Evening star. [volume], March 05, 1937, Page A-10, Image 10

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

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THE EVENING STAR
With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON. D. C.
FRIDAY...March 5, 1937
THEODORE W. NOTES.Editor
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The Neutrality Bill.
The Senate, by a huge majority, has
passed the permanent neutrality bill
sponsored by Senator Pittman, chairman
of the Foreign Relations Committee. It
is the most drastic measure of the kind
that has ever had the approval of either
house of Congress. And by its “cash and
carry” provision it reverses the policy
of the United States since the beginning
of the history of the Nation. America
fought one early war in defense of that
policy, the freedom of the seas, and was
drawn into the great World War because
It continued its adherence to that policy.
The desire of the supporters of neu
trality legislation is primarily to keep the
United States from becoming involved In
wars between other nations. Their idea
is that a strict neutrality, with favors
shown to none of the belligerents, is the
best way to accomplish that end. A
difficulty arises, however, when by rules
laid down in the United States there is
discrimination against a weaker nation
in the matter of trade. The rules now
devised and included in the pending
neutrality legislation declare that a bel
ligerent nation or its nationals must pay
in advance for materials purchased in
America and then must carry them away
from these shores at their own risk in
their own vessels or others they have
hired. Senator Hiram Johnson has
pointed out, quite correctly, that such an
arrangement would make possible trade
With this country only by the belligerent
with the biggest and strongest navy.
Here then is a discrimination against
other friendly nations.
The Senate, in writing its neutrality
bill, has combined the mandatory prin
ciple with the discretionary principle. It
has, for example, made mandatory an
embargo on the shipment of arms, am
munition and implements of war to bel
ligerent nations. It makes mandatory
the “cash and carry” plan of commerce
with belligerent nations. It prohibits
mandatorily any loans or credits to the
warring nations, and it prohibits the
arming of American vessels engaged in
trade with belligerent nations and makes
them engage in such trade at their own
risk. It forbids Americans to travel on
vessels of belligerent nations. These are
mandatory provisions.
On the other hand, the measure gives
to the President the power to use his
discretion in adding other goods and
materials to the embargo list. It also
gives to the President power to prohibit
belligerents from using American ports
as supply stations for their ships, and
it gives the President power to apply all
the provisions of the act to trade with a
nation in which civil war exists. These
last are "discretionary” provisions.
When a Chief Executive of the United
States begins to use “discretion” in
applying embargoes, in the use of Ameri
can ports and in the application of trade
measures toward a country engaged in
civil war, neutrality may quickly fly out
of the window. The use of such dis
cretion, after a conflict shall have
started, will be construed by one side or
the other as unneutral or even inimical,
depending upon how that side may be
affected.
The desire for neutrality is natural
to those who do not wish to see their
country involved in wars which are
none of Its making. But to the neutral
by law is almost as difficult as to be
good by law. The neutrality bill, if and
when it becomes law, will be an ad
mirable gesture. It will give pleasure to
the advocates of peace. When and If war
comes, however, the country, as always,
will be guided by circumstances and by
public sentiment. And when it is so
guided any neutrality law may be kicked
Into the sea.
When Mr. Lemke counts up the presi
dential vetoes he may unconsciously
Imply that it would require at least
fifteen justices to keep up with the
White House negation.
Britain’s Depressed Areas.
These are days of economic evolution
In Great Britain, as elsewhere in the
world, with precedents and traditions
no longer acting as deterrents in clr
: cumstances calling for drastic remedies
or reforms. It is in that emergency spirit
that the Baldwin government has just
launched a major attack to alleviate con
ditions in the so-called depressed areas
of Durham, South Wales, Cumberland
and Lanarkshire. Apart from the in
trinsic importance of the program, it
derives special interest from the fact
that it was the former King Edward VIII,
who, only a few weeks prior to his abdi
cation, first focused national attention
upon the plight of the stricken regions.
Moved to pity by the sight of grass
atrewn factory yards, smokeless chim
neys, destitute children and ramshackle
homes, he voiced publicly what was des
tined to become a historic declaration—
"Something must be done for these peo
ple.” During the ensuing constitutional
erisis, it was widely suggested that Prime
Minister Baldwin’s resentment over this
A
implied royal criticism of the govern
ment’s do-nothing policy strengthened
the cabinet’s resolve to get rid of a “med
dlesome monarch.”
