themselves. If
they allow themselves to be led into
folly by De Valera it is they who,
economically, will suffer the worst
consequences.
Ecuador Police
Aid Health Drive.
El Telegrafo, Guayaquil.—The senor
superintendent general of police, echo
ing the denunciations uttered by the
senor municipal physician, to whom is
confided the health cf the city, has
imparted orders to all subalterns in
the Police Department that they
proceed to arrest every person they see
throwing any sort of rubbish or refuse
in the streets, no matter of what
description. These people are to be
detained without any distinction of
class, sex or condition, in a further
effort to see if our thoroughfares can
not be kept in a more salubrious state.
Infractors of this ordinance will be
severely fined, and in default of pay
ment be imprisoned until they have
been duly mpressed with the serious
ness of this matter. The municipal
physician declares It impassible to
maintain a satisfactory state of public
health, while the streets continue
breeding grounds for fevers and
malaria.
Tax Bankruptcy.
From the Morgantown Dominion-News.
The specter of tax bankruptcy is
faced by a good many Americans these
days. Tax levies, according to Melvin
Traylor, president of the First National
Bank of Chicago, take the estimated
equivalent of cne day’s labor every week
from every one In the country. A few
years ago 1 out of every 22 persons
gainfully employed was on the public
pay roll: now the percentage is 1 in 11.
It Is said that if the present rate con
tinues, in a little over 20 years we will
have 1 perscn working for government
for every person who pays taxes!
Recently, in a Middle Western State,
1,000.000 acres of land were taken over
by the counties for unpaid taxes.
Another State has an $18,000,000 deficit.
Another has $10,000,000 In signed con
tracts for certain projects and is un
able to raise a single dollar with which
to meet them. In many parts cf the
country local bond issues have de
faulted, schocls have been closed, neces
sary functions of government have been
crippled, public employes have been un
paid.
This is what government extravagance
has done. Higher taxes is not the solu
tion. The people cannot pay. In Ohio,
according to Mark Sullivan, with present
low commodity prices, the State and
municipalities take, In taxes, an amount
about equal to the entire value of every
farmer’s crop. Nothing but tax bank
ruptcy can result if the trend of today
is continued.
Predicters.
Prom the Toronto <Ontario) Dally Star.
They now employ a machine to pre
dict earthquakes, although plenty of
men would be glad to accept the Job at
[ at a fair salary.. v .
a*
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH G. BOWERMAN.
Gertrude Atherton, who hu Just pub
lished her memoirs under the title
"Adventures of a Novelist,” will, accord
ing to "Who’s Who in America,” be 75
years old In October. Though she has
reached the reminiscent period, there Is
nothing in these memoirs to indicate
philosophic aloofness from active life or
a farewell to adventure. Mrs. Atherton
obviously enjoys looking back upon all
the varied experiences of her life, and
in telling of them seems to relive them
with relish or vigorous diBtaste. Per
haps the great vitality of her spirit and
style are partly to be explained (she
herself Suggests this explanation) by
the Stelnach rejuvenation treatment
which she took in New York Just before
she wrote her novel "Black Oxen.” in
which the heroine Is a rejuvenated
woman. Mrs. Atherton describes her
treatment and the writing of the novel
on pages 554-559. In reading "Adven
tures of a Novelist” one receives the im
pression of a personality precocious and
mature from early childhood, extremely
vital, unemotional. Intellectual, egotis
tic, super-sophisticated, "hard-boiled."
Another impression is that Mrs. Ather
ton has had a wonderfully good time
all through life—that is, ever since the
death of her husband after only a few
years of marriage. This qualification is
not one suppUed by the reader. Mrs.
Atherton herself makes It quite clear,
and her reasons are scattered through
the early part of the story. When her
not very satisfactory husband set out on
the journey to Chile from which he
never returned, "I was reasonably con
tent," she comments, “for this mild
phase of freedom was better than noth
ing.” When the news of his death was
brought to her by Rose, her mother's
privileged old servant who had cared
for her In childhood, and Rose re
marked, "You're a cool young one. . . .
You don’t even look excited,” she re
plied "diplomatically.” "Perhaps I am
stunned. . . . But you’d better go
home and get breakfast. It was good
of you to come.”