Whatever the impetus that finally
spurred the ministry into action, it now
contemplates measures of revolutionary
magnitude. They will virtually put the
British government into business, in de
fiance of all previous practices and in
hibitions. To induce new Industries to
start up, the treasury will not only sub
sidize them by contributing to their
income taxes and local "rates,” but will
also finance the rental cost of plants
during a five-year period. To aid in
the establishment of public utility con
cerns, state funds will be available to
the extent of one-fourth of their capital.
The cost of these various operations will
be met out of a special fund to be ad
ministered along lines not unlike those
of our own Reconstruction Finance Cor
poration. Further to prime the pump in
districts severely smitten by depression
and unemployment, the government will
spend a substantial portion of the vast
£1,500,000,000 rearmament budget in those
neighborhoods. Already orders worth
£24,000,000 have created thousands of
jobs. Additional contracts for the army,
navy and air force, on an even larger
scale, are to follow. Along with new in
dustrial enterprises and work for com
munities which have for months, and
even years, not known the luxury of
regular pay envelopes, there will be ex
tensive social welfare projects.
The exiled Duke of Windsor seems
definitely entitled to credit for the more
abundant life that now tardily comes to
sections which are the last to experi
ence the benefits of British recovery.
That these developments will go far
toward rehabilitating Edward in popular
favor, especially among John Bull’s un
derprivileged masses, cannot be doubted.
Too Much Money.
Compared with some of the campaign
expenditure investigations of the past,
activities of the special Senate committee
during the 1936 campaign were highly
restrained and colorless—except when it
became expedient to publicize G. O. P.
contributions by the Du Ponts on the
eve of the Maine election. “The com
mittee,-’ says the Lonergan report filed
yesterday, “held no public hearings.”
That almost tells the story.
However, the report gives a resume
of its investigations of charges and
counter-charges of political skulldug
gery which were made by its special
agents. None of the charges seemed to
impress the committee. Alleged political
manipulation of W. P. A. to influence
Democratic voters in Pennsylvania, for
instance, could not be proved, although:
In some instances it appeared that
county and State political leaders were
interested in the Democratic party and
attempted to influence voters by use of
W. P. A. facilities, but • * • their activi
ties were not condoned or encouraged
by the Federal Works Progress Admin
istration, which previously had conducted
a thorough investigation of its own into
the charges.
Despite this broad-minded attitude and
hands-off polic? of the committee during
the campaign, however, it has produced
some significant information and some
sound recommendations regarding cam
paign contributions.
It places the approximate total of
money spent in the last campaign at
almost $48,000,000, including an estimate
of the amount of money for which there
is no accounting. It showed that the
per capita cost of votes polled by the
Communists reached the high mark of
$3.37, as compared with the 85 cents
spent by the Republicans; 33 cents by
the Democrats; 20 cents by the Socialists
and 11 cents by the Union party.
Forty-eight million dollars is too much
—dangerously too much—money to be
spent in a political campaign. The total
accountable expenditures of $23,973,329
by all parties, an average per presidential
voter of 52 cents, is entirely too much.
Ways should be found to extend the
restrictions imposed by the corrupt prac
tices act; to throw stronger safeguards
around campaign contributions, and to
throw more light on them.
One excellent recommendation by the
committee is to apply the same rule to
organizations “whose aims or purposes
are the furtherance of group, class or
special interests” that now prevents cam
paign contributions by national banks,
corporations, etc. Under this ban labor
unions, which poured the unprecedented
total of $770,000 into the Democratic war
chest in tire last campaign, would be
prevented, along with farm organiza
tions, business organizations or o‘ther
special groups, from making contribu
tions. As the report points out, corpora
tions in the past contributed for the
purpose of influencing legislation. And
that, plainly enough, is the purpose of
labor union and other contributions.
They should be outlawed in future cam
paigns. ,
One of the reasons for the esteem In
which Sam Gompers is still held may be
the fact that as an organizer he was
preferably a conciliator. He sought to
promote harmony and to avoid discord.
Human nature’s inherent courage may
be one of the reasons for war. Since
caveman days, tribes have Wen trying
to scare one another with scant success.
Picturesque Polemics.
Mayor La Guardia’s venture into vitu
peration regarding Der Fuehrer has
evoked reprisals in the form of expres
sions by the German press that reach
a high—or a low—mark in impolite ex
pression. There is, however, a classic
collection of epithets in literature that
might be studied as inspiration for any
further exchange of condemnatory con
verse between these opponents. It has
been often cited, but it will bear repeti
tion now, in this connection, though cer
tain elisions must be made to conform
to the present standards of publishable
propaganda. It occurs in Shakespeare,
in the play "King Lear,” in scene 1 of
act H, in the following speech of Kent,
talking with a steward for whom he has
an evident disregard, Kant seconding
A
to the steward’s query: "What dost
thou know me for?”
“A knave; a rascal, an eater of broken
meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly,
three - suited, hundred - pound, filthy
worsted-stocking knave; a lily-liver’d,
action-taking knave; a glass-gazing,
superserviceable, finical rogue; one
trunk-inheriting slave; one that would’st
be a bawd, by way of good service, and art
nothing but the composition of a knave,
beggar, coward, pander; one whom I will
beat into clamorous whining, if thou
deniest the least syllable of thy addi
tion."
In closely following dialogue Kent
styles the steward a ‘‘brazen-faced varlet,
a rogue and a cullionly barber-monger.”
Modem invective has in some respects
gone far ahead of Shakespeare's frank
ness and vituperative directness, but not
in respect of explicitness of description.
A study of the classics might conceivably
lead to even more picturesque speech
when partisans engage in personalities.
Schooled by habit to oratory that fol
lows classic models, Senator Clark of
Missouri precedes his attack on the
New Deal by words of graceful compli
ment. Marc Antony was careful to say
“Brutus is an honorable man” several
times before giving his political antagon
ist as rough an argument as possible.
Georgia will try to prohibit the revela
tion of confidential news sources. Au
thentic news does not hurt so much as
gossip. A further step might be the
elimination of keyholes as items of archi
tecture.
Interpretation of the President’s views
has become so frequent a reportorlal
task that Washington’s esteemed Na
tional Press Club may be asked to set
aside a special suite of rooms for the
accommodation of a distinct novelty by
way of a brain trust.
Great troubles are often obscured by
personal Interests. The really great mat
ter of concern Is the conflict between
the worker and his job. The Supreme
Court might have been left to take care
of itself until the strikes have been
settled.
No gas masks are required for assem
blages in America, although a favorite
politician may, if he desires, borrow a
base ball mask from the catcher as a
precaution against being impulsively
kissed by feminine admirers.
European debtors have never been
greatly interested in the Spanish sport
of bull fighting. Attention is still con
centrated on displays of adroit grace in
bill fighting.
The voice of W. P. A. is to the effect
that the United States Supreme Court
needs relief, no matter how much it
may co6t in additional salaries and
services.
It is feared that some of the sit-down
strikers are lads who were once kind of
purpose and friendly with the police,
but have forgotten their Boy Scout oath.
Neither the Democratic donkey nor the
Republican elephant is funny any more.
Political hybridization may result only
in producing some kind of a freak.
Shooting Stars.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
Mocking Bird.
When 8pring draws near, the mocking
bird
Defies the wintry roar.
A sunbeam speedily makes heard
The song we loved of yore.
Though sullen be the sky above
And fierce the icy blast,
We know well find that song we love
In triumph heard at last.
Tempestuous might must bring dismay—
The slight must fear the strong—
Yet storm can never find a way
To still the heartfelt song.
Perils of Publicity.
“You have been highly successful in
keeping yourself before the eyes of the
people.”
“Yet,” commented Senator Sorghum,
“the achievement is dangerous. When
you are in the public gaze, your merits
become conspicuous, but your mistakes
become more so.”
Not the Psychological Moment
“Your father told me that when I got
a good Job, I might think of marrying
you."
“Yes?” said the girl.
“Well, I’ve got the job and when I told
him about it, he had me thrown out of
his office.” (
“What is the job?”
“Income tax collector.”
When All Wants Are Satisfied.
Machinery eats gas and oil,
With self-expression all serene.
Irksome may be our daily toil;
Yet who would be a mere machine?
Jud Tunkins says his idea of an easy
Job is to be game warden Is one of these
counties where then isn’t any game left.
“What we deserve,” said HI Ho, the
sage of Chinatown, "Is dependent on
our works. What we think we deserve
is dependent on our imagination.”
Genius.
Homer and Dante, it is said,
Sometimes must sing for needed bread.
True “Genius” now with modem art
In an invention makes a start.
He works with a superior skill
And send us each and all a bill.
It costs some millions, experts vow,
To figure as a “Genius” now!
"De smartest man In dis neighbor
hood,” said Uncle Eben, “don’t have
much to say ’bout politics. He claims
dat a year or so after election a heap o*
folks claims dey voted wrong; an* what’s
da use tekln' de ’sponslhiUty?”
a *
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.