After the death of George Goni Ath
erton, Gertrude Atherton turned her
back on all the legal possibilities caused
by her husband's borrowings and failure
to pay, left her small daughter with
her mother-in-law, of whom she was
always fond, and went to New York to
make a business of being a writer. She
had already had a small and somewhat
scandal-producing literary success in
“The Randolphs of Redwoods.” a novel
in which she revived an old San Fran
cisco scandal and introduced many of
the elite of Menlo Park, including her
sister-in-law, as characters. The New
York critics were not kind to her next
novel, “What Dreams May Come,” and
she says: "I was more horrified and
astonished by the lack of chivalry' in
these tirades than by the wholesale
condemnation of the book.” In disgust
she left New York and went to Paris
to visit her sister-in-law, who had for
given her for the liberty taken in im
personating her in “The Randolphs of
Redwoods." From this time Mrs. Ath
erton spent much of her life abroad—
in France, England and Germany. Her
next novels, published in England, were
more hospitably greeted by English crit
ics. who prophesied that she was the
coming American iTTman novelist. In
writing her novels abe has had the
habit of selecting a nmw place in which
to write each new novel. After spend
ing a short time in the place* chosen
for the setting of a novel, in order to
impress herself with the atmosphere,
she has retired to another place to do
the creative work. Some of the places
chosen have been far from comfort
able—poorly heated, scantily furnished,
noisy—but in them her Imagination has
been able to work. They have included
a picturesque but chilly Sacred Heart
Convent at Boulogne; & “hotel of sorts”
at Fort Ross. Calif., “with the sea
thundering at the base of the cliffs and
the Winter wind howling in the red
wood forest"; a lodging in Haworth,
within sight of the churchyard where
the Brontes were buried; a lodging in
a Hertfordshire cottage; a neglected old
house in a tangled yard outside Rouen;
Washington. D. C. (when writing “Sen
ator North"); a resort in the Adiron
dacks: an apartment in Munich, where
altogether she spent many years; Ber
keley Inn. where she was at the time
of the San Francisco earthquake of
1906, and many different temporary
abodes in San Francisco, New York and
London.
* * * *
Her writing has always been Mrs.
Atherton's primary Interest, but she
has found time in a crowded life for
many other activities and for many
persona] associations. Her enjoyment
of people and things has always been
keen. Even when she has been drawn,
with great reluctance on her part, into
enterprises which were not to her taste,
she has entered into them with zest
and energy. Hers is a dynamic person
ality. She may often have been, rest
less, rebellious, indignant, but it is doubt
ful if she has often been bored. She
campaigned in California for Woodrow
Wilson, although she had only a "slight
leaning" toward the Democratic party,
had never made a speech in her life, and
"never had wanted to make one," and
privately "admired Roosevelt more than
Wilson." She was. however, "bent upon
being thorough,” and so in one of her
speeches attacked Roosevelt as “the
100-per-cent male—one had only to
look at that cave-man face.” She notes
with pride that the Republican State of
California was carried for Wilson, but
confesses that during the campaign she
was several times privately admonished
-to be less flippant and to take her sub
ject more seriously. Her very success
ful organization and conduct of the
"ceuvre,” Le Bien-Etre du Blesses, in
New York during the World War, was
not work of her own choosing. It was
forced upon her, almost frantically, by
French friends, when she was in Paris
for the purpose of visiting the war zone,
to gather material for newspaper ar
ticles. The story which she tells of her
decorations from the French govern
ment is an amusing part of the “ceuvre"
experience.
* * * *
Not all the “life” of the United States
is to be found in the cities. Albert
Blumenthal in his book “Small Town
Stuff," ft University of Chicago study,
takes a typical small community, Mine
ville, surmised by some critics to be in
Montana, and describes the industrial,
domestic and social life. The popula
tion of Mineville is about 1,500: that
of the county in which it is located
about 3,000. Its industries are silver,
lead, zinc and manganese ore mining
and stock raising. The average income
of a family is less than $2,000 a year,
but on this families live very well, and
in times of depression the town takes
care of Its own unemployed without
asking outside help. There are no mil
lionaires in residence. The “outstand
ing economic successes are middle class
people with incomes which usually
range from $5,000 to $10,000 a year."
The townspeople love the town and feel
that “when a fellow goes away he gets
lonesome because he don’t know a soul.”
! Social activities are as continuous as In
a large city, if the social circle is more
i restricted, and they are “required and
i not optional.” Seven leading families
j constitute the “four hundred.” On a
j smaller scale, Mineville has all the ad
vantages of a large city, Including
speakeasies and bootleggers.