The Democratic victory dinners, held
last night In all the great cities of the
country, were used in many instances to
press the campaign for the passage of
President Roosevelt’s bill authorizing an
Increase in the membership of the Su
preme Court. This may have been a bit
tough on the digestion of some of the
Democrats who paid anywhere from $5
to $100 a plate for their dinners, par
ticularly those Democrats who have
failed to fall into line with the Presi
dent’s plan to get new interpretations
of the Constitution. The President him
self took this occasion to start his per
sonal campaign for the court bill, a cam
paign which will continue in a radio
"fireside” talk to the people on March
9, a few days hence. Gen. Hugh
Johnson of N. R. A. fame, the first head
of the governmental agency which the
Supreme Court unanimously took to
pieces and then threw out of the win
dow, had a lot to say about the court
And what should be done.
* * * *
• Gen. Johnson predicted that the Pres
ident’s court plan would be adopted.
"There is no great doubt in Washington
tonight,” he said, "that the President’s
proposal in practically its original form
will be enacted by the Senate and the
House and will become the law of the
land.” Gen. Johnson was addressing a
"victory dinner” crowd in Newark, N. J.
"When that is done, some able and dis
tinguished citizens will be nominated to
the Senate and doubtless by it will be
confirmed. The suggestion that they will
have been bribed by their appointments
to give their decisions in advance of
their taking their places on the bench is
hateful.” Of course, it is hateful, as
Gen. Johnson says. It seems to be a
fact, however, that if anything is to be
accomplished by this maneuver by the
President with regard to the Supreme
Court the new justices will not be picked
because they are opposed to the New
Deal interpretation of the Constitution.
They will be picked for the reason that
they believe in this interpretation. Oth
erwise a futile thing will have been done.
Gen. Johnson insisted that the fourth
and final victory of the New Dealers
will have been accomplished when the
Congress has written into law the Presi
dent’s court bill, and the President shall
have appointed the new justices. "The
New Deal will then at last be tri
umphant,” he said. “The United States
will have adapted itself to the necessi
ties of a great constitutional crisis.”
* * * *
This was the kind of speech which was
made from one end of the land to the
other at the Democratic victory dinners
last night. It was the kind of speech
which President Roosevelt delivered at
the $100-a-plate dinner in Washington.
The Chief Executive heaped upon the
Supreme Court responsibility for the
failure of many New Deal acts—acts
which had been held unconstitutional by
the court but which the President in
sisted were essential to the welfare ol
the people. In none of his past utter
ances about the Supreme Court has the
President been so severe, although he did
not mention the court by name. He gave
promise, however, to keep up his cam
paign for the remaking of the court—
until it was accomplished—and he
stressed the need of quick action if de
mocracy is to continue to advance, or
even to exist, in this country.
* * * *
What the President had to say about
his own future plans carried a great deal
of interest. He said about as clearly as
he could, without making any definite
commitment, that he had no idea of
being a candidate to succeed himself in
the campaign of 1940. He spoke par
ticularly of his ambition to turn over
his successor “on January 20, 1941," with
his place in the White House, a country
that is at peace, that is prosperous, and
that has proved that a democratic form
of government can endure and succeed.
The President did not say that he would
not be a candidate under any circum
stances for a third term in the White
House. But he made it as plain as pos
sible that he does not desire to be a
candidate. This, no doubt, will have a
pleasant sound in the ears of those Dem
ocrats who already are casting longing
eyes at the presidential nomination of
1940.
* * * *
Twenty-seven Democratic Senators
are up for renomination and re-election
next year. Nevertheless a half dozen or
more of these Senators who are due to
undergo the trial by lire in a compara
tively short time have had the courage
to declare themselves, or will soon de
clare themselves, in opposition to the
President on his court plan. Among
those who have already said “no” to the
President in this matter are Clark of
Missouri, George of Georgia, Tydlngs of
Maryland and Van Nuys of Indiana. It
is because of this Democratic opposition
in the Senate that the President has
felt himself compelled to get into action
and to make the speech he made last
night and to plan for other speeches.
He is enlisted, he made it clear, for the
duration of the war. He hopes to turn
so great a tide of public sentiment in
favor of his court plan that his oppo
nents will be completely washed away
and submerged.