* * * *
Anne Parrish wrote one good novel,
i “The Perennial Bachelor,” and since Its
! appearance has written several not so
good, which have perhaps sold because
readers have been hoping for a worthy
companion to the ’’Bachelor.” Her
most recent novel, “Loads of Love.” is
the story of Bessie, approaching middle
age, who carries about “loads of love”
for every one, when, unfortunately, no
one wants her love. Evat while feeling
sorry for her, we know that we should
not want It ourselves. She Is good, but
uninteresting. t
Pests.
Prom the San Antonio Express.
The most destructive Insect pest of
1931 was the grasshopper, reports the
Federal Bureau of Entomology, but the
habitual gloom-spreader was ft close
second.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC J. UASKIN.
Any reader of this newspaper Is wel
come to make use at any time of the
free Information service of this de
partment. Address your Inquiry to
The Evening Star Information Bu
reau. Frederic J. Haskln, Director,
Washington, D. C.t and you will re
ceive a personal letter In reply. Inclose
2 cents for return postage. Be sure
to state your question clearly and to
write your name and address plainly.
Q. Do steel strings on a tennis
racket wear a ball quicker than gut
strings?—D. B.
A. No Information is available on
this point. However, the great wear
on a tennis ball Is due not so much
to contact with the racket as to the
abrasion which takes place In contact
with the ground.
Q. How does the amount of money
spent by the United States Govern
ment for veterans’ relief compare with
a like expenditure In other coun
tries?—B. M.
A. The appropriations of our Gov
ernment exceed those of all other coun
tries combined. The men mobilized in
this country totaled 4.355.000, while the
armies of Germany, France, Great
Britain, Italy and Canada totaled
34,244,636.
Q. Is there to be another Byrd ex
pedition to the South Pole?—O. S.
A. Rear Admiral Byrd Is planning
a second trip to the Antarctic in Sep
tember, 1932.
Q If all the gold money in the
world were melted into one block, how
large would the block be?—E. D. N.
A. The monetary gold in the world
cast in one solid block would form a
cube 31 feet in each dimension.
Q. How many miles of the Trans
siberian Railway are double-tracked?—
F. -W. H.
A. It is double-tracked from Omsk
to Vladivostok, a distance oi 3,566
miles.
Q. What 1s the pomato?—T. M. L.
A. It is a plant produced by the
late Luther Burbank, obtained by cleft
grafting tomato scions onto potato
roots. These two vegetables are closely
related, being two different species of
the same genus (Solanum), and Mr.
Burbank succeeded in producing both
tomatoes and potatoes on the same
plant. The pomato has never had any
commercial Importance, but is interest
ing as an example of plant breeding.
Both the fruit and the tubers are edi
ble. but such a plant could hardly be
made to produce both tomatoes and
potatoes of good flavor, nor in com
mercial quantity.
Q What force patrols the Mexican
border in Texas?—E. S.
A. The State of Texas maintains
a small body of mounted military
police, called rangers, or the Texas
Rangers, whose principal duties con
sist in enforcing the State laws along
the Mexican border.
Q. Did the real Alice of “Alice in
Wonderland’’ marry?—A. S. D.
A. She married and became the
mother of three sons. Two were lost
in the World War.
Q Is the postmistress at Wakefield,
Va., related to George Washington?—
F. W. K
A. M:ss Julia L. Washington, post
mistress at Washington's birthplace, is
descended from George Washington's
half-brother Augustine.
Q. How was the tax on bank checks
collected in 1898?—T. W. R
A. The Bureau of Internal Revenue
says that the tax on bank checks was
passed July 1, 1898, and repealed July
1, 1901. The tax was an imprinted
stamp on blank checks that were made
by certain companies. Employes were
kept In the banks to certify as to the
number of checks that came in. The
bank placed a requisition for a supply
of these bank checks and paid in ad
vance the price of the tax. Individuals
who used the checks were then required
to pay for the book or for each in
dividual check when used. The charge
was two cents for each check.
Q. What per cent of the trade of
the United States is foreign when times
are good and when times are bad?—
W. W. H.
A. The foreign trade of the United
States is approximately 10 per cent of
the total trade. This holds fairly true
regardless of prosperity or depression.
Q. When was the crossbow used in
England?—C. A. V.
A. It was used chiefly in the twelfth
century, but was not unknown in the
tenth and eleventh centuries.
Q. Did the United States actually
pay to Spain $5,000,000 as a purchase
price for Florida?—V. W.