In a dozen States, each of which has
two Democratic Senators, there is a
division in the senatorial delegations over
the court plan. Here is a list of them:
Indiana, for the court plan. Senator
Minton, and against the court plan. Sen
ator Van Nuys; Iowa, Herring for, Gil
lette against; New Jersey, Smathers for,
Moore against; Missouri. Truman for,
Clark against; Ohio, Bulkley for, Don
ahey against; Rhode Island, Green for,
Gerry against; South Carolina. Byrnes
for. Smith against; Tennessee, McKellar
for, Bachman against; Texas, Sheppard
for, Connally against; Utah, Thomas for,
King against; Washington, Schwellen
bach for. Bone against; West Virginia,
Neely for, Holt against. Perhaps noth
ing more graphically indicates the divi
sion in Democratic ranks over the Presi
dent’s court plan than does this align
ment of Senators, State by State.
* * * *
In addition to those splits within the
Democratic ranks of the same State
there are some other divisions in pros
pect such as the expected division of
the New York Senators, with Royal S.
Copeland opposing the President and
Robert P. Wagner finally supporting
him, and between members of other par
ties, who had supported Franklin D.
Roosevelt even to the extent of bolting
their own party. For example, in Cali
fornia the union between the Democrats
and the Progressives, in which Senator
Hiram Johnson played so Important a
part has been smashed on the court
issue. Senator Johnson, insurgent Re
publican, is against the court plan and
Senator William Gibbs McAdoo, Demo
crat, is for It.
- Strictly Non-Professional.
From tbs Columbus Dispatch.
European nations agree to withhold
aid from the belligerents in the Spanish
revolution. This is the first time in his
tory that the world has tried to prevent
% Bftr losing its mitiur
K
THIS AND THAT I
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
A flock of 100 robins came In from the
Southwest at exactly 3 o’clock last Sat
urday afternoon and settled on the lawn,
where they spread out In search of food.
They presented a beautiful and thrill
ing sight, these perfect harbingers of
Spring, as they spaced themselves across
the yard In such perfect formation that
they could be counted to the bird.
Very little has been written about the
tendency of this favorite to fly in flocks
at migration time, both in Autumn
when going South, and at this time of
year when flying North again.
Books tell us that many robins merely
fly in from Northern points and take the
places of Fall migrators which have
gone into the deep South.
Thus robins may be seen now and
then in the dead of Winter, but mostly
they do not Winter hereabouts.
• * * *
They spend their time in pairs in this
locality, except in Autmn and Spring,
when they evidently seek the aid of the
flock.
It is not probable that this method of
flying together, before scattering, is done
for purposes of protection, but mostly
for food purposes. That is, in flocks
what one bird discovers is there for other
birds.
Since beetles, grubs and the like are
not so easy to find at the two migrating
times, it is evidently better strategy for
these large and handsome fellows to
stick together.
There are no wild cherries, not even
cultivated species, for the robins to eat
in pre-Spring.
Come to feeding stations, of course,
they will not.
They must rely on grubs which snows
bring to the surface, upon such unwary
angleworms as think Spring had come,
upon such vegetable matter as they will
eat, and they are very "choosy” in this,
a a a a
No one’s robin education has been
completed until he has watched the
descent of one of these migratory flocks,
and seen how they spread out over a
lawn in their search for food.
They will not stay long.
The 100 birds—exact count—which
flew down on the lawn aforementioned,
did not stay more than 10 minutes.
Suddenly one bird decided to call it
a day and flew up, headed toward the
Northwest.
One by one the remainder followed, all
going in the same direction.
No doubt they landed on other lawns
that afternoon and spent the night in
some woods in the neighborhood of
Rockville.
Members of this flock within a few
days will be seen in many lawns, pro
vided the birds have decided to break
ranks in this vicinity.
The probability is that they have not
and will continue their northward flight
together for several days, or even weeks
These may be. they probably are, the
birds which will be seen in Northern
States by the time real Spring comes,
a * * a
Most of the robins which will come to
Washington and nearby places may come
to us from the Far South.
There are, of course, some already
present. A report came to this desk
i
several weeks ago of 30 birds In a yard
near Chevy Chase Circle.
On the day after the snow a week or
so ago the writer here saw one specimen
In his block about a mile north.
This bird was started from its perch
in an evergreen near the sidewalk.
Indignantly crying a single harsh
note, the robin flew lazily, as if his
wings were cold, to a tree.
It may have been one which had
strayed from the small flock above
mentioned, and probably found its way
back to its comrades, because we did not
see it again.
* * * *
The robin is one bird everybody knows,
probably better than the English spar
rows, for after all one may mistake a
song sparrow for an English sparrow
and never know the difference.
But the robin stands out. It is seldom
that any one is mistaken in its Identity.
That bold, confident air is all its own.
Even people not at all interested in
birds know it at once and find time to
give it at least a glance.
"I saw a robin this morning” is a
sentence passed thousands of times in
the Spring. It is, indeed, a sign of
Spring in itself, for when people not
much interested in birds nevertheless
find it expedient to pay attention to
one and to remark upon its coming it
shows something or other, does it not?
It shows Spring, of course, and that
is always something. “One More Spring,”
as the book said, in its pretty title.
* * * a
In the meantime let us envy the man
with his hundred robins and hope for
better things for our own garden.
Though robins eat cherries, few own
ers thereof ever become indignant about
the robbery. High abuse for the English
sparrows and for the starlings if they
do the same, but not a word against the
robins, the friendly birds.
Well, this is fine for the robin red
breasts. but not so “hot” for the spar
rows and the starlings. Evidently the
bird world knows misapplied justice as
well as the man world.
If a cherry is forbidden fruit for a
sparrow it ought to be equally so for
the robin. The robin, however, by his
precise combination of friendliness and
boldness, has managed to get along with
everybody. Perhaps it has been reading
the "how to succeed” books.
* * * *
At any rate, there is no other bird
known to so many, and so invariably
liked by all as this same robin of ours.
A member of the thrush family, he
shares with the wood thrush a liking for
human society. The robin, seemingly,
always has had this liking; the wood
thrush, as its name indicates, has built
it up since Colonial days.
It won’t be so very long now before
the throbbing triplets of the thrush's
song are heard over our gardens.
In the meantime we will take the
robin as soon as he chooses to come our
way. for he is friendly, bold, colorful and
interesting. Not such a gentleman as
the thrush, he nevertheless meets with
everybody’s approbation. Not such a
singer, either, but his songs have more
music in them than many bird lovers
realize, and are peculiarly a part of the
Spring, as much so as the wild rain
storms they so often herald.
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE.
Illustrative of Washington's preoccu
pation with the Supreme Court crisis and
the divergence of opinion over its out
come is the sweepstakes pool which the
National Press Club is holding. The win
ner will be the member who comes near
est to estimating the exact final vote
on the President s judiciary bill in the
Senate. Soothsayers have up to midday
of March 9. just before hearings open
in the Senate Judiciary Committee, to
make their )1 bets Guesses among the
journalistic tribe, as among members of
Congress and in the country at large,
are as far apart as the poles. They range
all the way from a wishful and super
optimistic pro-New Deal view that Mr.
Roosevelt will win hands down to hunches
that he will be snowed under by a ma
jority of a dozen votes or more. A not
uncommon forecast, which is likely to
find expression in the Press Club pool,
and which springs from a cool-headed
size-up of the situation, is that the White
House will prevail on the decisive round
up by a razor-edge margin of perhaps
five or six votes, or perhaps fewer. Much
depends, Capitol Hill authorities con
cede, on the country’s reaction to the
President’s broadcast on the night of
March 9. Several Senators still uncom
mitted are said to be waiting specifically
fof- the back-home effects of F. D. R.’s
radio appeal.
* * * *
Speaking of septuagenarians and their
fitness for public service, as nearly
everybody nowadays is doing, consider
the case of that noble Roman, former
Senator James A. Reed. The famous
Missouri Democrat, according to data
Just made public by the Securities and
Exchange Commission, received $100,000
for legal services last year from Warner
Bros. Pictures, Inc., in connection with
important litigation conducted on their
behalf. Mr. Reed was 75 years old In
November. The Warners paid him Just
five times the annual salary of an asso
ciate justice of the Supreme Court. All
of which seems to prove that whatever
may be thought about It in exalted New
Deal circles, American private business
does not consider that a distinguished
member of the law profession loses his
punch when he reaches the lean and
slippered vintage. Reed was once asked
if he didn’t think he was a little too far
along to aspire to a presidential nomina
tion “Hell, no!” he snorted. "Most of
my ancestors lived to be 100.”
* * * *
In connection with Mr. Roosevelt's
proposed excise sugar tax of three-quar
ters of a cent a pound, there’s under
stood to be a glaring discrepancy of view
between the State Department’s legal
advisers and their brethren In the De
partment of Agriculture. Secretary
Hull’s lawyers are said to hold that the
enactment of the tax will constitute
a direct violation of the Cuban-American
reciprocal trade agreement of Septem
ber. 1934. Secretary Wallace’s attor
neys were of opinion that President
Roosevelt was fully entitled to make his
excise recommendation, despite the pact.