A. The $5,000,000 which the United
States paid for Florida instead of being
paid directly to Spain was paid to citi
zens of the United States in discharg
ing claims for damages to American
commerce permitted bv Spanish author
ities during the War of 1812.
Q. How many stamps has the Gov
ernment Philatelic Agency sold in the
past five years?—P. H K.
A. The Post Office Department says
that during the last five years approx
imately 1,200.000 stamps have been sold
by the Government Philatelic Agency.
Q. When was Flag dav first cele
brated In a public school?—W. Me A
A. Philadelphia was the first to ob
serve the day in the schools—June 14
1893.
Q. What are the Pillars of Hercules?
—N. T.
A. The Pillars of Hercules are two
hills on opposite sides of the Strait of
Gibraltar, so called because of the myth
that they had been torn asunder by
Hercules to admit the flow of the
ocean into the Mediterranean.
Q. Please give the names of the win
ners of the Indianapolis classic —L
L. M.
A. It was won this year by Fred
Frame driving a Miller-Hartz special
He averaged 104 144 miles per hour.
Howard Wilcox, in a lien Head special,
won second prize: Cl.ff Bergere, in a
Studebaker, won third: Bob Carey, In
a Meyer special, won fourth: Russell
Snowberger, in a Hupp Comet, won
fifth prize.
Q. Why do people live longer now
than formerly?—E T.
A There are many factors which
contribute to prolong the span of human
life. Among the more important are
improved living conditions, pure food,
cleaner milk, pure drinking water,
proper d-sposal of refuse and specific
action cf the public health service to
ward various diseases
Q When were marble-topped stands
and table popular? ’—L. C.
A They were at the height of their
popularity in the 1870s.
Q When did Kipling live in the
TJ"n’ts*^
A He visited the United States and
married in 1892 the daughter of H. WT
Balestier of New York and lived for
several years in Vermont.
Q What is meant by the practice of
' Fletcherism"?—A L. R
A. "Fletcherism'' is a theory advo
cated by Horace Fletcher that perfect
health requires and is maintained by
complete mastication or a chewing of
the food into pulp.
Brookhart’s Defeat Is Laid
j To Criticism of Policies
“Signs of the times.” are seen by the
country in the primary defeat of Smith
Wiidman Brookhart. Senator from Iowa.
Lack of patience with his opposition to
constructive legislation, and with his
extreme independence are pointed to
as factors in failure to obtain renom
ination. His influence with agricul
tural interests is held to have been
weakened through increased public at
tention to costly legislation. The charge
of nepotism also receives some public
attention. The successful candidate is
Henrv Field.
"Dressed up as a champion of the
plain people against the dragons of
this, that and the other, he no longer
represented Iowa, but a tendency and
policies which Iowa only wanted one
good straight look at to repudiate,” de
clares the Chicago Tribune (independ
ent Republican i. As viewed by the
Schenectedf Gazette (independent
Democratic, “campaigning in his own
State as an ultra-progressive, he had
voiced some governmental schemes oi
marked instability at Washington, while
actually falling far short of insurging
against reactionary administrations.”
The Gazette thinks “It Is doubtful if
he could have won any following to
his proposals.”
■ Denunciation of the ‘interests.' that
once came in so handy to raliy the
voters, fails to register,” in the opin
ion of the Baton Rouge Advocate (Dem
ocratic), while the San Jose Mercury
Herald i Republican >, calling him "the
standard bearer of Populism.” con
cludes that "the agrarian radicalism
that he stood for offers no remedy for
existing economic ills." The Sioux
Falls Argus-Leader (independent Re
publican!. attests that “at no time has
he turned his hands toward construc
tive accomplishments for the people he
was supposed to represent,” while the
New Orleans Times-Picayune (Demo
cratic). believes that he "never has
been cured of his persuasion that gov
ernment could work, by process of lav
ish appropriation or regulative device,
miracles curative of almost every farm
and economic ailment, no matter what
its cause.”
* * * *
"The people are learning rapidly to
differentiate between ballyhoo and good
business,” says the Toledo Blade (in
dependent Republican), and the Apple
ton Post-Crescent (independent) sees
evidence that "in the face of. hardship,
agriculture turns conservative.” The
Janesville Gazette (independent Re
publican) declares that "the public
has all it can stand of radical reme
dies, that are only impositions,” and that
“all the remedies for ills that Brookhart
has had came to naught when the crisis
arrived." The Roanoke Times (Demo
cratic) recognizes sentiment that Iowa
"was tired at last of Brookhart’s nar
row and fanatical opposition to Wall
Street and big business, and decided
in favor of more conservative repre
sentation at Washington.” The Youngs
town Vindicator (Independent Demo
cratic) believes that “the Progressives
who followed Roosevelt have too often
been mere Populists masking as Re
publicans. and for many years they
have formed such a solid block of
malcontents and dissidents, refusing to
work with either Republicans or Demo
crats, that they have been a serious
obstacle to good government.” The Co
lumbus Ohio State Journal (indepen
dent Republican) "cannot recall a
single major, much less constructive,
movement Brookhart has ever spon
sored.”
“It was a sensational upset,” ac
cording to the Omaha World-Herald
(independent Democratic), "for it was
the defeat of one of the most promi
nent of the little coterie of insurgents
who have held the balance of power in
the Senate for the past decade. * • •
The Brookhart defeat is notice from
the voters that they are no longer
to be satisfied with a Senator whose
only claim to distinction is that he is
opposed to nearly everything. The in
surgents, the exponents of revolt, have
been as Incapable of formulating poli
cies as have been the ultra conserva
tives. Wa$JjlngtoH needs a new and
!
; more earnest and more intelligent type
: of office holder. The first step in
! placing that type in power is to re
t tire such men as Brookhart."
* * * *
“Everybody is free to make his own
analysis,'’ advises the Des Moines
Tribune (independent Republican i, “but
some of the factors that certainly will
not be disregarded by any shrewd
analyst are these: (1) The nepotism
charge against Brookhart was effective.
It put him on the defensive for the first
time in his political career. Even the
fact that others in Congress have been,
in greater or less degree, guilty of the
same practices did not count heavily.
A reformer, whether this be fair or not,
is likely to be judged a trifle more
severely than one whose chosen role is
not reform. (2) In this period of
economic trouble the public tends to
oust the ‘ins.’ The public's dissatisfac
tion with the ‘ins’ seems to .extend to
the protesters who happen to be ‘in,’
unless they have been unquestionably
result-getters. (3> The views of Senator
Brookhart may have come to be re
garded. not only among conservatives,
but also among some groups of liberals
that hitherto have been benevolent
toward him, as too extreme. And his
tendency to simplify every issue to a
struggle between good and evil, with
‘Wall Street' invariably present as a
personal devil, perhaps pot monotonous.
(4) Field proved to have an astonish
ing appeal to the voters. Quite likely
even Field himself was surprised by his
showing. Part of his strength unques
tionably came from voters who simply
preferred him to Brookhart. But most
of it derived from Field's own 'folksy'
character, his personal qualities of
simplicity and friendliness, and belief
In his sincerity."
The Davenport Democrat (Demo
cratic) offers the judgment: “That
Brookhart is no. longer wanted by the
majority of Iowa Republicans as their
representative in the United States
Senate is only too plainly .evidenced in
the vote at the primaries. That in
itself shows he has lost his popularity
and his hold on the Republican party.”
The effect of Brookhart relatives
being on the Federal pav roll is em
phasized by the Danbury Evening News
(independent), the Rochester Times -
Union (independent), the Texarkana
Gazette (Democratic) and the Colum
bia (S. C.) Record (independent
Democratic). Evidence of a new and
more critical spirit among the voters
I of the country Is pointed out by the
'Harrisburg Telegraph (Republican),
! the Yakima Daily Republic (Repub
j lican), the Haverhill Gazette (inde
pendent Republican! and the Morgan
town Dominion-News (independent
Democratic). The Miami Daily News
j (Democratic) emphasizes the effect of
the radio on the fortunes of Brookhart
i in the statement: “Henri- Field has a
i broadcasting station of his own. From
j the first days of radio the voice of
1 Henry Field has battered against the
j eardrums of all Iowa and the fringes
of the nearby States. Why has Henry
I Field now beaten Brookhart? Have the
I rural discontents worn out? Has Henry
I Field, with his radio, out-discontented
Brookhart himse’f? Senator Arthur
Capper holds Kansas In the hollow nf
his farm papers. Have we now our
first Senator by radio?"
Unworn.
From the Columbus Ohio State Journal.
It may be said of some men that
their morals are in excellent condition,
having been used so seldom.
Some Solace.
From the Florence (Ala.) Herald.
Anyway, It will cost our creditors a
cent more for each bill they send us.
Puzzling.
From the Roanoke Times.
The problem which every bank must
i work out for itself Is how to keep solid
i by staying liquid.