As Secretary Hull in a public address
has just reaffirmed the American doc
trine that the sanctity of treaties is
the corner stone of international rela
tions, some eyebrows are being raised in
foreign diplomatic quarters here over
the sugar tax. It is officially admitted
that if Congress votes it, the Cuban
treaty, bell-wether of the whole recipro
cal program, will have to be scrapped,
unless the Havana government is willing
to negotiate a revision of the agreement
conforming to the new tax. The latter
would minimize certain advantages the
Cubans now enjoy in our sugar market,
a * * *
Senator Henry P. Ashurst, Democrat,
of Arizona, chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, which Is about to
have first crack at the Supreme Court
A
snarl, celebrates later this month his
silver jubilee in Congress. He came to
Washington in March. 1912, as Arizona's
first United States Senator and has held
the job uninterruptedly ever since. Mr.
Ashurst probably hankers for a more
pacific 25th anniversary than impending
events are likely to vouchsafe him.
Famed for political wisecracks and witty
epigrams, none of the Arizonan’s literary
achievements measures up, at least from
the standpoint of prophecy, to the boy
hood inscription scribbled in one of his
school books at the age of 12; “Henry
Fountain Ashurst. United States Sena
tor from Arizona.” That was 26 years
before Arizona became a State.
* * * *
One of the items high on the list of
subjects which Prime Minister Mac
kenzie King will take up with President
Roosevelt during the Dominion states
man’s current visit is the question of
how American neutrality, under the Pitt
man bill just passed by the Senate, might
affect Canada during a war in which
she is not involved. It apparently re
mains to be determined whether Great
Britain’s overseas dominions would come
under our neutrality ban to the rigid
degree that would apply to the mother
country, in case of hostilities from which
the rest of the empire abstained. Cana
dian-American trade is progressing so
satisfactorily under reciprocity that
Washington and Ottawa alike would de
plore any interruption springing from
neutrality contingencies.
* * * *
No tears are shed in the upper strata
of the New Deal over word from In
dianapolis that the Hoosier Legislature
has passed a bill which may lead to the
ousting of Dr. William A. Wirt, superin
tendent of schools in the steel metropolis
of Gary. It was Wirt who briefly held
the limelight two years ago with testi
mony before a House investigating com
mittee that he believed President Roose
velt to be “the Kerensky of the American
revolution.” The new Indiana law will
allow mayors of certain cities, instead of
city councils, to name local school boards.
* * * *
Former Senator George H. Moses, Re
publican, of New Hampshire is an inno
cent but not disinterested bystander at
judiciary hostilities in Washington. The
congressional fight on the Roosevelt pro
gram reminds the New Englander
vividly ol the Senate battle against the
League of Nations, in which he was a
leader of the victorious irreconcilable
group. Moses believes that if the Presi
dent’s court antagonists pursue the par
liamentary tactics invoked by the oppo
nents of the treaty of Versailles, the
White House Judiciary program can and
will be sunk. He points out that both
the Judiciary Committee and the Senate
have at their disposal under the rules
no fewer than five different recourses for
forcing delay and postponement of final
action until the country has a chance
to pass upon the bill’s merits at an
election.
* * * * .
C. I. O. wage, hour and recognition vic
tories in the automobile, steel and elec
trical industries have skyrocketed John
L. Lewis’ prestige to such a height that
a 1940 presidential halo, temporarily
dimmed by the sit-down strike, once
again rims his shaggy dome.
(Coprrifht. 1937.)
Uninformed.
From the Indianapolis Star.
Somebody evidently failed to tell those
Ethiopians they had lost the war.
Too Sophisticated.
From tba Burlington Hawk.;. Oaaetta.
Civilised man knows hundreds of ways
to harm himself that simple savages
never dreamed of.
f
ANSWERS TO
QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
A reader can get the answer to any
question of fact by writing The Evening
Star Information Bureau, Frederic J.
Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C.
Please inclose stamp for reply.
Q. Is the game of squash rackets faster
than tennis?—H. G.
A. As played in America, it is much
faster. A lively hollow ball of black
rubber and a light, hard-strung racket
are used.
Q. When is the American Newspaper
Publishers’ Convention?—W. J.
A. The American Newspaper Publish
ers’ Association will meet from April
21-23 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New
York City.
Q. What horse will carry top weight
in the Grand National Steeplechase?
—P. M.
A. Golden Miller, winner of the 1934
event, will carry top weight of 175 pounds.
Q. What fruit has the greatest fuel,
value per pound?—C. W. R
A. Avocados with a fuel value of 1,200
calories per pound.
Q Does Russia have compulsory pri
mary education?—E. G.
A. Universal compulsory primary edu
cation (4 years) was introduced in 1931.
It is now being extended to a 7-year
period.
Q. How long did Queen Elizabeth reign
in England?—A. F.
A. For 45 years, from 1558 to 1603.
Q. How large is Yellowstone National
Park?—E. H
A. The park covers 3,438 square miles.
Q. How many biographies has Emil
Ludwig written?—H. M.
A. He is the author of 13.
Q. Did Benjamin Franklin publish the
first magazine p) the United States?
—C. R.
A. Benjamin Franklin in 1740 planned
to issue a general magazine and out
lined his project to John Webbe, an at
torney, who was to be the editor. Webbe
revealed the plan to Andrew Bradford,
a printer, who proposed to issue a maga
zine in opposition to Franklin's. On
February 12, 1741, Bradford announced
that the first issue of the American
Magazine, or a Monthly View of the
Political State of the British Colonies,
would be published the next day. On
the same day Franklin announced that
the first issue of the General Magazine
would appear in four days.
Q. How much merchandise is pur
chased on the easy payment plan?—F. H.
A. In 1936 $5,000,000,000 worth of mer
chandise was sold on the deferred pay
ment plan.
Q. Who is called the Padre of the
Roses?—W. H.
A. This name has been given to the
Rev. George M. A. Schoener, a priest
of Santa Barbara, Calif., who has given
to the world 256 distinct varieties of roses.
Q. What is the oldest French town in
-the United States?—C. R.
A. Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., is claimed
to be the oldest French town in the
United States.
Q. What foods are frozen commer
cially?—W. S.
A. They include about 50 kinds of fish,
also crabs, lobster, shrimp, clams, scallops,
oysters, beef, pork, veal, lamb, mutton,
22 different fruits, several fruit Juices.
14 vegetables, whole eggs, egg white, egg
yolk and dairy products, including cream,
ice cream and butter.
Q. What is the title of the poem which
includes the lines, “Oh, London is a
man's town, there's power in the air"?
—T. c.
A. “America for Me,” by Henry Van
Dyke.
Q. What are the proportions of the
reproduction of the Parthenon in Nash
ville’s Centennial Park?—N. A.
A. The Parthenon is 228 feet in length,
101 feet wide and 65 feet in height over
all; the columns of the peristyle, 46 In
number, are more than 6 feet in diameter
and 34 feet in height; the huge bronze
doors weigh 15 tons per pair. In the
gables or pediments are 54 colossal
statues, some of them weighing more
than a ton. and on the Doric frieze are
92 sculptured tablets in high relief.
Q. Why will biscuits made from the
same recipe seem different when made
by different cooks?—G. N.
A. The amount of kneading given the
dough makes the difference.
Q. In genuine Damascus blades, does
the design continue through the blade,
or is it etched on the outside?—C. H.
A. It runs through the blade, and the
figuring does not disappear through fric
tion or grinding.
Q. Why is the Des Plaines River so
called?—E. F.
A, It is named from a species of maple
called by the French, plaine.
Q. Who invented Babbitt metal?—C. L.
A. It was invented in 1839 by Isaac
Babbitt.
Q. What was the real name of Alan
Dale, the dramatic critic?—F. N.
A. He was Alfred J. Cohen. He was
bom in Birmingham, England, in 1861,
and educated at Oxford. After coming
to America, he became a dramatic critic.
He died in 1928.
Q. How many air-conditioned cars are
there on the railroads in this country?
—C. Y.
A. On January 1, 1937, there were 8,078.
Of these, 4,152 are owned by the Pullman
Co. The first air-conditioned car—a
diner—was put in service in 1930.
A Rhyme at Twilight
By
Gertrude Brooke Hamilton
Midnight.
Deluge of piled-up clouds broke here and
there
In tossing billows, that went rolling on
Across the sky’s face; swirling waters,
where
The moon played hide and seek; and
where, anon,
Stars were frost-sharpened pin-points,
very bright . . .
I threw my casement open to the night.
My garden full of grotesque shadows lay;
They stretched along the walls and
on the ground,
Joining the moon in her fantastic play,
As, rising in a black bulk all around.
Silent apartment houses vigil kept—
While it seemed all the world profoundly
slept.
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